[i]Finally, in Love Again[/i] is a Japanese otome visual novel developed by UNICO INC. and published by Voltage Inc. You take on the role of a female MC (whose name can be customized) who's just turned 34 years old. She's happy working as a pastry chef, but because she has been so focused on her job, she hasn't thought about finding love. However, after shortly quitting her job due to ethical conflicts with her boss, she runs into her ex-boyfriend from 10 years ago and soon after that, she gets an invite to a singles match-making party. Assuming that she attends the party, five younger guys (although actually, only three guys) in their mid 20's vie for the MC's attention, wanting to date her. What's a woman to do? lol This is where I'll leave off my story synopsis to avoid spoilers. XD
As for the gameplay, there is the prologue, and after that, you can choose from among one of five guys to date: Aki Fujishima (the owner of Larme, a pastry shop), Shuichiro Momoi (Larme's head pastry chef), Sosuke Kikuchi (a delivery person for Sayama Express), Kazuki Serizawa (the MC's ex who now runs a confectionary busienss), or Kanata Tachibana (a romance novelist). However, Kanata's route isn't available until season two is unlocked. Before I get too far ahead, after choosing a route, each guy (except Kanata) has a season one story that consists of the main story, sequel, guy's POV (for both main story and sequel), and epilogue (again, for main story and sequel). Also, they have a season two story that has the proposal, wedding, family album, guy's POV (for the proposal and wedding), and epilogue (for the proposal, wedding, and family album). However, Kanata's route only has the proposal, guy's POV, and epilogue. While the POV's and epilogues play out as linear stories, the other aspects have several choices presented and depending on the choices made, you'll either obtain that guy's happy or good ending. Of course, there are lots of CGs presented as well as a varied soundtrack although no voice acting or Steam achievements at the time of this review.
Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my thoughts. Occasionally, I'm in the mood for a hot, steamy romance story, and [i]Finally, in Love Again[/i] definitely delivers that and more. First, I enjoyed the premise of the story. I like how the MC is on the older side compared to a lot of other female MCs in otome visual novels. She's a bit clumsy and awkward, especially when it comes to the romance department, but she's innocent at times, kind, and sweet (although maybe too much so at times since I feel like it's ok not to have to be nice to everyone). With regards to the guys, I like all of the guys and enjoyed reading their routes. Aki is the cool, collected leader (despite that he's 26 years old) although he tends to be [spoiler]a bit horny when it comes to the MC compared to the other guys[/spoiler]. Shuichiro is the stubborn, perfectionist chef who pushes the MC to be a better pastry chef. (The MC ends up working at Larme shortly after quitting her previous job.) Sosuke is the mysterious, quiet delivery person who ends up [spoiler]actually knowing the MC since she was a teenager, but the MC seems not to remember him[/spoiler]. Of course, Kazuki is the suave ex who wants to sweep the MC off her feet although due to how they broke up, the MC may be wary of rekindling that fire. As for Kanata, he's the teasing, friendly novelist who [spoiler]writes erotic stories, which shocks the MC[/spoiler]. Since it would take way too long to go into details, I'll just say that each guy's route has various stories, ranging from how he and the MC first meet and develop their relationship to the guy's individual problems (like how Aki has independence issues because of his controlling father) to the wedding and to having a family (which serves as a sort of extended epilogue). The stories are narrated well, and when it comes to favorites, I think it comes down to personal preference. For me, I enjoyed Shuichiro's route the most because [spoiler]there's the initial tension between him and the MC, and later on, there's the focus on the substance/taste of cakes over their appearances (a great metaphor)[/spoiler]. As for my least favorite, it would probably be Kazuki's because [spoiler]I disliked how whiny the MC's mother would be when it came to pressuring the MC towards marriage and later, about having children, like saying that children will make a couple happy, which eventually makes the MC whiny at one point. However, there's no one set rule for happiness[/spoiler].
On the writing, I think the pacing was fine. It does have its slow moments when there's more focus on the everyday events of the MC and/or her guy, but I think that's fine. There are some typos and errors when it comes to who's speaking, so I think that having a native English speaker polish them wouldn't hurt. However, there are plenty of hot scenes that imply that [spoiler]the MC and her guy have sex[/spoiler].
As for the art, it's in the anime style that's typical of a lot of Japanese visual novels, but I enjoyed viewing them. The CGs are especially well drawn and colored, giving off that romantic atmosphere and conveying how easily the MC can fall in love with her chosen guy. As for the MC in the CGs, she's drawn without the eyes, which I think is done to allow the reader to have more self-immersion. While this may be off-putting for some visual novel readers, I'm neutral on this matter. In regards to the music, I enjoyed listening to the tracks. They vary from the light-hearted, everyday theme to the sad, emotional one to, of course, the happily-ever-after romance to even a Japanese pop song, which is the game's theme song.
Overall, would I recommend [i]Finally, in Love Again[/i]? If you enjoy otome visual novels, regardless of whether you've played the ones by Voltage or you're a newcomer, and you love reading romances where your heart will skip beats for any (or all) of the guys, then I totally recommend giving this a try. It could use some polishing on the writing department, but I liked reading all of the routes and falling for these guys (as a reader XD). (Before I forget, there are actually a couple of other guys who are implied to be options, but I think the reason their routes aren't available is that their season two stories were never translated into English.) For the asking price, it's certainly worth getting, as it took me almost 67 hours to complete all of the routes, obtain all of the endings, etc. (My playtime hours probably would have been fewer if I hadn't struggled a bit with getting a few good endings. lol) Of course, you can wait to get this on sale, but it's worth it.
Finally, I want to give a major thank you to Voltage Inc., for the review copy and hope to have the chance to read more visual novels by this awesome publisher. ^^
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