STORY
You read that right. While this game is all ‘landlady’ and ‘roommate’, little hints like ‘big bro’ give the actual story away. This is a family intimacy simulator and you need to know before I even say anything else, because it’s literally the full story. The rest really isn't that important. Vincenzo coming back to his family from fighting in the army has the emotional complexity to create a layered, deep story. It doesn’t deliver a deep dive. Not because developer Moonbox isn’t trying, the game just seems to give up on pacing and intertwined writing about halfway. There are a few moments where his soldier life comes into play, but these are scarce and a little meaningless by the end. Even though it is directly referenced in the game's ending.
That said, the game is well written in the moment-to-moment conversation. I really wished Moonbox took the setting seriously and committed to a more grounded, impactful game. I’ll elaborate about that in a piece after the review. Doesn’t mean that “A Soldier’s Struggle” is a bad experience. It’s just more “A Son’s Struggle” than anything else. The story centers around Vincenzo coming to terms with his mother Mia and sister Sarah, while having an abusive father around. There’s a heavy focus on the older mother, so don’t get too attached to the sister. She’s often the simp that has to accept she’s #2.
Once the game drops its pacing and starts running into shoehorning story bits, it takes away from the detailed storytelling at the beginning. This game is far better off as a focused story on the family relations, dropping all the underused additions like the war, your mother’s friends and the jobs you hold. Coming from Grandma’s House: College Days, it seems Moonbox is great with grammar and obviously possesses a knack for silly stories. This is an adult story about a soldier who’s biggest struggle is how to knock up his family members. The PTSD and traumas the game hints at, are negligible. It’s the oedipus complex that takes full stage.
In order to salvage loose story ends like Vincenzo’s trauma or the trio’s family path, Moonbox resorts to text-dumping scenes where these bits are shoehorned in. At least the developer makes an effort to show he thought about it. It does nothing for the pacing though. What could have been a compelling struggle between forbidden lust and sociopathical behavior, loses steam around the middle and becomes a very standard corruptfest. Writing is good, if you’re into the subject. The game is around 3 hours long and by the end, most of the story took a backseat to the lovefest.
PRESENTATION
A Soldier’s Struggle looks good. There are a ton of renders used, a lot of which use the same camera angles. That does harm render variety, but Moonbox shows his cinematic knowledge with both closeups and a couple interesting camera angles. Scarlett Johansson, please allow this game. Both mother Mia and sister Sarah bear a striking likeness to the actress. If you’re into either her or redheads, that’s the strongest selling point about this game. Sarah’s heterochromia is also a nice bonus touch, even though it’s never referenced in-game. This game focuses on Vincenzo and his mother mostly.
Both women look great shape wise. In fact, even secondary characters like Ethel and Melania are stacked, although we never get to see anything lewd from them. Moonbox likes his women attractive, so he has no problem giving all women the treatment. Even if they’re just story fodder. Vincenzo is often portrayed as the big, hulky protector. A lot of renders are POV and the dev does a good job at making women around Vincenzo feel smaller. Melania however, is so large she looks like a freak of nature. This might throw off people, but overall the design looks good and believable.
The VN actually mostly centers around the apartment and Vincenzo’s work, although there are a few extra locations which are fun for variation’s sake. You’ll mostly be fondling at home, though. Speaking of fondling, there are about eight intimate scenes within the short story. No animations, which I didn’t miss. No sound. It’s a kinetic novel through and through.
GAMEPLAY
Kinetic VN. You tap and experience. The end. There is a gallery function that lets you relive scenes from the game, which is a nice bonus. Other than that, there’s no gameplay.
OVERALL
The biggest struggle in A Soldier’s Struggle seems to bring the story home in one piece. While the developer tries to handle touchy subjects with care initially, the game can’t help turn into a male family conquering fantasy. Now drop and creampie 50, son.
Rating: 7.5/0
Developer: Moonboxgames
