Ren'Py - Parasite Black [v0.153] [Damned Studios]

Played through 3hrs of v0.146

+ Dark Fantasy RPG with Main quests and Side quests.

+ A simplified turn-based combat that works well enough for a VN

+ Art is great

+ Sex scenes have great animations

+ Nice use of music and sound effects

+ The writing is better than many VNs

+ I'm invested in the characters and the plot progression

> The quest system is the only hint at what to do next. Which seems to miss that revisiting certain characters/locations can repeat a scene or trigger additional lewd content. If it is there in the quest system I'm missing it.

-- The android version has no Auto, no Back, no Hide UI
The worst part about the android port is my Saves have the game splash screen instead of a screenshot of the scene I'm trying to save, so I have no idea what is happening that I'd want to reload that save.

OVERALL:
Worth checking out.

Real talk the art, concept and story in the game is really freaking cool. The art takes this game to another level combined with the dark fantasy really separates itself with other games. The concept and story I personally think is very well done where you can actually become invested in the characters, plot and the foreshadowing. The sex scenes are pretty hot too and feel like a bonus to an already really good game. I can't recommend the game enough because it really just hits all the spots for something dark, interesting and with a touch of sexiness. I'm always looking forward to the updates and can't wait to see where devs take the story!

Make three suggestions:
1. The story and dark style of the game is great, and the characters are beautiful. I hope the game can be divided into chapters, otherwise I will have to replay it every time due to saving. 2. cg in the game is difficult to collect, so I hope the setting is simple or there are more hints in the game.
3. Update time of the game can be adjusted according to the actual situation. It's going to be delayed every month anyway, so it's best to update every two months to take the pressure off the production team.
Thank you very much to the production team for making such a great game, come on!

In my opinion, this is a rare game that I genuinely support and adore. It has a delightful fantasy-medieval ambiance that really sets it apart.

The story is exceptional, featuring multiple branching paths leading to various outcomes. I appreciate the writing because it not only suits the genre, but also captures the right mood.

The artwork is stunning, surpassing the norm in terms of quality. The illustrations are expertly executed, with a great deal of attention paid to detail. The skill level on display here is truly impressive.

All the characters in this game are charming, intriguing, and wholesome. It truly feels like you have a genuine friend, and as you progress through the story, you develop a greater connection with them and learn more about their emotions, personalities, and aspirations.

There are animations, and they are of exceptional quality. In my view, only a few games have animations that are genuinely outstanding, and this is one of them. They are breathtakingly beautiful and extremely well-crafted.

The game's sandbox feature is fantastic. The free-roaming option enables you to develop your character not only through experience, but also by building relationships with other characters. It feels dynamic and lively because of the non-story interactions with girls in various locations. I hope this aspect receives a lot of attention from the developer.

The gameplay is incredibly enjoyable, almost resembling a traditional game. This is the first Renpy game in which I have truly enjoyed the battle mode.

Lastly, there is the music, which was a wise choice made by the developers. It complements the game's overall theme perfectly.

Great Game! Good mix between an adventure, combat and sex! The elaborate text based story-line really helps with the suspension and the exitement. Hope that this will be a very extensive and expanding game.

[Rev @ Parasite Black v0.146]

Hehe.... yup.

Art's lovely. Don't care for the gore and there's some minor perspective issues with some standing poses, but all complaints are negligible.

Writing is well done. Scenario's neat, narrative makes sense, characterization is believable. Overall tone's a bit more grimdark than what I go for usually, but only to an extent that makes me feel that I need to suck it up buttercup rather than the premise being a dry reading of an emo album.

Porn's nice. Bonus points for not being more koikatswhatever. Further bonus for preggo. WIsh there was more harem action.

Only gripe I have with gameplay is the lack of leveling, but this is stated to be a work-in-progress so again it's just me wanting a complete game out of a .1x version because I'm just not a patient person.

TLDR: Worth it and watched~

The gameplay is terrible to put it bluntly. Two years of development would've yielded much better results if devs had any talent for making videos games. Extremely basic mechanics are either broken or completely missing.

The writers overindulge themselves and what might've been an interesting story gets lost as players are forced skip walls of ultimately meaningless text clearly meant for nothing more than filler.

Like so many other devs on this site the head dev of Parasite Black casts his net as wide as possible and an already content light game gets even lighter. Those who don't like furry, monster, or homosexual content will find themselves skipping about 25% of the scenes. Those who do enjoy those scenes will not find enough of them to satiate their desires.

I must conclude this review by echoing so many other reviews; Parasite Black would be better off as an underwhelming visual novel than a terrible video game.

I don't usually like 2D games, but I really enjoyed the animations on this game and some of them do have like a 3D feel to them. The story is interesting, the combat is kind of simple but it keeps you engaged. So far there isn't a lot of content in it, but it does have a lot of promise and potential if eventually you get to explore the HUGE world map. As of right now, you can only access the main city and a slime lake. Anyways, I do hope that this game reaches its full potential. Good luck to the dev.

I love myself a good fantasy story

Artwork is fantastic, extremely professional and the fact that there are animations has me stunned.

The game has very in-depth lore and great story set in a dark fantasy world.

The writing is more than competent and features a lot of branching as well which is a big plus.

5/5 highly recommended

This is one of the few games I support and love. In my opinion, it's a true gem with a lot of fantasy-medieval vibes.

• The story is fantastic, with multiple paths leading to different outcomes. I like the writing because it is not only suitable, but also conveys the right feeling for the genre.
  
  
• The art style is stunning and far above average. The drawings are extremely well done, and I appreciate the attention to detail. This is some genuine talent right here.
  
  
• All the characters in this game are lovely, interesting, and wholesome. It truly feels like you have a best friend, and the more you play through the story, the more you connect with them and see their feelings, personalities, and goals.
  
  
• There are animations, and they are of high quality. Only a few games have truly excellent animations in my opinion, and this is one of them. It's stunning and extremely well-made.
  
  
• This game's sandbox is fantastic. You have a free-roaming feature that allows you to build your character not only through experience but also through connections. It feels lively and dynamic because of the off-story interactions with girls in various locations. I hope this part gets a lot of attention from the developer.
  
  
• The gameplay is very fun. It truly seems to be a normal game. The fights are exciting and strategic. The style is similar to Final Fantasy, which I love. This is the first Renpy game in which I thoroughly enjoyed the battle mode.
  
  
• Finally, there's the music. That was a good decision made by the developers, and it complements the overall theme of the game.

V 0.144

Porn is okay
Gameplay is okay need a bit of polish
Story is GREAT with a deep lore and easy to follow.

After the intro which is very good(and I played it almost 1 year ago), there is not much to do, the game has little content despite a year and a half of development.

I have high hopes for this game, I just hope it doesn't become a milking of patreon money.

Extremely good concept and well execution. Though sometimes the art confuses the portrayal of the female characters, they are unique and not really a problem to understand. The 2dCG is good, story is good and the minigame is the perfect toppings.

One of the best games I've played on this platform. Art, music, characters, story, everything is great. Incredibly underrated. It's a dark fantasy without sexual violence, for people who are turned off by that while still being gory. MC is kind of a blank slate so you can customize him as you like. Great game, give it a shot.

Gameplay
Controls: All clicking dialogue with keyboard turn based combat..
Interface: Ren’py interface for dialogue, with occasional choices. There are also combat sections with abilities and health bars.
Writing
Plot: Phenomenal. The kind of thing that, if it didn’t have porn, would be a mainstream success.
Characters: Excellent, with many different personalities and motivations.
Typos: None.
Art
Models: Super well drawn, lots of details.
Animations: Smooth.
Background: As good as they need to be.
Audio
Music: Tons of different songs.
Effects: Lots of well used effects.
Voices: N/A.

TlDr: 3.5 out of 5 for v0.141
Pros: Great art, there's animation (not great, but better than nothing), unique story and setting, orc girl!
Cons: The combat is mediocre at best, there is a lot of text with not much art to go along with it (probably not an issue to some), the second act doesn't have much story yet, so that section feels like you are just kind of meandering to find the sex scenes with not anything else going on (early build though and the prologue was good so no points taken off for that).

I enjoyed the unique setting, with a post apocalyptic fantasy theme it definitely stands out. The powers of the mc transformation were interesting as well. The prologue was interesting, but could have done with more art to help with the text descriptions of things. While the prologue feels fleshed out, the second act is kind of just wandering around doing side quests so far with nothing substantial being added to the main story. The turn based combat itself feels pretty subpar right now, so either a revamp or overhaul on that would definitely make the game feel more enjoyable and feel less like a visual novel with messy gameplay tacked on. Overall, it's has a lot of promise if the gameplay elements of the game are improved and more main story content is added to the second act. Excited to see where it goes in the future!

The prologue is very good and intriguing. Alas once you get to the act 1 there's not much to do anymore except the side quests...
I hope in the future the main story will be fleshed out more.
Will be keeping a watch on this game

I was simply shocked by the amazing and quality art style of this game, the action packed and choice based gameplay and how well the story is made. I sincerely hope that the developers will get even more support on this project and will not abandon it, they deserve it. Hope to see this game finished in the future with its full and great potential that it has.

I love the premise and context for the Dark Fantasy world which was created here, it really nailed that AOT or GOT vibe of a world where the audience is in a meat grinder that tears through ordinary people.
Once the actual 'Parasite' from the title took over, however; for me the narrative sort of lost it's bite and became pretty cookie-cutter genre fluff. And of course, it's early days yet, but I wonder if some of that really solid tension from the intro can even be summoned again; you know, now that our heroes are invincible mega-monster killing machines.
I also worry about the turn-based combat, which seems to lack significant depth and be fairly robotic. And I'm not talking the animations, which are obviously slow on account of being placeholder. (I'm not so much of a bore to make fun of early development animations) I'm rather noticing the actual static nature of the combat encounters themselves. All attacks have a rigid value of damage that they always do, making encounters a simple game of mathematics rather than a encounter driver by luck and tactics.
Combat feels like the most boring part right now, and I'm a huge CRPG fan; turn based combat should be my catnip.
The H elements are slow-paced for the moment, and the slower burn should theoretically lead to more meaningful scenes. Again, it's early days so all I can for now is that I like the artwork. Which is about the same for the action scenes. Art work is solid, I'm more here for the world building at this point.

The good news is that this is still in early flux development and could evolve in any direction. I genuine think the basis for this game make for a fertile and interesting baseline across a sea of cut-and-paste scenario games. If the Dev can manage to capture and distil that essence going forward, there will be a special and unique little game here.

Magnificent!

Amazing art, Good animations, Epic storytelling like reading a book,
I thought it will at least fall out at sandbox aspect but no.

Only thing this game needs is more much more content.
Minor thing is that unfortunately characters in animations are often very different from ones in the actual novel/game.

but stil the potential here is Incredible.
Cant wait for future updates.

0.137

tl;dr As a book? It could be good - As a game? Its crap! Its the definition of a VN with emphasis on novel and i dont know why its missing the tag

Overall the balance between whats shown and whats described is off and boring. I couldnt play through the first plot and stopped in the desert after fighting the scorpion.

There is so much to read without ever showing it. There is like one illustation and then a shit ton of text which describes stuff not to be seen. Its like the text suggests a lot of stuff happening but you just look at ppl standing there and doing nothing at all.

I could overlook it if it would only be in the story BUT its the same with the lewd scenes.... i.e. Fucking Kiara in the tent:
So much text about how they do 69 and everything and all you see is two ppl standing there looking dumb...

So far the sex scenes only contain of one animation with different speed and expressions and thats not enough to keep me reading all the stuff i have to imaging...