Here I am with another review for an oto—excuse me, this is an Amare game since you can select the MC's gender... not that I experienced much of the story since it's dreadfully slow and generic... as is the pacing... and the app... Okay, I will explain.
The MC is a writer who is a little too thirsty and ~turns out to be~ the selector of the next king of the zodiac among 12 princes. How does this integrate into the gameplay? It... doesn't really. There isn't much "gameplay" to be had.
This is less of a game and more of a horoscope app... Except it's not even very good at being that either! Everyday, you can get a general horoscope and luck reading based on your birthday and birthtime. There are other, more specifc daily horoscopes for love, work, etc., but you can only unlock those through subscriptions. Yes, paywalled features. I know they need to get money somehow, but I'm not desperate for a few questionably translated sentences...
SPEAKING OF TRANSLATIONS, they're alright, I guess, but there are obvious places where they forgot to transla—I mean the store. The items in the store aren't translated. You'd think they'd prioritize that since that's where you pay
Okay, enough gripes, I'll get to the bullets:
GRAPHICS: Alright?
Definitely an appearance-first kind of project. The art is nice, but I'm personally not attracted to any of the characters. The designs feel over-the-top, but this is a Me problem. The UI is also pretty, but everything lacks labels. I have to guess and remember what every button does. And why does everything hide?? I don't need to focus on the baby???
SOUND: Exists
I've mentioned in at least one past review I am not good at judging audio things. I don't care about voice actors, but voices exist?? Music... kind of does???
GAMEPLAY: What?
As previous stated, not really a game and more of a horoscope app, but you can surely find faster, more detailed ones out there. This app is SLOW! I'm not just talking about the recharge time to tap on the baby for a quip. There are loading screens between EVERYTHING. For What???
There is also a little daily diary function, which is nice since this is a "daily visit" game, but... 300 character limit?! In Japanese, this would be fine, but English?? Are you READING This review?? I Yap. 300 characters is Not Enough for my daily musings STORYLINE: Not For Me
Feels super generic and... kind of deaf? Like, supposedly the MC is the player since we're the ones who input our very specific birth details, the MC is actually very chatty and opinionated in ways that I don't vibe with. I normally prefer independent MCs since I don't like self-inserting, but... Girl you are using My birthday/time. Stop being so thirsty, you are in a perious situation. You are not fitting my personality, which you Should be able to at least Deduce in Theory based on my zodiac chart.
You can tell this app was not made by Real horoscope/western zodiac fans I think the app has gotten my Moon wrong, too! I'm fairly certain that I am a Taurus Moon from past chart readings, but it uniquely thinks I'm Aries. So, even if you're here for the horoscopes and not the boys, it's not even good at that!!!
VALUE: Subscriptions
I hate paywalls!!! Makes sense for this kind of service, but I still don't like them!!!
So yeah... If you're patient, you can give it a try, but I personally don't recommend. It's not good at being a game or a horoscope app, and your time, money, and whimsy is better spent elsewhere.
People are being harsh on this game, but I quite enjoy it for what it is. The characters are fun and I think there's a lot of potential with the story!
Graphics:
I really enjoy the character designs done by Lack! The princes are all charming in their own way. The clothing items you can unlock look nice, and it's fun to dress up your prince. The interface and assets are cute and sparkly, which fits the vibe the game is going for. The interface animations can feel a bit amateur-ish.
Sound:
The music loops are fun and calming, and the sound design reminds me of old DS games, which I think is nice. The voice acting is excellent as well, but the main story is only partially voiced, which can feel a little jarring going through it. I hope it can be fully voiced in the future. I will say, a key part of the gameplay is accumulating fragments to unlock voicelines, which are a bit costly compared to the rate you get these fragments, so your homescreen may be quiet for a while until you unlock more lines.
Gameplay:
The gameplay is very simple. You click the prince on your Homescreen to raise your User and Prince Levels, occasionally obtaining Records you have to incubate over a few hours (or unlockinstantly with in-game currency) that can give you clothing items or fragments to unlock voicelines from the princes. There is also a daily general horoscope, where you can pay to read horoscopes for more specific themes like Love or Work, as well as a diary function to track your mood, the weather, and write about your day. It also auto-generates entries based on responses you give your prince at certain times of the day. This kind of app is not going to be for everyone, especially those who like more involved gameplay. Personally, I like how simple it is. It's an app that allows you to go about your daily life and check in with the princes when you like. It's also a nice, low-risk way to scratch your gacha-itch. Even after the early gameplay when leveling up slows down and you're not getting crystals as much, you can accumulate enough for a multi-pull from the shop by choosing to watch ads. We've only had one event so far, but I think they give a fair amount of rewards too.
Story/Characters:
This is the main appeal of the app for me! Some feel Kiminosu is generic, but I just don't agree with that? Yes, there's reverse-isekai elements and common tropes to the concept like a regular human becoming guide to magical beings or princes competing for the royal crown, but I don't think it's a fault of a game to belong to a certain genre or have tropes/archetypes. I think the worldbuilding of the Zodiac Realm is actually really interesting, especially regarding the princes and their celestaides. I love learning about the differences between the palaces and lore like the princes' families. The current main storyline has an exciting ongoing conflict, and I can't wait to read Part 2!
I will say the game interactions are heavy on the fanservice. These princes are meant to soothe you through the bustle of everyday life, so they can lay it on a little thick and even get jealous of each other sometimes. It definitely feels cliche in that regard, but not so bad if you really like your chosen prince! They're more grounded and not so MC-crazy in the main story.
Overall, give Kiminosu a shot if you're okay with a more relaxed gameplay; you may become more invested in the world and characters than you expect!
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