Review of Kimagure Temptation

Subject	Kimagure Temptation
By	Helpfulness: 2 Vote: 7succhunter on 2023-03-18
Review	Kimagure Temptation was OK. I didn't really care about the porn; I was only in it for the murder mystery - which I'm glad to say was worth picking this game up for. There were a few flaws, though. For instance, it was a bit predictable to anyone who has read just a single mystery novel before. It also gave off the illusion of being a detective game when in truth, it really wasn't. You don't have to figure anything out by yourself; you just pick the correct dialogue choices (all of them are unrelated to the mystery) and eventually everything will be explained to you. In addition, the whole eroge aspect of this game just felt out of place. It felt like the artist designed all the characters and drew all the artwork for a porn game first, then the writer stepped in and wrote a mystery plot around it. Maybe they wanted the fear and suspense to translate into arousal? Well, it may just be me, but I find it hard to suddenly try to jerk my ding dong when I'm already trying to piece together a murder mystery. These two things simply do not mesh for me, and fortunately, the game didn't try to mix the two either. The porn happens during downtime moments in the story, not during active mystery-solving. With the bad out of the way, though, let's talk about the good. The writing, music, and artwork all came together to create a tense and uneasy atmosphere, and I was on the edge of my seat for most of the game, trying to figure out what happened and wanting to see if my deductions are right; and hey, isn't that what reading a mystery is all about? The characters are also quite well-written. They all feel like real people with real life circumstances. They've also got some insane voice acting. Goddamn. It's always the porn games that have the most fucked up shit in them, so they also require some pretty intense voice acting and damn if these voice actresses didn't floor me. The worldbuilding is also not bad either. I didn't expect the writer to go dicko mode with the lore in a 10 hour porn/mystery game, but hey, color me pleasantly surprised. In the end, I do recommend Kimagure Temptation. If you go into it expecting a mystery game, you'll be satisfied like I was. If you go in expecting a porn game, well, you might get some tonal whiplash from the murders and spooks. Give it a try if you're the market for a fun, bite-size mystery game that you can probably finish in one evening if you skip all the H scenes.
	2 points

#1 by anonymous 2023-03-18 at 11:23	< report >I just came here to tell you that my entire perception of Kimagure differs from yours. Kimagure is not about the mystery that needs to be solved. I can't tell you that you are wrong, (subjectivity always kicks in) but you definitely missed something there. The what doesn't matter though, since you finished reading Kimagure.Last modified on 2023-03-18 at 11:24
#2 by succhunter 2023-03-18 at 19:08	< report >Uh, maybe you mean the love story between Tatsumi and Anne? Tatsumi's quest for acceptance and companionship? People learning to come to peace with their mistakes? People are the real monsters? Those themes were there and they did flesh out the story, but they weren't all that unique or developed enough in this 6-7 hour game to change my perception of the game. I've read other visual novels with the exact same themes but with over 100 hours to flesh them out. While I like that the author tried to explore themes that would elevate the game beyond a simple murder mystery, I've already seen them before, and the mystery was still main thing that kept me engaged with the story, so I can't help but remember the game mainly as a mystery.
#3 by anonymous 2023-03-19 at 11:15	< report >None of that. There are 5 character sprites in the game (I think). 3 of them are clearly not guilty. 1 is too obvious. The remaining one is a supernatural creature, classified with negative connotations all over the world, including Japan. Consider that The best thing about Kimagure, is how the characters actions are all given a justification, during it's running time. Everything makes sense and the reasons for their behaviors are delivered at a steady pace. They couldn't deliver improved character depth (except Anneliese), but were careful to "tie up" all the information, they presented. If you didn't pick up on that or don't attribute it any value, you missed the most important thing. Comparing apples and oranges, doesn't boost any opinion you may have. Skipping the H-scenes, makes you miss the fundamental motivation behind Anneliese's overbearing need of affection. You are not making anyone a service with these claims. I'm not opposed to your score or your interpretations, but I will present my side of things for whoever reads this, in the future.
#4 by succhunter 2023-04-16 at 08:30	< report >I didn't really understand what you're trying to say there. You're being a bit cryptic, but I think you're assuming I didn't actually reach the true ending and figure out that a certain character was always sus? Just to be clear, I did reach the true ending, and figured out absolutely everything there was to figure out about the game. All the things you're hinting at, I did catch. I did read the H-scenes too - just enough so that I knew what the story was trying to hint at whenever they appeared. Trust me, I've read a LOT of mysteries. I've learned to catch much smaller things than all the ones you're listing. However, if I misunderstood what you meant, can you explain what I missed?Last modified on 2023-04-16 at 08:33
#5 by cheekyman07 2023-04-16 at 10:28	< report >#3 I have no clue what you are going on about. So if you are trying to present some sort of side to anyone who has not picked this up yet (like me) then you are failing at it. Speak in plain english and stop being so cryptic.Last modified on 2023-04-17 at 03:33