Lovekami: Divinity Stage (Nintendo Switch) Review

In the Lovekami world goddesses have powers greater than humans, and they hold a lot of visual appeal which does include reasonable amount of fanservice with extremely little that is not displayed, but that truly is not all that the game is about. Yamato already knows Sara as she frequently stops by his family's kimono shop. She flirts a lot with him and lets him see her personality quirks that are not known to fans. She is a tactile person, and demonstrates how she feels which is often suggestive, even though initially the two are not dating. In her goddess form Sara's personality does change a bit, and she is in the top idol group for good reason. Over the course of it all Yamato and Sara become more than just friends which leads to some sweet moments as Yamato truly sees who Sara is, and not just her fame.

Circumstances lead Yamato to meeting the two aspiring goddess idols Kagura and Shuri, whose opposing natures at times causes conflict between them which can negatively impact their rehearsals and how they are in concerts. The duo has talent, not yet on a par with Sara's, but enough that draws attention from fans. It is impressive that Lovekami: Divinity Stage's plot does not lead them to be idols or rise to fame instantly and stay there. True to the real-life music industry the duo must work extremely hard in all aspects of their life to do well. For Kagura this includes working in a café which is almost an expected occupation for her or Shuri - the tale is set in Akihabara, a key area for upcoming stars in real life and in the game.

Shuri and Kaguya learn they have to really want to get to the top to survive the lows that comes with being famous, and that includes competing against each other as rivals. Yamato offers emotional support when he can, but some lessons have to be learned the hard way without him protecting them from getting hurt. Identifying their weaknesses to help them overcome them is why Yamato is there to help the goddesses be the best they can be, which includes Sara who despite her elite position has her own self-doubt to deal with.

The ability to save at any point is useful in a visual novel, and Lovekami: Divinity Stage offers twenty slots to save in, as well as a quick load and save feature. Considering there is barely any major decisions to be made in the tale in some ways having so many save slots seems pointless, but it is nice to save before a favourite scene. There are the standard options of skipping text that has already been read, changing the speed and transparency of text boxes, selecting which character is voiced and other basic setup features. Post-game content has an epilogue after the credits, which is a nice touch as it shows what happens next, which was unexpected and enjoyable. In addition to the anime style graphics that take up most of the story, from time to time there are chibi style illustrations that further emphasize personality traits of the characters used that enhance their cuteness. There are also images and music tracks to unlock as the game progresses that can be viewed from the title screen.