Operation Lovecraft: Fallen Doll Demo is a lewd collection of animations.
Adult Content?
(FxF, FxM) sex.
Censorship?
No. Woot! Woot!
Playtime?
One hour.
Patch Available?
Not necessary.
Foreword: published December 4th, 2021
This article reflects an “Early Access” demonstration — take my words with a grain of salt.
Gameplay: published December 4th, 2021 (2/5★)
I was expecting a single-player experience, but it appears Operation Lovecraft: Fallen Doll was designed as a multiplayer game! Unfortunately, when I tried to engage “Harem Mode” I was prompted “Harem Mode is currently only accessible to closed beta testers.” However, I read that “Gallery Mode is a bare-bones version of Harem mode’s sex system”. It goes without saying “Gallery Mode” won’t be as interesting without somebody fapping on the other end, but at least it gives me something to rant about.
I’m not impressed — I sincerely hope “Harem Mode” more than what Gallery Mode has to offer. It’s everything I’d expect from an interactive collection of sexual animation, but there isn’t any meaningful gameplay or progression. Choosing between a cream pie and facial isn’t “meaningful gameplay”! Regarding “Harem Mode”, Project Helius writes,
Each sandbox map in HAREM mode supports up to 10 players, where players can conduct “Experiments” anywhere on the map as they wish. If you prefer “independent study”, you may always turn on Do Not Disturb to hide other players in the map, or access the offline GALLERY mode.
It’s unclear if “HAREM mode” will be anything but a glorified gallery. I’m curious how Project Helius will deal with sexual animations when two players are involved. Perhaps, they’ll take turns selecting animations. Maybe it’ll be a game of “who can mash the ‘space’ key the fastest”! When Project Helius mentions “experiments”, they aren’t just being cheeky — experiments are how players sexually progress! Project Helius writes,
Collect data by conducting “Experiments” to unlock new Test Subjects and Experiment Methods. Players can give and receive Likes, spend Likes to obtain research grants from Miskatonic University’s Peer Review Meetings, or study from each other to unlock Experiment Methods discovered by other players.
It sounds like “likes” will be a form of economy. I wonder if they’re be free (encouraging players to pass them out like candy), or if they’ll be heavily monetized (justifying the “Free” pricing for the upcoming, full release). Not only do experiments finance sexual animations, they seemed to be tied to combat — that’s awesome! I love to see games incorporate sexual content as member of core gameplay. Project Helius writes,
In the COMBAT DRILL mode, the game shifts to a top-down squad tactics + deck building roguelike where player utilizes data extracted from “Experiments” in Harem Mode to craft skill cards for the investigators to use in simulated engagement against cultists & eldritch monsters from Cthulhu mythology. Cozy up with the investigators to raise their affinity and prepare for the impending doom as the Ancient Ones awaken.
When I installed this demo, I was hoping to see something like “COMBAT DRILL mode” — I didn’t think I was downloading a fancy gallery! Deck building roguelikes are a lot of fun, and “top-down squad tactics” with the sort of models this game has to offer sounds amaze balls! I hope to see something like the new XCOM games, complete with gratuitous “kill cams” to showcase your crew and their “assets”!
Sexual Content: published December 4th, 2021 (5/5★)
If you’re squeamish about interspecies sex this is not your game! I loved the variety of monsters in the “Gallery” has to offer; from hounds to overgrown, wasp-like creatures, the Project Helius team are flexing their creative muscles! The full release promises a variety of sexual mechanics that tie into financing combat — however, the demo only offers a gallery, showcasing strictly animation (minus multiplayer mechanics). Each partner offers one or more positions with varying “sexual compatibility”. Sexual compatibility doesn’t seem to affect the actors, but I suspect it’s a planned update for the full release; perhaps it’ll determine when it’s appropriate to play a rape animation.
There are well over one-hundred animated, mildly interactive sexual animations to behold — suddenly I understand why this game needs fifteen gigabytes of storage! Once you pick a female actor, you may choose a sexual partner from a drop down-list. Most of the available partners are some sort of monster, but I spotted a few girl-on-girl animations. Once you’re ready to go, you just hit need to hit the “play” button and enjoy! By clicking and holding the cursor, you may slightly adjust the position of each actor, but interactivity is otherwise non-existent. Animations may be paused at anytime, and some of them offer a few choices for climaxes — but once your chosen characters are finished nutting (or squirting), the only option is to reset the animation or choose another.
There are only three female leads to choose from, but I’m under the impression the full release will offer one or more customizable player characters. Each outfit offers a multitude of toggleable parts, but outfits can’t be mix and matched. You are permitted to make minor changes to the characters, such as changing the properties of their skin or jiggle physics — but you can’t adjust the body (such as increasing the size of breasts) or create your own faces. Given Project Helius‘ ambitious plans for multiplayer, a robust character customization system will be paramount to the game’s success. Nobody is going to want to conduct “experiments” on each other when they are look the same!
Story: published December 4th, 2021 (1/5★)
There is no in-game dialogue or exposition. However, the trailer and loading screens suggest a rich back story. Project Helius writes,
Play as an assistant to Dr. Anya, a Miskatonic University neurobiologist studying encounters of the third kind on Yuggoth, a dwarf planet in the Kuiper Belt. Dr. Anya surgically implanted a cognitive filter in your prefrontal lobe to secure your sanity while experimenting on the eldritch horrors – as it keeps you from going mentally unstable, the cognitive filter also distorts your senses into making experiments look like orgy pornos and tentacle hentai. Nothing particularly bad about that…right?
Will we ever get to see the eldritch horrors without a “cognitive filter”?
Sound: published December 4th, 2021 (4/5★)
Once I reached the titlescreen, my ears will introduced a gentle, non-intrusive piano theme. While pianos aren’t the first instrument I think of when I see “Cthulhu mythos inspired sex”, I think it sets the mood. I wouldn’t mind participating in sexual “experiments” to a distant piano melody — but I hope there’s more action-packed tunes in story for the upcoming “COMBAT DRILL mode”! I had mixed feelings about the audio played during sexy time; the ladies are in a perpetual state of heavy panting, dominating the soundscape with hentai-like cries.
Visuals: published December 4th, 2021 (4/5★)
Operation Lovecraft: Fallen Doll is graphically impressive. The high-resolution, original models rival high-budget releases such as Subverse. There’s even jiggle and penetration physics, granting maximum immersion (or physics-based hilarity!) Like Skyrim breast physics, boobs sort of do their own thing when they have to sit still. The vaginal physics produce some sharp edges, but I suspect they entail a heavy toll on performance. I was able to spot clipping and distorted polygons, but visual errors were relatively tame.
Operation Lovecraft: Fallen Doll strained my GPU (an RTX 2060) at the highest settings. If I had a chance to play “Harem Mode” (with “up to 10 players”), my PC would probably catch on fire — which raises concerns regarding online performance. You may adjust basic graphical preferences (such as antialiasing and depth of field), but I think “fancy effects” will need to become toggleable. Low-end PCs will struggle to power through “experiments” with several players asking for physics-calculations at the same time.
Verdict: published December 4th, 2021 (3/5★)
I’m impressed! What I played was a fraction of proposed content, and it was kind of awesome. I’m a big fan of tentacles, monsters and borderline bestiality (technically they’re aliens!) However, I don’t recommend anyone download the demo to see for themselves. Though it offers a wonderful glimpse into the sort of adult content the full release will offer, but I’d rather not spoil the surprise. Even if you plan on providing feedback, there is no gameplay to report on (unless you plan on applying as a “closed beta tester”). Project Helius promises gobs of gameplay and sexual content that’s right up my ally, and I can’t wait to play the full release of Operation Lovecraft: Fallen Doll!
