EDIT: Subtracting a star from my initial review as this game is basically on indefinite hiatus and the current amount of content doesn't justify a 4 star rating. The 4 star rating was due, in part, to the assumption that the game would grow and improve slowly but steadily. That may no longer be the case.
IMPORTANT: Don't get turned off by it being RPGM, this game uses the engine differently to most games. It isn't perfect, but its side on not top down, there are no grindy turn based fights, the art in the world is much, much better than most RPGM games, and there are gameplay and storytelling reasons for using the engine instead of renpy.
TLDR: A game that has a lot of potential, great drawn art (so rare these days), decent gameplay ideas so far, above average writing, and a dev that listens to people on this forum and fixes issues promptly. There are Dota characters and references that fans might like, but nothing that requires players to have any prior knowledge of the setting. The game is coming along pretty slowly, but it is definitely one to keep an eye on.
Review:
The best thing about the game is the art. It's really, really good. The sexual situations are varied so far, and generally fairly interesting, and the art captures each one beautifully. It's a simple cartoony style, but it finds a really great balance in terms of detail, not too little that it doesn't seem real, and not too much that the visuals become cluttered and distracting.
The story so far is simple, but effective. A lot of devs on these smaller games succumb to the temptation to expand the cast early on to the point where none of the characters develop at all. This game focuses on two central women, develops them meaningfully (so far) and has a believable and pleasant relationship between the two.
The narrative is also bookended by a conversation between the main character and an author, the MC tells her story and the writer often adds sexy embellishments. It means you can see darker sexual elements, without it tarnishing the characters you care about themselves, it's an interesting and effective idea.
The english isn't perfect, there are some grammar errors, and some unusual phrasing. It is noticeable, but you can always understand what is going on, and it doesnt detract much from the experience.
There are some issues, the movement controls can be a little finicky. When standing next to a ledge you can start climbing the background by pushing up, as if it were a ladder, then you fall for a second. This happens once early on next to a tree and I spent a good minute trying to climb the tree thinking there might be a secret or something.
Some things that need to/could be improved:
The MC walks pretty slowly, having to travel several screens to get to quests (particularly ones where the instructions are a little confusing), is a chore. A sprint button would be greatly appreciated - even if you could only use it after fully exploring a screen, it's just the second third and fourth etc trips that become a pain.
The game uses eastward and westward in it's quest directions, but doesnt have any indication of which way is which. I figured out the west was left and east was right like a compass, which makes sense, but some indication in the journal would be helpful.
Most doors/tent openings are interactable, but some aren't. Some doors (like one above the ladder in the first cave) are invisible, so you end up trying to interact with everything a lot of the time. A faint glow around interactable stuff would save a lot of interacting with every single odd looking thing.
Some quests remain unfinished between updates, having a journal entry saying they will be continued next update once you reach the current quest end would be really good. I spent a good 10-15 minutes wandering the whole map to see if there were anything I missed before realizing that that was where the game was up to.
So far the experience and affection with the other female character dont seem to do anything, there are also very limited ways to check them. The health and (Im assuming) mana bar are also not explained at all. One event with wolves early on effects xp health and mana differently depending on choices, but not knowing what they do or how to replenish them makes that choice a guess at best.
Lastly most rpgm games have separate buttons for skip text (usually shift) and continue to the next sentence/text slide (usually z, space, or enter). In this game you can skip text by holding down the z space or enter keys, but that means that you have to push up or down just to get on to the choice menu for every choice so you dont instachoose. Separating the advance and skip buttons and having menus that take one less press would be appreciated.
Overall, this is a game to watch, it could easily be a five star game when finished, particularly if the issues I mentioned are worked on.
IMPORTANT: Don't get turned off by it being RPGM, this game uses the engine differently to most games. It isn't perfect, but its side on not top down, there are no grindy turn based fights, the art in the world is much, much better than most RPGM games, and there are gameplay and storytelling reasons for using the engine instead of renpy.
TLDR: A game that has a lot of potential, great drawn art (so rare these days), decent gameplay ideas so far, above average writing, and a dev that listens to people on this forum and fixes issues promptly. There are Dota characters and references that fans might like, but nothing that requires players to have any prior knowledge of the setting. The game is coming along pretty slowly, but it is definitely one to keep an eye on.
Review:
The best thing about the game is the art. It's really, really good. The sexual situations are varied so far, and generally fairly interesting, and the art captures each one beautifully. It's a simple cartoony style, but it finds a really great balance in terms of detail, not too little that it doesn't seem real, and not too much that the visuals become cluttered and distracting.
The story so far is simple, but effective. A lot of devs on these smaller games succumb to the temptation to expand the cast early on to the point where none of the characters develop at all. This game focuses on two central women, develops them meaningfully (so far) and has a believable and pleasant relationship between the two.
The narrative is also bookended by a conversation between the main character and an author, the MC tells her story and the writer often adds sexy embellishments. It means you can see darker sexual elements, without it tarnishing the characters you care about themselves, it's an interesting and effective idea.
The english isn't perfect, there are some grammar errors, and some unusual phrasing. It is noticeable, but you can always understand what is going on, and it doesnt detract much from the experience.
There are some issues, the movement controls can be a little finicky. When standing next to a ledge you can start climbing the background by pushing up, as if it were a ladder, then you fall for a second. This happens once early on next to a tree and I spent a good minute trying to climb the tree thinking there might be a secret or something.
Some things that need to/could be improved:
The MC walks pretty slowly, having to travel several screens to get to quests (particularly ones where the instructions are a little confusing), is a chore. A sprint button would be greatly appreciated - even if you could only use it after fully exploring a screen, it's just the second third and fourth etc trips that become a pain.
The game uses eastward and westward in it's quest directions, but doesnt have any indication of which way is which. I figured out the west was left and east was right like a compass, which makes sense, but some indication in the journal would be helpful.
Most doors/tent openings are interactable, but some aren't. Some doors (like one above the ladder in the first cave) are invisible, so you end up trying to interact with everything a lot of the time. A faint glow around interactable stuff would save a lot of interacting with every single odd looking thing.
Some quests remain unfinished between updates, having a journal entry saying they will be continued next update once you reach the current quest end would be really good. I spent a good 10-15 minutes wandering the whole map to see if there were anything I missed before realizing that that was where the game was up to.
So far the experience and affection with the other female character dont seem to do anything, there are also very limited ways to check them. The health and (Im assuming) mana bar are also not explained at all. One event with wolves early on effects xp health and mana differently depending on choices, but not knowing what they do or how to replenish them makes that choice a guess at best.
Lastly most rpgm games have separate buttons for skip text (usually shift) and continue to the next sentence/text slide (usually z, space, or enter). In this game you can skip text by holding down the z space or enter keys, but that means that you have to push up or down just to get on to the choice menu for every choice so you dont instachoose. Separating the advance and skip buttons and having menus that take one less press would be appreciated.
Overall, this is a game to watch, it could easily be a five star game when finished, particularly if the issues I mentioned are worked on.
