First Impressions: Casual Romance Club

Visual Novel Community Archive, 2000-2009
#1

i’m not usually one to do firsti mpressions or reviews, but I am really impressed with Casual Romance Club after my first play-through, so here I go

I have yet to finish with any girl or see any H-scenes, so this is a very very early first impression, but i am so impressed with this game…i get the feeling that it won’t be really easy to get any perticular girl, since i thought i pursued Charlotte (yes, i kept the americanized names) pretty doggedly, but i didn’t end up with her at the end…i have yet to see any repeated conversation during the course of the game…obviously there will be repeats when i play therough again, but what i mean is that unlike some games like this, every timei had a private chat with a girl, it was a different conversation…i loved that!

the game engine is a little odd, since it sits right on top of your desktop with about four different windows, so you can still see the desktop under those windows, but you get used to it before too long

the girls are all real individuals and have different interests, and even the girls that sort of fit the ‘cookie-cutter’ stereotypes (the lolita char, the older char, etc) don’t end up being a stereotype, since they all seem like real people with their own quirks and such

the graphics are really pretty, and the english translation is surprisingly good, although there are definately hiccups in grammar sometimes…it is much better than i thought it would be for an english translation done by a japanese company, though, very easy to understand what is being said

it works perfectly fine on my computer running Windows ME at 1024x768, and it seems the game defaults to english, because it was always in english for me, i even had to change the voices to japanese (i didn’t like the way the english sounded with a japanese accent) because it defaulted english voices…the manual is hard-bound (!!!), full-color (!!!), and has both english and japanese text, although the English is written first

i am going to go and play through the game again…it’s such a wonderful sim, and I WILL make Charlotte mine!!!

#2

hmmmh, sounds like i need to get a copy too

in the other thread you mentioned that there was some confusion about which version on the Himeya site was the correct one to buy

which one did it turn out to be?

#3

How’s the English voiceacting? It’d be priceless if the ones with Scottish last names had the Scottish accent of Sean Connery.

I want to make her say ‘There can be only one.’

#4

sigh There goes my wallet wimpering in the corner again. Looks like I’ll definitely have to rework next month’s budget to pick this game up. Now if only I could get around to finish a few other games as well…

#5

What!?! How do you already have this game. Himeya you bums! Glad it sounds good I am patiently awaiting my EMS package so I can give it a try .

#6

well, done with my secondp lay-through and STILL didn’t get Charlotte!!! argh!!! i got closer though, she went on a few more dates with me, but the issue she had still ended up causing us to not be together (only going to call it the issue so i don’t ruin anything)

it looks like the person who said there was only one version might be right, since this version seems to have both the english and japanese versions on it, although it defaults to the english version…then again, maybe this is just the english version, since it does REALLY focus on the english language…but the system requirements on the box don’t specify if it is an english or japanese version, neither does it say it requires english or japanese windows, it just says windows…i don’t want to try switching it to japanese, because i don’t have Japanese windows and my system is a little finicky at times, so i don’t want to chance having it screw everything up totally

as for the voices, it seems like the japanese voice actresses just sound out the english words, so they have a very distinct japanese accent to them even when speaking english…sorry, no scottish accents for you

i tell you,this is definately a sim that is not focused on sex, because i STILL haven’t gotten any H-scenes, and not even one of the girls has the attitude of ‘you’re cute, i want to f*ck you’…they all act surprisingly like normal girls, do normal things…some of them are a little more comfortable talking about romance topics than others, but none open a conversation with anything naughty…

it’s a really refreshing change of pace to feel like i really have to work to win these girls’ hearts…it doesn’t seem to be as simple as ‘be smart’ or ‘be artistic’ like in True Love, nor is it as simple as ‘say the things she wants to hear’ and ‘be nice’…at least in the path i am pursuing first (Charlotte) it seems like you need to win the girl’s affection AND solve some other outside situations that affect how she feels…it’s really rather complex

[This message has been edited by ladyphoenix (edited 04-30-2003).]

#7
quote:
Originally posted by ladyphoenix:

as for the voices, it seems like the japanese voice actresses just sound out the english words, so they have a very distinct japanese accent to them even when speaking english...sorry, no scottish accents for you [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

That's sexy too. Can she say 'Let's fight, Terry!' or 'WiinaaR!'?

#8

Is it translated with Babelfish like giniro was?

#9

from what she said earlier it does not sound like it was translated that bad. Checks mail nope has not arrived in the last 5 minutes… Doh!

#10

woohoo, third time is a charm! I finally got Charlotte! she is soooo hot, i love her hair

it seems like for the H-scenes they use a softening effect on the girl’s hair so it looks softer and more real…it’s really nice and i like it…

as for the translation, like i said earlier, i am very impressed with the translation…it is easy to understand what is being said…every now and then they will spell something wrong or grammar will be a little screwed up, but i have yet to find a part i can’t understand

#11

I have really got to stop reading this thread. It’s just fueling my desire to order this game RIGHT NOW! It sounds more and more like I’d really enjoy it.

#12
quote:
Originally posted by ladyphoenix:
*snip*

Okay, so we've established that not only does the game exist, it can be made to run on English windows.

*adds the game to 'buy' list...just need to get paid, dammit!*

[This message has been edited by Nandemonai (edited 04-30-2003).]

#13

You and me both. Hmmm…I should be able to sqeeze it in this week. Now to see if I can find a good MJ game at Himeya.

#14
quote:
Originally posted by Kagami:
Would you say that the quality of the English text on the game information website is reasonably indicative of that in the game?
http://218.44.172.9/crc/

Yes, i would say the website has about the same quality as the text in the game...in fact, it seems like a good portion of the website is copied right from the manual...in general, the english is very good, except for little grammatical bumps [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

#15
quote:
Originally posted by ekylo:
I have really got to stop reading this thread. It's just fueling my desire to order this game [b]RIGHT NOW! It sounds more and more like I'd really enjoy it. [/b]

BUY THIS GAME! I want to see more simulations like this in the States [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img] I think it blows True Love out of the water, personally, and I still love True Love....I think this game will get a full section on my website, if i can get permission to use the images from Libido

[This message has been edited by ladyphoenix (edited 04-30-2003).]

#16

Ain’t got XP, have no choice but to pass on this baby.

But, where did you buy yours from, was it the “DVD” version shown on Himeya’s website? I went to ‘English’ and it had ‘Casual Romance Club DVD’

[This message has been edited by bokmeow (edited 04-30-2003).]

#17

You may not be off the hook. According to the requirements page, it plays on Windows® 98/Me/2000/Xp

#18
quote:
Originally posted by perigee:
You may not be off the hook. According to the requirements page, it plays on Windows® 98/Me/2000/Xp

But it also says if you want to read the Japanese, you have to do the XP.... oh I get it, I'll just listen to the Japanese voices with English subtitles. I can dig it. So, how much and where to order from?

#19

yes, it runs on other Windows besides XP…I play it on Windows ME with Japanese voices and English words…yes, it is a DVD as well…I’m finally really glad I have a computer with a DVD drive

you can buy it at http://shop.himeya.com

#20
quote:
Originally posted by ladyphoenix:
yes, it runs on other Windows besides XP...I play it on Windows ME with Japanese voices and English words....yes, it is a DVD as well...I'm finally really glad I have a computer with a DVD drive [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

you can buy it at http://shop.himeya.com

*Snap* got no DVD drive.