It took me years, but I’m finally writing a review about my favorite otome game ever: Psychedelica of the Black Bufferfly.

I’ve always wanted to replay it, but my endless backlog somehow pressured me to take care of the unplayed stuff; when the localized version was released on Steam, I took it as a sign: I couldn’t wait anymore, I had to feel that blessing pain again.

When I love a game this much, I feel so emotionally involved it gets really hard for me, when I try to write something decent to describe my feelings: all I can think about is how much I loved the characters, the plot, the music and the art. But at this point it feels like some kind of sponsored review, where everything must look flawless. Which is absolutely false, of course.

Well, it’s not even a review, it’s just me crying over my feelings.

If you know my writing style, you’re aware already that I basically write my personal opinions every time, without even trying to be objective; it’s all subjective, you may disagree as you want.

But here’s my place, so forgive me if my feelings are overflowing and this review is completely useless for you, if you are unsure about Psychedelica and you still don’t know if it’s worth buying.

There are a lot of unforgettable scenes in this game and most of them are painful moments, so choosing only one to talk about is impossible. Also, it would end up being a list of huge spoilers.

But if I had to pick one of my favorite moments of this game, is the prologue.

I know, it’s a weird choice, since nothing memorable happens.

But the heroine’s sense of panic, frailty and unbearable fear when she first meets a “monster” was able to make me feel impressed even on my second gameplay: I think the director did an amazing job, to ensure the player feels involved and emphatic with the heroine as soon as the game starts.

The fact Beniyuri is voiced adds a lot to the character and I really admire her seiyuu, cause her voice contributed a lot to every scene: I could feel inside me all her emotions, from pain to fear and disbelief. My heart shattered with hers, when the truth was revealed.

I’m not always keen to voiced heroines, because I had terrible experiences (when an heroine gets a childish or annoying voice, I can’t empathize with her and I get so bothered I may even drop a game. I swear, I can’t even stand her face anymore), but in this game it was really a perfect choice.

I want to keep this review as spoiler free as possible, so I won’t talk about individual routes or characters: basically everything is a spoiler in this game and I want to to keep it safe.

The common route is long, it covers at least ¾ of the game, because there are a lot of side scenes with random happenings or flashbacks.

Even if they don’t seem to contribute to the story’s progress, they are necessary to understand the truth about the house and the characters: all of them are hiding something terrible inside and they need to overcome it and accept their past mistakes, to be free again.

Yamato was probably my favorite and I hated to see him suffer that much. Still, I can’t deny he must blame himself for a lot of painful events.

I guess you could say no one is guilty, but not even completely innocent in this game.

Tragedy happens for various reasons and sometimes stupid choices, even if made out of curiosity, stubbornness or little jealousy, lead to tragic results no one could predict.

I’ve seen many people complaining because there’s not enough romance and it can barely be considered an otome.

I agree, but it didn’t bother me at all: the plot was so good, it made me feel so many different emotions, I wouldn’t change anything. I felt so much love in some routes, mixed with sorrow and despair, it gave me goosebumps I’ve never remotely felt with any happy ending of more popular games. Pushing too much forced romance in such a sad plot would ruin the whole concept. If you want your games funny and cute, just look somewhere else, there’s plenty of games you can play!

But if you want to live a deep story of friendship, repent, eternal love, sorrow and tears, Psychedelica of the Black Butterfly will pierce your heart.