Lady in Mystery

Complete disappointment. Not only is the translation horrendous, but the endings are completely terrible. After slogging through almost 20 hours of worse-than-google-translate localization, middle school quality writing, and utterly nonsensical pacing, they just had to slap on an equally awful ending as the cherry on top. Should have refunded it before I hit 2 hours.

Developed and published by nolsoft, Lady in Mystery delivers an engaging blend of historical fiction, detective storytelling, and character-driven romance within the richly realized setting of Korea's Joseon Dynasty. Rather than relying on action or traditional gameplay systems, the experience focuses on narrative depth, inviting players to unravel interconnected mysteries while exploring relationships that gradually evolve over the course of the story. The historical backdrop is more than a visual theme, as the customs, political tensions, and social hierarchy of the era influence nearly every event and character interaction. This strong sense of place helps the game establish an identity that stands apart from more conventional visual novels. The story follows Heesoo, a woman whose life is devastated after her family is destroyed by false accusations. To survive in a society where opportunities for women are severely limited, she conceals her identity and lives as a man while operating an information agency that investigates suspicious incidents and uncovers hidden truths. Her carefully maintained disguise begins to unravel when she crosses paths with Juhee, a runaway noblewoman…

I really want to like this game. I’ve played Seoyeon and Iljime’s routes so far and I still plan on finishing the other’s just so I can get all achievements and truly finish the game but it feels like such a chore. I really don’t know how long that will take me as I’ve had this game for years but I’m only able to handle it in short spurts every 6-10 months. The writing is too long with little substance. It’s a lot of sentences and a high word count that don’t really benefit the story. Although I don’t mind the multiple endings as I think they’re kinda funny. The general story and each route is very long and doesn’t have enough plot movement. I’m a fan of visual novels but this is too much for me. It doesn’t have the best translation but it is still readable. There’s not a lot of reward for the amount of text you have to slog through. The romance is barely there. It’s mostly implicit with some explicit moments. Seoyeon’s route at least had a kiss but Iljime’s didn’t. It just kinda sucks if you want more yuri (which I do). Each route just consists of more text and situations/ investigations, but hardly any romance. I really like the concept of each character and the concept of…

A good lesbian love and female friendships visual novel. The translation is a bit wonky, but it only adds to the charm because it shows how the Korean language is constructed and how it understands the World. It's also nice to learn about Korean history, traditions and habbits. I liked that. The cases are fun, the cast interesting and varied and the game is often suprising. Some passages are a bit awkward but in a, I suppose, period appropriate manner, and it did not rob me of any pleasure so I did not mind them. The "false endings" ranges from goofy to heartwrenching but are always imaginative. Not all true endings are love stories or happy endings either, which I found well-thought. It's just a great, fun, emotional game, a sweet passion project. I loved all the women and their endings, even Yurin, which I found the hardest to like at first.

I loved it and I got attached to all the characters. I felt most of the endings where open, like after all the waiting for a happy ending I would have liked to see something sweeter :) at the same time Yurin ending was devastating... I usually avoid everything that I find unfair and painful, which is why I read almost exclusively romance novels with a happy ending and that ending felt out of pace haha. thank godness the omeke with all the characters was so funny it made me smile. In the future I hope to see more worthy korean vn intended for women who love women.

gorgeous cgs, art, music, everything - in terms of routes i'd say yurin's is the strongest and this has become one of my fav games ever. juhee <333