The Knight of the Crimson Tower

I wouldn't call this a game, but I will say, it's a nice little story that actually has promise for more things. Only qualm I -really- have was from one part of the beginning, and nothing else being mentioned about it. But that's minor with how things moved on, perhaps it was just trivial. The pacing is well done, and I honestly wouldn't mind seeing more adventures involving the wayward princess. Price is fair and made for a nice quick enjoyable read.

A visual novel that leans heavily on the “novel” side rather than the “visual.” Oftentimes, events are merely narrated instead of shown. It’s a shame because some scenes (like the wedding gangbang) could have been sizzling hot if actually depicted. The art that is there, however, is beautifully rendered.

The Knight of the Crimson Tower is the first game made by Ikuku, a Ukraine-based developer who is consistence with making visual novels with a unique twist and some interesting interface from using Ren'py as their main software. Their games focus on uncommon topics acquainting to sex, poetry and metaphorical literature. That's some of the main premise of their games, at least. This first one takes place in a fantasy fictional world where things like magic, beasts, and artefacts co-exist. From there, we play as Laura, a princess who was suddenly transformed into a beast after stealing something significant from an old lady. Trapped with this curse, literally and figuratively, she makes it her goal to escape from her imprisonment and go on a journey for self-freedom, but what transpires has much more to do with her curse and bloodline lineage. [spoiler]. Another factor that comes into play is that the crops started dying off cause of a black substance. So our hero takes it upon himself to discover the cause and the solution after it becomes more troublesome[/spoiler]. [spoiler]Throughout the adventure, there are moments of sexual awakening used as a metaphor, as Laura was impris…

Not terrible per-se, but the characters, plotting, and world building simply aren't up to par with Ikuku's other works. The only part of the story I truly enjoyed was the DLC chapter [i]Guests at the Threshold[/i]; it's significantly better written than the base game, and far more intriguing besides. If you've played [i]RAID[/i] and [i]Lifesigns[/i], you'll at least enjoy the additional context [i]The Knight of the Crimson Tower[/i] provides. Anyone else? Not worth your time.