(I'm going to try and start reviewing some commercial games on this blog that have some kind of romantic element to them, so if you have any suggestions I'd like to hear them)
Loren the Amazon Princess came out on Steam a couple of months ago, a game I'd always wanted to play but hadn't had a chance to. It's made by independent developer Winter Wolves, an Italian developer I believe. Since we all like independents who release software DRM-free, I suggest purchasing the game in the legitimate way, should you choose to. There is a demo with about half of Act 1, featuring some of the game's branching gameplay. There is also an expansion, which adds some quests and the recruitable characters Chandara and Sauzer. Oh and Mesphit.
So what is Loren? It is, in short, a campy fantasy VN/RPG with a great rack and a soul. You play the slave of the Amazon princess Loren, a sheltered but proud warrior armed with two swords and no sense of humor. Soon, you gather your party of up to 12(!) characters in a quest to save the world via turn-based RPG combat, in a world that is very well illustrated indeed. It is more VN than RPG though, and as such it must rely on either story, writing or tits to interest the player. While it doesn't excel in one in particular, it does a decent job in all three and I always wanted to get to that "next part", like I would in a reasonably good book.
First the story arc overall, which is a very cliched "dark lord raises armies of demons" sort of stuff we've seen a thousand times. The choices presented to you, while sometimes dramatic and far reaching, are kind of predictable with a conventional morality reminiscent of Star Trek. The overall theme appears to be about acceptance of others, while I can appreciate that, it didn't really bring a lot of profound insight and sometimes came off as a bit moralizing.
But that is just fine, because the meat of the game is in your companions, who, for the most part, are pretty well realized. They range from incredibly badass (Chandara) to very likable (Draco) to just fucking intolerable (Mesphit). There are 12 different romantic paths, from straight to gay male and female. Some people will inevitably complain about the guy/guy stuff, but it's pretty easy to avoid if you don't want it. The point is, no matter what your preferences are, it's here, and if you happen to be bisexual, you will be very happy. The romantic sequences, while racy by PC gaming standards, are tamer than the tamest AIF game. They are well-written enough to be hot, though, and that's the important part.
Of all the NPCs, Chandara is a clear favorite for me. Chandara is a witch, surly and sultry in equal measure, who only wants to be left alone to practice dark magic and BDSM. I found Chandara to be ridiculously awesome, her wanton, brazen sexuality so incredibly refreshing to see in a commercial PC game. If I knew Chandara in real life, I might possibly want to marry her. She is also the only character with easy access to dark magic, an element a lot of enemies are weak to, so she pulls her weight in battle. Her romantic finale also happens to be the raciest, which just compounds how much awesome is contained in that tight black bodice of hers. Can you tell I really like her? In my first playthrough, I went for the f/f romance with Chandara. I highly recommend it.
On the direct opposite scale is Mesphit, who I hated almost as much as I loved Chandara. Mesphit is a dark elf character written for the segment of the female player base that likes unpredictable, dangerous men who have emotional problems and only need a tender female hand to nurse them. I'm not shitting on what gets people off, but it results in a character who is absolutely pathetic. I'll tell you in the spoilers inside.
There are many other characters who range between these two extremes. Draco is a very likable pyromancer, and flaming in both senses of the word. Amukiki the barbarian nomad is a bit of a miss, having a personality like tanned, muscular cardboard. Karen is a reluctant Amazon Queen with some interesting potential, though she is so different from her daughter it is difficult to believe one raised the other. Myrth, a redheaded elf druid that makes an olive leaf seem like too much clothing, is another romanceable character, though I didn't find her intriguing to pursue. Dora the dwarf and her admirer Ramas were two of my favorite characters, though I kinda wished Dora was romanceable.
As for Loren herself, she begins the game naive, bratty and sheltered but opens up and softens in a way that doesn't compromise her prideful nature. She was well-realized, I think, and when I replay the game I'll definitely go down her path.
There is little to say about the PC. Soren, or Elenor, depending on which gender you pick at the start of the game, is a choice between enviable pecs or eye-popping underboob. They have slightly different backstories, too, Elenor being an elf and Soren a human, so that's worth keeping in mind.
The combat system really provides the bulk of the gameplay, while the romances are the main draw, so I wish Winter Wolves would have provided more choice, or at least more chances to fail, at the romances. You see, occasionally when interacting with a character you are given the options to react in three ways: friendly, forceful and joking. However, sometimes, there is a fourth option: "romance", which improves the NPC's affection for you. That's all. This new style of dialogue, seen in some of the newer Bioware titles, really take you outside of the PC. It also takes a lot of risk out of interaction, since you're never given choices like whether to be diplomatic or bold or whether to be discreet or direct. The absolute best dialogue trees have actually made me stand out of my chair and walk around to think about what I want to say. That's not what I'm asking for, but even a few more options would have been nice.
The combat system works fine. It can be easy at points, but there is enough enemy variety to keep things interesting. Some enemies require radically different strategies, which is nice, though wizards are a bit overpowered compared to warrior and ranged characters. I played on "hard" difficulty and found myself rotating in different characters for different fights. Loren does its best to encourage you to make use of all of your characters, and it does a good job of that. Later fights are pretty heavily reliant on the PC's "ward" ability, which provide elemental resistances to all characters, which are important to defend yourself against some big walloping AOE attacks thrown about.
Loot is a pretty important part of any RPG and Loren puts a large emphasis on purchasing stuff rather than finding it. I rarely go to stores in RPGs, so this is a bit of an annoyance, and considering the huge number of recruitable NPCs it just feels like grocery shopping. I much prefer the thrill of finding an cool item as a random drop, as opposed to buying it.
Loren's character creation is weak. Every character has a "base class", which include wizard, warrior and thief, but also a character-specific class. Your character starts with lots of healing powers, which is an artificial way of making the PC always useful throughout the game. My big issue is that the most obvious class combination with the PC is the wizard, but that isn't made available for them.
On the basis of the Chandara path alone, I think Loren is worth playing, though of course there's lots of other good content. Judging it as if it were an AIF title, I would have preferred it to be more explicit, but it's not a porn game, so what can you do? I understand that they don't want to be labeled an adult developer, but they kind of already have just by making titles that are a little sexy. Still, I don't think there would be much opposition if there happened to be adult DLC for Loren...
...Heh. I actually beta-tested for this game for Celso Rivera, and I complained about a lot of the same stuff. Well, not the lack of adult content, because I knew what I was getting into, but similar. In fact, I was one of the ones who convinced him to add the toggle option to get everyone to dress less like Conan characters. I guess I can give the explanations he gave me, with the caveat that I don't always agree.
ReplyDeleteHe gave two reasons he wanted a "romance" option available instead of something more organic. First, because, like in a certain other game that had already come out, picking enough of the same personality choice locks in the player character's personality as one of the three options, and he wanted every romance to be available to every personality type. The second point, and one I think you might agree with, is that he didn't want to lead to trouble with players accidentally activating the gay romances and being angry and repulsed, as they do. Wouldn't have been a problem for *me*, so long as the option to let 'em down easy was there, but Internet firestorms can be... problematic.
I wanted to roll wizard too. Originally, he actually *did* have plot-related reasons for the PC not to be a full magician, but after rewrites gutted that sub-plot it's just a design artifact from when it was a very different game.
Chandra actually managed to turn me off a little, since her ending has her breaking poor Saren's heart and leaving him all alone. (Assuming, you know, spoilers and stuff.) I dated Loren the first time through, since, well, Chandra didn't exist, and I still think hers is my favorite.
Apolimesho is actually my favorite character overall. He seems like he's just a grumpy version of Gandalf, but delving into his backstory, particularly in the Expansion content, will reveal him to be a traumatized old man who has given up so much of what he loved for the world's safety that he... well, spoilers.
One thing you didn't mention is that the Expansion really added a lot to the game. If you never played it without it, then honestly you weren't missing out. Between five new party members and the addition of character-specific sidequests, it's worth investing in if you're interested in playing the game. Like "Enemy Within" for X-com, I'd go so far as to call it vital.
...I hope this was helpful instead of just rambling and pointless.
Wow, that brings a lot of insight.
DeleteI remember the "firestorm" of "controversy" that came with DA2 when one of the male characters hit on the PC. It's bit silly IMO but I understand why developers would want to avoid that sort of flak. I think the romances could have been much better handled as a toggleable menu option, that wouldn't compromise the gameplay.
Yeah, I actually had never played it without the expansion pack, so that's probably something worth pointing out. I can't imagine the game without Chambara though (despite her breaking Soren's heart, I've only done the f/f path with her), I doubt I would have enjoyed the game as much.
Anyways, thanks for that.