If you played TLS play this game, period. All I ask is if a mod reviews my review that they read most of it before removing it or sending me a message if they have an immediate reaction.
While technically in violation of rule 2, I feel like the spirit of the rule isnt being broken by mentioning TLS. Lord Forte Games, the creator of this game, has been active in the TLS community as well as this game pretty heavily inspired by TLS and having a few easter eggs as nods towards TLS and a promotion from the creator of TLS as well. The biggest reason however is because reviewing any game is HARD without a reference point. For Renpy based games thats easy...theres a million of them on this site, but for something as niche as not just RPGM but RPGM adult based game that focuses on story...it's extremely niche and the odds are anyone interested in this game has already played TLS, it's very clearly the same target audience.
The Bad
Sex scenes-honestly annoying af. I understand not wanting to fund the game out of your own pocket and spend money on a game this young by paying artists to do what TLS does, which is a drawn sex scene and dialogue for said scene. But the way its gone about is awful to look at. The paragraphs feel to large and arent easy to digest. The background would be better if it were a black screen instead of a....scroll? And the writing just feels bad which doesnt make much sense since the rest of the game is written beautifully. It got to the point where I rolled my eyes every time clit was mentioned or "pearl between her folds", you could unironically have a drinking game where you takea shot every time the clit is mentioned and you would get wasted by the end of the scene. If I was giving advise I would tell him to reduce the amounts of words in each sex scene by like half, break up the paragraphs, and change the background, although the latter is a personal issue and maybe he really enjoys it.
Lexicon-Some of the words and phrases I just dont like and they feel off. I understand they "fit" within the world hes trying to make but it feels a bit forced at times. Depending on how long your sessions are you will be googling a word or two, while not an issue I found it interesting.
Thats it, yeah not a lot of negatives in its current state. Maybe in the future depending on how the Neutral section goes but it's a really good game with not many issues.
The Neutral
Everything here has potential of either being great or shit depending on the future of the game. This is where comparing it to TLS is absolutely needed. Much like TLS you have investments and lots of choices that will give you various buffs and debuffs. The issue is none of it has come into play yet. All those military points youve gotten rather they be morale, size or quality...they mean nothing as of now. There hasnt been a single big event like the numerous wars in TLS, although the first big event feels like it's about to happen sooner rather than later so we will see in time. But as much as I love the concept of choices mattering and investment I couldnt put this in the Good section, as it is still way to early, for all I know he could scrap this idea entirely, way too early to tell.
The Good
Everything else....seriously.
Combat-Significantly improved on from TLS, every companion feels unique. They all have unique resources or combat style. Hell the first two companions each have a unique system. Ligae with a momentum follow through mechanic and Ariadne as a typical mana based mage whos built around dot's and spreading her fire for a big KABOOM payoff and these two are the most "vanilla" in the game so far. I love the combat system and it makes TLS combat system feel severely outdated.
Companions-Not a single companion I dont like and they once again all feel unique. Unlike TLS this isnt, or atleast currently, doesnt feel like a pokemon gotta collect em all Harem game, and Im enjoying it. You get male companions, you get female companions that arent trying to fuck you frame 1, it's refreshing compared to all the other games on this site.
The writing-it's amazing. The ballroom dance scene is one of my favorites of all time, it's a top tier scene. The rest of the game, even though I may have some gripes as I stated in my Bad section, is beautifully written.
World building-again...amazing. Whether it be through the story, books, or optional dialogue the world building is better than some triple A games. Learning the current and past history feels good, I looked forward to every book that had info about Alexanders ancestors.
Interactive objects?- I dont know what to call this one but you can interact with everything. It's something that going back to play TLS I desperately wish it had, every game should have this. See those books on the shelves? Yeah go ahead and interact with it you just might get a massive lore dump about magic or gods or the history of the kingdom...or maybe you get dialogue about the characters talking about the specific book. That statue youve seen a thousand times? Turns out it's an outdated statue of a specific god that only the people in this region worship. Or what about that fucking plant pot...yeah you're gonna get dialogue about that too. As much as I love the combat this is easily my favorite feature in the entire game and it's not close.
Closing
The game is fantastic and if youve ever played TLS you're doing yourself a disservice by not giving this game a go. The issues are so minor that the only thing I actively dislike in this game are the sex scenes which lets be honest if you've played TLS or are interested in this game you dont care about sex scenes, they arent even the icing on the cake they're that pretty flower made of fondant up in the corner that looks nice but really no one wants to eat it. While similar to TLS the things this game does better it REALLY does better especially the combat and the interactive objects. If you care about story based games and you enjoy some world building play this game. If you like rpgs where your choices matter....while I believe it's going to do that part excellently much like TLS it isnt really in the game yet, as of chapter 10 aside from a few that influence what companions you can acquire theres been very few consequences for decisions at least in the long run.