Dual Chroma: Academy Carols

Academy Carols is a visual novel developed and published by Galen Games. You take on the role of a student (whose name and gender can be customized) at a magic academy, and you're spending the winter break at school. Unlike a lot of the other students (who are nobles), you come from a family of commoners, and because it's pricey to make the trip to visit your family and back, you opt to stay at the academy. To your surprise, you find out that Prince Keldrannon, second prince of the royal family, has opted to stay at the academy, too, and the two of you (along with a couple of upperclassmen) end up spending time together during the holidays. I'll end my story synopsis here to avoid going into spoiler territory.
As for the gameplay, Academy Carols consists of several choices that are presented. Depending on the choices made, you'll obtain one of three endings: perfect, good, or bad. As the MC's main possible love interest is Keldrannon (Keldran, for short), it's pretty obvious as to what the various endings entail. There are a few CGs shown although no CG gallery from which to view them after they're unlocked. Also, there are Steam achievements although at the time of this review, they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "Steam is learning about this game".
Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my critique. Academy Carols caught my attention since according to the Steam store page, it has a sweet, heartwarming visual novel. (Also, this is the first visual novel from Galen Games that I got to play, so I was curious.) First, I like that you can customize the MC to role play as the gender of your choosing (he/him, she/her, or they/them) and to have a customizable name. I like when visual novels allow this option, so that the player can choose to fully immerse themselves into the story, if they so wish. (Also, it helps that there's no sprite for the MC, so it makes it easier to get into the story.) Also, you can choose the patron that the MC chooses to follow/study under. The patrons are basically magical gods. However, regardless of which god you choose, it doesn't affect the endings. Only a bit of text changes. In regards to the story, I enjoyed the premise. It starts off on a sweet note as the MC meets Keldran and gets to know him and his friends. Although Keldran is a prince, he just wants to be treated as a normal person. As one can imagine, though, that can be quite difficult for someone in Keldran's position. Even the MC feels awkward about it initially. However, Keldran comes off as being warm and friendly, so the MC warms up to him, especially if they end up making the best choices in which Keldran reacts favorably. Keldran's friends, Keeva and Midan, are quite friendly as well. Keeva is very friendly and social, while Midan is a bit sterner but really only towards Keldran. Midan likes spending most of his time with Keeva. XD As to how the story progresses, there's a bit of drama that happens to the MC, and although it eventually gets resolved, I like how there's a cliffhanger at the end in regards to Keldran and whether the MC can end up pursuing a potential romance with him on the perfect and good ends.
As for the writing, I found it paced well, and I didn't notice any typos or grammatical errors. The story itself is pretty short. I finished one playthrough in less than an hour. However, since this is a free game, I am ok with this. There were no technical issues with the game, and I was able to unlock all of the achievements easily, especially since there is a great user walkthrough. In regards to the art, it's hard to describe the exact style. It's a departure from the usual anime style, which is a refreshing change. I like how the colors feel muted, so they're never overly bright. The sprites and backgrounds are done well, and of course, the CGs are beautiful. I only wish that there had been a CG gallery, so I could have taken a few screenshots. Regarding the music, there are only a few tracks present, but they depict that warm, holiday feeling well. As you may have guessed based on the store page screenshots, the story takes place during the equivalent of Christmas. Also, I like how there's partial voice acting, and I especially liked listening to Keldran's voice. It gives off that royal aura, but at the same time, it feels warm and friendly.
Overall, would I recommend Academy Carols? If you enjoy visual novels, are looking for a short, heartwarming story, and don't mind the cliffhanger at the end, then this is worth giving a try. It is free, so there's no reason not to give it a go. Having finished this story, I am curious to try out Galen Games' other visual novels at some point. ^^
Flying free and writing reviews solely for The Introverted Gamer.

Did I really play a Christmas themed game during summer? Yes.
Did I enjoy it? Well, Yes. To some degree.
Academy Carols is a "dating sim" visual novel game where the main character is a first year student at a Magical Academy. I say "dating sim" because more generally speaking, dating sims usually have multiple choices for the preferred partner, but in this game there is only one, although quite handsome, prince charming. Quite literally as well, as he is a prince.
Even though the game lacks in choices of the preferred partner, the game delivers three different endings that depend on your choices. The Perfect, The Good and The Bad endings. Although the game is free, the developer has put some thought and effort into the whole game. The artstyle is pleasant to look at and the CGs are all very nice. The soundtrack, although slightly repetitive, is still very good considering the price tag of nothing. The story is a little lacking, but did manage to make me a little bit emotional, which is always a plus!
I do think this game is a lovely experience of Christmas themed romance that blossoms between a senior student and a first year student, a prince and a commoner. The ending leaves you hanging a little bit, so hopefully there will be continuation eventually! Until then, I would highly recommend checking this game out.

Beatufiul VN

“If all choices look equally appalling or dreadful, wait until that changes, and a clear winner emerges.”
-Keldran
Plot
You attend the prestigious Lumens Academy as a first year. Everyone is going home for the holiday of Elor Rona, except for you. As a commoner attending the academy on a scholarship, you cannot afford the trip home and back to the school. It is then that, depending on your choice, you go to the library to study and run into someone there, or you go back to your room to wrap presents for your family and there is a call over a P.A. system about having the remaining students go to the library. Either choice you make, you end up in the library and meet the Second Prince of the Galens Empire. He suggests celebrating the holiday with two others, who are also staying behind at the school. There will be a feast and a secret gift exchange. You spend your break essentially spending time and making friends with the prince and his two friends. A noble named Keeva, and a noble named Midan, who appear to have mutual feelings for each other.
Info
Dual Chroma: Academy Carols is an incredibly short visual novel that is perfect for the holiday season/winter months. Each choice you make leads you down one of three endings. The Perfect end, the Good end, and the Bad end. As the player, you also have the option to choose your Patron, which is essentially the deity you follow/study their kind of magic under. This choice doesn’t affect the game very much, aside from a few different lines of dialogue and the color of the bedsheets and curtains in your room. You also have the option to choose your first and last name and your pronouns, from He/Him, They/Them, and She/Her. Your character does not have a sprite, nor do they show up anywhere within the CG's. It's an entirely insert yourself into the game or an OC of yours and imagine how they appear.
I wouldn’t quite count this game as a romance or dating sim, to be honest. The most romance that is seen, seems to come from the two side characters Keeva and Midan. Your character's “romance” with Keldran, is mostly just subtle teasing and glances, Keldran giving you his gloves during a snowball fight, etc. There’s no actual romance in terms of dating or leading up to that possibility. Moving the lack of romance to the side, the game is very heartwarming in the camaraderie between the four characters and the friendship that they develop together, with the MC.
Art/Sounds
The art is fantastic looking, the characters even move across the screen and blink. There are CG’s in the game, and they are all beautifully done, but there is no gallery to be able to view them, which is unfortunate. There’s no help menu that shows what the keyboard commands are either. I didn’t think there was even a rollback feature since you can’t do so from the history log, but I found out there was by accident since I happened to be playing on a laptop with a track-pad and accidentally scrolled backwards.
The music gives a nice winter-filled holiday feel. The game does very well with its sound design. My only real gripe about the sound design is the partial voice acting. Keeva’s VA did the best and sounds very natural. Midan comes in second, with some lines being a bit awkward. Keldran though, I don’t know if I just didn’t expect that voice from him, but I just couldn’t get into it personally. His VA did fine, but I felt the lines could have been delivered a little bit better.
Conclusion
This game is a prequel to Galen Games upcoming game, Dual Chroma, so it leaves off on a cliffhanger, which I can’t say I really appreciate. Especially because I can’t quite figure out if the MC in the main game is the same MC as this one or not. I assume that they are different MC’s, and if that’s the case, it leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth for how this game ends. Our MC never getting their chance to confess their feelings, is devastating and it feels like it was never meant to be anything more. I would have liked if it was just more of a nice friendship with Keldran, over a possibility of romance if this MC is not the one in the main game.
I am looking forward to seeing the sequel come to life, although I’m sure we are still a good ways away from its completion. I’m curious to see what was the cause of the cliffhanger. If you can’t stand cliffhangers, I suggest maybe holding off from this game until the sequel comes out, but otherwise it takes maybe an hour to play through the game based on reading speed and maybe 10-20 more minutes to get the other endings and view the other options if you use the skip function (which is really quick). I will definitely have to check out Galen Games other games, as it seems that Keldran appears in those as well and I would like to get to know more of his character since we really only get a small snippet of it here.
“To you, and to what you have accomplished. To a clam you have ripped open to emerge as a beautiful pearl.”
-Keldran
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This VN is for people who REALLY love Keldran (From DUFE... Deliver Us From Evil?)... As in... If you are his fan? Fall for his every move and all he does? This novel is great for you. Go for it.
My favorite character is Ace... That says it all.
The VN isn't bad. It has great drawn people and CGs, and a fun atmosphere at first... Then there is hope (on Perfect Ending), but then... It ends in a cliffhanger. Hence ya gotta read other materials from the Developer(s) to know what's going on. I think.
ALSO I SAW HIM! I SAW THAT CAT!!!!!! I WANT HIM. GIMME. SPIRIT CAT. SPIRIT CAT!
Kay um yes, Ace and the cat ftw. Novel free and available for reads to enjoy or form your own opinion. Off ya go.
Thank you! ^-^

A cute, surprisingly well-made little game, and for free, too! We once again meet Keldran, a core character of the Deliver Us From Evil series that has now gathered quite a collection of games from the universe, or cameos of the character in other dev's games.
It's similar to masquerade in that it is shorter than the original DUFE + DLC, but closer to DUFE in that there's a lot more options and choices this time compared to masquerade, and completely free - unlike masquerade which cost £4. It's missing a CG gallery so that we can look at the CG unlocks, which is weird for an otome game, considering it contains the rest of the usual suspects and options seen in these games.
As a side note, you do not have to have played the other games to enjoy this - although I found I did more because of my experience with the other games.
I feel like the screenshots are a little misleading, as there's not a TONNE of choices, and the choices "generally" have very little effect on the story. Which isn't a negative on the game at all - it's free. But personally, I find games like that with collectable items and predetermined world sets really overwhelming and stressful to see all the different endings and choices and alternatives, and it can be off-putting to see that in advertisements. I'm glad I knew the devs and was looking forward to this game enough to play it anyway, because I was pleasantly surprised that the changes/effects of these screenshots are minimal in the game. You may want more than that in your otome game, and enjoy the complexities, but to that I say: The game is free. It's very good for what it is, and I enjoyed the somewhat short experience - and honestly would've been happy paying what I paid for Masquerade.
On a more technical note, it runs perfectly. No bugs, error screens, spelling errors or punctuation issues, and Keldran, who I am always happy to encounter again. Not many CGs but again, the. game. is. free. That it even has some CGs is better than 90% of the paid otome games you can encounter during a particularly dry release season.
It's even partially voiced, which was better than to be expected, even if it feels like the voice actor has changed. Another slight "gripe" with my experience was that it's almost May and therefore sunny and nowhere near what is obviously a winter, Christmas tale, but hey, who cares. Took me about 2 hours to see everything in the game, but bare in mind that I am a fast reader, played every god, every ending and every gift, so it may be even shorter if you only play the perfect ending.
Overall, it was a cute, enjoyable experience, Galen Games continues to impress me, and I'm yet to be disappointed by this studio. I'd very happily pay for something this quality.

A cute free VN with some very pretty UI. The UI looks so polished and the colours are gorgeous; the UI artist did a fantastic job.
It's a short VN you can knock out in under an hour, but that's nice if you want to read something light. The characters are all very charming, and the cosy vibes are immaculate.
I can tell the devs put a lot of love and care into this; it's even more polished than a lot of commercial VNs out there.
The ending is a cliffhanger and the details of the fantasy world the characters inhabit wasn't explained in much detail, which might be a deterrent, but it seems like there are several VNs set in this universe which might explain these things a bit better.
It's worth checking out if you want something cute and sweet!