Queen of Darkness - review

So... is the game worth it? Definitely :D ...to me, anyways. I really enjoyed the game, and I found that playing the game without knowing what would happen in the story was rewarding. And thus, I won't post anything about the story itself, or what happens in each character's route. I'll leave it as a joy for you to discover on your own.

Story
I like the story. It's dark enough without becoming gloomy or depressing, and it's mature enough without overdoing it. It's also managed to inject enough humour in it despite the serious storyline (I found myself laughing from time to time). I like how each character's route reveals something different. You don't play the same game over and over where the only difference is the character's reaction; depending on who you're going for the story will reveal different things about the character while still following the major storyline. The romance part of the story was done well following the theme of the game, but if you're looking for a sweet pure love story... this is not the game you should be playing. If raep bothers you, this is also not the game you should be playing. ...I think I've played too much darker games before that the things in this game hardly bothered me.

Gameplay
Gameplay, I think, is quite balanced. It's not too complicated, and at the same time it's not too easy that it becomes boring. Story is also well spread out; you're not likely to go through a long time of gameplay before the next part of the story comes up. And there are quite a lot of events for each character; thankfully they're all replayable in the Option. And speaking of events, even some of the events that's not related to the male characters... are very well done. I especially like the events where Risty talked to Zoland in the garden.

Seiyuu
Seiyuu did an excellent job :D The voices match the character design and personality. ...the only one which took me some time to get used to was Risty's seiyuu. I kept on thinking that the voice didn't really match the character portrait, but maybe it's just me. My favourite was Hellvady :D his seiyuu brought out his character perfectly.

Music
Music is well made (which is why I guess you can buy the OST CD separately), and it matches the mood of the story. I found the music to help set up the atmosphere of the game. Music transition between different moods in the game was also well done.

Graphic
Graphic is very good for a doujin game. Background, for example, was pretty detailed. Character sprites were also coloured nicely, with a variety of facial expressions. Sometimes during the 18+ scenes the body looked rather unproportional, but not so much that it'd bother me. I've seen games where the body proportion was laughable, and QoD doesn't fall into that category.

Favourites
Recommended playing order: Reiza -> Cristval -> Hellvady -> Garum.
Favourite character, from most to least: Hellvady -> Garum -> Cristval -> Reiza.
Favourite route, from most to least: Hellvady -> Cristval -> Garum -> Reiza.

MoshiKimi + PuriPani = review

Finished playing all routes in Moshimo no Kimi to Boku and some of Prince Panic, and I have to say that they're excellent otome doujin games.


MoshiKimi is one of those games where you need to play all the character routes and the secret character route to understand the whole storyline. Each character's route will give you a piece of clue to the major secret in the game, and it's not until you play the final route (Klaus) that it will reveal everything that happened and give you the True Ending. Gameplay is pretty straightforward; a day in the game is divided into 2 part, morning and day, and in each part you can choose to either visit a character or work on the gown for the princess. Each character can be visited at the same location on the same part of the day (except Borries, who swaps later on). To finish the game successfully, you need to concentrate on the same character and work on the gown (failing to make any progress on the gown when you reach a certain day will give you Game Over). Sometimes you also have a set action to do; this will be shown in the top-right box. Example, early in the game you'll need to visit the princess to ask her what design and colour she'd want for her gown (Klaus will quiz you on this later). Later in the game you need to visit Heinz to ask for sample materials, etc. (If you delay doing this set action Klaus will ask you sternly why you hadn't done it.)

Having played all the routes... I have to say this, the True Ending is worth getting (especially if you can understand enough Japanese to understand the storyline, or you're using AGTH). Also, Kail was so cute~~ XD






PuriPani is pretty difficult to play without a guide... mostly because all the questions you answer in the first half of the game will determine whose route you'll be on. The first half of the game are pretty much the same for all the routes; same questions etc. During the trial period the main character will get assigned to all 3 princes in turn. If you answer the questions correctly, after the trial period you'll get assigned to a particular prince... but if you reach a certain point where the head maid lets you arrange your own timetable after the trial period, be prepared for Game Over. The later half of the game is completely different for each character; each character route doesn't overlap and you're pretty much playing a new story for each character. Personally, I think it's awesome :D

I haven't played all the routes, but I can say this... for an doujin game, PuriPani was excellent. I played a route which I thought would be nothing special, and was treated to drama and a serious story. Another character I played without expecting anything, and I got treated to a very cute romance story (Masaya~~ ^o^ ) By the way, characters will show up on the main page after you get their ending. ...which explains why in the screenshot I took I only have 4 characters... still need to play Johnny, Anise and the Secret Character ~_~

Walkthroughs:

• MoshiKimi - royals (Leonhard, Adelbert, and Borries)
• MoshiKimi - others (Wilhelm, Heinz and Rudi)
• MoshiKimi - secrets (after you finish everyone else (and you have to view the Atogaki), Kail & Klaus)
• PuriPani - Johnny (the eldest prince)
• PuriPani - Kopon (the second, childish prince)
• PuriPani - Martin (the youngest, narcissist prince) Good End and Best End
  
• PuriPani - Taki (the head butler)
• PuriPani - Anise (the chef)
• PuriPani - Masaya (the gardener)
• PuriPani - Secret (play after everyone else)
  

By the way, using the guide will get you a good ending, but you're not likely to get 100% CGs or Events for MoshiKimi. The guides for PuriPani will give you the Best Endings for each character. I think a guide for all the possible endings is asking a bit too much. For a start, PuriPani has 28 Endings...