Otome games!

I’m kinda curious on how bad was it….

here's a post that goes over some of the errors without spoilers

Yikes

Well, during my playthrough of Code: Realize for the switch, I never seen any typos or whatnot, so it's likely that aksys fixed them for the switch version. So at the very least, I hope Norn for the switch will be somewhat better.

You know one of the games I'm so excited this year is Jack Jeanne. A musical otome! Sign me up! Though the thing I'm worried about are the Rhythm games. I been fairly bad at them, so I'm pretty nervous.

Ishida Sui making a whole otome rhythm game honestly continues to amuse me.

Also I'm sure the game will have an easy mode to account for beginners, generally I'm fine with rhythm games if I can tap the screen but the only one I actually remember liking was Lanota because it makes my ADHD riddled brain scream with joy how the ring moves

Edited by Mami on Jan 8th 2023 at 2:39:08 PM

Well that’s a relief.

But yeah, The idea of the creator of one of the more darker mangas in Japan would go on to create an Otome is kinda wild.

Oh yeah speaking of dark stuff, do you plan to but Virche? Apparently preorders are up.

Oh yes, The entire setting gives me Dark Souls vibes for some reason.

If I remember correctly in your first play through the game locks in you in bad endings only

woah, That’s the first time I’ve heard an otome (let alone a visual novel) do that.

So ummm, I finished Yang’s route a week ago. And boy, it was spicy af. It definitely lived up to be a spice-filled route. Though if I’m being honest, the bad endings and the tragic end really made me squirm like a worm.

Finally finished Piofiore (100% at all the routes) so I think some general thoughts are in order:

Overall, My thoughts on this game are quite positive, and I will definitely buy the sequel if I had the chance.

Jack Jeanne confirmed for a July 15 release this year.

Source

Per Aksys's updates, The release for the following otomes have been announced:

• Radiant Tale: July 27
• Norn 9: Last Era: August 24

Started playing Jack Jeanne so here some of my first impressions.

General Synopsis: The plot follows Kisa Tachibana. She is younger sister of Tsuki Tachibana, a graduate of Univer Theater Academy, a school that specializes in training young men in theatre roles, divided between Jacks (male roles) and Jeannes (female roles). Think of it as the Spear Counterpart of the Takarazuka Revue. Kisa gets scouted by the school’s principal under the condition that she must disguise her self as a boy and should not let anyone (outside of the Principal, Mr. Enishi, and her childhood friend Soushirou). And thus the story begins…..

First Impressions: This game has been on my radar because I heard good things about it. I’m going to be honest and say that my only impression of Sui Ishida’s artwork was Tokyo Ghoul’s anime adaptation. So you can shack me surprised on how gorgeous the art is. The very sparkly yet semi-sketch like artwork turns out be an amazing combination and I can tell Ishida wasted no time on making them very polished. Unlike most other visual novels I played, this one has stat raising elements meaning that you if you want to get the guy you want, focus on the stat best suited to them. This can get a little overwhelming.

Another thing worth mentioning is how phenomenal the voice acting is. I’m quite surprised on how Gakuto Kajiwara was able to voice the quite and stoic Mitsuki, considering he’s infamously typecasted as Hot-Blooded, shouty guys. Same goes for the singing for the first song “Beyond the Plain Tree” where the VAs for Kisa and Suzu (Yuka Terasaki and Yūma Uchida) absolutely killed it. I got a little emotional there tbh.

So far Jack Jeanne looks to be a strong contender for GOTY for me (along with Tears of the Kingdom and Trails Into Reverie). So I can’t wait to see what this game has in store.

Jack Jeanne is such a great game! I love it! It needs more love! I haven't played very many visual novels, much less otome games, so this was such a pleasant surprise!

Finally finished all routes of Jack Jeanne so here are my thoughts for each route.

• Suzu: The vanilla/First Guy Wins route. He is a relatively simple character which works well for those who need a route to start on but I think Suzu's charm is how dang honest he is in terms of feeling. He is aware of what his heart wants and that alone is very admirable. His relationship with Kisa is all about determination in my eyes.
• Soshiro: The Childhood Friend route. Soshiro is a character I surprisingly enough see my self in. Like Soshi, I often try my best on what I'm lacking and even then I feel like it's never enough. You guys don't know how I felt when Soshiro took Kakuto's advice, solely focused himself on Kisa and ignored everyone around him. And then seeing him realizing the errors of his ways and finally allowed all classmates to shine was a definite highlight of the route.
• Mitsuki: The Kuudere route and the first route on my playthrough. At first Mitsuki is rather cold and distant but once he starts opening up to Kisa he extends that warmth to all his classmates and soon the two trust each other enough to be comfortable with each other, which I found lovely.
• Fumi: The flirt route. His arc is about the inner conflict he has with his family about their wishes vs his. He want his family's style of dancing to evolve or else it would die off, something his family disapproved. His relationship with Kisa about them being able to learn and grow with each other and being to reach new heights. One things I really didn't like about his route was that we don't really see much of Fumi's family conflict outside of mentions of it. I think it wouldn't have been more effective we do see things from Fumi's POV every once in a while.
• Kai: The cool guy route. His route is about opening up dark feelings and finding who you are. For Kai, he has to reconcile with how both of his parents are dead and him finally being able to shine as his own, rather than simply being a vessel.
• Kokuto: The funny guy route. Which is Ironic since it is also one of the more depressing routes of the game. As Kokuto deals with grief over the loss of his father from suicide and eventually the loss of his writing talent. It's really nice that he was able to have Quartz and Kisa as a support group as well as the teachers having faith in him throughout.
• Kisa: Finally we have the main girl herself. I really was rooting for her and being able to see her shine as bright as a gem was one of the most beautiful moments I've seen in a while. When Quartz is going to be disbanded, she rose up and was able to become the sole lead (halfway through) and succeed. I'm not going to lie, but getting the normal ending and going through Chui's bad ending was one of the most dreadful moments in my gaming time since I wanted everyone to succeed.
• Of course I couldn't forget the other colorful cast of characters we meet throughout the game. The teachers and Chuza provide a fun support group for the students to embrace their talents, The other rival classes, Onyx and Rhodonite, having a good-hearted Friendly Rivalry especially among the first years. And even the antagonistic Amber was able to bring a shine and provide some conflict. Those outside of Univeil like Ao, Mona and his assistant also gave the game more personality.

Overall thoughts: I. Love. This. VN. It was the most fun I've had in an Otome and the rhythm games provide a nice touch up with the standard visual novel elements. The art is absolutely stunning, especially the CGs, which definitely had a hand in me reading Ishida's new manga Choujin X solely for the art. And of course the colorful of characters we get to see throughout it all. One added aspect I also enjoyed was the positive gender nonconforming representation the game has. The Rhodonite class (particularly Mare and his friends) happily crossdress and are good fellows. There's also the nameless characters absolutely enjoying the Cross-Cast Role plays and even wants to become part of it. The fact that no one questions the whole "crossdressing, both in and out of the roles" and even encourage it is wonderful suprise and makes this game even better imo.

Overall Jack Jeanne is an amazing VN and is one to check out if like fun music and likable characters. It is definitely up there for my "Best game of 2023" alongside Tears of the Kingdom, Trails Through Reverie and Octopath Traveler II.

Now I haven't fully completed the CG library as I'm currently focusing on hanging out with Ion and Mona. So I'm going to complete that.

Edited by Ayumi-chan on Nov 3rd 2023 at 12:56:35 AM

Talk about a glowing review. I've wanted to play jack Jeanne myself (because I've long since been and Ishida Sui fan) but I don't have the platform for it

Hakuoki: Chronicles of Wind and Blossom Compilation Gets English Switch Release in 2024.

Per Aksys's livstream, we got a release date for Tengoku Struggle (April 4, 2024) as well as announcements for the translations of the fandisc of both Virche Evermore -ErroЯ:salvation- (-EpiↃ:lycoris-; Fall 2024) and Radiant Tale (-Fanfare-; Summer 2024).

However, the most surprising one is the localization of DesperaDrops, a action crime-romance otome developed by RED Entertainment (Sakura Wars), written by Ririka Yoshimura (Cupid Parasite, the otome game adaptation of My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!) and illustrated by Yusuke Kozaki (Fire Emblem: Awakening, AI: The Somnium Files). It looks very promising.

IFI announcing a new otome localization

The most highly speculated one is likely 9.R.I.P., both due the spooky candles and the use of a creepy liminal space video.

That's amusing considering that apparently the game isn't actually scary

Yep, it is confirmed to be 9 R.I.P