About This Game "Feed me, or I'll reap your soul!"And with those ridiculous words, my whole life was turned upside down.Sakuraba Rie, aged nine, is a cynical and grumpy girl who cares little for her fellow classmates, and does not have a single friend.That is, until a self-proclaimed demon from the deepest, darkest pits of Hell suddenly appears in Rie's kitchen and steals a tray of cookies.What will happen between these two young girls? Will friendship blossom between them, or perhaps something more?That is up to the reader to decide - but rest assured, no matter what, there will lots and lots of delicious food!From Ebi-Hime, creator of "Asphyxia" and "The Way We ALL GO" comes "Strawberry Vinegar" a slice-of-life story with food, cute demons, yuri, and more food. 1075eedd30 Title: Strawberry VinegarGenre: Adventure, Casual, IndieDeveloper:ebi-himePublisher:ebi-himeRelease Date: 5 Jan, 2016 Strawberry Vinegar Download Without Verification \u273f Cute story\u273f Unique character design\u273f Beautiful artworkIt's a good short VN, I recommend it if you want something lighthearted with enjoyable visuals.. very cute, and any 'yuri' media that doesn't sexualize their child protags is a plus from me.. Another wonderful Ebi-Hime yuri game. It’s getting to be a habit :) This one is about food. Well, not really, but kind’a. No, it’s about a little demon girl from hell threatening to reap your soul if you don’t feed her… So, you feed her, or this is one short game, lemme tell ya’. -Of course, the demon turns out to be quite lovely and enchanting (as long as you feed her!). It’s a lovely journey through some of Japan’s most well-known dishes, along with images and descriptions thereof (yes, you will raid your cupboards, pantries and fridges more than once during this game). And it’s quite a long game too, at least if you want to explore all the roads and avenues our main characters can travel. Lovely game, long game, highly recommended, and now I’m hungry again…. My full review can be found here.[www.the-backlog.net]Strawberry Vinegar follows the story of young Sakuraba Rie, a girl who has her life upturned after a demon shows up that will reap her soul if she doesn't feed this demon food. For the next week (6 days, because weeks don't have 7 days in Hell), Licia will be living with Rie and her family, and yes - there will be lots of food.Strawberry Vinegar is one of my favourite VN's I've read, despite how hungry it made me. The artwork is extremely charming, and the characters are very likeable. There are 6 endings to aim for in the game, and each is sure to make your mouth water with how much food you are shown. I did find some minor odd spelling issues (such as "parents" in place of "patients"), but they didn't detract from the story too much.I highly suggest this game to anyone who loves food and/or good stories. There is some hint of female love, especially in some of the endings, but considering for the bulk of the game Rie and Licia are 9, don't expect much.Disclaimer: I was provided a key by the publisher for review purposes.. Incredibly cute VN that shifts the focus on romantic relationships between adults to the budding friendship between two children.Strawberry Vinegar features a 9 year old girl named Rie who is responsible, cynical and deep down very lonely. She is one day visited by Licia - a demon from Hell. Licia demands that Rie make her delicious food throughout the course of a week or she will reap her soul. Licia is here on a "vacation" to see what earth is like, and Rie becomes her caregiver throughout the course of a six day period. Although resisitive to having Licia around at first, Rie is unable to resist Licia's innocent, friendly and loving nature and learns that having a friend isn't so bad after all. The two girls bond through their mutual love of food and through their opposite but also complimentary personalities. The game has great music, cute and colorful artwork and backgrounds, and features tons of photos of yummy looking food! The photos of the food and ebi-hime's descriptions made me feel really hungry. To read through all of the unique dialogue, it took me about 4 hours in total. There are a total of 5 different endings, a wide variety of gallery art, and also additional things such as: concept art, cut content that never made it into the game, and the writer's thoughts on each character. Would recommend to those who like a very tame and light hearted VN (no swearing, nudity, etc), and for those who like ebi-hime's other workings.. This was a sweet, sweet experience and a more intricate/expansive one than I've expected honestly. While this VN might not be a long one by Japanese standards, it took me full two evening to complete it and I was pleasantly surprised by the story variation and the quality of content it offered.I will maybe start by addressing a few obvious concerns. First, the game indeed features a childish crush between two very young girls, but never crosses the line into uncomfortable territories - everything that happens between them is really cute and innocent and the romantic ending offers an epilogue set a decade later, with some very, very mild "sexual content" (also known as a kissing CG). There's really no reason to freak out.Second, while the aesthetic might be diabetes-inducing, it's a well-written and compelling little story (although obviously comedic and at times pretty absurd because of that), that should be satisfying for even more demanding, mature readers, if they're not allergic to cute things. It has a completely different tone than most of Ebi-Hime's work, but it's still very well done, Third, it's pretty serious about its main theme of sweets and food, but doesn't go overboard - it didn't bore me with long scenes of preparing meals and "foodgasms" like some anime series did in the past.All this combines with fun characters and gorgeous art really made it a satisfying, relaxing experience for me. There are things that could be criticized - like Rie being a bit too mature and smart for a second-grader, some grammar mistakes and minor errors or the somewhat forgettable music. In the end, though, it's one of the best short, casual VNs I've read to date and I can wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who doesn’t hate yuri or comedic slice-of-life stories.------------------------PS If you're interested in more quality western VNs, check out my curator page.. Strawberry Vinegar Full ReviewThis VN is about a 9 year old girl Rie who meets a “demon” Licia who is about the same as her age and yes, she is also from a place called “Hell”. The demon says to stay at her home for 6 days (as apparently there is only 6 days in hell, not 7). They both get to know each other, first they start to hate each other, but later in the VN, they start to love each other and show affection to each other. I mean, it even gets to the point where you think a Yuri scene is about to pop up any moment….I mean there are some that do, so don’t be disappointed (I definitely bought this for the plot, right?)Graphics: 9/10If you have read the Visual Novels’ Asphyxia and/or The Sad Story of Emmeline Burns you might be familiar with the graphics, as they are made by the same people. The artwork really shows bright images of the girls and the environment they’re in, they did a great job in terms of the visuals in this novel. The drawing of the girls doesn’t really follow the same “anime-like” appearance as other VNs, which felt unique in its own way, but it also felt “out of place” for me as I wasn’t quite used to it at the beginning. But overall it delivers a nice artwork for the characters and the environment, great job on this one. Storyline: 8/10I have already mentioned some of it above. But in terms of “in depth story” it doesn’t go far and long, in fact this VN has really fast pacing and really quick character development, so if you wanted a long, in depth story VN, sadly this is not for you. But for the others, it delivers a nice empathises on both of the girls as they go on about their day. Also, to mention Rie made her first friend EVER! In her life, that is of course the demon she met, who broke into her home and started eating cookies…well, I guess you can also make friends that way huh, who would’ve thought. Overall, the novel shows us a story of two girls who show love and affection to each other as the VN progresses on and it portrays their everyday life and show their own personal character development. Sound: 4/10Nothing of the amazing to hear in this novel, there is only ever so many soundtracks until you start hearing the same ones that you heard 2-3 scenes ago. However, some are really nicely done, but I wouldn’t say all of them are of “high quality” though. Some of the soundtracks don’t even fit particular scenes, but eh, what can you do?Overall, the soundtrack is quite a let-down. It doesn’t offer much for the reader as some don’t even match the scene.Gameplay: 9/10The VN offers the basic options in the menu which could alterate your VN experience. It at least has the SHIFT + TAB overlay support which I really liked, but it only worked when you had a high enough frame rate (Between 30-60 FPS), otherwise it wouldn’t function, or sometimes it would work, but it would lag the game or lag the overlay. Overall, it only offers basic options and gameplay aspects. But this is enough for this kind of VN.Price: 10/10At £6.99 this is a great price for this VN. Any higher than £10 would not have been worth buying at all. This is great to see as many VNs of this length are overpriced despite offering the same features, I’ll give this VN full marks here.Overall at the price, you get what you pay for, it’s not too low or too high. This is a great price point for this VN.ConclusionIt is a decent VN with good artworks and a taste of Yuri. That is all I can say for that one. I can only recommend the VN if you are into fast paced stories, cute girls and VNs in general. This is NOT for the “serious” reader if you know what I mean.
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