WARNING: This is an 18+ game, and I am playing this with the uncensored patch. I'm probably not going to talk much about the naughty stuff but if I do, please have some discretion.

Current Route: Ren

After so many goddamn years of me wanting to play this game, I finally got my hands on it. I've wanted to play this since I was like, 12 maybe? Admittedly, I'm glad I didn't because I'm aware this is an eroge game, but it also goes off the rails at points.

Currently not too far into the game yet, but so far I love the art style in this game. I'm talking about both the visual art but also the music and the voice acting too. Every scene, song, and character are so colorful and full of personality, which is funny because this is supposed to take place during a cyberpunk dystopia.

I feel like a lot of games make you control a protagonist who's supposed to "solve the problems", but in this case I feel like it's more aligned with you being an average guy who is trying to live his life and get by the best he can. I feel like that's a much more impactive perspective.

I haven't met too many of the love interests yet. I've met Koujaku (the hairdresser), Virus and Trip (the twins(?)), the guy on the motorcycle (don't know his name yet), and Mizuki (one of the big gang leaders who was also an old friend of Aoba, the protagonist). I know there's a few more characters I have to meet still, but I'm trying to get a feel for who I wanna romance.

I will say, it's weird playing a yaoi/BL game as someone who's a lesbian. I've played games like this in the past (mainly "Dream Daddy"), but I kinda just stop playing because I'm not really attracted to the guys and usually the plot isn't all that interesting. I feel like this game will keep me interested though, because right off the bat I can tell the writing is really strong.

I love the reference to old RPGs like Dragon Quest. Nice touch, though the actual gameplay is so laughably short/ (An aside, I like I can easily pause to write down my thoughts, it's gonna make filling out this log so much easier.)

So when I first started, Aoba talks about how there's these guys he knows who are in gangs or other organized crime (or equivalent). At first I thought it was gonnabbe only 1 or 2 love interests where that was the case, but it sounds like almost everyone is gonna be involved in some form or another in this kind of stuff.

Ok I think so far I'm in between Koujaku or Mizuki. They both seem like decent characters, plus Aoba has already developed friendships with both of them in his past. I usually like stories like that. Obviously if I keep playing I might change my mind, but right now that's the route I may go in.

Aoba talking about how much he hates it when people touvh his hair, like he's just like me fr

Ok I love the trope of aggressive old mothers/grandmothers. Aoba's grandmother is the best character I love her so much.

Ok I think I'm gonna shoot for Koujaku. I think I've more or less have met everyone now (including Noiz and Clear) and I think he's the path I wanna go down.

Ok I really dislike Noiz. I don't fully get why people are into that "bad boy" type at all. Especially since he's the kind of guy who takes no for an answer, they're usually bad news.

I swear if they hurt the grandmother I will actually cry and probably stop playing the game

Ok so I think the whole point of this game is that you more or less choose which leader of a gang you wanna be with, with the exception of Ren and Clear who don't really have any affiliation.

Ok so Aoba clearly has some weird thing where his voice can make persuade people to do his bidding. Like what the fuck is up with that?

Ok I was so locked in so lemme write down my thoughts before I forget. First, I'm definitely gonna go the Koujaku route. I like the interactions between him and Aoba, and he seems very genuine. Not to say the other characters are bad (I've even warmed up to Noiz a bit), but I just think Koujaku is the best fit. Second, the story is so damn interesting. This whole thing about the Toue Corp. and their desire to do mind control, how both the grandmother and Aoba (to a degree) are connected, and all the shit going on with Mizuki too. Shit's wild. Third, I do like how each character seems multifacted, even those whose seem extremely sketchy at first. They all have their own motives for being involved in this situation, but there's at least somewhat of a common goal, which is neat. I find a lot of VNs I've read it just feels like the love interests are so hollow, but I don't really get that impression at all from these guys.

Mainly Koujaku Route Thoughts

Bro they're doing that thing where they create jealousy between the characters because of a misunderstanding or someone being shady and ITS SO DUMB

Obligatory "childhood flashback" moment

Ok I think so far my only real complaint about the plot is how it's handling its BL elements so far. It's funny because for the first part of the game it didn't really come into play, but now that it is it kind of uses a lot of typical tropes in this vein and I'm just shaking my head a bit. I'm not going to write it off completely right now but I guess I was expecting something else than what I'm getting at the moment.

Ok even though there are some very stereotypical tropes I don't hate all of them. You know, like the whole thing of saving your love from some sicko and how your interest knows the sicko, that doesn't annoy me as badly.

I will say this, I think they at least handled the whole "keeping secrets" stuff with some amount of maturity. Like, these are grown men, and if their relationship is going to be a thing, Koujaku can't keep things from Aoba anymore.

One thing I find really interesting is how tattooing is kind of almost a euphamism for rape or any kind of sexual assault. Koujaku wants revenge on Ryuuhou for tattooing him and taking away the virginity of his skin, and thinking about it with that sort of symbolism in my head, that actually makes sense. Also, knowing the culture of tattoos in Japan, it has even more weight than it probably would in a Western context.

I feel like the jump to romanticism is a bit... odd. Like this could've maybe worked better as a platonic thing but this is also a BL VN so this is kind of what I should be expecting. (It was going on in his mind, meaning Koujaku had feelings for Aoba. Ok nevermind this comment)

So I think I'm going to get a cliffhanger about who was responsible for the downfall of Toue, huh?

I love the friends to lovers trope I'm sorry.

Ok, loved the beginning, and the ending was excellent, but the middle I did not really care for. Like, basically the part where Aoba and Koujaku are in Platinum Jail to probably right around the fight with Ryuuhou I was not a fan. The rest was really good actually! Can't wait to try out a few more routes.

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Mainly Clear Route Thoughts

I do think it's kinda cool that they incentivise players to replay the game and try different routes by filling in plot holes. This game also isn't very long either, so it feels even less taxing than it may sound at first.

Ok so I think I've also figured out how this game is structured. You're introduced to people in the beginning that you can choose to romance, then once you've made your correct choices, you essentially go through the rest of the route within Platinum Jail with your chosen guy. I kinda wish that wasn't so obvious but maybe that's just a nitpick.

Ok I was not expecting Clear's ass to be fully out like that this early on in the run lol

I'm so far kinda disappointed in Clear's route. I just feel like there's a bunch of padding to the story that doesn't need to be there. Everything is also kinda done a Clear's expense too, and that always leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I wish I didn't know spoilers for this route because I'm pretty sure shit hits the fan with this one, but I am a pretty big fan of Clear. He's weird but very nice. It's very "trope-y", nut it's one I don't dislike.

Ok the whole thing about Clear being a robot makes so much more sense now, I think anyway.

Bro them confessing their love so soon, something tells me something bad is gonna happen (I know something's going to).

Ok I'm not sure if I made the right choice because now I got no legs and Clear is being kinda creepy. I saved in case I didn't but there's no way this is how this ends.

Ok I definitely got a bad ending this seems better now lol

Ok the ending was really good. I kinda wish they went more into the effort into bringing Clear back but the H Scene was well done. The whole part where he asked if he touched him like a human, like damn.

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Mainly Noiz Route Thoughts

God, Noiz is such a dick. Like I genuinely don't get how people are into personality types like that.

Ok I just noticed this but each section of Platinum Jail lowkey corresponds to each love interest. Like how the Red area was for Koujaku, The Aqua Forest for Clear, etc.

Ok I was not expecting the H scenes to happen this quickly in the route. I do find it incredibly hilarious that Aoba is using every cope in the book to justify Noiz touching him though.

So I still am not the hugest fan of Noiz, but I do appreciate that you at least start to get a better understanding on how he views the world and his cynical nature. His conclusions on humanity are very stereotypical and basic as hell but it does have the effect it should (you should start to sympathize with him more).

Love a good "The Thing" reference

Obligatory "fucked up childhood" flashback

I didn't think I'd get this stuck on this whole "answer the right question" part. I think I'm close though.

Another good ending. Not my personal favorite (mostly because I still don't really care for Noiz) but I've begun to notice a pattern with how I feel about these routes. I will say, the "internal mind" section is so far my favorite. Really liked how that played out and how it connected everything about Noiz as a person.

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Mainly Mink Route Thoughts

You know I completely forgot that Aoba was supposed to do Mink a favor after he saves the grandmother. Like they fully just glossed over that in the othr routes.

Mink is kind of another one of those harsh, arrogant types, but somehow this doesn't bother me as much. Probably because he's not neccesarily arrogant as he is "about business". Funny how I find that more okay.

The way the horniness went from 0 to 100 that quickly.

Ok lemme build on this previous thought. In all of the other routes, Aoba basically says that he has never been attracted to men before his love interest came into his life. Even the horny stuff with Noiz he kinda just find excuses to either get out of it or justify why he's doing it at first. With this route though it is not like that. Like yeah he's high as shit but he doesn't even try to rationalize why he's aroused for Mink, he just quickly accepts it. Maybe as I keep playing there'll probably be that "post-nut clarity" moment but I find this to be a breath of fresh air. Like why can't Aoba just be queer from the start? I don't know, I think again it's just me being annoyed at stereotypes from this genre, so seeing this play out actually feels refreshing.

You wanna know what I think? I think that Scrap is gay as shit, which is one part of Aoba that he wants to oppress, like other parts where he is selfish and violent. A fascinating metaphor if I'm not reading too deeply into this.

Not gonna lie I'm a fan of the voice actor for Akushima.

While I actually like the story of this route so far, I fucking hate Mink with an absolute passion. Like if they try to pull some cute yaoi nonsense on their relationship considering all the actually horrible things Mink has done to Aoba I'm going to be so mad.

I HATE the way non-con is used in this game. Like it somehow has some secretly good purpose? Shut the fuck up.

You know, I think the reason why I actually like the story is because I hate Mink. I know that sounds weird, but I think it allows for deeper exploration of the lore within this game's universe, and also the concept of Scrap too. He's such a horrible person, but it helps bring out parts of Aoba's personality you don't really see in the other routes. Plus you actually feel emotionally passionate about what's happening through anger rather than annoyance. It's kinda smart, actually.

To further my previous point, I think it also helps make what's going on feel like it has higher stakes, because Aoba and Mink are personally affected by what's happening.

Ok see now we're getting something interesting, the whole concept of colonialism was only somewhat brought up in the beginning, but it's now being fully brought out now.

I don't excuse the things Mink did, but getting a better understanding of his goals actually made me see why he did the things he did. My feelings about him are complex. And honestly, it's kinda what I wanted from any of these routes, the sense of complex emotion about each character's actions and their desires. Even if I had to feel a lot of negative emotions, I wish I more opportunities to experience true, raw feelings in this game.

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Mainly Ren Route Thoughts

This is the only time I had to use a walkthrough, because admittedly it was a bit tricky getting into the Ren route. I think I got it now though.

This Toue theme within Rhyme absolutely is my jam!

Ok this happened in Noiz's route too that confuses me. Don't the Allmates need instructions to perform attacks in Rhyme? So how is Ren attacking enemies without Aoba giving orders? Is it some sort of plot foreshadowing thing, or somethin I'm misunderstanding, or did the writers straight up forget?

Ok I don't think the writers forgot I'm just super confused lol

Ok so that whole weird plothole regarding the hacker (or the one who blows up Oval Tower) is gonna finally be filled.

You know I thought there would be better communication skills from Ren, but I'm guess I'm wrong. How disappointing, it's so annoying and cliche when they do that to create emotional conflict.

Ok so while looking for a guide to help me get on the Ren route I may have spoiled myself that Sei is Aoba's twin brother. But I have no clue how he's related to Toue, the reason/ability to hack Oval Tower in the other routes. So I'm actually curious about putting all the pieces together.

You know I was actually wondering how Virus and Trip play into the story and now I got my answer.

The lore dump is super interesting but maybe we could've done this a tad differently? I don't know, I feel like all this info we're getting can be implemented into the story differently.

Ok wait how did Aoba jump to that conclusion about Ren that quickly? That makes no fucking sense!

Ok another huge leap in logic with this whole thing about the Allmate bug.

Ok I know the Koujaku route lowkey sucked but he's such a great character I love him

The emotional immaturity of earlier, I can kinda now excuse, because it was the first time Ren was experiencing a lot of feelings, including ones for Aoba. It no longer bothers me as mucha as it did before.

You know I think I really like group dynamics in writing. I really like all the characters when they're interacting with one another versus one-on-one. I find that kinda cool that I've somewhat figured out my taste in that sort of thing.

This is so bizarre. Like Aoba being with Ren, like he's fucking his dog, but he's fucking a robot, but he's fucking himeslf, but he's fucking some data in a simulation. I'm not really judging it's just kinda funny.

Bro did Ren really take over Sei's body? So if they do the nasty is that incest? I can't even think about this this hurts my brain.

I have so many thoughts. Good thoughts, bad thoughts. I'm gonna need time to process how much I enjoyed this game, but I can kinda see why this got so much traction in the west. Yes it falls into a lot of tropes that are problematic or stupid, but this has great worldbuilding and an interesting message about starting life anew. I wish some other themes got more fleshed out (especially the stuff relating to power dynamics), but overall I wouldn't say this game sucked. Maybe could've taken more time to say everything it wanted to say? I don't know. The game makes me wanna play more VNs though, because they definitely are excellent tools in telling complex stories, even with romantic elements. Like I've always known that, it's just cool to finally finish a VN and see that with my own eyes.