RPGM - Symphony of the Serpent [v.15011] [NLT Media]

I never thought NLT Media could bring in innovation in its formula of creating similar point and click games, but it seems it happened. I have to say, I am rather impressed. The new view is a lot better than the previous one, I am in love with the now more close, detailed environments. Scenes are the usual top-notch quality, that hasn't changed and to my surprise the voice acting improved hugely compared to The Genesis Order. What I really like - which I seem to be alone with - is the combat. It is rather easy, but very entertaining and well executed. The only bit annoying part is, that it doesn't sync well with the new view, since it is based on four directions which are a bit jumbled thanks to the view. Still, I have learned to love it, I find it really great.
Interesting is, that the game has now main characters and side ones, who are mostly hookers/nurses whom which the MC develops his relationship to get lewd scenes, which are entirely independent of the main story progress. However, I have on critique: by being able to give the girls gifts, the game has become even more grindy than before and with one exception the side girls are half-assed stock DAZ models, but it is not such a big issue to give it 4 instead of 5 stars. Well done NLT Media, I hope my review balances a bit out all those baseless rants.

Solid game. As the updates go I think this one is going to get better and better.

It’s suffering a little bit from the previous games being so well done I think. The only real criticism I have is the combat is pretty bad. It’s just not a very fun mini game.

The visuals and Voice acting is immersive and impressive, I would love to see more content for Anya and Olivia. This is the 4th game in NLT saga, and I am waiting for the story to unfold more and more.

I will drop a complete and detailed review after the game is completed by the devs, thank you for reading

Enjoy playing

I played both Treasure of Nadia and Genesis Order. While I did enjoy both, I definitely was somewhat disappointed by Genesis Order. Symphony of Serpant, so far, has a much better start.

THE GOOD
++ As usual the visuals of NLT are amazing, the girls are really hot
++ new isometric view looks really good, the world was never more enjoyable to look at
++ NLT is really hard working does regular updates, actually finishes their games
+ so far the story is interesting. Its really early in development so this might change, but so far, so good
+ less time waste than previous games
+ arrows on the map means you dont have to constanty ask the oracle like in previous games
+ i like the combat, its feels like a puzzle instead of a grind

THE BAD
- as usual with NLT, the story is very linear
- the game really lacks dirty talk. especially on the booty calls/the new red light girls
---No incest. The game is vanilla as hell now. Previous NLT games were already far too vanilla for my taste, but at least they had incest as the one taboo fetish. Symphony of Serpant has zero spice (so far, but I doubt this will change)

Overall I think its already doing much better than Gensis Order. The lack of incest and any other taboo fetishes is a huge bummer. But nontheless, on a technical level the game is impressive and the fact that NLT keep posting consistent updates and finishes their games, in an industry where most devs abandon their game or keep dragging them on forever, good work ethic should influence the final Rating. So i will give full 5 starts.

No news around this dev. Nice models, good gameplay, but the combat pissed me off a bit. The story is good, but what shines is the, always, nicely done sex scenes. So hot! There's no much change among the games of this dev, and it's not a bad thing.
5 Stars!

So genuinely unsure what people are complaining about for this one. I personally find it much better than The Genesis Order was at a similar point in the story.

The MC is so far less annoying, the various ladies are much better integrated in the main story, and I know it's personal preference but I feel the designs of these girls are much better than TGO.

The main complaint I have is with the combat, but it looks like as time passes you should improve in such a way that it could get interesting.

Overall it seems like I'll personally like this better than TGO, but I'm saving the last star for when they stick the landing.

Coming off of Lust Epidemic & Treasure of Nadia, Genesis Order was pretty disappointing. This is worse.

NLT games had great, intriguing stories. The progression system felt fun, the objective based gameplay was just short and clever enough. What we get now is an uninspired orgy fest. Characters seem to randomly stumble upon each other, your objectives boil down to mindlessly circling the map, looking for a specific item in a specific location to pad the game length. Animation is still good, but lacking in variety. One sex scene is basically 3 different moves in 9 different angle.

Idk, the consistency of updates is a good thing, but the story gets dumber and dumber.

Review for v0.9112

My history with NLT games goes as follows: didn't finish Lust Epidemic though I thought it was neat as something different, played through Treasure of Nadia and enjoyed it overall despite clear flaws, and then made the mistake of waiting for The Genesis Order to be completed only to be extremely disappointed and dropping the game about halfway in.

Now enters Symphony of the Serpent, where my expectations were so low after the previous game that I decided to play this early and see if it's even worth still keeping an eye on. Perhaps it's the extremely low bar that had been set, but I will say I've enjoyed this first few hours of the game more than I did the entirety of The Genesis Order. But while the game does feel like it's taken a step up on the technical side of things, NLT remains rather stagnant when it comes to the sex and writing.

The narrative and dialogue have always been a bit goofy for lack of a better term, and that trend continues here. That being said I think I'm just a little more into everything this time around? The MC is leagues less annoying, I like the story with Tony so far, and some of the girls feel a little more charismatic maybe is the word. I surprisingly like the voice acting as well, and the non-sex cutscenes are fun. The story takes a pretty whacky turn in the latest update and honestly I have no idea where the game is trying to go with it, but you're more along for the ride on this than anything. Still not going to tell you anything is particularly gripping though.

One of the biggest new changes is the side girl system, and I'm gonna be honest and say I think it was a waste of time to include this. If there's one thing their games needed less of, it was shallow girls you have sex with. Shallow is a bit of an understatement though, as these girls exist purely to give gifts to until you unlock the next heart level and sex scene. That's it. It's a money sink to see more sex scenes with strippers/prostitutes essentially. I'd rather have them scrap these six and just develop like one or two more actual love interests.

The other big addition is combat. I may be the odd one out here, but I actually don't mind it. Their games have always had a sort of puzzle-y feel to them, and the combat fits into that well. It's a little janky sometimes, but I haven't been frustrated once by it. The new isometric perspective is neat as well, and I like the vibes of the new town the game is set in. The rest of it is pretty much the same stuff you'd expect. Plenty of items, crafting, puzzles, an apartment to buy stuff for, booty calls, etc. etc.

Now if you exclude the side girls the sex scene pacing has been much better as you're not already having threesomes with the town, but in no way have the scenes really improved even since Treasure of Nadia. My nitpick has always been the girls looking a little too doll-like and that hasn't changed, but if you were to compare these scenes to previous ones there's like no change in quality. The animations are still better than a majority of games on the site, but with this being their fourth game now, it's a disappointing area to not really improve on.

TLDR - While there are a couple new mechanics and changes, Symphony of the Serpent essentially remains much of the same you'd come to expect from NLT Media. Whether that's good or bad is up to you. I'll say at the least I'd come back to this as opposed to dropping it like I did the previous game, so I do think it's better in that regard. Also bring back the fishing minigame damnit.

I have loved all the games in the series. A great start and looks like there will be a lot to do, only at V9 so far.

Great graphics ad looks to a a girl for every one. Can't wait to fuck the mum

I'm a really big fan of this dev and his games, you can ignore the rating as he gets lots of random criticism from "porn sommeliers" because one of his game was a big hit.
I highly recommend playing the entire saga, its hella worth it.

great sequel to NLT

new mechanic fight keeping the game fresh.

i hope they make a much improvement from previous game.... like maybe new minigame... or new puzzle.... or something like that...

like the story too.... cant wait to see whats next to unravel

Story and Characters: The narrative is a jumbled mess, lacking depth and creativity. Characters are forgettable, with bland dialogue that fails to engage. There’s little to no character development,

Gameplay: The core mechanics feel outdated and poorly executed. Combat is sluggish,

Graphics and Sound: Visually, this game falls flat to me. The graphics are uninspired, resembling a half-baked project rather than a polished game

Technical Issues: The game is riddled with bugs and glitches, from character models clipping through the environment to frequent crashes that force you to restart progress.


Overall, This game sucks in each and every way. didn't expected this kind of work from NLT.

stop licking Patreon's feet, otherwise it will not take time to fall

This is not a bad game by any means however,
NLT has provided us with two of the highest-quality games in recent years—Lust Epidemic and Treasure of Nadia. These two games, especially the latter, set the bar very high for games in this genre. While The Genesis Order and Symphony of the Serpent are not lacking in quality, something feels off about them.

If they were the first games I'd played by NLT, I would likely have no complaints. But, for myself—and I'm sure for many others who have played their previous games—the new games feel redundant. I've had enough of the linear storylines and gameplay. I'm tired of asking the Oracle for help, and I'm definitely tired of collecting these statues. Change is essential at this point if NLT wants to keep their older audience.

There’s nothing wrong with a high-quality visual novel game with meaningful choices that affect the main story and relationships with characters. Instead of just "booty calls," they could add some sandbox elements. We have several great examples of games like these, such as Shut Up and Dance, Life in Santa County, Midnight Paradise, and Photo Hunt. All of these are excellent games, and with a studio like NLT, if they were to make a game with this type of gameplay alongside their large quantity of high-quality scenes, it would undoubtedly be crowned one of the best games on this site.

Obviously still a high quality product from NLT as always, however I got some personal thoughts with the game.

I do have a mixed feeling of how the current movement set is, I think it is a better improvement as long as we don't have "tunnels" in a wall or objects you maybe never find because you literally cannot see it and have to "guess your path to the place" that was disgusting and breaks immersion, purely for unnecessary "grind" that serves nobody and not even fun. Since we don't have these yet, so far so good!!!

I don't know how I should feel about the main girls and side girls pick, and I'm glad I'm not the only one pointed that out checking the forums or even some of the youtubers covered this game. seems like we suddenly forgot how to make hot girls other than white from The Genesis Order, and a step wayyy back into stereotypes again. The side girls looked way better than some of the main girls. And why all the older ladies all seems like they got a botox? their faces are literally bloated and looks like characters from previous generations.

Good game but need graphics improvement ,as compared to treasure of nadia and genesis order the story is lag. need to improve the scene, scenes are too short as compared to treasure of nadia and genesis order.

I'm honestly quite confused by a lot of the reviews for this game. This is objectively one of the higher quality games on this site; maybe people don't like the fact that it's an RPGM game? But that's clearly advertised and should be one of the first things you see about the game, and if you've played literally any of the other RPGM games on this site, you'd know this one is definitely one of the better and least frustrating ones. Honestly, when I was installing this, I was preparing myself for complete garbage. Anyways, moving on.

Story: It isn't anything unique or amazing, but it does do the basics of having a conflict and questions that the MC needs answers to and a mystery to solve, which for some reason a lot of games can't even manage that much. The game is also pretty early on so this could change.

Scenes and animations: pretty good quality, it's not the absolute cream of the crop, but it's pretty high up there. As it is now, there aren't many because the game hasn't even hit the year mark yet, but they're making good progress.

Characters: nothing unique here, personality wise decent, and it'll serve the story as needed, the designs and looks of the characters are good and they're all hot.

Gameplay: if you've played RPGM games before, you'll know what to expect. This one, I'd say, is higher quality than most other RPGM games you'll find on F95, so if you played any of those and liked them, then you'll be fine here and probably have an even better experience gameplay-wise. I'm not a biggest fan of the combat though, luckily there is difficulty settings to tune it down and make it trivial.

Anyways, those are my thoughts on the current game; usually I don't review this early on because, if I'm being honest, there's not much yet to fairly review, but for some reason this game was getting seemingly review bombed, so I decided to add my two cents since I thought it was unfair given what I experienced.

Easily the worst NLT game of the bunch. The entire framework for this title is tailor made for dragging out development as long as they possibly can.

The new mechanics are terrible, VO adds nothing of value (and xould be elevenlab'd) and has the ugliest cast of characters theyve ever produced. NLT has never produced a good story and they wont here, dragging their feet on putting out the content anyone bothers with their games for is a massive L for all involved.

I like this game way more than the previous game a lot of improvements in gameplay although I really don't like the new fighting mechanic.

Better world and way better characters than previous game. Also put in some voice acting in some of the scenes which are a nice touch for immersion

came from NLT original project before he open it to be universal (visit aunt sara vs summer time with mom vs sis)... i felt bit dissapointed after last project (genesis order). it didn't reach my expectation at all, the story is weird and setting unattractive. now, this newest one even starting being worse than genesis order. but i will wait, for it reach final and review rating it once more but at this moment, this game is poorly make, i feel no soul was putting in and let me bad impress as cash grab.

Review as of Version: .05092

I can't believe I'm making my first NLT review on f95 to exprress my fading signs of interest after completing the content present in the game so far.

Coming fresh off the boat after The Genesis Order, this game takes place in a new town with a hot new adventure to explore. However it wouldn't be possible for me to talk about the game without discussing the major points and cores of the overall formula

1. Cutscenes and Renders: There's a markedly improved quantity of cutscenes and with lip sync added. NLT seems to be building their games with bigger and expanse narrative cutscenes. I've seen an astonishing number of choreographed cutscenes so far. That's strong improvement over past games. However, I'm still seeing glitches like hair clipping through skin and clothes and many other clipping issues. There remains plenty to be fixed and polished in the cutscenes.
2. Character Designs and Subsurface Scattering: This is a core of the game that has seen a big downgrade since Genesis Order. The character look super bimbo-like or have super cartoonish proportions. They're stretched too wide or have large body parts like head, tummy, thighs. It's absurd and not super easy on the eyes. As for subsrface scattering.... sigh, where do I even start? There has been plenty of other games with amazing character render quality like Summer Heat, Chasing Sunsets, Leap of Faith, My Dorm, Star Harem. The detail present on these models are super well done. Here's one reason why they look so good; subsurface scattering (the ability to see skin pores and markings on the character's body) This is ONE BIG issue that's still present in SoTS. All characters look like dolls masquerading as humans. I expected NLT to improve upon their models after the phenomenal update in The Genesis Order, but nope the render quality isn't full 4k, nor are character models fully detailed. Also that dick design is a certain choice to have... overall, not very pleasing to look at. It's alright but could've done with better detailing and higher quality renders.
3. Story: Not sure where to stand on this. The story formula is a retread of previous stories. You play as a nobody in a new place, have a supernatural being as your companion, a phone, booty calls, random cameo characters. You go around treasure hunting and forming relationships with powerful people in this new city you live in. So far, it's weak. Nothing has happened but the fact that it's retreading same ground as previous stories does hamper my experience.
4. Map and Navigation: I don't even know what was going on when NLT designed the map and paths. The Genesis Order had more spots, and a more convoluted looking map compared to Treasure of Nadia. While I welcomed the presence of more spots to explore in TGO and SoTS, the map design looks worse than TGO. It's super convoluted and fails to highlight the roads (like I just did) properly for the player to figure a path. I like the models used for the map locations and the variety offered here. There's nothing groundbreaking orany new offerings compared to previous games. It's as fun to explore as usual.
5. Gameplay: Let's be real, this is exactly why NLT games were so damn addictive, the point and click gameplay loop mixed in with a wacky adventure and solving puzzles. This is what made NLT games stand out from the rest of the other AVN games on f95. In SoTS, the gameplay design has changed to be more isometric (like Disco Elysium and many other regular games in the storytelling genre). However, this brings a new set of problems which I think NLT hasn't had the best of success dealing with. The isometric design goes super hard against the points of a 'point and click' gameplay and giving the player freedom to walk over to any corner of the map as they wished. This isn't exactly possible in SoTS due to the map being isometric and the input location doesn't align with the final player destination. As such, players will need to recalibrate their clicks to lead their player to the required position properly. While the idea to take it in an isometric perspective is neat, it takes away from the 'point and click' style a bit.
6. Combat: This is a new core in SoTS. It was previously used on occasion in previous games and was usually a weak highlight. NLT doesn't seem to have figured out HOW to make the combat actually engaging. Here's a quick guide for dummies; if you're near and enemy, just walk back and forth in your spot till the enemy is facing behind or sideways and you can land a hit on him without getting hurt. Keep repeating this as long as enemy isn't flickering red and boom, the fight is over. That's all you need to do, nothing else, kids. Fights lose tension and don't add much to the experience. Don't expect a deep combat system, NLT seems to be figuring out how to make a balanced and fun game with all these new elements.

Overall, this game is more of an experiment for NLT, stepping away from the usual 2d point and click style to an isometric combat game with lots of cutscenes. It appears NLT hit their peak in point and click genre with ToN and TGO. With SoTS, there's a pressing need for NLT to master these elements that they wish to make a part of their game and possibly future ones too.

While very lacking in balances, mechanics and polish. It's still a very NLT styled game but has a long long long way to go before it's anywhere near perfect like TON or anywhere decent like TGO.