Game Review by Simplicity Lett
Game Rating = 1/5 Balls
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Spirited Heart, by Winter Wolves, calls itself a “Fantasy Life Simulation Game”, and at first read seems to be an interesting way to spend your game time.
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The premise is relatively simple – you choose one of three female avatars from the choices of Human, Elf, or Demoness, and her search for a high paying job and a romantic attachment begins.
Being somewhat a sucker for blondes, I chose the elf maiden as my character. Then, I was asked to choose whether she was found as a baby by some farmers, an artist, a general or a noble. Each of these choices affects the statistics of your character, such as strength, wisdom and charisma. My elf, whom I named Sariah, was found by a general who taught her the art of combat, increasing her strength, but reducing other statistics.
Before the game began, a number of “events” had to take place, and the responses chosen influenced those statistics sending some up, and others spiralling. This is important, because it blocks off certain career choices at the beginning of the game.
When my elf was finally released into the world proper, I was greeted with a series of options for her – find a job, relax, or train skills. There were also buttons to check on her relationships and her statistics.
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Sariah found a job as a guard at the local cemetery, and began work. Each button selection to work, train, or relax takes up a week of time – and your character has from ages 18 to 28 to become as affluent as possible and also to get hitched.
Here is where things began to fall down. Work seems entirely random. Sariah, happy and healthy (and believe me, it takes effort to keep her that way!) found on an average of 10 weeks worth of clicking, she had: 5 bad days where she got no pay, 2 days of half pay, 1 day of normal pay, 1 day of bonus pay, and one random event of either a chance meeting with a local romantic interest, or a situation where a moral choice was offered to the character. This makes it difficult to collect enough money to train skills that you need in order to advance.
This game is a romance life sim with the fun taken out of it. Your options are generally limited to two responses, and the main goal of the game is to woo one of the six male love interests that you meet.
Sariah ended the demo with a few skills short of the second tier of job opportunities, two romantic interests, and about 10 coins. Also, it is somewhat disheartening to note that the game’s most high paying job is “Sexy Girl.”
Game Statistics:
Graphics – Flat and static. They are cute, Japanese Manga style characters, and the artist does have talent. There is no real animation to speak of. It’s nice that each job you work has a different costume to wear, and your character’s mood affects her facial expression, but it doesn’t rescue the game. 2/5.
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Sound – Sound is mostly limited to click sounds and alert beeps, and the cartoon-like “ka-ching!” when you get paid. Music is lackluster and forgettable. 1/5.
Gameplay – With the job performance seeming entirely random, and struggling to keep my miserable elf happy, the gameplay itself is slow and unappealing. Limited options and canned responses from the so-called “hundreds of potential responses” is dull. 1/5.
Creativity – Winter Wolves took a genre that had once been popular in Japan, used a fantasy bias, and are trying to sell this as a Fantasy Life Simulator. The dialogue is stale and forced, and the events themselves within the game feel pushed upon you – again, with a random chance of success or failure, no matter which option you pick. 1/5.
Innovation – Really, there is nothing new here, and the heavily recycled genre paired up with the real lack of options and frustrating randomness sink this game. 1/5.
Overall – A forgettable game that offers nothing new, and nothing fun. Worth downloading just to sit aghast, but certainly not worth the $19.95 asking price to activate. 1/5 Stars.
Windows
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Mac
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Winter Wolves created Spirited Heart.
