I want to like this game, but every time it's devolves into a frustrating slog of a gameloop.
Character Designs: The character designs and the art direction are enjoyable, and is ultimately what's brought me back to this game on multiple attempts. The colors are bright. The body types and character models are relatively distinct. The cast is full of the stereotypical tropes of an adult game, but I don't consider that a detraction. If anything, I enjoy when a game nails them with solid writing and characterization. Unfortunately, most of the interactions grow stale through repitition. How many times have I talked to Karen in the kitchen to see if I have new content only to see the same dialogue? How many times did I talk to the redhead at school hoping for something more than a handjob in the gym closet? There is a lack of indication of new content despite progressing story and characters, and often you will see every interaction without a notice that you've milked the proverbial cow dry.
Interface: The interface is clean and clear. It's inspired by the Persona series, especially Persona 5. If you're gonna steal aesthetics, that's a pretty solid choice. Dialogue is easy to read. Interactive points are clear. There's flavor text for NPCs. Menus are easy to get through, although it always feels like an RPGM game.
Gameplay Loop: This is mostly where the game fails. In any game, but especially an adult game, I like to feel like every action is progressive in some way. This has the Day/Night cycle common to adult games and dating sims: Morning, Noon, Afternoon, Night, Late Night, etc. The main character has stats that can be improved through different actions. Unfortunately these stats never actually seem to correlate with progression. At any point of the game, I should have something to do, and the gameplay should be based on those choices. IE, It's Morning, I have two characters at this time I can interact with; do I want to spend time with the journalist and progress that story, or do I want to go to class and progress the teacher's story. Surprisingly, in a game with a large cast of characters and lots of scenes to unlock, there's often nothing to do. "Oh, I only have one interaction I can do today, and it's at night. Now I just have to pass time to wait for the event." This could be ameliorated if the skills actually correlated with progression. IE, "Oh, I don't have anyone to talk to right now to make progress, but I can study for a cycle and increase my intelligence, making it easier in the future to talk to____." This seems like a pretty logical (but understandably difficult) way to design a game, and yet Knight of Love doesn't have that tight design. "Oh, the only person I can progress is Karen, so I guess I'll just sleep all day until it's late at night and the game lets me do something." This is made more frustrating when the rewarding interaction is just another slow burn "Hang out with them and flirt a little, but don't get any new scenes." Guess I'll do the same thing for the next three day cycles hoping something happens.
This is made even more frustrating with the quest log. The only way to find out what the game's prescriptive path is currently is to talk to your magic cat friend. That means watching a small choppy animation of the cat hopping on my shoulder, telling me something vague like "Holly's pretty cute, huh? Maybe she'll be into you eventually." Thanks cat. The game tries to make this system more accessible by putting the cat magically on every map in the game. The immersion that it's attempting creates more legwork than necessary. If you want an in-game hint system, and we're already dealing with a magic cat, just let me hit the menu button and choose "Talk to cat/ Get Hint" and let the fucker pop up wherever I'm at. Instead, I have to run around trees and bushes at the school, talk to the cat, and read the same hint I've been chasing for two day cycles. And again, there's no indication when a character's path of progression has ended.
Animation: This is the game greatest failure, unfortunately. I think it's fair to say that most (but not all) adult gamers will tolerate a lot of bad design choices or grinding or lackluster game loops if the rewarding erotic scenes are good. A sexy scene can justify the slog to get there. It's a balance. Most of the animations in this game do not find that balance. Most of them feel like three frames set to animate on the threes. So when a female character is riding cowgirl, she's on the top of the dick for a frame, and she's all the way in on a frame, like a strange slideshow. The scenes usually progress with a choice to "Speed Up". By the time the scene is at "full speed", the animation is now almost smooth. It still feels static, but it at least looks like they're fucking. It feels pretty lame, and it isn't erotic. "Oh I'm so glad I just spent and hour just to get a tit job at 3fps."
Animation is hard work. Designing a game is hard work. We all understand that. But for the gamer, the ends has to justify the means. If the game feels good to play, if the game loop is satisfying, if there's always something to progress, and if the erotic scenes are sexy and give me something to look forward to, you've got a good game. If I can find a balance between a few elements but one kinda fails, the gamer can still find a way to enjoy it. Unfortunately this game feels like a slog and has very little payoff with the one major aspect everyone is playing it for: the erotic scenes.
I give this game three stars, because it's somehow brought me to play it on multiple occasions, but it has never been a satisfying experience. It feels more like a compulsion, like it will somehow become a good game if I just keep playing it. Every new update told me to try it again and see it turn into something fun. It hasn't and it seemingly won't. For that, I do not recommend the game. There are simply too many games that accomplish more with the same elements.
