tl;dr: 2/10. Game was mediocre at best but the """"translation"""" was literally unplayable.


Going into it, I wasn't expecting much from this game (and rightly so). I only really played it because I made the mistake of buying it, so take that as you will. However I did chose this VN out of all the others I regret buying and have yet to play, so the bias isn't all lopsided. Nevertheless, I have obligatory business to attend to.

The story was pretty uninteresting and more or less inconsequential. There were no meaningful developments and overall nothing really happens. At the very least I'd rather be reading this than doing nothing, so it's better than some games in that respect. I just couldn't bring myself to relate to or sympathise with any of the characters and I didn't really care too much for what was going on. The poor translation may have played a significant role in this, but we'll get to that later.

Before I get all heated up, I also want to mention a few other details. The artwork wasn't that good. Some of the CGs were nice but a lot of the sprites were disproportionate and a bit of an eyesore to look at honestly. The music was also rather subpar. The ambient tracks are okay but the rest were pretty jarring and just annoying to have playing in the background while I was reading. It detracted a lot from the experience, really.

If this was all it was, I'd think the game would maybe be a 4 or so on the meaningless out-of-ten scale. It wasn't terrible, it just wasn't very good. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but it doesn't get any better. The main reason I really dislike this release is because of the translation.

Take a look at this screenshot. The text log starts at the very beginning of the scene. Does this make sense to you? It certainly doesn't to me. Is there an invisible man hitting everyone with a cane that I don't know about? Or is the translation just wrong, perhaps? Of this entire screenshot, only one line was translated correctly. Masatsugu never said ouch, he said "oh, there she is." There was no mention of a baby either, Masatsugu's name was somehow mistranslated. The rest of the lines bar one all have similar problems.

Throughout my playthrough, I picked up on countless such errors. I don't even have to see the source material to know things are wrong because it simply makes no sense, and comparing it with the dialogue only confirms my suspicions. I understand that it's a fan translation and may not be localized perfectly, but it's not even that - it's just completely wrong.

In addition to the translation errors in every second or third line (no exaggeration), there were also a fair number of scripting errors. One particularly amusing one I noticed was that speaker names were frequently swapped around, which made for very interesting conversations, such as this one.

It's infuriating to see users being charged money for a product whose developers clearly don't even have a modicum of professionalism and won't even proofread, let alone quality check before release. I can't imagine someone had read this and decided "yep, it would be totally fair to take $15 off people for this." It is my heartfelt recommendation that you do not purchase this game. This Steam edition also has all H-scenes removed, and for a game that's already of poor quality, what else would you be playing for?

tl;dr: 9/10. Quality mix of JRPG, visual novel and hack & slash elements. Impeccably faithful and relatable reproduction of Akihabara in many ways, not just the maps. Just take it at face value and you'll have a blast.

I've lived in Japan for a number of years, and I've visited Akiba a plethora of times throughout those years. It's one of my favourite places to go and take people, and I like to believe I'm quite familiar with the area. Upon discovering a game that claimed to faithfully reproduce the town, I naturally bought my copy and proceeded to begin my scrutiny.

Needless to say, I was very impressed. I had no doubts in my mind that I was in Akihabara. The attention to detail on all of the stores and roads is unbelievable. I would honestly believe you if you told me that the maps were constructed from real photos of Akiba, put through a few image filters. I have zero complaints about this, it is 100% faithful. I truly felt like I was thrown back into the Akiba of 2012, especially seeing the MIND≒0 advertisements everywhere. I remember these quite vividly, and despite the blatant self-marketing, it was rather nostalgia-inducing.

The quality of the maps isn't the only good point, though. All of the stores and signs present in the game exist in real life too (albeit a little parodied at times) and it was a pleasure to find myself so familiar with the environment despite being dropped into the world of a game I've never played before.

On top of this, Acquire also included a faithful reproduction of more abstract things. One example I particularly enjoyed was a side quest where you had to take revenge on an art gallery for selling someone artwork that he didn't want. I've actually had the misfortune to have visited that very art store in real life and have postcards almost forced upon me. I managed to get away without buying anything, but the depiction of this art gallery in the game left me nothing short of overjoyed. Anyone with a bit of time on their hands can hit up Google Earth and reproduce the town in a game, but it takes true knowledge and love of Akiba to include things like this.

I was also exceptionally pleased with the English translation. It was top notch. I found no mistakes throughout all of my ten or so playthroughs and the game was also localized amazingly. There were no meaningless literal translations, and the dialogue actually makes sense in English. According to the credits, there was a whole team working on localization, as there should be. They provided a glorious reading experience and still preserved the original meaning of the writing. I did in fact play in Japanese for a while, but surprisingly, I found reading the game in English to be much more enjoyable and worthwhile - a first, for me. Great work, XSEED. If there's any mark of a quality translation, this is it.

As an added bonus, the character customization was also nice. All of the armour and weapons are more or less homogenous and will provide the same benefits, so you're free to play dress-ups without compromising your combat prowess.

However, Akiba's Trip falls a little short in a few places, such as the soundtrack. The music wasn't bad by any means, but it was mediocre at best. It didn't subtract anything from my enjoyment of the game, but I hesitate to call it good.

Another area I felt could use a little work was the story. I won't spoil anything, but it was largely inconsequential and I didn't really feel like anything was happening. Barring one, the routes were more or less the same thing and the heroines didn't seem very relevant to their own routes. There was also a bit of recycled text that sometimes didn't really make sense, and a fair few inconsistencies in the story, which was kind of disappointing. I guess all of their effort was devoted elsewhere; namely, towards recreating Akiba.

That being said, the story isn't really this game's selling point. I felt like it was worth mentioning, but Akiba's Trip wasn't designed to be a rich, story-telling experience in the first place. It doesn't take itself very seriously and if you do the same, you're sure to enjoy the myriad humorous antics that ensue, and appreciate Akiba presented in a faithful light.

A complaint I do see every now and again is with the combat system. I admit, it does have its flaws, but you have to remember that the game is a Playstation port and naturally, running on a non-native engine will inevitably cause problems. I noticed a few issues with the camera when you were near a map transition point, but nothing that affected gameplay really. The combat itself is a bit fiddly, but if you take the time to familiarize yourself with it (or read this guide), then it's definitely playable.

The game engine also had a few other faults. The visual novel features of the game were quite limited, for one. There's no chat log or text speed adjustment or anything, which only ends up being a mild annoyance, but it really shouldn't be, considering how easy it would've been to implement. The encyclopedia also could've used a bit of work. It's not fun scrolling through hundreds of items in a list to find the new entry without so much as an indicator to tell you which tab it's even in.

Still, the production quality was rather high in due respect. The dialogue was fully voiced, which was a welcome surprise. The sprites were also animated - blinking and mouth moving when talking - which isn't very common in a lot of VNs. That was another nice touch. There are also a few nice quality of life features, like select all when selling your junk. A few more wouldn't go amiss, though.

Overall, I really enjoyed the game. I mean, I played for more than 50 hours over the course of 5 days. I'm positive a large proportion of my enjoyment was due to my extreme fondness of Akiba, but I still believe you can enjoy the game without any background knowledge. You'll also enjoy your eventual trip to Akiba just that much more. In fact, if you plan to go to Akiba at all, collect and read all of the flyers in this game so you know what to do!

tl;dr: 6/10. Better than Episode 1 and kind of obligatory if you've already started reading that, but still could use some work.


It's been nearly two years since I played and reviewed the first installment of World End Economica, but I'm back and ready to arrogantly present my opinions as fact once again, so here we go. Since this is the second episode of the game, I will of course be comparing it to the first part, and I'll also be referring to my previous review of it as well, so you might find yourself a little lost without that information.

First off, my hat goes off to Sekai Project. ハル's name has now rightly been written "Haru" instead of "Hal", and I'd like to think that the little comment I left in my first review has influenced this somehow. I could feel the Euphoria™ welling up as I saw the four letters ticker across my screen.

In any case, on to the game. The story continues off from the ending of the previous game, although it did take a bit of time for me to orientate myself. There was a completely new face on the cover, and I was stumbling around wondering who the hell that was if I was still Haru. Eventually, I started remembering what had happened in the previous game and I was able to begin making heads and tails of the situation.

Overall, it was pretty interesting. I wouldn't go so far as to call it "good", but unlike the first episode which left me visibly bored at points, I did enjoy reading World End Economica, episode 2 for the most part. It suffers from a lot of the same problems that the first part did (and rightly so, considering it's the same setting), but at the very least, I wasn't forcing myself to sit through it this time, so props to Spicy Tails for stepping up their game this time.

However, I still found myself disappointed at times because I was still able to unearth a number of errors while reading the game. There were quite a few typos and accidental line breaks, and there were also some issues with the floating text animation. The text breaks at parts for you to continue, which makes sense in Japanese, but not with English grammar. This only tells me that corners were cut, which is quite a shame, because even a single mistake in a published work hurts the publisher's credibility quite a lot. Imagine reading Lord of the Flies and spotting a spelling mistake every now and then. Not good. I didn't bother collecting evidence this time because the Steam screenshot function still wasn't working (which also bothered me), and I was too lazy to gather screenshots externally. My hope is that Sekai Project will revise this game as well, like they did with the previous one. At the very least, it would show that they actually do care about the quality of the products they release.

To complain a little more, the menus and text box were still the same, and I was never much of a fan of it. The text window in particular has a lot of bells and whistles and is overall quite intrusive, and it doesn't really look that nice anyway. A simpler one would have been much more welcome, but I guess it's too late in the game for that now. The default font was also quite atrocious as well. Thankfully there is an option to choose the font, though that shouldn't even need to be there. The developers should choose or create fonts that look good and are appropriate for their game, not the user.

This is all just nitpicking, though. Overall, it was a rather average game, and a small step up from its predecessor. Since it's a three-part story, we're left at a cliffhanger once again, but it's done a little better this time since you don't just die. I hesitate to recommend this game, especially at full price (although $13 isn't too much compared to other VN titles on Steam). If you've read the first part, though, you might as well continue reading. You have my word that it does get better. A little.

tl;dr: 8/10 - Game is great but ridiculously overpriced (more than 2x as much as the original) and the Sekai Project translation is horrible. Don't buy it.


The dialogue was also full of typos and mistakes, many of which I've screenshotted and uploaded to Steam mainly out of OCD. You can have a look, but they're not the kind of funny typos you can laugh at, they're just wrong. Actually, this one was kind of funny, but charging $40 for a translation that is barely passable and clearly hasn't even been proofread is a little steep, don't you think?

This brings me to my next two points. Firstly, screenshots.

Sekai Project knew from the get-go that this was going to be a Steam release. The game was obviously reverse-engineered to translate the dialogue, and they even went through the trouble of adding their splash to the welcome screen and their name in the credits - there was even a typo in the credits, by the way - yet no effort was made to change the game shortcuts so that they don't overlap with the default Steam shortcuts. The screenshot key is the same as the minimize button, which would normally only amount a mild annoyance, but the problems don't end there. After taking a screenshot and maximizing your game again (only at this point will the screenshot be taken), every successive keypress of any key will take another screenshot. Even the media keys and every notch of my K70's volume wheel. Also, the Steam overlay is laggy, unresponsive, bugged and overall, simply unusable. I haven't heard complaints about this elsewhere, so I'm not counting out the fact that it may just be me, but it's true of both games. Again, at a $40 price point, I was really hoping for a functional game.

The other thing I wanted to elaborate on was the price tag, which I really haven't mentioned enough.

This download copy of the game costs $40 in total, and you're paying for a bugged and badly translated visual novel, and a couple of dollars worth of trading cards, if you really want to go there. On the other hand, I've seen physical copies of the game on sale in stores for as little as ¥1700 - $14. This is, of course, likely to be above the actual production cost and Frontwing's profit margin because the retailer needs some pocket money too. When presented with this information, you really have to ask yourself if you're happy to pay what could easily be three times the original price, of which only a fraction would go to the actual producer, for this abomination of a translation? I really want to know Sekai Project's justification for marketing this title at such a ridiculous price, and why they think they're entitled to so much.

Of course, if you don't speak Japanese and would like to play the game, this is probably your only option, unfortunately. However, there is a silver lining. Koestl, the man behind the impeccable once-fan-translation of The Fruit of Grisaia for TLWiki (now officially licensed to Sekai Project), has admitted that "there are issues" and said "the hope is that [he] will be able to go back and fix it up for them later", quoting his words directly. In my mind, he's honestly Sekai Project's saving grace, and the only reason I hesitate to dump their releases altogether and read the novels in glorious nihongo. That being said, he's currently working on translating the other two installments of the Grisaia trilogy, and I doubt TLCing this game is very high up on his list of priorities.

If he ever gets around to it, I'd gladly recommend this game to anyone who's looking for another great VN starring the Grisaia cast we all know and love. As it stands, however, I urge you to hold off for now. Sekai Project has shown with their World End Economica release that they are willing to receive feedback and actually take action - something which cannot be said about most publishers nowadays. The original release was of poor quality, which I discussed in-depth in its own review, but the game has allegedly been TLCed and edited, though I've yet to confirm. Hopefully something similar will happen with Idol Magical Girl Chiruchiru ☆ Michiru. Until then, though, I really don't recommend purchasing this title.

tl;dr: 8/10 - Game is great but ridiculously overpriced (more than 2x as much as the original) and the Sekai Project translation is horrible. Don't buy it.


If you couldn't tell from my previous reviews, I'm a rather avid Grisaia fan. I was pleasantly surprised when I heard about this game, and even a little hopeful when I heard it was coming to Steam. Oh, how woe is me.

To clear up any immediate misunderstandings, I was in fact very happy with the game itself. Idol Magical Girl Chiruchiru ☆ Michiru was everything I'd expected and more. If it wasn't obvious enough, the game is a spinoff, so if you were hoping for a continuation of the mainline Grisaia series, you've come to the wrong place. That being said, the game delivers everything you could hope for from a spinoff.

It parodies the Grisaia cast in an amusing light, yet manages to remain more or less true to the originals. Since the game is a spinoff with a rather fantastical setting, it obviously doesn't deliver the same kind of hard-hitting, serious drama that you've seen in the original. Although Chiruchiru is primarily a comedy, it has a surprisingly intricate story of its own, despite the witty antics. The genres are too different to reasonably compare this game to The Fruit of Grisaia, but Chiruchiru definitely gets my quality seal of approval. Die-hard Grisaia fans will also enjoy the inclusion of characters that don't get too much attention until the later games, like Asako and Robbie, as well as the sneaky references to the main games, such as Yuuji's water bread and 9029.

The production quality was also spot on, as I've come to expect from Frontwing. The graphics and menus were as crisp and polished as they were in The Fruit of Grisaia, and the first half of the game alone contaned a good 20 or so unique CGs and about 30 different soundtracks. Through reading, I noticed myriad sprites and backgrounds, almost as if they were trying to show off the fact that no corners were cut. It really was a great reading experience, and anything that spells "Grisaia" has its own place in my books.

Now, despite all this, I really recommend that you do not buy this game.

At least, not from Sekai Project. I don't want to point fingers at the entire company for the poor quality of a single no-name translator's work, but from my past experience with other Sekai Project translations (World End Economica, Clannad), they really aren't helping their case with this release.

The "translation" of Chiruchiru, if you can even call it that, often lies on the boundary between "a stretch" and "blatantly incorrect", sometimes even tipping in favour of the latter. No effort was made to localize the language at all, though after seeing the Dangopedia, maybe I was a fool to expect otherwise.

(Arguable spoiler)
Take a look at this screenshot, for example. This is the line that comes directly after. It says 望み (nozomi) - wish, desire. This happens to be the name of Michiru's friend, as well. Now, the dialogue makes sense in Japanese, but if you can't read Japanese and don't know how to look up kanji, how are you supposed to understand this? The line isn't voiced, so you're not even able to hear it. At the very least, if they weren't going to translate it, romanji would have at least been readable for most, but this is just nonsense.

tl;dr: 6/10. It's (literally) Nekopara, but better than the first one.


If you've come here before having read volume 1, you messed up. Read volume 1 first, or alternatively, my review of it.

Now, if you have read volume 1, you know exactly what to expect. If you just want to finish reading what you started, you probably won't be able to follow to well, but thanks nonetheless.

As far as the story goes, I found this one a tad more interesting than its predecessor, although the fact that it only covers a single day chronologically means that you're going to be reading for an hour and then idling for trading cards for the next 10 like I did. It's still the same deal, catgirls and not much happening, but we get a bit more backstory on the other catgirls and Shigure, which is welcome in my eyes. Kashou being basically a non-factor in this game was also a nice addition. I don't really like that guy.

The story is one reason I'd recommend this over volume 1, but there are two much more significant factors that influence this preference.

Firstly, Neko Works has really stepped up their game engine since the last installment. There's now a feature to pet the catgirls at any time, as long as their sprite is on the screen, and they even have three different reactions depending on where you pat them. This is a pretty neat toy which adds to the main selling point of the game - the cutesiness.

Also, the option to display dialogue from two languages, which was a little bugged in volume 1, if I recall correctly, now works more or less fine. Although it cuts off a little on some of the longer lines, it's definitely workable. This feature is great for people looking to practice Japanese, especially considering the game isn't too long and doesn't use particularly difficult language.

As for the English translation, I was (surprisingly) rather impressed. If it was done by the same guy as the first game, you did good, friend. There's still a fair bit of room for work, but considering this is a Sekai Project release, the fact that it's up to scratch is an improvement. There was one mistake in the English dialogue - writing Cinnamon instead of Coconut - which isn't really anything major, but it rustled my jimmies nonetheless. It would be nice if it got patched but I don't really care any more since I'm never going to play the game again anyway.

The other thing that led me to hitting the recommend button on this game was its price. Volume 1 was a little pricey considering how much you got out of it, but this volume, costing as much as a cup of coffee, is marketed at a much more reasonable price point, and I really don't have a reason not to recommend it.

tl;dr: 5/10. It's all right. Mostly just cute stuff and a lot of nothing happening.


Upon release, I heard Nekopara had become a cringeworthy, BnP-tier meme and unfunny Youtubers were doing let's plays and reaction videos and whatever other garbage that pre-teens love to slurp up. I quickly forgot about this, along with the game, until I saw it on sale once and decided "why not?".

First off, the story. It's certainly existent, but that's about it. Other than NotShirou preaching MUH MORALS at people who really don't want to give him the time of day, the story literally goes nowhere. It's quite honestly on the level of porn without plot VNs, and although the story isn't supposed to be the selling point, the game is strictly a visual novel, so it's worth a mention.

Contrary to this, the technical points were more or less up to scratch, the worst of it being no lower than "subpar". There are a good number of CGs, sprites and backgrounds despite the game taking the better part of 2 hours to finish, and the soundtrack, although nothing really to write home about, doesn't subtract from the overall enjoyment of the game.

Another feature I liked was not the chest bounciness slider (though that was a welcome addition), but the option to play in Japanese. Although this translation isn't as bad as some of Sekai Project's other releases - being barely up to scratch this time - I felt like I got a lot more out of what little story there was once I switched over.

Overall, it's cute girls doing cute things with H-scenes you can patch in. I wouldn't buy it at $10 considering the amount of content, but if this is what you're after, then it wouldn't be a terrible buy if it were on sale. On the other hand, Nekopara Vol. 0 is an entirely different story.