Ojou-sama to Himitsu no Otome

Well, you'll be disappointed to know that I am disappointed with this VN, even though I didn't have high hopes for it.
First, I should explain the theory/template for a good trap protagonist VN.

1. Protagonist is voiced (voicing the protagonist in these VNs with a sex-neutral-sounding VA generally gives you what you want)

2. Protagonist is something of a submissive personality, when it comes to minor issues, but when it comes to anything major is proactive.

3. Protagonist at some point stops being bothered by the fact that they are dressing up as a girl. (along with occasional sighs when they realize they are thinking completely like a woman)

4. Protagonist is generally capable, earning the positive emotions he gets from the girls honestly.

5. The discovery of the protagonist's sex by the heroine is in a suitably dramatic manner, thus generally overwriting the shock of the discovery of his lie (most of the time).

6. The actual issue of his true sex is an object of humor to those who know the truth.

I should say that 1, 2, 4, and 5 are violated by this VN (though 5 isn't violated by all the routes). To those who have played Tsuriotsu since it got the voice patch or Koi no Canvas, you will know what I am talking about with 1. A protagonist that is on the verge of being a non-entity without a voice will become a real person the second they start talking, and the lack of a voice actually feels weird when everyone considers the protagonist to be a girl. In 2's case, the protagonist is a near-complete submissive with a side of hetare. This is a downside in any VN, but it was particularly bad in this one... 

With 4... the protagonist is basically a nonentity, shy and generally hopeless. Again, this is a downer for any VN, but this also means it feels like he didn't 'earn' the heroines' affections, which is pretty much unforgivable in this type of VN.
Now, for some general conclusions about the VN... this one only barely stops short of nukige territory when it comes to the h-scenes. The number per route (somewhere around seven or eight) is ridiculous, and - sadly - a large amount of the final parts of each heroine's story are a part of the h-scenes, thus making it almost a necessity to read them all. Making it worse is that the common route is ridiculously short and the heroine routes are of similar length, meaning character development is minimal at best.

While I generally don't expect much of Moonstone, this was a particularly disastrous entry, in my opinion.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kami no Rhapsody: Initial impressions

Image
Ok, first I should say that this is based in the Ikusa Megami (Battle Goddess) series world. I haven't checked to see what time period it is in, but judging by the statements so far, I'd guess it was after the events in Madou Koukaku but before the second half of Verita. That said, this is based in the most fleshed-out fantasy world in all of VNs, so there is plenty of lore to draw on and add to, and Eushully is definitely milking the setting's popularity for all it is worth. Unfortunately, the gameplay aspect is a bit disappointing. First, there is no way to get stronger except during initial completions of a mission/map. You basically get orbs from killing certain enemies and the initial finishing of a map for each character that you can plug into their individual grids to increase their stats and - when you complete a bingo-like line of five - their levels. Equipment comes in the form of medals that have skills, stat-boosts, and other effects that can make the gam...
Read more

Anekouji Naoko to Gin'iro no Shinigami

Image
A few words before I dig into the common route. Minato-soft is known primarily for its comedy/drama large-scale charages, Majikoi and Tsujidou-san. These two are characterized by a unique style of characterization that goes more for comic relief than is standard with most VN-makers, as well as a tendency toward over-powered heroines who can take on the world by themselves (all three main heroines of Tsujidou, Momoka in Majikoi, and Kirsti in this one). This one is no exception, so those who played Majikoi will probably be unsurprised by the 'feel' of the character and character interactions. Common Route On the other hand, unlike other Minato-soft VNs, this one's common route takes up over half of the game as a whole (close to to two-thirds). With another company this would probably not be so much of a downer, but considering the degree to which Minato-soft wrote each main heroine route on a medium to large scale in each of its previous works, this was more than a little ...
Read more

11gatsu no Arcadia

Image
Because this VN uses the same basic structure as G-senjou no Maou, the 'common route' is actually the 'true route', so I felt a need to evaluate each heroine route separately from it. People who have read my comments on the forums will realize I despise the structure, because it has a tendency to be an excuse for h-scenes and inconsistent half-assed side endings (Eustia and G-Senjou are both perpetrators of this particular crime). Keeping that in mind, I'm going to strive for something resembling fairness in evaluating each path individually, then go back and evaluate whether they managed to be consistent despite using this particular story-structure. This VN is a fantasy one with mild action (so far) based around the protagonist's struggles to fulfill his objective (I won't spoil it for you if you weren't crazy enough to read that spoiler-stained summary on vndb). Because of the way the story at the beginning introduces the protagonist and the settin...
Read more