Kyonyuu Fantasy
Gaiden
(Much like the first game both the cover and menu screen are
NSFW. For some reason though, the shortcut icon is perfectly safe for work…)
After
the delightful surprise that was Kyonyuu Fantasy, I obviously had to give the
fandisc, Kyonyuu Fantasy Gaiden (released February 25, 2011 by Waffle), a try.
Since the epilogue was the weakest part of the first game, I figured a full
fandisc’s worth could fix that and since it introduced new countries and
characters, I hoped it would be worth the purchase. After playing this game, I
will admit that overall it’s a good enough direct sequel but it’s by no means
perfect or amazing.
Pros: The returning cast is as delightful as ever, the new
characters are pretty good, the latter part of the story is very good, it’s
interesting how the setting gets expanded on in this game, you get used to the
slight change in artwork which is still good, decent use of effects.
Cons: Slow first half of the story, ero scenes are used as
filler, Isis is barely in this, final story arc is resolved rather quickly.
WTF?!: Remember those assassins I mentioned last review?
They brought friends…
Set two
years after the events of Kyonyuu Fantasy’s true ending, the kingdom of
Edellant has prospered under the reign of King Ryuto and his harem. However
outside forces throughout the continent aren’t sure what to make of this new
king and each have their own plots concerning him. The neighboring realm of
Ringobalt is just looking for a justifiable excuse to pick a fight with its neighbor
in retaliation for a certain occurrence at the end of KF, the churchmen of
Bakachin are livid at Ryuto’s marriage to a monster and seek a way to discredit
both him and Shamshel, and the kingdom of Fronce is trying to figure whether to
regard Ryuto as a potential ally or enemy.
I must
say, for a fandisc Kyonyuu Fantasy Gaiden is quite ambitious; its first step is
to expand more on the world it takes place in. We learn of Edellant’s place on
the continent of Eurodia and how it’s
basically your typical alternate Europe used quite a bit in JRPGs. While
certainly not original it is still interesting to learn more about the setting
along with the nearby countries and how they regard one another. They even make
a clever little pun name for the alternate Vatican for the setting’s religious
order “Bakachin” (and thankfully they make the portrayal of said group a good
parody of the medieval church without coming off as mean spirited like some cases
I’ve seen). Also each country is unique
in terms of its looks and how its governments function and I hope this gets
better expanded upon in the second game.
Another
thing that KFG does well is take advantage of all the characters we grew to
love being back (for the most part, but we’ll get to that later). The interactions
between the characters are all interesting to see, especially any that involve
Shamshel now that she’s actually able to interact with the other characters
unlike in the first game, from the amusing dynamics between her and Gladys to
the way she flaunts her now being a queen without really abusing the position. Gaiden
also does a mostly good job of showing how the main cast has fared after the
events of the first game from how Martel’s actions throughout the game show how
much of a better man he’s become since the first game to how while Emeralia
puts on a similar emotionless façade as she did in the first game you can tell
she’s a lot happier than she was then.
Before
I give my thoughts on the overall story and characters, I feel I should address
the story related flaws first. To begin with, while KFG’s writer does get
points for building up the setting, I have to say that he may have gone a bit
overboard with it as the first half of the game’s story is slow with so many
scenes of the new characters hatching their respective plans concerning Ryuto
and co. while very little in the way of plot advancement happens on the latter
characters’ ends except ero scenes. Another
factor for the first half’s weakness is with one of the new heroines, Neris, as
her story is basically just Emeralia’s story from the first game but lacking
the emotional weight it had so it ends up making a good portion of the first half predictable and
also rather boring, filler ero scenes aside. Next, Isis is barely in the game;
she has only one ero scene to herself and the number of scenes that she’s in
throughout the entire game you can count on your fingers. Considering she was a pretty major character
in the original game, it just seems strange that the writers couldn’t find anything
to do with her storywise. Finally, while I can say the ending is good, I think
that the final conflict that the game’s story builds up from the start is
resolved a little too easily.
Despite
those flaws, I can say KFG manages to do well in spite of them, with all of the
following helping to lead up to an ending that makes for good solid conclusion.
While the new characters aren’t as well developed as the cast of the first game
(not to say there isn’t character development with some of them because there
is), most of them prove to be likable and/or interesting by the game’s halfway
point. Still, it’s the returning characters who make this game’s story succeed,
especially Shamshel and Gladys as they’re given the most focus in the area of
story. Shamshel’s story one could argue is the strongest as it presents a good
conflict of an outside political force trying to discredit Shamshel as queen by
trying to revive prejudice against monsters amongst Edellant’s citizens. How
close that plan comes to succeeding helps in making the resolution of this
story arc all the more satisfying and also makes up for the slow buildup of the
game’s story. Gladys’ arc takes a different approach by giving her an important
role spread all throughout the game’s third act where Ryuto and co. deal with
Ringobalt and Fronce as she’s familiar with both countries. While I admit it’s
not as exciting as Shamshel’s story, Gladys’ arc succeeds in giving her a
better to distinguish spot amongst the heroines as a character while also making
up for her absence for a good portion of the third act of the first game (she
even gets her own ending unlike in the first game). Her story also helps in the
establishing of the game’s second new heroine, Aphrodia, into the plot as it
doesn’t feel like the main story stops just so that this new heroine can be
introduced.
In the
area of presentation, KFG manages to best its predecessor, at least in the
visual area. The CG is well drawn as always and the game adds in an interesting
use of effects with the character portraits by having them move at certain
points to go along with their actions. While the character design has changed
slightly, it’s hardly noticeable after a while, though I will admit I liked
Isis and Gladys’ outfits from the first game better. The score for this game is
the same as the first one, the voice cast turns in as good a performance as
they did in the first as well and the voice actors for the new characters do a
good job as well.
As for
the ero scenes, they’re good but this time I think there’s too many of them, or
it at least feels that way. Remember that slow first half I mentioned? Well, to
compensate for the slowness of the story, a large number of the game’s ero
scenes occur during that half and that unfortunately only serves to make the
first half slower.
Characters:
Aphrodia:
Queen of the kingdom of Fronce, one of the more powerful
countries in Eurodia. Prefers to leave meetings with foreign delegates to her
advisers and only meets personally with those she takes an interest in. Is
currently trying to find a solution to her country’s growing financial
problems.
Has an interest in martial arts, which she excels at, and
enjoys challenging someone she believes will be a worthy opponent.
Neris:
Magician for the kingdom of Ringobalt. Is sent to Edellant
along with Aljean as a gift to Ryuto with the assignment to seduce and
assassinate him, but what will happen when the seductress ends up seduced?
Marquis Cuvier:
The Grand Chamberlain of the kingdom of Fronce, and the main
representative for the country’s nobility. Due to his ties to the priesthood of
Bakachin, he provides support from the shadows in their plot against Ryuto. He
seems to have an underlying goal to increase Fronce’s power as a kingdom, but
to what end?
Earl Mateal de Rosche:
Chancellor of the kingdom of Fronce; handles ambassador
duties for the country as well. While he holds Gladys in high regard, his
initial impression of Ryuto isn’t very favorable as he doesn’t seem like much
of a king in his eyes.
Bazzert I:
King of Ringobalt, and one of the few who supported Bobon’s
claim to the throne of Edellant. Upon word of Ryuto’s crowning as king and the
failure of Bernstein’s plan, he immediately declared war on Edellant.
Unfortunately for Bazzert, his efforts have been largely unsuccessful thanks to
Gladys’ ingenuity and the fact that he’s far from being the brightest king on
the continent.
Aljean de Bon:
The son of Bazzert’s sister who later married Hagel, but
despite his royal blood, Aljean is not in line for succession of the throne.
Believes he can be a better king than his uncle, and is trying to find some way
to get into his good graces and be made heir to the throne. Bazzert soon has
him sent to Edellant under a pretense of a peaceful gesture in which he is to
study at their knight school, while his true assignment is to assist Neris in
assassinating Ryuto.
In Conclusion:
For a
fandisc, Kyonyuu Fantasy Gaiden does make for a good companion to the original
game. While it does have a slow first half and its overuse of ero scenes in
order to compensate for the slow pace was not the best of decisions, the
buildup pays off in the second half of the story that show once again how far
well written characters can take the story of what would ordinarily be just another
sex romp game in a fantasy universe. If you liked the first game, then this is
worth the time to read.
Final Score: 7/10 Great
Author
Recommendation: For Fans Only
Do you know where I can get a copy of it?
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