It’s been a while since I’ve posted any reviews but in this post I have small write-ups for four games I played last year. There’s a mixture of good and okay, with me inadvertantly listing the games from best to worst in my opinion. Thanks for reading!
D.C. II ~Da Capo II~ To You
Official Site / VNDB
My Score: 8/10
Da Capo 2 To You is a collection of four side stories from the DC2 universe, these are:
- Ajisai – The story of the early days when Yoshiyuki first joins the Asakura family, and how he got to know Otome and Yume’s mother Yuki.
- Setsugekka – A look at how the infamous trio formed (Koko, Anzu & Akane), as well as how Yoshiyuki got to know Suginami and Wataru during the lead up to that fateful sports day.
- Mahiru ni Furu Ame – Asahina Miki recounts her highschool days with Mahiru as they both deal with her illness.
- Kikai no Kokoro – This episode takes place in an alternate timeline where Yoshiyuki is walking home one day and finds a girl collapsed on the side of the road. After helping her, it transpires that she’s a μ (Mu) – a humanoid robot that is mass produced as a companion and helper for humans. However, this μ seems a little different – less stoic than those Yoshiyuki has seen around town. Just what lies ahead for the pair?
Unlike the other Da Capo fandiscs I’ve played, To You actually has a pretty serious or sombre tone. I personally really appreciated it as it made this game more memorable to the series. This is absolutely a tear-jerker though so have your tissues at the ready, especially during Mahiru’s episode.
The first three side stories all add substance to the existing heroines, giving them yet more personality. Even when you as a reader know how the story will “end” there’s nothing quite like reading through the events as they happen.
While the rest of the game was made to appeal to fans of the game, μ’s episode was completely new and offered something different. Considering that her likeness had been used as a plot point and as a side character in the main game, it makes sense that μ would eventually become a heroine. The particular robot that is the heroine of this story is utterly adorable and has a great route – dramatic and emotive as you’d expect from the base Da Capo 2. It was a pleasant surprise.
My one complaint would be that there was clearly some forced nudity in some of the stories to fulfil the “we need to sell this as an eroge” sentiment. H scenes were fine in μ’s episode and worked really well in the Setsugekka episode but the “lucky sukebe” type of scenes at the start of the Asakura family episode was super awkward in particular.
Da Capo 2 To You is a game that is hard to recommend to anyone outside of fans of the original game due to 3/4 of the stories having a strong connection to the rest of the series. However, if you did enjoy the original then this should absolutely be on your to-play list!
Amairo Chocolata 2
Official Site / VNDB
My Score: 7/10
Amairo Chocolata 2 takes place following the original game and has the protagonist Shirokawa Yuzuki working at the cafe Setaria alongside his kemonomimi co-workers. However, he comes across a girl lost in the park one day who is looking for directions to an unopened Japanese-style Teahouse.
However, Yuzuki shortly realises that there’s something unusual about this girl (and her older sister) – they have rabbit ears! It turns out that they have moved to town in order to open a franchise of their family’s Teahouse called “Mochizuki” and ask him to work there to help them get the shop up and running.
In the meantime, he’s also been transferred from the quiet Setaria to the bustling patissier Sweet Tail to help out his friends Nana & Ichika with the shop’s preperations for Valentine’s Day. With the day celebrating love approaching, will Yuzuki and the girls around him perhaps become more than friends?
I wasn’t the biggest fan of the original Amachoco game and found it to be a little bland, despite the adorable heroine designs and high-quality artwork. However, this sequel improves on the original quite a bit – the common route is better/more defined, and the heroine routes had better pacing. The two new characters Kaguya & Mitsuki are both super cute, although the fact they made us wait for the third game for a Mitsuki route is cruel!
Nana and Ichika were both characters I liked from the original game (Ichika’s design is soooo cute and fluffy). I will say that Ichika’s route is…uh…unique…though. The other heroine routes are standard moe fluff – delightful.
There is also another harem ending, which is a continuation of the first game’s one. It’s silly but no one is reading that for the plot.
Overall, it’s a cute and sweet mid-priced moege that is worth your time if you like kemonomimi and the art-style. It’s more enjoyable than the first game imo so that’s the main thing.
Houkago Cinderella 2 Mini Fandisk
Official Site / VNDB
My Score: 6.5/10
This fandisk is focused on the school culture festival in the autumn following the events of the main game. The school has a tradition of the female students dressing up during the event so enjoy the halloween-theme event by going on a date with your favourite heroine.
It’s a low-price mini fandisc with all 5 heroines so, as expected, each heroine’s afterstory is very short. I think this works better than the original Houkago Cinderella’s mini fandisc as there’s a decent amount of variation between what the characters do before/during the event to make each route engaging. It also helps that they use the “Date Planning” system from HajiLove where you get to pick where to take the heroine during the festival. This gives the game some replayability and it was fun to go back and see a differing option.
I disliked the main game because the protagonist was a degenerate pervert who ruined the romance of the title for me. I didn’t find him quite as frustrating in this game because it was considerably shorter and the heroines definitely had more banter with him. As always for HookSoft, their heroines are absolutely top-tier and are hilarious.
If you liked the heroines from the original game then this would be a good pick-up. It’s short, sweet and fun – what more do you want from a low-price fandisk?
Akizora ni Mau Confetti
Official Site / VNDB
My Score: 6/10
While walking home one day, Akitsu Hayato comes across a black-haired girl standing in the rain. He notices a notebook that she dropped and vows to return it to her. However, he gets sidetracked and passes out near a small shrine. Upon waking up some hours later, he returns home and notices that his days begin to slowly change.
It begins with him finding out that the notebook belongs to Saya, a member of his school’s drama club that is struggling to stay afloat due to a lack of members. His normally shy classmate Yuki & kind dorm manager Nanami are also members of the club. Hayato also finds a girl sleeping in the forest behind the school – she remembers nothing but her name – Kanae. Not knowing what to do, Hayato lets Kanae stay with him for the time being. As the short autumn days pass just what will happen to the drama club and just who exactly is Kanae?
Kanae
If you read the description and think “huh it sounds like two seperate things are going on” then you would be 100% correct – this game doesn’t know if it wants to be a heartwarming tale about a failing drama club or a supernatural mystery. It kinda half-asses both and the result is just a kind of ~fine~ but entirely forgettable experience.
This is even more disappointing when you realise that this was the same company that made the wonderful “Soshite Ashita no Sekai yori”. Upon further investigation though this game has a different scenario writer so that makes more sense.
I mean there wasn’t really much in this game that was particularly bad per se, it was more the fact that there was nothing standout. The characters were fine, Yuki was pretty interesting with her personality being tied to the colour of ribbon she wears but this could’ve been explored a bit better in her route.
Yuki – if I remember correctly the ribbons were: Red (Quiet, shy), Blue (Outgoing), Yellow (Bracon Imouto mode), Black (Mature)
The artwork was also nice (especially some of the backgrounds), but at the same time I think a lot of the art was rushed and wasn’t up to the standard of Asuseka. I’m a sucker for autumnal scenery though so I did definitely enjoy that.
One of the worst things about the game though is a lack of a route for the protagonist’s younger sister Kozue – she’s clearly very affectionate towards him thoughout the game. The anniversary edition (and first press edition I believe) comes with a short append that adds a little date scenario for her and it feels almost even more cruel.
In the end, Akizora ni Mau Confetti is a game that feels hastily put together without a strong plot focus. While there were some fun character interactions and cute heroines, I really can’t recommend this game over the numerous other titles out there sadly.
Source
