 |
| Donte be like; being in the same room as these guys gives me a headache. |
Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: PSV.
Official Site: http://www.otomate.jp/piofiore/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v21782
Release date: 2018-08-30
This was probably my most anticipated new otome game in a while
and to be honest barely anything that has released recently caught my eye.
The theme of mafia has been touched upon in arcana famiglia and even ozmafia
still the way this was presented got me excited and back into the otome mood
but whether or not this was a good otome is up to the reader/player but imo? its not bad
and I do not regret getting the limited edition.
Pro's
- Immersive scenario that isn't wasted and good cast of characters.
- Amazing art and music fits the setting/mood.
Con's
- While Meanwhile events are insightful it'll get on your nerves sooner rather than later.
- It can get a bit brutal like fights/deaths etc... not otome in the slightest.
- You will find a reason to dislike every main character in this game.
The only thing that got me worried was if the protag would be able
to hold herself in such a setting like this... she was raised in a church
and looks like the pure ''I know nothing about what's going on type'' needing to be protected
but she actually has a bit of a mind of her own and isn't some dumb blonde except in Yang's route.
The story takes place in this italian city Burlone and three mafia familia's struggle to get
control over it there's no justice because its a bloody mess due to all the fighting! there's some
folks who have enough of their crap too and want this BS to end.
One day Liliane meets Dante by the graveyard at the church she lives
he seems to be mourning someone and it all rolls from there.
The game also has this ''meanwhile'' system where you can see what is happening elsewhere
this is nice considering all the different familia but can also be annoying if not used right.
I don't have any complaints about the music, it fits the setting and mood
and the art is gorgeous! RIRI did an amazing job!
So about that MEANWHILE SYSTEM... let me just say that while nice it also sorta sucks.
You can easily miss these events that happen at the same time to the point one can say
why didn't you just implement them into the story without having to go out of your way
to view them every time meanwhile shows up on the screen?!
I ended up missing many of them during dante's route which btw wasn't that exciting
to begin with but i figure different POV's would make it more interesting
but they were mostly just insightful things like what is that character up to.
The only route the MS system affected an ending was Orlok's... but its best
to pay attention and catch them all as you go which means less hassle later on.
They do not affect the platinum trophy I missed a bunch of them and still got it though...
I think some of them might affect the ending like one in Orlok's route but the most
important ones happen automatically which makes me go like why not do that with all of them.
Overall without going into spoiler/plot details of course...
I did liked how the routes actually have a Best/Good/Bad branch and choices actually change
the scenario quite a bit... leading to an entirely different ending you never know what
is going to happen which considering the setting is really good.
Prologue/common is also nicely done you will branch out to a new route in different ways
so basically the choices actually make a difference and without a guide it could be difficult.
Not everyone is going to like this game; fans of arcana famiglia expecting an awesome
MC like Felicita? nope you aren't going to find it here.
Fans of Ozmafia might be disappointed too since Piofiore is much more serious with little fluff.
So what do you have to expect? Serious story centered on mafia problems
with a girl with a kind heart at the center of it, she isn't a complete doormat so that imo is a plus
of course there's romance and memorable otome moments but not much
which going by say Donte's route is just enough feels more like a normal VN would be better.
This game also has a ton of suspense, in some route its better than other and
certain choices can lead to dead ends so be careful with what you pick.
IMO Piofiore is just right, if you can stand the mafia problems atleast!
the writers do not hold back to how serious they can be and while I have some
gripes with how this isn't all otome-like as in only one route ever getting close to it
I still hope it gets a FD one day but what exactly is an otome game?
there are many different types and yet this is very much one of them its just more serious.
I still think this is a solid otome game compared to other disasters I have recently sat through
*cough*Chouchou Jiken*cough* this game is a lot better suspense wise than that one ever was.
This was probably my most anticipated new otome game in a while
and to be honest barely anything that has released recently caught my eye.
The theme of mafia has been touched upon in arcana famiglia and even ozmafia
still the way this was presented got me excited and back into the otome mood
but whether or not this was a good otome is up to the reader/player but imo? its not bad
and I do not regret getting the limited edition.
Pro's
- Immersive scenario that isn't wasted and good cast of characters.
- Amazing art and music fits the setting/mood.
Con's
- While Meanwhile events are insightful it'll get on your nerves sooner rather than later.
- It can get a bit brutal like fights/deaths etc... not otome in the slightest.
- You will find a reason to dislike every main character in this game.
The only thing that got me worried was if the protag would be able
to hold herself in such a setting like this... she was raised in a church
and looks like the pure ''I know nothing about what's going on type'' needing to be protected
but she actually has a bit of a mind of her own and isn't some dumb blonde except in Yang's route.
The story takes place in this italian city Burlone and three mafia familia's struggle to get
control over it there's no justice because its a bloody mess due to all the fighting! there's some
folks who have enough of their crap too and want this BS to end.
One day Liliane meets Dante by the graveyard at the church she lives
he seems to be mourning someone and it all rolls from there.
The game also has this ''meanwhile'' system where you can see what is happening elsewhere
this is nice considering all the different familia but can also be annoying if not used right.
I don't have any complaints about the music, it fits the setting and mood
and the art is gorgeous! RIRI did an amazing job!
So about that MEANWHILE SYSTEM... let me just say that while nice it also sorta sucks.
You can easily miss these events that happen at the same time to the point one can say
why didn't you just implement them into the story without having to go out of your way
to view them every time meanwhile shows up on the screen?!
I ended up missing many of them during dante's route which btw wasn't that exciting
to begin with but i figure different POV's would make it more interesting
but they were mostly just insightful things like what is that character up to.
The only route the MS system affected an ending was Orlok's... but its best
to pay attention and catch them all as you go which means less hassle later on.
They do not affect the platinum trophy I missed a bunch of them and still got it though...
I think some of them might affect the ending like one in Orlok's route but the most
important ones happen automatically which makes me go like why not do that with all of them.
Overall without going into spoiler/plot details of course...
I did liked how the routes actually have a Best/Good/Bad branch and choices actually change
the scenario quite a bit... leading to an entirely different ending you never know what
is going to happen which considering the setting is really good.
Prologue/common is also nicely done you will branch out to a new route in different ways
so basically the choices actually make a difference and without a guide it could be difficult.
Not everyone is going to like this game; fans of arcana famiglia expecting an awesome
MC like Felicita? nope you aren't going to find it here.
Fans of Ozmafia might be disappointed too since Piofiore is much more serious with little fluff.
So what do you have to expect? Serious story centered on mafia problems
with a girl with a kind heart at the center of it, she isn't a complete doormat so that imo is a plus
of course there's romance and memorable otome moments but not much
which going by say Donte's route is just enough feels more like a normal VN would be better.
This game also has a ton of suspense, in some route its better than other and
certain choices can lead to dead ends so be careful with what you pick.
IMO Piofiore is just right, if you can stand the mafia problems atleast!
the writers do not hold back to how serious they can be and while I have some
gripes with how this isn't all otome-like as in only one route ever getting close to it
I still hope it gets a FD one day but what exactly is an otome game?
there are many different types and yet this is very much one of them its just more serious.
I still think this is a solid otome game compared to other disasters I have recently sat through
*cough*Chouchou Jiken*cough* this game is a lot better suspense wise than that one ever was.
I can definitely recommend this otome game if you want a serious story centered on the mafia
and don't mind things ending up in a bloody mess, while I have gripes here and there
its imo as good as Collar x Malice or Code:Realize since the otome bits might leave to be desired.
Side note, I love how the chapter titles for each character are in different languages.
Dante's are in spanish, Nicola's in Italian, Yang's in chinese, Orlok is in german,
Gilbert is English and the finale was in french lol.
If they ever localize I hope they keep this haha.
If I have to recommend a play order the one I followed didn't cause problems
and flowed naturally so I will recommend it to others:
Dante > Nicola > Yang > Orlok > Gilbert > ???.
and that is all if you want no spoilers! more ramblings after the jump.
For play order I decided to trust my instict... which is honestly pretty bad
if shiro to kuro no alice was anything to go byπ both Yang and Orlok routes
unlock by doing either Dante or Nicola and Gilbert's unlocks after doing everyone else?
Either way Dante was a safe bet, mafia dramatique aside he's such a cutie pie! π
Just skip to the end of the post for my honest last thoughts to avoid potential spoilers, Yang's section
has the most CG's to counter the wall of text that was my rage of disapproval.
I didn't write as much for Donte/Gilbert or Nicola unfortunately...
Dante Falzone.
CV: Ishikawa Kaito.
Cold yet cool looking man from the Falzone familia.
I'm literally swooning over him here... he's so cool!!! it was a coincidence
that he saved Lily that night but there's this sense of trust and dependance I get from him.
Overall i've found Donte's route to be perfect on first play, there's tons of hints dropped
and he's not totally unlikable, he shows he cares about Lily and she to him
so the relationship flowed pretty natural, there's actually a scene where Lily corners him
which was shocking to see, won't say how or why it happened but it was definitely a highlight
but everything else wasn't worth writing home about, pretty boring but I guess it leaves
room for you to find out things in other routes. While I like his character and all
nothing else really made me go wow which is actually kind of sad but considering
he is a poster boy this shouldn't be a surprise, I feel like otomate hasn't put
effort into their poster boys for a while, like not many stood out to me atleast this time
I can say I liked Dante and the epilogue scene (both ends) was super sweet.
Plot wise it was a boring route to write about Lily apparently has this mark on her chest
and that means she is this Key Maiden the Falzone mafia are apparently tasked with
her safety and has to end up with them or it loses its effect? lol wut, Nicola the resident traitor
and ends up kidnapping Lily to Visconti aka Gilbert's place.
Yang let's Ran loose causing havock in the city. Emilio clears up the whole Key Maiden BS
and Donte and Yang have a final showdown but eh overall its TMI.
I liked how choices change things so drastically for the good/best ends which was nice to see unfold.
I think the reason why it was so boring is because Lily is constantly being protected
and then you can't even really trust anyone but Dante because Nicola's a filthy backstabber
in the bad ends which unsurprisingly left a bad taste in my mouth it doesn't matter
if he was some double agent, what he did earlier I didn't forget either. -_-
If you need to start somewhere then Dante is the safest bet...
unfortunately even Donte can be a bit of a jerk in other routes.
Romance ★★★★☆
Plot ★★★☆☆
Overall ★★★☆☆
~
Well then if you want to walk on eggshells...
Nicola Fransesca.
CV: Kimura Ryohei.
I knew he was trouble from Donte's route/bad end so I did him next as if to get him out of the way.
Mr you probably shouldn't trust me so easily? he's part of the falzone familia
and has a huge boner for Donte as in everything I do is for him.
Nicola is always out there doing something in other routes and you don't know what
but its prolly no good and you know what its true.π
He seems nice but is in fact a back stabbing traitor -oh not really i'm actually a double agent teehee~
who if ordered, wouldn't hesitate to kidnap or kill Lily both of which we actually saw happen in Donte's route.
KimuRyo chara's these days... I mean why are most like this recently?! *remembers Minette*
Honestly though Minette? he was tame compared to this guy.
Route started out nicely and any person would put fate in someone such as Nicola
if it happened to them and the bonding was done nicely but... yeah even though
Nicola is like a bro to Donte, he isn't afraid to get his own hands dirty to get to his goals
but then he met Lily, he sort of got attached and fell for her.
Gonna be honest, I personally don't like him but he's not completely unlikeable
I especially like how the route no game in general isn't all about smoochy/trashy romance
with the mafia guys, it does a damn good job at showing us what mafia really is
and well things get bloody at times, characters will kill in cold blood.
Like Nicola did a lot of shit that could raise eyebrows, Lily is too forgiving
but I think this is more a japanese thing in general so whatever.
Nicola even says Lily might hate him one day for doing the things he does
but even then Lily accepts him because she too loves him and his faults.
Overall I thought this route was better in terms of plot than Donte's
and it took a different approach too so one can't say they were bored completely.
The BS with Robert was something else though... not sure why anyone would
want a route with him but whatever ya'll can have that one bad end.
Now I personally do not have an issue with Nicola's best/good ends but oh boy
did that bad end leave such a bad taste in my mouth, you write out Dante
and Nicola gets like man... if I lost you too I can't live anymore in a possessive way
now I am certain this is right up to certain peoples alley but I am like no thanks lol.
The game over ends do not make it better, ONE wrong move ONE and he'll kill her...
one of these are early on before he gets attached but still... this guy does what needs to be done
or even lets his henchmen do it in the other or whatever ugh this guy is nasty.
Nicola is a complex character, you are either going to love or hate him, not both.
I am trying to be a Nicola apologist and considering who's up next Nicola's an angel
JUST KIDDING he's not an angel considering the BS he pulls in other routes.
Romance ★★★☆☆
Plot ★★★★☆
Overall ★★☆☆☆
~
If you like to live even more dangerously... I present to you ...badumptish!
Yang.
CV: Okamoto Nobuhiko.
Yang is one of the top bancho of Lao-Xu's, the chinese mafia.
With the way his route starts I find it pretty much the worst yet
or better put Yang's route starts of pretty rough BUT it does get better and one must
be pretty blind to not see that. Simply put the mafia isn't all sunshine and rainbows, things
like what happen to Elena and Lily are quite common and this route was a real wake up call to me.
Well enjoy my rage of disgust that was chapter 1/2 one might enjoy this route more if you like smut.
So like some dudes of the chinese mafia kidnap Lily and Elena, when Lily tries to get away
she runs into Yang on the roof, who spots her despite her being hiding. Yang just like kisses her and
goes all hmm why do you resist, do you not like me? when Lily slapped him.
Well i'm sorry my dude but DO I KNOW YOU?! abruptly kissing someone like that
out of the blue isn't a good idea, if it happened to me (ikemen or not) i'd be like GET OFF ME.
I like how he was all like huh? this is different well uh start treating women as people
and not objects for desire you little shit. π‘π‘π‘
So well as you can see this was off to a great start... NOT also it gets worse
human traffic? check, drugging? check, sexual assault? check.
Since Lily is such a precious guest she is allowed to sleep in his room (more like has to).
What are boundaries? clearly they are being broken but uh I guess its ok since we basically
just got a hot dude that wants you when we didn't even know, now be my woman. *eyeroll*
Yang is literally forcing her to become his woman err play thing... I am not kidding lol.
AT THE VERY LEAST Lily kept her head high which made most of the route bearable.
Yang is basically a desperate fuckboi who wants a girl to call his own and have his way with.
Either way... maybe you'll like it if you like randy dandy sexy times but uh other routes
had that as well but much later on and not as forceful like what happened here.
He even went as far and go but you chose this, well Lily wasn't even given much of a choice
she was taken here by force! its worse because him being so forceful is harassment.
Nothing happened that night THANK GOD because he got tired of the little kitty denynya'ing him.
Yang is even FEEDING Lily the next morning, look I get woman are queens
but don't try so hard to get her tofuck-err love you my dude! I'm just glad Lily doesn't put up with
most of his BS and is only going along to stay alive, like we all would if in the same situation
but uhm Elena wasn't so lucky as Lily and pretty much got an abusive piece of shit called Lee.
I kid you not all of the above happened within the first two chapters.
This route is just so disgusting like Lily's best friend Elena got the ozmafia brothel experience...
Elena is stuck with this guy named Lee whom she is supposedly in love with but Lee is no nice guy.
Lee apparently saved her from being shipped to chinaland because she caught his eye, Lee
then drugged Elena and pretty much did god knows what else, the twins Ran and Fay
who have become Lily's friends say Elena is broken and will do anything for her abuser.
I do find the themes interesting but Yang's personality doesn't help as shown in
Donte's route he's pretty crazy and brutal... Yang's this moody person who lives
in the moment and not caring about peoples feelings while doing what he wants etc.
Yang does get sweeter later on but whether or not you can get passed his behavior in general is up to
you, yes people can change and Yang showed it but uh then the bad end happened and it ruined
all trust I had in him. Atleast he helped Lily with wanting to free Elena from her abuser...
and they succeeded but Elena is pretty much scarred for life and had nightmares. Later
Nicola comes in and tries to screw things up and more mafia bullshit happens.
While I found the romance with Yang to be ''no thanks'' at first they did a good job at
trying to make us see him in a new light and then ruin it all, lol.
In the end Yang is a immature manchild who didn't exactly grow up yet and in general
does whatever the fuck he wants, giving no shit about peoples feelings to get what he wants.
YES he can be nice (if he feels like it) he saved Fay and Ran, helped Lily get her friend out
but still I do not get why Lily ever felt the need to stay with him after the thing with Elena
even tho he let her go too but uh she fell hard for Yang during her capture at Lao-Xu. ¯\_(γ)_/¯
If I had to be honest the romance MIGHT BE fine in the best end, staying with Yang at LaoXu
to try to get Elena out of there, Lily started to actually understand, fall for and care about him; that
sounds like stockholm syndrome to me aka staying with your captor
cuz you fell for him no matter what bad shit he did ow well whatever floats your boat.
HOWEVER the bad end destroys all that like there is no good side and he will just throw her
away if he gets bored. Yang does reflect a little bit in that end but he's just like whatever
i'm going back to chinaland now! not to mention he is a complete ass in every other route
so uh whatever saving grace there was for him I cannot see it no more.
and don't mind things ending up in a bloody mess, while I have gripes here and there
its imo as good as Collar x Malice or Code:Realize since the otome bits might leave to be desired.
Side note, I love how the chapter titles for each character are in different languages.
Dante's are in spanish, Nicola's in Italian, Yang's in chinese, Orlok is in german,
Gilbert is English and the finale was in french lol.
If they ever localize I hope they keep this haha.
If I have to recommend a play order the one I followed didn't cause problems
and flowed naturally so I will recommend it to others:
Dante > Nicola > Yang > Orlok > Gilbert > ???.
and that is all if you want no spoilers! more ramblings after the jump.
For play order I decided to trust my instict... which is honestly pretty bad
if shiro to kuro no alice was anything to go byπ both Yang and Orlok routes
unlock by doing either Dante or Nicola and Gilbert's unlocks after doing everyone else?
Either way Dante was a safe bet, mafia dramatique aside he's such a cutie pie! π
Just skip to the end of the post for my honest last thoughts to avoid potential spoilers, Yang's section
has the most CG's to counter the wall of text that was my rage of disapproval.
I didn't write as much for Donte/Gilbert or Nicola unfortunately...
Dante Falzone.
CV: Ishikawa Kaito.
 |
| U stoopid womin, its not like I wanted to rescue you or anything. |
I'm literally swooning over him here... he's so cool!!! it was a coincidence
that he saved Lily that night but there's this sense of trust and dependance I get from him.
Overall i've found Donte's route to be perfect on first play, there's tons of hints dropped
and he's not totally unlikable, he shows he cares about Lily and she to him
so the relationship flowed pretty natural, there's actually a scene where Lily corners him
which was shocking to see, won't say how or why it happened but it was definitely a highlight
but everything else wasn't worth writing home about, pretty boring but I guess it leaves
room for you to find out things in other routes. While I like his character and all
nothing else really made me go wow which is actually kind of sad but considering
he is a poster boy this shouldn't be a surprise, I feel like otomate hasn't put
effort into their poster boys for a while, like not many stood out to me atleast this time
I can say I liked Dante and the epilogue scene (both ends) was super sweet.
Plot wise it was a boring route to write about Lily apparently has this mark on her chest
and that means she is this Key Maiden the Falzone mafia are apparently tasked with
her safety and has to end up with them or it loses its effect? lol wut, Nicola the resident traitor
and ends up kidnapping Lily to Visconti aka Gilbert's place.
Yang let's Ran loose causing havock in the city. Emilio clears up the whole Key Maiden BS
and Donte and Yang have a final showdown but eh overall its TMI.
I liked how choices change things so drastically for the good/best ends which was nice to see unfold.
I think the reason why it was so boring is because Lily is constantly being protected
and then you can't even really trust anyone but Dante because Nicola's a filthy backstabber
in the bad ends which unsurprisingly left a bad taste in my mouth it doesn't matter
if he was some double agent, what he did earlier I didn't forget either. -_-
If you need to start somewhere then Dante is the safest bet...
unfortunately even Donte can be a bit of a jerk in other routes.
Plot ★★★☆☆
Overall ★★★☆☆
~
Well then if you want to walk on eggshells...
Nicola Fransesca.
CV: Kimura Ryohei.
 |
| This route is basically like this... one wrong move and its over. |
Mr you probably shouldn't trust me so easily? he's part of the falzone familia
and has a huge boner for Donte as in everything I do is for him.
Nicola is always out there doing something in other routes and you don't know what
but its prolly no good and you know what its true.π
He seems nice but is in fact a back stabbing traitor -oh not really i'm actually a double agent teehee~
who if ordered, wouldn't hesitate to kidnap or kill Lily both of which we actually saw happen in Donte's route.
KimuRyo chara's these days... I mean why are most like this recently?! *remembers Minette*
Honestly though Minette? he was tame compared to this guy.
Route started out nicely and any person would put fate in someone such as Nicola
if it happened to them and the bonding was done nicely but... yeah even though
Nicola is like a bro to Donte, he isn't afraid to get his own hands dirty to get to his goals
but then he met Lily, he sort of got attached and fell for her.
Gonna be honest, I personally don't like him but he's not completely unlikeable
I especially like how the route no game in general isn't all about smoochy/trashy romance
with the mafia guys, it does a damn good job at showing us what mafia really is
and well things get bloody at times, characters will kill in cold blood.
Like Nicola did a lot of shit that could raise eyebrows, Lily is too forgiving
but I think this is more a japanese thing in general so whatever.
Nicola even says Lily might hate him one day for doing the things he does
but even then Lily accepts him because she too loves him and his faults.
Overall I thought this route was better in terms of plot than Donte's
and it took a different approach too so one can't say they were bored completely.
The BS with Robert was something else though... not sure why anyone would
want a route with him but whatever ya'll can have that one bad end.
Now I personally do not have an issue with Nicola's best/good ends but oh boy
did that bad end leave such a bad taste in my mouth, you write out Dante
and Nicola gets like man... if I lost you too I can't live anymore in a possessive way
now I am certain this is right up to certain peoples alley but I am like no thanks lol.
The game over ends do not make it better, ONE wrong move ONE and he'll kill her...
one of these are early on before he gets attached but still... this guy does what needs to be done
or even lets his henchmen do it in the other or whatever ugh this guy is nasty.
Nicola is a complex character, you are either going to love or hate him, not both.
I am trying to be a Nicola apologist and considering who's up next Nicola's an angel
JUST KIDDING he's not an angel considering the BS he pulls in other routes.
Plot ★★★★☆
Overall ★★☆☆☆
~
If you like to live even more dangerously... I present to you ...badumptish!
Yang.
CV: Okamoto Nobuhiko.
 |
| Yikes yikes YIKES, true definition of a psychopath. |
With the way his route starts I find it pretty much the worst yet
or better put Yang's route starts of pretty rough BUT it does get better and one must
be pretty blind to not see that. Simply put the mafia isn't all sunshine and rainbows, things
like what happen to Elena and Lily are quite common and this route was a real wake up call to me.
Well enjoy my rage of disgust that was chapter 1/2 one might enjoy this route more if you like smut.
So like some dudes of the chinese mafia kidnap Lily and Elena, when Lily tries to get away
she runs into Yang on the roof, who spots her despite her being hiding. Yang just like kisses her and
goes all hmm why do you resist, do you not like me? when Lily slapped him.
Well i'm sorry my dude but DO I KNOW YOU?! abruptly kissing someone like that
out of the blue isn't a good idea, if it happened to me (ikemen or not) i'd be like GET OFF ME.
I like how he was all like huh? this is different well uh start treating women as people
and not objects for desire you little shit. π‘π‘π‘
human traffic? check, drugging? check, sexual assault? check.
Since Lily is such a precious guest she is allowed to sleep in his room (more like has to).
What are boundaries? clearly they are being broken but uh I guess its ok since we basically
just got a hot dude that wants you when we didn't even know, now be my woman. *eyeroll*
Yang is literally forcing her to become his woman err play thing... I am not kidding lol.
AT THE VERY LEAST Lily kept her head high which made most of the route bearable.
Yang is basically a desperate fuckboi who wants a girl to call his own and have his way with.
Either way... maybe you'll like it if you like randy dandy sexy times but uh other routes
had that as well but much later on and not as forceful like what happened here.
she was taken here by force! its worse because him being so forceful is harassment.
Nothing happened that night THANK GOD because he got tired of the little kitty denynya'ing him.
Yang is even FEEDING Lily the next morning, look I get woman are queens
but don't try so hard to get her to
most of his BS and is only going along to stay alive, like we all would if in the same situation
but uhm Elena wasn't so lucky as Lily and pretty much got an abusive piece of shit called Lee.
 |
| Say ah~ well if anything Lily has nerves of steel for putting up with all this. |
This route is just so disgusting like Lily's best friend Elena got the ozmafia brothel experience...
Elena is stuck with this guy named Lee whom she is supposedly in love with but Lee is no nice guy.
Lee apparently saved her from being shipped to chinaland because she caught his eye, Lee
then drugged Elena and pretty much did god knows what else, the twins Ran and Fay
who have become Lily's friends say Elena is broken and will do anything for her abuser.
I do find the themes interesting but Yang's personality doesn't help as shown in
Donte's route he's pretty crazy and brutal... Yang's this moody person who lives
in the moment and not caring about peoples feelings while doing what he wants etc.
Yang does get sweeter later on but whether or not you can get passed his behavior in general is up to
you, yes people can change and Yang showed it but uh then the bad end happened and it ruined
all trust I had in him. Atleast he helped Lily with wanting to free Elena from her abuser...
and they succeeded but Elena is pretty much scarred for life and had nightmares. Later
Nicola comes in and tries to screw things up and more mafia bullshit happens.
While I found the romance with Yang to be ''no thanks'' at first they did a good job at
trying to make us see him in a new light and then ruin it all, lol.
In the end Yang is a immature manchild who didn't exactly grow up yet and in general
does whatever the fuck he wants, giving no shit about peoples feelings to get what he wants.
YES he can be nice (if he feels like it) he saved Fay and Ran, helped Lily get her friend out
but still I do not get why Lily ever felt the need to stay with him after the thing with Elena
even tho he let her go too but uh she fell hard for Yang during her capture at Lao-Xu. ¯\_(γ)_/¯
If I had to be honest the romance MIGHT BE fine in the best end, staying with Yang at LaoXu
to try to get Elena out of there, Lily started to actually understand, fall for and care about him; that
sounds like stockholm syndrome to me aka staying with your captor
cuz you fell for him no matter what bad shit he did ow well whatever floats your boat.
HOWEVER the bad end destroys all that like there is no good side and he will just throw her
away if he gets bored. Yang does reflect a little bit in that end but he's just like whatever
i'm going back to chinaland now! not to mention he is a complete ass in every other route
so uh whatever saving grace there was for him I cannot see it no more.
 |
| I WISH THIS WASN'T A CG FOR THE BAD END ROUTE CUZ ITS PRETTY NICE. |
is most appropiate clearly shows his devotion OR MAYBE HE WAS JUST
THINKING WITH HIS DICK, its sad to say but the bad end(s) ruined all faith I had in Yang.
THINKING WITH HIS DICK, its sad to say but the bad end(s) ruined all faith I had in Yang.
THIS ROUTE DID NOTHING BUT PLAY WITH MY FEELINGS! JUST WHEN
YOU THINK HE MIGHT BE OK SOMETHING HAPPENS, GOD I THOUGHT
I COULDN'T FIND SOMEONE WORSE LIKE AUGAY FROM BWS, I WAS WRONG!
Don't even get me started on Yang's dead ends... the harassment / sexual assualt was real
and to tell the truth I forgot to do half of them because I was so traumatized by the bad end route.
This isn't the first time bad ends nearly ruined a character for me, remember Alvaro from WoF1?
Then again he was a troll so whatever, I don't remember the last time I was this worked up over a
character...if the last ending is just a giant middle finger in the face and a stab in the back.
*Le deep sigh*
I am done and spent way too much time raging and trying to understand a character
that is absolutely not for me in any way, time to pack my bags and get the hell out.
Romance ★★☆☆☆
Plot ★★★☆☆
Overall ★☆☆☆☆
~
Previous two routes too much for you? no problem! its time for an emotional rollercoaster.
Orlok.
CV: Toyonaga Toshiyuki.
Soft, cute informant boi who probably wouldn't hurt a fly? yea don't go judging by appearances!
After the last route I hope this one isn't as crazy... but he seems to have some sense of justice
and doing thsi route so late made everything better especially if you didn't like most of the route.
Soft informant boi? yea right, Orlok's pretty much an assassin4hire.
He's apparently on Lily's side and by taking her away abruptly is all to protect her, well
after all the routes who can we trust Lily doesn't at first and she's in the right lol.
Orlok works for the chinese mafia and is taking her to Yang, which is the last person
I wanted to see, really but whatever Falzone familia is already coming for the lady.
Orlok shows his loyalty to Lily and isn't exactly handing her over, he basically
just wants to protect her which is like his duty, he even takes her back to the church
and get to relax a bit but then the mafia gangs all throw a hissy fit lmao.
Overall this almost felt more like a healing route YEAH RIGHT but it wasn't too bad
if you followed a guide, I feel like you can trust Orlok but still not fully...
atleast he proved himself by watching her back the entire time, this route also
has the most dead ends next to Yang most of them so there's plenty of suspense.
Whole route is basically them running from the three mafia gangs, EVERYONE IS MEAN!
Nicola ends up kicking the bucket early and Dante is heartbroken his bro died, Yang dies too. π
Orlok starts to have feelings for Lily, just her smile makes his heartache...
I thought the romance between them was sweet long with his effort of protecting Lily
but plot wise it wasn't very interesting with all the running away and this
precious cinnamon roll getting hurt for no good reason other than to protect her.
The mafia throwing hissy fits while they hide in a shack is why we can't have nice things
that aside Orlok is learning to live and love thanks to Lily not just fulfill his duty.
Orlok couldn't even kill her when ordered, the rest of the plot like Donte's was sort of balls
but still I actually liked Orlok and his growth as a person so I don't really care about that.
Buut I don't like how Orlok basically ends up killing every mafia leader
for the sake of protecting Lily and the church even though Dante comes out of nowhere
dragging Josef out to take responsibility for all this BS but no he still butthurt
about Nicola so he wants Orlok's ass dead on a silver platter.
Orlok will do anything for Lily even if it means killing yet another person...
I enjoyed this route the most so far, the mafia folks are mostly assholes anyway
and some had it coming except Dante and maybe Gilbert.
Don't you want a man willing to go the extra mile for your happiness? π
I do not see much of a difference to the best/good end imo, like in good Dante ends up
finding and executing Josef for the shit he started and swears to find Orlok and Lily
who decided to just run away to another town and in this end he felt more like a lil' bro to me.π
The bad end... well I dun and goofed up and missed some ''Meanwhile Story'' during this route
and thus was unable to trigger Orlok's bad end! Now I had to force skip through the whole route
again while looking for the MS icon like a hawk and use back log to get it if skipped over. π¦π¦π¦
Funny I think this is the only route so far that makes them relevant because some of the early
MS in this route (which I missed) reveal interesting info but I still don't get why this
is suddenly a flag for an end. Ok so it is actually revealed through ''MS'' Orlok is the one
who attacked Dante's dad... and he is related to Josef. So when you're supposed to
meet Emilio in the best route, before that happens Diretiore comes crawling from the bushes
and offers to clear everything up they meet with Gilbert and Josef. While the latter
is telling his sob story, Gilbert shoots him which angered Orlok and then shit went to hell.
Orlok faces off against Gilbert and his gang but he has no chance yet makes his time!
Gilbert died with a smirk then Orlok gets shot by Donte... who finally gets his revenge. πππ
Buuut Donte won't immediately him off he wants him to atone for his sins or something
and he begs Donte to let Lily go but he is going to take away what is precious to him, Lily.
Lily makes a deal with Donte to become his property and if she doesn't do as he says he'll kill him.
MY GOD this end really brought out Donte's bad side... after the credits Lily goes
to check up on Orlok and he gives her a full confession, they kiss but it can never be. πππ
Then Donte finds the two of them and he became petty as hell, I hate NTR.
I wanna pretend the bad end doesn't exist because that behavior doesn't suit him then again
Nicola started acted differently too when Donte died in his bad end so... ¯\_(γ)_/¯
Overall I really liked this route and all three endings even though part of the plot was balls
ok Orlok is no angel and has sinned aplenty but doing the right thing to protect someone?
that is a step in the right direction even if it means sinning in the process.
Why did everyone have to be such a bully in this route though?! its like
the writer had a bone to pick or was against them so much lmao.
Orlok's a cinnamon roll even if not the purest angel, I want him to be happy.
Romance ★★★☆☆
Plot ★★★☆☆
Overall ★★★☆☆
~
Nothing but crickets and a midsummer breeze here...
YOU THINK HE MIGHT BE OK SOMETHING HAPPENS, GOD I THOUGHT
I COULDN'T FIND SOMEONE WORSE LIKE AUGAY FROM BWS, I WAS WRONG!
Don't even get me started on Yang's dead ends... the harassment / sexual assualt was real
and to tell the truth I forgot to do half of them because I was so traumatized by the bad end route.
This isn't the first time bad ends nearly ruined a character for me, remember Alvaro from WoF1?
Then again he was a troll so whatever, I don't remember the last time I was this worked up over a
character...if the last ending is just a giant middle finger in the face and a stab in the back.
*Le deep sigh*
I am done and spent way too much time raging and trying to understand a character
that is absolutely not for me in any way, time to pack my bags and get the hell out.
Plot ★★★☆☆
Overall ★☆☆☆☆
~
Previous two routes too much for you? no problem! its time for an emotional rollercoaster.
Orlok.
CV: Toyonaga Toshiyuki.
After the last route I hope this one isn't as crazy... but he seems to have some sense of justice
and doing thsi route so late made everything better especially if you didn't like most of the route.
Soft informant boi? yea right, Orlok's pretty much an assassin4hire.
He's apparently on Lily's side and by taking her away abruptly is all to protect her, well
after all the routes who can we trust Lily doesn't at first and she's in the right lol.
Orlok works for the chinese mafia and is taking her to Yang, which is the last person
I wanted to see, really but whatever Falzone familia is already coming for the lady.
Orlok shows his loyalty to Lily and isn't exactly handing her over, he basically
just wants to protect her which is like his duty, he even takes her back to the church
and get to relax a bit but then the mafia gangs all throw a hissy fit lmao.
Overall this almost felt more like a healing route YEAH RIGHT but it wasn't too bad
if you followed a guide, I feel like you can trust Orlok but still not fully...
atleast he proved himself by watching her back the entire time, this route also
has the most dead ends next to Yang most of them so there's plenty of suspense.
Whole route is basically them running from the three mafia gangs, EVERYONE IS MEAN!
Nicola ends up kicking the bucket early and Dante is heartbroken his bro died, Yang dies too. π
Orlok starts to have feelings for Lily, just her smile makes his heartache...
I thought the romance between them was sweet long with his effort of protecting Lily
but plot wise it wasn't very interesting with all the running away and this
precious cinnamon roll getting hurt for no good reason other than to protect her.
The mafia throwing hissy fits while they hide in a shack is why we can't have nice things
that aside Orlok is learning to live and love thanks to Lily not just fulfill his duty.
Orlok couldn't even kill her when ordered, the rest of the plot like Donte's was sort of balls
but still I actually liked Orlok and his growth as a person so I don't really care about that.
Buut I don't like how Orlok basically ends up killing every mafia leader
for the sake of protecting Lily and the church even though Dante comes out of nowhere
dragging Josef out to take responsibility for all this BS but no he still butthurt
about Nicola so he wants Orlok's ass dead on a silver platter.
Orlok will do anything for Lily even if it means killing yet another person...
I enjoyed this route the most so far, the mafia folks are mostly assholes anyway
and some had it coming except Dante and maybe Gilbert.
Don't you want a man willing to go the extra mile for your happiness? π
I do not see much of a difference to the best/good end imo, like in good Dante ends up
finding and executing Josef for the shit he started and swears to find Orlok and Lily
who decided to just run away to another town and in this end he felt more like a lil' bro to me.π
The bad end... well I dun and goofed up and missed some ''Meanwhile Story'' during this route
and thus was unable to trigger Orlok's bad end! Now I had to force skip through the whole route
again while looking for the MS icon like a hawk and use back log to get it if skipped over. π¦π¦π¦
Funny I think this is the only route so far that makes them relevant because some of the early
MS in this route (which I missed) reveal interesting info but I still don't get why this
is suddenly a flag for an end. Ok so it is actually revealed through ''MS'' Orlok is the one
who attacked Dante's dad... and he is related to Josef. So when you're supposed to
meet Emilio in the best route, before that happens Diretiore comes crawling from the bushes
and offers to clear everything up they meet with Gilbert and Josef. While the latter
is telling his sob story, Gilbert shoots him which angered Orlok and then shit went to hell.
Orlok faces off against Gilbert and his gang but he has no chance yet makes his time!
Gilbert died with a smirk then Orlok gets shot by Donte... who finally gets his revenge. πππ
Buuut Donte won't immediately him off he wants him to atone for his sins or something
and he begs Donte to let Lily go but he is going to take away what is precious to him, Lily.
Lily makes a deal with Donte to become his property and if she doesn't do as he says he'll kill him.
MY GOD this end really brought out Donte's bad side... after the credits Lily goes
to check up on Orlok and he gives her a full confession, they kiss but it can never be. πππ
Then Donte finds the two of them and he became petty as hell, I hate NTR.
I wanna pretend the bad end doesn't exist because that behavior doesn't suit him then again
Nicola started acted differently too when Donte died in his bad end so... ¯\_(γ)_/¯
Overall I really liked this route and all three endings even though part of the plot was balls
ok Orlok is no angel and has sinned aplenty but doing the right thing to protect someone?
that is a step in the right direction even if it means sinning in the process.
Why did everyone have to be such a bully in this route though?! its like
the writer had a bone to pick or was against them so much lmao.
Orlok's a cinnamon roll even if not the purest angel, I want him to be happy.
Plot ★★★☆☆
Overall ★★★☆☆
~
Nothing but crickets and a midsummer breeze here...
Gilbert Redford.
CV: Morikubo Showtaro.
Hot blooded ore-sama with a heart of gold from a rivaling familia, he loves Burlone.
Unfortunately this route is locked till you do all of the above!
Okay just let me get it out of the way, Gilbert wasn't an angel in other routes, Mafia
gotta do what mafia do, in most he was still quite level headed EXCEPT in Orlok's route
in which he was a jerk, then again everyone was. I liked him the most in Donte's best/good ends.
Route starts with some punks picking on Ruca the little boy from the slums, Gilbert comes in
and tells em to knock it out, from other routes we know he can be quite reasonable
but uh some times that reason still conflicted with that of Lily and her chosen man.π
Unfortunately she runs into Yang who threatens her not to move or make a noise
or else he'll kill her and all the people of the church. ugh this freaking psychopath
if that bad end of his didn't make me hate him already this doesn't make it better
but uh Donte to the rescue?! she gets to run and so she found Gilbert.
Really though Gilbert is quite the charmer, if only she ran into him sooner
and well he atleast is a lot more likeable in the beginning than Yang ever was
but I feel the same way as I did in Donte's, as in its not bad but its not really amazing either
Romance wise it is another slow burn, like Donte they warmed up to each other slowly
I loved the scene where Gilbert lend Lily his jacket when they walked at night
but uh most of the most of the route was too calm it made me uncomfortable even
maybe that is why the general impression of this is on par to Donte.
#posterboycurse.
Unfortunately Gilbert's route was a little more romantic than Donte's...
but its nice to finally be at easy for a little; Gilbert was literally like
YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH MY WOMAN? HM?!π
and I loved the scene where he gifted her some earrings but due to things
going so well I just knew it would get worse later but it was surprisingly tame?!
like IDK it was actually an otome game for once? when Lily confessed to him
I felt it was truly how she felt about him, he knew. Unfortunately some drama happens
and Gilbert gets arrested for fraud and has to face trial, well that was different
from the usual mafia gung-ho pow pow not to say its not there, its pretty obvious he's being set up.
With Direttore in jail he revealed how he wanted to use the mafia to destroy Burlone
but as you can see it failed because of Gilbert being level headed.
Story wise it was weak, romance wise it was strong and considering the other routes
this might be the most believable, I didn't get a hint of malice from Gilbert but uh
if you were pissed at Gilbert in any of the previous routes then you might enjoy it less
but uh when he literally treats her like a true queen in his own
I can forgive him for being an ass at times. Opinion of best/good ends is same as Donte
both are good and there's a bright? future for the two.
The bad end was painful because he didn't do anything to deserve that really having to flee
Burlone like that but because he loved Lily he doesn't burden her and take her with him
Overall I am pretty satisfied with this route! to be honest and who wouldn't
but compared to the others it didn't have much impact and the storyline was weak.
I honestly find it sad that Gilbert has the most otome route in the game
and story wise all it did was leave some hints for the finale route.π’
TBH its pretty sad it took four routes before I got something fitting for an otome game...
Romance ★★★★★
Plot ★★☆☆☆
Overall ★★★★☆
~
Henry or whatever fucking name he also goes by.
CV: Tachibana Shinnosuke.
While I wondered why Gilbert route was lacking in terms of an engaging plot
it seems they were just saving it for that one guy who had a bone to pick with the mafia.
In the prologue when I started Gilbert there was a new scene that hinted at this gentleman
but then never followed up on that promise because he was locked???
''Henry'' was still present throughout the game under a different name
so its not like he comes crawling from under a rock.
Lily finally goes with him on that walk, he asks what if the mafia wouldn't be here
and you could be more free, Lily be like uhm wut I like this town so whatever lol.
The rest basically follows Gilbert for like four chapters with a few scenes in between
till it switches to this mysterious person completely who ends up being none other than Dirretore.
Pfft as if the tone of his voice wasn't a dead give away, nice try otomate.π
One day Lily has another talk with him and they try to work out some way for
everyone to be happy and the thought of that was a huge turn off for me
but eh they want to go for that whole true end effect and combine all the routes while romancing
someone with little presence and a double persona, the whole route felt off.
Suddenly everyone goes right... when in 5 routes mostly it didn't its like they
finally saw the light that Lily really is innocent and the truth of the key maiden
finally makes sense, the previous one was called Chloe and Henry's sister
but shit happens and Henry then by the name of Riton held a grudge over it
which gave birth to his Dirretore persona and just wants to cause shit between the
mafia factions to destroy this shitty town, for some reason Lily gets to him.
Not that there was much romance since the whole thing with Henry was so subtle
and Lily spends time with all the other guys to make it all work out and not shoot up the place.
So overall story wise this was good but romantically no so when Elena said
is there anyone you are interested in I was like OH BOY.
Some people end up kidnapping Lily and want answers they think she's some woman of the mafia
but she's really not, Nicola the backstabber saved her.
So when the casino goes up in flames, Lily ends up saving him and they go out of town
and end up in the country side, Emilio ends up blessing their future and that's that.
In one of the bad ends he sees his dead sister in Lily considering they both were key maidens
which makes it extra creepy and you can already tell which straws otomate was grasping for here
but lol whatever, Lily managed to save this man from petty revenge in the best ed so whatever.
In the grand end, Nicola ends up saving the day either way when Lily chose to keep silent
since his death would be troublesome for someone they find out, basically it follows up
on the fact that this time they're all in it for Lily's sake and try their hardest not to butt heads.
They all confront Dirretore aka Henry and Donte's bout to shoot him till the place starts exploding
and he's like today ya'll meet your doom but great minds think alike today and work their way out.
Dirretore/Henry presumably died and they end up coming together in the church later
and watch as it start snowing, one of them mentioned was like a blessing of god himself.
All's well that ends well... but part of me thinks this was too good to be true but whatever
this route was nice in a sense but I couldn't feel much romance between them at all till the
last chapters of best end this is mostly because the writers tried to do two things at once.
Romance ★★☆☆☆
Plot ★★★★☆
Overall ★★★☆☆
~
Route enjoyment:
Gilbert > Orlok > Donte > Nicola > Henry > Yang.
For the record yeah Yang's route was t r a s h.
Fav character:
Orlok > Donte / Gilbert > Nicola > Elena > Ruca > Leo > Ran and Fay > Henry > deepest pits of hell; Yang.
Everyone... every guy did something shitty in a route atleast once which was enough to
get me to hate them for it especially after Orlok, that aside most did enough in their
routes to get me to like them so it balances out... except for Yang of course.
I disliked Yang so much... I was about to give his behavior a pass but then that bad end happened
which if I pretend does not exist I like him as much as Nicola maybe?
Yang is such a smug bastard who gives no fuck and in turn I don't give a fuck about him no more.
Final Thoughts
I pretty much forced myself through the last two routes but boi am I glad this is over with!
It took me too long and if I put some more effort I would've been done with sooner
still I think its of decent length, its not too short and not too long to get bored of it.
Seriously tho... I have a reason to hate every single main character, except maybe Orlok...
but he has an entirely different set of issues to himself.
While I liked the italian setting, jazzy music and mafia intrigue, I think the otome game part
of this game is a huge hit or miss. Lily as a protag is ok, she got some personality
and can speak her mind and is not a complete doormat but unfortunately she's a victim of
circumstance which is painfully obvious in every route in this game, she also
gets kidnapped and shat on in the bad ends but considering the time period
you shouldn't expect some girl being able to fend for herself completely
I do like the idea of being rescued by handsome men I mean who doesn't?
but considering the nature of the games title... things could have been handled a bit differently.
Atleast every route was unique with multiple outcomes and it was interesting to learn
about the characters even though some are downright trash.
Unfortunately after finishing this game completely I cannot recommend this game
to the average otome gamer considering how brutal it can be, however
if one who wants something a little more serious than most? this is for you!
I do like how they do not try to sugar coat it too much and I still hope it gets localized
if not on vita maybe on steam or ps4/switch so if this catches your interest go ask Aksys of Iffy!
I'm glad the writers for Piofiore did not hold back in the routes to show how brutal or dark the mafia
can be in certain endings the bad side of characters can really come out, Donte? Nicola? Yang?
no exceptions! which was really interesting even though it made me dislike them.
most of my disgust is reserved for Yang, there's no question all of them did something terrible
but in life sometimes you must forgive people.
The system is a bit of a hit or miss, I can see what they try to do like there is no good old love catch
so its hard to see what is the correct choice and some lead to a dead end which makes it more
suspenseful but also frustrating without a guide because of many dead endings.
The ''Meanwhile System'' is pretty good for useful tidbits to what a character is up to but as with
my first route I missed so many and still got a best end? it made it seem like only Orlok's
''MS'' were a flag for his bad end all which make me scratch my head as to what it is really for
other than to let us know what is happening elsewhere, which in the long run can become a nuisance.
So... while I have some gripes here and there
CV: Morikubo Showtaro.
Unfortunately this route is locked till you do all of the above!
Okay just let me get it out of the way, Gilbert wasn't an angel in other routes, Mafia
gotta do what mafia do, in most he was still quite level headed EXCEPT in Orlok's route
in which he was a jerk, then again everyone was. I liked him the most in Donte's best/good ends.
Route starts with some punks picking on Ruca the little boy from the slums, Gilbert comes in
and tells em to knock it out, from other routes we know he can be quite reasonable
but uh some times that reason still conflicted with that of Lily and her chosen man.π
Unfortunately she runs into Yang who threatens her not to move or make a noise
or else he'll kill her and all the people of the church. ugh this freaking psychopath
if that bad end of his didn't make me hate him already this doesn't make it better
but uh Donte to the rescue?! she gets to run and so she found Gilbert.
Really though Gilbert is quite the charmer, if only she ran into him sooner
and well he atleast is a lot more likeable in the beginning than Yang ever was
but I feel the same way as I did in Donte's, as in its not bad but its not really amazing either
Romance wise it is another slow burn, like Donte they warmed up to each other slowly
I loved the scene where Gilbert lend Lily his jacket when they walked at night
but uh most of the most of the route was too calm it made me uncomfortable even
maybe that is why the general impression of this is on par to Donte.
#posterboycurse.
Unfortunately Gilbert's route was a little more romantic than Donte's...
but its nice to finally be at easy for a little; Gilbert was literally like
YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH MY WOMAN? HM?!π
going so well I just knew it would get worse later but it was surprisingly tame?!
like IDK it was actually an otome game for once? when Lily confessed to him
I felt it was truly how she felt about him, he knew. Unfortunately some drama happens
and Gilbert gets arrested for fraud and has to face trial, well that was different
from the usual mafia gung-ho pow pow not to say its not there, its pretty obvious he's being set up.
With Direttore in jail he revealed how he wanted to use the mafia to destroy Burlone
but as you can see it failed because of Gilbert being level headed.
Story wise it was weak, romance wise it was strong and considering the other routes
this might be the most believable, I didn't get a hint of malice from Gilbert but uh
if you were pissed at Gilbert in any of the previous routes then you might enjoy it less
but uh when he literally treats her like a true queen in his own
I can forgive him for being an ass at times. Opinion of best/good ends is same as Donte
both are good and there's a bright? future for the two.
The bad end was painful because he didn't do anything to deserve that really having to flee
Burlone like that but because he loved Lily he doesn't burden her and take her with him
Overall I am pretty satisfied with this route! to be honest and who wouldn't
but compared to the others it didn't have much impact and the storyline was weak.
I honestly find it sad that Gilbert has the most otome route in the game
and story wise all it did was leave some hints for the finale route.π’
TBH its pretty sad it took four routes before I got something fitting for an otome game...
Plot ★★☆☆☆
Overall ★★★★☆
~
Henry or whatever fucking name he also goes by.
CV: Tachibana Shinnosuke.
it seems they were just saving it for that one guy who had a bone to pick with the mafia.
In the prologue when I started Gilbert there was a new scene that hinted at this gentleman
but then never followed up on that promise because he was locked???
''Henry'' was still present throughout the game under a different name
so its not like he comes crawling from under a rock.
Lily finally goes with him on that walk, he asks what if the mafia wouldn't be here
and you could be more free, Lily be like uhm wut I like this town so whatever lol.
The rest basically follows Gilbert for like four chapters with a few scenes in between
till it switches to this mysterious person completely who ends up being none other than Dirretore.
Pfft as if the tone of his voice wasn't a dead give away, nice try otomate.π
One day Lily has another talk with him and they try to work out some way for
everyone to be happy and the thought of that was a huge turn off for me
but eh they want to go for that whole true end effect and combine all the routes while romancing
someone with little presence and a double persona, the whole route felt off.
Suddenly everyone goes right... when in 5 routes mostly it didn't its like they
finally saw the light that Lily really is innocent and the truth of the key maiden
finally makes sense, the previous one was called Chloe and Henry's sister
but shit happens and Henry then by the name of Riton held a grudge over it
which gave birth to his Dirretore persona and just wants to cause shit between the
mafia factions to destroy this shitty town, for some reason Lily gets to him.
Not that there was much romance since the whole thing with Henry was so subtle
and Lily spends time with all the other guys to make it all work out and not shoot up the place.
So overall story wise this was good but romantically no so when Elena said
is there anyone you are interested in I was like OH BOY.
Some people end up kidnapping Lily and want answers they think she's some woman of the mafia
but she's really not, Nicola the backstabber saved her.
So when the casino goes up in flames, Lily ends up saving him and they go out of town
and end up in the country side, Emilio ends up blessing their future and that's that.
In one of the bad ends he sees his dead sister in Lily considering they both were key maidens
which makes it extra creepy and you can already tell which straws otomate was grasping for here
but lol whatever, Lily managed to save this man from petty revenge in the best ed so whatever.
In the grand end, Nicola ends up saving the day either way when Lily chose to keep silent
since his death would be troublesome for someone they find out, basically it follows up
on the fact that this time they're all in it for Lily's sake and try their hardest not to butt heads.
They all confront Dirretore aka Henry and Donte's bout to shoot him till the place starts exploding
and he's like today ya'll meet your doom but great minds think alike today and work their way out.
Dirretore/Henry presumably died and they end up coming together in the church later
and watch as it start snowing, one of them mentioned was like a blessing of god himself.
All's well that ends well... but part of me thinks this was too good to be true but whatever
this route was nice in a sense but I couldn't feel much romance between them at all till the
last chapters of best end this is mostly because the writers tried to do two things at once.
Plot ★★★★☆
Overall ★★★☆☆
~
Route enjoyment:
Gilbert > Orlok > Donte > Nicola > Henry > Yang.
For the record yeah Yang's route was t r a s h.
Fav character:
Orlok > Donte / Gilbert > Nicola > Elena > Ruca > Leo > Ran and Fay > Henry > deepest pits of hell; Yang.
Everyone... every guy did something shitty in a route atleast once which was enough to
get me to hate them for it especially after Orlok, that aside most did enough in their
routes to get me to like them so it balances out... except for Yang of course.
I disliked Yang so much... I was about to give his behavior a pass but then that bad end happened
which if I pretend does not exist I like him as much as Nicola maybe?
Yang is such a smug bastard who gives no fuck and in turn I don't give a fuck about him no more.
Final Thoughts
It took me too long and if I put some more effort I would've been done with sooner
still I think its of decent length, its not too short and not too long to get bored of it.
Seriously tho... I have a reason to hate every single main character, except maybe Orlok...
but he has an entirely different set of issues to himself.
While I liked the italian setting, jazzy music and mafia intrigue, I think the otome game part
of this game is a huge hit or miss. Lily as a protag is ok, she got some personality
and can speak her mind and is not a complete doormat but unfortunately she's a victim of
circumstance which is painfully obvious in every route in this game, she also
gets kidnapped and shat on in the bad ends but considering the time period
you shouldn't expect some girl being able to fend for herself completely
I do like the idea of being rescued by handsome men I mean who doesn't?
but considering the nature of the games title... things could have been handled a bit differently.
Atleast every route was unique with multiple outcomes and it was interesting to learn
about the characters even though some are downright trash.
Unfortunately after finishing this game completely I cannot recommend this game
to the average otome gamer considering how brutal it can be, however
if one who wants something a little more serious than most? this is for you!
I do like how they do not try to sugar coat it too much and I still hope it gets localized
if not on vita maybe on steam or ps4/switch so if this catches your interest go ask Aksys of Iffy!
I'm glad the writers for Piofiore did not hold back in the routes to show how brutal or dark the mafia
can be in certain endings the bad side of characters can really come out, Donte? Nicola? Yang?
no exceptions! which was really interesting even though it made me dislike them.
most of my disgust is reserved for Yang, there's no question all of them did something terrible
but in life sometimes you must forgive people.
The system is a bit of a hit or miss, I can see what they try to do like there is no good old love catch
so its hard to see what is the correct choice and some lead to a dead end which makes it more
suspenseful but also frustrating without a guide because of many dead endings.
The ''Meanwhile System'' is pretty good for useful tidbits to what a character is up to but as with
my first route I missed so many and still got a best end? it made it seem like only Orlok's
''MS'' were a flag for his bad end all which make me scratch my head as to what it is really for
other than to let us know what is happening elsewhere, which in the long run can become a nuisance.
So... while I have some gripes here and there
Piofiore has a solid story and the otome part is not too bad
but let me say it again its not for everyone, If you expect this otome game about the mafia
to be all sunshine and rainbows you need to change them expectations, this is no ozmafia
nor does it try to be arcana famiglia. Now I know the second arcana famiglia was darker
which might be more in line with Piofiore; this game doesn't try to be something it is not
nor can one say the writers did not use the setting to its full potential.
IMO this was just as good as Collar x Malice or Code:Realize either way
i've said more than enough and at this point i'll only repeat myself.
Now give me a FD with some not too long but juicy after stories!
Characters ★★★★★
Art ★★★★★
Scenario/plot. ★★★★☆
Music★★★★★
System ★★★☆☆
Enjoyment overall ★★★☆☆(3.5)
Next? Probably WoFR2 FD and then Shiro to Kuro FD there's no other games
i'm interested in that are going to release anytime soon so that's good for the wallet.
Panic Palette is getting a vita port but idk seems like Takuyo is just blindly
porting old classics to vita before it goes out of commision completely
and they do not seem to be making new otome anymore which is a shame.
to be all sunshine and rainbows you need to change them expectations, this is no ozmafia
nor does it try to be arcana famiglia. Now I know the second arcana famiglia was darker
which might be more in line with Piofiore; this game doesn't try to be something it is not
nor can one say the writers did not use the setting to its full potential.
IMO this was just as good as Collar x Malice or Code:Realize either way
i've said more than enough and at this point i'll only repeat myself.
Now give me a FD with some not too long but juicy after stories!
Characters ★★★★★
Art ★★★★★
Scenario/plot. ★★★★☆
Music★★★★★
System ★★★☆☆
Enjoyment overall ★★★☆☆(3.5)
Next? Probably WoFR2 FD and then Shiro to Kuro FD there's no other games
i'm interested in that are going to release anytime soon so that's good for the wallet.
Panic Palette is getting a vita port but idk seems like Takuyo is just blindly
porting old classics to vita before it goes out of commision completely
and they do not seem to be making new otome anymore which is a shame.
I was ready looking forward to buying this game since it was announced for Switch in 2020! I'm glad I came across your review because after one review that was literally so confusing and so full of the hate for this game my excitement went downhill. You might be right that this game isn't for everyone and i think it's good that way. The game itself is labeled as "controversial" so I can wait to get my hands on them.
ReplyDeleteWow thanks for the detailed review! Was considering it before but now think not. I hate psychopath characters :(
ReplyDeletei think Yang's route it's very interesting. his story and characteristic are different than the others character that i always see in most otome games characters. so don't hate him, after all it's just a story/game ��
ReplyDeleteHe is alright in the best end! everywhere else though...
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