Otome Game Review: ときめきメモリアル：Girl's Side

Hello this is Yami here. I will generally be taking care of the otome games ^^ First up is my personal favorite (and my first) otome game ever: Tokimeki Memorial: Girl’s Side. This is my first review so please be kind to me oTL

Watch the nekkid chibi's dance!

Tokimeki Memorial: Girl’s Side
PS2 (2002)
Konami
Dating Sim, Otome


Tokimeki Memorial: Girl’s Side is a spin-off to Konami’s smash hit Tokimeki Memorial (TokiMemo from here on out). As the title suggests, this is the girl’s version to TokiMemo. Released in 2002 this game is coming up on its tenth anniversary next year. Hopefully Konami is awesome and releases some nice goodies to commemorate the special occasion ;~; [Edit: They actually did!! If you want more info, I might do a recap of it eventually :P]


Story


"Once upon a time..."

As with the original TokiMemo series, there is a legend that surrounds the school your character attends. In this version, as a child the heroine stumble upon a church on the grounds of a local school. Here she meets a young boy and he shares with you a fairy tale about a traveling prince that meets and falls in love with a princess. The two are torn apart because of the king who sends the prince on a journey. The two promise to meet each other once more once he fulfills his duties. The princess then waits for her prince patiently inside a church. The young boy then points out to the stained glass in the church and says it tells the story of the fairy tale and this church is where the princess waited for her prince. The boy then says that he is similar to the prince and that he will return to this place to be reunited with his princess once more…

…Then your girl wakes up because of her alarm. She mentions how the dream was weird and then gets ready to head off to her new school ; Habataki High School.
As a new student, the heroine wanders around campus until she stumbles upon the same church from her dreams. She walks up to the doors and tries to open them however it is locked. The heroine then falls down.



'Sup bitches.


Out of nowhere (I was like WTF when I first saw this lol), a young freshman boy comes by and helps you up. Here you learn his name is Hazuki Kei (He is the main hero of the game). The bell rings and you rush off to the entrance ceremony.



Yum. Himuro-sensei...

After the long (and boring) entrance ceremony you bump into a girl (depends on what room you choose) who becomes your first friend (or.. . rival). The two of you rush off to homeroom where you meet Himuro Reiichi (your homeroom teacher and a datable guy :P). He is a total tight ass. Before class begins he examines your uniform and tells you to fix it because it looks weird.

After an interesting start to school you head home. Your brother approaches you and explains to you his services at gathering information on your love interests (and rivals).

Pretty much after this point, the story really begins….


Game Play

Game play is fairly simple. You don’t really need to be proficient in Japanese to play. Only a few times in the game do you need to know some Japanese in order to progress. A lot of it is guessing (that is, if you don’t know how to read Japanese…). One of the few times you need to know Japanese is when you fill out a survey at the beginning of the game…

An important aspect of this game is stats. Stats are everything. This determines your fate in school and with your guy. If you do not meet the stats to impress your guy, you won’t get him. It is hard to get used to but as you play your first game, you will catch on.

The game’s main menu is simple. Each icon corresponds to an activity your character can perform. The first 8 boxes at the top are for actions you perform to increase (or decrease) your stats. In the next set of 8 boxes, the first three on the left are used to call the guys, to go out (on a date or shopping), and contact Tsukushi (your brother). The last one is for options and saving. On the bottom row the boxes are for (in this order) check your closet, check the internet, check the internet, and to check your email.

The BEST part of the game (in my opinion) is the shopping function >.< You can go out and buy clothes to help impress and catch the attention of the guy you are trying to date. Each guy has a particular type of clothing they like so, watch out what you wear. You can even buy seasonal outfits as well. It is such a fun aspect of the game!

There are even mini games to play throughout the game. There are three occasions when you can play a mini game: at the sports festival, on the second year school field trip, and on Valentine’s Day. Each game is a ton of fun. The one you play on your school field trip is the best (in my opinion). You get to play a pillow fight game with your special guy and against your best girl friend (or rival). Each person has a special fighting move to use while playing so it’s fun to play when you go through the different routes.

The one aspect of the game that is hard (and the most critical LOL) is the dating part. When you go out on a date, the guy will comment on something. You are then prompted with three options to choose from. There is a good option (or sometimes the okay one), the so-so one, and the bad one. Each one influences the affection towards the guy so be careful!

Each character also has an ending (girls included as best friend endings). Only people that do not have one are real minor characters. Your own brother has an ending as well (which is the bad ending….).

Another great aspect of this game is unlocking pictures. After you fulfill certain requirements or witness a certain event, you can unlock an image. Each guy has a set number of pictures you can collect. Sometimes it can take two plays through to get each one but it is worth it.


Art



Christmas with Hazuki Kei

The art in this game is okay. It’s not like “OMG BEAUTIFUL.” It is nice and simple like the rest of the TokiMemo series. I like it. My favorite part of the game is the cheesey chibis LOL Each guy (and girl) get their own chibi. It’s really cute! The CG scenes though are really nicely done. I really looked forward to seeing each CG because it highlights each characters looks nicely without over doing it.


Characters

In total, there are nine guys you can date. 6 are your fellow students, 2 are teachers, and the last one is a hidden character. Here is a brief intro to all the guys:




(Top to bottom, left to right: Ikkaku, Wataru, Chiharu, Reiichi, Kei, Shiki, Kazuma, Sakuya, and Madoka)

Hazuki Kei: The school prince. He is a model and the main hero of the game.
Morimura Sakuya: The bookworm. He is the president of the school gardening club.
Suzuka Kazuma: The jock. He is part of the basketball team.
Kijou Madoka: The school flirt. He works part-time at a gas station.
Mihara Shiki: The artist. He is eccentric….
Hibiya Wataru: Your underclassman. He is in the baseball club and obsessed with Hazuki Kei…
Himuro Reiichi: Your homeroom teacher. He is also the director for the band club.
Amanohashi Ikkaku: Your school principle. ‘Nuff said…
Aoki Chiharu: The transfer student from America at Kirameki High. He is the hidden character.

Aside from the guys there are also the four girls.




(Right to left: Mizuki, Shiho, Tamami, and Natsumi)

Arisawa Shiho: Another bookworm. She works at the local florist and is your rival for Sakuya.
Konno Tamami: Manager of the basketball club. She is your rival for Kazuma.
Fujii Natsumi: A cheerleader. She works at the local burger joint. She is your rival for Madoka.
Sudou Mizuki: Member of the tennis club. She is your rival for Shiki.

There are also a few minor characters as well that add a bit to the story . Overall the majority of the characters are loveable (minus a couple….). I personally love Himuro, Chiharu and Kazuma but that is just me ^^


Voice Acting

THE VOICE ACTING IN THE GAME IS FANTASTIC! Each character (for the most part) is done by a famous seiyuu. Konami did an excellent job in casting for this game. It makes me happy to hear each character matching their voices perfectly ;~; Koyasu Takehito, who does Himuro-sensei, just adds to the characters already cold demeanor and Hiyama Nobuyuki brings Kazuma’s cocky attitude to life. Overall, the voice acting is just perfect (;/////;)b It is a fully voiced game (minus the heroine LOL) and just hearing the seiyuu voices (the males especially ^^) is completely orgasmic....


Music




Music in this is okay. I personally love the background music done for the seasons. When the seasons change so does the main background tune. Each datable main character has their own theme (including for when they are upset or depressed. It is an interesting touch…). The opening and ending song is done by the famous j-rock/pop band B’z. The lyrics to both songs match the overall tone of the game perfectly.


Recommend?

Naturally I recommend this game! It is long (ranging from 5 hours to 1 day to get each guys ending and complete CG gallery). The story behind each guy is fantastic (including the cannon route) and the girl’s endings are really cute as well. If you are into the cute and cheesey kind of game then I really recommend this game! It is a good game for beginning otome players to play since it is pretty simple to follow and it is nothing too mature either. It is also a good way to learn Japanese since it is a fully voiced game with subtitles. I know playing this game for hours on end really helped me in my reading and comprehension skills in Japanese. Overall (considering how old the game is too) I give it a 4.5 out of 5.




Himuro-sensei how I love you ;~;