izigame.me

This game is a disappointment. It somehow crushed every expectation I had of it and by the end I was feeling more pissed than anything else.

1.
If you only read the dialogue (ignoring the intro to the game), you wouldn't be able to guess these are crossdressing boys. The writing in this game is literally as if some guy made a normal dating game with 4 girls, then just changed them to "boys" after finishing the game and added a few references to their abs. Even the NSFW scenes I saw would be basically identical if they were played by girls. It's kind of infuriating how the game/writing treats them all as normal girls the entire game. Hell, the MC doesn't once even treat them or mention them as a femboy or otokonoko the entire game other than the intro cutscene. It's extremely disappointing, I would expect at least once for the MC to question his sexuality or for the "girls" to act somewhat like a trap.


2.
If you want to play this game for the Nanase route A.K.A Silver haired Dom girl on masochist mc (It's why I bought the game...), don't. I DOWNLOADED THIS GAME TO GET RAILED BY A CUTE FEMBOY GODDAMIT. But the only thing I got was disappointment. She only does a
vanilla scene where she rides your rooster .
and
a scene where she strokes/edges your chicken .
Like bro the game literally started by her threatening to punish you with her cock and I was so excited to continue her route (don't judge me we all have our own preferences). I'm not asking for much, I just want one scene where she tops you in any way. Too bad, it doesn't happen. This is not a spoiler, it's a warning. Or maybe for some of you it's a plus, who knows.

TO BE FAIR, considering the creator of this game probably originally wrote this story with straight up girls, I'm not surprised there isn't a SINGLE NSFW scene from Nanase or ANY character (I saw all CGs for all characters) where the "girls" use their d*cks in any way, shape, or form. It's always just there for decoration. It's as if all of them originally didn't have d*cks or something when they wrote these scenes :).

Honestly, this entire story it feels way more as if the author just couldn't care less about using their own brain or skills to try to actually write a Crossdresser so instead they just used the official Japanese handbook on "how to write a female visual novel waifu" to make them instead.

3.
the writing and story isn't anything special. I can see how some may enjoy it, but personally, I think it's ruined by my first point. Also the art looks nice but is pretty lazyl ngl. They could have at least added tears to characters faces when they cry or make it so the characters face next to the text box matches their actual face in the moment. Like if someone goes "I hate myself!" while crying, their face next to the text box is just stuck smiling.

Should you buy this?
I would say don't, but the amount of Crossdressing/Trap/Otokonoko NSFW visual novels out there is rather low. This game is like a last resort if you need to play something on this genre and you don't mind if all the characters were just written as girls (for both story and NSFW scenes). If you like Vanilla, simple, and basic plots then go right ahead, you'll probably enjoy this.

If you want this for Nanase (aka the silver hair dom girl), DON'T even think about it. I wouldn't be so mad if they didn't tease her so much at the start of the game only to massively disappoint later.



TL;DR: Their c*cks are fake

I really wanted to like this game, I truly did (look at my hours). But there are just too many flaws and it ended up leaving me frustrated.

Good:


Art Style: The art is pretty nice. There are some inconsistencies, like Hayasaka's hair changing color in the new CG. But at least she looks cute in pink.
Soundtrack: The soundtrack is actually underrated. I like the song from the first NSFW scene. It sets the mood perfectly. BUT DON'T BUY the soundtrack until they address this: Based on spectral analysis, it seems like they transcoded the tracks, meaning it lost quality (frequency cutoff around 16kHz, typical of 128kbps, yet released as 192kbps). Releasing it as a 192kbps MP3 is bad enough (should be at least 320kbps or ideally FLAC), but transcoding? No thanks, I got a refund, and I forgot to leave a review before I got my refund.
Sena: Thank god for Sena. She's the main reason I kept playing. Ayase is alright, and Hayasaka is...tolerable. She's kinda got the same issues as Nanase (will get to that later). If you're into kinda normal, elegant girls (maybe a little boring, tbh), Sena's a solid 9/10.


Bad:

I can't believe it took me almost two years to finish this game (except for Nanase's route, couldn't do it), and I only stuck with it because of the art. It felt like studying for the boring exam.
Story:

One wrong choice and bad ending guaranteed: It's obvious after a while, but it's still annoying AF, especially if you like to experiment. Just use a guide or if you're feeling techy, press ` and type var to check the variables. But seriously, just use a guide to save your sanity.
The Cafe Owner is a Total Asshole: You're basically a fresh grad hired as a scapegoat for a failing business. You manage to pay off like 4 million yen of the debt, and what does he do? Tries to shut the place down anyway! (Even though the business is actually making profit now!) Turns out, you weren't even told about the full financial picture, which is actually about 14 million yen in the red (9.6 million after the 4 million you paid off). Like, why not just close the damn place to begin with instead of hiring a new manager if you have given up on this place? And if you're "lucky" enough to get the good ending? This asshole owner still owns the place.
The Good Ending is Impossible in Practice: You gotta pay off almost 10 million yen, PLUS a new loan you signed, in just TWO WEEKS. Oh, and Nanase slaps you for some reason.
Everyone Blames You (Even in the Good Ending): Even if you manage to perform a miracle and save the cafe in the good ending, everyone will unreasonably blames you at some point. Because the owner still tries to shut it down, just that you do some magic to save it. When business fails, they blame the manager who is trying to do miracle to save the business instead of the owner who make it running in red to 14 million yen and not even disclosing it until it's "over", right?
The MC is retarded. He could've just told the girls that the cafe was in financial trouble from the start. I get that it would make them worry about their jobs, but that's the point! Still, he didn't do exactly wrong, he's just being a naive "idiot", not "asshole". You know what's even more frustrating? That last word come from the girl that YOU MIGHT BE DATING (depending on route).
The MC Has Main Character Syndrome: Why would he co-sign a loan for a business he doesn't even own, especially with that asshole owner? Oh, because "we're family". Why not make the maids sign it too, then? Makes no sense.
Why doesn't the MC just start his own cafe? He even co-signed that loan! At that point, you'd think he'd want some equity or just buy the place out.
The Pacing is All Over the Place: The story drags on and on when it shouldn't, then suddenly speeds up when it should slow down. You only get a few days of actual romance. At first I thought the game was just too short, until I realized that it took me only a few hours less than Nekopara, which I thought was a pretty long (albeit slow) game.

Character & Routes:

Nanase: I don't care if you have a humiliation fetish or not, Nanase is objectively abusive. She threatens you on DAY ONE by flashing you. And it doesn't stop. If you're a masochist, you'll probably love her. But guess what? Not everyone is into that. 0/10. If you hate being abused, you'll probably hate this game because of her. I couldn't even finish her route. Maybe they could, I don't know, let us optionally avoid her abuse in some way?
Hayasaka: She's also mean to you, especially when you have to cut work hours. To get the good ending in some route, you HAVE to apologize to her the day after cutting hours. Don't apologize? Bad ending guaranteed. Oh, and she's dating Nanase, which you don't find out until you choose her route or get a bad ending. And you don't even get to see them break up if you choose her route even though she says so. It would've been a nice touch to show the depth of their relationship. She gets a little more interesting on her route. I even enjoyed her dates the most. They felt more balanced than Sena's formal dates or Ayase's hyperactive ones. However, the music straight-up didn't play during her first sex scene. And there's only one real sex scene with her instead of two. The second one is just a blowjob. Rating: 1/10 if you don't play her route (because forced apology). But, if you talk to her (which you have to because of the apology), you'll see she has a playful side. 6/10 if you play her route. She's actually a decent character once you get to know her, and she could've been the best if she wasn't so mean. Fix the bugs, maybe add more to her character, and she could be much better.
Ayase: She claims she's manipulating you into liking her. Not sure how, because I didn't see it. She's really obsessed with sports. If you like sporty girls, you'll love her. If not, she's still okay, but be prepared for dates that involve running and playing sports instead of actual dates. And again, only one actual sex scene. The second one is just her masturbating for you. Rating: 6/10, I guess? Depends on your taste.
Harem Route: It's practically IMPOSSIBLE to get without a guide. You need a high harem score AND specific low scores with each girl. Seriously, don't even try without a guide or checking variables.

Technical Issues:

Live2D: The Live2D is just... there. It's just there to make the characters look less static, but you barely notice it because you're too busy reading anyway. Some of the animations are so bad, it would've been better to just not have Live2D at all. No Live2D in the sex scenes either, which is a huge bummer for this price. They could've used that money to hire a better writer, honestly. Or at least polish the animations more.
People keep talking about gender issue. I don't really care, but it seems like an easy fix to just add an option to choose pronouns. This seems like a relatively simple fix.


Final Verdict

This game has a lot of problems right now. The story needs a lot of work, some characters are just not okay, and there are some technical issues. But the art is nice, the soundtrack is great, and Sena and Ayase (and Hayasaka had she not been so mean) are a good character. Still, I wouldn't recommend anyone to buy this.

The game did not set me up for an enjoyable experience out the gate.
I will state up front, technically i guess they are supposed to be femboys? but the game is a little inconsistent about that, in my little time playing, referring to them exclusively as women more then anything else. So I will be using She/Her pronouns for them cause the game did exclusively except the boss calling them "boys" exactly once.
During the opening scenes on the first day, one of the girls calls you ugly and says you should be grateful you get to hang around them. And another is openly antagonistic towards you for no reason at all? She also flashes you....as a threat, saying you will be punished if you don't shape up? It's still my first day btw. So right of the bat, half of the characters are just unlikable and actively malicious to you for no reason. Your boss is taking advantage of you and is using you kindness to help himself while lying to you, he also threatens you out of no where, fantastic.
Okay so on to the second day...Where you watch some people interact and then I have the "girl" who was openly antagonistic yesterday come up me and start being an unlikable little shrew for no reason. She does some light physical flirting between verbally bombarding you and i tell her it isn't appropriate (I know what kind of game it is, I just have no interest in this character and want her to leave), expecting her to take the hint maybe. but instead she berates you about how clearly i don't know what kind of place this is because they flirt with customers and i don't have too???? but the customers aren't your manager, I don't care if you work in a brothel. Its a little inappropriate to flirt with your manager, I thought that was what made it appealing, but your characters just takes it and says he feels like he was scolded like a child. he has no response and feels as though he is in the wrong to some extent, but i disagree entirely and have tons to respond with. And at this point I start to forget its a porn game cause I am so pissed at this garbage character, and i have given the game so many chances to maybe acknowledged that i am not enjoying her verbally berating, threatening, and talking town to a stranger she just met for absolutely no reason. If i was her manager in real life I would have fired her many times over, or if i couldn't cause the owner wouldn't let me, I would have certainly quit.
Okay, so olive branch. I know some people like characters like this, and that's fine. I understand why a dominant character was added, But if I have been doing everything in my power to never be nice to this character and when given the chance to interact with other characters who don't immediately make me groan maybe the game should take that as a queue to stop shoving them in my face right? Apparently this scene on the second day is entirely random and gives you one of the girls on a dice roll. So I guess I got unlucky to some degree, but surely she should be a little more mellow this early in the story. I don't like feet stuff either but most games don't make it the tutorial. That's why there are multiple options, to choose the one that suite my taste, however i seemingly have no power to choose which options I like on my own, the game is pretty insistent you deal with the one worker who definitely needs to get fired for a huge chunk of the early game. Maybe the game gets better once you lock into a character path, but its done such a good job just pissing me off I am definitely not horny anymore, so ill play something else.
10/10 best game for No Nut November