RPGM - Completed - Wicked Rouge Refine [v1.1.0] [FIROKETA Games]

Overall: 4.2/5
Based on my full playthrough I thought it did great. This revamp was not necessary, but it did have its pros for what its worth. I completed the previous version before playing this and I have trouble understanding the negative feedback of the revamp. Many of the previous characters return with a new look, but I still was able to recognize who's who because of my previous experience in the original. So, I could understand why it might be hard for new players to recognize them. (I kind of wish they kept the blond hair color on one of the characters). The story is more fleshed out in this version and also adds a bit of more depth into the introduction of the characters and their motivations. Contrary to the original, the main characters from original are all introduced from day 1 instead of being introduced sequentially throughout the game/ different in-game days. Therefore, if you play this after coming from the original it will be a bit of a shock to you. However, I liked that the dev didn't do a complete 180 and change their original personalities or backgrounds that much.

Gameplay: The game defaults you as a wandering ronin. I wish the dev hadn't remove the option to choose our MC's archetype of being (wanderer, warrior, or merchant) as I thought it was really neat because it lets us design our experience/skills and story for ourselves. Another thing disliked was removing stances from combat because it added a bit more nuance to the combat mechanics.

Dialogue: Though a bit lengthy and wordy sometimes, I recommend reading and experiencing the game for yourself. If you're just into or just wanting a scene/gallery viewer, then this game might not be for you. Some other HS2 games are better for that. ;P

I'm currently playing this game as i write this and i just had to pause playing it and write this review. I'm on day 16 of this game. It's a management game but you spend about 7 percent of your time managing the brothel and girls, around 3 percent of your time in battle and the rest of it in LONG boring dialogues. Don't get me wrong. I love dialogue in my games as it's part of the story and it's what draws you in. It's important and most games are better with it. But not this one.

I think the problem here is to much unnecessary text and how each day works. Essentially you do the management part of the game which takes you 1 minute or less, then you are suck in long drawn out dialogue for about 15 minutes or more. Then you go to a new day and do the management part again for about 1 minute or less, then another 15 minutes or more of dialogue, and that's the pattern. I got about 3 days straight where i managed the brothel and that's about it.

You hardly get to "play" the game as you hardly get to manage your brothel and instead you are reading way to much text that could convey the same meaning in half the amount of writing.

It's just to bad because the management part of it is fun when you actually get to do it. I really don't want to skip the dialogue...so I'm trying really really hard to force myself to read it hoping that seeing I'm only on day 16 (played for about 6 hours already and haven't skipped anything yet) and the game is trying to establish character personalities and the major parts of the story through the text, but man, my hand is moving ever close to the "skip" button every time.

I will change my review if there is less dialogue later on or if it becomes more interesting.

Not as big problems:
-Models all look so similar that's it's hard to remember who is who. Take their names away and lol good luck figuring out who is who haha.
-it's very vanilla, not even a hit of chocolate. Anal is as extreme as it gets based on day 16.
-H scenes are alright. A good bit are animated. Nothing amazing, just average.


TLDR: 90% dialogue, 7% management, 3% combat. Dialogue is boring and long. Could convey same message with half the words. You spend each day managing the brothel for 1 min or less, then 15 minutes or more reading text. Then repeat that same thing over and over. I don't get to play the management part of the game, just read text.

Edit: ended up dropping the game as it was to boring. Started to skip the text so not worth playing.

This is a good game, no point in denying the quality, because it's there. The management side of the gameplay is done decently well, the fighting is good as well. In general I would say the gameplay loop is enjoyable. The problem for me, here, is its content. It's good, but for a prostitution game is extremely vanilla for some reason. I don't understand why making a prostitution game in which you MUST be nice with everyone. I would've liked two paths, even slightly shorter, but with the option of being more focused toward obedience, rather then the classic cheesy love story. Not a bad game by any means, but not my cup of tea.

The introduction is incredibly long and boring — I just held down Z and literally watched an endless stream of text for 15 minutes. It’s awful.
As for the girls— it’s Honey Select, surprisingly, right? But it feels like all the models use the same body type and only have slight differences in their faces.
The management part is pretty dull too, and you have to go through a huge amount of grinding just to see small bits of content.

This game really pushes forward the boundaries of the RPGMaker engine. Great writing, excellent story and immersion (music, sound effects). I loved the management aspect as well as the turn based combat, skills, equipment and combat animations. Sex animations are excellent, very smooth and dynamic (not the usual few parts in frames moving and the rest remaining static) with lots of movement and action. Also great lightning effects on animations and scenes.

Still there's more room for expansion, this latest version can reach the ending already, but I see potential for more side quests, and enhancing the management aspect of the game. Not to encourage milking and never-ending games,mbut this one really can expand much further on top of the existing base.

Overall I liked it so much I became a Patron. 100% recommended!

Excellent story.

Very well written. Drives the game along really well. Better than most for sure. It makes a good pairing between combat game and driven toward sex scenes rather well.

Decent game mechanics.

Makes perfect use of the RPGM engine. This keeps bugs out and none of the pesky mini games that devs often try to do with RPGM that simply don't belong. You can hide the dialogue box when wanted and is made semi transparent during sex scenes. Not transparent enough IMO, but the attempt was made.

You don't have to whore out the girls. If you upgrade the place enough they can literally sit and do nothing and you still make money. It is very difficult but possible.

The bad

- Would have liked to have seen more sandbox based sex scenes with the love interests. You get their cut scenes as the game progresses but that's it. Otherwise its you fucking the whores or scenes of them having sex. More agency to the love interests would have been nice. This leaves a disconnect between the story and the sandbox.

- very few animations. Repeatable scenes are all static with only the love interest scenes being animated. with the game being less than 2gb, it has room for animated scenes for at least the training sequences.

- some mechanics aren't that great. Hiring mercenaries is pointless. don't bother. they never stop anything, always lose and you can just defeat all the enemies yourself and gain exp as a result.

Version 0.14.0

A well amalgamated game architecture that combines elements of traditional RPG battle system, resource management, dating simulator and visual novel.

The only unfortunate glaring spanner in the works is the unwise choice of RPGM as the game engine which dampens the experience due to poor ergonomics.

Story
MC is a wondering rounin (travelling swordsman) who returns to his hometown to take over the family brothel after the murder of his dad by a rival gang. The main story deals with his revival of the brothel, recruitment of orians (prostitutes) and turf war with rival gangs.

For something that focuses a lot on resource management, the visual novel aspect is surprisingly very well done. The story is captivating enough to leave you wanting for more beyond just the next sex scene and is well balanced between mystery, political intrigue and slice of life moments.

Game Mechanic
The underlying engine is RPGM, but the game doesn't really make use of it as turn based RPG battles and equipment / level ups only make up a small portion of the game. The bulk of the action takes place in brothel resource management where you get to upgrade the place, train your orians, allocate money, select customers etc.

The visual novel aspect lacks all the typical QOL features of RenPy and is quite clunky and cumbersome. Essentially Wicked Rogue could have been made in RenPy with much better playability, so I'm not sure why RPGM was chosen instead.

Background / Character Renders
The story takes place in feudal Japan and I must say the background fits well from the brothel insides to the streets of the city. Characters are also intricately designed in their traditional costumes which adds to the overall immersion.

Character Development
There are two groups of ladies here. We have three LIs who are tightly integrated with the main plot and whom the MC develops a deep relationship with. The three LIs are also unique in their background and personalities instead of the tropey stuff we are familiar with.

Kisayo is the daughter of an underworld faction - crafty, meticulous, resourceful, cruel and yet fiercely loyal to the MC. Nekomi is a kendo master with a strong sense of social justice - she dislikes the entire concept of a brothel and prostitution, yet remains loyal to the MC due to a code of honor. Otsu is a bean counter family servant involved in the ins and outs of daily brothel management and also a childhood friend of MC.

The rest of the ladies are mainly orians who work under the brothel where MC interacts occasionally and not as deeply with. Wicked Rogue also features a good number of other interesting minor characters and antagonists that are multi-dimensional and realistic.

Sex Scenes
All are very well done with good dialogue, sound effects, mood setting ambience and smooth animations. The developer does not repeat animations so each scene with a lady is unique in terms of camera angle and position.

They are certainly well deserved considering there is moderate grinning especially in the initial to middle phase of the game.

BGM and Sound Effects
The BGMs take on a traditional Japanese flavour considering the feudal setup and some of the battle tunes are catchy enough to be played continuously. Sound effects are good enough for both the RPG and visual novel elements.

Conclusion
Wicked Rogue is a comprehensive game that combines multiple elements of different game mechanics well. It's a good selection for players who prefer an adult game that is more interactive beyond simply reading a visual novel but offers something more than just brainless sex.

It would probably have been more popular if the developer has selected RenPy which is better suited since the whole game currently feels like working around an ill-suited RPGM instead.

Interesting Setting and Story combined with pretty good graphics and a decent management game part. The Combat system is a JRPG standard turn based system and can be a bit unbalanced. This game has a lot of different systems. While none of them are perfect I still had a lot of fun with the game.

v0.13.0
This game has a bit of everything, which i like. The brothel building/management need more "refine" in my opinion. The building upgrade are very simple and linear. Some balancing need to be done about their cost and profit. The brothel's girls system is done well. To explain, You got bunch of stats, which can be train to higher level. The customer have their specific requirement for stats. If you meet their request, you get their money. A more overview/macro style of engagement. The training is repetitive and slow so keep in mind if you don't like grinding. I'm fine with it. There are more details. For example, The girl also have skill system. The way the story flow is basically "expand your business, grow influence, get more girls(to work for you)". there is a combat system rpg style. It is okay. Not bad and not special. You get into fight with your rival organization. There is also romance element but not too heavy on it as the MC mind seems to focus more on revenge. Probably will get more romance side at near the end of story when MC finally reaching the conclusion of his revenge goal. Again, this game have bits of everything. Great concept, certainly need more refinement to be excellent. Oh, forgot about the art. Very well done. Love it. Should add more in the gallery though. As it only include story cutscenes. I would love the collection of Oirans working and training picture. Looking forward for future updates!

It's hard to believe this is an RPGM game...

• first of all this actually feels like something that could grow into a sandbox if they were able to implement random girls with randomized features.
• the UI feels quite natural and easy to navigate and it's quite well designed
• you have actual combat and levels which is a nice side game and activity

I feel there are no good brothel management games out there since Pinkpetal made that old WhoreMaster one, and this one feels like they're slowly adding 3D to the options in that old one

One of the best games i've ever played for sure, it really surprised me a lot, the combat is so fun and i don't think that there is any other game similar to this one.
The story is really intriguing and the ambiance is perfect for the game, combat is amazing and the grind of the oirans is so worth it at the end, the upgrade system, everything.
i could go on and on about every single aspect of this game cause for me there are no flaws.
Congrats to the dev and i'll be waiting anxious for the next updates!

Good Game overall... it has rough edges but there is alot of polishing done to it compared to the last version...

My only complaint is the model changes for Kisayo, her previous face was more charming / better as compared to the current one. rest is top noth..

Wicked Rouge Refine [v0.13.0] [fidless]

Messy UI, tedious gameplay, unneeded management/combat with an awful execution. Loads of grinding to get to the little drips of content and kinetic as hell. Its not worth the megabytes it takes up. With so much praise and presentation expected more out of this. RPGmaker only makes things worse.

Pros:
1. HS models.
2. Mostly okayish animations.

Cons:
1. Generic simp MC.
2. Combat boring as hell.
3. Shitty writing and there's a lot of it.
4. Kinetic sandbox with no real choices.
5. Mind-bogglingly dull gameplay.
6. Story itself is boringly mid.
7. "EXCITING" brothel management.
Download pics, but save your time and nerves - don't play this game! There's WAY better games on this site.

A lot of the criticism may be warranted from a subjective perspective and if you do a rework of an existing game, you always end up with people that liked your prior decisions more, BUT as it stands, this game is still unique, varied, well-written and extremely well done technically.

It's easily among the best games on this site, even if you disagree with some of the design decisions. You'll miss out if you don't try it.

Art: Using Honey select you can create an incredible variety of interesting models and attractive characters. This game takes the opposite approach and creates basically the same theme for each model. I understand this is to make the characters more ethnically correct. However this isn't an Asian dating simulator.
THIS IS A BROTHEL GAME!
Even in real brothels there is a variety of flavors to cater to different desires. It is ridiculous to restrict
Story: I cannot believe dialogue can be so boring. I was interested with the premise but the execution is so long and drawn out I would normally recommend just ripping the images out of the game and enjoying. In this project it's just not worth it.
Gameplay: It is probably the worst idea for a combat loop possible. Just play tic-tac-toe and you will feel more strategically competent than this entire system.
Overall: Don't waste any time on this as you will be left supremely disappointed at an interesting premise and intriguing story drowned in a deluge of worthless content.

An engaging and well put together game that is also very very visually pleasing.
First and foremost this is a management game, brothel management to be specific and as it is well written and narrative heavy, the prostitutes/orians all have stories and they are for the most part compelling and well written. Not making them cardboard cut-outs you can throw around like game pieces so you don't feel bad about them fucking other dudes isn't a design flaw, it's a plus.
Additionally the "grind" is also intentional. Managing the orians is part of the game, you may or may not think it's well done, i think it is, but the fact that it exists is not really a valid criticism.
The models are honey select and they are visually pleasing and the sex scenes are animated and well written.
The game is one of the better written games out there, though it does fall in love with its writing from time to time and gets a bit too verbose.
Overall an excellent game that is really a must for people who enjoy porn managements games. Obviously avoid if you are only looking for VNs or games where there are no other dudes around

I rather enjoyed the original but tbh this 'refine'd mess just doesn't cut it. The girls all look the same, the story is wordier without really adding anything and the management part seems to more of an afterthought. The only thing I can say has improved is the combat flow getting slightly better when it was acceptable before.

Tldr; the game is probably worth playing if you haven't before but the wasted potential ruined it for me.

The introduction is long as fuck, the game has a lot of text, it beatifully gives you an idea of how the world looks, it immerse you in the world and how other characters react, but so much text and the lack of content in the game at the starts makes it boring as fuck, I played for like two hours and I'm still waiting that the characters finish cleaning and repairing the brothel to open it, the only thing I did was finish the days because you have nothing to do aside that. When you finish a day the game continue with the story and they only talk about when they will re-open the brothel and maybe some sex scene, but I'm mostly doing nothing, I'm not taking decisions nor managing the brothel, there is nothing to do. I will see if I keep playing because I lost interest in the game.

Wicked Rogue Refine [0.11.0] suffers from the same problem that the predecessor had; it can't decide what type of game it wants to be. Is it brothel management, combat, or a VN? The game doesn't even know.

The combat is what I'd refer to as a pseudo-challenge; it attempts to be a challenge by proving itself more annoying than anything else. A prime example is the ability of the enemy to be able to inflict massive damage in little more than the first round whereas the player is required to build up to utilize heavily damaging skills. Thus the player is required to grind out for higher end gear that never upgrades. While there are minor upgrades that can be slotted into the gear, these do little to actually provide a sense of a true upgrade.

This massive damage and ability to perform an onslaught of debuffs on the player from the beginning while the player must take actions to build up to unleash an onslaught is not a challenge... it is poor design. The only 'challenge' presented is having to constantly deal with the same thing repeatedly. As for the hit rates, a drastic rebalance and understanding of those rates is needed... though given a vast majority of other aspects of the game I suspect that percentages are not a strong suit. In a 'real world' test 5 fights were used to count the number of hits the party performed. It ran around 50%. The hit rate of the opponent is far higher.

There are other game mechanics that make me curious if certain features and aspects are actually working... or what the function of something like the mercenaries actually is. With well over 20 mercenaries and an item purchased specifically stating it reduces certain events... I've had to deal with wave battles 5 in-game days in a row where the mercenaries only reduce said waves. They don't actually provide any security aside from enemy number reduction... and while attempting to grind out money and skills, I have to deal with the combat system far more than should have been done.

Not to mention how these 'random' encounters magically become a level higher each time the player's party increases a level with no real payoff to the increase that must be dealt with. To have that system in place with the sheer amount of times dealt with... there should be far more of a payoff.

One character, honestly, barely has any useful skills and is filled with far more fluff and 'archetype' skills that serve no use with the current state of combat. Why steal when you've got killing to do? Or for a massive payday that must be built up over a lengthier period of time to do massive damage as well... takes way too long. The cooldowns are also asinine in their duration. In truth I'm not sure why the cooldowns exist other than to prolong combat well past when it should have been concluded, especially with that high of an encounter rate.

Which brings me to the largest issue with Wicked Rogue Refine. It is full of systems that spend far too much time trying to interact with one another only to get in the way of the player attempting to make progress. Attempt to grind out money or raise skills... we're going to throw in a long and annoying fight with little to no reward. Then, we're going to throw some random scene that has no real relevance to anything transpiring which further prolongs the grind to make progress out. Why am I randomly seeing a scene where a character is complaining about food?

As another review denoted, there were a lot of times I skipped dialogue and had no sense that I had missed anything. It is pointless. It isn't even world building. A vast majority of the scenes are meant to be some minor story arc that gets thrown together. Any sense of build up is non-existent as these things are basically thrown together whereas other scenes could easily be removed and you wouldn't bat an eyelash. Even some characters that are introduced are bleh.

I would not recommend this game without a serious overhaul. Given this is an overhaul of the predecessor, Refine should be showing a far better cohesion than what is presented.

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.