Magical Diary Horse Hall: Forget Hogwarts, Let’s Go to This Enchanting School – Indie Spotlight

Games from big companies are great. Some of the best titles of all-time have come from Nintendo, Bungie, and many other studios. However, there is also a long list of indie games that provide gamers with an awesome experience. The issue is that there are so many indie games that it can be difficult to figure out which ones to try. Have no fear! We have the spotlight for you. Check out this wizarding adventure!

Are you a Harry Potter fan? Have you spent hours grinding Hogwarts Legacy? This might be the indie game for you. While it doesn't have the expansive open world, it doesn't skimp on the details in storytelling.

Magical Diary Horse Hall is a visual novel and life sim game where you create your own character and attend a school for magic. On the surface, that might sound like a certain book and film series, but Magical Diary manages to create its own identity so that it doesn’t feel like a Harry Potter knock-off. This game has its own lore that is almost as detailed as Potter‘s and feels equally as real.

Magical Diary Horse Hall: Shape Your Own Experience

Developed by Hanako Games, Magical Diary Horse Hall begins with a character creator and sends you off to a magical school, where you can decide which forms of magic you want to study, befriend people, build up stats, run for office, and of course, explore possible romance options, both heterosexual and homosexual. There are countless in-game events, meaning that you can play over and over and never get the same experience twice. Sometimes you might have to be in a specific location on a specific in order to trigger certain events, so feel free to experiment.

The game also has a fascinating magical lore. Called the pentachromatic system, different forms of magic are assigned to different colors, and you can choose if you want to focus on specific colors or spread your skills evenly. If you study a lot of Blue magic, you’ll learn a lot of transformational spells. If you study Green magic, you’ll learn healing spells. Some spells even require you to have a high skill level in two different colors.

Exams in Dungeons – Yes, in Dungeons!

Throughout the school year, you put your spells to the test in dungeon exams. This is one of the game’s coolest aspects. Depending on which spells you learn, you can utilize multiple solutions to pass the exams. You can try different solutions every time you play, and you might even discover some solutions that you didn’t think would work. In the final exam, you’ll have to work with your roommates, and your relationship with them might affect how the exam pans out.

Conclusion

Magical Diary Horse Hall might not be as graphically impressive or as massive as Hogwarts Legacy, but it’s not always about scope. The beauty of indie games is how they can be deceptively simple. Magical Diary has a wealth of complexity under its charming, inviting demeanor. You can replay as many times as you want and never get tired of the experience. If you’d love to chill out at a magical school before you stress yourself out in the dungeon exam, pick this game up. Magical Diary Horse Hall can be purchased on Steam for $14.99. Head over there now to nab it!

What do you think about this game? Is this one that you want to try? If you've played it, what did you think? Let us know in the comments!

This article originally appeared on Total Apex Gaming