Charade Maniacs2018

Charade Maniacs

2018 Idea Factory68Worthwhile

Playtime

ModerateIt typically takes about 15 hours to finish the game.

Playable on

Available on

Game modes

Details

Launch
August 9, 2018
Developer
Otomate
Publisher
Idea Factory

Overview

PS Vita「CharadeManiacs」 プロモーションムービー

Charade Maniacs is an otome visual novel full of romance, mystery, and adventure. In the near future... Summer break was around the corner. Hiyori Sena, a sophomore in high school, was living a peaceful life. One day, as she was walking home with her childhood friend, a masked figure appeared before them. The two were abducted and taken to a strange world with two moons. When they awoke, they met nine others in the same predicament. In their confusion, the mysterious figure began to speak. "Welcome to Arcadia!" "In this world, if you perform for us, your wildest dreams can come true!" In order to find their way home, the group was forced to work together and act in an assortment of scenes from a drama. They were also made aware that a traitor walked among them... What could be the motive of this traitor? And why are they all being forced to act? Unable to fully trust anyone, who's hand will she take in the end?

Screenshots

Screenshot for Charade Maniacs
Screenshot for Charade Maniacs
Screenshot for Charade Maniacs

Reception

While the game offers nine routes for the player to explore, they vary in quality that ends up leaving Charade Maniacs a mixed experience from start to finish. That is not to say the game isn’t worth playing, but if you are someone who plays otome games for the romance aspect, those elements take more of a backseat to the game’s messy overarching story...

Overall, I have had a blast reading through Charade Maniacs. The cast is large and varied, but not overwhelming, and the overarching mystery of what the Other World Stream is and why it exists keeps me going back for more. What’s up with the Arcadians? Why specifically wipe out the memory of people who died rather than just kill them? Why was this cast...

Charade Manicas is two individually brilliant games that, combined, are the lesser sum of their parts. I can see why the developers would be intrigued by the combination of the otome and death game mystery genres. I can see the commercial appeal too, given what a runaway success the death game genre continues to be. However, despite excellent production...

I wasn't really feeling the romance elements in Charade Maniacs, though that may have been because I was trying to figure out the meta-story anyway. It's a solid read that I'll probably rip through again in a few months when they actually SLOW DOWN with these games.

In closing, both games could not be any more different to one another really, and it will depend on what you are looking for to determine which will be more worthwhile to experience for yourself. But for my money, Charade Maniacs strikes me as a game that has potential but feels distractingly and disappointingly unfinished with the two routes I have...