I’ve been through a lot of kusoge in my life, so I thought Rear Pheles couldn’t be worse than others… which is somehow true and false at the same time, since there’s never a limit to the worst.

I’ve lost counts of how many times I wanted to drop it or throw my Psvita out of the window at first, but I still managed to complete every route and I consider it a huge success.

I knew it was going to be bad, from the moment I bought it: those terrible reviews warned me, but I couldn’t resist the ridiculous price (I think it was 1200 yen or something), so I gave in and decided to try it anyway. SOMEDAY.

The moment came, I downloaded that giant 1GB patch and prepared myself for the worse.

It took me a while to get used to the art, the colouring is a bit weird in some CGs, but I ended up finding it cute; the characters were nice too and I wasn’t even bored from the typical school scenes.

It could have been a nice game (if you ignore how slow is the loading system), but that awful mini game ruined my experience and made me want to jump in the fire with the programmer.

I put it in easy mode, as everyone suggested me, but I swear at first I kept dying so may times until I could clear any level… it was insane. Who thought it could be a good idea?! It’s unnerving and annoying. Also, there’s not a decent explanation of how I should be doing, so I just randomly guessed my moves.

After many trials (and deaths) I somehow managed to understand how it worked and from that moment, I also started enjoying the game. I don’t know if I gradually improved or I was lucky, but after the first route, the minigame didn’t even bother me too much.

Of course, this is only about EASY mode: I tried normal mode too, but I managed to escape only three or four times out of ten (or probably more)… and it was just luck.

I didn’t even try the other modes, I would die immediately!

I wonder what’s the point of making an almost impossible mini game.

But let’s stop talking about it, let’s focus on other stuff.

All the characters looked even more interesting when I realized the true concept: this game shows us that behind appearance, everyone is hiding a wolf and there’s always something more behind a person’s smile, that you would never imagine.

Starting with Itsuki was probably the most shocking way to realize this truth, since his secret is really… something. I didn’t even know how to react. The revelation seemed so sudden, I couldn’t even realize what was going on. But I admit, I still kinda liked it?

At least I realized that I’d better be careful because I couldn’t trust anyone, so it became even funny for me to imagine what each one of them was hiding.

I’ve never thought I’d end up saying this words, but… I enjoyed it a lot!

I knew my taste is bad already, but this goes behind every kind of confession I made before: I enjoyed this game more than other popular ones! Something must be wrong with me.

Akazukin’s route is locked, since he hides all the secrets behind the wolf’s story and his aim.

I admit it was interesting, but the Love Ending left me really disappointed; honestly, I was sad the main boy didn’t get a proper happy ending, they are all bittersweet and he deserved more after all the suffering. Also, the creepy girl randomly screaming and going crazy it’s almost becoming a trope in every game and I’m getting tired of seeing it: whenever I meet another girl, I just think she’s probably a psycho and I’m never wrong.

Anyway, I admit this game was way better than I expected.

Mini game aside (that becomes easy after a few trials, so if you’re not a trophy hunter and you don’t need to clear every mode, it won’t bother you too much) the characters were nice, and so were their routes. The overall plot was kinda weird, but if you are not looking for a deep story, it can be decent. The playorder is not important, but playing sensei’s route before Akazukin is better.

I was expecting a kusoge and I got a mediocre game, so in the end I’m kinda relieved: it was nowhere near to the awful level I was expecting, which means I haven’t wasted my 1200 yen after all. If you find a REALLY CHEAP copy, it may be worth some money.

Now, let’s hope to play something good next!