Adventure Academy tries to follow the steps of the "Raising Sim" genre (most famous for Princess Maker) while adding a few extra touches of Dungeon Crawling and lots of Comedy. It seems like a nice mix that can lead to a good game, right? Well, not so much this time. I don't want to sound overly harsh, but everything in this game goes from "mediocre" to "bad", let's go point by point.



First, the Raising Sim elements. I was really hoping to get some goodness here, as there aren't not enough Raising Sims out there, and every single new one is greatly appreciated. But how was it implemented here? Well, early on, you can work to gain both money and raise some attributes. You raise them so you can, later on, change classes depending on your stats: high STR, AGI, and CON turns you into a Warrior, high INT, FAITH, and CON turn you into a Mage. Later on, you can receive classes, which greatly raise your stats for a fee. You also unlock a "second tier" of classes, like Spellblade, Archer, Sage, Black Mage, etc. The problem with this system is that it feels... kinda superfluous? You have a screen that tells how many points in various attributes you need to change into a specific class. Early on you have to pick which path to take and just raise the stats enough to fulfill the requirements. There's almost no incentive to keep raising them or even experiment with weird "builds". The only thing you get is some very small bonuses to your combat stats, but not enough to make it worthwhile. On top of that, there's the problem that the amount of money you get from working is always the same amount. Unlike other Raising Sims were the better your stats for a job, the better you'll do in it and the more money you will get.



Well, what about the Dungeon Crawling? You have access to only three generic and boring dungeons. Mostly because they were done with the random dungeon tool that RPG Maker VX Ace has, but with barely any changes. Just a few treasure chests here and there, and lots of random battles. By the way, the first option whenever a battle starts is Auto Battle, this is a blessing because the battles are very boring and easy. Just letting the AI spam their best attacks works for all the battles, even the final boss! Why include fights if they are going to be so boring?



And lastly, the final nail in the coffin, the "Comedy", or more like the writing in general. It's too juvenile and stupid, with nonsensical scenes and some of the most one-dimensional characters ever. This destroys any fun you could had with this game because every single dialogue is trying to be "funny" but fails miserably. The screenshot above can give you an idea of what I'm talking about.



Well, there's not much else to add. At the start of the review, I didn't want too sound too harsh, but the flaws were starting to really bother me. When I read the description of the game, I genuinely wanted to try it out, but I only got disappointment. I think there's a little sparkle of potential hiding in there, but the bad heavily outweighs the good, and I just can't recommend this game to anyone. At least it is short enough to be beaten in one sitting I guess?