Shall We Date : Ninja Love Review

After the success of Pirates in Love, I was on the prowl once more for iPhone games - since the platform itself was so much more promising than I originally anticipated. And of course, I stumbled across another popular Visual Novel called the "Shall we date?" series. Basically, its a series of stand alone VNs from the same company "NTT Solmare", each with different bachelors and themes (actors, ninjas, butlers, princes etc). For more information, feel free to check out their appstore archive here :) If you guys know me, then I am an absolute sucker for settings within the feudal/earlier eras. I guess its because I'm just so used to playing classical high school based ones, that these different stories capture my interest so much more. Not that I don't enjoy playing them, but I guess it's just my personal preference ;) 


I wasn't really interested in the other ones in the series in all honesty (the plot lines didn't appeal to me nor did the characters) but their latest release - Ninja Love caught my eye almost immediately. I knew that I just had to play it - and I'm really not surprised at the rave reviews.


Storyline: You play the role of an average girl, who was raised lovingly in a temple by her beloved grandfather (the Chief Priest). Although she is parentless, she lives each day with a beautiful smile - for even though she is lonely at times, she always has the company and care of her fellow monks and villagers. One day however, in the midst of a rebellion conducted by Nobamunga Oda (a man who wishes to destroy all ninjas) a shocking truth is revealed. She is in fact, the Kusonoki princess - daughter to the one who created the ninja arts. Several ninjas (the greatest of their region) explain to her this, and that she must come with them - for she symbolises the unity of all ninja to defeat Nobamunga. 


However, travelling in a large group would be far too inconspicuous. She must choose one to be her bodyguard on this journey, filled with dangers with every step. It is a difficult time for all people - as war is raging, people are dying and famine strikes wherever they turn. Just what will become of her? Will she perhaps find love in the strangest of people?


In all honesty, then I loved the storyline. It had a great mix of romance, action and comedy - whilst balancing it all out perfectly. Not only that, but there was just so much realistic suspense in some parts of the story, that you can't help but continue reading on. More than once will you be placed in a life/death situation, and it will be up to you to maneuver yourself out of it. There's so many significant life long morals woven throughout the story, and philosophical speeches which will leave you pondering about it yourself.

The pacing of the story was very well done (split in 14 episodic stories) and it takes around 2-4hrs to complete one character path. Each of the stories incorporated completely different routes and events - and I found myself playing through 5/7 of the characters before becoming bored at all. This is an amazing feat for me, since I usually grow tired after the first three paths. They were just so riveting, jam packed and interesting that I couldn't tear myself away (mind you, I stayed up almost all night playing it).

Character Development: I loved, loved, loved the characters. Each of them had such traumatic and darked filled paths (even the non-angsty characters). And the thing was, they were all so different. It completely links with the why and how the characters came to be, and their thinking patterns. I was very impressed with the effort placed into their dialogue and personality, and for once - I was rather at a loss to decide who was my "favourite character" (which is surprising, considering my favourite character is always blatantly obvious).

Saizo: In the end though, the true tsundere once again reigned as my favourite. I absolutely adored his personality, dialogue, event scenes and CG. It was just so well put together, his background story and his romance with the protagonist. It was realistic, and I really liked how in this path - the main character actually has some backbone. She actually works hard to learn the way of the ninja - and actually assisted within their defeat of the antagonist (Nobamunga). I've realised that in most Japanese VN's the main female is always playing the "damsel in distress" and although she is at some points - at least she tries to overcome this.

She puts in her best effort, and it truly shows within her strong personality. The sheer emotion and angst at their climatic moment of revealing their feelings had me on edge, really. I could not peel my eyes away from the scene. Their time together was just so well connected, that it really was believable - that in the end, they'd love each other to the extent to die for one another. All in all, very impressed with Saizo's path. Also, I died laughing when Kuma comments to the protagonist, hinting about his "performance problems at night". Just LOL. 

Kotaro: Another cold like/tsundere character, although far more silent and introverted compared to Saizo. With the death of his past lover, he places a wall around himself to others. He strongly feels guilty for her demise, and so firmly believes he does not deserve happiness. However, his sense of duty is above all others - claiming to "lay down his life" for the princess without hesitation at their very first meeting. His path was the most bitter-sweet out of all the stories, and it was truly touching. Although the development was rather slow, I really did enjoy his story. At times I was just so annoyed though, since he'd constantly push her away - when really, all he wants to say is "stay with me".

Although it wasn't as heart wrenching as Saizo's path - it was without a doubt very sweet, and a rather saddening path. I adored his 4th CG though, since I felt like it was one of the best drawn throughout the whole story.

Goemon: The womanizer/playboy of the cast, known for his incredibly good looks (naturally), amazing charisma and his skills in bed (LOL). Women are head over heels attracted to him, and many would give up almost anything just for one night with him. Despite this though, he is an extremely capable ninja who takes whatever he has and makes complete use of it. He's an extra character to purchase, but I was really impressed with this VN, so I grudgingly forked over the extra $7.50 USD (the extra character pack also comes with Musashi). He caught my eye immediately from the beginning, since he's probably the most well drawn of the cast, rivalling Saizo. 

His story though, didn't quite interest me as much as the others. I felt it lacked that emotional depth, that sense of realism which led up to their ending. Not only that, but I felt it was strange for him until the very end to always command the protagonist to do things. Like really, where's the character development? Also, she still calls him "master" even after all the things they've been through. I found that odd, and not a positive aspect of his path. But, he did have some of the prettiest CGs so I suppose the good art somewhat makes up for it.

Musashi: Since his character came with the extra character pack, I decided "why not play him?" He had intrigued me within the previous stories, as although he is supremely powerful (having never lost a fight - whether with a ninja or samurai) it demonstrates that there is far more than meets the eye with his character. To my complete surprise, his character was just so cute. I found myself giggling at so many points and swooning at how adorable their interactions really were. Although his path lacked that kind of dark, passionate feel... it had a completely different tone which I found was a pleasant contrast.

It made his path very different, and is probably my second favourite after Saizo's story. It stood out from the rest, because it held that childlike innocence up until the very end. The dialogue was really well done, and I loved the way the protagonist approached to changing him. One of my favourite quotes by Musashi was probably when he admitted to her that he no longer wanted to protect her out or duty, or as a bodyguard... but as a man. 

Munenori: After playing Musashi's path, it intrigued me so much that I just had to try out his character path (even if it meant an extra $7.50 USD for character pack 2). Cause well how I saw it was... if I had enjoyed this VN so much until this very point... it really isn't that much of a sacrifice is it? Besides, its not as if its a one time play through (since I know I will probably play it again in future). All in all, then I found his path mediocre in comparison to the others - since although it was enjoyable, it again lacked that emotional depth needed to reach out to the audience.

I actually liked his character more so in Musashi's path, than within his actual story path. So, I do recommend only purchasing Extra Character Pack 1, since the stories are truly worth the extra money. Otherwise, if you really did enjoy the game to the same extent I did - then go for it! :)

Although I can complete Sasuke's and Rennori's paths, I decided not to. Their characters were just so bland and never truly appealed to me in the first place. Not to mention in the five other character paths, they hardly ever actually appear to interest me. I may play them in future when I have absolutely nothing to do, and will update this review accordingly ^_^ But for now, sorry guys ):

Design: Again, for a commercial piece - I was already expecting wonderful art. I loved the character ninja designs, the backgrounds and CG art. The colouring itself, was really well done. For an iPhone platform game, the CG amount itself and quality of each was actually rather impressive (there's a total of 42 CGs). They were just so well drawn, that I found myself flicking over to the gallery several times just to re-view them. There are around 5 basic event scene CGs for each character, and an extra one if you manage to unlock the "happy ending". 

It was without a doubt, one of the strongest points of this Visual Novel, and really suited the tone of the game. It even incorporated the option to view extra information on the characters, which you can always browse :) 

Music and Voice Acting: With the most recent patch on Ninja Love, they actually incorporated background music to it! Since from what I've read, the previous version was silent. This of course, added miles onto the overall quality of the Visual Novel. The music suited the settings and scenes, and actually had a rather substantial amount (each setting had a specific "background"). The characters themselves, also had their own theme music in accordance to their character (which I thought was a rather nice touch).

Not only that, but it has its own introductory song! At first I felt like it didn't really suit the game's tone and era, but after a while of playing it - it really grew on me. It did annoy me though whenever I'd change panels and the song would abruptly change (for example: if I wanted to access the CG viewer/Mailbox). 

In my opinion, they should have incorporated a more gentle, soothing song for your "room" rather than reusing the theme song itself. I felt like the contrast really wasn't pleasant to hear, but its only a minor detail. Since its an iPhone game, I wasn't expecting it to be voiced - so I won't comment on that.

System: The system itself is rather basic, easy to use and clearly set out. It includes all the basic controls you will need (play, skip, etc). It also includes a setting called "my room" which accesses your CG library and "mailbox". I found the mailbox option a rather cute feature, since you can receive messages from your bachelors whilst playing their routes. The messages vary in length, and suit their character personalities very well. 

It gives you a "truer" insight on what the bachelor is really feeling for you at that moment, as for the tsunderes... it does take much longer for them to admit their feelings to you within their stories. Not only that, but it signals as a beacon for you to know whether you are progressing positively with the character (as he only sends you mail with the right choices).

What I really didn't like about the system though, was the auto-save feature. There are no save slots, since it automatically does so for you.This makes looking for the endings so much harder than they really are, since you're practically wondering in the dark the whole time (there's three endings for each bachelor). But I guess in a way, it makes the game much more challenging. 

Another factor once again that I disliked was how there's an option to toggle the text speed - but not the choice to have it ALL appear at once. The fast text typing isn't so bad though, so it wasn't quite as irritating as Pirates in Love. Additionally, the english within this Visual Novel wasn't bad per say... but it wasn't good either. I found myself at times cringing at how  grammatically incorrect the sentences were, or re-reading it just to double check. 

However, it was just at some parts in the story, and really wasn't too bothersome overall. Otherwise, there were no bugs, errors, glitches or problems when I played - so that was definitely a good point.

Personal Opinion: All in all, very impressed with this Visual Novel. I'm just so surprised that although the iPhone/Apple platform is limited - it still provides some very high quality games. I loved the storyline, the build up, the suspense... it was just wonderful. It really took on that "realistic" approach to the time era, whilst catering to the romance and comedic aspect of it as well. I would definitely put it up there as "one of my favourite VNs of all time". The cast was great, and the art was beautiful, really. What more can a VN give?

Although I guess what truly pulled it down however, was the writing (grammar wise) and those small details/faults here and there. Although it wasn't a "major problem", it was just some inconsistencies that appeared randomly. But after a while - it does begin to work on your nerves. When you're sitting there and re-thinking yourself what the sentence actually means - it just takes your attention away from the VN itself, and ruins the mood it has already set. Another factor was the price itself.

Although $4.99 USD isn't so bad for the first three characters, it costs a total extra $15 just to unlock the rest. Its pretty unreasonable to me, and definitely deters me from purchasing more. Overall, great props to the creators of it - story and character creation wise, I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I was so completely absorbed, that I stayed up almost the whole night playing it.

Again, it's supremely close to a 9 rating, but not quite there (LOL). The grammar issue really bugged me (since I can be quite a nazi about it - especially for commercial products). As a whole though (all character paths taken into account), I did like it more than Pirates in Love. This is a huge compliment from me, seeing how much I raved about it in the review before (which you can check out here). 

I greatly recommend it to all iPhone users, as you'll without a doubt enjoy it. 

Overall Rating: 8.5/10