Restricted Ward

As far as great places to live goes, Shin Yokazaki City is probably not the best option. Not only is it the location of the “Restricted Ward” where a disaster resulted in the disappearance of thousands of people, but it is also a city rife with murders. Dragging down the health and safety rating of the city even further are the “Unions” who are people with inhuman abilities and a penchant for havoc. In the middle of all of this is Touya Kagari, an ordinary high school student who lost his mother to the disaster in the Restricted Ward. Touya was adopted by the sister of one of his classmates and has been living a pretty ordinary life ever since, but this all changes when he is attacked by one of the Unions on his way back from work one day.
There is obviously more to him than what meets the eye, but for most of the game the bevy of beautiful girls who surround him are much more powerful than him. After his encounter with the bloodthirsty union Touya is rescued by Es, the cute, but formidable fighter and she is just the first of many powerful females that cross his path. There is also Kuon, the apprentice at the magic academy and Mei, the scion of the Amanohokosaka clan who spend a lot of time shielding Touya from the various parties that take an interest in him. The game then also throws in assassins, serial killers, rogue magic users as well as a mysterious agency to complicate matters even
It definitely feels more intuitive than when opting for the keyboard and as far as we can tell the mouse controls are completely absent. If you are stuck without a controller it can take a while to get used to the interface, but this isn’t too serious. More worrying were the crash issues that plagued the game when it was first released on Steam, but a patch was very quickly issued to address this.

While a single playthrough of Code Embryo doesn’t take too long, the game features multiple endings, so there is definitely incentive to replay it a few times. Thankfully the soundtrack is also quite comprehensive and features plenty of variety, so you are not stuck hearing the same couple of tunes on repeat all the time. Voice acting is in Japanese only, but sounds great and definitely add to the atmosphere.

XBlaze: Code Embryo is quite a divisive title, as not everyone will appreciate the TOI system of navigating the story. However, we enjoyed our time with the game and also appreciated the fact that no prior knowledge of the BlazBlue series is required to understand what is going on. The story features a nice blend of action, drama, intrigue and even a bit of humor, which is always welcome. If you are looking for a visual novel that offers more than just slice-of-life drama or you are a fan of the BlazBlue series then try out