STORY
Lucy, Eleanor, Mallory and Tasheeal raise their glasses in celebration to the Keymaster. The Null Stone has been destroyed and most of the evil has been eliminated. By now, Tom is either in a situationship with his romancing partner or living life single and been to bed with at least two women. New stories arise in the form of elementals that plague the cities surrounding the volcano that the Null Stone was destroyed in. Or well, one elemental. A pretty nasty one.
The beginning of v0.8 marks the destruction of the Null Stone and the appointment of Tom as official emissary for the Council of Mages. Being a diplomat with a dick suited him well and now he gets the title. Adversaries like Dhrolghu the orc king respect him more after their life-threatening encounter, while Tom starts sword training with Canaarn. This story arc is set on making Tom more self sufficient, with women at his beckon. Most of his diplomacy with women ends in intimacy one way or the other and for what it's worth, is quite efficient.
Without retelling the entire plot, Tom takes agency to free many women from their roles and put them into position to learn new skills, for which they reward him with - you guessed it, intimacy. Being Keymaster is more and more like playing cosmic daddy to a lot of alien women. For instance, the beautiful Ce'fora longs to read books, therefore Tom takes her to Mallory's library where she starts working on research. There are a few changes like this happening that don't further the Elemental arc, but do deepen the storyline. And that's great, it gives us more to enjoy with the characters and helps us understand them better.
How do you handle having an oversized cast of characters? Beach volleyball tournaments on Sunday, just like Dead or Alive. I'm not joking, this is actually a thing in the game. The women create teams based on their world and compete for the win. Meanwhile, main love interests Lucy and Mallory remove themselves from the game for a few chapters - so all focus can go to either your family members or the travel buddies.
By the time the elemental arc comes to its end in a faux King Arthur style, the world is full of diverse races and animals, with Tom right in the middle of it (and them, if he wishes to). After danger has been destroyed, the game suddenly picks up with sex scenes and right after, forces the player to submit to pregnancy routes. All other routes end the storyline almost immediately. I have no idea where that shift came from, nor does it seem to make any sense. Rose is impregnated by Calian and if Tom didn't knock his sister up, Eleanor is pregnant with a mystery baby by the end of v1.2. We hoped daughter Philippa would be a dragonborn, but Sfanjir doesn't tell us. He only says he'll adore the little girl like he adores her mother, which isn't helping his case but makes for a juicy story.
At the end of v1.2, while Tom is looking at his lover, Developer Ptypoe announces taking a break. He teases thoughts like a new storyline or maybe even following Lucy Brightwater, who casually dips from the storyline never to be seen again. From what we can gather, the developer couldn't do right in the eyes of fans - some wanted Lucy changes, others loved her or wanted her out. Somehow, her fate is fitting of the chaotic storytelling that The Keymaster is after the Null Stone arc.
PRESENTATION
Presentation in 0.8 to 1.2 is largely the same as it has been before. Lush, recognizable worlds and characters that match the aesthetic. More and more characters are introduced to the point where it's hard to remember everyone. That's where the volleyball tournament comes into play, which helps us reconnect with all the throwaway characters. There are multiple teams and outfits and you'll see a lot of volleyball in these updates.
Developer Ptypoe also made an effort to mix characters having sex with each other, regardless if it made sense storywise. 'Everyone needs travel energy and that's as good enough a reason to have sex', is the motto from now on. Suddenly threesomes, foursomes and even containing family members if you have the proper settings aren't out of the question. It's not paced properly, but at this point I'm unsure what the keymaster is actually trying to tell us. Granted, it doesn't let you pick one sex scene, but lets you view them all, which saves time but diminishes the worth of the scenes.
Because there are so many intimate scenes, there's not a lot of detail between them. The intimate ones between Tom and his sister Eleanor are quite articulate, while his sister Jessica hops onto Tom one blue moon but has trouble avoiding all other kinds of male genitalia. Eleanor takes the cake, while giving a new meaning to the term 'dragon riding' with Sfanjir the dragon as well. It seems nothing is safe for the woman who apparently made herself a key mistress.
While the game isn't necessarily doing anything new, the splash of intimate scenes between races and faces are sure to delight many fans who weren't waiting on the story. And let's be honest, at this point the overall story is so thin maybe we shouldn't care for it either.
GAMEPLAY
It's still a visual novel with choices - but those choices don't seem to matter as much. In 'Travel mode' you get to have fun with a lot of alien women, while in 'Family mode' you and Eleanor try your best to make a relationship between you work. It's impressive how all these choices still add up to a story that lines up logically, although it isn't the most sensible story in the world. There are choices, but nearing the end the choices don't matter as much. The simple fact you end the game when you don't choose pregnancy in v1.2 is outright lazy and bad. If you're not going to give players the choice, don't offer it.
OVERALL
The second arc of The Keymaster is mostly a chaotic mix of things Ptypoe wanted to throw together, hoping it would make a good story. It doesn't, but the saving grace of the game are the characters. Although some of them get butchered because there are so many people to interact with now, there is still fun in enjoying and exploring them. Just don't expect The Keymaster to make too much sense.
Rating: 6.5/10
Developer: Ptypoe
