Visual Novel Review: Pyrite Heart

7/30/2015

When a feud with her brother gets too hot, Princess Ahri Remono, a young woman with a heart of fire, accepts a challenge that she cannot thrive in the world outside the Imperial Palace. In her first day in class, the boisterous princess finds a potential rival in the student body president, Asaio Hayashi. Moving to assert her dominance, Ahri challenges the young man to a series of contests. When each of them end inconclusively, she challenges him to the one thing she hopes he can't be good at, a cook-off. When her rival cheerfully accepts, the young princess realizes that she may have gotten in way over her head.

visual novel review pyrite heart otome

Developer: Winged Clouds
Pairing: GxB
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Language: English

Likes:
- such pretty pretty art
- plenty of CGs, considering its length

Dislikes:
- too short, huhu
- some parts of the story felt tacked on
- plot feels too shallow


Thoughts:

I put off playing this because it’s really quite pretty and I didn’t know what to expect, but… it’s good that I didn’t expect much at all. =)

First of all, I just want to point out what we can all see right off the bat. The art is gorgeous, I’ll give it that. I mean, just look at that pretty, pretty art! Everything’s so shiny and beautiful and oh so lovely! What a perfect visual novel!

However, plot-wise, this VN falls beneath my expectations.

visual novel review pyrite heart otome

Ahri Remono, the protagonist… is a spoiled brat. No offense, Ahri, but yep, it's true. The story starts off with Ahri arguing with her older brother, Kichiro, about some silly, petty little thing that as we’ll soon find out, Ahri is fond of fighting over all the time. I mean, seriously, she fights over every little thing with everyone. She has a very competitive personality and genuinely believes that she is superior to everybody else. So, she and Kichiro gets into some sort of deal, where Ahri has to spend a week in a "commoner's" high school.

There, she meets Ryuu, the most brilliant guy in class. I like Ryuu. He’s your typical perfect guy character, with almost no flaws at all. No seriously, that’s his role. He’s perfect. He’s the president, he plays basketball well, and he’s crazy smart. Plus, he’s a hottie. And because Ahri can’t bear to lose to absolutely anyone in absolutely anything, she challenges Ryuu to one thing she thinks she can win in: cooking.

visual novel review pyrite heart otome

It’s ridiculous how much Ahri considers everything a competition. Maybe, if I had played this four to five years ago, when I was still a freshman in high school, I might have appreciated the protagonist and her immature ways. But nope, playing this as a college student now, I can’t help but think that Ahri is really quite unreasonable AND immature. Incredibly immature.

Not that I have a problem with that in itself. A flawed protagonist is a perfect character to show development, and they could have used that to develop Ahri into a better, more realistic person.
Kenta, meanwhile, who we’ll meet later on in the story, is Ahri’s personal butler. Why he’s wearing such short basketball shorts in school, I don’t wish to know, but he’s basically there to watch over Ahri.

visual novel review pyrite heart otome

Writing-wise, this game has got it all good. I noticed no noticeable errors or typos (just minor ones, like “pour” instead of “pore”, and a slight oversight where the text says “library” when the characters are very clearly in the gym), and dialogue flowed rather smoothly. I especially like how the romantic scenes were written. I swoon and sigh over those sweet lines. Hahaha. This game is no exception.

Plot-wise, however, I find the main premise quite ridiculous. Ahri is quite an unreasonable girl, and I almost find it hard to believe that she’s as clever as she thinks she is. Seriously, I didn’t like her attitude at all. Plus, it’s really quite silly how she challenges everyone to everything. Call yourself smart, honey, but it’s idiotic how you would challenge someone to a cooking contest and expect to win when you’ve never cooked before in your life.

Also, there’s this one scene in Ryuu’s route where Ahri wages a deal with Ryuu in History class. If he gets the correct answer first, she’ll have to wear a maid outfit, but if she gets the correct answer first, he’ll have to wear a butler outfit. Surprisingly, I correctly guessed the answer, so Ryuu ended up wearing a butler outfit in school. Um, well, I don’t know, but back in my high school, guards would literally stop people who weren’t wearing an ID, let alone the school uniform, without a legitimate reason. I don’t know how Ryuu (or perhaps Ahri in her maid costume) got away with that, when it’s pretty obvious that their school has a uniform system.

visual novel review pyrite heart otome

However, I do like Ahri’s character development in the story, especially in Kenta’s route. I was kinda (read: desperately) hoping that she would undergo some sort of development, since I really, really didn’t like her at the start of the story. I’m glad to say that I wasn’t disappointed in Kenta’s route, which I greatly enjoyed. Also… man, the CG. It’s awesome. <3 Argh. Have I ever told you guys that one of the sweetest kinds of scenes for me—be it in real life or otherwise—is one that is related to sleeping, or anything similar to that? Hahaha, I swear, the perfect “date” for me would probably a cold, lazy day with the guy I like, just staying in bed, cuddling all day, maybe with a cup of hot choco and a plate of cookies. HAHAHA. Okay, too much info. But yeah, sleeping with someone I like beside me is something I find quite sweet. So… Kenta’s route ftw! <3 I absolutely lo-o-o-ove them together. Kenta’s route is just… just… just so… awwww. <3 Gosh. If you’re gonna play this game, then you just have to try out Kenta’s route! To me, it seems like his route is really the main route all along, while Ryuu’s is just tacked on to add an option for the players.

There are quite a lot of adorably sweet scenes here, especially in Kenta's route. Don't worry, Ryuu's has a lot of sweet scenes, too. I actually stopped for a few seconds at Ryuu’s ending scene just to process what happened. Dammit, Ryuu. Scenes like yours (and all of Kenta’s, HAHAHA) are the main reason why I play otome games, after all. =) I actually went for Ryuu’s route first, because Kenta’s super short basketball shorts turned me off, (hahahaha, yes, I’m so shallow hahaha) but while I enjoyed his route, I think that Kenta’s was better, though.

visual novel review pyrite heart otome

No, seriously, Kenta’s was better. This is subjectively speaking, but even objectively speaking, Kenta’s route makes more sense than Ryuu’s, at least for me. I have this feeling that Kenta’s is the real route all along, hahaha, while Ryuu’s was just a last minute addition. =) Sorry, Ryuu. I suppose I just didn’t appreciate how Ryuu’s route felt so much like… um, like the scenes were just there for the sake of making the player swoon over Ryuu. Or something like that.

As for the art… oh man, what else can I say? It’s really, really beautiful. Hahaha. =) I am so awestruck by how amazing the art looks. The sprites, the CGs, the backgrounds, they’re all so lovely! This game is really a treat for my eyes, hahaha. It’s just so wonderful. <3 Yep, gorgeous art is gorgeous, 'nuff said.

Frankly, I’m just disappointed by how differently the two guys’ routes were handled. Ryuu’s left me unsatisfied, despite the sweet scenes. The reasoning between the events in his route seem pretty flawed, is what I’m saying. It’s all about a princess who spends a week with commoners and feels threatened by one of them so she challenges him to all sorts of silly stuff… and ends up falling in love with him. Kenta’s has a lot more substance in it (which is still not much), I believe. I mean, hey, it's just a story of two people who aren't supposed to be with each other, falling in love with each other. Normally that would have a lot of conflict to go with it, but since this game is so short, there wasn't any conflict at all. Still, it was definitely handled a little bit better than Ryou's, at least for me. Or maybe it’s just a personal preference, as some of you may know that I’m really not a fan of whirlwind romances. Hahaha. Even in real life, it takes me quite some time to fall in love (let alone to realize it, huhuhu, I can be so slow at times), so I personally find it hard to believe that one could “fall in love” in just a day or two, like what happened in Ryuu’s. =)


I give it a 8. An 8?! Why an 8?! Well… the art is gorgeous, the writing is great, but I… just… well… the story… just didn’t seem substantial enough. I'm sure a lot of fangirls and guys had a lot of fun with this game, though. I mean, hey, it's a nice little game to play, with pretty graphics, not much heaviness in the plot, and... yeah, it's generally just fluff. I have plenty of gripes with the story, that much is obvious. It’s really nice, if you ask me, but some scenes felt tacked on and… quite cliché, you know? I’m well aware that we’ve seen these sweet scenes a dozen times before. But it’s a quick game; as a matter of fact, I finished the whole thing in a little over an hour. Yes, the whole thing, in just a little over an hour. It’s a really short game, see? So… those willing to excuse all the tackiness.

I did get a lot of kilig feels from this game, so I’m a happy kid. =) If you’re expecting a deep story, you might be disappointed, but if it’s just the feels you’re going for, then you won’t be let down. Basically, it’s a lot like love, in that regard. Just don’t expect too much, and you’ll be fine.

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