Mononoke Chigiri - Review

Genre: VN.

Developer/publisher: Otomate.

Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/mononoke/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v52266

Release date: 31-7-2025

 

Honestly I wasn't sure if I should get this but it did catch my attention

and I liked the setting so why the hell not? its also been a while that the

otome game lineup in japan has been so stacked like I wasn't even finished

with UtaChro FD, and this game came out! Sadly it seems barely anyone got this game

but it also didn't seem like it was going to be a heavy hitter with a lot of hype for it either. 

I had mostly a good time with Mononoke Chigiri so it wasn't a bad otome game at all.

 

 Pro's

- Decent but simple story that's not overly complicated with lots of funny situation.

- Great heroine and romance with most LI was satisfying.

- Gorgeous art from sprites and backgrounds to CG's.

- BGM fits the setting and some have really nice relaxing vibe. 

 

Con's

-  Pretty long; the length can be a bit of a double edged sword.

- Some sub characters or enemies have no sprite, it would have more impact if they did.

- Not one but two attractive unromanceable side characters.

 

 I liked the OP, it had the right kind of tone for a game with this setting, really good jam.

The lyrics of the OP already kinda spoil what kind of story its gonna be.

The ED was okay, I didn't skip it this time unlike UtaChro FD

and the animations for it were absolute adorable and feel good. 

 

Art was gorgeous, it was done by Melo, I didn't even recognize it at first

but it really is them. The backgrounds were nice to look at too.

Music was alright it suited the scenes well, it certainly wasn't the worst i've heard.

I loved some of the BGM like one of those was so relaxing it made me melt. 

I'm more wondering where the hell did otomate pull some of these composers from

cuz they seem really randomly picked but it mostly worked out so it wasn't a bad idea.

The UI was clean and it was easy to read the text as well. 

 

Heroine/Plot.

The heroine Fujita Yuma is an onmyoji  and she took her role seriously even if she's just

new to it she is trying! Yuma had her own sprite in the corner, I really miss this in some games.

In terms of heroines she is definitely out there, if you like proactive heroines she'll not disappoint.

The story was pretty simple and she had the goal of sealing the bakeneko whom's seal

was weakening and she befriended a bunch of youkai to help her do just that.

Its not a plot-focused otome game but rather one that focuses on the journey

which is slightly different depending whom you go for, the solution to the problem

was never the same and routes were more or less character focused.

This game didn't suffer from copypasta but I can see it being kind of repetitive.

Needless to say I've found most if not all routes worth doing.  

 

This was not a serious otome game at all since it was a rom-com. 

There were times the story was hilarious, the heroine was sometimes wearing her clown

pants unintendedly in the beginning however the game did know when to be more serious.

There was a common route which sets the stage and introduces the setting and story

but it was quite long, I could see people drop the game because of it

so this might not be for people who prefer shorter or more serious vn's. 

I did love the overall vibe and I wanted to learn more about everything. So it wasn't off

to a bad start. I did think it was bit slow at times and took its sweet time

but it ended up being surprisingly well written in a way that suit the setting A LOT.

I also liked how the perspective would switch to the LI or Hayate&Satoru.

If you really like japanese folklore and youkai, this game is an easy recommendation.

Time for this local grandma to go back to bed!

 

The system was mostly standard VN stuff and each love interest had only two endings

a good end and a bad ending which can be heartbreaking, i'm glad they made

the endings count so its quality over quantity, the good end was pretty satisfying.

 However there was was a minigame but you only have to press a few buttons in order.

This kind of interactive game play wasn't that complicated. At first I thought

it was too fast but its an easy to memorize pattern and by route 2 I had it down.

Also you don't have to do it perfectly, completing the minigame

is fine with 5/7 so you don't have to get all seven button presses correct. 

You can retry via the backlog and save before it, imo it wasn't a bad minigame.   

I actually expected this minigame to be used more but it wasn't used as much at all

which was a relief for people that don't like this sort of stuff.

 

Playtime might depend on your reading speed, I think my speed is normal

or slightly slower because I sometimes pause. If you're a fast reader

then this game could feel a bit shorter then I make it out to be.

This game took me a two weeks to get through, I feel more satisfied with

Mononoke Chigiri than I did with Fuyuzono Sacrifice as well.

I didn't full focus on this game and took breaks, I think I could have finished it

sooner but there were times I wasn't ready to jump into the next route.

 

In terms of characters I didn't think I would like Akihito as much as I did

but I absolutely adored him by the end of his route! so that was a pleasant surprise.

I did Chiaki second but... I don't really like him. I got weird vibes and thought he was creepy

but I can't deny he was very much like a fox so it all checked out. He was just too much for me.💀

I generally liked Gaku but he was a bit stiff at times, you can see he means well

especially at the start of the route or where he expressed some of his thoughts.

I think his route accomplished more with the setting and story overall.

Sakichi's route was downright hilarious and a true rom-com, I enjoyed it the most

and may have left the strongest impression on me cuz some stuff you don't see everyday.

I enjoyed Sousuke's route as well and I think it was one of the best routes in the game

next to Sakichi and Akihito, Due being locked its a good route to end the game with. 

 

I do have some complaints but not a lot. Some side characters have portraits, there's

nothing for really minor characters or enemies which made the game lack in impact

especially with their being some fight scenes so you had to use your imagination.

Its hilarious how Hayate and Satoru's were really handsome like

if Mononoke Chigiri got a FD they should definitely have routes. 

The bakaneko I didn't find very threatening except... near the end of a route

and overall the game can get a bit repetitive but the individual characters

were all great and the way the problem was solved each route was unique.

So I can't complain too much. I almost ran out of steam at the final route

but it managed to get its grip on me and I still progressed at a steady pace. 

 

TL;DR 

This game made me love the whole otome genre all over again.

Its had a decent enough plot but I thought it was more focused on SoL, interaction

with the LI which lead to all sorts of fun situations, sealing the bakeneko

was merely goal but I think the journey with the LI mattered more here.

There wasn't any extreme content which could be disappointing for some but games

like this can be nice in their own way, there's enough shit happening in the world. 

It was quite long as well especially the first time through, had it been shorter

there would not nearly be enough time so I think the overall length is just right. 

At its core it may be quite a simple story... but it was still enjoyable

like sometimes you just want something that's not too complicated

while chasing 2d men and Mononoke Chigiri really delivered with this. 

I also really love animals and I liked how there were some cute scenes with the guys in

their youkai form, they kept it light and fun it reminded me of beastmaster & prince. 

 Overall pretty decent otome game that shined on building a connection with the LI! 

it takes its time with everything and it took its own setting serious, it had a potentially

bittersweet setup that became really obvious near the end of some route

but this wasn't a tear jerker, I think you're more likely to cry tears of joy

from laughing over something stupid that just transpired.

8.5/10 

I recommend it if you like more simple otome games focused on japanese folklore.

Its worth a look if you like stuff such as Cupid Parasite as well.

However if you prefer shorter otome games or don't like comedies, i'd probably

not recommend it since this is a rom-com of decent length.

 

I'm not sure how much chance this game will be brought over, but I don't see why not.

If aksys is gonna bring over lighthearted and comedic type of games now...

I see no reason they or others couldn't pick this up especially considering 

this is like the lovechild of Beastmaster&Prince and Radiant Tale.

 ---

 

 

My Play order: Akihito > Chiaki > Gaku > Sakichi > Sousuke.

There was a lock on Sousuke's route so I did him last. None of the initial route

had any big spoilers except maybe Gaku they all hint a little at things

and my own play order flowed surprisingly well. There's apparently an official

order but I don't think it matters too much Akihito and Chiaki share a plot line

so doing one hints at the other. Same for Gaku and Sakichi. I think Sakichi

should be done before Sousuke though but that's my opinion. 

 

Character rambles after the jump so if you don't want spoilers just stop reading here.

I share a few of my fav CG's as well but not all of them.

 

Buddy Mission Bond - review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pro's

- Decent enough plot with some twist and turns.

- Amazing cast of characters.

- Great art and BGM to fit the mood.

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

Con's

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

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

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

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

 

OP Movie; I watched maybe once or twice.

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

 Main cast:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

 

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

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

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

More rambles after the jump break.

 

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.

Kimi wa Yukima ni Koinegau - review

Genre: Otome/simulation VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/kimiyuki/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v29906
Release date: 2021-07-29.

 

Finally time for another otome game after I ended up skipping paradigm paradox

cuz jpn reviews really weren't doing that one any favors, going in all I knew about Kimiyuki

was that it was going to be a tearjerker/nakige in an old timey setting. Seiyuu cast is a mix

of the popular ones and some newer talent among one i've never heard before

which was nice, other than that this game was pretty long and took half a month to complete! though

I did push through the last two routes and well during the final one I hardly could put it down.😅

The op movie is pretty decent, and I often just let it play.

 

 

Pro's

- Surprisingly comedic, lot's of cute scenes with the guy(s).

- Unique and self contained, routes however to understand the plot you must do all the routes.

- Art, gorgeous and good variety of CG's.

- Music fit the theme/mood of the game.

- Most if not all the main guys were likable.

Con's

- Pacing, due to making time for fun and cute romance and flesh out

sub characters ties with the plot it all can drag on.

- Not all routes are as interesting, the character might really save it depending on taste.

- Half the time I did wonder... what does this game try to be???

 

General plot:

Our heroine Suzuno is an orphan who can see some weird thread of emotion that more often

than not leads to doom she was chased away by villagers and being called a monster by them...

despite that she's surprisingly carefree and optimistic.

That thread she sees is an ill omen and the villagers want nothing to do with it...

 one day she meets a man named Tomonari whom ends up inviting her to come to edo with him

its then she meets the oniwaban which is like a band of samurai's under command of the shogun.

Why not? why not go with them when your fellow villagers call you a demon-possesed youkai?!

Oh and apparently she is also a descendant of the haku-seki clan.

Tomonari and Kunitaka are so nice to Suzuno as they introduce her to the other

oniwaban and edo, faith in humanity has been restored... somewhat.

The rest of the plot of this game involves Suzuno use her powers and help the oniwaban

there is far too much to quickly digest but Kiko's are basically seen as tools to kill demons

and have no emotion which is why Suzu-chan can't see anything from them

the funny part is that the kiko's are surprisingly... free-spirited.😅

Literally most of the oniwaban as they try to do their job.

The art in this game is gorgeous the backgrounds are decent enough.

Most important characters had a sprite and there were a lot of sub chara's so that was nice.

The music is fitting and there's an interesting cast of characters which was enough

to get excited to find out what the story in this game was about

which without spoilers was just okay really this is a story driven game

that actually manages to deliver the romantic moments throughout as well but boy is it long!

had I not planned some evenings for this I would have taken longer to complete it.

There were plenty of CG's and they happen when you would like to see them

which is really good especially after the last otome game I played.

Probably one of my favourite common route group cg's.

 There are 3 types of endings bad sad and best, it doesn't really matter which order

I think I was glad I did Kinji's sad end last because I needed a moment after it.

There aren't that many bad ends, 1 per character Tomonari is a slight exception to this....

Other than that the system in general was just basic choices and nothing complicated.

The heroine Suzuno was alright, she has her circumstances but she wasn't annoying or anything

considering her optimism, I thought it was easy to relate to her situation in the beginning. 

Suzuno will point out if something worries her due to her ability to see threads of doom

and act on her own but that last bit might not be a good thing most of the time...

cuz she can't really fight back on her own i'll add to it that she is quite pure and some things

might fly over her head which in turn can lead to some hilarious situations.

Suzuno is also not a fighter, though she did have her moments 

and she stood out the most in Yoichi and Genjurou routes.

Common route was okay in terms of introducing everything and world view, they introduced

some more characters after the talk with the shogun and I did struggle to remember

all their names but atleast they had some unique personalities but so I was able to

identify them more easily as emo guy(Kyoushiro), mr nice guy(Mitsushige)

and megane brat(Yabuta).😅 This game is slow paced but all of the routes were unique

even if common route was shared the stories varied heavily though.

Its theme was advertised as to be sad but it has rather snappy dialogue & there were plenty

of funny and cute scenes unfortunately due to this the overall pacing doesn't feel too good.

Most of the main guys were really nice except one of them but he had his reasons really, you'd

have to decide for yourself. Honestly I didn't want anything bad to happen to them

so considering the theme this was working as intended.

But it is kinda obvious now that if you thought this would be a tragic historic fantasy

then I have to disappoint! Kimiyuki was actually more comedic than I ever expected it to be. Considering they brought in iwai yuki a japanese comedian it all makes sense now.

 The overall production values are also quite high, but it did  have a bit of a slow start

all things considered  I think it was necessary to understand the setting.

TBH I want to like this game more but it got a few problems and that is it doesn't

really know what it wants to be sometimes! the pacing issues are so there, I don't mind

that there are cute or funny scenes in fact I welcomed them but more often than not but

the story pacing is awful, it would drag on a lot atleast romance didn't disappoint me...

they often focus so much on side characters that i'm like what was it we were doing again?

Like the first route I did, Kunitaka was a bit boring in terms of plot but other than that

I still manage to enjoy it, I know I enjoyed Kinji and Yoichi's route the most overall

and even Genjurou had a better written plot and villain(annoying as he was)

but yea the writing quality is all over the place we have lots of route that don't have much to do

with the real plot and you won't make sense of anything till the locked routes.

A common problem in otome game land...  atleast I did think they balanced 

the romance with whatever plot together was going on so you got some cute moments

and more serious stuff while learning more but like I already said the writing quality varied heavily.

I did wonder a little about the Kiko's being emotionless

and are tools to wipe out youkai/yoika but they're so free spirited???

but its more like they're not fully capable of being human like its obvious they can be a bit

insensitive at times some more than others, needless to say these guys aren't perfect

and they don't need to be.

So despite this being advertised as a tearjerker... you're mostly in for a good time! mostly... yes.

so this is actually more of a romantic comedy really that in a way is actually a bit tender.

If you end up getting this just enjoy the ride,but its probably better to not have too much

expectations because like I mentioned above not all routes were as interesting cuz it did get slow

but that might be because it tried to focus on side characters as well! so bottom line is

this game tried to do too much things at once! which lead to a long game in general.

For what its worth it was a decent wafuu otome game the only problem is the language really

its not beginner friendly but seems like Aksys is bringing this over... some day.

Sigh aksys I do hope they won't make a mess of it because this is the only way

people can enjoy the games if they don't know jpn... I AM WORRIED and wanna express this

cuz this game does have a lot of terms and old timey so this might be more than they can chew.

 

So if you're in the mood for an wafuu otome game with a decent enough plot, don't mind

a slow start/slowburn, a little bit of mystery and fun/cute scenes this might be for you!

but yea if this otome game number 150 you might not be able to enjoy it as much compared

to someone who only has played a few... I think this is only fair cuz I played a bunch

and was able to enjoy this for the most part so your mileage might vary.

Even so the last route in this game made everything fit so I think it was pretty solid?

enough for me to give it an 8,5/10 like there were 6 routes and I enjoyed at least 3/4 of them

so I think the final score is only fair, considering production values and everything else.

(8.5/10 if bias, 6/10 for non bias)

IDK if there was a recommended order but there were routes that was locked behind

some others which was Tomonari who unlocks Otarou so you have to do Kunitaka,

Yoichi OR Genjurou and Kinji first! but it is funny they will let you into the route of Otarou

for a hot minute but will default to some abrupt end.😔 Don't be me...

My play order: Kunitaka > Kinji > Yoichi > Genjurou > Tomonari > Otarou.

The routes in bold have no restriction so feel free to mix that up but yea if you care about

story there's not much you can do about the last two routes. Yoichi is the only one that is an

odd ball, it was also very otome BUT his route does hint at something that will be explained later

so I don't think you should save him for last cuz an important plot detail gets spoiled about him

at the end of Otarou's so if I had to recommend anything it would be

exactly the same order as mine except maybe switch Yoichi and Genjurou around.

Character babbles after the jump, however be advised that there will be spoilers beyond this point though to respect the wishes of the developers I will not be sharing too many CG

and only my favorites. So if you wish to remain spoiler-free then the review ends here! This is

due to the mystery aspect of this game, so if you really REALLY are going to play it in the

future I do say to not read past this point. Its better to not know too much with this game.

 

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.''

Usotsuki Shangri-la - review

 Game: [嘘月シャングリラ] 

Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 

Developer/publisher: Rejet.

Platform: PS Vita.

Official Site: http://rejetweb.jp/usotsuki/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v20634
Release date: 2017-11-30

Rejet's latest game... and I shall be your guinea pig in trying to figure out
if it was worth it, UsoTsuki is Lie and Moon together it means liar. (lol lying moon.)
Well uh that's all for crappy lessons in japanese you get from me.
Shangri-la is a name of a fictional paradise...

Pro's
-A good mix of sweet&serious scene.
- I'd say the story was ok like there is drive to get to the locked route.
 - Slow skip but there's jump to the next choice.

Con's
- Did they really need to have to force everyone to call Akari Usotsuki-chan a l l  t h e  t i m e.
- The characters are plain, cliche, I find unable to attach myself to most of them.
- Its actually pretty short when you think about it.
- Would be better if there are actual epilogues.

Art, looks a bit weird but not bad or anything infact the background art was fine.
Music, its decent, OP... some BGM could be better because the castle-like theme drove me crazy.
As for seiyuu choice... meh its the popular boys.

System... typical stuff, you select the route of your choice right after the prologue.
 I had no preference so I just went with one of initial ones. Ende is locked till you do the other four.
Now this is a bit of a minor complaint but the text was pretty blurry while everything else
 was crisp IDK but it bothered me, it also small but uhm the font in himihibi was pretty big
so maybe thats why it bothers me now. xD

I like the OP and all... atleast they're honest at to what expect even if the context was different.

As you've figured this game is about lies... with the usual rejet spin but lighter?!
it has a pretty generic setup of girl ends up in another world not like her own.
The protagonist is typical, she seems good natured but no experience with guys
this is okay but I sort of laughed when Akari said how well everything else is going
to a relative on the phone in the beginning. I was like girl if you know what you're in for!
 The prologue/common route was an introduction, they explained how the protagonist
Akari is the usotsuki who might save the world and Fenrir, Hel and Jorm are the brothers
of calamity who are believed to cause misfortune and are scorned for it...  they seem
normal enough, like they saved Akari but there seems to be more to them than meets the eye.

Smartphone? what is that? why thank you for this gem...

Who thought this whole usotsuki concept was okay? I can't take it seriously.

At first I thought this whole game is a pun on the word ''Usotsuki'', I joke about it
 but in the beginning it was actually really cringe worthy. Constantly hearing the protag called
usotsuki-chan or liar-chan in plain english is so incredible off-putting...
but as I did more routes I eventually stopped caring.😅

Can't say the transition from Akari's world to shangri-la was very good in fact it confused me.
That aside there is a bit of mystery to it all... and Usotsuki-chan >_> frequently has these
visions/dreams when she touches water so I still found drive to continue, since its
like the way she learns more about the chara's the happiest
ends aren't necessary the best for sake of world which is sad.

The romance and plot developed side by side so it was good mix of sweet/serious moment
the pacing and sense of mystery was nice too bad some routes are just disappointing
story wise since there's only one where all makes sense. As for the protagonist
Akari wasn't that annoying just a bit too nice for her own good I guess...
the guys however are pretty bland they don't have much personality and felt plain to me.
So on the topic of lying, if you lie at certain points you change the ending...
dunno if it was the guide i used but in certain routes you dont need to lie to get best end.

I do think it has its place in the game... Its nice that each route had something new
to reveal, atleast the turn of events was never the same which was nice.

 

 I thought Usotsuki was so-so... its pretty tame for a rejet game atleast NO VERY TAME
in the first half of the routes(not counting bad ends). Each route focuses on that
character, its unique enough just doing one route won't get you to the truth of the story.
They all have something they don't want others to see and its also very realistic, not everyone
is nice even if at a glance they appear to be. I suppose Usotsuki shangri-la
is like an apology after the disaster that was Moshikami because I believe they went too far
with that one, you might know what I am talking about.
Well if you don't want to read more, I'd say it Usotsuki gets the OK from me...there's no
creepy oniichans or extreme yanderes here so if you expect that then you'd be disappointed.
Might be better for newbies... since veterans may notice how lacking certain aspect are.
So-so otome game but Nice Try Rejet.

If I had to recommend any play order it'd be:
Fenrir / Hati >  Jorm > Hell > Ende.
I do not think it matters when you do Hati he might be nice first, midway or right before Ende
idk it was pretty much the most otome-like route so just do it when you feel like.

Hana Oboro ~Sengoku Den Ranki~ - Review

 

花朧 ～戦国伝乱奇～ Game: [Hana Oboro ~Sengoku Denranki~]

Genre: Otome Game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Otomate.
genre: Historic Fantasy.

Platform: PS Vita.

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

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v19288

Release date: 2017-1-19

Otomate first otome game released in 2017, I ended up buying it
 because it has a rich cast of characters and the story intrigued me. 

Sorta expected stuff like boring war scenes also fighting + onii-sama huehuehue which is
all well and good, I love history but i'm not a religious nerd so I do not mind a bit of fantasy
 in these type of games and as expected I wasn't disappointed in that, some parts were
fateful yes but there's a lot of originality which is I guess what most people complained about.
You may even think why pick this up? well... I was interested in it and that's usually enough.

The common route in hana oboro is maybe about 4~5 hours, I did not keep track
and with the character route you may end up at 8-10  hours at most including all ends and stuff.
I do not recommend doing routes in one sitting though, its not that long 
 but it all depends how motivated you are and some draggy scenes with war may even demotivate you.

The system is the same standard VN stuff except that it has a sort of bumrush timed flag system
in which you have to press L or R when it blinks, the blinking part is actual the hint so you can
pretty much do this without a guide, it needs to be in the right order or else you will go for a bad end.
You also get the choice to skip this minigame but what is the point if you need
to do all of them in a single run to get the bonus cg's, otomate y u do this..

Opening song is by ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D which is awesome I can not skip it not once, also
one of the members(U) voices one of the sub characters, Sanada Masayuki and for what its worth
he does a ok job but you can tell the guy is no seiyuu and otomate should have hired someone else.
Good thing is outside of say Shingen's route he barely get any lines...!

 Pro's
- Interesting story.
- Likeable cast of characters.
- Art, its beautiful also everyone had the same amount of CG's.
- Every route is unique/character focused.
- Decent in length.

Con's
- Inconsistent Heroine.
- Story feels unfinished, hint at a bigger picture.
- 長い and at times a drag, sometimes it felt like its been ages since the last choice.
-  There was maybe one music track that  iffed me also some SFX really eh... esp doki sound.
- No lip sync/moving mouths.

For play order, I started with Nagamasa-sama since it was recommended on the official blog
and let's just say it feels like most natural choice but honestly it was most boring.
Nagamasa > Shingen > Hanbei > Nobunaga > Katsuie.
Note,Nobunaga route won't unlock till after Hanbei whom is locked till 2nd+ play
Just use the same playorder I used... and you'll be fine if not I recommend Shingen for whenever
you want to relax and Katsuie for last...  because his route is overall balanced and dat twist!
which was a fun way to end the game even tho its very self-contained.

また 少し 強く なれる｡｡｡

If I had to sum up how the routes were without spoilers it'd be like this:
Nagamasa - as dry as a desert but he can be surprisingly sweet.
Shingen - a refreshing oasis resort that heals your soul.
Hanbei - a cold summer breeze in a surprisingly あつい summer which turned into a typhoon.
Nobunaga - Spoils you in the beginning, still have to sit through a dry lecture
but  hey atleast you're rewarded with something cute in the end.
Katsuie - The rollercoaster ride you never knew you wanted but got anyway.

In short, a lot of time and money was put in to this game, even side characters got their own CG's
and everyone had an even amount of CG's too, some parts may leave a lot to be desired, sadly
to me the two poster boys routes (Nagamasa and Nobunaga) were the least satisfying of all.
I thought the heroine was alright she's no doormat and will stand up and fight
 against her brother but she does have her own personal insecurities considering
the time period some things may be laughable but whatever its fantasy, its not a kusoge.
Even if this game started out ok it was quite long compared to recent otomege I played, the text
is never ending and I feel spoiled by Koei's otomege in which scenes are short and to the point
but its not that long really, the length is about average.
 I say I prefer longer games but this really stretches itself and Nagamasa route was especially
difficult, as expected it wasn't all rainbows and sunshine which considering
the genre is good but could you make it a tad shorter? or more fluff kthnx.
Add fuel to the fire that Nagamasa and Nobunaga suffer from the just when it got good it already the end.
At times it was hard to see where the plot was going in the first few hours since it was so peaceful.
I'm all for a well thought out plot but at times I was just sitting there ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°) ok get on with it
like yeah thanks for going into hideyoshi and nene's love life which got nothing to do with plot. >_>

Sadly some parts feel unfinished to me... also what was the point of introducing that shota Hon
in Yukimura's ato gatari? did I miss something, now I am curious and after thinking about other things. I thought this is only the first part in a greater story also the ending of Alan's ato gatari...
Sigh... its just total sequel bait its not even funny! if there will actually be a sequel who knows
they may have as well have been baiting us, or give us some sort of confirmation he's OK.
However they did an excellent job in creating a unique otomege based on the sengoku period.
 I recommend it to those who like the genre of old timey fantasy games and do not mind
fantasy elements intruding the historical part however if you prefer shorter games
and dislike historic fantasy this may not be for you, its not that long though.
TBH I like it more than Juuzaengi because certain characters cannot be saved
but if you liked Juuza I think you'd still enjoy this since both aren't serious historic adaptations.
Also if you thought Onii-sama would be a crazy yandere I am sorry to disappoint because he was relatively tame.
Again I recommend it if you have the patience for ye olde style games...
7/10
Loses points for dull poster boy routes, but the other 3 were enjoyable. 

この願い届けなら｡｡｡？

Okay usual spoilers after the jump, this game was long and for some routes such as Nagamasa
 I couldn't be bothered to write much... so thats more of a general opinion.
Just so you know Hanbei and Katsuie's part had the most spoilers I try to summarize but
the game is much more detailed so it'll look like crap cuz I still left a shit ton out.

Meiji Tokyo Renka Full Moon Review

明治東亰恋伽
Game: [Meiji Tokyo Renka Full Moon].

Genre: Otome game Visual Novel. 

Developer/Publisher: Hunex/Broccoli/5pb(mages).

Platform: PSP,PS Vita.

Official Site: http://meikoi-vita.com/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v12159
 Release date: 2016-8-25

I bought this otomege a while ago in my august order(Moujuutachi, Oumagatoki and Meikoi)
 but delayed playing it since I figured its pretty much a charage and it
would be better to play when I have nothing better to do.

My reasons for buying Meikoi is because I am a sucker for the setting of being swept away

to a different time period in which Meikoi is similar to harukanaru toki no naka de and sangoku rensenki.
 2nd reason would be the characters because I already heard that they're all 👌👌👌.

For the vita port they added a guy named Iwasake Tousuke who is original from the movie adaptations.

My playorder:
Fujita> Ougai > Shunsou > Otojirou > Kyouka > Yakumo > Tousuke > Charlie.

I don't really recommend starting with Fujita though, Ougai is a better place to start.
Just remember to do Fujita before Yakumo since Yakumo's route spoils the whole ghost girl subplot the two share.
You have no choice but to do Charlie last since he's the true route of this game.

Pro's

Characters.

- Art, its great but it does vary.
- Dummy head mic.
- Decent length as in not to short or too long.
- Comedy.

Con's
- Heroine, average at best.

- Background art leaves much to be desired.

- Copy Pasta.

Overall Meikoi has a decent length to it, first play will be the longest
I clocked out at 7-8 hours, pretty sure the prologue was atleast 1 to 2 hours.
Routes itself are about 5-6 hours becoming slightly shorter when going for the secondary route.
What I mean by that is characters are paired up together:
Fujita and Koizumi. Ougai and Shunsou. Otojirou and Kyouka.
 Charlie is pretty much the truth route and Tousuke is an addition to the vita port.
The characters are all likeable, they are not that accurate representations
of their historical counterparts BUT they all have quirks to make them so likeable.
Fujita being the most normal, Ougai and Yakumo being the weirdest.
The comedy was also pure gold, so many scenes that made me laugh!
A lot of otomege forget about it or make it forgettable.
The bad ends are sad but they're also realistic... now for the bad part:
Characters that share route, their bad end is the same except the goodbye scene
the after credit scene for that or any pair up is the same... ah unavoidable copy pasta.
There was no affection meter but the text skip was super fast making
 the other endings easy to get despite there being a lot of choices.

I do not think Meikoi is a bad otomege, even if it has its fair share of issues it is enjoyable
despite the protagonist not having much to her everything else adds to that.
The overall story isn't that interesting since its a charage which means first and foremost that its
focused on the characters though some of the subplots are darker than others but still not that dark.
Did I enjoy this otomege? hell yes! do I recommend it despite its many flaws? yes!
 I could even recommend it to those still learning japanese and have a decent grasp of the language.
8/10

If you have yet to play the psp version the vita version is a good start but if you already played it
but I do not think 6000 yen is worth it just for one more route unless you are a die hard meikoi fan.
Meikoi is not terrible in what it tries to do and passes the otomege part of the game with flying colors.

For those that like the genre of being swept away to a different time period and romance historical bishies
Meikoi shouldn't disappoint you but its probably better to play it on the side
 because when you think too hard about somethings you'll most likely shake your head.

Collar x Malice - Review

 Game: [Collar x Malice].

Genre: Otome game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Otomate

Platform: PS Vita.

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

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v18160

Release date: 2016-08-18.

 With Otomate being hit and miss ofcourse I had doubts about this otome game.
I had to choose between this game or 7'scarlet and I can't say it was an easy decision
since both games are mystery themed so it had to be one or the other, for better or for worse
 I decided to pick up Collar x Malice! since at times you just have to choose one or the other.
Anyway you may have guessed it but CxM focusses more on story than romance.

This IMO is good but for those expecting more romance, may be disappointed.

The team.

If you want a play order this one should be ideal:

Mineo > Kei > Takeru / Shiraishi > Aiji.

Please note that Shiraishi's route is locked till 2nd play, Aiji doesn't unlock till you've done everyone.
Mineo's route is very light on plot content so I recommend him first and Kei 2nd.
Takeru's route is pretty well balanced so he's perfect to do before the final two routes
though i you do Shiraishi before him or not shouldn't matter.

I have to add that after I did Takeru I was even more motivated to do the rest!

 Pro's
- Story.
- Characters.
- Art and bgm.
- Individual route is self-contained.

Con's
 - Many Bad Ends.
- Long routes, honestly this is both bad and good.
- Those expecting more romance may be disappointed.
- Not light-hearted in the slightest, can get pretty dark.

Hands where I can see them! :P

This game was fairly decent in length and actually managed to draw me in
because it was very suspenseful at times but in other areas like romance it was a little lacking.
 Though there were still enough cute bits because it is an otome game afterall.

The first route alone took me around 10 hours (give or take), I'd rather have a VN takes it time
 than rush itself, the story was really good so I can't even complain even if lack of romance.
Also I think Collar x Malice would have benefit from a voiced heroine! but sadly this isn't the case.
The heroine was really likeable atleast, also her brother didn't really care that much for her
which was nice considering how many games follow the onii-chan trope.
Kazuki is still a tsundere siscon even if he barely shows it at first. :P
Sadly Ichika doesn't know how to handle technology well.. which considering the setting is weird.

Also I am disappointed this game had no ending list, like I fully completed the game cg and all
but I was at a loss to see what bad ending I missed  and there are a lot.
Like come on otomate, when a game really needed one you go and pull this crap?!
Even Reine des fleurs has one... so why not Collar x Malice?
This is probably the only thing I am discontent about like seriously but oh well it can't be helped.

If you need a guide I recommend this one:
 http://dsadv.blog66.fc2.com/blog-entry-1133.html

Shhhh...

More ramblings and minor spoilers/CG's after the jump.
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