- Oct 4, 2015
- 686
- 201
As quiet as always in here... not that it's going to stop me from commenting on what I play.
お嬢様は素直になれない : I read a couple routes of the latest Ensemble. It's not bad, but as it follows the exact same template every time, reading routes back to back is actually more tiring than entertaining. This time the MC is a supposed bodyguard, except he doesn't really act much like one. In fact, neither he nor the other guards seem to take their jobs seriously, as they lack the suspicion and carefulness that you'd think would be required for the job. Leaving your boss wander alone without worrying, allowing seemingly complete strangers very close-by without a serious background check, causing trouble for you and your boss by repeatedly being drunk on the street... I'm not a celeb, and yet I would have fired these incompetents long ago.
Not that this setting makes any sense anyway. The MC is supposed to be a newbie, while his sister and childhood friend are confirmed veterans. Yet everyone treats him as the best guard around, asking for advice and listening attentively to his every word on the matter while they make stupid mistakes. I understand the desire to not make the MC feel like the underdog, but it just makes the premise lose any semblance of credibility it may have had. On top of that, the adversaries are really pathetic, so when the MC "wins" it feels like facepalming rather than applauding.
What remains underneath is your typical ojou-sama style romance kind of game, something I don't hate per se. In fact, the routes that downplay the guard duties of the MC are probably the best since they don't require such a suspension of disbelief. My favorite has to be Erika's, with a romance setup that was not too cringe-worthy and with difficulties that are coherent given the age of the characters. Rikka's route was your usual sister relationship, with a brocon heroine and a donkan protagonist. As for the others, I played up to their confession scene but no further : Natsuki the childhood friend guard was so full of openings it's a wonder she didn't get fired in the two years she had the job, Kuon's 時代劇 way of speech grows tiresome, and Miku as the playful senpai is just uninteresting.
Not a bad game, but to be perfectly honest, I wish they didn't feel the need to add the guard stuff on top. It stands out and doesn't make any kind of sense, and makes the game worse in the effort. Either do it properly or don't at all. If it weren't for Haruka Sora or Kotorii Yuuka performance I would probably have dropped the game far earlier.
おたマ！～おたく仲間はちっこいマニア～ : Looking for a funny game to relax in the evening, I tried this. It's a problem I felt already when playing スキとスキとでサンカク恋愛, but my lack of knowledge of the Otaku world apart from eroge just prevents me from understanding the references and jokes that are not painstakingly obvious. This game is no exception, and while I appreciate when characters are a bit "out there", it wasn't as funny as I would have hoped. It lacks the tension ASA Project games manage to convey even when the jokes are lost on the reader. I wouldn't recommend the game unless for die-hard otakus or loli fans.
In other news, SMEE announced their new game : Making * Lovers. The premise looks rather interesting this time : fall in love AFTER getting in a relationship. That's going against the usual flow of most games, as they usually start the relationship (and character route) with a grand confession scene.
I'm not sure how it'll turn out, but SMEE get points for as least picking my interest. I'd expect a rather short common route and having to chose your heroine early, which is fine with me as I tire of reading the same common route plot points over and over again. Five heroines this time, ranging from the usual little sister to older more adult characters.
Looks like they changed artists for both background and characters, with is a good thing. I particularly appreciate the lack of kyonyuu, even for the 28 y.o. onee-sama. They're everywhere these days and I just don't like when chests are so disproportionate.
New releases around the corner, so here's what you can probably expect me commenting on :
サクラノモリ†ドリーマーズ2 : A sequel to Moonstone's horror game. I haven't read much about how the story will fold out but I like the first one enough to go through this one as well.
景の海のアペイリア : I see people on EGS comparing this to Steins;Gate after playing the demo, and I would be delighted if they were right (they usually aren't). Still, worth a shot even though the ikemen perverted protagonist is somewhat of a turnoff.
That's it!
お嬢様は素直になれない : I read a couple routes of the latest Ensemble. It's not bad, but as it follows the exact same template every time, reading routes back to back is actually more tiring than entertaining. This time the MC is a supposed bodyguard, except he doesn't really act much like one. In fact, neither he nor the other guards seem to take their jobs seriously, as they lack the suspicion and carefulness that you'd think would be required for the job. Leaving your boss wander alone without worrying, allowing seemingly complete strangers very close-by without a serious background check, causing trouble for you and your boss by repeatedly being drunk on the street... I'm not a celeb, and yet I would have fired these incompetents long ago.
Not that this setting makes any sense anyway. The MC is supposed to be a newbie, while his sister and childhood friend are confirmed veterans. Yet everyone treats him as the best guard around, asking for advice and listening attentively to his every word on the matter while they make stupid mistakes. I understand the desire to not make the MC feel like the underdog, but it just makes the premise lose any semblance of credibility it may have had. On top of that, the adversaries are really pathetic, so when the MC "wins" it feels like facepalming rather than applauding.
What remains underneath is your typical ojou-sama style romance kind of game, something I don't hate per se. In fact, the routes that downplay the guard duties of the MC are probably the best since they don't require such a suspension of disbelief. My favorite has to be Erika's, with a romance setup that was not too cringe-worthy and with difficulties that are coherent given the age of the characters. Rikka's route was your usual sister relationship, with a brocon heroine and a donkan protagonist. As for the others, I played up to their confession scene but no further : Natsuki the childhood friend guard was so full of openings it's a wonder she didn't get fired in the two years she had the job, Kuon's 時代劇 way of speech grows tiresome, and Miku as the playful senpai is just uninteresting.
Not a bad game, but to be perfectly honest, I wish they didn't feel the need to add the guard stuff on top. It stands out and doesn't make any kind of sense, and makes the game worse in the effort. Either do it properly or don't at all. If it weren't for Haruka Sora or Kotorii Yuuka performance I would probably have dropped the game far earlier.
おたマ！～おたく仲間はちっこいマニア～ : Looking for a funny game to relax in the evening, I tried this. It's a problem I felt already when playing スキとスキとでサンカク恋愛, but my lack of knowledge of the Otaku world apart from eroge just prevents me from understanding the references and jokes that are not painstakingly obvious. This game is no exception, and while I appreciate when characters are a bit "out there", it wasn't as funny as I would have hoped. It lacks the tension ASA Project games manage to convey even when the jokes are lost on the reader. I wouldn't recommend the game unless for die-hard otakus or loli fans.
In other news, SMEE announced their new game : Making * Lovers. The premise looks rather interesting this time : fall in love AFTER getting in a relationship. That's going against the usual flow of most games, as they usually start the relationship (and character route) with a grand confession scene.
I'm not sure how it'll turn out, but SMEE get points for as least picking my interest. I'd expect a rather short common route and having to chose your heroine early, which is fine with me as I tire of reading the same common route plot points over and over again. Five heroines this time, ranging from the usual little sister to older more adult characters.
Looks like they changed artists for both background and characters, with is a good thing. I particularly appreciate the lack of kyonyuu, even for the 28 y.o. onee-sama. They're everywhere these days and I just don't like when chests are so disproportionate.
New releases around the corner, so here's what you can probably expect me commenting on :
サクラノモリ†ドリーマーズ2 : A sequel to Moonstone's horror game. I haven't read much about how the story will fold out but I like the first one enough to go through this one as well.
景の海のアペイリア : I see people on EGS comparing this to Steins;Gate after playing the demo, and I would be delighted if they were right (they usually aren't). Still, worth a shot even though the ikemen perverted protagonist is somewhat of a turnoff.
That's it!
