[Review] Pirates in Love

I know that this is incredibly spontaneous and I was never actually going to try out this game. But of course, some things happened and changed my mind. I was originally on the prowl for some english otome games, since I've played almost the entire possible selection available. I managed to stumble across this title once more, and remembered that I had read about it before. After reading the rave reviews, I decided to try out. The reason why I never wanted to try it out wasn't because it didn't interest me when it really did quite a fair bit; it was the price factor. You have to pay for each guy (as an individual route). Not only that, but many Visual Novels exclusively for iPhone or Android haven't really turned out well regarding reception and reviews. But, surprisingly it was quite well done. 

Storyline 

"A million pounding hearts!The popular game “Pirates in Love” released by Voltage, the No. 1 love simulation game brand in Japan, and its English version, will finally be on the market!
"Pirates in Love" is the first title of Voltage Romance Sims.
You accidentally become a member of the pirate group, Sirius, and sail away on a voyage for treasure with 6 pirates. You are the only woman on board!There will be duels over you, or you will be spending the night with one of them on an uninhabited island…!You are going to have feelings during the course of some exciting days…. What will you reap at the end? …blinding treasure, or…sweet love!?You play the role of a simple commoner, who works as a bartender to help her family survive, as times are tough. One day, the bar enters a ruckus and she is saved by several Pirates! To escape the thugs, she conceals herself in a barrel - only to discover it was equipment for the very same pirate ship. You have the option to "shack up" with the handsome pirate you desire, and join them as they travel the high seas - all while discovering love. A pirate's life isn't easy though - as dangers lurk around every corner.

Enjoy your journey pulled together by the strings of fate, and learn about the unique history of your dream pirate. Who will you pick?"

I found the storyline in itself very refreshing and different. It pulled me in right from the beginning prologue. This is available for free from the app store, so you can always check it out here). Although it is an otome game, it incorporated such a riveting and detailed story weaving not only action and comedy, but romance into the mix. Usually such a combination can be rather difficult to pull off properly as some areas may be lacking. but this VIsual Novel really achieved it.


What I've realised within Visual Novels is, each of the paths usually meet up at some "similar point" where some scenarios are repeated, and interconnected. For Pirates in Love, they actually took it one step further. Each and every path is uniquely different. They do use the same cast and setting, but the storyline within them are each exclusive. In reality, the six paths are the six separate stories each with different themes, and new discoveries.


The storytelling is not only humorous, but there's just so many mysteries and things to uncover about each of the characters which I will elaborate within in the 'Character Development'. Each single path is approximately 2-4 hours to complete, depending on how fast you read. There are six possible bachelors each with 2 endings: a 'super happy ending' and a 'happy ending'. 


This increases the re-playability and you're really getting your money's worth. Keep in mind though, that there are a lot of decision points so it's not as easy as you may think. Overall, the storyline kept me playing for hours on end, and there were just so many twists that had me completely on edge. Many moments I found myself bursting out into laughter at the dialogue, and thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Character Development

Another positive aspect of Pirates in Love was the cast themselves. You have six possible bachelors to choose from, and each of them are surprisingly very different. The storyline of each hold their own uniqueness, and there's more than meets the eye for all of them' mainly the reason why they became pirates in the first place. Each and every one of them are so alive within their personalities, and there's so much to discover about them.

EDUARDO: My absolute favourite character/path, and the true 'tsundere' of the cast. Although originally cruel, cold and ruthless we slowly begin to discover why he became so scarred by life itself. His past is particularly twisted and mysterious, and at so many points you'll be surprised at how much it shocks you. At the same time, it ties into the plot so perfectly, that you'll be wondering 'why didn't I see that earlier? There were so many clues...'


His story was very cleverly done, and imaginative. Not only that, but I felt that his romance with the main character was just so realistic and drawn out in such a way to keep the suspense whilst not seemingly overdone. His path was actually the longest out of the characters since there was just so much development and content, but surprisingly - I wasn't bored at all.


His character is just so engaging, and the dialogue is particularly humorous. The development and changes of himself as a person, is also quite impressive and believable. You actually heal him of his hatred, and change his perspectives on life. You give him another chance of redemption. 


I found his 'super happy ending' very satisfying and everything just simply fell into place. I do warn you though, the MC is quite the doormat in his path and may not be to everyone's preferences. 

NATHAN: A lot of people who have played Pirates in Love would agree that if you played Eduardo's path first; you'd be a sucker and choose Nathan immediately afterwards. I know that was definitely what happened to me. Despite my initial reluctance at the cost of each individual path, I had high hopes for the game and happily purchased the next path. Nathan was definitely an interesting character, although not as twisted as Eduardo.


Sadly, I was a little disappointed at the ending. I was left thinking ... 'wait, that's it?' I felt like there was just so much build up, so much things that could have been expanded on ... and it just ended it there. There was so much potential, so many loose ends that could be tied up ... and I felt that their future together could've been much better. 


His background story was well told though, and was elaborated further when he meets his childhood 'friend' once more. It introduced a new character to the cast, and you can really see the change in feelings within the protagonist. His past story would probably be my second favourite, but his ending simply did not do his story justice. 

RUSSEL: He definitely caught my eye from the very beginning visuals wise, but I found his character itself to be rather bland and boring. As I had originally anticipated, I wasn't very impressed with his story. His overall persona contrasts with the first two as although he is cold to some extent, he lacks motive and determination.


He carries on a more naive edge and childlike nature in comparison to the first two bachelors. Although I would definitely say his path was 'cute', it didn't leave any lasting effect on me. Its more like one of those stories where you're left thinking 'aw, that was nice', and move on. I felt like their feelings for each other didn't have quite the same build up, and continued the dynamic of 'I'll protect you!' throughout the whole entire story without as much character development in both him and the MC. 

MORGAN: Up until this point, this is probably the character you know the least about and seeing as how he's the Captain of the Sirius, that all the more adds that air of mystery about him. When I picked up Pirates in Love, to my luck his path had already been added/updated since before, there were only four possible bachelors available for purchase. You learn a lot about him in Russel's path, so I just had to try him out next. I find it smart marketing-wise that Voltage Inc. would leave connecting hints in different character paths to encourage players to continue buying characters.


All in all, I found his path very interesting and the twist was very well played out. I had no idea it was coming, so you can imagine my surprise. I had high hopes for this path, seeing as how his past as Captain should be the most interesting of the cast. I wasn't disappointed, but I can't say I'm quite satisfied either. I guess it's because I placed really high expectations from the very beginning. 


I felt like his character "personality" changed too quickly, and was dropped entirely near the end. Originally portrayed as a 'player' and a 'casanova', this is nowhere to be seen later on within the story. To me its unrealistic, and feels rushed and unfinished. It still surprises me that Eduardo turned out to be the most passionate one love wise, seeing as how he detested 'human companionship' so much. Morgan's path was definitely my second favourite though. 


I did not complete or purchase Christopher and Thomas' paths since they simply didn't interest me as characters. 

Design

Seeing as how this is a commercial Visual Novel, I was  not surprised withthe great art. Everything is very well drawn and coloured, and they put in effort to make a vast array of backgrounds. You'll be surprised at how many there really are throughout the story. It adds a really nice finishing touch to it, and adds miles onto the overall quality of the Visual Novel. I have no complaints about the art, and all the characters looked beautiful. Each suited their personalities, and they added around 5-6 CGs for each bachelor.


I found that the selection screen where you choose your bachelor was imaginative and creative. It really made me want to purchase the game all the more, as its a little summary/snippet of the character's persona, likes/dislikes and of course 'bounty reward for their capture'. 

Music and Voice Acting

To my surprise, Pirates in Love not only incorporated the above factors, but background music as well. The available Visual Novels at the moment for cell phones, for most of them have no soundtracks. I feel like people always underestimate the little factors when it comes to Visual Novels, but surprisingly the little details here and there are what's most important. Music plays a significant role as it can easily sway the mood of the audience, and 'involve' them within the game play itself. 


Although it's not voiced I found that they did add a large diversity of music, which complemented the scenes easily. Each setting itself has its own 'personal theme', so you're not listening to the same songs over and over. Some of these were really catchy and pleasing to hear.

System

I wasn't expecting much from system controls, seeing as how its not for a PC platform, but I do feel this was one of the areas the Visual Novel lacked. Although it does have all the necessary, basic buttons (play, skip, record history and save mode) there were others I felt that should be added. I'm not sure if I'm the only Visual Novel player out there who prefers this, but I don't like reading moving text. I like seeing it ALL appear at a click.


If you're experienced with Visual Novels, you'll know that it takes painstakingly long most of the time to achieve the ending you wish because of the branching options. Playing for long hours can be strenuous on the eyes, and after ... 3 hrs + of doing so you wouldn't want to see your text moving around.


This was one of the things that irritated me so much throughout this game, but I enjoyed it very much so I simply overlooked it. Another factor was the lack of save mode slots. You only get one slot for each character. This is probably due to the tiny size of the game itself but it still made it more unnecessarily difficult to achieve the super happy ending. 


Otherwise, everything is neatly laid out and all the controls are simple and easy to use. I had no trouble downloading, installing and purchasing my characters but I have heard some players experiencing issues.

Personal Opinion

I quite enjoyed the Visual Novel. Although many are turned off by the idea of purchasing individual characters with me admittedly being in the same boat; the price you pay for the quality of the Visual Novel is not too bad. A standard full Visual Novel is usually priced at $20-$30USD which is the same as purchasing all the characters. On the plus side each path is spread into 16 episodes which are rather lengthy and add onto the overall playtime. In future though, I would appreciate it more if it was lets say... $10-$15USD for the full game? Although this is probably just wishful thinking on my behalf. Not only that, but an expansion of platforms. I feel like the art itself would look so much better on Windows or even Mac.


Overall there's nothing really to complain about this Visual Novel, and I'm rather thoroughly satisfied. There are just a few things here and there, that could of course be improved. One factor I'm really looking forward to is seeing if there's an update or patch on Captain Alan's Path. I found him super humorous throughout the whole storyline, and although he is malicious in some ways; he was quite interesting as a character.


I feel like there was a lot more behind his persona than what truly meets the eye. And seeing how there was an update for Morgan/Thomas' stories ... I don't see why this wouldn't be a possibility. 


I recommend this Visual Novel for all the otome gamers out there especially. 

Overall Rating: ★★★