Blackish house Side A

I know really well which type of games HoneybeeBlack releases, so when I’ve started playing Blackish house I was ready for some kind of violence and twisted characters.

And I was right!

First of all, this game is not as I imagined: I thought the plot would be more original and deeper, but it’s just a quite simple story about young actors who live together in the same house, basically. Of course, this is not an happy easy going game, so there are creepy people everywhere, various abuses and bloody scenes.

The first character I played was Madoka, and I admit his route was not bad, maybe even the most interesting. He looks like a playboy, but he’s actually a good person, so I enjoyed most of it. The reason behind his brother’s hate is quite unbelievable even for an otoge, so I had to pretend it made sense and just focus on him instead. But I can forgive this, because his ending were really good and even the bad ones were interesting! If you don’t want to see blood, then avoid his bads like the black plague. No, wait, avoid this game!

After him, I decided to play Tougo. He smelled like a yandere from a long distance, you can tell he has some kind of twisted personality just by looking at him…. so, I was ready to be locked somewhere, raped and all the worst I could imagine. Well…. he was maybe even worse than my expectations. His violence is more psychological than physical, and it really hurts, I felt sorry for the heroine at some point. And not only for her, but for all the other characters who had to suffer for his terrible sadistic attitude. The bad endings were actually not shocking, but predictable for this kind of character… I was even expecting something more, like mass murder or something like that! I’ve only liked him in Rei’s route, when his sadistic personality was actually put at good use… and it made me laugh so hard! His intentions were probably not good, as always, but the result was really entertaining and I felt like I could somehow hate him a little less, just for that scene.

Among all this terrible angst, Gou seems like an innocent angel. In fact, he’s really too pure compared to the others… when you enter his route, it feels like you’re suddently playing Starry Sky! It was a nice change, I really needed some funny moments after all that suffering. It was even too easy, I was expecting some bad plot twist just to make the heroine suffer as the others route, but it didn’t happen and that made me happy but also disappointed at the same time! Somehow, it felt out of place… like a route of another CERO B game, just put in Blackish house to make the game a little brighter.

The last character was Rei. Unfortunately, in the beginning his route was just irritating: not only his personality is really arrogant and rude, but there are also the typical butthurt bitches that bully the heroine, while she does nothing else than cry, obviously. At some point, thanks to my “good friend” Tougo, the route changed and it finally became really entertaining, I swear I was laughing like crazy! I wish it was like this from the start, or at least earlier. From that point, I’ve really started to enjoy it, and also Rei’s attitude got better. Seeing him embarassed, and his friends laughing at him, was really too much fun! The plot twist later in the route was also quite shocking, I didn’t know how to react… I guess his route is locked for that reason, it makes sense.

I still don’t know how I feel about Haruma, he seems nice but a bad ending ruined his image completely… even if it’s not that unpredictable. I wish I can play him in the near future anyway! He will probably be the last to unlock.

The other side characters look kind of shady, I don’t think I can trust anyone, but that’s what makes them worth playing in this kind of game.

I didn’t hate the heroine: I appreciated her positive side, she tried to overcome her issues as an actress, but most of the time she also lets the boys treat her badly (Tougo obviously being the worst offender), so I could feel pity for her only when she was abused, but not when she just did nothing to protect herself.

Would I recommend this game?

Well, it depends on the people I guess.  I enjoy dark themes and creepy characters, but it gets frustrating just sit here and watch the heroine take all this abuse and suffer.  Also, I wished the plot was deeper: there is only one great revelation in Rei’s route, the others are just about characters overcoming their mental issues. The final ending makes me think there’s also another overall plot behind everything, which still has to be unveiled in the next game, and I think it could be quite interesting. Among the angst, it was also funny sometimes, and the art is great, so there are many good reasons to give it a try.

I think I’ll play Side Z when it gets released, but I won’t be looking forward it expecting some kind of masterpiece.