The Castaway meets DnD meets Metal Gear
Castaway of the Ardusta Sea's review
Developer: Baron Sengia (Published by Kagura Games)
Genre: JRPG, Survival
Store: Steam, GOG, Denpasoft, Kagura Games store, DLSite (only in Japanese)
Reviewed version: 1.02
Censored: No, except for the DLSite version
Patch Needed: No, except for the Steam version
OS: Windows
Language: English, Chinese, Japanese
I love how no matter how long you've been playing video games, there's always one that surprises you in one way or another. Castaway of the Ardusta Sea is one of those games, and I'm glad I got to play it.
Pros
Solid and original gameplay
Pretty art
Decent plot
Neutral
It takes some time to get used to it
Not the typical "stranded on an island" game
You're probably expecting it to be like Paradise Lust plot-wise, and I wouldn't blame you if you do. While it starts like any other survival game where you're left alone on a deserted island, the plot takes a quick turn once it's revealed the protagonist ended up in a pirate hideout. Now you need to find a way to get provisions and return to the mainland while not getting noticed by the pirates. You can sneak around as if you were Solid Snake, backstab them, or seduce them with your feminine charms if everything else fails (and then murder them if you feel like it). Of course, you can always fight them head-on, but that's borderline suicidal during the first half of the game.
The story is quite serviceable. Sure, it's not a masterpiece, but it's engaging thanks to its plot twists. There's also a nice balance between comedy and seriousness, featuring silly moments that keep the story away from getting too grim. On another note, the game has many different endings you unlock based on your achievements. For example, you get one for just beating the game, teaching that one marine monster who is the king of the sea, or kicking the final boss’ ass like the absolute badass you are, among others.
The dice are trying to kill you
Gameplay-wise the game feels like a tabletop RPG at times. The strength of your weapons and skills is based on "dice rolls" (in other words, their power appears as 1d6 or similar instead of a fixed number). Moreover, there are stats checks at some points in the story where you can progress if you succeed, but it's game over (or worse) if you fail. The game also comes with one of the most frustrating aspects of the genre: getting bad rolls at the worst moments. The damage you do and take is so random you feel like everything is conspiring against you when you barely damage them and they beat you right afterward.
Also, you get skill points every 2-3 levels that you can spend on, you guessed it, learning skills. As tempting as it is to grind levels to get all of them, the level cap is so low you'd be better off specializing in a set of skills. So, for example, you may want to focus on getting the assassination skills and grab the only offensive skill in the thief category if all you want is to kick ass and chew bubblegum.
Pleasing to the eyes and the ears
Artistically, the game improved a lot compared to the dev's previous works. While Aisha still looks as good as she did in Escape from Fortress Lugohm, the character images of the enemies are very well done. What's more, the sex scenes are animated. Sure, they look a bit rubbery like many Live2D animations, but it's still an improvement over static images.
On another note, the soundtrack is decent, but what I liked the most about the game sound-wise is that all of Aisha's lines are voiced no matter how relevant they are. She talks whenever an important scene is playing or when you're pressing X next to an empty barrel. However, I wish some of the more relevant guys had voice-acted lines.
Verdict: Frustrating at first, but overall it’s enjoyable
Castaway of the Ardusta Sea is a fun stealth game, though it takes some time to get used to its game mechanics, especially when you're prone to fighting mobs head-on. Give it a shot if you're looking for a stealth-oriented game or one that's different than your typical H-RPG.