Mr. Love: Queen's Choice

I hadn't really tried any new otome games in a while (more taken up with Kdramas...let's be honest...and working on the book). But I downloaded Mr. Love on a whim without much hope because a) what the heck kind of a ridiculous name is "Mr. Love"? and b) it's by the same people that made that Love Nikki game (which I tried and immediately deleted...it said it was supposed to be otome-ish but it's more of a dress up game and it's really confusing).

But I've been pleasantly surprised by this one and have actually (gasp) spent some actual real money on it because I don't mind supporting games that are good. That said, I'm not entirely sure this can be truly classified as an otome game. On the one hand, yes, the characters are romanceable (sort of) BUT there's no way to pick one to concentrate on and, so far as I can tell, your choices don't make any difference in how you progress. Basically, as you move forward in the story, you gain intimacy with each of the characters fairly equally. In fact, you can't really avoid it. So even if there's one you don't want to have anything to do with, you're gonna progress with him anyway. And I kind of doubt that there's any "true" route or an ending to this game as they have a vested interest in keeping you going.

But let's go back and describe the story and gameplay a bit.

You are a wet behind the ears 22 year old who has graduated university and taken over your father's production company, which was known for a show called Miracle Finder. Your father is dead. Not exactly sure when or why. The company is struggling and you need financial support from LFG, some huge investment company run by a guy named Victor (he's the dark haired suit and tie dude that treats you like you're an idiot but has a soft spot for you and some kind of childhood connection, more than likely -- and, admittedly, the MC really is a bit of an idiot and while he's a bit blunt about it, his advice is usually dead on). You wind up getting a gazillionty dollars of investment from them, which is absolutely unbelievable. But anyway. It's totally because Victor's got a soft spot for your pluck and that niggling feeling that he knew you when.

Meanwhile, you reconnect with this dude named Gavin (he's the lighter haired gruff but sensitive and misunderstood policeman that's always looked out for you even though you've misunderstood everything about him because you're kinda stupid and jump to conclusions with no evidence) as he takes you out on cases, mostly because he knows some people are after you (more on that in a minute) and wants to look after you. You knew him back in high school and were actually kind of terrified of him because you basically a) believe lies about him or b) misconstrued everything you saw. Seriously, he's too good for you.

Then there's Kiro (the blonde haired idol who is also your age and the biggest sweetheart ever who ALSO has a childhood connection to you that you, of course, don't remember because you have blocked out all important memories for purposes of plot reveals/progression). You run into him one day and strike up a friendship with him somehow (because he's the sweetest ever) and he helps you out on your show(s). Also, he's apparently the most talented hacker in the world and saves your butt many times. Multi-talented man.

Lastly, the other dark-haired dude is Lucien (a secretive scientist who can apparently attract women like bees to pollen and who I don't trust any farther than I can throw him) who you first meet because of an interview, but then he keeps showing up and even moves across the hallway from you. There are warning signs all over this guy and he obviously knows way more than he is letting on, alternatively pouring on the charm or being hard to reach. 

The background story behind the simple stuff of trying to get your company going is that you have a sort-of superpower. People who have them are called Evols and you're one of them, though you had no idea. You have prophetic dreams and who knows what else. I'm sure you're way more important than you know (or should be) because that's how these things go. And everyone else has one too -- Kiro's is, more or less, that everyone loves him, Victor can stop time, and Gavin can fly/travel in the wind. We don't know what Lucien's is yet, but be sure that he has one because of course he does.

There's some shadowy organisation called Black Swan that has plans for Evols. And are probably who kidnapped (?) / experimented on you when you were young (which Kiro remembers, but you don't). There's also stuff about an orphanage, though not really sure exactly how that ties in as you had a dad (?) but maybe you were adopted (?). I'm guessing you're some kind of catalyst that makes other Evols stronger or something. So...some people seem set on trying to kill you (which you are surprisingly blasé about) while others (or maybe the same ones) seem set on trying to get you to remember your past. 

I probably sound like I'm being really hard on the MC here, but for the most part it works because she IS young and inexperienced. I'm not a huge fan of the "I can't remember my past even though everyone else does" shtick, but overall it's actually pretty well written, so I'm forgiving. It definitely is by far the most intricately plotted mobile app gave I've seen so far.

Whew. That's a lot. Let's talk about gameplay. But just a bit, because I don't wanna write a novel about this thing. There's a ton of different things which are slowly added as you level up. It is, at its heart, a card collecting game with the CGs ranked as Super Super Rare, Super Rare, Rare, and two kinds of normal cards. There are gems that can be spent in game on things. There are the story progressing bits alternated with show producing missions. There are dates you can unlock (which are actually pretty decently done). There are competitions where you can earn the items you need to rank / level up. You can evolve or ascend your cards. You can hire people to help your company. You can investigate things so that you can level up. There's even this weird thing called City Stroll where you can have "encounters" with the guys that you can (thankfully) autoplay because it's the one thing where the translations/story is ridiculous. 

Oh, and there's instant messages and phone calls with the guys, similar to Mystic Messenger, but only at certain points in the storyline or whenever you unlock things via card collection. Here's my other sort of big quibble -- the English voice actors either sound ridiculous OR like serial killers (looking at you, Lucien). Only one of them didn't make me want to scrub my ears out and he sounds entirely too cutesy. Thankfully, once you have hit a certain point you can unlock and install the Japanese voice packs where the voice actors are MUCH better. There's even a thing they recently released where you can win or buy a special "whisper in your ear" thing where they talk to you in order to help you sleep or something like that (cheesey...). They gave you the Lucien one for free with a special event BUT so far it's only in English and he's the one that sounds like a serial killer so...um...no. I listened to about 10 seconds and it creeped me the hell out. Bummer that he was the one they gave away as he's the only one I really don't like at all. The rest of them all have their good points.

Anyway, I'm in chapter 9 of the currently released 11 chapters, though I still have quite a bit to unlock. Like I mentioned earlier, I've actually spent some actual coinage on this one (probably more than I should have). I appreciate the lengths to which they've gone. To be fair, it's got a more complex storyline / play than a lot of full otome games I've downloaded on Steam. It's been a pleasant surprise. Will add to this, perhaps, if I ever get to an "end," but I doubt there is one.

Edit: I've made it through chapter 12 now and the story just gets more intense with each instalment. I won't say it all makes perfect sense, but in general they do a good job of creating tension and progressing the plot within the confines of the medium and the story construct (i.e. balancing the 4 dudes + her cluelessness to provoke reveals, etc.). As I suspected from the very first meeting, Lucien is indeed a "bad" guy though they try to hint at him as a conflicted one. Meh.

The interesting / weird thing about the structure of the app is that you *must* progress with all 4 guys in the main storyline and there's no way (like in a proper otome) to choose one. BUT in the dates and other "extras" it's a bit more loose. You almost have to think of them as separate things -- almost like the dates occur in one possible universe/timeframe. Not sure how else to describe it. In general, they are pretty well written and give the game longevity as you want to continue collecting them and reading them while you wait for new chapters to be added. There's one more chapter beyond what I've read, but I've been building up as I wait as I don't want to rush through it.

Anyway, long story short, it's continuing to hold my interest.

Edit: I felt like I should update this as I haven't opened this one in a while for a couple reasons. One being something beyond the app itself and sort of political -- one of the English voice actors (Jonah Scott, who voiced Victor) said something about Taiwan being a country and they fired him. Two more VAs quit in solidarity. It was all a big kerfluffle and a bit mad. Didn't like it. I mean, I'm half-Chinese, but it was a very heavy-handed mess. 

Also, by that time, I wasn't playing the game a ton as--and this sounds like a weird reason--they'd released so much more content. The problem is that the storyline had become so completely convoluted that a lot just wasn't making sense. So they sort-of try to ret-con things by having weird time jumps/slips happen. It was too much. It felt like they were just throwing out new plot threads so that the game/story can keep going indefinitely but it made the whole thing feel like a big hot mess. When I did open it, I only did so to read through some of the side date stories (which are all mostly separate from the main plot(s). It's probably been 5 or 6 months or maybe even more since I last opened it.