Monday, 26 August 2013

Lucky Rabbit Reflex! - Review

 
“About
An otome (Girl pursues Boy) dating simulation game, Lucky Rabbit Reflex sees our seventeen-year old heroine beginning her first and final year at a new school. Will she find friendship - or even romance - amongst the motley crew at Northmain College? (Or a decent fashion sense, at the very least!)

Game Features
19 endings
5+ romanceable gentlemen
75 unique CG's
150+ unique items of clothing and accessories
CG/endings gallery
178,861 words

This is an older otome game. I believe it was released roughly July 2011, so I guess it's not that old. As the offical summery vaguely covers. You play as a young girl (you get to pick her name) who transfers college in her very last year of sixth form (Though I was under the impression that sixth form happens in high school not college). This game offers 5 romanceable guys plus a secret character with lots of different personalities. You have the best friend type who likes to tease you, the quiet type who is actually a really nice guy. The broody, 'don't talk to me' type. The play boy and finally the cutesie younger guy who really hates being treated as a kid. There are also 5 girls you can befriend. If you complete one of the girls path which involves not romancing any of the guys, you will receive a special item from them that will help increase your stats during the stat raising part of the game. These items carry over saves and through into a new game.

As soon as I found this game I was really excited to try it out because it's the first visual novel I've come across that's based in the UK – Where I currently live. It was great to see all the British slang that I know and love and that money was in pounds (£) instead of dollars or euros. For someone like me, it was just that little extra touch. I actually can't remember how I came across this novel as when I first got into these types of things I used to google for visual novel games and not once did I get directed to this title. It's such a shame too.

As I briefly mentioned, this is a stat raising novel which I usually hate but this one was somehow different. I'm not sure if I just ignored it this time because of my excitement of a British based game or that I'm actually getting use to them. Either way, I generally had a lot of fun. You have 4 basic stats: smarts, charm, social and fitness but there is also stress. With any stat building game, different guys like different stats but you also have to make sure to balance them out as they will determine whether you pass your A-Level exams at the end of the game or not. Stress is built up as you preform different activities throughout the week. If you preform them successfully you receive less stress than if you were to fail something. Stress can be decreased by relaxing during the week which will, in turn, decrease your main stats sightly as well or going out during the weekend. However, going out on a date will not have any effect of your stress levels so you have to balance this out carefully as the higher your stress, the more likely you are to fail an activity.

Although this is a stat building game, there is still tones of story to be had here. Several event throughout the year such as, Halloween, Christmas, Valentines day and even your birthday provide a nice chance to see the guy you're perusing a little more. In fact, some of the boys will give you gifts that can help with raising your stats if you have it equipped; such as, a journal that will help raise your smarts skill. These items will only stay with you for your current game though. While I'm on the subject of equipping items, it's also possible to go shopping on the weekend to buy new clothes. There are three shops with tones of items to choose from with a few different styles – the punk clothes being my favourite. The guys have their preferred likes and dislikes when it comes to how you dress too and they will react accordingly when you invite them out on a date. They can also remember what you wore on the previous date so make sure you mix and match or they might comment about how dirty they think you are. This I loved. It's realistic if nothing else!


So since we covered the fact that you can buy clothes I'll go over quickly about how to obtain money. Firstly your parents give you some allowance each week. It's a measly £5 but it all adds up. Secondly, you can get a job. Different jobs also require different stats, such as the job at the library which is always available will require a certain level of smarts. There are a total of four jobs in this novel and three of them are only available if you befriend a certain person or pick a certain option while talking about jobs. You know, 'word of mouth' type thing. These jobs include working at an arcade, a café and a high end fashion shop – the latter being a little more complicated to hear about. Despite what job you apply for, each will give you £10 per week for working one evening per week.
The main thing you should remember while applying for a job is that you can't quit and pick a different one somewhere down the line. You have to work there for the remainder of the game. So be careful if the guy you're after isn’t working at the place currently available to you.
As a side note, I'd personally only worry about getting a job if you're after one of the guys. When it comes down to it, the girls really don't care what you wear – in fact, if you invite them out on the weekend, you don't even get the option to choose what you wear.

Such as with the job option within this novel, there are also four after school clubs you can join. Again, I believe once you join zed clue you can't change but for this, you don't have to go if you don't feel like it. The clubs are athletics, music, drama, and netball. Each guy again, has their preference. And although you don't have to attend them if you don't want to, I would advise that you do as most of the best endings require that you've attended a certain club x amount of times and have seen so and so events through them.

I believe that covers the basics of the game so now I'll start with the heroine and then cover the guys. Personally I quite liked the MC's personality. Her physical appearance gave me that 'tom-boy' vibe as she has short hair. Her distinctive feature was that she always wears a beret. Quite unique. As for her personality, she isn't the naïve, dense, innocent girl that is typical for visual novels. In fact, she's constantly thinking how zed guy is easy on the eye or that she wouldn't kick him out of bed, etc. She knows what she likes and also knows a lot about different things depending of what choices you choose during dates etc. She just feels like your typical 17 year old!

So, the first guy – Marius Blitz.
Marius is one of the first guys you'll meet on your very first day at your new college. He's a member of the athletics clubs as his dream is to become a professional runner. Although he's serious about his dream, if you're lucky enough to come across him during a visit to the gym you'll find that he's always slacking off there. He's also the person to talk to if you fancy a job at the arcade. Such as his attitude towards the gym, he will try to force all his work onto you in the beginning.
Marius likes to joke around so he likes a girl who can joke around with him in return. He also likes athletic girls so make sure you're visiting the gym often to work on your fitness.
I kind of got the feeling that the creators of this visual novel favoured Marius as he seems to have the most CG's and the most screen time. His events just seemed to be everywhere.
As I said, if you plan to pursue Marius you must work on your fitness, but this will in return get you a lot of jokes about how you're more manly than feminine. To really appreciate Marius, you're going to have to enjoy the type of guy that likes to tease you. This kind of reminded me of how twelve year olds flirt and although this isn't my cup of tea, once I overlooked this, he really was a sweet guy.
As a side note, his birthday is the 3rd of March and his preferred clothing for the MC are Punk, street or sporty. Really easy to achieve as if you mix your punk clothes with your sporty clothes you tend to get street.
Marius was also the hardest one for me when it came to getting his best ending. Maybe it was because I started with him first, but I couldn't for the life of me get him to send the MC the required email to unlock certain events that were crucial for his best ending.
Overall, to me, I think Marius would be more suited to be a really good friend than boyfriend material.

Shuppin Marchelaure
Shuppin is the other guy you're likely to meet first in this game. He's quiet and comes across as socially awkward when he first meets the MC. You'll hear a lot of things about Shuppin such as, most of the girls in the lower years have major crushes on him and that he tends to sleep through most of his classes. That may be because he's an extremely busy person. His dream is to become a musician and his preferred item is the guitar though he also plays the violin. Shuppin can potentially become a member of the music club if you reply accordingly when asked if you'd prefer more guys or more girls to join the club.
Shuppin also works at the French café if you'd like to work with him. The boss is a little eccentric but I found him kind of amusing at the same time. The bromance between the boss and Shuppin is endearing!
Shuppin is fairly easy going once you get to know him. While speaking with him, try to pick the humble, caring answer and you're all set really. Once I got the hang of the game, I managed to get his best ending on my first try.
He defiantly has the most complex background and family life out of all the guys.
His birthday is the 13th of February (pretty close to valentines day) and he likes his ladies to wear clothes classed as punk, cute or young madam.
Overall I really enjoyed playing through Suppin's route. He was sweet and caring. I can defiantly see why all the younger girls at the school like him. <3

Thirdly we have Rhett Sugden.
You can meet Rhett in a few ways. Firstly, you can increase your smarts stats to unlock an event at the library. The second way to meet him is to get a job at the library, and finally, if you join the drama club, he's also a member.
Rhett is the jerk of the school. To get his attention you're going to have to match his sarcastic attitude. Don't try to please him to begin with. I had a lot of fun with his route mainly because I got to pick an option that said, “You know, you're kind of a dick!”. I think that's a first I got to use a reply like that. Don't let his glare discourage you though, as behind that angry front Rhett actually has a heart of gold. You will find out that he's actually a really caring guy to those that stick it out and manage to get close to him.
He gives the MC the nickname of “Beret” as of course, she's constantly wearing one. It actually makes the rare times he calls you by your name stand out that much more. And if I'm honest here, I kind of liked having the nickname.
Rhett is very hard working and will constantly push himself to get everything he needs to done on time. If you managed to get on his best path you will find that he pushes himself to the extent where he actually makes himself ill and comes down with a fever... He's kind of adorable at this part :3
His birthday is the 21st of November and he likes it when the MC wears clothes that are classed as elegant or casual. I had a hard time finding these types of clothes as they are not my style at all and although it may sound expensive to buy elegant clothing, it isn't actually that bad. He's also a huge fan of anything horror so taking him to see a horror movie or going into the haunted house will please him.

“Beck” Betchaku.
I'm just gonna start off with the fact that my sisters name is Rebecca – 'Beck' so this whole thing was a little awkward for me right off the bat.
Beck is the playboy of the story. He loves his woman and he doesn't have a problem stringing them along and showing them off. His route is a little more complex than the rest as there are two ways to get his best ending.
Beck wont be found in the game straight away. If fact, you may not even see him until after the new year or you may spot him as early as Halloween. Beck is actually a substitute teacher for the art class. His passion is for tattooing which he is currently an apprentice for. Because of this, you can only go out on dates with him to the tattoo parlour where he works. To me, this felt more like I was just hanging out there and he happened to also be there.
Being the huge playboy Beck is, he's really hard to impress. You have to have a high charm stat for him to even answer the phone to you and if you want a compliment out of him, you have to follow the fashion articles, which you can find through your emails, to the letter. This can make getting his best ending a little tricky as once a month you will have to check the article and then go shopping which will mean one less date with him a month. Considering he doesn't show up in the game right away it means you can end up just wasting time. Ways around this however, are to either keep note of what is in fashion while you're on a different guys path or look for a walkthrough for his style and then just buy in bulk before meeting him – There's nothing like being prepared after all.
Beck's birthday is also the 6th of December (My sisters birthday is this month too... :/ ) so it's unlikely that you're going to be able to offer him anything for it. He does however, actually work at one of the shops in the shopping centre called 'Boutique TIDE'. Getting a job there yourself is a little tricky. You need to have a high charm stat and have befriended his sister Lamb to be offered the job.
Overall I felt dirty and cheap playing through this guys route. I hate playboys and generally steer clear of them in real life but as this was a game, I had to give it a try. But no, it wasn't for me. Also, and this is the first time I'm going to have commented on a guys ending, but even in Beck's best ending, I just felt like my poor MC became another notch on his belt so to speak – I'm so sorry Maddi D:

Perth Rastegar
Perth is another one of the guys you wont meet right away. You can cross paths with him either by joinning the netball team or by joinning the music club and saying you'd like more girls to join zed club. To get his best ending, you have to be a member of the netball club though.
Perth is a very baby-faced guy who is often mistaken for being only 12 years old - I think he's actually 15 or 16 though. In the MC's school journal she even wonders if chasing after him will make her a 'cradle-snatcher' which is a little amusing.
Because Perth is constantly fighting his child-like image, you should choose options that sound like you're praising how manly he is. Also try to be cute and caring. Yeah, I know, it sounds a little contradicting – Manly and cute but hey, just go with it.
Perth works at a smoothie stand at the shopping centre, and although you can't get a job there too, you can unlock a few events with him by picking to go to the shopping centre alone during the weekends.
Perth comes across as being very dedicated to the MC and a few times he says in his emails and whatnot to her how he isn't a stalker... I found him to be a little creepy in places to be honest... Somewhat obsessed I suppose I'd call it but other times he is really sweet.
Unlike the other four guys, Perth only has two endings, as apose to three.
Another thing I should mention about Perth is that he's been brought up to speak English in a very posh way so he has a speech-tick so to speak. For example, he will say things like “It is” then quickly change it to “-It's” which, I feel a little mean saying, but I found this amusing. I could imagine some people finding it really annoying though. I believe he's like this because of the fear of being bullied... or something.
As is now customary for the guys in this post, Perth's Birthday is the 8th of August so again I doubt anyone is going to be able to offer him a birthday pressy and his favourite trends are cute and young madam.

Finally – The secret character!
This guy only has one ending – Best ending, and strangely enough, he turned out to be my favourite guy overall. So... who is he? Well if you played one or two routes for the others guys, It's highly likely you already met him. You know that rude guy that works at 'Kit locker' that will barely say anything to you or only gives you a mere 'Hmph'? Yes, that's right – It's him. To unlock his route you must visit Kit locker every time you have a chance on the weekend. Eventually the MC will notice he's eyeing her and get it into her head that he thinks she trying to steal. The truth is, he's actually just curious why a pretty girl such as yourself is returning to a sports shop constantly. And to be fair, you have to visit the shop so many times, that if each time you did go there, you were to buy something, you'd have a years worth of sports clothes and then some!
From this meeting you will find out his name is Mardi and he's French. He is currently studying at the nearby university and he had to take a job at Kit locker to pay for his finances. Now, you can't get a job here yourself, but what you can do is keep visiting each weekend. From here on out, he will be happy to see you and greet you with a small sentence instead of his usual sigh. This will happen for the next few times. After visiting a certain amount of times more, you'll unlock an event with him and the cycle will repeat.
I know, I know, it doesn't sound very exciting and it really isn't but I think he's well worth the hassle. Mardi is the sweetest thing ever!! Sadly though, as he is only a secret character which means not a lot of people that got the game first would have known about, he only has three CG's :(
Seriously though, I think his French accent was the thing that got me. And to clear that up, his dialogue is actually written in a way that forces you to think with a French accent so I'm not being weird here or anything... I hope :D

I would cover the girls but this post has gotten a little long already and I'm not sure how many people are really interested in/care about the female friends you can make in an otome game so I'll skip it. However, I would recommend getting a little friendly with at least one of the girls when you can because it will unlock an event in which you are invited to a fun fair and you may get to go on some rides with your dream guys!

Overall this game reminded me of another visual novel I've played before called 'Heartstring Bugs'. Both have the unique feature with the clothing system and how the guys will have their preferred style and will remember what you were wearing on the last date. The job system and the after school clubs etc. Even both of the MC's 'main' friend was an attention whore in both novels. Either way, I did hugely enjoy this game. Like I said, it was the first stat raising game where I generally enjoyed myself and because of the British theme going on, it was close to home for me. Not all of the guys were to my liking (which should be how it is anyway) but I really loved playing as this heroine! She was a nice change from the other ladies I've played as. This girl actually felt like a 17 year old with the things she thought about and how she acted – it was very refreshing. In stat building games, that seems to be the main focus but for this one, I'd say it was 50/50 on par with the story. The art was very unique and to my liking. I do like to see some crazy looking chins from time to time haha. Another thing I liked was that you're offered a special item to help with your stat raising if you do decide to pursue a girl as a friend instead of just going for the guys and leaving it there as at the end of the day this is advertised as an otome game so it's nice to be offered that something extra just for breaking out of the norm. The quality of the writing is decent, although in my personal opinion, nothing ground-breaking. However, I don't recall ever spotting any spelling or grammar mistakes and I have to say, that is defiantly a first for that! I'll also point out that there aren't any bad endings in this game. Marius, Shuppin, Rhett and Beck all have three endings each which are good end, best end, and dual end (dual end being where you raise either Marius and Shuppin's or Rhett's and Beck's bars to full and you eventually have to pick between them). Perth has a good and best ending while Mardi only has his best ending that I mentioned already.
Sadly, from what I understand, the company that made this game – Studio Super63 doesn't have any other visual novels besides this one on offer currently, and since this game was released in July 2011, I'm not entirely sure if they are still going or not.

I enjoyed this novel and it's quickly become one of my favourites so yes, I'd recommend this in a heartbeat – It's just a shame I've only recently found it. Sadly, it's not freeware so you do have to pay for it but it's a few quid cheaper than most VN's and hey, there's a demo if you're on the fence about it. Otherwise you can grab your very own copy of it here!