Unity - Jessika's Curse [v1.9] [Venus Noire JC]

alright v1.3.24b is not great but shows a hell of a lot of potential but its masked by countless bugs

the voice acting is not great but you can mute it if its that bad for you
the problem is that thats the only setting you can touch so if you dont want the game to be fullscreen too bad for you
this seems to cause a bunch of scaling problems for me as well as it was way too difficult to close some menus without bringing up others

theres some really good art but the shadows seem glitched and mess up what would be hot and not to mention how hard it is to trigger said content playing normally
theres also a gallery here but it seems bugged and only shows the scene i click on 1/3 of the time, and it also crashes the game for no reason

theres some neat darkest dungeon like gameplay but unless im missing something ranged attacks are pointless as you can melee the backline for more damage, unlike in DD where you cant melee them at all

if even just the technical problems were fixed and video settings added id easily bump up my score to a four as theres a lot to like here but its just too bogged down with problems currently

Update review of V1.4.3. You can find my previous review below.

Honestly, not much has changed between V.1.3.24B and now. My previous review is still fairly relevant now, if you wish to read below.

Apparently, the devs have fixed the issues with the gallery- which is good, if they have- honestly I didn't check because the overwhelming majority of the bugs are STILL in the game and upon realising this, I just gave up.

My personal opinion: Wait until July 2021 - If they have fixed the overwhelming bugs by then, then maybe I'll recommend this and give a better rating.
If they have not fixed the bugs by then or add features while the bugs are still in play then I fully recommend jumping ship and not looking back.

I hope the team involved gets their act together by then because I actually LIKE what they have done - but as I said in my last review, I'm not going to give them a pass just because their product is a diamond covered in shit.

Writing at the time of V.1.3.24B

Jessika's Curse is like that one chick in you know that you REALLY want to love but refuse to get close to because of all the GODDAMN BUGS!

I won't lie, if you ignore the glaring issues with the current state of the game I would without a doubt give this a five star and call it a day.
The animations - both lewd and non-lewd are well done and they're definitely better some of the more popular games here on F95.
The voice acting -Sample text
And in case you weren't aware, this is based HEAVILY on Darkest Dungeon, which feels kind of a lusty love-letter to the game. Which I like.

BUT- the cons outweigh the pros...

To start of with one minor issue- The lust combat system. For those who haven't played either this game or DD, Lust in the game works as a secondary health bar in the game. Enemies can choose to attack you with normal attacks which lowers your HP or Lust attacks which raises your Lust points. Once one of your characters lust points reach the limit, you essentially lose control of that character as they go into a mad sex frenzy. The game stops being a normal game and becomes a teenagers wet dream.

My problem is, you REALLY have to try to get your lust up. You can easily complete the game without trying and NEVER stumble onto the porn aspect of this game. Which brings me to the main reason why the game is one star.

OH MY FUCKING GOD THIS IS INFESTED WITH BUGS

If select any building in the town, you won't be able to leave and will have to close the game.
Select any of character portraits? Same as above.
If you go to the brothel and get either the Sadistic or Masochist kinks. Good luck playing the game.
The gallery doesn't play the right scene.
Sometimes Animations crash the game.

These are just some of the bugs I found in the first 10 min of playing. If it was just one maybe two bugs, I probably wouldn't be that annoyed. But the fact that I found this many in 10 MINUTES!?

This makes me concerned that the developer Venus Noire didn't bother to bug hunt before releasing this OR they were fully aware of the bugs and didn't care. And I can't for the life of me figure out which one is more concerning.

I'm not going to pretend to think that making a game is easy. There is probably a 100 reasons why I couldn't make a game like this. But I've seen AAA studios get their metaphorical teeth kicked in by Critics and fans alike for the same reason, and I sure as shit won't stand for it either.

Demo 3 v1.0.1.1 review

Ok, I get it now!

I've been keeping one eye on this one for a while because the artwork is unique and sublime, but as of this version I finally get what the creator is going for.

Jessika's curse is thematically based off one of my all time favorite games ever, Darkest Dungeon, albiet with a lewd twist. Instead of stress, you manage lust. Heck even Jessika and Mouse seem to be thematically similar to DD's opening heroes the Crusader and Highwayman.

Anyways, the game is absolutely gorgeous on a level that can't be described without being seen, and is currently the main draw of this demo. But what is there also shows the framework for a very promising game. Voice acting, music, quests, combat... all in the early stages and all promising.

I'll be keeping my eye on this one!