Mask of the Rose

A strange and delicious game! This wasn't really what I expected from a dating sim, but nothing fallen London ever offers is ever quite what I expect, is it? I found that I enjoyed it the most when roleplaying my character as a proper menace of Fallen London, flirting with everybody, lying ceaselessly about who I used to be up above, entangling myself with every horror I could find. When you make it to the strange underbelly, the depths of this game are fascinating, and the way that intimacy reveals more of who each character is is intriguing and rewarding. Not sure how I rate it as a dating sim, but as a delicious slice of London Below's world, I enjoyed it.

So...as someone that has played Fallen London, as well as Sunless Seas and Sunless Skies? If you like visual novels, play Mask before you play any of the others. Mask is a good "introduction" to the verbose STRANGENESS of the setting in a more textually accessible way, without quite so much purple prose as the other games. Art? Good. Story? Good. Does it necessarily hold up compared to its 'cousins' in the genre? Hard to say! I think if you like visual novels and want an "intro" into Fallen London that feels less esoterically verbose, this is your jam. Would recommend; I played all the others before this one and still liked it for what it was.

4/5 A peculiar and strange game, like others have said. I feel like I started watching a tv show with 5 seasons already out and I'm just late to the party and have no idea what was going on. I still really enjoyed it though, even if I do think there was hardly enough time to do everything I wanted to. I definitely want to replay again and see what other endings and outcomes I can get, but for now, I'm pleased with the game and what I got out of it. I will say, where it really shines is the soundtrack. It's so atmospheric and moving! I'll definitely be using it in my ttrpg games, so thanks for that!

fun and mysterious choices matter

Only 4 hours in so far but intriguing storyline and lovely graphics- not animated as such but that is part of the charm.

eh its mid i preferred their previous titles, i didn't really like any of the characters other than that it wasn't the worse game I've played, uhm i guess just wait for it to be on sale