TAISHO x ALICE episode 1

感觉不如原神传说任务

[h3] Pros [/h3] ♡ [b] Interesting plottwists, character parallels, and good execution of concept. [/b] The writing wasn’t mindblowingly excellent, but it was good/acceptable. I like how the writers tried different approaches to each of the LI’s original fairytales. There’s also MANY parallels you can feel between the two LI’s even though they never interact. I think what the writers did best was definitely romantic tension. ♡ [b] Extremely funny (IMO). [/b] This game has a lot of humor which I wasn’t expecting, definitely more packed with it than other otomes I’ve played. And the smooth translations was the cherry on top! Seriously, lots of Japanese games can have somewhat awkward humor due to bad translations, but here it’s perfect. ♡ [b] Unique and interesting MC. [/b] Instead of being a blank slate, you can see the heroine has so much personality and even feel her compatibility with both LI’s. She’s optimistic, funny, smart, charming.. yet has her cons such as being too spontaneous and stubborn. It’s also very refreshing to see a MC who really plays a more active role in the routes. ♡ [b] Excellent voice acting and almost fully VA’d. [/b] The only character who doesn’t have a VA is the MC. Everyone else does, including very minor side characters. I will always appreciate when games do this as it feels much more immersive. ♡ [b] Great balance between story and romance. [/b] I honestly felt like both routes never truly lacked either in terms of quantity. Although I personally felt the quality of Red’s wasn’t on par to Cinderella’s, it still felt well balanced. ♡ [b] Beautifully drawn and expressive sprites. [/b] Gorgeous artstyle, with the sprites having plenty of poses, outfits, and expressions. ♡ [b] Autosaves! [/b] You really don’t need to use the save feature often, as you can go back to any choice in the game whenever you want. It makes the gameplay much more convenient. [h3] Cons [/h3] × [b] Humor is definitely NOT for everyone. [/b] Even though I enjoyed most of it, I still cringed at the game’s more poorer moments. It has swearing, inappropriate jokes, misogyny, and fatshaming. Although this does not represent all the humor from this game, it’s not uncommon. If you’ve played Ozmafia or Amnesia: Memories, the jokes are kind of similar to the ones there. × [b] Mediocre CGs (in both quality and quantity). [/b] Though the sprites are great, the CGs are much poorer than I expected! Especially with such a gorgeous artstyle. The artwork just feels rushed, with lots of awkward anatomy and very little in quantity. The moments they choose to add in the CGs too are also very miniscule and uneventful (with exceptions). × [b] Plot holes and strange pacing. [/b] Don’t really wanna expand on this to avoid spoilers, but you’ll definitely have some moments where you’ll be very, very confused. × [b] The bad endings literally suck and make no sense. [/b] Usually in otome, the bad endings give you more info on the character or even see different sides of them, which makes it worth the while to achieve it. However, here, if you get a bad end it can completely makes the LI seem like a total ass. Not even in a yandere way, just an out-of-character DOUCHE. And it’ll even happen after the most intimate moments from them. It’s lazy writing and makes the LI seem so much more inconsistent. For my sake I pretend the BEs aren’t canon. [h3] Overall verdict and who this game is for: [/h3] ☆ I recommend to players who are looking for unique small stories packed with romance. Players who enjoy fantasy elements and light mystery. As well as players who are more willing to play till the end (as many things don’t feel lined up until you play the whole chapter). ☆ I DON’T recommend to players who are looking for lots of content (as the routes are on the shorter side, has very little CGs, and only 2 LIs). Players who are more choosy about humor and story quality. And players who aren’t willing to commit to the whole series. ☆ If you plan to get this game, definitely do it on sale as there's a bundle! If you're unsure of the whole series just get this episode first and evaluate from there. <3