Edit: I edited it to moreso coincide with the most recent release since I was playing version 5.2 at the time.
This is a game I kind of wanted to like. I remember originally bitching about it when it first came out and waited to see what's to come of it. While I'm glad some things have changed. I'm sad to see some problems unchanged or have morphed into something else.
Pros:
The game's story is something alright it has a great hook the antagonists have a decent balance between sexy and intimidating. The game has its moments of intrigue. And for the most part the art is well constructed. The world building is nice also as it's not very intrusive and it's there for more context should you desire it.
Cons:
However, the story's pacing tends to be a deal breaker at times. as when you enter a dungeon and go to every other room there ends up being a cutscene. Mind you, the these cutscenes give context to the world around you but it takes time for it to get the ball rolling plus you get hit by these the second you step foot into a new room in a dungeon. It's a story focused game fine, but with how often they show up, you wonder why wasn't this game a visual novel instead. There I would be more forgiving but it isn't and it is a pace killer. At first I'd say the devs learned from their mistakes but in reality they haven't by much.
The Sex scenes really drive this home. While they aren't as time consuming as the first white succubus encounter, It tends to easily devolve into white noise where It would immediately be arousing but either due to the sometimes lifeless art, or the dialogue, or a combo of these things it becomes a boner killer rather than a boner bringer. There's also voice acting but there's barely any so it feels extremely out of place.
Edit: Turns out there's no more animations. Though in reality, Animations were the least of this game's problems.
It sucks to because I really like these designs despite not screaming Succubus all too well. But these moreso hide the real issue of Succubus Covenant, the GAME part.
Many of the dungeons are extremely long winded. yeah I'm able to save my game anywhere, but even going on a hiatus from playing the game or playing in moderation doesn't prevent that rush of boredom that comes from going through these dungeons. The devs try to remedy this by introducing alternate paths with an optional succubus boss, And to an extent, I would be OK with that, if the combat wasn't so nothing.
When I played some time ago I vaguely rember being different playstyles all with some skilltree. It's a shame that they're gone because what replaces them is a confusing yet nothing system where you don't level up and only gain moves from defeating a succubus. The dev did this in the name of balance and better focus a move I genuinely respect since many porn game devs love to succumb to feature creep. But when I'm kind of longing for the lack of focused choice here then we have a problem.
The only sense of progression you feel is when you explore the bland dungeons and discover runes (or gain one from again beating a succubus). At first I thought my game was bugged because of that but in reality it's fully intentional and I don't think it's at all bad since you still feel some sense of progression (albeit very small) and it gives you a reason to explore these dungeons. There's also side quests and optional dungeons that give you stat bonuses, but as of now they are very minuscule with the highest bonus was increasing my health by 25 points (wow). But all it really does at the end of the day is to ensure the next succubus doesn't smoke you. I originally said it was bad but it's bland and the game never tells you how progression works. I don't need it to be spelled out but I would like to be certain that my game isn't bugged either.
Also the fact that there's no leveling up, means that the generic enemies become useless other than selling their materials. Combat feels like a punishment rather than a means to get better because of this. Going back to the fact that this game loves to waste your time. And cements how bland the combat is. But looking at the dev's replies, it's an immersion vs convenience argument and in this case without trying to baloon this review further I'll just say this: It could have been done better and nothing more.
I also say that I'm not a fan of how the porn aspect of the game is handled either. It's remeniscient of many femdom/reverse rape games in how losing = sex but what ruins it is the fact that these sex scenes are medocre at best and the game tries to tempt you with a post battle sex scene which equates to a game over which also happens within the genre. But since a battle with a succubus can be an overall gamble where one wrong move will lead to a game over it's generally not recommended to do that. Fortunately the game introduces a gallery but while I enjoy the idea of unlocking it, the hoops (albeit small) you kind of go though ultimately didn't need to exist. But let's say I liked the porn content overall, it's drip fed to the point where you sometimes wonder if you're playing a porn game. I'm not expecting to be drowning in pornographic content I'm a quality over quantity person but damn you're barely given any porn to work with and what you do have is subpar at best.
Conclusion:
Succubus Covenant has changed while also not changing. It still at times feels like a slog fest between gameplay and cutscenes that break up the pace, The introduction of animations are nice but feel cheap and doesn't hide the sex scenes' other problems, and very long winded dungeons with very minimal deviations. It's a game that I've wanted to like but it keeps making the same mistakes that prevent me from wanting to follow it closely like the other games on this site. For every thing I like there's a bunch of somethings that balance it out so 3/3.5 stars are most appropriate here.
(To F95Zone mods: JUST MAKE HALF STAR RATINGS DAMNIT)
If you're really that starved of succubus games, I'd say go for it with caution. But if you're still unsure or don't like what any of the negative reviews have been saying, then I recommend you go elsewhere it does not respect your time so you shouldn't respect it back
This is a game I kind of wanted to like. I remember originally bitching about it when it first came out and waited to see what's to come of it. While I'm glad some things have changed. I'm sad to see some problems unchanged or have morphed into something else.
Pros:
The game's story is something alright it has a great hook the antagonists have a decent balance between sexy and intimidating. The game has its moments of intrigue. And for the most part the art is well constructed. The world building is nice also as it's not very intrusive and it's there for more context should you desire it.
Cons:
However, the story's pacing tends to be a deal breaker at times. as when you enter a dungeon and go to every other room there ends up being a cutscene. Mind you, the these cutscenes give context to the world around you but it takes time for it to get the ball rolling plus you get hit by these the second you step foot into a new room in a dungeon. It's a story focused game fine, but with how often they show up, you wonder why wasn't this game a visual novel instead. There I would be more forgiving but it isn't and it is a pace killer. At first I'd say the devs learned from their mistakes but in reality they haven't by much.
The Sex scenes really drive this home. While they aren't as time consuming as the first white succubus encounter, It tends to easily devolve into white noise where It would immediately be arousing but either due to the sometimes lifeless art, or the dialogue, or a combo of these things it becomes a boner killer rather than a boner bringer. There's also voice acting but there's barely any so it feels extremely out of place.
Edit: Turns out there's no more animations. Though in reality, Animations were the least of this game's problems.
It sucks to because I really like these designs despite not screaming Succubus all too well. But these moreso hide the real issue of Succubus Covenant, the GAME part.
Many of the dungeons are extremely long winded. yeah I'm able to save my game anywhere, but even going on a hiatus from playing the game or playing in moderation doesn't prevent that rush of boredom that comes from going through these dungeons. The devs try to remedy this by introducing alternate paths with an optional succubus boss, And to an extent, I would be OK with that, if the combat wasn't so nothing.
When I played some time ago I vaguely rember being different playstyles all with some skilltree. It's a shame that they're gone because what replaces them is a confusing yet nothing system where you don't level up and only gain moves from defeating a succubus. The dev did this in the name of balance and better focus a move I genuinely respect since many porn game devs love to succumb to feature creep. But when I'm kind of longing for the lack of focused choice here then we have a problem.
The only sense of progression you feel is when you explore the bland dungeons and discover runes (or gain one from again beating a succubus). At first I thought my game was bugged because of that but in reality it's fully intentional and I don't think it's at all bad since you still feel some sense of progression (albeit very small) and it gives you a reason to explore these dungeons. There's also side quests and optional dungeons that give you stat bonuses, but as of now they are very minuscule with the highest bonus was increasing my health by 25 points (wow). But all it really does at the end of the day is to ensure the next succubus doesn't smoke you. I originally said it was bad but it's bland and the game never tells you how progression works. I don't need it to be spelled out but I would like to be certain that my game isn't bugged either.
Also the fact that there's no leveling up, means that the generic enemies become useless other than selling their materials. Combat feels like a punishment rather than a means to get better because of this. Going back to the fact that this game loves to waste your time. And cements how bland the combat is. But looking at the dev's replies, it's an immersion vs convenience argument and in this case without trying to baloon this review further I'll just say this: It could have been done better and nothing more.
I also say that I'm not a fan of how the porn aspect of the game is handled either. It's remeniscient of many femdom/reverse rape games in how losing = sex but what ruins it is the fact that these sex scenes are medocre at best and the game tries to tempt you with a post battle sex scene which equates to a game over which also happens within the genre. But since a battle with a succubus can be an overall gamble where one wrong move will lead to a game over it's generally not recommended to do that. Fortunately the game introduces a gallery but while I enjoy the idea of unlocking it, the hoops (albeit small) you kind of go though ultimately didn't need to exist. But let's say I liked the porn content overall, it's drip fed to the point where you sometimes wonder if you're playing a porn game. I'm not expecting to be drowning in pornographic content I'm a quality over quantity person but damn you're barely given any porn to work with and what you do have is subpar at best.
Conclusion:
Succubus Covenant has changed while also not changing. It still at times feels like a slog fest between gameplay and cutscenes that break up the pace, The introduction of animations are nice but feel cheap and doesn't hide the sex scenes' other problems, and very long winded dungeons with very minimal deviations. It's a game that I've wanted to like but it keeps making the same mistakes that prevent me from wanting to follow it closely like the other games on this site. For every thing I like there's a bunch of somethings that balance it out so 3/3.5 stars are most appropriate here.
(To F95Zone mods: JUST MAKE HALF STAR RATINGS DAMNIT)
If you're really that starved of succubus games, I'd say go for it with caution. But if you're still unsure or don't like what any of the negative reviews have been saying, then I recommend you go elsewhere it does not respect your time so you shouldn't respect it back