Bastard Bonds

You know I would have to say that Bastard Bonds here would need to be classed as a lewd game. The funny thing about this is that I had no idea it was an “adult” game until I was already playing it… I am not just writing that because my wife is looking over my shoulder, I am being honest. I wanted to play a game that was similar to the classic final fantasy tactics on the original PlayStation. I went down a rabbit hole and it led me here and I thought that the pixel style art seemed cool so I thought I would give it a try.

Taking Control Of Your Life

While there is a very cool and erotic fantasy theme in Bastard Bonds, the game is not as story driven as I would have liked if I am being honest. The basics of the story are that all the undesirables, dangerous monsters, and people who are just no good are cast away to an island called, Lukatt. It is here you decide that you are going to build an army and control of things.

Battling The Grid

The gameplay of Bastard Bonds is rather similar to 90s era tactics-based RPGs and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. The battles take place on a grid system and you have a party of four that you have to manage. The game is one of the easier tactics-based RPGs that I have played as the AI is not all that aggressive or varied when it comes to how it attacks you. You have different types of attacks that you can do and these are ranged, melee, and magic. There is more to combat than that, classes, magical element types, items and more are all things to consider and then there is the risk and reward system.

Risk Or Reward?

The best thing about the gameplay in Bastard Bonds is the risk/reward system that is probably the main gameplay gimmick. You can perform two types of action, a risk free action which will perform the action and end your turn. Or you can do a reckless action which if pulled off right will allow you to take another turn in that round! If you decide to take the risk, your risk meter will start to fill up. You can keep on taking risks as long as you want and if that risk meter fills, you get a nice couple of bonuses. However, if at any point, your risks fail, you will “fumble” and this ends your turn and causes you to take more damage. This system makes combat very exciting and the AI uses it too!

Erotic Art… Erotic Pixel Art That Is

The first thing that captures your attention about Bastard Bonds is the gorgeous pixel style characters. There are tons of characters in this game and you can even create your own. This is an adult game so characters are very well endowed, have rocking bodies and there are even some cheeky XXX scenes too, but they are not as full on as many other lewd games that I have played. It is done with a bit more tongue in cheek than what other games of this style do.

Pros:

• I loved the adult fantasy setting of the game
• The risk/reward mechanic is just so much fun to use
• There are tons of characters that you can recruit and you can even make your own
• The XXX content that is here is pretty fun too

Cons:

• I get that XXX content is not for everyone
• I do wish that there was a bit more to the narrative of the game