GAME REVIEWED:

REVIEWED BY: NoxAeternea

The protagonist of Third Crisis, Jenna, is the soul of this game.  She alone is a reason enough for you to try it. It is not too common for H-games to be carried so much by their main character. So many games feature a blank-slate protagonist, and so many more give the least possible effort to make their protagonist interesting.

Third Crisis, on the other hand, goes all-in on its protagonist.

Third Crisis started off as an Overwatch-inspired project. You can see this inspiration in Jenna’s design as well as her personality, but over time the project evolved into something much more original. The story starts in the middle of an important mission. Jenna, also known by her hero name Vibe, is fighting against an evil organization called Peitho. She has time-related powers that are kept in check by her suit, much like the character that inspired her. But after her mission goes wrong and she gets lost through time, she finds herself in a strange future where Peitho rules the world through lust and sex. And it is up to the player to decide if Jenna will adapt to this new future or fight against it.

Third Crisis is one of the rare games I’ve been following since its very early versions, and I have a love-hate relationship with the game. The first thing that drew me to the game was the protagonist, Jenna. Not many games feature a tomboyish protagonist, those that do, rarely write a character as charming as this one. Jenna is cheerful, funny, and often quite sarcastic. Her design is absolutely great, and she looks incredibly hot in the unique art style of Third Crisis.

It builds its world wholly on sex

Let’s talk more about this art style because it deserves a lot of praise. Somewhat simplistic, cell-shaded, colorful, the pseudo-anime art style of the game is absolutely gorgeous to look at. It looks amazing in static CGs and it looks great in motion. Especially the later versions contain a lot of animations and I have nothing but praise for them. The game even provides a great animation gallery where you can manage every little detail about how a scene plays, from facial expression to the many clothing options.

Another thing I will praise is the writing and the world-building. Those of you that have played the game might be surprised as the writing in Third Crisis mostly operates on porn logic. A lot of H-games operate on porn logic where sex scenes are forced with the thinnest threads of logic holding it up, and in most games, it would be something I’d criticize. But Third Crisis does something genius, it builds its world wholly on sex. It acknowledges the fact that its world operates on porn logic and explains the in-universe reasons why. Those reasons aren’t the most original or interesting but by intentionally making the world operate on porn logic, the events, and characters that would look goofy and ridiculous in a realistic world become funny and infinitely charming.

I highly prefer to establish the positive aspects of a game first if it’s a game I would recommend to people, and so far, I’ve done nothing but praise the game. However, I’ve described my experience with the game as a love-hate relationship and we need to talk about the “hate” part. Almost all of the things I don’t like about this game come from the gameplay. I love the setting, the characters, and the scenes and I wish that were all there was to the game. I love the setting, the characters, and the scenes and I wish that were all there was to the game.

The only way to progress is to stand still

The game has many distinct gameplay elements, a lot of them added in the last ten or so updates, but they rarely hit the mark. The system you spend the most time playing in the turn-based, isometric combat system. Now, I’ve spent a large portion of my childhood playing turn-based games like Heroes of Might and Magic, Baldur’s Gate, and the like. And I’d be the first to tell you how addictive combat in those games can be. What makes turn-based combat great is the strategic depth it offers; different units, unique abilities, and how they interact with each other. The terrain makes every combat encounter different and engaging. Unfortunately, combat in Third Crisis lacks depth. To be fair, it is hard to expect an H-game to have the same kind of complexity as those designed specifically for combat. But however unfair it might be, the end result is the same. Combat encounters often feel slow, underwhelming, and like a chore. A core that you have to get through to get to the good parts of the game.

If it were just underwhelming combat that I had to deal with I wouldn’t complain much. You also spend extended periods sneaking around at night. Sneaking consists of avoiding the line of sight of the guards and a lot of waiting around. If that sounds tedious, hear this: there are multiple parts where you basically play hot&cold in complete darkness while being hunted by monsters. “How do you fight the monsters,” you ask? You don’t. You avoid them by standing still when a beeper goes off. A decent chunk of the game where the only way to progress is to stand still every ten seconds sounds like a lot of fun, right? RIGHT?

At the end of the day, the game does a lot of things very well but handles certain things poorly. So, what’s the final verdict? Would I recommend this game? It’s complicated.

There is so much good stuff in there!

• A fun world,
  
• interesting and sexy characters,
  
• amazing art and animation,
  
• really hot sex scenes,
  
• and a lot of quirky, charming humor.
  

Unfortunately, it’s buried under a lot of fluff.

This is where I would say you should play the game if you are willing to go through some unfun mechanics. But Andou Games did introduce an option to skip minigames!

Considering the unfun mechanics of the minigames was my biggest criticism of the game, I wasn’t sure how to finish this review.

On one hand, this shouldn’t change my score. After all, just because we can skip ahead bad parts of a movie wouldn’t affect its reviews so why should it be for a game? But on the other hand, a flawed product can be changed, remastered, re-edited to make it much better. The success of the Snyder cut is a fresh example of this. If nothing, it shows that the developers listen to criticism enough to let you skip through their work. As someone who works in the creative field, I know it hurts to let go of your work.

After much consideration, I decided to leave the review as it is. Instead, I added this small part to explain my thought process and let you all come to your own conclusions. What changed, however, is the enthusiasm with which I will recommend Third Crisis. I was always going to recommend this game. Despite its flaws, it is an experience you should not miss. But now that we have the option to skip some of the most frustrating parts of the game, I feel much more comfortable with my recommendation.

DEVELOPER OF THE GAME:

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