Akuyaku Reijou wa Ringoku no Outaishi ni Dekiai Sareru - review

 Genre: VN.

Developer/publisher: Operahouse.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://akuyaku.operahouse.co.jp/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v47740

Release date: 21-3-2024.

This is an adaptation of a villainess lightnovel, Akuyaku for short or in english as:

The Villiainess Is Adored by the Crown Prince of the Neighboring Kingdom.

I never read it but it seemed like fun so I gave it a shot. I am well aware this is by the developer

who released charming empire and gakuen club, so I was still a little skeptic going into it.

I wasn't too sure what to expect but it suits the quality of their other releases.

 

I haven't really seen too many villainess works other than hamefura or taming the final boss.

Sorry if this sounds harsh but Akuyaku Reijou unfortunately wasn't able to do much new

other than just having cute romance... with not much substance to it.

I did think it is perfect to play if you don't have much else you'd rather be doing...

Pro's

- Voiced heroine.

- Sweet SWEET romance.

- Great art.

Con's

- Long text dumps/monologue's.

 - Primitive system, this grandma's fingers hurt from holding button to skip.

- Music can be grating on loop.

 

System is just standard stuff but when I saw the UI... I was like is this a PC game?

it sure had that kinda layout, idk what to expect of systems in VN nowadays

but Akuyaku Reijou was so backwards compared to other visual novels.

 

Akuyaku Reijou is pretty much a straight-forward visual novel

that adapts part of the lightnovel and it doesn't have any routes so there's like

only one love interest. This is also one of the rare cases where it may be better

to go into it without knowing anything about it so the twists will still be interesting.

So if you never heard about Akuyaku Reijou then yes you can start here!

 

I didn't understand why there were even choices, other than to get CG's maybe?

but there weren't that many and so I started to wonder what the purpose of this game was

because they may as well have turned it into a kinetic novel like witch on the holy night.

It was a chore to collect the other CG's in the three different volumes especially

with how you have to hold the skip button... to even get through it but atleast

it made it seem like your choices affected things so that's not bad.

 

The art is really gorgeous and I have no complaints of it.

The music wasn't really anything special there weren't a lot of tracks

and to hear it on loop for too long is grating so yea meh.

 

Now that we have the bad out of the way, the heroine was voiced which was a plus!

only downside is that her thoughts aren't voiced, if it was I think it would be funnier but alas.

I liked the art and was intrigued by the setting/story but there wasn't much of a plot that was

memorable, this focused way too much on romance. Its nice there weren't any bad endings

and you can enjoy romance with the leading man Aquasteed. The heroine did have multiple

outfits which was another nice thing, I actually like it when the sprite suits the scene.

Anyway since Aquasteed was really nice I almost didn't want anyone else anyway buuut

while I get it he saved her from certain doom as a villainess things did seem a bit too good to be true.

Of course I was disappointed that there was only one love interest but by volume 2

I did realize that it just wouldn't have worked, they would have to change the scenario a lot.

Aquasteed aside... Keith interested me the most, Akari can have Heartnight tbh...

 

 I can't really recommend this game though unless you have low standards

and just want to be swept off your feet without much plot/substance

which is probably the only thing the game was good at.

Some of the names are also kinda weird like what is a Heartnight Lapislazuli Lactomut?!

that sure is a mouthful of word vomit that seeing it in full makes me cringe to the point

Aquasteed Marinforest sounds normal in comparison. That aside the game

honestly feels like eating something very sweet and then feeling sick afterwards

like its not bad but you may not want too much of it? it also reminds me of the fact

that a visual novel can have gorgeous art and even a voiced heroine but if the rest

doesn't measure up then it is such a waste. Character interactions were barebones

and not that fun, it honestly makes me want to play something with more substance

cuz Akuyaku Reijou just didn't do much for me, I can't rate it higher than a 5/10.

 

I probably sound ungrateful but eh can't like everything and after sitting through

a bunch of otome's I liked i'm bound to find something that doesn't match up.

If there's anything memorable about this game it was cute romance, voice acting 

and the insanely beautiful art, everything else was pretty meh to me.

I am more inclined to think that this game is some kind of marketing trick

because there's so many otome games on switch and then there's Akuyaku...

which could get you interested in the novels that are readily available in japanese.

Anyway keep on trucking operahouse! this may be the last time I buy a game from you guys...

More rambles after the jump, there are spoilers as well as a few of my fav cg's

so if you want to play don't read further.

Star Ocean 6 the Divine Force - review

Genre: RPG
Developer/publisher: Tri-Ace/Square Enix.
Platform: PS4/PS5.
Official Site: N/A

Release date: 2022-10-27. 

Never did I expect there to be another main-line star ocean game after SO5...

but here we are and honestly it makes be so happy.

Not even 4 hours in and... sigh this make really remember why I love RPG's

this game really made me nostalgic for the old days cuz this it has the vibes

well at the very least I was off to a good start!😄 regardless of what was to come.

Sadly I did not like the OP that much, it was pretty much a mashup of scenes

from the game with some screamo rock music which definitely was not to my tastes.😓

I played the PS4 ver on normal difficulty and it was just the right amount of balance, no annoyance 

of the plot made me consider lowering it this time! I am mostly positive with this game

but I have a few gripes.

 

Pro's

- Charming cast of characters and lot's of shipping fuel between some chara's.

- Story pacing was good and when the going gets good it keeps going.

- Slight graphic dip but smooth gameplay in battles thanks to FPS mode.

- Replay value; two different side + 1 optional character and endings for each side.

 

Con's

- While trying to fast travel, the message of being able to miss dialogue is unnecessary.

- Private actions despite not that missable should be more easier to spot as they are a

boon to be better able to understand the chara's. Sad to see its easy to miss.

- If you played many a rpg it might not do much new.

 

 This game has you pick sides much like Star Ocean 2 so you can play with

Laeticia or Raymond's POV. Most of the game is the same but there are moments that differ

and even unique party member that join depending on whatever side which is nice.

There's mostly some POV differences and certain angles being unique to each side.

 Story wise I won't be posting much in terms of spoilers but the pacing's alright

you slowly get to know characters and the world they live in.

The story was a slowburn, but it was kind of nice? I didn't think it was terrible or anything...

well not everything can happen like a magician snaps a finger and viola! Basically the outline

 is like Ray's ship gets attacked and his escape pod crashes on an underdeveloped planet.

Laeticia and Albaird find him and decide to help him out find his comrades.

Some stuff happens along the way which they have to deal with too

and its a underdeveloped planet yet there is some folk trying to mess around.

This game in quite similar to older games isn't it? 

The story does end up peaking at some point and I liked that part a lot... it really shows

just how much everyone has come to trust one another! I could tell it was leading up to the finale

and it did really well or atleast tried to keep its momentum till the end.

I didn't really like the stuff before the final boss who is kind of like a cockroach at that point

but it fits with what the story was trying to do. There's a post game available as well

for those who really love the combat and character speciific endings. 

Good thing is viewing PA's is not required for those and just spam aphrodite tears

on whoever you'd like to see the ending of and beat mr: final boss .

 

TL;DR for people who don't want to read the whole post:

Honestly I enjoyed this game for the most part, it didn't try to hard with its story

and the cast ended up being better when we got to know them more.

Star Ocean has always been fantasy meets sci-fi and this game did it pretty well!

Combat was fun even tho I didn't fully understand it, at times in boss fights it felt impossible

to get more AP except if you did a well-timed dodge still it was great that bosses were susceptible

to status ailments like freeze! They could definitely touch this game up with some QoL features

like better being able to tell if there are new PA's in the towns plus getting rid of the message

when trying to fast travel literally anywhere. There were some moments during the story

where I was like huh I wonder what happened on their side and there's a character

unique to each side that definitely adds replay value as well as endings. I can definitely understand

why J.J doesn't have an ending with Laeticia or Theo with Ray... if anything I can see

Ray asking Theo out for a drink.😅 but J.J and Laeticia uh... no compatibility detected.

It was a pretty good game with a fun battle system and decent AI that I don't need to babysit

yet the AI still had its moments of dropping its brain but you'll get used to it.

This game isn't perfect but its good at what it tried, a brand new story set in the star ocean universe

that doesn't force you to play other entries to understand its plot. Its a nice scifi adventure

that let's you explore an underdeveloped planet while uncovering a greater plot going on.

There may be a treat for fans who've followed the series so its mostly a win-win situation...

Unfortunately this game does not boldy go where no rpg has gone before

and it doesn't need to! it was still an interesting journey but if it was any longer

i'd probably get really annoyed. So take that as you will.

I'll be blunt, if the series dies with this game then atleast I am glad that it ended up

being like some of the older titles while giving it a nice fast paced battle system

and all the playable's having their own unique movesets.

 Playing RPG's to constantly expect them to do mindblowing or things most don't do

will just set one up for disappointment! even if they don't it can still be good.

IMO this game wasn't terrible but its not perfect either.

 

I don't have any tips except for the following:

I recommend trying to play as albaird if the melee's feel too weird, he is around almost always

on Laeticia's side and is pretty busted in trying to make his bimbo spells stronger

thus being able to melt most enemies and being able to revive any AI that get hit too much. 

Determined princess skill will make lvling up a breeze.

My last advice is to ignore the fast travel dialogue and act  as if the message isn't there

and to just have fun exploring the games contents!

 

No plot spoilers in this post but like always there will be more babbles

with some random screenshots of moments that I liked.

Tales of Arise - review

Genre: RPG
Developer/publisher: Bandai Namco.
Platform: PS4,PS5,PC,Xbone.
Official Site: https://en.bandainamcoent.eu/tales-of/tales-of-arise
Release date: 2021-9-10.

 

Wasn't sure if I was going to write about this game... or even like it cuz at first sight

it seemed rather edgy with some shining tears/wind vibes.

Just by watching the OP you could see what i'm talking about that is if you're familiar with that trope...

So my initial impressions of Tales of Arise were kind of hmmmmm? its no wonder after

what happened with Zestiria and Berseria trying to fix it that bait and switch mess

either way I was pleasantly surprised Arise turned out better than I expected!

Pro's

- excellent story(better than i expected atleast).

- a likable cast of characters that can grow on you.

- Plenty of side content to keep you busy.

Con's

- Bosses can be a bit unforgiving.

- CP system is terrible.

- Loading screens are a plenty(kinda makes me nostalgic) 

There won't be any plot spoilers discussed in this post but there will be a few screenshots without much context

I should add here that there is a minor one in a screen but I don't really consider Alphen's mask thingy

that much of a spoiler considering one could unmask him with dlc stuff right from the start (weird)

needless to say I had to add this warning here since this game is fairly new i've made

those screens as small as possible so you can scroll past however considering the jpn

twitter openly posted artwork and you can see his face on dlc item the dev's didn't really care......

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.

 

Angelique Luminarise - review

 Genre: Otome/simulation VN.
Developer/publisher: KOEI/ruby party.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.gamecity.ne.jp/anmina/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v28833
Release date: 20/05/20.

I am not too fond of simulation genre of otome games but I still got this game

after I was impressed with the demo, as its base plot was a bit more captivating

than my entire experience with retour granted it was one route...

I remember trying Brian even but lost interest welp, time to try again? 

 

Pro's

- Interesting characters, was motivated to do multiple character ends.

- Ange's personality, sometimes she can be sassy.

- Art, I like the art style.

 

Con's

- Starts off strong but falls flat in the end... (none if any conflict as well.)

- Gameplay is pretty much a reskin of retour albeit with QoL improvements.

- It is rather short, especially on 2nd+ play.

- Reusing CG's with slightly different background taking up slots in the gallery like its 2010.

 

The queen is MISSING and they're in need of a new one.

 

Plot/prologue

Ange who after a hard day of work went for a drink and laments her life's choices

then gets offered with the choice of becoming a  queen and randomly signs it cuz why not!

Little did she know some pretty boi on a pegasus showed up to take her to her new job.

 I liked how this was all done in manga form... really added some humor to it

before it switced back to regular VN mode, was nice while it lasted.

Ange doesn't understand but the pretty boy who's name is Yue explained it all...

but did a poor job so Vergil had to jump in to explain it in a way Ange understood.

In short: Ange signed a contract and was isekai'd to a new world to become a candidate

to be queen of the cosmos, Ange thought that contract paper was a joke but here we are.

There is also another candidate to be the queen, Reina who like Ange also just got here

and is willing to answer any further questions Ange might have, Reina is also her rival

who has no intention to lose! In terms of other characters there's Cyrus who is Ange's butler.

Cyrus also interrogates Ange some of his questions will determine compatibility such as

birthday/bloodtype or likes/dislikes you could say he's simply one hell of a butler, also is it just me

or do I get sebastian vibes from him. >_> Unfortunately Cyrus is not romanceable

like the others which is such a shame because just from the prologue he really grew on me.

The chemistry amongst the guardians was also nice so events with them were nice most of the time.

The two candidates are given their own planet to raise with the help of the elements

that the guardians possess. This is a series staple and it wouldn't be Angelique if it wasn't.

Cyrus knows when to joke around as well some times it was good other times it was eh

and I was just like my dude what're you smoking?! Tyler the engineer was cute

as well too bad he's not romanceable, ah the terashima curse strikes again!

Reina might not be romanceable but atleast she and Ange can hang out.

 

Gameplay like other entries includes simulation parts and there is a day/time limit to get things done

though i'm not sure how long we are allowed to take, probably best to not take too long.

Like with retour you have to manage your time of chasing bishies with being a candidate

for the queen. Most of the gameplay flow is similar to retour but they have tweaked some things.

There is still some RNG involved but it is much less of a hassle which made it easier to replay

and there are timed choices in which a character may quiz you during a date but most of these

are easy if you've been paying attention during your gameplay. Like for example

is your rival(or yours development higher or lower? Do you remember x and what was it? etc.

Thankfully the first dates no longer have you select lots random questions which is a blessing

there's still some randomness but not as bad as in retour,  I was always stressed back then

cuz of RNG and higher potential of saying the wrong things that would ruin the mood of a date.

If you date a lot the guys and get perfect answer on the quiz they may give Ange a present

for me it only happened with Vergil, Yue &Noa, you can also give the guys presents

but you have to buy it on a holiday but figuring out what they like was another thing...

though affection was plenty so that was not a big deal!

Gameplay also feels less monotonous because some things can be automated

a blessing on multiple playthroughs. Whatever difficulty you select will affect

Reina's behavior making it either easier or harder to get through it.

I recommend easy because hard makes everything a pain............

Like retour you don't need a guide as long as you save a lot because there is a chance you

select a wrong choice during events that results in heartbreak so you cannot proceed events

for me Lorenzo's events were especially bad with this I couldn't find the right thing to say.😔

The only thing I really hated was the RNG involved with the confession or be confessed at events

and how there's 1 cg locked behind being lovers that for some had asinine requirements

but atleast the game is nice enough to tell you how to get it so its not that bad.

If you're curious about this entry  and are still on the fence about the aforementioned gameplay flow

there's a demo/trial on the japanese eshop, wish more otome dev's would do this tbh.

 

 The vibes were nice, I got interested in a few of the love interest just from the prologue

Zeno's precious and Vergil totally not from the devil may cry series also seemed interesting.

The characters all had a personality to them outside of their events... but a lot of it was

random and I couldn't keep track of some of their stories so that was a bummer.

I liked a event were Vergil teased Yue during a game of words.😂 On another note

the heroine Ange is 25 years old! which certainly made things a bit more interesting?

As for the love interests  the youngest ones are 18 and 19 with the others being in the mid/late 20's.

Seiyuu: With the exception of Satou Takuya and Shimazaki Nobunaga most of the seiyuu talent

are all relatively unknown which is nice sometimes even I am tired of hearing the same old va's

also glad they didn't use those ossan's because some of them like Zephel's VA really

had to try hard reprise their role the only exception was Koyasu but that's probably

because Koyasu is still very active as a seiyuu unlike some of the cast in retour.

Rest assured that this is not the case here which lead to a better listening experience.

Some guys have their own thing going on its more obvious with Kanata the youngest of the

guardians he's much like Ange and still getting used to his new life there if you don't know which

guy to go for I think Kanata might be a good pick? but still it might be better to pick the guy

which really interest you and make the most out of your first play because I ran out of steam quickly

cuz this game wasn't that fun to sit through multiple times, it isn't very interesting either in terms of plot. Not sure about the rivalry but as long as you're trying there shouldn't be a problem, only once

I fell behind & sorta sat on my ass in the beginning cuz I was thinking about Vergil.😜

They also gave Ange and Reina backgrounds that influenced who they are as a character and their

relationship but that's sorta it too. If you want to complete all events, well uh good luck with that?

there are lots of different variations of events. I was pretty satisfied with just getting

the romantic ends as well as full gallery or almost cuz I couldn't be arsed to get

the last bar cg for 2 characters, which thankfully wasn't worth that much. Other than that

its probably disappointing there was no real plot outside of the guys events, it was mostly relaxing

and everyone was nice much like in retour maybe too nice, even if things don't work out

in terms of love there's no hard feelings they might even still want to spend the day.

Its great if you don't want much going on but yea don't expect a plot like in

the haruka games, I found this disappointing because it started off well enough but this might

as well be an angelique thing, you have the goal and choice to romance but not much else to it.

The character events and love ends really are the best thing the game has to offer!

 

IMO it was alright... just okay at best, Koei managed to sell it to me

from the trial but its mostly cuz of the characters so they definitely did something right?

But there is also something wrong, the lack of CG events and reusing

1 cg scene 3 times, only change is the background. Come on what year is this? I expect

something like that from back around 2010. There are many times I wonder why there

was a lack of them, even retour had a few cg's when you go out visiting that world's town

or a dance cg etc, luminarise does it too but really awkwardly, disconnected from the flow

and not fun to have to fetch it if you didn't visit said location thrice. Some have weird conditions

like visit the first time as lovers but if you visit before being lovers that you get a different version

of the event.😒 See what I mean by asinine? god forbid you visit misty canal with Kanata

before being lovers cuz there goes your chance of seeing one of the few CG events.

Atleast most mini event were enjoyable but i'm just disappointed there are hardly

any CG's spread out over the romance events, Further more there are no real routes

and the game is a giant common route filled with individual events which aren't very long, if you

try to go for one you will trigger a bunch of the others especially if you automate to much.

Sometimes there would be guy only events. I couldn't keep track or be interested in those cuz they happened in no particular order they weren't that interesting either so nothing of value was lost.

 

This game is very short not like retour was much better at that.... in that game despite enjoying Zephel's

events and vibing with some guys from time to time, that was all that there's to it! Luminarise is the same in that regard. So I realize maybe simulation games just aren't for me! cuz by the time

I got to the final route of the game I was just about done with it.

Vergil is my best boi!

 Overall I like most of the characters, general plot and can stand the gameplay

more than retour due to QoL improvements. But really my first play was the most fun

and most of the fun and interest disappeared on subsequent plays leading to me

running out of steam and then I also felt bad about betraying Vergil when going for others

cuz I liked him more than Kanata whom I just wanna cheer on not romance.😓

If there was any character I had trouble liking it was Milan his romance events were off-putting

but outside of that he was likeable. I much preferred to spend my time with Zeno he is too precious.

Both Shuri & Felix were a surprise for me cuz I was turned off at first but they both grew on me!

There might be some characters you just don't like which for me was Milan and Lorenzo.

Noa's likeable enough and I don't hate him but everything about his character

has me going, I have seen this somewhere before have I? Yue on the other hand is a cutiepie!

Whoever ends up being your fav will depend on personal taste really.

The stories in the character events varied heavily but there were some life lessons that could

seen or learned from it so I don't think it was all that bad, it just makes up for the main plot

being lacklustre which was just there to set things up. This can be a nice otome game if you let it!

by doing all routes you might notice how a lot of things are just kinda the same.

6.5/10

Well I think this is okay if you like romance simulators and never played an angelique

game and are new to this but other than that it kind of fell flat despite starting out strong

the lore and all is interesting but don't play it for the plot... do it for THEM bishies.

Once more I recommend trying out the demo on the JP eshop to get a feel of it

the japanese is pretty easy too so its a good game to test japanese on. I say that

because this game is quite expensive it might just be KOEI tax at this point

but i'm more inclined to blame this on the pandemic for it being the way it is

or maybe that's just me trying to be nice and cut them some slack?

 

End of non spoiler section, route spoilers after the jump.

Getsuei no Kusari -Kyouran Moratorium- - Review

月影の鎖 ―狂爛モラトリアム―
Game: [Getsuei no Kusari -Kyouran Moratorium-]

Genre: Otome Game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Takuyo.

Platform: PS Vita.

Official Site: http://www.takuyo.co.jp/products/getsueifd/getsueifdvita/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v12928

Release date: 2016-12-21

 The FD of Getsuei no Kusari Sakuran Paranoia, since the original game was
anything but the typical otome game don't expect a lot of fluff from this.
Its still keeps the serious theme the original had so if you're in the mood
for something realistc/mature these games are an excellent choice but
I do not recommend playing this without the original since its a fandisk.
Nor can I recommend playing both right after the other even if this is short it still can give you
much despair, it didn't bother me but it may others to the point they might drop it.

I didn't particularly care for the OP movie this time, I only like watched it once or twice and then skipped it.
But yeah if you still don't get it, this FD mainly exists for Mamoru and the newly added
scenario for the Toudou brothers you may need new glasses. 😥

This vita port of Kyouran Moratorium really is what you'd call a definitive version
as it adds a new scenario with two guys Toudou Itsuki and Toudou Miyabi, they're brothers
and this made it a bit more worthwhile than the PSP version because of that.
Especially for the price and Takuyo's games tend to be slighly more expensive...
Sadly these two are completely new and don't appear anywhere outside of their own scenario
yeah you read that right they do not even appear in the other newly added IF scenario.
Anyway... the original features of the FD make it seem pretty short, the another stories are 

slightly longer than the good afters which are around 30 minutes at most. 

Mamoru's route was maybe 5-6 hours so together thats give or take 10 hours.
But if you add in Hanayagi IF story and the Toudou brothers routes....
that would make the length at around 25-30 hours, btw tour of koukashi is just a side dish.
If you have a lot of free time in the weekend you may just finish it very fast but if you
spread it out due to the despair getting to you then yeah it may take you a week or more.
Personally I finished this within 2-4 days... 
Also if you actually got this game I really recommend you to end this game with
the tour of koukashi as its the most fun and entertaining thing this fandisc has to offer.
 The part where Hibiki went on about the Dango got to me... 😂😂😂


Despite the added content it was still a short FD but after Ken ga Kimi Momoyo Tsuzuri
any other fandisk in general is short.😂

The seiyuu did a good job especially Naruse Makoto, thats one you do not hear often

and also Kanna Nobutoshi and Satou Takuya... they also had such a good performance!

TL;DR
I recommend this if you enjoyed the original, don't bother if you didn't since its more of the same.

It gets an 8/10 from me, same score as I gave the original, all of the good afters

 were great and the another stories weren't bad except maybe Satoya's.

The rest of the content was worth it too except Hanayagi IF story... which I personally didn't care for but that my own opinion.

My play order of the content was decided by personal preference which is:

Mamoru > Nozomu > Hibiki >Satoya > Wataru  > Hanayagi IF > Itsuki > Miyabi > Tour of Koukashi.