Version 0.2.1.2
I gave the game another go after I think 3 (?) updates since my last review. I'm improving my rating from 2 to 3 and will continue improving the better it gets. The game feels better to play now and it definitely has improved in some ways.
The good compared to my previous review
- There's less sensless grinding and there are much less fights than before. A wait button has been implemented to skip time until something happens so no more endless questing to progress time.
- The game feels more streamlined which is huge for the player experience. I restarted a playthrough from scratch and it felt easier to get events/scenes. I wanna say the random event do feel less aggressive (it felt like it at least).
- Finally some vaginal/anal and it's done right. Comforting my previous sentiment over corruption potential.
- Great renders still.
Still problematic
- Random events. Again it definitely felt better compared to older versions but this is still the aspect that's dragging down the game the most. This game would be much more enjoyable as a VN or a sandbox with NO RNG . I don't get the idea behind random events and having to start over/save scum to see them (still no guarentee you'll succeed). In addition the save system doesn't help either.
- Saving. I was under the impression that there was more freedom to when to save but I really am unsure. Sometimes it'd let you save, some times it wouldn't. So I'm really unsure if it's an intended feature or a bug. I'm pretty sure you still can't save before choices however and I'm unsure if patrons can or not.
- Game still ends after a fixed amount of days.
OLD REVIEWS BELOW
Bit of an updated review since my initial one. I'm improving my rating from 1 to 2. Could have been 3 but on average this game is way too frustrating/confusing to warrant a 3. In addition, some basic porn games functionalities aren't available.
TLDR:
+Very good renders and models.
+Somehow unique concept and appreciable story.
+Good potential in LIs corruption.
-Tedious battles. Horrible pacing/progression especially during the first in game week (which accounts for 6 playable days out of 10 in current build)
-Can't save mid conversation/scene for non patrons.
-Game will kick you out after day 10 saying it's over no matter your progression.
Updated Review:
After getting newguy42 rating notification, I decided to keep playing for a bit.
Got to the part where you get kidnapped by the goblins. From there, you can choose to play as a monster (goblin) or keep playing as a human.
The game does get a lot more interesting from there. You'll still aimlessly spam repeatable quests but there's a lot more eye candy and scene diversity/options. Thus I'm glad I didn't completely drop it as I could see the game potential.
However, another major issue I noticed continuing playing is how the game is scripted. You currently have 10 playable days, pretty much nothing story wise happens during the first half and you are left with 3 days to try and play with the different routes the game offers. Past day 10, the game kicks you out to the menu and you can't explore other paths unless you load a previous save. That means you can't play the goblin/hero paths simultaneously and get all the content which is frustrating because there is no indication regarding what content is available. So you'll just be groping for the right path/answer until you stumble upon a scene.
Finally, please discard the XP/leveling up part of my initial review as it seems to be unconsequential for the game. It's not even possible to reach level 2. Gist of the review stands however.
Very first review:
Been wanting to try this for a while because of the really appealing preview images.
I played for one hour and uninstalled the game. I spent this whole hour repeating one or the other repeatble quest available through the main menu. Sometimes, the quest will auto success, sometimes you'll fight a goblin horde. First off, the combats are painfully long. Now I imagine they get shorter once you level up but uh... Takes 500 xp to get to level 2 and you get between 3 to 7 xp or so per quest. A battle lasts around 1 minute. Wtf?
I was around 1/3 of leveling up after 1 hour of doing the exact same thing: Do one of the 2 available quests, interact with one of the LIs when the prompt is available through the "message" tab, get disconnected from the VR at 10PM, go to school during the morning, come back home to the VR. Rinse and repeat.
I didn't see any progress during my short playthrough. I'm usually very patient and generous with my ratings, especially for new projects but the pacing of this game is so bad it made me drop it. Maybe more tangible and meaningful content starts kicking in right after I quit I don't know, but doing the same thing over and over with no result isn't compelling.
Second issue I found is not being able to save whenever you'd like. It's only available for patrons but I don't understand why you'd want to deprive free players from the most basic feature a seggs game could have. It's only frustrating not being able to save in the middle of a scene, especially when galleries aren't a given.
On a positive note though, renders and characters are really hot from the little I saw.
Good luck with the game.