Posts Tagged ‘otomate’

Nise no Chigiri fandisk!!!

Yay, I knew it was going to happen! Though it didn’t get as much publicity as it could, Nise no Chigiri was, I think, more popular than Otomate expected. Its character poll got more votes than any before (though probably if Hakuouki was done now it would get the most), and I think the response to the fanbook and comic adaptation in Aria was good as well. Before the holidays a drama CD was announced, and hints were dropped on the staff blog about another announcement in the new year. And finally, on yesterday’s Nise no Chigiri update, it was announced!

The fandisk is set for summer, and is called Nise no Chigiri Omoide no Saki e (二世の契り　想い出の先へ). It will be on the PSP as the original was. Apparently the new B’s Log has info on it, but my shipment is delayed (booo!!). The blog says that there are two parts to it, additions to the original story (yesss, the game so needed some more in it!) and a story after the end of the game. And they say that for the in-game additions, they’re adding as much romance as they can, given the nature of the original. AWESOME – this is exactly what fans were asking for. More two-shot CGs, less CGs of Yatarou bending a metal bar!!

I may add some pics from B’s Log later if I can, but in the meantime, I am soo happy about this!

Garnet Cradle Portable, New Angelique!

Drat, I had this ready last week but was holding out, hoping that a Nise no Chigiri fandisk would be announced (it will happen I swear!!) and then forgot to publish this Anyhow, there is a new Angelique game coming out! But it’s a ‘social game’. Love Love Tenshi-sama Angelique is scheduled for Spring 2011. All that’s up now is a little movie showing some of the characters (done by Yura Kairi), five of which have seiyuu already: Sugita Tomokazu, Narita Ken, Namikawa Daisuke, Fukuda Kenji and Horiuchi Kenyuu. Anyone have any idea what this will be?

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And good things come to those who wait! Garnet Cradle is coming out on the PSP from Otomate, yay!! I hope there’s new stuff added in, but really I’m just happy to be able to play it. I’ve heard the story is not amazing, but that art…I can’t wait to see it on my PSP!

I also noticed a new R18 game coming out from Aromarie, Chou no Doku, Hana no Kusari (Butterfly Poison, Chain of Flowers), set in the Taisho era. It’s planned for Spring 2011.

New games and updated info!

You may have heard that Quinrose is adapting a game for the PSP, it’s called Iza Shutsujin! Koi Ikusa and the art is quite pretty! It was originally a cell phone game (you know,　I complain about not getting these games, but maybe it’s good, I’d probably get fired for playing on my cellphone at work or something), and it’s set in the Sengoku period! \(^o^)/ Banzai, more Sengoku love! Akechi Mitsuhide, Hattori Hanzo, and Oda Nobunaga are all main characters – Oda Nobunaga has never been more bishounen No release date yet but it’s supposed to be in 2011 sometime. Apparently they’ve doubled the length of the stories, and updated all the art, as well as adding character art for some sub-characters that didn’t appear before. Hopefully Quinrose will do a good job adapting it!

Brothers Conflict – a new game from Otomate based on a comic in the manga mag Sylph, which runs some otome game-based comics like Hakuouki. It seems to be a contemporary game, with at least 10 guys (though they may not all have routes).

Are You Alice? – another one from Otomate with just a pic up, cute art (what is that one guy doing with the makeup under his eyes?)
Edit: I just got the new B’s Log, and I think you’re right, Rita – it says the player plays as Alice, who is a guy, and there doesn’t seem to be any romance in it. It does say ‘otome game’, but I think this one is more of a straight adventure. Looks neat though!

And I was sleeping when they put this up, Death Connection is being released for the PSP on Feb 3 2011. Yay! I missed it on PS2.

B’s Log News – November 2010 Issue

Other than Harutoki 4/5 news, B’s Log also had the following announcements:

New games/adaptations:

Kago no Naka no Alishus – a new PC game announced for 2011 from IcingCandy, which did Bloody Call. It’s set in a fairytale land called Lucce, and the heroine Runa is a high school student who’s summoned there to learn how to be an “Alishus” from the Loa Christ, a group of guardians.

Black Robinnia – A mystery otome(kind of maybe?) game for the PSP from Broccoli, apparently you can pick different main characters.

A fandisk for Hanayaka Nari, Waga Ichizoku – no news on platform (I’d assume PSP) or timeframe yet.

A fandisk for Kaerubatake de Tsukamaete – scheduled for December from Takuyo for the PS2. Chigira Takumi will be capturable in this game.

Beastmaster and Prince Review

Sorry for posting this half-done earlier! Here’s the full review.

After finishing all of Beastmaster and Prince, or 猛獣使いと王子さま, from Otomate, I’m honestly not sure whether to recommend it or not. I enjoyed it, but it’s definitely on the fluffy side. So if you prefer deep gameplay, or a very drawn-out story arc (like Hakuouki), this game probably won’t satisfy you. HOWEVER. On the other side, you have:
1) Extremely cute art and animals (I’m a sucker for them).
2) Midorikawa Hikaru as Matheus and Toriumi Kousuke as Alfred – need I say more? Especially Mateus, who is a natural-born lady killer. And the other characters are good too – I couldn’t wait to do Silvio’s route.

I think the artist for this game, whoever it is (yeah I’ll add it later), really found their niche with this game. They also did the art for Petit Fours and Arco Baleno, and while those games were fun enough, the characters’ stories weren’t that deep, and the plot was pretty shallow as well, so the games overall felt thin.

Beastmaster isn’t extremely deep either in terms of having a long drawn-out plot, but the central story definitely has more action, and there are a couple twists in each route that keep your attention enough to play through several times. Also, the fantasy setting is great – the art is perfectly suited to the game, with rich colours and costumes, and of course the very cute animals.

Having completed the game, I don’t know what my favourite route is. I liked all of them, even though I didn’t expect to like Lucia or Eric that much, which was a nice surprise. And I would have liked to have more story for several characters, not only because it would have made the game longer but because I was interested in learning more about them. I’d actually consider buying a fandisk for this, or (I think this would be better) getting a PSP edition if they added more scenes. Hopefully they will!

So overall, I really enjoyed Beastmaster and Prince(s). Hopefully it will be adapted for the PSP, and then I think I’d recommend it for anyone who’s interested and is satisfied with just a small minigame (the mofu mofu game ^_^). For a full-priced PS2 game, I think it’s still a little overpriced, but if you love the animal transformation aspect, it might be worth it even so.

Love Chief! Ren’ai Banchou

Note:Finally I get a post up on time! The last couple weeks I have been a day or two late, and that is unacceptable! So here is this week’s post, bright and early. Not too much text but a lot of pics! ^_^

This game has been in the works for a while, I believe there was a B’s Log TV show of the same name which started everything.
In this game, there are several ‘banchou’ (banchou is usually what you call the leader of a gang), all specializing in different things. The player is a girl who has never been in love before, and throughout the game is taught how fun and interesting romance can be.

There are the ‘main’ banchou, which includes the pink-outfitted guy and his sidekick that you may have seen before, as well as four others.

Renai Banchou CV: Morikubo Shoutarou

Yasu CV: Terajima Takuma

Sawayaka Banchou CV: Kenn

Sexy Banchou CV: Toriumi Kousuke

Pretty Banchou CV: Kaji Yuuki

Tsundere Banchou CV: Nakamura Yuuichi

Mysterious Banchou CV: Ono Daisuke

And here are the ‘rival’ banchou.

Do-S Banchou and Iyashi Banchou (Sadistic and Comforting Banchou)
CV: Suzuki Tatsuhisa and Suzuki Chihiro

Otome Banchou CV: Suzuki Yuuto

Fuuki (Rules/Etiquette) Banchou CV: Irino Miyu

Data and Koakuma (Little Devil) Banchou
CV: Kimura Ryouhei and Kakihara Tetsuya

Clock Zero Cast

OK, let’s see what kids they got to play the sixth-graders!

Heh, yeah, no, of course it’s all seiyuu we know and love in Otomate’s new game Clock Zero, set to release this November for the PS2.

Clockwise from the top left:
Kanou Riichirou CV: Maeno Tomoaki
Past roles: Chisato in VitaminZ, Oswell in Kazeiro Surf, Rouichi in STEAL

Hanabusa Madoka CV: Toriumi Kousuke
Past roles: Oreldo in Pumpkin Scissors, Shun in VitaminX, Sengoku in Prince of Tennis

Kaidou Takato CV: Namikawa Daisuke
Past roles: Ohtori in Prince of Tennis, Kazahaya in Kimi ni Todoke, Italy in Hetalia, Ayato in Love Revo, Yuuichi in Hiiro no Kakera

Tokita Shuuya CV: Ishida Akira
Past roles: Katsura in Gintama, Yasuaki/Yasutsugu/LizVaan/Ashvin in Harutoki series, Mizuki in PoT, Aslan in Gundam Seed, Sakuya in Tokimemo GS, Rinto in Himehibi, Katsuhiko in HnK2

Hanabusa Nakaba CV: Sudou Shou
Past roles: Kougaiji in SYK, Young England in Hetalia

Saionji Toranosuke CV: Sugiyama Noriaki
Past roles: Sasuke in Naruto, Uryuu in Bleach, Boris in the Alice series, Johan in Last Escort Club Katze, England in Hetalia

The ‘adult’ cast is still a secret. Here are two newish characters, the Dreamland guys, Bishop and Rook.

That’s it! I’ll try and keep an eye out for the rest of the cast being announced. Next up, Ishin Renka!!

News – June 2010

I have to say, it is interesting to be in a city hosting the G20 summit!  But it’s also a big pain in the butt, especially when you live downtown.

But elsewhere, life goes on normally, and otome game news happens, so here I am to announce it!

Two big new games are a new Renka game from D3 Publisher which I mentioned earlier, but now has a lot more info on it. Ishin Renka Sakamoto Ryouma Gaiden is set to release this fall for the PSP, with a story focusing on (big surprise) Sakamoto Ryouma, a key figure during the Bakumatsu period (1853-1867). There are new character designs from the last Renka game, Bakumatsu Renka Karyuu Kenshiden which was released in 2007 (which was a semi-sequel to the original Bakumatsu Renka from 2004). The main character apparently is an orphan who grew up in the Sakamoto household.

Seiyuu haven’t been announced; I’ll probably do a separate post when they are. The Renka series is quite popular even though several stories are quite tragic, it will be interesting to see if this game changes ‘accepted’ history enough to have mostly happy endings, especially since two main characters here, Sakamoto Ryouma and Okita Souji, supposedly died quite early in the Bakumatsu turmoil.

The other new new title is Armen Noir, announced by Otomate, for the PS2, scheduled for December. The character designer also did the designs for Hiiro no Kakera 4: Shin Tamayori-hime Denshou.

The story appears to be set in the neat future, in a corrupt city called  Moebius (or Mevius?), where the gap between rich and poor is growing bigger and bigger.

The heroine is a ‘Hunter’, someone who has chosen to oppose the criminals who have sullied their hands with illegal deeds and have gained money as a result. Hunters work for ‘Bountia’, an organization that takes assignments to catch criminals in the city for rewards. Armen Noir is the heroine’s codename in Bountia, and her real name is Naska.

Some other news:

• VitaminX Evolution will be released for the PSP – some differences from the DS version are that it will be fully voiced, and the T6 endings will be enhanced.  If I didn’t have the DS version I’d totally buy this!
• Wand of Fortune II set for this December(PS2)! Ruru somehow heads back in time to the early days of Mils Crea and meets characters who look just like their counterparts in the present but are totally different! ^_^
• Renai Banchou for the PSP is scheduled for September, it sounds like an actual otome game and not just an adventure game like Dear Girls

Other than that, there are tons of games being released right now,  I’ve finally got Hakuouki (for the PS3, honto kirei da yo~!) and Meikyuu Grimm for the PSP, which is fun but looong.  What are you playing?

Clock Zero – Outline

Next week I should have the mags with news, but for now, here is the outline of Clock Zero, the newest Otomate title for the PS2, set for November.

The main character, Kurou Nadeshiko, is a 6th-grade student and kind of a sheltered rich girl. She lives a normal, fairly happy life, and has a childhood friend Riichirou. But she starts having strange dreams almost every night of a desolate world, with a black sky cut across with red and blue.

One day Nadeko and Riichirou are summoned by their homeroom teacher, Kaga Akira. There are also six other students there who are generally known as troublemakers. The teacher tells them all that as troublemakers, they have to do a special assignment.

Forced to work together, the students work on the assignment slowly and with difficulty, uncovering the truth along the way.

Then, a mysterious person, who Nadeshiko has seen in her dreams, appears, and the wheels of fate begin turning…

The art is pretty…but 6th-graders? That’s like…11 year olds. And there’s at least one character that’s younger.  I probably won’t pre-order this, though I might get it later.

Desert Kingdom – Done!

I’ve now completed 98% of Desert Kingdom (there’s one sub-route that I don’t think I’m interested in), and I think I should take back a lot of the criticism I originally aimed at the game.

Criticism 1: Too short

This isn’t a complete reversal of my first opinion, but more of a change. I still feel that there isn’t much story going on in the gameplay portion of the game, where you choose where to go and build up your power. The power buildup portions are a good length, with you, your target, and Unbara, but the parts where you visit the guys are often abrupt and sometimes no more than a couple sentences long. I still feel that that’s a little too short.

But the rest of the story, once you get into someone’s route, is quite long. I’d estimate at least a couple hours each. This is great if you like visual novels, but for those are bored with long discussions without player interaction, you might be annoyed.

Criticism 2: CGs

Yeah, so I picked the wrong route to start off with. Most of the CGs are excellent and very pretty, there’s only one other fanservicey (to guys) CG, and overall I really like them. Oh, and Vii’s other route (the Good instead of Happy) has a CG that I actually like better than the Happy one. Plus, once you get a certain number of routes (the first four maybe??) you get extra CGs that you only see in the gallery, which are the guys in out-of-character costumes/poses (a very nice extra).

Also, there’s a little extra feature called “With Sera”, where you have a little epilogue for each route, but as if you’re visiting Sera. These are separate from the regular epilogues in the games, though you can choose to see them after each one (I chose to save them up and watch them after, which I think is a good choice as some include spoilers). It’s light and fun, and is a great little addition to the game.

Final Word

After finishing almost all the game, I really love it. Not only are the characters interesting, but the plotline is done well and integrates everyone – and no matter which route you end up in, Kingdom’s ending is pretty much the same.
I also shouldn’t leave out Aspashia – though her visual design is more loli than I’d like, her personality is awesome and realistic as an immortal princess who is used to doing whatever she wants.

Having just finished the final hidden route last night, it leaves you with that feeling, you know, when you’re all happy and gooey inside. It’s so cute, and they don’t make you go through the whole game again, which is fantastic.

So I’m a little biased positively to the game right now, but I’d definitely recommend Desert Kingdom if you like visual novels. If you don’t, and want more gameplay and interaction, I’d say only get it if you really love the setup and Arabian Nights aesthetic, since the dialogue portions will likely bore you.