[h1]A cozy, emotional story with plenty of exploration and puzzles. ^^[/h1]
[h2]Introduction[/h2]
[i]The Little Witch and The Lost Memories[/i] is a cozy, adventure game with puzzles developed and published by Studio Asahi. You're Laoise, a young girl with amnesia who collapsed in the forest. Thankfully, Eileen, an elderly apothecary living in a cottage in the forest, finds Laoise and looks after her. After Laoise falls asleep, she finds herself in an unusual dream, first meeting a girl who mysteriously looks a lot like her and then meeting a crow, whom Laoise affectionately calls Ms. Crow. Ms. Crow guides Laoise through her dream, and perhaps, Laoise might regain her memories...
As for the gameplay, it mainly consists of exploring areas and picking up items. Items are used for solving puzzles in which there are a great variety. The story is linear, consisting of four chapters, the first three having three episodes. There's a varied soundtrack although no voice acting. Steam achievements are present, but they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "profile features limited".
[h2]Review[/h2]
When I first saw [i]The Little Witch and The Lost Memories[/i] on Steam, it immediately caught my attention after reading the story premise and store page description. Studio Asahi was very kind to send over a review key although it's only now that I was able to get around to this game, which I really wish I would've gotten to it sooner.
[h3]Story and Gameplay[/h3]
I like how the story starts off. It doesn't have any exciting, action-packed moments, as it's clearly meant to be more of an emotional story. Although the amnesia concept has been done before, it is necessary for the story to proceed, as Laoise needs to get her memories back in order to learn how she ended up in the forest. Laoise is such a cheerful, fun character, and I couldn't help smiling upon witnessing her boundless energy and optimism. Even as she gets her memories back (some of which are on the darker side), she still holds onto her positivity, but it never gets tiresome. As for Eileen, she makes a great supporting character. She has a bit of a backstory, too, and well, without going into spoilers, Eileen's presence is very important. As for the mysterious girl, she's extremely pivotal in the story, and all the mysteries have to do with her. The story is so engaging that I couldn't help but to get emotionally invested and find out what happens to Laoise and the girl.
With the gameplay, I found the exploration to be fun. You can use either keyboard or a controller to play the game. (For review purposes, I used the keyboard.) You can rebind controls to your choosing. The puzzles start off on the easy side but gradually become more challenging. Most of them are doable, but I had difficulty with a couple of them, resorting to youtube playthroughs to solve them. XD An aspect I found a tad annoying is that you can't manually save, so if you exit the game, you have to go into chapter select on the main menu and choose the chapter and episode and start from the beginning. While this isn't too much of an issue for earlier episodes (since they're on the shorter side), this can get annoying in later episodes since the puzzles increase in difficulty and I really didn't want to be forced to redo puzzles. :o Still, the game can be completed in its entirety, and all achievements are obtainable.
[h3]Art and Music[/h3]
The art has a pixelated style, and I feel like it's perfect for this cozy, exploration game. The sprites are drawn and colored well, and the same goes for the backgrounds. No CGs are present, but they aren't necessary to enjoy this beautiful game. I only wish that I could have taken screenshots, but I think that the game engine used limits that ability.
In regards to the music, a few tracks are present, but they're very calming. Like the art, the tracks feel perfect for this game. They're all instrumental, and the music can tug on your heartstrings, which makes it a wonderful accompaniment to the story.
[h2]Conclusion[/h2]
Would I recommend [i]The Little Witch and The Lost Memories[/i]? If you're looking for a short, cozy game with plenty of exploration and doable puzzles (although a couple can be somewhat challenging), then it's totally worth taking a look. For the asking price, it might be a bit pricey, considering the amount of time it might take to complete the game. It took me around 4.8 hours to 100% complete the game, but I should note that I'm fairly competent at puzzles, so gameplay time may vary. Of course, you can wait for a sale.
Finally, I'd like to take this time to thank Studio Asahi for the review key. As I mentioned earlier, I wish I had gotten around to the game sooner, especially with its beautiful story and fun gameplay. I hope that this review will shine a spotlight on this game and give it the attention that it deserves. ^^
[quote]For more detailed, fully complete, high quality reviews like this, please follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44702020/]The Introverted Gamer[/url], prioritizing heart and soul always. ^^[/quote]
