#i could tell you the differences between the personalities of early voltage game mcs. but would you want me to

[bmpmp3]

I've never really had a problem with those types of otome game main characters that like, their entire personality consists of crying, being clumsy, and not knowing what's going on ever (like y'know, a lot of early Voltage MCs and other older mobile otoge) and even though the complaints many people have about them are very very very very valid, I think one of the reasons why I don't mind them at all is 'cause I always just imagine them like this the whole time while playing these games:

Like Katy Perry said: like a plastic bag. drifting through the wind

It adds a whole new dimension for me. The comedy of it all loops back around where I unironically start caring about our wobbly heroine more than anything else that's going on. She's just a blob, pray for her

[ja-lin]

Just finished reading Lucien and Runa pilots for Voltage’s new series, Sweet Enchantments. I was not surprised when Voltage jumped on the food bandwagon because several other Japanese visual novel companies, such as Cybird have already done so several months prior. 

Unrelated, but sort of related...I’m a huge Anthony Bourdain fan (R.I.P. my fellow food lover, another life ended too early) and have been following him since forever. The day I learned he ended his own life, I was torn. He was a great man and amazing chef with a true passion for food. Just taking a moment to remember him since Voltage’s new series is about a food blogger. :*)

Okay, so the series, Sweet Enchantments kind of reminds me of some stuff about a rehab kitchen for ex-offenders I saw on a cooking show with some magic mixed in. There are TV shows on these type of “second chance” kitchens that help change the lives of ex-cons or those who find themselves making the sudden wrong choice in life, winding up in trouble. I think, as humans...we all make mistakes, but we all deserve a chance to make it right. So, these types of second chance kitchens are amazing! They have helped save many lives. You guys should really watch the documentaries on these or read up on Google.

The cafe seems to be some sort of second chance kitchen for the characters to learn how to become better people. There are antagonists the pilot series introduced that create obstacles for the characters on their path to bettering themselves. The antagonists try to lure the characters to the dark side, but this is where you, as the MC step in. The MC, a food blogger finds herself stuck in this magic cafe, but she is there to support the characters to better themselves. Nothing calms the soul and brings people together like food. Mix in some magic, and you basically have a magic fantasy second chance kitchen. 

I think everyone, despite what they’ve done in their past deserves help and another chance. Nobody should be left behind. We can all become better people by supporting those in need. The characters in Sweet Enchantments need your support, and as the MC, despite the risks and dangers...will you give these characters another chance and help them walk down the right path?

Ok, that’s the short version. If you want to read my wall of text, detailed, long review, continue below. (Possible triggers in full review, do not continue if you’re easily offended by critique or comments.) 

Story Plot The story takes place in alternate reality Seattle, Washington where humans, monsters, and magicians exist. Kinda’ like Harry Potter? The basis in which the MC tumbles into the magical cafe was a bit rushed in my opinion. It’s a bit difficult to tell how the overall plot is going to go, but I believe it’s similar to Love & Legends. The MC gets stuck, wants to leave, but finds that she has a major role in this fantasy world. She is not just another pawn on a chess board, but a major influence on how the game will end. While exploring the magical world, she finds the desire to want to help the other characters better themselves. While doing so, she falls in love.

It’s a typical visual novel fantasy plot where the MC gets tossed into another world, but it’s a safe plot to stick with since readers are familiar with it.

Story Themes I think what’s interesting is that Voltage is following the trends of the other Japanese companies. Before they even announced the series, Cybird had done food related stories. So, I was assuming that Voltage would do the same since they are also a Japanese company. Except, most stories from typical otome games are quite simple and designed for light-hearted reading.

Voltage takes the story theme of Sweet Enchantments up to a more mature reading level. When I was reading it, I was thinking to myself that maybe some readers wouldn’t be able to handle the extreme, mature story themes presented. But, upon checking the APP store ratings, Voltage did warn that the game had mature and suggestive content. By downloading the game, we as readers are acknowledging that we understand the game ratings and confirming that we are at least 17+ years of age. (Or, at least have the maturity to handle the stories.)

If you feel that you can’t handle mature story themes or have something in your past that causes certain triggers, then Sweet Enchantments is not the right series for you to read. I’d suggest the more light-hearted stories from other Japanese visual novel companies. Personally, I read a lot…I’ve read a lot of controversial articles and books. So, I’m completely fine with the themes presented in this series.

The MC finds out some of the characters in the cafe are actually magicians who are ex-offenders serving a sentence. The cafe is the characters’ second chance to make things right. I thought this theme was awesome as it’s never been done before and I’ve watched TV series on rehab kitchens. But, dealing with crime and subjects revolving around prison sentences is a very mature theme. I do applaud Voltage for stepping out of the visual novel comfort zone.

I think as the MC, we serve as some sort of support for the characters and help them walk down the right path using our passion of food. I think it’s universal that food is comfort, something that brings people together. Even if we come from different walks of life, we can still share seats at a dinner table.

I think this is a good combination of themes. But, some readers may not have the maturity level to handle it. This story is *not* for everyone, this is the first time that I can’t recommend a Voltage story to everyone. But, hey…the turnips are cute! I want a plush.

In summary, the main theme of this series is that despite what we’ve done in our pasts we all deserve another chance to make things right.

Overall Writing Style I really enjoyed the balanced writing style in Lucien’s route. His dialogue/narration had the right balance of coldness and warmth. Runa’s dialogue/narration was a bit of a shock to me, but ignoring the character personality and just focusing on the writing…the writing was very, very well done and detailed. But, I think the writer may want to tone it down a little bit for season 2 cause when I was reading Runa’s dialogue/narration I was like…this might scare some readers? Lol… Personally, I enjoyed it because I read a lot of seinen manga with dark themes, but other readers may not be used to this type of writing.

Season 1 was written as a pilot to impress readers, so I can tell that a lot of work was put into the writings. You could smell, taste, hear, feel things with every line you read. Overall, very talented writing as usual from Voltage.

Character After reading both Lucien and Runa routes and interacting with all the characters in the cafe, I gotta’ say that I’m more interested in Zain and Liora. Voltage releases several different personality types for characters because readers fall in love with different things. For me, I like the laid back style of Zain and the strong, comforting style of Liora. If I had to choose between Lucien and Runa though, I’d go with Lucien because his personality is more mild. Runa is a bit too wild for my tastes, but I did enjoy her quips with Zain. They seem to be friends? Anyways, this is in terms of my personal tastes in fictional characters.

I believe Runa is the first time I’ve encountered a female character that’s designed extremely dominant, rude, and rough. As a warning, going back to my notes on the mature themes, she may not be the right character for all readers to experience. Personally, it’s not the type of character I’d want to romance. But, from an artistic standpoint, she’s a very well designed and unique character!

In the end the main goal of a story is to make us feel angry, sad, or a mix of emotions. There is nothing that makes a story writer more accomplished than to invoke emotions in readers. I think that’s the goal of all artists, writers, and even chefs! Yes guys, food can also invoke emotions…remember that movie Ratatouille and that scene with Ego, the food critic? A bite of food made Ego think about his childhood. It made him cry.

The way Runa was designed definitely sent a shock through me. She’s completely different from any character I’ve encountered in games. As a fellow artist, I applaud the designers for trying to think out of the box. Again, the way her character is designed is for readers who can handle mature themes. I do not recommend Runa’s route to readers who can’t handle mature themed stories.

Visual Development Okay, a lot of work was put into the design of this series. When I was trying to draw fan art of the characters I took one look at the costumes, accessories and there were just SO MANY small details. When I was drawing fanart for Zain, I noticed several small details that most people would miss. For example the color of the bead decorations on his hair alternate and his earring designs are so intricate. He was challenging to draw accurately, but I tried my best capture all his details! The character designers did an amazing job. When you guys have the time, take a close look at each character’s accessories and costumes. They are just so detailed! Great job from the character designer on this.

The background design…oh my god, the background artists also did an amazing job. The backgrounds for the series are probably the most detailed I’ve seen in all of Lovestruck. You guys should really take a close look at every small detail in the backgrounds. Just thinking about how many details there are, and how much time the artist spent makes my wrist hurt lol…

The music! If my ears aren’t messing with me, I think Lucien and Runa have different magic casting theme songs! I really loved how all the Love & Legends characters had different theme songs. I hope this is the same case with Sweet Enchantments as Voltage missed the opportunity with Villainous Nights.

The logo design, I mean…it’s okay. But, I wish it was kinda’ more related to how the characters’ costumes were designed. Because when I looked at the logo, it reminded me more of something holiday related, not a magic cafe. That’s my only critique for the visual development.

As a warning, I would not recommend this series to those who can’t handle fictional mature, suggestive story themes. The stories and the characters are not for the faint of heart. In my opinion, Sweet Enchantments is for mature, adventurous readers who can handle mature fantasy story themes.

[cococrazies]

Lovestruck Series Review: Starship Promise (Season 1)

Personal playing order: Orion - Jaxon - Antares - Nova - Atlas

Warning! Minor spoilers ahead for Antares’s/Nova’s/Atlas’s routes, as well as CGs under the cut.

Orion: I’m torn on this one. I really enjoyed the story -- a lot more than I thought I would, given my lack of enthusiasm for the series concept -- and Orion himself. (If anyone ever wanted Shang from Mulan but in outer space, this is it.) The writing also had a very natural cadence and flow; it pulled me in easily, never getting too heavy-handed with sudden plot twists and cliffhangers... except for one instance, but more on that below.

And the MC! She was a pleasant surprise. I hadn’t been too impressed by her in the first-ep sneak peeks we get in each route, but she’s really cute -- she can be a bit of a space cadet at times (sorry, bad pun intended), but she isn’t dumb. Furthermore, she really develops over the course of the route, which is impressive given everything else stuffed into these mere 12 episodes.

So now to the things I didn’t like about this route: for one, the romantic development. It seemed really sudden and almost shoehorned-in as a result of the route length, which was jarring given how well-paced everything else had been up to that point. 

Also, the Antares plot twist; it felt cliché and gimmicky, especially since I could see it coming from a mile away. I think I would’ve preferred for it to be a Season 2 reveal, or at least presented to us right from the start -- as it was, it just seemed like it was there for the “shock factor” + to forcibly give us a reason to care about the antagonist if we didn’t already. But since this was a pilot season, I guess I can understand how they wanted to tease at an intriguing backstory as early as possible to get players invested.

Overall, they still did succeed with the latter, because now I’m pretty curious about where they’re going with this. And also because I need more Orion/MC in my life; rushed or not, those two are simply way too cute.

Jaxon: Whoa, this story was jam-packed with action scenes and chemistry between the OTP. The pace is hella fast, but you never get the sense that we’re skipping past important details; the writing makes the most of every episode it has got. Not a single scene is wasted or filler-like.

Jaxon himself is a bit of a harder sell. His gargantuan ego, jokester personality, and YOLO take on everything make him one of those characters that you either love or hate -- although for me, he fell somewhere near the middle of the spectrum. I like his concept and find him a refreshing addition to Lovestruck’s character lineup, but he’s not really my type as far as romance goes; and sometimes he toes the line for being near annoying.

(The fact that I constantly seemed to make the wrong choices -- at least judging by the sheer amount of weird looks or lukewarm responses he gave me after 90% of my choices -- didn’t help. Heads-up: don’t try to play it cool. This MC really, really can’t do cool. I had several near-death experiences from sheer secondhand embarrassment while playing this route.)

That aside, he makes a surprisingly good team with MC. Except from some cringey non-heart options (which were brutal this route, by the way), they naturally eased into working as a combo. I like how they both are able to pull each other out of their respective emotional ruts, as well as complement the other’s shortcomings. Jaxon’s character turnaround near the end felt a little sudden, but I like the teased insight on his past, and am looking forward to learn more about it.

Antares: Oh, MC. Trust me, I of all people totally understand crushing on the hot, mysterious, and possibly noble anti-hero holding you captive for unknown reasons, but even so. Being constantly unable to focus on anything but your attration to him -- and using it as a basis for your foundation to trust him almost straight away despite how he works for the Big Bad, and is literally using you as a tool(-fixer) for whatever evil purposes the Empire has in mind for the galaxy -- is like a whole new level of uncool.

(Also, how is a sheltered colony girl’s reaction to seeing a military leader telling his troops not to leave a single ship standing “swoon, he’s so charismatic” instead of “holy shit, he kills people”? Priorities, MC.)

Beyond that, Antares’s route was very intriguing to me. Out of Lovestruck’s villain routes so far this is the one that has done the least to paint the love interest as less of an antagonist, or the side he sympathizes with as more morally grey. I also appreciated seeing another side of Antares himself that actually knows the definition of the word chill  isn’t perpetually dressed in bunny-ear mecha armor  that’s not completely absorbed by his thirst for vengeance against his brother.

Similar to Orion’s route, the romantic development also dropped on us out of the blue here... but strangely, I didn’t mind. In a way, it seemed to make sense for Antares’s emotionally dysfunctional personality (to the point that it gave me Chance S1 in GiL flashbacks). I think I almost preferred this to him doing a sudden 180 and going all mushy on MC when any potential romantic build-up outside of premium choices has been minimal. I’m holding my thumbs now for a gradual turnaround -- much like Chance got -- in his future seasons.

Nova: I keep going back and forth re: how I feel about this route. To again start with the positive -- I’d been worried that Nova would be a Space Medusa 2.0, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that she wasn’t. For all the kuu in her kuudere demeanor, Nova still spends a fair amount of the route bonding with MC through actual conversation, and unlike Orion’s/Antares’s routes this season the romance didn’t even seem that rushed. Furthermore, I was intrigued by Nova’s backstory (not to mention that she’s hot as hell).

But to be entirely honest, this story is also the most formulaic, “typical otome”-esque route I’ve read so far in Lovestruck -- not so much in concept as in execution. It reminds me of one of those Voltage JP fantasy routes where we spend the first 1/3 of the route with semi-slice-of-life scenes interspersed with action, the middle 1/3 of this route discovering the LI’s angsty past and them distancing themselves to protect MC, and the final 1/3 with MC dissolving into hysterics/apocalyptic depression, stupidly running after LI alone, and declaring their undying love for them after having known them for a couple of days in the middle of a life-or-death situation.

Since I do play Voltage JP games I’m not saying it’s necessarily a terrible thing, just... jarring. I might seem like I’m awfully hard on Lovestruck’s writing a lot of the time, but that’s because I have high expectations of it. In a sea of near-identical mobile otome clones Lovestruck stands out with a more Westernized and creative take on standard otome tropes, hence often avoiding common pitfalls associated with the genre. The writing in general is a cut above what I expect from mobile games as well, hence all my criticisms; I don’t balk (as much) at LIs doing sudden 180s or MCs being stupid in a Solmare game, but I do with Lovestruck because I know -- and have seen firsthand -- that they can do better.

So this route was confusing to me. Because, if I were to go for my usual standard from what I would expect run-of-the-mill Voltage JP route, for example, or a Shall We Date? one -- then I’d think it’s fine. Or even good. But for Lovestruck? I don’t know. I wouldn’t say it’s bad, just not... good. (The GiL-esque Pokémon-battle narration for action scenes -- yes, this is my official pet peeve now -- didn’t help.)

With all that said though, I didn’t dislike Nova’s route. (Hence the confusion.) And definitely not Nova herself. I just don’t really know how I feel about its writing direction, and how it measures against my expectations of a Lovestruck route.

Atlas: I fell head over heels for this route. Seriously, this was Astraeus-in-season-3-of-AFK level instant love, except without the devastating angst and with a decent helping of fluffy feels on top. Not that it was all fluff -- we had our share of prospective angst here too, if less literally earth-shattering. And hell of a lot of action, character development, and tons of other goodies tightly stuffed in a 12-episode-package of awesome.

Similar to my review for Astraeus, I don’t even know where to begin talking about this route’s good points. The prose, for one -- there were just so many beautifully worded narrative transitions, and the dialogue didn’t lose out in that aspect, either. The sass, sarcasm, and the humor were well-timed, but didn’t go overboard/seem out of character for MC or the rest of the cast.

Then there’s Atlas himself. Breaking down tsunderes is one of my favorite otome pastimes, and doing exactly that to our resident grouchy pilot was no different. First of all, I love that he maintains a healthy balance between insults that are obviously all bark and no bite, and genuinely worded criticism that should logically be voiced. In fact, there’s so little unnecessary tsun here that he could almost pass for a kuudere. 

Regardless of whatever mold he’d better fit into, finally crumbling down that cranky demeanor of his and seeing him dere was a sweet, sweet reward. (I actually caved and went premium twice despite my agonizing wallet because I couldn’t resist seeing more of it.)

Or heck, even the platonic moments building up to that were great. Because the romance with Atlas was really well-paced; I love how we went from almost-hate (my favorite trope!) to begrudging respect, then to friendly equals/teammates, and finally something more -- all the while there was obvious chemistry between him and MC interlacing every interaction. I was kind of worried whether we’d get some last-minute romantic confession slapped on near the end, but thankfully we got a development that, for all its unrealistic corniness, still had me squealing. Especially with that cliffhanger; dammit, how am I even supposed to emotionally last until I get to his second season?

The main plot was really interesting, too -- probably my favorite premise out of the ones we’ve been offered so far. Even though it starts out similarly with MC on the run, I like how 1) we see the Union as evil right from the bat, avoiding having another MC-gets-out-of-her-naïve-colony-girl-mindset mini-arc; 2) rather than being perpetrated for some valuable information/artifact that the Starship crew might benefit from, MC is in a situation where they actually have no reason to keep her around, adding more tension to the intro; and 3) how all of this tied into Atlas’s own personal character arc. (Not that I minded how the other premises played out, it just made for a fresh change of pace.)

To wrap this gigantic word-vomit ramble up, I’d just like to conclude by gushing one last time how fantastic this route is -- I’d warmly recommend it to anyone interested in giving Starship a chance, because after this, the series personally had me hook, line, and sinker.

Final character ranking: Atlas > Orion > Jaxon > Antares > Nova

....This got a little longer than I intended it to be, oops. Kudos to anyone who has made it to the end of this season review. (I’ll try to be a little more concise in my next one, i.e. GiL S7.)  You can follow my tag #coco reviews lovestruck for more reviews of Lovestruck games, or check out the ones I’ve done so far on this list.

[xenetala]

The Pirate Mermaid Demo Review

I’d rather wait for the full game to do a review, but I have been waiting for several years for this game to come out and I’d like to generate some excitement around it to try garnering some support for the creators.

*Please note: All credit for the images goes to the Navigame team and their beautiful minds.

**Double note: This contains game play spoilers, but I tried to keep actual story content as spoiler free as humanly possible while still giving a review on the game.

That being said, The Pirate Mermaid is a game in development by @navigame-media and has come quite a ways from the original demo.  I still have the first demo on my computer and love seeing how the art style had progressed as well as the character designs.

To show you what I mean, here is the original opening still:

The above is the original game start screen and below is the revamped one.  You can probably see why I’m excited to see where this game will go. :D  I love when you can see how something progresses through time. 

The newer version is much cleaner and I love some of the character changes. P.S. that Shadow figure you see I’m hoping will be Mimi, but I’ll get to that in a moment. :D

GAME PLAY

The game follows like just about any Renpy Otome game does where it’s a choose your own adventure story setting.  The menus are pretty easy to follow and the skip function is a total life saver for replaying parts.  The basic concept for playing the game is to read through the story and make choices at varying points to control the outcome of the tale.

I left the menu for the game controls up on this (mostly because I like being able to see them) and you can see how there are several options for you during the game play itself.  Many of your choices in this game not only dictate the route you can chose to get the date-able characters, but they also affect the Main Character (MC or the girl you play as) development.

This is one aspect I enjoy very much about this game.  You can customize a few aspects of the MC.  As you can see below, you have the ability to name her (not uncommon, but always a plus) as well as choose the color of your pirate’s mermaid fins.  I was a little sad I couldn’t choose just a straight black tail (black is one of my favorite colors) or a few other colors, but at lease I can coordinate with my mer-outfit (which as we know is just as important).

Being able to customize the MC is something that I really love in this game, but there’s another tidbit that’s just as fun.  You have karma ratings!  As a huge fan of games like Infamous and Fable, I love stuff where you can choose to be good or evil (okay so I just like the option of being an evil person XD) and I’m so excited to see how this plays out in the full story.

The karma rating also adds a fun extra bit to the choices you make.  So, you can choose to romance one of the characters and you can create your own agenda.  I LOVE it. 

You can access your Karma rating at anytime by clicking on the heart icon in the menu options.  This also shows you your affection levels with the romance options (more on these in a bit).  For the demo, after you’ve completed it once you’ll get hits to view which choices will boost which karma type.  This is super helpful for those of us that want to complete EVERY achievement in the game and I’m hoping the full game will have this option open up after a full play through.

That’s really the gist of the game play.  It’s a pretty basic Otome style game and that’s fine. After all, who are we kidding?  We only play Otome games for the cute boys and girls you can dream date. :P

CHARACTERS

This is the best part of any Otome game; the who can I date choices. lol Right now there’s three male options open for dating and I’m hoping they’ll come out with a fourth and maybe fifth (though I know the more date options the more work so if there’s only three I’m still happy).

I’ll start this by introducing the MC a bit.

You play as a pirate girl who is searching for the mermaid’s treasure and are a pretty typical fantasy pirate, but not a typical Otome MC.  For those of you (like me) who detest most of the Otome MCs out there (Voltage Inc this is directed at you!); this one rocks.  For once we have a girl with sass and can hold her own.  She doesn’t need to have this unexpected menagerie of male companions to jump in and save her, she isn’t a super clutz all the time, she isn’t scared of her own shadow, and she isn’t some super dense naive damsel (yes I have issues with MCs).  lol You have no idea how ecstatic I am to play a game with a character that doesn’t make me want to rip my hair out.  Thank you Navigame team!

Next up is your companion pet.

Those of us who are Disney girls, you’ll love this.  What main girl is complete without her trusty animal sidekick?  I don’t really know why, but I love the fact that the MC has a funny pet that goes everywhere with her.  Mostly Jack is your trouble making comic relief, but he does have some moments of extreme usefulness.  Of course like any pirate, this bird is obsessed with shiny objects.

Here is date option number one.

This guy is the sorcerer that turns you into a mermaid. He’s a pretty typical Tsundere type and my second favorite of the boys. He’s got silver hair, magic, and is a bit of a stuck up grump like any good Tsun so he’s alright.  I have yet to learn his name (I’m just going to assume it’s Jack and he never tells you because it’s the name of your parrot), but he’s got a monocle so you can’t go too wrong with him.  I also want his coat.  It’s my favorite part of his character design for sure.

This is romance option number two.

This is the mer-prince Mikali and he’s true to his title. Long blond hair, charming, good manners, super nice, chivalrous, and an all around good guy.  This makes him my absolute least favorite option (I don’t like the sweet, innocent, or good guys).  That being said, as you play through the demo you find he’s got some mysterious power or something about him so there may be potential here yet.  Plus, he does have a pretty character design and I’m curious to see if there’s any correlation to the fact that he wears a necklace similar to the the one MC in mermaid form has.  Personal bias against nice guy options aside, who couldn’t love that luxurious blonde hair of his?  Long haired men for the win. 

The next character in the demo is a cute little maid.

This is Mimi.  She’s not a romance option in the demo (yet, but I’m hoping she becomes one), but you can gain her favor by choosing the right options and she is too adorable not to have some strong pirate take care of her (I know I have double standards here, but sweet and cute non MCs are perfect for the MC to romance).  Though, she does have some spirit once she’s over her shyness so I’d really like to see her character flesh out more.  I’m also hoping that if she’s a romance option, she’s a bonus one you can only get after completing the main story or something (only because I’m a sucker for bonus stuff like that).

And, the best for last.

This amazingly hot set of mer-pixels is Malik (yeah all of the merpeople so far have names starting with ‘M’) and is the entire reason I want this game so badly!  For those of you who know me and know the routes I like, you’ll know what that means. :D  He’s a complete ass and I love it!  You can just never go wrong with a hot headed, in your face, pushy, jerk.  You just can’t. Even since his original character design, this guy has been my ultimate goal for this game and I’m glad he’s in this demo.  Oh.  Did I mention they gave him the best voice in the game?

That’s it for the characters in the demo.  The fact that you have a merman like Malik to romance should be enough for you to go download the demo and take the survey at the end, but I guess if you still need convincing then read on.

STORY

(Yes I know this is vague and doesn’t lay out story points, but I do not want to spoil things even if all we have is a little bit of the story.)

Okay so this is demo and we only get a little slice of the story, but what’s important here is just how engaging that slice of story is.  Not only did I want to see the game play through once, but even with the replays I didn’t use the skip option as much as I normally do (usually skip is my life).  This game spins a tale that really makes you want to read it.

Yeah it’s a pirate and mermaids which let’s face it isn’t that unheard of and it’s like a spin on Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid, but it follows a much more in depth feel.  Between the different romance options alone, you have a complexity that only a choose your own adventure story can give you.  Add to that the karma options and you have the makings of a good tale.  The Little Mermaid is a rather dark tale of unrequited love and though you might be able to go this route in the game, it looks like you could shape up to be an evil queen. :D

As the MC you have a pretty well laid out backstory that you learn early on in the game.  I know treasure obsessed pirate seems really typical, but I like the backstory behind that obsession (I’m also hoping it explains her mermaid form necklace later on) and I like how the game uses that backstory to create a three dimensional character for us to play.

Though the story is really good thus far, I’m really curious to see all of the character’s progression.  The merpeople seem to have a pretty good correlation with each other from their childhood, but I have to know that story.  I am also hoping to see a few more characters pop in.  Not necessarily anything super fleshed out, but it’d be nice to see a guard captain, another maid or two, and a princess or two pop in on a consistent basis.  For one thing, what good romance doesn’t have a good love triangle? ;)

I figure the prince route will have some princess that ends up being your rival, but with the Sorcerer and Malik I don’t see any clear options for some romantic drama.  Not that I’d complain if there was a pretty straight forward conquer/save the kingdom story route instead of a typical romance route (Truthfully I’m not fond of romantic rivals), but considering the fan base for a game like this I’d expect some kind of tension.

Another thing I’d like to see in the story is more with the island that the Sorcerer is living on.  Having Mimi as a possible romance option is great, but I’d also like to see another ‘land path’ option as well.  Maybe a native on the island or some mermaid palace guard who catches you going to the surface one too many times.

That being said, the creators may have stuff like this planned and I have no idea about it because this is just a slice of the story, but I thought it couldn’t hurt to throw my two cents in.

Voices

Having a voice cast in a game always scares me a bit.  Mostly because of all extremely, detestfully, abhorrent, terrible, awful, voice acting choices (The voice actors do their best, but are all too often given the wrong role for their voice) from too many anime companies that end up making their way into games (VIZ, and FUNIMATION I am talking about your battle to see who makes the worst dubs!) I’ve become nervous anytime a game announces a voice cast.  But.  This game did a great job.  I haven’t listened to the Japanese cast, but the English cast is really well matched for the characters.  I was very happily impressed (Okay so I really only cared about Malik’s voice, but that’s not the point here!).

If you still aren’t convinced that you need to go download the demo and take the survey at the end, then perhaps I can tempt you with these few other tidbits in the game.

Chibis

Chibi characters are not something I’m a fan of.  I know in the anime world they are a part of life, but I really fail to see their appeal. :(  Yeah these scenes are kinda cute and at least a little amusing, but they really don’t need to be in chibi form. I get the company appeal to these things since they make easy pop figures (I can’t stand pop figures...), key chains, charms, and other small marketable items for fans, but I still don’t care for ‘em.  I know there are people that adore chibis so if they are your thing, you can rest assured this game will make you happy.

Battle scenes

I had to put that battle scene with Hodge in there. :D I love this place holder for him and only hope he gets eyes and a mouth.  Nothing more.  It just makes me smile to much to see him as a place holder figure. :D

Anyway, there are a few battle scenes and some of them are serious while others are humorous.  There’s not any controls you have like an in RPG, but these are still fun as you can see the battle poses of the MC and characters she’s fighting with/against.

Place holders (this section is more my hopes for the game than actual review)

I actually really like that the crew is drawn this way and I honestly hope they keep them like this.  I feel like the pirate crew is just a means to an end and seeing them as place holders like this just drives the point home that the MC is moving on from them.  Hodge could earn some eyes and a mouth, but i really hope these guys don’t change much.  For some reason the crew just fits best like this.  Maybe it’s because the original demo had the same crew format, but it feels right.

As for the guards, I’m hoping they do have a design for them.  Even if it’s just the same base and only different colored fins or something, I’d rather see some fleshed out guards.  Part of the reason they feel so awkward here is because Mikali and the background are so detailed, yet the guards are just plopped in there.  With the issues MC will run into with the treasury, I think the guards are a more important story plot so I’d like to see them fleshed out (and who doesn’t like merpeople in armor?)

I’m not going to lie, it took me about three play-throughs before I noticed these were place holder maids. DX Even with the detail on Mimi and that background, they don’t feel as out of place as the guards.  Probably because the composition of the image makes it work, but I would like to see another maid or two in the game.

This is another set of placeholders that I like. lol These are the princesses at the party you attend and I am a.o.k. with them staying like this.  Although, I do hope to see at least one with an actual design.  Like the ringleader of the group or something.  The rest can just stay silly little white figures. :D

Now if you still haven’t gone and downloaded the demo, do it right now.  And, don’t forget to take the survey at the end.  Also, go follow @navigame-media to show your support and keep up to date.

P.S. I hope I didn’t give away too much about the game or show more than the creators would like in a review post, but I really, really want to encourage them to keep up with the development.  I know this is a huge undertaking and I feel like this game has some ambitions goals, but I also really, really like it and want more. :D

[emilyplaysotome]

Part 41 - Just the Two of Us

Down the Voltage Rabbit Hole is an ongoing story about our MC, who could easily be anyone in voltage fandom. She woke up in hospital bed only to discover that she’d somehow been transported Voltage universe.

This story is ongoing, so if you missed a part, or are new to the story, please use the link to the masterpost below to catch yourself up:

https://tinyurl.com/k4rrxna

Part 41 - Just the Two of Us

Initially I thought that Shun would be inviting the others from my department, but it was becoming more and more apparent that this was a date for the two of us, as we sipped our drinks in a private booth, tucked away from any prying eyes in the bar.

Shun was still going on and on about how amazing, and smart, and talented I was to the point he seemed more star struck than smitten, but I didn’t care in the slightest.

I was happy to see a new side of him, and to learn that he was capable of being my biggest cheerleader when he initially struck me as someone who only wanted to be showered with positive attention and praise. It made me happy to know that my achievements were attractive to him, and that he appreciated a confident, bold woman who knew what she wanted and went after it.

Considering that a leopard cannot change its spots, I was happy to know that the person I was satisfied him, and knowing that he wasn’t nearly as superficial as I’d initially thought, found him moving up my list in terms of who I wanted to take home.

It was important with my limited time that I evaluate each potential partner best I could, and I found myself naturally steering the conversation towards my home in New York City. 

Unbeknownst to Shun, I casually asked if he would ever consider working there, seeing as how his talents were clearly marketable all over the world, and he told me that he loved New York and would jump at the chance to experience life abroad. As he spoke he revealed another side of him - an enthusiastic, boyish side with a zest for life that wasn’t nearly as buttoned up as the confident, creative director persona he’d perfected over the years.

From there we got to talking about all kinds of things - favorite movies, music, and most importantly food. At that point we were both a few drinks in, and had completely done away with any shred of formality between us, as we chatted the night away like a couple of old friends.

“Promise you won’t tell anyone?” Shun said earnestly.

“Who would I even tell...and more importantly why is your favorite food a secret? Is it something weird like…”

“No, no,” he said, his face beginning to flush from the amount of brandy he’d thrown back, “it’s just embarrassing that a hot shot creative director actually loves McDonalds more than any fancy restaurant in Toyko.”

“Stop. Are you serious?”

He gave me a cute shrug and added, “What can I say? I love their burgers and nuggets.”

I couldn’t believe that the real Shunichiro Tachibana was so secretly adorable, and finally feeling completely comfortable with him I found myself wanting to tease him like a fifth grade boy who suddenly realized his affections for a girl in his class.

“Oh well...this will never work because I like Burger King.”

“Burger King? Are you serious?”

“No. I’m totally kidding.”

He gave me a playful nudge, with led to me nudging him back, which led to him spontaneously kissing me. Our chemistry from that one kiss was undeniable, and soon I found myself holding his hand, being escorted from the bar to a hotel, and having my “fantasy suite” date with him 4 days earlier than expected.

A few hours later I sobered up, laying my head on Shun’s bare chest as we relaxed in each other’s arms. For a first night together it had been a good experience, and I had no doubt that should we choose to continue with this relationship, it would only get better in time.

Shun was obviously a skilled lover, and was someone who had slept with an ample number of women considering he did not possess a shred of unease when it came to his sexual encounters. 

Granted, his body (like all otome men in this world) was nothing to be self conscious about, and he touched me with confidence and without reservation. It was also fair to say that the alcohol had helped us both relax, and the hotel suite was made marginally more romantic by the moonlight and city lights which illuminated the room in a most flattering fashion, obscuring my cellulite while still revealing enough of my womanly shape to entice him.

A comfortable silence descended on us both, and I found myself worrying over whether or not sleeping with him so quickly had relegated me to booty call status without the potential for real partnership. 

Truthfully, I’d acted more impulsively than I would have liked to, but I had no regrets. I figured if he was a man who would look down on my actions when he had done the same thing, he would reveal his true nature as someone who I wouldn’t want to be with long term.

“You’re such a bad boss,” I finally joked, “getting me into bed on my first day at work.”

Shun sleepily stroked my hair, “It’s your fault for teasing me all day…”

“Hey Shun,” I found myself saying quietly.

“Hmm?”

I glanced up at his face to see that his eyes were closed, no doubt tired from his performance earlier and he made no attempt to open them as we chatted.

“I’m going to be straight with you. This was fun but I’m not looking for a one night stand. If you are...I totally understand and that’s cool, but for me...I want to find someone that I can spend my life with.”

“I want that too Ami,” he said sluggishly. “I liked you...from the moment we met...but...I’m tired.”

I had to giggle. It was such an unexpected response from a man who only hours ago had been so charming and smooth. Now, he was like a little boy, unable to keep his eyes open even though it was only 10 PM.

I kissed his forehead after gently sweeping his bangs out of his face, and covered us both with the blankets, before I moved away from him to get some sleep.

My alarm went off at 5:00 AM, but unlike yesterday I felt surprisingly spry considering how early we’d gotten to bed.

I quickly silenced the alarm, and Shun groaned a little before rolling over and falling back asleep. In the morning light he maintained the little boy aura I’d gotten a glimpse of last night and I caught myself fondly watching him sleep before writing him a note (thanking him for the night and also letting him know I had to get to Kendo practice), before slinking out of the hotel room.

Seeing as how I’d had my gym bag sent home, I hustled back to the Gods’ mansion via cab (since I was made of money these days) where I grabbed my Tuesday (and Wednesday) outfits as well as some new gym clothes.

I was happy that Zyglavis hadn’t caught me during my walk of shame with Shun, and hoped that he wouldn’t be waiting up for me on Tuesday. 

Just as I had that thought, my phone vibrated and the king notified me that he’d see to it personally that Zyglavis was kept busy so I could continue pursuing these men unfettered.

He also let me know that he’d enjoyed watching my date with Shun, and was happy to see that the black sheep in the race was gaining some momentum. 

My cheeks flushed a bit at the thought of the king watching us in bed together, but I knew it was all a part of the game and with that, put away my phone and looked out the window the rest of the ride to the academy.

After practice, Shu and I chatted a bit and I admitted that I admired the amount of discipline he had surrounding his job and his practice of kendo. I jokingly told him that I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to keep up with our 6 AM start time, and Shu joked back noting that should the chief and I end up together it would simply become second nature to me.

I was impressed by how underhanded Shu was being, no doubt in Namba’s best interests and I dodged the comment a bit, as I alluded to the fact that he was putting the cart before the horse.

He started to say something else but Namba interrupted us, and I jokingly covered my face implying that I didn’t want him to see me looking so sweaty and gross before our date tonight. However, Namba being Namba, he just laughed and tousled my hair, telling Shu he’d walk me to the showers.

“So what’s on the docket for tonight Little Bird?” Namba asked, taking my hand in his once we were out of Shu’s eyeline.

“It’s a surprise.”

“Sounds dangerous.”

I had to laugh, “Says a police chief. Guess you aren’t as tough as you look Namba.”

He let go of my hand and put his arm around me, pulling me towards him, not caring that I was sweaty and gross.

“Only with you heartbreaker.”

“If I’m such a heartbreaker why did you agree to go out with me again?”

“Because I know I’m the only one tough enough to handle you,” he said with a wink. “See you tonight.”

With that he walked away, not turning back like he had the last time we’d gone our separate ways, and I found my heart racing in anticipation for my second overnight date.

There was no way he could have known it, but his declaration moments ago gave me pause. 

I’d always thought that he was chasing me, but when I thought about it I realized that Namba wasn’t as easy as I’d initially thought he was. The way he was around me, how he possessed a good deal of maturity and self-control, had made me like him more than I thought, and as I watched him fade into the distance I realized how badly I wanted him to turn and look back at me.

However, he didn’t, and he wouldn’t because he was sending me a message loud and clear. The face I wanted him to look back meant I liked him more than I was letting on. Whether he’d meant to or not, his actions had forced me to look in the mirror and accept the fact that my heart was not promised to either Zyglavis or Shun.

Feeling butterflies for the second time this morning with two different men, I tried to calm my frazzled nerves and get myself ready for the day ahead of me.

My morning was fairly uneventful, short of the text I received from the king who’d been watching my short interaction with Namba. He’d sent me the crying with joy emoji and a thumbs up, to which I had no response considering I was only doing what we’d agreed upon.

The ladies at the salon got me ready for work, and I arrived at the office feeling even prettier than I had on my first day. 

I’d made all the preparations for tonight - sending my gym bag, a small suitcase, and my extravagant Bachelorette style gown that I planned to change into before dinner to the appropriate locations in order to avoid a repeat of this morning where I’d been forced to run home before kendo.

When I opened my work laptop to log in I discovered a post-it note waiting for me from Shun which simply read, “I’ll cross my fingers that your second day is as eventful as your first.”

To the unassuming viewer, the post-it could be interpreted as Shun wishing me luck for Toshiaki’s client presentation later, but I knew it meant far more than that. I knew that it was his way of telling me that I wasn’t a one night stand if I didn’t want to be, and that he’d help me make tonight just as eventful should I want to be with him again.

I'll admit, Shun had really put to bed a lot of my concerns regarding if he was boyfriend material, and around noon he "just happened" to be on the creative floor and paid me a visit, pretending he simply wanted to see how I was settling in. 

Next to me, I could tell that Toma was silently freaking out, as he looked incredibly surprised that Mr. Tachibana had exited his lair to converse with a new employee. I watched his expressions out of the corner of my eye and felt fairly smug that between yesterday and today he was finally seeing me as the lady boss that I was.

Shun let me know that he didn’t have much time, but that he was planning on stepping out to grab a quick bite to bring back to the office, and asked if I wanted to join him.

I told him that since I was just waiting to hear the results of Toshiaki’s presentation I’d love to join him, and exited the office the envy of every woman (and Toma) on the creative floor as he effortlessly made small talk with me on our way outside. With too many of our coworkers around, nothing salacious occurred, however once on the street I followed him down a few twists and turns before I found myself pressed up against a wall in a deserted side street, kissing him furiously.

When he finally pulled away, he shot me a mischievous grin and took me in his arms giving my forehead a loving kiss.

“That’s for making me lonely this morning.”

“I’m sorry,” I mumbled.

“So make up for it tonight. Keep me company tomorrow morning.”

“I can’t,” I said pulling away with a playful grimace, “I actually have a date…”

“Do you now…”

Maybe it was because we’d spent the night together, or maybe it was due to the fact that I’d played enough of these games to know when a man is jealous, but in that moment I saw Shunichiro’s confidence falter a bit. He quickly played off his disappointment with a smile, as it sank in that a woman as amazing as me obviously had several suitors, and taking me to bed again would not be as simple as he’d hoped.

“Before you get weird about this, it’s just a second date. I don’t have a secret boyfriend or anything.”

"But you like me more right?” he asked, his usual confident smirk back on his face.

With a smirk of my own, I kissed him in response and simply said, “You’re a sneaky one Mr. Tachibana…”

“What makes me so sneaky?”

“Hmmm I wonder…”

By the time we’d managed to pull ourselves away from each other, get lunch, and return to our office, over an hour had gone by. 

Normally that wouldn’t have been a problem except for the fact that I was sitting next to a Tachibana fanboy who grilled me on how a quick convenience store lunch equalled being out of the office for so long. I tried my best to play it off, pretending that we’d gotten caught up in discussing how I planned to proceed once Toshiaki got the green light from our Mira Black client, and upon outlining the general idea to Toma, realized that he was staring at me with disbelief.

“So on your first day not only did you get Revance to agree to promote Mira Black on a Tweeter takeover but BOTH Tachibana and Kijima loved your idea enough to go to bat for you with our client?”

He flopped down in his chair at a loss for words, running his fingers through his hair as his eyes practically bugged out of his head.

“Yeah.”

“You’re...that’s pretty amazing.”

“I am. And it is.”

Toma scoffed, “And they say I’m full of myself…”

I laughed, pretending I hadn’t meant it to come out as arrogant as it had, but once I was convinced that I no longer looked like a braggart to the people around us, I lowered my voice and leaned in close to Toma whispering, “On that note...don’t even think about falling in love with me.”

“Idiot! Who ever said anything about that?!”

“Mmmhmm.”

Toma’s face flushed immediately, and he grumbled as he got back to work, clearly miffed that I’d stolen what I guessed would be a line straight out of his route should my read on his character type be correct. 

I killed time surfing the bizarro internet until Toshiaki contacted me to let me know that Mira Black had absolutely loved my idea of a Revance Tweeter Takeover.

In fact, the presentation had gone so well that he’d called my desk phone while he was still with the client to confirm that I’d be able to make everything happen on Thursday. Unbeknownst it to either of us, Mira Black was doing a new promotion for their classic brand and had initially tasked their internal marketing team with spreading the word on social media. In hearing my idea however, they’d completely gone bananas and thought it would blow this promotion out of the water while also helping them attract the millennial customer base they were currently struggling with.

Toshiaki had some concerns about the tight timeline, but I assured him that it would be no problem at all, and once we hung up, I spent the rest of the evening busting my butt to get everything prepared. 

Considering that Revance knew this would be coming (it was a bullet point in our contract from when I agreed to provide them with additional lyrics), scheduling the upcoming week went rather swimmingly. 

On the second ring, Ryo picked up and I filled him in on my plan for the week. From there he immediately informed Sasayama and the rest of the band that Thursday would be dedicated to making good on their promise to me. In addition to the takeover, I also requested that they come by the office tomorrow for a quick photoshoot in the morning, seeing as how I’d need to whip together some promotional images for the takeover which I could start peppering all over Mira Black’s social accounts.

With that, we hung up, and having cleared everything with Revance, I ran a few lines of social copy by Toma before posting the “tomorrow we’ll be announcing something special” type of nebulous brand marketing post.

All in all by the time 6 pm rolled around I’d had another productive day.

Namba had agreed to meet me at work and I was surprised to see the amount of effort he had put into his appearance for our date. 

He wasn’t wearing his usual suit, but instead something a bit fancier and even though the style was slightly outdated, I couldn’t help but smile. I thought that it was cute he had tried as hard as he had, and knowing that something as superficial as style could easily be fixed, I felt myself believing that he cared about me as much as he claimed to. 

After all, he might not have turned around this morning, but he’d gone so far as to put product in his hair and find his best suit.

I could also tell that he was a bit anxious, as I watched him stealthily from behind my office lobby’s tinted windows before approaching. His eyes were fixated on the revolving doors leading in and out of my building, and it almost seemed as if he were holding his breath with every spin of the door, waiting for me to finally appear before him.

“Is that the guy?”

I spun around to see Shun approaching me with a smirk on his face. He settled beside me and crossed his arms, wearing a haughty expression.

“I can’t believe I was worried…”

“Don’t be a jerk,” I said, semi-teasing, semi-serious.

“What’s he do?”

“He’s a cop. A police chief.”

“That explains those clothes.”

Every trace of Shun’s sweet boyish, persona had completely disappeared and instead he stood before me, the arrogant creative director. 

I wanted to give him a little shove, or something but considering the fact that we were in our office’s lobby, that was completely out of the question. Instead, I found myself wishing him a good night, seeing as how I did not want to keep Jin waiting any longer.

“Feel free to call me later...when you get bored of him,” Shun whispered in my ear with a mischievous expression.

With that, he turned away and started walking back towards the elevator banks to head back up to his office on the 32nd floor in order to finish whatever work still waited for him. I watched him go, and just as he scanned his card at the turnstiles he glanced back at me and smiled. 

My heart leapt a bit, and in that moment I knew I could have him if I decided that he was the one.

However, now was not the time to decide anything. I could no longer think about Shun, I needed to switch gears and focus on the man before me. He’d piqued my interest as a 2D lover back home, and in real life he had yet to disappoint. Compounded with the fact that this morning he’d accidentally made me realize the depth of my feelings, I found myself a ball of nerves as I held my head high and exited Addison & Rhodes.

It was time for me to go on my fantasy suite date with Jin Namba, and like the reality tv star I now was, I was ready to put on a good show.

To be continued…in Part 42!

If you’ve enjoyed the story, please show your support by sharing it with a friend or buying me a coffee! My goal is to create an original web series so if you like my characters please consider donating something to help me get it made.

Thanks for reading :)

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