One hell of a butler... and pretty much one hell of a game, too! Alright, maybe I was fishing for a connection to Sebastian's catchphrase there but it's a pretty good description for this game!
First Impressions:
Mhmhmm... Kuroshitsuji as a DS game. Might not be too interesting seeing as it's a Japanese visual novel. Peh. I suck at reading Japanese. But then... it is a rather epic anime an I do like my chibi-centric mini-games... Let's check it out, shall we?
Storyline:
Alright. This is what I garnered from VERY bad Japanese vocabulary and basic knowledge of the anime. Ciel Phantomhive is the young earl of the Phantomhive house. They own a candy/toy company and seem to be pretty influential around England. Ciel needed to strike a deal with a demon in order to avenge his parents' deaths and find the killer. This game has you going off to some manor or something off in the countryside in the company of the Rose family. Somehow, there is a curse and a ghost named Stella who posesses Ciel's rabid fiancee, Elizabeth. There is much lulz to be had somewhere along the way.
Typical Kuroshitsuji fare, I'd like to think but quite enjoyable nontheless!
TL;DR: There's a mystery and Ciel's been called on to investigate for the queen again.
Gameplay:
As with any Japanese visual novel, this one is CHOCK FULL of dialogue. You have your audio clips every now and then (which... kind of help) but no full motion videos or completely voiced over scenes. In each chapter, you get to choose Ciel or Sebastian's point of view. Picking a certain POV at a certain time will net you key items and mini games. Between scenes, there is also a Tanaka Search mode where you can go looking for the chibified senior citizen in certain rooms of the manor. This can net you other items and sometimes, you'll be able to unlock sound clips and CGs for your collection.
As far as I know, there are around six minigames to unlock: a mouse catching minigame, a dancing minigame, a dish washing one (This one had been revealed before), a battling...kind of first person shooter where you use knives.. and... this:
I... was actually stuck because of this blasted game. Good thing you can actually skip it if you make the right dialogue decision. I'm still trying to figure out how to win. I think you have to get rid of all those red pieces.
Anyway, post game, you unlock the CG gallery, the audio gallery, the minigame gallery and a special chapter. It'll take a few playthroughs to actually unlock everything so there's plenty of replayability there especially if you want to replay your favourite minigames and if you happen to be a fan of the anime.
Last Words: It's a Visual Novel. Expect a lot of text and groping in the dark. You'd probably appreciate this game if you're a fan of the series... or a fan of victorian era costumes at any rate. Wouldn't reccomend it to someone who knows nothing of the series. All in all, the minigames are pretty fun and a good reason to try and unlock em all. After that, though, there's not much else to be done for the non-Japanese reading crowd... but like I said. It's a visual novel.
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Rating:
Graphics: 4/5
Typical graphic novel fare. Characters are static pictures which change every now and then in attire and emotion. The look is close to the anime and the backgrounds are nice and crisp.
Gameplay: 4/5
Stylus clicks through dialogue and is used for the various minigames. Those are pretty fun and are a good reason to play the game.
Soundtrack: 4/5
Fitting for the scenarios. Some lines of dialogue are voiced.
The Look and Feel: 5/5
It's a fun, short VN with sprinklings of minigames. Unlocking the minigames and the CGs are a good reason to keep playing.
Rating: 8/10
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