Magical Diary Squee
Jan. 18th, 2012 05:41 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alias_sqbrI've now done all five romances as well as various side plots and I adore this game. There's some moderately in depth non-romantic storylines I totally missed the first time through. The love interests cover a nice range, you don't get to dictate your player's responses that much within each romance but there should be at least one to suit anyone, and even the ones that aren't my thing were enjoyable. All but one of the romances can be played as a friendmance (in some cases simultaneously with another romance, which can useful if you screw up :D) and most of the dialogue is the same, I think you could play as aromantic and still enjoy it. And nobody bats an eyelid at same sex relationships/asexual characters etc, and there's acknowledgement of non binary gendered people though you can't really play as one (I did anyway :))
Once again, ensemble cast with lots of canonically queer women plus speculative elements = my eternal devotion. I tried the demos for some other dating sims but either they were too straight or it was mostly being a secretary doing photocopying in her lunchbreak (FUNTIMES) or it just didn't click.
And now even though NOBODY CARES I am going to do a picspam and squee. No major spoilers but if you don't want ANY info you should go play it first, or at least the free demo.
So! Magical Diary is a blatant Harry Potter ripoff. You play a 16 year oldmuggle born wild seed girl (default name "Mary Sue") who, after finding out she has magical powers is sent to a magical school called Iris Academy, a cross between Hogwarts and a regular US highschool for students aged 16-19. You don't get a LOT of customisation options: two body types, a few skin, eye and hair colours, a moderate number of hairstyles, and various accessories with useful powerups.
The Headmaster is the adorable and slightly mysterious Professor Potsdam. She's like a less annoying Dumbledore who gives sex ed classes :D
The other teacher (yes, we only meet two, I assume there are others around though :)) is Professor Grabiner, he's basically fanon!Snape, with all the vicious fascist edges rounded off so he can be a plausible bff/romance option.
It was actually pretty cool getting to know him better on the romance/friendship path, and noone is made to look like the bad guy for disliking him. (Which is good, because everyone but Potsdam thinks he's a jerk) I usually find teacher/student relationships really squicky but I actually found it sweet, even if I did prefer choosing the friend path.
A screenshot of a randomly generated Mary Sue saying "Is that your nickname? 'V'?" to (from right to left) her roommates Virginia and Ellen, and Virginia's sensible and charming (but not romanceable dammit) older brother William
As you can see you have to balance various properties. Cute and weird mostly come from dialogue choices and affect relationships. Strength, smart, and the colours of magic come from what you study during each school day (gym, personal study, magic classes etc) Each style of magic has different spells, some of which are more useful than others. A lot of the spells seem totally pointless for all of the few magical challenges you face. Sometimes choosing the right class will change dialogue and plot. You also have to keep an eye on your money and stress levels and try not to get demerits for bad behaviour or poor exam results, though there are interesting and sometimes important scenes relating to stuff like getting detention or trying to bring your merits back up.
You have two roommates, both of whom are bff/romance options and the three of you become pretty good friends without you even trying, and great friends if you do try (though you can't be super bffs with both of them at once) I love that the friendship between the three girls is always really central to the game.
Ellen is a sweet, quiet nerd with a hidden core of determination. Her romance is very low key, but still lovely, and I felt sad about missing her friendship path on playthroughs where I didn't take it. She's the character 16 year old me would most have wanted to actually date :) I think she's supposed to be chubby, though it doesn't really come across in the art.
Virginia is more of a tomboy, she's energetic and a bit self centered and really into sports. Hers was the last romance I did, and while it wasn't my favourite I still appreciated getting to know her better and thought it was pretty adorable. If she's anyone from Harry Potter, it's Ginny.
Virginia has two brothers at the school, Donald and William. Donald is a romance/bff option, and was probably my favourite path. He's about the same age as you and kind of immature, pulling lots of pranks and getting detention, but at heart he's a really sweet, fun guy. He's kind of like Fred/George crossed with Ron (except that I liked him more. Maybe it's because he's a brunette)
Here's Donald at prom with Ix Surana, (who I played as genderqueer-ish, though ze glammed up a bit for prom)
Sincethe Weasleys Virginia's family are an old magical family, they have complicated history with several other characters at the school, which was cool to see explored in different ways (if not in that much depth). This includes Damian, the sexy, older, supernatural bad boy woobie with a dark past. Here he is pulling his woobie face:
I personally found Damian kind of skeevy (he keeps going on about how adorable and innocent the PC is) but despite being kind of cliched I enjoyed the romance more than I expected. (though I kind of prefer the idea of Damian/William) It's the easiest to screw up, but a lot of the ways it can end are interesting in and of themselves. Since my other characters kept feeling bad about the amount of time they spent arguing with everyone who didn't like him I ended up romancing him with a fairly Bella Swan-ish character who ONLY cared about their Special Bond, which was kind of fun. And then on my next playthrough I enjoyed pissing him off right off the bat so he refused to talk to me again :D
The side characters tend to be briefly sketched, but came across as having their own dramas going on and I still got attached to some of them. There's also a secret society I have yet to successfully join, the option to run for and be on school council, spell based magical exams (I have yet to pass them all but ONE DAY I WILL) and various other interactions and choices. Balancing the different aspects of school life was surprisingly involving, especially once I realised it led to achievements.
Here's me deciding whether or not to cast "Blind" on a Manus monster during an exam (this character only knew green/life magic, which was great for getting the Green Magic achievement and some extra dialogue, but not so good for, say, opening doors)
There is apparently a sequel game in the works which I think will be set a year later with a male protagonist. I'd be curious to see how they deal with the multitude of different outcomes from this game, but regardless definitely plan on checking it outeven though William will have graduated by then, dammit.
Once again, ensemble cast with lots of canonically queer women plus speculative elements = my eternal devotion. I tried the demos for some other dating sims but either they were too straight or it was mostly being a secretary doing photocopying in her lunchbreak (FUNTIMES) or it just didn't click.
And now even though NOBODY CARES I am going to do a picspam and squee. No major spoilers but if you don't want ANY info you should go play it first, or at least the free demo.
So! Magical Diary is a blatant Harry Potter ripoff. You play a 16 year old
The Headmaster is the adorable and slightly mysterious Professor Potsdam. She's like a less annoying Dumbledore who gives sex ed classes :D
The other teacher (yes, we only meet two, I assume there are others around though :)) is Professor Grabiner, he's basically fanon!Snape, with all the vicious fascist edges rounded off so he can be a plausible bff/romance option.
It was actually pretty cool getting to know him better on the romance/friendship path, and noone is made to look like the bad guy for disliking him. (Which is good, because everyone but Potsdam thinks he's a jerk) I usually find teacher/student relationships really squicky but I actually found it sweet, even if I did prefer choosing the friend path.
A screenshot of a randomly generated Mary Sue saying "Is that your nickname? 'V'?" to (from right to left) her roommates Virginia and Ellen, and Virginia's sensible and charming (but not romanceable dammit) older brother William
As you can see you have to balance various properties. Cute and weird mostly come from dialogue choices and affect relationships. Strength, smart, and the colours of magic come from what you study during each school day (gym, personal study, magic classes etc) Each style of magic has different spells, some of which are more useful than others. A lot of the spells seem totally pointless for all of the few magical challenges you face. Sometimes choosing the right class will change dialogue and plot. You also have to keep an eye on your money and stress levels and try not to get demerits for bad behaviour or poor exam results, though there are interesting and sometimes important scenes relating to stuff like getting detention or trying to bring your merits back up.
You have two roommates, both of whom are bff/romance options and the three of you become pretty good friends without you even trying, and great friends if you do try (though you can't be super bffs with both of them at once) I love that the friendship between the three girls is always really central to the game.
Ellen is a sweet, quiet nerd with a hidden core of determination. Her romance is very low key, but still lovely, and I felt sad about missing her friendship path on playthroughs where I didn't take it. She's the character 16 year old me would most have wanted to actually date :) I think she's supposed to be chubby, though it doesn't really come across in the art.
Virginia is more of a tomboy, she's energetic and a bit self centered and really into sports. Hers was the last romance I did, and while it wasn't my favourite I still appreciated getting to know her better and thought it was pretty adorable. If she's anyone from Harry Potter, it's Ginny.
Virginia has two brothers at the school, Donald and William. Donald is a romance/bff option, and was probably my favourite path. He's about the same age as you and kind of immature, pulling lots of pranks and getting detention, but at heart he's a really sweet, fun guy. He's kind of like Fred/George crossed with Ron (except that I liked him more. Maybe it's because he's a brunette)
Here's Donald at prom with Ix Surana, (who I played as genderqueer-ish, though ze glammed up a bit for prom)
Since
I personally found Damian kind of skeevy (he keeps going on about how adorable and innocent the PC is) but despite being kind of cliched I enjoyed the romance more than I expected. (though I kind of prefer the idea of Damian/William) It's the easiest to screw up, but a lot of the ways it can end are interesting in and of themselves. Since my other characters kept feeling bad about the amount of time they spent arguing with everyone who didn't like him I ended up romancing him with a fairly Bella Swan-ish character who ONLY cared about their Special Bond, which was kind of fun. And then on my next playthrough I enjoyed pissing him off right off the bat so he refused to talk to me again :D
The side characters tend to be briefly sketched, but came across as having their own dramas going on and I still got attached to some of them. There's also a secret society I have yet to successfully join, the option to run for and be on school council, spell based magical exams (I have yet to pass them all but ONE DAY I WILL) and various other interactions and choices. Balancing the different aspects of school life was surprisingly involving, especially once I realised it led to achievements.
Here's me deciding whether or not to cast "Blind" on a Manus monster during an exam (this character only knew green/life magic, which was great for getting the Green Magic achievement and some extra dialogue, but not so good for, say, opening doors)
There is apparently a sequel game in the works which I think will be set a year later with a male protagonist. I'd be curious to see how they deal with the multitude of different outcomes from this game, but regardless definitely plan on checking it out
no subject
Date: 2012-01-18 07:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-22 11:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-22 06:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-22 11:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-23 12:24 am (UTC)(Spoilers for anyone who hasn't played yet)
Date: 2012-01-23 01:39 am (UTC)Bear in mind: the Grabiner path makes it impossible to romance anyone else, though you can do the other friendship paths. And it's actually kind of complicated! You can untangle it yourself from this very thorough summary of major events, but here's a summary:
You need to be treasurer. This requires 1) Getting rid of your demerits in time (2)running (3) Winning
The way I got ten merits was by befriending Donald: One way to do that is to get a detention early on, but some of those may add EXTRA demerits. I think missing one of the colours of magic in the first few weeks doesn't. The other way is to help him pull a prank on Virginia: you have to have not gotten Ellen to teach Virginia to clean, and then be in your room (studying or sleeping) on the 30th of September.
According to that webpage (I searched for "merit" :)) other ways to get the merits are to do really well in your first exam (blue magic >=30) or admit to writing Damien's Initiation letter in one of Grabiner's classes on the 12th of September.
Once you decide to run, to win you need to do a good campaign, the link above has a points breakdown if you're finding it tricky.
Once you're treasurer, there is a Key Choice I won't spoil. You'll know it when you hit it, so save, and if you've started the romance/friendship path it will become pretty obvious. Then you just have to not piss Grabiner off too much and you should become his friend :) Here's some more hints.