Code: Realize ~Wintertide Miracles~ -- No Spoiler Review

 Code: Realize ~Wintertide Miracles~

System: PS4, PS Vita 

Price: $49.99, $39.99 

Voice Acting: Yes (Japanese)

ESRB Rating: T (13+) 

Overall Rating: Stole 8/10 ♥s

Pre-Game Perception: Winter in London, and finally some closure to romances I can’t get over!

Morning-After Reflection: Many characters seen in a different, softer light. Much more touching than I thought, and now I just want more of the romance. Great.

Story: “The continuing adventures of the poison-skinned maiden Cardia in the latest installment in the Code: Realize universe.

Discover a new yuletide tale as the Steel City is covered in a blanket of white.

Cardia encounters more dashing literary characters - new friends and foes.

Strengthen one relationship or choose to court multiple gentlemen at the same time to let chaos reign!

Uncover fresh intrigue as Cardia delves into the mysteries of her own family and the dashing suitors.”

Interest Rating: 9/10. Despite understanding what a fandisk was by this point, I still wanted to know what would come next in Cardia’s world.

MC: Let’s welcome back my favorite MC, Cardia, the poisonous monster perfectly normal girl. As this is a continuation of the Code: Realize franchise, Cardia is once again our MC. Her name can be changed. She is not voiced. She is primarily a sprite by the text box, though depending on whose point-of-view you’re playing from, you get her sprite on screen at times. And is drawn into most CGs. Due to the timing of most of the stories, we backtrack a little on Cardia’s personality. She is certainly more confident, but not yet sure of the world she now has access to. Personally, I think she is just adorbs in this game. The right amount of cluelessness, curiosity, and breadth of experience so we’re back to a character that grows even in the short stories we’re given. Also, since most of the stories are branched from a single path, her personality doesn’t change much from one route to the next (save for the after-after stories).

Likability Rating: Shu. This is the girl I love. Can we waifu MCs?

Plot: This one gets a little wonky. Guardian of Rebirth is the original game with Lupin’s route as the true route. Future Blessings does some jumping around in the universe, from the new LIs being part of the original timeline after the common route, to the side story being part of the original timeline during the common route, to the original five’s after stories being after the original timeline, but along their respective route timeline. Now you get Wintertide Miracles, which includes another side story that happens during the original timeline and during the common route; Sholmes and Finis after stories which happen after the original timeline, along their respective route timelines; and then the five original guys who now have stories that only work after Finis’ route, as if Finis’ route was the true end and you never fell in love with any of the men. This completely writes the after stories in Future Blessings out of the game, however! However, there are then epilogues to Future Blessings’ after stories so those take place after the after stories along the original main five’s routes. Confused yet? Basically, they wrote stories for a timeline where Cardia and Finis live happily ever after, and presented this as the bulk of the game.

If you’re still with me, there are roughly 12 kinetic novels (stories with no choices), plus the new side story that has very limited choices, and then a fun little scenario called Triangle Date, where you pick two of the five original hotties and get a short story with them. I’m not even sure when they are supposed to be, because Cardia is no longer poisoned in them, but also isn’t with anyone in particular, but also not with Finis at their house in Wales. :shrug: I just enjoyed them for what they were. Anyways, that gives you ten more no-choice short stories (plus 3 more “secret” ones).

Replayability Rating: ★★★☆☆ It’s a lot of content, but very little actual game playing content. I’d do every route and story, but by this point you can pick and choose who you want and don’t want to do with no consequences.

Love Interests: There are no new LIs in this game. We get more of Herlock Sholmes, Finis, Arsene Lupin, Saint-Germain, Abraham Van Helsing, Victor Frankenstein, and Impey Barbicane! He needs to be named last so we can all shout his last name; as it should be. By now you likely have your favorites, and have figured out the personalities of those you like and don’t like. Which is great, because you get to see yet another side of most of them, allowing them to develop their character as even further.

Boy Crazy Rating: 92%. No one new, but there’s more of the men you love in this game.

Romance: This game is dripping with romance. Soaking. Just absolutely sopping wet with it. I hope you like sugary sweetness and every story about love, because that’s what you get here. Well, nearly every story, and there are a lot of them in this fandisk. Since several of the stories are based on Finis’ ending, you get the chance to fall in love with your favorite man all over again. And God damn, do they make it easy to do so. It’s all so well thought out and perfect in depicting how each lover longs to be with that girl who changed them all. I didn’t know I needed this in my life.

Heart Palpitation Rating: A+. My heart goes doki doki. I thought I might die.

Spice: I wish Wintertide Miracles had the heat that makes me thirsty, but it doesn’t. It falls unfortunately short in that department, instead focusing on those moments that make your teeth rot. Since some of the game happens in winter, extra clothing and heavy jackets can’t be helped. I guess we need some summer weather to thaw this winter chill.

Cold Shower Rating: Fail. Outside isn’t the only thing that’s chilly, get yourself a hot shower.

Angst: We’re barely touching the angst pool in this one. All the big bad plots are taken care of. There’s a little bit of angst in a few routes, but even compared to previous levels given from the Code: Realize games, it’s a ghost of its former self. Some brooding here or there, and an occasional conflict, not to mention the side story, give us our only taste of those salty tears I so crave.

Drama Llama Rating: 3/10. The drama llama is napping, and boy is it soft!

Voice Acting: What can I say that I haven’t already said about this game and these amazing seiyuus? We’re joined by a few new voices in this game, along with practically the entire cast from previous games. I do believe every named character makes an appearance at one point or another throughout the many routes to take. I’d like to highlight Junichi Suwabe for his work in this game as Abraham Van Helsing. I think he’s great in Guardian of Rebirth, and again in Future Blessings, but I think he really shines in Wintertide Miracles. There’s something about the way he murmurs his melancholic thoughts that really bring the feels to the forefront.

Expression Rating: Shu. I continue to have no complaints as everyone delivers emotionally powerful lines.

Art: Hey! With a new game comes a new wardrobe! We did get some special clothes in Future Blessings, and that was a welcomed addition; but I have to say that I was pretty happy with most of the sprite wardrobe changes in Wintertide Miracles. Most. I feel a certain suit-wearing LI got something too close to the same to really qualify as a change. Once again, everyone gets their own style of wear, and all the little details you’d expect are present in this game as well. The backgrounds are mostly reused, and that’s fine with me. All-in-all, great work, as expected.

Still Picture Rating: ★★★★☆ Many snows. Such winter. Very pretty.

CGs: Yes, you should play the game for the game itself, but I think the CGs are simply exceptional in this fandisk. There are so many absolutely adorable moments. So many times that perfect picture hits the sweet spot. I can’t help but feel happy looking at what this game has to offer for CGs. Alright, now that the gushing is over, once again we’re given some quality photos with no weird anatomy. It almost makes me want to snap shots of real life all the time, in order to capture the moments that matter.

Look at this Photograph Rating: 95% All the right moments at all the right angles.

UI/Mechanics: There’s not much to talk about when it comes to the UI and mechanics of this game. They continue to use their tried and true UI, with a static text box, the same controls, and since there isn’t much in gameplay, there aren’t really mechanics to speak of. It’s easy to understand, especially since it’s the same as the previous games. The only difference is the way the menu is set up, but that isn’t complicated to navigate either. 

What’s this button do? Rating: A. No need for a button map for this one.

Errors: Overall, there’s not much to complain about here. Again, it seems there’s less care taken with Wintertide Miracles than there was with the original game in that there are clear punctuation and spelling errors. But it’s still easy to understand and nothing that’s glaringly offensive. There’s a certain level of translation errors that I’m willing to overlook since I’m well aware English is not an easy language, and this game doesn’t even come close to spilling over that level. Is it perfect? No. Would I have liked a more careful comb-through? Yes. But all-in-all, it doesn’t feel like the quality is lacking.

Here there be Bugs Rating: Pass. Minimum infestation of errors.

Background Music: If you want some great BGM, this is some great BGM. Everything comes together to help the stories along, and I think most of it is just beautiful. I’m not sure how I’d feel listening just to the music, as the reason it’s so good is because it works with what’s taking place, but if you’re a music fan it wouldn’t be a bad idea to take a look at the OST, if available anywhere.

BY OUR RATINGS COMBINED!: Oh ho! You thought you were done, didn’t you? Don’t worry, this will be short. Sometimes my individual ratings do not always add up to my overall rating; this is because I find a reason to rate the game based on things that are not listed in my (very) long review. I couldn’t section everything. Sometimes price factors in. Sometimes personal tastes. Basically, what it comes down to is would I buy this game knowing everything I know? Would I recommend it to a friend? I bought it heavily discounted on the PS4, and would buy it for that price again. I would not pay full price for this title, despite how cute it was. I would pay close to full, though. Like even just 10% off. That's how much I love this series. I am, in fact, sighing inwardly that I'm considering buying the Switch version once it is released because there will be additional content, and then I'd also have all of them on my Switch. Contradictory much? I know. As for friends, I'd recommend it under the same conditions for myself. If they want to pay full price, I will not talk them out of it. But I would tell them to consider waiting for a sale, or perhaps the future Switch version.