Otome ranking of 2018

Whoop it that time of the year again to make one of these!

let's start by going over the ones i've played and compared

to other years there's not as much which makes sense, I only picked

up the ones I thought were genuinely interesting and skipped any I had second thoughts of. 

Code:realize shirogane no kiseki.

Chouchou Jiken.

Taishou x Alice Heads or Tails.

Psychedelica of the black butterfly.

 Collar x Malice Unlimted.

Piofiore no Banshou.
WoFR2 FD ~Kimi ni Sasageru Epilogue~.
Shiro to Kuro no Alice FD.

🏆Best new game:🏆

Piofiore no Banshou.

 Considering what I played there was not much competition I enjoyed what I could but

considering the themes this might not be for everyone but I still think its solid

and didn't waste away what it intended with the setting at all.

The only bad part is that no main character was truly likeable except Orlok

like they all did something shitty outside of their own route and Yang...

ah yes Yang he was beyond likeability even in his own
but atleast the story was solid and stuck to its themes that being one about mafia meaning its not
gonna be sunshine and rainbows! without making too much of a mess of things unlike the next!

💩Worst new game:💩

Chouchou Jiken.

Sidney... steal me away from all of the unredeemable love interest (except Haruka).

 What in the seven hells was this?

I thought this would be a trashy mystery otome game

but it never got that trashy nor the mystery part was that interesting.

It might be great if you enjoy having a mouse nibble at your toes

but honestly this was such a waste to me like most of the routes

weren't even interesting and the ones that were weren't even important to the overall plot.

It only starts making sense in the last two routes and the romantic interests in it were complete trash

and relied too much on pity me pls trope, look I can like characters that have had a bad time

but when they literally have a goal to use the heroine for their personal gain throughout the game

or worse kill her if gotten the chance, Yes people can change, pity is allowed
but sometimes pity is not enough for me to turn a blind eye the art was nice but at times
 meh, the music was awful /grating and the story while interesting
to get to the truth it kept beating around the bush about some russian revolution
that doesn't add up before you get to routes that matter said characters almost had no
redeeming factor. Sorry that's gonna be a no from me...

🏆Best Fandisk:🏆

Collar x Malice Unlimited.

If there was any otome game that needed a fandisk it was collar x malice

the after stories were enjoyable and unique for each character and the adonis

portion gave us a different look at the villains while Ichika gets herself together.

While I thought some of the after stories were too long I think the content

in this FD is of more value than that of Tierblades which I also enjoyed.

Wand of Fortune R2 kimi ni sasageru epilogue.

 The finale of the WoF series did not disappoint me, even though its short
it managed to be on point and not drag it out and none of it was wasteful
except maybe the true end epilogue... poor Solo.
With the exception of Est's after I found it extremely enjoyable definitely not something
WoF fans want to miss out on! after all this time glad they still ported it.

~

💩Worst Fandisk:💩

Taishou x Alice Heads or Tails.

 Let's face it this wasn't even a fandisk but an addon

the new routes are exactly the games subtitle aka a different side of the same coin

it only gives us information we already knew but from the perspective of side characters!

Which is nice but not when there's no real ending for them with the heroine because of canon.

The rest of the content was ok but on its hard to recommend unless you are a real tai-ali fan...

and it doesn't add to the scenario of the two except for an extended epilogue.

Also the treatment of Ookami in his route made me rage so much! he's such a likeable character

but the writer cannot let go of the canon and he is still a third wheel no matter what.

Dear otome game writers; if you cannot let go of the canon do not give side characters routes

just to get into their heads, sure its nice for a chance of POV but ultimately
you are wasting your own time and that of the readers since all you do is give bait
but leave us hanging wishing for something more or a different outcome.

~

😐Meh Fandisk.😐
 Shiro to Kuro no Alice Twilight Line.

This was just one of those fandisk that isn't that bad but not great either
but still manages to deliver, i'm not the biggest fan but even then
I can see they tried this series strengths also makes it its downfall.
The plot is still as inconsistent and messy as ever that did not change and I doubt
it ever will, wherever otomate will take this I think my shiro to kuro adventures end here
no matter how much I enjoyed my time with Luna and her guys.
Its not that great... but still, it might deliver in ways a fan would like it to.

Code: Realize shirogane no kiseki.

 The third fandisk and while a nice addition to the series

it did nothing for the overall story , Cantarella was a nice attempt but it only
gives us after the fact information that not even Cardia ever find out. (Only the reader)

The only thing I say that was great was the extended epilogues from shukufuku no mirai

but even then its something that should have been in that game to begin with.

Its great if you desperately want more code realize in your life but I hope

otomate won't milk it more than this, you can only get so much out of it...
and by now I think I got that, there's really not much anymore I want out of Code:Rea.
 Before you get this I think one has to consider, how much do I like code:realize?
will additional stories with the cast be worth my time no matter what it is about??
If a super fan then yes you should get this but if not... then well maybe not.
~

🏆Best english release:🏆

Psychedelica of the black butterfly.

 While the otome game part is a hard sell, the story however was pretty good

every main character contributed to the scenario and it was a good feeling to get to the bottom of it
and while I have not finished Ashen Hawk it has the same feel so I had to mention it.
It is incredible hard to write about it without spoiling anything... one is best to go into this
without knowing anything, don't even go to official site! the less u know the better.
~

Well that was all for 2018 not as many console otome games as previous years but its not just me
otomate hasn't released as much nor has other companies. I skipped ports
and have been playing other games/busy with other things.
With otomates move to switch things might look better next year but even then
I am hesitant to make the move, its not a secret some of us just step out of the genre and
lot's of otome game blogs have died over the years when a console such as ps2/psp came at its end.
Vita is no exception nor will the Switch go on forever... I like otome games but i've
feel that I have enjoyed what was to offer and at times am ready to leave the genre since
I start to be jaded and cynical at new titles which aren't even much different then what I played.
There's still some (old) otome games that I'd love to play next year and I will probably do just that.

Shiro to Kuro no Alice Twilight Line - Review

Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 

Developer/publisher: Otomate.

Platform:PSV.

Official Site: http://www.otomate.jp/bw_alice/twilight/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v21786

Release date: 2018-11-15

Ah yes the FD- or sequel to that rather messy alice in wonderland otome game
from otomate, in case you wonder what I mean by messy again is that
the overall story was too scattered and there was no locked routes
so if you did Nello first you'd basically spoil a plot behind the scenes
or if you did Snow's then well you basically got the best possible resolution.
That doesn't mean the other routes aren't worth doing as it still would fill in the blanks
here and there regarding the characters. So in short when a story would benefit
from restriction they said nah let them pick! which could work if the important story bits
weren't all over the place, like I am sure no one likes getting to Minette mid game
only to find out it was better to do him first since he has nothing to do with the main plot.
Shiro to Kuro no Alice had a story albeit very messy and all over the place!
and even that did not change in its FD's additional scenario.

Pro's
 -After stories are short and sweet.
- Art and music are excellent.

Con's
- unvoiced heroines who still talk to each other as if it was voiced, which
like the original ruined a lot of potential in scenes everyone else is voiced.
- Story is still a scattered mess.

Content wise there is the after story's ~lover's day~ which gives us a look at their lives now
it covers both white and black happy ends... which is probably what you wanted the most.
Then there's another line... which is basically just an another story...
but with individual endings as well which is where most of the meat of the game is.
There's also the tea party after doing all which is a nice extra for full complete.

Either way I decided to start with Airi's side first mostly because she literally got stuck the worst boys
and Luna with the sweethearts, which made me not very interested in Airi's side.
After stories are like an hour long BUT there's one for each happy end (black and white)!
  so that's basically two hours... whether it was worth it depends on character like

for me Minette's were an utter waste of time but Nero was actually worth sitting through
so I guess it depends but even then I wish they put more effort.
Another line was eh... after 4 routes I got the general gist of the plot and had enough
and actually got sad we didn't get a routes for Rui, Ratt or Nine instead
like they give us new characters try and flesh em out but they don't really get resolution.
Volume wise its about right... if you rush its probably not but I thought the content was fine
and could definitely last a week or two if you take it slow but eh unless one was
invested in the world of shiro to kuro no alice I can't really recommend it
since this is for fans of course, I got what I wanted out of it thanks to Luna side
but still felt it was lacking in someway maybe because they had to split
the lover day scenario to the two happy ends which makes no sense if
the another line scenario also sort of follows up on the bw after???
IMO most of the white afters were the best to me so I wish they'd made it a little longer
even at the expense of the bw after but eh they still managed at making some of it
its just not going to be to everyones taste.
As we know Another line has the same problem as the original game
I am going to recommend Snow's route there for last as it has the most
revelations about Rui, the rest of the order shouldn't matter too much
so just to be safe do Airi side before Luna's with Snow last.

That ends my spoiler free section...