Showing posts with label Otomate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Otomate. Show all posts

Saturday, September 20, 2025

Cafe Enchante - Review

Oh the misery.....
 Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate/Aksys.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: N/A.
Release date: 5-11-2020.
 
Since I wasn't in the mood to start a completely new game, I decided to continue
on something from my backlog and that was Cafe Enchante. I started this earlier this year
but due to this games long common route I took a break after Canus's route.
Going back to this did make me feel productive as well as appreciating what I already have.
I wasn't constantly playing it, I frequently put it down after a chapter ended. 
 
Disclaimer: As this blog is just a place for me to write about games I play, if you
don't like what you're reading just close the browser/tab and move on. Its okay if not
everyone likes a game or certain aspects of a game. Yep it was time for a disclaimer again
maybe its better to add this permanently as a reminder its okay to not like
what everyone else likes both for myself and others.  

Pro's
- Interesting premise and setting.
- Great cast of characters.
- Gorgeous art and really good OST. 
 
Grey area
- Plot over romance type of otome. 
 
Con's
- No skip to the next choice option, making it hell to sit through the common route on subsequent plays. 
- Game ends up being far heavier than it initially appears.
- Sloppy translation.
 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

I loved the OP movie but I think it mostly suited the common route + first 2 chapters of a route
as there were moments where letting this play would not match the mood of the story.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
It was pretty long, the prologue and common route do a good job at setting the stage
but it was kind of repetitive. NGL this game false-advertisted itself about a cute story
about a cafe, which it can seem like it is but it goes far deeper than that.
If I had to give this game an award it would be most misleading.😂 
Cafe Enchante is a good example of don't judge a book by its cover, I wasn't
attracted to this game for heavy themes, it just seemed fun?  but alas a cute story
with some light drama it was not. However it knew when to have fun and when not
but I can't help but be a little disappointed by how short the individual route
was compared to the common route and how unsatisfying the ending was at times.
Like it just felt like something was missing or it left to be desired. 
 
Everytime you complete a route you also unlock a sort of extended prologue....
on its own I didn't really get what they were about, it hinted at something
which doesn't seem to be related to the original four routes. I figured Misyr
would go into it since he is locked but every time I saw a piece I was just confused. 

Art was great and I can't complain, the music was also one of the better ones.
In some games its just kinda there but Cafe Enchante had some really good OST. 
I do wanna add that while the BGM is good, you often go from the upbeat
title screen music to... the middle of a route and the mood whiplash is real. 💀
So when I was in the latter half of a route I would not put my headphones on till I loaded the save. 
 
The system was just standard stuff, nothing write home about.
Everyone has 1 best end and 1/2 bad ends.
I used a guide but this seems hell to play without one as there's no correct choice indicator
and its difficult to even guess what route you would land on so GG's to guide makers.
The UI was also pretty nice and stylish but not as eye-popping as Cupi-Para. 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Story?!
If Virche had a light-hearted tone, lost some of its extreme nature
but knows when to step on the gas pedal of angst. There it is! Cafe Enchante.
I'm late to the party as it is a rather old game already but to me this is like a cute version of Virche.
 Anyway the heroine Kotone inherits from her grandpa with its visitors being
from other worlds which sounds like it could be a simple but fun story yet it isn't
while there were some cute scenes this was not a romance focused game
but more of a plot-driven one. At most the romance part is woven into it. 
 Due to that it never really felt like an otome game and even when it was time for confessions
it wasn't that satisfying and in the end I found the LI's better non-romantically.💀
The common route also ended in such a way that I was actually fine with dropping out there
but still I wanted to check out Canus route so I continued! and eventually the others.
Also I gotta admit that they did craft a wonderful setting.
Canus route was one of my favourites, Ignis&Kaoru were OK in comparison.
Il had a good routes as it had some nice surprises, I'd say Misyr did as well
but I think it tried too hard and suffered truth route syndrome.
 ---
The length was such a double edged sword and just simply playing this game
1 hour before bed meant I was going at an absolute snail pace. So I had to plan longer sessions
to literally get anywhere early on. Its one of those games that loves to set the stage and
spend time with its characters, which is good but there were times I got bored
so this game is definitely not for people with short attention spans.
I started this game on january 10, the common route was SO LONG that I took
a break midway and didn't finish that and Canus route till like a month later.
This truly was my backburner game of 2025! because I didn't come back till september.
Of course in VN common routes come in all sorts of shapes and sizes! but Cafe's Enchante
was just too long for my tastes. At one point during the common route I thought I had already
entered a character route but then I looked at the guide and it said main chapter 4 out of 8.💀
Canus route was about as long as a route in fuyuzono sacrifice which is 5ish hours at best
other routes were slightly longer but after 3 of them I started to noticed a pattern.
Canus route was arguably the shortest, Ignis&Kaoru was slightly longer and Il's route was
significantly longer than any of the former with Mysir doubling down on that.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As for the heroine; Kotone was alright, I can't be too hard on her due to her past
and I generally liked her. She was proactive and spoke her mind.
There are at times moments especially very early on I was like eh? i'm glad
she got better once she actually accepted and understood what was happening.
I found her to be surprisingly adult/level headed and down to earth with
a little bit of baggage, she can't handle tense situations at all it seems.
Sure Misyr's greeting was awkward but Kotone's initial reaction was kinda unjustified
not sure if it was the localization but it wouldn't surprise me if it was.
Thankfully moments like that were only a handful so it wasn't a big deal
a lot of the times I could omit a line and read it as if it wasn't there. 
Overall I thought she was a pretty normal girl and i'm willing to forgive
the nonsense mid Ignis route due to bad translations. 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Localization rambles
This was the most random and apparently the original was but... lack of QA is apparent.
As you already know yea the localization was awful but most of the awful was
at peaks and the rest generally read pretty well, I think had they actually handled this
game with more care there wouldn't be any problems. Now we have stuff like
the infamous box pusher, it read as terrible as when I found out years ago.💀
At times the dialogue in Canus route started to read like haiku's... and there were
odd line-breaks where there shouldn't be any. I've heard after this game's release
aksys has been getting better and I sure can get past the odd typo here or there
but still the damage these sort of things do remain ever a stain especially
when they don't get patched out which is the case here. Like people paid for this.
I often make a lot of typo's when I write stuff but I always fix them when I see them.
Perhaps putting out patches for games is expensive but I'd prefer it they
release the game a month later QA'd instead of releasing them like this.
I actually really liked how they translated Utakakata no Uchronia as Illusion of Itehara
which is very fitting for what the game is about, like Aksys can do it if they try! 
Sad we may need a port of this game for it to get patched up like norn9...
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
TL;DR 
Do I recommend Cafe Enchante? sure if you can get passed the sloppy translation.😅 
Cafe Enchante is for those who don't mind seemingly light-hearted settings that can turn out
to be deeper than it appears to be and want to be surprised by potentially mindblowing twists.
However I suggest beginners of the genre or those who seek shorter or casual experiences
to steer away unless you love angst&bittersweetness. I saw some people say this is
a cozy game but that only really applies to the majority of the common route and 1/2
chapters of a character route. I can however praise it for its plot twists but idk why
I just find myself not satisfied with Cafe Enchante as an otome game.  
i
Looking back at some routes this actually fits perfectly.
TBH I am glad I got to experience it... and its by no means bad, I am a little unsatisfied.
It has good content value, the common route is repetitive in nature and one could get bored during it.
The setting and characters is what pretty much saved this game for me and it was
still an enjoyable otome game to come back to!  its just at times I don't think it was too sure
of what it wanted to be? did Cafe Enchante wanted to be a cute SoL story about a cafe
with some drama? or an isekai action packed adventure?! because it seems it wanted to be both...
Romance was kinda lacking and not main focus but atleast there was, something.
Atleast it didn't make me wait for the best outcomes till after the final route.
Plot twist; the tape did not hold...
In terms of characters I generally liked everyone and didn't particularly dislike anyone
so at the end of the day you could say the characters carried this game really hard. 
I really liked Canus even if it ain't his route and I don't even care he has no head!
I saw people complain about the headless part but I'm loving him.💕
I thought Kaoru could seem like one of the more logical choices, but eh
when I really think about it this ended up being one of those otome games where
the romance left me so wanting and while I am happy with the best outcomes
I actually like mostly all of the guys more non-romantically outside of their route. 💙
Definitely a recommendation for those seeking to dip their toes into the misery porn genre.
7/10 
''Man... I don't think there's ever been an otome game where I said... I liked all the guys
outside of their routes and I don't need anything more than the common route.💀''
 
I wonder though... will the day come more smutty or fluffy otome games will get localized?
I know honey vibes was not perfect but it seems the ones with lotsa angst always make it over...
Is it that difficult to bring over something like Shinobi Koi Utsutsu or Tlicolity Eyes?
its mostly the plot focused ones from otomate but never the fanservice ones.
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
There's apparently a locked route which require all others so
my play order ended up being what most people seemed to recommend:
Canus > Ignis > Rindo > Il fado> Misyr.

Route babbles and my fav CGs after the jump, its generally light in spoilers
and mostly just commentary if you want  no spoilers then stop reading here. 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Saturday, July 19, 2025

Toki no Kizuna Hanayui Tsuzuri - Review

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

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

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

Monday, July 7, 2025

Toki no Kizuna Sekigahara Kitan - Review

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

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

Monday, April 28, 2025

Over RequiemZ - Review

 Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Kogado/Otomate.
Platform: switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/over_requiemz/
Release date: 17-4-2025
 
I wasn't sure if I was going to get this game and it was literally a last minute decision
but I am glad I did because I ended up enjoying it more than I thought I ever would and it
had a pretty good story more so than a bunch of recent otomate games I played recently.
Also I could probably have finished this sooner rather than later however lately I don't
like it when I burst through games in a week but it lasted almost two weeks for me
so I slowed down my pace just a little bit, the game also is better with breaks
in between due to how intense the writing can be.
 
Pro's
- Interesting setting and complex characters.
- Mostly good pacing, atleast I thought fact side was.
- Gorgeous artwork, pretty consistent art.
- Beautiful music, I found it better than most of otomate's stuff.
- Replay value is high due to scenario split.
- You can completely ignore the dark side and get to enjoy the story with proper romance.
 
Grey area
- There's only one best ending, the other three are either bad ends, a tragic end or subjective good.
 
Con's
- Dorothy's route should've been locked.
- Most choices are meaningless except a handful that decided a branch or end.
 - Dark side can feel a bit drawn out, atleast one felt forced.
- The ending theme did not fit all the endings.

 
 
Over RequiemZ is loosely based on the wizard of oz.
The heroine Yuhiru gets isekai'd to a strange land and meets a bunch of guys
who are all convicted criminals alongside herself for reasons she doesn't get. The world
isn't quite like her own but she still recognizes elements here and there from it.
Due to her black hair and eyes, she is discriminated for it but she's not
the only one as one of the LI has suffered from it as well.
Yuhiru finds solace with a bunch of guys who like herself end up being charged for
crimes they didn't commit. The question remained of whether she can trust them or not. 
This honestly feels like a breath of fresh air. Yuhiru sets out on a journey with them
which really felt like a journey btw, the characters also had good chemistry
but this was mostly the first 5 chapters before it focused more on the LI.
I loved the character interactions, there was a good dose of humor at times as well.
 Even if they were criminals it didn't feel like they were bad atleast not at first
but you could tell there was another side to them so it was exciting to see how it'll play out.
I really loved how the writing could be rather intense, it was hard to get bored
and if I did zone out then the dialogue would snap me back into it.
 
Art looks gorgeous both sprite,CG and backgrounds are very well done.
Music Some BGM's were absolutely stellar I rarely praise this much but they deserve it!
It also set the tone of the scenes well and I like the OP a lot as well.
 
System; its a standard VN however  there's a route split for each character Fact and Dark
Depending on your choices you can tip the scales to either of those and get different endings
but other than that most of the choices were meaningless, it may change a dialogue line or two.
All the endings of which there were four per route were right at the end.
Yea the split sides basically are like this, yes.

Length; A single route would be 15 chapters in total, every guy had a sort of
common route/prelude which lasted for 5 chapters and then it splits into fact or dark
of which both are 5 chapters long.  Nothing seemed to drag on, I thought individually
chapters were short, it still delivered the scenario in a well-paced manner.
My first route was about 7-8 hours in length but depending on your reading
speed it may differ.  Its important to note that both sides are different in tone
from the other so you won't get the same experience twice.
 
I wasn't sure what was up with the choice system maybe that's to decide what ending you get
or if you can make it to the fact or dark. I used a guide so... i'm not sure if selecting a less
than good choice would result in a game over ending and I didn't have the energy to experiment.
Often there would be red choices, I thought that selecting the wrong one would give me
 a bad end but the guide listed none. This game also only has four endings per route.
They were at the end so the bad ones felt more like you reap what you sowed.
Still I think some bad ends may've worked in a type of game like this since
most choices are actually pretty meaningless and add nothing of value except
the ones that decide the route split or the endings at the end of it.
 
 
I liked the general feel of the game but I had so many questions...
like why was the heroine summoned? isn't this judicial system too harsh?!
The early parts of trying to survive outside of the city reminded me of the dark dragon and
the happy hungry bunch from yona of the dawn. The first half of the game felt rather calm
but there were moments of suspense like do you tell a LI the truth of where you came from?
Anyway for the most part the game was very enjoyable, I wanted to get to know the LI
and perhaps more about the world... which was my main motivation to keep playing.
The characters were honestly pretty great, I wanted to know more
about them all, in good and bad ways. Its been a long time
an otome game got that kind of reaction from me.
They all had some sort of underlying trauma and it could seem like the heroine
is a therapist but I thought she was just trying to be a good friend
and a good friend listens to someone elses troubles and doesn't judge.
The fact route tended to resolve issues while the dark route let them fester.
In most other otome games I am like eh a yandere but this game did
not present them the usual way, more like they could become one.
Most of my questions were answered by the time of the final fact route.
 
The fact side pretty much felt like a normal otome game to me...
It focused more on the character development,backstory and current problem
as well as delivering some proper romance as Yuhiru grows closer to the LI.
The dark side reminded me of stuff rejet would come up with
and that would probably be for folks who like yanderes or something.
The main plot in dark took a different turn which... opened up other problems.
So even if you don't like rejet type stuff I could still recommend this game.
I personally thought it was a hit or miss as I could stand Claude's dark route
but Molly's... was a very oh no wtf is this shit?! momento.
I kind of wanted to skip them especially since I came to love Noil a bit too much
still I wanted to see all of his character so I bit the bullet againu. 

 
Yuhiru was pretty okay? I did think she could have been fleshed out more
like she wants to go back home but... ends up finding a handsome man instead.😂
There's only one route where she is actually given a lot more backstory
so if you don't do it she can seem a little less interesting.
That aside I liked her interactions with the love interest and she was very positive and brave
 so I don't think there was much to dislike. She goes through some shit alright
but the worst of it was mostly reserved for the dark side. Which is optional.
If Ceres crawled it was so Yuhiru could fly.
 
Over RequiemZ reminded me a little of 9rip but with more horror/suspense. I wouldn't say
it was on tsukihime/virche level but it had a good dose of violence and blood.
I think without the fact side this game would've been unsatisfying for me
and it may have even steered me away had I tried to do the darkside first.
Other than that it was character focused but most routes would never go into
the same problem twice maybe this was a double edged sword.
Unfortunately, while I was lucky enough to play the most spoilerific route last
otomate may've been better off locking it but it seems they forget
and I am blaming the guy in charge of management.😩
Locking Dorothy's route should've been a thing.

In most routes there were more bad outcomes than good ones, like one best end
a sad end and then two endings that I thought were generally leaning to the bad side
but they could be good in a subjective way.  In the case of Noil I think he had three
good outcomes and one bad but two of them  were really subjective and it would be up
to the player to determine that.  Each guy had 4 endings so two for each side, I think
there's a lot of appeal to this otome game though and I was invested quickly in whatever
was happening. The dark side of the route is probably what most are going to come here for
but I'd probably recommend to do the fact side first just for a better understanding
of the LI more so if you care about plot+romance.
 
-- 
TL;DR: Over RequeimZ was more well-rounded, it was just the right length
which was a relief since I think Fuyuzono really rushed itself.  Its just that one route
should've been locked. There was just enough time for both romance, plot/character
development but it can be really intense and can not seem very otome.
Looking at it overall the actual story/character's were really good and given a lot of depth
that I can forgive it. Whatever scenes there were with the LI were very enjoyable but don't come
here expecting only fluff. When I look at Noil's route it spends more time building trust...
however trust is the foundation for everything and without that there can be no love. 
That is why I had no issues with romance. The fact side did feel to me like any other otome game
 Its just that some characters had stuff going on in their dark route that legit made me go nope
so it certainly is not for everyone. There was a moderate amount of violence
and blood, I don't think it was as extreme as Virche. I also see comparisons
and I just don't see it?  Virche made me depressed, Over RequiemZ had me hooked and
despite the dark side being less than good I was excited to go to the next character fact route.
It has intense and suspenseful moments but it also makes room for more calmer ones.
Dark side tended to... have more extreme ends as opposed to the fact side
which just had a tragic and good end.  I thought at times the split sides also complimented
eachother, this was most obvious to me in Noil's maybe because I enjoyed the route.
Noil Bestia was one of my favorite LI along with Kaize&Claude.
I can recommend this otome, more so if you miss rejet-like games and want a story full of suspense.
If I have to be really honest, if you're just here for the story&romance just do the fact side.
I feel the dark side is there for people that like darker stuff, once again its contents is not for everyone.
9/10
Should this get localized? absolutely! there's definitely an audience for this
but even if it doesn't the language difficulty is fairly low.
Lastly, I don't recommend binging or rushing through this game.
Take your time, the scenario is carefully written and going too fast
will likely not make you be able to take it in or enjoy its finer aspects.
 ---
 
There are no route restrictions so you can choose whoever you're interested in.
For my first play I ended up choosing Claude... as I played the routes
it all was so character driven, if I had to recommend anything then you can do
Claude,Molly,Noil and Kaize in any order but Dorothy is best saved for last.
I almost by a hair chose him first and was glad I didn't.

This game is best played without spoilers and its very hard to write about the
characters without spoiling  so if you don't want that then stop reading here.
Its mostly just me doing commentary and a poor digest of whatever happened
while sharing some of my favorite CG's, not all of them of course.

Wednesday, March 5, 2025

Fuyuzono Sacrifice - review

Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/fuyuzono/
Release date: 26-2-2025.
 
I honestly wasn't sure whether or not I was going to get this but two weeks before
release I thought on it, the regular edition cover art was nice and I kinda
liked the setting of it? sadly I noticed the price was steep and it really
seems otome games or new games in general have become luxury products.
I sure was nervous buying it at such a steep price, still I liked the setting
and heroines outlook of wanting to decide her own destiny, so I bought it.
 
Pro's
- Great cast of characters.
- Each route has unique ways to solve the key problem in good or tragic ways.
- Lot's of sweet/cute scenes with the LI.
-  Beautiful artwork.

Con's
- Short and doesn't have much substance.
-  Can be a bit cliche or cheesy.
- The final LI has barely any presence outside his own route.
 
 
Art was gorgeous, I loved the fantasy look and soft colours.
Seiyuu seems to be a mix of ones I know and then some I am not familiar with.
Music was pretty fitting but nothing wowed me, I liked the theme that played on the main menu
and the OP song was good too, definitely stuff i'd let play when I boot the game up.
 
Story well I am just gonna say I had 0 expectations, my first impression was that its
rather basic, the heroine had only a short amount of time before it would be her
doomsday aka the day she was going to be wed to the god of winter.
The story itself was easy to follow, there was not a lot of infodumping and it flowed well.
The worldbuilding itself was solid and have no complaints on it.
The LI were interesting so it was still fun to see what was gonna happen or learn more about them.
The prologue and common route are short and to the point...
Fuyuzono definitely won't take you eight common chapters to get to a route!
Oscar's route started out comfy but I couldn't help but feel a little sense of dread
over the heroine's upcoming fate as the bride of the god of winter. 
 
Something I absolutely loved was at times there was a  change in POV enabling you
to see things from the perspective of the love interest. The heroine had no sprite in
the bottom left but she did appear on screen if there was a perspective change which was nice.
The pacing was okay, it wasn't that slow I was getting bored, still this was also not
a long game either. I'd say its perfect if you're tired of longer games.
 
The game seems to encourage multiple playthrough's since I keep getting extensions
of the very first scene in the game the more routes I completed which was a nice touch.
 
Characters
Oscar... I liked him a lot but I think that's pretty much because of his personality.
His route was pretty much focused on his character but didn't touch upon all plot threads
because that was sacrificed for the romance. I thought Oscar was pretty great
despite that and this man is willing to go very far if need be...
Elias route felt like it was good for introduction due to him explaining a lot
about the legends surrounding the gods. It wasn't too focused on romance
but it did take babysteps towards that so it wasn't bad. While it was also focused
on his character, I think they over did it with the angst in some part near the end.😓 
Still I think Elias needs an honorable mention because he also was a stellar supportive character!
Dylan was an amusing character, if I had to recommend one route from the game
to anyone it would probably be him. That's mostly because the relationship
started from zero instead of already being friends.😄
Besides there's definitely an audience for guys like Dylan...
Regis was quite likable, but his situation was more complicated than I'd thought
and this game has some really dark undertones that tend to get glossed over.
Like we can see some of it in Dylan's route but in his own that isn't part of the main issue.
For a poster boy he wasn't too bad but romance wise it felt kind of similar to Elias
where they went from acquantance to friends to lovers but with Regis... it was
very obvious he liked Laeticia from the start. I guess its okay not everyone
has to be so curt like Dylan or the friendly guy everybody knows like Oscar.
Regis route also felt like it was the main one and the rest didn't quite compare.
Hiver probably stood for hibernation because he just doesn't exist outside of his own route.
Regis hinted at him but did so in a way that made me full of dread... and I almost 
skipped out on doing his route, but I persisted for the sake of the conclusion. I liked his story
but yea I couldn't fully get into the route of a character that crawled from under a rock.
 
I guess Fuyuzono Sacrifice was solid, depending on what you come here for.😅 The name
of the game suggest tragedy but the synopsis hinted at seize your own destiny kind of thing.
So it could be a miss if you come here for the former, for me the best ends were satisfying
however there are tragic ends and they can be kind of sad, atleast I thought Oscar's was.
I don't recommend this game if you hate cliche's and cheesy stuff or you have high standards
and want to be blown away by stellar writing cuz while its solid I wouldn't say it was stellar.
I think this game is best for those who have very little experience with the otome genre
and/or don't mind any of the above and just want a short&sweet otome game.
---
Personally I didn't have much in the way of expectations nor did it absolutely blow me away
but it was a pleasant experience. I loved the medieval-ish fantasy setting, I didn't think it
was ever that deep in terms of plot, it had the basics down to a T
but due to the short length isn't able to explore its own setting fully.
I liked all love interests a normal amount, they didn't do much to upset me
but Oscar was definitely my favourite, my apologies your highness.(Regis)
Its not as lengthy like trouble magia or an ero novel in disguise like honey vibes and while
there are bad ends they are not great in numbers. Romance wise there's not going to be
a lot of time to begin with due to plot elements but there's enough to build
a connection between characters... though its easy to say it could seem rushed.
At the very least it didn't overstay its welcome which was a good thing.
Still I want to say otomate should've done better because it seems like they're in a hurry
and not taking their time. You know if this game had like one more chapter for every route
there probably would have been enough but instead we're left with
a snowflake that falls unto your hand and just melts away quickly.
7/10

My playorder: Oscar > Elias > Dylan > Regis > Hiver.
Only the last route is locked till you do all others, I might recommend Elias first due
to being good with introduction and it doesn't throw you into a whirlwind romance like Oscar.
Though if you care about the plot i'd save Regis for before the final route.
Play order I recommend:
Oscar / Elias / Dylan > Regis > Hiver. 
I don't think it matters too much who you pick with the first three so its pick your poison.
 
There's still some spoilers after the jump cuz I blabbed too much on hiver's part
and rambled some more about the characters while sharing some fav cg's.
So if you want to play this game best stop reading here!
 

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Honey Vibes - Review

Honey, there's landmines on da beach.
Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/honey_vibes/
Release date: 3-10-2024.
 
I wasn't originally going to get this but after the last game I played
something like this seemed appropiate, the premise sounded fun tbh.
Moeyo otome doushi fell off the radar after I learned its really short
so I just decided this would be the last otome of the year instead.
 
Pro's
- Fluffy and Spicy; romance oriented otome game.
- Character focused rather than plot focused.
- Length; doesn't overstay its welcome.
- Gorgeous art & music fits the vibe.
 
Con's
- Plot isn't really its strong point, its hidden away in a corner called the finale.
- Some of the less than good ends can be a killjoy.
 .

Artstyle is pretty unique, at first reminded me of bad apple wars/dairoku but its
not the same artist, I guess its because the eyes and it having a similar look.
While most CG's were gorgeous there were a bunch with weird angles
or with the heroines face not shown or it cutoff near the edge but everyone
had a decent amount so I didn't mind if it that much. I will say that there was
one thing that I find unnacceptable and Theo was a victim of it. One of his ending CG's was not
positioned right which is a criminal offense, I could see another background behind the CG.
Another gripe is that they weren't evenly spread out through the routes and in some cases
there were a lot of them right after the other like at the end of Elijah's route.
Music is nice and felt really relaxing and gave it chill vibes
but I wasn't sure what was with the ar tonelico/NIER bgm's as this
made it seem more ambitious than it was.

Plot:
The protagonist Nagisa seems to be a pretty normal girl going about her day
till she rescues an animal CV:Toriumi Kousuke (Hello Simeon from Kai no kiseki!)
Something appears to be up and Nagisa starts tripping and next she finds herself
in a room full of antique with an unusual chessboard; usually the pawns are only
for two people but this board is for three? weird. The furball introduces himself as Colt
and the room they're in is some sort of space between worlds so he offers her a chance
since Nagisa seems to be a kind person that he wants to place his faith in.
Colt has basically chosen her to help save beings like himself
and hopes that she can offer them happiness till the last moment.
Next she wakes up she is in another world called Libalium and Colt isn't a
furball anymore and a human with wings as ears (Like Meteion I suppose...?) 
Colt is more or less like a priest or kind of like a god.
Meanwhile Nagisa just thinks she is having a dream, lol.
Colt tries to explain she is in another world, and she's not dreaming
and eventually meets a bunch of guys who live in that world.
At first Nagisa doesn't have any idea what is going on really and the games begin.
 ---
 
I liked Nagisa, her reactions to some things were quite natural but I wish she had
a sprite in the corner, its weird since when you go to the backlog she has a sprite there.
She could seem a bit unsure in the beginning but there were times she really shined.
 
With there being a game going on and all I think this game was shameless
about the fact that this was a reverse harem, boys don't fight over me but
then it is literally about that since Nagisa fell into the role of queen
and most guys are divided into different camps red,black and white. 
Nagisa basically made it so the guys have to convince her to choose them
and well gonna say some of the guys had varying levels of how they went about it.

Honey Vibes was for the most part a fun isekai, there's a sense of seriousness but it also
doesn't take itself too serious and just rolls with what it tried to do without shame.
It wasn't too long or that anything dragged, the game's length is fine. Common route introduces
things and there's enough time to get a feel of everyone's personality before going into a route.
Sadly the bad ends were such a killjoy idk what but had I gotten them by accident
the mood would be ruined and I don't think I would even want to see the best end.
This game shared some writers with 9rip and it definitely had a little bit of suspense
so I can see why this game suddenly went off the rails but still I don't remember
9rip being as bad as this?! the bad ends in honey vibes legit killed the mood.
While I won't complain about there being different outcomes some felt out of place or a bit
extreme and not what I initially came here for or fit with the setting. I will admit I didn't
do a lot of research on Honey Vibes but expected it to be dark was the last thing on my mind.

How interesting the plot in the route was varied a lot since Honey Vibes focused more
on romance and the character's personal issue than whatever plot there was which felt
like an after thought to me in routes such as Alvin. Finn's route complimented Alvin's
in a way its like the otherside of the same coin, both routes also had great romance.
 In some routes the bad ends are also worse  like Eno for example. Milo's route still good
not just in terms of romance but since I understood more in the grandscheme of things
and unlike other routes, Milo's bad ends atleast made me understand why its the way it is.
Theo's route was also decent, his personal conflict together with the overall plot was just
beautifully written, unfortunately he has some of the worst bad ends in this game.
Elijah was the only route that I thought was well rounded and actually focused on the
story/lore but even then it was still just character focused like all the rest which means
 even if it seems more involved it isn't. They saved it all for the finale route.
So while in most routes the overall plot was never amazing, it was still pretty decent
since if you do all routes it connects well enough.  If you come here for the
romance & your favourite voice actor is in here you'd likely be satisfied.
Story can peak in some routes and just dips in others, the characters carried this game hard.

As for the game as a whole, its fluff and spicy! I don't play a lot of otomes where things
get THIS steamy but honey vibes was on another level that most others felt tame.
Sadly most desire ends were awful, it just felt like another bad end where the one tied to rationality
is the only good outcome which all things considered is kinda lame.The LI's were all pretty good
but for some I immediately went like oh no! looking at you Milo but he as well
as Alvin were among my fav's so look how that turned out. The only one
I didn't like was Eno really. With 6 LI's there might be a favorite for anyone.
This game could be interesting to play blind but honestly i'm glad I used a guide
since there are just way too many landmine bad ends you could trigger.
Bad ends did at times contain minor plot revelations so I'd say its still worth
checking them out just don't be surprised if you get burned while doing so.
The actual story is left for the finale route which wraps everything up in a grand way
perhaps there is room for a sequel or FD? idk but it may need one since
after the finale most best ends just has me going is that it really?
8/10
I can't hate this game because its literally the best and worst of otomate in one package.
Its likely it will be picked up for english release and will be disappointed if it won't
since there's definitely an audience for this, no I know there is.

TL;DR Honey Vibes is quite enjoyable but if you're just here for an romance novel
i'd stay away from the bad ends if I were you unless you like to live dangerously.
This game is not all sunshine and rainbows and can get surprisingly dark in bad ends.
If this sparks your interest then by all means I will recommend this otome game.......

For playorder there weren't any restrictions so I just picked one in the moment:
Alvin > Eno > Milo >Theo > Elijah > Finn > Finale.
You can do whatever camp you want in any order due to no restrictions
the best I can recommend here is to just stick to one camp before moving to the next.
 
More rambles after the jump, just the usual some of my fav cg's etc
if you want to play don't read further.
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday, September 26, 2024

Trouble Magia - Review

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