Its plastic case, that is. See, I have a new approach
regarding Vita VNs with a romantic overtone: since many of these games hold
little to no replay value as far as I'm concerned, I've decided to use the PSN
sales to purchase them digitally at a bargain price. If it turns out that I
love them and can see myself replaying them at some point, then — and only then
— will I go for a physical copy. Period Cube is the first discounted
otome VN I got my digital paws on, and the first to be put to the Shall We Get
Physical test.
Having said that, let's cut to the chase: Period Cube is neither a good
VN nor a good otome game. Not only will I certainly not invest in a physical
copy of that game, but I really think that Period Cube was not worthy of
a physical Western release and should have been a digital-only game with a $20
price tag. That may seem a bit harsh, especially coming from a collector that
advocate physical games for life at every turn; but PC is simply too
much of a half-baked game to deserve a full-price boxed release. (Spoilers ahead!)
Why PC is not a good VN:
—It's not explicit enough. PC is your typical "How the heck did I end up here and why the heck is this happening" story, and such stories require meaty explanations at the end. Loose ends must be tied, and all mysteries must be laid down in a satisfactory way; and that is exactly what PC cheekily chooses to dispense with, preferring instead to drop allusions and lapidary statements in a nearly offhanded way and let the player put two and two together. Because of that, misunderstandings can easily arise despite the fact that the story is really simple and straightforward when put down on paper. For instance, Shiki never clearly states that he uses World V both as a tool to hone his custom-made soul-trapping process and a way to lure the strong players who carry the data needed for the final Period Cube update. He never explains properly that he was planning to wield the Almighty power himself as a sub-character on his Arcadia account and that Kazuha gained said Almighty power by mistake when she created a sub-character from his computer. Nor does he fully explain that the whole "Trilogy of Swords" setting was a mere scheme whose sole purpose was to lure powerful players to the Ark in order to feed their data to the Period Cube, and that himself was supposed to lead said powerful players — including the bearers of the two other swords — as the wielder of the Almighty power. And so on and so forth. It's annoying to have to rack your brain to figure out why things unfolded the way they did when a five-minute explanation from Shiki would have done the trick.
—It's stuffed with incoherencies and plotholes. Like, why would Shiki carelessly let his PC running and connected to World V, when he knows fully well that Kazuha has the keys to his flat and can waltz in whenever she pleases? How can NPC Zain appear in the real world with the exact same body and voice as in the game? Why does Shiki only gains theorical knowledge about how to separate the soul from the body when he visits the Akashic Records and has to work for years to implement what he learnt, when Kazuya gets to travel back in time instantly like she's been making a wish to a lamp genie? Et cetera, et cetera. If there's one thing I hate more than stories that don't explain themselves properly, it's definitely stories whose plot looks like honeycomb.
—It's brimming over with ad hoc. The guys always arrive precisely at the right moment to get dumb little Kazuha out of a bind, dumb little Kazuha always gets to use the Almighty power precisely when she needs it, information always drops in the characters' lap precisely when they need it, and so on — and let's not even talk about the Akashic Records, a.k.a. the most shameless deus ex machina of them all. It becomes so transparent after a while that you stop caring about the characters because you know they'll never be in real trouble.
Why PC is not a good otome game:
—L'amour comes into the picture way too fast. There is no common route apart from a tiny branching prologue, and the romancing starts literally five minutes after you boot up the game. When I started my run, it actually took me a while to realize that I was locked on a guy's route and that I had to start hitting on him — so much so that I had to restart the route to get the 'right' answers I'd missed. Because of that lack of a common route, you don't get to know the guys and grow attached to them before getting the opportunity to woo them, which makes said wooing a bit forced and vacant. I know we're here to bag up dudes first and last, but surely a bit of exposition and preparation wouldn't hurt? The way PC rushes things, I feel like I'm playing "Dogs in heat: The game" rather than an otome VN.
—Kazuha is too painfully transparent to make a believable love interest. I cannot believe for a second that all these guys are fawning over a girl that dull and devoid of personality. Heck, I'm supposed to be her and I cannot figure her out, so how can these dudes fall for her like she's a femme fatale? The game repeatedly states that she's kind, optimistic and always smiling, but is it really enough to make her that irresistible? On the other hand, all these dudes seem to be virgins, so maybe that's why they melt when a woman smiles their way.
—The guys are too similar. They're all feisty young men with the same lithe body, the same tousled hair and the same eye-rolling tendency to get embarrassed and peevish when Kazuha expresses her love for them. Now look, you little b*tches: I'm about to put you out of your virgin misery, so stop acting like darn tsunderes and show some gratitude already. To be fair, I think the problem is not so much the sameness of the guys as the fact that I'm not exactly the target audience. PC is obviously aimed at teenage girls, who can undoubtedly appreciate those androgynous princes charming much better than I ever could. As for me, I would have preferred more variety in terms of body shape, age and behaviour.
Now, did I hate Period Cube? Absolutely not. Although it qualifies neither as a good VN nor as a good otome in my book, I had a good time playing it and there were a couple of things I genuinely liked. For one thing, Arcadia boasts the most gorgeous colour palette I've seen in a video game ever — heck, I sure wish I could get trapped in a game world boasting those lush crystalline hues. For another, the secondary characters were really endearing — especially the Forte crew, whose dynamics were hilarious and whose bond came across much more blatantly than Kazuha's supposed bond with her beaus. And there was also that route — the route that blew me away and somehow made the whole game worth playing. And talking about routes, I'll be back soon with a full-blown run report. Thanks for reading, and be my guest anytime!
Tehvidya5 February 2018 at 20:24
I've never even heard of Period Cube... For a good reason, it seems.
Isleif6 February 2018 at 15:53
Yeah, it seems to be one of Otomate's weaker efforts. I'm surprised that it was granted a physical release in North-America; guess the otome audience there is larger than I thought.
Kumiko6 February 2018 at 11:15
"I would
have preferred more variety in terms of body shape"
Hmm, sorry but this really is only an issue for you, and even then, I think you
only noticed it because you don't like this particular body type. Most VNs,
heck, most anime-styled anything, have only one or two body types, unless you
consider different height and boob sizes to be different body types. Since I'm
a huge fan of the artist's style, I thought everyone looked good.
As for age, I'm okay with that not being in this game, since Kazuha is so...hmm,
let's say naive to be nice, that her being with a much older guy would feel
creepy. I mean, some routes already feel creepy enough without that added
factor(I'm sure you know which two I'm talking about). She's not strong girl
like the heroine from Sweet Fuse for example, and even with a girl like that I
remember you felt it was creepy that she could romance an older man with a kid.
So I think it's more the fact that the game itself isn't appealing to you as a
whole that's issue, not the lack of these things.
Not that I think the game is amazing or anything. I only really liked one
route, but it was okay. It was no bad apple wars or anything, now that one is
bad. Helps that I got it on sale as well.
Still, I wish they had brought over Black Wolves Saga instead, another game the
artist has worked on. But sadly, I think that game's themes are too dark for
them to take a risk on it. Shame, since it has a really good story IMO.
Isleif6 February 2018 at 16:18
Ah well, we're
bound to disagree sometimes, Elisa. No big deal; that's what makes discussions
interesting. ^^
Sweet Fuse, now that's a game that offers a great many different body types,
ages and behaviours. That's the kind of variety I favour and want to see in my
otomes, although it's not exactly common.
I don't really care about age difference between characters in otome, nor do I
care about the characters being stepsiblings, teacher and student and all those
other obstructions that are thrown in mostly for drama's sake. Basically, I
don't care about morals in otome, as long as the love story is fullfilling.
It's all fantasy anyway, right? I had no problem with Shirabe being older than
Saki in Sweet Fuse; his kid, on the other hand, now that was a problem. It was
a bit too mundane for my taste, and it kind of ruined the erotic tension. :P
As for Period Cube, I think the sameness stems mostly from the artist's style;
I googled Black Wolves Saga and holy crap, do the character in that game look
an awful lot like the Period Cube ones. The heroine could be Kazuha's twin
sister, and there's a guy who looks exactly like Hiroya's Arcadia avatar. Some
artists just have a way of making all their characters look identical. (Back in
the days when I used to read manga on a regular basis, I remember that Kaori
Yuki was a particularily bad offender.)
Funny that you should mention Bad Apple Wars, because I'm currently playing it,
and... Oh well, no need to spoil the suspense. You'll get my impressions about
it soon enough. ^^
Kumiko6 February 2018 at 20:55
Sweet fuse is
really an exception. Good game, but sadly not very popular. Games like Amnesia
on the other hand are super popular and the heroes are good all looking bishies
with some minor differences. It's just part of VNs I guess, there's usually one
"attractive" face that gets pasted onto every romance option. See
fate/stay night for a big one.
But funny thing is, I actually bought Period Cube because of the similarities
between the avatar of the "main" guy of the this game and the main
guy from Black Wolves Saga. I'm very fond of that character, plus it was one of
Kaji Yuki's best perfomances as a VA in my opinion. So it's not a horrible
strategy, considering I might have skipped on this average game otherwise :p
(*sniff* Black Wolves Saga got a vita port consisting of both games in the
franchise, why didn't they translate that instead of this and Bad Apple Wars?
Or any game from Karin Entertainment, they're almost always really good)
Disregarding my sobbing though, that BWS dude won the popularity poll of that
series' two games so it might have been intentional? She did another at least
one other otome game before, and neither the heroine nor the dudes looked like
the guys in her future games, at least not so blatantly, so I don't know what
to think.
Oh well, it's still a very common thing in art nowadays, eastern or western. I
like Suzuhito Yasuda, but he is a huge offender as well, for example, Arata
from Digimon: Cyber Sleuth looks like the lovechild of Yamato and the
protagonist in devil survivor 2, among many others.
I usually like immorality in otome games (heck, I always love the routes with
the incest drama, be it "real" incest or otherwise), but Kazuha with
an older guy, ehhh. Dunno, but she's just so....bland and innocent that I
cannot see it. I don't know why, this is usually not an issue for me. But even
if there was an older guy, I doubt you'd notice it, since the guy with really
long hair in Black Wolves Saga? He's 31. Obvious, isn't it :p And he'd probably
be boring as well :/
Overall, I left this game with okay feelings. Not good, but not the most awful
thing either. But this is coming from someone who played a lot of Japanese
otomes a couple of years back, and holy crap there were a lot of bad games back
then. There probably still is now, but the ones that get brought over to the
west just can't compare to some of the ones I played 5 years ago in terms of
bland crappiness. So my perspective is biased. And even at full price, it's
cheaper than importing from Japan, so as long as the game doesn't leave me
angry or bored to tears, I'm at least a little bit nice to it.
Kumiko6 February 2018 at 21:11
I will admit that I have a very stupid reason for being lenient to this game, one that I will make clear in your route report. So it may be that I'm being extremely nice to this game in comparison to Apple Wars, for something completely unrelated to the game itself.
Isleif7 February 2018 at 14:39
Why, now you're
making me curious! Good thing I had my route report wrapped up and ready to be
posted, so we can continue that discussion over there. ^^
Regarding Kazuha, I think she would have fitted well with Silent. Given her
propensity to wind up in sticky situations, a wise and buff guy like Silent
would be the perfect boyfriend/bodyguard for her.
Heck, that long-haired dude in BWS sure doesn't look like he's 31. Sure, he
looks a tad older than the rest of the guys, but not that older. Guess Kuroyuki
couldn't draw older characters even if she wanted to; some mangakas/VA are just
like that.
I have to admit that all your praise made me curious about BWS. I'd have gladly
given the Vita remake a try, if not for the $75 price tag. Now that's a bit too
steep for a game I'm merely curious about. :P
Kumiko7 February 2018 at 19:04
One last word
before I move over to the other thread; Kuroyuki can draw older dudes perfectly
well. In BWS you get to see the father of the Heroine, and he looks like a
regular old (noble) man. Aged features, mustache, portly figure, etc. In fact,
I'd say she draws them better than most, because she doesn't fall into the
folly of making them too old to compensate; the father is meant to be in his
late 40's/early 50's and he looks the part. Many other artists would have made
his wrinkles exaggerated or made him completely gray, which is more suitable
for a 60 year old man.
What she is truly incapable of drawing is, er, "man buldges". You
might have noticed that the guys look a little flat already, but you can excuse
it since they're clothed. But before the second BWS game came out, she did a
bunch of fanservice sprites of the cast in their underwear and it has to be
seen to be believed; they're so flat down there that even eunuchs are better
equipped!
Oh well, it's not like she does +18 games. But what I do love about her is her
masterful use of colour; you mentioned Arcadia looks gorgeous, but even in the
plague-fire ravaged world of BWS the scenery is wonderful. And the colours she
uses for the hair! I love the subtle yellow undertone of Hiroya's hair for
example. I love how the hair of the main dude in BWS had blue undertones,
making his silver colour look different from the silver colour of the long-hair
dude. Just lovely.
Isleif8 February 2018 at 19:42
I googled those
fan-servicey drawings you described, and holy cow, are those dudes indeed flat!
Not to mention that their legs look like sticks and their speedos look
ridiculous. I'm usually quite open when it comes to fan-service-"to each
their own" is my motto-but I have to admit that these pictures seriously
make me cringe.
I wholeheartedly agree with you regarding Kuroyuki's mastery of colours. She
uses them in a striking and unique way, and the result is often gorgeous.
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