Ren'Py - Parasite Black [v0.157] [Damned Studios]

v0.137 review.

I changed my rating from 3 to 4 star. Combat is improved. The last time you can't hit a target more than 2 times and that's the sort of thing I did not like. Combat is not complicated but it gets the job done. It is still fairly challenging as enemies hit hard. You can still win with offensive attacks plus focus targeting alone when grinding but props for adding defensive and debuffs skills that can help in difficult fights. I would like to see some minor buffs to those skills as well as more variety in the future. What is present now is serviceable but it still doesn't hurt for more improvements.

As for everything else, it's everything that I liked in the first place. The story has a grim start although it does lean on the power fantasy trope later on - which is not a bad thing. It starts off as a VN then goes for the sandbox approach. I just hope the grinding is kept to a reasonable levels. I just hope there are more meaningful branches to come. And the art is still superb.

As of now, it's still overall unpolished but that is to be expected from early builds.

One of the best 2D games out there! It has lots of potential.
Graphics: 5/5 although erotic scenes are made by different artists.
Script: 5/5
Coding was ok no bugs for me.
I hope there will be some optional NTR in the future! In that case I am 100% a patron.

Pros:
*Sprites are amazing!
~blinking and mouth movement adds to their realism.
~the detailed work in their fantasy garb is badass.
*The background art is absolutely stunning
*Mc did not look like a kid- I prefer a more badass MC than you get in a lot of smutty games and this one seems like a nice balance
*The planned tags look amazing to be honest. No netorare in a dark fantasy is amazing, no rape tag in a dark fantasy is amazing- and you still have fun kink tags like tentacles ect. There is very little content out there for people who dislike rape, non-con, and dub con but also like tentacles and dark fantasy. The implication being "consent-tacles!" Implies the MC has access to them in his power dynamic which is going to be incredibly hot. Also- every game needs more glorious short-stacks!
*Narrative improved a lot as you played the game- the build up and climax of the prologue is super hype!
*Music is great!
*Scenes were pretty nice!

Neutrals:
*Couldn't get iPatch to work- sure that will get resolved though ^_^.
*Combat- while ambitions and kinda fun. Is still pretty basic and the Ui is rather clunky. Devs seem to be working on it- it should improve over time!

Cons: (v0.144 update)
-Devs have started to add m x f sharing content. Whoring out your LI.
-Plot has become somewhat aimless and all over the place
-Feels like it is deviating from what was advertised as the original kink intent.

I came in expecting a half-decent game to maybe jack off too before going to sleep but was caught off guard by the story and the art. My main issue for giving it 4 stars instead of a 5 is due to the turn-based style of the game and its lack of full-on animations which bummed me out a bit. Despite that though, I really think that this game has potential for something I would, no, will buy once I manage to find the full release, and that's coming from a lifetime pirater of games.

A promising start of a very interesting Warhammer-like Visual Novel (click-to-see-next-slide gameplay) with a turn based 3x3 combat system (Heroes of Might and Magic.) So far, about 1 hour of gameplay. It is a well written story with fair amount of text and some unique hand drawn 2d art. Prologue ends on a very promising note. Definitely a project to watch and support.

Really good start! Good story that is building into a full world.

A couple of critiques:
- The battles are less than inspiring (and this is compared to very old turn based battle mechanics: e.g. "Might and Magic: world of xeen"). Not only are they clumsy, but they are absolute: I lost my first fight in training and it was game over, you have died... seems a bit harsh for training.
- The images don't keep up with the story, making the "game" more of a story to be read. It would be nice is there were more intermediate graphics.
- The story is just that: a story. There is (at this time) no sandbox element to it. That said, I prefer a lot of the VN formats as the so called 'sandboxes' you often see made on here end up being a confused mashup of independent activities with no real storyline. As the game development moves forward I hope that any addition of sandbox elements are well managed.

I would like to see the battles have some level of impact on what you need to do (i.e. how much strength you have and how much money or energy or whatever you get in the subsequent scenes) without just being a case live or die. Then if you have a 'steps to next part of story' type of sandbox you can set up situations where clever (or lucky) battles are able to progress without going through all the intermediate buildup.

Best of luck with this project!

Since the first minute feels like WH 40k, story, setting, style and characters are all great.
Combat is not balanced, but there are only a few battles so far and considering the story it fits.
Porn is decent, but mostly secondary to the story, considering the story so far it seems like there will be more of it after prologue.

I would give it 4/5, but it could be considered Heresy so 5/5.

Have to say, this is a greatly made game. A trailer to ease people in and let people know what they are getting involved in. Artwork that is not all about sex and all of the still images are incredibly well done.

First, did enjoy the combat. At the beginning, the game does a good job easing you into combat on how it works. And later in the prologue, their is a bit of a challenge there. A must for this kind of perverted game with the certain audience. Though am a bit saddened to see it be more of a 2D side scroller where you cannot buy weapons, potions, specialize your weapons for different enemies like a normal RPG. This makes the combat feel slightly stale as their is less variety.

Though did really enjoy the erotic artwork. They were incredibly well drawn and the small animation adds a cherry on top.

As for the story, because you cannot explore of your own free will, it does make me slightly less interested in the world. Why learn about a place when you are going to have to go there because the story said so? Not like Skyrim where you can read a book and stumble across a quest, or just walk around randomly and stumble across a tomb/wonder.

An excellent start.

Solid world building.
Great use of music and sound.
Beautiful artwork.
Interesting turn based combat (use your potions and the fights aren't hard)
A well written, though slightly predictable story.
The actual writing is pretty good, especially compared to what often appears in these adult games.

The sex animations were okay, but not the focal point of Parasite Black. they were well done, but honestly they weren't necessary. The game would be interesting without the sex. I think the sex was used more to add a grim reality to the game, so it works well with the world building and atmosphere.

Play this for the story and world building. That is where this shines.

I get a "Parasyte" anime vibe, which is sort of cool. That would be a solid influence if it turns out to be an influence.

If they can continue to maintain this quality then Parasite Black will be really cool.

I look forward to seeing how this develops.

(Note: Review is for first release. Will update accordingly on full release)

Promising start for a prologue. Here's hoping the quality remains consistently good as the story goes on.

Going to dock a star for the combat though. It's not that I don't like having combat for this, but compare it to the writing and the quality of the sex scenes in this game and it's just night and day. A lot of it needs work, but the general gist is that...it's not fun.

But yeah, other than that good first try.

Such an awesome game, a dark fantasy world wich gives you the best vibes of a roleplay adventure mixed with hot porn scenes. Art is 10 out of 10 and it is animated! It has turn base combat system, that worries me a bit but for now it looks promising. It is honestly one of the best first plays i had and it is such a well developed one, best of luck because this one can be easily one of the best games out there

This is a solid start to what might eventually end up being a fantastic game.

I played v0.123, took me about an hour to get to the end of the current content. Overall solid, the strong point of Parasite Black is definitely its world building and story/lore. There's quite a lot of sexual content, though I mostly found it boring and wordy, and the facial animations for the final girl during sex weirded me out. I found the character models/animation during combat to be... not good. But it's Ren'Py, so it is what it is.

Definitely a game to watch, this Prologue is very much worth a playthrough. However, it is short in length for the moment, so I would say you're not missing much by just waiting for more content patches before playing.

To anyone wondering if this is good or not, Don't sleep on this one. The Story is highly thought out and without any spoilers just got very interesting. The world is dark, bloody, gorey, and filled with opportunities, and scandals. If you feel you should wait a bit for this game to get in motion after the prologue than so be it, but I have high hopes for this. Speaking of which the prologue is filled with content both erotic and story wise.

Good job, and very good animation. Overall liked narative but battle system is quet slow. Want to see what you will add to the game, this is a promising start. Very high expectation here, definitely be looking forward to this one.

Very excited about this one, already has me hooked with the intriguing story and the initial 4 female characters are very sexy. I'm expecting good things from this game in the future; with a prologue that good, it's easily deserving of 5 stars. Good Luck!