English:............9/10
User Interface:.....4/10
User Experience:....8/10
Art:................7/10
Dialogue:...........5/10
Story:..............7/10
Opinion:............7/10................
Avg:..............6.71/10 [3.35/5]
Honestly, this is now my fourth or fifth attempt to write a review of this. The first time, just wasn't feeling it, it's more of the same kinda issues from this dev with a slight visual improvement. The rest of the times I got a few paragraphs in and accidentally deleted my review, so it's just cursed for me at this point. I will preface this by saying this is MOSTLY GOOD. Three stars doesn't mean bad, just needs some elbow grease. The short answer is "If Tally's stories do it for you, here's more of the same." It's marginally reductive, but true. This story feels like a spiritual successor to their other magic based AVN. (which I can't name because we're not allowed to compare games because... devs can't take criticisms? I guess..?)They STILL do the same, awful, sex scenes that are two images of one or both of the characters breaking their bones to crash into each other's pelvic regions. Instead of learning about the characters or relationships, there's miles of world building and everyone already knows everyone. Instead of two characters interacting, the dev would rather have 20 frames of MC getting on a horse, or have an entire scene play out but never talk about it or be relevant after the fact. Sure, a couple of those issues are just a constant in the AVN sector, but Tally here REALLY likes to write this in-depth world and politics. The problem is I DO NOT CARE about Emperor A or Queen B and their relations with Kingdom J or Village K. This time around MC ACTUALLY has issues, but they really only flare up or cause any inconvenience when the plot needs something negative to happen. I'm not asking for the world's greatest hero's journey, but if writing is the focus, which it very much is here, then give me a reason to care. MC once again acts like everything going on is just an annoyance to him. He seems to know the answer to all the issues unless the person he's after has hidden their face or there is travel time to limit his limitlessness. If you're gonna create universe after universe, and call the game "Tribulations" you better write some tribulations, that's all.
This starts out the same as the rest of the AVN's, MC doing SOMETHING. A pointless action sequence showing MC being the best, it being nothing more than an inconvenience, and it's NEVER talked about again. You meet MC and Mal, (I really don't remember if is name is Maltrin, Malgrin, Masrin, or Malfrin as the font is not great(It's malgrin, that's apparently a 'G')) They're finishing up a job for some noble that cheaped out on them. Then Nisha, MC's familiar that is a female panther because she'll probably become a horny humanoid one day. They need to get to the capital for some reason. You also see MC coughing and Mal's constant worry for him, implying there's something wrong. Spoiler alert, it's his one tribulation. Singular. Part of his soul is missing and it's killing him. Normally, I'd be interested, that's kinda a cool thing to explore. The issue is that it's the problem, the plot, and driving force for everything. The whole of the story is focused on this one thing. Solving his declining health. AKA finding the necromancer responsible(or another one to fix him, I don't 100% know yet.) You get a scene at the inn of the people not wanting him around because he's sick, I will say it's a nice little thing even though I think the thumbheads are a little too belligerent in my opinion.(You also see Mal moonwalk because the CGs aren't in order) This next section also highlights one of the HUGE issues I have with all the MC's by Tally here. While he's talking at Nelda, AT not TO, he's painfully aware of everything she might do or say even if he's not even looking at her. He acts completely disinterested, and she almost NEVER has anything to say. So many of the dialogues end up this way. What is the point in making other characters if MC knows, says, and answers their questions befpre they even ask them? These all-knowing Wizard of Oz type characters are NEVER supposed to be the main character. Omnipotence and omniscience are boring. Not to mention MC just comes off so matter-of-fact and sounds like an ass most of the time. I honestly think this dev would be one of my favorites if characters were written better. The only argument would be that part of his soul is missing, but everyone is just as stale.
Soon you meet Shani, I suppose MC's primary LI. And like their last game, their relationship is made difficult, only this time it's due to size issues, not political ones. He never loses the impatient attitude either. She brings him news about a conjurer? I think? Maybe the one that summoned the elemental from the beginning? It's not apparent, and I like to think I read these games pretty thoroughly. Anyways she says "Yeah I found it" So his response is "You gonna tell me or what?" And he does that more than once. So he starts to feel a little unlikeable. It doesn't get WORSE, but it just persists and I don't understand why everyone likes him. And they all do, everyone regards him very highly. You soon meet Gweyr, an orc from a now destroyed village. This is where MC's assholery is most apparent. He just begrudgingly helps her and say how much he dislikes orcs and barely wants to work with her. I UNDERSTAND his pale orc issue, but they literally just did the "Those are northern dwarves I'm eastern" and she says "What's the difference?" and they compare forest to pale orcs. So the lesson was supposed to be learned. Only he still continues to be a bit of a dick. I dunno, just weird to me. Maybe I didn't read his reasoning right, but she falls for him after a week anyway. Which pushes them to the capital.
You meet the whole gaggle of mages. Lian, Ayaka, Uche, Jian and Magnus. You KIND OF see that Ayaka is prideful, Uche is supposed to be comedic relief, if having one of the two jokes is comedic relief, Lian and Jian are.... Characters in this story. And Magnus is MC's mentor. This highlights another aspect of poor character writing. None of them have personalities, or at least to me they don't feel like they do. Sure, they kind of relay information in slightly different manners of speech. But all they do is provide exposition or plot for MC to hear. Shani and Mal are the closest to real characters, but still don't feel like they have personalities deeper than playful and grumpy lecher, respectively.This whole section is meant to tell MC "Go here and do this thing. That being kill a necromancer because a magic war is coming, I suppose. Ultimately it's long, drawn out, and nothing happens. It's SUPPOSED to establish the aforementioned characters and their relationships with MC. But since everyone comes off as monotone and dry, at least in my head, it just feels boring. I think a big part is the stiff posing, like the walk cycle that is overused? It's not even walking it's the character starting from a rest position mirrored over the body. So it makes it feel robotic. Also I believe a whole month is just skipped over at this point. I get that things don't always need to happen, but some of the best character moments happen during downtime. So I don't know why the opportunity wasn't used to get to know people a little more than their one personality trait. Another thing that bugs me is MC says "Now if only I could move from point A to B instantly" but MC teleported earlier at the Orc scene? And the ONLY reason I remember that is because he was like 10 steps away then made magic happen and was next to him instantly. I thought he was being so lazy he couldn't be bothered to walk that little of a distance. And I really don't want to learn or complain about the depths of how the magic works in this world because I know for a FACT that I the player will never impact MC's use of magic in any meaningful way.
The next bit is two side stories and the necromancer. The travel bits are SUPPOSED to be MC learning about Gweyr and sure, it almost seems like you learn about her. But she literally says NOTHING. "We don't talk about the dead" But MC asked about her? It should come off as a "moment" but no one says anything and cuts jarringly to MC's nightmare again. Then you get to see that Dev doesn't know how to make multiple dialogues work well. It needs to be edited a little bit so the backgrounds don't stack on each other. The gladelings are inconsequential. MC knew some when he was young, they want things from the necromancer, nothing special. I guess add a possible furry tag. The witch teaches MC to fight possession and talk with the dead. And the necromancer... Is a fight scene. I don't think he even gets what he was supposed to from them? Either way, Eirlys, the witch joins the party afterwards. I like her look, I will say it's very different. The passage of time is very strange too. It will say a couple days later or some amount of time, THEN the characters will have the discussion. But the time between the two scenes wouldn't have needed the time? Like when MC is stopped before the capital, he's at most half a day away(give or take) but it says DAYS passed before he enters? I guess being slow is better than teleporting, it still makes it hard to judge the size and distance I guess. It gets difficult to talk about the story even, as at this point most of what's happening is everyone standing around TALKING about what they're GOING to do. "We need to go here" "We also need to do this" "You are free, do what you want" "This character died off screen and no one batted an eye at it" You see why I think it feels dry now? I don't mind talking or a slow burn, but there's a difference between slow burn and inactivity, this comes off as the latter. Sure they fight some Wights, and are headed for an EIGHT MONTH journey. But it just doesn't feel as grand as it's made out to be. Though, it is a LOT more entertaining and engaging than the last game. The politics take a backseat and it never feels like a board meeting. All to end on an okayish cliffhanger. (As of 0.8)
All in all, this isn't bad. Am I interested to see more? Sure. Tally always does a decent amount right. But it's still missing that little bit of character writing and personability to make me love it. As always, the English is fine. The later chapters have a couple odd tensing issues and missing words in sentences, but it's good overall. The UI/UX is slightly edited, and they have the choice wheel option, but it's still stock renpy with a couple extra buttons, I'd love to see an overhaul to add some personality. The Art is better. The sex scenes are still two back and forth images of the SINGULAR body part moving up and down, making it uncanny and a little comical. The Dialogue is the biggest hit to this. It reminds me of an episode of Criminal Minds, yeah all the characters stand around and finish each other's sentences, but no one has their own personality. No one adds a unique perspective, just their one character quirk. Hell, there are only like 4 jokes in the story. I'm glad it's not marvel levels of quippyness, but lightening the mood with something OTHER THAN sarcasm would be appreciated. The story is interesting. Or I guess more that the events that are happening are interesting because, as it stands, I can't really tell what is the main storyline. Is it save the world? Is it meet his old friend? Is it get his soul back? I just don't know at this time. If ol' Tally ever reads this, what I want most, given all my gripes and nit-picking, is more effort to go into the characters and interpersonal dialogues. One thing that is certain is I do not care about a single person in this. Are a couple of the models appealing? Yeah. But all I know about them is what race they are and what they ate for breakfast. The only time I (the player) ever learn about a character is when it's about MC and his past or afflictions. That's great and all, but this is an AVN, I don't need to feel anything for MC. I'm sorry, that's just how it is. I will ALWAYS say how much I love and appreciate the world building and lore, but characters are really what make a story interesting.