- Oct 4, 2015
- 686
- 201
Hey guys, it's been a while, I hope everyone's alright. I'm fine and still playing VNs, as usual one route or two here and there but there's been an exception lately and that's hibiki-work's latest return to the xCation series after more than three years of absence, with Re CATION ~Melty Healing~. I actually finished it, which is rare enough to be worth pointing out. As a fan of the xCation series from early on, I was very eager to see if hibiki-works would manage to make a return to the spotlight, so there's going to be a lot of comparisons to previous games in the series. Overall, I feel this is one of the cheapest entries, not quite on the level of PrettyxCation 1 bare-bone and rushed story but generally speaking it feels like there's a lot missing that I was expecting from a game bearing the Cation name.
Mechanics-wise, the game trimmed a lot from the series familiar gameplay elements. Cation games have always had a rather involved stat management/item collection mini-game that did more than influence whose heroines route the protagonist goes on to, but actually went further by unlocking specific events with the right stats/items, all the way to adding variation to H-scenes depending on a variety of parameters (again, items, stats, affection level). It was possible to play the game on Easy and largely ignore the stats requirements but I still really enjoy when games give an incentive for carefully reading the text and listen to the heroine's lines, to look for hints on where to go, what item to collect, and get rewarded with a little something in return. Niiduma LovelyxCation's foray in random events was a bit of a mistake, but enough about that, because all of it is gone. Poof! Re Cation features only a generic choice based, very obvious journey, with little to no replay value, no hidden things to hunt for. I guess this is a sign of the times, nobody cares about actually playing the games and just wants the rewards immediately. Cation games have also always featured a rather extended Lovely Call system, which is a way for the heroines to say whatever name you want during some of the voices lines. Alas, hibiki-works has made zero progress since Niiduma, with said name being read separated from the rest of the sentence ("*name*..., let's do x") and in a slightly different tone, making it feel forced and unnatural most of the time. It seems that there's going to be one append story in August featuring swimsuits, but nothing further has been announced so far, so the Cation games tradition of numerous appends is probably gone as well.
As far as the story goes, it's very close to the latest entry, 新妻LOVELY×CATION. In both games, the protagonist is a young working adult, this time he starts to work in a new branch office, is thrown in a position of responsibility and gets to meet a few girls along the way. I like that for once the protagonist's job doesn't involve the usual eroge professions (writer, cook, inn/cafe manager, sales rep), and I felt a little closer to him as we both work(ed) in IT in a consulting firm. Heroines are a different story, with some more or less forced encounters and interactions, especially with Haru, which revolve on one of the game's biggest problem in my eyes : the time-frame. It's typical in stories involving working adults who don't have a lot of free time and no good excuse to be together, but things have to move very fast and I can count the number of times the protagonist met each of the heroines on one hand before the common route is over and it's time to make a choice. I was not a fan of the way this choice was introduced, stemming from the rather negative feelings of an overworked protagonist who wonders "who don't I want to see sad" rather than "who do I want to see happy". Thankfully our protagonist is quickly and forcibly saved from his woes by his heroine of choice (regardless of personality/circumstances), who goes on to nurse him back to health and give a few life advice along with other questionable behavior (especially for single women with no romantic experience), leading him to quickly confess after getting better. For two of the three heroines this leads to immediate sex, while one takes a little longer, but for all of them the ecchi is initiated from the heroine's side. From there on out it's mostly smooth sailing with tons of sex, a few dates, and very few further plot developments all the way to a very similar ending for all three of the heroines. Overall, this felt like the plot of part 1 of 新妻LOVELY×CATION, except with lots of sex, and with everything tightly packed in a couple months rather than a whole year.
Let's delve further in the heroines themselves :
The art is pretty good but for a full-price game with only three heroines felt a little short quantity-wise (25CG each), especially as a few CGs consist of simple close-ups of standard character sprites. Unfortunately this game has neither Niiduma's Iizuki Tasuku art or e-mote integration going for it, and the heroines all share rather similar proportions (big boobed long haired) which makes it hard for them to feel unique and memorable. Music is okay and so is sound, mostly unremarkable for no bad note either. The CV do a pretty good job but it's not my favorite cast either, and this isn't really the game to push their talent to the max, although Riho's change from business-like voice to game commentary is quite impressive.
Overall, hibiki-works makes an okay return to the Cation series, having trimmed a lot of of its identity in the process, to deliver one of its cheapest, most generic entries. I hope the game does well and they manage to resurrect the series further but I really wouldn't count on it making a full comeback. As it stands, Re Cation : Melty Healing is arguably inferior to Niiduma Lovely x Cation in every way, and isn't speaking much about hibiki-works ability to improve on the formulae.
Mechanics-wise, the game trimmed a lot from the series familiar gameplay elements. Cation games have always had a rather involved stat management/item collection mini-game that did more than influence whose heroines route the protagonist goes on to, but actually went further by unlocking specific events with the right stats/items, all the way to adding variation to H-scenes depending on a variety of parameters (again, items, stats, affection level). It was possible to play the game on Easy and largely ignore the stats requirements but I still really enjoy when games give an incentive for carefully reading the text and listen to the heroine's lines, to look for hints on where to go, what item to collect, and get rewarded with a little something in return. Niiduma LovelyxCation's foray in random events was a bit of a mistake, but enough about that, because all of it is gone. Poof! Re Cation features only a generic choice based, very obvious journey, with little to no replay value, no hidden things to hunt for. I guess this is a sign of the times, nobody cares about actually playing the games and just wants the rewards immediately. Cation games have also always featured a rather extended Lovely Call system, which is a way for the heroines to say whatever name you want during some of the voices lines. Alas, hibiki-works has made zero progress since Niiduma, with said name being read separated from the rest of the sentence ("*name*..., let's do x") and in a slightly different tone, making it feel forced and unnatural most of the time. It seems that there's going to be one append story in August featuring swimsuits, but nothing further has been announced so far, so the Cation games tradition of numerous appends is probably gone as well.
As far as the story goes, it's very close to the latest entry, 新妻LOVELY×CATION. In both games, the protagonist is a young working adult, this time he starts to work in a new branch office, is thrown in a position of responsibility and gets to meet a few girls along the way. I like that for once the protagonist's job doesn't involve the usual eroge professions (writer, cook, inn/cafe manager, sales rep), and I felt a little closer to him as we both work(ed) in IT in a consulting firm. Heroines are a different story, with some more or less forced encounters and interactions, especially with Haru, which revolve on one of the game's biggest problem in my eyes : the time-frame. It's typical in stories involving working adults who don't have a lot of free time and no good excuse to be together, but things have to move very fast and I can count the number of times the protagonist met each of the heroines on one hand before the common route is over and it's time to make a choice. I was not a fan of the way this choice was introduced, stemming from the rather negative feelings of an overworked protagonist who wonders "who don't I want to see sad" rather than "who do I want to see happy". Thankfully our protagonist is quickly and forcibly saved from his woes by his heroine of choice (regardless of personality/circumstances), who goes on to nurse him back to health and give a few life advice along with other questionable behavior (especially for single women with no romantic experience), leading him to quickly confess after getting better. For two of the three heroines this leads to immediate sex, while one takes a little longer, but for all of them the ecchi is initiated from the heroine's side. From there on out it's mostly smooth sailing with tons of sex, a few dates, and very few further plot developments all the way to a very similar ending for all three of the heroines. Overall, this felt like the plot of part 1 of 新妻LOVELY×CATION, except with lots of sex, and with everything tightly packed in a couple months rather than a whole year.
Let's delve further in the heroines themselves :
Riho seems like your standard career woman but she has a secret life as a twitch broadcaster, except she only gathers single digit viewers count and streams retro games. I like that they didn't make her a famous and popular net personality and kept it small. As luck would have it our protagonist is one of her regular viewers, which made them closer as they shared discussions about older games and such after he confronted her about it. Of course, even though she's very good at games and our protagonist haven't played in years, he can still easily beat her but whatever. As a result of their relationship she completely abandons her broadcasting hobby which was quite the letdown, saying that she just wanted someone to enjoy games with and now she has a real-life partner so she doesn't need twitch anymore. Feels bad for her other regulars but okay. She teaches the protagonist her own way to relax, spending their free time without worrying about making the most out of it and just doing whatever they feel like, which turns out to be mostly sex and games. This relaxed feeling continues all the way to the end, with a few happenings in between but nothing too serious, culminating in a spontaneous marriage proposal that felt more induced by their surroundings (mostly Riho's boss) that an actually desire or thought-out decision but I guess this fits the couple's way of life.
Haru is an university student who also works multiple part-time jobs, in a small cafe-restaurant during the day and convenience story during the night. She's very friendly and cheerful, but she has troubles with technology, which created perfect opportunities for the protagonist to help with his IT know-how. Haru is probably the weakest character in the game, as her circumstances as an university student makes it hard for her to fit into the overall theme. This is a game about our protagonist being pandered and 'healed' from his stress and overwork and Haru, given her young age, is not in the best place to be giving life advice and take care of him as much as the other two. So the game decided that to compensate for that, she would be the perverted one of the group, accepting of the protagonist's own perversions, especially his obsession with smells. Apart from that, she is mostly completely guided by the protagonist who even goes on to find her a job at his company. She doesn't seem to have any passion or ambition apart from supporting her family, and is ready to follow the protagonist wherever he will lead her. This point is pushed further by the multitude of references to her dog-like behavior, which I found rather rude. She has a bit of an issue with her relationship with her sister but the situation essentially solves itself, and once again the game finishes with a marriage proposal that felt more spontaneous than anything.
Hinako is the landlord of the protagonist, who just finished major renovation of her childhood home and is looking for new tenants, our protagonist happening to be the first. She's new to the landlord life, and thus can be a little more intrusive that our protagonist would expect, but of the three I find she is probably the best match for our protagonist in how forceful she can be with him. Our protagonist is clearly looking for a support rather than a partner, a mom rather than a wife, and she fits the bill perfectly with excellent cooking and homemaking skills, complete with an experience in DIY renovation (please no more drill sounds, I beg you!). Her story progression felt the most natural of the three, as she's in the best position to see the protagonist slowly slipping into overwork and is there to nurse him back to health when he needs it. The romantic progression also happened to be my favorite of the three, with less rushing to sex and more events in between. This stays true for the entirety of the route, and is probably the only one in which the marriage proposal is actually a bit thought out before being made: the apartment had trouble looking for tenants, but Hinako has a deep emotional attachment to the building and don't want to let go, so the solution our protagonist found is to turn it into a school dormitory. Problem is, he would need to move out since he's not a student, and Hinako doesn't want that, unless there's another way for him to keep living there after it turns into a dorm..? Of course! Let's get married! I'll admit this isn't the most romantic of reasons but the simple fact that there IS a reason puts it far above the other two.
Overall, hibiki-works makes an okay return to the Cation series, having trimmed a lot of of its identity in the process, to deliver one of its cheapest, most generic entries. I hope the game does well and they manage to resurrect the series further but I really wouldn't count on it making a full comeback. As it stands, Re Cation : Melty Healing is arguably inferior to Niiduma Lovely x Cation in every way, and isn't speaking much about hibiki-works ability to improve on the formulae.
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