Release Date:April 28, 2017 (North America) Developers:Idea Factory, Otomate Publishers:Idea Factory, Aksys Games Platforms:PS Vita ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
With Period Cube’s MMORPG theme, I admit I was really enthused when I first started playing this title. Not because it had the same concept as Sword Art Online (forgive me but I couldn’t really get into the series, though I did played the Lost Song on PSVITA) but because this game, reminded me a lot of my childhood memories indulging on those sleepless nights playing mmorpgs like World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XIV while getting ready for my finals the next morning (lol goodtimes!).
As someone who (cough) *used to be* an mmorpg addict, Period Cube’s introduction really piqued my interest as an otome game.
ART AND MUSIC Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of Period Cube that initially caught my attention was the game’s beautiful art style, done by non other than the artist Kuroyuki, also known for her popular works; Gekka Ryouran Romance and Black Wolves Saga. You can visit her Pixiv profile here.
Fun Fact:Ibarano Rakuen, the game’s opening theme was performed by Joelle, an American – Japanese artist from Utah, USA. She also sang “Lucky Maria”, the end credits for the 1990’s hit American movie “TRICK”. You can visit the artist’s website here.
Glossary: Arcadia – the mmorpg game our main characters are playing. World V – The server where Arcadia players are sucked into. Ark – aka “dungeon” in mmorpg lore, where players need to clear in order to exit the game world. Angels and Demons – the only two factions in Arcadia Trinity of Swords – three most powerful weapons in Arcadia (Shadow’s Edge, Divine Blade of Light and the Almighty Amadeus)
RADIUS
Solo Player
Cold, Snob
Tsun tsun
IRL: Idol
The lone-wolf solo player of the demon faction. Radius holds an icy attitude towards everyone in Arcadia, including the heroine. He never joins a party and prefers to clear the ark on his own. He wields the Shadow’s Edge, one of the most powerful weapons in World V.
Although I liked Radius route for the most part, I find his romance with the heroine a little too forced. His story started somewhat interesting because of his tsundere nature, which i think was really cute. But he fell in love with Kazuha way too quick that I find it really hard to comprehend. He does have some fluffy moments with the heroine in the real world but If it wasn’t for Maeno’s irresistible voice acting, I probably would’ve not enjoyed this route as much as I did. ┐( -“-)┌
ASTRUM
Clarius Guild Leader
Roleplaying level 110%
Panic Attacks
IRL: Nerdy Med school student
Astrum is the leader of the famous guild, Clarius. They are considered as Arcadia’s speed-runners when it comes to clearing difficult quests and dungeons. He posses the Divine Blade of Light, one of the Trinity of Swords in World V and almost everyone in the Angel faction respects him for his leadership and camaraderie.
Astrum is also well-known for his exaggerated role playing in Arcadia and its almost cringe-worthy to listen to his flamboyant lines in the game. I didn’t really deemed this character interesting at first, as I did with Radius but after meeting Astrum in real life as Toru, the nerdy med student who gets panic attacks whenever Kazuha talks to him, I was overwhelmed by how hilarious this character was, that I immediately started liking him. His route was very refreshing because of the added comic relief and I did not expect I’d enjoyed his route so much~ I actually think it’s one of the best in the game.
DEMENTO
Bloodlust
Cold blooded murderer
IRL: Convenient Store clerk
The ruthless Arcadia gamer who loves PK’ing other players for fun. Demento’s race was changed to “Fallen” due to his uncontrollable lust of murdering other players (be it an Angel or a Demon) in World V. Because of his Fallen status, he has certain restrictions such as not being able to carry any kind of weapon other than his basic rubber daggers as well as not being able to enter certain location points (city) in Arcadia.
*Plays Bad Romance in the BG* My biggest problem with Demento’s route was that it lacked in character depth so much that I’ve asked myself over and over again “Why is this even a route?!” I mean, I love my trashy characters in otomes and I’m usually always in the front lines defending their sad excuse for an attitude (laughs) but Demento’s story was just a bad case of FUBAR. It would have been better if he had some sort of backstory that explained his bloodthirstiness and his hate for his life in the real world, but NOPE you aint gettin any of that here, no sir! ┐(︶▽︶)┌ What’s worse is that his route branches off from Astrum’s story so I literally power skipped everything except for the last two chapters. The only thing to look forward to in this route is Umehara’s voice. heh.
ZAIN
NPC with feelings
Possessive
Yandere
Originally an NPC (Non Playable Character), Zain appears on other routes as someone who guides people around Adventure Town and provides players with quests. Since he’s computer generated, this character had no real life memories. However he was programmed (by the Arcadia makers) to protect Kazuha in World V which sort of conflicts his motives as a regular NPC.
In his route, Kazuha came accross Zain while she was separated from her friend Hiroya and was fleeing from a monster that was chasing after her. Zain (as programmed) saved the heroine momentarily after they met and assisted her in surviving the world of Arcadia. As Zain spent more time with Kazuha, he quickly becomes more attached to her which lead to his unhealthy “obsession”. Zain’s route had potential but because it had too many plot holes all piled up at the same time it became really confusing to me that I could barely get any connection with him. I love his character design though (I think he’s the prettiest bachelor of the bunch) and I love hearing Hirakawa’s pure innocent voice.
HIROYA
the childhood friend
Reliable
Stubborn
In World V, Hiroya plays as a Boxer in the demon faction. He’s sometimes quite harsh with Kazuha but actually looks out for her in every way possible. Although his level is not up to par with most of the main characters in the game, he tries his best to protect the heroine from harm, even if it means putting his life on the line. IRL, Hiroya is Kazuha’s childhood friend who was with her when she got warped into World V.
Hiroya is that-one-character that gets copped out and friendzoned in almost all the routes in the game besides his. Poor guy! Because of this, I was so satisfied playing his route because, finally… he get’s a happy ending! (yay). I’m not really a fan of the childhood friend trope but I actually think his story was pretty good despite being predictable. Plus, his CGs were very lovely!
LIBERA
Gender bender
Cunning
IRL: junior high school student
Libera is a “nekama” (male who plays a female character in online games / communities). He acts all ‘kawaii’ to get other male players give him provisions like a cool gear or some rare items for free by just batting his eyelashes(laughs). He’s not interested in doing any quests to increase his character level and just enjoys taking advantage of other players in Arcadia.
I don’t think anyone (in their right mind) actually thinks of Libera as a female character in the game as it was made very obvious from the get go (..and Hanae’s voice ain’t that feminine ya know!). Despite Libera’s cunning attitude towards the heroine, I actually like Libera’s character development. He’s smart and he typically knows what he’s doing. Although he makes it a point to prioritize his own self first above all else, I find it cute how he unintentionally risk his life to save Kazuha just in the nick of time.^^ I also enjoyed his moments with the heroine in the real world and I believe both of them are suited for each other, age and maturity level wise.
POYO-POYO
Onii-san route
Obsessive
Spoilers! Spoilers! Spoilers!
Poyo-Poyo is a small monster / fairy-ish intel character in Arcadia who from time to time helps the heroine and other players in World V. He’s also a mysterious character, one that kept re-appearing in most of the routes in the game. Almost every player in Arcadia knew him for his cute appearance and easy going nature. He also knows a lot of secrets in World V.
If Toriumi’s voice didn’t made it obvious for you. This cute little mascot is actually Shiki in disguise. Shiki is Kazuha’s missing brother and one of the makers of the world Arcadia.
Although it was made clear in the beginning that Shiki and Kazuha aren’t blood related, Idk, I guess I’m just not a fan of the brother-sister-romance trope, especially if both of you grew up together on the same household from day one. Not only that, Shiki’s character was also very obsessive with the heroine, all the more making this route really uncomfortable (to me anyway lol). But because he’s a 2D character, I forgive him.Despite this route’s creep factor, I think they did an okay job in justifying the story’s plot holes and cliffhangers in Shiki’s happy ending. I honestly did not enjoy this route personally, but I don’t think it was a bad “true” route altogether. ┐(°ヮ°)┌
KAZUHA (main heroine)
Mary Sue
bland
dues ex machina
Kazuha is the most Mary Sue of all mary sues an otome game has to offer. I just can’t connect to this heroine on any level that it was so hard to play her character without getting ticked off (scratches head). She literally gets dragged around by all the guys in the game and becomes a doormat in almost every route. Not only that, but the fact that this heroine did not develop any kind of progress in the RPG world, status/level wise is so aggravating, It grew grey hairs all over my head!I can sense that there was an attempt for a character development but it failed in so many levels, it’s a darn shame because this character had a lot of potential in the mmorpg lore. But hey, because of her “Almighty” status (race) she can transform into something so powerful in the most convenient time possible because deus ex machina anyone? (face palm).
*Deep Breath* Alright, so I may have seen worse heroines than Kazuha. Still, this doesn’t change the fact that this protagonist was a let down especially when the plot itself had a lot of opportunities for her character to do so much better in so many ways. (Shrug) ┐(︶▽︶)┌
On a side note, I absolutely love Kazuha’s character design. She’s just so cute!!! and her RPG costume as a Minstrel / Almighty was top tier.
OTHER CHARACTERS Besides the main ones, there were a few prominent side characters of the game that I think were more likable and would’ve possibly made better routes than the ones already lined up. Jocus and Mergo (for example), from the guild Forte were a few of the characters that would’ve made potential suitors for the heroine. Same goes for Sirent, from the angel faction. (^◔ᴥ◔^)
TRAILER / OPENING MOVIE
OVERALL THOUGHTS?( ´ ∀ ` )ﾉ To me, Period Cube was a great visual novel per se. When it comes to its art, music, game system and voice acting ~ it’s one decent title worthy of its price. I would recommend this game just for those aspects alone.
Story wise, it’s not perfect, it had a lot of plot holes that were left in the dark for the most part of the game which was really disappointing (e.g. Akashic Records). Some routes were a bit darker than I anticipated and It would’ve been nice if there was more focus on creating character depths among the romanceable bachelor’s stories (e.g. Demento’s route). But despite the few reasonable gripes I’ve stated above, I did enjoy playing this game as a whole and I’ve at least liked 4 routes (Radius, Astrum, Libera, Hiroya).
Overall, it’s a good title by Otomate, maybe not one for the books but definitely something worth picking up, imo. If you’re like me who doesn’t mind spending a little of that doe to support otoge localisations, I recommend giving this one a go.
Game Title: The Amazing Shinsengumi: Heroes in Love Release Date: Aug. 9, 2018 (North America)
Developers: Dogenzaka Lab
Publishers: D3Publisher
The game was originally released on Steam (PC) and on mobile (iTunes, Android Store). Now, we have this game port on the Nintendo Switch thanks to D3Publisher.
Click here for The Amazing Shinsengumi: Heroes in Love downloadable content (Nintendo Eshop).
Voiced: NO
The Story:
The year is 1864, at the end of the Edo period. A group of men bravely took action to extinguish a burning house. Those men were part of a group called the Shinsengumi. In order to protect the city of Kyoto, they would rush to any place that needed them. The curtain rises on the crusade of the members of the Shinsengumi, whose hearts burn as passionately as a the flames they fight…
Game Title: Ayakashi Koi Gikyoku (Yokai Love Play) Release Date: Aug. 2, 2018 (North America)
Developers: OperaHouse Corporation
Publishers: DIGIMERCE
Great news otoge fans! We have another english otome title released for the Nintendo Switch.
Ayakashi Koi Gikyoku’s switch port was initially released by Operhouse Corporation last April 26, 2018 in Japan. Now thanks to DIGIMERCE Intl. we are finally getting this game’s localized version.
Click here for Ayakashi Koi Gikyoku downloadable content (Nintendo Eshop).
Story (From Nintendo Switch Eshop)
When the stars and the moon appeared in the sky――. You went to visit the concert hall where the lower note echoes rhythmically with vibration. Tonight, the one playing music is the Visual-Kei band “FOX EAR”. All 5 unique members are wearing a fox ear.Once you hear their voices, the magatama (comma-shaped beads) that you have on your neck beams out the light. This dazzling light made me lose my consciousness and taken back to “FOX EAR” ’s dressing room. As they pressure you to give them the magatama, but as magatama seems out the light again as if to protect you……。
Although the 5 members noticed that they can’t take it by force, they tried to make you fall for them to get magatama.
Heh, I kinda wish the game’s synopsis was translated better, but eh ┐(︶▽︶)┌ who cares! rofl. Another thing that got me really excited with this game was the voice acting from my favorite seiyus; Daisuke Hirakawa (voice of Saint Germain – CR), Ryohei Kimura (voice of Shiraishi – CxM), and Natsuki Hanae (voice of Libera in PCube / Akito Sera in CxM).
This link shows you some upcoming otome titles developed by OperaHouse to be released on the Nintendo Switch eshop (Japan). So we’ll be looking out for its english releases anytime soon.
In terms of spoiler content, from least to greatest ~ I strongly recommend playing the game in the route order below:
Now, we have this game port on the Nintendo Switch thanks to 
