Chapter One: Introduction
Story of Eve – A Hero’s Study is a lewd turn-based card game available on Steam.
It took me about forty-five minutes to complete the game.
Chapter Two: Gameplay (3/5★)
Section One: Overview
As the newest “adventurer” in town, Eve must complete “Guild quests” by defeating bosses and their respective monsters. When she proves her strength against orcs, slimes and goblins, she must prepare to battle the prophesized Demon Lord himself.
Section Two: Combat
Battle is conducted turn-by-turn via randomly drawn cards. Mechanically, damage is determined by a sort of “rock paper scissors” system; hearts beat shields, shields beat swords, and swords beat hearts. If both parties reveal the same card, equal damage is dealt to both of them.
The number of cards drawn is determined by Eve’s equipped “Sacred Suit”. By collecting “materials” to craft new Suits, Eve is able to alter what she draws and how often. Drawing cards is important because copies can be combined for increased damage.
Section Two: Balance
By the end of the game, combat gets really repetitive. I think the issue lies with how simplistic combat is. It’s just more of the same thing with spongier enemies. I wish there were more mechanics in the game (– or even just traditional RPG combat.)
The process of “crafting” Sacred Suits adds replay value, but it doesn’t add strategic depth to the game. There’s no reason to pick a previously unlocked Suit over another. Sacrificing increased card draws will result in the game dragging out longer than it needs.
Chapter Three: Sexual Content (4/5★)
Section One: Content
There are nine unlockable sex-scenes. Sex-scenes are comprised of a single image, with variations for progression, and dialogue. Most sex-scenes are reserved for when Eve is defeated — and raped by monsters. Otherwise, consenting scenes are unlocked as the game progresses.
Section Two: Implementation
When Eve loses a battle, she may either lose “HP” or “EP”. When her “HP” is reduced to “zero”, she is booted to the level-select screen. However, when her “EP” is reduced to “zero” while fighting a boss, a sex-scene is played instead. In my experience, I needed to equip the weakest Sacred Suit in Eve’s possession and play to lose to unlock sexual content.
Section Three: Interactivity
The sex-scenes are linear sequences with skippable text.
Section Four: Quality
The sex-scenes are too short — but the dialogue and top-notch artwork are a lot of fun while they last. I think SmallSqurriel maximized the impact of what little written content they have to offer.
Chapter Four: Story (2/5★)
Section One: Plot
Eve Lugia is but a “simple female thief” enamored by “Exploration”. Mentored by “washed-up hero” Andrew, they fulfill Guild quests. However, Andrew notices something unusual about his student; the rate at which her abilities improve is legendary. As their quests take them deeper into ancient prophecies, it takes a monster girl to reveal the truth behind Eve’s abilities.
Section One: Characters
Without spoiling the plot twist, Eve is more than meets the eye — but the game isn’t long enough to have a meaningful build up. While the story is more creative than your typical “demon king threatens world” trope, it isn’t an interesting subversion either.
Chapter Five: Sound (4/5★)
Section One: Soundtrack
The soundtrack is an exciting mix of electronic beats. However, I found the rate at which tracks switch to be jarring. Each screen has different music — which isn’t usually a bad thing, but it also means the first few seconds of each track get overplayed.
Section Two: Sound Effects
There’s plenty of sound effects to go around for brightening combat and sexual content.
Section Three: Voice Acting
Surprisingly, there is no voice acting — not even moans or exciting breathing.
Chapter Six: Visuals (3/5★)
Section One: User-interface
The user-interface is sound. I had no issues navigating any portion of the game. Story of Eve – A Hero’s Study even provides tutorials to help players understand the usage of icons.
The animations are needlessly slowly. Watching cards flip over is fun for like the first five minutes. . . after ten-twenty minutes I wished there was a way to skip the animation while grinding.
Section Two: Graphics
The cards used for combat and navigation are disproportionally “stock” compared to the rest of the game. The icons don’t evoke feelings of “fantasy”, and the text often covers up the card boards. How hard can it be to center and scale a decal?
As the game progresses, Eve’s outfits get skimpier and skimpier for uh, “better mobility”. If only girls in real life understood the battle benefits that come with better mobility!
SmallSqurriel says “The less it covers, the more powerful it is!”
I can confirm women wearing the “Nude Outfit” are the most powerful.
Chapter Seven: Verdict (3/5★)
Story of Eve – A Hero’s Study is quick, casual game with interesting sex-scenes — but I wouldn’t call it “fun”. It’s fun for ten, maybe twenty minutes, but eventually the novelty of combat wears off. However, the game is short enough to mitigate a lot of the monotony if you’re primarily interested in the gallery. Story of Eve – A Hero’s Study could be better in a lot a ways, but I say the artwork is certainly worth the inconvenience of gameplay.
