Spirited Heart Deluxe
Based on the poor reviews, I was expecting Spirited Heart: Deluxe to be utterly unplayable. I was pleasantly surprised to find that, though not without several problems, it’s not nearly that bad. While not the best raising sim I’ve ever played, it’s certainly not the worst, and it even does some interesting things with the format. I’d say its biggest flaw is that it’s very old, and thus, obviously the work of a young developer. It lacks polish, but it’s got some heart.
THE GOOD
– Real player with 12.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Fantasy Visual Novel Games.
♥ Sorta neat
I liked the premise - I’m a sucker for simulation games, especially ones filled with choices.
Unlike other games, there’s many characters to pursue a relationship with, and along with being able to choose your character species, you can also choose whether to be straight or lesbian. Nice! -:)
Then there’s stats - essentially character traits like gardening, charisma, etc. that effect the jobs you can have, and the choices/outcomes to things. Unfortunately what I quickly realized was the game isn’t about a story or choice - it’s about the stats.
– Real player with 10.0 hrs in game
Cheeky Princess
Visual novel, fantasy, comedy, romance
✧✧✧
Story
Princess Ida is a proud student of the Royal Academy of Heroes but her father returned from the war and decided to arrange his daughter’s personal life. How will his gamble turn out?
✧✧✧
Features
✧ Cheeky female protagonist
✧ Three characters for a romantic relationship
✧ Beautiful artwork
✧ Multiple endings
Read More: Best Fantasy Otome Games.
Sword Daughter
I guess this is one where I wished steam had a number or star rating rather than a good/bad option. I bought it some time ago, didn’t particularly like it so put it down for a while and picked it up again recently but found more of the same. Overall I’m coming down on the negative side of neutral with regards to it being a game book written in the 80’s. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever seen but it has some significant problems with the story.
Firstly some of the graphics are nice. They’re in a consistant style that suits the game book. I didn’t find the music that intrusive (although I turned it right down after a while and it got repetative) and the sound effects are ok.
– Real player with 6.5 hrs in game
Read More: Best Fantasy Visual Novel Games.
The first line of this story really should have been: Once Upon a Time. Had it started this way I doubt there would have been so many comments/complaints about character development and short storylines. Truthfully what fairy tale really does have in-depth character development or that much of a plot?
Storyline: Tyrna, a young woman (a maiden) has been trained by her father all her life to be a warrior. On the way to the Warrior Games (a tournament to basically earn the right to be called a warrior) the caravan is attacked by orcs. She is knocked unconscious fighting orcs and because of this is the only remaining survivor of the massacre her father dies in. Gavin, a half-elf/half-human ranger (on patrol) comes upon the carnage and revives her before the orcs return or wild animals find her. Of course it is love at first sight, what fairy tale does not have love at first sight. The adventure and mild romance (mostly of the happily ever type) begins here.
– Real player with 5.0 hrs in game
Atelier Lydie & Suelle: The Alchemists and the Mysterious Paintings DX
Not sure to comment. But i love mysterious series. Currently trying to reach 100% Achivements. Also love Adult Firis looks btw.
– Real player with 122.4 hrs in game
Honestly the more I play into the series the more I feel
how good the previews series were.
Sophie being the absolute top and then probably lydie then firis.
But surprisingly I didnt get to hear any gorgeous music in this game yet.
The wonderful music was all a remake version of previous series,
like plauta theme, ilmeria theme or sophie theme.
Still all of the remake ost from previous series are absolutely beautiful!
Near the ending but this game made a good ending to every character that
– Real player with 91.0 hrs in game
Child of Light
Funshine Bear was hurtling towards my screen with sniper precision. My 7-year old daughter is a stuffed toy-throwing expert. She really fell in love with the lead heroine, Aurora, and each dramatic encounter would leave her aghast as the story unfolded. In this case a plushie bear attack was warranted as Child of Light got real right there. Funshine Bear might have lost a bit of stuffing too. The game was my choice for our daddy-daughter gaming nights and we enjoyed it so much, it warranted two playthroughs.
– Real player with 40.1 hrs in game
My review for Child of Light:
First of all, I’m going to address 2 concerns that I found in Steam community hub:
1. Uplay
Those who’re going to buy this game should know that this game is going to use Uplay, Ubisoft own game client. I noticed that many people dislike Uplay for certain reason so gonna respect that. I have my own issue with Uplay as well. So if you want to buy this game, make sure you know what you’re getting into.
2. Day 1 DLC
When the game is released, the dev put several DLCs immediately, including Golem DLC and Dark Aurora DLC which is the Special Edition bonus DLCs, Light Aurora DLC which is the preorder bonus and several “cheat” DLC which you can buy extra oculis for your game. Golem DLC gives you a new party member and a small quest to get him, while Light Aurora and Dark Aurora DLC give you skins for Aurora and extra oculis and bonus stats. The “cheat” DLC is actually consists of oculis, which means you can buy the oculis using real money once. Among these DLCs, only Golem DLC adds a bit of content while the skins just for eye candy. As much as I hate day 1 DLC, if you want to support the dev, buy the Golem and the skins DLC only. Of course you can ignore the DLCs if you don’t want to support day 1 DLCs. I myself didn’t bought any of the DLCs except Light Aurora since I preorder it.
– Real player with 36.8 hrs in game
Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
Do you remember watching the Back To The Future film series? Great start with a disappointing middle before recovering to end in a pleasing fashion? Well, I haven’t installed Chapters as yet, but at time of writing, Dreamfall: The Longest Journey is that awkward second instalment.
It certainly has its merits. The story is almost as good as its predecessor, and it is this that will most likely carry the player through to the end in spite of the drawbacks; and the author also sensibly cut back on the length of the conversations. Despite its undoubted strength in depth, many character discussions in the original TLJ simply went on too long.
– Real player with 25.7 hrs in game
Dreamfall: TLJ is a 3-d third-person point and click adventure game. The game is a sequel to a classic adventure game released in 1998 called The Longest Journey. It is not necessary to play the original TLJ to play Dreamfall, but it helps a lot, since the game universe and many characters are the same. The game is very heavy on story, dialogue, and cinematics, and light on puzzles and gameplay.
Story: the story is both the best and the worst I have ever seen in an adventure game. In the last two years I have completed 12 adventure games including old classics and modern indies. Dreamfall has a very complex and compelling story involving several interesting characters, political movements, and the complex game universe. It includes elements of comedy, drama, and tragedy. The story really gathers steam toward the end, resolving one storyline while introducing several more. Then, in the middle of the gathering drama and revelations, the game suddenly ends with no resolution to the fate of a dozen major characters and a dozen major plotlines. This is perhaps the most unsatisfying ending I have ever seen in a game, movie, book etc. Even if they did plan on a sequel, this was just plain terrible. I know a lot of people hated The Empire Strikes Back because of the unresolved plot lines. This is 100x worse.
– Real player with 17.8 hrs in game
Spirit Bounce
This is the best new Arknoidoidish game Eva!
– Real player with 3.0 hrs in game
Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy
First off, would like to give a rundown on this game to help others understand what they are buying.
1. Game is subtitles only. Yes, can be annoying having to read everything the characters say, but the voice acting is nice and the dialogue is great even if you don’t understand Japanese.
2. This game is story intensive. Majority of gameplay will be split between reading the massive amount of cutscenes, exploring the world and crafting your equipment. Combat doesn’t take up much of your game time. Difficulty can be increased, but combat is not exactly the major point of this game. Think of this like the old flash storyboard games but with full 3d environment exploration with combat sprinkled in.
– Real player with 98.7 hrs in game
Initially, I liked this game. After finishing this game however, I was left with an inexplicable urge to squeeze small white flying animals that squeak. The characters in this game are so uninteresting that I just began to skip cut scenes because I couldn’t care less about them. How they managed to ruin the main gang I have no idea, but they are BAD. The new characters are even worse, especially the blacksmith. Gameplay wise, I respect Gust changing how items are used, and the combat is far better than Ryza. Crafting is way better and craft, gather, combat formula persists, though alchemy is still pretty easy. The ruin discovery was neat, I was interested in the beginning, but in the end, I just brute forced through the “puzzles”.
– Real player with 75.1 hrs in game
Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book DX
On 27 of April Koei announced:
We are currently working on the following fixes, which will be delivered in the near future.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your patience.
- Graphics issues; world details not being displayed correctly on some maps.
https://www.koeitecmoamerica.com/mysteriousdx/info.html
Negative reviews are mostly about few screenshots circulating around that show worse graphics compared to the original non DX version. Personally I don’t care about no “flower field” or puddles looking worse (it’s not as bad as the screen shows btw. water gets clearer the closer you are to them. I’ll admit they do get a little distracting in the town and against light surfaces tho). Theres plenty of reviews on youtube, see for yourselves how “bad” the graphics are.
– Real player with 265.8 hrs in game
Atelier Sophie is the first game in the Mysterious subseries and an excellent entry point for newcomers. While Ryza might be more popular in the West, Sophie is the queen in Atelier’s country of origin. According to a 2021 Japanese poll Sophie is still the most beloved Atelier game ever and got twice as many votes as Ryza. How did this happen? Is the game really that good? Both yes and no.
– Real player with 70.8 hrs in game
Dungeon Dreams (Female Protagonist)
Dungeon Dreams (female protagonist) Review
As a person who grew up playing Azure Dreams, (and one who still actually owns the game), Dungeon Dreams was a quirky, fun alternative game to those long lost days of lore. Players will discover key moments reminiscent of the old Azure Dreams such as the character of Grant, who like Ghosh, is just as obnoxious, arrogant, and hilarious - equipped with his own theme song at every appearance. One important detail that sound be mentioned is the vast superiority of the Dungeon Dreams soundtrack compared to Azure Dreams. Instead of the grating obnoxious sound track of Azure Dreams, Dungeon Dreams is trendy and upbeat. I had often found myself humming along with it especially during the battle scenes.
– Real player with 327.7 hrs in game
This is absolutely the single best game of it’s style that I’ve ever played in my entire life, and I’ve been a gamer since 83!! This is a cRPG/Dungeon Crawler/Life Sim/Dating Sim/Time Management/everything in between!! This game literally has it all and then 1 up’s it all! It literally scratches every itch I’ve ever had in a game. This is My Time in Portia with adult undertones but with real cRPG/Dungeon Crawling equally involved.
There is building and expansion, serious risk vs reward akin to the classics like Ultima, dungeon crawling with just the right amount of grinding for XP and the rewards are very fair and balanced. There are multiple characters to party with and you must actively think throughout each dungeon dive. This is no simple button mashing here. The AI of the mobs is intuitive and forward thinking so one must react accordingly. The skill system exceeds my expectations in literally every way. There are the 3 typical branches, Fighter, Rogue, and Mage, but these branch into multiple subclasses with passive skills that stay active no matter what class is active!!!
– Real player with 98.9 hrs in game