Forged Desires: A Bara JRPG

I really like RPG maker games and Forged Desires is a pun filled adventure! I don't want to spoiler too much, but I really like how the routes are done in this game. The game will warn you when to save, and you can reload that save and go to the other route. No restarting required. Leonard needs his own spin off! Can't wait for the next game!

💬 Supportive Caveat Small heads-up before you dive in: I really want Male Doll Games to succeed, and there is a lot to like here, especially if you came for bara art. I did hit a few technical snags though. The game froze a couple times for me (once using a full heal potion, once while leveling up), and there are spots in Eldoria where you can literally get stuck by reaching areas you should not be able to access, like the outer frame of the main gameplay area, so save often and keep a rotating save or two. One stylistic note worth flagging too: Male Doll does excellent work with bara bodies, but the facial designs often lean very feminine; that is a distinct vibe and some players will love it, but it is not to my personal taste, and it can feel visually discordant at times. 🎮 Gameplay & Genre Forged Desires is a fairly linear JRPG with dating sim elements and two routes, and I got all achievements in about 6 hours. Combat is classic turn-based and will feel familiar if you have ever played early Pokémon or old-school JRPGs, but it can get grindy when you are padding levels more than making interesting choices. The clothing system is the more engaging hook: different outfits unlock different skills and field abilities like invisibility or environmental interaction, which adds variety without getting complicated. Achievements are straightforward and worked perfectly for me. Players familiar with Arthur’s Quest will immediately recognize the same JRPG plus dating DNA and outfit-driven progression. I enjoyed that title more overall, and here the similarities sometimes make this feel more iterative than fresh. 🔥 M/M Content This is unapologetically M/M and clearly aimed at a bara audience, with two love interests (Leonard the royal soldier and Galin the wizard) and two endings. The erotic content is presented as still images with minor variations and a post-♥♥♥ overlay, which is pretty standard for the genre, competently done, and totally in-bounds for the M/M space. Leonard deserves special mention because his anatomy is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here: third-leg energy, nicely foreskinned, and very clearly designed to be admired. Romance-wise, the routes have decent starts, but they do not quite earn the feeling that the MC and either love interest have truly fallen in love, so you may enjoy the heat more than the emotional payoff. 🎨 Visuals & Style The art is the strongest part of the game, full stop, and it carries the experience when the pacing or combat starts to drag. Character designs are hot and confident, and the overall presentation feels clean enough that it reads like a real, complete game rather than a sketchy adult side project. UI and menus are mostly unobtrusive and easy to navigate, with the caveat that I did experience those freezes mentioned above. If you are here primarily for the visuals, this is where the game earns its keep. 🗣️ Tone & Writing The dialogue is functional but rough, and it is very clearly not written by a native English speaker, which will not bother everyone but may irritate players who are sensitive to awkward phrasing or cadence. This is not a moral critique, just a practical warning, and I say that as someone who taught English abroad for years. More importantly, the writing does not always give the relationships enough room to breathe, so emotional moments arrive quickly and move on before they can really land. With some cleanup and a bit more time spent on bonding scenes, these routes could hit a lot harder. 👍 Best Thing The art, especially Leonard, because the game knows exactly what it is selling visually and it delivers with confidence, even when other parts are a bit rough around the edges. 👎 Worst Thing The grind in combat combined with romance that feels undercooked, plus the occasional technical hiccups that can interrupt momentum, including freezes and the possibility of getting stuck on Eldoria’s map boundaries. ⭐ Final Verdict Recommended, with realistic expectations. This is a decent, clearly sincere M/M bara JRPG that knows its audience and delivers strong visuals, working achievements, and a familiar gameplay loop, even if it does not reach top-tier polish in writing or pacing. If you want bara art and straightforward turn-based gameplay with some romance flavor, it does the job, and I genuinely hope Male Doll keeps building on this foundation by tightening the English and fleshing out the relationships in future releases. I also curate a Steam page reviewing M/M games if you’re looking for more titles in this space: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45790038/

Another good LGBT RPG from Male Doll! A bit of a step back in quality and content from their last game Arthur's Quest, but still very much worth the price and time.