Unity - Completed - Love of Magic [B1 v1.6.11f] [Droid Productions]

Started really strong then devolved as the file got more bloated. Let's start with the good: strong attempt at world building and storytelling. Decent smooth UI, and game mechanics.

Now for the bad: file size especially Book 3 is ridiculous. Maybe I had a bug, no further missions after Wolf. Still if you grind through each day, you'll see the key plot events and even the canon end game.

That's why I what started as a 5 star project ends with a whimper. Too many LIs for your harem, until they couldn't handle the dialogue and locations. In essence, a linear VN with unnecessary poker and sandbox elements which ultimately kill the game.

Keep it simple: either have a reason to sandbox, thus removing the plot complexity because too many variables; or remove the poker element because the RPG side broke around book 2 (just a time waster)

I guess I'm probably one of the few that finds this game way overrated. A game with a fantastic story, only to be ruined by a number of factors. The major star deduction comes from the fact that the choices you make in the game literally does not matter. While it "look" like you can pick a few options, it always leads to the same outcome. You cannot choose which girl you wanna pursue, you'll always end up with Emily as the girlfriend, and you'll also always have to cheat on her.... bruh, and I don't even like Emily. There are also quite a number of girls in the game, so the scenes that you actually have with a specific girl is limited. Would've love to see more scenes with Chloe, Val, Aoife. Combat is based on poker, and while its alright with me, it might not be the case for everyone else. H-scenes are also below average, so if you're just looking for them, I suggest you skip this game entirely. Also, I'm kinda sad with what happened to Bella in Book 2.

Pros:
-Fantastic story
-Good music
-Characters have their own personality
-Chloe is hot af
-Good UI

Cons:
-Below average xxx scenes
-Girls are mediocre
-Lack of animation
-Poker style combat may not be for everyone
-Choices does not matter
-Unavoidable scenes
-MC feels fake
-No dedicated LI route

This game has a captivating story with colorful characters and a harem element

The narrative keeps you hooked, though combat mechanics may not be everyone's cup of tea. While grinding is manageable, combat's execution feels lacking, and the loyalty of the chosen could be better acknoweldged

However, the loyalty of the chosen characters deserves more recognition, and the concept of love prevailing might seem clichéd to some

Despite personal feelings towards some characters like Emily, the overal journey is great

Finally done with the game, it took me almost 6 months to finish this game which honestly is a bit too much for a vn, i was not able to play more than two/three hours a day without yawning and feeling really sleepy.
There were more than a few moments when i almost gave up on game but its not all bad, story wise the game is worth it even if it feels a bit boring sometime.


Characters are unique, i have not seen these characters in any other vn so far the only exception is the new game this game's dev is making.

A bit too much text for events, it was okay at the first book but from book 2 to 3 it got really boring to a point that the game forced me to take a nap more than a few times. i am still surprised the game didn't get the text-based tag.

Renders are good but lack creativity. same renders are used in all 3 books, you would expect there would be something new to see but no there are barely any unique renders. Take dinner dates as an example, you would expect mc and his date to sit down and have a nice chat but they would stand still for hours on a dinner date inside an empty restaurant.

Lack of sexual contents is huge, for a game this huge you would expect a good amount of those but there is nothing like that in this game its mostly just focused on story and it feels like dev only added those contents just to attract more audience and to avoid no sexual content tag.

Sexual animations are bad and almost 90% sex scenes have no animations at all. again it feels like the dev did that just to get animated tag for the game.


Most choices are just an illusion, so don't waste your time trying to change anything, almost nothing you do has any effect on story and gameplay.

Final thoughts, though there are a lot of negative points story wise the game is still good, not great but still worth playing if you love a decent story.

Fantastic from start to finish. It is a cliche at this point but its holds true here when I say that I would play this even without the adult content. The story and characters are that good. The card combat works for me and I enjoyed experimenting with different builds. That said, it does have an annoying habit of teasing a sexy scene then blue balling you. Don't be put off my the huge length. Just start from the beginning and see if it grabs you the way it hooked me. I doubly recommend this now that its actually be completed, a rarity on this site.

This game could remove all explicit content and would possibly be better for it. The writing, story coherency, mechanics are all pretty great. Book 3 gets a bit buggy but it's nothing gamebreaking and if it's problematic you can probably fix it using debug mode.

If you're looking for some good sex scenes it's not worth the trouble to get through all the text and you might need to summon some willpower to get past parts of book 1, but the story accelerates quickly, there is not too much downtime in the free-play sections and most of the cast is endearing in their own ways (and consistent in their behaviour).

This game hooked me so bad with its poker and story that I kept forgetting I'm playing an erotic game. I have no complaint except the grinding but it's negligible.
I wish the developer good luck and success in their future endeavours.

Loved this game from start to finish. Book two was by far my favorite but the game overall was well written and engaging. Yes, the artwork and rendering are a bit outdated but don't let it stop you from giving it a try

The best story of any VN I've ever played, hands down! I was so wrapped up in the story that I actually forgot the sex scenes. Characters were very nice & scenes were solid, but you will play this for the incredibly intricate story. If you just want to get off. this is not the game for you.

This game is amazing. It has great writing, likeable characters and interesting worldbuilding. The gameplay oscillates in quality in my opinion, as I don't particularly enjoy the poker thing going on in it, but I do appreciate and respect the effort that went into designing the system. It is not without its flaws, however.

If I had to hone in on the most fundamental problem that the game has it would have to be the porn. Much like Sorcery, porn is a double-edged sword. It seems strange to say this on this website, but it is undoubtedly true. The game has such fantastic characterisation (in most characters, but we'll get to the other problems with that later), that its honestly frustrating when the main character is reduced to acting like a crude horndog for the sake of creating drama / porn, and when half of what other characters say to him revolves around excessively suggestive talk which really isn't appropriate to, say, a war council revolving around attempting to save all life on Earth and Elsewhere from a horde of ravenous immortal cthuloid monsters. But the game almost feels obligated at times to remind you that it is in fact a porn game. The sex itself varies from great to subpar, but I wouldn't recommend this game as a sex game first and foremoremost but rather as a story game that features sex. It doesn't help that the characters with by far the best designs imo (Xochi, Val and Kath), have a sincere dearth of content for this key component of the game, having a grand total of one actual scene between them.

The biggest casualty of the porn game tropes is certainly the main character, though. He is ostensibly a wonderful guy, but the porn game logic dictates that he takes many selfish actions, both in building his relationships and in bed. The fact that it is explicitly called out by both others and himself makes it rather awkward that he never changes this behaviour or even really considers doing so.

Amongst all the great characters though, there are a few that really suffer from weak characterisation, lack of direction, or a lack of content (and in one case, all of them). The chief perpetrator is Emily, the main LI and secondary lead for the story. While the role she fills in the story is solid and occasionally interesting, she herself is just a tad too bland to compete with the much more dynamic characters in the story like Chloe and Molly. But while Emily has good characterisation scattered across all three Books, another essential character, Katie, starts strong in Book 1 but gradually fades to roughly the same level of relevance as token healbot sidekick Dylan, only with sex attached. Finally, much as I try to like her, I can't really say I was particularly attached to Akane (another main character), as she lacks much of a strong personality, much content (especially early on), and whose plot beats are almost always shared with other, usually more interesting, characters.

Speaking of the Books, I definitely find Book 3 to be the weakest of the set. While its ending is strong, I don't find it to have added a whole lot over the resolution of Book 2 as most of Book 3 is spent in a superhero-esque timeline/multiverse/reality hop which spends a lot of time re-covering ground already thoroughly explored in Book 1 and 2. While it certainly adds to the story, and brings the story from a more bittersweet ending which Book 2 seemed to be leading towards into a more wholesome and happy ending, I don't feel like what it added really deserved an entire additional Book. Personally, I would have cut the entire reality-hopping storyline and instead split Book 2 in half, folding in the narrative beats from Book 3 without wasting time re-building relationships that were already very strong and interesting from Books 1 and 2.

For clarity's sake, these criticisms are constructive only. I adore this game, and wholeheartedly recommend it to others. It is a fantastic power fantasy and a fun take on the chosen one trope, and I have played most of it twice already. Yet like any game or story, it has its fair share of flaws that must be considered in any fair review, and it is much easier to talk about them than it is the innumerate strengths of the game. I look forward to the dev's future works.

I've been playing this since it was first released and just now got around to finishing Acts 13-15. This is one of the best games I've played off of this site. 10/10. Looking forward to seeing how Morningstar turns out

(I only read book 1, so the review applies to that content. I'm feeling "burnout" and need a break before the rest, assuming I get to it.)

Let me address the writing immediately, cause that seems like the greatest point of contention. Love of magic has better narrative and grammar, than other highly rated titles here. Not only that, but you can tell that whoever wrote this, is aware of at least some of the rules to create good fiction.
The problem is the focus on delivering one-liners and quotes. It makes for some nice entertainment, but there's no subtext, no personal delivery of experience, and no real gain from my perspective as a reader (why do you read, if not to accumulate knowledge/experiences from others?). Basically I'd say the writer(s) are on the right track, but need to cut some of this exuberance and flair, for more detailed notions, on what they actually want to transmit with their work. Form over function is not a good thing, unless you were explicitly aiming for that.

Moving on with the good:

- The writing shows attention to detail, and a desire to go beyond, what you see on "Patreon Vn's". Good English, not a lot of the usual pitfalls, and cohesion in the storytelling.

- The visuals - I'm guessing some characters are inspired by real people (that "lady of the lake" has to be the actress whose name just escaped to the deepest recesses of my brain), and that works for me. I also like the animations/motions, and the backgrounds. Overall very pleasing aesthetics, and Molly "did the trick" for me, regarding the adult tag. It's important.

- Arthurian legend, Brythonic/Celtic/Scottish/Gaelic mythology. I came to know it a bit better in the early 2000's after reading Fate/stay night (SMT* also helped), and its pretty interesting. Love of magic uses mythology as its core. There's also a bit of Norse gods and sagas in the mix, and references to other pantheons exist but not as in-depth. It works for me, even if I'm more of a fan of Greek/Roman stuff.

- All the Scott girls - I guess it's a personal preference, but I'm still counting it as a positive. Katie and (especially) Bella, have the right looks and temperament, even if I have never been anywhere close to Scotland, or any of its inhabitants. You know how preconceptions go.

- Epic story - It's been working since Gilgamesh (not the blonde one with the crazy amount of swords, mind you), and it will continue to work, as long as humanity is a thing. It's always nice to have a story about the hero/good guys gathering up to fight against gods and creatures threatening their very existence. It's a sure thing, and an inspiring feeling.

Neutral or "I'm really torn about this".

- The princess - It's difficult to explain, and I feel like I'm being too casual by doing so in a handful of lines. I can't seem to get on board with the princess. I don't know if it's the "only wife in a harem thing"; Her constant rebutal of anything the protagonist says; The never ending "my hearts and my knights"; Or the nagging feeling that 1 year down the line she divorces him, on account of him not changing who he is, to better suit her (yeah, i was already familiar with said quote).

I don't know, maybe (Japanese) visual novels, have corrupted my mind to a point where unconditional love, clinginess, and submission, are the only way I can accept someone's feelings in fiction? I'm not gonna waste time deconstructing this, I'd do it for something exceptional like White Album 2 ** not for this (see what I did there...). Something feels off (wrong) about the princess.

The bad:

- Combat - Lord why? It's terrible! Luckily you can avoid it, there's no need to go around grinding to get stronger, but I still don't understand what possess the developer(s) to let something like this in their game. Preposterous doesn't begin to cover it.

- World exploration - There's lots of stuff that can be missed (I presume, looking at the gallery), I couldn't find the fairy after the charisma check for instance. If the idea is to read a guide... I don't want to. If the idea is to check every location, on each time slot... I don't want to. If the idea is to replay the game... I don't want to. Put exclamation marks on locations that have a relevant event or adult scene, and let me see as much content as possible, assuming you want me to buy your game and support you.

Id' say this an 8/10 and my attention was grabbed for long periods of time. If you ask me, the work ends up suffering from "beautiful package syndrome", meaning that shallow aspects and trivialities fill up your initial impressions, but it soon becomes apparent that there's no worthwhile present (a story or notions that stay with you) inside. It's still good entertainment and a nice time.

* (Shin Megami Tensei).
** (Setsuna for life. Find the nearest bridge, if you don't agree).

Anything I can say has already been said 100 times or more. I will just say that story wise I have played few games that hit me as much as this one did, and I don't just mean porn games. The combat is in my mind the weakest part of the game, and even that is not bad. There's a fairly large variety of partners, without any of them being too over the top or anything (no tits the size of your head here, sorry if you're into that) Overall it's a game I've played through multiple times and with some kind of NG+ coming out I can't wait to play some more.

This game was a wild ride, easily one of the best I have ever played in terms of story. Let's break it down.

Bad
Now if these following negatives seem a bit nitpicky that's because...they are. This game is damn near flawless and I have to nitpick to find negatives with it. From the story, music, character development, gameplay it's all superb.

Music volume-While I love the music the problem I have with the music in this game is the one I have with pretty much every game. Some is just too fucking loud while others I found myself turning up. The default music while in the Crowley or that annoying song that grew on me and I found myself vibing to whenever you go get some coffee, you know the song, I had to constantly turn up only to get ear blasted every time Molly was introduced. I wish game devs would equalize the volume. I get that sometimes its thematic and necessary to have some songs be louder than others, but there's no reason why Molly's theme should be significantly louder than Jenny's.

Bella-while I love her as a character and her character model is easily my favorite that's where the flaw is. When she's standing next to other characters especially during one scene where she's next to both your Mom, and Emily it makes her look like she's from a different game. She stands out compared to them and not always in a good way. Every single character looks like they are from the same game except for Bella.

Combat-While the combat eventually grew on me it was unbalanced and some of the important fights being literally unlosable really took me out of the immersion. Suddenly that big bad that's going to destroy the world is just some brainless fight that I can mindlessly fight while I throw on some first things first in the background. The change to a poison build in book 3 that nerfed the hell out of it while also making rage builds ridiculously op with Berserk just made zero sense. Book 2 is the most fun combat in the game using Emily, Molly, and Akane on the hardest difficulty was the most fun I had with the game which quickly ends once you hit book 3.

Lack of pixie scenes-There I said. The tease in book 3 had me fuming, as I craved more Snowdrop scenes. Having an army of pixies following you around...damn, unlucky.

End of book 2-It should have ended at the table scene. Had it ended there it would have been 10/10 but instead it gives you one extra little ending that makes the impact and emotional ending of book 2 make you feel like everything is going to be okay, at least that's how I felt. Looking at "you know who" during the table scene then getting "taken" I instantly knew "oh okay everything's fine"

Neutral

Sex scenes-they're mid. That's pretty much it. They eventually get animated but none of them are the quality of some of the other juggernauts in this genre and that's okay imo. You aren't overwhelmed with scenes and sometimes you could have an entire game session without encountering a single one because this game spreads them out and makes it feel real. Personally I love it as I care much more about the story. A lot of the scenes are impactful to the story instead of just being a quick fuck and that makes them 10x better imo. With that said I do understand that not everyone feels the same way which is why Ive opted to place it in the neutral category.

Renders-Much like the previous 2 in this category it's only here because some people may dislike it, because I know I did at first. Once you unlock elsewhere I hope you enjoy the backgrounds because they dont change, you repeat the same areas over and over and over again. Obviously that changes slightly in book 2 the complaint remains the same. While I wasn't a fan at first especially looking at one of the characters compared to the background it grew on me. I mean look how big this fucking game is and he managed to complete it in only a few years. I know nothing about game dev but I can promise you that using the same backgrounds over and over had to of saved him hundreds of hours of dev time. I've seen game devs who make more money with a game half as big not even come close to being anywhere near as complete as this game, and I can only assume part of it is due to reusing the same areas over and over again.

Linear story-Some are gonna love it some are gonna hate it. While I prefer choices I've only ever played one game on this site that does it correct. Most others that attempt it end up fizzling out because as it turns out keeping multiple different branching paths that most of the player base wont see is not worth the time nor effort. Now this one is VERY linear with very little choices that amount to nothing and that's okay, Droid set out to tell a story his way and he does most spectacularly. Much like the sex scenes it's only here because some people might find issue with it even though I don't.

Companion combat-Once again the combat balance is pretty bad. Certain companions are just awful and there's no reason to ever bring them but I find that to be okay. Once I found my favorites I had a good time. And while there is the occasionally "okay Ill bring along Y for this big battle" theres few of those and you tend to just use the same from book to book.

Book 3-Listen I love book 3 as much as the next guy but lets be honest. By the time it hits we already know everything. The MC is probably the most powerful person in existence, nothing feels like a threat anymore. You bitch around gods, smite demons and outsiders, the threat feels more like nuisance which is exactly how MC treats it which I do kinda like. Your companions feels less valuable in combat as you tend to hit harder, no longer are they the carries instead of you. And while I do love how Droid managed to hit that feeling of you being OP as fuck, it did leave me yearning for the feeling of the earlier books. It was inevitable and it was handled as good as possible but that doesn't mean that I have to love that feeling and I don't. I miss the grind.

Good
Anything that I didnt mention pretty much belongs here but heres a few that stand out.

Droid himself-Most importantly is this. At the time of writing this he's still active and the games been completed for a little bit. He's answered a few of my questions himself and he interacts with the fans of his games, I love these kinds of devs. When I ended up subbing to his patreon he sent me a message thanking me and offering to send me steam keys to both LoM and Morningstar. What more could you ask for form a dev?

Writing-It's amazing. I tend to put the game devs into tiers when it comes to their writing. Tier 0 is reserved for one writer who is a legit author and is easily the best Ive seen end of story. So the other great writers end up in Tier 1-2. Tier 1 is reserved for the greats and while all their styles are different they all belong in tier 1 and we know who a lot of those writers are, and I genuinely believe that Droid belongs in that tier. While maybe not at the top of the tier I can easily place him in it as he's better than any of the writers I have in tier 2.

Music-Yeah yeah I know, I had it in the "Bad" category but the actual music is fantastic. This game might have the best soundtrack I've played. Even Molly's theme which annoyed me at first grew on me as I found myself smiling and nodding everytime her face popped up on my screen. Jenny's theme is another that I grew to love. Also special shoutout to the email. X is right that song is a banger.

Story-It's great and has an actual ending. A lot of these games even the "completed" ones have endings that either leave a lot of questions or feel unsatisfying. And while yes this ending does leave you wanting a sequel it's more than satisfying. And I feel that some of those questions will be answered in Morningstar.
The story is fantastic though. From start to finish I was constantly looking forward to more of the game, to unraveling the riddles, and twists of the game. The impactful moments FELT impactful, instead of being told I should be sad I actually was. Honestly my biggest gripe was the end of book 2.

World building-Yep, it's pretty damn good. Granted there wasn't "that much" since it's based on our world but with magic. It's urban fantasy, and like with most urban fantasy there's significantly less world building than say full blow fantasy, and that's okay. Because the world building there is, is fantastic. Especially once elsewhere opens up or once book 2 starts.

Gameplay-The gameplay meme of these kinds of games is legit "left click" and while that's true mostly in Book 1, Book 2 changes that. I went from feeling like I was playing "generic f95 game" to fucking Pathfinder and it was welcome.

Characters-This is the last part of the review and they deserve to be the topic that wraps up the review as they are phenomenal. I could do an entire review alone just talking about the characters. Each of of them is unique, which is hard to for most devs honestly even in triple A games, just look at Starfield while I love the game all the main human companions are the same with the same views and feel similar. This game however each one feels different and they don't just grow on you they grow on each other and the MC. Molly for instance is my favorite and I went through multiple feeling for her. From thinking she was a cunt, to finding her catty and funny, to obsessive and annoying and wishing she was back to her old self, to actually loving her and appreciating her being the "older sister" of the group and helping out my marriage to becoming my favorite character in the game. Every single character in this game goes through a massive character arch and I love it. Emily, Katie, Jenny, Chloe (to a lesser degree), Bella, Akane, Dylan, Draco, Foxy, etc they all grow as people (and dragons) and the game is better for each one of them. There isn't a single character that the game would be better without. There isn't a single companion that I dislike even a bit.

Now obviously I probably missed some Bad, Neutral, and God that I would have loved to include but when a game this big takes you over a month to complete you're gonna forget some stuff. But with that said the game is an easy 5/5 not even rounding up. It's amazing. It's left a LoM size hole in my heart that's made the next few games after it feel dull, something which hasn't happened to me since I finished Enderal a few years ago. Part of me wishes I could erase the game from my memory so I could give it another go while the other part looks forward to the day Morninstar finishes.
If you enjoy story focuses games then this game is a MUST play. If you're someone who only cares about sex scenes then you should probably skip it, and if you're someone in between who values both then give it a go because if you value story at all it will pull you in. This game has entered my top 5 of all time on this site. My only regret is that I skipped past it so many times to play other games and didn't play it sooner because as far as this genre of games go it is a master piece.

Up front this game is missing two tags. Cheating should be obvious, the main character acts troubled about relations with one character behind his girlfriend's back.

Next INCEST should be marked as well. There's games on this site that get the tag for step-cest. How about Katie and her cousin Bella? How bout that threesome shortly after Bella is introduced that MC doesn't even flinch at committing behind his girlfriend's back?

How about all those choices you can make that mean jack all? I feel like Molly was handled very poorly. I personally have zero interest in anything resembling master slave play and they throw you straight into the thick of it with her all at once. She's pitched as an ambitious go getter, mebbe not morally sound but still there's start at good character development. Perhaps you could have added one branch where you work with her and friends to find an alternative to magic camwhoring? Instead you develop this bond with her through straight up ass-raping her into magic-addicted slavery, classy.

Lets also ignore that sorcerers are basically described as deus ex machina and you have not one but 2 in your back pocket (As of book 1) in case of emergency. Goodbye story development hello dull predictable drama.

The MC is disgusting. Consider Emily for a b it from a realistic angle. She's a sheltered girl who has been raised to accept that she'll prolly never find love thanks to politics. In fact she already nearly married some old geezer. She also doesn't have much confidence in her appearance. And MC comes along constantly coercing her into fooling around chipping away at her prudish sensibilities and once he's broken her defenses starts fooling around with other girls. He's a slime ball with big goofy bat ears...ok that last part may be too much. This is supposed to be the replacement for one of mankind's greatest mythological heroes...instead it's a manlet with no self control. Aww silly evokers you guys are such wild cards hahaha. Bullshit.

To sum it up, a lot of ppl like it for some reason, and it looks good on the surface but it is absolutely linear and your choices mean nearly nothing when you do get them. Oh yeah and the animations are atrocious, terrible, short and just weird looking.

I can't get through the first book because I can't stand the main LI being reduced to a trophy and the second getting mindbroken into a neurotic slave/addict.

What a great story with fun characters and great sex scenes. Enjoyed the bonus character paths as well. The Chosen were so different and interesting, it really makes you engaged in the story. Nicely done!

Loved it. Nice storylines, character are well written ("Bella, fetch." still gives me a smile). The fact that you can rename most characters to your liking makes it all the more personnal at some points.

A great visual novel I'll replay with pleasure so i can get all the achievments.

Looking forward to their next projects as well.

First of all I'll admit that I didn't go past book 1, so my score it based solely on that part.

Love of Magic Book 1 is one of the worst offenders in the "sandbox-but-actually-a-kinetic-novel" type of games. It's biggest crime that it tries to trick the player into thinking they actually have a choice and what they do in the game matter and wastes a lot of their time doing so.

The story looked alright, decently executed "choosen one" MC with a harem trope, but not good enough to carry the game on it's own. Didn't notice any attempt to give the tropes some original/unique twist and like in a lot of these stories some of character dialogue and actions make your palm meet your face. MC becomes less and less likeable as the game goes on.

Static renders and models look good, there's a noticeable drop in quality when animations are involved.

The main part, porn. Vanilla kinks, bland situations and dialogue. And there's not much of it.

Overall I didn't enjoy this game and found it dull.
PS: the song in "Starbucks" is pretty good.

Excellent storyline (not erotic) and porn scenes. I think the game can be recommended to people who are not into porn (but are "not disgusted" by it) because the game is ultra interesting.
PS. If, like me, you are delighted with it, do not regret your money and buy it on Steam, or at least buy a more expensive package for a month on Patreon.

I found this to be a very good game.
Nicely written, I loved the story line, lore. Story is very consistent through the 3 books. clever plotline. Also very good balance between story and xxx events.
It has good gameplay,
in my top 5 of best games on this site