To this day, Jaehee's route is still the most romantic route I've ever played in an otome game. I was absolutely giggling like an idiot the entire time I was replaying her route.
This game defined me for years and to this day Jaehee is part of my identity to where it's my usernames on things all the time including here. I haven't actually played it in years yet it stuck so much...but if it wanted a 5 star rating it should've made Jaehee's route romantic. Homophobia at its finest
3am phonecalls what a life huh
While the pure virtue of being a game about talking to handsome anime men would alone be enough to satisfy my taste in games, there's a lot of truly interesting ideas to be found beneath the surface as far as visual novels go. While not too serious outside of a few key moments towards the end, Mystic Messenger is (for the most part!) a very charming and memorable experience!
There's a really satisfying loop of design on display here where its smartphone-styled presentation, real-time structure, and casually-written story all inform and compliment each other in such a way that it really feels like it couldn't have taken any other form. Even when it comes to other visual novels that present its story through a group chat format like this, I've really never played anything quite as special as Mystic Messenger. There's just something about it that feels so natural, immersive, and compelling in a way that I don't often find myself saying about too many other visual novels.
Despite the glowing remarks, however, I think I'm going to have to rank this one just slightly lower than I otherwise would have for one small reason. At the very beginning of the game, one of the first tasks for the player is to answer what their gender is. However, no matter what you pick, the game kind of just decides you're a girl anyways (and suggests that anything otherwise would be creepy?)... Having that option dangled in front of the player, only for the answer to be ignored with that kind of attitude is just a little too insulting of a sentiment to ignore. Pronoun options would vastly benefit this game.
Despite that, I still played several routes of it. Jumin Han was my favorite! The three-and-a-half stars I still decided to give it are very much well-earned. If you like any of the character designs on the front of the box here and the previously-mentioned hurdle doesn't at all bother you, chances are you'll have a good time with it.
There's a really satisfying loop of design on display here where its smartphone-styled presentation, real-time structure, and casually-written story all inform and compliment each other in such a way that it really feels like it couldn't have taken any other form. Even when it comes to other visual novels that present its story through a group chat format like this, I've really never played anything quite as special as Mystic Messenger. There's just something about it that feels so natural, immersive, and compelling in a way that I don't often find myself saying about too many other visual novels.
Despite the glowing remarks, however, I think I'm going to have to rank this one just slightly lower than I otherwise would have for one small reason. At the very beginning of the game, one of the first tasks for the player is to answer what their gender is. However, no matter what you pick, the game kind of just decides you're a girl anyways (and suggests that anything otherwise would be creepy?)... Having that option dangled in front of the player, only for the answer to be ignored with that kind of attitude is just a little too insulting of a sentiment to ignore. Pronoun options would vastly benefit this game.
Despite that, I still played several routes of it. Jumin Han was my favorite! The three-and-a-half stars I still decided to give it are very much well-earned. If you like any of the character designs on the front of the box here and the previously-mentioned hurdle doesn't at all bother you, chances are you'll have a good time with it.
i remembered this game randomly! but i did play it! first otome(i think thts what its called?) game i ever touched and.. I KINDA G O T I T? LIKE it was pretty fun keeping up with and i cant really remember much that pissed me off
this is probably one of the first mobile game i can think of playing that made it click in my head like "wait, mobile games can be fulfilling using real time management Without microtransactions or some penny huffing loser mechanic shit"
which is funny because i scarcely remember much other than the game being cool and thinkin 707 and jaehee were cool
and bein kinda freaked out by some ppl tht wanted jumin carnally online
I saw a really funny ass vid of him getting spanked at mach 4 though
Or maybe it was just an anime man that looked eerily similar in a game ad... hm.. who knows!
If you can even still get your hands on it sure try this, whatve u got to lose, it didnt really change my world but it was neat
this is probably one of the first mobile game i can think of playing that made it click in my head like "wait, mobile games can be fulfilling using real time management Without microtransactions or some penny huffing loser mechanic shit"
which is funny because i scarcely remember much other than the game being cool and thinkin 707 and jaehee were cool
and bein kinda freaked out by some ppl tht wanted jumin carnally online
I saw a really funny ass vid of him getting spanked at mach 4 though
Or maybe it was just an anime man that looked eerily similar in a game ad... hm.. who knows!
If you can even still get your hands on it sure try this, whatve u got to lose, it didnt really change my world but it was neat
these are the worst fictional men ever. i love them
(jaehee is perfect, however)
(jaehee is perfect, however)
Unironically, this was a really fun game with a lot of interesting story lines and endings.
The worst part was that MM is a real time game, and takes 10 days to complete. Some of the chats are only available from 3am to 7am. So unless you wake up sporadically throughout the night, you'll miss things and have to spend in-game currency to get to do them.
The worst part was that MM is a real time game, and takes 10 days to complete. Some of the chats are only available from 3am to 7am. So unless you wake up sporadically throughout the night, you'll miss things and have to spend in-game currency to get to do them.
i'm in the middle of my seven route run as of writing this so this isnt a complete log BUTTT i enjoy this game. obligatory mention about all the paywalls; i bought a couple hourglasses just to top me off so i could do deep story but i really dont like the fact you either have to spend a bunch of time grinding for hourglasses OR pay money to get the hourglasses just so you can play the other routes. other little annoyances are the chat speed being too slow even on its fastest speed (you CAN buy the ability to use max speed for like $3 but id like to go through the chats quickly without immediately skipping to the dialogue choices) and having to replay through the entire first few days if you dont want to spend hourglasses skipping to where the game branches off. either one of these on their own is like.... whatever. but both of them just makes for a really grueling replay experience, even when im going for a different route.
while not an explicit romance, i felt like jaehee's route was the most enjoyable. it felt like a connection formed from actually getting to know a person compared to a lot of the guys who focus more on mc being cute. do i enjoy the other routes / characters ? of course. seven is a close second fave; his behavior and way of speaking are very reminiscent of someone i would be friends with, so its easy to like him. zens route... was something. i like zen ill admit, but responses that typically appeal to him put me off so bad LOL. while i havent done their routes yet, i only like jumin when hes talking about his cat and i find it hard to like yoosung. i remember liking yoosung when i first played the game, so i suppose ive just grown out of that character type.
what else to mention about a game i havent finished... i do enjoy the phone calls / text messages outside of the chats. its funny finishing a chat, immediately getting a phone call, and then getting a text message while in the middle of said call. I LOVE TEXTING AND COMMUNICATING THROUGH PHONES IN GAMES !!!!
while not an explicit romance, i felt like jaehee's route was the most enjoyable. it felt like a connection formed from actually getting to know a person compared to a lot of the guys who focus more on mc being cute. do i enjoy the other routes / characters ? of course. seven is a close second fave; his behavior and way of speaking are very reminiscent of someone i would be friends with, so its easy to like him. zens route... was something. i like zen ill admit, but responses that typically appeal to him put me off so bad LOL. while i havent done their routes yet, i only like jumin when hes talking about his cat and i find it hard to like yoosung. i remember liking yoosung when i first played the game, so i suppose ive just grown out of that character type.
what else to mention about a game i havent finished... i do enjoy the phone calls / text messages outside of the chats. its funny finishing a chat, immediately getting a phone call, and then getting a text message while in the middle of said call. I LOVE TEXTING AND COMMUNICATING THROUGH PHONES IN GAMES !!!!
This game has a cool premise but it's so high-maintenance. Look, Yoosung, I don't care how cute you are. I am not spending almost every hour of my day awake for you.
i highly recommend skipping this phase. i am now socially inept and cannot talk to men frfr
Jumin Han was my taste in fictional men for like 4 years (I feel sorry for myself too)
One of the most iconic games off all time for me because it's so like a fever dream and everyone is so complex and problematic (maybe except Jeahee, I can't say a bad word about my girl) and it was my inner psychologist and "I can fix him!!" syndrome awakening
Jokes aside, that's really not bad of a game, interesting and addictive in every way, extremely questionable at times but that's the whole beauty
One of the most iconic games off all time for me because it's so like a fever dream and everyone is so complex and problematic (maybe except Jeahee, I can't say a bad word about my girl) and it was my inner psychologist and "I can fix him!!" syndrome awakening
Jokes aside, that's really not bad of a game, interesting and addictive in every way, extremely questionable at times but that's the whole beauty
okay, i played this game ages ago but im just now logging it because i realised i hadn't yet. this game is amazing. otome games were nothing new when this came out, but i truly think cheritz revolutionized the genre with this one. the real time chats to make you really feel like you're romancing these guys... the phone calls... the custom chat bubbles?!?! its so perfect. the story writing might not be the most well crafted thing ever, but the experience of playing this for the first time is fucking awesome. zen is the best, and jaehee is so wonderful. i come back to this game all the time and it never fails to make me happy.
I used to set alarms to wake up in the middle of the night so I wouldn’t miss the boys chats. Every route is absolutely iconic.
honestly would have played it out of curiosity if i were a guy too
it was kinda interesting (sometimes the story was rushed and poorly written) but staying up to do the chatrooms as an eleven year old def wasn't healthy
gotta appreciate that the funds from in game shopping are used for charity even though i never spent money on it lol
i have to admit honey butter chips are fire
it was kinda interesting (sometimes the story was rushed and poorly written) but staying up to do the chatrooms as an eleven year old def wasn't healthy
gotta appreciate that the funds from in game shopping are used for charity even though i never spent money on it lol
i have to admit honey butter chips are fire
nostalgia
i only played 2 routes and i think there's a level of irony that the one i had the most fun with was the one least tied to the overarching mint eye plot. i think jaehee and i need to get gay married
having to wake up at 3 am to entertain a virtual anime korean cat man was insane
waking at 4am to see if Jumin send me a text, what a life
This review contains spoilers
this game is absolutely bonkers, off the wall, insane. it's highly problematic. it's also POWERFULLY ICONIC. the otome community simply would not be where it is today without it.
i see a few current reviews complaining about how much money you have to spend. the fact that i'm not able to relate is basically thanks to day one privilege. i played this game on release, holding no expectations that it would flourish the way it did, and especially not so immediately - back then, i was in the firm belief that the western otome community was destined for obscurity. clearly, cheritz thought the same, because their servers were not prepared for the extraordinary influx of players on day one. everything crashed. it was carnage. only the chosen ones were able to actually log in and start playing, and the rest of us suckers were stuck staring hopelessly at the eternal loading screens or server error messages. it took a solid two days for them to fix this initial issue, followed by weeks of frantic updates to fix bugs, crashes, glitches, even more server problems, the works.
let me tell you, it was a wild ride. but it was a wild ride that came with a lot of free hourglasses. in those early days, cheritz was handing them out like candy with every update as compensation, and i hoarded the hell out of them. i only ever spent them on phone calls; i adored the immersion of playing in real time, so i never bought access to future days, and i was already a depressed teenager with no life and a horrible sleep pattern, so i rarely missed chatrooms. hell, i was so obsessed with the game that i accidentally subconsciously trained my body to wake itself up consistently around 2-3am just so that I could nab that late-night chatroom and then put the phone down and conk back out. like many others, i had this terribly unhealthy art honed to a fine degree. sure, it wasn't good practice, but there was a sense of comradery the community shared over it, and i was so thrilled to have a community to share anything with at all that i cherished this experience.
the chatroom mechanic itself was revolutionary. never before had i seen so many choices and so many CGs in an otoge. everything about it was built to be addictive and the chokehold it had on me was painfully real. the amount of time i spent just sitting around waiting for the next chatroom to open up was pathetic.
and wow, was the story absurd. if you play in recommended order, you go from 'help the only sane character work up the courage to quit her job' to 'help this secret agent recover his secret twin brother who's been drugged and indoctrinated into a cult which is run by the former leader and friend of the RFA who everyone thought was dead'. it had an unapologetically dramatised portrayal of mental illness and treatment and it very much required you to turn part of your brain off in order to embrace the insanity. yet, despite all of this, the game was oozing with charming personalities and gut wrenching moments with deeply flawed characters that against all odds, i wanted to root for. 707 had my heart from the very first announcement and still holds a piece of it to this day. i never actually played yoosung's route, though. sorry yoosung.
this game took over my life and i'm not even mad about it. all things considered, the mysme experience wasn't exactly unlike being brainwashed into a cult.
i see a few current reviews complaining about how much money you have to spend. the fact that i'm not able to relate is basically thanks to day one privilege. i played this game on release, holding no expectations that it would flourish the way it did, and especially not so immediately - back then, i was in the firm belief that the western otome community was destined for obscurity. clearly, cheritz thought the same, because their servers were not prepared for the extraordinary influx of players on day one. everything crashed. it was carnage. only the chosen ones were able to actually log in and start playing, and the rest of us suckers were stuck staring hopelessly at the eternal loading screens or server error messages. it took a solid two days for them to fix this initial issue, followed by weeks of frantic updates to fix bugs, crashes, glitches, even more server problems, the works.
let me tell you, it was a wild ride. but it was a wild ride that came with a lot of free hourglasses. in those early days, cheritz was handing them out like candy with every update as compensation, and i hoarded the hell out of them. i only ever spent them on phone calls; i adored the immersion of playing in real time, so i never bought access to future days, and i was already a depressed teenager with no life and a horrible sleep pattern, so i rarely missed chatrooms. hell, i was so obsessed with the game that i accidentally subconsciously trained my body to wake itself up consistently around 2-3am just so that I could nab that late-night chatroom and then put the phone down and conk back out. like many others, i had this terribly unhealthy art honed to a fine degree. sure, it wasn't good practice, but there was a sense of comradery the community shared over it, and i was so thrilled to have a community to share anything with at all that i cherished this experience.
the chatroom mechanic itself was revolutionary. never before had i seen so many choices and so many CGs in an otoge. everything about it was built to be addictive and the chokehold it had on me was painfully real. the amount of time i spent just sitting around waiting for the next chatroom to open up was pathetic.
and wow, was the story absurd. if you play in recommended order, you go from 'help the only sane character work up the courage to quit her job' to 'help this secret agent recover his secret twin brother who's been drugged and indoctrinated into a cult which is run by the former leader and friend of the RFA who everyone thought was dead'. it had an unapologetically dramatised portrayal of mental illness and treatment and it very much required you to turn part of your brain off in order to embrace the insanity. yet, despite all of this, the game was oozing with charming personalities and gut wrenching moments with deeply flawed characters that against all odds, i wanted to root for. 707 had my heart from the very first announcement and still holds a piece of it to this day. i never actually played yoosung's route, though. sorry yoosung.
this game took over my life and i'm not even mad about it. all things considered, the mysme experience wasn't exactly unlike being brainwashed into a cult.
revolutionary
"I can fix him"; the game
when i was 15 i set alarms for four in the morning so i could talk to these pngs
ruined my sleep schedule
the grip this game had on me...
jaehee was my lesbian awakening fr fr
#1 anime boy hater and enemy
Probably the best free-to-play Otome game to ever exist. Originally existing of 4 males and 1 female, you get 5 routes to choose from (later 2 more males), where it is divided again in normal mode (Zen, the model, Yoosung the gamer university student and Jaehee, the assistent of Jumin) and deep mode (Said Jumin, the CEO of a big company and 707 aka Luciel, a hacker, a meme, my husband). As mentioned, later the game would also have a DLC for 2 more characters named V (a blind photographer) and Saeran/Ray (uhm.. i kinda can't tell you about him tho hahah, thats a bit too deep into the story already)
The plot starts with a random person messaging you on a phone that was found. They urge you go to a certain adress to leave a message about said phone there. After we enter the appartment they told us to go to, the chat switches into a groupchat with the priorly mentioned 5 people present. After a bit of misstrust and back and forth, they get you to join their group called RFA. They tell you, they used to throw a party once a yearm but the person who used to organize this party passed away. But now you are here and its only 11 days away.. surely you can manage to arrange everything until then, right??
The game will give you chatlogs based on your irl time and after 4 days it will decide on a route based on who you talked to the most/who clicked with you the most. Depending on who you will get, the story will drastically differenciate. Not gonna tell you too much but i can say this much. From the original 5 routes, the route of 707 is the "true" route and the DLC routes will only make sense to you when you played his route sucessfully.
Played the route sucessfully? Correct, because over the course of day 5 to 10, you can have 3 different bad endings should you pick the wrong answers. Although this game is really cheerful at first, especially 707, those bad endings can even end in kidnapping or death, depending on the route you're playing.
All in all, it was really revolutionary when it released and i love all the characters very dearly, although i did not enjoy how they did the routes of the DLC characters, because in my opinion they deserved better than this.
The plot starts with a random person messaging you on a phone that was found. They urge you go to a certain adress to leave a message about said phone there. After we enter the appartment they told us to go to, the chat switches into a groupchat with the priorly mentioned 5 people present. After a bit of misstrust and back and forth, they get you to join their group called RFA. They tell you, they used to throw a party once a yearm but the person who used to organize this party passed away. But now you are here and its only 11 days away.. surely you can manage to arrange everything until then, right??
The game will give you chatlogs based on your irl time and after 4 days it will decide on a route based on who you talked to the most/who clicked with you the most. Depending on who you will get, the story will drastically differenciate. Not gonna tell you too much but i can say this much. From the original 5 routes, the route of 707 is the "true" route and the DLC routes will only make sense to you when you played his route sucessfully.
Played the route sucessfully? Correct, because over the course of day 5 to 10, you can have 3 different bad endings should you pick the wrong answers. Although this game is really cheerful at first, especially 707, those bad endings can even end in kidnapping or death, depending on the route you're playing.
All in all, it was really revolutionary when it released and i love all the characters very dearly, although i did not enjoy how they did the routes of the DLC characters, because in my opinion they deserved better than this.
Mildly entertaining for what it is (if you can easily access your device throughout most of the day each occasion you play it). Obviously low budget UI-wise however, and not where you want to go for difficult choices and character depth.
Jaehee is a great wlw option, though sadly the more overtly romantic content for her is paywalled. Still absolutely more effort than many other devs would like to put in for a female character route!
Jaehee is a great wlw option, though sadly the more overtly romantic content for her is paywalled. Still absolutely more effort than many other devs would like to put in for a female character route!
playing this game for the first time in the year of our lord 2023 is incredibly interesting because while the dialogue is sometimes dated + this game does not value your time, it's a quick enjoyable read. Reminds me a little of the pandemic and how digital bonds were so important back then. kudos for being ahead of the times
este juego me arruinó el horario de sueño y mi vida en general, yoosung te amo