Showing posts with label Amasaki Kouhei. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amasaki Kouhei. Show all posts

Friday, October 3, 2025

9 R.I.P Sequel - Review

I've had my fill of spooky season with this...
 Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/9rips/
Release date: 25-9-2025 
 
I was a bit surprised when a sequel was announced for 9rip.
I mostly wanted to get this for Koyou but I will admit my memory of the OG
is already waning, thankfully there was a recap and plenty of callbacks!
As per usual I tried not to set my expectations too high and the only thing I am
disappointed by was the short length of the god after, I enjoyed mostly everything else. 
 
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
- Wraps up the story and concludes the saga for relatively well.
- Heaven afters are of decent length.
 
Grey area
- Focuses more on the heaven side than the god side.
-  Art mostly good but... you can notice the usual otomate shenanigans here or there.
 
Con's
- God afters except one are way too short.


 
Storywise it really varied whether an after story was interesting
and ultimately may come down to preference but that's just my opinion. 
 Each character has an after story for the heaven end and the god end.
With 9 routes, I realized by route 7 that not everyone was as relevant to the main
storybeats and the ones that executes them well (heaven side) were Seiya and Minami.
A lot of the others just didn't feel very... relevant or had some random plot. 
As for the OP I think it suited the heaven side more, its kinda funny but it is what it is. 

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
System.
This doesn't really follow the usual after story/continuation template
where you just select a character and get their story. Here you start a new game
and then via choices at the start get to the routes. It only takes a minute, you get a brief recap
at the start of the after too which was really helpful.
Actually its really similar to how you end up on routes in the original. 
 
My first route was blind and I decided to do Kureha. After that I used guides.
There are bad ends or... premature endings in some of the heaven routes.
I managed to avoid those first time thru Kureha's so I when I looked up a guide I was
a bit shocked choices actually seemed to matter. Always trust Koyou!
God after's have only one ending so you can enjoy that without worry.
 
They probably could have removed the map selection part as it felt pretty useless
there were times with more than one location but if there's only 1 spot why bother? /shrug.
Turns out some points are missable, 9 in total which unlock locations in a special mode
where Sayaka sends you all over town to find the perfect hiding place. 
Thankfully Choro's guide listed the locations you could recover
but if you miss them its nothing to worry out, the special mode
does NOT even have a CG just a fun scene for your efforts.
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Pacing was not too slow but it felt like there wasn't much time for anything especially
during god afters like it sure did try to deliver something but some didn't satisfy me.
The heaven afters felt like they were a bit more fleshed out and I enjoyed it the most.
With some like Hibiki I wasn't interested in the plot and new side character(s). 
 
In terms of length each god after was like 1/2 hours & heaven 4 so its 6 hours per character
you can probably already see what the problem is here so I will shut up about this.
I could probably have finished this sooner but that is no good for my menhera(mental health). 
 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
The heaven side feels like where most of the effort got put into and for some
it felt like it fleshed out more stuff. Others such as Kureha or Hibiki felt like a remix. 
I did think some had better outcomes but i'm gonna be real they just turned a less than
good end into a happy one.😅 I realized they didn't have all that much material to work with
and only a few of them were actually interesting, mainly Seiya,Minami and to some extend Koyou.
Wasn't sure if it was the writing but it kinda dipped and peaked for some of the heaven afters.
There were some new characters introduced, I couldn't care about most of them. 
Now I understand in the original heaven ends some things are up in the air so what
we get here is that the majority of the time is spend trying to make something of it.
 
God After's
Okay gonna remind everyone that over half the cast is dead
and Misa basically acts like an ankle bracelet for them, this shit is tragic.
Going to heaven doesn't sound like a bad deal for some. Its actually expanded
upon why certain things happened. So, no its not just random R.i.P bozo. 
Characters like Koyou, some demon or the ayakashi's got off better than certain others.
Shucks but it'll keep you warm for a minute.
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
Uh yea have some mini character babbles.
Kureha's heaven after did have a unsettling vibe at times which is in line with the original.
I couldn't help but want to pray things would end up relatively well...
I wasn't convinced by his god after and for some reason prefer his heaven side.
I don't think there was nearly enough time to have much of substance and wish they just
focused their energy in one place. Now its like you get a burger but its divided in half.
There's moments that I like but before I knew it, it was over. Sad. 
For Hibiki... i'm mostly indifferent for his heaven after and I like slept through half
of it only to jolt right awake in time for the end and I loved the 深 ending so much! 
Hibiki's god after was kinda meh, shucks for Minami tho... he just keeps taking L's just like me.
I'm once again not completely sold here but what sort of better outcome would there be
for Hibiki and Misa when all's said and done? so at the end of the day it was OK at best.
 Like its definitely an after story but the majority of the time is spend reminiscing. 
This tells me, we don't know what to do with this but enjoy! also R.i.P.
Koyou: In a surprising way I actually ended up invested into his heaven after.
Dunno if good or bad, it scratched that supernatural itch. There was no Reika, since
she was already dealt with at this point! in exchange we got some weirdo spirit that likes
 collecting dolls, among other things thanks I guess. Koyou's god after was decent and for
once it felt like a proper after story...but even this felt like it was over in a flash...
Sena: Heaven after went on for too long about his past with S-crown, I sleep.
I loved his god after for some reason because it hit all the right tragic notes.😭
I don't even like Sena that much so that gotta say something. 
Seiya: I loved his heaven after cuz I got some vibes from the kdrama tomorrow so of course
I was eating that shit up though that was just at the beginning. Seiya's character can 
also be very entertaining so this was easy entertainment. They struck gold here amidst a sea
of bronze and silver. God after was more like the rest... 2ish hours of fluff whatever R.i.P. 💀
Minami: His heaven after was enjoyable, maybe it was because much like Seiya
there weren't many new side characters though Meimei did take some spotlight
but he never overstayed his welcome so I was fine with the creepy shinigami.
His god after was hilarious though but as per usual... over in a flash.
Koharu: I thought his heaven after was a little boring something happened
that wasn't on my bingo card. I have 99 problems and this isn't one of them. Very bakamitai.
Koharu is kinda dumb but a real man gotta be a lil stupid, I still love him but basically:
 If you can't handle him at his worst, you don't deserve him at his best.💀👍
His god after much like Sena hit like a truck and I thought it was one of the better ones
like I fully understood now why Misa ends up like that because they took the time to explain it.
I find it hilarious how with both Sena and Koharu I didn't like their heaven side much.😅
Yukimaro had a calm heaven after and it was pretty chill but it didn't have much
going for it and I thought it was pretty much a nothing burger.
OK maybe that's too harsh maybe a bun with cheese on it?
His god after was pretty good but uh not like they could have done a lot with that.
I liked how heartwarming it was, in these trying times I accept it with all my heart.💖
Touka only had one after, for his god ending. It wasn't paced like the others and was
a heaven after in disguise. Also suffers from truth route syndrome, but honestly
I didn't really like Touka that much, he actually made me uncomfy the more
time we spend with him  but of course Misa likes him so uh yea it is what it is.
Imma be real, this game turned me into a Minami enjoyer. 
  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Me with over half of the LI's whenever a route ends.
Honestly while I am not satisfied with most god afters, an attempt was made and I accept it.
Though the heaven afters was where the meat of the game was.
Not sure if my expectations were wrong but was it wrong to expect more of the former?
I wasn't completely sold on the highlighted moments thing, since it leaves a lot
open to imagination but I wouldn't say it was awful either, just not my thing. 
They focused more on supernatural side of things because heaven afters
were far longer than the god afters which was really short.
Whether or not 9rip sequel is worth it depends on how much you liked the original
and if you want more content with Misa and ALL the guys.
---
It was nice they provided an opportunity to follow up on some things
or spend more time with specific characters, I could appreciate it for some
but after sitting through 1 character and a half I was like, damn have I really cleared
almost 2 characters already?! at this point I hadn't even touched Koyou my best boi.
Its only after I cleared my 7th route Koharu that some things that happened in other god afters
actually made sense. I guess you could figure it out but its nice there was an explanation.
--- 
Kinda sad one after or route can seem really short but I think its only normal
that with like 9 LI's you aren't gonna spend a lot of time with all of them. 
Overall if you do all it'll take you 50ish hours. That's still a good deal.
Much like the original nothing overstayed its welcome but I got tired by the time of 9th route.
I got the feeling the director wasn't especially focused on more romance focused
scenario maybe it not their thing and that's why everything felt so brief.
If I had to choose between no sequel at all or what we got, I'm still grateful we even got this.
7/10  
Its a little difficult to recommend if you only like one character but if you
really dig supernatural stuff and like the majority of the cast its actually OK.
To that end this is only something I could recommend if you liked over half the cast
but who knows maybe you didn't and still end up with a new favorite! 
 
This game will likely be localized and I will be disappointed if it doesn't.
Though with iffy I am not sure anymore, seems they're just bringing over
random games now while hoping its better received in ENG than Japan.
 
Gonna sneak in this edit but: 9rips sold out on release and charted in famitsu
but there's barely any reviews for it, now having played it... there's not much to even
write about but it seems oddly quiet compared to how they raised the pitchforks at MonoChi. 
 
My play order: Kureha > Hibiki > Koyou > Sena > Seiya > Minami > Koharu > Yukimaro > Touka.
Like with the previous game I decided to keep the pairs together and go from there. There's no
restrictions and you can mostly do whatever but I recommend Koharu and Touka for last. 
 
Character rambles after the jump there's spoilers in there as well as some of my fav CG's
so stop reading here if you don't want any of that.

Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Mononoke Chigiri - Review

Apparently japan hates this game but I liked it...
Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/mononoke/
Release date: 31-7-2025
 
Honestly I wasn't sure if I should get this but it did catch my attention
and I liked the setting so why the hell not? its also been a while that the otome game
lineup  in japan has been so stacked sadly this game didn't do too well in japan whether
that was because its sandwiched between other titles or the high prices. Mononoke Chigiri
was no heavy hitter with a lot of hype such as over requiemz, its kinda just there. 
 
I had mostly a good time with Mononoke Chigiri so it wasn't that bad buuuut I honestly
just don't care what japan thinks. This was just one of those games I enjoyed more than they
did. Reason my enjoyment is high might be because I was tired after the drama in UtaChro FD
so this game was just comfort food to me. Comfort food isn't necessarily good 
but it can be great and make you feel better. 
 
 Pro's
- Decent but simple story that's not overly complicated with lots of funny situation.
- Great heroine and romance with most LI was satisfying.
- Gorgeous art from sprites and backgrounds to CG's.
- BGM fits the setting and some have really nice relaxing vibe. 
 
Con's
-  Pretty long; the length can be a bit of a double edged sword.
- Some sub characters or enemies have no sprite, it would have more impact if they did.
- Not one but two attractive unromanceable side characters.
 
 I liked the OP, it had the right kind of tone for a game with this setting, really good jam.
The lyrics of the OP already kinda spoil what kind of story its gonna be.
The ED was okay, I didn't skip it this time unlike UtaChro FD
and the animations for it were absolute adorable and feel good. 
 
Art was gorgeous, it was done by Melo, I didn't even recognize it at first
but it really is them. The backgrounds were nice to look at too.
Music was alright it suited the scenes well, it certainly wasn't the worst i've heard.
I loved some of the BGM like one of those was so relaxing it made me melt. 
I'm more wondering where the hell did otomate pull some of these composers from
cuz they seem really randomly picked but it mostly worked out so it wasn't a bad idea.
The UI was clean and it was easy to read the text as well. 
 
Heroine/Plot.
The heroine Fujita Yuma is an onmyoji  and she took her role seriously even if she's just
new to it she is trying. Yuma had her own sprite in the corner, I really miss this in some games.
To compare her to other heroines she's not particularly strong but she is brave and proactive. 
Yuma generally tried her best but she does at times lack self-awareness and can be a ditz. 
Edit 2: thinking about it Yuma was quite capable, does what she wants and not overthink
but she makes mistakes which leads to hilarious situations, I guess this is why
japan dislikes her, an otome heroine braincells should be mostly dormant. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
As an overthinker... I appreciate her! I suppose she can come across as irresponsible
or thoughtless for opening a door without knocking but hey this added to the comedy!
The story was pretty simple and she had the goal of sealing the bakeneko whom's seal
was weakening and she befriended a bunch of youkai to help her do just that.
Its not a plot-focused otome game but rather one that focuses on the journey
which is slightly different depending whom you go for, the solution to the problem
was never the same and routes were more or less character focused.
This game didn't suffer from copypasta but I can see it being kind of repetitive.
Needless to say I've found 4 out of 5 routes worth doing.
 
This was not a serious otome game at all since it was a rom-com. 
There were times the story was hilarious, the heroine was sometimes wearing her clown
pants unintendedly in the beginning however the game did know when to be more serious.
There was a common route which sets the stage and introduces the setting and story
but it was quite long, I could see people drop the game because of it
so this might not be for people who prefer shorter or more serious vn's. 
I did love the overall vibe and I wanted to learn more about everything. So it wasn't off
to a bad start. I did think it was bit slow at times and took its sweet time
but it ended up being surprisingly well written in a way that suit the setting A LOT.
I also liked how the perspective would switch to the LI or Hayate&Satoru.
If you really like japanese folklore and youkai, this game is an easy recommendation.
Time for this local grandma to go back to bed!
 
The system was mostly standard VN stuff and each love interest had only two endings
a good end and a bad ending which can be heartbreaking, i'm glad they made
the endings count so its quality over quantity, the good end was pretty satisfying.
 However there was a minigame but you only have to press a few buttons in order.
This kind of interactive game play wasn't that complicated. At first I thought
it was too fast but its an easy to memorize pattern and by route 2 I had it down.
Also you don't have to do it perfectly, completing the minigame
is fine with 5/7 so you don't have to get all seven button presses correct. 
You can retry via the backlog and save before it, imo it wasn't a bad minigame.   
I actually expected this minigame to be used more but it wasn't used as much at all
which was a relief for people that don't like this sort of stuff.
 
Playtime might depend on your reading speed, took me 50 hours for all routes.
I think my speed is normal or slightly slower because I sometimes pause. If you're
a fast reader then this game could feel a bit shorter then I make it out to be.
This game took me a two weeks to get through, I feel more satisfied with
Mononoke Chigiri than I did with Fuyuzono Sacrifice as well.
I didn't full focus on this game and took breaks, I think I could have finished it
sooner but there were times I wasn't ready to jump into the next route.
 
In terms of characters I didn't think I would like Akihito as much as I did
but I absolutely adored him by the end of his route! so that was a pleasant surprise.
I did Chiaki second but... I don't really like him. I got weird vibes and thought he was creepy
but I can't deny he was very much like a fox so it all checked out. He was just too much for me.💀
I generally liked Gaku but he was a bit stiff at times, you can see he means well
especially at the start of the route or where he expressed some of his thoughts.
I think his route accomplished more with the setting and story overall.
Sakichi's route was downright hilarious and a true rom-com, I enjoyed it the most
and may have left the strongest impression on me cuz some stuff you don't see everyday.
I enjoyed Sousuke's route as well and I think it was one of the best routes in the game
next to Sakichi and Akihito, Due being locked its a good route to end the game with. 
 
I do have some complaints but not a lot. Some side characters have portraits, there's
nothing for really minor characters or enemies which made the game lack in impact
especially with their being some fight scenes so you had to use your imagination.
Its hilarious how Hayate and Satoru's were really handsome like
if Mononoke Chigiri got a FD they should definitely have routes. 
The bakaneko I didn't find very threatening except... near the end of a route
and overall the game can get a bit repetitive but the individual characters
were all great and the way the problem was solved each route was unique.
So I can't complain too much. I almost ran out of steam at the final route
but it managed to get its grip on me and I still progressed at a steady pace. 
 
TL;DR 
This game made me love the whole otome genre all over again.
Its had a decent enough basic plot but I thought it was more focused on SoL, interaction
with the LI which lead to all sorts of fun situations, sealing the bakeneko
was merely goal but I think the journey with the LI mattered more here.
There wasn't any extreme content which could be disappointing for some but games
like this can be nice in their own way, there's enough shit happening in the world. 
It was quite long as well especially the first time through, had it been shorter
there would not nearly be enough time so I think the overall length is just right. 
At its core it may be quite a simple story... but it was still enjoyable
like sometimes you just want something that's not too complicated
while chasing 2d men and Mononoke Chigiri really delivered with this. 
I also really love animals and I liked how there were some cute scenes with the guys in
their youkai form, they kept it light and fun it reminded me of beastmaster & prince. 
 Overall pretty decent otome game that shined on building a connection with the LI! 
it takes its time with everything and it took its own setting serious to an extend, it had
a potentially bittersweet setup that became really obvious near the end of some route
but this wasn't a tear jerker, I think you're more likely to cry tears of joy
from laughing over something stupid that just transpired. It was just a cute and funny
otome game but its plot was not its strong point, instead the chara's and interactions shined.
8.2/10 
I recommend it if you like more simple light-hearted otome games focused on japanese folklore.
Its worth a look if you want a more comedic centered otome game. 
However if you prefer shorter otome games, darker/serious stuff or
don't like comedies i'd probably not recommend it.
Edit: If you're not sure about it just wait for a sale. Its not too bad but
if you go in expecting too much it could be disappointing, seeing how it is received
makes me think I am an anomaly that enjoyed this more than others.
 
I'm not sure how much chance this game will be brought over, tho I think there's better picks.
Honestly anything has a chance but they should just pick whatever they think is best.
 ---
 
 
My Play order: Akihito > Chiaki > Gaku > Sakichi > Sousuke.
There was a lock on Sousuke's route so I did him last. None of the initial route
had any big spoilers except maybe Gaku they all hint a little at things
and my own play order flowed surprisingly well. There's apparently an official
order but I don't think it matters too much Akihito and Chiaki share a plot line
so doing one hints at the other. Same for Gaku and Sakichi. I think Sakichi
should be done before Sousuke though but that's my opinion. 
 
Character rambles after the jump so if you don't want spoilers just stop reading here.
I share a few of my fav CG's as well but not all of them.
 

Monday, September 11, 2023

Shuuen no Virche Epic Lycoris - Review

Genre: Visual Novel.
Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/virche/fd/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v38067
Release date: 07-09-2023.
 
Only reason I even got this FD was cuz I wanted more romance with Ceres and the guys
since... the original game was lacking a lot in that area. As well as not giving one major
character a route which was a great injustice which this game seems to want to remedy?
 
OP movie URL cuz they apparently disabled embedding...
 
Pro's.
- Side stories are nice.
- Nice after stories for Yvess, Scien and Adolph.
- Great for Ankou fans.
 
Con's 
- A giant 🖕 to Lukas fans.💀
- Some CG's are nice but they're spread across too many different scenarios... afters feel barren
some also have awkward angles or weird face shots and I am like what is this?!
- Some afters just plainly lack any fluff or fun content.
- With the exception of Ankou's route everything was pretty short.
---
 
There's side stories with all the main characters and then there's the usual after stories
as well as a new side end that takes a spin on the original route from the first game.
There's also a route for Ankou, however you can't do it till you complete the Drifter story.
 
Also it seems they took encore literally and it is not going the be the fun kind and more in line
of what the original game was like. Lukas's left me traumatized and I cannot handle it
so I skipped the other encores. What is even worse is the encores are like 3/4ish hours
with the same experience while the emotion/after stories are like like 1/2 hours at best.
I was quite disappointed with atleast 2 of the afters as well. Ankou's route is by
far the longest and i'm pretty sure it was 8-10 hours in length... hoo boy!
 
The writers apparently said no, you can't have nice things and some characters apparently haven't suffered enough, so here's more despair, Ankou included. Yea I know virche wasn't exactly
a normal otome game but come on, I thought this was a FD but it didn't seem like one, even less
than raditale's. Also while some cg's were beautiful they sometimes had awkward angles
and really nice moments between the characters were hard to find especially in the afters.
So I found it hard to find anything memorable in the after stories, the only ones
I even remotely liked was Scien Brofist's cuz hurrdurr and Adolph.
For Ankou's route they had a nice prequel story called Drifter which unlocked Ankou
and the route was pretty enjoyable albeit very long, this but this game is 
pretty much for him alone and everything else is there as a bonus. 😂
Now for the thing I am most disappointed about, it is the severe lack of fluff and/or fun
content in the afters... cuz unless you're Adolphe,Scien or Ankou they had to give that to us
via a side story and its just sad they couldn't do better for the actual afters.
 
I don't know if I should recommend this game unless you're a big Ankou fan
and are OK with some of the other guys not really getting much else but a few crumbs!
I'm sorry I really tried to like things in this game but I could barely find it...
most of the time I was just bored, missing even the interactions with Jinnia and Liyan.
All the fun stuff were put into side story -interlude- as well...
I guess that not everything has to be truly happy but I just found most of the afters lacking
if only they didn't bother with encore and focused more on the afters cuz it really
feels like they divided their attention too much leaving some other areas to be desired.
 
Idk what score to even give this FD on one hand an 8/10 just for Ankou seems a bit much
but a 5/10 or lower could make this seem like a kusoge... so I guess a 6.5 or 7/10???
cuz hey atleast half the guys had a nice after story! as wells as Ankou being a great addition.
 
My play order was: Lukas > Mathis > Science Brofist > Yvess > Adolphe >Drifter > Ankou.
The only good thing about this play order for the FD is that the afters will gradually get better.

Spoilers after the jump as I will be writing about the character/routes etc!
so you've been warned!!! if you don't want spoilers then don't proceed further!!!

**Ended up fixing some mistakes or adding some stuff but this post won't be edited anymore
and ain't no way I am touching encore more than I already did.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday, October 17, 2021

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.
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