So my partner and I, we're always looking for games where you can just be a total degenerate without the game judging you for it, you know? This one, Dual Ascension, it starts with you and your best friend, classic setup, and there's this whole magic world and "progression fantasy" thing. Honestly I zoned out a bit on the lore because the main thing, the absolute core of it, is this "secret technique" you unlock. It's basically a cheat code for getting people naked. The first time it clicked, I actually laughed out loud. You're in this tense standoff with some elf guard who's way too serious, and the dialogue options are all like "try to reason" or "use the technique." You pick the technique and suddenly the whole scene just derails into this absurdly detailed, very explicit encounter. The writing doesn't try to be poetic, it's just... direct. "He pulled down her trousers and she gasped," that kind of thing. It knows what it is.

The art is... a choice. It's got that slightly off model, indie visual novel look where sometimes a hand looks like a bunch of bananas and other times the lighting on a pair of tits is weirdly perfect. My partner kept pointing at the screen going "why is his neck so thick?" during a supposedly sexy scene and we'd just lose it. But then, I don't know, the next scene would have this genuinely hot setup with a catgirl and the jankyness somehow made it hotter? Like finding a dirty magazine in the woods. It feels more transgressive than those super polished 3D games that try too hard. There's a part with a slime monster that I wish had more branching options, but it won't be updated so whatever.

We played it on the browser through that itch.io app, and the save system is a bit of a mess, I lost my progress once after a particularly good scene with the blacksmith's daughter and I almost threw my phone. The fetish stuff is there, it's not shy about it, but it's woven in without a big neon sign. It just... happens. One minute you're talking about mana cores, the next you're reading a very detailed description of something involving a tail that I won't spoil. The comedy lands more often than it should, mostly because the main character is such a horny idiot. There's a running joke about his "mana reserves" that's basically just a stamina bar for sex and it's the dumbest thing I've ever loved.