Olympia Soiree - Review

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

Genre: VN.

Developer/publisher: Otomate.

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

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v24241

Release date: 09-9-2021 

 

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

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

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

 

Disclaimer: This is purely my own opinion and it could be different from yours

this is not meant to be some kind of all-truth, just an opinion that came from playing this.

If you don't like what you're reading then close the tab, move on and just idk play it yourself. 

 

Pro's

- Interesting setting and characters.

- Gorgeous art and fitting music.

- A heroine that quite literally spits fire.

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

 

Grey Area

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

 

Con's

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

- 3249432593 flashbacks.

- Clunky UI.

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

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

 

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

I liked the ED themes more for reason. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

hilariously self-contained only revealing things as necessary.

--- 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

--- 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Music/Art/System stuffs:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Extra's screen was cute.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

More ramblings about common route:

--- 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

There were too many flashbacks! thankfully the promise one

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

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

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

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

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

---

 

Most LI had good routes but my favorite was Riku. 

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

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

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

Then who's 3rd? Daifuku of course!😊 

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

Overall 

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

Cold and Cruel and HEARTLESS!

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

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

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

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

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

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

😠😠😠

 --- 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Things that aged poorly.

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

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

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

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

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

--- 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

--- 

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

TL;DR

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

8.5/10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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Utakata no Uchronia Trail - Review

Genre: VN.

Developer/publisher: Licobits.

Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://licobits-game.com/uchronia/fd/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v53877

Release date: 24-7-2025

 

You know back when I finished the original game I kinda wondered

if a FD or sequel was already planned since it felt like it was only half a story

and would you look at that? a FD was announced and released like a year later.

 

Pro's

- Afters were neither too short nor too long.

- Most afters wrapped up the story that the OG started well enough...

- Art was consistent overall.

 

Con's

- Overall plot in some routes is rather repetitive.

- Story can feel heavy, there's sugar content but not a lot.

- Some afters feel draggy and waste the majority of their runtime.

 

The OP was as good as the first game was, honestly I really like the singer as well.

The OP of both games Dawn & Deep Blue are so good, even the full versions. 

 

 

As it is a FD it has after stories for all the LI's routes from the original game.

There's both a normal and a best end... so choices seem to matter here. 

There are new routes as well for Hiiragi and Tsuwabuki

as well as another story which was set after the truth end last game.

You can get a mini ending with every LI from the previous game there as well

sadly this doesn't include the new LI from the FD. 

The menu where you select which story you'd like to view.

 

Art was gorgeous and sprites moved a little due live2d, I personally don't really

care about the latter but its a nice touch I guess. Whether a route had

good CG's though varied a lot, I think Tobari drew the short end of the stick.

Yashiro's route had a lot of new backgrounds which were all really good. 

 Most BGM's felt the same as the original nothing stood out to me except the OP.

The ED was just kind of there I actually skipped it after the 2nd time. 

 

TBH I thought the font was rather tiny, likely not optimized for switch lite.....

There's so many kanji too I was literally squeezing my eyes out.💀 Maybe it was like this

in the OG but I didn't have this problem with Toki no Kizuna's port so the whiplash was rough. 

 

I didn't list this as a con because its likely a me problem but I don't like how there is a start screen

then a separate screen for the logo before the actual main menu shows.

I mean why not just show the logo with the start screen? before the main menu???

its weird design that just makes it clunky to sit through everytime you boot up the game.

 

Average conversations in this game be like...

The pacing was OK but this game is really slow in general but I am glad

the afters weren't any longer than they were. It also felt more like a sequel than

a FD due to the contents being heavy. Like this just shows how open ended

the OG's endings were... and for some they were not ideal.

I was pretty much deceased by the time Tobari's after was over, thankfully

Yori revived me somewhat but he drove me mad by the end of his own route.💀

Each after/new route only had 5 chapters and it took maybe 5/6 hours to clear a route

individually. Due to that it was neither too short or too long, by the time I did the final route

I did feel a bit tired of it all. Let's be real this was a long FD so its not surprising.

 

Unfortunately there were bugs at release which slightly hindered my enjoyment of the game.

I am pretty sure the another story was meant to be done last but I couldn't do that

due to Awayuki,Tsuyukusa and Hiiragi's after being full of game crashing bugs.

By the time I did get to the bugged routes there was still no patch, so I decided to do

Awayuki's since his was only in chapter 1 unlike Tsuyukusa which had bugs in 2 chapters.

Experiencing wasn't fun but with the context of Awayuki's scene made me laugh somehow... 

I was sure it will be fixed sooner or later but it wasn't a good look to have these sort of bugs.

Also like clockwork when I am done with the game a patch appeared.......

okay everyone ya'll can enjoy it now without fear of it crashing.👍

 

Hmmmm....

Anyway I didn't really like Tobari's after but I liked the ending yet in Yori's after I liked

the majority of the after except the ending... Yashiro's after was generally good

and I loved Tsuwabuki's new route which was an alternative take on Yori's in the OG.

Awayuki's after was mostly good, it didn't leave me nearly deceased as someone else.😒

Tsuyukusa's after was a bit too slow-paced for me but that may've been due his personality. 

I suppose you win some and you lose some is how I sum up my experience with this FD.

--- 

I wasn't the biggest Uta-Chro fan but this FD did wrap up what the original game started, sadly

I just wasn't that invested in the general affairs of things but it was by no means a bad FD.

Uta-Chro likes to focus on the big picture and not just the romance, it really varied whether

or not a route balanced this. I suppose it depends on tastes but to me Tobari&Yori's after felt weak.

Though while I understand characters can't always be together there wasn't a whole lot of

romance scenes and what was there was woven into the plot. Hinagiku's just trying her best

which is good but it at times it would also focus on plot or side characters

who somehow still had their own little role to play in the story. 

The only characters that suffered with afters were the ones that never really went into the truth

so the story had to go out of its way to go into that... which wasn't all that fun. 

There's not a lot of CG's either so that didn't add to the experience either its only

been a year so the artist probably didn't have a lot of time to work on it. 

It wasn't a bad FD, even if it wasn't outstanding it was still good.

When I look back at the original... it just feels unfinished so this FD or sequel is much welcome.

 

TL;DR

Honestly for the most part its a good FD and there were definitely a bunch of route

that I thought were good and its okay if you don't like everything.

I'm walking away from this while liking atleast 3/4 routes, which is more than enough

though if you play FD's mainly for sugar content or more focus on romance this might

disappoint a little because there was still a heavy focus on the plot and slow-life.

It did further expand on the characters and it had moments

that were nice to see so it wasn't all bad if you like the pacing that is.

7/10

After finishing both games I realized UtaChro is actually pretty similar to trails in nature

so I recommend it to people that like slow-life and great worldbuilding

because at the end of the day that's what the UtaChro games are good at.

Also this isn't exactly beginner friendly you need a good grasp of japanese to enjoy it

fully, I saw aksys didn't have many upcoming games but they will likely localize this

and I will be disappointed if it doesn't because the OG really needs this FD. 

 

As for my playorder I started with Tobari but then heard there were bugs

so I adjusted my play order so the ones with the bugs were done later.

 Tobari > Yori > Yashiro > Tsuwabuki > ANOTHER > Awayuki> Tsuyukusa > Hiiragi.

 

Route babbles after the jump, I will share a few of my fav CG's as well

but no more than 3 per route, if you don't want any spoilers then just stop reading here. 

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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.''