For those of you who have always been interested in otome games or caught the Code: Realize anime, Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ may be a game that interests you. With two titles in one, Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ features both the original game Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~ and the newest addition Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~. If you love otome games, adventure, and bishounen all with a steampunk flare, you should check out Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ for all that bundled up into one game. It’s really a game for those who have never played the Code: Realize games (since it was only released on the PS Vita originally) and are curious about all the details that were missed in the anime!

Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ is a new title on the PlayStation 4 for all of you otome lovers. Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ brings to you a title previously released on the PS Vita only, Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~, as well as the sequel Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~. With the release of the sequel for the PS Vita out, we will admit that we’re really glad they created this bundle for those who only own a PS4 to get in on the otome game fun.

The original story of Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~ includes all of the same features as the previous game with updated visuals that look just stunning on the proper screen. As for Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~, the game allows you to pursue your love interest further than the previous game without having to unlock characters (Yes, you can dive into Arsene Lupin’s route right away!). Add on top of that, you can also pursue romances that you couldn’t before with Finis and Herlock Sholmes added to the mix!

Aside from just the romantic parts, you can also delve into the parts of the story you weren’t privy to before. Take a look from a different perspective than Cardia’s why don’t you? Along the way, you’ll get to see more of the beautiful CGs and artwork included in Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ featuring that classic-steampunk fusion from the previous game.

Don’t forget that there will be a Limited Edition version of Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ for an additional $20. Included in the Limited Edition version is a cloth poster, 9 chibi character pins, and some great glamour shots of your favorite characters.

Our main character, Cardia, is about to start on an adventure of a lifetime. In Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~, Cardia will be found abandoned and hidden away in a mansion where she cannot touch people because of the poison that taints her skin. One day, after Cardia has been alone for a couple years, a mysterious person named Arsene Lupin will come to change Cardia’s world and help Cardia find a cure for the poison that has cursed her life.

Moving onto Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~, Cardia will begin her new life with the bachelor of your choosing. Life has quieted down but Cardia is still haunted by the memory of the poison that used to hurt everything. However, Cardia will soon learn what it means to be a regular girl in love.

If you have never played Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~, we will just say that Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ contains all of the original content from the PS Vita game playable on the PS4. No bonus content was added nor any extra features aside from the story, so if you played the original game, we don’t really recommend going with Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ over ~Future Blessings~, but the choice is yours. Since the first game is essentially the same as the first one released back in 2015, we will focus our game review on Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~.

First things first, it appears that the brunt of the gameplay involves pursuing your past love interests further. Since you’ve experienced all of the routes in the first game, Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~ does not force you to unlock any of the main routes again, although Herlock’s route is unlocked once you finish one of the common routes. This means that Arsene Lupin, who originally had to be unlocked by playing through each and every route, is playable on your first turn should you choose to do so, which we did!

While we were blasted with nostalgia from the familiar soundtrack and the returning seiyuu, it was easy to get caught up in the moment when the game started. However, as we continued through the route, we were met with a bit of...surprise. For the common routes, it seems that gameplay is virtually nonexistent. It feels like the literal definition of a visual novel with absolutely no interaction in the game on your part. In our opinion, it felt more like an animated picture book than a proper visual novel. However, you do get rather great CGs as you “play” through each route. One of our most excited moments was at the beginning of Van Helsing’s route, but we shall not spoil any of the amazingness of that first CG.

As the stories for the common routes played through, we realized that many of them are rather melodramatic, especially Van Helsing’s route which starts off with his melodramatic narration. Some routes attempted to create drama where there was none. Lupin’s route was cute, but it felt like your typical shoujo manga problem, which was a bit frustrating to see unfold as you are mentally shouting at Cardia to stop being so naive. Some of the other routes are more endearing and exciting, like Impy’s and Saint’s. For the most part, each route just follows the characters’ love stories further after the end of the first game. With no ability to interact or make choices in the common routes, it should be more than evident that there is only one ending per each route, so there are no branching endings. Did we also mention that the common routes are rather short?

There are two extra routes added to Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~ however: Finis and Herlock Sholmes. While the thought of a little brother route had us filled with trepidation, Finis’ route actually surpassed expectations and let us into the minds of Finis, a homunculus with a desire to be loved and cared for. This route, as well as Herlock Sholmes’ route, allowed you to interact and make your own choices, which made it actually feel like a real visual novel. Herlock Sholmes’ route revealed a few answers to questions that we’ve been holding onto for 3 years, which was so great to have answered.

In addition to the Finish and Herlock Sholmes routes, Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~ includes another story called Lupin’s Gang. This story takes place somewhere in the middle of Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~ and is briefly hinted at in the first game (if you remember that hint at all). In this story, you come across the daughter of a “good” mafia boss and find yourself and the rest of the Lupin Gang roped into the mafia’s affairs. While this is perhaps the longest story in Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~, there is no moment when you interact with the game or make any choices like in a regular visual novel. You really just read through the entire story, which has no romantic elements, and watch as Cardia and the Lupin Gang thwart the mafia’s plans.

We should also mention that there is a feature called Delly’s Room, which also has a separate setting allowing you to turn off Delly’s voice, which we were surprised about, however we all know that Delly’s voice can be like nails on a chalkboard, so we’re rather thankful to the game developers for adding this. Delly’s Room has multiple chapters that are unlocked as you play through all of the stories in the game. There is no exact order in which you have to play the routes, the chapters just unlock consecutively so long as you complete a route. This is a rather great feature for getting to know the little vampire king better with some great CGs that we know a lot of girls will enjoy. All the same, it’s more like a slice of life story.

Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~ features some rather beautiful CGs of Cardia and the boys. We were really excited when we saw a few of the CGs that were unlocked as we played! The game designer did put some thought into what fans wanted and ensured that we were not disappointed with the CGs!

One thing we absolutely have to complain about, aside from the lack of gameplay, is the atrocious attempts at proofreading the text. Often, words would repeat themselves in a sentence as if the writer was starting one thought and then, without erasing, would fix that thought to make it sound better, leaving in extra words that ruined the flow. This can be rather frustrating if you, like us, are very particular about spelling and syntax. It can completely ruin the flow of a good visual novel experience.

Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ is a game combining the stories of the first game and the sequel to allow PS4 users access to the entire story. Like the PS Vita release, Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~ still plays the same and provides the same experience on the PS4 as it did on the PS Vita. As for Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~, the game feels as if it’s meant to appeal to the girls who played Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~ and desired more romance than actual plot. However, it loses the adventure and excitement that was contained in the first game.

We were quite surprised by the addition of a Herlock Sholmes and a Finis route, but these two had the most plot out of all the stories and they really made Code: Realize ~Future Blessings~ feel like a real otome game. With the addition of a Herlock Sholmes route that answered the prayers of many girls, the addition of the handsome widower, John Watson, has us aching for yet another sequel has to come out.

Lastly, there is an additional route, Lupin’s Gang, which left us with mixed feelings as it takes away from what effort could have been put into the common routes and introduced us to a handful of characters and a different plot that didn’t actually make sense with the timeline that we remembered. Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ provided a lot of gameplay time, but whether or not you’ll like the addition of both games is a toss up as they have different feels.

Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ has been released to open the world of otome games to the PS4 crowd, a market which may not have had access to otome games or even visual novels until recently. Containing two games, Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~ has a lot of gameplay available. While we enjoyed the nostalgia of playing the first game and the new experiences featured in the sequel, we know all of you will have different feelings about your experiences. We just want to tell you our own feelings about the game!

Now, for those of you who love Code: Realize, do you think you’ll be playing Code: Realize ~Bouquet of Rainbows~? For those who played the first game, what do you think of the sequel? Does anyone else want a John Watson route? Please share all of your thoughts in the comments down below!