Archive for September, 2008

Otome Extras

A couple small news items about extras in upcoming otome games:
Ayashi no Miya‘s first limited edition will come with a drama CD with Miyano Mamoru, Morikubou Shoutarou, and others, as well as a PC accessory pack with things like desktop wallpaper and and system icons.

Real Rode also has announced its extras. The limited edition will come with an illustration book as well as a drama CD.
The first edition of both the limited and regular edition will come with a voice CD. And for anyong lucky enough to be able to order theirs from a Japanese store(either メッセサンオー, animate, or Sofmap) they will come with another voice CD, with different seiyuu depending on the store.

Ukihashi

A little gaming ‘journal entry’ tonight, I’ve been playing Harutoki Ukihashi some more and finished once. I got three dreamboxes for RizVaan so I got a little scene with him at the end, but I think (not sure) you might be able to get four for each character and get a bigger epilogue. After you finish once, you can continue from right before the last battle, so it’s good – you can do all the characters from one game quickly. I didn’t get all the characters last time, but this time I will.

Also, after I continued my game, a dreambox with Tomomori appeared! So maybe you can get him too, I’ll have to see…

Exorcism of Maria – Seiyuu Announcement

I wasn’t at Comic Market in Tokyo on Aug 16 (I wish!), which is too bad, because I didn’t see the news until yesterday that Karin Entertainment had announced the seiyuu appearing in Exorcism of Maria (date TBD) for the PC. I did a little blurb on this a few weeks ago but I think I need to do a full-size one later.

But for now, the cast!

Maria – CV: Azumi Kana
Demon Uriel – CV: Hirakawa Daisuke
Munakata Shiryuu/Zeigfriet – CV: Takahashi Hiroki
Onbashira Kirito – CV: Shimono Hiro
Kujouin Hiyori/Orifiere – CV: Shimowada Yuuki
Shuurei Mikagami/Zachariel – CV: Sugiyama Noriaki
Claus Airhart/Poltogiza – CV: Kakihara Tetsuya
Father Ephrem – CV: Takefusa Atsushi

Grimm Fairytales- Zettai Meikyuu Grimm

Zettai Meikyuu Grimm ~Nanatsu no Kagi to Rakuen no Otome~
By Karin Entertainment for the PC

This upcoming (release date TBD) PC game looks really cute and has an interesting story. Henrietta, the heroine, grew up with the 3 brothers Grimm. The youngest, Ludwig, is her age, and the two older ones, Wilhelm and Jacob, watched over them and took care of them. When she and Ludwig were 10, Jacob and Wilhelm disappeared. Five years later, Henrietta and Ludwig find their research journal in their study, and start using it to look for them.

On their adventure, they join up with several fairytale characters and meet others, but events are not exactly as we know them in the Grimm Fairytales. Do the missing brothers have anything to do with this? And where are they?

Henrietta
Henrietta is a bit of a tomboy, but is cheerful and friendly. She supposedly has some talent in summoning things (using the book she holds), but she’s never been able to summon the golden dragon that she got from the Grimm brothers/

Ludwig (left) and Akazukin
Ludwig always supports Henrietta. His drawings can come to life and be almost indistinguishable from what they portray, but they don’t last.
Akazukin (Little Red Riding Hood), in comparison to his cute looks, has a strong personality.

The frog prince
He used to be a handsome prince, but was turned into a frog by a curse. He’s expert with a sword.

Rapunzel
Henrietta and Ludwig save Rapunzel from the tower where a witch was keeping her, and she joins their party. She has extremely long hair which she keeps up in braids, but they would be several times as long as she is tall if she let them down.

Hameln
Hameln plays a flute that can charm living things. He’s pretty irresponsible and just wanders around from place to place.

Wilhelm and Jacob
The older Grimm brothers whom Henrietta and Ludwig are trying to find. Jacob, on the right, is the stronger personality and doesn’t hesitate to use other people to help him do what he wants. Wilhelm is very intelligent, and Jacob often makes him work hard.

The whole style of the game is very fantastic and exaggerated in a cartoony way. Here’s an example of a background:

The castle of thorns

The game is a visual novel,but it looks like it could be quite fun to play through. I’m already wondering what the story is behind the older brothers’ disappearance, and what the frog prince *really* looks like.

Since Exorcism of Maria, also from Karin, is set to be released this winter, perhaps we can hope for a spring release of this?

Garnet Cradle – Characters

Garnet Cradle is the first otome game from a new brand called Spica. It’s coming out this winter for the PC, and the story moves between a high school and a mysterious parallel world that has an Arabian style. It’s being produced by Carnelian, and the art is by Kumoya Yukio.

There is still a lot unknown about Garnet Cradle, like the seiyuu, so today I’m going to focus on the characters.

Miku: the main character is a strong young woman who sticks up for those weaker than herself. She also has trouble saying no to people, and since she is mature for her age, often gets relied upon. She has almost no experience with boys and has never been in love.

Nonose Misaki: One of Miku’s best friends, she’s the president of the club that Miku belongs to, and is very knowledgeable about culture and history.

Shirato Tsubaki: Sou’s younger sister. Though she looks cool and quiet, she’s actually very opinionated, and wants Miku to be happy.

From the left:
Shirato Sou

• Height: 176cm
• Birthday: April 4
• Bloodtype: A

He’s protected Miku since she was little, and remains as her classmate to do so, even though he’s really two years older than her and a university student.

Teshigawara Touya

• Height: 175cm
• Birthday: September 9
• Bloodtype: A

Miku’s fiance who always gets top marks, he feels some resistance to the path that his family has laid out for him, and treats Miku coldly because of this.

Sairenji Rihito

• Height: 177cm
• Birthday: February 2
• Bloodtype: AB

The school council president, he has a Japanese and a French parent, and is also the captain of the fencing team. He’s considerate and friendly on the outside, but he sometimes seems uncaring.

Sakurazawa Kiichirou

• Height: 176cm
• Birthday: May 5
• Bloodtype: O

Popular and serious, Kiichirou is the captain of the soccer. He’s very good at cooking and baking, and often brings treats in to school to share.

Saariya
The prince that Miku meets in the other world. He has one blue eye and one grey one.

Kagami

• Height: 185cm

The nonchalant school nurse. He’s inscrutable and hard to figure out, but sometimes he gives very accurate information and advice.

I wish I had more info, but that’s all I could find for now! The game’s site is up, it has the character info and a few CGs.

Great Otome Games – Harutoki 3

I’m working on a Garnet Cradle post, but for tonight I thought I’d take a step back and look at what I think is one of the best female-targeted games ever – Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 3 (From Far Away 3) from Koei, for the Playstation 2.

For anyone who’s not familiar with the series, the premise is that the heroine, Nozomi, is a regular high school senior in Japan. One day while moving to the next class, she and her two childhood friends are transported to a faraway world that resembles historical Japan. In this world, there is magic, and she has been chosen by the Dragon God to be his priestess and protect the capital city of Kyou with the Minamoto clan. To help her, she has eight Guardians, called hachiyou (who all just happen to be young handsome men ^_^), but she doesn’t simply wait and let them protect her. She learns how to use a sword, and is the only person who can exorcise the ‘onryou’, or vengeful spirits, that the attackers of Kyou use.

In addition to the RPG gameplay, where Nozomi and her hachiyou fight onryou, gain allies and abilities, and battle the enemy (the other side here is the Heike clan), there’s the romance aspect. By fighting with them and winning, Nozomi’s bonds with her hachiyou get stronger. There are also story events for each hachiyou that illustrate the growing relationship between him and Nozomi.

Depending on whether you get all the ‘events’ for a hachiyou, you can get a love ending with them as well as saving Kyou. There’s also the ‘normal’ ending, where Nozomi doesn’t get together with anyone but saves Kyou and goes back to her world.

The gameplay is fun RPG and adventure, without being too heavy on either. The voice actors are great (if you can understand Japanese!) and the story is also strong. I really wish Koei would bring it overseas, they’re definitely big enough!

Tomorrow’s my day off, so I’ll be back on Saturday with a Garnet Cradle extravaganza!

Open Thread! What game most interests you?

What game are you most interested in that’s coming up, or that’s out but you haven’t heard much about?

Some upcoming games that I haven’t covered much:

• D.C. Da Capo
• Exorcism of Maria (PC)
• Grim Fairytales (PC)
• Garnet Cradle
• Crimson Empire
• Joker no Kuni no Alice

Hopefully some people will comment here, it’s been pretty quiet lately.  Back to school is a busy time I guess!

True Fortune

This is a new game coming out from Enterbrain on September 25th for the PS2. It’s gotten a lot of hype due to its producer Sugiyama Ichirou, who produced Kimi Kiss, and the illustrator Hibiki Tamane (not certain on that first name).

True Fortune is set in high school, and the main character uses special tarot cards daily to predict what will happen. You choose a guy, and depending on the card that you get, different events will happen. There are 22 cards, so there’s a lot of possible outcomes. Also, there’s a conversation mechanic where you choose topics and get varying reactions which is apparently based on the one in Kimi Kiss.

I did a short list of the guys a while ago, but I thought I’d scan a relationship diagram, it makes the setup easy to understand.

Seiyuu:
Hoshimiya Jun CV: Miyano Mamoru
Yaguchi Yuu CV: Oda Hisafumi
Himukai Yousuke CV: Okamoto Hiroshi
Kisaragi Shinya CV: Sugita Tomokazu
Noma Takuto CV: Taniyama Kishou
Kido Taisei CV: Midorikawa Hikaru

Back to school

Yes, those of you who are students are now back in school (at least in North America). Don’t cry! ^_^ To commemorate Labour Day, I thought I’d make a little list of otome games set in school:

Straight (no magic):

• Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side
• Kaitou Apricot
• Little Aid
• Houkago no Love Beat
• Meine Liebe
• Himehibi
• Full House Kiss
• Otometeki Koi Kakumei Love Revo!!
• Orange Honey
• Vitamin X
• True Fortune

Magic-based:

• Corda d’Oro
• Hiiro no Kakera
• Panic Palette
• Love Drops
• Princess Nightmare
• Houkago wa Gin no Shirabe
• Sorayume

Yume no Ukihashi Harutoki 1-3

I’ve had a chance to play Ukihashi now (though not much). The first thing you do is choose which miko you’ll be, and from then, which hachiyou you’ll start the story with. I chose Nozomi from #3 and Liz Vaan . The story begins in the middle of each game, so the miko are already in their own stories and need to get back to save Kyouto.

You start off being lost in a maze with your hachiyou, the one you picked and their partner. Then you come upon two other pairs from the other two games and together you try to find the exit. You unknowingly enter the North Palace and meet Hokutoseikun, the ruler of this world. He says that he brought you here because onryou have appeared here and it’s your fault. Escaping, you meet his brother Nantoseikun, who says that this world is like a dream to you, so while you’re here, your body in the real world is wasting away, so you can’t stay too long. He tells you to released the other miko to get back to your own world and timeline.

The world is divided in a circle shape, with Heaven’s Garden in the middle which includes the North and South Palace. There are a series of smaller structures in each of 12 directions, and then gates at the edge of each of those areas. The first hachiyou that I released were in one of the small structures. Outside the gates are the areas of the Four Sacred Beasts, but until you have the right hachiyou for a certain gate, you can’t pass through it. Once you’re outside the gates, you need to gain the assistance of the Beast. And then even further out, is the towers where the other miko are held.

Similar to Harutoki 3, when you’re supposed to go somewhere for the story it will glow blue. Love events are also shown, with pink dots. But unlike the other games, onryou are shown by purple clouds that move around the map as you move, so it’s harder to avoid them. However, you can blow into the DS and sometimes make them move away.
I found the battles to be a simpler version of #3′s, with each person having a couple special moves and a basic fight command, and the elements are all the same.

There are three types of endings. One is where you get through the game with only some of the hachiyou. The second is where you released all the hachiyou, and the last is a love ending. You can only get love endings with the hachiyou from your timeline though (too bad!).

That’s about it for now, I haven’t gotten any love events yet, hopefully tomorrow!