The following originally had pictures both safe and not-safe for work but when transferring over the pictures kinda disappeared. For those interested I'll post the actual blogspot link that I'm using to post these reviews with the pictures at a later time (one the new user restriction lets up).
The Devil on G-string Review
By: Baccano
Game: G-Senjou no Maou (The Devil on G-string)
Manufacturer: Akabeisoft2
Language: english subtitles
Censored/Mosaics: Yes
Genre: mystery, suspense, slice-of-life (little) pure awesome
How to explain a game that is simply awesome?Do you like mind games, plot twists, an unbelievably cute heroine, classical music, an awesome main plot, revenge, redemption, and everlasting love? Then G-Senjou No Maou is for you.
The most recent visual novel that I have been playing and damn is it a good one.The Devil on G-string is a game released by one of the better visual novel companies Akabeisoft2 in the year 2008. This game was made after Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shoujo (one of the best visual novels released to date) and is easily one of the most unique visual novels out there. The game has a combination of suspenseful criminal schemes, detectives, mind games, drama, and an awesome and well developed core cast with one of the greatest endings for a visual novel ever. The game was translated and a patch was released a few days before Christmas in 2010 and is a definite must play and is on my list of top 12 visual novels (and is in the top 5). It's a mystery thriller and a wonderful romance/drama all rolled into one.
You play the role of Asai Kyosuke, the son of a legendary gangster infamous in the underworld. You spend your time listening to Bach, playing God at school and covertly working for your stepfather, a ruthless financial heavyweight. This idyllic existence is broken when two individuals appear in the city - a beautiful girl from your past named Usami Haru with hair you could get lost in for days, and a powerful international gangster known only as Maou. Almost without delay, the two begin a deadly cat-and-mouse game, bringing you and your friends into the crossfire. Plotting, political intrigue and layer upon layer of interlocking traps are the weapons in this epic battle of wits.
Characters:
Azai Kyousuke is the complete opposite of your typical visual novel protagonist. Kyousuke is the heir of a major Yakuza crime lord and has a cover identity as a student. He is very smart and resilient and believes that money is everything and emotional bonds are worthless. What does this mean for his character? It means he is a ruthless bastard in the early game. His character though also probably has the best character development. You really can't help but like this guy near the end. He is also a hardcore classical music otaku.
Maou: extremely intelligent and completely heartless. He is the antagonist of the story and seems to have met Usami Haru before.
Usami Haru: Maou's nemesis and the heroine of the story. She is filled with both moe and GAR and has a frightening sense of deduction. She is also quite possibly one of the weirdest heroine's in a visual novel. She is also the coolest of the heroines and easily has the best story surrounding her.
Miwa Tsubaki: 100% naive. 100% caring. She would give Satan compassion if he asked for it. She also has one of the most disappointing side routes although her character is fun at times.
Azai Kanon: not actually related little sister to Kyousuke. She dreams of going to the Olympics and is on her way there when her part in the story begins. Her route was touching if not a bit confusing.
Shiratori Mizuha: Again her route has nothing to do with the main story and her role in the entirety of chapter 4 is probably better than her side route altogether. She is the tsundere rich girl.
Tokita Yuki: Haru’s dedicated old friend and a prodigy at reading people. She specializes in criminal psychology/negotiation and has a great role in the main story, even though she doesn’t actually have her own path. She has no H scene or path either...it was sad to say the least because she was probably better than all the other side characters.
Aizawa Eiichi: A lot of people hate this two-faced character simply because he can be annoying. It is true but considering this is the best friend of Kyousuke we can give him a little leeway. He is a follower of God (snicker).
Azai Gonzou: Heartless "father" of Kyousuke. A simply awesome ruthless character.
Visuals: The visuals are quite solid and I actually really enjoyed the backgrounds for the majority of the locations. They give the story its gritty feel and it worked well, a number of people will complain that the backgrounds are lacking but in my opinion this helps develop the feel for the arena in which the game is played. The characters have a ton of sprites and a variety of expressions. For the most part everything visually is awesome.
Music: This is just one part about where the game really shines. The music in the game tend to be remixes of classical music and considering the plot of this epic visual novel it fits a lot better than one would expect. The final vocal song though for this game is simply amazing and there will be at least three either songs bgms that will be simply awesome.
Voices/Seiyuu: here's the two that people "may" know.
Usami Haru ............. Kawashima Rino (she is known for doing voices in 4 currently translated and released visual novels including koihime and kira kira. she is also doing the voice for clarissa in the current anime infinite stratos.
Maou ................ Jun Fukuyama (he uses his Lelouch voice for this character).
They were for the most part quite good Usami Haru and Maou both seem to steal the show as far as the voice acting is concerned.
System/Gameplay: Surprisingly the system is quite well done in this game and has a number of modes one can enter from the title page (such as sound mode (the music), cg mode (the cgs), hscene mode (the hscenes), and a chapter jump. Once you beat a chapter you get the option of starting from the start of said chapter so quite useful. The game has about 100 save slots (no lie) and has the option of showing the BGM titles when the music changes. It was slightly better than most visual novels as far as the system goes.
The side-routes are nowhere near as good as the main route but the game makes it easy for one to branch onto one of the other routes if they wish. They are decent but nowhere near the same epic quality as the main route (Usami).
Ero: Oddly enough for such a story driven game the ero (the few that it has) is surprisingly good. The scenes are more moe than anything else and each girl only has about 2 scenes but the story is the reason you play visual novels (for me anyways) not the ero.
Story: The story of G-Senjou follows a game of cat and mouse with the obviously main female character Usami and the antagonist Maou. Kyousuke finds himself in between the two. The game focuses areound the themes of revenge and forgiveness and after the first chapter exposition chapters 2-4 feature a major scheme from Maou which revolves around the side-heroines. The trouble in this goes in whether you want the yogurt and pudding or the cake, icing, and strawberries for your first go. The side-routes again are not nearly as good as the main route but since the side-routes diverge from the main story it might be best to go with those first...I didn't and it made me play the game again with the side-routes followed by the epic ending again. Haru's path is not until chapter 5 so you will have to ignore the others if you wish to do her route first.
Each chapter has its share of slower, slice-of-life scenes that help develop the characters and the scenes are for the most part short and nicely distributed. The story is addictive as hell though once Maou's challenge hits the heroes and leaves them to their journey. Akb2's script is amazing and well written. A few plot holes can be found and a few things were just too convenient but it is easy to accept 'as is'.
Then once all is done and over we get Usami's ending which is amazing and indescribable without spoiling the game but it is by far one of the best finales in a visual novel ever. Overall Rating: 7 out of 10 (except for Usami Haru's Route which receives + 2.5 making that route 9.5 out 10)
Mon Mar 12, 2012 6:52 pm