Please Be Happy
Please Be Happy is a comfy, slice-of-life visual novel set in a fictional version of Wellington, New Zealand.
Born as a fox in the forest of Korea, Miho carries with her the memory of a traveler who showed her kindness and spoke of home. Now more human than fox, Miho has spent a long, long time searching for her person. She arrives by airship to Wellington Skyport, one of the jewels of the floating island of New Zealand.
Despite her years spent observing humans, she still has a lot to learn about their culture and society. She’s made a living so far as a thief, her heightened senses allowing her to easily take advantage of people. She’s also seen a lot of the worst of what mankind has to offer.
It’s only after meeting Juliet, the owner of a small library, and Aspen, an aspiring novelist, that Miho starts to understand what kindness is, and that there’s more than just the bad stuff when it comes to people.
Miho’s earliest memories are of her time as a fox, and the kind human she met back then. Now more than just a fox, she’s spent her life searching for that person. Her journey has brought her to a new life in Wellington, New Zealand.
She changes her name every time she goes to a new country. Her previous names include Gumi, Migu, and Mimi.
Aspen is a human girl in love with words and stories. A barista at the Bellhouse Café, she dreams of being a popular author someday. She tries to take a little inspiration from every person that she meets.
She has an hour long phone call with her mom every weekend.
As a vampire, Juliet is one of Wellington’s oldest residents. She’s made the treasures of her life open to all in the form of a library. Aside from books, she also provides wisdom, kindness, and shelter to those who need it.
She dislikes having to resort to echolocation to find her reading glasses.
- Two heroine routes, with 2 happy endings each
- A gorgeous original soundtrack by Sarah “Esselfortium” Mancuso
- Character designs and CG’s by Kobuta, with additional art by minute and adirosa
- Accessibility options for vision and hearing impairment
- Full voice acting
Game Discussion
Steam User 6
There are many words I can use to describe Please Be Happy but for me the most suitable one is Brilliant. I have played many Yuri visual novels before and I can confidently say that this one is truly something special and for sure it is one of the best.
Everything in the game is done really well from the artstyle/characters design to the dialog/voice acting to the music everything is just excellent. The production quality of this game is top notch and I’m extremely impressed with what Studio Élan has created. The story is adorable,touching,motivational and simply beautiful.
I would give the game an outstanding 9.5 out of 10 score. I cannot praise the game enough and would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys the Yuri visual genre.I hope Studio Élan will manage to match the quality of this game in the future with their new projects because i just adore Please Be Happy <3
Steam User 4
Please Be Happy is pretty good! The UI is great and has useful features. The artwork is pretty and well made. It's Yuri story was sweet, soft, and enjoyable. It didn't get me super-super engaged while reading, but it might for you. It's world has multiple species going on, so if you like furries or characters with multiple forms you might enjoy exploring that aspect of it. The choices you make while reading do make large changes on the story, which is good.
Steam User 3
This is such a cute story. Low stakes, happy characters who do really nice things! The music is lovely, the characters are loveable, the art is subtle and slightly dreamy, honestly just a really good read!! Would recommend.
Steam User 3
Please be happy was such a cute yuri VN. I really loved Juliet and Miho. I also found the world to be such an interesting place having modern day things but also being a tad mystical and magical. I found the presentation of this VN to be especially fun and unique <3
Steam User 2
I'm a psychological horror VN type person. So this is new to me, I only have two other games to compare this with. I find this one to be the best, by a good shot.
There's no drama, it's all positive and cute and touching. It's a vibe I didn't really know could exist, and TBH its quite an achievement to make something entertaining with positivity only.
The voice acting is good too! Inner thoughts and observations of stuff happening aren't but otherwise all characters dialogue are.
It's a long game. Id say you'd get a solid 20-25h of gameplay on one run, and discovered only 65% of the game to me.
There aren't many choices, though there is a "explore the map" with tiny interactions midway though the game, so that's more to explore on second runs.
A sort of refreshing part is we play the "naïve" cute and in the present archetype character. I found that interesting.
The start had me worried a bit, the story suffers a bit of "I need X in my life" "X falls out of a van infront of you".
While a lot of media has the "mirrored story timeline structured" (the earlier things are mentioned the later they are resolved. On opposite sides of the timeline.), this is very much one problem at a time type writing, it's easy at times, at others it's "cheesy". It's not a bad vibe or story telling but it took me some getting used to.
About 30% of the way in I felt like there wasn't an objective, just free roaming around, which can be both liberating of just enjoying a story for what it offers right now and then, I guess that's the beauty of a "slice of life" genre which this does very well. But it can also feel pointless and lost. (Which might also be a great story telling and in the shoes of the protagonist.)
I was also scared at a some point that there wouldn't be anything too profound or insightful / thought provoking. There is some sweet stuff and "deep" things for the main characters. Don't get me wrong it won't flip your world, this isn't a game for deep critical philosophical thinking... It wouldn't be worth the time investment if you're going in for that. But at least there ARE things which gives each character depth and some thought about navigating our experiences.
I wish the game conveyed a bit earlier that humans and mythical creatures are 50/50 in this world. Our protagonist is special, but it's easy to think it's because she's mythical and when I realised they were common I felt deceived by the story. Id say she is for other reasons and I had assigned it on the wrong thing.
All in all.
Fully worth its price. I'm very happy with it and glad to have discovered this kind of positive vibes only the game is a hug type VN.
Steam User 3
I played the demo of this a year or two ago and fell in love with this game. I finally got around to playing the full game recently and finished everything there is to offer. This game did not disappoint and I am so glad I got it! It is now one of my favorite visual novels. The storyline is so amazingly wonderful and sweet ♥ 10/10 and works great on the steamdeck!
Steam User 1
Warm, wholesome and cozy game <3 The storytelling is sweet, and the immersion in the game is really good. The cute detailed art is a plus as well :)