Import Games for Adults Halloween: Shinsetsu Ryouki no Ori Dai 2 Shou

Shinsetsu Ryouki no Ori Dai 2 Shou Review

                In light of how my look at the latest entry into the Kansen series turned out I think that’s enough for zombies for this Halloween. Let’s move on to a genre I sadly neglected last year, that of the good old fashioned murder mystery (the Kara no Shoujo review I wrote and posted to a now dead blog the year before that so it doesn’t count).  For that we return once more to Caligula Soft and the sequel to Shinsetsu Ryouki no Ori (which I reviewed previously): Shinsetsu Ryouki no Ori Dai 2 Shou, released in Japan on May 1, 2009 and like its predecessor is a remake of a game from Nihon Plantech, Ryouki no Ori Dai 2 Shou, that was released back in January 1997. While I found SRO to be a decent (though kinda disappointing) game, its sequel shows definite signs of the creators doing everything they could to make improvements. Overall, I can say their efforts succeeded as Shinsetsu Ryouki no Ori Dai 2 Shou is superior to the first game in almost every way.

Pros:  Good story, the setting and characters are built up well, good artwork, good music and voice acting.

Cons: Playthroughs can get tedious after a while, after three routes there’s nothing new to add to the mystery, some heroines routes are too short, some character portraits could have used variation.

WTF?!: Joji Nakata, are you and Norio Wakamoto having some kind of competition to see who can play the most bizarre characters?

 

                Set many years before the events of the first game, SRO2  has you play as a younger Takeshi Saito, the security guard who helped the MC of the first game (sorry, he’s not voiced by Norio Wakamoto this time).  Takeshi has just taken a job as a security guard at the amusement park, Fantasien. It’s not long until he becomes well acquainted with the many employees of the park, and with so many of them being beautiful women the job seems perfect. However, all that changes with the sudden death of one his coworkers and the incidents that follow make it obvious that there’s a killer at work somewhere in the park who is more than ready to kill again.  Can Takeshi unmask the killer and prevent more deaths? Could the killer’s motives be tied to the suicide of an employee years ago, or could there be more to the park’s past than some of the other employees are letting on?

                Improvements from the first game can be seen soon after you begin the main story of SRO2. For starters, the story pacing is more relaxed so as to get you familiar with the amusement park setting and so you can get acquainted with the large and diverse cast of characters. I know I praised the first game on similar lines, but in this case you interact with the employees of the park a great deal more than you did the employees of Zeroshiki giving them more fleshed out personalities and the interactions Takeshi has with them help in creating a more genuine feeling of these people being his friends and coworkers than with the MC of the first game. This also helps in strengthening the effects of major story events that occur later such as the first murder, with the shock and loss felt by everyone who knew the victim even a little.

                I would also say that I found Fantasien to be a better setting than the Zeroshiki Department Store for three main reasons. The first reason ties in with the characters being so well established because through getting to know them you also remember where they work and since in some cases the characters have an affinity with the theme of the area they’re assigned to or the costumed character that they’re acting as which helps on both fronts memorability and giving insight into the characters. Second the park’s layout is simpler than the store was, not having multiple floors to it and having less locations, but comes off as an improvement because not only are the locations used more in being the settings for plot related scenes but also in giving you a sense of familiarity with the park and through that when the time comes for Takeshi to investigate you feel like you’re in his shoes using his familiarity with the park to look for clues to solve the mystery. Finally, the setting has a more open feel to it being a park rather than a large building and it gives a better feel for the passage of time in the story with its shifts from morning to afternoon to evening to night being visible while in the first game your only real indication was your in game clock.

                Another improvement is that I think the mystery is better written into the plot. While there are some similarities in terms of how they fit into the plot structure, such as the mystery being kept in the background until late in the game, it works better in SRO2 for a couple reasons. To begin with there’s more than one mystery that Takeshi investigates and over the course of the game where you go and who you talk to help to slowly reveal whether they’re connected or not. Also considering Takeshi actually knows the murder victims, there’s more of a sense of personal obligation to solve the mystery, whereas in the first game the MC was only trying to solve the mystery because it was his job. It also helps that there isn’t a true end route so the game’s story doesn’t have to hold very much back in terms of plot reveals, plus there’s an actual presence to the culprit this time. In the first game the culprits didn’t give much of a sense of their involvement until the end when they’re revealed, while in this game a combination of scenes that seem to give glimpses of the culprit and looking into the mystery behind a character who seems to be the most likely suspect give you a sense that Takeshi actually has a suspect to pursue.

                Speaking of Takeshi, he definitely makes for an improvement over the MC of the first game in having an actual name that we can hear him be called by and more of a personality.  While he is a bit of a goofball and pervert, the writers were able to pull that personality off (unlike in Kansen Ball Buster) by balancing that out with good interactions and scenes with the other characters and by showing when things get serious storywise so does our hero and it feels both believable and in character.  I should also point out that the decision to tie the two games together by making Takeshi the main character of this game was a good one. While he did feature prominently in the first game there wasn’t much we knew about him personally, which not only gives room for backstory but also making it that pretty much any heroine could be his love interest without any danger of breaking canon. Unfortunately the one downside to this being a prequel is this game seems to take place before the Cthulhu mythos themed section of the park from the first game was built, so those awesome sounding attractions mentioned but never shown in the first game are doomed to remain a mystery.

                Speaking of the heroines, I guess I should list my route preferences, but I should point out one big improvement on the subject of routes: there’s no true ending. As I just mentioned with the tie in on Takeshi’s end having room for any route to take place before the first game, SRO2 takes full advantage of that by allowing each route to be their own story and essentially leave it up to the players to decide for themselves which route they’d prefer and several of the endings drop enough hints towards the first game that you can argue for the possibility of the route leading into it. While some routes have different outcomes to the case depending on your choices, there’s nothing that specifically denies any of the other routes. Having said that, let’s talk about the routes and my preferences for them:

1)      Tie between Kazuko and Hikaru

2)      Makiko

3)      Shizuko

4)      Tie between Kyo and Miyuki

5)      Yukari

6)      Yuko

7)      Tamami

8)      Sakura

9)      Hiromi

(and before anyone asks about Moemi’s route I can’t rank it because I couldn’t unlock it and both walkthroughs I consulted did not help)

                The reason I like Kazuko and Hikaru’s routes the same is for two main reasons, the first being they both have really good chemistry with Takeshi and the second reason is that they both have a personal tie to the main story’s mystery in their own unique way. To better explain the former, in Kazuko’s what really helps is we get to see the relationship between her and Takeshi progress differently in how the two become a couple fairly early in the game and the route does a good job of portraying them as two people who just simply click together well. The first murder and events that follow actually fit well with this route’s story structure by using those story events to interrupt the aforementioned romance plot and using that as a point to explore both the mystery and a certain aspect of Kazuko’s backstory that ties in with it. Concerning Hikaru’s route it follows the more traditional structure of her and Takeshi not getting together till late, but does it well by not only building up their relationship but also giving her a bit of involvement in the main story that ends up leading into a reveal that ties her to a major part of the mystery. It also helps that with the right choices she can help in dealing with the villain in a very satisfying (and karmic) way.

                Makiko’s I rank second because it makes for a good follow up to Kazuko’s in how it reveals something new behind the case (incidentally I recommend first playing Kazuko’s route and then Makiko’s).The interactions that she and Takeshi share are interesting and I wish I could discuss more specifics on that, but then I would potentially spoil the route so all I can say is they’re good. I will say that the route has an interesting look at Dracula to tie into its main story theme (so there's another thing to link this to Halloween). Also the conclusion of the route is satisfying if somewhat bittersweet.

                Shizuko’s route is good mainly because the relationship between her and Takeshi is well written with the two having some very amusing interactions. While you can get her involved with the case at the end, it feels a little tacked on considering its optional and the reason why she gets involved is a tad on the flimsy side. Kyo and Miyuki tie for fourth place because they both develop an interesting relationship with Takeshi, but they also share the same weakness of this occurring a little too late in the game with only the bare minimum of scenes to make the relationship believable. It’s a real shame considering that both routes introduce some interesting ideas about the two heroines such as Kyo’s picking the role of a Valkyrie at the park as a way to put up a front of inner strength in the face of her own personal problems or Miyuki dealing with the aftermath of a murder occurring in the park she was in charge of.

                Yukari’s route I found to be decent as it does a good job setting up the relationship between her and Takeshi, but its problem is that it doesn’t do enough on that front as their interactions while interesting are few and it seems odd that her involvement in the murder case is so limited considering her job at the park. Yuko’s route is similar in that regard, but it also suffers from starting too late to actually give her route much story. Tamami and Sakura’s routes are essentially joke routes, though Tamami’s is better mainly because she and Takeshi interact more. Strangely you can get Tamami involved in the case at the end if you make certain choices, but it feels really out of place as there isn’t really much of a reason given for her involvement whereas at least a somewhat plausible reason was given for Shizuko.

                As for Hiromi’s route…I have to say I’m not even sure if I should even call it a route. Really it’s more of an ending than a route since the only interactions she has with Takeshi are story related and don’t really help to establish any sort of relationship between the two. It also doesn’t help that none of the scenes portray her as a very likable character, especially when it comes to the ending itself. The ending is literally a few sentences explaining that after the mystery is solved she and Takeshi become a couple (simply because), an ero scene, and that’s it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a “route” this lazily put together before but the idea that anyone would let something like that pass in this day and age is perhaps the scariest thing in this game.

                Aside from some of the routes suffering from being too short, the main story problem SRO2 suffers from is that after you’ve cleared 3-4 routes there isn’t anything new to add to the mystery. From there the confrontation with the villain is the same, there aren’t any new revelations, nor can you expect much contribution from the remaining heroines to the main plot.  With that all you’re really playing for are the scenes unique to the remaining heroines for their routes and sadly they aren’t very many in between all the stuff you’ve already read. This sadly makes replays tedious after a while and for a game that features so many interesting characters it’s too bad interactions with them are so limited.

                Concerning the system, SRO2 doesn’t have the same character movement exploration that the first game did and instead uses a standard system of clicking a location on the map to go to it and there you may meet certain characters or find a clue. A certain amount of time passes for each location and some events are only available during a certain time length. The removal of the old system might at first seem like a step backwards, but honestly it helps to make replays less tedious than they were in the first game where not only did you have to repeatedly go to the same places at the right time but also move to and check the right spots in those places. I’ll admit selecting places over and over just to skip through several lines of text gets tedious too after a while, but at least there’s less repeated busy work.

                In the area of presentation, SRO2 does well on almost every front. The music’s good and the voice acting is great all around. Everyone but Takeshi is voiced and their VAs performances all do a good job at bringing the characters to life from Hikaru’s cheerful personality to the wackiness of Tamami and Han (and speaking of which in the case of that pair we get top performances from Miru and Joji Nakata). The artwork is just as good as if not at times better than in the first game, though I should point out there is one hiccup in the art department: some of the character portraits have very limited poses and/or expressions. The character that gets this the worst is (ironically) Hiromi who has only this one single character portrait throughout the entire game, and through most of the game the only emotion she shows is anger.

                As for the ero scenes, they’re certainly a lot better than in the first game with them being longer and some of them having more CG.

Character Profiles:

 

Makiko Kitazawa:

One of the main cast for the Dracul Castle attraction, Makiko is quiet and introverted girl who mainly interacts with Shizuko. Has recently begun dating one of the cast members in the Artemis Land section of the park, Makoto Kajiwara.

 

Shizuko Kanzaki:

Another of the cast for the Dracul Castle and Makiko’s friend, Shizuko is the daughter of a high standing family and graduate from a top notch school. Began working at Fantasien out of a desire to experience more varieties in society.

 

Kyo Sasazuka:

Cast member in charge of the Viking Ship attraction in the Odin Land section of the park, Kyo is a very popular cast member mainly thanks to fitting her Valkyrie costume and role so well. She and Inoue, Takeshi’s main co-worker, appear to be dating.

Kazuko Shimamoto:

In charge of maintenance in the park, primarily the electrical equipment and the vehicles for the park’s parade events, Kazuko is basically a more behind the scenes member of the park’s cast. Currently single and looking for a boyfriend, she takes an interest in Takeshi early on.

 

Hikaru Hizumi:

Cast member in charge of the Ghost Home attraction and a dancing performer during the park’s parade events, Hikaru is a cheerful and energetic young woman with dreams of performing in on stage musicals. While usually a confidant person, Hikaru is actually plagued by self-doubt in regards to her dancing talents and whether it’s enough to achieve her dream.

 

Tamami Miyashita:

Waitress for Fantasien’s Chinese restaurant and friend of its chef, Han. Tamami is quite skilled in martial arts and usually practices her newly learned techniques on Takeshi.

Sakura Midorikawa:

Saleswoman for the pastry shop Milky House in the World Bazaar section of the park, Sakura’s looks and friendly personality have made her very popular with the guests. Currently single though that may be due to the fact that Sakura is infamous for her terrible cooking that is so bad it’s considered a danger to all living things.

 

Yukari Sakuma:

The main operator for MAOS (Multiple Affairs Operating System), a computer system that monitors and runs the major functions of Fantasien, Yukari is now also in charge of monitoring Takeshi  as he’s new on the job.

 

Miyuki Amano:

Fantasien’s head manager, Miyuki has been an employee of the park since the beginning and achieved her position through years of hard work. While devoted to her work, she has started to question some of her superiors’ decisions especially in the aftermath of the first murder. Outside of work, her main pastime is betting on horse races, with very little success.

 

Yuko Kurumizawa:

A rookie detective working on the murder investigation, Yuko’s casual manner and dress don’t exactly fit the bill for a police officer, which tends to annoy her superiors. Takes a liking to Takeshi soon after meeting him and asks for his assistance in finding the culprit.

 

In Conclusion:

                In Shinsetsu Ryouki no Ori Dai 2 Shou we have another example of the original game being surpassed by its successor. It has a more interesting mystery, a better written cast of characters, the setting and exploring it is better, and best of all there’s no true route that invalidates the other routes. It does have its imperfections such as some routes getting more writing attention to it than the others and replays can get tedious after you’ve cleared three or four routes, but certainly not enough to ruin the experience. Even if you didn’t like or play the first game, I’d still say it’s worth picking up considering its aforementioned improvements and its being a prequel doesn’t spoil anything from the first game.

Final Score: 7/10 Great

Author Recommendation:  Try it out.

                As for the anime, it’s a good three episode adaptation, covering most of the key parts of the original game’s story. If you haven’t seen it yet but want to check out the game first then I recommend playing Kazuko and Makiko’s routes first since the OVA is kind of a combination adaptation of both routes and will spoil things revealed in said routes. I’m saying kind of because some things that happen in the anime don’t happen in either route or in the game at all, but fortunately these changes work. I will admit I do find it odd that they give Tamami more involvement in the story than she had in the game whereas Shizuko and Hikaru are barely in it. A difference between the anime and the game that I find interesting has to do with the tone of the ending: the OVA’s tone is one of tragedy at the community formed by the many employees of the park now irreversibly broken by the deaths that occurred while the game’s endings (most of them) end on a more hopeful note, acknowledging the tragedy of the events but showing that Takeshi and the route’s heroine together have the strength to move past it and hopefully to a better life.

                Also, just to mention it, there does exist a manga adaptation entitled “Remains of the Darkness” but I haven’t been able to find any copies of it to say whether it’s good or not. The few pictures I’ve been able to find seem to show that it follows Shizuko’s route, but I can’t really say I’m that interested mainly because if I want an abridged take on the game there’s the aforementioned OVA and the manga’s artwork ranges from okay to bad fanart level.

Import Games for Adults Halloween: Kansen Ball Buster

Kansen Ball Buster Review

                For our next entry for this year’s Halloween reviews, we’ll be finishing up the Kansen series by looking at what is now the latest entry into the series, the fandisk: Kansen Ball Buster…and with that name alone expectations for this game probably just took a nosedive. I can understand with a name like that, but back when it was announced I decided to remain optimistic. There’s a lot you can do with a fandisk and considering the Kansen series (which I remind you I really like) is far from perfect, there’s a number of things a fandisk could offer like after stories or extra routes for unwinnable heroines (and yes, I’m still hoping someone at Speed will one day give us fans routes for Miki (Kansen 2) and Sato (Kansen 5).  Sadly those were not what the creators decided to do, but instead opted for a short original story (plus the Chronicle Teller). Now that could also work provided the story is good, and how did it turn out? Let’s just say a more fitting name would have been “Ball ‘Crusher’” instead…

Pros: Artwork is good, Shizuka’s route is actually good, we finally get an adult as our main character for a change and not a school student…

Cons:…unfortunately our MC for the most part sucks, the True End story is badly told, the ero scenes are handled poorly, the new music sucks, the Chronicle Teller…all of it.

WTF?!: Even as engrish goes, I didn’t think it was  possible to spell “yeah” wrong like this…

                Kansen BB has two parts to it: “The Other’s Aspect” and “The Chronicle Teller”. The Other’s Aspect is an original story set at the same time as Kansen 3 and 5 and tells the story of Kazumi Senou and his going out to rescue his younger sister Tsugumi and their childhood friend Shizuka when the outbreak occurs. The Chronicle Teller is, I guess, an (attempted) abridged take on the previous five games. I’m guessing because that particular part of this game has its own problems which I am definitely going to address later in this review.

                Okay, I admit I showed mercy to Kansen 5 in regards to its flaws, but Ball Buster is not going to be so fortunate. Out of the entire series, this game is without a doubt the worst of them. So congratulations to Kansen 2 as it is now no longer at the bottom rank of this series, because even though it had lots of flaws I at least didn’t feel like my time was wasted upon clearing it like I did with Ball Buster. At least with Kansen 2 you could see there was genuine effort put into its creation, its writers were trying to make a good story to top that of the first one, but in this case while there are inklings of what could be a good story you can tell that Ball Buster ‘s story did not receive anywhere near that level of attention. In fact I’d dare suspect that The Other’s Aspect portion of this game was the rough draft of a story for what would have been a complete Kansen game rushed out the door by Speed to make a quick buck.

                One of the biggest stumbles in this part of BB’s story is its tonal difference from the other five games of the series. Rather than being a largely dark and serious story with light scenes occurring at certain points to give the players some relief (as well as add more to the game characters’ personalities), The Other’s Aspect seems to have been written in a comedic tone instead. Now I should point out I’m not faulting this game for trying something different (though the Infection routes of the first and fifth game are kind of dark comedies), nor am I saying zombies can’t be funny (one of my favorite zombie movies is Return of the Living Dead for crying out loud),I’m faulting it for trying something new and failing at it. The main aspect of this game’s story failing at being a comedy can be seen with our protagonist, Kazumi. While I give the writers credit for finally giving us a protagonist who’s an adult and not a school student, that positive change is completely negated by the fact that Kazumi is for the most part a complete and utter buffoon. Almost from the start he acts like a complete idiot, and since unlike all the other protagonists Kazumi doesn’t have a group of friends we’re pretty much left with just his antics to pass the time until the zombies show up…and even then it only reduces in frequency. The closest thing we get to a scene with him that’s actually funny is when he wakes up the day of the outbreak and goes about his normal routine, not noticing the zombies. It’s obviously trying to be like that scene in Shaun of the Dead but fails at being anywhere near as funny because the joke of Kazumi barely missing obvious signs of the outbreak’s occurrence doesn’t work as well as the movie scene it’s based on since we’re told rather than shown for the most part. Another problem with Kazumi is that he’s the only character being silly while everyone else acts more seriously whereas in other comical zombie stories most of the main characters get their silly moments, making the comic relief from our main character feel very much out of place. So as you can guess, you’re going to be annoyed at our main character almost the entire game and like the very infection that’s the focal point of this series his buffoonery spreads to other parts of the story and dooms them.

                Now don’t get me wrong, it’s possible to create a silly protagonist and still make him an effective character, in fact I get the feeling the writers were trying to create a loveable but reliable goofball of an adult protagonist like Bang Shishigami or Eikichi Onizuka, but here it just isn’t well implemented in the story. For one, Kazumi’s antics pretty much ruin the cameo appearances of the cast from Kansen 3 and 5 where all it is pretty much him ogling the heroines from both games during a scene from the prologue of said games. Aside from making you like our hero even less, this also makes him stick out like a sore thumb from the scenes you remember from the previous games and does nothing to convince you that the guy was actually there. Another problem brought about by Kazumi’s idiocy is it creates moments of sudden tonal change in some scenes that will leave you groaning in frustration rather than laughing. A good example would be how in the true route there’s a scene where Kazumi’s trying to sneak past some zombies to try and rescue his younger sister Tsugumi and what looks to be a suspenseful scene is suddenly made to be comical by having Kazumi start stumbling around narrowly avoiding being noticed by the zombies. A scene like this just gives you the feeling like the writers are just trying to force you to laugh and leaves you wanting the scene to be over with quickly in hopes (which are sadly in vain) that the scene that follows would be a better read.

                Aside from a badly written idiot protagonist, this part of BB’s story also suffers from having a pretty badly told and unsatisfying true route.  Some of these problems can be blamed on the game’s shortness such as very little to explain how or why things turn out differently in each route since it’s a little unclear how exactly your choices result in such different outcomes. Another problem that falls into this category is how the side characters, Naoko and Miki (different character than in Kansen 2) aren’t really given much to do though the few scenes of interaction with them do hint at the possibility of interesting characters.

 Of course it’s not just time that hurts the True Route, but also some genuine writing problems. The most prominent would be that the route lacks tension, and not all of it can be blamed on Kazumi’s goofiness. Since Kansen 3 it’s been a given that in the true routes all the main heroines at least are safe, but at least in those cases the routes were written so you felt the group was in some danger that they had to overcome and while the MC and main heroines were guaranteed to make it out okay the same couldn’t be guaranteed of the side characters. In BB’s case the zombies seem like less of a threat because they don’t really threaten the characters very much in this route.  Even the writer’s attempt to add in tension at the end isn’t very effective since it involves making a villain out of a very minor and forgettable character (who also lacks a character portrait), and it doesn’t help that this villain proves to be more of an annoyance than a threat. Finally the ending itself isn’t very good since it seems to be trying to be both triumphant and bittersweet at the same time without really succeeding at either. It fails at being triumphant because the story’s shortness hasn’t given us much time to know the main characters that well and through that feel satisfied in their survival and it fails at being bittersweet because when it comes to the unavoidable tragic outcomes of the outbreak it tells rather than shows.

                Now with that said you might be wondering if there’s anything good about “The Other’s Aspect” and I have to admit there is in Shizuka’s route. This route actually feels like a story that fits the Kansen series as it does a good job establishing Shizuka as a heroine (though admittedly not as good in developing the relationship between her and Kazumi) and there’s a really good story element involving just how much a person’s personality can endure after being infected. Also unlike in the true route there’s a real sense of danger for the characters as they make their way from a school surrounded by infected to a safepoint guarded defended by the JSDF. Best of all this is the only time Kazumi acts seriously and in that case he actually shows signs of being a good character. It’s too bad the rest of the game doesn’t have that same quality of writing (and to anyone who’s curious Tsugumi’s route is okay but forgettable).

                Moving on, it’s now time for The Chronicle Teller…and boy do I have a bone to pick with this part of Ball Buster. On the surface it doesn’t look so bad, the game’s website shows it as a look back at the entire series, showing a mix of important scenes from each game and several ero scenes. The thing is…it’s not. The Chronicle Teller is, for the most part, really just a long commercial for the series and a bad commercial at that. The whole thing is set up as a look at an official report covering the events of each game, but rather than an abridged look we instead get story and ero scenes jumbled together in no real order. For example, when it gets to Kansen 2’s segment they have a scene from the end of Alice’s route on the first of two pages, and it’s the second entry and all the other entries take place way before it. Then when you finish this jumble of scenes for one game you then get a brief sum up in which a narrating voice always ends with what’s essentially “Kansen __ ~______ _______~, please buy it” before you move on to the next game’s section. By itself this would only be bad because it would come off as a boring and pretty unnecessary part of the fandisk (I mean why would you buy a fan disk for this series if you’ve never played it?) that could have at least been cut to give “The Other’s Aspect” some much needed substance. Sadly this is not the worst offense The Chronicle Teller commits, that is reserved for the very short story segments that the previous game segments follow. 

It’s hard to believe that a series of short segments that put together amount to maybe fifteen minutes of reading time can accomplish that but somehow the people who put this game together managed it. In these segments we see a returning character in Aya Masaka, the main heroine of Kansen 4 as she’s now a part of the JSDF and presenting the report of the events of the previous games. The problem with this reappearance occurs at the end of The Chronicle Teller when the events of Kansen 4 get a focus. Basically the story surrounding that segment at the very least retcons Aya’s True End as it’s pretty much made clear she’s alone and at the very worst it could very well retcon the other two True Ends because there seem to be implications (I admit/hope there’s a possibility I read it wrong) that Aya is the only survivor of the events of that game. Now before anyone tries to excuse that* by pointing out how Kansen isn’t a happy series (not to mention it’s a zombie series) and a tragic outcome should be expected, let me remind you that Aya and Makoto’s True Ends weren’t happy (not really worth mentioning Kozue’s), they were both bittersweet conclusions that made for good representations of what one does after losing practically everything in a tragedy. Each ending had just the right amount of writing that conveyed a feeling that even after so much loss Daisuke and either Aya or Makoto had established a path together that would eventually move them past it. To see such strong story conclusions sacrificed simply to try to inject a brief feeling of drama into an unnecessary and shoddy commercial disguised as a fandisk is just plain insulting to me as a fan of the Kansen series. I know it’s been overused but this particular video pretty much sums up Chronicle Teller…

In the area of presentation BB does well in the art department as the characters and CG are well drawn. I should point out that for the first Kansen game’s segment in the Chronicle Teller, the artists touched up the art a bit to make it look better. I think it just looks okay, but in a couple cases it looks like all they did was make the characters’ skin color whiter. In the sound department the voice acting is good too with the VAs turning in good performances, especially Tsugumi’s. Unfortunately the same can’t be said about the two new music tracks for this game “Wake Up” and “XXX (Ball Buster)”. The latter track isn’t that bad on its own, but it just doesn’t fit a Kansen game as it sounds like something you’d use for an arcade style video game. The former on the other hand…I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more irritating and obnoxious sounding tune in any visual novel game. It’s basically a guy screaming gibberish in what sounds like a megaphone mixed in with music that on its own would be forgettable, and guess what? That’s the music for the game’s ero scenes and speaking of which…

When it comes to the ero scenes, the only good ones in BB are the ones shown in Chronicle Teller from the previous games. “What about the ones in The Other’s Aspect?” you ask. Well, the only good thing I can say about them is they’re well drawn. The problem is they almost all follow the exact same premise: Kazumi makes the wrong decision, a group of female zombies overwhelm him, and the customary ero scene follows. That’s it; that’s almost every ero scene in the game. There are no “good” ero scenes with the heroines at all as the only ero scenes with them are bad end ero scenes where they’re already infected. BB has essentially made an even bigger fumble than the second game on the ero scene front because at least Kansen 2 featured “good” ero scenes even if they were in the bad endings. To any fans of the darker kind of ero scenes, hate to break this to you, but in every case where the heroines are infected, they catch it by non ero means. The only one who gets screwed is Kazumi…and anyone else who bought this fan disk.

 

In Conclusion:

                Kansen Ball Buster is a pitiful excuse for a fandisk, let alone a Kansen game. The few good things like Shizuka’s route are lost between the unsatisfying story of The Other’s Aspect and the crappy commercial that is The Chronicle Teller, which adds insult to injury by shamelessly betraying the story of Kansen 4. Not only do I not recommend this game to anyone, especially fans of the series, but I also beg any fan of the series or anyone curious about the series to avoid this game like the plague.

Final Score: 2/10 Garbage!

Author Recommendation: Devil SPAWN!

 

And yes, I am aware of the OVA adaptation for The Other’s Aspect coming out this November. My only reaction is this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSr8KZgvir0

 

*Now before anyone posts any messages about how the extra reading material that came with copies of each game strongly hint at what’s canon, let me point out that those are, as I just called them, “extras” meaning I can take or leave them as I please and still enjoy the series.

Import Games for Adults Halloween: Kansen 5 ~The Daybreak~

Kansen 5 ~The Daybreak~ Review

                Well, considering the overwhelming (and international) success of the critically acclaimed The Last of Us it seems this is the perfect time for me to review another Kansen game, especially as an opening to this Halloween month. While the fourth game wasn’t bad, you could tell the creators were trying to play it safe so as not to disappoint the fanbase in light of how good the third game was, and sadly that resulted in a game that was only above average. From what I’ve been able to gather, others who played it had similar thoughts on Kansen 4 so customer feedback probably had some influence on the design for its sequel as it’s obvious from the beginning that Kansen 5 is trying to be like its much more successful predecessor, Kansen 3. As for how well it does at that…I kind of wish I could trade this in for The Last of Us.

Pros: No timed choices, introduces some interesting concepts for the Kansen universe, characters are mostly likable, some character development is handled well, new view switching system is an interesting and good idea, artwork is good, voice acting is good.

Cons: The fake routes get too much focus, Akari is not well written as a character, unwinnable heroine, the glitches…oh God the glitches!

WTF?!: The older sister heroine and the Oneechanbara reference.

 

                Set at the same time as the third game, Kansen 5 follows Makoto Nakazawa, a boy who lost both his parents and memories during the first outbreak. While on a school trip to a nearby island, the second outbreak occurs.

                From the start you can see that Kansen 5 is definitely trying to provide an experience similar to the third game, but with improvements. You can probably guess from the way I ended the introduction how that turned out, but before we get to this game’s many faults let’s take a look at what it does right. First it does a good job establishing a bit more of the Kansen setting in the aftermath of the first outbreak, a good example being people suspected of being infected along with being quarantined also had a barcode tattooed to their arm so as to keep track of them. Unfortunately, this results in the survivors of the quarantine facing persecution by the rest of society who fear they might actually be infected. Also done mostly right are the characters as the main cast (click here for profiles) is interesting and likable, and the same can be said for a couple of the side characters. This is mainly due to the fact that the common route does a good job introducing all of them and the character interactions between them do feel genuine such as the MMO online friendship of Makoto, Soichi, Taya, and Sato. The game also does a good job in portraying the zombies as a threat once again, with the infected versions of some the heroines coming off as genuinely creepy, especially Akari.

                Concerning the routes…well, in the long run I’m going to have more complaints than praise, but I will give credit where credit is due. Before I begin though, I should explain how the routes are structured. There are the non-canon individual routes for each heroine which you’re required to play first and the then unlocked True Route which has an ending for each heroine. Out of all of them, I’d have to say the good ones are Satsuki’s non-canon route and Taya’s non-canon route. Satsuki’s route I consider the best first because not only do she and Makoto have good chemistry, but the story concerning her is really good. Her backstory is interesting as it not only ties really well with Makoto’s character at points in the story, but the mystery surrounding it and the secrets that are slowly revealed over time make for a good story to read. Taya’s route I enjoyed for a couple of reasons, first the interactions she and Makoto have are pretty well written and being a gamer myself I kind of have a soft spot for gamer friendship stories, and second, once the outbreak occurs the story of the two trying to make it out alive and the tragedy they encounter make for a good survival story with a bittersweet end reminiscent of Maya’s route from the second game. The only thing that makes Satsuki’s route win out is I think maybe there could have been a slightly better transition from the relationship Taya and Makoto have as friends to lovers as I think it happens a little quickly.

                Now we get to the not so good routes: Natsu’s and Akari’s. I’ll start with Natsu’s since of the two, hers is better by having a good start with a pretty natural progression of her and Makoto’s relationship, and a decent ending. My problem with it has to do with the story in between, which I found disappointing mainly because it essentially reduces Natsu to the role of damsel in distress, which just doesn’t fit her character all that well considering the other routes portray her as pretty badass (when she doesn’t get infected). As for Akari’s route, this is the one I really have a bone to pick with. I will say it has a couple interesting moments such as trying to portray Arai, one of the side characters, as being more than just a character that falls into “the bully” trope or its approach to Akari and Makoto’s relationship as a platonic one, but those parts aren’t given enough attention to make them truly effective story elements. One of my biggest problems with this route has to do with Akari herself; while not an unlikable character by any means she’s not a very well written character either. While there is potential for an interesting character there such as her family’s connection to the first outbreak (which is only given the minimal addressing in the entire story) or her martial arts skills with a naginata (which she barely uses even though a CG of her using it is one of the most prominent promotional CGs), what the writer chooses to focus on is Akari’s secret sex fetish over any other character traits that would have been interesting. For a cheap sex romp eroge that’s not a problem, but for a game in the Kansen series, an eroge series that (for the most part) balances its story and ero content  and offers at least decently written characters to follow, this comes off as incredibly weak writing especially considering that this is supposed to be our main heroine.

                Moving on to the True Route, I should start off by saying I don’t outright hate this route as it does have good moments. The buildup to it is nice as there are hints at better character development for a couple of the side characters, Makoto gets a chance to be awesome, the official start of the route has interesting story potential, the reveals about Makoto’s lost memories are told pretty well told (with one exception but we’ll get to that later), Akari actually has some decent character moments (not to mention she FINALLY uses that naginata of hers) and the end scenes with each heroine would make for a satisfying conclusion. The main problem is…the route is too short. All that buildup and an interesting start, but from there the route wraps up in about 30 minutes at most, and that’s just playing it the first time. Once you finish the route and load your save so as to see the other heroines’ endings through that route, there’s so little diversity you finish in 10-15 minutes (and most of that time is because of the route’s heroine’s ero scene). This really hurts the route because it not only cheapens the satisfaction of everyone surviving, but it also leaves you baffled as to why the True Route is so short while the fake routes are so long and in some ways have more emotionally satisfying conclusions. It also doesn’t help that the True Route flat out ignores or barely acknowledges important story elements from the fake routes that might have made it more interesting and even given each of the heroines’ endings in that route some plot diversity. Speaking of which the fact that the True Route is largely the same regardless of which heroine Makoto ends up with results in a bit of a feeling of contradiction in that the story for the route is obviously written with Akari in mind as the heroine. That also brings us to my one problem with the reveals concerning Makoto’s lost memory. While for the most part it makes for a good backstory, it seems as if the writer decided at the last minute to tie it in with Akari’s role as the main heroine by introducing a completely new character almost completely out of nowhere and having said character be an important part of Makoto’s forgotten memories. Aside from coming off as a weak addition to the plot, it also comes off as a copy of a major story element from Satsuki’s non-canon route and big surprise, it’s not as well executed.

                Having covered all that, I have one more story related complaint. After two games straight, Speed has once again given us an unwinnable heroine in Taya’s friend Sato Murasaki. She interacts with Makoto about as much as Taya in the common route, is a pretty humorous character, makes it out fine in the True Route, and the game hints at several points that she’s attracted to Makoto. In fact, the Infection route (which is basically a joke route) outright teases you with the possibility of a route. While I could accept time limits for the game’s development as why there isn’t a route for her, considering the True Route endings are 10-15 minutes long with only the heroine related scenes I’m pretty skeptical that they couldn’t have just squeezed an ending for her into the True Route itself that maybe could have been unlocked after getting Taya’s ending.

                Regarding the system aspect of the game, Kansen 5 does add a new way to switch character POVs. While the standard part where at certain points in the story the game pauses and you pick from multiple character POVs is still there, when it’s just one alternate view point an icon for the character shows up at the upper right of the game window. You can either select it to go to that viewpoint or ignore it and go on with your current scene and the icon eventually disappears. It’s an interesting new addition and a good way to keep the story flowing with little feeling of interruption. Of course, the biggest improvement that Kansen 5 brings to its system over its predecessors is this:  the removal of those accursed timed choices!! While I’m sure many a fan of this series would be celebrating  at that, I’m afraid that joy would be offset by the one area Kansen 5 surpassed 3…the glitches…

                To this day I don’t think I’ve ever played a glitchier eroge, let alone visual novel, than Kansen 5. The third game did have bugs but they were just three game crashing bugs and a game freezing bug, Kansen 5 has (ironically) five major glitches that I had to deal with.  The first and perhaps worst of them would be that the game can’t remember what text you’ve read, basically after clearing a route and starting a new one when you click the skip text option to skip past already read text the skip function will work for a few seconds and then stop and treat all the text from that stopping point as if you’ve never read it before. This means you have to rely on the “skip all text” function and hope you have a good enough eye to catch when a new scene is coming. Moving on to the next glitch, this also has to do with the game’s faulty memory in that some of the ero scenes don’t show up in the extra gallery after you’ve seen them.  The remaining three glitches are all text related. First off, to add insult to injury with the game’s bad memory with the text, if you use the skip function for a few minutes it will often times cause the game to crash.

Then when you get to the unread scenes, you’ll at times have to deal with odd spacing errors in the game’s text window…

…and completely blank text windows in between occupied ones.

                Now before anyone sends me any comments or messages about Speed releasing a patch to fix these glitches or how they didn’t encounter any of these glitches, let me explain. In regards to the latter, you probably got a later release, my copy was from the run first released. As for the patch, while I certainly have no complaints about that (I ended up using said patch after clearing a few of the non-canon routes) I can’t help but wonder why Speed would release a game with so many glitches considering the previous game had next to none.  Did their beta testers get sick during the testing period or something? Also, the patch doesn’t fix the text skip crash glitch.

                In the area of presentation Kansen 5 does well. The artwork is good (though I will admit Natsu looks better in her CG than her character portrait) as is the voice acting. The music is mostly the same as  in the prior games, though there are new tunes. They’re okay, but of the bunch the only one I found particularly memorable was “The last Good-Bye”.

                As for the ero scenes, they’re all good, be it the good end ero scenes or the ones of the darker variety.

In Conclusion:

                Kansen 5 is an overall decent entry into the series, but much like the second game it’s a game created with a lot of ambition so it could surpass its successful predecessor only be brought down by story flaws that really should have been looked over before being given a pass. To its credit it does have a good story supported by a likable cast of characters, but the bizarre choice to considerably shorten the true routes in favor of the non-canon routes really hurt the story’s effectiveness.  It’s certainly worth trying out if you’ve been playing this series from the start and shouldn’t come as a waste of your time or money, just keep the bar low when it comes to expectations.

Final Score: 6/10 Above Average

Author Recommendation:  Try it out. 

                As for the anime…I don’t really know what to say about it since after watching both episodes I’m not entirely sure what I watched. What it is seems more akin to a dime a dozen hentai doujinshi than an adaptation as the setup for the two episodes (I’m not even going to bother calling it a story) do not occur at all in the game. The villain of the OVA is really an overall minor character in the game and for some strange reason his appearance was so greatly changed I’m still not sure if I’m only guessing it’s him. He goes from looking like this…

…to this!

 

And for some reason the creators of this OVA gave him a nameless (and butt ugly) flunky (ignoring the fact that the guy was a flunky himself in the game) that wasn’t in the original game, even though he already had multiple nameless flunkies who didn’t even look anything like that.

Also the only main heroines this focuses on are Akari and Natsu (Hanazawa is a minor character in the game) with the rest of the cast mysteriously absent except for a couple seconds worth of a group shot in the second episode.

All this and yet the oddest thing to me is…I don’t hate this OVA. Don’t get me wrong I don’t particularly like it either, but I’m honestly just too astounded at just how hard it fails as an adaptation that I can’t hate it. It’s like asking someone to make a simple shape out clay like a ball and when you see that person somehow failing so spectacularly at doing that you’re too amazed at the how wrong that person got it to condemn his/her attempt.