Pyrite Heart

Developer: Winged Cloud | Publisher: Winged Cloud | Release Date: 2014 | Genre: Visual Novel / Otome / Indie | Website: N/A | Purchase: Steam

As the daughter of Emperor Remono, Princess Ahri has lived a very sheltered and spoiled life. However, a bet with her brother makes her determined to prove that she can last a week in the world outside the imperial palace. Her father is not very impressed with this idea, but eventually relents and allows her to attend a normal high school. Ahri immediately deems everyone at the school to be beneath her except for the Student Council President, Ryuu. Ahri decides that Ryuu will be her rival and that she will stop at nothing to beat him academically. This is the premise for Pyrite Heart, an Otome visual novel from Winged Cloud.

Ahri is a tsundere, so initially, she is not very likable. Not only does she immediately pick on Ryuu because he’s the smartest person in school, but she also treats all the other students as plebes. After a lifetime of servants catering to her whims, Ahri has a very over-inflated ego, which prompts her to challenge Ryuu to a cook-off, even though she has never even set foot in a kitchen. Of course, Ahri eventually begins to develop feelings for Ryuu, but doesn’t quite know how to act on these. Then there is the small matter of Kenta, who is also attending the same school. He is actually a servant of Ahri who was instructed by her brother to keep an eye on her. Initially, Ahri is upset about this turn of events, but as she spends more time with Kenta she begins to see him as more than just a servant. Ryuu and Kenta are the only two potential love interests in the game and Ahri with six different endings Ahri can end up with one of them or even alone depending on the choices made by players.

Pyrite Heart is not a very long game and most of the story takes place at the school. Players can choose to spend time with either Ryuu or Kenta, who are both very different. Ryuu excels academically and is very popular while Kenta is more sporty and spends his time playing basketball. The game is also filled with the usual amount of cliches and anyone familiar with the genre will know exactly how things will turn out in the end.

The most impressive thing about Pyrite Heart is the visuals as it features beautiful character sprites and detailed backgrounds. The game also has a surprising amount of CGs considering how short it is. Unfortunately, it lacks a CG viewer, which would have been helpful for keeping track of how many events or endings were still left to be discovered in the game. Steam Achievements, which would have been useful for the same reason, are also absent from this game. The audio isn’t bad and there’s plenty of upbeat tracks as well as a couple of melancholy ones. Pyrite Heart does not have a music player either, so the only way to listen to these tracks is to play the game. Also noticeable absent from the game is any type of voice acting. The interface is pretty standard Ren’Py fare, so there’s nothing spectacular about it, but it gets the job done.

Overall, apart from the beautiful visuals, there’s not a lot about Pyrite Heart that really impresses. The story is very average and nothing particularly interesting or noteworthy ever happens. Ahri is also not the most likable heroine, but she does mellow out a bit over the course of the story. The two love interests are also pretty cliched, but at least the game has multiple endings to make up for how short it is. There are better Otome games available, but players looking for something light and predictable might enjoy Pyrite Heart.