Made Marion Review by Francisca
EARLY ACCESS REVIEW
"I'm Lady Marion, and if you haven't heard of me, you're obviously not from around here."
Keep
in mind this review is based on the Early Access version, with only one
available route. More routes will be released once they are completed.
Made
Marion is a kickstarter, adventure, fantasy, indie, otome game created
by Velvet Cupcake Games. The game is inspired by the stories and
medieval times of Robin Hood, but instead it follows the leading lady,
Marion, set in the magical land of Avalon. What seems, on the surface,
to be a political struggle between the sheriff and Robin Hood, but
something much darker lurks in the shadows.
Lady Marion, a young noblewoman, is removed from her
position of power by her father. He wants to send her off to marry (the
rather young and sexy) Lord Geoffrey, the Sheriff of Nottingham, in an
arranged marriage. There are two distinct paths to choose from, with
each path having its own set of love interests and different storylines.
The game has 7 love interests in total, of which 2 are LGBTQ+ romance
options. Face your "destiny" and plan to marry Lord Geoffrey or fight
your fate and escape from the arranged marriage. The choice is yours.
Will you become a spy or a benevolent fighter? Will you form an alliance
with the freedom fighters to face the Sheriff? The biggest question:
will you find love? Although at this moment only Robin's route is
available.
Sherwood Love Interests:
- Robin of Locksley: The leader of the freedom fighters and a big flirt.
- John: Will's half brother and second in command, a friendly giant, he is so dreamy.
- Will the Scarlet Blade: John's half brother, a bit of a hothead, but who doesn't like a "bad boy" hothead?
Nottingham Love Interests:
- Lord Geoffrey: Also called the Sherrif of Notthingham, so mysterious and dark.
- Meissa: A kind and a bit naughty sage.
- Alanna Dale: A bard that works in Geoffrey's court.
- Gui la Londe: A handsome knight.
The
world of Made Marion has a very interesting lore and political intrigue
with different civilizations, traditions and laws, and is full of
magical creatures. Anything you can imagine is possible.
The
developers thankfully abandoned outdated damsel cliches and gave us a
strong, spunky and admirable heroine. Lady Marion feels very relatable,
with her conflicting emotions, inner struggles, insecurities and
feelings of shame, all the while still trying to be ladylike and making
the right decisions (or not), with a mature yet comical undertone.
Making her easily loveable and enjoyable to play.
Graphics and sounds
Made Marion
is a gorgeous and stunning game with a compelling storyline that sucks
you in from beginning to end. The game has a beautiful fully voiced lore
introduction and a very well polished graphical user interface. Amazing
sound effects with stunning classical instrumental background music
like flutes, harps and lutes setting the medieval atmosphere and making
you feel totally immersed in arion's world. Sometimes I just turn on
the game to listen to the beautiful and relaxing music and sound
effects. The CG and background art is drop dead gorgeous and very well
drawn. The love interests are truly a handsome bunch.
One small tip, you can use your mouse wheel to scroll back on conversations you want to read again!
Verdict
I
can't wait for more routes to unlock so I can finally be with my
favorite love interest. My obsessive love for Lord Geoffrey. I'm calling
dips on that one fellow Otome Lovers :P Actually all the sprites seem
handsome, very interesting, with each their own appeal and (eventually) a
background story, they are well made. I think I might be in love with
all of them (sorry Lord Geoffrey, I will (try) to be forever faithful).
Unfortunately, not all handsome sprites will be romanceable. The
developer, however, has hinted that one of the most handsome of them
all, is a romanceable love interest with an upcoming DLC.
I can not express this strongly enough. I highly recommend this game, although it is still in early access and only one route is available, it is a must buy for all fans of Otome, worth every penny. I am looking forward to what the future brings for Made Marion.
Otome Lovers wishes to thank Velvet Cupcake Games for providing free review copies for this game.
Be sure to check out Otome Lovers other excellent review of this game by Amjara & Foxxelle
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