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emberashcosplay · 7 years

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#emberplays: OZMAFIA! IS GREAT (AND YOU’LL NEVER KNOW WHY)

Okay guys, so I know I went on a huge hiatus from #emberplays: otomes, but I’m back with fresh new content, and this time it’s Ozmafia!, an otome by Poni Pachet parading itself to be a cute little take on The Wizard of Oz, as well as some fairytales thrown in for good measure. It seems pretty superficial and with a stupid amnesiac MC until you really find out the story behind why everything is the way it is AND IT’LL BLOW YOUR GODDAMN MIND.

This post, of course, will be spoiling all routes, the secret character, as well as the epilogue and grand finale of Ozmafia so be warned if you haven’t played through all of it. It also will briefly spoil: Mystic Messenger, Nameless ~the one thing you must recall~ and Amnesia: Memories when I start talking about the epilogue/grand finale and parallels to reset theory.

You start as Fuka/MC (authority has it don’t change her name if you want to skip dialogue later or have things fully voiced in the epilogue) who is another amnesiac running from a hot dude calling her “prey” that she believes is going to kill her. She meets up with the famiglia Oz boys and they take her under their protection for god knows why and happily inform her they’re just a house full of dudes and now you’re their token female to protect. Eurgh.

Caramia (lion) is the don of famiglia Oz and is presented as a pretty cool dude, if slightly hot headed because of his excess of courage. Kyrie (scarecrow) is his dandy, sadistic, trolling ass second-in-charge consigliere who is insanely smart, knows he is, and has what most people will tell you is a terribly repellant attitude because of it. He’s also the comedic relief and if you don’t love him for at least that, you’re probably dead inside or take otomes way too seriously. Axel (tinman) is the shotgun-wielding third (caporegime) and all around actual cinnamon bun, though slightly aloof and tsundere when you first meet him but it just hides a big ol’ heart of gold in that chest of his.

There are also other people in the neighborhood you may be familiar with including: the doctor/Dr. Crow (Robin Hood), Scarlet (Little Red Riding Hood), Pashet (Puss in boots), Hansel and Gretel, Dorian Gray, Ande (the little matchstick girl) and Heidi (girl of the alps). Without truly spoiling Caesar or Soh just assume they may or may not be whatever you want to believe because of their affiliation, the Wolf Clan.

You can romance any of the three boys at any time, as well as six, YES SIX, others (Caesar, Soh, Scarlet, Pashet, Robin Hood, Dorian/Brothel) and one more hidden character.

You thought your cup runneth over with romance in the new Hakuoki games, haaaaaaaaaaa ;_______;

Anyway, you romance one, find out about their damage and work through it and end up either with a good end or a normal end (some I would say qualify as BAD but this is subjective, so neutral ends I guess). The boys have some extra ends called transferred ends, which depending on how you feel about them, you might want to do. If you want the Grand Finale of the game (the true end and answer to all questions) you MUST do them.

With that said, I bring you to the issues why I believe this game is rather underloved in otome fandom (only 12 fics on AO3 WHAT???) despite actually having a great overall story behind it, better writing for the MC than you’re probably giving it credit for and one of the most tragic characters I have ever found in an otome AND I’VE PLAYED ALL OF AMNESIA: MEMORIES, THANKS.

First problem: No suggested route guide. I think rather than limiting information the way they did by making more scenes accessible after a first playthrough (and also making us have to deal with that fucking jingle and cut screen twice as much ARRRRHGHHH), they should have made routes only accessible after completing the main three (Caramia, Kyrie and Axel) similar to the setup of Nameless where you have a few to choose from and then it becomes much more linear as you put together the story.

My opinion is that it should be three distinct categories that unlock in succession:

Oz boys: Axel, Kyrie, Caramia completion unlock

Famiglia Grimm & Related: Pashet, Scarlet, Robin Hood, Hamelin (the secret character) completion unlock:

Caesar & Soh.

Brothel doesn’t matter when you do it, it’s a stupid fan-servicey route. I don’t think it spoils… anything tbh. Play it whenever. Make it a bonus route. I don’t care.

And thus the true playthrough order after playing through everything should go:

Axel/Kyrie > Caramia (his has most spoilers) > Pashet > Scarlet > Robin Hood > Hamelin > Brothel/Caesar > Soh (definitely last) > epilogue > all endings you missed > Kyrie’s AGAIN > grand finale!!!

But wait, Ember, why Kyrie again?

We’ll get to that in The Case For Kyrie. Trust me, I have a raging hard-on for this guy and there’s a very good reason behind it

Other than that, the reasoning behind my grouping of routes is that you need to have your grounding in the world of Ozmafia! and the three boys do that. They also have the most fleshed out stories and properly introduce Caesar and Hamelin in a way that makes the Hamelin related routes seem natural after them. Soh’s is the ultimate spoiler leading up to the epilogue so I’d leave his for last. Caesar’s actually doesn’t really spoil anything if I remember correctly, but it seems natural to play his then Soh’s, since the focus in the epilogue is on them, not as romantic interests but answering what exactly they are and why their situation is slightly different than the Famiglie.

Second Problem: Limiting information incorrectly. Yeah, I don’t know how to put this any better other than the way you are given information really hides an amazing story arc buried under all the stupid romance subplots. During the course of this game you will probably ask yourself: Why is Kyrie such a jerk? Why did Hamelin go from a chill dude to bugfuck nuts? WHO IS FUKA AND WHY DOES SHE HAVE NO MEMORIES? WHAT IS WITH THE FUCKING TOWER CARAMIA ONLY MENTIONS ONCE AND THIS TOWN AND THEIR FESTIVALS?

To get these answers you have to romance 10 fucking people (err 13 since brothel is a triad ending lol). That’s a lot of patience, perseverance, and a metric fuckton of skippage.

So you have a few arcs going on simultaneously layered:

Romantic subplots: whoever you chose and their issues and how Fuka ends up with them.

Our original antagonist Caesar. Why does he want to kill you? Who really is he? Will he kill you one day?

Hamelin’s story as the new antagonist. What the fuck is this dude’s problem? Why did he change? Also I guess the ruling class and their immortality getting dropped on you if you weren’t paying attention.

Soh’s big reveal about the tower and being half tower/half toto and maybe the true TRUE antagonist??? (I don’t even know, man).

.The big reveal of Fuka being a fractional part of Dorthy, along with Caesar and thus why he’s doomed to forever chase her. The true story about the witch, Dorothy and the tower. Also some stuff about Kyrie that’ll break your goddamn heart.

Look, this game has a great story but, Jesus Christ, the amount of shit you have to go through to get to it is un-fucking-real. Also considering whoever you romance isn’t the real end (except maybe Soh since his end basically alters things the least amount), its more indulging you than anything else. Your actual romantic results are ultimately pointless as they are never referenced in the true end, and only served to give you a better idea of each of the characters.

[lulz, Ozmafia! was using reset theory back when Cheritz had barely released Dandelion ~wishes brought to you~. Poni-Pachet was in 2017 when we were all in 2013 lol.]

Also, the politics for the most part, I don’t think are delved into enough. You know about the sunday compromise but it isn’t until Soh’s route you find out why (everyone was happy and then that bastard game them guns. WOW FUCK YOU, SOH). You find out a bit more once you start doing the Hamelin related routes but I think the meetings usually at Famiglia Boots place are squandered opportunities to really talk about the complex and interesting dynamics of this world that was created and then fractured into pieces.

I guess I’ve been pampered by Cheritz properly moving stories along with just enough info to keep me interested but also left in the dark. I wish the team for Ozmafia! would have followed a similar pattern.

Third Problem: Too many mandatory LI’s. As already stated to get the real ending and all your questions answered you must do all the routes and all their endings. This includes transferred ends, which some people find squicky. I just found them awkward and keeping track of them confusing even with a guide. So for the Grand Finale, this is the shit you gotta put up with:

Characters with two pure love endings and two transferred ends: 3

Characters with two endings only: 7

This is either a completionist dream or nightmare. I ended up 100% the CGs including other only after having to fucking go through the transfer ends and track down which ones I didn’t do which took the better part of a night even with skip. There has to be a better way my dudes.

Also RE: transfer endings, triangles, NTRs. A lot of people don’t like these and with good reason. I will say they had both pros and cons. Pros being smexy CGs of our boys, cons being the sex feeling rushed. Also they did change my opinion of both Kyrie (who I felt worse for when you left him) and Caramia (who started coming off as kind of sleazy when you left Kyrie or Axel for him). I don’t think my opinion of Axel changed with them because Axel is a precious bean who deserves only the best.

With these things said, if you are looking for an otome with more than just a superficial plot or already own Ozmafia and haven’t completed it because you got bored, I’d highly recommend it. Its often on sale on steam and has plenty of content to slog through, it’s your choice if you enjoy it or not. It definitely rewards the completionist though with a rich and engaging absolute WHAT THE FUCK hidden story in the background, as well as some really great characters thrown in the mix and routes focusing on fleshing out characterization mostly.

YMMV who you enjoy, but without heavily relying on the usual tropes otomes do, Ozmafia! provides a great cast for people to choose from and almost guarantees you’ll like at least one route.

My favorite routes:

Kyrie - obviously just because there is so much of him. I think he might have been the writing team’s darling because he really shines as a character with depth and complexity once you find out his whole arc. His own route, however, is no more or less compelling than others, barring the fact his normal ending had me in tears and if you prefer that end YOU ARE A MONSTER.

Robin Hood - this went off the goddamn rails in ways only Nameless has really trumped. I was not expecting any of his route. Might be squicky at parts, but to name them would heavily spoil just BE WARNED.

Scarlet - I was expecting the shota, but Scarlet ended up being an inversion of the shota trope and quickly one of my favorite characters in the whole game. Scarlet did not deserve any of this garbage. #FreeScarlet2018

Wasted potential:

Pashet’s route IS NOT YURI. Classic otome teasing with the female LI. Also has the audacity for her to be in love with someone else during it.

Brothel. Like I’m polyam and I found it *yawn*. Totally unnecessary, especially if people found it terribly distasteful.

Caesar. His route just is??? I think it could have been more suspenseful, or more tragic considering what you find out in the epilogue about him being in some ways your other half. Instead nothing is answered in his own route and he’s a big softy, sinnamon roll and we’re left going ???.

Soh’s route is never stated as probably the closest to the true ending, you have to infer after playing the epilogue that it is.

Unlike Mysme, Nameless and Amnesia: Memories, there is no real true LI in the game, and if I had to say there is, it's hidden VERY WELL and only apparent after the grand finale (mark my words boy-o’s it’s Kyrie).

You don’t realize your doormat MC is actually written the ways she is because she’s the embodiment of Dorthy’s soul and desires, the childlike wonder and optimism of a girl who never got to grow up. Dorthy essentially made an image of herself older to walk around town, fall in love and do grown-up stuff, since she couldn’t. Once put into context, this actually forgives a lot of the MC seeming rather childlike and brainless, despite her obvious age. Basically this MC will go down as a pretty bad one and its sad to say its actually decently thought out and intentional, not sloppy writing.

FINALLY, DORTHY IS ADORABLE AND ONLY REVEALED IN THE GRAND FINALE AND I WANTED SO MUCH MORE OF HER AFTER SEEING HER *GROSS SOBBING INTO MY COFFEE*

ALSO DID I MENTION THAT GOD, I HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE SOH.

Verdict: 8/10 Weirdly similar in execution to Hatoful boyfriend if you think about it, but with less pigeons and more inanimate objects coming to life. Add a dash of childlike wonder and Cheritz-like storytelling underneath it all on the side.

I wouldn’t say it goes off the rails quite as unexpectedly as BBL, but If you slogged through all the routes in hatoful for BBL, Ozmafia probably is your kind of otome. I put it down and picked it up several times, but finding out there was an epilogue and a grand finale after definitely renewed my interest. For me, the real endings and having my burning questions answered made up for how yawn inducing having to skip through so much plot overlap is, as well as the routes I found personally uninteresting.

I hope to see Poni-Pachet do more otomes in the future that are localized here, I really do. As a whole I found Ozmafia to be a gorgeous (seriously that art style, wowowow), visually interesting and decently put together game. I loved the music and the characters that were on point are delightful. The interface is nice and it never crashed on me. I think there were a few missed opportunities in organization, but otherwise, I ofund it to be a pretty solid game that if anything offers more content than it needed to, rather than less.

In a world full of microtransactions to get the full story of a game I ultimately appreciate the overkill even if I complained a bit.

Also, as the case with Amnesia: Memories, don’t bother with the Ozmafia! anime. It’s not relevant to the plot of the game really at all, and while cute, its unimportant at best and might confuse the plot for some people.

Alright guys, what did you think about Ozmafia? Have you played it all the way through or just a few routes? What were your thoughts?

Send your thoughts to my inbox and stay tuned for the next #emberplays, a follow up to this post specifically about Kyrie!

NEXT TIME: #emberplays otomes: The Case for Kyrie (Ozmafia!) LAST TIME: #emberplays otomes: Doki Doki Literature Club

#ozmafia!#otomes #visual novels #otome review #poni-pachet #emberplays

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