Disclaimer:
The copyrights to the game in this review and anything associated with it belongs to their respective copyright holders. In short, I claim no rights to anything related to this game - expect this review itself of course. Further, everything that I have written in here expresses only my own opinion and nobody else’s. In particular, I am not liable for financial losses because of purchases that have been done, based on my own biased descriptions in here.
First and foremost, you who’d want to read this review should know beforehand that the game in this review is of the kichiku kind of b-games. This kind of games often contains things such as rape, non-consensual sex, torture, bondage, slavery, etc… So if these things bothers you, then you probably aren’t interested in this review of mine in particular. In short: Abandon all hope, all ye who enter here!
Being hearing impaired I won’t say too much about the sound nor the voices - especially not the later, as I’d not dare to consider myself a good judge of whenever a voice suitable or not - but I may say a word or two on those subjects, nonetheless¬Ö
This is an amateur review, so don’t take it all too seriously. My views here are mine and mine only, so if you have any problems with them or just want to comment on them, feel free to do so. This review is also mine and mine only and not to be put out on someone’s homepage or such without my permission (but feel free to tell others about this review and direct them to it by linking).
Game: Mayonaka wa Owaranai
Made by: Assemblage /Touchy
Company page for the game: Not available
Getchu page for the game: Mayonaka wa Owaranai
Synopsis:
This is a sequel to Mayonaka wa ware no mono (also by Touchy) and as such, takes place not too long after the first game. In this game, we once again play as the main chara of the first Mayonaka, Ogata Seishirou, the man who consumed a demon lord and thus gained his powers and who is now trying to conquer the world, starting with Japan. In the path this game follows from the previous one, the “Special group” the government assembled to crush Ogata’s organization was more or less obliterated - or so it was believed! Later information came into the hands of Ogata’s organization, suggesting that the “Special Group” was not destroyed, rather lying low ¬ñ but still remain in existence, led by their mysterious leader, “Ishtari”. Setting his sights on some people with mystical abilities who could be members of the Special Group in hiding (or training), he sets out to pull up the tree - that is to say, the special group - with the roots this time. And woe to those who would dare to block his path…
Gameplay:
Standard ADV-style. There’s mot much of a line drawn between the prolouge and “when the fun truly begins” as in the first game through; you play through the story and now and then get some choices that affect the outcome of the game!
Summary, Own opinions, etc:
Well, I liked the first Mayonaka, but I’m afraid to say that the sequel is in some regards a bit disappointing. The “hunting” aspect in the first Mayonaka did perhaps not offer THAT much of a difference, but it made things a bit more unpredictable, at least. In this game, this function is no more - as is the function from the first Mayonaka game that allowed us for a limited period of time to pursue whichever character we wanted and then train her. In this game, the “hunting” and “training” are driven by the continuous progress of the story and not under the direct control of the player - - not that this is necessarily a bad thing, but it reduces the interactivity a bit for this game n a bit for this game in comparison to it’s prequel.
The art’s been improved since the last Mayonaka game - definitively a point in this game’s favour, through not by very much.
There’s both old characters and demons from the old Mayonaka who appear again in this game! Definitively a nostalgia-point in this game’s favour, but I wish they’d have let a few more old characters appear through. The new characters and demons are interesting enough though… I would ¬ñ as already said - have liked more old characters to appear but that would perhaps not have worked all THAT well - not if this game was to be open for newcomers. If too many characters from the previous game made an appearance here, it’d perhaps have alienated those who hadn’t played the first Mayonaka… with the game being made the way it is now, both old and new players can play and enjoy it - and as many characters from the first Mayonaka are at least mentioned, it may make new players interested in getting the old Mayonaka too…
This has got to be the easiest b-game I’ve ever played - the previous Mayonaka was a bit more vague on what exactly your choices would lead to, but here, you’re not left with much of a doubt of where the choices will take you - or at least it won’t after your first playthrough. OTOH, while the choices are a bit easy, the story do offer some surprises; definitively a point in this game’s favour. Whenever you yourself’d think worse or better of the game because of the fact that it’s a bit easy is up to you - IMHO, it can be a point in this game’s favour, as it’s sometimes fun to play an easy game too (even if only for a change).
This game - like most Touchy games - contains a high degree of kichiku - as high or perhaps even higher than the previous Mayonaka game. And on top of that, the main character here’s the most evil one I’ve ever played). If you dislike that, then this is perhaps not the game for you…
Overall, I’d recommend this game to those who like games with much the same elements that appears in the first game (minus those things I’ve described above that was featured in the first Mayonaka but isn’t here), those who have played and liked the first game, those who are fans of Touchy’s games or just like kichiku in general.
There’s twins in this game! Never a bad thing in a bishoujo game! ~~~.
Misc stuff:
A character from another Touchy game makes a cameo appearance here. A bit unusual, as I never figured Touchy for a company doing that sort of thing, but not a bad idea…
Possibilities exist for a sequel of this game in the future. Well, we’ll simply have to wait and see, I suppose…
[This message has been edited by Spectator Beholder (edited 04-20-2006).]