Ambition: A Minuet in Power Critic Reviews

Ambition: A Minuet in Power is a highly interactive visual novel that details love and intrigue during a turbulent historical time not often covered in video games. It was a trip through time to an earlier Paris that proved memorable and engaging, even if the journey wasn’t without flaws. Visual novel fans looking for more romance with political machinations to maneuver through and a bit more interactivity than one usually expects from the genre should give this one a closer look.

Those hoping to fully LARP as a lavish lady of 18th century France won’t be disappointed with Ambition: A Minuet In Power. This invigorating visual novel has all the twists, trysts, romance, and intrigue you’d want from a game about high society on the cusp of the French Revolution. Will you help your fiancé free France from the ignoble nobles? Or will you lose your head in the process?

Ambition is an appropriately-named title in terms of its genre – it is not without its flaws, but the overall experience is heightened by compelling core mechanics and a grandiose scope, and I recommend players take this captivating tour through 18th-century Paris to make their own history.

Ambition: A Minuet in Power aims to be a graphical novel with a difference and comes very close to realizing its goal. The problem is that the game does not manage to keep up the quality of its writing or make its encounters unique enough. The developers do have good ideas. I like the fact that players can start to explore a historical situation (or a big political incident or the state of a country) through the mechanics of this genre. I appreciate the mix of serious subject matter and sometimes silly romance encounters. But Ambition: A Minuet in Power needed a little more focus to convince me to play through it more than one time, even if I appreciate what it is trying to achieve.

Ambition: A Minuet in Power does a great job of transporting players to an alternative 18th century Paris. The mind-blowing attention to detail goes from the narrative to the audiovisual design of the entire package. While there was valiant effort to make the middling decisions and errands more interesting, this aspect is saved the game’s charm and excellent writing. If you want a good visual novel experience with more bells and whistles than they typically come with, Ambition might be your cup of expensive French tea.

There are times when I really enjoyed what Ambition: A Minuet in Power was doing, or at least trying to accomplish. But I felt a bit detached while I played. This, in turn, made it difficult to really care about the influence I had and which sides I might take. It’s definitely entertaining and, if you aren’t willing to frequently save and plan carefully, might even challenge some people. But it is definitely the sort of game that really only courts its primary audience, and those are people who enjoy visual novels and managing schedules.