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[for White Light:Black Rain — Prologue]
Fortune Lover (フォーチュンラヴァー) is a visual novel otome game series developed by Nihon Falcom. Originally on Sony's Playstation platforms for the Japanese market, it also saw a worldwide release, complete with updated PC and even Nintendo Switch ports.
Following the disproportionate success of the experimental VN adaptation of Magical Girl Alisa, the first game that laid the foundation of the series was quickly taken out of the draft stage, seeing release on September 25, 2014 for the Playstation 3 and Playstation Vita, beside Trails of Cold Steel II. Upon release, it proved an even more unexpected sales hit, slightly surpassing the sales figures of its ARPG sibling in both the PS3 and PS Vita, and immediately cementing itself as a mainstay for the company beside its Ys and Trails franchises.
The first Fortune Lover follows the story of "Maria Campbell", a commoner who manifested the highly rare Light Magic at a young age, making her eligible for admission into Sorcier's Academy of Magic at the age of 15. Within it, she is required to navigate a social environment dominated by nobles, eventually having to choose between four (five with the secret one included) "capture targets" — romanceable options that dictate the endings given to the player. Each "capture target" has his own "good" and "bad" ending, which combined with the "friendship" ending, make for 11 total endings. The formula of the first game is subsequently repeated in future titles, with new options and story elements gradually added into the franchise, with the fifth title in the series concluding Maria's journey.
Key feature of this series, and uniquely among otome games, is the ability to "transfer" one's preferred "good" ending from one entry to the next once completed and unlocked. While initially derided as "overly ambitious", the release of Fortune Lover II: Love at the Magical Ministry was met with glowing reviews over its "thorough" implementation of the feature, with western audiences frequently comparing the series to Bioware's Mass Effect trilogy. Further comparisons between the two franchises only intensified as future titles expanded the "Arcana" background lore system, another feature unique to the Fortune Lover series, which was often key to getting the "good" endings of each "capture target".
Akin to the Trails series, Fortune Lover has been commonly praised for its attention to detail, nuanced character arcs, and clever use of story elements; this includes the revitalizing of the Trope of the Villainess who opposes the main character throughout her journey. Its popularity prompted the release of a tie-in Anime adaptation in cooperation with Silver Link, alongside numerous expansions and spinoffs. Alongside the much-praised same-sex "capture target" additions via DLC, there's also the Love's Omen duology spinoff, which takes place 150 years before the events of the first Fortune Lover, with "adventure" elements frequently compared to the Ace Attorney series.