RPGM - Way of Corruption [v0.22] [Shadow Blade]

I'm being super generous and giving this 3 stars but it was a tough choice between 2 and 3.

The story premise is good, the art style is good, some of the situations our MC finds herself in are/should be good.

So why only 3 stars...

The writing, I am one of the few that enjoys a good story and could care less about walls of text. If your going to give us walls of text it had better be damned good engaging text. This unfortunately is not engaging in my opinion. This is more like a text book that you read because you have to for an assignment, not because you enjoy reading or where the story is taking you.

The slow burn, this is not a slow burn game. This is a molasses slow burn game, for a game that has been in development for over 3 years , most would have expected the MC to have done quite a bit more than where she is currently. Corruption based games are divided into DUMB or SMART corruption, the MC is Dumb and falls for things only an idiot would fall for most of the time. While Smart corruption the MC has to be blackmailed, forced etc. The MC here to be fair does try to protect her dad but usually falls for something utterly stupid.

I love corruption games, but as this one is now it's not great. I will check back in another 3-4 years.

Story is so spread out and weird. Graphics aren't that good. At least scenes have a small animation. After a very long time, i took the full save from the discord and the game feels like it barely moved ever since. Main character is hot and I've been waiting for her to get some anal and more sex for a very long time. I wonder sometimes why I keep coming back for such low progress. I don't even feel like playing the game since is just a maze of boring repeatable speech.

I seem to have a different understanding of what corruption means.
This one with just a few minutes playtime fondeling her breasts and vagina...and than drugging her is not corruption.
It is still in early development so maybe something will change..but if the get go is bad (for me) than I just don't care about it.
A little hint for the dev...please either install a map or put some signs in front of buildings.

I played the game for about 2-3 hours, wanting to give it a fair try.

However, it was honestly borderline painful to 'enjoy' the story because of the MC. My issue with her is that, despite being 18 years old, she has the mindset of a 10-year-old child. Her actions, conclusions, and pure naivety are elements I find challenging to appreciate in the context of a porn game.

This game is updated frequently and the creator is very communicative. Updates are quite big, with strong focus on the story. The hentai scenes, as the creator is calling them, focus on slow corruption of the female protagonists. Even, if most of them are very naive, they are no easy to fuck bimbos.
The art style is nice, maybe the second artist is a little less talented, but it is okay. I personally like, that the girls in this game have quite normal or smaller boobs and not, like in most drawn games, some oversized melons.

Giving this one 5 only because this game is underrated.

Story. Good and solid and not vanilla - main purpose of the story in this game is not only show characters and world but also make good foundation for corruption or maybe even empathy for characters. Corruption is the main focus in this game. And now it has a great basis for it.
Amount of content. Good for not full-time project while also have choices and story branches. The plot and scenes are working hard to make you want to be invested in reading.

There's a good story to follow. The corruption pacing and escalation of events are good, in my opinion. The dev frequently updates the game. The art is excellent. This is one of my favorite games to keep up with.

I would give it 4.8 stars, just not the 5 because the RPG features are still missing, but I'm sure the developer will implement them at some point.

The effort made by the developer in terms of giving each character an individual background, context, personality and development is noticeable and truly commendable. The dialogues and the narration really takes you deep into the history of the city and the mysteries every single corner of the realm entails.

I'm also having a lot of fun with making choices, which is something I hold in the highest of values when I play a game: please, give me choices, not just a line to follow inevitably!! And the choices throughout the story so far seem to indicate that there will be consequences to each and every decision, reaction or dialogue choice that you make in the game.

I am also liking the fact that the MC is a female, but that she has other secondary characters around her, not just her (you even play at some point with a few of the others), which makes the game even more entertaining (because also those story lines give you options to decide which path you will follow).

Furthermore, the effort of the developer to be in contact and listen to his users via discord and patreon (and maybe via here, as well? Don't know, haven't tried) and learning that this game has a "one-man army" behind it... wow, it's fantastic what Shadow Blade has achieved, IMO.

DEFINITELY not a game for you if you just want a "click and BOOBS!" kind of game, but a suitable alternative if you are looking for a truly deep RPG type of game.

If you want full-blown story - pick twine. None of the RPGM benefits are applied here, dialogs are extremely painful to read especially since text is not instant and there are constant pauses for a oh-so-immersive emote emoji.
And since the story is well-written and HUGE - choosing RPGM is terminally wrong.

I will give it 5/5 because I really like the erotic events that this game has.

They are long enough to enjoy them (some could be longer), they are fun and are drawn well enough.

Mc is very generic, she looks like most characters in erotic games. But at least there is Minerva and it looks like she is going to get a lot of attention and content. She is the character that I want to see the most in new updates.

But there is a big problem in this game which is clearly the plot. Putting infinite walls of text that is totally nonerotic into an erotic game is a very bad idea. You are not writing a book with some erotic scenes here and there, you are making a game that is supposed to deliver fun erotic content. This should be your primal focus, not all that plot thing.

If you want to make a game with an interesting story and a couple of erotic scenes here and there, it should look differently. This was clearly not the goal. It was a mistake, you just got carried away too many times. I understand how it happened. Next time you should set your priorities straight and consciously restrain yourself from going into the woods. Concentrate on what's important, don't hesitate to delete the rest.

You have to realize that players will start to skip if you overdeliver with the useless plot. And if they start doing it, it's already impossible to stop them. You have to prevent them from starting in the first place. Fortunately, it's not too late.

I would suggest taking a month off from further development, going back and remaking the game. Deleting at least 70% of nonerotic content and simplifying the plot is the best approach in the current situation. It will benefit the game in the long run by a lot. If you do that, you will get a huge boost in supporters in just a few months.

So, do more erotic content, make the events longer and the game will be received very well. Concentrate on the plot that no one cares about and get players bored. Choice is simple. If you don't care and still want to write more plot, then at least incorporate erotic stuff into it, make it fun to read.

So the Game is Slow Corruption and it means it but that means its got more game its a Slow Burn and you slowly build up to it, As the girls do more and more it gets sexier and more engaged. Though there is alot of Story and content. but Overall I really love the game. - some much larger scenes are coming i have been Helping the Dev with some of my personal favorite scene types and also supporting this one on Patreon. as I found the game to be my prefered style!

This is a slow starter with immense potential. Great characters and gameplay. One of the few games I support on Patreon.
There are not a lot of choices to be made at the moment. There is no combat as of yet. This is a great start and as it gets fleshed out more it is better and better. Each update has been very promising.

As i progressed through the game.., it be came clear that the definition of corruption as it is expected to be now a days is used superficially..,
and Irritatingly. as many other reviewers have stated, it is filled with word walls and irritation.

The MC doesnt learn or ever trust into their closest allies, even so after slowly going more and more into things.
(you cannot add life changing or view changing things and then pretend theyll always be with fogged glasses and fall for cheap tricks. Specially when characters clearly state what goes on in the world.)

While i find long walls of text fine if the story does well. all it has served is become irritating due to how entrenched the struggle is set, with no way forward. no progression into easing the character into a new view of things either.(which would make situations more logical as it goes.) The world changes, but they do not. or the world doesnt change and they do magically.

A limited view of what Corruption and what other tags could offer to the game.

Even if the attempt was to fill you with certain emotion, it does so in a way of hating the time spent, rather then enjoying the STRUGGLE as you attempt to overcome/adapt to the world the MC lives in.

it takes awhile to hint to potential open variability as some other games offer tastefully(exquisitely if you wish to use those words). Limited to two, rather than potentially four.
Yet the MC never growns, despite being told they are.
So they dont try to find a compromise of their situation, they dont confide on the lives they are tied to, specially in situations that they can do good whilst being fair or meting out justice.

At this moment..,
There is no "Way of Corruption"
Just a Expectation to Punish, despite the fact it doesnt do what it intends to do, only reinforce the expectations of others.

The Art Style is Decently good, love the MC's looks, i know no matter the artist itll be great. it doesnt overstep many peoples ridiculous tribalism of preferences.(though i wouldnt complain change in form to more heft.)

The map is good, yet the illusion of choice is so thick, it disappoints immediately after a few quests when you realize there is nothing to do.
The Choices dont even matter.

(even if it baits you at a certain point of choices, despite the fact itll keep that. so it can pull a, "you should of been honest earlier, before its too late card.")

The good quote, "Time must be made" fits all the scenarios that could use it to change the outcomes.

(it makes the MC really just a situational character that could only express what they wanted them to act. Increasing their lack of concrete identity.
Dont Trust, Too Trusting, Clear as day, Blind as a Bat. or the CLASSIC.., Doesnt talk to Trusted Authority or Parental Figures/Trusted Bonds with life.)

(Targeted to make the Antagonist seem bad, but fail since the lack of option railroads, and doesnt prove. All becomes tell, even the actions made.)

Edit: The game has its potentials of course.., But its importance pieces arent clear in what they should do.

Way to much grind and endless dialogs and only little action. The start was interesting, but as soon as she started with her 'social labor' it slowed down to a nearly standstill. And the insisting on a special kind of clothing and sometimes ignoring it without any cause is irritating.

One of the worst and most pointless games on the website.
The gameplay is pointless repetition, like there was a 20 step chain quest where you talk with same people. No listen, you walk into a location A and talk with 2 npcs, and then you do same 20 times, sometimes you need to change your dresses from one to another. Which exists only to waste your time, and has to be done manually by going into a special room. For some reason the game teleports you back into the middle between locations, so you could just go back and talk with same npc you were talking before teleport.

Maximum uncomfortable gameplay to waste your time.
You are not grinding stats or money, the whole story is a grind, which nobody would even bother to read, but even with skip button locked it takes many hours of repetetive walk in + skip.
The author made a game which people will not be interested in learning, playing.

Why even make it an RPGM game when it would have benefitted a lot more from being a kinetic novel?
The first moments feel promising as there are actual scenes but later all you do is go from to some person, talk, go to some person, talk, go some person, talk, over and over and there are no scenes or anything interesting to accompany it(sorry i can't be bothered to read this much dialogue in an eroge).
MAYBE i would bother with the story if something interesting was happening in between but 90% of the time you. Are. Literally. Just. Going from point A to point B. The map here is actually useless, just an empty space to waste your time.
Even the dev acknowledges it as they tried to make up for it by putting teleports. But even with that clutch, the "game" can't hold up.
A shame, because it has some good art. Emphasis on some, there is like 5 CGs total.

I think it's one of the best games I've played in a long time, I love the art that the game has, I also love that they are prioritizing the context of the game, those details are appreciated, good luck in the development <3

there's just nothing : after nearly two hours of gameplay i four scene of masturbation.
Story isn't enjoyable, at some point they were talking about womens menstruation and self pleasure just like a parent could explain to their child
Was expecting some fights as our character is training, but no
It's Simply a Visual novel on rpgm

Do not recommend. There are way too many texts in the game and too many things that nobody gives a shit about.

The first few steps are okay, you get all the hentai classics, the sexual harassment from a mentor, the pervy health checks, and a defeat scene from bandits. On top of that, you patrol around town and everyone does something pervy to the MC. This is a really solid start.

However, the game soon deviates from that path, and instead inserted many characters and plots that are not sexual in any way. You get a platonic teacher, a pair of receptionist, and MC's dad. Every time I see them, I groan because it's another 30 seconds of word walls and going from one place to another place. These people are neither cool or tantalizing. They go on to capture an assassin with you, and unfoil some conspiracy with the church. None of this is hentai-related. You can cut them out and it'll become a family friendly RPGM game. When you finally get sexual related content, it's scarce, quick, and not at all related to the plot. You can't immerse yourself in the world or sympathize with anyone. It is that bad.

ShadowBlade, the only way you can fix the game is, to scrap all the texts and start over. Stick to the original promise, have the main character live a normal routine, Boss, Doctor, Bandits, and random encounters from the patrol. Nobody cares about Nils or Judith, Nobody cares about the church or the assassin.

Another word of advice, ShadowBlade, play your own game. If a non sexual conversation lasts more than 5 lines, people already spammed that space bar. If a player can go through 30 minutes of your game and not see any NSFW content, your game already failed. In fact, if a player does not receive content every 5 minutes, I don't think it should be on f95.