Showing posts with label Otome Game. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Otome Game. Show all posts

Friday, August 1, 2025

Utakata no Uchronia Trail - Review

Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Licobits.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://licobits-game.com/uchronia/fd/
Release date: 24-7-2025
 
You know back when I finished the original game I kinda wondered
if a FD or sequel was already planned since it felt like it was only half a story
and would you look at that? a FD was announced and released like a year later.
 
Pro's
- Afters were neither too short nor too long.
- Most afters wrapped up the story that the OG started well enough...
- Art was consistent overall.
 
Con's
- Overall plot in some routes is rather repetitive.
- Story can feel heavy, there's sugar content but not a lot.
- Some afters feel draggy and waste the majority of their runtime.
 
The OP was as good as the first game was, honestly I really like the singer as well.
The OP of both games Dawn & Deep Blue are so good, even the full versions. 
 

 
As it is a FD it has after stories for all the LI's routes from the original game.
There's both a normal and a best end... so choices seem to matter here. 
There are new routes as well for Hiiragi and Tsuwabuki
as well as another story which was set after the truth end last game.
You can get a mini ending with every LI from the previous game there as well
sadly this doesn't include the new LI from the FD. 
The menu where you select which story you'd like to view.
 
Art was gorgeous and sprites moved a little due live2d, I personally don't really
care about the latter but its a nice touch I guess. Whether a route had
good CG's though varied a lot, I think Tobari drew the short end of the stick.
Yashiro's route had a lot of new backgrounds which were all really good. 
 Most BGM's felt the same as the original nothing stood out to me except the OP.
The ED was just kind of there I actually skipped it after the 2nd time. 
 
TBH I thought the font was rather tiny, likely not optimized for switch lite.....
There's so many kanji too I was literally squeezing my eyes out.💀 Maybe it was like this
in the OG but I didn't have this problem with Toki no Kizuna's port so the whiplash was rough. 
 
I didn't list this as a con because its likely a me problem but I don't like how there is a start screen
then a separate screen for the logo before the actual main menu shows.
I mean why not just show the logo with the start screen? before the main menu???
its weird design that just makes it clunky to sit through everytime you boot up the game.
 
Average conversations in this game be like...
The pacing was OK but this game is really slow in general but I am glad
the afters weren't any longer than they were. It also felt more like a sequel than
a FD due to the contents being heavy. Like this just shows how open ended
the OG's endings were... and for some they were not ideal.
I was pretty much deceased by the time Tobari's after was over, thankfully
Yori revived me somewhat but he drove me mad by the end of his own route.💀
Each after/new route only had 5 chapters and it took maybe 5/6 hours to clear a route
individually. Due to that it was neither too short or too long, by the time I did the final route
I did feel a bit tired of it all. Let's be real this was a long FD so its not surprising.
 
Unfortunately there were bugs at release which slightly hindered my enjoyment of the game.
I am pretty sure the another story was meant to be done last but I couldn't do that
due to Awayuki,Tsuyukusa and Hiiragi's after being full of game crashing bugs.
By the time I did get to the bugged routes there was still no patch, so I decided to do
Awayuki's since his was only in chapter 1 unlike Tsuyukusa which had bugs in 2 chapters.
Experiencing wasn't fun but with the context of Awayuki's scene made me laugh somehow... 
I was sure it will be fixed sooner or later but it wasn't a good look to have these sort of bugs.
Also like clockwork when I am done with the game a patch appeared.......
okay everyone ya'll can enjoy it now without fear of it crashing.👍
 
Hmmmm....
Anyway I didn't really like Tobari's after but I liked the ending yet in Yori's after I liked
the majority of the after except the ending... Yashiro's after was generally good
and I loved Tsuwabuki's new route which was an alternative take on Yori's in the OG.
Awayuki's after was mostly good, it didn't leave me nearly deceased as someone else.😒
Tsuyukusa's after was a bit too slow-paced for me but that may've been due his personality. 
I suppose you win some and you lose some is how I sum up my experience with this FD.
--- 
I wasn't the biggest Uta-Chro fan but this FD did was wrap up  what the original game started, sadly
I just wasn't that invested in the general affairs of things but it was by no means a bad FD.
Uta-Chro likes to focus on the big picture and not just the romance, it really varied whether
or not a route balanced this. I suppose it depends on tastes but to me Tobari&Yori's after felt weak.
Though while I understand characters can't always be together there wasn't a whole lot of
romance scenes and what was there was woven into the plot. Hinagiku's just trying her best
which is good but it at times it would also focus on plot or side characters
who somehow still had their own little role to play in the story. 
The only characters that suffered with afters were the ones that never really went into the truth
so the story had to go out of its way to go into that... which wasn't all that fun. 
There's not a lot of CG's either so that didn't add to the experience either its only
been a year so the artist probably didn't have a lot of time to work on it. 
It wasn't a bad FD, even if it wasn't outstanding it was still good.
When I look back at the original... it just feels unfinished so this FD or sequel is much welcome.
 
TL;DR
Honestly for the most part its a good FD and there were definitely a bunch of route
that I thought were good and its okay if you don't like everything.
I'm walking away from this while liking atleast 3/4 routes, which is more than enough
though if you play FD's mainly for sugar content or more focus on romance this might
disappoint a little because there was still a heavy focus on the plot and slow-life.
It did further expand on the characters and it had moments
that were nice to see so it wasn't all bad if you like the pacing that is.
7/10
After finishing both games I realized UtaChro is actually pretty similar to trails in nature
so I recommend it to people that like slow-life and great worldbuilding
because at the end of the day that's what the UtaChro games are good at.
Also this isn't exactly beginner friendly you need a good grasp of japanese to enjoy it
fully, I saw aksys didn't have many upcoming games but they will likely localize this
and I will be disappointed if it doesn't because the OG really needs this FD. 
 
As for my playorder I started with Tobari but then heard there were bugs
so I adjusted my play order so the ones with the bugs were done later.
 Tobari > Yori > Yashiro > Tsuwabuki > ANOTHER > Awayuki> Tsuyukusa > Hiiragi.
 
Route babbles after the jump, I will share a few of my fav CG's as well
but no more than 3 per route, if you don't want any spoilers then just stop reading here. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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, 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.
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, August 7, 2024

Mistonia no Kibou the lost delight - Review

Eh... Edward's smile seems creepy on the cover but he ain't.
Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/mistonia/
Release date: 18-7-2024.
 
This VN was delayed by like a month and is also slated for an english release by aksys.
At first I wasn't sure if I should bother getting it in JP but still went with it.
The heroine did seem cool & its been a long time since I played a VN with a maid as the protagonist
the last one was like crimson empire, I had a rather laidback/slow approach toward Mystonia
and so it took me longer to get through! i'm sure if I had pushed it then I could have been done
in a week or so but why the rush?  Otomate's september lineup may be stacked
but unfortunately half of their games don't interest me right now.
 
Pro's
- There's enough intrigue to get hooked.
- Length is comfy, not overly long or drags on.
- Gorgeous Art and fitting BGM.
 
Con's
- Boring common route, probably the least exciting part of the game.
- Overall story elements can feel repetitive the more routes you do.
- The content in the other ends needs an acquired taste, also it has NTR.

 
Storywise this game has revenge themes so if you're not comfortable with those it could
be a skip, for me I think it depends on how it is handled but am disappointed with how
Mistonia implented it, its like they chose to push petty revenge which did not sit well with me.
**Thankfully it is still an otome game and taking revenge isn't always the best outcome.
This game's characters are also intertwined with each other. Each set is between the heroine
and two guys such as Ascot/John, Edward/Linus and Lukas/Alfred which works
with one particular ending each route called Maze. This maze end was by far
the worst possible outcome in the game and more often than not I just regret doing it.
 
I'll say the cast of the game sure was a vibrant bunch! there's a mix of well known
and lesser known seiyuu's as well. If you've been playing otome's or watching anime
for a while you will definitely hear some old favorites.
Due to the huge cast of characters I did worry this game would be on the long side
but it wasn't that long at all the common route was roughly 3 hours. Its only long if you do all.
Perhaps this game had too many characters because it was hard trying to keep
track of them all and even then some barely had any screen time so if you
did not pay much attention something could have easily pass you by
which may or may not have happened to me. More on that later.

The art looked very distinct and unique, some charactter designs looked like
this was a serious game but then I looked at the CG's on the official site
and it seemed much lighter? needless to say the art looked gorgeous.
I think there was only one CG that looked derpy to me.
The music was pretty good at setting the mood and tone of the scenes.

I thought the beginning was pretty good & got me hooked, the story beats there were well executed
as you get a look at the heroine's life and hints about there being more to it all. Rose/Applause
doesn't work alone and there are other maids including a shy/clumsy one as well as butlers etc.
Its just chapters 1 through 3 can feel a bit repetitive which is likely my only complaint about it.

System is standard stuff but you'll be having to select where to go on a map quite a bit.
Most scenes after selecting where to go are relatively short, so with a guide it may seem
like a lot but its really not that long. You really do work as a maid at a mansion!
Eh as long as you watch every event with characters or go to a room with a gem u're good.
Those scenes can range from boring to mildly interesting and/or funny. There's three main endings
for each route as well but honestly the only endings I cared about were the happy ends.
 
The common route was pretty boring, Rose/Applause works as a maid
and will see other characters interact as she works, at the end of the day
the gem fragments you collect will form better information of what happened.
Due that I think the investigation part of the common route is the worst part of this game.
I did not fully understand the gemstone stuff but they're like memory fragments
and so Rose can get a better view of what transpired between characters which may or may not
help her own search for the truth. Its not like Rose was an onlooker, she was doing
her job the whole time! and quite well but honestly I don't think she could ever
be a favourite of mine mostly due to how she treats the guys in the maze ends, it completely
ruins the mood. Lucas nor Linus among others did not deserve any of that and in the case
of Linus his maze end was by far the worst written in every possible way.
Other maze ends ranged from mildly entertaining to wtf is this BS, looking at you Ascot.
I mean I am all for different outcomes but the heroine could be really manipulative
which can either work in her favor or against her. It never felt good to me.
 
Hmmm..........
Do you ever just play an otome game that you think had a pretty decent plot and characters
but you just couldn't enjoy certain aspects of it? to me Mistonia falls into that category.
I know full well that it is impossible to like everything but it seems this was done
by multiple writers as the shift in tone between endings and/or routes was just too much.
Next the characters; you got some like Lucas who're really interesting
but are just sleepers in other routes or there as support like Alfred tends to be
so when I got to the truth route it felt like what if all the tiny threads combined
and then throws a bunch of new stuff at you that's suddenly totally relevant, its so bad
that suddenly side characters have a much bigger role so sudden that my only reaction
to it was like oh okay!  Some of the overall plot across the 6 routes was also too repetitive
and there's another villain but... you never see much of them at all during said routes, only truth.
I can't remember this tiny foreshadowing and then barely any reference till 6+ route later.
Had this be one of my first otome games I think I would be much more forgiving but it is not.
Alright... Alright... ALRIGHT!
Mistonia definitely had a decent mystery and intrigue but just fell flat in the end
and I think its because too many different writers or one took care of the truth end
or this or that route and didn't touch jack else and worked with what they had.
**The length of the game may also be a problem because it can seem quite short
compared to other games and it can seem that a lot is crammed into a chapter
so while its not boring it can certainly seem like its rushed itself.
I do wonder who worked on Lucas route though because I really liked that one.
 
Doesn't help I had trouble to get into it because the heroine had a constant poker face, it wasn't
through halfway a route I could see any romance. Its basically full of serious tones but early on
it doesn't seem that serious yet and plays most of them out in a fairly light manner
so despite being revenge themed I myself am not even thinking of revenge half of the time.
It did get better when you get onto a route but the common route didn't do it any favors.
Simply put I was a bit mixed on the vibes and it could change depending on routes.

I did however really like the character interactions between main and sub
it kept it engaging when the plot wasn't really there yet. It took untill
midway of Lucas's route before I started to get invested in literally anything.
In said route the plot/romance was actually pretty good, idk if it was because
I did Lucas first but I had a good time which is what matters anyway.
Alfred's route was a bit of a sleeper, its honestly best to do him first or second.
Linus actually grabbed my attention and was interesting from his 1st chapter.
ASScot's route was an entertaining dumpster fire but I started losing interest at Edward
and thought most of his route was boring and wondered what he even add to the plot
because Ascot's route brought so many revelations I was like what else is there? 
Edward's route wasn't very exciting in comparison which isn't good tbh.
John's route was pretty great from the start and I was relieved since it was worth sitting
through 5 routes to get to him. Maybe your opinion could differ but I enjoyed John's route.

Fair warning this game does have NTR ending(s) needless to say if you hate that trope
don't do the ending related to it, its always the maze end so just stick with best end.
To be safe maybe don't do both of Asscot's Clown&Maze endings.
I know Rose is in it for revenge but I just don't like the idea or appeal of some guy even slightly 
disappointing you in some way to make everything worse for them or to switch to guy B
because A isn't useful. I know that this plays very well into a certain character but damn not for me.
I guess I am just not that petty of a person which may be why the best end was enough for me.
Atleast the choices make you have a say in the matter so that is good.

I definitely did love Lucas, there's actually a very good reason he is like that.
 Mistonia can be slow at first and it could seem not as interesting but it may pay off
to keep paying attention as you go through the common and individual.
NGL the common route investigation part reminds me of VN's from 10 years ago.
So is it good? well if you're looking for an otome with an active protagonist and a fun
cast of characters with some fluff despite serious tones it still gets my recommendation
especially if you're tired of longer otome games, you'll still get a solid package here but if
you hate NTR or the MC manipulating situations for her own ends this game is not for you.
Granted most of that stuff is reserved for the clown/maze ends but its still something to be wary of.
Even after everything I am still not sure how I feel about the MC, I only really liked her in the best
ends, mostly everything else just made me feel umcomfortable that I want to pretend I didn't do them.
I just am not able to vibe with this heroine when she pulled some of the stunts that she did.
6/10
I initially gave it an 8 but man those other ends just... NO.
**Even a day after beating it I am like is my score too high? oonly route I thought was
really good was Lucas, others don't compare so I dropped it by 1 point.
I will say Mistonia has some very high production values from sprites,CG's to the
background art and also the music. None of that was bad at all, neither was some of the story.
Also I can see why this was picked up for localization, being undercover as a maid
is a cool idea and could hook folks even if they're not into otome games.
However if you do end up playing this and the heroine doesn't vibe with you then that is okay
and then this game may not be for you! Rose is just written to appeal to certain angles.


As for playorder  I was mostly interested in Linus and Lucas as well as John
but unfortunately there are restrictions for Edward,Ascot and John.............
Edward needs Linus,Lucas and Alfred. Ascot can be done after Two/three good ends
of those initially availabe. John basically needs all so no choice with that one.
Recommended order: Lucas / Alfred /  Linus >  Asscot > Edward > John.
I recommed this because the initial three have no restrictions
but if you care about the story then its best to do Linus before Ascot
and with this you can have some free choice based on personal preference.

As per usual spoiler and route babbles after the jump, if you don't want those then stop reading here. Like always I will share some of my favorite CG's as well but not all of them.
Side note writing Applause is weird all the time so I refer to the heroine by her alias Rose.