Magikiras

To adapt a copy pasta that's been around for a while:

looking for a new hosted game
ask people if its plot, simulation or OCs smirking
they don't understand
pull out illustrated diagram explaining what is plot and simulation and what is OC's smirking
they laugh and say, "it's a good game"
play game
it's OCs smirking

All 3 categories have good and bad games; there are some games with great plot or complex simulations that aren't fun to play, and some OCs smirking games that are fun.

Here's what I mean by OCs smirking: the game seems centered on getting to know the personalities of several characters. Any events or plot develpoments not involving these characters requires extensive scenes debriefing with these characters. Most major choices revolve around which characters to spend time with. For some reason, a lot of these games use the word 'smirk' or similar words (like grin) in inappropriate situations where no one in their right mind would ever smirk. This has led me to wonder if the 'OCs smirking' games stem from a common source or culture (maybe AO3?).

Games I would put in this category (including some of the bestselling of all time!) include Wayhaven, Soul Stone War, The Golden Rose, Creatures Such as We (one of my favorite games), and, now, Magikiras. I'm interested in upcoming games in my playlist that are OC smirking games, so if you have any favorites I should check out, I'll add them to my queue.

This game has some cool stuff. You are a pilot of a magical suit in a new continent raised by magic users. You can choose to be a magic user or not; I don't think there's any downside. Using magic seemed to be the best option whenever I tried it.

Characters include your partner (who has a significant plot line), a psychic, your father The Major, a quirky scientist named Edgar, and several other characters (I believe you can choose between sets of side characters; I chose to work with a tough guy named Luis and a cute shy girl Karin who was coded to like someone else).

The mech suits have surprisingly little relevance. Fight scenes are common, but are written as if you weren't wearing a suit (for instance, shadow fiends are pulling on you and you are screaming, but it just made me think of that part of Big Hero 6 where Fred is being stretched until he realizes he's in a suit and nothing is hurting him).

I reached an ending that was open ended after a plot twist, and the author said that the story would just stop there and never be continued. Others have reported getting to the second to last chapter and being told that their choices made winning impossible and they needed to start the whole game over.

There are a ton of plot details. A psychic soldier sees a vision of you finding a magical artifact. So she's transferred to your unit. But your boss doesn't tell her about the magical artifact. What's the reasoning here? Why transfer her at all if you're keeping her in the dark?

Dialogue is often stilted as well. You boss talks to your group, which is mostly young people and one older person, and the boss says:

"That's right, kids, except Balogh, who's not a kid."

Another example (this one's not bad, it just shows what I'm talking about with games using smirk in weird ways):

"We just have to wait for Altug and the others to arrive before we get things done for the rest of the day. After that, you wanna get a drink with the rest of the team?" he asks, trying to make it sound light.

You open your mouth to answer, but you turn your head to the door at the same time; it swings open just before you can answer, and you smirk to yourself just as Altug enters the briefing room.

This is a lot of complaining (I have more I haven't written, like stats being handed out pretty stingily and a reliance on code puzzles like Pride and Prejudice and Murder).

So what are the good points? Well, the game atmosphere is fun. I may be flippant towards "OCs smirking games" but they're great social simulators and help you build friendships with and internal models of the characters. I did like several characters in the game, and there is more plot in the game than in many others. I felt like my decisions actually mattered and, because I happened to chose a good spread of stats at the beginning, I only had to restart chapters a few times and felt like I was really challenged.

I've played many games far worse than Magikiras. I might even play it again. But it just solidified in my minds some patterns I've seen in games. Now that I've seen more of this genre, I can approach it with a more open mind and not complain every time I run into it. (Official Choice of Games don't really do this as much, as significant plot events are more important and are required as part of the outline submission process. The closest one I can think of is Escape from Death, and maybe Luminous Underground?)

Edit: I got some pushback on this from the Choice of Games forums: https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/mathbrush-reviewing-hosted-games-latest-magikiras/175455/138?u=brian_rushton