Errant Kingdom

At this point I can't in good conscious recommend this game. The first 4-5 chapters are very good - they have good world building, character development and plot. The dialogue and options (romantic or not) are pretty good and the graphics are also good. Then you hit the last couple of chapters and wow is there substantial difference. I know the development team was very behind and they rushed to finish this game and it is noticeable as everything took a hit. The ending just rushes along and you are basically just along for the ride as your character is not even really necessary for the story. The slow but interesting world building is gone as several things (the cultists in the forest anyone? and at this point I'm wondering if the Assassin's Guild actually kills people) are just dropped completely and former minor NPCs (as in they had like a couple lines of dialogue in Ch 1 and were very briefly mentioned) are now so important to the story for absolutely no reason and honestly don't actually contribute anything to the plot (I have a suspicion what the devs were trying to do but faltered hard imo). The character development for your character goes out the window and unless you're romancing Erick, Maja or Olivia (I suspect as I have not played their routes to the end) the other 3 characters also get none. The entire last bit of the plot revolves entirely around Erik (with Maja and Olivia) with little input from the others. And the romance, oh boy the romance. You go from flirting to I can't live without you love in the blink of an eye - and we don't even get any scenes, moments or dialogue to back this up. Not to mention the lack of actual romantic scenes between characters - I finished on the Lucien/Raiden route and got one scene. Again, I suspect there might be a difference if your romantic route involved Erik but I can't be sure it wasn't also rushed. The dialogue which I enjoyed immensely in the first portion of the game suddenly took a dive in quality. The tone of the phrases and the specific words chosen no longer fit the medieval setting of Errant Kingdom. It felt very much like a rough first draft that had no time for proper editing. It also didn't really matter what dialogue choices you made you pretty much just ended up in the exact same place anyway (there was one part where I saved and kept reloading options because I DIDN'T want to do something which the game gave me the option not to do - didn't matter, game plugged right along to the same path even though I tried not to). Overall the art work didn't suffer as much but it did as well; it took me a minute to realize why I didn't like it as much as previous chapters because the backgrounds generally looked the same. It's because the the latest chapters lacked the depth and textures that were added which made them pop more - the new scenes are very flat. Overall everything about the ending chapters of this game felt rushed and pushed out so they could say it was complete. I felt very let down by the end of this game/story because it had such promise when it started. For all of these reasons I can't recommend people buy this game. The company's other game - When The Night Comes - is a MUCH better showing of what they produce.

I was so excited about this game; I even supported the creators on patreon. I was only mildly annoyed at all of the delays (Mostly because on patreon id see all of these updates for a new game they announced. seemed weird for a small company to work on so many projects at once) But the story for Errant Kingdom seems so rushed. In the later chapters, actual romance scenes are minimal. And despite there being so many paths, it seemed they got lazy and just merged them all at the end for the sake of getting the game out. (So it got incredibly confusing because I didn't know who half these characters were.) It even kind of seems like there was only one real story with a random couple of cut scenes (emphasis on couple. Less than one per chapter) Where you interacted with your romantic partner. Whereas in their other games, who you choose changed things up drastically. Also the plot is not all that creative. Its very obvious from the first chapter. Again; it seems rushed. Which is so disappointing for how long we waited.

I was excited for this game when it was first in development, but over time I worried that numerous setbacks and delays in the process would have an impact on the final product when it was released. I'm a little saddened to report that those worries held up to reality when the finished game dropped. There are positive aspects of Errant Kingdom that I genuinely enjoyed. The main characters have lovely designs and personalities that are fun to engage with. The initial world-building and stage-setting for the game was well done, and I think it really had potential. There are touching, heartfelt scenes that give some cast members more depth and drive interest in their stories. The downside, however, is that those stories do not amount to much within the game itself. The narrative kicks off with a couple of big mysteries that felt like they were building up to a sweeping, exciting narrative where three deities clash against an all-powerful god. The player's character felt, at first, like an important piece of the puzzle. I expected a focused, detailed narrative that lived up to the promise of the premise. The actual events of the game, unfortunately, fell short of these aspirations. The time spent in the story felt split between romance and story, with not nearly enough space given to either to truly make them shine. Main characters were left with somewhat shallow motivations, shoe-horned into the same spaces to make sure the player's chosen interest follows along with the story's destination. While some attention was given to building the characters' relationships at the beginning of the game, this swiftly dropped off to give more time to a seemingly ill-thought out set of story events. Side characters that were barely mentioned became important out of the blue, and story elements introduced early on that should have been key to the narrative were largely ignored or completely forgotten. Some came back in a weak way at the very end, and I can't even begin to express my disappointment with said ending. The main villain felt small and incredibly simple, and the towering threat of the king and queen never felt truly laid to rest, just tossed aside to hurry along the end of the game. The big twist didn't really have a leg to stand on, and the big battle's writing felt stilted and underdeveloped. The story felt increasingly rushed and stitched-together as it went on. I'm aware that development issues probably caused a lot of these issues, but I also feel that Lunaris Games' writing has work to do regarding narrative pacing and the balance between romance/story development in both Errant Kingdom and When the Night Comes. I look forward to the release of Call Me Under, as it appears very promising. With the recent news that Lunaris plans to edit EK, I hope that some of these issues will be resolved and I will be able to update this review with a more positive impression.

I absolutely love Lunaris' other game, When The Night Comes, but unfortunately Errant Kingdom is a lacklustre follow-up. If it's on sale for a solid discount, then I'd recommend it. I purchased it at full price and kinda wish I didn't (but I also like to support this indie developer ) Pros: - Fun dialogue and characters - UI and overall designs look great - Art looks great, if inconsistent - Interesting setting and lore - some good BG music Cons: - Art is inconsistent - BG music gets repetitive - Story pacing is uneven - Plot is messy - Lots of romance *options* but not much actual romance going on. - Still has grammatical errors on the two routes I completed The first 1/3 of the game is slow and plodding. You get introduced to the characters and the world, but I feel like a lot of it is just your MC wandering around waiting for stuff to happen. I really enjoy most of the dialogue and banter written by Lunaris but there is definitely some filler here. The overarching story has some great elements, but the other 2/3 of the game feels rushed. I played two routes (Erik & Raiden) and there were several characters mentioned at the end that were never mentioned earlier in the game, but it seemed like I was supposed to know who they were. I saw comments about some kind of drama around this game and that made me sad. It really seems like they had some good ideas and a lot of passion poured into this project, but ♥♥♥♥ happened along the way, maybe they lost some interest, and rushed to get it finished. The *twist* at the end was handled clumsily, and the finale and epilogue were disappointing. There was a lack of romance in favour of tying up the overarching storyline and I think it suffers because of this. On a more technical level, there were quite a few grammatical and spelling errors in the last 2/3 of the game. The artwork is inconsistent in style, and even the sprites only have a couple of expressions each - not nearly as expressive as their prior game. I'm fine with a game not having voice actors, but I think it should at least have different sound effects to add some interest. The background music they used is good, but lacks variety - there were definitely scenes that could be made better with more music. I also miss having a Back button, especially as someone with adhd, where being able to quickly read previous lines helps me stay on track. I think that has more to do with changing to a different engine than what they started with. Overall, a disappointing experience but if you get it on sale, I think it's worth it just for the characters, setting, and banter. Rai is my boi *finger guns*

I enjoyed their first game, but I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much and in hindsight, I shouldn't have supported their kickstarter for their newest game. Their lack of communication and no updates has made it so I don't feel comfortable supporting this company anymore. I hope they get things together eventually, but I'm out for this company.

I wanted to love this game as much as I loved When The Night Comes. I cannot. The story falls completely on its arse by the last few chapters. there are a few things more eloquently said in other reviews and even though I didn't read them until I tried the game myself I am inclined to agree with a lot of them. World building, character development, and romance all take a significant nose dive at the halfway point and I lost almost all interest in completing the game. It isn't worth the money.

The game started out with fairly good writing and I liked the art and characters well enough. However, halfway through the game the quality of the romance and story just drops dramatically. I simply can't recommend this game.

Honestly I'm really not sure why this game is so poorly rated. It's not exactly the same as the first game and there's nothing wrong with that. It is a good game, and it's far and away one of the best dating sims out there. There was clearly a lot of love and intention put into this game and it shows, with more customization options than When The Night Comes, and its an amazing successor. I think the reason that so many are quick to dismiss it is the fact that it's lacking voice acting, which provides a lot more immersion for games like these, and the ending could've used a bit more closure with the individual romance choices, but nevertheless it holds it's own as a well made game. It's mature and interesting and the story holds up even without the romance. Please do yourself a favor and play this game. Even if it's not your favorite of the developers' its well worth supporting them.

Recommend. I wish there was more games like these in where we saw more variety in the love interests, they're fleshed out, and you also get to see healthy poly routes that are usually not available. I was here since the beginning and know many were frustrated with the release of the game but things do happen and I appreciate that they completed it. Ive seen many great projects that are simply abandoned so I was just happy to see the release. The end of the story was a little at the end since I think they rushed to release. Others also mentioned how the protagonist didnt feel as relatable or like their choices mattered and I definitely felt that. Its more like you get to see the great people that the companions are and your are their to see their stories, this stands till the end. Regardless of its shortcoming the art is great, the story is enjoyable, and you get to experience a variety of relationships 8/10!

I wouldn't recommend the game because it doesn't matter which choice you pick, it always ends the same. The romance is okay, but lacks substance. The demon acts like they couldn't give a rat's (a s s) what happens. I only kind of liked Rai... and Erik. I think the devs gave up and took the easy road. I'll give it a tentative thumbs up...