The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily

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The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily is a single player tactical turn-based strategy game with a warfare theme. It was developed by Alliance Arts and was released on July 23, 2025. It received very positive reviews from players.

"The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily" is a turn based strategy game. The villainess Scarlet comes back from the guillotine. She meets a girl who knows the tech of streaming and becomes THE first Streamer. Instigate and distract the Imperial Kingdoms' army and avenge on them.

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Single-Player

The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily screenshot

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94%

Audience ScoreBased on 499 reviews

story91 positive mentions

grinding54 negative mentions

Unique blend of turn-based strategy and visual novel featuring yuri themes with charming and well-written characters.
Engaging gameplay combining strategic map control with fast tactical battles, rewarding thoughtful planning and supply line management.
High quality presentation with beautiful pixel art, fully voiced dialogue, catchy music, and humorous writing that enriches the experience.

Steep difficulty curve especially on the higher difficulty setting, requiring extensive grinding and save scumming which some players find tedious.
Late game segments can be a slog with frequent enemy reinforcements, lengthy map traversal, and uneven balancing that sometimes punishes strategic play.
Certain UI and technical issues including occasional crashes, awkward menu navigation on controllers, translation errors, and performance problems on some hardware.

story
230 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
57%
3%
The story is generally described as simple, straightforward, and occasionally predictable but engaging enough to keep players invested, especially due to its charming, quirky characters and over-the-top anime style. While some find it rushed or lacking depth, many praise its humor, character interactions, and multiple branching endings that add replay value. Overall, it balances a lighthearted villainess narrative with strategic gameplay, making it enjoyable for fans of character-driven tales despite not being groundbreaking.
- “The characters are super lovable and I was shocked that it took me 30 hours to get through it; every time I thought the end was around the corner, I was pleasantly surprised by the continuation because of the other story threads they had to wrap up!”
- “Taken purely as a story and ignoring the gameplay attached, I would rate it an 8/10; the twists aren't too hard to spot ahead of time and some elements of the main pairing's relationship are fairly simple and/or static for most of the game, but it successfully gets you invested in their journey regardless, and every character in the game has at least some depth to them.”
- “The story was beautiful and tragic too depending on what decisions you made, and the music made it hit harder; loved it.”
- “The story is so barebones and so rushed that I was never able to become attached to the cast, their struggles, or the world they live in.”
- “Same, but I'd excuse lack of substance if I got anything from the characters or the plot other than everyone checking off the requisite boxes for their archetype.”
- “[ending "a" spoiler] Really disappointed it felt like there was hardly any story about all the characters you recruited at the end; feels like while the main characters get an ending, a lot of the others get kind of forgotten and left to your imagination.”
gameplay
187 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
60%
4%
The gameplay blends 75% strategic overworld management with 25% tactical turn-based combat, demanding long-term planning, logistics, and unit synergy, which many find engaging and unique. However, it also faces criticism for pacing issues, repetitiveness, occasional frustration due to enemy swarms and AI limitations, and a late-game slog that can diminish enjoyment. Overall, fans praise its depth, character interactions, and challenge while recommending easier difficulty modes to mitigate some difficulty spikes and mechanics clarity.
- “75% strategy, 25% tactical, with most of the gameplay occurring on the overworld and requiring long term planning, logistics, and balance consideration.”
- “Weighing which supply routes to defend and which to abandon to the enemy in order to focus your forces, balancing unit composition to get strong matchups against tough enemies versus combos of characters that get unique perks when fighting together, and choosing the right time and place to use your powerful but limited-charge airship abilities all mesh together into, in my opinion, a quite engrossing gameplay experience.”
- “The gameplay will throw some difficult strategic decisions at you, but will not be unforgiving when you make a mistake thanks to its generous autosave and retry systems.”
- “The mechanics and combat of the game are a total mess, with a tedious and mind-numbing grind waiting for you right at the end.”
- “The gameplay really spoils this game though; at times you'll be stuck running back and forth across the map because an event spawned units you have no choice but to deal with, which kills the pacing and makes it feel like a slog to play through.”
- “Honestly, the gameplay is solid but it trails off before the end; when it feels like the end of act 4 / final arc it should be kicking up into even higher gear with some growing additional bonus mechanics besides just +mp.”
music
59 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
59%
36%
5%
The game's music is widely praised for its fitting, enjoyable, and energetic soundtrack that enhances the atmosphere and story, though many note a lack of variety and some repetitiveness over long play sessions. Despite a limited number of tracks, the music consistently supports the game's mood and receives high marks for quality and thematic relevance. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a strong asset, complementing the art and characters effectively.
- “I love the music and art in this game, and I've found myself humming and whistling along to every song, and the art is just... it's glorious.”
- “The story was beautiful and tragic too depending on what decisions you made, and the music made it hit harder, loved it.”
- “Outstanding visuals, banger music, and the story is not lacking either.”
- “Not many music tracks, which can get repetitive in such a long game.”
- “The OST is also pretty good but lacks diversity and content.”
- “It really feels like I listen to the same 4 music tracks the entire game.”
grinding
54 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is widely viewed as tedious and sometimes excessive, particularly in mid to late stages where farming levels and relationship points becomes a slog. While some appreciate the game's challenge and character-driven elements, many feel progression relies heavily on repetitive grinding, which can detract from strategic depth and pacing. However, features like save-scumming and speed-up options help mitigate the grind for players willing to invest the effort.
- “Even if you do the ungodly amount of grinding needed to unlock the character stories that occur between pairs of them, the snippets you unlock are still short, shallow and filled with typos.”
- “I wasted about 17 hours on this game, with about 5-6 of those spent just grinding levels, but all the frustration inflicted on me by this game made it feel like 80 hours.”
- “This fight broke my spirit after 10+ tries with different comps and I couldn't see a solution except for grinding and grinding.”
graphics
49 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
47%
6%
The game's graphics are widely praised for their unique, charming, and bold art style that blends voxel, pixel, and anime influences, creating visually striking character designs and environments. While some note minor optimization issues, the overall aesthetic is considered a standout feature that perfectly complements the game's over-the-top, character-driven story.
- “The art style is uniquely gorgeous, and the voxel world map in particular is a work of art.”
- “The game first caught my eye with its gorgeous visuals and character design and it fully delivers on that front.”
- “Smooth gameplay, top notch artwork with a sparkly presentation, fantastic soundtrack and a simple yet fun battle system that is very beginner friendly.”
- “The biggest problem I had with this game is that it would sometimes lag really badly after being on for 10 to 12 hours straight, and I had to turn it off and back on again to fix it.”
- “Graphic: acceptable with how much it cost.”
- “Sadly, even though I loved the visuals and liked the quirky story, cannot recommend it.”
humor
28 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game’s humor is widely praised for its consistently funny, over-the-top, and charming characters, particularly the interactions between Scarlet and Lily, who deliver many hilarious moments throughout the story. Its anime-inspired, irreverent tone and silly plot create a uniquely entertaining and lighthearted experience, though the humor leans heavily on quirky character antics and absurd situations rather than deep narrative complexity. Overall, players find the writing witty and the comedic elements a standout feature that adds significant charm and personality.
- “It has been a really long time since a game made me laugh so much.”
- “The story is consistent, but the best thing about it is the characters; they are so unique and funny. Seeing them interact with each other or expressing themselves is a great experience (especially the gay girls <3).”
- “Tone & humor: the protagonist’s anarchic flair and Lily’s deadpan reactions are a riot, and the looping death story threads work surprisingly well.”
optimization
19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
16%
68%
16%
The game suffers from notable optimization issues, including high CPU and RAM usage, frame stuttering, occasional softlocks, and long load times, particularly in later stages with intense enemy spawns. While post-release patches have improved memory management and loading speeds, performance problems persist on mid-range hardware, requiring players to meet or exceed recommended specs for a smoother experience.
- “Post-release patches have greatly improved comfort, with adjustments to late-game pacing, memory optimization, and shortened load times.”
- “Barring some translation errors and optimization issues, this game was cinema to get through; I highly recommend it.”
- “Just a heads-up: I experienced major performance hiccups on my GTX 1050, but overall, it's a stellar tactical experience.”
- “The game is horribly optimized, and on occasion the cursor would disappear, softlocking the game and requiring a reboot.”
- “Performance needs an update; CPU and RAM run very hard, possibly due to loading the full battle map.”
- “I'm not sure if it's poor optimization or if the voxel-style overworld decorations just use that much resources, but be mindful of the recommended specs for this game.”
character development
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
53%
27%
20%
Character development is highly praised mainly for its diverse and attractive character designs, which many find visually appealing and engaging. While the characters are described as likeable with interesting interactions, most reviews emphasize art and design quality over deep narrative growth. Some note missed potential in story and development but agree the character aesthetics significantly enhance the overall experience.
- “The blend of resource management and character development is addictive.”
- “Quick game, fun, the right amount of challenging, not hard enough to be frustrating, but not easy enough to feel boring, and the saves after basically every turn make it so much more manageable, story is alright, world building is decent, lots of information to feel immersed, lots of fun moments, I especially love the art though, the character design and art is probably my favourite thing about this game.”
- “The summary is it has way too much wasted potential and the character design is weirdly gaudy and unsettling to look at.”
- “The character designs are a 10/10, but the game sucks to play and I likely won't bother finishing it.”
- “Every single character is likeable, they have interesting dynamics with one another, and I would gladly slog through hours of battles just to see their character development.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users found the game emotionally nostalgic, evoking the feel of early 2000s Nippon Ichi Soft titles with their experimental yet enjoyable mechanics. The good ending, in particular, is noted for being wholesome and satisfying.
- “The game made me feel like I was back in the early 2000's playing a title from Nippon Ichi Software with all their experimental but fun systems.”
- “The good ending is really wholesome.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game experiences occasional music glitches when idle for extended periods, causing the audio to disappear temporarily. This issue can be resolved by reloading a save, indicating that stability is acceptable but may benefit from future bug fixes.
- “If you don't act for a long time, the music sometimes glitches out and disappears completely. This is not permanent and can be fixed by reloading a save.”
- “Hopefully, some bugs and glitches are fixed by then.”
atmosphere
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's atmosphere is enhanced by anime-style visuals that skillfully blend cuteness and drama, complemented by a theme song and soundtrack from rd-sounds and akiyama uni that effectively support the world’s mood.
- “The anime-style visuals balance cuteness and drama, while the theme song by RD-Sounds and music by Akiyama Uni support the world’s atmosphere.”
replayability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users generally find the game's replayability limited, indicating it may not offer much incentive for multiple playthroughs.
- “Thirdly, there is limited replayability to this game.”

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The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily
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18h Median play time

14h Average play time

12-23h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily is a tactical turn-based strategy game with warfare theme.

The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily is available on PC and Windows.

On average players spend around 14 hours playing The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily.

The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily was released on July 23, 2025.

The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily was developed by Alliance Arts.

The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily has received very positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily is a single player game.

Similar games include Lost Eidolons, Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs, Fae Tactics, TRIANGLE STRATEGY, Star Renegades and others.

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