Cursed Lands

Note: While this game is directly linked to [url=https://store.steampowered.com/app/257970/Loren_The_Amazon_Princess/]Loren the Amazon Princess[/url], it isn’t necessary to have played it to understand this story. However, given all the cameos and references to Loren, one might want to play it first or even after this game. This story takes place [i]before[/i] the events in Loren. [u]Information[/u] • As it states on the store page, 6 romanceable characters all together. 4 can be romance by man or woman protagonist, while 2 are strictly homosexual characters. • Sex scenes are teasing, not fully written. It’ll tell the player the beginning of their [i]passions[/i] then cut off before the actual sex happens. • No full nudity in the CGs. They are sexy though. • Like Loren (and other games from Winter Wolves), this is a visual novel and RPG hybrid. [i]However[/i], there is a genuine visual novel mode that enables the player to get through the game without battles. • Major events take place on each full moon in this game. So, recruiting characters and doing sidequests happens in between those events. There are 3 full moons all together, the last one ending the game. [u]Praises[/u] • The protagonist’s and their chosen love interest’s epilogues can be changed in a few ways, depending on choices made in the game. • Lots of cameo appearances from Loren, including Loren herself as a preteen girl still in training to become the best warrior of the Amazons. • Romance/sex scenes can be thrilling. (Sadly, not nearly as good as the writing in Loren though.) • Nice CGs and general art. (Some of it is recycled from other Winter Wolves games, but that doesn’t make it suddenly not nice. I get it – art costs money and time.) • The gallery doubles as a means of keeping track of achievements and CGs. [u]Complaints[/u] • Extreme and toxic reactions from romanceable characters regarding “cheating.” First of all, it can’t be cheating if boundaries weren’t set in the first place. That’s what I dislike about most romance stories, is that people get so caught up in the heat of the moment that they don’t establish any boundaries or what the relationship even is. You can technically romance everyone possible at the same time but eventually scenes occur in which a romanceable character confronts the protagonist about “cheating,” even though not a single one of the romanceable characters states they want to be monoamorous or exclusive. Then, the protagonist’s inner dialogue talks about “misbehaving” or that they’ve done something wrong intentionally and was hoping to get away with it. Like, wtf? Can’t I just get a romance story where healthy, clear communication is used between characters? • Sylrissa and Enok could’ve been a polyamorous route. They both care about each other intimately already. Seems like a good set up for it. Or since there are too many whiny people out there who would complain about having to read polyamorous scenes, it could’ve been an [i]optional[/i] route at least. • Like in pretty much all of Winter Wolves’s games (that I’ve played so far), the tribal people/characters are not really dark-skinned enough. They look like white people with a tan and that is not the same thing. These particular tribal people live in the [i]desert[/i], where the sun would be baking their skin all the time; they definitely should be darker. Everyone else is light-skinned … again. • Character customization seems so pointless when the player never sees their character in scenes. The protagonist’s portrait is only shown in the menu and in battles. • Lots of typos throughout the game. Not unreadable or anything though. It was okay. I feel like Loren the Amazon Princess set the bar so high with Winter Wolves games that everything else just isn’t meeting that standard. That game was this dev’s masterpiece and I feel like they just haven’t put as much passion into anything else since. I didn’t hate this game though. It was a nice addition to the series of games that take place in this universe. I certainly liked seeing or hearing about some of the characters from Loren. I recommend it to those who are a fan of similar Winter Wolves games or those who want more of Loren the Amazon Princess.

[h1]Handlung[/h1] Wir sind ein Abenteurer, der von der Regierung des Menschenimperiums den Auftrag erhält, die Vorkommnisse in und um ein Vampirverseuchtes Schloss aufzuklären. Hierfür sollen wir eine Gruppe aus Abenteurern zusammenstellen und es ist nur ein Monat Zeit. [h1]Warnung![/h1] Das Spiel beinhaltet sexuellen/erotik Content in geschriebener Form. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] [b][u]Interaktiver Roman[/u][/b] Die Geschichte des Spiels wird in Form einer [b]VN (Visual Novel)[/b] erzählt in der Gespräche und Ereignisse primär durch Texte dargestellt werden. Wie im Genre üblich, findet man sich des öfteren mit [b]Entscheidungen[/b] konfrontiert, die den weiteren Verlauf der Handlung beeinflussen. Mit dem Mausrad kann man in Gesprächen zurückspulen, wenn man eine falsche Entscheidung getroffen hat oder einfach um andere Entscheidungen auszutesten. Zudem ist speichern jederzeit möglich. In Gesprächen wird durch die richtigen Entscheidungen außerdem die Freundschaft zu den verschiedenen Gefährten beeinflusst, wodurch sich potentiell Romanzen entwickeln können. [b][u]Questen, Leveln, widerholen[/u][/b] Zwischen den Storysegmenten findet man sich auf der [b]Karte der Region[/b] wieder, von der aus man Schauplätze betreten und dort kleine Sequenzen starten oder bei den Örtlichen Händlern einkaufen. In einigen Ortschaften kann man außerdem noch in der [b]Arena[/b] trainieren, in der verschieden große Gegnergruppen unterschiedlicher Stärke dazu dienen, mit der Gruppe zu grinden. Insgesamt hat man [b]neunzig Tage Zeit[/b], bevor der Endkampf ansteht. [b][u]Die liebe Kämpferei und andere RPG Marotten[/u][/b] Kämpfe laufen in Cursed Lands [b]rundenweise[/b] ab, wobei die eigene Gruppe aus maximal vier Personen gegen maximal sechs Gegner antritt. Jeder rekrutierbare Gefährte hat eigene Skills, die nur er hat, wodurch im Kampf jeder einen Mehrwert gegenüber anderen hat. Der Protagonist besitzt neben einem normalen Skillbaum noch einen für [b]soziale Talente[/b], mit denen man Kämpfe teils stark beeinflussen und manchmal sogar direkt beenden kann, indem Gegner in ihren Möglichkeiten eingeschränkt werden, Items herausgeben oder direkt aufgeben. Allerdings muss hierfür die [b]Gegnermoral[/b] niedrig sein, was sich im Verlauf des Kampfes ergibt. Nach Kämpfen gibt es wie in den meisten RPGs Erfahrung für alle Teilnehmer. Wichtig zu erwähnen ist hier, dass die erhaltene [b]Erfahrung verteilt[/b] wird. Wenn man also mit weniger Charakteren kämpft, erhalten die Teilnehmer autmatisch mehr. Mit jedem Level Up kann man einen Punkt auf verschiedene Attribute verteilen und alle zwei Level Ups kann man einen neuen Skill lernen oder upgraden. [b][u]Meckern auf hohem Niveau[/u][/b] [list] [*] Nicht jeder Mitstreiter ist [b]dateable[/b] und einige nur, wenn der Hauptcharakter ein bestimmtes Geschlecht hat [*] Die Kämpfe sind zu leicht. Das KS bietet viel [b]Potential[/b], was aber nicht genutzt wird. Die Sozialtalente sind in den seltensten Fällen überhaupt wirklich nützlich, da sie ohnehin erst wirklich wirken, wenn die Gegnermoral tief ist, also wenn der Kampf ohnehin fast gewonnen ist [/list] [h1]Schwierigkeitsgrad[/h1] Cursed Lands ist auf vier Schwierigkeitsstufen spielbar. Leicht, Mittel, Schwer und Alptraum. Zusätzlich gibt es einen Visual Novel Mode, in dem es gar keine Kämpfe gibt. Ich habe das Spiel auf "Alptraum" gespielt und hatte selten echte Probleme in Kämpfen. [h1]Soundtrack, Grafik, Steuerung[/h1] Der Soundtrack ist nichts sonderlich herausragendes, trägt aber zur allgemeinen Stimmung bei und ist gut umgesetzt. Die Grafik im Spiel ist recht ordentlich. Für die Steuerung wird die Maus verwendet. [h1]Zusammenfassung[/h1] [b]Pro:[/b] [list] [*] viele diverse Charaktere mit unterschiedlichen Fähigkeiten [*] strategisch tiefgehendes Kampfsystem [/list] [b]Kontra:[/b] [list] [*] Das Potential des Kampfsystems wird nicht wirklich ausgeschöpft [*] Writing eher so zweitklassig [/list] [b]Achievements[/b] [list] [*] Einige sind leicht zu bekommen [*] Einige sind mit Grinding verbunden [*] Einige sind schwer zu bekommen [*] Einige erfordern wiederholtes Durchspielen [/list] [b]Fazit:[/b] Cursed Lands ist im Grunde eine VN, die ein wenig Gameplay in Form eines Runden RPGs bietet. Das Writing hat einige Schwächen und der RPG Teil ist nicht wirklich fordernd, allerdings hatte ich soweit Spaß und kann das Spiel während eines Sales empfehlen. Die 24.50€ Vollpreis ist es meiner Meinung nach nicht wert. [b]------------------------------------------------------------------------ [i]Wenn ihr weitere ansprechende Reviews lesen wollt, dann folgt doch der [url= https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32139821/}]GermanReviewGroup[/url][/i] oder [i][url= https://store.steampowered.com/curator/875292/}] GermanSteamCommunity[/url].[/i] ------------------------------------------------------------------------[/b]

The pace of the game doesn't work. The battling is repetitive and boring. The visual novel side is mildly put - slow. Even after hours of tiresome clicking (through the boring battles), the story has advanced some, yes, but the romantic options are still a light year away. You have to have certain amount of "hearts" between your characters' relationship, before it can turn into romance. The instances where you can gain hearts between the characters are few and far between. The game isn't really bad, but the design forbids me from enjoying it.

I can't say I hate this game. In fact, I even like some of the parts. Like Enok, Sylrissa or Vaeril (just for looks). But that's it. Plot is painfully generic, dialogue is boring, choices are unimportant, characters are flat, combat system feels like an afterthought, music is offensively mediocre and the price is RIDICULOUS. So, no I can't say I hate this game - because it fails to evoke any strong emotion at all. It is just so aggressively mid.

打完了！我爱这个系列，虽然这部剧情和人设不如两部正传但基本上能看到所有前两部的熟面孔让人非常怀念哇，时间线在Loren之前但建议打完Loren和Elven Marriage这两部正传再来打这部！这部可以自己捏主角，而且这部可攻略角色很多有三个好吃的女人，跟karen的互动非常多女主还会做关于她的春梦hhh，艾莉诺你真是吃太好了。这部让家女主推了亚马逊女人leena，这部还能看到公主小时候和即将成为第三部正传妻子的breza，亚马逊女人咋就那么好吃呢........总之系列粉丝一定一定要玩。

They really needed a strong copyedit on this one. I want to support this dev, but the exposition was bloated and the typos were insane. Lost my marbles thirty minutes in and never recovered.

I tried so, so hard to like this game. I absolutely loved L:AP, and learning there was a prequel was an instant "take my money" moment. Except... This feels absolutely NOTHING like the source material, and most of my play time is actually from just leaving the game open between attempts to find the willpower to continue. My #1 complaint is the excessive dialog from Every. Single. Character. Normally, I love when characters are really fleshed out and deep, but these are so overly written on every single subject and much of it could be condensed into far less bloat and far more meaningful interactions. Yet this leads right into my next issue.... The characters are all...same-y and bland. I genuinely can't tell them apart on dialog style alone, because everyone, including the main character, all talk exactly the same. Its like every character was written and 'voiced' by a hive mind who doesn't value distinction, using similar lingo and modern dialog. In the first game, each character was so unique and had their own goals, drives, motivations. In this one, none of the characters distinguish themselves aside from their art, and they all feel expendable and hollow. My last big issue, and this one is more personal, but it pains me so much to see the volume of modern lingo injected into what is supposed to be a fantasy setting. "Fair Enough" is easily one of the most commonly used lines in the whole game, but there's many other similar lines that could compete. The way the Queen talks to you about how you form the squad gave me whiplash when you compare her utterly broken personality in L:AP. In Cursed Lands it feels like you are talking to an Intelligence Officer in a modern spy thriller, instead of the Queen of the most anti-outsider group in the game. There are a few other things I could also bring up, such as the way most of the game is just: "Do arena battles," but really... all I can say is I tried, but this one was a huge L.

[h3]6/10[/h3] [b][EN][/b] [h2]Visual Novel with RPG[/h2] Cursed Lands is a visual novel mixed with RPG, we can even create our own character! It has many choices and romance options, and it's very story rich. There's also a combat system, which is turn-based. These RPG elements make the visual novel much more engaging. There are many races, since this is a fantasy game, so there's a large variety of characters with different designs. Nuala is too kinky, damn! [b][PT][/b] [h2]Romance Visual com RPG[/h2] Cursed Lands é um romance visual misturado com RPG, e podem até criar a vossa própria personagem! O jogo oferece muitas escolhas e opções de romance, e é muito rico em história. Possui também um sistema de combate por turnos. Estes elementos de RPG tornam o romance visual muito mais envolvente. Existem muitas raças, já que se trata de um jogo de fantasia, então há uma grande variedade de personagens com designs diferentes. A Nuala é muito safada, caramba!

Amazing game +++

Too slow and too repetitive.