Showing posts with label Nojima Kenji. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nojima Kenji. Show all posts

Saturday, July 19, 2025

Toki no Kizuna Hanayui Tsuzuri - Review

PSP box art cuz its gongeous I mean gorgeous.
Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate
Platform: PSP,switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/toki/switch/
Release date: 19-6-2025
 
Once upon a time otomate released an otome game called Toki no Kizuna
but then realized it didn't nearly have enough romance which was lost in the sauce
that was the overall story so they released a FD; Hanayui Tsuzuri.
 
--- 
Pro's
- After stories were a much needed epilogue to the original routes.
- Most other side content brought a smile to my face.
- After's are of decent length and didn't really overstay their welcome. 
 
Con's 
- New routes and flower chapter rely on Senkimaru's sad end so you could
feel lost in terms of continuity if you happened to only do the good ends in OG.
- Yachiyo's route is really aimed at a special audience so its not for everyone.
 ---
 
I thought the OP was pretty fire this time around and actually wanted
to listen to it most of the time I booted it up. The original game's OP
was a good jam too but it just didn't hit as good as the FD one. 
 
As for the heroine she mostly has dropped the act of pretending to be a man and she
was much more accepting of herself. Yukina let her feminine side shine through in this FD.
Maybe for some its disappointing but I didn't mind this. The extended epilogue
really did show her at her most badass which was really good IMO. 
 
---  
After stories.
All after stories start with a brief summary of the route but it felt a bit rushed
I suppose it might be good if you need a quick refresher, other than that they were in generally
pretty good as an extended epilogue but that's about it. Doing your fav LI first is recommended. 
There are choices in the after stories but it doesn't affect the outcome.
The only thing it affects is the CG variation so there's not much to worry about
and you can play at your leasure without fear of bad ends which the original had a lot of. 
 
New routes.
As you know there are new routes for Shiyuu and Yachiyo but honestly they're a hit or miss.
I didn't like Yachiyo's because it is really aimed at a specific audience that is not for me.
Shiyuu's route was a lot better and more well rounded, I actually cared about him.
Before I played this FD I wasn't sure when these took place but it made sense
for it to happen after Senkimaru's sad end as she doesn't end up with anyone
and certain characters are alive except someone and Yukina basically is the head honcho.
The new routes didn't have any choices so it was like reading a novel. 
 ---
 
There's a Inbetween chapter that takes place sometime during the original game
with some choices that may give extra CG with the chosen LI.
Honestly I don't really like this sort of content that's supposed to make up for
the lack of fun times in the original. Its hard to get into it so i'd rather prefer a scenario
after endings of the original game and that did exist in this game this just wasn't it.
In terms of length it was maybe about 30 mins to an hour the first time through.
You will pretty much skip half of it when doing another character in this section. 
I only bothered with Kazuya for this and vibed through some of the others
but it was kinda funny how he was constantly so listless, it actually was a problem.😂

 Other than that there's the flower chapter that takes place after Senkimaru's sad ending
 which acts as an extended epilogue but without any romance. After doing both Inbetween
and flower chapter you unlock something called twelve tales which is pretty much the
conclusion of the story as it wrap up the series well enough. I did this last. There's also some
unlockable bonus side stories that you get by finishing every guy's after story/new route.
Plenty of content all around but some of it can be skipped if you had your fill. 
  ---
 
Overall its a solid FD with plenty of content value.
Its okay to play it back to back because most routes needed the extended epilogues
but had the switch port not included this then i'd be disappointed so I am glad it is.
It was nice there's still a scenario that explores one sad end of the original game
but the only thing it was good at was formally closing off the Toki no Kizuna saga. 
The other extra bonus content was nice, it even reminded me of ken ga kimi's FD
but I don't think it was as loaded which was a good thing imo.
If you liked a character in the original its definitely worth to check out their after story
in this FD but its okay to skip the ones for characters you didn't really like.
Personally for me only Kazuya and Senkimaru's afters were worth it as well as Shiyuu's route
others just weren't as engaging or interesting to me. Maybe its cuz I didn't like all LI equally. 
I'll admit I feel like I forced myself through some of these afters and new routes
but I can see this isn't a bad FD, in fact its pretty good addition
since the original left much to be desired.
8/10 
This FD has just the right amount of content that there is not a lack of volume or too much of it.
A lot FD's just tend to stop at afters or new routes. Its rare to get a bunch of
chibi side stories along with an extended epilogue of a less than ideal ending.
This was 20 hours of good stuff which may stretch to 25+ish if you do everything. 

Route babbles after the jump as well as my fav CG's, its not really a digest but commentary.
Also disclaimer i'm sorry if I didn't like every LI we can't all like the same things!
if you don't like what you're reading then just stop and close the browser.
 

Monday, July 7, 2025

Toki no Kizuna Sekigahara Kitan - Review

Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate
Platform: PSP,switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/toki/switch/
Release date: 19-6-2025
 
I don't even know why I got this game  but I wanted something meaty to sink my time into
and this ended up the right type of game for it. Was it worth it? it depends.
Toki no Kizuna also hasn't received any ports since it came out on PSP, it was localized
as demon's bond on mobile but solmare has long pulled the plug on that. Anyway this game 
shares the same setting as Hakuouki but it is mostly stand alone outside of a few references.
 
 
Pro's
- Overall plot is pretty decent but not outstanding.
- The heroine kicked butt and spoke her mind. 
- Gorgeous CG and sprites.
- Most BGM's suit the setting.
- What romance there is present is pretty adorable to see.
 
Grey Area
- High amount of bad endings. Can't decide if good or bad so here it goes.
 
Con's
- Doing all routes can be repetitive and make it feel same-ish.
- Feels more like a non-romance VN for the majority of its runtime.
- Despite trying to create intrigue it made certain stuff easy to put 2+2 together.
- No heroine sprite in the corner, this game may've benefit from that. 
 
 
This switch port also includes the FD which I am glad it did as the base game
really needed it and without it i'd have no motivation to finish all routes. 
As it is just a port of both games there is nothing added other than touching up
the art, I liked that the font was big which is great when it has losts of kanji. 
 
Story: this is set in old japan around the time of the end of the sengoku period. 
The subtitle should be pretty obvious about that, they've given it a slight fantasy spin.
Yukina an oni and head of her clan is tasked with finding a cure for the yasehime who was put 
into a deep slumber. Yasehime also wanted her clan to not deal with humans as she
wished to sever ties between oni and humans or create some kind of non-interference.
Oni's were once referred to as gods but the clans have since lived reclusively away from
humans, some shady people are apparently against this and are generally a nuisance. 
 
Yukina was one of the more capable heroines, while headstrong she could be sort of bitchy too. 
Key point is Yukina doesn't see herself as a woman cuz they tend to be looked
down upon in this era. I think its also kind of sad but she does what she has to do.
Despite that she could still show signs of weakness or indecisiveness but that made her human.
Seeing her repress herself wasn't fun, a big part of Yukina's character is accepting herself for
who she is and that is not trying to pretend to be a man. Some routes do this better than others.
What was amusing was that she would frequently would go i'm a chieftain before i'm a woman
 or get real feisty if the guys would treat her as a woman which she did not want.
At times she would also interject when they were butting heads so she wasn't just
standing there, she really does try to act independently for better or worse.
I wish she had a sprite in the bottom left corner or something or her sprite would appear
next to the guys instead, with her playing such a key role it feels like missed opportunity. 
 
The art was by Miko which was pretty good, the sprites looked damn good
and the guys looked attractive. There's not much to complain about honestly
except maybe some of Senkimaru's CG's looking a bit off.
Music well it was okay, not the best OST i've heard but it served its purpose?
I liked how energetic the battle theme was which wasn't bad
but there one track could be rather sleep inducing.. 
 
 The game had a stellar seiyuu cast and I recognized a lot of names
as well as oh my god Okamoto you're everywhere?!
 
Toki no Kizuna is a pretty long game, it took me around 1- 2 hours to clear
the first chapter, its a very slow and detailed historical fantasy otome game.
Though the length may vary depending on your profiency of japanese language
and sadly Toki no Kizuna is definitely not for beginners. I was fairly slow.
 
Its plot oriented and there is not much time for romance
but the heroine Yukina does grow closer to the LI over time.
I liked that there's a decent amount of suspense like who are the villains?
what is their goal?  their were a lot of characters, they all had a role to play but at times
I was more interested in the shady hooded guy CV:Tachibana Shinnosuke than our heroes
but that changed over the course of the game and I am not looking forward to his route in the FD.💀
There's a bunch of Jiji's/granpas and they always livened up the scene. I found it funny
how all the oni's would be beautiful people but the humans would be normal looking... 

The character interactions were pretty good but comedy wasn't the focus of this game
and for the most part it was pretty dry with only a funny scene here or there
with some romance crumbs too. Due to this Toki no Kizuna can feel like its not
an otome game at all and more like a non-romance VN.
The story was also fairly slow and at times it was testing my patience especially on 
subsequent routes since there was a clear pattern of things that would happen.
Some later chapters did feel shorter so that was a blessing rather than a curse as
the game had eight chapters in total. I think a route was 8-10 hours in terms of length.
Depending on choices a lot of scenes in the common route would change because it would focus
on the LI related to those choices before settling into the character route which starts from ch5.
And that is why even on subsequent plays it can still be a bit long. 
 
It was still interesting to see what character was involved with but overall it was kinda boring
to pursue multiple characters since some things still felt the same just with slightly different flavor.
Its also kind of easy to guess certain characters identities due to who voices them
its unfortunate because this kind of kills whatever mystery the story had.
The masked villains felt like they were team rocket, I couldn't take them serious by route 2.
At times it could make it seem like they didn't really take their own story and setting seriously
and if you look at the official site you can already see their appearance but the game
was generally slow at unveiling it which makes no sense to me. 
Oh well I played my sengoku musous and basaras so I already know who won the war... whatever.
 
TL;DR 
I thought Chitose's route was pretty good but its just too repetitive, there's very little
that would set each route apart from eachother, I know the setting is limited so it can't be that
different but after two routes it all just felt the same in the end. They also focused too much
on the setting or war stuff and not enough on the otome part.  I remember playing stuff like utawarerumono which also had war stuff but it wasn't as dry or boring as this. Even Birushana
had more fun to it. I remember making tomohorny jokes but here all I did was complain what
a psycho Yachiyo is.💀 Anything that was fun in this game was far and between. I'd probably
not recommend this game unless you like story heavy otome games that're slowburn or
are a giant Hakuoki nerd who wants to experience every content related to it.
There's not much sweetness but what's there is adorable, there's also a big emphasis on bonds.
Seeing Yukina develop a bond with the LI and accepting herself is what saved it.
6/10 
If you love historic fantasies as well then it might still be worth looking into but yea just
keep in mind the first game is not very otome-like and go in with low expecations.
 
My play order was: Kazuya > Chitose > Kazutake > Shin > Senkimaru.
Senkimaru's route is locked till you complete one route but his route has the real plot of the game
so its best to do him last. I recommend Kazuya's route first because there's
less reveals  and it following Sekigahara in the traditional sense.
 
Side note: This already came over once on mobile as demon's bond but Solmare
as I already mentioned pulled the plug.  I don't see a lot of people talk about it or
acknowledge it within the Hakuoki series so I think its popularity is up in the air.
It remains to be seen if it will ever get localized again but I think
it deserves better than being an ported to english like that.
 
As per usual character babbles after the jump as well as some of my fav CG's. 
 

Saturday, May 23, 2020

Shinigami to shoujo - review

 Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 
Developer/publisher: TAKUYO
Platform: PSP, PSV.
Official Site:
Release date: 2019-07-25

I finally decided to get started on this while getting into the otome mood again
after a hiatus, this was also the last vita otome game that I had ordered.
I've always wanted to check this one out and am glad I got it before i couldn't like with psp ver
unfortunately the otome game part of this game while its there is rather disappointing.
The seiyuu are unknowns except for Suzuki, Nojima and Kanna though the latter you
don't hear often anymore either. That aside the play order is kind of
forced on you there's not much free choice but to listen to Takuyo.
The heroine was voiced but only in the prologue, ending and Touya/Ao route
which was jarring but I guess budget? so I can't complain for doing it that way.
 I personally love the art style, the music is also amazing so there's that.

Pro's
- Interesting char's/story which is what kept me going tbh.
- Beautiful art and music was really good.
- No annoying minigames like in Himehibi.

Con's
- Length, slight copy pasta and takes too long to get to the heart of the matter.
- The otome part of the game is lacking.

Our heroine Sayo loves stories especially her brothers who's an author. Sayo's bro
tells her about one of his works shinigami to shoujo which was pretty sad.
Sayo is a pretty rich girl, loves books especially her bro's and has an ojou-sama air about her
and she has only one friend Kaho, whom is Sayo's only friend cuz no one puts up with her.
Sayo lives with her bro due to family issues  and not only does her brother like her
Sayo also has a brocon for him......

Every chapter so far basically deals with someone having a problem, chapter two was
Louis claiming to be the protag of one of Toya's stories... as if the Tomoe's episode
in ch1 wasn't enough now we have a fanboy? oh well at this point it was kind of
hard to see how all this was important to the story in the long run
but apparently these stories run paralel to those in the books and did foreshadow
a little about another problem regarding the protagonist Sayo.
Chapter 4 is where it gets messy, the first route that you're recommended
to do, wasn't even resolved properly till you continue ch4 common.
:Pikachuface:
TBH the common route was pretty boring, just slice of life and dealing with
random peoples problems that untill you do the latter two routes
don't really seem to amount to anything or make sense.
The writer is the same as taishou x alice but even that managed to be a lil better
in the otome game department, atleast the story was still good so it evens out a little.

If you enjoy a good story and char's then I can recommend Shinigami to Shoujo
but if not and just want an otome with a some-what decent story and romance
then I suggest to pass on this game, as its just not going to pass for one.
I didn't have much expectations for this but as an otome? a let down.
Not having much else to do lately I was able to enjoy it either way
cuz the story was pretty interesting to keep playing even if otome/romance was lacking a lot.
While I don't mind Sayo's constant uwu'ing over Toya at the early hours, it doesn't make it much better as some could find it annoying even. Atleast all the chara's were likeable in someway.
Trying not to spoil but while the strong points are that its overall story and characters
are still very well written the otome game part can be disappointing/confusing
especially the first route it felt like there was only a route because it is an otome game afterall.
I don't want to discourage anyone from trying it out as the story was enjoyable/interesting
but it is quite messy as an otome game and confusing till you get to the bottom of it
and even then... unless you like thought provoking psychological stories I suggest to pass on this
I think the writer definitely improved or had better direction with the recent Taishou x Alice.
 
 7/10
This is a good visual novel if you enjoy thought-provoking stories with romance second.

That ends the spoiler-free section.

Thursday, June 13, 2019

Variable Barricade - Review

 Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 
Developer/publisher: Otomate
Platform: PSV.
Official Site:
Release date: 2019-04-04

Oh baby... the wait is over, or maybe they announced this game way too early.
Pretty art, an interesting set up but will that hold up? only one way to find out!
Its from the creator of Wand of Fortune and Reine des fleurs... both are titles
that are known to make the player suffer. Sigh~ but VariBarri wasn't that bad
didn't enjoy the overall game / cast as much as WoF though.
The protagonist here however is fully voiced! a big plus as it breathes so much more life
into them but I suppose even unvoiced have perks.

OP MOVIE




Okay, what is this about?

Hibari our heroine is pretty much a perfect ojou-sama and then one day is forced
to pick a candidate for marriage from four potential suitors who literally throw themselves
at her for that reason. Needless to say our heroine says no but hahaha... this is all a plot
by a her old man and even if Hibari says I can find me a man on my own he's like lol.
This is so dumb I CAN BARELY HOLD MYSELF but atleast Hibari's great
and it turns out she's going to have to pick one or she'll just have to marry someone he chooses.
Now she has to live in an an apartment along with these guys... they all want Hibari so much
it like she's living the otome gamer life! but... then Hibari has a nightmare they're just
after the money of her family etc and it sorta gets a little dark from my point of view.
Either way Hibari wants none of this... but still has to roll with it.
If I had to be very honest the most annoying one out of the four would be Ichiya...
I mean what kind of normal person would believe such over the top lovey dovey behavior
of someone whom you don't even know personally? I know I know there are people
out there that come on strong but this is a little much, and personally those who
come on strong early on are to be wary of so Ichiya has way too many cringe moments
not that the others are completely green either. >_> the only sane one is Hibari
and tbh who wouldn't want her she's literally perfect but even so she still has some issues.
Tsugumi was a great BFF to Hibari I could appreciate her love for romance but it got a little meta
with the whole its almost like an otome game! thing can't tell if good or bad...

Pro's
- Light-hearted and funny.
- Art
- Charming music.
- Voiced heroine/protag

Con's
- Drama; best not take it too seriously also kind of a drag.
- System is simple but presented in an awful way.

System... its pretty simple there's common route / flowchart and its easily
seen when one has finished a chapter, much oversight and no annoying
minigame to be seen, if you get far enough you can enter the personal stories/routes
but the seem split into parts like Ichiya 1, Taiga 1 etc you're forced to do everyones
part 1, as its part of the common route this is to help decide your fiance.
There is some sort of minigame but its hard to explain and tbh doesn't fit in well
depending on choices the guys weapon becomes stronger to break the barricade to the heroine
and other choice strengthens the heroines barricade...  watching the sequence in question
is kinda funny but doesn't make sense as when he succeeds Hibari is suddenly
 able to give Ichiya a peck on the cheek, seems to be more a battle of wills.
I think the barricade battle thing doesn't make sense visually it literally looks
like the guy is destroying boundaries in the form of a fence with a sword which gets
stronger or remains weak dependant on your choice, I didn't find this funny
and honestly it could be done without, though I admit the art did look cute.
They could have just kept it simple with choices but alas... they wanted something extra.
Then there's RABI which you have to set to different location to unlock extra event
that are in no way important to the plot, still don't know if you had to view them or not
and you can view them later from the gallery can suggest to just focus on the main story first
then again reading them later might be bad so might be better to read it as it appears.
There's also WHIS the APP the characters message each other with only a few have a choice
and the rest is just banter after an event. All this is awful to explain, its actually quite straight
forward. Since this from the team behind wand of fortune and reine des fleurs so one shouldn't be
surprised at how the game flows atleast this time there's no RNG like in WoF so consider
yourself blessed. The flowchart is simple and easy to see what is going on but uh
once again the general flow is to straight-forward to have this laid out for you?
sometimes the way you unlock stuff is still a straight vn something tells me they had
something else in mind but due to change of seiyuus they had to change things.
Well enough about sytem because it is quite simple some of the mini event you unlock
from RABI are funny some others weren't worth it.
Now for a good thing, you don't need a guide if you want the love ending for that guy
just let him destroy the barricade, for the other simple don't make him too strong
but if you do that to early into route its a premature bad end so you gotta balance.

A QUEEN
After finishing all routes I have to say... boy is this a hit or miss!
Either way without spoilers its an alright otome, in fact its funny like legit I cannot count
the amount of times I laughed out loud/snorted at the dialogue... sadly most of this
was in the common route, the latter half of the routes was mostly filled with drama
only a few route was balanced enough for me to enjoy it. >_>
Too bad the barricade breaking was in bad taste for me... the whole game is kinda like
trying to love someone just to proof yourself to your old man who most of the time
just laughs it off when the drama is over like what the hell is he thinking?
which is all explained in the true route.... you want to take it seriously but also not.
Hibari was so great at speaking her mind and being assertive, she really is a Queen
buuut she still is a girl and not perfect nor her suitors. That aside I had a good time
which is more important than plot which is very straight-forward and focus on character
but definitely seems to be more to it all which kept me hooked
to get to the true end which gave us things we didn't really want but got anyway.

The story is there but don't come here for a well thought out plot cuz it ain't that and the
drama could drag but nothing too heavy. If I had any complaints its more the flowchart
not making sense with its arrows making it seem like you don't need some events but
have to view them anyway to proceed considering the team behind this I AM NOT SURPRISED.
Game still balances the common/individual part very well but all the short
chapters made me quick to drop it for the day when it really isn't that long at all.
Overall its not short nor too long, it has some value.
This is more or less a VN about the protagonist/heroine and guy realizing what he/she wants
the most through the interaction whether or not a route was for you will depend...
I found Ichiya to be very typical and the drama was probably right out of a shojo manga.
Shion... was akin to a soap opera, Taiga was more like a love comedy(my favorite)
and Nayuta was just painful it hurrrts, didn't help Shion/Nayuta it just dragged itself on
or maybe I just didn't like the characters at all, atleast Nayuta I could like by the end of it.
Variable Barricade is fun but nothing much else, light-hearted drama but not too dark
the bad ends were surprisingly disappointing just like the guys themselves lmao.
TL;DR you have to show you're a woman who can make choices for herself
or else get stuck with some guy your old man marries you to for business. >_>
Yeah that is literally the whole point of this marriage thing... play order is not necessary
I can recommend the following though~ you can switch Nayuta and Taiga
if you want spice after Shion but its not going to matter, even better don't listen to me
and pick whoever you are interested in the first time
, Shion > Nayuta > Taiga > Ichiya > True.
Okay spoiler free rambles are over it was pretty good and while the guys may not
look it most of them do become likable over the course of the route, unlike
a certain otome game that makes you dislike them in other route (lol).
7.5/10 For Taiga, 5/10 for the rest.




Monday, December 4, 2017

Himehibi ~Princess Days~ Review

ひめひび -Princess Days-
Game: [Himebibi ~Princess Days~] 
Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 
Developer/publisher: Takuyo.
Platform: PS2, PSP, PS Vita.
Release date: 2017-07-20

After the previous disaster otomege I wanted a more normal otome game that doesn't take itself
too seriously with light drama and since this is like the only recently (re)released game in my backlog I went for it. Being a Takuyo game, no one probably gives 2 cents about their games... but here I am!

Its pretty fun despite the cliche setting of girl goes to all boys school...
I went into this with little expectations which was probably for the best.
You've probably realized this ain't a story heavy otome game, it does have a story, some members
of the board of directors don't even want the heroine to go to this elite boys only school.
Some developments actually surprised me but its not much, I liked how every route
tried it slightly different. The language used isn't that difficult, they don't
 use that many Kanji so this is perfect for beginners but keep in mind
having a fair grasp of the language is still necessary.

Pro's
- Comedy, (mostly) light-hearted shojo-like otome game.
- Great cast of characters.
- Art, old but it still looks great.
 - Read text marking, no copy pasted scenes and can skip over with ease.

Con's
- Can't skip minigames on 2nd+ play.
- Have to hold R button to read skip.
- Repetitive scenario.

System... typical choices to make but also you need to do a minigame and succeed to give
out flyers to people so Aizaki can become the school idol(thank you Ken for this brilliant keikaku).
If you fail the dude may never notice you- nah I am kidding about that.
I still think the minigame solely exists to break the mold of only having to read
because I really don't see the point outside of Ken's subplot, it quickly became a nuisance
of having to hand out flyers and score 500~ points. Okay its not that hard because
it becomes memorization game, if blond bishonen, short black haired kid
or bandana dude show up on the screen its ok to press the button really early. ^^;
There's another minigame in the 2nd half to give fanservice... but you can get away
 with button mashing a little so its less of a hassle to get the needed 1000+ points.

Common route itself is pretty long, the latter part is shared with another character
but the routes aren't long its of average length, doesn't beat around the bush!
There's a flag system something like Geten no Hana or Harutoki, if you ignore
 characters it won't get you their ending. A downside... only way to skip is to hold
the R button but for some reason they automatically put it on skip all
from the start I don't even know if there was a readskip.
I wish Takuyo would have upgraded this game a little because this is so 2006-ish
well atleast the text already read was marked so it was easy to stop skipping
However I am sure I missed a new line appearing here or there... sometimes
I can't be bothered to go back for it, a line of text or two is not going to be a big deal.

The art... it doesn't look like it belongs in the current generation
but is it bad? not at all, infact its beautiful and fine the way it is
besides the characters still look handsome especially Rinto.
Music fits the mood... its not as bad as ye olde idea factory bgms that's for sure
as for the OP I let it play once or twice but then I skipped it.

In short:
If you are looking for an otome game with an amazing ''story'' I suggest you look elsewhere
himehibi is anything but that, its a simple but classy modern day shojo-like story.
Compared to the last otome game I played Aizaki was actually a decent heroine
Aizaki will speak her mind and isn't a doormat constantly moaning about her problems
she can't fix, she's pretty head-strong but that doesn't mean she's not allowed to be weak
or have girl problems.
The first route took me a while to finish maybe its because early on each ingame
day was relatively short and a bit of a repeat but I am glad it didn't go on longer than needed.
Overall this game's length is average but when I think about it its just right, most will fly by
on 2nd+play the unskippable minigames started to annoy me by route 4 but to be honest
they're not that bad at all.😅 The characters are all great tho except Kitsuneme-san😡
 they threw in a good dose of comedy I often found myself snickering at a piece of dialogue
so yeah it has fun, serious and sad moments but all in all it is light-hearted.
 You could say this game is like prince of stride except much older.
A turn off could be like two of the romantic interests are cousins to the protagonist
and she had a crush on one of them from the start but atleast they're not blood related.
 Ahaha this excuse will never get old will it?
That aside I still found them likeable so it didn't bother me that much... like I have seen worse.
I suppose I could critize the subplot of becoming the school idol and the minigame it
brings with it but eh... its part of the game and if you remove it you'd be left with very little.
If you are going to play this otome game I recommend to start with Naohito the rest of the order
doesn't matter just try to do the characters that are paired up with each other right after the other.
Naohito > Masaya > Hikaru > Yamato > Shinobu > Rinto; should be a good order. 

The game ends where it should, there's plenty room for more but part of me is glad
Takuyo doesn't really milk their games. Yes there's a himehibi 2 but it has a completely
different protagonist and some returning faces. That aside this didn't really leave that big
of an impression on me but it was still refreshing. Himehibi is perfect
for beginners/those who don't expect much out of otome games.

Since this is just a straight port there's nothing new or updated except now it can be enjoyed
on the clean psvita screen so if one has already played the ps2/psp version there's little reason
to get it unless you're a fan, ''i'd recommend himehibi if one want an otome game
with fun characters, a simple story that doesn't try to be something it is not''.

You should probably stop reading here if you don't want spoilers.

Friday, October 14, 2016

Geten no Hana with Yume Akari Aizouban review (1)

下天の華
 Game: [Geten no Hana with Yume Akari Aizouban].
Genre: Otome game Visual Novel.
Developer/Publisher: Ruby Party / Koei Tecmo
Platform: PS Vita.
Release date: 2016-09-08

Note that this review is for the original game, since both are included in this port.
I will  have to make a separate post for the sequel when I get to it one day as I am not
going to play both games right after the other since its unlikely i'm going to appreciate it
and I do not wish to make the same mistake as with Juuza engi 1+2 in which most of
the first games route/endings were better than its sequel to me.

 So this is the third Koei otome game I played, this one is set during the classic sengoku period.
Our heroine Hotaru is a ninja who is sent to infiltrate Nobunaga's castle, due to circumstance ends up
working for Mitsuhide and under his orders Hotaru disguises herself as Kikyou his sister.
 Will Hotaru's heart sway for one of the seven handsome samurai's including Nobunaga himself?
Only time will tell...
 As for play order I had no idea who to go for first so I ended up going for the one guy
 who interested me the most first, since I figured I may as well enjoy myself the first time.
 Mitsuhide > Momoji > Nobuyuki > Hashiba > Ranmaru > Ieyashu > Nobunaga > grand finale.
There is no recommended order, just that Momoji and Nobuyuki unlock 2nd+ play.
 As for recommending you an order, I think you should be fine with doing whatever
 Feel free to forge your own playorder based on this information below though!
Mitsuhide's route was nicely balanced and I think its best to do him first because
all of the routes I did afterwards with the exception of Momoji ended up being more enjoyable.
Doing Momoji second is actually a good thing since not only you learn more
about Hotaru and his past, plus his route is sorta a drag compared to the rest.
Also good for farming flowers due to all the training you have to do...
Nobuyuki had the more ''serious'' route which helps to understand him more
which might be good for midway through. Hashiba's route was just fun all around!
Ran's high in moe content, Ieyashu  was really sweet with some light drama.
Nobunaga was also more serious and perfect for  last because of the way it was concluded
which was even better than grandfinale.

TL;DR
Pro's
- Story.
- Heroine; princess by day, shinobi by night.
- Strong cast of characters.
- Choice of seiyuu.
- Art, very unique style.
- BGM, OK fits the mood some of the ED theme songs are A++.

Con's
- Short.
 - Random choices to raise doubt/affection.
- Skip a thon, 2nd+ play.
- Every chara's tsumi endings are copy pasta, just with a different flavor of sprinkled cheese on top.
 -

Geten no Hana is different from most Koei's games while its obv not a straight-forward 
visual novel it has no real annoying gameplay mechanics compared to other koei games
which could bother you from enjoying a good read.
If that's what's stopping you from getting into this please set your prejudice aside.

 Here's what the actual gameplay entails:
-  Interact with the guy on a daily basis to get affection for his next event, while
 also trying to achieve the mission Mitsuhide gives you, the game is short
so there's limited time but just enough to do one characters events.
- Fight, select the right buttons within the time limit, you gain flowers 
while training which increases affection when given to the guy.
- Its easy to play without a guide however some choices could prevent you from getting the guys next
flag event or lead to an abrupt game over, I still recommend a guide for a comfortable playthrough.

Seriously the above is not as annoying as it may sound so please do give it a shot.
There's even a demo available for the first game on JP PSN so if you still have doubts go try it.
Geten no Hana is not a straigh-forward visual novel, if endless screens of text 
test your patience koei's otomege are perfect for you.
 TL;DR end.
From the start the guys are all very likeable and they fit into their historical selfs well but still
its an otome game so some adjustments have to be made mmmkay? The story
 was surprisingly well written and easy to follow despite being old timey
also there's furigana so its easy to understand kanji for important terms.

I must say I like the heroine Hotaru a lot, she is combat capable but is a bit dense 
regarding romance but it all makes sense considering her upbringing.
Hotaru is awesome but has her moments of doubt and being insecure because
she's still a girl after all but I wish she had more courage in certain route/ending.
I rather have a proactive heroine like Hotaru who kicks ass than a meek heroine
where the guys are literally all over her like in most otome.
Its sad that badass otome game heroines come in extremely small shipments.
Unfortunately the romance in some routes was more obvious than others, hmm how to put it?
This game wants you to pay attention to the characters words and actions more than anything.
If its not obvious that doesn't mean its not there at all, the route that was the hardest
to grasp any sort of romance for me was Momoji's all the others were easy to understand.
  System wise its pretty much like Harukanaru 6 just without rpg aspect.
 You have the guys side events and/or romantic moments during the main story and the
 character story is at the end which slightly change the events and ending of the game.
Everything else is mostly the same every play just the outcomes are different
due to whom you for which keeps things fresh even if the general story is the same. 
You got missions which usually include having to shapeshift into a maid, bird, samurai or a frog.
 I really liked the scenes you could get if you turn into a frog only for Ieyashu to notice it
and take it back to the pond, it was word the failed attempt for the reaction alone, lol.
 In between your missions you can visit the guys and talk with them, the conversation topic
are random some may raise or lower affection, you don't want the latter since
you need affection to trigger event flags and you need all of a character event flags
to get their best endings, if you want their normal end simply abort by chapter 3/4.
 Talk topics include their past, favorite food... and other things plenty of interesting facts to learn.
This is much better than Angelique Retour were the topics were kept even simplier.

Battles include having to select the right buttons in time, its nothing too difficult
but it is easy to mess up sometimes since you are on the clock(there's a timer).
There are a lot of bad ends like for failing a mission, though only a few are recorded
in the scene recollection, IIRC max doubt? and failing plot battles isn't recorded.

For guides momokan,otome-girly and Halfadder are good but they all are for the PSP version
so they lack the info on how to get the newly added sinful flower endings made for this port.
That is why I highly recommended you Syrup26's guide as its perfect.
Choro has done gods work by putting up a glossary check list, with these two you are all set!
I really do not recommended playing this without a guide due to shear amount of bad ends
from certain choices in scenes, basically aborts the whole cutscene, granted a quick save will help
but sooner or later it would drive me crazy not knowing which leads to an abrupt bad end. (눈_눈)
 I recommend only getting the guys events which ever one you go for that round
and don't see anyone else because you don't even have time for it, also quick saves! use them!
Seriously though due to most of the game being the same every play its better to save the unique
character events for every play you do since it just becomes more worthwhile.
There are some secret events which pairs up characters and give you a close up CG
and you'll most likely get them when going for grand finale, honestly
if it weren't for a guide I would have probably never got them since it requires
you to view various event flags of both characters during chapter 1/2.
You don't even have that much time so even getting it really puts your managment skills to the test.

 Some choices when visiting the guy are random but don't worry they're not infinitely random
so just quick save before a choice if you're unsure if its gonna lower affection or raise doubt.
 The scenes aren't long either only a few of them are so if you have short attention span
 don't worry this game like most of Koei's game is perfect for you.
Sadly this also means the game is a pain in the ass to platinum, because
this game does not give you all keywords like they're candy.
Following Syrups guide will get you everything except that, missing glossary entries?
Use Choro's masterlist to see which you missed it some of Hashiba's talks may need high affection.
Getting all cg's and scenes is easy peasy, selecting all choice in the daily conversation is not
because they're random and some only give you the keyword at high/low affection.
Okay on to another topic...
The guys do not show much interests/harass Kikyou which is good! no need for queen bee syndrome.
Okay... Hashiba does shower her with affection from the get go but there has to be one of those...
Also you'll never see Ranmaru's cute side outside of his own route, Momoji may be charming
  outside of his own route but you'll find out more about him and Hotaru's past in his route than anywhere else in his own route though he was sort of grumpy to me.
 Point is you won't find out anything about other characters in someone elses personal route
as they're very character focused on themselves as is and to be honest, this is a good thing.
Honestly while it may look the guys routes are like side events along the main road it really
isn't all that different from the average otome game because some things just won't change.
Overall Koei sure knows how to work their magic, thats for sure.
They know how to make the characters and scenes so dreamy...!
The characters also manage to fit into their historical counterparts especially Nobunaga
though for some adjustments had to made so its not completely accurate
but not like it needs to be and this game did a damn good job at trying to stay true.
No character felt like they had a route for the sake of having one and thats good!
2nd+ play like most of koei's games doesn't have the same feel but most routes still manage
and bring something new to the table as they're very character focused.
Everyone is likeable in some way and there are no yandere if you were wondering, also not
everyone get a kiss cg which is common for Koei's games to only get  or two most of the time. 
Even if there is no CG for it they do kiss, there is just no pretty picture for it...
It is sad that the characters don't get any kiss CG in their best ends. T_T
Ranmaru's tsumi end doesn't count because its not exactly something I want to remember...
Speaking of the new Tsumi no Hana endings are essentially more bad ends for some added despair
and imo they are totally unnecessary its more like a what if Hotaru betrayed Mitsuhide and everyone.
The story for it was pretty crap because the same reason is copy pasted into everyone's tsumi end.
If you already played the both psp games and think about getting this port for it and other content
I suggest to not unless you're a real fan of this series and absolutely want to support it. :)
Also me thinks the normal end and pair CG's are a ripoff... since its mostly
just their standing picture and for the pair ups its just a close up, lol.
While there isn't a canon guy there is bias present in Nobunaga's route, because
not only does none of that happen in anyone elses route it was made as clear as day he was
Hotaru's first love! I am just glad they don't shove this down your throat too much in other route
not even the grand finale, this is all good because the player is supposed to choose who they like.
Other than that Geten no Hana is a great otome game and really I recommend it!
Though I think I wrote down/repeat a bit too much...
9.5/10
The usual spoilers be they major or minor awaits after the jump, you've been warned.
Anyway i'm sure you've realized you can read the full summary and character background in detail at
koei wiki so I won't bother to be detailed with plot i'll only mention my fav events and drop out the rest.