Nightshade／百花百狼

DNF. The art is pretty, but that's it.
I just wanted a regular otome game romance, but instead got a long and boring story about some ninjas and clans and a thief and I don't even know what else, because I just started skipping everything (which was possible because the game gives you almost no dialogue options to choose from).
Also, I didn't like any of the characters. The MC is a 16 year old "way-too-kind" cliché, and none of the romanceable characters are interesting or charming. I honestly don't get why everyone likes this game.

I really enjoyed this otome. It's one of the better ones I've played imo. I'm not an otome connoisseur by any means, but I've played my fair share.

Cons:

1. WHY DOESNT TOKUGAWA HAVE A ROUTE??? These devs really put this beautiful man in this game with the sweetest voice just to tease us. I played through all the routes and unlocked everything in the hopes it would unlock a Tokugawa route. Massive disappointment.

2. Writing: The MC is the typical lame damsel in distress the majority of the time. She has her moments of being a hard worker and sucking it up, but for the most part she's weak, in the way and winy. I dislike MC like this. I love being saved by a knight in shining armor as much as the next girl but I hate when the main character is a burden the whole time -_-

3. The choices don't really matter much. Either you pick the right one or you don't. Not much else to it. This is a minor con for me though, as I feel like most otome are like this.

4. A little uncomfy: (Trigger warning) Kuroyuki's route is a bit intense and really sad. I didn't dislike it. I like when games have dark/sad themes. But dude was just creepy imo. By far my least favorite route. Also, lots of age differences that could be potentially grooming? Idk I tried not to think about the older cousin thing too much with Chojiro lol. Or the fact that Hanzo is probably twice MC's age. Tbh Gekkamaru was the least problematic. So if you're sensitive to anything like that, just be aware. I still think the game was a lot of fun and this wasn't a big enough issue for me to not recommend the game.


Pros:

1. Artwork is beautiful

2. Voice acting is impeccable. By far the best I've experienced playing an otome. Hanzo alone had me swooning fr

3. Writing: Each route is similar but different enough to make it worth playing them all imo. I also liked that this was pretty tame. Nothing spicy. I like a slow burn with low spice and that is also hard to find sometimes.

4. UI / options: The skip and quick save/load features are so good. A lot of these games don't implement them well or usefully so you still end up having to re-read stuff you don't want to and wasting a lot of time. After I finished the good endings for all the routes, I was able to plow through to the bad endings within an hour using these features.

Overall I highly recommend the game if you like otome. I think Hanzo and Gekkamaru have the best routes, so if you only want to play a couple, I recommend those.

i did gekkamaru's route first whoopsie poopsies

yes

NO ONE TOLD ME MC WAS SIXTEEN?

Excellent production with good art and story writing. The heroine was however very frustrating for me. The male characters really are the stars of the show.

love this game and all the routes are great

Oh man this VN is so good. It is for sure in my top 5 favorite otome games. The LI are all top tier that it makes it hard to pick a favorite. I know a lot of people complain about the MC, but she did not bother me at all. Once you play Amnesia any other character is brilliant afterwards and more tolerable.

its really good

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Hanzos route was awesome

I don't even like men and I thought this was good. The Chojiro route and hanzo route were a little mid. Great writing overall though. 7/10

First of all! You right click the upper portion of the screen to access the menu on PC. That took me forever to figure out, and I freaked out thinking I couldn't save. That's also the menu where you can see your relationship points with the 5 romanceable guys or change the settings to make skipping faster/slower, etc.
This visual novel is a fantastic blend of squee-worthy romance and political intrigue. The first 3-4 chapters follow the same story line, allowing you to make choices and gain romance points with your desired character. Then there are a few minor changes depending on who you have the most romance points with and a mission split (Gekkamaru and Chojiro follow one mission while Kuroyuki, Hanzo, and Goemon follow the other mission). Around chapter 5, whoever you have the most romance points with (if there is a tie between two or more, the game will choose the highest one to the left) becomes your locked in romance story from then on with unique pacing and plot.
It really felt like a different story for each play through - I was very impressed. Usually with multiple romance options, you pretty much just play the same game over and over to get the achievements, but this was really fun to read each character's story. Each had similar major plot points as anchors, but there was a lot of fluidity in the story details between those plot points.
If you want a dramatic, cry-your-eyes-out, never-saw-that-twist-coming type first play through - pick Chojiro first. If you want a twist and some crying but in a slightly less dramatic and intense fashion, try Gekkamaru first. If you're into dark and broody bad-boy with a tragic backstory trope, Kuroyuki is your boy. If you prefer to play the innocent shy girl falling for a playboy with an earnest heart and a carefree attitude, go with Goemon. If you're the type who likes to feel in control of a situation or if you don't like to be confused trying to puzzle out the intrigue and just want things laid out for you, Hanzo's got your back.
My recommended play order would be Chojiro --> Kuroyuki --> Hanzo --> Gekkamaru --> Goemon ...... Hanzo was my favorite. Chojiro was a close second favorite, though.
Now I need to go and get all the bad ending achievements.

Yes.

1. 从各个方面来说都是很纯正的伊东爱风味
2. 只有一周目是有体验感的，后面每一条线坐牢程度逐级叠加。半藏线开始间歇性挂机，蝶治郎线后半几乎全程ctrl，黑雪线不想打了就这样吧
3. 某sub画这么好看是为了……？

I honestly don't understand why everyone likes this.