Returning player here, I was super amazed by how many things have changed. The first time I played this game was over two years ago, when it was still in development. I believe there weren't character portraits in the past; I was pretty wowed when I saw them today. Not only that, but the assets in this finished product were totally changed, and new features were added. It really boosts your storytelling ten times compared to back then. I was supposed to write a short praise, but man, you deserve every little bit of it.
So, I've put ~60 hours into this game and still haven't finished the story, a fact which speaks volumes on its own. As NSFW games go, this one blows 99.99% of them out of the water in terms of writing quality, but that actually isn't nearly enough of a compliment, given how low the bar seems to be within the genre. The Last Sovereign is a very thoughtfully written game, and genuinely stands out as some of the best video game storytelling I've ever experienced. Kudos to SierraLee for creating a genuinely interesting setting and lore with compelling characters.
I'm consistently impressed with the subversion and lampooning of all-too common tropes (the Chosen stand out in this regard). Stunningly for an erotic game, it doesn't shy away from, and in fact frequently directly confronts, the moral dilemmas raised by its premise. It's nice to play as a genuinely morally-motivated character who is willing to question himself and his actions. The worldbuilding is excellent, and we're able to learn a lot thanks to having a multicultural cast of characters who, in-universe, have good reasons to be learning about parts of the world. As the player, sometimes you'll have certain assumptions when you first encounter some concept, and those assumptions will later be shown, through organic worldbuilding, to have been wrong.
The characters are generally quite well-written with distinct voices (textually speaking; there's no voice acting) and motivations. There are some weak points (there's one particular relationship that I personally feel progresses oddly with insufficient development) but these can be forgiven in a sea of strong character writing. Attention is paid throughout to the characters' relationships to one another, and not just to the player character.
Erotic content in the game arises as a natural extension of its thoughtful storytelling, worldbuilding, and character writing. In a rare feat, it is extraordinarily well integrated and natural, with the sexual content feeling like a real part of the story, rather than the story being a mere vehicle for sex, or the sex being a mere diversion from the story. I honestly never envisioned this being possible, at least not on the level that it's achieved here. The art is generally quite good, most of the characters receive a fair share of attention, and the erotic writing is as high-quality as the writing is in general. This is what elevates the erotic content to excellence despite a lack of, say, animated sex scenes (which of course would be nice, but it would be just plain greedy to ask for that).
The gameplay is likewise quite good, with a pretty strong combat system that is often challenging but rarely ever feels unfair. There's a strong variety of party options as you progress. My main complaint about the gameplay is that the economic side of things seems to rely on snowballing, which means early mistakes or failures to capitalize can compound pretty punishingly. I sort of want to restart so I can do better, but at the same time, I feel like I should see my current playthrough to the end.
Some random assorted thoughts: "thoughtful" is the best adjective to describe this game's writing. It somehow makes a fantasy world with sex magic feel grounded. I'm kind of amazed that someone with this much talent for writing has channeled that into an erotic game, but I'm not complaining. The character writing is so good that a character relationship which I would normally find to be an instant experience-ruining mega-turnoff, when approached with the thoughtfulness of TLS, actually seems pretty sweet. The game has a pretty interesting take on asexuality. It also has what I can only describe as a pretty consistent pro-atheist bias, though not in a cringey anti-religious way.
SierraLee, absolutely phenomenal work. Seriously, you are a great writer, and this game is an absolute gem. It stands out among NSFW games as the best one I have played. Its merit as a game, and as an artistic project, extends far beyond its masturbatory value. Even without the "NSFW" qualifier, it's an absolutely excellent game. Congratulations on proving that porno games can have real artistic merit.
Thanks for the kind review; I'm glad you've enjoyed the game. ^-^
You aren't the only person to complain about the snowballing element of the calculations, and in fact I agree with you! The upcoming update (version 0.81.x) includes a few tweaks to make this element less punishing. It doesn't entirely remove the positive feedback loop of investment returns, but it does offer some options so that early mistakes don't leave players unable to engage with this element.
Ah, that's great to hear! I've been playing 0.79.3; I see there have been updates since I started playing and will probably switch to a newer version. Anyway, I felt like I had to leave a review because it's clear how much love and attention has been put into this project. At so many points, I've been impressed by how the writing is willing to deconstruct tropes, face moral dilemmas head-on, and refuse to take the easy way out (as I alluded to in my review, my reaction to Robin content would have been very different if it had come quickly and with the easy excuse). The worldbuilding is so cool and I really appreciate how it's explored organically rather than with an exposition dump. I could gush more but I don't want to repeat myself. Great work!
The updates after yours are mostly related to the postgame, which isn't relevant to you yet (though there are some added battle busts and other details). Not critical to update but you will want to transfer your saves sometime. I'm currently working on another big update that may be the last feature release.
It's always nice to hear from people who appreciate what I was going for, whether it's the worldbuilding or all the topics the game tries to tackle, so thanks for your review. ^-^
Easily the longest nsfw rpg, and the longest rpgmaker game I've played. In terms of story it outclasses almost all of them and I've played it twice, with a total of 200 hours between both playthroughs. Very in depth investment and management mechanics. The only downside of playing it is that the story is so good and has so many plot points that every other game looks like baby food. It tackles a lot of real topics like fanatic religious beliefs, ptsd, growing older, and many more. All of the nsfw stuff is very well built up and many of the characters you don't have sex with for a long time, Lee is a wizard and should be proud. Cannot recommend it more.
Words can't describe how good this game is! Gems between RPG Maker Games are super rare, but I'm just so into this one.
I just rolled my eyes at the beginning but I was su happy at the subversion... and then the second one. I'm not that far yet, only leaving the first major city, but I'm absolutely in love with these chars, which are incredibly well written. The dynamic between them, despite the theme of the game, is oddly wholsome and I really dig it. A story is well written when I care about the chars, and I already cared so much that I didn't wanna sell-out the doofus in my party.
I could gush more and more about the writing, the chars, how it's a rare case about a game that makes me laugh again and again, despite being depressing here and there. So yeah, great cast, motivating systems, well thought out quests (feels like 'SaGa') and I'm absolutely hooked!
Thanks, glad to hear you're so positive about the game! If you've enjoyed it up to that point, I hope you will find a lot more to enjoy as it goes forward. ^-^
I think that's the first SaGa comparison I've seen, but I'll take it!
I am very new to this RPG style games and I am very happy that one of My first RPG games and the one I competed very first is THE LAST SOVEREIGN.
In this review I will say the game's story flow, artwork, boss battles were just fantastic, I am not able to support rn but i would gladly support you in your future projects, Miss SierraLee.
Thankyou for making such a beautiful game.
(also yeah I did cheat in increasing Prons and money. AND PLEASE TELL ME WHERE ARE POTION AND MORE!!!!!! WHERE ARE THEY!!!!! I LOVED THEM!!!)
Thanks, glad to hear you enjoyed the game! I will definitely be around creating more games, so feel free to follow me via whatever platform is convenient.
Referring to Potions and More, did you find that they have a whole sidequest? Not sure what you're asking, but check the community (guides or people) to see if you got all the content with those characters. ^-^
I'm afraid that I don't know, because this has never come up before. If you need a solution, you might want to start with a general one for the engine, which is "RPG Maker VX Ace".
Thank you Sierra, truly a master works in story telling and compelling character design. To finally have an ending. I started back when Chapter 3 was almost done? Always come back to see your world grow and now im at a loss.. what else could beat this haha. Best of luck to you in future works. Of course i will be watching Hell mite even make a story thats 20000 years later and see what reality came of the choices made.
Honestly thanks for the endless hours of running back and forth just to see who has something to say about the current events in world. Going to miss this and im not afraid to admit i came here to fap but fuck me i stayed for the story.
Anyone else seriously give TLS a go its everything this type of game should aspire to be and there's plenty for everyone to enjoy.
SAVE GAMES NOW SAVE THEM FROM THE CLUTCHES OF COLLECTIVE SHOUT
There's a bill called Fair Access to Banking Act which would impose steep fines on payment processors for violating legal purchases due to political or social reasons. I strongly encourage people to call up their representatives and ask that they support this bill and push back against censorship. Bill is S.401
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Returning player here, I was super amazed by how many things have changed. The first time I played this game was over two years ago, when it was still in development. I believe there weren't character portraits in the past; I was pretty wowed when I saw them today. Not only that, but the assets in this finished product were totally changed, and new features were added. It really boosts your storytelling ten times compared to back then. I was supposed to write a short praise, but man, you deserve every little bit of it.
In addition to moving the story forward, I've been trying to improve various aspects of the game, so I'm glad to hear they were appreciated!
Will always look forward to your work, always.
So, I've put ~60 hours into this game and still haven't finished the story, a fact which speaks volumes on its own. As NSFW games go, this one blows 99.99% of them out of the water in terms of writing quality, but that actually isn't nearly enough of a compliment, given how low the bar seems to be within the genre. The Last Sovereign is a very thoughtfully written game, and genuinely stands out as some of the best video game storytelling I've ever experienced. Kudos to SierraLee for creating a genuinely interesting setting and lore with compelling characters.
I'm consistently impressed with the subversion and lampooning of all-too common tropes (the Chosen stand out in this regard). Stunningly for an erotic game, it doesn't shy away from, and in fact frequently directly confronts, the moral dilemmas raised by its premise. It's nice to play as a genuinely morally-motivated character who is willing to question himself and his actions. The worldbuilding is excellent, and we're able to learn a lot thanks to having a multicultural cast of characters who, in-universe, have good reasons to be learning about parts of the world. As the player, sometimes you'll have certain assumptions when you first encounter some concept, and those assumptions will later be shown, through organic worldbuilding, to have been wrong.
The characters are generally quite well-written with distinct voices (textually speaking; there's no voice acting) and motivations. There are some weak points (there's one particular relationship that I personally feel progresses oddly with insufficient development) but these can be forgiven in a sea of strong character writing. Attention is paid throughout to the characters' relationships to one another, and not just to the player character.
Erotic content in the game arises as a natural extension of its thoughtful storytelling, worldbuilding, and character writing. In a rare feat, it is extraordinarily well integrated and natural, with the sexual content feeling like a real part of the story, rather than the story being a mere vehicle for sex, or the sex being a mere diversion from the story. I honestly never envisioned this being possible, at least not on the level that it's achieved here. The art is generally quite good, most of the characters receive a fair share of attention, and the erotic writing is as high-quality as the writing is in general. This is what elevates the erotic content to excellence despite a lack of, say, animated sex scenes (which of course would be nice, but it would be just plain greedy to ask for that).
The gameplay is likewise quite good, with a pretty strong combat system that is often challenging but rarely ever feels unfair. There's a strong variety of party options as you progress. My main complaint about the gameplay is that the economic side of things seems to rely on snowballing, which means early mistakes or failures to capitalize can compound pretty punishingly. I sort of want to restart so I can do better, but at the same time, I feel like I should see my current playthrough to the end.
Some random assorted thoughts: "thoughtful" is the best adjective to describe this game's writing. It somehow makes a fantasy world with sex magic feel grounded. I'm kind of amazed that someone with this much talent for writing has channeled that into an erotic game, but I'm not complaining. The character writing is so good that a character relationship which I would normally find to be an instant experience-ruining mega-turnoff, when approached with the thoughtfulness of TLS, actually seems pretty sweet. The game has a pretty interesting take on asexuality. It also has what I can only describe as a pretty consistent pro-atheist bias, though not in a cringey anti-religious way.
SierraLee, absolutely phenomenal work. Seriously, you are a great writer, and this game is an absolute gem. It stands out among NSFW games as the best one I have played. Its merit as a game, and as an artistic project, extends far beyond its masturbatory value. Even without the "NSFW" qualifier, it's an absolutely excellent game. Congratulations on proving that porno games can have real artistic merit.
Thanks for the kind review; I'm glad you've enjoyed the game. ^-^
You aren't the only person to complain about the snowballing element of the calculations, and in fact I agree with you! The upcoming update (version 0.81.x) includes a few tweaks to make this element less punishing. It doesn't entirely remove the positive feedback loop of investment returns, but it does offer some options so that early mistakes don't leave players unable to engage with this element.
Ah, that's great to hear! I've been playing 0.79.3; I see there have been updates since I started playing and will probably switch to a newer version. Anyway, I felt like I had to leave a review because it's clear how much love and attention has been put into this project. At so many points, I've been impressed by how the writing is willing to deconstruct tropes, face moral dilemmas head-on, and refuse to take the easy way out (as I alluded to in my review, my reaction to Robin content would have been very different if it had come quickly and with the easy excuse). The worldbuilding is so cool and I really appreciate how it's explored organically rather than with an exposition dump. I could gush more but I don't want to repeat myself. Great work!
The updates after yours are mostly related to the postgame, which isn't relevant to you yet (though there are some added battle busts and other details). Not critical to update but you will want to transfer your saves sometime. I'm currently working on another big update that may be the last feature release.
It's always nice to hear from people who appreciate what I was going for, whether it's the worldbuilding or all the topics the game tries to tackle, so thanks for your review. ^-^
Easily the longest nsfw rpg, and the longest rpgmaker game I've played. In terms of story it outclasses almost all of them and I've played it twice, with a total of 200 hours between both playthroughs. Very in depth investment and management mechanics. The only downside of playing it is that the story is so good and has so many plot points that every other game looks like baby food. It tackles a lot of real topics like fanatic religious beliefs, ptsd, growing older, and many more. All of the nsfw stuff is very well built up and many of the characters you don't have sex with for a long time, Lee is a wizard and should be proud. Cannot recommend it more.
Thanks, glad to hear you enjoyed the game!
What protaganist as I play male or female
Male.
Words can't describe how good this game is!
Gems between RPG Maker Games are super rare, but I'm just so into this one.
I just rolled my eyes at the beginning but I was su happy at the subversion... and then the second one.
I'm not that far yet, only leaving the first major city, but I'm absolutely in love with these chars, which are incredibly well written.
The dynamic between them, despite the theme of the game, is oddly wholsome and I really dig it.
A story is well written when I care about the chars, and I already cared so much that I didn't wanna sell-out the doofus in my party.
I could gush more and more about the writing, the chars, how it's a rare case about a game that makes me laugh again and again, despite being depressing here and there.
So yeah, great cast, motivating systems, well thought out quests (feels like 'SaGa') and I'm absolutely hooked!
Thanks, glad to hear you're so positive about the game! If you've enjoyed it up to that point, I hope you will find a lot more to enjoy as it goes forward. ^-^
I think that's the first SaGa comparison I've seen, but I'll take it!
I am very new to this RPG style games and I am very happy that one of My first RPG games and the one I competed very first is THE LAST SOVEREIGN.
In this review I will say the game's story flow, artwork, boss battles were just fantastic, I am not able to support rn but i would gladly support you in your future projects, Miss SierraLee.
Thankyou for making such a beautiful game.
(also yeah I did cheat in increasing Prons and money. AND PLEASE TELL ME WHERE ARE POTION AND MORE!!!!!! WHERE ARE THEY!!!!! I LOVED THEM!!!)
Thanks, glad to hear you enjoyed the game! I will definitely be around creating more games, so feel free to follow me via whatever platform is convenient.
Referring to Potions and More, did you find that they have a whole sidequest? Not sure what you're asking, but check the community (guides or people) to see if you got all the content with those characters. ^-^
YAY!
Hey! I don't know if you've heard about this, but good-ish news! Itch.io is reindexing free adult content!: https://itch.io/t/5149036/reindexing-adult-nsfw-content
Hi, the game does not support Windows on ARM does it?
I'm afraid that I don't know, because this has never come up before. If you need a solution, you might want to start with a general one for the engine, which is "RPG Maker VX Ace".
Thank you Sierra, truly a master works in story telling and compelling character design. To finally have an ending. I started back when Chapter 3 was almost done? Always come back to see your world grow and now im at a loss.. what else could beat this haha. Best of luck to you in future works. Of course i will be watching Hell mite even make a story thats 20000 years later and see what reality came of the choices made.
Honestly thanks for the endless hours of running back and forth just to see who has something to say about the current events in world. Going to miss this and im not afraid to admit i came here to fap but fuck me i stayed for the story.
Anyone else seriously give TLS a go its everything this type of game should aspire to be and there's plenty for everyone to enjoy.
SAVE GAMES NOW SAVE THEM FROM THE CLUTCHES OF COLLECTIVE SHOUT
There's a bill called Fair Access to Banking Act which would impose steep fines on payment processors for violating legal purchases due to political or social reasons. I strongly encourage people to call up their representatives and ask that they support this bill and push back against censorship. Bill is S.401