Unison Shift: Blossom

Some comments from several Unison Shift games, mostly Flyable Heart related.

vndb EGS

Flyable Heart -The future has already begun-

vndb EGS

There are already several reviews of this game, so check them out (especially Micchi’s one). I’m not saying really anything new, so this will be brief. In short, a very good chara-ge. The heroines are utterly adorable (all of them -though a couple not always-, which is somewhat of an accomplishment) and the whole cast is very good (even the protagonist, to some extent), the common trunk is very fun (thanks in no small amount to the Kaichou), and the routes manage well the timing in becoming dramatic (though the relationship upgrade is maybe a little sudden), and in a few scenes only the bravest or the most heartless can manage to keep completely straight and not tear up even a little.

Yui, who for some reason has a raccoon tail

The most notable thing, however, is the overarching plot that surrounds the whole game. Is foreshadowed since the beginning, and the different routes give different pieces of a puzzle that come together in neat ways. These different routes fit together very nicely, and one of my pet peeves, events that happen in one route but not in others, is absent (…for the most part. It’s not completely perfect). Some reveals are also more insinuated than made explicit, all of which make for a smart scenario.

So overall, a very solid, smarter than average chara-ge. If you like those kinds of games, you should really check it out. And even if you generally don’t you can find it worthwhile.

Nanatsuiro★Drops cameo

Kimi no Nagori wa Shizuka ni Yurete

vndb EGS

An alternative version of the original game, this is basically, a “complete” version of Mayuri (one of Flyable Heart’s heroines) route. So, those who played FH can already guess what to expect, and those guesses wouldn’t be off mark.

Super Hero Time

This time the focus is the drama. There are none of the supernatural elements of FH (…well, there’s still MAXX), and comedy is to a minimum. If that lightheartedness of FH is what you liked, you may not enjoy so much this game. And if you didn’t like Mayuri you may want not to try this. Conversely, if you liked Mayuri this may be exactly what you wanted. The game itself is good, so if in doubt you can be better off trying it.

Flyable CandyHeart -The future is always connected.-

vndb EGS

Fandisc for FH, now once again all characters are present (a couple were absent in kiminago -if you played FH you know which ones). In a slightly different setting from the original, there’s an alternate scenario for Sakurako, after stories for Amane, Mayuri and Kururi, scenarios for Gumi and Akira, and then the scenarios for Yui and Suzuno, which wrap the whole game with a plot not totally unlike that from FH. There’s also a crossover scenario featuring characters from Peace@Pieces, Alice♥Parade and Nanatsuiro★Drops.

Crossover scenario

As a fandisc, it delivers. Fun after stories, scenarios for girls that didn’t have them, and more plot than expected from a collection of short stories. The crossover scenario is also pretty fun, though knowing the characters from the other games may probably increase the satisfaction.

Kemonomimi patch: proof that there’s a thin line between brilliance and madness

Nanatsuiro★Drops

vndb EGS

Earlier game than Flyable Heart, and first game of Unison Shift: Blossom.

This game is much more “fluffier” than the previous ones; a kind of “feel good” game; because of the scenario, but also the color palette and the music contribute greatly to that feeling. Also, the focus is not on comedy (not a big part of the game), but on development: of characters, in part, but mainly of the main relationship.

Here I’ll be talking exclusively of Sumomo’s route, the main one. The other two routes are much shorter and substantially inferior, so the value of the game hinge almost entirely in Sumomo. Sumomo’s route neatly follows the common trunk, and on the whole the game depicts the slow budding of the “first love” relationship between her and our main character. All of that neatly integrated with the magical girl plot that puts the whole scenario in motion. Events in one of the lines feedback on the other, and though it’s a little predictable, that’s not in a necessarily bad way, since it’s because the main drama “twists” are caused by things presented in the very beginning.

On the other hand, the calmed pace also gives always a feeling of “not much is happening”, making for a slow rhythm (even with a scenario lenght in the short side of things). It may be better to read this in a relaxed way, in parts, instead of marathoning everything.

So, it’s recommendable? Well, I found Sumomo completely adorable. How much do you agree will considerably affect the answer, this being a mostly Sumomo centered game.

This game supports inter species love

Prismatic Princess ☆ Unison Stars

vndb EGS

Mega crossover scenario. There was some multiverse mumbo jumbo, and now heroines from all Unison Shift games are together. To get back to their respective universes, they must become idols.

The scenario is about as good as you could expect from that summary (which is to say, not very). There’s also a card minigame, which is fun but ultimately meaningless, since it has no relation to the plot. Needless to say, the more Unison Shift games you played (especially the Chu x Chu Idol games and Flyable Heart), the more you can enjoy this, since the interaction between all the characters is about the only saving grace of this game. The H scenes are not to bad, either.

About these ads