blew through this and, for the first time, wanted to see the bad endings as well. i usually dont touch bad endings but i just couldnt get enough of the story and sheesh some of them had me crying girl. this is def a must play for the genre and im incredibly glad i picked it up! i dont know if i could pick a favorite between Dante, Yang and Gilbert, but i might have to crown Gilbert. he was such a gentleman and i absolutely loved his CGs.
I love red flags
Beautful art while you try to make it as a young woman drawn into a conflict between three mafia families in a rural Italian town right before the horrors of Mussilini. The characters were charming, the scenarios always had that touch of danger, and the Heroine had a brain of her own.
This review contains spoilers
i love this game soooooo much but i can't lie it is definitely not the best otome game i have ever played. was only a fan of 3/6 LIs with nicola being my fav... the story is messy at times but it was very entertaining, the soundtrack is incredible and made the action scenes so much more hype LOL. also was a fan of the finale as well as the short stories + after ending stories you can read once the route is over, it gave a lot to look forward to. i love love love lili as a protag, despite her situation she's smart and knows what to do to survive and i was definitely not a fan of how many times she can die in the game... i was rooting for her the whole time. she is so smart and so sweet i love her dearly and she doesn't have much power as a character but it makes sense and it's not like, horribly done compared to some other otomes lol. also the percentages of the routes was EVILLLLL i'm a huge completionist and felt soooo obligated to 100% every last bit of the game. but it's ok all of the routes were interesting so i'm not that mad LOLOLOL anyways nicola is the goat
The relationships between all of the characters are super interesting, and I like how it'll show you the different situations happening outside of the main scenario.
Piofiore is a mixed bag. While I personally enjoyed it overall, many of the routes have issues that make them difficult to go back to. In particular, Orlock's route is a miserable despair-fest that doesn't feel like it's earned; no other route is as relentlessly miserable as his, and his bad end in particular is horrific and doesn't feel tonally appropriate with the other bad ends in the game. On the flip side, Liliana is a fantastic heroine who genuinely surprised me with her strength. She may not be a fighter, but she's incredibly mentally resilient, and despite her inexperience she's not naive. It is slightly frustrating that many mysteries are not answered by the game, made a little bit better by Episodio 1926, but nevertheless if you can accept its flaws, Piofiore is still a fun ride.
Yang.
I think this one is definitely a must play for Otome fans! I have to say, I kind of have a love/hate relationship with it?? Especially after playing the sequel (you can read my super long review of that one lol). For me personally, I had to take breaks at some point because it’s just a lot, and made me feel all the emotions.
My #1 was definitely Dante, I know it’s not really explicitly stated that he’s the “canon” route or the “poster boy” of the game (especially since his route isn’t locked until the end), but I feel like it’s kind of made out to be that way, especially since he’s on the cover of both games. Regardless, I’m a sucker for kuudere, soft LIs and Dante checks all those boxes. He’s just a sweetheart and I couldn’t get enough of him. And yes, he’s stupid hot 🥵
I have so many other thoughts I could share but will leave it here lol. The last thing I’ll say is that this game’s artwork and music are absolutely top tier. The CGs are just stunning and a lot of the musical pieces were very emotionally captivating.
My #1 was definitely Dante, I know it’s not really explicitly stated that he’s the “canon” route or the “poster boy” of the game (especially since his route isn’t locked until the end), but I feel like it’s kind of made out to be that way, especially since he’s on the cover of both games. Regardless, I’m a sucker for kuudere, soft LIs and Dante checks all those boxes. He’s just a sweetheart and I couldn’t get enough of him. And yes, he’s stupid hot 🥵
I have so many other thoughts I could share but will leave it here lol. The last thing I’ll say is that this game’s artwork and music are absolutely top tier. The CGs are just stunning and a lot of the musical pieces were very emotionally captivating.
This review contains spoilers
+1 whole star for finale and Henri 'route'
This game is at its best and most entertaining when you are in the LI routes that actually act like mafia members. I liked Orloks' as well but that is because I like suffering.
Its too bad I did the route order of Nicola > Yang > Orlok > Dante > Gilbert because after Orlok, Dante and Gilbert's felt out of place/out of tone with the first half of the game. They are not bad mind you, its just it feels like they belong in some other otome game. Doesn't help that the key maiden plotline is zzZZZZzzz (or is that just Dante's route in general) and the conflict in Gilbert's route wasn't as exciting as whatever the fuck was happening over in Nicola's and Yang's (mainly the LI's being entertaining trashfires)
Yang > Nicola = Orlok (son tier) > Gilbert = Dante. Sad french man rating pending
Would have been a 4 if the last two routes had better plots/kept to the tone of the other routes
This game is at its best and most entertaining when you are in the LI routes that actually act like mafia members. I liked Orloks' as well but that is because I like suffering.
Its too bad I did the route order of Nicola > Yang > Orlok > Dante > Gilbert because after Orlok, Dante and Gilbert's felt out of place/out of tone with the first half of the game. They are not bad mind you, its just it feels like they belong in some other otome game. Doesn't help that the key maiden plotline is zzZZZZzzz (or is that just Dante's route in general) and the conflict in Gilbert's route wasn't as exciting as whatever the fuck was happening over in Nicola's and Yang's (mainly the LI's being entertaining trashfires)
Yang > Nicola = Orlok (son tier) > Gilbert = Dante. Sad french man rating pending
Would have been a 4 if the last two routes had better plots/kept to the tone of the other routes