Fuyuzono Sacrifice - review

Genre: VN.

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

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v49601

Release date: 26-2-2025.

 

I honestly wasn't sure whether or not I was going to get this but two weeks before

release I thought on it, the regular edition cover art was nice and I kinda

liked the setting of it? sadly I noticed the price was steep and it really

seems otome games or new games in general have become luxury products.

I sure was nervous buying it at such a steep price, still I liked the setting

and heroines outlook of wanting to decide her own destiny, so I bought it.

 

Pro's

- Great cast of characters.

- Each route has unique ways to solve the key problem in good or tragic ways.

- Lot's of sweet/cute scenes with the LI.

-  Beautiful artwork.

Con's

- Short and doesn't have much substance.

-  Can be a bit cliche or cheesy.

- The final LI has barely any presence outside his own route.

 

 

Art was gorgeous, I loved the fantasy look and soft colours.

Seiyuu seems to be a mix of ones I know and then some I am not familiar with.

Music was pretty fitting but nothing wowed me, I liked the theme that played on the main menu

and the OP song was good too, definitely stuff i'd let play when I boot the game up.

 

Story well I am just gonna say I had 0 expectations, my first impression was that its

rather basic, the heroine had only a short amount of time before it would be her

doomsday aka the day she was going to be wed to the god of winter.

The story itself was easy to follow, there was not a lot of infodumping and it flowed well.

The worldbuilding itself was solid and have no complaints on it.

The LI were interesting so it was still fun to see what was gonna happen or learn more about them.

The prologue and common route are short and to the point...

Fuyuzono definitely won't take you eight common chapters to get to a route!

Oscar's route started out comfy but I couldn't help but feel a little sense of dread

over the heroine's upcoming fate as the bride of the god of winter. 

 

Something I absolutely loved was at times there was a  change in POV enabling you

to see things from the perspective of the love interest. The heroine had no sprite in

the bottom left but she did appear on screen if there was a perspective change which was nice.

The pacing was okay, it wasn't that slow I was getting bored, still this was also not

a long game either. I'd say its perfect if you're tired of longer games.

 

The game seems to encourage multiple playthrough's since I keep getting extensions

of the very first scene in the game the more routes I completed which was a nice touch.

 

Characters

Oscar... I liked him a lot but I think that's pretty much because of his personality.

His route was pretty much focused on his character but didn't touch upon all plot threads

because that was sacrificed for the romance. I thought Oscar was pretty great

despite that and this man is willing to go very far if need be...

Elias route felt like it was good for introduction due to him explaining a lot

about the legends surrounding the gods. It wasn't too focused on romance

but it did take babysteps towards that so it wasn't bad. While it was also focused

on his character, I think they over did it with the angst in some part near the end.😓 

Still I think Elias needs an honorable mention because he also was a stellar supportive character!

Dylan was an amusing character, if I had to recommend one route from the game

to anyone it would probably be him. That's mostly because the relationship

started from zero instead of already being friends.😄

Besides there's definitely an audience for guys like Dylan...

Regis was quite likable, but his situation was more complicated than I'd thought

and this game has some really dark undertones that tend to get glossed over.

Like we can see some of it in Dylan's route but in his own that isn't part of the main issue.

For a poster boy he wasn't too bad but romance wise it felt kind of similar to Elias

where they went from acquantance to friends to lovers but with Regis... it was

very obvious he liked Laeticia from the start. I guess its okay not everyone

has to be so curt like Dylan or the friendly guy everybody knows like Oscar.

Regis route also felt like it was the main one and the rest didn't quite compare.

Hiver probably stood for hibernation because he just doesn't exist outside of his own route.

Regis hinted at him but did so in a way that made me full of dread... and I almost 

skipped out on doing his route, but I persisted for the sake of the conclusion. I liked his story

but yea I couldn't fully get into the route of a character that crawled from under a rock.

 

I guess Fuyuzono Sacrifice was solid, depending on what you come here for.😅 The name

of the game suggest tragedy but the synopsis hinted at seize your own destiny kind of thing.

So it could be a miss if you come here for the former, for me the best ends were satisfying

however there are tragic ends and they can be kind of sad, atleast I thought Oscar's was.

I don't recommend this game if you hate cliche's and cheesy stuff or you have high standards

and want to be blown away by stellar writing cuz while its solid I wouldn't say it was stellar.

I think this game is best for those who have very little experience with the otome genre

and/or don't mind any of the above and just want a short&sweet otome game.

---

Personally I didn't have much in the way of expectations nor did it absolutely blow me away

but it was a pleasant experience. I loved the medieval-ish fantasy setting, I didn't think it

was ever that deep in terms of plot, it had the basics down to a T

but due to the short length isn't able to explore its own setting fully.

I liked all love interests a normal amount, they didn't do much to upset me

but Oscar was definitely my favourite, my apologies your highness.(Regis)

Its not as lengthy like trouble magia or an ero novel in disguise like honey vibes and while

there are bad ends they are not great in numbers. Romance wise there's not going to be

a lot of time to begin with due to plot elements but there's enough to build

a connection between characters... though its easy to say it could seem rushed.

At the very least it didn't overstay its welcome which was a good thing.

Still I want to say otomate should've done better because it seems like they're in a hurry

and not taking their time. You know if this game had like one more chapter for every route

there probably would have been enough but instead we're left with

a snowflake that falls unto your hand and just melts away quickly.

7/10

My playorder: Oscar > Elias > Dylan > Regis > Hiver.

Only the last route is locked till you do all others, I might recommend Elias first due

to being good with introduction and it doesn't throw you into a whirlwind romance like Oscar.

Though if you care about the plot i'd save Regis for before the final route.

Play order I recommend:

Oscar / Elias / Dylan > Regis > Hiver. 

I don't think it matters too much who you pick with the first three so its pick your poison.

 

There's still some spoilers after the jump cuz I blabbed too much on hiver's part

and rambled some more about the characters while sharing some fav cg's.

So if you want to play this game best stop reading here!

 

Honey Vibes - Review

Honey, there's landmines on da beach.

Genre: VN.

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

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v49600

Release date: 3-10-2024.

 

I wasn't originally going to get this but after the last game I played

something like this seemed appropiate, the premise sounded fun tbh.

Moeyo otome doushi fell off the radar after I learned its really short

so I just decided this would be the last otome of the year instead.

 

Pro's

- Fluffy and Spicy; romance oriented otome game.

- Character focused rather than plot focused.

- Length; doesn't overstay its welcome.

- Gorgeous art & music fits the vibe.

 

Con's

- Plot isn't really its strong point, its hidden away in a corner called the finale.

- Some of the less than good ends can be a killjoy.

 .

Artstyle is pretty unique, at first reminded me of bad apple wars/dairoku but its

not the same artist, I guess its because the eyes and it having a similar look.

While most CG's were gorgeous there were a bunch with weird angles

or with the heroines face not shown or it cutoff near the edge but everyone

had a decent amount so I didn't mind if it that much. I will say that there was

one thing that I find unnacceptable and Theo was a victim of it. One of his ending CG's was not

positioned right which is a criminal offense, I could see another background behind the CG.

Another gripe is that they weren't evenly spread out through the routes and in some cases

there were a lot of them right after the other like at the end of Elijah's route.

Music is nice and felt really relaxing and gave it chill vibes

but I wasn't sure what was with the ar tonelico/NIER bgm's as this

made it seem more ambitious than it was.

Plot:

The protagonist Nagisa seems to be a pretty normal girl going about her day

till she rescues an animal CV:Toriumi Kousuke (Hello Simeon from Kai no kiseki!)

Something appears to be up and Nagisa starts tripping and next she finds herself

in a room full of antique with an unusual chessboard; usually the pawns are only

for two people but this board is for three? weird. The furball introduces himself as Colt

and the room they're in is some sort of space between worlds so he offers her a chance

since Nagisa seems to be a kind person that he wants to place his faith in.

Colt has basically chosen her to help save beings like himself

and hopes that she can offer them happiness till the last moment.

Next she wakes up she is in another world called Libalium and Colt isn't a

furball anymore and a human with wings as ears (Like Meteion I suppose...?) 

Colt is more or less like a priest or kind of like a god.

Meanwhile Nagisa just thinks she is having a dream, lol.

Colt tries to explain she is in another world, and she's not dreaming

and eventually meets a bunch of guys who live in that world.

At first Nagisa doesn't have any idea what is going on really and the games begin.

 ---

 

I liked Nagisa, her reactions to some things were quite natural but I wish she had

a sprite in the corner, its weird since when you go to the backlog she has a sprite there.

She could seem a bit unsure in the beginning but there were times she really shined.

 

With there being a game going on and all I think this game was shameless

about the fact that this was a reverse harem, boys don't fight over me but

then it is literally about that since Nagisa fell into the role of queen

and most guys are divided into different camps red,black and white. 

Nagisa basically made it so the guys have to convince her to choose them

and well gonna say some of the guys had varying levels of how they went about it.

Honey Vibes was for the most part a fun isekai, there's a sense of seriousness but it also

doesn't take itself too serious and just rolls with what it tried to do without shame.

It wasn't too long or that anything dragged, the game's length is fine. Common route introduces

things and there's enough time to get a feel of everyone's personality before going into a route.

Sadly the bad ends were such a killjoy idk what but had I gotten them by accident

the mood would be ruined and I don't think I would even want to see the best end.

This game shared some writers with 9rip and it definitely had a little bit of suspense

so I can see why this game suddenly went off the rails but still I don't remember

9rip being as bad as this?! the bad ends in honey vibes legit killed the mood.

While I won't complain about there being different outcomes some felt out of place or a bit

extreme and not what I initially came here for or fit with the setting. I will admit I didn't

do a lot of research on Honey Vibes but expected it to be dark was the last thing on my mind.

How interesting the plot in the route was varied a lot since Honey Vibes focused more

on romance and the character's personal issue than whatever plot there was which felt

like an after thought to me in routes such as Alvin. Finn's route complimented Alvin's

in a way its like the otherside of the same coin, both routes also had great romance.

 In some routes the bad ends are also worse  like Eno for example. Milo's route still good

not just in terms of romance but since I understood more in the grandscheme of things

and unlike other routes, Milo's bad ends atleast made me understand why its the way it is.

Theo's route was also decent, his personal conflict together with the overall plot was just

beautifully written, unfortunately he has some of the worst bad ends in this game.

Elijah was the only route that I thought was well rounded and actually focused on the

story/lore but even then it was still just character focused like all the rest which means

 even if it seems more involved it isn't. They saved it all for the finale route.

So while in most routes the overall plot was never amazing, it was still pretty decent

since if you do all routes it connects well enough.  If you come here for the

romance & your favourite voice actor is in here you'd likely be satisfied.

Story can peak in some routes and just dips in others, the characters carried this game hard.

As for the game as a whole, its fluff and spicy! I don't play a lot of otomes where things

get THIS steamy but honey vibes was on another level that most others felt tame.

Sadly most desire ends were awful, it just felt like another bad end where the one tied to rationality

is the only good outcome which all things considered is kinda lame.The LI's were all pretty good

but for some I immediately went like oh no! looking at you Milo but he as well

as Alvin were among my fav's so look how that turned out. The only one

I didn't like was Eno really. With 6 LI's there might be a favorite for anyone.

This game could be interesting to play blind but honestly i'm glad I used a guide

since there are just way too many landmine bad ends you could trigger.

Bad ends did at times contain minor plot revelations so I'd say its still worth

checking them out just don't be surprised if you get burned while doing so.

The actual story is left for the finale route which wraps everything up in a grand way

perhaps there is room for a sequel or FD? idk but it may need one since

after the finale most best ends just has me going is that it really?

8/10

I can't hate this game because its literally the best and worst of otomate in one package.

Its likely it will be picked up for english release and will be disappointed if it won't

since there's definitely an audience for this, no I know there is.

TL;DR Honey Vibes is quite enjoyable but if you're just here for an romance novel

i'd stay away from the bad ends if I were you unless you like to live dangerously.

This game is not all sunshine and rainbows and can get surprisingly dark in bad ends.

If this sparks your interest then by all means I will recommend this otome game.......

For playorder there weren't any restrictions so I just picked one in the moment:

Alvin > Eno > Milo >Theo > Elijah > Finn > Finale.

You can do whatever camp you want in any order due to no restrictions

the best I can recommend here is to just stick to one camp before moving to the next.

 

More rambles after the jump, just the usual some of my fav cg's etc

if you want to play don't read further.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mistonia no Kibou the lost delight - Review

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

Genre: VN.

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

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v47010

Release date: 18-7-2024.

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Pro's

- There's enough intrigue to get hooked.

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

- Gorgeous Art and fitting BGM.

 

Con's

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

for a while you will definitely hear some old favorites.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

Hmmm..........

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Alright... Alright... ALRIGHT!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

6/10

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I recommed this because the initial three have no restrictions

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

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

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

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

Akuyaku Reijou wa Ringoku no Outaishi ni Dekiai Sareru - review

 Genre: VN.

Developer/publisher: Operahouse.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://akuyaku.operahouse.co.jp/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v47740

Release date: 21-3-2024.

This is an adaptation of a villainess lightnovel, Akuyaku for short or in english as:

The Villiainess Is Adored by the Crown Prince of the Neighboring Kingdom.

I never read it but it seemed like fun so I gave it a shot. I am well aware this is by the developer

who released charming empire and gakuen club, so I was still a little skeptic going into it.

I wasn't too sure what to expect but it suits the quality of their other releases.

 

I haven't really seen too many villainess works other than hamefura or taming the final boss.

Sorry if this sounds harsh but Akuyaku Reijou unfortunately wasn't able to do much new

other than just having cute romance... with not much substance to it.

I did think it is perfect to play if you don't have much else you'd rather be doing...

Pro's

- Voiced heroine.

- Sweet SWEET romance.

- Great art.

Con's

- Long text dumps/monologue's.

 - Primitive system, this grandma's fingers hurt from holding button to skip.

- Music can be grating on loop.

 

System is just standard stuff but when I saw the UI... I was like is this a PC game?

it sure had that kinda layout, idk what to expect of systems in VN nowadays

but Akuyaku Reijou was so backwards compared to other visual novels.

 

Akuyaku Reijou is pretty much a straight-forward visual novel

that adapts part of the lightnovel and it doesn't have any routes so there's like

only one love interest. This is also one of the rare cases where it may be better

to go into it without knowing anything about it so the twists will still be interesting.

So if you never heard about Akuyaku Reijou then yes you can start here!

 

I didn't understand why there were even choices, other than to get CG's maybe?

but there weren't that many and so I started to wonder what the purpose of this game was

because they may as well have turned it into a kinetic novel like witch on the holy night.

It was a chore to collect the other CG's in the three different volumes especially

with how you have to hold the skip button... to even get through it but atleast

it made it seem like your choices affected things so that's not bad.

 

The art is really gorgeous and I have no complaints of it.

The music wasn't really anything special there weren't a lot of tracks

and to hear it on loop for too long is grating so yea meh.

 

Now that we have the bad out of the way, the heroine was voiced which was a plus!

only downside is that her thoughts aren't voiced, if it was I think it would be funnier but alas.

I liked the art and was intrigued by the setting/story but there wasn't much of a plot that was

memorable, this focused way too much on romance. Its nice there weren't any bad endings

and you can enjoy romance with the leading man Aquasteed. The heroine did have multiple

outfits which was another nice thing, I actually like it when the sprite suits the scene.

Anyway since Aquasteed was really nice I almost didn't want anyone else anyway buuut

while I get it he saved her from certain doom as a villainess things did seem a bit too good to be true.

Of course I was disappointed that there was only one love interest but by volume 2

I did realize that it just wouldn't have worked, they would have to change the scenario a lot.

Aquasteed aside... Keith interested me the most, Akari can have Heartnight tbh...

 

 I can't really recommend this game though unless you have low standards

and just want to be swept off your feet without much plot/substance

which is probably the only thing the game was good at.

Some of the names are also kinda weird like what is a Heartnight Lapislazuli Lactomut?!

that sure is a mouthful of word vomit that seeing it in full makes me cringe to the point

Aquasteed Marinforest sounds normal in comparison. That aside the game

honestly feels like eating something very sweet and then feeling sick afterwards

like its not bad but you may not want too much of it? it also reminds me of the fact

that a visual novel can have gorgeous art and even a voiced heroine but if the rest

doesn't measure up then it is such a waste. Character interactions were barebones

and not that fun, it honestly makes me want to play something with more substance

cuz Akuyaku Reijou just didn't do much for me, I can't rate it higher than a 5/10.

 

I probably sound ungrateful but eh can't like everything and after sitting through

a bunch of otome's I liked i'm bound to find something that doesn't match up.

If there's anything memorable about this game it was cute romance, voice acting 

and the insanely beautiful art, everything else was pretty meh to me.

I am more inclined to think that this game is some kind of marketing trick

because there's so many otome games on switch and then there's Akuyaku...

which could get you interested in the novels that are readily available in japanese.

Anyway keep on trucking operahouse! this may be the last time I buy a game from you guys...

More rambles after the jump, there are spoilers as well as a few of my fav cg's

so if you want to play don't read further.

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.

 

Radiant Tale ~Fanfare~ - Review

 Genre: Visual Novel.
Developer/publisher: Otomate.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/radiant_tale/fanfare/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v42433
Release date: 31-08-2023.

 

Okay so Otomate decided Radiant Tale needed a FD and since I sort of liked the game

and they added a Liyan route I decided to get it! also it seems like Raditale FD releases

really close to Virche's FD, not even a week apart! 😱😱😱 I didn't realize this

till I was in the middle of Vilio's after and was like no rush right?! 😅

Good thing is this game wasn't that long... phew.

 

Pro's

- Enjoyable FD to compliment the original game!

- Gorgeous art and fitting music.

 

Con's

- After stories have choices but they don't actually matter.

 

 

As this is a fandisc it will have after stories for the main guys and 2 new routes for Liyan and Jinnia

which take place after the common route normal ending of the original Radiant Tale.

After and IF stories are roughly 3-4 hours in length, which honestly was enough as it never

did drag on long enough to overstay its welcome and most of them remained short&sweet.

I did set a good pace for myself and got through an after in a day so I spend

a good week on this which is pretty good value if you ask me but it all depends

how much time you have to want to set aside to sit back and read a little.

 

System is pretty standard as per usual, however I didn't understand why there were choices

in the after stories, said choices seemed to be there for the sake of it. Like congratulation Ion

or telling Ion that he was cool. I'm like... why bother at this point? there's no need for choices

if the outcome doesn't change or there is no dictionary or different scene to collect.

There being choices made much more sense in the new routes...

since there are normal ends but those give no CG.

Art is as gorgeous as ever and Usaba Kagerou and Miko have returned to grace us with more of

their insanely pretty art! Music is fitting enough and I did not have any complaints.

Honestly with most of the after stories I was pretty satisfied and I even ended up

liking certain characters more than I did in the original game which was really nice.

The after stories also further went into matters so yes if you loved the world view and lore

you'll be in for a treat for sure. So I can definitely recommend Radiant Tale to fans of the original

who can't get enough of it! The new routes may depend on tastes of who you were more

interested in. Its good they got routes because I sure was thirsting after one of them back then.

 

However I do think the afters could be either a hit or a miss... in my opinion it felt that

some of them didn't really had a good enough plot, I liked Ion,Zafora and Radie's...

but I had some issues with Paschalia and Vilio's afters and didn't enjoy them as much.

Both IF stories with Jinnia and Liyan were very enjoyable to me so there's that!

Anyway that is just my two cents and I still recommend Raditale FD if you really liked the original

since this is an amazing FD to compliment a good otome game!

9/10

For play order I mostly followed the same order I did in the original with the new routes last!

since this is a fd the order doesn't even matter I just decided this for myself

you could only do your fav's and skip any you don't like too...

Ion > Paschalia > Zafora > Radie > Vilio > Jinnia > Liyan.

 

The non-spoiler babbles end here and from here on i'll be writing about the afters etc!

and sharing my favourite cg's. So be warned there will be spoilers after the jump.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Majestic☆Majolical - review

 Genre: VN.

Developer/publisher: Dazkarat.

Platform: PC/Switch.

Official Site: http://dazkarat.jp/majemajo_sw/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v21895

Release date: 22/12/2022.

 

This originally was a segmented release much like taisho x alice on PC

but they have made an all in one switch port which collects them.

It took them like four years but it happened, and i'm actually kind of glad they did!

I never heard from this developer before but I was still excited to try out their game

maybe cuz it reminds me of wand of fortune if only a little! and with not much

new otome game releases I was like why not? why should I not support this game?

Also for the switch version there is a new route; Jasper Beryl so they have definitely tried

to make it worth to pick up the port if you hadn't played it before cuz there's something new.. 

The protagonist Lapis is an apprentice magician who is tasked dealing with some troublesome

humans and collect gems for science! by getting close to them. Regardless she remains optimistic

and tries her best! she also had a little spunk. She wasn't useless and could definitely hold her own!

 Though the part of collecting gems reminded me a little of Clamp's Kobato as well

but other than that the two series are not similar at all, just the bottle part.

Pro's

- A confident heroine atleast I found her to be so.

- Interesting characters in each volume that contrast each other well.

- Mostly light-hearted, doesn't shy away from bad ends.

- Amazing art and backgrounds, Music fit the mood.

Con's

- A bit on the short side...

- Playing it blind can be difficult because of not knowing how much or little gems are needed.

- NTR ends but really there were only two I consider being such.

 

The art style looked really cute and the backgrounds seemed pretty well done too.

I really loved the fantasy setting! is that the right way to describe it? hmm if I had to look

at the world design it reminded me of europe but not very modern.

The voice cast of this game had a lot of popular seiyuu that I went like OMG its Kaji Yuuki!

or Shimono Hiro as some of them I haven't heard in quite a while.

*If one of your fav seiyuu is in this game it could be worth a spin*

The pacing was alright, this vn wasn't slowpaced that it took hours for anything to happen

and I am really glad for that as otomate's VN's tired me out lately.

Nothing seemed to drag on for too long while still delivering cute moments etc.

This with some exceptions kept it light and fun! At times it did feel like it went a little fast but...

they were going to school and interacting like every day, falling in love can happen like this so its

not totally unbelievable. Honestly I found it heartwarming to see Lapis and Mitsuki grow closer...

 This game is more romance oriented, which is great if you're tired of games where

the romance is but an after thought! or get to dating right at the end.

 

System; There are four different endings and as well as a sort of petting minigame

this is how the protagonist is able to get gems; how many gems you get determine the end.

Its not annoying; especially if you use a guide telling you how much to pet the bishie

it might get a bit more difficult if you don't use a guide but hey if you're stuck they exist!

Playing it blind could be fun too! honestly after a bunch of otomate games

that only had happy and good ends, I very well prefer otome games or VN in general

that like actually make it so my choices can change what happens.

MajeMajo is one of those VN where depending on your choices things

could turn out a little different!

 

I did encounter a bug at the end of Ruu's route that caused my game to lag and crash

but with force skipping I managed to get to the ending... not sure why but it seems

that there is an extra graphical effect that just slows down the game to an extend it can

no longer function. I play on a switch lite so cannot tell if it is present on the other model...

but if it is, just force skip the text or wait out a patch? if there is any.

 

I thought it was great was how the guys of the volumes are different in contrast to each other.

MajeMajo can look a bit deceiving though like if you see the cover of the game

and think oh this looks like it'll be dark full of toxic love interests then i'm here to tell you

a flat out no its not like that at all, most of the game outside of  Shiki or Ruu's route was fairly light.

All of the characters did have their own set of problems yet this game is no diabolik lovers

but even then if you like to live dangerously those two routes exist.

I loved all the cg's! they were gorgeous. The music is like, at its best it adds to the vibe

and at its worst its just there. One may think this game is short but hmm is that a bad thing?

I think if you're tired of games that are long winded or just seem to keep going MajeMajo is

actually kind of nice because you get all the same things just that it knows to not let it drag on.

The love interests are diverse and you'd probably find someone that catches your eye or

are totally like oh hell no! despite it being short it was still fun to me.

Things to keep in mind is that MajeMajo focuses more on romance than its overall plot!

Vol1&2 are very character specific and its not untill vol.3 that it tries to focus on story and lore.

The addition of the Jasper route makes its story more well-rounded than its original PC release

you may as well ask why they didn't include it to begin with since it further

added to the picture+his character . So I think this switch port is pretty good

in value despite that 1 bug I encountered which is actually pretty game-breaking.😥

9/10

*Edit: Without the Jasper route it would be a 7/10 so I guess that shows...*

An enjoyable otome game that I will most likely remember for having extremely cute and heartwarming scenes as well as some whackos(not all of the guys are like that I swear!).

I could recommend this game if you have a good grip on your japanese!

as sadly it isn't out in english at the moment but that might change.

Since this game was segmented by volume I will be going by release order so my play order

will be like: Mitsuki > Shiki  > Shinnosuke > Shoutaro > Shell > Ruu > Jasper.

You can't do volume 3 till atleast one route is complete, Jasper unlocks after Ruu

but it is recommended to do Ruu later due to him having the most story spoilers.

So well there you have it! there's not too much choice due to how it works!

More character rambles after the jump! there will be spoilers + my fav cg's.

 

Radiant Tale - Review

 Genre:VN.

Developer/publisher: Otomate.

Platform: Switch.

Official Site: https://www.otomate.jp/radiant_tale/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v30920

Release date: 2022-05-26.

 

Okay the WoF team also known for the recent variable barricade

have come up with a new otome game... about a circus troupe.

Now don't get me wrong but it finally seems they have embraced their inner clown!

if you have played WoF, Reine or other games they worked on they've been known

to be creative with their systems luckily they've toned down their BS.

The artwork is exceptionally pretty and some prerelease info confirmed

it won't be a virche and will be light-hearted! so its mostly a good time.

I won't be posting too many CG's in this part, everything that is shown is common route only.

If you're gonna get this game... enjoy it for what it is, not for what it is not.

Pro's

- Interesting story and worldbuilding.

- Unique self-contained routes.

- Art, its beautiful.

- Music is lovely and fits the tone of scenes, though one track did annoy me.

 

Con's

- The common route is quite long.

- Sometimes problems come up that are resolved almost instantly.

- It feels like the general plot/world was from a rejected RPG game.

- There should've been a Lian route/end.

- Ye olde idea factory sound effects are back! missed em from old otomate titles

or compile heart games? hahah recycle factory is at it again to haunt us! /s

 

Story; I went in relatively blind and aside of knowing about the circus theme

I had a hard time figuring out wtf was going on till it was explained, Tifalia joined

some circus troupe and got to meet her mates. There's some monsters around that feed on

negative emotions as well as a down-trodden prince who is stuck in the body of a child

whom also seems to have shut off his emotions so the troupe gets ordered to put on a show for him.

TL;DR: The troupe works to try & make people happy as well  as help out prince Colivus

overcome his emo phase while mostly unaware of a bunch of political intrigue going on.

Unfortunately they find out they can't actually perform that well YET so they still have a ways to go

LMAO I can't help but be reminded of Kimiyuki cuz these guys don't seem to have any idea

of what they're doing so its up to Tifalia to help them out. Their shows end up being

retellings of folklore, they travel across the country like an actual circus troupe to perform in

the various cities(and bloom pretty flowers). Each of the guys have their own strengths so we see

a bit of everything really. Anyway that's all i'll write here about the story

I think I have already said way too much.

 The general vibe of the game reminded me of WoF... and it was pretty light-hearted

nothing too dark or dreary. The heroine Tifalia is cute but she doesn't have a sprite

or voice acting unlike most of the WoF teams heroines which is a let down

cuz I think it would've made her stand out more in the story since she is pretty important to it.

Also while this game has a circus theme, it kind of leaned towards theatrical troupe as well

but it is still a circus cuz they were trying to play out a story with tricks and magic.

Maybe my idea of a circus is just a bit old fashioned...? this is a fantasy setting after all!

The UI(user interface) its okay but not my thing, the text is very small and like I said the heroine

did not have a sprite, I honestly really wish she had one outside of POV from the guy.

The music was good it matched the general vibes of the game, it stood out more

than some other otome games so maybe that says something.

The system is just the usual choices and some map selection stuff, nothing special!

Art is by Kagero and Miko... pretty gorgeous! I think most of it is by Kagero but I know

for certain that Miko worked on Ion and some of the subchara like Rian.

 Seiyuu cast is... fairly unknown to me aside of Umehara but I have heard

the others SOMEWHERE before just not a lot. Also Aaron Wei i'm hearing you!

Radiant Tale seems like a good time if you want to explore a fantasy setting that doesn't get

too dark! there is an underlying plot beneath it all as well as some political intrigue

so even though it seems all nice and easy-going there's some guys pulling strings.

Aside of the main love interest there are also a lot of side characters

and one of them catched my eye but alas Rian is a side chara's with no route.😭

The prologue/common route is pretty long, while it serves as an introduction and is good at

setting it all up including developing the heroine, I did get a little bored

because it did seem to keep going on and on. The prologue is long and then you

have your common route which is were you get characters flags to decide the route but honestly

aside from some banter here and there its kinda like older otome games, you can get a feel of

everyones personality and see what they're like but the plot had varying levels

of being interesting still its not too bad its just a bit long!

 

So while it is a light-hearted game, Radiant Tale takes a while to get going, 

it has a good amount of wordbuilding and sets things up for the individual route.

In terms of romance there isn't that much of it in the common part... thankfully there's some

cute scenes here and there so its not like they forgot but most of it is in the personal route.

Radiant Tale might be cute but it isn't short&sweet. I'm not sure how else

to describe it as... honestly as I got near the end of the common route I started thinking

how while the story is nice it felt like it was scraps from some rejected plot for an rpg....

considering idea factory's history this is not at all surprising! the WoF team was

probably stressed with the daunting task of making another game so they

looked for scraps for some ideas at the headquarters. Nvm this is turning into a shitpost.

That aside I don't think this game is bad or anything but it might be nice if you're in the mood

for something slower paced yet with easy-going vibes as they all work toward a goal. 

In terms of characters, I think its gonna be a hit or miss maybe some might surprise you 

when you're actually on their route some will just have a terrible first impression. 

At first Zafora didn't quite click with me but the further I got into the common route

the more I got interested and actually wanted to do his route! so I saved him for later

sadly I didn't really like him that more over the others, oh well can't like everything.

As for Ion his route didn't do it for me either but I didn't dislike his character... my favorite 

was Paschalia, his route just did everything right for me and after it he was my best boi.

Lately I just tend to really like the cheesy stuff like coughTalesofArisecough.

Radie wasn't bad either but at times it made me wish I was going for Lian instead.

Also because I did Ion first I could not believe people were saying this is such a cute

and happy game which it isn't atleast not all the time. Zafora's route made me appreciate

what happened in Ion's a little more though so there's that! Unfortunately while I do like Vilio

his route suffers from the true end effect, not only do we have to sit through the common route again

it is also a combined version of all the routes thus far and it was twice as long as all the others.

Well... with this Radiant Tale finally turned into the clown fiesta you wanted it to be no?

I think this made the game seem extremely disjointed only to be tried

to put together with glue which actually worked? still it suffers from some commonly

found problems like most routes not even touching upon the real story.

As for play order... for first play I just went for someone that seemed interesting which was Ion...

You have to do all routes to unlock Vilio so my play order ended up being:

Ion > Paschalia > Radie > Zafora > Vilio.

Basically just pick whoever interests you except maybe Ion cuz his route hits a bit different

 Radie has some revelations about Tifalia so somewhere in the middle or before Vilio is good.

TBH it really doesn't matter in what order you play, cuz of how the final route works.

I do think the WoF team knew what they were doing and I can see things

from some of their other games in here. So while there might be some downsides

this was still quite nice, a cute fantasy setting otome game with a bit of volume!

Honestly if you prefer longer otome games that take their time, a proactive heroine

and like worldbuilding with some light political intrigue then I can recommend it cuz there is

some pay off, the cast was lovely too but if you have a short attention span then its better to pass!

7,5/10

Anyway character rambles/cg's after the jump, due to the games length I won't be writing too much

and whatever is there in the bimbo route babbles is just what I thought was note worthy. If you don't want spoilers back out now the routes are best enjoyed when you don't know what happens!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gensou Manège - Review

 Genre:VN.

Developer/publisher: love&art/mages.

Platform: Switch,mobile.

Official Site: https://gensomanege.com/  

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v25993 

Release date: 2020-01-30.

 

I saw this was on sale at the jpn eshop for 30$ and since I had considered playing it

a while back plus the fact these VN rarely go on sale especially otomate/koei let alone 

this low I was like why not? this is also by the folks who made meikoi which I really enjoyed.

This was also one of the first few new otome games on switch but back then I didn't have one yet

so I had to sit out on it till now as I took advantage of the golden week sale.

This game also has a soft/fluffy colour scheme which really helped anyway

I don't know much about this game and went in relatively blind.

Also the title of the game would be something like Carousel of dreams or Dream Carousel.

I am not a professional translator but that is what it simply what it would translate to.

 

Pro's

- Cute & Comfy with an okay plot! but need to do all to fully understand it.

- Interesting characters.

- Gorgeous art and the backgrounds are very well done.

- BGM fit the mood most of the time.

 

Con's

- Kiss CG's could leave to be desired (but still ok).

- Character design can be a bit colour-coded.

- Could've benefited from a slightly stricter play order.

 

OP is cute but not the stuff I felt like watching everytime I booted it up.

 

Gensou Manege ended up being more or less a light-mystery otome game hench why

I won't write too much here except some prologue bits below! this game seems perfect if you're

in the mood for cute and fluffy things but still want to enjoy a little bit of plot to go along with that.

--

The heroine Emma lost most of her childhood memories and she has some weird magic powers...

as well as a miniature carousal she inherited from her late father, she really treasures this.

One day she goes to the amusement park and meets Hugo someone who claims to know her.

Hugo asks Emma to work with him because the people who work at the park are stuck there

so he wants her to help release them with her magic. After thinking about it and acknowledging

her magic powers might be of help she ends up joining their troupe! most of the time

she's been teached to not let anyone know of her powers as well. What could come of this?

The setting is french themed, not sure when its supposed to take place but they had electricity

anyway it is entirely a work of fiction so its best not to think too hard about it.

--

 

This game does have a common route but its more of a get to know

everyone a little while getting used to working with them kind of thing. It didn't feel like

it was too long and its also there to decide which route you'll end up on.

Art is really good, the backgrounds are very detailed and sprite work is pretty good! once more 

I will say I really love the colour-scheme even the user interface...and most of the time

I don't really care about the latter so I think that says something.

Music is fitting enough... but it didn't stand out too much and its just okay.

 Seiyuu cast... they're all relatively well known maybe some a little less though some of

the voice actors I hadn't heard in a long time so it was good to hear them again.

 

System wise its just standard stuff, a little common route to check flags to get on

the preferred route! there's only two endings one good and one not so good.

It does have a minigame but its nothing too hard or annoying.

The weird part about this after the first minigame there is an option to skip it anyway

which gives you an auto A-rank(still need to fail it for the other end though).

After the first playthrough I decided to skip every minigame because while cute it got redundant.

 

As for play order... the guide I used said if you care for the story that its better to save

Hugo's route for later as it contains the most revelations and he unlocks Arnaud.

My order ended up being: Luciole > Crier > Lyon > Serge >  Hugo > Arnaud.

If I had to recommend any order it would probably be this:

Serge / Luciole / Crier > Lyon > Hugo > Arnaud.  Because Lyon is where some

revelations start rolling and it start making more sense, the way it works

is Serge/Luci/Crier do have hints about what's going on but you won't really get it 

till you do Hugo nor will it fully make sense till Arnaud's route. So the order of the first

three or four routes doesn't matter that much as its hard to see how it fits into the big picture.

This game has a certain bittersweet feel to it, there is still some comedy to be found

as expected from the dev's of meikoi but comedy is not really the focus.

All the backgrounds were so detailed and helped with the setting the game

and made it more immersive. The heroine Emma also had a sprite!

She's cute and was pretty pro-active as well I couldn't dislike her at all.

The music always helped to set the tone/mood of the scenes but like I already

said above its not that great either. Romance wise it was good it just that

some routes may seem to not have much going for them but still all connect to it in some way!

 

Now I am personally wondering... why does this one go so under the radar?

is it because its not from otomate? by some other dev and not in english?!

or maybe just bad marketing? idk... maybe most just weren't interested

cuz they didn't have a switch yet at the time it came out, I know I had to pass.

Anyway this was like such a feel-good otome game and I could tell they tried with it.

I definitely recommend checking this one out if you're in the mood 

for something cute and fun that still has an underlying plot to figure out!

even if its not on a sale and at full price I think its more than worth it

just be careful with your play order,there are routes that do have more revelations than others!

I think this game is also good for beginners just trying out the otome game genre as the plot

in most routes is not too heavy but its there and you're just mostly in for a good time!

 7,7/10

As for language difficulty its easy to follow its plot, it might be good as a test

if you think you have a good grip on your japanese.

 

Okay that ends the non-spoiler section and the rest is all just character rambles and CG

there's probably a better digest of it by now but I still wrote some stuff down I remembered.