Original Release: HappyHand, 2017, PC
An adult RPG in the general vein of Monster Hunter, but in 2D, and with lewd scenes
Niplheim’s Hunter – Branded Azel (PC, HappyHand, 2017)
Where to Buy: Itch.io (free demo available)
Review by: Master-B
Nippleheim is sort of a Diablo-esque hub-based “loot RPG” that fuses in some elements of Monster Hunter, chiefly the simplistic crafting system, and of course a whole buncha lewd. It’s kinda on the tamer side despite being heavily about Monster Grape, though, as it went for being listed on Steam and GOG.
It’s still definitely hardcore, but has to pull up in a few areas because of this – no depiction of male genitalia or direct penetration whatsoever, the stuff with monsters is for the most part not very detailed, and it’s pretty much all static scenes with extremely minimal to no animation (no sprite stuff). As the name indicates it spins the tale of Azel, branded with a Lust Rune of some sort that makes her quick to horniness but … uh, maybe I wasn’t paying enough attention to the plot but I was never clear on what the advantages of it are.
Gameplay-wise, certain events or monster attacks can raise EP (which in this case is basically a “lust meter”). When it maxes out Azel loses it in combat, and will have to return to town to have a willing man “service” her to bring it back to a reasonable level.
Outside of that mechanic, it’s a pretty simple loot grinder and crafter. Azel initially only gets access to one “wilderness area” full of enemies, in which you can take a small handful of item-gathering and monster-exterminating missions. You gradually build up to taking on a sub-boss, then a boss, then the plot lets you move on to a new hunting field.
It’s a decent core idea, but this whole cycle only lasts for about a few hours and it’s an extremely easy game. There’s no way to die that I’m aware of, losing to a monster just causes them to H you, which actually helps out in the long run as it builds your “sensitivity” stats that eventually enable powerful secondary buff abilities. You can just retry everything as much as you want, and grind until you’re able to pass any challenge. But you’ll need little grinding as the difficulty is extremely low, you can pretty much just charge right through all of the game’s challenges all the way to the end.
The art is something of a strong point … the character portraits look nice, but the sex scenes use an odd “comic panel” style that jumps around a lot without showing too much (I assume another concession to get this on GOG/Steam). It also re-uses an absolute ton of enemy sprites, pretty sure there are less than 10 total for the whole game. One of those poor overworked Japanese voice actresses does a whole lot of the usual frantic moaning and panting for these scenes. The music is kinda a mixed bag that’s like a bunch of random MIDI files downloaded back in the 90s … some of the field music is actually not bad but I found most of the stuff in town annoying and repetitive.
It’s kinda hard to recommend on the whole. I mean, it is quite polished, especially for something made from an RPG Maker knockoff (Wolf RPG). It plays well, it executes its core concepts pretty well, it’s not without entertainment value. It’s just short and too easy/simplistic and its whole approach to H is a little weird. I guess it’s kinda the Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest of H RPGs? Anyway, it’s simple to play if you want something to relax with while drinkling or something. The H content wasn’t really my jam but may suit you if you’re into the Asiago Faces and disturbingly gaped vag though. Fair enough for a few bucks but I feel like the standard retail price of $20 is a lot for what it is, unless you’re really into its art style.
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