 |
| Awww yea! a Yakuza otome game. |
Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Amulit/Voltage.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://products.voltage.co.jp/neonclash/
Official Site: https://products.voltage.co.jp/neonclash/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v47769
Release date: 11-12-2025
Got this on a whim because its theme is three kingdoms and I got nostalgic.
Seeing how there were yakuza/mafia themes and me recently going through
the yakuza series did influence my decision somewhat.
Instead of ancient china its a futuristic setting. I thought I grew out of my
three kingdoms phase which kinda died but this kinda renewed my spirit, even if
I have some grievances with this title it was exciting to play through.
Disclaimer: This is purely my own opinion and it could be different from yours
this is not meant to be some kind of all-truth, just an opinion that came from playing this.
If you don't like what you're reading then close the tab, move on and just idk play it yourself.
Pro's
- Interesting and engaging plot.
- Diverse cast of characters.
- Eye-catching artworks.
- Great soundtrack.
- Character epilogues are a satisfying conclusion.
Grey Area
- Awkward sounding names.
- Plot focused, can be a bit light on romance but it doesn't forget its an otome.
Con's.
- Font for text was imho not great on switch lite*.
- One bad end contained NTR; its in chapter 2 so use a guide if you want to avoid it(or get it).
---
Its not afraid to bring fantasy and science into the mix.
I did think some things could be explained better but it is what it is
It was fairly dark, there's violence & splatter but I didn't think it went too far.
Although I do think it covered a relatively small part of RotK
and it mostly focused on Dong Zhuo being a pain in the neck
and butting heads with Mun aka Cao Cao.
I know from playing similar games that the story goes farther than this
but the story of Neon Clash took its inspiration from the beginnings.
This wasn't a work that could be happy all the time, it was quite grim at times
but even so there was light at the end of tunnel.
---
The heroine Liu Kroa was cool but also a hot mess, she tried her best and lived in the moment.
She's proactive and had spunk. I liked her friend Meimei as well, they had good chemistry.
Kroa starts out as not wanting to be too involved, though only a matter of time
untill she was. The state of the world they live in was not pretty.
I actually really liked how everyone part of her group became her family.
A lot of shit happens and she does have some self-doubt or think she's not good enough...
but I think its only normal because she is responsible for the people in her group.
At times it was painful to see Kroa realize this but she did try to be better.
She is based on Lui Bei whom... also made a lot of mistakes and this is
woven into her character. Lot's of times I was thinking well that was stupid
but its not like the counterpart made the best of decisions.
Due this I can't be too hard on the writing because they really used RoTK as a basis.
---
- The Artstyle was eye-catching and mostly consistent in terms of sprite & CG's.
The background art was also good, it had a nice urban chinese feel! The UI was stylish as well.
- I bought the japanese version but it had english text! sadly the text was rather tiny
so maybe that is why the english version was delayed? there were some typo's but they
looked like errors anyone could make, they weren't constant. It read well enough
Had they given this one more thorough QA sweep the typo's would be gone.
I wondered why it was delayed but I figured it was either the font or the awkward names
I didn't really encounter any bugs throughout my playthrough.
Also about the font, the text actually looks fine if I view screenshots of it on my PC
but on my switch lite its just... way too small. I don't think its optimized for it.
- Music fit the tone of the scenes, there were some good jams and I had no real complaints.
---
System
Standard stuff, you make choices over the course of the story
but you're graded at the end of a chapter which gives points.
Choices do matter because if your performance is poor, its straight up bad end in ch6.
With those points you can also buy mini episodes but they are entirely optional.
I didn't read any of the mini episodes as I progressed the main story, I was able
to buy everything from the shop when reaching the truth end.
The unlockable mini episodes were really short, fun random scenes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The story had me hooked quickly and it was engaging but romance wise... its lacking.
It wasn't a traditional otome game. Neon Clash has a linear plot with some bad ends
along the way. There are character endings but to view them you must clear the main story.
There wasn't much replay value but the game is pretty lengthy being over 45 hours long.
You may or may not need to play it twice depending on how well you did, if you do poorly
getting the true ending may be difficult which means the epilogues are out of reach.
The bad ends were not great in number so its possible to avoid them.
If your aim is to see the character endings then I suggest you use a guide.
 |
| We need disguises. |
and focus on individual characters before delving into the truth route. I suppose with a setting
like this it was hard to romance anyone to begin with so the LI's either felt like they were
close friends or colleagues. There simply wasn't any time for it. I thought Hiyok's chapter was sad
and I almost gave up hope of there being any romance but it wasn't completely hopeless.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I loved the character interactions and there was a decent dose of humor.
There were some aspects that I couldn't quite take seriously😅
but they knew when to joke around and be dead serious.
The naming sense could be better though, its easy to find some
counterparts but others were more difficult to figure out. Like I am not entirely sure
who Ji or Wenyu was but I figured the latter was Zhang Liao because he bounced around.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TL;DR
who like story driven visual novel with a strong protagonist.
The story and characters were pretty good but... if you come here for romance
it could be a little disappointing due to how story-driven it is.
I wasn't completely sold on the otome game aspect of this game due to its structure
but the character endings were really nice to close it off with! I lost hope for proper
romance during the main story but I felt like I was rewarded when I did Gante's epilogue.
In the main story I enjoyed what little crumbs there were but it was just too little, I got
annoyed at the heroine's evasiveness. 😔 Some scene's made me d'aww but that's about it.
It was still exciting to play through but yea... with the structure of the game you do
sorta romance everyone during the main story to the point Kroa has a harem.😂
But then I remembered this...💀
It is kinda nice to be free from having to sit through 5 routes to get the full story
so all in all I didn't regret playing it because it was an interesting work.
I know there are VN's where there's a big common route and then really short
individual stuff... but this game skips the replay it 4+ times part so I think
there is a plus side to the game being linear because its not really fun to skip
half the game. Neon clash solves this issue I had with some older games.
8.5/10
The only real downsides for me were some pacing issues and the font!
often I had to take breaks because it takes too much effort to read it like that.
After clearing the game I kinda wanted an ending for Rin and Yulong... but they have none!😞
Character rambles after the jump but they're just some thoughts of them because
there aren't really any routes. I'll share some of my fav CG too.
There's not many spoilers but if you want none uh just stop reading I guess?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gante Lowd/Guan Yu.
CV: Umehara Yuuichiro.
He's calm and collected. Didn't expect Gante to be good with kids though...
Gante's also trustworthy, in terms of romance oh lawd the bias was strong with this one
and I shipped it, not sorry for any of the other potential LI's. They exist...
I already loved Gante midway through chapter 2, maybe I am an easy target for
Umehara LI's who're handsome and intellectual. ISTG they keep typecasting him.😂
Or maybe the competition like the other three LI's was just weak. (Maslo heard me.💀)
I was completely won over by the time I hit the half way point in the story...
They had me in the first half NGL but even then Gante was always in the back of my mind.
Gante's epilogue was so cute, it made it worth suffering through half the game.
I'm a happy girlie heheh... but also kinda worried because he's like:
These sorts of types are a bit of a hit or miss but Gante hit the sweet spot for me.
The epilogue also was true to his character and it was heartwarming to see them take care of the kids.
The way Gante ended up confessing his feelings was hilarious and seems Kroa liked him all along
and oh my god there's no stopping him. The ending was so satisfying especially
because i've waited like 48 years for this.
~
Sun Maslo/Sun Quan.
CV: Toki Shun'ichi.
Due to the game's structure I wondered when it would be his turn to shine and its like he heard me.
He heard me about the Gante favoritism and he really tried to win over Kroa in chapter 3.
I'd say Maslo is dangerous because he made me forget what type of otome this is.💀💀💀
ch3 ended it actually made me a bit uncomfy and honestly I prefer Gante.😅
We genuinely got to know Gante but with Maslo I felt we barely scratched the surface by
the time ch3 was over so my general opinion on Maslo remained reserved
but despite circumstances and plot happenings later on he isn't a bad guy.
The character ending gave him the finishing touches, it cleared up some stuff
that wasn't really mentioned during the main story but other than that the whole
we gotta keep it a secret from everybody didn't work for me. Just felt like
more unresolved issues, that why I found it a lil boring.
Either way Maslo's a real sweetheart and almost my second favorite LI in this game.
If my Gante bias wasn't so strong he'd take the no,1 spot.😊 Wait Hiyok...
Epilogue rating 8.5/10
~
Sodyk Mun/Cao Cao.
CV: Fukuyama Jun.
 |
| 🚩🚩🚩 |
but like Maslo I was mildly interested in what Mun could bring to the table.
I thought Mun would be a jerk but... he seemed to be okay-ish? (haha.......)
he has Kroa's back and supports her, this is made obvious in chapter 3.
Mun's group also seemed to be the only one pulling their weight. lmao.
As a character Mun seemed like he's your senior, better at everything that you do
and he F#$%king knows it. That said he wasn't being a jerk about that. (lol?)
Mun didn't seem like a bad guy but I couldn't get a read on him, like he could be using her
but also tries to gently guide her? I got too invested I just wanted to keep playing
and I was surprised by how easily the Dong Zhuo stuff was resolved but I kinda remember
he went down rather easily in the dynasty warrior games, he can't outsmart Cao Cao. xD
After the ultra violence, Kroa got drunk and Mun let himself be her pillow just this once...
that one face Gante always made came to mind and I imagined him using it on them.
It wasn't him however but Rin that told Sodyk to get away cuz he hates his guts.💀💀💀
Either way Sodyk Mun is the man who will make Kumyo great again.(not)
I couldn't hate Mun completely but idk while a lot of CG's with Mun could
look romantic for some reason I didn't enjoy chapter 4, Mun made me feel icky.
Perhaps its because Mun is simply not my type and I prefer Gante or every other LI.😅
Only reason I did it was to see if it would follow up on stuff and it kind of did.
I thought Wenyu died but apparently he survived, guess he's not as weak as he seems?
Mun was really blunt in trying to propose to Kroa, it was every bit as red flaggy
as was shown in chapter 4. Everyone was like hell no, get away from her. xD
Despite that there did seem to be genuine concern, Mun finds their security to be lax
but i'm sure a lot of things would be lax compared to the security of his place.😑
Mun is quite persistant at trying to win Kroa over, it was hilarious and I am like NO.
Though Rin seems convinced he's changed? and brought up some stuff about salt.😂
It seems Mun's eyes have been opened and realizes he has fallen for Kroa, he even realizes
how arrogant and lonesome he was. If this isn't character development idk what is
but the introspection was real and that red flag may become a green one.
No never mind this guy doesn't change *breathes fire*.
Epilogue rating: 7.5/10.
I'm not a Mun fan so this rating seems fair... its OK some things never change!
or more like once a red flag always a red flag. 💀💀💀
~
Zhang Hiyok/Zhang Fei.
CV: Suzuki Ryouta.
 |
| I guess this implies Kroa is Like A Dragon.😂😂😂💀 |
He gets stronger if he drinks alcohol with a high percentage so that fit with his historic counterpart.
Hiyok is cute but... for the majority of the game I thought he was more like
a good friend or brother figure which is mostly because of the game's structure.
Sadly the story put Gante center stage for hours on end, followed by Maslo then Mun.
For real its like Gante is the male lead and Hiyok the second lead... actually no
Hiyok turns into a side character and Maslo steals second lead from him.💀
When it was Hiyok's turn it did feel like they wanted him to be a LI which was
a relief because i'd pick Hiyok over Mun in a heartbeat. Needless to say Hiyok
might go off the radar but he always shows up when its needed.😌
I'm grateful Hiyok's along for the ride, this dude deserves to be happy.😭
This little chicken is the only one who actually expressed how his feelings for Kroa
yet Kroa isn't sure of her feelings for him but what else is new?💀 still he waits for her reply.
The mainstory for him was painful but atleast there was a relief and all character endings
had been satisfying so I looked forward to Hiyok and it followed up nicely on the goals
he mentioned during his chapter, the vacation subplot got a bit tiring by now tho.
I was quickly deceased from the moment I started the epilogue, bye. 💀
It was as awkward as it could be... argh but also cute so it wasn't bad.
I'm mostly dying from the fact its Kroa who is pursuing Hiyok here
and I got the feeling that Ji was trolling them. Its hilarious because
Kroa believed it and Hiyok just... acted like he always did but since he didn't
mention it she thought he forgot. He saw no reason to keep saying it too.
The proposal was adorable too, despite being an idiot he can be surprisingly thoughtful!
 |
| Kroa lemme take a raincheck... |
Epilogue rating 9/10
~
Bad ends I found noteworthy.
The bad end of chapter 2 was memorable to me because Yuan GongLu NTR'd Kroa
after Lowd lost against him trying to maintain his pride because Yuan is a cheater... not that this
wasn't already clear to me at this point. Kroa tried to come up with a plan to kill him
but eventually just gave up and tried to comfort this lonely man. Ooooookay.😒
In the bad end of chapter 6, Kroa shot Mun and basically became the leader
of the underworld but everyone died except Maslo who suddenly can't remember her
implying she ended up as lost, I didn't quite fully understand this but it was just sad.
I didn't really do any other bad ends, the ones in the first chapter weren't very note worthy to me.
I ended up missing one CG for every character but I am not sure how to get them
so I just moved on since I am satisfied with this game.
---
My favorite character:
Gante > Rin > Hiyok > Maslo > Kroa > Yulong >Wenyu>Meimei >Zhia > Ji >Mun>Zhiho.
Gante takes the top spot and mostly everyone else follows, I don't like Mun
but I'll take him over Zhiho. Rin is my favorite side character but tbh
he felt like he was part of the main gang as much as Hiyok or Gante were.
Rin shares the same seiyuu as Sunday and it made me wish he was a LI
mostly cuz of what happen in ch4 and seeing him poke Kroa to tell her what's up
really put him out there, he genuinely cared for her well being. Oh I am biased am I?😌
 |
| This is my favorite sprite in the entire game. |
despite eating it up I am still a little conflicted about some of it.😅
The setting is like Piofiore due mafia focus but instead of italy its china. Kroa was definitely stronger as a heroine than Lily and more of a girlboss
but she wasn't perfect, Kroa makes mistakes she wins and loses.
Kroa tended to not let people get too close and it was painful to watch her at times
but its just part of her character it made her human. The bonding part was still good.
Most things are explained by the time its over but I didn't fully understand the concept
of null or that one bad end in ch6 but after I did Maslo's epilogue it made more sense.
It did have quite a bit of volume to it and they balanced the more calm moments
with the more intense moments. It took me around 45-55 hours to clear.
Those 10 extra hours were mostly spend on epilogues and missed bad ends.
The narrative structure is that the main story is a common route but with a lengthy
epilogue for each character unlocked after the truth end. The main story doesn't have much
romance but it sets the basis for the character ending which was about 2/3 hours long.
Needless to say the epilogues were satisfying and I left the game behind on a happy note.
At first I was a bit disappointed it was so story focused but as I continued
and it being what it is, it might be okay? there's a lot of focus on Kroa being a leader and
found family that by the time I reached chapter 6 I got like they're not all gonna die are they?😨
TBH there were quite a few characters that died up untill this point and who knows is next.
By the time I was done I didn't mind the structure its kind of refreshing and its better
than sitting through it 4 more times skipping the majority just for a short ending.
I liked that you can view the individual epilogues after completing but this
also kind of makes the epilogues seem as optional or maybe that's just me.
8.5/10
Anyway art was great and it had good jams, I mostly had
a good time here because the story did have me hooked.
I'm kinda mixed on some things... but it was still a great ride!
Whether or not this is for you depends on how much you like engaging story
focused visual novels packed with action with romance as the after thought.
I don't think there's any otome game that compares to Neon Clash
but if you like to see strong proactive protagonists it could be for you?
however if you want a three kingdoms otome game that's more focused on actually
pursuing characters I will recommend Sangoku Rensenki & Jyuza Engi instead.
Edit: forgot disclaimer so I added it and added a note about font.
No comments:
Post a Comment