So I went into this game thinking its a combination of VN and management, with little to no expectation that this would be good. But what the hey, I have some hours to burn.
* Just a small caveat. I didn't finish this game, so there's always a chance that the game gets really good later on but its early-mid stages are such a slog I cant be arsed.
PROS
- Combat isn't shit, and in fact its functional and quite good. There's tons of items, tons of skills and youre not just mashing your way forward
- Sex scenes are sometimes animated and look quite fine. Much better than I expect out of 3d models.
- Girls look cute, for 3d models.
CONS
- Lord almighty this game feels like reading war and peace, except for each line of sentence you have to click spacebar. Its too long winded, and much of the dialogue is completely unnecessary. Do we really need to see every little interaction between characters with no plot significance? Is it necessary for the main protagonist to constantly remind its audience that Kisayo is a scheming little bitch and Yaichi's history with Otsu?
Good novels are paced, ideally you dont want to drag your readers through every little detail. VN should ideally show, not tell. The story in Wicked Rogue isn't a complex masterpience of a novel, it doesn't need so much details spelled out. Ive skipped so much dialogue in this game, but dont feel like Ive missed anything.
- Characters are fine up to a point, but seriously, our MC Yaichi is such a prick. He's the son of a rich lord, have tons of half-naked girls around him, with a score of ladies each competing for his affections. And his preoccupations is revenge against a man who killed his father, of whom we are constantly reminded that he hates. Like seriously?
I literally cant see why I should be rooting for our mc here. Kisayo gives him tons of cash, practically salivating over him every day, and old Yaichi here slags her off at every opportunity. Perhaps its a good thing I didnt finish this game, otherwise I'd might have lowered my score.
- Art direction feels like those old might and magic games in the 90s. Maybe its just me. 3d models in H games often come out too stiff and rubber puppety. But this game really does remind me of those old 90s 3d games.
- The management aspect of this game is really subpar. In fact its completely unnecessary. Its possible to make money without ever prostituting any of the oirans, and up to a certain point in the game you'll have amassed more money than god anyway.
- There's a distinct lack of choices in this VN. Its story is too linear, which makes the extraordinarily long dialogue all the more grating, since there's literally no reason to pay any sort of attention.
And that's a real shame. Literally at the start of the game we're presented with two oirans in-training. Its almost an easy win: Create a route where they dont come out as prostitutes, against a slow corruption route. Instead, what we got is both of them just decide one day to suck your dick and off they go whoring themselves out.
CONCLUSION
The game has potential, but as it stands its just another shallow VN experience, masquerading with more elements than it actually has. Unfortunately, I cant look past the long dialogue and fairly mundane story.
Recommended only if you have literally tons of time to burn with the patience of a god, or you know, you can just play something better, like strive for power, a very similar game but one that understands pacing. At least in that game youre actually arsed about management.