For the early nature of the game, it looks extremely promising. I absolutely love the design philosophy of the developers when it comes to lewd games and their 'no bullshit' approach. No bogging you down with pointless and annoying or frustrating mini-games, no weird grinding, no locking you out of choices(though I do like those games, but sometimes it can be quite harsh and tedious to get to the scenes you want). Just an interesting world, interesting quests, an interesting main story, great sub-plots(which I think are going to be the main attraction to this game for me), and gorgeous art.
When I got into the game and saw the map, I thought there was no way this was just your typical porn game. Absolutely impossible. Its so well crafted, so well made. The sprites move across the screen and the landmarks are well drawn. Perhaps someone more acquainted with maps can make a better judgment, but for me, the map gave me a heads up that I was really going to like the game as weird as that might sound.
I have to say that, the overall aesthetic and atmosphere of the game, its writing, and art all give off extremely heavy fairy tale vibes. Something tells me the developers love fairy tales as much as I do, especially considering all the well placed references to already established fairy tales. It just..gushed fairy tale. I feel like I'm living in an alternate reality where you take all of the real-world fairy tales that are deeply embedded in our culture and art and then take your own spin on it. It's not like a rule 34 in how they handle things, but they utilize the archetypes well and take advantage of them to craft their own.
In a way it makes me feel like a kid, exploring an unknown world with tons of magical creatures, old-fashioned laws and ways of thinking. It just sucks me in and I can't help but follow.
I think this is a great setting for the game, as it lets the developers be as creative and wild as they want to. There are very few rules they have to follow for the game and not much would seem out of place here. I guess thats what makes the fantasy genre so great for me personally.
And, while I have harped on quite a bit, I would like to clarify a few things and touch on some things within the game that not only did I adore, but I think made the game special.
I feel I've already clarified the map being a big one for me. I wish I had a word to describe it and the feeling it evokes with its style and perspective, but alas I do not.
But the fact that the map is so special for me brings a point I would like to make. While the game might not be deep mechanically speaking, there are tons of small unique things within the game that I believe make it so interesting.
The idea for adding achievements upon completion of certain quests or stories, or doing certain activities is very cool to me. The small sound effect when they play is delightful in the fact that you feel rewarded, but its also quite cute and can be playful and sarcastic at times. The timing for these were very well placed and added a lot of humor to the game for me. It reminds me of the "Welcome to Dark Souls" achievement you get when you first die. Its very tongue in cheek and playful. I want to applaud the developers for these as I think they are a great addition to the game and I loved them.
The music, while I can't harp on it and say I absolutely adored it. It was quite nice. I did enjoy the music played during the night-time however. I think it was quite beautiful and fit the setting of the game very well.
The 'think' mechanic within the game is done very well. I haven't really seen a game do something like these, though there may be some out there, perhaps I'm not well versed. The developers were right in that the addition and use of this was to add depth and humor to their game and I believe their intention landed perfectly. All of the various scenarios were fun and interesting to watch play out, while at the same time not being annoying. I was always curious to see what the protag might come up with, whether it be stupid or stupid brilliant. And again, since this is a fantasy game, you can go quite far and be nearly as absurd as you like. So, anything in the game that gives the devs creative freedom is A+ in my book, given what they have shown so far I want to see how far they can go.
God there is probably so much Im glancing over, but these are the things that stood out to me the most.
Oh, and Kevin. Kevin is the homie
I would typically speak more on the art, but I think you can look at it and it will speak for itself. Its well-drawn, the characters design matches their personality, it's all-around great.
So, on the subject of some even smaller things I liked:
The ability to play scenes from the game and they are categorized. Might seem like a low bar I have, but there are plenty of games that dont have a feature to replay scenes. This is welcome. The scrying orb allowing you to get help when you are stuck is appreciated. Sometimes I feel like a nincompoop when using it, but most quests are straightforward to accomplish if you explore a little. If you're stuck, its there, or if you don't want to go around places, its also there. Not much else to say.
I also like the subtle details in the game. Art and sprites moving on the map, the little spider dangling from the dagger in the inventory screen, and a piece of the
Tiny details, gotta love them.
I also want to appreciate the fact that,
Overall, its got a lot of potential and I absolutely
want to see what happens next with the game.
I do have a small gripe or so with the game, however. I understand that animation is tough, time-consuming, and more importantly difficult. However, some of the animation(which from my understanding on the dev's page, is that they use a skeleton for the drawing and animate the 2d image that way. While I thoroughly enjoyed 99% of what I saw, there was a bit of roughness with 2 scenes in particular that threw me off. There is a riding animation, if I recall, with
where its obvious part of her body is being animated separately from the other and it ends up looking quite odd. Almost believable, but not quite.
Thats my only real criticism with that, and I imagine the devs are dedicating to making the game as polished as possible so things like this may disappear completely.
Overall, I am extremely pleased with the game so far and I believe there is a ton of room for this to become an amazing game. My rating and review of the game is as it stands in its current state. For all I know it could be down hill from here on out, but I highly doubt that will be the case.
For anyone who is interesting in trying it out at the time of my writing this, I recommend you do so. While there isn't a boatload of content, you will get a taste of just about everything and it should be enough to let you decide whether this is something you are interesting in supporting or keeping an eye on. I certainly think I will be doing so.
Note: The way the story and subplots are connected is handled well. By going through the main story, you become acquainted with these characters and you can choose whether or not you want to pursue furthering their story. Its a great way of introducing new characters in the game. More importantly, though, the developers understand that some players might want to go through with a character's story before continuing on the main story. And, while it would make sense, there is special dialogue that happens during the mainstory that changes based on whether or not you completed the side-stories. I think its wonderful and acknowledges your progress in the game, albeit subtle.