Le Mirage Mystique - Demo Review

 Genre: VN.

Developer/publisher: Licobits.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://licobits-game.com/mirage/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v58562

Release date: 16-07-2026(Demo) 17-9-26(Full game)

 

I didn't even realize Le Mirage Mystique got a demo till

I looked at the official site for more info and noticed there was one.

Honestly outside of the setting and goldie seiyuu cast this otome game

didn't quite catch my eye. So this demo was welcomed.

 

--- 

 

Le Mirage Mystique is a mystery driven otome game set in 1917.

The heroine Aria Laprade receives an invitation to an island.

What will she uncover there...? one thing is for sure

she meets a bunch of lovely young men there.😅

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

 The art is lovely and the introduction movie was quite unique.

The background art stood out to me more than the character sprites. 💀

Sadly the heroine had no sprite maybe from another POV? but the demo

wasn't long enough for that to happen so I can't confirm this. 

Music was fitting for the setting, I had no complaints but it didn't exactly wow me.

The seiyuu cast of this game are all goldies and if you played a lot of otome

in the PSVita era you will definitely hear some familiar voices.

Le Mirage Mystique could be worth looking into if your favorite seiyuu is here.

System wise its pretty much a standard VN, which is fine.

The font was a bit tiny on default but this can be adjusted.

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

 

Storywise it seems interesting but it felt very slow-paced

and it took a while for even the heroine to find her bearings.

The presentation felt similar to Piofiore, they also loved to give it

this old movie vibe & switch POV. I wasn't sure if any of the

characters be it main or side could be trusted at all.

I don't think they were part of the mafia though... but some looked wealthy. 

Serge explained a bunch of facts to us about the island

but even then I could tell there was more to it.

Most of what the demo covered was dedicated to introduction

and there were quite a number of side characters.

Some of it was intriguing but it was nothing wild.

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

I'd probably recommend to play this blind even if only for the first play

and only use a guide if you don't know how to get the best end.

 --- 

In terms of language difficulty i'd say it was on the same level as Uchronia

so its probably better if you have a very solid grasp of the japanese language.

If you rely a lot on voiced lines or like to vibe on autoplay you will likely

be overwhelmed here because of unvoiced narration and monologues.

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

 

TL;DR

Honestly I think it might be nice if you enjoy slower paced otome? the backgrounds

were lovely though but my investment into the LI's was quite low.

I tried to write about them after the jump but not much came of it... 

I think Evan interested me the most but that may be because Okamoto-san.

Evan's seiyuu really selling this game for me.😅

Other than that I suppose Leon did interest me too but I could smell

he was some kind of revelation route or something. Blame the OP.

I'd probably not recommend Le Mirage Mystique if you prefer fast paced otome

because everything told me this was going to be another slowburn.

Though if you enjoy that I recommend it by all means.

Maybe try the demo for a vibe check if you still can't decide!

 

Some more rambles after the jump but its not much really. 

 

===================================================================== 

Kyoto Xanadu The Blooming Phantom - Review

The irregular at xanadu highschool.

 Genre: RPG.

Developer/publisher: Falcom.
Platform: PS5,Switch,PC.
Official Site: https://www.falcom.co.jp/kyoxana/

Release date: 16-07-2026

 

Kyoto Xanadu is set in the same world as Tokyo Xanadu

but I found it rather entry level and its able to stand on its own.

The story is very self-contained, nothing this game covers requires prior knowledge. 

 

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

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

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

 

Pro's

- Proactive and Witty protagonist.

- Great cast of characters.

- Interesting mix of 2D/3D gameplay.

 

Grey Area 

- Day to Day stuff can get a bit stale.

- Halfdubbed.

- The game ending feels like a teaser and it kinda just ends. 

 

Con's

 - Requests were bland&boring.

- Bond events have no final episode.

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

 Rei the protagonist gets transferred into a new school after a heist of sorts.
Storywise it sure has some interesting hooks like, its decent for what it tried.

I was more interested in what Rei was even doing in the beginning  which wasn't

cleared up till much later. Rei can be a bit of a smartass but more often than not

ends up being treated like some clown by his new schoolmates.

Not that he lets that get to him but he was very much a teenager. 

I wish the localization a very good luck and I can't help but I worry Rei will be nerved

in english. The crap Rei says sometimes makes me go my dude, you for real. 

 Linon isn't really much of a focus early on but there's a time and place for her.

Not sure if I should be happy or sad I called some stuff but even if you

don't the story will click midway chapter 4 all the pieces fit.

--- 

Story progress felt rather slow and a lot of it felt like build up while getting

to know new faces and gaining... better notoriety or worsen it. You know how Rei is... 

The first chapter was slow and mostly a tutorial, the xanadu sections were

bite-sized so it took a while to get going, this is fair but tbh it never really got crazy.

--- 

There are many side characters and it will vary who catches your eye, most didn't really

 stand out to me except Leah. The VP guy who seemed supportive and nice... compared to the

president himself who was very get on my level ''hmph!'' I'd rather hang with Ren at the arcade.😔

I was kinda interested in Shu too... but I don't think we should worry about him

yea he's that guy you shouldn't worry about.
There's also this Crow look-a-like Kyouya but... he just comes and goes.
Much like Crow in CS1 I suppose.💀 He's chill but he can go hard.

None of the story really wowed me till chapter 3 where things move into a more

interesting direction but other than that I just had no idea where any of it would go.

 

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

 Gameplay; The mix of 2d and 3d was well done and I generally liked

the sidescrolling dungeon parts of the game. It was a smooth experience.😌

Bosses were in 3d but they were about as good as in the Ys games.

I didn't really understand why there was a need to switch? but okay I guess.

I'll admit that it was hard to lock onto the smaller enemies which was annoying. 

 The school stuff was okay, its just that the day to day stuff got stale quickly.

Like just going through the motions.

It was kinda annoying how the phantom flask could break since this would

more often than not force you out of the dungeon for that day but okay

rome wasn't build in a day! what was worse than that was trying to remember

which teleporter goes to which. This got especially bad in the 3rd layer.💀

Everything else was relatively smooth, i'll admit the gates and statues got repetitive. 

 ---

 I liked the VN-style story-telling! and it wasn't bad at all.

its smart because the characters don't move a lot anyway

while conveying the story and emotions of the characters.

I can understand this game's presentation can feel kinda cheap due to this. 

It can seem like a downgrade to Tokyo Xanadu which was like Coldsteel 3/4. 

    Its pretty clear to me that they were on a budget but none of this was done poorly.

Its also clear to me all the budget went into the sky remakes and this game is just what it is. 

Graphics were fine and the music was pretty great, I have no complaints in those areas.

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

  The game was fairly straight-forward. While it follows a calendar system

like trails or persona there weren't really any deadlines nor are there

any sidequests instead there's 3 specific people that can give requests.

You get a trophy for doing it 10 times each... which is an achievment alright.💀 

These requests are really simple; find this missing person, kill enemies or find those items.

I got tired of them by the 3rd time I had got those requests. They had no flavor and were bland.

There's not much to do when not exploring Xanadu so any progression comes natural.

There was more than enough time to explore xanadu or chat with friends. 

You simply go to school do some card game for points to unlock stuff on the skill tree

and hang out with friends maybe but those events felt barebones. 

I sometimes found myself locked from progressing Xanadu like for example in chapter 3

you get to explore the 3rd layer and while you can enter the 4th its impossible

to get anywhere due to missing something that made further progress impossible.

There's some parts in earlier layers that can't be accessed till later too like a part of

layer 1that can only be accessed via a yellow teleporter. 

--- 

I played on easy, which was second out of four difficulties sorry I don't remember the

difficulty names. Maybe I should've played on normal but for some reason I picked the 2nd.

If you want more balance or challenge I recommend the 3rd or 4th difficulties.

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

Overall.

I'd say it is a fine game! but I wasn't that hyped to get through it.

It took me 35 hours to finish Kyoto Xanadu.

 I liked the sidescrolling dungeon parts more than the school stuff.

    and the characters were far more interesting than the overall plot.💀

The day to day stuff felt very standard and I found it sad that its half dubbed but its

falcom so its pretty much a standard for them; to hear a full voiced line and then crickets.

(Or for the MC to be silent and the other guy to speak instead. Oh well you get used to it!)

That aside there were plenty of CG's, including a groupshot I found the selection

of CG images to be more varied than Utaware P&P rediscovered.

The characters were mostly great. The cast overall was varied from characters

with darker skintones to being not as skinny or having a handicap.

Not all chara's were as story relevant but they made the town feel alive

like if you were free after school you could hang with them.😌

It didn't feel like I absolutely had to hang out with them so my focus was on

the party members as well as that shy glasses guy, Kyoya and Ren. There were times

where I had to pick some rando to use FP on since no one else was available.

By the time of ch4 I started to question the whole bond system since most

already naturally form during the story. So it felt like its just busywork.😓

There also aren't any final events, imagine you maxing out the final rank and it just ends

yea that was a little disappointing there wasn't even anything else. 

I found it to be overall a slowpaced game. It picks itself up starting from chapter 3

but even then it was still the irregular at xanadu highschool till midway ch4

and it returns to being like that once more in chapter 5. 

I did want to get to know the characters better so I kept playing.

Nothing was too deep it felt like I was scratching the surface of something.

This game was basically a trails game in disguise. 😅💀

I also kept wondering if there was going to be a Rion or Goro but no one else joined

outside of the initial crew. I'd love to have Leah,Kyoya or Shu join. As well as Ren...

however unless there is some sort of Ex+ version, that isn't happening in this game.

The sad part about Kyoto Xanadu is that it left me with an is that really it feeling?

Sure its able to tell the story of Rei and Otoha which was good but hmm...

I think this is what happens when you bake a cake but the other half isn't ready

so they cut it off.  You get a cake alright, its just not the whole thing.

8/10

If I was harsh i'd probably rate it a little lower but the characters were great

which leads to me giving it an 8/10 instead of a 6.5 or 7/10. 

===

 

TL;DR I recommend it mostly for the sidescrolling style gameplay and the characters

but the narrative is a bit of a slowburn. I didn't find the story to be outstanding or

atleast not right away. It peaked for me in chapter 4 and thought some of it was well done

but the fact remains that Kyoto Xanadu ends when it feels like it only just began.

 

More rambles after the jump, I've decided to keep charactter rambles there

because my rambles include spoilers, not all but there's some.

So if you don't want any then just stop reading here. 

Matsurika no Kei Tenmei kashokuden - review

Feytastic.🗿

 Genre: VN.

Developer/publisher: otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/mk/fd/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v52279

Release date: 23-04-2026

 

I was a bit surprised when the FD was announced so soon after the release of the OG

but it seems they took their time and from the looks of it there was no artist change.

Otomate decided to right their wrongs and do Fey justice with this game or so it appears.

Most of the after stories are very light-hearted and not nearly as dark as the OG was

there might be happiness even in bad endings, which may not be for everyone. 

 

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

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

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

 

Pro's

- After stories for all LI's are neither too short nor overly long.

- Light in tone and less dark than the original game.

- Art( and music) is consistent to that of the original game.

- Fey may be 20% part of this FD but he got his happiness.

 

Grey area

- Afterstories are locked behind shorter present/past chapters.

- Story for afters feels weaker but Gyokusui & Fey gaiden compensate for this. 

 

Con's

- Menus/UI is literally the worst thing about this FD but I'll take the L here. 

 

Matsurika FD is packed with content featuring the usual after stories

and stories from the LI's POV as well as a peek at their childhoods.

It took me maybe 6-7 hours to view all of a single LI's content now multiply that

to 6 LI's and you got 40 hours of content, including the two new routes

for Fey and Gyokusui it took me around 60 hours to finish the game. 

That is more than an acceptable length for a FD. 

 

The art was as gorgeous as always, it seemed the original artist did work on it

and most CG's looked the best they could be.

Music; I don't think there were a lot of new tracks but both OP and ED were nice to listen to.

Except that one desert theme, idk why but after this FD I have beef with it. 

 

---

System

 Its the usual VN stuff but I thought the layout of the menus were a bit confusing.

Some stuff along the timeline also seemed to be locked but basically

its a bunch of shorter stories set when the LI was a kid as well as

some scenes during the original game, kinda like a directors cut.

I always went from right to left and went back to something if it was locked. 

The longer stories tended to be the best and good afters.

As for bad afters; it depends on the character how long they are

and I thought Zebenera was longer than say Karma's.

I was a bit mixed about locking the after stories behind the shorter scenes 

however after seeing Karma's best after it does make sense for it to work this way. 

 ---

 

I generally had a good time although much like KgK FD which it reminded me

slightly of,  it varied whether a shorter scenario was interesting.

I mostly looked forward to the after stories but due to the timeline they wanted us to look at

other aspects first; revisiting some parts of the LI's story and give further depth.

Thankfully nothing really overstayed its welcome and it was pretty on point.

If you prefer to dive right into the after stories its difficult to recommend this FD

since it doesn't seem to allow you, some chapters were locked which I unlocked

by doing whatever else was available. Generally going from right to left(past to future).

There's a lot of emphasis on the LI's past and his POV of the events of the OG's route.

Gyokusui's route is akin to any route in the OG, its a bit softer than Ruwo, with more grace.

 ---

The best ends for most LI's in the OG sans Fey already had satisfying conclusions.

So when I look at Ruwo's after you can really see how they both have grown after

everything that happened. I am not particularly big on Ruwo btw but I can see that much. 

Same goes for Karma but doing all of his content made me appreciate him more again.

 

Shout out to this king who pulls his weight when its not even his route.

Matsurika FD is everything I expect a FD to be. Its not a sequel in disguise. 

However it may have one problem, like making everything too happy and remove

weight some of the original bad ends had carried, for some it good others I was mixed. 

It pretty much gave some routes its finishing touches, even for things I thought wasn't necessary.

Its a FD that focuses on happiness without it derailing into subchara drama. 

Afters were all about LI and heroine themselves, i'm actually kinda glad there weren't

that many new side characters and if they were its for the new route.😄

Some additions to the story were good so I wouldn't say it had no depth at all. 

Gyokusui's route is on par with how routes were like in the OG so if you want a plot, go here! 

I jokingly said to myself: Is this FD where the fanservice ended up?😅 since some recent

otome seem to do the bare minimum for romantic scenes and are quite plot focused. 

I found myself satisfied with afters for LI's that I didn't even like that much

as well as cheering on LI's when it wasn't even their after. Cough Enrai Cough.

Fey's gaiden is okay as a true end and has a satisfying conclusion, it hit notes

but it also missed a few due a lot of things that felt too familiar.

 I think its worth it if you want more Matsurika in your life but if you prefer

darker plot lines it might be disappointing since the FD was rather sweet.

There are moments that could be a lil heavier but not much.

Its a great FD if you want to see more happiness rather than sad stuff.

 ---

 

TL;DR 

I recommend this FD to those who want mostly light afters or see different perspectives

rather than the couple being thrown in yet another mess, small blessings.

The game already delivers one hell of a plot centered on the new LI

and Fey's gaiden is worth it if you thought the OG was unforgivable. 

9.3/10

 

Anyway I think it would be a shame if Matsurika no Kei and its FD is never translated

its really not any worse than Olympia Soiree but I understand its themes are rough and its

not a beginner friendly otome game. Its also huge and would need care with its translation.

Neither is it the type of otome for people who are sensitive to contents. So yea if it happens

it happpen but it may be unlikely to cross the seas. 

 

My play order:

Ruwo > Zebenera > Karma > Seirin > Enrai >Fey/Fuuen > Gyokusui > Fey gaiden.

Same order I played the original in with the new stuff last and I think this order is mostly fine.

I kinda regret doing gaiden last but it can be done anytime, it can act

as a refresher and a true end for Fey at the same time. 

 

Spoilers after the jump, mostly just senile ramblings about the routes

and sharing some of my fav CG's. 

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

Yakuza: Like A Dragon 7 - review

Like a WHAT?!

Genre: RPG.

Developer/publisher: Sega.

Platform: PS4/5 etc.
Official Site:N/A.

Release date: 09-9-2021

 

Not sure what to play next I decided to get started on this game

that has been sitting in my backlog for like half a year! 

 

 The game is still set in the same old Kamuro-cho because where else?

or rather you start there but the majority takes place in Yokohama.  

This time we got an all new protagonist Kasuga Ichiban! It didn't seem like

I had to have played the previous games but it was nice to catch some references.

For most of the game it felt like its own story, but some things may have more impact

if you know who some familiar faces later in the game are. 

 

Pro's

- Fun cast of characters.

- Plenty of side content you can do at your own pace. 

 

Grey area

- Story is interesting but it is also messy. 

 

Con's

- Pacing issues, difficulty spikes.

- Confusing plot. 

 

--- 

At first it felt like I saw this somewhere before like the beginning of Yakuza 1

i'm not sure which was more dramatic though but I can definitely see a call back. 

Much like Kiryu, Ichiban also had to spend time in jail but much longer.💀💀💀 

The fun actually starts when Ichibum gets out of jail, he got a bit too excited

and hasn't quite gotten the memo yet. They messed up his hair so he's stuck

looking like he's been struck by lightning. Ichi also felt like he was a bit delusional

and very insisted on doing stuff his way even tho he had someone trying to look out for him.

Oh no... anyway it was quite entertaining to follow Ichiban get his bearings but things

went down the rabbit hole and I thought parts of the plot were confusing.

Was wondering what was up with him and some even say he was a Schizo...........

it certainly would explain things but I think he was just hard-headed.

No one seemed to mind his quirks which was hilarious.

 

Ichiban in a box.

 Storywise I wasn't really sure where any of it was going really. 

It went from Yakuza drama to being homies with the hobo's

to trying to find a job but that is just the tip of the iceberg

as its all down the rabbit hole from there which was just more drama...

Atleast some of it was entertaining, except ''the talk'' in ch10. (I'm tired...)

Then due to pausing the story to get better gear and immersing myself in some side content

I forgot half of the plot so it was like wait this game has a story?!💀💀💀

Now everyone in Yokohama will know Ichiban confections has the best rice crackers ever.

 Uh yea I guess I should go meet with the Omi now huh? about what again?!

That's it... that is my LAD7 experience.

From then on I was able to follow the plot better maybe cuz there wasn't much distractions. 

---

 

Also its no longer a brawler and it just plays like an turn-based RPG now.

 I didn't have much problems with the genre switch as it felt comfy. I don't really feel

like mentioning the gameplay as its just turn based with a job system

to change the characters classes(which I barely did) because it was a hassle.

 The only ones I changed was Saeko(to Idol) and Adachi(to enforcer). 

The battle system is a homage to dragon quest because the protagonist likes that game

I guess sega did a handshake with square enix to keep the names and other references intact.

I played on normal and it seems you're locked to that but I didn't have much

of a problem throughout the game, I could clearly tell when I had to upgrade

and get my shit in order which happened only twice in ch9 and ch12.

I hated this dungeon as it didn't seem to end but those enemies were funny.

 You also raise Ichi's stats(intellect,confidence style etc)like its some persona game

but you don't actually have any social links with NPC's. Raising Ichi's stats usually 

come from choices during substories,skills or the vocational school.

You can deepen your bond with your party members as well by fighting,eating or triggering

 party talk skits but often they'd reach a point they got locked so you had to chat at the bar

to raise it further, these events varied whether they were interesting but most were nice.

 

This game's balance is odd though, early on its rather easy. I got by with the joke weapons

from that one store for a long time along with some light crafting but I had to

upgrade everything in ch9/12 which made things more bearable.

 Unfortunately the upgrades were expensive and the only way to solve that is to do some

optional activities to get more money and the best way to do that is the management minigame.

I got kind of bored of it by rank 21 but I ended up finishing the whole thing anyways. 

 

The length? 50-60ish hours. My ingame save said 55ish but for some reason PSN

inflated this number by 10. Okay whatever maybe it counted me idling but the game didn't. 

Much like Yakuza 5, LAD7 also has a long finale so you gotta make sure you can play

for almost 3 hours because once you enter the final dungeon you can't save.

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

I recognize that place from lost judgment and I don't like it.

I know RGG recycles a lot but they do it in a clever way and I did enjoy exploring

Yokohama a little more in this game than in Lost Judgment.

The game was also permanently discounted after Y8 came out so its now 20$

with it dropping to 10$ on sales but this price is perfect for the contents you get.

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

 

The TL;DR of it would be that I think it was a fun game! but the story

was a bit all over the place? I didn't hate it or anything, at the end of the day its OK.

Honestly I liked the characters, interactions and substories much more than the overall plot. 

 I really struggled to follow some of it till it was straight up explained but even then

it still somehow failed to follow up on one thing in the ending, it made me angry. 

I think the switch from brawler to RPG was refreshing and it still

had the fun things I liked from past Yakuza games such as substories.

Ichiban wasn't constantly getting scammed like Kiryu did in Yakuza 1 in some of them

Ichi is actually helping others out of them. So I couldn't see him as a lvl1 dumbass

but there were some moments here or there cuz he can embarrass himself.😅

It took me a few games for Kiryu to grow on me but Ichiban did it in one game.

Hero missions were boring and repetitive and Ichiban's reaction is similar to mine when I think of it.

The only downsides are the somewhat confusing plot and some pacing issues.
I just think had they paced this game properly I wouldn't have to go out of my way

to get upgrades. They could have implemented dungeons better because chapter 8 was way

too short and to find myself slightly walled by combat the next chapter does not feel good.

It doesn't even get better because the enemy lvls increase like wildfire and I am like hold up?! 

There weren't really any big dungeons besides two so the rest of the game felt like yakuza 1-6

but turnbased. The best way to level ended up being the arena btw can you believe it?

I mean you can revisit the underground dungeons to grind but it was so out of the way

it wasn't even on my mind not even side quests/substories took you back there.💀

 Despite grievances I recommend it to anyone that is interested in an RPG

with an older cast and doesn't mind doing side contents. 

7.7/10

 

More ramblings after the jump, maybe some light spoilers but nothing too heavy

hench why most of the rambles are behind here.

9 R.I.P Sequel - Review

I've had my fill of spooky season with this...

 Genre: VN.

Developer/publisher: Otomate.

Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/9rips/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v52276

Release date: 25-9-2025 

 

I was a bit surprised when a sequel was announced for 9rip.

I mostly wanted to get this for Koyou but I will admit my memory of the OG

is already waning, thankfully there was a recap and plenty of callbacks!

As per usual I tried not to set my expectations too high and the only thing I am

disappointed by was the short length of the god after, I enjoyed mostly everything else. 

 

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

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

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

 

Pro's

- Wraps up the story and concludes the saga for most relatively well.

- Heaven afters are of decent length.

 

Grey area

- Focuses more on the heaven side than the god side.

-  Art mostly good but... you can notice the usual otomate shenanigans here or there.

 

Con's

- God afters except one are way too short.

 

Storywise it really varied whether an after story was interesting

and ultimately may come down to preference but that's just my opinion. 

 Each character has an after story for the heaven end and the god end.

With 9 routes, I realized by route 7 that not everyone was as relevant to the main

storybeats and the ones that executes them well (heaven side) were Seiya and Minami.

A lot of the others just didn't feel very... relevant or had some random plot. 

As for the OP I think it suited the heaven side more, its kinda funny but it is what it is. 

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

System.

This doesn't really follow the usual after story/continuation template

where you just select a character and get their story. Here you start a new game

and then via choices at the start get to the routes. It only takes a minute, you get a brief recap

at the start of the after too which was really helpful.

Actually its really similar to how you end up on routes in the original. 

 

My first route was blind and I decided to do Kureha. After that I used guides.

There are bad ends or... premature endings in some of the heaven routes.

I managed to avoid those first time thru Kureha's so I when I looked up a guide I was

a bit shocked choices actually seemed to matter. Always trust Koyou!

God after's have only one ending so you can enjoy that without worry.

 

They probably could have removed the map selection part as it felt pretty useless

there were times with more than one location but if there's only 1 spot why bother? /shrug.

Turns out some points are missable, 9 in total which unlock locations in a special mode

where Sayaka sends you all over town to find the perfect hiding place. 

Thankfully Choro's guide listed the locations you could recover

but if you miss them its nothing to worry over, the special mode

does NOT even have a CG just a fun scene for your efforts.

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

 

Pacing was not too slow but it felt like there wasn't much time for anything especially

during god afters like it sure did try to deliver something but some didn't satisfy me.

The heaven afters felt like they were a bit more fleshed out and I enjoyed it the most.

With some like Hibiki I wasn't interested in the plot and new side character(s). 

 

In terms of length each god after was like 1/2 hours & heaven 4 so its 6 hours per character

you can probably already see what the problem is here so I will shut up about this.

I could probably have finished this sooner but that is no good for my menhera(mental health). 

 

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

The heaven side feels like where most of the effort got put into and for some

it felt like it fleshed out more stuff. Others such as Kureha or Hibiki felt like a remix. 

I did think some had better outcomes but i'm gonna be real they just turned a less than

good end into a happy one.😅 I realized they didn't have all that much material to work with

and only a few of them were actually interesting, mainly Seiya,Minami and to some extend Koyou.

Wasn't sure if it was the writing but it kinda dipped and peaked for some of the heaven afters.

There were some new characters introduced, I couldn't care about most of them. 

Now I understand in the original heaven ends some things are up in the air so what

we get here is that the majority of the time is spend trying to make something of it.

 

God After's
Okay gonna remind everyone that over half the cast is dead

and Misa basically acts like an ankle bracelet for them, this shit is tragic.

Going to heaven doesn't sound like a bad deal for some. Its actually expanded

upon why certain things happened. So, no its not just random R.i.P bozo. 

Characters like Koyou, some demon or the ayakashi's got off better than certain others.

Shucks but it'll keep you warm for a minute.

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

 

Uh yea have some mini character babbles.

Kureha's heaven after did have a unsettling vibe at times which is in line with the original.

I couldn't help but want to pray things would end up relatively well...

I wasn't convinced by his god after and for some reason prefer his heaven side.

I don't think there was nearly enough time to have much of substance and wish they just

focused their energy in one place. Now its like you get a burger but its divided in half.

There's moments that I like but before I knew it, it was over. Sad. 

For Hibiki... i'm mostly indifferent for his heaven after and I like slept through half

of it only to jolt right awake in time for the end and I loved the 深 ending so much! 

Hibiki's god after was kinda meh, shucks for Minami tho... he just keeps taking L's just like me.

I'm once again not completely sold here but what sort of better outcome would there be

for Hibiki and Misa when all's said and done? so at the end of the day it was OK at best.

 Like its definitely an after story but the majority of the time is spend reminiscing. 

This tells me, we don't know what to do with this but enjoy! also R.i.P.

Koyou: In a surprising way I actually ended up invested into his heaven after.

Dunno if good or bad, it scratched that supernatural itch. There was no Reika, since

she was already dealt with at this point! in exchange we got some weirdo spirit that likes

 collecting dolls, among other things thanks I guess. Koyou's god after was decent and for

once it felt like a proper after story...but even this felt like it was over in a flash...

Sena: Heaven after went on for too long about his past with S-crown, I sleep.

I loved his god after for some reason because it hit all the right tragic notes.😭

I don't even like Sena that much so that gotta say something. 

Seiya: I loved his heaven after cuz I got some vibes from the kdrama tomorrow so of course

I was eating that shit up though that was just at the beginning. Seiya's character can 

also be very entertaining so this was easy entertainment. They struck gold here amidst a sea

of bronze and silver. God after was more like the rest... 2ish hours of fluff whatever R.i.P. 💀

Minami: His heaven after was enjoyable, maybe it was because much like Seiya

there weren't many new side characters though Meimei did take some spotlight

but he never overstayed his welcome so I was fine with the creepy shinigami.

His god after was hilarious though but as per usual... over in a flash.

Koharu: I thought his heaven after was a little boring something happened

that wasn't on my bingo card. I have 99 problems and this isn't one of them. Very bakamitai.

Koharu is kinda dumb but a real man gotta be a lil stupid, I still love him but basically:

 If you can't handle him at his worst, you don't deserve him at his best.💀👍

His god after much like Sena hit like a truck and I thought it was one of the better ones

like I fully understood now why Misa ends up like that because they took the time to explain it.

I find it hilarious how with both Sena and Koharu I didn't like their heaven side.😅

Yukimaro had a calm heaven after and it was pretty chill but it didn't have much

going for it and I thought it was pretty much a nothing burger.

OK maybe that's too harsh maybe a bun with cheese on it?

His god after was pretty good but uh not like they could have done a lot with that.

I liked how heartwarming it was, in these trying times I accept it with all my heart.💖

Touka only had one after, for his god ending. It wasn't paced like the others and was

a heaven after in disguise. Also suffers from truth route syndrome, but honestly

I didn't really like Touka that much, he actually made me uncomfy the more

time we spend with him  but of course Misa likes him so uh yea it is what it is.

Imma be real, this game turned me into a Minami enjoyer. 

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

Me with over half of the LI's whenever a route ends.

Honestly while I am not satisfied with most god afters, an attempt was made and I accept it.

Though the heaven afters was where the meat of the game was.

Not sure if my expectations were wrong but was it wrong to expect more of the former?

I wasn't completely sold on the highlighted moments thing, since it leaves a lot

open to imagination but I wouldn't say it was awful either, just not my thing. 

They focused more on supernatural side of things because heaven afters

were far longer than the god afters which was really short.

Whether or not 9rip sequel is worth it depends on how much you liked the original

and if you want more content with Misa and ALL the guys.

---

It was nice they provided an opportunity to follow up on some things

or spend more time with specific characters, I could appreciate it for some

but after sitting through 1 character and a half I was like, damn have I really cleared

almost 2 characters already?! at this point I hadn't even touched Koyou my best boi.

Its only after I cleared my 7th route Koharu that some things that happened in other god afters

actually made sense. I guess you could figure it out but its nice there was an explanation.

--- 

Kinda sad one after or route can seem really short but I think its only normal

that with like 9 LI's you aren't gonna spend a lot of time with all of them. 

Overall if you do all it'll take you 50ish hours. That's still a good deal.

Much like the original nothing overstayed its welcome but I got tired by the time of 9th route.

I got the feeling the director wasn't especially focused on more romance focused

scenario maybe it not their thing and that's why everything felt so brief.

If I had to choose between no sequel at all or what we got, I'm still grateful we even got this.

7/10  

Its a little difficult to recommend if you only like one character but if you

really dig supernatural stuff and like the majority of the cast its actually OK.

To that end this is only something I could recommend if you liked over half the cast

but who knows maybe you didn't and still end up with a new favorite! 

 

This game will likely be localized and I will be disappointed if it doesn't.

Though with iffy I am not sure anymore, seems they're just bringing over

random games now while hoping its better received in ENG than Japan.

 

Gonna sneak in this edit but: 9rips sold out on release and charted in famitsu

but there's barely any reviews for it, now having played it... there's not much to even

write about but it seems oddly quiet compared to how they raised the pitchforks at MonoChi. 

 

My play order: Kureha > Hibiki > Koyou > Sena > Seiya > Minami > Koharu > Yukimaro > Touka.

Like with the previous game I decided to keep the pairs together and go from there. There's no

restrictions and you can mostly do whatever but I recommend Koharu and Touka for last. 

 

Character rambles after the jump there's spoilers in there as well as some of my fav CG's

so stop reading here if you don't want any of that.

Utakata no Uchronia Trail - Review

Genre: VN.

Developer/publisher: Licobits.

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

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v53877

Release date: 24-7-2025

 

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

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

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

 

Pro's

- Afters were neither too short nor too long.

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

- Art was consistent overall.

 

Con's

- Overall plot in some routes is rather repetitive.

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

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

 

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

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

 

 

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

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

There are new routes as well for Hiiragi and Tsuwabuki

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

 

Average conversations in this game be like...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Hmmmm....

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

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

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

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

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

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

--- 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

TL;DR

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

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

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

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

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

It did further expand on the characters and it had moments

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

7/10

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v12141

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.