Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~ Review

Platform: Nintendo Switch
Genre: Otome Visual Novel

its about time i made this review considering i finished it several months ago now, so to the best of my ability i'll try to recall my thoughts on the game. i don't know why i stalled on making this entry for so long but i'm ready to make it now lol as always, mild spoiler warnings.

set in 19th century steampunk London, the atmosphere of the game is prevalent from the very start. you begin the story as the main character Cardia Beckford, with a mysterious poison and a mysterious jewel called the horologium lodged in her chest. with the help of arsene lupin, you uncover the mystery behind the MC's past and the origin of the jewel.

i don't think im the biggest fan of historical settings, i tend to be drawn towards modern settings, even in other game genres and tastes in animanga etc. because of this i jumped into the game a bit apprehensive; however, i decided to stay positive about the game due to literally everyone telling me that the game is one of the best otomes out there so i decided to stick with it.

i had a great appreciation for the background art the most, all of the scenes where phenomenal and genuinely sold the atmosphere so much. the twists on the train station, arial views of the city and the lower city were beautiful and i felt that they really added to the story. on the other hand, i wasn't the most fond of artstyle of the characters themselves, that is ultimately down to personal preference, however it did kinda get to me throughout the playthrough, probably just not my taste.

for the story, it was really interesting, a lot of plot twists i couldn't really see coming. i did think that some of the fantasy tropes were a bit cliche or a bit weird so i wasn't feeling it sometimes but i do think that it was entertaining nonetheless (i'll go into greater detail when talking about each individual route.

cardia as an MC was well written, fulfilling the part of an emotionless, 'doll-like' character very well. despite the fact that shes been isolated almost her entire life, she is still eager to learn about the outside world, fend for herself and is just an overall, strong-willed MC, making it a pleasurable experience to play as her. i truly think that code realize would lack in its charm if cardia was any different.

love interests - written in the order i played their routes

impey barbicane

follows a trope that i really enjoy ! the genki, happy bro type, a bit of a ladies man but in a cringe, "doesn't get girls" kind of way.

i think that his story is quite interesting, the way that he got into engineering and finding his place in the world. its quite inspiring actually, reminded me just to keep going even when times get rough, just push along.

i really love the dynamic between impey and cardia, it felt natural in a way that i love, it reminded me a lot of enomoto from collar x malice. the way that cardia learns to feel and learns to form a personality filled with joy genuinely made me love this route so much.

in terms of story content, i would say that his route is one of the lesser routes in terms of how it contributes to the overarching plot and mystery behind cardia and the horologium, i would still say it allows for a bit of a grasp of what the horologium is and why its so pivotal.

abraham van helsing

tsundere, standoffish and cold

id take tsundere with a grain of salt but genuinely this was my least favorite route out of all of them. i could not sense the chemistry at all between van helsing and cardia, if anything he moreso felt like a father or a mentor with the way that he was acting.

i do admit that he had a great role in showing cardias strong side but other than that i cannot see the appeal in their relationship, no matter how good his character development was throughout the duration of his route, i just don't see him as a love interest.

if we discount my dislike for the romance portion, his story was well written and understandable and succint enough to explain as to why he ended up the way he is.

victor frankenstein

hes sweet and kind, and definitely has a 'boy next door' vibe around him, its hard to dislike.

i would say that out of the 4 routes you have access to from the start of the game, his route makes the most sense to me as well as just being my favorite of the 4. it delves more into the overarching plot and allows you to understand the nature of cardia's poison, the horologium as well as giving you real clues about isaac beckford, cardia's father.

i really like how cute cardia and victor are together, genuinely so toothrottingly sweet but i don't think id want it any other way.

saint germain

probably my least favorite story in the game, mostly due to the fact that it didn't feel like it followed off the common story well.

it was mainly about saint germain and his history rather than to discern the origin of the horologium and the whereabouts of her father. it introduced several characters that hadn't appeared before and introduced several plot points that are touched on once right at the end of the common route. i think my main gripe with his route is just how bizarre it is, i just really didn;t think that it fit into the story very well and just felt like a side story of something like that.

despite this, it was entertaining and an interesting concept. i dont really know if it was well written, i think i just have neutral feelings on his route and romance.

arsene lupin

a real golden boy

i would say that his romance with cardia is genuinely my favorite that ive seen in an otome. despite being the true route and touching on several bases to tie up lose ends, the fact that lupin continuously took on the act of a devoted partner was so sweet.

no matter how much i liked the romance, i have to comment on the fact that his route did feel a bit shallow, his flashbacks to me seemed like some of the shorter ones despite being the poster boy and constantly drilling in the fact that he was a gentleman thief. i wanted to know a little bit more about him as a character.

i think that his route beautifully ended the game!

other notes:

im ngl the common route was really long and i got really bored doing it so i had to take month long breaks throughout the common route LMFAO but the actually individual routes are when i locked in. it a long game which i dont really mind but the fact that the common route was so long just made it a bit of a chore. i do think that the common route definitely shouldn't be shortened since it really set the scene for most of the following routes but yeah, just to be noted.

would i recommend this game? i would definitely. even though that it didn't quite fit my personal tastes nor do i think that this game is my favorite otome ive played. yeah its a great game and i think that anyone wanting to get into otomes should 100% play this game.

Nier: Automata Review

Platform: PlayStation 4
Genre: Action JRPG

main gameplay

a regular hack and slash, mainly with 2 of the playable characters and then shoot 'em up segments / bullet hell. different difficulties made it easy for me to keep playing even when my hands got tired of crampy but still wanted to play, i mainly played on very hard, just because i like hurting myself, but then switched to normal/easy when i got tired or sleepy.

i enjoyed the gameplay, it was mostly dodging and timing counters, especially playing on harder difficulties when bosses can one/two/three-shot you lol i liked it since fights never took a horrible amount of time to play. another thing that sticks out with the hack-and-slash portions were the forced pov / side-scroller angles, showed off the environment really well honestly and it didn't feel out of place on the portions it was introduced in (mainly boss fights)

im really bad at shoot 'em ups, especially bullet hells, so doing the hacking portions was really difficult at first, and honestly, by the end of the game, i still couldnt do some levels of the harder stages LMFAO and i would just give up whenever those sections came up. its definitely a skill issue honestly because for some reason i couldn't focus on dodging and aiming at the same time until the very end where i finally used my brain LOOOOOL. either way i think i got so used to playing the bullet hell portion that when i switched back to the hack-and-slash gameplay i suddenly forgot how to dodge and i missed standing so far away from the enemies LMFAO

plot

you play as an android living in space who is sent to earth to reclaim the planet for humanity from the alien machines. "Glory to Mankind."

as you play the different endings, A-E for the main story, the plot becomes increasingly convoluted and things aren't as they seem. The androids are meant to be unfeeling and obedient to their mission, they're convinced that the machines are only that, machines. Throughout the story, their ideas about the machines start to change, their ability to speak, their ability to form family dynamic etc. challenging the intelligent androids' previous viewpoints on these beings. They begin to wonder, what gives an entity 'life', is it through having a consciousness? is it the ability to form connections? is it through the ability to feel? and what makes one able to judge who gets to remain on the planet. after all, you're playing as an android yourself, meant to protect mankind.

you get to play as 3 characters ! you get to see different viewpoints, making you think about the morally grey scenario and allow you to cast judgement on who gets to live and to die. overall, all perspectives felt satisfying when all the pieces were put together at the end and it was super fun seeing how the characters interact with eachother and hoe they change as the story progresses / as more and more information about the world comes to light.

no i will not be talking about the side quests bc icba and there were gag ones

environment

im a huge fan of photo ops in games and i really like taking screenshots and stuff...

i think all the stages were great ! it showed a post-apocalyptic, vacant earth with nature reclaiming the urban landscape. i think definitely my favorite stage visually was the amusement park !!! it was beautiful grrrrr im really easily scared though so i was literally on edge even walking up to it the first time and i genuinely am still scared or kinda tense whenever i go there. the darkening of the sky when you walk in and the dark / purple tone when you go around kinda gave it an atmosphere for sure compared to how green the other areas were.

i would definitely say my least favorite area was the factory, just because it was so dark and the fighting space to me was uncomfortable compared to all the other levels, especially since they tended to just spam the enemies but yeah oh well also the part in route B fuck off with that part genuinely long and probably my least fav part of the main quest.

gaaaaah i really want to talk more about each of the stage but i genuinely cant be bothered LMFAO but yeah. very green. very beautiful, very explorable and great photos available B)

music

i listen to the soundtrack all the time. i use it as a sleep aid LMFAO. its such a good ost. as with all the other nier songs, they use their own language (Chaos) same as the Nier: Replicant and the Drakengard series. ITS GREAT SHE SINGS BEAUTIFULLY AND I LOVE THE DIFFERENT VARIANTS OF THE SONGS DEPENDING ON WHAT AREA YOU'RE IN / IN THE HACKING MINIGAMES ! anyways, the amusement park ahs great music...

overall

do i recommend? yes yes yes i really like this game a lot and i think everyone should play its so awesome the story is epic the characters are wonderful and YEAAAAAAAHHHH fun fun game. its not that long either, especially if you dont plan on doing all the side quests it can be around 30~ hours, side quests made it another extra 30 lol.

Collar x Malice Review

Platform: Nintendo Switch
Genre: Otome Visual Novel

it was good, i enjoyed it a lot. point and click gameplay elements, akin to ace attorney and danganronpa, that made the gameplay fun. i don't tend to prefer darker modern settings: when it comes to modern settings, i prefer light hearted games or ones with bright colors LOOOOL but i really loved the aesthetic of this one.

i enjoyed the mystery of Adonis and the moral ambiguity of it all, the overarching plot of the game as well as all of the LIs and how they also interact with the mystery with their own forms of justice and means of getting to their own endings in each route :D

most of all, i loved the interactions with all the characters, even outside of the LIs. although the romance aspect of the otome kind of takes a backburner compared to the actual plot and storytelling, i believe that the connections, both new and prestablished, are fantastic. ESPECIALLY with her younger brother (probably my second favorite character in the entire game) and how their relationship develops and how they resolve their issues in a normal, healthy way.

ichika as an mc is fantastic as well, shes strong-willed and actually has a head on her shoulders. shes able to think and act out of her own will and isn't afraid to fight back. shes a flawed mc, but is able to make up for each of those flaws everytime. shes extremely likable and im glad such a great game had a great protagonist as well.

love interests - written in the order i played their routes

kei okazaki

probably one of my favorites in terms of overall plot material, as well as his personality.

this man is ditzy, passionate and stubborn, cool as hell and just GRAAAAAAGH a really cute guy. I love how forward he is, especially in Yanagi's route LMFAO, and how possessive/protective he is over ichika. truly awesome. i also usually tend towards liking the more playful guys in every otome that i play, probably why i like him quite a bit. but as his route goes onto the mid to later chapters, he becomes more serious and blunt, driven by his skewed sense of justice and self-worth, making his arc a beautiful yet infuriating one.

mineo enomoto

i love him so much, hes genuinely one of my favorites ever i think

i love LIs that are super friendly, boisterous, just really airheaded but also strong-willed and brash. a lot of enomotos route feels quite unromantic, mostly ichika pushing their relationship to develop forward, but i always LOVE when characters tend to get close as friends first honestly. it just makes it all the better when they're like "wow i have so much fun when we're friends but damn, now im catching feelings!" GAAAAAAAH its so cute...

i think the best thing about the dynamic between ichika and enomoto is the fact that they have so much chemistry together that it feels the most real. i love cat and dog relationships where they butt heads and have petty little arguments, i love when the two characters have similar personalities where they can easily work together and i just LOVEEE them so much its unreal.

i do think i should've played his route first however, mostly due to the fact that his route probably had the least amount to contribute to the overall plot of the game in terms of information.

also i adored the relationship between enomoto and ichika's younger brother, kazuki, theyre so awesome.

takeru sasazuka

i was already biased going into it since im not that big a fan of tsunderes. in fact, im just not a fan at all.

he's an asshole and he does constantly berate ichika quite a bit! but i do admit that i did end up liking him as a character overall. i like smart characters and characters who flaunt how smart they are and have a bit of a stick up their ass so its funny i guess

i liked the plot of his route quite a lot though, i found it interesting and thought that his story was pretty amazing. he had some great CGs too........

kageyuki shiraishi

probably my least favorite route in the game, mostly due to his character archetype honestly.

despite my overall dislike for his character, i do think that his relationship with ichika is well developed and quite beautiful i liked it a lot, even if im not fond of how it started.

i think that his route, definitely, should be the penultimate route from just how much lore was in it. i believe that his backstory was probably the best out of all of the LIs and i did love it quite a lot. i lot more angst than the other routes but i believe that his good ending has a satisfying resolve :)

aiji yanagi

hes so cute i love him

his relationship with ichika is kinda slow moving, once again fully driven by ichika until the end. for good reason though. i love him as a character, hes a caretaker, a reliable partner and genuinely cool asf. i know that if i was younger his personality would probably make him my fav LI in the game: calm, collected, lowkey. i do think that the romance side of his route was definitely not my favorite and not very satisfying to watch but thats okay! they ended up together in the end anyway.

what is my favorite though is his overall story. thats kinda obvious though considering he is the "true route" and the poster boy, also being unlocked after completing every other route, therefore having the most plot to tie up loose ends. his ending was somewhat satisfying and i think that the way that they resolved issues in this route was great.

other notes:

the art in this game was stunning. all of the sprites, all of the cgs and best of all, the backgrounds. actually beautiful.

the target practice/shooting mechanism was fun, i kept getting scared that i would fail though LMFAO accidental bad end elol

i love love love love love this game a lot.