The Grand Ball

This review won't be very long as the visual novel isn't long or deep enough to really warrant it, but I wanted to bring this gem to your attention. The Grand Ball is a splendid little novel that takes place at the Victorian Ball of Lady Amelia Camberwell. You play as Edgar Blakeley, a viscount's son who's family has come onto hard times, and who must now court a wealthy wife to help save his family's house. Although completely fictional, the writers put a lot of love and care into crafting the story to be as historically accurate as possible, and it's an absolute joy to read. Navigating the intricacies of British nobility, courting lovely ladies, uncovering political intrigue, with plenty of scandalous gossip tossed in; the 5 hours I spent completing all endings was well worth the $5 I spent on this gem. It may not be for everyone, but it's definitely worth a look if you enjoy stories set in the time period. [code][h1]Curated by: [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33004802-Chudah%27s-Corner/]Chudah's Corner[/url][/h1][/code]

+++ easy fast 100 % Steam Achievements + like 7 Endings + 9 Trading Cards (5 would be "PERFECT", less is more) - Save Menue is buggy/ cant Save directly on Choice - short for Full Price Good for Achievement Hunters & Trading Card Collectors

[i] The Grand Ball [/i] is a delightful visual novel set in Victorian England. You play as an heir of a noble but almost bankrupt house. Receiving an invitation to the grand ball you get so many opportunities to improve your fortune. The first thing that caught my attention was gorgeous art. I love those backgrounds. They set the right mood immediately. Quite soon I was drawn into that atmosphere of refined, exquisite conversations but often hiding deadly intrigues and plots... There's no real action here, just lots of noble interactions. It felt unique and quite enjoyable. It was especially pleasant to read that slightly formal, overly polite English. Something you don't usually hear every day in our ordinary [strike] peasant [/strike] life (there're some typos typically, though). https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1761552274 The game is short. It takes approximately 2 hours to reach all endings. But as the story is about one visit to a ball, it seems quite natural to have this short length. Anyway we encounter more than enough fascinating characters with interesting personalities. That butler, oh my <3. Just the type I like. So shrewd, impeccable, satisfied with his modest role but still so influential. I even wish the game was longer with traditional love routes. And with a butler route at all cost! Mmm I like how it sounds. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1761552210  It's historically authentic novel. So be prepared to quite harsh treatment of homosexual relations Luckily, the developers don't support this attitude. It was especially sad to read about similar fate Oscar Wilde had to suffer. He is one of my favorite foreign writers. So adding that reference, that real-life example made the novel closer, though way gloomier. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1761552489 Unfortunately, many reviews are negative. They even delayed my playthrough. But I really enjoyed the game. The only complaint, however significant and annoying it was couldn't totally ruin my positive impression. And again that issue was inconvenient settings: --There's no save when choices appear. And there're lots of choices for such a short game with lots of endings and you can't save your progress and have to start from the very beginning or save somewhere in between choices because you don't know when the next choice will appear. So frustrating. --Then there's only all text skip. So you have to either click through the text you've already read or use a log to read the text you missed while skipping:( urgh Annoying. My first excitement faded slightly after my first playthrough. It's upsetting to see a nice game with an interesting idea but with the lack of some basic settings. Overall, this visual novel was an emotional experience. Despite some flaws I'd still recommend to try it. [table] [tr] [th]Find more in a [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/readingnook] Reading Nook [/url][/th] [/tr] [/table]

The Grand Ball is a period Visual Novel set in Victorian Britain. You play as Edgar Blakely, a son of a poor noble that is looking to go to a Grand Ball to somehow make a connection that can save his family from their financial problems. I don’t want to add too much more as I don’t want to spoil the story for you guys. Writing/Story The writing is top notch, really greatly captures the whole “period” feel. Clearly the writer has a lot of experience with this old style of talking. It felt like I was in a Jane Austen novel! The story itself is really good and I enjoyed both one of the main romantic arcs and a few of the other “funny” endings. It’s hard to classify a genre for this as it had both really serious mysterious moments and also really funny moments in the dialogue (Jameson, the butler is my favourite character! He definitely had the funniest lines). Music/Audio Absolutely loved the music! The score was made up of orchestral waltzes and chamber music; some of it composed specifically for the game and other tracks rearrangements of classical compositions. It really made me feel like I was in another time period. Good use of SFX too, something I see ignored in a lot of VN’s but in this case used often enough! Art/Style The sprites were generally quite nice, especially the ladies with their dresses. Some of the male sprites like Jameson and The Viscount felt a bit simplistic and rushed. The backgrounds were nice too, nothing out of the world but definitely doing a good job setting the scene. Gameplay A lot of endings (eight I believe, I’ve only unlocked about half of them) and some of them were pretty damn funny. I did get two of the romantic endings, one was really sweet and the other felt just a little rushed. The “funny” endings were great; I like how in this game if you aren’t careful you end up in a really mad situation. The buttons were super basic, I kind of wished that they had done Victorian style buttons, the rest of the UI was Victorian so at least that. A reasonable amount of choices, it would be nice to have it a little more interactive but at least it feels like every choice is important and definitely affects which ending you get! Overall A pretty nice VN. I unlocked a bit more than half of the endings in 2 and a half hours so I expect to unlock all of them in 4-5 a hours assuming that they are all reasonably easy to unlock. Recommended. 7/10.

This visual novel is a period piece in the Victorian Era. You place as the heir to the Blakely noble house... which has fallen on hard times. As your father had not expected to become Viscount before the death of his brother, you have... limited training in the art of being a noble. And now you have been thrust to a grand ball for a chance to perhaps change that fortune. There are two main love interests, and another that you could pursue (as basically, you become the "mistress" of a Duchess). Amid these there are a bunch of bad endings. Still, the story is sweet enough. That said, do try and get this on discount. The background style might leave a bit to be desired...

[i]The Grand Ball[/i] ist ein kleines aber feines Visual Novel, welches uns ins viktorianische Groß-Britannien um 1882 entführt. Wir spielen Edgar Blakeley, der älteste Sohn und Erbfolger einer niederen Adelsfamilie, die trotz des großen Wohlstands der damaligen Zeit, mit allerlei Problemen hadert. Da kommt die Einladung zum Ball der Lady Amelia Camberwell, die für ihre imposanten Bälle und einflussreichen Kontakte bekannt ist, gerade recht. Schafft es Edgar eine der adeligen Damen für sich zu gewinnen und somit das Haus Blakeley vom sozialen Abstieg zu retten? Oder wird seine Unerfahrenheit in den Intrigen der High Society ihn und den Familiennamen in den Ruin führen? [h1]Gameplay[/h1] Zugegebenermaßen ist die Handlung nichts Neues und die einzelnen Charaktere entsprechen bekannten Klischees, unterscheiden sich aber stark in ihren Meinungen und Weltansichen. The Grand Ball schafft es außerdem mit unerwartenden Wendungen und Enden zu überraschen und die Mischung aus lustig-unterhaltsamen Dialogen und ernsten Themen sowie politische Intrigen gegen Land und Leute sind gut ausbalanciert. Und auch, wenn natürlich nicht alles historisch akkurat dargestellt wird, ist der Hauch an Realismus sehr erfrischend, besonders in so einem Setting. Die ganze Handlung ist ziemlich linear gehalten, so dass man leicht mit ein paar strategischen Speicherpunkten alle Enden in etwas mehr als 3 Stunden erreichen kann. Wegen der relativ kurzen Spielzeit gibt es nicht sehr viele aber dafür relevante Entscheidungen zu treffen. Die Entwicklung der Beziehungen und manche Ereignisse fühlen sich dadurch aber etwas überhastet an. Auch hätte man aus den Enden wesentlich mehr herausholen können. Der einzige wirkliche Minuspunkt, den ich diesem Spiel geben muss, ist die Aufmachung und Bedienung des Menüs und der Oberflächen. Diese sind recht klobig und schwerfällig und wollen sich leider nicht wirklich an das Gesamtbild des Spiels anpassen. [h1]Grafik & Sound[/h1] [i]The Grand Ball[/i] besticht mit einem schönen instrumentalen Soundtrack mit einer stimmigen Auswahl an bekannten Klassiktiteln und eigens für das Spiel geschriebene Kammermusik. Zusammen mit den gut eingesetzten Soundeffekten ist die Ball-Atmosphäre perfekt. + Soundtrack DLC vorhanden Die Handlung findet zwar nur an einem Ort statt aber es gibt eine angenehme Abwechslung durch die, in den meisten Fällen, wirklich schönen Hintergründe. Die Sprites sind leider nicht ganz so gelungen wie manche der Hintergründe und besonders die männlichen Charaktere sehen etwas unfertig und unproportioniert aus. Leider gibt es auch keine Veränderung in der Mimik und Gestik. - keine CGs [u]Kaufempfehlung: Im Sale für 2,49€[/u] Bonuspluspunkt: Steamkarten & Errungenschaften vorhanden

I wanted to like this game. I did. Unfortunately, there were just too many things detracting from it. The mechanics were clunky- freezing and glitching everywhere- and the writing was subpar. The romances were rushed, the endings were cheesy, and there were multiple disclaimers throughout the game excusing the game's negative portrayal of homosexuality. I didn't mind the characters' homophobia in the game so much- I get it, it's Victorian England- but it seemed like the developers were trying too hard to earn Brownie points by repeatedly explaining and justifying the game's treatment of "sodomy". The one good thing the game had going for it was the art. It's a pretty game, and if the writing was better and the mechanics weren't so awkward, I might have enjoyed it more. As it is, I just don't think it's a great game.

The Grand Ball is a short visual novel (playtime: 2~10 hours) by Last Lotus featuring multiple endings, nice BGM, nice artwork. About the plot: A game about Victorian Era; here you will play as Edgar Blakely (MC), the Viscount Blakely eldest son in which their family is in bankrupt. However, they received an invitation to a ball where will gather many nobles, so the MC will attend the ball to try to find a wealthy bride to save House Blakely. The main plot will be developed in the ball, so almost the entire game will be developed in the same place. About the game: This game has multiple endings (good or bad) and a guide is available if needed. Be careful where you click because the game does not offer a confirmation (eg.: if you click on any saved game, will just overwrite). Also, you cannot save during the choices (only before or after). Steam cards and 11 achievements available. VA not present and BGM available as dlc for purchase if you liked. Recommended for those that like a short visual novel, without sexual content, high society (Victorian Era nobles) and how to deal with them. Visual novel, JRPG, Anime Steam group - Join the group and consider following the group's curator list for more reviews. http://steamcommunity.com/groups/vnislife

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The Grand Ball is a visual novel set in a Victorian setting. You play as the son of a Viscount going to a ball to court a rich heiress to save your declining house fortunes. How is it? Let's start with the good points: Firstly, the writing was witty, especially the butler. In addition, the Victorian setting was well researched. Meanwhile, as for the music and the art, it was rather generic and passable. However, this visual novel suffers from some serious weakness in terms of its narrative structure. There was no development for any of its endings, most of them came rather abruptly. There was no overall message, or point to the story. (Which is worse than a story making a cliche/uninteresting point) That is, the whole visual novel felt like "a description of some random happenings in a ball during Victorian times." Overall, I wouldn't recommend it, because this did not felt like a story at all. (which is what I think a visual novel should be) Even an cliche story would be better than a non-story.