Reine Des Fleurs - impressions/Review

レンドフルール

Game: [Reine des Fleurs/Queen of Flowers]

Genre: Otome Visual Novel.
Developer/Publisher: Otomate/Idea factory.

Platform: PS Vita.

Official Site: http://www.otomate.jp/reinedesfleurs/

Release date: 2015-08-20

This is the general outline of the story:
Violette has to leave her sheltered life behind since she is the candidate
 to become substitute Reine aka french word for Queen because the world
needs grace and she's the only one who can do so.
The knights don't want to go along and don't trust her cuz of the absence of a Reine/Queen
all this time so Violette has to come to their countries and have a fabulous talk with them
 like the ye olde french nobels did as it the only way to get grace so she can give it to the world
which is already quite drained so it won't perish, all in all this sounds promising right?

TL;DR this is a Kusotoge (maybe that is too harse) with way too much dramatique
and mystical mumbo jumbo, theres not many characters for a story set on such a grand stage.
If you want to get it don't fall for the synopsis or the pretty art, keep your expectations low
if anything the characters might save it for you and well I did like atleast two routes.
It doesn't fail being at what it tries to do, the gothic style and despairing plot is good
but most happy endings aren't satisfying for what you have to sit through which was pretty boring.
This game did not at all feel like it was an otome game to me, infact it feels more like a theatrical play.
I kid you not, this is all I can remember no... want to remember from this game.
Sorry if this sounds like a complaint/rage post but I just have to put it out there.

Anyway here are the pro's and con's if you don't care about my rant.

 Pro's
 - The setting and story is interesting at first sight.
- Art and Music
- The guys/characters are still likeable despite the weak story.
- Seiyuu did a wonderful job.
- Setting.
- Heroine, I liked that Vio is selfish... enough to know what she wants and takes it.
- Leon was moe.

 Did I push it with the pro's? lol.

Con's
- Story is rather weak and fails to keep the reader interested at times.
- Most love endings are not satisfying.
 - Ravir system.
- Too many bad ends.
- The locked route was not satisfying. 
(It also didn't have the true end revelation I was hoping for.)

My expectations were too high for this game, I didn't enjoy most of it at all, I'd love to
someday replay it because sometimes I think its better than what people make it out to be
and its not that bad but yeah... I agree there's too much ''negativity'' which believe it or not infects others. I ended up ranting about things I usually do not care about out of shear

frustration that is the game system, feel free to ignore the rest of the review.
Gothic fantasy can be an interesting genre but only if they don't make the story a complete mess.

Too much drama, a paper-thin plot to waste your time away, the prologue specifically
while it had this nice feel of introduction  I couldn't keep my attention to it at all, I mean
Leon was cute and most guys were charming but the introduction went on for far too long
and not much was even going on till the end of the prologue.
Later all the talk of glass made my eyes glaze over... pun intended.
Honestly I never expected this to a 3rd rate gothic fantasy, I was expecting this to be
a fun yet serious story but sadly the plot never took itself serious in my eyes.
The Ravir system was draining me of my energy too... probably one of the worst systems
ever next to wand of fortune! hey its also the same dev team.
I know they try to emulate what french nobles used to but in a VN this is just boring...
ATLEAST the art was good, despite me raging about this game
I would love a FD that make the endings in this game more worthwhile or an AU FD would be nice.
Violette as a heroine is great she knows what she wants and takes it but
the way the plot was told made me shake my head way too many times.
Still she was a cool heroine who kept her head high  and I sorta
appreciated her being selfish but it felt like such a waste in the end...

I don't hate dramatic games but Ravir was such a drag and most of the endings weren't satisfying
or like Orpheus for example it end in such a way to only make you wonder wtf is even  next.
Also I don't mind if people die in games but the way it happened in some routes! sigh...

Characters ★★★☆☆
Art  ★★★★★(A saving grace.)
Scenario/plot. ★★☆☆☆(Too much mystical mumbo jumbo... and drama)
Music★★★★☆ (Good.)
System  ★☆☆☆☆ (Stressful and too many bad ends...)
Enjoyment overall ★★☆☆☆(What did I expect? too much that's what.)

 So you may like this game if:
Gothic fantasy is your jam and like the insanely pretty art.
Do not mind the game being a mine field of bad endings.
 Like the utsuge type of visual novels where the outcome may not be perfectly happy.
Do not mind certain things just not making any sense.

 I looked forward to this otomege for the setting,characters,art and its story.

Alas the game itselfs falls short in a few areas, 1, Story/scenario and 2, System.
The problem with the story is while enjoyable at first I quickly became bored, while
the few memorable scenes here and there during the prologue were refreshing, the story
just didn't get good till like halfway through but even then... oh well.
The Ravir system doesn't help with this, I started to feel annoyed and that it was pointless, there are also no choices outside of this system, I used a guide so I pretty much avoided all bad ends
 except two on my first play and I got those two bad ends entirely on purpose
 because I was so bored by the long prologue even tho the introductions were nice.
 For the most part despite me dozing of because it wasn't that interesting i'd say it was okay...
Anyway...
 Violette while rather selfish is a great heroine in some ways and all the characters are all likeable.. even Milene.
Gotta thank Louis for that though! :P
Violette is a cool beauty but I can't say I liked her because of the general writing in this game.
 I followed the official play order and started with Leon, I can totally
see why they put him first! though I didn't stay with the official play order for long.
My play order was: Leon > Ghislain > Louis > Orpheus > Hubert.
Leon is really likeable and so damn cute at times! which was one of the games saving graces.

Indeed...!

One of my favorite scenes, Leon is so moe while he watches cute little Violette
eat an apple for the first time ever, uuuuuugh why couldn't the writing hold up to this?!

This scene was also very sweet, sigh... my heart.

Really oh my god the art is so pretty, which is sadly one of the best things this game has to offer.
This game had many great scenes here and there but the actual plot didn't make me go wow
and the actually drama never made me cry like it should have, instead it only made me
roll my eyes because it failed to keep me interested, ravir was just plain boring I get
they tried to emulate stuff french nobles used to do but it just doesn't work in a visual novel
they should have just made normal choices but nope all of the development was mostly
done through (~le combat~) the ravir system which became a huge chore
especially when you have to sit through all those bad ends, sigh why oh why otomate?
I know they're trying to stick to french themes but sometimes
stuff like that doesn't work out as a system for visual novels...
Also some of the side characters were more interesting than the main guys at times...
you know its bad when that happens right? sigh Asagi and Uranami are so awesome.
~
Pretty sure halfway through is where the writing startes to fall apart, Milene and Zero start to awaken...
More impending doom, anyway I think i've said enough because this is where I went all ¬_¬
I can't even explain it properly so I will refrain from doing so.
Basically WELP... I can safely say I did not like how the story played out...

Hubert: Ahahahaha! Me: ok.jpg
The story/scenario is still wonky all the way till the end... it was interesting but it was still
mediocre writing for something on such a grand scale.
I was unsatisfed by Leon's love end epilogue, I get that he did it all because he loved her
Meh... how can they end it like that? it was lacking something, a paradise of love... yeah right.
The only ones who are alive are the twins... so maybe the others are as well? anyway its not explained well enough for me, see what I mean by bad conclusion?

For za warudo, let's recreate it and let us both be Adam and Eve in our paradise of love.

  I like his Loyalty end a bit more but it was bad I guess... Zero is hawt and all but its not Leon. T_T

 And while I like bad ends... I really do I'm usually fine with just 1,2 or 3 but 8? NO!
IIRC there are around 40... Otomate WHY?!
I almost lost track of which ones I did... 

Anyway I like Leon, he was cute and at times an idiot, but the writing... :(
 Well atleast they end up together for better or for worse. >_>
I expected that the heroine x guy end up together and there is a good conclusion to the game, I don't mind if not everyone is alive or a fairy tale like ending but pls is it so hard to conclude
 the game in a proper manner without me having unanswered questions? Also one more thing that bothers me about Leon. I thought it was funny Leon being picked on in the beginning
but that kind of gets old if it keeps happening, its like they refuse to take him serious.
  We know he's a dork but please I wonder how would the writers feel if they'd be made fun of all the time?
Well I sure will make fun of the Wand of Fortune team for the mess that they created
that is called Reine des fleurs, hahaha okay maybe I shouldn't because I loved WoF R.
Still Leon is very likeable and I want it to be canon but the plot... oh well not like I expected.

 Ghislain...He is very likable and I did but then again I don't because reasons/spoilers
Sigh I actually liked the general plot in his route but his love end epilogue sucked.
  Ghislain is so cool and likeable and overall had a good route but the ending made
me rage pretty hard. because he turned into a full blown tsundere while he wasn't like it before.

My knight in shining armor, sigh... why?! Violette was also awesome but
sadly the plot once again ruined alot of things for me.
Le derp.
 Also a moment of silence for Hubert in this route please.

I found that it was lacking something again... but then again its an Utsuge?
So much impending doom, gloom and suffering... 
For these type of endings I do expect something like a romantic end like the name implies
 but nope I get more dramatic poop instead and in the epilogue all Ghislain
needed was a push he needed to say the magic words... (;´д｀)
Ghislain love end? The other knights watch them being lovey dovey and when they can't bear it
anymore they mess around with Ghislain for a bit and he becomes super TSUN... and then he finally
says he really loves Vio while like >///< Baka its not like I wanted to say it like this. -_-
I usually like this but not when other characters watch I just sigh... and he never was like that before.
When I look back on it and compared to other ends Ghislain had the best outcome?
I don't mind gags... just keep them out of endings please, it ruins things if I cannot take the
conclusion seriously, in the end ghislain route may have been just fine...
I just wish the tsun didn't come out of nowhere, he may have been one from the start
but then they should've shown it more not just only at the end.

Another notable thing I forgot to add is whenever you take a screenshot with your vita

 its says  Idea factory/Otomate (C) 2014... which made me roll my eyes for a second 

because this came out in 2015, this in my eyes looks like something did go horrible wrong
during development of Reine des fleurs that they had to delay it so much.
 Okay I admit I got carried away since I noticed recently many games do that
and its more a case of forgot to update but let's move on...

 Louis's route was interesting, I like him a lot and his loyalty end was sad but if
you didn't like Louis at all you'd probably like his loyalty end more than his love end.
The problem with his route is that its different and lots of things that happen here
aren't explained elsewhere you could say his route probably was the most unique.
Despite Louis being a troll and playing around with Violette while having ulterior motive
he managed to become my favorite character quickly, some of the dialogue in his love route was very...!!! ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Louis is voiced by Namikawa Daisuke and I enjoyed his sexy voice all the way till the end... orz.

The art is so pretty, this CG is my favorite in the whole game.

I enjoyed Louis love route more than Leon and Ghislain. Anyway he is still scum
and I am trash for liking him, perfect match right?
Despite some plot issues his route was enjoyable to me... I liked to see him mess with Vio.
Sadly I have to admit that I was paying more attention to Uranami than Louis at times, sigh why...

Orpheus... route was okay, his loyalty end was sad, they all are. let's not go into his bad ends mmkay?
Orpheus is just so adorable and a sweetheart, KENN's voice sure helps with this.
His Love route, well I finally figured out how messed up Hubert really for better or for worse.
The Dialogue at the end of Orpheus's route had me going... this is cero C right? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 Overall Orpheus's route was decent at best, I'm glad it didn't disappoint me that much
 since I definitely had no expectations for anything in this game anymore.
Still he was one of those chara I liked from the beginning, his end? While this route was decent
the ending was rather bad since its not a good conclusion to the game at all and well it just felt
unfinished, they go on a journey?  but to where? anywhere is good... www
Still Leon gets some more points for me during Orpheus route, which 
makes him even more likeable than he already is.

It would be better if you could see that Hubert sees everyone as living chamber pots.

Hubert... I didn't look forward to his route after what happened in Orpheus love end...
The main purpose of his route is to tie up the loose ends and by now you should be like
okay what the hell is up with this guy, his route was locked for a good reason.
I dislike it when this happens, it makes the overall story in other routes look unfinished and they are.
I don't mind some grand finale or true end or sth just sometimes locked routes piss me off
when they donly make you angry at the plot or pull some ridiculous BS.

 Hubert's route just lacked the true ending/grand finale feel, it wasn't very happy either.
Maybe its cuz I didn't like Hubert all that much, he's messed up, a psycho or better put a misguided villain you just want to save but you have to make alot of sacrifices to make it happen.
Obedience end had me pretty much going ahahaha...wtf am I reading. >_>;
Then again Obedience end and some of his bad ends was better than his love end at least!

Vio was awesome in Hubert's obedience end, it was the best ending in the whole game, imho its canon.

His Love end? I think it was alright for the most part but in the end it was really messed up...
He gets reincarnated as a boy and then suddenly one fine day he returns to his adult form...
  IIRC everyone else sacrifices themselves to make it happen, sigh.
I dislike this ending alot, its like Leon's like how can they do that? Are they out of their minds?
I just don't know what to say this ending anymore, oh well more on that in my final thoughts.
Well atleast Sugitan did a wonderful job voicing Hubert, that I can say for sure.

~Final thoughts~
Louis & Orpheus just slay me already >_>

I know i'm lenient and while I don't want to be too harsh.. i'll give it a 5/10 
but if I had to be very harsh it'be a 3/10 sorry the only saving grace is the art.

IDK About this otome game man, its not all that bad but the writing and system ruin it for me...
Also the romance is just... in some it feels forced but for some reason its ok?  /looks at Ghislain/.
Or its just doesn't have a proper conclusion to all the mystical mumbo jumbo, etc.
 I think there's so many good things like the world buildup but there's not enough
characters to make it even more interesting and enjoyable, Vio's attendants are all marionettes.
Violette is supposed to be a queen right? then where are her people?! (in the world below)
  A valid point considering the plot and that Vio lives sheltered from the rest of the world oh well.
Would have been nice if we saw some of the lower world but alas, maybe in the FD?(if there is ever going to be one)
I mean yeah there's the lower world but the only interaction she has is with  her knights, marionettes
and the hanabito's... I am just like what? the doom and gloom should be influencing
the world below as well, ah so many things that could've made it more interesting.
Like the only route that went into the lower world was Orpheus...
Also why are there not many characters for such a grand story? doesn't make sense.
This game has such a beautiful world, we don't even see half of it and the bad ends?
More like filler ends, I stopped caring after seeing all of Leon's
to the point where I would only like actually read one or two of them every route.
I also think the drama is a bit forced at times... oh well I don't really care about that anymore.

I shed tears for this game and laughed at the same time many times because it was at times so unbelievable.

I was not motivated to do everyone to the point where I had to suck it up and do it
so I can move on to better things, thankfully the decision to do Louis after Ghislain was a good one.
Let's just say his trolling reinvigorated my motivation to complete this.
IMHO Louis and Orpheus routes, pretty much saved the game for me, still
despite them having some issues... they are the ones I enjoyed the most.
After Leon and Ghislain I seriously didn't have any expectations anymore.

Still I don't think I've ever felt so unsatisfied when finishing a route as with this otoge.
Atleast for Leon, Ghislain and Hubert.
The best ends at times are hilariously bad, why would I want to destroy the whole world to be with
the one I love? even if its the only way? its something I would never do too much to sacrifice.
Maybe if it was like remake the world... well maybe Leon's end was like that in a way.

Sadly Reine des fleurs was arguable the worst otome game I played all year, and I played alot. 

 Not all of Otomate's games are bad, but its quantity over quality with them to the point
where they are either a hit or a miss and no one wants to waste money.
Guess they think we will just buy and like everything that has good art and cast even
 if the writing is bad. I am someone that values a good story in an otome game, I hate loose ends,

bad conclusions and overall poor writing as well.
While otomate is the king of the otome market right now, because they
 release the most games right now it doesn't mean everything is good.
No matter how pretty the art or how interesting its synopsis/cast, if something sounds
or looks like its too good to be true don't fall for it just wait for amazon ratings/reviews.
I know mine are shit,but just look at those if you're ever in doubt. :P
 But even then sometimes, there is the chance you will enjoy a game more than everyone else!
Like how I enjoyed Rear Pheles more than this game despite it being average...

5/10 too much drama and magical mumbo jumbo.

Most of my displeasement comes from the system, Leon and Huberts love ends plus a lot of
things aren't explained properly it just ends for better or for worse and in some endings
especially Leon's they're so selfish and it funny how the others just go along with it...
love is blind, love can make people do strange things, things they wouldn't do otherwise,  like
 I said before I prefer Huberts Loyalty ed over his love ed IDK it felt more satisfying, Ghislain route
overall I liked it but the romance in his love end felt so forced... with the others butting in.  ಠ_ಠ
Orpheus route and ends were fine except that the love end felt unfinished, they go on a journey?
but to where? ah yes its open ended! time to use my imagination and write a fanfiction!
Louise love end probably was the most enjoyable, yeah he's a troll but he realized
it was wrong before it was too late, his route made me roll my eyes endlessly and
made me laugh because I knew something was up, speaking of bad ends the system
only makes it worse than it already is, especially if you have to go back to do them.
by the time I got the platinum I was so sick and stressed out by the Ravir and Le combat
that even the bgm when it starts gave me headache... ಠ_ಠ
 I just want to go out on balcony and scream for 5 minutes and let it go out of my system, but
I can't do that because ...le sigh.. neighbours won't understand.
Do I regret buying this? hmmm yes because for the most part I didn't enjoy it but
that doesn't mean someone else will, I am pretty sure there are a few that do like it.
You're better off buying the art book really, atleast you won't need to suffer through ravir.

If you did like this game good for you! I sadly cannot look back on this positively
other than the art, Hubert's obedience ending and Louis's trolling.
Gothic fantasy is great and all but don't do it if you can't make a consistent story.