Review of Hello Lady!
| Subject | Hello Lady! Hello Lady! - Complete Edition |
| By | Helpfulness: 0 Vote: 7.5Omikron on 2022-08-01 last updated on 2022-09-08 |
| Review | After completing the base game of 'Hello Lady', meaning the 4 base routes and NO additional content, I kinda felt the urge to share my feelings and thoughts about the game. To some it might seem like a rant, to others like objective thoughts, consequently, it is up to you. Here goes: First of, what is 'Hello Lady' trying to be? A story about revenge? A story about one's will and actions said will leads to as well as their consequences? Is it a story telling about how evil human beings can be, having a specific mindset? Personally, it is all of the above and none of them at the same time. Asked reversed, what isn't it trying to be? A story about romance? A tale of bliss? A story about students living under one roof, attending the same school and experiencing what any normal student (should) experience during their school-life? A comedy..? (haha) For me it is easier to underline what it isn't trying to be, than what 'Hello Lady' tries to be: Most definetly a romance story. While it has some romance parts, its focus lies elsewhere. Same goes for comedy. SoL parts are also very scarce and few in between. But I don't think that is a bad thing. Not trying to be something the game just isn't is much more appreciated than it trying to be something it just isn't! Every route has their own flow, pace, their own line of progression and their own conclusion. While all of them have the theme of 'revenge' as their base, it fails to actually be a story about 'revenge' as failed attempts of comedy made their way into certain parts making the whole scene rather ridiculous. Some of Eru's lines where just completely out of place and many of Narita's lines made the words 'What an idiot!' pass through my mind, and not in a good way. Having every route have their own story on one side while not losing the big picture has its ups and downs. Every route before Saku's feeds the reader more information bit by bit. Some are route specific, some are needed to see the complete picture in the end. But I couldn't help but feel that one route made another completely meaningless. For example: On Eru's route we find out, that Saku is the one responsible for Incident 206 and many other killings, because she 'has gone mad' (I cannot remember the name..). She just enjoys tearing people apart and so on. Later on, on Saku's route, we learn about the why, making Eru's ending meaningless, at least imo... I read Sorako first, then Tamao. I prefered Tamao by a large margin, for me there was more to her route than to Sorako's. I am not going to start about Eru... oh, oh... Activate spoilers in the sexual content section. It says Rape under Influence and Reverse Rape which happens exactly when and where? I didn't find it. First she's like: I don't like you at all! Hmpf! Don't get close to Saku or else..! Then she behaves like Narita's really nice and under the pretext of observing him to find out his weaknesses she sleeps in his room and bed clinging to him all the time. But.. No, I don't like you! Don't get close to Saku! followed by You might not be so bad, maybe I like you a little bit. Let me blow and **** you! All of a sudden: I hate you! Don't get close to Saku! Her word is the law! This was so very odd. Saku's route unites all parts from the previous routes about the specific heroines to deliver the full picture about the whole why. Some parts do make more sense after reading her route, other parts felt like they were invalidated entirely, which I felt was a shame. I would have been totally fine with Kurofune being a totally insane villain without the reveal happening in hindsight during the last part of the stand-off between him and Narita. Kurofune = pure evil. Why not leave it at that? Someone else in either the discussion section or in a review/comment wrote that her route should have ended with the defeat of Kurofune. I wholeheartedly agree. To this point quite a few topics, (sub-)plots and issues felt blown out of proportion but the real end has to take the cake. Having 3 out of the 4 heroines act as an 'opponent' of Narita at one point in the story felt like going over the top. Once or maybe twice, ok, but thrice? Na-ah... That is too often. And, once again, Eru HAS to take the number one spot of being overly ridiculous! Also, the h, why is it that every first scene takes place right after the confession OR, which makes it even more absurd, after Narita treating the heroines' wounds after a fight? (Tamao and Saku) You're hurt!? Let's patch you up! What was that? You like me? Let's **** He even applies pressure on the wounds which should hurt them even more, but that is disregarded entirely. I couldn't help but feel put off by it. I could have gone without Narita fondling all 4 heroines' breasts.. I didn't like that. I don't mind his fondness of a voluptuous chest, but sexually harassing them basically the first chance he got.. I don't think that is necessary.. Having the protagonist voiced was a very welcomed change. The VA did a hell of a good job at it. The downside for me, however, was that the focus on the protag being voiced and him having his own sprite left other spaces blank. I do not understand why only important characters got sprites? No one else. Not even what's-his-name, whose role is rather important during Saku's route got one. More so that even very, very few other characters had lines. 2 teachers in a school for 200, no security, no drivers, Sorako's stepmother (sprite), no researchers, AND, apart from 3-4, NO STUDENTS either! I mean, come on? The whole story felt lifeless due to the lack of other voices and/or sprites. Not even backgrounds (campus, classroom, cafeteria, research facility etc, had other people drawn in them. I find this very unfortunate. Now, to the good parts. ... Well, phew, that's that. ... Nah, just jokin'. As I said before, having Narita voiced was awesome. The voice-acting in general was top-notch. Kurofune's voice - just awesome, thumps up! Damn, I love Saku's VA! Only Eru's was a bit off..?! But not to a point that it bothered me. Art and music: Very well done. The sprites, the CGs, even though some mistakes happend (left and right, ey?), beautifully drawn. The music was very fitting and had variation to it and was not just some elevator background doodeling. The story itself... Sure, it could have been better executed, but it wasn't bad per se. While I sometimes struggled to understand the flow, I got the picture in the end. This is an example for everyone having different tastes, likes and dislikes. For me, not bad at all, but not the best either. The h-scenes themselves were hot! Personal thoughts on routes, heroines and a final score: Routes: Saku > Tamao > Sorako > Eru Heroines: Saku > Sorako >= Tamao > Eru Score: It is really hard for me to come to a final score, and a fair one at that. Something between 7 and 8... dispite all my issues with it... I might be contradicting myself there, but please, cut me some slack. (Base game ONLY!) Maybe I'll come back to this review once I've finished all additional content. PS: Comments appreciated! EDIT: Thoughts on additional content: Scratch it, skip it, all of it. Read the base game and enjoy the game as it is presented during these 4 routes. All of the additional content pulls the general feeling and score down... Such a shame... Final score taking the Complete Edition into consideration: 5,75/10 |
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