Recent reviews by Nyanko

Absolutely incredible game, GOTY 2025 and probably a front runner for game of the decade.

Only negative (other than picto UI) I have is a game breaking bug when fighting Renoir. Once Une vie à t'aimer plays I am stun locked IRL and can't do anything.

33/10

Haven't been drawn to a story or characters this much since the original walking dead by Telltale games over a decade ago.

Absolutely fantastic game

What an incredible rebound after the disaster that was 2042

It's like Balatro and Buckshot Roulette had a baby, it gives you huge dopamine hits when you run good and really intrusive thoughts to keep playing when you run bad. Very great value for money (feels wrong saying that on a game about gambling)

Still trying to work out how to kill the floor

Glad it finally released to Steam after the initial delay, now we just need trading cards for our cute catgirl emotes and profile backgrounds!

The game just flows so well! Gun play and movement feels smooth, there is a solid sense of meta progression between runs and enough variety that you'll be entertained for a while. My only small gripes is performance and room variety could be improved but it's great fun.

GGG got bored of waiting for good competition for PoE 1 that they went and made PoE 2 to compete with themselves

Based

Cute and casual fun

1.0 Release Review

So I wasn't a backer of this game originally, I had my doubts when a group of SFM artists said they'd make a game and was initially disappointed as it would be the end of their shorts, movies and interactives they were so known for. From time to time I'd stop by the Steam page and check dev diaries and community discussions to get a general sense of how development was going, after many years and the announcement of November 15th being the 1.0 launch date, I bought the game one week prior to launch. Here is my review after 100% completion of the game.

Story/Dialogue - 7/10

This came as me to a surprise, most of the time adult games are just "here are anime trope waifus and a simple mechanic, enjoy" and very rarely have character depth or world building. Subverse actually has an easy to follow story with a few twists and even some emotional parts here and there, the story is decent and that's comparing it to actual non-adult games that release nowadays, if you compare it to other adults games then it's really good. The dialogue for the most part is acceptable, sometimes funny with it's Deadpool like demeanor and 4th wall breaking, the important part is at no point did it feel bad or cringe that I was thinking of skipping it. The waifus each have their own character building with you being able to talk to them about recent events after each jump in story progression, you also unlock new dialogue as you deepen your relationship with them. They're well written and are enjoyable characters.

Graphics - 7/10

Having all the settings to the highest and at 1440p, the game looks good! From the VN style dialogues, to the combat and also the Pandora scenes, at no point was I disappointed in the games visuals. The original models they created along with some pre made assets are all used well, the art direction of the waifus is nice with each having some defining features and you can also see many small details during the game which show it was made with passion.

Audio - 8/10

The sounds effects are acceptable, some are actually re-used from their previous creations (looking at you shields down SFX that I'm pretty certain was used in ghosts of paradise) which is efficient. The music was also good with some sticking out more than others. The high score comes solely from the VA's, you can tell they really had fun with their lines and the delivery on so many of them is great. The Aussie MC really nails his parts and the individual VA's for the waifus do a great job making each one recognisable from voice alone. Also when it comes to the adult portion they really don't hold back, overall this is definitely one of the strong points of the game.

Gameplay (non-adult) - 5/10

Weakest part of the game, while it's not terrible, sometimes it becomes mundane and almost chore like to progress your waifu devotion. There are some breathes of fresh air when doing side or main missions as they deviate from the same recycled formula of survive waves of space combat mini bullet hell or do 3 waves of ground combat, but they're few and far between. The gifting system is not very impactful, the DEVA system I never felt the need to use and the variety in ways to do combat are just underwhelming, it was always move, attack and use your ultimate.

Adult Content - 9.5/10

Now if this was pre 1.0 it would have been a lower score based on what I'd seen online already, but with 1.0 they came out swinging with some massive improvements. Firstly Pandora was updated to now allow your character customisation to apply to the scenes, as for Pandora itself well it's StudioFOW here. So you should know what to expect if you stray from the vanilla stuff, now while it doesn't quite compare to their movies it's still solid. With Pandora you can choose from a vast library of scenes to view in a real time render from UE4 (these are not cinematics or pre-rendered videos) which allows you to zoom in and change the camera perspective. Now while you don't have total freedom to move it's still a feat of achievement having everything rendered in front of you and being able to interact. There are some inconsistencies with Pandora, some scenes clearly got more love than others and you may see a touch of clipping textures (I counted two) but it's totally acceptable. With 239 scenes there is something out there for everyone to enjoy!

With 1.0 we also got the introduction of Devotion quests, these are small quest lines specific to each waifu and your reward is a short cinematic (3-5mins) and oh boy did they deliver, these cinematics are the closest thing to the original SFM StudioFOW the game has to show, especially with Lily and Ela. Definitely a strong point, you can rewatch these cinematics in the captains quarters.

Gallery Mode is a small side attraction in the bar, it lets you customise poses and outfits and then take stills of the waifus. I guess it's nice but never found much enjoyment from it.

Overall 8/10

The overall score is a touch on the generous side, but that partly comes from the admiration of this team. What originally started as some SFM smut group progressing all the way into a fully launched game is nothing shy of impressive. The game is a passion project and it really shows, from all the silly references to real world people/places and things, to the degeneracy of some pandora scenes, it's got that StudioFOW feel to it. I can recommend this game at full price if you're a degenerate, a fan of rule34 content or want to show StudioFOW some love, if you're more on the casual side then maybe wait for a sale, the asking price is quite high and you can find most of the games adult content online if you look around. Overall I'm proud of what the team has done and happy with my purchase.

Cheers mate!