RPGM - Completed - Shadowcore [Shadow Garden]

(Played and translated the game with Mtool, Sugoi translation)

Giving this game five stars despite its flaws (heavy on the RPG grind, too many mobs on the maps, some re-used art for scenes) as it perfectly fulfills its purpose: The game delivers exquisite NTR with characters one cares for, achieved by its interesting story (the story is amazing, especially for the true ending), its secret-filled world and buildup to individual scenes/routes.

With about a hundred unique scenes, ~217 scenes counting scene variations and ~18 different endings (and that's only counting the endings with h-scenes) and a replay system allowing players to begin a NG+ journey after each ending, plus the true ending requiring at least two playthroughs, Shadowcore can become a very long game if one seeks to see everything it has to offer.

Its world is full of mystery, from secret items to unique h-scenes requiring the player to meet specific conditions (even becoming lovers with the FMC can be a small mystery if one doesn't read all NPC dialogue), its not a game that simply hands you all its content on a platter or plays out its scenes like a CG-slideshow. Instead, the player will have to search and think for themselves, without any hand-holding for quests nor h-content. This can be regarded as an upside or downside depending on player preferences, at least I found myself more intrigued than annoyed and just kept experimenting in my search for new h-scenes. There's also an option to unlock the entire reminiscence room (possible after one playthrough afaik), though I'd recommend experiencing the scenes ingame as otherwise the missing context for some scenes will hurt their enjoyment.

A word about the NTR: It's essentially optional - and the "main" NTR part can be missed entirely, depending on a decision very early on in the game, when the player gets the option to hire a mercenary by the name of Brad to accompany them. All his content will be missing if his offer gets declined, or if the player manages to make it through the intro zone (forest) without losing and then hiring the mercenary. However, even once he's around, it's entirely up to the player to allow them to spend the night with the FMC. That makes it easy to go for a true love playthrough, at least as long as the FMC doesn't spend too many days away from the MC.

NTR-enjoyers are treated to a true feast, as the game offers dozens of NTR/corruption scenes, even with several other partners for the FMC to fall for - some of them even getting entire routes and their own ending scenes. Scene-length is also very satisfying for almost all scenes, having a decent runtime and good writing, hitting all the good NTR-points. My personal highlight were the threesome scenes with the MC, Brad and the FMC that include "lovers play" and "cuckold play".

As for the argument that the scene count would be inflated (mentioned in another review): That's only an issue for players that only "play" the reminiscence room. For players of the actual game however, the game's distinction between the FMC being the MC's childhood friend OR lover with varied dialogue / different scenes depending on the relationship, increases immersion and leaves it up to the player if they want to become lovers with the FMC in the first place, or just enjoy having sex with her, or maybe don't want to have romantic feelings for her at all and stay childhood friends. It's all up to the player's preference. Saying that the variations would be artificial scene count inflation is just wrong - it only means that repeated playthroughs can feel different.

All that said, Shadowcore is a game with a story and NTR-scenes of 10/10. Not everything about it is perfect, not by far, but these two elements are the most important to me. To everyone interested in playing the game: I'd recommend the guide found in the game thread to experience the main story plus the true ending, and then go for a third playthrough to indulge in all the h-content (sadly there is no guide for how to get all scenes).

Lastly: The hope persists that one day Shadowcore will get a proper translation. It deserves it.

well, this was a waste of time.
already considering everyones warning about grinding, I at least wanted to try it.
looking into the gallery I was shocked by the sheer amount of scenes this had to offer. not to mention the appealing female model. after the intro I was already hooked.
and here we are. a really boring game with wasted potiential on scenes.
the amount of them in the gallery comes from repeatedly overused cg.
a reaaally stretched out poor rpg game, sprinkled with some interesting events and reused scenes.

Boring game from the beginning. About an hour without any H-scene. Terrible boring gameplay with bandits in first lication. Waste of time.
The sheer amount of grind discourages any desire to keep playing. Yes, the story is interesting, but the fact that the GG cannot do anything and in fact he is an oral place is not just upsetting, it interferes with the real passing of the game. As a result, a critical number of cases of the same type, zero H-scene in 2 hours. I don't know what's next, I dropped it.

As a start, you all already know that this is a NTR game. Unlike some other games, this has no "virgin" clear. There is already a forced NTR aspect in this game, which may be a turn off for some. However, I still think that this is one of the best NTR games and is definitely worth a try ASSUMING you're ok with NTR, since the majority of scenes (and basically the entire game) revolves around NTR.

As a disclaimer, this is one of the first NTR games I have ever played (using a text hooker) and I, unlike some, like NTR games, which may affect the rating I gave it. Keep this in mind as you read through.

This game is not perfect. It has a lot of flaws, without a doubt.

As a start, I'll address the art. I would be lying if I said it was great. To be brutally honest, this game is the definition of "beating a dead horse". I believe every single image in this game is used at least twice. Some of the images are "general" ones and I'm pretty sure those have been used at least 5 times...each. The art in each scene can be pretty much the same. Additionally, I can't say that it is super good either. It definitely isn't the worst I've ever seen but it isn't great. The cum scenes are basically someone taking the base image in Paint and drawing a bunch of white lines on the characters. There are a ton of games with arguably better art (though whether they're translated is a different story...)

The second main thing is the grinding. Hot damn, this is annoying. The MC is weak as balls so your only hope is the girl and the mercenary. If you don't bring the mercenary along with you, you'll be beating down slimes with a stick for 40+ hours on end. I highly recommend cheating your way through the combat. It's standard RPG stuff, meaning it's like a throwback to Final Fantasy 1 days. We've all probably have had enough of that.

Despite it's flaws, there are definitely good points to this game. A big reason is the replayability. Sure, you can just get the gallery save to watch the scenes but you'd be missing out on one of the best stories I've ever seen. This game has SO many different ways it can pan out. Should you decide to bring along the grizzled mercenary? Will you be lovers with the girl? Are you gonna let her take jobs if your party is hurting for cash? You can tell what's going on and what leads to the girl getting banged but the different possibilities are exciting.

Another part is the sheer amount of scenes present in this game. Although the art is reused, there are at least 150 scenes. The dialogue also changes on a few conditions in the game, like whether you and the girl are lovers or not. Some scenes only occur if the mercenary doesn't join you. Some scenes only occur if the girl has had sex a bunch of times. Some scenes only can be seen if you lose at certain points in the game. Not everything is all straightforward. Sometimes you won't get a scene and your actions lock you out of it now because you progressed. This ties in with replayability because you can't see all scenes in a single playthrough, which gives you something to work for.

For me, one of the big points about NTR is the buildup. How did the cucking happen? What are the characters thinking during sex? Otherwise, it's all just standard art. What distinguishes this game from the others is the dialogue between the characters. Regardless of whether you travel the NTR, slut or normal route, the dialogue just feels GOOD. Whether it is the love in the dialogue between the girl and the MC or the sluttiness in her words when she's getting banged by someone else, this all helps contribute to making Shadowcore what it is. Unfortunately, this is a machine translation. Some stuff doesn't make sense and I think it seriously takes away some of the emotion in the scenes. Regardless, I'm still a huge fan of this game.

TL;DR: Try this game out IF you are a fan of "true love" or NTR games. It has replay value and there is a happy end (and happy scenes) in this game. Combat can be tedious and art can get dull after a few scene but I say you should focus on the story and dialogue.

For people who are into the NTR power dynamics, this game is probably for you. In it, you have a choice to either go corrupting NTR or to try to prevent NTR. NTR is inevitable in this game, which is why there is that one star that's taken away. It's only one star taken away, because the forced NTR has a purpose for enhancing the sweet aspects of this game, to underline the importance and connection between characters within this game.

For people hoping to pick this game up and have a casual experience playing through it, I would suggest using saveeditonline to mod the gold as well as attributes of the main character to reduce frustration. This game is pretty unforgiving, but there are also a lot of easter eggs within that require some effort to find.

All in all, I think this game does a good job of making what the player is fighting for kind of worth it or important to the player if that's what they choose to do. If, on the other hand, the player is just looking for smut, well, the game also enables that playstyle.