East Tower - Kuon (East Tower Series Vol. 3)

So part 3 with boy nr. 3 Kuon. This game is a bit longer then the 2 others before but not so long, too. The prologue you can skip again if you play the 2 other parts before, then the game starts and Kuon act very strange, he dont want to play with you and you will get the reason. So you get trough the levels by cheating this time and Kuon think he is very smart for his age at start but that makes the problem, that he try the easy way and not learn his lectures but then he get a lesson for life and start from the beginning again, before that you can enjoy the chemistry of Akio and Takashi, oh like an old couple, so strange and a bit scary. So later on S rank you get a bit funny ending. The story is really a bit better then the last 2 games before and i cant await the final tomorrow. Because the game is a bit longer and the story a bit better i give this game 86 % for people who like VN. Watch the 2 trailers and think what this many work of the developer is worth to you. I would say 60 % or bigger discount would be good maybe 70-75% but choice yourself (thing about things like the team, translators all need to get paid and how much time it make to procude a game and from the sales you need to life and to reinvest it in new games and steam get a part of the cake maybe too? Thats why this short games have a high price and dont forget what happen to THQ and Acclaim with so brilliant games -.-). IF YOU DONT LIKE VN or not like them much. Buy some other game please. Dont get disappointed with a fail-buy. Give it a chance and maybe enjoy or dont give it a chance and miss maybe the chance to like it. Thank you for reading and perhaps i can some players help to enjoy this game with my review as help.

[b]“Fear is the main source of superstition, and one of the main sources of cruelty. To conquer fear is the beginning of wisdom.”— Bertrand Russell[/b] It came to the third part of [i]East Tower[/i] series already? Wow, with each new one, the mystery has been kept well-fed, I must say. At this point, we all know the drill, we all know what we will encounter... or do we? This third chapter deviates from the routine a bit, by introducing the unique condition of Kuon's story. He is a bit different from the other participants. For once, he is the youngest, and he may not be declared as the boldest, for good enough reason. He is the cautious one, with some heavy trust issues. Want to find out more? Well, keep reading. Sakuya, our protagonist with a gender complex, arising from a past trauma, participates the demonstration for the newest VR game by posing as a boy – that part doesn’t change since it always serves to be our prologue for the series. She joins the game alongside four other young men and gets partnered up with Kuon this time, a bit unwillingly. He is a cool looking young man with a stone-cold attitude. As he somewhat halfheartedly treads around, we soon realize that he seems distressingly familiar with the content and the rules of this game. May he be the hacker? Or what lies under his uncanny knowledge and control over the game? Spoiler alert: [spoiler]poor guy played this game more times than he would care for![/spoiler] Our partnership with Kuon is deep layered, and his character may be considered the best written in the game, so far. [spoiler]His narrative is a great example of a well-established psychological coping mechanism. Since he’s been in the game for a long while, compared to everyone else, he grew up in many senses; yet some parts of his psyche remained juvenile and frightful. This dissociation also gets reflected upon his personality. His demeanor instantly changes according to the visage he dons. His character immediately changes, according to his form and the condition – which makes him really hard to communicate with. Kuon's story - however sad and somewhat disturbing - has been a joy to read about. At some point, Sakuya describes him as a wolf under a bunny guise - which is a really fitting depiction. [/spoiler] Challenges in Kuon's route differ from previous ones again. They are not only psychologically unique to this pairing, yet they also contain a philosophical aspect this time, about the very element of courage and wishful thinking. In terms of artwork or atmosphere, the series are not one of the best examples in the genre as I have noted in my previous reviews, yet I have played the series enough to decide that the narrative and character build don't disappoint at this point. We have 2-3 hours of game time, some achievements and our last set of clues concerning the character of the mystery hacker. Ready for the last part? I know, I am curious - which makes the series a success by its own, in my book. See you for the last chapter in the [i]East Tower[/i] series! Please also check out Lady Storyteller's Curator page [url=http://store.steampowered.com/curator/11672469/]here[/url] - follow for regular updates on reviews for other games!

Given the fact that East Tower: Akio, East Tower: Takashi and East Tower: Kuon share the same universe, even if East Tower: Kuon is more complex than the two previous, nearly whole of the review is a copy/paste of these. Sakuya is a woman wishing to be a man since an incident in her childhood. She makes everything in her power to look like one. Her cousin Daiki works for Dreamworld and needs her help to try a new virtual attraction called West Tower, reserved for women. However, Sakuya managed to convince him to let her try the East Tower, reserved for men. She ends with four other testers, trapped in the virtual world, though she's happy to see that she's a man in it... This is the same beginning in each Each Tower game. Once in the virtual world, Sakuya will team up with one of the guys. In the first of the series, she's Akio's partner, whose virtual form is a child, in the second, she's Takashi's, a boy admiring so much his sister that he took her appearance. East Tower is an attraction that will confront everyone to their own insecurities and fears. I will go straight the point: this is a visual novel, where you have choices to make. Each stage must be cleared to advance in the story, you don't have any skills or relationships to improve/destroy. However, choices are mattering: you can get a bad ending immediately where you have to begin the stage again (not the entire story), a best friend ending (by scoring A on each stage) and a romance ending (by clearing each stage with a S). If you follow the romance route, you'll end up with an extra chapter. However, some stages don't have a A rank, only a S one - in that case, for the best friend route, it's considered as if it was a A. Choices are generally made during the challenges proposed for the team. It's much rare to see them outside of them, before or after them. True, without skills or anything to worry, the game is easier than any other visuel novel I've already played (apart Shan Gui, which is more an interactive book), even the first Heileen was more complex and even Blue Rose was more complicated. I don't mind at all this lack of difficulty. However, in Kuon, the game propose a little more choice than Akio and Takashi, as you will have to save and load your progress for achievements. I find very interesting the fact that the guy will be your best friend at the end, as the bad ending isn't a "you're alone", "you're killed", etc.. However, should you choose to pursue him, it means that your character is also evolving and accepting herself more. Let's speak about Kuon. He's appearing as a cool man, however, he's very cold towards Sakuya at first because of an unexpected event in the game - she doesn't remember it but she will experience the same thing as him. Kuon uses his adult form to be more forward, as he's shy in the reality. Kuon is also showing some dual personality, making him the shy guy that has a bold and "pervert" side (though Sakuya is calling every guy pervert). You still have the A and S ending, however, you can choose which form you prefer: the current one or the adult form. It's not influencing the ending in itself but well, there is an achievement about it and it's changing his appearance for the last stage. I understand why Kuon is acting like that, however, I largerly prefer Akio or Takashi for that matter. Kuon has a nice voice as an adult and as a child, it's also perfect. Indeed, the visual novel has voice acting... in Japanese. I don't understand a thing but as the subtitles are in English, I could follow the story. The only character not voiced is you. However, I find it really good. It's always fun to hear something in a foreign language, it's reminding me some good memories with some anime. As for the style, it's really in a manga style, reminding me of The Rose of Versailles or anything directed to girls - because it's clearly stated in the official website that it's a visual novel for them (but everyone is welcome to play it). I loved it. I also loved the HUD, kinda hi-tech and with a good shade of green. The music is very good too, very adapted to each scene. I really liked it. East Tower: Kuon is a little good moment I've spent, though it wasn't really the same fun because of Kuon's personality, without having to think too much. The twist in the story is interesting, making Kuon last longer than Akio or Takashi. It's not the best visual novel out there, I admit that, however, it's still worthy of a purchase and you'll learn more about East Tower in itself and wondering what's happening really.

[h1]"Meet the great octopus"[/h1] Anything else is still the same except re-stages and adult endings.

I gave the first one positive review and now I think it's because it felt fresh. Well, this one doesn't. It has the same issues as the first title, but way more flaws. It tries to move story forward, but the problem is, it's really hard to care about it, when there's really nothing interesting happening. Plus, in the first game protagonist was rather intriguing and definitely better written than most VN heroines, but here she's just annoying as ever. It's rare for me to care about visual novel so little to not even get one ending, but this one is boring and repetitive. As a side note: It would be so much more intriguing if we, as a players, wouldn't immediately know who are we dealing with - so no names in the title, no pretty much the same appearance. Then it would be truly shocking that our serious businessman takes the form of a child and that this shy boy decide to be more mature and manly. But with this setting, there is no surprise and the explanation behind it is always something that we've heard thousands times before.

overall very good. can recommend it.

"East Tower - Kuon" had a lot of the same issues that "East Tower - Aiko" had (rough artwork and superficial plot), but with some added creeper factor. In this one, you play the same heroine from "East Tower - Aiko" as you work your way through a virtual reality game gone wrong. Only this time, you're paired with Kuon, who is the shota character. Normally, I can handle shota routes, but this one just made me feel icky. I can't tell if it was the way Kuon was written, drawn, or the fact that there's a sexy scene. Probably a combination of all three. All in all, this one wasn't my cup of tea.

Seems like the East Tower games grow longer and longer when you keep on playing those in order. Lovely series for otome&visual novel fans. I've been giggling and having fun while playing.

The East Tower series is a set of otome visual novels that are different than your standard Japanese otome game. If this review peaks your interest, I would recommend buying the whole bundle as it is cheaper than buying each one individually. The 4 games together give 15+ hours of game play. Note: If you read my reviews on any of the other games (Akio,Takashi, Kuon, Kurenai) aren't terribly different I was surprised at how much I ended up liking game. I think a lot of that has to do as a Otome game addict I was getting a little burnt out on the mobile games. (When I say burnt out, I think I have played the main story line of more than 80 characters on mobile otome games.) East Tower Kuon is the third installment the series and starts to reveal more of the overarching plot of the ET series. The order which the game is recommended is Akio, Takashi, Kuon then Kurenai. I would recommend this game even to just VN fans (not necessarily otome fans) because it explores interesting themes and has a great overarching plot. The story is what got me hooked on this game, I love a different story than your more standard otome game that ET has. The Kuon route is cute for your standard shouta stereotype but has a bit of a twist too. I especially like how this game explores gender related sexuality in a very interesting way. Gender fluidity is something much different to be explored in a VN/Otome game, especially for a Japanese market. Sakuya (the MC, name changeable) bends the standard female protagonist role, rebelling against the female stereotype, actually starts the virtual game as a male character. The voice acting is very nice for an indie game. I liked some of the unique voices in the game (Daiki specifically). I wouldn't say that there is any blaring miscasts in the voice acting. Of course this being an indie game, there aren't the big shot seiyuus (voice actors) to really make the voice acting really shine. I was not big on the art style that ET has, but I grew attached to the characters anyway, which is a good sign as the likeability of the character is not just based on the art. I would say the thing that bothers me the most is the roundness of the faces, especially the young versions of the characters. I think of all the VN/Otome games ET has to take the cake on roundness of faces. There are more CGs than I was expecting for an indie game. The backgrounds in ET are interesting, I really like how the game world is portrayed. I would really say that the only (slight) drawback to this game is the art style, but it is still nice in its own way.

This review covers all 4 of the East Tower games in one. Simply put, the game isn't very good. The art has occasional good moments but most of it is pretty bad. The story is set up in such a way that it could lend itself to an interesting discussion of gender identity and digital sexuality but it instead chooses to do cliché "oops, I tripped and grabbed your boob" moments. There are dialog options but the game is still very linear; you either die instantly, find a solution, or pick a solution that gives you a bit of extra dialog. I would not recommend any of these games except for Kurenai (which was admittedly pretty good). However, there are parts of the Kurenai story that won't make any sense without playing at least a bit of the other ones. The game is also way too expensive. I bought them all as a set with 40% off ($18 total) and I feel ripped-off. There are much better VNs available for much less. Takashi, Kuon, and Akio were each only about 1.5 hours of play time, which is not a great value. Finally, every time you finish a section (and there are at least 7 sections per game) the game tries to get you to post to social media. That really pisses me off. It takes me out of the moment to try to get me to advertise for a game that I paid for. Dear game devs, please don't do that!