English:............8/10
User Interface:.....4/10
User Experience:....7/10
Art:................7/10
Dialogue:...........4/10
Story:..............3/10
Opinion:............2/10................
Avg:..............5.0/10 [2.5/5]
It's very clear this is not a game made for someone like me. The MC is a walking avatar for an inferiority complex. I'm a little surprised they didn't use the other guy's model for MC instead. All the women look like a poster child for plastic surgery. The "problem" that happens is literally because someone that's supposed to know about plants, picks and feeds toxic plants to everyone. MC is considered "The Chosen One" for finding the literal only thing a person could find, in a cave they threw him in. And it all takes place in a village full of women that can't decide if they love or hate men. Cool. I started a review of this the last time I tried to finish this game, but one, couldn't finish the game cause it was giving me a headache. And two, essentially, I clicked away and lost all the stuff I was writing. You can imagine my frustration. But if you're reading this, you're one of two people: Someone who didn't like the game and want to see if someone else had the thought, welcome brother. Or you want to make an informed decision before downloading the game. If that's you, this is a fap fest trying to be like indiana jones, while everyone who's an "expert" in their field makes constant mistakes and MC solves all problems with his penis. Do with that what you will. If that's not enough, I will provide a detailed synopsis along with my colorful commentary. Spoiler is, I don't like it, if you haven't caught on already.
The story starts out trying to push as much Nathan Drake as possible, MC reminiscing about how everyone met. "The hole crew." Whole is the word you're looking for. Unless this is a story about them becoming mindless sex slaves, the first few lines have a big ol' spelling mistake. Or, I can be generous and think "The Hole Crew" Like they dig holes, but since this is never returned to, it's just a spelling mistake. And any notion this could be possibly thought of as anything more than a fap fest, simply look at the top left corner of the screen for a giant button that shows the same render without characters' clothes. It's bright pink too, to distract you from the less than stellar writing below it. Immediately moving on to the "DEFINE YOUR RELATIONSHIP" section. Because this site has collective brain damage and needs to see a doctor about an Oedipus Complex that has gone out of hand. You also meet Damon, the other guy, with the facial structure and temperament of a disney villain because red herring. And right before Fernando disappears into the aether, he says "How do you think the men in my village disappeared, little lady?" Which just sounds like he's saying the jungle is dangerous, don't doubt it. But White Knight MC comes in and yells "You treat her with respect!" What the fuck? "Little lady" is neither derogatory or demeaning, if nothing else it sounded like a jab at her being obviously new and nervous. But MC has to tip his fedora the hardest at all times, I guess. Sadly. Then the dumbest thing I've read in a while happens. After they make shelter and look for food, Sofia goes to pick berries to eat. She KNOWS THE LOCAL FLORA so she should know what's edible and IF NOT to avoid it. So this whole story kicks off due to someone not knowing how to do their job. It's one thing if disaster strikes and they couldn't perform, but no, they just go out and happily pick poison mushrooms to trip on because an expert is not an expert. And you 'get' to see a stiff and slow-mo sex scene. They get marginally better, but Sofia's dead eyes, interpolated frames, all the motions looking like they're floating in gelatin and you can see where the loop restarts. I'm kinda tired of scenes with these issues. (Also all the nipples look like baby bottle nipples instead of human nipples. Minor gripe that I have with most AVNs these days)
After the night of the flowerchild, they all get separated for unknown reasons, MC also lost his memories because of the berries. Fun. Arya gives MC the grand tour. And MC is sure to chime in constantly with "Interesting" or "Fascinating" As the comely huntress spills their entire history to the outsider she's not supposed to do that with. Leading to the "Chambers of desire." Where you choose dom, sub, or both. But the joke is, none of them are truly sub, because the "Alpha males" that play this would not be able to handle it. It's either a normal sex scene, one where MC is chained up but still just receiving pleasure(sure his dick is slapped, but that really doesn't hurt..?), or the dom one where MC leads the sex a little bit more. So all very vanilla. I will say the animations are a bit faster now but you still see where the loops are and the camera does that weird "Imma follow one thrusting body part for some stupid reason" thing. After, MC meets back up with Arya and she said "I was worried I threw you into the lionesses den" This bothers me quite a bit because how would she know what a lion is? And why is everything gendered in a single sex tribe? Especially with their history. It just seems odd because there wouldn't be a need to distinguish that, but whatever. Here I am, thinking critically about a porn game, AGAIN.
The next chapter opens to MC being thrown in a well. Where he's then regarded as a hero because... He went the only direction possible and found a cloak on the ground? If I remember right, this section used to be a maze you had to choose left and right directions for? But all those alpha males could solve the puzzle.. Poor little guys. And Jyra is actually fully in the right, MC wants to tell the world of this tribe that doesn't want outsiders. But because the plot demands Arya be smitten with MC, she wants to tell all their secrets and MC would invite everyone to come to this place. And they act like it's been days since MC was pushed in the well, but it was like at best 20 minutes. Add to the fact MC finds Alyssa in this random place it's still day one of this 'adventure.' And Xaya greets MC like an old friend, but she was the one giving him death glares in the beginning? Consistency is not here. She calls him wise for retuning the platitudes she gives him? What is wise about that? Sister scene, wow cool. Then meeting with Arya, where she turns from badass hunter chick to docile subservient sex thing. What is the point of making a character strong only to make them these docile lambs? And MC being a hero is a total joke. Walking in a straight line is not a death trap. There wasn't even a scene where he stops and says "Hmm, this must have been a trap" They also show weird in-between frames like when MC washes his face? Why? What does that do for the story, narrative, or anything? To make idiots clap their feet together and say "HAHA I do that too!!" We don't need relatability in a story about ancient jungle magic fueled by sex.
The ENTIRE opening section of chapter 3 does not need to exist. They stand there talking about nothing. At all. They're going to find the others but stand there and talk about the fact that they need to leave immediately, but never leave. Then they stop, right after leaving, to talk about nothing again. I'm all for character building, but this is NOT that. They stand there and talk about what they do, or that MC's ancestor(?) robbed graves. Who cares? There's three idiots lost in the jungle high on amnesia berries. History lessons and how people act should be reserved for late night conversations or never. I can't tell if Xaya and Xana are supposed to be funny or dead pan? Obviously neither because none of the small bit of humor are at all funny, but also no one emotes unless it's sex and/or MC related. And I have to chime in with the grammar of it's "make due" not "make do." They get lost at this statue. And when MC finally DOES get away from it, you're not even told how he does it, just that eventually something works. And they find Elizabeth. They couldn't even solve their own riddles, nice. And MC is greeted by another "puzzle". Which is PUSH THIS GIANT BUTTON RIGHT HERE. RIGHT HERE! THE BIG ONE. Truly a harrowing experience. Leading to miraculous inflation sex. and you find Sophia, the useless sap she is.
Then Chapter 4 opens to.... Dream sex. This moron only needs to walk to the next tent over, why are we getting meaningless dream sex. "It's the call of the goddess" you might say. No. It's "Thank for waiting for this update, here's instant gratification." And he wakes up from that "nightmare" because Arya said he is hers. Something she already said. How traumatized by strong women are you that a woman saying that makes it a nightmare? It's also at this point I realized they swap between "Sophia" and "Sofia" They don't even know their own characters' names. My god. MC even gives her a minor compliment and she calls him a charmer? He called her beautiful, he didn't recite hymns regaling her beauty to the village. Chill. Then right after he starts saying how he's never met someone like her. ALL they know about each other is their job title, name, and gender. Why are they acting like lovesick teens? "mYsTiCiSm" Shut up. And every time he shoves his finger over her mouth I want to cut it off. Let the woman speak, my guy. He has NO IDEA what meddling in their temples mean to them. Are you serious? He's been here for Three days. At most been with her for 12 hours. What is this? Then, finally, sex with Arya. But it's floaty and disjointed. The first animation is grainy as hell. And still at it with the jerky camera. A shame. And MC comments about her pussy, but he's in her ass? Come on now, is this real? It's also annoying that MC calls Alyssa by whatever dumb title you giver her but Elizabeth is Liz or Ms. C. You have to pick a lane with this stuff.
By the end of chapter five, I've checked out mentally. The story is not great. The characters don't exist. the sex isn't even captivating. It really just devolves into "Choose which girl to have anal sex with next." And there's nothing for you the player to actually do. It's just "Redhead or blonde" type choices. And the second game has the AUDACITY to ask "VN or Sandbox" And put you in a sandbox no matter what. Along with eliminating the players name. I just don't understand. Well, I guess I do get that MAKING a sandbox is enjoyable. But playing a sandbox that is a sequel to a VN with no story and no need for a sequel, feels like a joke. You do your victory lap around the village that looks completely different and talk to all the women that look completely different and it ends. What an experience. If nothing else, now I know I don't need to try Part Two anymore.
Look, It's a fapfest. If that's your thing, that's your thing. I get bored of that in these AVN's. The Enlgish seems good. There were some grammar mistakes and only a couple times I questioned if they speak English. But it's not distracting. The UI has a custom menu. That's it. Part 2 has sandbox exploring but still defaults everything else. And the UX is standard too. Art is good. The animations aren't amazing and Part 2 has better lighting. But it very rarely isn't slow motion or jerky. The Dialogue and Story are both nothing. Goes to fabled village, finds village, has sex. They don't talk like robots, but no one really SAYS anything you know what I mean? And my opinion is low if you can't tell. Sorry. If you want a game you can tape down the CTRL button and just do your business, this is probably gonna do it for you. But there is no shot you're going to be invested in this. And I say that having seen the giant wizard battle in Part 2. It's just not for me.
