Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~ Switch Review – Lupin’s Gang are Back!
Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~ is the nostalgic return to visual novel based steampunk Victorian London to find out what happened after and in the middle of the original Code: Realize (which is a fantastic intriguing visual novel and our review can be found here). What you get here are 8 short stories, 5 are the epilogues for each of your eligible bachelors’, one entirely new story set in the middle of the first game and two 5 chapter long ‘what if’ stories starring Sholmes and Finis. You just pick which of the stories you want to read and get taken back to Steel London.
Futures Blessing is very much a mix of sequel and spin off but should really only be played after completing the first game. Each sequel story has a little bit of story of what happens next still told in the same fantastic and intriguing way as the first but also really concentrates on deepening protagonist Cardia’s relationship with the fine fellows on offer, however They don’t contain any choices, just read away. It’s very sweet but the focus more on the romance compared to the original may put off some people as the original had a story so good and was told in a way that I can happily recommend it to anyone of any sexual orientation. To counteract this you get see a lot of your other halves point of view and emotions making it so the player could easily put themselves in their shoes rather than Cardia’s.
Throughout Future Blessing you’ll get new experiences as characters are built upon, such as in the story that follows the true ending. Cardia is free from her curse and actually gets to start living life. This seems to have helped regress her to being like a 13 year old it’s a mixture of cute puppy love and childishness. All throughout the epilogue stories Cardia will have more personality than previously which really adds to the immersion and attachment to the protagonist. You’ll also learn a new side of each of your perfectly chiseled face lovers and might find that they are more juvenile than you expected or aren’t quite as calm cool and collected as they appear in the desperate situations of the original game.
The Lupin’s gang story is like an extended missing chapter from the original game. With the same twists, turns and intrigue that encapsulated the reader, new eccentric and lovable characters and taking place once you’ve met all the main characters of the original this story really took me back and had me hooked to the edge of my seat to find out what’s going to happen. Once again this is a story to sit back and read with no choices.
Finally we have the two 5 chapter ‘what if’ stories. The setting for both is ‘what if Cardia ran away after finding her father’s laboratory in the first game’, they couldn’t take more drastically different routes. In one you go back to Wales only to find Finis and decide to go with him, now anyone who’s played the first game will know that this will cause chaos to ensue and it’s as fantastic as it sounds. The other has you solving a case with Sholmes. These both do have a few choices with some bad ends, a normal end and a good end.
The soundtrack is much the same as the original, some might call it lazy but often in visual novels when the soundtrack is fairly good in the first place it puts a smile on my face and brings back fond memories of the previous game. The Japanese only voice acting is just as good as before, still with every word spoken except for our protagonist Cardia who still speaks through telepathy I guess?
The art style and background drawings still look great and while many are reused we are also treating to a lot of new locations such as a look at the extreme difference between this world’s Paris and London.
Code: Realize ~Future Blessing~ was like a book I didn’t want to put down, I was just reading with few choices of any real consequence to make but my attachment to the lovable characters and introduction to new interesting ones made it a must read. However as much fun as I had here, you aren’t getting the same quantity as the first game, you get a total of 15 chapters, some longer and some shorter than in the original, but compared to the 33 chapters of the original it seems a bit poultry. Future Blessing feels like it would have been better suited to DLC as it is essentially an epilogue and some bonus extended chapters or even better yet come in one complete package as it did in Japan and on PS4. Don’t let this tarnish your opinion of Future Blessings though as if you love Cardia and the Lupin crew you won’t be disappointed.
A huge thank you to Aksys Games for providing the review code. Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~ is available now both physically and digitally on the Nintendo eShop for £35.99/€39.99/$39.99.
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