Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/piofiore/1926/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v25914
Release date: 12/11/20.
Sequel to the original game, though this one seems more honest about also being a -sequel-
unfortunately its lighthearted and is still as suspenseful as the first game.
At first I did think that this would be a FD but as time went on and info was revealed
it looked more and more like a sequel. FD's hardly introduce that many new characters.
Pro's
- Unique, character focused routes.
- Suspense and Unpredictability.
- Art and bgm are as good as its ever been.
Con's
- Cg's while memorable are far and between.
- Landmine bad ends.
- Most of the new sub characters are garbage.
- Some routes don't solve anything, inconsistent antagonists.
Meanwhile system is also back atleast this time auto mode will stop
and its harder to miss the meanwhile scenes which iirc wasn't a thing on vita.
They try to have these flashback aria's to help us remember scenes from the first game
with the guy's POV which is nice but this works the same as meanwhile so sometimes
i'd get annoyed because i'd just gotten into the scene and it would want me to
review the past or see a scene elsewhere, I honestly prefer just the meanwhiles.
Oh apparently the switch port of the first game actually had some new cg's? nice.
Episode Burlone, stories that takes place after the characters route in the first game
though its not a simple after story... the enjoyment you get here might vary.
For play order here, I'm going to recommend Donte for later as he has
the most spoilers and Gilbert is the most original and imo fun route out of all
but other than that you can do Gil's route whenever you want.
Yang,Orlok and Nicola are mostly self-contained so the order of play doesn't really matter
for them doesn't matter that much either! Just Donte later or midway if you don't want
a certain side character's story spoiled right away.
Alternativa:
Like the name suggest this is an alternative story set after the true end
of the previous game! it featuring 8 short stories which were mostly lighthearted
as Lily interacts with various characters (mostly side) within the year of 1926.
Most of the episodes are refreshing and perhaps a nice palate cleanser after one of the routes
but unfortunately for me I did them all after doing said routes which might be a blessing
in disguise because they all do seem to hint at more and after completing said 8 stories
you unlock a full route where you can get an alternative end with the main guysas such it doesn't matter when you do either the mini route or Henri because
the story told here is completely separate from the after stories.
In all honesty the whole tone of this scenario was much more enjoyable than the after stories
itself, I do have to add that it had some weird vinyl earporn, otomate please...........😑
Not much else to say but just to do your fav guy in alternativa first because
it is copy pasta scenario and annoying to collect all ends.
Story for the after stories was interesting enough hard to figure out what was going on or why this
was happening but got explained as it went on, the length is that of a normal game so about 6-8 hours?
Each route was unique and dealt with various issues not addressed in the prequel
they brought in some new characters as well that're tied to the stories. Kind of hard to recommend this game unless you want more of the same, because
you're getting just that while it fleshes out the characters and relationship.
They did a good job with Yang even though I still don't like him all that much he's just ok to me now.
What romance is there is nice but it still retains a serious atmosphere.
The writing was exceptionally good and its still as unpredictable as ever the first game
also had that kind of suspense and if not use a guide you'll better brace yourself.
As there are landmines and one wrong choice could lead to an abrupt bad end just like the first game.
The chapter titles are also still in a different language! I always thought that was neat.
Yang's chinese, Donte in spanish, Orlok be German , Nicola's italia, oh and Henri in french.
The routes varied greatly in terms of enjoyment, I absolutely loved Gilberts
and liked Donte and Yang but Nicola was a disappointment but great as a refresher if you
had forgotten some of the stuff from the first game as for Orlok... sigh
that was just depressing to sit through and didn't really solve much if anything.
Donte's or Gil's route were probably the only well rounded routes in the whole game.😓
I mean that in terms of how it balanced plot/romance which is honestly kind of sad
nice that they all came in different flavors but the only one I truly enjoyed was Gil.I also did like Henri maybe because it had no Theo! though disappointed
otomate didn't give him an ending but I guess that fad is over now.🙃
All things considered... it was a decent sequel, if you liked the original and want to see more
including things getting fleshed out I could recommend this game and if the after stories
are too much then you can settle for alternativa? because the tone is drastically different.
Piofiore has never been an otome game that's for everyone in fact its themes
are not otome at all! I can praise it for not sugar coating what a mafia does
and I like that but i'm kind of disappointed for a reason I cannot explain without spoiling
but its related to the character Theo whom in Donte's after actually made me really angry and upset.
Its really funny how the main cast in the previous game could all do something
that could make you hate them but here its mostly the sub characters that are disgusting
especially Theo, idk I could make a rage post about him, lmao.
Also after I finished the after stories I got to alternativa which was fun at first
but then it unlocked a route and I was like there is MORE?! at that point I couldn't help
but feel slightly burnt because I was looking forward to Henri, though it was nothing
a small break couldn't cure! the tone of alternativa also helped.😅
Other than that this game was more than worth the price though! as there's plenty of content
its just that for some characters the afters might leave to be desired.
I tried to do the bad ends as I went through including the tragic end first but it was too much
and just went for the happy end which might have saved what was left of this game for me.
I know at the end of the day its just a game... and you can easily avoid the more gruesome ends
by using a guide but not everyone can stomach contents in which people die all the time
and there were too many bad ends were that happened especially in Henri's
I mean what was up with that?! in the whole game I think there's almost 20 of those.😓😓😓
That aside I think the piofiore sequel is decent but yea it ain't for everyone.
7,4/10
I might not like everything but this was a pretty good sequel...
This is the end of the no spoiler section more ramblings/spoilers after the jump.
