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I love it when Idea Factory and Otomate create an otome game with a strong heroine, a strong cast of characters who all interact well with each other, and that can also mix in some humor or great lore building. Tengoku Struggle: Strayside is much like Variable Barricadein that respect, and as a result it is one of the better and stronger games Aksys has localized.

In the world of Tengoku Struggle: Strayside, there’s a complex system of reincarnation and redemption that ties the human realm, heaven, and various levels of hell to ensure people move on and become the best versions of themselves. Rin Enma is a transient soul, one with no memories that would have disappeared, but she was adopted by the King of Hell as his daughter. She’s dedicated herself to making a place for herself and making him proud, even becoming a Hell Guardian, to ensure she wouldn’t disappear. 

However, immediately after graduation, some notorious figures managed to actually escape hell after a special thread of redemption was dropped from heaven. As such, King Enma sends Rin to the human realm, as part of the normal exchange program, to have her work alongside criminals Goemon Ishikawa, Kikunosuke Uga, Sharaku Toushuusai, and Yona Murakami. However, while these men are willing to work for her father, they have no such loyalty to her. It's up to them to somehow all work together, figure out what Shinobikuni and her escapee minions' plans are, and send the prisoners back.

That said, Tengoku Struggle: Strayside is one of those fantastic otome games where the whole cast is incredible. Not only does Rin have fantastic chemistry with all of the bachelor options, but they all get along well with each other. As such, we’re getting to see all of them play off of each other and their relationships develop from a group of people who just wanted to get out of hell for a while to actually being friends who care about each other and maybe even love Rin. The fact that they come from different time period and have different “sins” that landed them in various hells also make them fascinating, since we can eventually identify with why they did what they did and see how they interact based on their backgrounds.

Because Rin is both living and working alongside of these new allies, we’re seeing relationships develop naturally between them in this otome visual novel. They come to see how strong and dedicated she is, as well as appreciate how seriously she takes her role as a Hell Guardian to rehabilitate and prove herself. Likewise, she sees the good sides of them and understands that just because they wound up in hell doesn’t mean they’re evil. This means there are a lot of moments that are dramatic, insightful, touching, and even just plain funny. 

I also absolutely adored how the villains here are handled. Once Rin and her crew es through the Hell Gate to the human world, they relatively quickly encounter Shinobikuni and the other prisoners she “saved.” While Shinobikuni unquestionably comes across as villainous, some of the others fall into a more grey area. Azami, Okuni, and Sansaburo all seem like relatively decent people who happened to go through some unfortunate things that left them in hell, just like the prisoners Rin is working alongside. I loved the roles they ended up playing and how Tengoku Struggle: Strayside also took the time to tell their stories too.

Some minor things do come up that may keep Tengoku Struggle: Strayside from becoming someone’s next favorite otome game. The more minor ones are some issues that came up likely during the editing and localization process, and I wouldn’t be surprised if maybe a patch fixes up a few of those errors. Another issue is that this is absolutely a visual novel that feels like one route is the “right” and canon one. You won’t see some of these loose threads tie up until that storyline, which is unfortunate. Especially since it is the last one you get to. However, because you do have to go through the others first, at least that offers some resolution for the other enemy and ally backstories. 

On the plus side, even though there is so much going on in Tengoku Struggle: Strayside, it never feels like the romance is an afterthought. It’s very well integrated into the story. We’re really seeing Rin grow closer to the men she’s working with, and we get these pay-off scenes in the end as a reward for it. Even some of the “bad” endings are interesting when we get to see what happens to Rin and the individuals as a result of things not going as planned.

Tengoku Struggle: Strayside is a delightful otome game. This is the one you pick up and play if you like a well-rounded world, a heroine who stands up for herself and has a personality, and a cast of heroes and villains who all feel interesting. It’s easy to get invested in its story. 

Tengoku Struggle: Strayside comes to the Nintendo Switch on April 4, 2024. 

The post Review: Tengoku Struggle: Strayside Is a Heavenly Otome With Devilish Suitors appeared first on Siliconera.

During the February 2024 All Aksys event, the company revealed details about the Tokyo Xanadu eX+ Switch versions and four otome games. Despera Drops and Tengoku Struggle: Strayside are new original titles, while Radiant Tale: Fanfare and Virche Evermore Epic: Lycoris are fan discs. There’s a Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II Switch, PS5, and PC February 15, 2024 release date confirmed as well.

As a reminder, Tokyo Xanadu eX+ is a Persona-like RPG from Nihon Falcom. Like the other title, people follow high schoolers with special Soul Devise abilities that allow them to protect the real world by heading into the Other World. The eX+ version adds additional content like insight into the character White Shroud. Tokyo Xanadu eX+ showed up on the Switch in Japan in June 2023, and is heading westward in June 2024. Aksys will also sell its four-CD soundtrack.

Tengoku Struggle: Strayside is one of the Aksys Switch otome games we already knew about. For this event, we got a release date. People will hepp the princess of the Underworld hunt down escapees on April 4, 2024. The standard version launch copies come with character cards, while the limited edition will include a soundtrack.

Despera Drops is the other entirely new otome game. It will be on the Switch in 2025. It follows a young college student named Mika Amamine who is held as a suspect in a murder, but then escapes with six criminals. All seven are pursued by the police and people who are after her specifically.

As for the two otome fan discs, they’ll both be out in 2024. Radiant Tale: Fanfare, the follow-up to the supernatural story about a circus gathering a certain sort of energy to save a prince, will be out in Summer 2024. That has five new epilogues for the existing love interests and two new routes with people you couldn’t pursue before. Meanwhile Virche Evermore Epic: Lycoris will appear in Fall 2024 and involves five new side stories that follow the original game.

The post New Switch Otome Games, Tokyo Xanadu eX+ Appear at All Aksys appeared first on Siliconera.

Back at All Aksys Fall 2022, the company announced it would release the Switch otome Tengoku Struggle: Strayside in 2024. Now it finally pinned down the window to Spring 2024 and offered more details about the visual novel.

The announcement offered a refresher on the game. The heroine here is Rin, a Hell Guardian who is also the “princess” of Hell due to being King Enma’s daughter. In this world, Asakusa is no longer a normal human city. It’s a tourist trap where humans and dead from Heaven and Hell can all get together. The game begins when Heaven’s Spider’s Thread drops to Hell, folks from Hell escape into Asakusa, and someone named Shinobikuni is trying to offer sinners forgiveness for instant access to Heaven. Rin needs to go to Asakusa to deal with the prisoners and rectify the situation. As this is a romantic comedy Switch otome, it means there’s love and the whole prison escape situation is handled in a silly manner.

There’s also a new trailer to go along with this confirmation. It offers more details and a bit of the theme song.

Aksys also confirmed that it will directly sell a special edition of the game. Should someone buy that, they will get a physical copy of the soundtrack.

Tengoku Struggle: Strayside will come to the Nintendo Switch outside Japan in Spring 2024. The game appeared on the system in Japan back in July 2022.

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