Showing posts with label Toriumi Kousuke. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Toriumi Kousuke. Show all posts

Thursday, June 13, 2019

Variable Barricade - Review

 Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 
Developer/publisher: Otomate
Platform: PSV.
Official Site:
Release date: 2019-04-04

Oh baby... the wait is over, or maybe they announced this game way too early.
Pretty art, an interesting set up but will that hold up? only one way to find out!
Its from the creator of Wand of Fortune and Reine des fleurs... both are titles
that are known to make the player suffer. Sigh~ but VariBarri wasn't that bad
didn't enjoy the overall game / cast as much as WoF though.
The protagonist here however is fully voiced! a big plus as it breathes so much more life
into them but I suppose even unvoiced have perks.

OP MOVIE




Okay, what is this about?

Hibari our heroine is pretty much a perfect ojou-sama and then one day is forced
to pick a candidate for marriage from four potential suitors who literally throw themselves
at her for that reason. Needless to say our heroine says no but hahaha... this is all a plot
by a her old man and even if Hibari says I can find me a man on my own he's like lol.
This is so dumb I CAN BARELY HOLD MYSELF but atleast Hibari's great
and it turns out she's going to have to pick one or she'll just have to marry someone he chooses.
Now she has to live in an an apartment along with these guys... they all want Hibari so much
it like she's living the otome gamer life! but... then Hibari has a nightmare they're just
after the money of her family etc and it sorta gets a little dark from my point of view.
Either way Hibari wants none of this... but still has to roll with it.
If I had to be very honest the most annoying one out of the four would be Ichiya...
I mean what kind of normal person would believe such over the top lovey dovey behavior
of someone whom you don't even know personally? I know I know there are people
out there that come on strong but this is a little much, and personally those who
come on strong early on are to be wary of so Ichiya has way too many cringe moments
not that the others are completely green either. >_> the only sane one is Hibari
and tbh who wouldn't want her she's literally perfect but even so she still has some issues.
Tsugumi was a great BFF to Hibari I could appreciate her love for romance but it got a little meta
with the whole its almost like an otome game! thing can't tell if good or bad...

Pro's
- Light-hearted and funny.
- Art
- Charming music.
- Voiced heroine/protag

Con's
- Drama; best not take it too seriously also kind of a drag.
- System is simple but presented in an awful way.

System... its pretty simple there's common route / flowchart and its easily
seen when one has finished a chapter, much oversight and no annoying
minigame to be seen, if you get far enough you can enter the personal stories/routes
but the seem split into parts like Ichiya 1, Taiga 1 etc you're forced to do everyones
part 1, as its part of the common route this is to help decide your fiance.
There is some sort of minigame but its hard to explain and tbh doesn't fit in well
depending on choices the guys weapon becomes stronger to break the barricade to the heroine
and other choice strengthens the heroines barricade...  watching the sequence in question
is kinda funny but doesn't make sense as when he succeeds Hibari is suddenly
 able to give Ichiya a peck on the cheek, seems to be more a battle of wills.
I think the barricade battle thing doesn't make sense visually it literally looks
like the guy is destroying boundaries in the form of a fence with a sword which gets
stronger or remains weak dependant on your choice, I didn't find this funny
and honestly it could be done without, though I admit the art did look cute.
They could have just kept it simple with choices but alas... they wanted something extra.
Then there's RABI which you have to set to different location to unlock extra event
that are in no way important to the plot, still don't know if you had to view them or not
and you can view them later from the gallery can suggest to just focus on the main story first
then again reading them later might be bad so might be better to read it as it appears.
There's also WHIS the APP the characters message each other with only a few have a choice
and the rest is just banter after an event. All this is awful to explain, its actually quite straight
forward. Since this from the team behind wand of fortune and reine des fleurs so one shouldn't be
surprised at how the game flows atleast this time there's no RNG like in WoF so consider
yourself blessed. The flowchart is simple and easy to see what is going on but uh
once again the general flow is to straight-forward to have this laid out for you?
sometimes the way you unlock stuff is still a straight vn something tells me they had
something else in mind but due to change of seiyuus they had to change things.
Well enough about sytem because it is quite simple some of the mini event you unlock
from RABI are funny some others weren't worth it.
Now for a good thing, you don't need a guide if you want the love ending for that guy
just let him destroy the barricade, for the other simple don't make him too strong
but if you do that to early into route its a premature bad end so you gotta balance.

A QUEEN
After finishing all routes I have to say... boy is this a hit or miss!
Either way without spoilers its an alright otome, in fact its funny like legit I cannot count
the amount of times I laughed out loud/snorted at the dialogue... sadly most of this
was in the common route, the latter half of the routes was mostly filled with drama
only a few route was balanced enough for me to enjoy it. >_>
Too bad the barricade breaking was in bad taste for me... the whole game is kinda like
trying to love someone just to proof yourself to your old man who most of the time
just laughs it off when the drama is over like what the hell is he thinking?
which is all explained in the true route.... you want to take it seriously but also not.
Hibari was so great at speaking her mind and being assertive, she really is a Queen
buuut she still is a girl and not perfect nor her suitors. That aside I had a good time
which is more important than plot which is very straight-forward and focus on character
but definitely seems to be more to it all which kept me hooked
to get to the true end which gave us things we didn't really want but got anyway.

The story is there but don't come here for a well thought out plot cuz it ain't that and the
drama could drag but nothing too heavy. If I had any complaints its more the flowchart
not making sense with its arrows making it seem like you don't need some events but
have to view them anyway to proceed considering the team behind this I AM NOT SURPRISED.
Game still balances the common/individual part very well but all the short
chapters made me quick to drop it for the day when it really isn't that long at all.
Overall its not short nor too long, it has some value.
This is more or less a VN about the protagonist/heroine and guy realizing what he/she wants
the most through the interaction whether or not a route was for you will depend...
I found Ichiya to be very typical and the drama was probably right out of a shojo manga.
Shion... was akin to a soap opera, Taiga was more like a love comedy(my favorite)
and Nayuta was just painful it hurrrts, didn't help Shion/Nayuta it just dragged itself on
or maybe I just didn't like the characters at all, atleast Nayuta I could like by the end of it.
Variable Barricade is fun but nothing much else, light-hearted drama but not too dark
the bad ends were surprisingly disappointing just like the guys themselves lmao.
TL;DR you have to show you're a woman who can make choices for herself
or else get stuck with some guy your old man marries you to for business. >_>
Yeah that is literally the whole point of this marriage thing... play order is not necessary
I can recommend the following though~ you can switch Nayuta and Taiga
if you want spice after Shion but its not going to matter, even better don't listen to me
and pick whoever you are interested in the first time
, Shion > Nayuta > Taiga > Ichiya > True.
Okay spoiler free rambles are over it was pretty good and while the guys may not
look it most of them do become likable over the course of the route, unlike
a certain otome game that makes you dislike them in other route (lol).
7.5/10 For Taiga, 5/10 for the rest.




Thursday, October 19, 2017

Shinobi, Koi Utsutsu Kanmitsu hana emaki - Review

 
忍び、恋うつつ ― 甘蜜花絵巻 ―
Game: [Ninkoi FD]
Genre: Otome Game Visual Novel.
Developer/Publisher: Otomate.
Platform: PS Vita.
Release date: 2017-9-28

Yep... its time for another fandisk but in all honestly I don't consider myself being that
much of a ninkoi fan anymore and sincerly questioned why I even bothered.😅
 Like I expected more fanservice but got an actual story about them maturing...
I tried not to be too negative and my final score reflects this, this FD is just fine for what it is.

I had mostly a great time with the original but I am sort of eh at coming back to it after so long...
because after like a month or two I wrote off its vita port as a one off game.
The original was far from perfect as well like it having copypasta problems with Takaie all being like you got no chance make your time! and their being meromero shenanigans with Kaede
slowly falling for her partner of her choice said partners all following a trope too.
I still liked it because of it was brainless fun stuff...
Honestly speaking this FD feels more like a sequel there's fanservice but honestly I found the
graduation story for everyone lacklustre some nice moments here and there but it wasn't worth it
overall. Well I shouldn't complain atleast it got a FD right? i'll just do a general review like the original.

Pro's
- Everyones getting married... yeehaw.
- More shinobi action if thats your thang, (honestly in a FD I do not want this).
- Music, its nothing memorable but it fits the scene most of the time.

Con's
 Art, its still gorgeous but there's a noticeable difference... did the original artist really work on this?
- This is subjective but the overall writing, fluff, comedy all could've been better, overall its meh.
- Too many characters... basically only do your favorite(s).

Most of my rage/discomfort comes from the facts that originally Ninkoi is a very fanservicey game
with the plot sort of just being there, with the FD I expected more fanservice but got
more plot instead to the point this doesn't classify as a FD but a sequel instead.
They did it backwards usually its story centric game > fluffy FD afterwards...
At this point I just feel Ninkoi was one of those one time experiences there was little need
for more but we got it anyway albeit a bit too late for some.

Regarding the OP theme... its okay but I don't like it that much and they should've
 gotten the old singer back. I got nothing against Hisano but her voice just does not fit
with the background music, I liked her work for shirotokuro but here? not really.

The theme of this installment is graduation... honestly speaking I barely remember
much about the original cept some small details and I did not replay it either
because other games have been taking up my time and honestly I didn't find a reason.
Not that plot was ninkoi's strong point yes it has one, the original story(psp) all seemed
 like a light-hearted fluffy otome game to me never taking itself too seriously.
Length? about the same as the original we got fanservice and ''plot'' both of which are
fine but compared to say KBO FD the times I really laughed out loud could be count on a single
hand. The plot varies depending on character but I didn't find the writing to be exciting
because redundancy re: exams/graduating and marriage, its good to see them mature
but I expected more fanservice and was let down.
Disclaimer: no not everything is the same, every guy has their own story
of maturing/problems etc its just some stuff gets predictable to me.
System wise its just select after story... standard VN stuff if you do well in that
mero-mero practice thingy you unlock bonus stories for one of them I am annoyed
because one of them is a flashback scenario which would be better before their after stories.
The shenanigans is why I liked ninkoi to begin with but ever since setsugekka koi emaki
it feels like otomate is trying to make this series take itself more seriously like expand
on the setting in detail but stuff I came here for like fanservice felt dry and/or watered down
compared to the original which is just such a shame.
I expected a fandisc but got a sequel with more plot/lore instead of fanservice.
That aside everyone gets marriage ends! wow thanks no not really, suddenly I appreciate
it when only one or two/three characters gets one, I guess I first realized
this with Geten no Hana but happy endings come in all sorts of variations like marriage
would be icing on the cake sure but when there's 10 characters some difference in the end would be nice.
Sometimes I was just like they're just gonna get married in the end... maybe its better to skip lol. 
It is sad if your fav doesn't get one but isn't it nicer to fantasize a little...?

I think each after story is about 3-5 hours, most of which is spend with them graduating
and working together on a mission, marrying and sexy times(maybe).
Every character basically still has their charm and the comedy's decent
but I feel that's lacking overall it may still be nice to wrap things up though.😅
Its funny there's indeed a story to ninkoi but here I am... drawn to the humor, shameless stuff
and the colorful cast of characters, I don't think the core story is bad I just never expected
otomate to get serious about setting and stuff with setsugekka koi emaki's additional ninjas.
 I mostly did one after story a day for some such as Ukita or Tadehito it took me two days
because simple put I lost motivation and they were a drag in general.
Had there never been a FD err I mean sequel I probably wouldn't have cared... I feel like the past
one and a half week have mostly been an exquisite waste of time except for a few characters.
Going to add this right here and I feel its going to be my trademark line for everything 
otome now its impossible to like every character especially in a character game like this.
Sooo I came here for a fandisk with fluff not a sequel with more plot, its like otomate doesn't know
the difference and whatever plot there was felt stretched out to me, completely uninteresting like
I couldn't even keep focused and just let it auto play and I still understood it if I zoned out.
Of course there's a few nice moments but yeah that's it almost not worth to write about.
 Atleast Garaiya's as adorable and chuuni as ever even outside of his own after story. =w=
 Sadly the seal on Kaede's jutsu breaking was just an excuse to give us this poor excuse of a FD... haha round two? why not! except this time with actual character development.
This is why I can still rate it a 6 out of 10 because even if not what I come here for THEY TRIED.

Depending on how much of a ninkoi fan you are... you may enjoy this or you may not
if you're like me and its been too long its better to pass on it, its hard to write
my thoughts on this, the content in this FD(sequel) is just okay I enjoyed what I could, the end.
6/10
Its fine... might have been better if it came out sooner rather than later.

 More ramblings after the jump.

Friday, September 1, 2017

Sangoku Rensenki Sakigake - Trial version Review

 三国恋戦記 魁
Game: [Sangoku Rensenki Sakigake]
Genre: Otome Game Visual Novel.
Developer/Publisher: Daisy2.
Platform: PC.
Release date: 2017-08-25

Long awaited new sangoku rensenki game with new heroine and cast
with some old ones making an appearance.
Since it is very likely to get a vita port I just decided to check out the trial now
also I know its bad to judge the full game on a demo but from what I saw I liked.
Also I will write the name as spoken and english equivalent.
You should know that if you aren't into chinese history you'd probably have to give this a pass
buut you might learn a thing or two it would depend on your love for bishonen?!

Tomoe is a highschool girl coming from old fashioned family and talented with the bow
 but has no experience with romance.
The way the story starts gives us a good look at Tomoe's normal life 
but she's really dense and her best friend Nana has to play shipper on the deck
because she can't stand how Tomoe and Kouta are right now.
As in they're friends but its awkward, so Nana figures Tomoe is in love with him
and says they'd should just go out already but Tomoe is like what should I do?
So when she goes to the library Tomoe isn't there and she finds a book
related to the sangoku period and well you guessed it she gets swept away to a world
resembling ancient china in the early three kingdoms period, sadly this time
the protagonist does not choose those who saw victories she chose those who lost. 
Due to choices in the prologue it may differ where you end up
I like this because you get to the route you want right away.
Those who played the original may not sit well with some stuff...
and there's a little false advertisement of fighting heroine often she is forced
to do nothing this I felt in Yuan Shao route that is why I recommend the route of Lu Bu first
because you will see that despite being capable she's a girl and killing is not what she wants.
Its best not to compare too much with previous work but see with open mind.
System: typical VN stuff and daisy2's easy mode is there
so you can see which choice relates to what character and get on a route faster.
I think the demo itself is about 2 maybe 3 hours considering to try all route.

I found a recommended play order in a JP review so I will relay it for you its:
Lu Bu / Dong Zhuo > Yuan Shao > Sun Ce > Hua Tuo.
I think Lu Bu is a good start but according to them Dong Zhuo's not bad either.
Everything written down is what happen early on in the route
if you do not want spoiler just skip character section,  I only saw Yuan shao and Sun Ce
 to the end of demo but everything else is only a little, it probably ended shortly where I stopped.

Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Gakuen Club ~Houkago no Himitsu~ - Review

Game: [Gakuen Club]
Genre: Otome Game Visual Novel.
Developer/Publisher: Operahouse/Dogenzaka Lab.
Platform: Mobile, PC, PS Vita.
Release date: 2017-2-19 (English)

No one cares about this... but whatever since there is no otome game that's on my list to import
till june I decided to pick up Opera house's other otomege in english and well I mostly
expected another so-so experience since it used to be a mobage afterall and I wasn't far off.
This was originally called Campus Nightlife but they changed the title back to the original and I agree
its much better but if they wanted a proper english title Academy Club would've been enough.

Pro's
- Characters, do it for them as most stories are worth it.
- Art, Melo's art is as beautiful as always.

Con's
- Overall plot is bland but it works I guess.
- Music's meh, definitely not a selling point.
- Copy Pasta.
- Not many choices and they don't matter much.

While I find Gakuen Club to be much better than Charming Empire because the characters
atleast exist outside of their own route and get properly introduced in the prologue
which overall made a much better introduction but other than that it wasn't much better.
 The heroine Akane Koizumi is a goody two shoes, she enrolls at a school after her father got a
promotion and somehow has to be that woman to stay in the kitched after finding out about the secret club.
Here it comes... all the guys are in this secret after school club to get to first place for their personal
wish granted, they need to be popular and cuz they so handsome all the girls squee at them.
If you were expected fun stuff like ouran highschool host club you'd be disappointed, there's
really not much comedy but I liked a scene in Renji's route were Wataru scolds him
 and the heroine, either way from the first route I did I figured all the guys have a dark secret
of why they're doing this, which you'll only find out in their own route and that is perfectly fine.
Either way I found myself slogging myself through the first route I did in this game(Sakai)
 to the point it took me 3 days when its really not that long maybe its because
I don't like school settings or maybe it was the annoying setting and screaming fangirls
but I am glad said fangirls are relatively tame in all of the routes.

Overall I think Charming Empire was still more enjoyable to me, Gakuen Club did some things
better as all characters actually exist outside of their own route but that's where it end.
Charming Empire had choices every chapter... Gakuen Club only had a few
and well they don't matter much story wise they only determine the end as it works
on some kind of point system, not getting enough will get you a normal end
but it not hard to get them right, so its a comfy system nothing rage worthy.
It took me two routes before I found one I could fully enjoy... maybe its
good that I got the bad ones out of the way without realizing, lol.

TL;DR
 I only recommend Gakuen Club if you're dying for another otome game with a decent translation.
Granted I saw a few errors but I didn't find any issues and compared to the dumpster fire
that was taiali's so called localization atleast Charming Empire and Gakuen Club are definitely
more worth your money!(on a sale) also you really shouldn't think about buying taiali in english
not even as a joke, the whole thing was a scam from the start so many warning flags
yet that company took advantage of the one chance we gave them.
Either way the route I liked the most here was Saku's. it was also imo the most well rounded.

Wednesday, March 1, 2017

Hyakka Hakyurou Sengoku Ninponchou - Review

Game: [Hyakka Hakyurou Sengoku Ninponchou]
English title: Nightshade. (Why tho?)
Genre: Otome Game Visual Novel.
Developer/Publisher: Red Entertainment, D3Publisher.
Platform: PS Vita.
Release date: 2016-2- 25

 I never thought I would be bothering with the JPN release and you may be wondering the same.
TBH its just an excuse to delay BWS... 😋
First off this game was on sale for 23$ at JPN psn... for like the second time and considering
console otome games rarely go that low the deal was too good to pass up.
Secondly I'm too deep into sengoku hell right now I may as well go with one more game.
I still plan to support the english release and replay down the line.
  

Okay since this game is coming out in ENG and there are detailed summary reviews elsewhere
 I'll just make this as short as I can while still going over like/dislikes.

First of all the OP movie is pretty good! MIKOTO is a pretty good singer and composer.

Like Geten no Hana, Hyakka Hyakurou is a more serious ninja otome game if you were to expect
something light-hearted like Shinobi, Koi Utsutsu you are looking in the wrong place.
Anyway many doubted D3P as this was first coming out in japan, after 3 kusoge releases
what would you expect? anyway reviews turned out to be favorable and it seems
D3P was only the publisher not the creator/dev of this which is RED entertainment.
RED is known for a few great otome... like the first Juuza Engi... or the recent Kenka Bancho Otome.
I'd love to add Scared rider xechs to that list but... as an otome it was lacking.


Pro's
-  Decent but straight-forward story.
- Interesting characters.
- Heroine.
- Art, should be obvious TEITA was in charge of everything.
- Music, beautiful a lot of tracks fit the scenes perfectly.

Con's
- Short.
- Part of the plot gets old fast.
- No jumping back via the backlog.😞


One of the first things that stood out to me is that the heroine has a sprite and is often seen
 next to the characters, not to mention she's pretty badass and involved but Enju really
 should think about herself more as she's doesn't mind dying for the sake of others etc.
 Also the art, the ART, this one screen below it could even pass for a CG but it is not.
The diversity in sprites also make the fight scenes that much more entertaining to watch.
Everyone had an even amount of CG's so this was another good point...
On the other hand the things that didn't stand out... the common route atleast half of it
 didn't leave a huge impression on me because almost nothing note worthy happened till the end
which is actually where the real plot starts and let me tell you its not as light as the common route.

Other than that the length was just right... any longer and the same-ish plot would become tiring.
Sadly this game wasn't very romance focused but atleast you get yourself a well written plot
 with an involved heroine but it not that deep, I just wish Enju had a voice she deserves it.
Another thing I liked, other characters do not disappear from the face of the planet some will
come to help out! this is great, I honestly feel some less story driven otome could learn from it.

System? standard VN stuff there's almost no need for a guide but if you want
all memoirs quickly you may as well use choro's.
There was no skip to the next choice option but skip was fast so future playthrough are mostly painless.
 Sadly this game does suffer from the I am sure I have been through this scene before
but since it doesn't classify it as old you can't readskip it because its a teensy bit different.

For playorder I went with the following...
Goemon -> Hanzo -> Kuroyuki -> Choujirou -> Gekkamaru
Goemon's route was a great way to kick things off and wasn't that heavy on overall plot and Kuroyuki is best done after Hanzo...
I only recommend this order if you like suffering😏 and want to finish one story arc before moving
 to the next since the first three and last two have shared plot but if you can't handle that
I still recommend using same order except saving Goemon for between Chounii and Gekkamaru.
Definitely do not do Gekkamaru first... his route perhaps had the best plot so consider it for last. :)

Some rambles on routes and CG's after the jump, minor spoilers warning just incase.

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Period Cube ~Torikago no Amadeus~ - Review

ピリオドキューブ ~鳥籠のアマデウス~
Game: [Period Cube ~Torikago no Amadeus~] 
Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 
Developer/Publisher: Otomate/Idea factory.
Platform: PS Vita.
Official Site: http://www.otomate.jp/period-cube/
Release date: 2016-05-19

Oh boy, this seems like its going to be SAO/.hack the otome game.
As for the characters there is the classic childhood friend, mascot, missing onii-chan etc...
 It has an RPG-like system just hope it won't be annoying.
My expectations? not very high, I think it was a good idea I did not get my hopes up.
This was originally a drama cd series which I never bought since it seems like a cash grab.
CD1 is with the childhood friend chara which mostly seems as an introduction. the other CD's
 all seem to be much of the same, I heart the plot wasn't very good though which worried me
about the writing quality in the actual game.

I forget to mention this but this is the second? time Otomate used a theme
from a popular anime used and turned it into an otome game.
Bad Apple Wars turned out to be Angel Beats! the otome.
Now we have Period Cube which takes a lot from SAO/dot hack...
Is it laziness? because I heard BAW didn't even use its setting to its full potential.
^AKA much like Period Cube it could have been much better.
Oh well whatever...


Now to get on to the game, my play order is:
Hiroya > Astram > Ladius > Dimento > Zain > Libera > Shiki.

The game doesn't seem to force too much mmo terms at you and everything
you should know about is explained further via the dictonary LOL even the word level
and more terms one should already be familiar with is explained  so if you see an unfamiliar term don't hesitate to open up dat dictionary! or google it. Now on to the system...
I thought it would be annoying but it turned not to be, it doesn't beat around the bush
the way it is implemented its actually quite fun! I'm proud of you otomate
Still the MMO aspect is kind of just there to make decisions along
with the usual choice making in a visual novel so if you expected stuff like
Harukanaru toki no naka de or Real Rode you'll be disappointed because 
Period Cube is still a straight-forward visual novel. 
Some parts of the plot are a bit stupid though, its enough to make me roll my eyes.
  Still for a VN it does a good job of having the skin of an MMO...

 Anyway since this has no common route you get on the character route right
after the prologue ends because of the choices you make there, this is bad and good.
 Good = more time with the guy of your choice even if its still short, except for Dimento because
his route branches from Astram, which feels like Dimento was added for last minute lolz. >_>
Bad = no time to get to know everyone via a common route, so you basically
go into everyones routes blind if you never bothered with the drama cd's.
Another problem is that all the guys fall for the heroine's so quickly with
 the exception of Hiroya since he's the typical childhood friend but thats no excuse.

BTW I love the opening movie, the song is nice and I just can't skip it.


TL;DR
If you don't feel like reading the whole post.

Pro's
-Theme/Setting.
- Art, Kuroyuki's art is gorgeous.
- Music is good, some bgm are charming.
- Characters, alot of them have interesting reasons to be playing ''Arcadia''.

Con's
- Story is not that bad but you really shouldn't expect much since
Wtfbbq plot has more holes than cheese /mostly looking at you Zaine.
- Short game, 5~ hours to finish one route.
Pacing, it feels rushed especially the romance.

6.5/10
This game was too short for me to fully appreciate it the only good things are the theme of the game
as it was set in an MMO, the characters are all great in some way and  the plot was amusing
but I wouldn't say it was that good it also spoon feeds you basic info one should already know.
My favourite guy was Astram! Ladius and Zain come close though despite him being uh you know...
Honestly I bought this game solely to see if they could actually make it work...
For better or for worse it was amusing and it wasn't entirely bad in my opinion.

Anyway if you want a real otome game rpg I suggest looking into the Harukanaru toki no naka de series
or even Real Rode, its sad but Period Cube doesn't even come close to those two.

More ramblings after the jump, there are spoilers so skip to the end of the post to avoid.

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Moshi, Kono Sekai ni Kami-sama ga Iru to suru Naraba - Review


もし、この世界に神様がいるとするならば。
Game: [Moshi, Kono Sekai ni Kami-sama ga Iru to suru Naraba.]
Genre: Otome game Visual Novel.
Developer/Publisher: Rejet.
Platform: PS Vita.
Release date: 2016-02-25

Oh boy I don't know what I should've expected or signed up for because this otomege
 sure was something else with all the shit that happened in the common route I almost wanted
to drop it cuz I had enough, but I'm glad I didn't cuz it was actually pretty decent in the end
that is if you do not mind the horrifying twist in Neji's route among other things.
Hey atleast you can skip through all the shit that happens in the common route later, lol.
Anyway please do not play this game if you think this is a fluffy highschool
otome game with fantasy themes because it is not, all that and the light novel-ish title
are false advertisements, Moshikami has a lot of stuff somet people could not want in their otomege's.


My play order was Ace > Normal end > Shuri > Kyo > Neji > Masato.
 This was kind of a bad order and not ideal so...
 I did Ace aka the poster boy's route first I don't know if that was a good idea though
but after I did everyone's route, in my opinion its better to do the normal ending first
followed by Ace and then Shuri both are likeable plus Ace's perfect after normal end
then do Kyo and finally Neji since his route has the most horrifying twist related to Masato
whom's route is locked til last, well if you like twisted onii-chans you may like him
but boy Masata really sets the bar since not many come close to that level of kimoi.

I recommend this play order:
Normal ending  > Ace > Kyo > Shuri > Neji > Masato.
Not much different from mine but whatever do Neji before Masato because PLOT, seriously
You could probably switch the first three routes a bit around, depending on your taste.

 For the order of endings I recommend:
Do 帰還エンド first, followed by  混沌エンド then  滅亡エンド and finally 真相エンド.
Also most of the endings aren't that happy, most of them are heartbreaking.

Anyway let's get the pro's and con's out of the way!
 Pro's
- Interesting setting and sad story.
- Fantasy elements.
- Heroine was interesting and likeable but she might be hard to understand at times.
- Characters, the four main guys are all likeable.
- Seiyuu, despite the popular bunch they did an amazing job.
-Art, while some sprite may look derp(looking at you Kyo), its still pretty.
- BGM is fantastic, I also love the different vocal ED themes.
- Routes do not overlap.

Con's
- Dummy head mics are gonna be the end of me... (wait why is this a con?)
 - Skip is so slow, Jump isn't reliable cuz it jumps right passed unread text, oh and also lag.
- Long common route.
 - Longwinded, ermahgerd I get it m8... TL;DR.
 - Bullying, drugging, kidnapping and attempted rape.
-Blood/gore/horror elements.

Monday, December 7, 2015

Jyuzaengi ~Engetsu Sangokuden~ 1+2 - Review


十三支演義~偃月三国伝~
Game: [Juuza engi ~Engetsu Sangokuden~ 1+2 ]
Genre: Otome Visual Novel.
Developer/Publisher: Otomate and Red entertainment.
Platform: PSP, PS Vita.
Official Site: http://www.otomate.jp/jyuzaengi/vita/
VNDB:https://vndb.org/v10289
Release date: 2015-08-27


Basically its Dynasty warriors with an otome spin to it, haha...
I can't say my original expectations were particularly high but I was pleasantly surprised
 it turned out to be mostly decent! (the first game atleast can't say the same about the second).
Thankfully the system wasn't annoying... it was decent, I liked the journey system.
RoTK with furries(as in cute animal ear and/or tail)... TBH out of all of them
Ryuubi is the cutest, maybe not romantically but you get the picture?
Not much plot spoilers for the first game atleast just quick thoughts and tbh
you can read elsewhere... I ended up writing more about part 2 because it was a step down
and I love complaining when I don't like things, it good to have opinion though.


This is by no means a loyal otome adaptation of ROTK and if you expect one you will be sorely
disappointed, I actually prefer Sangoku rensenki over this but that might be just me liking its tropes.
The writing is decent but it has issues at times, especially the 2nd game and I do not mind if
its not historically accurate but they make so many changes to turn it into an otome game this is one
of those you want everyone to be happy type of games... and thats what you get esp in the sequel.
This game isn't that bad but if you hate the I want everyone to be happy trope
and considering the setting expect something more serious give it a pass.

Jyuza engi 1, 8/10
I thought this was pretty solid, story is pretty good and great setup even tho they take too many liberties. The war scenes in this game are boring and drag the game on longer than it should
which makes me sleepy, cuz 70% of the time its just boring ossans talking about war tactics
but everything else was A++ and playing Jyuuza2 right after this was a bad idea and I regret
doing so since I loved every route and the continuety of the ends is not there except 1.
Jyuuzaengi 2, 5/10
Story is so-so but once again they take many liberties to change it into an otome game, I didn't
like Chounn & Chouryuu's route this time, plot there was pretty bad, compared to the other route.
 I only really ended up liking 3/4 routes out of 8 at the sequel so I am really disappointed.
The major problem with Jyuza2 is that they want you to forget all of the endings in
th first game cuz it continues from Ryuubi's route, yeah thats right and fine.
Ryuubi's route was still decent and finishes up the overall story nicely in my opinion.
But most of the other routes like Chounn, Chouryuu, Sousou and Kakouton were a drag
since it was a pain seeing Kanu fall in love again, still Chouhi's route was a huge improvement
over what he had in the first game though and Kakouton wasn't that bad.
Shokatsuryou ended up being my favorite in the sequel and Shuyu was eh.
S-e-r-i-o-u-s-l-y don't play these two games back to back, its my one and only mistake.
Though if I had to give it a rating overall it gets a 6.5/10 rating from me
which is a seven at best which is not bad at all.

Pro's
- Overall it has an interesting story and setting.
- Kanu was a pretty awesome heroine.
- Most if not all the guys are likeable (depend on taste tho).
Art and Bgm.
- Seiyuu's A++.
- Kakouton was moe the best boy, even in the sequel which I disliked in general.
- Shokatsuryou.
- Chouhi redeemed himself in the sequel, he was such a cutie pie there.
(I'm just glad it did one thing right at this point.)

Con's
- Ossans talking about boring war tactics, this is just sleep inducing, I can handle stuff like
dynasty warriors and history do interests me but in a visual novel esp otome its just a big no.
(atleast the sequel had less ossans).
- Enshou and Guo Jia are T R A S H.
- Bacho should have had more presence.
- In the 2nd game became too much of a damnsel in some of the routes.
(Huehue CHOUNN, she was still cool but she just wasn't as awesome as before...)
- In the 2nd game some of the routes, no the whole sequel had a weaker plot in general.
(In the case of Chouryuu, I was like I didn't ask for this did I? and for Chounn I was like wtf is this?)
- Sonken and the new guys should have had a route of his own instead of the old one.
(I was okay with Ryuubi's route since he was the OTP but the rest of returning cast are back 
to square one, why not turn them into sub chara and give Sonken and others a chance?).

 So basically TL;DR the sequel was kinda poor with the exception of Shokatsuryou, Shuyu and
Ryuubi's route. I didn't even like Shuyu but his route was OK compared to others.
Tbh I don't hate Jyuza Engi 2, I just feel that some routes like Chounn,Chouryuu,Sousou
aren't worth my time after playing the first game, ESPECIALLY RIGHT AFTER PART ONE
but don't worry I still like this series its great and the protag kicked ass where she could.
Overall I am biased for Ryuubi, Kakouton and Shokatsuryou, I liked Chouryuu route more in the 1st game though in p.2 they turned the fantasy elements up 9000% and I regret doing him last in the sequel. 
-
Playorder... for the first it doesn't matter except Ryuubi should be done either first or last cuz continuity why first? he doesn't have much romance and the thing he has could be jarring.
For part 2 some routes unlock on 2nd play so may as well do Shokatsuryou first, the rest
don't matter much and if you want to end the sequel in a good yet bittersweet way
 I recommend doing Sousou last, definitely not Chouryuu. -_-
Sure it was sweet but... it left a bitter taste in my mouth considering some stuff, seriously
i'd rather have Sousou to end the game with than... whatever the fuck even was Chouryuu's best end.

FAQ
Q: Is the PS Vita port worth it? if I played the PSP versions?
A: Do you like replaying or should I say rereading VN in better resolution? and do you like trophies?
Q: I only played the first game years ago, should I buy this port?
A: Do you remember liking it? by all means go for it if you want the complete experience.
Q: Are there any new additions to the PS Vita version?
A:There are new additions, there is a new epilogue for every character in the first game but
its really short, its hard to say if a 5-10 Minute scene with a CG is worth your time
it may be good for die-hard jyuuza fans but if not... its a pass?
I don't think it is worth it especially if said epilogues are retconned om the sequel.
If you agree like/agree with most of those answers then I say yes go for it.
(I can by no means guarantee you'll like this as a whole, maybe you will, maybe you won't...)
TL;DR/end

Characters ★★★★☆
Art  ★★★★☆(Great.)
Scenario/plot. ★★★★☆(First game 4 star... 3 star for sequel.)
Music★★★☆☆ (Average but no complaints.)
System  ★★★★☆ (Comfy...)
Enjoyment overall ★★★★☆(Good but do not think too hard about it.)

 More ramblings after the jump.