Fate/Samurai Remnant - Review

 Genre: RPG.
Developer/publisher: Koei Tecmo/Type Moon.
Platform: PS4/5/PC.
Official Site: https://www.koeitecmoeurope.com/fate-sr/

Release date: 28-9-2023.

 

I wanted to play this sooner but since it released the same day as Ys X it ended up

being backlogged for the fact that it seemed like it was a pretty long game.

In december this game also got an update with easier/harder difficulties as well as more

servants being playable in a rematch mode which was enough incentive for me to prioritize

it over other games that I still wanted to play, something like now or never I guess? 

Sadly I can not talk about this game without spoilers so uh you're warned right here I guess.

 

Pro's

- Good story & well written charactters(Most of them).

- Takes a while to get going but it does explain everything making it accessible to newcomers.

- Decent graphics and fitting bgm.

 

Con's

- Basically need to play the game like twice(or thrice without proper saves) to get the full picture.

- Hyper armor is a thing in this game.

- Half assed endings, lacking a proper epilogue.

- MC's personality (not that he had much) takes a 180 on NG+.

Oh hey I remember that Fate/stay night anime also starting like this!

Incase you were wondering, no you do not need to watch any anime or read any VN

as Fate/Samurai Remnant is a stand alone entry with its own story in a different time period.

Which makes this game very accessible if you've never watched or read anything fate related!

I should probably put a warning here or something but this game while fiction is quite

realistic about what old timey japan was like as well as... what it means to be a samurai.

---

I consider myself fairly acquainted with the series as I have watched a few of the anime over

the years, this game did an outstanding job at making sense of the lore of the series.

Due to that the prologue took me 2-3 hours to complete... by 30 hours I was

in chapter 5, its quite obvious to me that this game has VN roots since the scenes could be

on the long side and if you add digressions aka side stories its even longer.

It even has a story branch and multiple endings so be prepared to play it atleast twice

and then reload for the final ending. (There's also a joke end but we don't talk about that one.)

You'll be able to find a guide through google for sure but it is generally recommended to do todoroki/yashiro aka rat route first and then snake route on 2nd play along with the NG+ ending.

 

Just doing one route especially rat will probably leave you unsatisfied and it is definitely worth

to do another playthrough as IMO snek route was generally better than rat.

There are plenty of new scenes available giving further context to either characters

or lore while going for the other ending so despite it being a trainwreck it wasn't all bad.

---

If I had to rate the endings it would be Snek > Greg > Rat > 3rd end.

At first I didn't really understand why Snek end just cut Iori out of the picture

but the 3rd end explains it very well and the dude is just dead inside at that point.

Idk this game is missing some sort of true end but I guess Iori's a deadbeat samurai 4lyf

that is if you make the morally correct choice and not pursue something for personal gain.

---

 

While playing the game I generally did like the MC Iori but that kinda changed after the 3rd ending

and now I just can only see him as a deadbeat samurai. Also Iori and his servant Saber weren't off

to the best of starts they would often buttheads early on and while they could work together

to some degree another Master and a rogue servant had to explain all of the basics of

the ritual to Iori. As you can see the story is very slow due to that.

Iori was mostly indifferent and just really wants what's best for the town

so he actually got mad at his servant for destroying a bunch of shacks.

As some NG+ exclusive scenes turns out... Iori is actually a bit of a maniac too

and not much better than your typical ronin he's just more nice about it??? idk how to explain.

If Welkin was one of my favorite protaginists, Iori was one of my least fav's.

Well... Iori and Saber just didn't trust each other very well in the beginning but it did get better.

Because trust doesn't always come so easily and besides I did enjoy their interactions

as well as some of the other characters and the rivalry between masters.

Saber is kind of like a brat, cocky and also a glutton... but does have his heart in the right place.

Also Saber is often described as a woman but I thought she was a guy or like femboy.

Doesn't help that they refer to themselves as boku. >_>; Oh well enough about that

Saber didn't really act like a woman and the game actively shipped him

with someone because of actual history so I am like anything goes amiright.

That explains a lot, no wonder things turned out like they did.

Other masters that I liked was Zheng Chenggong and his servant Archer but honestly

depending on the route Chenggong was like the least developed character in the game. Archer

was great but also underdeveloped which is sad cuz Chenggong and Archer had good chemistry

and were voiced by Maeno Tomoaki and Ono Kensho! too bad plot was rude to them.

I didn't really like Chiemon but Okamoto Nobuhiko did a good job voicing him

and making him really intimidating. His servant was eh... fitting to say the least and despite

not liking him I understand why he did what he did, he's had it up to here like fuck dis shit

meanwhile Lancer is like please accept my affection you are worthy of love and Chiemon

is like no but she will follow him to the depths of hell anyways. How bittersweet.

Takao Dayu was okay but I generally am generally mixed about Yui Shousetsu

who even after the snek route I still feel indiffirent about, mostly cuz they were lowkey

giving shipping fuel at the end but also did nothing with it.

Also this game went too far back with history so some things were lost on me like

Iori's servant saber real identity and everything related to him. I had to google some names

and god I nearly cried like oh no, no no since they sticked to the facts.

A servant even joked about it that it is okay if you don't know who he was... lmao.

 

Literally half of this game in a nutshell.

The story and pacing was pretty slow but had it been any faster I would be overwhelmed?

so I am actually somewhat glad they took their time and I could re-familiarize myself

with the fate universe but I will admit that it felt like it was dragging itself out

and the characters had no idea wtf they were doing or someone got in the way

and oh damn gotta go back to base cuz tired and hungry.

Saber is a glutton...

Fate Samurai Remnant was like a game of cat and mouse and while at times fun

and interesting it ultimately overstayed its welcome and I didn't even enjoy the

final chapter, at this point I was about done with the last minute shenanigans.

Moving on the first playthrough ending only brought a sense of relief that it was over

it didn't really wrap itself up properly only setting the player up for round 2.

Well honestly by this point I was like uh what in the fresh hell? it took me 30+ hours

and I don't even get a decent epilogue and yet you want me to play it again?

Ok sure but give me five to recharge. I realized that at this point the only thing I really

liked was the general turn of events and of course the characters. Except

Chiemon&lightning horse. These two got on my nerves so much I kid you not!

Anyway there were plenty of fun character interactions and the story was unpredictable

that you wouldn't know what was really going on which I really liked kept things interesting.

Also because I know fate already I knew who Boss was but in this game he was a rather annoying

side charactter and mostly used as comic relief, I remember he was a bit stuck up

in the anime series by ufotable but not as bad as in this game.😂

Woah hey there greg, no spoilers please!

TL;DR

Its a good game if you like to be challenged by the gameplay and if not there's always the newly

added easy difficulty so you can just enjoy the story and the like without worrying of performing well.

Iori did not have much of a personality and most of the other cast just stood out to me

more than the protagonist itself including Iori's servant Saber.

I did like the story,characters and the unpredictability of it all while exploring old-timey japan

and the game had a good sense of humor but yea I just have a few gripes with it all.

Iori definitely grew stronger but everytime I faced enemies with shields it seems like that wasn't

the case. By the end of the game I was kinda done with the recycled enemies, there's NG+ exclusive

mobs but they are just supersized versions. I think occasionally enemies with shields are fine

but not every boss-like enemy. I wanted to like Fate/Samurai remnant more but yea...

I think I liked more than enough and it just kinda overstayed it welcome.

Dodging or countering was the only thing I felt like I was good at, breaking shields was a chore.

Still had shields not been there battles wouldn't last as long either maybe it is ok after all.

While I played on normal I briefly lowered the difficulty for NG+ but realized

it became too easy and actually switched back since I kinda missed the thrill of the fights.

((What am I doing to myself?!))

Me after every single battle.

I guess this post is kinda long but this game was long which just leads me to ramble

about the characters a bit and this was only the opening section, whoops.

It may seem like I am kinda mixed and perhaps I am... but it was still

an okay game with a good story and cast, over and out.

 7/10

 

More rambles after the jump i'll just be talking a bit more about the gameplay experience

and characters but the above should be good enough of a TL;DR.

You can skip to my final thoughts to get another gist I guess?

Atelier Marie Remake ~The Alchemist of Salburg~ - Review

Title screen is random everytime.

 Genre: RPG.
Developer/publisher: Gust/Koei.
Platform: PS4/5, PC, Switch.
Official Site: https://www.koeitecmoamerica.com/marie/
Release date: 13-07-2023.

 

I usually only like play 1 atelier a year but decided to make an exception

since this is a remake of the very first atelier game. There are no plot spoilers

in this post but I do share a few screenshots and CG's.

 

Pro's

- A remake of the original that isn't anymore or less than it used to be.

- Cute graphical style that give it a charming vibe.

- Interesting characters, made me want to replay atleast once to see their events!

 

Con's

- Game is overall too easy and i'd go as far as saying there is too much time.

- Annoying minigames for no reason... thankfully most are one and done.

 

Story is rather simple, Marie is a basically a failure and gets the worst scores

in the entire alchemy academy but she gets an extra chance since she still somehow

has some potential and its up to you if she even passes her exam!

 

More rambles after the jump...

 

Atelier Ryza 3 Alchemist of the end and the Secret Key - Review

 Genre: RPG.

Developer/publisher: Gust/Koei
Platform: PC/PS4/5/Switch.
Official Site: https://www.koeitecmoeurope.com/ryza3/welcome.html
Release date: 24/03/2023

 

Okay so after a year break from atelier and skipping Sophie 2 i've decided to get Ryza 3.

Mostly because I wanted to see the hints the characters left in the prequel

plus the fact Ryza 2 left me unsatisfied! so I went into 3 with the hope of a proper ending.

and well in short it did just that and it was nice to see everyone again! 

I don't really recommend starting with this game since the Ryza games

are all direct-sequels of each other.  Also because Ryza ended up sitting on her ass

at the end of the second game her proportions have been uh thickened or so to speak.

 

 Sadly they seemed to have upped the amount of playable characters in this game

which is probably the only thing I wasn't looking forward to since the more members there are

the more likely characters end up getting benched. I'm usually fine with 6 or 7 but Ryza 3 has 11.

Yea I guess I should be used to this becuase of kiseki/trails but man... its kinda hell

to try and manage the equipment of so many characters.😅

I played on normal from start to finish, and my party ended up being Ryza,Klaudia 

and Bos for a good while till I switched the two of them out for Kala and Dian

 

Opening Movie.

Pro's

- Story and characters gets fleshed out and overall was a decent finish.

-  Plenty of optional content such as chara event, sub and world quest.

 

Con's

- Terrible Depth of Field making my eyes hurt.

- World's so big now its actually exhausting.

- For the love of Fi get rid of the core item system, it barely feels like an atelier game.

- RNG infested key system, want rare monsters? want to get past a barrier

or more quantity for synthing? go get a key with an effect that allows it!

My eyes...............

Also when I started playing there was a really bad depth of field and the motion blur

was pretty awful too that I had to turn off. They will fix this with a patch but man...

did it hurt my eyes and not even make me want to play. Graphics are on par with the

other games in the series though its just that why oh why is there so much blur???

The music was well okay? it made me nostalgic of Ryza 1 but at times it sounded like 

the type you'd hear in some old movie with no talking which just makes everything so ambitious

and it kinda is Ryza's last big adventure? atleast I think so I guess its okay.

Edit: I kind of want to add that in terms of music, gust hasn't really been the same

and I don't even remember what the final boss theme sounded like. While I still

remember how kick ass they used to be in like eschatology. Oh well time's change huh?

 

More rambles after the jump.

 

Buddy Mission Bond - review

 Genre: interactive VN.
Developer/publisher: Ruby Party/Koei and Nintendo.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.nintendo.co.jp/switch/aq2fa/index.html
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v30145
Release date: 2021-01-29.

I heard about this game last year but didn't get to it, now that otomate decided to try to dive into

the no romance but friendship genre I was reminded of this and I thought huh why not?

from what I found it doesn't seem to be that bad and its reception in japan were mostly positive!

Honestly the title of the game is a bit generic so I wouldn't be surprised if many glossed over it.😅

I was once again reminded to not judge a book by its cove- err title.

Side note, this game is a collab between Koei and nintendo.

There aren't really any major plot spoilers in this post, please enjoy the game for yourself

cuz this is one of those games like psychedelica that you just can't say too much about its plot.

Pro's

- Decent enough plot with some twist and turns.

- Amazing cast of characters.

- Great art and BGM to fit the mood.

- Quite long but pacing okay, has replay value/reason to redo a chapter.

Con's

- No touch screen support, a bummer for switch lite users.

- Some aspects of the mystery might be a bit too obvious...

- It might be overwhelming to unlock and/or see the side events alongside progressing the main plot.

^^Its okay to do it later to not burn yourself out.

 

OP Movie; I watched maybe once or twice.

 

 

Buddy Mission Bond is a mystery visual novel but honestly what I really liked the most

was the chara's. This may be a VN but it is more like an animated comic/manga!

The protagonist Luke is voiced by Kimura Ryohei and it has many other high profile seiyuu as well

such as Namidai, kondo takashi and morikawa toshiyuki. Kouki Uchiyama also

voices someone and he's easily my favorite besides the main gang.

 The story was easy to follow, its about Luke who was an orphan but then he met

Edward who became his role model and adoptive father. Luke eventually followed

in his footsteps by becoming a detective, he always dreamed of being a hero.

Luke ends up on a case about a diamond thief which leads to him investigating

a case on his own and ends up teaming up with allies which lead to one thing and another!

I'd love to talk more of the story/side episodes but I think this game really is best

to be experienced when knowing as little as possible of its plot i'll still be sharing some screenshots

but most of these won't give away the main story/are without context of whatever is going on.

 

 Main cast:

Luke: Cinnamon roll too good for this world too pure... who wouldn't protect his smile?

Aaron: Best bro! despite his attitude this fact is undeniable by the end of this game. 

Though he does need a stress ball or just take walks with doggie Luke....

I like how he never gets a new shirt... or maybe it just rips naturally.😅

Mokuma: Moe oyaji??? laidback guy for the most part he also has a ''real shit'' mood.

Chesley: Didn't like him much at first, he's a bit twisted but his past made me sad

actually twisted is putting it mildly he's a megalomaniac with varying lvls of moods

and also has a hateboner for Mokuma.😨 Idk this guy was just 2weird5me?

all the BL themes in this game is basically Chesley's fault and to some extend Mokuma too.

 

None of them are perfect or anything but I learned to love them for better or for worse.¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I liked how their alias/codenames formed BOND...

 

There's a lot of QTE and aside the usual choice you sometimes have to solve puzzles

and there's a 3d adventure element. So if you're up for that it is definitely

worth looking into it, it has a trial version on the jpn eshop if you're curious.

More rambles after the jump break.

 

Blue Reflection Second Light - Review

Genre: RPG
Developer/publisher: Gust/KOEI
Platform: PS4, Switch, PC.
Official Site: https://blue-reflection.com/secondlight/uk/
Release date: 2021-11-09.

 

Well you know it was coming... but I delayed playing this game for a bit.

Prerelease I have seen some... less than positive comments I tried my best to ignore them

cuz i'm only really here to see how it ties all together. The anime wasn't the best either...

and I wonder what the hell gust even tried to achieve with this multi-media project? cuz it seems

like cash was tight or they just didn't have the time to do better? maybe that too.

It also didn't do that well in japan, blurays cancelled and lacklustre sales.

There's supposed to be a mobile game too but idk what happened to that.

If you're still wondering if should play the first game and watch the anime...  not really unless you

have time and want to see more Hiori/Mio or experience Hinako's adventure but its not a must.

Anyway... like I said in my post about the anime ray the characters and to some extend the story

 really are BR's strong point, if you want a quick and dirty TL;DR for the most part I enjoyed it

but this game isn't the best either its nice in its own way.

Pro's

- Story&character are interesting to learn more of.

- Pacing is okay, feels a bit too relaxed at times though,

- Decent amount of optional content.

- Music is great.

 

Con's

- Requests that require stealth are quite annoying.

- One on One battles controls feel off, relies too much on perfect timing.

(Its interesting but idk why they decided to suddenly turn it into a QTE/action game....)

- Animation in combat, its hard to see what's going on while having to watch turn bar as well.

- Dating part while cute might get redundant and there are many.

- Was it really necessary to force an entire NG+ run for one more scene?!

 -

 

I like the OP movie, song is calm and sets the mood for the game!

too bad it only plays once after you finish the prologue, maybe it also plays

if you linger on the title screen but I didn't bother to check.

Storywise it still offers the same type of emotional/chacracter development the first game

and the anime to some extend is known for so all in all its still blue reflection

really I think the character stuff like getting their memories back is the best part.

The first half of the game was pretty relaxing for the most part and felt like there was no rush

to go and do things which in a way is kinda bad? its very laidback that just playing

one or two hours was enough and come back to it whenever I felt like progressing.

Sometimes I do think this is nice, in most rpg's you always have to save or protect something

but in this game they're just trying to survive while getting back their memories

obviously the fighting/protect part came in too but overall it felt different from other rpg's

even the first blue reflection game which was more sailormoon-ish than this.

I liked the general flow of the story, but it did remind me of the persona  4/5

cuz the dungeons are character focused and you slowly get to see the big picture.

However I fear this is gonna make or break the game for people, this game is a slow burn

and at times it feels more like a character game cuz the story takes a while to get going. 

The one time I was annoyed was at the end of ch10's boss rush cuz there was no rhyme or reason

to be even fighting those exact same enemies again, there wasn't even any dialogue for it. >_>

 I liked the majority of this game more than I expected even though I don't like the combat

at all and think that the original blue reflection had more charming UI/menu design.

I did always think that the original blue reflection was kinda open-ended

and that there was something missing maybe they did it on purpose? and now we

got the anime ray and this game second light which continues from that.

There's more content and subevents don't feel as static anymore as well unfortunately like most

gust games sub events can seem endless as they appear even and trying to see all date

or do all request once they show up can feel overwhelming.

Anyway its not a bad game but... its also not the greatest either its just okay!

Many times you want developer to do more with an IP and they don't... 

well gust did try here and i'll give them credit for it! I mean the anime might not

have been the most appealing to watch but this game was nice to slowly go through

its just that depending whether or not you have the energy for a second run

its okay to just youtube the additional scene when you're done like it makes sense storywise

why they did it, however there's not enough new content to make it worthwhile.

and I wanted to add that it could ruin the experience by turning it into a slog.

I remember BR1 being more like oh well all's well that ends well but then this game

comes crashing in like bitch hold up you ain't got nothing on me! in the end

while I enjoyed most of the journey I still feel a little mixed about this entry.

I totally understand why some people are pissed or annoyed... because this game has a few

questionable design choices archaic even and I can't really recommend it

except as a character game and hey maybe you'll like the combat too

but its not really a typical rpg the story just doesn't allow it to be.

7/10

More rambles after the jump.

Angelique Luminarise - review

 Genre: Otome/simulation VN.
Developer/publisher: KOEI/ruby party.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.gamecity.ne.jp/anmina/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v28833
Release date: 20/05/20.

I am not too fond of simulation genre of otome games but I still got this game

after I was impressed with the demo, as its base plot was a bit more captivating

than my entire experience with retour granted it was one route...

I remember trying Brian even but lost interest welp, time to try again? 

 

Pro's

- Interesting characters, was motivated to do multiple character ends.

- Ange's personality, sometimes she can be sassy.

- Art, I like the art style.

 

Con's

- Starts off strong but falls flat in the end... (none if any conflict as well.)

- Gameplay is pretty much a reskin of retour albeit with QoL improvements.

- It is rather short, especially on 2nd+ play.

- Reusing CG's with slightly different background taking up slots in the gallery like its 2010.

 

The queen is MISSING and they're in need of a new one.

 

Plot/prologue

Ange who after a hard day of work went for a drink and laments her life's choices

then gets offered with the choice of becoming a  queen and randomly signs it cuz why not!

Little did she know some pretty boi on a pegasus showed up to take her to her new job.

 I liked how this was all done in manga form... really added some humor to it

before it switced back to regular VN mode, was nice while it lasted.

Ange doesn't understand but the pretty boy who's name is Yue explained it all...

but did a poor job so Vergil had to jump in to explain it in a way Ange understood.

In short: Ange signed a contract and was isekai'd to a new world to become a candidate

to be queen of the cosmos, Ange thought that contract paper was a joke but here we are.

There is also another candidate to be the queen, Reina who like Ange also just got here

and is willing to answer any further questions Ange might have, Reina is also her rival

who has no intention to lose! In terms of other characters there's Cyrus who is Ange's butler.

Cyrus also interrogates Ange some of his questions will determine compatibility such as

birthday/bloodtype or likes/dislikes you could say he's simply one hell of a butler, also is it just me

or do I get sebastian vibes from him. >_> Unfortunately Cyrus is not romanceable

like the others which is such a shame because just from the prologue he really grew on me.

The chemistry amongst the guardians was also nice so events with them were nice most of the time.

The two candidates are given their own planet to raise with the help of the elements

that the guardians possess. This is a series staple and it wouldn't be Angelique if it wasn't.

Cyrus knows when to joke around as well some times it was good other times it was eh

and I was just like my dude what're you smoking?! Tyler the engineer was cute

as well too bad he's not romanceable, ah the terashima curse strikes again!

Reina might not be romanceable but atleast she and Ange can hang out.

 

Gameplay like other entries includes simulation parts and there is a day/time limit to get things done

though i'm not sure how long we are allowed to take, probably best to not take too long.

Like with retour you have to manage your time of chasing bishies with being a candidate

for the queen. Most of the gameplay flow is similar to retour but they have tweaked some things.

There is still some RNG involved but it is much less of a hassle which made it easier to replay

and there are timed choices in which a character may quiz you during a date but most of these

are easy if you've been paying attention during your gameplay. Like for example

is your rival(or yours development higher or lower? Do you remember x and what was it? etc.

Thankfully the first dates no longer have you select lots random questions which is a blessing

there's still some randomness but not as bad as in retour,  I was always stressed back then

cuz of RNG and higher potential of saying the wrong things that would ruin the mood of a date.

If you date a lot the guys and get perfect answer on the quiz they may give Ange a present

for me it only happened with Vergil, Yue &Noa, you can also give the guys presents

but you have to buy it on a holiday but figuring out what they like was another thing...

though affection was plenty so that was not a big deal!

Gameplay also feels less monotonous because some things can be automated

a blessing on multiple playthroughs. Whatever difficulty you select will affect

Reina's behavior making it either easier or harder to get through it.

I recommend easy because hard makes everything a pain............

Like retour you don't need a guide as long as you save a lot because there is a chance you

select a wrong choice during events that results in heartbreak so you cannot proceed events

for me Lorenzo's events were especially bad with this I couldn't find the right thing to say.😔

The only thing I really hated was the RNG involved with the confession or be confessed at events

and how there's 1 cg locked behind being lovers that for some had asinine requirements

but atleast the game is nice enough to tell you how to get it so its not that bad.

If you're curious about this entry  and are still on the fence about the aforementioned gameplay flow

there's a demo/trial on the japanese eshop, wish more otome dev's would do this tbh.

 

 The vibes were nice, I got interested in a few of the love interest just from the prologue

Zeno's precious and Vergil totally not from the devil may cry series also seemed interesting.

The characters all had a personality to them outside of their events... but a lot of it was

random and I couldn't keep track of some of their stories so that was a bummer.

I liked a event were Vergil teased Yue during a game of words.😂 On another note

the heroine Ange is 25 years old! which certainly made things a bit more interesting?

As for the love interests  the youngest ones are 18 and 19 with the others being in the mid/late 20's.

Seiyuu: With the exception of Satou Takuya and Shimazaki Nobunaga most of the seiyuu talent

are all relatively unknown which is nice sometimes even I am tired of hearing the same old va's

also glad they didn't use those ossan's because some of them like Zephel's VA really

had to try hard reprise their role the only exception was Koyasu but that's probably

because Koyasu is still very active as a seiyuu unlike some of the cast in retour.

Rest assured that this is not the case here which lead to a better listening experience.

Some guys have their own thing going on its more obvious with Kanata the youngest of the

guardians he's much like Ange and still getting used to his new life there if you don't know which

guy to go for I think Kanata might be a good pick? but still it might be better to pick the guy

which really interest you and make the most out of your first play because I ran out of steam quickly

cuz this game wasn't that fun to sit through multiple times, it isn't very interesting either in terms of plot. Not sure about the rivalry but as long as you're trying there shouldn't be a problem, only once

I fell behind & sorta sat on my ass in the beginning cuz I was thinking about Vergil.😜

They also gave Ange and Reina backgrounds that influenced who they are as a character and their

relationship but that's sorta it too. If you want to complete all events, well uh good luck with that?

there are lots of different variations of events. I was pretty satisfied with just getting

the romantic ends as well as full gallery or almost cuz I couldn't be arsed to get

the last bar cg for 2 characters, which thankfully wasn't worth that much. Other than that

its probably disappointing there was no real plot outside of the guys events, it was mostly relaxing

and everyone was nice much like in retour maybe too nice, even if things don't work out

in terms of love there's no hard feelings they might even still want to spend the day.

Its great if you don't want much going on but yea don't expect a plot like in

the haruka games, I found this disappointing because it started off well enough but this might

as well be an angelique thing, you have the goal and choice to romance but not much else to it.

The character events and love ends really are the best thing the game has to offer!

 

IMO it was alright... just okay at best, Koei managed to sell it to me

from the trial but its mostly cuz of the characters so they definitely did something right?

But there is also something wrong, the lack of CG events and reusing

1 cg scene 3 times, only change is the background. Come on what year is this? I expect

something like that from back around 2010. There are many times I wonder why there

was a lack of them, even retour had a few cg's when you go out visiting that world's town

or a dance cg etc, luminarise does it too but really awkwardly, disconnected from the flow

and not fun to have to fetch it if you didn't visit said location thrice. Some have weird conditions

like visit the first time as lovers but if you visit before being lovers that you get a different version

of the event.😒 See what I mean by asinine? god forbid you visit misty canal with Kanata

before being lovers cuz there goes your chance of seeing one of the few CG events.

Atleast most mini event were enjoyable but i'm just disappointed there are hardly

any CG's spread out over the romance events, Further more there are no real routes

and the game is a giant common route filled with individual events which aren't very long, if you

try to go for one you will trigger a bunch of the others especially if you automate to much.

Sometimes there would be guy only events. I couldn't keep track or be interested in those cuz they happened in no particular order they weren't that interesting either so nothing of value was lost.

 

This game is very short not like retour was much better at that.... in that game despite enjoying Zephel's

events and vibing with some guys from time to time, that was all that there's to it! Luminarise is the same in that regard. So I realize maybe simulation games just aren't for me! cuz by the time

I got to the final route of the game I was just about done with it.

Vergil is my best boi!

 Overall I like most of the characters, general plot and can stand the gameplay

more than retour due to QoL improvements. But really my first play was the most fun

and most of the fun and interest disappeared on subsequent plays leading to me

running out of steam and then I also felt bad about betraying Vergil when going for others

cuz I liked him more than Kanata whom I just wanna cheer on not romance.😓

If there was any character I had trouble liking it was Milan his romance events were off-putting

but outside of that he was likeable. I much preferred to spend my time with Zeno he is too precious.

Both Shuri & Felix were a surprise for me cuz I was turned off at first but they both grew on me!

There might be some characters you just don't like which for me was Milan and Lorenzo.

Noa's likeable enough and I don't hate him but everything about his character

has me going, I have seen this somewhere before have I? Yue on the other hand is a cutiepie!

Whoever ends up being your fav will depend on personal taste really.

The stories in the character events varied heavily but there were some life lessons that could

seen or learned from it so I don't think it was all that bad, it just makes up for the main plot

being lacklustre which was just there to set things up. This can be a nice otome game if you let it!

by doing all routes you might notice how a lot of things are just kinda the same.

6.5/10

Well I think this is okay if you like romance simulators and never played an angelique

game and are new to this but other than that it kind of fell flat despite starting out strong

the lore and all is interesting but don't play it for the plot... do it for THEM bishies.

Once more I recommend trying out the demo on the JP eshop to get a feel of it

the japanese is pretty easy too so its a good game to test japanese on. I say that

because this game is quite expensive it might just be KOEI tax at this point

but i'm more inclined to blame this on the pandemic for it being the way it is

or maybe that's just me trying to be nice and cut them some slack?

 

End of non spoiler section, route spoilers after the jump.

Atelier ryza 2 ~Lost legends and the secret fairy~ review

Genre: RPG.
Developer/publisher: Gust/KOEI.
Platform: PS4/Switch/PC.
Official Site: https://www.koeitecmoeurope.com/ryza2/ 

Release date:  12/03/20 (jp), 26/01/21 (eng).

 

Well the sequel to atelier Ryza is here... didn't hear much positive when it came out

in japanese but that didn't stop me from trying it out myself and for the most part I had fun!

unfortunately the type of story Ryza 2 is trying to tell is very hit or miss

and well I did have a few complaints about it this post isn't spoiler-free

can a sequel be worse than the original? yes it can.

 

Pro's

- Exploring is fun! story was interesting to say the least.

- Battle system is slightly more engaging than last time... I actually like it more sans core item.

- Fii a cute!

 

Con's

- While the story was interesting it felt like a forced sequel, the ending is to be desired as well.

- Big thicc brain energy, Ryza is bimbo countryside alchemist.

- Most of the NPC quests aren't really memorable.

- Lack of optional bosses.

- The way to relearn old recipies and the skill tree system was balls.

- Gust for the love of sterkenburg get rid of the core item system. :( 

 

Harukanaru toki no naka de 7 - review

Genre: Otome visual novel/RPG.

Developer/publisher: KOEI/ruby party.

Platform: Nintendo Switch.

Official Site: https://www.gamecity.ne.jp/haruka7/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v26558

Release date: 2020-06-18

Time for the latest installment in this series, it seems we're going back to the sengoku period.
What I love about this series is the swept to distant land trope and how of KOEI know their history
like I remember looking stuff up about Dan no ura and other stuff from haruka 3 and it was like
I learned about japanese history in a creative or romanticized way.
Haruka 7 isn't an exception to their usual ways but they were very creative with for example
Okuni and other things, though i'm not sure what they were smoking in general lmao.

I didn't have much expectations for it but one thing that stood out to me is that most
of the seiyuu cast is identical to 6 and to an extend 5.

A quick look at all vndb entries for the series basically shows this is apparently a thing

for 1,2,3 and 4 as well... not sure if KOEI is playing favorites but they make it work?

That aside...
This game is accessible to newcomers! as lore gets explained though if u have played
other entries it might be a bit like oh I know some of that already cuz its familiar.
I actually hope KOEI gives this entry a try in the west.

Pro's
- Interesting characters, no one was completely unlikeable except maybe antagonist.
- Unique character focused routes.
- Art/music.

Con's
- Length, rpg part might get tiresome.
- Plot while interesting, can be a bit inconsistent.
- Sometimes months would pass but its not reflected well in events.

For the system, the usual VN with map movement to catch a characters event flag

there's battles as well but this time instead of mini srpg from 6 we actually get

a more normal rpg-like battle again, the sd sprite look cute.
We can rotate our hachiyo in battle on the fly to take advantage of strength and weaknesses
and they can use skills with others or on their own which is nice.
Better not forget to heal them when needed though...
You lvl up normally this time though I recommend setting onryou strenght
to weak unless you really want challenge as fighting too much can be a little draining.
Also either find a good guide or save lots because it is so easy to break
a character bond from a wrong choice making it unable to proceed their events
and in turn get their ending for the rest of the playthrough, trial and error works
with this but at times I can't help but get anxious at times.
You can skip battles on 2nd play but only ones you had fought...
they still have us fight the trash along the way, thanks I guess.
Can also fight the four lords; seiryuu,suzaku,genbu and byakko to get a useful skill but
unfortunately its more like a tradition to be able to enlist their aid this time regardless of story
then again I can't remember if it was ever needed in 3 or 6 but either way they're in.

After the first chapter and a bit of the second I was mostly positive and interested
in the characters and excited to do their routes. The only exception being Satsuki
he was annoying at first but over the course of the game he somewhat redeemed himself.

I didn't find the voice for Okuni fitting but it grew on me, you don't hear Shitanda a lot but
feminine bishies he does a okay job with.
That aside having to actually pick someone on my first play was hard! going forth between
Kuroda and Yamato, though it was nice playing without a guide the first play
but I was anxious without a guide to rely on, I kept up with 5 guys events
and while the story was already lengthy the individual made it even longer.
The story itself was interesting and not hard to follow (maybe for Yamato 😂) though
its quite long, chara events itself aren't long and whether it romantic varies greatly this is
more about journey than the destination kinda thing and what is there is nice.
There are some eh moments but that's it most of the guys are pretty safe as well.
Some routes are just not my taste like Yagyuu the 2nd half wasn't that great which I thought
was fine in routes like Kuroda, Yamato or even Musashi but for Yagyuu meh.
Its not like the story is bad perse but I can tell they tried too hard to give everyone
something unique the antagonist are also inconsistent sometimes one of them will disappear
off the face of the planet / shoved to the background and i'm like ok.
I think Haruka 6 was more consistent at doing the every end does it differently than here
and its really obvious this is by multiple writers as the quality of the plot varies a lot
like Yukimura's took a nosedive after the last boss and I basically liked every other ending instead.
Also I looked up one of the scenario writers and apparently he worked on some eroge... O_O
but this game was relatively tame though. 

I thought Nanao was pretty great, she acts independently a lot as well
and won't wait for her babe all the time, she speaks her mind so that was great
at times she did lose her brain but she's the do what she can type.
Side characters are also given portraits which after Dairoku I much appreciated
and the backgrounds/art in general looks nice, music fits the mood so can't complain.
Overall I did have a lot of fun, decent story and romance/otome part was alright
not every char might be my type but when I think about it no one was really dislikable
they all got their own ambitions and atleast the romance didn't feel that forced
for some it was obvious they needed a bit more time to figure things out.
Doing every route might be tiring especially if someone isn't your taste...
and whether the 2nd half aka the route is any good depends on that as well.
In the end I can say haruka 7 was decent, story was ok and the otome element was alright
so it was pretty well rounded compared to the last two otome games I played its just since
there are so many route there might be a few meh ones and plot not well-rounded in all.
What's funny even though I found Yagyuu's route meh I didn't dislike his character and for
Satsuki I don't like him that much as romantic interest but his route was still great
though if we are talking about Yukimura all I can say that's a pity compared to everyone else.
So take that as you will, overall this game was worth a purchase for me and can recommend it
if you like history and want something to sink time into as its a pretty meaty game
the only bad part is inconsistencies with its plot, things in one route might not be a big deal
in others or come up at all, this is the best I can explain without spoiling too much.
For score it shifts between a 7 and 8/10 so 7.5 seems about right...

For playorder it doesn't seem to matter and since there are so many love interest

its probably better to go for someone who you are interested in first play.

Pro tip: Its easier to try to keep track of as many events though at certain times their are

cut off points like in ch4 at oosaka and the other one is at ch5 of which rumor to follow.

Unfortunately you cannot go for Naoe and Kuroda at the same time or
Satsuki and Yukimura for that matter as its very cleverly split so having a save
in ch4 is recommended if you kept up with all events so far.

There are three story scenarios which i'll call: Neutral, White and Black.
Based on relevance of plot I am going to rank the routes from worst to best.

Neutral: Yagyuu > Yamato. (both were ok but i have soft spot for Yamato overall)
White: Okuni > Musashi > Satsuki.
Black: Yukimura > Kuroda / Naoe.

My playorder ended up being:
Which I think is actually recommendable, as Naoe might be more satisfying
in terms of romance after someone like Yukimura.
1stplay; Kuroda > Yamato > Yagyuu > Musashi > Satsuki.
2ndplay; Okuni > Yukimura > Naoe.

End of non spoiler section, there's more spoiler babble's after the jump
so you're warned on that note.

Atelier Lydie and Suelle Alchemists and the mysterious painting - Review

 Game: [リディー＆スールのアトリエ 〜不思議な絵画の錬金術士〜]
Genre: JRPG.

Developer/Publisher: Gust and Koei Tecmo.

Platform: PS4, PS Vita, Nintendo Switch.

Official Site: https://www.gamecity.ne.jp/atelier/lydie/

Release date: 2017-12-21

Time for another non-visual novel review, i'm still busy with TaiAli FD on the side.
I played the PS4 version because the vita version did not at all look convincing... besides
after the horror stories of atelier firis and its frequent crashes I played it safe! sadly I do not own
 a switch yet so its not like I had much of a choice here! also the vibrant colours
in the PS4/switch version give the game that much more life...
vita looked very bland in comparison even Firis looked better to me.
Just saying i'm not here to shit post like I love my vita... but I also do sort of
want to like actually enjoy games? PS3 to vita ports have been good but PS4 to vita ports
 just can't hold up all that well that much was obvious but uhm enough about that.

 
Yes I like the OP, I feel it captures the game so well especially the sisters
and their true goal, bright, cheerful and colourful happiness is best shared.

The lastest entry of the mysterious series, its the bright and colorful conclusion

I try to write a bit more as a whole there won't be much spoilers.

I didn't think so at first but this series actually managed to have some decent character

development, if you've stuck around since Sophie and the mysterious book you'll definitely notice it.

As for story? its there but very straight-forward, gust focused on the characters this time, there's

plenty of sub events and often I found myself absorbed since there's so many to keep us 

entertained while we do requests, perform alchemy and complete ambition notes

 to proceed the story; the goal? become the no,1 atelier in the country!
While doing the main objective there's plenty to be distracted by, mostly from sub event

and its better to view as they appear. I let a few stack and there goes
an hour of just viewing events😅. I still managed to focus on other games

on the side while still manage to make a decent progress with L&S.
No character truly or other things was dislikable to make me stop completely and drop the game.

Lydie and Suelle are sisters, they've lost their mom and their dad's a bit of a free loader...

using up the money the sisters worked hard to get which leads them to pursue the dream of their
mom. Eep! this looks pretty grim but it all managed to be quite a heart-warming tale throughout.

All the playables have a place in the story this time, they got a reason to be around 

and I hate to admit it but half the cast despite in Firis being oh so likeable did feel 

sort of like mercenaries, companions on the road which with the whole journey
so I am glad with L&S they toned down a little bit and tried to fit everyone in properly.

Promotional artwork.

 The characters... like Mathias is Mireille's brother, he's a bit of a dork but he fits the

 typical protector character, btw i'm sure Sterk would be proud in one way or another.

Lucia is the typical tsundere rival... at first she's a bit annoying but after a certain 

character episode the sisters showed her no quarter! and well she sort of gets better after it.

Alto... I don't want to talk too much about him but he's quite cool! most of his sub events 

are tied to Sophie's so don't worry about it, quite possible the most interesting sub arc.

Well we all know Firis! nothing will stand in her way, she follows her heart and dreams

and Liane still loves every bit about her.. ah what a sis-con.

I'm still surprised by Ilmeria... she's taken up the teacher role for the sisters

and her friendship with Firis is still strong Il-chan gives Firis the space she needs.

 There's Pamela, Hagel(haha yes they brought him back! Fritz and Drossel too

I quite liked how the latter two's sub events wrapped up some questions.
As for Lydie and Suelle themselves... they're both lovely Lydie's a bit more withdrawn
but is like a voice of reason compared to the bumbling genki Suelle.
They both have their charms and both lack something the other could cover.

 Art is pretty good, it shows how well two artist can work together

and I like how some of the CG's are like an actual painting.

BGM... well its gust as usual they do an amazing job not every track may stand out

but some do! the only field music I liked was from the intermission chapter after the mid-boss

aka the underwater treasury. Dunno why sometimes I just starting humming along. xD

As for the world, there's one town and its quite big atleast I think it is, luckily there's a quick

warp feature to get to where we are really needed. The paintings all have their own 

mini story to it and in my opinion its what makes it overall more charming.

My favorite painting world would be the starlight plains one.

 The alchemy system is more or less the same as before with a few tweaks sadly it still uses 

the awful recipe idea system and I really wish they're going back to the books next series.

Well due to the game plays out its easy to get accustomed to it, everything is slowly

opened up to you with the occasional boss, the mid boss was cool since I had to

to be like wait uh may I need a few to prepare? 😂 the last boss

was exciting too albeit a bit weak on the story side.

Battle system is like Eschatology/Shallie but not as broken, well that's what I like to say

since if you try you could really be stronger than if you don't all depends

on if you use the right traits on your items and weapons/armor.

Then there's battle mix which let's you use even more powerful version of an item

if you have the right material in your bag that is...

All 6 playables can tag along at once which is nice if you hate benching characters there'll be

DLC too; Lucia and Ilmeria so if you thought there wasn't enough well there you go!

There's combination moves as well and this time they have more of an impact such as this one.

While none of them appear to be locked its possible with the DLC you might be able to have more
freedom but this is not confirmed as I suspect Lydie and Suelle are fixed either way. 
Always hated how in Firis; Sophie/Plactha and Liane are locked into the party making, it was hard
to make your desired team since there are 9 playable in firis yet 3 of them are locked in.
Speaking of DLC... what is up with these 90$ season passes? this started with
blue reflection but why make it cost more than the game? in Lydie and Suelle case
we get like what? 2 playable characters, swimwear costume and extra area
which is all stuff that has costed less back with dusk series.
Well in my opinion regarding koei's season pass BS Blue reflection was the worst thus far
all those costumes and mini event that cost more than the game. Said costumes can only
be used in school not when a magical girl, wow thank you. Okay enough about that
I didn't buy it thankfully but apparently KOEI's shitty practices continue. -_-
Look I love many of their games but... this is getting ridiculous.

Another combi... haha prepare to meet your doom!

That aside I don't think there's any missables either, just try to get a flower circle/max bar
at a rank up exam for Roger's requests just max the bar and you will be fine.
You can also dismiss any request and they'll just pop back up eventually, yes even
the ones that reward you with a battle mix recipe. Money is easy to get as well
if you do requests atleast, sadly by the time you hit the epilogue chapter
you might have more than needed which means you have to spend to unlock
events required to get the shop ending, I found this out the hard way
if gust cut corners anywhere its there i'm sure they could have let us trigger them
regardless of how much we had at that point but alas this is not the case. 
Atelier games these days are so easy and straight-forward, Firis was the only exception
but even then it was still easy to reach the goal with time to spare. Its sad they took a step
back here because I actually loved Firis and miss how it was in Arland/early dusk series.

Either way I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Lydie and Suelle
while not as much as Firis its still a good way to end the trilogy, its a
heart-warming tale that has themes of family, hope and dream.

I did not experience any sort of crashes/bugs though there is an occasional
frame rate drop as an area loads in but tbh that's not bad at all
really though I can't find that many negatives, there's probably a few
like this feels more like classic atelier just by the way its paced but
its sort of like Rorona except there's really no pressure to do anything
so if you think your gear/item needs a desperate upgrade go ahead to do just that!

There was only one time there was a sort of time limit  IIRC when you at B rank
but its so lenient I finished it immediately without wasting a second

so like just go at your own pace and you'll get everything done still.

I can see gust trying to capture ways of old but then they hold back...
The other might be how they sort of gave us a last boss for the sake of one
you know it bad when I think the mid-boss fit in more than the last one. >_>
One could hope gust will take a bit of a break from atelier... despite me not finding
much flaw its clear they cut corners here and there where they could.

Anyway I took my time but honestly its a pretty short game still, not that short though!
but if you are impatient to go ham with the alch/battle system you'd be disappointed
as battling/alchemy doesn't reach its full potential till the last chapter of the game
by then a lot opens up and there's lots of powerful enemies to test you, unfortunately by then
the story is already over but that shouldn't stop you from having fun breaking the game even more.

 Only the hidden painting dungeon has a little bit of story, errr more like lore to it.

If you already played Sophie and Firis I see no reason to skip out on Lydie and Suelle, its 

a great game that finished what was started way back in Sophie through character development.

If I had to be honest the mysterious saga has mostly focused on characters while plot

takes a backseat(like after thought) yes even Firis! no especially Firis, she had her goal

and met so many friends a long the way that made it all more interesting.

I don't want to repeat myself too much so I guess I'll wrap it up... yes I recommend L&S!
at the very least it might be better if you've played Sophie first and as much
as I loved Firis you could probably skip it and be fine?

I do think this might be my last atelier game... lol I say this everytime

a series concludes but somehow gust always manages to pull me back in.😅