Secrets of Me

Like the previous reviewer, I was initially turned off by the weird game description. But I wasn't going to kick it until I tried it. Pros Character design Reminiscent of a Korean romantic comedy Cons Inconsistent music loop Blurry backgrounds Lack of depth Cliche plot elements Some of the pros and cons I listed could be taken either way. But here, I'll discuss my personal opinion of the game. (I know it says I've only docked about 11 hours, but I really did get all the acheivements already.) The story starts out with you, the protagonist, newly transformed after undergoing plastic surgery to impress your fiance (slightly weird thing to do, considering he's already agreed to marry you, but it's good. lol). Later on, using your stalking skills and the help of a handsome stranger, you find out that he's actually a con man who tricks women into marriage. After returning home, you get a call from your fiance asking to borrow money, but you had spent it all on the surgery, so he breaks up with you. And thus, your otome dating sim begins. Right off the bat, I assumed this game would be your typical, cringy, dating sim. And I'm actually really into that (I've played so many Dogenzaka lab games lol), so I went into it with a very open mind. I really liked the art style in this game, specifically the CGs and character sprites. One thing that bothered me a bit was the way the protagonist was drawn (no eyes), but that is a minor detail. The backgrounds were disappointing and looked like blurry pictures, which has worked for other games, but these specific photos looked bad (maybe I'm just being picky?). The music also seemed familiar, maybe recycled from another game, though it was pleasant enough. I got the impression that the creators didn't invest as much time into this game compared to some of their other titles. Above, I mentioned that the story reminded me of a Korean romantic comedy (which I'm not that into, so I listed it as a pro for others rather than myself). I found the protagonist a bit silly, with her clumsiness and stalkish behavior, made me chuckle a few times. She wasn't too passive overall, so the choices weren't ridiculously frustrating, which was a plus. A surprisingly common element in this game was that the characters were engaged to someone else from the beginning. Personally, I'm not interested in pursuing this type of character, so I didn't like that aspect either. And though the characters had great designs and personalities, I didn't feel an emotional attachment to any them or their stories. The suitors seemed cliche (e.g. rich doctor, model, CEO who sweeps you off your feet). Halfway into most of the routes, I lost interest. I can honestly say the story got pretty freakin' weird at times, but it still wasn't enough to keep me captivated. What I liked the most about this game was the obvious message and overall theme that beauty isn't only skin deep. Sadly, the protagonist had already gone under the knife before realizing any of that. And in a way, her beauty makes me question the integrity of some of these characters. It's likely that most of them wouldn't have even interacted with her, had she not undergone plastic surgery to be such a stand out beauty. Even though I liked it, this has been my least favorite of the Dogenzaka lab games I've played. Now, if you are a fan of kdramas, romantic comedies, strange storylines, or you just need something to pass the time, then you might enjoy this more than I did. Overall, I give it a 5/10. Not that great of a game, but I've certainly played worse. I'm not really recommending it, but I'm not saying you shouldn't give it a chance.

I really wanted to like this game. The prologue was funny and zany, but after that? It went downhill fast. The character I chose to romance, Akira, was pushy, cruel, and cheating on his ACTUAL GIRLFRIEND. From what I understand, all of the options are currently dating someone else while the MC tries to seduce them away. [spoiler]Akira's girlfriend, Yuka, is a cute plus-size girl in lolita fashion. In her case, she is extremely selfish, and when Akira has to go to the hospital because of a 102 degree fever, Yuka bursts in and yells at him for missing their date the night before. So the only chubby girl we see in-game is a screechy shrew who Akira only likes because he's a chubby chaser. Akira is trying to date MC at the same time as a "beard", or cover, so no one finds out his actual girlfriend is fat. Akira is also very aggressive and repeatedly ignores MC's attempts to say no to him, and at one point I was actually concerned he was going to [i]rape[/i] MC in an elevator. He had his hand up her skirt and was continually ignoring her refusal. [/spoiler] After [i]six chapters[/i] of this, I was done. Despite my best attempts, I could not like Akira at all. The goofiness of the concept was quickly overshadowed by the complete lack of consideration for MC from all of the potential romance options. I couldn't finish even my first playthrough.

This is one of the better VNs by Dogenzaka. After running through 2 terrible ones, this one was a breath of fresh air. Basic plot: The player character is self conscious and decides to get plastic surgery after her boyfriend proposes to her. [spoiler]Soon after, the player learns that her boyfriend was actually a con artist trying to launder money from her. He breaks up with her once he finds out that she spent all of the money he was going to launder on plastic surgery. The player then gets involved with one of the five romanceable guys, who all turn out to have a fiancee/girlfriend. The player starts to stalk them out of interest. The relationships are either one sided or had a fatal flaw within them. Eventually, the guy breaks off the relationship/engagement because he fell in love with the player[/spoiler]. The VN still has the problems that all other Dogenzaka VNs have. The 5 storylines are much better written than some of their other VNs published by Dogenzaka. They're 13 chapters + 2 endings rather than 8 chapters + 2 endings. There was actually character development compared to some of the other ones. I would actually recommend this one, even though there are some obvious flaws in it. The awkward translations are less noticeable in this one. The premise is weird, but it wasn't weird to the point where it's cringey. If you plan on buying this game, get it in the bundle or wait until a sale.

When this title was released on Steam, I'm glad I recalled a friend some time ago praising it as one of their favorites (they played the smart phone version). Otherwise, I may have put off or fully passed on this title since the impression this game gives off is a murky one. I'm gonna tell you Secrets of Me is weird. More of a "weird GOOD" than a weird bad. Otome games can be predictable but this kept me on my toes. Much of the credit goes to the MC, who had a strange mix of traits that somehow end up being kind of interesting & charming. This girl can be shameless but the light-hearted manner of everything will make you like what's happening. I never had so many dialogue options make me truly laugh & excited to see the following result. The guys were far from perfect but certainly loveable, there are many amusing scenarios/crazy antics but just enough restraint that you can enjoy a few serious moments. Don't hesitate to play this game if you're looking for something different & quirky, be a little open minded and let the stalker games begin!

[h1]TL;DR:[/h1] If you have your expectations set pretty low and are cool with dumpster-fire characters (seriously - all of the characters are either creepy, scummy, and/or total weirdos), it's actually... kinda worth the time? I'd recommend getting it on sale, though - it's still not likely to be a game you come back to. --- [h1]Overall Impression:[/h1] I had my expectations pretty rock bottom after several games from this company being incredibly bad and/or forgettable - but since I already purchased the game, I figured it was worth a go when I wasn't in the mood for something very plot-heavy. Plus like... the plot premise set off all sorts of warning bells. This one surprised me by making me laugh several times and actually... cry??? I'm reluctantly going to go ahead and give this a recommend, but I certainly don't recommend it to everyone. [h1]Content:[/h1] First off - if you're sensitive to the topic of stalking, I'm not sure why you're considering this one. It's certainly handled in a light-hearted manner, even when it should have been taken more seriously in certain routes. There were some really weird, dissonant moments because of this that were incredibly creepy or upsetting in ways I don't think it intended to be. As with most of this company's games, consent is handled pretty poorly. On the plus side, the heroine does seem to be going through the Japanese-maiden "protest because it's happening too fast or to not seem over-eager for it" way, rather than it being actual assault. If you are sensitive to body issues, particularly considering weight, you'd want to go into playing this game aware that it comes up briefly in several routes and one of the routes is pretty much all about weight. On the other hand, it is clearly trying to be more body positive, it's just not in the way the average westerner might think of as such. Sex and foreplay scenes exist, but they seem to be afterthought additions and aren't the highlight of any routes. Most of them are very forgettable and handled in a way I'd barely call "open door" since they're breezed over so quickly in most cases. If you're just here for the steamy sex, you may as well give this one a miss. [h1]Translation/Editing:[/h1] For the most part, there are few typos, confused homophones, or questionable translation. There are, however, many instances of "garbled" sentences, where two sentences got accidentally merged into one, leaving off the end of one sentence and the beginning of the other - so there will be times where you'll have to stop and try to figure out what's missing. Some routes have these errors (and extra mistakes) very heavily while others are nearly pristine. [h1]Art/Character Design:[/h1] This is probably the worst art I've seen in this company's games. If you're happy with what you see in the screenshots, you'll probably be fine. For me, it's inconsistent in quality and of a lower overall grade than their usual. CGs rarely take the trouble of trying to really impress the viewer, though there were certainly a few that were quite effective. I was impressed that the love interests had at least two different outfits, though I feel like more poses and at least one extra wardrobe choice would have helped a lot. [h1]The Heroine:[/h1] Well... She's not very bright. To the point where in one of the routes she says she thinks she has a fever because she used her brain to think. She is absolutely a stalker type and only manages to avoid going full yandere by the fact that she seems to be pretty sweet-natured. There were times I was infuriated by her succumbing so easily to her weaker nature to stalk the love interest or fall in love. But... I actually kind of liked her? She was very sympathetic. To the point where I wish she were in a better game because I feel like she could have had some really interesting stories if the writers weren't writing throwaway mobage junk. [h1]The Love Interests:[/h1] I liked all of them, even though, as I said before, they're all kind of a little scummy (a few of them are [i]very[/i] scummy, in fact). And even where you can make allowances for their scumminess, they're also either a bit creepy or a bit weird. But... all of them had their moments where they were quite charming and often very sympathetic. Definitely don't go into playing this game thinking you're going to find noble, upstanding, and/or misunderstood guys. These guys are all flawed in pretty big ways that should normally not end up in a happy ending like this. But, you know? maybe that's the kind of story you're in the mood for, and apparently I was. [h1]Story:[/h1] A quite simple plain girl decides she's going to blow her life savings on becoming beautiful for the guy she's dating. He's handsome and she wants to match him so she doesn't have to feel so insecure. Too bad he was just mooching off her and dumps her once he discovers she's now poor. She goes out to get revenge on him... but ends up changing her target (of your choice). You probably already knew the premise, but what you probably won't get is how differently each route turns out. With many of this company's games, they follow very similar story beats, so no matter which guy you choose, you'll get pretty much the same twists and turns. This one doesn't do that and you can see hints of really great writing and tongue-in-cheek pokes at the tropes and the ludicrous nature of the story. Nothing really that breaks the fourth wall, but some of them toe the line. Don't get your expectations up. It's still a throwaway mobage, churned out by someone who probably had a very specific word count they had to hit and very little leeway on either side. Very few of the stories really explored anything of any depth and though I think the writers hid the formula pretty well, there was still a formula they were following. This wasn't someone's passion project. But I think they did have fun with the ridiculous premise they were given. [h1]In closing...[/h1] If your expectations are low and the premise itself doesn't turn you off, then just turn off your brain and give it a chance when you're in the mood for something light and ridiculous. I had fully intended on giving this a "not recommended", but in the end, I had enough fun that it would be petty for me to give it a bad rating just because it's "junk food" otome. If you're still on the fence, just put it on your wishlist and wait for a deep discount or a bundle deal and save it away for a day you're in the mood for "junk food".

Why does every single route have cheating elements to it. 0/10

我...真的是在攻略这些男人吗？我怎么感觉是这些男人在玩弄我...

The characters are funny and lovely. The main stories are interesting and entertaining. [spoiler] I really like how the girl tends to turn into a crazy stalker, because let's admit, deep inside all girls have a little stalker in them [/spoiler] One of my favourite stories was Mizuki's story (´ิ ❥ ´ิ♡). I was laughing through the entire story But every story is great in it's own right. Some of them are funny, some of them are dramatic and some of them are romantic. I can only recommend it!

I really do not think I am the target audience for these games. I am about five games into the D3 bundle and have only recommended one as playable so far. The Good: - Shun. He has his "off' moments (let me teach you a LESSON about letting your guard down around us disgusting lecherous men) but GENERALLY speaking, he's a decent guy. He's got charm, he teases MC but not in a rude or mean way, and he does seem to care about the people around him--my low bar for these characters is "Are you a sociopath?" - Mizuki? I like Mizuki in theory, but in execution he does not play well off of MC. He comes off a bit too paternalistic because MC is ridiculously lacking in common sense. I had high hopes for him since I like the affable and friendly types, but alas. The Meh: - Akira. His route was surprisingly FUN once I got past my feminist rage in the first couple of chapters because you can raise affection with the mean and sarcastic dialogue options. Even though he's a spoiled, arrogant jerk, he does have a strong work ethic. *thumbs up* The Oogly: - Ryunosuke. He is, without a doubt, one of my least favorite LIs that I've EVER played in any otome game or romance-themed visual novel. He is basically a sexual assault lawsuit waiting to happen. He wasn't so bad as a side character in Mizuki's route, but I absolutely hated him in his own. He is always forcing himself on MC and the options that raise his affection have to do with being demure and apologizing for everything, including things outside of the MC's control or things that are his fault. AVOID. - Meguru. He is just boring. He's also really weird, as his life philosophy is to help beautiful destitute women. He has some psychological reasons and childhood trauma that are supposed to explain away his inability to interact with women appropriately, but sadly I didn't care enough to pay attention. - Art. Not a fan of the art style in this game. (MC is also faceless, which is never comforting.) - Editing. Lot of sloppy mistakes and weird typos. I think I saw "dead" for "read" at one point. There were also quite a few scenes where the background music, which admittedly isn't great, just came to a screeching halt. - Premise. MC gets plastic surgery to appeal better to her jerk fiancee who ends up dumping her anyways. She picks up some stalking skills from one of the LIs, private eye Mizuki, and proceeds to use them on one of the five men she ran into immediately after she became "beautiful." >> Maybe I would respect this premise more if there was some message here, like a body positive message or even a "plastic surgery is not so bad" message. Or something showing how plastic surgery by itself will not cure you of low self-esteem or self confidence issues. There was a weak sauce attempt in Shun's route to highlight the fact that people who get plastic surgery shouldn't be made villains or shamed, but it was so slight that I had to squint to pick it up. - Story. Like other D3 games, these are very short stories that utilize over-the-top plot points that mostly leave me wanting. I do not need an overdramatic or melodramatic story if the interactions, character development, and dialogue are good. - Cheating. Without giving too much away, cheating is prevalent in all of the routes. The writers attempt to justify it by creating a scapegoat in most of the routes, but it did not sit well with me. - Heavy signs of rape culture. MC is yet another pure-as-snow protagonist who's lacking in all sexual experience (she freaks out when her hand is held for the first time) and says "No" and "Don't" quite a lot, mostly at odds with what she actually wants, which is another problem in itself, and it's 100% treated as "Oh, I just need to manipulate you more into saying 'Yes'" by all of the LIs.

It's a garbage game. I hated it and I hated myself for playing it. Premise is dumb (stalking ain't cute), cliche over cliche, dumb plot twists, dumb story... Sometimes it was so unbelievably stupid, I honestly thought it was a parody or something. Oh, to dream... It could be funny in the dumbest of ways. But it's kind of funny after which you think "I can't believe I giggled at this, what is wrong with me". There's no good characters here. If you're expecting at least one route without SA, I've got bad news for you. [list] [*]MC is dumb, creepy, pitiful, weird, embarrassing, pathetic idiot with no common sense, no standards, no confidence and self-esteem so low it challenges her intellect. [*]Shun is mediocre, possessive weirdo. [*]Akira is arrogant, rapey, possessive prick - who thought bully/victim to lovers would be a good idea? [*]Megumi is privileged, rude, cheating arse with such beloved tropes as "You're so not like other girls" and "I can change him!" in his route. Big yikes. [*]Ryu is just the worst. The most rapey of them all. Oh how I wished he wouldn't end up in the lucky 40%... (I wanted him dead, that's what I'm saying). [*]Mizuki is alright. I didn't hate him (constantly at least), but nothing to like here. It's like... all of them are trash, but if Ryu is disgusting, decomposing, rotting corpse of a rat, Mizuki is more like mouldy apple - still edible if you're starving. [/list] Your precious time (and brain cells) will never be recovered. Please, remember my sacrifice and don't play this garbage.