Go! Comi Unveils O-Play Online Manga Gaming

After showing a sneak preview at Anime Expo in early July, Go! Comi unveiled the prologue and first pay-to-play chapter of Dragon Academy, their first O-Play release on the Go! Comi website. O-Play is Go Comi's interactive manga / ren'ai online roleplaying game that allows readers the chance to really get into a shojo manga-style fantasy story and act out the role of the heroine.

The Flash-based interface allows readers to watch the story unfold in simple animated scenarios, complete with music and sound effects while the dialogue of the other characters are displayed in an interaction box at the bottom of the screen. Players / readers can click through at their own pace and save their game play for later sessions.

Every now and then, readers are confronted with a choice of actions / reactions through the "Wheel of Emotion." The "WOE" offers options for the heroine to react to other characters. These choices then influence how the rest of the story unfolds. As the tagline on the Go Comi website puts it, "You don't read it, you live it!"

So far, the prologue (which is free) and the first episode (which costs $7.99) of Dragon Academy is up and ready to be explored. The prologue introduces us to the heroine, her uncle and sets up the circumstances that sends her to Fydraca Academy, a mysterious and exclusive boarding school.

I poked around (and yes, bought the first episode) to take Dragon Academy for a test drive. The dialogue is a little clunky -- but it must be challenging to write for characters that can have multiple personalities depending on the players' choices. The art (by Calgary college student Hunter Severn Bonyun) has lots of pretty bishonen pin-ups, but is a little weak in visual storytelling.

Nevertheless, it's fun to try out different scenarios to see how the story changes depending on which choices you make. I tried out several variations and discovered that some choices don't make much of a difference in the subsequent events, while others dramatically change what happens to the heroine. As more episodes are added, it'll likely be even more fun to explore the possibilities, as each decision will have repercussions that ripple across the chapters.

I'll hold off writing a full review of the experience until more episodes are up. According to the calendar, the next installment of the story is due in September. But until then, at least give the prologue a try -- it's an bold experiment in online storytelling that no other American manga publisher has yet ventured into.

If you've tried it out, what do you think? Is it worth $7.99, or are you holding out? And if so, why? I'd love to get your take on Dragon Academy!

Image credit: © Go! Media Entertainment LLC