Kokurase Episode 1

Aşk Tanrısının Yardımcıları olarak da bilinen Kokurase çetesi, birinci sınıf öğrencisi Sakura'nın, okuldaki tüm kızların kalbi için yarıştığı popüler son sınıf öğrencisi Yoshimitsu'ya yardım etmeye çalışıyor. Bu iki muhabbet kuşunu iç içe geçmiş bir hikayede bir araya getirmek için üyeler arasında geçiş yapın.

Edit: Previously this was a negative review because I encountered a game-breaking bug that didn't allow me to continue. I have not deleted this part of the review, because it also happened to another person and is thus not an impossibility, but I will move my actual review to the top. Let's start with the positives. My favorite thing about this game was the character and CG art - it's so unique and shapey and dramatic and fun and I've never seen an animesque style quite like it. The premise is super interesting and silly, and even though the game mechanic was largely just walking around a rather bland environment, the super-fast running with Shift made it not such a huge deal. However, I can't help but feel the negatives with the story outweigh the positives enough for me to not be interested in purchasing the other chapters past chapter 1. The trouble is that all of these things are spoilers, but in the vaguest sense possible, my issues with this game are the way it makes light of something incredibly problematic and dire, the overly forceful/creepy way it often treats relationships, and the fact that no one really learns anything (and it's not funny enough to make up for that). Spoilers to describe what I mean in more detail. Point #1: [spoiler]A significant portion of this game involves attempting to frame two people as sexual predators - namely, putting cameras in the girl's locker room. One is a guy who's an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ - this is framed as his comeuppance - and another is a guy who has done literally nothing wrong but was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Given the preponderance of claims that women who have experienced sexual harassment and assault are lying when they come out and say it, the fact that this is treated with an entirely lighthearted and silly tone makes me very uncomfortable, as it only contributes to this terrible and dismissive attitude that perpetuates harm and unsafe environments. On top of that, genuine false claims in that regard can literally ruin your life, and even a ♥♥♥♥ like Yoshimitsu hasn't done anything to deserve a punishment that extreme - let alone poor Kanta, who was manipulated and lied to by his own friends in service of this plan!![/spoiler] Point #2: [spoiler]Sakura is basically forced into this against her will - she doesn't know she's signing up for Kokurase's matchmaking, and as funny as it is that she is literally being pushed around by Riho for parts of the game, ultimately it's a bad look. They claim they're taking this case on for Sakura's sake, but as far as I can tell they're doing it purely for themselves, because she constantly protests their actions. At the end of the game, when Yoshimitsu flips a switch and becomes obsessed with her, he half-crushes her in her arms and proceeds to never leave her alone, which despite her crush on him she doesn't really seem entirely happy with. On top of that, the romance confession to Kana at the end of the chapter has a boy coming up to her and saying he's been "watching her" before confessing his feelings, which is the most insanely creepy red flag on planet Earth yet is framed as cute.[/spoiler] Point #3: [spoiler]Despite the point of this entire scheme ostensibly being to put Yoshimitsu in his place and make him less arrogant and callous to the feelings of the girls he rejects, Yoshimitsu learns absolutely nothing. He sees that secretly-recorded video of Sakura practicing trying to say she loves him, falls in love with her instantly, and doesn't even care about his subsequent popularity loss because he's in love with her now. So he is never taken down a peg, he never realizes he was callous and cruel, he never apologizes... in fact, he gets exactly what he wants! Characters don't necessarily have to learn something for a story to be enjoyable, but that is mostly the case with brief, episodic comedies like Blackadder - and Kokurase isn't funny enough to qualify as that. So it just comes off as weird and bad writing.[/spoiler] Overall, with these three points, combined with the possibility of a game-breaking glitch (as described below) and a sudden usage of the r-slur that was the 2024 equivalent of a jumpscare, beyond the art I can't really say I recommend this game, and I don't have an interest in buying any of the follow-up chapters. Old review below: Having played only chapter 1, I do have some genuine thoughts on this game so far (overall my verdict is probably that it's all right, and the unique character art is probably the best part of it), but I don't want to actually give a review until I finish a game, or at least as much of a game as I can/want to. Unfortunately, I can't do that, because I encountered a game-breaking bug mentioned by someone else in the forums as far back as 2019, and they never got a response from anyone except for me today in 2021 where they are unlikely to even see it. Basically, [spoiler] you're playing as Yoshimitsu and you're supposed to go into the boy's locker room as a distraction by Kana so Kokurase can lay out their actual plan to get Sakura to confess. But you can't do this, because for some reason the key phrase said by Kana that tells you which locker to put them in is just... gone. It say it wasn't even witnessed by Yoshimitsu, despite that being the literal reason he's in there. There aren't any step-by-step Steam guides to this game, so I ended up scanning through an obscure YouTube playthrough of it - and as I suspected, in their playthrough of the game, Yoshimitsu had to select what Kana said in order for the game to move forward. My last save was when Yoshimitsu entered the building, because I couldn't save as Kana and didn't want to lose information, [/spoiler] which means I am permanently stuck being unable to finish the first chapter, and unable to construct a concrete opinion of the free chapter to determine whether or not I'm interested in buying the next two chapters. So, given that this bug makes it impossible to continue and there doesn't seem to be a way of determining how to avoid triggering it, I can't give this game a good review.

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Эпизодическая визуальная новелла с элементами приключений и абсурдного юмора. Игрок помогает застенчивой Сакуре завоевать расположение популярного Йошимитсу — в этом ей содействует тайное общество Kokurase («Помощники Купидона») с эксцентричными участниками и необычными способностями. Плюсы: Необычные персонажи — у каждого члена Kokurase своя уникальная черта или способность (например, видение призраков), что делает их запоминающимися. Забавный и абсурдный сюжет — пародия на аниме‑тропы («заметьте меня, сэмпай») с неожиданными поворотами и лёгким юмором. Механика ключевых фраз — сбор и использование важных реплик для продвижения сюжета добавляет интерактивности, напоминая системы из игр типа Ace Attorney. Минусы: Ограниченная интерактивность — геймплей сводится в основном к диалогам и редким простым задачам, что может разочаровать ищущих глубокую механику. Проблемы с локализацией — встречаются шероховатости перевода и опечатки, из‑за чего часть шуток и нюансов теряется. Техническая нестабильность — возможны вылеты и проблемы с сохранением (отсутствие чекпоинтов), что создаёт риск потерять прогресс. Итог: подойдёт поклонникам визуальных новелл, аниме и абсурдного юмора, кто ценит эксцентричных персонажей и лёгкие истории. Kokurase Episode 1 развлечёт необычной подачей школьной романтики, но может не устроить тех, кому важны глубокая игровая механика и безупречная техническая реализация.

Игра «Kokurase Episode 1» — атмосферный хоррор с элементами психологического триллера. Погружение в мрачный сюжет, где герой сталкивается с тайной прошлого и невидимыми угрозами, подкреплено тщательно продуманной атмосферой и напряженной музыкой. Графика сдержана, но эффективна для создания напряжения. Геймплей предполагает исследование локаций, поиск подсказок и решение головоломок, что требует внимательности. Однако сюжет местами запутан, а финал оставляет вопросы. Для любителей жанра — достойный выбор, но не для слабонервных.

The writing is not that good. It feels broken? I'm sure others would like this, seeing the status of the reviews.

LGTM

Ключевая история игры мне не показалась достаточно интересной, чтобы продолжать дальше игру. Возможно, для данного продукта найдется свой потенциальный игрок, которого затянет здешний сюжет и черты поведения героев истории, но я им точно не стану. Из единственного, за что я хочу искренне похвалить разработчиков, так это за нарисованные спрайты персонажей. Герои в своей 2д версии выглядят привлекательно, несмотря на простоту их дизайна.