Utawarerumono Futari no Hakuoro - Review

Game: [Utawarerumono Futari no Hakuoro]

Genre: Visual Novel, Strategy RPG.
Developer/Publisher: Aquaplus

Platform: PS3, PS4,PS Vita.

Official Site:
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v18717

Release date: 2016-09-21

This game is a direct sequel to utawarerumono itsuwari no kamen which in turn is

a sequel to the first utawarerumono game and playing the third game without
atleast playing itsuwari is a bad idea, like they do a small recap
in the beginning  to refresh our memory it doesn't cover everything they expect
you to know the ropes. I know not everyone has the time

but atleast play itsuwari before this just trust me its worth it that much
to know who everyone is and the state of the world, I don't want to be rude
but atleast understand this much, thank you!

Pro's

- Interesting story & world.
- Art/Bgm.
- Characters, especially the main party.
- Munechika's trials are informative.
- Not enough story battles? there's mock battle! have fun if no mood to read.

Con's

- Annoying villains. 

- Slow start, can get draggy; TL;DR etc.
-

There is honestly not much to say about it without going into spoilers and such
so i'll write a little before making the obligatory more after the jump.

If you want to get into this series I recommend starting with the anime of the first game

then play itsuwari no kamen other than that I love this series very much
and want other people to enjoy it from the beginning because its more rewarding.

No time to play/read the original? don't worry!
The original anime adaptation of the first game is fine but itsuwari's adaptation is a
mess of fanservice which strays from its source material and skips out on more content
than its prequel adaptation though I have to add that after you have played itsuwari no kamen

the anime may be a nice extra but its not a replacement. 
By the end of this game you will feel rewarded for finishing it all the way. 

Since the Utaware duology is being localized the best way(IMO) to enjoy the series is:
Utawarerumono anime + OVA's > Mask of Deception> Futari no Hakuoro(Mask of Truth)

Oumagatoki ~Kakuriyo no Enishi~ - Review

 逢魔が刻 ~かくりよの縁~
Game: Oumagatoki ~Kakuriyo no Snoozefest~.

Genre: Otome game Visual Novel. 

Developer/Publisher: Extend.

Platform: PS Vita.

Official Site: http://joqrextend.co.jp/extend/oumagatoki/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v19140

Release date: 2016-08-25.

Otome game from a new developer, I was skeptic but tried it out anyway.

For playorder I used one an amazonJP reviewer recommended
and I recommend you to do the same, as Tokiwa's route is spoilerific and
doing him first would ruin the enjoyment in the long run.

Playorder:
Souta > Yoimiya > Hayate > Tsukishiro > Tokiwa > True end

Oh and I love the OP movie, Hosoyan singing is beautiful, I can't bring me to skip it ever.

Pro's
 - Interesting setting and characters.
- Insanely pretty art.
- Charming BGM.

Con's
- Heroine.
- pacing.
- Can get boring at times/TL;DR etc.
- Not every route is worth sitting through.

The first play is by far the longest due to common route also there are many choices.
Give or take 10 hours? 2nd+ play its cut down to about 6-7.
It's great they took their time introducing everyone and the setting
 but sadly the way they executed it made it so boring and only dragged it out
which reminds me of older games for example those of Quinrose.
I don't have a problem with long games in fact i'd take them over the short ones
but I can't help but critize the execution in this game because some parts were just boring to sit through especially the common stuff, it contributed nothing to the characters at all
all it was was some ghostbusting beavers or wtf those things were, oh well it could've been worse.

The heroine is very average though and I had trouble understanding her at times.
Sadly the guys don't say her default name, disappointing after all the other
otome games I've recently played which had this feature.

 Since it was so long they atleast knew each other longer I guess but pacing is another matter
and well if the romance was any good honestly depended on the route.

The system? you can't save when a choice is present so have to do it before or after.
Also the controls are different, used to ''camp menus''? this doesn't have it.
Press square and hold left dpad to save, right dpad to load and down dpad to skip.
Lotus system is okay I guess don't have problem with it also nice of them to use the vita touch screen for it.
Anyway I am thankful for the skip to the next choice feature especially so
because it such a really long game so it definitely needed that and another good point it doesn't skip
passed unread text! I wish more games had this feature and rejet sure could learn from extend for this alone.

One minus point is the screen dimming during auto mode, ah otomate how you've spoiled me!

Overall despite some of the boring parts of the story and pacing issues atleast two of the romanceable
characters were worth pursuing for me, those being Hayate and Tokiwa, the rest just weren't worth it.
All of them were combat capable but for the most part the writing didn't execute it well...
Good thing is no matter the character the confession scenes were oh so sweet.
In the end this game kind of reminds me of Quinrose games
 that suffered from stretched out scenes, TL;DR and way too many romanceable guys, lol.
Did I like this game? sure but its not without flaws, I'm just glad atleast two routes were worth doing.
Sadly I couldn't even begin to care about Souta and Yoimiya, it felt like they
just gave us them as options when they had no idea how to properly fit them into the story.
Atleast Tsukishiro made sense but then again his voice plus dull route just put me to sleep. -_-
Hayate was an adorable cinnamon roll and Tokiwa? he's just a tsundere dork, these
two along with the pretty art made Oumagatoki worth a purchase to me but
I am going to think twice before purchasing an Extend game again this was just average at best.
5.5/10

More ramblings and possible spoilers after the jump.

Collar x Malice - Review

 Game: [Collar x Malice].

Genre: Otome game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Otomate

Platform: PS Vita.

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

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v18160

Release date: 2016-08-18.

 With Otomate being hit and miss ofcourse I had doubts about this otome game.
I had to choose between this game or 7'scarlet and I can't say it was an easy decision
since both games are mystery themed so it had to be one or the other, for better or for worse
 I decided to pick up Collar x Malice! since at times you just have to choose one or the other.
Anyway you may have guessed it but CxM focusses more on story than romance.

This IMO is good but for those expecting more romance, may be disappointed.

The team.

If you want a play order this one should be ideal:

Mineo > Kei > Takeru / Shiraishi > Aiji.

Please note that Shiraishi's route is locked till 2nd play, Aiji doesn't unlock till you've done everyone.
Mineo's route is very light on plot content so I recommend him first and Kei 2nd.
Takeru's route is pretty well balanced so he's perfect to do before the final two routes
though i you do Shiraishi before him or not shouldn't matter.

I have to add that after I did Takeru I was even more motivated to do the rest!

 Pro's
- Story.
- Characters.
- Art and bgm.
- Individual route is self-contained.

Con's
 - Many Bad Ends.
- Long routes, honestly this is both bad and good.
- Those expecting more romance may be disappointed.
- Not light-hearted in the slightest, can get pretty dark.

Hands where I can see them! :P

This game was fairly decent in length and actually managed to draw me in
because it was very suspenseful at times but in other areas like romance it was a little lacking.
 Though there were still enough cute bits because it is an otome game afterall.

The first route alone took me around 10 hours (give or take), I'd rather have a VN takes it time
 than rush itself, the story was really good so I can't even complain even if lack of romance.
Also I think Collar x Malice would have benefit from a voiced heroine! but sadly this isn't the case.
The heroine was really likeable atleast, also her brother didn't really care that much for her
which was nice considering how many games follow the onii-chan trope.
Kazuki is still a tsundere siscon even if he barely shows it at first. :P
Sadly Ichika doesn't know how to handle technology well.. which considering the setting is weird.

Also I am disappointed this game had no ending list, like I fully completed the game cg and all
but I was at a loss to see what bad ending I missed  and there are a lot.
Like come on otomate, when a game really needed one you go and pull this crap?!
Even Reine des fleurs has one... so why not Collar x Malice?
This is probably the only thing I am discontent about like seriously but oh well it can't be helped.

If you need a guide I recommend this one:
 http://dsadv.blog66.fc2.com/blog-entry-1133.html

Shhhh...

More ramblings and minor spoilers/CG's after the jump.
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Moujuu-tachi to Ohime-sama - Review

猛獣たちとお姫様
 Game: [Beast and Princess].

Genre: Otome game Visual Novel. 

Developer/Publisher: Otomate

Platform: PS Vita.

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

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v18833

Release date: 2016-08-25.

I got this game because I liked Beastmaster and Prince and because I like fantasy setting(I love those)
Despite amazonJP reviews being picky, this game didn't end up that bad
but its still a disappointment since its partially wasted potential.
First of the synopsis spoils so much... hench why I am not putting that here
which makes it even less stuff for you to find out not to mention the boys
already love the sheltered princess that took care of them in animal form when no one did.

My play order was:Ludwik > Mias > Jozef  > Ryszard > Henryk > Czarodziej.
I recommend to save Czarodziej for last because there is a huge spoiler in his route
that ties the two games together the order of the first three routes shouldn't matter, after those do
Ryszard, then Henryk and finally Czarodziej because the last three ended up being the most enjoyable atleast for me.

Pro's
- Setting.

- Characters.

- Art/bgm/seiyuu.

-Mofumofu.

Con's
- Julia is a weaker heroine compared to Tiana.
- The guys all love Julia from the start but don't fully admit this.
- Disappointing story.

- Semi-long common route, shorter individual route but short overall.
- No Ignacy route.

I know I complained about lack of volume in period cube but this probably takes the cake!
 Otomate just can't get it right... (;´д｀)

The common route is decent in length but individual is short, first play was around 7~8 hours
maybe I took longer because I slogged through the more boring parts yeah it just wasn't interesting.
Almost half of it was common route so.... fasten your seat belts next round!
Route should be around 4-5 hours give or take how fast you read.

The route may be short though I know that it all depends on execution of the story

 but still I'd had hoped it'd be a bit more meatier/taken itself more serious.

Story? it certainly had some interesting bits but eh it was rather weak.
While it was interesting to me it just felt like it lacked something or to put it differently
this game just feels like it could've been so much more but it wasn't.
It literally goes like this, escape tower... run through forests to another country
and chillax there untill boom the witch shows up as last boss and then its the end.
They knew folks was coming yet act surprised and do nothing to prepare...
there's variations of who, how and why but thats the general gist of it.
The big issue is the animal boys that are with Julia from the beginning! they all love her
 because she's the only one thats nice to them and they all had some shitty past
this makes romance feel unnatural because they already love her so much.
 One way or the other Beast and Princess just didn't quite live up to Beastmaster and Prince.
 The heroine didn't stand out and in comparison to Tiana, Julia doesn't compare at all which is sad
but its not unnatural for sequels to be worse than their predeccesor but don't just put out shovelware.

It still had some repeat content like defeating the witch in like every other route or so
but it wasn't as annoying like that fangirl mob/cursed stuff at moujuutsukai to ouji-sama
maybe its because they had a different team working on this, ah it all makes sense now.

At the very least once again the characters were enjoyable... especially Jozef, Henryk and Magician!
Maybe i'm biased but sakupyon sure voices a lot of great characters! 
Sadly the characters aren't well developed at all, nor was the story exciting
but I appreciate the fairy tale like theme.

Anyway I still think the guys are all great in their own way, some just stood out more to me than
others did so I guess it wasn't so bad at all and every route was fairly self-contained to their own problem and past.
Also the game is too easy one could get the best end without a guide just perfect mofumofu
and pick choice that raise affection, don't do that and you'll get a bad end.

If a sequel does come out for this i'd probably buy it though... JUST BECAUSE
I like Hendryk and Wizard but I doubt they'd give Ignacy a route
as much as I love him he doesn't really have chemistry with Julia.
Then again I am doubtful they can work miracles and make it worthwhile if they did that.
I can't say no to petting cute animal boys! which is part of the reason I got this
and I like it enough to be willing to spend on a fandisc... yeah curse at me all  you want
but when I like the characters and want to spend more time with them I will support something
even if the original work left to be desired, also doM sakupyon doM SAKUPYON.😆

Still I think the main reason for Moujuutachi to ohime-sama's existance
 is to appeal to beastmaster and prince's fanbase... they didn't try all too hard though
they only focused on the art and the seiyuu's but the story? lol nope.
That definitely needed more work overall, the link to the original game was nice
but there is no doubt about it that this is a mediocre spiritual successor.
Now I am still going to say something very harsh but pretty art, seiyuu, likeable characters
 and petting minigames won't save a game and certainly not this one.

More ramblings and possible spoilers after the jump. 

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