Canticle v0.3.1.2

The laundry buzzer went off right when Brother Aldric started undoing his robe. Typical. I’m there, phone in one hand, other hand down my pants, and now I gotta choose between cold wet towels and a buff wizard monk with a voice deeper than my mortgage debt. The Lucent Priory isn’t just some dusty monastery sim, it’s a gay bara fantasy that knows exactly what it’s doing. You’re the new scribe, fresh off the boat to Starfall Isle, and suddenly surrounded by these massive, broad shouldered arcanists who all seem to have a thing for “guiding” the new brother. The mystery plot about crafting some big magic tome is there, sure, but let’s be real, I’m clicking through dialogue trees hoping to see where Father Orson hides those silver coins he mentioned, and by coins I mean his absolutely ridiculous chest. The writing is surprisingly story rich for what’s basically a spank bank delivery system. One minute you’re studying dusty tomes, next minute a fellow scribe is “helping you adjust to priory life” in the bathhouse, and the text doesn’t shy away from describing every thick, hairy detail. It’s a visual novel so don’t expect animation, just static scenes of these beefy men in various states of undress and arousal. The romance paths feel genuine, not just tacked on, though I wish the mystery part moved faster. Sometimes I’m sitting there reading about incantation theory while my kid is screaming about a lost shoe, and I’m like, brother, just show me the dick already. But when it hits, it hits. There’s this one scene with Cantor, a silver fox type with arms like tree trunks, where the power dynamic shifts and suddenly you’re not just learning magic, you’re on your knees learning something else entirely. The lgbt themes are woven in naturally, no big coming out drama, just men being into men in a secluded island full of arcane secrets and conveniently placed oil flasks. The art style for these characters, all thick muscle and body hair, is exactly what the bara tag promises. I do wish there was more actual nsfw content earlier on, the slow burn is real, and as a parent I don’t have time for a 40 minute build up before someone’s robe hits the floor. The game crashed once when I tried to skip too fast, probably my ancient phone’s fault, but still annoying when you’re on a timer.

• adult
• singleplayer
• visual novel
• romance
• lgbt