French Revolution dating sim.

I don’t think I need to say anything more.

It is August 1789, and I have a good feeling about my future in Paris.

Ambition: A Minuet in Power is a dating sim set in Paris between April and August 1789, a frankly wonderful time to be in Paris. You play as Yvette, the fiancee of a baron, newly arrived in Paris and ready for a life of gaiety, parties, and most definitely marrying that baron. However, instead of being greeted in her new home by said baron, Yvette instead finds herself thrust into a world of intrigue, political upheaval, romance, and debates about French cuisine.

This conversation lost me more reputation than anything else in the game.

To call Ambition a dating sim feels like selling the game short. While Yvette’s romantic future makes up a significant part of the story of this game, it is far from the entire story. Instead, Ambition follows Yvette as she navigates the increasingly dangerous world of Paris society. The spectre of the French Revolution looms larger and larger, providing an impetus to act or hold back. Yvette trades in secrets and rumours, paying her rent through influencing the course of the revolution.

Also snacks.

Ambition’s mechanics are simple and not fundamentally different from other dating sims. The player is presented with a variety of potential suitors, and can choose whether and how to engage with them. Each is presented in a particular context, at a particular party or through a particular event, and each then wanders down their own storyline.

The parties and the mechanics around them lie at the heart of Ambition, and it’s here that the story truly excels. In addition to navigating a whirlwind of romance, Yvette navigates the world of Parisian parties, gathering rumours and establishing herself as a socialite to be respected. Each conversation requires that the player pay attention to what’s said, who they’re speaking to, and consider the consequences of their response. While some conversation outcomes are more transparent than others, there was never an outcome that seemed unreasonable or unpredictable. The story moves in reasonable, rational ways, bringing each of these characters closer and closer to the doom that awaits them.

bless you alexandre dumas

Though the various romances are fun, it was the story as a whole that kept me hooked. I was invested in who Yvette ended up with, but found myself setting aside the dating elements to instead try to manipulate the fate of France. I picked out the dresses that would give me the most influence at the parties that mattered, then curried what I learned to diminish the power of as many of my enemies as I could. The various strands of story and hidden ways to bring my own machinations to fruition were delightful, and I didn’t want to stop.

This is the mark of a good story game. I wandered into this game’s story and got engrossed not only in what the game wanted me to get engrossed in, but in the story I chose to tell about myself and who I could be. I devoured Ambition, and I loved every minute of it.

Developer: Joy Manufacturing Co.

Genre: Dating Sim, Political Sim

Year: 2021

Country: United States

Language: English

Play Time: 4-5 Hours

Youtube: https://youtu.be/1yUeAAEaumk