I'd give this one 3.5 stars, but that's not possible here so I'm just gonna be generous.
All things considered, this a fairly barebones VN. There's a conveniently faceless [insert name here] protagonist, and then there's two characters that actually have a sprite: the fallen Dark Magic Queen Omaylas (who's obviously the title character) and Captain of the Royal Knights Aino (who doesn't actually show up until much later into the story). There's a few more characters with lines, but they're little more than background extras.
The storywriting is good. Not great, but good enough. There's some clichée stuff here and there, but the story as a whole is decent enough. It won't have you on the edge of your seat, but you'll probably keep reading without feeling bored.
But that's the only part that actually bothered me, though.
The characters and their motivations were written fairly well. The game hinges on whether or not you manage to get through to Omaylas (she's flirty at first glance, but she struggles with guilt and despair, and will deny her own feelings and push you away because of it), and I feel that that was handled quite well. Aino and the background characters are likewise believable enough, even if they play a much smaller role.
The story also has some hints of depth to it, surprisingly. There's the laboratory of Mad Jack and the court wizard. Neither features much in the story, but enough is revealed about both that you, the reader, can tell that there's a lot more going on here in the background. It's not much, but it's enough to make it seem that the setting isn't just window dressing
Another aspect of the writing I liked were the bad ends. I only found like two of them (maybe there's one or two more, but I'm not even sure about that), but both of them had their own bittersweet twist to them.
The choices you get generally make sense, and the way they impact the story is intuitive enough. No bazillion choices where picking coffee instead of tea will railroad you to a bad end (lookin' at you, Dharker Studios). There is a bit of railroading early on (you can't actually kill Omaylas when you first find her, even if you do get the option; and if you tell her to stay behind when venturing into the cave, she'll come with you anyway), but later into the game obviously important choices will have a direct impact.
My only complaint on that one is that the option Believe Aino could easily have made for a minor route in its own right, rather than just leading right to a bad end. A route in which Omaylas disappears but in which you still get to investigate what the court wizard is up to (and maybe also have a shot at romancing Aino while you're at it), that really would have added a lot to this visual novel.
Then there's the art. It's typical... how do I put it? Is there a word for the Japanese take on Western fantasy? Anyway, that's exactly what this is. Garish colours, impractical but flashy sexy outfits - you know the drill. The whole thing is kinda in-your-face, not unlike Omaylas' mammaries, but it's pretty good for what it is.
The H scenes are good enough, too. Nothing too fancy, but they show up where you'd expect them, and they're appealing enough. Though it seems that only Omaylas gets any H content, which is a damn shame because Aino is a cutie.
The music in this VN is nothing special. Just some simple stock tunes.
It's not voiced, either. Omaylas gets a few simple voice effects, but that's it.
Lastly, I want to point out that the interface is pretty good. This visual novel was made in Unity - and you have to keep in mind that Unity, while really flexible, wasn't made with visual novels in mind. So if you want to make a proper VN with a smooth interface in Unity, you're going to have to go that extra mile. And looks like the devs did exactly that.
TL;DR: a pretty simple fantasy romance VN. A bit forgettable, but still worth a read.
All things considered, this a fairly barebones VN. There's a conveniently faceless [insert name here] protagonist, and then there's two characters that actually have a sprite: the fallen Dark Magic Queen Omaylas (who's obviously the title character) and Captain of the Royal Knights Aino (who doesn't actually show up until much later into the story). There's a few more characters with lines, but they're little more than background extras.
The storywriting is good. Not great, but good enough. There's some clichée stuff here and there, but the story as a whole is decent enough. It won't have you on the edge of your seat, but you'll probably keep reading without feeling bored.
You don't have permission to view the spoiler content.
Log in or register now.
But that's the only part that actually bothered me, though.
The characters and their motivations were written fairly well. The game hinges on whether or not you manage to get through to Omaylas (she's flirty at first glance, but she struggles with guilt and despair, and will deny her own feelings and push you away because of it), and I feel that that was handled quite well. Aino and the background characters are likewise believable enough, even if they play a much smaller role.
The story also has some hints of depth to it, surprisingly. There's the laboratory of Mad Jack and the court wizard. Neither features much in the story, but enough is revealed about both that you, the reader, can tell that there's a lot more going on here in the background. It's not much, but it's enough to make it seem that the setting isn't just window dressing
Another aspect of the writing I liked were the bad ends. I only found like two of them (maybe there's one or two more, but I'm not even sure about that), but both of them had their own bittersweet twist to them.
The choices you get generally make sense, and the way they impact the story is intuitive enough. No bazillion choices where picking coffee instead of tea will railroad you to a bad end (lookin' at you, Dharker Studios). There is a bit of railroading early on (you can't actually kill Omaylas when you first find her, even if you do get the option; and if you tell her to stay behind when venturing into the cave, she'll come with you anyway), but later into the game obviously important choices will have a direct impact.
My only complaint on that one is that the option Believe Aino could easily have made for a minor route in its own right, rather than just leading right to a bad end. A route in which Omaylas disappears but in which you still get to investigate what the court wizard is up to (and maybe also have a shot at romancing Aino while you're at it), that really would have added a lot to this visual novel.
Then there's the art. It's typical... how do I put it? Is there a word for the Japanese take on Western fantasy? Anyway, that's exactly what this is. Garish colours, impractical but flashy sexy outfits - you know the drill. The whole thing is kinda in-your-face, not unlike Omaylas' mammaries, but it's pretty good for what it is.
The H scenes are good enough, too. Nothing too fancy, but they show up where you'd expect them, and they're appealing enough. Though it seems that only Omaylas gets any H content, which is a damn shame because Aino is a cutie.
The music in this VN is nothing special. Just some simple stock tunes.
It's not voiced, either. Omaylas gets a few simple voice effects, but that's it.
Lastly, I want to point out that the interface is pretty good. This visual novel was made in Unity - and you have to keep in mind that Unity, while really flexible, wasn't made with visual novels in mind. So if you want to make a proper VN with a smooth interface in Unity, you're going to have to go that extra mile. And looks like the devs did exactly that.
TL;DR: a pretty simple fantasy romance VN. A bit forgettable, but still worth a read.
