#146

Scarlet Maiden By Otterside Games

[Summary]

Join Scarlet, the last remaining Maiden of the Sacred Flame.

Explore randomly generated dungeons of the Underworld, learn new abilities, equip  powerful equipment, and engage in lewd activities along the way.

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Review:

An H masterpiece in the making!

There is no better way to describe Scarlet Maiden, as it was already to be expected based on the sweet WIP media that Otterside Games have shared on their socials.

Normally I'd be happy enough just to get a competent action title with some pretty artwork, so a Roguelike? now, it's not that I don't have faith in 18+ devs, but how do I put it... I don't really have faith in 18+ devs with ambitious projects.

Thankfully however, OG have a team full of talented people, but most importantly - passionate!
To me, ANY pixel art game is an automatic indicator that the developer cares, let alone when creating super smooth animations and slick characters splash art.

Creating a pixel project means that you came to WORK! You're not f***ing around with some stock assets or cutting corners with animating.
Every pixel was manually placed on the grid with thought behind it.
This is what we call a "Passion Project". (and it's a very big PP...)

So, as mentioned already, Scarlet Maiden is a Roguelike.
To be more precise, it is a Rougelike that appears to be inspired by everyone's favorite "Dead Cells".

Honestly, if you're going to borrow inspiration from a game in the genre, then you may as well take it from the best one.

?️ For those unfamiliar with Dead Cells, here are the main gameplay features:

• Typical action game movement, double jump, attack, and dodge.
• Randomly generated dungeons with a boss at the end of each one.
• Constantly equip and compare different types of gear with unique stats, found in the dungeon.
• Explore rooms full of traps and enemies, with fast travel available between specific rooms.

That's as far as the main similarities go.
The biggest difference is the Sin system: Collect "Sin" (game currency) from enemies, either by defeating or performing lewd acts on their defeated states with a short minigame that will make them climax while gaining max Sin.

Sin can be used while exploring to purchase health or magic potions, and perhaps more elaborated shops in future development.

Once defeated, you carry back all of the Sin you've collected in order to "repent" at the hub's Mistress by selecting which permanent upgrades you'd like her to spank into your ass, using the Sin you've got.

The hub also has an on-going side quest given by the local BDSM enthusiast Misty - collect the required item dropped by enemies and destructible objects to unlock a new lewd animated scene.

As you'll keep exploring, you'll encounter caged NPC's that will offer you their free gear selection services once rescued. There is one NPC per zone, so don't bother looking for more than one in the same zone.
In addition, each NPC can get further upgraded to increase the quality of the gear they offer, or to cycle between what they have available at the time.

I must say, the gameplay is as tight as our heroine Scarlet.
Very smooth controls to get around, with a relatively decent amount of challenge unlike many H titles where you can either steamroll everything or vice-versa get bodied by extremely beefy enemies.

There's a very good balance of different types of enemies who use a variety of ranged and melee attacks, so you have to pay attention or take some heavy hits that  your low recovery potion/s won't be able to handle.

Potions are indeed very scarce, where for the most part you'll only be able to recover one unit after a boss fight by paying the d*** in a box to do his business with Scarlet. (Poor thing got low stamina, so only one potion per session)
Occasionally you'll find him throughout the dungeon, but don't count on it.

You can also pay the petrol goblin to fuel up your hole with magic liquid to recover magic points, but MP potions are dropped every now and then, which makes his service not as critical as the five pumps champ.

Treasure rooms also exist, but are varied based on the gear you'll find.
Engage in a steamy session with the NPC in order to get the treasure they were holding inside the box, or inside them...

Another nice and sexy feature is the dungeon buffs you can get from a chick pissing her "magic liquid" into your mouth, or a wish granting genie by giving his own lamp a deep and thorough rubbing..

Overall the balance of gear and enemies is well thought, so you won't feel like you get stuck on anything with a bit of practice and stats upgrades.

The game is still WIP, which means there are currently 3 zones available that will take you more or less between 2~5 to complete with everything else unlocked.

A very well worth the bang for your buck if you're looking for some solid gameplay with your lewds.
But with that being said, I wouldn't recommend this game for anyone that is only after H content, unless you can easily get off short naughty and beautifully crafted loops.

Misty aside, unfortunately there is no gallery mode yet, but I do expect one to get added down the development roadmap.

For an Early Access, we already get so much more than what fully developed titles offer, in both quality, variety, and actual fun legit gameplay that without the tits hanging all over the place you could've forget it's an 18+ project.

Otterside Games have also developed "Crystal Goddess": a game that I see as a sort of prototype to Scarlet Maiden, and have reviewed if you'd like to check it out.

You can find more updates from the studio on their Twitter.

Scarlet Maiden is available on Steam.

❤️ For relevant H content of this title you may contact me in DM for referrals.