CHiP Talks Otome: Ayakashi: Romance Reborn

Ayakashi: Romance Reborn is an otome game for Android and iOS released on 18th June 2019. The game itself is free to download, but does contain in-app purchases. The game ended service in 2022 for the EN servers, but is still ongoing in the JP servers; however it can still be downloaded in EN as the servers are still up.

The game is rated PEGI 12, and contains mild swearing as well as light depictions of blood (cuts and scrapes).

DEVELOPER: 

Voltage, Inc.

MC:

Female

SCREEN ORIENTATION:

Horizontal

PLOT (spoiler free):

The plot is split in three major branches, Dawn, Twilight and Night (which is technically a follow-up to Dawn, but can be read on its own), all preceded by a common prologue. The main difference is which characters are romanceable, which each faction having five characters. The plot is largely similar: set in the early 1900s, it follows the MC (default name Futaba Saotome, can be changed at any time) who recently awakened her onmyoji powers and is tasked with defeating the wraiths plaguing the city. In the Dawn branch the focus is more on purging the wraiths, while in the Twilight branch the focus is on solving the mystery surrounding the MC's kagura bell wand. Each branch is split in two: a first, plot-heavy part that all the characters have in common, and then the second part being the individual routes, that resolve the cliffhanger of the first part.

GAMEPLAY:

Aside from the main story sections, the game is also a card gacha. The cards are used for the Patrol minigame, which serves to farm items to level up the cards in order to unlock the card-specific stories, skills, character voice-lines/outfits and CGs. The patrols also contain short scenes with the selected characters.

There is another minigame, Milk Hall, which serves to farm rarer items, as well as unlock exclusive character interactions.

You can also set a character on the homescreen, as well as change their costume and raise their intimacy, which has no bearing on the main story but will give you additional voice-lines.

CHARACTERS:

DAWN FACTION:

Koga Kitamikado: an oni and entrepreneur, he is charming and charismatic, and frankly, the most realistically attractive of all fifteen characters. He is also a capable swordsman, with a deep love for his city.

Kuya: a tengu and, according to himself, a writer, although he has never written anything (a mood). He is Koga's closest friend and housemate, and while he is very lazy, he is also loyal to his friends and is able to pull his weight when it comes to defending them. He has the power to create strong gusts of wind with his fan.

Ginnojo: a water dragon, he is the owner of a bookshop. Taciturn and often awkwardly blunt, he is utterly clueless when it comes to women, an by extension, the MC. He, predictably enough, can control water.

Yura: a flute tsukumogami, he and his twin brother Gaku live in a temple outside of the city. We soon find out that his reserved nature is due to an unspecified curse that was placed upon him. He has the peculiar trait of speaking in Shakespearian English. His flute song can harm living creatures that hear it.

Aoi: a satori seer, he works at Milk Hall with Oji, although he ends up doing most of the work. Due to a lack of offensive powers, he wields a gun. He's also a very obvious tsundere, and his pinkish hair, heterochromatic eyes and gun remind me of Pollux from Arcana Twilight (even though that came out much later).

TWILIGHT FACTION:

Toichiro Yuri: a kitsune nobleman, prone to tricks as befitting of his species. While he is mischievous and , he does love the MC, and has some very genuine moments with her in his route. He also has a playful rivalry with Koga. He has the power to create fiery will-o-the-wish, also know as "fox wedding lights". 

Shizuki: a rare male yuki onna and Toichiro's valet, his personality is similar to his powers: cold. He is not cruel, and just approaches things in a very logical and detached manner. Part of his route is him "thawing" as the MC helps him to come to terms with his past.

Kuro: his species is kept secret until the ending of his route, and he intentionally chooses not to disclose it to avoid discrimination. He is quirky, hyperactive and affectionate, but it becomes soon clear that this is a front. He works in a circus.

Gaku: a drum tsukumogami, younger twin of Yura. He is more direct and blunt than his older brother, as well as generally being more guarded when it comes to other people.

Oji: a hundred-eyes demon, he is the owner of Raccord, the milk hall Aoi works at. He is mellow and often comes off as lazy. Being one of the oldest members of the cast (aside from the twins), his past is something that he'd prefer to keep undisclosed, although it comes back to haunt him in his route.

NIGHT FACTION:

Nachi: the MC's pet cat, who turns out to be a nekomata (yes, he's able to turn into a human. Yes, he's romanceable). He is a bit of tsundere, being unable to fully express his feelings towards the MC, although unlike Aoi, he also tries to come off as "cool" so she'll like him better (of course it turns out that MC likes him just as he is blah blah blah, love and kisses, you know the drill).

Kagemaru: a villainous spider-woman (or. Well. Spider-man in his case). He is part of an organization who wants ayakashi to dominate over humans. In most routes he is an antagonistic force, though rarely outright villainous, the MC has bigger fish to fry. He also works in the entertainment district by crossdressing as a geisha.

Akiyasu Kurahashi: a fellow onmyoji, he is employed in the army, and keeps his powers secret to avoid discrimination. He is soft-spoken and shy, however his worldview is pretty cyinical, believing that the only way ayakashi and onmyoji will get the respect of humans is by force. He is overjoyed to have found the MC, since that means he has someone to teach magic to.

Tatsuomi Oyama: MC's childhood friend, an ordinary human who is employed in the army (and also Akiyasu's bunkmate). He is incredibly supportive of MC, despite the fact that he has no clue of her powers.

Yakumo Koizumi: an eccentric professor with an odd (and imo, kinda creepy) fascination with MC. He is presented as a human too, but there are hints he may actually not be. He is actually from Europe (I believe Greece?), and just changed his name when he came to Japan. Also, Yakumo Koizumi is a real life writer, who actually lived in the early 1900s. The more you know.

MY THOUGHTS:

I friggin LOVE this game. I have finished every route, and while I haven't touched the game in a while I still want to finish the events (oh yeah, btw, you can replay all the old events aside from the last four or five). This was my very first otome game, and it's the one that sparked my love for the genre.

If you reached this far down, I'm here to tell you that I have two OCs, Lily Lester who is dating Toichiro Yuri, and Miyuki Kiryuu who is dating Kuya :3