Recent reviews by Impracticalmagic

Highly recommended, I had a great time playing the first (main) story and now wish I could forget everything and try again. Note that my play time listed has a lot of idle time. I'm about 2/3 done the second story (Roottreemania).

The pros: excellent story, immersive setting (as somebody who lived through the nineties as a young adult, it's weird to be back in the world of dial-up modems and limited search engines; nostalgic but also sooooo frustrating at times!). This game is brilliant--super well-crafted. Funny, bittersweet, cynical, hopeful. There are no perfect characters, but it's not all doom and gloom either. If you enjoy being at a distance from the puzzle--no personal life-threatening situation, no locked doors--it's perfect. Definitely the kind of game you can chill with.

The cons: you need either patience, or the willingness to use the Hint function; as somebody who is insanely stubborn (No Hints! No Hints!), it's been maddening at times; if you need action, videos, *something* that moves...this game is not for you. At all. Save yourself the pain and the game a poor review. I admit that at times I felt like I was in the worst of early 90s text games trying to figure the exact wording to Pick.Up.The.Damn.Sword/Rock/Apple. Kings Quest I'm looking at YOU.

Thank you devs for this gem. Now I can hear the dial-up modem scratching screeching noise whenever I want. Looking forward to your next game!

Highly recommended relaxing game with a hint of challenge.
Beautiful art and well-chosen music.
The game has casual point and click aspects, but is closer to an ever-evolving hidden object puzzle. There is no text (apart from season-specific Chinese characters, item information, and Hints). All in-game directions are given through drawings.
24 Solar Terms is easy to complete, especially with the Hint system; however, it is challenging to get all achievements. A couple of the mini-games are moderately difficult. This game is appropriate for any age with moderate problem solving skills, but is still entertaining for a game-savvy adult.
I recommend playing without a walk-through the first time, for the experience of discovery.
My one negative: some of the objects are very, very hard to find - they are too well blended into the scenery, and it adds more time than value to the game. The Zoom In function works well, though; you definitely can find them, with effort.

Overall: 10/10 (with the caveat that the game is hard on weak or tired eyes); worth full price, as long as you enjoy "soft and casual" point and click / hidden object types of games

Very much in the genre of older-style adventure with pixel graphics. Great atmosphere, interesting plot. The setting is dystopian detective noir with minor futuristic elements (you've got space travel, but also grime, crime, and corruption). The protagonist is a gruff detective with the perfect gravelly voice, a questionable background, and unshakeable grit. Almost everything is voice acted, and the cast did a great job.

The controls are slightly clunky but I liked them since they (mostly) let me use my mouse for everything. So far there have been a couple of frustrating bits - par for the course for the type of game - but I haven't needed a guide. There is combat - very occasionally you need to shoot people following or attacking you. But it's almost as basic as it gets. Personally, I wish they'd left it out. That said, it's part of being Mr Gruff Cop Detective Guy.

I haven't quite finished my first play through, but current thoughts are 9/10 and the price is good. There are Steam Cards and achievements. Oh - and the soundtrack is well-matched to the story.

~ Imp

Highly recommended sequel to GM 1 and 2. So far, this game is everything I liked about the first two games with even more beautiful artwork and absorbing puzzle-building. Gorgeous colours, several options for game-play (I'm playing Badges Mode because I like to have goals, but all the timers and counters can be turned off), and lovely music. If you enjoyed the earlier games in the series, this game is for you. If you're new to the series, this is still a great place to start - you'll probably want to go play the others afterward!
Overall rating: so far 10/10 would buy again at full price.

So far Volcano Princess is a lot of fun, with a good mix of story to read and things to do. The art, and the Princess, are adorable. If you are familiar with stat raising games , then this game won't take long to figure out. However, there are also clear notes to help those less familiar with the "how much neat stuff can you cram into one turn" type of game. I give Volcano Princess high marks for letting you choose how to raise your daughter; also, the fact that you have to consider "how did I do sticking to my goals as a parent" is interesting.
Overall: Very impressed with the story, the art, and the cute little girl. Looking forward to finishing my first play-through and then trying a different approach. This is an appealing game right from the start.

I got so immersed that I played it straight through because I had to see how it ended. Or rather, figure out what the heck was going on. All in all, it was a weird experience, and I'm still not quite sure what was going on. But I enjoyed it. Also, there was some reasonably interesting puzzle solving.

Good story, interesting characters, and you DO get to mix drinks. I'd get it on sale - because this is Steam after all. But kudos to the devs for making me wish it were a longer game. I'm still ambivalent about the ending. Then again, I always try a "no walkthrough" play-through first, so now it's time to uncover all the bits and pieces I missed the first time.

...Right now I'm still processing what I just played. It generally fits into the dystopian future retro adventure model category, I guess. I have no hesitation recommending the game to anyone with an interest in old-school adventure games, as long as you keep in mind this is a pixel-art game. Okay, I'm off to find a walk-through now and hunt down some more achievements!

~Imp

[Final Update: October 25, 2023]
I have now finished all the routes to the Best Ending (Passionate), having just read Yuu's route.
I enjoyed the final two routes very much (Reuben and Yuu), but to my surprise, I found Yuu's to be my favourite of the two. The only small quibble I had with Yuu's route (aside from being the end of Gilded Shadows (sniff)), was that it had less of a dramatic "learning backstory / connections to Earth Faerie lore / tying up loose ends" feel than I would have liked for the final chapter in this wonderful visual novel / otome game. The route feels more like it belongs with the main Endgame routes, even though we do get to find out more about the reclusive New Terra. That said, it's a sweet, entertaining, and otherwise satisfying read.
I highly recommend this game to anyone looking for great characters, stories, and world-building.

[Update May 23, 2022]
I have now finished all availabe main routes to the Best Ending (Passionate). I have 13/15 achievements. I have greatly enjoyed this game, and can recommend it to anyone who wants to read about a well-imagined game world with complex problems involving both fantastical (psi / ESP) and mundane (wealth, political, weapon) powers.

PROS:
- even the fairly substantial common route has a lot of branches depending on dialogue (or action) choices; the individual routes have some similar themes and underlying issues in common, but are otherwise unique to the individual characters being followed
- the world remains coherent throughout the different routes
- the main character is a pleasure to play / read about
- the interface is well-designed and the skip function is fast enough to reduce the annoyance that can come from a repeated common route
- game loading and saving was very fast for me; I barely used the QSave / QLoad
- I prefer to play without a guide, and had no difficulty achieving best endings as long as I paid attention to the "relationship" graph; I played the first time through completely blind and still got to a Good ending (not best)
- the characters embody some common tropes, but in a good way (for me); the balance between familiar characteristics and unique traits was generally good
- I had a really hard time with Magnus' route... if you don't like bad endings, maybe use a guide for this one?
- nice attention to detail on many fronts, including likeable, annoying, charming, and complicated LGBT+ characters as part of the strong supporting cast
- the overall "archaeology" mystery still intrigues me, as questions remain unanswered!
- most of the romances felt like there was enough romance

CONS:
- I enjoyed some of the routes a lot and wanted there to be MORE to them... not sure if this is truly a con or just perception
- while the writing is good throughout, I felt as though some routes, one in particular, lacked the romantic and/or sexual tension necessary to support the Best (Passionate) ending... but that could just be me
- I would have liked to use hot keys for QSave and Qload, though it wasn't a big problem

OVERALL: I was originally going to support the game on Kickstarter(as I had the dev's first game), but through oversight didn't contribute enough to get a game key; so I bought this game at regular price (something I almost never do because, well, Steam Sales). For me, the game was well worth my full-price entertainment dollar. It is definitely worth getting on sale, at the very least, if you are a fan of GxB otome games, or even if you just enjoy a good story with "choose your path" elements.

[Update May 19, 2022]
Still enjoying the dialogue and variety of characters very much. My total play time is shorter than what's shown, due to idle time. I've now completed 3 endings: 1 Sweet (Caleb) and 2 Passionate (Caleb, Ari). **The SKIP function has been working well for me, so that's a plus.** I am playing without a guide (for now). On the whole, it's not too difficult to navigate a path to the "best" (passionate) ending, but I enjoy tinkering with choices just to get new dialogue and results (grin).]

[Original Review]
While I have yet to come anywhere near finishing this game, I wanted to post an early review with first impressions, because so far this game is as good as I'd hoped.
First things first: I love the protagonist. Morgan (or whatever you call her) is smart, and she has the right level of sassy - on point, but realistic. She's customizable! Skin tones, eye colour, hair... I'm a fan of that stuff, so a thank to the wonderful devs for slogging through the challenge of making that happen. And - AND - you can give her personality some nuance (cautious / confident and analytical / emotional) that will affect later dialogue options.
Second: Other characters are likeable. I'm so relieved, because I'm tired of games where every single character is a borderline (or not so borderline) jerk. So far, I've seen a nice range from friendly, to cranky, to aloof, to clearly-has-issues, to mischievous, to arrogant-but-probably-has-reasons. There are tropes. Tropes are fine, right now I could use some tropes in my life - and fewer of the unpleasant ones.
Third: The story has drawn me right in. And you don't spend the first hour or so wandering around wondering what option you missed to access the next part of the story. Nope. It's the good old classic - "you were just having another stress-filled day of higher education and then you were kidnapped." It's done well, the protagonist behaves like the smart woman that she is (and also a normal person), and the kidnappers are clearly going to be Characters in the story. It quickly becomes a tough choice between the Cool Blue Haired Dude with sub-optimal connections to BadPeople, and the KidnapGuys who are obviously having a BadDay, and are more or less law enforcement types working for an organization that you just KNOW has to have a shady side, right?
Fourth: The writing is good; the story is good so far. No surprises there. If you enjoyed the dev's first game, you'll probably enjoy the style of this one. Oh, and of course the allusions to an ancient race of scary powerful beings with tech so advanced that it might as well be magic? And the protagonist is hooked into it somehow? Yes, bring it on.

Welp, that's more than enough for now. I'll update as I finish more of the routes. My first several hours say this one is a keeper. ~ Imp

Like all the games in the Hero of the Kingdom series, this is game is perfect for those looking for a very relaxing, casual game play experience. In short, this game is for those who enjoy fetch quests and don't mind a linear story. If you played HotK Lost Tales 1, and are looking for more of the same, this game is for you. If you want a short, but complete break from button mashing, strategizing, and/or empire building, this game may be the perfect escape. Either way, enjoy it for what it is.

In HotK: LT2, the protagonist is the Princess Cassandra, who ducks out of a boring meeting to explore a secret passage, and finds things very much changed when she returns. Soon after, she is leading a counter-attack against monsters who have taken over the city and the castle. Her parents are missing, most of the royal guard are dead, and she's got nothing with her other than a few coins and her friend Phillip.

Like HotK: LT1, this game has a smaller scope than HotK I and HotK II. The original games allowed for a little more choice, as well as skill development. The Lost Tales hold your hand pretty much all the way, and the stories are shorter.

I had fun playing HotK:LT2, but it fell a little flat for me. Too many of the quests amounted to "get enough money to buy me THIS item". I realize that people in a city suddenly ravaged by invaders all need food and building materials, but I think more could have been done with the story. Cassandra was fine as a protagonist, fitting right in with the other Heroes of the Kingdom, but this story had no mystery to it at all.

Overall: Not their best effort, but worth playing if you're a fan of the other games. 7/10

Note: Everything worked smoothly, without bugs, from start to finish. ...It's a low standard, but there's a lot of stuff out there right now that struggles to get there.

I enjoyed playing this and recommend it to fans of visual novels, especially if you enjoy detective / murder mystery types of stories. I have not yet played the *now fully translated to English* first DLC, but plan to buy it.

Things to know:
** not as dark as many VNs out there right now, but tends toward darker themes **
- this is much closer to a VN than a point and click adventure; however...
- there are puzzles, and you have to solve them correctly in order to obtain certain endings
- the puzzles are either deciphering code, or "select the right evidence / dialogue" challenges (I enjoyed the puzzles, but some may not, and getting the right sequence for the "dialogue / evidence" is occasionally frustrating)
- limited choices, but choices will significantly change outcomes
- you need to get to the "normal ending" in order to gain access to the "good ending"; then you need to either restart or go back to the right save point to try for the good ending
- the VN is fully voiced, which is great

Recommended:
- keep saves at various choice points; the skip function is quick, but not perfect
- if you want achievements without a lot of replaying then you may want to check out the achievements before you play (I didn't find a convenient English walkthrough, and dislike youtube videos)

Translation
- one of the best translations I've seen for a Chinese VN
- there are errors, but although one or two sentences confused me, the overall quality was very high; the translation managed to capture the feel and style of the game and characters, not just provide correct vocabulary and syntax (as another reviewer put it, the game feels localized, not just translated)
**Devs: Thank you very much for translating**

Overall: I've played better detective games, but the chapters provided in English were good stories with engaging characters, and the translation was better than most despite fairly complex situations

I enjoyed this (moderate scale) point and click adventure, although it does have a few flaws. It's certainly worth the price, especially on sale. The protagonist is an intelligent, slightly adventure-happy young archaeologist (also in the first game of series, Scorpio Ritual). In Tree of Life, she travels from Brittany to Venice to Cairo to Gibraltar trying to unravel the mysteries of a Spanish conquistador's box and maybe even the secret of immortality. Suspend your disbelief and go along for the ride!

Pros:
- music is good
- characters are interesting
- overall story is intriguing
- voice acting is good

Cons:
- the game is not fully compatible with Win10 or new computers; I had no difficulty running the game, but could not get all the dialogue to play (it would cut off about 5 seconds into each speech)
[NB: as far as I know, nobody has a perfect solution for the dialogue issue, which is a real shame; it looks like other problems - if you have any - can be resolved through Windows compatability mode]
- the game is visually lower resolution and not for wide-screens (strictly age-related)
- there are a limited number of puzzles; some are good, a couple are either challenging or frustrating depending on your point of view
- the lack of a decent Notebook is annoying (some things that really should be in Sylvie's journal aren't)

Overall: I recommend this game to anyone who enjoys lighter point and click games. There's lots to do and it's a fun read. Note that this is not a HOPA - there are no hidden object scenes.