Trouble Magia - Review

Genre: VN.

Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/trouble-magia/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v47011

Release date: 12-9-2024.

 

I wasn't originally going to get this but while on my second route of Hanakare I did crave

something with a little bit of story to it as Hanakare wasn't able to give that itch.

Either that or I would be playing the kaito files... but I wanted a break from RGG studios

so I decided to get otomate's newest game, the decision was mostly based on the fact

Trouble Magia seemed funny and not as heavy which is what I wanted anyways.

 

Trouble Magia also has a long subtitle which I am not even going to bother typing itout

i'll just be referring to it as trouble magia, I mean no disrespect but its simply too long.

I kinda felt bad for the seiyuu's having to say it aloud cuz aside the first time starting

up the game I never waiting for them to finish whenever I booted it up again. 

 

Pro's

- Interesting fun story & characters.

- Enough volume that there's enough time for plot,shenanigans & romance.

- Art, doesn't have a unique style but its good.

 

Grey area

-  Final route is significantly longer due to reasons but it did make sense of everything.

 

Con's

- Can seem a bit cliche.

- The length of this game can be a bit of a double edged sword as well.

- The long arse subtitle.

 

Honestly I don't think a lot of people got this game? I won't lie my first impressions

when I looked it up weren't positive... but that did change as I played it

and it was actually quite fun & interesting albeit very cliche at times.

I didn't really watch the OP a lot either like maybe a handful its not one of those

that I watch religiously everytime I boot it up.

 

Basic plot be like: Lucia wants to be a magic knight and gets to attend a school

however she also has a curse which makes her transform into a random animal

and it causes all sorts of problems in her life. She seeks to break it...

but also can't just tell anyone about it due to it happening abruptly.

Eir was the one who suggested attending the academy because there might be a way

there plus she could get some experience to pursue her own dreams. Two birds with one stone!

Speaking of stones Eir gave Lucia one since she can't go with her it could protect her if need be.

Due to a minor incident Lucia gets placed under supervision of the student council

and it gets even harder to hide the fact she's cursed. Luckily onii-chan lends a hand as well.

The game really follows Lucia's everyday life, it was quite entertaining.

She didn't get along with everyone at first but I really liked to see her fit into her new life

and grow closer to certain characters. Lucia is the type of heroine you wanna cheer on.

The writing was for the most part pretty good, it may not look it in the common route 

but its a good setup for everything that happens after.

I liked how in individual routes certain things that happen earlier

are still relevant chapters later. I really liked this, Matsurika did this as well.😄

On another note while it was not as repetitive as Mistonia, with each route you do

the more you will know of the overall plot which is introduced in small bits

hinting at something more, every route was interesting even if some

focused more on the characters individual problem.

I'd say each route still was relevant in some way but there naturally are ones that explained more.

I played in the order of: Lars > Rick > Alexei > Isaiah > Sion and this flowed pretty well

that I can recommend the same, Isaiah is locked and there's not much choice but to do Shion last.

Certain things will become obvious over time. This is neither good nor bad IMO

but even then it still managed to surprise me in routes 4 and 5.

 

As for the heroine, I liked Lucia's optimistic attitude she didn't seem the type to let things get to her.

 I also liked how proactive Lucia was, there was mutual trust and she was being relied upon.

Her design, specifically her hairstyle made her stand out, I liked it. She also had multiple outfits

as did most of the other cast so this game did seem like it had a bit of a budget.

At a glance it reminded me of Wand of Fortune except that the curse felt like they took

Lagi's problem and gave it to the heroine as she turns into an animal.😂

Art was decent, it wasn't amazing but its not awful or anything, I liked the colouring.

I got used to the style & the sprites were all great, what I really liked is that at times

the POV would switch to the guys and Lucia would have her own sprite too.

Music fits the setting and mood, definitely feels like you're attending some royal acadamy

and Ricardo's theme was pretty good, I banged my head to it.

System is standard stuff and nothing to write home about, its plain and simple

imagine wand of fortune but without the scheduling or rng stuff. Bless.

 

 I'll admit the game did start out a bit randomly with Lucia entering the student council

only for us to go back to the very beginning before she enrolled and getting the how's & why.

Granted they did point out her own forgetfulness so something must have happened.

I did really like the setting in this game and the backgrounds really added to it!

the vibes were pretty great too but as you're introduced to Lucia's new life at the school

I was never really were sure what would happen or if the curse would go off

so I suppose there was an element of excitement so the common route didn't bore me

but there were a few boring moments but I think any VN or game has that really.

 Some parts were actually kind of funny! I didn't really have any problems with the

pacing of the story due to this but it did slow down a little to focus on teamwork

because the teamspirit of the student council members was not the best...

especially Lars who just sleeps whenever he wants and tends to be like whatever

and then there's Ricardo with this cocky arse the comedy writes itself.

At times the interactions could also feel very down-to-earth which imo was a plus.

 

    The common route was on the long side,  a total of 12 chapters including individual route.

I wasn't really sure what they were trying to do, there's a heavy focus on school life and

character interaction. I mostly enjoyed it. There was so much time they spend with eachother

you could see how  they grew etc. There were enough hints dropped and by chapter 3 I already

was like some of seems related to the curse. So it wasn't half bad and it kept my attention.

With the way it was written it felt like an anime, it had a structure to focus on

the characters and problems that ensued. You slowly get to find out what the curse is as well

as figure out some deeper plot while getting to know the chosen love interest.

Also god bless there's a skip to the next choice option, you use it by swiping the screen!

 

The length of the chapters varied but it was a good common route simply for the fact

I was actually able to remember events that happened in it. Really the length is no joke

there's enough time for introduction, character development, fun and romance.

Its actually refreshing for it to be so well rounded but real talk I think the final chapter

especially Sion's was a little too long? maybe its just me...

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

I suppose part of trouble magia can seem like its very cliche but I think this

was a part that made it fun, its like the writers didn't care about that and just went with it.

Trouble magia made me realize writers can make a story as cliche as they want

its how you use those cliche's is what makes an otherwise boring story interesting.

The first route I did Lars was very interesting but then I moved to Ricardo

and realized I am unable to look at certain side characters the same way again.

Certain things just caught my attention more quickly than before as well... still each route

was unique in the way it did things and brought new things to the table so I can't complain.

---

My take-away is basically even if something seems cliche and overdone

it can still turn out pretty good! I mostly looked back fondly on the routes so all in all

it was a pleasant experience! I can't gaurantee you'll the same level of enjoyment as I did .

Most of the routes were unique, you got the obvious not as relevant to the bigger picture routes

and then there's some which go into it deeper, mostly the last two routes.

Like XYZ isn't as relevant as A & B but they're still a treat, you don't want every route

to be much of the same, I have sat through games like that and it gets old fast & that sucks.

After a dozen or so VN the way Trouble Magia does it obviously feels better to me

and I quite enjoyed the more character focused routes as well as the more involved ones.

I'm glad there was no secret route in this game and for that I am glad since

I did feel a lil tired by route 5.  Also I only did the best ends and merry bad ends, I ignored the other 

bad ends except for the one in Sion's route due to Mistonia PTSD, Sion's was kinda cute

but it felt like a joke end....... merry bad could range from sad to funny as well.

No fullcomp CG but the title screen is nice for a groupshot.

I'd recommend Trouble Magia to those that like their otome mostly lighthearted and don't mind

school settings or potential cliche's. This was honestly a fun otome if you let it be!

If you expect the most stellar writing and be blown away by it, or prefer it to be short&Sweet

then this game may not be for you. Let's be real; the plot was still pretty decent

and the writer really tried. Trouble Magia also felt similar to wand of fortune to me except

without the RNG bs. TBH while it won't replace WoF, trouble magia is like its little sister!

8/10

Its easy to follow the story, characters interact a lot and not a lot of monologues

which adds to the fun factor to me. The japanese didn't seem to be of high level

nor did the dialogue ever felt like it was dry  so that makes this game perfect as something

to test your japanese on but honestly I hope trouble magia gets localized. Its easy to overlook

due to a number of things but never judge a book by its cover you may just enjoy it anyway.

 

More rambles after the jump but I will be talking about the characters+digest the plot

so if you don't want spoilers don't read further. TBH its more like I am narrating some

of the events here and there with some commentary+share my fav CG's.

Not sure who would enjoy any of it because this game is pretty long and its a text dump

and I didn't write everything down either... why did I bother lmao. Enjoy that wall O text.

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

Kannagi no Mori Samidare Tsuzuri - Review

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

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

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v22311

Release date: 22-2-2024.

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

Pro's

- Decent enough plot, compelling characters.

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

- Art is pretty good. 

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

Grey Area

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

Con's

- Slow start, has some slight pacing issues.

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

NGL Shinonome brought most of the entertainment early on.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

7.7/10

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

So my play order ended up being like this:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Shuuen no Virche Epic Lycoris - Review

Genre: Visual Novel.
Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/virche/fd/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v38067
Release date: 07-09-2023.

 

Only reason I even got this FD was cuz I wanted more romance with Ceres and the guys

since... the original game was lacking a lot in that area. As well as not giving one major

character a route which was a great injustice which this game seems to want to remedy?

 

OP movie URL cuz they apparently disabled embedding...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIJLuh_JA_8

 

Pro's.

- Side stories are nice.

- Nice after stories for Yvess, Scien and Adolph.

- Great for Ankou fans.

 

Con's 

- A giant 🖕 to Lukas fans.💀

- Some CG's are nice but they're spread across too many different scenarios... afters feel barren

some also have awkward angles or weird face shots and I am like what is this?!

- Some afters just plainly lack any fluff or fun content.

- With the exception of Ankou's route everything was pretty short.

---

 

There's side stories with all the main characters and then there's the usual after stories

as well as a new side end that takes a spin on the original route from the first game.

There's also a route for Ankou, however you can't do it till you complete the Drifter story.

 

Also it seems they took encore literally and it is not going the be the fun kind and more in line

of what the original game was like. Lukas's left me traumatized and I cannot handle it

so I skipped the other encores. What is even worse is the encores are like 3/4ish hours

with the same experience while the emotion/after stories are like like 1/2 hours at best.

I was quite disappointed with atleast 2 of the afters as well. Ankou's route is by

far the longest and i'm pretty sure it was 8-10 hours in length... hoo boy!

 

The writers apparently said no, you can't have nice things and some characters apparently haven't suffered enough, so here's more despair, Ankou included. Yea I know virche wasn't exactly

a normal otome game but come on, I thought this was a FD but it didn't seem like one, even less

than raditale's. Also while some cg's were beautiful they sometimes had awkward angles

and really nice moments between the characters were hard to find especially in the afters.

So I found it hard to find anything memorable in the after stories, the only ones

I even remotely liked was Scien Brofist's cuz hurrdurr and Adolph.

For Ankou's route they had a nice prequel story called Drifter which unlocked Ankou

and the route was pretty enjoyable albeit very long, this but this game is 

pretty much for him alone and everything else is there as a bonus. 😂

Now for the thing I am most disappointed about, it is the severe lack of fluff and/or fun

content in the afters... cuz unless you're Adolphe,Scien or Ankou they had to give that to us

via a side story and its just sad they couldn't do better for the actual afters.

 

I don't know if I should recommend this game unless you're a big Ankou fan

and are OK with some of the other guys not really getting much else but a few crumbs!

I'm sorry I really tried to like things in this game but I could barely find it...

most of the time I was just bored, missing even the interactions with Jinnia and Liyan.

All the fun stuff were put into side story -interlude- as well...

I guess that not everything has to be truly happy but I just found most of the afters lacking

if only they didn't bother with encore and focused more on the afters cuz it really

feels like they divided their attention too much leaving some other areas to be desired.

 

Idk what score to even give this FD on one hand an 8/10 just for Ankou seems a bit much

but a 5/10 or lower could make this seem like a kusoge... so I guess a 6.5 or 7/10???

cuz hey atleast half the guys had a nice after story! as wells as Ankou being a great addition.

 

My play order was: Lukas > Mathis > Science Brofist > Yvess > Adolphe >Drifter > Ankou.

The only good thing about this play order for the FD is that the afters will gradually get better.

Spoilers after the jump as I will be writing about the character/routes etc!

so you've been warned!!! if you don't want spoilers then don't proceed further!!!

**Ended up fixing some mistakes or adding some stuff but this post won't be edited anymore

and ain't no way I am touching encore more than I already did.

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

Shuuen no Virche ~Error Salvation~ - review

 Genre: Otome/simulation VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/virche/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v29661
Release date: 2021-10-07. 

Since there's not much choice in terms of otome games coming out

and Virche seems like it will be interesting I decided to get it

to have something to play/read while waiting for other games to come out.

I tried going in with relatively low expectations because that's what works best

if anything I think this games synopsis reminded me a little of tierblade.

Things I already knew its gonna be a dark fantasy with sci-fi elements

not to mention the art style gives off this edgy vibe! but that's all.

Like with Kimiyuki Seiyuu cast is a mix of familiar talent and new that I have not heard

before it seems this is becoming a trend and a welcome one at that.

 

Pro's

- Good worldbuilding and well written story & cast.

 - Gorgerous art and music to fit the mood.

 

Con's

- Not for the faint of heart/don't like depressing or high amount of blood.

-  What is a good ending is subjective but real happy ones are hard to find in this game.

- WHO TF HURT THE WRITERS OF THIS GAME MAN...

 

 Opening movie was pretty good, it set the mood of the game pretty well.

 

This game honestly started out pretty depressing, death really does seem to follow

the heroine Ceres no matter where she goes. Honestly I felt bad for her. :(

Ceres constantly blames herself for everything bad happening because of her curse...

this could get annoying but I had faith the writers would develop this and help her overcome it

and the main cast was pretty nice and supporting towards the heroine so all was well.

She meets Ankou who... honestly I was wary of his words cuz they were extremely honeyed

but if I was in Ceres's position I would probably trust him too but  still be ware.

Though if depressing themes and suicide triggers you I suppose to stay clear of this game.

Prologue/common route progression was good to get to know the cast and setting but there

is a bit of techno babbles from a certain character that did go into one ear and out the other.😂

To put simply there's elements of cloning and memory transfer to survive the death at 23 thing.

Most of the characters are interesting, Lukas whom's route is available to do right

from the start was an easy character to like. Anyway it wasn't dark/dreary and depressing all the time

but there was a decent amount of suspense unfortunately there's not much time for fluff or

funny scenes doesn't mean there was none it just wasn't the focus.

I have no strong opinion on Lukas but it has that one meme which made me howl for a good minute

or so. I did enjoy Mathis route in particular it was pretty peak fiction but Scien was just

well nothing against the guy but it honestly left me the most depressed.

Yvess was the poster boy but atleast his route wasn't that disappointing.

Art is gorgeous and music was pretty good too, I hardly complain about bgm's

they usually fit the mood in some way and Shuuen was no expection.

 Honestly this game attempts to put more effort into establishing its plot and cast than

a certain other moist depressing otome game from otomate I once played did.😅

This was interesting to say the least but the type of game is not for everyone

and there were parts where I zoned out, especially when Scien technobabbles.

Kimiyuki had comedy going for it but Shuuen not so much again not to say there wasn't

any funny moments cuz there were, it all was so depressing? this game also doesn't

seem to be very otome but that doesn't mean it doesn't deliver. This is one of those

games that prioritizes its scenario over romance which might make you feel wanting

or with strong feels at the end but it also for better or for worse still manage to deliver classic

otomate tropes my first route did not disappoint in that regard! The names in this game

can be kind of weird though there are some normal ones (Lukas/Mathis/Ceres)

but then there's Yves(Eve), Capucine(Cappuccino), Dahut(Daath) or Camyu(Camille).

Needless to say I just write them down as I spelled it and for some it became meme(Cappuccino).😂

Then there's Ankou i'm pretty sure they meant Ankh, well its made for japanese folks

and they're gonna spell it in engrish how they want but to me it makes perfect sense.

 

Now this may sound a bit ranty... so you're warned but I try to be honest here:

This is really one of those story driven otome games that one must see through to the end

or better put do all routes to get the most of it. By default a lot of things makes Shuuen worse

than Piofiore or other games because you could avoid bad ends if you wanted, here they're forced 

on you for the sake of the overall plot which might be good if you care about it scenario wise.

Well at that point i'd honestly would want to see something happier for once.

Anyway if you want happy ends right off the bat or  fluff, its not that type of game

also as listed in my pro's and con's good endings are subjective but you may not find much

in the way of the usual happy ends in this game. There are best ends for all the guys

but they're kind of like an extra or better put a bandaid after the final route

i'm not even sure why they really locked them, there is no reason for it to be so.

I wouldn't be surprised if the despair would get to a person at some point. 

I think Shuuen no Virche is great if you did enjoy stuff like black wolves saga or don't mind

going through the bad ends in piofiore as you play the game but even then

those games were nowhere like Shuuen is. If you can't stomach despair/blood 

and such better pass. I think this otome game is written by a bunch of sadists!😅

I do not mind characters having to suffer for development but this is on a whole new level

of how bad can it get? well that bad! I hate how it has you think well this isn't so bad

only for it to literally have baited you with a little otome element its like they wrote

the Adolphe route first but then remembered hey what about those guys?! oh yea about that.

The only route I enjoyed by default was Mathis...... I think that says a lot! I do have problems

with the final route and  I wish I had known before hand it was gonna be 10 hours instead of

the usual 6 that it took the other routes. In it we spend so much time with characters

we already know trying to get some true end effect but I was honestly a drag for me

but on the positive side I liked Adolphe, Ankh and the underlying plot! there's really nothing wrong

with the cast or plot as its well written enough but yea... this game really hates it heroine

and I got so tired of it like for once I just want her to be happy but every odd is against her

do you blame me for saying OH MY GOD I AM SO DONE WITH THIS WHO HURT YOU?!

Like I don't even mind depressing stuff but this was on a whole other level...

but despite everything it still somehow manages to deliver as an otome game.

At the end of the day I might just have to accept this wasn't fully for me....

because it was so emotionally draining I was just left like this image below when I fullcomp'd

even with the extra endings relieving some of the initial despair.

If this all sounds right up your alley that's good but I think you'll either love or hate this game

you'd have to see it for yourself but I can't guarantee anything at any rate

Shuuen no Virche gets and 8/10 from me, its pretty good if you don't mind despair. >_>;

This is what PEAK FICTION does to you.

 

 So my play order was like this:

Lukas > Mathis > Scien > Ives > Final act.

This game has an enforced play order the first 3 routes can be done in whatever

order you want but need to be done to unlock the fourth and final act.

 

Like with Kimiyuki I won't be posting too many CG's due to request of writers

to not spoil too much so again it'll be my favorites only. Anyway here I will give you

a double spoiler warning so that if you want to play the game then please read no further.

If you're interested, got money and know japanese I recommend to buy it. 

AGAIN I recommend to stop reading here cuz the spoiler-free zone ends here

with the jump break and the rest is just spoiler babbles

or more like SCREAMING? cuz I definitely did albeit internally.

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

Shiro to Kuro no Alice Twilight Line - Review

Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 

Developer/publisher: Otomate.

Platform:PSV.

Official Site: http://www.otomate.jp/bw_alice/twilight/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v21786

Release date: 2018-11-15

Ah yes the FD- or sequel to that rather messy alice in wonderland otome game
from otomate, in case you wonder what I mean by messy again is that
the overall story was too scattered and there was no locked routes
so if you did Nello first you'd basically spoil a plot behind the scenes
or if you did Snow's then well you basically got the best possible resolution.
That doesn't mean the other routes aren't worth doing as it still would fill in the blanks
here and there regarding the characters. So in short when a story would benefit
from restriction they said nah let them pick! which could work if the important story bits
weren't all over the place, like I am sure no one likes getting to Minette mid game
only to find out it was better to do him first since he has nothing to do with the main plot.
Shiro to Kuro no Alice had a story albeit very messy and all over the place!
and even that did not change in its FD's additional scenario.

Pro's
 -After stories are short and sweet.
- Art and music are excellent.

Con's
- unvoiced heroines who still talk to each other as if it was voiced, which
like the original ruined a lot of potential in scenes everyone else is voiced.
- Story is still a scattered mess.

Content wise there is the after story's ~lover's day~ which gives us a look at their lives now
it covers both white and black happy ends... which is probably what you wanted the most.
Then there's another line... which is basically just an another story...
but with individual endings as well which is where most of the meat of the game is.
There's also the tea party after doing all which is a nice extra for full complete.

Either way I decided to start with Airi's side first mostly because she literally got stuck the worst boys
and Luna with the sweethearts, which made me not very interested in Airi's side.
After stories are like an hour long BUT there's one for each happy end (black and white)!
  so that's basically two hours... whether it was worth it depends on character like

for me Minette's were an utter waste of time but Nero was actually worth sitting through
so I guess it depends but even then I wish they put more effort.
Another line was eh... after 4 routes I got the general gist of the plot and had enough
and actually got sad we didn't get a routes for Rui, Ratt or Nine instead
like they give us new characters try and flesh em out but they don't really get resolution.
Volume wise its about right... if you rush its probably not but I thought the content was fine
and could definitely last a week or two if you take it slow but eh unless one was
invested in the world of shiro to kuro no alice I can't really recommend it
since this is for fans of course, I got what I wanted out of it thanks to Luna side
but still felt it was lacking in someway maybe because they had to split
the lover day scenario to the two happy ends which makes no sense if
the another line scenario also sort of follows up on the bw after???
IMO most of the white afters were the best to me so I wish they'd made it a little longer
even at the expense of the bw after but eh they still managed at making some of it
its just not going to be to everyones taste.
As we know Another line has the same problem as the original game
I am going to recommend Snow's route there for last as it has the most
revelations about Rui, the rest of the order shouldn't matter too much
so just to be safe do Airi side before Luna's with Snow last.

That ends my spoiler free section...

Sangoku Rensenki Sakigake - Trial version Review

 三国恋戦記 魁

Game: [Sangoku Rensenki Sakigake]

Genre: Otome Game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Daisy2.

Platform: PC.

Official Site: http://www.daisy-daisy.in/products/sangoku2/special.html

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v18293

Release date: 2017-08-25

Long awaited new sangoku rensenki game with new heroine and cast

with some old ones making an appearance.

Since it is very likely to get a vita port I just decided to check out the trial now
also I know its bad to judge the full game on a demo but from what I saw I liked.
Also I will write the name as spoken and english equivalent.
You should know that if you aren't into chinese history you'd probably have to give this a pass

buut you might learn a thing or two it would depend on your love for bishonen?!

Tomoe is a highschool girl coming from old fashioned family and talented with the bow

 but has no experience with romance.

The way the story starts gives us a good look at Tomoe's normal life 

but she's really dense and her best friend Nana has to play shipper on the deck

because she can't stand how Tomoe and Kouta are right now.

As in they're friends but its awkward, so Nana figures Tomoe is in love with him

and says they'd should just go out already but Tomoe is like what should I do?

So when she goes to the library Tomoe isn't there and she finds a book

related to the sangoku period and well you guessed it she gets swept away to a world

resembling ancient china in the early three kingdoms period, sadly this time
the protagonist does not choose those who saw victories she chose those who lost. 
Due to choices in the prologue it may differ where you end up
I like this because you get to the route you want right away.
Those who played the original may not sit well with some stuff...
and there's a little false advertisement of fighting heroine often she is forced
to do nothing this I felt in Yuan Shao route that is why I recommend the route of Lu Bu first
because you will see that despite being capable she's a girl and killing is not what she wants.
Its best not to compare too much with previous work but see with open mind.

System: typical VN stuff and daisy2's easy mode is there

so you can see which choice relates to what character and get on a route faster.
I think the demo itself is about 2 maybe 3 hours considering to try all route.

I found a recommended play order in a JP review so I will relay it for you its:
Lu Bu / Dong Zhuo > Yuan Shao > Sun Ce > Hua Tuo.
I think Lu Bu is a good start but according to them Dong Zhuo's not bad either.

Everything written down is what happen early on in the route
if you do not want spoiler just skip character section,  I only saw Yuan shao and Sun Ce
 to the end of demo but everything else is only a little, it probably ended shortly where I stopped.

Utsusemi no Meguri - Review

Game: [Utsusemi no Meguri]
Genre: Otome Visual Novel.
Developer/publisher: Matatabi.
Platform: PS Vita.
Official Site: http://matatabi.tv/utsusemi/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v20326
Release date: 2017-07-27
-

Edo period, on a remote islands their exists two gates Higammon and Kogammon that lead to
 the land of the dead, they're guarded by humans and oni respectively.
One day a phenomenon is observed and the heroine Amane a human priestess
gets send to the oni-clan's village along with her human servant Yasuomi.
The secrets of the island will be revealed as the miko interacts with the oni-clan
and renews the bonds between humans and oni.

Oh boy who thought these guys would stick around for one more project?

This time their game centers on conflict between human and oni...

fate and forbidden--- ah you guessed it romance.

The whole synopsis sounds like we've seen it before but for some reason

I was intrigued at how'd they handle it and they seem to take their world setting
serious enough to carefully explain it so it can't be that bad right?

This otome game is very japanese with dark themes and by no means its not an easy read.
After being sent to the village of the oni the heroine Shizumiya Amane becomes
the target of youma who are like the living dead but what are they truly?
Moving on Amane is one of those good girl types taking the words of her grandma
to heart and tries hard to perform her duties as a miko, TL;DR she does as she's told
but doesn't value her own life and basically wouldn't mind jumping in front of someone.
Amane is an okay heroine and she's cute  but I don't feel attached to her at all
besides in some Kyouran/tragic route she got on my nerves.
As for length it took me maybe 10 hours till I reached my first end this includes
common route which was atleast 3-4 hours I think each route is 6 hours at least.
Said common route takes its time to introduce everyone in neutral manner and get the plot going
but the story while interesting was hard to follow maybe due to concepts I found it hard
to understand wtf was happening to the side characters or my japanese just sucked.

OP, well I like it but its a bit on the long side.

Pro's
- Interesting world view, pacing OK.
- Beautiful art.
- Decent length not too long or short.
- Character have Yin / Yan split route, one side is more happy the other is dark.

Con's
- Same-ish plot in all routes but a little different depend on guy yet only makes sense in the true route.
 - Minigame could be done without like you can even skip it at the press
of the button and still get the trophies related to it. -_-
- Gamebreaking crashes  among other bugs they're being worked on now but seriously...

~Art~
If you love ancient japanese aesthetics you'll love the backgrounds, seriously they're amazing.
As for CG's Puru did a great job its surprisingly consistent too but eh some angles are a bit...
strange but nothing to complain about! I made a selection of a few of my favorite scenery
How can I not share this? they're BREATHTAKINGly beautiful.

~System~

 You know the usual reading and choice selecting love catch etc.

The minigame this time is more simple its a purification ritual or whatever

and involves pressing buttons this may or may not save your life, or so they said.
Honestly this minigame could've done without... all it does is break the mold of only reading.
Atleast its just simply press this button in time rinse repeat untill its complete
and no rng bullcrap so it gets a pass even tho its sorta just there at the end of the day
 atleast add an automatic succeed/fail after one play so that's nice.

There are four endings, not all of them are happy and some are just painful.

I think that 4eds thing is similair to say Ken ga Kimi... because the one end you'll get
depends on choice and minigame success/failure there's a small change in route
scenario as well so yeah if you ask me its pretty similair.

~

Compared to rear pheles, Utsusemi no Meguri is a lot better, Matatabi seems to have
learned from mistakes and hired better devs, no more screentear in the movies

and the lips move and eyes blink, it even has its own save screen
plus the art no longer looks blurry on the ps vita screen, it is crisp now.
 I also love the general setting and atmosphere early on in this game
it had a great start to introduce everyone imo and it made me interesting
even tho the plot partly sounds generic. >_>
The pacing was good too like there's no long monologues\TL;DR that makes me bored
its just that some parts of the story are a little confusing to me.
-
However Matatabi's games still come with plenty of bugs like sprites may disappear
so only the eyes and hair show that's spooky right? but reloading fixes it...
granted that didn't happen to me but i've seen screenshots that it can happen.
You know I can turn a blind eye to that but the next...
There's a FATAL bug where the game crashes when you try and save I am just sigh. -_-

Mind you this only happened once... in common route so dunno if it was just a bad spot.
Matatabi definitely had budget for this... but could've worked a little on debugging
but maybe they ran out of time and had to release it as is, patch it later.
-
That aside I sorta like this otomege, the characters are all intriguing which may make you
want to do their routes because common route wise it won't get far.
I think the only one who was generic as is was Yasuomi... but Hiiragi definitely did not
 turn out the way I thought so yeah there's that! in fact he's my favorite character.
The story and relationship develops side by side... at times it may be stiff
but it'll get there, I found Hayate to be a slowburn but rewarding in the end.
This isn't a fun visual novel everyone seems to have a little darkness, some more than others.
Utsusemi has all the things that could make it decent but keep in mind its not for everyone
nor an easy visual novel language wise so with that in mind before you buy this...
As someone who do not like yandere... I am just happy Matatabi has most of that crap
reserved for kyouran/tragic ends much like rear pheles and their merry bad ends.
In most I prefer happiest and the only kyouran end I could stomach was Yasuomi's.

In short this game was rather average to me, it has a nice setting and cast
but if there was a revelation about a character I was usually ''oh'' about it.
In most routes it just doesn't try anything new... except the last route
where it hit me right in the feels and thus I only feel really attached to Hiiragi.
''Other than that nothing specifically wowed me nor made me say
 it just plain sucks, in the end its just fine.''

So I recommend this otome game to people who are:
A, Not tired of human x oni bullshit and old timey settings.
B, People who like a dark side to characters and yin/yang route split
as in one is more happy/natural yet the other is dark/sorta bad end-ish.
C, Do not have a backlog/read too many other otomege like this.
D, Like heart-wrenching true endings.

Playorder:
Hayate > Kai > Yasuomi  > Yuzuru > Hiiragi.
There's no official recommendations so just go with someone that strikes your interest, for me
that turned out to be Hayate.😌 The order I went with flowed surprisingly well!
unlike the last game I played... so I can recommend it to other people as well.
Due to events in Hayate I wanted to do Kai and in Kai's Yasuomi got my interest
which lead me to Yuzuru! Yuzuru's filled in my suspicions about him and gaps in Yasuomi's route.
Hiiragi is locked till you do everyone else... so no choice with him.
I did Happiest/kindan ends... then Kyouran/tragic love ends, this is to save whatever
likeability the characters may have Kyouran/Tragic is just shit gone horrible wrong.
Unless you don't mind that but... i'll leave it up to you to decide the order of endings.

That concludes my non-spoiler thoughts, rambles/possible spoilers after the jump.

Shiro to Kuro no Alice - Review

 Game: [白と黒のアリス.]
English title: White and black Alice.

Genre: Otome Game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Otomate/Kogado studio

Platform: PS Vita.

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

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v19716

Release date: 2017-06-8

I know that this is like the umpteenth Alice otome game but I was motivated it to get it
and I was mostly interested in Luna's side but that doesn't mean I won't give Airi a chance.
I also figured Shiro to Kuro is otomates biggest entry this year? I mean compared to other titles 
they don't have much this year except a bunch of FD's and this looks the most interesting to me.
Its also funny otomate came up with this after quinrose's demise and got former staff 
like Hisano to sing the opening theme and the mangaka who did the Alice no kuni manga's
adaptation to make a web comic from this, btw I haven't bothered with that so I am going in blind.

Pro's
- Interesting world.
- Decent volume, not too short nor too long.
- Characters are likeable but depends on taste.
- Art is amazing, music fits the scene.
- A skip to the next choice feature (God Bless).

Cons
- The overall story is scattered, one mistake in playorder ruins it even more.
- Too many interesting tidbits are shoved into unvoiced bonus stories/letters
most likely to prevent routes from getting even longer.
- It would be better if the heroines were voiced, since at times they meet they'd have
normal conversations which is just odd when others around them speak.
- Landmines... Airi's side is full of them.

Airi left and Luna right, look similair? they're twins duh...

System wise its typical VN stuff but there's two heroines Airi and Luna who like at norn9
have three romanceable interests so let's go over them real quick to avoid confusion.
After the prologue and common part of each girl you'll be able to select a route
which is of fairly decent length it never felt that rushed it really takes its time
but honestly there might be a couple of boring moments here and there.
  Since otomate is stupid this time and didn't give us a recommended play order 
I went in blind and uncovered a whole plot behind the scenes on my first play.😅💦💦💦
Oh good joy otomate you even delayed this game but it was too hard
to give us a recommended order or put an enforced playorder?oh well...
Okay each route still has its own fair share of spoilers for you to find out which
is totally normal but its mostly selfcontained character stuff, one thing is for sure
you won't find out everything just doing one route nor is there a real true path its just Snow
having the best story conclusion so it should be done last if you care about that.
 Minette's route is most disconnected from overall plot so best to do first and well Rain was pretty painful early on but made more sense at the end of the route so best to not do him too late in your play order. Nello ahaha he's fine midway but watch out for landmines! definitely not last.
Jack route was super enjoyable so that's why I recommend it for last even if
Snow's black happy end is arguable the best in terms of story completeness.
Feel free to decide your own order but I think this works?
I recommend this order:
Airi: Minette > Rain > Luna: Kanon > Airi: Nello > Luna: Snow / Jack.
 

 White side: Airi - Rain, Minette, Nello.

Black side: Luna - Snow, Jack, Kanon.

Airi is the heroine of white world who is a candidate for the next queen because
her blood will save the country of black, Luna the current queen and heroine of black world 
suffered a coup'de etat after sentencing someone which was seen as too cruel
so for her own safety (and sanity)Luna was forced to flee to the white world 
while Airi is forced to take her place in black world note that despite Airi following
Rain on that rainy day at that point she doesn't want to have anything 
to do with the queen stuff and will actively ask people how to get out, of course Luna 
wants nothing more but to go back to black world but goes along with Snow
turns out they throw some magic and Luna seems to fit right into Airi's place... 
Well they do look alike since they're twins after all.
The two do need time to adjust to their new environment and Luna is really
clueless about seemingly normal stuff, OK you get the basic picture now lol.
 There's also some caste system and blood sucking mechanic like the guys from white side
get a boost if they suck Airi's blood and on the other side Luna needs to suck the guys blood.😓
Of course Luna also gets her blood sucked since ... because uh plot?
Also since the guys are no vampires how do they actually bite? since you know lack of fangs...
Before playing I thought otomate is grasping for straws here 😥 but whatever let me explain
its definitely not just fanservice dialover style like for example when Rain got injured
Airi cut her own finger so he nibbled at it so Rain could regain his strength.
See its important to the story so stop complaining its just fanservice...
here come the blood donation jokes by me making my way through the routes. (just kidding)
Sadly I don't like the idea of biting a guy... let alone bitten by them... so its a miss for me. 


Minor spoiler in the next bit so feel free to glance over this.
 However there was one bit in Snow's route that irked me, anyone sensitive to self harm of cutting
themselves may want to need this warning but Snow's so sweet of stopping a selfish Luna
wanting attention or basically forcing him to drink her blood even if he said no.
The negative bit there might be easy to over look, still I had to mention it because sensitive topic.
end spoiler.


Like with all otome games you don't have to like everyone it all depends on personal taste really.
Minette, the mysterious flirty guy who showers you with affection and definitely not shady(he is).
Rain, the mysterious cold and distant but definitely doesn't mean to be...
Kanon, the sharp-tongued tsunderella.
 Snow, the caringly sweet and gentle type.
Jack, the shy yet cute type of guy who obviously is interested in the protag.
Nello, the two faced guy but totally a good boy atleast you'd think.

The only thing otomate seems to have recycled is some aesthetic from code:realize do note that
I am mainly talking about the text box here so don't misunderstand me.
Other than that everything looks nice and art in general like backgrounds are all pretty.
It seems they had a lot of budget, plenty of side characters and routes do not overlap
with others so all is good! but the mouths do not move, honestly speaking this is no big deal.
It also has its own save/load screen and I do not remember many VN on ps vita
that actually have a unique save/load screen except maybe Karin or some of Rejet's games.
Its nice to see otomate break the mold from the old see-through save screen
but to me it seems a possible english release with pc port is inevitable now.
(I hope it happens... along with Tierblade of course.)

The gorgeous save/load screen.

Well here is the opening movie...certainly has its charm.

The game is relatively short paced, most of the time there's ALMOST no boring moment
except the court and some school scenes but yeah the reason for that is obvious really.
Sometimes it does get longer than I thought it would be, some ends are short yet others are longer..
This only really got on my nerves when I was on Minette's because I wanted to be done, lol.
It is of decent volume routes should be around 6-7 hours or more, I guess
if you count the other ends its a little longer in the route but I never change the speed
of automode since if its any faster I can never read it before it moves on to next line -_-
I think Nello's route was definitely the longest out of all? maybe cuz prologue.
All this depends on reading speed but this should be the average either way nothing felt rushed except
some endings, this visual novel was deceptively long or longer than I had thought it would be.😅

In short...
For those wondering if Airi will be disappointing or dumb as a heroine the answer is I can't truly answer in the common route she has a surprising proactive personality of wanting to go back
but she's a little meek, too pure and too accepting of the guys flaws in the white routes.
One could say she has the worst love interests and she's the average good girl etc.
Some may find Airi generic though... and I guess she is compared to Luna.
Luna on the other hand turned out to be really cute since she doesn't know a lot of normal things
but she's still an oujou-sama and won't hesitate to speak her mind most of the time
but she could be a little selfish or bitchy I guess but its miles better.
There's a fair amount of mystery, just do not do Nello's route first! nor last
or else you'll be left with a bad after taste that probably will ruin it for you.
 Each route is fairly self contained but Nello has a good chunk of a sub plot that runs in the background but who the bad guy is slightly changes depending on route.
Some parts are slow at first but there's enough going on that shows the heroine
 and the boy of your choice get closer which all in all was enjoyable considering length.
The time the two spend together was charming even tho there's not much else going on untill
x character comes in to remind you of stuff, which in some routes ruined the mood but yeah story.
In the end it balances out, for the most part the scenes never really drag still there are a few where I was like oh come on get on with it, I guess each vn may have a couple of boring moments and shirotokuro is no exception. Atleast we get to choose the guys right after the prologues which is a
blessing really, said prologues are there to help decide who you go for but I still think
this game would have benefitted from some sort of restriction for available love interests.

Its also nice Luna has girls to talk to about stuff like guys and more since she
is totally clueless about most stuff which leads to some hilarious scenes.
Sadly with Airi that's not so much the case but she used to do that all the time...
honestly its sad Airi literally gets the worst boys.
People who like alice related things may even enjoy it more, there's more than one
outcome to the routes and variations on some endings depending on choice
either way I can recommend Shiro to Kuro no Alice, its interesting in its own way
but no replacement for Heart no Kuni no Alice., this is probably otomate's biggest release
this year next to chouchou jiken & not counting sequel/FD, they really don't have much new title.
But if I had to be really honest only black side was worth it for me...

Geten no Hana with Yume Akari - Review (2)

下天の華 夢灯り
 Game: [Geten no Hana with Yume Akari Aizouban].

Genre: Otome game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Ruby Party / Koei Tecmo

Platform: PSP, PS Vita.

Official Site: http://www.gamecity.ne.jp/geten/vita/index.html

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v12865

Release date: 2016-09-08

 I won't be bother to write much since I already said a lot in my review for the first game.
Yume Akari is the sequel to Geten no Hana which continues from the grand finale and since
 the individual endings didn't matter I decided to let it rest before going into this
but after four months and a depressing FD I decided its time to finish this! 
Like the prequel its not accurate to history to make it an otome game 
but they did a good job of sticking to some parts atleast.
 Anyway...
Hotaru continues to serve Mitsuhide and protect Nobunaga from outside threats as the shield of Azuchi.
 What is Hotaru's dream? she will surely have one more chance to find it closeby to her.

Pro's
- Plot is okay...
- Every guy is still likeable.
- Art.
- Individual ED themes (though only Hanbei and Kanbei are new)

Con's
- Short, after one play the rest of the routes will fly by.
- Some of the previous guys routes feel like new/alternative versions.
- Annoying card minigame to replace 50% of the battles.

Yume Akari adds two new love interests Hanbei and Kanbei since the new story is centered on them
and here comes the hard truth, without them there would be no sequel.
The two come to investigate the shield of Azuchi while crashing at Hideyoshi's place...
Ok since this is the spoiler free zone that all you will get out of me, this game plot is better found out on your own.
Everyone else gets a route as well but like I explained before everything is reset till a certain point
so for the old guys basically becomes an alternative take...a second chance or so to speak.

 There's also this card game thing and well you win by get matching cards...
this is actually to break the mold of having to only do the fighting minigame, its the only way 
to get flowers and incense now also unless you want challenge just play on easy
I doubt anyone wants to bother doing it on higher difficulty and waste even more time on it. 
Especially on Momoji's route, lol.
The old fighting minigame is still there for story fights but I can't help but question why
 the new one is needed for the kusumono(intruder) fights? oh well no use thinking about it. 
You can lvl up 3 stats, precog,kunai(more hits) and one that heals your health 
by using them in the new minigame, max lvl is 10 but there isn't much use for it unless you
 want to play it on higher difficulty which is not difficult just more annoying/time consuming.

The sequel like its prequel is a fairly short game, first play should take anywhere from
 8 ~ 10 hours at most which is roughly the same as its prequel, 2nd+ will be done in 4~5 hours.
 You can also use incense during conversations with characters, which leads to some 🔥 scenes.

Too be honest I wasn't sure whom's route to do first so I just followed the same playorder as before.
You can't do Nobuyuki on first play not sure about Hanbei but I do not recommend because spoilers.
For first play just go with normal end or someone you're familair with other than that order does not matter. 
Personally it would be better to save the new routes for last... unless you are really curious 
and can't wait that long till you've done everyone if I had to recommed anything at all please do
Momoji before Hanbei and Mitsuhide before Kanbei this'll be no problem if you save Hanbei and Kanbei for later.

  My play order:
Mitsuhide > Momojiji > Nobuyuki > Hashiba > Ranmaru > Ieyashu > Nobunaga > Hanbei > Kanbei.

For a guide just us Syrup26 and Choro for whatever Keywords you are missing.

In short for those not wanting to scroll down below, I recommend the sequel to Geten no Hana fans
but do not expect a true sequel but an extension of a story that couldn't be told back then.
Most of the original chara are just alternative routes anyway, the new after stories for them were nice though.
The sequel's story is okay but has some hilariously obvious things at times, I mean
who could that bamboo hat man be? he looks awfully familiar. 😕
This game has a lot of common scenes and like I mentioned 2nd+ play will fly by even quicker
than its prequel since there is less to do and stuff, regarding common scenes its honestly
not that different from the average visual novel since somethings will never change.
I still love how most Koei games have their own solution to the predicament at the end
even at Harutoki6 Gentou Rondo I enjoyed that(despite me headdesking at times).
Also remember how I said no one ever actively pursues the heroine in the prequel?
Haha... that didn't last long as it was obv Kanbei was interested in Kikyou(Hotaru)
but don't worry there's a plot reason for this to explain his behavior still while
Kanbei shows his interest, he atleast knows when to back off, so yeah its not bad.
Moving on I thoroughly enjoyed the new characters routes and sadly I think they were the most
worthwhile content? sure it was nice to help Nobuyuki or Ieyashu again or spend time with Ranmaru
but I'd honestly wish for a fandisk and get to see them under more relaxed circumstances.
Its really sad the stars of this game are Hashiba, Hanbei and Kanbei though everyone else did have
 an enjoyable route but to me it felt like most of the effort went into the new routes.
For score it gets an  9/10 from me, it gets less points from me due to me getting nostalgic of some
of the routes characters had in the prequel and the new route feeling like an alternative.
Maybe I nagged a little but I really did enjoy it overall... and still recommend this port
because no matter how you look at it the characters and plot are well written.
I'm a little sad its over though, Yume Akari is probably the last entry... and did a good job of making it feel complete.

There's spoilers below, some sections more than others but i'm sure you've
realized you can read the full summary and character background in detail at koei wiki
and so I won't bother to be detailed and will drop things out/ summarize it in my own way if at all.