Magical Diary

 PC
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 16 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 16
  3. Negative: 1 out of 16

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  1. ghorahn
    Jul 5, 2012
    7
    This game's mechanics basically fall into two categories: (1) Dialogue tree interaction, which is used to push the story along various paths, and (2) going to 'classes' (and doing other similar activities) to develop your character's magical (and some non-magical) skills, which you use a handful of times over the course of the school year to do short dungeons, each of which is an 'exam'This game's mechanics basically fall into two categories: (1) Dialogue tree interaction, which is used to push the story along various paths, and (2) going to 'classes' (and doing other similar activities) to develop your character's magical (and some non-magical) skills, which you use a handful of times over the course of the school year to do short dungeons, each of which is an 'exam' for school. After the first play-through (which just took a few hours), I wasn't too excited about playing through it again. But then I looked at the achievements and saw that the variety of things you can do in the game is actually quite a bit wider than I thought. So, since then, I've played through it a bunch of times and just recently finishes all the steam achievements. Mind you, I like the anime style, I'm quite happy to play a female character (despite not being female myself), although this may explain why I kept romantically pursuing my cute-but-dowdy roommate Ellen on most every playthrough. I kinda wish the game offered a far broader variety of possible in-game events and that there weren't always the same core group of characters that the story revolves around (your two roommates and a part-demon boy who's assigned as your Sempai during initiation), but I still got a fair amount of mileage out of the game. I can't promise that you'll like it, but I did.… Expand
  2. BraceHare
    Aug 3, 2013
    6
    Too little choice, in terms of both your endgame options and in terms of your ability to characterize your own character. Reading long pre-written conversations when I know I would react differently in real life removes any sense of agency. At those moments where it was a game, though, it was good for what it was, and the writing wasn't terrible, although the characters were... well...IToo little choice, in terms of both your endgame options and in terms of your ability to characterize your own character. Reading long pre-written conversations when I know I would react differently in real life removes any sense of agency. At those moments where it was a game, though, it was good for what it was, and the writing wasn't terrible, although the characters were... well...I don't want to say 2-dimensional per-se, but most had the kind of depth you would expect from a high school student. I guess these are high school students though, so maybe that was actually good writing! I dunno.… Expand
  3. FurthestFlung
    Apr 7, 2013
    7
    This is far from a bad game, but a game I'd like to like more than I actually did. It promises character customization, but it's really only cosmetic except for the classes you take in-game to give yourself new spells, which is to say that early-game customization is limited to picking your haircut.

    This game might look like it has dungeon-crawling RPG elements in it, but don't be    This is far from a bad game, but a game I'd like to like more than I actually did. It promises character customization, but it's really only cosmetic except for the classes you take in-game to give yourself new spells, which is to say that early-game customization is limited to picking your haircut.

    This game might look like it has dungeon-crawling RPG elements in it, but don't be fooled, this is pretty much pure Visual Novel of the "spreadsheet statistics" variety with a minigame thrown in to check the numbers you've put on your spreadsheet.

    With that said, the world itself is certainly engaging, and Hanako Games certainly took the time to write in basically every conceivable configuration of paths down a conversation tree that they or fans could think of.

    A game like this ultimately rests entirely upon its characters and story, and I ultimately found myself enjoying getting to know most (with a few disturbing exceptions) of the quite colorful characters and the world as a whole.

    The world deserves some special mention, as well at first blush, it's just a Harry Potter ripoff, but the world actually goes deeper than that, and has an old Fairy Tale feel, where the magic isn't whimsical as in Potter (at least, the early books,) but rather the entire concept of the magical creatures has a very dark side to them. Fairies may be beautiful, but they'll also steal your baby away, never to be seen again because of fickle and hardly-explained rules that put you slightly on edge. (As opposed to evil being personified by Death Eaters with a name and face, the "evil" here is more of a nebulous, but ever-present threat.)

    For someone who likes a darker Grimm Tales version of magic, it's quite intriguing.

    Ultimately, I'm left wanting more, and that's probably the best argument for any story-based game like this.

    Unfortunately, I was also left wanting more puzzles in the dungeon minigames, as well. It felt like such a waste to have this huge list of spells I learned in class, and then only have one chance to even use some of the later-game spells.    … Expand
  4. UjuidarEhcram
    Jun 3, 2012
    8
    Magical Diary is a dating simulation where you essentially play as a female Harry Potter, trying to survive a year at a magical school. It's American-made, but very Japanese in style. Most of the gameplay is interacting with characters and building your own story with short dungeon crawl segments to make use of the magic you learn.

    I had a lot of fun with this game. It's fairly short    Magical Diary is a dating simulation where you essentially play as a female Harry Potter, trying to survive a year at a magical school. It's American-made, but very Japanese in style. Most of the gameplay is interacting with characters and building your own story with short dungeon crawl segments to make use of the magic you learn.

    I had a lot of fun with this game. It's fairly short (~4hrs) but there are many paths to take, and you won't see most of the content in a single playthrough. The characters are interesting and believable. The game sadly lacks a plot, but you probably won't miss it too much. The dungeon segments are neat, but too short and shallow to add much. You get tons of neat spells; it's a shame that most go unused.

    If you think you might like it, there's a lot of fun packed into this game. However, some will be turned off by the anime style and by the girliness of it. Check out the demo online if you're interested; saves carry over.    … Expand
  5. ryuey
    Jun 19, 2012
    2
    I bought this game because I enjoy RPG's and like the idea of the visual novel element to the game. I also like to support indie developers. The art is quite good but I found the story and game play quite boring. I really wouldn't recommend this game to anyone who isn't a massive fan of Anime in general.
  6. Dirizhabl
    Sep 16, 2013
    10
    Immediately apologize for my bad English. Oh, I'm sorry.
    This game has made me a very positive impression. I finished the game twice, and I want to play more. With that, the first time I played the 6 hours row.
    What I liked: 1. Story. On the one hand, the player can greatly affect it. On the other hand, the story line, which remains unchanged, is very good. 2. Yuri. The fact that in    Immediately apologize for my bad English. Oh, I'm sorry.
    This game has made me a very positive impression. I finished the game twice, and I want to play more. With that, the first time I played the 6 hours row.

    What I liked:
    1. Story. On the one hand, the player can greatly affect it. On the other hand, the story line, which remains unchanged, is very good.
    2. Yuri. The fact that in the game can choose a lesbian relationship, and yaoi is not possible in principle, I really like.
    3. Characters. Good draw. Nature of the characters are well thought out. And that's fine too.
    4. There are times where you need to work the brain.

    What confused me:
    Some of the male characters look like as girls.

    And now what I did not like categorically:
    It's nothing. In this game, I did not find anything that would cause me disgusted.

    Conclusion: The game is great. Wonderful. And I can even say a masterpiece. Though the gameplay is simple, but as the saying goes: "All ingenious is simple."

    I wrote a little. But I think that is enough.    … Expand
  7. naus
    Oct 15, 2013
    8
    Enjoyable if at times a little repetitive, we can likely forgive it that due to a relative lack of competition in the genre. Note that not all the relationship paths are equally as detailed. Try the teacher one at least once.
  8. Anbalsilfer
    Apr 2, 2014
    9
    The writing and visuals in this little gemstone of a Visual Novel are simply top notch. The drama is rich and engaging, and the visuals are simple enough to leave just enough to the player's imagination while still adding plenty of emotive color. The game's only real drawback is that, while it provides a magic system of decent depth and complexity, it doesn't really give the player enoughThe writing and visuals in this little gemstone of a Visual Novel are simply top notch. The drama is rich and engaging, and the visuals are simple enough to leave just enough to the player's imagination while still adding plenty of emotive color. The game's only real drawback is that, while it provides a magic system of decent depth and complexity, it doesn't really give the player enough ways to improve or influence outcomes by actually USING magic. A custom-level designer for the game, allowing players to create and share their own magical challenges would also have been absolutely awesome, but is unfortunately not available. Still, I recommend this strongly to anyone with even a modest weakness for magical high fantasy, highschool drama or romance. While short in terms of a single playthrough, it offers amazing replayability thanks to the wealth of decision paths throughout the story.… Expand
  9. Paikia
    Feb 6, 2014
    8
    'Magical Diary' is a cool japanese simulation game. You play a girl during her first year in magic school. The idea in the game is to make friends, get along with your teachers, solve some puzzles (exams to be solved with magic), and maybe get a boyfriend or even get married.

    There are quite a lot of options to explore, so beating the game once isn't all there is to it. I've gone    'Magical Diary' is a cool japanese simulation game. You play a girl during her first year in magic school. The idea in the game is to make friends, get along with your teachers, solve some puzzles (exams to be solved with magic), and maybe get a boyfriend or even get married.

    There are quite a lot of options to explore, so beating the game once isn't all there is to it. I've gone through three different branches, although one of them ended prematurely, as it was my first game and I didn't bother to read any of the instructions or guidelines, so I got myself expelled from school and didn't get far.

    The graphics aren't anything special, but aren't bad either. The music is nice, the story has both funny, serious and dark elements, and all in all - the game is fun to play.

    In my own personal list of favorite japanese simulation games, Magical Diary gets the respectful third place (where Long Live The Queen is the runner up, and Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale is the winner).    … Expand

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  1. DarkZero
    Jun 22, 2012
    60
    While I understand the irony in despising a game meant for a female audience, I really cannot love this game simply because of the female inclination. Had a little bit more love (or the promise of an expansion pack) been put into this game, I may not dislike it so much.
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