It happened with Steins;Gate 0 already, and it's happening again: for the second time, I find myself loving a VN's sequel ten times more than the original game. One more time, and we'll definitely have a pattern; but for now, let's focus on the awesomeness of CxMU.
To put it simply, this sequel offers everything I wanted from the first game, and more. I mourned the absence of puzzles in CxM; lo and behold, they appear in Unlimited, and they're tough enough to please me. The crew's interactions are delightfully more subtle and complex, and there's more than enough character development to elevate CxMU way beyond the status of mere fandisk. There is a crap ton of gorgeous art to feast one's eyes upon — much more so than in the original, actually. Last but not least, that game feels a million times more wholesome than its predecessor. The rampant douchiness of the beaux has been virtually erased, to be replaced by much kinder and more mature attitudes towards Hoshino; there are also no bad endings to be found, only a so-called 'normal' ending — which is actually perfectly nice — and a 'best' ending that's even sweeter and fluffier. Cherry on the cake, the crew now sports more sensible hair styles and classier outfits, and Enomoto drops his dumb eyepatch at long last.
As for the 'more', that would be the unexpected yet much welcome humour, as well as the many scenes involving the crew sans Hoshino. If there were a reversed Bechdel test spotting the presence of two male characters talking about something else than the MC in an otome game, then CxMU would pass it with flying colours. There's also an interesting chunk of 'what if', parallel universe-ish narrative elaborating on the destiny of an Adonis version of Hoshino — and allowing us to get up close and personal with the Adonis crew while we're at it. To crown this festival of goodness, you get a couple of extra romantic routes. Older and happily married Morioka and Mochida remains out of Hoshino's romantic league and wandering hands; on the other hand, Minegishi, Saeki and Yoshinari are now hers for the wooing. I didn't even envision Yoshinari as a potential mate for Hoshino when I played the original; but now that I've played his route, I deem their romance the sweetest and most heartwarming of the bunch, more than worthy to become canon in yours truly's eyes.
Long story short, I love that game. For all intents and purposes, it's actually more akin to a regular VN with large chunks of romance and steaminess than to an otome. I would blindly recommend CxMU to every VN aficionado, if not for the fact that having the original under your belt is absolutely mandatory to even understand what's happening and get a good feel of the characters. At any rate, I'm glad I gave that sequel a chance despite not liking the original; and now, I'm gonna dive right into another VN, as I'm very much in the mood for the genre right now. See you soon for more narrative goodness, dear fellow gamers!
Man, I've had the fist game for years and this one since it came out, but I just can't bring myself to play either this or Bad Apple Wars. Unless there's a fantasy theme attached, I have to be on the right mood to play a VN and that hasn't been for a while now. On better news, café enchanté is coming out, and yes, I will play that on release.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of future otome games, there's also Piofiore Fated Memories coming out. I played the Japanese version on the Vita, and as a long time reader I feel the need to warn you about that game. To put short, I really don't recommend playing it unless:
- You enjoy realistic depictions of women screaming for help as they're being dragged into forced prostitution, with the protagonist going 'welp, can't be helped';
-The protagonist getting outright gang-raped in one ending, while your main guy allows it to happen;
-Get ready to get raped in general in a lot of other ends;
-The protagonist being absolutely and totally worthless, and the game excusing both that and the aforementioned points because it's 1920's mafia gang wars and it's 'realistic';
-Oh, but forget about the realism part when it comes to the crux of the plot, which is about the protagonist being a magical virgin that must be with a chosen man before losing her cherry or else;
-But if you don't like that, don't worry, because the plot is actually completely forgotten about in most routes, in favour of seeing the mafia torture people in general and general mafia politics;
-The plot being full, and I mean FULL of plot holes;
-Almost all characters being unlikable. If you like one, don't worry, you won't like them in other routes where they flip personalities, completely ignore the protagonist and/or participate in the aforementioned rapes. There is one character who escapes this. ONE.
It's an infuriating game. You know I hate selling games, even ones I don't like, if only because of the trauma of having to previously selling games because of my older sister...but I sold this game, and at a huge loss since importing Japanese copies is expensive to my country. But I don't care. Not worth the plastic it's in, and i can't believe Aksyss picked this crap of all games to translate.
If they wanted to test the waters with a 'darker' game, why not pick something more popular like Diabolik Lovers? It'd sell based on the vampires alone. And it's part of a huge franchise, much bigger than Code Realize could ever wish to be, so if it was successful, Aksyss would have an easy shoe-in every year. Or, I don't know, freaking Black Wolves Saga, a game so good it even got a fan patch? But no, go with the poorly written mafia crap, sure.
Of course, if you're morbidly curious, get it. But...at least do it on a sale, because it's really not worth full price.
Yeah, games like that are the reason I'm not as dedicated to VNs as I once was. But writing all that makes me long for a good VN so yeah...I'll give this a shot once I'm finished with my main console games before the year ends. Only three to go, and two are pretty short. If nothing else, Sasazuka looks really cute.
The Sasazuka route was my favourite in the original game, because the guy is so upfront when it comes to his attraction to Ichika. Not that I play otome games in the hope of getting ecchi times, mind you; but it was still nice to get a beau that goes 'Okay, I fancy you and that's it' instead of the usual tsundere. And talking about ecchi moments, CxM Unlimited is surprisingly steamy. Not X-rated by any means, but definitely steamier than your average otome.
DeleteAs for Piofiore, well... That's a great many flaws for a single game, methinks. On the other hand, I'm dying for VNs these days, and... well, I must say my morbid curiosity is definitely piqued by your description. I'll just check reviews first, and my gaming instinct will have the last word as usual.
I've been perusing the official art, and I'm gonna make a bunch of wild guesses just for fun. You said there was just a single character that wasn't scum and/or unlikeable; my bet is that this one character is the short silver-haired guy with Sasazuka-ish looks, who looks a mite kinder than the rest. He, or the strawberry blonde curly-haired one, which also looks kinda mellow. As for the gang rape guy, I bet on the other silver-haired guy, the one with a gun on the cover. Feel free to tell me if I hit the nail on the head or if I'm completely off the mark. :P