Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Valentine Video Games Festival: That Which Binds Us

 Celebrating All Things Romantic, Reviews, Video Games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Feb 212022
 

We’ve got just over a week left in the Valentine’s Video Games Festival, so don’t forget to check out the contest rules and prizes and join in!

Our romance game for today is an otome visual novel called That Which Binds Us, which caught my attention because of its unusual premise.

The main character is Evalise, a young woman whose boyfriend keeps getting arrested. When she goes to get him a bail bond, she meets Idris, who offers to make her boyfriend completely forget her instead.

I thought this was a pretty intriguing premise, having a protagonist already in a relationship who then causes the other person to forget her. It made me think of those what-if-we-never-met scenarios that sometimes show up in sitcoms.

So I had a few ideas about where the story might go, none of which were accurate. The core of the story is about the growing relationship between Evalise and Idris after she accepts his offer. Once you reach the end, you unlock the option to refuse Idris’s offer on a second playthrough, but he does it anyway and the story plays out differently from there based on your choices.

That surprised me a bit, that there are multiple branching paths and different endings, but not different romance routes.

It’s a bit strange, because in some ways, the second playthrough branches are significantly different, but at the same time I felt a little disappointed that it was still dealing with the same basic ideas. That might be on me for hoping for different routes. I also hoped the magical side of things would take more of the focus than it did.

Nevertheless, the romance between Evalise and Idris works well enough, and there are some interesting twists in the story along the way.

So if you’re looking for a nice romance story with a light magical twist at its premise, you might consider That Which Binds Us.

Valentine Video Games Festival: Code: Realize – Future Blessings

 Celebrating All Things Romantic, Reviews, Video Games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Feb 092022
 

Last year, one title we looked at during February was Code: Realize – Guardians of Rebirth, which quickly became one of my favorite otome games, and one I’d recommend whether you’re generally interested in otome or not.

So it’s fitting that this year’s celebration includes Code: Realize – Future Blessings, the first fandisc released for Code: Realize.

(A fandisc is similar to a sequel, but more like an extended epilogue. I’d describe a fandisc like this: you earned your happy ending in the main game, and now you get to enjoy it.)

Future Blessings is made up of several parts, so let’s take a look at each of them. First up are the after stories, stories for each of the love interests that focus on their life with Cardia after the events of their route in the main game. It’s nice to see each route get its own follow-up, and I found these stories to be cute, funny, and very sweet.

Click for Future Blessings spoilers
…except for Victor’s, in which Idea delivers an ultimatum to Victor and Cardia since they see her as a danger in that route. It was still a heartwarming, romantic story, but considerably more intense than the others.

I also played it second, so it was a bit jarring to go from Van Helsing’s “we’re having trouble communicating because we’re each so focused on the other’s happiness” conflict to Victor’s “either you become an immortal killer or we’ll kill Cardia right now” conflict.

(I would have expected Saint-Germain to get a high-stakes after story, if anyone, but nope, even his was more relaxed than that.)

I can’t think of anything better for this Valentine’s Day celebration. Since these stories focus specifically on the relationship between the protagonist and love interest after they’ve become a couple, romance is their primary focus.

(But someone, please tell me why the writers treat Abraham Van Helsing and Victor Frankenstein as though “Van” and “Franken” are middle names? I can get on board with affectionately calling Van Helsing “Van,” but Victor being referred to as “Professor Stein” bothers me every time it happens!)

Aside from the after stories, Future Blessings also includes two whole new character routes, a romance route for Herlock Sholmes and a platonic route for Finis. Both of these routes are great and have similar intensity to the routes in the original game. I enjoyed both of them quite a bit.

Click for Future Blessings spoilers
And it just felt so nice to finally see Finis get a happy ending.

Plus his route included new scenes with Nemo, and more of that crazy man is always appreciated.

One more story, “Lupin’s Gang” is a new adventure set during the original, in which Cardia and the others become entangled in a plot involving the Mafia. This story is not romantic due to effectively being part of the original’s common route, but it’s a fun adventure with entertaining new characters, even if the pacifist Mafia family did make me raise my eyebrows a bit (Kiryu would love them).

Finally, as you complete each story in Future Blessings, you unlock a series of short chapters featuring Delly. These are all incredibly cute and often funny.

Click for a no-context reference to a Future Blessings joke
1. Eat the cookie.
2. Eat the cookie!
3. EAT THE COOKIE!

Overall, Code: Realize – Future Blessings was a delight to play. The after stories are wonderfully fluffy and romantic, and reminded me of how much I love this cast of characters, the new routes are exciting and satisfying, and everything has a great blend of excitement, humor, and romance. If you enjoyed Code: Realize and want more of its romance, I definitely recommend picking up Future Blessings.

Dairoku: Agents of Sakuratani – Supernatural Slice-of-Life

 Reviews, Video Games  No Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Jan 172022
 

After I finished The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles, I needed something a bit more… low-key, compared to the emotional highs of that game, so I turned to Dairoku: Agents of Sakuratani.

Dairoku is an otome that saw somewhat of a mixed reception due to not having the most thrilling plot. But I liked the premise, so I got it, and it sounded like just what I wanted.

The story follows a young woman who joins a secret organization in charge of monitoring a special realm where supernatural creatures like oni and kitsune can live in peace without causing trouble for humans.

You might think this lends itself well to some serious conflicts, but it really is much more of a slice-of-life story, especially since the characters are fascinated by the human world. Think less “fighting dangerous yokai wreaking havoc” and more “hanging out with the oni to play video games.”

Each route does have a conflict, but even when the story gets serious, it never stays too serious for long. It’s just a pleasant, relaxing story, and every route has its share of cute moments and humor, although the romance isn’t too prevalent.

I liked it. I ended up getting all of the endings, since the friendship and lost love endings are enjoyable in their own right. I liked all of the characters (but Akuro is far and away the best), and it really was just… pleasant to play.

There’s a decent amount of humor, too. I won’t say it’s an outright comedy, but it had some pretty funny moments, especially from Semi and Hira.

If I have one criticism, it’s that there’s a gameplay element that feels pointless. Early on, you learn how to cast a spell by performing a simple mini-game where you press buttons in the sequence they’re shown in the screen. Now, the common route has several sections where you choose which character you want to spend time with from a map screen. You can alternately choose to fight a battle instead. Picking the battle options will put you on the path for the finale route, but that’s the only time it ever comes up.

It just feels out of place. Until I played the finale, I never saw the “combat” outside of the tutorial, and the fights don’t even come with more story content. I’m really not sure why it’s there at all.

Dairoku: Agents of Sakuratani is not an otome to play if you’re looking for a high-stakes plot, but rather one to go into looking for some cute, laidback character interactions. That’s what I was after, so I got what I wanted.

(Well, almost. If they ever make a fandisc, some of the side characters had better get routes. Being unable to romance Hajun or Orochi is a crime.)

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