#etokare

Etokare’s April Fool’s thing for this year (2019) is that it’s going ‘full otome’~! Guess this is in response to the comments about Etokare not being ‘otome’ enough as it doesn’t really contain much romance. 

But isn’t having your own ancestor, Haruno, as a possible route a little… XD;;

Tried Etokare yesterday.

Two special things about it is that it does NOT have a gacha and there are absolutely NO paid elements in this game! Everything is free and you get the boys as you advance in the story. They explain at the start and in its FAQ that this game depends on ads for its revenue, so there is a small ad banner at the bottom of the home screen and half page ad on the results screen after a battle. You can also watch an ad to speed up your ‘spiritual energy’ recovery and to revive your team to continue a battle if you wish to. ‘Spiritual energy’ acts as stamina and currency in this game.

Saw some complaints about the ads but I’m personally fine with them. They aren’t too intrusive or annoying like in some games. I’ve played games before where the ads were put very close to buttons I had to frequently press so that I’d often accidentally press the ads... This isn’t the case here.

It’s also mentioned in the FAQ that there’s only a very small team working on this game, so they apologise in advance for slow updates. (Having personally just worked on a huge project with a tiny team, this makes me very very sympathetic towards them!)

The story starts with you waking up in an unfamiliar room surrounded by three men in strange clothing whom you do not recognise. Your first thought is that you’ve been kidnapped! The men tell you to calm down and say something about how the shock must have messed with your memory. They tell you to try to remember how you got there.

Then you remember. You’re a high school student. Your parents have recently gone overseas for work, so you’ve just moved to Kyoto to live with your grandpa at the shrine your family has run for generations. You are the descendent of a famous onmyouji called Haruno from the Heian era. The shrine is in a rather remote part of Kyoto, so you were the only one left on the train when it arrived. You had no idea how to get to the shrine and the station master was about to help you when three strange men appeared, saying they’ve come to pick you up. They have recognised you from your ‘scent’... You didn’t trust them but also soon realised that you were the only one who could see them. Then they explained how they are spirits of the Zodiac. They are Nagi (red hair) the Mouse, Mikoto (white hair) the Tiger & Kosuke (black hair) the Ox. They escorted you back to the shrine as there are apparently lots of evil spirits about. You were attacked on the way back but the three spirits managed to protect you.

Then we come back to the present. You remember all that but you still can’t quite believe what is going on. Then another unfamiliar person appears. This time it’s a young boy with short pink hair dressed like a shrine attendant. His name is Suzu. He calls you master and says he’s the ayakashi that looks after the shrine.

All this information overwhelms you and you decide to call your grandpa! XD;; Your grandpa confirms that everything the spirits have said is true and that your ancestor Haruno fought evil spirits with the help of the Zodiac spirits. Then he scolds you for not knowing anything about the powers you’ve inherited and your family history!

Anyway, apparently your family hasn’t had to ask the Zodiac spirits for help for a long while but an evil power has awakened or something like that, so the Zodiac spirits have awakened as well, but so far only three of the twelve have found you, so you have to find the rest. Oh, and I think you’re also supposed to be the reincarnation of Haruno?? The spirits do express disappointment at you not remember your past life.

I’m at the beginning of chapter 3 right now. In chapter 2, you go to Nara because Nagi sensed some Zodiac spirits there. In Nara, you find Hisame (green scarf) the Snake and Tsumugi (long pink hair) the Rabbit. Tsumugi hates being mistaken for a girl which is what you do when you first see him... Anyway, those two ended up in Nara coz they smelt Haruno’s ‘scent’ there. In the beginning of chapter 3, you investigate what they smelt and find an ancient book written in some language you do not recognise and then Haruno’s spirit suddenly materialises!!

Sadly, the main story is not fully voiced.

Now onto the battles. There is a map where you can choose now many steps to walk each time. However, it seems like you can’t walk past the battles no matter what number of steps you choose.

Your moves in battle are determined by what you manage to press in a sort of wheel of fortune. That light spins around when you press start and stops when you tap on the screen again. The wheel is a bit difficult to master and depends a lot on your sense of timing and your reaction time. It’s quite a unique battle system that I haven’t yet seen in other mobile otome games. I have to admit I’m not good at using it yet but I am getting better. I saw someone suggest tapping your screen when the light is around three spaces before the quadrant you want and it kind of works!

Sometimes your team might manage to break an enemy’s defence and this triggers a dual attack. A list of possible dual attacks will scroll down the screen in a continuous cycle till you tap on the one you want.

After each battle you get materials that you can use to craft various food and drinks using ‘onmyoujitsu’ for your boys. You can press on that turquoise button to see what they want to eat. If you feed them the correct food, it’ll trigger a conversation and it seems like at least one of the boys will acquire a new skill or attack during the course of the conversation.

The image on the left is your home screen. If you press on the boys that are glowing you can replenish your ‘spiritual energy’ by pressing the glowing orbs around them (image on the right). Those 5 white orbs towards the bottom of your home screen are offerings and if you swipe them you’ll get random materials for crafting.

The shrine above the white orbs is a place for levelling up your boys. You just feed them various stuff you’ve crafted, but you can only do so five times each time, then you have to wait for the counter to refill. The boys also have different likes and dislikes. Feeding them something they like will increase their level a lot. You’ll be shown an O for something they like when you feed them.

The house with a lantern in front of it is where you set your team and manage you boys’ attacks and skills. They can only use two attacks/skills in battle but can learn more than two. The house next to the lantern house is a sort of dining room. This is where feeding the boys triggers conversations and the potential to learn a new attack/skill.

The shrine on the top left is where Suzu is and this is where you learn how to craft stuff with onmyoujitsu.

Lastly, the notice board is where you’re find the options, help menu etc. Oh, and so far, it looks like this game does NOT have a data transfer/backup system...

Etokare (Zodiac Boyfriend ~ the reason there is no cat in the zodiac ~) is out and on QooApp.

From the comments I see so far, it sounds like the battle system (that wheel thing) is rather difficult to use/grasp.

Finally beat Ibuki yesterday!

So more of Etokare’s main story. Even though you beat Ibuki in the boss battle, in terms of the story he wasn’t defeated and one Ibuki is apparently much stronger than the five Zodiac spirits you have on your side... Fortunately, Ibuki is also very drunk, so he gets sick halfway during the battle and throws up. He tries to run away again but your boys manage to catch him and drag him back to the shrine with you.

The next morning, Ibuki wakes up hungry and asks to be taken to a restaurant, so you take him to a cheap family restaurant. He’s much less hostile now that he’s sober. You try to ask him about the ‘shiki’ (death demon/ghost??) he mentioned yesterday when you asked why he wouldn’t join you guys. (When he said he just wanted to have fun before the world ended he mentioned that the ‘shiki’ will awaken and destroy the world.) However, Ibuki doesn’t recognise you at all from yesterday and asks who you are...

You tell him then Nagi adds that they get free food and board from you. The mention of free food changes Ibuki’s attitude and now he’s 100% OK with you being his master and with rejoining the other Zodiac spirits!! He also starts calling you ‘princess’ and says how he was born to serve you and even offers to sleep with you... Kosuke hits him, again! XD

Then you mention Shino and Ibuki suddenly remembers that Shino had given him something. He also explains that a thousand years ago, Haruno and the Zodiac spirits had defeated the ‘shiki’ together but then went their separate ways after that.

Anyway, the thing Shino had given Ibuki turns out to be some sort of map and the locations marked on it might have something to do with the ‘shiki’ from a thousand years ago.

Celebratory art for Etokare’s release from its sister (or brother?) game, Arcana Boundless Horizon~!

Played chapter 4 & almost all of chapter 5 of Etokare. (The chapters are really short actually!) Stuck on the boss battle...

So all of you travel to Osaka to find the other Zodiac spirits as the ones you already have can sense the aura of the others there. You manage to track down Ibuki the Dragon (left image) at an 'adult club' but he has zero interest in reuniting with the others and joining you. Instead, Ibuki first tries to hit on you, to which Kosuke (the Ox) punches him as he was acting inappropriately towards you their master, then Ibuki flees!! Kosuke is furious and chases after him... Also, it looks like the people at the 'adult club' are actually able to see Ibuki??

Ibuki escapes to Wakayama and all of you split up to search for him in a forest there. You are left on your own. (Is it really wise for the spirits to just leave you on your own??) Anyway, you come across Shino the Pig (right image) just chilling in the forest and apparently quite bored. You recognise him as a Zodiac spirit and you tell him how you’re Haruno’s descendant and how the other Zodiac spirits are all gathering at your family shrine in Kyoto. Shino just kind of waves you off with a ‘Yeah, I know all about that.’ Like Ibuki, he seems to have no interest in joining you and the others, though he does thank you for being a good master and taking care of his ‘brothers’. Then you mention how you’ve found Haruno’s book and was able to read it. At this point, Shino’s eyes light up and he seems quite surprised that you’re able to read from it as it seems like he didn’t think whatever charm Haruno had cast on it would have lasted a thousand years. (Haruno died a thousand years ago...) He then hands you a sheet of paper. It’s one of the missing pages of Haruno’s book. Shino explains that the missing pages are scattered all across Japan and I think he’s been trying to find them all?? Next, Shino says he’ll join you but then he kind of disappears or goes invisible or something as you can’t see him anymore but can still hear him. He says how Nagi, Kosuke and Mikoto have forgotten but doesn’t say what it is they’ve forgetten. Then he goes, ‘The Zodiac spirits... the gods... Haruno.... it’s all a lie.’ You ask what he means but he’s gone for now...

The rest of the spirits, sans Kosuke, come back at this point and ask what you’re holding. You tell them it’s a missing page from Haruno’s book and how the other pages are apparently scattered all across Japan. The spirits ask you to read it. It turns out to be a page from the part of the book that is Haruno’s travel diary. This page is about his first day as an onmyouji’s apprentice and it sounds like he doesn’t really think too highly of his mentor and already fancies himself better than him!

And it’s time to update the old list of games that interest me as more new games have been announced and some of the games on the previous list have been released already.

Definitely at least trying

Crimson Clan 

about a ‘game of despair’ that’s some sort of RPG??

nothing on gameplay yet

bias: Kazuki 

release date: end of 2018

Wakidenai 

sorcerers who help you regain the ability to feel and love after it is stolen from you by an evil sorcerer

still nothing about gameplay but apparently you have to form a team of sorcerers

bias: Kannagi

release date: end of 2018

Namu Amida Butsu: Utena 

Buddhas fighting against demons and kleshas (revamp of the now defunct mobile browser game) 

'battle game’ similar to Touken Ranbu & Bungo to Alchemist

bias: Shaka Nyorai 

closed beta: end of 2018

Realive! 

about exorcists called 'kagura bukan' who fight with swords and songs

nothing on gameplay yet but most probably a rhythm game of some sort? 

release date: 2019 

Arcana: Boundless Horizon  

about fairy tale heroines who wished for happiness and were turned into boys 

'miniature garden x ikemen training' game

bias: Lot (Red Riding Hood) 

release date: 2019

Edit: Can’t believe I forgot this one!

Toraware no Palm: Refrain (Traditional Chinese ver.) 

sequel to Toraware no Palm

mystery adventure dating sim?? 

release date: 2019 (they aim to release the Chinese one at around the same time as the Japanese one! Thank you, Capcom Taiwan!)

Undecided

Op8 

you are the president of a brand-new talent agency

idol game, nothing on gameplay yet

bias: probably Yu coz he's 'eveyone's big brother' voiced by Atsushi Tamaru 

release date: 2019

Etokare 

zodiac animal boys

from gameplay released so far it might be a battle card game??

bias: Hitoshiki 

release date: delayed till early 2019

[I want to like it coz of my yandere sheep boy voiced by Kouki Miyata but the gameplay screens revealed so far don’t really impress me...]  

Catharsistage 

you are the therapist/counsellor for idols, supposed to explore the darker side of the idol world

not quite sure what sort of game it is even after looking at some of the gameplay!

release date: 2019

Dankira: Boys, be dancing! 

dancers 

training + rhythm game, gameplay revealed so far looks really good

release date: 2019

Readyyy! Project  

idols

training +  rhythm game (??), have a feeling the release delay is coz Sega has decided to revamp the gameplay since the current gameplay doesn’t seem to incorporate any aspects of the awesome MV animations they have shown so far?? 

release date: 2019?? might be released after Yumeiro Cast ends??

[I’m losing interest in it honestly. The MVs are fantastic, the music is good and the character designs are pretty, but I’m just failing to connect to it... Plus can’t help thinking that something happened at Sega that made them have to choose between it and YumeCast... I’m still unhappy about that...]

Ken ga Toki (Traditional Chinese ver.) 

swordsmen

there was Beta test version a month ago but I didn’t have time to try it, another one that I’m losing interest in actually

Edit: And forgot one!

Windboys

boy's brass band

nothing on gameplay yet

release date: 2019?

Edit edit: One more!

Kaikan Phrase Climax: Next Generation

idols, sequel to the manga/anime

nothing on gameplay yet