Wishful Journey: Love Across Time The Story : The game starts with you being beaten, falling unconscious, and then traveling to ancient times. From there, you meet various ancient beauties in the palace. Your story could end with you staying in the ancient era or bringing the ancient beauties back to modern times. Indeed, this is quite an interesting possible ending, and the endings are quite realistic. The Design : 1) The design structure of this game is very similar to what you see in Love is All Around (LiAA) . It includes the character's profile, the collection of Imperial Jade Seals (referred to as “Bear” in LiAA) located in the same place in the UI, a leaderboard to give Imperial Jade Seals to actors, favorability that increases or decreases based on selection options, requiring enough favorability to proceed to the next chapter and the total of 6 chapters. However, there is no specific chapter dedicated to each main female character; it is only included as part of the plot in the last chapter. For me, using a structure so similar to LiAA may not be ideal unless this game is indeed a sequel, as it lacks uniqueness and innovation for a new game. 2) Besides that, this game has an additional section for collecting Imperial Jade Seals and some content (photos, videos). This section includes a map of each filming location in the game, which is quite a good idea. This map section also features very good music; they should incorporate this music into the scenes. You also collect Imperial Jade Seals and some content at the photos in characters' photos. The Cons : This game is poor in the first few chapters but improves in the following chapters, reaching its peak in chapter 6. So, let’s look at the cons first. 1) The plot of this game should follow Vanity Fair: The Pursuit (VF) instead of LiAA because it requires player to go through most of the plot before proceeding to the next chapter. Otherwise, the next chapter’s dialogue lacks context from the previous chapter. The LiAA design, which requires sufficient favorability to advance to the next chapter and forces players to revisit earlier plots, is inconsistent and problematic—this is LiAA's biggest mistake. In contrast, VF's plot design offers better control over player progression, ensuring that specific plotlines lead to the next chapter while other storylines result in death or quicker endings. 2) The script of this game from chapters 1 to 4 is inconsistent and illogical. For example, the player character has the option to tell the Rakshasa girl that he is a time traveler in chapter 4, but this option is already available in the earlier chapters. Besides that, the player character uses modern items in the ancient era, yet it’s unclear where these items come from, as he cannot travel back to the modern time to retrieve them—he arrived in the ancient era after falling unconscious. It seems the scriptwriter introduced intriguing ideas without properly integrating them into the story. 3) The main male character (the player character) is too proactive and quite salacious. Some scenes depicting this behavior are very annoying and could lead to immediate refunds from some players. This is the biggest flaw of the game and the most irritating aspect, as it makes the experience feel more like a third-person perspective, despite being presented in first-person view. The Pros : 1) The filming quality is very good, with clear dialogue voice from the actors and visually appealing portrayals of the beautiful luxurious objects and environment in the palace. However, there are some issues with camera shaking in certain scenes. 2) In Chapter 6, there seems to be the biggest change, as if the scriptwriter from LiAA has come to this game, especially in the scene with the queen, which presents a level of intellectual substance similar to LiAA. 3) The endings of this game are very good; they present scenarios for both the ancient era and modern times in a realistic manner. Though simple, these endings provide a meaningful and truthful outcome. The Characters : Below are characters in this game and their personality in horoscope viewpoint: Character Sun Rising Xiaoyuan Gemini Pisces Princess Xin'an Sagittarius Aries Qi Yanting Libra Aries Rakshasa girl Sagittarius Aquarius The Conclusion and Score : The beginning of this game is very poor, with a script that is inconsistent and illogical, and it reaches its worst with the player character being particularly annoying, even though the filming quality is very good. This disappointing experience might lead to a decision to refund the game. However, the game improves in subsequent chapters, with the player character becoming less intrusive. These improvements gradually reach a high standard by the end, coming close to being a masterpiece. The endings and final chapters become compelling, offering meaningful and realistic endings. At this stage, it starts to seem similar to LiAA. 8/10 (Undeniable Notably Flawed Sub-Masterpiece) – The game improves gradually and reaches a high standard by the end. However, it is notably flawed in the earlier chapters. It offers meaningful and realistic endings but still lacks a deeply touching love story. Despite these flaws and the absence of a truly emotional romance, the game undeniably achieves high quality and notable merit by the end, settling as a sub-masterpiece.
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