this visual novel lays out the routes so well. i enjoyed playing through a main story first and then getting deeper in the romance routes. setting was adorable but damn that good ending is sorta dark?
Comfy but draws you in during the right moments favorite route was Camus but loved the whole cast.
This review contains spoilers
A game with a simple premise but that ends up surprising.
The routes are interesting but I personally feel that they lack "something".
Not a bad option if you are looking for an otome game out of the ordinary. It will surprise you for sure.
The routes are interesting but I personally feel that they lack "something".
Not a bad option if you are looking for an otome game out of the ordinary. It will surprise you for sure.
A sad and beautiful game. Each of the routes manages to be unique despite the shared setting and long common route. The twists are very well executed, making the game even more enjoyable. The final route is what ties it all together beautifully, giving it a poetic feel that had me thinking about it for weeks.
I wish this game was proofread, would have rated it a 5/5. If I could have fucked the grandpa i would have rated it 10/5
my bb got this for me it was cool i liked the story but i have small attention span i still need to pick it back up
Very very meh, for me.
Absolutely gorgeous art, but dull character arcs and pretty uninspired romances overall.
The “main” story takes forever (something like 8 chapters!?) with nothing much happening at all, whilst the romantic routes often felt like boring info-dump slogs with uninteresting stakes and too much random melodrama. Many chapters had no reader choices at all, further deepening my lack of personal investment. Kotone never really develops as a protagonist, instead merely shifting into whatever nebulous ingenue the thin plot requires.
Surprisingly, I ended up enjoying Rindo’s route the best, thanks to its slightly more grounded story and natural romantic chemistry.
The translation was at times inexcusably poor. Beyond the usual typos, translations often felt awkward and word-for-word literal, which stuttered and jumbled the English grammar almost beyond readability.
So….. yeah. Not great. I was invested enough to finish all the routes, but that’s really about it. Beautiful, but disappointing.
Absolutely gorgeous art, but dull character arcs and pretty uninspired romances overall.
The “main” story takes forever (something like 8 chapters!?) with nothing much happening at all, whilst the romantic routes often felt like boring info-dump slogs with uninteresting stakes and too much random melodrama. Many chapters had no reader choices at all, further deepening my lack of personal investment. Kotone never really develops as a protagonist, instead merely shifting into whatever nebulous ingenue the thin plot requires.
Surprisingly, I ended up enjoying Rindo’s route the best, thanks to its slightly more grounded story and natural romantic chemistry.
The translation was at times inexcusably poor. Beyond the usual typos, translations often felt awkward and word-for-word literal, which stuttered and jumbled the English grammar almost beyond readability.
So….. yeah. Not great. I was invested enough to finish all the routes, but that’s really about it. Beautiful, but disappointing.
kaoru rindo i love you bad
This review contains spoilers
What other game lets you friendzone an entire plane of existence and it just fucking dies?
I rest my case.
I rest my case.
This review contains spoilers
Look - I'm not trying to be a hater, but Café Enchanté really did not land for me. Honestly, I didn't even mind the tonal bait-and-switch from slice-of-life fluff to deep angst - I'm an angst-enjoyer. However, Café Enchanté just felt like it was trying to do TOO much. Don't get me wrong - parts of Café Enchanté are VERY enjoyable, but as a whole? I found it disastrous.
Things I Liked:
- The LIs and their routes were, for the most part, adequately enjoyable (taken into consideration as separate parts from the whole game)
- The relationships and banter between the characters were all very endearing
- The art and music are simply beautiful
Things I Didn't Like:
- The common route was a S L O G (and this is coming from someone who LOVES Code: Realize)
- After the common route, nothing feels connected
- Yes, I understood that there are certain story reasons for having each route isolated to its own "world," but without any other sort of central plot to form a connective tissue between routes, the game felt very disjointed (for me)
- The routes also began to feel very formulaic/repetitive after a point
- The final route's "good" ending is ABYSMAL
- Seriously, the so-called "good" ending left such a bad taste in my mouth that I wish I could get my money back
Things I Liked:
- The LIs and their routes were, for the most part, adequately enjoyable (taken into consideration as separate parts from the whole game)
- The relationships and banter between the characters were all very endearing
- The art and music are simply beautiful
Things I Didn't Like:
- The common route was a S L O G (and this is coming from someone who LOVES Code: Realize)
- After the common route, nothing feels connected
- Yes, I understood that there are certain story reasons for having each route isolated to its own "world," but without any other sort of central plot to form a connective tissue between routes, the game felt very disjointed (for me)
- The routes also began to feel very formulaic/repetitive after a point
- The final route's "good" ending is ABYSMAL
- Seriously, the so-called "good" ending left such a bad taste in my mouth that I wish I could get my money back
Star rating is tentative.
Partial Backlog Game:
Played through:
Camus Route
Ignis Route
Partial Backlog Game:
Played through:
Camus Route
Ignis Route
Great art, character designs, and really interesting world that's held back by pretty meh character arcs and narrative. I liked Il's story, but didn't really find anything compelling in any of the others, the true route included.
A successful example of a more subtle bait-and-switch! What starts as a cozycore coffee-shop fluff-fic about serving bishounen creatures from another world becomes a nakige about forbidden romance, as love interests take on far more bestial forms and the soft wishes of romance are threatened by practical obstacles. I’m not super keen on all the angsting (Ignis’s route is a low point for how melodramatic it gets) but there’s plenty of moments that did effectively tug at my heartstrings because my gay ass is a sucker for star-crossed lovers.
Due to drawing from a mixture of mythos, this VN can feel like a potpurri of various fantasy otoge premises that were scrapped for not having enough substance to support a full game, and the LI routes take on very distinct flavoring. Thankfully, they are bound together rather well through the lengthy common route that establishes plenty of fun character dynamics, the thematic similarities between LI routes, and the final route that serves as a climactic intersection of plot points from the others. I couldn’t tell you what my favorite route was, but I’d at least say Il’s was the most interesting for me: it’s a metatextual analysis of certain otoge tropes, how they over-simply some aspects of romance, and the conflict that ensues between fantasy and reality. Having awakened a desire for romance through otoge, those elements hit very close to me and I was shocked by Otomate featuring something so self-aware in one of their games.
This isn’t high art and won’t win anybody over who approaches the initial premise cynically, but it’s one of Otomate’s finer works and boasts a sharp script. Would easily recommend to any fans of otoge, and it helped reawakened an appreciation of them for me.
Due to drawing from a mixture of mythos, this VN can feel like a potpurri of various fantasy otoge premises that were scrapped for not having enough substance to support a full game, and the LI routes take on very distinct flavoring. Thankfully, they are bound together rather well through the lengthy common route that establishes plenty of fun character dynamics, the thematic similarities between LI routes, and the final route that serves as a climactic intersection of plot points from the others. I couldn’t tell you what my favorite route was, but I’d at least say Il’s was the most interesting for me: it’s a metatextual analysis of certain otoge tropes, how they over-simply some aspects of romance, and the conflict that ensues between fantasy and reality. Having awakened a desire for romance through otoge, those elements hit very close to me and I was shocked by Otomate featuring something so self-aware in one of their games.
This isn’t high art and won’t win anybody over who approaches the initial premise cynically, but it’s one of Otomate’s finer works and boasts a sharp script. Would easily recommend to any fans of otoge, and it helped reawakened an appreciation of them for me.
This review contains spoilers
the official game of wooing (cute) war criminals (and a guy in a suit)