Hentai Platformer Review: Succubus The SIX Spells

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Written by Flamecaster, edited by Otaku Apologist

“Succubus The SIX Spells”, developed by Libra Heart. A sexy pixel art graphics hentai platformer starring succubus vixen raping and getting raped by monsters. English. Released on the 30th of September, 2017. Available on DLsite.

“Succubus The SIX Spells” is the fifth title in Libra Heart’s Succubus series. This series has gone through many genres, and styles. Formally revealed on Libra Heart’s website shortly after the release of Tower of Succubus back in 2016, the title was originally known as “Succubus The SIX of Magics,” with much of the gameplay and setpieces seemingly already established by then. Development seemed slow, as “Succubus Hunter” was released before “Succubus The SIX Spells”. The developer, AII, eventually returned to developing this game in 2016, with the Japanese release hitting DLSite in August 2017, while the English release became available in late September 2017.

STORY

Succubus takes place in the time frame of “sometime” in the far-off land of “somewhere fantastical”, where the titular six spells are the only forces that protect the realm from an ancient king. Predictably, these spells are suddenly stolen one day, leaving the titular succubus to journey across six stages to reclaim them before the king can be resurrected.

The plot might have all the depth of a fortune cookie, but it seldom tries to be anything more than what it needs to be. True to fashion for the series, more exposition is shed through side stories unearthed through tomes scattered among the levels. While the tomes mainly exist to increase the amount of adult content in the game, some of them provide backstory for the levels, giving the otherwise static bosses some reason for how they came into possession of the spells. There’s a very basic level of build-up to the boss battles provided by the tomes.

GAMEPLAY

You don’t really play the “Succubus” games for the story; that’s like eating honey buns for the nutritional value. Gameplay is king in this series, and the gameplay in “Succubus The SIX Spells” has changed yet again from its predecessors. This time, the gameplay consists of jumping and shooting your way through the game’s six levels, which you can play through in any order. There’s a quaint stage selection screen. The formula in this game involves picking a level and journeying through it until you find and defeat the boss. The boss gives you a new power-up that can be used to either conquer enemies in other stages or take down other bosses easier.

If that description at all reminded you of Capcom’s famous Megaman series, yeah, it’s copying it.

Libra Heart has proven to me many times that they can make H-games that succeed on their merits alone. I was already sitting at my desk, ready to sing the melodies of this game and how it’s easily Libra Heart’s best work yet. Make no mistake: “Succubus the SIX Spells” is a very enjoyable experience, but the level design had me scratching my head.  Immediately after the introductory cutscene, you’re jettisoned into a tutorial stage (which you can exit through a game over screen) that introduces you to all the available movement options: crawling through tight spaces, hanging off ledges, shimmying across ropes, firing a heart to seduce enemies and activate switches, and using a stellar new dodge maneuver. With the way these new mechanics are integrated into the tutorial stage, you would think the remaining levels would follow up on this and make use of the mechanics you just spent five minutes learning.

Shimmying across ropes is seldom used in an interesting fashion, like in a timed platforming challenge or a vertical platforming section filled with enemies. Ledge-hanging is required for certain platforming sections and boss fights, but it still felt underutilized. The worst of the bunch is using switches to open doors; “stop and wait” switches arguably have no place in a game such as this, so why include the feature if you use it two times in the whole game? Even crawling, the most used mechanic in the game’s levels, isn’t used for anything meaningful outside of transitional purposes or cheap enemy placement.

Due to not taking advantage of the various level themes or the game’s own mechanics, the level design comes off as bland and phoned-in. Levels can be rather easy as a result of this, with many stages featuring bare-bones platforming challenges impeded by the occasional dive-bombing crow or red skull obstructing your path. With proper timing, half the stages can be beaten by merely holding right and jumping, no thought needed.

On the flipside, the dodge maneuver is a great inclusion, that impacted the experience. The levels eventually begin introducing enemies that not only dish out damage but can’t be seduced to easily gain health back. With enemies sporting shields or tall projectile attacks, dodging through and between enemies becomes a necessity to survive in the later levels. This is especially true for the game’s boss fights.

In terms of controls and visuals, “Succubus The SIX Spells” is a finely polished game.

GRAPHICS

Fortunately, “Succubus The SIX Spells” fares much better on the presentation front. Continuing off the 8-bit style that began with “Akumajou Succubus” and further improved upon in “Tower of Succubus”, Libra Heart continues to showcase a plethora of detail in their pixelated glory. Whether it’s rotting zombies, rustling plant monsters or bodacious women, the sprites are great and well-animated, especially during the sex animations. The illustrations shown in side stories, cutscenes, and the gallery are even better. Those with a keen eye may notice that the proportions of characters in “Succubus The SIX Spells” are a bit more realistic this time around. While still keeping to a similar art style and color palette, all the ladies look more mature and defined this time around. It can lead to the occasional perspective hiccup and an odd face or two, but the new style works far more than it doesn’t.

“Succubus The SIX Spells” includes the option to increase or decrease the game’s resolution with the W key, and the in-game option to change between three different voices during sex encounters. They’re pretty minor inclusions, but welcome nonetheless.

GLITCHES AND ISSUES

Certain areas remain jagged and coarse. I also had an issue with the weapon select, that happened numerous times through the game, cementing my loving relationship with the default weapon. Additionally, while the R key is intended to reset the game while you’re tabbed in, I’d occasionally tab out to attend to non-game related stuff, only to be greeted by the game’s title screen once I tabbed back in.

MUSIC

Rather than use sounds that bring to mind 8-bit games those on the NES, “Succubus The SIX Spells” uses more modern MIDI sounds. The compositions generally lean towards a mystical, atmospheric vibe. The only real fault of the new soundtrack is that the songs are far too short and don’t loop properly, which could potentially grate on your ears if you wind up redoing an entire stage.

SOUND EFFECTS (SFX)

Succubus The SIX Spells has no awkward voice acting. Thank God.

While the game’s sound effects aren’t anything to write home about, there’s still a plethora of diverse sound effects that compliment both the action and the sexual encounters. All of the spells and battle sounds are used appropriately and the sex sounds both visceral and satisfyingly moist in your ears. It’s a treat for the eyes and the ears.

HENTAI

In true “Succubus” fashion, you can fire a heart projectile at enemies to seduce them. They immediately submit to your will and start pumping their seminal fluids into the succubus heroine. Not only does this have the added benefit of restoring your HP, but each enemy has a different sex animation tied to them. If the several well-animated encounters don’t do it for you, maybe their accompanying illustration unlocked within the gallery will get your jollies rocking. This gallery is also where the various tomes strewn throughout the game’s various levels are stored, letting you relive the parts of the game’s lore that confirm that raping elves is a good thing to do.

As with previous titles in this series, the bulk of the sexual content is focused on women with huge breasts getting intimate with various monsters. The list of beasts includes slimes, ogres, zombies, and normal men suffering from the fatal “silhouetted penis” disease. Between dozens of illustrations and a dozen or so animations, there’s tons of sexual content for everyone who loves monsters and massive mammaries. The only missed opportunity is that the female enemies cannot be seduced at all. There was a prime opportunity for lesbian and maybe even futa content, but Libra Heart stuck to hetero-normative rape for this adventure. While I’m as much a fan of sahagins and tentacles as the next guy, it would have been nice to see the range of fetishes expanded in this installment.

CONCLUDING WORDS

“Succubus The SIX Spells” is a solid game. The core gameplay is fun, and there are glimmers of something greater that could be done with the mechanics. Unfortunately, mediocre level design, poor weapon implementation, and a few bugs hold the game back from making it an improvement from “Tower of Succubus”. Going by the amount of stages, a plethora of unlockables in the gallery, and a bit of hidden content, you have ample reason to plow for 100% completion. You’re certainly getting your money’s worth with this one. I recommend “Succubus The SIX Spells” to fans of platforming action side-scrollers, fans of mature, busty women, and incredibly desperate “Mega Man” fans.