Succubus is a lewd beat-’em-up about a succubus on a quest to claim Hell’s throne.
Adult Content?
(FxF, FxM, MxM) sexual content.
Censorship?
No. Woot! Woot!
Hours of Gameplay?
Twelve hours.
Patch Available?
From Madmind Studio.
Foreword: published October 5th, 2021
I received a free, early access copy of this game for review purposes — thanks Madmind Studio! For the purposes of this review, I will only be discussing the patched game.
Gameplay: published October 5th, 2021 (4/5★)
You play as a demon, and your power is nearly unrivaled; though each level is swarming with foes, you’re able to cut though hundreds of men and lessor demons with little regard for personal safety (depending on your difficulty setting). Playing the game on “normal” difficulty, I felt as though I was a part of some power fantasy; I wasn’t remotely challenged from start to finish. As it turns out, the denizens of hell are no matched for a strafing succubus with infinite projectiles! You’re able to fling enemies into deadly decorations and bigger (hungrier) demons (which I’ll admit was really fun). Each enemy drops a soul, which are split into “human” and “demon” categories. New weapons, armor, lore and cosmetics may be purchased using combinations of souls. Each level offers up to three optional “side quests” and an assortment of hidden collectables. If you’re a completionist, you may enjoy the added challenge of time-based quests and memorizing hidden locations. I enjoyed hacking and slashing demons — but it kind of got stale after a few hours.
Sexual Content: published October 5th, 2021 (3/5★)
Clearly, Succubus is not an erotic game. There are a few sex-scenes and a handful of sexual props, but the game could do without the former. Throughout the explorable world are succubus having sex and sinners being raped — these animations make sense, and they are generally placed out of view as hidden scenery. Throughout the game are three NPCs which you can have sex with to restore lost hit-points. However, I found the sex-scenes to be out-of-place. Even looking past the grotesque characters, they are poorly animated with excessive clipping, poor visual effects and stiff animation. Given the attention to detail in these scenes, it seems as though they were animated for sexual purposes, not for shock factor or “immersion”. Considering there are only three of these scenes in the game, it’s not fair to call Succubus a sexual-arousing game when boner-material is over three hours apart. Mechanically, there’s no reason to choose a sex-scene over another healing method; restoring hit points is a nearly effortless task. It takes a special blend of kinks to get-off to exposed flesh and bone, but I support Madmind Studio. I happen to be one of those wierdos!
Story: published October 5th, 2021 (3/5★)
Stripped of her wings and royalty, Vydija is a fallen succubus with eyes for lord Baphomet’s throne. She could have lived a life of luxury as somebody’s meat sleeve, but the beast inside of her seeks fire and war. Working her way up from the depths of Hell to Baphomet’s palace high atop of the mountains, it’s all just for “fun”. There’s a lot of lore and world-building in this game, but it’s poorly delivered; I suspect players are intended to know a thing or two about the universe before playing this game, because most of the time I was woefully confused by what was going on.
Sound: published October 5th, 2021 (3/5★)
The moment Vydija uttered a word, I lost my immersion and hated her for the remainder of the game. Her voice is appropriate for an evil succubus, but I just couldn’t get into it. The writing and voice acting is terrible. I think Madmind Studio tried to write cool and meaningful dialogue but it comes off as edgy and childish. It appears English isn’t their first language — I couldn’t take anybody seriously. When I think about Hell and demon drama, I think about the Spawn series. Spawn offers a repertoire of memorable acting, characters and writing; maybe Madmind Studio ought to take notes next time they hire “talent” for their games.
Visuals: published October 5th, 2021 (4/5★)
The titlescreen is nicely arranged, but it doesn’t make sense from a lore standpoint. It suggests the player character is aquatic, even though she only spends a minute or two under a sea during the campaign. From “Options”, you may adjust a wide variety of audio, display and graphical preferences. You may also fully remap your controls for keyboard and gamepads! Despite having my graphics set as high as possible, the visuals fall short the moment you stop and watch the scenery. Wonky physics and low resolution textures and models are commonplace throughout the world. The game looks good, but it’s a far cry from “AAA”. Unfortunately, the mixed graphics do the atmosphere a major disservice. It’s hard for me to get immersed in Hell when I’m able to count polygons. The animation needs a lot of love; cutscenes offer subpar content with characters that act half-assed and sarcastic. I’m sure Madmind Studio worked really hard on the animation, but it broke my suspension of belief one too many times.
Verdict: published October 5th, 2021 (3.5/5★)
If I didn’t hate the main protagonist so much, I would have thoroughly enjoyed this game. As long as you can look past graphical shortcomings, there is a ridiculous amount of beautiful scenery to behold. As I played this game, I would often get side-tracked as I soaked in what Hell has to offer. Succubus kind of looks like a “AAA” game, but I found the gameplay to be mediocre. Smashing the same enemies with the same few weapons gets old after a few hours. Half-way through the game, I lost interest in fighting and skipped foes whenever possible. Madmind Studio does a good job introducing new weapons and enemies on a regular basis, but they didn’t significantly change combat. It’s not until the end of the game genuinely challenging combat occurs. There’s a time and place for clearing dumb mobs, but I had the most fun micromanaging in tight corners against a blend of the toughest foes. There’s a lot of love in this game, but at the end of the day it’s still a grindy beat’em-up with an edgy aesthetic. But that’s okay! If you want to wreak havoc as an unstoppable succubus, you may enjoy this game. As cheesy as the animation and dialogue are, it’s not for the feint of heart; Succubus takes place in Hell after all.
