Magical Otoge Iris
Important Note
Even without reading this review, I highly recommend that you download the demo prior to purchasing this game. It helps give a good feel with how the game runs.
Save files from the demo will be transferred over to the full game when purchased and you also have the option to skip the events from the demo.
Overview:
Reiterating what was stated in this game’s description, “Magical Otoge Iris” is an otome visual novel. The player takes the role of the female protagonist, Iris, who works as a “purifier” – a person who helps move spirits onto the afterlife. There are four main routes (Rieffe, Lanneis, Reqieu, and Septem) and four best friend routes (the mechanics of these routes will be explained further in the Gameplay section). As I continue on with this review, I may shorten “Magical Otoge Iris” to “MO Iris.”
– Real player with 37.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Anime Story Rich Games.
First of, I never played any other games of the series. I just jumped into the game without further knowledge of the other games.
Additionally, my actual playtime is not as long as it is shown, since I sometimes left the game open, while I was not even on the PC.
However, it’s still not a short game.
I’m a bit struggling whatever I would recommend the game or not.
It’s not like I didn’t enjoy the game - though there were some parts I really did not like.
I would’ve probably enjoyed the game a bit more, if I had been younger :)
– Real player with 31.3 hrs in game
Pyrite Heart
I played this game when it was still free and I got this as a gift from a precious friend (hi Checkmate!)
The price is just right for this short game, and the artwork is superb and I totally dig in the dakimura. I recommend this for those who are still starting out with Otome Visual Novels.
Pro’s
-Great art -by far one of the best I’ve seen in a western otome visual novel game
-Dakimura bonus -this ..this!!
-Good female protagonist -i like her funny side and her pride.
-Super hot guys
-Good story - don’t expect something spectacular because the game information says it all. This was refreshing amongst those depressing drama bohoo stories . Being angry tsundere princess is refreshing dammit!! cough (she speaks what in her mind, she mocks people, she’s perfect!!)
– Real player with 5.8 hrs in game
Read More: Best Anime Indie Games.
I honestly do not know where to stand for this visual novel so therefore i am taking on a neutral review for this visual novel.
Meaning yes i do recommend it but to a certain extent. (Go to the bottom for reason of standing on a neutral ground)
The story
You will play through as a spoiled princess Ahri who’s been shelterd all her life. And after a bet she made witth her brother about being able to survive in the outside world for a week, she transferred to a “common school”. There she meets a fustrating rival and an unexpected nuisance.
– Real player with 5.1 hrs in game
Always Remember Me
**Footfalls echo in the memory
Down the passage which we did not take
Towards the door we never opened
~T.S. Eliot**
This is the first visual novel that I’ve played from Winter Wolves, and I must say that I’m not impressed. Always Remember Me is an otome game with a somewhat ordinary concept, annoyingly stereotypical characters, suicidally repetitive choice actions and a scarcity of events about the main story to keep you interested. At this point, I must confess that I’ve completed my first playthrough quite easily and gave in a reaction of “seriously?” at the first ending that I’ve discovered. During my second playthrough… I got bored and wandered off to do something else, forgetting the game running. When I remembered that I was playing the game, I came back and gave in 2 more hours of the gameplay to collect the missing achievements - a.k.a. fast-forwarded through some repetitive actions and only read event dialogues. Thus, my gaming time.
– Real player with 9.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Anime Female Protagonist Games.
Always Remember Me
One to be best forgotten
Review
I know I am probably the last person on the planet to give any kind of opinion on visual novels since I have only played two but as a gamer who enjoy most genres, here is my two cents anyway. One (Doki Doki Literature Club) I canned pretty early on into my play session because of how poorly written the dialog was matched with some of the most annoying characters ever conceived. I also didn’t find the overarching story all that interesting either so felt there was no need to press on further and waste my precious time.
– Real player with 9.1 hrs in game
Backstage Pass
Game: Backstage Pass
Type: Visual Novel, Slice of Life, Anime, Dating Sim
Hours Logged: 18
Since this visual novel was on sale on steam I had to give it a try. And I figured I’d write a quick review before it went off of sale. Check it here. It’s 45% off at the moment so: $16.50. This is the first time I’ve seen it on sale and I’ve had it on my wishlist for awhile. So, this may be the biggest discount we get. Or as it looks like they just recently added the voices it may be that as they move forward they are trying to garner more positive reviews. I skimmed through some of the negative reviews and some of the issues folks have with it appear to have been resolved. Also, it looks like they went a really LOOOOONNNGG time without updates. It’s an early access game and just BTW as it stands I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for the $30 price tag.
– Real player with 47.0 hrs in game
VIP Visual Novel
Backstage Pass is a LGBT-friendly visual novel about Sian (pronounced “Shawn”), a young Asian-American woman who’s navigating through her first year of college. She and her best friend (Adam) seem to be the luckiest freshmen, both already having successful careers and a social network few freshmen in college has. You need to maintain certain statistics to better your relationship with your professional entertainer love interest (LI) of choice. Each route spans from the start of Sian’s freshman semester until the end of summer. All of them are the same in that you build Sian’s stats and everything culminates to a final resolution that may be a confession, heartbreak, or a feel-good scene.
– Real player with 42.3 hrs in game
Corona Borealis
Corona Borealis is a sweet, lighthearted VN. The length is on the shorter side, but I had a good time playing it. I liked all of the characters and their routes and really enjoyed seeing how each character’s relationship with June developed. The questions part of the game was also very entertaining. I had fun getting to know about each character’s likes and dislikes, relationships, future plans, etc. Some of the questions led to really funny answers. A simple stat-raising system…great art…good voice acting…pleasant music…
– Real player with 13.5 hrs in game
I have a few issues with Corona Borealis – the technical side is kind of clunky, with text rollback working whenever it wants and the sound sliders not really doing what they’re supposed to do (you can’t fully mute the partial voice acting). The relationship flags connected to dating sim mechanics are a bit cryptic and choices sometimes counter-intuitive, so it’s way too easy to end up alone or stuck with suboptimal endings if you don’t follow a walkthrough.
The one major problem, however, is the game’s length – all the routes feel really short and rushed, with little buildup for romance (and/or deep friendship). This is particularly painful in Noah’s route, as he shows up halfway into the game and doesn’t offer the small-talk sections that let you learn more about other main characters. Considering his theme is also deep psychological issues… The positive ending and healing he goes through are hardly earned here.
– Real player with 11.9 hrs in game
Guardian of the future
Guardian of the Future is that type of a VN I really enjoy playing: lighthearted, pretty art, appealing love options… Quite often I just want some typical otome games with obvious outcome, easily achievable romantic happy endings, especially with available guides. That’s not that kind of a game that left an unforgettable impression, or something I’m gonna contemplate about after I finish it. But it mustn’t be this way. Just relaxing experience for a couple of evenings (don’t pay attention to my ‘hours on record’, the game was just always idly launched on my computer).
– Real player with 61.3 hrs in game
This was a value buy:)
Definitely enjoyable
Definitely Replayable
So many CGs!
– Real player with 38.4 hrs in game
NEKOPARA - Catboys Paradise
To start this off I would like to say I consider myself somewhat of an expert on not only anime but also anime boys, make them cat boys, and consider me god. I’ve recently gone through a really shit time and needed something to fill the infinitely expanding void and this game did exactly that. The second I saw this game pre-release the heavenly light shined above me and a new reason to live my life was given to me in the form of virtual cat boys. This game is simply a prologue and only came out a day ago but it is life-changing. Waking up on this game’s release date can only be topped by waking on Christmas knowing you have a million dollars waiting for you under the tree. I was instantly drawn into this game weeks before release due to me being so overly attracted to the cat-boy sprites that were shown off. as someone whos struggled with erectile disfunction his entire life this game made my William stand firm and strong for the first time in 30 years. I cannot express the amount of sexual attraction I feel towards this game
– Real player with 549.2 hrs in game
I adore this and want more!
I seriously loved every single character so much that I can’t pick a favorite. They’re each charming in their own way, and their designs are fabulous. I really liked how even though they’re all pining for their mistress, the catboys are mostly still friendly with one another. There’s a bit of friendly rivalry and one character who’s a bit more possessive than the others, but I got the sense that they’re still all friends who care about each other, and it’s mentioned/implied throughout that you may end up adopting all of them even if the route format suggests one will be your main squeeze. It was refreshing and leaves a glimmer of hope for there being a future harem route or ending.
– Real player with 14.0 hrs in game
Amnesia™: Memories
No, Amnesia: Memories isn’t a horror game , unless playing a female protagonist who can date four different guys (and maybe N from Pokémon) in a Japanese visual novel makes you break out into a cold sweat. If you keep reading, I’m going to assume you totally came here on purpose and share my strange passion for dating hot, fictional men who just can’t help falling for me…with the help of a walkthrough, anyway. (Sadly, I have a rotten personality and can never self-insert.)
– Real player with 54.7 hrs in game
**“And, even yet, I dare not let it languish,
Dare not indulge in memory’s rapturous pain;
Once drinking deep of that divinest anguish,
How could I seek the empty world again?” - Emily Bronte, Remembrance**
Amnesia: Memories is the only game ported to PC from the highly successful otome game series called Amnesia by Otomate and Idea Factory. Originally made for Playstation Portable and later Playstation Vita; Amnesia game series were started in 2011 and it was well received primarily in Japan. Within a year or so, the franchise earned a notable fan base and a reputation all over the world as a high quality otome series with countless merchandise and many sequels. Here we have Amnesia: Memories, which is actually the 4th game in the series, yet it is consistent and well elaborated enough within its own self, so you don’t necessarily have to play any other games to enjoy it.
– Real player with 50.5 hrs in game
BUSTAFELLOWS
Probably the highest quality otome game that’s been localised into English so far. I have yet to play a game with this many immersive elements, I’m shocked that this isn’t the standard. There’s animated CGs, dynamic voice work, characters with multiple outfit changes and poses. Their eyes even move to the speaking character if they happen to be on the same screen. This game has THE smoothest intro to main menu transition I have ever seen in my damn life.
So let’s look at our lovable cast:
- Limbo is the confident and suave type who always seems like he’s in control. He’s funny, and supportive, but he’s actually a lot more childish than one would think. He’s a really good poster boy.
– Real player with 118.2 hrs in game
In short, I like reading Bustafellows. Although it has many places where it underwhelms me.
The stories in this game are kind of all over the place. It seems there are too many topics the game wants to tackle on, but fails to do so in depth.
A lot of the settings are far-fetched and unrealistic, like Crow being a super genius all-powerful hacker. The existence of magical plastic surgeries. Our 5 fixers, who are supposed to do things hidden, expose all of themselves to the enemy, or even worse, to the internet. Villains who conveniently put everything that would prove them guilty in a nice
! USB drive for us to read.
! Nanobots entering one’s body, powered by “body energy” which the only plausible meaning is glucose in the blood (right?), but they stopped working after the person goes in to cardiac arrest, but in no sense would going into cardiac arrest take away all the glucose in the blood. I know I shouldn’t expect realism in this kind of games, but not doing so would require me to lower expectations.
– Real player with 51.4 hrs in game
Destiny’s Princess: A War Story, A Love Story
(Contains minor spoilers, but maybe some important ones so that you don’t hate the story simply because you might have misunderstood it)
(EDIT; At first I recommended this game, and then I didn’t, and that made it go from “Very postitive” to “mostly positive”.. I was a bit sad by that, due to my massive crush on Yukimura Sanada, but I was so disgusted by Hanbei… Anyways, I went back to play Yukimura again.. I really love him. He is the redeeming factor for me and he saved this game from my negative review.)
– Real player with 33.1 hrs in game
The arts are cool, even if it lacks about surrounding pictures, or just second characters doodle cause it gives the impression the castle is really empty… there is maybe 250 people in there, some shadowy figures would have been appreciated.
It’s well written (some little errors i saw even if i’m not a real english speaker but it’s comprensible and well written), a good thing to say cause it’s rare in certain Otome…
The base of the story is great. Demon blade, magic, heroes summoning… This game had the potential to be a great game, but the story is full of incoherence. There is too much illogical things!
– Real player with 17.6 hrs in game