Categoria: otoge reviews Page 3 of 14

After literally 3 years since its conclusion, here I am, finally playing Code Realize Hakugin no Kiseki (or Wintertide Miracles, if you’re more familiar with the english title) and completing the Code Realize series.

When a localisation is announced, if I already own the Japanese copy of the game, I usually rush to play it, so I can avoid spoilers when the english version is released: you know, no matter how much you mute words or people, inconsiderate players will always spoil something on a social media.

But this wasn’t the case.

I’ll be honest: Shukufuku no mirai (or Future Blessings, if you prefer) was a huge disappointment and I had no excitement to play the 3^rd game, so I just waited without caring at all.

But when December started, since around the city there wasn’t a Christmas feeling at all for obvious reasons, I felt the desire for something which reminded me of “normal” Christmas holidays and happy moments. That’s why, after 3 years, I’ve started Hakugin no Kiseki.

The “triangle date” section allowed me to have nice dates with 2 boys at the same time: it’s an original idea, I enjoyed the different vibes you feel depending on the pairing you choose.

My favorite was probably the couple Lupin-Fran, but it’s really impossible to pick just one scene!

Then, there’s an “if story” section, which follows a similar pattern in every route: it’s almost Christmas, the group is separated because they went for different paths after the events of the first game. The guy you choose to play thinks about Cardia, so he decides to hold a Christmas party inviting all the friends.

My favorite was Saint Germain: Omnibus gave him a long vacation from Idea, which was absolutely deserved; he felt lonely (as usual, poor guy), so he wrote a letter hoping to rejoice the group. I can’t help it, I know I’m biased, but after all these years I still think he’s the best match for Cardia, they are so adorable together!

Anyway, I admit that Fran got the most beautiful CGs, the kiss was breathtaking, I was literally screaming inside at that scene!

Sholmes’ After Story was my favorite, it was very romantic and I completely fell for him, he’s such a prince charming! I know, I’m easy to please, but his proposal made me fangirl even too hard.

He ended up being my 2^nd favorite character of the series (after Saint Germain), so I’m glad he got some recognition at least in this game; now there’s nothing more I need, I’m completely satisfied.

Finis’ route was great too, the last scene made me emotional!

After I was done with individual routes, I went for the new story, Cantarella.

At first I thought it was some kind of adaptation of the Phantom of the Opera, since there’s a creepy masked guy who goes around kidnapping young singers, just to make them sing for him.

The story turned up being way deeper, since it involves Cardia’s past and Isaac’s experiments.

It was sad and weird at the same time, some scenes were actually hilarious too, so it’s a mix of contrasting feelings; what I can say for sure, is that I’d definitely play a game with Cantarella as the heroine. This girl has been through a lot of struggle, she’s delicate but strong at the same time, her attitude is really something!

When all the routes are completed, some After Stories with the main guys unlock: it was emotional, seeing the classical wedding scene or their married life; it was my favorite part of the game, it felt like the last goodbye of this great journey.

So, would I recommend Code Realize Hakugin no kiseki (or wintertide miracles, as you prefer)?

Absolutely, yes! This game had everything I needed, there’s not much more I could ask for (unless it becomes CeroD, but I guess it’s not the case).

I recommend it to everyone who enjoyed the first game, and even to people like me who were disappointed by Future Blessings. This is how a fandisk should be!

It’s time to say goodbye to this series and amazing characters without regrets.

Cupid Parasite has been loved immediately after its release, so I had to play it as soon as I could! Honestly, I expected it to be a great candidate as my favorite game of the year, even before receiving my own copy. Were my expectations fulfilled?

Absolutely yes!

The heroine, whose name is Lynette, works as a bridal adviser, but she hides a huge secret: she’s actually the famous god Cupid!

After many failures, while trying to make people fall in love and have an happy marriage, she decided to descend among humans and try a different method.

To obtain a promotion at work, she’s assigned to 5 guys who are literally hopeless: if she can help those people finding a wife, it will be a huge step forward for her career.

But why are those ikemen still single? Why are they called “parasite”?

Let’s talk about Heartbreak Parasite, Gill.

He’s madly in love with a girl, who never realized his feelings; whenever he meets other women, and they ask for his ideal type, Gill starts talking immediately about “her”.

Obviously, no one would ever date someone who keeps talking about another girl, it’s irritating!

Who is that mysterious person? Well, you can imagine.

Gill is really sweet and devoted, he’s perfect husbando material; a bit creepy sometimes, almost obsessed, but still cute. I loved him, but I think the good ending of his route was “too much”, since his problems all solved too easily, it seemed a bit forced.

Then, let me introduce to you Status Parasite.

He’s the President of Cupid Corporation, but since everyone thinks he’s married already (but it’s a misunderstanding!), he keeps his identity secret.

At first I thought he could be boring, he’s too serious, but I realized immediately how wrong I was: actually, he’s so awkward and cute, I had so much fun watching his reactions!

He gets embarrassed easily, he’s not used to deal with women, since he spent most of his life working hard. It was nice, to see him gradually fall in love with Lynette: at first, he was some kind of robot who lived just for his job, but I’m sure he’ll become a good husband.

The weirdest one of the group, is probably Appearance Parasite.

Whenever he meets a girl, he describes her with a color: she needs to meet his beauty standards, or he won’t even be able to talk to her, let alone get married or date.

Apparently Lynette looks decent enough to be his bridal adviser, so they started hanging out.

Even if I liked the route overall, I admit I have mixed feelings towards him: I guess it’s because I’m not a person who cares about fashion or make up, so I felt personally attacked or even insulted sometimes. Whenever he was rude to ugly or average looking people (for his standards), I felt like he was talking directly to me; it’s not a good feeling, at all.

I’m not a person who self inserts in otome games, I’m glad Lynette was that beautiful, but watching them fall in love made me feel distant and even lonely: I couldn’t help but think that he wouldn’t even talk to me, in real life. Which is stupid, since he doesn’t even exist, but maybe you get what I’m trying to say. He was really cute when he admitted his feelings, I think I could have enjoyed his route a lot more, if he wasn’t so unnecessarily rude to random girls.

Hobby Parasite, Raul, is next.

He’s so obsessed with his weird hobby of collecting gods’ stuff, that he keeps talking about them without control, creeping out every woman who is attracted by his beautiful eyes. He’s an actor who has many fans, but he can’t truly fall in love.

I was ready for a comical route, but reality was way different from my expectations; even if the last part was nonsensical as I expected, for the most part his relationship with Lynette was filled with “mature” situations which happened out of the blue!

He’s used to sleep around with other actresses, so sex isn’t serious for him.

Anyway, even if the building of their relationship was kinda weird, I still ended up enjoying a lot his route and also Raul as a person. I know how it feels, when you’re passionate about your hobby and people look at you as if you’re crazy!

Last but not least is Stolen Parasite, Allan.

He only likes girls who already have a boyfriend and he loses any interest when they fall for him; he loves stealing someone elses’ girlfriend, basically.

Before I started his route, everyone told me he’s the best boy of the game and I was really curious to know what’s so great about him; it took me just a few minutes to understand why, but what surprised me the most, is that his route kept becoming better and better, the more I played and the more I fell for him! I don’t want to spoil, but he’s really… special. It feels like it’s the best ending of the game, I suggest you to have self control and play him last, or you won’t be able to fall for other boys, trust me. I’ll just stop here, I don’t want to ruin other players’ experience, but you can really look forward to it. It almost made me cry.

There’s also a secret route which unlocks last, but I don’t want to spoil, so I’ll leave the mystery for you to unveil; I guess it’s pretty obvious anyway.

So, did I enjoy Cupid Parasite?

Yes, but I also have mixed feelings.

I had a lot of fun, but somehow I wasn’t blown away as I expected, it was great but not a masterpiece; or so I thought, until I played Allan’s route, that’s another story and it’s really a rollercoaster of emotions. I’d recommend Cupid Parasite to everyone, because overall it was enjoyable and I can’t find anything wrong with it, this game has a good writing and many comedy gold moments. I feel like some characters were a bit lacking, but maybe it’s just me. Allan is worth it all, so if you’re still wondering what to do, buy it for him, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.

This is my last game of 2020, so my next post will be my Otome Games Awards!

When I first started playing Tlicolity Eyes 1, I wasn’t expecting to fully complete this game: I’ll be honest, Episode 3 looked the least interesting to me, since I’m not into shota, idols or otoko no ko.
But I enjoyed so much Episode 1, that I ended up buying Episode 2. At that point, why not completing the full game? So here we are!
Even if my expectations were low, I admit I was wrong, really wrong; I’m glad I decided to give this a chance, since it was very entertaining, cute and way sexier than I expected, considering the guy’s young age.
The heroine is Aoi, a 25 years old manager, who takes care of Kou, a promising young idol.
She’s older than the standard heroine’s age, which I really appreciate, since I can better relate to her feelings and worries; I personally wouldn’t date a 6 years younger boy in real life, but I understand her struggle and I enjoyed living these emotions through her.
I guess Otomate is realizing that otome gamers’ average age is rising, so they wanted a more mature heroine; this is welcomed!
Her powers are the same as the previous episodes’ heroines, which is basically improving other people’s skills of any kind; but when she does it, the guy falls in love with her for a few minutes, trying to seduce her.
Let’s talk about the dateable boys, Kou and Yuu.
They are twin idols, who usually work separated, since they are not in the best relationship possible.
Kou pretends to be a sweet and happy guy to attract fans, but he’s secretly a spoiled tsundere, who is in desperate need of attentions from Aoi.
He’s obviously in love with his manager from the start, since he gets mad when she refuses to talk immediately about her private matters with him. Also, he forbids Aoi to use her powers in front of other males, since he’s scared she could be in danger for the side effects.
He tries to appear distant and cool at first, I guess he wants to be more mature because he’s afraid of the age gap; well, it doesn’t work, his true feelings are obvious.
His confession came pretty soon and it was a nice surprise: I was prepared for a slow burn route full of misunderstandings, but he made his feelings clear, there was no escape.
I felt sad when she rejected him, but having a relationship with an idol, who is also way younger, is not easy; I can’t blame her.
Aoi realized her feelings slowly, when Kou decided to change his attitude to become more serious and diligent: I appreciate this kind of development, it felt natural.
Kou’s confidence is really dangerous, I started feeling attracted too!
Overall, it was a great route, I enjoyed every moment of it.
Yuu has a completely different attitude.
He’s mostly disguised as a girl, since being mysterious and ambiguous is the charm that attracts his fans: everyone knows he’s a male, but apparently they love seeing him dressed up as a doll.
In real life, he’s very straightforward and provocative, he enjoys teasing Aoi and watching her embarrassed reactions.
At some point, he said: “so, you’re weak for younger boys, aren’t you?” and for some reasons I felt personally called out.
I really loved to see him overcome his struggles, to find his true talent and his true self, without wearing a mask only to feel appreciated by others.
Then, the great ending: time for a love triangle with these twins!
I won’t lie, I enjoy this kind of situation since Brothers Conflict, so I was jiggling the whole time.

So, do I recommend Tlicolity Eyes 3?
Yes, absolutely!
Even if you’re not fond of shotas or idols, like me, don’t let their appearance fool you: their routes are really entertaining, I’m sure you’ll fall for both twins as I did.
Aoi is probably my favorite heroine of this series, I wish there were more older girls as female protagonists. Anyway, I played this game on PC in 3 separated episodes, but I highly recommend you to buy the Switch port and enjoy every route, these boys deserve it!

It took me really too long, but I’ve finally completed Twilight Line and I’m done with the Shiro to Kuro no Alice series! And I’m glad it’s over.

I enjoyed a lot the first game, but somehow I’ve waited for 2 long years to actually start the fandisk; well, it was a terrible idea.

Twilight Line offers you 2 different paths: the After Story and Another Line.

As you could expect, After Story starts after the 2 endings of the original game, from the Black World or the White World: this means, if you kinda forgot what happened there, you’ll find yourself lost, trying to figure out what’s going on for a few minutes, until you somehow remember it.

It’s not nice, but totally my fault for waiting so much.

I won’t talk about individual routes, but I’ll just say that it was overall mediocre: just a few scenes made me laugh, or they were cute enough to get my attention; the rest was boring to death.

The most interesting was probably Jack, but I enjoyed Snow and Kanon too.

Rain had the “touching bunny ear” scene that probably saved the route, I admit I ended up liking him more thanks to the fandisk, which is a miracle since I straight up disliked him before.

The worst to sit through was Minette, I don’t really know who thought the “I miss you but I can’t meet you” theme was good for a fandisk, it really doesn’t make sense to me.

Come on, let them go on dates if you’re out of better ideas, I can’t spend 1 hour or even more watching them complaining about being distant!

Another Line was probably the part where the writers put the most effort, since there are new characters and an actual decent plot.

I wish I could say it was interesting enough to make up for the lack of inspiration I could feel from the After Stories, but sadly, it wasn’t the case.

I was excited at first, to meet the new characters and see which kind of impact they could bring to the story, but I admit I was very disappointed: after you’re done with the first route, everything is the same, so it feels boring and annoying, to start all over with every route.

Rui was probably the best, at least his craziness allowed the writers to come up with a few bloody scenes and CGs: but when you realize you’re more interested in bad endings, instead of seeing the main characters happily in love, I guess it’s a failure as an otome game.

Kalmia could have been fascinating as a grown up and powerful magician, but having him around as a kid, basically cockblocking the heroine who wanted some romantic time with her boyfriend, made him so irritating, I just wanted to kick him out of the room every time.

So, would I recommend this game?

Obviously, I wouldn’t.

Boring scenario, useless new characters, the writers didn’t even try to make the After Stories at least cute or romantic……. and the list goes on.

The only good part is maybe the art, but it’s not enough to save such a disappointing mess.

I’m really sad, since I love Snow and Jack, they deserved more! At least they had the most decent treatment, but I can’t call that good, it’s just better than disasters like Minette’s route. Poor guy, I feel sorry for him.

You know I always try to be positive and find something good in every game, but it’s really hard sometimes; honestly, I just feel like I wasted my money, so I’ll try to sell it on ebay soon.

Olympia Soiree has been really hyped even before the release, probably because of the beautiful Satoi’s art and the interesting setting.

From the start, I had a feeling that Otomate put a lot of effort in this game, since the fantasy world built by the writers is shown and described in detail, which makes the immersion in this setting really deep and emotionally investing.

Even if the plot could seem basic at a first glance (the heroine has basically to find an husband once she turns 18, to have immediately children), it’s the organization of that island, that makes everything original and serious: since their birth, people are divided into groups based on “colors”, which have a different status in the society. It’s basically a caste system, with all the discrimination and implications you can imagine.

The heroine is mostly called Olympia, but her real name is Byakuya; she’s the only “white” left, with the power of saving the sun when it disappears. It’s necessary for the country, that she gives birth to other “whites”, before she dies and her color disappears completely.

So, her quest for the perfect husband starts!

Starting with Rikuu is the best, so I went for his route first despite having a bad impression, after meeting him a couple of times: his obsession for the purity of his Blue color kinda unnerved me, also he looked like a kuudere so no thanks.

I was really glad to discover that he’s actually a tsundere with no experience at all with women, since he can’t have a girlfriend and marry before he turns 30; he’s just awkward and easily embarrassed, which is a trope I always appreciate.

When he started melting I fell for him completely, he’s so precious, it’s impossible not to love him!

It’s a great start of the game, I highly suggest you to choose Rikuu first, too.

I went for Tokisada next.

Usually I’m not into shotas, so I wasn’t excited to consider him my future husband, but I admit I’m weak when they call me onee-san; you know, I’m kinda easy to please.

I was happily surprised when he had the guts to propose himself as an husband candidate, he was straightforward and that attitude always gets my respect. I like boys who come to me like: “give me a chance, I’m sure I’m the one for you”, I think they deserve at least a date.

Even if they are younger, confidence is the key.

Falling in love with his sweetness was easy, I think it was a perfect match for Olympia and her innocence. Wait, while we’re at it, let me spend my 2 cents for her.

Byakuya was a great heroine, given her situation and the misogyny that surrounds her since birth: her role in the world is to have children, she’s continuously reminded of that, but she also has a strong individuality and beliefs.

She hates discrimination and she actively helps people in difficult situations, while helping them communicate through letters. Also, despite her pureness, she takes the lead many times in the relationship, she doesn’t wait passively for the boy to take the first move on her.

Of course, she can’t change that system alone, we can’t expect her to make a revolution; but she tries, despite being born privileged, to help others without judging.

Sorry for this digression, we were talking about Tokisada, so let’s wrap it up: sweet person, cute interactions, great couple. Approved.

Kuroba was completely another story.

He’s a doctor, outgoing and flirty, always smiling and positive, even if his color is one of the most hated, the Black. Olympia fell for him really soon, I guess it was love at first sight, since she started with the typical “what is this feeling?” immediately when you enter his route.

I can’t blame her, Kuroba’s personality is really attractive, he’s confident and gentle.

At least, so he seems: I’ve learned a long time ago that games with a CeroD rating can hide something terrible of any kind, I can’t even fully trust main characters, let alone side characters.

This route had a very disturbing scene that came almost unexpected, I was very anxious for the poor Olympia; well, I’ve seen terrible stuff in years of gaming, nothing really shocks me anymore, but it was really something.

Overall it was a great route, even if it was very different from my expectations and somehow I couldn’t fall in love with Kuroba as I expected to.

Yosuga looks very suspicious from the very first moment you meet him: his attitude gave the the vibes of a manwhore, or at least a person who enjoys manipulating innocent girls like Olympia; even if I’m attracted to him, he’s not remotely the type I’d choose as a husband, if I were her.

But I was wrong, SO WRONG!

People usually say “don’t judge a book by the cover”, but I this case I’d say “don’t judge a character by the common route”, since it turned out completely different.

Yosuga is really sweet, he carries a painful burden and I was happy to finally see him relieved, leading an happy life. He went through so much, poor guy.

I started Himuka’s route very excitedly, since he was the character who looked the most interesting to me, when I first started playing.

He’s so shy and sensitive, my heart was breaking every time he referred of himself as an awful and dirty creature who would ruin Olympia’s purity.

This route unveils very important stuff, there’s no wonder it’s locked; some scenes were sad, I even thought I made a wrong choice, since the happy ending was tragic at some point, I was almost crying! But it was totally worth it, I loved it.

The main boy of the game is Akaza, whose route unlocks last: he’s highly respected for his status and job; his beautiful red eyes and red hair make him a great candidate as Olympia’s husband.

I didn’t like his attitude that much at first, because he coldly offered “to fulfill his duty” marrying the heroine, if she wasn’t able to find a man on her own, which is not exactly a romantic proposal.

But I admit it, I fell in love on the first date. His attitude changes completely, he becomes very charming, how can someone resist? I gave up immediately.

I can’t say more, his route was basically a massive spoiler, so I’ll just say how much I loved every single moment.

Would I recommend Olympia soiree?

Yes. Absolutely, yes!

This game had everything I could ask for: a great setting, a well written plot, interesting characters (I loved them all, which is rare), shady villains, angst, romance and even an emotional ending.

Separating from them will be hard, but I hope there’s still some chance for a fandisk, I’m not ready to end this story. Needless to say, I consider this one of the best games I’ve ever played; I’m even seriously thinking about putting it in my TOP10 favorite games of all times. I’ll think about it.

La storia della Arcana Famiglia has been in my backlog from ages, since I’ve seen the anime about 7 years ago, and the (italian) setting got my interest immediately; but somehow, my lack of romantic attraction for individual characters and the weird art style pulled me off for a long, long time.

But finally, the time to play it has come!

Let’s talk a bit about the overall plot: the heroine is called Felicità and she’s the only daughter of Mondo, who is in control of the organization which rules over Regalo.

Since Mondo is getting older, he decided to retire and give all his powers to the person who proves to be the strongest, fighting with their special superpowers (named after Tarot cards).

The winner will also marry Felicità, so she’s allowed to participate to the tournament and choose to be free, if she wins.

But before you get into fights, you can spend a lot of time with those boys, and I swear they are really funny! Most of the time, it seems more a comedy game than an otome.

Judging from the anime, my favorite was probably Debito; but I’m also weak to butlers, as you probably know, so I decided to start my journey with Luca.

It was a good choice.

Luca has been close to Felicità since her childhood, since he was assigned as her guardian from her very early days, even if he’s like 10 years older than her.

They lived separated from everyone else, as a family of three, with Mamma.

Their relationship was kinda ambiguous, since they obviously cared for each other a lot, but it wasn’t clear if they just loved each other as siblings, or something more romantic.

Their love confession happened at the very, very end, after the final duel, so it’s still difficult to me, to imagine them as a real couple; I hope the fandisk or the sequel will make up for this.

Libertà was a nice boy, very positive despite his difficult childhood and always ready to help his “father” Dante. Everything was fine, until I knew the truth about his parents.

I’m a person who doesn’t care much about incest or disturbing stuff in otoge, but the fact that no one cared about it the slightest, felt really weird: if this revelation had him doubt about his relationship and future with Felicità, I would probably be the one who tells him to follow his feelings anyway; but seeing how it felt normal and nobody cared, was really annoying and ruined my experience.

I was looking forward to Debito as the most interesting guy, his flirty attitude is my style!

But sadly, this game is really innocent and based mostly on friendship, so his sexiness couldn’t shine as he deserves: there were just a couple good scenes, but the game focused more of his hate towards Jolly. Well, everyone hates Jolly in this game. I hope a fandisk will give him more space to show his personality!

Nova was probably the nicest surprise: I wasn’t interested in a little brat with a tsundere attitude, but I ended up thinking that his blushing face was so cute, I couldn’t resist!

I can’t consider him as a love interest, but Felicità is really young too, so they are a good couple; for me, he’s more a cute little brother.

Jolly is the complete opposite problem: he’s way too old (I guess at least 45? maybe even 50?) and also creepy. He keeps hiding in his laboratory, making experiments even on children.

What a good husband candidate, for a 16 years old!

I understand that he’s still good looking and his mysterious attitude can be appealing, but… the age gap honestly made me uncomfortable, I can’t really understand how her father agreed to this.

Well, that’s the reason why I avoided Dante’s route like the black plague, I liked him as a father figure for Libertà and that’s how I want to consider him. Seeing him flirt with Felicità is going to ruin forever my image of him, I don’t need it thanks.

I tried to enjoy Jolly’s route without thinking about Felicità, he’s attractive enough for me and he looks 35 or 40, but there’s an ending when he said: “Luca, since I’m marrying Felicità soon, you should call her mother from now on” and I lost it at that point, I was completely disgusted.

A 29 years old who has a 16 years old step mother is too much, I really can’t take this.

I left Pace last to relieve my soul, since he’s usually happy, sweet and funny.

He says multiple times that his happiness comes from helping others and seeing their smiling faces, that’s why he keeps using his strength to protect the family and innocent people in the city.

Despite my admiration for his amazing personality, I couldn’t really consider him boyfriend material, but mostly a brother or a good friend: you know, sadly I’m mostly into bad guys, somehow I end up friendzoning the sweet ones. His obsession for lasagna had a part in this, too.

Surprisingly, his route ended up being quite serious and sad in the end, which left me a bittersweet taste, so maybe I wouldn’t recommend to follow my playorder.

But every character has some problem for different reasons, so it’s hard for me to give you good advice, it depends on what bothers you the most.

So, would I recommend this?

I don’t know. I really, REALLY don’t know.

Overall the game is funny, I liked the characters and their interactions, I felt like I was part of that family; but it feels like the writers had weird kinks and I don’t get why they were all included in a CeroB game which is actually really innocent. I can ignore the incest, since I enjoy the onii san trope, so I can pass on Nova being Felicità’s cousin; Libertà’s situation creeped me more, he’s Mondo’s grandson, which makes Felicità his aunt. But I could stand this, somehow I could.

Debito, Luca and Pace are way too old for a 16 years old, but they are still in their 20’s so it’s ok, I can stand this too.

But Jolly is Luca’s father, which makes him at least 45 years old, who thought it was legal and legit for him to marry a 16 years girl?! How could Mondo allow this?! It disgusted me so much, I decided to avoid completely Dante’s route, I couldn’t stand this anymore.

What’s up with the writer’s mind?! A few changes could have improved at least a bit this disgusting scenario, come on! First of all, Felicità should have been at least 18, that would have saved completely Debito, Luca and Pace. Let’s forget about Nova, let’s pretend it’s ok.

But what’s the point of Libertà’s incest relationship? He could have been just a childhood friend, or maybe Dante’s real son! Oh, of course Dante should not be playable, I can’t save his route in any way. And Jolly…… I don’t know, but at least make him 35 years old? It’s not necessary for him to be Luca’s father! There’s still a huge age gap, but if the heroine is at least 18, I can accept it.

I really think the writer loved those kinks and somehow he was allowed to put every perversion he/she had into this (apparently very innocent) game.

I really can’t tell why it went like this, it’s a pity since it was enjoyable, but those revelations ruined it all, in every single route. I guess they wanted a shocking factor? It worked, no doubt.

So, if you still want to play this game, keep in mind that it’s not innocent as it seems.

Since I enjoyed so much Tlicolity Eyes 1, I really needed to try at least Episode 2!

Even if it’s really simple and the plot is basic, this series is funny and romantic, which is good from time to time, among serious games with tragedies and blood.

This time, the heroine is called Natsume and she’s the assistant of a photographer, who aims to become a professional in this field.

Her special ability is the same as the first game’s heroine, she basically upgrades someone else’s skills; but when the effect is over, the target person falls madly in love with her for a few minutes, saying sexy and embarrassing lines.

At first, I couldn’t understand why Otomate decided to have 3 different heroines, if the concept and the setting are basically the same, but I’ve realized it while playing this game: a different heroine changes a lot the general atmosphere of the game.

It may seem obvious, but I didn’t realize how important it is, until I played Episode 2: here, there’s overall a more serious vibe, determined by the different approach of Natsume to the characters’ past and attitude towards her. Everything feels more “adult”.

It’s not only about age, it’s her personality and how it matches the characters.

Natsume can date 2 boys: a senpai from work, Yousuke, who is a great photographer, and a famous model, Wataru. Their personalities are the complete opposite!

Let’s start talking about Wataru.

He loves flirting with girls, he knows he’s handsome and popular; as soon as he meets Natsume, he teases her because she obviously isn’t experienced with men, and he gladly offers his help.

So yeah, even before entering his route, he asks her to live with him and admire his shining perfection, at day and night! I think I’ve never met such a straightforward person, not even in my wildest games.

I thought it was going to be all sexy and funny, but this route actually felt more serious and sad than I expected.

His special power is to remember everything he ever hears, so he can’t forget the trauma of his childhood, when he was bullied: every insult he received, will be carved in his mind forever.

This makes his confident appearance only a facade, since he’s actually fragile inside.

When he revealed this truth, he decided to move on and be more honest with the girls he dated in the past; here’s where this route became kinda weird, since he was doing those “simulation dates” with Natsume, just to practice and be perfect with other girls. What?!

I guess he couldn’t consider the heroine cute enough for him at first, but it was kinda annoying since she obviously had feelings for him at that point. Being friendzoned is awful.

But then, the otome games magic started working!

I loved when Natsume was trying to show his feelings and approach him, even if she had the attitude of a middle schooler.

Anyway, I liked Wataru, he’s a nice person, but I’m not sure they are a perfect couple: he’s too experienced with girls, while she’s way too innocent for her age, filling this gap is not easy.

Aesthetically, I think her photographer senpai looked better with her.

Yousuke is quiet and serious, you can tell from the start that he has a weak spot for the heroine, but showing his feelings is not easy for him. And she’s kinda dumb, let’s admit it.

He always tries to protect her, being even forceful at times; since they are not in a relationship, his attitude can seem too oppressive and almost yandere-ish, as if he wants to control every move she makes, at work and in private.

I can’t really blame him, since Wataru at first glance seems just a playboy, so I understand why Yousuke was trying to prevent Natsume from trusting him too much.

I have mixed feelings about him, in the end: he’s a good guy, but somehow I don’t like him as a partner. I don’t know why, he gives off creepy vibes.

When you’re done with the individual routes, as usual you can play the triangle route (well, you can basically call it threesome route), which gives you the chance to date both guys at the same time, pretending they are just friends.

So, did I enjoy Tlicolity Eyes 2?

I won’t lie, compared to Episode 1, this felt way more boring.

I mostly blame the heroine for being way too innocent for her age (come on, she’s 23!!) and also the overall atmosphere which was more serious and sometimes even angsty.

Since the originality (and the main point of the game) is based on the funny system, I don’t think a sad scenario fits the theme: I felt like there were less “Tlicolity Mode” situations compared to Episode 1, and some of them felt forced.

I can’t say it’s terrible, Wataru is a nice boy and Yousuke has his good points too, but there’s nothing really memorable about them or the game itself.

I don’t feel very motivated to play Episode 3 at this point, but we’ll see what happens!

The first time I’ve heard about the Toraware no Palm series was on twitter, about an year ago, when the original game was released on Switch: I thought the art was great, but since it was developed by Capcom, I was worried that it could be very different from the typical otome game I’m used to (I mean, basically a VN without minigames, missions, stuff like that) and I didn’t know if I could enjoy it too.

During quarantine, I was watching a random video of seyuu playing games, and I was mostly interested in KENN playing Bustafellows. What a surprise, when he also started playing Toraware no Palm Refrain! It looked really amazing, I was completely blown away!

I did a quick research, I read a few reviews, and since Refrain can be played without knowing about the original game, I decided to start from that.

A few months passed since that day, other games and stuff went in the way, but here I am, finally!

I don’t want to talk much about the story, I’m not here to spoil, so I’ll just talk a bit about the system and my experience.

You get to play as the heroine (no default name, I randomly called her Tsuki Yume), who finds a collapsed man (later named Chiaki) on the street; from that moment, you’re assigned to him while he’s in prison.

He’s detained because he could be a criminal, but he claims to have lost his memory.

Your role is basically to gain his trust, while you also investigate on your own.

You have to send him messages every day, make sure he’s fine and give him presents, to get closer to him; who knows, maybe he actually remembers everything, but he’s pretending to be innocent!

You have to explore various places (the more you progress, the more new places will open up) and talk to people who live there, so you obtain conversation topics.

You will also receive Chiaki’s phone calls from time to time; and even if it’s creepy, you are allowed to spy him from the jail’s security camera.

What makes the plot progress, is talking to him personally, when he starts to tell more of his life.

As you meet new people, you also get more clues that will solve the mystery.

But when you’re tired of “serious” stuff, there’s also a pocky minigame which is basically pure fanservice: you can decide which clothes he wears and he’ll cosplay for you saying embarrassing lines (I guess you can imagine me dressing his as a butler most of the time).

At some point, he literally gets closer to the screen and you almost kiss.

Yeah, that’s good stuff, everyone should try once!

There are also other special talks and phone calls, about romantic stuff like Valentine’s Day.

But I’ll warn you, Chiaki is too cute when he blushes, it may be painful for your heart.

I don’t think is necessary to talk about the amazing art, you have eyes too.

Since I wasn’t using a walkthrough, I was afraid I could end up in a bad ending; and honestly, at some point I thought it was going for the worst. But then, a sudden plot twist!

Apparently, I was lucky enough to unlock the best ending!

After you’re done with the first run, “endless mode” will be playable: you can talk to people in the island and Chiaki as long as you enjoy it, he will always answer your messages and people will always find something new to talk about.

There are also 2 cute Side Stories, which I enjoyed a lot.

So, would I recommend this game? Obviously yes! Absolutely YES!

I think every otome game player should try it, since it’s a different and unique approach to the genre. It’s weird and ridiculous to say, but…. he’s actually moving! Not only his mouth, his whole body is moving, getting closer to the screen and even touching it with his hand!

Which is stating the obvious, from the point of view of an outsider, but as a person who plays only otome games, it’s really different and worth mentioning.

Also, playing only a character, instead of different routes, creates a special relationship with the guy, which feels deeper and exclusive, since… well, I’m not going to kiss another guy later, it’s only him in this game. This is HIS story. The only datable guy.

I know, you’re probably thinking that you prefer to choose among 5 different characters, who’s your favorite, instead of just sticking to one; I understand, since I usually don’t prefer canon guys too, in normal otoge. But I guarantee, Chiaki is worth it.

Since I loved this system, the art and basically everything, I’ll surely buy the original Toraware no Palm too, in the near future. I guarantee, a review will come next year!