Release Date: November 7, 2024 (North America)
Developers:  Otomate
Publishers:  Aksys Games
Platforms:  Nintendo Switch
ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

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SYNOPSIS

On a small island called Arpéchéle grow the black flowers of misfortune called Lycoris Noirge. The people of this country are born with a curse, condemning the people to death before the age of 23. After many years of research, a method of prolonging their life spans was created by cloning their memories and bodies. Those who live forever through the memory download system are known as “Relivers” and continue to resist their short lives.

Experience the new despair and salvation that awaits Ceres and her suitors in these five new tales that further explore the world of Virche Evermore.

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This fandisc comprises five different sections:

• Side Story Interlude – A collection of events from the main story, featuring what-if scenarios, glimpses into the LIs’ pasts, and additional untold stories of side characters, along with a few backstories for the new characters.
• Side End Encore – New alternate routes for the main five LIs (Yves, Lucas, Mathis, Scien, Adolphe). These routes basically revisit stories from the first game but added a different spin on their endings.
• Virche de la Coda Emotion – These are the after stories for the main LIs in Virche Evermore Error Salvation, continuing from each main character’s Salvation End in the first game.
• Tradition Drifter – An untold story about the founder of the family that secretly guards the lycoris flowers, and how he changed the fate of the country.
• Virche du Salut -Ankou- This is Ankou’s route. A new story of the Watchman of Death and the key he holds to the maiden of death’s future.

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ART AND MUSIC

Director: Misa Yoshida

Artist/Illustrator: Yomi

Scenario Writers: Satomi Nakayama (Main), Yuuri Utsugi (Sub)

OST: Gesshoku Kaigi (Composer, Artist), Hiroshi Akechi (Assistant Composer), Wada Yoshitake (Assistant Composer)

BGM: Jun Ichikawa

Voice Acting

Kohei Amasaki as “Mathis Claude” – Toka (9RIP), Saburo (Hypnosis Mic), Sylvie Scott (Cupid Parasite), Emilio (Piofiore), Aira Shiratori (Ensemble Stars!!), Tweedle Dum (Spade no Kuni no Alice) Kanata (Tales of Crestoria)

Soma Saito as “Yves” – Kiku (Tengoku Struggle), 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)

Daisuke Hirakawa as “Lucas Proust” – Laito (Diabolik Lovers), Saint Germain (Code Realize), Lucien (MLQC), Oomi (Hiiro no Kakera), Zain (Period Cube), Tower Overlord (Psychedelica AH), Cinderella (Taisho x Alice), Kokindenjunotachi (Touken Ranbu), Ace (Spade no Kuni no Alice)

Yoshimasa Hosoya as “Scien Brofiise” – Shu (BUSTAFELLOWS), Julian (Black Wolves Saga), Loki (Kamigami no Asobi), Hidaka Subaru (Robotics;Notes), Yukimura Sanada (IkeSen), Reflet (FE Engage), Doppo Kunikida (Bungou Stray Dogs), Iwasaki Tousuke (Meiji Tokyo Renka)

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

Kazuyuki Okitsu as “Ankou” – Yoji Kobase (Sympathy Kiss),  Atsushi Daikoku (B-PROJECT), Tsukuyomi (Olympia Soiree), Epilogi (Café Enchanté), Hachisuka Kotetsu (Touken Ranbu), Dante (Jack Jeanne), Ray (EPHEMERAL), Kuya (NU Carnival),  Kyrie (Ozmafia!!), Keith Knight (Iris School of Wizardry)

Seichiro Yamashita as “Hugo” – Rokuro Yoshioka (Sympathy Kiss), Yoichi (Winters Wish), Yagen (Touken Ranbu), Ryuki (Juuzaengi), Jeremiah Jenkins (Money Parasite)

Shunichi Toki as “Dahut” – Hibiki (9RIP),  Leo Cavagnis (Piofiore), Yakumo (Dairoku), Hibie (Winters Wish), Matsui Go (Touken Ranbu), Mousse Atlas (IkeRev), Yuki Rurikawa (A3!)

Mitsuki Nakamura as “Drifter” – Galient Tazaki (Yu-Gi-Oh! Sevens), Henchman A (Chainsaw Man), Fenrir (OVERHIT)

Yui Kondo as “Spinel“ – Teuta (BUSTAFELLOWS), Kuon Stroheim (XBlaze Series), Mio Ichinose (Saku Saku: Love Blooms with the Cherry Blossoms), Corneria (Atelier Series), Biwa Hayahide (Uma Musume), Tao Mongarten (Atelier Ryza), Minayle (Monster Hunter Rise)

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MAIN CHARACTERS, AFTER STORIES & ROUTES

There’s only one route restriction in this game: you must clear the ‘Tradition Drifter’ story to unlock Ankou’s route and after-story. Since it’s also a fandisc, there are no definite route orders implemented by the devs, and I don’t think it matters which LI’s story you start with first. However, the devs did suggest on Otomate’s blog that *if you want to end the game on a rather “happier” note, you can play in the order: Encore → Emotion → Drifter → Ankou, and then do the side story Interlude as a breather in between.

*If you prefer to end the game with its “Despair” theme (sadder note). They suggested doing: Interlude → Emotion → Drifter → Ankou → Encore. That said, these are ONLY just suggestions, and they emphasized that it’s best to play in whatever order feels right for you.

During my gameplay, I followed their first suggested order and played one love interest at a time, starting with their Encore stories (to get them out of the way), then Emotion → Drifter → Ankou. I did all the Side Stories last, but personally I definitely agree that these really don’t mater that much!

Walkthroughs:

• Mathis
• Yves
• Lucas
• Scien
• Adolphe
• Tradition Drifter
• Ankou

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MATHIS CLAUDE

Story Enjoyment: 6.5/10
Fan Service: 7/10

Virche de la Coda -Emotion- Thoughts:
First of all, Mathis’ new sprite just makes me go… 🥺His new bow just makes him look even more precious than he already is. So there’s that! Unfortunately, his story just made me so upset beyond belief! How can they do this to my boy? It was really unfair how he got a somewhat “Happy” salvation ending in the first game, only for the FD to take it back! It’s such a kick in the stomach for the Mathis appreciators like myself. Seriously, I’m very disappointed. 😔 #justiceformathis

YVES

Story Enjoyment: 7.5/10
Fan Service: 6.5/10

Virche de la Coda -Emotion- Thoughts:
At least in Yves’ after-story, there was a sense of hopefulness and a *happy* ending by the final chapters. But to get there, you have to go through an overwhelming amount of suffering (laughs). I mean, what did I even expect, given how tragic their “salvation ending” turned out in the first game? The sheer amount of despair Yves and Ceres had to go through was pretty overkill, and this was in his after-story, mind you. I did like how his alternate despair endings played out in Encore! Plus, Yves route has one of my favorite CGs in the game!🥰 #justiceforyves

LUCAS PROUST

Story Enjoyment: 3/10
Fan Service:5/10

Virche de la Coda -Emotion- Thoughts:

Me: “Mathis route got the short end of the stick in this FD!”
Lucas Route: “Hold my halberd” 𓌏

Here I was, thinking Mathis’ after-story had it rough... then comes Lucas’ route!😔While his Encore story wasn’t entirely as devastating as it was in the first game, that’s not to say his endings here didn’t carry the same amount of despair as the previous ones (cackles).😭 Poor Lucas-sensei really can’t catch a break, huh? His after-story also felt a bit too out there compared to the other LIs, and I found it almost funny how his character got more hopeful resolutions in other routes than in his own. If you’re hoping to see a “happy narrative” for Lucas, Ceres, and Nadia here, unfortunately, this route isn’t going to give you that. But if you loved the despair endings of Lucas’ route in the first game, you will definitely enjoy this one. #justiceforlucas

SCIEN BROFIISE

Story Enjoyment: 7.5/10
Fan Service:8/10

Virche de la Coda -Emotion- Thoughts:
As someone who had Scien as my least favorite route and LI in the first game, I’m actually quite surprised that I enjoyed his after-story a lot. Maybe it had something to do with him showing more of his softer side and being less of an insufferable kamidere (a popular trope I’m not really a superfan of). I mean, sure, he’s still the diva that he is, but he’s more openly affectionate now, especially toward Ceres, and it was pretty cute; endearing, even. Am I finally understanding Mister Brofiise’s charm? 😱 His despair endings in Encore were definitely a step up from those in the first game, and the conclusion of his after-story felt far more satisfying to me than the previous three routes I played (Mathis, Yves, and Lucas). Scien fans are definitely going to have a feast!

ADOLPHE

Story Enjoyment: 8.5/10
Fan Service: 8/10

Virche de la Coda -Emotion- Thoughts:
(…)Finally some good food!😤 I think Adolphe’s after-story was by far my favorite among all the LIs. His was probably the happiest and had the most closure for all the characters. His after-story, including his cute lover’s spat with Ceres, was also a nice change of pace from all the despair plotlines in other routes. I know these mundane slice-of-life stories are very much cliché in FDs, but I’ll take anything that isn’t ‘despair’ at this point. /jk I think this FD was made to showcase a new rendition of Adolphe. The new spin in his Encore story proves that he isn’t the “Ankou-at-home” meme anymore! Even Ankou acknowledges that he’s doing one hell of a job taking care of Ceres. It really was such a nice glow-up for his character! #fromzerotoheroadolphe

The only downside to his after-story was that Ankou doesn’t exist in this timeline, but y’know… you win some, you lose some. If anything, this actually made his story more bittersweet, and I loved it!🥺

ANKOU

Story Enjoyment: 6/10
Fan Service: 7/10

Virche du Salut -Ankou-:
I thought Ankou’s route was going to continue the Drifter’s story since you have to clear “Tradition Drifter” before his route unlocks… but I was totally bamboozled to find out that Ankou’s route is actually…… Le Salut 2.0!😬 It took me an entire weekend to finish this route alone; it was incredibly long (8 chapters), and most of it was a repeat of the story in Le Salut, with a few campy spins and some new characters woven into the timeline. On one hand, I loved the new characters and the new Ankou-Ceres interactions, but redoing 70% of Le Salut again, with only a couple of added new content here and there, became rather tedious for me.

On the bright side, you actually get a happy ending for Ankou here, which I feel is the main point why this route existed. I just wish they hadn’t repeated every single thing from the first game though! On a different note, there’s one alternate ending for Ankou’s route that I very much liked because it somewhat fulfilled a full-circle narrative for him and Ceres’s tragic love story in the first game, and I thought that one fit their despair yet bittersweet romance perfectly.(☆Read spoilers if you’re curious!)

TRADITION DRIFTER

Story Enjoyment: 10/10

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SYSTEM AND LOCALIZATION

The system for this fandisc was pretty robust! I loved that they brought back the “Touch & Play” mechanism for all the CGs in the gallery. I’ve always enjoyed this feature in Otomate’s older games, and I’m glad they are slowly implementing it back!

Other system functionalities that were very helpful in the game are as follows:

Localization

The localization by Aksys Games was also pretty solid. I only spotted a few minor text errors/typos, which were rather unnoticeable, especially if you’re someone who can breeze through a game quickly.

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TRAILER

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OVERALL THOUGHTS

It took me 60 hours to finish Virche Evermore: Epic Lycoris, including unlocking all the CGs and glossary entries in the game. This time, I played in handheld mode and sometimes didn’t wait for the voice lines to finish (Everytime Dr. Cappucino does his campy evil monologues, i skip!) I’d say if I had played in my usual auto-mode, it would likely have taken longer than 60 hours. The game definitely falls on the lengthy side, which was quite a surprise given its a fandisc.

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Keep Your Expectations In Check (Again)

When you think of otome game fandiscs, you normally think of the main characters going on dates, spending time together at the beach, and enjoying romantic, slice-of-life activities that further develop the main couple’s relationship while also strengthening their bond as romantic partners. Well, I mean, that’s usually the case no? …and then you have Virche Evermore, which completely breaks the otome game FD stereotype!🥲🤣

Virche Evermore Epic Lycoris subverts these expectations by staying true to its original “despair” theme. Instead of offering wholesome cheery slice-of-life scenarios, it embarks you as the player to experience some of the bleakest, most emotionally charged tragic events that push our beloved main characters to their limits. (Here’s some good ol meme for reference). That said, if you expect Ceres and her LIs to bask in a true “happy-ever-after,” you’ll likely be disappointed in this fandisc. Most of the *happy* endings here are more: “happy” in the sense that they offer a feeling of relief or hopefulness, intertwined with a sense of melancholy, rather than the idyllic form of “happy” with sunshine and rainbows, if you know what I mean. So, yeah, it’s really best to keep your expectations in check!

Despair and Suffering Part 2

I felt the Side End Encore stories were just repeats of the routes from the first game, but this time, with more details and a few revisions and twists. While these scenarios offer more nuance and emotional weight compared to the first game, I honestly found them totally unnecessary. Besides enduring another set of despair endings, my biggest issue with this fandisc was the repetition of events! Since these events pretty much rehashed the first plot, there were no elements of surprise, and I didn’t feel immersed since I already knew what was going to happen. As a result, it made some routes (in encore especially) a chore to finish, at least in my experience.😔

In terms of story, it still had more holes in its plot than your average swiss cheese, though they did manage to explain (a little bit) regarding Ankou’s loop (and the different timelines). While it wasn’t as satisfying as I expected, I still appreciated their attempt to provide some closure in that regard, even if it was vague. (lol) And of course, the campy science is back! Because what would Virche be without the campy science and campy despair, right? 😏 (word of advise: just turn off your brain, and everything will be alright!)

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As for the LIs and their after-stories, I thought Adolphe had one of the most romantically satisfying routes, followed by Scien. Ankou’s route was nice, but having to go through another run of Le Salut really bogged it down for me. Yves had some nice bittersweet endings that I actually enjoyed, while Mathis and Lucas were completely done dirty in this fandisc. As a Mathis enjoyer, I’m still pretty upset about this!😔 ...And as for Lucas’s route, I honestly don’t know what to think of it.

On a very different note, the Drifter’s story was pretty solid to me. I was so invested in it, and I really enjoyed everything about it from the first chapters to the last. Just wished it could’ve been longer!🥹

Romance-wise, I thought this was definitely better than the first game in terms of getting some sugary content. Although, it goes without saying that the theme “despair” still outweighs the sweetness in most of the routes, maybe except for Adolphe’s after-story (and Scien’s), which in my opinion, were the only ones that felt lovey-dovey all the way!

Do I recommend this game? YES.
Virche Evermore: Epic Lycoris is undeniably designed for the Virche fans. If you loved and enjoyed the first game, you definitely don’t want to miss this title! This fandisc is truly for the fans of the original series, those who appreciated and enjoyed its despair themes.

If you’re like me and feel mostly lukewarm about the first game, I don’t think this fandisc will change your opinion of it. The despair plot remains just as campy (and messy) as in the first installment. Though I’d have to say that this FD really made me see the characters in a whole new light. Adolphe baby im looking at you! mwah!😘 So, I definitely encourage you to pick this one up still, perhaps grabbing it during a nice sale?

Virche Evermore: Epic Lycoris is a dark fantasy otome game that takes another look at the despair elements of its predecessor, Virche: Evermore Error Salvation. This installment rewards players who love themes of despondency and melancholy! If that’s your cup of tea, this fandisc is definitely worth your time and money!

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