Magical Diary
Encyclopedia
Magical Diary is a visual novel
video game about a young freshman girl at a magical school. It was released on June 19, 2011 for Windows
, Mac OS
and Linux
. It is a fantasy game with elements of romance
. The game uses anime
-style graphics and is written in English
. It was developed and published by Hanako Games
.
She is a wildseed freshman from New Hampshire. She is good at running and likes sports but does not like to sing in public.
Virginia is the heroine's roommate. She has two older brothers, William and Donald.
Ellen is another roommate of thee heroine. A wildseed who has a complicated relationship with her mother and stepfather. A smart girl and diligent student.
He is a senior student from Falcon hall. If the heroine agrees to complete the initiation, he becomes her senior.
Professor Hieronymous Grabiner teaches Red and Blue magic.
Donald is Virginia's older brother from Wolf hall. He is mischievous and spends a lot of time in detentions.
The game received 4 of 5 stars on Gamezebo with reviewer Cassandra Khaw writing: "A dating sim at heart, Magical Diary's anime-inspired visuals lend well to the atmosphere. [...] Charmingly indie, Magical Diary is definitely worth the purchase."
Gamertell gave a score of 87/100 to the game, writing: "It’s a great example of the recent assortment of games for girls inspired by the Princess Maker model and the possible trophies to earn provide even more incentive to keep replaying to discover as much as you can about Iris Academy and its characters."
JayIsGames wrote about the game: "Despite a few hiccups and quibbles, Magical Diary: Horse Hall is probably the best visual novel/life simulation out there in its fantasy genre right now."
RockPaperShotgun wrote about the game: "As it is, almost all the replayability is on the story side, especially on the romance side, and even with a fast-forward button to skip scenes you’ve already seen, you’ll be wading through a lot of the same text as you poke around. That’s standard practice for this kind of game though, and Magical Diary is better about it than many imported Japanese ones I’ve seen [...]"
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...
video game about a young freshman girl at a magical school. It was released on June 19, 2011 for Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
and Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
. It is a fantasy game with elements of romance
Otome game
An is a video game that is targeted towards a female market, where one of the main goals, besides the plot goal, is to develop a romantic relationship between the female player character and one of several male characters. This genre is most established in Japan. The label includes both visual...
. The game uses anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
-style graphics and is written in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. It was developed and published by Hanako Games
Hanako Games
Hanako Games, is an independent video game development company founded by Georgina Bensley that develops PC games mostly involving female heroines centered around fantasy- and anime-inspired style. Games on the site include Fatal Hearts, Cute Knight, Summer Session, and Science Girls. The website...
.
Gameplay
As it is a visual novel, the player reads through the story and makes choices at crucial points to change the outcome, leading to different endings. The player can create a custom female student. The game also contains puzzles in which the player has to use spells to pass the exam. Every puzzle has multiple solutions.Plot
You have been invited to attend a magical school. Here you can make new friends, learn dozens of spells, face exams in the school dungeons, run for class office, and try to find a date for the May Day Ball. There are many students at Iris Academy and they are all divided up into Magical Halls; for the girls there are the Horse Hall, the Butterfly Hall, and the Snake Hall. The boys are divided in the Wolf Hall, the Falcon Hall, and the Toad Hall.Characters
- Mary Sue (default name)
She is a wildseed freshman from New Hampshire. She is good at running and likes sports but does not like to sing in public.
- Virginia Danson
Virginia is the heroine's roommate. She has two older brothers, William and Donald.
- Ellen Middleton
Ellen is another roommate of thee heroine. A wildseed who has a complicated relationship with her mother and stepfather. A smart girl and diligent student.
- Damien Ramsey
He is a senior student from Falcon hall. If the heroine agrees to complete the initiation, he becomes her senior.
- Professor Grabiner
Professor Hieronymous Grabiner teaches Red and Blue magic.
- Donald Danson
Donald is Virginia's older brother from Wolf hall. He is mischievous and spends a lot of time in detentions.
Reception
Magical Diary received positive reception.The game received 4 of 5 stars on Gamezebo with reviewer Cassandra Khaw writing: "A dating sim at heart, Magical Diary's anime-inspired visuals lend well to the atmosphere. [...] Charmingly indie, Magical Diary is definitely worth the purchase."
Gamertell gave a score of 87/100 to the game, writing: "It’s a great example of the recent assortment of games for girls inspired by the Princess Maker model and the possible trophies to earn provide even more incentive to keep replaying to discover as much as you can about Iris Academy and its characters."
JayIsGames wrote about the game: "Despite a few hiccups and quibbles, Magical Diary: Horse Hall is probably the best visual novel/life simulation out there in its fantasy genre right now."
RockPaperShotgun wrote about the game: "As it is, almost all the replayability is on the story side, especially on the romance side, and even with a fast-forward button to skip scenes you’ve already seen, you’ll be wading through a lot of the same text as you poke around. That’s standard practice for this kind of game though, and Magical Diary is better about it than many imported Japanese ones I’ve seen [...]"