Everlove: Rose Brings Romance to your iPad

We recently interviewed Brenda Bailey Gershkovitch from Silicon Sisters, and we told you a little bit about their upcoming game, Everlove: Rose. The game has now hit the app store, and more people need to know about this gem!

Plot

Everlove stars a young woman named Rose who has turned to past-life regression to gain insight into her personal problems. Under hypnosis, Rose is transported to the pastoral village of Heart’s Home, where she soon discovers that she has chemistry with several of the handsome locals. While building relationships, uncovering secrets, and navigating personal dramas, players define Rose’s character and choose her path to true love. Everlove‘s casual gameplay, titillating storyline, and bevy of intriguing suitors promises fun for readers of romance novels, players of story-based HOGs, and any other woman looking to indulge in escapism at its best.

Everlove is both traditional and innovative. The frame device could have been skipped very easily, but it does provide more layers of both story in general and personality for Rose. There are also four suitors to choose from, which not only adds replayability, but gives you more than just the standard love triangle. The four handsome suitors are:

Garrett, a mysterious bearded woodsman
Warrick, the ruling prince
Thorodan, a childhood friend and the royal physician
Lord Blaxton, Warrick’s uncle and an influential man in the kingdom

Between all of these men, I would imagine that most women would find at least one of the suitors to their liking. There is a special scene that plays out if you play all four paths.

The game isn’t just about romance – you form relationships with your Aunt Alys and your best friend Fendrel, and discover more about yourself and a mysterious figure that haunts your dreams along the way.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics are gorgeous. Every scene is a pleasure to look at, and the detail put into the character art is stunning. There are no moving graphics – everything is a still piece of artwork – but that doesn’t matter. There are unlockable pieces of art along the way that are definitely worth uncovering (two for each suitor).

There are no voices, something I think would have added a lot to the presentation, but this way you can use your own imagination. Music can get very repetitive, and I really wish there was more (it’s beautiful!) but there is an option to turn it off.

Gameplay

Most of the gameplay consists of dialogue choices, but these are broken up by both hidden object scenes and puzzles. You are able to skip these sections at no consequence, which is especially nice when you’re replaying the game to see what the different paths are. Rose keeps a diary over the course of the game, which will reveal what she’s thinking about herself, her thoughts on the four men, and sketches of herbs (she is a trained physician).

If you’re tapping in the middle of the screen to advance dialogue, it’s easy to skip a decision. To avoid this, use the arrows instead. A wonderful thing about this game is that everything is replayable. Don’t like the dialogue choice you just made? Rewind and pick a different one! Want to play a scene again because you liked it so much? Just pick it from the map! I loved how accessible the game was, and I think it will really appeal to gamers and non-gamers alike.

About that map – the interface and story progression is displayed visually using a map. At the beginning, there is only one path, but when it comes time to choose between men, the path branches four different ways. All stories converge onto the same event, but there is a special scene at the end with whichever man you chose. Every dialogue choice you make comes with a +1 to romance, kindness, wisdom, will, or a combination of these traits. Rose will keep track of her stats, and each man is attracted to different traits. Additionally, choices you make in dialogue with the men will give you hearts with them, up to 35 over the course of the game. You can also get broken hearts, which can be helpful if one of the suitors isn’t to your taste.

Final Verdict

This utterly immersive and accessible mix of choose-your-own-adventure and romance novel is well worth your time. I honestly played through all four paths in one very long sitting. I am really hoping for a sequel!

Score: A

Everlove is available in both free (demo) and paid ($3.99) versions. It is compatible with iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch (3rd generation), iPod touch (4th generation), iPod touch (5th generation) and iPad. Requires iOS 5.0 or later, and is optimized for iPhone 5. You can get the game for Android here!

Windows and OSX versions are coming soon!

Like the game on Facebook, check out the official site, like the Silicon Sisters Facebook page, and follow the team on Twitter.

[Disclaimer: A review code was provided for me to review this game.]