RPGM - Star Knightess Aura [v0.50.1] [aura-dev]

First time reviewing on here, so sorry for the structure.

I did not expect to get engrossed in the writing and characters, but the creator did a good job writing them and having them act consistent that I did get pretty invested. Even the side NPCs have their own quirks and personalities. This ties into the meat of this game: the corruption. I've played quite a few corruption games and I can easily say that the writing for the MC is top tier, especially the details with the inner thoughts. The approach used here is very cool where you can see Aura's Psyche and Her Corrupting Influence: Luciela battle it out verbally over how Aura should react. However the best part about this is with the color coded names/dialogue, since you will start to see the lines get blurred and can see how some of Aura's statements start to get "taken over" by the lewd/pink thoughts. This approach makes every scene feel organic and spicy in a way few other corruption titles did for me. Why bother going for the corruption path if the heroine puts up no fight or we can't understand her inner thoughts and her struggle with her values?

With that said, there are not many actual H-Scenes for this narrative approach to get used in, but this dynamic stretches across the whole game not just H-Events (i.e. deciding to steal stuff, turning against your irl friends, changes in morality, attitude towards your bf etc.) So like many reviews have stated, if you want a quick fap this game is not it and the actual CGs lack movement, moans, etc. This game thrives with its dialogue and characters providing the spice more akin to erotica. In fact, the corruption path covers all the bases so well that, it actually became hard to go down the path as things progressed because I actually felt bad for her friends, and the people around her in the other world too. All this to say that the depth of the corruption you get is far more than the surface level sexual and appearance stuff, like being able to see her fond memories and corrupt them at their core and see the changes reflect outward slowly.

The game elements themselves are very well polished, and the gripes I have against the game are minor mostly. First off, it's not clear to the player what your progression blocks are especially in Chapter 1. I do not recommend playing on Normal difficulty for this reason. The combat is hard yet fair mostly, but at the beginning it's rough, so if you spend a lot of time upgrading your stats, reading books etc. you start to soft lock yourself because the game does not make it clear that you are forced to progress Roya's (the alternate world) quests in order to make progress on the IRL progression. The game makes no attempt to tell you which quests are the important ones that block this progression, so I fell into the trap of overpreparing for some hard fights, racking up corruption, finding out too late that Rose's relationship will not continue to go down until you pass story events in Roya, and ending up with too high corruption with nothing to sink bc I was hoping the progression would continue albeit slowly. This killed my 6 hour save, and on Normal if you fail this way, you can't even start a NG+ (so do yourself the favor and avoid Normal unless you can cheese all the hard fights early without the collar). That being said this H-Game felt like a real game in the sense that I was enabled to have that freedom in the first place in approaching the questing system.

With the main nitpick out of way, what this game does awesome is that the the creator really knows how to sell the choices the player has (naturally in a corruption game you get less ability to actually choose as you get corrupted). A lot of corruption games I've played have basically featured the lewd choice as "flip your whore switch on" and then continue as normal afterwards. In this game, gold actually is very important, I actually ran out of it often with actual interesting things to spend them on like spells and combat skills (and most of them are relevant bc the combat system and encounters require more thought than the usual RPGM fare). Therefore, Aura's initial descent feels organic, and I as the player felt these lewd encounters had an actual gameplay draw to them outside of wanting to see fap material for fap material's sake. This wouldn't work if the lewd encounters weren't scaled the way they were. While the other reviews have a point in that you can go 10 hours without a sex scene, it feels organic that Aura starts with small stuff like showing her panties, showing her boobs, getting groped with her lewdness score, degeneracy and monetary reward (sometimes tangible rewards like exclusive skills) all ramping up as you progress. There's even "side corruption" style events like where you can have Aura's bar uniform change as see as she gets more comfortable/uncomfortable with the uniform and its effects on the guests. It's for this reason that I feel inclined to keep playing. Other games will have the heroine have sex quickly and from there, the only logical progression for her descent is to start throwing in gangbangs, sex slavery, etc. where it ramps up quickly, and it becomes hard to put weight behind any of the heroine's decisions.

Hermann's scenes were actually some of my favorite because they were plausible traps to fall for and the effect of accepting the events were not apparent up front, allowing for mystery in how the corruption would develop. A simple date for 300 gold might seem like a fair trade, but the hidden risks and being able to come out of said date with Aura having a new reputation for saying she is ok with cheating sex is one of many ways the lewd events are structured in a narratively interesting way. And for me personally, I like to play corruption games where I the player, can have plausible deniability of whether or not the corruption could have been avoided as it adds extra spice and flavor. The many debuffs/curses your character gets, some of which can be avoided, add to this by making it hard for Aura to get value out of reading, perform worse in combat, and drug addictions and withdrawals dropping your stats all provide organic incentives to look for alternative means to navigate the world and questline. Later this flips on its head, because if your willpower is too low and your other fetishes/corruption is too high you will not have a real choice when you enter these lewd situations ( more prevalent in chapter 2). This brings it's own rewarding flavor of corruption as you the player can avoid entering these situations with lowered stats and preserve your choice in the matter, or put Aura in these situations purposefully where your lack of control over the outcome and subsequently Aura's lack of control drive the degeneracy home (complete with flavor text dependent on if u chose willingly or fell victim to rampant urges).

Final thoughts: As a game it's great. As a detail-oriented slow burn corruption narrative, it's great. As a H-Game with CGs to get your rocks off it does fall a little flat. It unironically is a porn game where you care about the plot and have fun with the fights and exploring. While the artwork and artstyle are very good, if you can't get enjoyment out of reading (ironic given how you corrupt Aura) and are more satisfied by seeing visual degeneracy less than mental degeneracy, you should probably avoid this (I advise giving it a try still). It's a true Corruption RPG where you really get to put the role-playing in role-playing game, and some elements of this feel no different than playing a Bethesda or Bioware title in the good ways.

this game has a unique mechanic of playing as the mc and the villain at the same time to both try to beat the game as well as corrupt the mc. i recommend this for anyone who wants a simple turn based combat, good corruption 18+ content, good story and open world.

for those who like a game with slow progression, a focus on story mode with lots of text and RPG gameplay will probably like this game, otherwise you'll just be wasting your time.

which unfortunately was the case for me. Although the artwork is of good quality and the story is interesting, the game has a very slow progression, hours and hours of gameplay to see very few scenes.

It got to the point where I ended up quitting the game, it's not for me unfortunately.

Very good. Interesting new take on corruption genre. Actually good art style instead of some other styles in recent memory (ai). Main character can be kind of annoying at times and im still not the biggest fan of NTR, but otherwise, no complaints. Excited to see where it goes for the final product.

I kinda slept on this game for years. I always found the real world gradual corruption fascinating, and the fantasy RPG stuff not as interesting. Rather stock, if anything. How many female protagonist games in this same vein have we seen?

I was wrong. Having finally sat down and really sunk my teeth into it (three full playthroughs within the past week!), I have to say, this might be one of the crown jewels of RPG Maker games or WEG in general. I was repeatedly shocked by just how much there is to uncover. Phenomenal game.

Probably one of the best games on this site. It has a slow burn but the corruption of the heroine from inside her own mind is a mechanic that is both unique and hot. Maybe not for everyone but definitely recommended for anyone with a mind-control or corruption fetish.

As a note, I've seen reviews about difficulty. As with all rpgm games I play I put this on easy, and also edited my stats using a rgpm editor online to make everything essentially 1 hit kills. I would suggest this if you just want to be engrossed with the story and characters.

Probably the best corruption-themed game I've played. Usually I just tend to watch all the CG's and call it a day but this is something you absolutely need to play through. The slow corruption and the way she turns unapologetically evil and starts justifying her actions shown throughout her interactions is insanely hot, I don't think any other game I've played that did it so well.

10 Hours in, Not a single H-scene. My character is weak as Fuck, and have no way to sink corruption into anything.
Absolutely annoying stuff that really takes away from the experience (which has good potential).

Genuinely the best RPGM adult game. Hands down, no question.

This is the only time I have ever - *ever* - played a RPGM game and did not immediately think "Gosh, this could be great if only it were Ren'py/Unity". Star Knightess is an actual game, with graphics that rival the JPRG classics of the early/mid 1990s. Unlike most RPGM games, Star Knightess does not punish the player by making it a slog to get through. You'll actually enjoy playing the game, not just for the spicy scenes.


Speaking of, this is a pretty much perfect example of the 'female-protag-gets-corrupted' type of game. It's executed very effectively and doesn't take too long to get to the fun parts. There are even moments where you see the logical conclusion of your character's corruption, where you think 'fuck, she's actually turned evil!' Specifically, the moment where your character actually engages in slavery/binding someone's soul to a completely evil man. Dark shit, even for porn!

The only complaint I can offer is entirely subjective - I absolutely DESPISE the 'antagonist' ("DEMON LORD RICHARD"... a real dick!), not because he is evil, but because he is absolutely the most angsty, pathetic, emo 'villain' in history. Think of the most pathetic and annoying 'broody/tsundere' male character in anime, then magnify the irritating aspects of their personality by 100x. That's Richard. He constantly goes on and on about how people are 'meat', and shits all over characters that show far more depth and personality than Aura (who he inexplicably respects even after her corruption turns her into little more than a brainless bimbo).

I actually never finished Star Knightess Aura, because despite loving the game & story, once it got near the ending when the content was heavily focused on Richard, I simply couldn't tolerate his longwinded amateur nihilism. It was a snoozer, and not at all hot.

That complaint aside, this game is worth your time. It is without question the gold standard of adult RPGM games.

While I'd enjoy more and earlier sexual scenes that go all the way, I found the characters, plot and mechanics all to be amazing and I kept expecting to hit the end of the game... only for me to still have a bunch of hours of fun left. This was truly incredible and I am looking to scrape together some funds to support the development of this game.

<3

This is probably the best game about the corruption of an heroine.
The story is intriguing and I also like the CGs.
I tried this game a lot of time ago and there where very few CGs but now there are CGs of any event except the latest events added to the game.
There are regular monthly update and regular weekly pre-release for the patreons. Any aspect of the RPG is well made and balanced. This is a game that I really suggest to try to anyone that like to impersonate an heroine in a fantasy world and to corrupt her and to anyone who likes the RPGM games

Love that game, but the game have some problems for me:

Negative elements:

1) It's sad but modern world not have any gameplay, just only cutscenes.
(I so much love academy/college sandboxes, and still dream about Bully NSFW 2D RPG game (mix of Karryn's Prison + Celesphonia), with slow corruption and lewd streams, it's just IMHO)

2) There's no After Bad End Gameplay system when we can be captured like in DoL or Karryn's Prison and can escape after capturing.
But there's an instant Game Over, so absolutely not cool in H-Games, when we have 10-15 hours and get Game Over on late chapters of the game. (Don't like Karryn's Prison for instant Game Over too but in Karryn's Prison the game save all stats after Game Over)

3) S.K.A. is a first game where I afraid to be corrupted, because of Bad End and Pink Dialogues Brainwashing System. It's so easy to get Stuck and get Game Over after 10 hours of struggling in the game, so I afraid to get sex CG scenes at all.


Positive elements:

1) The game have a good combat system. However, there are not have harassment/sex events in battles (like in Karryn's Prison)

2) Level design is so amazing with good chances to avoid battles.
I never seen so cool level design in other H-games, because I should to think before I make some steps here, so it's a very cool. In many H-RPG and JRPG games I just have brainless running on locations to get some loot and Exp.
I so much love exploring in the game! <3

3) I love the story of the game. <3

4) The game have an amazing Corruption Tree System (^_^' but mostly times I played in easy mode, to not get that Corrupted Elements because these things will broke my game after 10-15 hours and I'll get Game Over, so it's not fun). But still it's a positive thing because it's have good ideas for H-games (It's like an advanced Corruption Tree from "Anthesis" game).
And I played in easy/explorer mode to have neverending shifts in the Bar, or else we have instant Game Over for 10-15 shifts.

RATING:
Level design - 12/10 ( So much love exploring system in the game <3 )
Gameplay - 7/10
Combat - 7/10
Story - 8/10
Graphics - 7/10
Corruption System - 5/10 (love the system but I afraid to use it because of Game Over after 10-15 hours of struggling in the game :'D )

It brings me no joy to rate this game so low given the great ideas it shows in its premise and mechanics.
The first hour or so makes a promise that the game doesn't keep as you progress because that's when the porn content is the most concentrated in the first 10h. Those first hours were great however ! I felt the slow simmer of the corruption and the act the MC was forced into and how awful it was for her. But after that intro where there are plenty of little scenes to discover in the city, the world is practically devoid of scenes to punctuate the adventure.

Some will say "well that's a slow burn !", and to that I would answer: No. This game is not a slow burn. If a slow burn is slowly building up heat to boil a pot of water, here it's more like a the cook started with a slow burn, but cut off the heat for the remaining 10h while sometimes putting it back on at max power for a couple minutes here and there. In the end you end up with a pot of lukewarm water.
There is no build up of heat, only flash releases dispatched in a sea of classic RPGM content without proper pacing.

What's a slow burn though is the corruption of the main protagonist, which is well done overall.
But the delivery of the scenes also lacks pacing and it sometimes feel like the two parts of the game (RPG and corruption VN) fight each other for the spotlight while rarely being aligned in their intent.
For example I had a couple hours where practivally nothing happend in the VN part while I was going through quests and neat dialogues in the RPG part. Then I had practically nothing left to do in the RPG part except the tiresome (and yet way too common...) RPGM stats grinding, and that's when everything started chaining together in the VN part. So I was left basically skipping days in the RPG, reading books for stats, just so I could progress in the corruption arc.
That's not a place you want a player to be.

This latter issue is compounded by the fact that the game gives you tons of areas where you can influence the MC, but it all feels pointless because I never felt like my choices mattered in the end.
For example you can choose to give the MC sensitivity to some fetishes and actions, but it never once became relevant for me in the time I played.
I guess the choices are there so people can optimise their paths on NG+ and unlock all the content. But on a first playthrough, the system is confusing and disappointing.

In the end I reached 10h of playtime, and finally gave up when the game teased me with a porn scene but locked it up behind even more exploration and stat checks.
This is fine on its own, but after nearly 10h of having seen only 2 scenes, it felt like the game was actively trying to waste my time (the one at the end of the refugee camp quest). And I think I might know why... I think that's a scene that was added in an update, and it was tested within the update, taking into account only the people that would catch up with it, and not the entire experience. I might be wrong, but it really felt like that was the rationale behind it, because otherwise it doesn't make sense to have people starved for scenes, and blue balling them even more when they're so close to one.

Honestly, this game has the potential to be great but at the moment it's held back by a couple core design choices that are honestly incomprehensible to me:
1- Pacing of the porn content
SOLUTION: Tightenening the overall pacing by adding small scenes like the ones at the beginning throughout the experience will already do wonders for the game's digestability

2- Real world and RPG plot feel disconnected
SOLUTION: Make the choices players do in the MCs psyche matter. Or, if that's too work intensive, make the delivery of this content line up better with what's happening in the RPG world isntead of having it delivered in blocks.
There's a reason a lot of adult games go with a "route" design where some actions have the potential to locking you into a set route for characters: it makes delivering content at a proper pacing easier, and it assures the writers and designers have more control on how the story is delivered to the player.
Here it felt like there were 5 starts to "routes" the game could take, but since it doesn't commit to the route design philosophy, it ends up diluting the way content is spread out (for example when I saw the NPCs at the start try to get the MC to undress, even one landing a kiss on her crotch, I thought "oh ! I can't wait to see how that's going to evolve afterwards", but 10h later, this is all the content I saw for those NPCs.

3- Stat checks and grinding
SOLUTION: Seriously, whoever first declared 15 years ago that RPGM games had to have repetitive actions to grind stats to progress through stat checks needs to never touch a game engine ever again.
There should be variety in the way players engage with the progression systems if the game isn't sophisticated enough to have a loop that's fun to play on its own. Grinding a stat progressively throuhout the game to get bonus content is fine, but if we are starved for content and the only thing we can access in hours of gameplay is locked behind the stat grind, players will want to access it, making the experience tedious (example of the painter scenes)



Anyway, that's a long review, I hope it didn't come out too harshly.
This game has a lot of potential, but I think a step back needs to be taken to refocus the way the progression is designed throughout the experience.
People are here for the scenes first and foremost, the rest is the cherry on top. So the goal here is to make sure players have access to scenes at a reasonable pace and avoid getting caught up in the trap so many porn games fall into: forgetting that they are porn.

The writing in this game is very good. It's a fascinating dive into the minds of heroes and villains, as well as a creative spin on the usual corruption games. I think Third Crisis must have been an influence, which is a great thing.

The art is good, the idea of the game is interesting, but this text heavy game should have been made in another engine, maybe RenPy or another visual novel engine.
Oh, and don't get me started on the pacing of the game.

I don't usually write reviews, but since this is one of the rare cases where gameplay and story matter a lot, I feel like I should

The positives are pretty obvious. The models are excellent, the corruption is slow and interesting, the gameplay rivals other cheap RPGMaker games on Steam which don't actually offer sexual content and there is definitely polish.

But there are some pretty major flaws. And no, the lack of graphics for the scenes is not one of them

First and foremost, the game is not an RPG in the classic sense. It is a puzzle. Whether you win or lose depends more on knowing what the game requires of you, not your party management, gearing or leveling strategies - none of that. The simplest example is the fight against the guy with plate armor. You can try repeatedly to chip away at him to no avail. Or know beforehand that you should ignore him until you learn a specific skill, and then you can completely stomp him. Similarly, I wasted a lot of time trying to up my mana points to 10, which is required for the extremely useful fire spell. Turns out, I had to win a specific fight which gave me a specific material which I had to use to upgrade myself in order to get the necessary mana. I guess what I am trying to say is this - knowing what you are doing will not only save you a lot of time and effort, but also make the difficulty trivial. And don't get me started on how corruption works here, you really need to know beforehand (the explanations given in the game are as detailed as they are useless).

Second, the main character. There is a reason why the game is so heavy on the text. The main character is the perfect example. But first, a question - do you know why in detective novels characters like Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot are usually not the main point of view? Well, one reason is to keep the suspense, but the other reason is that having their thoughts put on paper would make for an extremely lengthy reading. Here we have this very smart girl whose thoughts we are constantly subjected to. And she overanalyzes almost everything. Like shut the fuck up already, the world is not that complex. Insufferable main characters might be good when it comes to wanting them to get the D, but in this case (slowness and text-heavy), its just annoying. Oh, and did I mention that she also has a companion in her head? Yup, let's artificially increase the length of these monologues even more. You'll either love or fucking hate this, there is no middle ground. And its kind of sad that it needs to be like this.

Third, cut the anime crap. The characters constantly yelling each other's names and promising bloody revenge doesn't add anything other than childishness. Am I supposed to take the villains seriously? Even if its all a joke, it got unfunny after the prologue.

Fourth, a single upgrade ending the day (or night this time) is too much. Its really one of the worst pacing I've ever seen. And this is just one instance, simply advancing the plot a little sometimes throws you immediately in the next day. And then you are forced to watch time pass without any real world events. Or there are events but you don't want to see them. The game is already slow, it doesn't need this.

Fifth, the game is extremely frustrating to play with a mouse. Which is pretty bad because "modern" RPGM games should be playable with just the mouse. Especially ones which are turn based. For example, there is crap on the ground you can click on instead of a monster, your character starts running her mouth, the monster surprises you - reload. And, of course, it is very hard to "surprise" monsters from behind with the mouse to begin with. Really wish there is a different way to engage things.

Overall: Credit where credit is due - this is truly one of the most content-heavy and polished actual games on this website. But, to me at least, it is also one of the most annoying ones.

Giving a one star review isn't necessarily me thinking the game is 1 star material. However seeing the overall score of three and a half stars blows my mind.
DISCLAIMER: I am not a fan of RPGM format, so i always enjoy these type of games less.

The Art and the art style is what got me to download the game. This genuinely looks as good as anything else on the market. The dual world concept is very interesting. Its a corruption game.

The combat is RPGM at its worst. its exactly everything that sucks about rpgm.(stat checked,trial and error,lack of tools to manipulate odds in your favor,ultra grindy)
The corruption system on normal difficulty and higher only serves as a "game over" function with seemingly no other reason but to punish the player.
The writing is honestly middle school tier. If you said this was written by a 14 year old girl ,id bet my money on it that its true.
Its text heavy in all the wrong places,Tutorial/explaning systems are not concise and filled with flavor fluff, The 2 H scenes have ultra mega dull text and feels rushed through, But talking about a fictional non existent book takes 14 prompts. The Hscenes are filled with classics like ~mwhaaaah~
Uninteresting and very dull side characters. I literally have no recollection of any of the characters or their traits.
Pacing is unimaginably slow,Areas are confusing like calling the INN "boars hut" but not having any logo or indication that its suppose to be the INN.
Directions such as 'go here" "go meet x" are given often, with not memorable characters. No unique art to distinguish the unique characters, only given forgettable names. Areas are extremely confusing.
The new game plus feature seems like an insult. i gave this game somewhere around 12 hours and saw 2 Hscenes. You need to grind to get your characters power up, but also punished for it.
i could genuinely go on and on about my bitter experience and list of hundreds of issues. The game surely isin't all bad the art alone is worth 3 stars. but i can't recommend anyone this project. Your time is better spent elsewhere.

Star Knightess Aura: Simplified Review

"Star Knightess Aura" stands out in the RPG Maker genre, showing that these games can offer more than expected. It requires players to deeply engage and strategize beyond simple gameplay, making it a unique experience.

Gameplay Mechanics: Straightforward Strategy

Instead of just grinding, players need to strategize and plan ahead. Managing Aura's power adds depth and engagement, making every decision in the game's dual-world setting meaningful.

Narrative: Direct and Engaging

The focus on characters, especially the detailed portrayal of Aura, strengthens the game. Aura's struggles make the story engaging and every choice significant, showing the game's narrative depth.

Art and Aesthetics: Focused on Story

Even with changing art quality, the game's strong writing and story context keep it engaging. The game's world and story are more important than its visual inconsistencies.

Development: Ongoing Progress

The game isn't finished yet, but regular updates promise improvement and expansion, showing a commitment to making the game better.

Overall Experience

"Star Knightess Aura" demonstrates the potential for RPG Maker games to be deep, complex, and tell meaningful stories. It demands your time and focus, offering an intellectually and emotionally rewarding experience. You don't just play this game; you experience it deeply, making it memorable for anyone who explores its two worlds.

This game is definitely a bit of a slow burn but it's also definitely amazing with great content complete with a unique, cool story going on. The developer is the most on point for updates that I have seen in any other adult game. They're basically a machine.

I really gave this game a fair shot. I played for a very long time (weeks in, in-game), actually reading the dialogue, getting into the story, etc. And let me tell you, "slow-burn" doesn't even begin to describe how glacial the pacing of this game's corruption is. Practically every scene in this game goes about like this:

"hey sexy girl can i touch your boobs over the clothes"
"ew no"
"i will give you 100 gold coins"
"ok fine"

And, another baffling mechanic: if you do too many corruption scenes in a short period of time, a bar will fill up. If it reaches the top, you instantly get a black screen + game over... what?! I swear, I had to fucking ration out my corruption scenes per in-game day so I could avoid a game-over. When I'm playing a porn game, I'm trying to get off, not do the math in my head of whether I can allow pervert #29 to grope my boobs without risking instant death...

Also, the game is tagged with things like "rape", "vaginal sex", etc. This isn't really the game's fault, more the tagging system on this site being ambiguous, but I wanted to point out for anyone who was reading this review and wondering: there is not only no 'defeat rape' scenes (which may be a good or bad thing depending on what you are into), but pretty much no rape scenes I could find whatsoever. I'm sure there's at least one, hence the tag, but I really cannot find it after searching for it for quite a while. And, as for vaginal sex, it took me hours of questing and generic JRPG grinding before I could get to that. Which I guess is par for the course for an uber-slow-burn corruption plot, so take that as you will.

Anyways, the adult content in this game is really lacking, the gameplay is timewasting, and the scenes are really not a good reward for it. The art is fantastic, though, I'll give them that.