Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Celebrating All Things Romantic: Highway Blossoms

 Celebrating All Things Romantic, Reviews, Video Games  6 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Feb 152021
 

Highway Blossoms came to me by way of a visual novel bundle, and all I knew about it was that it was a yuri road trip romance.

No one told me it was about a treasure hunt!

As you might expect from someone whose Animal Crossing island is modeled after Oak Island, I love a good treasure hunt story.

So when I got far enough into Highway Blossoms to realize the search for buried gold was actually a central part of this visual novel, I was immediately invested.

Amber is traveling to a music festival when she comes across Marina, a somewhat oblivious young woman who has left home on her own for the first time and needs a little help. When they end up traveling together, Amber gets caught up in Marina’s search for the buried treasure revealed in an old miner’s journal.

The story is a lot of fun, with a lot of funny moments (and of course the excitement of the treasure hunt). Amber and Marina’s relationship is the good old grumpy-loner-meets-sunshine-character dynamic, so if you enjoy that, you’ll probably love watching their relationship develop over the course of the story.

It has some fairly emotional moments, but overall it’s really a feel-good visual novel. I wasn’t sold on the voice acting at first, but it grew on me over time.

There are also a number of extras included, such as getting to read Marina’s thoughts on certain parts or play through a joke-filled abridged version of the story.

I enjoyed Highway Blossoms, and if it sounds interesting to you, you should give it a chance. There’s also a DLC side story that I don’t have, so I’ll consider whether or not to play that in the future since it sounds like the focus is a bit different.

What do you think of Highway Blossoms? Have you ever started a game you were ambivalent about, only to realize you’d have tried it much sooner if you knew what it was about? (The Yakuza series is another good example of that happening to me.) Share your thoughts in the comments!

Celebrating All Things Romantic: Muv-Luv photonmelodies

 Celebrating All Things Romantic, Reviews, Video Games  No Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Feb 122021
 

Although I played Muv-Luv photonmelodies last year and even reviewed it over at VN Game Den, I waited until now to discuss it as part of our romance celebration.

It’s the second of the two short story collections translated as part of the Muv-Luv localization Kickstarter, and this one includes three stories.

Before I go any further, Muv-Luv photonmelodies is fairly dependent on you being familiar with the Muv-Luv story already, so if you’re a newcomer to the series, I suggest you stop reading this review due to the implied spoilers. (Instead, go take a look at the current contest rules to see how you could win a copy of the first Muv-Luv just by leaving comments on any blog post here!)

All right, now let’s get back to the photonmelodies review.

Unlike Muv-Luv photonflowers, which we discussed in 2019, even the stories set in the Alternative universe are on the lighter end of things (with “Adoration” being almost completely comedy while “Resurrection” has a serious start and climax with a lot of goofiness in between).

Then there is “Altered Fable: A Shimmering Shard of Spacetime,” which is set after the ending of Alternative in the new timeline.

Imagine Muv-Luv Extra, but with everything being even crazier. There’s a fair share of people who dislike Muv-Luv Extra due to it being a romantic comedy, but I found it to be pretty entertaining when I played it (and if you’re reading a “Celebrating All Things Romantic” blog post, I’m guessing you aren’t here for doom and gloom today) and enjoyed this twist on it as well.

It’s filled with silly situations, callbacks to Unlimited and Alternative, a spy story that adds a touch of seriousness to a mostly lighthearted story, and yes, romance routes.

I really enjoyed Muv-Luv photonmelodies, and while the darker parts of the series might be the most famous and beloved, it felt good to see all of these characters back in happy times for an extended story. It’s all good, silly fun, the sort of story that just makes you happy as you read it.

So if you’re wondering if Muv-Luv photonmelodies is worth playing, I’d say that depends on what you’re looking for. If the answer is lighthearted comedy and romance similar to what was in Muv-Luv Extra, then the answer is yes!

Have you played Muv-Luv photonmelodies? Share your thoughts on this lighter short story collection in the comments!

Celebrating All Things Romantic: LoveKami -Useless Goddess-

 Celebrating All Things Romantic, Reviews, Video Games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Feb 102021
 

Last year, we took a look at LoveKami -Divinity Stage-, which I found to be not worth playing unless you’re in it for the fanservice.

This year I moved on to the second game in the series, LoveKami -Useless Goddess-, and I’m pleased to say it’s much better all around.

Set in the same universe where goddesses have come to Earth to learn more about humanity, this story puts you in the shoes of a young man who finds a collapsed goddess named Akane and learns that she’s an Aragami – a goddess who does whatever she wants and causes trouble for humanity as a result.

She’s also supposed to be the goddess of the apartment building where he lives with his childhood friend (who is now his landlady), so when another goddess shows up with the intent of rehabilitating her, he decides to pitch in and help.

Like in the first LoveKami, there is a single choice partway through that leads to a scene with one of the three potential love interests and determines which route you’ll be on after the common route ends. And once again, one route feels more important than the others; since Akane is at the center of the main story, her route feels the most conclusive.

However, the other two routes still have interesting points and funny/sweet moments, and they aren’t all rehashes of the same basic story like in Divinity Stage.

It has a hefty amount of fanservice like its predecessor, but LoveKami -Useless Goddess- is worthwhile for more than the fanservice alone. To me, the main story of trying to rehabilitate Akane is much more interesting than the idol contest in the first game, and each heroine has a decent romance story as well. It might not be groundbreaking, but it’s cute and entertaining enough to be worth the few hours you’ll spend with it.

I recently picked up the third LoveKami title in another visual novel bundle, so we’ll get around to that eventually. In the meantime, share your own thoughts on LoveKami -UselessGoddess- in the comments and don’t forget that the first two LoveKami games are among the prizes you can win in this year’s contest!

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