Emberfate: Tempest of Elements, developed and published by Wind Chimes Games Limited, is an otome game, or dating sim, based in a fictional MMORPG.
Story
Emberfate is a game within a game. Logging in the first time, players are asked to pick two names, a “character” name for the fake Emberfate MMO and an “IRL” name for the really real person who runs a guild in the fake Emberfate. When I first started playing, I didn’t fully understand what I was doing, and well, my IRL name was Name Name, which meant I would have heartfelt romantic conversations, ending with, “Wow, you’re so beautiful, NameName.” Whoops.
Players begin mid-raid, as their guild is losing a boss battle in a new expansion that was just released for Emberfate (not the actual Emberfate that players are actually playing, but the fake one). From there, players will face “real world” issues, and try to navigate interpersonal relationships with the real but fake characters in the game.
This all might sound strange and feels difficult to explain, but trust me, once you start playing, it makes a lot of sense.
Gameplay
Gameplay is super straightforward. Players just read the chats of other Emberfate players and then pick between dialogue options in order to progress the story.
There are two primary purposes to dialogue options: support your teammates and help them with various personal needs, and pursue a romantic relationship with one of the three character options, Nathan, Chris, or Khanyisa.
I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of characterization given to each guild member, especially since this is such a short game (it only takes about five hours to complete the whole story). Guild members come to players with problems ranging from homework help to dealing with divorce and alcoholism. How a player navigates these personal needs will determine how far your guild goes in completing the new expansion for Emberfate (again, the fictional game, not the real one). Failing to support your teammates means your guild cannot successfully navigate the four Emberfate boss battles, whereas encouraging your teammates means that your guild will successfully run the raid and take home all the booty.
Speaking of booty…
Romances
Navigating the romance system of the game is relatively easy. At two points, players will be given a choice to spend one-on-one time with a character and depending on who they choose, that will open up that character’s romance line. From there, it is just a matter of not choosing the clearly worse dialogue option. For example, when faced with a confession about a character’s father dying of a long illness, players can choose between saying something empathetic, cracking a joke, or peacing out.
During my first playthrough, I made a save file when I reached the point in the game where I had to make my choice, Chris, Nathan, or Khanyisa. This allowed me to play through each romance option without returning to the beginning of the game
I was initially interested in Nathan and planned on pursuing him for my first playthrough, but then I saw Chris’ bunny, and that was it for me. Khanyisa was a close second, but I think Nathan will have to stay in the friend zone. As a fictional character, Nathan and I had a disturbing amount of traits in common, and I’m not sure two anxious and clinically depressed people with deep insecurities can really make a relationship work.
Because I’m a paragon through and through, I got the good ending for each romance on the first try, but it is totally possible to wind up alone at the end of the game, abandoned by your friends and loved ones. There is even an in-game achievement for driving everyone away.
Even as a completionist, I don’t know that I could ever unlock this achievement because the idea of causing fictional characters intentional mental and emotional pain makes me want to stress clean my bathroom.
Overall
Emberfate: Tempest of Elements took me by surprise with how much I enjoyed it, and I’m going to have to give it a 9/10, with a couple of disclaimers.
First, this game is very short, with only four to six hours to play through each romantic option once.
Second, there is no replay value; Just like a romance novel, read it, enjoy it, and then move on to the next one.
Third, going through the game multiple times to get the different romances gets boring pretty fast because the rest of the dialogue options for the B. plots stay the same. Thankfully, the devs included a skip button, so players can skip the chit-chat and go straight to the dialogue option.
Check out the Emberfate: Tempest of Elements Review Trailer:
Emberfate: Tempest of Elements is free on Steam, so if you like otome dating sims (and I guess I do), then there is no reason not to play this one, and look out for Wind Chimes Games’ upcoming release, Reanimation Scheme.
For more information, visit: https://windchimesgames.com/emberfate
Related: Reviews by Michelle Jones
I'm a completionist gamer who just needs to find that one last object and clear that final dungeon. I love all video games, from open world sandboxes on a console to a mindless match three on my phone. In addition to gaming and writing, I am a graduate student working on a thesis about the ancient Icelandic Sagas. Feel free to ask me anything about Vikings.
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