izigame.me

Thirty Hour Review (spoiler free)
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The game is WAY better with DLC, but still good without. The hybrid "New game" system is excellent, try it immediately after first story completion, don't load an old save to get more memories. If you don't like blondes and try to have a threesome with only the brunettes, you're SOL.
The game is only worth playing with Kagura Game's hentai patch, which on SteamDeck and Linux requires Q4Wine, and on ChromeBooks, you're SoL. It took me 30 minutes to install once I found the instructions. On Windows it should be a 5 minute ordeal, you do not need to give them your real email.
You're buying this game for the plot, and the DLC with the H patch has some extremely Japanese avant garde content... so like, don't play the menko minigame in public. The threesome content is disappointing, but it's still good. Don't hold off for a cut-cold cleanup scene or step-daughter+mother Picasso action, there is some, but it's not exactly what you want. The mom is super nasty... even compared to the Mike Tyson approved daughter.
People complained about the minigames, they are only a hindrance on the first play through. After getting one completion you'll get 30 bypass items that help tremendously. And if you're extremely lazy and don't appreciate the plot, look into the "red button" feature.
The hero graphics are still a little rough, but the plot more than makes up for it. They are quite deranged, but not as extreme as other games like Mirror. There were several debaucherous scenes that played only in 8-bit style... when I would have really liked an animated hero graphic... like all the toilet scenes, or the bedroom, netorare and living room Picasso scenes.
I spotted a couple dozen English translation error, usually with the subject, indicating it was translated from Japanese. The bigger issue is the font's are really bad... The display of the font is monospaced, but the font is not, leading to all instances of the word "out" to look like "cut".
Sound engineering is good for the H scenes, but I was hoping for a Fully Japanese voiced games. There are only around 10 Japanese words that are voiced. Ohayo, Ara-ara, shiranai, eto... the money went into the plot, H scenes, integration and hero graphics.
It's a generation defining game with loads of content, and an unfortunate installation process. It's a good, way longer spiritual predecessor to Peeping Dorm Manager. It feels like a 24 volume ero-manga. Thank you for teaching me way Shimaidon and Oyakudon mean in an H context... I had a blast and can't wait for Winter memories
...but FFS, fix the crashing issue, add fullscreen support, bump the hero graphic resolution, make it easier to install (Steam R18 patch with 95% of scenes and full H patch as a zip file), fix the fonts and QA the English translations (give the translators more context).
First Hour Review
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I was this '' close to refunding. This game did not age well, and it got damaged in shipping. The grammar is good, but the translation is poor. Text overflows pages, kerning is aweful, font pixel alignment is potato. Lots of interface elements are confusing without Kanji, C is supposed to mean Player Character I think. The resolution is not adjustable, and runs at like 360p, there is no full screen. Navigation is slideshow based... it's like 10 generations behind Peeping Dorm Manager in engine and gameplay.
BUT... it's a genuine Nihon Otome geimu. If the game doesn't crash again, I'll keep it. This desperately needs a remake in Godot. (Update: it crashed every 10 minutes for the last 30h of game play, but it was worth it and I mitigated by saving often and anticipating the memory leak... This may be a a bigger problem on SteamDeck.)
Place holder characters are demoralizing and unacceptable for a game that costs more than a dollar. I came into this thinking it was fully voice acted in Japanese. It's not deceptive to say that it is voice acted, as a binary choice, but it's a stretch.
2020 was a rough year, and they did try... so I'll still recommend as a a game that some might like in their collection, not one to necessarily play unironically. It's just not for me. The thing that crossed the line for me was the 240p art. It doesn't hold up to modern anime standards, it holds up to 2005 standards... and 2011 is my line. If that's going to be the reward for grewling nail pullingly bad gameplay... I'm out. I'm a simple man rather play a dumb game like Mosaique Neko Waifus or Sakura Hime than this. But for the price I don't have to... There are WAY better games with better plot and FULL japanese voice acting out there.
I keep comparing this to Peeping Dorm Manager, it's a way better game, with smooth WASD interactivity, and almost has controller support and it's 8-bit. It's graphics are even worse than this game's, kind of like Hotline Miami. BUT it's got it where it counts, with interactive high definition H scenes, and a plot that rewards you within 30 minutes of reasonable gameplay.
This game is like that really dumb girl in class that got a D in math, but is kinda cute and is from your home town, so you have to excuse her incompetence.