Otome Game Reviews, Norn9:Var Commons: Introduction part 1/2

If you're not familiar with Otome games, I highly suggest you read my previous article.

Hello hello and good day to you all, Steemians.

Continuing my discussion on Otome games, I decided to give you steemies a review of one of the Otoges I own: Norn9:Var Commons for the PS Vita. For this game I'll explain it's background, the story(only the prologue and chapter one for this article), the characters and the special game mechanics featured.

Norn9 actually started as a PSP game which was supposed to debut in May 23, 2013 in Japan, but got delayed a week later. It was developed by Otomate(Code:Realize, Hakuoki, Collar x Mallice, Period Cube:Shackles of Amadeus, Amnesia:Memories) and published by Idea Factory(Hyperdimension: Neptunia, Trillion:God of Destruction). The game received high praise to earn a PS Vita remake (stated in the title) in December 11, 2014. In April 2, 2015, a fandisk sequel named Norn9:Last Era was published and by 2016, Norn9:Act Tune was released.

original psp game

fandisk sequel

another sequel

It wasn't until Nov. 3rd, 2015, that N9:VC hit American shores thanks to the popularity of Hakuoki and Code Realize:Guardian of Rebirth's official releases by Aksys. Even today, the company is still localizing Otome games and I thank them for that. Personally, I didn't get N9:VC until Christmas of 2016 and, I WAS HOOKED!!!

The story starts in the modern age, with a young, twelve year old boy named Sorata Suzuhara, in which you the player, start reading from his perspective. That's right, you don't start the game with the female MC like other otoges. Very early on, you become appraised of Sorata's ingenious intellect that's earned him accolades from contests and even the prime minister, but also his cynicism, and loneliness due to the absence of his working parents as well as being disconnected from his "average" classmates. While on a class trip to the Diet building, Sorata notices an odd sound. It's actually a song, that isn't broadcasted across the building, but only something that he can hear. Suddenly, he's transported to the Taisho Era of Japan(1912-1926), prior to WWI.Dazed and confused, Sorata tries to rationalize his predicament as a dream, and realizes he not in the current year anymore. Then, he encounters a pink-haired, sixteen-year old girl, who wears a modern day seifuku(school uniform) wandering around. This is the heroine (for now). When Sorata and the girl meet, she is kind, helpful, yet very naive and a bit ditzy. The girl could barely answer Sorata's questions except for the time period and that she was instructed by a "traveler", in the past, to wear that uniform once she reaches her age and to head for "The World."

When Sorata and the girl arrive at a field, the wind ferociously dances as a giant, spherical ship looms above them. They're instantly transported inside...

only to be accosted by two of the main male characters.

Akito Shukuri(left) and Kakeru Yuiga(right).

After some misunderstandings and hi-jinks with Akito, Sorata, and the girl, the two newcomers, encounter the other ship members. They are Kakeru Yuiga, Akito Shukuri, Mikoto Kuga, Nanami Shiranui, Sakuya Nijo, Masamune Toya, Senri Ichnose, Heishi Otomaru, Ron Muroboshi and Itsuki Kagami. They inform and inquire the girl if she's an esper with supernatural powers. The objective the espers must fulfill is to be transported and guided by the "The World" to other countries worldwide and use their abilities to initiate world peace. The World is a clandestine organization that prevents wars from emerging worldwide and has been "protecting" humanity since the beginning of time. Sorata, being the disillusioned preteen, is believing none of this. He starts asking some questions, the espers doubt his story of coming from the future. However, all is well when the pink-haired girl is discovered to be one of the espers. The confusing thing though, is that the girl doesn't remember her own name due to living in isolation for many years.

By evening, sleeping arrangements are made for the pink haired heroine and Sorata. At this point, you can choose which girl to spend the following day with, Pinky(which I'll call her for now), Mikoto or Nanami. Sorata, still confused about "The World," takes Pinky and interrogates some of the ship members, who give one or two vague statements about the group. There's one exception, which is Masamune. But Pinky, in here naivete, writes off his detailed explanation of The World as "just being an adult." At bedtime, Sorata attempts to write off all the crazy events he experienced as a crazy dream.

The next day, Sorata spends some time with the heroine of your choice, plus a couple of the male characters. Hijinks ensue. Then, an explosion occurs....The prologue ends and Chapter One begins. The player can choose which heroine they want to control, Pinky, Mikoto and Nanami. You can change their names, but the voice acting will call them by their default names.
After the explosions subsides, the students assemble in a council room. They ascertained that the ship was being attacked from outside, once again, and that Mikoto encountered the "terrorist", who intends to obstruct the espers from their mission and either capture them to use their powers or kill them. Another point that was introduced, was that the explosion that occurred on one of the floors ignited from the inside. As a result, there's a traitor among the espers. To remedy this, they're broken into groups of two. Here's a minor spoiler, Pinky remembers the name the traveler gave her, which is Koharu. Once you've chosen your heroine, you can only partner up with one of three, pre-arranged, males, as shown in the chart below:

On the other hand, when playing a heroine for the first time, one of the males for each of them will be locked until you play either the other two. I'll show you:

Koharu:
Can't socialize with Masamune for the first time.

Mikoto:
Can't partner with Azuma for the first time.

Nanami:
Can't associate with Ron for the first time.

From here on out, you learn about the heroine and the bond she shares with her partner...

Well Steemies that's the end for now. I've been typing for hours and I'm pooped. Stay tuned for the next post. :D

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