Love ritual

I purchased this years ago and am finally giving it a go. After glancing at reviews I wasn't really looking forward to diving in. Regardless, I wanted to give it a chance and well... Things I dislike in general Not being able to rename the MC. Not being able to change her looks. (I knew this going in I just wish it was an option in more Otome/Visual novels) The writing is weak. Buggy, glitchy and hasn't been address in years. So far I'm struggling to keep up with this one. The dialogue lacks heart. I feel like I'm talking to and am a trope. Nothing more. No depth - no heart. I'm just bored. We have so few r18 Otome and this has been a disappointing so far.

The game broke on the first puzzle. Frequent broken English. Confusing explanations. One of the community guides is in part a list of bugs and how to bypass them that was posted in Jan 2020 and updated in Sept 2023, so the devs have had literal years to address these issues. The art is pretty and the concept interesting but the execution is terrible. Do not buy.

Love ritual is an adult-oriented visual novel that combines supernatural mystery, romance, point-and-click investigation, and hidden-object elements within a colorful fantasy setting. Developed and published by Xand arts, it distinguishes itself from a conventional romance visual novel by giving its protagonist an actual investigative responsibility. Rather than simply choosing between romantic partners, the player must navigate a criminal case in which attraction, professional judgment, and competing supernatural factions are closely intertwined. The story follows Riilai, a young scientist with extensive knowledge of occult rituals. Her expertise brings her into a police investigation concerning a forbidden ritual performed at a crime scene. Two suspects have already been detained, one associated with the Necromancer League and the other with the Druid Circle, but both insist they are innocent. Riilai therefore enters the situation as an outside specialist expected to examine the evidence and determine which explanation is credible. It is an effective premise because the protagonist has a defined profession and a legitimate reason to become involved in the mystery rather than mer…

Would benefit from some editing, it was a bit distracting. Art was cute and I liked the characters, overall, the story idea is good but the details and individual dialogue scenes are a bit disjointed.

My playtime is somehow off, but I finished the game with both romance options. I liked it overall. It is short and the story is quite simple, but it has a good atmosphere and the romance options are good. It also has an R18 scene which was fine. This is probably something for people that like to have a short, nice story without wasting too much time. Imo there are way worse Otome games on steam with very positive reviews, so it really depends on your taste.

Short, buggy, frustrating. Big issue I will point out that most don't: The decision to use screen flashes for the final battle. So many screen flashes, some of which were bright white. This was extremely painful for my eyes, a potential migraine trigger, risky for people with seizure illnesses, and honestly looks bad anyway. Using something like the effect from when she threw the ring would've been a better option for the attacks (no screen flashes! Please people. T_T) The save files also seem to reorganize themselves which complicated my trying to do the neutrals as I couldn't tell which path the save was when loading since it moved (I save often in case of crashes, which the game did crash sometimes.) Also sucks not being able to get steam acheivements. The models for the male options were quite nice, but everything else brings it down. :( I liked the cat though.