I've been playing Ensemble latest's 恋はそっと咲く花のように, and finished it last night. As usual with Ensemble games my expectations weren't very high, their games tend to be rather generic but with some redeeming points that make me like them. However, said redeeming points were not really present this time around. The one thing Ensemble games (especially the お嬢様 series) usually have going for them is a relatively like-able, competent and proactive protagonist. This game features yet another version of a "wonderful" person, with Rei as a serious, dedicated child who has taken over the cooking in his family's restaurant after his father's death. Of course he still attends school as well, but cooking complicated dishes isn't hard or time consuming at all, is it? Anyway, this would be fine in itself if said protagonist wasn't such a spineless, passive coward in most other areas. Contrary to our favorite donkans who remain oblivious to whatever signs are thrown at them, Rei notices when people act strange or direct affection towards him, but most of the time he chooses to not act on it and just waits for the characters to open up to him, hiding behind a variety of reasons (she's an actress!, she's busy!, she's my childhood friend! I respect her privacy! it must be a misunderstanding! yadayadayada). Now, this would again be acceptable when he and the heroine of the day aren't in a relationship, but it actually continues for most of the routes as well. Rei will notice something is wrong, his girlfriend is hurting, but he doesn't do anything, he doesn't ask anything, he only cooks her dinner and waits for her to open up, usually after the situation has escalated way more than it needed to.
The game's stories are nothing original and people familiar with visual novels will probably be able to tell what happens in each route merely 10 minutes into them, thanks to the very heavy-handed foreshadowing, perspective change use and flashbacks. This is again fine, I wasn't expecting anything original anyway but knowing the problem from the start and enduring the protagonist's passiveness for hours doesn't make me in a good mood playing the game. It doesn't help that much of the text content is spent on relatively useless cooking/dish descriptions taken straight out of a cooking book, something that serves absolutely no purpose but to pad out the word count. Some character actions and words also stand out as completely outlandish, such as bringing a baby to class (what...?) or parents easily accepting that their daughter cohabits with her boyfriend without much supervision at all. The omnipresent Mom keeps reassuring them that their daughter is fine in her hands, but she does nothing to stop and even sometimes encourages the couple to go further without any advice on safety or anything. Every time she made that promise, it was difficult to not imagine her begging for forgiveness two months later when the heroine turns out pregnant.
I guess the one thing that Ensemble games have going for them and that remains in this one is the stellar CV cast, all big names and some of my favorites as well, with Kusuhara Yui, Akino Hana, Kitami Rikka, etc... It was nice to hear Arisugawa Miyabi (as the mom), and it made me want to go back and play a bit of Sugar+Spice. The art is pretty inconsistent across routes and artists, but is generally alright. Music is nothing to write much about. All in all, a rather so-so game that I wouldn't really recommend, even if you liked previous Ensemble お嬢様 games.
Quick comments on each characters' route. Spoilers abound so read at your own risk:
Iori : Obvious sick girl is obvious from her comments on everything seeming fresh and new right from the start of the game. Of course, her symptoms only worsen if she hooks up with the protagonist, in other routes she's perfectly fine which makes you wonder if they should have started dating. It's really bad when you think that being in a relationship essentially worsened her situation, usually you want the opposite! The big thing our hero does for her is... beg his friends and family to beg on his behalf the schools/businesses they are in to collect blood so that her operation is successful. What the heck is that.
Misato : childhood friend moves away in her route, but again, apparently not in the others or nobody notices. Much of the route is spent dilly dallying on the usual topics of "I don't want to break our current relationship/afraid to move forward", and then spent on a cooking contest to prove that our couple's feelings are sincere. Except this contest shows that our genius teen chef Rei isn't as big of a deal as every other character make him to be, furthering degrading his image.
Sanae : ahh, Sanae, where to begin... You don't bring a child you've been entrusted to to class! Said child's parents are also very irresponsible to let her take care of him for WEEKS without so much as coming to see how she's doing. Yes the father is busy and the mom is sick but this is their child, you'd think they'd care a little? They're all too willing to give their daughter away to what is more or less a complete stranger (Rei's mom). All of this to show how much "fun" taking care of a baby can be and ignite desire for our couple. Here's a hint: it's not. Rewarding, fulfilling? Yes. But fun? No. The second part was actually a little surprising, as Sanae discovers out of the blue that she's been adopted and questions the love of her family. Thankfully Rei's granddad and mom make her realize that blood doesn't matter in family bonds. Not Rei though, he does nothing.
Saki : the teen popular actress, with too busy a schedule to eat properly but enough time to chit-chat with our group during lunch breaks in other routes. The route doesn't start too bad with at last an action coming from our hero, in that he brings her meals while she's on filming sets. But it stops there and remains in that state forever, as both of the characters are afraid to confess their feelings for a variety of reasons. Added to this was the recurring theme of the crazy Japanese fans that stalk and pursue their favorite actress all the way to her private life, and don't hesitate to set her aflame on the Internet as soon as she doesn't conform to their ideal of purity. It's probably true, and it's quite disheartening that in the end Saki bends to their ideas and denies having a relationship in a press conference. Sprinkled on top are the usual family issues of being the second, less competent child and trying to find her own thing while her family denies it (despite her being super successful but you know, whatever). Definitely not a pleasant route to read.
Youko : again, family issues with a young lady unable to accept her parents' death (made obvious in the very first scene of her route), and running the usual refrain of "I don't want to be hurt anymore so I'll distance myself from everything and remain afraid to bond with anyone else". It's predictable but made all the worse by the protagonist's inaction in front of it. Go see her, talk to her, anything, but don't just wait! It's the girl's aunt, an enemy in the beginning of the route that has to come to him and beg him to finally spring to action...
Nazuna : omake route so there's not much to write. They're cousins but it's not an issue, her family is also not an issue despite being told repeatedly how strict it is. She and Rei get together for a joint charity event organized by their respective schools, and that's pretty much it.
I have no real problem with Ensemble's current title *shrugs* as I don't usually look deeply enough into stuff to let it "bother" me for lack of better words. It's generally light-hearted, has likable characters, for me a "feel-good" title = hits right in my strike zone. If I notice some "unusual" situations, I can usually put them away with a generous amount of suspension of disbelief, unless it makes me facepalm for whatever reason. I'm a huge softie for the short-term drama that happened in Iori's route, for example. But, to be fair, my tastes are hardly mainstream as I stay usually in my feel-good VN comfort zone *lol*.
Do note that I tend to be rather negative in my reviews, but the fact that I stuck with the game through and through is a sign that's it's not completely terrible.
I usually like Ensemble games, though my experience is limited to the お嬢様 series as I can't stand trap games. As I wrote above, these games tend to feature a very competent and proactive protagonist (though sometimes a little donkan) that makes for a pleasant read, following through the efforts of the couple in overcoming their issues. I wrote a few words about 恋する気持ちのかさねかた here and here, and some more about the more recent お嬢様は素直になれない here. These games are better in my opinion for the protagonist alone, while they can be a little donkan at least they're not passive for most of the routes. The art is also much better and more consistent than in the latest one, and the CV casts remain top-class.
Iori's drama was too predictable and lacked impact for me. I've played lots of games with this kind of heroines so maybe that's why it didn't touch me much. It also didn't help that hearing Arisugawa Miyabi reminded me of Sugar+Spice that featured a much, much better drama with similar setting, and so much better protagonist commitment than this one. I repeat myself but what I find interesting/pleasant in these games is how the characters face the challenge they are in front of, and especially how the protagonist can help the heroines overcome their problems. When said protagonist doesn't do much if at all and relies on others constantly much of the appeal is lost to me.
Thanks for the review of new Ensemble game. Songs by Duca always catch my heart.
By the way, their new game in crossdressing will present tomorrow! I think, they release 3 games per year (including fan-discs).
Sooo I started Summer Pockets yesterday evening and it's 4 a.m. now, after finishing Ao's route... It's been a long time since I found no good time to stop and just kept on reading, thanks to such a pleasant writing for a VN : never boring, usually funny, sometimes touching. I'd say the drama was a little lighter and the story shorter than the usual from Key but it was still very high quality and probably already the best VN I've read this year. Looking forward to play the other routes!
So... Ever since Rance X Kessen released I've been playing RPG Eroge, even replayed Evenicle just because it got ENG release.
And since I just can't get enough RPG recently, is there any recommended RPG Eroge you guys have played?
I've been playing Mira and Karin's route in Axl's キュリオディーラー.
I thought Karin's was overall fine. Whether you like how our MC was designed skill-wise, being liked by the whole city, best friends with the "King" and Princess is up to personal preferance, but that's not limited to her route overall. The small sub-drama leading to Rowan and she hooking up was being used in the final serious part, but with a bit different motive than I thought. Personally, for the better.
Mira's route was okay-ish, though. The serious part during the later section of her route felt honestly detached somehow. The "Big Bad" was too impersonal and just being there pulling the strings, being left in the dark that it was hard to "feel" anything particular during the resolution.
So... Ever since Rance X Kessen released I've been playing RPG Eroge, even replayed Evenicle just because it got ENG release.
And since I just can't get enough RPG recently, is there any recommended RPG Eroge you guys have played?
Depends on what you like. If you don't mind relatively simple mechanics and puzzle-like battles then you can give Debonosu Seisakujou games a try. I've played 偽骸のアルルーナ, 弓張月の導き雲はるか and Izumo 4, they're fairly similar but if you like one you'll probably like the others.
If you're not averse to tactical/crafting RPGs then you should definitely give Eushully games a try. They usually feature solid (but sometimes grindy) mechanics, a very long campaign and added replayability in New Game+ modes and various routes. The latest 天結いキャッスルマイスター is maybe the most accessible, but if you liked Rance then you can try out some of their earlier more rapey games like 姫狩りダンジョンマイスター.
If dungeons crawling is your thing ダンジョン オブ レガリアス ～背徳の都イシュガリア～ had alright gameplay (but a very poor story). That's about it from what I've played.
More progress on Summer Pockets! Two routes in fact, Kamome and Shiroha. Both of these were relatively different in themes and general approach, and also quite different from Ao's route, even though the classic Key nakige formulae is still underlying in all of them (start light-hearted and humorous before laying down the drama). While Ao's story left a rather important part to romance, I think it would be better not to expect the same of the other routes as it's still there but played down quite a bit. Kamome's was a little more metaphysical, and is so far the story that made me cry the most but I understand it's not for everyone. Shiroha's route focused more on the protagonist's issues than hers or his relationship with her, and in so doing degraded his image quite a bit as we learn about his past/mistakes and see him make more.
I still think the last bit of drama IS 100% his fault for giving careless advice.
As usual with Key games there are a few minigames to play if you get bored during the common route or want to explore some of the side characters. This time it's rhythm-game-like ping-pong matches and pokemon-like monster battles. I haven't really played them to much extent but they're alright and usually contain tons of funny events (especially the monster battle one if you use certain cards on certain opponents) to make up for their relative shallowness. None of them are mandatory for the story and it's all skippable if you don't like them.
@RPG Eroge: In addition to Kzel's comment, if you like rape-y/dark-ish elements, there's also the Ikusa Megami series (https://vndb.org/v768, https://vndb.org/v2836, https://vndb.org/v13999). There's also Gears of Dragoon 1+2. The first's Chaos route is dark-ish and more rapey, whereas GoD2 has the rape elements behind certain battles if you lose.
Among the older titles, there's Aselia the Eternal if you don't mind the slow-ish gameplay, Seinarukana and Yumina the Ethereal; all three also available in English. I've read a few good things about Utawarerumono (https://vndb.org/v/all?sq=utawarerumono), if you don't mind the all-age versions, but haven't played any of them myself.
So... Ensemble announced their new trap-game, and let us guess who is a trap. http://ensemble-game.com/21.ototsuki/
Ah... I have no idea... maybe, that girl in a hat?
Otome ga Musubu Tsukiya no Kirameki. 『乙女が結ぶ月夜の煌めき』.
Interesting, how to translate that name...
The girl enchants like a moonlight?
A moonlight binds the girl?
Depends on what you like. If you don't mind relatively simple mechanics and puzzle-like battles then you can give Debonosu Seisakujou games a try. I've played 偽骸のアルルーナ, 弓張月の導き雲はるか and Izumo 4, they're fairly similar but if you like one you'll probably like the others.
If you're not averse to tactical/crafting RPGs then you should definitely give Eushully games a try. They usually feature solid (but sometimes grindy) mechanics, a very long campaign and added replayability in New Game+ modes and various routes. The latest 天結いキャッスルマイスター is maybe the most accessible, but if you liked Rance then you can try out some of their earlier more rapey games like 姫狩りダンジョンマイスター.
If dungeons crawling is your thing ダンジョン オブ レガリアス ～背徳の都イシュガリア～ had alright gameplay (but a very poor story). That's about it from what I've played.
I've been playing the recently released 抜きゲーみたいな島に住んでる貧乳はどうすりゃいいですか？ lately, and while the game can be entertaining the more I play it the more I realize everything about it is a trap. Starting with the title, you'd expect a nukige but while sex is omnipresent in the setting, I have yet to find a scene that was even slightly exciting. Mainly because there are actually very few of them, a good half being just the protagonist getting raped by various characters... (no worries, he escapes 'unharmed').
Second betrayal happens when it becomes clear that the game doesn't really feature character routes as you would expect from a 'not-nukige'. All the heroines have to share the spotlight with one of the sub characters, something that especially hurts with Hinami since she actually seemed like she's the sub in her own route. The relationship and ecchi with the main heroine of the route is treated mostly as an afterthought and to be honest doesn't feature that prominently in terms of both time and emotional investment. Again, especially true for Hinami as her route desperately tries to make us love/pity Rei by focusing so much on her but nope, didn't work.
Next is the humor. While some jokes can genuinely be funny, the sheer amount of repetition of said jokes for (what seemed like) padding purpose only quickly ran my patience dry and made me start to skip about half the the text and lines. So much effort put into the full-of-references AV lines the mob character shout (both in terms of writing and CV cost) for so little impact... No worries though, the writers were so aware of this issue that they placed regular recap points, in case you missed something and needed it repeated to you a fourth or fifth time. Characters each have their own gag pattern that is repeated ad nauseam, yes Nanase is a bitch (totally 100% no doubt), Hinami a loli, Misaki's presence is thin, we get it...
And finally, the scenario. Given the prologue, I was actually expecting the game to embrace the nukige parody fully but in the end it moves to a sorta serious plot (involving such funny things as forced prostitution, yakuza, ...), while at the same time mostly resorting to the same old tired tropes these same nukige it tries to make fun of use to solve most of the situations.
mostly the protagonist's big dick that can make a (real) bitch come in seconds from the shock but a loli can accept no problem. There was such potential in a impotent hero, but nope, all a lie
All the details in preparations and battle scenes only to be concluded with such a stupid and convoluted way is a real let down. This mix of serious and stupidity is a little troubling, it's difficult to know what the game is trying to do at times, but it failed to make me either cry or laugh.
I currently finished Hinami and Misaki, not really in the mood for the (totally not childhood friend and totally not virgin) bitch Nanase, I'll probably leave the game at that unless I get really bored.
After so long I finally got around to play OH! Micro Man.
Nukige through and through, so not missing too much with just skipping and skimming, and it's good at what it does, plus eleven with getting hit by poop, inserted into vagina along with tampon, cervix insertion, and getting revived after getting caught, the list goes on...Attention to detail of the girls are extremely lacking (Why didn't that sister of yours even stop for a sec and take a GOOD look at that "sponge" she picked up?!) even if you are to argue that their heat kept them off their sanity. Got a little emotional for the reason why the younger girl letting herself get banged by the MC without objection... Guy's driven by sexual drive almost exclusively...at least one he was actually asked for help with his ability to shrink...
The fetishes are wacky, but nothing too excessive...but then again, I'm pretty far gone...
Anyone plays August’s Iris Mysteria? I got a free SR/SSR elf character summon code from Comiket but have no use of it. I’m thinking about giving it to someone.
Anyone plays August’s Iris Mysteria? I got a free SR/SSR elf character summon code from Comiket but have no use of it. I’m thinking about giving it to someone.
Been a while since I've written a review here, and I still have a few I need to write for games I finished long ago, but in the meantime here's one for another I finished recently. The name : はるとゆき. Written by the same scenarist as 少女と年の差、ふたまわり。, the game kinda follows in the same vein of "nukige with a story". Do note that I say story and not romance, because the romance in this game is about what you'd expect from a nukige : extremely sudden, no buildup, straight to sex. Heroines start at max affection and the protagonist seems more attracted to the girls' bodies than their characters, at least at the start. There is a high amount of ecchi scenes, most of them involving a cosplay of some kind. But there is a story nonetheless, progressing at a slow pace while the game does its nukige duty (points for allowing to skip scenes with the two veteran staff) before delivering its impact in each of the heroine's last chapters. Said story is rather hit and miss, and given the signs early in the routes is very predictable, but not without some emotional impact (Neko, Sakina). It's still full of the usual convenient chance encounters that plague many games, but it's not unreadable. Definitely not a game worth reading for the story only, but if you're tired of dumb nukige plots and need something with a least a modicum of effort put into it this isn't a bad choice, just don't expect too much. San's route is best played last, but otherwise no particular order recommended. Light spoilers ahead:
Neko's route was my favorite of the game, because it felt the most natural given the little cat's condition. It's easy to understand how she can relate to the protagonist and how he can relate to her, and also how she has nothing to lose. Tezuka Ryouko voicing a loli felt a bit weird at first since she mostly does oneesan characters but I got used to it. I liked that her route didn't involve the usual making-up and was instead pretty brutal, poor parents indeed. Ending was extremely predictable but still a nice conclusion nonetheless.
Sakina's route was a bit of a surprise since I thought it would be the one to reveal the protagonist's past but it turned out to be San's. I like quiet characters and Sakina's CV does a good job, a bit too loud during the "action" scenes though. Her problem is pretty easy to figure out but the extent of it was more a surprise. The ending chapters were a bit a let down with the protagonist taking unnecessary risks and failing to make common sense judgments (along with the okami), but it becomes obvious it was needed for Sakina to change her outlook on life. Meh.
Kohane's route actually involves the main cook Makoto more than it does herself, which was a bit of a shame. If you like tsundere okamas then why not but I would have preferred a story actually centered on the heroine instead.
San's route is all about the protagonist's past. While obviously in terms of length the main route of the game, it was also the least satisfying because of so many convenient meetings and plot holes. I understand the desire to prolong things once the protagonist has recovered his memory but I felt this was far too long, and that was half skipping the text too... Other characters, even heroines, didn't get nearly as much time. The ending makes absolutely no sense since it implies San got pregnant from Haruto, something that completely shatters the whole idea of the setting in the first place, and wasn't even needed for the reunion!
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