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.
