There are a lot of games out there that do JOI to various degrees (VS, Sexual Void, Fap Queen 1/2, Lady Thunder, FemDom Waifu, etc. Let alone the web-based stuff - This list could go on for a while...)
I am quite a large fan of FQ1/2 because of what I think it does best in the genre: Instructions and feedback.
Audio-visual synchronicity is a very nice thing to have, but I don't think it is nearly as important.
The entire point of JOI-games is to provide instructions to the player (Hence the name: Jerk Off Instructions).
FQ1/2 are the best in the genre for me because they give the most instructions - there is always a metronome with visual and audio indicators - the game is always telling you what to do.
FQ1/2 also allow you to adjust speed by the Queen's feedback, asking the mistresses, and picking mistresses that suit your desires/tastes better.
FQ1/2 have less immersion than VS as there is nothing long-term in them, but I will say they are vastly better as what I personally consider a JOI game to be, because they are at almost all times giving the player constant instructions.
Personally, if I wanted a JOI game I would go to FQ1/2, then Lady Thunder, then maybe FemDom Waifu, then Sexual Void ... Virtual Succubus is very far down the list, and not because of how poor the JOI instructions are, but because of how infrequent they are.
VS feels sorta too slow to be a JOI game.
As an example of this, look at the average durations of various sessions for different JOI games and sites:
- FQ1: 10, 15, 20 mins.
- FQ2: 1-4 challenges minimum, maybe 3-5 mins each?
- Sexual Void: 1, 5, 10, 20 mins.
- FemDom Waifu various, but is usually 10-15 mins.
- Lady Thunder: A chance every 5 mins. Gameplay sessions: 5 -30 mins in 5 min intervals. (5 mins is the default.)
- EdgePlay.me: 10-15 mins is the average time for a standard game.
- joi.how: 1-34 mins (Default is 10 mins)
- Virtual Succubus: 20-60 mins.
Why is VS different?
I think it's because JOI tends to be a relatively short-paced activity, because people need constant stimulation or else they can get bored or get frustrated, and usually if they want a JOI they are already ready to go by the time they get there.
VS, by comparison, has JOI elements often broken up with other non-touching tasks, which can often last a long time (I used to get 10-15 mins of non-touching a lot before I disabled the Timed/Counted tests), has comparitively few instructions given, and has very little visual variation. This all slows the JOi apsects of the game down massively.
Succu-chan can be really hot, and do and say sexy things, but there is only so long she herself could sustain your arousal with the limited knowledge and vocabulary she currently has, even with plenty of visual teasing, and I reckon that for most people - especially those who start the session ready to go, that's not that long.
VS feels like a game where I should start playing it about ten to twenty minutes before I actually want my JOI game, to get succu-chan ready and so that I am ready when she is, but I imagine that's not how most people play their JOI games, and it isn't how I play.
I think VS was designed for this purpose though: To be a slower JOI game, where succu-chan learns about you long-term and uses her knowledge on your desires to excite you rather than her looks or her metronome - it just doesn't do enough in that regard.
There is also the visuals: Succu-chan's model could be better, but it is fine - the issue is that she doesn't do much more to arouse me.
No dancing, teasing, stripping, etc.
I understand that this short-term reward of skin might invalidate succu-chan's goals of long-term investment, but succu-chan isn't hot enough to keep me hard for half an hour or more when she just stands or sits there relatively motionless.
This is where succu-chan's long-term gameplay should come into play: She should be able to verbally tease/abuse/whatever me to get me excited - she does know a lot more about my desires than any other JOI girl, and she should use that, but she doesn't.
Even little changes would help: Having succu-chan slowly sway her hips whilst she stands, or dangle her shoes whilst she sits. It all adds up to make her feel more seductive.
I am going to quote this, because I think it is very interesting, and I think that because I think there are two separate things you are trying to make VS have - short term JOI, and long term investment.
The two can mesh, but they do not fully overlap, and I think people will come to VS for either short term JOI or spending time with succu-chan, but not both.
SuccuDev: To ask/put it bluntly:
What type of game is Virtual Succubus trying to be?
Alternatively:
In your eyes, when somebody opens VS.exe/apk, why are they there?
What are they hoping to get out of the experience?
People who want a short JOI game will be very quickly turned off of VS because of the above reasons - the JOI is slower, harder to get to, and with less feedback and instruction than other games in the field.
So is VS supposed to be a long term investment for players?
That is a perfectly fine idea, however VS is also sorta built around the JOI idea - JOI is also VS's core interactive gameplay.
To each their own in terms of what players like - that's fine of course, but VS is a JOI game at heart - this is why players come to it for. (No pun intended).
What long-term rewards does succu-chan give that other JOI games don't?
She doesn't really ask me about my personal info or life, and I can't ask her, so she doesn't really change her feelings, preferences, or moods over the long-term, and I don't see much progress with her over time - she gives me more outfits and options and so on, but I think I am supposed to be building a relationship with her, but she knows nothing about me outside of my JOI/sexual preferences, and I know basically nothing about her.
It feels like the reward for more time with her is a more personal JOI experience, without changing the basic JOI experience itself, which is instructions, which she does poorly.
I think VS needs to do one of three things - ideally all three:
- Implement shorter and much more assertive and instructional JOI sessions, so I can simply have succu-chan tell me what to do in a relatively short and compact session, much more similar to FQ1/2, for example.
- Give succu-chan more personal feedback. Have her ask me how my day is. Have her tell me about how she is doing.
So that I can feel as if we are growing over time and there is a reward for my time investment into her. - Combine the long-term progress/learning succu-chan has about me with the actual gameplay of submission/JOI.
For example, if succu-chan learns I have, say, a foot fetish, then over time she would show me more of her feet, until eventually showing me only her feet is the default, and have her constantly mention her lovely feet and how much I like them in dialogue, or have more tasks revolve arout feet during the session or similar such stuff, so she grows over time with me in a way that improves my gameplay.
TL-DR:
The short-term JOI gameplay isn't instructive or quick enough to make it as good as or better than it's JOI-game competitors, yet the long-term stuff feels sorta lackluster to the point where it feels held up by the JOI elements, and whilst the two elements are sorta fine on their own, they don't seem to mix on an actual gameplay basis.
Normally when I critique a game I write up my complaints as a huge, well-written, several-hundred page .pdf and send it to the devs directly, however I can't seem to find a contact e-mail for you so I don't know if you'll read this or give it much though, so I am not sure I should bother with that much effort here...
So sorry if this was long and came across as ranty and critisising (or repetitive) - It is 5am and VS feels frustrating to me because I really like the idea and much of the execution so far, and I want it to be a good JOI game but it's just too slow-paced and non-instructive for me to use as that.
Please keep developing VS, but but be aware that the long-term elements the game is based around and the actual JOI that sessions relove around do very much need to mix well together - they can't feel disjointed or disconnected or else you may as well just make two separate games that each excel in their own right.
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