So I've been wondering - does you-know-what still happen to Nazir in the other boys' routes? If it does, how come Alexis isn't aware that anything happened at all? And if it doesn't, why not?
now that I think about it, he came back in the other routes but wasn't he forbidden to, because a you-know-who is not supposed to join political affairs?
Oh my, she's so cute!! We love this :D -pokes her round cheeks- (And she's got big round shoujo protag eyes too *thumbs up* ) Is that you in the background? :D
You've spent so much time capturing her design details! Good job :D Thank you so much for this!!
This game is amazing but also it made me sad. Do you realize how sad this game is. T_T
So, I did Nazir's route and then I did Aurelius's. First off I loved Nazir's route. He kept going off on adventures and I kept going along with him, and we were like in our own little world. It was fun and cute and I liked watching him grow along the way. Anyways I LOVE HIM.
And when I do Aurelius's route, I can't help but see that Nazir ends up having to do a lot of things alone. He ends up going through /that/ alone, presumably, since his (SPOILERS) disappearance still happens and he just sends word to the castle and eventually, in the ending summary of characters' lives, eventually he comes back and is a more responsible person. I want to think he went off to certain people but he also lacks a connection that I would have - it pains me that he was alone, not showing up to the trial (which I can fully understand why) and also during /that reveal/ and ever after. Of course he will still grow up as a stronger person but. MY HEART HURTS.
Okay, that aside, it's a really good game. Well balanced stat raising system and story, with twists and plenty of replayability because some things are hidden in each route and the more I play the more things get revealed. I still want to do Serin's! But also, justice for Nazir T___T
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed Nazir's route. His scenes were (mostly) just little balls of sunshine within all the intrigue!
We suppose in this game, if you end up with someone, you may feel sad for the others since the other princes will be left to deal with certain things on their own...
...As the devs, we will give the characters a few pats on the back! They'll grow up healthy and strong to survive all of it :'D
Okay, I finally found some time to write a few words about my experience with this game so far.
Let me start by just saying that the game is, in one word, FANTASTIC, honestly one of the best Visual Novels I have played (and I've played a lot of them). Actually it's one of the most enjoyable games I have recently played across the board period. The art, the characters, the plot, the writing .. everything is simply incredible. You guys created something truly amazing here.
(Spoilers ahead! I mean I keep things rather vague but in case you don't wanna know anything consider .. not reading any further from here on out)
I played Serin's route first because he honestly was my fave ever since I first played the demo and going through his entire romance route just made me fall even more in love with him. At this point he has my entire heart, I think. Yes the romance is slow burn but I don't mind at all. It just makes everything feel so real in a way? The relationship between Alexis and Serin just develops so naturally and goes from them getting to know each other and bonding over mutual interests. Their scenes in the library were some of my faves, especially the one where they look at the maps and plan journeys together even though it made my heart ache for Serin alongside Alexis (although in my mind Serin gets to go on all those adventures he dreams of somehow at one point because he DESERVES that damn it) I also loved the evolution of Serin calling Alexis by their last name and then slowly starting to call them by their first name more and more and Alexis reminding him to do that when he doesn't :') I sometimes found myself saying "It's Alexis remember?" when he slipped back into it before Alexis even did, lol. All of the banter and teasing in his route was delightful actually and made me laugh a lot (and sometimes giggle like a schoolgirl because he just blushes so prettily :D) but you also managed to make me quite emotional a lot of the time, so it was a good balance and made everything flow nicely and, again, made it all just feel so natural to me. And when they finally, uh, take things to the next level, all that build up just made it so much better. Also the illustration of Serin in the epilogue? Nice. Very nice. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
So I could probably write a 10k words long love letter just about Serin that's how utterly in love with him I am but I think I will not annoy everyone with all that, lol. I'm about halfway done with Aurelius' route and have played a bit of Nazir's but so far they just can't hold a candle to Serin. At all. It might honestly been a mistake to play his route first because now nothing can compare, lol.
Outside the romances, I really loved the relationships not only our dear Alexis had with other characters (which also made certain plot twists and betrayals later on in the game hurt that much more) but also these characters all had with each other. The princes' relationship with each other is something I enjoyed a lot - I am especially loving the dynamic between Serin and Aurelius. Nazir feels a bit disconnected to me here, maybe because I have yet to play his full route and haven't payed that much attention to him and all that but Serin and Aurelius? I loved what I saw of them, maybe also because there's just so many people in-game that want to pit them against each other and claim to see a rivalry and hate that isn't there. So to then actually see how wrong they are, how Serin values Aurelius' ideas and advice and trusts him and how much Aurelius trusts and loves him in return (him saying something like that Serin is the most important and trustworthy person in his life really made me emotional) and how protective they are of each other and just .. how much love is there, idk it just gets to me and is something I really loved :')
I really enjoyed the antagonists/villains in this game as well because they're rather tragic and sympathetic in a way. Obviously it doesn't excuse everything they've done - "Cool motive, still murder" and all that, but then again that could also be said about certain "good guys" in this game and their actions if we're being honest, so I just really enjoyed those shades of grey when it comes to morality and the actions taken by all sides involved.
It was also really great finding out that some of the thoughts I had after the demo about Alexis and the Rosenkreuz family and their powers went kind of in the right direction but then it also was something else entirely and then certain plot revelations later on in the game somewhat connected to that I did not see coming at all but I really didn't mind that at all! I love me some twisty twists, hehe :D
Long story short: the game is amazing, you guys are amazing and I am so grateful you blessed us all with this gem. I cannot wait to see what you will come up in the future, be it for this game and world, or something else, I know that I will be here waiting for anything and everything you create.
And now I will go and devote some more time to play through all the routes and get all the ending except for that one titled "Serin's BAD ending" because I do not wanna live in a world where that boy gets anything but a happy end so thanks but no thanks, lol. And maybe somewhere along the way I will even manage to actually balance out my stats raising so I don't die time and time again and ALWAYS because of the damn combat stat because I keep thinking Alexis can just outsmart everyone and doesn't need to know how to fight .. until they get eaten by wolves or stabbed in the back that is, lol. xD
Hello! We remember reading your speculations with a "You'll know soon ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)". Some points were very close to the truth! :D
Super happy you love Serin so much! He deserves it. In our minds, we're always replaying possibilities to let him go on adventures as well! Even if not for long, perhaps there will be opportunities. We're super happy you saw the brother's relationship as well! Even though all three of them are quite different in personalities, and thus may not seem too close at first, they share a family bond of absolute trust and care! That's something we wanted to portray ;D
For most of the time, you can survive on intelligence but... we suppose there is no reasoning when it comes to beasts that want to turn you into food. Good luck on exploring the other endings! We suppose Serin's bad ending is a pile of misery but eh... the others are candy (we hope)!
I played this game with my sister. After we got all of the endings, I thought that this is the otome game I've been looking foryears. I've been playing lots of otome game for years and this is the best of it. I really enjoy the MC's personality because they're really intelligent. They understand most of the situation, which is very rare I find in other otome games. And the pacing... oh let me talk about the relationship progress pacing. I don't know if it's just me but... I love how the story flows. Usually, I often found a lot's of otome English game pacing that didn't click me. I know that passing the time by raising stats and mission could be the thing... But I'm sure that this isn't the reason that make the relationship into a rush. I was wondering how do you guys manage to keep the story progress stable? Any advice maybe?
Hello! Thank you so much. We're happy you enjoyed the pacing and relationship flow of the game.
We have to admit, everyone on the team is a lover of slow-burn romances xD We spent a lot of time thinking about the character's relationship dynamics; which of the character's traits would clash against each other, and how the main story events could help the characters get closer. In a way, we just put the characters next to their story and wondered how they'd react to them, and how they can grow from that point :D
Hi there! I've been looking out for this game since the demo and I was so excited to finally play it. I just finished my first route which was Aurelius and gosh dillidy darn was it so goooood! I love the story so much as well as the stats part of the game which made it so much more challenging but the countless reload was so worth it after getting the ending. Now I'm planning to play Serin's route but gosh I still can't get over Aurelius, this game is so worth it. I had so much fun playing it. can't wait to here more games from you guys!
So the game is amazing and beautiful. I just finished my first route (Aurelius) and my heart hurts. I always fall for the bad guys. I found myself wishing certain ones had routes. But I love the whole thing. The art, the writing, all of it. Two things though- 1) a system to review the romantic scenes or at least endings would be great so that you don't have to replay everything and 2) I bought the guide and the art book because you had to buy both to get the guide (I think, hopefully I'm not mistaken and I apologize if I am) but what I really wanted was just the guide. I likely would have bought the art book later after I'd played a route or two but I would have liked to just by the guide at first. That being said, these are really minor concerns. Keep up with the good work!
Hello! Thank you very much for the support. We hope you had fun with Aurelius :D
Thank you for your suggestions too! A system to review the scenes is something we'll keep considering how to implement. For our future titles, we'll also release the guide / artbook separately!
I'm glad to help! Aurelius was delightful (in his own way)! Starting Serin's route now and he's so quiet and kind that I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Again, the game is amazing!
It is always a pleasure to see good game projects completed! I have always been afraid to play visual novels with this status enhancement system. Because, well, usually when there is this kind of gameplay the story is weak. It is a good thing that this is not the case with Royal Alchemist. With it I was able to enjoy a fun gameplay system, while following a very well made plot. I fell in love with Aurelius, Serin, Nazir and, of course, Alexis. The game was fantastic!
Suggestion: it would be useful to include a space to "keep memories", that is, the romantic scenes with the characters. This would avoid having to replay the game just to review a scene.
Hello! Thank you so much, we're super happy you enjoyed the game :D
Regarding your suggestion, we'll think hard about how to implement something like a memory gallery. As many of our scenes are either affected by stats or previous events, we couldn't think of a good way to do this. But we'll keep considering it for the future! :D
First of all I would like to say that I made an account on this site just to leave a review of this game. Yeah. I just really had to get my thoughts out there on this quality game.
I followed this game since last year. The demo told me right away that I wanted to keep an eye out for this one. Really, it’s such a rare thing nowadays you know?The game hits the mark on everything: the interesting plot, the characters (the princes, the mc who is dynamic and most importantly, not a doormat and even the side characters). The person who did the CG’s, I just want to shake their hand man. These are some quality visuals and I won’t lie: this is what initially lured me in last year.
The rpg aspect of the game was certainly a nice challenge as well. It also made me feel more engaged compared to the regular vn, where, bless them but all you usually have to do is click and click. You really feel like you have control over your destiny. As the devs said in the comments there, if you put emphasis on certain stats (Etiquette/Combat – Aurelius, Leadership – Nazir and Charisma/Beauty/Etiquette/ – Serin, and after playing once I realised you kinda want that Intelligence up there as well regardless of playthrough, because it makes you feel like a god, being able to predict some… cough things about the plot) you will be fine. This would be the perfect time to mention that I played on Easy (yes I know, truly a disgrace, but this one time I was like you know that, it is story time) and with +5 to my stats from 2 deaths. Honestly, if you’re not a fool like me and click Overwrite Save again and again like I did on my first playthrough you will be fine lol. Just try to be prepared with a save on a new slot every couple of hours, should things go terribly wrong. If you want full completion however, may god have mercy on you, I shall think of you fondly.
I achieved all 3 romance endings, with Serin being my favorite. He was my first choice, he’s had me since he helped me at the gate to be honest. His personality lured me in from the beginning. He truly is best boy, doing his best and the teasing in his route is precious af. Even if I picked Serin, I knew I wanted to give Aurelius a try as well. Cheeky boy lol. He’s basically the Defrosting Ice Queen trope (and I love that trope a lot) so I really liked his route as well. No spoilers, but some moments in his route make it really worth it ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).
Now Nazir. I’ll just come out and say it: since I tackled the other princes before him I was already coming in like “Okay so this mother f’er goes frolicking god knows where every time, oh I’m sorry Nazir it’s just that we are in mortal danger here.” If only I knew. No spoilers, but the plot twist really is top tier. It’s my favorite moment in the route and I love how you act as MC as well, reliable and gentle. My apologies dear Nazir, should have kept a close eye on you lol. After having completed 3 playthrougs of the same game (something I didn’t even intend to do, but I just had to know what was up with Nazir) I can safely say that all princes are deserving of your time and you will definitely find something to like.
Tl;dr: Solid plot with compelling twists. Good characters. Interesting MC. At least pick up the demo if you’re on the fence, it’s quite long and it will tell you everything you need to know. So much heart went into this game and I can’t think of a negative even if I try. My congratulations to the devs, whatever you guys come up with in the future I’ll definitely check it out. Thanks for your hard work!
Hello! First of all, thank you so much for the detailed review! :D We're super happy you created an account to leave us your thoughts and really appreciate it!
We spent a lot of time balancing the gameplay system, the story and the characters with each other. Thus, we're really glad that you ended up enjoying them all! Even Nazir's route :D (Honestly, that boy of ours is drawing so much grudge since some people train him just to synthesize certain items, and he ends up ditching them all xD)
Thank you very much for your support! We'll continue doing our best :D
In my last playthrough and in my current playthrough, I get no stats bonus from the daily deaths, even though I have it turned 'on'. Is it because I'm playing easy mode or is it a bug?
Hello. The stats bonus aren't actively displayed. They will only be considered whenever you're at a check.
They work fine for us on the latest build. If they don't for you, could you perhaps describe the problem, or how you know they don't work a bit more? Thanks!
i've gotten the romance ending for nazir and am currently on aurelius' route-- been playing almost non stop since i got it!! the story is super engaging and i love all of the characters, and the game is extensive with high replay value without feeling tedious
I really do love this game and the characters i beat all the main routes romances, am curious will there be a sequel or an addon sequel. I want to find out what happens next so badly.
is there a special ending if you beat all endings. most visual novels i played require you to finish all endings then it unlocks a canon end or something. This isn't what this game does right?
Devs... You outdid the game... I have spent 15 hours dying like 10 times! I was so close on getting an ending too (I was on Week 59 when I died)!! This game is so hard but it's so good AAAA (Playing this normally without a guide is enjoyable ehehe)
After I finish all endings, I will come back and hopefully write another review :D
We wish you the best of luck surviving Week 59 and reach the ending! :D Playing without guide may be hard but also very rewarding. That's what we usually recommend to at first and we're glad you rose to the challenge ;D
Hello! I recently bought and started playing this beautiful game and I'm blown away. I loved every single one of the characters and how they developed. You really feel like you grow closer and spend time with not only the love interests, but everyone around you. The requests rarely ever felt tedious and instead rewarding, as well as fulfilling to see the interactions once you complete each request (though maybe that's just because I'm a people pleaser haha). The plot definitely buttered my croissant. The court intrigue and drama kept me on my toes, overall a very immersive first play.
Just finished Aurelius's route and man did he spark my competitive side. Successfully got almost all the stat checks except one leadership and one etiquette check on his adventure mode route. Did I spend an ungodly amount of time on this? Yes. Was it worth it? Hell yes. I actually found Aurelius irritating at first (in a good way) and that's what lead me down his route. To beat him. Suffice to say he ended up stealing my heart, and there's no winning against that little smirk of his. Now I'm on to Serin and Nazir, but in conclusion this game is very much worth it. 10/10 would recommend and props to you guys for this gorgeous game.
Thank you so much! :D We're so glad you enjoyed the game.
With the side cast and everyone around your MC, we aimed for you to really have a sense of time and feel like your relationships changed within the in-game timespan of a year! We're so happy it worked out :D
Aurelius sparking your competitive side is very good ;D With his route, it's many ups and downs and MC has to be competitive to keep up!
Thank you so much for the support and we wish you a lot of fun with the other routes!
Hi, bought this game on Steam and it's amazing. Wish it would last forever so I could keep playing it. :( Just wondering if you guys plan on making new otome game in the future? :3
Btw, I dunno if it's a bug or not but somehow some of the CGs I unlocked didn't show up in the gallery. Not the big deal thou, I finished the game but still want to take a look once in a while since they are so gorgeous. :3 Guess I will just buy the artbook. XD
Hello! Some variations don't show up in our gallery for the moment. We're looking into fixing it for a later patch! :D
We are so happy you liked the game so much! ; v ;b There are definitely more games coming up and we've already started brainstorming :D Thank you for your support!
Hello! I'm really happy that this game is released, because it's really awesome and one of a kind! But i'm confused about one thing... How do i know if i'm on someone's route? Do we get an indication like a scene where one of the princes comes to our help on 11 week, like it was in demo? Because if it is so, then i can't seem to get on any prince's route =( I play on easy mode. I successfully pass every stat\item check there is up to 12 week, and have magic stats around 40 for every prince's affined magic elements by 11 week (i mean like 40 wood 40 light for Serin for example), and whenever there is an option, i spend time with the prince i pursue only. But on week 11 Alexis just goes to Garion alone without encountering any of the princes, successfully captures assassin, creates truth serum etc.. I'm just not sure if that is how it's supposed to be and i'll get romance scenes later, or i miss something.. I tried Serin and Aurelius routes so far, but every time i end up alone on 11 week. Their love bars in grimoire when i went for their routes were filled enough i think... I don't know where to look. Maybe i need to get stats like charisma and beauty for Serin to a certain level by week 11?
You see the princes' affections for you (and the other 5 endings) in the Grimoire under Daily Life, that is correct :D
However, if you are mentioning Week 11: If Alexis can survive on their own (by crafting a bomb), they will do that! So if you want to meet your love interest, you need to purposely not go in with a bomb! (And survive, of course) XD
The ultimate decision which route to go on will be asked of you later in the game :D
Oh wow, and i thought bomb was a must to survive! Whew, thank you so much for your reply, now i am relaxed XD And again, thank you very much for taking your time to help me, and for the opportunity to play your beautiful game, it's really perfect in every aspect! Wish you all the best! (^.^)
I finished the game tow days ago playing Aurelius route and I absolutely love it! I just love everything about the game; the story, the characters, the art... Aurelius ist gorgeous, the last CG of him in the epiloge is .... wow .... wow ! (guess why I chose him first). After playing I had a heartache for the rest of the day :D
But I´m still waiting for your Email with the guide (I pre-ordered it). Would you please look into that?
Hello! We're super happy you enjoyed the game (and Aurelius! XD) He grew up so well :'D
And of course! Could you perhaps send us an email to royal.alchemist.bugs[at]gmail.com and tell us which email you ordered the guide with? We'll look into it, since some spam filters might have blocked our email. Thank you!
If we didn't land in your spam, maybe we're blocked out permanently for some reason? If you still didn't receive our email, do you perhaps have Twitter or anywhere we can DM you? Sorry for the trouble, but it seems like filters don't like us very much :'D
Good luck with the other routes. And of course! Please remember to link us if you do, we absolutely love fanworks and are super happy you're considering them! :D
Just finished Serin’s romantic route this morning! (Did I spend all night on the game and go to sleep at 6AM because I was so much into all the end of the game? Absolutely not … ahah... ah...)
Sincerely, the game was extraordinary!
I began with Serin’s route because I really liked his charadesign and I was even more delighted when I learnt to know him. Like others, I felt the slow-burn romance but it didn’t bother me at all. The evolution of the relationship with Serin was so much adorable, my heart melted at each intimate moment with him and his reactions to Alexis’ teasing was just perfect :’) Really, thank you for creating such a sweetheart, can’t wait to do the other routes ! As so for the other characters, I loved interacting with them. They are all so well described and have their own personality, I wanted to continue the story, I wanted to read more of their journey!
To be honest, what I was most afraid of was the stats raising system. I don’t play strategy games because I’m really bad when it comes to stats raising so I thought I would die a lot but in the end I just died 4 times (even with a friend of mine who also bought the game, challenging me to play it in normal mode) and I found all this system clear and fun !
I’m someone who read reaaaaally slowly and who spend her time looking at every little detail on the drawings so it took me about 30 hours to achieve only one ending out of 8 xD
Clearly, your game was worth its price <3
The backgrounds, the CGs, the charadesign, they are all beautiful, you did such a wonderful work! Thank you for that, thank you for this game. It’s with great pleasure that I will look forward to your next work and help you on your Patreon right when I come back to work !
And to finish I have a little question. I fell in love with a lot of soundtracks in the game, are you planning to sell the soundtrack somewhere or put it on spotify maybe ?
First of all, thank you so, so much for taking the time to give us such a detailed review! We really appreciate it a lot (and spent time reading it over and over again!)
We are glad you enjoyed Serin's route :D From our perspective, we had a lot of fun figuring out Serin's personality too! (Even though we also spent a lot of time teasing him.)
The normal mode is quite hard even for some of our team members! You being able to finish the game in it is quite an achievement, even if you say you're normally bad at stats raising :D ! We're glad you enjoyed the system too!
For the music tracks, since they're royalty-free assets (we spent a lot of time hunting xD) we won't be able to sell them. But we'll put the composer's links onto our page soon so you can check them out! :D Their music is delightful.
At last, thank you again for playing and your comment! We wish you a nice day and take care!
You guys outdid yourselves with this game. The art is beautiful, the characters are unforgettable, and the story is fascinating. Also, the reveal at the end? *chef's kiss* It hurt so good, so good. The kickstarter guide is amazing and made my life so much easier, a thousand thanks for that.
I played through the other two romantic routes before tackling Aurelius', and boiiiiiiiiiiii that was the best decision of my life. I adore Serin and Nazir; their routes made me swoon, but Aurelius hit me straight in the kokoro with so many feels I had to step away from the computer. Bravo.
Hi! I have one little issue: I cannot craft Truth Serum because its recipe just doesn't show up, it is locked. I do same choices as I did through my first playthrough and everything was fine before. It's bug or?..
Hi! First I'd like to say i'm loving the game so far, from the writing to the art its all very well done :) Secondly, I recently purchased the artbook on Steam and I'd like to purchase the guide too, is there a way to buy it without paying for the artbook again?
You don't have to pass all stats checks to get a good ending. :D It's very difficult / impossible to do that. It's enough if you pass a few and keep his affections up.
I am probably missing something, but how do I access the guide during game? Or is it out of the game? I got it through steam. I love the game by the way!
Hello! The guide was released separately, yes! >w<
On Steam, you can (quoting a super useful comment):
Right-click from your library, choose Properties, click Local Files and then choose Browse Local Files. Usually the path is like this /Steam/steamapps/common/Royal Alchemist
I just finished my first playthrough with Aurelius. I THINK I hit the romance ending. Curious as to what all the other endings are like. I plan on playing through another route or two but not sure if I can dedicate the time to seeing them all! (so if anyone would love to privately let me know about their routes maybe c: ) Amazed and happy overall at this game and had been waiting for it for a long time! Was not disappointed. <3
I really do love this game, I have managed to get serin and nazir romance ending, died 3 times. but i am finding it hard on getting aurelius romance ending, It seems you need so much leadership and combat for him I think. I could be wrong but that is how it seems to me because of my failed playthrough of his route. I will try again on his route.
Aurelius' route requires a fair bit of combat and etiquette. And it may be easy to make decisions that throw you off his romance route. But good luck on your next try! :D
thank you for your help there, I did what you said and finally managed to get this romance route, seeing all them cute CG and endings keep making me giddy like a fan girl, oh wait i am a fan girl, it is just soo cute. now i need to get the other endings. I dread the bad ones.
Hi! So if Aurelius' route requires a fair bit of combat and etiquette, wanna give a hint for what Serin and Nazir require pretty please?? Got Aurelius' third end with a lot of save reloading, would be a blast to know what i don't need to waste point on ;b
And I did manage to finish all the item request. Got the Whole faction on my side.
Unlike others, I try to avoid death. Even if there is an achievement for that. And yea I ended everything without death. Yay~.
One thing for sure. Nifty Visuals good at creating good characters. I even thought "ah I want to romance Viola, Ceridwin, Sala and even Issa." Maybe in other games. Maybe.
The game not hard if you planned ahead and know what you are doing(and keep MANY saves)
Daily death...gotta Catch 'em all 🤣 me dying the 50th time trying to figure this out without a guide: (holds magnifying glass up to my eye) thats a twist... thats very twisty
After 8 hours and many deaths later, I finally got my first ending - Serin's good end. This game is so addicting and I'm kind of obsessed with unlocking achievements and the different routes (will probably skip bad ends because my heart probably won't be able to take it).
I love this game so much. The story is so intriguing with many twists and turns. I loved delving into each and every part of it. I'm sure there's much more to be uncovered and look forward to unearthing them.
The stats raising part was actually quite fun. It was a challenge to balance stats at first but it's very satsifying passing the checkpoints. Also making friends with the different factions was also pleasing.
The romance had a very natural buildup. It's not as romance heavy than I was expecting, but it would be difficult to have any more romance given how much story and gameplay there is. So no complaints here.
The music, art and everything is just so wonderful. Thank you Nifty Visuals for making this game. I've been following development and am so happy to be able to play it now.
Lastly, just thank you so much for making this LGBTQ+ friendly. It's such a lovely experience.
We're happy you're enjoying the mechanics, the story and the game! We always aim to make our game LBGTQ+ friendly as possible, and this one was a start :D Our romance part tended to be very slow-burn, but we're glad you felt it was fitting!
Good luck and we wish you fun exploring the other routes!
[Full review, no spoiler ] I really loved the game, I binged-played it the day I bought it (and it takes me the whole day, so it's very full of content, totally worth his price !!!), and I do not regret any second on it, even if it was very difficult (adventurous mod).
Story and characters:Truly, the story was rich, interesting, and well paced. I really liked the consistency of NPC, the various hints given through the game so everything makes sense in the end. All characters was equally deep and well written, especially the MC, I liked her genuine curiosity and her fighting spirit, she was a pleasure to embody. In the route I played (Aurelius) I felt the romance was a bit secondary but it didn’t bothered me much because I was so taken by the plot and the few romantic scenes displayed was really good, so it was worth. I still wish there was a bit more of them, a bit more of common scenes where the feeling just grows, and just a bit more romantic ending but that’s my only complain about the story itself, otherwise I truly thought it was perfect.
Also, I really enjoyed all the details about the request which were always tie with a little story, and the mission were really written too.
The writing itself was a bit hard for a non-native speaker like me, but it really helps to set the mood of the royalty and the magic world surrounded us, and I easily stepped in, it was really good too.
[I just noticed a mistake on pronouns in one scene (I got «his » instead of «her ».) «LadyRozencruz told me to send his warmest regards, etc. »]
Gameplay :I thought the gameplay was really well tied to the story. I was a sucker for this little «ting » when the checkbox appears to make me understand I have what it takes. But it took me at least 3 attempt from the middle of the game, to manage to balance my stat, mostly because there is no clue about what we will need, and I think it’s a bit annoying because it really makes you feel lost on your first playthrough... and even a bit afterward. (And I am a sucker for stat rising, you would be scare to see my notes on the first tokimeki because I really got serious).
I wish there was some stage represent on your stats, like lines on the bar showing us how much we need for the choices to come (or at least for the chapter to come).
I also wish we had some feedback on affection from love interest, because we can check everything else, but not this, which is a bit frustrating on a romance game. (Also I wonder if it’s the thing in « daily life », because I don’t understand what it is ? But some notes on the screen similar to the other approbation would be welcomed anyway.) Same for the approbation of the different faction (noble, merchant, servant and commoners), it was a bit annoying to be able to see it only when request starts and when there is no pending request. Finally, I wished I could have seen all the alchemist items from the begining, even if not being able to create <span class="s-bl" <them<="" span="">it right away (</span>like in the requirement «recipe not learnt » or something like that. Because I could only do a correct run, once I had unlocked most of them, and so I could plan a good dispatching of magic skills in order to be able to craft all of them immediately. (Because we don’t have always the time to raise a stat to craft an item…)
Finally the stat needed to be raise were not so intuitive (to Aurelius I think I will see for the other later), like, I wouldn’t have guess I needed to raise Etiquette with Aurelius, because this part of his route is really long to truly understand but it’s too late when you realize.
Of course it’s part of the game identity to lead you to death to help you get better, but, I still think we are lacking a bit on feedback. For example, when we miss a «test », we have no idea how much we should had get in order to pass it, so it’s very difficult to adjust, even after a death.
But once again, this come from a sucker of stat rising /managment game who aimed at the most perfect runs possible.
Anyway, once my chart was set up, and after some trial and error (and a lot of saves and loading-back too I must confess), I really had a lot of fun because everything just pieces together so perfectly.
Art and UI : Well, art is gorgeous, the backgrounds (very well used of already made assets, it truly perfectly blend), same for the sprite. I wish there was an option to remove the shadow for NPC because I, as a very personal taste, prefer when there is nothing than shadows, but it wasn’t too annoying. The UI is very clean, I really liked it, it was simple to understand and navigates through things. I also really enjoyed the music which really helps to get the perfect mood on the mod of the scene and was always discreet enough to not disturb from the reading.
In the end, even if I struggle a bit to get the trick, and still needed to go back sometime because I was at 3 points of a success, I really, really loved the game very much, I highly recommend it and I am looking forward to discovering the other routes.
Ayael
First of all, thank you so much for the in-depth feedback! It is extremely helpful and also provided many points we can experiment with in the future!
Such as hints on what stats may be needed in the upcoming weeks is something we found extremely challenging to implement correctly, so something to indicate in the status bar is actually good to experiment with!
We admit that the focus of the game was more about the character's lives, so the romance probably came over as extremely slow-burn (though... we love slow-burn romances XD ) For Aurelius, the reason we choose Etiquette is mainly because it's the stat for "Knowing how to act in certain court situations and what not to do." Story-wise, it's something important to him, as someone who is always followed by unpleasant rumours.
In total, we're super happy you enjoyed the game! :D Thanking for taking your time to give us your feedback and we wish you a lot of fun on the remaining routes!
I had a lot of fun in the remaining route ! And yeah, the stat to raise actually make sense once you learn to know them, but I felt sometime you understand it just too late story-wise why this one is so important ! But since we can have the help of the checkpoint, it wasn't an issue afterward !
Thanks again a lot for this wonderful game, i was feeling really down and it really cheers me up and keep me busy the whole long week end !
Bought the game today and started to play. Enjoying it quite a lot so far, but it seems I have stumbled over a bug.
[SPOILER]
It seems that I have been unable to craft certain items, including the healing salve and more importantly, the truth serum. I have all skills high enough and enough coins but the 'Synthesize' button simply doesn't show - which causes me to fail the next step.
← Return to game
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It totally does!! :D You've captured his essentials well. Thank you so much <3 This is lovely and Nazir deserves love!
We totally understand the problem with roses. Our artists sometimes want to slap him for the complex patterns too xD
That is a hard question! Since we love all of our characters xD
How about you? Who is your favourite prince? :D You could draw him!
So I've been wondering - does you-know-what still happen to Nazir in the other boys' routes? If it does, how come Alexis isn't aware that anything happened at all? And if it doesn't, why not?
Slightly spoilery response to Nazir we suppose? XD
It happens in all routes. The reason Alexis became aware in Nazir's route is because Nazir trusts them and reaches out to tell them.
Thus, in any other routes, he keeps quiet because he didn't want to bother anyone with it.
reading this comment makes my heart ache again :'(
Have a soft pat from all of us :'D -pats pats-
now that I think about it, he came back in the other routes but wasn't he forbidden to, because a you-know-who is not supposed to join political affairs?
Oh my, she's so cute!! We love this :D -pokes her round cheeks- (And she's got big round shoujo protag eyes too *thumbs up* ) Is that you in the background? :D
You've spent so much time capturing her design details! Good job :D Thank you so much for this!!
This game is amazing but also it made me sad. Do you realize how sad this game is. T_T
So, I did Nazir's route and then I did Aurelius's.
First off I loved Nazir's route. He kept going off on adventures and I kept going along with him, and we were like in our own little world. It was fun and cute and I liked watching him grow along the way. Anyways I LOVE HIM.
And when I do Aurelius's route, I can't help but see that Nazir ends up having to do a lot of things alone. He ends up going through /that/ alone, presumably, since his (SPOILERS) disappearance still happens and he just sends word to the castle and eventually, in the ending summary of characters' lives, eventually he comes back and is a more responsible person.
I want to think he went off to certain people but he also lacks a connection that I would have - it pains me that he was alone, not showing up to the trial (which I can fully understand why) and also during /that reveal/ and ever after. Of course he will still grow up as a stronger person but. MY HEART HURTS.
Okay, that aside, it's a really good game. Well balanced stat raising system and story, with twists and plenty of replayability because some things are hidden in each route and the more I play the more things get revealed. I still want to do Serin's! But also, justice for Nazir T___T
Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed Nazir's route. His scenes were (mostly) just little balls of sunshine within all the intrigue!
We suppose in this game, if you end up with someone, you may feel sad for the others since the other princes will be left to deal with certain things on their own...
...As the devs, we will give the characters a few pats on the back! They'll grow up healthy and strong to survive all of it :'D
Okay, I finally found some time to write a few words about my experience with this game so far.
Let me start by just saying that the game is, in one word, FANTASTIC, honestly one of the best Visual Novels I have played (and I've played a lot of them). Actually it's one of the most enjoyable games I have recently played across the board period. The art, the characters, the plot, the writing .. everything is simply incredible. You guys created something truly amazing here.
(Spoilers ahead! I mean I keep things rather vague but in case you don't wanna know anything consider .. not reading any further from here on out)
I played Serin's route first because he honestly was my fave ever since I first played the demo and going through his entire romance route just made me fall even more in love with him. At this point he has my entire heart, I think. Yes the romance is slow burn but I don't mind at all. It just makes everything feel so real in a way? The relationship between Alexis and Serin just develops so naturally and goes from them getting to know each other and bonding over mutual interests. Their scenes in the library were some of my faves, especially the one where they look at the maps and plan journeys together even though it made my heart ache for Serin alongside Alexis (although in my mind Serin gets to go on all those adventures he dreams of somehow at one point because he DESERVES that damn it) I also loved the evolution of Serin calling Alexis by their last name and then slowly starting to call them by their first name more and more and Alexis reminding him to do that when he doesn't :') I sometimes found myself saying "It's Alexis remember?" when he slipped back into it before Alexis even did, lol. All of the banter and teasing in his route was delightful actually and made me laugh a lot (and sometimes giggle like a schoolgirl because he just blushes so prettily :D) but you also managed to make me quite emotional a lot of the time, so it was a good balance and made everything flow nicely and, again, made it all just feel so natural to me. And when they finally, uh, take things to the next level, all that build up just made it so much better. Also the illustration of Serin in the epilogue? Nice. Very nice. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
So I could probably write a 10k words long love letter just about Serin that's how utterly in love with him I am but I think I will not annoy everyone with all that, lol. I'm about halfway done with Aurelius' route and have played a bit of Nazir's but so far they just can't hold a candle to Serin. At all. It might honestly been a mistake to play his route first because now nothing can compare, lol.
Outside the romances, I really loved the relationships not only our dear Alexis had with other characters (which also made certain plot twists and betrayals later on in the game hurt that much more) but also these characters all had with each other. The princes' relationship with each other is something I enjoyed a lot - I am especially loving the dynamic between Serin and Aurelius. Nazir feels a bit disconnected to me here, maybe because I have yet to play his full route and haven't payed that much attention to him and all that but Serin and Aurelius? I loved what I saw of them, maybe also because there's just so many people in-game that want to pit them against each other and claim to see a rivalry and hate that isn't there. So to then actually see how wrong they are, how Serin values Aurelius' ideas and advice and trusts him and how much Aurelius trusts and loves him in return (him saying something like that Serin is the most important and trustworthy person in his life really made me emotional) and how protective they are of each other and just .. how much love is there, idk it just gets to me and is something I really loved :')
I really enjoyed the antagonists/villains in this game as well because they're rather tragic and sympathetic in a way. Obviously it doesn't excuse everything they've done - "Cool motive, still murder" and all that, but then again that could also be said about certain "good guys" in this game and their actions if we're being honest, so I just really enjoyed those shades of grey when it comes to morality and the actions taken by all sides involved.
It was also really great finding out that some of the thoughts I had after the demo about Alexis and the Rosenkreuz family and their powers went kind of in the right direction but then it also was something else entirely and then certain plot revelations later on in the game somewhat connected to that I did not see coming at all but I really didn't mind that at all! I love me some twisty twists, hehe :D
Long story short: the game is amazing, you guys are amazing and I am so grateful you blessed us all with this gem. I cannot wait to see what you will come up in the future, be it for this game and world, or something else, I know that I will be here waiting for anything and everything you create. And now I will go and devote some more time to play through all the routes and get all the ending except for that one titled "Serin's BAD ending" because I do not wanna live in a world where that boy gets anything but a happy end so thanks but no thanks, lol. And maybe somewhere along the way I will even manage to actually balance out my stats raising so I don't die time and time again and ALWAYS because of the damn combat stat because I keep thinking Alexis can just outsmart everyone and doesn't need to know how to fight .. until they get eaten by wolves or stabbed in the back that is, lol. xD
Hello! We remember reading your speculations with a "You'll know soon ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)". Some points were very close to the truth! :D
Super happy you love Serin so much! He deserves it. In our minds, we're always replaying possibilities to let him go on adventures as well! Even if not for long, perhaps there will be opportunities.
We're super happy you saw the brother's relationship as well! Even though all three of them are quite different in personalities, and thus may not seem too close at first, they share a family bond of absolute trust and care! That's something we wanted to portray ;D
For most of the time, you can survive on intelligence but... we suppose there is no reasoning when it comes to beasts that want to turn you into food.
Good luck on exploring the other endings! We suppose Serin's bad ending is a pile of misery but eh... the others are candy (we hope)!
I played this game with my sister. After we got all of the endings, I thought that this is the otome game I've been looking for years. I've been playing lots of otome game for years and this is the best of it. I really enjoy the MC's personality because they're really intelligent. They understand most of the situation, which is very rare I find in other otome games. And the pacing... oh let me talk about the relationship progress pacing. I don't know if it's just me but... I love how the story flows. Usually, I often found a lot's of otome English game pacing that didn't click me. I know that passing the time by raising stats and mission could be the thing... But I'm sure that this isn't the reason that make the relationship into a rush. I was wondering how do you guys manage to keep the story progress stable? Any advice maybe?
Hello! Thank you so much. We're happy you enjoyed the pacing and relationship flow of the game.
We have to admit, everyone on the team is a lover of slow-burn romances xD We spent a lot of time thinking about the character's relationship dynamics; which of the character's traits would clash against each other, and how the main story events could help the characters get closer. In a way, we just put the characters next to their story and wondered how they'd react to them, and how they can grow from that point :D
Glad it seems to have worked out in the end!
Hi there! I've been looking out for this game since the demo and I was so excited to finally play it. I just finished my first route which was Aurelius and gosh dillidy darn was it so goooood! I love the story so much as well as the stats part of the game which made it so much more challenging but the countless reload was so worth it after getting the ending. Now I'm planning to play Serin's route but gosh I still can't get over Aurelius, this game is so worth it. I had so much fun playing it. can't wait to here more games from you guys!
Hello! Thank you very much and we're glad you enjoyed Aurelius' route! We wish you much fun with the remaining ones!
So the game is amazing and beautiful. I just finished my first route (Aurelius) and my heart hurts. I always fall for the bad guys. I found myself wishing certain ones had routes. But I love the whole thing. The art, the writing, all of it. Two things though- 1) a system to review the romantic scenes or at least endings would be great so that you don't have to replay everything and 2) I bought the guide and the art book because you had to buy both to get the guide (I think, hopefully I'm not mistaken and I apologize if I am) but what I really wanted was just the guide. I likely would have bought the art book later after I'd played a route or two but I would have liked to just by the guide at first. That being said, these are really minor concerns. Keep up with the good work!
Hello! Thank you very much for the support. We hope you had fun with Aurelius :D
Thank you for your suggestions too! A system to review the scenes is something we'll keep considering how to implement. For our future titles, we'll also release the guide / artbook separately!
I'm glad to help! Aurelius was delightful (in his own way)! Starting Serin's route now and he's so quiet and kind that I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. Again, the game is amazing!
I love your game so much!
My favorite, favorite prince is Serin! He's so cute, handsome, and beautiful! He's also a gentleman and prince charming!😊😚🤗
The protagonist is so adorable, too. I just want to pinch the protagonist's cheeks. I like how we tease the princes, especially Prince Serin. 😗😃😄
Hello! Thank you so much :D Glad you enjoy the game. Please do continue teasing Serin, we're sure he actually is very happy about it ;D
It is always a pleasure to see good game projects completed!
I have always been afraid to play visual novels with this status enhancement system. Because, well, usually when there is this kind of gameplay the story is weak.
It is a good thing that this is not the case with Royal Alchemist. With it I was able to enjoy a fun gameplay system, while following a very well made plot. I fell in love with Aurelius, Serin, Nazir and, of course, Alexis.
The game was fantastic!
Suggestion: it would be useful to include a space to "keep memories", that is, the romantic scenes with the characters. This would avoid having to replay the game just to review a scene.
Hello! Thank you so much, we're super happy you enjoyed the game :D
Regarding your suggestion, we'll think hard about how to implement something like a memory gallery. As many of our scenes are either affected by stats or previous events, we couldn't think of a good way to do this. But we'll keep considering it for the future! :D
First of all I would like to say that I made an account on this site just to leave a review of this game. Yeah. I just really had to get my thoughts out there on this quality game.
I followed this game since last year. The demo told me right away that I wanted to keep an eye out for this one. Really, it’s such a rare thing nowadays you know?The game hits the mark on everything: the interesting plot, the characters (the princes, the mc who is dynamic and most importantly, not a doormat and even the side characters). The person who did the CG’s, I just want to shake their hand man. These are some quality visuals and I won’t lie: this is what initially lured me in last year.
The rpg aspect of the game was certainly a nice challenge as well. It also made me feel more engaged compared to the regular vn, where, bless them but all you usually have to do is click and click. You really feel like you have control over your destiny. As the devs said in the comments there, if you put emphasis on certain stats (Etiquette/Combat – Aurelius, Leadership – Nazir and Charisma/Beauty/Etiquette/ – Serin, and after playing once I realised you kinda want that Intelligence up there as well regardless of playthrough, because it makes you feel like a god, being able to predict some… cough things about the plot) you will be fine. This would be the perfect time to mention that I played on Easy (yes I know, truly a disgrace, but this one time I was like you know that, it is story time) and with +5 to my stats from 2 deaths. Honestly, if you’re not a fool like me and click Overwrite Save again and again like I did on my first playthrough you will be fine lol. Just try to be prepared with a save on a new slot every couple of hours, should things go terribly wrong. If you want full completion however, may god have mercy on you, I shall think of you fondly.
I achieved all 3 romance endings, with Serin being my favorite. He was my first choice, he’s had me since he helped me at the gate to be honest. His personality lured me in from the beginning. He truly is best boy, doing his best and the teasing in his route is precious af. Even if I picked Serin, I knew I wanted to give Aurelius a try as well. Cheeky boy lol. He’s basically the Defrosting Ice Queen trope (and I love that trope a lot) so I really liked his route as well. No spoilers, but some moments in his route make it really worth it ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°).
Now Nazir. I’ll just come out and say it: since I tackled the other princes before him I was already coming in like “Okay so this mother f’er goes frolicking god knows where every time, oh I’m sorry Nazir it’s just that we are in mortal danger here.” If only I knew. No spoilers, but the plot twist really is top tier. It’s my favorite moment in the route and I love how you act as MC as well, reliable and gentle. My apologies dear Nazir, should have kept a close eye on you lol. After having completed 3 playthrougs of the same game (something I didn’t even intend to do, but I just had to know what was up with Nazir) I can safely say that all princes are deserving of your time and you will definitely find something to like.
Tl;dr: Solid plot with compelling twists. Good characters. Interesting MC. At least pick up the demo if you’re on the fence, it’s quite long and it will tell you everything you need to know. So much heart went into this game and I can’t think of a negative even if I try. My congratulations to the devs, whatever you guys come up with in the future I’ll definitely check it out. Thanks for your hard work!
Hello! First of all, thank you so much for the detailed review! :D We're super happy you created an account to leave us your thoughts and really appreciate it!
We spent a lot of time balancing the gameplay system, the story and the characters with each other. Thus, we're really glad that you ended up enjoying them all! Even Nazir's route :D (Honestly, that boy of ours is drawing so much grudge since some people train him just to synthesize certain items, and he ends up ditching them all xD)
Thank you very much for your support! We'll continue doing our best :D
In my last playthrough and in my current playthrough, I get no stats bonus from the daily deaths, even though I have it turned 'on'. Is it because I'm playing easy mode or is it a bug?
Hello. The stats bonus aren't actively displayed. They will only be considered whenever you're at a check.
They work fine for us on the latest build. If they don't for you, could you perhaps describe the problem, or how you know they don't work a bit more? Thanks!
I don't have steam, but is there any way I can buy the game on here and get the game guide?
Hello!
We have released the game and the artbook/guide separately on here :D You can purchase the game from this page, and the artbook or guide here:
https://nifty-visuals.itch.io/royal-alchemist-official-guide
The guide includes the full content of the artbook. Thank you very much for your interest :D
i've gotten the romance ending for nazir and am currently on aurelius' route-- been playing almost non stop since i got it!! the story is super engaging and i love all of the characters, and the game is extensive with high replay value without feeling tedious
Thank you so much!! :D
Good luck and we wish you fun with Aurelius' route!
I really do love this game and the characters i beat all the main routes romances, am curious will there be a sequel or an addon sequel. I want to find out what happens next so badly.
Hello! Glad you enjoyed the game and congratulations on beating the main routes!
Whether we will create an expansion or a sequel is still in discussion. But, we will make sure to post an announcement once we decide! :D
is there a special ending if you beat all endings. most visual novels i played require you to finish all endings then it unlocks a canon end or something. This isn't what this game does right?
No, it's not in this one :D For us, every ending can be as canon as the other.
awesome, glad to know :)
Devs... You outdid the game... I have spent 15 hours dying like 10 times! I was so close on getting an ending too (I was on Week 59 when I died)!! This game is so hard but it's so good AAAA (Playing this normally without a guide is enjoyable ehehe)
After I finish all endings, I will come back and hopefully write another review :D
Thank you so much!!
We wish you the best of luck surviving Week 59 and reach the ending! :D Playing without guide may be hard but also very rewarding. That's what we usually recommend to at first and we're glad you rose to the challenge ;D
Hello! I recently bought and started playing this beautiful game and I'm blown away. I loved every single one of the characters and how they developed. You really feel like you grow closer and spend time with not only the love interests, but everyone around you. The requests rarely ever felt tedious and instead rewarding, as well as fulfilling to see the interactions once you complete each request (though maybe that's just because I'm a people pleaser haha). The plot definitely buttered my croissant. The court intrigue and drama kept me on my toes, overall a very immersive first play.
Just finished Aurelius's route and man did he spark my competitive side. Successfully got almost all the stat checks except one leadership and one etiquette check on his adventure mode route. Did I spend an ungodly amount of time on this? Yes. Was it worth it? Hell yes. I actually found Aurelius irritating at first (in a good way) and that's what lead me down his route. To beat him. Suffice to say he ended up stealing my heart, and there's no winning against that little smirk of his. Now I'm on to Serin and Nazir, but in conclusion this game is very much worth it. 10/10 would recommend and props to you guys for this gorgeous game.
Thank you so much! :D We're so glad you enjoyed the game.
With the side cast and everyone around your MC, we aimed for you to really have a sense of time and feel like your relationships changed within the in-game timespan of a year! We're so happy it worked out :D
Aurelius sparking your competitive side is very good ;D With his route, it's many ups and downs and MC has to be competitive to keep up!
Thank you so much for the support and we wish you a lot of fun with the other routes!
Hi, bought this game on Steam and it's amazing. Wish it would last forever so I could keep playing it. :( Just wondering if you guys plan on making new otome game in the future? :3
Btw, I dunno if it's a bug or not but somehow some of the CGs I unlocked didn't show up in the gallery. Not the big deal thou, I finished the game but still want to take a look once in a while since they are so gorgeous. :3 Guess I will just buy the artbook. XD
Hello! Some variations don't show up in our gallery for the moment. We're looking into fixing it for a later patch! :D
We are so happy you liked the game so much! ; v ;b There are definitely more games coming up and we've already started brainstorming :D Thank you for your support!
Can't wait for it! :3 But I hope the romance will be longer than it is in this game. :( Still, great game thou. :3 Thanks again for your hard work!
Hello! I'm really happy that this game is released, because it's really awesome and one of a kind! But i'm confused about one thing... How do i know if i'm on someone's route? Do we get an indication like a scene where one of the princes comes to our help on 11 week, like it was in demo? Because if it is so, then i can't seem to get on any prince's route =( I play on easy mode. I successfully pass every stat\item check there is up to 12 week, and have magic stats around 40 for every prince's affined magic elements by 11 week (i mean like 40 wood 40 light for Serin for example), and whenever there is an option, i spend time with the prince i pursue only. But on week 11 Alexis just goes to Garion alone without encountering any of the princes, successfully captures assassin, creates truth serum etc.. I'm just not sure if that is how it's supposed to be and i'll get romance scenes later, or i miss something.. I tried Serin and Aurelius routes so far, but every time i end up alone on 11 week. Their love bars in grimoire when i went for their routes were filled enough i think... I don't know where to look. Maybe i need to get stats like charisma and beauty for Serin to a certain level by week 11?
Hello!
You see the princes' affections for you (and the other 5 endings) in the Grimoire under Daily Life, that is correct :D
However, if you are mentioning Week 11: If Alexis can survive on their own (by crafting a bomb), they will do that! So if you want to meet your love interest, you need to purposely not go in with a bomb! (And survive, of course) XD
The ultimate decision which route to go on will be asked of you later in the game :D
Oh wow, and i thought bomb was a must to survive! Whew, thank you so much for your reply, now i am relaxed XD And again, thank you very much for taking your time to help me, and for the opportunity to play your beautiful game, it's really perfect in every aspect! Wish you all the best! (^.^)
You are very welcome! :D We hope you enjoy what's to come!
I finished the game tow days ago playing Aurelius route and I absolutely love it! I just love everything about the game; the story, the characters, the art... Aurelius ist gorgeous, the last CG of him in the epiloge is .... wow .... wow ! (guess why I chose him first). After playing I had a heartache for the rest of the day :D
But I´m still waiting for your Email with the guide (I pre-ordered it). Would you please look into that?
Hello! We're super happy you enjoyed the game (and Aurelius! XD) He grew up so well :'D
And of course! Could you perhaps send us an email to royal.alchemist.bugs[at]gmail.com and tell us which email you ordered the guide with? We'll look into it, since some spam filters might have blocked our email. Thank you!
I send you an Email a week ago but I still didn´t get any reply
Hi! We've sent you another email.
Our email adress is like in the screenshot above.
If we didn't land in your spam, maybe we're blocked out permanently for some reason? If you still didn't receive our email, do you perhaps have Twitter or anywhere we can DM you? Sorry for the trouble, but it seems like filters don't like us very much :'D
I will write you with another Email-adress. Maybe it´s a problem on my side…(Kickstarter had problems sending me notifications too)
Alright! We have replied to the new email; we hope it finds you well!
Good luck with the other routes. And of course! Please remember to link us if you do, we absolutely love fanworks and are super happy you're considering them! :D
Beauty is overrated :'D MC is strong and smart! The way Aurelius likes.
Hey there!
Just finished Serin’s romantic route this morning! (Did I spend all night on the game and go to sleep at 6AM because I was so much into all the end of the game? Absolutely not … ahah... ah...)
Sincerely, the game was extraordinary!
I began with Serin’s route because I really liked his charadesign and I was even more delighted when I learnt to know him. Like others, I felt the slow-burn romance but it didn’t bother me at all. The evolution of the relationship with Serin was so much adorable, my heart melted at each intimate moment with him and his reactions to Alexis’ teasing was just perfect :’) Really, thank you for creating such a sweetheart, can’t wait to do the other routes ! As so for the other characters, I loved interacting with them. They are all so well described and have their own personality, I wanted to continue the story, I wanted to read more of their journey!
To be honest, what I was most afraid of was the stats raising system. I don’t play strategy games because I’m really bad when it comes to stats raising so I thought I would die a lot but in the end I just died 4 times (even with a friend of mine who also bought the game, challenging me to play it in normal mode) and I found all this system clear and fun !
I’m someone who read reaaaaally slowly and who spend her time looking at every little detail on the drawings so it took me about 30 hours to achieve only one ending out of 8 xD
Clearly, your game was worth its price <3
The backgrounds, the CGs, the charadesign, they are all beautiful, you did such a wonderful work! Thank you for that, thank you for this game. It’s with great pleasure that I will look forward to your next work and help you on your Patreon right when I come back to work !
And to finish I have a little question. I fell in love with a lot of soundtracks in the game, are you planning to sell the soundtrack somewhere or put it on spotify maybe ?
With Love from France !
Hello!
First of all, thank you so, so much for taking the time to give us such a detailed review! We really appreciate it a lot (and spent time reading it over and over again!)
We are glad you enjoyed Serin's route :D From our perspective, we had a lot of fun figuring out Serin's personality too! (Even though we also spent a lot of time teasing him.)
The normal mode is quite hard even for some of our team members! You being able to finish the game in it is quite an achievement, even if you say you're normally bad at stats raising :D ! We're glad you enjoyed the system too!
For the music tracks, since they're royalty-free assets (we spent a lot of time hunting xD) we won't be able to sell them. But we'll put the composer's links onto our page soon so you can check them out! :D Their music is delightful.
At last, thank you again for playing and your comment! We wish you a nice day and take care!
Thank you for your reply and your welcome, pleasure is mine !
Oh that's great I will look forward for it then ! ^^
Take care too
You guys outdid yourselves with this game. The art is beautiful, the characters are unforgettable, and the story is fascinating. Also, the reveal at the end? *chef's kiss* It hurt so good, so good. The kickstarter guide is amazing and made my life so much easier, a thousand thanks for that.
I played through the other two romantic routes before tackling Aurelius', and boiiiiiiiiiiii that was the best decision of my life. I adore Serin and Nazir; their routes made me swoon, but Aurelius hit me straight in the kokoro with so many feels I had to step away from the computer. Bravo.
We're super happy the story and the characters were able to reach you. As gamedevs, it's one of the biggest joy, really :'D
Thank you so much for your support!
Hi! I have one little issue: I cannot craft Truth Serum because its recipe just doesn't show up, it is locked. I do same choices as I did through my first playthrough and everything was fine before. It's bug or?..
Hello!
The recipe will unlock if you have enough (50/60) Intelligence in Week 14 (or 15, not sure right now).
Hi! First I'd like to say i'm loving the game so far, from the writing to the art its all very well done :) Secondly, I recently purchased the artbook on Steam and I'd like to purchase the guide too, is there a way to buy it without paying for the artbook again?
Hello! Yes, there is :D Please just DM us on either of our Social Media or send us a mail to royal.alchemist.bugs[at]gmail.com and we can sort it out!
Thanks for the fast answer! I just sent you an email :D
Congrats on getting Aurelius' ending! XD
You don't have to pass all stats checks to get a good ending. :D It's very difficult / impossible to do that. It's enough if you pass a few and keep his affections up.
Great game! While I was enjoying it, I noted down a couple of typos in the text.
Where would you like me to send them with the screenshots? I'm happy to post them here, of course, if you like.
Hello! Glad you enjoyed :D
You're free to post them here, or upload them in the formular below:
http://bit.ly/RABugs
Thank you very much!
I am probably missing something, but how do I access the guide during game? Or is it out of the game? I got it through steam. I love the game by the way!
Thanks in advance!
Hello! The guide was released separately, yes! >w<
On Steam, you can (quoting a super useful comment):
Right-click from your library, choose Properties, click Local Files and then choose Browse Local Files.
Usually the path is like this
/Steam/steamapps/common/Royal Alchemist
The game is amazing. Thank you to all involved for creating something so lovely and wonderful, I'm enjoying it very much. Wish you well :)
Thank you very much! :D We're glad you're enjoying the game. Take care as well!
It's in the requirement :) One prince needs to have 10 Fire, 30 Water and 30 Darkness
And you need at least 200 Coins.
I just finished my first playthrough with Aurelius. I THINK I hit the romance ending. Curious as to what all the other endings are like. I plan on playing through another route or two but not sure if I can dedicate the time to seeing them all! (so if anyone would love to privately let me know about their routes maybe c: ) Amazed and happy overall at this game and had been waiting for it for a long time! Was not disappointed. <3
Very glad you liked! :D (If the ending you hit was Ending 3, then yes, it's totally Aurelius' romance route!)
It was! He's lovely ;~;
I really do love this game, I have managed to get serin and nazir romance ending, died 3 times. but i am finding it hard on getting aurelius romance ending, It seems you need so much leadership and combat for him I think. I could be wrong but that is how it seems to me because of my failed playthrough of his route. I will try again on his route.
Thank you! :D
Aurelius' route requires a fair bit of combat and etiquette. And it may be easy to make decisions that throw you off his romance route. But good luck on your next try! :D
thank you for your help there, I did what you said and finally managed to get this romance route, seeing all them cute CG and endings keep making me giddy like a fan girl, oh wait i am a fan girl, it is just soo cute. now i need to get the other endings. I dread the bad ones.
No problem! And very glad you managed to unlocked his CGs!
We wish you luck with the other routes and unlock more eye-candies!
Hi! So if Aurelius' route requires a fair bit of combat and etiquette, wanna give a hint for what Serin and Nazir require pretty please?? Got Aurelius' third end with a lot of save reloading, would be a blast to know what i don't need to waste point on ;b
Nazir likes people with Leadership skills! As for Serin, high Charisma is recommended :D
Thank you!!
Raphael: " You can't do ALL the REQUEST."
Me: " ArE YoU ChAlLeNGiNg mE?"
And I did manage to finish all the item request. Got the Whole faction on my side.
Unlike others, I try to avoid death. Even if there is an achievement for that. And yea I ended everything without death. Yay~.
One thing for sure. Nifty Visuals good at creating good characters. I even thought "ah I want to romance Viola, Ceridwin, Sala and even Issa." Maybe in other games. Maybe.
The game not hard if you planned ahead and know what you are doing(and keep MANY saves)
To conclude, everything is enjoying.
You rose to Raphael's challenge and won! :D (And got an achievement for that too!)
We're happy you enjoyed the game and the characters! Thank you for playing!
Daily death...gotta Catch 'em all 🤣 me dying the 50th time trying to figure this out without a guide: (holds magnifying glass up to my eye) thats a twist... thats very twisty
Is it hard? rn I haven't played through yet but I do wanna find all the deaths(but it sounds hard without a guide)
The guide will be up very soon! :D To aid you in your journey to become a Death Master!
This visual novel was interesting because "BL".Anyway i hope you can release the guide because some of cg i didn't get it.
The guide will be up soon! :D The CG alternates in the gallery because there are two gender options!
After 8 hours and many deaths later, I finally got my first ending - Serin's good end. This game is so addicting and I'm kind of obsessed with unlocking achievements and the different routes (will probably skip bad ends because my heart probably won't be able to take it).
I love this game so much. The story is so intriguing with many twists and turns. I loved delving into each and every part of it. I'm sure there's much more to be uncovered and look forward to unearthing them.
The stats raising part was actually quite fun. It was a challenge to balance stats at first but it's very satsifying passing the checkpoints. Also making friends with the different factions was also pleasing.
The romance had a very natural buildup. It's not as romance heavy than I was expecting, but it would be difficult to have any more romance given how much story and gameplay there is. So no complaints here.
The music, art and everything is just so wonderful. Thank you Nifty Visuals for making this game. I've been following development and am so happy to be able to play it now.
Lastly, just thank you so much for making this LGBTQ+ friendly. It's such a lovely experience.
Can't wait to play the other routes!
Congrats on getting Serin's good end! :D
We're happy you're enjoying the mechanics, the story and the game! We always aim to make our game LBGTQ+ friendly as possible, and this one was a start :D Our romance part tended to be very slow-burn, but we're glad you felt it was fitting!
Good luck and we wish you fun exploring the other routes!
[Full review, no spoiler ] I really loved the game, I binged-played it the day I bought it (and it takes me the whole day, so it's very full of content, totally worth his price !!!), and I do not regret any second on it, even if it was very difficult (adventurous mod).
Story and characters: Truly, the story was rich, interesting, and well paced. I really liked the consistency of NPC, the various hints given through the game so everything makes sense in the end. All characters was equally deep and well written, especially the MC, I liked her genuine curiosity and her fighting spirit, she was a pleasure to embody. In the route I played (Aurelius) I felt the romance was a bit secondary but it didn’t bothered me much because I was so taken by the plot and the few romantic scenes displayed was really good, so it was worth. I still wish there was a bit more of them, a bit more of common scenes where the feeling just grows, and just a bit more romantic ending but that’s my only complain about the story itself, otherwise I truly thought it was perfect.
Also, I really enjoyed all the details about the request which were always tie with a little story, and the mission were really written too. The writing itself was a bit hard for a non-native speaker like me, but it really helps to set the mood of the royalty and the magic world surrounded us, and I easily stepped in, it was really good too.
[I just noticed a mistake on pronouns in one scene (I got «his » instead of «her ».) « Lady Rozencruz told me to send his warmest regards, etc. »]
Gameplay : I thought the gameplay was really well tied to the story. I was a sucker for this little «ting » when the checkbox appears to make me understand I have what it takes. But it took me at least 3 attempt from the middle of the game, to manage to balance my stat, mostly because there is no clue about what we will need, and I think it’s a bit annoying because it really makes you feel lost on your first playthrough... and even a bit afterward. (And I am a sucker for stat rising, you would be scare to see my notes on the first tokimeki because I really got serious).
I wish there was some stage represent on your stats, like lines on the bar showing us how much we need for the choices to come (or at least for the chapter to come). I also wish we had some feedback on affection from love interest, because we can check everything else, but not this, which is a bit frustrating on a romance game. (Also I wonder if it’s the thing in « daily life », because I don’t understand what it is ? But some notes on the screen similar to the other approbation would be welcomed anyway.) Same for the approbation of the different faction (noble, merchant, servant and commoners), it was a bit annoying to be able to see it only when request starts and when there is no pending request. Finally, I wished I could have seen all the alchemist items from the begining, even if not being able to create <span class="s-bl" <them<="" span="">it right away (</span>like in the requirement «recipe not learnt » or something like that. Because I could only do a correct run, once I had unlocked most of them, and so I could plan a good dispatching of magic skills in order to be able to craft all of them immediately. (Because we don’t have always the time to raise a stat to craft an item…) Finally the stat needed to be raise were not so intuitive (to Aurelius I think I will see for the other later), like, I wouldn’t have guess I needed to raise Etiquette with Aurelius, because this part of his route is really long to truly understand but it’s too late when you realize.
Of course it’s part of the game identity to lead you to death to help you get better, but, I still think we are lacking a bit on feedback. For example, when we miss a « test », we have no idea how much we should had get in order to pass it, so it’s very difficult to adjust, even after a death. But once again, this come from a sucker of stat rising /managment game who aimed at the most perfect runs possible.
Anyway, once my chart was set up, and after some trial and error (and a lot of saves and loading-back too I must confess), I really had a lot of fun because everything just pieces together so perfectly.
Art and UI : Well, art is gorgeous, the backgrounds (very well used of already made assets, it truly perfectly blend), same for the sprite. I wish there was an option to remove the shadow for NPC because I, as a very personal taste, prefer when there is nothing than shadows, but it wasn’t too annoying. The UI is very clean, I really liked it, it was simple to understand and navigates through things. I also really enjoyed the music which really helps to get the perfect mood on the mod of the scene and was always discreet enough to not disturb from the reading.
In the end, even if I struggle a bit to get the trick, and still needed to go back sometime because I was at 3 points of a success, I really, really loved the game very much, I highly recommend it and I am looking forward to discovering the other routes. Ayael
Hello!
First of all, thank you so much for the in-depth feedback! It is extremely helpful and also provided many points we can experiment with in the future!
Such as hints on what stats may be needed in the upcoming weeks is something we found extremely challenging to implement correctly, so something to indicate in the status bar is actually good to experiment with!
We admit that the focus of the game was more about the character's lives, so the romance probably came over as extremely slow-burn (though... we love slow-burn romances XD ) For Aurelius, the reason we choose Etiquette is mainly because it's the stat for "Knowing how to act in certain court situations and what not to do." Story-wise, it's something important to him, as someone who is always followed by unpleasant rumours.
In total, we're super happy you enjoyed the game! :D Thanking for taking your time to give us your feedback and we wish you a lot of fun on the remaining routes!
I had a lot of fun in the remaining route ! And yeah, the stat to raise actually make sense once you learn to know them, but I felt sometime you understand it just too late story-wise why this one is so important ! But since we can have the help of the checkpoint, it wasn't an issue afterward !
Thanks again a lot for this wonderful game, i was feeling really down and it really cheers me up and keep me busy the whole long week end !
Bought the game today and started to play. Enjoying it quite a lot so far, but it seems I have stumbled over a bug.
[SPOILER]
It seems that I have been unable to craft certain items, including the healing salve and more importantly, the truth serum. I have all skills high enough and enough coins but the 'Synthesize' button simply doesn't show - which causes me to fail the next step.
Hello! Please make sure one of the Princes has all magic requirements! Not separately :D Sadly, the princes will not work together for that!
Ah! That would explain it! Thank's so much for the quick response.