25 February, 2012

[Blog Update] The Flower Shop 2: Winter in Fairbrook

This is just a rambling post of what I have been up to, concerning Visual Novels. If you guys don't like seeing these kind of posts on my blog, please let me know in the comment section below ^_^ If not, I'll probably be doing these more often, so you guys can see what VNs I'm playing, or what I might be posting up next. 


So today's Visual Novel that I picked up was The Flower Shop 2: Winter in Fairbrook by Winter Wolves. I'm quite a fan of works by Winter Wolves (if you guys haven't realised yet), although it's quite obvious since I've done reviews/walkthroughs on two of their titles (Always Remember Me and Love & Order). I usually like playing their otome game selection, and have yet to try out their action titles.


Who knows, maybe I will someday? 


But well, I have played the first Flower Shop and I was definitely disappointed with that one. I will be posting up a review/walkthrough of it in future, so you guys can see what I mean. But well, that one lacked so many aspects of what I look for in otome games, and it just wasn't one of the greatest from Winter Wolves.


Yes, it was rather enjoyable in some aspects - but it wasn't quite there yet, you know what I mean? Not to mention it holds the notorious title of the only VN I have given up on. Usually I get the hang of VNs quite easily (since I've played so many) but this one... I really struggled with. I was certain I was doing everything right (I knew the requirements for each guy, etc) - but I always ended up alone.


The only ending I ever got was with Marianne and Susana and the rest... well, I completely failed LOL! It frustrated me to no end, because whilst I would be visiting them, their associated stat would actually decrease. It just didn't make sense to me at all.


And although I was initially reluctant to try the sequel (due to my prior bad experience), I decided to give it a shot. It looked very promising (the art had improved greatly) and I'm certain to say that I don't regret it.


It improved vastly from the first title (story wise, art, cg and system) - actually, it's basically improved in every single area. I got Steve's Special Ending on my very first playthrough (I picked him as a bachelor first, since he's the protagonist from the first story) and I'm quite satisfied , surprisingly.


What I really like is the sequel finally implemented a CG gallery, and much better, "final" endings! I've only gotten one ending so far, but I'm definitely recommending it already. If you guys have played this already, feel free to tell me your thoughts on it, or who was your favourite character ^_^


You guys will probably be seeing a more "indepth" review on this some time in the future, but so far - it is without a doubt positive.

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