Tsuyokiss Festival
Entry posted by Clephas
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This VN is a direct sequel to Next, beginning approximately at the end of the common route of the original. At this point, the characters from the original series begin streaming back into town, Kachiki appears on the scene (dramatically), and Kitsune's character is given a new facet. However, the common route in this VN is very short, mostly providing comedy (there is one ending you can get out of the prologue/common path that is absolutely hilarious) and fitting the new character dynamics into the setting. This is actually a nice advantage because - unlike Nigakki and Sangakki - there isn't that sense of 'oh god, they are repeating the same BS a few months later'. A bit of character 'polishing' has been done on Sanagi (the protagonist) and a few of the other characters (Kohane, in particular), and a new ongoing joke has been introduced. Other than that... the melding of the two casts of characters has been pretty amusing so far.
Kachiki
Kachiki is one of two new main heroines introduced in this VN, along with Kitsune (who was a side-character in Next). Kachiki seems on the surface to be Erika's counterpart in Next, but once you are on her path, it becomes apparent that that is definitely not the case. I won't go into details, but don't fall in love with just her surface character, because - unlike her cousin Erika - she definitely has some aspects hidden from a casual glance. Her actual path is about on par with the Tsuyokiss Sangakki paths, both in terms of length and quality, and thus it is quite enjoyable with a nice balance between slice-of-life, comedy, and drama. I had to smile at the ending, lol.
Kitsune
... let me just say, Kitsune's path is hilarious. I don't say that with any reservations. Kitsune's path is hilarious (I needed to say it twice). Well, Kitsune's character is generally meant for comic relief, and her dere is pretty freaky (as anyone who saw how she reacts to Neko can attest to). She's pretty... animalistic. Those who want really good H scenes should probably go for this route, because she's something of a... nympho. Anyway, most of this path's drama is in how they gradually get together, and most of the rest is humorous, though there is some mild drama regarding Kitsune's relationship with her classmates. All in all, I enjoyed the path immensely, but I also thought the path could have used some extra spice (you'll know what I mean when you find out about her living arrangements, which are interesting). While Kachiki's path has better drama, as entertainment, Kitsune's path wins out on several levels.
Next Heroines
For better or worse, what is included for the heroines from Next is after-stories. However, the after-stories do bring the conclusion that was lacking in the previous paths, though it doesn't generally remedy the lack of drama. Nonetheless, I particularly liked Kohane's, Cherish's, and Sumika's after-stories, as they filled in a lot of the details their actual paths lacked. In Sumika's case, it is mostly joke material, but it was good joke material, so I'm pretty happy about it. My major complaint is Neko's after story, which was basically an excuse for ichaicha+h-scenes (in other words, boring after a path that was essentially the same as that). Hakari's after story adds something to her path, but to be honest, it felt too slice-of-life for me, considering Hakari is something of another 'out of this world' character, in a different way from the martial artist ones (mad scientist).
Original series Heroines After-stories
These after-stories are based off of the endings from Sangakki and have a tendency to alter Next's timeline (in Next, Leo never got with any of the heroines and is traveling the world as an architect). These after stories are generally surprisingly interesting (Nagomi's and Otome's were the best... though Erika's was pretty good too and Serebu's was pretty surprising). I honestly loved the new character designs for the old heroines, and I was generally satisfied with how the whole thing turned out.
Extras
Umm... it is your choice whether to take the maid twins or the Kaho route... but to be honest there isn't much in the way of content to either one. It is basically a stupid comedic path in both cases leading into a pretty straightforward ending (or set of endings, in the twins' cases).
Conclusions
For better or worse, this is basically a VN designed to conclude both parts of the series, rather than stand completely on its own. If I had to rate the Next generation routes (including the new ones), I'd do it (in order from best to worst): Sumika>Kitsune>Kachiki>Kohane>Cherish>Hakari>Neko (sad, since I really liked Neko and she had potential as a heroine). I had to subtract points for the failure to give a true extension to Neko's route (as opposed to ichaicha+sex), as well as a few other points, so it isn't going to be something I consider high on my list of things to replay. However, Next really can't be considered complete without having played the after stories in this game. I'm actually highly pleased with the ten-years-later after-stories for the original trilogy's heroines, and I can say that they produce a nice cap to the series. Because of that, my feelings on this are highly mixed.
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