Decent game, but definitely wayyy too over-hyped!
This game does well with its art and character design, but fails to deliver engagement.
Beauty is not a luxury..
I like how everything in this game is drawn, including the characters. Often times I was at awe seeing how crisp my pixels were. The air is fresh, the landscapes are vibrant, and even more so are the women. They certainly didn't hold back when designing the females that roam The Old Capital vicinity.
"Screw probabilistic-realism! Screw toxic beauty standards! Unleash upon the MC all the sexy busty babes you can find within 12-mile radius. After all, he is in The Old Capital to become a man!" - Said the Devs
Okay, so, to story, or not to story...
There is some overarching story aspect in this game, which is always good, but as of right now, the plot really isn't all that strong. You can run through it pretty quickly. Seems like the devs take polls as to whether to prioritize story in the updates or, giving their favorite girl more side-quests. As you can guess, because of this the plot is significantly ignored. At this rate, I wouldn't expect the game to complete development in the next 10-years.
I would've preferred it if the devs built the game more on a proper vision than simply fan-servicing.
"I came for the porn, got distracted by the humor." - Marcus Aurelius
I like a game that can entertain me even without the porn. This has some really randomly funny characters and scenarios which make the journey a lot more fun. Like the old-man with the glasses who wants to marry his granddaughter off to the MC, the guardsman at the gate, the sleazy fat slob married man who wants to marry the old-man's granddaughter, & and the petty patrol man who lost at cards playing the guardsman of the gate.
It's funny randomness like this really goes well with art-style of the game and the overall atmosphere.
Freedom Of Choice Is A Forgotten Folk-lore In The Old Capital!
This game gives you absolutely a grand total of.. uh.. let me count... ... ... 0 real choices! I can not think of a single choice, in the entire 5.7 GB of game, that made a difference.
The choices go like this 1) Do it. 2) Don't do it. (But do it anyway.) The only differences are minor dialogue.
This is where a lot of you will start to lose interest (me too). The lack of decision making significantly makes me wanna play the game less, as it's not entertaining enough for me to simply just sit down for hours and just consume. This is not a Hollywood production, nor a K-drama.
Since your decisions don't change anything... you guessed it! You can not reject the girls in this 'game'. Even if you absolutely do not like her! Honestly being forced to get along with an unlikable character, makes me wanna get along with them even less!
Simps' Guide To Romance!
Step 1: Be harmless. Never defend yourself.
Step 2: Be a Classist. See pretty women as God's gift to humanity regardless how toxic or unimpressive she is.
Step 3: Be a nice guy who goes, significantly, out his way to help out said pretty women all the time.
This is the MC's playbook. Although I don't mind when it's used for the girls that I like myself, but ABSOLUTELY hate it when it's done for the girl I detest.
This is honestly a very lame approach to romance.
a) Player sees a pretty-girl, he tries to get to know her a bit more, then they have a journey/side-quests together, he does things for her, she does things for him; and by the end the player knows whether he likes her as a friend, lover, or nobody.
b) Player sees a pretty-girl, MC's dick gets hard. He is already sold. He goes out there makes a fool of himself in front of the girl. The girl is either really nice, or she turns out to be real toxic. The player might or, might not be impressed by the girl, but MC drools over her anyway and goes out there to move mountains regardless of how much or how little she has done for him.
The game goes with Option B for all its romances. This might work for MC, but doesn't for the player. You're expected to like a character from the start, instead of growing to like them.
Only a writer can like their characters from the start as they know what kind of person they will be.
"Well, at least, he is a pretty face..."
The main character is really one of the worst aspects of this game. His positives - pretty face, crafty.
His negatives - boring 'nice guy', scrawny, gets hard at the sight of pretty women, pushover.
I wondered few times, during my playthrough, "Why am I helping this man with his journey as his guardian angel? I really don't like him all that much."
Queens and Evil-Queens
The blondie really influenced a whole 1-star out 3, for me with this game. Perfect beauty and helping nature makes her so lovable. Other than her, I liked a few other women.
The main one I hated was the redhead. She was both a physically and verbally abusive woman. Watching her always belittle the MC was honestly really difficult to bare. Even I didn't dislike him this much. But you're expected to like her anyway. All she has shown me, is that she is a pretty girl, nothing else was worth noting. At least her grandfather is a funny old coot.
On the inside, I can only tell myself that she isn't that bad and that her abusiveness is just her love-language, but goddamn this is far more toxic than endearing!
There is also this hairy, smelly, old hag with an even worse personality who is apparently a optional love-interest in this game. Why? Who wants it? Idk. Being forced to kiss her brought down a whole half-star for me.
All is well, that ends well..
This game visual novel might be worth checking out for you, it has it's moments, especially if you don't mind the negatives. For me, it falls in B-tier catagory.
It might be nearly 5-years into development, but still isn't all that 'developed.' None the less, the game right now, still serves as a baseline to build something phenomenal. All of the issues I have listed are still fixable. The MC can mature up with character development, the choices can actually start to mean something and the romances could start being more option A than B.
Good luck to the Devs!
