I recently decided to try other games similar to DoL, and played "Course of Temptation" and "Lilith's Throne". CoT is very similar to DoL, but that game failed to hook me as much. I was disappointed by the small number of well-written characters, and I couldn't find anyone who interested me. I also didn't like the routine... too much routine. And the tedious skill leveling. LT is nothing like DoL. The game is a series of quests and a complete lack of routine, which I really liked. Although I didn't find anyone I wanted to romance in that game either, I had a lot of fun playing it, thanks to the storyline and interesting mechanics. Below, I've written in more detail about my impressions of these games, so there will be minor spoilers.
Course of Temptation.
So, we're a student who's just entered a university renowned for its excellent education and depraved atmosphere. And that's the whole plot (I don't know, maybe there's a hidden, implicit plot here that I haven't noticed?).
Basically, my plan was this: I'd find a character I liked, romance them, and we'd do all sorts of dirty things together, all while exploring the world and leveling up my skills. But I still couldn't find anyone for me. Yes, there are a lot of characters, maybe a hundred or more, but at the same time, almost all of them are just empty extras. They have no defined personalities, no backstories, and no events beyond the standard, recurring ones. Of the more well-developed characters, I can only name our best friend, our roommate, our roommate's boyfriend, our admirer, and our harasser. Of all of them, I only liked the best friend and the admirer, but best friend wants an open relationship, which is a definite no-no for me. And for the admirer, according to the wiki, I'd have to be submissive during roleplay game, and since my compliance level is zero and I don't want to change that, the admirer isn't an option for me either. Yes, it was fun to play games with him, but I didn't like him enough to start being submissive for his sake.
I'm also a little intrigued by the harasser. He's not as simple as he seems at first glance, and I'd be interested in getting to know him better, but... he's such a jerk. I don't want to mess with him.
Roommate and her boyfriend... I hate these two. They constantly violate my personal boundaries, and it really pisses me off that I can't do anything about it. Why do I always have to put up with their antics? Why can't I report my roommate and throw her out of my room or move to another room myself? This is so annoying!
Actually, we could move, but... That's another point of my indignation: excessive lewdness. This game has excessive lewdness. Yeah, it sounds weird, considering the game we're talking about and that lewdness is its point, but! The lewdness here is too blatant and unnatural. For example, the scene on the bus. The guy just started sharpening his sword in front of everyone and it's like, what? Is that considered normal here? I once had a conversation with an NPC that went something like this: "I'm in a bad mood and need a distraction. Can you give me a blowjob?" - Seriously? No, seriously? We're not dating and my character isn't a whore, so why are you asking that? Or a roommate who, without any embarrassment, is having sex with her boyfriend in front of us, and we don’t even try to actually stop it (because they’re keeping us from sleeping) or complain about them. And about moving in. We can move into a fraternity or sorority dorm (depending on our character's gender), but to do so, we need to complete a huge list of tasks, 90 percent of which are: sleep with this person, sleep with that person, do something naked, etc. Why is this task list so openly available? Why hasn't the university administration learned about this list of tasks yet? It would make more sense if there was an official list of difficult, but not lewd, tasks, but also a secret list of lewd tasks that would give more points for completion. The same could be done with all the other lewdness; if they were more hidden and not shoved in the player's face, the game would seem more realistic and interesting, in my opinion.
Next. The routine I wrote about earlier. Oh... Well, let's start with the fact that we have to pay money weekly again, but not for the debt, but for tuition. To pay less, you need to study well, and to study well, you need to do your homework. Stress has accumulated from studying so hard, so go relax. And eat, you're hungry. Oh, you don't have any money? Go to work. Tired of working? Go to bed and don't forget to go to the toilet and wash up. Did you sleep? Now go to study. And eat. And be relaxed, otherwise you won't be able to study. And so on, every day. It's very tiring. And if we also start leveling up our skills during this time... Everything will become even more tedious and monotonous. But more on skills later.
I find weekly money payments unnecessary. In DoL, paying off debt was the player's primary goal, forcing us to explore the world and uncover the story. But in this game, which focuses on raunchy university adventures, weekly payments are a hindrance, distracting us from the game's core purpose. Besides, we already need money for food, clothing, and other necessities, so we'd be looking for ways to earn it anyway.
Eating, washing, and toileting. I also consider these unnecessary and tedious elements of the game that simply waste time. I can only justify trips to the toilet, as they might be of interest to water sports enthusiasts. I would make eating an optional element, needed only for relaxation. The same goes for showering—for relaxation and for washing up if we get dirty.
Skills. Leveling up skills is tedious and difficult because we can only get a certain number of points per day. For example, if we want to spend the whole day at the gym and max out our Physics, it won't work. We'll get 9 or so points and that's it. So it's best to level up a few skills each day—and that's just another routine.
I'd like to mention the skill checks separately. They're too chaotic. For example, I defeated the Lich King in an RPG, even though I had a warning that it was impossible with my intellectual level. And yet, I can't pet a cat, even though I had a high charisma level. How does this all work? Why should I even bother leveling up my skills if everything is random? The same thing happens with studying and exams. I once got a C- on an exam, even though I always listened to the teacher in class and did my homework. I assumed this grade was random, and thanks to the safescam, I found out I was right. I can get any grade from an A+ to a C-, and it doesn't matter whether I do my homework or listen to the teachers. Why does it work like this? What's the point of studying then?
And the last thing I want to mention is relationships with NPCs. NPCs can easily start to dislike you, and if that happens, it will be very, very difficult to lower their dislike. Before classes, I usually talked to NPCs; some of them would give me friendship points, while others would start to dislike me. So, characters who already had friendship points, thanks to randomness, would start to lose them and start to dislike me. But characters who already had dislike points don't get friendship points. Ever. Why? It's unfair. To lower their dislike, I had to pick them out individually and chat with them, compliment them, and give them gifts.
Considering all of the above, when do I get to explore the world and hang out with characters? My PC was always tired, studying, working, and leveling up. I lived in the game for several months and faced winter. And my PC is still a virgin who only had one platonic date with a friend. This game just isn't for me, because I don't want to just sleep with everyone; I need someone special, but I didn't find anyone here, so I couldn't enjoy it. If there was some interesting LI here, I would have tolerated the whole routine, but for now, unfortunately, my poor, tired PC remains alone. Unless one day they add new interesting for me characters. For now, I'm abandoning this game. I'll keep an eye on updates from time to time; maybe I'll come back.
If you've played CoT, please let me know in the comments who you romanced and what you liked about that character (or characters). I'd love to read. Cuz maybe I missed a potential LI.
Lilith's Throne.
We got "Isekai'd to another world" filled with depravity, demons, mythical creatures, and furries! Now we're looking for a way to return home. It sounded like an anime title lol.
My plan here was the same: find a character I liked, romance them, and do all sorts of naughty things. But even though I didn't find anyone, I really enjoyed the game. The story, the quests, exploring the world, leveling up, looting defeated NPCs — it was all so captivating! And most importantly, there was no routine! Yes, we can sleep, eat, and wash, but that's only to restore health and aura. And finally, there's no school or university! Playing LT was such a pleasure.
The game has a plethora of well-written NPCs. Aside from the street NPCs who attack us, all the others have their own personalities and quirks, bringing them and the game world to life.
I completed the main quest to the point where it stopped (since the game isn't finished yet) and also completed several side quests. I'm eagerly awaiting updates. If large, VERY LARGE texts don't scare you, I recommend this game.
