9 -Nine- Kokonotsu Kokonoka Kokonoiro
Entry posted by Clephas
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This game, which I will refer to by the nickname Kukoro from now on, is Palette's newest low-price release, based on the same concept as Corona Blossom (episodic releases) and other games released in the last few years. It is also written by the same individual who wrote Nanairo Reincarnation and Akeiro Kaikitan, so in that sense this is definitely something I was looking forward to. I should tell you that my philosophy on this kind of episodic game is not to play it until all the episodes are out, and the value of this philosophy has been reinforced, in my mind, by my experiences with such releases.
First, the big plus of this VN is that the protagonist is voiced and that the writing, in and of itself, is of excellent quality. The action-based and emotional scenes have the same kind of first-class writing that turned those two into kamige, and that in itself pushes it ahead of most of the episodic releases I've had the misfortune to experience so far... unfortunately, that really isn't saying that much.
This VN hits one of my top five biggest pet peeves, and one that is pretty much insurmountable with VNs, in my experience. It doesn't give me the whole story, even for the one heroine it covers.
This is an abominable choice on the part of the company, even if it isn't the writer's fault. I can honestly understand covering only a single heroine's path in a release. Tiny Dungeon did the same thing, and each game stood on its own as a masterpiece, despite only covering one aspect of the main story. However... this is what amounts to a chuunige, with all the buildup and hints at potential drama you see in a chuunige 'beginner heroine' path (the heroine whose purpose is to simply get you involved with the setting). What does this mean for the reader? This means that you are given tons of hints as to what might happen later, but this path doesn't give you anything of value, despite a bad ending you are forced to watch and an utterly unsatisfying heroine ending where nothing is resolved and a new problem pops up at the very end, where it cuts off.
I would much rather pay one hundred dollars for the full story at once, than have to endure this kind of BS. I went on a rage after playing the second Grisaia because it did the same thing. Cliffhangers drive me nuts in VNs like this one, and this brings back memories of why I blocked out the second Grisaia as a traumatic memory until the third one came out.
In other words... don't play this game until the rest of them come out. It is too frustrating and too short to be worth the trouble. Not to mention that it doesn't give you time to get used to the characters and setting (there is no common route, so there is no 'settling in to the characters' to serve as a reason to hope for the future releases). So, I'm left with a story incomplete in every way, with a cliffhanger ending, and with a near-indifference for the non-Miyako, non-protagonist characters because this company chose to take too many shortcuts on the first part of the game. The raw quality of the prose and the dialogue, as well as the voiced protagonist, simply aren't enough positive to make me feel better about the negatives.
Edit: Keep in mind that my opinions are based just on this version... Also, I wanted to add some comments on the protagonist and other characters. Like many decent half-chuunige (half-chuunige referring to VNs that have strong chuunige elements but don't quite fall into that genre's aegis) this VN's protagonist is intelligent, psychologically flexible, and more than a little humorous. As a protagonist, I don't really have any complaints about him besides the fact that they chose an "I'm the only helpless one' role for him, which is why I relegated the game to half-chuunige status (since it wasn't protagonist-centric enough). The heroine for this one is Miyako, the daughter of the Kujou family, technically an ojousama (rich girl). However, her family's philosophy is that the company's money belongs to investors and workers, so they aren't nearly as wealthy as their company's success would indicate for most such families (she thinks paying five hundred yen for a meal is too much, lol). The only other character who you get a halfway decent impression of is the protagonist's little sister, Sora. She is a fun-seeking, somewhat air-headed brocon girl who is probably destined to be the heroine of a future installment, given her fondness for hanging out with her big bro. I have to note that the two other heroine candidates made really weak impressions due to only appearing in three scenes each.
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