end of 2019

Didn't really play that many otome games this year, which was probably a good thing.

Variable barricade was alright... but Kenka bancho otome 2? oof the sequel we didn't need but got anyway.

Had plans to read shinigami to shojo and Gunka wo Haita Neko but decided to take a break instead

and wait for 2020. Aksys picked up some otome too like Piofiore and looks like Collar x Malice

will come to switch along with the FD which is nice. Piofiore might not be for everyone tho.

I plan to pick up Harukanaru toki no naka de 7 when it was first revealed the quality

of the art was a bit flat maybe Mizuno is just overworked or something.

Same.

 You can see more of that art linked below... some look fine but a bit??? 

 https://www.bs-log.com/20190914_1373676/

 Thankfully the ingame sprites and CG don't look like that at all.

 https://www.gamecity.ne.jp/haruka7/chara.html

Basically me in 2019.

Harutoki 7 shows promise, looks like they're going back to a setting like 3,4 or 5.

I liked 6 a lot but its sequel was very... meh and just made a mess of things

3 might be my favorite, still got to finish 1 but the novelty isn't there because

I watched the anime so most of the surprises I already know and it already had a simple plot.

 Ack maybe I should just do it for Yasuaki. >_<

 I also got my eyes on Olympia Soiree as well, the art is very pretty I hope the story hold up to that...

knowing otomate there's a chance it won't but I like how they have slowed down with games lately.

Probably because of the move to the switch eh we'll see, best not going to expect too much.

In other news...

 Takuyo has risen from the dead and is making himehibi 3 and Koi no Hana Saku Hyakkaen for the switch!

Didn't expect that at all... after Sweet clown they've mostly been porting their old games to the vita.

I might end up giving Koisaku a shot, I am in the mood for something light-hearted

though I hope it isn't that dramatic, knowing Takuyo they hardly false advertise their games.

Getsuei no kusari seemed grim and we got grim, Himehibi was light-hearted/comedy so we got just that.

2020 looks promising i'll just not play as many as before which is better for my wallet too haha.

Same goes for RPG's too i'll just pick up what interest me the most, I played a bit

of FE3H as well never played FE before but its nice.

I'll just go at my own pace from here on out, only picking up the games that seem like a good time

to me which with otomate is already hard cuz they always try to slip in some crazy trope

and that could ruin the whole game and/or give bad aftertaste.

 CoughVariable Barricade's last routeCough

Jokes aside atleast Variable barricade made it funny.

Variable Barricade - Review

 Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 

Developer/publisher: Otomate

Platform: PSV.

Official Site:

VNDB:https://vndb.org/v19850

Release date: 2019-04-04

Oh baby... the wait is over, or maybe they announced this game way too early.

Pretty art, an interesting set up but will that hold up? only one way to find out!

Its from the creator of Wand of Fortune and Reine des fleurs... both are titles
that are known to make the player suffer. Sigh~ but VariBarri wasn't that bad

didn't enjoy the overall game / cast as much as WoF though.
The protagonist here however is fully voiced! a big plus as it breathes so much more life
into them but I suppose even unvoiced have perks.

 

Edit: This review is about the PSVITA version not the switch one.

OP MOVIE

Okay, what is this about?

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

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

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

System... its pretty simple there's common route / flowchart and its easily
seen when one has finished a chapter, much oversight and no annoying
minigame to be seen, if you get far enough you can enter the personal stories/routes
but the seem split into parts like Ichiya 1, Taiga 1 etc you're forced to do everyones
part 1, as its part of the common route this is to help decide your fiance.
There is some sort of minigame but its hard to explain and tbh doesn't fit in well
depending on choices the guys weapon becomes stronger to break the barricade to the heroine
and other choice strengthens the heroines barricade...  watching the sequence in question
is kinda funny but doesn't make sense as when he succeeds Hibari is suddenly
 able to give Ichiya a peck on the cheek, seems to be more a battle of wills.
I think the barricade battle thing doesn't make sense visually it literally looks

like the guy is destroying boundaries in the form of a fence with a sword which gets
stronger or remains weak dependant on your choice, I didn't find this funny
and honestly it could be done without, though I admit the art did look cute.
They could have just kept it simple with choices but alas... they wanted something extra.
Then there's RABI which you have to set to different location to unlock extra event
that are in no way important to the plot, still don't know if you had to view them or not
and you can view them later from the gallery can suggest to just focus on the main story first
then again reading them later might be bad so might be better to read it as it appears.
There's also WHIS the APP the characters message each other with only a few have a choice
and the rest is just banter after an event. All this is awful to explain, its actually quite straight
forward. Since this from the team behind wand of fortune and reine des fleurs so one shouldn't be
surprised at how the game flows atleast this time there's no RNG like in WoF so consider
yourself blessed. The flowchart is simple and easy to see what is going on but uh
once again the general flow is to straight-forward to have this laid out for you?
sometimes the way you unlock stuff is still a straight vn something tells me they had
something else in mind but due to change of seiyuus they had to change things.
Well enough about sytem because it is quite simple some of the mini event you unlock
from RABI are funny some others weren't worth it.
Now for a good thing, you don't need a guide if you want the love ending for that guy
just let him destroy the barricade, for the other simple don't make him too strong
but if you do that to early into route its a premature bad end so you gotta balance.

A QUEEN

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

which is more important than plot which is very straight-forward and focus on character
but definitely seems to be more to it all which kept me hooked

to get to the true end which gave us things we didn't really want but got anyway.

The story is there but don't come here for a well thought out plot cuz it ain't that and the

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

Kenka Banchou Otome 2nd Rumble - Review

 Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 

Developer/publisher: Spike chunsoft/RED

Platform: PSV.

Official Site:http://www.kenkabancho-otome.com/2/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v24312

Release date: 2019-03-14

So after the original and its fd was a little bit of a success, Spike/RED decided to make another!

To be completely honest I never expected a sequel after the FD because even if some afters

had problems *hint Kirarin* it did wrap itself up in a nice way.

So as release nears all I could do was question it existence and hope for the best

as in that it retains what we all know and love about kenka bancho otome.
They're nice enough to recap some little events from the original thanks its been two years or so!

This also being my first otome of 2019 even tho I had tried to start panic palette
or continue ashen hawk but unfortunately no motivation~

I kept putting it off so here's to getting back in the otome spirit but this game...
this game made me kinda conflicted considering how rushed it is.

Pro's
Characters still have charm.
Art/Music still great as ever.
Kirarin's route is much better and I am not even biased (ok maybe I am).

Con's
It's basically season 2... idk if this is a good or bad thing btw.
Blatant bias for friend routes, otome route feel rushed/lacking.

Unfortunately they also decided to change the battle system its no longer like rythm game
but some sort of minigame where your buddies can support you. NEW and EXCITING but
HONESTLY IF IT AINT BROKE DON'T FIX! but imo it ain't that bad of a change.
That aside its easy to play but very mashy, atleast with easy mode if you can't be bothered
to play the minigame and just want a VN you can skip the battles and instant win.
Thanks spike chunsoft.
Either way, it was pretty fun in the beginning but ended up skipping after the 6th battle
and so nothing of value was lost I think my only real complaines is how
the kenka banchou otome games have such awful loading times, it runs on unity but boy!
I could go grab a drink and a snack while this baby starts up... >_>

So it basically continues after the first game where there is no romance and shenanigans continues
as in the next semester some guy named Sagara Tenma transfer into shisiku but he's no angel
and just as bad as the rest, I pity the meek principal who cannot even finish the welcome ceremony.
Nozomi's also here but whatever i'm still pissed at Kirarin for neglecting his otouto last game!
All the guys are just extra bro kinda like everyone loves you but not quite.
Otome sequels tend to be hit or miss for me because of this... like it gets annoying to have
a round two after certain events and most character love the protag from start but most are not
like that and here they're just bro's, ahem going through the common route
was a lot of fun, plenty of laughs here and there but on second play its not much of that
and its just get event flags and read skip till the route starts which is done in no time.
If I had to recommend any play order it would be:
 Kirarin > Mirako > Konparu / Totomaru > Houou > Tenma.
The first route was the most enjoyable to me and if a Kirarin fan
you may as well enjoy the game to the fullest this way, i'm not the biggest Kirarin
or Mirako fan but even I can approve of what I got and it was nice
unfortunately neither Konparu nor Totomaru could give me something that was better
than the original routes. Ow well its only fair they had a good one to begin with
don't get me started with Houou his was alright but a massive dejavu because
of the sameish reveals even the friend route with Tenma was more original...
speaking of I might have enjoyed the friend routes more than love especially Toto&Konpa's. >_>

Never wanted a sequel but at the very least it turned out to be a nice one (for the most part).

And that this ends my spoiler free impressions
Kenka Banchou otome 2nd rumble is a title that is sorely lacking in the otome department
but at the same time still manages to deliver what we all know and love.
It is by no means that terrible but overall it doesn't succeed its predecessor
or does anything that holds up to it which is just sad when it has less value overall
and thus I can only say it is an average sequel, it gives and takes... feels short and
it even feels as if its an apology for Kirarin's awful after story in the FD
because in this game his route fixes everything that went wrong
but you know what? no matter how nice this game was I do not even want a FD from this
because I cannot trust the writers anymore, halfed assed routes for some? check, blatant bias
for friend routes? check. Same flow of events despite new semester? check.
IDK but this sounds bad to me and somehow was still enjoyable...so I have mixed feels.
Maybe I am nagging too much but my score is very fair for a sequel who has less value than
the original, so basically SKIP THIS and go play the first game if you haven't
all of the routes there have so much more value than this rushed mess of a sequel.
In the end the comedy and characters are what held this game together for me
AND I LOVE IT FOR THAT but its really sad to see how rushed it is
and some routes especially the love route are anything but memorable.
7/10
''For what it is worth an enjoyable sequel, unfortunately it does little to surpass
its predecessor and in comparison is overall a very rushed experience.''

Otome ranking of 2018

Whoop it that time of the year again to make one of these!

let's start by going over the ones i've played and compared

to other years there's not as much which makes sense, I only picked

up the ones I thought were genuinely interesting and skipped any I had second thoughts of. 

Code:realize shirogane no kiseki.

Chouchou Jiken.

Taishou x Alice Heads or Tails.

Psychedelica of the black butterfly.

 Collar x Malice Unlimted.

Piofiore no Banshou.
WoFR2 FD ~Kimi ni Sasageru Epilogue~.
Shiro to Kuro no Alice FD.

🏆Best new game:🏆

Piofiore no Banshou.

 Considering what I played there was not much competition I enjoyed what I could but

considering the themes this might not be for everyone but I still think its solid

and didn't waste away what it intended with the setting at all.

The only bad part is that no main character was truly likeable except Orlok

like they all did something shitty outside of their own route and Yang...

ah yes Yang he was beyond likeability even in his own
but atleast the story was solid and stuck to its themes that being one about mafia meaning its not
gonna be sunshine and rainbows! without making too much of a mess of things unlike the next!

💩Worst new game:💩

Chouchou Jiken.

Sidney... steal me away from all of the unredeemable love interest (except Haruka).

 What in the seven hells was this?

I thought this would be a trashy mystery otome game

but it never got that trashy nor the mystery part was that interesting.

It might be great if you enjoy having a mouse nibble at your toes

but honestly this was such a waste to me like most of the routes

weren't even interesting and the ones that were weren't even important to the overall plot.

It only starts making sense in the last two routes and the romantic interests in it were complete trash

and relied too much on pity me pls trope, look I can like characters that have had a bad time

but when they literally have a goal to use the heroine for their personal gain throughout the game

or worse kill her if gotten the chance, Yes people can change, pity is allowed
but sometimes pity is not enough for me to turn a blind eye the art was nice but at times
 meh, the music was awful /grating and the story while interesting
to get to the truth it kept beating around the bush about some russian revolution
that doesn't add up before you get to routes that matter said characters almost had no
redeeming factor. Sorry that's gonna be a no from me...

🏆Best Fandisk:🏆

Collar x Malice Unlimited.

If there was any otome game that needed a fandisk it was collar x malice

the after stories were enjoyable and unique for each character and the adonis

portion gave us a different look at the villains while Ichika gets herself together.

While I thought some of the after stories were too long I think the content

in this FD is of more value than that of Tierblades which I also enjoyed.

Wand of Fortune R2 kimi ni sasageru epilogue.

 The finale of the WoF series did not disappoint me, even though its short
it managed to be on point and not drag it out and none of it was wasteful
except maybe the true end epilogue... poor Solo.
With the exception of Est's after I found it extremely enjoyable definitely not something
WoF fans want to miss out on! after all this time glad they still ported it.

~

💩Worst Fandisk:💩

Taishou x Alice Heads or Tails.

 Let's face it this wasn't even a fandisk but an addon

the new routes are exactly the games subtitle aka a different side of the same coin

it only gives us information we already knew but from the perspective of side characters!

Which is nice but not when there's no real ending for them with the heroine because of canon.

The rest of the content was ok but on its hard to recommend unless you are a real tai-ali fan...

and it doesn't add to the scenario of the two except for an extended epilogue.

Also the treatment of Ookami in his route made me rage so much! he's such a likeable character

but the writer cannot let go of the canon and he is still a third wheel no matter what.

Dear otome game writers; if you cannot let go of the canon do not give side characters routes

just to get into their heads, sure its nice for a chance of POV but ultimately
you are wasting your own time and that of the readers since all you do is give bait
but leave us hanging wishing for something more or a different outcome.

~

😐Meh Fandisk.😐
 Shiro to Kuro no Alice Twilight Line.

This was just one of those fandisk that isn't that bad but not great either
but still manages to deliver, i'm not the biggest fan but even then
I can see they tried this series strengths also makes it its downfall.
The plot is still as inconsistent and messy as ever that did not change and I doubt
it ever will, wherever otomate will take this I think my shiro to kuro adventures end here
no matter how much I enjoyed my time with Luna and her guys.
Its not that great... but still, it might deliver in ways a fan would like it to.

Code: Realize shirogane no kiseki.

 The third fandisk and while a nice addition to the series

it did nothing for the overall story , Cantarella was a nice attempt but it only
gives us after the fact information that not even Cardia ever find out. (Only the reader)

The only thing I say that was great was the extended epilogues from shukufuku no mirai

but even then its something that should have been in that game to begin with.

Its great if you desperately want more code realize in your life but I hope

otomate won't milk it more than this, you can only get so much out of it...
and by now I think I got that, there's really not much anymore I want out of Code:Rea.
 Before you get this I think one has to consider, how much do I like code:realize?
will additional stories with the cast be worth my time no matter what it is about??
If a super fan then yes you should get this but if not... then well maybe not.
~

🏆Best english release:🏆

Psychedelica of the black butterfly.

 While the otome game part is a hard sell, the story however was pretty good

every main character contributed to the scenario and it was a good feeling to get to the bottom of it
and while I have not finished Ashen Hawk it has the same feel so I had to mention it.
It is incredible hard to write about it without spoiling anything... one is best to go into this
without knowing anything, don't even go to official site! the less u know the better.
~

Well that was all for 2018 not as many console otome games as previous years but its not just me
otomate hasn't released as much nor has other companies. I skipped ports
and have been playing other games/busy with other things.
With otomates move to switch things might look better next year but even then
I am hesitant to make the move, its not a secret some of us just step out of the genre and
lot's of otome game blogs have died over the years when a console such as ps2/psp came at its end.
Vita is no exception nor will the Switch go on forever... I like otome games but i've
feel that I have enjoyed what was to offer and at times am ready to leave the genre since
I start to be jaded and cynical at new titles which aren't even much different then what I played.
There's still some (old) otome games that I'd love to play next year and I will probably do just that.

Shiro to Kuro no Alice Twilight Line - Review

Genre: Otome Visual Novel. 

Developer/publisher: Otomate.

Platform:PSV.

Official Site: http://www.otomate.jp/bw_alice/twilight/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v21786

Release date: 2018-11-15

Ah yes the FD- or sequel to that rather messy alice in wonderland otome game
from otomate, in case you wonder what I mean by messy again is that
the overall story was too scattered and there was no locked routes
so if you did Nello first you'd basically spoil a plot behind the scenes
or if you did Snow's then well you basically got the best possible resolution.
That doesn't mean the other routes aren't worth doing as it still would fill in the blanks
here and there regarding the characters. So in short when a story would benefit
from restriction they said nah let them pick! which could work if the important story bits
weren't all over the place, like I am sure no one likes getting to Minette mid game
only to find out it was better to do him first since he has nothing to do with the main plot.
Shiro to Kuro no Alice had a story albeit very messy and all over the place!
and even that did not change in its FD's additional scenario.

Pro's
 -After stories are short and sweet.
- Art and music are excellent.

Con's
- unvoiced heroines who still talk to each other as if it was voiced, which
like the original ruined a lot of potential in scenes everyone else is voiced.
- Story is still a scattered mess.

Content wise there is the after story's ~lover's day~ which gives us a look at their lives now
it covers both white and black happy ends... which is probably what you wanted the most.
Then there's another line... which is basically just an another story...
but with individual endings as well which is where most of the meat of the game is.
There's also the tea party after doing all which is a nice extra for full complete.

Either way I decided to start with Airi's side first mostly because she literally got stuck the worst boys
and Luna with the sweethearts, which made me not very interested in Airi's side.
After stories are like an hour long BUT there's one for each happy end (black and white)!
  so that's basically two hours... whether it was worth it depends on character like

for me Minette's were an utter waste of time but Nero was actually worth sitting through
so I guess it depends but even then I wish they put more effort.
Another line was eh... after 4 routes I got the general gist of the plot and had enough
and actually got sad we didn't get a routes for Rui, Ratt or Nine instead
like they give us new characters try and flesh em out but they don't really get resolution.
Volume wise its about right... if you rush its probably not but I thought the content was fine
and could definitely last a week or two if you take it slow but eh unless one was
invested in the world of shiro to kuro no alice I can't really recommend it
since this is for fans of course, I got what I wanted out of it thanks to Luna side
but still felt it was lacking in someway maybe because they had to split
the lover day scenario to the two happy ends which makes no sense if
the another line scenario also sort of follows up on the bw after???
IMO most of the white afters were the best to me so I wish they'd made it a little longer
even at the expense of the bw after but eh they still managed at making some of it
its just not going to be to everyones taste.
As we know Another line has the same problem as the original game
I am going to recommend Snow's route there for last as it has the most
revelations about Rui, the rest of the order shouldn't matter too much
so just to be safe do Airi side before Luna's with Snow last.

That ends my spoiler free section...