Dear eyas, what kind of secret can you unfold today?
Helix Waltz is a European-style dress-up mobile game with dating sim elements. It was made by the China-based Crossingstar studio.
The story begins with a young girl in the slums of Finsel City who loses her home and family in a fire. Soon after, she is adopted by a fallen noblewoman named Eliza Ellenstein and given the name Magda. Ten years pass and Magda grows into a fine noblewoman, groomed and trained by Eliza in the hopes that she'll be able to restore the Ellenstein family's former glory. Now the time begins for Magda to enter noble society, charm the major families, and perhaps uncover dark secrets that can change the fate of Finsel.
The game was released overseas in English by uBeeJoy and BAIOO Family on 14th November 2018, but has since closed its gates to Finsel on 10th March 2022.
The game contains examples of:
- Alternate Continuity: Helix Waltz is actually an otome-focused spin-off to the now-closed mobile game Helix Horizon. Horizon was created by a Japanese studio and was a male-oriented collectible hero ARPG with almost all of the same characters represented but with very different personalities and backstories. Also, because another studio handled the localization of the now-shuttered English version, many names and terms are very different between Horizon and Waltz.
- Ambiguously Gay: Gonzalo Jorcastle's interest in fashion and beauty is unusual for a nobleman in Finsel society, and he is incredibly possessive of Alan's attention and keeping away rivals for him. Eliza's comments about him in his in-game profile indicate suspicion that he's not interested in ladies.
- And Your Reward Is Clothes: Clothes and accessories are a common reward for accomplishing various tasks. Since an extensive and fashionable wardrobe is a must for a young lady to make it among Finsel's nobility, these gifts are quite useful.
- Author Appeal: The setting seems to have been built around the question, "How can I write a story with as much Costume Porn and ballroom dancing as possible?"
- Bizarre Sexual Dimorphism: When Sulla ambassador Basim joins the cast in season two, he explains that male Sulla like himself have feathered wings, while female Sulla have insect-like wings. Art from the game's now-defunct predecessor Helix Horizon confirms that Jiunote , the Sulla girl sheltered by the Finsel City Guard, has transparent dragonfly-like wings that give her a fairy-like appearance.
- "Blind Idiot" Translation: The script is riddled with grammatical and spelling errors. On top of that, there are many times that dialog is being spoken by one character but a different one is depicted. The game frequently has default phrases that use the wrong gender. The devs are taking the feedback so it’s presumed the worst of this will improve over time.
- Blue Blood: Finsel Society is heavily divided between Nobles and Commoners.
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Character Alignment: Each NPC with a profile has their alignment listed. - Clothing Damage: Alan, Alminas, Barris, and Willow all sport significant damage to their clothes after things escalate into battle near the end of the main story. Shatina comments appreciatively when Alminas first shows up with his clothing shredded, quipping that she's impressed he made it across the city without getting "eaten."
- Fantastic Racism: The Oren are looked down on by much of the human citizens of Finsel and are stereotyped as being inherently careless and untrustworthy. The flavor text for the various items of intel contain a disturbing number of references to Oren being abused, tortured, and killed, as well as efforts by some humans to erase Oren history and culture in order to promote the idea that they are little more than animals.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: The nations of the game's setting are closely based on real-world nations. Finsel, where the story takes place, seems roughly analogous to England; Rayorca, with its focus on industrialization and lack of a ruling class of nobility, is America. Lionheart Kingdom is Germany, Hondo is Japan, Mandaria is China, and the nomadic Kangila are the setting's version of the Roma.
- The Gadfly: Juven Sakan cultivates his image as a carefree philanderer, and is most often seen flirting with noble ladies who find him distasteful, especially Lou. He often teases and flirts with Magda as well, although she eventually grows used to his antics and learns how to counter them.
- Game Within a Game: Mandaria Illusion is essentially a romance game within the romance game, presented as an enchanted box that transports Magda into an illusory world in which she assumes the role of a concubine to the Emperor of Mandaria and attempts to unravel the intrigues of the Imperial court. It features its own cast of unique characters and a replayable storyline with multiple possible endings.
- Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: During the Tea Party event, Magda breaks Carlos out of his anxiety spiral by dousing him with a cup of tea.
- Happily Adopted: Magda was adopted by Eliza. Although strict, she does love her as her own daughter.
- High Priest: Finsel is mostly led and given commands by the Saintess.
- Little Bit Beastly: The Orens are small, childlike humanoids with animal ears and tails.
- Mayfly–December Romance: Elves are extremely long-lived, so any relationship between an elf and a human has to address the fact that the human will age and die while the elf will live on for centuries more. Alminas is noted to have had a human wife who he still mourns years after her death, and Asteria hesitates to respond to Juven's feelings out of concerns about the differences in their lifespans.
- Nice to the Waiter: How different characters behave towards commoners and servants can provide insight into their personality. Magda in particular takes pains to be kind to servants and those of humble station, as she's keenly aware that it's only by chance that she's currently numbered among the nobility herself.
- Parental Abandonment:
- Both of Magda's parents died in a fire at the beginning of the game, before her adoption by Eliza.
- Lynna Jorcastle was separated from her mother at a young age when she was brought into the Jorcastle family. During the course of the main storyline, Magda learns that since their parting, Lynna's mother fell into alcoholism and addiction to gambling; Lawrence has been trying to keep her out of trouble for Lynna's sake, but it's a losing battle and she very nearly ends up sold into slavery before Magda gets involved.
- Parents as People: Eliza truly does care about Magda, but that doesn't mean she's not going to push her adopted daughter very hard in the name of restoring the Ellenstein family. She's constantly on Magda's case about making progress toward this goal and how her actions will impact it, and tries to restrict her from visiting the slums partly out of concern for her safety but partly because she's concerned about what people would think.
- Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Eliza calls it the Lady's War, featuring tactics such as sending your rival gifts of fattening sweets in the hopes that she'll gain weight if she can't resist the temptation, or sending her a personal invitation to a social event with the object of outshining her and embarrassing her by calling attention to the shortcomings in her dress and appearance. Recognizing such tactics and preparing accordingly is part of getting ahead in noble circles... though it helps that the person usually trying it against Magda is Lynna Jorcastle, whose constant open hostility makes any apparently-friendly gesture immediately suspect.
- Replacement Goldfish: Asteria encourages Magda to become this to help Alminas get over his wife's death, though Magda understandably refuses.
- Third-Person Person: Seems to be the norm for Oren. Diane, Giulolo, Coco, and Motiti all tend to refer to themselves by name.
- Turn to Religion: Invoked. When twins Helena and Heather were three years old their family house burned down, and while their parents were able to rescue Helena, Heather was trapped in the blaze. Heather survived the fire with only a scar on her back that resembled a pair of wings. The Sky Church of Finsel took note of her survival, believing that Heather had been sheltered by the Sky Goddess and that her scar was a "Holy Mark." Priests of the Sky Church appealed to (and bribed) her parents to allow Heather to join the clergy, and at the age of 6 she was given into the service of the church. Years later the church is still promoting the story of her miraculous survival, and her scars are well known throughout Finsel.
