Mistonia no Kibou the lost delight - Review

Eh... Edward's smile seems creepy on the cover but he ain't.

Genre: VN.

Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/mistonia/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v47010

Release date: 18-7-2024.

 

This VN was delayed by like a month and is also slated for an english release by aksys.

At first I wasn't sure if I should bother getting it in JP but still went with it.

The heroine did seem cool & its been a long time since I played a VN with a maid as the protagonist

the last one was like crimson empire, I had a rather laidback/slow approach toward Mystonia

and so it took me longer to get through! i'm sure if I had pushed it then I could have been done

in a week or so but why the rush?  Otomate's september lineup may be stacked

but unfortunately half of their games don't interest me right now.

 

Pro's

- There's enough intrigue to get hooked.

- Length is comfy, not overly long or drags on.

- Gorgeous Art and fitting BGM.

 

Con's

- Boring common route, probably the least exciting part of the game.

- Overall story elements can feel repetitive the more routes you do.

- The content in the other ends needs an acquired taste, also it has NTR.

 

Storywise this game has revenge themes so if you're not comfortable with those it could

be a skip, for me I think it depends on how it is handled but am disappointed with how

Mistonia implented it, its like they chose to push petty revenge which did not sit well with me.

**Thankfully it is still an otome game and taking revenge isn't always the best outcome.

This game's characters are also intertwined with each other. Each set is between the heroine

and two guys such as Ascot/John, Edward/Linus and Lukas/Alfred which works

with one particular ending each route called Maze. This maze end was by far

the worst possible outcome in the game and more often than not I just regret doing it.

 

I'll say the cast of the game sure was a vibrant bunch! there's a mix of well known

and lesser known seiyuu's as well. If you've been playing otome's or watching anime

for a while you will definitely hear some old favorites.

Due to the huge cast of characters I did worry this game would be on the long side

but it wasn't that long at all the common route was roughly 3 hours. Its only long if you do all.

Perhaps this game had too many characters because it was hard trying to keep

track of them all and even then some barely had any screen time so if you

did not pay much attention something could have easily pass you by

which may or may not have happened to me. More on that later.

The art looked very distinct and unique, some charactter designs looked like

this was a serious game but then I looked at the CG's on the official site

and it seemed much lighter? needless to say the art looked gorgeous.

I think there was only one CG that looked derpy to me.

The music was pretty good at setting the mood and tone of the scenes.

I thought the beginning was pretty good & got me hooked, the story beats there were well executed

as you get a look at the heroine's life and hints about there being more to it all. Rose/Applause

doesn't work alone and there are other maids including a shy/clumsy one as well as butlers etc.

Its just chapters 1 through 3 can feel a bit repetitive which is likely my only complaint about it.

System is standard stuff but you'll be having to select where to go on a map quite a bit.

Most scenes after selecting where to go are relatively short, so with a guide it may seem

like a lot but its really not that long. You really do work as a maid at a mansion!

Eh as long as you watch every event with characters or go to a room with a gem u're good.

Those scenes can range from boring to mildly interesting and/or funny. There's three main endings

for each route as well but honestly the only endings I cared about were the happy ends.

 

The common route was pretty boring, Rose/Applause works as a maid

and will see other characters interact as she works, at the end of the day

the gem fragments you collect will form better information of what happened.

Due that I think the investigation part of the common route is the worst part of this game.

I did not fully understand the gemstone stuff but they're like memory fragments

and so Rose can get a better view of what transpired between characters which may or may not

help her own search for the truth. Its not like Rose was an onlooker, she was doing

her job the whole time! and quite well but honestly I don't think she could ever

be a favourite of mine mostly due to how she treats the guys in the maze ends, it completely

ruins the mood. Lucas nor Linus among others did not deserve any of that and in the case

of Linus his maze end was by far the worst written in every possible way.

Other maze ends ranged from mildly entertaining to wtf is this BS, looking at you Ascot.

I mean I am all for different outcomes but the heroine could be really manipulative

which can either work in her favor or against her. It never felt good to me.

 

Hmmm..........

Do you ever just play an otome game that you think had a pretty decent plot and characters

but you just couldn't enjoy certain aspects of it? to me Mistonia falls into that category.

I know full well that it is impossible to like everything but it seems this was done

by multiple writers as the shift in tone between endings and/or routes was just too much.

Next the characters; you got some like Lucas who're really interesting

but are just sleepers in other routes or there as support like Alfred tends to be

so when I got to the truth route it felt like what if all the tiny threads combined

and then throws a bunch of new stuff at you that's suddenly totally relevant, its so bad

that suddenly side characters have a much bigger role so sudden that my only reaction

to it was like oh okay!  Some of the overall plot across the 6 routes was also too repetitive

and there's another villain but... you never see much of them at all during said routes, only truth.

I can't remember this tiny foreshadowing and then barely any reference till 6+ route later.

Had this be one of my first otome games I think I would be much more forgiving but it is not.

Alright... Alright... ALRIGHT!

Mistonia definitely had a decent mystery and intrigue but just fell flat in the end

and I think its because too many different writers or one took care of the truth end

or this or that route and didn't touch jack else and worked with what they had.

**The length of the game may also be a problem because it can seem quite short

compared to other games and it can seem that a lot is crammed into a chapter

so while its not boring it can certainly seem like its rushed itself.

I do wonder who worked on Lucas route though because I really liked that one.

 

Doesn't help I had trouble to get into it because the heroine had a constant poker face, it wasn't

through halfway a route I could see any romance. Its basically full of serious tones but early on

it doesn't seem that serious yet and plays most of them out in a fairly light manner

so despite being revenge themed I myself am not even thinking of revenge half of the time.

It did get better when you get onto a route but the common route didn't do it any favors.

Simply put I was a bit mixed on the vibes and it could change depending on routes.

I did however really like the character interactions between main and sub

it kept it engaging when the plot wasn't really there yet. It took untill

midway of Lucas's route before I started to get invested in literally anything.

In said route the plot/romance was actually pretty good, idk if it was because

I did Lucas first but I had a good time which is what matters anyway.

Alfred's route was a bit of a sleeper, its honestly best to do him first or second.

Linus actually grabbed my attention and was interesting from his 1st chapter.

ASScot's route was an entertaining dumpster fire but I started losing interest at Edward

and thought most of his route was boring and wondered what he even add to the plot

because Ascot's route brought so many revelations I was like what else is there? 

Edward's route wasn't very exciting in comparison which isn't good tbh.

John's route was pretty great from the start and I was relieved since it was worth sitting

through 5 routes to get to him. Maybe your opinion could differ but I enjoyed John's route.

Fair warning this game does have NTR ending(s) needless to say if you hate that trope

don't do the ending related to it, its always the maze end so just stick with best end.

To be safe maybe don't do both of Asscot's Clown&Maze endings.

I know Rose is in it for revenge but I just don't like the idea or appeal of some guy even slightly 

disappointing you in some way to make everything worse for them or to switch to guy B

because A isn't useful. I know that this plays very well into a certain character but damn not for me.

I guess I am just not that petty of a person which may be why the best end was enough for me.

Atleast the choices make you have a say in the matter so that is good.

I definitely did love Lucas, there's actually a very good reason he is like that.

 Mistonia can be slow at first and it could seem not as interesting but it may pay off

to keep paying attention as you go through the common and individual.

NGL the common route investigation part reminds me of VN's from 10 years ago.

So is it good? well if you're looking for an otome with an active protagonist and a fun

cast of characters with some fluff despite serious tones it still gets my recommendation

especially if you're tired of longer otome games, you'll still get a solid package here but if

you hate NTR or the MC manipulating situations for her own ends this game is not for you.

Granted most of that stuff is reserved for the clown/maze ends but its still something to be wary of.

Even after everything I am still not sure how I feel about the MC, I only really liked her in the best

ends, mostly everything else just made me feel umcomfortable that I want to pretend I didn't do them.

I just am not able to vibe with this heroine when she pulled some of the stunts that she did.

6/10

I initially gave it an 8 but man those other ends just... NO.

**Even a day after beating it I am like is my score too high? oonly route I thought was

really good was Lucas, others don't compare so I dropped it by 1 point.

I will say Mistonia has some very high production values from sprites,CG's to the

background art and also the music. None of that was bad at all, neither was some of the story.

Also I can see why this was picked up for localization, being undercover as a maid

is a cool idea and could hook folks even if they're not into otome games.

However if you do end up playing this and the heroine doesn't vibe with you then that is okay

and then this game may not be for you! Rose is just written to appeal to certain angles.

As for playorder  I was mostly interested in Linus and Lucas as well as John

but unfortunately there are restrictions for Edward,Ascot and John.............

Edward needs Linus,Lucas and Alfred. Ascot can be done after Two/three good ends

of those initially availabe. John basically needs all so no choice with that one.

Recommended order: Lucas / Alfred /  Linus >  Asscot > Edward > John.

I recommed this because the initial three have no restrictions

but if you care about the story then its best to do Linus before Ascot

and with this you can have some free choice based on personal preference.

As per usual spoiler and route babbles after the jump, if you don't want those then stop reading here. Like always I will share some of my favorite CG's as well but not all of them.

Side note writing Applause is weird all the time so I refer to the heroine by her alias Rose.

Utsusemi no Meguri - Review

Game: [Utsusemi no Meguri]
Genre: Otome Visual Novel.
Developer/publisher: Matatabi.
Platform: PS Vita.
Official Site: http://matatabi.tv/utsusemi/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v20326
Release date: 2017-07-27
-

Edo period, on a remote islands their exists two gates Higammon and Kogammon that lead to
 the land of the dead, they're guarded by humans and oni respectively.
One day a phenomenon is observed and the heroine Amane a human priestess
gets send to the oni-clan's village along with her human servant Yasuomi.
The secrets of the island will be revealed as the miko interacts with the oni-clan
and renews the bonds between humans and oni.

Oh boy who thought these guys would stick around for one more project?

This time their game centers on conflict between human and oni...

fate and forbidden--- ah you guessed it romance.

The whole synopsis sounds like we've seen it before but for some reason

I was intrigued at how'd they handle it and they seem to take their world setting
serious enough to carefully explain it so it can't be that bad right?

This otome game is very japanese with dark themes and by no means its not an easy read.
After being sent to the village of the oni the heroine Shizumiya Amane becomes
the target of youma who are like the living dead but what are they truly?
Moving on Amane is one of those good girl types taking the words of her grandma
to heart and tries hard to perform her duties as a miko, TL;DR she does as she's told
but doesn't value her own life and basically wouldn't mind jumping in front of someone.
Amane is an okay heroine and she's cute  but I don't feel attached to her at all
besides in some Kyouran/tragic route she got on my nerves.
As for length it took me maybe 10 hours till I reached my first end this includes
common route which was atleast 3-4 hours I think each route is 6 hours at least.
Said common route takes its time to introduce everyone in neutral manner and get the plot going
but the story while interesting was hard to follow maybe due to concepts I found it hard
to understand wtf was happening to the side characters or my japanese just sucked.

OP, well I like it but its a bit on the long side.

Pro's
- Interesting world view, pacing OK.
- Beautiful art.
- Decent length not too long or short.
- Character have Yin / Yan split route, one side is more happy the other is dark.

Con's
- Same-ish plot in all routes but a little different depend on guy yet only makes sense in the true route.
 - Minigame could be done without like you can even skip it at the press
of the button and still get the trophies related to it. -_-
- Gamebreaking crashes  among other bugs they're being worked on now but seriously...

~Art~
If you love ancient japanese aesthetics you'll love the backgrounds, seriously they're amazing.
As for CG's Puru did a great job its surprisingly consistent too but eh some angles are a bit...
strange but nothing to complain about! I made a selection of a few of my favorite scenery
How can I not share this? they're BREATHTAKINGly beautiful.

~System~

 You know the usual reading and choice selecting love catch etc.

The minigame this time is more simple its a purification ritual or whatever

and involves pressing buttons this may or may not save your life, or so they said.
Honestly this minigame could've done without... all it does is break the mold of only reading.
Atleast its just simply press this button in time rinse repeat untill its complete
and no rng bullcrap so it gets a pass even tho its sorta just there at the end of the day
 atleast add an automatic succeed/fail after one play so that's nice.

There are four endings, not all of them are happy and some are just painful.

I think that 4eds thing is similair to say Ken ga Kimi... because the one end you'll get
depends on choice and minigame success/failure there's a small change in route
scenario as well so yeah if you ask me its pretty similair.

~

Compared to rear pheles, Utsusemi no Meguri is a lot better, Matatabi seems to have
learned from mistakes and hired better devs, no more screentear in the movies

and the lips move and eyes blink, it even has its own save screen
plus the art no longer looks blurry on the ps vita screen, it is crisp now.
 I also love the general setting and atmosphere early on in this game
it had a great start to introduce everyone imo and it made me interesting
even tho the plot partly sounds generic. >_>
The pacing was good too like there's no long monologues\TL;DR that makes me bored
its just that some parts of the story are a little confusing to me.
-
However Matatabi's games still come with plenty of bugs like sprites may disappear
so only the eyes and hair show that's spooky right? but reloading fixes it...
granted that didn't happen to me but i've seen screenshots that it can happen.
You know I can turn a blind eye to that but the next...
There's a FATAL bug where the game crashes when you try and save I am just sigh. -_-

Mind you this only happened once... in common route so dunno if it was just a bad spot.
Matatabi definitely had budget for this... but could've worked a little on debugging
but maybe they ran out of time and had to release it as is, patch it later.
-
That aside I sorta like this otomege, the characters are all intriguing which may make you
want to do their routes because common route wise it won't get far.
I think the only one who was generic as is was Yasuomi... but Hiiragi definitely did not
 turn out the way I thought so yeah there's that! in fact he's my favorite character.
The story and relationship develops side by side... at times it may be stiff
but it'll get there, I found Hayate to be a slowburn but rewarding in the end.
This isn't a fun visual novel everyone seems to have a little darkness, some more than others.
Utsusemi has all the things that could make it decent but keep in mind its not for everyone
nor an easy visual novel language wise so with that in mind before you buy this...
As someone who do not like yandere... I am just happy Matatabi has most of that crap
reserved for kyouran/tragic ends much like rear pheles and their merry bad ends.
In most I prefer happiest and the only kyouran end I could stomach was Yasuomi's.

In short this game was rather average to me, it has a nice setting and cast
but if there was a revelation about a character I was usually ''oh'' about it.
In most routes it just doesn't try anything new... except the last route
where it hit me right in the feels and thus I only feel really attached to Hiiragi.
''Other than that nothing specifically wowed me nor made me say
 it just plain sucks, in the end its just fine.''

So I recommend this otome game to people who are:
A, Not tired of human x oni bullshit and old timey settings.
B, People who like a dark side to characters and yin/yang route split
as in one is more happy/natural yet the other is dark/sorta bad end-ish.
C, Do not have a backlog/read too many other otomege like this.
D, Like heart-wrenching true endings.

Playorder:
Hayate > Kai > Yasuomi  > Yuzuru > Hiiragi.
There's no official recommendations so just go with someone that strikes your interest, for me
that turned out to be Hayate.😌 The order I went with flowed surprisingly well!
unlike the last game I played... so I can recommend it to other people as well.
Due to events in Hayate I wanted to do Kai and in Kai's Yasuomi got my interest
which lead me to Yuzuru! Yuzuru's filled in my suspicions about him and gaps in Yasuomi's route.
Hiiragi is locked till you do everyone else... so no choice with him.
I did Happiest/kindan ends... then Kyouran/tragic love ends, this is to save whatever
likeability the characters may have Kyouran/Tragic is just shit gone horrible wrong.
Unless you don't mind that but... i'll leave it up to you to decide the order of endings.

That concludes my non-spoiler thoughts, rambles/possible spoilers after the jump.