Review for v0.9.036
Trials in Tainted Space is one of the first porn games I played, one of the games I've followed for the longest, and one of the games I've returned to the most. I've got a real soft spot for it. Though not without its flaws, I do think it's one of the best text-based games on the site.
Does the idea of being a space adventurer on a quest among the frontier of the universe sound interesting to you? It does to me, and is probably a big part of the reason I like the game. Set during the 14th planet rush, our wealthy (and now deceased) father has sent us on a mission across the stars to ultimately earn our inheritance. Sci-fi is my thing, and this is a setting right up my alley.
The game is pretty huge. Numerous locations to explore, a nice amount of loot to find, decent combat, a fair amount of quests to undertake, extensive (though roundabout) character customization, and it's filled to the brim with different people and aliens (most of which being horny). You can even recruit some of them, which is a fun feature.
I've said it about their other games and I will say it here: the best aspect of TiTs is that sex scenes, for which there are tons of, are all uniquely written out from each other. No repeating the same few randomly pulled lines of text or having the same basic scenes repeated for every NPC. The game feels so much more diverse because of this. It makes every encounter stand out and feel unique from the next. You might run into the same archetypes, but the sheer variety and amount of sex content is simply unmatched. You will need an open mind to enjoy that extensive variety however.
At the same time, what should be mentioned is the way the game gets developed. It's not standard. There isn't a team working on clear goals A B and C. Rather, team member 1 is off making random project number 69, while team member 2 is working on new stuff for project 15 that's been in the game for years. It feels random, and the game is a little messy because of it. It's got it's ups and downs because of this. It leads to some unique surprises and fun content, but it also means things get randomly left unfished or even abandoned. There are some things I've been waiting years at this point to get added, and I have no idea if there's even still plans to do so. I sometimes wish more focus was present so things like that don't happen.
The other thing to note is that with the death of flash, this was converted to another engine. A lot of bugs arose is that process, many of which still plague the game. Back up your saves often if you play, as things might break without you even realizing it.
TLDR - TiTs is an extensive sci-fi RPG that does a great job of giving you the feeling of being a spaceship captain on an sexy adventure amongst the stars. If it can sort out the bugs and get back to producing more meaningful content at a decent rate, I'd give this 5 stars.