Pleasure villa is a lewd point-n’-clicker about an undercover handyman in a house of nymphomaniacs.
At-a-glance
(Adult) Content?
(M, FxF, FxM) Sexual content.
Censorship?
No. Woot! Woot!
Hours of Gameplay?
Four or more hours.
Modding Support?
No.
Patch Available?
No, not necessary.
Foreword
I received a free copy of this game from the developers. I was excited to play Pleasure villa, given a recent positive experience with similar titles using 3D models. It’s fortunate this game isn’t set to release for another month — it is in sore need of fixes and quality control. I hope that before this game hits the Steam store, the developers will make the needed changes for this game to meet the bar for a half-way-decent point-n’-click game.
Gameplay
A bare basic point-n’-clicker that plays more like a railroaded visual novel — you may think you have a choice, but most of the time (A) you will dismiss a sex scene for no good reason or (B) the game will repeat until you pick the correct prompts. I spent more time skipping content I already saw than I did progressing. Each day, you may pick from a selection prompts, each soaking up a portion of your time. Come nightfall you will be forced to nap and the next morning the prompts will reset.
. . . yes, this is a game you can play one-handed.
Story
. . . in a nutshell
The protagonist has been hired as a sort of personal handy man for a wealthy criminal family, the Pleasures. In addition to his household duties, he has been employed to covertly withdraw incriminating information on the Pleasure family, so that they may face prison time. The Pleasure household is full of hedonistic women, ready to drop their pants on the dime; between their behavior and the protagonist’s duties, it’s inevitable that he’s going to find himself in all sorts of lewd hijinks.
out the shell. . .
Shortly after starting a new game, you are prompted to name the (male) protagonist; I decided to combine the name of the first character you meet, Amanda, and the protagonist from the last visual novel I’ve played, Monica (from Fashion Business).
Welcome Mandamo!
Mandamo meets with Amanda to discuss the acquisition of his new job; he now works for Mister Pleasure. She is joined by Ambrogio, who notifies them that Mister Pleasure wishes to see his staff in his living room. Mandamo finds Mister Pleasure threatened by a detective Robinson. She intends on putting him in jail, for undisclosed criminal offenses. He introduces his wife, Venere, his two daughters, Elettra and Merika, and his three staff (discluding Mandamo) to Robinson to discuss their jobs and hardships.
Gee, thanks Mister Pleasure for the contrived exposition!
Eventually, the detective leaves and Mandamo retires to his new room — only to find Robinson waiting for him. She agrees to pay him (with money and sex) for evidence she can use to indite the Pleasure family. She gives him a Spy Cam, and goes on her way. While the story is mostly linear, the way each day unfolds will differ wildly between players. Mandamo will find himself tangled in the dramas which exist between the Pleasures, as he covertly records the family from the comfort of his room. He will need to dodge Ambrogio, a mentally unstable man who has it out for him. He is Mister Pleasure’s most trusted employee, and he is a dangerous snake in the Pleasure residence.
May you guide Mandamo to safety — and safe sex!
Visuals
The titlescreen is promising, with the line-up of love interests. However, the titlemenu is utterly lacking; user-preferences can only be adjusted in-game, which is total BS — especially considering when the Config screen is a broken mess. From the Config menu, you may adjust audio and text preferences. The user-interface is serviceable, but the menu screens are dreadful. They feel so stock and out of place. I could not find any sort of gallery to view previously encountered CGs.
And don’t get me started on the English!
I was not impressed by the artwork Pleasure villa has to offer. This title uses 3D models to render characters and scenes, much like those of Daz Studio or Poser. The images are blurry, grainy, noisy, and often show visual artifacts. I could regularly spot clipping between models, some fixable via post processing, all of it a gross oversight. I did not like the way that characters portraits would slide across screen, typically to indicate a dream sequence or movement. It comical (in a bad way) and the choppy movement was jarring. I saw one two many stock photos, which suggested that the Pleasure household is actually in the clouds. When characters are viewed from the Spy Cam they don’t cast shadows and appear to “float” on screen.
You know there’s a Spot Render tool and “do not show in render” options (assuming you’re using Daz Studio?)
The Goods
There are quite a bit of sexual CGs to uncover, some animated, most of them static. Most of the sex scenes revolve around consensual sex and voyeurism, although there are a few scenes of coercion and molestation sprinkled about. The renders are grainy and barely serviceable. The models often appear to be low resolution, and their bodies somewhat samey. Overall, the CGs strike me as below average.
. . . expect female, male, female-on-female, and male-on-female sexual content.
Verdict
I can’t recommend this game until it receives a few updates — even with improvements to the core gameplay, the CGs leave something to be desired. I understand that 3D renders take time (and a tremendous amount of processing power), but there are steps one can take to reduce the strain on your hardware: in my opinion, the clipping and noise that I saw in each render was unacceptable.
Wombat Woe — Bug Report
When coercing Elletra for her sexual submission, if you select LEAVE NOW AND COME BACK TO YOUR ROOM, the game will softlock.
Wombat Woe — Sequence Breaking
Each day, you may choose from a list of activities to do; these activities remain the same, and they will yield the same dialogue (even if it doesn’t make any sense given the events prior). If you don’t complete each activity as intended, you will be unable to progress the story. This could be fixed if the activities were designed to be completed over the course of a single day, preventing the player from replaying content. Perhaps a simpler solution would be to indicate when a player has previously selected a choice, or to provide hints on what to do next.
