Have you ever fantasized about running your own manor in the woods? If you have, this is your game. If you haven't, there's always story mode. Mystwood Manor tells the story of a family who uncovers what bad blood in between the family can actually do.
STORY
Being a light-fantasy story, Mystwood draws you in on a premise of running a mythical hotel. Your father has a budding dream - he wants to open his own hotel someday. As a loving, caring family, you set out to follow his dream and support him in his first steps. Soon, you'll be the boss of a growing crew of capable women, all who try their best to help make the hotel a great place. Upon growing the hotel, you'll find peculiar supernatural things are happening around you - guests are acting weird and strange sightings happen. It never really fully explains itself, but you get the gist of what actually happens in all of Mystwood. It's mysterious. There's a myth of three sisters hoping for the validation of their mother and that's basically where the origin of the story blooms from.
While the game is very much a gameplay-game, meaning you will have to get hands on with timers, crew, guests and story bits, the story of Mystwood explains itself through several cutscenes unlocked over time through attaining certain goals. You will meet Isabella in the forest soon enough, but going back to her cottage in order to level your cards helps push the story further. So story and gameplay are fused in each other in order to keep the player playing, not just reading.
Most of the characters have unique character traits - like Riley, Kay or Catalina - that put them into all kinds of unique situations with the MC. You'll soon be wondering what Hana is doing in her room or why Amber and Riley keep mentioning Mr.MoWo. Developer Faerin always makes sure to deepen out the stories of his characters, and while some may seem similar, they always present a unique angle. Not to mention most of the guests have their own side-stories as well.
In the end, the story wraps up into somewhat of a mystery which I won't further spoil - but the ending does connect the overall story nicely. If you pay attention to the lore you'll see lots of dots to connect and even secret events that could happen in game, provided you're curious enough. It's story richer than "Man of the House" was, but you will still have to look for the story happening.
PRESENTATION
The game has a distinct style and great care was taken into creating a mostly believable environment. The women and guests are about as realistic as they can be, often interacting with each other and showing their unique personalities. Some encounters are very standard, but the game shines when the personality of a girl makes for a totally unique interaction you couldn't have with anyone else. That happens a lot in this game. Kay has to by far be my favorite for just being such a braveheart at times where most of the crew would back down.
There is so much in this game in terms of variety (multiple types and races of women, various styles of kinks and ways to switch between subjects) that it's easy to get lost in it all. Not to even mention that the grind will take you a long time, even on story mode. Eventually, the careful way Faerin creates the intimatie scenes is reason enough to keep playing through the grind. The hotel looks great, menu's are pretty clear and you'll be drooling for more content in no time.
The mystic angle the game takes might initially feel like an easy way out, but you eventually find that everything does make sense in Mystwood Manor and developer Faerin takes his sweet time to show and tell.
GAMEPLAY
You'll be a hotel manager while also trying to be a detective and fuck women on the side. There is A LOT of managing going on in this game and Mystwood Manor is an absolute grindfest - figure out which girl works best in what room and what rooms are needed for which guests - so don't expect going into this for a wank and being done. This is Hotel Simcity with sex attached, where the ratio is probably 20% sex and 80% grind.
This wall of grinding (there's story mode, but it still contains grinding) drops the game one full point for me, because having this much grind actually doesn't do anything worthwhile for the story in game - it just blocks my progression as a player. My recommendation is story mode and having a fun time, even if that means you're missing out on two parts of short bonus content. The second bonus is really nice, but it's worth losing the grind for. You can google the scenes online and save yourself some time.
OVERALL
If you are looking for sexual arousal around every corner, steer clear. This game will not play itself and it asks you to ease into the sexual content. When you get there however, it does get interesting. But it might be too little too late for most people. This is not a game about sex, this is a hotel management game with some sex scenes. Plus, spoiler alert, you won't be able to mess with the antagonist. But Lord knowsthat person need a good fuck!
Verdict: 8/10
Developer: Faeringames
