(Version Reviewed: v0.3.11)
I'm a little unsure on how to review this game. I could see myself rating it as average as well as good. Eventually I chose average, but I can see myself rating it as good as well since I keep coming back to play this game no matter how much it disappoints me.
Let's begin with the art and I would say that it's excellent. One of the most attractive 2D art games out there. The characters all look wonderful. It presents an excellent grimdark image most of the time which fits the theme of the story.
The music fits the theme of the theme of the game and it definitely enhances it. I just wish there was a large selection of tracks though.
The premise is quite interesting. Not many games have the MC as a heroic figure but being forced to serve the evil he had always fought against. It also helps that the MC's wife is pulled into the shenanigans and she isn't just a figure to support his journey but an active participant.
The story is pretty well-structured. We have the MC live his comfortable village life to attempting to save his wife (and the struggles he face along the way which reminds him why he hates the nobility) to being forced to serve the evil doers. I liked how we get to choose that MC seeks to serve them to improve his livelihood. The story then follows how he serves them by his actions in conquering a neighboring village, conquering his liege lord's keep, gaining allies and conquering the kingdom that he served under. All excellent plot points.
Where the game fails is with the UI as it still has bugs on every release.
I'm also not a big fan of the DnD style of the game. It often forces MC to miss out on scenes as it comes up on a random. I do not mind creating multiple saves, but atleast it would be good if there was a guarantee that we can see each scene created for the update.
The main LI (Alexia) is also a secondary protagonist. We can have an NTR path with her character. I do not mind NTR and chose to see the NTR scenes. I feel her character drops in quality after each update. Initially Alexia's reasons to cheat on the MC was that he does not give her attention and her desire for more power. But as the game progresses, she just becomes a mindless cock hungry slut which stops her from being an interesting character.
I liked the villainess Jezera as her character does have strong feats and does magic that is beyond the scope of the MC. She is also a more calculating villain and forces us to play the game of intrigue to keep up with her. But, her brother (and villain) Andras is so fucking boring. His only character traits are that he hates the MC for killing his dad and he wants to fuck MC's wife as an extra form of revenge. He does go for the seduction route initially and I liked that aspect, but afterwards he just turns her into a cock drunk slut instead of shifting her allegiance from her husband to himself. Kinda feels like wasted potential.
There are multiple other characters that are interesting such as Greyhide (the minotaur blacksmith), Cla-Min (the goblin woman merchant), Heartsong (the fae girl), Liurial (the elf girl assistant), etc. But, again the characters are mostly restricted to Rowan's path. Alexia's path has become more and more of a mindless corruption (excluding Greyhide).
The development is quite slow as well. It is a game that started in 2016 and we are still playing in the first kingdom. This is a game that I can see going on forever with very little added in terms of content.
Overall, I think a rating of 6.5/10 is fair. It just feels somewhat like wasted potential.
I'm a little unsure on how to review this game. I could see myself rating it as average as well as good. Eventually I chose average, but I can see myself rating it as good as well since I keep coming back to play this game no matter how much it disappoints me.
Let's begin with the art and I would say that it's excellent. One of the most attractive 2D art games out there. The characters all look wonderful. It presents an excellent grimdark image most of the time which fits the theme of the story.
The music fits the theme of the theme of the game and it definitely enhances it. I just wish there was a large selection of tracks though.
The premise is quite interesting. Not many games have the MC as a heroic figure but being forced to serve the evil he had always fought against. It also helps that the MC's wife is pulled into the shenanigans and she isn't just a figure to support his journey but an active participant.
The story is pretty well-structured. We have the MC live his comfortable village life to attempting to save his wife (and the struggles he face along the way which reminds him why he hates the nobility) to being forced to serve the evil doers. I liked how we get to choose that MC seeks to serve them to improve his livelihood. The story then follows how he serves them by his actions in conquering a neighboring village, conquering his liege lord's keep, gaining allies and conquering the kingdom that he served under. All excellent plot points.
Where the game fails is with the UI as it still has bugs on every release.
I'm also not a big fan of the DnD style of the game. It often forces MC to miss out on scenes as it comes up on a random. I do not mind creating multiple saves, but atleast it would be good if there was a guarantee that we can see each scene created for the update.
The main LI (Alexia) is also a secondary protagonist. We can have an NTR path with her character. I do not mind NTR and chose to see the NTR scenes. I feel her character drops in quality after each update. Initially Alexia's reasons to cheat on the MC was that he does not give her attention and her desire for more power. But as the game progresses, she just becomes a mindless cock hungry slut which stops her from being an interesting character.
I liked the villainess Jezera as her character does have strong feats and does magic that is beyond the scope of the MC. She is also a more calculating villain and forces us to play the game of intrigue to keep up with her. But, her brother (and villain) Andras is so fucking boring. His only character traits are that he hates the MC for killing his dad and he wants to fuck MC's wife as an extra form of revenge. He does go for the seduction route initially and I liked that aspect, but afterwards he just turns her into a cock drunk slut instead of shifting her allegiance from her husband to himself. Kinda feels like wasted potential.
There are multiple other characters that are interesting such as Greyhide (the minotaur blacksmith), Cla-Min (the goblin woman merchant), Heartsong (the fae girl), Liurial (the elf girl assistant), etc. But, again the characters are mostly restricted to Rowan's path. Alexia's path has become more and more of a mindless corruption (excluding Greyhide).
The development is quite slow as well. It is a game that started in 2016 and we are still playing in the first kingdom. This is a game that I can see going on forever with very little added in terms of content.
Overall, I think a rating of 6.5/10 is fair. It just feels somewhat like wasted potential.