Developer: Furry Tale
Genre: Dating Sim
Reviewed version: Final
Censored: No
Patch Needed: No
OS: Windows
Language: English
Lovely Overseer caught my attention when I saw a post about it on Reddit. While I’m not into anthro stuff (yet), I wanted to give this one a chance since I had a positive experience playing other games of this kind, like Love Stories: Furry Shades of Gay.
Pros
Beautiful art and smooth animation
Interesting story with likable characters
The soundtrack fits the mood and the setting
Solid gameplay
High replay value
Cons
There are some compatibility issues when playing it with a keyboard
It’s a bit short
Story
It puts the player in the shoes of Aster, a lieutenant in a military academy whose job is to train magically talented recruits who have poor control over their powers under the supervision of the ruthless headmaster of the academy, Mistress Leona. As it’s the case in most games of its genre, the plot serves more as an introduction, and all the focus is on its characters. I liked their interactions and learning about their circumstances, even though the routes were short and there wasn’t enough room to develop them further.
Gameplay
The game mechanics are solid. Each day has three different parts in which you can teach some specific subjects that’d increase your stats and give you some money, give your love interests individual classes to raise their affection, or rest to restore your energy. In addition, some events appear on specific days, so you have to be careful not to miss them.
By the way, some elements in the game reminded me of old-school dating sims. One of them is needing to buy gifts to win the girl you want to romance’s heart, with the added difficulty that the shop is not always available and giving them the wrong one would decrease their affection. Another one is how some choices can lead you to a bad ending depending on which girl you’re trying to date. For example, you won’t be able to get any of the trainees’ good endings if you let Neoma check your loyalty at the start of the game.
On the negative side, the game is not fully compatible with a keyboard. Pressing Ctrl to skip dialogue will speed up the animations in the segments in which you have to choose an activity, and pressing enter right after quick loading will load the game again instead of advancing the dialogue. It’s not a big issue per se because you can play it just fine with a mouse, but it may be annoying for anyone accustomed to playing VNs with a keyboard.
Audiovisuals
Artistically it’s gorgeous. Not only the characters and backgrounds are beautiful, but also the Live2D animations are smooth. What impressed me the most is that they went the extra mile animating the characters; they blink, breathe, and change their facial expressions as the conversation unfolds. I expected a bit more of the sex scenes, though. They weren’t bad, but they’d have been better if they had more movement.
I also liked the soundtrack a lot. It’s full of orchestral tracks that fit the setting of the game and the mood of each scene. Also, each of the characters has a theme that goes along with their personality, so a quiet character like Luna has a calm song while an imposing one like Neoma has an intense track.
Verdict: Very Good
Lovely Overseer is an enjoyable game fans of dating sims will love. It may not be perfect, and the price is a bit steep considering the game’s length, but its overall quality and replay value justify its purchase.