Ruler by Default

[i]* A free key of the game was given to me. Even so, that didn’t affect my opinion of the final product.[/i] [i]Ruler by Default[/i] is a medium length visual novel with fantasy, comedy, and drama elements developed by [url=https://www.facebook.com/pistachistudio]Pistachi Studio[/url]. It tells the story of a young nameable protagonist that one day finds himself being transported to another dimension, and once he's there, he ends up being crowned as the new Overlord of that foreign kingdom. It's a simple plot yet it works fine since the story is well-written. There are five romanceable heroines: Mori, Summer, Elincia, Miyuki, and Rhoslyn. My favorite character was Mori, her route was very good! According to the developers, a new route will be added soon, featuring June. There are multiple endings, at least two good endings per heroine. Once you've reached all good endings of all girls, their images will unlock in the main menu of the game. There are [b]a lot[/b] of bad endings though, making it necessary to save your progress with frequency. I also missed an in-game list of endings, to know which ones are still missing for me to get. All heroines are very charismatic, and it was pleasant to read their routes and interact with them. Speaking of routes, I've noticed some bugs in this visual novel: on Summer's route, there are various sprites missing, so we get an error message in-game often. Same with Miyuki, but a bit less. Happens in Rhoslyn's route too if I recall correctly. I personally liked the art style. It's a simple one, but it's cute and it fits in the story. The BGM is also pleasant, but I must say that it felt very repetitive after a while. Also, it took me ten hours approximately to read all routes and reach most endings. Like I said before, an ending list would be great here since there are over forty possible endings according to the developers. 7/10. I recommend getting this visual novel if you're looking for a well-written story with good characters and fun dialogues/situations. For its current price tag, this game is actually pretty good and offers a lot of gameplay time.

I've played quite a few VN's, since I like a story which can help the imagination along with character imagery and scenery for backgrounds. At first, I wasn't sure what to expect, and if I was blatantly frank I wasn't sure I'd like the art style or the storyline much because I had the bias of coming from super-high-budget games... But I'm happy to say that feeling went away pretty fast. The artwork is surprisingly charming, you can tell each avatar and scene was made to detail and with care to convey a character or setting, instead of just copy+pasting 3 avatars over and over like some I've seen, so it's very well done! The story is also amazing, too many people go in looking for 18+ content or eye-candy moments, but this VN actually makes you (or me, at least) care about what the characters are up to, why they're different from one another, and fuels curiosity into how they fit into the story. The routes are all so unique as well, each story has something you will likely not expect! As a tabletop GM, I actually found it like I was playing through someone else's RPG in a sense... Decisions don't feel hollow (you can tell one or two are fixed, despite your choices) and the story really does change depending on what you choose to do. For the price, this will kill a few hours and entertain the whole way, I absolutely enjoyed it, and plan to continue. TL:DR section Pros: + Unique artwork, not too many recycled avatars like some VN's, characters all have unique appearance and charm + Good soundtrack + The dev's have an excellent sense of humor, it's not often a VN gets a laugh/chuckle from me as often as this one did + Characters are all unique, have surprises you won't expect + Good story length... Long enough to be interesting, short enough not to take weeks to play through Cons: - Some bugs here and there (history error, very rare avatar MIA), but I'm sure patches will solve this (not a complaint as much as an observation) - An occasional typo (self-admitted grammar fascist, but see above point about patches) - Still haven't been abducted to this game's world yet

Surprisingly cute and funny :) Had more to it than I expected.

every girl is best girl. Change my mind.

After playing Cristalline and Assendant Hearts I was looking for any more Isekai (Differant World subgenra) stories. I came accross 'Ruler by Default' whlst going through a list of vissual novels in the steam store and I am very glad I did. While it can't boast the production value of games like Cristalline, or Nekopara it still exceeded my expectations. The characters may not be animated, but each one has more poses and expressions then I was expecting. The soundtrack may not be memorable, but it fits with the story and enhances it apropriatly. 'Ruler by Default' gave me exactly what i was looking for. A fun and funny story with a number of differant routs. I have very much enjoyed it, and would recomend it to other borderline western otakus.

First game of this type I've played through, and it was very well made. I've completed only 1 route, which took me roughly 2 hours to complete (considering I mashed through dialogue because I'm a fast reader) I was honestly suprised by how the game will give you a lot of different paths to go down once you get through the first half hour of gameplay, which sets up the world and story. I initially thought the price point was too much, but after seeing how much content I missed (and will play through!) I definitely changed my mind. My only request it to get the artwork in the game as desktop wallpapers, considering how great they are.

Hello. I've played up to week 13 and I streamed this game. Almost everyone really enjoyed it! Can't wait to play more! I'll update my review then. Only problem I found is apparently a lot of the management plans in the trailer were taken out. But hey I understand, small studio hard to do everything you want.

This game went through an extremely turbulent development process and that definitely left its mark - there's a lot of minor errors throughout the whole experience and tons of leftovers from removed dating sim mechanics (like non-existent skill checks and flavour text about stat gains). It does, however, offers some great storytelling and characters that really made me look past most of those faults. Even the art, while simple, was very nice too look at and the sprites were very expressive, giving a lot of personality to the whole cast and the music was very pleasant to listen to. The main thing that made this game special to me was Mori’s route. While I enjoyed all the other characters, the writing and execution of her story were absolutely brilliant, from the first encounters to the both positive endings. Everything else was still pretty solid, but usually didn’t even come close to the enjoyment and emotional impact of that one story-arc. To sum it up though: Pros: + Great cast of characters + 5 distinct romance routes + Good comedy + Great emotional moments and (tame) romance + Appealing art and music Cons: - Routes vary when it goes to writing quality - “Evil Overlord” theme is mostly just used for comedy - The protagonist is sometimes too dumb/naive - A lot of small bugs In the end, this was a surprisingly enjoyable game, offering a lot of quality content. For 10$ it’s an absolute steal and I hope that the developer will be motivated to fix the minor issues plaguing it – and, especially, ad a full character route for June – I would definitely be happy to pay for it as a DLC, if that’s necessary to make it happen. [b]Please, buy this game if you can and support the team that made it happen against all odds – they really deserve some recognition and reward for years of work that apparently went into this project.[/b] ------------ PS If you're interested in more quality western VNs, check out [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32980295/]my curator page[/url].

This particular visual novel may not seem very notable at glance, but after taking the time to do the routes... it's definitely worth a read. The character sprites are simplistic yet very well done and do much to pair up the mood and direction this VN takes. The writing is short and sweet; while void of any notable spelling errors. Seeing the enthralling character chemistry and interactions are what really make this visual an engaging read. June and Mori in particular were loads of fun and it was hard for me not to get attached to them. To sum it up, it's a good read and definitely a breath of fresh as far as Visual Novels and dating sims are concerned. Sprites: 9.5/10 Writing: 9/10 Character Chemistry: 9,000/10 Length: 8/10 Waifu: June/10 It's clear the group put in an earnest effort in producing this and I hope this will help other people enjoy it too.

Ok, first off, this game is not based on fan service. This VN has a suprisingly good story line with different endings which can be with certain girls where the story will actually make you care for them. I have only done one girl ending (Good Mori) and it was amazing for me. When exploring her past, you begin to feel pity for her, which not a lot of VN's can accomplish. Also to mention that you can balance time spent with girls, meaning you don't get a specific ending with "that" one girl, giving the game more replay value. Overall, well made VN with its own creative art style.