Lair Land Story LadiesGamers

Lair Land Story Review

Game: Lair Land Story
Genre: Role-Playing, Adventure.
System: Nintendo Switch (also available on Steam, Windows)
Developer | Publisher: Arc System Works |  Circle Entertainment | Initory Studios | PQube
Age Rating: US Teen | EU 12+
Price: USD $14.99 | UK £12.99 | EU €14,99
Release Date: August 19th, 2022

Review code used, with many thanks to PQube. 

Lair Land Story, which was released only on PC and now with a Nintendo Switch port, is here to take you on a raising game presented as a visual novel with multiple endings. To be honest, I did not know what to expect when I started playing this game, but from the introduction to the story and the first cutscene, I got hooked and excited to see what else it had to offer. Sadly, it did not fulfil my expectations when it comes to games from this genre.

Lair Land Story LadiesGamers
Herol and Chilia after ending the great monster war.

Setup and Story – Lair Land, A War and a Blessed Girl

You play as Herol, a warrior who fought in the great war against a horde of monsters that decimated the land and left the city greatly damaged. After an attack on the enemy’s stronghold, Herol finds an unconscious girl in an elevated temple on a hill. As the girl woke up by herself and saw the chaos and ruin around her, she shed some tears that came together with a bright light that covered the land in the blink of an eye, with it disappearing all the monsters. The word coming out from the girl when this happened was “Chilia” which afterwards became her name.

Lair Land Story LadiesGamers
I applaud the artist behind the visuals and animations. Quite amazing.

Chilia had no memory of who she was, or how she used her power. Herol, confused by this event and curious about the blessed power of the girl, decided to take care of her and teach her the ways of humanity.

Lair Land Story LadiesGamers
An unexpected encounter.

Gameplay and Mechanics

Without much explanation, you start the game as the starting animation ends. You take care of and manage Chilia’s life for a period of 4 years being separated in seasons. During this time, you can do various things like sending Chilia to work in a store or other establishments, to study and do research and help the city with rebuilding what was destroyed because of the war. As you advance the game and help to bring back the city to its former glory, you also increase your stats and unlock storylines that can vary depending on your actions.

Lair Land Story LadiesGamers
Main Menu. Here is where most of the action happens!

You also manage currency that you can earn and use as you wish to do different things from improving Chilia’s room (which starts quite depressingly empty and filled with boxes) to buying items, clothing, or paying for a haircut for Chilia. During each turn, you can go on outings to different areas in the city or schedule Chilia’s week with different activities. As you go to certain locations at different moments of the day, you can trigger a story scene that can change the course of your playthrough which can be surprising and entertaining, but sometimes can interrupt certain plans you might have had at that very moment, making it a bit irritating.

Lair Land Story LadiesGamers
You never know who you are gonna bump into.

As you advance on the game, the story starts to branch out into different sub-stories. You start to see Chilia’s growth which is nice. You start meeting other characters, a few from which Herol or Chilia develop a deeper connection, even romantic interest. But then you keep getting more lore and it becomes quite overwhelming and hard to follow.

Many Stories in One – Less Can Be More

By the beginning of the game, my main focus was on Chilia’s past and true identity, as the whole game revolved around her by then. Also, she had just ended the great war with a single light burst of power after so much chaos and so many soldiers sacrificing their lives. Of course, that will trigger some curiosity on how and why it happened as it did. Eventually, you also realize there are conspiracies in the city and other side stories that you might want to complete. So the first focus I had on this narrative started to get spread out in a jungle of lore and plots that were hard to follow.

Lair Land Story LadiesGamers
Be proud of it! She is actually quite nice.

Frankly, some special events became bothersome at a certain point. There were so many stories to follow that each one of them felt half told or with a lack of information that you end up wanting to know. Be that to know more about Duma or Grana, or just to focus on the other aspects and actions you could do. It was like the game was in constant indecision between being a visual novel focused on its narrative and a raising simulator with menu management aspects. Most of the time I was playing I was confused and not sure what was happening because of a lack of information or an overwhelming amount of it. It was missing some balance in those aspects.

Lair Land Story LadiesGamers
Eventually, you see the changes and growth.

Where Is This Going?

I am a big anime fan and have been for most of my life. Lair Land Story does bring back some vibes and feelings of a 2000s drama anime series, which I would normally love to see in a game, but in this case, it did the opposite. The more I tried to feel immersed in the game, the more stereotypic and misogynistic traces I found within the texts and concepts.

Lair Land Story LadiesGamers
Honestly, that option shouldn’t even be there.

The managing of someone’s life in a raising simulator game is an experience that is enjoyable for many reasons, but I felt uncomfortable with the setup of the scenario in this one. Being a noble “handsome” and recognized young man in the city that manages every little aspect of a young girl’s life, from her haircut, and clothing, to her conception of the world, was just too crude. Even knowing that she had no memories or knowledge of humanity, it just didn’t feel right.

Lair Land Story LadiesGamers
Fay has so much more to tell. Not all about marriage though.

The plot in Lair Land Story starts quite simplistic and honestly not bad. Innocent as it may seem, it didn’t take long to become less appealing for me as I progressed. Some script lines that maybe were intended to sound like flirting or something of the sort ended up being perceived as dirty or inappropriate. Nowadays I don’t appreciate finding this in the games I play, even if it is set for teenagers and up. This game reinforced the conception of love and relationships that might have been accurate in the past, but that doesn’t mean it is right and enjoyable, less for a teenager who is still building these concepts.

Conclusion

I felt uncertain about how to feel in many situations. Just when I thought that I had picked up a game that was going to make me emotionally invested, it ended up confusing me most of the time. Another aspect that influenced my view of Lair Land Story was the sound. The voice acting had volume and tone issues. That alone would have been forgiven, if not for the combination of an overwhelming amount of stories, interruptions within Chilia’s schedule and various text lines.

During each turn, it isn’t often clear what to do or where to go to continue the stories you want to follow. It is about guessing which places to visit to hopefully find the character you are hoping to find. Maybe some players of this audience will enjoy it as it does feel somewhat like a classic in its genre, but my experience with it was more confusing and upsetting rather than enjoyable.

Final Verdict: I Don’t Like It. I don't like it

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