East Tower - Akio (East Tower Series Vol. 1) Reviews

This is a cute little visual novella. It is one of a series of four, that basically are each what in a traditional visual novel is a path. So basically, consider this as having chosen your path first. Sakuya (you can rename her) is a young woman who... does not want to act girly. As such, when offered the chance to be a test subject for her cousin's new attraction for women, she manages to convince him to let her try the other attraction... the one geared towards men. In the first few moments, she finds herself trapped with one of the four other participants. In this title, a young boy named Akio (who isn't really a young boy). Oh, and since she can choose her avatar, she chose to partake as a male. There are three endings. The bad ending is unlocked if you make a wrong choice (one of which also unlocks an achievement about a carrot). The neutral/friendship ending depends on you choosing the lesser of two choices at the end of a stage. And the good/love ending is the better of those two choices. Oh, and choosing that better one also unlocks a small additional scene for the story (and accompanying CGs). The game is beautiful, at least for the time. I have a feeling this is one of the first products put out by this publisher, as it is a bit rough around the edges. Also, my suggestion would be to buy the East Tower Complete Edition. Especially as the last volume is almost three quarters of the price of the bundle...

I first had some issues with the game, because I disliked the German translation, but the developer was so kind to explain how to change the language to English! So I now can finally recommend this game whole-heartedly. East Tower Akio has been my favourite of the four Episodes. As the first entry of the series it has the weakest overall-plot (not because it was bad, you just get familiar with the game world itself, and the good thing about this series is the way they build up the plot over the following episodes, so Akio is more like setting the stage than anything else), but I liked it's lighthearted tone and Akio in general. While the sereies is more of a funny one, I felt like the plot thickens and gets more interesting and deeper the more you play. But as I said, Akio is like setting the stage, and because of this the story focused on him, which I enjoyed very much, as he's my favourite of the guys.

Very short in and of itself, but when you consider it's part of a "pack" not that bad price/game ratio. There was very little facial expressions/movement from the character: Eye open/shut, Mouth open/shut and checks blush. Odd "anime" style of artwork, but I don't dock for people having their own art style. Story line was okay, but it was not obvious what was the love path vs the friend path. Cute main male character. [possible spoiler] I felt like the girl struggling with her sexual identity was thrown in without real thought. Her struggle with wanting to be a man [only because she wanted to be strong to protect people and have more freedom from her father] seemed pushed. Really felt like it wasn't necessary or really resolved with the main female character. Nor does the male lead seem to care that she decieved him about her gender.

An interesting otome VN with the main character's sex changing when in the dream world and their journey about who they want to be. I think Sakuya was the most interesting character for me because a lot of their issues with gender is one I myself have felt but the game is more about Sakuya's discovery in that it's not about gender but the character of a person that defines them. I think it's a good game to check out for it's themes about gender identity and feeling comfortable in your body, but as a romance VN it isn't really all that exciting, and the mystery in this volume is really passive. I'm excited to play the rest of the East Tower games, despite finding this one bit bland because i'm very interested in what was presented of the other characters, and I hear the content in each subsequent volume increased quite a bit. Over all, this is kind of a toss up when it comes to being a reccomendation, but I can see it being a nice game to play if the theme interests you, as it is an original plot idea for an otome.

This review covers all 4 of the East Tower games in one. Simply put, the game isn't very good. The art has occasional good moments but most of it is pretty bad. The story is set up in such a way that it could lend itself to an interesting discussion of gender identity and digital sexuality but it instead chooses to do cliché "oops, I tripped and grabbed your boob" moments. There are dialog options but the game is still very linear; you either die instantly, find a solution, or pick a solution that gives you a bit of extra dialog. I would not recommend any of these games except for Kurenai (which was admittedly pretty good). However, there are parts of the Kurenai story that won't make any sense without playing at least a bit of the other ones. The game is also way too expensive. I bought them all as a set with 40% off ($18 total) and I feel ripped-off. There are much better VNs available for much less. Takashi, Kuon, and Akio were each only about 1.5 hours of play time, which is not a great value. Finally, every time you finish a section (and there are at least 7 sections per game) the game tries to get you to post to social media. That really pisses me off. It takes me out of the moment to try to get me to advertise for a game that I paid for. Dear game devs, please don't do that!

I really liked the idea of dreamworld. It is an interesting concept that made want to know more about the story. The character of Akio is the basic archetype of the cold, rich otome love interest, which is executed decently. The length of the game is lacking compared to the full price, so I recommend getting while it is still on sale. The art is fine. In my opinion the voice acting was great and the pacing of the romatic moments was pretty good. I never found myself bored throughout and there were many funny and cute moments. The female lead had her own character arc, and even tho it felt pretty rushed,the fact she actually had her personality and flaws made her automatically more likeable then many other otome MCs. Overall I really enjoyed playing it and it did a good job as the first installment in the East Tower series.

I only played the first romance path, since they are sold separately, and I'm not really impressed. It is _very_ short, the art isn't that good, and there wasn't much build-up. If the games were much less expensive or longer, it would be worth the cost, but there are much better otome games that you can get for this price. If the series is ever really on sale, I might pick it up, but I wouldn't recommend paying full price for it.

Like other people already said, this game is way more interesting than certain other VNs with good art and terrible story. The art style isn’t that good… but the story is quite cool! I liked the concept of the virtual world and wishes. This first chapter was short, but I enjoyed. [spoiler]Akio was adorable as little boy and cool as an adult.[/spoiler] What I liked the most in this game was the fact that you actually have an option to go for a romantic route or a “friend” (normal) route. The interaction between Akio and the main character felt solid, and that’s quite an accomplishment for such a short game. Can’t wait to play the other chapters! 8/10. I gave an extra point because of the amazing opening video plus the main song, which is quite cool and catchy, haha.

I loved every East Tower game by the RoseVerte developers from Japan, and I think I didn't definitely review every single chapter of the story which is actually a different stand-alone game! Akio is actually the first episode of the four East Tower and the main concern about the series is the price, since the visual novels aren't that long, but you can find them on sale of course! Even if the graphics aren't that varied and awesome, I enjoyed a lot the stories and all the choices and endings and I'd definitely recommend the East Tower games to everyone who loves pure Japanese visual novels :) Being a classic visual novel, you'll find the usual features: story, choices, different outcomes and such, nothing really new for anyone, but the plot here is very nice - in these games you're basically a girl acting like a boy and you manage to trap everyone involved in this project in a virtual reality.. which is the East Tower itself (the West one is for females, but.. xD).. it can be a little strange and confusing at times but it's smooth and comprehensible and so quite enjoyable although short. Of course there are good and bad endings and so on, so it's "short" if compared to its high price, otherwise it's a normal visual novel :) I'd definitely recommend the whole series, but not at full price!

East Tower - Akio had an interesting premise. In it, you play as a heroine who goes into a virtual reality game that's meant to fulfill the players wishes. However, things go wrong when the game is hacked and you end-up working as a team with Aiko to make your way through the levels. Even though the concept had promise, the execution of the game wasn't all that great. The artwork is rough and the storyline is extremely superficial. Since it only took me an hour to complete the game, I'll play through the other three in the series. However, if I didn't already own them, I wouldn't bother.