One of the main influences for Love of Magic was of course Persona 4 and 5. I loved the way it combines a sandbox with a constantly progressing calendar, the themes of balancing a normal life against a supernatural destiny, even some of the character archetypes. One feature that all the Persona games share is the idea of a New Game+ mode, where you can start a new game with the end of content save, and experience a subtly different game, and maybe even a true ending.
With that in mind I set out to create a New Game+ mode for Love of Magic; you can find lots of hints for it, especially in Book 3 (but occasionally also in book 1 and 2). The way it works is that it takes your end of Book 3 save (called Act16.sav3) and begins a new game with it. Youll start with higher stats (15/15/15) and more cash (10,000), as well as all your existing gems. The game also remembers a number of the actions you committed throughout the game, and occasionally reacts to them. A lot of dialogs change in subtle (and not so subtle) ways, especially those related to your core group of characters.
The game also adds in several new NG+ only events, with Fae showing up at the Crowley, and some of the more unique characters of Book 2/3 returning to engage with the player.
I also decided to add some fan-service. The Kult of Kaths long been asking for an event with everyones favorite werelynx, and this time I finally agreed. Dianas got a new book for you make sure you read it before Kath becomes your barmaid on day 112 onwards. Theres also new questlines for Jenny, Olivia and The Morrigan.
Finally I ported all of it to Book 3s version of the engine, which adds a number of quality of life improvements, including rollback, video backgrounds, a gallery for replaying erotic scenes, gamepad support and hundreds of other little tweaks.
Some of the new content is only accessible if youve got a final Book 3 save (called act16.sav3), while most of the new side-events (like Kath, Jenny and Olivia) can be played either from a new save, or a NG+ save. Its now live on Beta and Development branch once Ive ensured it doesnt break anything terrible Ill shift it onto the default branch. And with that, I'm back to working on my next game, Morningstar: Book of the Fallen, an Urban Fantasy set in New York, inspired by movies like Highlander, Rocky, John Wick and The Crow. Give it a wishlist here, or try out the free demo! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2396740/Morningstar_Book_of_the_Fallen/