RPGM - Completed - Once Ever After [v1.0] [Sierra Lee]

TL;DR: Amazing storytelling, low lewd, ok gameplay

Sierra Lee has, once again, surpassed my expectations. Which is saying something, as I've been following all her projects for a good long time, I know what they can do, and they still surprise me. And they are one of the few devs who I can say I actually went out of my way to give money because their games are just that good.

Bear in mind, at the time of review, the game is not properly finished, and though the story, mechanics and whatnot are all 100% done, there are some incomplete graphics. This doesn't bother me one bit, because its RPGM, its not exactly about looking flashy. On the other hand, the maps that have been polished look gorgeous.

GRAPHICS: For an RPGMaker game, this one is beautiful. A real treat to look at. For an overcrowded engine filled with cookie-cutter worlds, default assets, and uninspired design, this game sits pretty on its throne. The overworlds (that are currently done) are beautiful, easily some of the best ever put to RPGM, and the fully animated and unique battle sprites are a treat to behold. I love it.

ART: Sierra Lee commissioned Crescentia (of Projekt Wolfenstalh fame/infamy) to do the artwork for this game. Now, I can't speak for everyone in this regard, but I have long loved Crescentia's artwork, and seeing it here, in an actually finished game is glorious. The designs for everyone fit perfectly, and the lewd scenes are masterful.

SOUND: Its pretty typical RPG fare. Its not bad, but neither is it amazing. Very few songs overstay themselves, but if you'd rather not hear the battle tune over and over while you get through the grindier bits, you'll not be losing much by just muting the game.

GAMEPLAY: Sierra Lee is, ultimately, a storyteller. And a damn good one. I'd even venture to say one of the best I've seen in recent days, and absolutely one of the best, if not THE BEST western h-game storyteller. What she is not, however is a game designer. And while something like RPGM gives a flexible vessel to create an interactive story, its nothing grand. At the very least, like Ouroboros and The Last Sovereign before it, the game balances out it story with its actual RPG elements. It ain't flashy, it ain't grand, it can drag if you don't know what you're doing, and is generally the weakest part of this, and for that matter, all of Sierra Lee's game's, but its not bad at all.

CHARACTERS: The characters are all some variation of Little Red Riding Hood, or some other fairy tale in some cases. They all feel real and believable within the rules of the world. Its expertly done, and wonderful to see each of these characters explore and grow and interact with each other as they travel between the "tales" that make up the world. They subvert your expectations, go in interesting directions, and play off of and subvert the typical porn game tropes in the most wonderful of ways.

PLOT: Given that the marketing seemed to err on the lewd side, as well as Crescentia's art at the forefront, I was expecting a lighthearted, lewd adventure. And yet again, Sierra Lee does what she does best. Subverting expectations and plot devices. While I can't speak for the conclusion (yet), 20+ hours in, and this game is yet another masterpiece on her belt. The story never quite goes where you think its going, yet its still seemlessly pulls you from one place to the next, playing around with Sierra's typical brand of genre subversion and meta analysis. I guess it might not be for everyone, and it is definately not for someone looking for a quick wank, but I love it so much.

CONCLUSION: In case it wasn't plainly obvious, I'm a simp for Sieraa Lee's games. They are, first and foremost, a story. A beautiful, well-crafted story that plays with tropes and expectations in unexpected and exciting ways, with this delectable smattering of just the right amount of lewd to go with it. I ABSOLUTELY, 100% RECCOMEND THIS (and the rest of their games too). Its wonderful.

The story is pretty creative. The writing is good. The art is good. Some unfinished parts at the time of this review but I don't hold it against the dev.

So what went wrong?
The game hits a certain point where it drags, the fights feel tedious and the play time is overwhelmingly doing the fights. The time you spend enjoying the actual story or art is a small portion of the time you spend this.

Using RPGM is a rocky road for many developers and this is one developer that relied to much on that system to create their game. The grind and boredom that set in after about 2 hours of interesting gameplay and story brought this game to nothing more than another bargin bin RPGM game. I don't like saying that because the creators are clearly talented and capable of so much more.

TLDR: Promising, but ultimately poorly designed game.

It's an interesting story with a funny twist. It's very well written with tons of funny and cute moments.

But BY GOD does the grind kill it for me. The pacing of both the story and the lewd scenes is way too slow for this game to keep my interest. The lewd scenes are about 2 hours apart throughout the story on average, and in between there's an ungodly amount of grind with "gear check/level check" bosses blocking your way, forcing you to go back to the grind or bang your head against the brick wall that these bosses are. It completely ruins the experience for me.

I would consider going back to this game again if there was an easy mode alternative, because the story is genuinely funny and interesting and I would like to see how it ends. But I'm definitely not curious enough to go grinding trash mobs for 4 hours just to clear the next dungeon.

The best thing Once Ever After does happens in the first 15 to 30 minutes of gameplay. It genuinely breaks my heart to give this game a 3 star (for now) after such a good, strong opening. For that reason, I'd heavily recommend to play up to that point before reading the rest of this review.

I haven't finished the game. I've played for a decent 3 hours sure, but some people might consider it unfair to review it at that point, and that's fair. I just wanted to make it clear.

What I can tell you from that 3 hour is that this games loves to make fun of typical porn RPG scenarios, which, truth be told, was rather entertaining. For a while. The issue that the game doesn't have anything instead. It's "Haha isn't it dumb that you always have this old man who wants to touch tits before he dies" but there's nothing in it's place. I've actually spoiled myself and looked at the image folder in the game files and was a bit surprised at how little scenes there are. In fact most of them are on the first page.

Well, there is something. The dialogue is charming, the concept for the story is actually very interesting, and the characters are cute. You could make a strong argument that this isn't a porn game as much as a fun story with a few porn scenes. And that's fine, some people might love that.

Unfortunately, this game suffers from a common RPG Maker issue : Slow combat. No matter how charming or interesting the actual game is, everyone is going to hit a point where they don't want to fight stuff anymore. But this a game with levels, classes and learn-able skills from those classes. And all these classes have specific equipment restrictions, which means buying gear, and making money is very slow.

Fortunately, this is all fixable. Adding more scenes is always a possibility. Combat could get a speed-up option (or, in a worst-best case scenario made easier so things die in one hit more easily), and part-time jobs could be added in the game for money. In the spirit of this game, these could have a few scenes that, instead of being dumb porn game scenarios, could build on the relationship of the protagonist and her allies.

What it all comes down to is this. When I opened the game the first time, I was met with a gorgeous big-tiddied waifu, who went around town making sex puns and flirting with anyone with a cock. I rolled my eyes a bit, deciding to keep going just to see if the scenes are worth it at least. Then 15 minutes in, I was shown that I was being mislead, and thought "Wow, I wonder what's gonna happen next!"

The answer turned out to be disappointing : an actually interesting plot cut into small pieces separated by boring grind.

I really hope this game improves. Even ignoring the porn elements, it has more to offer, and some of those things I'd love to dip my toes in. But in it's current state, it feels like something to suffer through rather than enjoy.