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Saint Germain: Code:Realize
2 years agoWhat are your character/route rankings for the Cheritz games?
I asked something similar at the MM subreddit a while ago, but I'm curious about how the preferences transition over the games for others and the order they played them in.
Here are mine (plus spoilery rants for reasons why that you can skip if you like):
Mystic Messenger: Zen > Seven > Yoosung > Jumin = Jaehee
(Order played: 1. Yoosung - 2. Zen - 3. Jumin - 4. Jaehee - 5. Seven)
Dandelion: Wishes Brought to You. Sometimes, getting a guy in otome games is not just about picking the right conversation options. Sometimes, it means having the qualities that that 2D guy wants. Dandelion is a great introduction to stat raising otome games. I also appreciate that Cheritz seemed to listen to the responses to Dandelion, the biggest one being the stats raising. Whether it’s a direct response to the critiques or not, it does show that Cheritz is a company that cares about their audience and strives to provide an unique and quality product. Well done, Cheritz.
- I like Zen the most because he strikes a nice balance between Yoosung's sweetness and Jumin's maturity, and his tongue-in-cheek flirting makes me laugh. His route is a little shallow compared to the others, but also the most feel-good one.
- Seven is second place due to the sheer depth and amount of story content in his route... but he reminds me too much of an overdramatized version of my younger self for comfort, haha. I'm not a huge fan of his default exaggerated voice acting either, so I'm probably in the minority of those who prefer his change.
- Yoosung lands in the middle because he's my baby, which makes the whole romance aspect to his route somewhat awkward to me. The fact that he felt more like he was 17 rather than 20/21 and kept projecting Rika on me didn't help. Adorable and fun to tease, though.
- Jumin and Jaehee kind of even out each other in terms of how I felt about their routes. I had Jumin pegged for second bias until the whole imprisonment thing, and then everything went downhill from there. Jaehee, on the other hand... I don't know, I guess it just lacked some oomph factor? It was nice and sweet, but that's it. Least CGs, too.
Dandelion: Jisoo > Jieun > Jihae > Jiwoo >>> Jiyeon
(Order played: 1. Jisoo - 2. Jiyeon - 3. Jihae - 4. Jieun - 5. Jiwoo)
- I have so many conflicted feelings about Jisoo. If this had been a first-person POV like MM, he would be the bottom of my list. But his chemistry with Heejung is so natural, and I love how he brings out the best in her - even in other people's routes. He just instintually knows how to read her and break her out of her negative cycles, which I love given Heejung's tendency to internalize all her problems.
- Jieun is the one I'm personally least drawn to as a character, but he's the one I like the most with Heejung after Jisoo - because like him, he instinctually understands her and knows how to support her. (But in a completely different and somewhat healthier way.) The emphasis on their age disparity and Heejung's constant babying of him made the actual romance a little weird, though.
- Jihae was my Jaehee (lol) in Dandelion. I liked the route, but it didn't wow me. I didn't feel like he and Heejung made a good match personality-wise; they didn't seem to operate on the same emotional wave-length. Their mutual attraction appeared mostly based on UST to me.
- In juxtaposition to Jieun, Jiwoo was the one I liked the most as a character and least with Heejung. I find him adorable and really entertaining, but simply too immature for an adult relationship. Still made me laugh the most though, and I like that he brings out Heejung's sass.
- Jiyeon was... disappointing. It was like all of the worst things about Seven's route amped up to eleven, complete with a side-dish of non-bad-ending abuse and unhealthy idealism. His egocentrism and his being MIA for about 1/3 of the story also detracted too much from their relationship development for my liking, as well as Heejung's own character development.
Nameless: Yuri > Lance > Tei > Yeonho = Red
(Order played: 1. Yuri - 2. Lance - 3. Yeonho - 4. Tei - 5. Red)
- Yuri is love, Yuri is life. What else can I say about Zen's and Jumin's secret love-child? The funny thing was that I felt lukewarm about his route after I was done playing it, but after all the other crap that happened his felt so blissfully normal and sweet that I kept wanting to go back to it. Plus points for his behavior in Tei's route, too.
- Lance was my first choice, until pushy and domineering became his default mode of operation. Worst kiss scene, too. Still had the best overall plot/character development for both him and the MC, though.
- I don't know how to rank Tei. I find him the most compelling character Cheritz has written - and damn, the voice actor's performance is SO GOOD - but he's creepy as hell. Even when I knew I had secured my happy end in his route I still couldn't get over the feeling that he would freak out on me at any moment. Best route in terms of story and characterization, worst route in terms of actual romance.
- Yeonho's route hit me hard as someone with fellow abandonment issues, but the romance felt more like a secondary and oddly placed tie-in. Not a huge fan of super-shotas either, and that bad ending still gives me nightmares.
- I'd been overhyped about Red in advance, so I was a little disappointed when I actually got to the meat of his route - though mostly due to the pacing rather than his actual character. The love triangle angst became annoying rather than endearing by the time it tied in with Nameless seriously messing around with Eri's memories, and Red's own character arc seemed almost arbitrary in face of the growing unease/panic around that. It was also the route where Eri got the least resolution for her own problems re: her self-esteem and her parents, and Soi/Shinbi were tragically absent. Plus points for best group scenes and how Red handled the amnesia in the end, though.
Overall game preference: Nameless > Mystic Messenger > Dandelion
MM still has a soft spot in my heart because I played it first, but Nameless has hands down the best story IMO. Dandelion has the cleanest and best-looking CGs, though.
What are your preferences? :)
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