KickStarter Memoirs of a Battle Brothel - a NSFW Cyberpunk RPG

[Lord_Potato]

So this is the canon chronology?

I was under the impression the events of Wish (Vixone breaking the shackles) happens before the events of Tactics (Vixone on the loose). It seems I got it wrong?

Oh whoops, you're right. Misplaced it. Fixed.

Thanks, for a moment I though my memory was playing tricks on me. Now the chronology seems right!

 

[EccentricLecher]

Is there a gog release of this game? It would be a good idea if you can get it there since it's a good alternative to Steam. I just bought it from itch.io. I hope the porn is good.

 

[Tyranicon]

Is there a gog release of this game? It would be a good idea if you can get it there since it's a good alternative to Steam. I just bought it from itch.io. I hope the porn is good.

We're actually in contact with GOG right now. Will have to see, it's a more curated platform than Steam.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Is there a gog release of this game? It would be a good idea if you can get it there since it's a good alternative to Steam. I just bought it from itch.io. I hope the porn is good.

We're actually in contact with GOG right now. Will have to see, it's a more curated platform than Steam.

You got porn so you actually have a better chance than most games.

 

[Dhaze]

Since I am contractually obligated to write a review now that the Let's Play is finished, here goes. By the way, quick pro tip for you guys: don't trust Tyranicon when it comes to compensation. Our contract clearly stipulates I should now be paid my weight in belgian fries; but he's trying to weasel his way out of it, and insists he should only pay me my weight in inferior french fries. The cur. Has ever a more deceitful man existed?!


So then, Memoirs Of a Battle Brothel. Final rating: weird annoying gem/10. Meaning it's a good game, portent of a promising future for its developer, but rough and with one truly awful defect.

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The good.​

– Porn.

There were breasts! And I was a woman, so double the breasts! Then... even more breasts! 17/10; have already ordered a super custom RealDoll™ in the likeness of Lady Bathsheva.​

– Music.

It's no Tengai Makyo Zero or Unlimited SaGa; but while I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to this game's soundtrack in my everyday life, the only real, non-petty criticism I can levy against said soundtrack is that it lacks the distinct and perfectly cohesive direction a single composer can bring. Instead, what you get here is pretty much the next best thing, i.e. a careful selection of various talented artists whose works comingle well with one another.​

​

Indeed, no matter whether they strive for an atmosphere of energetic combat, a feeling of deep unease, or even the occasional sheer faërical whimsy, tracks mesh aptly with the general ambience of the game; and they do a good job in heightening it all.​

– Artworks.

Quality stuff; outright great in places. Here, you won't see highly idiosyncratic drawings on the level of people like Tomomi Kobayashi; whether we're talking important characters as they appear during conversations, or the various depictions of locations, things are a bit more... standard, more common if you will. Still, a sizeable portion of the cast benefits from gorgeous portraits, and a good number of slides manage to evoke a unique feeling perfectly befits the tone of the moment, like this one for example, or this other one.​

​

My only actual complaints: there are not nearly enough artworks (though of course they doubtlessly cost a pretty penny); they could be peppered more judiciously throughout the game, at certain points during the main questlines; and at least one rather important character is strangely bereft of any portrait during conversation.​

– Pacing.

Very good. Long stretches during which naught seems to happen; short bursts during which events succeed to one another in breathless fashion, making it impossible to appreciate them; periods of unnecessary combat after combat after combat after yet more combat while all you want is to get out of that damned dungeon; times when the game seems to hesitate, wondering if it should dwell a bit more on what just happened, or finally move on to the next beat. All these things bother me in a lot of games, but no so here.​

​

The beginning—say, the first two hours or so—is rather slow, that much is undeniable. But once the game finds a steady and satisfying pace, it pretty much never lets go of it.​

​

​

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The neither good nor bad, or a bit of both.​

– Porn.

No bust size option during character creation? Meh. But still... breasts! 10/10.​

– General visuals.

Made with RPG Maker, so it wouldn't be exactly fair to expect a really strong and unique aesthetic. Still, while it's not the prettiest example of an RPGM game, on the level of something like Theia: The Crimson Eclipse, it's certainly not the ugliest either, being markedly prettier than most RPGM games. Also, funnily enough, while Tyranicon considers certain combat animations as "shit" to quote him, I for one find them cute enough they possess a charm very much their own; and in fact an appreciable amount of other combat animations or effects are quite good.​

​

More than anything, I would say the lighting holds the game back visually. Tilesets and sprites and most everything else is fine enough in my opinion, but the game simply looks flat—almost flattened even—by a lack of various lighting sources and effects such as fog or others of a like ilk.​

​

– Difficulty.

Like stealing candy from a kid, minus the malign and vaguely sociopathic satisfaction.​

​

But in all seriousness, it is arguably the easiest game I've ever played. Aside from a possible spike in difficulty during the early game—spike predicated on pursuing a certain questline before any other—the difficulty is almost non-existent. Should you choose to do so during your first and thus blind playthrough, beating the whole game while using a single character is easily doable; no careful planning required. So if you're looking for challenging combat, setting your sights on even Stardew Valley would prove a good idea.​

​

For various reasons I personally place this in the 'neither good nor bad' category, but had I to venture a guess, I'd say a lot of players will consider the difficulty—or lack thereof—a detriment to their enjoyment of the game.​

​

Importantly, it does have the occasional unfortunate effect of flying straight in the face of what the game might tell you. Careful: here come the most elitest of elite troopers from the Imperium! But they all go down in a single hit, from unoptimised and under-leveled characters... Oh no: we were ambushed a moment ago during a scene, and some of us are gravely wounded, having been shot by a sniper! But still we start the following combat at full strength, with not even an impairment or any kind...​

​

– Game world.

It feels lived in, so to speak. You get a distinct impression that the world existed before you created your character; and that things are the way they are for valid, sensible reasons.​

​

Could have been good, could have been great in fact and wholly engrossing, were it not for the fact that the game does a weird job of ever keeping you at arm's length. It's almost impossible to ask questions, so if the game doesn't outright talk to you about what topic interests you, chances are you won't learn more about it. Combine that with Tyranicon being overly enamored with the concept of obtuse crypticisms slathered more thickly than SPF 60+ sunscreen on an naked albino roaming the Gobi desert, and the result is a world that actively prevents you from truly diving into it.​

​

– Story.

It would be harsh but I almost want to place this under the 'bad' category. I think it's a rather good story overall, evidently begat by earnest lucubrations, but... as I progressed through the game it grew into a mess that rather soured my enjoyment.​

​

At one point, become annoyingly confused as to why a lot of things were the way the were, I wrote a non-exhaustive list of what I did or did not understand about the story; to which Tyranicon replied thus:​

​

Lol, I fucked up.

You have to play the previous game.

Memoirs is set up to satisfy the curiosity of those who played Singularity, and I see now why you, and probably a decent portion of the playerbase, are confused why certain things happen they way they do.

There's a lot of missing knowledge that would've filled in some holes neatly.

​

Also, I should note that one could excise massive parts of the story, and the game would be all the better for it. Too much time is spent dealing with events and people almost entirely disconnected from the main thread. It's genuinely a weird thing. I think the game needed either 50% more work put into all story lines to fully flesh them out as they deserve it, or 50% less work, to make the overall story a more focused and effective one.​

​

---

The bad.​

– Porn.

Named my female character Lycia Naff, but she still only had two breasts. 3/10; disappointed by the lack of easter eggs.​

– Combat system.

I strongly hesitate to put this in the above 'neither good nor bad' category. The combat is... there. It works. A number of its ideas are nice and promising, even. It's not outright bad, but for a variety of​

reasons it doesn't work that well.​

​

Combat maps are very small and character mobility very high, thus range is never an issue, so the question of which combattants to bring—long-range or melee ones—never surfaces, as they all perform well all the time.​

​

Height variation is non-existent. It's something extremely important for a tactical system such as this one, but possibly it's something difficult or even outright impossible to implement with RPGM?​

​

There is a quite a bit of crowd control available via things like Freeze, Fear, Stun, Sunder Weapon, Fire Wall, and the likes; but past a few hours into a playthrough most enemies being to die in one hit, so it renders a lot of the skills useless.​

​

Characters also have much—and I mean way too much—options available. In one turn with a fighter-class character, you can autonomously do everything follows: increase your base mobility; increase your attack; increase your damage resistance; increase the likelihood of attracting enemy attacks; recover HP; recover SP; dash across multiple squares; and finally festoon the walls and ceiling with your opponents' inmeats.​

---

The noisome and execrable, for which Tyranicon should be banned from these here illustrious premises, then immured alive in the nethermost part of some chasm-deep, windless vault. (or at least some Tabasco sauce should be rubbed into his balls)​

– Porn.

Kaywin flirted with me, then rejected my sapphic advances. -23/10; am presently plotting to give Tyranicon AIDS.​

– Choice and consequence; railroading.

Yes, this one deserves its own category, because boy—I say boy oh boy!—it's a doosy an' a half.​

​

Some of my favorite games have quality C&C in abundance, while others have exactly zero C&C. So it shouldn't matter to me one way or the other.​

​

But Memoirs Of a Battle Brothel does something infuriating: it gives you the illusion of meaningful choices, with momentous consequences limned over the horizon—while in fact it railroads you so fucking hard it becomes almost impressive. It's difficult to really express just how bad it is without indulging in a lot of spoilerwork.​

​

One main questline is centered around a man called Iron Gregarion, captain of the Iron Cartel. No matter what you do, his masterplan comes to fruition. You can work with him, or try to work against him, or even ignore him entirely as did BrotherFrank in his playthrough; yet the ultimate end result is exactly the same. At one point, the game will actively make it seem you can work towards Gregarion's demise, offering you multiple consecutive choices to that effect; but then—at the penultimate second—the game pulls multiple switcheroos because the story imperatively requires it. The worst were my underlings asking me to make a choice between three available options, only to then override my decision, with no possible recourse on my part.​

​

It's honestly difficult to properly convey just how infuriating it is. It needs experienced.​

​

/e: typos.​

 

[Tyranicon]

Thanks Dhaze, for your unpaid labor. If I wasn't so lazy, I would send you a crate of steak fries, which are objectively the best type of fry.

Looking back, the major flaw of Memoirs was that I was clearly more interested in progressing the storyline of the franchise (small as it is), to the detriment of the game itself.

Fortunately, I don't foresee the same issues with Vampire Syndicate.

 

[Dhaze]

Thanks Dhaze, for your unpaid labor.

You offered me a game, and it was pretty damn enjoyable. It won't pay the bills, but surely that counts as payment of some manner.

If I wasn't so lazy, I would send you a crate of steak fries, which are objectively the best type of fry.

If I wasn't so inclined to lonesomeness I'd honestly invite you here in Belgium, and make what we call a 'mitraillette'. Half a fresh baguette; two viandelles; a heap of twice-cooked belgian fries; fried onions; and a goodly serving of the exemplar amongst belgian sauces: Samouraï.

Add a Rochefort served in its chalice, and that's enough to make a man rethink all he thought to know about junk food and beer.

Wait... what were we talking about? Oh yes, games.

 

[HoboForEternity]

make what we call a 'mitraillette'. Half a fresh baguette; two viandelles; a heap of twice-cooked belgian fries; fried onions; and a goodly serving of the exemplar amongst belgian sauces: Samouraï

looks tasty and very carb-tastic

 

[Dhaze]

looks tasty and very carb-tastic

Verily a perfect mid-morning snack, for the lull between breakfast and elevenses.

 

[Spectral Pontifex]

Is it autistic to read the lore book first, before playing BB or S:TA? I don't feel like playing them right now, but I would enjoy reading the lore book if it doesn't completely spoil the game experience for me.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

. It won't pay the bills,

Tyranicon y/n?

 

[Tyranicon]

Is it autistic to read the lore book first, before playing BB or S:TA? I don't feel like playing them right now, but I would enjoy reading the lore book if it doesn't completely spoil the game experience for me.

I'm always a little amused that my porn game has a 120-page lore book as its only DLC. There's no spoilers, but you'll probably figure some things out from the character bios, so I might skip those.

. It won't pay the bills,

Tyranicon y/n?

I don't think the retail price of $20 USD will pay anybody's bills. Unless you mean if game dev is paying my bills, then yes it is, for now and kinda barely.

 

[MerchantKing]

Thanks Dhaze, for your unpaid labor. If I wasn't so lazy, I would send you a crate of steak fries, which are objectively the best type of fry.

View attachment 37286

Looking back, the major flaw of Memoirs was that I was clearly more interested in progressing the storyline of the franchise (small as it is), to the detriment of the game itself.

Fortunately, I don't foresee the same issues with Vampire Syndicate.

Fries are a little greasy and I have to wipe my hands a lot while eating them. Plus they give me terrible heartbearn so I can only eat baked potatoes instead.

 

[PulsatingBrain]

Fries are a little greasy and I have to wipe my hands a lot while eating them.

Have you considered using a fork?

 

[Jarmaro]

Hey Tyranicon, if you haven't seen your game has been mentioned in Pcgamer's new 'The best sex games to play in 2023': https://www.pcgamer.com/best-sex-games/

 

[Tyranicon]

Now on GOG at a deep sale: https://af.gog.com/en/game/memoirs_of_a_battle_brothel?as=1649904300

 

[Lord_Potato]

Tyranicon I started playing Memoirs and have a few questions:

1. The first team I got at the beginning of the game got a few levels. Now the game encourages me to change party members (and I guess it's necessary for some quests). But those new party members are green as grass, level 1. is there a way to quickly get them up to speed? And what with the ones I leave at the base? They'll be wasting their time there and not collecting xp?
2. On Steam site of the game you wrote: "I still have at least two major, free content updates in mind for Memoirs. Each of these will include romance-able new characters with their own quests. These will be released sometime in the near future, and I will update the roadmap as the last one is outdated by now." So I guess the last two updates will not be released until September (as it was stated in the roadmap). Any idea when they'll be available?

 

[MerchantKing]

Fries are a little greasy and I have to wipe my hands a lot while eating them.

Have you considered using a fork?

A fork won't fix the heartburn.

 

[Tyranicon]

Tyranicon I started playing Memoirs and have a few questions:

1. The first team I got at the beginning of the game got a few levels. Now the game encourages me to change party members (and I guess it's necessary for some quests). But those new party members are green as grass, level 1. is there a way to quickly get them up to speed? And what with the ones I leave at the base? They'll be wasting their time there and not collecting xp?
2. On Steam site of the game you wrote: "I still have at least two major, free content updates in mind for Memoirs. Each of these will include romance-able new characters with their own quests. These will be released sometime in the near future, and I will update the roadmap as the last one is outdated by now." So I guess the last two updates will not be released until September (as it was stated in the roadmap). Any idea when they'll be available?

The only way to level up characters is to put them in combat. There are a few opportunities to grind in the overworld map or the Blood Pit if you build it. The combat in Memoirs is designed to be much easier than Singularity though, so I probably wouldn't worry too much about being underleveled.

The next major update will probably be end of July, if I can manage it. Not sure about the next one.

 

[Lord_Potato]

Tyranicon I started playing Memoirs and have a few questions:

1. The first team I got at the beginning of the game got a few levels. Now the game encourages me to change party members (and I guess it's necessary for some quests). But those new party members are green as grass, level 1. is there a way to quickly get them up to speed? And what with the ones I leave at the base? They'll be wasting their time there and not collecting xp?
2. On Steam site of the game you wrote: "I still have at least two major, free content updates in mind for Memoirs. Each of these will include romance-able new characters with their own quests. These will be released sometime in the near future, and I will update the roadmap as the last one is outdated by now." So I guess the last two updates will not be released until September (as it was stated in the roadmap). Any idea when they'll be available?

The only way to level up characters is to put them in combat. There are a few opportunities to grind in the overworld map or the Blood Pit if you build it. The combat in Memoirs is designed to be much easier than Singularity though, so I probably wouldn't worry too much about being underleveled.

The next major update will probably be end of July, if I can manage it. Not sure about the next one.

Ok, I figured out the pits and I'm currently training my new team there.

End of July? Sounds good.

 

[Lord_Potato]

I completed Memoirs of a Battle Brothel several days ago (too impatient to wait for the final two updates, but I've got savegames to continue when they arrive) and here are my thoughts:

1. Knowing the previous games of Tyranicon I can say that each of them is much more ambitious than the previous one. The Singularity Wish was a simple RPGmaker adventure game with no real RPG elements, generic art assets, carried entirely by good writing. Singularity: Tactics Arena had a more established visual style (while still keeping the RPGmaker general aesthetics) and introduced stats, classes, advancement mechanics, builds, and lots of combat (some of it even challenging) but still kept the quality writing and an engaging story. Memoirs are a similarly big step forward. Instead of the claustrophobic setting of an underground research facility we've got an open setting of a large city-state. Instead of a small cast of 4 main and several supporting characters we've got a large cast including 9 companions, numerous faction members and leaders, and some interesting side characters. Instead of a linear plotline, we get a story that's somewhat interactive along its 4 main questlines, with interesting faction play and limited ability to backstab your supposed allies. We also finally get a true character creation system (not only we can choose class, but also shape non-combat abilities and pick the origin story and previous allegiances that later influence our dialogue options and the way the world reacts to our actions). The game is so much bigger and more replayable.

2. The writing is still very good btw. Lore established in Singularity games has been expanded, and we can experience a lot of it, not only study it via in-game books. The dialogues are sharp and intelligent, characters we meet sufficiently assholish taking into account their lifestyle and faction membership, lying and betrayal are our bread and butter, and everyone is trying to fuck everyone else over in the city-state of Moonfall. And while factions fight for influence and political control, much older and more powerful beings stir in the background, trying to surface and reclaim the world. Legendary characters return to life, otherwordly phenomenons appear, the prophecies are getting revealed and we unknowingly take part in their fulfillment. It feels like the end of the world is nigh.

2a. Interactions with people populating this world are also immensely pleasureful. And I'm not only talking about the pleasure of sexual nature, though we will spend a significant portion of time building trust and affection with our party members to later fuck them senselessly. BTW, the game expands the term "romance in rpg" into a pretty elaborate network of connections between your character and his/her love interests. Some of the NPCs offer a mere one-night stand. Party members can be persuaded to enter a closed or open relationship or even a harem. Not every option is available with every party member, their characters differ, and dragging some of them into bed might prove more challenging than in the case of others. But fear not, if you play your cards right you'll win the hearts of at least a couple of those beauties. The sex scenes have two modes: simple pixel art animations with well written descriptions of each sexual act that are unique for each of your partners (and sometimes for combinations of them, since threesomes are available) and 'experimental' mode with rendered models, yet fewer available interactions (and without descriptions of the action). I much prefer the former ones because they were obviously complete and the individuality of each character was reflected in them. 'Experimental mode' provides some eye candy for people who need it, but with limited resources devoted to these animations they are far inferior to scenes from other games that are focused on such elements.

3. What did not really develop much in comparison to the previous (combat-focused) game is the combat system though. Sure, we got more abilities than in Tactics Arena (at least it felt like it) but the encounter & enemy design does not allow the system to shine properly. The combats are simply too easy. Also, there are no memorable boss fights that would test the abilities of our party. Sometimes a stronger, named enemy appears but he/she rarely offers much challenge. Besides, perhaps the abilities should have a higher skill point cost. Upon reaching experience level 15 (which most characters will reach before the end of the storyline, I actually ended on level 17) I had enough points to purchase every skill for every party member. Not only their main class skills, but also from all the advanced classes (each class has 3 additional 'advanced' skill trees). IMO the skill point economy should be different and we should be forced to choose between the 3 advanced skill trees for each party member. This would lead to the creation of actual unique 'builds'. And the game could really use them since the active party has 5 slots, but there are only 4 main classes, so there will always be at least one redundant one. For me it was the vigilante and in the end there was very little difference between my main character and the party member of the same class. Basically, the only differences between them were the effect of the equipment they used.

4. The managerial part of the game is somewhat entertaining (especially setting up the massage parlor produces some unique interactions with party members) and it provides a money sink in an otherwise too-generous economy. But it does very rarely connect with the rest of the gameplay mechanics and the plotline. I think the services offered by my brothel were checked in only one quest to decide if my establishment is worthy to organize a plot-critical event. Perhaps there were more such moments but the game did not communicate it to me in any significant way. Also while I managed to develop the brothel quite well (in the endgame almost all services and staff rooms had level 3) it was still considered quite a shady place in a bad neighborhood.

5. It appears to me that significant elements of the game were constrained by the limited features of the RPGmaker engine. From Tyranicon's posts and developer commentary available on youtube it seemed to me he strived to build a breaving, living, changing world that reacts to our actions and allows for some inter-faction mechanics. Sometimes it almost seems like he succeeded in this endeavor. There are subtle changes to the locations that are a result of quests we completed, characters sometimes recognize what we did and who we became in this world and even new avenues to complete quests appear as a result of previous decisions... but these are quite rare occurrences. Mostly the world seems static because the engine does not allow much evolution or emergent gameplay mechanics outside of scripted events.

6. As I said Singularity: Tactics Arena had a pretty established visual style. You may like it or not but it was consistent. In Memoirs the situation is more complicated. There are at least 4 different art styles used: 1) the RPGmaker pixel art assets for in-game characters (including their pixelated faces used in dialogues) 2) much more sharp anime-style character art presenting the silhouettes of characters during dialogues with most party members and most important NPCs, 3) semi-realistic rendered characters appearing in 'experimental' free mode of sex scenes 4) painted static scenes used for slides that serve as intro and ending to each act. The problem is these styles are wildly different. During dialogues with main NPCs we see at the same time their face in style 1) and their whole silhouette in style 2 and they obviously don't match. The slides made in style 4 have little in common with the art styles used in the game itself. I can ignore style 3 because 'free mode' of sex scenes is totally optional, but still, there is a feeling of general chaos when it comes to visuals. I imagine it's difficult to build a game from some assets you created, some you purchased, some you commissioned and also satisfy the needs of those perverts that are not happy with the pixel-art sex scenes, especially as a one-man development team, but still, I feel that it has to be pointed out

7. Despite all these criticisms, I have to say it's a pure joy to see Tyranicon's growth as a developer. Each game he made seems like a very large step and I can't wait to see how Vampire Syndicate turns out. As for Memoirs, despite the inconsistent art style, far too easy combat, and some game mechanisms not really gluing together, it is obvious the game has a ton of ambition and a heart in a proper place. Despite the obvious limitations of RPGmaker Memoirs of a Battle Brothel is a true role-playing game in the western sense of the term - with a plot you not only follow, but also shape, and a big enough portion of interactively to recognize and reward your choices. It also helps that the story is so interesting and delivered with excellent writing. I had much fun playing Memoirs and probably will return to it at some point - not only to check the latest updates but also to replay significant portions of the game. I'm especially curious how much content I missed due to my choices in the Courtesan Guild civil war (I decided on neutrality which meant both Progressives and Traditionals hated my guts). Plus, I want to finally seduce Diana and Zafra, the only members of my party who were adamant about only entering a traditional, closed, exclusive relationship. Why can't they be like Kore, genuinely happy to be part of my harem? Eh, women...

 

[Tyranicon]

Lord_Potato Thanks for the write-up.

If there is one thing I regret most about the game, it's not properly flagging where I put all the "in-development" tags because people keep asking me when if finished features are still being developed :D.

I also probably should've left the experimental stuff out since it was stuff I was tinkering with that I decided not to include in the game. But I figured why not put it in so people could see it.

 

[Sarathiour]

Played this a bit, don't really have anything better to say than the two previous lengthy review.
It's probably a matter of taste, but I'm not too sure that the isometric view really add something compared to the basic 2D one, which still pop up here and there.
I think the talent tree showcase well what's wrong with the combat : why even bother to make one when everybody is going to unlock everything almost immediately ? I think you lack vision of how the combat should be beside people hitting stuff, so a bunch of ability are thrown together.
It's a shame because on the other side, we can clearly sense somme love regarding the artistic direction and worldbuilding.

 

[Tyranicon]

Oh shit, this game got a TvTropes article that I didn't make (did it once, too lazy to link a hundred things again).

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/MemoirsOfABattleBrothel

I'm finally notable! Wikipedia when?

 

[MerchantKing]

Oh shit, this game got a TvTropes article that I didn't make (did it once, too lazy to link a hundred things again).

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/MemoirsOfABattleBrothel

I'm finally notable! Wikipedia when?

Well done Binky! Now if only the game goes on sale, I might possibly play it.