[b]Note:[/b] Although a free adult patch is available as DLC, I chose to play the censored version.
[i]My Lovey-Dovey Demon[/i] is a bishoujo (boy x girl), kinetic visual novel developed and published by ebi-hime. You take on the role of Taiki, a first year university student who's staying at his grandparents' house in the Japanese countryside, along with his two younger sisters and his younger cousin (whom Taiki and his sisters have affectionately regarded him as their youngest brother). As Taiki is looking for Nene, his youngest sister, in a game of hide-and-seek, he catches her in their grandfather's study, trying to summon a demon since Nene is obsessed with the dark arts. Even though Nene obviously doesn't succeed in doing so, Taiki, after seizing one of his grandfather's books from Nene's hands, is somehow able to chant the summoning ritual. Before Taiki or anyone else realizes what's happened, a cute, pink-haired girl with horns and wings (yes, she's a demon :o) appears in front of them. Now, not only does Taiki have to look after his siblings, he has a demon named Elisabeth to watch over, too. What's a guy to do? lol I'll end my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers and all that. XD
As for the gameplay, the story is linear, so there are no choices. You simply play through from beginning to end. The story progresses over the course of seven days (in-game, of course), and there's an epilogue as well. Several CGs are shown throughout, and many tracks are present. Also, there are several Steam achievements although they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "Steam is learning about this game".
Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my thoughts. To put it out there, I adore many of ebi-hime's visual novels, and this latest release is no exception. Dealing with people's stupidity definitely can take its toll, so playing a fun, light-hearted visual novel was in order. XD As usual, I'll first go over the story and characters. The story starts off a bit slow, but that's not really a surprise, given that the setting is the Japanese countryside and the story starts off with Taiki having to deal with a troublesome Nene. However, events quickly pick up after Taiki summons Elisabeth to the human realm. It turns out that Taiki has a bit of magic in him, which kind of makes sense since his grandfather has it as well and was able to summon Elisabeth's mother many years back. However, since Taiki's magic is weak, Elisabeth is only able to stay in the human world for a few days, and as she is very eager to explore the human world, Taiki and his family figure that they should make the most out of Elisabeth's visit. The story itself is pretty much slice-of-life, with the characters getting into various antics and such. However, there's some emotion and even [spoiler]romance between Taiki and Elisabeth, which I adored[/spoiler].
As for the characters, I like how there's such a diverse range of personalities. Taiki is the responsible, oldest sibling, while Elisabeth is the energetic, curious demon girl who likes the human world (but weirdly, she doesn't have much magical prowess). As there are quite a list of characters, I won't go over the others, but I definitely have favorites and dislikes. For example, I adored Reza, Taiki's cousin, who's sweet, innocent, and kind and who always likes to carry his stuffed bunny around. As for a least favorite, I'd have to say that I didn't like Nene, simply because she'd always talk like she was above everyone else (at least, that's how it seemed to me) and how she refused to try to understand situations from others' perspectives (well, I know some people in real life who are like that lol). However, I enjoyed the story a lot and the characters added life to it, although Taiki and Elisabeth are definitely the stars of the show.
With the writing, it's paced well, with the story progressing over the course of a week. There are a few exciting moments, such as when Taiki summons Elisabeth, but for the most part, the events feel slow and relaxed, which is great for this visual novel. Although there are quite a few memorable moments, my favorite ones would have to be the times when Taiki and Elisabeth would be alone. As for typos and such, I only noticed one, which is really good for an initial release. In regards to the art, I like the cutesy, anime sprites. Especially, Elisabeth looks so adorable and certainly not one would expect a demon to look like. The sprites are well drawn and colored, and the same can be said for the backgrounds. Of course, the CGs are really well done, and I even took screenshots of my favorite ones. ^^ Regarding the music, the tracks are well composed, and they have variety. They fit well with the scenes they're placed on, and I'm fond of the upbeat ones, like the track used when you first open up the game. XD
Overall, would I recommend [i]My Lovey-Dovey Demon[/i]? If you like visual novels, are in the mood for a light-hearted story with some sweet romance, and are especially a fan of ebi-hime's works, then I totally recommend playing this. I loved the story, and Elisabeth truly is my favorite character (although I'd say that Reza is a close second). The story ends off very well, and although I have no idea if ebi-hime plans on this, I'd really love it if [spoiler]there's a sequel where we see what happens after Taiki and Elisabeth are reunited, whether they get married, and the aftermath[/spoiler]. For the asking price, I think it's worth it since ebi-hime's visual novels tend to be top quality. However, you can always wait to get it on a sale, and it's in a Steam bundle.
Finally, I want to give a major thank you to ebi-hime for the review copy, and I look forward to even more visual novels in the future. ^^
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