Rating: 4/10
[start screen of Mystic Messenger]
I played Mystic Messenger this quarter and it really wasn’t my cup of tea.
Mystic Messenger is an otome mobile game where you play as a female presenting character who downloads an app that leads her to working for a charity organization known as the RFA. The goal of the game is to interact with the characters through a messaging app and to plan a party. One of the unique quirks of Mystic Messenger is the real time feature of the game. At certain hours of the day chatrooms, text messages, and phone calls open and to participate in them and you must be on active in the game.
I personally did not enjoy the game. In alignment with the reading, I felt that the emotional labor and time that this game required was not worth the relationships formed by the fictional characters. Additionally, the game reinforced the caretaker gender roles as you are expected as a woman to organize the party and provide emotional support to the male dominated cast.
[chat room with Zen and Yoosung]
While the real time chatroom got me to open the app in between classes or when I was taking the marguerite, I didn’t really feel immersed in the game. Some of the conversations I had with the characters felt one dimensional and unmeaningful. While each player has a unique backstory and character development that is revealed the further you progressed in the story, I didn’t feel attached enough to the characters to want to learn. That being said, I get the appeal of the real time nature of the game. I think it is what makes the game unique. There is a level of immersion when the characters are calling you or a chat room opens on “their own time” or when time progresses not solely on when you choose it to.
After our weekly meeting, I learned that the characters are most active at different times of the day to accommodate for schedules. For example, Zen, who is a busy actor and celebrity, is most available in the evening while Yoosung, a college student is more active between his classes or throughout the day. It made sense to me why I felt more inclined to talk to Zen, since I would play the game in the later evenings. While I appreciated this thought that creators put into the game, it felt unfair to me that parts of the storyline or goals was made unavailable to me simply because my schedule didn’t align with it. Furthermore, there are elements to the storyline that could only be unlocked through purchase which further limits the relationships that you can build.
Overall, while I have some critiques for the game, I can see why there is a fanbase for it. The choices you make in the game affects the outcome of the game and the party. The characters are well drawn and there are effects to the chat to make it more engaging and dramatic. I am also happy to hear that you could be more than friends with Jaehee. 😉
I definitely agree with how unfair it feels when the game demands so much of you in terms of scheduling in order to proceed. Today, I wonder if the developers considered the tradeoffs of that choice. It certainly is unique and consistent with the characters, but perhaps they were hoping that players would be more drawn in after playing casual stories, and thus want to invest more time.
Hey Phuc, I agree with your points here. Perhaps influenced by me not being a part of the target audience, but I also felt that the real-time features of the app that demanded me to play the game at times that weren’t very convenient to me were a bit intrusive.
Hi Phuc, I also agree that as college students, the schedule it takes to “win” this game is very demanding and not very encompassing of how busy we can get during the end of the quarter. Also, your start screen looks so cute, it makes me want to try for Seven, even tho I deleted the game…
P.S. “I am also happy to hear that you could be more than friends with Jaehee. 😉” LOL