O Jogo do Amor em uma Fantasia Oriental (2024)

A non traditional “happy” open ended (self) love story

There’s so much that I have already said in the comments section below about this drama that I feel like a review is in order…

If you are someone who needs a drama with a satisfying ending/closure… I would still recommend watching the main leads Miao Miao and ZiQi’s highlight reels online but as for the actual drama itself skip it and go watch their previous drama Moonlight or if you must…watch LGIEF before watching/rewatching Moonlight for satisfaction

The cast was AMAZING, CGI and soundtrack was a 10/10!

Now for hard truths😅

Miao Miao’s pre warning of the ending being a total scam to viewers before being sucked into game is very much true for the ending of the drama..

Yes it’s an unsatisfying “happy” open ending for the leads and yes I can understand China’s censorship of dramas is a contributing factor and I could make up excuses such as a lack of self worth and the story being written by a teenage ZiQi’s point of view as a reason for zero kiss scenes between the leads other than a forehead kiss ( does the rolling credits kiss count)

This story was masked as a traditional “Love Story” but it was definitely a story of “Self Love” which I don’t have any issues with but wished they had titled it so e.g “Self Love in Eastern Fantasy” 😂

In terms of the ending.. you have to remember a few things to find any forms of satisfaction from it..

1. Chinas censorship limitations for the ending
2. The book was written by a teenage ZiQi
3. The ending is not supposed to be thought as an “ending” but a beginning
4. Miao Miao had already pre warned viewers/readers through her online review of the book that we were scammed for the ending..
5. The main leads ending is a constant full circle ⭕️ promise🤞 between them. ZiQi promises to always find Miao Miao and never leave her behind and Miao Miao will forever choose and support ZiQi

Her waking up and thinking everything was a dream and trying to remember who she loved ( full circle ⭕️ ) and her going to the book signing to support him (full circle ⭕️) and ZiQi calling her name despite but not being seen (full circle ⭕️)

I love this couple and will definitely be rewatching their previous drama for closure and more romantic interactions… hoping for a 3rd collaboration between this pair in the future!!

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It's more like "Fantasy Game in a Love Story"

I've been giving it a couple of days before I could actually write my honest opinion down about this one because it made me both sad and glad to finish it.

The drama is about a young girl who's sucked into a fantasy novel and has to finish a few preset quests in order to finish the story. She gets these quests by the system of the game. In this new xianxia world filled with dangerous demons, mortals and demon catchers she has to find her way inside someone else's body. She's now Lin Yu, a noblemen's daughter and a spoiled brat, and she has to make Mu Sheng, a demonic demon catcher who hates her guts, fall in love with her.

Love Game in Eastern Fantasy started out great. It was everything I expected and more. It had lots of comedy, a chemistry to die for between actors I love and all wrapped up within a xianxia drama. I usually tend to stay away from the concept of someone being sucked within a novel but because I'm a fan of Esther Yu and Ding Yuxi, I've been waiting for this drama for ages. I was into it by the end of episode one and waited excitedly for another episodes.
Until around episode 24-ish. I ended up missing days of episodes and not being motivated to catch up. From the moment the two main leads actually get together and confess to each other, the chemistry takes a nosedive into the ground and it doesn't really resurface. They're still cute together but the romance falls flat. Ling Miaou Miaou (her real name form the real world) hangs around Mu Yao and Cui Cui more than she does Mu Sheng and it seperates them most of the time. It felt like I was watching a whole different story than the one I began.

Positives:
- When it became less of a romantic comedy it became a story about 5 friends fighting together and saving each other while saving the rest of the world. I loved watching them bond and become closer each episode.
- The chemistry between Lin Yu and Mu Sheng was intense the first half of the drama. I especially liked those scenes in the capitol where they both knew they loved the other but hadn't gathered the courage to confess yet. They were so cute in those episodes.
- The costumes were beautiful!
- There was a focus on Fu Yi and Mu Yao as well. They're the mainleads within the novel so it makes sense for them to get so much screentime.

Negatives:
- That ending was a mess. I just didn't understand why Mu Sheng had to die at that point. He was fine one second and dead the next without any explanation. I was more dumbstruck than sad and couldn't believe what had happened. It ruined the whole thing. The things that followed didn't make it any better. Only made it worse. To me it made no sense for him to go back in time to find Miaou Miaou. And to have them defeat the Resentful Woman that easily... just because they did it together... It was a big no-no for me.
- Miaou Miaou her amnesia episodes. At first I struggled through that bracelet arc but the "forgetting him" thing came back once or twice more and it became ridiculous. She even forgot who she really was. I really liked her character in the beginning but started to get annoyed with her in the end.
- The "it was all a dream" thing and it not even being her dream... I just really hate the ending.

Overal, I do recommend the drama to anyone who's in for a fun drama to watch. It's light and comedic until you get to the later episodes where the story does turn a little to the darker side.

Leia Mais

Drama that had potential at the start but really died at the end

I got into this drama late, but joined in because this drama had an ongoing battle with the pearl girl drama next door so I wanted to check if this drama really was better than the other one. (because in terms of ratings it was beating the other drama domestically, and the leads here have a better costume than the other one and camera overall)

I managed to watch quite a few episodes at the start which really got me hooked on it and waiting for every new episode (up to ep 13 i think). The story was moving quick, fast without any fillers in content or useless standing around and talking. Only when it got to about I think ep23 onwards, then I really felt that unnecessary dialogue was coming into play and that it was getting a bit dragggy (ngl, it could also have been because I didn't care much about the ML's parents love story). It felt like the drama was trying to throw in plot twists but really I did not see it come into play. The ending was overall disappointing and majorly cliched for what it was, like you did not have to throw in a good ending unnecessarily, a sad ending could work as well. Because the ending felt super forced, I felt upset that it just became a boring idol costume drama again. SO, I'm really warning you cos this could end in u feeling really really like ANTI CLIMATIC.

However, I need to complement their PR team for putting effort in drama promotions and the costume department for making costumes aesthetically pleasing to our eyes so that not everyone else is in white like they are in some funeral. I also thought that the drama at least did not completely ruin the original setting of the book, and if edited, did so well for drama adaptation.

The acting how do I say, not particularly outstanding but watchable for the eyes. let's just put it there.

i would rant if this drama had major plot holes and logic failures but since this is a fantasy drama, there can be some exceptions tho I absolutely hate those. my one major rant has to do with the ending, like BRO WHY SO SAPPY??????? LIKE CAN WE STOP THE STARE INTO EACH OTHER'S EYES WHILE ROTATING IN SOME WEIRD OMBRE BACKGROUND and cry and go "dont do this" like fr. stop it. its not romantic. its like a killkoy.

ok that's it. like it really went from yayyyyyy to uuuuuummmm to ugggggghhhh to plain disappointment.

Leia Mais

Very strong start, lackluster ending.

The story started off so well and strong but alas towards the end it lacked a lot of the magic that it had in the beginning. The ending, like most cdramas, struggled to give its characters a proper send off. We don't even see the second leads towards the end of the last episode.. they just dissappear without any proper farewells.

If I were to rate the show without the last 10 episodes it would have been a 10. Still a worthy watch but the whole entire "it's just a game" aspect of the show sort of dissappeared at the end. If you want a more satisfying ending with almost the exact same cast and enjoy the world of publishing I'd recommend "Moonlight" that came out a few years ago.

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The bracelet that ruins it all

I have such a bitter aftertaste in my mouth after finishing it.
This series doesn't bring anything new that hasn't been done before, or maybe it's just me because as an avid manga reader for many years series like Fushigi Yûgi or Inuyasha did a lot better work at both entering a book world thing on the first one and being a half demon in a world of folklore for the second one. I don't think the fact it wasn't super original in concept takes from the series by itself at all, but sadly it does when the plot and execution go out the window.

This series really grabbed my attention from the start for both being a type of fantastical storyline I like and because as someone that also plays videogames I found it very funny.
Where a lot of people thought the show slow I saw it as those side quests in videogames that you spend too much time for little reward and let you meet more of the characters or side characters, so I didn't have any complains about those parts of the series personally. I found myself grinning at the subtle references, even if maybe not even explicitly planned by the showrunners.
I've read also some people complain about the costumes but I personally really liked the colourful clothes although I do think the magical jewellery that both main leads wear could have been much better looking.

For me the plot started to go sour when the bracelet of doom appeared when FL is going to marry Ruo Shi. I could give it a pass before if there were some little inconsistencies here and there, or if the FL was over the top at times (because I've seen her in another one and she was so much worse in that one) or the fact that the other two main leads felt quite plain many times (but at times I thought it might be intentional). But the plot with the bracelet, how it starts and develops, and the subsequent lack of explanation is what triggered a spiral for me from that point onwards.
More specifically it's both ML not reacting quicker questioning things, the fact FL puts it on as soon as she receives it (why would she anyway?) and especially the fact that no one tells anything afterwards about what happened. FL doesn't tell ML (not sure if she even knows deep down), Ruo Shi doesn't tell anyone and just gives the bracelet "back" to ML, without even telling him what it does? He never either pays anything for what he's done, he doesn't even get an earful. I don't know, I feel there was a chunk of content missing there, and the problem is that those "missing" parts started to appear more often from that point onwards.

The editing was at times also very frustrating, especially that moment when Ziqi is being tortured and suspended from the threads by the aunt and we cut to the story of Mu Yao and Fu Yi again. The forced suspense made me lose interest in what was going to happen to Ziqi.
There are as said, many parts in the later half where it feels rushed or there is a lack of context, explanation or we're jumping from one thing to another without much direction. The ending is VERY rushed in my opinion, we go from one minute trying to kill the baddie to some tunnels of time or something to then learn in two seconds that everything that Ziqi is or has told is basically smoke and that he's also from the real world, or a copy of the real world him (we never get to know). I also still don't understand why they were walking the stairs that slow. I mean at the top I get it but they started going up in that speed already while all the people are being drained of energy😂

The worst of it though is the main leads relationship, how can you have so much build up to it and once they actually confess to one another they just back down to the point of being almost acquaintances at times. This was such a disappointment!!
And then it's almost brought at the end just because they needed it for the closure but that ending was also very disappointing and anticlimactic, and the drama surrounding the author was unnecessary and felt forced in a series that has been for the most part quite lighthearted with some more action/adventure parts in the mix. We don't even see that much of it to care and doesn't add anything to the ending. I also was very disappointed that they used the "dream" as plot device in the end, especially because it contradicts what happened in the beginning. I think there were many options of ending this in a good way but the way chosen is very unsatisfactory. Her not remembering anything is cliché and boring, the classic open ended with a phrase or the main character being called by someone has been overused already and I don't understand at all why the real Cui Cui and grandfather are there and shown but no one else is?😂

Anyway, I liked this series in general for the fantasy, the world building, the videogame elements and the funny bits it brought, and because I'm a sucker for grumpy MLs that are soft inside, but the plot after that bracelet part of the story just went downhill quite quickly and it got disappointing.
I don't know if I can recommend it, it's watchable but it leaves you with a bitter aftertaste. I sadly won't rewatch it as much as I enjoyed the first part, the relationship angst completely fizzling out after telling each other is such a let-down.

Leia Mais

BEST DRAMA OF THE YEAR

Yu shuxin as ling miaomiao is my fav I love this novel nd when xixin nd xiaoding as miaomiao nd mu Sheng looks so perfect.
After a very long I love sone drama nd this is my best cdrama I'm 2024
I watched every Esther drama so far I love lbfd nd I watched so many times nd now this love game in eastern fantasy my fav I watched episodes in. Repeat
Love how miaomiao nd her father bond she missed her father who dead in real world but she got to meet him in virtual world nd their bond are sweetest
Love how to see mu Sheng love meter goes -200 to 20
Nd if ling miaomiao ignore him it's goes high
How xin dies in every move in 1 ep
After watching to many dark story series this is so much refresh nd love to watch
Nd its my fav jouner fantasy when we love this manhua it's so great to see xixin in our fav character ling miaomiao 🙌🏻

Leia Mais

The plot got lost in the woods...

It started off so good great cast, great chemistry, lots of humour without becoming over the top and no secound hand emberessmant for as far as the eye could see....

Watching the female elad die and come back, die and come back, die and come back could have felt boring and repetetive but they managed to keep it fun as well as added a whole lot of fun spice to it all...

Cold, bickery, sisterhood, found family, disorsion of good and evil.... misunderstandings all were done well really well so for the first half I am willing to give a strong 9,5 or even a 10.

But then came the filler episodes, the repetitiveness, the attempts to give us new twists that just ended up lost somewhere far away in the woods... making it hard to follow, hard to relate , hard to concentrate and just plain boring at times. While the last couple of episodes did attempt to tie it all nicely I cant ignore the episodes in between making me lower the score.

Honestly, I think the best way to watch this is to start with the first 15 episodes or so and once you start getting bored then just skip to the last 2 episodes and make upp the plot in between I am sure you as a viewer can come up with a better plot in your mind.

Leia Mais

It Grows On You

I picked this up for the two male leads as they have both impressed me with their characters in several previous series. The story line was also kind of different so was curious about it. I will say that I dropped it twice before just jumping to episode 5 and fast forwarding until 7 when the plot actually picked up. But it did grow on me.

Pros: I really liked the group dynamic and how they were--once formed--very "leave no man behind" no matter what the situation is. Because this was a transmigration into a book thing, the characters could be reborn or healed by unlocking certain elements of the game. Both ML and SML played their parts well and I was happy to see more differences and versatility from them. When they were together with the two female leads (both of whom had their own strengths and abilities plus evolution) and the kid, they really were a force to be reckoned with. I like the different mysteries that they solved on the path of eliminating an evil woman; this was another drama where demons were often misunderstood and way better than humans.

The ML was half demon and actually the author of the novel as well as a series of books which the FL was a fan of and followed but when this novel came out, it was really bad as it was his first book that he wrote when he was a teenager and diagnosed with a disease that could only be treated when he was an adult and his parents fought all the time so he was writing from a place of anger and dejection. So both he and the FL were thrown into the book with her determined to rewrite the ending and him not knowing anything really or pretending not to until the very end. To make it more predestined, they had actually met in middle school where he developed a crush on her (but his first book ended the way it did was also around the time that the FL left the school due to the loss of her father) and as he grew up he basically wrote all of the books for her. As he saw her comments online which encouraged him, he grew to love her even more and after going in for surgery decided to revise that first novel. It was while he was in surgery that his trip happened while for her it was an overnight dream.

Costumes fit each character accordingly, as do the OSTs, sets, and CGI.

Cons: Though it did grow on me; the fact that I couldn't watch the first 5-7 episodes without dropping or fast forwarding due to the beyond ridiculous slapstick humor that didn't land from the FL and the plot not going anywhere was hard. Dramas need to hook you from the beginning and this one just didn't. If it wasn't for the people I really wanted to see in different roles, I probably wouldn't have stuck around though it got a lot better with more episodes.

That ending was a total mess. It's being questioned whether or not it's an HE or OE on Weibo by fans. What were the editors thinking? Did they unscrew their brains for a day or something? The ML filmed the actual ending as he calls the FL's name; he was there! Yet they cut that part and had just his voice say her name and her stare beyond the camera in shock and then smiled as the paparazzi behind her all called his name and said that he was coming. What in the what? They had the kid and his grandpa in the real world selling ice cream at the event location, but they couldn't show the ML coming over to her and at least hugging her or holding her hands? Plus what happened to the second couple? They don't get roles in the real world? They were just left without proper closure creating that ladder to heaven and that's it? Someone help me out here? It's ridiculous! I was very displeased with that and it knocked .5 off my rating automatically. Endings are as important as beginnings; so if they're screwed up, the drama will take a hit.

Would I recommend it? Honestly, this is a good drama if you need something to tie you over between something anticipated or if you're a fan of any of the actors, then sure. All in all, a decent watch.

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