Game Title: Hyakka Hyakurou Sengoku Ninpou-chou ~ “Nightshade” Release Date: December 20, 2018 (Japan)
Developers: Red Entertainment Corporation & Lantern Rooms
Publishers: D3 Publisher
Nightshade fans! It’s finally here! The Switch port we’ve all been waiting for!
To those who didn’t know, Nightshade (localized version) was initially released last April 12, 2017 for PC (Steam) platform in North America, Europe and Australia. Perhaps, due to the big Visual Novel Console move from the PS Vita to the Nintendo Switch – D3 Publisher has finally decided to release a Switch port for this game.
This game is also available in the PS Vita Console (Japanese only).
Finally! A Switch Otome game that’s worth every penny! (chuckles)
STORY: During the Sengoku Period the two main factions of ninja clans, Iga and Kōga, warred against each other for decades. In the year 1593, Nobunaga Oda started the Tenshō Iga war, decimating most of the Iga ninjas in the process. The very few that survived were absorbed into the Kōga clan, despite their past rivalries.
After 17 years the Sengoku Period finally came to an end, and Japan was unified.
Enju (Protagonist), daughter of Kandō Ueno, the Head of the Kōga clan, spends her days training diligently in hope of becoming a full-fledged ninja like her peers.
At long last she is assigned to her first mission, but finds herself caught in a dark conspiracy――.
VOICED? YES
Voice Actors include:
Hikaru Midorikawa
Wataru Hatano
Hiro Shimono
Kenjiro Tsuda
Kosuke Toriumi
D3P International has yet to confirm a western release for this game, but since the physical and digital Japanese version already supports the English language, there is nothing holding us back from acquiring or playing this game on the Switch. Simply download the digital release in the Japanese Eshop or if you love physical copies, like I do… Importing the game or proxy shipping is always an option. ( ´ ▽ ` )
Release Date: August 2, 2018 (North America) Developers: OperaHouse Inc. Publishers: OperaHouse Inc., DIGIMERCE Platforms: Nintendo Switch ESRB Rating: M(Mature)
Prologue You were invited by your cousin to watch a live concert by a Visual Kei band called FOX EAR. As the band members stepped onto the stage and played their music, Your magatama (tear shaped pendant), an ornament you’ve inherited from your ancestors that was passed around for generations started to give off a strange massive light. You fell unconscious during the sudden turn of events and eventually found yourself waking up in the backstage surrounded by five handsome fox dudes. Apparently the members of FOX EARS are real life mythical creatures and they’ve come to take the magatama from you. OH NO! …But instead of taking it by force, they’ve decided to make you fall for them so you can surrender the magatama at your own will and pace. Who will you choose to fall in love & trust the powers of the magatama with? The decision lies in your hands.. (⁎˃ᆺ˂)
Alright, so I’m gonna cut to the chase and say, playing this game made me appreciate The Charming Empiremore. That game may have weak content, but the localisation was pristine. This one however, hit rock bottom.
LOCALISATION WAS A COMPLETE MESS! (╬ Ò﹏Ó)
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
I’m talking about broken english that appears to come from a machine translation. The grammar and sentence structure doesn’t make sense at all. It’s a shame since the fluff content of this game is pretty normal and the VAs were top tier. However, incorporating it with horrible translations defeats the purpose of enjoying a visual novel in general.
The game allows you to choose a language to play it with at the start though, so if you know kanji, Istrongly recommend playing it in Japanese instead, (It’s less painful that way)…
ART AND MUSIC I like how each of the characters have their own theme (bgms) that seem to match their personalities. Keisuke’s smooth jazzy theme was my fav. ( ´ ω ` ). The artwork was also worthy of praise, imo. I think it is fairly above average compared to other recent otome projects these days. Heck, I even liked this game’s trailer.
Kousei / Kosei plays the bass guitar of the band FOX EAR. He’s also the band’s leader lol I actually thought it was Akito since he’s the ‘lead’ vocalist/guitarist but eh, it’s actually Kousei, surprise! The fact that this info was dumped almost at the end chapters of his story had my face twitching like (⊙_⊙) haha. Kosei also possess a very stiff and perfectionist attitude where he can lose his cool at times.
In his route, Kousei puts a lot of pressure on himself & tries his absolute best when it comes to writing songs and creating new music for the band. It was revealed in the middle of his story that this attitude stems from being raised by very uptight (fox) parents, who hates humans and who’s always comparing him to Akito. During his events, you, as the heroine tried to support him and make him rely on the other band members more rather than carry his burdens on his own.
I liked Kousei as a character, his tsundere nature was charming for the most part. His route however, didn’t really make sense to me. There was a point in his story where several conflicts were all piled up together and was resolved in the most stupid fashion ever… And as much as I wanted to expound on this, I fear that this review will only get more confusing because this whole route was totally bemusing as hell! It was not good. Top it off with horrible translation, finishing this route became a nightmare! ヽ( `д´*)ノ The CGs were nice though!
KASUMI
Rhythm guitarist
Sweet Gentleman
Akito’s sickly twin brother
Kasumi plays the rhythm guitar in the band. He’s Akito’s younger brother who’s always looking out for your best interest. Unlike his older twin bro, (who’s got no chill lol)Kasumi is always calm and composed. Almost the perfect gentleman. His downside is that he was born with a weak body who can’t control his massive power inside.
I enjoyed Kasumi’s character build up. The fluff content at the beginning of his route was really adorable and I love hearing Ryohei’s gentle voice. His route on the other hand wasn’t any better than Kousei’s. In his story, Kasumi became really sick and weak and the only way to save him is for you to marry his brother Akito so he can use the magatama as the next chief of the fox village to save Kasumi’s health as well as make their village prosper. Kasumi, who wasn’t in favor of your arranged marriage with his oniisan, kidnapped you (with consent lol), took you to an abandoned shack in the middle of the woods and asked you to stay with him there until his last breath. This angsty conflict was resolved by you wishing hard on the magatama to keep Kasumi well and alive. The magatama, (knowing how much you love Kasumi), responds to your prayer by granting him a vigorous health the next day. You went back to the village with him and he arranges a meeting with his parents and Akito and they all agree to make Kasumi the next village chief and your new husband, and both of you lived happily ever after. Wow, okay! so now comes the question…; why did you ever agreed to marry Akito, when you could’ve just talked it out in the first place? Beats me! It’s as if this wrench was thrown out there in the open just to have a stupid conflict that can be merely resolved by common sense! lol
YUKI / “U/KI”
Drummer
Cheerful
bipolar
First of all, the main character’s original name is YUKI, but for some reason the english translation thinks it’s cool to replace “Yu” with “U/” …YESS “U/ki” is more trendy and fresh!! lmao.
Yuki plays the drums in the band. He is one cheerful persona and is also known to be a “genius” among the members of FOX EAR (he’s good in composing songs and writing lyrics on a whim). One interesting factor about Yuki is his split personality where he can be friendly to you at one point and in a split second becomes really ill-tempered and grumpy.
In the early part of his route, Yuki is revealed to be a half fox and half human. Because he’s not pure-blooded, it is quite difficult for him to contain his mythical powers. Hence explaining his bipolar tendency.As a temporary remedy, Yuki tries to control his powers through kendo training, to keep his wild side in check. But whenever he spends time with you, he struggles in keeping his emotions straight and goes into a frenzy of outrage after getting upset or jealous over other guys acting sweet towards you. Because he’s in a constant battle with himself every time, he tries to distance himself from you, afraid that he might hurt you in the long run. Nevertheless, you were able to confront him with this issue through the help of your trustee magatama.
The conflict in his story arises, when the elders of the fox village decided to meddle in your relationship with Yuki, saying things like ‘they cannot accept a half fox to receive the power of the magatama’. They went as far as putting up a fight with everyone and eventually took Yuki to the fox village and imprisoned him in the dungeons. With the help of all the members in Fox Ear, you were able to get to Yuki’s prison cell and managed to come face to face with one of the fox elders. By praying hard on the magatama you unknowingly summoned/ unsealed the great fox inside it and him being the great fox and all confronted the elders, telling them they shouldn’t degrade someone just because he is half fox. The elders said they’re sorry and eventually let go of Yuki. You and Yuki went back to the human world safe and sound and lived happily ever after. OK, I’m not sure if this resolved Yuki’s uncontrollable powers though, it wasn’t really clear to me but given that the fox ancestor of the magatama was unsealed, I guess this cured Yuki’s problem too? ┐(︶▽︶)┌
KEISUKE / “K-SUKE”
Keyboardist
Mysterious
White fox
Keisuke is the keyboardist of FOX EAR. He is a happy-go-lucky character and acts as an older brother to the rest of the band members. Besides his mysterious personality, Keisuke is also a big flirt and will always tease you every chance he gets.
The real conflict in his route began when Pierose, another Visual Kei band consisting of other mythical creatures; raccoon, snake, cat and a lion?? came into the picture and threw shade at Keisuke in front of the other band members. Here, they revealed that Keisuke is actually a white fox who’s been working together with a human master. Im just gonna assume they meant, he’s the ‘kitsune’ shrine familiar?By working with humans, you are branded as a traitor to your fellow fox citizens. Now that his dark past was revealed, everyone was left with a sour taste in their mouth and they (the rest of FOX EAR) eventually decided to kick Keisuke out of the band and told him not to go near you nor the magatama. Some friendship huh?
Anyway, a couple of flashbacks were shown consecutively about how “Byakuya” (the fox ancestor who was sealed in the magatama) and your ancestor, the Ying Yang master met. These scenes give you a clearer picture on what actually went down a thousand years ago (hint: they are this game’s OTP). The flashbacks also explained who Keisuke really was and how he became the white fox who worked along side your ancestors. I’m not gonna go into full detail on these events because of too many spoilers… Though I have to say, this route was REALLY angsty but lol I’ve actually quite enjoyed it. (Surprisingly) haha.
AKITO
Lead guitarist
Needs to get some chill
Jerk
BAHH! Okay last route, I can’t believe I’m almost done writing this review. Tbh it really hurts my head whenever I try to recollect the events of this game…(×﹏×)
So Akito plays the lead guitar of FOX EAR. He’s also the most unfriendly among the band members and he absolutely detest human beings. He was raised to believe that humans are sly creatures that cannot be trusted. He acts like a jerk towards you but because of your persistent attitude of wanting to get to know him, he starts warming up to you and eventually falls in love. You see, this dude’s a tsundere by nature. lol
In his story, Pierose, who wanted to break FOX EAR’s career, kidnapped you by luring you into Akito’s apartment during one of their live concerts. Despite being warned not to go out on your own nor trust anyone, just like most regular MCs who lead themselves to slaughter, you took Pierose’s bait. The instant you reached Akito’s apartment, the mythical cat (one of Pierose’s member) catches you by surprise and ties you up to keep you from moving. To add insult to injury, he magically transports you to the concert location of FOX EAR, suspends you in mid air and makes you fall on stage. Akito, seeing the love of his life is at the brink of death, used his powers and jumped so high from the stage to catch you, preventing you from hitting the ground. He does this in front of thousands of people – so now everyone started freaking out saying “FOX EAR are monsters!” Rofl. I don’t really get this part, they could’ve just told everyone off that it was all an act but since they needed some conflict in this story, this was apparently necessary lol.
Eventually the band broke up and everyone was in hiding. You on the other hand ended up with Akito in a small shack in the middle of the woods. This was a good 2-3 weeks after the controversy. Both of ya’ll try to live as lowkey as possible (e.g. you doing the laundry by the river and Akito chops some firewood lol) when another conflict occurs as Keisuke suddenly appears, threatens to hurt you and forces Akito to unseal “Byakuya” the fox ancestor in your magatama. Akito, who’s now madly in love with you was like “don’t hurt her” so he goes and break the seal and in an instant he was overflowing with uncontrollable power and the only way to stop it is for you to seal it again through a holy arrow. Keisuke helps you with this but also tells you that the fox village will go extinct ones Byakuya is sealed again. You thought about it for a moment but then you realized how much you love Akito and you don’t wanna be separated from him so you decided to go with the plan and shot the magic arrow to Akito’s heart sealing the fox ancestor, turning back everything to normal again. His ending involves both ya’ll together with Keisuke thinking of ways to revive the fox village. (Hint: Akito wants to have lots and lots of fox babies w/ you lol).
TRAILER
OVERALL THOUGHTS (҂ `з´ ) So I really wanted to give this game the benefit of the doubt because maybe if the english localisation was done properly, it wouldn’t have been such a horrible experience. But lol, shit happens.
Play time would be a good 2 hours to finish one whole route. Though to be honest, I had wished it was shorter as I feel like some of the content were kind of forced and completely unnecessary. They did established a good amount of fluff to get you connected with the characters but I just couldn’t take the forced angst. I have twitched my eyebrows on this a couple of times, It REALLY wasn’t necessary AT ALL. I like that they made use of the usual Japanese folklore about kitsunes, shrine familiars and mythical creatures… but how it was initiated was all over the place! The only thing good about this game was the voice acting, but that is to be expected since they have an A cast of top ranking seiyuus.
I do not recommend this game to anyone.Really. Don’t buy this game. Maybe if you know Japanese, then you’ll probably have an itty-bitty chance of enjoying it (though I highly doubt since the content wasn’t that great either). English translation is completely trash, I’m sorry – I actually feel bad for saying this, but it’s true. It’s not playable at all. Save your 24 bux for something else, this game is not worth it. If you really want to spend that money get OKAMI HD instead, or spend dat doe to an all you can eat sushi buffet, get a bowl of ramen, idk! haha, just… save yourself from this nightmare.
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.
Late post, but last June 21, 2018, D3P released Destiny Princess for the Nintendo Switch Console.
DESTINY PRINCESS: A War Story, A Love Story
Click here for a list of D3P games available on the switch. Click here for Destiny Princess’ downloadable content (Nintendo Eshop).
The Story:
You are a princess during Japan’s Warring States period. Loved by your people, you live a peaceful life and want for nothing. However, one day your castle is attacked by hideous demons, and just as the castle is about to fall…
Your wish calls five heroes from different worlds to your time. As the princess, it is your duty to protect your country and your people. Will you risk your life for love?
Just like the Yoshiwara series and Pub Encounter, this game does not offer any VA’s. But they have a couple of good reviews so I believe it’s worth its price tag.
I’m glad I waited for the Switch port to come out before I decided to purchase this one on Steam. Will be reviewing this game as soon as I finish it!
Yesterday (June 14, 2018)D3Publisher released yet another otome game for the Nintendo Switch console.
I remember purchasing one route of this game on mobile and I’m happy to repurchase it again (the whole game, this time) on the Nintendo Switch.
Click here for a list of D3P games available on the switch. Click here for Pub Encounter’s downloadable content (Nintendo Eshop).
About this game It’s a romance game where you can fall in love with one of several middle-aged men. All of them are experienced in life and have their own stories to tell. They may not be young, but they can love as deeply and passionately as anyone.
It’s an odd choice for an otome game to port for the Switch this early but I’m hoping they’ll be able to port more of their Steam otome titles after this one. Some I’m particularly rooting for are:
Gakuen Club
NIGHTSHADE
Destiny Princess
Well now that my DANDY SHOT download is complete, guess who’s jumping on the OJISAAAN bandwagon tonight!?
Release Date: March 29, 2018 (North America)
Developer: OperaHouse,D3Publisher Inc. Publisher: Dogenzaka Lab, D3Publisher Platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch, Mobile (iOS and Android) ESRB Rating: M+17 Mature
I bought this game for the same exact reason I bought The Men of Yoshiwara series: Kikuya and Oghiya: I needed more otome games in my Nintendo Switch Library. ^^;
STORY (From Nintendo Eshop Page) “Our heroine, Amane Kosaka, was living a simple yet happy life in the countryside until one day she was suddenly taken away to live in the empire, summoned by her brother Soshi Amazaki — the current ruler. Though she was unaware of the underlying circumstances, she finds herself brought to this lively and palpable central city. Living in the immaculate royal palace, our heroine comes to learn that the empire might not be as joyful as it seems.
Her brother is no longer the gentle man she once knew… A corrupt organization secretly runs things behind the scenes… The heroine’s fate guides her down the path of love.”
ART
The Charming Empire’s artwork was done by the artist, Fuji Mitsuya, a well known mangaka responsible for most of the beautiful art covers of popular JP Drama CDs (e.g. Midnight Jiangshi, Majestic Crown). If you admire her works, you’ll definitely love the CG’s for this game. Although they fall rather short as expected due to the game’s plot line, they were all undeniably beautiful.
MUSIC AND VOICE ACTING
I like how catchy The Charming Empire’s intro music was. Their BGMs were pretty good too, an improvement from what they had with the Yoshiwara series. But what initially attracted me the most to buying this game was their voice acting. Reading the list of cv’s below, I immediately recognized some of the famous voice actors from popular otome games I’ve recently played.
ROUTES AND CHARACTERS
While playing the game, I noticed that each route mostly follows the exact same story pattern: Get whisked away to the capital – become a royalty – romance with the guy you choose – a rebellion occurs – conclusion. Although there were ‘some’ routes that offered a few plot twists, others were concluded far too easy and as simple as it can be.
All of the routes were short that it barely gets you that connection to the guy you’re romancing. If it weren’t for their profound voice acting, the stories would’ve fallen quite flat and somewhat boring due to zero character development.
Characters
The only recurring characters of the game are Sochi Amazaki and Kagemitsu. The rest of the guys only appear in their routes alone.
WARNING: Few MINOR spoilers up ahead!
TOKI TANBA – Bad boy, Robinhood, Best Cook, Baumkuchen!
Toki is the handsome cafe owner you bumped into one day while you were secretly strolling off town. You became acquainted with him due to his friendly & flirtatious personality and eventually tried to help him out in his cafe by waitressing and washing the dishes (lol the things you do for a handsome stud). He is rather popular in town and is loved by his customers. He appears very kind towards you but actually has hidden motives which you’ll get to discover in the middle of his route.
Ngl, I only enjoyed Toki’s route because of Tetsuya Kakihara’s voice acting. Lol
KEI YOSHIMINE – Hot tutor, Smart, Talented, Tsundere as hell, Prince Charming, Pinky Swear, Best Boy!
Kei would have to be my favorite route in this game. His story was very sweet and surprisingly had good pacing and a satisfying ending. Kei was a prince abducted from a land which Soshi’s family conquered and destroyed. He became a captive in the capital after that and currently now living as your private tutor with a fiery grudge against your own brother. Unlike the other main characters and their respective routes, Kei was probably the only one that developed a realistic romance with the heroine. His story didn’t felt too rushed and the bonding between him and the MC was more genuine. Kei’s story is also a good choice for a first route in this game.
KOICHIRO SERA – Silent, Cold, Serious, The Bodyguard, Samurai, Best Soldier, Sketchy af
Sera is your faithful bodyguard who will watch you 24 hours a day and will never leave your side, ever! In his route, he was appointed by your brother Soshi, as your trusty bodyguard who needs to be with you wherever you go. This man is very devoted when it comes to his job. His bushido code is prioritizing your protection 24/7. I felt bad while I was playing his route mainly because of how Sera was starving himself just to watch over you (the guy eats one riceball every meal)Sob! During his story, it was revealed that he was part of the rebellion group in a pursuit to overthrow your brother’s regime. I didn’t quite liked how it felt as if he was only using you so they can put an end to Soshi’s dictatorship. In the end, I felt like Sera’s feelings for you were a little too forced because there wasn’t any character development between him and the heroine during the transition of events. Oh well!
Kagemitsu is your childhood friend and also your brother Soshi’s best friend and right hand adviser. I was kind of interested with this character at first but was surprised on how bland his story turned out. Since you’ve always known him and liked him for the way he was, his route poorly falls into the typical childhood friend trope cliche. Again, the romance felt too forced. The only interesting part about Kagemitsu’s route was how involved it was with Soshi’s underlying story. It may be better to play this character prior to Soshi since their stories felt somewhat connected.
SOSHI AMAZAKI – Has Trust Issues, Cold, Cunning, Bipolar (but not really), Incest (but not really)
Soshi probably has the most interesting story among the main characters. Mainly because he was considered the bad guy in other routes. By playing his route you’ll get to discover his side of the story. Soshi also offers a little bit of character development as he starts cold towards the MC (you) but then later on develops warms feelings as he tries to open up to the heroine. I kinda like Soshi’s story. It had a couple of plot twists and I was satisfied the way it ended. The only downside in his route was how pathetic the heroine was in this story that it gets overly annoying playing her character. (Rolls eye)
TRAILER
OVERALL THOUGHTS?
I really couldn’t say anything more other than how simple this game was. Perhaps if you’re looking for an easy short read that’s not too engaging (you can literally finish one route in an hour), this game is a good candidate.
Personally, I love the voice acting best as well as this game’s art style. But story wise, it’s painfully predictable that it gets boring at times to a point where you literally don’t care how it ends. I really don’t think it’s worth the full price. So if you’re concerned with getting your money’s worth, I don’t recommend buying this game unless it’s on sale. Despite the mediocre story writing, the game had a few pros up it’s sleeve such as having very little typos, and I did enjoyed two routes (Kei and Soshi). I don’t regret buying this game for my Switch library since there aren’t a lot of localized otome games in the Nintendo Switch console yet. Also, if you’re a fan of the seiyus: Tetsuya Kakihara or Kenjiro Tsuda, this game won’t be so bad as you think it’d be.
I like that they made use of the usual Japanese folklore about kitsunes, shrine familiars and mythical creatures… but how it was initiated was all over the place! 
The only thing good about this game was the voice acting, but that is to be expected since they have an A cast of top ranking seiyuus.
Kei would have to be my favorite route in this game. His story was very sweet and surprisingly had good pacing and a satisfying ending. Kei was a prince abducted from a land which Soshi’s family conquered and destroyed. He became a captive in the capital after that and currently now living as your private tutor with a fiery grudge against your own brother. Unlike the other main characters and their respective routes, Kei was probably the only one that developed a realistic romance with the heroine. His story didn’t felt too rushed and the bonding between him and the MC was more genuine. Kei’s story is also a good choice for a first route in this game.
