Trials in Tainted Space is - first and foremost - a dress up game. It is also a sandbox RPG with more emphasis on the sandbox portion.
To start, the vast amount of effort done for the world building of TiTS is commendable. Every character seems to have been thought out from their habitat to their bodily performances. Every world will introduce a multitude of characters that all have their own stories to tell; you just have to go looking for it.
The transformation aspects are largely cosmetic in nature, often their sole purpose is to allow or bar the use of certain sexual acts. For players looking for a gameplay advantage, TiTS seems uninterested in using this feature to enhance its combat and while there are examples, these are few and far between. For example, growing multiple arms will not grant the use of multiple weapons, having rabbit legs does not make you run faster, and turning your skin into chitin will not grant a defense boost. While there exists some form of bridging this in the tease action, where enemies gain more lust depending on how the PC looks, the likes and dislikes are seemingly random every encounter, making using it - let alone strategizing with it - impossible. I should also probably mention that some transformation items do grant additional stat buffs, but these are so small that it's not worth investing in.
Still, the amount of customization on the PC that's allowed is insane, and - after all - looking fabulous is its own reward.
Building a character is then usually left alone to a class and points leveling system. There's an effort to diversify by offering the choice of two different abilities for every level, but it's still a very railroaded way of doing it. Max out the appropriate stats and ignore the rest. You've played RPGs like this before.
On that subject, dividing the weapons between melee and ranged and having different stats associated with the two is a good attempt at this as well, but it also stands as how TiTS' combat is a little shallow. Aside from the bow weapon type, the game doesn't change in depending on what weapons the PC equips. (I.E. there are very few weapon based builds).
Altogether, the writing alone makes this one deserving of an excellent score. While I've spent too much on how the non-focusing of combining the tf gameplay and the rpg combat systems is a missed opportunity, games should be judged by what they are, not by what they could be.
To start, the vast amount of effort done for the world building of TiTS is commendable. Every character seems to have been thought out from their habitat to their bodily performances. Every world will introduce a multitude of characters that all have their own stories to tell; you just have to go looking for it.
The transformation aspects are largely cosmetic in nature, often their sole purpose is to allow or bar the use of certain sexual acts. For players looking for a gameplay advantage, TiTS seems uninterested in using this feature to enhance its combat and while there are examples, these are few and far between. For example, growing multiple arms will not grant the use of multiple weapons, having rabbit legs does not make you run faster, and turning your skin into chitin will not grant a defense boost. While there exists some form of bridging this in the tease action, where enemies gain more lust depending on how the PC looks, the likes and dislikes are seemingly random every encounter, making using it - let alone strategizing with it - impossible. I should also probably mention that some transformation items do grant additional stat buffs, but these are so small that it's not worth investing in.
Still, the amount of customization on the PC that's allowed is insane, and - after all - looking fabulous is its own reward.
Building a character is then usually left alone to a class and points leveling system. There's an effort to diversify by offering the choice of two different abilities for every level, but it's still a very railroaded way of doing it. Max out the appropriate stats and ignore the rest. You've played RPGs like this before.
On that subject, dividing the weapons between melee and ranged and having different stats associated with the two is a good attempt at this as well, but it also stands as how TiTS' combat is a little shallow. Aside from the bow weapon type, the game doesn't change in depending on what weapons the PC equips. (I.E. there are very few weapon based builds).
Altogether, the writing alone makes this one deserving of an excellent score. While I've spent too much on how the non-focusing of combining the tf gameplay and the rpg combat systems is a missed opportunity, games should be judged by what they are, not by what they could be.
