#Ikevil reviews

[judesmoonbeauty]

Roger Barel - My Thoughts So Far...

Hiii everybody! I just wanted to drop a review/my thoughts on Roger’s route so far, this all about chapters 1-5. I’m anticipating a lot exciting events after his CE is completed, so I’m trying not to delve into my resources too much, which means I'm reading only 1 chapter a day. I think after every five chapters or so, I will write my thoughts about it. Spoilers will be included, they won’t be super detailed, but they are there below the cut.

Okay so in short: I LOVE his route so far, it’s been great. I laughed pretty much in every chapter so far about something or another. Of course, this is just the beginning and I fully anticipate angst, heartache and drama. I CRAVE it. I haven’t really spoilers about his route, except for one and it’s pretty major, so I’m going to leave that out for now and circle back to it when I read it for myself.

Roger’s Kate So Far:

I LOVE her. I mean I LOVE Kate anyway, but she feels very real to me in the outset.

She is very dead set on NOT falling in love. All she wants to do is survive Crown and get out of there, and it’s nice to see that sense of urgency from her. Not to say that she doesn’t have that desire in the other routes, because she does, but I feel like she really stresses that point in the first five chapters. And understandably so, I mean she’s living in a castle filled with men who kill for a living, and it’s emphasized how she hasn’t laughed/smiled once since coming to the castle, or has barely eaten anything. So, seeing her undergo that stress (poor kid), is refreshing in a way because I feel like in other routes Cybird just glosses over the toll that would take on someone.

She’s a drinker (HELL YEAH). She’s gotten wasted twice so far in the first five chapters. The morning after’s were quite adorable (at least I think so.)

She wants to get stronger and become a fighter because she wants to ensure her survival, so we see her taking self-defense lessons with Roger and Ellis, in order to better herself. And I don’t about you, but I STAN A QUEEN WHO CAN FIGHT. So, I’m excited and I can’t wait to see more from our precious Kate.....

Roger So Far:

So…….I never expected a part of Roger’s route to tackle the fact that he doesn’t believe in love. I don’t know why??? But when I learned that we were going that route, I was happy with it. It’ll be interesting to see how his mind and heart is becomes convinced that love is more than just a bunch of neuro-chemicals and physiological reactions. He is brutally upfront about his lifestyle choices and beliefs - I appreciate that. For example, he’s just like when I get the urge to fuck, I fuck. Of course, he has stipulations to that - both parties mutually consent that they fuck only one time (with Kate being the exception to rule for an entire month as long as she keeps quiet to the others about it).

To be honest, I didn’t like this rule because I feel like it hit too close to home with Jin’s rule with women he get’s physically involved with. (FOR THE RECORD: I’m not comparing the two guys. I’m just saying it reminded me of it.)

Moving on, I just wheezed for a good moment when he compared Kate to his family’s corgi - Ale. Like he’s not saying it to be mean or derogatory, just the way describes her getting worked up, depressed, digging her own grave, etc. It was cute and hilarious. Loved it and I LOVE ALE!

Roger’s Relationships With Others:

Nica: Chapter 1 had me in tears when Roger interrupted Nica’s hitting on Kate. His face was priceless and then to be stuck with Victor as a tour guide. Cherry on the top. Gold star for Roger. C’mere Nica, I’ll comfort you…..

Ellis: He drinks with Roger along with Jude, and he helps Roger with Kate’s self-defense training. I’m sure they’re going to be more involved. I expect it because in Ellis’ Blind Love route, Roger says that he betrayed Ellis’ cursed predecessor and that’s a reason why he’s like a big brother to Ellis. He also wants Ellis as his assistant as he feels that he’s too good for Jude, which I think most of us knew beforehand.

Alfons: Well…..we know how “well” they get along. I was dying in chapter 4 - I think it was - when Kate, Roger and Al are on a mission. They’ve determined recreational drugs are being used, so they’re going to go break it up, and that’s when Al & Roger get into this squabble outside the room they’re supposed to being busting into about whether or not it’s okay to use the drugs or not. Al of course, doesn’t see the big deal with it since he is a firm believer in escaping reality, and Roger basically tells him that when a person runs from reality instead of facing it that it just leaves them more empty - Al is just over it and is like you make me want to vomit in his dead pan face. Poor Kate is like ��we can’t be doing this right now’. Proper school boy frenemies these two are.

Jude: He’s been featured a lot and that’s because his route should be dropping next (fingers crossed), but he is also a Roger drinking buddy and in the Past Records event, Jude & Roger agree to be drinking buddies in hell together…..if there is alcohol in the after life. Of course, he sees Roger quite a bit for injuries he gets, and when Jude asks why Roger is even bothering with Kate, Roger basically tells him that she is trying to survive, and it’s appealing to him. “A small dream, a goal….even small things to survive somehow. Isn’t it the same for you, Jude?” Jude lore??? More on that later in a Jude dissection I’m writing.

Notable Things So Far:

Roger treats the Crown members in exchange for their blood samples. We learn this in chapter 5 when he treats Jude.

Roger’s father doesn’t have a problem coming to the castle to have his son dog sit. I thought this was interesting. It doesn’t seem that he fears the cursed on the whole, and I’m sure that’s due to his knowing Roger is cursed. That’s nice. He seems like a supportive father (I HOPE I’m not wrong.)

Roger create’s a Robin Growth Chart - this is to help her become strong and survive, but also to teach Roger that romantic love is something that is true - not just a biological concept. He’s already noticed a change in his HR (heart rate), when Kate is around, so I wonder how long it’ll take for him to fall.

Favorite Scenes So Far:

Nica losing Kate to Roger.

Ring wondering if Kate and Roger are together - OMG I WANTED TO GOBBLE HIM UP!

Jude’s reaction to Ale jumping into his arm. So DAMN cute!!! Okay, so I am a cat person, but I’ve been dog sitting for one of my BFFs for the past two weeks (I love her), and I was reading this scene as her poodle was curled up next to (like she literally is on top of me every chance she gets), and Jude said: “…..Whaddya doin’, don’t jump on me, it’s hot.” Then he starting grumbling to Kate and Roger about holding onto Ale better, and asks if they were abandoning their duties while Kate’s like: “Oh, ….Jude please hold it more gently.” LMAO. Just picturing him holding this doggo awkwardly was the funniest shit ever, and adorable and we have the same doggo energy. Love them, but don’t jump on me please.

The self defense class with Roger & Ellis - I’m not sure if many of you know, but currently Ellis is my #2. I ADORE him. He is twisted and precious and I love him, and I get just as excited when I see him on the screen as I do Jude. Him sparring Roger just squeezes my heart so much.

Any scene with Roger and Al. Love it.

K, I should go translate or do something more useful........

[myusuchaa]

ikemen villains: my recs and route/suitor rankings ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

disclaimer: these are my opinions based on the current released routes in both ENG and JP. i tend to love dark psych thrillers, lots of angst and pining, great banter between characters/lively convos, and a captivating plot, so that's what influences my ranks~ will update with future releases

figured I’d post my thoughts here!! in case anyone is a bit newer to ikevil and is curious OR if anyone has similar interests as me I’d love to squeal about them with you!! ♡

₊˚ପ⊹ROUTE RANKINGS

rank is based on: written flow, plot, descriptive language and emotional pull, uniqueness

1. Elbert

2. Alfons

3. Roger

4. Ellis

5. William

6. Liam

7. Harrison

₊˚ପ⊹SUITOR RANKINGS

rank is based on: how much I fell for them, their likability, personality traits, inner monologues from his side stories, overall character story, their interactions with others

1. Elbert

2. Alfons

3. Ellis

4. Liam

5. Roger

6. Harrison

7. William

₊˚ପ⊹ROUTE RELEASE TIMELINE

Beginning trio (JP/ENG): William, Liam, Harrison

Aug. 1st (JP/ENG): Elbert

Nov. 14th (JP): Alfons

Mar. 19th (JP): Ellis

Jul. 23rd (JP): Roger

my thoughts & recs on each suitor's route (no spoilers)

William: such an interesting take on love. maybe because of his curse but his route is up there with feeling the most historical, period-piece fantasy like (along with elbie and roger imo). he's a very unique LI i honestly felt like his route would do well as a 3 episode anime OVA ヾ( ˃ᴗ˂ )◞ i recommend him if you like a more undefined approach to love, contractual partnership, mature and refined guys and not-so-innocent MC's

Liam: a precious bb ahh, and his VA is so amazing at emotional inflections! liam really shines in being attentive to kate and to the other crown members, i loved how he treated her in his route. i recommend if you don't mind self-deprecating guys, if you like drama and whirlwind romance, and if you enjoy a relationship built on assurance.

Harrison: the best soft opening to ikevil imo. quite a tame route with very real world problems as opposed to dark fantasy. if anyone stays true to his self, it's harry! he has some funny one liners too lol. i recommend him if you like intelligent sarcastic LIs, you like noir crime vibes, and if you don't want a heavy read.

Elbert: i mean he is my oshi for a reason! every time i read his route i fall more in deep love.. the localization team did an amazing job w the translation. i think his POV stories are the best. they add so much to his qualities and i feel really boosts his story. i recommend his route if you love yearning, emotional understanding, tragedy, dark psych thrillers, and slow (but dramatic) burn stories

Alfons: i used to hate him with a passion... until i loved him. his route truly is the definition of "fuck around and find out" keeping you on your toes. i loved the depth he has and how dubious they made him. i recommend his route if you like word/roleplay, morally grey characters, if you like having to guess at things without ever being told the answer, and a "we shouldn't be doing this but.." kinda feeling

Ellis: this man had me doing mental gymnastics to understand his true motives and i looooved that. visuals are also top tier. what i noticed is his route really focuses on his time with kate and has a bit more of a mundane (as mundane can be in ikevil) plot compared to other routes. this let his interactions with kate shine. i recommend ellis if you like hidden duality in a suitor, puppy boys that will do anything for you, a love that feels like a warm blanket, and you're ok with no real character growth (conditional love)

Roger: honestly i put off his route cus i wasn't interested at first but by the third chapter i was like WOW this is a breath of fresh air. the writers showed UP for part 2, i love the new plot points introduced, and his interactions with kate are sooo good. i loved his letters too! i ended up finding him extremely supporting and with a slight gap moe which kept me interested. i recommend this route if you like stories that are plot AND character driven, back and forth banter between MC and LI, and a shojou traditional charismatic love!

[kurishiri]

on my way to start William’s route, but as for the other two…

official Ikemen Villains twitter posted templates and so I took used them, ehe. Minor route spoilers ahead, maybe, as I delve into some personal thoughts! You can click on the images for higher quality; I put content warnings for each route there too, though I may have missed a couple here and there.

Liam — key word: “tomorrow”

the themes in the story really add to the story’s poignancy, and I think it was interesting how they chose to make Liam an actor — as that part of his character played a significant role in the story and its themes.

I don’t have a very high sexy rating here relatively, and that’s not to say there aren’t sexy parts, but I think the presence of it feels a bit dampened by the fact I either didn’t purchase premium stories so it felt like the sexual scenes happened off screen in my personal experience or just that the story was overall so heavy with Liam’s mental struggles. Also, Liam was my first route, so I didn’t really have any other rating to compare it to. So I figured it was good to start somewhere in the middle and go on from there. Overall, I felt it was more romantic than sexy (especially if you look at, well… Alfons). To me, it’s not a bad thing! I’m just as alright with a story not having any sexual scenes as I am with one containing them.

honestly Liam’s route is probably the closest I’ll get to romancing Kate — because I related so much to Liam, he hit a bit too close to home sometimes lmao

Harrison — key phrase: “that doesn’t sound half bad.”

overall, I feel his story was solid. If you were to ask me between Liam and Harrison, whose route I enjoyed more, I would probably say Harrison. I enjoyed Liam as well for what it was, but I feel Harrison’s route is just more… fun.

to be completely honest he was really frustrating in the first few chapters. And the way the first sort of conflict ended between Kate and Harry still left me a bit frustrated. Even now, I sometimes wish it ended a bit differently, but I can understand as the story went on that Harry always had kind intentions toward Kate. He always had — since the beginning.

his romance definitely felt more subtle (and I loved that), since even if he has feelings for you, he always masks it with a half truth or a lie. And boy, is he good at lying 😂👌 at first they were really frustrating, but later there were a couple lies that are kinda funny that I can’t help but love him for his funny (and sweet) lies. Interpreting his half truth half lie words is like translating from another language lmao

reading Harrison’s route felt like reading a mystery and adventure novel at once. And I think if you want like to get a good taste of everyone else’s dynamics (without overshadowing Kate and Harry’s) in action and outside of it, it’s best to read Harry as opposed to Liam, in my opinion.

if you have any thoughts and opinions about the two, I’d love to hear!

[chinchira-sama]

❀ chira's otome review masterlist ❀

❀ Ikemen Sengoku ❀

⟡ Sasuke Sarutobi ⟡ Hideyoshi Toyotomi ⟡ Ieyasu Tokugawa ⟡ Yukimura Sanada

❀ Ikemen Vampire ❀

⟡ Napoleon Bonaparte ⟡ Comte de Saint-Germain ⟡ Jean d'Arc ⟡ Isaac Newton ⟡ Vlad

❀ Ikemen Revolution ❀

⟡ Luka Clemence ⟡ Sirius Oswald ⟡ Fenrir Godspeed ⟡ Jonah Clemence ⟡ Harr Silver ⟡ Lancelot Kingsley

❀ Ikemen Prince ❀

⟡ Yves Kloss ⟡ Licht Klein ⟡ Keith Howell ⟡ Silvio Ricci ⟡ Clavis Lelouch ⟡ Chevalier Michel

❀ Ikemen Villains ❀

⟡ Liam Evans ⟡ Harrison Gray ⟡ Elbert Greetia ⟡ William Rex

❀ The Arcana ❀

⟡ Asra ⟡ Julian ⟡ Muriel ⟡ Lucio

❀ My Vow to My Liege ❀

⟡ ChenFeng ⟡ Zu WiXu ⟡ Shi YiGuang ⟡ Si GouJia

[ndoandou]

Ikevil OC: Margarette Foster

“Wise choice little robin.”

Cursed by Goldilocks from Goldilocks and the three bears

This curse grants user the ability to make the right decision for the best outcome of a situation, including the correct answer of a given choice. This ability also applies to the unknown near future. This curse preserves the user and the people around them. However, people who are cursed by Goldilocks are extreme perfectionists and stubborn by nature which may cause them to disagree with the right choice. They are cursed to die making the wrong decision due to following their desires.

Background story:

Margarette is a former noble. She grew up in a household which had no care for her despite her academic talents, as all the attention went to her older brothers. Years she went on being as patient as she could. Her breaking point was when her parents rejected her wish to participate in further education as they had already planned to sell her off someone they owed money to. Too stunned to speak, she fled back her room. Slamming the door behind her she could feel her world collapsing. Heavy breathing, cold sweats, tears puring down her eyes.

Curse awakening:

“Someone, anyone please save me from this absolute nonsense..!”, Margarette pleaded to herself, clenching her eyes shut as she sunk down to the floor.

‘Burn the mansion down,’ a voice spoke

Sobbing uncontrollably, Margarette responded to the voice not caring if she was hallucinating or not, given how stressed she was

“That’s too much! i can’t possibly….I-If i ”

‘Too much? You are too naive. Having your flesh and blood discard you is too cruel. If you want to live, Eliminating them is just right.’

Margarette didn’t know how to respond, but she knew that she wanted to live no matter what. she had to make the right choice…

‘The choice is yours’

.

.

That night she slipped through the shadows, following every guidance given by the omniscient voice. Dozens of choices were made. Were they the right choices? Was there another way?

That didn’t matter

Margarette walked away from the mansion that was now engulfed in flames. Screaming and cries for help could be heard from a distance, however, her heart was too numb and tired to feel. She just hoped her legs will take her somewhere far away,,,

How she got involved with crown:

Members of the Foster estate took a big part in human trafficking, meaning that crown would have gotten involved. The unexpected problem was the fact that the whole estate is burnt to crisp. Initially they thought that they were trying to get rid of the evidence until Victor reviewed the documents and found out that there was a missing person under the name ‘Margarette Foster’. This did not make sense considering that everyone involved including the guards and servants were proclaimed dead. A conclusion was made after a long discussion; Margarette Foster is a Cursed and she is the culprit. It didn’t take too long for crown to locate her whereabouts and to get her to join them. Despite the sorry condition she was in, she didn’t seem that wary to follow them or answer their questions. Out of curiosity, Liam asked her why she didn’t show any signs of fear, which roger backed up with the fact that her heart was beating at a normal rate. Thats when she explained that she is cursed by Goldilocks and every decision and step she is taking is the correct decision.

Love interest:

Kate (MC) (ill make a seperate post on this!)

.

.

Part 2 will be on her personality and fake cgs! Also i didn’t proofread this and i wrote half of the stuff here spontaneously so im sorry if its a bit shet :((

[gayuu-the-necromancer]

William Rex Route Review

Okay~ Finally, I sat down and completed William's route today morning.....till 4 am. Yes, I have no life and my opinion is....it's kinda good! Honestly, a part of me was expecting it would be a snoozefest and another part of me was like 'Don't worry, it's gonna be fine. You'll love it!"

Usually when I play an Otome game, if the game doesn't manage to impress me within the first 30 minutes, I'll just immediately uninstall it and would never download it ever again. But I have a soft corner for the Ikemen series because their games really fill up my lonely heart....anyways. I'm not gonna sit here and compare Ikemen series with Voltage games or anything. We'll only compare ikemen games with other ikemen games!

I thought that Ikegen was gonna be my fav game forever and I used to think I wouldn't love another game and its characters as much as I love Ikegen. I mean look at Yoshino, for example! Do you really think any MCs could ever beat her? She's honestly the best thing to come out of Cybird and very thankful to them that I finally got an MC I could truly love!! Since Ikegen set the bar up really high, I was hoping the next upcoming game to be even better or at least the same as Ikegen........and then we got something that I don't even wanna talk about :/

So I was skeptical about the projects after that and then we got the news about Koihana. It got me interested, but it wasn't exactly a game in the 'Ikemen series'. There is no 'ikemen' in the title. Not that I won't play, I will when it comes out when I have time. After that out of nowhere, they dropped the teaser for Ikevil and I was SHOCKED!! because I was expecting a teaser of Koihana that day. I was honestly shocked that we're actually getting two new games for the 10th anniversary. The bgm in the teaser was so good (but too bad they didn't use that bgm even once in the whole game!) and I got intrigued about the characters, how they are gonna look, the MC, what's the story about, whose the artist, MC's role blah blah blah etc etc...I was super hyped.

Then the game came out and I played. Like I said, if the game doesn't impress me within the first 30 mins, I was gonna immediately uninstall it, because what's the point in playing if you're not gonna enjoy it, right? I need that 'first impression' to be the best impression! Honestly, I wasn't expecting a gore scene IN the prologue. I thought the prologue would be nice, calming, and maybe a little bit violence here and there...BUT NO! They didn't hold back at all and I LOVED IT! It got me really excited.

I started with William's route because I was planning to translate it and was expecting a lot more gore. William's route is good..................if you can sit through at least 15 chapters without sleeping, then I guarantee you that you will enjoy it. This is also coming from a person whose fav type is not William. Let me divide William's main story into two parts, without giving as many spoilers as possible. The first 1 to 3 chapters are okay. It just gives basic info about William, his personality, and other characters....simply basic stuff. The chapters from 4 to 14, are basically filled with William and his friends doing various missions and William helping Kate to be honest with her desires. It's mainly the bonding stage and I wasn't really into it because I felt like nothing was happening. Even William and Kate's interactions were alright, didn't get me that excited at all.

The story was moving really slowly and it felt like a lot was happening but I wasn't finding anything exciting. There was no 'real' conflict for example, there is no enemy that is terrorizing the Crown. The Crown members look severely overpowered and they are killing all the butterflies without breaking a sweat. The Crown members having these abilities as the 'cursed ones' is honestly very op if you use it in the right way at the right time. There is not much hand-to-hand combat which I personally love watching and translating. But I also love that they are all working together on these missions in groups. It's not like each member is assigned a different mission. All the members have faith in each other and help out each other when doing missions. No egos are clashing, no unnecessary fights, I love that about Crown, even though they all state that they are not friends.

So In between I was thinking...."What's the real threat here? What is Kate's role? Is her role only going to be just standing around and watching people die? Because if it is, then it's very boring."

It was only after chapter 18, that I really ended up liking William's route. William after chapter 18, is one hell of a badass character. There is this certain scene in chap 19 that I really love and it really caught me off guard for a second. There are some lines said by him that I really love. I can't wait to translate that chap and the madness ending. Also, William and Kate's relationship gets really fun. It's cuter and William keeps teasing her whenever he gets a chance (reminds me of a certain other King with black hair and blue eyes who is also cursed!).

The route has some gore and creepy scenes which are really good in showing how horrifying the world actually is. There is no filter. It feels like no one is safe. I don't even know why because at some point, I thought that there is going to be a scene where Kate is also gonna be injected with drugs. I don't know why I thought something like that, maybe in the future, some golden butterfly member will kidnap and inject drugs into her or something to mess up with the male lead's mind....who knows? But it feels like Cybird is not holding back with this one.

Now, coming to Kate. As an MC, I think she's good. She's very nice, caring, understanding, and possessive (lol). I like her a lot. I feel like out of all the Ikemen series MCs, Kate is the only one that has some sort of character development. She goes from being this shy and reserved person to more lively and talkative. It's kinda cute. She gets more bold in the latter half and doesn't shy away from expressing what she wants to do. I like that. Thank god, cybird didn't end up ruining her character in an attempt to make her look pure-hearted. The only, drawback I have with her is her job as a 'fairy tale master'. Honestly, it's such a.....meh job for some reason. She doesn't really get to do much, she only has to stand at the side and watch the male leads mutilating people. It's kind of boring because she has no real goal in life. I thought her job was to find a way to break the curses of the Crown members but no, she simply writes reports that are to be submitted to the Queen. *Sighs* it's fine, I still like her though and I hope her personality doesn't change once I switch routes, or else I will be mad.

Final thoughts, not bad as the first route. I mean it's still the 'first route' and I'm sure the future routes will be crazier....especially Jude's route (I hope I don't die before that!). I feel like his route is going to be before Victor. But still, William's route did a good job in making me wanna continue playing this game, so that's a plus for me. If not, I would have uninstalled it immediately, waited for Jude route, and re-install it then.

I was thinking to start Harry's route next (not translating that btw!) but I'm restarting William's route again to get the other ending not because I'm poor and saving up gold for Harry's route, pfffttt not at all!

[dreamieotome]

Taking A Break From

MLQC - I feel I am so behind on the story and I’m so confused on the plot. I am dreading jumping back into it :’)

Mystic Messenger - I played through all the routes and then i lost my account RIP LOL so I’m trying to slowly restart it and get all the endings (I’m a completionist)

LoveUnholyc - I love prettybusy but by god they have such unfriendly UI and game mechanics like trying to play the game actually gives me mental damage. I’ve finished Hi’s route.

Ikevil - I started it on release day but none of the possible love interests... well.. interested me. So I'm gonna wait until there's one for me to sink my teeth into

Finished/Dropped

A3! (company discontinued the EN version)

Amnesia: Memories

Ayakashi Romance Reborn

Cindrella Phenomenon

Collar X Malice

Cupid Parasite

Ikemen Revolution

Ikemen Sengoku

Ikemen Vampire (on my knees for Arthur)

JackJeanne

Lover Pretend

Midnight Cinderella

Mystic Code

My Candy Love

Nameless: The One Thing You Must Recall

Olympia Soiree

Obey Me! (dropped bc I dont like the company LOL i still have a soft spot for some of the characters tho)

Paradigm Paradox

Princess of The Moon

Star Project

SWD: Blood In Roses

SWD: Destiny Ninja 2+

SWD: Guard Me, Sherlock!

SWD: Lost Island

SWD: Lost Alice+

SWD: Modern Cinderella

SWD: The Niflheim

SWD: Wizardess Heart+ (I... have so many feelings about this one)

Tengoku Struggle: Strayside

Variable Barricade

Wannabe Challenge (dropped)

I swear I must have played ALL of the Shall We Date series lmao

I will eventually make individual posts reviewing all of them bc I have. Thoughts™ . Especially with games that don't have much media presence online. Many people worked hard on them, and I think they deserve to be remembered (even if they're terrible) (looking at you, Princess of the Moon) (what the fuck was that)

[otomesideblog]

Introduction

Let's talk about what this blog is meant for. The main purpose is simply a place to organize all the random notes I have scattered about. If it helps people who have that niggling question, they can't remember, excellent. If it helps someone create some work of art, marvelous. (Note: I am not one who thinks fan works need to be 100% accurate)

First, let's get take care of some housekeeping. A lot of these games are mature those under the age of 18 please don't interact. The other by nature of being more of a reference blog there will be spoilers. What you can expect to find here? - Character bios, route summaries, and key details from each route. A big maybe- small personal thoughts/reviews on games and routes

What games?

-Currently going to mainly work on Ikepri and Ikevil series with hopes of expanding into those I have played on other systems.

[judesmoonbeauty]

Jude Jazza Route Theories Pt. 1: Flowers, Raven & His Lab ☾.

It's been a hot minute since I've done this, and I'm super behind on my theory posts, but I’m kind of doing this as we lead up to his route release. This will contain event and route spoilers. As usual, this is for fun, we can’t dogmatic about things, but it’s nice to theorize. If you don’t agree, that’s okay, please feel free to share your theories as well. This is a lengthy post.

But my train of thought vanished when I took a peek at him only to find him staring quietly at the flower in his hands. - From the epilogue of the Cruise Liner event.

Okay, so Jude’s events are filled with flowers. This is something that I’ve noticed beforehand, but after playing the GHR and Cruise Liner event, it felt more solidified.

I hadn’t played the Cruise Liner event in JP when it had released nor it’s re-run, so I was unaware of the flower’s significance prior to this, but when I did play it on EN I felt there is no way this isn’t significant to Jude’s lore. I feel like he was staring at the flower while thinking back on a memory of the past - perhaps his loved one loved flowers as well.

Notably, Jude mentions in Ellis’ route, that if both Ellis and Kate died, he’d bury them side by side in a field of flowers. When I read this, I felt like it was significant. I also feel like he buried the one he loved in a field of flowers, it just feels like an obvious hint at Jude lore. He could’ve just said, “I’ll bury ya together.” I could be very wrong of course, but it feels like one too many mentions to me.

Further, in GHR event, Jude goes out of his way to pick clover flowers for Anne, when they were playing house. When Jude mentions that this is something that little kids her age likes, alarm bells rang for me because majority of us have theorized that he’s had sibling, younger sibling, and/or perhaps another kid not related to him by blood, but was very much like a sibling. If that is the case, they are no longer living (Roger’s BLE solidifies this for us when Jude tells Roger that when someone dies, they leave others behind who have to deal with feeling a void). In any case, the flowers would seem to be linked to this person.

In GHR, Anne makes Kate a flower bracelet, and for Jude a pressed flower. Later on in the epilogue, when Kate is helping Jude research something related to the mission they'd completed, she finds out that he turned Anne’s pressed flower into a bookmark. Jude tries to play it off that it was solely out of it’s usefulness, but we all know better. He treats the flowers given to him by the little girl as something precious.

What’s the point Ciele? The point is, I think his book he keeps on himself holds a pressed flower inside from the one he lost in death.

This led me to another thought about his company, Raven. Why?

Raven - Jude's Trading Company

First, let me just clarify something here: While IkeVil’s curses are based on original literary works (actual written fairy tales), Cybird DOES take elements from Disney’s adaptions such as the raven named Diablo, and even things like Ellis' fate. (Just to clarify, I'm not dissing Disney in any way, I fell in love with Sleeping Beauty's fairy tale as a little girl thanks to them, but their adaptions are significantly watered down because the original works are usually extremely dark.)

None of the versions of Sleeping Beauty's fairy tale written by: Giambattista Basile, Charles Perrault, or Grimm Brothers have a raven mentioned in them. Further, the original, earliest known version of Sleeping Beauty, Perceforest, has no mention of a raven in it from what I was able to find.

That said, the Raven named Diablo is a Disney created adaption. As I mentioned in a review I made on Ellis’ route, I really wish Cybird didn’t use so much of Disney's lore, but in this case, I think it’s quite clever. It even plays well into my theory of Jude’s company Raven being named not because it’s linked to his fairy tale (Disney version), but because it’s named after someone.

Think about it. Raven is a proper name. What if his company was named in memory of the person he lost? The person who liked flowers and maybe gifted Jude flowers was named Raven. Could be a sister, a mother, a friend, even a brother……

Plus, I feel like it would be a motivator to him. I mean, yeah he smokes to keep himself angry, but everything he’s doing, all the money he’s making is for a specific goal. What if that goal is because of this person? Why not name the company you’ve built after the person you care for to keep reminding you of your goal, or simply so others will always say their name, that way they're never forgotten?

Also, it could be Raven just because.

Either way, raven’s have so much symbolism at attached to them, but focusing solely on their representation of being harbingers of doom, ill omens and darkness, I think that’s a fitting name for Jude’s company as well, because well, it's Jude.

We do know that some of whom he binds in a contract of lifetime employment are sent to a certain coal mine, (I still want to know if he won ownership of it in a gamble or if he purchased that himself), and/or they are sent to a lab that he owns.

We don’t know 100% what he gets up to in his lab yet, but it’s hinted that torture and human experimentation is involved. Sounds like a harbinger of doom to me.

What type of experimentation isn’t specified yet, but it also seems that he may delve into other other things. Shall we talk about them?

Ellis: Jude, where should I take him? Jude: Lab.

We are first introduced to Jude’s lab in his very first story event, “Wrapped in Wicked Romance.” After he captures a piece of trash Jude tells him that he isn’t going to just kill him, but he was going to make him experience a "livin' hell" first. Fast forward to one year later, and we meet this same guy from the original event in Jude’s one year anniversary SE.

He escaped from Jude’s lab, and when he confronts Jude face to face, Jude mentions that the guy is doing well for someone who’s endured so much dangerous research. After apprehending the guy again, Jude says that he’ll keep playing with the man for as long as he keeps his “human form.”

Now, we all know that Jude enjoys torture, but Jude isn’t wasteful, he’s resourceful, and he specifically mentions research. There are several theories out there that he uses his lab to invent ways to travel to the moon, and while I do believe there is basis for that theory, I want to think closer to home.

Clinical Research: We know that Jude was either a homeless migrant, orphan, or was born and raised in the slums. We also know that he was in a cramp room filled with smoke and stagnant air for a period of time.

Additionally, we know that Jude suffers from severe asthma attacks, and at least one, possibly two people that were with him were ill (I am referring to the one(s) in his first BD story), so it’s not a stretch that he’s performing clinical research for drug development of multiple diseases/illnesses. And the people he sends to the lab are his lab rats.

There is also further evidence of this in Ellis’ Mad Love epilogue and Roger’s route.

In Ellis ML epilogue, a severe cold had been going around, medicine was in short supply, and crooked doctors were selling fake meds. Enters this little poor boy, who had a sister who was sick, and couldn’t afford to buy medicine because it’s monopolized by the rich. Jude tells Kate that helping one person, doesn’t change the underlying problem (basically corruption), but Kate argues that even if it is just one person, then that person’s smile would be worth it. After Kate & Ellis catch the cold, they are given a dose of medicine that Jude supplied Roger with, and it turns out that Jude has a SUBSTANTIAL amount of this substitute drug that he is having distributed throughout London.

Roger says that he doesn’t know how the drug was obtained, but it’s a high quality drug because he inspected it himself. Where did he get it, indeed? I don’t know, his lab…..maybe?

Speaking of Roger, in his Blind Love chapter 21, Jude goes to a certain place to unleash his wrath on those who were stepping onto his “turf” of getting drugs for experimentation.

Now, I also believe he may also develop other things in his lab like gadgets, weapons, etc. But I think his primary use of the lab includes drug experimentation on the trash he chooses not to kill on missions etc. (This also plays into his contract with Crown that Jude gets to choose whether a target gets to live or die, which is a smart move because Jude needs a constant supply of people to "play" with.)

Honestly, I feel like he had a past similar to that in Ellis ML epilogue, and he’s trying to find a cure for the illness that took his loved one.

Things I want to see in his route:

An explanation as to why flowers are significant to him.

Does the name Raven have a greater meaning than it just being an ode to Diablo the Raven in Disney’s 1959 adaption of Sleeping Beauty?

Is his lab solely for clinical research, what’s he looking to develop? Is it a pure reason such as looking for a cure to end a certain illness, or does Jude develop drugs for other reasons.

At the end of the day, for all the sweet and innocent moments we see borne from Jude, he is a villain in the sense that he enjoys torture, suffering and pain. Not to mention, Jude will not hesitate to slaughter if he wants to or deems it necessary, however, it seems to be a last resort.

Final Theory: If we bundle this together, I theorize Jude had a sister named Raven, who loved flowers, and unfortunately she died of an illness they were too poor to treat with medicine. He keeps a flower she gifted him pressed in his book that he keeps on his book holster. The loss of his sister plays a part in his seeking revenge on those who refused to help them, perhaps abused them, and even looked down on them due to class distinction.

Well, I’ve got plenty more to write, but let’s start with this for now. I can't wait to see how far off the mark I am once his route releases LMAO.

[judesmoonbeauty]

CHAPTERS 6-10

Okay, so we’re going to keep this as brief as possible. Contains route and Ellis' route spoilers. So, beneath the cut.

Roger’s Kate So Far:

I still like her. She’s gets wasted a couple of more times, and she puts her self-defense skills into action when she’s grabbed by some crazy ass guy who is their target on a mission.

Additionally, because she had been studying medicine on her own every night, she was able to help Roger prep the utensils and even rattled of the solution they’d need to sterilize the equipment. So, keep up the good work, Kate!

Roger So Far:

Roger, he’s still very much a big brother to me, (much like Leon & Jin are), but I really appreciate how diligent he is.

You can tell he cares about the well-being of others (going so far as to develop a cure for tetanus for child and testing the drugs on himself, even though Liam was willing to do it out of curiosity.)

He seems to be quite upfront with Kate when she asks questions and he truly tries to see her POV, even if he doesn’t understand it himself.

Roger’s Relationships With Others:

Liam:

As mentioned before, even though Liam was willing to test this new drug he made, he didn’t let him do simply so he could satisfy his curiosity. I think that was sweet, considering he collects their blood as payment for his treating them on a normal basis.

Alexander Taylor: (Can I get some Kleenex please?)

Ok, so in short this was the guy who was cursed with the Briar Thorn prior to Ellis. Roger mentioned in Ellis’ Route that he had betrayed Ellis’ predecessor, but it’s not in the way we think.

Little Roger made Alex a promise that if anyone should ever find out about Roger knowing Alex, then Roger should deny that he actually knows Alex. Essentially, betraying him by lying. Well, one night the police are after Alex and Roger happens upon it, when Roger is about to defend Alex, Alex uses his ability on the policemen, and then reminds Roger about his promise. Roger reluctantly complies and then after Alex releases the policemen from his ability, they gun him down.

This event is what triggers Roger’s curse to manifest itself as the gunshot ringing in his ears amplifies. I had been waiting to learn exactly how he betrayed the Cursed Briar Thorn, and it was so sad because Roger was quite close to Alex and it wasn’t something he did because he wanted to, but because he promised to. I’m sure that if there was a way to tell if someone was cursed before it manifested, Alex would never have asked Roger to do that.

Notable Things So Far:

The Curse:

Roger mentions in chapter 10 that he believes all the curses are innately born, and lie dormant within them until qualifications are met (often in the form of an event.) This isn’t super surprising because this has been alluded to in other routes, like Harrison & Liam. Of course, there’s still a lot of questions about the curse itself.

Sex:

The slept together in chapter 10 premium. Kate gets drunk off a couple of bottles (if I read it right in the morning after this surprises her because she can usually drink a bit more than that, but Roger mentions that her body was exhausted from the mission and probably contributed to her not handling as much as she usually could.) In any case, that was worth the diamonds, he was basically stretching her out so he could fit inside her(from what I understood)…..Kate woke up embarrassed and angry, but she at least also admits to her own fault in this as well.

Favorite Scenes So Far: (Besides the smut)

Hmm, I loved seeing Kate get pissed at Roger when she was being held captive and he just smiled at her like: So, what are you going to do about this?

Liam being called Mr. Pink Guy when the little girl they saved was saying thank you to them, he thought it was the cutest thing. He is the cutest thing.

Roger Barel - My Thoughts So Far...

Hiii everybody! I just wanted to drop a review/my thoughts on Roger’s route so far, this all about chapters 1-5. I’m anticipating a lot exciting events after his CE is completed, so I’m trying not to delve into my resources too much, which means I'm reading only 1 chapter a day. I think after every five chapters or so, I will write my thoughts about it. Spoilers will be included, they won’t be super detailed, but they are there below the cut.

Okay so in short: I LOVE his route so far, it’s been great. I laughed pretty much in every chapter so far about something or another. Of course, this is just the beginning and I fully anticipate angst, heartache and drama. I CRAVE it. I haven’t really spoilers about his route, except for one and it’s pretty major, so I’m going to leave that out for now and circle back to it when I read it for myself.

Roger’s Kate So Far:

I LOVE her. I mean I LOVE Kate anyway, but she feels very real to me in the outset.

She is very dead set on NOT falling in love. All she wants to do is survive Crown and get out of there, and it’s nice to see that sense of urgency from her. Not to say that she doesn’t have that desire in the other routes, because she does, but I feel like she really stresses that point in the first five chapters. And understandably so, I mean she’s living in a castle filled with men who kill for a living, and it’s emphasized how she hasn’t laughed/smiled once since coming to the castle, or has barely eaten anything. So, seeing her undergo that stress (poor kid), is refreshing in a way because I feel like in other routes Cybird just glosses over the toll that would take on someone.

She’s a drinker (HELL YEAH). She’s gotten wasted twice so far in the first five chapters. The morning after’s were quite adorable (at least I think so.)

She wants to get stronger and become a fighter because she wants to ensure her survival, so we see her taking self-defense lessons with Roger and Ellis, in order to better herself. And I don’t about you, but I STAN A QUEEN WHO CAN FIGHT. So, I’m excited and I can’t wait to see more from our precious Kate.....

Roger So Far:

So…….I never expected a part of Roger’s route to tackle the fact that he doesn’t believe in love. I don’t know why??? But when I learned that we were going that route, I was happy with it. It’ll be interesting to see how his mind and heart is becomes convinced that love is more than just a bunch of neuro-chemicals and physiological reactions. He is brutally upfront about his lifestyle choices and beliefs - I appreciate that. For example, he’s just like when I get the urge to fuck, I fuck. Of course, he has stipulations to that - both parties mutually consent that they fuck only one time (with Kate being the exception to rule for an entire month as long as she keeps quiet to the others about it).

To be honest, I didn’t like this rule because I feel like it hit too close to home with Jin’s rule with women he get’s physically involved with. (FOR THE RECORD: I’m not comparing the two guys. I’m just saying it reminded me of it.)

Moving on, I just wheezed for a good moment when he compared Kate to his family’s corgi - Ale. Like he’s not saying it to be mean or derogatory, just the way describes her getting worked up, depressed, digging her own grave, etc. It was cute and hilarious. Loved it and I LOVE ALE!

Roger’s Relationships With Others:

Nica: Chapter 1 had me in tears when Roger interrupted Nica’s hitting on Kate. His face was priceless and then to be stuck with Victor as a tour guide. Cherry on the top. Gold star for Roger. C’mere Nica, I’ll comfort you…..

Ellis: He drinks with Roger along with Jude, and he helps Roger with Kate’s self-defense training. I’m sure they’re going to be more involved. I expect it because in Ellis’ Blind Love route, Roger says that he betrayed Ellis’ cursed predecessor and that’s a reason why he’s like a big brother to Ellis. He also wants Ellis as his assistant as he feels that he’s too good for Jude, which I think most of us knew beforehand.

Alfons: Well…..we know how “well” they get along. I was dying in chapter 4 - I think it was - when Kate, Roger and Al are on a mission. They’ve determined recreational drugs are being used, so they’re going to go break it up, and that’s when Al & Roger get into this squabble outside the room they’re supposed to being busting into about whether or not it’s okay to use the drugs or not. Al of course, doesn’t see the big deal with it since he is a firm believer in escaping reality, and Roger basically tells him that when a person runs from reality instead of facing it that it just leaves them more empty - Al is just over it and is like you make me want to vomit in his dead pan face. Poor Kate is like ‘we can’t be doing this right now’. Proper school boy frenemies these two are.

Jude: He’s been featured a lot and that’s because his route should be dropping next (fingers crossed), but he is also a Roger drinking buddy and in the Past Records event, Jude & Roger agree to be drinking buddies in hell together…..if there is alcohol in the after life. Of course, he sees Roger quite a bit for injuries he gets, and when Jude asks why Roger is even bothering with Kate, Roger basically tells him that she is trying to survive, and it’s appealing to him. “A small dream, a goal….even small things to survive somehow. Isn’t it the same for you, Jude?” Jude lore??? More on that later in a Jude dissection I’m writing.

Notable Things So Far:

Roger treats the Crown members in exchange for their blood samples. We learn this in chapter 5 when he treats Jude.

Roger’s father doesn’t have a problem coming to the castle to have his son dog sit. I thought this was interesting. It doesn’t seem that he fears the cursed on the whole, and I’m sure that’s due to his knowing Roger is cursed. That’s nice. He seems like a supportive father (I HOPE I’m not wrong.)

Roger create’s a Robin Growth Chart - this is to help her become strong and survive, but also to teach Roger that romantic love is something that is true - not just a biological concept. He’s already noticed a change in his HR (heart rate), when Kate is around, so I wonder how long it’ll take for him to fall.

Favorite Scenes So Far:

Nica losing Kate to Roger.

Ring wondering if Kate and Roger are together - OMG I WANTED TO GOBBLE HIM UP!

Jude’s reaction to Ale jumping into his arm. So DAMN cute!!! Okay, so I am a cat person, but I’ve been dog sitting for one of my BFFs for the past two weeks (I love her), and I was reading this scene as her poodle was curled up next to (like she literally is on top of me every chance she gets), and Jude said: “…..Whaddya doin’, don’t jump on me, it’s hot.” Then he starting grumbling to Kate and Roger about holding onto Ale better, and asks if they were abandoning their duties while Kate’s like: “Oh, ….Jude please hold it more gently.” LMAO. Just picturing him holding this doggo awkwardly was the funniest shit ever, and adorable and we have the same doggo energy. Love them, but don’t jump on me please.

The self defense class with Roger & Ellis - I’m not sure if many of you know, but currently Ellis is my #2. I ADORE him. He is twisted and precious and I love him, and I get just as excited when I see him on the screen as I do Jude. Him sparring Roger just squeezes my heart so much.

Any scene with Roger and Al. Love it.

K, I should go translate or do something more useful........