Heartspell: Horizon Academy

In general, I've been pleasantly surprised by how nice this game has been to play. The music is well composed, though it could use a bit more variety, because after a while, the same three soundtracks kinda blend into one another. The character designs are interesting, and many of the characters themselves are genuine fun and a breath of fresh air to interact with. ...Which brings me to the downside. While [i]most[/i] of the cast are a great time to hang out with, there's a handful of ♥♥♥♥ heels that I could just as happily do without, but due to how the plot works, this is yet another game that falls into the exhausting pattern that so many others of this type do, which goes, "see this useless prick who sucks the joy out of the room simply by existing? Interact with them, because they're hot and I say so, and it doesn't matter if you like them or not!" I know bringing real life experiences into a game setting is an oddball move, but given that this is ostensibly a story about attending school, can I just be blunt about this? I managed to get through my school years just fine without ever having to force myself to interact with the biggest wastes of skin and bone on campus. Why, …

Very interesting to me, and I'm glad I played it in short. Had a blast. Will be upfront: it's an inclusive game, queer oriented- which I actually like and don't mind. Representation doesn't feel forced, and I don't feel like a terrible person like in Huniepop. There's 11 main characters with a few side ones, very open ended experience, and all characters interweave in the main story which is tied up wonderfully, imo. I will add as well that like other reviews have said, the game is open ended as far as match games go - you have the tutorial character, you can choose your gender, and you can interact with whoever you want in whatever order. For the most part- also meaning you can romance the same sex/non-binary people. I suppose if that's an issue the game allows the flexibility to some people, but I prefer this kind of story telling personally. Difficulty is subjective for the most part, but in being thorough and choosing who to interact with will alter who is easier/more difficult. I did the normal difficulty and enjoyed myself, despite being interested in these kinds of games. [spoiler] By far, Amara is the most difficult - you can only score 4+ matches and more, followed by Em…

A cute dating sim built around a pretty good match 3 game. I'm only at 35% completion for the game at 26hrs, minus an hour or two where I left the game idle, so there's plenty of content! There's a lot of other good things to say about the game like the characters, the voice acting, the art, the world-building, the matching and spell system, and more! It's all really solid stuff! If you want a cozy fantasy game, definitely pick this up. You also have the option to date all the characters at once so you don't have to replay anything. Characters will even talk about your other relationships and date others, so it doesn't feel like you're cheating on anyone. If you wanna just date one person or none at all, that's an option, too.

Very charming game. Fully voiced (and voiced well), great art, great music, great gameplay. Stands far above other dating sims I've played (which isn't many, admittedly) in the narrative. The game has many choices (outside of just who you're dating) that matter, from choices that affect dating specifically (like how serious you want the relationship to be, what role you take in the relationship, if characters get involved in other relationships, etc.) to choices that don't, from super minor things (like whether or not you're a vegetarian) to more major things (spoiler things). The game is also very nonlinear and the order you do things in matters, but instead of in a way that makes it feel like you need to read a guide about the "right" order to do things, it's in a way that feels very rewarding on a second playthrough when a scene plays out differently because the state of the locations/characters. The only criticism I'd have is that finishing the game's overall story requires that you finish all of the dateables' base storylines (to be clear, you don't have to date them, but you do have to interact with them maybe more than you'd want to), although narratively there is a reason f…

Just a really good time: matching gems to make magic with fun cast of characters, and dating whichever people I want!

Love this game so much! Would love to see more visual novels like this from the company!