Period Cube ~Torikago no Amadeus~ - Review

ピリオドキューブ ～鳥籠のアマデウス～

Game: [Period Cube ~Torikago no Amadeus~] 

Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 

Developer/Publisher: Otomate/Idea factory.
Platform: PS Vita.
Official Site: http://www.otomate.jp/period-cube/
Release date: 2016-05-19

Oh boy, this seems like its going to be SAO/.hack the otome game.

As for the characters there is the classic childhood friend, mascot, missing onii-chan etc...
 It has an RPG-like system just hope it won't be annoying.

My expectations? not very high, I think it was a good idea I did not get my hopes up.

This was originally a drama cd series which I never bought since it seems like a cash grab.
CD1 is with the childhood friend chara which mostly seems as an introduction. the other CD's
 all seem to be much of the same, I heart the plot wasn't very good though which worried me
about the writing quality in the actual game.

I forget to mention this but this is the second? time Otomate used a theme
from a popular anime used and turned it into an otome game.
Bad Apple Wars turned out to be Angel Beats! the otome.
Now we have Period Cube which takes a lot from SAO/dot hack...
Is it laziness? because I heard BAW didn't even use its setting to its full potential.
^AKA much like Period Cube it could have been much better.
Oh well whatever...

Now to get on to the game, my play order is:
Hiroya > Astram > Ladius > Dimento > Zain > Libera > Shiki.

The game doesn't seem to force too much mmo terms at you and everything
you should know about is explained further via the dictonary LOL even the word level
and more terms one should already be familiar with is explained  so if you see an unfamiliar term don't hesitate to open up dat dictionary! or google it. Now on to the system...
I thought it would be annoying but it turned not to be, it doesn't beat around the bush
the way it is implemented its actually quite fun! I'm proud of you otomate
Still the MMO aspect is kind of just there to make decisions along
with the usual choice making in a visual novel so if you expected stuff like
Harukanaru toki no naka de or Real Rode you'll be disappointed because 
Period Cube is still a straight-forward visual novel. 
Some parts of the plot are a bit stupid though, its enough to make me roll my eyes.
  Still for a VN it does a good job of having the skin of an MMO...

 Anyway since this has no common route you get on the character route right
after the prologue ends because of the choices you make there, this is bad and good.
 Good = more time with the guy of your choice even if its still short, except for Dimento because
his route branches from Astram, which feels like Dimento was added for last minute lolz. >_>
Bad = no time to get to know everyone via a common route, so you basically
go into everyones routes blind if you never bothered with the drama cd's.
Another problem is that all the guys fall for the heroine's so quickly with
 the exception of Hiroya since he's the typical childhood friend but thats no excuse.

BTW I love the opening movie, the song is nice and I just can't skip it.

TL;DR
If you don't feel like reading the whole post.

Pro's
-Theme/Setting.
- Art, Kuroyuki's art is gorgeous.
- Music is good, some bgm are charming.
- Characters, alot of them have interesting reasons to be playing ''Arcadia''.

Con's
- Story is not that bad but you really shouldn't expect much since
Wtfbbq plot has more holes than cheese /mostly looking at you Zaine.
- Short game, 5~ hours to finish one route.
Pacing, it feels rushed especially the romance.

6.5/10
This game was too short for me to fully appreciate it the only good things are the theme of the game
as it was set in an MMO, the characters are all great in some way and  the plot was amusing
but I wouldn't say it was that good it also spoon feeds you basic info one should already know.
My favourite guy was Astram! Ladius and Zain come close though despite him being uh you know...
Honestly I bought this game solely to see if they could actually make it work...
For better or for worse it was amusing and it wasn't entirely bad in my opinion.

Anyway if you want a real otome game rpg I suggest looking into the Harukanaru toki no naka de series
or even Real Rode, its sad but Period Cube doesn't even come close to those two.

More ramblings after the jump, there are spoilers so skip to the end of the post to avoid.

Kazuha's brother Shiki has gone missing and Hiroya helps her out trying to find him.
Shiki used to play an online game called Arcadia, Hiroya used to play it as well, they decide
to look around in the game but as turns out there is something off about it.
 Ok so here's the thing once you log into Arcadia you can't log out till you complete a quest
btw its only for a little while you can actually be logged out and if you die in the game you die IRL.
Geez where have I heard the latter before?
 Also there was a message that they should never get into server V... but guess what happen?
That the server they go into and well suddenly every faction is after Kazuha since
she's labeled as an item called the divine sword, lmao.
Kazuha being the divine sword has its uses, since she can UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS.

 There is also this thing called Shi no Agito which is some bug that eats up the game world...
 Oh well what will await Kazuha and her chosen guy at the end of their journey?
Only time will tell...
Kazuha logs into the game she ends up on server V alone, she gets attacked by a monster
but Hiroya arrives just in time to save her, no rest since people from different factions attack them
cuz they're after the divine sword, Hiroya tries to protect Kazuha but they're too many of them...
So they run and rest in some cave and meet Libera there.
 If you support Hiroya you get on his route which can branch to Libera, like I mentioned earlier the
few choices you get in the prologue are important since it determines which other route you'll get on.

 Hiroya
CV: Okamoto Nobuhiko.

Le childhood friend, he's kind and helps out Kazuha figure out how MMO's work.
Its best to do his route first, he's nice and easy to like? but it sorta sad in others Kazuha
just FORGETS this puppy dog the route explains a lot of terms but the route felt a bit slow
due to that, also if you do Astram first you might Hiroya for being a thirdwheel.
  Hiroya's cute and I want to touch his fluffy ears, all things considered his route is okay I guess?

Despite saying it was okay for the most part his route was a bit boring
due to all the explanations, in the early parts of this route Libera is with them, also
guess what? Hiroya was surprised she is actually a he, lol.
After a while Libera leaves and Hiroya and Kazuha rest at the Inn, Hiroya gets randy
 when he notices Kazuha is injured and licks it like the dog he is.
Hiroya is like a cute dog who always watched Kazuha and tries to keep her out of danger.

Hiroya: Wan~ let me treat your wound! you should take better care of yourself Kazuha and rely on me more!

 At one point he begs Ladius a lvl 83 to join his party and he does for a little because
they're on the run from that area eating monster, they hide in some cave and afterwards
all thanks to Kazuha who can see some NPC(its not Zain) leading the way to the cave.
Later Hiroya challenges Ladius cuz he's sick of him ordering around, he loses ofcourse.
Geez what did you expect Hiroya... Ladius is higher level + he has the rare sword Maken(demon sword).
Damn this game sure is amusing...

Hiroya is a moe cupcake.

His best end was okay but I don't really like it since they dumped so much plot on me
at the end that I was just like, good grief what am I supposed to make of this?
~
In the Merry bad end, Kazuha stabs Shiki just as he's getting randy with her
and runs him through with her unlimited blade works, she takes the book
from the mysterious man who has the form of a young Shiki and recreates server V.
Hiroya wakes up in a flower field and vows to protect Kazuha forever in a bloody throne room.
Bad thing is Kazuha has changed...

  ~
The story oh man, I knew I shouldn't have expected much but this was decent at best.
Hiroya is a cutie-pie but the game just feels so rushed, sure they know each other
and they spend time together in the game and IRL but its just too short for my tastes.
I'm ok with short games but I wish there was a bit more volume to it.
Honestly Hiroya's merry bad end was better than his love end,  Kazuha was so great in it.
Oh yeah b4 I forget Shiki hates Hiroya's ass cuz of plot and Hiroya admires him... orz.
I like Hiroya but like I said before his route was boring, it wasn't that interesting except for
that plot dump at the end, so I am very meh about this route, too much time wasted on explaining things.
I have to make it clear that I did like the story if only a little,  even though the reveals happened
right after another in the end, anyway Hiroya is pretty much the main guy in this game together with
Shiki and since he was the childhood friend the romance between them was okay but still...
Romance ★★★☆☆
Plot ★★★☆☆
 Enjoyment overall ★★★☆☆
~
Astram
CV: Takahiro Sakurai.

 Oh boy Astram is a cute yet awkward nerd, he's also quite moody IRL and he's a
 university student, though no one really notices him because he's awkward.
However in Arcadia he's a veteran player who gets way to much into his character, lmao.
Astram uses Arcadia as a means to escape his online personality is completely different
from his IRL one, in the game he desperately wants Kazuha due to her status and even he treats
Kazuha like a goddess in-game, when he sees her IRL he needs some time to adjust 

but that normal given his situarion I guess.

^This screen is from Hiroya route but yes Astram is a true sakupyon character he's always willing to protect you no matter what.

  I know from Hiroya's route that he has a rivalry thing going on with Astram but man
Hiroya was ﾏｼﾞ うるさい during this route, whenever he spots them being lovey-dovey Hiroya
has to interrupt them during or afterwards he's litterally a third wheel in this route who can't handle
Kazuha choosing an angel over him. Hiroya is just an annoying third wheel and is
contantly going ero-tenshi this or that at Astram when he's fawning over Kazuha and in truth
Astram is not even doing anything perverted, its funny but pretty sure Hiroya is the biggest pervert
here cuz at the end of his own route he couldn't even handle a simple kiss without going oi, this is too much.
Well its not like Astram and Kazuha don't get any alone time, they still do and
thankfully Hiroya was only annoying in the beginning, so I guess it wasn't that bad.
Astram forms a party with a few angels and help Kazuha grind a couple of levels... with
Hiroya being a third wheel the entire time, not much interesting happen till
Kazuha gets to log out and goes to meet Astram IRL which was nice cuz he's super cute.
When she gets back into the game she gets snatched by Dimento... oi, why.
Anyway Astram comes to rescue her soon enough, that was basically the first half of the route.

Astram's is such a cutie-pie he's my favorite character so far!

Astram's character itself is much more interesting than the plot, dunno if that good or bad
but for me its a good point, the gap between ingame and IRL Astram was so cute it hurts.
In my opinion Astram's route was better than Hiroya's since Astram knows how to get things done.
His confession to Kazuha was so cute and the romance felt real unlike the previous route I did.
This time I honestly prefer the best ending over the bad ending for obvious reasons.
 Speaking of Astram's bad end, allow me to digest...
In the merry bad end, Astram goes insane and thinks he really is Astram and kills Shiki
 then he goes like it wasn't me...IT WASN'T ME! due to this turn of events everyone
 including Astram and Kazuha are stuck in the game Kazuha remakes the server and the two are
together forever in the digital world. Bad thing is Kazuha is damaged in the process and can't
talk properly anymore she's a little bird in a birdcage*huehue title drop* still Astram will protect her forever.

 Oh well for whatever its worth I enjoyed Astram's route more than Hiroya.
Sakupyon's acting for Astram was superb I loved his awkward personality and his serious roleplay in Arcadia.
 Astram is mai husbando.
Romance ★★★★☆
Plot ★★☆☆☆
 Enjoyment overall ★★★★★
~
 Ladius
CV: Maeno Tomoaki.

He's an Idol IRL, he uses Arcadia as a means to be himself because he is so sick and tired
of always having to be nice and put on dat fake smile as an idol, he's pretty much a kuudere.
Ladius is quite rude online, because he is so fed up with real life, lmao.
But as turns out something else is the reason of why he doesn't give a shit about other people.
When Hiroya tells Kazuha to run in the beginning she does and this is how she runs into Ladius.
Kazuha gets hurt by a monster, Ladius kicks ass and then they manage to log out for a bit
and that all happened so fast it confused me a lot! 
When Kazuha bumps into him IRL he acts nice when other people are around but when he's alone
he's so rude telling her she is a nuisance and useless etc. Sigh having to pretend to be nice
as an idol when your personality is the opposite must be tiring, sigh idols are suffering indeed.
So when Kazuha walks around alone at a plaza she sees an advertisement for Aijou Ren
and realizes that she has just *gasp* ran into him.
 This is shaping up to be a good route huh? hmmm maybe, maybe not.
 When she logs back into the game she runs into Dimento, questioning what she is doing here, lmao.
He almost forces her to come with her when *gasp* Ladius logs into the game nearby.
Suddenly Shi no Agito shows up and well... Kazuha glomps Ladius and they both fall off a cliff.
Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
They find there way to town and Kazuha uses her unlimited blade works along the way.

 So Ladius doesn't give a rats ass about Kazuha at first but ones he sees her powers first hand and
gets to know her Ladius slowly starts to take a liking to Kazuha! she chats with other players while
Ladius is out somewhere doing something, they meet again at night where he tells her not to trouble him.
Whatever she goes to grind some levels with other players and Libera the next day but before
setting out on the quest they run into Zain and guess what? his route branches from Ladius's.
Afterwards Kazuha's able to log out and she can see her favorite idol IRL.

 Oh well that was a horrible digest of the beginning of their fateful meeting... also when she gets back
to the game alone, Hiroya shows up and acts weird like he wants to protect her, then Dimento shows
up and well shit happens and Hiroya locks Kazuha up in some room for her protection, don't worry Poyopoyo let's her go out of the game, lmao what. anyway I leave the rest of the route to your imagination, since I am too lazy to do a full summary.

 I don't know but his route was different from the others I did so far, this isn't
necessarily bad but the pacing was different, Ladius doesn't seem to dislike Kazuha that much.
Kazuha is supposed to be searching her brother, but goes after some idol she meets by chance?
She's so infatuated with Ladius at times she doesn't give a single fuck about Shiki
or the childhood frend she was separated from lmao.
I'm okay with this, though! because I got used to it cuz happens in every route
just the character you go for is the object of Kazuha's infatuation. 
Okay Kazuha doesn't completely forget why she went into server V, she asks Ladius
for help IRL but eh whatever the story in this route focused on Ladius, sth terrible happened
 to his friends he used to play Arcadia with, I didn't expect it to turn out like that.
I found this character development to be okay but ofcourse the final events are similair
 to all the other routes, they go into the last dungeon and beat that golem and face Shiki
atleast in every route so far it wasn't exactly the same so in my opinion that good.
Sigh there are parts of the route I liked but eh whatever it all happened so fast
since its such a short game afterall
.

~
In the merry bad end, Ladius ends up killing Dimento, Shiki doesn't seem to like Ladius one bit.
Well shit happens and they live happily ever after... but not as it should be as something seems off.
I don't know but his bad end was really creepy, his best end was better in my opinion.

Seems like everything is okay doesn't it? wrong, Ren is willing to do anything to keep Kazuha safe, even if it means killing someone.

 Ladius as a character sure is interesting but is it supposed to be this easy
 to have a relationship with an idol just like that? his backstory was great though.
Also Hiroya acted strange in this route, which I hated but good thing is Kazuha punched him
before it got too far which was great, too bad the overall plot of Ladius's route
ruined it for me, because it all happened so fast to me it made the romance look rushed
and the other part being Kazuha constantly apologizing early on. -_-
I sort of like Ladius since he's cute but my interest lies elsewhere. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
I can understand why people think he has a good route I mean they go on dates and stuff
like a normal couple and he's hella cute to boot but it also happened too fast for me so meh.
Good thing is Ladius gets a proper kiss cg, in most of the others it looks like they're almost kissing. ಠ_ಠ
 Romance ★★★★☆
Plot ★★☆☆☆
 Enjoyment overall ★★★☆☆
~
Dimento
CV: Umehara Yuuichiro.

For a PK thats a pretty low lvl, unless he uses other means... or just bullies the newbies.

One of those creepy guys you don't wanna meet alone in a game, he's a PK(Player Killer).
Oh god we had to have one of those too? why?!
When I first saw a glimps of Dimento IRL during Hiroya's route Dimento apparently works
at a convenience store or something at first I was like he's cute but then I saw what
kind of shitlord he was in the previous routes and was like no thanks. ಠ_ಠ
Dimento's route branches from Astram's route also Dimento doesn't have a lot of CG's like half 
of what the others have, seems fair right? don't tell me this route was added at the last minute...
 I think its a bad that Dimento's route branches from Astram's route, honestly I didn't
even want to reject him to get on this route, besides due to all this Dimento's route ended up
being super short like almost 2 hours! Am I supposed to believe that Kazuha fell in love with him so fast?
Some of it felt hella forced... its not even funny, Dimento's a cute at times but he's also terrible.
Okay Kazuha's reason for sticking with him is because he's interesting meanwhile
I am like my husbando is Astram! Kazuha Y U DO THIS?!

 Good thing is, Kazuha was sorta awesome and I got to learn more about Dimento.
Anyway just because Dimento done some hard living doesn't mean its ok to just PK people online.
He does it for the kick really... eh yeah excitementcuz real life is dull. lol
Like Dimento doesn't care about life, he works at his job so he can eat and that it, well
I guess this shows through when he's playing Arcadia since he goes around PK'ing for laughs.
Dunno he's really creepy both ingame and IRL, his personality sucks, Kazuha tries to fix it though.
When I thought this game wouldn't have anymore rushed routes but Dimento's takes the cake!
They meet, Kazuha chooses Dimento over Astram, they spend time together for a bit IRL
they meet again in the game, beat some minotaur and its already time for the finale.
Also for some reason Shiki is more reasonable in this route... when Kazuha asks to spare Dimento
 he approves of Dimento quickly and wants his sister to be happy with him
 so he sents the two of them off just like that, I don't even know anymore man just whatever.
Oi, Shiki you cause so much trouble in the other routes yet here you're OK with Kazuha's decisions?
Lmao what the fuck is this?! it makes no sense since he always causes trouble at the end
of every route and wants his plan to succeed so much it makes him look insane, okay whatever
Kazuha lives happily ever after with this trash who changed a little bit during his route.
Also Dimento gets a good kiss cg like Ladius... sigh why not Astram?! ( ಠ益ಠ)
Shiki why did you so easily approve of this trash? this route was really inconsistent in my opinion.
Anyway it should be obvious I prefer Dimento's best ending... his bad ending? let's get on that...
~
In the merry bad end Kazuha is unable to fix his shitty personality but she's OK with staying with him and in the end he continues to kill people and are stuck in the digital world forever
while the others try and get Kazuha back while she cheers Dimento to kill them?
I don't even care anymore...this route sucks so bad, gimme Astrum!

This is not okay, seriously.

I didn't like Dimento's bad end, his best ending is where its at if I were to bother at all.
My opinion on Dimento has not changed after finishing his route other than that
this shitlord can actually be saved in his best end. Oh well that was a short route, too short.
THis route was like an hour long and in the end it wad pretty p o i n t l e s s.
Romance ★☆☆☆☆
Plot ★☆☆☆☆
 Enjoyment overall ★☆☆☆☆
~
Zain
CV: Hirakawa Daisuke.

 He's an NPC character...  his route branches from Ladius but its before meeting him.
When Hiroya tells Kazuha to run she does and also runs from the mob she ran into afterwards
untill she runs into Zain who is sleeping in a field somewhere the town.

Zain is so kind and sweet, he even helps Kazuha search for Hiroya, when doing so
they notice Dimento is harrassing some crafter guy, Kazuha managed to distract him, the crafter
smacks Dimento and so three run away and jump off a cliff into a river.
 Hum... so far I like this route, it was relaxing and before I knew it I had taken a liking to Zain.
They spend so much time together in the beginning it felt like an eternity...
this is also why I fell for this guy so fast! sigh but then plot happened and a ''bug'' occured.
Too bad Shiki is haxing the game and tries to get into Zain to use him, but Zain is so strong
in this route unlike some of the others, like he did in Astram and Ladius's route.
Honestly I really liked Zain's route and for once the romance was paced well even though I was like
wait Zain's an NPC right? then plot happened and well wtf bbq... there goes a good route. ಠ_ಠ
I also feared this guy would be a bit of a yandere since he was so nice in the beginning but
then the plot happened and well a certain someone does influence Zain a bit, so I think its not Zain's fault.
Zain's route was so good in the beginning I was able to enjoy the rest despite him being a yandere.
Oh and the dialogue was like cero D at one point or maybe I was just perverted. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Dat Hirakawa Daisuke... hmmm.
This might be the first time I actually like a yandere even if just a little because of what happened
cuz in reality it wasn't Zain's fault at all, sth like a bug happened and thats how things ended up.

Anyway Astram saved this route because he's the best and knows how to get shit done.

I guess Zain isn't that bad, its weird but Shiki is a lot more reasonable like in Dimento's route
even tho at first Shiki was like I am taking my imouto back but then shit happened and he had
to explain everything to everyone, this route was interesting, it didn't feel that rushed either.
Too bad a lot of things that happened weren't properly explained
Too be honest I wanted the beginning of the route to never end, oh god those were good times.
I guess this route was okay, Zain just wanted to be with Kazuha he was afraid
 he'd lose her and he didn't want to do those horrible things, sigh Zain's just misunderstood.
He's even letting her go in the end! see he's not that bad at all! unless you're going for the bad end.

In the merry bad end, Kazuha can't get through to Zain so he snaps and well now Zain
has Kazuha all to himself in the digital world that looks just like the real world
just without any people, everyone else wakes up in the real world
but Kazuha won't because she's still with Zain.
Shiki blames Hiroya for it all, sigh I don't like this ending at all, his best end was better.
Zain's bad end left a bad taste in my mouth, sigh such a likeable character but eh.
 -
At the end of this route it also explained a bit more about Dimento but sadly it didn't
 really change my opinion of him. Anyway I like Zain despite him being a yandere
tbh yanderes are always difficult for me to like but for some reason I just like Zain. >_>
I just can't help myself I cannot dislike him also I have to add that  it may have beenbecause of Hiradai's excellent performance I mean he's sweet and then suddenly huehue r18 dialogue.
So yeah for the love of Amadeus  Hiradai would it kill you to not voice a yandere or creepy
characters? its a miracle I could even stand Zain in the end, but honestly Zain's yandere
tendencies might have beenthere from the start it just that Dimento gave him that push. >_>
I'm not talking anymore about the plot in this route because that was just WTF BBQ!
AKA not much made sense, Zain's cute and all but it still won't save the plot here.
Romance ★★★☆☆
Plot ★☆☆☆☆
 Enjoyment overall ★★★☆☆
~
Libera
CV: Hanae Natsuki.

 We can't have an MMO themed otome game without a guy playing as a girl character can we?
He's a mischievious little devil mage and wouldn't hesitate to trick people with her err I mean his looks.
Its better to do Libera's route before Shiki whom you have to do last, so you have no choice but to do him at the end.
Libera's route branched from Hiroya's but like Zain/Ladius it happened quite early.

 Also there was a stupid scene early where Libera and Kazuha went shopping and Kazuha had to
change her clothes in a changeroom, I was like why? isn't it just click on a menu and change instantly?
Well whatever, I don't care the scene was hilarious because Libera still lied about his gender.

Turns out he is sick IRL, he loves games and he plays Arcadia because he can do anything in here.
Turns out the mystery NPC(no not Zain) who helps Kazuha all the time is called Natsu
whom is Libera's brother, Libera is pretty angry with him over something.
Anyway Libera route is good, he has his reasons,  the romance between him and Kazuha is there.
At times Libera doesn't show it but he does care for her.
He has trouble admitting his feelings but it is obvious he likes her.
 Also Ishida Akira needs to stop voicing these depressing characters... sigh I can't handle it. T_T

Libera I feel you the truth about what happened to  your brother is so sad.

In the end Libera finally learns whats important to him,  to try live and try and do his best.
All thanks to Kazuha and ofcourse Natsu. *Cries*
Still the usual shit happens with Shiki but like in Hiroya's this route its a bit different from others.
 Sadly Libera gets the short end of the stick as he doesn't get a kiss cg in his best end
even though they do kiss, still Libera looks like a real ikeman in the cg, such a shame.
Anyway I liked it, this route wasn't bad at all!the plot was okay glad I saved this route for later.

 In his merry bad end, shit happens and well Kazuha remakes the server just for him.
Libera is happy because both Kazuha and Natsu are there, but its not real...
 Libera even comments that the bad end is like a dream and that its a bit scary.
Libera gets his kiss CG in the bad end... I guess I kind of prefer the bad end but let me say it again
STOP THIS NONSENSE IT IS NOT REAL. sigh Libera's route was good, his bad end
wasn't that terrible but yeah you know I have\mixed feels about it since its not real just a fantasy.
-
In the end Libera finally learns whats important to him,  to try live and try and do his best.
All thanks to Kazuha and ofcourse Natsu. *Cries because tragic Isida Akira character*
Still the usual shit happens with Shiki but like in Hiroya's this route its a bit different from others.
 Sadly Libera gets the short end of the stick as he doesn't get a kiss cg in his best end even though they do kiss the actual one is in the bad end, still Libera looks like a real ikeman in the cg, such a shame.
Anyway I sorta liked it overall, this route wasn't bad the plot was okay glad I saved this route
 for later but if I had to be super honest I can't really see him as a romantic interest.
Romance ★★★☆☆
Plot ★★★☆☆
 Enjoyment overall ★★★☆☆
~
Poyopoyo/Shiki
CV: Toriumi Kousuke.

 Oh and it is not a real spoiler that Poyopoyo is Shiki, it should be obvious from looking
at their designs at the official site and don't tell me you didn't look at it atleast once.
Their seiyuu should even give it away, sigh otomate didn't even try to hide it, lmao.
Anyway he's Kazuha's brother who's gone missing, Shiki is the mad scientist and
some kind of administrator to Arcadia also just to point it out no they're not related by blood.
He was pretty creepy in Hiroya's route and others so I didn't look forward to his route.
His route can only be done after doing everyone else so its more or less another truth route.
Just so you know his route branches from Hiroya and Libera's path.

 Anyway Shiki is yet another onii-chan who loves his sister a bit too much, he was really
creepy in this route and I wanted to vomit, I'd rather have Kazuha end up with
any other guy in this game including Dimento than watch her end up with her brother.
Honestly I don't like these characters anymore especially after Masato from Moshikami.
Okay okay Shiki isn't that bad but still, I can't stand these type of onii-chans anymore.
I don't even want to write about anything that happened in the route, Poyopoyo is cute and all
but when you realize that he's actually Shiki who's just lusting after his precious imouto
I just can't be bothered to care anymore, Shiki has no chill even if he cares a lot about Kazuha.
They used the they're not blood related excuse but yeah... that didn't save it for me.

The merry bad end was good at first, everyone got together but afterwards
 Shiki has Kazuha all to himself in the creepy way and every day seems to repeats itself
since its not real so Kazuha is basically stuck on groundhog day, lmao. *crying*

 Astram save me! this is hell! ASTRAAAAAAAAAM PLEASE MY ANGEL! SAVE ME!

Astram after all of this I declare that you are the canon husbando in this game.

 In the end Kazuha has enough of Shiki's shit and well she refuses to continue being stuck on
groundhog day and it ends right there due to a glitch. oh well whatever I don't care anymore.
IMO Kazuha can end up with any of the guys in this game but imo not with Shiki.(gomen)
Over the course of the route I could never even take Shiki serouisly, not even the plot lmao.
Shiki's best end was sweet but eh /scratches head his bad end was much more believable.
Good thing about the best ending is that even Shiki says that its kind of disgusting, but
eh at that point Kazuha is madly in love with him and is just like who cares? and says
 I love you even if you're my onii-chan and kisses him on the cheek.
I admit it was cute and Shiki ain't that bad compared to Moshikami's Masato.
~
Romance ★★☆☆☆
Plot ★★☆☆☆
 Enjoyment overall ★★☆☆☆
 ~

Route ranking based on overall enjoyment.
Astram > Zain > Ladius > Libera > Hiroya  > Shiki > Dimento.
Astram and Zain had the best routes. Shiki's route was okay despite him being a creeper lusting for his imouto.
Ladius route was ok but felt rushed and Dimento's route was way too short for me
 to believe any sort of actual romance between them so he's last on the list.
Its obvious that the main guys of this game are Hiroya and Shiki, though I don't like the latter much.
So I will have to settle for Hiroya I guess but Astram is the one and only husbando for me. :P

Favourite character:
Astram > Ladius > Zain  > Libera / Hiroya > Shiki > Dimento.
My favorite character is definitely Astram followed by Ladius and Zain.
I'm not fond of the onii-chan trope so thats why he's second to last on my list but I don't think he's that bad.

~Final Thoughs~

 I dunno what I should've expected because my expectations were already low, honestly
the story was decent at best, I found some of the characters like Astram, Ladius or Zain reasons
they be playing the game to be more interesting than the actual plot which wasn't that bad, in the end I liked Astram and Zain's route the most with Ladius having the best backstory next to Libera.

This otomege tried to emulate the MMORPG system and did quite well in doing so, its not annoying
at all but its kind of just there I wouldn't mind more fun side chapters with it in some routes to add
a bit more volume to this game but then again it would only delay things and to be honest
the game was already mind numbingly boring in the beginning so it wouldn't have mattered.
Its nice they explain every mmo term but as someone that plays MMO's its also an insult.

Kuroyuki's art is gorgeous the music is charming, some CG's do look a bit derp though.

The game is too short for my tastes, the plot and romance with most characters all happened so fast!
The guys are all interested in the heroine Kazuha cuz of her powers despite being a nub
they all fall for her so quickly so it becomes funny not to mention she has no idea what she wants
she's in arcadia looking for her brother yet then she is seperated from her childhood friend she sort of wants to reunite but this awesome highlvl player character she ran into is the only thing on her
mind now so that when Hiroya comes back in the: I was worried about you! doesn't feel genuine.
when some new guy gives her doki's all while she is searching for her brother mind you!
~
Its a really short otome game I fully completed this game within four days, can you see why
 I am a bit disappointed? it doesn't hold up well to other otome I played either. I had
a lot of free time at the moment but I guess if you haven't it might take a week or two.
I liked Kenka Bancho Otome more even tho it was short as well? atleast that had a fun common route
and the story there was set over the period of a year but in Period Cube it all happens quite fast.

Hmmm I know one thing and that is that I don't necessarily dislike short games just that

if your visual novel is short make the romance or plot more believable, don't rush things.

In Period cube some things just happened so fast I was like WHAT?! b4 you know it you hear sweet whispers of love and every guy followed a specific trope never amazing me except maybe Astram.
Though I can understand that if a game is too long its troublesome too,  what is the right balance?

I guess it all depends on the overall writing and pacing which is not too good in this game.
 
 I love bishies,seiyuu and pretty art but for me story/comedy and pacing is important as well!
 Not only is period cube ripping off of SAO it also goes into the direction of star ocean lol.
It felt like Otomate is just looking at popular themes like Angel Beats(Bad apple wars), SAO(Pcube)
and gundam(Tierblade) to just decide to make and otome game with same-ish themes.
I wish they stopped giving us so many routes too, 6/7 is nice but i'd rather have quality than
quantity Dimento's route was so unnecessary as is if only they actually bothered but they didn't.
I also noticed the prices of their games increased which in comparison to the quality
or content of it I get that they're trying to please the fans they've amassed and try different things

but otomate please the difference in quality of your games is suffering because of making so much.
So simmer down otomate and put more effort into everything you release.
Just saying this again but I don't mind short games but execution is key, just having the heroine fall in love (and be loved) in such a short period of time for little reason is bad(lol dimento)
don't get me started about the plot holes because this game is full of it.
I doubt it took place over the course of a longer period since the game makes it clear it doesn't.
In my opinion only Astram, Zain, Ladius and *sigh* Poyopoyo route did it right also I am willing
to make an exception for Hiroya since he's the childhood friend since they already know each other
but for the rest of the characters the romance feels rushed to me, especially Dimento
whom was probably shoved in last minute, I just never saw the point.
Its terribad Dimento's route branches off Astram's so its even shorter than all the others....
Dimento's route was so rushed its not even funny I finished it in a little over an hour like
optionally its nice they tried and he can be moe but there is little substance.
As for the heroine Kazuha she was generic, typical but in some of the bad ends she's cool

especially in Hiroya and Libera's bad ends, I didn't like the other bad ends that much.
The bad part about Kazuha is obviously that she needs to get her priorities straight as she
would often forget what happened to her dear childhood friend she was seperated from
not only a few minutes of running into some other guy and then has the guts to say sth like:
Oh Hiroya I was looking for you! which made me roll my eyes in some routes especially
Ladius and Zain because she totally enjoyed the peaceful times with the latter.
Also I didn't like how she was such a noob at mmo's but atleast she did try at the mmo part
so she gets the OK from me! but even then having everyone falling for her so easily
makes my eyes roll like she tries to get the hang of it and she's never played games before
which can be seen as cute then again i've said it before the short nature of the game
doesn't make most of the romance believable.

So yeah...
Period cube is hella shallow but eh whatever western folks will probably
appreciate anything that'll come over, TBH collar x malice is more worth your money, than
a one off thing with little substance and/or impact you'd finish in a week or less.
I barely had expectations yet I was unable to be satisfied.  the only thing that saves it
is the characters and themes, I guess the writing in general wasn't that annoying to me
but its all over the place never going out of the boundaries of trope.
I mean I don't play many MMORPG's but I enjoyed the theme of the game and stuff.
After Ladius route I started to not care about the actual story and just focus on the characters
since the characters are better than the overall story and that is sad, like I don't have an onii-chan
fetish so that last route was wasteful to me not to mention these type are creeps
atleast he himself admitted it which sort of saved him for me?
Period cube is not the best otome game ever but it was atleast amusing.
I would have preferred if they made an otome like Netoge, not SAO or .hack
 but it can't be helped otomate tried but I didn't really like it overall.

6.5/10
TL;DR
''Despite not having any expectations, this game ended up being too short for me to fully appreciate it
the best thing about this game was obviously the theme/setting and its characters.
I loved most of the characters especially Astram, Shiki ain't so bad compared to say Masato.

The art was pretty, the music was charming but everything else needed more work.
As for the story in general, the twists are okay and good thing is they can surprise you.
But don't think about the plot too hard, please do not... you'll spot the holes for sure.

Good thing is I can praise this game for its characters, oh well if you need a short otome game that
doesn't beat around the bush and like MMO stuff Period Cube may just be right for you
 but don't expect more than that, really don't its quite simple at what it does.
The characters are great and all, the story is kind of acceptable but the lack of volume is not.
Anyway if you're into the onii-chan trope you'll be sure to enjoy it even more, I wasn't
but still found some of the other routes to be enjoyable and thats a good point.''
I tried to not be too negative, feel free to pick it up in ENG and give it a shot just don't expect much.

Characters ★★★★☆
Art  ★★★☆☆(Some CG's...)
Scenario/plot. ★★☆☆☆(Could be better but what would you even expect?)
Music★★★★☆ (Charming...)
System  ★★★★☆ (Comfy...)
Enjoyment overall ★★☆☆☆