Boku No Shokora

(Free - English Patched Japanese)

"I will exchange your younger brother back to you in return for your homemade chocolate." With these words, Komachi finds herself forced into a meeting with Takaomi, all in an attempt to rescue her kidnapped little brother.

Honestly, I had been trying to download and play this game for a long time. It took forever for me to understand what I had to do to get the game to work and I ultimately realized something after finishing all the endings to this game: it wasn't worth it.

While this was originally a free Japanese game, it was translated into English and patched, but you can still see strong Japanese sensibilities, especially with how big of a deal Valentines Day chocolate is. I didn't mind that, really. No, where my problems came in were the two characters.

Komachi was a total tsundere, always over-reacting and punching Takaomi for the littlest thing. First of all, I hate violent tsundere characters, when the girl beats up the guy over every little thing, including things that are her own fault, I immediately take a strong dislike of her. Takaomi, really didn't fair much better for me. He has no idea of any social conventions. While that could be entertaining and possibly endearing, he didn't even understand basic things that a ten year old would (and probably plenty of kinds younger than that) and he kept being needlessly oblivious.

The romance of the game was pretty much none existent - even on the 'couple end'. Or maybe, I was just left so cold because of their personalities that I didn't care at all about the romance by that point. As extra fun, you have to complete certain ends before you can unlock the others. For example, on my first playthrough, I unlocked ending number one. Even if I had changed certain answers, I still could not have gotten the fourth ending on that playthrough.

Anyway, the game is short and, if you either like or can ignore violent tsunderes, a somewhat enjoyable to pass an hour or two

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My Teacher

(Free)

You are a very talented teacher, nationally famous for your work. One day, you receive a phone call from a very powerful businessman, requesting your immediate aid. Because of the importance of the client, you rush to meet him personally in his office in the city. He then introduces you to his 4 EXTREMELY handsome sons (each having a different mother) and says, "One of these boys will be the next CEO of this company, but none of them are ready. They all still act like children. I ask that you train one of them with the best of your ability to become a mature adult, ready for my position." Problem is, you only get 3 days to do this. Are you ready to take on your greatest challenge yet?

First of all, I gotta admit that I love the idea behind this game. I was really taken with the idea and I liked how each of the guys had a pretty obvious problem and it was just left to you to figure out how best to help him become the man to take over his father's company.

The art was nice and I loved the choices you got to make.

However, the writing was kind of awful. Not to say that there were a lot of mistakes, because I honestly don't remember many, but the writing was almost identical on each path. The guys all talked the same, had the same questions and the same fears about taking over the company.

There were only two differences in each playthough. The first was what was talked about during their 'quite time' together at the end of the first day (I believe) and the other was exactly what problems the guys had to overcome. Otherwise, the writing was practically copy/paste from each path.

I thought this was a real shame because, while the guys were mostly good looking, I'm the sort of girl that much prefers diverse personalities over diverse looks. On that count, this game wasn't very good. It was a fairly fun and simply way to while away a lazy Saturday.

On lemmasoft

dUpLicitY ~Eternal Lie~

(Free)

Yukina is a normal 17-year-old girl.
She lives a seemingly ordinary life with her boyfriend, Youji, beside her.
But just like anyone else, she also has a secret.
A deep secret… down in the underground lab…

To call this a demo is not fair. The entire story is there, just truncated. I kind of view this as the teaser or preview to whet your interest for the commercial, longer and more involved version of the game. And it worked wonderfully for me.

Honestly, before I played this game, I wasn't too sure about it. But, once I started playing it, I found it very interesting. Even this obviously shortened version was enough to make me curious about the rest of the story and to see how the plot and characters could be fleshed out more. Even though I got one of the so called 'bad' ends the first time through. I really don't think it was though, it just wasn't overly happy.

Anyway, as this game is free shareware, I would highly recommend it if you like light mystery/sci-fi with your romance.

I don't know how good the commercial version is, because I haven't bought it yet. Once I get some of the other games cleared off my computer, I'll be buying it though.

Official Site

Starry Sky - In Spring

(Japanese with Fan English Translation Patch)

They've been best friends for years. Just the three of them. They even study astronomy at the same school together. But, when and old friend from her past shows up, proclaiming his love for her, friendships change in ways they never expected. Perhaps even growing into romance.

This is the first ever Japanese original game I've played. I found the fan translated patch and considering how desperately I had been wanting to play this game... Well. First I must say: buy the game. If it's at all possible for you to, please, please, please buy the game. Not only will you have your hardcopy available all the time, but you will also be supporting the otome game industry. I think the game's about $35 at amazon, but it is totally worth it.

If you couldn't guess by that last paragraph, I love this game. Pretty much everything about it is just awesome. The characters are all likable and the art is so pretty. This is a voices game and thankfully none of the voices are annoying (unlike some games I've played). I don't know much Japanese, but I think the translators did an amazing job.

My favorite thing about this game is how, even while you're romancing one guy, the other two still are there. They're still friends and, usually, being general pains in the butt. I love that aspect of the game. It really left me feeling that these were four friends that were so close and... Honestly, is it bad that the friendship aspect of the game overrode the romance for me?

It really did though, as much as I like each of the guys, I loved them even more when they're interacting with each other. I also thought the girl, before she started getting bogged down by romantic feelings, fit in with them perfectly.

No links this time, as I'm sure any search will reveal the English Patch and how-to instructions. And I refuse to enable piracy.

Nicole

($20 - Free Demo - from Winter Wolves)

Nicole is just starting her first year at her first choice college. She's got wonderful plans for her future. But, almost as soon as she arrives she starts hearing about girls going missing only to turn up three days later - with no memory of what happened to them. Nicole, a big fan of mystery novels, takes it upon herself to investigate. It isn't long, however, before she catches the kidnapper's eye.

'Discover the true identity of the culprit. Careful, you could be dating him!' - WW website

Okay, first let me say that this game was just amazing. I was definitely looking forward to this game, but I didn't expect it to be as awesome as it was. I've played enough of Winter Wolves' games to be able to notice the increase in quality and there were several things that took a step up in this game.

For one thing, having a mystery plot was great. It lessened the focus on the romance and made the relationship seem much more organic. I won't say that the culprit was exactly a surprise to me because…well… It wasn't. But I will say that, without a doubt, it added a little something to the story. And, it was a wonderful decision on the creator's part to make the culprit one of the guys you can actually date. That ending had me enthralled - even more so than the rest - and I must give kudos to the writer. Some pretty powerful stuff there and I will say it was handled remarkably. They had to be extremely gutsy to try something like that and I hope it pays off. The romance was also handled really well. What I found so great about it was the gradual increase of the character's affection for each other. They was certainly enough scenes for it, and none of them went to waste.

Now, let's talk about the other thing that makes this game stand out: characters. Nicole herself is up first. She certainly has the same basic personality type as most leading lady's in these games (outgoing, cheerful, ect.) but with a strong streak of independence that you don't always see. I do think she'd be a great friend to have and it was a lot of fun putting myself in her shoes for awhile as she is quite different from me.

I usually am a pretty good judge of characters, being able to usually point at the guy that'll be my favorite after just a few moments of gameplay. Knowing the type I usually (at least in theory) like, I thought I knew which of the guys it was going to be even before I started playing. Let's just say…I was wrong. Through no fault of my own. Usually, when I first play a game like this, I go through a meeting or two with each of the guys (if they're not introduced in the main storyline, which in this game, they were) and then decide which one I want to pursue first. With this game however, first meeting of a certain guy and I could have pointed at the computer screen and said 'him, he's going to be my favorite' with almost complete certainty and I wouldn't have been entirely wrong. However, he did get quite a bit of competition in my heart from a very unexpected source. Know what I said earlier about being a good judge of characters? This is one time it failed me beautifully. I mean, seriously, what do you do when you have a knee-jerk first impression of a guy that leaves you almost hating him? Seriously, I kind of did hate one of the guys when I first met him. And then, the way the story is constructed, I had to run into him several more times before the romances fully diverged - and, wouldn't you know it, each and every time I wound up liking him more and more and being extremely curious about him. I already had a strange feeling that I'd probably actually like him - doubtlessly more than I should considering my opinion of him at first. And, what do you know, I did. So much so that he became a very close second favorite. (For those curious, the guys I'm talking about are Ted and Jeff.)

I will say, at times there was some serious mood whiplash between the romance and the mystery, but the characters carried the day.

Official Site

There is also currently a yuri (GxG) version of this game in production. It's going slowly, but it is going.

Roomates

($14.99 - Per Character - Free Demo - from Winter Wolves)

In this game you play as either Max or Anne (purchased separately) as they take on their first year in college. Sharing dorm life with four other tenants, you must make sure they still make time for their studies and all those fun extra-curricular activities. And, maybe, even have a little time for romance.

To the best of my knowledge, this is WW's first foray into the comedic side of romance. And, really, this game was a lot of fun. For the most part. I did, however, have a few issues. First though, the good things.

I loved the characters. Almost universally, I thought they were all awesome. In fact, there was only one that I didn't much care for - and that was really from more of a romance based perspective, because she'd probably be an awesome friend.

I also really like the stat raising format for this game. You don't choose one even for the whole week - but schedule a full week, with three events for each day, at a time. This screen shot will give you an idea. I thought that was really great and I loved how the characters all lived together and were (somewhat unwilling as the case may be) friends.

However, I didn't like the way you get 'events' for several people at once. It's really difficult to explain, but say you're romancing Person E - unless you choose to skip all events without them, you're going to get too much information about Person G when you're not romancing them. Basically, there is no character/story arc that you can only see if you romance the character. If you go through the game watching all the events, the only new information you'll see is the Winter Break and the Spring Break scenes. Plus a couple of dates that play out very much the same no matter who you're dating.

Now this is just personal preference, but I much prefer games that give you more information about the character you are actually dating as opposed to those you might just be only friends with.

Also, with this game, you see right away if the character you're romancing likes the choice you made or not while in one of the events. This lead me to quit roleplaying (as I much prefer to do which is why I like VN's more) and start making the choices that I knew the character would like. I don't know if there's a way tis could be changed, but this was the first time I felt this displeased with this setup while playing a Winter Wolves game.

Final note: The humor in this game was merely okay for me. While there was a few funny instances, most of it fit quite well in the realm of sitcoms, which I've never found very amusing.

Now, although this wasn't my cup of tea - as they say - this is Winter Wolves most popular dating sim and one of their most popular game, period.

Official Site

Memoirs of an Angel

(Free - 2010 version)

After the death of the mighty Emperor Osirus, the nation of Tyraca is in turmoil. The former 'princess', a young angel that acted as second in command for the Emperor, must make a choice. Will she stay in the palace, fighting against the new ruler - Osirus' younger brother, Nefferon - from inside, or will she leave to start a revolution?

Honestly, this game had a lot of potential - unfortunately, mostly failed potential. That is the major reason that I am so looking forward to the remake of this game. Anyhow, the storyline sounded good, but a lot of things were not explained very well.

The characters were all interesting enough, but each romance started to feel very forced at the end. And rather stereotypical. To be honest with you, I fond myself the most interested in the path with the so called 'villain' because his path was, at least, interesting and somewhat emotional. The others felt short and a bit nonsensical at times.

The story was rather short, itself. I liked the idea behind it, but the actual writing needed to be fleshed out a lot.

I really look forward to the remake as I think it will be amazing.

On lemmasoft forums

Serafina's Saga

(Free)

Serafina has grown up in the jungle, never traveling to visit towns or cities. However, when her father is taken from her, she sets out on a rescue mission to the capital city. What follows is adventure, romance and the truth about Serafina's heritage.

(Okay, I'll admit, that summary of mine is rubbish. However, this game is way too awesome for me to do any justice to it in a mere spoiler-free paragraph.)

Honestly, everything about this game was so awesome. (Rather, is so awesome, it's just been awhile since I played it and now, writing this review, I want to replay it.)  The bulk of the story is based around Serafina and her travel to the city and the events that transpire after she arrives. As well as her investigating her and her father's past. I want to clear that up right now because, while there is romance in the game, it takes something of a backseat (though it was certainly there and rather...appealing at times) to the character of Serafina. Which is something a really liked.

And although I didn't think I'd like that art style, once I was fully immersed in the story, it would have felt odd to have any other art style. The secondary characters were all interesting. I won't say I actually liked many of them upon first meeting - as most of them I didn't - but once you actually got to know them a little better...Well, even if they weren't likable, they were at least sympathetic or interesting.

The story was one more of discovery and friendship/filial love than romantic love. The characters were all developed before romance started coming into effect - even if there was some early attraction amongst the characters as early as their first meeting. The romances themselves all had a different feel - as benefits romance with vastly different people. I certainly had favorite characters (and Serafina was one of my favorites) but of the guys, Rueben stole my heart rather early on. I also, could tell you the order of my favorites with the other characters - that's how amazing these characters were - but I shall spare you that.

This is one game that I recommend very highly.

Official Site

Check the date. In August of 2014, the creator is supposed to release her second VN - Quantum of Conscience!

Pyrite Heart

(Free)

This is the story of Princess Ahri who, after agreeing to a bet with her brother, takes herself off to public school. Unable to curb her competitive tendencies, Ahri immediately sets her sights on taking down the student body president.

It's games like these that spoil me. While it is rather short, the characters were all so likable and just take a look at that gorgeous artwork.

Okay, first of all, Ahri is a great leading lady. The wonderful thing about her is that she is so imperfect. She's loud and competitive and driven and - sometimes - a bit of a bitch. I've heard people complain a lot about her, saying that they really didn't like her, but it was all those things that made her an amazing character for me to play as. She's so different than the usually meek girls that are usually the leads in these kind of games. But anyway, it's because of her first and foremost that I enjoyed this game so much.

The guys (two love interests) were very much of a type. One was the 'perfect' rival and the other was the humorous friend servant. I did have a favorite, but I really liked both the guys so much. I think part of the reason for that was because of how well they played off Ahri

The story is kind of short, but considering that it's a free game (and there are only two romance-able guys) that's rather expected.

If you're interested, the artists for this game are working on another - longer and commercial - game. More information here.

On lemmasoft

Days of the Divine

(Free)

Long ago, two gods fought each other. A village watched in awe. One god was imprisoned - the other vanished. Many years passed and now a strange mist lingers around that village. A mist that robs people of their memories. This is the story of a young shrine maiden and her struggle to discover why the mist lingers on.

I really wasn't that sure about this game. I really didn't know what to make of it just by looking at the page over at lemmasoft for it. But, as it was free, I willingly downloaded it. Let me tell you, this game is simply amazing.

First of all, I loved and adored the way the paths wove together. It was also really interesting to see the way the stories changed slightly depending on which path you were on. That being said, I think there was something of an internal consistency to this game that would have benefited on a recommended playing order. (At least my feelings about that.)

I really liked the story a lot. It was interesting and quite unusual. The art style was also great.

However, the really amazing thing about this game was the way I came to care about each character in the story - surprisingly enough. Each of the three romance-able guys are very, very different than the other two and really have different ideas and thoughts. And they are even kind of enemies. I will say that while I did have a favorite of the guys (Liufan) all this combined to make me really enjoy the game and adore the characters.

Interesting note: this was actually a nanoreno game (which means the entire game - from start to finish - was finished in one month (march, I think)) but the only indication of this is that there is a lack of cgs in the game. Otherwise, it is an amazingly deep and polished product.

On lemmasoft forums

Cafe Rouge

(Free - Online Only)

Isis is just your normal, average, everyday teen (or so she thinks) until she takes a job at Cafe Rouge. While it appears nice and normal on the surface, Isis soon discovers that everything is not as pleasant as it first appears. With romance, past lives and a non-human waitstaff to contend with, what's a girl to do?

Okay, first, I will keep the spoiler of what the waitstaff really consists of out of here. I'd love to talk about that, but lets just say that I was less than enamored with that particular twist. It did make things interesting... But it wasn't for me.

Anyways...

I honestly hate to say it now, but I was originally put off of this game because of the artwork. Yeah, I don't know what's wrong with me - especially now because I'd say the art is gorgeous.

Those three are the love interests in the game. Left to right: Ron, Valen and Antoine.
(I will admit that, even though I had a bit of a knee-jerk reaction to him, Antoine became my favorite of the romance-able guys, followed very closely by Ron.)

Seriously, the thing that kept me coming back to this game as I finished each chapter was the art. And a healthy dose of boredom. Because it certainly wasn't the story which was...odd. It was inventive once you got going down the paths for the guys, while still drawing heavily on pop-culture but at first, it really felt a bit like the same old same old.

This game is told in chapter format - with each chapter currently out. To proceed, you will need a key number that you unlocked from the previous chapter, based on you decisions. Also, this game has a cooking minigame (that is kind of challenging) and a maze (that nearly killed me).

You can play this game at deviantart - and my link is to the main folder for this game.

Play Online

Planet Stronghold

($24.99 - Free Demo - From Winter Wolves)

Play as a new recruit assigned to the most well-known human outpost in the galaxy: Planet Stronghold. In this game you can play as either Lisa or Joshua Nelson. Will you fight the aliens? Will you befriend them? Will you romance a comrade? It's all up to you in this sci-fi RPG style game.

Okay, while this isn't a straight-up otome game, there are enough romances (as subplots) that I am adding it here anyway.

I liked the basis for the game - stereotypical as it is. You play as a newly arrived Nelson (either Lisa or Joshua - choosing between a male and a female having no bearing on the game except who you can romance) and soon find yourself leading a team of cadets in an effort to either help the king or help overthrow the king. For me, the choice of whose side to join was one of the best things about this game. Though the artwork wasn't shabby either.

The RPG system was a lot of fun and you could customize the characters quite a bit, actually. While I didn't like the battle system as much as Loren's (from the same creator) it wasn't distracting. I will admit, I loved the artwork for this game. It has kind of a mid-nineties feel to it.

For me, the weak point in this game is usually what is the most important for me: the writing. Now, considering the fact that this game was close to a one man production and the writer is not a native English speaker, it wasn't bad. Even not taking all that into consideration, it wasn't bad writing - just rather uninspired.

The romances were rather brief and I never felt a real emotional connection to most of the people - and the writing failed to connect with me.

Now, I must say that, even though I totally recommend this game to anyone that is intrigued (or at least the demo) I will say that you shouldn't expect a lot out of the writing. (I also must quantify that I would recommend pretty much everything by Winter Wolves.)

Official Website

Rei

(Free)

'My name is Aya. For fifteen years, I lived a totally normal life. Then I met…him. And, within one week, everything was different.' So this unique little game begins. This is the story of a girl and a ghost. Your choices could change lives forever.

This game was quite unexpected for me. There's a handful of endings, though there's only one guy you can actually romance. Basically, what you're trying to do is figure out how he died and why he's a ghost.

To do this, you actually get to see the past - certain events that shaped Rei's life and death. It's really time travel, think more astral projection. The mystery aspect was quite interesting and kept me entertained and fully immersed throughout my first play through.

Unfortunately for me however, the best ending to the game was rather elusive and I only got it after much trial and error. However, the game was really fun and quite cute - surprisingly enough considering it's about a ghost.

I came to like the characters enough that I really wanted them to get their happy endings, too. There was one romantic ending and the others all had interesting aspects to them - even if they weren't the happiest. However, each ending dealt with ideas about what might happen if you actively tried to change the past. Very cool, I thought.

On lemmasoft forums

Love Blossom Extended

(Free)

Miyu is happily living a normal life with her normal best friends - both guys - when her mother asks her a question. "Who do you like more?" Such a simple question to ask, but it is one that turns Miyu's life upside down as she just might start looking at one of her friends as 'more than friends'.

The plot line, such as it was, was basically nonexistent. If it didn't have romance, it wouldn't even have a story. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, just mentioning it so I can say that this was a very hard game to write a synopsis for. The plot just wasn't really there and that left us with a short, cute, fluffy game.

And this game was all three of those.

While the game appears to be just a choice between two guys (the aforementioned friends) there is also an unlockable character that was a wonderful addition. Each of the guys were unique from each other but pretty much stereotypes. Just check out the games main page at the official website if you don't believe me. The creator left us with a three word description of the two main guys. Each one is pretty typical for these types of stories. (Bet you couldn't have guessed Shinichi was my favorite. Yes, that was sarcastic.)

Anyway, this game wasn't trying to be groundbreaking but what it was worked really well. No, it's not the type of game that you'll be thinking about long after you finish - but for cute fluff, I've played games that were less entertaining.

Oh, final note, I also really liked the fact that - except for the unlockable character - you can pretty much get the right answers without a walkthrough.

I would like to note that this is from ABABO - which is the same group that brought us School Festival. (Actually, this was their first project, and it's easy to see how much they've improved.)

Official Website

Signed X

(Free)

When Marty arrives at school early, she finds Matt, a boy way out of her league, leaving flowers on her desk. Having read too many shojo romance manga's, Marty is resolute: she will have her romantic scene. No matter what. Enlisted only half-unwillingly in her madcap scheme for an event worthy of a manga page is her best friend Warren. Will Marty succeed? Will she find love?

This game, from the creator of Summer Found Me, was so funny. You've got this girl who is determined to have her 'meet cute' moment. (If you don't know what I mean, search for 'meet cute trope' on a search engine.) She does things that no one in their right mind would think was appropriate or safe.

And her best friend Warren? Yeah, he helps her - but he's not particularly helpful. He makes it clear that he thinks she's crazy for all these scenarios she cooks up and goes through with. It's obvious that the only reason he sticks around (even if he does have a bit of a crush on her) is because he likes to make fun of her when her romantic attempt fails. As it invariably does. Yup, best friends for you.

The conversations - especially those between Marty and Warren - were laugh worthy. This creator totally gets my sense of humor. I love those snarky lines that are delivered with deadpan precision. Bonus points for not being cruel in any way - as snark becomes so easily.

The game is rather short with not a lot of replaying searching for all the endings going on - as there is only four, per the extras screen. The game is moderately short, but is very cute and entertaining.

Favorite guy? No surprise here. Warren. I will admit though that after playing through his ending, I did think Matt was rather cute also.

Official Website

Date Warp

($20 - Free Demo - From Hanako Games)

Five day ago Janet went missing. She left her dorm for a simple first date and…no one has heard from her since. What happened to her? Your choices will effect the outcome in this mystery/sci-fi otome game.

After finally finishing this game, all I can say is 'whoa'. I say 'finally' because there are a total of ten endings that you must get before the eleventh and final ending - the 'true' ending, if you want to call it that - gets unlocked.

Each ending will build a little on the mystery and give you indications as to what the solution actually is. But I would be very surprised if anyone figured it out before Janet did. Looking back, yeah, it all makes sense, but that's not the direction my mind was going in for a solution.

As for the characters… I really liked the cast as a whole. Janet was a really cool heroine. She's not the strongest, but she's intelligent and emotionally strong - two things that I actually value a lot over physical strength.

The guys were all likable and, even if you didn't have to play through each ending to get the final ending, it would be worthwhile to play through all the paths and get all the endings just for the character development and more information on the people. It is strange but on one of the other guys paths, I got a lot of information about one of my favorite guys - and that just made me like him more.

I will say that, even the guys I didn't think I'd end up liking before playing through their path, I really wound up liking the guys. Pretty much all of them. Nathaniel was my least favorite. He was just too perfect. Honestly, Raphael was really, really close to that 'too perfect' line himself - but he was just too much of a sweetheart for me to not like him.

My favorite guy was Alben followed very, very closely by Linds. And, though I thought I wouldn't like him, Bradley was easily my third favorite.

Official Website

Loren The Amazon Princess

($25 - Free Demo - From Winter Wolves)
This review includes information on the Loren expansion pack:
Castle of N'Mar ($10 - From Winter Wolves)

In this game you can play the part of Princess Loren's faithful slave - either the human male Saren or the elven female Elenor - and help her in her quests.

I really didn't want to write a lot of information about the plotline for this game because I didn't want to give away any spoilers. Let's just say that this story follows the normal paths for fantasy stories. That's not a bad thing though as everything is rather comfortable - at least in the main story plot.

I say main plot because there is also the option of a romance subplot. It's not necessary to complete the game and, I admit, I only romanced six or so of the characters. When you count all the dateable characters and take into consideration that several of the characters can be romanced by either Saren or Elenor, the complete romance-able options are two or three times that amount. I was going to play through them all, but the last couple of romances left me feeling a little…unpleasant. Nothing majorly wrong with them, just not my cup of tea at all.

With the N'Mar expansion pack (which adds four more characters) this is a rather long game. The gameplay is based mostly on the decisions you make as Loren's subordinate and an RPG style fighting system. There is also a skill tree for each character and you can select which skills they learn when they level up.

While I certainly liked the group effect of the game - it was because of this that it put me so much in mind of the fantasy books I read - I naturally had favorite characters. Draco, Dora and Sauzer. Oh, and Trouble. I also loved Elenor's personality when I made her answer with joking responses. (I always did love the humorous characters in any fantasy story.)

Official Website
Expansion Pack