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.
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.
Lukas Proust.
CV: Hirakawa Daisuke.
 |
| He had me in the first half NGL. |
He is the oldest and almost age 23... which means he's the closest to imminent death
which is why he's always sickly and coughing a lot but like he is so sweet
and he takes care of/teaches the kids urgh this man deserves the world.
Unfortunately all I hear when he speaks is Cao Lee/Rufus just with a nicer tone.😅
Lukas makes me scream............... he's so sweet and the route was relaxing
while still carrying a hint of suspense. Thought it to be a healing route IT WAS NOT AT ALL.
 |
| GOODNESS GRACIOUS... |
Though I can understand if people said this route was boring especially in the first half
but I think it was necessary. The second half... well maybe you expected it? maybe
not but well Lukas is very much a hiradai character! he is very likable though
and his back story was very well written. I say, maybe I just got attached.
Lukas believes that by doing god's work he'll save Nadia, his sister even if it means killing
he works for Cappuccino that guy and his exorcist troupe who have some scheme of trying
to create true human beings... by experimenting on people by appearing as a doctor as well
yes this all sounds good not. Anyway because Lukas is so fond of Ceres by now and gets along
with Nadia he locks her up in a bird cage in his room cuz she's such a good girl. HONESTLY
I WAS EXPECTING SOMETHING LIKE THIS because he was so nice to her. GOD DAMMIT
OTOMATE. It may have been kinda obvious but he is the hooded man with the halbard.
despite my screaming I brought this upon myself the warning signs were all over.
Lukas calls her his angel, no wonder he was so caring and protective... AAAAAAAAAA~
He brings her food and such and treats her like a bird in a cage but still let's Ceres see Sarome
and the others most likely cuz she was being a good girl~. Ceres is convinced she likes him
and confesses this and our boy just can't contain himself. He even apologizes for his behavior
but he also likes her and cherishes her and just wants to protect Ceres, his angel.
 |
| Bonus points for smut. |
he sees himself as a monster or that's what he became after he lost his parents.
Basically Lukas is what you get if you like mix Toma and saint-germain....
Anyway Nadia's doing just peachy thanks to Scien's teams research too.
Lukas randomly started choking Ceres infront of Nadia which made her go wtf pls don't?
no violence please and made him snap out of it. Cappuccino walks in and just makes it all worse
and basically backstabs Lukas who starts vomiting blood at the news and gets taken away.
Ceres gets thrown into the cage and Lukas goes off to stop Cappuccino's men trying to use his sister.
He comes back, Cappuccino shows up, saying how he basically put him up to reliving
and watching his sister die over and over, turning Luka into a murderer.
Ceres tries to comfort him after Cappuccino leaves.... cuz he made Luka despair
cuz he honestly just wanted to live with his sister in peace. Anyway Ceres decides to help him
and decide to go see his sister but then they found out Cappuccino took the real one away
and then Lukas loses it asking where the fuck his real sister was and then he killed her again
the real one is at Cappuccino's side like a lab rat. Turns out Cappuccino was the one
that took his parents from him and his real name is Audi. Scien apparently
kicked him out of his team too so he had to start from scratch so these past
8 years Audi has been using Lukas and his sister to further his own goals
now that Lukas knows and tried to drag Ceres and his sister into it he can't overlook it
even more so how Cappuccino used his sister to make a twisted creature that he calls his bride.
And then Lukas slowly loses it, Ceres runs away with him but some hooded man stabs Lukas
who is delirious and has some eureka moment that tells him to go kill Cappuccino
and that's how he'll make peace for his sister and himself but he remembers Ceres.
and runs off going off on a killing spree and is convinced Scien is his enemy.
Ankou sacrifices himself to bring sense back into Lukas... and Ceres dies in the process
he said he did warn her that Lukas could be dangerous and here we are.
Lukas thinks she is asleep so he brings back her corpse to the cage as if
she was alive, time passes & apparently to him her skeleton looks nice as well
he'll stay with her till the moment he dies himself.😭 In another end: Ceres lives
but ends up taking the blame for all the killing... and gets a public execution.😢
End 3: Ceres ends up going with Adolphe but Lukas finds her and catches her while Adolphe
wasn't looking. Lukas then strangles her to death... cuz she is a bad girl.😱
End 4: Ceres ends up telling Sarome about Lukas and he found out
so he hands her to Cappuccino to experiment on. 😨
End 5: When she was sleeping in his room, she ends up being killed.
There were two other ends too but it was basically just common route dead ends
as well as an end where she isn't able to convince Ankh who will just have her soul as is.
It made no sense why they locked it, Ankh apparently kills Lukas and he doesn't
want to be reborn and takes up all the sins with him into death but Ceres won't let him.Cappuccino gets raided by Lukas who is barely alive as very angry and stabby
for everything that bastard did but Cappuccino still has a clone to shield himself with
but for some reason Lukas easily takes it out and he reveals how Daath was involved in it
but Lukas doesn't buy it and says there's nothing to save himself from his wrath
and for some reason gets Nadia to work with him and regains her will and kills Cappuccino
after she asks her brother to finish her off, the bonds of family be strong today
but Lukas is at his limit and all Ceres can do is comfort his last moments
or so he thinks, he isn't ready to know mister IQ9999 still had a back up and Ankh
watches a little girl lay a flower on his grave, before a boy calls her back.
Ankh can only hope that this time they will be happy..... as well as Ceres.
 |
| His best end cg was too sad... so I chose this one instead. |
Honestly I thought the route was pretty good not a big fan of the cage stuff
but eh I suspected something like this could be possible just didn't expect them to do it.
Guess its time to collect the other ends and do other routes to unlock the best end also wtf is up
with the high amount of other bad ends? what a mine field there literally isn't any good outcome
if you do not do all routes? what I am more upset about why the fuck go for Scien's crew
and not that motherfucker Cappuccino??!! but he was delirious as fuck so it didn't matter.
Not sure if it was a good thing to do this route first but... even after doing it while I can't
form a strong opinion I do kinda feel bad for him and want Lukas to be happy.
The best end was kinda disappointed but it does carry a little bit of hope
but its without a doubt that Lukas got the short end of the stick here and I think even if
it can be a good end to his story his best end still sucks the most out of all.
~
Mathis Claude.
CV: Amasaki Kouhei.
Probably the cutest out of the bunch, he's a bit shy though the death of his brother
Camyu upsets him and wants revenge but I don't want him to cuz he is precious.
Jean is his butler, he treats him with utmost respect and wants Ceres to help him
and so she does by becoming a maid😲, what a lucky bocchan Mathis is.👀👀👀
I did like how Ceres's sprite actually changed for this route.😅 There were also
less choices but all things considered it made sense being a submissive maid and all.
Anyway not much happens as Ceres went about her business, Mathis was uguu'ing and very cute.
or he'd get punished which let to him being really shy and withdrawn as he tries to be a good heir.
The only person who was good to him was his brother... whom always told him stories
and got him interested in the outside world/writing and such. Claude is very happy now though
so he gives Ceres a book, which made her happy as well urgh I ship this too much
but eh shit eventually bricks and person Mathis loaths shows up for another killing spree
cuz this person killed his brother, Mathis shoves some kid in the middle of it all into Ceres's arms
while yelling she has nothing to do with it and to get out of his way trying to get revenge.😞
Later he is hold up in his room holding a knife.... Ceres has to go and calm him down
but he is acting so annoyed I felt bad for her. Mathis has a fever and he honestly
wants to stop seeking vengeance and just live peacefully along with her... but he can't
cuz the feeling is so overwhelming. Le depressioni. Mathis doesn't want to involve her since
he likes her and wants to finish of his business asap. Mathis crossdresses and Ceres is convinced
he is taking all this from a fucking book. Anyway he is so obsessed he keeps chasing
who he thinks is the killer of his brother. >_> Turns out the memory transplant was incomplete
which lead to Mathis only getting half the story and going ape-shit. Jean knew all along and was the
supposedly murdered brother Camyu which also means he's been orchestrating this whole shit.
Mathis is a homunculi Camyu created by sacrifcing countless women.
PEAK FICTION.
Then we get Camyu's sob story of how he wanted to marry Rosalie before she got killed
in front of him by some jealous bitch saying its all her fault part of which he already told Mathis.
Jean is doing all this so he can bring Rosalie back to life but he never really succeeded
but is still trying by any means necessary, uh idk about you but Jean err Camyu is creeping me out.
Camyu explains himself and well he's pretty much the villain ariund town Mathis wants dead
who is just kinda defeated at this revelation and wants Camyu to leave Ceres out of it but
apparently this can't happen cuz Ceres was the trigger for Mathis to awaken his memories of love.
When you realize Camyu be doing all this to be reunited with his deceased lover... its not so bad
as that Cappuccine creep who was after Lukas's sister. Anyway cuz Camyu's so nice he gives them
like the rest of the day before he continues his dumb experiment. Mathis is convinced
the only reason he even likes Ceres is cuz she looks like Rosalie, he wants her to run away
from him and be happy before its too late. Ceres looking back can't do that...
and they continue the experiments but for some reason Camyu isn't satisfied
and takes drastic measures which results in Mathis going loco and torturing Ceres to death
all because this motherfucker is using Mathis to become a substitute for his death lover.😱
Mathis realizes what he had done but then starts getting really creepy and actually
starts seeing Ceres as Rosalie. Camyu is happy with this result no less.
but Jean was one step ahead of the game and send in a clone so now the real Jean
is with Ceres who forces her to cooperate just a little longer.😨😨😨
In the best end: Mathis got stabbed to snap himself out of it... before he lost it completely
and they attempt to escape but Camyu noticed and he despairs his plan is now ruined
but Mathis tries one last time to talk no jutsu and tells his butler to move the fuck on
cuz honestly this man be stuck in the past, he should try to love her in the present not a past version
but for some reason he still won't listen and ends up destroying the lab, Mathis begs him
to run with him but he really can't its not like they're actually related, Jean takes the L
and our couple moves on from all this, all's well that ends well.
in the game even if Mathis technically died here in a way, the instant they met again
Mathis knew that he'd wanted to be with Ceres till the end once more.💕💕💕
Yea so uh while I think the story was very good, I did not like that ending
ugh Mathis didn't deserve this and neither did Ceres. Needless to say
when I was done with the route it left me with some hard feelings.
Oh also Camyu is actually written as Camille but idk I just keep being a clown.🤡
IDK why but half of the time I was howling at the plot twist, which btw was pretty peak
in a way the end doesn't seem to be that bad but when you consider
Mathis literally becomes Camyu and Ceres Rosalie its just a mindfuck bad end.
Well at the very least by default there were only two endings here so it wasn't too bad
and I say that lightly, man idk there really are no good endings the first around eh?
This route also felt pretty short and I didn't write much about it... honestly if I had
to compare to the rest of the routes Mathis's route is the most self-contained
and the most well rounded if we include the best ending.
~
Scien Brofiise.
CV: Hosoya Yoshimasa.
 |
| NGL he is hot... |
he's not really that nice of a person imo had a hard time liking him
Hosoyan's voice didn't really help cuz he sounded so... bored 90% of the time
or maybe conversersing is supposed to bore him so he's coping.
Anyway I keep reading his last name as brofist and I don't know WHY, don't ask just a heads up.🤡
Its funny how in the last route Ceres became a maid... but this guy Scien may have needed it much more. God his room is a mess this guy can't organize his junk its everywhere or maybe he's more
comfy in it like this. Most of the techno babbles in the route were lost on me especially with that tone.
Sarome tells Ceres he's a lost cause and becareful, he's a genius scientist
with a reputation leading the development on what could save them all someday.
Ah yes now it makes sense why he sounds so damn tired/monotone he's got a lot on his plate.
Scien be ready to pick up Ceres but the others be like oh no you don't
even Ankou be like hey if you choose this Scien guy its no good! what if he found out?
lmao I think the only guy Ankou wasn't on the fence about was Mathis right? atleast not this much
it gets to the point where Ankou says he might personally kill Scien if it goes wrong.😱😱😱
Ceres decides to do it anyway and well... Scien has no problems with that might even make her his
but only if she's not a pain and doesn't blab too much and then there's Dahut who's more than
eager to want to continue that research project with him idk if they're collegues or rivals.
Oh also apparently Scien gets the feeling he met Ceres once before... hmm
she ends up becoming his assistant. Anyway to no ones surprise this nerd can be quite playful
that is if you watch carefully while he doesn't notice, apparently enjoys jigsaw puzzles.
saying stuff like if only Scien would get the hint and awaken his primal powers by falling in love
but Scien insists they're just collegues helping each other out and that Daath's a PITA.😅
One day Ceres be working and some dipshit busts in holding her hostage with a knife
till he gets what he wants which is Scien's research. Oh well Scien obviously pissed over powers
him and tells security to tie him up, Dahut shows up and stabs him when he despaired.
I will spare you the techno babbles, SCIENCE is a good enough way to sum it up
and doesn't believe in anything but science, shinigami's curse? lmao what
Scien's pretty stuck up and seems to believe he was only created to SCIENCE
for the good of mankind even if it means being evil while doing so or atleast that's what
he believes the original Scien was meant to do; his consience was backed up through a computer
program (the gods egg) and then put into a clone. Ceres be out here trying to reason with him
and well it partly works... cuz he is human after all(well sorta0\). Eitherway I sleep.
Ceres actually sees something in him and tells him he she respects him but maybe should
think of himself more instead of the big picture. Then Scien says if you want to be with me
then just say so! Ceres didn't even mean it sexually but for some reason he got horny. UwU
Dahut walks in to notify us all he personally will relieve Scien of his duties
but our genius Scien doesn't let him he done so easily. They get chased into the sewers
by a hooded man swinging around a halberd which is probably Lukas.
Brofiste gets blamed for everything and they go after Sarome + the orphanage too...
this really raised the bar to how much blood you can stand cuz they got slaughtered.
They arrived a little too late... and they're forced to retreat again, Sarome was the only survivor
and Ceres is noticeably depressed cuz Adolphe is probably dead(as am I at the scene of this).
When they tend to their wounds and comfort them after that mess Scien apparently
has a bunch of scares he got from a previous experiment. Scien wan't to proof
and do what no other SCIENtist has done before and rid the world of the curse
but he goes and take it all upon himself, Ceres is like bitch pls but his mind is made up.
its as if he had no regrets anymore when arrived shit goes wrong as expected
the hooded man killed Ceres before she could do what she was supposed to.
This was depressing to watch as he promises her he'll do what he can for the future of the country.
Scien tried to save her by using the egg and he falls into despair as she is now nothing more than data.
Other end 1: Ceres ends up cleaning his room on a whim and Scien walks in and tells her to GTFO
to not mess with his junk while also to telling her to never show her face to him again. OOF~
Ceres walks around and walks into another murder scene, some dude on the scene is convinced
she's responsible and blames it all on her even calling her a shinigami and kills her.
Other end 2: Ceres basically decides Sarome is more important to her and ends up being
stabbed by her while she plans to take out Scien too. She'll be joining her too after she's done.😨
In the best end Scien shows off his 9999 IQ and is one step ahead of Daath by completely
reviving and completing the process, he's literally ascended to godliness even making kids
will be child's play and Daath is literally like what're you on m8 u ok? but when his guards
come he is like welp I yield and lies his way out of it saying its some experiment
cuz the way Scien is now he might really get rid of the curse, Scien's like whatever my dudes
but when they move out Sarome comes flying in and starts killing people, she thinks
its better to execute Daath cuz he's unpredictable and will just start shit again(she's right tho)
but then she uses Ceres as a shield, though Scien convinces he'll take care of the rest.
Sarome undertakes another clone procedure and despite everything Ceres pays a visit to her orphanage.
All's well that ends well huh? sometime later Scien wants to conduct a little experiment on the bed
and in a deadpan voice tells Ceres he wants to make love with her.
and they proceed to make out... while discusing the art of sensual touch
OH MY GOD that was an hilarious ending and completely lifted my mood.
NGL a lot of the SCIENCE stuff bored me to tears but I actually liked Scien even if he can be a dick
and while I enjoyed the romance its kind of sad I have to disappoint myself
since there are no good ends the first time through these routes.
However I can't deny the routes so far weren't interesting cuz they were there are always
twists and turns plus they know just how to give a ltitle otome element.
Unfortunately the despair was at an all time high in this route... and honestly depressing
Ceres just can't catch a break can she? apparently not she must suffer.
That best ending though... was absolutely hilarious and also shows he has much to learn.
~
Yves.
CV: Saitou Souma.
meaning its incredibly garbage cuz there's far too much to quickly digest.
Yvess has known Ceres and its hinted he is one of the people that survived the fire
overall he seems like a nice enough guy and wants the best for Ceres, its obvious he's into her
other than that Hugo is like his best friend and is always with him.
 |
| Yves be trying to make Ceres realize, hey you matter! |
by now I know it won't last and shit will brick enough for a lasting despair
most of the route will probably just answer your suspiciouns about him.
Anyway Yvess isn't the type of man you want to piss off...
the first half was pretty disappointed but it picked up eventually it was mostly
cuz he got hurt and focused on Yvess relationship with Hugo, his personal goals
of caring a bit too much about people especially Ceres. Then we get to learn a bit of Ceres's parents
who had an illness, her mom was pregnant so they tried to save her child but died in the process.
Yvess has known abbout this and the fact she was born amonst the licoris flowers
which are like her family, he gives her a licoris hairpin his oldman made
not a real one cuz those flowers are poisonous and the reapers curse.
Dahut has Adolphe and Hugo at his side to hunt down the reaper girl and her accomplice
but Jean and Mathis show up to take them to a safe place that turns out to be Scien's office
ah so there are people on their side afterall, I knew I could depend on m'boi Mathis & Scien
they end up turning Dahut around by explaining the half-truth of the flowers. Unfortunetely
Cappuccino has other plans and cannot wait to add reaper girl to his collection
cuz it fits his plan even better than Nadia ever did.😨😨😨
For some reason Hugo has a huge stick up his ass and doesn't understand why the hell Yvess
is going so far for this girl. Its simple its cuz he loves her. Hugo is kinda upset for some reason
and walks off into the sunset, Yvess tries to reassure Ceres cuz she overheard, awww.
Ceres gets to live a fairly normal life while Yvess takes care of things... even if it means getting hurt
everyone else even comes to visit but why am I having a bad feeling? they all try to solve
the brutal murders and find out what's killing people. Scien looks into shit as well and it leads
him to that hospital Nadia is staying then some guy runs in saying Ceres and the gang is in trouble.
Some folks are out to get them over some bullshit a bunch of years ago and Ceres is the only one to blame. Yves tries to cover for her but in doing so reveals an ugly truth... its him.
Just seeing his maskless face is enough to send people fleeing as if they saw death itself.
Ceres doesn't let him run and wants to hug him cuz he's the most precious person in her life.
Hugo lashes out at her and blames Ceres for everything... and she can only apologize
they go into the shed but Hugo is buttmad going as far as raising his sword but by carefull
words Ceres got through to him, Hugo can be reasoned with, she goes to see Yvess
and he really doesn't want her to look at his ugly face and says he can't love her anymore
but Ceres still cares about him no matter what he looks like, she accepts everything he is
which is like enough for him to love her again this time for real. Sometime after they find
Hugo's dead corpse in an alley........ can't even enjoy a lovey dovey moment huh?
Cappuccino be plotting to have reaper girl taken to him... aww man can't he fuck off or something?!
Lukas who still works for him questions why but honestly doesn't see the point cuz he's still a friend
but gets coerced into doing Cappuccino's bidding cuz of his sister. Then Scien brofist walks in
making an explosive entrance because he found out about his illegal research and doesn't approve.
The only one stopping him is Lukas really... but only cuz Cappuccino has a hostage
Scien bluntly states the facts of who Cappuccino is and even knocks out Lukas with gas
then ends up killing Audi le Cappuccino. This seems to have been taken care of!
thank you Scien! I love you.😚😚😚 The only problem is why the fuck is Hugo dead?
Things don't look good as the public saw them and they get mistaken for the reaper himself...
they go back to the shed and Yvess is pretty devastated his bestie is dead, he was like family; a brother.
The next day Scien contacts them, he has found out everything they didn't tell him and asks them to come over to his office cuz he has found a way to solve it all, cuz Yvess resting Ceres decides to go alone. Yvess sees her leave and doesn't actually want her to. Scien is still like reaper curse?
preposterous! this is the age of humans there is no logic to old folk tales! He even knows
her parents names, Chloe and Daryl. He did his homework.😂 and we get an info dump
explaining what went wrong. At the time Scien didn't understand what the hell her parents
meant and left them to their own devices which was a mistake cuz the toxic
from the lycoris corrupted the process. Someone interferred but not even Scien knows who.
All this leading Ceres to bring misfortune to everyone??? Hmmm okay.
Meanwhile folks gather at the shed and try to kill anyone still inside but someone shields Yvess
it was a man they overheard in a tavern someone who wanted to die anyway cuz he lost it all anyway.
Yvess made him see he was wrong so here he is to tell him to live and be happy.
For some reason even Ankou shows up to help Yvess and to stop Scien to kill Ceres....
Nadia and Dahut even show up too, they inform her brother is missing, he goes
to his old man's grave and finds a notebook. It contains notes of how a man arrived in this land
and not understanding why they all die at age 23 when folks most of the time should
be living to 60-70 even 100 he eventually gives his notes to some guy but then realized
it was a mistake and an evil was born from it. They notice the lycoris in the book is red
and not black like the ones they know, in the man's country they're known as higanbana.
Scien was listening in and now has found out all he needs to know to end this farce
he even got Cappuccino to work for him. Scien goes completely loses it. >_>
Basically Ceres's existance is causing peoples memory to corrupt and go bonkers
so she can never live a normal life everyone around her might one day go nuts
cuz someone fucked around. Scien deems Ceres a threat to the countries future
and comes up with a plan to bring salvation for everyone but it means sacrificing Ceres.
For some reason she is more than happy to go along with it... cuz it means she's set free.
Yves however doesn't accept it... Dahut figures out what Cappucine/Audi did and Yvess
is honestly done with him cause it seems he has a part in it all and they attempt to save Ceres.
Yves realizes Ceres sounded like she was glad, her death would mean something...
still he also believes in the part that wanted to live as a normal person. So he won't let it happen.
They charge into Scien's lab but he won't let them intervere... even Lukas helps out
as does some of the pals they met in the tavern but they are no match for the hooded man
aka known as the Lukas clones. They only give Yves time to reach Scien and Ceres.
Adolphe watches Yves back too, thanks buddy! Yves gets a lot of support... but at what cost?
eventually he reaches the princess and the villain.
Even though Ceres says she doesn't mind dying, Yves says her life is worth more than the multitude
meanwhile Scien is like are you done talking let's get this over with
their fight was pretty heated, Yves gave it his all and Scien stops the experiment...
and she ends up in pain, for some reason she caused an explosion that destroyed the entire lab.
Scien says her ability has malfunctioned and anyone close will die instantly.
Ceres went off trying to find a place to die alone, Scien stayed with Yves to tell him
when he woke up and he decides to go find her... Ceres got chased by people who think if
they kill her it'll all be over but when she gets to the licoris meadow it goes up in flames.
Yvess shows up and well he doesn't mind burning up with her, together.
In the end all that is left of him is his crispy corpse.💀💀💀
For some reason... Ceres survives and Yves is burnt to a crisp but for some reason she is thankful.
and asks her to marry him. OMG that is an offer and in trying times no less!
Ceres finds him stupid but he just can't help loving her. Yvess firmly believes
and wants her to know despite everything how much he loves her.
Ceres can't help but appreciate this man and they kiss amongst the flames. THIS IS FINE.
or was it Adolphe's cave. HMMM~ well no matter two sides of the same coin afterall.
All's well that ends well and he'll be at her side from now on without her he'd be long dead.
Apparently red higanbana have also started to bloom on the island...
Honestly I liked the idea of the route but by now I have to set myself up for the worst case scenario...
Ceres honestly deserves the world and Yvess especially after the shit she went through
but time and time again she can't catch a break and is doomed to either death or solitude.
Ugh at this rate I want her to be happy so much... and not suffer anymore.😭😭😭
All in all this was a good route... a bit of a slow start but that's what all routes have in this game
but idk man for everything that goes right something had to go wrong.
I probably didn't even explain the plot correctly but eh atleast I understood it also this route
was longer than the others, too long for my tastes but maybe its better this way cuz despite
being a poster boy it didn't disappoint that much cuz at times it felt like a truth route to the three
routes that came before but I think this also makes Mathis look like the most self-contained.
I am so tired of this shit you think its going right but noooo... Sigh~
Also at this point I skipped all of the other bad ends because I honestly had enough of that.
~
~Final act/true end~
There is no route for both of these characters but they do get the true end treatment
or two for the price of one cuz you don't get just one bishie but two, guess the suffering was worth it
but like have you ever want a story to end but it just kept going and going? that's what this felt like
needles to say my write up of this route is extremely satirical.
Ankh.
Let's start with a few words on this guy, he's not romanceable but nonetheless an important character.
There's no need to describe much but there was a really funny one as Adolphe and Ankh
Anyway this time she believes him, he's been waiting all this time making me wonder
CV: Okitsu Kazuyuki.
He definitely wasn't suspicious not at all... kept watching him like a hawk
too bad his appearances were sparse at best and you could really never tell if he was on our side or not
cuz his behavior was honestly erratic/whimsical at best. Basically the entire final act
is Ankh getting or cucked by Adolphe or vice versa even if Ceres is willing to take his hand
its Adolphe who throws some hissy fit, it was honestly hilarious if its not for Ceres
he would've never worked with Adolphe and likewise for him.😂😂😂
don't really get along. Ank was the one who found her as a baby and well he lives in a cave near
the lycoris field not only that he eats the flowers. No worries it isn't harmful to him.😜
how old is he? is he even human?! maybe he is that shinigami from the legend
but NGL half of the time he was kinda useless which considering the revelation makes sense!
In one of the bad endings he would've preferred if she chose Yvess cuz he could atleast save her
and well he's not wrong but he already knew that Adolphe would've led her to happiness
if only she just had more courage to see it through but he'll stay with her in those flames.
---
Adolphe
CV: Yashiro Taku.
if I hadn't known better or not look at guide I thought he was just a sub chara.😅😅😅
The final act starts with Adolphe finding Ceres, who presumable killed herself
and he swears revenge against someone or whoever is responsible.
Which just leads to another loop and now she's living with Sarome and big bro Adolphe......
for some reason he is much more present right now but they still had us sit through an almost
identical prologue a little bit of the common, it could be a great refresher
but if you went through the game within a week its not. Best not to force skip though!
Adolphe is there for Ceres when she constantly blames herself for everyones misfortune
and tells her she ain't the reaper but part of his family, she ends up telling her story
of meeting Ankh to him, he can't believe it fully but he never wants her to try to kill herself again.
he comforts her when he tells her. Ceres is still depressed but she has this hot man
who cares for her and tries to lift her mood. UwU Honestly what's with this guy trying to be all
protective and caring...? atleast there is one person in the world that still cares about you!
 |
| Honestly Ceres's current state in this CG is how I feel after 4 routes of despair. |
and Ankou(if he feels like it) while also trying to cure Nadia's illness
so I a not even gonna bother writing it down, atleast we spend enough time with the guy
but yea basically boils down to enough despair now let's all work together! even Scien.
Basically Sarome has a savior complex and thinks by eliminating the three she will get what
she wants she doesn't even necessarily hate Ceres but now she gone and done it
by working with Ankh and Adolphe and she doesn't agree with the hell they wanna do!
There was this whole drama we've already seen in other routes which just leads to
Scien your era is over also get the reaper girl she bad. Lukas is the victim of Cappuccino's bullshit
and I honestly felt bad for him all he wants is his sister to be safe atleast everyone else understood
also Lukas got cloned so there's multiple of them on their ass.😱😱😱
now they just have to make the government listen oh boy. Then there's Cappuccino's BS
who got his position back and wants to add Ceres to his collection oh yea also he still
wants to make Nadia his bride, atleast he's consistent. Then we get the revelation
that her big bro is actually a real human being and not a scientifically created clone
and that he is probably a descendant from that man that came to the island
when cappuccine figures this out Adolphe tries to get him to work with him
because at the end of the day this will save Ceres so he becomes a specimen in her place
he does it all to protect Ceres and wanting her to be happy for once, aww.
Ceres takes care of him inbetween the experiments.
when he should have and he even hated her but that all changed and he will do anything for her
eventually all the evidence leads them to Dahut's secret lab and his real name is Liam le pearl
or however you spell that in english?! Liam is the son and to be king of the monarchy on the island.
Oh and pretty sure Cappuccino got killed off... good riddance I guess?
BRUH they just keep coming with these reveals m8.
Dahut would like nothing more for Ceres/reaper to keep killing people
and then brings us the exciting revelation Ceres actually has nothing to do with it
and the one behind it was actually Dahut! she's just a victim of circumstance
he orchestrated everything from Cappuccino to Jean so he could get his mommy back. Wao~
Genius with an IQ of 9000 goes way too far to get his mommy back, news at eleven
btw its not IQ 9999 because only Scien goes that high.😜😜😜 Adolphe actually has enough
of this brat, uses talk no jutsu and tells him to stop being such a shit but it doesn't work cuz
Dahut is so obsessed in completing his research to make more rotten humans Ankh shows up
and tells them they should run cuz there's no way they can handle his cronies
but Ceres ends up seperated and walks right back to Dahut.
Dahut actually has a massive obsession with regular humans so he does want to tap
that butt Adolphe has because where else would be a finer specimen?! This is also
the reason Dahut wants to destroy the country because they're all monsters anyway
by monsters you mean genetically engineered and cloned to survive death at age 23
so ends up telling this all to general public that they're being lied to like a good king
but he won't offer them any salvation and will only welcome/bring them death.
PEAK FICTION.
He's doing it all because why can't you all be normal?! wretched creatures!
Meanwhile Adolphe has rejoined the gang who're figuring out how to fix this mess
and Ceres is still with Daath engaging in talk-no-jutsu. I had my last choice hours ago
and we're still at it! Adolphe laments being of no use to Ceres... and how it always ends up bad
but Yvess and Ankou get him out of the dumps before they go after Dahut. Midway through
the sewers Scien joins the party because with his 9999IQ has outsmarted everyone else
when they finally get there and by finally I mean it took a while, not everyone could
make it cuz Dahut released the gas that makes folks go ew what's this so only Adolphe and
Ankh could pass, Ceres has been put into the tube for Dahut's plans and Adolphe confesses his
feelings because there is no better time! while Dahut has a bag of potato chips and eats some!
peacefully even if Adolphe doesn't forgive Daath. The final word was on Ceres
and she was like well... then Dahut still has something up his sleeves
and he tauntingly had the gall to say well if only you did something about me!
To the point Sarome has to deliver justice on him also where the fuck did she come from?!
Then she reveals herself as Chris as in Christine le pearl and as the queen delivers justice upon him.
Also apparently Liam is her son... she literally tried to kill her own son or the image of it
but Liam still believes that that love she carries for him is long gone. Though in her eyes
he's still her son and wants him to die just so he can go through the process and next time
she'll be there for him but he hasn't truly forgiven her cause she hid away and doesn't
believe she truly cares for him and he kills her cuz he thinks she's too sinful and
passes judgement on her and stabs her while dragging Ceres into the experiment again.
PEAK FICTION.
I mean why didn't they just kill him then it would've been over right?! RIGHT?!
Ankh loses it and tries to get Dahut to undo the process but he says he can't
and Ceres will be absorbed by the curse, become an insightly creature and eventually die.
Ankou tries to let Ceres drink some of his blood. Daath tries to be smug but while Ankh rages at him
BUT Sarome stabs an arrow into Daath. I HAVE NEVER MORE SAID OH GOD YES
WITH SUCH EXCITEMENT. She can only apologize for not being a better mom. Both Ankh
and Adolphe lose it, Ankh carries Ceres's corpse away and blames himself for dragging
her into this cuz he only wanted to try to give her happiness but yet she died again.
Ceres's life flashes before her eyes and figured it out, she finally calls out to Ankh
as Adolphe, he can't believe his ears because its been so long since she has called him that.
He found Ceres dead one day and swore revenge, eventually Scien captured him and turned him
into & gave him eternal life, cursed to wander the island forever like some monster but eventually
Adolphe and Ankou decide to have a final fight... but who's kidding
Yvess broke him out of jail, eventually the events of Yvess route happen and you know the rest
she survived at the expense of his corpse. He remembers how he first came
to the island to save Ceres but eventually noticed most of whatever he was doing
was useless, confirmed by the traveler who left behind the note and then became Ankh
cuz he just can't live without Ceres! which just confirms to me that this is groundhog day and we
been looping he's been wishing so hard to meet Ceres again alive and well EVERYTIME SHE DIED
and she died a whole lot. Eventually they did meet... and she's a little stronger now.
they're basically fighting themselves???!!! eventually Ankh has enough and he
pulls out a gun that is like a goodluck charm just in case he is failing to save Ceres yet again
and points it at himself, he hopes that this act will leave save her and she'll be happy.
Knowing since she'll be with Adolphe his wish is being granted because who else knows him best.
He hopes that she'll live her life to the end and never gives up on life again like a normal woman
as Ankh draws his last breath the bouquet of black lycoris fades away.
In the epilogue, the curse or the whole deal on the island seems to be nothing more than a myth
but a little lady confirms that its definitely all around them. Everyone seems to have
moved on with their lives and that little lady was Nadia, Lukas came looking for her.
Everyone else basically moves on with their lives too... even Ceres and Adolphe
considering everything this seems a bit too good to be true but this is what Ankh wanted.
Also apparently Adoplhe had to wait 5 years to get a reply to his confession from Ceres...😥
(or was it 5 months either way... it was a long time poor guy.)
he figures she'd make him wait another. Poor guy but isn't it kinda obvious how she feels by now.
TBH if I had to wait 5 years for a reply to a confession i'd be dead inside.
Then when she says it he's like a brother right? no dummy as a man and then he finally kissed her.
Bruh I feel like a deprived 90 year old lady getting something nice after a rough time.
This game always tries to make everything worse when things are going right so even now I
couldn't believe it would work out for once guess that's what four routes of suffering do eh?
You're probably wondering why I make such a big deal out of the route dragging on?
well when you try to make a truth route out of four individual ones this is the only natural result
especially when it has its own revelations to the existing story, no the plot wasn't bad
I was just tired of how it went on and on. I'm pretty sure they could have cut or monologue'd
a bunch of stuff so this route wouldn't be twice as long as the others.
I do not dislike Adolphe or Ankh they're FINE but it was all so tiring... I guess
this is what happens when you inject nothing but despair into my veins for four routes!
mentally I am not here or have the energy for half of this. Its like they wrote this route first
but then remembered hey its an otome game right? what about other love interests...?
ah ahahaha well you see! let's just make the player suffer and emotionally drain them
so they have no choice to embrace this one-truth ending and if they still like someone else
we'll spoon feed them a little as thank you gift for sitting through all that bullshit
is one way I can explain why they made this game the way they did.
Anyway the route was okay and the ending was good, but its funny I barely care anymore
for the other love interests, I'd feel kinda bad for Adolphe for choosing anyone else except Mathis.
---
Ankh/Adolphe > Mathis > Yvess > Scien > Lukas.
~
Fav route:
Mathis > Scien > Yvess / Final act > Lukas.
Fav character:
I like most of them so this is kinda useless especially considering the fact Scien is hawt
and he owns, his best end like send me flying to places, dayum.
Mathis is an totez adorbz, Lukas is just hiradai meme and Yvess is best boy.
No comment on Adolphe/Ankh the route while good in terms of plot it
was too much of a drag but I was happy with the result, that says enough.
Final thoughts.
 |
| Honestly after everything I can find no better image to sum up my feels. |
The subtitle be error salvation because there be literally be no salvation
the first time you playthrough the routes, only despair.😜
The plot was cleverly written that you slowly get to know the truth
and honestly the world building and cast was pretty great even if the place its set at
looks like pizza margherita. Yea i'm cursing you with my own personal revelation.
Honestly the most annoying part is the fact this game focuses too much on having
to make everything turn into a despair shit hole, you'd think Ceres has suffered enough but no
she must suffer more every damn time. This got old fast. Like come on who hurt you writers?!😭
Man was this game dark & dreary, routes be starting out great and the otome is there
but the apple of despair is never too far off from the tree. Anyway all I am gonna say
Shuuen no Virche is great if you care about scenario/plot&cast but romance second
or maybe are just tired of Lighthearted/fluffy otome games and want something else for a change
but even then it may get too much to bear cuz it honestly did for me.
I know I use the term honestly a lot but this is really be my honest opinion of the game!
In a way it might really be the best otome game of 2021, it doesn't have
too many pacing issues even if routes start out slow and it stays true to it theme
while telling an interesting story. All things considered Virche remains difficult
to recommend, unless you're a masochist, can stand suffering, suicide, despair and blood.
Also you can't expect everyone who buys your otome game to do all routes
so locking a potential good outcome behind 30+ hours of plain suffering is not good
regardless of how well written your cast and story was some people might just drop.
The final act did not make it much better, I had no problem with Adolphe himself
or the additional revelations, he was mostly nice and supportive plus he gave it his all.
Maybe if you like seeing a heroine who has gone through shit go through more shitwhen she just wants to live normally but my point still stands who the fuck hurt the writers
of this game? or did they just wanted to take their frustration out on something jesus christ.
Not even Piofiore, BWS or even psychedelica was this bad in terms of despair. I suppose
there was meaning to the story Shuuen tried to tell, don't kill yourself maybe there's someone
out there who just like wanted to help but he couldn't get to you cuz you acted rashly.
Well no matter the interesting revelations or how well the plot came together
Virche is the epitome of a dark and edgy story, but by the end of it I was too mentally
drained to fully care anymore though those best ends did relieve some of it.
This may be a heartwrenching story that was pretty well written but most of the time
the feeling I got from this game was ''appalled'' whether you'll like this game
will be entirely up to you, this game won't be for everyone or may need a specific mood.
8/10
Okay I think I have said more than enough..... scoring this game is hard but thinking about it.
and its 9/10 in terms of overall plot but 5/10 on enjoyabilty, this score is honestly fair.
I should add that I've used peak fiction to describe the plot points in this game
and this is not meant negatively, if anything and the way i wrote about the last routein a satirical way, it means i'm coping from all the despair.
Needless to say this is based on my own personal experience and yours might differ.
Man... that sounds like something alright, and you're right this otome game ain't gonna be for everyone regardless of the plot being as good, still nice to see you found something to like while going through the despair.
ReplyDeleteDon't undestand why Lukas had to be that guy who doesn't even get a real good end maybe good for him personally but come on? at this rate only Mathis & Scien have really good ends while Yvess sorta hangs in there while going ''this is fine''.
The only good thing about the way this game works is that the truth doesn't leak out and has you work for it but i'm sure it could get a bit much and the best ends being locked doesn't make sense considering some don't even touch on the truth.
For your information: you said some names were weird but actually most of them are actual French names (Yves, Capucine, Camille, Dahaut). Yves and Camille are actually reallyyy common names. Yves are mainly old men though, so I had some trouble adapting at first lol! The exception would be Scien, which I guess is surely meant to be a shortened form for "Science" (which means science in French too but pronounced differently).
ReplyDeleteAs for Ankou, he's actually a god from Bretagne's mythology (a region in the West of France). It's spelled Ankou so they did no mistake. As a French person, I actually think they did a great research job and was really impressed, so I wanted to point it out :) It's actually not your average "Japanese have trouble with foreign spelling" case.