ThunderheadFred
Cute and fun, but pretty shallow. I think these 3DS remasters would have worked better as DLC add-ons to the existing Switch game so that that the tracks and outfits could carry over and feel like more of a bonus. Packaged on their own as a standalone “game”, they’re unfortunately relatively weak.
2021
I loved this. I bought it mostly on a whim and started it with zero expectations. I immediately became addicted and could not stop until I finished it nearly a week later.
Five stars reflect my own personal enjoyment, though I don’t think it’s perfect and some of the routes were better than others. A lot of that always comes down to personal taste, so take that with a grain of salt. Also, there is a lot of implied and direct sexual assault in this story, so I imagine the bad ends won’t sit too well with some.
Overall thoughts: the production was stellar, with some of the best art I’ve ever seen in an otome. The music was likewise gorgeous. The STORY is Incredible: lush and operatic, with this deep and mysterious lore that had me completely hooked from word one. Fantastic side characters and world-building; it felt like a fully fleshed-out fantasy novel.
And UNF! The romances are ROMANTIC. Horny, yes (this game is definitely Mature) but it’s much more than that. Each route had its own wild twists and obstacles, revealing more and more of the plot. Pretty much all of the routes tugged on my heart strings in some way, though Riku ended up being a surprise favorite.
I can actually see myself revisiting this some day, which is pretty unusual for me. Possibly my favorite otome I’ve played so far.
Five stars reflect my own personal enjoyment, though I don’t think it’s perfect and some of the routes were better than others. A lot of that always comes down to personal taste, so take that with a grain of salt. Also, there is a lot of implied and direct sexual assault in this story, so I imagine the bad ends won’t sit too well with some.
Overall thoughts: the production was stellar, with some of the best art I’ve ever seen in an otome. The music was likewise gorgeous. The STORY is Incredible: lush and operatic, with this deep and mysterious lore that had me completely hooked from word one. Fantastic side characters and world-building; it felt like a fully fleshed-out fantasy novel.
And UNF! The romances are ROMANTIC. Horny, yes (this game is definitely Mature) but it’s much more than that. Each route had its own wild twists and obstacles, revealing more and more of the plot. Pretty much all of the routes tugged on my heart strings in some way, though Riku ended up being a surprise favorite.
I can actually see myself revisiting this some day, which is pretty unusual for me. Possibly my favorite otome I’ve played so far.
Huge, complex, and bizarre. There’s almost no way to describe this experience adequately, other than to say I know this story will stick with me for a long, long time. Takes the idea of a haunted house and goes absolutely wild with it.
I’m still reeling from the whole thing, honestly. It’s so structured and intentional and deep and broad and bleak and hopeful and strange. Equal parts gorgeous and goofy, sacred, profane, and stupidly mundane, All at once. Somehow.
The illustrations weren’t always to my personal taste, occasionally they even felt at odds with the text (Giselle CGs in particular) but that’s neither here nor there. The story itself is certainly art, well and truly. A slow, meticulous build that eventually grabbed me by the throat and would not let go. Pretty spectacular. Plus the soundtrack is like an alternate universe Dead Can Dance album, and some of the tracks haunted me for DAYS.
The text does occasionally get too long-winded for its own good. A bit of editing to shave down some meandering plot threads and verbal redundancies might have helped with the relentless-feeling read time, especially considering the already spiraling, recursive nature of the story. Furthermore, the translation (or the original text, hard to say) took a lot of liberties with weirdly casual speech for a “period” piece. But honestly, the lack of historical realism isn’t particularly important to the story’s themes, and if anything the inconsistency serves to elevate the sense of surreal displaced weirdness that permeates the entire novel. It doesn’t actually take place in any of those times, after all. So…Ignore everything I just wrote. It’s gonna take me a while to absorb and process this whole journey.
Edit: the prequel/sequel stories were not nearly as good, and ranged from incredibly boring to coffee shop AU, so your mileage may vary on that. I personally didn’t see the point: at worst I felt they cheapened the main story somewhat. My five stars are exclusively for the original game, not all the much weaker fluff they padded this special edition with.
I’m still reeling from the whole thing, honestly. It’s so structured and intentional and deep and broad and bleak and hopeful and strange. Equal parts gorgeous and goofy, sacred, profane, and stupidly mundane, All at once. Somehow.
The illustrations weren’t always to my personal taste, occasionally they even felt at odds with the text (Giselle CGs in particular) but that’s neither here nor there. The story itself is certainly art, well and truly. A slow, meticulous build that eventually grabbed me by the throat and would not let go. Pretty spectacular. Plus the soundtrack is like an alternate universe Dead Can Dance album, and some of the tracks haunted me for DAYS.
The text does occasionally get too long-winded for its own good. A bit of editing to shave down some meandering plot threads and verbal redundancies might have helped with the relentless-feeling read time, especially considering the already spiraling, recursive nature of the story. Furthermore, the translation (or the original text, hard to say) took a lot of liberties with weirdly casual speech for a “period” piece. But honestly, the lack of historical realism isn’t particularly important to the story’s themes, and if anything the inconsistency serves to elevate the sense of surreal displaced weirdness that permeates the entire novel. It doesn’t actually take place in any of those times, after all. So…Ignore everything I just wrote. It’s gonna take me a while to absorb and process this whole journey.
Edit: the prequel/sequel stories were not nearly as good, and ranged from incredibly boring to coffee shop AU, so your mileage may vary on that. I personally didn’t see the point: at worst I felt they cheapened the main story somewhat. My five stars are exclusively for the original game, not all the much weaker fluff they padded this special edition with.
2020
I’m terrible at this game, but it’s so rewarding to die that it doesn’t matter. I sank hundreds of hours into this beast, and I’m still bad at it.
The soundtrack is a masterpiece.
The soundtrack is a masterpiece.
2019
Very very meh, for me.
Absolutely gorgeous art, but dull character arcs and pretty uninspired romances overall.
The “main” story takes forever (something like 8 chapters!?) with nothing much happening at all, whilst the romantic routes often felt like boring info-dump slogs with uninteresting stakes and too much random melodrama. Many chapters had no reader choices at all, further deepening my lack of personal investment. Kotone never really develops as a protagonist, instead merely shifting into whatever nebulous ingenue the thin plot requires.
Surprisingly, I ended up enjoying Rindo’s route the best, thanks to its slightly more grounded story and natural romantic chemistry.
The translation was at times inexcusably poor. Beyond the usual typos, translations often felt awkward and word-for-word literal, which stuttered and jumbled the English grammar almost beyond readability.
So….. yeah. Not great. I was invested enough to finish all the routes, but that’s really about it. Beautiful, but disappointing.
Absolutely gorgeous art, but dull character arcs and pretty uninspired romances overall.
The “main” story takes forever (something like 8 chapters!?) with nothing much happening at all, whilst the romantic routes often felt like boring info-dump slogs with uninteresting stakes and too much random melodrama. Many chapters had no reader choices at all, further deepening my lack of personal investment. Kotone never really develops as a protagonist, instead merely shifting into whatever nebulous ingenue the thin plot requires.
Surprisingly, I ended up enjoying Rindo’s route the best, thanks to its slightly more grounded story and natural romantic chemistry.
The translation was at times inexcusably poor. Beyond the usual typos, translations often felt awkward and word-for-word literal, which stuttered and jumbled the English grammar almost beyond readability.
So….. yeah. Not great. I was invested enough to finish all the routes, but that’s really about it. Beautiful, but disappointing.
Polished As Heck!!!
Art: stunning. Music: perfect. Voice Acting: bravo. in terms of production value, this is everything a visual novel should be.
Routes may be hit or miss depending on personal taste. The bad ends are no joke!!! They’re seriously dark. Personally, I enjoyed the variety of darker turns, especially in a Mafia story that often got too saccharine for its own good. Since I’m an angst fiend I was glad to have my fill, but yeah, some of those ends deserve some hefty content/trigger warnings.
Otome games can sometimes make the heroine clueless and shallow in order to cater to different routes: Piofiore mostly avoids this by having the love interests and villains change their personalities, rather than the protagonist. Mostly this works, sometimes it’s Dante… who I swear I don’t hate, he was just written all over the damn place. Speaking of, the story sometimes stretched itself too thin trying to DaVinci Code itself. On the flip-side, there’s a wealth of side characters actually worth caring about, and a story packed with weak-but-intriguing-enough political machination. I was rarely bored, and often eager to play just one more scene. (Except in cough Dante’s route cough)… The plot branches early and takes wildly different turns depending on the LI, which was also really refreshing and kept me coming back for more.
By far my own personal fave was Yang, who was a delightful psychopath in every route; the one character who didn’t shift his morals to meet the heroine’s storyline. He’s just a bad, sexy, bad, naughty, bad man. I can respect that. Gil is also very, VERY good; perhaps the first Final Otome Boy I was actually dying to unlock, and he was worth the wait.
Anyway. I’m glad to hear the sequel is being localized; I hope Yang comes back to kill me soon.
Art: stunning. Music: perfect. Voice Acting: bravo. in terms of production value, this is everything a visual novel should be.
Routes may be hit or miss depending on personal taste. The bad ends are no joke!!! They’re seriously dark. Personally, I enjoyed the variety of darker turns, especially in a Mafia story that often got too saccharine for its own good. Since I’m an angst fiend I was glad to have my fill, but yeah, some of those ends deserve some hefty content/trigger warnings.
Otome games can sometimes make the heroine clueless and shallow in order to cater to different routes: Piofiore mostly avoids this by having the love interests and villains change their personalities, rather than the protagonist. Mostly this works, sometimes it’s Dante… who I swear I don’t hate, he was just written all over the damn place. Speaking of, the story sometimes stretched itself too thin trying to DaVinci Code itself. On the flip-side, there’s a wealth of side characters actually worth caring about, and a story packed with weak-but-intriguing-enough political machination. I was rarely bored, and often eager to play just one more scene. (Except in cough Dante’s route cough)… The plot branches early and takes wildly different turns depending on the LI, which was also really refreshing and kept me coming back for more.
By far my own personal fave was Yang, who was a delightful psychopath in every route; the one character who didn’t shift his morals to meet the heroine’s storyline. He’s just a bad, sexy, bad, naughty, bad man. I can respect that. Gil is also very, VERY good; perhaps the first Final Otome Boy I was actually dying to unlock, and he was worth the wait.
Anyway. I’m glad to hear the sequel is being localized; I hope Yang comes back to kill me soon.
Easily one of my favorite game franchises.
Knocking off one star simply because I wish the Switch version had some of the Vita game features like practice mode and built-in quests. Would have been great if the Adventure pack (which I love, don’t get me wrong) had been incorporated as DLC rather than released as a separate game, because switching between all three titles is a pain. But that’s pretty minor, and was probably a licensing issue, so oh well. Still….. no practice mode…….. alas…..
But yeah, other than that, it’s pretty much straight unadulterated serotonin.
Knocking off one star simply because I wish the Switch version had some of the Vita game features like practice mode and built-in quests. Would have been great if the Adventure pack (which I love, don’t get me wrong) had been incorporated as DLC rather than released as a separate game, because switching between all three titles is a pain. But that’s pretty minor, and was probably a licensing issue, so oh well. Still….. no practice mode…….. alas…..
But yeah, other than that, it’s pretty much straight unadulterated serotonin.
2020
A bit simplistic; the “mysteries” were predictable and required little to no actual input. The picross puzzles got pretty samey - would have been nice to see some variation in the types or extra challenges thrown in. HOWEVER, this game was precision-engineered to appeal to me. Overall it did wonders for a bit of mindless stress relief. Charming art and a great soundtrack! I’d definitely play another if they made this a series.
I’d like to play Clue: Zero Escape Edition
— Mr Green (cloned) in the moon base with a robot arm
— Miss Scarlet in the grand staircase with a baseball bat
— Mrs White in the incinerator with sudoku
— Colonel Mustard’s severed head in the pantry with a chainsaw
— You win when Mr Body is no longer dead
Okay but actually. The balance between visual novel and puzzles was far better than the previous two, and the flowchart was brilliantly implemented. I called most of the twists. This is NOT a criticism. Not at all. All the twists actually make me want to replay the entire series, because everything is so well seeded. Uchikoshi has a way of feeding you exactly enough information to piece together the plot yourself, and then he immediately rewards you for paying attention. Every time. Very few plots in any medium are so collaborative with the audience. It’s really, genuinely special. The meta stuff is also just, intensely good. It’s hard to imagine this series being anything OTHER than a video game.
My brain broke though. How many people who worked on this game just ran out of the writer’s room screaming, never to return?
Reviews on this game are all over the place, and I can absolutely understand why, but I loved it start to finish. The janky insanity of it just really appeals to me, I guess.
— Mr Green (cloned) in the moon base with a robot arm
— Miss Scarlet in the grand staircase with a baseball bat
— Mrs White in the incinerator with sudoku
— Colonel Mustard’s severed head in the pantry with a chainsaw
— You win when Mr Body is no longer dead
Okay but actually. The balance between visual novel and puzzles was far better than the previous two, and the flowchart was brilliantly implemented. I called most of the twists. This is NOT a criticism. Not at all. All the twists actually make me want to replay the entire series, because everything is so well seeded. Uchikoshi has a way of feeding you exactly enough information to piece together the plot yourself, and then he immediately rewards you for paying attention. Every time. Very few plots in any medium are so collaborative with the audience. It’s really, genuinely special. The meta stuff is also just, intensely good. It’s hard to imagine this series being anything OTHER than a video game.
My brain broke though. How many people who worked on this game just ran out of the writer’s room screaming, never to return?
Reviews on this game are all over the place, and I can absolutely understand why, but I loved it start to finish. The janky insanity of it just really appeals to me, I guess.
2008
This review contains spoilers
I must be really desensitized, because when I told my husband, “as expected, one of the boys ate the other,” he didn’t seem to think that was as obvious a summary as I did.
Uhh. I really liked the sound design?
Uhh. I really liked the sound design?
2015
The best picross game, a perfect stress relief time sink. All picross games should be like this one.
Maybe my favorite iteration of TnT, even without the tatacon option. Practice mode is a lifesaver, and the quest mode is great whenever I want a different pace. Love love love.
Pretty much a mindless grind-for-resources mobile game but with better graphics and some sandbox-esque design elements. Personally, I find this type of do-nothing game really relaxing, but if the meaningless gameplay loop isn’t appealing to you, there’s not much to recommend here other than extremely basic repackaged Disney nostalgia. I shudder to think of the inevitable microtransaction buffoonery once it goes full free-to-play in 2023.
Tried on PC (via Xbox Game Pass) and Switch. Looks pretty on PC though seems poorly optimized with some stuttering. On Switch? It… uh... Runs. Except when it doesn’t. Frame rates are nigh unplayable in certain areas when raining. It has crashed every time I’ve played; luckily it autosaves frequently. Hopefully Switch optimization improves, because the touch-screen features are handily implemented.
Tried on PC (via Xbox Game Pass) and Switch. Looks pretty on PC though seems poorly optimized with some stuttering. On Switch? It… uh... Runs. Except when it doesn’t. Frame rates are nigh unplayable in certain areas when raining. It has crashed every time I’ve played; luckily it autosaves frequently. Hopefully Switch optimization improves, because the touch-screen features are handily implemented.
2012
A mixed bag for me. The production values are nuts; this is easily the most well-produced traditional-style visual novel I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately the plot is… uhhhhhh… generously described as a hot mess. It felt about ten thousand times longer than it needed to be, especially since so many parts of the routes overlapped exactly. The villain especially is a real bore.
As for the erotica… hmm. Hugely subjective. For me, it felt like routes swung wildly between character-driven romantic hotness and just. Fucking weird. Which is fine, but like. Perhaps this suffers from trying to do too many kinks at once? Also lube does not exist in the future I guess. rip Aoba.
I acknowledge the point of having multiple routes is that not everything appeals to everyone but even bearing that in mind, I DID have to See Some Things to finally unlock the most uncomfortable “true ending” of all time so. Uh. Thanks for that.
I don’t know how I feel about this. Confused? Confused.
I’ll just stick with: the art is insanely gorgeous and Clear’s route alone almost makes up for the rest.
As for the erotica… hmm. Hugely subjective. For me, it felt like routes swung wildly between character-driven romantic hotness and just. Fucking weird. Which is fine, but like. Perhaps this suffers from trying to do too many kinks at once? Also lube does not exist in the future I guess. rip Aoba.
I acknowledge the point of having multiple routes is that not everything appeals to everyone but even bearing that in mind, I DID have to See Some Things to finally unlock the most uncomfortable “true ending” of all time so. Uh. Thanks for that.
I don’t know how I feel about this. Confused? Confused.
I’ll just stick with: the art is insanely gorgeous and Clear’s route alone almost makes up for the rest.
2015
This review contains spoilers
I have played approximately one half of the laboriously boy-filled two-part Hakuoki (so many boys they needed two game cards!!!!)
…the boys so far…
Hijikata - his cologne, Default Love Interest, can be detected at twenty paces. It was a noble effort on the part of the writers to make him appear to love anything other than the Shinsengumi, especially the protagonist, but. We all know that’s a lie. No one has ever been more married to a job than this angry vampire man. Points for a poetic ending and his really hot-sounding voice actor. 7/10
Okita - he’s voiced by Impey Barbicane so how are you NOT going to like him? I enjoy that he is a big dumb picky-eater manchild. He has Victorian Wasting Disease AND becomes a Hot Sad Vampire which seems sort of like an unfair advantage tbh. 8/10
Saito - basically Hijikata Lite. Really boring imho, except for the part where the protagonist gets a cold. He’s somehow even more obsessed with being a stoic ice queen than Hijikata. If you’re the kind of masochist who sticks your tongue on icy playground equipment, he is the boy for you. 5/10
Heisuke - cute I guess?? Sort of feral. Gives you some more insight into some plot points. Do you enjoy discussing the philosophical merits of switching sides a lot? If that is sexy to you, oh boy. Y’all team up with the main villain randomly after the one female friend yells at said villain and tells him to stop stalking the protagonist so that’s pretty good. At least he’s fucking age appropriate jfc 6/10
Harada - DAMN. OKAY. my girl Chizuru finally goes all the way. About time. He’s entirely sane, exceptionally hot, has a big spear, and his biggest goal in life is: make wife happy. Decidedly, refreshingly, NOT a vampire. Instead of being an angsty undead samurai he gets drunk and his best friend draws a face on his botched seppuku scar. That’s not a joke that’s actually what happens. Most of the tension in his route is slow burn UST, and wooooofda. Good job girl. Now that’s what I call a husband. NSFW/10
Nagakura - the first half of his route is really cute and good and his voice actor has a VERY SEXY LAUGH. Got my hopes up. Unfortunately nothing much happens in part two except some uninspired moping. He calls you little sister a lot which is not uncomfortable or weird at all. One random and pretty boring kiss??????? I am disappoint. He is still extremely hot. I want to go drinking with this guy. 6/10
Kondou - Not an actual romance option. 11/10 would choose again
…the boys so far…
Hijikata - his cologne, Default Love Interest, can be detected at twenty paces. It was a noble effort on the part of the writers to make him appear to love anything other than the Shinsengumi, especially the protagonist, but. We all know that’s a lie. No one has ever been more married to a job than this angry vampire man. Points for a poetic ending and his really hot-sounding voice actor. 7/10
Okita - he’s voiced by Impey Barbicane so how are you NOT going to like him? I enjoy that he is a big dumb picky-eater manchild. He has Victorian Wasting Disease AND becomes a Hot Sad Vampire which seems sort of like an unfair advantage tbh. 8/10
Saito - basically Hijikata Lite. Really boring imho, except for the part where the protagonist gets a cold. He’s somehow even more obsessed with being a stoic ice queen than Hijikata. If you’re the kind of masochist who sticks your tongue on icy playground equipment, he is the boy for you. 5/10
Heisuke - cute I guess?? Sort of feral. Gives you some more insight into some plot points. Do you enjoy discussing the philosophical merits of switching sides a lot? If that is sexy to you, oh boy. Y’all team up with the main villain randomly after the one female friend yells at said villain and tells him to stop stalking the protagonist so that’s pretty good. At least he’s fucking age appropriate jfc 6/10
Harada - DAMN. OKAY. my girl Chizuru finally goes all the way. About time. He’s entirely sane, exceptionally hot, has a big spear, and his biggest goal in life is: make wife happy. Decidedly, refreshingly, NOT a vampire. Instead of being an angsty undead samurai he gets drunk and his best friend draws a face on his botched seppuku scar. That’s not a joke that’s actually what happens. Most of the tension in his route is slow burn UST, and wooooofda. Good job girl. Now that’s what I call a husband. NSFW/10
Nagakura - the first half of his route is really cute and good and his voice actor has a VERY SEXY LAUGH. Got my hopes up. Unfortunately nothing much happens in part two except some uninspired moping. He calls you little sister a lot which is not uncomfortable or weird at all. One random and pretty boring kiss??????? I am disappoint. He is still extremely hot. I want to go drinking with this guy. 6/10
Kondou - Not an actual romance option. 11/10 would choose again