I did a full video review on this game, if anyone wants more information: https://youtu.be/gcbbIYb3w2E
I am Caligula is a somewhat ambitious project, that falls short in most aspects. It's narrative is confused, it's characters are weak, the writing itself is incredibly basic to the point that it's juvenile.
It feels very floaty, going from one plot point to the next, with little bridging them. From what I've read, whilst looking into this game, I hear it's some sort of anthology but that should have been accounted for, when making this one long game.
The open world is a sprawling mess, that feels like it gets in the way and there are so many locations that aren't essential to the main story. This wouldn't be so bad, if the world was full of character and life but it really isn't. NPCs have one line of dialogue each (one or two are capable of more) and their dialogue doesn't change from one chapter to another. You would think that an Emperor, who betrays people on a whim would find himself encountering some resistance amongst his populace but no, everyone is the same from Act 1 to Act... whatever, it's hard to keep track.
The game also gives you no direction, you just get plopped into the world and are left to look for whatever you need to be doing. Usually you just have to go to the senate building but there's one act where you DON'T do this and nobody tells you where to go. Even the Soldiers can only offer their best guess of going to the senate building. The Previous Cutscene doesn't think to tell you where to go either.
One cutscene ends with Caligula being told that he needs to get married. I went around, looking for a temple, where my bride would be waiting for me. Then I found my bride, just stood around and found out that we apparently got married off screen! I mean, I didn't really want to see the wedding but there was NOTHING to tell me that it had even happened!
There's a lot of stock RPG Maker things left in here, some of them are used wrong. I don't mind the idea of someone using RPG Maker assets at all, especially if they serve a purpose. However, there' seemingly a skeleton, that is meant to be on the floor, embedded into the wall.
Even if you want to play this for the relationship between Caligula and Drusilla, you'll be quite disappointed. It barely exists. There's one scene of them in private together and even then they're talking about a plot point, rather than how they feel.
Several things from the visual novel are scattered throughout this game. They have no real business being there and in some instances don't make sense as to why they are there.
I cover a lot more in my video but to sum up? This game is incredibly lacking. I've also been doing some research on the developer after he basically removed one of the spin off game's endings to take a jab at his critics, because that's classy.
I cannot recommend this, because the Developer has made no effort to fix this game's many problems but will always find the time to jab at critics and hound large scale games media personalities for reviews. Five years on and the game hasn't been touched but he did find the time to draw Jim Sterling as a turd.
This isn't a good game and the developer doesn't care about it, it's an interesting curiosity but I'd only recommend it to people who have little to no value of their money (you know, like me...).
