Meiji Tokyo Renka Full Moon Review

明治東亰恋伽
Game: [Meiji Tokyo Renka Full Moon].

Genre: Otome game Visual Novel. 

Developer/Publisher: Hunex/Broccoli/5pb(mages).

Platform: PSP,PS Vita.

Official Site: http://meikoi-vita.com/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v12159
 Release date: 2016-8-25

I bought this otomege a while ago in my august order(Moujuutachi, Oumagatoki and Meikoi)
 but delayed playing it since I figured its pretty much a charage and it
would be better to play when I have nothing better to do.

My reasons for buying Meikoi is because I am a sucker for the setting of being swept away

to a different time period in which Meikoi is similar to harukanaru toki no naka de and sangoku rensenki.
 2nd reason would be the characters because I already heard that they're all 👌👌👌.

For the vita port they added a guy named Iwasake Tousuke who is original from the movie adaptations.

My playorder:
Fujita> Ougai > Shunsou > Otojirou > Kyouka > Yakumo > Tousuke > Charlie.

I don't really recommend starting with Fujita though, Ougai is a better place to start.
Just remember to do Fujita before Yakumo since Yakumo's route spoils the whole ghost girl subplot the two share.
You have no choice but to do Charlie last since he's the true route of this game.

Pro's

Characters.

- Art, its great but it does vary.
- Dummy head mic.
- Decent length as in not to short or too long.
- Comedy.

Con's
- Heroine, average at best.

- Background art leaves much to be desired.

- Copy Pasta.

Overall Meikoi has a decent length to it, first play will be the longest
I clocked out at 7-8 hours, pretty sure the prologue was atleast 1 to 2 hours.
Routes itself are about 5-6 hours becoming slightly shorter when going for the secondary route.
What I mean by that is characters are paired up together:
Fujita and Koizumi. Ougai and Shunsou. Otojirou and Kyouka.
 Charlie is pretty much the truth route and Tousuke is an addition to the vita port.
The characters are all likeable, they are not that accurate representations
of their historical counterparts BUT they all have quirks to make them so likeable.
Fujita being the most normal, Ougai and Yakumo being the weirdest.
The comedy was also pure gold, so many scenes that made me laugh!
A lot of otomege forget about it or make it forgettable.
The bad ends are sad but they're also realistic... now for the bad part:
Characters that share route, their bad end is the same except the goodbye scene
the after credit scene for that or any pair up is the same... ah unavoidable copy pasta.
There was no affection meter but the text skip was super fast making
 the other endings easy to get despite there being a lot of choices.

I do not think Meikoi is a bad otomege, even if it has its fair share of issues it is enjoyable
despite the protagonist not having much to her everything else adds to that.
The overall story isn't that interesting since its a charage which means first and foremost that its
focused on the characters though some of the subplots are darker than others but still not that dark.
Did I enjoy this otomege? hell yes! do I recommend it despite its many flaws? yes!
 I could even recommend it to those still learning japanese and have a decent grasp of the language.
8/10

If you have yet to play the psp version the vita version is a good start but if you already played it
but I do not think 6000 yen is worth it just for one more route unless you are a die hard meikoi fan.
Meikoi is not terrible in what it tries to do and passes the otomege part of the game with flying colors.

For those that like the genre of being swept away to a different time period and romance historical bishies
Meikoi shouldn't disappoint you but its probably better to play it on the side
 because when you think too hard about somethings you'll most likely shake your head.

Atelier Firis ~The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey~ - Review

Game: [フィリスのアトリエ 不思議な旅の錬金術士]

Genre: JRPG.

Developer/Publisher: Gust and Koei Tecmo.

Platform: PS Vita, PS4.

Official Site: http://social.gust.co.jp/firis/

Release date: 2016-11-02

Atelier is back to the way I like it! atleast for the most part.
I decided to make a post about it because why the hell not? :D

The 2nd installment of the fushigi(mysterious) arc/series of atelier games

 has everything I love about it, this game stars an energetic young girl named Firis who

 grew up in Eldona a mining town near the country border and yearns for the outside world 

which is full of adventure and she wants to go on a journey.

 One day Sophie an alchemist literally blasts her way into the town and Firis witnesses in awe.

 She learns Sophie is an alchemist and wants to try it out as well since its new and exciting

Sophie teaches her and Firis has potential so she asks her parents to let her out of the mine

but they decine because the people born in the mine aren't allowed to go outside unless
they meet certain requirements and Firis is still too young...
Her sister Liane however is allowed to go outside and understands Firis all too well.

 Yadayadayade... after a whole month Firis is allowed to go outside on one condition she must pass

the alchemy exam at Reizenberg so she can earn a alchemy license within one year from now 

and if she fails she must give up and stay in the mine.

If she passes she is allowed to do whatever she wants to do outside of Eldona and so

 Firis and Liane's journey begins in which Firis will meet many new friends along the way.

Suuran Digit Review

数乱digit
Game: [Suran Digit].

Genre: Otome game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Otomate

Platform: PS Vita.

Official Site: http://www.otomate.jp/suran/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v18161

Release date: 2016-10-20

Suuran digit, its basically a modern wafuu(old japanese style) otome game.
School settings usually put me off but this seemed interesting enough to give it a shot.
Sadly I think not many are interested in it or better put they were but Collar x Malice
and Yuukyuu no Tierblade took all the hype so this otomege went under the rader
well its sorta good it did because it wasn't that amazing or anything
it could've been much better, sure heroine can fight but she's lazy as f**k
and she only really puts effort into it like twice or so.

As much as I love the OP for some reason the full version isn't as good to me, this
is totally normal that the full ver doesn't live up to the TV/Game version.

 For play order I recommend startng with Takagi, this is due to his pacifistic deadpan personality
which can make for a boring route because of his I won't fight or protect you for that matter, lol.
Also for the love of Kuro do Yuuhi's route last since his route has the most spoilers of all
so basically you'll end up with this going from least to most spoilers.
For Meguru its really best to do him ASAP to save what likeability is left in him... 
Takagi > Meguru > Keitarou > Mitsu > Ousuke > Yuuhi.

Pro's
Most if not all charcters was likeable.
- Diverse seiyuu cast(A few popular but not the usual bunch)
- Art and BGM.

Con's
- Short and not enough choices, tbh it feels like mobile game at times.
- Meguru, you are either gonna love or hate him...
- At first it doesn't feel like an otome game.
- copypasta

The prologue, chapter one and two is just the introduction.
Too bad there isn't a lot of choices... and not much happens in the prologue + chapter 1/2
to the point its a long prologue and you'll skip over it everytime since nothing new.
In chapter 3 you get to choose between the rich kids aka the student council
or the poor kids(lol not really) which are part of a club called Suuken.
The common route isn't that long and the routes aren't either, in the first few hours
suran digit doesn't feel like an otome game which is fine the only character that
actively pursues Hiroka is Ousuke but Hiroka will have none of his advances in other routes.
Other than that the system is nothing to write home about, standard VN stuff.

Each route takes about 5 hours to clear(give or take)
If you're fluent japanese and a fast reader maybe even shorter.

Sadly there is copy pasta, some general scenes during the route are almost identical to others
and in some parts exactly the same but the game classify it as new so haha no read skipping.
The best example is the sports festival but good thing is depending who you go for some things
are different like who's side you're on but still it can get annoying some share the same event.

I liked the heroine's personality in general and her lazing around. lol
Also she isn't afraid of picking fights with people! Too bad they made her so unstable
now we have a both cool and lazy heroine at the same time!
But... when I really think about it this is good because no one is perfect and one
who is confident/courageous should be allowed to be overwhelmed and show weakness
but yeah what is consistency! surely there was another way...

The CG scenes are pretty short, they're like how to put it? Fleeting moments.
This is fine with me but a little more dialogue would've been better.
The general scenes are also quick to the point, there isn't any TL;DR but its wasteful.

Overall I wouldn't say its a bad, sure you'll skip like 1/2 hours of common stuff
on 2nd+ play but thats bound to happen, some of the routes are less exciting than others
and speaking of romance in some routes there is not enough of it, the sweet scenes
are too short for me to appreciate them and the ending esp Takagi's makes me wish for more
and I am glad the short stories delivered for once but other than that meh, just the beginning.
As much as I like a diverse cast of characters and their interactions in the case of Suuran Digit its
really a curse rather than a blessing because the first half of the route is a drag in most route
 except all of the routes in the student council arc(Ousuke,Keitarou and Yuuhi)

6.5/10
Is my final verdict, its not outright terrible but it leaves much to be desired.
My personal experience made it a lot better than it may seem but its not that good.
The original score was higher but before the end of the year I decided to look over
 what I played and reduced it by two points because it really wasn't all that great
nor did it leave a memorable impression on me, imho you're better of spending
 your money on Collar x Malice or Yuukyuu no Tierblade if you haven't already
that's not to say Suuran is that bad but... yeah its just doesn't stand out much.

Stop reading hear if you do not want any spoilers, I still avoid mentioning the big topics
and you now my digest are shit and full of my own thoughts sometimes.

Geten no Hana with Yume Akari Aizouban review (1)

下天の華
 Game: [Geten no Hana with Yume Akari Aizouban].

Genre: Otome game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Ruby Party / Koei Tecmo

Platform: PS Vita.

Official Site: http://www.gamecity.ne.jp/geten/vita/index.html

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v11639

Release date: 2016-09-08

Note that this review is for the original game, since both are included in this port.
I will  have to make a separate post for the sequel when I get to it one day as I am not
going to play both games right after the other since its unlikely i'm going to appreciate it
and I do not wish to make the same mistake as with Juuza engi 1+2 in which most of
the first games route/endings were better than its sequel to me.

 So this is the third Koei otome game I played, this one is set during the classic sengoku period.
Our heroine Hotaru is a ninja who is sent to infiltrate Nobunaga's castle, due to circumstance ends up
working for Mitsuhide and under his orders Hotaru disguises herself as Kikyou his sister.
 Will Hotaru's heart sway for one of the seven handsome samurai's including Nobunaga himself?
Only time will tell...

 As for play order I had no idea who to go for first so I ended up going for the one guy

 who interested me the most first, since I figured I may as well enjoy myself the first time.

 Mitsuhide > Momoji > Nobuyuki > Hashiba > Ranmaru > Ieyashu > Nobunaga > grand finale.

There is no recommended order, just that Momoji and Nobuyuki unlock 2nd+ play.
 As for recommending you an order, I think you should be fine with doing whatever
 Feel free to forge your own playorder based on this information below though!
Mitsuhide's route was nicely balanced and I think its best to do him first because
all of the routes I did afterwards with the exception of Momoji ended up being more enjoyable.
Doing Momoji second is actually a good thing since not only you learn more
about Hotaru and his past, plus his route is sorta a drag compared to the rest.
Also good for farming flowers due to all the training you have to do...
Nobuyuki had the more ''serious'' route which helps to understand him more
which might be good for midway through. Hashiba's route was just fun all around!
Ran's high in moe content, Ieyashu  was really sweet with some light drama.
Nobunaga was also more serious and perfect for  last because of the way it was concluded
which was even better than grandfinale.

TL;DR
Pro's
- Story.
- Heroine; princess by day, shinobi by night.
- Strong cast of characters.
- Choice of seiyuu.
- Art, very unique style.
- BGM, OK fits the mood some of the ED theme songs are A++.

Con's
- Short.
 - Random choices to raise doubt/affection.
- Skip a thon, 2nd+ play.
- Every chara's tsumi endings are copy pasta, just with a different flavor of sprinkled cheese on top.
 -

Geten no Hana is different from most Koei's games while its obv not a straight-forward 
visual novel it has no real annoying gameplay mechanics compared to other koei games
which could bother you from enjoying a good read.
If that's what's stopping you from getting into this please set your prejudice aside.

 Here's what the actual gameplay entails:
-  Interact with the guy on a daily basis to get affection for his next event, while
 also trying to achieve the mission Mitsuhide gives you, the game is short
so there's limited time but just enough to do one characters events.
- Fight, select the right buttons within the time limit, you gain flowers 
while training which increases affection when given to the guy.
- Its easy to play without a guide however some choices could prevent you from getting the guys next
flag event or lead to an abrupt game over, I still recommend a guide for a comfortable playthrough.

Seriously the above is not as annoying as it may sound so please do give it a shot.

There's even a demo available for the first game on JP PSN so if you still have doubts go try it.
Geten no Hana is not a straigh-forward visual novel, if endless screens of text 
test your patience koei's otomege are perfect for you.

 TL;DR end.

From the start the guys are all very likeable and they fit into their historical selfs well but still
its an otome game so some adjustments have to be made mmmkay? The story
 was surprisingly well written and easy to follow despite being old timey
also there's furigana so its easy to understand kanji for important terms.

I must say I like the heroine Hotaru a lot, she is combat capable but is a bit dense 

regarding romance but it all makes sense considering her upbringing.
Hotaru is awesome but has her moments of doubt and being insecure because
she's still a girl after all but I wish she had more courage in certain route/ending.
I rather have a proactive heroine like Hotaru who kicks ass than a meek heroine
where the guys are literally all over her like in most otome.
Its sad that badass otome game heroines come in extremely small shipments.
Unfortunately the romance in some routes was more obvious than others, hmm how to put it?
This game wants you to pay attention to the characters words and actions more than anything.
If its not obvious that doesn't mean its not there at all, the route that was the hardest
to grasp any sort of romance for me was Momoji's all the others were easy to understand.

  System wise its pretty much like Harukanaru 6 just without rpg aspect.
 You have the guys side events and/or romantic moments during the main story and the
 character story is at the end which slightly change the events and ending of the game.
Everything else is mostly the same every play just the outcomes are different
due to whom you for which keeps things fresh even if the general story is the same. 
You got missions which usually include having to shapeshift into a maid, bird, samurai or a frog.
 I really liked the scenes you could get if you turn into a frog only for Ieyashu to notice it
and take it back to the pond, it was word the failed attempt for the reaction alone, lol.
 In between your missions you can visit the guys and talk with them, the conversation topic
are random some may raise or lower affection, you don't want the latter since
you need affection to trigger event flags and you need all of a character event flags
to get their best endings, if you want their normal end simply abort by chapter 3/4.
 Talk topics include their past, favorite food... and other things plenty of interesting facts to learn.
This is much better than Angelique Retour were the topics were kept even simplier.

Battles include having to select the right buttons in time, its nothing too difficult
but it is easy to mess up sometimes since you are on the clock(there's a timer).
There are a lot of bad ends like for failing a mission, though only a few are recorded
in the scene recollection, IIRC max doubt? and failing plot battles isn't recorded.

For guides momokan,otome-girly and Halfadder are good but they all are for the PSP version
so they lack the info on how to get the newly added sinful flower endings made for this port.
That is why I highly recommended you Syrup26's guide as its perfect.
Choro has done gods work by putting up a glossary check list, with these two you are all set!
I really do not recommended playing this without a guide due to shear amount of bad ends
from certain choices in scenes, basically aborts the whole cutscene, granted a quick save will help
but sooner or later it would drive me crazy not knowing which leads to an abrupt bad end. (눈_눈)

 I recommend only getting the guys events which ever one you go for that round
and don't see anyone else because you don't even have time for it, also quick saves! use them!
Seriously though due to most of the game being the same every play its better to save the unique
character events for every play you do since it just becomes more worthwhile.
There are some secret events which pairs up characters and give you a close up CG
and you'll most likely get them when going for grand finale, honestly
if it weren't for a guide I would have probably never got them since it requires
you to view various event flags of both characters during chapter 1/2.
You don't even have that much time so even getting it really puts your managment skills to the test.

 Some choices when visiting the guy are random but don't worry they're not infinitely random
so just quick save before a choice if you're unsure if its gonna lower affection or raise doubt.
 The scenes aren't long either only a few of them are so if you have short attention span
 don't worry this game like most of Koei's game is perfect for you.
Sadly this also means the game is a pain in the ass to platinum, because
this game does not give you all keywords like they're candy.
Following Syrups guide will get you everything except that, missing glossary entries?
Use Choro's masterlist to see which you missed it some of Hashiba's talks may need high affection.
Getting all cg's and scenes is easy peasy, selecting all choice in the daily conversation is not
because they're random and some only give you the keyword at high/low affection.

Okay on to another topic...
The guys do not show much interests/harass Kikyou which is good! no need for queen bee syndrome.
Okay... Hashiba does shower her with affection from the get go but there has to be one of those...
Also you'll never see Ranmaru's cute side outside of his own route, Momoji may be charming
  outside of his own route but you'll find out more about him and Hotaru's past in his route than anywhere else in his own route though he was sort of grumpy to me.
 Point is you won't find out anything about other characters in someone elses personal route
as they're very character focused on themselves as is and to be honest, this is a good thing.
Honestly while it may look the guys routes are like side events along the main road it really
isn't all that different from the average otome game because some things just won't change.
Overall Koei sure knows how to work their magic, thats for sure.
They know how to make the characters and scenes so dreamy...!
The characters also manage to fit into their historical counterparts especially Nobunaga
though for some adjustments had to made so its not completely accurate
but not like it needs to be and this game did a damn good job at trying to stay true.
No character felt like they had a route for the sake of having one and thats good!

2nd+ play like most of koei's games doesn't have the same feel but most routes still manage
and bring something new to the table as they're very character focused.
Everyone is likeable in some way and there are no yandere if you were wondering, also not
everyone get a kiss cg which is common for Koei's games to only get  or two most of the time. 

Even if there is no CG for it they do kiss, there is just no pretty picture for it...
It is sad that the characters don't get any kiss CG in their best ends. T_T
Ranmaru's tsumi end doesn't count because its not exactly something I want to remember...
Speaking of the new Tsumi no Hana endings are essentially more bad ends for some added despair

and imo they are totally unnecessary its more like a what if Hotaru betrayed Mitsuhide and everyone.
The story for it was pretty crap because the same reason is copy pasted into everyone's tsumi end.

If you already played the both psp games and think about getting this port for it and other content

I suggest to not unless you're a real fan of this series and absolutely want to support it. :)

Also me thinks the normal end and pair CG's are a ripoff... since its mostly
just their standing picture and for the pair ups its just a close up, lol.
While there isn't a canon guy there is bias present in Nobunaga's route, because
not only does none of that happen in anyone elses route it was made as clear as day he was
Hotaru's first love! I am just glad they don't shove this down your throat too much in other route
not even the grand finale, this is all good because the player is supposed to choose who they like.
Other than that Geten no Hana is a great otome game and really I recommend it!
Though I think I wrote down/repeat a bit too much...
9.5/10

The usual spoilers be they major or minor awaits after the jump, you've been warned.
Anyway i'm sure you've realized you can read the full summary and character background in detail at
koei wiki so I won't bother to be detailed with plot i'll only mention my fav events and drop out the rest.

Yuukyuu no Tierblade -Lost Chronicle- - Review

 悠久のティアブレイド -Lost Chronicle-
 Game: [Yuukyuu no Tierblade].

Genre: Otome game Visual Novel.

Developer/Publisher: Otomate

Platform: PS Vita.

Official Site: http://www.otomate.jp/tierblade/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v19012

Release date: 2016-09-08 

Yuukyuu no Tierblade -Lost Chronicle- is a sci-fi otome game from yours truly, otomate.
 Did I have doubts about this otomege? sure for one its premise is similair to Code:Realize.
Okay its not entirely similair but you get the comparison right?
A heroine named ''Eve'' lives alone for 3000 years in a secluded space and her world 
slowly starts to move again when one day she meets Shudo, Atalva and later on Yajur and Lowe.
Luckily for Eve they're all handsome guys! even if Eve herself may not be quite human.
(Oh come on that much is obvious okay?)
I like how otomate's trying to explore into mecha territory because you sure don't see that often
 but to be fair one can make an otomege with any theme, sometimes it just doesn't work out.
 
Playorder:
 Shudo > Atharva > Yajur > Roh/Lowe > Cradle > True.
No choice but to do Yajur and Lowe later because their route unlock
 after you've done Shudo or Atalva and this really makes sense in terms of story.
Anyway do the order of Shudo/Altava in whichever boy you favor but honestly its not going to matter much. 
I recommend doing Shudo's route first then Atharva > Yajur and finally Lowe.
Lowe's route contains major spoilers and would only ruin the overall enjoyment if done too soon.
Dunno about Cradle but just do him before the true end I guess or before Lowe's.

Pro's
- Interesting story and characters.
- Pretty Art.
- Relaxing BGM.
- Common and Individual route while shared is nicely balanced.

Con's
- Junk system, while nice for collection purpose seems pointless storywise.
- Not many choices, less than 10 per route.
- Repeat content (mech battles can get draggy on 2nd+ play).

Overall this otomege is a romantic sci-fi adventure with as seen above well executed action scenes
I wasn't bored of them which is good!
A lot of the typical otome scenes are really relaxing and the BGM sure help a lot with this.
The story develops well, even if its ''peaceful'' at times its usually not for long and the game makes
this very clear by swifting the POV for a short scene with the ''villains''.

If you were worried that Yuukyuu no Tearblade was going to have an annoying system
like Wand of Fortune 2 you can rest assured. because its nothing more than a simple
select the area, find junk and move on, there is no RNG involved or anything.

After the last otomege I played(which was Oumagatoki), Yuukyuu no Tierrblade was pleasant.
As its quick to the point, good story, easy to like characters and a likeable heroine.
I expected tierblade to be the typical short&sweet with a fluff of tragic otomate game
and I wasn't disappointed on that note because this otomege sure was interesting.
There were lots of twists and turns along the way and the action scenes were cool
and to get the whole story you have to do every route, sadly after
only one playthrough it was pain stackingly obvious who the OTP was but that
 has never stopped me from finding my own biases a long the way.
I get why people could say the some battles are boring, especially repeat stuff
and honestly I only liked  sitting through the first battles with Sud,Atharva... Yajur just
happened too late and it was literally the same as if it were say Sud except now its Yajur.
I felt the Moujuutsukai team worked on it and I was right on that... no way could I not
recognize how the repeat content played out but atleast story wise it was surprisingly well written.
Forgot to mention this and you may have guessed it but the heroine
can be compared to Code:Realize's Cardia aka clueless at first but gets a grip
on the situation quickly and becomes badass esp in the true end.
  The only bad part may be the copypasta/repeat content, it was much
like Moujuutsukai to Ouji-sama but imo was less annoying maybe by the time I got to Yajur
so I can't complain except the part about Cradle's route but they were probably
were like y not both and just went with it, I don't even mind the whole all-saving
nanomachine-son trope, it works miracles yes but I don't think it was annoying.
9/10

Okay you know the drill by now, more ramblings and spoilers after the jump.
Just skip to the end of the post to avoid and see my fav route/chara with minimum spoils
because this game is best experienced without knowing what is going to happen.
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