V0.3.2 is out for tiers 3 & 4 supporters on patreon and subscribestar. The public release will be Tuesday, June 10th.
Content included:
It has been a while since the last review. I initially wanted to start from the beginning again, but I just haven't found the time to do that. Guess I just have to do that some other time, and review the last 3 updates.
V0.3.0
- To be entirely honest, I fully expected Maiko to be an easy target to be corrupted, so seeing Misaki essentially do it for you is a bit satisfying. It's like by this point of time, the current Dark Lord doesn't even need to lift a finger to corrupt a measly human. This really gives the feeling that we have gone far compared to the earliest steps.
- Seeing Maiko's performance in person kinda makes me think if Maiko is also somehow blessed by the Divines to amplify her charm. The sparkles from her on stage seems familiar. I guess we will see what happens once she fully succumbs.
- Maiko's prison game is quite diverse. Didn't expect that many options to do at just level 1, hah. On hindsight it shouldn't be surprising that idols, symbols of purity, have the most ways to be corrupted.
- Satomi is an entirely different story from all the corruptions so far. It finally establishes just how difficult it is to corrupt a Divine being who is aware of the Dark Lord's ability to influence thoughts.
How Satomi's personality is
genuinely annoying is great too: a combination of self-assurance, smugness, and vindictiveness from how she toys with the Dark Lord's attempt to influence her mind is essentially the first true opposition to the Dark Lord's corruption attempts. I honestly kinda wish the Dark Lord servants can react to this fuckery, their outraged reactions would be deeply entertaining.
Also kinda nice to see Satomi confirming the Dark Lord can kinda see the surface thoughts of most people he is talking with cause of his corruptive force: it's a small tidbit to the nature of corruption.
I won't forget Satomi essentially allows the Dark Lord to even corrupt her. This humiliation will be repaid. How Erina consistently manages to get under Satomi's skin would be the appetizer for a long, sweet revenge, heh.
- Gotta say Satomi is more affected by level 1 corruption than expected. She is noticeably trying to keep her thoughts clean despite her taunts. That said, it's plenty clear from her prayers that Satomi is largely unaffected. I do appreciate how straightforward Satomi gets in prison game too: it's a good chance of pace once in a while.
- Unfortunately, I can't seem to find all of the Terindus events (I only found the one with the merchant guild in the Commercial District of Hypatia capital) or Corrupted Romanos.
- A cosmetic change to the Dark Lord's form is interesting. And we are even told there would be multiple levels. I wonder if by the end of it, the current Dark Lord would be a splitting image of the original, which I nicknamed Hokkma, heh.
- Interesting to see Reina can seemingly tell that something is off with the whole situation with the Dark Lord. Could it be the elf queen can tell that things seem to fall into place so conveniently?
V0.3.1
- Being an avid fan of idols, I have chosen to let Maiko retain her kindness, despite the temptation of making her more apathetic. Besides, being kind is tiring, so logically it would make her more stressful anyway.
- I notice that Maiko still needs to be persuaded by Misaki to strip. Her performance is largely unchanged, though I can push a bit more in the prison game. Let's see where this takes her.
- The quest with Uxousin's guard captain is simple expected. It is the foreshadowings and the story cutscene happening between them which is worth commenting about.
- Bogthos's reaction to something familiar rapidly approaching makes me think of one of the lore drops by Bogthos sensei, about Hokkma's past works and legacy still left in the present. And sure enough, it turns out to be a child of his. The elf kingdom arc is proving to be interesting.
- Edar's will has been cowed by the Supreme Goddess Mika, how unfortunate. It's more fun to crush enemies who are still defiant and at their best, rather than the current Edar. And really, all the Divines are now just resorting to waiting it out? Mika's downfall is going to be like the Tower Arcana.
- I appreciate how funny Bogthos's face gets distorted when he realizes Sayuri is a child of the Dark Lord. And Sayuri's whole existence makes the plot thicken, really. The possibility of Sayuri being incorruptible being on the table is likely one of the best ways to promote and highlight this arc, heh.
- Breaking a priest's will to make him turn his back from the people and the gods he served is a nice treat. If you can't break the whole, target the weak links and the foundation: Erina proving why she is still a goddess, even post corruption, heh. I surprisingly don't have an issue finding each person to talk with in the capital to progress.
- Likewise, beginning the next religious conversion in Vlester is also fun. I like that the dialogues with the people reflects the previous talks with the Dark Lord's main priest about how his religion should be presented, the enforcement of his worship, etc. It is a good way to show the choices matter and it is consistent.
- Bogthos-sensei's lore about the difference between monsters and demons are highly appreciated. I like that your definition of monster basically follows the Japanese term Mamono (magical creature, implying they are created through magic), while your demon follows the Greek concept of daemons (naturally occurring spirits outside of normal lifeforms).
The lore about the original Succubus Queen is not just world-building but also more foreshadowing, lol. I am fairly certain this original Succubus would somehow be relevant in the future, and given the lore also clarifies how succubi are expected to work, I am not surprised the next update contains a quest focusing on it.
V0.3.2
- I decided to do Misaki's side quest first out of pure coincidence (I intended to go to Hypatia first while the Dark Lord was in his castle, triggering Misaki's report about the succubi) and it happened to be a fun side dish.
I personally am not annoyed about the Succubi's attitude toward Misaki; even if they are corrupted and their sense of loyalty to the original Succubus Queen is artificial, longing for your original leader and mother is understandable. Of course, that makes how Misaki essentially dominatrix-es her way into reducing the succubi to submission all the funnier.
And as soon as corrupting an adventurer lady becomes a test, I knew how it would end -- all Succubi are fundamentally aligned with corruption and pleasure, after all.
- I dealt with the missing shipping goods next at the Old Capital. Really, why would I send my corrupted Romanos to deal with the camp when they are just free EXP? My Dark Lord levels up once from the rebels!
That said, I appreciate that it's quite realistic for this kind of problem to pop up without security policy and forces in place. After dealing with the bandit problem, I ultimately choose to create a mercenary guild than a centralized system. If the lore talks with Bogthos sensei has told me anything, placing all your eggs in one basket isn't a good idea, considering how much the capital was targeted in the ancient war.
- The new Uxousin quest to deal with its church is fun. I appreciate that our chances to distract the priest is limited, and the correct choices are harder to guess. I made a single mistake in one of them on first try! And it is also nice that the correct choices reveal more stuff about the elves.
- Gotta say, either Maiko's slutty outfit is too tame, or I am too used to this already, haha. That said, the corruption event is pretty much a breeze, Misaki practically handles all of it already.
- I can actually make her perform without her panties on stage this time, good. This kind of prison game where you essentially customize the kind of lewd corruption happening to the girls probably should be repeated more in the future. A shame circumstances like Maiko's isn't easy to repeat.
- It's a bit fun seeing Ayaki and Sayuri politicking with Ayumi and Hikari. That said, it is difficult to get invested when you know both sides are really just stalling for time with these negotiations. Conflicts really do have their slow days, too.
Bogthos's analysis of Sayuri is the interesting part of this, since it either means Sayuri doesn't have magical proficiency or it is sealed away, and if it is the latter then she can be considered a rigged time bomb. Ayaki being a future stewardess for when the Dark Lord has conquered more nations is also likely to unlock one of the keys in that tomb...
I made a mistake by waiting for a V.0.2.15 before checking things out, not knowing V.0.2.14 is going to be the last one before V.0.3? I will rectify that mistake.
Review:
- The first step toward establishing the new Dark Lord religion is to play is to play at being a merciful god in Holmdow, ahahaha. It is entertaining and logical because Holmdow has been enjoying relative peace for so long away from the front lines that the image of the Dark Lord (who has been corrupting famous women left and right and even a goddess) healing a peasant sounds perfectly normal. I fully expect the other settlements, especially ones who experienced combat like Telind, to be much more difficult.
On Holmdow itself, I also appreciate how you have the option of vaporizing a peasant shit talking you. It offers you the possibility of failure in establishing a religious foothold, and THAT I enjoy. As I have been saying from before, giving options which could lead to failure and negative results are good. It makes the experience immersive.
- Ah yes, Yukako insisting she is going to be the first offering in the first Dark Lord church is very on brand. What, is she going to insert herself as the firsts for all future churches? Erina might compete with her on that front though.
- I enjoy Sartorius's final quest for one simple reason: the Rebels. I think update-wise we haven't been facing that many enemies to give the party members EXP. Hell, after slaughtering everyone I can, the Dark Lord only levels up once! And everyone else doesn't.
It is actually almost disappointing how smooth it was, but there really isn't any other way it could have gone given it is just a bunch of squishy humans against a practical physical god and his minions. I turned that one guy into a clown and decided not to execute the ones which aren't obliged to be executed in favor of painful mercy. It isn't cathartic as I thought it would be -- mainly because exterminating insects isn't meant to be, I guess.
- I deliberated quite a bit when it comes to the deal with Mephi the Demon Queen. There is no option where I can turn down Satomi, which is logical since from Dark Lord and Bogthos perspective the archangel is like a treasure trove of recent information. The only decision is whether to keep the alliance with Ferox or to allow Mephi to witness the final corruption process of Erina and interview her.
I tried to view this from 2 perspectives: from the viewpoint of the Dark Lord, and from the viewpoint of the player.
From Dark Lord perspective, letting Mephi be more aware of how a goddess can be corrupted is a more severe loss, and it is the easy option to just throw away Ferox to the wind. Ferox is also quite rude and rather unapologetic, telling the Dark Lord to make personal sacrifices for his benefit.
From player perspective however, the past of most resistance is often the most beneficial. It is almost certain Mika the Supreme Goddess was the one who assisted or caused Ferox to betray Mephi, and it is probable she would have wanted the Dark Lord to sacrifice him and keep his secrets. Letting Mephi learn more from the Dark Lord would also, unironically, discourage the Queen from trying to learn more, because she would think she has learned enough from the Dark Lord. The less Mephi knows about that other plane and that door, the better.
So ultimately I ended up warning Ferox ahead of time, and despite him basically telling me to sacrifice on his behalf, I still did it. What a kind Dark Lord I am, lol.
- I initially chose to corrupt Hikari and Erina at once in private with Mephi watching, but after watching it once I reloaded so it happens in public lol. The reaction of the onlookers is a treat.
Corrupted Erina and Hikari kinda make me think of characters from Fate series actually... Erina's forehead mark reminds me of Medusa, while Hikari's hair color and pose reminds me of Scathach. Dunno if that was intended, but bonus points anyway.
- One of the braziers lighting up in response to Erina is interesting since it heavily implies the previous Dark Lord fully expects his successor to corrupt a goddess. In fact, it is fully possible for the Dark Lord to expect Erina specifically, because it is evident the Dark Lord has clashed with the Divines personally and Erina is likely one of the deities who descend to the physical realm more often than most.
- Speaking with Bogthos and then Erina in her newly formed realm more or less confirms my suspicion -- what is behind that door are a form of remnants of the lost magics of the past. The talk about free teleportation and how it was successfully dimensionally locked implied the magics available back then were much greater than now. That said, I am still curious on how the previous Dark Lord managed to preserve that. I wonder if it is related to how he managed to preserve his "essence" to be given to a human?
Hum, at this point I should give the previous Dark Lord a nickname too for convenience. If the Supreme Goddess is Michael/Mika, the Demon Queen is Mephistopheles/Mephi, then given how the previous Dark Lord fully expected his death to bring about a new beginning and preserved things from the past, I will call him Hakkma, the personification of worldly wisdom (contrast Chokmah, wisdom of God). Plenty fitting for one of the masters of the physical realm and a source of corruption; few corrupts more than knowledge.
This update does give that "season finale" vibe before the next one. It's great, both in content and lore. I might be too late in giving suggestions, but I am still going to give my usual free ideas.
- Now that Satomi is in the Dark Lord's custody, it is good time to try and learn about the angels, which hasn't been highlighted as much as the deities ironically enough.
I find it highly, highly doubtful Satomi will listen to the Dark Lord under normal circumstances, so I think a deal is in order: some measure of limited freedom in exchange of information, just like with Yuma. Unlike deities, angels seem to manifest in the physical realm more often; so there must be records about historical angelic appearances, and likely temples in past settlements where notable angelic descent were said to happen.
It would be neat if both Mika and Satomi dismiss the Dark Lord's attempt to study angels via archeological search and study to be "pointless searching for scrapes" but then the Dark Lord discovers unexpectedly useful information or an edge against the Divines.
This is believable since Anna (the partially corrupted angel) has been around for a long, long while since the Zerethin Wall was built. And while Mika has been keeping an eye on Anna, it is probable the angel could slip a few things to the physical realm beneath the Supreme Goddess's notice precisely because Anna slipped it to past places deemed forgotten or irrelevant. After all, the biggest blindspots for those who always look at the future are in the past, haha.
- I think it would be nice if we can have a "settlement being razed to the ground" event. It is a perfect way to speed up the religious movements of the Dark Lord religion because faith always finds a way to ferment itself in times of crisis.
The Dark Lord and his minions personally rescuing citizens from an invader -- would be better if it is the Divines, but realistically it is most likely the Demon Army -- is the stuff which will be immortalized in songs and legends. No religion can truly grow without that.
And now, that's all I have to say. From your Patreon locked posts I think I can tell the development of 3.0 is going smoothly, so I think I won't need to wait that long for the next update. Keep up the great work.
All things considered, the past three updates are build ups. Notably, the number of quests begin to increase, reflecting the increased effort necessary to manage Dark Lord's growing territory and influence. I wouldn't say the past three updates are "exciting," but it's definitely entertaining.
Now with all that said, time to give suggestions. As usual, consider these free ideas you can pick up and use, or throw to the wind.
- Considering how the majority of monsters are unnatural creations and that Hokkma has spent literal millennia trying to create new ones, I think it is only fitting if the new Dark Lord can come up with something new.
Given how long the previous Dark Lord tried to create something new and he only managed to do so with good materials (Divine blessed woman, in the case of the Succubus Queen), we can conclude even the new Dark Lord wouldn't be able to create something new without it as well. And opportunity to get those doesn't come often, so shouldn't we try and create our own?
One thing which comes to mind is inspired by a couple of manga stories. The Dark Lord can seemingly corrupt corpses, right? To create skeletal beings like Bogthos and Terindus. Would it be possible to corrupt graveyards -- especially mass graves, which no doubt would exist in the continent, given its long history of war plus hazards from adventuring -- to create monsters which effectively serve as "beacons" of corruption?
These beacons
consecrated in corruption is likely going to be effective on anybody from humans to elves to demons to angels to gods alike, especially if the mass graves are filled with the corpses and blood of beings from
all sides from the past wars. Human nature, elven nature, demonic nature, divine nature, all bound together by corruption.
Besides being a potential monster spawning ground, beacons of corruption like this can be potentially used as teleportation networks, if the Dark Lord ever has to recreate teleportation in a way which doesn't allow the other factions to use it. We might also create our own Berserk-inspired corrupted sword (bathed in the essence of so many supernatural beings, now the blade can harm anything).
Yes, I will never stop suggesting ideas which makes the Dark Lord create weapons.
It might seem weird that Hokkma didn't manage to create one of these in the past if he was able to, but there are reasons to justify why he didn't manage to: the Blessed Heroes, which keep being sent to target the Dark Lord over time. In short, the previous Dark Lord was never given the luxury of time to corrupt something on this scale. The current one, though, might have that time once the elven kingdom falls.
- This is more of a flavour suggestion, but does Hokkma ever tried to experiment with biological warfare? Using corrupted agent to infiltrate settlements, then spread a disease tinged with corruption, zombie outbreak style?
Unlike the above idea, I don't intend this to be much more than just "one of the previous Dark Lord's methods of using corruption which didn't see much use due to failure". After all, suggestions can be about anything, can they?
For now, that's all I have to say. Really, I hope next time the game updates, I can make these reviews sooner rather than letting them pile up.