- Exceptional story and lore, rich content
- Unique dark fantasy aesthetic, top-tier RPG Maker
- Engaging combat, authentic Souls-like experience
- Requires external patch for optimal experience
- Poor optimization and dark narrative
- Outdated combat and mechanics
Emotions
Players felt satisfied by the game's overall high quality, engaging combat, rich story, and extensive content, including multiple endings and achievements. The game's replayability, unique art style, and successful blend of genres also contributed to a positive and fulfilling experience. Many found satisfaction in the game living up to its reputation and even surpassing other titles in its genre. Some also expressed satisfaction in supporting the creators and seeing the game improved by patches. The game's dark themes and Souls-like elements were also sources of enjoyment for many. Overall, the game's depth, freedom, and rewarding mechanics led to a highly satisfying experience. Based on extensive and high-quality feedback. Importance: 0.95
Frustration primarily stemmed from numerous technical issues, including game-breaking bugs, unplayable states without external patches, and problems with achievements. Censorship in the Steam version and missing content also caused significant frustration. Players were also frustrated by the game's high difficulty, forced grinding, lack of clear in-game guidance, and repetitive combat. Specific issues like the F12 key resetting the game and inability to adjust screen size further contributed to negative experiences. Based on extensive and high-quality feedback. Importance: 0.95
Admiration was driven by the game's exceptional quality, particularly its deep lore, compelling plot, and unique artistic style. Players admired the game's ability to push boundaries within the RPG Maker engine and its successful blend of genres. The game's unique setting, dark narrative approach, and emotional impact were also frequently cited as reasons for admiration. Many reviewers expressed high praise for the developer's creativity and skill in crafting such a high-quality and innovative experience. Based on extensive and high-quality feedback. Importance: 0.95
Excitement was largely generated by the game's overall high quality, engaging combat, and immersive atmosphere. Many players expressed excitement for the upcoming sequel, Black Souls 2, and the prospect of future content. The game's release on Steam, especially with an uncensored patch, also fueled excitement. The desire to replay the game, explore its deep lore, and experience its emotional impact contributed to a strong sense of anticipation and enthusiasm. Based on extensive and high-quality feedback. Importance: 0.95
Disappointment arose from several factors, including the short length of Alice's story and general lack of content, particularly due to censorship and cut features in the Steam version. Players were also disappointed by the game's unplayable state without necessary patches and various technical flaws. Issues like tedious grinding, poor translation quality, and unsatisfactory story endings contributed to a sense of unfulfilled expectations. Some also felt disappointed by the game's perceived average quality or its failure to live up to the standards set by its sequel. Based on extensive and high-quality feedback. Importance: 0.95
Verdict
Mostly positive
Summary
Positive 82% · Negative 18%. Score: 18 / 100
Positives:
- Players overwhelmingly praise the game's story, lore, and narrative depth, frequently calling it a 'masterpiece' with a compelling and impactful plot. While some describe the story as simple, others highlight its hidden complexities and emotional resonance.
- The game offers substantial content, high replayability, and excellent value for its price, keeping players deeply engaged and often leading to obsession. Its availability on Steam and achievement system further enhance the experience and encourage multiple playthroughs.
- The game's unique blend of dark fairy tales, Lovecraftian themes, and grimdark fantasy creates a distinctive and immersive world. Its rough yet expressive hand-drawn art style perfectly complements this atmosphere, enhancing the overall experience.
- The game is highly regarded as a top-tier RPG Maker title, often considered the best in its genre, especially within the 'H-game' category. It pushes boundaries in narrative and gameplay design for RPG Maker games, offering a quality experience even without its adult content.
- The combat system is widely enjoyed, described as immersive, engaging, and strategically deep, despite some initial learning curve or older system feel. Players appreciate the satisfying parry and dodge mechanics, contributing to a fun and rewarding gameplay loop.
Negatives:
- The Steam version of the game is heavily censored and incomplete, requiring an external patch to be fully playable. Without this patch, critical content like character sprites, dialogue, and adult scenes are missing, leading to numerous bugs, progression blockers, and an overall unplayable experience. This unpatched state is considered unacceptable by players.
- Players report a generally negative and unoptimized experience, citing frequent crashes, poor performance, and a feeling of incompleteness. The game's narrative is often described as dark, nihilistic, and emotionally taxing, with many players finding the endings unsatisfying or overly brutal.
- The combat system is frequently criticized for being rudimentary, repetitive, and unengaging, with clunky controls and a lack of depth. The game's reliance on an old RPG Maker engine contributes to outdated mechanics and simplistic visuals, especially compared to its sequel.
- The game lacks essential quality-of-life features and basic settings. Players cannot adjust resolution, remap keys, or access in-game system settings, leading to a poor user experience and potential loss of progress.
- Without the necessary patches, many NPCs are missing from the game world, and crucial dialogues, locations, and plot interactions are cut or altered, severely impacting the narrative and exploration.
Gameplay:
- The game is heavily inspired by the Dark Souls series, incorporating many of its core mechanics and thematic elements into a 2D, turn-based RPG Maker format. It uniquely blends this Souls-like foundation with a dark, twisted fairy tale setting, featuring familiar characters in a grim context.
- The game features multiple endings (at least four main routes and ten character-specific endings), which are directly influenced by player choices and actions throughout the game. This encourages replayability and careful decision-making.
- The combat system is turn-based, utilizing an Active Time Battle (ATB) system where speed influences action frequency. A key strategic element is the ability to parry and dodge, which are highly effective and can even be used to defeat powerful early-game enemies.
- Players assume the role of an undead protagonist, with death leading to soul loss that can be recovered. Souls serve as the primary currency for leveling up and purchasing items, and bonfires act as checkpoints for resurrection and fast travel.
- The game includes explicit adult content (eroge) and features a 'sin' mechanic where players can choose to kill, violate, or imprison NPCs, including heroines. This content is a significant aspect of the game, though some reviewers focused on gameplay.
Performance:
- Players frequently report that the game is unplayable or severely buggy without an external, unofficial patch. Issues include crashes, missing assets, and incorrect sprite placement, indicating a critical need for a fix.
- Despite the need for an external patch, once applied, the game generally runs without major game-breaking bugs. Players note overall stability, though minor balance and navigation issues can still occur.
- The game is built using RPGMaker and heavily relies on its default free assets. This gives the game a primitive visual style that some players find unappealing.
- Some minor technical quirks exist, such as settings only applying after a restart and slight image degradation when resizing the window. These are not critical but affect user experience.
- The game reportedly performs well on the Steam Deck, offering a good experience for players on that platform. This indicates good compatibility with portable gaming devices.
Recommendations:
- Many players highly recommend the game, often calling it a masterpiece, especially for fans of dark fantasy, Souls-like RPGs, and deep, challenging narratives. They emphasize that it's not for everyone due to its mature and sensitive themes, encouraging players to approach it with an open mind and to persist through its difficulties.
- Many players purchased the game specifically to support the indie developer, Toro, and to encourage the release of future titles on Steam. They see buying the game as a direct way to show appreciation and foster the development of the series.
- Some players recommend focusing on the game's story and plot, suggesting that those short on time can use walkthroughs to understand the narrative. This indicates the story is a key draw for players.
- A few players note that the game currently has issues and suggest waiting for updates or sales before purchasing, indicating some concerns about its present state or value.
- There's conflicting feedback regarding the game's adult content; some suggest it can be disabled, while others advise against it, stating that disabling it means missing out on significant lore and themes.
Miscellaneous:
- Players are highly anticipating the release of the sequel, Black Souls 2 (BS2), and other future titles like Red Death, on Steam. There's a strong desire for the entire series to be available on the platform, with many considering BS2 a masterpiece.
- Players frequently mention methods for enabling fullscreen mode, such as using Alt+Enter or adjusting settings via F1. This suggests initial usability issues with display options that require user intervention.
- Players suggest that the game is best enjoyed by playing freely and making personal choices, as intended by the developer. This implies a non-linear or player-driven experience.
- The game is identified as an RPG Maker title developed by Sushi Yuusha Toro, representing a new generation of works from indie circles.
- Some players express a strong desire to find specific characters like Alice and Norden, indicating memorable character interactions or unresolved plot points.
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