Eroge Review (15): Kazoku Keikaku
Here is a review of Kazoku Keikaku, made by D.O.
*This review is based off of Japanese Kizunabako version
*Link to English product page
Overall score: 9.5/10
Plot summary:
One day, Sawamura Tsukasa finds a collapsed girl in the street. She’s a Chinese girl who can’t speak any Japanese. She’s the kind Tsukasa least wants to associate with, but they end up living together. The girl is only a start of the people gathering around him. What they all have in common: lack of family. The group of people eventually forms an alliance and come up with a plan which will put them in beneficial social position and promise each other to help solve others’ problems… in short, becoming a family.
*Play time: About 30 hours total.
Characters:
Tsukasa: Role: Eldest son. Main character. A very funny guy, especially when he’s with Lao and Hiroshi.
Masumi: Role: Mother. Timid and easily influenced.
Aoba: Role: Eldest daughter. Relentless woman with a very sharp tongue.
Jun: Role: 2nd daughter. A miser. Shy and untalkative. But her route is the best route.
Haruka: Role: 3rd daughter. Honest and naive. “Seems” thoughtless.
Matsuri: Role: 4th daughter. Loli. Loli. Loli, and oh, moe.
Hiroshi: Role: Father. Crazy, eccentric, insane. Did I make it clear? Anyway, he’s hilarious, and he also has an awesome, awesome voice actor.
Lao: Restaurant owner. Not a homo. He’s a bi.
Story: 10/10
The story is why this game is famed as one of the best eroges of all time. It is a bit long, with a bit of a boring parts in the middle, but it always keeps you entertained with great comedy. The common route (common events for all characters) is pretty long, but the skip function is pretty fast. ^^
The individual routes are very good, with a good combination of drama, moe, and tear-jerkers. The game really shows relationships between people and what a family is.
My route preference: Jun>Aoba=Matsuri>Masumi>Haruka
Moe: Matsuri>>>>>>>>>>>Aoba=Masumi>Haruka=Jun
Graphics: 5/10
I like the style of the art. The art looks a bit old now, but I like the coloring and the atmosphere the art brings to the game. However, I think there were too few CGs as a whole, with many scenes which should have had CGs and some scenes, and some of the rare CGs seemed to be wasted on where it was unnecessary (ex: Haruka bicycle). Some sub-characters also did not have a stand-up sprite (in the original version) and some that were added in the Kizunabako (voiced) version looked out of place. And lets not forget the chin… Although not as bad as the first Kanon anime, the artist draws a very pointed chin.
Music: 10/10
The music in this game is awesome. Most of the BGMs are soft and upbeat, which is very fitting to the atmosphere of the game. They’re so good that I sometimes listen to the CD by itself. The opening and ending songs are great, with the opening song being super awesome.
System: 3/10
It has a very simple system with minimal functions. Voice/BGM/SE volumes, message speed, 27 save slots, window/full screen… and that’s it. It doesn’t have any options on effect speed, individual character voice volume, or anything else. Typical D.O. minimal system.
Ero: 3/10
The sex scenes aren’t good. The art isn’t really ero material, and the text isn’t anything special during the Hscenes. And they cannot be more out of place for some characters. For example, some characters do not have sex scenes after being mutually in love, which is when most people would expect the sex scenes to come at. Now, it does have a bright spot, which is Matsuri’s Hscene. That was moe. She was so moe that she dragged Tsukasa (and many players) into becoming a lolicon.
Overall: 9.5/10
This is a classic eroge which is way above average in pretty much all regards if you’re into story-oriented eroge. It has awesome voice acting, awesome story, awesome comedy, and awesome characters. Just be careful so that Matsuri won’t turn you into a lolicon. (Matsuri is my avatar, which should tell you how moe she is)
Recommended for: People who want a good story, people who want a good laugh, people who want moe, people who want good voice acting, people who want good music, people who want to play what the Japanese people hyped about back in that days (2001)… You get the point. It’s recommendable to pretty much anyone.
Not recommended for: As I always say, people who want ero… And people who only want new stuff.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:23 am 1
Making the review now that JAST is going to release it? Good idea.
I’m going to buy it, so I hope it’s as good as you say.
July 17th, 2009 at 4:50 am 2
Wonderful title. And Matsuri’s mega-long H scene is in my ‘top 5 best H scenes ever’ (where ‘best’ generally equals ‘most hilarious).
July 17th, 2009 at 4:54 am 3
As a followup (since I can’t see a way of editing my comment), I actually preferred the OP video in the original version of Kazoku Keikaku to the one in the voiced remake – I just wish it was higher resolution.
July 17th, 2009 at 8:59 am 4
I wasn’t going to buy it since the art style isn’t really my taste… but now I think I’ll get it. Should help with the long, long wait of Jingai Makyou…
July 17th, 2009 at 10:17 am 5
I recall on irc a year or two ago, I TakaJun said that this game was in his top 3 favorites of all time, so I thought he’d give it a 10/10 but I guess pobody’s nerfect.
July 17th, 2009 at 6:19 pm 6
>>Asceai
I totally agree that the original OP is better. Let me guess, you like the film reel part in the OP, right?
>>Multi
The score of 10 is saved for my favorite eroge, so you can technically say that 9.5 is the highest score any other eroge can get…
And there seems to be a lot of 9 and 9.5 eroge because people keep asking reviews of top tier games. ^^;
July 17th, 2009 at 7:08 pm 7
Asceai, wanna let us know what the other 4 are, just for the record? Hah.
July 17th, 2009 at 9:28 pm 8
Heh, I can understand why it’s hard to give anything a perfect score in the first place anyways. I mean, what if you come across something that’s better than your favorite eroge, does everything else get scaled back .5 points? Does it just get a 10 even if it’s better than the last 10? Or is it just easier to give it a score above a 10 lawl. What’s your favorite eroge anyways?
July 17th, 2009 at 11:29 pm 9
Which order should I play the routes in?
July 18th, 2009 at 1:59 am 10
>>TakaJun
Yep, you got me. Love the film reel =p
And to stop people from complaining, you could write a bit of a mega-review on the whole Toraha series I still have to play the first one- eyeing that copy on dlsite. I’ve heard that it’s not fully-voiced (in that voiced characters have unvoiced lines etc.).
>>Ushiromiya
Sure. In no particular order:
1. Hina’s H scene in RusK’s ‘Aster’. ‘Blind leading the blind’ describes it aptly, both literally and in the sense it was meant to be used. Absolutely hilarious stuff. I was short of breath by the end of it from all the laughing.
2. Kinu’s first H scene in Candysoft’s ‘Tsuyokiss’. Oops.
3. Touko’s first H scene in propeller’s ‘Ayakashibito’ – well, particularly the end of the H scene, if you don’t pull out (after she told you to). Uh oh.
4. Tokimi’s H scene in XUSE’s ‘Eien no Aselia ~The Spirit of Eternity Sword~’. Also very amusing.
>>Mic
I don’t think it really matters. I played Matsuri -> Haruka -> Jun -> Aoba -> Masumi though.
July 18th, 2009 at 2:25 am 11
>>Multi
My fav eroge is triangle heart 3. I highly doubt any game will come out that will beat it, since it has nostalgia points too, but if it does… I’ll think about it then.
>>Mic
You can play the routes in any order. It depends on if you like to save the best route for last, or moe character for last. With that said, I’d personally play Masumi (least popular) -> Aoba -> Haruka (Reveals plot secret) -> Jun (best route) -> Matsuri (best moe)
>>Asceai
I want to eventually write a review for the toraha series, but I feel that’s it’s going to be more subjective than current reviews (I know that’s hard to imagine, but yeah), and I also don’t want to recommend it because i know it’s not for everyone…
As for toraha1, I think it’s the worst out of the series because it’s so old and unrefined. I personally don’t recommend it.
And yes, Kinu’s Hscene had me laughing so hard.
July 18th, 2009 at 7:25 am 12
>>And there seems to be a lot of 9 and 9.5 eroge because people keep asking reviews of top tier games
Next review: the worst eroge you have ever played.
July 18th, 2009 at 4:17 pm 13
>>Beowulf
Hell yes, bring it on. Aqua Blue review~!
July 18th, 2009 at 7:07 pm 14
Yes, thank you for this review! I’m DEFINITELY going to play this (was going to without the review, but I always like other people’s input on games, and I also like your reviews ;D). But, to give some constructive criticism; I think you’re rating almost ALL the games you play AT LEAST 9/10. I KNOW they’re not all the same quality pieces, even if some categories are slightly different numbers, 9/10 vs. 9/10 is still the same. Just saying you should be a little harsher on your judging with games, keep up the reviews please!
July 19th, 2009 at 3:03 pm 15
>>Beowulf Lee
That would be something like majokko a la mode 2, hajimetedoushi or something, but I don’t really want to review such crappy games…
>>windrunner023
Like I said above, it’s because the games reviewed are all top tier games. The scores should go down more once I start reviewing average games.
July 19th, 2009 at 5:50 pm 16
yo Taka, one of the girl’s name:
Takayashiki Jun -> Taka Jun -> TakaJun O_o
July 19th, 2009 at 8:54 pm 17
@Chass
Well, his avatar on the mirror moon forums was the blue hair girl from the game after all…
@TakaJun
>>I don’t really want to review such crappy games…
Ah, come on. It’s no fun if you just sing praises all the time.
July 20th, 2009 at 1:37 am 18
>>TakaJun
‘Hajimetedoushi’ isn’t referring to the fairly recent ‘Hajimetedoushi ~Bakappuru de ikou~’, is it? Because I quite enjoyed that, really =p
July 20th, 2009 at 4:26 pm 19
>>My fav eroge is triangle heart 3. I highly doubt any game will come out that will beat it, since it has nostalgia points too, but if it does… I’ll think about it then.
I’m just wondering Taka, how come you never ( ? I might be wrong on that though) wanted to translate any game of the Triangle Heart series?
Is it because the first and second part of the series aren’t as enjoyable, and the third wouldn’t work as a stand-alone? (Just asking really.)
July 20th, 2009 at 5:33 pm 20
So, what do you guys think about the new censorship in the game?
http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/07/21/family-project-kazoku-keikaku-fully-uncensored-eroge/
I kinda think that the bedroom scene has less impact with Matsuri not being nude. Kinda like, her level of desperation and conviction seems lessened. But that’s just me.
July 20th, 2009 at 9:23 pm 21
>>Asceai
No, Hajimetedoushi by ZERO. It’s a big landmine.
>>izmosmolnar
Each game works as a standalone, but I’m reluctant to translate toraha games because it’s a bit too old, and I know it’s not everyone’s kinda thing.
July 21st, 2009 at 10:36 am 22
I see, well for me personally the series seemed sort of interesting (I haven’t seen any anime adaptations they have), but is admittedly a bit old by now though. (Not like I have anything against older games, as I started with the old VNs too and I still prefer a lot of those over the new ones.)
Speaking of older games by the way. Can I humbly request you to review elf’s Yu-No once in the future please? (Unless I’m mistaken, according to EGS you’ve played it ~3,5 years ago, and voted it as a 90.)
It’s not urgent or anything (I honestly don’t want to seem demanding), but I’m extremely curious about it, as I recently noticed it’s by the same writer as EVE Burst Error, one of all-time favorite games, and there aren’t any reviews I could find about the PC-version. Thanks in advance Taka.
July 24th, 2009 at 9:31 pm 23
Jeez, am I the only one with REALLY crappy sound quality? The voices and sound effects sound like an H-game from 1990…
July 25th, 2009 at 10:57 am 24
Meh, it seems that I enjoy this game more without voices anyways.
July 28th, 2009 at 3:23 pm 25
TakaJun, what are your thoughts on Koihime Musou?
July 29th, 2009 at 10:51 pm 26
>>Izmosmolnar
All right, I’ll put YU-NO in my “review in the future” stack.
I’ve been slacking off and I already have a few reviews (like G-senjou) I started when I wrote the one for Kazoku Keikoku that aren’t completed yet ^^;
>>Multi
I haven’t played Koihime Musou. Sorry, I can say anything, except what I heard which is… It’s a game where it’s popular because of the setting. Other than that, it’s a generic harem game.
Please take that with a grain of salt since I haven’t personally played the game.
August 4th, 2009 at 10:30 am 27
TakaJun, Have you played Gunjyou no sora wo koete ? I’d love to see a review of that
August 6th, 2009 at 11:05 pm 28
Yes, I’ve played Gunjyou. I’ll add it to my already long list of games I need to review… ^^;
August 9th, 2009 at 12:11 am 29
MATSURI IS SO MOE!!!!!!I’M DYING……
March 3rd, 2010 at 12:39 am 30
http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/8057/aholes.png
That link is the scene of the third batch of insults Aoba throws at Matsuri’s foster parents… as you, TakaJun, have played the Japanese version… I’d like to ask what she REALLY said there.
Why? … whilst the text shows some small minor insult… Aoba’s voice dialogue is going on and on and on with various insults that go through about 10 censor sounds… she said way more than in the english version!
I REALLY want to know what she actually said
Mostly because… this is where we really get to see just how much Aoba has succumb to Matsuri’s Moe-ness!!!
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:02 pm 31
Yeah, there are places Aoba just goes on and on.
I can’t really tell you what is said in the japanese version because I can’t tell where that scene is just from the screenshot.
But think of that line going for a paragraph.