Review of Version: 0.27.0
I have to say that this has quickly become one of my favorite games that I've found here.
Pros.
It actually has some (completely optional) interesting and fun gameplay, an extreme rarity for this sort of game. Most of the minigames are fine for what they are, but I got bored and turned them off after playing them a few times as they aren't my thing, EXCEPT for combat. While the basic battle system isn't breaking new ground, being the turn based fighting that anyone who's ever played a JRPG will know all too well, the Dev has obviously put a lot of thought and work into balancing the spells/powers that you and your foes use, making for a rather engagingly tactical experience that I honestly enjoyed. It even supports shenanigans like using the clothing destroying spell in battle, which gives you exactly the kinds of results that you'd hope for. (Though I do wish that particular spell was relevant more often.)
Hilarious and often down right good writing. The characters are almost all very well written and memorable in their own ways (not to mention quite sexy when applicable), and I always felt invested in all of the various story/plot threads that are being woven throughout the game. I don't think I was tempted to skip dialog once in my entire playthrough.
The games does a great job at making your choices feel like they actually matter, and more often than you might think think, they really do. Sometimes your decisions might completely change a girl's storyline. At other times it just lets you have more of a say in the MC's personality, as while he'll always be a pervert and a bit conceited, you can sometimes choose if you want to be more of a empathetic individual, or if you're the kind of guy who'd much rather give others a hard kick while they're down.
The sandbox never really leaves you feeling lost. Between the hints in the characters glossary and the exclamation points on the map I didn't ever find myself having to randomly look around trying to figure out what to do next. You should still do a bit of exploring though, there are minor scenes and repeatable events that the game doesn't go out of its way to draw attention to.
Cons.
There is some grinding sadly. It's not TOO bad, but you will probably be spending more time just trying to get more money than you really want to (talk about immersion!). However there is a cheat mod if you get really sick of it, so it's not that big of a deal.
Seriously, do yourself a favor and just read the fucking help screen, it won't take long at all. The game mostly does a good job at explaining things while you play, but there were a few things I was completely confused by until I finally got around to clicking that question mark and realized “oh, that's where it tells you what that means”.
It didn't really hurt my enjoyment at all, but it's probably worth mentioning that almost everyone in this game is some flavor of terrible person, and sometimes bad things happen to random people. Don't worry too much, this isn't some fucked up Asanagi manga, or anything like that, it's mostly just used (rather effectively) for black comedy. And as someone who's not generally into that sort of thing it only went form humorous to a bit of a boner killer maybe twice in the whole game for me, but if you're super sensitive to that kind of stuff it might be something to keep in mind.
Speaking of terrible people, guess I'll weigh in on Klaus. He's a comedy relief character who's main, and possibly only, trait is being just the absolute worst in general. Personally I like him. Yes, he's the human equivalent of a trash fire started in a cursed Indian burial ground that someone keeps dumping nuclear waste on top of, but who could look away from a spectacle like that? When he shows up you know that he's going to do something inane, insane, and/or down right horrible, which will then immediately backfire on him in some humorous way. But some players do absolutely despise Klaus as the worst part of the game and you do see quite a bit of him, so if you find yourself to be a part of that group I recommend just getting used to skipping dialog, you won't miss all that much important plot.
The sister of batt... I mean the chort needs more content! Being indescribably adorable, her status as a semi-optional minor waifu is an unforgivable crime against all humanity. Why, her amazing display of stealth when asked if she had the power to conceal herself was more than enough to cement her as best girl all by itself!
TLDR.
The game is sexy, fun, well written, and I regret not finding it sooner.
