Lovely Anemone is a game made by Luscious Spirit Studios and can be found on itch.io.
Price: Free
The short review I posted on itch.io was:
It`s a short, cute game. In under an hour, I got several different endings (two of which strike me as really sweet and the ideal endings for the main character) and all but 1 picture, which I did get but claims it`s a broken link. (which I see is a known issue…I thought it was fixed in the patch but apparently not?)
While the punctuation needs help at times, the story itself is well done, and feels realistic to the situation. I do wish we got to see more of the mc`s sympathetic friend, since he seemed to be someone always there for her, but the stories are too short to allow that.
That said, I do want to go into a little more detail while trying to be mostly spoiler free. (That`s what the walkthrough is for. ^_~)
The first point, is that it is a short game. It was made for a Jam, which, if I understand correctly, means that it only had a limited time in which to be created and had to fit a certain set of guidelines as well. Most Jams only end up with demos, and then we have to wait a long time for the full game. So points for actually having a finished game, although short.
My second point, the thing that grabbed my attention first, was that the main character, Salena, is asexual. I have seen very few stories, never mind games, that feature an asexual character who is openly that way. (Granted, that was one of the rules of the Jam, but still).
I couldn`t quite decide if the third point should be the characters, the theme or both. So I`ll call it point 2.5 and briefly mention the theme. That is, the genre. This is a yuri storyline (girls love). Again, not something you run into all the time.
Point three is the characters. There are three main characters, and three named side characters. Wait…four named side characters. One of them I completely forgot about for a moment. ^^;;
The characters are:
- Salena
- main character
- Wyatt
- Salena`s supportive friend who we don`t see enough of in the story
- Pam
- Salena`s (maybe) well-meaning friend. Kind of forgettable
- Lydia
- Salena`s ex-girlfriend (second main character)
- Ricki
- In some ways, the cause of the story
- Aanya
- Salena`s new love interest (third main character)
- Dana
- Aanya`s nosy but well meaning friend
The story itself mostly takes place several months after Lydia and Salena break up, and Salena is trying to move on with her life and get a new girlfriend. Whether or not it works, what ending you get, depends on the choices that you make throughout the game play.
On a choices, I do like that when you change one option, that occasionally can bring up even one line of dialogue that is slightly different than what you got before.
The art is fine. I dont really have anything to say about it one way or another. It`s better than I can draw, and I like the manga style it is.
Downsides: Personally, I feel that there were times where the punctuation was wrong. I`m not sure if it actually was or not, but that`s what I felt like when I was reading it. Mostly things like periods instead of question marks, no commas where there should have been some, and things like that.
Overall Score:
♠♣♥♦ 8.5/10 ♦♥♣♠
Taking everything into account, I feel that this game deserves a 8.5/10. Points were knocked off because of the shortness, and the punctuation issue. As well as the fact that there is still a missing photo, despite a patch that was supposed to fix it. That said, it is definitely worth a playthrough or two if you want to see what an asexual character in a yuri game might do. ^_^