Shiratsuyu no kai

After a few mediocre games that made me want to take a break for a while (those reviews will come later, when I get myself to complete them), I was looking for an otoge able to keep me glued to the screen from the start to the end.

I ended up choosing Shiratsuyu no Kai, since the theme is dark/mystery and I’m usually weak to this genre.

Since it was never ported to Vita, I guess it’s going to be completely forgotten soon; but I wanted to give it a last chance. Was it worth it?

At first I was really excited and I thought for a couple hours that I had found an hidden masterpiece: this is the kind of setting I appreciate the most and my heart was racing multiple times, mostly at the beginning, when there are a few scary moments.

Well, it’s not an horror at all, but it was enough to made me tense sometimes.

I wish the whole game could be like that, but after a great prologue, most of the individual routes ended up being rushed or boring; some of them even felt incomplete, as if they ran out of idea or budget in the mist of writing.

Starting with Soushi seemed almost an obligated choice to me.

At first I had a great feeling, I was really curious to understand more, but… the route ended before there was any kind of decent explanation!

At that point, I thought that revelations would probably unfold as I played, maybe revealing some kind of secret route, but it didn’t happen. It was just disappointing.

Sadly, I realized that this problem happened with every character.

Ryouta could have been an interesting yandere, if his route wasn’t so slow and boring for the most part; when he finally showed his darker side, the route literally ended almost immediately, after just a few random scenes, again without a decent ending.

Takaomi’s route was…….. surprisingly sexy.

I swear I wasn’t expecting him to be so cute, all blushing and jealous, but at the same time– THOSE KISSES. Like, wow, what am I playing? Is this R18 stuff? I’m glad I don’t live with my parents anymore, cause those sounds were really something.

The route itself had potential, with the interesting story of his missing sister, but as usual the plot didn’t make much sense… so yeah, it was worth it just for the hot stuff.

Chiaki’s route was full of random angst, but for no apparent reason he also kept touching and licking the heroine, saying weird things even before they became a couple.

Well, it was kinda creepy, I can’t imagine one of my friends randomly telling me that he wants to lock me up, or licking my arm.

But the heroine seemed pleased, so I guess it’s ok….

I hoped Kiyoharu’s route could be better, since he seemed a nice guy, but… BUT.

How am I supposed to consider a love interest someone who goes around killing people?!

Come on! I’m attracted to problematic characters, but there’s a limit even for me!

I admit the gap between his funny personality and his yandere dark side was interesting, but his actions were unforgivable. No, thanks.

After the main boys, I played the short routes: Shin and Kitsune.

Shin is supposed to be the heroine’s guardian, an onii chan figure, but….. some scenes were creepy as hell. He was basically a yandere, one of the creepiest I’ve ever met!

I don’t even know if it was sexy or not, cause it was really too much, even if he ended up apologizing. I understand his feelings, but still… you should keep it in your pants dude.

I don’t even know what to say about Kitsune, it was short and it didn’t make sense; it was overly dramatic for no reason, since he just appears from nowhere and gets a couple scenes.

But at this point, I don’t even know why I had some kind of expectations.

Needless to say, I don’t recommend this game.

The plot itself could have been good, the setting was cool and I really loved the art.

But the writing is all over the place, after a few incomplete endings I just ended up disappointed or even angry; I think they had a good idea, but they couldn’t fully develop it and they gave up halfway. There’s so much potential wasted, it’s sad.