Forbidden Fruit Review (2.5/5★)

Forbidden Fruit is a lewd point-and-clicker about a brother and sister stranded on a mysterious island; they are looking for their father, who went missing weeks ago on an expedition for an artifact.

Adult Content

(FxM) Sexual content.

Censorship

No. Woot! Woot!

Adult Patch

Not necessary.

Playtime

Two hours.

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Chapter One: Introduction

I received a free copy of this software from the developer for review purpose — thanks Magic Fingers!

Chapter Two: Gameplay (2/5★)

Section One: Overview

Forbidden Fruit is mostly reading, but the point-n’-click navigation offers an assortment of minigames. They include “catching fish” with timed button presses, navigating mazes with tactful cursor control, and shooting moving targets by clicking on them. The protagonists are separately controlled, but their participation in the plot is closely intertwined. Often, the game cannot progress until the other character “catches up”.

The last few minutes of gameplay seem to suggest upcoming RPG elements in the next “Episode”. Hopefully, combat doesn’t suck as hard as Ratu’s “SHELL GAME”.

Section Two: Balancing

Each day, you’re free to participate in minigames to rack up an unnamed currency for purchasing cosmetics. The mini-games are laughably easy, offering ample returns for seconds of gameplay.

The biggest bottleneck for purchasing outfits is a heart-shaped currency unlocked from participating in sex-scenes. There are outfits so expensive, I couldn’t afford just one of them even after finishing the game!

Chapter Three: Sexual Content (4/5★)

Section One: Content

There’s bondage, tentacles and tickle torture — no doubt courtesy of Patreon supporters. The playable characters are typical humans, but most of the fuckable characters are anthropomorphic animals (or “furries”). If you prefer human-shaped penises on your anthro’s, animal dicks can be toggled via the main-menu.

Section Two: Implementation

Sex-scenes are an unavoidable consequence as the story progresses. A lot of sexual content is technically optional, but considering sex is treated as a “common gesture of friendship”, you won’t make any friends without erm, “greeting” them.

Section Three: Interactivity

Some sex-scenes offer multiple choices, allowing you to choose what to say. If you choose the correct responses, your relationships with the cast will improve. What affect affection has on the game isn’t clear — I suspect it’s a feature undergoing development.

Section Four: Quality

I love the artwork — Maya, the female protagonist has priceless expressions throughout the unlockable gallery. Something about the way faces are drawn just gets me. The artwork is stylistically flat-colored, which might be a turn off for players that are used soft-shaded anime styles. The animations can be a little stiff, but there’s lots of movement to keep your eyes engaged. I like the subtle “camera shake” and depth of field effects, giving the impression you’re right there, watching Maya and Leo fornicate with bipedal animals.

Chapter Four: Story (2/5★)

Section One: Plot

In an “ISLAND IN THE BURMUDA TRIANGLE” lives “AN ARTIFACT CALLED ‘LILITH’S TEAR’.” It is written to have “THE ABILITY TO CREATE HOLES IN SPACE” and allows “TRAVEL BETWEEN WORLDS”. Adam, a renowned scientist joined an expedition in the BURMUDA TRAINGLE. . . but It’s been weeks since he “SHOULD HAVE RETURNED”.

His children, “MAYA AND LEO DECIDE TO GO FOR THEIR FATHER.” They casually steal a plane “FROM THE LOCAL FLIGHT SCHOOL” and navigate to an island outlined in Adam’s journal — which he left at home for some reason. However, the plane is stricken by “LIGHTNING, HAIL”, causing the siblings to crash on the island. The forced landing cripples Leo, leaving Maya to explore the island and “FIND SOME HELP.”

It doesn’t take her long to meet the “HALF-BEASTS” outlined in Adam’s JOURNEL. Despite sharing a “COMMON LANGUAGE” (which is later explained as a combination of magic and telepathy), they unwittingly place themselves in greater danger!

Luckily, they are taken under the wings of “AN ACHIENT RACE OF ATLANTES” (or “ATLANTIS” depending on who’s speaking). Aday, wise leader of the ATLANTES people explains Adam is “BUSY WITH A VERY IMPORTANT MATTER”, “STUDYING ONE PLACE ON [their] BEHALF”. However, he refuses to divulge any information on his whereabouts, forcing Leo and Maya to fuck about on the island for the rest of the game.

Aday claims “IN THE FUTURE WE COULD NEED HELP FROM EVERYONE ON THE ISLAND”, foreshadowing some form of justification for all of the uneventful errands which follow.

Eventually, Leo and Maya find out about a book that “BELONGED TO A MAN WHO APPEARED ON THE ISLAND MANY YEARS AGO.” The book predates Adam — but they believe it could lend clues to his whereabouts. Each page of the book is conveniently scattered among the nearby tribes, resulting in more fuckery around the island — until the game abruptly ends. At this time, Forbidden Fruit is not a complete story.

After completing Forbidden Fruit, I feel like I’ve done fuck all.

What was the significance of the “BEAUTIFUL STONE” and “TOTEM” Leo and Maya found after crashing? What about the “MOUNTAIN IN THE DISTANCE”, “SIMILAR TO THE HEAD OF AN ANIMAL”? Does Maya’s amulet actually do anything? Is someone going to steal it and become unkillable? When does learning archery help Maya? When does swordsmanship help Leo? When do they pay their respective debts to Yua, leader of the “DEER”?

And those are just what I can come up with at the top of my head! There are so many unresolved conflicts and unused plot devices, it’s infuriating. By the end of the game, Leo and Maya haven’t made any progress finding their father.

Section Two: Character Development

The cast of Forbidden Fruit are one-dimensional, and character flaws play no part in the story. Leo’s macho façade doesn’t put anyone in danger, nor does Maya’s naivety. Nobody or learns from their shortcomings or changes their ways.

Unless, you count the bimbofication of Maya, the female protagonist.

Her responses to unwanted sexual advances start somewhat believably — she doesn’t take shit. But not long after rejecting Raj’s tricks, she happily guzzles semen from anyone that asks! It’s okay for Maya to become enamored by sex, but there needs to be build up. Otherwise, it should be established from the beginning of the game that Maya is a nymphomaniac. At least then it’d match her personality to enjoy sucking animal cocks.

Chapter Five: Sound (2/5★)

Section I: Soundtrack

The music is fitting for, in Maya’s words, “for such an interesting adventure”. Unfortunately, there are only two sound tracks for the game; the title-screen and everything else. I grew bored with the music and switched over to Spotify.

Section II: Sound Effects

There are no sound effects in Forbidden Fruit.

Section III: Voice Acting

There is no voice acting in Forbidden Fruit.

Chapter Six: Visuals (4/5★)

Section I: User Interface

From the “Settings” menu, you may adjust audio, display and gameplay preferences. Additionally, you’re free to save the game at any time. Overall, the user-interface is a pleasant, fantasy themed offering. The font looks great, but the size varies. Whenever a lot of exposition needs to be told, the writing becomes horribly squished.

For fuck’s sake, at least spread the exposition between two dialogue boxes!

Section Two: Graphics

I love the bright, toon-style rendition of the cast. I think flat shading meshes well with furry characters, because it’s easy to go overboard detailing fur. I also enjoy the lovingly painted backgrounds. But I prefer the ones shown in the animations. The animated backgrounds appear to be done by the same artist that did all of the characters. They may not have as many details, but I like consistency!

Chapter Seven: Verdict (2.5/5★)

What a confusing mess. I felt bad for taking so long to get to this game — but now I’m glad I gave it some time. Clearly, it needs more time. The point-and-click gameplay is more of a gimmick than a feature, offering little more than low-effort mini-games. I could only vaguely follow along the English translation as I tried to make out the mess of a story. The plot grinds to an agonizing crawl after the opening cutscene. Despite each “episode” foreshadowing several conflicts, few receive closure by the end of the game. Forbidden Fruit has awesome artwork, but that’s all this game is good for right now. I recommend waiting for Magic Fingers to finish — and hopefully, refine Forbidden Fruit.