Photo Studio is a lewd sandbox game about posing models in a photo studio.
At-a-glance
(Adult) Content?
(F, FxM) Sexual content.
Censorship?
No. Woot! Woot!
Hours of Gameplay?
One hour.
Modding Support?
No.
Patch Available?
Download as Steam DLC.
Foreword
When Photo Studio publicly released on October 3rd, 2020, I played the game and yielded a scathing review. At the request of a friend on Steam, I have chosen to reconsider my words, and provide more constructive feedback. The developer reached out to me, and offered me free copies of the Photo Studio’s DLC (which I adamantly refused to pay for, due to their high price and unfinished nature of the game on release.)
Gameplay
Wander a confined area and and play “dress up” with two ladies (or you can unlock more via DLC). There isn’t a goal to Photo Studio; I’d consider this to be a sandbox game. You can dress and pose the NPCs, and take photos or videos using the in-game cameras. You can also adjust the strength and temperature of the preset lighting, or even change the on-screen projection behind your model. By adding Youtube links to the “YoutubeUrls.txt” file in Photo Studio‘s base directory, you can play any video in the background (or since there’s sound playback, listen to some jams as you play the game.)
. . . out of the shell
The bulk of the studio is controlled via a simplistic control panel, which I imagine was designed with VR in mind. It doesn’t house more than six buttons, and navigating it is absolutely dreadful. The studio’s functionality is separated into “categories”, which are separated into “groups” and then one or more specialized buttons. This organization isn’t bad; what’s bad is having to cycle-forward through each option, as opposed to a traditional drop-down menu. Furthermore, it’s kind of lame controlling everything from a control panel, rather than directly interacting with objects. I would have loved to manually pick-up, place and throw the studio’s equipment, mostly just to fuck around.
It’s the simple things that bring warmth to my cold, cold soul.
The game takes place in a well-furnished house, complete with tons of static props. The only prop that can be directly interacted with are a few cameras. You can take photos using one of the cameras (by pressing “P”) or video (by pressing “F1” to start and “F2” to stop.) This is. . . awesome (though in its current implementation, not perfect.) As there is no way to adjust the hight or angle of the cameras, to get interesting shots you have to throw them around (and hope they land in right places). Seeing how it is possible to lose your cameras (say, by throwing them off the playable area), there definitely should be a “camera reset” button somewhere. Also, the depth of field provided by the camera’s isn’t always great, and should be toggleable.
When I first bought this game, I rode the dev’ for not having a functional camera. Now I have to eat my words.
I would like to see additional moveable objects; while I’d just make havoc, moveable objects and props would have a valid use in a photo studio. It would be very useful to be able to reposition NPCs, allowing a variety of good photos and take better advantage of the adult-DLC (which include sexual positions.) I’d venture to say most photoshoots involve maintaining a happy, healthy, comfy camera crew. Considering the size of the explorable environment, so much of the game is wasted space.
I’ll have you know I like my sex in the cold, wet rain!
The background can be cycled between plain white or your choice of YouTube video; when playing a YouTube video in-game, the audio is also carried over (which is pretty dope, but definitely should be toggleable). Once you play a video, it will play from from start to finish, and you have no ability to stop or “rewind” the video. I ended up making a playlist of underrated Chris Chan music videos. Honestly, hearing him scream obscenities as I posed my actors is not far off from what my actual photo studio would sound like (and also why I’d go bankrupt on day one.) To add a video, find the “YoutubeUrls.txt” file in Photo Studio‘s base directory: then copy/paste your favorite YouTube URLs. Before you ask, no it doesn’t work for Pornhub.
Yes, I know that’s exactly what you were going to ask!
Story
There’s Anya, Gabriel, Mei, and then there’s uh, the photo guy. He’s your everyday photo guy, busty tummy and plaid shirt, the whole artist get-up. Gabriel visits whenever photo guy needs to short a couple or porno flick. He’s a pretty chad guy, always there when Anya and Mei need him.
Visuals
There is no titlescreen, it’s straight to the action. The user-interface is extremely poor, and the UI is oversized and blurry. Much of the game is operated by a panel with a limited number of buttons, instead of a traditional menu or interacting with objects directly. You are forced to cycle through options one-by-one, and your movement is restricted by a set of fancy animations (which will often seize and make you unable to leave the control panel.) You can adjust audio, display and graphical preferences from the pause menu. The player animations don’t usually work great; when he moves forward, he drifts forward instead of walking.
The Goods
The base game contains no goodies.
18+ for Photo Studio
The majority of Photo Studio‘s adult-content is locked behind the 18+ DLC. It includes about seventy animations, most of which short loops and about twenty-ish including short dance numbers. This DLC allows you to strip the player character or any female NPC in the game, along with added pubes or wieners to your lady friends. Supposedly, the player character is able to “fuck” NPCs by pressing the “F” button, but I couldn’t get it to work; however, I did have success getting the erection command to work (or “E”). I didn’t find the animations to be arousing, but the nudity isn’t half bad (and I digged the boobie physics!) I think the price tag isn’t unreasonable, but if all you’re interested in is nudity then this DLC is over-priced through the roof.
Porno for Photo Studio
Unlocking a whopping six sexual animations, you’d think for twenty-five dollars they’d be some right-premium content. The animations are meh, and they lack progression or money shots. The male actor can’t be changed (to say, a female actor with a strap-on). They are much too short, and devoid of player interactivity. I strongly advise against purchasing this DLC.
Verdict
Wait for a sale or a few updates. However, if this is a game that looks interesting to you, definitely pick it up (even if it’s a little rough around the edges.) The developer is surprisingly punctual: on release, I ripped her game a new one because it didn’t have a functional camera. Come the next day, and there’s not only a functional camera, but there’s also a brand new (and functional) video camera! Grab the game, and put in your words for updates. Still, I think the game should have stayed behind closed doors before its (awful) release, and the price is well above what it should be given the current state of the game. Between the base game and one adult-DLC, it’s thirty-five USD: that’s more than what you’d have to pay for most adult, triple “A” games!
Wombat Woe — 18+ DLC
When applying pubic hair to an NPC, it hovers over their crotch area (instead of being applied directly to the genital region, as if it grew there like normal pubes.) As much as I like my ladies with dicks, they do not seamlessly blend with their bodies: the color of the penis differs from the ladies’ skin.
