Hello all, I’m back with another first impressions post as I just wrapped up the prologue to Café Enchanté after 7 whole chapters. Yes, 7 chapters that felt roughly around 2-3 hours each. So that’s about 17-21 hours of prologue and character introductions and I only just got onto my first route. Wowee. Café Enchanté is the first otome game where I’ve encountered such a long prologue so if that’s not something you’d like then here’s your warning. Still, I didn’t find it bad at all. Anyways, let me leave that for now as I will go into it a bit more later.
I actually purchased Café Enchanté exactly a month ago. I know this because when I went to go purchase it, I witnessed a robbery right after I left the game store.
Yes, so, some people were stealing shoes and since I never thought I would witness something like that in my little insignificant life, I was stock still frozen like a Windows Update, just watching events fold right in front of me. However, after the shoe thieves got in their van, I took out my phone and started snapping pictures which I then sent over to an employee of the store. Sadly, I have no idea if they caught the robbers, if I ever swing by that store again, I may go in to inquire what happened afterwards.
Anyway, point of the matter is, Café Enchanté is trying to traumatise me before I even started playing it and I’m not sure how to feel about that. Well, I want to keep this short so with that rather lengthy introduction, on with the show!
The Story
When Kotone inherits her grandfather’s Tokyo café, she discovers the shop holds more secrets than anyone could imagine. The café is a meeting spot for beings from multiple, mystical worlds. You’ll meet the king of demons, a humanoid beast, a fallen angel, and more. And when government agents monitoring non-human activities show up at your door, your new café is about to become a lot more colorful.
Aksys Games Official Website for Café Enchanté
Nice and simple and to the point. I have nothing really to add as that’s basically all you need to know for now.
The Art
From the main menu alone, I was hooked on the art of this game.
The art and music combined create such an calming and casual atmosphere that you can’t help but feel cozied up for a good experience ahead. Along with the general comfy vibes the main menu alone can bring to a player, you have the overall scenery of the game itself to provide a feast for the eyes. In Café Enchanté, as noted in the story, our protagonist, Kotone, meets beings from other worlds who liven up her day to day life. Two of these worlds you get to see during the prologue and I have to say that I found them both beautiful in their own ways.
Of course, you can already guess what a world full of such beings as fairies will look like but what about Bestia? As you can see, Bestia is basically a winter wonderland but less cheery and more violent. It is also very very cold. For reference, I’ll show some pictures of Medio with a couple from Bestia (there actually was less to show since it’s really just snow) because they both look lovely in my eyes. I’m also biased towards snow scenes to bonus points there.
Fun fact about Medio is that you can experience all four seasons in just one day. I’m not sure if that’s exactly a good thing but I’m definitely intrigued to experience it myself…if only.
The Characters
Awaki Kotone
So far I really like Kotone. Despite being thrown into such a weird and unbelievable situation, she shows an eagerness to understand and patience in handling the everyday quirks and unique temperaments of the guests who come to her café. It is especially admirable that she shows some bravery when travelling to Bestia, the Beast World, where it can be an instant and most likely brutal death for a human being. Not to mention, she’s only 19 but shows great maturity to the point that I thought she was older.
Kotone also seems to be holding some baggage from her past, specifically from her office job. Although it was resolved early in the prologue (she basically tells her overbearing boss off who was calling her non-stop even after she quit), I still feel like there’s a lot to be unraveled in her character especially considering that it is apparent that she’s met Misyr before. Maybe when she was a kid? But I feel like there is probably more to their meeting than just a short trivial appearance at the café in her childhood. I guess only time will tell.
On more thing I wanted to add was the fact that Kotone has been hearing a voice in her head for a while now and I worry what it may do to her in the future. The voice already seemed to entice/control her into opening the gate when she wasn’t supposed to. I can only wonder at this point what relation she has to the voice and what will happen later in the story.
Misyr Rex (CV: Akabane Kenji)
Speaking of Misyr, here is our “Supreme Demon King” who apparently rules over the Demon World but he is way different than I thought a demon king would be. As his profile says, he’s very down to earth, cheerful, and pretty laidback except when it comes to Il, who he frets over like a father-figure. It’s rather cute actually. Speaking of cute, I am honestly in love with Misyr’s laugh as well. I hope when I hear just as often, if not more once I reach his route, but I suspect that Misyr’s route is going to be a horrible doozy. I can already tell that despite his casual personality that he’s probably going to scramble, sauté, and broil my emotions in a messy batter before serving it up all cut to bits because that’s how badly my heart is going to be ruined by this man – I can already tell.
Ahem, but besides that, I think he’s a rather swell guy. It’s funny how easily the others can bully him though but he is definitely the most powerful of the lot so best not to actually get on his bad side.
Il Fado de Rie (CV: Ishikawa Kaito)
Similar to Misyr, I was not expecting an angel, even a fallen angel, to be an otome-loving shut-in who needs to be babysat whenever he goes outside, if Misyr allows him to leave the café that is. Il is basically a reflection of most, if not, all otome players out there so if you hate being personally attacked then Il may be a bit too much for you. Personally, despite his quirks and clueless personality, I like him a lot. Is an endearing ditzy boy who needs protection but also can do the protecting.
Yes, I would say that after Misyr, Il is probably the next strongest. Okay, let me say this now, I’m only basing this on what I’ve read so far in the game. I’m not trying to downplay the strength and power of the others who are also plenty powerful themselves. Il is a fallen angel though so even with his somewhat child-like absent-minded personality, he can get serious when he wants to. For instance, when he want on a “date” to cheer up Kotone after a failed mission in Bestia, he protected her from some creeps who were trying to pick her up. I was honestly impressed that he recognized the danger of the situation since moments before he was still acting like his usual head in the clouds-self.
And just like Misyr, I’m worried over how Il’s route is going to go. Perhaps I’m even more worried about Il than Misyr’s because it always seems to be the more light-hearted characters who appear to be obliviously lost in their own world that tends to have the most emotionally or psychologically heart-rending baggage. And of course, Il happens to be my first route after I blindly picked choices in the prologue. Still, I look forward to his route and being personally attacked for my otome habits.
Canus Espada (CV: Umehara Yuuichirou)
I’m not going to lie, when I first saw Canus, I wasn’t sure I’d like him like that. Of all the people I saw on the game’s cover, I felt the most ambivalent about him. I apologize to all Canus fans out there for being prejudiced against his appearance as I have now found the light and enjoy this man so much. Okay, being a bit more serious here, I really do like Canus and just like the others, his personality is a bit different than I thought it would be. He is a bit more of a marshmallow than he appears and is quite soft spoken and polite most of the time. Really, the only thing that may throw you off about him, is his lack of a head. Still, you eventually learn once you travel to his home world of Medio that he actually has ears, eyes, a nose, etc. just like the rest of them. Meaning, it’s more like his head is invisible. I do wonder what he really looks like but surprisingly by the time I found out about this information, I felt like I would be 100% fine with never seeing his actual face. Headless Canus is best Canus.
Okay, so maybe not if Canus actually wished he had a face or something but so far, I don’t recall if it was ever brought up. Perhaps in his route but I also wonder…how will the kiss go? Does…does Kotone just peck his flames (which are great, by the way as I love how they change color to reflect his emotions) or will something else happen? I must know.
Plus, as an added bonus, he’s voiced by Umehara – a seiyuu that keeps popping up here and there every where for me so now I’m taking notice and realizing that I kind of like him, too. Looking forward to how this route will go (PAIN awaits as well, I know).
Ignis Carbunculus (CV: Ono Yuuki)
Ignis, this boy, is a bit of a handful. He definitely screams tsundere to me and at the same time a punk with a heart of gold. I won’t lie – I think I really like Ignis’ route but know I will be dying on it just because I really like his seiyuu, Ono Yuuki. Not sure why but I do and I have graciously accepted it (I have not) and already in the prologue I found that while I did want to do Ignis’ route first, I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle it just yet. I have to wonder how it’s going to go since after seeing Bestia and learning more about the land he’s from has me more curious than ever to see. I just hope that it’s not too much of an emotional rollercoaster as we already had a bit of a taste with that when dealing with Kororo and his lost family.
Going back to Ignis, while he’s personality is quite rough around the edges along with the fact that he was the one who seemed highly reluctant to accept Kotone as the café’s new owner, you learn quickly that he has his own valid reasons to feel the way he does (play the game to find out). Also, if you came from a world like Bestia where it’s literally survival of the fittest to the point where even Charles Darwin would cry over the voracious violence taking place there, I can’t blame Ignis for being the way he is. Honestly, he could be worse. But I love him just the way he is. Plus, look at that nyan shirt – it’s cute.
Rindo Kaoru (CV: Suwabe Jun’ichi)
I will start of by saying that I do want to see more dilfs in otome games, they aren’t my type…yet. I say yet because I’m getting quite old myself so I know I will fall more into an appreciation for dilfs once I reach that certain age. With that being said, PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, please give Rindo a break on his age. Yes, he’s 42 (the oldest otome love interest I’ve encountered), but that ain’t that old now. In this day an age while adults don’t even feel like proper adults until they hit their 30s, I think we can say 40s are the new 20s, eh? Right, I’m spilling nonsense but what I’m trying to really say is I honestly forgot he was that old. I really only think of him being “that old” when Rindo or the characters themselves bring it up.
I say this as a hypocrite who is already calling herself old in her mid-20s. My birthday was just last month and I wasn’t looking forward to it at all but thankfully with the people around me (and a Spirited Away movie night), I felt better about myself and my age. That’s the type of friends Rindo needs, too. Despite the others sometimes getting on Rindo, it’s not always about his age but more so because he is a member of the GPM, an organization the others are most weary of and/or just don’t like. Rindo is one of the few who gets along with them well and actually cares for the wellbeing of not just humans but non-human beings as well. This was shown in his own personal chapter with Kariya, a middle schooler who he helped come to terms with his non-human status.
Rindo shows a lot of care and understanding to those around him and while it’s easy to say, “Oh, that sounds like he’s the father of the group,” it really doesn’t feel that way to me. I feel that’s Misyr’s position. Speaking of, ain’t Misyr even older than Rindo? Where’s the “you’re old” jokes when it comes to him? Okay, enough age talk. Rindo is a great guy and deserves better. End of story.
Wait, I lied, this man also gets bonus points for being voiced by Suwabe, a veteran in the industry and a man who is on the same level as Tsuda Kenjirou for having that deep suave voice that knocks poor fangirls to their knees. This man’s voice alone is a lady-killer.
Final Thoughts and Predictions
Despite the game already trying to traumatise me before I even properly walked out the game store, I have been thoroughly enjoying this game and can’t wait to get through each route. I did want a more relaxing game to chill with cuddled up in my blanket in bed, but I know this game is about to get real now that I’m properly on a route. Regardless, overall the atmosphere, the art, the story and all that appears to be pretty solid so far.
I’d suggest this game if any of what I’ve said resonated so far with you. I do also really appreciate the humor in this game but sometimes I do feel a bit bad if it is at the expense of a character. I noticed twice where Kotone thinks or says some interesting stuff about Ignis for instance.
In her defense, the way Bestia was described probably did feel that way to her.
For context, they’re out shopping and Ignis, whose hands were full carrying bags, also had a bag hanging around his neck thus Kotone’s comment. In case you missed this in his profile, Ignis is a “flame-wielding werewolf” hence likening him to a dog. It’s all in good fun but I still felt kind of bad for the poor guy. So I can say that if you’re the type to take comments and such a bit too seriously than some of the humor in this game may not be for you. Personally, I find no offence to the above as I feel like Kotone means no harm and if it was harmful, I feel it would be pointed out since so far the message the game is trying to deliver is a pretty consistent one.
Moving along, I suppose I could drop some predictions I have of the game even though I’m horrible at that.
With that, that will be all from me this time around. I hope you enjoyed reading this post. I had quite a bit of fun writing it and I hope that I will be able to come back soon to deliver my full review of the game itself but if it took me a month to get past the prologue than I’m worried you guys will have to wait until next year at this point. I guess time will tell.
However, let me leave off with showing pictures of these men’s eyes, because for whatever reason I really like when they show shots of their eyes. They say the eyes are the window to the soul so perhaps that might be why. This little slideshow only shows Misyr, Ignis, and Rindo since the other two are…self-explanatory. Aaand, goodbye…for now~
