Lord of Magna – Maiden Heaven nearly did not make it to it’s release. The original developers of Rune Factory 4, Neverland, closed down in the middle of developing Lord of Magna. However, Marvelous AQL picked up those devs and they were finally able to complete their game. It’s a good thing too, because Lord of Magna – Maiden Heaven is quite a different title.
Lord of Magna – Maiden Heaven takes place on Étoile Isle, where the main character manages the Famille Inn on the outskirts of Lunéville village. Business hasn’t exactly been booming – in fact, they’ve never had a single customer – but our hero keeps the hotel spotless in anticipation, and lives to fulfill the family motto: “When our cherished guests finally arrive, think of them as nothing less than family”. Hope and optimism doesn’t pay the bills, however, so he’s taken up mining the island’s mysterious crystals to make a living. On a trip to the caves where he usually mines, he digs up more than usual, uncovering both a horde of monsters and a powerful, pink-haired girl named Charlotte, who then saves his life. Things ramp up from there, kicking off a quest filled with magic, monsters and several maidens.
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Lord of Magna – Maiden Heaven quite literally lays the last bit of its name on thick, as Charlotte has six other sisters who end up joining you over the course of the game. The narrative is framed as a shonen journey at its core, and the tone and the presentation remind me of Lunar: The Silver Star, all the way up to and including the short voiced anime cutscenes that intro new characters — which is definitely a nice compliment. It’s technically a harem anime setup, much like an anime I grew up with called Tenchi Muyo!, but the sexual tension is very, very light outside of a few scenes (most of which are optional and involve a bathhouse that buffs your party). Plus, you can easily fast-forward any story scene in the game if you wish.
Battles are where Lord of Magna – Maiden Heaven shows what it really has to offer. Its strategic battles take place on grid-less maps, with turns split between an ally phase and an enemy phase. What distinguishes Lord of Magna – Maiden Heaven from its contemporaries is both the volume of enemy units and the manner in which they must be dispatched. Instead of eliminating the bad guys one by one, the player utilizes sweeping attacks that instantly kill most enemies, knocking them into one another and creating a chain reaction not unlike a series of bowling pins being swept away.
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It’s satisfying to watch a well-placed strike decimate hordes of enemies at once. Unfortunately, this flow is disrupted by larger enemies, who have exponentially more health and must be whaled on turn after turn until they die. I rarely felt challenged by my foes; I could always heal faster than they could damage me, drawing most fights out into wars of attrition rather than the strategic clashes I saw potential for in the game’s early stages.
A game-wide reduction of enemy health would have gone a long way towards eliminating this issue, but I suspect it was balanced this way to extend its length. My total playtime clocked in around fifteen hours, which is not especially long for an RPG in the first place. But I’d rather have a shorter, consistently engaging game than a drawn-out grind fest any day. I still have traumatic flashbacks to Disgaea’s Item Worlds.
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Between the narrative and the combat, you’ll have some very light party maintenance at your disposal. There’s a forge for making new gear and a bath house where you can upgrade stats by taking a relaxing dip. Despite the fact that the game features one eligible bachelor and a collection of seven attractive warrior maids, Lord of Magna – Maiden Heaven is blessedly light on the fan service. The bath house offers the majority of these rosy-cheeked scenes, but nothing ever strays into the territory of, say, Senran Kagura.
Outside of that, you’ll be able to purchase some handy items, apply some ability chips to your party and occasionally take the maidens on special missions that strengthen your bonds, making them more powerful in combat. You’ll frequently have to choose one maiden mission out of a collection of possibilities, which combine to give the player one of the seven possible endings. Since Lord of Magna – Maiden Heaven will only take you about 20 hours to cruise through on your first run and those lengthy scenes can be skipped at any time, that means you’ve got some decent replay value up for grabs if you’re just dying to see how each of the conclusions plays out.
If I was bothered by anything, it was the occasionally glacial pacing of battles and story sections alike. Even with these issues, Lord of Magna – Maiden Heaven exceeded my minimal expectations. It’s definitely a game geared towards anime and dating sim fans, and while it doesn’t have the deepest story or characters, there’s enough substance to make it worth playing. This is a kind, warmhearted game that welcomes you with fun characters, unique combat, and a wonderfully inviting watercolor world. If you curb your expectations a bit, strategy-oriented JRPG fans will find a flawed yet charming adventure in Lord of Magna – Maiden Heaven.
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