Isle of Maligree

"Isle of Maligree" is an amazing vn where your choices indeed matter! You shape the outcome of your story via your choices and your initial built. With 3 different starting fates and points for skills, along with some dice randomness, your story won't be the same every time you play it. The protagonist is a detective from the Mainland and has come to investigate some strange missing person cases, that all seemingly forgot... What lies beyond this occult mystery? Will you choose reason or magic? Will you make it to the end and discover what happened?... It's a dark world and the artwork highlights this perfectly! The use of various pencil grey colors helps set up the mood, while some details are shown through colory strokes. The soundtrack works like a charm! I really liked the text fade effect, the font used, the borders, the cursor, the notebook, which functions as an inventory too, and the clock, which helps a lot with keeping track of time, since you can't easily differentiate the grey shades. I wouldn't be doing it justice if I didn't mention the vocabulary that is being used and the writing itself. It has been a while since I saw something so well written with such rich content. Considering the theme it centers around, it's mesmerizing. Due to having multiple paths and choices, it's lengthy yet enjoyable from the first to the last second. The story has twists and turns. Depending on your selections, you get to discover many secrets or ignore everything and rush to the end. It's your story after all... To be shaped to your liking! Choose your fate well! When all is said and done, retry your luck with another one, see where it leads you. There is no chance you'll be bored exploring; it's rewarding! For more reviews, follow my curator https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44864435-Mewesome-Reviews/

Isle of Maligree brings us an interesting mystery visual novel where you play as an investigator to help solve a missing person's case in an island. It just so happens that it is tied with an ongoing issue where other villagers are going missing left and right. You have 3 days to uncover the mystery and see if you can save the victim before it is too late. This is a VN with rpgesque gameplay where many choices and scenarios in the game have a success factor depending on your skill and the roll of your dice. Which does affect how 'easy' or how complicated things will get for your MC in the game. Your skill points can be increased or decreased depending on what items you are able to obtain or what you do. Furthermore the game gives you 3 types of MCs that you can play at the beginning. Each will give you a different advantage (and for ne unlocks a different path) in the game. The greatest strength this VN has for me is it's replayability factor. There are many little tidbits you can unlock and a handful of ways you can uncover the plot, Not to mention it is fun to try to collect many items on your limited time span you have and see how powerful (or weak) you can be. I also love how choosing the MC does matter and hell, you need to select certain MCs to unlock certain routes and scenarios you would not get if you only select one MC type on the game. The story is interesting on it's own right and the characters in the game were likable and interesting. Overall I do recommend getting this game.

You arrive on the Isle of Maligree as an inspector, here to solve a missing persons case. But the island is steeped in magic, people's memories are fading, and robed figures roam... The real narrative selling point of this visual novel is its characters and the many-layered mystery at its core : the former are a collection of weird and interesting personalities, each with their own perspectives and flaws that make you want to learn more about them ; the latter is a compelling investigation that slips from the eerie into soft horror. By the time I finished my first playthrough, I had succeeded at doing my job, and yet most of the core mysteries were still unresolved, with just enough hints as to where to look for more information that I couldn't help but dive right back in! Also it wouldn't be right to not mention the fantastic art and music, both of which provide the perfect quiet, slightly unsettling atmosphere that characterises this game.

4/5，玩法有趣但故事情节写得很平淡。coc跑团模拟器，有大量检定和掷骰的环节，choices matter并且制作组也在游戏开头写了此游戏没有错误选项，这种设置让游玩变得比较舒适。可自定义主角人称、起源和技能点。有个insanity值很有意思，但我感觉没太多具体的影响。立绘很好看。 侦探来到小岛调查失踪事件，故事结构与叙事有点让我想起《异魔禁区（dagon）》那部电影。但整个游戏的设定写得很肤浅，非常不清晰，比如魔法这个概念在世界观里的定位，比如小镇的具体情况，比如正统宗教和邪教的碰撞——这些全都没有提及。只能说当休闲游戏玩一下还是不错的。 流程很短，一周目打完后会有skip功能但好像是直接跳到下一个选项处而不是仅skip读过的内容。

I got really into the story line and had to play through. Love the idea of being able to choose your own destiny in the story and I'm going to play again, but making different choices. The story and imagery are clever and gorgeous; I can imagine how much time was spent on developing this game.

The writing is engaging, the setting interesting, and I really like the background illustrations. I've just finished my first run of the game in one sitting, and I intend to play again to see what happens in the routes I didn't take!

Have just finished my first play through. Once I stared I couldn't stop. Looking forward to playing again with a different character and stats. The music and artwork are good and give the game the right feel for the story line.

This game is amazing and well worth the extra wait i keep playing and every time i walk away i find myself quickly coming back to either keep playing or start down another path, each time i think i've seen every thing but i then find something else, i love the story line and the art work i with the black and white theme and the odd splash of colour. i really hope there is either a follow on to this novel or something along the same lines i'm not into to much gore or swearing so this is perfect for me. As a child i read visual novels and this is an amazing way to enjoy them again and allow my child who is a reluctant reader to enjoy Reading with out even realising there do it.

Visual novel where success depends on the roll of a die. The game is set in a world where magic exists. As with practically everything, the bad guys want to take advantage of it. That's where you come in as an investigator. But this isn't just any case. When you learn of a new missing person, you remember a similar incident from the past. But there is a mystery. You find your old notes, but you don't recall writing them or anything else about the missing folks. What's weirder is that no one else remembers. All you know is that everything points to the island of Maligree. This is a visual novel, but it has a few unique mechanics that set it apart from other games. The first step is to decide which of the three skills you will choose. There’s the oracle with the power of foresight, the arcane where you’re stuck with a demon companion, and a surprisingly unremarkable talent of technician that can build or repair stuff. These skills add extra scenes to the story. But that is not all. You also receive five skill points for investing in stats like agility, intellect, or aura. Stats come into play throughout conversations and actions. Sometimes, you will be given options on how to respond to people. Aside from the standard or basic answer or action, there will be a few other options with varying levels of difficulty and stats. Success or failure is determined by the roll of the dice in the background. Losing is irrelevant since the story is about living with your decisions. However, success may provide you with unique items that boost your stats. Or decrease, because you never know what you'll get. The die rolling is a recurring theme throughout the game because it occurs even while reading through text. There is no indication on what success or failure means. You may notice some additional text, but the story normally progresses in the same way in both circumstances. Because you can save or load at any moment, you can try again until you succeed, although this is not required and might take the fun out of it. The game also auto-saves, in case you forget. The gameplay consists of visiting locations and clicking on options. The most popular "reward" is a new location. Sometimes the items you discovered during your investigation will provide more choices. The catch is that each location you visit advances the time forward. Some locations are only open for a limited time, so you may miss them. When you run out of hours, you sleep and continue the next day. The game is just four days long, and the last two feel a little short. There are a few major decisions – one of which is who you’re going to side with - that lead to one of the 16 endings. The save feature makes it extremely easy to try again, but only if you remember to save before major decisions. After you're done, you are encouraged to try again with the other two skills. Unfortunately, the game does not enable you to skip text that you have already seen, so you will have to go through it all again. In conclusion, while the game tries to add a unique twist, it is still a visual novel.

Gotten 5/16 endings with some save scumming near the end, but think I'll leave it at that, unless someone posts a guide for the rest. I've done one run each of the two main 'factions' you can join and was pleasantly surprised by how different both runs were. Obviously, the core mystery is the same and some key moments have to repeat, but the two routes felt different enough and the variety of options in the key moments meant I enjoyed my second play-through as much as the first. The setting, characters, mystery and writing are all quite good for a short experience, but this game truly excels in its pacing. Both runs were single sessions, because the pace is high enough to keep you engaged and give you the feeling that you're trying to catch up to what's happening, but never so fast that it feels confusing or messy. Each resolved section/plot point of the game sets up something else you want to investigate or learn more about. Honestly, this game's easy to recommend for anybody who likes visual novels with rpg elements or who finds mysteries with occult elements interesting. I bought it on sale and feel like I got my moneys worth. Keep in mind that your playtime will likely be longer, as I'm a fast reader and wrote this after only getting 5 endings. I'm certain there are plot elements/side stories I haven't found yet, so there's plenty content for completionists.