Otome Game no Hametsu Flag Shika Nai Akuyaku Reijou ni Tensei Shite Shimatta... ~Haran o Yobu Kaizoku~ - Review

Usually I'll post the box art but... I liked this title screen and i've been doing it for rpg's too.

 Genre: Otome VN.
Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/hamehura-kaizoku/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v29251
Release date: 2022-02-10.

 

Long title aside hench forth it shall be known as Hamefura ~Haran o Yobu Kaizoku~!

Otomate decided to make otome game for hamefura a lightnovel which had an anime adaptation.

Unfortunately they decided to not give the girls full routes and only the guys are romanceable

this is something I didn't mind but I could see some might do. As it kinda felt subtexty/comedic

and to turn it into full harem; basically who doesn't love Bakarina? 😅

I also tend to be kind of wary of games that are based on an anime because they tend to exist

solely for fans and the quality of said game tends to vary greatly but hamefura turned out alright.

The art quality was very high and the style stays true to the anime and in terms of plot it was decent. 

 

OP movie; for some reason they have disabled the embedded version so here's the link.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eljl92KUUgg

 

Anyway this game/VN is like a side story in the hamefura universe it doesn't exist in the canon

if you ever wanted to spend more time with some of the guys now's your chance I guess?!

I'm not sure when this takes place but it acts as an extension of the first season... you could

probably play it without watching but this game doesn't go into who the chara's are

they briefly go over it in the prologue but that's it. The anime is pretty fun and s1 is only 12 eps

which isn't very long so why not give it a watch to get to know the series?

The characters unique to this game are locked though so if you don't know who to choose

i'd say Alan or Geordo first but honestly I really do recommend checking out the anime first

cuz this game really is more for fans, the general premise is even so

that the story in this game is a fandisc to fortune lover.

 

Pro's

- While not much to work with, each route was unique/self-contained.

- Characters are consistent and not OOC.

-Art is gorgeous.

 

Con's

- If you were hoping for fluff and only comedy/romance... this might be disappointing

as they actually tried to have a plot and characters to take part in it.

- Its better if you watch atleast S1 of the hamefura anime as the game does very little

to establish its cast,existing relationships or explain the world.

 

 Bakarina is voiced except some of her thought/monologue!

the art is pretty nice the style is like the anime and it doesn't seem to suffer from tracers.

Music is fitting nothing to complain about, the plot kinda felt like it was another

episode/OVA or something and depending on your choices you'll end up investigating an incident

that happens on the ship they're staying on with whoever you like.

The story isn't much but it can be interesting, all the side npc have sprites too

so its easy to tell them apart, voice acting was excellent as well.

 

System is just standard VN stuff, during the bakarina meetings where you have to select a choice

you can't save so you have to do it before it comes up. There is also a bug if you skip

too fast through the ideafactory/otomate/criware/OPmovie stuff when booting up the game

where the software just closes. So its better to just let all that play and if you do want

to skip the op movie just let it play 5-10 seconds.

Compared to recent otome I played it finally felt like I was playing a proper one again

uh what is a proper one is subjective of course but I think this one had some classic stuff.

I say that cuz Hamefura wasn't depressing, more fun and romance focused

its exactly what I wanted even though my expectations were low.

It was pretty enjoyable from start to finish and that's coming from someone that's not

that big of a fan as I liked the anime enough to check out this game.😅

It might be sad that the girls don't have full routes but personally I don't even want to think about

romancing Mary except as in a joke ending. Maybe there really are Mary fans out there

or Maria/Sophia so the fact there is 1 joke ending and the normal end is well... better than nothing.

 

That aside the game does feel kinda short but the pacing is okay and it doesn't seem

like it overstayed its welcome, any longer and I would have been bored tbh. Like I'd love it if games

took their time but you also don't want to get bored! Hamefura doesn't have that problem.

Its entertaining enough but it doesn't focus completely on the couple at all times

and I could see how some find that disappointing! they did try to have a plot that

made sense in the world of hamefura so I am not sure why this would be a bad thing

cuz if this game didn't have the plot it has then the routes would be super short and they average

at 6 hours or so which I think for what we got out of it was more than enough

either way I didn't have many complaints I was happy with Alan's route!

While this was an enjoyable side dish after the anime, if you don't like the novel/anime

or don't like any of the guys enough to want to romance them its probably better to pass

cuz this is nothing but fluff with a slighly entertaining story full of cute romance

so if you were here for some deep plot uhm look elsewhere cuz the hamefura game ain't it.

 It does have bad/death ends but only one or two per route and they're not long.

Most of this game still keeps the charm I got to know this series with! depending on how much

you like the other guys beside your favourite it might be a bit of a chore to do multiple

playthroughs as the general plot does kind of remain the same however each time

you do a new playthrough you unlock new scenes to understand the overall plot better

though some of these scenes only seem to exist to make it more obvious.

Unfortunately despite this game not being canon one route in particular has so much lore

and world building it felt kind of like a waste if this was only one game

I applaud them for the effort but it did take away from anything else.

Most of the characters in this game don't get much personal focus except Rozy/Silva

that's because they got that in the anime so they're not gonna waste time, for some it means

their routes were less interesting, I thought the main guy of this game would be Geordo but eh

classic poster boy curse with that one, Silva would like a word with him.

All in all ~Hamefura ~Haran o Yobu Kaizoku~ is mostly an enjoyable otome game

for fans of the series that want to actually romance the guy(s)! So if that's what you're looking for

or just another hamefura adventure in general it gets my recommendation.😄👍

But yea if you don't want bakarina to end up with anyone stay away from this game and pretend

it doesn't exist or something, as its jpn only at time of writing so it shouldn't be too hard.

8.5/10

My play order was Alan > Geordo > Keith > Nicol > Rozy > Silva.

Imo it doesn't really matter but I suggest to do your fav first which in my case was Alan!

Doing Alan first might not be the best, I do think Nicol flows well into Rozy's route.

If I had to recommend anything its probably Geordo/Keith > Alan > Nicol > Rozy > Silva.

Anyway the non-spoiler sections end here! some route comments along

with my fav cg's after the jump break.

Taishou x Alice heads and tails - review

 Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 

Developer/publisher: Otomate.

Platform: PSV.

Official Site:

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v20277

Release date: 2017-12-07

FD of Taishou x alice... if I had to be really honest I didn't think TxA really needed a FD
why? I actually thought the epilogue chapter wrapped everything up nicely and everyone
got a small extension to their ending that aside it must've done well enough for them
to release this FD so why not just accept and try to enjoy whatever contents it has?
 Not much aside from the usual after stories, two new routes for Ryoushi and Ookami
but I heard beforehand they're not all that great since the bias for Alice is too great.
Then there's Gakuen Alice which might've been the last best thing this FD has to offer.😅
 There's not much else to say so let's just get on with it.

Pro's
- Gakuen Alice's a fun omake with mini route (except ookami/ryoushi)
- Art.

Con's
- Not every after story got the same amount of effort, i've only found
Akazukin, Gretel, Mauhoutsukai and Alice to be actually fun / worth it.
- The new routes aren't really 'new' at all nice if you want another perspective though.

I decided to play the after story in the same order as the original:
Cinderella > Akazukin > Gretel > Kaguya > Shirayuki > Mahoutsukai > Alice.
I do recommend saving Mahoutsukai for later preferable after Shirayuki, as Mahoutsukai
adds something that makes Shirayuki's seem like even that had its place.

The first two after stories I did was mostly fun and light-hearted like what one is supposed
to come to expect of FD's... there are exceptions to the others but it wasn't too bad
its just for some it felt there was little effort put into the scenario.
If you are familiar with sangoku rensenki's FD... its a lot like that! you get a short story
with the couple which is around 1 hour at most with two CG's for each
the content varies depending on the character though. Much like the original TaiAli
the further you get into the episodes the drearier it gets, like the boys from ep1 are fun
but then you get to Kaguya and it just goes downhill, Gretel was still OK for some reason.
The new routes for Ryoushi and Ookami aren't exactly new route just their POV of the whole
thing with Alistair much of what we already know! since they force the canon
so much their endings aren't exactly what one would like to see.
Can't recommend their routes unless you want a different perspective of the story we already know.

Overall its still a decent FD but only get it if you desperately need more Taiali in your life
there's just some parts that make me say: but why? like why even give Ookami a route if
you're going to make it end up like that... his whole character turned out to be a laughing stock.😓
To be fair... after being done with this FD the only thing I really like about Taishou x Alice is the
story of 'Alice', comedy and meta. As an otome game I think it doesn't really work that well like
half of the cast is essentially the same person, different personality and in the end only one matters.
Tai Ali has a great story&chara's and I whole-heartedly recommend the games
but as an otome game; by the end it leaves to be desired no matter how well written it was.

Well whatever I'll try to write some thoughts down below as usual, don't read it
if you don't want spoils etc (not like there is much).

Kenka Bancho Otome ~Kanzen Muketsu no My Honey~- Review

 喧嘩番長乙女 ～完全無欠のマイハニー～

Game: [Kenka Bancho Otome] 

Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 

Developer: Red entertainment and published by Spike Chunsoft.

Platform: PS Vita.

Official Site: http://www.kenkabancho-otome.com/mh/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v20226

Release date: 2017-07-27

The fandisk of Kenka Bancho Otome... well it must've done pretty well to warrant one!

Since the previous installment was a last minute digital purchase, this suffered the same fate.

I didn't really pay attention to prerelease info or the anime shorts.
 Said anime just turned out to be an advertisement with mash ups from the original game.
When I looked at the official site I honestly found it rather lacklustre...

From what I did gather this FD contains side stories(summer themed) and after stories...

which was honestly all a fan needed to know, Whether this was word it or not... saa let's find out.
  I expected them to be fun and/or sweet but alas most were not as it seemed.
Also they have the first anime ep in the game itself.... dunno if just a preview
for the bluray release but it seems like a waste of space.

Pro's
- Still the same old boys we all know and love.
 - Comedy.
- A fun and to the point side story on da beech.

Con's
- Long loading, slow text skip which is bothersome in side scenario.
- Rintarou's after story is downright terrible.
- The writer still uses the same template for everything maybe its his/her thing.

The game is divided into two sections, first of is the after stories set after the love ends
in the original game, nothing else to it really. Secondly there's a summer camp scenario
which is sort of an AU friend scenario. Characters are grouped together such as
 Totomaru&Konparu, Kirarin&Yuuta or Hikaru&Sakaguchi etc.
Your choices in that scenario determines who you're grouped with at the end of that dunno
 the whole thing was maybe 4 hours at most, not including repeat play for other pair up.
The comedy is still golden and almost never a dull moment one could say its a pointless
scenario with nothing to gain but why would you have a problem with camaraderie? I don't.
I already started snickering less that 10 minutes in, compared to the last vn I played this is g r e a t
but I didn't have much fun doing everything in there for completion's sake
and you have to fight everyone once including minor chara for a trophy and it is here
I realized the loading time is sinfully slow... probably cuz Unity but it ain't rear pheles bad.

In short its an enjoyable FD to fans of the original but I thought the original wrapped most
stuff up nicely, I already said this but it must've done well enough for it to happen!
I guess if you hated the whole now that they know she's a girl and the guy trying to protect her
or stop her from fighting then it will be a partial miss cuz some of the after stories continue
 that line of thinking but they do try to make them come to terms on it that Hinako can hold her own.
The summer camp scenario is like an AU friend route for everyone... so there's that too
and you already know I liked it for what it was no need to go into it. 
All in all its not bad its just that some after stories are either a hit or a miss my favs were  Konparu
and Totomaru... the rest just followed with Rintarou dead last honestly even Houou was better.
The FD is decent but also a little short despite each story having some length
to it but still has that stupid template which in some was more noticeable than others.
When I look back only Totomaru and Konparu's after stories were really
enjoyable to me and the content they had is what I expect of fandisks.
I want to see the characters under relaxed circumstance not
drama about yakuza gangs or a brother yearning for attention. -_-
There's not much else left to say... without being more detailed is there?
8.2/10

Ramblings and possible spoiler and/or CG's after the jump.

Side Kicks! (otome game) - review

Cover is ok but could be better...

 Game: [Sidekicks.]

Genre: Otome Game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Toybox inc, Extend.

Platform: PS Vita.

Official Site: http://joqrextend.co.jp/extend/sidekicks/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v19743

Release date: 2017-3-30

While I originally had no intention to play this because it reminds me of SA7 and lol

 even the heroine has precog... and well its not an excuse to fangasm this time so why not?

That aside side kicks reception was very positive so I ended up buying it...
and well it wasn't bad but I wouldn't call it a masterpiece either its just good at what it tried to do.

Also lol there wasn't any other otome I wanted to buy till June so this fit in the gap quite perfectly.
I don't really like modern setting otome but I still think the selection of guys is good
but to me there was only one that appealed from begin to end, I guess my sixth sense is at work here.
Sorta sad... because I couldn't fully enjoy the first four routes but that doesn't mean it was bad.

Pro's
 -Interesting story and characters.
- Setting.
-  Art&Music.

Con's
- Too many choices that amount to nothing.
- To get to the real truth you must do everything... but at what cost?
- They couldn't decide how to balance the mystery and otome parts.

The game takes place in sakrada in the USA, I have to admit this is refreshing

instead of taking place in japan like most do but they all speak in japanese!

Yeah OK it a JP game and well a lot of fiction have that problem so who care about that.
At first its also pretty hard to notice this is an otome... it has so many things
that make you say what am I playing again? also some parts are a bit too detailed
which make me wish the focused a little more on the otome part.

It also noticeable it had very high production values, the backgrounds move.
in certain screens when its evening there are pretty lights which is nice to watch

and the music was very fitting I never was inclined to mute unlike WoF.
While the audio quality was great certain characters were too loud so
I had to lower the voices of Chika, Rico, Kurumi and Tsubaki somewhat.

The art was pretty good too even there are some slight derps here and there but maybe it intended
but considering the artist mostly did bishoujo/hentai work its understandable still
he did a good job because everyone was charming, esp Nora!
System was comfy, ain't got issues and skip to the next choices saves lives but I found it
weird I couldn't use it in certain segments even tho there was nothing new
maybe it was because there was a movie segment coming up.

Unlike Oumagatoki ~kakuriyo no snoozefest~ Side kicks! actually managed to be
more interested but it still suffered from the same issues, characters I can't
care about and episodic side story problem with too many choices etc.
 Regarding romantic interest its an incompatibility problem with myself don't let it bother you
I still find them likeable but personally except one guy I am like nope.

Sadly the chapter one plot was a bit predictable to me... but still interesting, it took a bit of
 a dive in episode 2 but it was still good overall since it goes into the bonds of the team
and that being part of the gang isn't all sunshine and rainbows, they put their life on the line.

In the end it did turn out to be something like CSI oh well you know the stuff
they show how they work as a team and if someone ain't there it'll fall apart.
Everyone got properly introduced and it made me curious but at times it was really
hard to see any romance since they're just good partner with some romance at the end
its like they forgot to shove in the otome element in some route like Shishiba. -_-
 I feel extra sorry for him because he knew she may have liked him...

I honestly love detective stories but compared to say collar x malice it was a disappointment.

Sidekicks is like Eikoku Tantei Mysteria and has the same problem as
over half of the routes do not bring you closer to the actual truth, mind you this is fine
but I think CxM did a better job at crafting it together since everything made sense in the end there.
Either way unlike Ayaka(SA7), the heroine of Side Kicks! Inori was actually more mature
she's 20 and fit right in the precog dreams weren't immature like we won't  have Inori derp
and have fangasm dream about the guys but sadly she didn't really stand out that much and
well I guess she was great for being able to do stuff when it comes to it but in the end
those precog dreams are just you know dreams there's nothing else to it, she was born with it.
Unlike the boys Inori has no interesting past she's literally just a typical girl from the streets
and due to the team figuring out her ability is useful she gets to join but
what about her parents? friends?! previous job? the game doesn't go into it
so apparently it doesn't matter so why should I care? the writers sure didn't.
Due to the above Inori is perfect self-insert material... and no its not a spoiler
since not even the game goes into it, Inori's just lucky I guess.

Next the million choices of that amount to nothing... like is it really going to matter
of picking the same dish as Chika or Hibari are having to get on his route?!
Also why is bloodtype supposed to matter?! who even cares!
I gotta admit I did enjoy the banter about them trying to choose a name for the dog...
but I didn't exactly like that the name of the dog is determined by who's route your on
since some guy is terrible at making names, looking at you Rico come on kitty? oh god no.
Also Nora get out, I may love you lots but he came off as an ass in that scene but 
to be fair all of the names for the dog were terrible, IIRC Shishiba's was Jinja(shrine)
okay maybe I was too hard on Nora but like... seriously naming the dog after yourself GET OUT.
Anyway before I forget what was even the point of Shisui's character? 
like his entire purpose is just to narrate and be cool in general.
''Come with me if you want the truth'' oh lol... you go and say that but storywise your entire
character didn't matter! do they intend to follow up on this game? but what about ____ then?
Oh well whatever they do I don't really care in the end SK! was a decent game in my opinion.
I guess I could say nice try toybox/extend but... some route it could've been better and this game
 still has routes for the sake of having them aka Chika/Hibari/Shishiba but it wasn't bad or anything
if fan of detective drama this is going to appeal a lot more to you.
For me this was one of those otome games where I only really like one guy and felt
 incompatible with most others, I can recommend it if you like detective stuff such as 
Eikoku Tantei Mysteria or Collar x Malice.
7/10
No more and no less, if I was really harsh it would've been less but then again it wasn't bad.
Again its recommended for those who like crime solving or else this
game will just bore you away but don't expect too much.

 There was one fatal bug in chapter 2 when they show you the paper with Tatewaki's plans
the game will crash so I hope you saved frequently or else you'll have to force skip your way back.
Other than that there were no bugs but its funny how they never patched it
 but I heard they're working on it now so no worries but man its been almost 2 months.
Priorities what are they? Extend sure doesn't know them!

Typical ramblings after the jump, spoilers beware.

Taisho x Alice -All in One- Review

大正×対称アリス
 Game: [Taishou x Alice].

Alternative title: Taisho Alice.
Genre: Otome game Visual Novel.
Developer/Publisher: Primula and Prototype.
Platform: PC, PS Vita.
Official Site: http://www.prot.co.jp/psv/taishoalice/index.html
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v16032
Release date: 2016-06-02

Taishou x Alice was originally an episodic release for PC but have no fear as the PS Vita version

contains all four episodes, so if you still haven't gotten it now is a good chance to do so.

 Also this is getting an english release thanks to e2gaming but if you already know japanese
and can import I recommend to get the vita port since E2gaming is also doing a partial release.
Plus there is no way of knowing if E2gaming's localization will live up to the original.
  I'm willing to give E2gaming a fair chance though, since they had a rough start, I can only hope
they don't make any more mistakes! hopefully they can license the VA and are able to use
 the original OP and ED's it would be sad to see this game release in english without it.

/looks at post and see how I never edit this... wait e2gaming errr we all know how that turned out!

god bless manga gamer for releasing this in english.

  The heroine of the story is Arisu Yurika, after she runs into Alice in the prologue they find a

 crystal mirror and end up inside it! several fairy tale characters reside here such as the 

Little Red Riding hood and Cinderella... but their genders are reversed. XD

On way or another the outcome of this story will surely be interesting.

Start/TL;DR
The system? nothing special, standard VN stuff.

My play order is:
Akazukin > Cinderella > Gretel > Kaguya > Shirayuki > Mahoutsukai > Alice.

As for play order you have to start with Akazukin or Cinderella(episode 1) in the vita port
but after you do one of the two routes available the next episode unlocks except for episode 3 since
this one is locked till you have done ep1/2 and epilogue won't unlock till you've done everything.
As for ep 3 the first time you start it you're locked to Shirayuki's route for obvious plot reasons.
Also every single route is unique and you select the guy right after the prologue ends.
Anyway I still decided to finish episode 1 before moving on to ep 2 like it should be.
If you play out of order for the sake of character... nothing will make sense
and you'll basically only shoot yourself in the foot if you do that.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Pro's
- Great heroine.
- Unique seiyuu cast, (a few well known ones though).
- Most if not all the characters are likeable.
- Art.
- Individual route is unique and is mostly self-contained.
^It does keep you interested in the rest of the story as it slowly reveals things.

 Con's
- Heroine uses english words at random, this can be annoying but doesn't happen often.
- BGM, it has its charms but some is kind of grating.
- As an otome game it may leave to be desired once you get to 'epilogue'.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This game focuses on romance and its characters, the overall story will slowly unfold
as you go through all the episodes and it does a good job in keeping you interested and
 wanting to learn more, it actually rewards the reader in the end.
Don't mean to spoil but even though before epilogue you might find your fav...
it will become obvious there's only one real choice in the end.
9/10
 Taisho x Alice is a great VN with a good story, I fully recommend it.

I have to mention it AGAIN, if you are playing or are going to play it especially the PC ver...
PLEASE play in order the games came out Ep1>ep2 >ep3>epilogue because else you'll ruin the
whole story for yourself because things revealed in ep1 will be casually blurted out in ep2 and so on.
TL;DR/end

More ramblings and possible spoilrs after the jump.

Kenka Banchou Otome - Review

 喧嘩番長乙女

Game: [Kenka Bancho Otome] 

Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 

Developer/Publisher: Red entertainment and published by Spike Chunsoft.
Platform: PS Vita.
Official Site: http://www.kenkabancho-otome.com/
VNDB:  https://vndb.org/v17750
Release date: 2016-05-19

Oh an otome game version of the Kenka Bancho games, but why?
I had no intention of getting this but since I noticed alot of people seem to be pretty hype
 about this game I decided to get the digital version day 1 which came with a nice theme.

Since the story is done by Red Entertainment I had faith that it will be good(and it was).
Which is part of the reason I wanted to give it try.
Anyway I do think the premise is interesting but I am not a fan of school settings & crossdressing.
I like bad boys even tho I am not fond of the theme of this game, though it could be amusing.
Now I am having flashbacks of I DOLL U...  due to the whole replace your brother thing
but atleast the Kenka Bancho guys aren't that weird.
The production values seem to be pretty high, the heroine and the guys got different sprites too
this and that red entertainment handled the story helped me decide to give it a shot.

TL;DR:

Pro's
-Heroine is awesome.
- Characters are fun.
- Comedy, some scenes are just pure gold I'm not kidding.
- System is easy to handle.
- Art, looks kind of anime-ish but its not bad.
- Catchy music.
- Individual route is self-contained.

Con's
- Even though the plot is unique every route it follows a template that one is sure to notice.
^This can make things predictable as to when something good or bad is going to happen...
- Route is on the short side, 4/5 hours at most.
- On 2nd+ play why can't we skip fights during the common route? its annoying to sit through all that again.

The minigame isn't that annoying but it gets a bit to easy once you get the hang of it.
Apparently it doesn't matter what sentences you use during the staring phase
you can talk gibberish and at most the opponent will me like U Wot m8?
but as long as you beat him its fine whatever you choose don't worry if you wanna be funny be funny!
As that does not affect the endings in any way(truth be told I liked messing with those words).
If you use the right words you get an advantage but the minigame is fairly easy so it shouldn't matter.
Losing means game over but you can retry right away except in a certain fight in Kira route, anyway
like I said before the minigame is easy but does get a bit harder later on but not that hard.

No way to check affection but its easy to know which choices to pick, especially with q.save/load.
My advice? keep Cool/Maiden guages around neutral, make a save at the start of july so
you can adjust the guage to get the love/friend endings easily and so you have enough for the endings.
I didn't even need to use a guide for this game and I got a love end on my first play...
Yes that is how easy this otome game is.

Anyway despite me being meh about this otomege at first, this game is alot better than I expected!

My play order:
Konparu > Totomaru > Yuuta > Rintarou > Houou.
The routes itself are very self-contained, so the order shouldn't matter I recommend either
Totomaru or Konparu's route to be done first. The pacing is okay though after two routes
I could clearly see a template if sth good or bad is gonna happen but honestly I don't care.

I recommend starting with either Totomaru or Konparu on your first play, save
Rintarou and Houou's route for later anyway like I said it shouldn't matter that much
other than that it is important to do Houou last since his route reveals important plot details about the heroine.

More ramblings/spoilers after the jump.