almorica
This game has been on my mind since 2017 and still won’t let up. A stunningly dark dungeon crawler/visual novel crossbreed unafraid to make you afraid, Death Mark has earned its various mature ratings through its concepts and visuals. The characters are a little quirky and sometimes unpleasant; they’re the types of people (and children) that don’t really get along well with other people for one reason or another, which can make them relatable or not. The gameplay can be rewarding or tedious, but if you really get stuck, the Spirit Files give tremendous hints toward success.
Unfortunately, it is also horny, and in a very specific way: the sometimes suggestive visuals (almost all of female bodies) are as saturated with horror as the rest of the game. For most people, it’s going to just be unsettling or even upsetting. For some I’m sure it’s hot. I can’t say I like the female body exploitation, but it’s an undeniable facet of this game that will pop up at least once a chapter. If you think you wouldn't be able to stand this, the first sequel, Spirit Hunter: NG, drastically reduces this to the series' benefit. I'd recommend skipping to that entry.
At least the horniness is a minor part of the game. The Horrors are varied and bound to hit at least one thing you’re uncomfortable with. The original final chapter, Chapter 5, is the most terrifying scenario I’ve ever been in in a video game, and the night I completed it for the first time I was too scared to sleep. I love that chapter enough to place the game in my Top 5 of all time, despite the game’s flaws.
Ultimately, I love this game. I love playing it, and have it as a platinum on my Vita. I love watching youtubers play it, and Gab Smolders was the one to introduce me to this series, making it dear to me for the past six years.
And, most importantly, Shuuji Daimon is a dilf (doctor I’d like to
Unfortunately, it is also horny, and in a very specific way: the sometimes suggestive visuals (almost all of female bodies) are as saturated with horror as the rest of the game. For most people, it’s going to just be unsettling or even upsetting. For some I’m sure it’s hot. I can’t say I like the female body exploitation, but it’s an undeniable facet of this game that will pop up at least once a chapter. If you think you wouldn't be able to stand this, the first sequel, Spirit Hunter: NG, drastically reduces this to the series' benefit. I'd recommend skipping to that entry.
At least the horniness is a minor part of the game. The Horrors are varied and bound to hit at least one thing you’re uncomfortable with. The original final chapter, Chapter 5, is the most terrifying scenario I’ve ever been in in a video game, and the night I completed it for the first time I was too scared to sleep. I love that chapter enough to place the game in my Top 5 of all time, despite the game’s flaws.
Ultimately, I love this game. I love playing it, and have it as a platinum on my Vita. I love watching youtubers play it, and Gab Smolders was the one to introduce me to this series, making it dear to me for the past six years.
And, most importantly, Shuuji Daimon is a dilf (doctor I’d like to
Pretty, but too safe and sanitized, outside one particular route that feels like it's from an entirely different game. The true route also tries to nicely tie up too many loose ends, and most fixes it pulls feel unearned. Might have been slightly improved with a Queen route.
A short and sweet little horror experience with its main detraction being the repetition. As brief as it is, though, it's not so bad to go through it several times with no save/skip function. A nonbinary protagonist and stylish limited color palette help it stand out among others of its kind.
2018
I completed Charade Maniacs in the span of two weeks and 40-45 hours. A fast-paced, long VN with high production value and an engaging set-up, it was difficult to put down and even more difficult to stop thinking about. The death-game-adjacent mystery is well established and worth pursuing by yourself, avoiding recommended route orders. It drops enough hints along the way to craft your own realistic and off-the-wall theories, adding even more fun if you can bounce those thoughts off someone else playing at the same time you are.
As an otome game, there is romance, and it is a significant part of this game — for better or worse. In a word, the romance is trashy. There are unwanted advances, potential age gaps of 5+ years with the 17-year-old main character, and more hidden away behind spoiler territory. It is not even close to sexually explicit, but you won’t find any sweet, low-stakes young love here. I hope this is what you’ve come here for (or at least what you can tolerate)!
There are a good variety of detailed backgrounds and pretty character portraits, but the CGs leave a little to be desired. They often focus on zoom-ins of the route character and MC as opposed to illustrating complex scenes. They demonstrate nice emotions outside the stiffness of a portrait, at least. The voice acting is top-notch and characterizes each individual well (although the MC is not voiced), and the music is fun and varied, accentuating sweeter scenes and adding tension to darker ones.
The UI is great and stylish, easy to follow and easy to read while adding personality to the game itself. I think the flowchart could be easier to understand, view, and navigate, but it is a relatively low-relevance feature. It’s not the biggest mystery in the game when you do want to use it.
There are some noticeable typos and similar mistakes in the localization, but largely it’s polished and flows well.
And, last but not least, the game features a main-cast nonbinary character consistently referred to with they/them pronouns. The whole trashy thing continues to apply on this romance route as much as the others, but the representation is fun.
So, Charade Maniacs is a good, engaging game I’d recommend to fans of darker otome games and mystery/death game fans who can accept some questionable romance. It’s not the best story and might leave a bad taste in your mouth at times, but it was undoubtedly a cool experience for me.
As an otome game, there is romance, and it is a significant part of this game — for better or worse. In a word, the romance is trashy. There are unwanted advances, potential age gaps of 5+ years with the 17-year-old main character, and more hidden away behind spoiler territory. It is not even close to sexually explicit, but you won’t find any sweet, low-stakes young love here. I hope this is what you’ve come here for (or at least what you can tolerate)!
There are a good variety of detailed backgrounds and pretty character portraits, but the CGs leave a little to be desired. They often focus on zoom-ins of the route character and MC as opposed to illustrating complex scenes. They demonstrate nice emotions outside the stiffness of a portrait, at least. The voice acting is top-notch and characterizes each individual well (although the MC is not voiced), and the music is fun and varied, accentuating sweeter scenes and adding tension to darker ones.
The UI is great and stylish, easy to follow and easy to read while adding personality to the game itself. I think the flowchart could be easier to understand, view, and navigate, but it is a relatively low-relevance feature. It’s not the biggest mystery in the game when you do want to use it.
There are some noticeable typos and similar mistakes in the localization, but largely it’s polished and flows well.
And, last but not least, the game features a main-cast nonbinary character consistently referred to with they/them pronouns. The whole trashy thing continues to apply on this romance route as much as the others, but the representation is fun.
So, Charade Maniacs is a good, engaging game I’d recommend to fans of darker otome games and mystery/death game fans who can accept some questionable romance. It’s not the best story and might leave a bad taste in your mouth at times, but it was undoubtedly a cool experience for me.
2005
It can be difficult to get the good ending on a first playthrough, but Trace Memory is a perfect first adventure game/VN to get you into the gaming styles. Unfortunately, you will then want to play worse adventure games/VNs, like this one's sequel.
2011
A fairly miserable experience for me, by Ace Attorney standards. None of the new characters are really likeable, the cases try too hard to be perfectly connected and just end up contrived, and Logic Chess becomes the most tedious gimmick in the series as it grows more complex. I wanted to drop it in case 2, and really should have instead of slogging through it for over five months. It did not ever become worth it.
It is still an Ace Attorney Investigations game, though, so the pixel art is fantastic and always a treat to look at.
It is still an Ace Attorney Investigations game, though, so the pixel art is fantastic and always a treat to look at.
This review contains spoilers
This game is gorgeous; portraits, CGs, backgrounds, BGM and all. The mild horror elements and a pervasive sense of loss and grief can make the player feel like they’re drowning in it as much as the protagonist is. That protagonist, Beniyuri, is a rare fully voiced otome lead, and it provides a uniqueness to her character that would have been lost in the slightly questionable translation. Some Aksys-localized titles are worse on this, and some are far better.
The variety of endings this game offers are a very strong point, giving the player an unusual amount of control over the story’s conclusion. However, the story only allows these interesting branch points after completing the story to its intended “Best Ending” once. The fact that this game gives a very significant route and ending to its antagonist is another very strong point, and I can’t recommend it to people who usually want to romance the villain enough.
My criticisms are the rare unnecessary homophobic moments, and the implied and threatened sexual assaults. If either of these two may upset you significantly, take caution or avoid this game. If you’d like to kiss a villain or experience a heavy story about loss and its lasting trauma, please do pick it up and give it a shot.
(It’s also nothing like Ashen Hawk, so if you played that first and disliked it, don’t let it preemptively sour your impression of Black Butterfly.)
The variety of endings this game offers are a very strong point, giving the player an unusual amount of control over the story’s conclusion. However, the story only allows these interesting branch points after completing the story to its intended “Best Ending” once. The fact that this game gives a very significant route and ending to its antagonist is another very strong point, and I can’t recommend it to people who usually want to romance the villain enough.
My criticisms are the rare unnecessary homophobic moments, and the implied and threatened sexual assaults. If either of these two may upset you significantly, take caution or avoid this game. If you’d like to kiss a villain or experience a heavy story about loss and its lasting trauma, please do pick it up and give it a shot.
(It’s also nothing like Ashen Hawk, so if you played that first and disliked it, don’t let it preemptively sour your impression of Black Butterfly.)
2018
A more streamlined sequel to Death Mark, NG is cozier by virtue of the protagonist having friends and family that get some, or significant, development and screentime. That's both to its benefit (character depth and strength) and detriment (less intense horror atmosphere).
I recommend starting with Death Mark if you just want to be scared, and can tolerate it being horny about [mostly] female bodies in those scary situations. I recommend skipping to NG if you want a horror point-and-click VN with much less of that!
Note: the Switch version is a noticeably slower gameplay experience than it was on my Vita, and is limited to four save files. I also experienced a couple of strange glitches that weren't in my Vita playthroughs. I have to say I prefer the game's performance on Vita.
I recommend starting with Death Mark if you just want to be scared, and can tolerate it being horny about [mostly] female bodies in those scary situations. I recommend skipping to NG if you want a horror point-and-click VN with much less of that!
Note: the Switch version is a noticeably slower gameplay experience than it was on my Vita, and is limited to four save files. I also experienced a couple of strange glitches that weren't in my Vita playthroughs. I have to say I prefer the game's performance on Vita.
A solid point and click adventure game that later installments greatly improved upon, mechanically, visually, and structurally. It is just not as fun to play, for this reason.
However, the soundtrack is top notch from start to finish, and the characters first featured in this game that show up in later ones are generally at their most competent. In later games (and case 5, which was not part of this game originally), certain characters are reduced to jokes or pure unfunny stupidity, so it's always nice to see someone like the judge actually be an imposing figure for a little while.
However, the soundtrack is top notch from start to finish, and the characters first featured in this game that show up in later ones are generally at their most competent. In later games (and case 5, which was not part of this game originally), certain characters are reduced to jokes or pure unfunny stupidity, so it's always nice to see someone like the judge actually be an imposing figure for a little while.
2007
Hotel Dusk is a charming older adventure game for the Nintendo DS, featuring a very human cast brought together by some very impressive serendipity. It’s got a funky visual style for character portraits that suit the DS well, but the 3D renditions of the rooms are pretty limited by the hardware choice. The music is fantastic — sometimes truly emotional — but also limited by the DS audio crunchiness. The way of holding the DS sideways and interacting with the stylus really invokes the feeling of carrying a notebook you’re writing in, but the requirement of basically only using the touch screen ever gets tedious. At least you can also advance text by pressing the D-pad or A button.
Despite the limitations, and sometimes because of them, the vibes are immaculately vintage and immersive. Please try it if you’re at all interested in DS-era adventure games/visual novels!
Just, if you play it on anything but the original DS/DS Lite, make sure you’ve picked up a Blacklight item before diving into Chapter 10. Otherwise, you will get stuck in a very unpleasant and potentially lengthy trial-and-error section. I did not do this on a previous 3DS playthrough. A Bad Time Was Had.
Despite the limitations, and sometimes because of them, the vibes are immaculately vintage and immersive. Please try it if you’re at all interested in DS-era adventure games/visual novels!
Just, if you play it on anything but the original DS/DS Lite, make sure you’ve picked up a Blacklight item before diving into Chapter 10. Otherwise, you will get stuck in a very unpleasant and potentially lengthy trial-and-error section. I did not do this on a previous 3DS playthrough. A Bad Time Was Had.
2023
I played through 1997 in its entirety in a little over two weeks with my partner, our total play time coming in between 10-15 hours. We came into it expecting something low quality, but hopefully entertaining — I personally thought it would be worth it if it just taught me a few things about 90s Russia. We were both pleasantly surprised with the result.
Parts of it are still very silly. There’s stray punctuation in some text boxes, some typos, [presumably] glitches that do things like prevent a character called Girl from ever having a real name above her dialogue, a glossary that is very tedious to navigate, wonky human anatomy in some CGs, and the characters generally continue shouting at each other even when they’re supposed to be quiet. But the game is much more than its problems, and I ultimately found it to be a positive experience.
Right when you get to the title screen, you can see a cute, unique user interface resembling a much older video game. It’s possible to actually play it as a simple mini-game by pressing the + button, or just use it to navigate through basic main functions. It has a gallery and an achieved endings list (though it does not say how many endings there are), as well as a glossary you can also view while you’re playing the game. You will almost definitely want to view that glossary as you unlock definitions and explanations while playing, but as you gather more words it becomes more of a search to find them in the list. There is no “NEW” indicator; you just have to locate them yourself. At least you learn some cultural context for your trouble!
Starting the main game itself, it’s apparent that the background artist knows what they’re doing. The BGs are very detailed and frequently beautiful. CGs are more hit-or-miss, but it’s cool to see them change with the characters’ actions, and the artist is quite skilled at unsettling imagery as well. The character portraits are also quite nice; characters who are much older than the main trio show that age well.
The voice acting is exclusively in Russian, and in my experience it all worked. While main character Anton didn’t have that much vocal variation, Alisa and Daria’s cadences were especially fun to listen to, and Fedor’s voice was downright sultry. I mean, seductive. I mean—
The characters aren’t all that special, but they serve their purpose in the story well enough. The game could’ve used a more consistent stance on domestic violence perpetrated by a few of those characters, but the usually strong condemnation was satisfying to see. There is also an interesting bit on gender that is brought up in one flashback and then never acknowledged again. The mystery at the story’s heart is very unusual (speaking as someone unfamiliar with much Russian fiction), so it was never too predictable or cliched.
Something cool about that mystery is that you only get the whole picture after following every possible route in your choices. Those choices come down to Trusting or Distrusting each character that asks for it. So, while you’ll get 5 different bad endings doing this, you will learn something important chasing them down instead of only earning a bloody failure CG. It’s also possible to just get a good ending the first time and stop there if you’re satisfied.
Overall, 1997 is an engaging VN with beautiful backgrounds, awkward CGs, decent characters and pleasant full voice acting. At its cheap price point (especially on sale), I would recommend it to anyone else who wants to dive into a relatively short mystery and learn a little more about a very specific time period in Russia.
Parts of it are still very silly. There’s stray punctuation in some text boxes, some typos, [presumably] glitches that do things like prevent a character called Girl from ever having a real name above her dialogue, a glossary that is very tedious to navigate, wonky human anatomy in some CGs, and the characters generally continue shouting at each other even when they’re supposed to be quiet. But the game is much more than its problems, and I ultimately found it to be a positive experience.
Right when you get to the title screen, you can see a cute, unique user interface resembling a much older video game. It’s possible to actually play it as a simple mini-game by pressing the + button, or just use it to navigate through basic main functions. It has a gallery and an achieved endings list (though it does not say how many endings there are), as well as a glossary you can also view while you’re playing the game. You will almost definitely want to view that glossary as you unlock definitions and explanations while playing, but as you gather more words it becomes more of a search to find them in the list. There is no “NEW” indicator; you just have to locate them yourself. At least you learn some cultural context for your trouble!
Starting the main game itself, it’s apparent that the background artist knows what they’re doing. The BGs are very detailed and frequently beautiful. CGs are more hit-or-miss, but it’s cool to see them change with the characters’ actions, and the artist is quite skilled at unsettling imagery as well. The character portraits are also quite nice; characters who are much older than the main trio show that age well.
The voice acting is exclusively in Russian, and in my experience it all worked. While main character Anton didn’t have that much vocal variation, Alisa and Daria’s cadences were especially fun to listen to, and Fedor’s voice was downright sultry. I mean, seductive. I mean—
The characters aren’t all that special, but they serve their purpose in the story well enough. The game could’ve used a more consistent stance on domestic violence perpetrated by a few of those characters, but the usually strong condemnation was satisfying to see. There is also an interesting bit on gender that is brought up in one flashback and then never acknowledged again. The mystery at the story’s heart is very unusual (speaking as someone unfamiliar with much Russian fiction), so it was never too predictable or cliched.
Something cool about that mystery is that you only get the whole picture after following every possible route in your choices. Those choices come down to Trusting or Distrusting each character that asks for it. So, while you’ll get 5 different bad endings doing this, you will learn something important chasing them down instead of only earning a bloody failure CG. It’s also possible to just get a good ending the first time and stop there if you’re satisfied.
Overall, 1997 is an engaging VN with beautiful backgrounds, awkward CGs, decent characters and pleasant full voice acting. At its cheap price point (especially on sale), I would recommend it to anyone else who wants to dive into a relatively short mystery and learn a little more about a very specific time period in Russia.
2009
Again is a generic crime story with generic (and sluggish) adventure gameplay, so while it's certainly playable and able to be completed, it's most likely not going to stick with you. It's also not an engaging mystery; it doesn't really give you the tools to solve it as you go, leaving you to wait for someone else (or J's visions) to tell you most of the answers.
Considering it's completely devoid of the interesting character writing and physical location-personality of Cing's other works Another Code and Hotel Dusk, I sincerely hope anyone playing this game plays this after those. Then you'll just know what this one is missing, as opposed to losing faith in Cing's ability to portray them whatsoever.
The transition screens with J's outline walking are about as stylish as it ever gets. So those are cute, at least.
Considering it's completely devoid of the interesting character writing and physical location-personality of Cing's other works Another Code and Hotel Dusk, I sincerely hope anyone playing this game plays this after those. Then you'll just know what this one is missing, as opposed to losing faith in Cing's ability to portray them whatsoever.
The transition screens with J's outline walking are about as stylish as it ever gets. So those are cute, at least.
Ensemble Stars Music is a solid, rewarding game to play if:
- you like rhythm games
- you can take bad gacha rolls in stride
- you have a fair amount of idle time to play bits of it
- you can love characters a healthy amount
And it is a very bad game to play if:
- an unlucky gacha roll can be devastating
- you feel like you should often spend money on getting (or maybe getting) jpgs of anime characters
- you feel a compulsion to get the latest card of your faves
- you don't have much idle time to get the free in-game currencies/participate in events
And I am 100% serious on that. No gacha game deserves $100 for a card of your fave.
- you like rhythm games
- you can take bad gacha rolls in stride
- you have a fair amount of idle time to play bits of it
- you can love characters a healthy amount
And it is a very bad game to play if:
- an unlucky gacha roll can be devastating
- you feel like you should often spend money on getting (or maybe getting) jpgs of anime characters
- you feel a compulsion to get the latest card of your faves
- you don't have much idle time to get the free in-game currencies/participate in events
And I am 100% serious on that. No gacha game deserves $100 for a card of your fave.
A game for people who wish 4chan was made for sapphics.
2023
Crymachina is a game I adore the story and visual presentation of while simultaneously thinking of it as one of my least favorite gameplay experiences. From also playing The Caligula Effect 2, another Aquria-developed RPG, their difficulties don't make any sense. I completed CE2 on the hardest difficulty and found it too easy; I completed Crymachina on Casual and found it irritatingly hard. Random basic enemies should not be able to two-shot you before you can blink when you’re at the appropriate level on any “casual” mode, in my opinion. It should also not be so punishingly trial-and-error in platforming sections (I am never going back to running from the chasing whale).
But everything but the gameplay pushed me to force my way through the ridiculous amount of game overs and late-game grinding to stay at the recommended level. The atmosphere is so heavy and put together phenomenally; environments, music, lore, voice acting, and character portraits all work together to craft something wonderful. It’s a story that reminds me of some other fictions a lot more than Nier Automata, but it’s spoiler territory to explain which and why. Honestly I’d probably love this game a lot if the gameplay was just an exploration of the beautifully desolate Eden, with no annoying battles to speak of.
Although character designs can be casually sexualized and there’s some breast physics going on, play this if you want an intense, human-civilization-pessimistic sci-fi story starring girls shamelessly attracted to other girls.
Also, it runs fine on the Switch, but it does look pretty muddied in handheld.
But everything but the gameplay pushed me to force my way through the ridiculous amount of game overs and late-game grinding to stay at the recommended level. The atmosphere is so heavy and put together phenomenally; environments, music, lore, voice acting, and character portraits all work together to craft something wonderful. It’s a story that reminds me of some other fictions a lot more than Nier Automata, but it’s spoiler territory to explain which and why. Honestly I’d probably love this game a lot if the gameplay was just an exploration of the beautifully desolate Eden, with no annoying battles to speak of.
Although character designs can be casually sexualized and there’s some breast physics going on, play this if you want an intense, human-civilization-pessimistic sci-fi story starring girls shamelessly attracted to other girls.
Also, it runs fine on the Switch, but it does look pretty muddied in handheld.