Star Ocean 6 the Divine Force - review

Genre: RPG
Developer/publisher: Tri-Ace/Square Enix.
Platform: PS4/PS5.
Official Site: N/A

Release date: 2022-10-27. 

Never did I expect there to be another main-line star ocean game after SO5...

but here we are and honestly it makes be so happy.

Not even 4 hours in and... sigh this make really remember why I love RPG's

this game really made me nostalgic for the old days cuz this it has the vibes

well at the very least I was off to a good start!😄 regardless of what was to come.

Sadly I did not like the OP that much, it was pretty much a mashup of scenes

from the game with some screamo rock music which definitely was not to my tastes.😓

I played the PS4 ver on normal difficulty and it was just the right amount of balance, no annoyance 

of the plot made me consider lowering it this time! I am mostly positive with this game

but I have a few gripes.

 

Pro's

- Charming cast of characters and lot's of shipping fuel between some chara's.

- Story pacing was good and when the going gets good it keeps going.

- Slight graphic dip but smooth gameplay in battles thanks to FPS mode.

- Replay value; two different side + 1 optional character and endings for each side.

 

Con's

- While trying to fast travel, the message of being able to miss dialogue is unnecessary.

- Private actions despite not that missable should be more easier to spot as they are a

boon to be better able to understand the chara's. Sad to see its easy to miss.

- If you played many a rpg it might not do much new.

 

 This game has you pick sides much like Star Ocean 2 so you can play with

Laeticia or Raymond's POV. Most of the game is the same but there are moments that differ

and even unique party member that join depending on whatever side which is nice.

There's mostly some POV differences and certain angles being unique to each side.

 Story wise I won't be posting much in terms of spoilers but the pacing's alright

you slowly get to know characters and the world they live in.

The story was a slowburn, but it was kind of nice? I didn't think it was terrible or anything...

well not everything can happen like a magician snaps a finger and viola! Basically the outline

 is like Ray's ship gets attacked and his escape pod crashes on an underdeveloped planet.

Laeticia and Albaird find him and decide to help him out find his comrades.

Some stuff happens along the way which they have to deal with too

and its a underdeveloped planet yet there is some folk trying to mess around.

This game in quite similar to older games isn't it? 

The story does end up peaking at some point and I liked that part a lot... it really shows

just how much everyone has come to trust one another! I could tell it was leading up to the finale

and it did really well or atleast tried to keep its momentum till the end.

I didn't really like the stuff before the final boss who is kind of like a cockroach at that point

but it fits with what the story was trying to do. There's a post game available as well

for those who really love the combat and character speciific endings. 

Good thing is viewing PA's is not required for those and just spam aphrodite tears

on whoever you'd like to see the ending of and beat mr: final boss .

 

TL;DR for people who don't want to read the whole post:

Honestly I enjoyed this game for the most part, it didn't try to hard with its story

and the cast ended up being better when we got to know them more.

Star Ocean has always been fantasy meets sci-fi and this game did it pretty well!

Combat was fun even tho I didn't fully understand it, at times in boss fights it felt impossible

to get more AP except if you did a well-timed dodge still it was great that bosses were susceptible

to status ailments like freeze! They could definitely touch this game up with some QoL features

like better being able to tell if there are new PA's in the towns plus getting rid of the message

when trying to fast travel literally anywhere. There were some moments during the story

where I was like huh I wonder what happened on their side and there's a character

unique to each side that definitely adds replay value as well as endings. I can definitely understand

why J.J doesn't have an ending with Laeticia or Theo with Ray... if anything I can see

Ray asking Theo out for a drink.😅 but J.J and Laeticia uh... no compatibility detected.

It was a pretty good game with a fun battle system and decent AI that I don't need to babysit

yet the AI still had its moments of dropping its brain but you'll get used to it.

This game isn't perfect but its good at what it tried, a brand new story set in the star ocean universe

that doesn't force you to play other entries to understand its plot. Its a nice scifi adventure

that let's you explore an underdeveloped planet while uncovering a greater plot going on.

There may be a treat for fans who've followed the series so its mostly a win-win situation...

Unfortunately this game does not boldy go where no rpg has gone before

and it doesn't need to! it was still an interesting journey but if it was any longer

i'd probably get really annoyed. So take that as you will.

I'll be blunt, if the series dies with this game then atleast I am glad that it ended up

being like some of the older titles while giving it a nice fast paced battle system

and all the playable's having their own unique movesets.

 Playing RPG's to constantly expect them to do mindblowing or things most don't do

will just set one up for disappointment! even if they don't it can still be good.

IMO this game wasn't terrible but its not perfect either.

 

I don't have any tips except for the following:

I recommend trying to play as albaird if the melee's feel too weird, he is around almost always

on Laeticia's side and is pretty busted in trying to make his bimbo spells stronger

thus being able to melt most enemies and being able to revive any AI that get hit too much. 

Determined princess skill will make lvling up a breeze.

My last advice is to ignore the fast travel dialogue and act  as if the message isn't there

and to just have fun exploring the games contents!

 

No plot spoilers in this post but like always there will be more babbles

with some random screenshots of moments that I liked.

Shiro to Kuro no Alice Twilight Line - Review

Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 

Developer/publisher: Otomate.

Platform:PSV.

Official Site: http://www.otomate.jp/bw_alice/twilight/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v21786

Release date: 2018-11-15

Ah yes the FD- or sequel to that rather messy alice in wonderland otome game
from otomate, in case you wonder what I mean by messy again is that
the overall story was too scattered and there was no locked routes
so if you did Nello first you'd basically spoil a plot behind the scenes
or if you did Snow's then well you basically got the best possible resolution.
That doesn't mean the other routes aren't worth doing as it still would fill in the blanks
here and there regarding the characters. So in short when a story would benefit
from restriction they said nah let them pick! which could work if the important story bits
weren't all over the place, like I am sure no one likes getting to Minette mid game
only to find out it was better to do him first since he has nothing to do with the main plot.
Shiro to Kuro no Alice had a story albeit very messy and all over the place!
and even that did not change in its FD's additional scenario.

Pro's
 -After stories are short and sweet.
- Art and music are excellent.

Con's
- unvoiced heroines who still talk to each other as if it was voiced, which
like the original ruined a lot of potential in scenes everyone else is voiced.
- Story is still a scattered mess.

Content wise there is the after story's ~lover's day~ which gives us a look at their lives now
it covers both white and black happy ends... which is probably what you wanted the most.
Then there's another line... which is basically just an another story...
but with individual endings as well which is where most of the meat of the game is.
There's also the tea party after doing all which is a nice extra for full complete.

Either way I decided to start with Airi's side first mostly because she literally got stuck the worst boys
and Luna with the sweethearts, which made me not very interested in Airi's side.
After stories are like an hour long BUT there's one for each happy end (black and white)!
  so that's basically two hours... whether it was worth it depends on character like

for me Minette's were an utter waste of time but Nero was actually worth sitting through
so I guess it depends but even then I wish they put more effort.
Another line was eh... after 4 routes I got the general gist of the plot and had enough
and actually got sad we didn't get a routes for Rui, Ratt or Nine instead
like they give us new characters try and flesh em out but they don't really get resolution.
Volume wise its about right... if you rush its probably not but I thought the content was fine
and could definitely last a week or two if you take it slow but eh unless one was
invested in the world of shiro to kuro no alice I can't really recommend it
since this is for fans of course, I got what I wanted out of it thanks to Luna side
but still felt it was lacking in someway maybe because they had to split
the lover day scenario to the two happy ends which makes no sense if
the another line scenario also sort of follows up on the bw after???
IMO most of the white afters were the best to me so I wish they'd made it a little longer
even at the expense of the bw after but eh they still managed at making some of it
its just not going to be to everyones taste.
As we know Another line has the same problem as the original game
I am going to recommend Snow's route there for last as it has the most
revelations about Rui, the rest of the order shouldn't matter too much
so just to be safe do Airi side before Luna's with Snow last.

That ends my spoiler free section...

Taishou x Alice heads and tails - review

 Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 

Developer/publisher: Otomate.

Platform: PSV.

Official Site:

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v20277

Release date: 2017-12-07

FD of Taishou x alice... if I had to be really honest I didn't think TxA really needed a FD
why? I actually thought the epilogue chapter wrapped everything up nicely and everyone
got a small extension to their ending that aside it must've done well enough for them
to release this FD so why not just accept and try to enjoy whatever contents it has?
 Not much aside from the usual after stories, two new routes for Ryoushi and Ookami
but I heard beforehand they're not all that great since the bias for Alice is too great.
Then there's Gakuen Alice which might've been the last best thing this FD has to offer.😅
 There's not much else to say so let's just get on with it.

Pro's
- Gakuen Alice's a fun omake with mini route (except ookami/ryoushi)
- Art.

Con's
- Not every after story got the same amount of effort, i've only found
Akazukin, Gretel, Mauhoutsukai and Alice to be actually fun / worth it.
- The new routes aren't really 'new' at all nice if you want another perspective though.

I decided to play the after story in the same order as the original:
Cinderella > Akazukin > Gretel > Kaguya > Shirayuki > Mahoutsukai > Alice.
I do recommend saving Mahoutsukai for later preferable after Shirayuki, as Mahoutsukai
adds something that makes Shirayuki's seem like even that had its place.

The first two after stories I did was mostly fun and light-hearted like what one is supposed
to come to expect of FD's... there are exceptions to the others but it wasn't too bad
its just for some it felt there was little effort put into the scenario.
If you are familiar with sangoku rensenki's FD... its a lot like that! you get a short story
with the couple which is around 1 hour at most with two CG's for each
the content varies depending on the character though. Much like the original TaiAli
the further you get into the episodes the drearier it gets, like the boys from ep1 are fun
but then you get to Kaguya and it just goes downhill, Gretel was still OK for some reason.
The new routes for Ryoushi and Ookami aren't exactly new route just their POV of the whole
thing with Alistair much of what we already know! since they force the canon
so much their endings aren't exactly what one would like to see.
Can't recommend their routes unless you want a different perspective of the story we already know.

Overall its still a decent FD but only get it if you desperately need more Taiali in your life
there's just some parts that make me say: but why? like why even give Ookami a route if
you're going to make it end up like that... his whole character turned out to be a laughing stock.😓
To be fair... after being done with this FD the only thing I really like about Taishou x Alice is the
story of 'Alice', comedy and meta. As an otome game I think it doesn't really work that well like
half of the cast is essentially the same person, different personality and in the end only one matters.
Tai Ali has a great story&chara's and I whole-heartedly recommend the games
but as an otome game; by the end it leaves to be desired no matter how well written it was.

Well whatever I'll try to write some thoughts down below as usual, don't read it
if you don't want spoils etc (not like there is much).

Bad Apple Wars - Review

 Genre: Otome Game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Otomate.

Platform: PS Vita.

Official Site: http://aksysgames.com/baw/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v17344

Release date: 2015-11-19(JP), 2017-10-13(ENG).

Well I bought the english version... since I didn't bother with the japanese version
and wanted to try it  since I passed on other localizations this year such as Pcube
or CxM, I already played those and not buying something twice
that aside it seems it would've been better for me to pass on this.

The setting seems strangely similar to a certain anime... as for our dear heroine Rinka
I haven't exactly heard great things about her and can be quite annoying so before I started
I hoped she wouldn't be that bad but alas, the story is about life and death
and she ended up being quite an annoyance on my first play.

Pro's
- Characters... even the side ones have interesting backstories.
- Gorgeous art and catchy music.
- Interface.

Con's
- If you expect an otome with a solid story and unique individual routes look elsewhere...
- Bad/good split was pointless.
- Short, some routes may leave to be desired coughShikishimacough.
- Copy pasta, after a few routes you might've just seen it outside of character stuff.
- Protagonist in general, no backstory either because apparently her life was that boring.

Saw other people have mentioned that the font of the text seems kind of an odd choice
which I agree with but in all honesty its not that bad, its surprisingly easy to read for me
but maybe for those with eye problems it can be an issue I guess.
The localization was overall pretty great?! for aksys standards... very little typos but its sad

that this had to be the one that was given extra care except for the following
you might want to skip reading this its a minor spoiler.
White Mask's family name... its not shou but iku like, he even says Iku
 I know translators  can't hear this but how did they mistranslate this?! 
maybe they thought lol... Iku is pretty odd  so let's roll with Shou *tilts head and rolls eyes
...its a key aspect of his character like how did the editors not realize this!
and like it was at the end of his route which out of all I enjoyed a bit more, sigh

thank you aksys games for completely ruining the meaning.
Next... the font or a name is the least of your problems, if you don't know a lick of japanese
soul touch scenes could be a problem. Thing is they don't have subs
so the dude would say stuff and you might not be able to understand.
Its just lazy you know? they should've added text boxes but they didn't
I can understand japanese so I get by easily but other people might not. >_>

System, standard VN stuff such as choices, some map movement and you apparently get
 the choice to join the disciplinairy commitee or a group of odd balls fighting against it
some routes are only available if you pick a certain side of course.
You can pretty much play this without a guide, its impossible to miss stuff or get lost
and to get bad ends just touch the spot he doesn't want to be touched.
Well the common route was very simple yet informative, I liked the introductions
and most of it didn't feel longer than needed it all was quite straight-forward but
there is just so much shared throughout the routes even if you join the other side
the writer really didn't care to give everyone a unique route, a shame...
Art... despite setting its colorful and different than most otome games, I sort of liked it.
the BGM seems to fit the setting as well, no complains and a catchy OP by nano.

Here comes the ranting...
This... is a depressing game but I found Rinka's entrance to be not sad at all?
I can't say I liked the heroine in general either I know she's supposed to be this girl
who has never suffered in her entire life but still got by but because of her constant negative attitude
in the first route I did and her lack of actual backstory/development I just shook my head.
If I liked anything about her it would be her design, she does look adorable but that's it and
 part of me should be able to relate to her but I don't think I want these type of otome game heroines.
Just so you know I tried to like Rinka and find positive traits, she had little of it.
I am not lying when I say she does not have much of a personality and just goes with
the flow of things in some routes the whole I am empty thing is more annoying than others.
Rinka doesn't really have much of anything, no interests can't fit in and is easily jealous of others
but she doesn't do much on her own, instead she brings herself down time and time again
if I hadn't done Higa's route when I did I probably would've raged quit but weirdly enough
after his I did a disciplinary route and Rinka was a lot more tolerable than most bad apples routes!

Does being a good or bad apple mean much in Rinka's case? not really just another perspective.

 I wish we saw knew more of Rinka's life though... it can't have been that boring
like did she have hobbies or friends? she didn't because she can't fit in.
Early on she says she wants to return to her everyday life but to what exactly?
Well apparently she does like cute things like the gothic girls dress... but I guess Rinka being passive
makes it easier to get into her (like self-insert) I just wish she wouldn't be so negative is all like in
bad apples routes she's wahwah i'm empty I haz nothung! yet in disciplinary she thinks like a proper
human being and mentions having tv,manga and games would be better wow... the difference.
I too can get real depressive and say I have nothing... but i'd see something in my life
that would snap me out of it, can be as simple as a material thing.
In truth there are people who really have nothing but those prob wouldn't be playing this...
depression is not fun, still BAW does a bad job of showing it atleast for Rinka's case
because some of the other side characters are much better written.
Also mostly everything goes her way because somehow she's not limited like the others
because SHE HAS NOTHING and somehow this empty shell manages to heal
all the guys problems too because who else possible could, just because she is warm and gentle
on the inside which makes the guys comfortable for some reason! everything makes sense now right?
 In all honesty its amusing how Rinka knows her own flaws and doesn't do much about it!
No... the problem is she doesn't get many opportunities for that because the time for that
went to the sub characters and the love interests. I didn't even understand why some of the guys
fell for Rinka... maybe its because she's a natural good kid with an empty heart of gold
but is just so insecure about everything and somehow when she sees people in their weakest
moments she racks up the courage to help them if that ain't mary sue-ish idk what is. >_>
I found myself the most frustrated with Rinka in the bad!common routes because its the same
just with a different guy at your side and then the fact the routes themselves are so short
it becomes almost unbelievable in terms of romance coughShikishima&Satorucough.

 Honestly I have never seen an otome game heroine be more pathetic than this
atleast she has more personality than the protagonist of AMNESIA...  yeah I went there
because even if Rinka is irritating she does grow and you know actually talk outside of choices.
IF ONLY they fleshed out Rinka more so that she got proper development too but alas
Rinka is no Cardia Beckford, if anyone gets development its the guys
heck even the side characters got more development than our dear protagonist.
A protagonist can make or break a game, clearly this one is breaking it for me
because a narrative can only be as strong and/or good as the person at the center.
When you think Rinka gets better she gets worse again, this sort of repeats and then
 you do another route also yeah she is special, most otome game heroines are
but with Rinka I just wish they actually fleshed her out. >_>

Also there are hardly any choices except as to where to go and whether ot not you do
the soul touch thing depends on which ending you get, this combined with Rinka's personality
going with the flow never improving cept a little at the end just makes it worse.
Maybe its because she has nothing she can take in their problems but in reality that's not the
way it should work, I found Rinka's character to be quite shallow compared to everyone else.
If its supposed to give people struggling with depression a little hope then
it might have done so in the worst way possible, atleast flesh out your protag please.
 If anything this game shows even if you have barely anything you can be someones light...

Okay that aside on my first play I did like the mystery aspect what little there was

since this is not the focus of the game nor was romance btw it was just shoehorned in in some routes.
So yeah at NEVEAH gakuen those that died early get another shot at life if they get expelled
or join the cycle of samsara if they graduate but for that they have to let go of everything.
Bad apples are people who don't follow the rules of this school and then there are the
people of the disciplinairy commitee who try to make sure everyone follows the rules
and try to correct the bad apples, huh this sounds awfully like angel beats! they even had a freaking
concert, lmao I think this game may be better if you are not familiar with that franchise. >_>
Its up to Rinka(or better put you) to decide to be a reject or a goody two shoes... not that it matters.
In some routes like Higa's I'd say the romance was believable but whether or not
some of the other guys are is a whole different matter entirely.
Also trashy sugitan and creepy koji yusa sub characters, check...

So now to the important part do I recommend it?
Not really but if you are in desperate need of another ENG otome then yeah go for it.
I am not even sure what I liked about this otome game as a whole... but I think
the one thing that shined are the characters even the sub chara's! but as for the whole
war thing may have been a bit overhyped I guess, because neither side goes THAT far.
The story well... after two routes you might've just seen it all since it stays the same
no matter what guy you go for the only difference is scenes with him and his past etc.
Outside of the characters past, I still found most chara's to be plain except some of the side
characters like Naraka for example imo  he was a great sub chara.Also there are no real individual
routes so if you thought Code:realize was great for having a unique story for each guy
then you'd probably be disappointed here by the amount of copy pasta to the point by route four
 litte amazed me. I've played lots of otome games some also have content that just repeats
no matter what but then something else made up for that, I can't find that here.
BAW has some touching moments which could make you think about stuff but that's it
I hardly found much to be memorable it pretty much focuses on the characters over anything else.
Rinka needed more development but if I think really hard it wouldn't have worked in another way
that aside I need not repeat myself to how much of a disappointment she was for me right?
Yeah sorry I cannot fully recommend this otome game when the protag is literally an empty shell
from begin to end- the only thing that helped her realize her purpose was the guy of her choice.
Don't want to be that person but the guys aren't that interesting outside of their (sad) past...
nor is the otome part that satisfying, in other words imo this is a mediocre game.

Well that ends my probably spoiler free section, I recommend to not read any of my
character babbles if you want to play the game yourself because I did wrote done their past
so there are definitely detailed spoilers of stuff including the endings.

Sangoku Rensenki Sakigake - Trial version Review

 三国恋戦記 魁

Game: [Sangoku Rensenki Sakigake]

Genre: Otome Game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Daisy2.

Platform: PC.

Official Site: http://www.daisy-daisy.in/products/sangoku2/special.html

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v18293

Release date: 2017-08-25

Long awaited new sangoku rensenki game with new heroine and cast

with some old ones making an appearance.

Since it is very likely to get a vita port I just decided to check out the trial now
also I know its bad to judge the full game on a demo but from what I saw I liked.
Also I will write the name as spoken and english equivalent.
You should know that if you aren't into chinese history you'd probably have to give this a pass

buut you might learn a thing or two it would depend on your love for bishonen?!

Tomoe is a highschool girl coming from old fashioned family and talented with the bow

 but has no experience with romance.

The way the story starts gives us a good look at Tomoe's normal life 

but she's really dense and her best friend Nana has to play shipper on the deck

because she can't stand how Tomoe and Kouta are right now.

As in they're friends but its awkward, so Nana figures Tomoe is in love with him

and says they'd should just go out already but Tomoe is like what should I do?

So when she goes to the library Tomoe isn't there and she finds a book

related to the sangoku period and well you guessed it she gets swept away to a world

resembling ancient china in the early three kingdoms period, sadly this time
the protagonist does not choose those who saw victories she chose those who lost. 
Due to choices in the prologue it may differ where you end up
I like this because you get to the route you want right away.
Those who played the original may not sit well with some stuff...
and there's a little false advertisement of fighting heroine often she is forced
to do nothing this I felt in Yuan Shao route that is why I recommend the route of Lu Bu first
because you will see that despite being capable she's a girl and killing is not what she wants.
Its best not to compare too much with previous work but see with open mind.

System: typical VN stuff and daisy2's easy mode is there

so you can see which choice relates to what character and get on a route faster.
I think the demo itself is about 2 maybe 3 hours considering to try all route.

I found a recommended play order in a JP review so I will relay it for you its:
Lu Bu / Dong Zhuo > Yuan Shao > Sun Ce > Hua Tuo.
I think Lu Bu is a good start but according to them Dong Zhuo's not bad either.

Everything written down is what happen early on in the route
if you do not want spoiler just skip character section,  I only saw Yuan shao and Sun Ce
 to the end of demo but everything else is only a little, it probably ended shortly where I stopped.

Shiro to Kuro no Alice - Review

 Game: [白と黒のアリス.]
English title: White and black Alice.

Genre: Otome Game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Otomate/Kogado studio

Platform: PS Vita.

Official Site: http://www.otomate.jp/bw_alice/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v19716

Release date: 2017-06-8

I know that this is like the umpteenth Alice otome game but I was motivated it to get it
and I was mostly interested in Luna's side but that doesn't mean I won't give Airi a chance.
I also figured Shiro to Kuro is otomates biggest entry this year? I mean compared to other titles 
they don't have much this year except a bunch of FD's and this looks the most interesting to me.
Its also funny otomate came up with this after quinrose's demise and got former staff 
like Hisano to sing the opening theme and the mangaka who did the Alice no kuni manga's
adaptation to make a web comic from this, btw I haven't bothered with that so I am going in blind.

Pro's
- Interesting world.
- Decent volume, not too short nor too long.
- Characters are likeable but depends on taste.
- Art is amazing, music fits the scene.
- A skip to the next choice feature (God Bless).

Cons
- The overall story is scattered, one mistake in playorder ruins it even more.
- Too many interesting tidbits are shoved into unvoiced bonus stories/letters
most likely to prevent routes from getting even longer.
- It would be better if the heroines were voiced, since at times they meet they'd have
normal conversations which is just odd when others around them speak.
- Landmines... Airi's side is full of them.

Airi left and Luna right, look similair? they're twins duh...

System wise its typical VN stuff but there's two heroines Airi and Luna who like at norn9
have three romanceable interests so let's go over them real quick to avoid confusion.
After the prologue and common part of each girl you'll be able to select a route
which is of fairly decent length it never felt that rushed it really takes its time
but honestly there might be a couple of boring moments here and there.
  Since otomate is stupid this time and didn't give us a recommended play order 
I went in blind and uncovered a whole plot behind the scenes on my first play.😅💦💦💦
Oh good joy otomate you even delayed this game but it was too hard
to give us a recommended order or put an enforced playorder?oh well...
Okay each route still has its own fair share of spoilers for you to find out which
is totally normal but its mostly selfcontained character stuff, one thing is for sure
you won't find out everything just doing one route nor is there a real true path its just Snow
having the best story conclusion so it should be done last if you care about that.
 Minette's route is most disconnected from overall plot so best to do first and well Rain was pretty painful early on but made more sense at the end of the route so best to not do him too late in your play order. Nello ahaha he's fine midway but watch out for landmines! definitely not last.
Jack route was super enjoyable so that's why I recommend it for last even if
Snow's black happy end is arguable the best in terms of story completeness.
Feel free to decide your own order but I think this works?
I recommend this order:
Airi: Minette > Rain > Luna: Kanon > Airi: Nello > Luna: Snow / Jack.
 

 White side: Airi - Rain, Minette, Nello.

Black side: Luna - Snow, Jack, Kanon.

Airi is the heroine of white world who is a candidate for the next queen because
her blood will save the country of black, Luna the current queen and heroine of black world 
suffered a coup'de etat after sentencing someone which was seen as too cruel
so for her own safety (and sanity)Luna was forced to flee to the white world 
while Airi is forced to take her place in black world note that despite Airi following
Rain on that rainy day at that point she doesn't want to have anything 
to do with the queen stuff and will actively ask people how to get out, of course Luna 
wants nothing more but to go back to black world but goes along with Snow
turns out they throw some magic and Luna seems to fit right into Airi's place... 
Well they do look alike since they're twins after all.
The two do need time to adjust to their new environment and Luna is really
clueless about seemingly normal stuff, OK you get the basic picture now lol.
 There's also some caste system and blood sucking mechanic like the guys from white side
get a boost if they suck Airi's blood and on the other side Luna needs to suck the guys blood.😓
Of course Luna also gets her blood sucked since ... because uh plot?
Also since the guys are no vampires how do they actually bite? since you know lack of fangs...
Before playing I thought otomate is grasping for straws here 😥 but whatever let me explain
its definitely not just fanservice dialover style like for example when Rain got injured
Airi cut her own finger so he nibbled at it so Rain could regain his strength.
See its important to the story so stop complaining its just fanservice...
here come the blood donation jokes by me making my way through the routes. (just kidding)
Sadly I don't like the idea of biting a guy... let alone bitten by them... so its a miss for me. 


Minor spoiler in the next bit so feel free to glance over this.
 However there was one bit in Snow's route that irked me, anyone sensitive to self harm of cutting
themselves may want to need this warning but Snow's so sweet of stopping a selfish Luna
wanting attention or basically forcing him to drink her blood even if he said no.
The negative bit there might be easy to over look, still I had to mention it because sensitive topic.
end spoiler.


Like with all otome games you don't have to like everyone it all depends on personal taste really.
Minette, the mysterious flirty guy who showers you with affection and definitely not shady(he is).
Rain, the mysterious cold and distant but definitely doesn't mean to be...
Kanon, the sharp-tongued tsunderella.
 Snow, the caringly sweet and gentle type.
Jack, the shy yet cute type of guy who obviously is interested in the protag.
Nello, the two faced guy but totally a good boy atleast you'd think.

The only thing otomate seems to have recycled is some aesthetic from code:realize do note that
I am mainly talking about the text box here so don't misunderstand me.
Other than that everything looks nice and art in general like backgrounds are all pretty.
It seems they had a lot of budget, plenty of side characters and routes do not overlap
with others so all is good! but the mouths do not move, honestly speaking this is no big deal.
It also has its own save/load screen and I do not remember many VN on ps vita
that actually have a unique save/load screen except maybe Karin or some of Rejet's games.
Its nice to see otomate break the mold from the old see-through save screen
but to me it seems a possible english release with pc port is inevitable now.
(I hope it happens... along with Tierblade of course.)

The gorgeous save/load screen.

Well here is the opening movie...certainly has its charm.

The game is relatively short paced, most of the time there's ALMOST no boring moment
except the court and some school scenes but yeah the reason for that is obvious really.
Sometimes it does get longer than I thought it would be, some ends are short yet others are longer..
This only really got on my nerves when I was on Minette's because I wanted to be done, lol.
It is of decent volume routes should be around 6-7 hours or more, I guess
if you count the other ends its a little longer in the route but I never change the speed
of automode since if its any faster I can never read it before it moves on to next line -_-
I think Nello's route was definitely the longest out of all? maybe cuz prologue.
All this depends on reading speed but this should be the average either way nothing felt rushed except
some endings, this visual novel was deceptively long or longer than I had thought it would be.😅

In short...
For those wondering if Airi will be disappointing or dumb as a heroine the answer is I can't truly answer in the common route she has a surprising proactive personality of wanting to go back
but she's a little meek, too pure and too accepting of the guys flaws in the white routes.
One could say she has the worst love interests and she's the average good girl etc.
Some may find Airi generic though... and I guess she is compared to Luna.
Luna on the other hand turned out to be really cute since she doesn't know a lot of normal things
but she's still an oujou-sama and won't hesitate to speak her mind most of the time
but she could be a little selfish or bitchy I guess but its miles better.
There's a fair amount of mystery, just do not do Nello's route first! nor last
or else you'll be left with a bad after taste that probably will ruin it for you.
 Each route is fairly self contained but Nello has a good chunk of a sub plot that runs in the background but who the bad guy is slightly changes depending on route.
Some parts are slow at first but there's enough going on that shows the heroine
 and the boy of your choice get closer which all in all was enjoyable considering length.
The time the two spend together was charming even tho there's not much else going on untill
x character comes in to remind you of stuff, which in some routes ruined the mood but yeah story.
In the end it balances out, for the most part the scenes never really drag still there are a few where I was like oh come on get on with it, I guess each vn may have a couple of boring moments and shirotokuro is no exception. Atleast we get to choose the guys right after the prologues which is a
blessing really, said prologues are there to help decide who you go for but I still think
this game would have benefitted from some sort of restriction for available love interests.

Its also nice Luna has girls to talk to about stuff like guys and more since she
is totally clueless about most stuff which leads to some hilarious scenes.
Sadly with Airi that's not so much the case but she used to do that all the time...
honestly its sad Airi literally gets the worst boys.
People who like alice related things may even enjoy it more, there's more than one
outcome to the routes and variations on some endings depending on choice
either way I can recommend Shiro to Kuro no Alice, its interesting in its own way
but no replacement for Heart no Kuni no Alice., this is probably otomate's biggest release
this year next to chouchou jiken & not counting sequel/FD, they really don't have much new title.
But if I had to be really honest only black side was worth it for me...

Period Cube ~Torikago no Amadeus~ - Review

ピリオドキューブ ～鳥籠のアマデウス～

Game: [Period Cube ~Torikago no Amadeus~] 

Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 

Developer/Publisher: Otomate/Idea factory.
Platform: PS Vita.
Official Site: http://www.otomate.jp/period-cube/
Release date: 2016-05-19

Oh boy, this seems like its going to be SAO/.hack the otome game.

As for the characters there is the classic childhood friend, mascot, missing onii-chan etc...
 It has an RPG-like system just hope it won't be annoying.

My expectations? not very high, I think it was a good idea I did not get my hopes up.

This was originally a drama cd series which I never bought since it seems like a cash grab.
CD1 is with the childhood friend chara which mostly seems as an introduction. the other CD's
 all seem to be much of the same, I heart the plot wasn't very good though which worried me
about the writing quality in the actual game.

I forget to mention this but this is the second? time Otomate used a theme
from a popular anime used and turned it into an otome game.
Bad Apple Wars turned out to be Angel Beats! the otome.
Now we have Period Cube which takes a lot from SAO/dot hack...
Is it laziness? because I heard BAW didn't even use its setting to its full potential.
^AKA much like Period Cube it could have been much better.
Oh well whatever...

Now to get on to the game, my play order is:
Hiroya > Astram > Ladius > Dimento > Zain > Libera > Shiki.

The game doesn't seem to force too much mmo terms at you and everything
you should know about is explained further via the dictonary LOL even the word level
and more terms one should already be familiar with is explained  so if you see an unfamiliar term don't hesitate to open up dat dictionary! or google it. Now on to the system...
I thought it would be annoying but it turned not to be, it doesn't beat around the bush
the way it is implemented its actually quite fun! I'm proud of you otomate
Still the MMO aspect is kind of just there to make decisions along
with the usual choice making in a visual novel so if you expected stuff like
Harukanaru toki no naka de or Real Rode you'll be disappointed because 
Period Cube is still a straight-forward visual novel. 
Some parts of the plot are a bit stupid though, its enough to make me roll my eyes.
  Still for a VN it does a good job of having the skin of an MMO...

 Anyway since this has no common route you get on the character route right
after the prologue ends because of the choices you make there, this is bad and good.
 Good = more time with the guy of your choice even if its still short, except for Dimento because
his route branches from Astram, which feels like Dimento was added for last minute lolz. >_>
Bad = no time to get to know everyone via a common route, so you basically
go into everyones routes blind if you never bothered with the drama cd's.
Another problem is that all the guys fall for the heroine's so quickly with
 the exception of Hiroya since he's the typical childhood friend but thats no excuse.

BTW I love the opening movie, the song is nice and I just can't skip it.

TL;DR
If you don't feel like reading the whole post.

Pro's
-Theme/Setting.
- Art, Kuroyuki's art is gorgeous.
- Music is good, some bgm are charming.
- Characters, alot of them have interesting reasons to be playing ''Arcadia''.

Con's
- Story is not that bad but you really shouldn't expect much since
Wtfbbq plot has more holes than cheese /mostly looking at you Zaine.
- Short game, 5~ hours to finish one route.
Pacing, it feels rushed especially the romance.

6.5/10
This game was too short for me to fully appreciate it the only good things are the theme of the game
as it was set in an MMO, the characters are all great in some way and  the plot was amusing
but I wouldn't say it was that good it also spoon feeds you basic info one should already know.
My favourite guy was Astram! Ladius and Zain come close though despite him being uh you know...
Honestly I bought this game solely to see if they could actually make it work...
For better or for worse it was amusing and it wasn't entirely bad in my opinion.

Anyway if you want a real otome game rpg I suggest looking into the Harukanaru toki no naka de series
or even Real Rode, its sad but Period Cube doesn't even come close to those two.

More ramblings after the jump, there are spoilers so skip to the end of the post to avoid.