These are no ordinary exams, of course being a magical school, they naturally involve you being transported into a dank, smelly dungeon and tasked with finding your way out using the spells you've managed to master in the preceding weeks.
In this game, you're cast in the role of an extraordinary high school student - you have magical powers! Consequently, in true Harry Potter fashion, you've been sent to a school that's suitably equipped to deal with your unique talents, and over the course of the game it's your job to refine those powers into something that's going to get you through your exams. The game I've had on my mind for today's column is Hanako Games' Magical Diary. (Aside: I was actually tempted to write about Sweet Fuse today, but I've said most of the things I want to say in my review, so be sure to check that out if you're interested.) Oddly enough, it's Western developers rather than localization teams who seem to be leading the charge for otome games among English-speaking audiences, but the situation is gradually changing thanks to titles like the excellent Sweet Fuse. We're slowly starting to get more of these in the West, but for the most part relationship-themed games that get localized from Japan are still largely of the bishoujo variety, where a heterosexual male protagonist pursues relationships with one (or, occasionally, more than one) of the impossibly attractive female cast members. Secondly, it's an otome game - a game where you play a female protagonist and, in this case, pursue relationships with people of both genders. Big Steve's got his eye on you.įor starters, this week's game isn't of Japanese origin at all, though you'd be forgiven for thinking it was from an idle glance at the screenshots. This week, we're taking at something a little different, in a number of ways.
Last week, we took a look at Aselia the Eternal, a lengthy fantasy epic that was originally an eroge but which was subsequently rewritten into an "all ages" formula, and a game that blends elements of dating sims, visual novels, strategy games and RPGs to create something enormously compelling. For those of you who missed last week's installment, we're currently in the middle of Dating Sim Month, a community playalong organized by GAF poster and online acquaintance Anne Lee.ĭuring Dating Sim Month, the aim is to get people trying out relationship-centric games in all shapes and sizes, ranging from full-on traditional dating sims to romantically-themed visual novels or eroge.
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