Love Spell: Written in the Stars

So. This game has made me worried. Love Spell: Written in the Stars. I picked it up in one of the Steam sales based on the good reviews...but also because I had backed the Kickstarter of another game by the same studio, Great Gretuski Studios. I'd heard so many good things about it and it seemed like a cool idea (Peachleaf Valley: Seeds of Love) AND it's a female founded development studio. All good, right?

Hmmmm. Yeah. Now I'm not so sure. I am holding out hope, however, as Love Spell was their debut game. And I haven't actually finished a play through yet.

A brief summary: the MC is a sort-of down on her luck girl who's supposed to have lots of pluck but to ultimately be kind and brave. Actually...wait...let me start with their fluff copy:

Once Upon A Time,

In a bustling town nestled between the mountains and the sea, there lived a young girl who made bad decisions.

But aside from her terrible luck and life choices, she was a kind and brave soul who always tried her best to find the light, even in the midst of darkness.

One fateful day, she saved the life of a mysterious old woman while crossing the street. The woman turned to her with a knowing smile and in return for her kindness, gifted her a book.

Unbeknownst to the girl, the woman she saved was actually a powerful witch-- and the book she received was a magical spellbook capable of making anyone whose name she writes inside its pages, fall in love with her until the next full moon.

Our heroine took the book, had a terrible day and went to the local pub to drown her sorrows with a good drink...

.......and then she made a really, really bad decision.

Basically, if she writes a name in the book, that person falls in love with her. That's the conceit. There are 4 potential love interests: childhood friend, a professor, a mystery barista, and an older mafia-type. There's a prologue that you play through to get the basics -- though it was very lacking on details on some of the possible LIs...really, only the childhood friend comes out of that looking like a real possibility...and he's got a girlfriend. There's no reason for her to write down the name of any of the other guys, even as drunk as she was. So, not entirely blown away by the mechanics of the plot there.

Then, you go right into picking a route, so there's no falling into one naturally. You just pick it and go. Which, okay. Not my preferred way, but it does make things easy.

Lemme go now into the good points. The art is really lovely and well done. The interface, though occasionally a bit glitchy (like when you have to click multiple times before it "takes") is simple and efficient and easy to use. The writing is consistent (in the parts I've been through).

And now...for the not so good.

The MC is really dumb and annoying. She's not plucky. She's SHOUTY. And whiny. And did I say stupid? She's somehow tragically surprised when not showing up for work and lying about why she's hours late gets her fired? Or that you have to pay rent to, you know, keep your landlord happy? Yes, she does give herself little pep talks, but that's about as plucky as she gets.

I decided to pick the gangster looking dude to be different, though he didn't make any logical sense. But, hey, he had cool hair. She doesn't appear to like him AT ALL and basically screams at him and acts really annoying every time she sees him. Then, when he offers her a job (probably because of the spell, because otherwise I have NO idea why he would), she takes it, even though she has no idea what it is. But then he drags her (literally) off to an abandoned warehouse where he beats the living hell out of a tied up guy and nearly kills him and she runs off, saying she's scared and tears up his check...but then the next day, just kinda goes along with it and forgets all her woes when he puts her up in a super swanky room and feeds her good food.

And she's a pig. She eats like, literally, FIVE multiple course steak meals in one go. Like, WTH? Does she have extra stomachs? Maybe one is where her brain is supposed to be because the yum food makes her completely gloss over the fact he's some kind of gangster. I think it's all written to be light and funny, but she's really just so terrible that it doesn't really come off successfully. She's a caricature. Of what, exactly, I'm not even sure.

Mechanically, it also feels like it barely passes the otome test. There was only 1 decision point each in those first 5 chapters of gangster guy's story and it didn't really appear that what you chose would make much of a difference. Actually, I'm not even sure if the first chapter had one.  

So...it's pretty, but so far I'm not really liking what is under the hood. It could be the route -- I mean, he did feel like an outlier. But the childhood friend has a girlfriend. And you should never date your professor. And barista dude you just met and know absolutely nothing about. Well, he makes coffee.

I will try and finish the route to see and maybe try another, but at this point I'm just really really hoping that the new Kickstarter game I backed is better. If it weren't for that, I'm honestly not sure I'd even bother finishing one route. She's really that annoying. I mean, it's one thing to say she makes bad decisions but this girl is a trainwreck.

Will update after I get around to finishing a route.