Dungeon of Erotic Master Reboot

Awesome little game. I can see myself playing more of these in the future due to having played this.

It's simple but not too simple; engaging fun and funny (if you can appreciate the absurdity) and after playing the patched version for a while (patch downloadable from the developer's site) it definitely gets me in the mood; which is a slow burn for me these days (my "little general" has gotten wise to my tricks: I look at p*rn and he's like "Oh no, you're not getting me like _that_ again; fool me 135,00 times, shame on you...").

Some reviews have said it's grindy but it's really not; it's well balanced, you just have to balance your party correctly rather than min-maxing, and use a strategic approach.

e.g. Your duel wielder has extra health, so you don't have to put your best armour on her, you can save that for your low health caster who needs the better armour.

Another hint: You don't have to put all of the special frost proofing armour on one character; you can distribute a couple of pieces (the two that reduce physical defence the least) to two of the characters and the other two give frost proofing accessories.

Also, make sure to visit the guild to read about and understand the game dynamics and don't worry if it takes a few attempts and a few returns to the guild to re-read and properly understand it all.

The game loop is going to the dungeon, getting as far as you can while still being able to get back again, to explore as much as you can, bringing back whatever loot you can obtain along the way to help you upgrade your party. That's the game; it's not a grind if you budget and organise correctly to support your exploration. The game gives you a variety of options; apply logic and test your approach to find the most efficient way to explore and beat the dungeon.

One of the guiding principles of my playthrough is to unlock the shortcuts that let me get to deeper levels without diminishing my resources. That was my main aim in my exploration for the first few hours of the game as it let me find armour that was worth spending money to upgrade and got me the funds to upgrade it. I recommend that approach, but...your milage may vary.

I don't know how different the Plus version is (the sequel?) but it's not been remade like this one yet. Hopefully it will be as, I can definitely see myself playing it and would like to play an overhauled version (although I've not played the older versions so, no idea how much better this one is to those).

A few criticisms:

Even with the NSFW patch there's still pixilated areas, as you get in a lot of Japanese hentai, but what's here is so cute and so fun and so hot (if you can appreciate the absurdity of it all), and the game's so much fun to play, that it doesn't really matter; It does its job and the longer you play it the more revved up you can get.

I know they're probably trying to keep it as authentic to the original as possible but it would have been nice to have at least have an autosave and a full screen (not windowed) option.

Also, it might have been a little easier to navigate if it had mouse support (when you run it, it's (probably) not crashed, you literally have to press return to get the menu to appear. I clicked around and restarted and clicked around again before I started pressing random keyboard keys to see if it might have crashed...that's how I discovered you have to press return to get the start menu.

I would have liked it a lot if it had given you the option to enable mouse-driven menu buttons at the side of the 3:9 frame, a little like M2's conversions (under their M2 ShotTriggers label) of Cave's arcade shooters (e.g. ESP Ra.De and Ketsui Deathtiny).

Being able to control things and manage inventory from an added side panel, with a mouse, as an optional extra in the settings (e.g. classic mode / mouse mode) would have made the game a lot more relaxing, easier to play and so, just more fun.

A dynamic compass could have helped also and, if they moved the 3:9 viewing area all the way to the left to add menu and action buttons on the right (because most people are right handed and have their mouse on the right) they could have included a mini map in the top right corner.

Overall it's a recommendation. If you're looking for something to get your engine running and to get you into the mood, this should probably do it and it's also a neat little game that's engaging and fun to play. It hooks you in and before you know it you're hot to trot.

I just wish it had a few of the quality of life upgrades I detailed above, to make it a little easier to navigate and control.

Ok this game is good... really good. If you are old enough to remember Shining in the Darkness on the Sega Genisis - its essentially that game but better. Its difficult, grindy, and fun. Everything you want in a dungeon crawler RPG.
I do not know why it is listed as an adult game (this version is NOT). In fact if you want it to be an "adult" game - you literally have to go to the Developers website and download a patch and install it into the games files. Without that - there is zero nudity, zero sex, and any place there looks like there would be nudity is covered and or darkened out into an unseeable shadow.
You can literally just buy this game to play the game AS a game only and enjoy it. Its also a cheap game for how much "game" you get.
I am 16 hours in and roughly through the halfway mark - and the deeper you go into the dungeon, the longer and harder the floors get. Couple that with the need to actuall do a bit of grinding for gear and lvls to get through to the next floors, I'd say there is easily 35-50 hours of gameplay here... because while the first few floors are fast - the deeper you go, the more puzzles and up/down/backtracking you have to do. I dont even want to get into the floors 14-16 because if you played Shining in the Darkness... you will remember you have to go down to go back up again and up to go back down again... its just like they took a direct example of that game and made their own game with an all female party and 'IF YOU WANT IT" you can download and completely separate external patch to make it "adult content"
Highly recommend dungeon crawler RPG fans to give this game a go.
Its supposed to be a prequel to the other game - bought both and will be playing the other one after I finish this one.

Good art. Girls are cute. Gameplay doesn't suck.

My wife thinks I'm playing a serious dungeon crawler. Technically, I'm not lying.

Its successfully updates a classic niche JRPG with a modern engine, rebalanced drop systems and expanded character arcs. While the adult themes are front and center, the turn based tactical combat and exploration loop are robust enough to stand on their own. A great pick up during the current sale event.

Finally, a dev who understands that Ecchi RPG doesn't have to mean Trash RPG. It plays like the oldschool dungeon travelers. The grid movement is crisp, the auto-battle is smart enough not to waste your MP and the new character fits perfectly. It’s the original game, but with all the annoying bugs fixed and better textures. Worth the double dip if you liked the first one.