I guess you all have heard about Vamwolf Cross as a famous kusoge, so there’s no need to say that I started playing it with really low expectations; but sometimes miracles happen, I admit I don’t regret buying a cheap copy and giving this game a chance!

Even if the sprites look weird most of the time, I admit I got used to the art style pretty soon and overall I can’t complain too much, it was aesthetically pleasing enough.

The plot was kinda interesting, since it’s some sort of horror/mystery stuff, set in a world where vamwolves (an hybrid between Vampires and Wolves, I guess) attack people and suck their blood.

Our heroine is an hunter’s daughter, her father has (apparently) been killed and I’m helping other ikemen hunters to save people; in the meanwhile, I have to find out if there’s an hidden Vamwolf among my group of friends.

Well, it sounds like my style of game, my excitement rose up immediately!

But I was too optimistic, probably.

While playing my first route, Nagisa, I realized immediately that this game was not what I expected: I came here to kill Vamwolves, but I actually spent most of the time just dating boys.

It’s not necessarily bad, but the plot turned out way more simple and less bloody than it seemed.

I felt a bit trolled, I admit it.

Since you need to collect TIPS, which should allow you to find out who is the Vamwolf hiding among hunters, you get to ask stupid questions, which may get them annoyed or offended.

If you doubt too much, the boy you’re suspecting to be a Vamwolf gets angry and a “Sadistic time” starts, which means he will kabedon you and tease you… which is supposed to be a punishment, I guess? it feels like you’re playing a Diabolik Lovers AU, basically.

Well, I can’t blame the boys for getting angry, our heroine goes around asking VERY stupid questions: my favorite was “do you like tomato?” since apparently Vamwolves love tomato; if you eat them, you much be a Vamwolf too!

It was embarrassingly stupid and I can’t blame other players for criticizing this ridiculous gameplay; sometimes when the heroine accused people just because they hated sunbathing or loved animals, I was facepalming hard.

But since I wasn’t taking this game seriously to begin with, this weird stuff didn’t ruin my mood while playing; I was always focused on the boys, since I liked them all (which is rare for me) and I was happy to spend a lot of time with them, instead of killing monsters.

You know, I love playing dark games with a deep plot, but if it gets stupid and I can’t take the plot seriously, I just focus on my ikemen and try to spend nice time with them. It’s an otome game after all. This aspect wasn’t that lacking, we got on dates and I had fun, so I can say the characters saved it all for me.

Nagisa is a nice guy who loves guns and playing billiards; not exactly my type since he’s too serious, but still good boyfriend material. A nice route to start the game.

Ryuunosuke was my favorite, no doubt!

I usually dislike younger characters, but when they are so confident and good at teasing older girls, I get massive flashbacks from Brothers Conflict’s Fuuto and I can’t resist.

Ryuunosuke is some kind of idol who pretends to be nice around fans, but he’s basically a little devil who likes to hit on girls and sleep with them; when he makes sexual jokes, it’s impossible to understand if he really means it or not.

The heroine is really pure, so it’s easy for him to make her uncomfortable; but it was funny, I can’t complain.

Yuuya is a doctor, who pretends to be nice, but secretly hides a sadistic personality.

He admits clearly that his kind attitude is fake, since he only lives out of hate for the Vamwolves which killed his family; but smiling helps him in life, so he keeps being friendly and caring with his patients.

Keidai looked the most suspicious to me, usually people who act nice and perfect are hiding the worst stuff you could imagine. I’m always aware of priests (in games, no opinion about real people). I wasn’t completely wrong, since his ending was kinda shocking and it was my favorite for sure, at least it was memorable!

I left Shuuichi last since he looked interesting and if I can, I prefer to leave my favorite guy last.

I highly suggest you to do the same, since his route has basically all the revelations and plot twists which were lacking until that point: the truth about the heroine’s father is explained, so I guess Shuichi’s endings could also be considered the perfect conclusion of the game too.

So, did I waste my money?

Absolutely not!

Since everyone hated this game, I was expecting the most boring, dreadful and annoying waste of time and money ever, I was regretting all my life choices even before starting.

But it wasn’t THAT bad! Of course, I wouldn’t recommend it and I’m not saying it’s good, it had many flaws, but it actually entertained me more than other games I’ve paid full price and no one ever insulted as kusoge.

Is it stupid, thinking that someone who likes tomatoes is a Vamwolf? Of course it is.

Is it stupid, if my “mission” consists in finding out if those boys are Vamwolves, based on really stupid assumptions (oh you hate the sun, you’re not human!!), instead of actually killing real Vamwolves? Of course it is.

But if I had to judge the games I play only basing my opinion on the plot, a very few of them would be considered “good”. Let’s face it.

Honestly, what matters to me is my overall employment; it doesn’t matter if an aspect is lacking, if I find something else entertaining.

First of all, I liked all the characters and every route: they were all charming in different ways and I had a great time with them, even if it was really short. I wish I got know their past and personality better, but it was overall nice. I don’t dislike short games.

The art looked weird at first, but I eventually got used to it after a couple hours and it wasn’t that bad, some CGs were cute and those boys were ikemen enough for this genre standards.

Was I expecting something different?

Yes, I was there to kill Vamwolves while searching for a traitor, but I mostly got nice dates, with a little bit of plot shoved in the last 3 chapters; this is not what I was hoping, it was way simpler, but it isn’t bad either.

Would I recommend it, that said? Of course not at full price, but I don’t feel like I wasted my 1200 yen and I won’t stop someone willing to spend like 10 euros/dollars/whatever to play this game.