Of all the styles of titles that I’ve reviewed on the Switch over this generation, the one that I’ve most continually struggled with has been digital novels. I understand that there’s an audience for them, and with that in mind I always try to keep an open mind, but while there are those that I’ve come around to appreciating there are others that reinforce my less enthused sentiments for them. The Fairy’s Secret, unfortunately, serves as an example of what I tend to dislike most in the genre space.

While apparently it may have helped to have played through the game that this serves as a sequel to, The Fairy’s Song, in general the story at least makes enough sense regardless, for what depth it offers. With a little bit of road trip vibes, some romance, and some threat of peril, there’s at least some variety that keeps the entire story from feeling one-note and limited. Whether or not the conclusion delivers will be a matter of taste, but I’d say that given the nature of the story itself it’s at least sensible and satisfying in that light.

Getting to what made the experience a struggle, I always take issue with stories like this that don’t allow for much more than my being a passive observer. Without much in the way of player agency, and even the illusion that I’m participating to some degree in how things play out, I can’t help but question why this isn’t just a book or a video of some kind that I’m playing on a dedicated gaming system. Simply pressing the button to continue to advance to more dialogue (or using auto and needing to nudge a button to keep the system from thinking you’ve gone to do something else) really doesn’t do it for me. The fact that overall there are very few visual assets to help accentuate the story further underlines this problem, and with no voice work to back things up the experience falls even further down the low-effort rabbit hole.

While I’m quick to point out that these experiences aren’t my cup of tea, I wouldn’t say my ill feelings for this particular “game” are unfair either. The fact is that I’ve played through visual novels that have engaged me with difficult choices, interesting concepts, or at least flourishes of engaging art or voice that have elevated the experience. This does none of those things, and while perhaps from person to person the story could be enough to justify your time and money, in my eyes it’s delivering the bare minimum and should be scored accordingly.