Usotsuki Shangri-la - review

 Game: [嘘月シャングリラ] 

Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 

Developer/publisher: Rejet.

Platform: PS Vita.

Official Site: http://rejetweb.jp/usotsuki/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v20634
Release date: 2017-11-30

Rejet's latest game... and I shall be your guinea pig in trying to figure out
if it was worth it, UsoTsuki is Lie and Moon together it means liar. (lol lying moon.)
Well uh that's all for crappy lessons in japanese you get from me.
Shangri-la is a name of a fictional paradise...

Pro's
-A good mix of sweet&serious scene.
- I'd say the story was ok like there is drive to get to the locked route.
 - Slow skip but there's jump to the next choice.

Con's
- Did they really need to have to force everyone to call Akari Usotsuki-chan a l l  t h e  t i m e.
- The characters are plain, cliche, I find unable to attach myself to most of them.
- Its actually pretty short when you think about it.
- Would be better if there are actual epilogues.

Art, looks a bit weird but not bad or anything infact the background art was fine.
Music, its decent, OP... some BGM could be better because the castle-like theme drove me crazy.
As for seiyuu choice... meh its the popular boys.

System... typical stuff, you select the route of your choice right after the prologue.
 I had no preference so I just went with one of initial ones. Ende is locked till you do the other four.
Now this is a bit of a minor complaint but the text was pretty blurry while everything else
 was crisp IDK but it bothered me, it also small but uhm the font in himihibi was pretty big
so maybe thats why it bothers me now. xD

I like the OP and all... atleast they're honest at to what expect even if the context was different.

As you've figured this game is about lies... with the usual rejet spin but lighter?!
it has a pretty generic setup of girl ends up in another world not like her own.
The protagonist is typical, she seems good natured but no experience with guys
this is okay but I sort of laughed when Akari said how well everything else is going
to a relative on the phone in the beginning. I was like girl if you know what you're in for!
 The prologue/common route was an introduction, they explained how the protagonist
Akari is the usotsuki who might save the world and Fenrir, Hel and Jorm are the brothers
of calamity who are believed to cause misfortune and are scorned for it...  they seem
normal enough, like they saved Akari but there seems to be more to them than meets the eye.

Smartphone? what is that? why thank you for this gem...

Who thought this whole usotsuki concept was okay? I can't take it seriously.

At first I thought this whole game is a pun on the word ''Usotsuki'', I joke about it
 but in the beginning it was actually really cringe worthy. Constantly hearing the protag called
usotsuki-chan or liar-chan in plain english is so incredible off-putting...
but as I did more routes I eventually stopped caring.😅

Can't say the transition from Akari's world to shangri-la was very good in fact it confused me.
That aside there is a bit of mystery to it all... and Usotsuki-chan >_> frequently has these
visions/dreams when she touches water so I still found drive to continue, since its
like the way she learns more about the chara's the happiest
ends aren't necessary the best for sake of world which is sad.

The romance and plot developed side by side so it was good mix of sweet/serious moment
the pacing and sense of mystery was nice too bad some routes are just disappointing
story wise since there's only one where all makes sense. As for the protagonist
Akari wasn't that annoying just a bit too nice for her own good I guess...
the guys however are pretty bland they don't have much personality and felt plain to me.
So on the topic of lying, if you lie at certain points you change the ending...
dunno if it was the guide i used but in certain routes you dont need to lie to get best end.

I do think it has its place in the game... Its nice that each route had something new
to reveal, atleast the turn of events was never the same which was nice.

 

 I thought Usotsuki was so-so... its pretty tame for a rejet game atleast NO VERY TAME
in the first half of the routes(not counting bad ends). Each route focuses on that
character, its unique enough just doing one route won't get you to the truth of the story.
They all have something they don't want others to see and its also very realistic, not everyone
is nice even if at a glance they appear to be. I suppose Usotsuki shangri-la
is like an apology after the disaster that was Moshikami because I believe they went too far
with that one, you might know what I am talking about.
Well if you don't want to read more, I'd say it Usotsuki gets the OK from me...there's no
creepy oniichans or extreme yanderes here so if you expect that then you'd be disappointed.
Might be better for newbies... since veterans may notice how lacking certain aspect are.
So-so otome game but Nice Try Rejet.

If I had to recommend any play order it'd be:
Fenrir / Hati >  Jorm > Hell > Ende.
I do not think it matters when you do Hati he might be nice first, midway or right before Ende
idk it was pretty much the most otome-like route so just do it when you feel like.

Black Wolves Saga Weib und Schwarz - Review

Game: [Black Wolves Saga Bloody Nightmare and Last Hope.]

Genre: Otome Game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Otomate.

Platform: PC. PSP, PS Vita.

Official Site: http://www.otomate.jp/bws/wus/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v8095

Release date: 2017-1-26

Vita port of BWS contains both games, they're relatively the same in terms of content.
This will be a general review and i'll try to cover both games
so don't expect synopsis or summaries since you should be able to read that elsewhere
I'll try to write more for others but eh I wasn't very motivated for some.
For the sake of all that is unholy I decided to start with BN because it was the first
to be released back then, may as well keep it consistent shall we? and well all I can say is that
I am glad I got this out of my backlog since I got it out of sheer curiosity.
TBH for BN all I remember is nazi cats and an angry wolf fighting each other
over a woman called Elvira they once liked but met an unfortunate end and the hatred
went on for a couple of years, how unlucky for Fiona to be the split image? \(⌒‿⌒)/
Sadly Fiona was engaged to Mejojo since she was little, he's way older than her too! what a pedo.
The main focus of BN is the cats... while LH focus on the wolves
 so it obvious the others sorta get the shaft in the game they're not the focus of.

Unlike the previous game I played this game was better in its overall presentation?
BN had a powerful opening, LH was slower and more otome-ish either way
this game is like a rollercoaster it starts off great then slows down and before you know
 shit went down because come on you knew it was gonna happen it just a matter of when.
Without spoiling that basically how the rest went down too... 😅
People weren't kidding when they said this game had an overall decent plot but uh
I had a hard time categorizing BN as an otome game untill I got to Julian, lol.

Pro's
- Interesting world and story.
- Most characters are interesting but some...
- Art.
- Bgm.

Con's
- Long common route, skip fest on 2nd+ play.
- Read skip was 2slow...
- The otome game bit may leave to be desired, felt more like straight-forward vn at times
and romance wasn't the focus I guess the twistedness was.
- If you don't like abuse stay away from Bloody Nightmare.
- Auger.

The OP is great, but oh boy that bias...

Well the bgm was stellar, A++voice acting and distinct art style, the narrative
at BN was quite brutal and shocking, most characters all seemed to be pretty twisted
but I can't help but be interested in them, sasuga rejet.
There's not much hope of romance with some of them? but I could already tell
this was not the main focus of the game, the intriguing story and dark fantasy theme was.
Heroine is ok considering her upbringing little did she know her peaceful life would turn
 into hell after all of that, can't help but feel bad for her not being able to do much.
 That said I liked how Fiona was in Mejojo's bad end at LH she was able to end him
since he was schizo and she didn't want to pretend to be someone she is not.
whoops did I just spoil something.. oh I guess I did glad it wasn't full context.
Moving on the story seems to ride on past events and there were a lot of flashbacks
which made for a very long common route, BN took me like 3/4 days to get through
also don't get me started on the switching of POV at times it felt like a regular VN but it seemed
LH had more unique content for each chara except the twins borrowing from each other.

I guess Zara was my fav next to Julian but he felt out of place.

No annoying system to rage about this time unlike the last otomege I played
its just the same old VN stuff, BWS may seem long the first time and yes it is long
 but sadly the BWS games are mostly common route so on 2nd+ play it'll just fly by
with a few pit stops here and there, just pay attention during your first play...
the political intrigue and zodivia bits were pretty interesting and so was
Mejojo,Auger's, Rath's and Arles past but I thought it was paced badly at times.
I think the common was way too long, you know I can stand common routes like in KgK
with a decent route after it but BWS was literally 90% common 10% individual...
and it wasn't that romance oriented and at times I had a hard time questioning
why Fiona fell for certain characters coughMejojo&Augercough.
Most of the torture scenes in BN were on automode and couldn't help but laugh...
at how crazy they were, yeah its shocking but it didn't faze me much.

TL;DR Fans of dark fantasy & twisted characters do not want to miss out on this
even if the otome part of the game may leave to be desired, some routes or end
may just be too much and I had a hard time to categorize this as full otome but
I think its still worth it if one wants something different from the usual stuff.
Whatever floats yer boat I suppose... 
I'm actually glad I finished it so fast because I couldn't care about half of the dudes because some
were completely unlikeable and when they did become bearable hint Guillan it was too late for me to care.
7/10

Ken ga Kimi Momoyo Tsuzuri - Review

剣が君を守る

Game: [Ken ga Kimi Momoyo Tsuzuri]

Genre: Otome game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Rejet.

Platform: PS Vita.

Official Site: http://rejetweb.jp/kengakimi/momoyo/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v18944

Release date: 2016-12-22

Sometimes a FD you didn't ask for is better than no FD at all.
Yes that's how I original felt when Ken ga Kimi Momoyo Tsuzuri was announced.
 KgK may not have needed a FD per se, the vita port additions were perfect but I guess
 that port sold well enough for rejet to give this game as a thank you for supporting. :)
I can say this game was worth my money thats for sure, Rejet mostly used
their budget correctly and otomate could learn a thing or two from this!

  That aside I loved the original, the vita port of KgK may not have been the best
but its definitely the definite version because of added scenes with cg's
and after stories not in the original PC version, however I can't really recommend KgK
to anyone but people with a decent grasp of the language because there is a lot of kanji
If you just started learning you aren't gonna be able to understand it much.
So I can only recommend if you have a high lvl understanding of japanese
and like old timey wafuu settings plus do not mind a slow and long visual novel.
I guess fans of hakuouki or similair otomege could enjoy Ken ga Kimi as well, because samurai boys.

Pro's
- Fills in some gaps in story the original game couldn't explain.
- Art/music.
- Seiyuu did an amazing job.
 - Lengthy compared to the average FD, it will last a while.

Con's
- Not every side story was as interesting as another was.
- Long winded.
 -  101 CG's yet no actual Kiss CG's. (눈_눈)

Like the original, Rejet still has this little fortune thing when you boot up the game and you can also
get side characters this time which sadly makes it even harder to see the character you like the most.

*Whale sound*

In short KgK Momoyo Tsuzuri is basically a collection of side stories, book 1 takes place right after
the common route when the boys have parted with Kayo and are on their way back to edo from Sunpu.
Book 2 and 3 both takes place some time before the gozenjiai(sword competition).
Those two are basically AU's side stories and doesn't really fit into the canon that well.
The individual scenario books for each character are great, some even go further
into certain matters of the original like for example Kei's and Enishi's first chapter.
Each chapter takes roughly one hour to complete give or take depening on your own reading speed.

You also collect bills during the first three books by viewing scenes
from the guys POV they unlock omakes which are really cute.

There is no recommended order for the FD but I feel like its best to start with Book 1 then 2 and
finally 3 since even if AU, its a common story and it just makes more sense this way.
After that feel free to jump into the individual books and from personal experience
its best to do Enishi's book before Saneaki's and Suzukake's before Tsuzuramaru.

Honestly I can't really recommend this FD if you don't want to go deeper into the world of KgK
or didn't like every character since it will take up a lot of time to read everything.
If you do want that then by all means please do because it is worth the investment
but still I have to say the sheer content of this FD is really overwhelming.

Personally Kgk momoyo Tsuzuri gets an 8.5/10 from me, its a great FD but part of me
feels like some of it wasn't really necessary and there are a few forgettable side stories.
Taking in the annoyance of not being able to access the menu where you select the books
you want to read from the main menu is also reflected in the score there's a quick workaround though.
Not everything stood out to me but honestly over half of it did, after playing this
I really understand every character that much better so yes it was a worthwhile investment.

There's more thought at the bottom of the post but in short i'm mostly positive and I recommend
this FD to any Ken ga Kimi fan who doesn't mind investing time into every character's story.
Rating

Plot  ★★★☆☆3.5 (Writing of some side stories varies some are better than others)
Overall enjoyment ★★★★★ (TL;DR a FD with content that is more than I ever ask for)

Best and Worst Otome Games of 2016

Welcome to another yearly issue of best and worse otome games I played during the year.

Yes even if they aren't technically released in 2016, these are the ones I played this year.

I will be using three categories, Terrible, Neutral and Best.
Once again this is all in my personal opinion.

1, Angelique Retour.

2, Norn9 Var Commons and Ozmafia. *English*

3, Zettai Meikyuu Himitsu no Oyayubi-hime.

4, Yunohana Spring.

5, Getsuei no Kusari Sakuran Paranoia.

6, Sangoku Rensenki ~Otome no heihou~ Omoide Gaeshi.

7, Eikoku Tantei Mysteria the Crown.

8, Moshi, Kono Sekai Kami-sama ga iru to suru naraba.

9, Wand of Fortune R.

10, Scared Rider Xechs Rev.

11, Kenka Bancho Otome.

12, Period Cube ~Torikago no Amdeus~.

13, Taishou x Alice -All in One-.

14, SA7 Silent Ability Seven.
15, Moujuutachi to Ohime-sama.

16, Collar x Malice.
17, Oumagatoki ~Kakuriyo no Enishi~.
18, Yuukyuu no Tierblade -Lost Chronicle-.
19, Geten no Hana.
20, Suuran Digit.
21, Meiji Tokyo Renka Full Moon.
22, Code: Realize FD.

--------------------------------
Trial / Demo
These won't be put into any categories.
 
 Koezaru wa Akai Hana.
Torikago no Marriage ~Hatsukoi no Tsubasa~.
Orfleurs ~Koufuku no Hanataba~.
---

Scared Rider Xechs Rev - Review

スカーレッドライダーゼクス
Game: [Scared Rider Xechs]
Genre: Otome Visual Novel.
Developer/Publisher: Rejet and Red entertainment
Platform: PS2, PSP, PS Vita.
Official Site: http://scared-rider-xechs.jp/
Release date: 2015-11-19

Since Scared Rider Xech's is getting an anime soon I decided now is a good time to read the game!
I bought the digital version cuz I don't want to wait and besides missed the tokuton's already.

The vita port does not contain the FD, I heard that the fandisc for his game was kind of bad anyway. 

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started but I heard SRX was still fun despite its issues.

So hear goes nothing!

This is a six year old game by now and if you still haven't played it you may want to get to it.
Either way you ever wanted an otome game about a bunch of Rockstar Kamen Riders?
Well you got it! as usual rejet and red entertainment deliver us this crazy tale that is scared rider xechs!

First CG in the game, just who is our heroine Akira?

 Pro's
Interesting setting & overall story.
- Characters.

 Art, Pako's art is suberb.
 Music, great usually music in otomege its forgettable but SRX? nope it is awesome.

Con's

  - Plot holes and many unanswered questions.
- Long common route not much of an individual route + repetitive shit makes this game not all that appealing.
 - First time through this game is long but on repeat playthrough its quite short.
 - The guys don't say the default heroine's name, always dem Kimi's, Anata's and Omae's
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Moshi, Kono Sekai ni Kami-sama ga Iru to suru Naraba - Review

もし、この世界に神様がいるとするならば。

Game: [Moshi, Kono Sekai ni Kami-sama ga Iru to suru Naraba.]

Genre: Otome game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Rejet.

Platform: PS Vita.

Official Site: http://rejetweb.jp/moshikami/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v16770

Release date: 2016-02-25

Oh boy I don't know what I should've expected or signed up for because this otomege
 sure was something else with all the shit that happened in the common route I almost wanted
to drop it cuz I had enough, but I'm glad I didn't cuz it was actually pretty decent in the end
that is if you do not mind the horrifying twist in Neji's route among other things.
Hey atleast you can skip through all the shit that happens in the common route later, lol.
Anyway please do not play this game if you think this is a fluffy highschool
otome game with fantasy themes because it is not, all that and the light novel-ish title
are false advertisements, Moshikami has a lot of stuff somet people could not want in their otomege's.

My play order was Ace > Normal end > Shuri > Kyo > Neji > Masato.
 This was kind of a bad order and not ideal so...
 I did Ace aka the poster boy's route first I don't know if that was a good idea though
but after I did everyone's route, in my opinion its better to do the normal ending first
followed by Ace and then Shuri both are likeable plus Ace's perfect after normal end
then do Kyo and finally Neji since his route has the most horrifying twist related to Masato
whom's route is locked til last, well if you like twisted onii-chans you may like him
but boy Masata really sets the bar since not many come close to that level of kimoi.

I recommend this play order:
Normal ending  > Ace > Kyo > Shuri > Neji > Masato.
Not much different from mine but whatever do Neji before Masato because PLOT, seriously
You could probably switch the first three routes a bit around, depending on your taste.

 For the order of endings I recommend:
Do 帰還エンド first, followed by  混沌エンド then  滅亡エンド and finally 真相エンド.
Also most of the endings aren't that happy, most of them are heartbreaking.

Anyway let's get the pro's and con's out of the way!

 Pro's
- Interesting setting and sad story.
- Fantasy elements.
- Heroine was interesting and likeable but she might be hard to understand at times.
- Characters, the four main guys are all likeable.
- Seiyuu, despite the popular bunch they did an amazing job.
-Art, while some sprite may look derp(looking at you Kyo), its still pretty.
- BGM is fantastic, I also love the different vocal ED themes.
- Routes do not overlap.

Con's
- Dummy head mics are gonna be the end of me... (wait why is this a con?)
 - Skip is so slow, Jump isn't reliable cuz it jumps right passed unread text, oh and also lag.
- Long common route.
 - Longwinded, ermahgerd I get it m8... TL;DR.
 - Bullying, drugging, kidnapping and attempted rape.
-Blood/gore/horror elements.