[Original Review: May 23, 2021]
Star Knightess Aura explores the idea of a clever, hardworking isekai heroine facing off against her devious childhood friend and an evil, mysterious, overachieving stranger as they attempt to have her brainwashed before she can figure out their curse.
It's a well-tread territory with the twist of a fairly self-aware and competent heroine who only falls into traps because she explicitly chooses or is forced to do so. It dissects the typical heroine psychology, pointing out the pretensions and flaws actually endemic to people who think they can save the world. It's important to remember that Aura IS the hero and Alicia and Richard ARE unequivocally evil, but the game revels in pointing out how their superficial likes and dislikes are totally irrelevant to HOW good or evil they are, and the game is willing to paint the hero's psyche -- as in, the literal manifestation of her psyche in her human form -- as twisted, egotistical, and self-sabotaging.
It's a nice change of pace. What's NOT a nice change of pace is how slow this game moves. I played almost 8 hours, and I'm not sure if there even is any sexual content in this game. It's a VERY slow burn, focusing very strongly on the mentality of everyone involved in this farce while exploring the world of Roya and Aura's friendships in detail. While I appreciated the depth of writing, I don't remember there being anything to touch myself to while I played.
In that regard, I also don't know if I'm going to watch this game's development. The developer has indicated that they will probably spend 3 years developing this -- that's a LONG time commitment, and I wouldn't be surprised if they tire out or change directions suddenly while developing this game. That's not to say that it's impossible for them to finish this on its current course, only that I will be pleasantly and genuinely surprised if this is finished as intended. Unfortunately, I won't be waiting on it -- I joined this site to get my rocks off, not to philosophize.
TLDR; Worth a look, but don't expect to have something to fap with for a long time.
[Update: Feb 17, 2022]
I don't intend to update my star rating, as most of what I originally wrote still holds true, but I should mention that there are now at least a few lewd scenes in the game. It's not easy figuring out how to get them in the most sensible fashion, as this game has very tight resource management involved in it, so I strongly suggest following the max lewdness guide linked on the opening post to experiences it all.
Star Knightess Aura explores the idea of a clever, hardworking isekai heroine facing off against her devious childhood friend and an evil, mysterious, overachieving stranger as they attempt to have her brainwashed before she can figure out their curse.
It's a well-tread territory with the twist of a fairly self-aware and competent heroine who only falls into traps because she explicitly chooses or is forced to do so. It dissects the typical heroine psychology, pointing out the pretensions and flaws actually endemic to people who think they can save the world. It's important to remember that Aura IS the hero and Alicia and Richard ARE unequivocally evil, but the game revels in pointing out how their superficial likes and dislikes are totally irrelevant to HOW good or evil they are, and the game is willing to paint the hero's psyche -- as in, the literal manifestation of her psyche in her human form -- as twisted, egotistical, and self-sabotaging.
It's a nice change of pace. What's NOT a nice change of pace is how slow this game moves. I played almost 8 hours, and I'm not sure if there even is any sexual content in this game. It's a VERY slow burn, focusing very strongly on the mentality of everyone involved in this farce while exploring the world of Roya and Aura's friendships in detail. While I appreciated the depth of writing, I don't remember there being anything to touch myself to while I played.
In that regard, I also don't know if I'm going to watch this game's development. The developer has indicated that they will probably spend 3 years developing this -- that's a LONG time commitment, and I wouldn't be surprised if they tire out or change directions suddenly while developing this game. That's not to say that it's impossible for them to finish this on its current course, only that I will be pleasantly and genuinely surprised if this is finished as intended. Unfortunately, I won't be waiting on it -- I joined this site to get my rocks off, not to philosophize.
TLDR; Worth a look, but don't expect to have something to fap with for a long time.
[Update: Feb 17, 2022]
I don't intend to update my star rating, as most of what I originally wrote still holds true, but I should mention that there are now at least a few lewd scenes in the game. It's not easy figuring out how to get them in the most sensible fashion, as this game has very tight resource management involved in it, so I strongly suggest following the max lewdness guide linked on the opening post to experiences it all.