The Guardian’s Spell by Winged Cloud: Cancelled

The visual novel developer, Winged Cloud, has announced the cancellation of The Guardian’s Spell. The otome game had been gaining support through its Kickstarter page since March 7th, 2014, but had received no update prior to this since November 27th, 2014. The news came on May 28th, 2015 by Stuart Ritchie on Kickstarter, much to the surprise and disappointment of the game’s fans. After receiving £3,314 from 179 backers, supporters were simply told that refunds were being processed and that the project was now ‘closed’.

 

The Guardian’s Spell by Winged Cloud: Cancelled

 

The game had come from the same developers who gave us Sakura Spirit and Pyrite Heart. Sakura Spirit is a visual novel with plenty of sexual innuendo and boobelicious sightseeing. Pyrite Heart however, being Winged Cloud’s now one and only otome game, is slightly tamer as it aims itself at female fans more interested in romance and a solid plot. An otome game is primarily aimed at a female audience and stars a female heroine. Gameplay usually involves the player romancing a number of eligible bachelors with the aim of winning their hearts at the end. They can come in the form of visual novels, like Pyrite Heart, or simulation games. Such games tend to be less focussed on sexual content (although there are exceptions), and more focused on romance and emotion.

 

 

Pyrite Heart didn’t quite deliver however, and received a rather mixed response. Although players praised the art, they were disappointed with the story quality and slightly shallow characterisation. I played this game myself, and although I will say it was an enjoyable way to spend a few hours on a Sunday afternoon, I have to admit it wasn’t exactly a shining example of the otome genre.

 

Winged Cloud hasn’t given a reason as to why they have cancelled The Guardian’s Spell, but due to Pyrite Heart’s track record and the developer’s current focus on a new Sakura series (more boobs), it’s possible to theorise why. Some posters have said that the otome genre just isn’t profitable enough, considering the sales figures surrounding Pyrite Heart in comparison to Sakura Spirit.

 

The Guardian’s Spell by Winged Cloud: Cancelled

 

In all honesty, I don’t believe otome games are unprofitable or are only for meagre earners. What I do believe, on the other hand, is that if you don’t know your target audience very well, you can very easily fall into the red. In my opinion, the writing by Winged Cloud (from what was shown in Pyrite Heart and in the demo of The Guardian’s Spell) perhaps isn’t best suited for the English otome market. Even the imagery, although beautifully drawn, is rather odd at times.

 

 

 

These images from The Guardian’s Spell demo illustrate my point rather well. Lines like ‘SURPRISE SUNSHINE, MOFO!’, along with terms like ‘dude’, ‘man’ and ‘bro’ when referring to the heroine is very unusual in otome games. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong in using masculine slang in such games, but I imagine some otome players would be surprised, perhaps even off-put by it (for right or wrong).

 

 

Likewise some of the images seem to be very masculine, voyeuristic even, when depicting the heroine. A male ‘angel’, peeping on a heroine who’s scantily showcasing skin and side-boob? I’m not sure what the aim of such an image is… Is it supposed to be romantic? Although to be fair to the creators, I don’t know in what context this image appears as it wasn’t found in the demo. Even so, it’s hard to see what appeal it has for an audience that likes to focus on romancing male characters. The second image inspires the same confusion. Your eyes are drawn immediately to the heroine, posing suggestively as she shows off the halter lingerie that peeps out from behind her short frilly skirt. Adding three drooling guys in the background doesn’t suddenly make this image appealing to the feminine eye. It seems more like a Sakura Spirit image… Oh, wait…

 

The Guardian’s Spell by Winged Cloud: Cancelled
Look familiar?

 

Whatever the reason for cancelling The Guardian’s Spirt, and regardless of my own personal thoughts about Winged Cloud’s writing and imagery, I am still nonetheless saddened by the loss of an otome game. I don’t think Pyrite Heart was a bad game, but I don’t think it was particularly great either. I don’t know which of the three conclusions The Guardian’s Spell would have come under, ‘good’, ‘bad’ or ‘something in between’, but it would have been nice to find out.

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