Reviewed version: 0.1
Yet another in the long list of "Well it's a dayjob simulator wherein the protagonist gets turned into a cross between a bimbo, a slut and a slave and gets toyed with by literally every single male that ever existed".
Not much content yet; should be expected, it's 0.1, but of what there is my impression is decidedly "Meh". And here's why:
1. The characters. Too many of them are arses. Other games have run into the same issue; they aren't fun, they aren't interesting to watch, they aren't interesting to interact with, they're just arses from the ground up to the very top. This goes for that girl that runs the store and the landlord woman as well as the mechanics AND the robot. As for the protagonist, she might as well be a pair of trousers; she has no personality whatsoever other than being mildly submissive and timid in nature. This is not good design.
2. If the robot is as intelligent as the game purports it to be, it should take a hint when the protagonist provides positive feedback and when she shows negative reactions. It should not take someone else's words as gospel. I get that it's supposed to imitate an excitable yappy dog tripping over itself trying to fetch a stick thrown by a half-disinterested master, but this is a bit ridiculous; the protagonist shows a very strong negative reaction towards sexual behaviour "Well just give her pleasure, make her yours, make her feel good" - there is an obvious clash here that is not sufficiently resolved and it all feels too forced.
3. The fights. God, the fights. They are boring me to sodding tears. Everytime it's the same thing; AI plays X. You play -X. You win! Shocker. And this whole click to stop filling the glass minigame isn't helping. I haven't failed a single time during what content there was, which I know isn't saying much, but I'd
still be happier if it were removed entirely rather than made more difficult. Because it's boring.
4. For a game with "multiple endings", there appears to be no possibility for a "purity run". I use that term loosely, as in each game it means something different; in some, it's a no vaginal sex run. In others, it's a zero corruption run. In this, the measure of purity - the only thing that I found being tracked at all - is how brainwashed the protagonist is. As such, a "purity run" would equate a run where the protagonist isn't brainwashed at all. This appears impossible.
5. It isn't obvious to me that the protagonist could muster the desire to leave-- let alone the willpower to try and bring the circumstances which would facilitate that about. She is simply too submissive, too happy to be where she is, too cut off from other options for that to be believable. And considering the revelation at the end of the 0.1 content, and her reaction to it, I predict she'll have at least one more mandatory brainwashing session-- you want me to believe she'll try to escape after that? No. No way. She just isn't that type of girl.
6. The game page as well as the in-game text itself touts being able to make smalltalk with the four woman NPCs to get them to like you. That might've been nice; I can honestly say that "lone stranded woman caught deep in a trap wins over her fellow men and women who, in a herculean effort all come together to rescue her" is the kind of game I would 100% want to play. This isn't that game; first off, the smalltalk feature isn't even there. Second, there doesn't appear to be any measure of the protagonist's familiarity or friendship with other characters (only her brainwashing level, as mentioned above), and even if there was-- really, do you honestly believe the vile landlord lady or the crazy violence liking pawn broker would suddenly change their mind about her?
IF the pawn broker would have shown a much stronger sexual interest in the protagonist when the AI asked her, it might've been believable that through smalltalk, flirting and eventually sex she might've helped her escape. As things stand? No way.
In points:
- Tired combat (-1*)
- Bland, boring gimmicks
- The combat amounts to clicking the correct colour on a Simon Says machine, except all the wrong colours are inoperable
- There is no gallery, because everything occurs in the combat itself (except the brainwashing segments, but why would anyone want to revisit those in a game centred around brainwashing? oh wait)
- Weak narrative (-1*)
- Poor usage of "multiple endings", with some obvious ones not being included and some touted ones being completely unbelievable
- Boring characters
- Missing the smalltalk feature
- Everything in the game feels on rails, so why isn't this just a visual novel? (-1*)
- As mentioned above, the first brainwashing session appears mandatory
- I opted to skip using smalltalk during the combat tutorial in which it was introduced; the game ignored that and behaved as though the protagonist did make smalltalk
- As mentioned above, you cannot make smalltalk outside combat or with any named NPCs, and none of them have dialogue beyond the introduction; just "What are you buying?" -> Shop -> Leave, and you don't have enough currency to buy anything, so really, just -> Leave. Seriously, in an ENTIRE WEEK the protagonist never said a word to anyone but the robot and some hoodlums?
- There doesn't appear to be any action whatever that you as the player can make outside the combat that isn't pre-determined, and there doesn't appear to be any action you as the player can opt to skip. The shopkeepers and landlord don't have anything to say, there are no interactables, there are no bonus fights, no secrets, nothing at all.
- Roaming around town, walking to and from the bed, the combat minigame-- all of it seems pointless. This would've been better done on Ren'Py or similar as a pure visual novel if you're going for this level of top-down control.
In conclusion: 2/5*. A poor start for what ultimately looks to be more a visual novel than an actual game, with boring characters, boring "combat" minigames and a boring plot.
