Utakata no Uchronia - Review

Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Broccoli/Licobits.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://licobits-game.com/uchronia/ 

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v40519
Release date: 11-04-2024. 

 

I still decided to get this game but the price... why is this game so expensive?

I even bought it digital but 8000 yen? damn that is the price of a limited edition

from the PS Vita era. Idk if this is just broccoli or the economy tanking

but I can see why people just don't want to blind purchase these games nowadays.

 

I'll say it right off the bat, this game was definitely not another Piofiore yet

it could be its successor in spirit. Also while this is not an otomate game

you can definitely tell this was by former staff of theirs.

 

Pro's 

- Interesting story in the grand scheme of things...

- Most love interests were likable except one.

- Gorgeous art and fitting bgm.

 

Con's

- Needs a high level of japanese to fully understand the story.

- Length, focuses too much on the big picture that it cuts itself short.

- Overall plot/flow of the game gets a bit repetitive with every route.

- Yori, i'm not even going to say anything else here.

 

I really liked the OP movie back in the demo and they finally uploaded it on YT

seems like they waited till the actual release date instead of alongside the demo's release.

I hardly ever skipped the OP, it generally was nice to see everytime you boot up the game.

Like I said in my demo impression post, UtaChro is very scenario focused, I just

did not expect it to be on such a grandscale and the fact it was legit surprised me.

UtaChro is very focused on the world they live in and the relationships of the people

in Hinagiku's life etc. Utachro is rich in worldbuilding and interpersonal relationships

but due to all that makes for a pretty long game, no joke. Due to that the romance takes a

while to develop as well but I generally had no complaints because of the pace of it.

For some routes the resolution could seem rushed or good enough... oh well.

What I also like is the whole main cast is part of the plot and don't just

disappear off the map once you lock onto a route which is great.

System is same as piofiore, lots of choices; 2 main endings a best and bad end.

There's no affection/correct choice indicator so easy to hit a game over end.

It may be best to use a guide if you don't want any surprises. There's the switch the PoV

like in Piofiore but since this is from the same writer/director so its to be expected.

 

In terms of story I was hooked to some extent and wanted to see where it was going

but it was also a bit long-winded and the conversations were not always able to grab me.

In Utachro my attention often waned. I do not know if it was because of the level of

japanese or the dialogue just being... dry. Of course at times jokes were cracked

but comedy is not really the focus in this game and it was far and between.

The level of japanese UtaChro uses often betrayed me, because at times it is simple

but it also won't hesitate to throw some complicated kanji at you.

Haven't played Y7 yet but that's me whenever I encountered Kanji that tripped me up.

 UtaChro is also incredibly slowburn, I am glad I did Awayuki as my first route since it fit

really well and I liked their chemistry somewhat but it wasn't a route to bring out

the full potential of the story which was sad. Good starter but not much else.

I did Yori second because he was the resident trashbag and wanted him out of my hair

after the crap he pulled during Awayuki's route and at the end of the day

Yori just wasn't my cup of tea but it may be someone elses? Tobari on the other hand

was probably one of my favorite characters, the romance with him was just right as well!

It reminded me of non-toxic normal relationships, which after Yori was a breath of fresh air.

Idk what to say about Tsuyukusa without spoilers other than that I am kinda tired of the

friend-type routes but he was one of the more relevant routes in the game, he did take a while

to grow on me and like Tobari I couldn't really see it till like chapter 4/5. Got not much to say about

Yashiro tbh but throughout most routes he was sorta just there, I remember him saying

I'm just an amnesiac guy somewhere which sounds about right till you get

to his own route and he just fucks everything up literally.😨

 

Hinagiku as a heroine was pretty great, good natured and a bit pampered like a princess

but also fearless and not easily afraid of situations she is getting herself into

yet at times she is still a girl you know? don't expect too much of her and I think she was

at her best in Tobari's route! I did prefer her over Naaya from Matsurika.

 

I also made a low effort meme for fun.

Yashiro could be a bit more to the left but for the most part this fits.

 

Overall UtaChro is overly lengthy and complicated, I only really enjoyed&remember the

interactions with the love interest & other fun interactions but there wasn't much of that.

The conflict going on in the town..... sure I was intriguid by what was really going on

but I just was kinda bored with how it was presented. Maybe it really is the dialogue

since it just didn't grab me most of the time. Or I just wasn't interested in the big picture

which just makes it a me problem. Your opinion could differ from this so I will still encourage

this game to anyone that likes scenario driven visual novels of decent length & don't mind politics

but idk the routes are kind of a hit or a miss. The only guy I really liked was Tobari

so I don't know what that says either, probably not much(other than that I might like stupid guys).

 

I know Uta-Chro is scenario driven but it really surprised me that there was

enough romance along the way and this was for me the saving grace.

If I had to be harsh this was a 5/10 due its repetitiveness but it gave me Tobari so... its a 7/10.

Uta-chro was just a really weird game, I came here for the scenario but left with romance.....

I still hope Aksys or someone else still picks up Uta-Chro... I mean its not Piofiore

but it has some of its elements as well as Nicola&Yang's love child Yori

which I am sure people will either love or hate. Even if that person is not me. 

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

There are route restrictions and Yashiro, Tsuyukusa and Yori are off limits at the start.

Yori is unlocked by doing Awayuki, Tsuyukusa unlocks after doing Tobari and finally

Yashiro needs like everyone so no choice but to do him last.

My play order ended up being:

Awayuki > Yori > Tobari > Tsuyukusa > Yashiro >Finale.

I'll just recommend the same except maybe switch Awayuki/Tobari based on preference, this order

may be good to be able to go from those who're available at the start to a more important route.

Whether or not you do Yori right after Awayuki just depends whether you'd like to or not.

This game is even more restrictive than Matsurika and its not even funny.

Route babbles after the jump however the only routes I really wrote about

were Tsuyukusa and Yashiro, but only note-worthy things. This game is too long

someone else can do it if they'd like to but it ain't gonna be me. I'm drowning.

Kannagi no Mori Samidare Tsuzuri - Review

Since the switch ver is digital only here's the PS Vita box art instead.

 Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Matatabi.
Platform: PC/Vita/Switch.
Official Site: https://matatabi.tv/kannagi/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v22311

Release date: 22-2-2024.

 

I saw they released a switch port of Kannagi no Mori and since I did play the other two

Matatabi games I decided why the hell not? there's not many otome games I am interested

in nowadays and besides for some reason it is only 3300 yen which honestly

is a steal for like two games, but after playing I think the price suits it just fine.

I ended up finishing 4 routes while playing FF7 rebirth because at times I just

wanted to peace out and Kannagi no Mori was perfectly suited for that.

 

KnM was originally a PC game split into parts... ah so matatabi tried that sort of thing.

Thank god they later made a ps vita and now a switch port so you can enjoy it in one place.

Pro's

- Decent enough plot, compelling characters.

- Has relaxing vibes despite it having a sad tone at times.

- Art is pretty good. 

- BGM is relaxing... perhaps a bit to much.

Grey Area

- One route could seem really short but its long if you do all routes.

Con's

- Slow start, has some slight pacing issues.

- Switch port is bugged, if you want to save/load you have to use the touchpad

as the little text prompt thingy was unresponsive when you select yes for various things.

The OP movie was nice, I was instantly drawn to atleast two characters!

but this is not the type of movie i'd watch always every time I booted uup the game.

Sure its nice but after a few route I had just seen it... also it is a bit long.

 

 One thing I really liked was the art style of this game, not every character may have

drawn me in the same way but I really like the colours,style and vibe it gives off.

The cg's had plenty of variation that were good at showing the characters expressions

and the overall count of them was mostly even across all characters.

The voice cast are all A++ veterans so it was nice to hear them again as well.

 

System was just standard stuff and it wouldn't be worth commenting about

but some menu's were broken like it would ask me to save so i'd press yes

but nothing happens! the only way I could save/load was with using the touchpad.

MATATABI is at it again amirite? why is it always something omg but honestly

it was only slightly annoying and can easily be fixed by touching the screen

whenever you had to make a choice or save/load the game.

 

Story is Mizuki always could see things other people couldn't and was told to keep

it a secret from the only family she had. Things begin to change when she

sees her dead mom on a rainy night which is when dead people appear.

A man then leads Mizuki to a village to meet her grandfather... who turned ill

and now Mizuki is forced to manage his work which deals with spirits and their problems.

KnM is a slower-paced game and the music was soothing, so soothing that I got sleepy.

The early game was so relaxing I can't decide if this is good or bad, i'll go with good

since the vibes were so nice that Nao and Souta quickly grew on me.

Idk if it was because this was the first part or i'm not really that interested in the two initial

love interest but at times I did get a little bored due to how slow Youko-kitan can be.

I was more interested in Asahi... which may be why I had a hard time!

The heroine wasn't too bad, I found her fairly normal, at first she doesn't really

have the confidence to continue her grandfathers work which is understandable.

I liked how Asahi helped her grasp how she could help people. Didn't seem easy.

Compared to the last otome I sat through this felt much more normal

and I didn't really find much that made me go wtf! sadly that also meant

it was a lot less entertaining and less excitement due to being mostly nonbiri.

Like the scenes weren't always that engaging and it was really situational if it was

which isn't bad perse but I am just glad there were no routes that were a dumpster fire.

NGL Shinonome brought most of the entertainment early on.

Story generally focuses on helping spirits overcome their trauma and save them

so they don't become evil spirits. Due to the setting, I probably would only recommend

Kannagi no Mori if you like school-themed otome games with otherwordly stuff

and like slower-paced games that grab your attention slowly. I say it can be slow but it

also didn't overstay its welcome since I found the routes itself to be fairly short.

Decent story yes but overall while it can seem light-hearted the tone of it all still

had a very sad feeling to it. The very last route of this game gave me nothing but sadnesss.

I did like the character interactions and there were some funny scenes!

wish there were more of that but it wasn't that type of game.

Comedy was mostly used to lighten the mood which was why its great.

The pacing can be a bit slow but overall it was enjoyable, whenever Shinonome

was on screen there was never a dull moment.😂 I didn't really like the first half of this game

but there were moments it hit home so it wasn't all bad. It generally just was a comfy read!

 a little melancholic yes but it fits in with the theme of the game for there to be underlying sadness.

7.7/10

It was just good, not bad but not great. Unlike Matatabi's other games

there weren't any minigames or landmines either which is a plus. I'd recommend

Kannagi no Mori if you don't mind short but slower-paced games, The scenario had impact

in many ways, some subtle & some that hit a lil harder. This otome game is also great

if you're tired of controversial stuff and just want to mostly have a good time while also

getting served a decent enough plot with a well written heroine.

 

I think I preferred the latter half of the game Ryuuji over the first half Youko

simply for the fact it touched upon the underlying plot more. Its like Youko was extremely

standard in terms of otome games and more like a prologue of sorts.

Ryuuji is like hold my beer! ups the stakes and just delivers the plot better.

As for playorder the game is split into two parts with the last route in each part being locked.

So my play order ended up being like this:

Youko Kitan / part 1: Nao > Souta >Ichimaru.

Ryuuji Kitan / part 2: Hinata > Asahi > Shinonome.

 I can't really recommend anything other than Youko first and Ryuuji second.

The game does have a fail-safe that even if you were to do Ryuuji first you'll be okay

but if you get it on vita/switch and want to see all routes, best to start with Youko.

Maybe switch Nao/Souta or Hinata/Asahi around to suit preference

before the 3rd route of each part, there's not much else to it.

Spoilers are after the jump, there are some shoddy summaries as well as my favorite cg's.

 

Utakata no Uchronia - Demo Impressions

 Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Broccoli/Licobits.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://licobits-game.com/uchronia/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v40519

Release date: 14-3-2024.(Demo) 11-04-2024. (Full Game)

 

Since I wasn't in the mood to play as Red and Barret in FF7 rebirth

I took a few hours to check out this demo!

I haven't really done a demo impressions/review post in ages and I didn't even know

UtaChro was going to get one! which is good because I was a little on the fence.

 

I only tried out UtaChro to see what it would be like! and also kinda as a vibecheck.

I know things could always turn out different in the full game but whatever

who cares if you only end up liking 1 love interest or route!

UtaChro is developed by a bunch of ex? otomate staff and broccoli/TIS creation.

I like RiRi's art but overall it reminded me more of Piofiore and not Yunohana.

Backgrounds were pretty detailed in showing the environments, art in general was good.

Music? no complaints. The OP definitely catched my attention more and I liked listening to it!

sadly I couldn't find the OP on youtube yet to link here.

 

The demo had the common route & was definitely good for introducing the setting and characters.

The heroine Hinagiku is an Ojou-sama who is good natured...maybe a bit pampered

she gets treated like a princess and earned that nickname, lol.

Yashiro seems to have amnesia and they go around trying to jog his memory for a bit, doesn't

really work out yet. Tsuyukusa bumped into them, he knows Hinagiku and thinks Yashiro

is too close already, oh jealous are we? Tsuyukusa was pretty chill so whatever I guess.

The demo ended after you meet Yori but for the most part its just too early to tell

where any of it was going, romance was definitely not a focus atleast not at this point!

not a lot of fluff yet as well, I figured out from my two-ish hour expedition that UtaChro

is a scenario driven kind of game with romance not really being a focus.

Interactions were good and  it had a decent sense of humor too. Overall it seems UtaChro

 is more or less something like Piofiore but with a bit of steampunk! I kind of liked it?

Not really route impressions but I wrote a little about the love interests?

not all seem to have a lot of screentime in the demo so there's not much after the jump.

Otome Game no Hametsu Flag Shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei Shite Shimatta... ~Haran o Yobu Kaizoku~ - Review

Usually I'll post the box art but... I liked this title screen and i've been doing it for rpg's too.

 Genre: Otome VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/hamehura-kaizoku/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v29251
Release date: 2022-02-10.

 

Long title aside hench forth it shall be known as Hamefura ~Haran o Yobu Kaizoku~!

Otomate decided to make otome game for hamefura a lightnovel which had an anime adaptation.

Unfortunately they decided to not give the girls full routes and only the guys are romanceable

this is something I didn't mind but I could see some might do. As it kinda felt subtexty/comedic

and to turn it into full harem; basically who doesn't love Bakarina? 😅

I also tend to be kind of wary of games that are based on an anime because they tend to exist

solely for fans and the quality of said game tends to vary greatly but hamefura turned out alright.

The art quality was very high and the style stays true to the anime and in terms of plot it was decent. 

 

OP movie; for some reason they have disabled the embedded version so here's the link.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eljl92KUUgg

 

Anyway this game/VN is like a side story in the hamefura universe it doesn't exist in the canon

if you ever wanted to spend more time with some of the guys now's your chance I guess?!

I'm not sure when this takes place but it acts as an extension of the first season... you could

probably play it without watching but this game doesn't go into who the chara's are

they briefly go over it in the prologue but that's it. The anime is pretty fun and s1 is only 12 eps

which isn't very long so why not give it a watch to get to know the series?

The characters unique to this game are locked though so if you don't know who to choose

i'd say Alan or Geordo first but honestly I really do recommend checking out the anime first

cuz this game really is more for fans, the general premise is even so

that the story in this game is a fandisc to fortune lover.

 

Pro's

- While not much to work with, each route was unique/self-contained.

- Characters are consistent and not OOC.

-Art is gorgeous.

 

Con's

- If you were hoping for fluff and only comedy/romance... this might be disappointing

as they actually tried to have a plot and characters to take part in it.

- Its better if you watch atleast S1 of the hamefura anime as the game does very little

to establish its cast,existing relationships or explain the world.

 

 Bakarina is voiced except some of her thought/monologue!

the art is pretty nice the style is like the anime and it doesn't seem to suffer from tracers.

Music is fitting nothing to complain about, the plot kinda felt like it was another

episode/OVA or something and depending on your choices you'll end up investigating an incident

that happens on the ship they're staying on with whoever you like.

The story isn't much but it can be interesting, all the side npc have sprites too

so its easy to tell them apart, voice acting was excellent as well.

 

System is just standard VN stuff, during the bakarina meetings where you have to select a choice

you can't save so you have to do it before it comes up. There is also a bug if you skip

too fast through the ideafactory/otomate/criware/OPmovie stuff when booting up the game

where the software just closes. So its better to just let all that play and if you do want

to skip the op movie just let it play 5-10 seconds.

Compared to recent otome I played it finally felt like I was playing a proper one again

uh what is a proper one is subjective of course but I think this one had some classic stuff.

I say that cuz Hamefura wasn't depressing, more fun and romance focused

its exactly what I wanted even though my expectations were low.

It was pretty enjoyable from start to finish and that's coming from someone that's not

that big of a fan as I liked the anime enough to check out this game.😅

It might be sad that the girls don't have full routes but personally I don't even want to think about

romancing Mary except as in a joke ending. Maybe there really are Mary fans out there

or Maria/Sophia so the fact there is 1 joke ending and the normal end is well... better than nothing.

 

That aside the game does feel kinda short but the pacing is okay and it doesn't seem

like it overstayed its welcome, any longer and I would have been bored tbh. Like I'd love it if games

took their time but you also don't want to get bored! Hamefura doesn't have that problem.

Its entertaining enough but it doesn't focus completely on the couple at all times

and I could see how some find that disappointing! they did try to have a plot that

made sense in the world of hamefura so I am not sure why this would be a bad thing

cuz if this game didn't have the plot it has then the routes would be super short and they average

at 6 hours or so which I think for what we got out of it was more than enough

either way I didn't have many complaints I was happy with Alan's route!

While this was an enjoyable side dish after the anime, if you don't like the novel/anime

or don't like any of the guys enough to want to romance them its probably better to pass

cuz this is nothing but fluff with a slighly entertaining story full of cute romance

so if you were here for some deep plot uhm look elsewhere cuz the hamefura game ain't it.

 It does have bad/death ends but only one or two per route and they're not long.

Most of this game still keeps the charm I got to know this series with! depending on how much

you like the other guys beside your favourite it might be a bit of a chore to do multiple

playthroughs as the general plot does kind of remain the same however each time

you do a new playthrough you unlock new scenes to understand the overall plot better

though some of these scenes only seem to exist to make it more obvious.

Unfortunately despite this game not being canon one route in particular has so much lore

and world building it felt kind of like a waste if this was only one game

I applaud them for the effort but it did take away from anything else.

Most of the characters in this game don't get much personal focus except Rozy/Silva

that's because they got that in the anime so they're not gonna waste time, for some it means

their routes were less interesting, I thought the main guy of this game would be Geordo but eh

classic poster boy curse with that one, Silva would like a word with him.

All in all ~Hamefura ~Haran o Yobu Kaizoku~ is mostly an enjoyable otome game

for fans of the series that want to actually romance the guy(s)! So if that's what you're looking for

or just another hamefura adventure in general it gets my recommendation.😄👍

But yea if you don't want bakarina to end up with anyone stay away from this game and pretend

it doesn't exist or something, as its jpn only at time of writing so it shouldn't be too hard.

8.5/10

My play order was Alan > Geordo > Keith > Nicol > Rozy > Silva.

Imo it doesn't really matter but I suggest to do your fav first which in my case was Alan!

Doing Alan first might not be the best, I do think Nicol flows well into Rozy's route.

If I had to recommend anything its probably Geordo/Keith > Alan > Nicol > Rozy > Silva.

Anyway the non-spoiler sections end here! some route comments along

with my fav cg's after the jump break.

Tales of Arise - review

Genre: RPG
Developer/publisher: Bandai Namco.
Platform: PS4,PS5,PC,Xbone.
Official Site: https://en.bandainamcoent.eu/tales-of/tales-of-arise
Release date: 2021-9-10.

 

Wasn't sure if I was going to write about this game... or even like it cuz at first sight

it seemed rather edgy with some shining tears/wind vibes.

Just by watching the OP you could see what i'm talking about that is if you're familiar with that trope...

So my initial impressions of Tales of Arise were kind of hmmmmm? its no wonder after

what happened with Zestiria and Berseria trying to fix it that bait and switch mess

either way I was pleasantly surprised Arise turned out better than I expected!

Pro's

- excellent story(better than i expected atleast).

- a likable cast of characters that can grow on you.

- Plenty of side content to keep you busy.

Con's

- Bosses can be a bit unforgiving.

- CP system is terrible.

- Loading screens are a plenty(kinda makes me nostalgic) 

There won't be any plot spoilers discussed in this post but there will be a few screenshots without much context

I should add here that there is a minor one in a screen but I don't really consider Alphen's mask thingy

that much of a spoiler considering one could unmask him with dlc stuff right from the start (weird)

needless to say I had to add this warning here since this game is fairly new i've made

those screens as small as possible so you can scroll past however considering the jpn

twitter openly posted artwork and you can see his face on dlc item the dev's didn't really care......

Taishou x Alice heads and tails - review

 Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 

Developer/publisher: Otomate.

Platform: PSV.

Official Site:

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v20277

Release date: 2017-12-07

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chouchou Jiken Rhapsodic - Review

 Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 

Developer/publisher: Otomate.

Platform: PS Vita.

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

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v19851

Release date: 2017-11-30

I dunno why I bought this... I imported the first manga volume and was intrigued I guess.
Erena/Elena the protagonist seemed okay, there was a mystery vibe and the art is pretty
though the first promo art the protagonist looks like a freaking twig ready to snap. -_-
 I got the feeling I wouldn't like it that much so I bought the regular edition and I am glad.
Sydney's character trailer should've warned me but yet... I still bought.
PS: Some say they spoiled some stuff like Sydney in the promo image... but honestly speaking
if you don't know what the spoiler is you'd think he's some sort of fancy earl.

There are some difference from the manga like Erena for example... she is more typical otomate
heroine template which disappoint me because she appeared to have more personality in the manga.
 Don't want to say Erena was that bad since she had her moments in the game  where she managed
to shine if only a little. The rest flowed almost identically from what I had seen from the manga
dunno but in the manga it felt like Erena had more spirit, hopefully you get what I mean.
Part of me think the manga is supposed to be the main and this game just fanservice.(who knows)
for all we know this was supposed to be an interactive shojo manga... hench why
certain stuff is a bit all over the place and some routes especially the initial two
(Masanari and Haruka) can feel like filler compared to the locked ones.
If you care for the story then I'd say Ritomo is the true route of the game since everything
make sense but it all depends on preference, personally the guy is anything but likeable.

Play order:
 Masanari>Haruka>Sydney>Iori>Ritomo
The last three route are locked... I do know that doing Masanari unlocks Sydney.
doing both Haruka and Masanari get you Iori's route which in turn unlocks Ritomo.
So you could do Sydney second but I don't think that's a good idea... just do the 

initial routes first aka Masanari and Haruka and the rest will be natural to get to the truth.

Pro's
-  Just doing one route won't get you to the truth.
- Pretty art, well portraits look nice but CG's vary.
- Charming cast, atleast I found some of them to be 'charming'.
- MURASE AYUMU's stellar performance.

Con's.
- It can get a bit draggy at times and two routes are essentially filler.
- This womans blooood uwaaaagh, zombies overall writing may leave to be desired etc. >_>
- Protag/heroine was too ala otomate.
- You can't skip the credits, yep its 2k18 and yet they couldn't implement such a feature.
(There's no movie view feature either...)

The common route is basically a giant introduction too long for its own good each
chapter sort of introduced a character, chapters are not long but combined? they are.
Certain stuff will never change even if events play out slightly different
part of this is normal atleast there's something interesting to find out in the actual routes.
As for length its average, not too long not too short but the problem lies that its rather dreary.
There are two endings bad/good but its not very exciting since its just the typical two-choice system
where the correct choice raises affection which in turn lead you to best end, no guide needed!
Art is pretty, the music is so-so... bgm was awful in the long run definitely not worthy
to buy an OST of this.The OP/ED I can say these are fine but it not my thing.
I heard people say the lipsync is awful but honestly its OK most of the time it
looks awkward in some way so I tend to prefer no movement all together.
Characters seem interesting so there was drive to do the non locked routes to get
to the more interesting ones but uh TBH in the long run most of the story wasn't very interesting
since nothing makes any sense till the last two routes and even then... /shrug.

To get the platinum trophy you have to save the lines the characters say this is something
daisy2's games have had in the past, here's 60 slots but you only need a couple
to make a playlist and get the two remaining trophies.
In fact you can just spam the same line into all three playlist for the trophy.............
OTOMATE WTF ARE YOU HIGH? this isn't funny since there's not much
I'd classify as note worthy, if it had lots of comedy then yes but this is a waste
there's other games like for example Ninkoi that deserve this feature yet do not have it. -_-
Not saying there aren't any memorable lines but IMO... not enough to warrant this feature.

Let me try to keep it short...
Takes place in the early Showa period, shortly after WWII with some russian agenda mixed in.
So our heroine Erena is the unfortunate orphan who enjoyed a quiet life ever since an incident
in which her parents passed on from, she enrolls at this fancy school in the big city
after a sudden invitation and one day runs into these vampire zombie folks who want to devour her.
I kid you not I cannot even put it any other way,  for mystery driven chouchou jiken is decent
but it was too draggy and took forever to get somewhere. I feel this was meant to be a manga
 from the beginning like I already mention it but Erena is typical otome protag
aka meek and very otomate, I did had drive to figure out WTF was going on but my
first route didn't get very far nor did it make the guy feel relevant and it sucks if the dude
whom's route your on doesn't strike your interest at all.(like for me Masanari)
I think forced play orders are still good though but I think it is better to do Haruka first
since it felt like he was a whole lot more relevant and interesting than angry navy boy.
 Moving on...
The protag is 15 years old yet... most of her suitors are almost 10 years older, for the 

time period its ok but it is a little creepy. The plot only makes sense in the last 2/3 routes
This game seemed like a good mystery otome game that might be a little trashy
but it wasn't all that, it suffered from a rather cliche/over used protag has magical blood plot
which makes her wanted, the trashy bit never really gets that far, there's a somewhat decently writen
plot behind it all but you must have a pretty good attention span to get it, lots of TL;DR
 Well I wouldn't say its a kusoge downright since it had nice build up...
even then some stuff might not even add up to historic facts, partly that's fine but its not all
that great to get a load of bull, if you know your history of the period don't expect much.
In all honestly to me early on most of the plot was dull and only interesting if you like to have a
mouse nibble at ur toes like some characters could make it better which for me which
are Haruka and Sydney but that's it, Masanari's route was total filler and the plot
only picked up in Iori and Ritomo's route, Sydney? I like the guy but the route was still eh.

Most of the endings also gave me the is that it feeling like there could be more or better way
to end yet still... looking at you Iori suuuure let's go to sovjet together to look for more clues :eyeroll:
Especially with bad ends sometimes they tried too hard to make something of it

like bad fanfic I think Haruka's bad end is exactly that lmao.
While doing route no.2 so much flew by me that I just gave up all expectations...
 each route was unique enough though but sadly the last unlockable route aka Ritomo
makes you sit through the whole game from scratch unable to skip common scenes
just for a bunch of new flashback scenes in between old scenes. I'm like come on otomate?
It is so very fun to sit through it all just for a few scene here and there, also yes I did force skip it. -_-
Personally Haruka and Sydney's route are most enjoyable but tbh it might just depend on taste...
 whichever character you like the most will depend on personal preference.

5/10
''Chouchou Jiken seemed like it would be a decent mystery otome game but it
turned out to be hilariously average, its not a kusoge but its not exactly that good either.''

Re:vice[D] - review

リヴァイスディー
Game: [Re:viceD]

Genre: Otome Game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Otomate.

Platform: PS Vita.

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

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v14813

Release date: 2014-07-24

 Since the story setup ain't the typical otome I got interested since there's not much else
out these days so why not go back to some games I skipped out on?
This was like otomates first PS Vita otome game and impressions were good
but the values aren't so eventually I just grabbed a copy for 30$ on playasia
yep it goes for that cheap... they prolly just have too much stock and it needs to go to it etc.
Heck it even came with the preorder drama CD...
After the last game I played this was pleasant and much more enjoyable as a whole.


 I admit the art syle isn't why I bought it nor found it attractive at first but it grew on me.
 The music was great, definitely stood out and the OP was catchy.
I never skipped it and sometimes I'd leave it on the title screen so it loops.

-

Pro's
- Interesting set up for an otome game.
- Each character's interesting and has a reason to be a candidate.
- Comedy.
- Slick Art style.
- Music, great its not something to tire of.

Con's
- No touch features, I know this is otomate's first vita game but it may've as well been on PSP then!
- Typical truth route problems are of no concern elsewhere, guess Anvan is under tight-leash.¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Not every route may be to your liking, well duh but whatever other con will there be?
 -

Aika's not amused at how laid back the other heavenly kings can be.

Our heroine Aika is  one of the four heavenly kings. She is tasked with finding
a successor in the human world, 3 of the other heavenly kings have already
assigned recommendations, Aika however adds the mysterious Yukine to that list.
Aika isn't a typical heroine she ain't one to take shit and this can lead to shenanigans,
It was funny to see her reactions and the guys to be blending in as a human highschool girl
but she's prett cool and won't sit still when her friends are in danger.
If anything she's anything but a typical otome game heroine
but remember no matter how cool she is, she's still a girl
some routes handle it better than others.

Aika isn't one of those otome game heroine's that would take the crap most do, she's more than capable.

Just by going through the prologue I was like? wow this is pretty fun/interesting
and it never beat around the bush while still having fun moments.
The system was standard so there's not much to add to that but I liked the way you select event.
 They're not long but sometimes it feels like a side story along general story but its nice
way to keep stuff character specific but uh by the last route everything flew by!
Gotta add that I found that it was a pain in the ass to read font in the selection screen, I literally
needed atleast a minute or two at times to decipher some of the scribbles, also
 no touch feature even though we're on PS VITA so use joystick or miss stuff....😅
 As unique the system was... without a guide I think you can get lost... because there's 
so many scenes and endings and without knowing you may derail into what you didn't want.
There are a lot of choices this combined with selection system made first play arguably 
the longest but each route was 4-6 hours at most which was decent in length.
Well I loved the interactions everyone had with each others, it feels some otome games miss out
on this comedic factor and only a few get it right to balance with serious & romance.
The common part of the game consists of Aika and her familiar Mike giving the candidates
situations to test themselves like will they face the problems and help each other or run away?

The side character Shinku, Suiu and Akatsuki were interesting as well and honestly
they do not need full routes, because story wise that would be jarring besides Suiu's an ass.
They do get endings though so there's something for them atleast!
All will become clear when you'll go through the routes, each character had his reasons
 for being chosen as a candidate, the weakest link may have been Hinatsu
because honestly he makes for a poor demon king, atleast his case was unique lol.
 My favorite character was definitely Iroha everyone else just followed.

The short version...
A somewhat decent otome game forever overlooked and it sold like crap
due to being the first new(that's not a port) otome on PS Vita
but didn't have much new features so it may as well have been on PSP.
While I only really liked two routes atleast every route was unique...
sadly certain character like Yukine just gets screwed over whom I only can pity.
It all depends on personal taste as I cannot like everything.
I suppose the only thing this game has going for it is unusual themes for an otome game
and crisp art due to vita but once again it may've been better if it was PSP.
 This is a relatively short game and the endings end when they should to the point
it can be good for those that do not play much otome and only pick one out
once in a blue moon after considering what the value is which sadly isn't that much
 since this is only one game, I still love the character interactions over most else which made everything come together but I wish Kuroda had more common events because his route flew by.😭
This may be a one hit wonder, you'll probably won't find anything else quite like it
nor does it specifically need more so even if one ends up liking it be prepared
that you'll won't find any goods related to it because its just not popular enough.

I guess some games like this and others are just outshadowed but that doesn't mean they're
not worth it, honestly Re:vice[D] is better as a whole than three otome games
 I played last year so that gotta say something.
hint: Period Cube, Moujuutachi and Suuran Digit.

Maybe its due to the way it was told and the comedy plus it not really losing sight of theme
while trying to keep it unique every route. I loved the characters, the story was there
and everything else was great, romance may need some work but what more do you want?
Otomate makes so much games and gems like this or that easily get overlooked
I am actually glad they didn't have much this year, means I can pick up stuff I passed on.
Re:vice[D] may cater to people who like otome game heroines
 who're more confident than average and don't mind its unique setting.

Playorder:
Hinatsu > Iroha > Ryoga > Yukine > Kuroda
This was recommended by others so may as well... use it
I do not know if Kuroda really needs all routes but honestly his makes the most sense
after Yukine and everyone else is self-contained compared to the last two.

Uh so you know character ramblings after the jump major or minor spoilers be there so be warned.

Getsuei no Kusari -Kyouran Moratorium- - Review

月影の鎖 ―狂爛モラトリアム―
Game: [Getsuei no Kusari -Kyouran Moratorium-]

Genre: Otome Game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Takuyo.

Platform: PS Vita.

Official Site: http://www.takuyo.co.jp/products/getsueifd/getsueifdvita/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v12928

Release date: 2016-12-21

 The FD of Getsuei no Kusari Sakuran Paranoia, since the original game was
anything but the typical otome game don't expect a lot of fluff from this.
Its still keeps the serious theme the original had so if you're in the mood
for something realistc/mature these games are an excellent choice but
I do not recommend playing this without the original since its a fandisk.
Nor can I recommend playing both right after the other even if this is short it still can give you
much despair, it didn't bother me but it may others to the point they might drop it.

I didn't particularly care for the OP movie this time, I only like watched it once or twice and then skipped it.
But yeah if you still don't get it, this FD mainly exists for Mamoru and the newly added
scenario for the Toudou brothers you may need new glasses. 😥

This vita port of Kyouran Moratorium really is what you'd call a definitive version
as it adds a new scenario with two guys Toudou Itsuki and Toudou Miyabi, they're brothers
and this made it a bit more worthwhile than the PSP version because of that.
Especially for the price and Takuyo's games tend to be slighly more expensive...
Sadly these two are completely new and don't appear anywhere outside of their own scenario
yeah you read that right they do not even appear in the other newly added IF scenario.
Anyway... the original features of the FD make it seem pretty short, the another stories are 

slightly longer than the good afters which are around 30 minutes at most. 

Mamoru's route was maybe 5-6 hours so together thats give or take 10 hours.
But if you add in Hanayagi IF story and the Toudou brothers routes....
that would make the length at around 25-30 hours, btw tour of koukashi is just a side dish.
If you have a lot of free time in the weekend you may just finish it very fast but if you
spread it out due to the despair getting to you then yeah it may take you a week or more.
Personally I finished this within 2-4 days... 
Also if you actually got this game I really recommend you to end this game with
the tour of koukashi as its the most fun and entertaining thing this fandisc has to offer.
 The part where Hibiki went on about the Dango got to me... 😂😂😂


Despite the added content it was still a short FD but after Ken ga Kimi Momoyo Tsuzuri
any other fandisk in general is short.😂

The seiyuu did a good job especially Naruse Makoto, thats one you do not hear often

and also Kanna Nobutoshi and Satou Takuya... they also had such a good performance!

TL;DR
I recommend this if you enjoyed the original, don't bother if you didn't since its more of the same.

It gets an 8/10 from me, same score as I gave the original, all of the good afters

 were great and the another stories weren't bad except maybe Satoya's.

The rest of the content was worth it too except Hanayagi IF story... which I personally didn't care for but that my own opinion.

My play order of the content was decided by personal preference which is:

Mamoru > Nozomu > Hibiki >Satoya > Wataru  > Hanayagi IF > Itsuki > Miyabi > Tour of Koukashi.

Yuukyuu no Tierblade -Lost Chronicle- - Review

 悠久のティアブレイド -Lost Chronicle-
 Game: [Yuukyuu no Tierblade].

Genre: Otome game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Otomate

Platform: PS Vita.

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

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v19012

Release date: 2016-09-08 

Yuukyuu no Tierblade -Lost Chronicle- is a sci-fi otome game from yours truly, otomate.
 Did I have doubts about this otomege? sure for one its premise is similair to Code:Realize.
Okay its not entirely similair but you get the comparison right?
A heroine named ''Eve'' lives alone for 3000 years in a secluded space and her world 
slowly starts to move again when one day she meets Shudo, Atalva and later on Yajur and Lowe.
Luckily for Eve they're all handsome guys! even if Eve herself may not be quite human.
(Oh come on that much is obvious okay?)
I like how otomate's trying to explore into mecha territory because you sure don't see that often
 but to be fair one can make an otomege with any theme, sometimes it just doesn't work out.
 
Playorder:
 Shudo > Atharva > Yajur > Roh/Lowe > Cradle > True.
No choice but to do Yajur and Lowe later because their route unlock
 after you've done Shudo or Atalva and this really makes sense in terms of story.
Anyway do the order of Shudo/Altava in whichever boy you favor but honestly its not going to matter much. 
I recommend doing Shudo's route first then Atharva > Yajur and finally Lowe.
Lowe's route contains major spoilers and would only ruin the overall enjoyment if done too soon.
Dunno about Cradle but just do him before the true end I guess or before Lowe's.

Pro's
- Interesting story and characters.
- Pretty Art.
- Relaxing BGM.
- Common and Individual route while shared is nicely balanced.

Con's
- Junk system, while nice for collection purpose seems pointless storywise.
- Not many choices, less than 10 per route.
- Repeat content (mech battles can get draggy on 2nd+ play).

Overall this otomege is a romantic sci-fi adventure with as seen above well executed action scenes
I wasn't bored of them which is good!
A lot of the typical otome scenes are really relaxing and the BGM sure help a lot with this.
The story develops well, even if its ''peaceful'' at times its usually not for long and the game makes
this very clear by swifting the POV for a short scene with the ''villains''.

If you were worried that Yuukyuu no Tearblade was going to have an annoying system
like Wand of Fortune 2 you can rest assured. because its nothing more than a simple
select the area, find junk and move on, there is no RNG involved or anything.

After the last otomege I played(which was Oumagatoki), Yuukyuu no Tierrblade was pleasant.
As its quick to the point, good story, easy to like characters and a likeable heroine.
I expected tierblade to be the typical short&sweet with a fluff of tragic otomate game
and I wasn't disappointed on that note because this otomege sure was interesting.
There were lots of twists and turns along the way and the action scenes were cool
and to get the whole story you have to do every route, sadly after
only one playthrough it was pain stackingly obvious who the OTP was but that
 has never stopped me from finding my own biases a long the way.
I get why people could say the some battles are boring, especially repeat stuff
and honestly I only liked  sitting through the first battles with Sud,Atharva... Yajur just
happened too late and it was literally the same as if it were say Sud except now its Yajur.
I felt the Moujuutsukai team worked on it and I was right on that... no way could I not
recognize how the repeat content played out but atleast story wise it was surprisingly well written.
Forgot to mention this and you may have guessed it but the heroine
can be compared to Code:Realize's Cardia aka clueless at first but gets a grip
on the situation quickly and becomes badass esp in the true end.
  The only bad part may be the copypasta/repeat content, it was much
like Moujuutsukai to Ouji-sama but imo was less annoying maybe by the time I got to Yajur
so I can't complain except the part about Cradle's route but they were probably
were like y not both and just went with it, I don't even mind the whole all-saving
nanomachine-son trope, it works miracles yes but I don't think it was annoying.
9/10

Okay you know the drill by now, more ramblings and spoilers after the jump.
Just skip to the end of the post to avoid and see my fav route/chara with minimum spoils
because this game is best experienced without knowing what is going to happen.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taisho x Alice -All in One- Review

大正×対称アリス
 Game: [Taishou x Alice].

Alternative title: Taisho Alice.
Genre: Otome game Visual Novel.
Developer/Publisher: Primula and Prototype.
Platform: PC, PS Vita.
Official Site: http://www.prot.co.jp/psv/taishoalice/index.html
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v16032
Release date: 2016-06-02

Taishou x Alice was originally an episodic release for PC but have no fear as the PS Vita version

contains all four episodes, so if you still haven't gotten it now is a good chance to do so.

 Also this is getting an english release thanks to e2gaming but if you already know japanese
and can import I recommend to get the vita port since E2gaming is also doing a partial release.
Plus there is no way of knowing if E2gaming's localization will live up to the original.
  I'm willing to give E2gaming a fair chance though, since they had a rough start, I can only hope
they don't make any more mistakes! hopefully they can license the VA and are able to use
 the original OP and ED's it would be sad to see this game release in english without it.

/looks at post and see how I never edit this... wait e2gaming errr we all know how that turned out!

god bless manga gamer for releasing this in english.

  The heroine of the story is Arisu Yurika, after she runs into Alice in the prologue they find a

 crystal mirror and end up inside it! several fairy tale characters reside here such as the 

Little Red Riding hood and Cinderella... but their genders are reversed. XD

On way or another the outcome of this story will surely be interesting.

Start/TL;DR
The system? nothing special, standard VN stuff.

My play order is:
Akazukin > Cinderella > Gretel > Kaguya > Shirayuki > Mahoutsukai > Alice.

As for play order you have to start with Akazukin or Cinderella(episode 1) in the vita port
but after you do one of the two routes available the next episode unlocks except for episode 3 since
this one is locked till you have done ep1/2 and epilogue won't unlock till you've done everything.
As for ep 3 the first time you start it you're locked to Shirayuki's route for obvious plot reasons.
Also every single route is unique and you select the guy right after the prologue ends.
Anyway I still decided to finish episode 1 before moving on to ep 2 like it should be.
If you play out of order for the sake of character... nothing will make sense
and you'll basically only shoot yourself in the foot if you do that.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Pro's
- Great heroine.
- Unique seiyuu cast, (a few well known ones though).
- Most if not all the characters are likeable.
- Art.
- Individual route is unique and is mostly self-contained.
^It does keep you interested in the rest of the story as it slowly reveals things.

 Con's
- Heroine uses english words at random, this can be annoying but doesn't happen often.
- BGM, it has its charms but some is kind of grating.
- As an otome game it may leave to be desired once you get to 'epilogue'.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This game focuses on romance and its characters, the overall story will slowly unfold
as you go through all the episodes and it does a good job in keeping you interested and
 wanting to learn more, it actually rewards the reader in the end.
Don't mean to spoil but even though before epilogue you might find your fav...
it will become obvious there's only one real choice in the end.
9/10
 Taisho x Alice is a great VN with a good story, I fully recommend it.

I have to mention it AGAIN, if you are playing or are going to play it especially the PC ver...
PLEASE play in order the games came out Ep1>ep2 >ep3>epilogue because else you'll ruin the
whole story for yourself because things revealed in ep1 will be casually blurted out in ep2 and so on.
TL;DR/end

More ramblings and possible spoilrs after the jump.

Getsuei no Kusari Sakuran Paranoia - Review

 月影の鎖 -錯乱パラノイア-
Game: [Chains of Moonlight Confusion Paranoia].

Genre: Otome game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Takuyo

Platform: PSP, PS Vita.

Official Site: http://www.takuyo.co.jp/products/getsuei/index.html

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v11469

Release date: 2016-12-23

TL;DR
8/10
This is like Spice and Wolf the otome game it gets close but not its quite similair, lol economics!
I guess it gets close to Clannad too due to ts tragic/depressive nature...
  Its not all that bad but this otomege is going to need an acquired taste as it isn't light-hearted
in the slightest, its probably the most realistic and mature otomege I've played thus far.
Also this game isn't for beginners of japanese language, you should've figured from
the old timey setting, economical crisis, talk of morals and politics...

Pro's
- Mature and realistic story of people trying to survive through dark times.
- Interesting characters and all the guys are likeable in some way.
- Art.
- BGM is well used, you can clearly tell if the scene is going to be happy, sad or no good.
- Unique Seiyuu cast.

Con's
- Story is one tough cookie, as its not light hearted in the slightest.
 - The main villain reasoning might be difficult to understand.
- Not much sugar content.