After my bad experience with More Blood, I decided to give up Diabolik Lovers for a while: I didn’t play Vandead Carnival and it was a good idea, probably, because the reviews are terrible.
When Dark Fate was announced, I wasn’t very interested; but then the curiosity to try the new characters won over rationality, and I’ve bought this game too.
I’ve realized immediately that it’s very different from More Blood: there’s less violence and the characters seem to care about Yui as a person, finally.
Overall, the psychological and physical abuse decreased, because they act less sadistic and selfish; well, almost everyone.
This time, I’ve decided to start from Laito.
I can’t believe he stopped calling her “bitch chan”, it was about time to use her real name!
Also, I’m glad to see that this route was coherent with More Blood’s endings, I couldn’t stand to go back to the old times, when he kept thinking about Cordelia and thought all women were toys.
Even Kanato’s attitude improved in this game, I finally could enjoy his route: he never told Yui that she should die, that’s a miracle! Somehow he grew up a bit and stopped acting always like a spoiled brat.
I was glad to play my tsundere Subaru again, all the random anger that made him so violent in the previous game almost disappeared; I appreciated to know more about the relationship with his mother, even if the ending made me really sad.
His route was very good, there was everything: romanticism, sadness, emotions, tragedy… everything I needed!
Reiji had a good character development too: he finally got rid of his inferiority complex and realized that his father didn’t love Shu more than him.
But what about Beatrix? We know everything about Cordelia, and also about Christa. I don’t get why there are so little information about her, I’m interested!
Instead, I unfortunately met Cordelia in Ayato’s route.
She was way better in this game, and I’m glad that she acted like a mother at least once, but… I don’t care anymore about her tbh.
At least, Ayato was not violent and sadistic as in More Blood, or I swear I would have dropped his route this time, for real.
Yuma’s route was perfect, I loved every single moment! He finally discovered the truth about his past, and it made me really emotional… he’s such a good boy, he deserves to be happy.
I can’t believe that finally Rejet gave him a truly happy ending, it felt too good to be true.
Ruki’s route was disappointing.
I was hoping to see some kind of strategic battle, but it was mostly angst and his feelings of guilt towards Karlheintz. This is understandable, Ruki carries an heavy responsibility and he doesn’t want to betray his benefactor, but it was quite boring.
Suddenly, he completely changed his mind and decided that he wanted to be honest with his feelings and admit his love for Yui… I don’t know, the writing had some problems here.
Azusa’s route had the opposite problem: too many things happening so fast, and some of them were unexpected and shocking! It was nice to see him actually doing something, instead of just being a do-m and watching his brothers do everything; but his attitude changed too much, he seemed like a different person! It was probably for Yui’s sake, to protect her, but still creepy.
Finally, I decided to give a try to the new characters.
Shin was less violent than I imagined, his route wasn’t that bad; of course, he doesn’t have any feeling towards Yui in the beginning, so he acts too rudely (I even had some kind of More blood flashbacks).
His relationship with his brother was interesting, there were so many mixed feelings that I couldn’t help but wonder what he’s actually thinking about him. Hate? Respect? Revenge? I’m still not sure.
Carla was disappointing and quite rage inducing.
I was waiting for some great revelations, but his route was just random violence… I got really bored. It made me remember Ayato’s route in More Blood, and that’s the worse I can think of in otoge’s history! (well, maybe not… but you get the idea)
I liked the Tsukinami’s background, but the routes seemed almost useless to me… I think it’s a big waste, they could be very interesting!
I left Kou and Shu for last, because they are my favorites and I had great expectations.
Kou’s route was probably the best of the game, everything was perfect! There was the right amount of angst, regret, pain… and finally, happiness.
I think Kou has the saddest past of them all, that’s why seeing him happy makes me feel good too!
I only have a complaint: in the good ending, everything gets solved too easily, and the Tsukinami seem to disappear without any battle… why?! This happened in many routes, not just in Kou’s.
Deus ex machina, anyone?
Shu’s route was nice, but nothing compared to the first game.
I’m not disappointed, but not even satisfied: it feels like the writers didn’t put too much effort because he’s already popular enough.
Well, at least they didn’t ruin him, maybe I should just be happy about it!
Do I recommend this?
For those who love Diabolik Lovers, yes!
If you survived More Blood, (and even Vandead Carnival) this will be a really nice game: the writing really improved, the violence decreased and the plot was interesting in almost every route.
Sometimes I feel like Karlheintz is the real main character of the series: he planned and predicted every move, and he seems to be like some kind of god.
I can’t hate him after all, you can clearly see his love for the Mukami and for his sons too.
Kou and Subaru got the best routes, but Yuma’s got the best ending for sure!
Shin was an interesting surprise, Azusa’s route was shocking and Carla was the biggest disappointment of the game.
I won’t review Lunatic Parade: it was just a mediocre FD, I don’t even know what I should write about it. But I’m going to buy Lost Eden for sure!
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