Game Review: A Kiss for the Petals: Remembering How We Met (PC)
In the visual novel boom that's taken root on steam of late, one sub-genre of the medium still has yet to make a larger presence. But A Kiss for the Petals: Remembering How We Met might be one of the first yuri(lesbian) visual novels to grace Steam. Despite not being an eroge like the rest of the series, it could be only the introduction before we see more. But on it's own it's a cute story.
The plot of the game is set up as another day in the school life of Risa. She runs into her now girlfriend Miya, and they reminisce about the circumstances of how they met, and the rough ride they both took in discovering their own feelings for one another. As such, most of the game is told through events taking place in the past, thankfully not flashing forward until the end. The interesting thing here is that the Petals series is almost entirely an eroge series, with adult content. Remembering How We Met is the only entry in the series without erotic content. Despite the fact that this is the 18th entry, it's probably a good choice for two big reasons. The first being that Risa and Miya's relation wasn't properly developed, as they were already in a relationship. So taking time to use this tale being sold as a backstory before the others is a good idea. The second reason is that this is a good way to introduce readers to the series or yuri titles in general. You get a nice story about a lesbian relationship without making newcomers overwhelmed with sexy times.
Of course, it's pretty short, so the game doesn't even show the point where they just confess to each other. You'd think that would be important, but that might be more a side effect of the other entries covering similar plot points. But hopefully this entry will sell and it will mean more starting from the first title, or it's remake. It's definitely a fun story and it's under ten bucks, so it won't break the wallet.
The Bottom Line: A good introduction not only to the Petals series, but also to the Yuri sub-genre. Just keep in mind that it's more of an intro to the Petal series, but it lacks erotic content seen in the rest of the VN's.
Acquisition method: digital code provided by MangaGamer
The plot of the game is set up as another day in the school life of Risa. She runs into her now girlfriend Miya, and they reminisce about the circumstances of how they met, and the rough ride they both took in discovering their own feelings for one another. As such, most of the game is told through events taking place in the past, thankfully not flashing forward until the end. The interesting thing here is that the Petals series is almost entirely an eroge series, with adult content. Remembering How We Met is the only entry in the series without erotic content. Despite the fact that this is the 18th entry, it's probably a good choice for two big reasons. The first being that Risa and Miya's relation wasn't properly developed, as they were already in a relationship. So taking time to use this tale being sold as a backstory before the others is a good idea. The second reason is that this is a good way to introduce readers to the series or yuri titles in general. You get a nice story about a lesbian relationship without making newcomers overwhelmed with sexy times.
Of course, it's pretty short, so the game doesn't even show the point where they just confess to each other. You'd think that would be important, but that might be more a side effect of the other entries covering similar plot points. But hopefully this entry will sell and it will mean more starting from the first title, or it's remake. It's definitely a fun story and it's under ten bucks, so it won't break the wallet.
The Bottom Line: A good introduction not only to the Petals series, but also to the Yuri sub-genre. Just keep in mind that it's more of an intro to the Petal series, but it lacks erotic content seen in the rest of the VN's.
Acquisition method: digital code provided by MangaGamer
Our Grade:
B+
The Good:
- The story is short and cute.
- Considering the other VN's in this series have the couple already in a relationship, an origin story is a good move.
The Bad:
- If you were expecting sexy stuff, this is the wrong Visual Novel.
- If you were expecting at least some non-erotic romance scenes, you'll also be disappointed.
Eric is one of the co-hosts of the RPGrinders podcast, as well as a freelance video game writer. You can follow him on Twitter @EricRPG .
