Demo Review: Her Jentle Hi-ness

Her Jentle Hi-ness, in development by Sky Bear Games, is a visual novel with RPG elements. Take the role of Eorina as you serve under a resentful queen who has banished the use of the letter G from her kingdom! 

Her Jentle Hi-ness is on Kickstarter until August 26th.

The Writing:

The developers define Her Jentle Hi-ness as “a linguistically twisted visual novel.” The alphabet that we’re familiar with is shifted slightly as the letter G is removed. Some words lose the letter entirely, like Eorina’s name, which was originally Georgina. Other words swap their G with a J, such as with the word “jentle.”

It may take a bit of time to get used to this modified language, but it’s not hard to understand. For those who may have trouble, there are varying levels of difficulty in the demo. Choices are timed, so you must be quick with your wit to choose something that will help appease the person you’re talking to, all the while keeping the letter G out of your dialogue!

There are several characters that you can have a relationship with. According to the game’s Kickstarter page, there are more than fifteen romance options. Most of these characters you’ll be able to gain and lose respect with. Be careful and keep an eye on your stats if you want to reach a good ending of the 25 possible! 

The story of Her Jentle Hi-ness does feel a bit rushed. The focus is more on the characters’ dialogue as opposed to the action in the script. You won’t be getting a heavy and deeply emotional tale with intense character development, but that’s okay. In a game like this, you’re meant to focus on the wordplay and have fun along the way. 

The Art: 

The backgrounds in Her Jentle Hi-ness are all actually public domain images from the Metropolitan Museum of Art! According to the game’s Kickstarter page, the game will feature over sixty of them. 

The game’s sprites are all original designs from illustrator and animator Sean Miller. They have a whimsical and cartoony look to them, making the absurdity of the storyline all the more immersive! The combination of cartoon sprites and real-world paintings may be jarring to some, but I personally feel like it works really well. Nothing about the game is conventional, and this artistic choice just further cements that theme. 

There is an original soundtrack by Michaela Cornelius that mixes both modern and medieval tones. It’s a mashup that works surprisingly well. There are also some wacky sound effects that add a little more ambiance to the experience.  

Verdict: 

Her Jentle Hi-ness is not your average visual novel. It adds mechanics like stat building, relationship building, and timed choices which help to create an engaging and challenging experience for players. 

If you like games that make you think, with calming music and beautiful artistic backgrounds, I recommend trying Her Jentle Hi-ness. 

You can play the browser based demo on itch.io and back the game on Kickstarter now!