20/11 B’s-Log news & misc

This… Got longer than I expected.

News for November

SweetPrincess doesn’t deliver any big scoops, unfortunately. Anyway, some new news and some old news, if that even makes any sense.

Monochrome Heaven mini review

Title: Monochrome Heaven
Circle: DIGICLA
Genre: Free female-oriented survival game
Release date: 06/07/2009

復活っ！

Yeah, sort of. Frying harddisks is hardly a new experience to me, so I guess you could say I’m used to it. (<-doji

Some stuff happened in the meantime too, but nothing less but a deluge could deter me from playing otomege and writing about them, so expect some new reviews just after I pass my driving licence test this Friday. Honestly, I have little idea in what direction I should take this blog – part of me wants it to be full of caps and incoherent ramblings – but yeah, in whatever shape, it will continue.

Also, the big announcements made while I was absent?

- Garnet Cradle social networking game. What the flying fuck? Are these people serious? Thankfully both Katagiri Yuuma and Kumoya Yukio hinted that there’s one more project coming up, so maybe that’s something worth to keep an eye out on. (Then again, knowing Orbit it might just be a PS2 port – so cries the girl who never a had a single console in her life)

- Mysterious D.C. Girl’s Symphony announcement. Oh come on Circus, everyone knows it’s gonna be a fandisk.

- Zettai Meikyuu Grim is for the PSP. Apparently PCs are not good enough for Karin anymore. (bitter

Souten no Kanata is out!

So is that one eroge with the theme songs by Ceui and shotas looking like they walked out of Nakayoshi. (Yes, that is the extent to which I care. I couldn’t even make it through the trial, so let me drop this subject.)

Oh yeah, the sites for Crazy Rabbits and Bloody Call have been getting thorough updates in the meantime too, so go take a look. I am despairing that none of the ojisans in these games appear to be capturable. (There’s Sangoku Koi Senki too, but I get the impression nobody ever remembers about that, myself included.)

I’ve been keeping quiet recently with reviews, but that’s mostly because I can’t seem to bring myself to actually finish any given game (￣ー￣) Of course, there’s Danzai no Maria, which thoroughly traumatised me to the point where I’m not sure if I want to touch it ever again. (But I will, because I like depressing myself.) I think I’ll do a misc. post, just to get some things off my chest.

Souten no Kanata trial is out

Say hello to Saiunkoku Monogatari: the otome game.

Garnet Cradle review

Title: Garnet Cradle (Getchu)
Company: SPICA
Scenario: 高梨瑠花, 片桐由摩
Artwork: 雲屋ゆきお
Release date: 01/05/2009

Danzai no Maria: this is how I like my otome heroines

I’ve got a lot of complaints about Danzai no Maria on the whole – for one, it seems like Karin Entertainment splurged half of its budget on famous seiyuus and then tried to cover it up with stylish gothicness ( ﾟ,_ゝﾟ ) The scenario alternates between “fucking awesome” and “wtf is this shit” pretty often, most of the time averaging out on “passable”, but really, that can be said about each and every aspect of this game. (Except for the text box. If I’ve been playing this game for some six hours and still can’t figure where quickload is, then there’s something wrong with the interface design here.)

But anyway, one thing that Karin did exceptionally well (in my perspective, that is) is making Maria an actual character.

With her name right up there in the title, it would probably be stupid to think she’d be just a proxy for the guys’ own stories a la Kanon, but still, it’s refreshing to see a game so unapologetically centered on the heroine. Karin plain throws out the window several industry standards that severely annoy me. In particular, I like how they include the heroine-naming gimmick just to ignore it for the majority of the game by refering to Maria by her baptismal name. She has a face, a voice, a past and a personality, which just shattered my expectations, in a good way. She’s not a doormat! She’s cute! She actually acts on her own initiative! That’s a whole lot more than I’m used to expecting. Just for that, I’m willing to forgive Karin for the many, many ಠ＿ಠ-inducing moments in the scenario.

Now if only this trend would catch on… Don’t think that’s possible, though, seeing how Princess Nightmare for the PS2 flopped massively （；_；）

down the rabbit hole

Brief notes on QuinRose’s Heart no Kuni no Alice. Vague spoilers for Peter’s route follow?

Asaki, Yumemishi review

Title: Asaki, Yumemishi (Getchu)
Company: MIO
Scenario: アダシノネコ
Artwork: 銀木夕,  天空すふぃあ
Release date: 25/07/2008