It is hard to believe it has been over a year since I reviewed Regency Love, the delightful Jane Austen inspired VN gem that came out of nowhere on iOS to capture my heart. I mentioned at the time that the ladies at Tea For Three Studios had real magic on their hands here with the fictional town of Darlington, and I waited anxiously for the additional content to arrive.
And waited. And waited.
Being a small, independent studio isn’t easy. Tea For Three was always very forthright about the slower-than-hoped-for progress of the new content for Regency Love.
At long last, the Mr. Graham DLC pack has arrived for Regency Love. Not only do you get an additional bachelor to pursue (a redcoat, no less!), with lots of associated characters (a mysterious new nobleman!), but tons of other townsfolk in Darlington have their stories expanded upon as part of a “2.0” version of Regency Love that coincides with the release of the DLC and ties in nicely with the additional purchased content.
The formula for the gameplay remains the same — you have the same 6 regency era skills, and solving word puzzles/answering trivia questions gives you points to distribute in them. While the mechanics aren’t new, the DLC includes some new puzzles/trivia so things don’t get quite as repetitive quite as quickly, but before the end, you will still start to see repeats.
But the mechanics are beside the point in Regency Love. The joy is in the characters and the town of Darlington itself. The delight is in all the little details that make the world of Austen’s novels spring to life on your phone: the ridiculous, gossiping Mrs. Norris, the well meaning but terribly dull Mr. Digby, the dashing Mr. Ashcroft (STILL MY FAVORITE). Even the main character’s mother has a potential love interest in the DLC.
Tea For Three has done so much with what is comparatively little next to bigger budget Visual Novels. There are lots of beautiful new backgrounds and portraits, piles and piles of new dialogue, and even some additional hints about what might be next for additional DLC. If you enjoyed Regency Love, this is a must buy. If you haven’t tried Regency Love, I highly encourage you to check it out and give strong thought to buying the DLC on initial purchase since it adds so much to the experience. I concede that $4.99 for the app itself plus an additional $5.99 for the DLC might seem steep, but frankly, I would argue that $10 overall is an absolute steal for a visual novel of this quality. I endorse it as a “buy” without reservation and hope we see more.
