Rivers of Astrum is the first release from Paper Tiger Games, a newly-formed studio that wants to focus on “high quality storytelling, artistic renders and animations”.
The tale presents Kim, an orphan who has no knowledge of her family’s background.
As a result, she resides in the shadows, trying to go unnoticed through the twisted world of magic and mysterious phenomena.
Story
This fantasy visual novel follows the story of Kimberly Ashmoore, A.K.A The Umbral Hand, an orphan who wanders the world in search of adventure and riches. She is a rogue, a vagrant, and a skilled thief who currently resides in the pirate-run town of Cliffperch.
Even though there is a bounty on her head, Kim is eager to locate the mysterious Well of Whispers. The Well is actually a shipwreck that promises fortune to anyone who manages to find it. Although the mystery and hook revolve around Kim, a possible problem for her might be her low-profile life, because now she has to come out of the shadows and delve deep into the mystery.
However, the secrets of the shipwreck mean risks and danger for anyone who ventures to find it, but for Kim, it means adventure and a possible way out of her situation. To steal from the Queen herself is a risk for anyone, but for Kim, the stakes are even higher.
Alongside Kimberly, you meet her companion and lover, Cara, Cara is a half-elf warrior whose nature contrasts to Kim’s hot-headedness. She is worried about the outcomes of the endeavour, but agrees to follow Kim. We can see that the two have a deep connection just minutes after starting the demo-version.
Cara gives Kim ‘a warm welcome’ on the stone floor of Kim’s fire-lit cottage. This gives us a glimpse of how their relationship works, and the developers didn’t spare us any visual details. The true feel of the atmosphere is amped up by background noises and moaning, just enough to get you started.
Graphic
The visuals in the game are created in Daz3d.
With high-quality renders, a well-written and mysterious story and a sex-scene just a few clicks away, the demo shows you just what you are in for. The characters and environments look developed and contribute to the overall gameplay quality. The developers paid close attention to details when it comes to world-building and appearance of characters. For example, Cara and Vex have elf ears, the clothes in the game are appropriate for a high-fantasy setting, and the characters look very hot. Furthermore, the design of the tavern, the streets and the houses are similarly realistic for Medieval period.
Set in a high-fantasy universe, this game includes sorcery and a variety of fantasy creatures. Of course, I predict a good number of fantasy sex scenes that will surely get your heart racing.
Gameplay
In this game, the player is actually the observer, you do get to influence the characters, but you are not the regular MC.
Besides regular clicking, you get to choose from some options. In the demo, there is a lesbian sex-scene revolving around Kim and Cara. You can choose to skip it, be submissive or dominant. If you click on submissive, Cara is the one who is dominant, but if you click on dominate, Kim is the one who carries out the scene.
There are sound effects like moaning, laughing, fire crackling, crickets and tavern sounds. It helps to get into the game and it improves gameplay. Medieval music is also added which makes playing even more enjoyable.
If you click on gallery below, you can also see photos of the characters.
It needs to be mentioned that lesbian content is not avoidable, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Curley’s comments
If you happen to like Dungeons and Dragons or other fantasy games, you will be able to spot similar-sounding vocabulary and the storyline will surely take you to another universe, including characters like monsters and mermaids, different races and fantasy-driven quests.
Well-written dialogues carry the tone of fantasy narrative with minor grammatical errors. It is detailed but it doesn’t reveal everything.
There are some sound effects that help setting the scene – fire crackling sounds, laughter and some moaning, but the game does promise to add more as this is only the first version.
If I had to describe it in three words, it would be: mystifying, erotic and compelling, and I am eager to find out what happens next.
Pros
- High-fantasy story setting.
- Sexy characters and renders.
- Gameplay options.
- Background noises which help ‘getting into the character’.
Cons
- So far, so good.
Curley Publes is giving you our subjective review and opinion about the game Rivers of Astrum. We have experience playing it and we play every new game that we findi out about.
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Render and animation quality
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Story quality
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Gameplay quality
