Games for Adults Halloween: Armored Warrior Iris

Armored Warrior Iris Review

                Seeing as it’s Halloween, what’s Halloween without some schlock? So for that we’ll be turning to good old Black Lilith for what can also qualify as a sci-fi creature feature of sorts in Armored Warrior Iris, originally released in Japan on March 24, 2006 (digitally with the physical release following a week later) and released in English by Mangagamer July 18, 2014 with a physical release on May 4, 2015. Some of you may remember Space Pirate Sara and the praise I had for it; it had a decent plot in between all its ero scenes and a likable heroine. I bring this up because one of the writers for this game wrote for Sara as well. So with that surely there’s the same level of quality, right? Well, sort of, but…

Pros: Good story concept, the intro’s really good, Iris is a decent heroine, very good art for the characters, mechs and aliens, good voice acting.

Cons: The concept has been done better in another game, a certain important plot element is given minimal addressing, can’t save at the “customer” selection screens.

WTF?!: While “this is no Zaku” it sure goes down about as quick as one.

                In Armored Warrior Iris, you play as the titled character, Iris Rebel, a first class space cop who takes down space criminals throughout the galaxy with her partner, Mei Li Naceri. While on a routine mission the pair’s mechs are shot down and Iris is captured, taken into hostile territory to a city known as Dark Town to be sold into slavery and ends up being forced to work as a prostitute by the city’s leader Bozuk and under the supervision of his top servant Riruru, who bears an uncanny resemblance Mei Li. As she tries to find a way out of this situation, Iris must also figure out the fate of her missing partner…

                I admit that this story doesn’t sound like much, but in all fairness AWI does put in some effort into establishing its main character. The game’s prologue does a good job introducing Iris and is convincing enough in showing that despite the main events of the game she is pretty badass.  In fact the story segments in between all the ero scenes help at giving her some character as depending on some of the choices you make can alter her outlook slightly, which become especially noticeable  as the endings approach. Speaking of which, aside from the many bad endings there are two possible endings where things turn out well for Iris: a good ending and an evil ending, the former being canon though the latter is still worth looking at since it does have a couple minor but still interesting extra bits of info about Iris and Mei Li’s group. Also well done are the interactions between Iris and Mei Li as thanks to those scenes it is easy to believe these two as being partners and from that you are curious to find out what happened to the latter character. If only the revelation were handled better…

                Since we’re starting the flaws I figured I might as well start with the aforementioned (and don’t worry, I won’t spoil it): while what happened to Mei Li is one of the main plot threads, the revelation isn’t handled all that well. We’re given an answer, but it’s not given the appropriate treatment a prevailing mystery should have (even taking account this is a nukige). We’re basically just given a brief explanation and then the plot moves on to the ending. It also leaves a couple plot holes regarding some stuff we’re told that we now have to accept as false too. Sadly can’t give any specifics without spoilers.

                Moving on the root of AWI’s flaws is if you’ve played Space Pirate Sara then that may weaken the experience of the former. Basically AWI is a proto-Sara since while the characters are different, the structure is very similar. Our main heroine is basically trapped in a hostile location at the mercy of its ruler, you’re given the choice of what ero scenes are to occur while she plots her escape, and we have a heroine in a similar position who could be a potential ally. The thing is with Sara being the later game it manages to do it all better: Bozuk is a pretty flat villain compared to the twins as he lacks the writing that made them intimidating, there’s a stronger purpose behind Sara’s enduring the events the twins force her into choosing among while with Iris it’s more like biding time until an opportunity arises, and while Iris and Riruru interact far more than Sara and Sylia do the latter pairing manages to have better chemistry.

                On the technical side I’m afraid there’s another aspect where AWI falls short compared to SPS. While you select what type of ero scene is to occur, you can’t save at the selection point unlike in SPS. This creates a little bit of an inconvenience since in this game scene selection determines what ending you get so when you want to save at a branch point you have to save at some point before the choosing and when you want go a different path you load to that point and then use the skip function to  get to the selection point. I admit this isn’t a big issue, but it is still a bit of an annoyance.

                In the area of presentation Armored Warrior Iris does pretty good. The artwork is really good for the characters, who have a design style somewhat reminiscent of anime from the 80s and 90s, and more especially for the aliens we see in this game. That’s basically the qualifier for why I picked this for Halloween:  a number of the creature designs are based on (and probably tributes to) alien creatures from various scifi movies. This ranges from obvious ones like Bozuk being based off the Hutts from Star Wars or a Martian based off the ones from scifi comedy Mars Attacks to ones that are a bit more obscure like a background alien in a CG being of similar design to a certain alien from one of the Star Trek movies. I admit it may be a flimsy justification, but hey, don’t we all have at least one creature feature in our queue of movies set aside for this month?

                Of course there is one more aspect of the art department that’s worth mentioning: the mech designs. While admittedly we only see them during the prologue, they make for a good window dressing, especially with one action scene we get with them and their obvious Mobile Suit Gundam inspiration. Really makes you wish Black Lilith would make a game in a Gundam-esque setting…

                In the area of sound AWI does good enough. Its only problem is the music is forgettable, but thankfully that’s barely noticeable thanks to the good voice acting for our two heroines.  Of the two I’d say the one who does the best performance is Iris’ VA: An Kasuga, who some of you may recognize as the voice for Mizuki from Kansen 3, Makoto from Kansen 4 or Sigurd from Valkyrie Svia.

                As for the ero scenes they’re all really good, provided you’re into the dark stuff. I’ll say when it comes to the different types of scenes you’ll see AWI is about as diverse as Sara, though in an interesting difference from the latter you won’t get much of an idea as to what kind of ero scene you’re going to get from the selection screen, which only tells you what species the client is. It’s an interesting way to make the player see one thing from Iris’ perspective, being as in the dark as she is as to what’s to come with each choice. What makes this an interesting difference between the two games is how it’s a different but still somewhat similar approach to the ero scene choice:  Sara could only choose by category and what the choice would entail on that front would be for her to find out.

In Conclusion:

                Armored Warrior Iris is an overall decent dark scifi nukige. It has a likable lead and it’s well drawn and acted. Its main problems are its overarching mystery is given a pretty lackluster solution and if you’ve played Space Pirate Sara you may feel like you’ve played a better version of this game already. Still I can say it isn’t bad for what it is, and admittedly it is interesting to see for yourself what aspects of AWI would be better used in Sara. Just don’t go in with high expectations and you probably won’t be disappointed.

Final Score: 6/10 Above Average

Author Recommendation: For Fans Only.

                As for the anime, it’s actually a pretty good adaptation that follows the good ending path. We also get some additional scenes that would have been nice to see in the game like some mech action in the first and last episode and I have to say the anime does the Mei Li mystery reveal a little better. That’s not to say this is a perfect adaptation: there are some animation flubs here and there where the animation doesn’t look as good as the rest and for some reason not only is the prologue skipped over but so is the good ending’s epilogue. Strangely there is a DVD extra scene but it isn’t an adaptation of the epilogue which seems strange since if the point of that extra was additional H content then the epilogue had that and it would have been more memorable than the throwaway scene we got instead. I guess that would be one more win from Iris vs Sara as the latter’s extra scene was an epilogue…even if it wasn’t in the game.

Games for Adults Halloween: Cartagra ~Affliction of the Soul~

Cartagra ~Affliction of the Soul~ Review

                Didn’t think that was all the Innocent Grey coverage we’d have this month, did you? Seeing as I’d covered the demo for last year’s Halloween, it’s only natural that I’d be presenting a review of the full game. Not only are we looking at the beginning of what would be the murder mystery series Innocent Grey is known for, but Cartagra is also the company’s debut title when it was released in Japan on April 28, 2005 and on December 15 of that same year was ported to the Playstation 2 (how that happened I have no idea). Nearly ten years later, Cartagra ~Affliction of the Soul~ got an English release from Mangagamer right smack dab on Halloween of 2014. The only question is was this a treat? The short answer is yes, the longer is yes, but…

Pros: Overall good murder mystery story, cast of characters are mostly memorable, great artwork, excellent combination of music, writing and imagery to establish atmosphere.

Cons: Is overshadowed by its sequel, a couple characters could have used more presence in the story, unwinnable heroines.

WTF?!: As someone who always gets that soup whenever I go out for sushi, I find Toji 100% correct.

                Set a few years before Kara no Shoujo, Cartagra has you playing primarily from the perspective of Shugo Takashiro, an ex-cop turned freelance detective who ends up taking a case at the request of his former boss. He is to find a missing girl named Yura Kozuki at the request of her twin sister, Kazuna. Coincidence or not unbeknownst to Kazuna, Shugo and Yura had been involved in an intimate relationship before the former was sent off to fight in what would later be known as World War 2. Meanwhile a series of gruesome killings have been occurring and further events begin dragging Shugo into that investigation as well…

                Before we get to the main review I have to say I have an odd little history with this game. Its release was during my early college years, when I was just starting to take a look at non translated eroge and with considerably less Japanese literacy than I do now. I ended up trying it out as part my plan to get to know the language better through exposure. The end result was I finished the first two chapters, but circumstances ended up with the game on my backburner, but through that I still became a fan of the company since I liked how their games looked and their stories sounded right up my alley. So when the MG announced an English release I was more than happy to finish what I’d started all those years ago. Now that I have I can say I liked it, but I would have liked it a lot more if I’d finished it back then instead of now.

                Let’s talk about the positives first; overall this is a good murder mystery story. From the start you’re pulled in by the mysteries presented to you at the start: from the strange and unsettling opening scene that generates quite a few questions in your head as you read more of the story, to the murders as Shugo starts as an observer only to gradually be pulled in, to the missing person’s case he takes that seems to be in the background but over time becomes more significant to the plot. The introductions are enough to make you curious, and the story’s cast of characters (click here for profiles)care written well enough to help move things along. 

                What I mean by that is that the majority of the characters in this are all at least written well enough that you’ll remember theme for their personalities. From Kazuna’s cheerful and silly personality that hides a strong determination, to twisted sister Nana, to the flirtatious Rin, readers are in for a good number of characters to like…and for whose fates you may very well end up dreading over when the murders start happening closer to home for Shugo. I can also assure you that just like its sequel, Cartagra is not going to pull any punches, so enjoy that feeling of dread as you wonder which characters you like will make it out alive.

                At this point I’d be discussing routes, but to be honest there are really only two routes in the game: Hatsune’s and Kazuna’s. I know if you look at a walkthrough you might think there’s more, but those are just bad end paths. That isn’t to say that you should skip them (though you can) as not only do you get some interesting story bits and hints at stuff that will be important later, but you also get some pretty well written horror scenes that range from gruesome to psychological, all of which make for very fitting reading material for this time of year. That isn’t to say the two aforementioned routes are any less significant as stories, they’re both fairly good though there sadly isn’t much of a comparison between the two routes as Kazuna’s wins out easily since her route is the longest, her true ending solves all the mysteries the story has to offer and subsequently is the most satisfying conclusion. Heck, you almost feel sorry for poor Hatsune as her route flat out tells you it isn’t canon.

                All that said, while this is a good game, one can tell this was IG’s first work since there are some writing flaws, some of them more apparent if you’ve played any of their later titles, which is very likely considering Kara no Shojo came out in English first. Honestly, comparing Cartagra to its sequel is pretty unfair seeing as it’s longer and has better production, but you may find yourself doing that no matter how much you try not to if you have played KnS first. A good example would be in comparing Reiji and Shugo the latter just comes off as a more effective investigator while Shugo only comes off as just passable in that category. Basically if this were Detective Conan, Reiji would be one of recurring investigators while Shugo would be one of the characters Conan/Shinichi would knock out and solve the murder as.

                To be fair though, there are also writing flaws that stand on their own and would be apparent even without KnS being in the equation. For instance the first half of the game is the more consistently strong part of the game’s story while right after that the plot kind of slows down so it can set  things up for the final act. While it makes sense to create a more calmer setting for that, in this case it feels a little messy in how the writing is trying to project that so the characters have some time to breathe after the previous events but at the same time you can tell it’s also kind of rushing to introduce new plot elements for the aforementioned setup. This leads us to the remaining flaws which can generally be attributed to Cartagra’s length as it is on the short side compared to some games of its genre, especially if you only play the good end paths (which again, I don’t recommend doing). This results in a couple cases where it feels like some of the characters could have used more writing to them. Perhaps the best example would be in sub-heroine (and Cecilia Alcott look-alike) Takako, who is given an interesting backstory connection with Shugo and there are hints at what could have been an interesting character. The problem is her presence in the story is minimal to the point where she’s almost more a plot device than a character. We also have the ever present cases of unwinnable heroines with the aforementioned Takako aside we also have Rin, Ujaku and even Toji who all have very good character moments and chemistry with Shugo.  

                In the area of presentation, this is where Cartagra shines just as well as its fellow Innocent Grey games. While the artwork isn’t as good as later games like Kara no Shojo, there is still quite a bit of appeal to the slightly more anime-ish look to the more animated characters like Kazuna that strangely mix well with the beginnings of the more realistic look that the artist would eventually make her main style of character drawing. Still if there are aspects of Miki-san’s artwork that are comparable to the later games the first of them would be the fine detail of the background CG which help to give the setting of the game a realistic feel, like this would be a place you could expect to see in post-World War 2 Japan. The second would be the artwork done for the murders that are in some ways more graphic than in KnS, especially thanks to the writing that supports it. About the only nitpick I could give for this is that they do recycle the background CG at one point when the story has Shugo stay somewhere else, obviously to save some money, but considering how well done everything else is it's easy to let slide.

                Of course the art isn’t all the game excels at, the sound department is perhaps one of the key aspects of what makes Cartagra good. First off the voice acting is phenomenal from how well Kazuna’s voice actress captures that upbeat aspect of the character but can also switch to serious in the right moments to the star power we get from Joji Nakata as Inspector Arishima, who makes up for having a low amount of appearances until the end of the game wherein he then turns in an awesome performance that reminds us why we hold him in so high a regard as a voice actor be it in anime or games. Also concerning the vocals (and leading into the next bit), the opening movie is well made thanks to how well the imagery chosen for it is integrated with the song. Last and certainly not least would be the music where not only are the tunes really good, but they are an integral part of establishing atmosphere which is what really makes many key scenes in the story so effective. Those feelings of suspense when the killer is being tracked or the somber feeling all around as the cast mourns the deaths of the victims, the music and writing work together in a harmonious fashion to convey them and it’s even better when the imagery and voice acting join the fray. It’s moments like those which make Cartagra worth experiencing despite its flaws.

                As for the ero scenes, they’re mostly really good being very well drawn and acted. A real shame some of the voice actresses aren’t in very many eroge outside of Innocent Grey.

In Conclusion:

                Cartagra ~Affliction of the Soul~ is an overall very good murder mystery eroge with a good cast of characters, all of them well acted, and a plot good enough that while you may figure out some of the twists you will be wondering how the story will get to that point. It does have the problem of not comparing well with its sequel, Kara no Shojo, along with a couple more noticeable writing problems but if you can look past all that you’re guaranteed a memorable and enjoyable tale of murder and suspense that makes for a very good read for this Halloween. If you haven’t played Kara no Shojo yet, then this will make for an excellent start to the murder mystery series Innocent Grey has built.

Final Score: 7/10 Great

Author Recommendation: Buy it Now.

                As for the anime, I can say the first episode is alright and makes for a good adaptation of this game’s demo. The second episode however feels rushed and you notice a decline in animation quality from the first. Obviously a sign that no one was interested in making a new episode, as was the case, which I admit is a little disappointing. Considering Cartagra’s shortness, it could conceivably be adapted into a four episode OVA with the proper writing and direction.

Halloween Demo Impression: Kara no Shojo 2 Trial Edition

Kara no Shojo 2 Trial Edition Demo Impression

                Another year and another Halloween is upon us and so is another look at the demo for an upcoming Innocent Grey game, originally released in Japan on November 11, 2012 and made available in English by Mangagamer July 31, 2015. This year though, we’re looking at something a little special for unlike most demos which are small portions of the beginning of the game this little treat is completely original content not featured in the main game. It’s essentially a prologue set a few days before the game it precedes, meant to give players a taste of what new mysteries to expect, who’ll be returning from the first game and how the clue finding and deduction works. Though please rest assured that while this may be a short story, it’s no less interesting or bloody than its predecessors…

Pros: Story does a good job getting you interested in the main game to come, it’s good to see returning characters, Reiji now has a voice, very atmospheric music, artwork is even better than in the last game.

Cons: Like I said in my last demo impression: The demo ends, gory details (literally) are not for the faint of heart and stomach.

WTF?!: The biggest mystery of all is why Toji fears the takoyaki.

                Set two years after the events of Kara no Shojo, our initial POV focuses on one Tomoyuki Masaki, a man undergoing psychological treatment at the Kuchiki Hospital. It seems to be going well, with Tomoyuki seeming to have developed a good routine through his visits and routine taking of medicine. Until it’s all undone by a grisly murder that inevitably brings returning protagonist Reiji Tokisaka in to investigate the case…

                Yeah, I admit that’s not the best summary since I kind of neglected to mention something about curses and such, but I like to leave at least a little bit for readers to find out for themselves. In any case this demo’s story is designed to be a big teaser for the coming Kara no Shojo 2 and it succeeds at it by telling an interesting short story. For example, while there isn’t enough story material for you to become endeared to our initial POV character, there is enough to get you interested in his fate, especially considering some questions about him introduced as his life takes a turn for the worse. Of course the main hooks in this demo are the mysteries introduced from the new string of bizarre murders to the one hanging mystery from the first game.

                Moving onto the technical aspect of the game, the investigation system and notebook that updates with the clues you find and scenes you see return from the first game. It looks to work just as well as it did then and as could be seen earlier there’s even a bit of humor to some of the clues. While there isn’t any opportunity to move around, the game’s website (warning site does contain NSFW images) does indicate you’ll be able to check out different locations and from there get clues and/or updates to your notebook like in the previous game. Take a look here for a more detailed look.

                In the area of presentation KnS2’s demo shows that Innocent Grey hasn’t lost its touch on any front and has in fact gotten better. This can be seen first in the art department where the character artwork has received a noticeable upgrade but the characters are still very recognizable and any noticeable changes to the design can easily pass as the characters aging slightly since the first game. The background CGs are as well detailed as ever, and there’s one more aspect of the art done well, but we’ll be getting to that later. In the sound department this demo really shines in demonstrating how we can expect a game with the right music to create the perfect atmosphere for each scene and also a game with great acting. All the voice actors turn in good performances, but the real treat is the reveal of the voice actor for Reiji (who had no voice in the first game) being none other than Junichi Suwabe, a voice actor almost all of you will recognize as one of the chief characters of the famous visual novel adapted into so many anime Archer and for a more obscure but no less awesome example, Kuki from Ayakashibito.

                Seeing as there a no ero scenes in this demo, our final focus will instead be on the scenes that all the aspects of the demo’s presentation work in harmony to execute and what makes this game a worthy introduction to this year’s month of Halloween: the kills. What makes these so special is how well it handles the concept of “less is more” and uses it to make each of the scenes have an impact. The visuals, while indeed bloody, aren’t as graphic when compared to other games and instead chooses to show just enough of the gore so you’ll know what you’re seeing but not enough to go over the top. This limit though is hard to notice when the writing describes every grisly detail of the murder that your imagination more than fills in the visual gaps. The sound pulls double duty here, but not in the way you might expect. These kills have very little voice acting; no real screams or vocal indications of pain or fear. Instead the sound first accentuates the scenes with its sound effects: every cut, stab, slash and every mangling action is so well conveyed by their respective sounds you may very well find yourself flinching slightly at each action as the sound almost makes you feel it even when the victim has long since passed and the gruesome deed has yet to end. The sound’s second contribution comes from the suspenseful music playing which in some ways makes you feel the killer’s rush as each stage of the crime is carried out.

In Conclusion:

                Kara no Shojo 2 Trial Edition is an excellent little teaser for what looks to be an enjoyable murder mystery game on the horizon. It’s written well, looks really good, and sounds great. All of this is presented best in its murder scenes. While it introduces many new mysteries to look forward to it also pays just the right amount of service to that one hanging thread from the prequel and hopefully we’ll finally get closure in that come its release on October 30. This demo is well worth checking out on those fronts plus the fact that its story isn’t in the main game, but it’s also worth it because it has one thing in common with most of the Halloween treats we journey through that beloved holiday night for: it’s free and can be downloaded here.

Final Score: 8/10 Awesome

Author Recommendation: Buy Download it Now!!