My new land

I know I decided to take a little break from blogging, but….. in the end, it hurts me to see this place abandoned, I love too much writing reviews and sharing opinions!

Some of my friends are interested in Trigger kiss, but never got to play it; mostly, because it was one of the first psvita otome games, and not everyone got it on release date. (I’m one of them, because I only bought it a few months ago).

I won’t write a detailed review, since I haven’t take notes while playing, but at least I want to share my overall thoughts.

This games has good points, but also bad ones; obviously, your opinion will change depending on your personal tastes, but for me it was “a nice game, which could have been a lot better”.

The positive sides are:

• An amazing heroine.

  Futaba alone saves this game, seriously; her reactions are priceless, she’s finally an heroine we can easily identify with! She’s strong, funny, and her attitude towards the boys is really rare to find in the otoge world.

• Comedy gold scenes.

  I wasn’t expecting less from the Glass heart princess team, they know how to make funny games and interesting characters.

• The art is beautiful.

  No need to explain this, just look at those colorful CGs! I’m personally a huge fan of this style, it fits the theme and the overall atmosphere of the game.

• You can actually put the touch screen at good use, and kiss with your lips! I know I’m not the only one who did it, don’t be ashamed….

• I liked all the characters, none of them was boring or useless. That’s pretty rare for me!

The negative sides are:

• The battle scenes are too long.

  I won’t lie, I was almost falling asleep sometimes. But maybe it’s just me, I’m not interested in action games and reading the descriptions of every little thing that happened bored me a lot, I wasn’t paying attention at all after a while.

• The lack of romance.

  This game is more about action, comedy and friendship.

  Obviously, the main characters fall in love in the end, but you can’t always feel a true relationship development, until they kiss in the very end.

• The choices.

  Instead of choosing an “answer”, you choose Futaba’s “mood”.

  It could be an interesting change, but…. I didn’t feel like I was actively doing anything to change the story.

• No bad endings.

  For someone it can be a relief, but for me it was disappointing; maybe it’s because I love bad endings and tragic stuff, but playing an otoge without being able to change the endings in any way makes me feel kind of useless as a player.

Someone complained about this game being too short, and it probably is, but I don’t see it as a negative point; I’m also happy that two side characters got a short route: maybe they deserved a long one too, but it’s still better than nothing.

I’d love to play a FD, because I think it could be a huge improvement: without annoying battles, the focus would finally be on romantic scenes or other funny moments, and it would be a great game!

Yamato is the one who deserves new scenes the most, it would be so good to see him embarrassed in romantic situations, he’s so cute when he blushes and I haven’t seen enough this side of him.

My favorite route was Mikado’s anyway, since he had a better character development and his relationship with Futaba was nice, because we could see their love growing naturally and not just randomly be shown in the end.

I don’t know if I’d recommend it, I think it just depends on the player: if you play games more for the comedy, or you are interested in actions themes, this is really good for you; but if you look for deeper plots or more romance, you are probably going to find this a bit boring.

It’s up to you!

I’ve always loved the Storm Lover series, even if it’s just a school themed otoge: the characters are always unique and the system is fun, so I really needed to try the 2^nd too!

The setting is exactly the same, but the events of this game happen about 3 years after the original one, with different students and teachers.

We also get to meet the “old” characters sometimes, who have now graduated and attend college.

I’ve played Yamato first, who is the optimistic an genki high school president: his story was weird but fun, as you can expect only by Storm lover; don’t ask for a plot that makes sense, just enjoy the awkwardness and the crazy stuff.

Kazuhisa’s route was different from what I expected: I thought he was going to be a bitchy shota, but it was also a yandere and quite abusive.

Shota, oresama, yandere and bitchy idol, all in one person… you can tell this is going to end up bad.

He also kept treating the heroine like a pet ant it irritated me a lot, how can you joke like that with your girlfriend? This is not funny! I was angry, but also somehow interested… (am I really that do-m??)

Makoto reminded me of Yuuto from Storm Lover Kai: rich, serious, reliable…. and he knew nothing about “normal people”, since he’s never been to a fast food.

I kept having dejavu of Yuuto, when he wanted to pay an ice cream with a check!

Makoto’s father was even more strict, but I appreciated to see him giving up the family business and pursue his dream, I was expecting Makoto to become a rich boss or a normal person, not an astronaut! Well, he was a genius anyway.

Koutaro was a great tsundere, his embarrassed face and cheesy romantic lines were awkward but really cute. He’s good at Kendo and always picks up fights, but he’s just a nice boy who enjoys playing with children and takes care of abandoned kittens.

The best route of the game for me was Riku, I wasn’t expecting those otaku funny scenes!

His reaction when he first went to Akihabara was similar to mine, like “woooo, I’m really in Akiba, that’s so cool!!” and when the heroine showed no interest in anime I was so disappointed….I still don’t get why. I mean, we should empathize with her, why they decided to portray her so different from the “typical” otome game player? It doesn’t make sense!

Haruto’s route would have been kind of plain, if it wasn’t for the facepalm and trolling I kept finding in the answer I could choose for his messages…. I could almost insult him, poor boy!

Anyway, this route should be focused on his relationship with his ill brother, but it was mostly about Haruto becoming a regular member of the basketball club.

I couldn’t help but think the whole time about his job as a host, which was showed sometimes and for weird reasons didn’t bother the heroine at all!

She even saw him with girls, but she apologized to him instead for disturbing while he was working……….. wtf?! This was so absurd, I just had a good laugh about it.

I don’t know, this route just felt like a troll one, but I don’t complain since it was actually funny.

Shiina is the only character who is in every Storm Lover game, and I admit I love his (terrible) attitude since the first time I met him!

Someone probably hates him, he’s difficult to handle, but at least he never gets boring; seeing him date both the heroines, I have to say I almost prefer the original one.

I don’t know why, since they are pretty similar (and they basically have no personality tbh), but when he was talking about his first love (obviously, the Kai/Natsukoi’s heroine), I felt nostalgic and even jealous. They were a lovely couple, even if he was a young brat back then!

Anyway, this concludes the Storm Lover series, and I have to say that I don’t really need another one. It was funny, the characters interactions were good, but… I’m getting too old for school games, and after years of gaming I prefer something with a deeper plot.

But if you’re looking for something funny, or you’re a japanese language beginner, I thing this series is overall nice and better than Starry sky.

Even if the heroines are different, I suggest to start from Kai, because in 2^nd there are a few references to the previous games; also, I think the originals were funnier.

Despite being a huge fan of Teita’s art, I didn’t buy Hyakka Hyakurou when it was released: I’m usually not interested in wafuu games, so I decided to skip it; but many of my friends played it immediately, and the reviews were good, so there was a part of me who secretly wanted to try it out.

The chance came when a localisation was announced, with the title Nightshade, so I had no excuses!

I’ve decided to play it in english and I don’t regret it: the translation seemed pretty good to me, I didn’t find any terrible typos or mistakes.

Following the advice of my friends, I’ve chosen a less suffering path, which would slowly take me to the most suffering route, but with some releaf in between.

I’m not brave enough to go for a gradual excalation of pain……………

I’ve played Hanzo first, who is a serious and loyal shinobi; I loved how the relationship with Enju developed naturally, without any forced scene.

Sometimes, when there are strong and older characters, the bad writing leads me to ask myself when and why the characters fell in love with each other; this was not the case!

I could feel their attachment grow day by day, and Hanzo’s heart gradually melted until he started to feel something which he never experienced in his life: love.

The plot was harsh and made me suffer a lot, but I appreciated how Enju made her final resolution and decided for herself, without leaving vengeance to someone else; she had to do it, and she didn’t hesitate. She’s a very strong person.

Choujiro’s route destroyed me emotionally, I cryed and got angry so many times…. but the ending made up for it, I never thought he could tell such sweet words.

I was a bit disappointed fot the first half of the route, because it took him long time to take a resolution and stand up for himself as a person, not only a shinobi; it made me sad, even if I obviously understood all the implications.

It’s just that….. Gekkamaru is perfect in every single route, not only in his own, and the others sometimes can’t compare…………..it’s not their fault, I blame Gekkamaru’s loyalty!

Anyway, Choujiro was a great character, I loved his relationship with Enju: they aren’t just lovers, they act like a family and trust each other since when they were little; they just didn’t know how to express their feelings properly.

After all this terrible suffering, Goemon’s route felt like a blessing.

His carefree personality, his flirty attitude, and most of all the lack of tragedy in his route helped me a lot to recover…. I somehow felt like I was playing an otome game again!

I also appreciated a lot his view about life: he told Enju that she’s living for herself, not for her village, and I firmly agree with that; there’s no need for this poor girl to sacrifice herself and become just a pawn in the politician’s hands!

I can’t believe I agreed with a thief, but I approved all this words and actions.

Kuroyuki shocked me in a good way: I suffered alot, but I loved his route the most.

I didn’t know he could be so sad and lonely, because he was hiding his true feelings behind a mask the whole time; when I got to know him better, I felt my heart ache, but I was also afraid of him.

There were so many mixed feelings: I went through happiness, shock, fear, pain… and I loved every single moment.

Gekkamaru’s route was the most tragic, but there were sweet and emotional moments too.

Instead of a bodyguard, he looks more like a perfect prince, that’s why I fell in love with him at first sight. He was so loyal and devoted, I actually had second hand embarassment in some scenes, but… I wouldn’t change a thing about him.

I was afraid to see him turning yandere, because of his strong desire to protect Enju, but he didn’t become too obsessive and I’m glad about it.

His whole route looked more like an attempt to break my heart, but somehow I even survived the bad ending; it was hard work tho.

Would I recommend this game? YES.

It’s so rare for a wafuu game to catch my attention, but this was so amazing I couldn’t stop playing.

The characters are interesting and the writing is very good; the relationships develop in a good pace, nothing seems forced: even if there are battles and pain, love grows naturally.

Since it was released in english too, and the localisation seemed pretty good to me, I highly suggest everyone to try it; you won’t be disappointed, just be ready to suffer. It’s worth it, I swear!

I didn’t know what to expect from Binary Star when I bought it, because I wasn’t very fond of the blinding sparkly art and the drug theme; anyway, most of the review were positive, so I decided to give it a try.

My first impression was really good: I wasn’t ready for all those comedy gold interactions and exaggerated reactions, it’s been a long time since I had so much fun while playing!

The plot is actually quite dark and sad, but the writing is well done most of the time, so I enjoyed it.

As the secrets unfolded, it was very interesting to know the whole truth behind everything, it was even quite shocking!

This game is made of contrasts: the art is colorful, but the theme is dark; the characters are funny, but their past is tragic. I appreciated Otomate’s attempt to try something new, I think it worked pretty well!

Now, let’s talk about the boys!

The first I played was the poster boy, Yun.

He was the funniest of them all, and I lost count of how many times he has been called “hentai” or “kimoi”, without even complaining!

His interactions with Reyla were the best, they could easily go for comedy as a duo.

Behind his playboy mask, he actually hides a sweet and caring personality, which I really loved too.

Reyla’s route was probably the most boring to me, even if I liked him as a character.

The plot did not satisfy me completely, it was probably “too serious” for a game like this… the contrast with the atmosphere was just too much, and it felt a bit unbalanced.

Mict was my best boy, no doubts!

I loved him, his personality, his crazy reactions, and also the plot of his route! It even made me emotional, I couldn’t stop playing and I completed it very fast… I needed to see him happy.

Tchikai is probably the most popular, when I started his route some of my friends were even more excited than me! In fact, he was great: he had an interesting personality, he was unpredictable and weird, but in a good way. I didn’t know what to expect from him, that’s why maybe I’m a bit disappointed by his endings: I think he deserved something more shocking, because his relationship with the drugs is quite ambiguous and could be used to create an amazing bad ending.

I had to play Nanase last, and this route was the real revelation of the game.

I was expecting a serious man who would lead me to tragic revelations, but… he was so moe!! I didn’t know how much I wanted this until I got it, but seeing an ossan blushing randomly is the cutest thing ever! He was terribly cute!

Obviously, this route was the most interesting plot wise, and I got to know the truth.

I was expecting something similar, but not exactly like that… it was not amazing, but it was interesting enough, I can’t complain.

If you play it, don’t forget to check the dream section: you get to hear romantic lines from the side characters! Most of them honestly deserve their own route, but this is better than nothing.

Would I recommend this game?

Of course I do! Absolutely!

The plot is good, the art is amazing, the characters are interesting and their interactions are so funny, you will end up laughing loudly by yourself like crazy.

It deserved more love…. and a FD, for sure.

It’s the only game where the villains are so good looking, that you will end up asking yourself why they don’t have their own route! I’d happily buy a new game just for them.

I was seriously considering to put Binary star in my top10, but I changed my mind in the end… it was a close call anyway, I’m sure you won’t regret buying it!

Ayakashi gohan has been sitting in my backlog for years, but I finally got to play it and I didn’t regret it at all!

Just for the sake of it, since I’m a stupid person, at first I decided to try it blindly and see where my own choices would lead.

It’s embarrassing to say, but my instinct is so bad that I even failed to enter a route, and the game kicked me out in the middle! I didn’t give up tho, until I entered Yomi’s route.

The choices I preferred for childhood Rin led me to the Ayakashi route, and I went for those characters first.

I liked Yomi immediately, because he was reserved and a bit difficult to handle, but not rude.

It was obvious that he just needed some help to trust humans again, and a positive Rin was perfect for him, they were a nice couple.

The fact that the heroine is voiced really adds up to their relationship, it feels more real and it’s easier to empathize with her feelings.

There are many side characters, but none of them bored me; giving them all sprites and even CGs was cool, there’s a lot of work beyond the common route.

I think genki Rin and Yomi are a good match, even if their personality are the opposite: they can understand and support each other, I’m sure that becoming a couple will benefit them both.

It’s sad to know she’s going to die first, but it’s better if they just enjoy the moment without worrying too much about the future. I don’t think there’s a way to turn her in an ayakashi, sadly!

Manatsu’s route was quite tragic, but I enjoyed it a lot; he was really nice and caring, even if he felt more like a big brother to me, instead of a love interest.

Still, he matched the heroine’s brightness, so I don’t complain.

After him, I’ve chosen to try “the other” Rin, the darker one, if we can call her like that.

The heroine, in this game, has a different personality based on the answer you choose when she’s a child; she can grow up and become positive and cheerful, or quiet and lonely.

I understand that this personality probably makes more sense, if you think about her difficult childhood; still, it made me a bit angry sometimes.

People around her were nice, trying to make her feel comfortable in that new situation, but she was always cold; I know, she wasn’t used to deal with people, but it was a bit irritating to watch anyways.

I don’t know, this side of the story looked quite forced to me: in the real world, if a person acts like that, people get tired easily and just leave her alone, or even bully her, at school; but her classmates were unnecessarily nice and caring.

Her relationship with Uta was cute, and I understand how it feels being jealous of a person who can naturally attract people and have friends without even trying.

(maybe sad Rin makes me uncomfortable because she reminds me of my teenage days? Probably).

Suoh’s route was nice, but I don’t think his cat personality is a good match for the sad heroine, who already has communications issues: I think they both would need an optimistic partner, who can help them open up.

I honestly liked Rin more with that senpai who loved reading, they would be such a cute couple, going out to find old books and exchanging them! He seemed so sweet and smart! Sadly, he didn’t even get a sprite.

Haginosuke was a really sweet guy, I liked him from the first moment.

His positive and gentle attitude was perfect to help Rin feeling better and become a little more confident and cheerful too.

Sadly, his route was heavy and painful… who could have predicted that he hid such a tragic past?

The plot became even a bit weird, but I just wanted to see him happy at that point.

I’ve played Asagi last, as obvious, because his route is the most important one.

I was expecting something shocking and sad, but I admit that I had no clue of the truth.

My prediction was completely different, I imagined it involved mostly Rin!(ok, I can say it without spoiling, I thought she was dead and all the happenings in the game were only a dream to keep her “alive”, created by Gin who had pity of her).

I’m really glad that Rin had such an important role in the end, and wasn’t just there waiting to be saved! Obviously, it had to be the “genki” Rin, my favorite!

Would I recommend this game?

Yes! I admit it had a few boring moments, maybe it could have been a little better without all those ayakashi with their secondary story, but I overall enjoyed it a lot.

The truth was not predictable and it made me almost cry, it was well written and I can’t complain about anything!

It’s sad that the FD has such bad reviews, I’d like to play it but I don’t feel motivated enough… well, let’s see, maybe I’ll change my mind in the future.

My friends already know how much I loved Black wolves saga Bloody Nightmare, and I think I show it very often; that’s why playing an alternative game made me very excited, but also worried.

I couldn’t help but ask myself: will Last hope be amazing too? or will it be disappointing?

The idea of seeing some of my favourite characters trapped in a boring unnecessary game was almost scary, it would have made me angry and disappointed.

But my fears vanished when I started playing, because Last hope has nothing less than the first game!

The general plot is the same (that’s why this isn’t a sequel, just an “alternative” game), but we can see more about the wolves and Fiona’s family, instead on focusing on the cats.

At first I thought: “if it isn’t focused on Mejojo and Auger, it’s probably going to be less cruel, maybe Rejet will go easy on me this time”.

Well….I was wrong.

I chose Rath first, because he’s obviously the main chara of this game.

After he kidnapped Fiona, I got to spend a lot of time alone with him, and I finally could understand how he became so sad and introvert; his childhood was really terrible, his hate for Mejojo and Auger it’s not a surprise anymore.

It was also very interesting to know better the wolves clan, and to see other sides of them who weren’t clearly shown in Bloody Nightmare.

In the end, he was a very sweet guy: he didn’t want to hurt the others, and was afraid to be hurt again too. I couldn’t wait to see him happy, but….. his good ending was NOT GOOD at all!

I wasn’t satisfied, even if he obtained his revenge.

Come on Rejet, he suffered so much already, why don’t you give him true happiness in the end? Why do you hate him so badly? He’s even poster boy, come on!

Honestly, most of his ending was just Auger showing off his crazy side, and that was obviously going to end up in the worst way.

Mejojo’s route was a bit disappointing.

I know it sounds weird, but his good ending was even too good, and it didn’t make sense to me; Mejojo is cruel, that’s what makes him interesting.

If you just make him lose his power, you can not expect him to accept his new situation and keep living like that. I consider him as a person who would rather die instead of accept defeat, so that ending was incoherent in my opinion. I’m not satisfied if I don’t see him shine in triumph!

His bad ending was flawless tho, I loved it even more than the Bloody Nightmare’s ones: I was honestly waiting to see him mistake Fiona with Elvira, the madness is complete and it’s awesome.

I’ve played Auger next, but as usual his route was very short.

His endings were amazing as always anyway, it’s what I was expecting from him.

I really loved how he finally was honest and explained how his mind works: he pretends to be crazy, but he’s just using people around him until he gets tired of them.

He’s the true mastermind!

Arles felt unsatisfying: I like him, he’s a tragic character and I like his personality, but his endings are always not enough for me.

Is it too much if I want him to be the new King of Weblin? I was waiting for something like that, Last hope is supposed to be the wolves’ game! Also, he has 3 endings, the TRUE one would have been perfect if his revenge was complete.

It seems that Rejet is against the real happiness and triumph for the wolves, poor boys.

Nesso’s route was not as I expected, but I still love him.

I mean, how could anyone hate oniichan? He’s awesome and caring!

I loved his good ending, I didn’t even dare to ask for something like that, but what left me the greatest impression was that bad ending………………… it was so cruel, it shocked me.

I was almost throwing myself under a car screaming “fuck you, Rejet!”, because it was really too much for my poor heart to handle. I guess from Rejet’s point of view this is a success!

Zara’s route was very simple plot wise, nothing really happened, but I still loved it.

I’ve always been interested in him, and I’ve been wishing to play a decent route since Bloody nightmare, where his route was very short and I couldn’t spend enough time with him.

Zara is caring, smart and reliable, it was very nice to see him taking care of Fiona when she was sick.

I’m happy that Mejojo and Auger didn’t kill him in the worst painful way possible in the bad ending, I wouldn’t be able to stand seeing him suffer.

Elza’s route was amazing, I loved every single moment!

He’s such a good boy, I really wished Nesso could see him being happy with Fiona… but probably, it was impossible.

The good ending was bittersweet, while the bad ending was really impressing, it showed a part of Nesso that I’ve been wanting to see for a long time!

I’m glad he got a route, it probably feels the most “normal” and otome of the game.

I’ve played Pearl and Ritchie last, and I admit I wasn’t very interested: I’m not into shota, and I couldn’t see them as men even if Pearl’s good ending had a time lapse of 3 years.

Maybe they should just have showed the scene of them going to the castle as a part of the family comon route, instead of giving them separate endings.

Anyway, I’ve finished my Black wolves saga journey and I’m really sad, I feel so empty now!

It was an amazing game, it even exceeded my expectations: I thought it couldn’t be good as Bloody Nightmare, because Mejojo and Auger personalities were the most interesting, but it wasn’t less amazing.

Last hope is more family centric that wolves centric to me, but probably because I’m not satisfied with Arles ending, so it still feels a bit lacking; but I finally could spend more time with my precious Nesso, so no complains about that. He even got a yandere ending, what else could I ask for?

If you still haven’t played it, do it immediately! But after Bloody Nightmare, which gives deeper explanations about the plot and the reasons behind the wolves hunt: I think it’s important to complete that first, to better understand and appreciate Last hope.