Olympia Soiree - Review

Before Matsurika no Kei... there was Olympia Soiree. (Wait... that kinda rhymes?!)

Genre: VN.

Developer/publisher: Otomate.

Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.aksysgames.com/olympia/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v24241

Release date: 09-9-2021 

 

Alright, I was always kinda curious about this one and got this on a discount for 38$.

I generally played pretty slowly since there wasn't anything else I wanted to play.

It was quite long and I kinda missed the time when a route took me almost a week.

 

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 setting and characters.

- Gorgeous art and fitting music.

- A heroine that quite literally spits fire.

- Monologue haters rejoice cuz there's none!(except extra's)

 

Grey Area

- Character focused and can be repetitive to do all routes. 

 

Con's

- Long common route without choices, felt too rail-roaded.

- 3249432593 flashbacks.

- Clunky UI.

- There are plenty of CG's but the pacing for some was not balanced.

 ---------------------------------------------------------------

 

The OP was alright but not something I watched everytime I started the game. 

I liked the ED themes more for reason. 

The story hooked me easily but this do be one of those games where

I found my fav right away and most other LI didn't quite click with me.😔

The only reason I did all the routes was for story reasons really! maybe its due

to the heroine, who was alright but I did enjoy watching her interact with the LI's. 

I liked her self-concious and grounded personality and she certainly spoke her mind

however I think she was a bit much as well.😅  Olympia can be a firebreathing b!tch

who will take no shit and does as she pleases but atleast she was self aware which is rare.

I do not blame her considering how she lived, she had all the right to be assertive.

There was also a tender side to her and I loved how she confided in Daifuku

this reminded me of trouble magia and it was adorable. I'm glad I didn't sit on this

because it was surprisingly romance driven with some good worldbuiling to boot.

However not every route went into the plot and you will need to do it all to fully get it.

When I looked back on the routes after Himuka's the initial four were

hilariously self-contained only revealing things as necessary.

--- 

The common route is just a long intro, the focus is mostly on Olympia

and explains the way of the world. It wasn't really a bad thing but I can understand 

It could be too long for some. The whole game is about picking a husbando

and you have a whole year but... despite that it happens within 2ish weeks. GIRL. 

The story definitely drove on desperation and at times it could feel unrequited or some

mild angst of this never going to work but... for the most part the romance was believable.

It didn't seem like the story cared about what if she couldn't find a partner. To which I started

to think this game is some propaganda for japanese teens to get babies due aging population. 

The lore sure is rich but most of the routes were more character focused

and a lot of main plot threads are just left hanging in most route.

--- 

 Wasn't really sure what was up with the technology level of the island, I know

there's random stuff that washes up ashore but some stuff was never explained.

I did start to dislike the setting of this game the more routes I did.

I persevered for Himuka/Akaza and to uncover all the secrets the island had buried

but its rough when you already found your best boi which for me was Riku.😔

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Music/Art/System stuffs:

Music was good, it fit the tone of the scenes. Art was gorgeous for the most part.

 The sprites were great and most CG's were good, the awkward ones were few. 

Most characters had a near equal amount of CG's but they would include variations

into the total amount so it said there were 30 when the unique ones are like 13 or so.

Some routes like Riku also have poor CG pacing so you get a lot of CG at once

near the end, other route had better balance but it stood out to me when I looked back.

I knew some complains about kiss cg's but they had some good variations...

One of Himuka's looked awkward at first but it was fine due to he follow up.

Extra's screen was cute.

 System is standard stuff, there are choices and an indicator but only in

the character route, the common route is devoid of choices.

Heroine had a sprite too which was nice.  There weren't many monologues, the dialogue

flowed well and was easy to read. The translation was very good and it flowed well

and some dialogue was really funny too, any mistakes I found were really minor. 

Each route had two bad ends but I think they're better if you got them unawares

I found that by going back for them after the best end, that they were rather abrupt

some even had characters behave OOC. I only liked 2-3 bad ends out of all. 

 

At first I did find the UI to be kind of clunky, text log is accessed from the corner and

you can't select save or load separately like in other games. You first have to click

on history and then you can save but if you wanted to load to have to press R.

Also what is history? just from its name I thought it was a flowchart...💀

I did get used to the UI but something about it esp the save/load section doesn't

sit right with me. Though with the ability to backlog jump why are there still

quick save/load options? feels like that is a relic from a bygone era.

    It can be nice to quickly see the other choice but there were barely were choices. 

Also when you hide the text to look at a CG it didn't hide the menu's

in the top left&right which seems like a huge oversight to me. 

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More ramblings about common route:

--- 

I'm not bothered by the length but I was disappointed by the lack of choices in them.

Thankfully its a one time thing! you can start from the end of it on subsequent playthrough's.

 Tho suddenly I realized many otome gamers had fallen here...💀💀💀

After four routes most of it was generally unmemorable too. Like cool setup bro.

 Now what it did well was establishing the setting/lore and characters of the game

however it is 9 chapters long💀.  The average chapter length was maybe 30-45 min to an

hour some were short other longer. (9 common chapters and around 12-14 individual chapters.)

Olympia Soiree was a 50-70ish hour game for me.

---

At the end of the common route there is the choice of which LI to pursue.

 You can only do Riku,Tokisada,Yosuga and Kuroba first. Himuka unlocks after them and Akaza last.

What kept me going was the lore and the cast of characters.

I blasted through the first few chapters on my first day, but I continued

by reading subsequent chapters in the evening so it was pretty slow and chill.

By the time of the 8th common chapter I was like any minute now...

as I get bombarded with more lore upon already existing lore.💀

To make up for it, the final common chapter was rather short but ayyy sure took its time.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

There were too many flashbacks! thankfully the promise one

can be easily skipped  but they even used flashbacks for things that

were said a little while ago and that's just annoying.😠

I don't even mind stuff like callbacks at a later time to what a character says early on

but honestly  if Olympia remembered something just her saying so would be enough

so if they had removed over half of them flashbacks it wouldn't be so annoying.

---

 

Most LI had good routes but my favorite was Riku. 

Tokisada was just not for me, Both Yosuga and Kuroba grew on me then again....

when I really think about it they're also not for me but still great in supporting role.

Akaza was good enough to rank 2nd. Himuka was just OK I just have beef with his route.

Then who's 3rd? Daifuku of course!😊 

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Overall 

 I think I am rambling a bit much but it was a long VN so it evens out.

Cold and Cruel and HEARTLESS!

Overall Olympia Soiree is pretty decent but in terms of contents its not much

better than say Matsurika, both games got some nasty stuff inside of them. 

This game was pretty long it took me nearly a week to clear a route, I kinda missed this.

Every route was relatively interesting in its own right but damn I think this game

has some of the worst side characters I have ever laid my eyes upon.💀

That ***king Kiwi and Tangerine, ISTG Ryuki! lemme borrow that air freshener!!!! 

😠😠😠

 --- 

Much like Matsurika no Kei the setting of Olympia Soiree also isn't very kind

to the heroine or other people living in the world, in the beginning I found it even

more restrictive. There were no choices untill much later into the game. Though both

games sure did love their lore its just the way they handled things was entirely different.

While wanting to change things was hopeful... its terrifying women couldn't even go to school.

 Both games also kind of force the idea of having kids being a sense of duty for a woman

and to that end it really isn't much better than Matsurika with its old fashioned worldviews. 

Does that make them bad otome games? no not at all! but during my 3rd route I really

wondered why there wasn't a route that was okay with not having kids.

I did think Matsurika had more varied ends than this game, Olympia was definitely stronger

as a heroine than Naaya but not every heroine needs to be the same that would be boring.

Things that aged poorly.

What I liked the most about Olympia; seeing her grow! she can seem immature

but has the ability to self-reflect however I do think they reigned her in a lot which

mostly relates to her power. I can compare Olympia to Cardia... but Cardia was a bit better

in using it to her advantage. Olympia on the other hand felt like she was held bac

 by trauma, she hated her ability but honestly its handled well all things considered! 

--- 

 The beginning of the game already foreshadows the tone so it was not gonna be an

ultra happy game and the setting is sad. I knew the writer was known to

put mysoginistic stuff in their games but I don't think this is a bad thing?

They're are allowed to create worlds with problems whether or not

they overcome them is different matter entirely but it would be nice if it did. 

Though reading stuff about the island like culture/way of life was depressing... 

most of it is told through minor characters. It did make it feel like change had to happen.

Needless to say, its easy to get comfy in the first three routes of the recommened order

because most of the worst stuff only happens in route 4 and beyond. 

--- 

Felt like he gets fatter every route as well...

TL;DR

Well... its still a pretty good otome game its just that I found my

favorite LI right at the start and most of the others weren't for me.😅

It had a great cast of characters so despite the common route being choiceless

it still was interesting going through it! but sadly while some side characters were likable

there were a bunch who were just made to be hated especially in bad ends.

Most route do leave me satisfied but there was a lot left up in the air or not

explained well enough. I brushed it off as Riku being an early game route but even

Tokisada had loose ends, Yosuga felt the most progressive thus far. 

The only other drawbacks were the many flashbacks and clunky UI(but you get used to it).

Also Himuka's route frustrated me when it was over since it screamed the truth is in the next route!

Akaza ended up having the most well-rounded route, its sad but most others

including my fav Riku didn't quite execute all the storybeats well enough. 

I generally did have a good time with it despite some small grievances and in terms

of romance it left me more satisfied than Cafe Enchante but doing all

the routes just felt a bit repetitive, especially if you find your fav early.

8.5/10

I'll recommend Olympia Soiree to those who like assertive heroines that speak

their mind and grow over the course of the story! as well as enjoy more

meaty otome games with decent worldbuilding & don't mind darker themes.

Though if you prefer shorter games and settings that are not problematic then I don't

really recommend this because it does have some of the same issues as Matsurika.

((If Naya and Olympia met though... I think they'd be great friends.

While most of Naya's LI's are safe, Olympia will roast Ruwo till he's burnt for sure.))

 

I am not sure if Matsurika no Kei will ever get localized though

but I don't see why it can't if Olympia Soiree could make it over. 

 

Character babbles after the jump, while they're not summaries its just

commentary/impressions along with as some of my fav CG's.

Its nearly a 5 year old game and its in english so digests are not necessary.

To be safe if you don't want spoilers don't read further. 

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Over RequiemZ - Review

 Genre: VN.

Developer/publisher: Kogado/Otomate.

Platform: switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/over_requiemz/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v47013

Release date: 17-4-2025

 

I wasn't sure if I was going to get this game and it was literally a last minute decision

but I am glad I did because I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I ever would and it

had a pretty good story more so than a bunch of recent otomate games I played recently.

Also I could probably have finished this sooner rather than later however lately I don't

like it when I burst through games in a week but it lasted almost two weeks for me

so I slowed down my pace just a little bit, the game also is better with breaks

in between due to how intense the writing can be.

 

Pro's

- Interesting setting and complex characters.

- Mostly good pacing, atleast I thought fact side was.

- Gorgeous artwork, pretty consistent art.

- Beautiful music, I found it better than most of otomate's stuff.

- Replay value is high due to scenario split.

- You can completely ignore the dark side and get to enjoy the story with proper romance.

 

Grey area

- There's only one best ending, the other three are either bad ends, a tragic end or subjective good.

 

Con's

- Dorothy's route should've been locked.

- Most choices are meaningless except a handful that decided a branch or end.

 - Dark side can feel a bit drawn out, atleast one felt forced.

- The ending theme did not fit all the endings.

 

 

Over RequiemZ is loosely based on the wizard of oz.

The heroine Yuhiru gets isekai'd to a strange land and meets a bunch of guys

who are all convicted criminals alongside herself for reasons she doesn't get. The world

isn't quite like her own but she still recognizes elements here and there from it.

Due to her black hair and eyes, she is discriminated for it but she's not

the only one as one of the LI has suffered from it as well.

Yuhiru finds solace with a bunch of guys who like herself end up being charged for

crimes they didn't commit. The question remained of whether she can trust them or not. 

This honestly feels like a breath of fresh air. Yuhiru sets out on a journey with them

which really felt like a journey btw, the characters also had good chemistry

but this was mostly the first 5 chapters before it focused more on the LI.

I loved the character interactions, there was a good dose of humor at times as well.

 Even if they were criminals it didn't feel like they were bad atleast not at first

but you could tell there was another side to them so it was exciting to see how it'll play out.

I really loved how the writing could be rather intense, it was hard to get bored

and if I did zone out then the dialogue would snap me back into it.

 

Art looks gorgeous both sprite,CG and backgrounds are very well done.

Music Some BGM's were absolutely stellar I rarely praise this much but they deserve it!

It also set the tone of the scenes well and I like the OP a lot as well.

 

System; its a standard VN however  there's a route split for each character Fact and Dark

Depending on your choices you can tip the scales to either of those and get different endings

but other than that most of the choices were meaningless, it may change a dialogue line or two.

All the endings of which there were four per route were right at the end.

Yea the split sides basically are like this, yes.

Length; A single route would be 15 chapters in total, every guy had a sort of

common route/prelude which lasted for 5 chapters and then it splits into fact or dark

of which both are 5 chapters long.  Nothing seemed to drag on, I thought individually

chapters were short, it still delivered the scenario in a well-paced manner.

My first route was about 7-8 hours in length but depending on your reading

speed it may differ.  Its important to note that both sides are different in tone

from the other so you won't get the same experience twice.

 

I wasn't sure what was up with the choice system maybe that's to decide what ending you get

or if you can make it to the fact or dark. I used a guide so... i'm not sure if selecting a less

than good choice would result in a game over ending and I didn't have the energy to experiment.

Often there would be red choices, I thought that selecting the wrong one would give me

 a bad end but the guide listed none. This game also only has four endings per route.

They were at the end so the bad ones felt more like you reap what you sowed.

Still I think some bad ends may've worked in a type of game like this since

most choices are actually pretty meaningless and add nothing of value except

the ones that decide the route split or the endings at the end of it.

 

 

I liked the general feel of the game but I had so many questions...

like why was the heroine summoned? isn't this judicial system too harsh?!

The early parts of trying to survive outside of the city reminded me of the dark dragon and

the happy hungry bunch from yona of the dawn. The first half of the game felt rather calm

but there were moments of suspense like do you tell a LI the truth of where you came from?

Anyway for the most part the game was very enjoyable, I wanted to get to know the LI

and perhaps more about the world... which was my main motivation to keep playing.

The characters were honestly pretty great, I wanted to know more

about them all, in good and bad ways. Its been a long time

an otome game got that kind of reaction from me.

They all had some sort of underlying trauma and it could seem like the heroine

is a therapist but I thought she was just trying to be a good friend

and a good friend listens to someone elses troubles and doesn't judge.

The fact route tended to resolve issues while the dark route let them fester.

In most other otome games I am like eh a yandere but this game did

not present them the usual way, more like they could become one.

Most of my questions were answered by the time of the final fact route.

 

The fact side pretty much felt like a normal otome game to me...

It focused more on the character development,backstory and current problem

as well as delivering some proper romance as Yuhiru grows closer to the LI.

The dark side reminded me of stuff rejet would come up with

and that would probably be for folks who like yanderes or something.

The main plot in dark took a different turn which... opened up other problems.

So even if you don't like rejet type stuff I could still recommend this game.

I personally thought it was a hit or miss as I could stand Claude's dark route

but Molly's... was a very oh no wtf is this shit?! momento.

I kind of wanted to skip them especially since I came to love Noil a bit too much

still I wanted to see all of his character so I bit the bullet againu. 

 

Yuhiru was pretty okay? I did think she could have been fleshed out more

like she wants to go back home but... ends up finding a handsome man instead.😂

There's only one route where she is actually given a lot more backstory

so if you don't do it she can seem a little less interesting.

That aside I liked her interactions with the love interest and she was very positive and brave

 so I don't think there was much to dislike. She goes through some shit alright

but the worst of it was mostly reserved for the dark side. Which is optional.

If Ceres crawled it was so Yuhiru could fly.

 

Over RequiemZ reminded me a little of 9rip but with more horror/suspense. I wouldn't say

it was on tsukihime/virche level but it had a good dose of violence and blood.

I think without the fact side this game would've been unsatisfying for me

and it may have even steered me away had I tried to do the darkside first.

Other than that it was character focused but most routes would never go into

the same problem twice maybe this was a double edged sword.

Unfortunately, while I was lucky enough to play the most spoilerific route last

otomate may've been better off locking it but it seems they forget

and I am blaming the guy in charge of management.😩

Locking Dorothy's route should've been a thing.

In most routes there were more bad outcomes than good ones, like one best end

a sad end and then two endings that I thought were generally leaning to the bad side

but they could be good in a subjective way.  In the case of Noil I think he had three

good outcomes and one bad but two of them  were really subjective and it would be up

to the player to determine that.  So 4 endings so two for each side, I think there's

a lot of appeal to this otome game though and I was invested quickly in whatever

was happening. The dark side of the route is probably what most are going to come here for

but I'd probably recommend to do the fact side first just for a better understanding

of the LI more so if you care about plot+romance.

 

-- 

TL;DR: Over RequeimZ was more well-rounded, it was just the right length

which was a relief since I think Fuyuzono really rushed itself.  Its just that one route

should've been locked. There was just enough time for both romance, plot/character

development but it can be really intense and can not seem very otome.

Looking at it overall the actual story/character's were really good and given a lot of depth

that I can forgive it. Whatever scenes there were with the LI were very enjoyable but don't come

here expecting only fluff. When I look at Noil's route it spends more time building trust...

however trust is the foundation for everything and without that there can be no love. 

That is why I had no issues with romance. The fact side did feel to me like any other otome game

 Its just that some characters had stuff going on in their dark route that legit made me go nope

so it certainly is not for everyone. There was a moderate amount of violence

and blood, I don't think it was as extreme as Virche. I also see comparisons

and I just don't see it?  Virche made me depressed, Over RequiemZ had me hooked and

despite the dark side being less than good I was excited to go to the next character fact route.

It has intense and suspenseful moments but it also makes room for more calmer ones.

Dark side tended to... have more extreme ends as opposed to the fact side

which just had a tragic and good end.  I thought at times the split sides also complimented

eachother, this was most obvious to me in Noil's maybe because I enjoyed the route.

Noil Bestia was one of my favorite LI along with Kaize&Claude.

I can recommend this otome, more so if you miss rejet-like games and want a story full of suspense.

If I have to be really honest, if you're just here for the story&romance just do the fact side.

I feel the dark side is there for people that like darker stuff, once again its contents is not for everyone.

9/10

Should this get localized? absolutely! there's definitely an audience for this

but even if it doesn't the language difficulty is fairly low.

Lastly, I don't recommend binging or rushing through this game.

Take your time, the scenario is carefully written and going too fast

will likely not make you be able to take it in or enjoy its finer aspects.

 ---

 

There are no route restrictions so you can choose whoever you're interested in.

For my first play I ended up choosing Claude... as I played the routes

it all was so character driven, if I had to recommend anything then you can do

Claude,Molly,Noil and Kaize in any order but Dorothy is best saved for last.

I almost by a hair chose him first and was glad I didn't.

This game is best played without spoilers and its very hard to write about the

characters without spoiling  so if you don't want that then stop reading here.

Its mostly just me doing commentary and a poor digest of whatever happened

while sharing some of my favorite CG's, not all of them of course.

Matsurika no Kei Tenmeiin Iden - Review

 Genre: VN.

Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/mk/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v47009

Release date: 29-2-2024.

 

Matsurika was the only upcoming otome game from otomate that I was still interested in.

It has a lot to do with the artstyle and a fantasy setting which just really drew me in

as well as a comfortable seiyuu cast with familiar voices that I like.

If this is gonna be my last otomate game... they got me good!

 

This game released on the same day as FFVII rebirth but at the same time

I mostly ended up playing this first because I just missed playing an otome game

and I wasn't in the mood for Final Fanfiction 7 which I only really ended up playing

on and off if the mood striked or when switch was charging which is actually perfect for it.

Pro's

- Well rounded routes, mostly easy to follow the story.

- Compelling characters & OK heroine(considering her situation).

- Gorgeous artwork and fitting soundtrack for that chinese feel.

 

Grey area:

- CeroD for a reason, there's quite a bit of sexual themes and not just suggestive.

Con's

- Long, especially if you do all routes.

- It can be kind of frustrating if you'd like to do the routes of Enrai or Fey since

they basically need all other routes be done but locked for a reason.

- NTR (bad ends only).

 

 

This game had some pretty high production values and good art direction from the CG's to

the backgrounds and sprites they were all gorgeous. Did I mention the cg's were animated as well?

I doubt this game was the product of a year they worked on this for a while

the artist truly outdid themselves not many otomate games have multiple sprite.

It has a great soundtrack that fit the setting/mood. The OP was great and listened

to it almost everytime I booted up the game. The ED's was pretty good too.

The menus were nice as well, it wasn't busy like say cupipara and just easy on the eyes.

The system was standard stuff however I could not find the skip to the next choice option

which ended up being touch pad only which I barely use, it didn't work properly.

Matsurika has a lot of chinese influences as well as the classic four lords.

At first I had a hard time understanding all the lore and it wasn't very clear where

any of it would go, there was suspense and intrigue, it got better eventually when

I got to know the characters! i'd say the end of the common route was a little

frustrating in light of certain developments. Other than that it still has a nice

sense of humor and the character interaction was pretty great right of the bat.

**Once I got into it the story was not particularly hard to follow/grasp.

I'd say the heroine Naaya was decent at best, she can be reserved but also show courage

to go off to another town on her own despite a certain someones protest.

Naaya has a lot of potential but due to the setting can never reach it, she can be stubborn

as well but eh she goes through a lot and doesn't even know wtf is going on

so I can't be too hard on her, she doesn't deserve that and her options are limited.

**I mostly liked her because she was kind but it seems most people don't like

 passives heroines and they only want pro-active ones, Naaya shined only on rare occasions.

 

Despite being an old timey game I didn't find it boring, it only became more interesting

as it went on but it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows there were secrets being kept.

There were twists and turns, at times I wasn't even sure what was really going on.

**It all did managed to fall into place at the end.

Common route wasn't too long, it serves its purpose to setup everything in relaxed manner

however the end of the common route was a little disturbing, the mood whiplash

at the time bothered me. It was at that moment the dumpster catched fire

and in some routes it goes out but in others it never really went out till the end.

Especially you Ruwo.

The story did generally flow well, it had slower moments but I didn't find the pacing

to be that bad. I think it was overall better than in say Tsuitsui.

Individual route was of decent length there's plenty developments good and bad.

If you combine them all then this game is pretty long. I did like that the final route was

not a combination of all but instead something that connects all dots, for better or for worse.

However I would like to emphasize that this game is very old fashioned and

the values of marriage or morals simply don't work in today's world. If the reader

can get past that and accept it then I think this game is much more enjoyable.

Most love interest's are nice enough that I could understand why the heroine

would stay with them because where else would she go? If you hit rock bottom

and someone extends their hand would you not accept it? I would.

 

The story wasn't very nice to the heroine but some love interests were, others did

need more time to grow on me but it was hard to dislike most of them.

Ruwo's route was pretty much the ongoing dumpster fire which was entertaining it its own way

but Zebenera was much more relaxed? it was also more connected to the overall plot

which made me super interested in Bicorn. Bicorn was the route that I thought was really good

and was able to truly present its story beats to its fullest. However it felt

a little longer but atleast Bicorns character got his full development.

I thought Seirin's route was a little boring but even that managed to make itself interesting

it just had one moment were I was like WTF this is awful but Seirin was the saving grace

unfortunately that route was riddled with politics so it took me longer to get through. Seirin route

is probably also another reason for ceroD because most routes except Enrai were... tame.

Meanwhile Fey sits in a corner somewhere waiting for the player to do all routes

and Enrai is mocking him. Wait I am getting off-topic.

All in all without any plot spoilers Matsurika no Kei was a well-rounded otome game!

however one must be willing to accept that in today's world its values no longer work and that

is okay because this is a work of fiction based on myth's and fantasy set in the old world.

The scenario was good, with multiple endings that suit the story/character.

A decent attempt at world-building and of course likable love interest

along with gorgeous and consistent artwork as well as a fitting OST.

-

If I had to ask myself the question of what do I want in an otome game

then Matsurika ticks off some flags of yes this is what I look for.

Not everything may have been my cup of tea nor is it perfect but it doesn't need to be

i'd much rather play an otome game that isn't afraid to have bad things happen

than something that railroads me to a happy end where the choices don't even matter.

**I generally liked most happy ends, they all had good conclusions.

Of course this game still has some classic problems like not every route being as relevant

 but it is handled really well that each route is refreshing and each love interest's situation is

different making it exciting to do all routes. One of MnK's problems is the restrictions

on routes but those are there for a reason. Its still better than not having any at all. I do not

consider the MC being on the passive side a problem at all considering the setting & situation.

-

Also I was reminded of ken ga kimi when I played this game and I think there's some similarity

I specifically liked how there's multiple outcomes good and bad but they all suited the character

plus the routes were all so well rounded that if it didn't get a FD then you still get a full experience.

Turns out a scenario writer of KgK worked on this game. I suppose they still got the magic

but they also worked on CupiPara which has a completely opposite direction of MnK.

This really shows their talent as a writer, playing this game made me realize I am not that

burned out from this genre, and the last one just left me craving for more balanced games.

8.5/10

(I end up dropping it sligtly because of Fey's route... because its unfinished.)

 

Do I recommend Matsurika no Kei?  yes I do but it is difficult to recommend

if you can't stand values and morals that don't work in today's world.

The developers really outdid themselves in crafting up this game, I still can't

guarantee this game will be everyones cup of tea but honestly? it was a solid

historic fantasy otome game, a journey worth taking if you like those genres

**however Matsurika no Kei is not for the easily offended.**

Its a mystery if it will get localized but taking everything in consideration

there's a possibility of this game staying unlocalized. edit: Idk how well

this did in japan but lately I think any otome game has a decent chance.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 I wasn't sure which route to go for so I went for one of the two characters

that were there since the beginning, I followed my intuition which led me to Ruwo

as Fey and Enrai were both missing from the affection screen during my first play. 

There's not a lot of options in the first play so I think Zebenera is the safest

but Ruwo is the easier choice since he is there from the start.

At one point I wanted to put Ruwo upside down into a trash can. Take that as you will

but its best to experience it for yourself, you're in for a trip.

Enrai is locked till Ruwo, Zebenera and Seirin are done.

Fey is locked till Enrai is done.

Bicorn unlocks after one route is finished however I personally do not

recommend doing his till you have atleast done Zebenera.

TFW it is easier to get into masked guy's route than the poster boys...... 🤡

My play order: Ruwo > Zebenera >Bicorn > Seirin > Enrai > Fey.

I think my own order flowed well enough that  I could recommend it as well.

Recommended order: Ruwo / Zebenera > Bicorn > Seirin > Enrai >  Fey.

This game is just restrictive as there's not much choice than to do the poster boys last or

bicorn if you forgot. Its probably for the best if you do Seirin later due to Enrai being locked

but that is just my personal opinion as I did find Seirin route to be very good at explaining things

Bicorn's route glossed over in favor of half-truth's and giving other things more depth.

 

I will be writing about the routes in the next section but this game is best going in blind.

Knowing too much ruins the suspense so I recommend not reading further if you don't

want spoilers. Also trying to write about the routes turns it into a Wall'O Text

because they are pretty long, again spoilers are after the jump.

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Himehibi Another Princess Days ~White or Black~ - Review

 

Genre: Otome/VN.

Developer/publisher: Takuyo.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: http://www.takuyo.co.jp/products/himehibi_wb/index.html

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v26906

Release date: 10/12/20.

 

Good old Takuyo is still around and released a new entry in the hime hibi series!

of which I have only played the first entry, I did buy the second one but never

played actualy managed to make time for it.😅 I did pass on their other new game

Hanasaku and maybe i'm glad I did as reviews weren't exactly doing it any favors.

 Who is Takuyo? that's a long story but they've been around for a long time.

Enough about that and more about Himehibi 3! which in terms of being of an otome game

was a little more simple than the other Takuyo game I recently played!

 

Pro's

- Mostly light-hearted but there seemed to be more to it all but not too deep.

- Pretty art, love the soft colours! most of the backgrounds are nice to look at as well.

 

Grey area

- Music manages to fit the mood most of the time but its nothing special.

 

Con's

- Kinda on the short side, but on the flip side it knows where to end.

- Not all route are well-rounded better not come her for a deep plot.

 - They should have used a different ending theme for the black lily route, too upbeat.😓

 

The OP is decent I guess, catchy enough.

Kisakino Emi is invited to enrolls at sumeragi gakuen, a high-class all boy school that is

undergoing an experiment of letting girls enter, all the boys are princes and the girls princesses...

Its is all a project/test held by the sumeragi group and she has been chosen to be a model student

like some of the guys have. There's a ranking system like Masamune for example is the rook

and Kazumi is a self-proclaimed unicorn(knight) wait why unicorn?! well there surely

was a good sense of humor around as well basically every romanceable guy is named

after a chesspiece and Emi's the queen she joins their commitee and with them prepares

for the festival, each route does this differently and you get closer to him.

Emi also has to deal with being a model student... Other than that a relative of Chiharu

typically tries to make things difficult for everyone involved, gotta have some bad guy I guess.

Depending on your choices you can get different type of route such as: white lily or black lily

there's four endings total, the former is happier than the other but what I liked about this

they explored different sides to the character and different kinds of love which kept things

interesting, for some this is for better others for worse basicallly black route is spicier.

Other than that the general system of the game was smooth and I had no real issues

on my journey to full-complete!

 

This game is set in a rich kids school thats fancy high-class but more up to date with current times

kind of reminded me of zettai kaikyuu but without the harsh class system.

Hmm... maybe the setting was too fancy for me atleast there were no annoying minigames

and was still pretty relaxing it also didn't feel like it took forever to get interesting

otome-wise like shinigami to shoujo this game was much shorter and to the point.

The common route served its purpose well enough to introduce and explain things.

There are many cg which is only the guy(s) some were good others meh.

The protagonist even comments how just staring at pretty boys is happiness enough

well atleast there are cg's with the two of them together so I can't complain much.😌

Himehibi1 also had this problem... but I guess its just a thing this series has

but this 3rd installment does it a little better than the first.

Also its ceroB(12+) so its probably better to not expect it to be that raunchy

because what was there was very tame which might be a blessing cuz there

are maybe two endings were the game was pushing this rating.

 

Emi is a good girl she might be more likable than the protag of himehibi1 but I did think Emi

is a bit too forgiving. Most of the guys are likable and the only one who pissed me off 

was Yumeji and paperbag-kun turned out to be worse than I expected.😓

There was definitely enough going on with the character(s) to keep me interested also the game

seems to know its cliches but actually not giving 2fucks about it and still rolls with it

characters like Kazumi would actually be boring were it not for their quirk

and I found his character to be very interesting!  though the humor was odd 

and a bit corney I feel you're either gonna love or hate it. Atleast every route was unique

and focused on that character which was a plus, some endings might feel lacking

but if you do all you will truly know everything about the guy (for better or worse).

 

This game was overall pretty simple in what it tried to do, I think I can recommend

this game if you want something light-hearted and character focused while not minding

having to look past the surface of a pretty face, cuz there are some ~problems~ some more obvious

than others. Romance wise... it depends for some it only gets good at the end

others are more well-rounded overall it was still open ended, I think this new himehibi

does kind of retain the old spirit its also not too bloated in length it ends when it should.

I think this game was alright... Kazumi's route while corny was fun😅 it might not

be my cup of tea but it wasn't bad! Masamune's route was very enjoyable

and he's definitely my husbando, the only route I didn't really like was Yumeji

but that was mostly because the guy lost his last shred of dignity in the black route

atleast his white route was still somewhat enjoyable but yea watch yourself with him and Paperbag because as much as I like to say there were no bad ends these two are like uhuh riiight?

Ah well otome games are always like that, one route that just rubs you the wrong way

you can't like everything but this game does a good job of finding paths that you could like.

Chiharu was the most well-rounded route and I also really liked him, he's so wholesome it hurts.😭

 Overall I think this was a pretty good otome game some parts might be a bit cliche

but that's not necessarily a bad thing if it doesn't try to be something its not and

the plot was okay too, for what it was worth this was mostly enjoyable.

I don't know what else to say but if you want to try a more classic

yet modern(for today's standard) this game is a good bet! that is if you don't mind it being simple.

7,6/10

My playorder was:

Kazumi > Masamune > Yumeji > Chiharu > Paperbag.

Idk if there was some recommended order but none are locked nor was there a story that had

to be played out in specific order so you can do whoever you fancy in whatever order you want!

This is the end of non-spoiler section, more ramblings about routes after the jump.

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Gunka o Haita Neko - review

 Genre: Otome visual novel.

Developer/publisher: Primula.

Platform: Nintendo Switch.

Official Site: https://www.prot.co.jp/switch/gunneko/index.html

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v22122

Release date: PC: 2018-09-28, PSV:2019-09-12, NSW: 2020-06-18 

Since I was thirsty and there's not much otome coming out I decided to cave in and get Gun-Neko
primula's latest game which was recently ported to switch by prototype!
I originally passed on the vita release because it was at the end of the life cycle and all
then not even a year later this got a switch port and I ain't got anything else so I was like why not?

I'm actually surprised no one had blogged about this game... but after sitting through it I understand.

Takes place in postapocalyptic world where humanoid cat people live among the ruins
of civilization, Japan is Tama's country (Wakoku) she lives there with Yuzu, Kuu and
was to be married to her cousin Koutaro. Kitty and Willow aka imperials come from
outside of japan they live in western style and use more advance technology.
Tama has always been pretty obsessed with humans, she was raised with care since
she's a bit special knowing the writer i'm not surprised most of her heroines have a quirk. 
The plot be like all these different cat people live in harmony till some human boy crashes
the wedding plans of the heroine Tama a princess and her cousin ala isekai style, now they have
much more problems on their hands as the empire moves in on wakoku

and this human boy gets to see how they all live strangely like humans did.

Oh dear did I just sum up half of this game in the non spoiler section...

Jokes aside that is exactly what this game is about, why are these cat people living so much

like humans once did?! who are apparently long extinct. Yep that's it.

Pro's
- Likeable characters.
- Comedy.
- Art/music.

Con's
- Length, it will likely test your patience.
- Interesting but executed in the most boring way filled with politics.
In most routes 90% of the time nothing happens does this say enough?
- Relies too much on the true end to make sense of whatever ''plot'' there was.

The opening is done by Ether which gave me GUST vibes.
Most of the seiyuu's are unknowns to me except Murase Ayumu and Ishikawa Kaito.

 

Tama herself was pretty cute, most of the guys were attractive, they're all based off of cat types so if
you love cats this might be a point of interest? I don't know that much of it so that was lost on me.
Art be pretty the backgrounds were decent as well and music fit the mood 
so I can't complain about any of that atleast.
System is typical choices but they have you occasionally do this sense of self thingy
where you click something left,right,up or down but this felt so unnecessary I was like but why?
The jump to the next choice feature was fantastic though...

Now I don't want to be too harsh right of the bat but is it legal for an otome game be that boring?

I mean it had some nice ideas but the plot was ok at best, chara's be likeable enough

and it has nice sense of humor as expected from the creators of taishou x alice.
That aside primula decided to do a take on the overused isekai trope: an otaku getting transported
somewhere expect harem and be OP but he ends up in an ikemen paradise instead.😂😂😂
 None of that really got explained or made sense till the true end which isn't unusual.

The length is definitely a blessing and a curse. Its good to get to know the chara's but if
the attention span is low one might get bored and in my case I did get bored at times, bored enough
to wonder if Ibuki was secretly the protagonist.😔 who doesn't even get a real route, most of
the time his entire existance is for comedic relief and support role, he gets written out
in many route very easily.😓 It makes sense for it to be that way buuuut i'm eh about it.
Though the whole thing with Ibuki was amusing it was hard to see what they were
going for at times I knew my patience was being tested, considering the writer
I'm not surprised, couldn't help but wonder if there would be psychological elements involved

but it was mostly politics instead atleast there was comedy which made it slightly better
they also love to change the perspective of the characters at times though
it only made it look more complicated than it actually was.

NGL after clearing I think my fav routes were the two childhood friends.

 

 

 

 

Overall this game isn't that serious and most of it was pretty relaxing? it took a while
to reach the individual routes or for things to get anywhere, if you don't have the patience
for this its gonna be an easy pass. I did find some of the political intrigue/world
to be interesting though it just wasn't engaging enough which just made me sleepy, I think
Kuunyan was my favorite but even his route left to be desired, each route does try
to do things differently so there's no copy pasta or 90% common 10% individual.
There is one landmine route which even lacks a proper ending, he may have deserved
such an end due to his behavior throughout but even so... atleast his route was short
still kind of feels like it was a waste I dunno just had to put that out there.
The true end wraps up any sort of questions one might have but it feels like the guys
just had routes because its an otome game and none really contributed to
the heart of the matter, when you do get there it also stops being an otome game.

 
At the end of the day this was mostly okay it might be better if you really love cats
and don't mind the militairy themes but if you want something short and sweet then maybe not
they know how to really pad it out at times which really bored me to tears.
I did like the romance and cute/funny moment which was for me the only saving grace
but considering how sleep inducing the plot is... I just can't recommend this game
unless you like games such as ye olde hiiro no kakera or Tsumikui so despite their being
a decently enough written plot beneath it all it was too long for its own good.
6/10

My play order ended up being:
Yuzu > Kotarou > Kuunyan > Shed > Kitty > True.
I'd probably recommend the same order, Shed and Kitty can't be done till 2nd play and

Yuzu or Kuu could be switched if need be, those two were probably most self-contained.

That ends the non-spoiler babbles.