It’s not unheard of for Japanese-made visual novels to have music made by Western bands, but this particular one tickled me because it’s a song by a (since split) Canadian Christian rock band that was probably written about loving the Lord and not a harem of morally questionable anime boys. Most importantly, however, we’ve got to talk about that theme song. It’s also notably lacking in any pink, purple and even the inexplicable cherry blossoms that so often find their way into the otome game trailers, and this more muted palette and restrained particle effect usage makes it not half bad to look at overall. While it definitely covers all the normal bases of a visual novel trailer by showcasing the characters you can end up with (and yes, there is a character called Manboy – more on him later) as well as some of the CGs and a sprinkling of slightly clunky English, overall it somehow feels a little more like something you’d find preceding an anime episode than a game. I spent 42 hours playing this game in total.Įven without letting the voice actors get through all the voiced lines.Īnd you know what’s worse? I enjoyed it. Clearly they were just slow, especially as the game has the visual novel staple skip button (which lets you speed through text you’ve already read and quickly reach the points where you make choices that cause the narrative to branch).
Reviews on Steam said the main route alone could take 20 to 30 hours, with full completion clocking in at over 50 hours for some.
When I first got my hands on OZMAFIA!!, I was unconvinced it'd take me as long to finish as people suggested.
Join Ella McConnell for Waifu Material, a monthly column in which she navigates the murky, cherry-blossom-strewn waters of visual novels, dating sims, and everything in between (reader masochism not required but strongly recommended).