Before you ask, it actually includes charades as part of the plot.
Summer Too Much Romance is on track with a contribution from Idea Factory, who localized their own 2021 Japan release, Charade Maniacs, last week. What sets this piece apart is the unique story setting and plot conceit, but it’s hampered by taking too long to show the plot elements and pay it off.
Charade Maniacs is set in the mid-22nd century, when Japan’s Intelligence Agency has highly managed information, but rumors persist of an “otherworldly flow” that exists outside the system. The protagonist is forced into the world of Arcadia and forced to join an otherworldly stream under death threats along with nine other men (one of whom is specifically androgynous). This stream is usually split equally between men and women, but with same-sex options, this is no Otomate love game. One of their members, known as the producer, is quickly revealed to have brought them into the game, while the other, known as the sponsor, can apparently return to the real world. If the producer is identified, the rest of the cast can go home, if not, they will have to earn points based on the reaction of the “viewers” and request them to leave the stream (deny reactions lead to loss of bodily function, or apparently gender, and ultimately death). It’s a compelling story on paper, but the structure of the game takes a very long time to actually pay off all the plot elements.
Although the game is formally structured around a long common route leading up to a single chapter with a chosen suitor, the nine-person target cast splits into three halfway through the common route. , which determines the final suitor. . (One-third is based on specific jobs within the cast (cooking, cleaning, researching), with at least one suitor locked for each job until the main character completes all three jobs at least once.) ) The skip feature is a lot of work considering it actually took me 10 hours to get to the first character route if you were playing from the beginning and didn’t load the game from an old save. is required. We didn’t see any end to the producer’s storyline until we got to the last few characters. Also, one of the suitors appears to be one of the older members of the cast, but initially identifies themselves as elementary school students, and at least one of the other suitors is in his early twenties (protagonist are high school students).
Idea Factory International’s localization has improved since the game they were told not to review, but it still falls short of the recent localization by Aksys. Charade Maniacs has some line breaking issues, but perhaps the worst one is when an entire line of text is missing from a text box and the scene continues as if nothing happened. It may be possible to enter from context, but it is not necessary.
The characters are all charming in different ways, but I find myself drawn to the androgynous characters more than anyone else. There aren’t many memorable songs in the background, but the voice work does a good job of showing the actors their acting talent, or lack thereof.
I didn’t find much of a romance element in Charade Maniacs, but that may have been because I was just trying to understand the metastory. It’s a solid read, and I’ll probably read through it again in a few months when these games really slow down.
