Spheria’s Familiar is a lewd RPG about Akito’s unexpected journey into a parallel universe where he joins Spheria in a quest to defeat the Demon Lord and his four Demon Knights.
At-a-glance
(Adult) Content?
(FxM) Sexual content.
Censorship?
Yes, mosaic’d genitalia.
Hours of Gameplay?
Three or four hours (est.)
Modding Support?
No.
Patch Available?
Download from WASABI.
Foreword
For the purposes of this review, the adult patch is installed. I will not be discussing the unpatched game.
Gameplay (2/5★)
Grind for experience in turn-based combat to tackle the resurrection of the Demon Lord and his finest warriors! The game is divided into five regions, each guarded by a powerful boss. Defeating them grants entry to the next region, and their “crest” which allows you to summon them during battles. When summoned, you may either use them for damage or uh, screw them (right then and there!) Fucking your demon allies is a coin flip; sometimes something good will happen, other times they’ll screw you over! The male protagonist, Akito may also choose to grope his female companion, Spheria. Doing so will typically have a negative effect within the battle, but sometimes it’ll boost her stats (and it’ll help her resist enemies’ sexual advances). As Spheria’s sexual stats are altered, she’ll become increasingly keen to “servicing” her partner (or if you’re not careful, other partners!) Combat and performing quests is otherwise unremarkable. There does not appear to be any form of intracity to fighting — new abilities always replace old abilities (including allies), rendering “strategy” to be nothing but luck and grinding.
Story (2/5★)
Akito dull life of lewd-gaming is turned topsy-turvy when he’s summoned into a parallel world! The Demon Lord and his four Demon Knights were defeated centuries ago by Verg the Holy Magician and his familiar. Spheria is his descendent, and the Lord and his Knights have been resurrected (for it has been prophesized!) Hoping to emulate Verg’s success, she summons a familiar from another world. That “familiar” is Akito, and he agrees to help under one condition: she must become his “sex slave!” She accepts her terms, and as they travel the world she finds Akito’s sexual prowess to be unparalleled. Protest she does, she’ll have to accept it’s his very perverseness that’ll save the world!
Visuals (2/5★)
The title-menu is nicely arranged. I enjoy the randomized backgrounds, but I wish the main heroine had more than one pose. There does not appear to be any form of adjustable user-preferences. The game automatically boots borderless fullscreen, and there isn’t an obvious way to window the application. The “F1” key will bring-up an in-built RPGMaker menu, where you may adjust display preferences. I couldn’t figure out if there’s any way to hide the user-interface while viewing CGs. A gallery can be accessed in-game shortly after the prologue — sex-scenes must be viewed start-to-finish, but you may quickly roll through text via the “CTRL” key. Though CGs lack drawn backgrounds, they are displayed where they take place. In other words, if a scene originally took place in a dungeon, when viewing that scene from the gallery the dungeon will be simulated in the background. Most adult RPGs simply use the gallery room as the background (and I love that Spheria’s Familiar doesn’t do that!)
The ‘Goods’ (4/5★)
There are around seventy-two sex-scenes which use roughly forty-two bases. In terms of quantity, not bad! There are even a few animations (which are pretty rare to see in a lewd RPGMaker game!) It’s too bad the genitalia is heavily censored, but the artwork and animation are kind of hot. Both Akito and his foes have the ability to grope and rape Spheria, his female companion. Doing so typically has negative consequences, but you don’t have to worry about losing the game; if you die, you’ll enjoy a sex-scene and be returned to your home. Later in the game, you’ll have the ability to warp anywhere you’ve previously discovered (which means little backtracking!) The way Akito acquires new demon allies is by first raping them — but after the first intercourse, it stops being rape (because it’s only rape if they don’t like it!)
Verdict (2.5/5★)
I think I’ve had enough of this game. It wasn’t very fun to begin with, and after getting stuck towards the end I decided to quit. There are no clues or quest markers (which is why I couldn’t figure out how to beat the game). If you aren’t taking notes as you accept quests, you’re gonna have a bad time. Combat is repetitive and uninventive. Though I enjoyed the regular adult content, the rest of the game is sincerely lacking. You’re encouraged to beat the game multiple times to unlock different “routes” and endings, but there isn’t enough variety between playthroughs to justify the effort. The writing is awful. I hated the pacing and relationships are hardly developed. It doesn’t take long to topple the big baddies, and within a few paragraphs they’re already infatuated with the protagonist. I understand this is a fantasy game, but that’s no excuse for bad character building. Spheria’s Familiar is a poor, overpriced RPG with decent (but censored) adult content. It might be worth picking up on a big sale. For sixteen dollars, I’d recommend buying an RPG with stronger gameplay.
