RPGM - Secrets of Troll - A Nordland Chronicles Tale [v0.05b] [NorChronicle]

Gameplay, story and flow are good!
MC Dialogue is Mad Decent , and the NPCs are interesting enough that I want to see how the story develops in future updates. I am 10/10 on playing play next update.
The 4 stars is just du to bugs witch will be fixed im sure, and difficulty with the flow of a few side quest timelines.

Review for v0.04

Seeing that this is inspired by one of my favorite games on the site, and that I generally like this genre of lewd game, I figured I'd give this a shot. Giving it the benefit of the doubt in some regard, I do think this has potential.

The writing feels like it takes an almost normalized/simple approach if that makes sense? The way characters have acted and speak in general feels realistic in a way. Where you might usually have played up tropes or exaggerated character elements, most people feel like actual village folk more or less. I think that's working for me so far.

In the same vein though, I don't think any of it feels complex enough yet. Most of the characters so far have very little content, but lets take a look at Hilda: our first companion. After escaping a prison carriage with her, we end up finding her in town and she invites us to go treasure hunting with her. Repeat that treasure hunting event a few times and then she just blows you. A couple more times and you have sex. Eventually you invite her to help you with a quest and she says ok I'll travel with you from now on.

That's it. We know very little of anything else about this character. Her motives, things she likes, dislikes, her past, etc etc. I am not at all attached to Hilda, which feels unfortunate since she's a companion joining you in doing stuff around the world. She's lacking character to put it simply. I'd be concerned other characters end up suffering from the same issue, but there's not enough to go on thus far.

The rest of the game plays pretty standard to these sandbox survival RPGM games. Got a food and hunger bar to manage (which isn't that tedious honestly), a time system, talents to raise, working at a farm to earn money, fighting goblins while looking for treasure to sell, you get the idea.

The renders and character models look fine enough, but the small aspect ratio hurts the game. The few sex scenes are animated which is nice, but they aren't going to be the best you've seen. Honestly they don't particularly hit for me so far, but that's more because I'm just not that into the girls yet.

The base of a potentially good RPGM game is here, provided you don't mind grind and such. But I need it to get some depth to it for me to ever truly enjoy it. I don't mind grinding and adventuring around, but what makes it all worth it so to speak is the love interests. If they stay as simple as they currently feel, I can't say I'd feel motivated to play this again.

A tentative 4 stars for now. I'd personally say wait for more content, but there's enough to get a basic feel for the game. I'd like to have another good lewd sandbox RPGM game to mess around in, so here's hoping it gets there.

Now, do not be discouraged that I only gave three stars for this game. This game is just clearly in the beta phase. Not a full game yet. So, here are my thoughts on the game so far.

First, thanks for making it free to play to the internet. I know that is a lot of revenue the creator is not getting to fund this game but helps reach a wider audience. If you want to increase your revenue, recommend you release the second to latest version on f95zone and the later version on a different website like SubscribeStar. This helps keep the revenue while insuring people like me who are cheap-scates can enjoy the game and give our thoughts.

Now, was super confused on the beginning part of the story. You are a prisoner charged with a crime we do not know if we committed. Freed when bandits attack and escape with a lovely lady. That is not the best. For one, I have no clue if the character is guilty or innocent. Makes it hard to be a blank slate for the player to play as we have that cloud of ‘are we guilty?’ hovering over our heads. Second, feels superfluous. Can’t think of a single time in the town of Troll where you being a criminal ever comes up. No guards search the town for missing convicts. No bandit attacks to show how you escaped because of a bandit attack. Would have preferred we are just an ‘up and coming’ adventurer who learned about Troll and wishes to uncover its mysteries.

A Struggle With Sin worked because the first hour lets you get involved in the world. Your farther Marcus fed, clothed, and put a roof over your head for all your life. That caused the main character to be lazy. Always drinking with Rick in the pub and not learning how to hunt. That explains how you the player start with nothing. No money and no skills. Having to earn all that over the course of the game.

Another thing Struggle With Sin did very well was give us a map in the intro. Now, you are clearly in the beginning stages of developing the game but a map would really help the players feel like this is a real place. Where is the capital of the Empire? Is the Empire in decline or stagnant or growing? How close is Troll to the ruins? You might not know everything you are going to do in the game but at least give us a rudimentary map so we know where we are and where the current limits of the game are.

Now, I am a big believer in survival games. Food does not magically appear in front of you because you are hungry. So, do like how the player needs to eat and sleep to stay healthy. The problem is the game is far to harsh on food and sleep. The game should punish players who leave the town on low energy and perform badly in combat with no energy to explore. This should not be a constant bloody battle where the biggest challenge of the game is not the combat but keeping those food and sleep bars high. Is just far too unforgiving in the current game. Please make it so when you eat and sleep at the inn, everything is fully restored.

Did like how you could run into goblins when exploring ruins. That was a great touch to show why Troll has not been picked clean.

Also feel free to decrease the amount of copper you make and pay in the game. Twenty copper seems a bit much for only four hours of work on a farm. And thirty coppers for a meal is too much. Would make it so that when the player discovers or saves up to one gold, you really feel that accomplishment of being rich.

The rest is just copy what Struggle With Sin did. Make Troll as big as Arenfield. More characters like families you meet. Each character has different skills. And more places to explore besides the ruins such as mines and forests.

Did not talk that much about the sex scenes and that is because I have little to say. They are good. Though did like how you meet one character at a statue in the evening by placing flowers at said statue. That was a great touch to expand the lore while also seducing one of the ladies.