Ruler by Default

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.

I've been recently getting into visual novels a lot, and I can honestly say that Ruler By Default has been one of the best ones I've played. After Katawa Shoujo, this is perhaps my favorite visual novel. Its not the most sophisticated looking, but what it lacks for in finesse, it more than makes up for in charm. I have completed two routes, and I have enjoyed them immensely. All of the characters are charming and interesting, making it easier to want to hang out and do stuff with them. I am excited to play more and get to know everyone else. Like I said above, the world is fascinating, the characters are great, and I really hope to see more of these types of visual novels. It also gave me teh feels for the first time since I played Katawa Shoujo in January. It was definitely worth the 8 or 9 dollars I spent on it. I completely recommend.

RBD is one of my favourite visual novels I have played in a long time. From start to finish I was entertained the whole way through and I always looked forward to the next character interaction. The story is interesting, the writing charming in so many ways, and the characters will be some that will stick with me for a long time. I will be returning to this game often and I highly recommend this VN to those interested :) Now lets go a bit more in depth. Characters and Writing: To me, a successful visual novel is one that makes the player want to join the world and be with the characters more after the game is over and I definitely felt that way even after completing my first character route. All of the characters had so much personality, mostly due to the wide variety of character images that would change often and give emotion to the text the player is reading. All of that wouldn't matter though if the writing wasn’t well done, and here in RBD I was really surprised. The writing, combined with the changing character images had me laughing, smiling, and practically teary eyed at parts. This combination allowed for each of the characters to feel unique, and each of the routes that I have played so far to be distinct as well, creating a wide variety of possible game endings. I will always remember and come back to this game for its characters, and I highly recommend giving them all a chance. Even the one character I didn’t really like at the start had me loving her character by the time I had finished one of her routes which is a testament to the writing in this game. Each route also has a satisfying epilogue, something some VNs don't include which was nice and many characters go through pretty drastic character changes and have quite the character arcs. I will probably compare characters in future VNs that I read to the ones in RBD, thats how attached I became to all of the characters. Gameplay and Story: Throughout the game the player is given choices to move the story along, but also to integrate themselves into the game’s universe and to build relationships with the characters. I was pleasantly surprised by how many choices were in the game, and most of them felt like they had meaning behind them which was great. It is through these choices that the player can learn more about the story and the game’s world and I found myself saving way to many times to see every conversation outcome. These choices allow a more personal story to occur, especially due to the many endings this game has. Although the story doesn’t necessarily have a linear narrative, its overarching theme is interesting and is a good way of thrusting the player into the world and into the lives of the characters. “Complaints”: So far we have an interesting game world and storyline, great characters, and interactive choices, nows the time though where I bring up a few “complaints” if I could even call them that. The first being how once you are on a particular character’s “route” all the other character relationships kinda get relegated which was a little bit of a bummer since so many of them were interesting in their own right. Not meaning other characters weren't present in the later act of the game, you just couldn’t interact with them as a "friend" as much. Up until the player definitively starts a character’s route they have the freedom to interact with any of the characters every in game week in a character “bit” that would often involve other characters as well as the chosen main character of the bit. This allows for relationships to be built with a multitude of characters at the player’s choosing as well as potential plot points to be brought up which is a awesome way of doing it in my opinion. However, some of these plot points, and even the overarching plot of being a overlord in a land can be kinda forgotten. If I would change anything I would just try to integrate the character's route more into all the characters and overarching story how you are suppose to be this overlord from the first act. I understand completely though how time and resources can limit a project so im mostly just nitpicking here, and I have not finished every route so I may have missed certain routes that could make me take out these complaints. Another small “complaint” I need to bring up is about the game’s CGs. There are a lot of them here, and that is appreciated. However, some of them do not look all that great in my opinion while others look awesome. If some of these CGs were a bit better I think some particular plot points may have had more impact than they did. All in all though I'm mostly just nitpicking and I never found any element in the game that turned me off of wanting to continue playing. I have not had this much fun playing a VN in a long time and I highly recommend any of you reading give RBD a try. I know I will continue to come back this game often to once again be engrossed in this world, be with these characters again, and feel how I felt when I was first playing it again. I can only hope that we see some sort of expansion or sequel one day to build upon this game and to bring back all of these characters and the world they are in once again.

So I only heard about this very recently, in a discussion of how development times can sometimes rather over-run original plans - and it turns out that this one really did spend rather longer in development than planned. But I have to say - I'm very glad that Pistachi Studios stuck with it, because they've delivered a game with some real charm. So what do we have? We have a protagonist who's yoinked out of the present day in the real world, and unceremoniously dumped into a fantasy world where he's fated to be the Evil Overlord. There's a funny mark on his back, you see, and you just can't argue with funny marks. Okay, so it turns out that it's not the [i]largest[/i] Evil Empire at the moment, but there's potential - right from the moment that you meet your loyal supporters. The art's bright and plentiful - there are SO many variations on each character's sprite to allow for different expressions and poses (and I love June's crossed-arms "NOPE" sprite), and there are literally dozens of backgrounds too. Story wise, the interactions with characters are what really make Ruler by Default a joy to read; it [i]does[/i] perhaps fall down a little in developing your interactions with the wider world, which largely take a back seat - but then with such fun characters to interact with, you can absolutely understand focusing on them! Choices are plentiful; some are just for a hint of flavour, but many will build - or break! - your relationship with one character or another, which goes to explain the plentiful number of potential endings. I've not seen them all (I'm not sure I have the heart to track down all the bad endings!), but there are some extremely sweet, and bittersweet, moments in there. All this, and for a very fair price too. It's not the deepest story in the history of ever, nor is it the longest (although I understand that Pistachi do hope to add at least one more route via free DLC, which is incredibly decent of them!) - but it [i]is[/i] very enjoyable. Worth a read. No, worth [i]several[/i] reads. (As always, ignore the low playtime recorded for me - I generally read my VNs while commuting on a tablet PC, which is offline, and so all that playtime doesn't get credited...)

Harry Potter meets Dating Simulators?! This awesome VN game actually makes you care for the characters. Many different routes to experience combined with nice graphics and overall feeling of adventure. I recommend this to everyone who enjoys romantic adventures.

This was good fun to read as the characters are all unique and likable in diferent ways (Mori being my favourite) and there is a good amount of humour along with some more touching moments which balance out well. There are a lot of choices and a lot of endings. Finding them all without a guide could be fairly challenging!

Good enough length to spend an afternoon. The story is fairly simple and straight forward IMHO but where it shines is the characters and the humour. It's one of the few VN that I've played where I am tempted to play each route and explore the various endings. Fairly choice heavy as well. Initial play through was about 3 hours for a generic ending. The way the game is structured the concept of more than 40 endings doesn't surprise me. In many ways it reminds me of the choose your own adventure books I read as a kid, mixed with a branching romantic comedy. I think I'll be playing through this one several times. Characters and chuckles are definitely worth $10. Of note, v1.0.3 has the occasional typo or missing sprite in a scene. Doesn't happen often enough to actually care but I assume those will be fixed in future patches.

Akinator can't guess Mori, lol

Mori is Love, Mori is Lyfe.

Fun and god story twists