Release Date: April 4, 2024 (North America)
Developers:  Otomate
Publishers:  Aksys Games
Platforms:  Nintendo Switch
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

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SYNOPSIS

It is year XX of the Reiwa era—

Through an agreement between the Human Realm and the Hell Realm, Asakusa was transformed into a tourist attraction where the living can meet the dead.

One day, the Spider’s Thread was dropped from Heaven down into Hell, allowing many of Hell’s prisoners to escape.
King Enma thus orders his novice Hell Guardian daughter, the protagonist, to capture the escapees along with Goemon Ishikawa and a few other trustworthy prisoners.
The protagonist’s group immediately descends upon the Human Realm to monitor the escaped prisoners.
During their mission, they attend an event led by a former prisoner of Hell, Shinobikuni, where she reveals a pardoning app that will forgive people of their sins.

What is Shinobikuni’s goal? And what will become of the humans who were promised entry into Heaven?

This is a story that encompasses Heaven and Earth – what fate awaits this world?

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ART AND MUSIC

Illustrator/Artist:	Satoi
Director:	Wataru Watanabe
Scenario:	Yuma Katagiri
OST:	Shinnosuke (Composer), ShounenT (Vocals, Lyrics), Takuya Watanabe (ED.1 arrangement)
BGM:	Jinichirou Tamasaka

Tengoku Struggle -strayside- was created by the same team that developed Nil Admirari no Tenbin and Olympia Soiree, including the director, scenario writer, and overall artist. Having enjoyed their previous projects, I had no qualms about this game’s creative and technical aspects. While the style remains familiar, I believe they’ve experimented with a more upbeat, and “arcade-like” direction with this game. The art style adopts a comic-esque, pop aesthetic, deviating from Satoi’s usual elegant strokes. Despite the difference, I really like this new style they’re trying!

The game’s OST was also pretty good. The OP theme perfectly captured the fun and lighthearted “arcade-like” atmosphere the game exudes, and the ED theme and BGMS were terrific!

Voice Acting

🗣️ I’ve got to say, the voice acting for this game is just superb! ALL the cast are A+++. Everyone did a stellar job! 100/10!

Soma Saito as “Kinnosuke Uga” – Yves (Virche Evermore), Mineo (CollarxMalice), Tsurumaru/Namazuo (Touken Ranbu), Shungen (Birushana), Levi (Psychedelica AH), Yumeno Gentaro (Hypnosis Mic), Ohtaro (Winter’s Wish), Takuma (Kitty Love), Akase (Charade Maniacs), YOFY (Sympathy Kiss)

Ryota Suzuki as “Yona Murakami” – Kiito Minorikawa (Jack Jeanne), Koyou (9.R.I.P), Trey Clover (TWST), Ink (Gunka Haita Neko), Caster (FGO), Ash Meyer (Desperadrops), Ginnosuke Sugawa (Hanakare), Mizuro Tamaki (Tokyo Ghoul)

Kaito Ishikawa as “Sharaku Toushuusai” – Lucien (Even if Tempest), Il Fado de Rie (Cafe Enchante), Marius (Tears of Themis), Dante Falzone (Piofiore), Adam (BUSTAFELLOWS), Dimitri (FE3H), Kasen Kanesada (Touken Ranbu), Laurier (Nekopara Catboy Paradise), Takao (Dairoku)

Makoto Furukawa as “JacK” – Crius (Even if Tempest), Allan (Cupid Parasite), Shaw (MLQC), Yoritomo (Birushana), Lugus (Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk), Adage (Steam Prison), Ookurikara (Touken Ranbu), Kazuma Kamikubo (Lover Pretend), Dazai (Charade Maniacs)

Taku Yashiro as “Goemon Ishikawa” – Raul (Cupid Parasite), Adolphe (Virche Evermore), Edgar Bright (IkeRev), Buzen Go (Touken Ranbu), Tokio (Paradigm Paradox), Tweddle Dee (Spade no Kuni no Alice), Amir (Money Parasite) Sanosuke Sagara (Rurouni Kenshin)

Gen Sato as “Tamao” – Sou-chan (Jack Jeanne), Chrome (Dr. Stone), Saul (FE Heroes), Yusuke (Fruit Basket), Lightning Genji (One Punch Man), Twilight Ellis (Ikemen Villains), Shuzo Fujiki (Meiji Katsugeki Haikara)

Kenji Nojima as “Ono no Takamura” – Shion (Variable Barricade), Caleb (Love and Deepspace), Nankaitarou Chouson (Touken Ranbu), Akagi Kazuyuki (TMGS 2), Tuxedo Mask (Sailor Moon), Chiyo (Shinigami to Shoujo), Nobuchika Ginoza (PSYCHO-PASS), Odoriko (Dot-Kareshi), Yuri Tochiro (Ayakashi Romance Reborn), Natsume Sasaki (Ensemble Stars!)

Takehito Koyasu as “King Enma” – Shuri Chuza (Jack Jeanne), Reichi Himuro (TMGS4), Takeda (Hakuoki), Seteth (FE3H), Mu La Flaga (Gundam Seed), Tristan (Princess Arthur), Fuga (Buddy Mission Bond), Dio Brando (Jojo’s Bizare Adventure)

Gakuto Kajiwara as “Kamuro” – Mitsuki Saotome (Sympathy Kiss), Mitsuki Shirota (Jack Jeanne), Akira Mikado (Cafe Enchante), Luka (Honkai Star Rail), Hiiro Amagi (Ensemble Stars!), Nukemaru (Touken Ranbu), Ced (FE Heroes)

Junji Majima as “Satoru Ikari” – Nikkari Aoe (Touken Ranbu), Hideo (Butterfly’s Poison Blood Chains), Shinobu (Yoshiwara Higanbana), Virus (DMMd), Prinny (Disgea), Jill Christophe (MidCin)

Yuki Ono as “Sansaburo” – Ignis (Cafe Enchante), Saeki (CollarxMalice), Gavin (MLQC), Ookanehira (Touken Ranbu), Hamelin (Ozmafia!!), Tsuzuramaru (Ken ga Kimi), Hajun (Dairoku), Towa (Slow Damage)

Takuma Nagatsuka as “Shin Fujimori” – Yuki Ushiro (Jack Jeanne), Bicorn (Matsurika no Kei), Yura (Ayakashi Romance Reborn), Konnosuke (Touken Ranbu Katsugeki)

Kengo Takanashi as “Shiroku Natoru” – Chougi Yamanbagiri (Touken Ranbu), Link (BoTW), Wataru Frazer (Scarlet Nexus), Ayayomi (Scarlet Fate), Rei (Tokyo Onmyouji), Israel Dyson (Princess Britania), Kaito Shinonome  (Digimon Survive)

Ririkaya Koyama as “Asaemon Yamada” – Jimmy Aleister (Code Realize), Rudolf Ushiromiya (Umeniko), Jericho Bermuda (Diamond no Kuni no Alice), Cid nan Garlond (FF XIV Endwalker), Hakuro (Utawarerumono)

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MAIN CHARACTERS AND ROUTES

There are a total of five routes. Three are playable from the start (Kikunosuke, Yona, and Sharaku), while the other two (JacK and Goemon) are locked. JacK’s route becomes playable only after completing the Happy Endings of the first three starter routes, while Goemon’s route unlocks after clearing JacK’s Happy Ending.

For those interested in route orders, the scenario writer, Yuma Katagiri (on their Twitter page and blog) encourages everyone to start the game with their favorite starter route character, but with the caveat that if you wish to avoid early spoilers, it might be best to leave Sharaku’s route for last out of the three. Personally, in terms of spoilers, from least to the most, I’d recommend: Kikunosuke → Yona → Sharaku → JacK → Goemon. This is the order I played, and I thoroughly enjoyed it this way. However, I do also believe Kiku and Yona can be interchanged. So if you want to start with something cute, fluffy, with very few spoilers, go for Kiku. But if you prefer to start your game upbeat and sweet, go for Yona!

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KIKUNOSUKE UGA

• gamer
• nail polish kink 💅
• fluffy cutie-patootie🥺

PROFILE
Died at the age of 17.
Made a name for himself as master thief Benten Kozo in his past life. His Desire allows him to transform into a wolf, but he has to eat a lot to keep his power in check.

I started with Kikunosuke’s route because… Soma Saito wolf boy!😤 How could I possibly resist? Didn’t regret it one bit either! This route was so cute and fluffy!🥺 Kiku was such a darling character, not only in his own route but also in other LIs’ routes. He’s an arcade gamer, a youthful bb-boy with so much energy, and I found it extra hilarious how he’s secretly a Goemon-fanboy (cackles) 😂 He also possessed a bottomless stomach that could clear up an entire banquet of snacks! Kiku was also really good to Rin, and I found their romance to be quite adorable, like watching high school love unfold. But don’t let his puppy-dog eyes deceive you because he can also get a little bit frisky; if you know what I mean!

I think my only problem with this route was that it was poorly paced, and its story flow lacked an optimal rhythm, which sometimes hindered the narrative. For example, at one point, there’s a pressing need or urgency to look for someone, but then the story quickly transitions to a more relaxed tone, and we see the characters having BBQ on the rooftop and just chilling.😂 To be honest, the entire game is quite like this, and I just got used to it eventually.😅 lol

YONA MURAKAMI

• boomer, half gaijin
• freckled tsundere
• loves books, hassaku oranges, and you 🫵🥺
• hot bod himbo 👀💦

PROFILE
Died at the age of 23.
He was part of the Murakami pirates in his past life. Has red hair and blue eyes due to not being full- Japanese.

Yona was a proud samurai of the Murakami clan. He grew up in the heart of the sea, enjoys hassaku oranges, and is a bit old-fashioned, which played up his character so well. Going in, I wasn’t expecting much from this character, but by golly! This route ended up as one of my favorites! 😩 There’s just something so endearing about this hot-headed tsun-tsun, who tries to mask his affection with his hilarious boomer-like insults but, in actuality, is the biggest softie inside who simply loves to read books and watch samurai dramas. 🥺 The gap moe is too strong with this one, and I absolutely love it! 🥹

I also thought that Yona and Rin’s romance naturally progressed in this route. It felt so organic to me, and it didn’t feel contrived. Their dynamic was pretty enjoyable to witness; it made me grin the whole time! 🥰 All of the kiss CGs in this route, not to mention the steamy ones, were beautiful! Last but not least, Ryota Suzuki as a tsundere is 10/10! I need to see him in more tsundere roles please! I beg!

SHARAKU TOUSHUUSAI

• cleaning dork
• resident h0rnee ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
• cinched waist 🥵

PROFILE
Died at the age of 18.
Known as an ukiyo-e artist in his past life. He is a spendthrift, as well as a homemaker obsessed with keeping things neat and tidy.

Sharaku has some sort of cynical allure, a bit rough around the edges at first, and he’ll often engage in unprovoked risque banter with the heroine, playfully teasing and flirting with her. It was quite surprising how I enjoyed most of this!🙈 His uncouth and unpolished demeanor seems to have endeared me? 😂 It was also hilarious how he can be obsessively meticulous as a cleaning freak, enjoying buying expensive cleaning equipment, and being an all-around personal-care-dude who loves to take care of not only the appearance of their home but also the heroine and the other fellas (Tamao included).🥺 He’s sort of the mother hen in the group if you ask me! 😂

This route also dealt with some heavy themes, though to be honest, I was surprised that they didn’t fully explore them. There could have been more potential angst if they had gone deeper into Sharaku’s backstory, but I understand that they’re trying to keep the game’s theme a bit light-hearted and slice-of-lifey. Regardless, I was more invested anyway in his romance with the heroine, which I thought was the biggest highlight of this route. It was so good! How Rin overthinks, and how Sharaku can pretty much effortlessly read her was simply the best! I was obsessed with this special dynamic going on between them!

Sharaku was also a natural charmer; his innate sass and alluring abrasiveness will likely win you over. He’s highly popular in the character polls, and well… you’ll find out why in one of his CGs. As much as I hate to admit it, he… kind of won me over too! (sigh)🫠

JACK

• Linkedin: Singer | Songwriter 🎤♪♪
• loves animals
• ceremonial tea daddie 🫖

PROFILE
Age: ? ? ?
An influencer on the rise through his streams. He is known for being multi-talented, as he is working on a novel on top of creating music and lyrics, but his private life is shrouded in mystery.

JacK is somewhat of an outsider in the game. Unlike the other LIs, who were already living with the heroine, he, on the other hand, was on the opposite side of the fence. It took me a while to warm up to him due to the absence of a familiar bond and camaraderie that the group already possessed. Personally, I struggled to become as invested in JacK as I did with the other characters, given the strong rapport they had already established with Rin, a dynamic that JacK initially lacked. Then again, this is based on my personal experience with the route. If you have a penchant for Makoto Furukawa characters, I don’t think you’ll have any issues liking JacK right off the bat.💁‍♀️

GOEMON ISHIKAWA

• abs for dayz!
• “you’ll get cold sweetie“
• best boy!😭

PROFILE
Died at the age of 28.
In his past life, he was the greatest thief under the heavens, and made a name for himself for being chivalrous. While he is treated as a heinous criminal assigned to the bottom layer of Hell, it seems he had his reasons for the crimes he committed.

If you paid close attention to the previous routes, you’d notice subtle hints about Goemon’s past life scattered throughout them. Most were probably too obvious, no?😂 But I appreciated how they all seemed to be such nice Easter eggs. Also in this route, we finally get to uncover answers to the burning questions we’ve encountered in previous stories about Rin. Who is she? What is Goemon’s connection to her?

On a lighter note, I really enjoyed Goemon and Rin’s romance here. 🥺 Listen, I’m such a big softie when it comes to acts of kindness or tropes where LIs do their best to take care of the MC from afar without her knowledge. This is a big thing to me!😂 (cackles) and Goemon’s route has a lot of that. I was really pleased with his storyline! My only gripe is that I honestly wished this route solely focused on Goemon and Rin for the entirety of it. But alas! there were too many side character storylines that needed closure, so they were all kind of shoved in amidst some good romance scenarios.🤪 Also, Taku Yashiro’s low whispers…. I think I have found a new obsession!😳

RIN ENMA (Main Heroine)

• “men are sh*t!” 😑
• megane heroine (with a whip)
• Tank | HP: 10000000000000/100
• best girl!

The first thing I noticed when I started the game was that Rin’s mouth in the side sprite moves when she talks, but she’s unvoiced, so it was kind of weird and jarring seeing this at first. It was hardly distracting, but admittedly, it took me until the end of the common route to finally get used to it.😂

Rin was a great heroine. Very earnest, responsible, and quite diligent. She started off really straight-laced, almost reminding me of Cyrus in Steam Prison in how she doesn’t seem to care much about matters of the heart. I enjoyed how she was so expressive and was not afraid to get angry and be all like “buzz off bub, or I’ll whip you to shreds!😠” with her LIs and other NPCs. She also undergoes a series of growth in each route, and in each one, she gets to deliver really fleshed-out, solid character developments. _{Below are some of my fav moods of Rin!}

She is such a MOOD! She is the MOMENT!💅
Rin can also be a tsundere sometimes, and a thirsty one at that, 😂 and I found her inner musings when she thinks (read: thirst) about her LIs quite the feat!🤭 I love that she was an overthinker (aren’t we all?), and was so self-aware about her own feelings. It was honestly so satisfying to see her explore them as well. I loved that sometimes she also takes the first initiative to be bold to her man when the situation calls for it. I don’t really think I had any complaints about her? She really is so great! Best girl fr!

Rin is also a tank, quite possibly the strongest tank heroine I’ve ever encountered, given she can endure pain better than her LIs. Her stamina and HP are probably at glaring god-tier levels for her to withstand Asaemon’s blade showers. lol 😂

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SYSTEM AND LOCALIZATION

The game offers customization options for your Main Menu screen, which was one of my favorite features of Tengoku Struggle’s UI. You can select a character to display on your screen, choose from their various sprites, and select a backdrop. As you play through the routes, more sprites of the LIs unlock, along with backdrop displays featuring different in-game locations.

An additional feature of the game, which I see as more of an “EXTRA” directly tied to the story, is the “Memory” section in Hari’s Archive. Here, you can explore memoirs of the characters, ranging from the main love interests to the side characters. Each memoir provides additional backstory that may have been glossed over in the main game. This feature resembles the memoirs section of Olympia Soiree for those familiar with it. On top of that, this section also contains extra bonus scenes of the characters being silly little goofballs, (mainly fanservice), and some of them even unlock CGs.

Other features that I found helpful were the “Love Catch” system (basically providing hints if your answers are leading toward the BAD or HAPPY end) and the ‘Jump to the Next choice’, which made it easy to unlock other endings instead of utilizing the SKIP function, as this game was quite lengthy!

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Unfortunately, there were a couple of typo errors in the game that I’ve spotted across all routes, even when speed-reading it, so I couldn’t exactly say that the localization was clean-cut. I have to say however, that the localization team did an excellent job toning down the vulgar jokes from the original Japanese release, which caused quite a stir when the game first launched in Japan.

In my honest opinion, all of these were just dumb, vulgar humor that fit so well in the game’s setting, which is….wait for it….HELL! 😂 So it made sense to me why the characters would talk in such a crude way. 🤷‍♀️ Idk, some of these even tickled my funny bone! Like Tamao (the heroine’s talking cat) threatening to bite and chew off the men’s wee-wee as punishment if they misbehave. He even keeps tabs and assigns “chomp points” in his handy dandy notebook.😂 Every time Sharaku opens his mouth and blurts out some silly suggestive jokes, I always bust out laughing. Idk man, maybe my humor is broken, or perhaps I’m just destined for hell someday 😔 because I was honestly entertained by the game’s dirty humor!😭😂

But I guess if you’re the pure holy-mother-mary type and these things put you off, it’s probably best to steer clear of this game. (As well as any american shows on Netflix that are PG 13. – Yes, I’m being sarcastic.)

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TRAILER

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OVERALL THOUGHTS

Tengoku Struggle -strayside- was a lengthy game, and it took me around 60-65 hours to complete everything. Fortunately, this title was very straightforward to play, offering only two endings for each route (Happy and Bad), and the “Love Catch” system made it easy for me to determine which ending I was heading towards.

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Keep your expectations in check!

While this title was developed by the team behind Olympia Soiree, I think it’s really important to set your expectations accordingly with this game. Besides the art and a few shared tropes, I really wouldn’t compare this to OS. Olympia Soiree had a clear objective, along with specific end goals tied to its fantasy lore’s thematic focus. In contrast, Tengoku Struggle had a completely different vibe and was more experimental in nature. It featured action, some fantasy elements, day-to-day realism, comedy, and it also wasn’t afraid to NOT take itself seriously. Even when tackling heavier themes, the narrative doesn’t shy away from injecting humor into some scenes, which, imo, stayed true to the game’s lighthearted and playful atmosphere introduced from the beginning. So yeah, there are a lot of genres mixed in right there. Whether you like the blend or not is up for you to decide!

Additionally, there were numerous slice-of-life moments scattered amidst pivotal scenarios of the game. Some of them were fun, some were boring, and some felt unnecessary. And well…due to this, the pacing can get quite jarring with these sudden tonal shifts. At one point, the characters are chasing some bad guys, the next thing you know, they’re in the convenient store nonchalantly picking out which brand of cereal to buy next.😂 This happens across all routes, and I wondered if this was even done intentionally to be consistent with the game’s quirky tone.😂

You’ll understand what I mean after playing the common route, which comprised mainly 20% plot and 80% slice-of-life. Though tbh, I didn’t actually mind this, since I enjoyed the humorous banter of the characters during these scenes.😆

A Character-Driven Game Set in the Zaniest Locale

I like how the game presented a playful interpretation of a modern hell, with famous figures (aka the love interests) serving as hell’s prisoners.😆 It’s such a unique premise, which amused me, and drew me in! However, I would caution not to expect to be mindblown by the game’s overarching plot, because ngl, it really didn’t have much going for it.😅 It’s really the characters that made this title worth it for me. I was surprised by how quickly I became fond of the heroine, the LIs, and the supporting characters. They were just too likable from the jump!

I thank the gods every time King Enma gets screentime and goes off on his unprovoked whimsical antics! The dude is just so hilarious! Plus, he’s sexy af!😌 And as an all-time dilf enjoyer, I couldn’t have been more satisfied! Papa Enma 10/10!!😌

I think I’ve actually enjoyed a lot of the side characters more than I thought I would; like Sensei No-no, Oshichi, and the precious Tama-chan! ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ I was very smitten by this lovable cat!🥺 Props to Gen Sato for being his brilliant self, and breathing life into the game’s cutie-patootie mascot!

Conversely, I had some slim pickings with the villains, which I believe are some of my main complaints in the game. There are simply way too many, which means their storylines are likely going to be shoved into the narrative. While a few, like Sansaburo and Okuni, were interesting, others were straight-up annoying. I really did not care about Ichise and his skewed sense of justice. Shinobikuni, who was introduced as the big bad in the story, fell flat as a character to me.🤷‍♀️

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Surprisingly Solid Love Interests

To my shock, I ended up loving all of the LIs and enjoyed the romance in their routes, mainly the four Jigoku boys. I do like JacK as a character as well, but I thought his route didn’t really do him justice, so I had to rank him last. Sorry, JacK! As for my favorite boy, I honestly could not choose between the four. Today, I think my favorite was Sharaku, but yesterday it was Yona. Maybe tomorrow it’ll be Goemon, and the next day Kiku. (laughs) Honestly, I love them all; please don’t make me choose! ＼(º □ º l|l)/

Character Ranking:
Sharaku = Yona = Goemon = Kiku >>> JacK

Route Ranking:
Goemon = Yona = Sharaku > Kiku >>>>>>>>>>>> JacK

Besides the eccentric lovable husbandos, I found the romance in this game to be quite solid as well. There were plenty of date scenarios where the heroine shares intimate and fluffy moments with her chosen LI, and there was a decent amount of spicy scenes (accompanied by lovely kiss CGs) that were all-around satisfying at the end of each route. The game also had an abundance of found-family moments between the main characters, which I appreciated very much!🥰

Do I recommend this game? YES.
I had one hell of a time playing Tengoku Struggle -strayside- (pun intended). In essence, this title is a vibrant otome game with an avant-pop feel to it. It offers a blend of comedy-fantasy, adventure, slice-of-life story bits, and fantastic crude humor, all woven into its wacky supernatural lore. Despite the game’s experimental tone and playful edginess, it also offers food for thought, exploring themes of life, death, and love.

Truth be told, I was initially very wary about this game due to its mixed reviews on the JP side. However, by the end of it all, I found myself genuinely loving this title.😃 While the plot wasn’t groundbreaking by any means, the very charming and eccentric characters more than made up for it and then some. They are what made this title a favorite of mine this year! If you appreciate character-driven stories, then this game is perfect for you! However, if you are picky and particular with plot consistency and smooth narrative flow, I advise you to take heed of the points I mentioned above regarding the story’s pacing. Nonetheless, I definitely encourage everyone to play this game with an open mind and without any preconceptions. Who knows, it might end up being your favorite too?😉

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