Name: Glo-r-ia (88.57% in 28 votes)
Type: ADV
Platform: WINDOWS
Company: Himeya Soft
Release date: 1999
Reviewed by: Mike
Hey all,
Well, this is my first review for Anime Densetsu, so please go easy on me.
Quick summary: Glo-r-ia, by Cs Ware, has been ported over into the States by Himeya Soft. Glo-r-ia is a multi-ending adventure game. All the selections you choose affect how the other characters feel about you, and the ending you recieve. It's very engrossing, has a very well thought out story, and the very diverse characters draw you in and make you want more.
Storyline: The background story is you play the part of Kira, a very intelligent grad student going to MIT. The wealthy Bostonian family, Gloria invites you to tutor one of their daughters, so she can perform better on tests that the family gives. During the course of the teaching, you uncover the pasts of the characters, and the secrets that the Gloria family hides.
Depending on how you tutor the student, many things can happen. If you tutor your student very well, she can excell at the test (which can make some of the other girls jellous). If you don't tutor her well, you could get fired. If you choose to romance the student, and not tutor her, she could fall in love with you. Basically, you have to play the consequenses (both good and bad) for the choices you make. The ending all depends on what you choose.
Thoughts: The game is excellent. The engrossing gameplay, a very deep and intricate story, and very detailed characters quickly drew me into the game.
Although I listed the game as 1999, I think the original was made in 1996 or 1997 (I am using the date of the English version by Himeya). Because of this, the graphics aren't as sharp as currently released games are. I think they are done in 256 color format. But don't let this fool you. They are still well drawn, and full of detail. I gave the graphics a 'lowish' score, but it's more because they are dated, and not that they are poorly drawn. You'll hardly even notice that the graphics are of an older style.
The ending you recieve has 2 parts: a head of household part, and a love part. Which leads to a number of different endings that are possible. Because of this, the replayability for this game is huge. Even if you are on a path to get an ending that you have already recieved, details, such as the feelings the characters have for you, who you end up with, and how the conversations go, can change.
The sound affects and music are midi files, but well done, and they accent the events that are currently going on. The voice acting is very good; all the characters have distinct traits that show through in their voices.
The translation is also very well done. Himeya kept as close as they could to the 'feel' and meaning of what was being said. There are no out of place lines; or lines that have been 'Americanized'.
Himeya also cleaned up the script so you wouldn't have the problems that sometimes popped up in Divi-DEAD (like when you're talking to Asuza, and your lines are listed as Asuzas as well). Knowledge of Japanese isn't necessary for this game. Himeya did change the age of the characters (so they are all 18+, instead of the ages they give when you talk to them).
I do have some complaints, but it's more cosmetic than anything. If you choose to have the music playing, it frequently drowns out what the girls are saying. So I had to play the game with the music off, so I could hear what was going on. I also feel it would have been nice if you could have the option of saving the images at bitmaps (like you do in Divi-DEAD); Photoshop is such a chore to use when all you want is some wallpaper.
The extras are cool as well. The game includes 3 other sub-games that you unlock depending on the endings you receive. There is a slot machine (which has additional pics not availble from just playing the game), a story about the future of Charme and Kira (if you end with Kira), and Naomi's room (where Naomi takes a non-serious interview of the game). In fact, if you don't play these games and beat them, I do know that you'll never reach 100%. Glo-r-ia also lets you view the scenes/faces/locations that you've unlocked (except those you have seen in the slot machine), as well as play the music. Lastly, it comes with a couple extra wallpapers which are highly detailed, and very well done.
All-in-all, a highly recommendable game.
Story: 9.5
Graphics: 7.5
Translation: 8.5
Sound/Music: 8.5
Voice Acting: 9.0
Extras: 9.0
Replayabilty: 10.0
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