A Magical High School Girl Review

A Magical High School Girl
Platform: PC, via Steam
Player(s): 1
Price: $9.99 USD

​These days, a top-down roguelike dungeon crawler with retro-style graphics is the most common style of game you can find on any platform. Every now and then, though, somebody comes around to try and make something unique out of that formula. A Magical High School Girl has a really interesting premise, but does it break the mold of the most overdone genre in modern gaming?

A Magical High School Girl sees the player take control of a girl on her way home from school. You cross paths with an injured witch, who grants you magical powers and whisks you away to another dimension full of monsters.

Powers can be acquired in the form of Magicites, little stones you find at random within the roguelike dungeons which make up each level. While there are colored Magicites which grant the player specific elements, the unique mechanic comes with the white "Anonymous Magicites". These Magicites can be named by the player, and the name will determine what kind of magic that stone grants you. The naming algorithm is complex and detailed, allowing for the recognition of words like "fire" or "water". There are also some easter eggs within the naming system, such as "Kamehameha".

As fun as it is to try out silly combinations of words to make new spells, this is unfortunately the extent of the game's innovation. Each new level of the dungeon is so identical to the last that it becomes a chore to find the exit. This is down to the limited tileset which consists of "grass" and "concrete" with some minor variations here and there. The art isn't bad by any means, just a bit standard.

Of course there are different dungeons over the course of the game, so not EVERY level looks the same as the first, but each section within those dungeons blends together in the worst way. This, unfortunately, is a problem with the roguelike genre as a whole.

The items and enemies within the game have a nice theme to them, but it quickly gets repetetive. All of your healing items are various forms of potato chips, which have to be identified with "Professor Perfume" in order to find out how much of an effect they'll have. It's generally better to just eat them and find out, since I haven't encountered any chips which will have negative effects.

On top of the generally uninspired setting, the controls feel clunky at best. The game recommends controller use, which is immensely more comfortable than a keyboard in this case, but movement in particular feels unresponsive. Occasionally you stop moving without explanation, which could mean that an enemy is nearby (as combat is taken in turns, including movement) but it could also just have been nothing.

Ultimately, this is an alright game. The spell naming mechanic can be a lot of fun, and it has enough content to justify the price. I'm not personally a big fan of the genre, so of course I'm biased, but I do think that roguelike fans will find something to enjoy with this game.

​-Justin

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Graphics: OKAY
Sound: OKAY
Gameplay: GOOD
Value: GOOD
 
OVERALL: GOOD

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FULL DISCLOSURE: This game was provided to A-To-J Connections free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of review.