9 R.I.P Sequel - Review

I've had my fill of spooky season with this...

 Genre: VN.

Developer/publisher: Otomate.

Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/9rips/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v52276

Release date: 25-9-2025 

 

I was a bit surprised when a sequel was announced for 9rip.

I mostly wanted to get this for Koyou but I will admit my memory of the OG

is already waning, thankfully there was a recap and plenty of callbacks!

As per usual I tried not to set my expectations too high and the only thing I am

disappointed by was the short length of the god after, I enjoyed mostly everything else. 

 

Disclaimer: This is purely my own opinion and it could be different from yours

this is not meant to be some kind of all-truth, just an opinion that came from playing this.

If you don't like what you're reading then close the tab, move on and just idk play it yourself. 

 

Pro's

- Wraps up the story and concludes the saga for most relatively well.

- Heaven afters are of decent length.

 

Grey area

- Focuses more on the heaven side than the god side.

-  Art mostly good but... you can notice the usual otomate shenanigans here or there.

 

Con's

- God afters except one are way too short.

 

Storywise it really varied whether an after story was interesting

and ultimately may come down to preference but that's just my opinion. 

 Each character has an after story for the heaven end and the god end.

With 9 routes, I realized by route 7 that not everyone was as relevant to the main

storybeats and the ones that executes them well (heaven side) were Seiya and Minami.

A lot of the others just didn't feel very... relevant or had some random plot. 

As for the OP I think it suited the heaven side more, its kinda funny but it is what it is. 

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System.

This doesn't really follow the usual after story/continuation template

where you just select a character and get their story. Here you start a new game

and then via choices at the start get to the routes. It only takes a minute, you get a brief recap

at the start of the after too which was really helpful.

Actually its really similar to how you end up on routes in the original. 

 

My first route was blind and I decided to do Kureha. After that I used guides.

There are bad ends or... premature endings in some of the heaven routes.

I managed to avoid those first time thru Kureha's so I when I looked up a guide I was

a bit shocked choices actually seemed to matter. Always trust Koyou!

God after's have only one ending so you can enjoy that without worry.

 

They probably could have removed the map selection part as it felt pretty useless

there were times with more than one location but if there's only 1 spot why bother? /shrug.

Turns out some points are missable, 9 in total which unlock locations in a special mode

where Sayaka sends you all over town to find the perfect hiding place. 

Thankfully Choro's guide listed the locations you could recover

but if you miss them its nothing to worry over, the special mode

does NOT even have a CG just a fun scene for your efforts.

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Pacing was not too slow but it felt like there wasn't much time for anything especially

during god afters like it sure did try to deliver something but some didn't satisfy me.

The heaven afters felt like they were a bit more fleshed out and I enjoyed it the most.

With some like Hibiki I wasn't interested in the plot and new side character(s). 

 

In terms of length each god after was like 1/2 hours & heaven 4 so its 6 hours per character

you can probably already see what the problem is here so I will shut up about this.

I could probably have finished this sooner but that is no good for my menhera(mental health). 

 

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The heaven side feels like where most of the effort got put into and for some

it felt like it fleshed out more stuff. Others such as Kureha or Hibiki felt like a remix. 

I did think some had better outcomes but i'm gonna be real they just turned a less than

good end into a happy one.😅 I realized they didn't have all that much material to work with

and only a few of them were actually interesting, mainly Seiya,Minami and to some extend Koyou.

Wasn't sure if it was the writing but it kinda dipped and peaked for some of the heaven afters.

There were some new characters introduced, I couldn't care about most of them. 

Now I understand in the original heaven ends some things are up in the air so what

we get here is that the majority of the time is spend trying to make something of it.

 

God After's
Okay gonna remind everyone that over half the cast is dead

and Misa basically acts like an ankle bracelet for them, this shit is tragic.

Going to heaven doesn't sound like a bad deal for some. Its actually expanded

upon why certain things happened. So, no its not just random R.i.P bozo. 

Characters like Koyou, some demon or the ayakashi's got off better than certain others.

Shucks but it'll keep you warm for a minute.

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Uh yea have some mini character babbles.

Kureha's heaven after did have a unsettling vibe at times which is in line with the original.

I couldn't help but want to pray things would end up relatively well...

I wasn't convinced by his god after and for some reason prefer his heaven side.

I don't think there was nearly enough time to have much of substance and wish they just

focused their energy in one place. Now its like you get a burger but its divided in half.

There's moments that I like but before I knew it, it was over. Sad. 

For Hibiki... i'm mostly indifferent for his heaven after and I like slept through half

of it only to jolt right awake in time for the end and I loved the 深 ending so much! 

Hibiki's god after was kinda meh, shucks for Minami tho... he just keeps taking L's just like me.

I'm once again not completely sold here but what sort of better outcome would there be

for Hibiki and Misa when all's said and done? so at the end of the day it was OK at best.

 Like its definitely an after story but the majority of the time is spend reminiscing. 

This tells me, we don't know what to do with this but enjoy! also R.i.P.

Koyou: In a surprising way I actually ended up invested into his heaven after.

Dunno if good or bad, it scratched that supernatural itch. There was no Reika, since

she was already dealt with at this point! in exchange we got some weirdo spirit that likes

 collecting dolls, among other things thanks I guess. Koyou's god after was decent and for

once it felt like a proper after story...but even this felt like it was over in a flash...

Sena: Heaven after went on for too long about his past with S-crown, I sleep.

I loved his god after for some reason because it hit all the right tragic notes.😭

I don't even like Sena that much so that gotta say something. 

Seiya: I loved his heaven after cuz I got some vibes from the kdrama tomorrow so of course

I was eating that shit up though that was just at the beginning. Seiya's character can 

also be very entertaining so this was easy entertainment. They struck gold here amidst a sea

of bronze and silver. God after was more like the rest... 2ish hours of fluff whatever R.i.P. 💀

Minami: His heaven after was enjoyable, maybe it was because much like Seiya

there weren't many new side characters though Meimei did take some spotlight

but he never overstayed his welcome so I was fine with the creepy shinigami.

His god after was hilarious though but as per usual... over in a flash.

Koharu: I thought his heaven after was a little boring something happened

that wasn't on my bingo card. I have 99 problems and this isn't one of them. Very bakamitai.

Koharu is kinda dumb but a real man gotta be a lil stupid, I still love him but basically:

 If you can't handle him at his worst, you don't deserve him at his best.💀👍

His god after much like Sena hit like a truck and I thought it was one of the better ones

like I fully understood now why Misa ends up like that because they took the time to explain it.

I find it hilarious how with both Sena and Koharu I didn't like their heaven side much.😅

Yukimaro had a calm heaven after and it was pretty chill but it didn't have much

going for it and I thought it was pretty much a nothing burger.

OK maybe that's too harsh maybe a bun with cheese on it?

His god after was pretty good but uh not like they could have done a lot with that.

I liked how heartwarming it was, in these trying times I accept it with all my heart.💖

Touka only had one after, for his god ending. It wasn't paced like the others and was

a heaven after in disguise. Also suffers from truth route syndrome, but honestly

I didn't really like Touka that much, he actually made me uncomfy the more

time we spend with him  but of course Misa likes him so uh yea it is what it is.

Imma be real, this game turned me into a Minami enjoyer. 

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Me with over half of the LI's whenever a route ends.

Honestly while I am not satisfied with most god afters, an attempt was made and I accept it.

Though the heaven afters was where the meat of the game was.

Not sure if my expectations were wrong but was it wrong to expect more of the former?

I wasn't completely sold on the highlighted moments thing, since it leaves a lot

open to imagination but I wouldn't say it was awful either, just not my thing. 

They focused more on supernatural side of things because heaven afters

were far longer than the god afters which was really short.

Whether or not 9rip sequel is worth it depends on how much you liked the original

and if you want more content with Misa and ALL the guys.

---

It was nice they provided an opportunity to follow up on some things

or spend more time with specific characters, I could appreciate it for some

but after sitting through 1 character and a half I was like, damn have I really cleared

almost 2 characters already?! at this point I hadn't even touched Koyou my best boi.

Its only after I cleared my 7th route Koharu that some things that happened in other god afters

actually made sense. I guess you could figure it out but its nice there was an explanation.

--- 

Kinda sad one after or route can seem really short but I think its only normal

that with like 9 LI's you aren't gonna spend a lot of time with all of them. 

Overall if you do all it'll take you 50ish hours. That's still a good deal.

Much like the original nothing overstayed its welcome but I got tired by the time of 9th route.

I got the feeling the director wasn't especially focused on more romance focused

scenario maybe it not their thing and that's why everything felt so brief.

If I had to choose between no sequel at all or what we got, I'm still grateful we even got this.

7/10  

Its a little difficult to recommend if you only like one character but if you

really dig supernatural stuff and like the majority of the cast its actually OK.

To that end this is only something I could recommend if you liked over half the cast

but who knows maybe you didn't and still end up with a new favorite! 

 

This game will likely be localized and I will be disappointed if it doesn't.

Though with iffy I am not sure anymore, seems they're just bringing over

random games now while hoping its better received in ENG than Japan.

 

Gonna sneak in this edit but: 9rips sold out on release and charted in famitsu

but there's barely any reviews for it, now having played it... there's not much to even

write about but it seems oddly quiet compared to how they raised the pitchforks at MonoChi. 

 

My play order: Kureha > Hibiki > Koyou > Sena > Seiya > Minami > Koharu > Yukimaro > Touka.

Like with the previous game I decided to keep the pairs together and go from there. There's no

restrictions and you can mostly do whatever but I recommend Koharu and Touka for last. 

 

Character rambles after the jump there's spoilers in there as well as some of my fav CG's

so stop reading here if you don't want any of that.

Kannagi no Mori Samidare Tsuzuri - Review

Since the switch ver is digital only here's the PS Vita box art instead.

 Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Matatabi.
Platform: PC/Vita/Switch.
Official Site: https://matatabi.tv/kannagi/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v22311

Release date: 22-2-2024.

 

I saw they released a switch port of Kannagi no Mori and since I did play the other two

Matatabi games I decided why the hell not? there's not many otome games I am interested

in nowadays and besides for some reason it is only 3300 yen which honestly

is a steal for like two games, but after playing I think the price suits it just fine.

I ended up finishing 4 routes while playing FF7 rebirth because at times I just

wanted to peace out and Kannagi no Mori was perfectly suited for that.

 

KnM was originally a PC game split into parts... ah so matatabi tried that sort of thing.

Thank god they later made a ps vita and now a switch port so you can enjoy it in one place.

Pro's

- Decent enough plot, compelling characters.

- Has relaxing vibes despite it having a sad tone at times.

- Art is pretty good. 

- BGM is relaxing... perhaps a bit to much.

Grey Area

- One route could seem really short but its long if you do all routes.

Con's

- Slow start, has some slight pacing issues.

- Switch port is bugged, if you want to save/load you have to use the touchpad

as the little text prompt thingy was unresponsive when you select yes for various things.

The OP movie was nice, I was instantly drawn to atleast two characters!

but this is not the type of movie i'd watch always every time I booted uup the game.

Sure its nice but after a few route I had just seen it... also it is a bit long.

 

 One thing I really liked was the art style of this game, not every character may have

drawn me in the same way but I really like the colours,style and vibe it gives off.

The cg's had plenty of variation that were good at showing the characters expressions

and the overall count of them was mostly even across all characters.

The voice cast are all A++ veterans so it was nice to hear them again as well.

 

System was just standard stuff and it wouldn't be worth commenting about

but some menu's were broken like it would ask me to save so i'd press yes

but nothing happens! the only way I could save/load was with using the touchpad.

MATATABI is at it again amirite? why is it always something omg but honestly

it was only slightly annoying and can easily be fixed by touching the screen

whenever you had to make a choice or save/load the game.

 

Story is Mizuki always could see things other people couldn't and was told to keep

it a secret from the only family she had. Things begin to change when she

sees her dead mom on a rainy night which is when dead people appear.

A man then leads Mizuki to a village to meet her grandfather... who turned ill

and now Mizuki is forced to manage his work which deals with spirits and their problems.

KnM is a slower-paced game and the music was soothing, so soothing that I got sleepy.

The early game was so relaxing I can't decide if this is good or bad, i'll go with good

since the vibes were so nice that Nao and Souta quickly grew on me.

Idk if it was because this was the first part or i'm not really that interested in the two initial

love interest but at times I did get a little bored due to how slow Youko-kitan can be.

I was more interested in Asahi... which may be why I had a hard time!

The heroine wasn't too bad, I found her fairly normal, at first she doesn't really

have the confidence to continue her grandfathers work which is understandable.

I liked how Asahi helped her grasp how she could help people. Didn't seem easy.

Compared to the last otome I sat through this felt much more normal

and I didn't really find much that made me go wtf! sadly that also meant

it was a lot less entertaining and less excitement due to being mostly nonbiri.

Like the scenes weren't always that engaging and it was really situational if it was

which isn't bad perse but I am just glad there were no routes that were a dumpster fire.

NGL Shinonome brought most of the entertainment early on.

Story generally focuses on helping spirits overcome their trauma and save them

so they don't become evil spirits. Due to the setting, I probably would only recommend

Kannagi no Mori if you like school-themed otome games with otherwordly stuff

and like slower-paced games that grab your attention slowly. I say it can be slow but it

also didn't overstay its welcome since I found the routes itself to be fairly short.

Decent story yes but overall while it can seem light-hearted the tone of it all still

had a very sad feeling to it. The very last route of this game gave me nothing but sadnesss.

I did like the character interactions and there were some funny scenes!

wish there were more of that but it wasn't that type of game.

Comedy was mostly used to lighten the mood which was why its great.

The pacing can be a bit slow but overall it was enjoyable, whenever Shinonome

was on screen there was never a dull moment.😂 I didn't really like the first half of this game

but there were moments it hit home so it wasn't all bad. It generally just was a comfy read!

 a little melancholic yes but it fits in with the theme of the game for there to be underlying sadness.

7.7/10

It was just good, not bad but not great. Unlike Matatabi's other games

there weren't any minigames or landmines either which is a plus. I'd recommend

Kannagi no Mori if you don't mind short but slower-paced games, The scenario had impact

in many ways, some subtle & some that hit a lil harder. This otome game is also great

if you're tired of controversial stuff and just want to mostly have a good time while also

getting served a decent enough plot with a well written heroine.

 

I think I preferred the latter half of the game Ryuuji over the first half Youko

simply for the fact it touched upon the underlying plot more. Its like Youko was extremely

standard in terms of otome games and more like a prologue of sorts.

Ryuuji is like hold my beer! ups the stakes and just delivers the plot better.

As for playorder the game is split into two parts with the last route in each part being locked.

So my play order ended up being like this:

Youko Kitan / part 1: Nao > Souta >Ichimaru.

Ryuuji Kitan / part 2: Hinata > Asahi > Shinonome.

 I can't really recommend anything other than Youko first and Ryuuji second.

The game does have a fail-safe that even if you were to do Ryuuji first you'll be okay

but if you get it on vita/switch and want to see all routes, best to start with Youko.

Maybe switch Nao/Souta or Hinata/Asahi around to suit preference

before the 3rd route of each part, there's not much else to it.

Spoilers are after the jump, there are some shoddy summaries as well as my favorite cg's.

 

9 R.I.P - Review

 Genre: VN.

Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/9rip/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v38068
Release date: 2023-06-29.

 

Otomate's latest visual novel! I didn't get started on it right away because

I was busy with FF16 but I still wanted to give this game a shot since it seemed interesting

and they brought back some golden-era seiyuu's I hadn't heard in a while. Oh boy! they

got me nostalgic for Kakki, KENN, Nobuhiko and Shinnosuke Tachibana alright!

I am not too familiar with Azakami or Shun'ichi though but it is always good

to see otomate try to use less popular seiyuus. Other than that I went in very blind

I didn't even know it was gonna be an occult mystery with suspense!

 

Game/story is presented as an occult mystery about people being spirited away...

The heroine Misa ends up hearing some scary stories/rumors and then she had a strange encounter

in the school hallway, she was also worried over her education when an accident happens...

Due to that Misa finds out crossed over to the spirit realm, most of the love interests

are spirits and such. I don't want to say too much so i'll stop her since its really better

if you don't know too much and can find it out on your own.

 

Pro's

- Story/character driven, good amount of suspense.

- Art, cg's are very well done.

- Music fits the mood and theme of the game.

- Short but it doesn't feel longer than it needs to be.

- Great heroine, she takes initiative.

 

Con's

 - 1 route has no epilogue cg's.💀

- High amount of bad ends.

The game can have a little bit of suspense too... but at times it can also be relaxing.

There was enough time to get to know the characters during the common route parts but who

you meet there depends on an early game choice, this was good since it kept each playthrough fresh.

Also it is best going into this game blind as knowing too much could ruin the suspense.

 

First thing I notice is that there are 8(9 if you count the final) routes, well this can

go both ways but I hoped this wouldn't be too long of a VN and it wasn't

the pacing was okay, it moved at a good pace and there was hardly a dull moment!

so I was happy it respects your time, maybe the love process was a little fast

and most characters are nice and easy to like. Of course there are exceptions

and certain characters could not be your cup of tea atleast that was me with Minami.

On the other hand my favorite was Koyou followed by Koharu, Sena and Yukimaro.

Due to characters being paired up and share a common route it makes the most sense

to do the other characters route/end right after. Also even if they shared a common route

they did infact have a individual route and it didn't feel like one character took up more time.

I was relieved at this since I was worried of there being too much shared plot.

 

The heroine Misa was great and good at taking some initiatives, I didn't find her annoying

and considering what she goes through... she handled it pretty well.

 

This game does have bad endings so if you want to avoid those or not in the mood

a guide is recommended. I do think the bad ends were still worth doing even if

they had no CG, as sometimes they gave little details or for better or worse

showed another side of a character. 

 

System was your standard stuff but in one route they had you input your characters

name and you could do it manually which threw the entire jpn dictionary at you. xD

Thankfully you could autofill Misa's name which begs the question... why even bother?

The bad end gotten if you fill it in wrong can be gotten through another choice too...

this was a really dumb design choice that makes 0 sense.

 

Art, looked really nice and before I played I was more positive about it

than I initially was about tsuitsui, so IDK if that says something other than its good.

The CG's were all well done, even if the amount was low its 7/8 there are variations

so i'm on the side of i'd rather most be of quality than half of them be looking off.

9rip also has 8 routes and one finale which is more than the usual 6 or 7 so I think

that says a lot and there's nothing wrong with it. Cg's are nice but it shouldn't be

the whole reason to buy a game, then you're better of buying an artbook!

Music was fine, I had no complaints and it fit the mood. ED themes change

depending which pair of love interests you go after which was nice. 

I think I can recommend 9rip if you don't want a visual novel that is on the long side

but still want something with an engaging plot, don't mind it being an occult mystery

that could test your nerves a little (its nothing too scary) and one or more characters interest you.

This was a very good life/death character drama type of otome game

the only real down side I can think of is the number of routes since by the time

I reached the final route I was kind of burned, thankfully it wasn't as long

as a certain character from Tsuitsui but it was still a nice finish even if it was short.

9/10

I can't ironically give this any less than a 9 because of a bunch of facts

and how refreshing each set of routes was, it balanced everything out nicely.

My play order:

Koyou > Sena  >  Kureha > Hibiki> Koharu > Yukimaro > Minami > Seiya >???.

 

Recommended play order:

It was hard to come up with a recommended order I think this works nicely:

[Kureha > Hibiki]  > [Koyou > Sena] > [Minami > Seiya] > [Koharu > Yukimaro] >???.

You could switch some pairs up due to preference but things to note is that

Koharu/Yukimaro is a bit of a healing route and had more fluff compared to others... it can

either be done after Kureha/Hibiki or after Minami/Seiya. Finally Kojou/Sena may be best

done before Minami/Seiya... it just works better in terms of story elements

same goes for making sure Koharu is done after Hibiki. Of course you could

change something due to preference, like even my own play order works out.

There's not much choice but to do ??? last as his only unlocks after doing all

anyway I hope this information was helpful in deciding a route order.

Character rambles and my fav cg's after the jump! the spoiler free zone ends here.

I should add that 9RIP is one of those visual novels that is best going in blind

as route summaries/thoughts etc could reveal too much.

So if you want to go in blind stop reading here cuz there will be spoilers!

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Final Roadtrip Fantasy XV - review

 Genre:RPG.

Developer/publisher: Square Enix.

Platform: PS4/PC.

Official Site: https://finalfantasyxv.square-enix-games.com/

Release date: 2016-11-29.

 

With not much else to play I decided to look at games I once started but never finished...

which lead me to FF15! I did remember where I stopped it was after arriving in galdin quay

and met some suspicious guy. Knowing this I saw no reason to replay from scratch

and it was actually easy enough to get the hang of things again!

Casually adds even more screenshots... after making posts.

My reasons for dropping the ball on this before was simple, my old ps4 had a bug

where it would try to eject discs sometimes even when there's no disc inside as well 

as annoying beeping sounds when it tried to do exactly that (even when turned off).

It was not just me that had it but yea I couldn't really play disc based games cuz of this.

A shame really because this game was quite fun and I don't understand the hate it got.

I suppose I could have bought it digitally when royal came out but I didn't

and it just ended up being dropped till now.😅 (The old model was replaced by a slim)

Pro's

- Exploring and doing quests/hunts is fun.

- Cast has great chemistry and most of the time the vibes are chill...

- Story is straight-forward but this is not a character game.

- Scenery is beautiful and the OST is really good.

Con's

- Story can be pretty peak fiction but terrible execution and full of holes so if you want

to fill those gaps, you need the movie(sets the stage), dlc ep's and read the novel(epilogue).

- Magic system is a hassle.

 

 

More ramblings after the jump break.

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.

Sweet clown ~Gozen San-ji no Okashi na Doukeshi~ - review

 Genre: Otome/simulation VN.
Developer/publisher: Takuyo.
Platform: PSV, Switch.
Official Site: http://www.takuyo.co.jp/products/sweetclown/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v16460
Release date: 2021-07-22.

 

What lead me to Sweet Clown? I started to look for something to kill time with

but not exactly in any hurry to finish it as a whole so this kinda became like a backburner game.

The japanese subtitle of this game is long (Gozen Sanji...) so I won't type it out

anywhere else in ENG it means: 3AM candy clown.

Considering the themes of this game this was for the better, its not as depressing as say Getsuei no Kusari nor is there too much despair like Virche but it isn't exactly light-hearted either.

Perhaps I wanted something not from otomate and since I feel like i'm a clown lately...

so I ended up picking up sweet clown after I had initially passed on the vita version

honestly how or why is Takuyo still around?! I wonder what there secret is...😂😂😂

 

Pro's

- Interesting story and cast of characters.

- Well-rounded routes.

- Art is pretty good but can vary.

- Music fits the mood/tone of the game.

 

Con's

- The routes do have a bit of a slow start... it takes a bit to get going.

- Sometimes it can seem that whatever choice you made doesn't matter also there are a lot.

- Le espresso depresso... wait this could be a pro.

 

A little bit on the plot... but it might be better to read the VNDB

description if you want to know what's it about!

Our protagonist Zakuro received an invitation for a 3am tea party, which leads her

to a castle owned by the sweet clown. There... she meets a bunch of other people

and the story slowly unfolds from there. It quickly becomes obvious Zakuro carries a secret.

She lost her brother when she was young and is extremely lonely and has some issues with guilt

over it... after meeting this sweet clown she ends up being selected to take over the role

unfortunately due to her issues things go far from smoothly.

The OP was pretty nice but apparently they changed it for the switch version.

I looked up the PSV version and uh i'm not sure why they changed

but it was most likely a licensing issue or they lost the file/was damaged

anyway this is the switch one.

 Oh well back on track, this game is probably not for people with fear of clowns and stuff

this is also a fairly mystery-oriented otome game more and play order is important.

What's recommended is Seisuke > Kuze or Takeru > Ouchirou > Manai.

There are also a bunch of endings 4 per route which are all toned differently

some more depressing than others, i'll be using the same order the guide recommended

and this order is very good because it makes the most sense with the overall plot.

 

I honestly found myself hooked right from the start and interested to find out more

and come back to it so I thought the flow of the story was pretty good

but it was kinda glum and so this is not something to look into if you want something light-hearted

its also not too dark! but if you want there's a more twisted end waiting for you.

The art and backgrounds were pretty nice and the music was appropiate so there's that

though I might have to say that while the art is gorgeous and there are nice cg's it did vary a little.

The system was pretty basic? there's a gazillion of choices so it might be better to use a guide...

what bothered me about the choice system is often there isn't even much of a difference

characters would often react the same as if the other choice was chosen which made me go

like thank god for the blue/red rose animation for affection which determines the endings.

Also you could literally make one wrong choice and be locked out of the best end... which

happened with me in Kobashi's route.... this combined with the mass amount of choices

makes me really want to tell people to use a guide unless you want to figure it all out yourself.

I did wonder why I passed on this game initially and it was probably because of some of the designs

and setting, even now some of those don't really vibe with me but still glad I did give it a try

because the story and characterization was honestly really good and in terms of despair

it might not be as extreme as Virche but when it hits, it hits.

 The prologue was a good setup albeit a bit long? it was ok cuz you slowly got

a better picture while also getting to know the guys if only a little.

I like it more than Shinigami to Shoujo cuz of the overall flow but this is by no means a simple

game like himehibi since  there are some layers of complexity in regards of the plot and char's

 so now you know why I won't be writing too much about the plot but i'll comment

a little on the character routes cuz I think this game is best experienced when you know very little like

psychedelica for example, the route which was most complicated was probably Takeru.

 

Most of the common route focuses on the heroine Zakuro and her internal struggles+the guys

trying to help her so they can go home each in their own way.

This isn't one of those otome games that has the heroine only help the guys its the other way around which honestly lead to an interesting experience. I do have to point out the routes

do start out fairly slow and once more that play order is VERY important, I did Seisuke first and

godbless I did because this guy completely became unlikeable in Souma's route! (atleast for me)

so for a moment I thought if I had done Souma first, I didn't want to bother with Seisuke anymore.😞

 

Overall this was a pretty good otome game with a well written story and heroine/cast

it might seem dark and dreary but it is definitely one that I can recommend.

The routes here are well-rounded in terms of plot and romance while developing both

the heroine and love interest. If anything some of the guys are just clowns really

but even then with 2 different endings per route+bad there's bound to be one outcome

that could suit your taste whether that's a happy outcome or a twisted version of it.

Weird thing was by the time I finished Souma's route I didn't even want to do the others... 😅

since the ending of it was so satisfying I felt no need to continue cuz he was also my best boi

but alas for the sake of the truth I continued on! if there was anything that I thought was a downside

is that routes take a bit to get going and it might seem same-ish how Zakuro had to overcome

her problems but every route added a new flavor its just that it might get a tad repetitive?

but as long as you're invested I don't think its a big deal! do have to be honest that if

you found your best boy the rest of the game could feel like a slog.

 

So all in all, Sweet clown is a pretty solid pick if you want something with a good story and cast!

but if you're not in the mood for a long and dreary read then it might be better to pass, there's

not much fluff either and its very character driven, the humor was a bit weird but it was there

if it wasn't I think this game would be plain depressing.

That's all I can say without spoilers really...

Sweet Clown is interesting but requires patience and perhaps an acquired taste?

I think I want to play something lighter next but this was still a good time killer

its definitely something to look into if you value character development..

8.2/10

That ends the spoiler-free section! there will be some route commentary below as this game

much like getsuei was far too long to digest and someone already summarized it anyway

so there'll only be commentary with a few of my fav CG's.

Wand of Fortune R2 FD ~Kimi ni sasageru Epilogue~ - Review

PSP box art because I like it more.

Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 

Developer/publisher: Otomate.

Platform: PSP, PSV.

Official Site: http://www.otomate.jp/wandoffortune2_fd/vita/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v10050

Release date: 2018-10-04

The much needed FD for Wand of Fortune 2  ~Jikuu ni Shizumu Mokushiroku~
This is where I say its better late than never, since I did like the cast enough
to return otome hogwartz one more time for the much need epilogue to WoF2
because let's be real, WoF2 had so much character development that by the time
you got to the post credit scene and you'd see your handsome man all grown up
you'd either be like aww its over OR wtf?! growth spurt much? (looking at you Est)
to the point you don't even really recognize and want more time.

Pro's
 - Plenty of content and fanservice.
- No more gameplay.
 - BGM is a relic of the past...but has charms, OP theme's a good jam.

Con's
-Short, only reason I took so long is because I paced it out due to otome game drought.

So in the prologue of this FD; in some dream-like space she meets a fairy named Bell
and now Lulu has the power to visit the past or the future... 

because Lulu has had so many possibilities Bell's gonna help her out!
At first, me thinks this little scenario takes place after the true end of WoF2

but since she let chances slip she had regrets this is where Bell comes in

and she gets to spend lovey dovey time with her harem.

So many things! so little time!
 

There's the after stories to WoF2.

A scenario of a ball at mils clair where thanks to Bell. Lulu can go out with everyone

and finally there's loli-Lulu's big adventure... but that was so random I didn't write much of it.

 Ball scenario can get repettitive and the writing for each guy keeps it a bit more fresh
but its not long, an hour or so maybe less, still fun just gets redundant.

That ball takes place somewhere right after WoF1/mirai no prologue but before WoF2
but Lulu was so busy studying she completely forgot, idk its sort of weird trying to place this
anywhere and maybe its better to just believe Lulu forgot about it all together back then
which will actually all make sense once you do Solo's scenario, what a special boi.
There's a score card system where you can check what you have completed
but imo since its sorta obvious in the stories which element belongs to who but still nice
that you can check if you really completed a route (after/ball/great adventure) with that character.
There's also this mils claire DX thing which is basically interviews with the characters
and bonus voices which was the only awful thing to complete since it requires
playing with bell and feeding her stuff loli-Lulu finds in her big adventure
but its not too bad and can be done in no time so its not that annoying.

If you finished WoFr2 completely and still like the series I see no reason as to why one
should not get this. It has plenty of content and an extended epilogue to WoF2 is what
we all wanted the most and the rest is enjoyable, the overall content makes it worth the price
even if its still short, just because one after got me in a bad mood didn't ruin the whole game.

9/10

Code:Realize Shirogane no Kiseki - Review

Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 

Developer/publisher: Otomate.

Platform: PS Vita.

Official Site: http://www.otomate.jp/code-realize/fd2/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v21521

Release date: 2017-12-21

The 2nd code realize fd... well we know the first (shukufuku no mirai) had more plot than fanservice

and that they sort of falsely advertised it so when this was announced I was like wow really?

surely they couldn't have put it as one game in the first place? but I guess

this is also to have yet another game to sell right after the anime finished airing. $$$hing
Oh well happy 2018 can't say I fully appreciated this FD but...
 atleast it gave content most fans wanted to begin with albeit a bit late.

Pro's
- Certain characters will finally get the epilogues they deserve.
- Triangle date, fanservicey but fun mini episodes.
- Art, Miko gets better and better!

Con's
- Christmas stories should've been shorter (looking at you Van).
- Was there really a need to split the FD?

This FD is christmas/holiday themed so I suggest you play it around that time of the year

it didn't arrive till the 28 for me but since I am not really that invested in the holidays 

I was just like i'll play it now before moving on to anything else like I do think

code:realize is a wonderful series but... I hope they won't milk this series too much so as much
as the idea of seasonal fandisk is nice I also dislike, I hope otomate doesn't get any more ideas.
Atleast the artist is still the same but I really hope this doesn't become the next hakuouki.

So what content is in this FD?
After stories for Finis and Sholmes because they needed it especially the latter.
A scenario titled Cantarella this is pretty much like the mafia one last time but better.
Christmas stories for the original characters set after Finis's after story.
An epilogue for the 5 original guys set after the after stories in shukufuku no mirai
to finish what the last FD started because apparently it couldn't be told back then. >_>

System? typical stuff, you select the story you want to read
there's no real need for a guide except for dictionary but since its so short
its easy to go back and select another choice so there's no fear.

To keep it short...
First off I don't want to sound ungrateful its just... starting to seem like code:rea is being milked.
Its short but the entertainment was there and the value was good... more so than tierbladeFD
speaking of volume it might be just right, I thought some of the christmas stories was too long for
their own good(especially Van) or maybe that's just me... I liked Impey's and Fran's a lot though.
Finis and Sholmes after stories... the latter bored me for some reason but still give good conclusion.
I think it would be better received if you actually like code:realize a whole lot, already said this at the
start of the post but it cannot be coincidence this came out right after the anime finished airing.
Cardia is a great heroine AND she kicked ass, got her happy future...  but there's not much else
that needs to be told is there? the more otome I play the more I realize that open ended
endings are perhaps the better kind like make your own fantasies instead of being spoonfed them
of course some could benefit from a little teensy bit more but I feel otomate is going overboard here.
I'm sure we could get a FD for everything that is new to Cardia but I hope that won't be necessary
the score is more than fair, I actually get tired of having to come back FD after FD, once is enough.
 7/10
''Its a nice addition with plenty of enjoyable fanservice but there's not much else to it.''

So do I recommend this FD? only if you are a fan and absolutely need more code:rea in your life.

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.

Teikoku Kaleido -Banka no Kakumei- - Review

Game: [The Charming Empire]

Genre: Otome Game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Operahouse/Dogenzaka Lab.

Platform: Mobile, PC, PS Vita.

Official Site: http://store.steampowered.com/app/505090/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v16651/

Release date: 2017-2-19 (English)

I got this game on steam because it seemed interesting and to take a break 

from a more heavy VN, something lighter seemed appropiate and so I bought this even though
I usually do not bother with english games and well I also supported Nightshade.
It had good art and the translation seemed decent oh and its fully voiced!

The music is a bit eh though... and the system was so standard
I could figure out the right choices without using a guide(if there was one)
and if I guessed the wrong one i'd reload usually but I still got the happy end first
the opposite choice led me to a normal end overall it was an easy ride no guide needed.

Well sometimes a simple otome game is good...
The whole theme of this is... what if I fell in love with a rebel leader?

Pro's
- Simple but decent plot and heroine was more proactive than i'd thought she'd be.
- Enjoyable routes, atleast imho.
- Art.
- Voiced

Con's
- Decent in length but its not that long really.
- Three of the romanceable characters don't have presence outside of their own route.
- Music, its sorta average and just there.

Though I found it weird how we suddenly got an introduction of the guys in the prologue
in a fashion thats totally out of place they even show random CG's but turns out this is intended.

It probably was for the mobage part to get you to buy the individual route and was
 too much of a hassle to change it for the steam version which comes with all.
 The prologue just serves as an introduction to the general story it'll change based on route.

The heroine Amane lives and ordinairy life with her grandparents in the countryside
 till she is summoned to the capital by her older brother who's also the ruler of the country.

Overall I think the heroine's okay, she's not a blank slate and will say what's on her mind or
atleast try and knowing this was a mobage I honestly was surprised at how proactive she is.

You start the routes right away after Soushi tells you why your here and I unfortunately 

picked Sera first and they just shove him into the scenario and pretend he was sitting

 in the car the whole time, quality writing amiright but overall it got a little better.

I know mobage stories are usually meh but it turned out ok... atleast make your story 

and characters consistent don't give me a prologue and suddenly go back to it

because hey, this guy was here the whole time! (lol Sera.)

The only flaw is that except Soushi,Kagemitsu and the guy whom's route your on disappear from
the face of the earth, I learned from Sera's route Kagemitsu's apparently a childhood friend

and Soushi's advisor but Sera a bodyguard and Kei another tutor don't exist outside their own route.
I never saw Tanba outside of his own route either oh well its good to see them focus on
 the individual but don't make it look like they come crawling from under some rock, lmao.

Playorder won't matter that much, Kei's route is the most self contained
so he may be best done first so in the end  I recommend this order:
Kei > Kagemitsu > Seras > Soushi > Tanba