Army Gals Review

Now and again you play a game that throws such a curveball at you that you find yourself speechless. This was the case with Army Gals, an adult visual novel from Dharker Studio released back in 2017. Pitched as both a survival and romance title, Army Gals throws the player into the middle of nowhere with three women and tasks them with surviving. Sounds easy enough, but the group will quickly learn that things are not quite what they seem and relying on each other might not be enough out here.

For this wild ride players will step into the shoes of Kyle, the faceless protagonist for whom the story will unfold around. The step up here is that you are attending the Aggressive Rehabilitation Missionary Youth Program after having been possibly-framed for delinquent behaviour. It’s the same story for the other characters at the camp who for their own reasons are all labelled as delinquents and are here to be rehabilitated. That doesn’t matter though because quite quickly the story turns from camping with women to a full on fight for survival.

After arriving at the camp the only two adults present leave the kids alone in the woods in order to get more supplies. After a while though, they don’t return and the group start to become concerned. From here Kyle and the women - Edda, Raen, and Andrea - must make the harrowing journey back to civilisation through all manner of terrain. Along the way they will need to overcome challenges, deepen their bond with each other and learn to rely on one another if they want to survive. Throughout this journey the choices the player makes won’t just affect the direction of the story and chances to encounter adult scenes, but could also lead to serious consequences.

With that said, what about that curveball I mentioned? You see Army Gals doesn’t just leave you in the wild with some women and leave it at that. There are hints of something much larger going on here and quickly you are trying to uncover a mystery as you play through the multiple routes and endings. Without spoiling anything though, this quickly falls apart as what starts off interesting just devolves into a rollercoaster of fantasy and ridiculousness that is honestly, hard to stay invested in. While some might find this to be a key selling point of Army Gals, others will struggle with it as it isn’t helped by the quality of the writing which also suffers from inconsistent quality throughout the game.

On the presentation front Army Gals does maintain a consistent visual style and quality throughout. Characters have varied and interesting designs, often matching their personality, while backgrounds and locations have plenty of detail. The user interaction is easily the weakest part of the presentation but it serves its purpose in allowing you a space to read from, along with accessing useful functions, such as saving and loading. On the audio side of things you won’t find any voice overs present and the soundtrack is fairly repetitive, albeit easy on the ears.

In terms of adult scenes, you will find plenty throughout the different routes with plenty of variety in each of the different encounters. Some might lead to good endings, some to bad endings, and others might just leave you confused. In fact, you can easily grab one such sexual encounter within minutes of starting Army Gals should you pick the clearly right answer. Most of these encounters will be hard to miss given how obvious the player choice is. When you get one of these scenes though you’ll be pleased to know that they are presented to the same quality as the rest of the title. Sadly, the writing during these moments is not good and easily some of the weaker writing in the whole game. Regardless, if you come to Army Gals for the adult scenes, you likely won’t be disappointed.

Army Gals is an interesting adult visual novel but it ultimately ends up falling flat faster than the tents the character tries to put up. Beside the boring protagonist, the title does have many interesting characters but due to a rollercoaster of a story and inconsistent writing quality it’s hard to feel invested in them or the events that unfold. While the ridiculous direction that story can head in might be a solid selling point for some, others will find it hard to get through. It’s hard to recommend Army Gals unless such a premise is your thing because even the adult scenes are not enough to redeem it.