Ayakashi gohan Oomori - review

あやかしごはん ~おおもりっ!~

Game: [Ayakashi gohan Oomori]

Genre: Otome Visual Novel.
Developer/Publisher: Asgard/Honeybee

Platform: PC, PS Vita.

Official Site: http://www.honeybee-cd.com/ayakashi_vita/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v14759

Release date: 2015-10-08

Ayakashi Gohan... what can I say?  its the one game that renewed my hope for this genre..
Yep I really enjoyed this game!

My play order was > Uta > Manatsu > Suou > Yomi > Ibuki > Asagi.
I probably strayed  from the official play order but i tried to keep Human & Ayakashi routes varied.

 TL;DR
9/10
I loved this game, in the end I liked all of the guys. 
 This game got a special place in my heart.

Pro's
- Likeable cast.
- Tearjerker.
 - The overall story is interesting.
 - Voiced heroine.
- Heroine has two different personality based on choice in the prologue
 - Art and BGM.

Con's
Long common route.
- Not many CG and they're not in the place you want them.
 - Extra short scene in the best ending after completing Asagi's locked route.
(This was annoying, the only best end  where I say it was worth it to go back for was Manatsu's and
in the case of Ibuki a whole new ending, the other best ends? lol honeybee please stop.)
- Guren. (Yeah this guy pissed me off to no end.)
- PS Vita version has bugs, but some can be overlooked like touch support.
(I mean stop complaining you can just use the buttons?)

Utawarerumono Itsuwari no Kamen - Review and Impressions

うたわれるもの 偽りの仮面

Game: [Utawarerumono Mask of Deceit]

Genre: Visual Novel, Strategy RPG.
Developer/Publisher: Aquaplus

Platform: PS3, PS4,PS Vita.

Official Site: http://aquaplus.jp/uta/itsu/
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v7721

Release date: 2015-09-24

Well these are just my personal thoughts about the game and when I look back
it might have been the best game I played all year despite its cliffhanger.
Tokyo Xanadu comes close but eh... that one honestly had one too many cliches.

TL;DR
8/10
Story is a bit slow at first but it takes its time to introduce everyone and sets the stage
for its inevitable sequel because this game Utaware2: Itsuwari no Kamen is designed to
bridge the gap between the first Utawarerumono game and Utaware3: Futari no Hakuoro.
This game might have SRPG elements but don't buy the game for that because
you'll spend more time reading than in battle, sadly the SOL part is going to be an absolute
hit or miss this game much like falcom's kiseki series is very slow in getting to
the good parts, if you can stand it and have played/watched the original then go for it.


Kuon~~

Reine Des Fleurs - impressions/Review

レンドフルール

Game: [Reine des Fleurs/Queen of Flowers]

Genre: Otome Visual Novel.
Developer/Publisher: Otomate/Idea factory.

Platform: PS Vita.

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

Release date: 2015-08-20

This is the general outline of the story:
Violette has to leave her sheltered life behind since she is the candidate
 to become substitute Reine aka french word for Queen because the world
needs grace and she's the only one who can do so.
The knights don't want to go along and don't trust her cuz of the absence of a Reine/Queen
all this time so Violette has to come to their countries and have a fabulous talk with them
 like the ye olde french nobels did as it the only way to get grace so she can give it to the world
which is already quite drained so it won't perish, all in all this sounds promising right?

TL;DR this is a Kusotoge (maybe that is too harse) with way too much dramatique
and mystical mumbo jumbo, theres not many characters for a story set on such a grand stage.
If you want to get it don't fall for the synopsis or the pretty art, keep your expectations low
if anything the characters might save it for you and well I did like atleast two routes.
It doesn't fail being at what it tries to do, the gothic style and despairing plot is good
but most happy endings aren't satisfying for what you have to sit through which was pretty boring.
This game did not at all feel like it was an otome game to me, infact it feels more like a theatrical play.
I kid you not, this is all I can remember no... want to remember from this game.
Sorry if this sounds like a complaint/rage post but I just have to put it out there.

Anyway here are the pro's and con's if you don't care about my rant.

 Pro's
 - The setting and story is interesting at first sight.
- Art and Music
- The guys/characters are still likeable despite the weak story.
- Seiyuu did a wonderful job.
- Setting.
- Heroine, I liked that Vio is selfish... enough to know what she wants and takes it.
- Leon was moe.

 Did I push it with the pro's? lol.

Con's
- Story is rather weak and fails to keep the reader interested at times.
- Most love endings are not satisfying.
 - Ravir system.
- Too many bad ends.
- The locked route was not satisfying. 
(It also didn't have the true end revelation I was hoping for.)

My expectations were too high for this game, I didn't enjoy most of it at all, I'd love to
someday replay it because sometimes I think its better than what people make it out to be
and its not that bad but yeah... I agree there's too much ''negativity'' which believe it or not infects others. I ended up ranting about things I usually do not care about out of shear

frustration that is the game system, feel free to ignore the rest of the review.
Gothic fantasy can be an interesting genre but only if they don't make the story a complete mess.

Too much drama, a paper-thin plot to waste your time away, the prologue specifically
while it had this nice feel of introduction  I couldn't keep my attention to it at all, I mean
Leon was cute and most guys were charming but the introduction went on for far too long
and not much was even going on till the end of the prologue.
Later all the talk of glass made my eyes glaze over... pun intended.
Honestly I never expected this to a 3rd rate gothic fantasy, I was expecting this to be
a fun yet serious story but sadly the plot never took itself serious in my eyes.
The Ravir system was draining me of my energy too... probably one of the worst systems
ever next to wand of fortune! hey its also the same dev team.
I know they try to emulate what french nobles used to but in a VN this is just boring...
ATLEAST the art was good, despite me raging about this game
I would love a FD that make the endings in this game more worthwhile or an AU FD would be nice.
Violette as a heroine is great she knows what she wants and takes it but
the way the plot was told made me shake my head way too many times.
Still she was a cool heroine who kept her head high  and I sorta
appreciated her being selfish but it felt like such a waste in the end...

I don't hate dramatic games but Ravir was such a drag and most of the endings weren't satisfying
or like Orpheus for example it end in such a way to only make you wonder wtf is even  next.
Also I don't mind if people die in games but the way it happened in some routes! sigh...

Characters ★★★☆☆
Art  ★★★★★(A saving grace.)
Scenario/plot. ★★☆☆☆(Too much mystical mumbo jumbo... and drama)
Music★★★★☆ (Good.)
System  ★☆☆☆☆ (Stressful and too many bad ends...)
Enjoyment overall ★★☆☆☆(What did I expect? too much that's what.)

 So you may like this game if:
Gothic fantasy is your jam and like the insanely pretty art.
Do not mind the game being a mine field of bad endings.
 Like the utsuge type of visual novels where the outcome may not be perfectly happy.
Do not mind certain things just not making any sense.

Rear Pheles ~Red of Another~ - Review

リア フェレス ~レッド オブ アナザー~

Game: [Rear Pheles ~Red of Another~ ]

Genre: Otome Visual Novel.
Developer/Publisher: Matatabi

Platform: PS Vita.

Official Site: http://matatabi.tv/rearpheles/roa/

Release date: 2015-08-27

TL;DR
I liked this otomege for what its worth, its story is nothing special but if you
can get passed the long loading and minigame its quite fun, like a game should be.
The higher the difficulty the bigger the maps get and Pro is literally a fricking maze with
too many locked doors. Easy and Normal are doable and Hard is okay... I guess.
The difficulty trophies are BS though, you have to like sit through the common route of
Blanc,Toujou and Itsuki's(maybe Ayame sorry I forgot) on EVERY difficulty and there are four.
Thankfully both the escape and hunting minigames during the actual route
can be done through chapter select, still a pain to platinum 
and there are only a few who managed to do it, I raged quit twice but when I came
back I was one minigame away from completing pro difficulty(lmao) so I only had Hard left.
 I can't really recommend this game... story's average if anything.

 Pro's
 - Semi-interesting story based on red riding hood.
- Most guys are likeable.
- Romance was decent but kind of cringy in some route.
- Guys are Yandere but this is mostly reserved for bad ends, though some of it
 can be seen during normal play, atleast to me the best ends were satisfying.

 Cons
- Heroine is sorta stupid.
- Game is rather short.
- Minigame is a bit unforgivable, aka its difficult at first because no good tutorial.
- Long loading for minigame.
- Lag during minigame.
- BGM while some can be creepy like the one during the minigame but overall its forgettable.
 Btw the BGM during the minigame doesn't loop after 30 sec it just ends.
 

More rambling and possible spoilers after the jump.

Moujuutsukai to Ouji-sama Flower & Snow PS Vita port - Review

Minor CG spoilers, so be warned.

Game: [猛獣使いと王子様 ～Flower ＆ Snow～]

English: Beastmaster and Prince

Genre: Otome Visual Novel.
Developer/Publisher: Otomate

Platform: PS2, PSP, PS Vita & iOS/Android.

Official Site: http://www.otomate.jp/beast/flower_snow/

VNDB: https://vndb.org/v4540
Release date: 2015-06-11

D'awww these cuties...

TL;DR
9/10
A rather quick review with not much spoilers, except complain about small things.
This is a really charming otomege with a decent plot and one of otomate's gems
personally I love the medieval theme and the music is fitting even if its the typical 2008/2010 era
ye olde idea factory themes, back then they recycled or rearranged a lot for same-ish themes. >_>
Honestly its far from perfect but imho it has alot of things which make it really enjoyable
from a heroine who isn't afraid to backdown from a somewhat great written plot.
I think the same-ish common part just with different guy is what brings it down
a little but atleast the rest was unique so its not that bad?
There won't be much I can write about without spoilers so I keep it simple and if you want to
read the routes they can be found in other peoples reviews, this is a port afterall.

Recommended play order: Matheus > Alfred > Erik > Lucia > Klaus / Silvio.
Klaus + Silvio are unlockable by doing IIRC Erik/Lucia.
 Matheus/Alfred routes share plot, same for Erik Lucia
Either split them up or do them right after the other, there's no avoiding eventual repeat content.

 Mini rant incoming because there isn't much to complain/write about other than this :P
I regret doing Alfred right after Matheus I really do, which made me sad because some of it was mostly the same! there are new bits but you have to sit through that fangirl mob, Tiana getting cursed
plus other repeat content first. This made me so sleepy because I already know most of it, I think the worst offender is that the game classifies it as new, because the character you're with is different. Luckily Erik/Lucia's path follows a different scenario so thats why taking a break from it
or perhaps split it up because by the time you finish Erik or Lucia, Alfred
might be a nice change of pace again but honestly it doesn't matter.
end mini rant.

As for the characters I liked everyone, Klaus had a really sexy voice though! especially
in the mofumofu minigame, it made me have to use headphones because its just THAT embarassing

or it made me embarrassed lmao.

For snow bride, same play order atleast for me, might be best to save your fav chara for last

or first if you really want to or can't wait/be bothered with others.
You select these scenarios individually after story, additional story, side story...
it a fd so not a straightforward VN, honestly I was a bit confused at first?
Franz memoirs is rather uh... nice but why? never really saw the point of it.
Storywise Snowbride is just something extra, nice after stories for everyone
and it also delves further into some things, the winter theme was great btw.
 I really liked it and have nothing to complain about except some minigame
that was first added in the PSP port... more on that below. ಠ_ಠ

Pro's
- Interesting story,setting & characters. 
The main story line in both games is great, there is a mystery thing going on, all
the guys are likeable and the voice acting is superb(like it should be). 
- Art. 
Nothing to add here, its pretty.
- MofuMofu minigame ♥
Do I even need to go into this? who doesn't want to pet bishonen in animal form?
-  Ex Another Story.
A nice side story for the original game added for the port, what's there to complain about?

Klaus voice is... too lewd I get embarrassed petting him.

 

Con's
- Repeat story content.
This is obviously the weak point of this otomege, no matter how you cut it, it just is.
But it could've been far worse so in the end it may not be that bad.
- Ye olde cheesy Idea Factory BGM.
Well this is from 2010 after all...its forgettable yet it does add to the setting.
- New Snowbride Minigame(First added in the PSP port)
This is just... wtf? why otomate? ( ಠ益ಠ)
I know otomate isn't known for its amazing minigames but this is ridiculous. 
It was apparently added with the PSP port, as it wasn't in the original PS2 version. 
Worst of all it has nothing to do with the actual plot... just extra content.

Seems lame right?

This was just silly, its a poor excuse for a minigame, its like something you
expect from a smartphone game...  I just can't get over how bad this new minigame is.
First thing first, the heroine isn't even Tiana, its basically a self insert, lol.
You have to help the guys earn 50000 money/gold so they can return to their human form or sth.
There is a day limit and you can only do it once a day...
Luckily you can adjust PSV time manually and continue the minigame whenever you want.
if that wasn't possible have fun doing that shit for a whole month with all characters.
In the end the last CG(see below) for other wasn't even all that nice...
No wonder no one bothered writing about it for the PSP version... I wouldn't
want to do that for a whole month just for this CG.

Thanks for the hideous CG you get for completing an awful minigame, i'm sorry but I don't find this cute.

Anyway I hope you don't mind my small complaint about the one crappy minigame and repeat content.

Its better to know before hand the story is split int two parts each allow you to romance 2 guys
so naturally the one that shares still has some of the same-ish events the worst part is
the game classify old dialogue as new just because the dude ur with is different.
Like I said before there is so little to complain about I can't help but nag about it or point it out.
The story for both games was atill pretty good, I have no complaints about that except that
some of it repeats in other routes, the way the romance developed was nice except maybe

Alfred other than that I love the whole fantasy theme in this.
At the end of the day they bundled two characters together and split the scenario there.
 A lot of VN have repeat story content or copy pasta scenarios so Moujuutsukai isn't that bad www.

Or maybe its because this was my first experience with it I can let it slide?
Character wise this game does have its stereotypes but everyone was likeable, some
people tend to have bias for the tsundere Lucia though but Mateus seems to be
the typical poster boy, Alfred is a bit of a loner the cute type and Erik the really nice guy
you just don't want to make angry? /sweat, I think  he's pretty close to yandere.

Klaus is like a good older childhood friend... and Silvio is the unfortunate cat boy suffering.

You just have to be careful with your play order, but honestly I don't think play order even matters.
Silvio and Klaus unlock by doing two of the main guys route and cuz I did those two last
I forgot which so sorry about that but the side routes are perfect for at the end.

Characters ★★★★★
Art  ★★★★★
Scenario/plot. ★★★★☆(Good stuff except that some repeats.)
Music★★★☆☆ (Average but fits... ye olde grating idea factory BGM.)
System  ★★★★☆ (Comfy, also who doesn't want to pet cute animal boys?)
Enjoyment overall ★★★★☆(Its a well rounded otome game.)
Moujuutsukai is definitely a gem from otomate and you should give it a go sometime and
I really hope it gets picked up for localization one day because its a really charming game.
Holy Silvio, Gloczus has announced there next localized will be this Beastmaster and prince!
They'll release it on PC(Steam) and iOS/android, I asked them if it will have voice acting and
it should be in but they can't say anything else because of licensing issues.
I'm glad and super excited about this is the next otome game being localized I really am!
 Too bad the localization kickstarter failed, I still hope it gets localized some day but it doesn't seem hopeful, I wish it did though because despite its repeat content 
this is really a charming and good otomege!!! it got a heartwarming story with a great heroine.

  ♥