K-pop Idol Stories: Road to Debut

Alright, this was quite the game as it simulates what the processes and life of a kpop idol manager would be like. If you are into the kpop culture knowing a bit about it or wanting to learn how managing idols would be like then this game does a really good job putting into perspective what managers have to think about and oversee on a daily. For a simulator I'd say the game is worth a try. That being said I can see why a lot of people would complain about the inability to take back decisions or reload a previous save state as I feel the game is meant to be played in complete playthroughs as each run should be different depending on the manager playstyle you choose, what idols you recruit, and how you train them to success. For the perfectionist that wants a perfect first run and be one and done with the game, then I can see why it would bother you. Otherwise, I just simply continued my run despite making major mistakes like losing money trying to audition more idols, or spending time with the wrong people. And its ok to make those mistakes as you are meant to learn from it and to improve on it on your next run. Heck, I don't think the devs even think most people would be able to successfully debut their team on their first run (BUT I SURE DID!) and perhaps the game wants to treat things like a roguelite with decisionmaking mechanics. The characters of course all look like super models despite the animation art style and my girlfriend and I thought the art style was very cute and pops out in a good way. However, because it is a visual novel game don't expect any crazy animations as the characters all use their signature pose throughout the game and occasionally sways when they need to move (but you can dress up your idols which is neat). This gets even funnier when you get to see your idols perform and its just them doing their poses with a moving background. Kinda wished the devs put more work on this at least seeing how there are only 8 idols in total you can possibly recruit so the models are constant and don't need to do too much work but whatevs. You'll have some characters you'll really like and some you just learn to hate which I think is a good story writing. Note that every character that is your coworker will have a back story and is accessible to you at all times to progress, but for the idols there will be one part where you may choose one of them to interact with on a social day. Because I didn't know that this will lock me into their personal story for the rest of the run and make the other idol's stories inaccessible then my first play thru ended up having my manager spending a lot more personal time with one of the idols. So be warned about that when the decision point comes! Besides the decision making and training mechanics there are a lot of minigames that would pop up to shake things up. Some activities like training, jobs, or spending time with characters may end up having you pour some drinks, play follow the leader, and chase down trainees. However, the mini game i hate the most is the game where you have to time stopping a light on top of a trainee when they light up cuz if you miss then that's one less trainee application you get which I felt really screwed my chances of finding some trainees I wanted to recruit. You'll be managing resources like money, stamina, and happiness all of which is vital for your team's successful performance and whether or not your company will fire you for being bad at managing finances. Overall, it took me 5 hours to finish my playthrough to include getting to debut and getting to the game's version of the music awards. With everything I said in mind then you may find yourself playing this game multiple times spending a lot of hours trying to recruit the ultimate kpop idol team. I don't blame you if you think 20 bucks is too much for this game and want to wait on a discount, but I still it is still worth checking out if you like management games and if you like kpop stars!