I walk with Zombies Vol. 2

I walk with Zombies Vol. 2 starts up right where Vol. 1 leaves off. Which is actually a good thing as this is quite a story focused VN. 

So for those of you that have not played the first one, I'll do a small recap. The zombie apocalypse has happened, the main...I guess we'll call him a protagonist though that is questionable at best started day one by being bit. However, instead of turning into a zombie he passes out for 3 days and awakens in a state where Zombies don't pay him any attention. 

 Using this 'power' of his he is able to move around the city unhampered and through some unique encounters with the girl next door, he makes a pretty good plan on how to survive in the end times. However, this plan changes after he stumbles onto a trio of siblings. Enter Mitsuki and her two brothers. Our protag helps them by providing them food and other supplies, in return, he makes an agreement with Mitsuki that she gives her body to him. 

Before you take things the wrong way, she agrees even if at first it is because she's scared that he will leave them there without the ability to survive or get food. Overtime however she finds that she actually has feelings for him and he makes plans to move all of them to the mountains where they can live in ease. 

However, plans always change at the end of the world, and an unnamed man attempts to take control of Mitsuki. In the fight that breaks out one of her brothers is killed, the other seriously injured and our protag kills the man for Mitsuki.

Now, our protag and the small group enter Town Hall and join up with more survivors. During this time the brother that is injured ends up in the care of the Vice President of the facility and the only Doctor, Ms. Makiura. 

During the 2nd volume the childhood friend of Mitsuki that she thought dead reappears and makes it known to our protag that he's not welcomed or wanted. To that end, the protag agrees to let the friend take care of Mitsuki and her brother. The protag then shows a more selfless side as he is the one who agrees to bury Mitsuki's brother by himself. He believes that the death of her brother falls upon him and his lack of being able to fully protect them. 

During this time our protag joins a group to help secure food and supplies for the Town Hall, this leads them into dangerous situations dealing with the zombies of the city. 

Not to spoil too much of the story let me at the very least say this, as Mitsuki is no longer 'with' the protag that is when he finds himself with you guessed it, the Doctor. 

I don't want to spoil too much so to wrap this up let me say this, this Visual Novel brings about some good points about the end of the world scenario and puts a lot of things in question. The protag is fundamentally someone that most people will dislike because of his personality type and because of the actions he does especially with certain women.

That said even the Doctor realizes that for all his faults and all his difference of idealism compared to others he still has some sense of honor and respects even if he doesn't show it often. He cares deeply for certain people and he would do what he needed to keep them...though it may not exactly be the reason she thinks.

This game shows little to no gore, but it does have H-Scenes and has some harsh dialogue. So up to you on if you wish to take part in this or not.

Evenicle 2 (Demo)

 Evenicle 2

Evenicle 2 much like Evenicle is a combination of a Visual Novel and RPG from Japan. Currently, the English version of this game is only in 'Demo' mode and allows you to play through the first complete Chapter of the game. Currently, there is no release date for the full version of the game on Steam in English.

So this review is actually more of a preview as the complete game is not out in the US. Please note I will most likely make a new 'Review' for this game when it is completely released and give my first thoughts and of course after playing through the game a bit I will give a better review of it much like I did on Evenicle. 

Evenicle II takes place in a parallel dimension or universe if you will from the first game. There are new characters, mains, and all new nations, and concepts. However, there are several things that you will remember from the first game including the mention of Eve and certain rules and regulations that Eve mandated for humanity. That said there is several things that are new that only appear in this world. The most prevalent and somewhat most annoying of these new things is the 'Hero Syndrome' system that will force you to go around and collect certain items to use in eliminating the problem from one of your wives.

Currently based on the lore of the game, in Evenicle II, not everyone can use magic or skills. The ones that can are granted special rights and privileges that others may not have. However, using one's skills and magic can lead to that person getting the 'Hero's Syndrome'. This disease causes the hero's immune system to suddenly take ill with a variety of different illnesses that range from minor to life-threatening. Because of that, the number of Hero's has greatly been reduced and the ages of these heroes have also gone down as many no longer live long lives due to the Syndrome. 

Alex is the main character, (the one you will play) and has a unique talent and ability. Alex is a student of medicine and he's taught by his Grand Father in the many different skills of running a clinic, hospital and preforming different medical services. However, his special talent is the ability to use skills and magic without suffering the effects of Hero's Syndrome. He also has a skill that he can use called "Medica" which has a variety of different purposes. 

Medica is a long since believed skill that never existed except for one former medical professional that was seen as a lech and had his reputation tarnished because 'Medica' he said could only be used on women.  Alex learns the basics of Medica and that he has the power to use it early but hides it from the village he lives in.

Alex's history is lightly touched on in the demo including the fact that he was married young but that he doesn't really know who his wife is. (Note: You will find out in the first chapter who it is.) Through word of mouth and speaking with his Grand Father he finds out that there is a sick hero coming to their hospice to stay until she passes. Being a young man in a town of old people, finding out that a young maiden is heading to his town 'excites' him and leads him to seek her out before she comes to town.

In the process, he meets the young heroine Yuragi.

Yuragi is a decedent of a veteran Hero who fell to his illness years back. She is a graduate of the 'Academy' to which those with special skills and magic normally attend to train their minds, bodies, and special traits to be used in combat against monsters and bandits.

After using her skills multiple times she finally became sick from the Hero Syndrome and after coming down with a serious illness she was forced to retire and decided to spend her last few months in the village that her mother was born in. 

While she was making her way to the town with a fellow hero, some things happened and she and her companion were found by Alex, who within moments of meeting her told her point-blank, "Let's have sex." Of course, this went over like a lead balloon. However, he would later explain to her that he had the special skill 'Medica' and through his research, he would be able to cure her disease and keep her from relapsing from that disease if they had sex.

After performing a few other uses of Medica to find out what it was she had and then to figure out what he needed to cure her they sat out to find the ingredient to synthesis a cure. 

They were able to find the item he needed, and after ingesting it his body through the use of Medica was able to form the cure to her current illness. After some thought and words back and forth, Yugari agreed and the two officially became a couple. 

As it was with Aster in Evenicle, once they had sex they were bound to one another as husband and wife per the law sat fourth by Mother Eve. Even though technically Yugari wasn't his first wife because of him having magic and skills he was able to take more than one wife. Where in Evenicle it was based on one's rank, in Evenicle II it is based on if one is a hero or not. 

Graphically this game is very similar to Evenicle, however, the fighting has changed from the more 'FPS' point of view to the side-3rd person kind of view which I do enjoy as it gives a new perspective and adds more to the actions the characters take when preforming skills and magic.

Currently, while it is a demo I can say I only saw a couple of things that were kind of annoying. The first being how quick it was to get monsters to fight. It felt like you couldn't move too far before you were forced to fight. I guess for leveling purposes that isn't a bad thing, but when you trying to get from point A to point B for story and plot...it can get old fast. 

Another that was a bit rough was the fact that you were HIGHLY limited in the use of heal skills. Even in Evenicle, you could use your heal skills one time per battle as long as you had the BP to use them. If you had more than one heal skill you could use each one once in battle. in Evenicle II the heal skills you have can only be used as long as you have MP to use it. When you start out you have 2 to 3 MP. However when you run out you are out until you get to an Inn. If you are traveling long distances and you use up your MP to heal you or your party members...you may be looking for a town close by to rest just to save up MP.

The Syndrome is a unique thing that is both interesting and new to something that is a bit annoying at times. As you fight your Hero Syndrome Meter will fill up and then when it maxes it will force an illness upon one of the party members, and then you are forced to find the item needed to create your cure for that illness. 

The soundtrack is decent and the character voices are nice...though I wish they could do it in English too but I digress. 

The Demo is free and if I was you I'd pick it up and give it a playthrough. I can't wait to see what is in store for Evenicle II and hope the game is out soon. 

 Update

Hey everyone, I want to take a moment and apologize for the lack of posting lately. Long story short I have been going through some rough life issues that I am slowly working out. I have also been greatly increasing the amount of time I am working and spending on other projects to keep my mind busy.

I have been working on a schedule for doing some video's though I am not sure when I will be able to pull those off as time alone is limited and with my child around it will be hard for me to do videos. Eventually, I will be getting an office sat up where I can hide away and do what I need to do without having to worry about being interrupted. Sadly that may still be a little way out so until then, blogging is about all I can do.

So on another note, I have scored a demo of Evenicle II, which I will be doing a review later. I have also been slowly playing through 'I walk with Zombies Vol. 2' and while I am not done I should be getting there soon. I have a couple of other games I am looking at doing some reviews on as well which I will post soon.

As some are aware I have a Patreon which I have one subscriber so thanks to them I feel like I can maybe reach others. 

Even if you don't want to donate to the production of the blog or the videos when posted, sign up to stay up to date and to show your support to someone that is honestly just doing this because he finds it fun and enjoys it. It also helps me deal with my depression by giving me something to focus on and do. 

I hope to see you all very soon and I hope to get some videos posted shortly.

Thanks!

I walk among Zombies Vol. 1

I walk among Zombies Vol. 1 is a Visual Novel that as far a I can tell from the few hours that I have played is a straight-up VN with no choices and no multiple endings. Normally I don't really prefer this type of VN as I more like the ones where my choices make a difference. However, as VN's go, this one has its redeeming attributes in the way it tells the story and the way the characters are developed through the VN. I also recently discovered that they tell the same story through multiple points of view, or at least they have thus far between the main protag...well I guess he's a protag and a girl that he later meets.

Yusuke Takemura the somewhat of a protag of this VN starts out like many would. He is a former worker that due to some circumstances got laid off after a company he worked for went under. After he lost his job he became a shut-in and spent the majority of his time playing video games, watching tv, and just avoiding people in general.

As the VN starts Yusuke leaves the comforts of his apartment only to be attacked out in front of his apartment. Being bitten he retreats to his apartment where he then becomes lethargic and falls into his bed with a fever. When he awakes it has been 3 days since he was attacked. After checking online he realizes that the world has entered into a state of chaos. 

News reports are hard to come by but what he concludes based on what information he did obtain, was what was believed to at first be riots was actually the start of an outbreak of a virus that turned people into Zombies. Those people then attacked others and they became Zombies. The cause was unknown.

He decides to leave his apartment in an attempt to find food and supplies. He first stops by the apartment next to his where he comes into contact with the neighbor girl. 

When he enters the apartment he begins looking around and it isn't long before he gets startled by Tokiko Kurose. She looks through him and makes her way past him as if he wasn't really there. She begins to scratch on the door that would lead her out to the world. He watches her and then decides to test a theory. Feeling for her pulse and if she is breathing he realizes that she has no pulse, cold to the touch, and is not breathing. He realizes that she is a zombie but unlike the ones outside she was not bitten. This means she was one of the ones that turned first.

He decides to keep her 'alive' and puts her into the apartment bathroom when he isn't there to keep her confined. 

Later he leaves the apartment and tests the theory that zombies won't attack him. His tests conclude that he is immune to zombies, in the sense that they do not see him, or they see him as one of them and don't try to come after him and kill him. 

Over time he begins to use this ability to be clear of zombie attack to his advantage and begins to go further out from his base at his apartment to expanding out into other areas to see if he can find survivors and other supplies that he may need to survive if not from the zombies from other survivors.

In doing so he comes across a building that has an SoS sign attached to it. He proceeds to enter and upon entering a floor that was isolated from the rest of the building he meets an unlikely trio.

Mitsuki Fujino and her two brothers, when Yusuke finds them they are starving and out of food. He uses food he is carrying in a pack to feed the three and then talks to them in an attempt to get information about what happened and what was going on.

Unfortunately, they are not well informed and have really nothing to give him in return for providing him food or supplies. Yusuke over the time of the zombie attacks has gone from a humanitarian to a more realist. The reality of the situation is that since the collapse of society things such as food, water, supplies, and information are the new commodities of the world. Because of this, he decides to leverage everything he can to ensure his own survival. 

He leaves them on their own for a short while before returning days later with more food for them. This time though he confronts Mitsuki about the harsh reality of the state of the world. Without anything valuable to provide him such as information or supplies he didn't have, his motive for continuing to give them food wasn't there.

He then provides her with a way to get food from him and pay him back. That being to 'service him'. Now I don't mean full-on sex...at least not yet, but he does proposition her for other ways to 'service him'.

So I may have neglected to add some more information previous to this but suffice it to say that part of his 'rational' idealism is that the price of goods and services are dependent on the need, for him having the ability to move freely without being attacked by zombies provide him with a leg up against others. This means he can make demands and expect compensation.

This VN is well-drawn, music is decent, and the plot and story are unique and interesting...though it does have some 'trigger' warnings I guess. While I personally have no issue with media like this or the freedom of creativity I know there are some that have big issues. So let me blunt here, there is a lot of murder, blood, guts, cussing, sex, sexual acts, and sex with zombies...yes you read that right. 

This is an adult-oriented VN and one I do not recommend playing in the sight of young children. 

Evenicle (Updated Post)

Evenicle

I think this is my first Updated Review, so congrats to me for finally doing a follow-up review of a game that I initially made a simple review of based on about 2 hours of gameplay. The few hours I played left me with a good impression of the game overall and sadly due to Real Life things and other reviews needing to be done I had to wait longer to actually get into the meat of the game.

Well after around 70 hours played...I still have not made it to the end but I am close. So I decided that the first review that I have done in a LONG while, I would do an Updated Review on the game called Evenicle.

Evenicle is a mix of a classic-style RPG with a Visual Novel. It offers the best of both worlds allowing you to travel freely and fight monsters and bad guys to gain money and experience all along going along a pretty well thought out storyline. 

I enjoy the graphics even if they are considered dated, I think they really complement this game well and would actually enjoy seeing more games like this one as far as how the graphics are done both with regards to the RPG and the Visual Novel aspects. The music is well done but I think more tracks could be added that would make it sound more interesting. Honestly recently I have turned the BG music off and listen to my music while playing, especially when grinding levels.

In the RPG fashion, this game does have some moments where you will most likely want to take some time out and level up and grind EXP. I know some people find this to be a bit annoying and while I normally agree, I find that this is actually not as bad as you may think. You actually gain EXP pretty well, there are items and skills you can obtain that help increase the amount of EXP you can gain per battle as well.

Wife Kathryn

You can enter towns to rest at Inn's restoring your HP, visit the Church for some cutscenes, and maybe a quest. Visit the Store to buy items and weapons and armors as you need, and in some towns, a special shop is sat up where you can sell items and treasures to earn money. You will also find the EXP shop where you can turn your EXP in and gain a level...that's right you don't do it automatically.

The story revolves around your main character 'Aster' as he prefers to be called who decides to become a Knight in order to marry both of his sisters. Before you get the wrong idea, they are not really his sisters. They helped raise him in a way so he just calls them his sisters. In the realm of Evenicle you can have only one wife unless you become a Knight and earn higher ranks then it increases the number of wives you can have. 

Upon getting to the mainland you begin your journey to becoming a Knight for the nation of Eden. During your trials and tribulations, you run into a 'Lone Knight' Ramius and a Mage named Richie. Later both of these women will become your wives as you are established as a Knight. 

As the story progresses you will rank up by completing the several chapters of the game. The ultimate goal is to reach the title, 'Zero Knight' which is the most powerful knight in the Kingdom. There is also a special rank that is bestowed only by the Church referred to as, 'Holy Knight'. 

Wife Towa

Now I won't give too much away of the story but let's just say as you journey will meet many different women and several of them will become your wives. There are a couple of wives that will not be in your party to fight, but instead, they do other things like take care of the family home and so on. 

I am pretty sure I went over the majority of that in my last review, but now that you are currently on the basics of the game, we will talk about those things that I didn't talk a lot about in the first review.

As I may have also stated in my last review, there are some instances that may cause some people to get a wee bit squeamish. The majority of that revolving around the concept of 'rape'. Now I do not advocate rape obviously but as a form of context, especially in 'dark fantasy' games and novels, I just accept it as part of the genera. 

In my first review, I discussed slightly the one instance that I saw that dealt with the concept of rape. At that time I thought that would be the only instance of such...I was wrong. I can remember around 5 or more of such instances where the discussion of, the act of, or the insinuation of the act of rape occurred.  

Now there is an option to turn that off in the Settings at the start of the game so my advice is that if you are not comfortable with the aspect of using such actions in media such as games like this, I would recommend turning it off. 

Wife Gurigura

I also want to go on record as to say that after many hours in the game that you will be subject to several other things you may or may not be able to agree with. Multiple wives, lesbianism, many instances of sexual deviant acts, MANY SEX SCENES, and crude humor. This game is NOT for children and I would advise not to play it in the presence of a child UNLESS you are simply running around the field and fighting to level up. 

If you however keep an open mind and enjoy RPG's with some Visual Novel aspects...or maybe a Visual Novel with RPG aspects, I would highly recommend this game still. The key is to keep an open mind though.

That said I would like to point out the picture of 'wife Gurigura' I know what you are thinking...and I alas can only say, keep an open mind my friends...keep an open mind.