Slot Magic Castle — Game Review

Others — Completed — Magic Castle RePureAria 2 [v1.25] [House of Black Dream Fantasies]

It’s a messy masterpiece of an ero pixel art metroidvania game. It has 10-20 hours of gameplay and a ton of h content / exploration, and a mountain of lore (honestly impossibly hard to follow) but has character to it and isn’t thoughtless junk.
Not without its flaws, but I think that comes with the territory of being this ambitious with world size and the scope.

I just want to give advice before picking this up:
1. Buy the feather and summon ticket from the shop asap
2. Get used to MANY invisible/fake wall passages for progressing the game and finding things
3. A lot of navigation can be absurd and difficult with certain characters, various parts basically require you to swap or use certain skills.
4. There is NG+/post game content that is mysterious and kinda undiscovered so if you’re up to try and get the alternate ending, tell me if you get it

May 1, 2023
Likes: lordofthewhales
5.00 star(s)

lordofthewhales

Wow. what a game. I’d played a little bit of this almost a year ago after enjoying most of the first RePureAria, but I ended up putting it down after the first chapter or so. This week I decided to give it another shot, and this second time around, I was absolutely hooked. In completing the main story/first ending and spending a bit of time snooping for collectibles and scenes, I’ve had a really fun 10+ (maybe closer to 20) hours of gameplay. I’m taking a break after the tricky final bosses, but there are still more sidequests, collectibles and bonus chapters to complete when I’m ready.

As in the original RePureAria, we play a weak but brave male protagonist who ends up «sharing his body» with the female protagonists. (Gaining the capability to shapeshift into powerful magical girls, at the cost of a shared internal monologue and emotions). This set up is really original, and allows for highly dynamic form-switching gameplay and a unique narrative. While the original was a little more creative with this concept from an H perspective, there are still interesting scenes involving the shared body dynamic. This game also shares a lot of common DNA with the original, reusing some enemy types, H animations, and even rooms outright. Not exactly a direct sequel, this game’s plot acknowledges and ties up the loose ends of the original with a (at times confusing) alternate reality/time-travel based plot. However, the story stands alone and most of the Repure 1 ties are mostly fanservice (although they definitely enrich the game).

This shared content with Repure 1 was what originally had me put down the game — a lot of this it is somewhat front-loaded into the game, which led me to unfairly judge it early on. However, this game is several steps ahead of the original, to such a degree that it would be hard to go back.

So let’s talk improvements:

— One thing that was massively frustrating in Repure 1 was the possibility of missing time-gated sidequests and permanently being unable to see content. Although you can miss sidequests in RP2, you gain the ability to warp back to earlier points in time after beating the game, so it’s much harder to permanently mess up your playthrough.
— Another issue this game fixes, mentioned by other reviewers, was the lack of zoom-out ability in the first game. There are still a few annoying sections where it’s too zoomed in, but the visibility is mostly fixed in this game, which makes the whole thing much more enjoyable.
— The overall level design in RePure 2 is also way better. RePure 1 had some absolutely brutal rooms that were either needlessly labyrinthine or which involved enemies chain-knocking your character all over the place. While RePure 2 made the strange decision of bringing back a couple annoying areas from the first game (although somewhat improved) the overall «cheesiness» of the challenge in RePure 2 is vastly reduced. While the levels are still complex and full of invisible/destructible walls, I don’t get the sense of «I never want to come back here» like I did in many areas in the past game.
— There are also a number of Quality of Life improvements this game provides that really transform the experience. In RePure 1, we had extremely limited warp points (expensive to create, only up to 8 total if you played perfectly). In this game, the warp feather is a one-time purchase that lets you create warp points in almost every major room. There are also fast-travel NPCs and a base system that further cut down on backtracking, making exploration and using new keys/powers a much more fun experience.
— The H scenes offer much greater variety than the original. Previously, most monster girls had 1-2 scenes, whereas this game often has 3+ in addition to lots of special or unique sequences. This game also leans much less heavily on non-H enemies, who are few and far between, so you can almost always watch a scene. It’s also more clear which scenes are unlocked/available, and which particular mongirls can give those scenes.
— The way familiar monsters are handled is also way better. Each mongirl has a bunch of slots with different skills, some of which are randomized when you catch them. There’s a complex system for copying/mixing/adding/removing these skills, providing lots of depth for party customization. Remember, we have 4+ protagonists that we’re switching between during gameplay, and each has their own skills/specials and equipped familiars, so there’s a ton of depth to engage with here.
— The style of the pixel art is not drastically different, but is generally cleaner/clearer in this game.
— Finally, the way the male character is handled is much better. Very early on, we get the Hammer item that allows him to undress and run into mongirls for a scene + a chance to recruit them, whereas we only get this well past the halfway mark of RePure 1, meaning we needed to spend a lot of time taking damage on purpose in the first game. In both games, the male form is «the weak one», but while in RP 1 it could only be reached by taking damage, this game lets us transform into the male like we can any other form. In both games, there are some subversions of the male form being the weak one (for example, being the best form in water in both games). However, this game goes even further in terms of giving the male form even more capabilities later in the game (I won’t spoil the specifics, but it both adds to the fun and complexity of the gameplay and does a great job of illustrating his growth as a character)

That’s all I can think of for direct improvements, but the awesome worldbuilding of Majo and an abundance of NPCs with interesting dialogues are also some good points about both games.

Now, while I do rate this game 5 stars, it’s not necessarily perfect. There is still some cheesiness/arcadiness to the game (especially in later bossfights/ when using the effects of some powerful items). The story can be confusing at times, and I would recommend playing this game mostly back-to-back because it’s very easy to forget the best paths through the numerous large maps. I don’t find all of the monstergirls attractive (some of them are too much in a loli direction for me) but there’s tons of varied content, very little of which is mandatory.

Overall, RePure 2 is an excellent metroidvania title that takes advantage of the fact that it’s an H game to deliver a unique and interesting plot that wouldn’t be suited to more traditional media. It’s clearly a labor of love, built on top of the already solid base of the original while improving on it in almost every way. Being an excellent game doesn’t prevent RePure 2 from delivering on H scenes, which are many and varied. The H system is also firmly part of the core gameplay, and gives ample reason to engage with it. While less polished and especially less balanced than a title like Succubus Affection, RePure 2 is a longer, deeper and more narratively rewarding experience. If you have time, play the original first, but this game is an improvement that also can stand alone.

Castle of Terror

Grab a clove or two of garlic and come join software provider Big Time Gaming as it explores the nosferatu side of life in an online slot titled Castle of Terror. Frightening name, but if you look at the title font, it kind of suggests a B movie level of horror rather than something actually gory or scary. Castle of Terror is actually quite classy and whips players off to an exotic destination to enjoy the charming scenery by day, then avoiding getting nipped in the neck when the sun goes down.

Till then, let’s take in the sights which are extraordinarily detailed like a Thomas Kinkade painting. It depicts an autumnal scene of a quaint community overlooked by the Castle of Terror set high up on a hill. Sunlight beams through the clouds on imagery you don’t see every day in an online slot. It’s like one of those video games where you guide a character along paths, into buildings, finding clues and uncovering objects you’ll need to defeat the baddies. Castle of Terror is obviously a different sort of game; one in which BTG has painted a pretty and very detailed picture for the creepiness to take place.

Any device is suitable for tackling the Terror on, where players can select a bet of 20 p/c to £/€15 per spin. As we’ve come to expect from BTG, the math model is a highly volatile one, whilst the return to player varies ever so slightly between 96.72% overall to 96.73% when buying a bonus. Slightly surprising, perhaps, due to the shape of the grid, but Castle of Terror is not a Megaways game. Instead, it is played on a 6-reel, 4-row panel with 4,096 ways to win. Wins occur when matching symbols fall on adjacent reels starting from the leftmost side.

9 to Ace cards start the paytable off, paying 0.3-0.5x the bet for a six-of-a-kind win, then four characters are used as the high pays – the Gardener, Maid, Gentleman, and Lady. Whether they are in their friendly daytime form, or their less friendly, bitey free spins form, landing six of a kind is worth 0.6-50 times the stake. The wilds, when they appear, are able to substitute for any normal pay symbols to help complete ways.

Castle of Terror: Slot Features

Castle of Terror makes use of a Holy Water feature in both the base and bonus game, handy to keep the vamps at bay, while free spins come in two forms – regular free spins or Enhanced Free Spins. As well as these, players may have access to the Win Exchange or the Bonus Buy.

Holy Water

On any base game spin, Holy Water may randomly trigger, and liquid is splashed on the middle four reels. When activated, 2 or more positions containing the Gardener, Maid, Gentleman, or Lady are converted into wild symbols. Each symbol converted into a wild symbol increases the win multiplier for that spin by +1. Wins are evaluated after the wild transformation has occurred, and the multiplier resets for the next base game spin.

Free Spins and Enhanced Free Spins

Castle of Terror has two scatters – a regular Silver Castle Scatter and the Gold Castle Scatter. Landing 3 scatters in any position awards 12 free spins, plus 3 free spins for any additional scatters in view. If one of the triggering scatters was the Gold Castle Scatter, Enhanced Free Spins are awarded instead.

Both free spins bonus rounds have a progressive win multiplier that does not reset between spins – and Holy Water is triggered on every single spin.

• In the regular free spins round, the win multiplier starts at x1 and increases by +1 every time a Gardener, Maid, Gentleman, or Lady turns wild.
• In Enhanced Free Spins, the multiplier starts at x2 and increases by +2 whenever a high pay symbol is converted into a wild.

In both games, if the win multiplier reaches x20, then +6 additional free spins are awarded. On a last note, if the opportunity to buy free spins is there, players can buy the regular free spins for 70x the bet or Enhanced Free Spins for 200x the bet.

Win Exchange

Another way of possibly entering free spins is with the Win Exchange. Firstly, whenever players win 100x their stake or more, they can pay a value worth 100x the stake in exchange for 12 free spins. Or, when winning between 25-100x the bet, players can gamble their winnings for the chance to win 12 free spins. A wheel spins, and if it lands on a green segment, free spins are won. If it lands on a red segment, no free spins are won, and the original win is forfeit.

Castle of Terror: Slot Verdict

Castle of Terror was an unusual slot that kind of caught us off guard at first. It came across as a mix of art and literature, similar to Apollo Pays Megaways, but arguably even more severe in tone. The dour quality isn’t off-putting; if anything, it made Castle of Terror even more intriguing. Castle of Terror presents a more serious-minded approach to vampirism, leaning closer to something like Immortal Romance than, say, Baron Bloodmore in terms of atmosphere.

Or, perhaps we’re just overanalysing after being thrown a curveball in the form of the game’s representation. If so, let’s let the audio-visuals rest and proceed to the gaming side of things. First, the lack of Megaways or cascades played into the initial uncertainty yet didn’t detract from the game’s overall enjoyment. In their place is a wild transformation/increasing multiplier feature, aka Holy Water which pops up at random in the base game or on every single free spin. It didn’t always blow up, but when factoring in thousands of ways, with potentially several wilds and a multiplier on top means there are chances for solid results in the base game. Free spins, too, since there the multiplier doesn’t reset between spins; it only goes up or stays level. Knowing BTG, Castle of Terror’s potential is no doubt impressive, maxing out at 61,720 times the stake.

So, for a slot with a creepy edge (the vampire Gentleman and Lady are a tad unsettling) or a glimpse at another side of BTG’s personality, Castle of Terror warrants a look. It’s not one of the studio’s top-tier, triple-A, gold star releases, and Holy Water can drag when you know the wild conversions aren’t going to link with anything, but Castle of Terror has the right components to provide a dab of horror or be a highbrow Halloween alternative to the usual run of pumpkins, cobwebs, and candy.