Chapter One: Introduction
The Imperial Gatekeeper is a lewd clicker game available on Steam. To experience the full game (with adult content), the Steam version must be patched. A patch can be found on Kagura Games’ website under “Patches”. I will only be discussing the patched version of the game here on out.
Chapter Two: Gameplay (4/5★)
Section One: Overview
Corporal Thill is in charge of inspecting paperwork and confiscating unlawful weapons. The Imperial Gatekeeper is essentially a glorified “spot the difference” game, but there’s some “excitement” to be had while you’re comparing documents!
To uphold the safety of the people, he must perform regular “pat downs” to insure no “dangerous items” are smuggled between borders. Naturally, to reach some contraband, he has to remove applicants’ clothing — but only what’s “necessary”, of course.
Section Two: Balancing
As the story progresses, Corporal Thill’s superiors expect more productivity with no extra employees or pay — but at no point are you forced to play at a certain pace. You could theoretically screen one applicant a day and still beat the game (albeit slowly). However, to progress the game at a reasonable rate you must strike a balance between speed and accuracy.
Unfortunately, you have to process quite a bit of applicants to unlock new checkpoints and mechanics. I got frustrated by how little progress I made from every “shift”. By the time I unlocked all of my “tools” for inspecting applicants, I was already somewhat burnt out on the gameplay. By “Stage Five”, I let just about everyone and their mom pass.
Chapter Three: Sexual Content (4/5★)
Section One: Content
The Imperial Gatekeeper primarily offers sexual content in the form of bribes and harassment. Both men and women may be groped, striped and fucked (you know for the peoples’ safety). There are a handful of consenting scenes in the game, but whether or not Thill encounters romanceable applicants is up to randomness — I wouldn’t count on them, unless you’re prepared to grind.
Section Two: Implementation
Performing full body “pat downs” and strip-searching applicants is essential to preventing weapons from slipping by. Most of them have at least one erogenous zone, granting increased “arousal” when targeted for a pat down. However, touching applicants causes “stress”; when an applicant is overtly stressed, they’ll just leave (resulting in a score-detracting “mistake”).
Fortunately, there are a few methods to keep applicants in Thill’s office for. . . “inspection”.
Whenever Thill causes an applicant to orgasm, they will no longer be “stressed” for the duration of inspection. With some luck, it’s possible to make applicants quickly climax by guessing the correct erogenous zones. But if they leave, it’s no biggie — the penalty for a few “mistakes” is negligible.
Alternatively, Thill may purchase a variety of items to influence stress and arousal. When caught with expired papers, some applicants will offer themselves in exchange for turning a blind eye. Thill also has the option to bribe applicants for sex, but why pay for what’s already free?
Section Three: Interactivity
While engaging in sexual intercourse with an applicant, you may either choose to “Make cum” or “Put it in”. Make cum will cause applicants to orgasm by Thill’s “pat down” alone; Put it in will employ the Corporal’s “member”.
As the animation plays, you may adjust the speed or toggle between “gentle” or “rough” sex. When the applicant’s “arousal” gauge is filled, Thill will climax. The process can be repeated as many times as you’d like; once again, after climaxing applicants will accept continued sexual advances.
Unfortunately, the full-art sex-scenes are no more interactive than a visual novel.
Section Four: Quality
As soon as I saw my first lady in the game, I knew I was in for a treat. The Imperial Gatekeeper delivers a mix of busty, chubby ladies, teenagers and differing shapes and sizes of men. There’s someone for everyone to grope pat down with wonderfully rendered genitalia.
There’s only one problem. . . the animation for vaginal penetration is glitched. Vaginas appear to float on top of Thill’s wiener, which pretty much murdered my immersion.
Chapter Four: Story (4/5★)
Section One: Plot
The “Empire has won the war”, leaving only “dangerous individuals” who threaten the Empire’s peace. Known as the “Silver Hand”, they are “former soldiers who didn’t agree with the peace treaties”. Nowadays, checkpoints are essential for preventing intrusion from Silver Hand operatives.
As a leader of Security Squad 1, Corporal Thill begrudgingly screens incoming traffic for contraband and wanted criminals. Though his glory days as a soldier are long gone, he is no less of a hero. He, among a pair of helping hands are the only thing separating the Empire’s troops and townships from those who want to watch the Empire burn.
Section Two: Character Development
Between checkpoints and plot development, Corporal Thill may spend additional time with his subordinates, Private Krissha and Rihart. Krissha’s membership placement in Security Squad 1 is no coincidence; there’s a fire in her heart for the soldier who saved her years ago. Rihart is just kind of around — he’s a perverted slacker, and third wheel between their Thill and his secret admirer.
Chapter Five: Sound (3/5★)
Section One: Soundtrack
I dig the sound track! The Imperial Gatekeeper offers a few heavy-handed fantasy tracks that set the mood. They no doubt but you in the shoes of a disgruntled legend reduced to a paper pusher.
Section Two: Sound Effects
The ambience is on point. Foot steps could be cleaner, but The Imperial Gatekeeper makes me feel like I’m really cooped in a tent with a stamp in one hand and my uh, “metal detector” in the other. The sound effects are, for lack of a better word “dirty”. “Dirty” in the sense that I could hear when the audio files would start and stop before due to a sort of background noise.
Section Three: Voice Acting
Although I wasn’t expecting spoken words, I am a little disappointed by the lack of voice acting. Small things, such as sighs, moans and grumbles, would owe to more entertaining gameplay.
Chapter Six: Visuals (4/5★)
Section One: User-interface
The user-interface is well put together. The Imperial Gatekeeper effectively uses up to three separate views. Whether Corporal Thill is enforcing traffic security or getting bitched at by his “female superior”, I enjoyed the creative usage of the screen. The user-interface is somewhat controllable via keyboard, but mouse usage is mandatory for searching applicants.
Section Two: Graphics
The graphics are a delight! The pixel art and user-interface could be a little stronger, but most for the most part The Imperial Gatekeeper feels like a polished game. My biggest complaint would be the variety of applicants and contraband.
Although there are a lot of different men and women to see, it doesn’t take more than a few hours to see duplicates. For a game with over five hours of content, you’d think there’d be a much larger library of unique visual elements to maintain fresh gameplay.
Chapter Seven: Verdict (4/5★)
The Imperial Gatekeeper gets monotonous, but I still had fun inspecting breasts papers from start to finish! This game has someone for everyone, offering male and female sexual content. I was pleasantly surprised by the storytelling; the plot and characters are more than meets the eye. If you enjoy tits and paperwork, consider a career as an Imperial gatekeeper!
Chapter Eight: Recommendations
Gameplay
Add more contraband. Fishing for the same three weapons from start to finish gets old. It’d be fun to confiscate illegal imports such as drugs or enemy propaganda. The “Silver Hand” antagonists could have even been foreshadowed using contraband.
Add more weapons. Given the importance of searching for weapons in the game, you’d think there’d be more weapons to see. I loved weapons that were just slightly visible, such as the necklaces with daggers on the end. Having some weapons that aren’t completely concealed not only increases the visual variety of applicants, it offers a visual que for pat downs. Hidden weapons should be most prominent towards the end of the game, when players likely own a metal detector.
Sexual Content
Add more dialogue for unwanted advances.
Visuals
Disallow the same applicant to appear twice in succession.
Sound
Add voice acting, especially during “pat downs”.
