Posts Tagged ‘PS2’

Not again! Love Root Zero delayed

Hopefully this game will actually be published, that’s all I’m hoping for now. Love Root Zero ~Kiss Kiss Labyrinth~ has now been delayed to December. That’s a full 10 months after its original release date!  There continue to be pics in the magazines though, so hopefully it will eventually happen. There are lots of other games coming out though, so I’m sure I won’t be bored (right now I’m looking forward to S.Y.K. the most!)

Lucian Bee’s!!!

Yay, I got Lucian Bee’s on Friday! Since I have to work today (*wrote this on Sunday*), I’m posting some of my first impressions. I’m almost done Luke Rockwell’s route, so I still don’t know the reason why the bad guys are trying to make dasao/dameotoko.

Let’s see, where should I start? Well, the setup, once you get through the introduction, is kind of a mix between Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and VitaminX/Z. You, as the heroine Anna, choose what guy, or target, to start the makeover with, and then as you progress (there are 5 missions for each) you can go back and redo them to improve your scores, or choose to work on another character.

Each mission focuses on making over one aspect of the target: food, design, hair, fashion, and manners. You work with the other two strikers of Lucian Bee’s, M and Q (your codename is A), and the member of Metropolis V in charge of that aspect. Part of the fun is all the banter between M, Q, and the Metropolis V members, and later on, Anna as well. When you finish a mission, you will see the targets’ grades in each aspect before and after, and if it’s something visible (like fashion), then you’ll see the difference in the characters as you go. So once Luke’s hair mission was done, he has that hair for the rest of his story (probably not for the other stories though).

Before starting a mission, you watch a backstage video of Romanxia highlighting the target and their particular problem, with say, hair.

During the missions, the majority is normal visual novel style, with two parameters to increase: Custom and Love. What’s Custom? I *think* it’s the target’s general improvement, whereas the Love parameter indicates how he feels about you.

Near the end of a mission, you’ll go into “stealth mode”, where your answers will not only increase or decrease parameters, but will increase or decrease your stealth meter. The stealth meter measures how suspicious the guy is of your disguise (since all of your interactions are in one disguise or another), and if it gets down to zero, the mission fails. During stealth, there’s a time limit on the choices – only 10 seconds! That’s pretty short when you have to read the Japanese and try to judge which answer is the best.

Finally, near the end of stealth mode, you’ll go into “emergency mode”, where you have to direct not only Anna, but all three strikers in coordination to head off disaster. Though all these events are just timed choices, the game does a great job of using cut-ins, zooms, and movement to make it feel dynamic.

Since I haven’t finished any stories, I’m interested to see how they’ll deal with the guys falling in love with Anna’s disguise and what happens when she shows her true self. Also, though the other Romanxia guys are in the missions a bit, there’s really not that much interaction with them, so I’m hoping that the conclusion, or the last chapter, has more of them as well.

If you can’t tell, so far I’m really enjoying it! I can’t judge the overall story yet, but the gameplay is a lot of fun. Lots of good characters too, not just Romanxia – actually, I think until I play their routes the Metropolis V and Honey Buzzard VI are more interesting…and I really like M and Q too.

Next post will be either a followup of this one, or about Saikin Koi Shiteru? which I also just got and started playing ^_^

Wand of Fortune – first playthrough

When it rains, it pours…I just got Wand of Fortune, just a couple days after receiving Arco Baleno, Kazeiro Surf, and Himehibi 2. I thought it would probably be easy to get into so I started it up, and it’s pretty fun so far. It’s a sim, not just a visual novel, so it’s taking longer than, say, Will o’ Wisp did. But it’s not difficult, or at least I don’t think it is – I’ll find out when I get to end and see if I got Ragi ^_^.

After the introduction, where you meet all the characters and the school staff, as well as get the goal explained to you (to raise your magic stats, as well as get high enough in one element), you start on a regular weekly schedule. You choose where to go in the morning and evening (thankfully you can see where people are before you commit), and you’ll encounter someone on the way to and from school. You can only choose to raise your magic stats in the daytime, since that’s when the instructors are available, but you can raise your elements anytime by choosing one of the guys. Once you meet the guy, you then choose to either raise the element (by studying with them), or talking to them and raising their affection level.

That’s the weekday progression – on Saturday you stay in and rest, and can see your memories and cards, and on Sunday you can go to town as well as wander the campus.

Also, at certain points in the game, there will be special date events which I think are required to complete the guys’ routes.

There are a few other features to the game to enjoy as well:

• Memories – you find these coloured jewels in certain places depending on the guy, and they show you little snippets of his memories
• Card game – a simple card game where, if you beat a character three times, you get a special card that will make them say ‘things they would normally never say’.
• Missions – I’m not sure if these make much difference to the story, but if you choose someone on the map that has a star beside them, you’ll start a mini storyline that will culminate in a ‘mission’ that you do on the weekend, and has a chance to raise the affection of one the guys involved (usually two on each mission).

It seems the game goes through about 20 weeks, and since you have to choose where to go everyday, it takes a bit of time to get through everything. I’m only about halfway through, and I’m going for Ragi. So far there hasn’t been any major angst, but it’s quite fun, and I think once you go through once, other playthroughs will be pretty straightforward.  

So in short, Wand of Fortune is a fun, fairly simple sim otome game that has enough sidequests and events to keep me interested for now, though I’m not sure I want to try doing more than one or two routes in a row.  I’m going to try and finish Ragi’s route tonight, so then I can finally try Himehibi 2!

Love x Loop Release Pushed Back

Otomate has just announced that Love x Loop’s release date has been pushed back from July 23 to August 20.

Too bad! Although there are so many new games now (especially from Otomate), I can’t say I’m totally surprised. Yay for split shipments!!

Kazeiro Surf!

Yup, I finally got that shipment of games! After playing Kazeiro Surf for a couple hours (ok maybe 3), here are some initial impressions:

Good:

• At least for me, I’m getting used to the art. It was so different from other games (not as ‘pretty’) that I wasn’t sure, but I think it fits the 1940′s setting and I kind of like it now.
• Easy – simple visual novel except that you get to choose where to go after dinner (2 time spaces).
• Good characters – I like Ruka (wasn’t sure if I would as he’s a little, uh, goody two-shoes), Oswell, Corrin and Serge. Not too sure on Alec yet, right now he’s too osekkai, and the old guy…seems really old considering the heroine is only 17. But I like all the secondary characters, and the heroine too! She’s not annoying!

Bad:

• So far the music is lame.
• You can only save at the end of a chapter. Kind of annoying.
• The narrator parts are, to me, very boring. It’s the political lesson on the countries and the wars leading up to this situation, and I had a hard time paying attention.

Not sure yet:

• The story hasn’t gotten started yet, it’s mostly setting the stage of her starting and getting respect from Oswell and her boss, Oyakata.

Now I have to decide whether to keep playing this game, or try Himehibi 2….hmmm…

Death Connection: Set for December

Yup, I thought it was scheduled for October,  but it’s now officially December. I don’t mind, the fall has quite enough money-sucking games already!! Oh, and the site is now open. The Story and Information is up, characters are coming soon.

Lucian Bee’s in depth

As a huge fan of VitaminX and Z, of course I’m planning on getting Lucian Bee’s (coming out July 30th), which is from a different publisher (5pb instead of D3) but with the same character designer (Maeda Hirotaka).

The full title is a doozy: Lucian Bee’s Resurrection Supernova – what that has to do with the plot I have no idea. However, that plot sounds pretty awesome.

The heroine is a new recruit to a secret group ‘Lucian Bee’s', whose mission is to makeover ultra dorky / jerky guys the world over for the sake of all women. A very noble task! The heroine has two comrades, and they’re all called Strikers. The game focuses on making over members of a new idol group, Romanxia, whose members all have problems keeping them from being “ikemen”, and are from all over the world. Let’s take a look shall we?

First up, Luke(from the States) and Anjelica (from UAE).

Luke Rockwell (CV: Takeru) is a major geek otaku, is the son of current President, and is very nice, but due to his social awkwardness, is made fun of by his beautiful and smart fiancée.
Age: 19 Height: 185cm Weight: 69kg

Anjelica Asiyuwan (CV: Hino Satoshi) is the oldest son of the mayor of Dubai who loves gambling and women. He’s very spoiled and his dream is to become the richest person in the world.
Age: 17 Height: 180cm Weight: 60kg

Lee Katoru (China) (CV: Kaji Yuki) has been raised disguised as a girl since he was young to protect him, since his dad is a mafia boss. He’s expert in dance and music, but since he’s been so sheltered, has a hard time trusting people outside his family.
Age: 16 Height: 171cm Weight: 56kg

Vann (Japan) and Jesse (UK)

Vann Caien (CV: Suzuki Tatsuhisa) is the leader of Romanxia as well as the top motorcycle gang in Tokyo. Though he’s not a scholar, he takes care of his friends and is trusted by his gang.
Age: 17  Height: 174cm  Weight: 65kg

Jesse “Kid” Squire (CV: Terashima Takuma) is the lead singer and guitarist of a popular London indie band, “Knights of Round”. He’s also the son of a famous rocker, but hates getting special treatment because of it, and doesn’t have a great relationship with his dad.
Age: 18 Height: 182cm  Weight: 67kg

Remmy “J” Belmondo (France) (CV: Miyano Mamoru) is the star of a national opera company, Grand Etoile. He’s very talented, but also pretty narcissistic and always wants to stand out.
Age: 19  Height: 177cm  Weight: 59.5kg

To help in this monumental task, the Strikers have the help of the Metropolis V, the advisors of Lucian Bee’s who each excel in a certain area vital to being a drool-worthy guy.

From left:

Guido Ashanti (CV: Yusa Kouji) Specialty: Fashion
Didie Lightnorth (CV: Suzuki Chihiro) Specialty: Cooking
Nathan Bloodline (CV: Kamiya Kouji) Specialty: Hairstyling
Frederick Barnard Jr (CV: Fukuyama Jun) Specialty: Design
Cromwell Neeson (CV: Oozuka Akito) Specialty: Etiquette

So what makes Lucian Bee’s job so hard? There’s actually a rival organization who work to turn cool guys everywhere into hopeless jerks and losers! Why? Hopefully we’ll find out in the game. Anyhow, this organization, Daresign, has a group called the Honey Buzzard VI:

Rai (CV: Suganuma Hisaya) Specialty: Fashion
Viola (CV: Toriumi Kousuke) Specialty: Hairstyling
Jagar (CV: Itou Kentarou) Specialty: Etiquette
Barbara (CV: Takahashi Hiroki) Specialty: Food
Michelle Woo (CV: Hatano Wataru) Specialty: Sense and balance
Zehyros (CV: Sugita Tomokazu) Specialty: Unknown

With all these secret organizations and conspiracies, this game is definitely going for a spy/undercover theme, which sounds really fun.

The gameplay involves makeover missions that you go on to ‘fix’ each guy. You first choose your target, then choose a mission (I think the missions for each guy go in a certain order, but once you finish one, you can replay it). You put on a disguise, and get briefed by the Metropolis V. During missions, you have to make sure the target doesn’t catch on to your disguise. The level is shown by the Stealth Gauge, which decreases as the target starts to suspect something is up.  If you get through the mission with stealth left, you’re clear! Then you get the results of your mission as to how successful the makeover was.

I can’t wait for this game to come out, I’m hoping that not just the character style, but the fun of the Vitamin series was brought in to this new title.

And finally, here’s the PV:

Prince of Tennis Doki Doki Survival ~Umi~

I had heard about Prince of Tennis from otome game fans, but for a long time I wasn’t sure if it actually had otome games, or whether people just liked some regular games (maybe with some love thrown in) because it’s such a popular series – especially with otome fans, since we love all those bishounen . But recently, someone told me that they DO have some otome games in the franchise, so I used La Primavera to figure out which one to buy, and settled on Prince of Tennis Doki Doki Survival ~Umibe no Secret~. It’s goes with ~Yama no Mystic~, and I think you’re supposed to play that first, since the series’ main character is there, but I didn’t know, so oh well. I don’t think it makes a big difference.

Anyways, here’s the story: you and a friend are going to an island down south for summer vacation, but there’s a mix-up with the travel arrangements and you couldn’t board the ship you had booked. So your friend’s father, a ship captain, is taking you along on a chartered ship with all (ok, 40) of the characters in Prince of Tennis. They’re going to be dropped off at a different island to do a special training camp, which is why players from several different schools are going. However, as you get close, a bad storm comes up, and you and your friend join some of the players on a lifeboat, eventually ending up on the camp’s island. All the players are accounted for, but none of the coaches or your friend’s dad are around. So you and your friend, along with the players, have to survive on your own until the adults or found, or someone comes to rescue you.

The first thing that happens is that the group splits into a mountain side and an ocean side. Your friend goes to the mountain side and you stay with the ocean side, thus Umibe (Seaside) no Secret. From then on, you go through the days choosing who to help with survival activities like finding food and water, and tennis practice as well. When you do so, you get some dialogue and maybe a question, and your affection with that guy will go up. To successfully finish a route, the guy’s heart (shown at the top right of the screen) needs to be at least 70% full, and for him to confess (as opposed to you confessing) it needs to be totally full. You have 4 days to do this, and if you stick with the same guy, it’s not that hard. There are a few events that you need to get, and there are also some ‘conversation topics’ that you can pick up from other guys to increase the dialogue and get more points.

I’ve never read or watched Prince of Tennis (well, I read the first chapter and wasn’t hooked), but this game is pretty fun. With 20 guys in this game, and 20 in Mystic, the routes are not that varied, and there aren’t very many CGs. There’s also not much romance – but it makes sense, since these guys are supposed to be in junior high (junior high!? I mean really…they all look and act and SOUND at least high school age). However, there a huge number of good seiyuu – in this one there’s Suwabe Junichi (Atobe), Takahashi Naozumi (Bunta), Ishida Akira (Mizuki), Ueda Yuuji (Akutagawa), Namikawa Daisuke (Ootori), Oda Yuusei (Saeki), Hiyama Nobuyuki (Jackal), and Yoshino Hiroyuki (Hirakoba) – plus several others, and the characters all have fleshed out personalities.

The minigames are also kind of fun, and apparently if you collect all the prizes from them, you get an extra – we’ll see if I ever manage that. A couple things to keep in mind before buying – if you’re not already a Prince of Tennis fan, check the character art first – it’s not awful, but it’s not romance-pretty either. Also, if you like a deep story in your otome games, this ain’t it.

However, with all the fun and good seiyuu, added to the fact that these two games are old enough to be out in budget form ($35USD at Play-Asia), I think they’re a good deal.

Nadepro – Release Date and Seiyuu!

Gungho Works has announced that Nade Pro ~Kisama mo Seiyuu Yattemiro!~ for the PS2 will be released on October 29 2009. Here’s the limited edition cover and the seiyuu (since this was originally a series of drama CDs, I’m assuming they’re the same, but je ne sais pas):

• Higuchi Ryuu (black hair) CV: Okiayu Ryoutarou
• Yasoshina Yuu (mauve hair) CV: Tai Yuuki
• Hitomi Katsuya (brown hair) CV: Konishi Katsuyuki
• Nagumo Kenta (grey? hair) CV: Nojima Kenji
• Kai Yoshinao (pink hair) CV: Kaida Yuki
• Sakurakouji Kazumi (blond hair) CV: Sakurai Toshihiko

These seiyuu have been in the drama series, but I haven’t seen any game pics yet, so they might not be in the game:

• Ishibashi Junichirou CV: Suwabe Junichi
• Inoue Toshiyuki CV: Inoue Kazuhiko
• Horiguchi Kenzou CV: Horiuchi Kenyuu

Looking at that list makes me convinced that they’re the original seiyuu – seems like the names were chosen after the seiyuu were

VitaminZ vs. VitaminX

It’s been a while since I finished MOST of VitaminZ (still haven’t got those bonus events!), and I think I can finally do a kind of final review.

If you haven’t gotten VitaminZ OR X, go out and get one! They are both awesome. The system and story might seem boringly similar if you haven’t played both, so here’s my rundown on the differences:

Characters

The characters in both games are totally different. You might think that the student in Z with a certain teacher from X would be similar, but it’s only a surface thing. For example – Both Tenjuurou and Tsubasa are rich heirs to a conglomerate, but Tenjuurou, unlike Tsubasa, has a great family, and doesn’t care at all about “high-class” stuff like Tsubasa did. Their personalities are almost opposite.

I enjoyed all the characters in both X and Z. Even the two characters I wasn’t looking forward to, Yakumo and Arata, had me really liking them in the end. If there’s an overall difference to X, in Z they’re nicer to the heroine in the beginning, though they still don’t really trust her until later. I also liked this heroine better, she’s not as ditzy as X’s heroine.

Depending on who you liked, and what you liked about them, in X, you can probably find someone in Z that has that aspect. If you like Tsubasa’s arrogance mixed with cluelessness, you’ll probably love Kei. If you liked Hajime’s ‘bad boy’ aspect, you might go for Nachi. And of course, if you like cute boys like Gorou, Yakumo will definitely be your pick.

Apart from the A4/P2, there are of course the B6, GTR, and the president & VP. Personally I wish the GTR had had a little more airtime and the B6 a little less, but with the extra ‘ura’ route and the append chapters, if you do a full complete they still have a lot of material. I’m also hoping for an adaptation like VitaminX Evolution to flesh out their stories a bit Plus, if you’re a huge fan of one of the B6 then you’ll probably be quite happy. Another thing that I like is that there is no flirting or anything between the B6 and the heroine, they still all like X’s heroine.

Plot:

The overall goal is the same, but in VitaminZ the school president actually has a sinister motive in picking an inexperienced teacher, and so the overall plot is a little more complex and interesting. The events happen mostly the same way no matter whose route you’re in, but what you actually see as opposed to what goes on behind the scenes, and the details that you’re shown, are always different.

You have the same school events as in X, but in Z there are also assemblies where things happen (mostly in the P2′s routes), and there’s a summer ‘study camp’ (gotta have that kimodameshi doncha know!).

Gameplay:

VitaminX was quite easy to play (in terms of saving etc) and VitaminZ is apparently even easier. The setup of tsukkomi/through and month-end quizzes is the same, but in VitaminZ you have to pass a special quiz in Chapter 11 to finish a route, so it might take a couple tries. The character designer’s style evolved since X; though it’s still obviously the same artist, I like the newer designs better (Chisato, マジでかっこいい!!)

Other differences:

I think VitaminZ has a little more romance than X, in that the characters all show in little ways that they like the heroine earlier, and (maybe) a little more obviously than in X. And though each route has some drama in it, I don’t think there’s quite as much angst as in X (not that it was huge there either).

So. If you loved X, I think you’ll love Z too. Which one you like more will probably depend on your favourite character. And if you didn’t like X, because of the gameplay or setup, you may not enjoy this either. And if you haven’t tried either, go check out the characters on the D3 site (Vitamin X / Vitamin Z) and try out whichever appeals to you most! Although, if possible, I’d recommend playing Vitamin X first, just because you’ll then understand the B6 interactions in Z more, and it makes Z even more fun ^_^

Oh, if you choose Vitamin Z, YesAsia, has the Limited Edition on sale for cheaper than the regular version! In addition to the limited edition box, you get a drama CD and a calendar.