[h1]Never a day off lol[/h1]
[h2]Introduction[/h2]
[i]Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To[/i] is a visual novel with plenty of match-3 gameplay developed and published by Soft Not Weak, LLC. You take on the role of Samar, a witch who lives just outside the city of Demashq and works as a spirit swapper at night, eliminating spirits. When Samar has the day off, she decides to visit her friends in Demashq, but somehow, the spirits have started penetrating the city's magical barrier. Thus, it's up to Samar and her friends to put a stop to these spirits, all the while hoping that they'll still be able to attend an upcoming major concert by 5HAG VISION. :o
As for the gameplay, the game consists of three modes. There's story mode in which Samar visits her friends, helping them out with their problems and possibly cultivating romance. You can choose from three difficulty modes, which are the equivalent of easy, normal, and hard. (For review purposes, I chose the equivalent of normal mode.) Samar can choose to chat with and visit friends as well as decide whether to pursue romances with them or stay as friends. (I should note that there's only one exception, but due to their personal circumstances, it's understandable.) Other than choosing who to visit and whether to pursue romances and whatnot, there aren't really any choices. The majority of the gameplay is the match-3 portion in which Samar has to match 3 or more of the same spirits to eliminate them from the board. Also, story mode has the option to customize Samar's room. As she visits friends and completes events, she'll receive gifts.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3612002580
Also, endless mode and versus mode are present. While endless mode is pretty self-explanatory, versus mode consists of choosing any playable character from the main story and competing against another character (via another player or computer). Plenty of CGs as well as some English voice acting and a varied lo-fi soundtrack are present. Also, there are several Steam achievement, and at the time of this review, they count towards a user's global total.
[h2]Review[/h2]
It has been a long time since I last touched on a match-3 game (although I enjoy them very much) and with [i]Spirit Swap[/i] being a visual novel (a genre that I enjoy a lot) as well, it felt like the perfect time to dive into this game. I wished that I had gotten around to this game sooner, but I'll explain later as to the delay. :o
I started off with story mode, and I like how it doesn't take long to get into the story after a brief gameplay tutorial. Even though there is an overall story in which the spirits are trying to get into Demashq, other stories are present in regards to Samar's friends. For example, Mo is feeling depressed about her recent breakup even though she tries to hide it by acting cheerful. (I think some of us can relate to that.) It's great to see Samar try to help her friends work out their problems, whether they be relationships or being overworked. As I mentioned earlier, Samar can pursue romances with most of the characters. I like how this is approached, as the relationships never feel forced. Samar can choose to take things as slowly as she and her chosen partner(s) want, and you don't even have to pursue romance. There are [b]otome, yuri, and even poly[/b] relationships that can be formed, which makes for great diversity.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3612002094
If you want, you can even have Samar pursue multiple relationships in one save file. While this is convenient for gameplay and achievement purposes, it can feel a bit unrealistic. Still, Samar and her friends are in another world, so I suppose the usual human rules don't apply. lol
As for the gameplay, the match-3 element is so much fun. I've missed playing match-3 games, so this game gave me great motivation to try to get back into them more. With story mode, if you ever just want to skip the match-3 part, you can choose the option to let Samar win when you pause the game. This is good if you just want to pursue the story more.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3612002395
Endless and versus modes are lots of fun, too. Also, I love decorating Samar's room with gifts from her friends. It was fun receiving them and adding personal touches to her room. At the time of this review, I'm only missing one item, which is a refrigerator. I'm not sure how to get it, but hopefully, this mystery will be solved someday.
Still, all the achievements are obtainable. This was a concern initially since one of the achievements involves playing versus mode in local two-player mode. However, you can get around this by setting the second player to human and having them use the keyboard controls while you use a game controller. (I almost forgot to mention, but I used my controller for this game since I found the controls for it to be easier to use than for keyboard.)
With the art, it is gorgeous. It has that colorful style that feels like you're in the 80's. The backgrounds and sprites are drawn beautifully, and I especially enjoyed viewing the CGs. I only wish that a CG gallery was present, so I could have taken screenshots of my favorite ones.
As for the music, the soundtrack is great to listen to. The tracks have that relaxing, lo-fi vibe, perfect as Samar is visiting friends or doing some spirit swapping. I was pleasantly surprised to hear some English voice acting as well. The voices fit perfectly with their respective characters.
[h2]Conclusion[/h2]
Would I recommend [i]Spirit Swap: Lofi Beats to Match-3 To[/i]? If you're looking for a wonderful visual novel that embraces diversity with relationships, you enjoy match-3 gameplay, and/or you like getting all those Steam achievements, then this is definitely worth checking out. I had so much fun playing this game and experiencing the stories of these characters, only wishing that I had gotten around to this game sooner. For the asking price, it might feel a bit steep for those who are considering the number of gameplay hours. (It took me around 10 hours to 100% complete the game.) Of course, you can choose to wait for a sale, and it's in a Steam bundle.
Finally, I'd like to take the time to thank Soft Not Weak, LLC for the review key. [i]Spirit Swap[/i] was so much fun (I guess I can't emphasize that part enough lol), and I love the diversity that's embraced. ^^
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