XStory Player has so much going for it that there really isn't a substitute. I love the fact that it is visually stimulating and strategically challenging - and very titillating. But I can only repeat "Wet Dreams" and "Dark Dreams" so many times a week.

I've looked at a number of other erotic games. Some have held my interest for a day or two. Below I will review two games that have been occupying my time as I wait for XSP 3.0. Each of these games, in it's own way, accomplishes part of what makes XSP such a good game. Both involve challenges. While one, Girlvania, is visually very realistic and the girls are gorgeous, the other - Artificial Academy 2 - is funny, and like XSP involves strategy for seducing and ultimately getting laid.

Neither one of these games has it all. That is why I keep coming back to XSP 2.1 and wait anxiously for the arrival of version 3.0.

Now on to the reviews . . .

Artificial Academy 2 is a Hentai eroge (erotic game) from the Japanese company Illusion (http://www.illusion.jp/preview/jg2/index.html). It’s a simulation/strategy/sandbox game with the primary goal of getting laid. The game is set in a fictional high school (or college?) The task is to have as much sex as you can, with as many girls as you can, without getting into trouble. The trouble can include getting a girl pregnant, getting caught by another of your lovers, getting killed by a jealous lover, or (if you are playing in the role of teacher) getting fired for screwing your students.

When beginning a new game, you can create a class of up to 24 students and 1 teacher. The game provides several characters, and a separate module allows you to create and design your own. At the beginning of each virtual day, you can choose which character you want to be. Then, between classes, sports practices, and clubs, you flirt, chat-up, and hit-on your various classmates. Visual signals tell you when the other character is getting aroused. (They blush, start talking suggestively, and some kind of score is flashed on the screen). The challenge is that each character, male and female, is designed with a slightly different artificial intelligence. One girl may be bossy and possessive, but gets turned on if you corner her. Another girl may tell you that you are the center of her world, but that she’s not ready for sex.

Eventually (it usually takes a couple virtual days for new characters to warm up) you manage to take a receptive girl into a utility closet, storage shed, or counseling office where you have relative privacy, and the game give you quite a few options for foreplay, sexual positions, and orgasm. You can actually have sex with any willing character anywhere in the school or town, but then you run the risk of other characters interrupting. This is problematic when you are caught by another character that you’ve been screwing.
The game is fun, and the dialogue pretty entertaining. The other day I was playing the role of teacher. On the way to school I made small talk with a tall blonde. She answered, “Hey, would you like to break my hymen?” It doesn’t get any better than that. (By the way, I *did* get to break her hymen).

During most of the game’s action, the characters are two-dimensional animated icons running around the virtual campus. But when you are interacting directly with another character, they become more realistic (or as realistic as Anime characters get). During the sex scenes, you have tons of options for camera angle, speed, and positions.

UPSIDE: It’s really fun. I like the prospect of hitting on girls incessantly. I like the challenge of flirting with a cold, hard-to-get girl until she softens up. If you are playing a popular character, you are likely to have girls asking you for sex throughout the day. I’ve gotten laid three and four times before my first class in the morning. The challenge of flirting in order to seduce reminds me of moments in XSP, particularly with Jenna and Tiffany. One of the flirting options is even “Show her your ‘thing’” which reminds me of “Bob” pulling out his fat dick while Latisha is dancing. The game is totally mod-able. In addition to the large selection of body-styles, hair-styles, personality attributes, and sexual proclivities, there is a huge gathering of fans and modders at Honfire (http://www.hongfire.com/forum/showthread.php/430854-ILLUSION-Artificial-Academy-2-Gameplay-discussion) who have developed even more options.

DOWNSIDE: It’s published in Japan, and as I understand it, Japanese censorship laws prohibit its sale outside of Japan. So to get the game, you first have to find it. You have to use other programs to trick your system into installing the program as though you were in Japan, and then you have to apply various mods to translate the menus and dialogue, and to un-censor the sexy parts. If you get any of these things wrong, or if you try to install a mod that is incompatible wither with your configuration or with another mod you’ve installed, the program is likely to crash. It’s a hassle, but for the adventurous it’s worth it.

Girlvania (https://www.girlvanic.com/girlvania/)

I came across this one by accident. The graphics are pretty good, definitely more realistic than the anime-style girls in Artificial Academy. The game consists of four young women and a series of sexual “lessons” that the player engages in. These lessons include everything from rubbing a girl’s breasts to massaging her anus with a lollipop. The challenge is that to pass each lesson, you have to increase your strokes bit by bit (using your mouse) without going too far. As soon as a girl says “That Hurt!” then you fail the lesson and have to start it over.

With each lesson you pass, the game unlocks more clothes, lighting effects, positions, locations, hair-colors, etc. The game is more interactive than poser-games like Sexvilla, plus once you buy the game you don’t get upcharged for every additional feature. But in many ways the game reminds me of Sexvilla.

You get to do interesting things with cans of energy drink (i.e. put them in places they aren’t normally put) and other objects. But I miss the real interactivity that XSP has. There’s not a lot of artificial intelligence going on here. You can’t “talk” to the girls. You can’t undress them or move them (except by using menu controls) and you can’t interact with their bodies in a semi-natural way (like wiggling their boobs or pulling on their hands or labia like you can in XSP). During the free-play sessions, if you choose a solo-pose, you can “select” her boobs or pussy from a menu, and a hand appears with which you can rub or stroke.

UPSIDE: As I said, the graphics are very realistic. When you are pushing a carrot up a girl’s ass (or better yet, when another girl is doing it with a strap-on) it really looks like her anus is opening and you get a peek inside (if that is something that floats your boat). The girls talk to you (although their comments consist mainly of “Ooh, more” and “That Hurts!”) And the girls are really hot. There’s a brunette named Milena who is a dead-ringer for Scarlet Johansen if you lighten her hair-color

DOWNSIDE: Great graphics aside, it’s pretty simple. Sure, it’s fun seeing if you can bring a virtual girl to orgasm with a can of energy drink. But the extent of the challenge is seeing how far up you can shove the energy drink without hurting the girl. What the game lacks is the intellectual challenge and the sexual teasing you get in either Artificial Academy 2 or XStoryPlayer 2.1. The gameplay is very limited and not terribly imaginative. Once you’ve passed all the lessons, which are purely mechanical, you don’t have much to do but pick poses, change clothes, and play around.

I have to check those out. Thanks for the reviews

I'm very familiar with Artificial Academy 2, but I've never seen Girlvania before. Thanks, I'll give that one a look!

Girlvania looks interesting, but is too expensive. 4 times XSP.

I assure you, XSP gives you a lot more for the money.

Artificial Academy 2 is worthwhile, if you like the Anime style and don't mind the complicated install. I think it's a lot of fun.

I'm not really interested on customization, so games focussing around it are not my cup of tea.

Thanks for the reviews.

Thanks for that, Something to look into for sure!

I was never a big fan of AA, graphically and gameplay-wise not my style at all. Also it was too much R-P-G not enough F-U-C-K-I-N-G for me. As for Girlvania I've played its predecessor "Active dolls" and enjoyed alot of its features but others kind of sucked. The models were poorly made low poly. The animations didn't line up all that well and some positions just looked borked due to misaligned textures. I did love that they let you customize the girls clothing, hair, makeup ect, and that's really what made the game worth a look at all. From what I've read Girlvania is pretty much the same game with improved graphics. I'll probably take a look at it at some point, but its not worth it for me at its current price. plus XSP has spoiled me with the level of interaction allowed so its hard to go back to a "click and watch" type of game.