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Magical Diary: Horse Hall- it's just like my *~fanfictions!~*
Released in 2011, Magical Diary: Horse Hall is a visual novel-styled raising sim (well, not so much 'raising' as 'self-improvement') that takes place in the life of a young student as she's whisked away to the prestigious magic school known as Iris Academy, a premise that we no doubt find fresh and original. Here, she will not only learn the the ways of the five magical arts, but perhaps learn a way to gain a magical heart- by which, I mean she might find herself embroiled in tumultuous romance, swooning in the arms of a loving paramour. This too, is of course a premise that's totes original.
Sarcasm aside, Magical Diary is actually pretty good. It knows exactly what it is, it knows just who its target audience is, and simply plays along with that fact. The writing isn't going to win awards, but it doesn't expect to, and as long as you follow its philosophy and play along, I'm sure you're going to enjoy it. Even the Deviantart-ish styling start to grow on you after a while, and if you want my personal opinion, it makes a fine break from all the anime visuals one usually sees in VNs. Gameplay itself is quite simple, and far from the involved complexity of Academagia (not to knock on the latter though).
Of course, you also get a whole load of choices with which to shape your character, and I intend to let you guys vote whenever we reach such a decision point. I will also let you guys vote on the kinds of magic our heroine will study (more on said magics later). Within each update, most of the game's text will be in normal lettering (with a few alterations for flow), and my personal opinions in italics. If it's not too much trouble, I'm also embellishing the dialogue a bit- I'm not taking anything out, mind you, but the journo in me won't let things slide without a little pep.
But hey, enough of that- you came here to take part in a *~magical adventure~*, so here we go!
Here we see our young protagonist in her school robes. As Iris Academy is a high-class boarding school, we are stuck with the Horse Hall uniform of green upon grey. We can change Mary's body shape to something a little more curvy, as well as her hairstyle and eye colour though- but come on! How could we NOT be pink all over elf?
And with that, let us begin...
CHAPTER 1: Yer not in Academagia New Hampshire anymore, Mary.
I was playing tag with my friends in the back garden, but when I tried to jump out of the way of the girl who was chasing me, I jumped so high I flew all the way over the hedge! At first, I couldn't believe it was real, and neither could my friends, either. Within a few minutes, they'd convinced themselves that nothing unusual happened.
And then the next day, a strange old woman showed up on my doorstep and offered me a Choice for my future- and now, here I am, sixteen and on my way to Iris Academy, an actual school for magic!
My parents drove me out here, but we've already said our goodbyes. I asked them to drop me off on the outskirts of the school grounds so I could walk there on my own.
A wise choice in and of itself, the reasons of which will become clear as we play further.
I knew Dad would cry and make a fuss over me before letting me go, and I didn't want my new classmates to see me for the first time looking like that. To be honest, I'm surprised Dad agreed. He's always been a little overprotective; maybe he's finally recognising that I'm not a little kid anymore.
D'awww 
Anyway, it means I have to carry my own suitcases, which contain all that I have to my name for the next nine months: Not many clothes, since we'll be wearing school uniforms all the time, but I have some books, pictures of my friends and family, and decorations for my new room.
The campus looks more like a very posh boarding school than a home for wizards and witches- pretty buildings, lots of trees and wide open spaces. Summer still lingers here; the leaves haven't yet started to turn. I walk a little faster, feeling slightly too warm in this long robe and cape.
Flowerbeds and arches stretch out before me. So many doors and windows, and they all look the same. There are three residential halls for girls, and another three for boys. I've been accepted to Horse Hall, which is for 'adventurous girls', whatever that means. The other two girl halls here are the Butterflies, who are probably girly-girls, and the Snakes. I'm not sure who would want to be a snake- I'd much rather be a horse. Unfortunately, I'm not exactly sure where Horse Hall is.
Mary's got it right- Butterflies are for the typical girly-girl students, while Snakes are loners and misfits. Not necessarily Slytherin-type schemers, mind you- just the ladies who wouldn't quite fit in anywhere else.
I have a letter about freshman orientation... where is-
"Oops, sorry!"
He is an older man in school robes with no Hall symbol on them... which means he's probably a professor. This is not a good first impression.
"I mean, sorry, sir."
He has a lovely voice, dark and rich with a refined British accent, and he doesn't seem to be too angry with me. I relaxed a little.
"I'm Mary Sue, sir," I explain. "I've just got here, and I'm not sure where I'm supposed to be..." I trailed off, as I realize he's no longer looking at me- instead, he's paging through the large book he was carrying.
"Miss... Sue, correct?" he asks. "Wildseed... tch, how unsurprising."
He scribbles something into his book, then slams it shut, before turning to me with a grin. "Ten demerits. Not a promising start." And as suddenly as it appeared, his smile was replaced by-
And with a snap of his wrist, he wraps his cape around him and stalks away. Great- I haven't even started school yet, and already one of my teachers hates me!
It's with that thought in mind that I started looking around. I found the way into the girls' domitories, and located my Hall. There are nine doors in this Hall, only one of which is labeled 'bathroom'. If each bedroom has at least two girls in it...
I hope that's a big bathroom.
My own letter informed me that I'd have two roomates, but didn't tell me anything about them, not even their names. I haven't seen anyone wearing a Horse insignia- I guess all I can do is find my room and wait for them to show up. I pick up my suitcase and head to Room 3. Opening the door, I find a fairly ordinary-looking bedroom. No skulls, no drippy candles, no blacklight posters on the walls, no incense or crystals anywhere- unless my roomies haven't had time to unpack yet.
A girl who had been sitting on one of the beds stands up. "Um... Hello?" she asks.
Amazing! I seem to be making all kinds of good first impressions today! "...I didn't mean that the way it sounded," I add, trying to bail out the Titanic with a colander. "Let's try this again- I'm Mary. Are you my roomate?"
"One of them," she says; thankfully, she doesn't seem as touchy as the teacher I bumped into. "I'm Ellen. That's Virginia's bed," she says, pointing to a bed that was about as 'lived in' as one can get without melding with it, "but she went out to talk to somebody."
"Well, it's nice to meet you!" I said. "Where are you from?"
"Virginia- the state, I mean. I'm not sure where Virginia-the-girl is from."
I tilt my head. "You don't have much of a Southern accent."
And there I go again. Great move, Mary Sue- I can just hear Waylon Jennings going "Hoo-whee! Ain't no way li'l ol' Mary's getting out of this bucket o' moonshine!"
Or, well, Patton Oswalt doing his Waylon Jennings impression. Same diff.
But get out I do- Ellen doesn't seem to notice my gaffe. "It's not that far south, and my- family wasn't from there. What about you?"
"New Hampshire," I reply. "Not too far from here. Are all these books yours?" I ask, looking at the filled bookshelf and the Tower of Bibliography next to it.
"Yeah. There aren't any computers here, so I brought my old encylopaedias. And those are the txtbooks for the classes I would be taking this year at my other school if I hadn't left."
I was impressed, to say the least. "Wow, you must be a really good student!"
"Not really," she replied. "I probably won't even open them. But I didn't know what I'd need, and I didn't want to need something and not have it. These books," she said, turning to the Great Library of Ellen-xandria behind her, "are everything I could find out about magic, actual magic, now that I know it's real."
I feel like I should be jealous of how prepared she was, of how practical she was being, but Ellen was so nice. It was hard to dislike or be jealous of her about anything. It'd be like being jealous of a kitten.
"Yeah, it's great, isn't it?" I say. "We're going to be witches, just like in the movies!"
"Oh, good! You're wildseed too!"
"There's that term again- what's it mean?"
Whoa, she came outta nowhere!
"Me, my family's all magical, so I always knew I'd be a witch! I'm Virginia, by the way!" she says, holding out her hand.
"I'm Mary, Mary Sue. Is it a problem, being 'wild'?" I ask as I shake her hand in return. "I met a professor and he was sort of rude about it."
Her brow furrowed. "A professor... wait, shaggy black hair, big nose, English accent?"
"Yeah, I sort of bumped into him."
Virginia bursts into laughter. "Oh no! Now you'll be on Grabby's blacklist!"
"Now, no!" Virginia replied. "That's his name- Professor Grabiner."
"He hates me," I grumble.
"Pfft, he hates everybody, so it doesn't make much difference!" She waves a dismissive hand. "Don't worry about it; nobody cares if you're a born witch or not, not really. And everybody's scared of Grabby, he's a monster. William warned me about him."
"William?"
"My big brother," Virginia said. "Well, bigger brother. He's a senior. My other brother, Donald, he's a freshman like us. They're in Wolf Hall."
Like the girls, the guys are separated into their own halls, with Wolf, Eagle and Toad Halls being the counterparts to Horse, Butterfly and Snake Halls respectively.
"But enough about boys- what sports do you play? What do you like?"
"I like softball," Ellen said, "but I'm better at volleyball."
"Good strong arms," Virginia said, nodding approvingly. "Me, I prefer soccer. What about you, Mary?"
"Um... I guess I'm mostly best at track," I shrug. "I like to run."
Virginia laughs again. "Ha! Your legs, her arms, and my fighting spirit! We're the total package! Go Horses! Woo!"
Wow. If we were a package, then she'd definitely be the ticking bomb inside. I suppose Ellen would be the note to Con Ed, and me the... wrapping paper? I guess? I'm not too good with metaphors.
"Are there sports teams for wizards here?" Ellen asks.
"Not really, no," Virginia says. "I mean, there is bounders, but that's not a real sport. However, there is a gym, and we can START our own sports teams if we have to! Right, Mary?"
Yes, coach! "I... guess?"
Vurginia laughs again, and I can't help but smile- her cheery brashness is infectious. "Sorry, sorry, I'm just rolling you over, aren't I? I'll let you unpack, C'mon, Ellen! I'll introduce you to my brothers!"
Insofar as I can tell, choosing to just unpack does nothing- doesn't raise your stats, set any flags etc, and you miss out on meeting more of the cast! So...
Meh, unpacking can wait, and I was curious about whether Virginia's brothers were anything like her. "I want to meet them too! The only wizard I've met so far was that horrible professor. I can unpack later!"
"Yeah, I hate unpacking too!" Virginia said. "I made mom do it!"
"Uhm, do you still want me to come?" Ellen asked.
"Why wouldn't I? Come on!" Hurricane Virginia says, pulling us into an inescapable grasp and leading us through the maze of school hallways to one of the boys' sections.
"Need a hand, ladies?" someone says from behind us.
Suddenly, a water balloon flies out of an open door, right smack into the side of Virginbia's head.
"DONALD!"
Donald then exchanged high-fives with the guy who stopped us, and I find myself having to suppress a giggle; he can't have had much time to plan this prank, after- ack, Virginia's turning to look at me! Poker face! Poker face! Ahoogah! Ahoogah! Dive! Dive! Dive!
"This..." she said, pausing to spit out a little water, "is my brother Donald, the complete dork." She then turns back to Donald, saying "You are going to be in so much trouble. All the trouble."
"What are you gonna do, Urchin?" Oooh, I need to remember that. "Tell Mom on me? Too bad, she's not here!"
"I don't have to do anything." Virginia tells him smugly. "You'll end up in detention by the end of the week just by being you. I mean, look at me! I'm all wet!"
"More like all washed up, right? Anyway, you're a witch! Magic yourself dry! C'mon, Luke!" he says.
"V? Is that you?" Another voice asks from behind us. "Hey, V! All moved in? Are... are you wet? Let me guess- Donald again, right? No, don't answer that," he sighs, "just let me dry you up."
"There, see? All better!" he says.
It's not much of a segue, I'll admit, but I think it's about time to get the cheerwagon rolling again.
"Right!" Virginia says, as bouncy as before. "Guys, this is William, my good brother," she adds, grabbing Ellen's hand and bringing her forward. "These are my roomates, Ellen and Mary!"
"You too," Ellen says, smiling.
"You two keep an eye on V, now. She's a little scamp- if you don't watch out, she'll get you into trouble!"
" 'V'? That's your nickname? You're not going to blow up Parliament, are you?"
"Not yet, haw! Nah, it's just what William calls me- and it much better than what Donald calls me! Me, I use my whole name; it's not that long."
"You kids should probably run along now; freshman orientation is tomorrow, and you'll have a busy week ahead of you- not to mention initiation."
"Initiation?" I ask.
Oooh, I don't like the looks of that smile. "You'll find out," William says. How comforting. "Now, I think we've all got our own business to attend to?" He's right- I still have to unpack, after all. Not that I could stand to do so, because tomorrow, we're all learning magic!
Coming up soon- new classes, new challenges, new ceiling ornaments- maybe! Stay tuned for the next entry in this Magical Diary!