Ren'Py - Rivers of Astrum: Daughter of Darkness [v0.2.1.5] [Paper Tiger]

Rivers of Astrum: Daughter of Darkness Review

Pirate Women Are Built Different
Okay, let me just say it—Rivers of Astrum is like if someone mashed up Game of Thrones with an all-lesbian pirate crew, sprinkled in some magic, a talking squirrel, and a surprising amount of heart. This dark fantasy visual novel is an early-access gem that’s still finding its sea legs, but oh boy, it’s already sailing strong if you’re into rich stories, complex women, and spicy romance. Also, shoutout to the dev for pouring 30 years of world-building passion into this project. That love shows.

About This Game

Storyline
You play as Kimberly Ashmoore—street-hardened rogue, pirate-town legend, and secretly soft lesbian romantic. Kim sets off to investigate a mysterious royal shipwreck, and things spiral into full-on destiny-mode real fast. Along for the ride are Cara, your half-elf lover with fiery vibes; Sandra, a pirate captain with flirtatious sass; and Vex, a mysterious elf scholar. Oh, and Dee, a talking squirrel, because of course.

The plot kicks off quick but doesn’t sacrifice depth. There’s betrayal, ancient magic, pirate politics, and prophetic dreams. Every character has layers, and the way their stories intertwine with Kim’s choices makes this feel more like a fantasy novel than your usual adult visual novel fare.

Gameplay Mechanics
This is a classic visual novel setup with a big focus on meaningful choices. Some affect your relationships, others your morality, and a few lead straight to bad ends (thankfully, retry options are there to save your ass). There’s also a light exploration minigame and a whole affection/morality system under the hood.

Now, before you dive in, be ready to fiddle with about 38 (yes, thirty-eight lmao) content filters. It’s like building your own fantasy kink buffet. Want pure romance with no kink? Done. Want everything spicy turned on? Go wild. The customization is impressive, and honestly, every adult VN should take notes.

Visuals & Audio
Character renders? Gorgeous. Backgrounds? Eh, they could use a little love. Animations are smooth and very much in the "less is more" category. The scenes look polished overall, and the higher resolution support makes everything crisp, even if transitions are sometimes just... black screens with a “moments later” tag slapped on.

But the real MVP? The voice acting. Seriously. This is not your typical “recorded-in-a-bathroom” AVN audio. The lead actress is the real deal—Netflix, HBO, and now, somehow, this pirate fantasy lesbo adventure. Her delivery brings these characters to life in a way that makes even slow moments feel alive. Not every character is voiced yet, but what’s there? Chef’s kiss.

Pros and Cons
Pros

• Lesbian protagonist with actual depth (finally!)
• Story that goes beyond just “sexy times”
• Stellar voice acting (seriously, listen to it)
• Content filters let you tailor your experience.
• Great character design and relationships.
• Pirate + fantasy + LGBTQ+ romance = magic.

Cons

• Limited content for now (about 2.5–3 hours of play)
• Backgrounds and scene transitions feel a bit placeholder-y.
• Animations aren’t as plentiful or varied.

Conclusion
Rivers of Astrum is like getting handed the first chapter of a beautifully written fantasy epic… only it’s a bit thirsty, proudly queer, and definitely not afraid to mix plot with pleasure. It’s not fully polished yet (early access, baby), but what’s already there is compelling, heartfelt, and sexy in a way that feels earned, not just tossed in.

At its current price, it’s absolutely worth the trip—especially if you’re craving a fantasy tale that centers queer women, rich relationships, and a story with actual stakes. Whether you’re here for the romance, the pirates, the squirrel, or the steamy sexual content, Rivers of Astrum delivers just enough to hook you, and leaves you hungry for Volume 2. Bring it on.

Rating: 4.5/5 (Picked 5 stars)
Captain Jack Sparrow should’ve been a character!

Links
Steam Store Page
Website Review

It is a choice based Vusual Novel witgh strong focus on erotic lesbian content. If you like Lesbian / Yuri content then you shouldn't miss this one! The choices drive the story and the interactions with different girls.

TL;DR = great game centered in a fantasy world filled with magic. This is hidden gem.

Story: 5/5
Pros:
+ I really liked the story.
+ This is one of those games, where you come for boobs, but stay for story.
+ You follow bunch of characters that are trying to survive in a dangerous world. Bandits, pirates and dark magic will get involved.
Cons:
- Story has a bit of fantasy cliché. (like: prophesied evil, dream visions from gods, etc.)

Art and Sex stuff: 5/5
Pros:
+ Renders are good.
+ Girls are hot.
+ Sex scenes are hot.
+ Game has sex animations.
+ There is a lot of variety in sex scenes. And a lot of choices to see different sex scenes.
Cons:
- Sadly there are only 2 straight sex scenes. There should be more options for heroines to participate in straight sex with males. But if you are here for lesbian content, then you wont mind.

Gameplay and rest: 4/5
Pros:
+ The game is a mix between Visual Novel and some RPG.
+ You will make a lot of choices that can affect story and stats of characters.
+ Game has okayish sountrack.
+ Game has sound effects for fighting.
+ Game has voice acting for majority of conversations. That is nice.
+ English is decent.
Cons:
- Unfortunately current version of the game is quite short. I think around 1 hour of gameplay.

To sum it up:
I really liked this game. This is hidden gem.

review version v0.2.1

First of all there is a sandbox tag but it's really just free roam.

You can disable voice acting or just about anything you don't want to see. I will say while I havent played alot of AVN's with VA this is one of the better ones. Still not the best VA out there but pretty decent still. I'm not an immersive player but the voice acting helps me feel that immersion. As the entire game so far felt like one big adventure that was fun. Like any fantasy tv show I would love watching also the dialogue helped sell this point for me.

It's worth mentioning there is one forced scene that isn't with the MC as I know some players are sensitive to this. However the MC hasn't even met them it's for story telling purposes while this lewd scene isn't needed it was nice to have nonetheless.

There is a decent amount of choices and different outcomes. In the first free roam event I made 10 different saves because of different morality level's and outcomes that can happen depending on which party member is the leader. Not sure how many of these will matter truth be told.

Also it seems the FMC is in a forced relationship with another LI. So it's unclear to me how to progress relationships with other characters will be like. Because they feel like they do love one another so don't think there will be any cheating going on. Speaking of which this is the only part I dislike the dialogue when they are lovely dovey to one another the word love is kind of over used for me and it starts to feel and sound weird.

Overall this is a hidden gem and one of the rare FMC that isn't about the FMC getting fucked or corrupted but has a story.

An enjoyable game, for sure.
Animations are rather simple - it's usually one animation that's split into stages and different speeds to make it look more interesting. Doesn't bother me, but if that is your focus - you'll definitely be left wanting more. I mostly come to F95 games for the story, heh.
Music is OK.

A surprising good story imao. Good artwork, a very good plot and the background from the girls are interesting ( so i think Sarah had a lot in common with Kim and Sarah ) I like the clothes , the details in the faces and the body ( not too big breast i like smaller ) I like too the love between Kim and Cara and how they show it, not alone in the sex scene also in hers conversation too. Now to Sarah a sexy pirate i was hope after Cara look Sarah chance her clothes and Kim spying on Sarah in her tent and her feeling each other it is place for enough love for a threesome because Sarah never know how it is to feel a love to other because the reason is her past. I think Sarah need Kim and Cara in this way and Kim and Cara need Sarah too but not like a harem.
Now Vex, i am curious , perhaps the can teach Cara Elf magic if they meet together.
Ok, that is what i think but whatever come in the future story, i like this VN and the choices they making.

incredibly hot mc ✔
pirate setting ✔
animated ✔
voiced ✔
many kinks ✔
toggleable content option ✔✔✔

the only negative thing (for me though, its probably a positive for many people) is that the mc is a lesbian, but it is what it is and don't feel right to take off one star for that reason.

best of luck to the dev.

This is just a quick first impression of the early V0.0.1a release of the game. The graphics look amazing, the assets used are appropriate for the setting (with the nit-picky objection to the somewhat modern looking underwear). The characters are very well designed, especially the MC is absolutely gorgeous.
It's much too early too comment on the story itself, but so far it sounds like it'll be fun with an interesting background mostly hinted at so far.
The English is very good, and everything seems to be very well-written . The dialogue, where many games have problems imo, doesn't sound odd or repetitive. I, at least, get the feeling the dev has put a lot of thought into this project and know where they are going with the project.

There is an early sex-scene with a kink or two that's a little more than pure vanilla and may not be to everyone's taste.