IMPORTANT UPDATE about TRANSLATION After finishing another route (my 3rd) I want to let you know that the translation issue I mentioned in my video is not as clear-cut as I thought at first (after playing 2 routes with sub-par translation). This 3rd route had a perfectly good translation! That's ofc great news; it indicates that at least some of the routes received a better translation. It leaves us, however, with a very mixed effect, which results in an uneven reading experience. I hope this information clarifies things a bit more.
AHH .. Fluffy! I bought him from Play-Asia. It was quite tricky as shipping charges had been restructured to something ridiculous, but PA worked out something manageable. He is bigger than I had expected - like a full-grown cat!
@@powermetal2100 You're after the LE? PlayAsia only has the Japan edition. Which region do you need? It's best to order from the IFI store direct - either the US or the EU/UK store.
Through your explanation and review I learnt that this VN is not for me but I have to say how much I appreciate your insight and explanation of the content. The community needs people such as yourself to assist us making the right decisions for us. Thank you! ❤
Oh man! I knew I recognized the art! I think, personally, that this is Teita at their best! The character design for this game look better than they did in Norn9! Not sure I'll pick it up, but I appreciate the unboxing and insight!
Hii! I forgot about ur channel but for no apparent reason I remember ur How I got into gaming video. I'm so happy to see and hear ur still doing well. I just sub and hit the bell to see ur latest vids. Take care always 😊
My Mom, among other things, worked as a copy editor. No translation work involved but i've definitely seen what you mean about people who are less able to turn off that critical eye in the face of grammatical errors. Thanks for the review!
Thank you so much for reviewing this game Brita!!! I always enjoy your unboxings no matter what game it is but as a big otome gamer this video brought me so much joy! I wasn’t sure if I was gonna commit to Charade Maniacs at first since I heard it was very long and more of a slice of life than a thriller. Thanks to you I think I’ll give a chance though :)
Me, coming into this video: "I'm so excited to listen to this bc I normally have no interest in otome so I won't need to add this game to my ever-expanding backlog, but I'm just delighted to hear Britta talk about games she's passionate about anyhow" The Game: (has a stunning art style, musical and television elements, comparative to Danganronpa, and potential time shenanigans) Me: "...dagnabit, I'm gonna need to buy this game now, aren't I?"
I'm glad I spoke so enthusiastically and convincingly 😀 but ... I'm honestly not sure it would be your cuppa tea. Maybe wait until I've played a bit more and we'll catch up then. Have you ever played an otome game before? Games like Danganronpa and Zero Escape are really in a very different category.
@@Food4Dogs I've played VNs and Dating Sims aplenty (along with games that incorporate elements of both), and the romantic element tends to be my favorite part of any game beyond a gripping narrative. But an otome specifically? Mmm, I don't think so...unless you count Hatoful Boyfriend, but I feel that's in a category all its own lol certainly not against trying them tho. I'm definitely down to wait until you've gone all the way through and reconvene then tho!
Yes, Hatoful is indeed a totally unique experience! 😁 If you enjoy the relationship/romance angle, then I think CM is actually a good fit (or any of the other otome I've discussed over the years here). Let me finish the 3rd route today (which also brings an update about the translation I'll post in the pinned comment) and I'll come back to you. One thing about otome is that you get to see romantic relationships from a Japanese perspective - very different from Western and therefore IMO insightful.
I like VNs where you don't need to consult a guide. I also like what you said about playing the routes with the LIs that you don't like, to get all perspectives of the story.
I haven't gotten it yet since the new Story of Seasons released on the same day and that simply takes priority for me, but Charade Maniacs has been on my radar for quite some time. It reminds me of Liar! Uncover the Truth which was a "free to play" otome game from Voltage. Despite me not thinking much of free to play games (despite still playing some), I really had a lot of fun with it and hope that it gets a Switch port that we can just buy.
First off thank you so much for another wonderful and informative video, Britta. You're the best, to me at least. I only played one VN, if we can consider Arcade Spirits one. To be more acquainted with the genre I bought Chaos Head/Noah, Re:Zero and Collar X Malice. I hope I didn't make any mistake. I looked specifically for stories on the darker side of the spectrum.
Arcade Spirits is one that's still in my backlog. 😃 Yep, it is classified as a "dating sim/visual novel". You did very well with your purchases! Re:Zero is not technically a VN - it's described as a "tactical adventure". So it's a bit of a strange mix of tactics JRPG with other elements. Like *most* Japanese RPGs or even general adventure games, it incorporates those dialogue and cut scenes which seem to persuade Western reviewers to classify a game as a "visual novel". I'm always very clear about a few scenes like that not turning a game instantly into a VN. 😁 Collar x Malice and Chaos;Head are both *real* 100% visual novels - and very good ones too! Chaos;Head is in fact the first game in the Science Adventure series and it's fantastic that we in the West finally get to play the game that started it all (and led to Steins;Gate).
I definitely put this and norn 9 on my wishlist, i love otome games, but hybrid VNs are so much better. I didn't know there was a physical and that makes it much better for me. Thank you for the review!
Thank you for your insights into this game, especially for keeping it spoiler-free. 😊 My copy is supposed to arrive next week. I had hoped for this weekend but I guess it wasn't meant to be. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Awkward translations in text-heavy games are always a bummer. It's unlikely but maybe IFI will release a patch if enough customers complain about it, like Aksys did for Collar x Malice Unlimited.
Hi Lani, hope your copy arrives soon! I will have an update about the translation issues today - please watch for an UPDATE message in my pinned post here. I have reported my translation concerns to IFI and they are taking it seriously. 👍
This was interesting, but I'm not certain that visual novels are really for me. The ones I really want to try are the Famicom Detective Club games, but the lack of a physical version and the fact that they never go on sale is off-putting to me.
Yea, I kept tracking it via NTdeals, but somehow (?) I must've managed it bc I have the bundle edition on my US account. Sadly I can't find a purchase confirmation, so don't know how much I paid! But I never buy digital unless it's on sale.
I think one of the few Otome games I've played was Sweet Fuse for PSP, and it's a little like an escape room thing for the storyline (like 999/VLR)... Except you're not the one doing the solving, so you mostly just get dragged around from place to place as the other characters solve the puzzles.
With most VNs, I do a blind playthrough and just go on whichever route I end up on, then I look at the walkthrough for that character's good route, then I'll start using the guide in the common route before going blind on each character's arc the first time. Usually means I see the bad endings first each time. Just trying to more efficiently use time while still being surprised the first time through.
That sounds like a good process to me. I think all of us VN players develop a sort of 'strategy' of how to get the best experience out of them. For a game that I'm covering for first impressions in a video, I deliberately do not look at any guides or reviews upfront.
Great review Britta! So nice to see a new video! I haven't played a visual novel before unless you count Shining Resonance Refrain. I started it but haven't continued yet. I'm not sure if I'd enjoy a pure visual novel vs a jrpg. But I will find out eventually since my Switch arrived in the mail a few days ago smile😊
ShiningRR is definitely *not* a VN! It's a traditional JRPG, which all happen to have generous amounts of dialogue and cut scenes etc. I guess the easiest way to figure out whether you'd like a pure VN is to ask yourself: do you read graphic novels or manga? Do you enjoy reading a story via illustrations with short amounts of text for each picture? They are really the Japanese version of "Choose your own Adventure", in a way. 😎 They're basically a form of reading, with decision-making thrown in at certain stages.
@@Food4Dogs I do enjoy graphic novels and manga. I used to read some of the choose your own adventure books as a child and enjoyed them. I'd probably enjoy it, I will approach it like choose your own adventure and see how it goes. I'm not sure if I'll be into it because I may just be thinking oh I could be playing an RPG right now. Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes. For now I'm really enjoyed Mario Odyssey. It's an amazing jump for me because I haven't played a Mario game since Mario 64. I'm also about to start Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
@@_mytopfive The romance element may not be quite your thing, in which case maybe a visual novel that's just 100% story may be better. But for the moment, it looks like you've got enough on your plate! 😎
Fantastic unboxing (once again). I did not know about it before your video. "Cheese knife action" will be used here from now on 😂 Btw: I would love to see a video about your plushies someday
Yes, a few. I don't have that many though - just the ones on the chair behind me, and the ones on the sofa you can see in a few videos I do from that angle.
I've played similar visual novels with a sci-fi mystery theme. Some that come to my mind spontaneously are the Zero Escape Series (Virtue's Last Reward), Danganronpa, and Norn9. In all of these games, you have to uncover the identity of the traitor/mastermind.
@@Food4Dogs Thank you for specifying the genre! I actually wasn't quite sure which category to place them in. I love how passionate and knowledgeable you are about such a wide variety of games! That's really rare to come across. Thank you so much for your great videos and for taking the time to reply!
Yes, I have played Kotodama and enjoyed it thoroughly. The difference is that Kotodama prominently integrates a Match-3-style "mini game" (not so mini!).
Obviously. 🙄 You chose to quote me without the context (there is a big fat text overlay saying "I'm referring to mainstream visual novels" - that means *not* ecchi or anything else along those lines). Can't say I'm impressed with your approach.
IMPORTANT UPDATE about TRANSLATION
After finishing another route (my 3rd) I want to let you know that the translation issue I mentioned in my video is not as clear-cut as I thought at first (after playing 2 routes with sub-par translation). This 3rd route had a perfectly good translation! That's ofc great news; it indicates that at least some of the routes received a better translation.
It leaves us, however, with a very mixed effect, which results in an uneven reading experience.
I hope this information clarifies things a bit more.
I had a lot of fun with this unboxing - so I hope you enjoy it too! 😃
You know we will
Thank you for putting out the video
I enjoy it a lot!! Where did you get that beautiful cat plushie from 13 sentinels? It’s lovely.
AHH .. Fluffy!
I bought him from Play-Asia. It was quite tricky as shipping charges had been restructured to something ridiculous, but PA worked out something manageable. He is bigger than I had expected - like a full-grown cat!
@@Food4Dogs I just found it on PA but the shipping is outrageous, $57.00 USD!!!
@@powermetal2100 You're after the LE? PlayAsia only has the Japan edition.
Which region do you need?
It's best to order from the IFI store direct - either the US or the EU/UK store.
I just want to say I've been subscribed for a while and truly appreciate this channel, thank you.
You're welcome, always appreciate feedback.
I would love to know how you tackle your gaming backlogs! 🌸
Ha - very poorly! 😅
It's always a treat to see you and your videos pop up on my notifications 🥰
Through your explanation and review I learnt that this VN is not for me but I have to say how much I appreciate your insight and explanation of the content. The community needs people such as yourself to assist us making the right decisions for us. Thank you! ❤
Oh good - thank you, that means I've done a decent job. 👍🏻
Oh man! I knew I recognized the art! I think, personally, that this is Teita at their best! The character design for this game look better than they did in Norn9! Not sure I'll pick it up, but I appreciate the unboxing and insight!
Hii! I forgot about ur channel but for no apparent reason I remember ur How I got into gaming video. I'm so happy to see and hear ur still doing well. I just sub and hit the bell to see ur latest vids. Take care always 😊
Thank you, I really appreciate that.
I never pester people with "Subscribe! Ring the Bell!" 😁 but that also means a lot of people "lose" my channel. 😥
My Mom, among other things, worked as a copy editor. No translation work involved but i've definitely seen what you mean about people who are less able to turn off that critical eye in the face of grammatical errors. Thanks for the review!
Thank you so much for reviewing this game Brita!!! I always enjoy your unboxings no matter what game it is but as a big otome gamer this video brought me so much joy! I wasn’t sure if I was gonna commit to Charade Maniacs at first since I heard it was very long and more of a slice of life than a thriller. Thanks to you I think I’ll give a chance though :)
Let me know how you get on with it!
Britta deserves her bangle! Someone find her a bangle!!
🤣
This was a nice video to watch while sick haha, thank you.
I hope it helped you feel a little better! ☺
Omg new unboxing! Watching!
Me, coming into this video: "I'm so excited to listen to this bc I normally have no interest in otome so I won't need to add this game to my ever-expanding backlog, but I'm just delighted to hear Britta talk about games she's passionate about anyhow"
The Game: (has a stunning art style, musical and television elements, comparative to Danganronpa, and potential time shenanigans)
Me: "...dagnabit, I'm gonna need to buy this game now, aren't I?"
I'm glad I spoke so enthusiastically and convincingly 😀 but ... I'm honestly not sure it would be your cuppa tea.
Maybe wait until I've played a bit more and we'll catch up then. Have you ever played an otome game before?
Games like Danganronpa and Zero Escape are really in a very different category.
@@Food4Dogs I've played VNs and Dating Sims aplenty (along with games that incorporate elements of both), and the romantic element tends to be my favorite part of any game beyond a gripping narrative. But an otome specifically? Mmm, I don't think so...unless you count Hatoful Boyfriend, but I feel that's in a category all its own lol certainly not against trying them tho. I'm definitely down to wait until you've gone all the way through and reconvene then tho!
Yes, Hatoful is indeed a totally unique experience! 😁
If you enjoy the relationship/romance angle, then I think CM is actually a good fit (or any of the other otome I've discussed over the years here).
Let me finish the 3rd route today (which also brings an update about the translation I'll post in the pinned comment) and I'll come back to you.
One thing about otome is that you get to see romantic relationships from a Japanese perspective - very different from Western and therefore IMO insightful.
I like VNs where you don't need to consult a guide. I also like what you said about playing the routes with the LIs that you don't like, to get all perspectives of the story.
Thank you for your feedback.
I haven't gotten it yet since the new Story of Seasons released on the same day and that simply takes priority for me, but Charade Maniacs has been on my radar for quite some time. It reminds me of Liar! Uncover the Truth which was a "free to play" otome game from Voltage. Despite me not thinking much of free to play games (despite still playing some), I really had a lot of fun with it and hope that it gets a Switch port that we can just buy.
Oh yea, the SoS A Wonderful Life remaster! I'm cracking that open next. 😃
Charade maniacs sounds nice to try next after i finish jack jeanne. Maybe loop8 too. This limitee edition looks great
Yes, Jack Jeanne I still need to get. Loop8 I was gonna have a quick peek at tomorrow. 😀
Enjoyed this one. Thank you
I LOVE THIS, this game is amazing, and it remebers me to persona
great unboxing!
First off thank you so much for another wonderful and informative video, Britta. You're the best, to me at least. I only played one VN, if we can consider Arcade Spirits one. To be more acquainted with the genre I bought Chaos Head/Noah, Re:Zero and Collar X Malice. I hope I didn't make any mistake. I looked specifically for stories on the darker side of the spectrum.
Arcade Spirits is one that's still in my backlog. 😃 Yep, it is classified as a "dating sim/visual novel".
You did very well with your purchases!
Re:Zero is not technically a VN - it's described as a "tactical adventure". So it's a bit of a strange mix of tactics JRPG with other elements. Like *most* Japanese RPGs or even general adventure games, it incorporates those dialogue and cut scenes which seem to persuade Western reviewers to classify a game as a "visual novel". I'm always very clear about a few scenes like that not turning a game instantly into a VN. 😁
Collar x Malice and Chaos;Head are both *real* 100% visual novels - and very good ones too!
Chaos;Head is in fact the first game in the Science Adventure series and it's fantastic that we in the West finally get to play the game that started it all (and led to Steins;Gate).
I definitely put this and norn 9 on my wishlist, i love otome games, but hybrid VNs are so much better. I didn't know there was a physical and that makes it much better for me. Thank you for the review!
Thank you for your insights into this game, especially for keeping it spoiler-free. 😊 My copy is supposed to arrive next week. I had hoped for this weekend but I guess it wasn't meant to be. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Awkward translations in text-heavy games are always a bummer. It's unlikely but maybe IFI will release a patch if enough customers complain about it, like Aksys did for Collar x Malice Unlimited.
Hi Lani, hope your copy arrives soon!
I will have an update about the translation issues today - please watch for an UPDATE message in my pinned post here.
I have reported my translation concerns to IFI and they are taking it seriously. 👍
This was interesting, but I'm not certain that visual novels are really for me. The ones I really want to try are the Famicom Detective Club games, but the lack of a physical version and the fact that they never go on sale is off-putting to me.
Yea, I kept tracking it via NTdeals, but somehow (?) I must've managed it bc I have the bundle edition on my US account. Sadly I can't find a purchase confirmation, so don't know how much I paid! But I never buy digital unless it's on sale.
Thanks for the unboxing ❤️
My 9 year old daughter has begun playing Variable Barricade. Just thought you should know.
She continues to astound me! 😀
That is actually next on my VN list - well, and Loop8.
@@Food4Dogs then I think it’s only right that I inform you, she’s on volume three of Witch Hat Atelier!
I think one of the few Otome games I've played was Sweet Fuse for PSP, and it's a little like an escape room thing for the storyline (like 999/VLR)... Except you're not the one doing the solving, so you mostly just get dragged around from place to place as the other characters solve the puzzles.
Yes! An oldie but goodie! 👍
Good morning Britta
I'm off to bed 😁 it's nearly 1am here!
@@Food4DogsOOPS, I meant oyasuminasai, Japanese for goodnight.
@@siafu1241 Ah yes, thank you - a word I did once learn but need to refresh in my memory! Always good to stock up on vocab. 🙂
With most VNs, I do a blind playthrough and just go on whichever route I end up on, then I look at the walkthrough for that character's good route, then I'll start using the guide in the common route before going blind on each character's arc the first time. Usually means I see the bad endings first each time. Just trying to more efficiently use time while still being surprised the first time through.
That sounds like a good process to me. I think all of us VN players develop a sort of 'strategy' of how to get the best experience out of them.
For a game that I'm covering for first impressions in a video, I deliberately do not look at any guides or reviews upfront.
Great review Britta! So nice to see a new video! I haven't played a visual novel before unless you count Shining Resonance Refrain. I started it but haven't continued yet. I'm not sure if I'd enjoy a pure visual novel vs a jrpg. But I will find out eventually since my Switch arrived in the mail a few days ago smile😊
ShiningRR is definitely *not* a VN! It's a traditional JRPG, which all happen to have generous amounts of dialogue and cut scenes etc.
I guess the easiest way to figure out whether you'd like a pure VN is to ask yourself: do you read graphic novels or manga? Do you enjoy reading a story via illustrations with short amounts of text for each picture? They are really the Japanese version of "Choose your own Adventure", in a way. 😎
They're basically a form of reading, with decision-making thrown in at certain stages.
and Congrats on your Switch 👍🏻
@@Food4Dogs I do enjoy graphic novels and manga. I used to read some of the choose your own adventure books as a child and enjoyed them. I'd probably enjoy it, I will approach it like choose your own adventure and see how it goes. I'm not sure if I'll be into it because I may just be thinking oh I could be playing an RPG right now. Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes. For now I'm really enjoyed Mario Odyssey. It's an amazing jump for me because I haven't played a Mario game since Mario 64. I'm also about to start Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
@@_mytopfive The romance element may not be quite your thing, in which case maybe a visual novel that's just 100% story may be better. But for the moment, it looks like you've got enough on your plate! 😎
@@Food4Dogs yes I just added nearly 20 games to my backlog between the Switch and GameStop sale!
Fantastic unboxing (once again). I did not know about it before your video. "Cheese knife action" will be used here from now on 😂
Btw: I would love to see a video about your plushies someday
But I do occasionally introduce the plushies .. ?
@@Food4Dogs yes, i always love it - but i would guess there are some i don't know, maybe i am wrong though?
Yes, a few. I don't have that many though - just the ones on the chair behind me, and the ones on the sofa you can see in a few videos I do from that angle.
I've played similar visual novels with a sci-fi mystery theme. Some that come to my mind spontaneously are the Zero Escape Series (Virtue's Last Reward), Danganronpa, and Norn9.
In all of these games, you have to uncover the identity of the traitor/mastermind.
Yes. Norn9 and Charade Maniacs are otome VNs, whereas the other two are quite different, more extensive puzzle/mystery games with VN characteristics.
@@Food4Dogs Thank you for specifying the genre! I actually wasn't quite sure which category to place them in.
I love how passionate and knowledgeable you are about such a wide variety of games! That's really rare to come across. Thank you so much for your great videos and for taking the time to reply!
😊☺👍❤
Good morning how are you miss?
This game sounds like the Kotodama-the seven mysteries game. Have you played that game? A very good visual novel,also.
Yes, I have played Kotodama and enjoyed it thoroughly. The difference is that Kotodama prominently integrates a Match-3-style "mini game" (not so mini!).
Good.
"Japanese games tend to be very very modest in their approach." Well, that depends a WHOLE LOT on which visual novels you're playing. 😛
Obviously. 🙄 You chose to quote me without the context (there is a big fat text overlay saying "I'm referring to mainstream visual novels" - that means *not* ecchi or anything else along those lines).
Can't say I'm impressed with your approach.