This is on version 0.3.10.
Starwatch Academy is not a particularly abnormal experience. It doesn't try anything new, it plays it very safe. That's not necessarily a bad thing, provided it does what it does well.
Firstly, I want to praise and thank the devs for adding male/female gender options to the game. It's not something you see nearly often enough.
Aside from that, the game features some admittedly limited but competent character customization. This is a nice bonus, it helps cement the player in the world as "their" character and really goes a long way towards promoting player investment.
The UI for the game is clean, icons in the sidebar are a tad small for their level of detail, but you can see what everything does at a glance.
The setting is slid into place nicely. The player is often left in the dark about specific topics as they are not directly explained, but the writing is generally descriptive enough to allow the player to draw out the necessary context. Above all, it allows your character to seem informed on topics they realistically should know about, while not being too obtuse for the player to quickly gain knowledge on.
Everything I've spoken about so far has been done very well, and I could only give the most minor of nitpicks on it. But this review is sitting at 2 stars, so you know there are other issues.
Let's talk about the art. It's not bad, it's serviceable, but it's also not great. The particular issue is on the faces, the coloring is very flat, giving the impression more of the generic figures in health textbooks than a "character" (Ann is the worst in this regard). I have no distinct issue with it personally, but I can acknowledge it's not too good. Backgrounds however look fantastic, so it really is just an issue with the character art itself.
The real problem begins to occur with game interactions, particularly interactions with other characters. The game has a lot more railroading than is good for it. Don't like a specific character? Well, the game doesn't really care, have sex with them anyway.
Here are several examples of problematic game interactions, primarily meant as feedback for the developer:
Forced Transformations:
Curie's Introduction:
Time Management:
Activities:
These are just a few places where the player's interactions with the world and the characters within the world need to be changed. Curie is by leagues the worst offender simply because the player is given nearly no choice with her and she is thrust centerstage into your face, but the rest isn't very good either.
Starwatch Academy has excellent elements in its presentation and worldbuilding, but its character writing and gameplay interactions need heavy revisions. There is a strong basis in the setting to tell an interactive story with adult content...but Starwatch Academy currently plays closer to just porn.
Starwatch Academy is not a particularly abnormal experience. It doesn't try anything new, it plays it very safe. That's not necessarily a bad thing, provided it does what it does well.
Firstly, I want to praise and thank the devs for adding male/female gender options to the game. It's not something you see nearly often enough.
Aside from that, the game features some admittedly limited but competent character customization. This is a nice bonus, it helps cement the player in the world as "their" character and really goes a long way towards promoting player investment.
The UI for the game is clean, icons in the sidebar are a tad small for their level of detail, but you can see what everything does at a glance.
The setting is slid into place nicely. The player is often left in the dark about specific topics as they are not directly explained, but the writing is generally descriptive enough to allow the player to draw out the necessary context. Above all, it allows your character to seem informed on topics they realistically should know about, while not being too obtuse for the player to quickly gain knowledge on.
Everything I've spoken about so far has been done very well, and I could only give the most minor of nitpicks on it. But this review is sitting at 2 stars, so you know there are other issues.
Let's talk about the art. It's not bad, it's serviceable, but it's also not great. The particular issue is on the faces, the coloring is very flat, giving the impression more of the generic figures in health textbooks than a "character" (Ann is the worst in this regard). I have no distinct issue with it personally, but I can acknowledge it's not too good. Backgrounds however look fantastic, so it really is just an issue with the character art itself.
The real problem begins to occur with game interactions, particularly interactions with other characters. The game has a lot more railroading than is good for it. Don't like a specific character? Well, the game doesn't really care, have sex with them anyway.
Here are several examples of problematic game interactions, primarily meant as feedback for the developer:
Forced Transformations:
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Curie's Introduction:
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Time Management:
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Activities:
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These are just a few places where the player's interactions with the world and the characters within the world need to be changed. Curie is by leagues the worst offender simply because the player is given nearly no choice with her and she is thrust centerstage into your face, but the rest isn't very good either.
Starwatch Academy has excellent elements in its presentation and worldbuilding, but its character writing and gameplay interactions need heavy revisions. There is a strong basis in the setting to tell an interactive story with adult content...but Starwatch Academy currently plays closer to just porn.
