Sorcerer’s Choice: Angel or Demon? is a boys love fantasy visual novel developed by Varenyett and published in English by JAST Blue. After being driven from his home, young sorcerer, Lucil is approached by an angel and a demon, each want to use his powers for their own ends. It is up to Lucil to choose which he will follow. Will he give himself over to the Light or will he fall into Darkness?
Game Details
- Genre: Fantasy | Boys Love | Adventure
- Developer: Varenyett | Publisher: JAST Blue
- Get the Game: Steam | JAST Blue
- Similar Games: My Magical Demon Lover | Tokyo Onmyoji | The Divine Speaker
Story
When sorcerer in-training Lucil’s home is attacked by a violent mob, his grandfather teleports him to safety. Burned and battered, Lucil is aware of two beings standing over him: one of Light, and one of Darkness.
Which hand will he take? What fate awaits him when he chooses?
Official Synopsis
Characters
In Sorcerer’s Choice: Angel or Demon? you can choose between Light or Darkness, which correspond to Flow and Lobelia respectively. Each route follows its own unique story specific to that path’s love interest and comes with five endings (1 Happy End and 4 Bad Endings).
Lucil (CV. Aoba Nanami)
Lucil lived most of his life isolated from the rest of the world, focusing on honing his magical abilities. He’s stubborn and distrustful of others. He harbors a deep resentment towards humans and refuses to use his magic to help them. Lucil is very closed off and that has a huge effect on his magical potential. As the story progresses he learns to open up to others and as a result his powers grow.
Lucil is a character that can be hard to like in the beginning, he’s snarky to the point of being rude—especially in Flow’s route (he’s downright cruel to that man). While he can be a bit difficult, he has a strong sense of justice and cares deeply for those he loves.
Flow (CV. Kyousai Nanoka)
For my first run I chose Light, because it seemed like the (literal) lesser of two evils. I mean, you can’t go wrong by choosing an angel…right?!
When you think angel, you think someone ethereal, Flow is anything but; he’s clumsy and naïve and while he means well he can be a kind of dense. If it weren’t for his fair hair and purple eyes, he would be indistinguishable from a normal human man. This comes in handy since he works as a traveling doctor for the local village. He cares deeply for humans and while he is forbidden from using his angelic powers he is well versed in most medicines and treatments.
Because Flow is an angel, he doesn’t experience things the way humans do, so the romance is slow to progress. It doesn’t help that Flow’s attempts to curry favor with Lucil usually end in disaster. Flow is such a dork it’s amazing he can even function, *sigh* but he is a loveable dork.
Lobelia (CV. Sawa Manaka)
Lobelia is a walking red flag, but what did I expect from a demon…
I’ll be honest with y’all I HATED Lobelia in the beginning. This dude kidnaps Lucil, tricks him into making a pact with him only to bind his magic and spend the rest of the route fucking his brains out (against his will). He treats him like a battery and has no regard for how he feels about it. Hell, Lucil spends the entire route butt naked or wrapped in a thin silk sheet… Consent doesn’t live in this route.
Lobelia is someone that embraces his carnal desires, often at the expense of others, so it was kind of rough seeing him as a romantic partner for Lucil at the start of the game. He strips Lucil of his agency, his freedom, and even his dignity, just to get what he wants out of him. But, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t really enjoy this route. Lobelia is a bad guy, he doesn’t pretend to be any better than he is and IDK, there’s something noble about that. And his growth is just *chef’s kiss*, in fact, I friggin love Lucil in this route. It’s easy to say that Lobelia corrupts Lucil, but really he “helps” Lucil get in touch with his inner passion, albeit in a roundabout way.
If Flow’s route was a slow burn, Lobelia’s route was straight up porn. They fuck like rabbits in this route.
Sorcerer’s Choice Angel or Demon Review
JAST Blue has been touting Sorcerer’s Choice: Angel or Demon? as the game that will usher in “a new stage” for the publisher. Next to MangaGamer’s localizations of Parade’s titles and the previously released titles from infamous publisher, Nitro+chiral, Varenyett is a relative unknown to most Western BL gamers. Since we’re still pretty limited in the number of BL titles that make their way to the West. So I was curious and excited to see what Sorcerer’s Choice had to offer!
After his forest home is destroyed by a mob of enraged humans, young sorcerer, Lucil is saved from a gruesome fate when his grandfather teleports him to safety. Hurt, alone, and filled with rage, Lucil finds himself in the presence of an Angel and a Demon. Both offer to help Lucil out of his predicament. Now he must choose if he will give himself over to the path of Light or Darkness. But, whichever choice he makes will change the course of his fate forever.
Control the path Lucil’s destiny take. Choose Light and help Flow, an airheaded angel who moonlights as a doctor cure an epidemic in a nearby human village. Or give into your carnal desires in the Darkness path and sacrifice your body to the dangerous and seductive demon, Lobelia.
Sorcerer’s Choice may not be the flashiest game I’ve ever played, but you really don’t need a lot of bells and whistles to tell a good story. This is a simple story that takes full advantage of it’s premise. Magic and things that go bump in the night aren’t just he stuff of myths and legends, they’re baked into every facet of their reality. Deals with demons are common place enough that there are warnings in books. Sorcerers while not always appreciated for their craft, use their abilities to help humans in need. Each route delves into a different aspect of the world and the lore. Flow’s route explores the nuance of angels and their impact on humanity. While Lobelia’s route gives more insight into demons and the nature of magic. There is some crossover between routes on some themes, but the Angel and Demon routes are completely different experience.
As far as the smut goes, Sorcerer’s Choice delivers. Uncensored, full sex scenes with tons of CGs to ogle at. Lobelia’s route is full of spicy scenes, but, plays fast and loose with consent. Lucil refers to most of the sexual encounters in Lobelia’s route as r*pe. I will admit that a few scenes were hard to get through. But, Flow’s route is much more wholesome, they save the sex for the finale and it is very clear both Flow and Lucil are down for the encounter.
In the bad ends you’ll definitely want to tread with caution. One of Flow’s bad ends involves sex in a church and there are two threesome bad ends with both Flow and Lobelia partaking in the “fun”. Because of the dubious consent, your mileage may vary.
The localization of Sorcerer’s Choice is interesting. They took some liberties with the translation that you’ll either really like or hate. The translator took on a more casual, modern approach, that I found fun (but, can also date the game a bit). Lucil can be a bit crass, so I noticed they subbed in a lot of f-bombs, which gave some of his lines a more sarcastic tone that I liked, but might rub some people the wrong way.
Update: JAST Blue has addressed my concerns about the translation of Sorcerer’s Choice on their official Twitter.
Because Sorcerer’s Choice has such a small cast, the storylines are largely character driven, so you get to know each of the main characters fairly intimately. Which leads to some great character development. None of these characters are one note, they have layers and the writers do a fantastic job of teasing out their true natures. It’s most notable in Lobelia’s route, because his starting point is so extreme, so his 180 is much more prominent. I started his route wanting to strangle him and ended it absolutely LOVING HIM!
Lucil’s growth in Lobelia’s route is amazing, he is at his best in there. He’s forced to contend with a lot of trauma in Lobelia’s route, and as a result it pushes him to really comes into his own as a man and as a sorcerer in a way that didn’t really happen in Flow’s route. Sadly, Flow’s growth isn’t as drastic as Lobelia’s and Lucil’s so he felt a bit lacking in comparison.
Sorcerer’s Choice is a bit on the shorter side, so you can get through the whole thing in about a weekend. Sometimes a shorter game can feel a bit disappointing, but here the compact narrative makes for a much tighter narrative. The story doesn’t throw in any unnecessary drama nor does it feel incomplete. Each route has a story it wants to tell and each conclusion is satisfying (yes, even the bad ends).
Is Sorcerer’s Choice: Angel or Demon? worth playing?
Varenyett’s Sorcerer’s Choice: Angel of Demon? is a fantastic introduction to the developer and I am so glad JAST Blue picked it up. I had no idea what to expect from this game and I wound up being blown away!
With its gorgeous visuals and immersive fantasy world, Sorcerer’s Choice: Angel or Demon is not a game BL fans will want to miss out on! This is a game you’ll WANT to full clear, just to spend more time with these fantastic characters and world. I sincerely hope this isn’t the last I hear from this developer, and I hope this opens the door for even more unique boys love localizations in the future!
Thank you to JAST Blue for providing a copy of this game for the review!
