Thursday, August 6, 2026

Kimi Ni Madoi Kimi Ni Oboreru - Review

His and her circumstances.
 Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site:https://www.otomate.jp/kiminimadoi/
Release date: 30-07-2026
  
This otome game has omegaverse elements, I know not much of this
and ended up treating it like any other otome game. Which it actually is.
I like the aesthetics and one of my new favorite seiyuu's were in this.
As well as Joe being an assistant director/supervisor.
I'm not sure about the actual director as they seem new but... they may be okay. 
Another note is that some of the writers for 9.R.I.P and Honey Vibes worked on this game. 
 
Disclaimer: This is purely my own opinion and it could be different from yours
this is not meant to be some kind of all-truth, just an opinion that came from playing this.
If you don't like what you're reading then close the tab, move on and just idk play it yourself.
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pro's
- Great cast of characters & group dynamic.
Gorgeous art and music worthy buying the OST for.
- Neither too short or too long.
- Proper use of flashbacks. 
 
Grey Area
- Light in tone but has heavy undertones.
- Mature, sensitive contents.
- Doing all routes could seem repetitive but is still relatively unique to that character.
- Omegaverse elements are beginner friendly, this could be disappointing if you expect more.
 
Con's
- If you dislike the childhood friend or brother trope this otome could be your new hell.
(Wait is this really a con?!)
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 
Heroine.
Well Sayo is an Omega, when this was announced I saw disappointment that
she wasn't an Alpha... not sure why but not everyone needs to be a Sophia from CC.
That aside I loved Sayo's design! She's so adorable, she seems nice too. I'd be her friend.
Sayo's relationship with her non-blood related brother and friends
was fun to watch as well. I'd say she was balanced.
While optimistic Sayo can be a bit clumsy which more
often than not lead to hilarious situations. She's very human.
In certain routes she can be surprising in how she deals with a situation.
I thought she would be meek but she put thought to things. 
There's some shit she just won't take... and she tended to compensate which ranged
from being reasonable to absolutely savage and slapping someone's koala ass.
If you like it when the heroine actually pursues LI's she's pretty good!
at times I found her extremely selfish. Which is kinda nice in a way
since she knows what she wants, this is very clear in Ritsu's route. 

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Art is gorgeous as always but when hasn't an otomate VN been?
other than them having helpers sometimes when an artist isn't available 
lately the art in their games has been pretty good and this game is no exception.
Sprites,Backgrounds and CG's all looked great.
Music was really good, I actually sat there for a minute just listening
to the title screen music. Its Cafe Enchante level. It generally fit the mood well.
This game also had more pleasant sound effects and I didn't have to mute them
because they were jarring or annoying. Kinda sad to compare to CC.
Seiyuu cast aren't goldies; I only recognize maybe three of them.
They all did their best and they sounded great especially my fav seiyuu!💖
System wise its nothing special, just normal VN stuff. 
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
This game has a relatively short common route or atleast I thought so.
You select someone right away and then go through a common route.
This also locks you onto whichever LI you choose since it changes who Sayo was closest to
during her highschool years before it goes into their individual route.
This is good since player choice matters.
The only LI's with a restriction were Ritsu and Akira but unlock after one playthrough. 
Other than that common route is a pretty standard introduction that eases you into it.
I kinda tuned out of it by route 5 but the first time through was fun in its own right.
Routes themselves were all unique with problems relevant to the LI so there was no overlap.
 ---
It didn't take me more than 4-5 hours to clear the common route. 
Routes are around 6-7 hours and my first play took about 10-11 hours.
I ended up clocking out at around 45-50 hours. It will of course depend
on your reading speed but so take this as an average, i'm not slow nor fast. 
There were few choices but nothing overstood its welcome. I do enjoy listening to the BGM
which probably slightly inflated my play time but it shouldn't be longer than 50 hours. 
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Overall KimiMadoi was a breezy otome game, fitting for its summer theme.
This is generally a SoL, there's not much plot and its mostly focused
on romance and character drama. So its more of a chara-ge.
The omegaverse theme was very entry level so even those unfamiliar can understand it.
This could be disappointing if you expected more but let's be real here they
simply made an otome with the omegaverse elements. Nothing wrong with that.
---
My worry was the potential of the heroine going into heat or someone she was talking to. 
Sayo has no control over this, its like a natural phenomenon that just... happens.
They made it clear its better it happens with someone when the feelings are mutual
and Sayo didn't interact much with strangers so my worries were unfound! 
I was a little afraid of bad ends, thankfully there weren't many and just two endings per route.
The story generally explored its themes in a safe way.😄
Mate or die sounded way more intense than Olympia Soiree's go find a husband
but for the most part the atmosphere with LI's was generally nice and cozy.😌
Having two years left to live is not fun but having a circle of friends
that care about you makes it a whole lot better.😌
--- 
I enjoyed the modern setting, I didn't think the plot was too intense
its mostly character and romance driven with drama. 
The narrative shouldn't be underestimated as it has some heavy undertones. 
I often took breaks and I recommend the same if its too much.
Like I could say I'm gonna bust through Nagi's route tonight! but then stuff happened.💀
Haha... no I couldn't finish it then cuz it was heavy and I finished the route the next day. 
Sayo also only has two years left to live and her only chance to survive is to mate
she has her own doubts and the heat thing is actually a negative thing.
They developed a medicine to treat its symptoms but it has limited effectiveness.
Despite the stakes what surprised me was that it was very light and airy in
most SoL scenes which took a load from the high-stakes premise or drama.
I don't think it was that deep but... some aspects here or there touched me. 
Things weren't always fun i'd say it was a balanced otome, the chara intereactions were gold.😂
Sayo befriended most LI's during her highschool days. Yea all of them are her friends
so romancing them should be easier right? haha no! they all got their circumstances. 
They do spend time detailing the past so it didn't feel weird that they were friendly.
I liked everything was fleshed out, had they not done this it would be even shorter.
I actually like this since it gives further depth to their relationships.
I also love how we get the see the POV of the LI. I liked seeing what they thing and feel.
Some LI's were simply more difficult due to their backgrounds or not for me. 
I also loved the scenes Sayo had with her brother even if it were just
normal daily interactions, it showed their bond as family well. 
Though I did think there was an obvious bias for the brother...
making it all the more painful he is a beta among a bunch of alpha's.
Generally all LI's are likable in some way but I can see it being disappointing
they were already friends but tbh if you're in Sayo's position there's no place for toxic LI's.
I suppose they could've added one... but i'm glad they didn't. Ritsu would kill them.💖
They all had their reasons for being which was the interesting part.
The character interactions were a highlight for me and I liked getting
to know everyone despite some repetitive aspects. 
9/10
I generally did have a good time but really don't come in here for the plot
it just felt like its kinda there to back up the romance much like Honey Vibes.
Thematically its good too and so was 9rip. So it does make sense why I enjoyed it. 

TL;DR: There's a lot of love and care put into it from the art to the music.
Its not very plot focused but if one of your fav seiyuu's is in this it might
be worth it for a spin.  I'd recommend it to anyone that doesn't mind
an otome game with great group dynamics and starter pack omegaverse.
Or those tired of long plot-heavy otome games and want something
where the romance is the plot. Subsequent plays can feel repetitive but
if you want to understand every LI, its still worth doing all routes.
I liked how relaxing the SoL bits were it gave balance despite the stakes. 
I enjoyed the little moments and character interactions unique to each route
but yea... if you're not up for heavy undertones or dislike
childhood friends/brother trope, KimiMadoi may not be for you.
 
As for localization chances, I think the chance is low but not impossible.
I wish I knew which games will get picked up, sometimes they pick up well
received titles or something you probably forgot about. Nobody knows. 
The japanese level i'd say is beginner-intermediate level, its a relatively simple
work focused on SoL and romance with maybe some scientific terms.
It should be accessible to learners of the language that already have the basics down.
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 My play order was:
Kyoya > Kanata > Hinagi > Ritsu > Akira.
The initial three routes have no restrictions and can be interchanged as you like!
Ritsu and Akira can be played after one route is completed.
My own playorder kinda worked out since by the time I finished Hinagi
I was absolutely sold on Ritsu as a brother and wanted to do his route.
 
Recommended order:
Kanata > Kyouya > Hinagi > Ritsu > Akira.
 
Kanata; this route is rather normal, I think this is the best starter point.
Kyouya; It can be interchanged with Kanata, best before Hinagi.
Hinagi; Fairly balanced route but its better for midgame due to very heavy contents.
 Ritsu; Best for when you're the most invested into his character.
Akira; Aki... its fun to do him last almost as if you forgot, fairly cozy route.
I personally had no hard feelings after Aki's route, I did feel like they wanted to do more? 


 Character rambles after the jump, usual spoiler warning as well as some
of my fav CG's. So if you don't want any then don't read further.
Its mostly senile grandma rambles/commentary, not sure who's gonna
be interested in a wall o text of me talking about the routes.
I've pretty much said all there's to say so you're not missing much. 
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Monday, July 20, 2026

Crazy Chain ~Chains of Elpis~ - Review

This is a hopeful story.
 Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/crazy_chain/
Release date: 09-07-2026
 
At first I was kind of apprehensive of even trying this otome because of the writer
but my opinion changed when I started to research this game prerelease.
 When looking at the cg's I actually got TengoStray vibes rather than Virche.
There were atleast two LI's that appealed to me; Cronoll and Lise, which is enough.
There's like maybe 2 upcoming otome that intrigued me so I wanted to
support otomate where it counts and where my interest alligned. 
 
Disclaimer: This is purely my own opinion and it could be different from yours
this is not meant to be some kind of all-truth, just an opinion that came from playing this.
If you don't like what you're reading then close the tab, move on and just idk play it yourself.
 
The story is heavily inspired from Jeanne D'arc, I am not too familiar with it
other than some basic facts. Even if you don't the game explains it quite neatly, this is
of course fiction so they're gonna make up stuff regardless while using historical details.
I'm also pretty sure it was inspired by a certain MMO but I have no proof.
---
 
 Pro's
- Great cast of characters & heroine.
- Decently crafted story. Balances despair with hope.
- Gorgeous art and BGM was excellent.
 
Grey Area
- Fairly long; Most routes took me around 9-10 hours.
- Some convenient writing, may leave you thinking about so and so outside of their route.
  
Con's
- The slashing sound effect when selecting things was awful to the point I muted SE's. 
 
 ---
Art generally looked really good and the heroine had a sprite! which is a plus.
I'd say CG's generally were consistent but atleast one of them had a weird angle. 
Background art looked great but you can tell some were by different people. 
The CG direction was good and there were only two I didn't like. 
Music; I have no complaints most tracks suited the mood or were in general pleasant to listen to.
Unfortunately it has some of the worst sound effects.   The SE's were bad enough for me
to mute them. Like the slashing noise when you select things... its completely out of place.
There was one other and believe it or not its from IF!'s era when they still released
RPG's and they really seem to be fond of it because I heard it in a lot of otomate
games as well as Fairy Fencer F. You probably know the one it kinda goes Ooooeeeooo. 
 
System is just standard visual novel stuff nothing stood out, comfortable to say the least.
While there are locked routes, no routes had ending restrictions. 
Length; 9ish hours for the common route and I clocked out my 1st play at 19ish hours.
Every route was like 9-10 hours give or take. This does depend on your reading speed.
My total time was about 75-80 hours. 
The language difficulty is intermediate-advanced, I wouldn't recommend crazy chain to people
looking to try their japanese except if they got a solid grasp on the language. 
---
 
Heroine
I liked Sophia's design even tho she seems more like a girl from an RPG game.😅
Everything about her just clicked and said yes with me.👌
If I was a cosplayer I would definitely want to cosplay her! or Libitina.
She's proactive and made it appear that she has the agency to do whatever it is she wants rather
than rolling with what her duty is. FuruMako's cast comment sounded like she was very in charge
and she was very much like that. She did what she wanted and took very little shit.
I think it would have been amazing if she was voiced but she was not. 
It was also FuruMako's cast comment that made me buy the game BTW. 
---

Crazy Chain had a pretty long common route, it mostly introduces the setting and chara's.
During it I couldn't help but think that the story of this otome game could be suited for an RPG...
the characters frequently fight and have to fend off monsters while traveling from place to place.
Of course it slowed down at times and there were peaceful moments
but I felt the focus was more on the journey itself.
Early on it didn't seem like this would be as extreme as Virche but the narrative
definitely had potential for it to get a bit dicey and it did. Things I wasn't sure about
was the technology level like its visually both medieval fantasy and steampunk.
There are guns and obvious signs of development & used for convenience
but hey its been a few generations! advancements were made.
Anyways all of the LI's were generally likable, some may just not be for me but everyone
seemed to have good and bad points and most grew on me anyways.
I felt like they went out of their way to get us attached.😅
 
I generally had a good time with Crazy Cha!n. I loved the vibes and the RPG themes.
The game could be dark as its a dark fantasy, it depended on the route how dark.
It did tackle heavy subjects with atleast two routes; one of them being Vardis really pushing it.
There's also one side character but I shouldn't say too much about them
the 7th bonus story goes into it but its more like a biography. 
Most other routes can feel tame but its best to not underestimate the narrative.
There's angst, although for the LI's they know how to give the scenario room to breath.
I found there to be more sweeter scenes which gave balance.
Personally I was like I'm tired boss when I reached the end of Cronoll's route.
Breaks are your friend! even if its just a short one, take any time you need. 
At the very least it didn't leave me wanting and the twist and turns were exciting.
Overall without spoilers I thought it was more balanced than Virche but its
by the same dev team and the narrative definitely showed that.
With few exceptions I did think the LI's were tame but they felt human and I like that. 
9.3/10
 
TLDR; I think it was pretty good but it may overstay its welcome.
Even if it can get bad it wasn't so bad that I felt like a shriveled up grandma. 
It fits in nicely alongside Enchante, Virche and Over RequiemZ. Forming the four
horsemen of the apocalypse. I'd recommend it to those looking for a dark story
focused otome game with sweet romance and liked any of the aforementioned games.
I won't recommend to those looking for shorter, lighter otome or dislike heavy themes. 
 
As for whether it gets translated, I think this has a solid chance
of being picked up! and I hope it does but its likely not for a while
---
  
My play order:
Cronoll > Vardis > Rex > Flatnis > Lise > God.
This was the order I did, I expected Lise or God to be locked so I automatically
moved them back. The only routes available at the start were Cronoll, Vardis and Rex.
 
Recommended order:
Vardis / Rex / Cronoll > Flatnis > Lise > God.
The initial three routes can be interchanged and be played as you like its very much pick your poison.
Vardis; A good starter route to settle you into the game. Starts out light but has
hints of looming darkness and craziness. Recommended for Virche fans.
Rex; Best choice for people who'd  rather go for a knight rather than a shady priest
there's things to unpack here but I thought it was a fairly balanced. 
Cronoll; A great route if you want a challenge chasing a LI. I thought it was a little
heavy/emotional but it also wasn't ''Vardis'' so doing it first should be okay.
Flatnis; Locked needs all of the initial routes to be cleared.
Lise; Unlocked by clearing Flatnis route. 
God; Unlocked by clearing Lise so there's no choice but to do him last. 
Man... being a Lise enjoyer this was painful.
 
Character rambles after the jump, since the game is quite long and plot heavy
I've decided to not digest the plot and its literally just some rambles/thoughts about the
character/route and some (not all) of my fav CG's. Though if you want no spoilers at all
I suggest to stop reading here like always.
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Utawarerumono Past and Present Rediscovered - Review

Well... atleast Shunya got her closure.
Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Aquaplus
Platform: PS5,Switch,PC.
Official Site: https://aquaplus.jp/uta/shiro/
Release date: 28-05-2026
 
Okay I won't lie but I kinda forgot about this game but I decided
to play it since I love the utaware series! not like I had anything else
I wanted to play so this game seemed kinda nice either way. 
 
Disclaimer: This is purely my own opinion and it could be different from yours
this is not meant to be some kind of all-truth, just an opinion that came from playing this.
If you don't like what you're reading then close the tab, move on and just idk play it yourself. 
 
Pro's
- Wraps up Oshtor and Shunya's journey.
- Enjoyable turn based combat system.
 
Grey Area
- First half feels rather bland compared to the last 80% of the game.
- The OP doesn't play upon starting the game. 

Con's
- Game in general lacks polish; such as models/movement speed.
- Sidequests were uninspiring and mostly filler. 
 
 
This game is a sequel to Monochrome Mobius which takes place
after the first utawarerumono game and before mask of deception.
I always thought Mono-mobius didn't really wrap up all there was to tell
especially regarding Shunya which this game actually gets to do!
 The beginning of the game does start with a brief recap and slowly
gets things going but it did feel a bit off since everyone was at lvl99.
combat certainly was no issue during the first two hours or so but I did
wonder when/if there would be a stat squish and there was.
If you never played an utaware game before this game is a terrible place to start
 so you're better off either playing monochrome first or start from prelude of the fallen.
(I'm not one to gatekeep or anything so I like to give atleast two starter points.)
Speaking from my own experience it may be better to play Shunya's duology last. 
---
 
Combat is the same as MM tho what I really like is that after defeating
a special mob in an area you gain the ability to 1shot anything there.
 So long you attack them first, enemies also see you as a threat at that point.
 This was actually really satisfying, Halu true MVP.
This is great because it removes a lot of monotony from having to fight all enemies 
you come across to level up again, Since 1hitting them gives exp and loot.
It gets even better on the overworld since you can just bump and KO enemies on your mount!
The stat squish already felt kinda harsh but the grind being eased was a relieve
since it wasn't hard to level up at all.   Difficulty does ramp up around level 30
 and fights can get difficult the higher you get. If you use your BP wisely
and don't forget to invest some into defense or HP it'll be fine.
The whole battle system relies on buffing yourself and debuffing your enemies or else
get wrecked LMAO. Shunya's the character who got ko'd the most but what else is new?
Munechika exists to patch people up and provide some buffs or extra DPS if possible.
Oshtor's the most balanced unit and Mika's purpose is to hit things. 
We also don't have to unlock HP/MP recovery at savepoints anymore. 
However I will admit that by the end of the game the area lord loop was a tad repetitive. 
----
 
 Side quests were kinda just there though... they were nothing unusual.
I felt like I had to do them since when I got thrust into a battle after meeting
Soyankekur I got my ass beat!😅💀 well there wasn't any dungeons before it
but when I reloaded I noticed new quests that had appeared. After I did
those I was able to handle the fight much better. So levels do matter!
The best side quest would have to be the one that unlocks Halu's final mode...
it also had me going why is this listed as a side quest?!
it was voiced & the story was strangely good.
The rest of the sidequests felt like unnecessary busywork which is such a shame!
I didn't even do a bunch in the lvl 70 range at the end of the game cuz I was burnt out of them. 
---
 
Graphics; well the environments look fine and I am not one to complain but I did
notice the models can look like they miss a coat of paint however certain scenes
still looked good depending on the lightning in them so it wasn't too bad really. 
The animations can be kinda stiff too but there were moments, especially comedic or
fighting were it was really well done so... I honestly don't see a reason to complain much.
Suppose after three years you expect more but aquaplus has never been one
to have graphics that were amazing. Except maybe the zan games although those
were by tamsoft and the graphics were on par to the neptune action games.
I find the graphics are decent but the environments were far better than the modeling
which reminded me of tears to tiara kakan no dachi. Okay enough rambling about this. 
Music; was generally good and soothing to the ears, like I know from the series
it fit the mood and tone of the scenes well enough. Both OP and ED were great
however during my play for some reason the OP didn't play when booting up the game. 
 ----
 
I rather liked this town, even if its nothing unusual it reminds me of some edo era scene.
 The running speed also bothered me a little because if you tilt the left stick
to the max too fast you'll just zoom across the map at max speed. WeeU!
You can in fact walk and run slower but you really need to tilt carefully.
The areas are big so I didn't mind it being a turbo run that much
but the lack of polish was rather obvious here.
 ---
It took me around 50 hours to complete the game which includes most side quests
except a few endgame ones because I kinda burnt out on them and I just smacked
enemies in the final dungeon for some extra EXP. I don't think you need to be
higher than level 80 to beat the game. However I did almost forget we could
level the blacksmith but due to that I had enough materials and was able to get
some of the best weapons/armor upgrades with ease. No boss in this game really
forced me to dig into the weapon upgrade system, the weapons and armor you
can buy or find was more than enough to make it through. I thought it was overall
breezier than Monochrome Mobius which was a little tougher in my memory anyways.
Halu was around rank 70 which matches the level range I cleared with; 77-80. 
---
 
 Overall its nice they did follow up on Oshtor and Shunya's adventure!
because I remember being a little disappointed Shunya's case was unresolved
and a lot of the stuff on arva-shulan was not fully explored which this game does.
It had a strong start it did slow down and while it was nice to
have the crew back together I did get a feeling of is this really it?!
There were plenty of interesting bits it all just felt very low key and looking back
the first half of the game just felt rather bland to me and not much stood out.
I thought the majority of the game would take place in Arva-Shulan but... it didn't.
So I was kind of let down in the first half when we had to go activate a bunch of towers.
I personally was more interested in the villains and SUS twins but most of that was
reserved for the last 35% of the game and rather fast too. The villain group didn't have
that much build up that when it was time of their re-appearance I forgot about them.😅 
Most things weren't explained very well till right at the end. It wasn't all bad though
I still think exploring the regions around Yamato is a real treat, I didn't even mind
going through the areas that much, even if the story was uninspiring at this point.
Mostly because the gameplay was excellent and if they nailed anything its that.
TL;DR
At the end of the day I think the story is OK but the first half could be better.
When the story got to the heart of the matter it was pretty good but that was 80% into it.
As for the romance... I couldn't enjoy it as much as with Rias and Slade, Shunya and Oshtor
didn't even get that many moments that they weren't on my shipping radar till someone started
talking about feelings.  I suppose they had no time/budget since there weren't a lot
of light-hearted CG's either. Having played the trilogy I could never fully get into it
since Shunya is never referenced. The way the story played out... it made sense though!
I do like the ending for the both of them, it was a rather bittersweet. 
7/10  
I did get the idea that they rushed to get this game out due to it being a little rough
around the edges but other than that if you want to continue Oshtor/Shunya's adventure
and love the utaware series I see no reason why not to get this at some point.
 If you liked the OG trilogy but disliked MM or old school rpg's then it could be a skip.
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Some senile grandma rambles after the jump! I try to avoid major plot spoilers
but if you don't want anything at all then just stop reading here. 

Saturday, June 6, 2026

Tengoku Struggle Strayside - Review


Tengoku Tumbleweed Side Struggle
 Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.aksysgames.com/tengoku/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v33150
Release date: 04-04-2024
 
I played this game inbetween others but this was one of those games
that I wish I could like more and only got good for me in the last two routes.
Due to it being what it was I wasn't in the mood to get through this but I also didn't
want to let this sit in my backlog for half a year so after Matsurika FD I continued.
Despite being aware about contents; I found it rather tame.
I mean without context they sound awful but within the narrative? oh. 
 
Disclaimer: This is purely my own opinion and it could be different from yours
this is not meant to be some kind of all-truth, just an opinion that came from playing this.
If you don't like what you're reading then close the tab, move on and just idk play it yourself. 
 
Pro's
- Strong-willed and self-concious heroine.
- All LI's are likable in their own ways.
- Great art and catchy music.
 
Grey area
- Quite long; route length is 10-12 hours on average.
- Story doesn't seem to take itself serious, weak resolutions in early route.
  
Con's
- The game can feel a bit draggy at times and has pacing issues.
- Bad CG pacing, there are droughts and moments with a lot at once. 
 
 
Art was great,When I looked at the cover for the first time I almost
didn't recognize who the artist was, tho it definitely is Satoi's style.
Music was generally good and I had no issues with it.
The OP was good but I didn't feel like watching it everything. ED was fine. 
 ---
 
[System ramblings] 
Standard visual novel stuff, nothing that stood out.
The common route was much like Olympia Soiree a long one-time introduction
without choices and it becomes entirely skippable on 2nd play.
Its also easy to see what's a good or bad choice as this is shown when you select a choice
so you can play this without a guide, there's only two endings per route; Happy&bad.
However the bad endings were IMO more like good ends.
The common route did hook me, the setting and introductions were interesting.
I liked how the heroine had a female friend with a sprite too.
There's a scene at the end of ch1 that kinda woah but what I found hilarious
is how tame the rest of the common route of seven chapters was. The early routes
such as Yona or Kiku were quite tame as well. I was actually disappointed at this, within
the narrative a lot of things did make sense but if I listed it separately it could sound awful.
Actually the game is rather tame in general... LMAO till the gloves are off in Goemon route.
Pacing was a tad slow for me but for a SoL character driven game its not bad perse.
 Though things can get heated the game was for the most part pretty laidback which lead
to some shifts in tone, if you can't handle this TengoStray is likely not for you. 
I'll add to this that TengoStray is a fairly long, especially the first time through.
Individually the routes had 12 chapters and it took around 10-12 hours to complete one.
---
 
[Heroine ramblings] 
She has a whip but...
Rin was alright but can be a bit much at times, even if she didn't remember her
past life she had a personality! I did wonder how she turned into a misandrist
but the story wrote itself in such a way I kinda got why she had enough of them.😅
The narrative esp in early routes seemed more set on mellowing her out...
As she lived with everyone she got over that stuff pretty fast too and she tried
to approach them differently which also kind of clashed with the initial setup
but its okay people can change their mind so that's not bad per se. 
I wasn't really sure what they tried to sell me during the first few routes and 
if need be Rin can really hold her ground, its just she acts like a tiger but is in fact 
just a cat and acts like any girl could. Rin's proactive but she was also a tsundere
so getting her to be honest was a struggle in itself. Sometimes she's just hostile😓
but also not incapable of self-reflecting on things as she is self-concious.
Rin is comparable to Olympia, not perfect by any means and it was obvious
she bit off more than she could chew, even so she regained her balance. Rin also
reminded me of Rinka from BAW; if they fleshed her out and wove her into the plot. 
Rin shined the most in the locked routes as that's where she was given the most depth
and the early routes only touched upon it on a surface level. Considering her story
it also makes sense why that is the case. Maybe I had the wrong expectations
but I expected a bit more from her even in early routes.
I didn't always vibe with Rin Enma, yet I was in-sync with her in how
her perspective changed both on herself and the guys.
My sign also isn't very compatible with Rin who is a scorpio and at times
I did not understand her but she wasn't a bad heroine at all. Just not for me.
---
The LI are criminals but there was barely need to punish them. 
I actually expected Rin to whip them more if they acted up but... this wasn't necessary! (haha)
imma be real the only one who really needs whipping is Sharaku. The times the whip was
cracked were few. The narrative pushed it yet was against doing it at the same time.
I don't know if the localization toned her down among other things but let me tell you
again Rin was at her most badass in Jack and Goemon's routes.
If you wanted to actually whip LI's then I recommend KLAP kind love and punish instead.
---
 
The seiyuu cast are mostly familiar I personally don't hear Goemon's VA a lot
but this game made me like him!  I also did love some of the seiyuu for
the side cast like Koyasu Takehito as Daddy or Nojima Kenji for Takamura.
It was a good cast with classics but none of my fav's were in it.
--- 
 
The localization was good but this game was toned down, there's less vulgarity than what
the japanese were complaining about and there's not much that soured the experience except
some of Sharaku's phrasing near the end of his route but that's just him.
I always hear people complain about this otome but it was tamer than I thought.
 ---
 
[Overall ramblings]
Despite grievances I think I am more satisfied with this than Cafe Enchante!
Tengoku Struggle is what happens when you mix aspects of bad apple wars,
varribarri and Olisoi. The setting is interesting but it can be kind of deceiving
as it ended up being much more slice of life focused than I initially expected.
The lore wasn't deep or anything but it was creative, the things I found myself
disappointed at was mostly the execution of the overall story
which felt like it was doing whatever at times.
This was a much slower paced game rather than an action packed one which lead to
pacing and tension issues. Olympia wasn't always able to meet her goals but she had
a more simple job. Rin does try but it may vary on the route and who her partner was. 
Both the enemy and the heroes had goals but ends up being rather casual about it. 
Sometimes you can't really do anything about a situation and this game was full of it.
I think I may be fine with slice of life when there's not some grand plot
going on but TengoStray certainly was an experience. 
You see this game has its routes tackle things on a case by case basis and it tends
to ignore anything not related to that character or put it very into the background.
I can forgive some things but its understandable why I feel the way I do since
there's a lot of beating around the bush. I'm fine with some truths only shown in
locked routes but... I had trouble enjoying the early routes because they were all over the place. 
In terms of romance routes ended in satisfying manner but I wasn't fully convinced
when it came to tying up all the plot threads. I found Sharaku to be a lil better
than Yona/Kiku but not by much. I thought its just because they're the early game
routes, those can be lacking and not tackle it all... then I moved on to JacK
who spiced up a lot of monotony that the starter routes had going on while being
hilarious at the same time. I thought there would be no route i'd like but I was wrong!
Goemon had a really good route as well but... the others started feeling like what if's.
--- 
 
TL;DR 
 At the very least the character interactions were always golden, due that I mostly had
a good time but it was a tad slow for me, the real struggle was the SoL along the way!
The romance is build on trust and its most enjoyed as a slowburn, early routes for me
like Kiku or Yona's was a real s t r u g g l e because while I liked them they never became fav's.
There was not much was going on and the real narrative is buried in the locked routes.
The main plot was kinda weak in early routes and very character+romance driven. 
At times there is plenty of enjoyment, yet the plot was 404 not found. 
 Goemon's the only one which handled it well but when I looked back I got
a massive headache thinking about certain side chara's.😓
Its sad I didn't enjoy the first 3 routes and at that point I was like is there a route
in this game I really enjoy? the answer was yes.  After three routes I struck gold with Jack.😄
So I basically suffered during the first half.😩Okay I guess I'll take the L's.
The best parts about TengoStray for me were the character interactions even when there
was nothing important going on. I didn't even dislike the LI's themselves. I just thought
some of the narrative within their routes particular the early ones could be better. 
8/10 
I would recommend TengoStray if you want an otome game about bad boys and life&death themes
with homey SoL/found family vibes. I wasn't disappointed with this game like with Enchante.
I'd probably not recommend TengoStray to those that don't like SoL, slowburn romance
or can't handle some mild forms of sexism since its just all that. 
 
My Play order:
Yona > Kikunosuke > Sharaku > Jack > Goemon.
Yona and Kikunosuke are the beginner routes and can be interchanged.
Sharaku the intermediate one which is best done before Jack.
Jack needs the player to do the three initial routes and Goemon is locked behind him. 
 
Recommended order:
Kikunosuke / Yona > Sharaku > Jack > Goemon. 
 
Character rambles and some of my fav cgs after the jump.
Probably don't read further if you want to experience it yourself since its just
senile grandma rambles beyond this point with potential spoilers. 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 
 
 

Saturday, May 2, 2026

Matsurika no Kei Tenmei kashokuden - review

Feytastic.🗿
 Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/mk/fd/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v52279
Release date: 23-04-2026
 
I was a bit surprised when the FD was announced so soon after the release of the OG
but it seems they took their time and from the looks of it there was no artist change.
Otomate decided to right their wrongs and do Fey justice with this game or so it appears.
Most of the after stories are very light-hearted and not nearly as dark as the OG was
there might be happiness even in bad endings, which may not be for everyone. 
 
Disclaimer: This is purely my own opinion and it could be different from yours
this is not meant to be some kind of all-truth, just an opinion that came from playing this.
If you don't like what you're reading then close the tab, move on and just idk play it yourself. 
 
Pro's
- After stories for all LI's are neither too short nor overly long.
- Light in tone and less dark than the original game.
- Art( and music) is consistent to that of the original game.
- Fey may be 20% part of this FD but he got his happiness.
 
Grey area
- Afterstories are locked behind shorter present/past chapters.
- Story for afters feels weaker but Gyokusui & Fey gaiden compensate for this. 
 
Con's
- Menus/UI is literally the worst thing about this FD but I'll take the L here. 

 
Matsurika FD is packed with content featuring the usual after stories
and stories from the LI's POV as well as a peek at their childhoods.
It took me maybe 6-7 hours to view all of a single LI's content now multiply that
to 6 LI's and you got 40 hours of content, including the two new routes
for Fey and Gyokusui it took me around 60 hours to finish the game. 
That is more than an acceptable length for a FD. 
 
The art was as gorgeous as always, it seemed the original artist did work on it
and most CG's looked the best they could be.
Music; I don't think there were a lot of new tracks but both OP and ED were nice to listen to.
Except that one desert theme, idk why but after this FD I have beef with it. 
 
---
System
 
Its the usual VN stuff but I thought the layout of the menus were a bit confusing.
Some stuff along the timeline also seemed to be locked but basically
its a bunch of shorter stories set when the LI was a kid as well as
some scenes during the original game, kinda like a directors cut.
I always went from right to left and went back to something if it was locked. 
The longer stories tended to be the best and good afters.
As for bad afters; it depends on the character how long they are
and I thought Zebenera was longer than say Karma's.
I was a bit mixed about locking the after stories behind the shorter scenes 
however after seeing Karma's best after it does make sense for it to work this way. 
 ---
 
I generally had a good time although much like KgK FD which it reminded me
slightly of,  it varied whether a shorter scenario was interesting.
I mostly looked forward to the after stories but due to the timeline they wanted us to look at
other aspects first; revisiting some parts of the LI's story and give further depth.
Thankfully nothing really overstayed its welcome and it was pretty on point.
If you prefer to dive right into the after stories its difficult to recommend this FD
since it doesn't seem to allow you, some chapters were locked which I unlocked
by doing whatever else was available. Generally going from right to left(past to future).
There's a lot of emphasis on the LI's past and his POV of the events of the OG's route.
Gyokusui's route is akin to any route in the OG, its a bit softer than Ruwo, with more grace.
 ---
The best ends for most LI's in the OG sans Fey already had satisfying conclusions.
So when I look at Ruwo's after you can really see how they both have grown after
everything that happened. I am not particularly big on Ruwo btw but I can see that much. 
Same goes for Karma but doing all of his content made me appreciate him more again.
 
Shout out to this king who pulls his weight when its not even his route.
Matsurika FD is everything I expect a FD to be. Its not a sequel in disguise. 
However it may have one problem, like making everything too happy and remove
weight some of the original bad ends had carried, for some it good others I was mixed. 
It pretty much gave some routes its finishing touches, even for things I thought wasn't necessary.
Its a FD that focuses on happiness without it derailing into subchara drama. 
Afters were all about LI and heroine themselves, i'm actually kinda glad there weren't
that many new side characters and if they were its for the new route.😄
Some additions to the story were good so I wouldn't say it had no depth at all. 
Gyokusui's route is on par with how routes were like in the OG so if you want a plot, go here! 
I jokingly said to myself: Is this FD where the fanservice ended up?😅 since some recent
otome seem to do the bare minimum for romantic scenes and are quite plot focused. 
I found myself satisfied with afters for LI's that I didn't even like that much
as well as cheering on LI's when it wasn't even their after. Cough Enrai Cough.
Fey's gaiden is okay as a true end and has a satisfying conclusion, it hit notes
but it also missed a few due a lot of things that felt too familiar.
 I think its worth it if you want more Matsurika in your life but if you prefer
darker plot lines it might be disappointing since the FD was rather sweet.
There are moments that could be a lil heavier but not much.
Its a great FD if you want to see more happiness rather than sad stuff.
 ---
 
TL;DR 
I recommend this FD to those who want mostly light afters or see different perspectives
rather than the couple being thrown in yet another mess, small blessings.
The game already delivers one hell of a plot centered on the new LI
and Fey's gaiden is worth it if you thought the OG was unforgivable. 
9.3/10
 
Anyway I think it would be a shame if Matsurika no Kei and its FD is never translated
its really not any worse than Olympia Soiree but I understand its themes are rough and its
not a beginner friendly otome game. Its also huge and would need care with its translation.
Neither is it the type of otome for people who are sensitive to contents. So yea if it happens
it happpen but it may be unlikely to cross the seas. 
 
My play order:
Ruwo > Zebenera > Karma > Seirin > Enrai >Fey/Fuuen > Gyokusui > Fey gaiden.
Same order I played the original in with the new stuff last and I think this order is mostly fine.
I kinda regret doing gaiden last but it can be done anytime, it can act
as a refresher and a true end for Fey at the same time. 
 
Spoilers after the jump, mostly just senile ramblings about the routes
and sharing some of my fav CG's. 
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------