The Leatherbound Visual Novel (A Video Game Review)

Disclaimer: The Leatherbound Whatever is trademark of Tyro the Fox, Inc. LLC, Esquire and the use of which is prohibited without express written consent from Tyro the Fox, Inc. LLC, Esquire.

That being said, I totally didn’t ask him if I could use The Leatherbound Whatever. I’m sure he won’t mind.

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Greeting and Salutations, Everypony! Once again, it’s been a while since I posted anything in the blogs sections. Lately, I’ve been too busy roleplaying and working. That, and I couldn’t think of anything good to post here.

But very recently, I played a game that had so much of an impact on me, that I feel almost compelled to review it.

What’s the name of the game, you ask? Why, Welcome to Ponyville: Act 1, of course!


I had heard about this game through this very forum in a thread with the same title, and I always like free games so I downloaded it and gave it a shot.

Let me take this time to mention that I’m not a big fan of Visual Novels. I play video games for the interactive experience. I like being able to dictate my character’s fate. If I want to click through screen upon screen of reading, I’ll go to FF.net or FIMfiction.com. Or I’ll read an actual book.

Let it also be known that I like Dating Sims. All of the ones I’ve played are relatively clean and they have a good enough balance of story and interactivity to keep me interested until the end. I’ve even considered making one, but I have absolutely no programming knowledge beyond beginner-level Visual Basic. I’m also a terrible artist.

The reason I mentioned these things is because I went into this game expecting a light Dating Sim. What I got was a Visual Novel/Fanfiction.

Okay, enough backstory. On with the review! For simplicity’s sake, I’ll review this game categorically, then at the end, I’ll give out a certain number of…um, somethings on a scale of 1 to 5, 1 being the worst and 5 being the best.

I’ll try to avoid Spoilers for those who haven’t played it yet.

Story:
Visual Novels typically have a well thought out, intricate plot, Dating Sims typically do not. This game, being of the Visual Novel persuasion, has a plot. I went into the game believing that it would be a fun little romp through Ponyville, where you get to meet the Mane 6, go on at least one zany adventure, then *pop* it’s over. What greeted me instead were visions of a destroyed Ponyville and ghostly shades tittering at me from beyond the shadows. I admit, it caught my interest. What followed seemed to be a series of unrelated events (sans meeting different characters). I won’t go into too much detail here since I’m trying to avoid spoiling too much, but there is one particular plot event where it was pretty obvious what I was getting myself into where I literally sneered as I read my characters responses (I don’t like being railroaded). Surprisingly, at least to me, this particular event hasn’t come to fruition yet. (I’m certain that it will, though. Any day now…) I haven’t gotten too far into the story yet (I admit that I’ve only just met Twilight Sparkle, for those of you who’ve played the game the whole way through), but so far I’m liking what I see.
I give the story (thus far) 3 out of 5 Books from Twilight's Library.

Gameplay/Controls:
Well, this is a video game review, after all.
Gameplay is pretty simple: You click (anywhere on the screen) to advance the story. Occasionally, you can make choices which affect your gameplay experience. Some of the choices pertain to responses your character can make to certain questions or requests from other characters. Your responses can range from “Yes, of course! Anything to help my friend”-type (Known in-game as Hero responses) to “Nah. I don’t feel like it”-type (Known as Anti-hero responses).
The tutorial, which consisted of Sweetie Belle telling me about clicking, is pretty straightforward and just as informative as it needs to be. I liked the Resident Evil reference it threw in.
The game saves automatically at certain points.
If you can see, hear, and move a mouse, you can play this game.
Because the controls are simple, yet unintuitive, I give the Gameplay/Controls 2 out of 5 Mice.

Graphics/Music/Voices:
This, being a Visual Novel, is sorely lacking in animation or 3-D-ness, so I can’t really comment on how fluid and realistic the movements seem or how much the lips sync up with the words.
I can, however, comment on the character vectors and backgrounds. The character vectors are pretty obviously stock images from the show and from the internet itself. Some of the images are recolors of other images, which while good could be slightly jarring for people who were expecting all original art. They look nice, though, so I won’t give the artists/animators too much flak. Well done.
The backgrounds are very good, but they aren’t anything spectacular. You won’t be seeing any Van Goghs or Rembrandts here, but they do fit with the general style and feel of the show itself, and in the end, that’s all I really ask for.
The music is very good, and once again, it fits in with the style of the show itself. I especially like Rainbow Dash’s theme (because I like rock-sounding music). I also liked Octavia’s theme (“No Strings Attached” if you’re wondering what it’s called. I knew it without even checking the music files), although I thought it seemed to sinister for such a friendly pony. Special mention goes to the creepy music that plays during the Nightmare sequences. It quite literally gave me chills.
Now…the voice acting…
Don’t get me wrong, I liked the voice acting in general, and I know that the voice actors (in fact, everyone involved with this project) put a lot of time and effort into this and they’re likely not professional voice actors and actresses, so I’m not going to judge them too harshly (especially since I can’t do any better). I will say this, though: I found Spike’s and Scootaloo’s voices to be the most jarring (in relation to the show). The other voices weren’t completely perfect, but I got used to them, and I now in fact like them.
Speaking of liking voices, I’ve fallen in love with Fleur De Lis’s voice.
I give the Graphics, Music, and Voices a collective 3 out of 5 Double Bass Speakers. (Mostly because of the voices, sorry.)

Characterization
I think this bears mentioning, since this game in based on the beloved cartoon show, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
The characters are very much…in character. Aside from a few hiccups here and there (I don’t recall Spike ever calling someone “Bro” or invoking the “Solid”, but I could see him doing it), the characterization is very well done, and even the background ponies get their respective moments in the sun, which I found to be very nice.
Um…that’s really all I wanted to say about that.
I give the Characterization 4 out of 5 My Little Pony Blind Bag Figurines

Final Thoughts:
I haven’t actually completed Act 1 yet, so you may take this review with a grain of salt. I’m sure that some of my opinions will change as the story continues.
I have seen hints of Dating Sim-style elements (Friendship Levels, specifically), but I haven’t gotten far enough in the game to see these functions have any impact on gameplay itself.
For the time being, I feel as if I’m being taken on a kind of ride, but it’s a good ride and I’m excited to see where it ends up.
Overall, I give the game itself 3 out of 5 Cutie Marks.

Meta Thoughts:
When I downloaded this game from the creator’s website, the most recent post (which I believe was dated September 29th) stated that the project had been actively sabotaged from the inside. This event is unfortunate, but response from fans has been overwhelming: They want the project to continue, despite that.
As do I.
As for my review, take it as you will. 3 out of 5 is nothing spectacular, but it’s hardly scathing. It just means that there’s room for improvement, which really applies to all things, when you think about it. Nothing is perfect, not even me (as shocking as that is). :derpe:

I’m not a game developer, nor am I a professional writer. I’m just a guy who likes video games and My Little Pony.

Love and Tolerance. Peace out.