Take care of your own magical girl in Lair Land Story
Our pals at PQube and Circle Entertainment have announced that the fantasy raising sim Lair Land Story will be releasing for PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch on August 19, 2022. And if you’re a fan of Princess Maker-esque games, this is one you’re going to want to check out.
In Lair Land Story, you take on the role of a young man named Herol, who lives in a city that was recently saved from the devastation of war by a magical girl named Chilia. However, one day Herol stumbles across Chilia wandering around, apparently having lost her memory. Feeling bad for the poor girl, he decides to take her in — and thus begins your four-year adventure to raise Chilia.
As in most games of this type, in Lair Land Story you’re given an impressive amount of freedom to raise your young charge as you see fit. The decisions you make about her upbringing and studies will affect both her personal growth and her opinions on matters — and, of course, you’ll have to make sure she doesn’t get bored along the way, too.
With Chilia having such a colourful past, there is also, of course, a core mystery to solve as you help her discover the truth behind her holy blessing and where she came from. Plus although the war is over, the kingdom still needs help to rebuild — and there might still be some evil lurking in the shadows.
Unusually for this type of game, Lair Land Story also makes the player character their own independent entity rather than simply being someone who acts “behind the scenes”. This means that alongside raising Chilia you can also pursue romance and happiness for Herol as well. There’s a range of possible love interests to pursue, ranging from princesses to mischievous thieves, so there should be a lady to cater to every possible taste!
The appeal of games like Lair Land Story is in the variety of different ways you can play and the different ways in which your young charge can end up. It sounds as if there are plenty of different ways Lair Land Story’s narrative can end depending on whether you choose to focus on giving Chilia a “normal” life or delving deep into her past, meaning that there will be plenty of replayability on offer rather than this being a “once and done” sort of affair.
There are plenty of jobs for Chilia to take on, and a variety of different skills to train, all of which are depicted using adorable chibi animations. Major events, meanwhile, are depicted with some luscious 2D art, providing plenty of incentive to explore the game in its entirety simply to enjoy the wonderful way it looks.
Plus, of course, there’s the opportunity for Chilia to find romance of her own along the way, meaning that the game has some pleasing crossover appeal for both otome fans and those who enjoy boy x girl dating sims. Enjoy Chilia’s romances vicariously — likely by manipulating situations from behind the scenes to nudge her in the direction of various potential suitors — and then make sure our hero ends up happy, too. Sounds like fun!
Lair Land Story is set for release digitally on PC via Steam and Nintendo Switch on August 19, 2022. It doesn’t sound as if there’s a physical release for Switch planned at this time, which is a bit of a shame — but this is the sort of the game it’s nice to have easy access to on a portable device such as the Switch or Steam Deck-alike so digital is a good fit for it. And if it does well, maybe we’ll see its sequel localised, too!
We’ll have more on Lair Land Story nearer its release, so watch this space. In the meantime, you can wishlist the game on Steam to show your support!
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