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Name of the app you are reviewing: Marked by King Bs
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MOD APK - Marked by King Bs v1.1.1 Unlimited Gold(updated)
An otome aka dating game, slice of life, where you're an ordinary high school student. You play a ditzy naive girl who blunders her way into forging some pretty solid friendships with the supposedly notorious bad-boys of the school.
Review:
You play a ditzy, naive 17/18 year old female student in a school. The gameplay style is that of otome, dating games, visual-novel style. This involves a box of text at the bottom half of the screen that narrates the story and character dialogue, while an image of the character(s) and background location being the backdrop. This particular game is played portrait-mode, which makes it easy for the user to tap on the screen with the thumb, which is how you progress the story.
The game has very pretty art and pretty solid characters. Translation is not the best writing you've ever seen, but very readable and decent enough to get emotions and character across. The interface is easy and intuitive, and its features are easily recognizable and a tutorial is not needed. Some special features unique to this game is a dress-up component, but it does not provide complete freedom to mix and match. There is a bunch of pre-set outfits that you can purchase, and some that do allow you to mix and match, the ones that don't are couple outfits with one or two matching to each of the dateable male leads.
The other unique feature of this game is that you can enter the boys' 'rooms' and read the story from their perspective. I found this very refreshing and really added dimension to their character in a way that wasn't intrusive or contrived. Because in this way, there isn't any artificial moments where the guys tell the girl their feelings in an awkward and unnatural situation just so developers can get the guys' personality across. This made the story flow much easier, in my perspective. This lends to what I actually like about this game, which is that I find they are very strong in their character development of the boys. In many games, the boys generally fit stereotypes of the tsundere, the prince charming, the bordering-on-sexual-harrassment, so on and so forth. If you've been in the community a while you would know these typical personalities. Which can make the experience more of a drag than an immersive one. Especially in a game like otome where the point and focus is on the characters, it is especially enjoyable when a game makes the effort and succeeds at developing and adding dimensions to their characters - all the characters, both the guys and the MC and the MC's friend. This makes for a much more plausible and immersive and enjoyable reading experience, which is ultimately what this kind of games are about.
Back to Marked by King Bs, the characters were refreshingly normal. They seemed like normal guys. Of course, they were a little exaggerated, but very normal as compared to other otome games and visual novel games in this genre. Coupled with the good art, this game felt like a gem in the rough for me.
That being said, the game does have flaws. One major one would be the way two of the characters talk. It is full of abbreviations, cringe-worthy intent and sometimes can be plain hard to read. The kind of 14year old writing that is in those chat memes - full of symbols, lacking in grammar, and overly exaggerated. Honestly, I wanted to put the game down, but kept at it mostly out of morbid curiosity because it just seemed that bad. But by episode 7-9, the game eased up a lot and became much more palatable. Through the boys' rooms where you learned their perspective, the game even shows you a pretty solid reason for the way the characters behave in the way that they do. As annoying as the text was, I found myself softening and becoming more understanding of the characters instead.
So that being said, it can be inferenced that the game does touch on some 'heavier' topics for a slice of life. There is violence, unhealthy and unhappy households, etc. But these are all handled pretty elegantly and lightly. It is enough to make the reader feel, but not enough to take away from the light-hearted tone of the game. The characters are still happy and relaxed with their lives, but there is just an explanation for their character and how their background shaped the people they are. It also ties in quite nicely with why and how the characters fall for the MC - which I felt is pretty valuable. Many other games would just have the characters thinking the MC is very pretty, or mysteriously alluring for no special reason - which, to me, takes away from those games and just makes the player roll their eyes, honestly. It just speaks of lazy writing and under-developed characters. So this attention to detail, in providing a fuller picture of the boys' characters as well as linking it to the main focus of the game which is their love for the MC, is another strength of this game. Furthermore, it is not overly long nor dark, so still fits nicely with the game's theme of light-heartedness and relaxation.
Another strength would be that this game follows a main story which then deviates into the path you would like with the guys, which I feel is more preferable to the other type of gameplay where you choose the guy right off the bat. This allows for more natural and immersive gameplay, and if you feel none of the guys click with you, you can choose a 'normal' no guy ending which still allows you to enjoy a decent story of finding and forging friendships in a school context. And that is enjoyable in itself, because of the visual novel elements and nice art.
The main story, although slice of life and in a school, has interesting and exciting snippets. The writers didn't overdo their action and exciting scenes, but it also is not boring and draggy and uneventful as some other writing. Honestly, it is quite impressive for them to think of such a storyline that is lighthearted but still exciting enough to keep readers' attention. So kudos to them.
This leads to the next point which is one of their flaws, but it is a small one: the story does push you towards liking one or two of the guys. How to say,the general main story does seem to imply or nudge you towards the routes of 2-3 of the guys. But still, it is not overt, and you do get plenty of interaction with the other guys as well.
Now for some minor spoilers: Personally I liked William's route the most, it felt the most natural, given the game's nudging as I mentioned. I only bothered with two endings and the two were the ones nudged towards. I also tried the 'normal' ending which was satisfying as well.
Now for more spoilers: There is a sequel to this called Loved by King Bs. That game starts with you already in a relationship with one of the characters (remember, the nudging). Now that deserves a review all by itself, and not nearly as glowing as this one. So I say this here just so when you play this game, do savour it. You might want to consider it as the be-all and end-all of this universe, because you might want to seriously consider giving the sequel a skip.
I know I played this bearing in mind there was a sequel, and it did affect my gameplay a bit - expectations for more, etc. So yes. But even with that, I thoroughly enjoyed this game, it is probably my favourite one at this point. I would recommend all to play it, especially the modded version because it makes everything so much easier and gameplay smoother.
Would you recommend this to other users? Yes.
Rating (1-5):
Link to the content you're reviewing on our site (optional):
MOD APK - Marked by King Bs v1.1.1 Unlimited Gold(updated)An otome aka dating game, slice of life, where you're an ordinary high school student. You play a ditzy naive girl who blunders her way into forging some pretty solid friendships with the supposedly notorious bad-boys of the school.
Review:
You play a ditzy, naive 17/18 year old female student in a school. The gameplay style is that of otome, dating games, visual-novel style. This involves a box of text at the bottom half of the screen that narrates the story and character dialogue, while an image of the character(s) and background location being the backdrop. This particular game is played portrait-mode, which makes it easy for the user to tap on the screen with the thumb, which is how you progress the story.
The game has very pretty art and pretty solid characters. Translation is not the best writing you've ever seen, but very readable and decent enough to get emotions and character across. The interface is easy and intuitive, and its features are easily recognizable and a tutorial is not needed. Some special features unique to this game is a dress-up component, but it does not provide complete freedom to mix and match. There is a bunch of pre-set outfits that you can purchase, and some that do allow you to mix and match, the ones that don't are couple outfits with one or two matching to each of the dateable male leads.
The other unique feature of this game is that you can enter the boys' 'rooms' and read the story from their perspective. I found this very refreshing and really added dimension to their character in a way that wasn't intrusive or contrived. Because in this way, there isn't any artificial moments where the guys tell the girl their feelings in an awkward and unnatural situation just so developers can get the guys' personality across. This made the story flow much easier, in my perspective. This lends to what I actually like about this game, which is that I find they are very strong in their character development of the boys. In many games, the boys generally fit stereotypes of the tsundere, the prince charming, the bordering-on-sexual-harrassment, so on and so forth. If you've been in the community a while you would know these typical personalities. Which can make the experience more of a drag than an immersive one. Especially in a game like otome where the point and focus is on the characters, it is especially enjoyable when a game makes the effort and succeeds at developing and adding dimensions to their characters - all the characters, both the guys and the MC and the MC's friend. This makes for a much more plausible and immersive and enjoyable reading experience, which is ultimately what this kind of games are about.
Back to Marked by King Bs, the characters were refreshingly normal. They seemed like normal guys. Of course, they were a little exaggerated, but very normal as compared to other otome games and visual novel games in this genre. Coupled with the good art, this game felt like a gem in the rough for me.
That being said, the game does have flaws. One major one would be the way two of the characters talk. It is full of abbreviations, cringe-worthy intent and sometimes can be plain hard to read. The kind of 14year old writing that is in those chat memes - full of symbols, lacking in grammar, and overly exaggerated. Honestly, I wanted to put the game down, but kept at it mostly out of morbid curiosity because it just seemed that bad. But by episode 7-9, the game eased up a lot and became much more palatable. Through the boys' rooms where you learned their perspective, the game even shows you a pretty solid reason for the way the characters behave in the way that they do. As annoying as the text was, I found myself softening and becoming more understanding of the characters instead.
So that being said, it can be inferenced that the game does touch on some 'heavier' topics for a slice of life. There is violence, unhealthy and unhappy households, etc. But these are all handled pretty elegantly and lightly. It is enough to make the reader feel, but not enough to take away from the light-hearted tone of the game. The characters are still happy and relaxed with their lives, but there is just an explanation for their character and how their background shaped the people they are. It also ties in quite nicely with why and how the characters fall for the MC - which I felt is pretty valuable. Many other games would just have the characters thinking the MC is very pretty, or mysteriously alluring for no special reason - which, to me, takes away from those games and just makes the player roll their eyes, honestly. It just speaks of lazy writing and under-developed characters. So this attention to detail, in providing a fuller picture of the boys' characters as well as linking it to the main focus of the game which is their love for the MC, is another strength of this game. Furthermore, it is not overly long nor dark, so still fits nicely with the game's theme of light-heartedness and relaxation.
Another strength would be that this game follows a main story which then deviates into the path you would like with the guys, which I feel is more preferable to the other type of gameplay where you choose the guy right off the bat. This allows for more natural and immersive gameplay, and if you feel none of the guys click with you, you can choose a 'normal' no guy ending which still allows you to enjoy a decent story of finding and forging friendships in a school context. And that is enjoyable in itself, because of the visual novel elements and nice art.
The main story, although slice of life and in a school, has interesting and exciting snippets. The writers didn't overdo their action and exciting scenes, but it also is not boring and draggy and uneventful as some other writing. Honestly, it is quite impressive for them to think of such a storyline that is lighthearted but still exciting enough to keep readers' attention. So kudos to them.
This leads to the next point which is one of their flaws, but it is a small one: the story does push you towards liking one or two of the guys. How to say,the general main story does seem to imply or nudge you towards the routes of 2-3 of the guys. But still, it is not overt, and you do get plenty of interaction with the other guys as well.
Now for some minor spoilers: Personally I liked William's route the most, it felt the most natural, given the game's nudging as I mentioned. I only bothered with two endings and the two were the ones nudged towards. I also tried the 'normal' ending which was satisfying as well.
Now for more spoilers: There is a sequel to this called Loved by King Bs. That game starts with you already in a relationship with one of the characters (remember, the nudging). Now that deserves a review all by itself, and not nearly as glowing as this one. So I say this here just so when you play this game, do savour it. You might want to consider it as the be-all and end-all of this universe, because you might want to seriously consider giving the sequel a skip.
I know I played this bearing in mind there was a sequel, and it did affect my gameplay a bit - expectations for more, etc. So yes. But even with that, I thoroughly enjoyed this game, it is probably my favourite one at this point. I would recommend all to play it, especially the modded version because it makes everything so much easier and gameplay smoother.
Would you recommend this to other users? Yes.
Rating (1-5):
