Fatal Hearts

Author: ?

Availability: Demo/$9.95 Full Version, Download

Format: Visual Novel

Genre: Thriller

Rating: Teen

My Scores: 2 out of 5 ( Writing: 2, Art: 4, Gameplay: 1)

Found at http://www.hanakogames.com

Summary:

In Fatal Hearts, you play a teenage girl named Christina. Her friend's parents are acting weird, girls are getting murdered, and she keeps dreaming about a strange guy. Can you solve the puzzles, find love and not die?

Review:

I have to admit that I didn't get very far in this game. In what little I have seen, the writing seems to run the gamut from okay, to cheesy, to "What the heck was the author thinking?!". The first line that gave me pause was a comment by the narrator that her mother doesn't let her wear makeup, which is "probably why I still don't have a boyfriend." ...Honey, that is not how love is supposed to work. But okay, we're in the first-person perspective of a teenager here; I suppose I can accept that she's a little bit stupid about these sorts of things. But then, we come to another scene that just breaks my suspension of disbelief in terms of sheer stupidity...

Picture this:

Last night, your friend ditched you and went off with some complete strangers. This morning, you get a call saying that someone was found dead at the place you last saw her. You are now worried that your friend may have been killed. At this point, your mother comes right up to you and, not knowing about the call, asks you if you would like a ride to some place. How do you repond?

A: Tell her that you don't want to go right now because you're worried about your friend's safety.

B: Say "Mom! Thank goodness you're here!" then tell her about your friend and ask her for help.

C: Say NOTHING AT ALL to the adult standing right in front of you, and handle it yourself, even though a violent, federal crime is involved.

If you guessed anything except C, you are smarter than our protagonist. I mean seriously, what the crap?! I could buy leaving Mom out of the loop if she was gone and you didn't want to call and bother her, but when she's Standing Right There and asking you something? That is the epitome of stupid. It might be more palatable if there were at least an option for telling her, so that then we could just blame the player. But no, talking to the adult doesn't even cross our makeup-obsessed teen's mind.

So enough about the writing, then: On to the art! The art is decent and anime/manga style. I have nothing more to say about the art. Moving on, then:

I hate the game play. Words cannot express my utter loathing for it! Any attempts would probably include the words "vomit" and "bowels" and "ripping it to shreds and then setting it on fire." Readers of my earlier posts might have picked up on my slight dislike of minigames. Well, in Fatal Hearts, every chapter has one, and they are necessary to advance through the game. These "puzzles" range from "annoying" to "impossible and annoying". The first one is reminiscent of the Gemini minigame from Wonderland Sim Date: move annoying crap out of your way. That's it; there's no mental challenge at work, just lots of click-and-drag. At the other end of the spectrum is the puzzle that frustrated me so much that I finally just quit the game altogether:

You have stumbled across a dead body, and need to run away before the police see you. (Yeah, this part just cemented for me that the protagonist is an idiot since, given that she'd just arrived and hadn't touched anything, even a cursory crime-scene investigation would clear her almost immediately.) But anyway, you have to guide Christina through a maze of bushes, keeping the bushes between you and the cop at all times. If the cop sees you, she will move toward you, and she can move twice as fast as you can. This puzzle is probably doable and there's probably a walkthrough online detailing a long and complicated series of back-looping paths, but I don't care enough to look. What really grates my cheese about it though, is that after I lose this puzzle, I don't get taken to a Bad End or a story that branches from me being caught; I get "Oh, you've lost. Here, let's just reset that puzzle for you:" and my agony begins anew. What's more, there is no "Skip Puzzle" button, just me losing and losing until I finally chuck the computer out of a second-story window.

In summary, this is the worst commercial game I have ever played. The art is the only real redeeming quality, but considering that they're charging money for this thing, the art had better be decent. I consider this the commercial equivalent of Dating Sim Academy, with the notation that at least DSA was free and I could finish it! (note: The author of DSA has done better games, some of which I've discussed on this blog, so I feel justified in continually tearing it.)

Now, as usual, there is room for disagreement. Maybe you have more taste for puzzles than I do, and maybe your suspension of disbelief is stronger, or you can justify the protagonist's actions. I can't. I hate this game. But, feel free to try it out and share your thoughts in the comments.

BLOG UPDATE 2: OTOME BOOGALOO

Well, the good news is, I'm back on fast internet. Yay, Internet!

The bad news is, I have more hours at work. Boo, Work!

Still, I'll try to get back into a regular rhythm with posting; say, every 1-2 weeks. Thanks for your patience. Anyway, the "Re: Alistair" review is up, and next, I'm planning to cover Duplicity. Feel free to hurl suggestions at me for future reviews.

Re: Alistair

Author: ?

Availability: Free, Download

Format: Dating Sim

Genre: School Romance / Mystery

Rating: Teen

My Score: 3 out of 5

Found at: http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/ OR www.sakevisual.com

Summary:

Re: Alistair is a stat-based dating sim. You play Merui, a gamer girl obsessed with a MMORPG called Rivenwell Online. Another player has stolen your kill and claimed your prize, and you've since discovered that this player is one of three people who goes to your school. The problem is, which one?

Review:

I definitely want to give the writing bonus points right off the bat for having Merui be a gamer. After all, the very reason this blog was started was because of the misconception that girls don't game, so this is a welcome aversion of that old tripe. More generally, though, I think the characters are decent; the story is solid, and I like the way the emails and the gaming sessions are handled.

The art is likewise very good. Once again, it's based on anime/manga stylings, so a heads up to those of you who aren't fans of the genre. Presonally, I like it, and I enjoy the style change between the real world and the game.

The gameplay itself is something I'm a bit more ambivalent about. First of all, let me applaud the fact that the mystery of Alistair's identity has only one correct answer. You can end up with any of the three boys, but who you end up with does not in anyway influence who Alistair turns out to be. As for ending up with the boys, though, therein lies the problem...

This is the first truly stat-based dating sim I've ever played; while Festival Days had some Stats, they mostly influenced how much money you could earn, and other things that more or less became irrelevant once you cracked the system. In Re: Alistair, though, your stats determine who you end up with...I think.

The fact is, I'm not quite sure how it works. At first, it seemed pretty obvious to me: You have stats for Social, Network, and Intelligence, and your suitors are a Popular Jock, a Computer Guy, and a Smart Classmate. I initially assumed a direct correlation, then, between each stat and each guy, but single-mindedly pursuing one stat/guy resulted in *nothing*. If there's a combination that needs to be reached, I'm not sure what it is. According to the forums, success apparently lies in buying many, many objects, but there's no real clues for which objects to purchase (Except for one item suggested by each guy, but that's apparently not enough). At some point, I actually *did* get a good ending for one of the characters, but frankly, I'm not sure how I got it!

That's what really bothers me: I don't know how I got that good ending. I'm completely baffled. Personally, I think that if the player doesn't know what they did right, then something is wrong.

To sum it all up, Re: Alistair is pretty, well-written, and I have no clue what it wants from the player. WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME, ALISTAIR? WHAT DO YOU WANT???!!!!

*Ahem* Sorry. Perhaps you'll have better luck with it, though. Feel free to try it out and share your experiences in the comments.

Spirited Heart

Author: ?

Availability: Demo/$19.99 Full Version, Download

Format: Raising Sims

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: Teen

My Score: 2.5 out of 5

Found at: http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/ OR http://www.winterwolves.com/

Summary:

Spirited Heart is a raising sim, much in the style of Princess Maker. You play a girl in a fantastical setting, on your own for the first time. Work jobs, take classes, and see what you end up becoming.

Review:

First of all, let me just express my appreciation for the art; it’s clean, it’s professional-looking, and I quite like it. The layout’s nice, too. All in all, I give the art a 4. It is anime-based, as many of these games seem to be.

The writing is decent, and I like how the creator justifies the stat changes in-story. I particularly like how you can tweak some of your character’s stats by reliving “past events”, ala Choice of the Dragon. As an aside, why is it that fantasy settings have silly-sounding place names? I can’t really fault the game’s creator here, but it’s something about the genre that struck me while I was playing.

So, we have nice art and good writing, and then it all gets shot by the gameplay.

I HAte the gameplay here, with a capital ‘H’, and an ‘A’ for good measure. On the one hand, it’s cool that you can pick one of three races, choose her general background, and then further tweak her history if you like. That part is great. But as for the game proper, everything is much too random.

Want to work a job? Roll a die to find out if you did well enough to raise stats and/or get paid. Want to find romance? You have six potential suitors: Just keep hacking away at certain jobs and hope their associated Random Events eventually show up. Repeat until your health is low and your spirits are crushed, then waste your time and money resting so that you can start all over.

Granted, it’s fairly realistic to meet someone randomly. However, once you’ve become aware of that person, it should be easier to intentionally track them down to initiate interaction; especially when you know what places they frequent! In other words, if Elf Boy really does sing at that bar every single day, then I should be able to just click something like “Go Talk to Elf Boy” or “Invite Elf Boy over for beer”, instead of just mashing the “Work last job” button over and over until the game’s D20 (or whatever it is) finally lands on Elf Boy’s magic number. The problem with having every aspect of a relationship left up to chance is that it is, though statistically rare, entirely possible to roll an entire string of 1s, which means that no matter what you do, the relationship won’t progress at all. That. Sucks.

All in all, this game had some good ideas; and the addictive nature of multi-ending games means that, if the full version were free, I’d probably have played through it a few times despite the frustration. In my opinion, though, it’s not worth paying for. I don’t even know* what the price of the full version is; but as it stands, I wouldn’t give a dollar for it.

Of course, all this is just my opinion. Others may find the game more enjoyable than I did. Feel free to try it out and discuss your experiences in the comments.

*ETA: After writing this post, I looked up the price for the info section at the top.

Fantasia: Requiem of the Abyss

Author: azureXtwilight

Availability: Free, Download

Format: Visual Novel

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: Teen

My Score: 4 out of 5

Found at http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/

Summary:

Fantasia: Requiem of the Abyss seems to be the middle part of a trilogy (as I found out belatedly). You play Valen, the daughter of a demon lord and a human woman. The evil Thanos has struck the land with famine, causing nations to go to war, and must be stopped using a blue orb. Your new friends will help you.

Review:

Despite being the middle chapter of a series, I had no problem diving right into the story. In fact, I didn't even *realize* I'd started with the wrong chapter until I was well committed to it. The story itself is quite involving, complex and neatly woven together. The characters are individualized and engrossing, and I find myself feeling for them. The only fly in this ointment, and it's a pretty hefty one, is the English.

Imagine taking your favorite book, running it through several languages on Babelfish, and then Translating it back to English. That's how bad some of these chapters get. With a little thought, you can understand what the author is saying, but the effect is like picnicking in a beautiful meadow when all the mosquitoes are out. The setting is lovely, and you've brought some good things to the table, but...oh man... *swat* *swat* *swat*.

I'm a bit more ambivalent about the art. When I first saw it, there was something about it that I didn't like; something I still can't put my finger on. It's fairly consistent with itself, so I honestly don't know if its just a style that I don't care for, or if the artist is actually doing something wrong somewhere. To be fair, though, once I got deeper into the game, I started deciding that certain characters were cute and/or hawtsome, so make of that what you will. Also, there's a good range of poses and expressions for each character, and the scenery is quite lovely.

Now for the game-play: ONE thing prevents the gameplay from getting a perfect 5, and that is the fact that, in the version I downloaded at least, the solitaire minigame is broken. That's it. Everything else about the gameplay is perfect.

The story changes and branches according to the choices you make, but the branches are kept neatly tied into the main story, and there are certain landmarks you will always hit no matter whose path you're on. It's not too linear, but not a sprawling mess of infinite branches either. (I made one of the latter, once. It wasn't pretty.) Yes, there is a section with minigames, but there is no rule that you have to play them in order to progress. I was impressed to find that the results of the arm-wrestling match were in fact randomized, as I discovered when I tried to cheat by save-scumming. Er....I mean...ah well.

What impressed me most, though, was that unlike some works I've played, the past did not change according to your choices! I hate when that happens in games: You're Prince Charming's long-lost sister in Ending A, but Ending B has you getting married and, I assume, miraculously being NOT related to each other. (Cute Knight is the mentioned offender here, but there are others.) Past events should not simply change, and in F: RotA, they don't. The characters' histories are solid. If you pursue character X, it doesn't change the fact that character Z still loved you all along, which gives the endings even more emotional impact. The only things that change based on your choices are your future and current circumstances, which is as it should be.

In short, I loved this game. I got hooked playing it. It has two big flaws, as noted above, but the characters are great and the story is compelling. I don't know if the prequel comes close in quality, and I don't know what the sequel must be like, but this is an excellent game.

Grace's Diary

Author: Hima (with art/animation by Piti)
Availability: Free, Online/browser
Format:Visual Novel/Point and Click

Genre: Edutainment
Rating: Teen
My Score: 5 out of 5

Found at www.jenniferann.org

Summary:
Grace's Diary is a bit different from the other games discussed on this blog. This time, you're not trying to hook up with somebody. Instead, you have a friend who is in an abusive relationship, and you have to persuade her to get out. You're about to call her, but in order to have worthwhile things to say, you first have to look around the room for objects that trigger relevant memories about her boyfriend.

Review:

This is the first game to get a perfect 5 on this site, and I'm not just being swayed by the fact that it's made to support a good cause.

The writing is natural and human. The actions, reactions, and dialog of Grace and the others ring true, which makes sense considering all the research that must have gone into the game's making. The end, which is to say, the good ending, is not clean and happy as it might be in an after-school special; your friend may find the strength to leave her boyfriend, but feelings do not vanish. More surprisingly, the boyfriend's apparently heartfelt pleading at the end keeps him from being a flat out-and-out villain. He may be an abuser, but he's still a human being. The end result of all this is that you come away with much to think about.

The visuals are intriguing. The entire game is made to look like it's taking place in the pages of a notebook; speaking characters appear on opposite pages, etc. It also gives everything a sketchy, "drawn" look, in keeping with the theme. The overall effect is quite beautiful, in my opinion.

Finally, I must tip my hat to the creative gameplay design. Unlike most visual novels, this game is an unusual, possibly unique hybrid with the point-and-click genre. You find the objects hidden in Grace's room, thus providing the necessary replies for the dialog-tree to come. From what I can tell, there seem to only really be 2 endings: Success or Failure. However, this doesn't mean that it ends with an abrupt "You win/lose" message. As I mentioned before, the dialog reactions are very natural, and they lead smoothly to the relevant epilogue.

What's most impressive about this game is that it's short. It manages to pack a very beautiful and satisfying experience into a small space. So, even without considering the noble message about teen dating abuse, this is a game I must tip my hat to.

BLOG UPDATE

EDIT: As I no longer have easy access to fast internet, posting will be irregular and sporadic. Sorry for the inconvenience.

The good news, though, is that I finally got the Festival Days Sim Date review up into its rightful place.