THE EMBER INSTITUTE

The Ember Institute is a lewd adventure game that caught my attention because it uses real porn images for its art. The game has been in development for quite some time and as the developer is really trying to do something special with the story, the updates have been a little on the slow side which to be fair I do not mind as I would rather them take their time with it than rush it and have it be bad. If you like story driven games with interesting characters, you need to give this game a try.

You Have To Hit Rock Bottom First

The setup for the story in The Ember Institute is very well done. Our main character that we create, is really having a hard time of it when the game starts. We have lost our job, which means that we have lost our source of income. However, with no income, we also lose our apartment. We are pretty much down and out, but we are offered a helping hand in the form of a family friend who offers us a place to stay while we get back on our feet.

A Mysterious New Place Of Employment!

We think that our luck is about to change! The big driving force for the plot in The Ember Institute is that through an agency we get a job at this weird institute, but you soon learn that there is something a bit off about this place. The version of the game I played did have a few choices, but it did seem a bit linear. I think that the reason the game is taking so long to get done is that the story is going to have many different directions that it can go. I am pretty interested to see the different routes that the final version of the game has to offer.

A Few Extra Steps

If I had to put The Ember Institute into a category of lewd games, it would probably lean more towards the text based adventure games. You get to make various choices in the game and this is what will shape the kind of experience you get. You also have to create your character and the choices you make here will also decide how your journey in the game starts. You have various stats/meters that you can work on as you progress through the game too. It is like a text adventure game with a few RPG elements sprinkled on top. I found that sometimes it was like there were some sections that felt like they were there just to pad things out and that did make me lose interest a bit.

Hey, I Have Seen Your Work Before

The way that the visuals of The Ember Institute look is going to be a win or lose, depending on what you are into. This is a game that gets all of its art from actual porn images. Now, I can see why some people do not like this as it can take them out of the story when an actual porn star is used as one of the characters. However, I liked this, I liked that they tried to use the same porn stars for certain characters as it makes it a bit more coherent, but then the flip side of that is you do have to use your suspension of disbelief if you know who that porn star is.

Pros:

• There are some interesting and well-written characters
• The porn images are very hot
• The story is good so far
• I liked the RPG elements in the game

Cons:

• The game as I write this is still a long way off from being complete
• I get that the use of real porn images may not be to everyone's taste