It’s been a couple of months but I figured it was time to bring back this series as 2023 seems to be the year of fandiscs for me. In this post we have a mix of older and newer titles, and even something that isn’t a fandisc!
Official Site / VNDB
My Score: 6/10
Rurizakura is an all-ages kinetic novel released as a collaborative project between Lump of Sugar and Smile. Interestingly, it seems the game was first released on Steam by the company “Candy Violet” (I wonder who that could be a pseudonym for *cough*) with both Japanese and Chinese langauge options. The version I bought was the Japanese-only re-release which came with the soundtrack. It’s a pretty short game and will probably only take a couple of hours to finish.
Rurizakura is a life and death drama about a cursed immortal man who longs for the release of death and a kind girl who dedicated her short life to protecting her people and now seeks a quiet place to spend her last days. It’s a decent enough set up and I thought the story and character interactions were good overall. This is one of those stories where you can kind of tell where it’s going to go when you read the synopsis but if you’re looking for that kind of story then it’s decent. I did feel the latter parts were a little rushed but it wasn’t the end of the world.
If you know Moekibara then you know his heroines have to have Kemonomimi
Obviously one of the main draws to this game is the pretty artwork from Lump of Sugar’s premier artist Moekibara Fumitake. I thought the amount of CGs was fine, especially taking into consideration the cut ins, and most of the artwork looked nice, even if I still think Moekibara’s male characters can look a little derpy at times.
The BGM was nice with a wafuu feel to it that matched the setting but I found a lot of the tracks to be quite similar. What I will give praise for though is the phenominal ending song – 春が来る度に by AiRI. Both main characters were voiced as well which I enjoyed (I wish we got more voiced protagonists).
Overall, Rurizakura isn’t subtle about its message or themes but if you like this kind of story and have a few hours to spare then it’s a decent enough lower priced title.
Official Site / VNDB
My Score: 5.5/10
The first of the two Da Capo 2 fandiscs focuses on the six original heroines – Otome, Yume, Nanaka, Koko, Minatsu & Anzu. It is made up of three parts:
Each individual story epsiode can be selected from the title menu and the game itself is not too long – maybe 15 hours or so.
What I didn’t actually realise about this game prior to playing was the fact that it came out before the Plus Communication version of DC2. This means that Spring Celebration doesn’t really age well for those who played that version of the game (myself included) – there’s obviously no cameos from the new heroines, some reused CGs and the artwork is generally very inconsistent. The H CGs in particular look pretty bad/awkward most of the time. I guess I just enjoyed the fully fleshed version of this world that it sucked going to this barren one, although that says more about Circus’ business practices than anything else.
I guess my other issue with this game was this it doesn’t align with what I want and enjoy in a fandisc. This is obviously a personal/subjective issue but when I play a fandisc, I mainly look for afterstories – it is likely the fact I enjoyed the routes and characters from the original game that made me buy the fd after all. As for the bonus content and side stories, these are nice enough but should not be the focus of the game. Sadly, Spring Celebration focuses much more on the latter, especially the movie scenarios.
The afterstories themselves were a little disappointing – mainly focused on H content without much romance or plot in many cases. The preludes were fine and the strong group interactions carry them. The movie scenarios are actually decent – the individual stories told vary in genre and offered an engaging experience but they shouldn#t have been the main focus of the game.
Overall, I wouldn’t really recommend this game unless you really like the six heroines featured here. I’m pretty sad about my experience with Spring Celebration but I’ll still probably play the other DC2 side games.
Official Site / VNDB
My Score: 6.5/10
Instead of one full-priced title, the Ambitious Mission fandiscs are instead split into two low-priced games. I’ll be combining my review into one since I played both and they’re similar in quality. Each game has three routes & is easily under 5 hours.
I’ll begin with Episode 1 which contains afterstories for Atena & Kaguya, as well as a new route for the protagonist’s older sister Miharu. The afterstories were decent, Atena had my favourite afterstory and I think she needed it the most because her original route was more plot-focused. Miharu was a character that, while likable, wasn’t particularly standout for me in the original so the choice to give her a route was an odd one imo. I liked that there were multiple endings to this route that focused on some other characters but I think they missed an oppertunity to have a route for Horoko, who was such an interesting side character (of course this route would probably work best without romance & H scenes which is likely why the devs chose not to go in this direction). Basically, there were either more interesting or charismatic characters to give a route to so Miharu seems almost a waste.
Episode 2 has the afterstories for the other two heroines – Nijimu & Yae, and a route for side charater Charlotte. This was the episode I was really looking forward to as I adored Charlotte in the original game – she was equal parts adorable and hilarious which is an addictive mix. I have mixed feelings about her route – Charlotte herself was a riot and spending more time with her will always be fun but the romance felt really awkward. I can see how it fits her character (and there were some comedic moments) but I think I just had really high expectations and felt a little let down.
Overall, these fandiscs are pretty decent and are a fun, if short read that fans of the original game would enjoy. My main sadness is that we didn’t get a longer full-price fandisc which probably would have done a better job with the new routes but, for the price you pay, these aren’t half bad.
Source
Rurizakura -The Story of Defined Life-
Official Site / VNDB
My Score: 6/10
Rurizakura is an all-ages kinetic novel released as a collaborative project between Lump of Sugar and Smile. Interestingly, it seems the game was first released on Steam by the company “Candy Violet” (I wonder who that could be a pseudonym for *cough*) with both Japanese and Chinese langauge options. The version I bought was the Japanese-only re-release which came with the soundtrack. It’s a pretty short game and will probably only take a couple of hours to finish.
Rurizakura is a life and death drama about a cursed immortal man who longs for the release of death and a kind girl who dedicated her short life to protecting her people and now seeks a quiet place to spend her last days. It’s a decent enough set up and I thought the story and character interactions were good overall. This is one of those stories where you can kind of tell where it’s going to go when you read the synopsis but if you’re looking for that kind of story then it’s decent. I did feel the latter parts were a little rushed but it wasn’t the end of the world.
If you know Moekibara then you know his heroines have to have Kemonomimi
Obviously one of the main draws to this game is the pretty artwork from Lump of Sugar’s premier artist Moekibara Fumitake. I thought the amount of CGs was fine, especially taking into consideration the cut ins, and most of the artwork looked nice, even if I still think Moekibara’s male characters can look a little derpy at times.
The BGM was nice with a wafuu feel to it that matched the setting but I found a lot of the tracks to be quite similar. What I will give praise for though is the phenominal ending song – 春が来る度に by AiRI. Both main characters were voiced as well which I enjoyed (I wish we got more voiced protagonists).
Overall, Rurizakura isn’t subtle about its message or themes but if you like this kind of story and have a few hours to spare then it’s a decent enough lower priced title.
D.C.II Spring Celebration
Official Site / VNDB
My Score: 5.5/10
The first of the two Da Capo 2 fandiscs focuses on the six original heroines – Otome, Yume, Nanaka, Koko, Minatsu & Anzu. It is made up of three parts:
- After Stories – short and fluffy episodes that take place after each heroines route in the main game.
- Kazami Gakuen Drama Club – As part of the annual celebrations for the school’s graduation party, the chosen heroine stars alongside Yoshiyuki in a movie that is premiered during the party. From drama, to mystery and even action – a wide variety of entertaining movies await.
- Ultimate Pre-Stories – as the name would suggest, these take place prior to the original DC2 and focus on school events such as sports day.
Each individual story epsiode can be selected from the title menu and the game itself is not too long – maybe 15 hours or so.
What I didn’t actually realise about this game prior to playing was the fact that it came out before the Plus Communication version of DC2. This means that Spring Celebration doesn’t really age well for those who played that version of the game (myself included) – there’s obviously no cameos from the new heroines, some reused CGs and the artwork is generally very inconsistent. The H CGs in particular look pretty bad/awkward most of the time. I guess I just enjoyed the fully fleshed version of this world that it sucked going to this barren one, although that says more about Circus’ business practices than anything else.
I guess my other issue with this game was this it doesn’t align with what I want and enjoy in a fandisc. This is obviously a personal/subjective issue but when I play a fandisc, I mainly look for afterstories – it is likely the fact I enjoyed the routes and characters from the original game that made me buy the fd after all. As for the bonus content and side stories, these are nice enough but should not be the focus of the game. Sadly, Spring Celebration focuses much more on the latter, especially the movie scenarios.
The afterstories themselves were a little disappointing – mainly focused on H content without much romance or plot in many cases. The preludes were fine and the strong group interactions carry them. The movie scenarios are actually decent – the individual stories told vary in genre and offered an engaging experience but they shouldn#t have been the main focus of the game.
Overall, I wouldn’t really recommend this game unless you really like the six heroines featured here. I’m pretty sad about my experience with Spring Celebration but I’ll still probably play the other DC2 side games.
Ambitious Mission After Espisodes
Official Site / VNDB
My Score: 6.5/10
Instead of one full-priced title, the Ambitious Mission fandiscs are instead split into two low-priced games. I’ll be combining my review into one since I played both and they’re similar in quality. Each game has three routes & is easily under 5 hours.
I’ll begin with Episode 1 which contains afterstories for Atena & Kaguya, as well as a new route for the protagonist’s older sister Miharu. The afterstories were decent, Atena had my favourite afterstory and I think she needed it the most because her original route was more plot-focused. Miharu was a character that, while likable, wasn’t particularly standout for me in the original so the choice to give her a route was an odd one imo. I liked that there were multiple endings to this route that focused on some other characters but I think they missed an oppertunity to have a route for Horoko, who was such an interesting side character (of course this route would probably work best without romance & H scenes which is likely why the devs chose not to go in this direction). Basically, there were either more interesting or charismatic characters to give a route to so Miharu seems almost a waste.
Episode 2 has the afterstories for the other two heroines – Nijimu & Yae, and a route for side charater Charlotte. This was the episode I was really looking forward to as I adored Charlotte in the original game – she was equal parts adorable and hilarious which is an addictive mix. I have mixed feelings about her route – Charlotte herself was a riot and spending more time with her will always be fun but the romance felt really awkward. I can see how it fits her character (and there were some comedic moments) but I think I just had really high expectations and felt a little let down.
Overall, these fandiscs are pretty decent and are a fun, if short read that fans of the original game would enjoy. My main sadness is that we didn’t get a longer full-price fandisc which probably would have done a better job with the new routes but, for the price you pay, these aren’t half bad.
Source
