Explorer of Yggdrasil comes via the creators of the previously reviewed Niplheim’s Hunter – Branded Azel (NSFW), and in the best example of game development improves on its predecessor in many ways. Sadly that doesn’t include the story, which mixes science fiction and fantasy tropes strangely, and feels abrupt. But the less broken gameplay and the character classes that associate different combat styles with fetish wear help make Explorer of Yggdrasil an enjoyable fantasy romp that taps many erotic buttons at a good pace.
This review is entirely Not Safe For Work.
Story
Explorer of Yggdrasil stars Mei, an amnesiac (sigh) adventurer exploring the tower of Yggdrasil, which appeared from nowhere centuries ago. The tower is said to contain every fantasy weapon ever developed, including duplicates of unique magical weapons. Coming across the arm-less mage Gilles being thrown out of the tower by its security guards, Mei interferes, and ends up selling sex for entry. Yes, the game starts with prostitution, and we see immediately that Mei loves sex. Soon after, Mei and Gilles team up to tackle the tower and try to reach its top floor.
Warning, spoilers ahead.
The tower turns out to be an alien spaceship with no administrator and haywire systems, causing it to make both monsters and weapons. There are just enough details about the sci-fi plot, but not enough to prevent the story from feeling like it invents convenient details as it goes. At one point, Mei and Gilles are teleported away from the ship and we suddenly learn that not all the monsters in the tower are its creations. Some just happen to teleport in from the wilderness. And it just so happens that the teleporter is nearby!
This example is by far one of the least offensive examples of forced plot, but it’s compounded with other major plot points that seem to appear from thin air. It makes the non-erotic story feel like an add-on, and while that’s not a deal-breaker, it’s unfortunate.
The story’s saving grace is that it doesn’t include a plot point about the origins of Mei’s nymphomania, unlike Azel from Niplheim’s Hunter, whose lust brand forced her to have sex. Mei just likes it. Sex feels good, and she’s willing to explore what she and her partners like.
Gameplay
The gameplay in Explorer of Yggdrasil is a clear improvement on Niplheim’s Hunter. There is no mining or equivalent work activity. The entire resource system is built around items. Killing monsters, opening treasure chests, occasionally being molested by a mimic, and stealing from monsters, all to gain items.
Stealing from monsters is accomplished in harmony with the healing mechanic. Gilles produces healing potions for Mei, but they induce lust in her with a percentage chance you choose at camp. I picked 100%, but not for pixel sex but because when Mei goes into heat and gets the monsters to have sex with her, she’s able to steal their weapon. Many monsters in the mid-to-late game can kill you in two attacks if you don’t steal their weapon, so the game encourages you to use high lust chance healing, and I liked that succumbing to lust isn’t a glaring disadvantage like it was in Niplheim’s Hunter.
Weapons are the primary item you collect. There’s a variety of them: swords, knives, maces, staves, and so on. Different classes prefer specific weapons, but instead of blocking you from equipping some, you get a 1.5x damage bonus for equipping preferred types.
Most of the combat depth comes from weaponry and shields, which you can equip along with one-handed weapons. In Explorer of Yggdrasil combat happens on the world map — no switching to a combat screen — where Mei and the enemy get a timer bar that fills up until they can attack. When it’s Mei’s turn you can attack, heal, or try to run away. Special effects all derive from your weapons, which include things like healing every time you get a turn, or gaining TP faster. TP is used up when you heal, but if the meter gets to 100+ your next attack automatically becomes a special move which can give you a 2x critical hit if you succeed at a mini-game. If you like flashy special attacks or magic in your RPGs though, this game has none of that.
Having a shield equipped lets you reduce damage by tapping the correct arrow key. Against fast attacking enemies this can reduce their many attacks into mere tickles, but it’s useful against strong enemies as well. I experimented between using a one-handed weapon with a shield or a two-handed weapon and found I preferred shields, but the higher damage of two-handed weapons seemed viable at most stages of the game.
Like Niplheim’s Hunter, Explorer of Yggdrasil has stats, but here raising ATK doesn’t feel like the best way to win. Since healing doesn’t leave you vulnerable, and weapons have a variety of effects that work with different builds, all the classes feel viable. The game tends to feel challenging and death is a risk at any time, but if you’re comfortable with your gear choices, should be rare. I rarely went out of my way to grind levels, maybe killing a few extra enemies when I knew I was close and about to face the next boss, but grinding is super viable. Each class levels different stats at different rates, so if you grind a bunch as one class and then switch to another and grind some more you can become good at everything. Perfect preparation for the final boss.
That final boss is a killer. It took me at least four tries because I needed to block its attacks perfectly to live long enough to kill it. Every other boss is annoyingly easy by comparison. Since they’re not equipped with weapons they don’t have the RNG super-strong attacks that regular enemies can have. Disappointingly, it’s not uncommon for floor enemies to be stronger than the boss just before them.
Don’t want to grind fights? Grind sex scenes for lewd points. Lewd points can be used to raise your stats individually. For a game heavily about sex, this makes perfect sense and is how my defensive build kept building ATK stat throughout the game. It doesn’t hurt that the lewd point stat screen also keeps track of sex stats, and comes with erotic art of whatever class Mei happens to be.
Art, Design, and Eroticism
The pixel art is pretty good, Explorer of Yggdrasil has a number of unique pixel assets, including Gilles and Mei, which show a level of love and effort many RPGMaker games don’t bother with.
The UI design and aesthetic are simple, and for some reason steampunk-inspired, which is again disconnected with the plot. Other than arguably some of the outfits there is only one steampunk element in the game. Gilles has a steampunk robot, which functions as his arms, and the only reason his robot isn’t high-tech seems to be because it obscures the tower-is-spaceship reveal. So in a sense, the steampunk is a lie.
The CGs and scenes are only one aspect of the game’s eroticism. What really makes the game’s eroticism sing is the voice work and the outfits, each of which has its own scenes.
The voice work is breathless, lewd, screaming, and ecstatic. Full marks, especially given how blatantly the game makes Mei a prostitute who likes sex.
Then there are the class outfits. The first four, including the default outfit, all have their own erotic points while still looking exactly like the class label. I played Priest for most of the game because it was hot, and what more can you ask from an erotic game than for your class choice to be based on taste and be viable at the same time? Then the game unlocks the advanced classes, throwing in animal-themed styles that combine say, cute fluffiness, as pictured in the sheep-themed class two pictures above, and the cute-eroticism combinations just explode into perfection. Lewd scenes involving those outfits are (almost) unnecessary.
Conclusion
Explorer of Yggdrasil demonstrates improvement, and while its developers could benefit from a more solid story, the gameplay straddles challenge and ease so you’re rarely bored as you proceed from one sexy scene to the next. Plus they’ve mastered erotic outfit design. Explorer of Yggdrasil is available from JAST USA (NSFW).
