Based on version Alpha 80f- on page 1228
Gameplay: 2
Story: 4
H-Content: 5
Level design: 4
The gameplay loop is decent, but grindy and unbalanced
Note: I played on hard difficulty, which probably made issues stand out further.
The dice rolls are pretty neat, as it gives DnD vibes. However, the story is fairly linear, so it can be frustrating at times.
What's even more frustrating is the ambiguity of many learnable skills and stat checks. It inhibits long-term planning, which is a serious issue in a grindy game with permanent stat distribution.
The economy is horrific.
Quests give low rewards for either much or dangerous work. The lack of valuable loot drops from enemies doesn't help either.
The items in comparison are overpriced, especially gear. Even a minor weapon or armor increase costs half a dozen high danger quests.
The story is surprisingly intriguing
I did not come for a gritty dark fantasy sex cult that is also willing to sacrifice people willy nilly. I certainly enjoyed the story.
On the other hand, the gritty main story and the happy and festive characters aren't exactly fitting for eachother, so the atmosphere somewhat suffers.
On the other other hand, it does lower your emotional guard, so getting hit by a gut punch by the story is harder than usual and with the current chapter, it delivers well.
The H-Content is fantastic, but grindy
The amount and variation is surprisingly high, though mostly localised in the main city. That's mostly a level design issue.
There are plenty of fetishes, with ntr being one of them. What interests me a lot is the male lead also going hicky on the townswomen, so you can instantly switch from seductive priestess to seducing tomcat.
The rather grindy stats required for scenes is a gameplay issue, but that can be circumvented by the in-game cheats.
There isn't much to dislike at the content, aside the difficulty of accessing said content.
The level design has excellent major levels and forgettable minor locations
Now, that's not a bad thing. In fact, it is a good distribution of workload. Nobody is going to notice some well drawn rock in the forest, but everyone will notice the subtly detailed npc walking pathing in the main city.
But as it stands, the story quests pretty much revolve at the main city, the village directly south of it and in the forests further south.
The city has plenty of details packed into it, keeping it interesting, but the village and the forest pretty much are stop-gap measures.
This is highlighted by the fact, that the several one-time story dungeons are of really good design quality, especially in the atmosphere/tension building.
So where's the problem? Half the playable map is unutilized in terms of gameplay, unless you specifically go out of your way for them.
That's not a problem if you like exploring, but the poor game economy makes every travel trip a business expense, but that's a gameplay problem (which happens to affect the level design).
The one way this can be remedied is by adding more interactive stuff in said locations. Like a secret shop or more local quests. Essentially, more content allows the current map to thrive properly.
Gameplay: 2
Story: 4
H-Content: 5
Level design: 4
The gameplay loop is decent, but grindy and unbalanced
Note: I played on hard difficulty, which probably made issues stand out further.
The dice rolls are pretty neat, as it gives DnD vibes. However, the story is fairly linear, so it can be frustrating at times.
What's even more frustrating is the ambiguity of many learnable skills and stat checks. It inhibits long-term planning, which is a serious issue in a grindy game with permanent stat distribution.
The economy is horrific.
Quests give low rewards for either much or dangerous work. The lack of valuable loot drops from enemies doesn't help either.
The items in comparison are overpriced, especially gear. Even a minor weapon or armor increase costs half a dozen high danger quests.
The story is surprisingly intriguing
I did not come for a gritty dark fantasy sex cult that is also willing to sacrifice people willy nilly. I certainly enjoyed the story.
On the other hand, the gritty main story and the happy and festive characters aren't exactly fitting for eachother, so the atmosphere somewhat suffers.
On the other other hand, it does lower your emotional guard, so getting hit by a gut punch by the story is harder than usual and with the current chapter, it delivers well.
The H-Content is fantastic, but grindy
The amount and variation is surprisingly high, though mostly localised in the main city. That's mostly a level design issue.
There are plenty of fetishes, with ntr being one of them. What interests me a lot is the male lead also going hicky on the townswomen, so you can instantly switch from seductive priestess to seducing tomcat.
The rather grindy stats required for scenes is a gameplay issue, but that can be circumvented by the in-game cheats.
There isn't much to dislike at the content, aside the difficulty of accessing said content.
The level design has excellent major levels and forgettable minor locations
Now, that's not a bad thing. In fact, it is a good distribution of workload. Nobody is going to notice some well drawn rock in the forest, but everyone will notice the subtly detailed npc walking pathing in the main city.
But as it stands, the story quests pretty much revolve at the main city, the village directly south of it and in the forests further south.
The city has plenty of details packed into it, keeping it interesting, but the village and the forest pretty much are stop-gap measures.
This is highlighted by the fact, that the several one-time story dungeons are of really good design quality, especially in the atmosphere/tension building.
So where's the problem? Half the playable map is unutilized in terms of gameplay, unless you specifically go out of your way for them.
That's not a problem if you like exploring, but the poor game economy makes every travel trip a business expense, but that's a gameplay problem (which happens to affect the level design).
The one way this can be remedied is by adding more interactive stuff in said locations. Like a secret shop or more local quests. Essentially, more content allows the current map to thrive properly.
