Visual Novel Review: Magical Otoge Ciel

7/04/2016

Ciel, the protagonist, is a princess who has never been allowed to leave her kingdom. Along with her loyal knight and bodyguard, she decides to follow her dreams of seeing the world.

GAME INFO

Name: Magical Otoge Ciel
Developer: Batensan
Release Date: August 08, 2015
Genre: GxB, Romance, Fantasy

WRITING/STORY

The writing is decent. We're given a first-person view of what's happening, but it shifts to second-person view whenever the surroundings are being described. And then, it sometimes shifts to the POV of the other character, where the player can read the other person's thoughts. I found that to be slightly strange, to be honest. I guess it's because I'm used to the usual first-person POV where we can only see the protagonist's thoughts. However, I still find it awkward whenever it shifts to the second-person POV. *shrugs*

Story-wise, I liked it, mainly because I could relate to the protagonist. I may not be a princess like Ciel and my father may not be a King like hers, but he sure is as strict as Ciel's dad! I remember, how, as a kid, I was never allowed to go outside to play with the other children. I don't have any siblings either, so I was always just alone at home. It was really sad. (This is why I love school, hahaha, because all my friends were in school, and I was always so lonely at home.) So I could definitely understand Ciel's problem in the story, having a dad who also wouldn't let her out of the house. To some extent, that's why I also understand Ciel's decision to escape.

CHARACTERS

  • Florien

Florien is such a sweetie. He cares a lot for Ciel, and he'd do practically anything for her. As long as it's reasonable, of course. Although... sometimes, what's reasonable for Florien may not be reasonable for others. He's not close to his brother, Anton, but they're really similar in a lot of ways. Even though he seems like a pretty gentle guy, he does get protective of Ciel, sometimes. I also find him cute whenever he's jealous. Cutie, Florien. I like him, 'nuff said.

  • Anton

Anton... ah, Anton captured me with his aura the moment he appeared onscreen. Yeah, I can be pretty shallow sometimes. He's too protective for my liking, but man, he can be pretty lenient sometimes. Like when he lets Ciel escape. A dude who's protective, but knows how to control his protectiveness, is hot in my book. And also, even though he's the leader of the Royal Knights, he treats his subordinates like his equal. Now, that's what makes him really, really hot. I mean, this hotness thing, it isn't just about good looks or whatever. It's also about how you are as a person! Anton... oh, yeah. <3 Hahaha.

As siblings, they're absolutely adorable. <3 There's this one scene where the three of them are supposed to stay in one room for the night, and while Ciel is completely okay with it, the other two are absolutely not, calling it 'indecent'. Hahaha! Why is it that trustworthy guys are always the ones who view such innocent things maliciously? =) They actually remind me of two boys I know in real life. They're close friends, and they always act like this whenever we have sleepovers. Hahaha. I was smiling all throughout this scene because Florien and Anton reminded me of them.

  • Yvin

And finally,Yvin! Oh, gosh. Yvin. Ciel calls him weird when they first see him, but I call him cute. If we're basing it on his looks, well then, "handsome" is the more fitting term", but...  personality-wise, he's cute. To be honest, if this was in real life, I'd probably choose Yvin. Sure, I can stay in the castle with protective Anton and caring Florien, but don't you think I'd rather have fun and laugh out loud with humorous Yvin for the rest of my days? Hahaha. =) He actually feels like the real-est character to me here, since he started out with... well, let's just say he didn't seem to start out with completely pure intentions. Like a real human being, don't you think? Always having his own interests at the forefront of everything, before anything else. :)

And as for the protagonist... well, I'm not sure if I'm being biased towards Ciel just because I can relate so much to her and her situation. But she's seems real, with her own flaws and stuff.

Obviously, I really enjoyed the script. :) The writing is okay, the plot is nice, and the characters felt like real people! What's not to love? Hahaha. The only thing I really disliked was the shifting of POVs, but that can be overlooked, anyway.

ART

The art in this game is absolutely lovely! I just loved how the characters were drawn. <3

When Anton comes onscreen, oh my gosh, I just had to peer closer. The dude is hot, I swear. While Florien's art looks a little half-finished (it sort of seems like coloring wasn't finished yet), Anton's sprite is ab-so-lute-ly gorgeous. <3

However, the lack of solid lines is something that I didn't particularly like. There are times when that art style look good, there are times when it doesn't, and in this case, it's leaning dangerously close to the latter. Nevertheless, I still think they look pretty good.

Backgrounds are custom-made, I believe? :) I'm not sure, though. Still, I find them super nice! There were some that still looked unfinished, though, like the inn background, which still looked like a sketch because of the beds.

MUSIC

I like the music! They all sound very fitting for the game. And actually, there are quite a few tracks here that can... oh, I don't know how to say it... capture one's heart? Like the track used when Ciel and Florien were waiting in Oronber for Anton. Now, that track was... so awwww. <3

GUI

Default Ren'Py GUI. Or wait, I think there's a little variation? But yeah, it looks a lot like the default GUI. I'm not a fan of the font, either, which also looks like the default font. I'm not really that picky about GUIs, but since the rest of the game is pretty well made, I think the defaultness (is this even a word) of the GUI kinda distracts me. But hey, at least it works.

EXTRAS

Yvin's route can be unlocked after you get either Florien's or Anton's endings! :)

WRAP-UP

It's a pretty nice, short little game that you can play while on a break or something. It doesn't take too long to finish and majority of the game is just delicious fluff, so it's definetely going to be easy to read. There are quite a few touching scenes here though, and I think most would find the ending really nice.

I give it eight strawberries! Fans of fantasy otomes should definitely check this out.

By the way, the developer seems to be making some other games with the same theme, so... I guess that's something to look forward to, huh? :)

DOWNLOAD

You can download this game here.

Original Date of Writing: 11/08/15

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