I would give this game a solid 3 stars purely because at its best it is definitely 5 stars but at its worst its a frustratingly annoying 1 star. I would argue that all of Karryn's Prison's strengths are in a way its own weakeness as well. It has so many good things going for it but between the balance and complexity of its mechanics it can be hit or miss at times depending on what you're trying to accomplish. Actually playing the game itself through the story is, in my opinion, not very fun at all, and all of the good parts about this game come from the late game/endless post game where you're basically given free reign to fuck around literally and figuratively.
My biggest gripe is definitely how the game punishes you for doing well combined with the edict system. Every day you get a certain amount of points you use on edicts to upgrade yourself or the prison in various ways but also at the cost of money that is earned in various ways. The biggest way at the beginning is to let the prison do terribly because the less order you have the more money you get from the government, so you actually are punished in the early game for maintaining a high amount of order, which then punishes you further because you cant afford to buy a lot of the early game edicts, which punishes you further because buying the training boosts on all of your stats is majorly important to get going right away. I like the concept of the edicts but there is just so many of them and they cost so much money that you're definitely not going to get even a majority of them by the end of a normal run unless you constantly delay the game to an absurd degree. Still, unlocking new jobs or extra moves is always a nice thing to have.
That said the actual combat itself is both simple yet annoying. The game, without a doubt, wants you to go with a slut build because maintaining an aggressive damage build is a major pain in the ass. You have to balance your own stats with the progression of the inmates and their stats, balance out your desires while juggling your mind, energy, and stamina resources, while also keeping an eye on your fatigue and arousal and are constantly getting punished by both, it's a major uphill battle compared to just letting the inmates have their way with you and focusing on only keeping your energy up so you don't game over. It's a bit of a double edged blade because going for the Empress ending is just so annoying but in the post game when you don't care about the slut level the complexity of all the different stats come together nicely. You can be a complete whore and just unlock all sexual acts and go nuts with it, or you could focus on whatever you specifically want like turning Karryn into a vaccuum and sucking the soul out of everything that moves.
I do wish there was more variety in this game but I'm also probably biased as a furry in general. Its nice to have orcs, goblin, and lizard men, but it is a little disappointing that this is in a fantasy setting and a majority of the characters you run into are variations of humans. Regular humans, thug humans, guard humans, nerd humans, homeless humans, etc. At the very end you get werewolves and yetis but their actions are severely limited by their size and it just would have been nice to have other fantasy creatures like kobolds or something. Customizations options would have been nice as well, like different outfits and accessories but I suppose modding exists in that regard.
All in all it's a very solid game that is simple yet complex in its design. Definitely one of the better h-games out there and honestly I would love to see more games follow its path and expand upon it further.
My biggest gripe is definitely how the game punishes you for doing well combined with the edict system. Every day you get a certain amount of points you use on edicts to upgrade yourself or the prison in various ways but also at the cost of money that is earned in various ways. The biggest way at the beginning is to let the prison do terribly because the less order you have the more money you get from the government, so you actually are punished in the early game for maintaining a high amount of order, which then punishes you further because you cant afford to buy a lot of the early game edicts, which punishes you further because buying the training boosts on all of your stats is majorly important to get going right away. I like the concept of the edicts but there is just so many of them and they cost so much money that you're definitely not going to get even a majority of them by the end of a normal run unless you constantly delay the game to an absurd degree. Still, unlocking new jobs or extra moves is always a nice thing to have.
That said the actual combat itself is both simple yet annoying. The game, without a doubt, wants you to go with a slut build because maintaining an aggressive damage build is a major pain in the ass. You have to balance your own stats with the progression of the inmates and their stats, balance out your desires while juggling your mind, energy, and stamina resources, while also keeping an eye on your fatigue and arousal and are constantly getting punished by both, it's a major uphill battle compared to just letting the inmates have their way with you and focusing on only keeping your energy up so you don't game over. It's a bit of a double edged blade because going for the Empress ending is just so annoying but in the post game when you don't care about the slut level the complexity of all the different stats come together nicely. You can be a complete whore and just unlock all sexual acts and go nuts with it, or you could focus on whatever you specifically want like turning Karryn into a vaccuum and sucking the soul out of everything that moves.
I do wish there was more variety in this game but I'm also probably biased as a furry in general. Its nice to have orcs, goblin, and lizard men, but it is a little disappointing that this is in a fantasy setting and a majority of the characters you run into are variations of humans. Regular humans, thug humans, guard humans, nerd humans, homeless humans, etc. At the very end you get werewolves and yetis but their actions are severely limited by their size and it just would have been nice to have other fantasy creatures like kobolds or something. Customizations options would have been nice as well, like different outfits and accessories but I suppose modding exists in that regard.
All in all it's a very solid game that is simple yet complex in its design. Definitely one of the better h-games out there and honestly I would love to see more games follow its path and expand upon it further.
