the visual novel database

Report an issue on this page.

Review of Kikouyoku Senki Tenkuu no Yumina

SubjectKikouyoku Senki Tenkuu no Yumina
Yumina the Ethereal - Download Edition
ByHelpfulness: 0
Vote: 8.5
SomeDude on 2022-09-05
ReviewThis game's descriptor makes it come across as a typical high school Romcom with RPG elements, and that's basically exactly what it is for the first portion of the game. The title heroine comes across as your typical tsundere, with a loli-figured kohai and a mysterious transfer student joining in order to have some extremely fallacy-filled, heated "debates" filled with a lot of ad-hominems. Think of them as a debate club... the sort of club you smack over the heat of the person you're debating.

One of the unique and interesting things about this game is that it includes a number of "idol type songs" performed by Yumina, where voice actress Mizukiri Keito shows off the fact that yes, a number of voice actresses are indeed amazing singers... better than a lot of top idols. These songs alone define this game as having some of the better soundtracks that you'll find in the vast majority of visual novels, plus the good songs are worth performing during "debates" due to how powerful they are mechanically.

However, at the end of this game's Common Route (from the second playthrough onward), this takes a major genre shift from a school romcom to an epic space opera that you never saw coming based on the description and events so far. And then things get crazy and over the top, complete with a Galactic Federation, a Mysterious Interdimensional Alien Race that threatens the entire universe, and a revelation that our trio of heroes possess mysterious superpowers that can save their universe. Fans of Gundam and other various mecha shows should love this genre shift.

There are only three routes, and despite dream banging many of the school arc's females, there's no harem route, so while the plot is shockingly good, it falls just short of perfect. Thankfully, the English version doesn't have mosaics, but it also doesn't have H-scenes with any of the characters from the space opera arc, nor with the two cute lolis from the fantasy RPG "virtual reality training simulator" world. Which is sad, because I really wanted to do lewd things with Yupcilla, Veridadia, and Deele. Some of these side heroines were, in my opinion, better than the three main heroines, so it really is a shame that they have no real routes or endings.

After completing all three character arcs, I can't even begin to describe how over the top epic the true ending is. While technically being an epilogue for Yumina's route, it finishes the story off perfectly. For this ending alone, it's worth completing all the other routes and grinding those repetitive dungeons in the RPG "training simulator" game mode. If you're a fan of old school dungeon crawlers like Wizardry, this game mode should be fun for you, though I admit it's not necessarily for everyone. Still, it's because of the true ending that this game is so close to perfect... if only this true end was also a harem end that included Yupcilla and Veridadia...

Recommended play order: Save Yumina for last.
0 points
#1 by onorub
2022-09-05 at 10:42
< report >One thing you failed to mention is that this has the best approach to multiple routes i've ever seen for a hybrid, having new game+, new game++ and the true ending essentially being a boss rush with your characters at full power. I don't think i would've been as fullfilled with the true ending without such details in the gameplay experience.
#2 by SomeDude
2022-09-05 at 13:22
< report >True, that's a good point. One thing that I didn't like about that, though, is that the character route-specific abilities that you acquire in your first playthrough are extremely obsolete by the third one. I think the dungeon bosses in the epilogue drop might drop higher level versions of these skills, though, but by then they're really only good for the final fights.Last modified on 2022-09-05 at 13:23