As some of you might know, just recently AGL studios released their 18+ erotic adventure RPG/VN/dating sim “Faulty Apprentice” for PC. Well, long story short.
I have spent quite some time with the game since it’s release. So now I feel ready to write a fair and balanced review of “Faulty Apprentice” 😉
And with that said, let’s start off with a short introduction of the game’s backstory:
Given a scroll, you’re sent to deliver a message at a nearby castle called “Stars Reach”. That might sound like a walk in the park kind of job, but that’s not the case here.
You see, you need to be trained in a suitable discipline as you have failed all of your previous jobs.
So, do you have what it takes to help save the people of this castle against an oncoming war, and perhaps start a relationship with some of the occupants?
And straight out of the gates, “Faulty Apprentice” is mostly a visual novel game, with a little bit of inventory management and mini-games thrown in as well (which features quite a few interesting characters, including a bunny and some doll guards).
The prologue for “Faulty Apprentice” is optional, but is certainly worth going through if you haven’t played the game before. Because once you reach the castle and have been given a (dark and damp) room, the main story progresses over several weeks.
Other than that, through (initially at least) various tests that the captain of the guard puts you through, you gain basic equipment, at which you get to choose your role.
These tests including cutting up wood, and a simple Simon Says game (although they get steadily more complicated). A fair warning though, urgent missions given by a merchant or a guard will end the game if you fail…So it’s a good idea to save before doing those.
So, what about visuals then? Well, graphically the game is quite nice – characters are large and detailed with nice facial changes, but do take a bit of getting used as the can take up a fair portion of the screen.
It’s also worth pointing out that the game’s backgrounds aren’t quite as good as the character visuals, but they are pretty okay nevertheless.
As for Faulty Apprentice’s character roster, the characters you meet are generally animal based. For example, there are ram and fox guards, and a bird merchant, for example, all of which makes a nice change from everyone being human.
“Nice! But what about voice acting then?” So you might wonder. Well, all the characters (except the protagonist) are partially voiced. However, most of them just usually spout random sentences which can be odd at times.
Things look a wholt lot better on story front though, because “Faulty Apprentice” offers a very nice story with the ability to occasionally improve relationships with characters multiple times a day.
Even so, the guard tests do get annoying after a while though as you can’t seem to abandon them once started, and they get progressively trickier.
Now, as for the erotic aspects of the game. The adult CG’s are nicely drawn, if rather static, although you can occasionally cycle through various stages of a character being undressed.
I would also like to mention that since “Faulty Apprentice” is a Unity visual novel, you don’t the usual controls that you would find in a Ren’Py visual novel, so whilst there is a log file, you don’t get all the niceties as with other engines (you can’t easily skip text for one, which does get annoying if you have to re-do something).
“Faulty Apprentice” is also very similar (story-wise that is) to ”
Love Esquire“. So whilst “Faulty Apprentice” is amusing, “Love Esquire” is funnier overall.
Nevertheless, “Faulty Apprentice” is with no doubt a good-looking, fun and charming 18+ erotic adventure RPG/VN/dating sim. So if you’re into games of that kind, then you might want to pick up and give “Faulty Apprentice” a fair chance.
Pros:
+ The character graphics are very nice.
+ Nice music (if somewhat repetitive).
+ The game’s story is good.
+ There are plenty of sexy babes.
+ The lewd content is nice (I just wish that there had been more lewd scenes in the game).
+ Ten dateable characters
Cons:
– You can only save at the protagonist’s room.
– The game’s character voice does just consist of random phrases.
– Bit pricey.
– Training missions and some side quests can get annoying.
– The background graphics leave a lot to desire.
Gameplay: 4/5
Graphics: 4/5
Sound and music: 3/5
Controls: 3/5
Replay value: 3/5
Story: 4/5
Verdict: 4/5
“Faulty Apprentice” is certainly not a bad visual novel/RPG/dating game, because it’s not. However, whilst characters are nicely animated they do take a bit of getting used to. Furthermore, all the memory games do get annoying after a while, especially as they end the game if you fail.
Even so, at the end of the day, “Faulty Apprentice” is still a good-looking and charming 18+ erotic adventure RPG/VN/dating sim that might be worth getting in a sale later on.
Title: Faulty Apprentice
Developer: AGL studios
Format: PC
Genre: Visual novel/dating simulator
Resolution: User-defined
Release date: 2019-11-12
Difficulty: Tricky at times
Spent time: + 2 hours
Average grade internationally: N/A
PEGI age rating: 18+
Price: 18.19 Euros via Steam
***UNCENSORED NSFW IMAGES FOR DOWNLOAD!***
Credit:
Robin Ek – Editor
***Disclosure***
The product was provided by AGL studios.
Nicholas Kingsley
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @sku_te
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Tags: AGL Studios, Dating Simulator, Faulty Apprentice, Indie games, Lewd games, PC review, Visual novel