Before I really talk about Koh I need to note something incredibly important that basically ruined my ability to play this route. Not in a bad way. In a much much sexier way. Ladies and gentlemen, Rei:
How am I supposed to take this route seriously when this beautiful man has enchanted me? I say this a lot but I reiterate once again: This is the greatest Voltage guy ever. Rei is my new favorite. I know he’s a route Voltage I have the Japanese APP, don’t make me spend hours translating I want to see Rei in english plz. Please. Please. I need this Voltage, we’re friends right? I think a lot of my fellow otome game lovers could easily agree, YOWZA.
That being said, KOH. Koh is a fun one right off the bat: easily one of the more attractive choices, mysterious, and your romance might be a little more mature since it actually begins in the 3 year time skip period. Unlike the other choices this means your relationship has a lot less build up but it also means the concept should be a little more mature. Right? Eh.
The main thing with Koh for a good six chapters is everyone wants to get to know him. This deprives you of a lot of intimacy as the only real hook you have are the things he mentions around you about blue flowers known as forget me nots. I wonder where this could be headed. Well the answer is boredom. Sad to say but Koh is probably one of my least favorite routes in all of Voltage. I rarely ever take advantage of the skip function despite being a speed reader but this route absolutely had to be sped read. It didn’t help the route kept messing up and redownloading everytime I tried to click on it to find the right chapter. Sigh.
Koh’s route takes forever. You spend so long trying to be his friend. You think I’m kidding? 12 chapters before you even start to get romantic with him. 12 whole chapters of ‘how do I become Koh’s friend?’ the build up is so lackluster I just couldn’t get through it. My only salvation was every single time Rei appeared. The sad thing is I usually like characters like Koh, it was very fun in the Office Secrets route to romance the stoic perfectionist because I couldn’t wait to see him fall for me. This?
Eh. It’s eh. 12 chapters of build up was one of the many things I never liked about games like this. It’s no fun if no one has any idea they want to be with each other, and by the time you realized you cared about Koh in game I as a reader had stopped caring. It’s very telling that in my gathering screenshots I actually have more of Rei ultimately. I was more interested in Koh’s uncle saying random things than I was in the story that I’ve actually been waiting months for.
The sequel isn’t much better. The story is finally getting good and going places, only for you to have some stupid drama shoved in between you. Couldn’t we have had an interesting drama in the main route and then just had the fun of learning to get physical? I really wanted to like this route and it’s sequel but it’s bad when the entire appeal of a route is to advertise another route that isn’t even out yet. I’m serious, so many screenshots of Rei.
I will admit, learning Koh began bartending at a hostess club is funny as hell. His sheer look of ‘you crazy woman why are you dressed like a hostess omfg I can’t believe you’ was probably the first time I went, you know, you’re alllllrrriiight. Actually the entire story 4 was like Voltage pre-read my review and went “you want sexy, I swear to god let me give you it!” All I have to say about that is well, this:
I lost it though later because Rei outright tries to seduce you. I HATE MY LIFE, COME TO ME REI! How the hell am I supposed to pay attention to Koh’s romance when Rei is basically strutting his stuff, complimenting me, and outright trying to make me fall in love with him. I’m going to go cry now. As soon as Rei’s story comes out I’m just done, I’m going to drop literally everything else I’m doing to play it. Koh’s route, however, has two major dramatic points and neither are very fun to me. One, he’s working at a hostess bar and Rei basically makes him quit to prove his love to you. The moral is I guess to do what’s good for both parties?? The second is your parents are around and Koh gives a bad first impression
Ugh, it’s not romantic enough! And then hostesses from the club show up on your formal date with your parents and it’s just painful. That’s what this route is. It’s a pretty painted over version of uncomfortable situations and it’s just not any fun to deal with that. The angst is hard to get invested in when the entire first route was so lackluster. So the sequel just feels like they’re piling on all they couldn’t in the first. And when bad things happen, like they remind us how important meeting your family was to Koh and how it probably broke his heart to let them down? Half the time the feelings this route gives me are just. . .sadness. Not relief when it’s over, sadness it happens at all.
Ultimately, the route fell flat for me. Maybe it’s just meant for someone else. But it was not all for nothing on my end, as I got a special preview of Rei’s story. So how is that? Well it’s quite lovely and- OH MY FUCKING GOD GIVE IT TO ME NOW YOU PIECE OF- Wow I seem to have had an outburst there, NO REALLY I MEANT IT COME ON AND GIVE ME THE FREAKIN’ ROUTE! Wow. You guys should stop reading before I talk about this route. The only thing that bothered me was the curious way of examining how acting feminine might make you gay, but i think the route is going to go for ‘feminine does not equate to that, and you can be sexy, and a man, and exhibit feminine characteristics’ anyway seriously Voltage.
come on
Rei
Oki
I’m pretty new to otome games, so bear with me… Rei and Koh are both in the “3 Years Later” sequel game, yes? Not in the first DDiWT game where you can only choose the main six guys?