Dairoku ayakashimori ~ overall thoughs

Published by: Idea factory/otomate (JP)
ENG: Aksys
Available for nintendo switch (ENG & JP)

After finally finishing Olympia Soiree I decided to start Dairoku. Even though I could have started play Varibari or other latest otome games what everyone is playing, but I wanted to play some older ones which I have. I still have some old psvita games too which I should play and more new game is coming but maybe one day is time for those older ones too! (never ending back log right?)

Summary from vndb

Ever since she could remember, Akitsu Shino has had the ability to see what others could not: spirits, apparitions, and indescribable creatures. As an adult, this talent leads her to join a secret government agency: The Occult Action Department. Her assignment is with the Sixth Special Preventions Office, and her job is to monitor the powerful beings who travel between her world and the worlds beyond.

From her office in Sakuratani, a town in a different dimension, Agent Shino meets several otherworldly individuals with vastly different personalities and abilities: a nine-tailed fox spirit, a mischievous oni, and more. Part gatekeeper, part travel guide, she does her best to get to know these entities and keep them from getting into inter-dimensional trouble.

 

the boys 

Overall thoughs:

I really like ayakashi/youkai themed games so Dairoku seemed very interesting for me. Also I really liked visuals/art style for this game too.
 While I was playing Olympia soiree I didn't see that many people talking about Dairoku, but there was couple of people who mentioned that this game is kinda bad/boring. And I started wondering if this was "red flag" for the coming game experience? 

So...
start for the game gave nice "slice of life" type of vibe, which was kinda nice. From the start all the characters seemed very nice and overall the game gave this really nice feeling. So I was already very pleased for the start of the game. 

First route which I played was Shiratsuki or Shiro like some characters called him, nine-tailed fox shire from Kikutsune. Shiratsuki gave very "playful" character vibes and his old fashioned style of speaking made me just like this character a lot. Shiro also liked fashion a lot and he liked talk about it with his friend Kokko. Usually I don't like genki type of characters but for some reason I really liked Shiratsuki. 

Even thought most of the time Shiratsuki is very cheerful he also had some moments in the game which gave you the feeling he is not showing his trueself? 

The route progresses nicely and a little by little Shino and Shiro started to be more closer to each other. There was a lot humor moments and some little misunderstandings which gave some "tension" for the story. Overall Shiratsuki's route was enjoyable and it left me nice feeling after finishing it. 

Shiro was cute/funny character but then at the same time I was expecting something else from him? But I guess playful chara type is very suitable for nine-tail fox.

Second route which I played was Hira, lazy tengu shire from Amatsuna. Hira was this "I'm very poweful but too lazy to do anything" type of character. He wasn't interest in anything and wanted just lazy around and left all his shire jobs for his assistant Takao. In the beginning of the route I was very interested in Hira and was looking forward to his route. Even though I don't really like kuudere type of characters. 

For some reason start for this route felt very slow. But there was also a lot moments when Hira started to be a little bit more open for Shino and felt like he was interested in her. But Hira was still very teaseful towards Shino and there was mayybe some moments when Hira started show more his feelings towards her. Secretly I wished there was more those cute moments with them. 

Like in Shiratsuki, Hira's route also had some "misunderstanding" moments but then there was also some investigation moments,which I'm not going to tell because it would spoil Hira's route. (kind of)

Hira also left kinda same feeling what I had after Shiratsuki route. I enjoyed to play it but it really wasn't anything "special". I really wanted to like Hira but maybe his lazy kuudere side made me not to like him lol. Not the best boy but I still kinda liked him. 

Third route was Akuroou, Hanju's assistant from Makatsuhi. Even though Akuroou is not shire in Makatsuhi he helps a lot with shire stuff. Because Hanju who is actual the shire doesn't really do his job well...
 Akuroou gave this very calm & gentle character vibe. But then at the same time I was unsure if he really was this type of character lol. Maybe feeling like too nice character? Don't know lol
I really liked Akuroou's calm/gentle side and he also had this cute clumsy side.

In the route there was murder case in human world and this was big part of the Akuroou route. There was a lot investigating stuff and at the some point it was bigger mess what you first expected. Because of all this Shino also gets to know more about Akuroou's past life. 

I ended up to like Akuroou as character a lot and also his route too! I just loved how kinda,gentle and sometimes a little bit clumsy he was. I might have smiled like idiot for the good ending stuff. ufufu

The second last boy was Shu, snake youkai from Mitsuchi group. Shu was leader (kind of) from this mysterious Mitsuchi group which wasn't that liked in Sakuratani. There really wasn't must information about Shu, but you were able to see him couple of times in the prologue.

Shu is one big tsundere boy and I was actually looking forward to his route because tsundere characters usually ends up to be my fav ones. So I was waiting for a lot cute tsuntsun moments with him. 

Ayakashimori didn't have much information about Mitsuchi group so Shino's job was to get more information about them. Shino started to get closer to Shu and tried to be friends with him. But because Shu is one big tsundere he wasn't that easy to approach. Later Shu start to be more open for Shino and actually want to try be friends with her. There was moments when I felt this route goes very fast and there was some hints for "bigger secret". 

In the last chapters the flow of the story felt a bit rushed which left a little bit ??? feeling for me. Even though end felt a little bit rushed the good ending was very cute and I might have laughed for couple moments in it. Overall Shu's route ended up to be okay and there was some nice tsundere moments. But maybe I was waiting for more those cute tsuntsun moments with him.

Last boy was our cover boy,Semi. Semi is powerful onmyoji from Semi family. Of course he is also Shino's superior & coworker at the Ayakashimori. 

I really liked Semi in other boys routes and was looking forward to his own route. For some reason I really liked his cunning and teasingly personality. 

Most of the stuff what happened in the route was at office. At some point it felt like there wasn't really happening anything special in this route. Later Semi's little brother also joined their group little bit and there started be some "family drama/history" stuff. But then later there was also rumor stuff which gave some tension for the story too. You also get to know a little bit about Shino's past etc. 

Semi's route was partly a bit disappointing...but also Shino's and Semi's romance parts were a little bit hm? BUT still liked Semi as character.

After finishing Semi's route I wasn't really sure what was going to happen in Finale route. Or is there even any big plots for this game? 

Overall finale route was more like "friend" route and more like Shino's work days type of route. This route gave me same feeling what I had when I started prologue,very slice of life type of vibes. There was some stuff about Shino's past but you kinda get to know about those from Semi's route. So it wasn't really any new information anymore. To be honest playing Finale route felt kinda pointless for me. It really didn't give anything new and felt like I had already seen all the stuff in boys routes. 

Final thoughs:

So final thoughs huh...

To be honest I'm not even sure what to say about this game. Felt like it really didn't give me anything and at the same time I really didn't expect anything amazing from it either. But in weird way still kinda enjoyed to play it?

I guess overall Dairoku was okay game. It was this slice of life type of game with fantasy twist. To be honest I'm not sure what I was even waiting from this game. Maybe some deeper story, don't really know. I'm a little bit confused which is kinda silly to say while writing this post. 

Main story/routes wasn't really that amazing. I still kinda enjoyed some of the routes but most of them ended up to be kinda boring but then at the same time in weird way I enjoyed to play those. Maybe the humor and boys saved it.
 Not sure if it's the fact that I like ayakashi/yokai themed stuff so that made me kinda like this game? 

Even thought the story was kinda meh. I still liked visuals,ost and character designs for this game! 

Also all the characters in this game were very likeable. Not sure if I had any "best boy" from this game. I kinda liked all the boys. But if I have to say fav boy maybe Akuroou.

I'm not really sure if I should recommend this game. Mmm if you want more "relazing" game with slice of life stuff give it go. And if ayakashi/youkai stuff is your thing you probably would enjoy this for those.

Next I probably try start playing Birushana and maybe then I try play some older games. We will see what is going to happen.

My fav boys list ended up to look like this

Akuroou,Semi,Shiratsuki,Hira & Shu