Morningstar: Book of the Fallen

After Love Of Magic, I really had a high expectation for this game. Sadly, it didn't deliver. I didn't get through the very first sparring match before I quit the game with a headache. Candy Crush fused to MMA is a MUCH worse combat design that LOM used. It's clunky, it's complicated, and it's just silly. Maybe later I'll try again, but as it is... I am sorry to have to give it thumbs down.

As perhaps you can guess by the number of hours I've put into this game, I'm really into it, and it's mainly because of the game's mix of simplicity and complexity. It's part visual novel, part RPG, part sandbox game, part Match-3 game, and part shooter. None of the parts are too difficult to master... except the shooter minigame, which will affect a player's ability to earn a few of the achievements. The game is broken into time slots: morning, evening, and night, with a mandatory late night sleeping period. During the morning, evening, and night time slots, the player is mostly free to send the MC where they want him to go and have him talk with or otherwise interact with whatever characters are at those locations. Certain predetermined time slots, however, are devoted to fixed plot points that drive the main story line. While the main story line is fairly linear, it can be slightly altered by what the MC does when in sandbox mode, with four different endings possible. The RPG and Match-3 elements of the game work together to create a combat system that truly depends on the MC's stats and skills but also the player's ability to excel at the Match-3 game play. A player who doesn't wish to do the Match-3 combats can skip them, in which case skill points don't matter, but the MC's stats still come into play in the form of stat checks attempted during the story. If the MC meets minimum stat requirements at certain points in the story, then certain events or scenes can be unlocked. Failing to meet the stat minimums at the required times will result in missing out on certain events or scenes. The game can be played through to one ending in about 20 hours. Other endings can be reached more quickly by speeding through the text of scenes previously seen. I racked up so many hours myself in support of writing a guide for earning the various achievements and reaching the four endings in the game. My guide has been posted and is available on Steam. I've seen better animated sex scenes in other games. In fact, several of the sex scenes in Morningstar aren't even animated. But the text that accompanies the sex scenes appeals to me, and I don't miss the animations so much. Still, since this is an [i]adult[/i] game, some players may be disappointed by the choices the developer made regarding the sex scenes. On a 10-point scale, I'd rank this game at 9/10. I'm deducting a point because of three minor items: The lack of sex scene animations, the inability to use the Match-3 combat system to fight some of the important combats, and the way the final confrontation with the main villain is handled. [spoiler]I was hoping Emily and the MC together could handle him without someone else stepping in.[/spoiler] But even though I wouldn't rank the game at 10/10, I absolutely adore it and recommend it to anyone who enjoys the types of game elements present in this masterpiece.

If you have played Love of Magic all 3 books, then this will feel like an alternate reality to those games. Pros: - Well written story, and I do mean top notch - Music is top notch and used well - The mini-game for fights is not bad, but not the most fun thing - Characters seem fleshed out from Love of Magic they are basically the same in mentality and feel, so I recommend playing those first - Love paths is a new thing, I am so tied to the angel from Love of Magic I find it hard to abandon the Path of Light. Still I am selecting more Path of Fire As the Red Devil deserves some love. - Sex scenes are very intimate but its a reading slideshow Cons: - This is still a slideshow simulator with animations in places not needed - They removed the world exploration, so its no longer sand boxed as Love of Magic was. However, this is not necessarily a bad thing, as they did not do enough to the Love of Magic world to make it meaningful anyway. Overall: If you like a good story this is definitely one you can sink your teeth into with multiple path choices when it comes to love interests. It is more a VN than AVN, for it tastefully adds sex when it makes sense. Whoever, edited this deserves respect, as they don't waste words, it is really edited well, and it reads smooth enough to make conversations not boring. Well done on another really good alternate reality for the Love of Magic characters, but I really want to see the conclusion of Love of Magic with the daughter and the dragon.

Довольно неплохая фэнтезийная AVN-песочница с боевкой по правилам Match3. Несмотря на то, что многие персонажи, включая ГГ, были взяты из предыдущей работы автора, включая свою любимую «вайфу», сюжет здесь в корне другой. Теперь всё происходит в Нью-Йорке, и антуражем, лором и мистикой игра напоминает прям какой-нибудь эпизод из сериала «Сверхъестественное». Вкратце, это современная фэнтезийная история, в которой вы играете за дитя Люцифера и будете втянуты в войну Рая и Ада. Но главный плюс данного произведения в том, что нам дали свободу выбора, а не одну единственную центральную героиню. Геймплей довольно приятный и весьма разнообразен. Есть стандартная часть VN, где можно просто читать историю, но есть и «песочница», где нужно тренировать главного героя для его боёв, открывать дополнительный контент для разных девушек, ходить на свидания, читать новости, ходить в данджи и находить коллекционные предметы. Визуальная составляющая тут намного лучше, чем в предыдущих работах, но в основном это связано с более высоким рендером исходных моделек. Все фоны новые, и на этот раз это не стоковые изображения, а созданные на движке. Секс-сцен больше, чем в предыдущей игре автора, они разнообразнее, но плавности в анимациях не хватает. Можно ещё выделить музыку в игре, она потрясающая, много лицензированных рок-композиций, подходящих под динамику повествования или боевых сегментов. В игре 4 концовки, и как по мне, единственное, что хочется предъявить автору, что тут он не дожал, очень не хватает концовки Падших ангелов с наставницами ГГ, впрочем как и сцен с ними.

+ Snowdrop; + Molly; of course Emily is nice also, but, she seams too similar with Love of Magic); ~ practically no animations; ~ the engine used (Unity i presume) has some nice additions but also some missing stuff comparing to Renpy; ~ not many sex scenes; ~ match 3 (it's more of a personal opinion, but I didn't like it); ~ the characters are basically the same (if you player love of magic); ~ story gets boring after some time (for me at least) also pretty similar in some way with Love of Magic; - some bugs (act ii achievement missing for example); 6/10 in my opinion. in a way too long (main story and loads of text), in a way too short (side characters, sex scenes). still a good game, but no that great.

Another top tier AVN. Obviously shorter than Love of Magic but almost as good.

Not as good as LoM...As a VN its ok but as an AVN, I give it a 6/10

A really good AVN. I would say that Love of Magic is still my favorite of the two, but this one has good moments. Give it a shot, especially if its on sale.

Candy crush clone. Target group probably 6 year old girls. Between the games some renderings, most of them bla bla about the next fight. Loved Love Of Magic, ... - those have beengreat games, if you expect something like that - don't buy this one. Or the next ones. I expect the next day to become a "dress my doll" game with 1 AI rendering every 100 hours of "playtime". No idea why they decide to move away from a really good game to ... this. AND: you will only play this game 1 time. So choose your path. A second time you have to hammer your left mouse button for hours as there is no auto-skip for all the boring text.

yet another hit , nice to see some old faces !