In an alternate reality, a dangerous shadow organization launches a campaign of fear and violence in the city of Shinjuku, pushing society to the brink of chaos. The series follows female police officer Ichika Hoshino who is patrolling lively ward. However, during one of her watches, she's attacked. When she wakes up, she finds a collar filled with poison attached to her neck. Somehow, she gets dragged into "X-Day Incident," which five former police officers are currently investigating.
this is. straight up. my favorite otoge of all time. for a while i was so against playing it bc i didnt find any of the li's attractive but then i saw aiji and knew i had to play it! i love me a man who smokes.
that being said i played mineo's route.. all the li's were really attractive so i decided to play it by ear as opposed to picking a route before playing like i usually do, and mineo.. oh my god.. mineo.. mineo..
MINEO ENOMOTO. oh my god. she is the reason this game is ranked so high. i don't know a single other character who is like her much less a character whos so fucking perfect!!!! i'm sorry but this whole part will probably just be about mineo.. the fact that a character can exist whos just so eccentric yet insecure, she's like a better version of kazuichi LMFAO and her whole ninja hyperfixation was just adorable. cxm really did their big one with her; i find that a lot of otoge love interests are pretty one dimensional, but i feel like mineo was made to be a character you fall in love with. she's so layered and she's a bit of a stereotype but she also has so many different interests and quirks that are just really rare to see in li's.
moving onto the story. i don't usually care for murder mysteries or mysteries in general but collar x malice was really good at making the mystery actually captivating; i was so insanely hooked to know who was behind mineo's case. on top of that it is pretty dark for an otoge which i really enjoyed; otoge are rarely dark (AND ZOOO NOT MENTION AMNESIA MEMORIES TO ME BECAUSE THAT GAME IS SO FUCKING SHITTY AND NOT DARK IN THE SLIGHTEST..) but to have such a dramatic plot and a dark atmosphere is really cool.
and the art, both the cgs, sprites, and ost.. they're just so lovely. the bgm is quiet while still being dramatic which i love; i hate when games have really in-your-face osts. the art style is very typical for otomate but it's still gorgeous and atmospheric. on top of that. JEEEEZ LOUISE. shizuka no umi is insane. like that's the best song i ever heard and its insane that it's just from an otome game.
what i did hate was... sasazuka... and that twink ass forensic psychologist.. and the length. #sowwy. i also hated how fast mineo moved, like i found that the pacing post-getting together was really bad. girl why are we talking about getting married when it's only been three months? i get that that's her personality but it still pissed me off. the length was also like a bit unneccesary; it kind of dragged on around the end.
nonetheless it was a really amazing game, and well paced with some exceptions. the romance at least was well paced in terms of becoming friends, pining, etc, though the time period was pretty unrealistic. i'd reccomend this as an intro to otoge because it's easy to enjoy and understand!! #yay
that being said i played mineo's route.. all the li's were really attractive so i decided to play it by ear as opposed to picking a route before playing like i usually do, and mineo.. oh my god.. mineo.. mineo..
MINEO ENOMOTO. oh my god. she is the reason this game is ranked so high. i don't know a single other character who is like her much less a character whos so fucking perfect!!!! i'm sorry but this whole part will probably just be about mineo.. the fact that a character can exist whos just so eccentric yet insecure, she's like a better version of kazuichi LMFAO and her whole ninja hyperfixation was just adorable. cxm really did their big one with her; i find that a lot of otoge love interests are pretty one dimensional, but i feel like mineo was made to be a character you fall in love with. she's so layered and she's a bit of a stereotype but she also has so many different interests and quirks that are just really rare to see in li's.
moving onto the story. i don't usually care for murder mysteries or mysteries in general but collar x malice was really good at making the mystery actually captivating; i was so insanely hooked to know who was behind mineo's case. on top of that it is pretty dark for an otoge which i really enjoyed; otoge are rarely dark (AND ZOOO NOT MENTION AMNESIA MEMORIES TO ME BECAUSE THAT GAME IS SO FUCKING SHITTY AND NOT DARK IN THE SLIGHTEST..) but to have such a dramatic plot and a dark atmosphere is really cool.
and the art, both the cgs, sprites, and ost.. they're just so lovely. the bgm is quiet while still being dramatic which i love; i hate when games have really in-your-face osts. the art style is very typical for otomate but it's still gorgeous and atmospheric. on top of that. JEEEEZ LOUISE. shizuka no umi is insane. like that's the best song i ever heard and its insane that it's just from an otome game.
what i did hate was... sasazuka... and that twink ass forensic psychologist.. and the length. #sowwy. i also hated how fast mineo moved, like i found that the pacing post-getting together was really bad. girl why are we talking about getting married when it's only been three months? i get that that's her personality but it still pissed me off. the length was also like a bit unneccesary; it kind of dragged on around the end.
nonetheless it was a really amazing game, and well paced with some exceptions. the romance at least was well paced in terms of becoming friends, pining, etc, though the time period was pretty unrealistic. i'd reccomend this as an intro to otoge because it's easy to enjoy and understand!! #yay
Mineo Enomoto
love interest of choice...
mineo is so cute and funny... she's a super impulsive, honest ex-member of the field ops team, and struggles a lot with talking to women (stammers and stutters).
she rushes headfirst into issues but despite this, she's incredibly sweet and charming and able to befriend many people. she's very chivalrous and gentlemanly (?) i dunno how to describe her.
she's very obsessed with japanese history, specifically a type of samurai i can not for the life of me remember the name of, thus, she aims to take after them personality
and looks-wise (hence the eyepatch and fan).
she is incredibly similar to impey, however, by playing her route you'll learn more about her backstory and realize that despite her happy-go-lucky, charming personality, she has a lot of inner turmoil i won't spoil here. she's a much more dynamic character than you tend to see in otoge and one of the best li's i've seen so far..!
she is incredibly similar to impey, however, by playing her route you'll learn more about her backstory and realize that despite her happy-go-lucky, charming personality, she has a lot of inner turmoil i won't spoil here. she's a much more dynamic character than you tend to see in otoge and one of the best li's i've seen so far..!