Fateful Mages

Disclaimer: A copy of this game was provided by the developer. Casual and relaxing tileswap puzzle game. The puzzles aren't challenging at all, being a simple tile swap. At first I thought the second and third puzzles of each mage would be annoying due to the partial or full hiding of the tiles, but it was relieving to see that once a tile is in the correct position, it's fully revealed. What adds a lot of flavor to the simple puzzle gameplay is the short and interesting stories for the mages that are unlocked after solving the 3 puzzles. After learning who the mage is and what they went through in life, a fate can be chosen that shows the impact of that decision. There aren't fully good or bad decisions, but some will be less favorable for the future of the mage. The music is relaxing and the art is beautiful, although it feels like a lot of the mages share many similarities in the facial features. And if you are not happy with the decisions, after choosing all 28 fates, the progress can be reset to discover the different outcomes. For achievement hunters: Solve all puzzles and choose all fates, reset the choices in the settings and view the credits.

[h1]TL;DR[/h1] 5/10: The review was an "8" for it's originality and storywriting, but two points were deducted after Captain Obvious informed ol' Il Pallino that the game was made with AI-generated graphics. A third point was deducted because the developer is too blind to notice how many of the characters have an identical-looking eyes and lips. [h1]Overview[/h1] Has ol' Il Pallino ever played a puzzle game that's SFW? Probably not, but the developer asked for a review, so the developer gets a review! (Especially since the curator ol' Il Pallino is reviewing for mostly does not allow for reviewing smutty games.) [i]Fateful Mages[/i] features lotsa spell-casting babes and three puzzles for each. The first puzzle is a standard puzzle which unlocks the woman's story, the second puzzle features rotating puzzle pieces that stop rotating when they're placed in their proper location and unlocks an important moment in the woman's life. The third puzzle is completely black until the player mouses over, but the piece will appear normally when placed in the proper location, and completion unlocks a choice for the player to make regarding a critical moment in the woman's life. [h1]Graphics and Sound[/h1] There's not much to say, except that the women are all beautiful, which is the most important thing. The addition of background scenery is a pleasant touch. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2959539372 The ambient background music provides the perfect mood setter, and is as beautiful as the women themselves. [h1]Positives and Negatives[/h1] There's beautiful women-DUH! Some players may appreciate the SFW nature of [i]Fateful Mages[/i] but there's bound to be plenty of players who are disappointed that the women stay fully-clothed. (A few of those people may even be on your friends list; ol' Il Pallino has a few of such friends!) The biggest complaint is that while the women are all beautiful, too many characters have identical eyes and lips, which was obviously the result of AI-generated graphics. (And a developer either too blind or too stupid to notice how many of the women in this game are different yet the same. [h1]Conclusion[/h1] [i]Fateful Mages[/i] is a strong buy for people who really enjoy beautiful women. If the review feels short, then it's because there's not a great deal that can be said about puzzle games in general. Unlike the last short review that ol' Il Pallino wrote for a game, he stayed sober this time! [h1]The honest word of Il Pallino... OR ELSE![/h1] [quote]Follow our curator page, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/7871885/]OCG-Curations[/url], if you like and want to see more reviews like this one.[/quote]