When Your Crush Ghosts You: A 9 R.I.P. Review

By Rae

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch

Hello, hello! Rae here again, a nerd of many interests and an otome game enthusiast who has been here for far too long. Today I have a very full cup of a vanilla latte. I don’t normally drink what’s essentially sweet milk disguised as coffee, but I was hoping to make a fun little analogy with it later. With that in mind, let’s get into it!

9 R.I.P. is a new otome game developed by Otomate and published by Idea Factory. Released in Japan last year (2023), the English speaking community has been buzzing with excitement for our turn. Thankfully we didn’t have to wait very long! With a release of Oct 15, 2024, official release is right around the corner. If your curiosity can’t be contained, read on and I’ll give you some insights about the game without those spooky, scary spoilers!! 

Story

Life has been stressful lately. The future is scary when you have no idea what you want to do with your life, and it’s even worse when your mother demands you to go to a medical school against your wishes. In this Visual Novel, we follow Misa Isshiki, a second year in high school who is struggling to assert her wishes for her future as she really doesn’t have any. With so much weighing on her mind, her best friend decides to cheer her up the best way she knows how - by telling Misa about the occult cases and spiriting aways that happen to those with high stress or despair! But of course, that could never apply to real life…Right? 

Of course not! Occult and folklore isn’t real. Or at least it wasn’t until Misa hears a mysterious voice calling to her, “Why don't we take a look and see what you should do with your life! I'm the one who will lead you into the darkness…” What happens after could be told as a folklore tale! 

Sound (Voice Cast)

I can’t even explain how clear the voices sound! I’m not sure if it’s due to high quality voice actors, high quality recording equipment, or if I’m just making this up, but all the voices are crisp and incredibly clear to me. As a chronic “music volume down”-er, I barely had to touch the sound settings for this game. The voice cast is also diverse, with a few names I didn’t recognize but thoroughly enjoyed. I did notice a trend of a lot of them having singing talent too, which was a pretty funny thing to think about in a game about “scary occult” stuff. Here’s a tempting list for you:

Yukimaro - KENN (Limbo Fitzgerald - BUSTAFELLOWS, Seiya Aido - I-chu, Aoi Satsuki - Tsukiuta)
Minami - Nobuhiko Okamoto (Floyd - Twisted Wonderland, Yang - Piofiore, Katsuki Bakugou - MHA)
Sena - Tetsuya Kakihara (You Haduki - Tsukiuta, Natsu Dragneel - Fairy Tail, Shin - Amnesia)

Sound (OST)

I like to complain about BGM’s being too loud, but I barely had to mess with the game’s sound setting. I can clearly hear the voice cast over the music and the sound effects (normally) aren’t too bad. There are a few jump scares that got me to cringe from the sound, but nothing too bad. I do enjoy the music, but nothing really stands out. It’s not distracting or annoying, but not very memorable.

Each ending generally has it’s own song, which is nice and adds to the feelings it wants to express. I do want to give some love to the opening song by the Visual Kei group Pluto (not to be confused with NINTH IN PLUTO). I enjoyed “horizon” so much, I just had to look them up! Their style really works well with the theme and visuals of the game. They were an awesome choice and I’m a sucker for Visual Kei music in otome games.

Visuals (Design & Art)

STUNNINGGG!! The character design and art is by Yuuya, artist for Bara ni Kakusareshi Verite, Café Enchanté, Cupid Parasite. Their use of vivid colors is always eye-catching and beautiful. I love that you can tell Yuuya really put thought into each of the characters. The characters are designed so well to fit with their personality and backstory, you can really get caught off guard when a character flips a switch!

Beyond just the main cast, the general art direction really leans into the dark and spooky aesthetic. It’s dark, but not gloomy, which works really well with the tone. And the menus?? Absolutely scrumptious. I love the use of the outlines of the LI for picking their gallery, etc. My only complaint here would be the lack of CG’s, but that wasn’t at the front of my mind during the actual gameplay. Due to only having about 4 end chapters dedicated to the route, there aren’t many CG’s of the LI and Misa. Though the CG’s are pretty limited, there were lots of visual movements during normal gameplay. It didn’t feel stiff or static at all. 

I normally say the love catches are ugly or intrusive, but the two (yes two!) types of meters both were visually nice and off to the side away from the characters face.

Value

For the amount of love that went into this game, I would say that its current $49.99 price point is fair. I love having a concept focused on the occult that isn’t just vampires for once. If you like your boy’s looking like they will kill you, but are actually soft and loving, this might be for you. I believe that a Limited Edition is available for $89.99, which includes a necklace, drama CD, a fan, an artbook, trading cards, and a reversible game sleeve. In all honesty, I would suggest getting the Limited Edition if you have more than a small interest in the game. The characters are worth it, the artbook looks amazing, and you’d get a ton of merch in one go. 

Final Thoughts

Pros:
+ A choice in the prologue puts you down four different paths (or “worlds”), where you are put onto a “common route” with two of the love interests. From there, it leads into their personal routes. I really enjoyed this, as I wouldn’t have to replay a shared common route with each of the nine love interests. 
+ The boys are cute!! They are so wonderfully designed and interesting to look at. 
+ For those used to otome games, this game runs a bit short. Normally I would count that as a negative, but script writers really respect your time and I was left without feeling like parts dragged or were lacking. It’s a solid length (runs a bit over 50hrs of gameplay) and I would absolutely suggest this to players who have very busy lives. 
+ There are shifts in perspective every now and then, which are really interesting! I loved getting some insight on how another character understood a situation or watching the boys squirm after a particularly soft interaction. (ehehe)
+ Misa is very likable. Wouldn't say she's the best or worst MC, but she is headstrong without losing her politeness. She's a little generic, but she's easy to relate to so her role is easy for those who like to self insert.
+ Some of the bad endings are really interesting, and their intensity can range from “oh…” to “Oh?!” to “OH NO!!”

Cons:
- My biggest complaint is the lack of actual “scary” situations. I adore the atmosphere and the attempts at scares, but once you understand the setting of the game, it is really…calming? The boys are all super fluffy and very rarely do anything I would consider scary. I think the marketing side went a little heavy and created an expectation that it was a little more like a horror game. This is where I put my silly analogy with my coffee. You remember that, right? The sweet milk disguised as coffee? You’re told it is coffee, which is dark and bitter, but it’s actually suuuuper sugary and sweet like flavored milk. It isn’t bad, just not what I expected. 
- For some, the shortage of CG’s could be a big negative.
- Some bad ends are super easy to find, while others don't make much sense to me and took a bit of effort trying to find. It's not a suuuper negative thing, but it does take away from a quick full completion
- No harem route? Lame. Give me a harem ending!! I don’t even care if it’s a joke route! 

Check 9 R.I.P. on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/9-r-i-p-switch/

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Story: A
Gameplay: N/A
Graphics: A
Music/Sound: A
Value: A

Overall: A

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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This is what we're all here for right?

#9RIP