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

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.

Official Site: https://www.d3p.co.jp/hyakka/steam/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v17287

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.