Daughter of Essence is a lewd RPG about a woman’s escapade from the clutches of her parents, and the empire they sought to protect her from.
At-a-glance
(Adult) Content?
(F, FxF, FxM, MxM) Sexual content.
Censorship?
No. Woot! Woot!
Hours of Gameplay?
Forty hours (est.)
Modding Support?
No.
Patch Available?
No, not necessary.
Gameplay (4/5★)
Complete quests and battle baddies! There is quite a bit of reading. So much so, Daughter of Essence is not unlike a visual novel. You’ll spend a great deal of time speaking with NPCs, and going from point “A” to “B”. To insure you don’t miss anything, it’s a good idea to talk to all NPCs at least twice between days or progressing the main questline. What you do and say matters — the story will unfold based on your decisions. Sometimes, you’ll have no option but to fight (but traditional “random encounters” are relatively rare). Though combat is turn-based, the effectiveness of your attacks are based on real-time minigames. This makes each fight somewhat dynamic, but on the down-side it makes grinding more tedious. Your equipment changes your playstyle, and your core stats can have useful effects outside of combat. For example, your “attack” is not only responsible for your damage output, but it also for what objects you’re able to move outside of combat!
Chances are, you’ll get stuck (and you’re gonna need a walkthrough). Thankfully, one’s included with the game:
[Drive Letter]:\Steam\steamapps\common\Daughter of Essence\DoE Walkthrough.pdf
Story (5/5★)
Mercy has a gift — she has the ability to sense “essence”, a magic force that exists in all living things. Unfortunately, the world has been taught to fear her powers. Should the Oldlight Empire learn her reputation, they’d have her converted into a “Finder” — her eyes and tongue would be torn from her body, and her powers exploited. Mercy is forbidden from leaving her hometown (but that doesn’t stop her from escaping!) She has no interest in hiding; she resolves to create a haven, safe from the likes of Oldlight and those that would condemn essence as “witchcraft”. But she can’t avoid Oldlight forever. Someday, she and her people will have to prove their sovereignty — if they fail, perhaps becoming the newest “finder” may be a mercy.
Visuals (4/5★)
From “Options”, you may adjust audio, display and gameplay preferences. You can also remap the keyboard from the “Options” panel. A gallery can be accessed in-game to view CGs (once you’ve reached a certain point in the story, and only during select portions). It’d be nice if there was to access to the gallery via an in-inventory item (which is a typical method for lewd RPGs I have played). There is no way to hide the user-interface. Overall, the game looks wonderful. There were few visual errors I could spot, and it looks premium. The art used in dialogue does not match with the art used in portraits and sex-scenes. Non-human enemies seemed out of place — I wish there was more stylistic consistency across the game.
The Goods (3/5★)
There are a variety of sex-scenes throughout the story (though I’m unsure about the exact number). Sex-scenes are typically comprised of one or more walls of text (or what is essentially a short story) and a single, static CG. I encountered a sex-scene every few hours. They are so infrequent, It’s hard to call Daughter of Essence a “lewd game”. The artwork is very high-quality, but I was sorely disappointed by the lack of variations. It’s best to consider the adult content written (with a few illustrations to uh, “guide” you). The main protagonist, Mercy enters passionate (sexual) bouts with her allies (after sensing their “essence” for the first time). Sometimes, she is able to peep into (or “imagine”) what her friends are doing — which is usually sex.
Verdict (4/5★)
I was skeptical about the price tag, but I’m not anymore — Daughter of Essence is worth it. This is a huge game, with tens of hours of branching, story-driven content. If I’m being honest. . . this is the sort of game that sets the bar a little too high when I compare it other RPGs I have played. It’s too girthy! But this game is no porn game. There are regular sex-scenes, but they felt. . . unnecessary. Don’t get me wrong, I love adult content, but sex-scenes were too infrequent (and they were almost entirely conducted by text). Daughter of Essence is no Kagura game. It’s clear the developers tried to shoehorn pornography into the game (but there simply is not enough to justify the inclusion). I can’t even call them “wholesome” because they aren’t usually tied to romance (rather, they are somewhat out-of-the-blue). Regardless, I loved seeing my favorite characters naked (even if only once or twice). Despite its flaws, Daughter of Essence is an RPG to become invested into.
