RPGM - Completed - Longing Ring of ESCA [v1.03] [Flower games]

Tedious annoying and way too damn cringy with how dumb as fuck it all is. Everything is rape. The urge for any retaliation is a total load of shite as every chance to do damn anything or kill is never ever taken

The controls could have been a bit better. I couldn't really spend longer than 5 minutes on the game before I gave up trying to learn the controls.
It started out a decent story, aside from the straight outta the gate rape/virginity theft/impregnation/enslavement...all in one scene. I think honestly, the controls are what deterred me, though.

I've only gotten through the first 3 dungeon maps, but from what I've seen so far, I'm willing to bet my cock and balls that the game isn't going to get more interesting as you play it. My overall experience with the game was uninspiring, so say the least.

The Story: 1 Star
It's not even about the rape or alleged NTR. Those things, I could easily squeeze off to. It's the very lukewarm, awkward dialogue that kills it for me. Not only is it barely literate, it also has no depth. The very first thing that happens in the game is the love interest proposing to the MC, everyone telling her that she looks happy, followed by the big bad suddenly showing up to siege castle and immediate rape when the MC tries to fight him. After that, the MC walks around from point A to point B, paying tolls to whichever NPCs that happens to be at the next shitty checkpoint in the form of sex. You get no say in the matter and don't get to see any semblance of corruption. Immersion breaking writing aside, the facial expressions don't even match the dialogue, which can be summed up as "I can't lose my virginity twice, so might as well let it happen."

And to make things even more confusing, she's pregnant with the big bad's kid, but is fine so long as she doesn't try to escape (plus, she'll conveniently obtain drugs that can delay or push back the pregnancy somehow). Apparently, she'll instantly give birth to it if she tries to sneak out some trench that's somehow the front door. Not because it's pretty much suicide without any gear. Not because she needs to get strong. No, it's because she has no choice but to go out the back door. That's literally her only reason for dungeon crawling.


Gameplay: 2 Stars
It's like the bare minimum of a roguelike. You can equip weapons and armor and use consumable items. This alone would have earned it 3 stars, but I just couldn't bring myself to because of how atrocious the translation was. It's already an eyesore how armor is mistranslated as "protectors" and slimes as "slims," but I can't even tell what certain consumables do half the time. Like the Antidote Herb makes it sound like it's a health restorative rather than a cure for poison.

The game has a curse mechanic, but it's kind of moot. You have infinite inventory space, but item durability doesn't appear to be a feature. If you have no incentive to pick up or keep multiple copies of gear, how often do you expect to be cursed? Worse yet, there's no way to chuck unwanted garbage or reorganize your loot. You're actually better off not picking anything up. How can you be called an "orthodox roguelike" but have antithetical features? Losing everything upon defeat isn't even a real threat because of how everything else works.

Instead of hunger management, this game throws at you pregnancy management. There's supposed to be some numerical value on the HUD that serves as a countdown. I've been playing on normal mode and I've seen nothing of that sort. If it's that stupid green battery shaped icon in the middle of the HUD, then it's shitty design, considering how everything else is represented.


Art: 3 Stars
It's alright, but not outstanding. It's not something I'm willing to crawl through this mess of a game to see. To elaborate on what I said before, of the 3 or 4 scenes (not including the initial rape). Despite her indifferent attitude, her art doesn't look anything like what you'd imagine. Go on, look up the CG on e-hentai or whatever. She could be fucking them in a random order and you wouldn't know the difference. You'd be forgiven for mistaking some of these to be game over or virginity loss scenes. The ones where she looks mildly annoyed don't necessarily pop in earlier or later. They feel randomly placed.



In conclusion:
Objectively, it's a functional "roguelike." Personally, it feels very lazily slapped together, using the bare minumum of resources needed to classify it as a game. The adult content isn't any better. The game's definitely not worth the $15/20 price tag. You should spend your time, effort, and juices on something else.

Edit: Removed mention of another game.