My Lovely Empress is an empire management sim inspired by Asian mythology. As the Emperor of the Crimson Empire, you will build relations with neighboring rulers, balance internal factions, and ensure the prosperity of your people, all before you reap their souls to resurrect your beloved empress.
Developed by: GameChanger Studio, Neon Doctrine
Played on: Steam
Length: 10-15 hours
A review key was provided by Neon Doctrine.
What would you sacrifice if you had the chance to resurrect the love of your life? In the case of My Lovely Empress, the answer turns out to be… quite a lot. In this third and most ambitious entry into the My Lovely series thus far, you play as the grieving Emperor Hong who turns to forbidden yet powerful Yaoguai to help him manage his kingdom and eventually resurrect his dead empress.
It is immediately clear that this isn’t a game you can play with morals, and I should know, because I tried. When I was first offered the choice between sacrificing my subjects or sacrificing a Yaoguai, I chose the latter without a second thought. It was a decision I would come to regret, hard. Although the game offers up the choice early, it is nigh impossible to play a Yaoguai-less run of this game. So abandon your morals at the door and get ready for mass slaughter, folks!
In terms of management simulators, My Lovely Empress is a lot to take in at first. There is a seemingly endless list of things to do, and extremely limited resources to do everything at once. If you’re not dealing with a lack of Action Points (AP), then you’re dealing with a lack of money, or you’re dealing with a lack of human sacrifice (which is a thing, yes.) I found that I couldn’t get a good grasp of the mechanics until my second playthrough, so the first playthrough inevitably becomes a training ground for your ultimate run.
Once you understand the fundamentals, the game is well-balanced with enough flexibility to adjust to your preferred playstyle. My preference was sending my army of Yaoguai to investigate issues, so I could use my AP to build stronger relationships with neighbouring countries. But as a result, I was constantly bleeding money from having to send my Yaoguai to meditate and recharge their energy. There is a check and balance for everything in this game, and that’s where your choices determine what you spend the most time doing.
The freedom of choice here also means that not everything in the game is important. It is entirely possible to complete the game on Normal without ever engaging in Refreshments or Essence Feasts, for example, but it goes without saying that the more time you invest into the game and its characters, the more you get out of its story. In that sense, the game is almost structured like a dating simulator, where you unlock more dialogue with characters as you spend more time with them. You can even propose marriage at some point, but I won’t spoil what happens when you do that.
Although most of my experience with My Lovely Empress was smooth sailing, I did experience some friction in gathering resources for certain upgrades (e.g. Yaoguai awakenings). The process can be a long one especially if you’re as poor as I was in my playthrough, and there was no convenient way to set the task as your next objective. That means I had to click into multiple submenus each time I wanted to check which ingredients were still missing.
I faced the same struggle when trying to conduct explorations or sway the populace in neighbouring countries, as certain activities are only available during certain seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter). The only solution I could see was to commit the cycle to memory, or resign myself to clicking into the neighbouring country each time I wanted to check whether an activity was available.
Still, these were minor stumbles in a largely addictive experience. The hours flew by as I played My Lovely Empress, and it surprised me how much I enjoyed the game for its gameplay experience alone. The beautiful characters and intriguing plot were just added perks that pulled me into completing more than one ending — although I don’t know what it says about it me that this was my first. Let me know yours in the comments!
Verdict: Hugely Addictive, With A Touch of Murder
GameChanger Studio and Neon Doctrine release their most ambitious and addictive game in the My Lovely series so far. My Lovely Empress features a well-balanced and flexible management system, with an intriguing plot that will have you coming back for more than one run. It is also the only game that will make you wonder whether it’s more cost effective to unleash an incursion or a plague on your subjects. Or maybe that’s just me.
Wishlist My Lovely Empress on Steam, and top up your Steam Wallet on Codashop.
