After playing Saya no Uta, I acknowledged no amount or kind of smut would prevent me from enjoying a good story. Euphoria didn't make me change that stance, but it did have me questioning it a few times.
Euphoria is by far the grossest game I have ever played. Scat, rape, the works! And yet, they still found a way to make all of that completely plot-relevant. You definitely wouldn't see some of the most depraved parts of humanity displayed in such a way be a vehicle to tell a compelling story in any western work in a visual medium, at least not a commercially available one. On top of all that, I've never seen a work that tries so hard to make you sympathize with someone with such disgusting urges, and the internal conflict that brings to the guy is interesting to see unfold.
However, I'm just speaking at a base level. It doesn't take long for the sex scenes to get EXTREMELY redundant. No, combining the names of other body parts with "pussy" and "cock" is not good writing, especially if you're going to say it 80 fucking times in the same segment! I wrote erotica for a while, so I know. These stellar voice actors can only sell that kind of dialogue for so long. And as interesting as it is to view the contradictory psyche of the protagonist, even he doesn't add much to these scenes outside of the first few lines, and even those are generally samey stuff about him decrying his true nature while giving into it anyway because of the situation, effectively arguing with himself.
I found myself just skipping through most of the sex scenes because of this. Of course, there are more than a few ones that give more insight to the protagonist, and one in particular actually has some pretty damn important revelations. Still, as a whole, they're just tedious after you register what kind of fucked up action they entail.
Damn, I didn't mean to write so much on that, especially since the plot is where things are at.
Looking at it as a whole, I'd say the plot easily competes with some of the better twisty titles in the genre. I think I'd actually put it above Virtue's Last Reward (not 999 though).
That being said, I'm talking about the twists themselves and not how they unfold. They really aren't presented very well, or at least not on the same level as Uchikoshi stuff and even Danganronpa. That's mainly because the explanations are kind of fragmented until the end, which is all over the damn place (which similarly gave me VLR vibes in how convoluted it all was). It also feels like some details are left out even though they can easily be extrapolated. At times, it feels like the answers you want are in the form of a plot synopsis on Wikipedia and not an actual story in the process of unfolding. That being said, the full picture is mostly given to you, which I can appreciate after Umineko.
But despite all that, there are some super effective moments. The climax is damn emotional and gave me chills, though a certain
phenomenal track helps play a part in that. Unfortunately, those scenes are few and far between, with most revelations not having near the same effect thanks to the wonky pacing and eh presentation.
So was it worth sitting through all that gross stuff for? I don't know, but I will say I'll be thinking about that climax for a while.
I still don't think I can really recommend this to anyone that doesn't have a stomach of steel, which I thought I had before this. I'm including people that really like crazy mindfuck Zero Escape twists. I have no doubt that many people WOULD vomit from playing this.