Tester’s Corner: DC2 Ed. Vol. 2

One more tester reporting in for DC II, this time Tuna Salad is back!

For starters, I would like to soapbox a little and thank Kouryuu for giving me a week break before dropping the DC II bomb on me. Nothing quite like a week of Black Ops before another month of sleepless nights with 2D girls; it’s an absolutely amazing experience. (kill me now)

Testing DC II was nothing like DCIF, while DCIF was just suffering from some grammatical mistakes and the occasional British English moments, it wasn’t missing whole days and entire choices.  Even though DC II’s most egregious errors were quickly remedied, it still made the testing process troublesome.  When you only have XX number of hours per night to do it before finally collapsing in bed, an error that stops you from proceeding tends to really F– with your patience…

Despite my gripes, I really liked working with DC II.  I am a fan of the franchise and being able to get first look at the game is like a personal exclusive.  As a pretty ardent otaku, getting exclusives is the Holy Grail of collecting.

For starters, all of my previous knowledge of DC II was from the anime. While the anime had some highlights, it completely failed to convey anything of Koko’s story, Anzu’s story,  Nanaka’s story, all in favor of Minatsu’s story which was pretty badly told.  The game, as always, is magnitudes better.  Not only do we get to flush out Koko, Anzu, and Nanaka’s stories, but even Minatsu’s aggravatingly hostile attitude has a certain degree of endearment to it.  Out of these four, I have a hard time choosing a favorite so I’ll just have to default to Anzu and that sharp tongue of hers.

Out of the remaining heroines, Otome and Yume, the two who’s stories hold the meaning behind DC II, I will have to say that Otome is my favorite because she is just absolutely precious.  As the big sister character, she has a presence in every story; dropping a few words of wisdom here and there, and giving Yoshiyuki a little push now and then.  In her own story, the foundation of responsibility and maturity (or as mature as she gets) that previously shaped her character all come down and you get to see her as just an ordinary girl with her own insecurities and holding onto her little piece of happiness, and then given a monstrous task to perform.  Suffice it to say, her story is the canonical story for DC II so it’s quite the roller-coaster.

Yume’s is quite good as well, but I don’t want to get caught up writing a ten page story summary because that’s how complex she is. Think Nemu and Junichi from Da Capo fused into one person; it’s a battle between two polar opposites, both of which can’t cook!

To close, I would have to say that despite the long, hard road it was to bear with some of the pretty crazy issues that came up in testing (consolidating 3-4 different translators, missing crucial event days, BRITISH ENGLISH), it’s quite exhilarating to see the completed end result.  Sure there were a lot of sleepless nights and even worse mornings, but being able to sit back and say, “damn, Nanaka looks kinda good in that China-dress,” makes it all worthwhile.

I hope everyone who buys this game, enjoys it as much as I did.

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22 Comments

  1. Three more days…man, it’s been a long timne since I’ve been this impatient for Christmas to come.

  2. i cant w8 for this a perfect X-Mas present for myself

  3. Yeah… I’m going to get this 🙂

  4. Minatsu’s story was indeed horrible in the anime. I hated Koko/Nanaka/Anzu’s treatment too. Hell, I didn’t like Yume’s treatment… Yeah, let’s just say the anime really wasn’t all that great. >_>

    I wonder what order I should do these in… The only Da Capo route I’ve fully completed was… Alice in D.C.P.C. I guess it wouldn’t be too bad to start with Koko first, then maybe Yume…

    • For what it’s worth, recommended play order is shown on the title screens.

      By which I mean, don’t expect to be able to access any of the routes not displayed on the title screen until you clear a few. =3 I really liked Anzu and Nanaka’s routes myself.

      • yea, this is confirmed…if the character is not shown, or was shown previously on title screen, you wont be able to access.

      • Nanaka is a homewrecking whore!

        Koko forever!

      • What, it’s Yoriko all over again? Damn.

        Ah well. This does narrow down my choices, at least.

      • So is this like how it was with Yoriko or is this more like the typical route progression where you need to play x route before y route otherwise the story won’t make sense. I’m guessing it’s the latter if foolmaker’s walkthrough is to be believed:

        http://www.foolmaker.net/game/t/dc2.html

        • You have to play at least 3 of the 4 initial character routes (Koko, Nanaka, Anzu, Minatsu) before Yume/Otome’s arcs are unlocked because Yume and Otome’s arcs very, very quickly reveal the truth about what’s happening on the island.

          Meanwhile, the events are all background to the first 4, and I felt they play better without you knowing. Playing the other routes after Yume or Otome’s arc is kind of like trying to play the question arcs after you’ve already read Tsumihoroboshi or Minagoroshi, respectively. That’s why their arcs are locked off at first.

          And of course, after clearing all 6 there’s another hidden route~

  5. Kinda love both Yume and Otome *o*

  6. 3 days. 3 days. 3 days 3 days. 3 days….. Maybe if i wish reeeeeeeeaaaaaaly hard, a vortex will open that will transport me 3 days in the future o.o

  7. Yume looks so cute, and those glasses are totally moe! <3

  8. Great, does this mean I’ve got to put up with more non-sensical “American” English… 😉

    Seriously though, looking forward to this. Just hope some of the silly typos aren’t in this that appeared in DCIF.

    • That would be very unlikely considering the editor for DC2 is British. I believe the translator/editor of the first Da Capo didn’t speak English as his first language.

  9. So I’m guessing the general rection from those who have played the game to the anime is this:

    • Yeah. Pretty much. I tried to watch the DC2 anime — couldn’t. Enjoyed the game a lot though =D

      • I know its sad, but the only thing that I thought was good about the anime was the OP and the songs to each one. I don’t get how they could have messed DC2 up so much when they went on and made a really faithful anime adaption of Yosuga no Sora.

        After watching the recent D.C. I&II P.S.P. Re-Animated OVA, I am definitely up for a anime reboot of Da Capo!!!

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