/jp/ - Otaku Culture

Okay, finished with the common route and all that introductory stuff for Kanojo Step.

So far, my impression is that it's not a bad game. The protagonist, while being fairly similar to every smee protag I've ever seen, is yet still a refreshing entity of honestly and humour. While nothing to write home amount, his character does set a good stage upon which the rest of the game is built. That stage being "Tame Fureraba", because this game is like Fureraba 1:1 when it comes to character interaction and pretty much everything except with less energy. There's a lot of reminiscent events, like the MC shouting to the class he intends to make a girlfriend, and the general tone is pretty close. However the general energy level is significantly lower, I think they were aiming to make this game feel more like a classic "romance" game and less like a balls-on-the-wall comedy like Fureraba often was because the 雰囲気 in Kanojo Step is a lot more chill despite still having the same style of maniac comedy.

The heroines are nice. Noe (black hair) is funny and has some endearing quirks like her love of bugs but didn't really grab me. Shiina (long brown hair) is the classic "seitokaichou who's an intelligent beauty but is also comically frank and down to earth", no complaints here. Asuka (short brown hair) is pretty unremarkable, her only real quirk is that she's sportsy, but she's too womanly to appeal to tomboy fans I think. Out of all heroines, I expect Kuon to be the fan favourite (if people can tear their eyes away from black hair yamato nadeshiko that is) because her character is pretty excellent. A 積極的 kouhai with great ノリ and a solid character design, wavy hair really fits her. She's definitely my favourite.

All things considered, though, I don't feel like continuing to play, which is why I'm writing my impressions now. The comedy is good, but it's the same stuff I've read before, and everything feels way too familiar. I like my fair share of moege, but from my perspective Kanojo Step ends up feeling just too generic thanks to the writer basically never changing as far as I can tell. Definitely feels like I've read this game several times before in Fureraba and Lover Able. It doesn't help that the game is afforded no assistance from the by-the-numbers 田舎 setting, unremarkable (and seemingly hated) art, lame sound track, and lack of any sort of theme or plot to help smooth things along. In other words, it's a game supported by its heroines and comedy, its writing, but neither are particularly fresh or engaging, particularly for those who have read smee games before. I'm shelving Kanojo Step probably forever.