Tag: Game Reviews

The Light at the End of the Ocean Game Review

By pokeninja90 on August 2, 2020 • ( 4 Comments )

I will admit that when the Jane Titor emailed me about her first commercial visual novel release, The Light at the End of the Ocean, I didn’t know what to expect. I was familiar enough with her blog, but I completely missed the fact that she was a game developer and had she not contacted me I might have missed out on a truly wonderful game—a sentiment I have expressed on more than one occasion.

In The Light at the End of the Ocean a young woman wakes up in a lighthouse with no memory of who she is or how she came to be there. The stoic lighthouse keeper informs her that she crashed her boat on the beach, but offers little else about the circumstances surrounding their meeting. The keeper does however, inform her that help will arrive soon and that she is free to explore the island in the meantime. But, the more the young woman learns about the island and it’s inhabitants, the more unsettling things become. What secrets does the island hold? Who is the mysterious lighthouse keeper? Will the young woman ever discover the truth?

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Melanin Monday – ‘Xenopathy’

By pokeninja90 on July 20, 2020 • ( 3 Comments )

=Hey Blerdy Tribe, it’s Melanin Monday here on Blerdy Otome and that means I’m spotlighting another Melanin Friendly Game! For those of you just joining the party—every Monday I spotlight games that feature black and brown characters for anyone looking for titles with just a bit more representation. As a blerd and a gamer, I am always on the lookout for representation in my games. This is largely a personal project for me—there are almost no “diverse game” tags on major game sites—so, it can be pretty difficult find games with characters of color… unless you already know where to look.

This week, I’m spotlighting the sci-fi mystery visual novel, Xenopathy from Marine Dateologist, a collaborative team made up of indie developers PMscenarios, Bob Conway, and SoulofEA. The game was originally created over two months as part of the 2018 Yaoi Game Jam, and currently only the first part is available. Xenopathy is described as a hybrid romance-mystery, taking place in the future, where humanity has taken to the stars. There they encounter the Ishin, a race of alien symbiotes who can temporarily share a body with a willing host. In the game you play as one of these symbiotes—their first host is a shy bio-engineer named Axton, who is hoping his new alien companion can help give him the courage he needs to confess to his crush. Things don’t go as planned and when the alien bonds with their second host, this time with more darker intentions.

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Melanin Monday – ‘Pale Spectrum’

By pokeninja90 on July 13, 2020 • ( 5 Comments )

Hey there Blerdy Tribe, it’s Melanin Monday here on Blerdy Otome and that means I’m spotlighting another Melanin Friendly Game! For those of you just joining the party—every Monday I spotlight games that feature Black and brown characters for anyone looking for titles with just a bit more representation. As a blerd and a gamer, I am always on the lookout for representation in my games. This is largely a personal project for me—there are almost no “diverse game” tags on major game sites—so, it can be pretty difficult find games with characters of color… unless you already know where to look.

I took a bit of a break last week, but I’m back and this time around I’m covering Pale Spectrum, part two of the Book of Gray Magic by Ithaqua Labs. This game serves as the sequel to Brilliant Shadows, continuing the story from the first game with the same expansive cast of characters. Follow along with Necromancers, Paladins, Witches, and Changelings in this story of intrigue, mystery and magic. If you are a fan of high fantasy, the Book of Gray Magic series is just for you!

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Spring Leaves No Flowers – Game Review

By pokeninja90 on July 11, 2020 • ( Leave a comment )

Spring Leaves No Flowers is the third game in the LGBTQ positive One Night, Hot Spring visual novel series developed by npckc. The first game followed Haru, a 19-year old transgender Japanese woman as she goes on an overnight trip to a local hot spring for her oldest friend Manami’s 20th birthday. The second game focused on Erika, one of Haru’s friends as she attempts to plan a spa day for the girls, but she finds that accommodating all of her friends is a little difficult.

This third game, Spring Leaves No Flowers brings Haru’s friend Manami to the forefront as she comes to an understanding about herself as she thinks about what friendship and romance mean to her. Spring Leaves No Flowers picks up a few months after the events of Last Day of Spring with Manami coming home after a night out with her boyfriend Tatsuya, and her friends, Haru and Erika. While chatting with Tatsuya later that night he asks Manami why she never told him her two best friends were dating. Confused, she denies his claim, but the next day she notices that both Haru and Erika are acting strangely… maybe there really is something going on between her two best friends afterall…

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Taisho x Alice Otome Review – A Twisted Fairytale Adventure

By pokeninja90 on July 6, 2020 • ( Leave a comment )

As usual I’m behind the rest of the otome games fandom—it’s been about a year since Pencil released their localization of the fairytale inspired otome game Taisho x Alice: Episode I and I’m just getting around to playing it. Now, this isn’t the first time this game has made it’s way stateside. Many of us still remember the now infamous E2Gaming localization fiasco of 2017, that brought “Hiragana Alice” and “Katakana Alice” to prominence. But, it seems that the second time’s the charm for Taisho x Alice, with Molly Lee (known also as Verdelish) taking the reigns in this greatly improved English translation of the game—and fan response has been overwhelmingly positive. So now, with the otome community’s collective stamp of approval I figured now was as good a time as any to give Taisho x Alice a try and boy do I have some thoughts about it.

For those of you not familiar with the game—Taisho x Alice is a re-imagining of popular fairytales, but with a twist—each of the love interests are gender swapped versions of famous characters like Cinderella and Snow White! The game was originally released in Japan in 2015 for PC and was split into four episodes, each with two LIs. The first episode features Cinderella and Red Riding Hood’s stories; the second—Kaguya and Gretel; the third episode— Snow White and the Wizard; and the fourth and final episode focuses on Alice. In the game you play as an amnesiac young woman who must navigate the mysterious Looking Glass World and save your Prince Charming, guiding him towards his happily ever after.

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