Detective Girl of the Steam City
- July 18, 2019
- Clymenia
"Detective Girl of the Steam City" follows Clymenia, a detective with a mysterious past, as she investigates crimes and uncovers secrets in a sprawling steam-powered metropolis. With a variety of cases to solve and eccentric characters to meet, players will need to use their wits and observational skills to bring criminals to justice. Along the way, Clymenia will also confront her own personal demons and uncover the truth about her family's mysterious past.
Reviews
- The game features a charming steampunk detective theme with a well-designed protagonist, Sophie, who is both cute and competent.
- The story is engaging with multiple routes and side quests, providing a good mix of detective work and adult content.
- The art and music quality are high, enhancing the overall experience and atmosphere of the game.
- The gameplay can feel repetitive, with combat being simplistic and not very engaging, often relying on grinding.
- The detective elements are somewhat undermined by scripted events, limiting player agency in solving cases.
- The game is relatively short, and some players may find the adult content overshadowing the main gameplay mechanics.
- story112 mentions
- 32 % positive mentions
- 65 % neutral mentions
- 3 % negative mentions
The game's story is a blend of steampunk detective elements and adult themes, featuring a main narrative that branches into different paths based on player choices, such as siding with the police or a gang. While the main storyline is described as engaging and filled with interesting quests, it is often criticized for being short and lacking depth, with many side quests feeling disconnected from the main plot. Overall, players appreciate the art and character design, but note that the game sacrifices substantial character development for its adult content.
“Cute little game that offers a nice detective adventure. The quests are simple but nicely written with no excessive dialogue, the corruption system isn't over the top like most h-games and offers some nice twists as you replay the game with different corruption levels. The art is great and the main character is very cute.”
“The story is fairly engaging, as are the combat mechanics (if a bit easy).”
“The game actually manages to capture the feel of a Sherlock Holmes story quite well, albeit in a simplified, cartoony, and sexy way.”
“The gameplay is just you doing quests (or minor tasks) that you need to complete but it doesn't matter since the story is on standstill and the story doesn't develop; it's more like a masturbating tool than anything backed with probably some of the best art I've seen from Clymenia, which has it as a good eye-catcher.”
“Clymenia games are straightforward and the purpose is for you to go nympho, but what Steam City fails at is the progress in story. In other Clymenia games, you might have tasks but you proceed to another level afterwards and that continues for a full-fledged story. Steam City only has two endings where you work with gangsters and beat all the floors in the slums for the 'gang ending' or you can do the 'police ending', which is the more 'Clymenia-like' route, basically doing the main tasks until you get the ending, but once again, there's no progression.”
“The story is very simple and short; very little detective work needs to be done by yourself.”
- gameplay64 mentions
- 28 % positive mentions
- 66 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The gameplay is a mixed bag, featuring basic turn-based combat and simple mechanics that often feel repetitive and shallow. While some players appreciate the innovative elements and the engaging steampunk atmosphere, many find the RPG mechanics lacking depth and the overall experience somewhat tedious. The game offers two distinct routes—detective and gangster—though the latter is generally viewed as more satisfying, despite both paths suffering from simplistic gameplay and occasional bugs.
“The atmosphere and the steampunk aesthetic were really nice; all the different cases were really cool, and the gameplay loop was enjoyable too.”
“There's interesting gameplay aspects that set this aside from various other games of this style: the exploration phase has innovative parts, there's an interesting story, and it is pretty well made.”
“Clymenia even got really close to – and in some areas succeeded in – turning this into an actual game with entertaining, challenging gameplay.”
“The gameplay is just you doing quests (or minor tasks) that you need to complete but it doesn't matter since the story is on stand still and the story doesn't develop, it's more like a masturbating tool than anything backed with probably some of the best art I've seen from Clymenia which has it as a good eye-catcher.”
“Most of the gameplay mechanics can be boiled down to either a.) search the room looking for clues and spam action button on every surface until you find them, b.) follow behind someone who moves slowly and avoid getting too close to them, c.) choose the right dialogue option in a given scenario, or d.) basic RPG Maker combat.”
“The rpg mechanics and battle system were very boring and felt more of an obstacle.”
- music19 mentions
- 58 % positive mentions
- 26 % neutral mentions
- 16 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received generally positive feedback, with many players praising its enjoyable tracks and ability to complement the game's steampunk atmosphere. While some reviews noted that the sound quality could be improved, the overall sentiment highlights the music as a standout feature, enhancing the gaming experience. Players appreciate the charming soundtracks, which contribute to the game's engaging story and art style.
“The music was done very well, actually enjoyable tracks.”
“A surprisingly intricate RPG Maker game, with a few stellar soundtracks.”
“The only thing I like so far is the art and the music; everything else is super annoying. After reading the other reviews, I guess I need to install a patch to get the experience I wanted. I get why it's such a pain to get the 18 patch, but it's such a pain I might not get it.”
“The music and art are decent.”
“Finally, we have a soundtrack that, although it doesn’t have many pieces, manages to match and convey the steampunk style of the game with each note.”
- graphics17 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 29 % neutral mentions
- 18 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have been widely praised for their appealing steampunk aesthetic and consistent art style, contributing to a captivating atmosphere. Reviewers noted the artwork as endearing and well-executed, enhancing the overall experience alongside solid gameplay and music. While some mentioned minor issues, the general consensus is that the visuals are a strong point of the game.
“The atmosphere and the steampunk aesthetic were really nice; all the different cases were really cool, and the gameplay loop was really enjoyable too.”
“I like the steampunk theme, and the developers managed to keep the art style consistent throughout the game.”
“The music is nice, the graphics are great, and even the story isn't too bad.”
“While the controls inevitably feel familiar to any other RPG Maker game, the rest of it – gameplay, visuals, music, atmosphere – is all refreshingly different.”
“As far as the artwork, it is very well done, for both dialog and h-scenes.”
“I like the steampunk theme and the makers managed to have the art style consistent throughout the game.”
- grinding5 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players note that while some grinding is necessary at the beginning to progress in the game, it can become tedious due to a monotonous map and lackluster side-quests. Although upgrading equipment through resource farming offers some entertainment, many find the overall combat experience uninspiring, leading to a mixed reception of the grinding aspect.
“I got more entertainment out of grinding levels and looking for scrap to upgrade my equipment, and in a game that's a bad sign.”
“There are some interesting concepts like the steam meter and the effective lack of leveling due to the gear that you upgrade through resource farming, but by and large the map is monotonous, the side-quests are thin, and the combat is boring as hell.”
“A little bit of grinding is required to progress through the story in more ways than one.”
- character development5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 40 % negative mentions
Character development in the game is noted to be an improvement over previous titles, particularly with the main character Sophie, who offers a more engaging story. While the character design is praised for its quality, some reviewers feel that the animations lack effort, detracting from the overall experience. Overall, the visual aspects, including character design and environments, are highlighted as standout features.
“Love the main character design.”
“+ Clymenia has the top art; this game looks good in every possible way, the steam city, the character design, it's all phenomenal.”
“The story of Sophie is a tad more interesting than some of their characters from previous works, and there seems to be a bit more character development throughout the story.”
“Not to mention the animations and character design seemed to have hardly any effort put into them; we just see in battle mode a blown-up version of the sprite that was on the map.”
- atmosphere4 mentions
- 75 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is highly praised for its captivating steampunk aesthetic, which enhances the overall experience with a unique industrial city feel. Players appreciate the combination of impressive visuals, engaging gameplay, and fitting music, all contributing to a refreshingly distinct ambiance despite the familiar RPG Maker controls.
“The atmosphere and the steampunk aesthetic were really nice; all the different cases were really cool, and the gameplay loop was enjoyable too.”
“While the controls inevitably feel familiar to any other RPG Maker game, the rest of it – gameplay, visuals, music, and atmosphere – is all refreshingly different.”
“The art in the game utilizes the RPG Maker engine seen in several other RPGs, but with excellent work and a steampunk atmosphere on each map, giving a real and industrial city feeling to every corner and alley.”
- humor4 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game is praised for its humor, featuring hilarious situations and enjoyable side quests that enhance the overall experience. The storyline also contributes to the comedic tone, although some players noted a humorous inconsistency with the protagonist's disfigured feet in certain images.
“Overall, it's an easy game to enjoy, with quite a few hilarious situations and a lot of interesting scenes to unlock.”
“The side quests are also very enjoyable with how humorous they can be.”
“The storyline is quite funny too.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game has limited replayability, though players still enjoyed the overall experience.
- optimization1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -300 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is noted to be somewhat underutilized, but players find the detective work engaging and enjoy the skill upgrade system, which enhances both detective and combat performance, despite it being a bit time-consuming.
“While a little underutilized, the detective work portion of the game is actually pretty fun, and upgrading your skills to improve your performance in both that and combat is quite satisfying, albeit somewhat time-consuming.”
“The game suffers from severe optimization issues, leading to frustrating lag and stuttering during critical moments.”
“Despite the interesting gameplay mechanics, the overall performance is hindered by poor optimization, making it difficult to enjoy the experience.”
“I found myself constantly battling with frame drops and long loading times, which really detracted from the immersion of the game.”
- stability1 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, characterized by numerous bugs, poor dialogue quality, and choppy translations that detract from the overall experience.
“A buggy game with poor dialogue and choppy translations.”