Utakata no Uchronia - Demo Impressions

 Genre: VN.
Developer/publisher: Broccoli/Licobits.
Platform: Switch.
Official Site: https://licobits-game.com/uchronia/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v40519

Release date: 14-3-2024.(Demo) 11-04-2024. (Full Game)

 

Since I wasn't in the mood to play as Red and Barret in FF7 rebirth

I took a few hours to check out this demo!

I haven't really done a demo impressions/review post in ages and I didn't even know

UtaChro was going to get one! which is good because I was a little on the fence.

 

I only tried out UtaChro to see what it would be like! and also kinda as a vibecheck.

I know things could always turn out different in the full game but whatever

who cares if you only end up liking 1 love interest or route!

UtaChro is developed by a bunch of ex? otomate staff and broccoli/TIS creation.

I like RiRi's art but overall it reminded me more of Piofiore and not Yunohana.

Backgrounds were pretty detailed in showing the environments, art in general was good.

Music? no complaints. The OP definitely catched my attention more and I liked listening to it!

sadly I couldn't find the OP on youtube yet to link here.

 

The demo had the common route & was definitely good for introducing the setting and characters.

The heroine Hinagiku is an Ojou-sama who is good natured...maybe a bit pampered

she gets treated like a princess and earned that nickname, lol.

Yashiro seems to have amnesia and they go around trying to jog his memory for a bit, doesn't

really work out yet. Tsuyukusa bumped into them, he knows Hinagiku and thinks Yashiro

is too close already, oh jealous are we? Tsuyukusa was pretty chill so whatever I guess.

The demo ended after you meet Yori but for the most part its just too early to tell

where any of it was going, romance was definitely not a focus atleast not at this point!

not a lot of fluff yet as well, I figured out from my two-ish hour expedition that UtaChro

is a scenario driven kind of game with romance not really being a focus.

Interactions were good and  it had a decent sense of humor too. Overall it seems UtaChro

 is more or less something like Piofiore but with a bit of steampunk! I kind of liked it?

Not really route impressions but I wrote a little about the love interests?

not all seem to have a lot of screentime in the demo so there's not much after the jump.

Matsurika no Kei Tenmeiin Iden - Review

 Genre: VN.

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

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v47009

Release date: 29-2-2024.

 

Matsurika was the only upcoming otome game from otomate that I was still interested in.

It has a lot to do with the artstyle and a fantasy setting which just really drew me in

as well as a comfortable seiyuu cast with familiar voices that I like.

If this is gonna be my last otomate game... they got me good!

 

This game released on the same day as FFVII rebirth but at the same time

I mostly ended up playing this first because I just missed playing an otome game

and I wasn't in the mood for Final Fanfiction 7 which I only really ended up playing

on and off if the mood striked or when switch was charging which is actually perfect for it.

Pro's

- Well rounded routes, mostly easy to follow the story.

- Compelling characters & OK heroine(considering her situation).

- Gorgeous artwork and fitting soundtrack for that chinese feel.

 

Grey area:

- CeroD for a reason, there's quite a bit of sexual themes and not just suggestive.

Con's

- Long, especially if you do all routes.

- It can be kind of frustrating if you'd like to do the routes of Enrai or Fey since

they basically need all other routes be done but locked for a reason.

- NTR (bad ends only).

 

 

This game had some pretty high production values and good art direction from the CG's to

the backgrounds and sprites they were all gorgeous. Did I mention the cg's were animated as well?

I doubt this game was the product of a year they worked on this for a while

the artist truly outdid themselves not many otomate games have multiple sprite.

It has a great soundtrack that fit the setting/mood. The OP was great and listened

to it almost everytime I booted up the game. The ED's was pretty good too.

The menus were nice as well, it wasn't busy like say cupipara and just easy on the eyes.

The system was standard stuff however I could not find the skip to the next choice option

which ended up being touch pad only which I barely use, it didn't work properly.

Matsurika has a lot of chinese influences as well as the classic four lords.

At first I had a hard time understanding all the lore and it wasn't very clear where

any of it would go, there was suspense and intrigue, it got better eventually when

I got to know the characters! i'd say the end of the common route was a little

frustrating in light of certain developments. Other than that it still has a nice

sense of humor and the character interaction was pretty great right of the bat.

**Once I got into it the story was not particularly hard to follow/grasp.

I'd say the heroine Naaya was decent at best, she can be reserved but also show courage

to go off to another town on her own despite a certain someones protest.

Naaya has a lot of potential but due to the setting can never reach it, she can be stubborn

as well but eh she goes through a lot and doesn't even know wtf is going on

so I can't be too hard on her, she doesn't deserve that and her options are limited.

**I mostly liked her because she was kind but it seems most people don't like

 passives heroines and they only want pro-active ones, Naaya shined only on rare occasions.

 

Despite being an old timey game I didn't find it boring, it only became more interesting

as it went on but it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows there were secrets being kept.

There were twists and turns, at times I wasn't even sure what was really going on.

**It all did managed to fall into place at the end.

Common route wasn't too long, it serves its purpose to setup everything in relaxed manner

however the end of the common route was a little disturbing, the mood whiplash

at the time bothered me. It was at that moment the dumpster catched fire

and in some routes it goes out but in others it never really went out till the end.

Especially you Ruwo.

The story did generally flow well, it had slower moments but I didn't find the pacing

to be that bad. I think it was overall better than in say Tsuitsui.

Individual route was of decent length there's plenty developments good and bad.

If you combine them all then this game is pretty long. I did like that the final route was

not a combination of all but instead something that connects all dots, for better or for worse.

However I would like to emphasize that this game is very old fashioned and

the values of marriage or morals simply don't work in today's world. If the reader

can get past that and accept it then I think this game is much more enjoyable.

Most love interest's are nice enough that I could understand why the heroine

would stay with them because where else would she go? If you hit rock bottom

and someone extends their hand would you not accept it? I would.

 

The story wasn't very nice to the heroine but some love interests were, others did

need more time to grow on me but it was hard to dislike most of them.

Ruwo's route was pretty much the ongoing dumpster fire which was entertaining it its own way

but Zebenera was much more relaxed? it was also more connected to the overall plot

which made me super interested in Bicorn. Bicorn was the route that I thought was really good

and was able to truly present its story beats to its fullest. However it felt

a little longer but atleast Bicorns character got his full development.

I thought Seirin's route was a little boring but even that managed to make itself interesting

it just had one moment were I was like WTF this is awful but Seirin was the saving grace

unfortunately that route was riddled with politics so it took me longer to get through. Seirin route

is probably also another reason for ceroD because most routes except Enrai were... tame.

Meanwhile Fey sits in a corner somewhere waiting for the player to do all routes

and Enrai is mocking him. Wait I am getting off-topic.

All in all without any plot spoilers Matsurika no Kei was a well-rounded otome game!

however one must be willing to accept that in today's world its values no longer work and that

is okay because this is a work of fiction based on myth's and fantasy set in the old world.

The scenario was good, with multiple endings that suit the story/character.

A decent attempt at world-building and of course likable love interest

along with gorgeous and consistent artwork as well as a fitting OST.

-

If I had to ask myself the question of what do I want in an otome game

then Matsurika ticks off some flags of yes this is what I look for.

Not everything may have been my cup of tea nor is it perfect but it doesn't need to be

i'd much rather play an otome game that isn't afraid to have bad things happen

than something that railroads me to a happy end where the choices don't even matter.

**I generally liked most happy ends, they all had good conclusions.

Of course this game still has some classic problems like not every route being as relevant

 but it is handled really well that each route is refreshing and each love interest's situation is

different making it exciting to do all routes. One of MnK's problems is the restrictions

on routes but those are there for a reason. Its still better than not having any at all. I do not

consider the MC being on the passive side a problem at all considering the setting & situation.

-

Also I was reminded of ken ga kimi when I played this game and I think there's some similarity

I specifically liked how there's multiple outcomes good and bad but they all suited the character

plus the routes were all so well rounded that if it didn't get a FD then you still get a full experience.

Turns out a scenario writer of KgK worked on this game. I suppose they still got the magic

but they also worked on CupiPara which has a completely opposite direction of MnK.

This really shows their talent as a writer, playing this game made me realize I am not that

burned out from this genre, and the last one just left me craving for more balanced games.

8.5/10

(I end up dropping it sligtly because of Fey's route... because its unfinished.)

 

Do I recommend Matsurika no Kei?  yes I do but it is difficult to recommend

if you can't stand values and morals that don't work in today's world.

The developers really outdid themselves in crafting up this game, I still can't

guarantee this game will be everyones cup of tea but honestly? it was a solid

historic fantasy otome game, a journey worth taking if you like those genres

**however Matsurika no Kei is not for the easily offended.**

Its a mystery if it will get localized but taking everything in consideration

there's a possibility of this game staying unlocalized. edit: Idk how well

this did in japan but lately I think any otome game has a decent chance.

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

 

 I wasn't sure which route to go for so I went for one of the two characters

that were there since the beginning, I followed my intuition which led me to Ruwo

as Fey and Enrai were both missing from the affection screen during my first play. 

There's not a lot of options in the first play so I think Zebenera is the safest

but Ruwo is the easier choice since he is there from the start.

At one point I wanted to put Ruwo upside down into a trash can. Take that as you will

but its best to experience it for yourself, you're in for a trip.

Enrai is locked till Ruwo, Zebenera and Seirin are done.

Fey is locked till Enrai is done.

Bicorn unlocks after one route is finished however I personally do not

recommend doing his till you have atleast done Zebenera.

TFW it is easier to get into masked guy's route than the poster boys...... 🤡

My play order: Ruwo > Zebenera >Bicorn > Seirin > Enrai > Fey.

I think my own order flowed well enough that  I could recommend it as well.

Recommended order: Ruwo / Zebenera > Bicorn > Seirin > Enrai >  Fey.

This game is just restrictive as there's not much choice than to do the poster boys last or

bicorn if you forgot. Its probably for the best if you do Seirin later due to Enrai being locked

but that is just my personal opinion as I did find Seirin route to be very good at explaining things

Bicorn's route glossed over in favor of half-truth's and giving other things more depth.

 

I will be writing about the routes in the next section but this game is best going in blind.

Knowing too much ruins the suspense so I recommend not reading further if you don't

want spoilers. Also trying to write about the routes turns it into a Wall'O Text

because they are pretty long, again spoilers are after the jump.

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

Final Fantasy VII remake intermission - review

 Genre: RPG.
Developer/publisher: Square Enix.
Platform: PS4/5/PC.
Official Site: N/A

Release date: 10-6-2021.

 

I ended up buying the twin pack deluxe edition with FF7 remake 2 on ps5 by accident because

there are too many versions. While I played the original remake on ps4 I never played intergrade

aka the PS5 version that has this intermission. So while waiting for remake part 2/rebirth

I ended up playing the Yuffie DLC! this review is pretty short because well this DLC

was short so there's not much to talk/write about but I still wanted to anyway.

Pro's

- Fun side content.

- Decent enough plot that doesn't overstay its welcome.

Con's

- Short, feels like there's a missing gap between chapter 1 and 2.

- DLC was about Sonon+DoC references and not about Yuffie.

- Can skip this DLC and miss absolutely nothing.

 

 More rambles after the jump. I suppose there be spoilers cuz I rambled about Sonon.

Granblue Fantasy Relink - Review

TBH I think Grindblue Fantasy fits a lot more..

 Genre: RPG.
Developer/publisher: Cygames.
Platform: PS4/5/PC.
Official Site: https://relink.granbluefantasy.jp/en/

Release date: 29-1-2024.

 

After the last disaster I sat through, GBF relink would by my next game as there wasn't

anything else I wanted to play/get. I mainly picked this because I heard the story

wasn't too long and a fantasy setting and pastel-ish colours just felt right for my mood.

I''ll say it straight up my enjoyment of this game was like 50/50 but it was mostly good

some aspects just were not for me.

A thing to note is that Granblue Fantasy was originally a gacha/browser game and also one

of the very few that has like a 10+ years and still running even surviving the P5 collab curse.

Unfortunately I couldn't get into that game but it has its charms I saw that much.

Pro's

- Decent enough story.

- Awesome boss fights.

- Variety in playable characters with unique playstyles.

- Exploring is rewarding, variety of chests & map size is comfy.

Con's

- Terrible entry point, wastes no time introducing the main crew.

- Short, endgame is a grindblue fantasy fest.

- Fate episodes can seem cheap in trying to tell a story of a character.

 

I did play the demo and honestly that did not sell me on the story/characters...

you'll probably be fine since fate episodes exists which gives a little backstory to everyone

but sadly they expected you to already know GBF to some extend. I ended up watching

season 1 of the anime because I don't know this series and it did sell me a little better.

The anime actually had sakuga animation if you don't know what that means, its moments

were the animation is notoriously better. All this also reminds me a lot of the situation with the hamefura otome game cuz that game also wasted no time to introduce anyone

in great detail so the more you know the better.

TL;DR this game just didn't do much else other than being one more adventure with Gran&co.

It was epic at times and this had really high budget I also appreciate the effort they put into

the game since the party AI is much better than in most games.

Ultimately this game just fell kinda flat to me idk why. Maybe I am not enough

of a fan to enjoy this game as were my thoughts during chapter 9, it also felt like a lot

of story beats were repeated/reused and were a bit cliche maybe it was that

or they were just playing it safe or being too by the book which kinda put me off.

Didn't help that they put character stories as mini visual novels that... are super short

speaking of short the story was short too and then all you're left with is grindblue fantasy

which is boring if you don't have any friends that can play with you to make it easier or more fun.

There are also a lot of playable characters but most don't add anything to the main plot

I kinda disliked that, sure they have their own story but there's almost no time to tell them here.

-

There's one final thing that I didn't like, characters would talk as they walk

or during battle and even would drop lore in there, needless to say I wasn't able to pay

fully attention to that. Near the end of the game Id would talk of his past which honestly

should have been a cutscene, my field of vision simply cannot pay attention to all that is onscreen.

Having to attack,dodge and run takes quite a bit of my attention already and I play on normal/action.

One ear in and out the other if you catch my drift. The final nail was this game

commited the cardinal sin of rolling the credits and then going but one more thing!

Meanwhile I am like then don't roll the credits yet if its not over? >:(

 -

I will say I ended up walking away from this game in a better mood than with fate/remnant

and that probably says a lot, me being salty about how they added an extensive post-credit epilogue

but hey! atleast it wasn't DLC cuz during the credits I was like oh no... what if its DLC???!!

Rest assured GBF relink is actually a complete package. Its just that I think the epilogue

would be better if they incorporated Id's fate episodes into it instead of turning it into

a monster hunter fetch quest and collecting Rolan's notes before doing the same thing

we did in chapter 9 which leads to the realization of oh my god! Rolan is the true heroine!

GBF is a series with a ton of charm and I think the characters carry it a lot but this game

sort of desensitizes the player because at the end of the day it just wants you to grind

for this or that to be as strong as possible and you ain't getting the final epilogue scene

if you don't plow finish SOMEONES to do list. Now I hope you can understand

why I am 50/50 on this game. Turning my ps5 on and seeing skybound heart

will take 40 mins but then 2 hours pass and I have to go to bed did not help at all.

Mr fix-it dude except you're on cleanup duty.

 

I still recommend this game if you like grindy games with epic boss battles

and are already familiar with the series in general.

6.5/10

More ramblings after the jump but I have pretty much said enough here already

but my final thoughts exist to get my thoughts out a bit more.

Lost Judgment - Review

Man...

 Genre: Action/Adventure
Developer/publisher: Sega
Platform: PS4/5/PC.
Official Site: N/A

Release date: 24-9-2021.

 

I wasn't really sure what to play but then I just wanted to see Yagami,Kaito and Sugiura again

instead of Kiryu-chan so we're doing another generation gap to try & do some more

detective work in Kamurocho! Since the judgment games are best played blind

i'll try my best to not talk too much about the general plot... except for some things

I felt like I had to mention however I won't be discussing the general plot as a whole.

Pro's

- Decent enough plot.

- Substories were generaly better than in judgment, finding squirrels was fun.

- A whole new district to explore besides ye olde kamurocho.

Grey area:

- Game deals with some pretty heavy themes involving suicide/harassment and bullying.

Con's

- Awful pacing, goes on too much about the same thing for too long.

- The keyword thingy and/or using a variety of tools can feel like busywork.

- Most investigation parts were not interesting and were pretty forced, the biggest offender

being at the end of the final chapter, like come on that killed the flow.

The story this time... is like some random season of some detective drama and

honestly after finishing it really felt like it could have been a tv show too.

Right of the bat we're on the case of a guy that tried scamming a girl out of her money.

It was all a ruse from the get go like the guy was one of those typical con artist setting a girl up

with a debt to they have to pay it off in some establishment by selling themselves.

Luckily for the girl she found the right detective agency for the job to get to the bottom of it.

Then we go to an all new district the (ga)ijin-cho which leads us to a case about highschool bullies

and it did not get much better from there since there is a gang active in the ijincho district too.

Ah yes because afterall the judgment games are a yakuza game in disguise! with political twists.

Honestly this was one of the few moments I laughed the other one was Sawa scolding

Yagami for picking fights in the gym and him reverting to a highschool boy.

This game had rather hefty material right in the opening hours from the above to a case

about bullies, I had to keep taking breaks during that cuz it was almost too much.

I'll admit it was fairly interesting but it had some pacing problems

like one moment you're doing a substory to further the mainstory.

I think they should have branched it better but I guess it couldn't be helped

and oh well for the sake of the case I go pass your test I guess.

Atleast in this game they actually used the markers properly so I wasn't getting lost.

    I got a little de-motivated at that part and just closed the game for the day... in the middle of it.

They like also loved to switch chapters in the middle of a cutscene the worst offender

was from ch2 to ch3 I was like really? you really gonna switch chapters like that...

Love how this game tells me to go do something but 5 steps later this happens & I cause a traffic jam.

 

This game really isn't much longer than the average RGG game though its somewhere

between 20-25 hours depending if you get distracted by side content.

Most chapters are fairly short but chapter 10 was quite long compared to most other chapters

I wouldn't be surprised if that is where people drop this game cuz that is also the point

where the game throws in its mental gymnastics and wtf is even real justice?

Honestly I start to wonder why I didn't just drop it but yea if I am in like ch10

which is almost at the end then i'm gonna see it through cuz I got hooked by the story.

Maybe I need to change... but I am the type to see things through if I am far enough anyways.

 

Gang's all here!

That aside I was happy to see Yagami, Kaito and Sugiura again as well as Tsukumo

which I sorta forgot about but he had a real glow up or so to speak.

The character interactions were pretty great and the first subquest was actually funny.

I still remember how the subquests in the original judgment didn't really grab me

but it seems they learned and made them more fun! Yagami's inner dialogue

was also pretty funny this time but it seems like he was complaining a lot actually.

Unfortunately I didn't really enjoy having to find most subquest in this installment

cuz it was all such a busywork so I only focused on a handful that caught my eye.

 

Graphics wise it looked great but I think thhe lightning at times may have needed work

when like the sun was setting it tended to look significantly worse.

The above screenshot isn't really good at describing it I just thought it was funny.

They may also need to work on the water textures... I was not impressed.

Music was generally pretty good, OP was not my style but I will say

it fit the theme of the game and Kuwana's character very well.

 

Nottu dissu shittu againu...

You know I think the story may be fine though but yea it just didn't really grab me

as much as the first game? so that's that maybe it was because of the material being heavy

but if I had to be honest it wasn't that but the overall pacing just felt off and in the end

it felt like it was all over the place with the forced substory introducing a new mechanic

and substories being a pain this time to find too. By ch4 I got a general picture

but they kept revealing more layers of the onion and I was like uh sure now what.

I failed to understand why we frequently needed to kill time or do literally anything else...

their is a major bug in ch6 where it could softlock your game if you triggered

a specific school substory with the robotics club, it is fine anywhere else.

TFW: Get told to do literally anything else but also can permanently glitch yourself.

Accidentally roasted Hoshino-kun...😂

In terms of substories I remember really enjoying running into them in Y0 or Yk1 but they were

hard to find here in lost judgment, since they are locked behind some keyword BS which

ultimately turned me off from them which is such a shame cuz the handful I found were funny.

I did like how we had a whole new district ijin-cho which I jokingly keep calling gaijin-cho

because I was kind of getting tired of just kamuro-cho, it was also bigger than the osaka? district

Majima was placed at in Y0 so there was plenty of new sights to see.

Too bad the substories were a pain to unlock this time... there can be so much fuzz

unlocking keywords or special tools to find stuff it all can be a hassle.

Battle wise it was a lot better and the health bar no longer can get broken Yagami's moves

felt cooler this time around as well but other than that it was more or less the same.

Final Thoughts?!

No better image to describe how I feel about this game in general.

 

TBH I think the story was pretty good but at the same time can be a complete

mental torture due to the story elements about bullying and harassment.

There were times I wanted to give up, the only reason I tried to finish the story was to get

to the bottom of it but it wasn't really a fun ride. Like at all. The story also tried to pull some

mental gymnastics near the end and I was like I'm so tired during the court scene in the final chapter.

Also I knew Kuwana was full of *** the moment he started vaping like a hippie.

Its okay though I still love him and he is single handedly my favorite character in this game

or more like Kuwana carried this game really hard, I mean it when I say this.

Of course I liked seeing the characters again and some substories were fun but I just

wasn't enjoying myself. I disliked the constant need to interrupt the mainplot

to introduce a new mechanic and actual substories being buried behind keywords

and you can't even randomly trigger them anymore (only some).

The characters kind of did feel one note and never really did anything surprising

its like they had a role and that was it, which is why the only one I really liked was Kuwana.

Yagami could have a bunch of things to say but the only word that comes out is Sawa.

Due to some of the above it felt like the mainplot was dragging on

plus it in general feeling like a can of worms and then you eat it too (ew).

I had to force myself to finish this game, I did not really have this problem with the original.

I believe there were some serious pacing issues as well as most of the investigation scenes

not being really interesting, they didn't make me feel like I learned much most of the time.

The worst offender was the one in the final chapter which was action packed

but then it had you... have to figure out a route and select random objects which

completely killed the flow of it all. That actually made me frustrated. 

I also missed finding random cats during investigation segments and this time

they made them harder for some reason or like they want you to look really hard

for some reason or examine something twice over. Meanwhile this dragged it on for no reason

since there isn't even a proper checklist of what to look for, you just click random things

or examine something twice over or else you can't proceed. I didn't feel smart looking

around cuz there was barely anything to find either. >_>;

I will add to this that I did really enjoy finding some of the squirrells when I got into that

and I feel like it filled the hole of not being able to find cats like in the previous game.

Just a kiss and make up already moment except not really.

 It makes me wonder how many people actually dropped this game around

ch9/10 and never finished. Like I remember I enjoyed pulling of the layers of the mystery

onion in the first game but with lost judgment I had to force myself to do it.  The character

interactions also weren't that fun & there were only a handful of moments I laughed including

Yagami getting scolded by Sawa or not being able to look Kuwana in the eye that one time.

As is with most RGG games the story was too heavy for there to be any fun which was reserved

for substories. I mostly ended up playing this game when I would watch a tv-show before bed

so I only played it when I had nothing better to do or watch which is why it took me a while to finish.

7.5/10

I guess that is one whole point less than what I gave the original huh?

Who are you, you are not Yagami. Yagami wouldn't let this happen /s.

 

So all in all this game was a drag for me despite the battle system being an improvement

and no more mortal wounds (yay). The story was as interesting but it

had some pacing issues and I nearly lost my patience at times.

Basically for me Judgment has a better story and Lost judgment has better gameplay.

This game made me want to curl up in bed instead of actually playing it... does this say enough?

The story at its core wasn't even half bad... but idk the way it was presented made it such a drag

and wasn't enjoying it that much. I also stopped doing substories during the main story

since I felt I would lose the excitement and the flow of it if I lingered too long to do random stuff.

I will say that the ending of this game was much better than the last game I played and it was

actually satisfying in rounding everything up. Also while I could be wrong about this

but I am pretty sure the theme song of this game was about a certain character

being fed up and taking matters into his own hands. My takeaway is that this game

wasn't about Yagami it was about Kuwana. That's why its called ''Lost Judgment''.

I kinda do wanna play the Kaito files someday cuz he's a bro but i'm not sure when...

Would probably only recommend Lost Judgment if you don't have anything else to do

and want to see Yagami and the gang again. Or perhaps want to play every RGG game out there

but be advised this game carries some heavy themes and may be a tough pill to swallow

especially if you have dealt with similar things. What's next? not much but I am kinda

in the mood for an otome game so its either waiting for Matsurika no Kei or Granblue Fantasy relink.