"An Informative, But Otherwise Basic Visual Novel"
I was a bit surprised by this VN. I assumed that it would be focused mostly on a romantic love triangle (like literally every other generic VN), but it turned out to be a pretty decent tour of Japan! The game's strength and uniqueness comes from its ability to teach you about Japanese culture and history, while still having a decent set of characters and some fun scenes.
The premise is really basic: you just arrived in Japan, and are being shown around Tokyo by some friends you made online. They turn out to be two cute sisters, and they serve as both your tour guides and your love interests throughout the game. The game operates on a daily routine, with you choosing a location to explore for the day (at least, most of the time).
The information presented is actually pretty in-depth. You will visit many locations like Shibuya, Ginza, and Asakusa (as well as many more, especially with the new DLC's), and your can learn about their meaning, history, and have some fun events occur along the way. The art in the original version is just "okay", so you might want to pick up one of the DLC packs in order to get improved visuals, more scenes, and more possibilities for both locations and relationship-building.
This game is sort of light on real "choice", but its still there. Depending on the locations you explore, you will end up with one of the two sisters. I didn't really like this gatekeeping aspect, as many first-time players would not know this is a mechanic (since it is never explained to you beforehand). Its easy to fast-forward back through the game and choose again, but its still a bit annoying.
A flaw that this game has is that sometimes the education aspect gets sidelined for the romance, and vice-versa. You could be learning about some rich history, and then get distracted by a dumb romance moment that adds very little, and it really takes you out of the experience. The same could be said for intimate moments - in traditional fashion, all "confessing of one's feelings" is postponed until the VERY end, so you'll have to suffer through the character's immature dialogue at times.
The game pretty much functions as a normal VN otherwise, so its easy to play. There isn't really anything super unique besides the education aspect, and the romance part is pretty basic (maybe forced in?). Its cute and has some realistic reactions at times (not wanting to focus on feeling with new person, wanting to put focus on the trip's education aspect, dialogue is sometimes normal-sounding), but at other times it seems blatantly forced in. Still, as far as VN's go, you could find much worse. I can Recommend this one to anyone looking to learn a decently rich history of Japan, and for those that would enjoy it in a VN presentation.
Final Verdict: 6/10 (Above Average)
I was a bit surprised by this VN. I assumed that it would be focused mostly on a romantic love triangle (like literally every other generic VN), but it turned out to be a pretty decent tour of Japan! The game's strength and uniqueness comes from its ability to teach you about Japanese culture and history, while still having a decent set of characters and some fun scenes.
The premise is really basic: you just arrived in Japan, and are being shown around Tokyo by some friends you made online. They turn out to be two cute sisters, and they serve as both your tour guides and your love interests throughout the game. The game operates on a daily routine, with you choosing a location to explore for the day (at least, most of the time).
The information presented is actually pretty in-depth. You will visit many locations like Shibuya, Ginza, and Asakusa (as well as many more, especially with the new DLC's), and your can learn about their meaning, history, and have some fun events occur along the way. The art in the original version is just "okay", so you might want to pick up one of the DLC packs in order to get improved visuals, more scenes, and more possibilities for both locations and relationship-building.
This game is sort of light on real "choice", but its still there. Depending on the locations you explore, you will end up with one of the two sisters. I didn't really like this gatekeeping aspect, as many first-time players would not know this is a mechanic (since it is never explained to you beforehand). Its easy to fast-forward back through the game and choose again, but its still a bit annoying.
A flaw that this game has is that sometimes the education aspect gets sidelined for the romance, and vice-versa. You could be learning about some rich history, and then get distracted by a dumb romance moment that adds very little, and it really takes you out of the experience. The same could be said for intimate moments - in traditional fashion, all "confessing of one's feelings" is postponed until the VERY end, so you'll have to suffer through the character's immature dialogue at times.
The game pretty much functions as a normal VN otherwise, so its easy to play. There isn't really anything super unique besides the education aspect, and the romance part is pretty basic (maybe forced in?). Its cute and has some realistic reactions at times (not wanting to focus on feeling with new person, wanting to put focus on the trip's education aspect, dialogue is sometimes normal-sounding), but at other times it seems blatantly forced in. Still, as far as VN's go, you could find much worse. I can Recommend this one to anyone looking to learn a decently rich history of Japan, and for those that would enjoy it in a VN presentation.
Final Verdict: 6/10 (Above Average)