wonderfulwonderland

[wonderfulwonderland]

✦ Ven, the Great Magician and brightest star of hope ✦

It's been a very long time since I had the motivation/insp to do a quality OC piece!! 🥺 I'm pretty happy with how this came out!!

#moon observatory #otome #ven!!! always love when he shows up 😁 #art is gorgeous as always 🩵

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Thank you for the amazing support on Dark Nights. We reached past 100%! Roya & Chain are funded + secret route. All sprites get a revamp. This is all made possible with your help. I initially thought only one route gets funded. Since Chain is ahead in the voting. January 31st is his birthday so I planned this drawing for a celebration.

I got many questions about how long the development will take. For sure it won't be nearly 6 years again, haha. I already started with writing scripts and planning. Ideally, I hope to finish it around Dark Night's anniversary (31st October) but that is the earliest I can think of. Although, quality goes above speed. I hope to deliver a good experience!

#O.o omg I haven’t been checking tumblr so I had no idea this was happening #I’m so excited!!! #I should replay the original game and review it on tumblr #it had such a good sense of humor and great art #dark nights #otome news #otome

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the take that “enemies to lovers doesn’t have to involve violence!!!” is so boring. knives to the throat or don’t bother

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Me: Violence is not the answer.

Jeremy on step 2, pointing at Cove: Your eyebrows are stupid.

Me: hOLD MY FRUIT ARRANGEMENT--

#our life #our life beginnings & always #must protecc at all costs #use the skewers from the fruit arrangement to poke Jeremy to scare him away

[wonderfulwonderland]

Part 2!

Magical Otoge Ciel: Female MC, three male love interests. An indie otome classic. Princess Ciel has been cooped up in the palace her entire life and wants to go on an adventure! Lighthearted, stress-free (it’s impossible to get a “bad” ending) and so pure that a forehead kiss is the most skinship you’ll get. There are so. Many. Puns. Lots of breaking the fourth wall. The haunted mansion and Ven's dungeon are two of the most funny scenes in any otome game I’ve played. (I wrote a slightly longer review here)

Magical Otoge Anholly: female MC, technically three male main characters but like Seihuo is basically the love interest. If you ship Anholly with anyone else what is wrong with you. Anholly lives in a freezing cold town all by herself, and one day comes across a dying ice spirit. Heads up, it has a tragic/bittersweet ending. Love is real. (I wrote a slightly longer review here)

If you enjoyed playing those, you will 100% enjoy Magical Otoge Iris, which is a paid game! Review here.

Ebon Light: female MC, 5 male love interests. A woman gets drawn into a political conflict between different factions of elves, and learns to deal with a mysterious power within her. MC is fairly customizable in terms of appearance and you choose every dialogue option and influence her personality. Compelling story with intriguing characters. I haven’t 100% completed this game but I’ve enjoyed what I’ve played!

Alloys Over Flowers: female MC with one male love interest. Junia is an accountant and aspiring sculptor who has amnesia. One night, she is ‘rescued’ by a man who claims to be her fiancée and thought she was being held captive. A short and sweet story of these two falling in love.

Free and/or cheap indie otome games

Here’s a list of free and/or cheap indie otome games. They’re great to check out if you’re curious about otome games and don’t want to pay money to do so, and of course if you already know you like otome games, here are some recommendations!

These ones are still demos/uncompleted, but good:

7 Kingdoms: The Princess Problem: the MC is female, very customizable, and there are male and female romance options. Can also be played without romance. The premise is that delegates from 7 kingdoms come together on an island and over the course of 7 weeks make alliances, which can be romantic in nature or not. You take a quiz in the beginning which determines your country of origin, which then affects your stats. Conversations with others are vital for your reputation and also affect your stats, and you won’t be able to do certain things or pass events without sufficient stats. The romance is pretty solid too, and the cast of characters overall is fantastic. It’s a strategy and political game as much as it is a romance. It reminds me of Long Live the Queen, if you’ve played that. The demo is the first 3 weeks of the game, and I’m completely floored by how good it is. I can’t wait for the full game!

Andromeda Six: sci-fi visual novel. MC can be male/female/nonbinary and the love interests are male and female. Very fun adventure story set in space with a great cast of characters. Only about half of the episodes have been released so far (5 of I believe 10 episodes) and they’ve been really good! Romance is also optional. 

Some completed free games: 

Our Life: MC can be male/female/non-binary, love interest is one guy (though more to be added via DLC). Very heartwarming, slice of life story. Revolves around the MC growing up with the boy next door, and the game takes place over three summers at various stages in their lives. The MC is insanely customizable, and things you’ve said and done at various stages are remembered and often referenced or can affect certain things. Really just a lovely game that brings a smile to your face. Romance is optional too.

Cinderella Phenomenon: female MC with 5 male love interests (romance is mandatory, unless you feel like getting a bad ending). This is one of my fave games, I’ll try not to gush about it too much. The story take place in a kingdom where people are being cursed with fairytale curses, which are inversions of fairytale stories. The MC is a princess who gets cursed with the “Cinderella curse,” going from riches to rags. The other love interests all have a fairytale curse of some sort which you learn about in their routes. The MC is not customizable because she is a straight up jerk and some of the correct dialogue choices are being mean to people. This story has amazing character growth of the MC (and some of the love interests too). It has a fantastic cast of characters, who are memorable and lovable. It’s a great story and how things change in each of the routes is so interesting and well-executed. You should definitely play the routes in the recommended order!!!

Red-handed Robin: female MC, two male love interests (I don’t think romance is optional). Robin (the MC) has stolen some diamonds and is on a train out of town with her friend/bodyguard and encounters her friend from childhood who is now a detective. Will he catch on to her? Fun little story with some puzzles in each chapter (of which there are three). The main trio are great. 

Lake of Voices: female MC with male/female love interests, romance optional. A horror-ish game. Can you get across this spooky lake alive? Good luck with that. Once you manage to get across the lake, definitely replay it and see how else the story unfolds. It’s a cool story with intriguing characters and an interesting setting. It has absolutely beautiful art.

Dark Nights: female MC with four male love interests. Also horror-lite. Some of the people in your town have been disappearing. You encounter 4 strange men and wonder whether any of them might have answers as to what’s going on. Quite a fun game with pretty art! Very funny titles for the achievements, the creators definitely have a good sense of humor. 

A few cheap ones: 

Rose of Segunda ($8.99):  female MC with male and female love interests, romance is optional. Charming little story set in a kingdom whose prince is of the age to be married and everyone’s invited over for his birthday. Will you try to go after him (romantically or otherwise) or will you be interested in some of the other guests? The MC is somewhat customizable and can be quite funny. The characters are charming as well.  

Because We’re Here ($5.99 per act): female MC, male love interests (romance not really optional). Set in an WW1-era fictional universe. Seems like a bad idea to have romance during a war, huh? Prepare to for ALL the emotions. This one is only half completed (Act 1 and 2 of 4 planned). I’m looking forward to the other acts!!

Have fun! I checked out some of the free/indie ones before starting to actually buy some of the more popular/mainstream (but also more expensive) games. All of these games are great. Recommendations part 2: here!

#sorry for no photos for alloys over flowers the 10 photo limit is bs #game recommendations #otome #otome games #indie otome games #free otome games #magical otoge anholly #magical otoge ciel #ebon hawk #alloys over flowers #7kpp #seven kingdoms the princess problem #andromeda six #a6 #our life #our life: beginnings & always #cinderella phenomenon #red handed robin #lake of voices #dark nights #dark nights otome #the rose of segunda #because we're here

[wonderfulwonderland]

🌰Chestnuts and Warm Milk🍂

My List of ~Favorites~ for Interactive Fiction and Visual Novels

Keep reading

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cant think abt this too long or i'll start crying but 22 year old nick coming home to the aftermath of the Incident... then suddenly being the primary caretaker of his teenaged sibling who is still mentally/physically recovering and potentially resents him deeply... WHILE taking over his father's job as UCRT's leader, a role which puts him constantly in the public eye so he always has to be Strong and Unflappable and Upbeat... ah too late im already in tears :'((((((

#mind blind

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has this been done before

#mind blind #nick wiseman

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mind blind has no business being as good as it is

#so fun #so engaging #love how many options there are for scenarios to play out #makes replaying so fun #characters are amazing I love them all #so far I've only really played all the way through once #and was indecisive about who to romance #and last minute decided to fall in love with Rosy #which Nick had THOUGHTS about #lol #the sense of humor throughout is great. made me literally lol #mind blind #interactive fiction

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iconic quotes from butterfly soup

#butterfly soup #visual novel #XD

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the next time you find urself considering acting like a fool in an IF author’s inbox (e.g. levying plagiarism accusations, making unwelcome comparisons to other works, misunderstanding fundamental concepts like genre & tropes), may i suggest instead:

going outside and touching some grass

#amen

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One year ago today, Alexis’ adventure in Eskia ended… 

Now, raise the sails! And hoist the colours! We have set a course on an exciting, new adventure featuring a brand-new cast for an entirely different part of the world!

Announcing Royal Alchemist’s indirect sequel and our upcoming big project, Royal Order! We look forward to having you on board with us~!

The Sval, pirates of the utmost north, are wreaking havoc all over the continent of Igrith.

Vowing to bring an end to their endless plundering, three kingdoms send forth their royal heirs to the High Council, a powerful and influential faction of magicians, to plead for their help during this time of crisis.

The High Council oblige, creating the Royal Order, and the heirs remain; however, political tensions are high as old grudges resurface between the three kingdoms. And, as the pirates continue to have their way, they are determinedly bound to reach their breaking point.

Play as Aarya, the newest member of the High Council, and help manage the Royal Order.

Can you put an end to the Sval’s pillaging while keeping the kingdoms at peace? Or will you bring nothing but war upon them?

Fantasy | Stats Raising | All Romance

Royal Order is a historical fantasy Visual Novel featuring survival stats-raising elements, magic and court intrigue.

Keep the main characters alive through the story by improving their skills. Host social events to gain different factions’ approval. You can also go on campaigns to bring the ongoing war to an end.

◆ Customizable Protagonist (Appearance, Pronoun, Name) ◆ 3 romantic love interests (2 m, 1 f) ◆ 2 stats raising systems ◆ Time management & Quest system (60 Weeks in-game) ◆ 8 Endings ◆ And many deaths! :D

—

Get access to our latest development updates on Patreon!

https://www.patreon.com/Nifty_Visuals

#so exciting!!!! #loved royal alchemist #royal order #visual novel #otome

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Magical Otoge Iris review

I'll be upfront and say that on an emotional level, I'd give this game a 9/10. But honestly, it's probably an 8/10. I'll detail why, and also give some tips about how I think you should play this game.

MOI is about Iris, who grew up as an orphan and was adopted by Val, a Magician's familiar. Magicians are guardians of the worlds, and Iris inherited a part of a Magician's power. Growing up she was pretty lonely, except for her childhood friend Rieffe. However, he disappears during their childhood. When Iris grows up, she becomes a Purifier, purifying corrupted spirits so they can pass onto the afterlife. She has a teacher named Reqieu (it's canon that nobody knows how to spell or say his name) who she is close with. The Magician Wynrou gives her a super special lance that is so special it is a spirit, a glasses-wearing grumpy guy named Lanneis. As Iris gets more involved with the Magicians, she meets one of the Magicians, Septem, who records people's lives before they pass onto the afterlife. The LI's sprites are below: top left is Rieffe, top right is Reqieu, bottom left is Lanneis, bottom right is Septem. Sprites and the art below are from here: https://toyhou.se/batensan

The story has a ton of characters, all of whom I love. They are all lovely and funny and distinct. Batensan's humor is very meta and there's lots of cute and funny scenes. However, they're also super good at angst and making me sad :''(. The combination of visuals, text, and music are so well done here, and I can truly feel the emotions of the scene. They've managed to make the text shake and bounce which really adds to the intensity of a scene, and there's some fantastic scenes where I was holding my breath. Their art has also continued to get better and better and I love so many of the CGs in this game. I put an example below of Batensan's art, it's not a CG from the game but captures their style. I loved learning more about the fantasy setting of the Magical Otoge worlds, learning about the Magicians, and getting little glimpses of future and previous stories! If you've played the other games in the Magical Otoge series (which you definitely should) you'll love learning more about everything! It's cool how well thought out the setting is, and I was impressed by the volume of characters and stories within this game. There are little side episodes with certain characters that do a great job of building friendships or telling short, heartwarming stories. Batensan is really good at creating wonderful characters, beautiful stories, and making you ~feel~ things. They're also not afraid of exploring the darker side of characters; not all of these characters are saints by any stretch of the imagination. It's definitely not as fluffy and pure as their previous games.

My main criticism of the game is that the first playthrough felt pretty long and not in a fun way. I was interested in how the main plot was going to resolve, but after the route selection there's some meandering about and short episodes with side stories for different characters. It interrupts the momentum of the story, and I felt kind of adrift and unsure when or whether we'd get back to the main plot. It felt that way for the LI's story as well. I loved the shenanigans and characters and so on, but from a story perspective it felt somewhat fragmented. I started to love this game once I replayed the next routes, as I got to skip through a lot of the filler and just see the route-specific content. It felt a lot more streamlined and cohesive.

A few tips: (1) Pace yourself for your first playthrough. The game is somewhat episodic in nature, so play it for a while, and then feel free to leave it for a bit and pick it up again later. Trying to binge-play it is kind of tiring since it's hard to tell how far along you are in the story.

(2) I'd suggest playing the routes in the order they're listed. I think Rieffe's route ties in really well with the overarching story about the Magicians and so on, and gets you more invested in the setting. I played Lanneis's route first, which I think was a mistake, as it's more fluffy and Lanneis-specific rather than tied to the bigger picture. So do Lanneis second, then Reqieu 3rd. Reqieu's is more angsty than Lanneis, so you get Rieffe (angst) - Lanneis (less angst) - Reqieu (angst). An angst sandwich! Septem's is locked for last, and Reqieu's route also leads well into his.

(3) Play all the endings! Yes, even the bad ones. I think they're all really well done. At the very least, do Reqieu's and Septem's.

I really enjoyed this game (especially during my subsequent playthroughs), and I find the story and setting unique and intriguing. Despite this author's reputation for humor (Magical Otoge Ciel), they're also excellent at angst and feels. This was a magical story full of friendship and love (with a dash of sadness and despair), and I'm looking forward to whatever the creator makes next!

#magical otoge iris #otome #otome games #otome review #viimetra and henri best bois #reqieu's route was surprisingly really good and feels-y #but I prob ship rieffe x iris the most... childhood friend trope done really well #speaking of tropes I don't find this very tropey at all? I really didn't necessarily know where the story was going. Which is cool! #I seriously loved the CGs. Especially in Reqieu's route. #B/c this game covers so many characters and worlds it makes me excited for future content to get to learn more about those characters! #And some of the side stories are so amazing and I would play an entire game of some of those stories. So so so good.

[wonderfulwonderland]

viimetra best boi

#magical otoge iris #otome #otome game

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A New Interactive Novel

A Tale of Crowns is a high fantasy love story with Middle Eastern roots, free to play from start till finish, both on pc as well as mobile! It’s entirely text-based, with choices throughout to shape both your main character’s personality and skills as well as influence their relationships with others. There are four love interests for you to choose from, both female as well as male, each with their own stories and secrets for you to uncover!

❂ THE SETTING

The story takes place in Arsur, a fictional empire within a fantasy universe that draws inspiration from historical settings in the Middle East. Much of it is based on Kurdish culture, drawing from my own experience as a Kurdish woman.

Your character was born and raised in Arsur, where magic is considered a skill no different from reading or writing. Gender, sexual orientation and race have no bearing on social position or class; it is instead only based on wealth and level of education.

The Arsurian Empire itself is overseen by a single ruler known as the Crown. Unlike traditional monarchies, however, the title is not inherited through blood. Whenever the Crown dies, their famed golden eyes pass on to the one chosen by the spirits of this world to be the new Crown: this appears to happen at random, as Crowns in the past have ranged from the poorest farmer to the wealthiest noble.

❂ THE STORY

Their parents murdered and the previous Crown of Arsur assassinated, your character finds themselves on the run as they’ve been bestowed with the golden eyes that mark them as the new Crown.

Unseen enemies at their heels, will they succeed as the Crown, or will they lead to the downfall of the Empire?

❂ CHARACTER CUSTOMIZATION

At the beginning of the story, you’ll have the opportunity to customize your Crown’s name, pronouns, sexual orientation and their skill in magic. You can also customize many parts of your Crown’s appearance: hair color, hair texture, hair style, skin color and height are all up to you and will be reflected in the story as well. Their backstory and ethnicity are the only things that are locked in. The Crown is also locked in as a person of color, as is in line with the setting - their specific race is up to the player to imagine.

As for your Crown’s personality, there are twelve different character traits in total that will be decided based on the choices you make in game. This will subsequently change your Crown’s behavior during story scenes.

The character traits are: Charming/Blunt, Kind/Calculated, Intelligent/Intuitive, Cautious/Adventurous, Flirtatious/Reserved and Assertive/Passive. Some of these will mix and interact with each other in different ways as well!

❂ THE LOVE INTERESTS

Depending on what your Crown’s sexual orientation is, the gender of the love interests will change accordingly to match that. There are four of them in total, and regardless of their gender their titles are as follows: the Sorcerer, the Hero, the Protector and the General. Each love interest will have their own route which you will get to choose from at the end of the common route.

As of today, the common route of the story has been completed at around 117k words, and I have started publishing the routes for the love interests! I will release each chapter as I finish it, so the game will be a continuous work in progress. Would you like to know more about the story, the setting, or the love interests? Check out the game blog!

NOTE: This game is not suited for those under 16 years of age! Please keep the age rating in mind.

See the blog page for links!

#I've loved the first few chapters I've played! super immersive and love all the details of the setting #a tale of crowns #interactive fiction #rooting for you dev ＼(＾▽＾)／ #congrats on finishing the common route

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Dark Nights Cat Edition!!

#!!!!!!!!!!! #I love this!!!!!!!! so much!!!!!!!!!!! #dark nights #dark nights otome #beautiful art as always

[wonderfulwonderland]

my friends, it is not illegal to recognize there are problematic elements to the content you enjoy. it’s called critical thinking. you can enjoy something and not turn a blind eye to the shit wrong with it. 

#amen