2021 in review

 Probably not going to be much here but i've played 5 otome games atleast and a few rpgs.

In terms of otome its not a lot... maybe my interest is dwindling and the recent pandemic

probably didn't help the industry much either but I enjoyed what I could

and in times like these I think that's enough so nowadays I only bother with the ones I really want.

1, Lover Pretend.

 Well it probably wasn't the best otome game ever but I liked the heroine, setting and had

a good time getting to know the characters. It also wasn't too heavy or dark so that's nice

if you want something light. The flow of the common route did make me

a little nostalgic for some reason. Personally my favorite routes was Yukito this is probably

because its the only one that truly felt well rounded, other than that I liked Riku too

though the one I liked the least was Kaz maybe cuz the tone was drastically different from the rest.

Its also not that emotionally draining like Virche or Sweet Clown so once again

if you want something light without worrying of dark bad ends, lover pretend is a good pick.

2, Angelique Luminarise.

  Not the most interesting otome game but this is more of a romance simulator than anything else

unfortunately the system was a reskin of Ange retour albeit improved and the only saving grace

are the characters themselves cuz despite a strong start IMO it fell a little flat in the end.

Though i'm glad for getting to experience this thing called brainrot because of Vergil.😂😂😂

I think this was the game that got hit by the pandemic the most... its been a long time

since I have seen a company reuse CG's 3 times. I think Ange retour had it better in that area

but if you like simulation games or have a short attention span this can be something to look into.

 

3, Kimi wa yukima ni koinegau.

 Probably the funniest one, I played and here I expected it to be sad? it kinda was in a way

unfortunately despite the great production values the pacing wasn't the best so even if the worldview/lore and characters were great and the plot behind it all was decent

this kinda did drag itself out. I did laugh a lot and most if not all the guys were likable

so I can't complain too much when it has plenty of funny/cute moments throughout the game.

But yea once again if this is otome game number 150... it might not be that interesting.

4, Shuuen no Virche.

 Oh boy... was this the epitome of a dark and edgy otome game! but I have to admit

story and character wise this game was good nevermind the despair! but who hurt

those writers man they really had it in for the heroine, i'm pretty sure this is as worst as it gets.

Even then this game managed to deliver as an otome game so it wasn't all bad

and I will believe people who say they think this game was the best in 2021 cuz 

in terms of story it was peak fiction. Though it might not be for everyone, that's for sure

the only bad part is the best ends for all the guys didn't actually need to be locked

which is probably what could have made all that despair a little less mentally draining

its just a questionable design choice cuz everything else was pretty great.

5, Sweet Clown.

 Well, this otome game had an interesting story, cast of characters and it was pretty well rounded

but it was pretty long and dreary, it also wasn't that fun of a read all the time

(not that there was no comedy mind you... just not that type of game)

still if you value story+characterization over romance then this is solid! most of the routes

were well-rounded and probably won't be disappointing in terms of romance.

Its hard to recommend due to the art style though and maybe if you have fear of clowns/masks

but still its pretty good overall! there's not much else to say really other than that

if you like complex characters it might be something? that is if you don't mind an espresso depresso.

~

 

Other games played:

Ryza 2,  xenoblade DE,  Utaware zan 2, Nayuta kai, Tales of Arise, Kuro no Kiseki, FFXIV:EW.

I also tried TMS#fe encore but I couldn't finish it for some reason I just lost interest

after this Yashiro guy joined? maybe i'll pick it up again... maybe not we'll see!

I already played Nayuta no Kiseki years ago but the ps4 rerelease was a nice refresher

for a kiseki game its short but it knows where to end without overstaying its welcome.

Well all of these were pretty good my fav's being Arise, Kuro and FFXIV 

but I have a bone to pick with ryza 2 so i'll have some final words on it here:

While I could somewhat understand what it tried to do it kinda rushed the last part of the game

and well Ryza herself just doesn't act like the typical atelier protagonsit would she knows much 

but doesn't use her knowledge that well, some parts of the whole felt off as well. If I learned

anything from its ending maybe sometimes you need to let things go no matter how hard it is.

~

 

Well that is all for my year end post, as for next year its wait and see!

The only one I am sure I will give a try is the hamefura one even though

i'm wary of games based on anime/LN but here's hoping its enjoyable.

If nothing else interesting comes out i'll probably pick up a game i've passed on...

Sweet clown ~Gozen San-ji no Okashi na Doukeshi~ - review

 Genre: Otome/simulation VN.
Developer/publisher: Takuyo.
Platform: PSV, Switch.
Official Site: http://www.takuyo.co.jp/products/sweetclown/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v16460
Release date: 2021-07-22.

 

What lead me to Sweet Clown? I started to look for something to kill time with

but not exactly in any hurry to finish it as a whole so this kinda became like a backburner game.

The japanese subtitle of this game is long (Gozen Sanji...) so I won't type it out

anywhere else in ENG it means: 3AM candy clown.

Considering the themes of this game this was for the better, its not as depressing as say Getsuei no Kusari nor is there too much despair like Virche but it isn't exactly light-hearted either.

Perhaps I wanted something not from otomate and since I feel like i'm a clown lately...

so I ended up picking up sweet clown after I had initially passed on the vita version

honestly how or why is Takuyo still around?! I wonder what there secret is...😂😂😂

 

Pro's

- Interesting story and cast of characters.

- Well-rounded routes.

- Art is pretty good but can vary.

- Music fits the mood/tone of the game.

 

Con's

- The routes do have a bit of a slow start... it takes a bit to get going.

- Sometimes it can seem that whatever choice you made doesn't matter also there are a lot.

- Le espresso depresso... wait this could be a pro.

 

A little bit on the plot... but it might be better to read the VNDB

description if you want to know what's it about!

Our protagonist Zakuro received an invitation for a 3am tea party, which leads her

to a castle owned by the sweet clown. There... she meets a bunch of other people

and the story slowly unfolds from there. It quickly becomes obvious Zakuro carries a secret.

She lost her brother when she was young and is extremely lonely and has some issues with guilt

over it... after meeting this sweet clown she ends up being selected to take over the role

unfortunately due to her issues things go far from smoothly.

The OP was pretty nice but apparently they changed it for the switch version.

I looked up the PSV version and uh i'm not sure why they changed

but it was most likely a licensing issue or they lost the file/was damaged

anyway this is the switch one.

 Oh well back on track, this game is probably not for people with fear of clowns and stuff

this is also a fairly mystery-oriented otome game more and play order is important.

What's recommended is Seisuke > Kuze or Takeru > Ouchirou > Manai.

There are also a bunch of endings 4 per route which are all toned differently

some more depressing than others, i'll be using the same order the guide recommended

and this order is very good because it makes the most sense with the overall plot.

 

I honestly found myself hooked right from the start and interested to find out more

and come back to it so I thought the flow of the story was pretty good

but it was kinda glum and so this is not something to look into if you want something light-hearted

its also not too dark! but if you want there's a more twisted end waiting for you.

The art and backgrounds were pretty nice and the music was appropiate so there's that

though I might have to say that while the art is gorgeous and there are nice cg's it did vary a little.

The system was pretty basic? there's a gazillion of choices so it might be better to use a guide...

what bothered me about the choice system is often there isn't even much of a difference

characters would often react the same as if the other choice was chosen which made me go

like thank god for the blue/red rose animation for affection which determines the endings.

Also you could literally make one wrong choice and be locked out of the best end... which

happened with me in Kobashi's route.... this combined with the mass amount of choices

makes me really want to tell people to use a guide unless you want to figure it all out yourself.

I did wonder why I passed on this game initially and it was probably because of some of the designs

and setting, even now some of those don't really vibe with me but still glad I did give it a try

because the story and characterization was honestly really good and in terms of despair

it might not be as extreme as Virche but when it hits, it hits.

 The prologue was a good setup albeit a bit long? it was ok cuz you slowly got

a better picture while also getting to know the guys if only a little.

I like it more than Shinigami to Shoujo cuz of the overall flow but this is by no means a simple

game like himehibi since  there are some layers of complexity in regards of the plot and char's

 so now you know why I won't be writing too much about the plot but i'll comment

a little on the character routes cuz I think this game is best experienced when you know very little like

psychedelica for example, the route which was most complicated was probably Takeru.

 

Most of the common route focuses on the heroine Zakuro and her internal struggles+the guys

trying to help her so they can go home each in their own way.

This isn't one of those otome games that has the heroine only help the guys its the other way around which honestly lead to an interesting experience. I do have to point out the routes

do start out fairly slow and once more that play order is VERY important, I did Seisuke first and

godbless I did because this guy completely became unlikeable in Souma's route! (atleast for me)

so for a moment I thought if I had done Souma first, I didn't want to bother with Seisuke anymore.😞

 

Overall this was a pretty good otome game with a well written story and heroine/cast

it might seem dark and dreary but it is definitely one that I can recommend.

The routes here are well-rounded in terms of plot and romance while developing both

the heroine and love interest. If anything some of the guys are just clowns really

but even then with 2 different endings per route+bad there's bound to be one outcome

that could suit your taste whether that's a happy outcome or a twisted version of it.

Weird thing was by the time I finished Souma's route I didn't even want to do the others... 😅

since the ending of it was so satisfying I felt no need to continue cuz he was also my best boi

but alas for the sake of the truth I continued on! if there was anything that I thought was a downside

is that routes take a bit to get going and it might seem same-ish how Zakuro had to overcome

her problems but every route added a new flavor its just that it might get a tad repetitive?

but as long as you're invested I don't think its a big deal! do have to be honest that if

you found your best boy the rest of the game could feel like a slog.

 

So all in all, Sweet clown is a pretty solid pick if you want something with a good story and cast!

but if you're not in the mood for a long and dreary read then it might be better to pass, there's

not much fluff either and its very character driven, the humor was a bit weird but it was there

if it wasn't I think this game would be plain depressing.

That's all I can say without spoilers really...

Sweet Clown is interesting but requires patience and perhaps an acquired taste?

I think I want to play something lighter next but this was still a good time killer

its definitely something to look into if you value character development..

8.2/10

That ends the spoiler-free section! there will be some route commentary below as this game

much like getsuei was far too long to digest and someone already summarized it anyway

so there'll only be commentary with a few of my fav CG's.

Shuuen no Virche ~Error Salvation~ - review

 Genre: Otome/simulation VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/virche/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v29661
Release date: 2021-10-07. 

Since there's not much choice in terms of otome games coming out

and Virche seems like it will be interesting I decided to get it

to have something to play/read while waiting for other games to come out.

I tried going in with relatively low expectations because that's what works best

if anything I think this games synopsis reminded me a little of tierblade.

Things I already knew its gonna be a dark fantasy with sci-fi elements

not to mention the art style gives off this edgy vibe! but that's all.

Like with Kimiyuki Seiyuu cast is a mix of familiar talent and new that I have not heard

before it seems this is becoming a trend and a welcome one at that.

 

Pro's

- Good worldbuilding and well written story & cast.

 - Gorgerous art and music to fit the mood.

 

Con's

- Not for the faint of heart/don't like depressing or high amount of blood.

-  What is a good ending is subjective but real happy ones are hard to find in this game.

- WHO TF HURT THE WRITERS OF THIS GAME MAN...

 

 Opening movie was pretty good, it set the mood of the game pretty well.

 

This game honestly started out pretty depressing, death really does seem to follow

the heroine Ceres no matter where she goes. Honestly I felt bad for her. :(

Ceres constantly blames herself for everything bad happening because of her curse...

this could get annoying but I had faith the writers would develop this and help her overcome it

and the main cast was pretty nice and supporting towards the heroine so all was well.

She meets Ankou who... honestly I was wary of his words cuz they were extremely honeyed

but if I was in Ceres's position I would probably trust him too but  still be ware.

Though if depressing themes and suicide triggers you I suppose to stay clear of this game.

Prologue/common route progression was good to get to know the cast and setting but there

is a bit of techno babbles from a certain character that did go into one ear and out the other.😂

To put simply there's elements of cloning and memory transfer to survive the death at 23 thing.

Most of the characters are interesting, Lukas whom's route is available to do right

from the start was an easy character to like. Anyway it wasn't dark/dreary and depressing all the time

but there was a decent amount of suspense unfortunately there's not much time for fluff or

funny scenes doesn't mean there was none it just wasn't the focus.

I have no strong opinion on Lukas but it has that one meme which made me howl for a good minute

or so. I did enjoy Mathis route in particular it was pretty peak fiction but Scien was just

well nothing against the guy but it honestly left me the most depressed.

Yvess was the poster boy but atleast his route wasn't that disappointing.

Art is gorgeous and music was pretty good too, I hardly complain about bgm's

they usually fit the mood in some way and Shuuen was no expection.

 Honestly this game attempts to put more effort into establishing its plot and cast than

a certain other moist depressing otome game from otomate I once played did.😅

This was interesting to say the least but the type of game is not for everyone

and there were parts where I zoned out, especially when Scien technobabbles.

Kimiyuki had comedy going for it but Shuuen not so much again not to say there wasn't

any funny moments cuz there were, it all was so depressing? this game also doesn't

seem to be very otome but that doesn't mean it doesn't deliver. This is one of those

games that prioritizes its scenario over romance which might make you feel wanting

or with strong feels at the end but it also for better or for worse still manage to deliver classic

otomate tropes my first route did not disappoint in that regard! The names in this game

can be kind of weird though there are some normal ones (Lukas/Mathis/Ceres)

but then there's Yves(Eve), Capucine(Cappuccino), Dahut(Daath) or Camyu(Camille).

Needless to say I just write them down as I spelled it and for some it became meme(Cappuccino).😂

Then there's Ankou i'm pretty sure they meant Ankh, well its made for japanese folks

and they're gonna spell it in engrish how they want but to me it makes perfect sense.

 

Now this may sound a bit ranty... so you're warned but I try to be honest here:

This is really one of those story driven otome games that one must see through to the end

or better put do all routes to get the most of it. By default a lot of things makes Shuuen worse

than Piofiore or other games because you could avoid bad ends if you wanted, here they're forced 

on you for the sake of the overall plot which might be good if you care about it scenario wise.

Well at that point i'd honestly would want to see something happier for once.

Anyway if you want happy ends right off the bat or  fluff, its not that type of game

also as listed in my pro's and con's good endings are subjective but you may not find much

in the way of the usual happy ends in this game. There are best ends for all the guys

but they're kind of like an extra or better put a bandaid after the final route

i'm not even sure why they really locked them, there is no reason for it to be so.

I wouldn't be surprised if the despair would get to a person at some point. 

I think Shuuen no Virche is great if you did enjoy stuff like black wolves saga or don't mind

going through the bad ends in piofiore as you play the game but even then

those games were nowhere like Shuuen is. If you can't stomach despair/blood 

and such better pass. I think this otome game is written by a bunch of sadists!😅

I do not mind characters having to suffer for development but this is on a whole new level

of how bad can it get? well that bad! I hate how it has you think well this isn't so bad

only for it to literally have baited you with a little otome element its like they wrote

the Adolphe route first but then remembered hey what about those guys?! oh yea about that.

The only route I enjoyed by default was Mathis...... I think that says a lot! I do have problems

with the final route and  I wish I had known before hand it was gonna be 10 hours instead of

the usual 6 that it took the other routes. In it we spend so much time with characters

we already know trying to get some true end effect but I was honestly a drag for me

but on the positive side I liked Adolphe, Ankh and the underlying plot! there's really nothing wrong

with the cast or plot as its well written enough but yea... this game really hates it heroine

and I got so tired of it like for once I just want her to be happy but every odd is against her

do you blame me for saying OH MY GOD I AM SO DONE WITH THIS WHO HURT YOU?!

Like I don't even mind depressing stuff but this was on a whole other level...

but despite everything it still somehow manages to deliver as an otome game.

At the end of the day I might just have to accept this wasn't fully for me....

because it was so emotionally draining I was just left like this image below when I fullcomp'd

even with the extra endings relieving some of the initial despair.

If this all sounds right up your alley that's good but I think you'll either love or hate this game

you'd have to see it for yourself but I can't guarantee anything at any rate

Shuuen no Virche gets and 8/10 from me, its pretty good if you don't mind despair. >_>;

This is what PEAK FICTION does to you.

 

 So my play order was like this:

Lukas > Mathis > Scien > Ives > Final act.

This game has an enforced play order the first 3 routes can be done in whatever

order you want but need to be done to unlock the fourth and final act.

 

Like with Kimiyuki I won't be posting too many CG's due to request of writers

to not spoil too much so again it'll be my favorites only. Anyway here I will give you

a double spoiler warning so that if you want to play the game then please read no further.

If you're interested, got money and know japanese I recommend to buy it. 

AGAIN I recommend to stop reading here cuz the spoiler-free zone ends here

with the jump break and the rest is just spoiler babbles

or more like SCREAMING? cuz I definitely did albeit internally.

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kuro no Kiseki - Review

Box art is kinda lame so have one of the title screens(they change every chapter)

 Genre: RPG
Developer/publisher: Falcom
Platform: PS4.
Official Site: https://www.falcom.co.jp/kuro/

Release date: 2021-09-29.  

I wasn't sure if I should write a post about this game as I usually avoid falcom games.

Kuro no Kiseki is the latest installment in falcom's trails series

its a series famous for its over-arching story, characters and worldbuilding.

I'll try to refrain from touching any main plot points and when I do there's a huge warning

though there are some screenshots but without any context! I don't think the ones i've posted

ruin any aspect of the game that hasn't already been touched upon in prerelease info.

So if you want to go into this game blind with only basic info

then I do suggest to not read past the jump break.

Edit: apparantly falcom has released a patch exactly 1 month after release

that fixes some of the many problems at release(why do I feel like a beta-tester now?)

as well as make Van's scraft better and add some art work with Shizuna during final chapter!

I think its nice and shows they care about the game in the long run before moving to the next project.

So keep in mind my issues with say performance may not exist anymore...

 

Pro's/What I liked:

- Main cast+side.

- Overall plot and decent ending.

- BGM.

Con's/What I disliked:

- Most of the villains.

- Performance issues.

- A part of the last chapter.

 

 

OP movie, I think I watched it everytime I boot up the game

but you gotta wait a little on the title screen before it plays.

Kuro takes place in the Calvard republic, with a new MC and cast.

There are some returning characters as per usual but there role was minimal not to say 

they don't do anything, depending on L.G.C alignment a certain returnee or other character

at some point might even help you. This game can be pretty dark, focuses a lot on grey areas...

anyway its an alright start to a new arc but perhaps might have been better if it was a little shorter

overall I still liked it though! 7.5 out of 10.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some thoughts on Blue Reflection Ray

I don't usually write about anime, for some reason I just wanted to write a few words on it

mostly to take my mind away from other things and because this anime is kind of underrated

no one really talks about it anyway because what is a blue reflection?🤔

Keep in mind this post is written as of episode 22 I think I have seen more than enough to write

a post about it, funny thing last week I was playing Arise and for a moment I was like hey a new

episode is out but my mind instantly went nah and then I had to watch two eps the next week.💀

This actually worked in my favor but you know that feel when you can't be arsed to watch it weekly.

They truly got me though cuz I was interested in how it would tie to the games... sigh

 

Pro's

- The characters.

 

Con's

- Literally everything else.

Needless to say since i'm discussing the series as a whole so there are some light spoilers.

Tales of Arise - review

Genre: RPG
Developer/publisher: Bandai Namco.
Platform: PS4,PS5,PC,Xbone.
Official Site: https://en.bandainamcoent.eu/tales-of/tales-of-arise
Release date: 2021-9-10.

 

Wasn't sure if I was going to write about this game... or even like it cuz at first sight

it seemed rather edgy with some shining tears/wind vibes.

Just by watching the OP you could see what i'm talking about that is if you're familiar with that trope...

So my initial impressions of Tales of Arise were kind of hmmmmm? its no wonder after

what happened with Zestiria and Berseria trying to fix it that bait and switch mess

either way I was pleasantly surprised Arise turned out better than I expected!

Pro's

- excellent story(better than i expected atleast).

- a likable cast of characters that can grow on you.

- Plenty of side content to keep you busy.

Con's

- Bosses can be a bit unforgiving.

- CP system is terrible.

- Loading screens are a plenty(kinda makes me nostalgic) 

There won't be any plot spoilers discussed in this post but there will be a few screenshots without much context

I should add here that there is a minor one in a screen but I don't really consider Alphen's mask thingy

that much of a spoiler considering one could unmask him with dlc stuff right from the start (weird)

needless to say I had to add this warning here since this game is fairly new i've made

those screens as small as possible so you can scroll past however considering the jpn

twitter openly posted artwork and you can see his face on dlc item the dev's didn't really care......

Kimi wa Yukima ni Koinegau - review

Genre: Otome/simulation VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/kimiyuki/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v29906
Release date: 2021-07-29.

 

Finally time for another otome game after I ended up skipping paradigm paradox

cuz jpn reviews really weren't doing that one any favors, going in all I knew about Kimiyuki

was that it was going to be a tearjerker/nakige in an old timey setting. Seiyuu cast is a mix

of the popular ones and some newer talent among one i've never heard before

which was nice, other than that this game was pretty long and took half a month to complete! though

I did push through the last two routes and well during the final one I hardly could put it down.😅

The op movie is pretty decent, and I often just let it play.

 

 

Pro's

- Surprisingly comedic, lot's of cute scenes with the guy(s).

- Unique and self contained, routes however to understand the plot you must do all the routes.

- Art, gorgeous and good variety of CG's.

- Music fit the theme/mood of the game.

- Most if not all the main guys were likable.

Con's

- Pacing, due to making time for fun and cute romance and flesh out

sub characters ties with the plot it all can drag on.

- Not all routes are as interesting, the character might really save it depending on taste.

- Half the time I did wonder... what does this game try to be???

 

General plot:

Our heroine Suzuno is an orphan who can see some weird thread of emotion that more often

than not leads to doom she was chased away by villagers and being called a monster by them...

despite that she's surprisingly carefree and optimistic.

That thread she sees is an ill omen and the villagers want nothing to do with it...

 one day she meets a man named Tomonari whom ends up inviting her to come to edo with him

its then she meets the oniwaban which is like a band of samurai's under command of the shogun.

Why not? why not go with them when your fellow villagers call you a demon-possesed youkai?!

Oh and apparently she is also a descendant of the haku-seki clan.

Tomonari and Kunitaka are so nice to Suzuno as they introduce her to the other

oniwaban and edo, faith in humanity has been restored... somewhat.

The rest of the plot of this game involves Suzuno use her powers and help the oniwaban

there is far too much to quickly digest but Kiko's are basically seen as tools to kill demons

and have no emotion which is why Suzu-chan can't see anything from them

the funny part is that the kiko's are surprisingly... free-spirited.😅

Literally most of the oniwaban as they try to do their job.

The art in this game is gorgeous the backgrounds are decent enough.

Most important characters had a sprite and there were a lot of sub chara's so that was nice.

The music is fitting and there's an interesting cast of characters which was enough

to get excited to find out what the story in this game was about

which without spoilers was just okay really this is a story driven game

that actually manages to deliver the romantic moments throughout as well but boy is it long!

had I not planned some evenings for this I would have taken longer to complete it.

There were plenty of CG's and they happen when you would like to see them

which is really good especially after the last otome game I played.

Probably one of my favourite common route group cg's.

 There are 3 types of endings bad sad and best, it doesn't really matter which order

I think I was glad I did Kinji's sad end last because I needed a moment after it.

There aren't that many bad ends, 1 per character Tomonari is a slight exception to this....

Other than that the system in general was just basic choices and nothing complicated.

The heroine Suzuno was alright, she has her circumstances but she wasn't annoying or anything

considering her optimism, I thought it was easy to relate to her situation in the beginning. 

Suzuno will point out if something worries her due to her ability to see threads of doom

and act on her own but that last bit might not be a good thing most of the time...

cuz she can't really fight back on her own i'll add to it that she is quite pure and some things

might fly over her head which in turn can lead to some hilarious situations.

Suzuno is also not a fighter, though she did have her moments 

and she stood out the most in Yoichi and Genjurou routes.

Common route was okay in terms of introducing everything and world view, they introduced

some more characters after the talk with the shogun and I did struggle to remember

all their names but atleast they had some unique personalities but so I was able to

identify them more easily as emo guy(Kyoushiro), mr nice guy(Mitsushige)

and megane brat(Yabuta).😅 This game is slow paced but all of the routes were unique

even if common route was shared the stories varied heavily though.

Its theme was advertised as to be sad but it has rather snappy dialogue & there were plenty

of funny and cute scenes unfortunately due to this the overall pacing doesn't feel too good.

Most of the main guys were really nice except one of them but he had his reasons really, you'd

have to decide for yourself. Honestly I didn't want anything bad to happen to them

so considering the theme this was working as intended.

But it is kinda obvious now that if you thought this would be a tragic historic fantasy

then I have to disappoint! Kimiyuki was actually more comedic than I ever expected it to be. Considering they brought in iwai yuki a japanese comedian it all makes sense now.

 The overall production values are also quite high, but it did  have a bit of a slow start

all things considered  I think it was necessary to understand the setting.

TBH I want to like this game more but it got a few problems and that is it doesn't

really know what it wants to be sometimes! the pacing issues are so there, I don't mind

that there are cute or funny scenes in fact I welcomed them but more often than not but

the story pacing is awful, it would drag on a lot atleast romance didn't disappoint me...

they often focus so much on side characters that i'm like what was it we were doing again?

Like the first route I did, Kunitaka was a bit boring in terms of plot but other than that

I still manage to enjoy it, I know I enjoyed Kinji and Yoichi's route the most overall

and even Genjurou had a better written plot and villain(annoying as he was)

but yea the writing quality is all over the place we have lots of route that don't have much to do

with the real plot and you won't make sense of anything till the locked routes.

A common problem in otome game land...  atleast I did think they balanced 

the romance with whatever plot together was going on so you got some cute moments

and more serious stuff while learning more but like I already said the writing quality varied heavily.

I did wonder a little about the Kiko's being emotionless

and are tools to wipe out youkai/yoika but they're so free spirited???

but its more like they're not fully capable of being human like its obvious they can be a bit

insensitive at times some more than others, needless to say these guys aren't perfect

and they don't need to be.

So despite this being advertised as a tearjerker... you're mostly in for a good time! mostly... yes.

so this is actually more of a romantic comedy really that in a way is actually a bit tender.

If you end up getting this just enjoy the ride,but its probably better to not have too much

expectations because like I mentioned above not all routes were as interesting cuz it did get slow

but that might be because it tried to focus on side characters as well! so bottom line is

this game tried to do too much things at once! which lead to a long game in general.

For what its worth it was a decent wafuu otome game the only problem is the language really

its not beginner friendly but seems like Aksys is bringing this over... some day.

Sigh aksys I do hope they won't make a mess of it because this is the only way

people can enjoy the games if they don't know jpn... I AM WORRIED and wanna express this

cuz this game does have a lot of terms and old timey so this might be more than they can chew.

 

So if you're in the mood for an wafuu otome game with a decent enough plot, don't mind

a slow start/slowburn, a little bit of mystery and fun/cute scenes this might be for you!

but yea if this otome game number 150 you might not be able to enjoy it as much compared

to someone who only has played a few... I think this is only fair cuz I played a bunch

and was able to enjoy this for the most part so your mileage might vary.

Even so the last route in this game made everything fit so I think it was pretty solid?

enough for me to give it an 8,5/10 like there were 6 routes and I enjoyed at least 3/4 of them

so I think the final score is only fair, considering production values and everything else.

(8.5/10 if bias, 6/10 for non bias)

IDK if there was a recommended order but there were routes that was locked behind

some others which was Tomonari who unlocks Otarou so you have to do Kunitaka,

Yoichi OR Genjurou and Kinji first! but it is funny they will let you into the route of Otarou

for a hot minute but will default to some abrupt end.😔 Don't be me...

My play order: Kunitaka > Kinji > Yoichi > Genjurou > Tomonari > Otarou.

The routes in bold have no restriction so feel free to mix that up but yea if you care about

story there's not much you can do about the last two routes. Yoichi is the only one that is an

odd ball, it was also very otome BUT his route does hint at something that will be explained later

so I don't think you should save him for last cuz an important plot detail gets spoiled about him

at the end of Otarou's so if I had to recommend anything it would be

exactly the same order as mine except maybe switch Yoichi and Genjurou around.

Character babbles after the jump, however be advised that there will be spoilers beyond this point though to respect the wishes of the developers I will not be sharing too many CG

and only my favorites. So if you wish to remain spoiler-free then the review ends here! This is

due to the mystery aspect of this game, so if you really REALLY are going to play it in the

future I do say to not read past this point. Its better to not know too much with this game.

 

Angelique Luminarise - review

 Genre: Otome/simulation VN.
Developer/publisher: KOEI/ruby party.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.gamecity.ne.jp/anmina/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v28833
Release date: 20/05/20.

I am not too fond of simulation genre of otome games but I still got this game

after I was impressed with the demo, as its base plot was a bit more captivating

than my entire experience with retour granted it was one route...

I remember trying Brian even but lost interest welp, time to try again? 

 

Pro's

- Interesting characters, was motivated to do multiple character ends.

- Ange's personality, sometimes she can be sassy.

- Art, I like the art style.

 

Con's

- Starts off strong but falls flat in the end... (none if any conflict as well.)

- Gameplay is pretty much a reskin of retour albeit with QoL improvements.

- It is rather short, especially on 2nd+ play.

- Reusing CG's with slightly different background taking up slots in the gallery like its 2010.

 

The queen is MISSING and they're in need of a new one.

 

Plot/prologue

Ange who after a hard day of work went for a drink and laments her life's choices

then gets offered with the choice of becoming a  queen and randomly signs it cuz why not!

Little did she know some pretty boi on a pegasus showed up to take her to her new job.

 I liked how this was all done in manga form... really added some humor to it

before it switced back to regular VN mode, was nice while it lasted.

Ange doesn't understand but the pretty boy who's name is Yue explained it all...

but did a poor job so Vergil had to jump in to explain it in a way Ange understood.

In short: Ange signed a contract and was isekai'd to a new world to become a candidate

to be queen of the cosmos, Ange thought that contract paper was a joke but here we are.

There is also another candidate to be the queen, Reina who like Ange also just got here

and is willing to answer any further questions Ange might have, Reina is also her rival

who has no intention to lose! In terms of other characters there's Cyrus who is Ange's butler.

Cyrus also interrogates Ange some of his questions will determine compatibility such as

birthday/bloodtype or likes/dislikes you could say he's simply one hell of a butler, also is it just me

or do I get sebastian vibes from him. >_> Unfortunately Cyrus is not romanceable

like the others which is such a shame because just from the prologue he really grew on me.

The chemistry amongst the guardians was also nice so events with them were nice most of the time.

The two candidates are given their own planet to raise with the help of the elements

that the guardians possess. This is a series staple and it wouldn't be Angelique if it wasn't.

Cyrus knows when to joke around as well some times it was good other times it was eh

and I was just like my dude what're you smoking?! Tyler the engineer was cute

as well too bad he's not romanceable, ah the terashima curse strikes again!

Reina might not be romanceable but atleast she and Ange can hang out.

 

Gameplay like other entries includes simulation parts and there is a day/time limit to get things done

though i'm not sure how long we are allowed to take, probably best to not take too long.

Like with retour you have to manage your time of chasing bishies with being a candidate

for the queen. Most of the gameplay flow is similar to retour but they have tweaked some things.

There is still some RNG involved but it is much less of a hassle which made it easier to replay

and there are timed choices in which a character may quiz you during a date but most of these

are easy if you've been paying attention during your gameplay. Like for example

is your rival(or yours development higher or lower? Do you remember x and what was it? etc.

Thankfully the first dates no longer have you select lots random questions which is a blessing

there's still some randomness but not as bad as in retour,  I was always stressed back then

cuz of RNG and higher potential of saying the wrong things that would ruin the mood of a date.

If you date a lot the guys and get perfect answer on the quiz they may give Ange a present

for me it only happened with Vergil, Yue &Noa, you can also give the guys presents

but you have to buy it on a holiday but figuring out what they like was another thing...

though affection was plenty so that was not a big deal!

Gameplay also feels less monotonous because some things can be automated

a blessing on multiple playthroughs. Whatever difficulty you select will affect

Reina's behavior making it either easier or harder to get through it.

I recommend easy because hard makes everything a pain............

Like retour you don't need a guide as long as you save a lot because there is a chance you

select a wrong choice during events that results in heartbreak so you cannot proceed events

for me Lorenzo's events were especially bad with this I couldn't find the right thing to say.😔

The only thing I really hated was the RNG involved with the confession or be confessed at events

and how there's 1 cg locked behind being lovers that for some had asinine requirements

but atleast the game is nice enough to tell you how to get it so its not that bad.

If you're curious about this entry  and are still on the fence about the aforementioned gameplay flow

there's a demo/trial on the japanese eshop, wish more otome dev's would do this tbh.

 

 The vibes were nice, I got interested in a few of the love interest just from the prologue

Zeno's precious and Vergil totally not from the devil may cry series also seemed interesting.

The characters all had a personality to them outside of their events... but a lot of it was

random and I couldn't keep track of some of their stories so that was a bummer.

I liked a event were Vergil teased Yue during a game of words.😂 On another note

the heroine Ange is 25 years old! which certainly made things a bit more interesting?

As for the love interests  the youngest ones are 18 and 19 with the others being in the mid/late 20's.

Seiyuu: With the exception of Satou Takuya and Shimazaki Nobunaga most of the seiyuu talent

are all relatively unknown which is nice sometimes even I am tired of hearing the same old va's

also glad they didn't use those ossan's because some of them like Zephel's VA really

had to try hard reprise their role the only exception was Koyasu but that's probably

because Koyasu is still very active as a seiyuu unlike some of the cast in retour.

Rest assured that this is not the case here which lead to a better listening experience.

Some guys have their own thing going on its more obvious with Kanata the youngest of the

guardians he's much like Ange and still getting used to his new life there if you don't know which

guy to go for I think Kanata might be a good pick? but still it might be better to pick the guy

which really interest you and make the most out of your first play because I ran out of steam quickly

cuz this game wasn't that fun to sit through multiple times, it isn't very interesting either in terms of plot. Not sure about the rivalry but as long as you're trying there shouldn't be a problem, only once

I fell behind & sorta sat on my ass in the beginning cuz I was thinking about Vergil.😜

They also gave Ange and Reina backgrounds that influenced who they are as a character and their

relationship but that's sorta it too. If you want to complete all events, well uh good luck with that?

there are lots of different variations of events. I was pretty satisfied with just getting

the romantic ends as well as full gallery or almost cuz I couldn't be arsed to get

the last bar cg for 2 characters, which thankfully wasn't worth that much. Other than that

its probably disappointing there was no real plot outside of the guys events, it was mostly relaxing

and everyone was nice much like in retour maybe too nice, even if things don't work out

in terms of love there's no hard feelings they might even still want to spend the day.

Its great if you don't want much going on but yea don't expect a plot like in

the haruka games, I found this disappointing because it started off well enough but this might

as well be an angelique thing, you have the goal and choice to romance but not much else to it.

The character events and love ends really are the best thing the game has to offer!

 

IMO it was alright... just okay at best, Koei managed to sell it to me

from the trial but its mostly cuz of the characters so they definitely did something right?

But there is also something wrong, the lack of CG events and reusing

1 cg scene 3 times, only change is the background. Come on what year is this? I expect

something like that from back around 2010. There are many times I wonder why there

was a lack of them, even retour had a few cg's when you go out visiting that world's town

or a dance cg etc, luminarise does it too but really awkwardly, disconnected from the flow

and not fun to have to fetch it if you didn't visit said location thrice. Some have weird conditions

like visit the first time as lovers but if you visit before being lovers that you get a different version

of the event.😒 See what I mean by asinine? god forbid you visit misty canal with Kanata

before being lovers cuz there goes your chance of seeing one of the few CG events.

Atleast most mini event were enjoyable but i'm just disappointed there are hardly

any CG's spread out over the romance events, Further more there are no real routes

and the game is a giant common route filled with individual events which aren't very long, if you

try to go for one you will trigger a bunch of the others especially if you automate to much.

Sometimes there would be guy only events. I couldn't keep track or be interested in those cuz they happened in no particular order they weren't that interesting either so nothing of value was lost.

 

This game is very short not like retour was much better at that.... in that game despite enjoying Zephel's

events and vibing with some guys from time to time, that was all that there's to it! Luminarise is the same in that regard. So I realize maybe simulation games just aren't for me! cuz by the time

I got to the final route of the game I was just about done with it.

Vergil is my best boi!

 Overall I like most of the characters, general plot and can stand the gameplay

more than retour due to QoL improvements. But really my first play was the most fun

and most of the fun and interest disappeared on subsequent plays leading to me

running out of steam and then I also felt bad about betraying Vergil when going for others

cuz I liked him more than Kanata whom I just wanna cheer on not romance.😓

If there was any character I had trouble liking it was Milan his romance events were off-putting

but outside of that he was likeable. I much preferred to spend my time with Zeno he is too precious.

Both Shuri & Felix were a surprise for me cuz I was turned off at first but they both grew on me!

There might be some characters you just don't like which for me was Milan and Lorenzo.

Noa's likeable enough and I don't hate him but everything about his character

has me going, I have seen this somewhere before have I? Yue on the other hand is a cutiepie!

Whoever ends up being your fav will depend on personal taste really.

The stories in the character events varied heavily but there were some life lessons that could

seen or learned from it so I don't think it was all that bad, it just makes up for the main plot

being lacklustre which was just there to set things up. This can be a nice otome game if you let it!

by doing all routes you might notice how a lot of things are just kinda the same.

6.5/10

Well I think this is okay if you like romance simulators and never played an angelique

game and are new to this but other than that it kind of fell flat despite starting out strong

the lore and all is interesting but don't play it for the plot... do it for THEM bishies.

Once more I recommend trying out the demo on the JP eshop to get a feel of it

the japanese is pretty easy too so its a good game to test japanese on. I say that

because this game is quite expensive it might just be KOEI tax at this point

but i'm more inclined to blame this on the pandemic for it being the way it is

or maybe that's just me trying to be nice and cut them some slack?

 

End of non spoiler section, route spoilers after the jump.

Lover pretend (otome game) - review

Genre: Otome/VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/lp/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v22986
Release date: 25/03/21.

 

After the disappointment that was Ryza 2 and not much otome games coming out

I decided to get one of their newest release lover pretend a shot because

the premise seemed interesting and the art is gorgeous... AND it has an all-star seiyuu cast.

Other than that I had no real expectations...

Pro's

- Interesting story, unique character-focused routes.

- Likeable heroine.

- Art.

- Catchy BGM. 

- Light-hearted nothing too serious.

Con's

- Too many bad ends that don't add much of value.

- Some routes have loose ends that do not properly get resolved.

- The common route can get a tad repetitive by route 4.

 

Plot/characters

Chiyuki our heroine has two dreams on is to fulfill her deceased mom's dream to be a writer

the other to find her biological father whom she never met. The clues to him

seem to be in some script her mom wrote before she have birth.

Chiyuki thinks hmm maybe the people involved with my moms work may know something!

by some string of events beyond her control she finds herself cast in a drama herself

and has to pretend to fall in love while never really having done so.😅

Actually this sounds like a recipe for disaster...

Most of the guys are all popular too so Chiyuki has to deal with some of their admirers/fans

oh well atleast there was some conflict so it wasn't boring at all.

I did like Chiyuki a lot though she her personality was great whether it was telling

Yukito to go buzz off or trying to keep her act together... she had off moments

but all in all she was pretty human! which might be why I liked her so much

she knew what she wanted and went for it, the poster boy Kazuma was great too

the best friend Chiyuki could have or maybe as a lover too? who knows... but his route

I wasn't a fan of it. Yukito was ok but his route was full of general idol bullshittery with him being

a massive flirt  but I gotta admit I was trash for him by the time it was over. (wait what...? yeah.)

TFW I find out i'm trash for yet another 2d man...

Harumi is gonna be a no from me as he's more like a little bro. UwU

Riku was fine in more ways than one... his route was quite entertaining

and out of all for me he was an easy favorite. Asagi is well okay I guess?

he's the only one I don't have a strong opinion of might've been cuz his route was rather short.

System

The director of WoF,Reine and VB gave us his newest masterpiece 'pretend time'

but atleast this system actually somewhat works with the story flow and whenever there's some

problematic situation Chiyuki has to pretend to get out of it or something like that.

This system is basically just an excuse for plot development and only a handful

actually involve pretending. In the routes of Riku and Yukito it was good. For Harumi it was

okay at best, in Kazuma it wasn't really necessary and in Asagi it was like pretending? what's that.

Like in the beginning Chiyuki pretending to know how to be a girlfriend to having to explain

she has a reason to be around Harumi was good or Riku trying to pretend to be lovers

for personal reasons. Well this is miles better than the RNG in WoF

or that weird barricade breaking system in variable barricade.

With it being similar to reine des fleur also means each guy has like 4 bad ends...😱

most are just fail ends and don't add much but atleast you get prompted to save

before it starts so its actually very forgiving, thank you otomate.

It does get tiring having to do all endings but good news! there's no need for CG completion

maybe personal satisfaction........ so you can always do it, I gave up after Yukito's.

Atleast there's the option to skip pretend times you've already done and min/max affection you gain from it which made it even much more bearable, wow otomate really learned from reine huh? (maybe)

 

This was MOSTLY a light-hearted otome game about the ups and downs in the acting world

without it being too deep it still managed to tell a decent but entertaining story

and with the exception of one route whatever drama there was in the routes

didn't feel like it was dragging it down too much. The heroine was proactive and sassy

which lead to some hilarious scenes, overall she was pretty great.

Depending on the route the title of the script she writes changes as well.

I want to add... that this games theme really is more or less about COMMUNICATION

the characters are not perfect they have flaws and it might require some understanding

Harumi is literally just a kid with a less than ideal family situation but was willing

to IMPROVE and GROW despite that, the heroine being understanding definitely helped

if you truly want a healthy relationship with anyone romantic or not it is important

to be there for someone even if they said mean things and IMO this otome game did really well

which out of all routes I had to pick Harumi as the example but they all pretty much came down to it.

I mean you could dump someone for it too and sometimes you'll have to throw in the towel

and someone might be beyond your help but that's not what a game should be about

even if something looks bad there is still hope. Afterall if you give up its all over.

 

The common route served its purpose in setting up the potential pair

it was neither too long or too short. It made it feel like this game was from years ago.😂

Story was good at slowly revealing more information and her fulfilling her dreams but of course

some was halted based on who you go for as the guys problems were more important.

This is one of those where certain information is locked into the hidden route.

Which leads to routes being more or less self-contained, Yukito, Harumi being the biggest

offenders and to some extend Riku but it felt they kinda blue balled that one.  Don't get me

started on Kazuma... Kaz... oh you cute but dumb boy! the route was cute and all but then

you get hit with PAIN that is like when a truck hits you that came out of nowhere😓

idk it felt like the writer had a block and struggled trying to make something of it

because unlike the other routes the whole mood did a 180.

Either way none of the characters were terrible but the routes sure were... unique!

if any route managed to surprise me it was Harumi, his is the one that truly stands apart

from say Yukito or Riku. Kaz doesn't compare to any route if you do his you'll know why.

There were also a bunch of bonus scenarios you can read after you finish the routes

some with a extra cg others which was nice.

I think this otome is perfect if you're in the mood for something that has a solid cast with

a decent enough plot going on to keep you invested in it as a whole while you chase bishies.

Though that didn't stop it from some routes being less interesting as a whole

but i've played enough VN to know by now this is all too common.

Atleast the routes never bored me if anything I was a little lost at the direction of Harumi's route

both him and Yukito are probably the safest picks 1st play but it shouldn't matter much.

Lover Pretend had a better plot and more interesting routes than the last otome game I had played

which when looking back was quite barebones when compared to this game

it may have been more dramatic as well but hey its about acting? and much like

variable barricade these boys are far from perfect... all have their own issues.

The only thing that I think might be bad is the high amount of bad ends that don't have much of value

and making one important plot thread into a loose end that do not properly get resolved

till the final route which kinda makes sense buuut yeah a FD could fix this

but you can't always bet on that happening. At the very least all routes were enjoyable enough

that I could turn a blind eye to this. To be fair games like code:realize also did this...

so I do not make a big deal of it any more than needed.

All things considered, I didn't expect much and almost passed on it but managed to enjoy it anyway.

For what its worth this was a pretty okay otome game!

8,5/10

My play order: Yukito > Harumi > Riku > Kazuma > Asagi.

Which I thought was fine and the order doesn't matter that much might say Yukito or Harumi first

and no choice but to do Asagi last as he's locked till you do all.

 

That ends the non spoiler section, usual spoiler babbles after the jump.

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