Vanilla Hentai RPG Review: Gran Ende 3

Written by Rastafoo69, edited by Otaku Apologist

Gran Ende 3, a hentai RPG developed by Hiwatari Honpo. Released February 11, 2021. Download on DLSite for $14.00. For Windows PC. No voice acting. Censored genitals. Download the English fan translation patch.

Anjie and Siska are fresh out of knight boot camp, assigned to the western border town of Kayzelin. They were working hard hoping to get reassigned to the Capital until one day, they uncovered a conspiracy within the local knight garrison!

Read our guide how to download DLSite games. Also consult our article how to apply translation patches. We have also reviewed Gran Ende 1 and Gran Ende 2. Check out those writeups!

STORY

The strongest knight at the garrison is named Org, and he’s creating gate crystals to destroy them for his own reputation. You later discover he has an accomplice helping him create the crystals named Coco. She kills Org, because her true goal is to resurrect dragons to rule over humanity once again.

Siska is the one with dark hair, small breasts, and a mature attitude. Anjie is the busty dork with pink hair. Neither get any character development beyond these tropes, so the writing mainly focuses on the conspiracy. Unfortunately, there’s not much more to say about the story, as it isn’t the focus of the experience.

The game ends with tons of unanswered questions like – Why did Coco give you information leading to the gate crystal in the tower? Will the people in the dessert be allowed to integrate into Kayzelin? Why would an item that repels monsters, be tied to a gate that summons them? What did Coco gain from distributing so many pendants? The list goes on. It feels like the developer meant to make the game longer, but hit a deadline.

Although this is the third in the Gran Ende series, this game is a stand-alone experience. Outside of a veiled reference to Gran Ende 1 occurring six months ago in the far east, no characters from the previous game are mentioned. This is a huge contrast with Gran Ende 2, which carried over one of the main characters from the first title.

The game lacks the emotional core of its predecessors. While the first was about a trusted friend turning against you, and the second was about a budding relationship with a troubled dark elf girl, the third has no personal story. Just stop the corrupt knight, the end.

GAMEPLAY

Gran Ende 3 was created in RPG Maker MV. The previous game was created in RPG Maker VX Ace. Consequently, Gran Ende 3 does not have any new features because the developer focused on recreating the old ones for a new engine. The same has happened with Primal Sphere and many other developers. The first game of a new engine is always a rough start.

While Gran Ende 1 had prostitution, charm, lust, and the ability to damage your reputation by acting slutty, Gran Ende 3 has none of these. While Gran Ende 2 focused on a relationship and dating system with unlockable activities for multiple characters, Gran Ende 3 does not. In other words, Gran Ende 3 is objectively the weakest game in the series.

The only big addition was the ability to swap between the two protagonists, but this only occurs at night for the sake of sex scenes. The other addition was an auto-mode for dialogue, but the game has no text backlog, making auto-mode risky. Also, as of the time of writing, the ether crystal quest is glitched to be repeatable.

The game can be completed in 9.5 hours just like Gran Ende 2. Your characters max out at level 50, just like the old games. Wish there were more levels.

For newcomers to the series, here’s the scoop. Kill monsters, get money, buy equipment, repeat. NPCs in town will have sex with you under the right circumstances. Sell items that monsters drop. Walk around dungeons to pick up things like mushrooms for sale. There is no crafting system or anything else. It’s a pretty basic RPG experience.

GRAPHICS

The art is standard Japanese anime style.

The developer chose to use RPG Maker MV for unknown reasons. He didn’t implement diagonal movement even though the dungeon design encourages it. Even worse, the game stutters and temporarily freezes from time to time. If you aren’t using animations, what’s the point of using the MV engine with its many offsets? It’s well-known to be more buggy than VX Ace.

The dungeons and textures in this game are made with stock assets from the RPG Maker library. There’s a forest, a desert, a stone tower, and a rocky cave. The town and its inhabitants are also stocks. The same guy in a green shirt you saw in every other RPG Maker game is here too. This would be forgivable if it was the first game in the series, but it’s not.

On the positive side of things, this game has the most artworks out of any title in the Gran Ende series. Side characters have full pose art and multiple expressions, side h-events have unique pose art to illustrate a blowjob or fondling. And there are 41 base CGs, the most in the entire series.

The posing and camera angles in this game are simply phenomal. Like an aerial perspective as Siska gives you a blowjob, or a first-person doggystyle artwork as Anjie takes a thick load of cum and climaxes. It’s undeniable, the art in this game is some of the best Hiwatari Honpo has ever produced. I’ve actually saved some of the screencaps for my personal fapping folder of favorites!

VOICE ACTING AND SOUND EFFECTS (SFX)

Gran Ende 3 has no voice acting.

The sound effects in battle are entirely generic. And because you play two knights, there isn’t much opportunity for variation. The sex sound effects however, are incredibly hot! Just hearing them I can imagine the dick going in and out of Anjie’s wet pussy. If the developer ever adds voice acting, I’ll flood my pants.

MUSIC

There are 57 songs in total, but they’re all stock assets. Some are good like the desert music, which reminded me of Chrono Trigger, but most are bad. The music that plays in the slums is that one generic track used in every Patreon game ever. That same track plays when you defeat the final boss as well! It completely ruined the scene! Although there are 57 songs, it felt like there were five because of how often and how obviously they repeat.

HENTAI

There are 41 base CGs spread across over 40 scenes in total. This is because each base CG has variations like an ahegao-version where a girl adores the cock.

Unlike the first two Gran Ende titles where sex was integrated into the world and easy to come across (prostitution for example), sex scenes in Gran Ende 3 are locked by progress in the game. You’ll unlock new scenes as you progress and lose access to scenes with Org when you approach the end. All scenes can only be accessed at night, so it is possible to complete the game as a virgin by sleeping the nights. Some fans have complained this system creates two separate games. During daytime, the game is an RPG, nighttime you play an eroge.

The art in this game is where the hentai shines. Tittyfucks, nipple pinches, cumshots, mating press, and so much more! Each sex act is perfectly drawn and illustrated to make you cum like crazy! The dialogue and scenarios however, are a mixed bag. Some characters only have anal sex, which felt like a waste. Other characters like Org were dominating in dialogue but did not dominate in bed. And although dialogue might say “don’t be too rough with me”, there isn’t even a spanking in this game!

The ahegao fetish feels pretty out of character for the girls. The slums felt under-used and barren. And there’s not even any exhibitionism either! Although the scenes are hot, that’s due to the artwork alone, because the scenarios are super vanilla. For a hardcore hentai gamer like me, this was not enough.

The one thing that fans praise this game for is that the developer finally implemented sex stats to the Gran Ende series. Thank you!

CONCLUDING WORDS

Gran Ende 3 is a beautiful RPG with two gorgeous babes taking cock from every guy in town. But compared to its two predecessors, this game is objectively the weakest. The high expectations set by the previous games were not met. This title would be most enjoyable if it was a stand-alone game. The negativity aside, if you like the art and the sexual themes explored here, go cum a bucket.

Download Gran Ende 3. If you liked this game but want the original experience, check out our review of Gran Ende 1.