Why do we have to contact Idea Factory saying we're interested in Hakuoki SSL? That's super weird.
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Otome Community Thread: Happiness isn't a limited commodity, my love is boundless!
- Thread starter Shizuka
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Why do we have to contact Idea Factory saying we're interested in Hakuoki SSL? That's super weird.
SouSouRocket
Member
This seems kind of shady, it makes it sound as if they are nowhere near able to secure the rights and put the rumor out there and are now trying to pressure them into it through fan demand... <_<
MidnightRain
Member
I have been wondering about this myself. Aksys obviously wants to localize this game, so why is Idea Factory so reluctant about them doing it? Do they think that no one would buy it because it's set in high school and there's no deeper plot to it? Hmm...
Or maybe IFI wants to bring SSL over
. Given how well Hakuouki did and its popularity it's really weird IF seems reluctant.MidnightRain
Member
But, if IFI was intending to bring it over, then wouldn't they have told Aksys that?Or maybe IFI wants to bring SSL over
Also, from IFI's last interview, it seems that it might be a while until they bring over another otome.
We've no way of knowing unfortunately. If Hakuouki was a flop, I'd understand their reluctance, but it wasn't. Maybe they believe that a spinoff wouldn't sell? Maybe they're in talks with someone else to bring it over? (That one would be shocking
)It's just weird, period. If they were asking for fans to show interest in other companies otomes, that'd make a lot more sense and I'd definitely chime in. But for Hakuoki SSL? Nah. I want the game, but if they can't get it sorted out themselves, I'll just settle with the other games they're bringing.
Okay, finally found the time/energy to boot up Mystic Messenger. Plus, it seems Cheritz is slowing down a bit on the barrage of updates.
Have some bullet point impressions:
Large pics, srry ;;
Have some bullet point impressions:
- Really pretty opening movie
- I've played through the introductory bit, and the premise so far seems to be this: someone named "Unknown" found a lost phone and wants you to return it for him somehow. I kinda lost track of his logic, but the long and short of it is is that you find yourself in the apartment of someone named Rika, who recently passed away. She was an organizer for a group called RFA, which threw elaborate parties to encourage people to donate to a "good cause". Charity or something I hope. While you're in the appartment with the lost phone, you open up an app on there and enter a chatroom with six other people, five guys and a girl.
- The entire game seems to be based around you communicating via this app. There's a chatroom (pictures below), the option to visit people's profile pages, a messaging system, the ability to receive calls (haven't had that activate on me yet), as well as various other features.
- I haven't seen any stats you need to raise yet.
- So far, I'm really enjoying the game. I'll leave more impressions later if people are interested!
Large pics, srry ;;
SouSouRocket
Member
Oh man, that looks good so far... are you sure the stats aren't just a bit further in? Because if not...
Oh man, that looks good so far... are you sure the stats aren't just a bit further in? Because if not...
Could be, since I only did the introduction. I'll definitely boot it up today after work and check further.
I've beaten all of the routes in MM (good endings, though I did get one bad ending for Yoosung) there are no stats.
Just a heads up, there is a yan route
for people who would rather not do it.
There's also yan potential in
but honestly it's really hard to get that bad ending imo unless you're an all out dick for most of the route in the beginning. He ends up pretty cute at the end. His after ending is probably my favorite one.
Really enjoyed the game and don't regret at all using money for it. It's really unique compared to other otomes on the market. I'm replaying it again so I can get some of the bad endings, but I'm not spending hourglasses on them lol
Here is what I wrote on another site:
+
+The game (at least to me) is incredibly funny. I laughed out loud so often omg
+Feels like a real chat room with a group of friends. From the constant going off topic to them prying into your business, to just fucking around and talking about whatever
+The phone calls are interactive (you get choices during them) and later on the phone calls actually tailor themselves to whatever route you're on. You'll have someone calling you frantically about a plot point or someone else will call you about your relationship with said dude on whatever route. It's incredibly immersive.
+The story is actually pretty good, while it may be a tad predictable, it was well done imo.
+The routes are long so you feel like you get your money's worth (if you bought hourglasses)
+I love all of the characters so much. Each is distinct and each have different relationships with each other which is a really fun dynamic
+Tons of CGs
+ The text messages are fun (when they work properly) there are some pretty hilarious ones and some really funny replies you can make
+ I love how their status page updates and how social media it feels. New headers, profile pictures, and a blurb that tells you what they are thinking or what is going on at the time.
+Any typos actually don't bother me because it's in a chat setting and you can't tell whether it was actually intended or not (because sometimes they were lol)
+Rocky launch but they've been compensating very well for the downtime and bugs,
+The visual novel sections were actually a really nice change from the chat sessions
+Plot was completely wrapped up and felt satisfying. Nameless in particular felt like the ending just fell off a cliff and you didn't get a good conclusion. Here you did.
+ While there's a good amount of romance, plot is king in this game. Going to bother some people but I personally prefer it that way. Also some routes are more plot oriented than others.
+ I love the chat speak, but some people may not... so if you don't stay far away from the game.
+ Since the game is mostly within the chat rooms, the character interactions are just so good.
Potential downsides -
- You definitely need to pay cash to get the full story. The after endings for each character and the secret endings (WHICH YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS) there's no way to get them without buying them. I mean they definitely deserve money for a quality product but it's probably going to aggravate some people
- This is a personal opinion but I REAAAALLY dislike no-eyed heroines in CGs.
- Hourglass system confused the hell out of me at first. Got used to it pretty quickly though.
- Bugs - I didn't get many bad ones, but the text messaging was bugged so I missed a ton of them. It's super sad because there's no way to see them after you've done the routes.
- There is a canon boy, at least in the fact that he ends up with MC at the final conclusion of the game, so that may bug people (but he's an amazing character and one of my favs so it didn't bother me at all lol)
- The game takes place over 11 days and people fall deeply in love in that time, so it's probably going to seem unrealistic to people
- To play the game and see all of the routes without waiting (if you're super impatient like I am), you'll probably need to spend around ~$40-50 like I did. Completely worth it though imo. If you don't want to pay money, it's going to take you a long time, but you'll still need hourglasses to see the secret endings and after stories.
- Some stilted English, but overall way better in quality than Nameless/Dandelion so it never bothered me much.
- Prepare yourself for some cheese.
- Jaehee isn't a s/s route, but a BFF route with heavy undertones of her and MC being in love which I think is a bit of a cop out, but w/e.
- Some of the answers to the emails are really out there, and it's easy to fail some of them.
Another note, a few of the guys say possessive things (some more than others) so that may bother some people. It's typical otome standard fare and nothing too out there, but I thought I'd bring it up anyways since I know some people are more sensitive to things like that.
For doing route order, I HIGHLY suggest doing Zen's route first and 707's last. Whatever you do, do 707's last. Trust me.
(Sorry for the long review!)
Just a heads up, there is a yan route
__Jumin__
One of his bad endings is bad, but in his good ending he actually gets some character development which I found was actually pretty interesting. He realizes he's being an idiot and needs to change, so he works on it. He also ends up acting much better to the people around him.
He's still possessive and stuff at times, though the MC tells him to ask first before doing anything without her approval, and he agrees.
He's still possessive and stuff at times, though the MC tells him to ask first before doing anything without her approval, and he agrees.
There's also yan potential in
___Yoosung___
Really enjoyed the game and don't regret at all using money for it. It's really unique compared to other otomes on the market. I'm replaying it again so I can get some of the bad endings, but I'm not spending hourglasses on them lol
Here is what I wrote on another site:
+
+The game (at least to me) is incredibly funny. I laughed out loud so often omg
+Feels like a real chat room with a group of friends. From the constant going off topic to them prying into your business, to just fucking around and talking about whatever
+The phone calls are interactive (you get choices during them) and later on the phone calls actually tailor themselves to whatever route you're on. You'll have someone calling you frantically about a plot point or someone else will call you about your relationship with said dude on whatever route. It's incredibly immersive.
+The story is actually pretty good, while it may be a tad predictable, it was well done imo.
+The routes are long so you feel like you get your money's worth (if you bought hourglasses)
+I love all of the characters so much. Each is distinct and each have different relationships with each other which is a really fun dynamic
+Tons of CGs
+ The text messages are fun (when they work properly) there are some pretty hilarious ones and some really funny replies you can make
+ I love how their status page updates and how social media it feels. New headers, profile pictures, and a blurb that tells you what they are thinking or what is going on at the time.
+Any typos actually don't bother me because it's in a chat setting and you can't tell whether it was actually intended or not (because sometimes they were lol)
+Rocky launch but they've been compensating very well for the downtime and bugs,
+The visual novel sections were actually a really nice change from the chat sessions
+Plot was completely wrapped up and felt satisfying. Nameless in particular felt like the ending just fell off a cliff and you didn't get a good conclusion. Here you did.
+ While there's a good amount of romance, plot is king in this game. Going to bother some people but I personally prefer it that way. Also some routes are more plot oriented than others.
+ I love the chat speak, but some people may not... so if you don't stay far away from the game.
+ Since the game is mostly within the chat rooms, the character interactions are just so good.
Potential downsides -
- You definitely need to pay cash to get the full story. The after endings for each character and the secret endings (WHICH YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS) there's no way to get them without buying them. I mean they definitely deserve money for a quality product but it's probably going to aggravate some people
- This is a personal opinion but I REAAAALLY dislike no-eyed heroines in CGs.
- Hourglass system confused the hell out of me at first. Got used to it pretty quickly though.
- Bugs - I didn't get many bad ones, but the text messaging was bugged so I missed a ton of them. It's super sad because there's no way to see them after you've done the routes.
- There is a canon boy, at least in the fact that he ends up with MC at the final conclusion of the game, so that may bug people (but he's an amazing character and one of my favs so it didn't bother me at all lol)
- The game takes place over 11 days and people fall deeply in love in that time, so it's probably going to seem unrealistic to people
- To play the game and see all of the routes without waiting (if you're super impatient like I am), you'll probably need to spend around ~$40-50 like I did. Completely worth it though imo. If you don't want to pay money, it's going to take you a long time, but you'll still need hourglasses to see the secret endings and after stories.
- Some stilted English, but overall way better in quality than Nameless/Dandelion so it never bothered me much.
- Prepare yourself for some cheese.
- Jaehee isn't a s/s route, but a BFF route with heavy undertones of her and MC being in love which I think is a bit of a cop out, but w/e.
- Some of the answers to the emails are really out there, and it's easy to fail some of them.
Another note, a few of the guys say possessive things (some more than others) so that may bother some people. It's typical otome standard fare and nothing too out there, but I thought I'd bring it up anyways since I know some people are more sensitive to things like that.
For doing route order, I HIGHLY suggest doing Zen's route first and 707's last. Whatever you do, do 707's last. Trust me.
(Sorry for the long review!)
Np! ^^
-To buy extra save slots
-To buy full days (24 hours) of the route's conversations instead of having to wait for time to pass irl (note that you'll have to rebuy days of the prologue on different routes. Nothing carries over)
-If you miss a conversation the characters will speak in chat without you. If you want to see how the chat would be when you're involved you have to spend some hourglasses. Happens a lot especially for those conversations that take place super late at night. I missed them a lot.
-A one time payment to unlock Deep Story Mode (Jumin and 707's routes)
-To call a character on the phone (usually when you've missed a call)
-To see the small after stories of each character after their routes
-To see both secret endings
Those are pretty much the main things.
-To buy extra save slots
-To buy full days (24 hours) of the route's conversations instead of having to wait for time to pass irl (note that you'll have to rebuy days of the prologue on different routes. Nothing carries over)
-If you miss a conversation the characters will speak in chat without you. If you want to see how the chat would be when you're involved you have to spend some hourglasses. Happens a lot especially for those conversations that take place super late at night. I missed them a lot.
-A one time payment to unlock Deep Story Mode (Jumin and 707's routes)
-To call a character on the phone (usually when you've missed a call)
-To see the small after stories of each character after their routes
-To see both secret endings
Those are pretty much the main things.
Hakuouki?
The only routes you need to unlock are the deep story ones, and it's only 80 hourglasses which unlock both of them thankfully.
It's 5 hourglasses per conversation you missed, 20 (or 30? can't remember) to get a full 24 hours of the conversations from day 1-5, when you get onto a route then it's 50 hourglasses to unlock each day fully from there on.
It's 5 hourglasses per conversation you missed, 20 (or 30? can't remember) to get a full 24 hours of the conversations from day 1-5, when you get onto a route then it's 50 hourglasses to unlock each day fully from there on.
Aizo
Banned
Hmm. Not that one. Two words. The art reminds me of Sengoku Basara.
Thanks. Makes me wish Cheritz had just decided to make users pay an upfront cost to buy the app, instead of messing around with this hourglass nonsense.
Same here, I would have much preferred to just buy the full game for one price with everything included. I don't regret using money on it, it's just a bit of a hassle with the hourglass system :/ Would have been nice to have that option.
On the other hand, if people are patient, they can play 80% of the game for free, so I guess that's good for those who don't have much money/don't want to spend much.
On the other hand, if people are patient, they can play 80% of the game for free, so I guess that's good for those who don't have much money/don't want to spend much.
Aizo
Banned
I'm asking because I was walking through Shibuya tonight with a friend, and we heard girls screaming and went to check it out. Saw a live battle between guys dressed like characters, and they were being professionally filmed with a crowd around them. I asked some Japanese girls that were watching from a far, and they told me it was a simulation game. I asked if it was the kind that is popular with women, and they said yes. Haha. Looked like it was pretty famous.
Aizo
Banned
Wish I could say, but I only know Japanese game release dates. Whatever the case is, the crowd was going wild. I could hear them from blocks away in Shibuya, so they were louder than everything else around on a Friday night.
Edit: so it's just a mobile game? It's not even an Otome game. Sorry for being unknowingly off topic. The girls I asked said it was simulation, so I thought that's what they meant.
Edit: so it's just a mobile game? It's not even an Otome game. Sorry for being unknowingly off topic. The girls I asked said it was simulation, so I thought that's what they meant.
Okay, I've played a bit more of MM. Instead of that first long conversation with everyone in the chatroom, subsequent chats appear to just be between you (if you're present) and select characters. I actually received one hourglass from a chat; I'm not sure if it was random or what yet.
If anyone's on the fence about the game, I'd go ahead and download it now while Cheritz is handing out hourglasses like candy. I think I've received almost 900 total.
Another question for you: it looks like you have to be on when a chat/call begins, but I'm not getting push notifications or anything to tell me when someone's on. Is this normal, or another bug?
You mentioned that the vast majority of the game can be played without hourglasses. Does this mean that there are romance events or something not tied to the time-locked chats, or that you would just finish the game with whatever hearts you managed to accrue during the prologue?
If anyone's on the fence about the game, I'd go ahead and download it now while Cheritz is handing out hourglasses like candy. I think I've received almost 900 total.
Another question for you: it looks like you have to be on when a chat/call begins, but I'm not getting push notifications or anything to tell me when someone's on. Is this normal, or another bug?
You mentioned that the vast majority of the game can be played without hourglasses. Does this mean that there are romance events or something not tied to the time-locked chats, or that you would just finish the game with whatever hearts you managed to accrue during the prologue?
SouSouRocket
Member
No stats hooray!!! :'D but this hourglass shit sounds so confusing! I really don't mind paying $40-50 for a full game... :I I hate this nickel and diming stuff. When's it out on iOS?!
The hourglasses aren't too bad, actually. They make more sense when you're playing the game. Basically, it boils down to this: outside of a few exceptions, hourglasses allow you to "turn back time" and participate in conversations that you missed. You can still view the conversations you missed, you just can't participate in them if you're late without hourglasses.
I guess I'm not surprised that Cheritz hasn't released it on iOS. It's been having so many early problems with server overload on Android (they didn't realize how popular it would be) that they're probably gonna wait until they have a more-or-less definitive version for Android, then make all those fixes to iOS and release it.
Hmm normally I get a notification outside of the game when there's a chat available, although for phone calls it doesn't say anything out of the client to let you know you're being called, so those are the most easy to miss.
Yeah, with the hearts/hourglasses you collect from the first three routes you'll probably be able to open Deep Story mode. From there collecting some more of them you'll probably have enough to view some of the after stories and whatnot. I'm pretty sure if you replay routes you could probably amass enough to unlock all of the content that needs to be unlocked solely with the hourglasses (after stories, extra endings) but I feel it would take way too long.
Just to give some rough costs:
Unlock deep route (Both Jumin and 707's route) costs 80 hourglasses total
After story - Each character's costs 20 hourglasses, so 100 hourglasses total
Secret Ending 1 - 7 chapters (10 hourglasses each chapter) so 70 total
Secret Ending 2 - 7 chapters (10 hourglasses each chapter) so 70 total
so if you save up around 320 hourglasses you can see all the "extra" stuff, which comes out to roughly ~$9 worth of hourglasses.
The after stories are basically what happens to MC and their guy after the end of their route. Secret endings answer all plot questions and wrap everything else, so they are kind of must see imo because you'll have no idea how the story truly ends without seeing both of them.
Not sure if that helps any!
Thanks for the info! another question, if you don't mind: is the game set up like a traditional otome, where once you're on a route, you're locked onto it? Or can you just use hourglasses to go back and raise your affection level with each guy and view a separate ending in one file? I'm guessing it's a traditional setup, what with being locked into a route, but I just wanted to check.
Oh, and I think the problem with me not getting push notifications was that I had completely closed out of the app, instead of letting it run in the background. Letting it do the latter lets notifications through, I think.
Oh, and I think the problem with me not getting push notifications was that I had completely closed out of the app, instead of letting it run in the background. Letting it do the latter lets notifications through, I think.
I don't mind questions at all because honestly it's pretty confusing lol ^^
Okay so there's a prologue (you can skip this after you beat your first route) there's a first day, then after that day 2/3/4 are considered the 'common route'. Chapters 5-11 are specifically based on your chosen person.
You could at least try making a main save during day 2 (or even probably 3..could try the beginning of 4 I guess but that may be cutting it close) and using that file every time you want to try and get on someone else's route, and then when you do just save onto a different file. Just choose responses towards the person you're aiming for and not for other characters and I can't see why that wouldn't work. I didn't do that personally, but it's probably a good idea. You definitely can't do it all in one file though, you'd need to utilize more than that.
Oh, and the deep routes (Jumin and 707) have a different common route (chapters 2/3/4) than Yoosung, Zen and Jaehee.
Okay so there's a prologue (you can skip this after you beat your first route) there's a first day, then after that day 2/3/4 are considered the 'common route'. Chapters 5-11 are specifically based on your chosen person.
You could at least try making a main save during day 2 (or even probably 3..could try the beginning of 4 I guess but that may be cutting it close) and using that file every time you want to try and get on someone else's route, and then when you do just save onto a different file. Just choose responses towards the person you're aiming for and not for other characters and I can't see why that wouldn't work. I didn't do that personally, but it's probably a good idea. You definitely can't do it all in one file though, you'd need to utilize more than that.
Oh, and the deep routes (Jumin and 707) have a different common route (chapters 2/3/4) than Yoosung, Zen and Jaehee.
No prob!
(No spoilers or anything, just figured some people want to find out for themselves so I'll tag it just in case)
Nope, no route for V! Though he is involved heavily in one of the secret endings.
No prob!
(No spoilers or anything, just figured some people want to find out for themselves so I'll tag it just in case)Nope, no route for V! Though he is involved heavily in one of the secret endings.
Ah, gotcha. Thanks!
Have you played any of Cheritz's other games before?
Finished up Robin Hood's route in Ozmafia. He actually managed to up the creepy meter a time or two, though parts of his route didn't really make much sense. His route also provided a tiny nugget of information/confirmation for the overall story/setting:
.
Fuka's starting to wear on me. She's just so...oblivious? That's not really the word I want, I think, but it's close. Maybe that she's oblivious, and despite people constantly calling her out, nothing bad ever happens to her. Though I suppose that's less her fault and more a comment on the quality of the game's writing overall. ¯\_(ツ_/¯
I believe Hamelin's next on my list. I'm slowly but surely making my way through~
that certain residents of the town, including him, Hamelin, and possibly the Oz family, are immortal
Fuka's starting to wear on me. She's just so...oblivious? That's not really the word I want, I think, but it's close. Maybe that she's oblivious, and despite people constantly calling her out, nothing bad ever happens to her. Though I suppose that's less her fault and more a comment on the quality of the game's writing overall. ¯\_(ツ
_/¯I believe Hamelin's next on my list. I'm slowly but surely making my way through~
I highly doubt it's going to be worth it.
Oh wow. I actually enjoyed Hamelin's route. His good ending was the first one I thought was sweet, and his bad end was surprisingly well done. I guess I'll have to update my personal tier list for the game. Hamelin > everyone else so far.
Next up is, uh... Caeser, I think? Gotta go check that list I made... Should just be Caeser and Soh before the grand ending, or whatever it's called. I hope the love triangle routes aren't required for the final ending. :\
Speaking of which, while I've heard that it's better to go brothel > Robin Hood > Hamelin, I don't think you really learn enough information in the previous two routes to worry about doing them out of order. While I do think that route progression is the most logical, the bits that connect them are either minuscule (brothel) or small (Hood).
Next up is, uh... Caeser, I think? Gotta go check that list I made... Should just be Caeser and Soh before the grand ending, or whatever it's called. I hope the love triangle routes aren't required for the final ending. :\
Speaking of which, while I've heard that it's better to go brothel > Robin Hood > Hamelin, I don't think you really learn enough information in the previous two routes to worry about doing them out of order. While I do think that route progression is the most logical, the bits that connect them are either minuscule (brothel) or small (Hood).
Finished up Caesar's route. His was another surprisingly good one! I think I might put it a little higher than Hamelin's, if only because the latter's was so short. (For good reason.) I read that Caesar was one of the routes where you start learning more about Fuka's past, but that isn't true at all. :\ Heck, Fuka never even found out about/asked about
. You'd think that would come up in conversation or something. :\
Mystic Messenger is going well so far. I'm on day 4. I'm actually a little concerned that I won't make Zen's route, since I keep on unintentionally being nice to Jaehee and Yoonsung. >.<; I think it's because of the whole chatroom setup. I've trained myself to be at least a little nice online, and that's a terrible habit to carry over into otome games. D: The game feels much more slice-of-life than Cheritz's other games so far, despite in opening with Unknown. It's a nice change of pace, I think.
...This is like my fourth post in a row. Anyone else out there?
why he wanted to kill her
Mystic Messenger is going well so far. I'm on day 4. I'm actually a little concerned that I won't make Zen's route, since I keep on unintentionally being nice to Jaehee and Yoonsung. >.<; I think it's because of the whole chatroom setup. I've trained myself to be at least a little nice online, and that's a terrible habit to carry over into otome games. D: The game feels much more slice-of-life than Cheritz's other games so far, despite in opening with Unknown. It's a nice change of pace, I think.
...This is like my fourth post in a row. Anyone else out there?
We're all out there.
The only good thing about Ozmafia that I read was Caesar's route
. Every other route was ehhh...We're all out there.
The only good thing about Ozmafia that I read was Caesar's route
Life! O.O
*ahem* But anyway, yeah, Ozmafia is kinda sad. They just have waaaaay too many characters to write for. I mean, there's the Oz boys (3), all their love triangles (6), plus seven other characters plus the epilogue. That's 17 different routes, total. :\ They're not all full routes, but it's still kinda ridiculous. And it's a testament to how little effort was put into most of these; I'm only ~22 hours in, and I've done almost everything sans Soh, the epilogue and those love triangles.
Yeah, that's the problem when a game has a lot of routes; you always wonder if it'll suffer because of it and it usually does D:.
SouSouRocket
Member
I'm reading and enjoying your posts, just nothing new to add ;3; but thank you for sharing, for real!
Ah, glad to hear! ^o^ I'll be posting my final thoughts on the game later today, with our without the CG; I hope you enjoy them!
Okay here are my final thoughts on OZMAFIA!! I was gonna wait until I could figure out how to get that last gallery CG in the Others section, in hopes there might be an extra story scene, but the Internet has so far failed me. I'll update this when/if I see it.
First things first, I'll provide a brief summary of what's actually going on in the game, for those who might be interested but don't want to spend time on having to play through it. Note that all of this spoils part of the final epilogue, which you can't play unless you've cleared each character's route at least once; I haven't given a full summary of everything that happens, just the background and who Fuka and some key characters are.
(End of story spoilerfest.)
So, long story short (too late. 24 hours too late), is this game worth it? No. It's main sin is bad writing; as I mentioned earlier, there are far too many routes (around 17 total), most of them being superfluous. Cut out Scarlet, Pashet, the brothel, Robin Hood, and the Oz boys' love triangles. Boom, you're down to 7, and you can devote the extra time to make those routes that much better. Most either felt like friendships or weren't romantic in the slightest (*cough*Kyrie*cough*). It's not that they were bad relationships/went against my tastes/whatever, it's that the relationship most often wasn't there, and felt forced, like "Oh yeah, gotta check so-and-so off my list of people to let the player date...". The music's not so hot, either, with lots of recycled tracks, but that's an overall minor complaint compared to the writing in general. Plus all those loading screens. D: This game felt like it was 40% loading screens and makes me glad I can't see the code for it, otherwise I'd probably cry.
Anyway, some posts back I posted this tentative route order, which I followed through my own playthroughs (no actual spoilers):
. Upon my writing this review of the game, I have not finished any of the love triangle routes or one of Axel's (missed it somehow and didn't want to start a new file for him), but I've done everything else. While that's technically probably the "best" route order if you want something strict to follow, it's only the "best" in the sense of following the tiny breadcrumbs of information tossed at you. I do not think your experience of the game would suffer if you did any route in any order you pleased.
Normally, I'd post my own personal ranking of the eligible bachelors in an otoge. I was scared for a while that I wouldn't be able to do so here, most of the routes being bland/poorly written, but there were actually some that I enjoyed and felt had at least a little bit of effort put in: Caeser > Hamelin > Soh > everyone else. Look at that, guys, that's everyone relevant to the story. >.>; (Note that I actually didn't find Soh romantic or anything. His was vaguely more story-filled than the others, so I though I'd throw him a bone.)
If anyone has any questions, I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability! I might have forgotten something, so I'll add it to the review if I think of anything later.
First things first, I'll provide a brief summary of what's actually going on in the game, for those who might be interested but don't want to spend time on having to play through it. Note that all of this spoils part of the final epilogue, which you can't play unless you've cleared each character's route at least once; I haven't given a full summary of everything that happens, just the background and who Fuka and some key characters are.
Okay, so the story. Ozmafia is a continuation of sorts of the story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. After Dorothy became a witch, she turned her traveling companions (sans Toto) into humans, who become the Oz boys, and magicked up a town for them to live in. And so they wouldn't be lonely, she went ahead and created real people from the fairy tales she had read to keep them company. This town, along with its "ruling class" (that is, all the fairy-tale inspired inhabitants) is what is featured in Ozmafia; that is also why the ruling class is immortal, as they were created with magic. Dorothy, after all this was done, shut herself in the tower in the middle of town, as she couldn't live amongst her friends for fear of using her magic for herself and turning into a Bad Witch. She got fed up with that state of affairs, though, and tried to leave the tower. This didn't work. Instead of leaving like she wanted, her body and soul were separated. Toto, who had apparently been living with her all this time, wanted her back badly, and his wishes somehow combined with built-up magic in the tower to form Soh, the sentient form of the tower. Yeah, I didn't see that one coming, either. If you're like me, at about this point you're going "Oh! Oh! So is Caesar Toto?! Wolf gang, wants to find her, etc., and he didn't actually merge with the tower or anything!" You'd think so, but the writer apparently thought that'd be too easy, and instead made Caesar the manifestation of Dorothy's magic itself. Yeah. I know. Makes no sense, but let's move along.
So anyway, Dorothy's body has remained in the tower, but her soul manifested as Fuka. Soh is the one responsible for Hamelin going crazy and other stuff, all in an attempt to either chase Fuka away or draw her to the tower to rejoin with Dorothy. Fuka does eventually get to the top of the tower with Soh and she, as far as I know, rejoins with Dorothy and everyone forgets about her after Soh wipes their memories of Fuka. Oh, and apparently Toto's dead or something. Soh brushes off the issue with "Maybe he died of old age or something lol". Why would you give up such an easy chance to put the dog in? Ugh, anyway... Like I said, could be there's an extra scene that I missed; if so I'll update.
So anyway, Dorothy's body has remained in the tower, but her soul manifested as Fuka. Soh is the one responsible for Hamelin going crazy and other stuff, all in an attempt to either chase Fuka away or draw her to the tower to rejoin with Dorothy. Fuka does eventually get to the top of the tower with Soh and she, as far as I know, rejoins with Dorothy and everyone forgets about her after Soh wipes their memories of Fuka. Oh, and apparently Toto's dead or something. Soh brushes off the issue with "Maybe he died of old age or something lol". Why would you give up such an easy chance to put the dog in? Ugh, anyway... Like I said, could be there's an extra scene that I missed; if so I'll update.
So, long story short (too late. 24 hours too late), is this game worth it? No. It's main sin is bad writing; as I mentioned earlier, there are far too many routes (around 17 total), most of them being superfluous. Cut out Scarlet, Pashet, the brothel, Robin Hood, and the Oz boys' love triangles. Boom, you're down to 7, and you can devote the extra time to make those routes that much better. Most either felt like friendships or weren't romantic in the slightest (*cough*Kyrie*cough*). It's not that they were bad relationships/went against my tastes/whatever, it's that the relationship most often wasn't there, and felt forced, like "Oh yeah, gotta check so-and-so off my list of people to let the player date...". The music's not so hot, either, with lots of recycled tracks, but that's an overall minor complaint compared to the writing in general. Plus all those loading screens. D: This game felt like it was 40% loading screens and makes me glad I can't see the code for it, otherwise I'd probably cry.
Anyway, some posts back I posted this tentative route order, which I followed through my own playthroughs (no actual spoilers):
Oz boys > Scarlet/Pashet (any order) > brothel > Robin Hood > Hamelin > Caeser > Soh
Normally, I'd post my own personal ranking of the eligible bachelors in an otoge. I was scared for a while that I wouldn't be able to do so here, most of the routes being bland/poorly written, but there were actually some that I enjoyed and felt had at least a little bit of effort put in: Caeser > Hamelin > Soh > everyone else. Look at that, guys, that's everyone relevant to the story. >.>; (Note that I actually didn't find Soh romantic or anything. His was vaguely more story-filled than the others, so I though I'd throw him a bone.)
If anyone has any questions, I'll try to answer them to the best of my ability! I might have forgotten something, so I'll add it to the review if I think of anything later.