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Interzone
(09.01.2003)
Is that a cucumber in your pocket?
How much enjoyment you derive from this game may depend on
how much you enjoy reading about anime characters preparing
food. Because Come See Me Tonight is set in a Japanese restaurant
and it quickly becomes clear that the lofty goal of the game
is for Ryoichi to become head chef and to take one of the
girls for his bride (scoring with them multiple times along
the way, of course). You have the usual line-up of stereotypical
anime girls to fawn over; Tsgumi, the violent, schizophrenic
one; Misago, the sweet, demure one; Kobato, the irritating
jailbait one; Hina the dizzy, soppy one; and finally Chidori,
the mature, sexy one. And four of them are related to Ryoichi.
No, I'm not joking.
The visuals are lovely - the character designs are some of
the prettiest I've seen in a US released bishojo game and
the limited backgrounds are colorful and appealing. Voice
acting is included for all but Ryoichi and minor characters.
The game is pretty easy, though fairly involving - or at least
it gives that impression. There are copious multi-choice questions
throughout the game, with each girl being assigned several.
A quota system is at work here and the player must choose
the right answer a certain amount of times to be able to progress
at the mid-point of the game. Most choices are logical, but
some certainly aren't (Tsugumi: "Touch her butt"
/ "Praise her butt". You choice, bud). Sex scenes
are abundent and nicely detailed, but again, not particularly
difficult to attain. However, if you want to go for the "harem"
ending (and you know you want to), be prepared for some tough
times.
It should be a fun game. But the story and characterization
are poorly conceived at best. Ryoichi spends a great deal
of playing time preparing vegetables and little else, all
described in excruciating detail. The poor guy is constantly
berated and assaulted by head-chef Mr Murase and seems content
to just put up with it. In complete disregard for any workers
rights that surely exist in a country such as Japan, one scene
sees the oaf-like chef smack Ryoichi around the head for leaving
a chopping board out (or something). But it gets worse; having
suffered the humiliation of an ass whooping in front of all
the girls, we then have to watch the sniveling Ryoichi saunter
off to his room and deliver a monologue about how awful a
person he is for not apologizing for his sinful error. This
is where the game lost me. I wanted Ryoichi to introduce a
baseball bat to the chef's head, not offer a groveling apology.
As someone who plays bishojo games as much for the story as
the graphic content, this made me shake my head in despair.
Come See me tonight could have been an excellent game if
not for the glaring problems. It's not bad but unless you're
content with the plentyful naughty scenes you might want to
look elsewhere for your excitement, cause this game is likely
to put you to sleep with endless veggie talk.
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