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/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v49600

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.

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

Utakata no Uchronia - Review

Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Broccoli/Licobits.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://licobits-game.com/uchronia/ 

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v40519
Release date: 11-04-2024. 

 

I still decided to get this game but the price... why is this game so expensive?

I even bought it digital but 8000 yen? damn that is the price of a limited edition

from the PS Vita era. Idk if this is just broccoli or the economy tanking

but I can see why people just don't want to blind purchase these games nowadays.

 

I'll say it right off the bat, this game was definitely not another Piofiore yet

it could be its successor in spirit. Also while this is not an otomate game

you can definitely tell this was by former staff of theirs.

 

Pro's 

- Interesting story in the grand scheme of things...

- Most love interests were likable except one.

- Gorgeous art and fitting bgm.

 

Con's

- Needs a high level of japanese to fully understand the story.

- Length, focuses too much on the big picture that it cuts itself short.

- Overall plot/flow of the game gets a bit repetitive with every route.

- Yori, i'm not even going to say anything else here.

 

I really liked the OP movie back in the demo and they finally uploaded it on YT

seems like they waited till the actual release date instead of alongside the demo's release.

I hardly ever skipped the OP, it generally was nice to see everytime you boot up the game.

Like I said in my demo impression post, UtaChro is very scenario focused, I just

did not expect it to be on such a grandscale and the fact it was legit surprised me.

UtaChro is very focused on the world they live in and the relationships of the people

in Hinagiku's life etc. Utachro is rich in worldbuilding and interpersonal relationships

but due to all that makes for a pretty long game, no joke. Due to that the romance takes a

while to develop as well but I generally had no complaints because of the pace of it.

For some routes the resolution could seem rushed or good enough... oh well.

What I also like is the whole main cast is part of the plot and don't just

disappear off the map once you lock onto a route which is great.

System is same as piofiore, lots of choices; 2 main endings a best and bad end.

There's no affection/correct choice indicator so easy to hit a game over end.

It may be best to use a guide if you don't want any surprises. There's the switch the PoV

like in Piofiore but since this is from the same writer/director so its to be expected.

 

In terms of story I was hooked to some extent and wanted to see where it was going

but it was also a bit long-winded and the conversations were not always able to grab me.

In Utachro my attention often waned. I do not know if it was because of the level of

japanese or the dialogue just being... dry. Of course at times jokes were cracked

but comedy is not really the focus in this game and it was far and between.

The level of japanese UtaChro uses often betrayed me, because at times it is simple

but it also won't hesitate to throw some complicated kanji at you.

Haven't played Y7 yet but that's me whenever I encountered Kanji that tripped me up.

 UtaChro is also incredibly slowburn, I am glad I did Awayuki as my first route since it fit

really well and I liked their chemistry somewhat but it wasn't a route to bring out

the full potential of the story which was sad. Good starter but not much else.

I did Yori second because he was the resident trashbag and wanted him out of my hair

after the crap he pulled during Awayuki's route and at the end of the day

Yori just wasn't my cup of tea but it may be someone elses? Tobari on the other hand

was probably one of my favorite characters, the romance with him was just right as well!

It reminded me of non-toxic normal relationships, which after Yori was a breath of fresh air.

Idk what to say about Tsuyukusa without spoilers other than that I am kinda tired of the

friend-type routes but he was one of the more relevant routes in the game, he did take a while

to grow on me and like Tobari I couldn't really see it till like chapter 4/5. Got not much to say about

Yashiro tbh but throughout most routes he was sorta just there, I remember him saying

I'm just an amnesiac guy somewhere which sounds about right till you get

to his own route and he just fucks everything up literally.😨

 

Hinagiku as a heroine was pretty great, good natured and a bit pampered like a princess

but also fearless and not easily afraid of situations she is getting herself into

yet at times she is still a girl you know? don't expect too much of her and I think she was

at her best in Tobari's route! I did prefer her over Naaya from Matsurika.

 

I also made a low effort meme for fun.

Yashiro could be a bit more to the left but for the most part this fits.

 

Overall UtaChro is overly lengthy and complicated, I only really enjoyed&remember the

interactions with the love interest & other fun interactions but there wasn't much of that.

The conflict going on in the town..... sure I was intriguid by what was really going on

but I just was kinda bored with how it was presented. Maybe it really is the dialogue

since it just didn't grab me most of the time. Or I just wasn't interested in the big picture

which just makes it a me problem. Your opinion could differ from this so I will still encourage

this game to anyone that likes scenario driven visual novels of decent length & don't mind politics

but idk the routes are kind of a hit or a miss. The only guy I really liked was Tobari

so I don't know what that says either, probably not much(other than that I might like stupid guys).

 

I know Uta-Chro is scenario driven but it really surprised me that there was

enough romance along the way and this was for me the saving grace.

If I had to be harsh this was a 5/10 due its repetitiveness but it gave me Tobari so... its a 7/10.

Uta-chro was just a really weird game, I came here for the scenario but left with romance.....

I still hope Aksys or someone else still picks up Uta-Chro... I mean its not Piofiore

but it has some of its elements as well as Nicola&Yang's love child Yori

which I am sure people will either love or hate. Even if that person is not me. 

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

There are route restrictions and Yashiro, Tsuyukusa and Yori are off limits at the start.

Yori is unlocked by doing Awayuki, Tsuyukusa unlocks after doing Tobari and finally

Yashiro needs like everyone so no choice but to do him last.

My play order ended up being:

Awayuki > Yori > Tobari > Tsuyukusa > Yashiro >Finale.

I'll just recommend the same except maybe switch Awayuki/Tobari based on preference, this order

may be good to be able to go from those who're available at the start to a more important route.

Whether or not you do Yori right after Awayuki just depends whether you'd like to or not.

This game is even more restrictive than Matsurika and its not even funny.

Route babbles after the jump however the only routes I really wrote about

were Tsuyukusa and Yashiro, but only note-worthy things. This game is too long

someone else can do it if they'd like to but it ain't gonna be me. I'm drowning.

Utakata no Uchronia - Demo Impressions

 Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Broccoli/Licobits.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://licobits-game.com/uchronia/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v40519

Release date: 14-3-2024.(Demo) 11-04-2024. (Full Game)

 

Since I wasn't in the mood to play as Red and Barret in FF7 rebirth

I took a few hours to check out this demo!

I haven't really done a demo impressions/review post in ages and I didn't even know

UtaChro was going to get one! which is good because I was a little on the fence.

 

I only tried out UtaChro to see what it would be like! and also kinda as a vibecheck.

I know things could always turn out different in the full game but whatever

who cares if you only end up liking 1 love interest or route!

UtaChro is developed by a bunch of ex? otomate staff and broccoli/TIS creation.

I like RiRi's art but overall it reminded me more of Piofiore and not Yunohana.

Backgrounds were pretty detailed in showing the environments, art in general was good.

Music? no complaints. The OP definitely catched my attention more and I liked listening to it!

sadly I couldn't find the OP on youtube yet to link here.

 

The demo had the common route & was definitely good for introducing the setting and characters.

The heroine Hinagiku is an Ojou-sama who is good natured...maybe a bit pampered

she gets treated like a princess and earned that nickname, lol.

Yashiro seems to have amnesia and they go around trying to jog his memory for a bit, doesn't

really work out yet. Tsuyukusa bumped into them, he knows Hinagiku and thinks Yashiro

is too close already, oh jealous are we? Tsuyukusa was pretty chill so whatever I guess.

The demo ended after you meet Yori but for the most part its just too early to tell

where any of it was going, romance was definitely not a focus atleast not at this point!

not a lot of fluff yet as well, I figured out from my two-ish hour expedition that UtaChro

is a scenario driven kind of game with romance not really being a focus.

Interactions were good and  it had a decent sense of humor too. Overall it seems UtaChro

 is more or less something like Piofiore but with a bit of steampunk! I kind of liked it?

Not really route impressions but I wrote a little about the love interests?

not all seem to have a lot of screentime in the demo so there's not much after the jump.

Shuuen no Virche Epic Lycoris - Review

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

OP movie URL cuz they apparently disabled embedding...

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

 

Pro's.

- Side stories are nice.

- Nice after stories for Yvess, Scien and Adolph.

- Great for Ankou fans.

 

Con's 

- A giant 🖕 to Lukas fans.💀

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

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

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

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

---

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Kuro no Kiseki 2 Crimson Sin - Review

Lol, they buried Aaron...

Genre: RPG
Developer/publisher: Falcom
Platform: PS4/PS5.
Official Site: https://www.falcom.co.jp/kuro2/

Release date: 2022-09-29.  

Okay its that time of the year! unfortunately while I greatly looked forward to this game

I did not enjoy it as much as I had hoped! first of all this is a direct-sequel to kuro no kiseki

so I don't recommend starting with this game. Sadly when this game launched

there was a bunch of drama Llama due to chinese streamer that rushed the game

and finished it in a day or so and a lot of fans were disappointed.

After playing it myself I can sort of understand why!

I will say this here, I tried to be positive but this game is far from perfect

this is not one of those cases where sugar coating it is gonna make it better.

Anyway if you don't like what you're reading close the tab and

go play it for yourself and form your own opinion.

There won't really be many plot spoilers in this post, though some notes

about random scenes but nothing with full context.

Pro's

- Story has an interesting enough premise and it is good as a direct-sequel.

- Rion and Celis are goat, Nadia and Swin are cute little angels.

- BGM was good, tho mostly boss fights.

- Fishing minigame is back and better than ever.*

Con's

- This game does very little for the trails series as a whole.

- Dumb bad ends with time travel gimmick yet no consequences for it.

- We hardly visit any new areas.

- Characters get too careless and OOC in a way that does not fit.

- Minigames for the sake of having them.

I'm going to start with the things that I liked!

I loved spending more time with Rion and Celis and learning more of them

they're also Bergard's disciples/students and they go way back. Sadly Bergard couldn't

be around much in this game but these guys have our backs most of the time, especially Rion!

I liked the scene where Celis kicked a door and Rion went like oh my that's quite sturdy isn't it?😅

or the one where Rion covered Celis's mouth as she was about to spout obscenities.😂

I Need more cheeky guys like Rion in my life...

 Someone at falcom may have been a Eugeo fan though as Rion's S-craft is quite the reference!

and well he ended up being like a true bro too so... hmm!

Cuz Bergard isn't present at all in this game and I wish Rion/Celis replaced him in full

but they ended up being more or less guests that join at fixed times.😭😭😭

A timeless classic...

 Nadia and Swin are also back and they're so cute and sweet, most scenes were fun with them

also plenty of fun moments with the cast in the game, it wasn't all bad.

Okay you may be like what does this have to do with any of the plot? well it doesn't

the plot is mostly about the eight genesis, Quatre also gets more development

as his backstory was actually pretty big and could definitely not be told before.

Unfortunately this game may have been about the eight genesis but it did a terrible job

at even explaining wtf they even are... instead we get an entire chapter full of bullshittery

but hey just in case anyone misinterprets this sentence i'll add that atleast it wraps it all up

pretty well and there was a reason why garden master wanted the dang things... and why red grendel exists. So even if this game does nothing for the series as a whole it is good as a sequel.

Elaine has a nice ass.

Sadly I thought Elaine would have more presence but more often than not it felt like Swin

was the second protagonist and she was even sidelined for a whole chapter.

Haha atleast Elaine's final connect event was kind of nice, super fanservicey but uhm

while that is nice its also nothing definite regarding her relationship with Van.

 

Van is a good MC, kuro 1 has showed that but in this game he and the crew have

gotten careless, add into the fact the dead ends are just shock value

its like they tried to turn this into a visual novel! Maybe trails becoming a VN

wouldn't be so bad, perhaps this way they could actually finish the story as a whole. /s

As for Shizuna... she was cool as always but yet again this wasn't her game!

also I didn't really like her costume this time cuz it looked like she robbed a store 

and was caught in the act when going for the pants.😂

 

Anyway if you expect Kuro no Kiseki 2 Crimson Sin to make big progress for the series in general

then drop those expectations cuz you ain't gonna get it! but as a sequel or fandisk to Kuro 1?

yea it is good in that sense but it also doesn't do too much for any of the cast.

In short, Kuro no Kiseki 2 can be a disappointment *if you expect to much in the grand scheme of things.

 

More rambles after the jump, edit: I won't force anyone to read any further as I can sound

kind of harsh, cuz despite loving parts of it I did not enjoy the game as much and actually

expected more of it. Please note that I do not think this game is that bad...

if you really don't like what you're reading then I urge you to play it for yourself

maybe you will like it more than I did! thus my score of enjoyment overall

is a 6/10 this is my personal rating for the game.

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

Birushana Senki ~Ichijuu no Kaze~ - review

 Genre:VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/birushana/fd/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v32229
Release date: 2022-03-31.

 

Well its here! the FD to Birushana or Bilshana (depending on how you spell it).

I'm surprised it got a FD but it did do pretty well so its only natural.

I kinda did wonder if it was really needed or not... as release draw close but its better

than something never getting a FD... like Hana Oboro for example.

 Aside from the usual after stories the fd also has routes for some of

the side characters that only had mini routes in the original.

 

Pro's

- After stories are diverse and suit the characters.

- New routes give those characters plenty of substance.

- Gorgeous artwork.

 

Con's

- After's get less Cg's than the new routes...

 

The OP movie is pretty good, definitely the type i'd just let play.

Its just a standard VN, After stories don't have any choices and its mostly just chill

and fluff as you get to enjoy some time with your husbando.

New routes do have choices but cuz of the love catch its easy to tell which is the

best choice and thus making it easier to get both endings.

Right after I downloaded the game from the jpn eshop I dived into Benkei's route

and well I already was satisfied in the romance department! even if he was not my fav.

 

After's aren't that long either... I think the length was about two hours depending

on your reading speed. There's not much to work with so don't expect too much

except some fluff and wrapping up some loose ends, as well as some horniness?

some had it on the lvl of oh god just fuck already?!

As for the new routes... they do a pretty good job of giving those guys more substance!

they are like a full route in the original game so we get to spend plenty of time with them.

Before starting on this I wasn't that hyped for the new routes cuz I was fine with 

what we got in the original and there wasn't much to them except

Shigehira but Tsugunobu really grew on me and ugh he's now my best boi!

With this I think the content value of this game is pretty good and will last a bit unless you binge...

The new routes get more cg's than the afters which could be disappointing! for afters 

there were only 3/4 cg's (with variation) and one bonus with the guy in present day clothing.

The new routes also follow some of the general plot of the original because again its about

the genpei war, you can't expect them to suddenly make it about something else

which is good because it was consistent in making room for the new-old friends.

I think that in general something Birushana is good at is concistency, there's minimum holes

in its plot they might be there but once you did all it really did make sense.

Of course its not perfect... and there's definitely some problems but I really do love

this series and its cast, it was great to spend more time with them.

If I had to be really honest neither of the Satou brothers were particularly interesting

in terms of plot, Takatsuna was slightly more interesting cuz he's Yoritomo's retainer but don't do

these routes expected new and exciting plot revelations cuz that's not what they're here for.

They're basically here for another romance option... someone for Shana to be happy with

which was nice in its own way, personally I did enjoy spending time with Tsugunobu.

For play order I did want to try to alternate the afters with the new routes which was: 

Benkei >  Shungen > Tsugunobu > Tadanobu > Noritsune > Takatsuna >Yoritomo>Tomomori >Shigehira.

Anyway Birushana FD is a great treat for fans that want a little something extra

I wasn't disappointed with the additional romance for some of the guys cuz some of them needed it.

The stories are diverse and suit the characters, in that sense Birushana doesn't disappoint.

Maybe I am being too positive but if I like it, I like it. There's not much to complain about either

except maybe the CG count for the after stories but it seems they wanted to focus more on the

side characters new routes anyway its better to have quality over quantity and its not like

the after's were bad... I mean the guys getting hornier is a good thing no?

 

I could understand some people not giving two fucks about those guys having new routes but maybe

it will surprise you & you'll end up with a new best boi, i'm speaking from experience here.

So overall me thinks depending on what you're here for that this

is a pretty good FD to compliment the original!

 

PLEASE NOTE that from here on there will be spoilers both for the original game and this FD

as I will write a little about the after stories/new routes from this point onward, so if you plan

to play either the original game in english/jpn or this FD I recommend to stop reading here!!!

 

 

 

Shuuen no Virche ~Error Salvation~ - review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Pro's

- Good worldbuilding and well written story & cast.

 - Gorgerous art and music to fit the mood.

 

Con's

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is what PEAK FICTION does to you.

 

 So my play order was like this:

Lukas > Mathis > Scien > Ives > Final act.

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

with the jump break and the rest is just spoiler babbles

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

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

Kimi wa Yukima ni Koinegau - review

Genre: Otome/simulation VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/kimiyuki/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v29906
Release date: 2021-07-29.

 

Finally time for another otome game after I ended up skipping paradigm paradox

cuz jpn reviews really weren't doing that one any favors, going in all I knew about Kimiyuki

was that it was going to be a tearjerker/nakige in an old timey setting. Seiyuu cast is a mix

of the popular ones and some newer talent among one i've never heard before

which was nice, other than that this game was pretty long and took half a month to complete! though

I did push through the last two routes and well during the final one I hardly could put it down.😅

The op movie is pretty decent, and I often just let it play.

 

 

Pro's

- Surprisingly comedic, lot's of cute scenes with the guy(s).

- Unique and self contained, routes however to understand the plot you must do all the routes.

- Art, gorgeous and good variety of CG's.

- Music fit the theme/mood of the game.

- Most if not all the main guys were likable.

Con's

- Pacing, due to making time for fun and cute romance and flesh out

sub characters ties with the plot it all can drag on.

- Not all routes are as interesting, the character might really save it depending on taste.

- Half the time I did wonder... what does this game try to be???

 

General plot:

Our heroine Suzuno is an orphan who can see some weird thread of emotion that more often

than not leads to doom she was chased away by villagers and being called a monster by them...

despite that she's surprisingly carefree and optimistic.

That thread she sees is an ill omen and the villagers want nothing to do with it...

 one day she meets a man named Tomonari whom ends up inviting her to come to edo with him

its then she meets the oniwaban which is like a band of samurai's under command of the shogun.

Why not? why not go with them when your fellow villagers call you a demon-possesed youkai?!

Oh and apparently she is also a descendant of the haku-seki clan.

Tomonari and Kunitaka are so nice to Suzuno as they introduce her to the other

oniwaban and edo, faith in humanity has been restored... somewhat.

The rest of the plot of this game involves Suzuno use her powers and help the oniwaban

there is far too much to quickly digest but Kiko's are basically seen as tools to kill demons

and have no emotion which is why Suzu-chan can't see anything from them

the funny part is that the kiko's are surprisingly... free-spirited.😅

Literally most of the oniwaban as they try to do their job.

The art in this game is gorgeous the backgrounds are decent enough.

Most important characters had a sprite and there were a lot of sub chara's so that was nice.

The music is fitting and there's an interesting cast of characters which was enough

to get excited to find out what the story in this game was about

which without spoilers was just okay really this is a story driven game

that actually manages to deliver the romantic moments throughout as well but boy is it long!

had I not planned some evenings for this I would have taken longer to complete it.

There were plenty of CG's and they happen when you would like to see them

which is really good especially after the last otome game I played.

Probably one of my favourite common route group cg's.

 There are 3 types of endings bad sad and best, it doesn't really matter which order

I think I was glad I did Kinji's sad end last because I needed a moment after it.

There aren't that many bad ends, 1 per character Tomonari is a slight exception to this....

Other than that the system in general was just basic choices and nothing complicated.

The heroine Suzuno was alright, she has her circumstances but she wasn't annoying or anything

considering her optimism, I thought it was easy to relate to her situation in the beginning. 

Suzuno will point out if something worries her due to her ability to see threads of doom

and act on her own but that last bit might not be a good thing most of the time...

cuz she can't really fight back on her own i'll add to it that she is quite pure and some things

might fly over her head which in turn can lead to some hilarious situations.

Suzuno is also not a fighter, though she did have her moments 

and she stood out the most in Yoichi and Genjurou routes.

Common route was okay in terms of introducing everything and world view, they introduced

some more characters after the talk with the shogun and I did struggle to remember

all their names but atleast they had some unique personalities but so I was able to

identify them more easily as emo guy(Kyoushiro), mr nice guy(Mitsushige)

and megane brat(Yabuta).😅 This game is slow paced but all of the routes were unique

even if common route was shared the stories varied heavily though.

Its theme was advertised as to be sad but it has rather snappy dialogue & there were plenty

of funny and cute scenes unfortunately due to this the overall pacing doesn't feel too good.

Most of the main guys were really nice except one of them but he had his reasons really, you'd

have to decide for yourself. Honestly I didn't want anything bad to happen to them

so considering the theme this was working as intended.

But it is kinda obvious now that if you thought this would be a tragic historic fantasy

then I have to disappoint! Kimiyuki was actually more comedic than I ever expected it to be. Considering they brought in iwai yuki a japanese comedian it all makes sense now.

 The overall production values are also quite high, but it did  have a bit of a slow start

all things considered  I think it was necessary to understand the setting.

TBH I want to like this game more but it got a few problems and that is it doesn't

really know what it wants to be sometimes! the pacing issues are so there, I don't mind

that there are cute or funny scenes in fact I welcomed them but more often than not but

the story pacing is awful, it would drag on a lot atleast romance didn't disappoint me...

they often focus so much on side characters that i'm like what was it we were doing again?

Like the first route I did, Kunitaka was a bit boring in terms of plot but other than that

I still manage to enjoy it, I know I enjoyed Kinji and Yoichi's route the most overall

and even Genjurou had a better written plot and villain(annoying as he was)

but yea the writing quality is all over the place we have lots of route that don't have much to do

with the real plot and you won't make sense of anything till the locked routes.

A common problem in otome game land...  atleast I did think they balanced 

the romance with whatever plot together was going on so you got some cute moments

and more serious stuff while learning more but like I already said the writing quality varied heavily.

I did wonder a little about the Kiko's being emotionless

and are tools to wipe out youkai/yoika but they're so free spirited???

but its more like they're not fully capable of being human like its obvious they can be a bit

insensitive at times some more than others, needless to say these guys aren't perfect

and they don't need to be.

So despite this being advertised as a tearjerker... you're mostly in for a good time! mostly... yes.

so this is actually more of a romantic comedy really that in a way is actually a bit tender.

If you end up getting this just enjoy the ride,but its probably better to not have too much

expectations because like I mentioned above not all routes were as interesting cuz it did get slow

but that might be because it tried to focus on side characters as well! so bottom line is

this game tried to do too much things at once! which lead to a long game in general.

For what its worth it was a decent wafuu otome game the only problem is the language really

its not beginner friendly but seems like Aksys is bringing this over... some day.

Sigh aksys I do hope they won't make a mess of it because this is the only way

people can enjoy the games if they don't know jpn... I AM WORRIED and wanna express this

cuz this game does have a lot of terms and old timey so this might be more than they can chew.

 

So if you're in the mood for an wafuu otome game with a decent enough plot, don't mind

a slow start/slowburn, a little bit of mystery and fun/cute scenes this might be for you!

but yea if this otome game number 150 you might not be able to enjoy it as much compared

to someone who only has played a few... I think this is only fair cuz I played a bunch

and was able to enjoy this for the most part so your mileage might vary.

Even so the last route in this game made everything fit so I think it was pretty solid?

enough for me to give it an 8,5/10 like there were 6 routes and I enjoyed at least 3/4 of them

so I think the final score is only fair, considering production values and everything else.

(8.5/10 if bias, 6/10 for non bias)

IDK if there was a recommended order but there were routes that was locked behind

some others which was Tomonari who unlocks Otarou so you have to do Kunitaka,

Yoichi OR Genjurou and Kinji first! but it is funny they will let you into the route of Otarou

for a hot minute but will default to some abrupt end.😔 Don't be me...

My play order: Kunitaka > Kinji > Yoichi > Genjurou > Tomonari > Otarou.

The routes in bold have no restriction so feel free to mix that up but yea if you care about

story there's not much you can do about the last two routes. Yoichi is the only one that is an

odd ball, it was also very otome BUT his route does hint at something that will be explained later

so I don't think you should save him for last cuz an important plot detail gets spoiled about him

at the end of Otarou's so if I had to recommend anything it would be

exactly the same order as mine except maybe switch Yoichi and Genjurou around.

Character babbles after the jump, however be advised that there will be spoilers beyond this point though to respect the wishes of the developers I will not be sharing too many CG

and only my favorites. So if you wish to remain spoiler-free then the review ends here! This is

due to the mystery aspect of this game, so if you really REALLY are going to play it in the

future I do say to not read past this point. Its better to not know too much with this game.

 

Bilshana Senki ~Genpei Hika Musou~ - Review

Genre: Otome visual novel.
Developer/publisher: Otomat/RED.
Platform: Nintendo Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/birushana/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v22987
Release date: 2020-09-17

 

Bilshana or Birushana senki is an otome game set in the heian period's genpei war, since

I got nostalgic and remember a little of the time period thanks to harutoki 3 I decided to get it.

Also this game has a character voiced by Fukuyama Jun whom I don't hear a lot in

these days (I say as I just found out he apparently voiced a main char in Bustafellows).

That aside most of the main characters looked attractive one, of the love interest here

was a npc I disliked in harutoki 3 so there is a little bit of bias going in.

Also since this is another historic otome game its probably not for everyone.

 

Pro's

- Decent story, long but pacing alright. 

- Heroine is capable and also head-strong.

- Fun cast of characters.

- Art is beautiful, even side characters got sprites.

- Music is fitting, OP and ED theme is nice.

 

Con's

- Lot's of common scenes throughout.

- Decent amount of bad ends, confusing system.

 - screen dimming / switch going standby on automode.

- Random crash after returning to the main menu and opening flowchart.

 

 

The heroine of this game is Shana-ou, otherwise known as Minamoto no Yoshitsune

for the majority of the game she has to pretend to be a guy.

Knowing otomate this can go both ways but I had hope she would be both awesome and cute

wasn't disappointed she was pretty badass, also very stubborn!

Shana also has some weird power which makes her become a demon on the battlefield....

 

The pacing was alright, its not too slow and not too fast either and it being 

a historic fantasy it did get a bit boring, I was instantly reminded

by jyuza engi 1 with the amount of old dudes speaking, most of the other

characters were fun though tomomori became like a joke for me.😅

Unlike Dairoku side characters do have sprites here, look at all those handsome monks and ossans!

i'm not kidding I do think one of the ossan's looked handsome oh otomate what have you done.😱

I ended up on Benkei's route on my first play, I wasn't aiming for him at all but i'm kinda

glad I did get on his route because he was likeable and supportive.

Just doing one route will not answer all of your plot related questions so that's good!

I mean give me that incentive to do the other routes! they didn't make them too irrelevant.

In terms of plot revelations I think the route system was a lot like Hyakka hyakurou/Nightshade...

Most characters are not that interesting outside of their route their problems

are relatively self-contained within the routes especially Noritsune.

In terms of plot relevance I would recommend something like this:

Noritsune > Yoritomo / Shungen > Benkei > Tomomori.

I do think it can be done in no particular order except Tomomori as last

since his route ties up the loose ends most other routes hint at.

I think my own play order worked out pretty well so here it is for comparison!

Benkei > Yoritomo > Shungen  > Noritsune > Tomomori.

 

Also I tried to play this without a guide but I just hit some bad end which wasn't near the beginning.

Can't say I recommend to play this without a guide😅 there's a chance you hit an

abrupt bad end, the system is strangely complicated there's the usual affection and then

there's three other gauges as well i'm not even gonna go into that. Its better to look up a guide

if you don't understand it, but other than that it was pretty standard stuff.

Other than that, the story was interesting enough but its a bit on the long side?

Most of the characters were likable, like Hana Oboro certain side characters

got a special what if episodes as well which actually made characters like Takatsuna

and Shigehira more likable so that was nice.

I could make jokes about the characters which at the end of the day

might have helped getting me to like them more cough tomomori cough.

Romance interests are varied, some routes could be a hit or miss but you can't like everything.

Benkei was surprisingly likeable but he's not really my type as he ends up being

more of a dad than anything else his route was also weak in terms of plot so that didn't help.

Yoritomo was harder to like because I couldn't read him but the story really delivered for him

I think the only route I had trouble to enjoy was Shungen........I do not know if it

is because I did Yoritomo first since it made things more confusing that it had to be.

 

I think my only complaints are how... the skip was kinda slow

but there is a skip to the next choice I assume was via the flowchart

though I didn't mind iddling for a few minutes so its not that bad.

Really I don't have many complaints... war bits might be boring and/or repettive I guess?

I had a lot of fun playing through Bilshana the war parts did make me sleepy

atleast the characters were all attractive and there was drive to do all of them, this also

wasn't a game of trying to make everyone happy at the same time which was a good thing

because I dislike it when they sugar coat things too much in these type of games.

The story was generally the same in most of the routes, there was enough

going on with the characters (drama etc) that give different view points nothing was

exactly the same in all the routes even if its limited by the scenario which can be repettive.

There was also a bit of comedy to things sometimes but it doesn't

overstay its welcome as it knows when to be serious and when not.

Another good thing because it would be too dry with all the war stuff. 😅

For its genre I thought it was an alright otome game and I can recommend 

if a fan of historic fantasy and enjoy to explore such a setting with a mostly likable cast!

and don't mind deaths, since its long its also a good way to pass the time but if you're not

into history and war stuff then it could be an easy pass.

8/10

End of non-spoiler section.