Variable Barricade - Nintendo Switch

Product Information

You don’t need the protagonist of a game to be exactly like you to relate to them and their plights, but it certainly never hurts. And hoo boy, Variable Barricade wastes no time in calling me out: the protagonist—default name Hibari—is highly anxious, stressed, awkward around men, and has what seems like an incurable case of Resting Bitch Face. Unfortunately, we start to deviate in the areas of finance—she’s super rich—and living circumstances—she’s living with four handsome men who are attempting to court her. But that’s where Variable Barricade swoops in to let me (and you, too; I know I’m not the only one exhibiting one or all of the abovementioned symptoms) live vicariously through her in this outrageous otome romp with enough laughs to lighten up even the most hardened of hearts. Shion’s story became quite a surprise to me. Judging from his attitude in the common route, you can probably tell this man already had some inexplicable semblance surrounding him, and you’re not wrong!Shion is one complex character, and his personality may raise red flags for some. However, I just wanna say how much I’ve shamelessly enjoyed this weird do-s ride of a route! (laughs)🙈 I thought it was brilliant how his story kept me on edge and kept my eyes wide open, for that matter. 👀 The chapter “Speechless” had me clutching my pearls, honey!Perhaps my only gripe in Shion’s story was that I couldn’t care for the side character Ru, and I wish Shion’s relationship with his family was expounded more.🤷 As heir to the wealthy and prestigious Tojo family, Tojo Hibari (name changeable) lives a life ruled by appearances and expectations. She attends an elite girls’ school, and her schedule is meticulously managed by her personal butler Kasuga. Hibari has the best of everything–except relationships. People care about “the Tojo heir” rather than Hibari herself, and her relationship with her grandfather, the family head, is strained. Hibari keeps her guard up and trusts no one apart from Kasuga and her best friend Tsumugi. While Hibari imagines a future in which she’ll be married off to seal some corporate merger, it seems far off. That is until four dashing men show up outside her school roses in hand and shout: “Please marry me!” Hibari’s best friend Tsumugi strikes me as one of the strongest “best friend” side characters to appear in an otome. She’s opinionated, encouraging, sensible, strong — and an absolute bombshell in her Gothic Lolita outfits.

Variable Barricade is a traditional Visual Novel through and through. Don’t expect to investigate evidence or solve mysteries, you’re here to read a story and make some choices along the way. If this doesn’t appeal to you then this simply isn’t the game for you, just don’t expect any Ace Attorney or Danganronpa shenanigans going in. Nineteen endings… There isn’t much of Variable Barricade that I don’t love, but I’d say there are a few moments I experienced that were problematic. These generally involve the bad boy character, who especially in the early game drifts between aggressive and misogynistic pretty consistently. From forcing his helmet on my head so I’d “smell his musk” and refusing to tell me where he’d been because it was “man’s business, babe” I grew tired of him instantly. I understand that having varied suitors is important, but interacting with him was often disappointing. Heiress to a massive conglomerate, Hibari has been raised to be the perfect next head of the family. This means that her schedule is too full for anything not productive, and dating is definitely out of the question. After being thrown into a house with four bachelors vying for her heart, though, she’ll learn the hard way just how much busier her life can get. Hibari is voiced by Saki Fujita (Miku in the Project Diva series) Ichiya Mitsumori The voice actors behind the lineup of love interests are likely to be a mixed bag of familiarity depending on how deep down the rabbit hole you are. It’s always an important selling point of the genre — some players will be more willing to buy an otome if a certain voice actor is among the cast, after all. That can’t just be me with Showtaro Morikubo or Junichi Suwabe, right? Variable Barricade has a fun phone app feature called, WHIS (it’s pretty much LINE). Characters from the game will occasionally send you text messages that you can respond to, though your responses don’t effect the story. It’s a fun feature, but seeing as it doesn’t really matter how you respond to texts it’s just kind of there to give you a little something extra to do between story events.You aren’t alone in your quest to find the perfect man in Variable Barricade. Despite her sheltered life, Hibari has a few allies in her corner. There’s her loyal butler Kasuga, her best friend (and hardcore Otaku) Tsumugi, and a few new confidants you’ll meet along the way. The entire cast of characters is generally engaging and charming, and I was almost always happy to see them. Hibari, being a voiced protagonist, was undoubtedly enjoyable to experience. However, what helped flesh out her character more were her interactions with her bossy bffs, Tsumugi and Noa. I always looked forward to the scenes where the three of them would huddle up together and discuss (read: interrogate) Hibari’s love life. While Tsumugi tried to push her fangirl fantasy of ideal relationships (according to the mangas she read, lol), Noa was there to give more straightforward advice and bluntly lay out the *harsh truths* to Hibari. To be honest, the heroine could not have wished for better friends!♥️

On top of that, the game’s chibi art was created by Kiichi, who also provided the chibi art for Reine des Fleurs and also worked on Moujuu-tachi to Ohime-sama. All in all, the game has a wonderfully coherent aesthetic, and is quite distinct from many other otome titles you may have played. Its heroine has her own story to tell and her own voice to reflect it

Nayuta

She balances out Hibari’s more guarded and naïve nature splendidly through her honesty and protectiveness — and the next time I write about my favourite side characters in the otome genre, I’m pretty sure Tsumugi will make a prominent appearance. Trashfire love interests turned endearing by the end Nayuta is more of a golden retriever than a golden boy. Hyperactive, clumsy, and with more than a few weird kinks, he single-handedly makes everyone’s new living arrangement interesting. But can this puppy dog win the girl’s heart? Or will this “Walking Debt Generator” bite off more than he can chew? Nayuta is voiced by Hiro Shimono ( Norn9, Demon Slayer). Shion Mayuzumi So who exactly are these mysterious beauties Hibari’s grandfather has personally selected? Surely they must be men of the highest caliber: scions of industry, masters of high society, and beacons of exemplary character. Hibari is surprised when she finds out they’re anything but and wonders what he could have been thinking. Her grandfather leaves her with only a cryptic hint: each of the suitors has something she doesn’t. Between scenes there are also a few other activities you can partake in. Reading and answering text based “WHIS” messages is one of them. Also fairly early into the game you are given a robot called Rabi, who you can leave in the house to record what the suitors are up to. Although probably slightly unethical, the footage you record is generally pretty hilarious. Yagami Nayuta: The sweet puppy-like masochist who actually enjoys being treated like a dog by everyone in the house. Nayuta is the “walking debt generator” due to his extreme naivety and tendency to be conned. He also has inhuman strength due to his various training in the martial arts since he comes from a family line of bodyguards. His dream is to find the perfect “master” to protect, so will you be his dominatrix and step on him?

So, I’ll be honest, the LIs had to grow on me, I just wasn’t feeling all the love interests all that much when I started the game—everything out of Ichiya’s mouth had me rolling my eyes, Shion is a bit too high maintenance for my tastes, Nayuta is more of a pet than a lover, and yes, even my beloved Taiga had me wanting to strangle him for all his snide remarks. And while Hibari is an amazing heroine, she can be a bit much at times. There’s more to everyone than meets the eye and while the common route just barely scratches the surface of who these characters are, but, it does a really good job of fleshing out and juggling all the different personalities for all the characters. Also known as the elegant “kept man” of Hibari’s four suitors. Shion is a very calm and patient bachelor who is fully aware of his angelic looks that can mesmerize the rest of the world. He’s mightily content with living his life freely as long as he’s loved and needed by his current partner. He is, however, very indifferent, not to mention frightfully cold, towards those who exist outside his bubble. Shion is also cunningly perceptive and he remains cryptic when expressing his feelings. Players should also be warned about the various trigger warnings in the game. For the most part, many of the endings you can achieve in the game are satisfying, but there are some themes in some of the suitor’s storylines that can be deemed inappropriate or triggering to some audiences. Some of these themes are grooming, age gap, emotional abuse, pedophilia, obsession, and even implied incest. They are not too prominent in the story, but the way they are handled or portrayed can ruin some routes for some players. Most of these themes can be found in the true route ending and in Shion’s route.

However, as you can probably guess, things aren’t exactly as they seem. Because while yes, the idea of someone trying to start arranging a marriage for their 17-year-old granddaughter is a bit odd, there’s more to it. Especially since, while Hibari is absolutely great and a fun heroine to watch, she has a fatal flaw of her own. Which makes for some delightful platonic and romantic interactions with Ichiya, Nayuta, Shion, and Taiga. It also means the conversations between the bachelors are also pretty great. (Especially since the RABI hidden camera segments allow for more of these.) For example, early on there’s a point when the guys are throwing a barbecue to get to know Hibari. Every element of it is a comedy of errors. From the initial one-on-one conversations between Hibari and the bachelors to seeing what happens when all four attempt to pull things off. It’s silly fun. Kenji Nojima “Shion Mayuzumi”–Akagi Kazuyuki (TMGS 2), Tuxedo Mask (Sailor Moon Eternal), Chiyo (Shinigami to Shoujo), Nobuchika Ginoza (PSYCHO-PASS), Odoriko (Dot-Kareshi) There are four LIs available in VariBari, and all four of them are available to romance from the start. Each boy has four endings: Marry End, Love End, Bad End, and Another End. There are also two extra Bad Ends and a True End. The True End becomes available once the Love End for each LI has been completed. To play the True End, players must start a new game and simply follow the prompts from there.