RPGM Rise of Corruption [v0.3.3] [Umarius]

[DumDum1882]

Should I complete all the compliance for the settlements before completing the main quests or complete the main quests until it says otherwise?

It's up to you. The compliance content sometimes becomes relevant to advancing the main story anyway, and it stops the random rebels from attacking you entering cities, but it's also sometimes is gated by main story content. You can't get Vlester compliant until you corrupt Rina to a certain level for example, and Hypatia's compliance is heavily tied into both Erina and Hikari's routes.

 

[Woodstock_1983]

Why does my game keeps freezing up? Everytime I walk away from the game to do something, it constantly freezes.

 

[Umarius]

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...



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.

Thanks for the review and suggestion. There are some interesting ideas in it.

Most of the new Terindus events are in past content, so you've likely skipped most of the new ones in V0.3.3, but if you're wanting to do another playthrough, you will likely see them as you go through the content naturally if you spare Terindus.

Your idea of corruption beacons might not be something that the MC has the means to do within the game, but I could certainly see the original dark lord trying to do something like that back when a lot more powerful magic was being used by all sides in the initial stages of the war. I might include a lore conversation about some of the more extreme magical attempts done in that early period of the war, and what happened as a result of those attempts.

A little bug, when invading vlester, the one talking to us when leading the invasion is rina succubus form for some reason. Which should be misaki. Rina is barely being able to be corrupted at this point, and cannot be completed without invading vlester firts.

Thanks for reporting this. I've fixed this, and the bug won't be in the next update.

how to save i cant save

Usually whenever you can't save in an rpg maker game, it's because your computer is denying the game permission to create and edit save files. Go into the properties of the game's folders, and make sure their permissions are right.

Why does my game keeps freezing up? Everytime I walk away from the game to do something, it constantly freezes.

Does the audio still work during these freezes, and does it sound like the menus still work if you were to try to save/load the game during the freeze?

 

[Woodstock_1983]

Thanks for the review and suggestion. There are some interesting ideas in it.

Most of the new Terindus events are in past content, so you've likely skipped most of the new ones in V0.3.3, but if you're wanting to do another playthrough, you will likely see them as you go through the content naturally if you spare Terindus.

Your idea of corruption beacons might not be something that the MC has the means to do within the game, but I could certainly see the original dark lord trying to do something like that back when a lot more powerful magic was being used by all sides in the initial stages of the war. I might include a lore conversation about some of the more extreme magical attempts done in that early period of the war, and what happened as a result of those attempts.


Thanks for reporting this. I've fixed this, and the bug won't be in the next update.


Usually whenever you can't save in an rpg maker game, it's because your computer is denying the game permission to create and edit save files. Go into the properties of the game's folders, and make sure their permissions are right.


Does the audio still work during these freezes, and does it sound like the menus still work if you were to try to save/load the game during the freeze?

Yeah, all the sounds works. Even when I press Esc, it makes the sound it makes when you open the menu but nothing happens.

 

[Woodstock_1983]

I there a point into still using the cheat codes from this moment?

 

[Sylas12]

codes?

 

[Woodstock_1983]

Does it hurt if you fully corrupt Erina before you complete the main story line?

 

[DumDum1882]

Does it hurt if you fully corrupt Erina before you complete the main story line?

You can't fully corrupt her until all that is complete actually. You need to finish the 2nd deal with The Demon Queen and convert your first settlement before you're even allowed to finish corrupting her.

The Erina/Hikari Corruption routes and the religious/nobility plot lines are all intertwined, if in terms of coding more so than direct plot relevance.

 

[Woodstock_1983]

You can't fully corrupt her until all that is complete actually. You need to finish the 2nd deal with The Demon Queen and convert your first settlement before you're even allowed to finish corrupting her.

The Erina/Hikari Corruption routes and the religious/nobility plot lines are all intertwined, if in terms of coding more so than direct plot relevance.

Thanks, i just learned that. I'm glad it's like that. It prevents you from fully corrupting Erina and the queen and scaring the Demon Queen. It's better game flow this way.

 

[Woodstock_1983]

How can you travel directly to the quest room and back where you left? I forgot how lol.

 

[Woodstock_1983]

I was wondering. Will the new village have a thrown room where you can revive your party's health and a bedroom where you can access the quest room without having to keep going to the beginning castle and can fast travel to your new village?

 

[Woodstock_1983]

How do you remove this? i hope i don't have to start over from the beginning. If so, it's not worth going back and play again.

 

[Umarius]

How do you remove this? i hope i don't have to start over from the beginning. If so, it's not worth going back and play again. View attachment 5008597

Talk to someone who has an image come up, and that will be removed. Which event did you activate when this happened?

I was wondering. Will the new village have a thrown room where you can revive your party's health and a bedroom where you can access the quest room without having to keep going to the beginning castle and can fast travel to your new village?

Which village are you talking about?

How can you travel directly to the quest room and back where you left? I forgot how lol.

You should have a spell to travel there and back to your original location if you enter the bedroom.

Yeah, all the sounds works. Even when I press Esc, it makes the sound it makes when you open the menu but nothing happens.

That sounds like a common bug with RPG maker not being in-sync with your system. Here's the fix that works for most people that get this issue: open the file "rpg_core.js" with a text editor, and change " if (this._skipCount === 0) { " to " if (this._skipCount <= 0) { ", without the quotation marks. Remember to backup the file in case it doesn't work.

 

[Woodstock_1983]

Which village are you talking about?

I'm talking about your new kingdom. The one that you had to build your own village and church. The one the priest in the bar had you rebuild.

 

[Woodstock_1983]

Talk to someone who has an image come up, and that will be removed. Which event did you activate when this happened?

I had just went into her mind and when I came out, this popped up and won't remove.

 

[Woodstock_1983]

I finally free from error on Satomi corruption after redownload the game a few times

This doesn't work because when you delete the game all the saves gets deleted also.

 

[Umarius]

I'm talking about your new kingdom. The one that you had to build your own village and church. The one the priest in the bar had you rebuild.

I'll consider adding something like that after the capital is completely rebuilt.

I had just went into her mind and when I came out, this popped up and won't remove.

I found the cause, so this won't happen in the next version with that particular Satomi event. If something like this happens, talking to another character that has their image show on screen like that will remove the image.

 

[Woodstock_1983]

Until there's a proper fix for this, it's not worth playing. I was enjoying the game too. I refuse to start a whole new game, it took forever to get where I'm at now. All, I'm seeing is re-download the game but that erases all your old saves and you have to start from the beginning.

 

[Umarius]

Until there's a proper fix for this, it's not worth playing. I was enjoying the game too. I refuse to start a whole new game, it took forever to get where I'm at now. All, I'm seeing is re-download the game but that erases all your old saves and you have to start from the beginning. View attachment 5009951

You don't need to start a new game to fix this. All you need to do is talk to any character who's image shows on the screen. Simply talking to Misaki in the throne room for example will remove the image.

 

[Woodstock_1983]

You don't need to start a new game to fix this. All you need to do is talk to any character who's image shows on the screen. Simply talking to Misaki in the throne room for example will remove the image.

Thanks, that really helped.