People play H-Games for a variety of reason, centred on one important aspect - the actual smut. As such, the industry (if it can be called that) has evolved in a way to put emphasis on the smut and ignoring most gameplay elements. F95 is littered with games that run the gamut from scene collectors to semi-proper RPGs with the vast majority doing the bare minimum to classify themselves as a game. In such a landscape, it is rare to find a gem such as Pronant Symphony that has so many gameplay elements to it that you forget you're playing an H-Game. In fact, some minor exposure to the H-Scenes early on made me dislike them as they weren't all that good. However, I ended up putting 20+ hours into the game as I was captivated by the gameplay elements.
A lot of people have already talked in depth about the gameplay elements so I'll just quickly summarize the ones that stood out to me as memorable. The game is an RPG where you do turn-based combat to level up, collect materials from monsters (but also from the environment) and use it to synthesize gear. However, where it is unique is that it has a day/night system. You encounter more monsters at night and you get different crafting materials, rare ones that result in better equipment. The turn-based combat isn't your usual "Spam Z" as you have limits on the number of abilities you can use initially. You have to be careful to keep your better attacks for tougher enemies and not waste them on cannon fodder. You can reset the limit once per dungeon run. However, it is advantageous to stay in the dungeon for longer as it results in better materials, more XP and you get "Hell Points" which you can use to upgrade your attacks' power and limit. The battles themselves are exciting enough for a WolfRPG game. You can discover information about your opponents using battle knowledge and then equip abilities that target their weakness. The battle stage also has dynamic elements which mean that using a certain element is advantageous at that particular moment. So it's useful to have a wide variety of elemental attacks equipped for the right moment.
Equipment also makes a fair difference in this game with some annoyingly overpowered enemies hidden away. The boss, satan and another archdemon were annoying to defeat unless you knew their attacks and equipped your party accordingly. And choosing your party with the right skills is essential as well. You need a healer, a ranger and a DPS.
Another great quality about the game is that there's a lot of content that isn't essential to the game itself but is useful and fun to discover and do. You can capture and sell monsters, if you sell them to a zoo-ish area, you get crafting materials for synthesis. Or you can sell them for money. There are a lot of treasures on offer that require first gathering information from denizens of the floor, then beating a boss. Doing so gives you clothing options for your party and while limited, were a fun smutty side to a game otherwise lacking in H-Content. The game also has a metroidvania-esque quality to it where getting equipment opens up newer areas on earlier levels so you have reason to go back and retrace old steps. Doing so leads to some useful equipment that comes in handy not only during regular gameplay but also the final boss.
One thing I wasn't a fan of was the grind. After you reach a certain point, there's nothing to do except beat the final boss. But if you're not levelled enough or RNG luck hasn't given you the right amulets, you're stuck grinding. I didn't have any particular equipment for death-negation so I had to walk around looking for the right materials and it just simply wasn't happening. You also can't sell your equipment. You can sell the synthesis materials but not the equipment. There was a lot of shit I was carrying around that cluttered up my inventory and I'd have been happier if I could have gotten rid of it.
Which leads us to the H-Scenes. Truth be told, I completely ignored them. Saw a couple and they weren't of the highest quality and I was genuinely having a good time playing the game, I decided to forego them and go down the good route. Which is a shame. The idea of mind controlling and requests like "Give me your panties" conjure up images of some great CG after which the character in question is pantyless during combat. But none such scenes transpired. Instead, you get an equippable item which is easily ignored amongst the vast mounds of paraphernalia you'll collect. Clothing damage was also not progressive enough so there's a lot to be desired on that front.
At the end of the day, this is a rubbish H-Game. But it is a solid game and by virtue of having some smutty elements to it, is elevated above the drivel that usually plague the industry - an industry that is filled with low-investment games where combat means spamming Z or where the story involves just slutting out the MC. Thus, I feel this game could be genre-defining in a way. If the smut was improved, it would undoubtedly be the best RPG H-Game I have ever played.
A lot of people have already talked in depth about the gameplay elements so I'll just quickly summarize the ones that stood out to me as memorable. The game is an RPG where you do turn-based combat to level up, collect materials from monsters (but also from the environment) and use it to synthesize gear. However, where it is unique is that it has a day/night system. You encounter more monsters at night and you get different crafting materials, rare ones that result in better equipment. The turn-based combat isn't your usual "Spam Z" as you have limits on the number of abilities you can use initially. You have to be careful to keep your better attacks for tougher enemies and not waste them on cannon fodder. You can reset the limit once per dungeon run. However, it is advantageous to stay in the dungeon for longer as it results in better materials, more XP and you get "Hell Points" which you can use to upgrade your attacks' power and limit. The battles themselves are exciting enough for a WolfRPG game. You can discover information about your opponents using battle knowledge and then equip abilities that target their weakness. The battle stage also has dynamic elements which mean that using a certain element is advantageous at that particular moment. So it's useful to have a wide variety of elemental attacks equipped for the right moment.
Equipment also makes a fair difference in this game with some annoyingly overpowered enemies hidden away. The boss, satan and another archdemon were annoying to defeat unless you knew their attacks and equipped your party accordingly. And choosing your party with the right skills is essential as well. You need a healer, a ranger and a DPS.
Another great quality about the game is that there's a lot of content that isn't essential to the game itself but is useful and fun to discover and do. You can capture and sell monsters, if you sell them to a zoo-ish area, you get crafting materials for synthesis. Or you can sell them for money. There are a lot of treasures on offer that require first gathering information from denizens of the floor, then beating a boss. Doing so gives you clothing options for your party and while limited, were a fun smutty side to a game otherwise lacking in H-Content. The game also has a metroidvania-esque quality to it where getting equipment opens up newer areas on earlier levels so you have reason to go back and retrace old steps. Doing so leads to some useful equipment that comes in handy not only during regular gameplay but also the final boss.
One thing I wasn't a fan of was the grind. After you reach a certain point, there's nothing to do except beat the final boss. But if you're not levelled enough or RNG luck hasn't given you the right amulets, you're stuck grinding. I didn't have any particular equipment for death-negation so I had to walk around looking for the right materials and it just simply wasn't happening. You also can't sell your equipment. You can sell the synthesis materials but not the equipment. There was a lot of shit I was carrying around that cluttered up my inventory and I'd have been happier if I could have gotten rid of it.
Which leads us to the H-Scenes. Truth be told, I completely ignored them. Saw a couple and they weren't of the highest quality and I was genuinely having a good time playing the game, I decided to forego them and go down the good route. Which is a shame. The idea of mind controlling and requests like "Give me your panties" conjure up images of some great CG after which the character in question is pantyless during combat. But none such scenes transpired. Instead, you get an equippable item which is easily ignored amongst the vast mounds of paraphernalia you'll collect. Clothing damage was also not progressive enough so there's a lot to be desired on that front.
At the end of the day, this is a rubbish H-Game. But it is a solid game and by virtue of having some smutty elements to it, is elevated above the drivel that usually plague the industry - an industry that is filled with low-investment games where combat means spamming Z or where the story involves just slutting out the MC. Thus, I feel this game could be genre-defining in a way. If the smut was improved, it would undoubtedly be the best RPG H-Game I have ever played.