9 R.I.P. Review (Switch)

9 love interests, 9 chapters, 9 days

9 R.I.P. is probably the otome visual novel I was anticipating the most, even before the localization was officially announced. I first learned about this otome game through people hoping it would eventually get localized. Of course, I would hoped it would too after hearing how great it was from those that could play the Japanese release. It turns out I didn’t have to wait too long as not long after Idea Factory teased a new localization game announcement. A lot of people, including me, guessed it would be 9 R.I.P. and it was! From then on, I was eagerly waiting the release date and finally it came. So, was the hype worth it now that I was able to play?

There will be light spoilers here.

In 9 R.I.P. you get into the head of a high school girl who is currently struggling with an important decision related to her future. You can change her name, but her canon name is Misa Isshki and I’ll refer to her by that name for this review. 9 R.I.P. starts out with setting a creepy tone right away as we hear a ghost story about Kara Kara, a sword wielding, bloodthirsty killer who lurks the very school our protagonist goes to. We learn this ghost story is masterfully being told by Misa’s childhood best friend Sayaka, who is a huge fan of the occult and most likely knows everything that you could possibly ask. Misa is more of an occult skeptic, but she nonetheless plays along and never discourages or puts down Sayaka. Though, with how close they are this also means that Sayaka picks up on Misa’s inner turmoil even if she doesn’t confide in her. You see, they’re both second years and its time to make a decision regarding their future. They recently received their career path surveys and Misa uncharacteristically hasn’t started on hers yet. It turns out that she’s been pressured to enter into the medical field by her mom and when Misa looks deep insider her she realized that she doesn’t actually want to. She doesn’t know what else to pursue as she was never able to do anything else, but it doesn’t seem as big of a hurdle than trying to break it to her mom that she won’t go to medical school.

This is when things get weird as Misa starts hearing a mysterious eerie voice foreshadowing the events to come and Sayaka ends up telling Misa about the legends of people being “spirited away”, that their town is known as a hot spot, and those who are confused, struggling, or mentally stressed are more to be spirited away. Misa even remarks how she seems like a prime candidate and she may have jinxed herself. How Misa gets spirited away and where depends on what she does after school and thus, the prologue splits into four separate Common Route paths.

I really liked Misa as the main character and I found myself relating to her a lot. Misa is kind, smart, has a sweet tooth, and does seem to have a fighting spirit within her as she does seem to always pick back up after being discouraged. However, Misa does have a tendency to refuse help or ask for help so she’s not a burden or troubling the other person, misses when the people around her are worried for her (implying either she’s so caught up in not being a burden to her loved ones that she doesn’t realize that she’s actually hurting them), and she does have a tendency to bottle up her emotions until they spill out through saying some regretful things or being dismissive without realizing it. While her still trying to figure out what she wants to pursue and feeling like everyone around her already knows is already relatable, I did like the added addition of the pressure she’s under to be a doctor and how you do end up learning why her mother is so insistent on it. This all allows Misa to not only be able to handle being spirited away, after she understandably freaks out, but also gives her room to grow and let her express the aspects of her personality she wishes she can like speaking her mind or being a bit selfish. I also really think that not being an occult fanatic like Sayaka was a great choice. Overall, she’s a wonderful protagonist that I really enjoyed being in the head of, watching her grow throughout the various paths, and loved her dynamic with all the characters she ends up meeting. She ends up also pairing pretty well with all the love interests (which is probably helped by them sharing an aspect or two with her).

Considering how 9 R.I.P. is structured, I was wondering how I should talk about the love interests (or LIs) here. After thinking about it, I decided to group everyone up by their Common Route paths together. It made more sense to talk about the LIs and their Common Route path together rather than having them separated and risk being confusing. Especially since I tend to talk (write?) a lot (which I’m going to try and get better at going back to being more short and sweet).

With that out of the way, 9 R.I.P. does not have a recommended route order (which makes sense since they’re all mostly unconnected). Though, certain routes do spoil the overarching mystery and they do have different things that they focus on. My order logic was how they were ordered in the choice selection, with the exception of making sure to leave the Spirit World for last. For the LI order, I basically did them by the order they appeared or did the one I didn’t like the most first (which the latter only happened once). Each route also has a Godly Ending, which is a good ending with max affection; a Godly Ending, still a good ending but you didn’t get enough affection, and a couple bad endings sprinkled in at various points. Without further ado, let’s get into it!

School Ghost Stories

The first Common Route I did was School Ghost Stories and here Misa chooses to talk to her sister after school to ask for some advice on how to tell their mom that she doesn’t want to go into medical school. Despite Misa’s nervousness, it turns out to be a great decision as it gives her hindsight on what to do and brings them closer. However, the next day the mysterious voice comes back to cryptically tell her what’s about to happen, her mom calls and bulldozes over Misa trying to tell her what’s on her mind, and her survey turns into a blank sheet of paper before she loses consciousness.

When Misa wakes up again, she finds that she has no memories of what happened moments ago, confused at why she randomly has a blank sheet of paper, and the school… I’m pretty sure it’s not normally illuminated by red lighting and Misa wasn’t able to see all the ghosts before. Well, it turns out that Misa and the whole school was spirited away to a place in between realms, the new atmosphere takes a toll on Misa until she’s going to die (putting her at a time crunch), and she needs to figure out how to bring herself and the school back. Luckily, she does meet some friendly ghosts and finds out pretty quickly that the Seven Wonders of her school are the key to getting back home.

Kureha

First up is Kureha, who actually takes up a lot of firsts as he’s the first ghost story you learn about, he’s the ghost Misa sees first, and he’s the first ghost that she ends up interacting with overall. Not to mention that the game opens up with his ghost story to set the mood. Kureha is connected to the “Kara Kara” Seven Wonders ghost story where if you hear a sword dragging on the ground behind you while alone in school at twilight, you don’t turn around or answer any questions or else he’ll kill you. Despite how scary he seems both due to his ghost story and his first introduction, Kureha turns out to be kind, considerate, always makes sure that Misa is or will be safe, and can be kind of a dork sometimes. He endeared me to him pretty quickly. I did find it sweet how worried he was about Misa misinterpreting his interest in her and reframing from touching Misa for the longest time so he wouldn’t lose control since ghosts are drawn to the warmth the living gives off. I also found it pretty funny that he can’t handle anything scary like ghost stories despite being a ghost himself.

I liked Kureha as a character and I liked his route. This has more horror elements in it, a good amount of tension, I felt the romance and the plot was balanced well, and I got really invested in uncovering the mystery surrounding his death and a terrible incident that happened decades ago that are still burdening a lot of ghosts that reside in the school. I did also like Misa and Kureha’s romance and how it progressed. He’s just a big ‘ole loveable dork at the end of the day. I’m glad I ended up doing his route first.

Hibiki

Next up is Hibiki and he’s the game’s resident sad boy that you just want to protect. Hibiki is also one of the Seven Wonders and he’s associated with the “Grasp of the Mirror” ghost story. Basically, if you touch the full length mirror that’s located on the school stairwell, a hand will come out to pull you in and kill you. When Misa first comes across Hibiki he does not make a good first impression, but you do learn that he kind of went a bit crazy due to how drawn he was to Misa’s warmth. He starts out hesistant in helping Misa and more cautious; as well as the fact that he’s shy, afraid of interesting with others, constantly on guard, hides a gloomy dark side under his positive and bright attitude, and can be a bit unstable. Once he gets to know Misa, he does end up eagerly helping, doing his best when asked to help, and does find you and comfort around Misa. Also, he definitely is touchstarved (even without the whole ghosts being drawn to the warmth of the living thing) and he has some yandere tendencies.

I liked Hiniki’s route as well. This one focuses more on the creepy factor as it focuses on the horrible circumstances he had to go through when alive and how it still affects him as a ghost. This route is really emotional, it even made me tear up multiple times, as it ties up the few loose ends that were left about the incident 70 years ago and aims to find a way for Hibiki to move on. He goes through some good growth over the course of his route, I liked learning more about him, and I did like the romance between him and Misa and how obsessively sweet he was. I did also like how this route was used to show Misa how hiding the trith will ultimately hurt yourself and those around you. So, yeah, overall a solid route.

Urban Legends

The next Common Route path I did was Urban Legends and it starts with some similarities but also some key differences. Misa decides to go to the library to look through the information they have on colleges and careers to see if anything sparks inspiration. Misa knows it’ll make it easier to convince her mom to let her go down a different career path if she already has some idea of what she wants to do. Sadly, Misa doesn’t end up finding anything. Even worse, she ends up accidentally hurting Sayaka as she lets it slip she’s not going to the medical school almost dismissively. Sayaka, who is confused and hurt as she was planning on going to the same school so she won’t be alone during her college years, hesitantly casts a spell that she found online on Misa. However, things don’t go as planned for Sayaka. Misa gets a visit from the mysterious voice again, she gets a weird glitchy call that she assumed was from Sayaka, and she finds that her survey was torn into big shreds. This sets up what’s set to happen at her local shrine where a shred somehow finds itself fluttering beside the road. And when Misa goes to pick it up…she gets hit. The last thing she sees is the blinding light and the last thing she hears is someone apologizing for not saving her.

When Misa wakes up again, all seems normal. That is, until she hears her teacher announcing that she was in an accident, hears her classmates gossiping about what they heard or saw, and people start walking through her. She’s a ghost now and Misa takes a quick cry before the events of this route properly starts up. Misa lost her memory of what happened after she left school, but she does meet another ghost who seemed to take it upon himself to take responsibility for her and introduce you to the wonderful world of being a ghost. She also does meet another ghost where the interactions with him are strange to say the least and she does find a way to regain her memories. Misa does also end up trying to help the two LIs with their situation, figure out what Sayaka is planning so she can stop her from doing something dangerous, and try to figure out her lingering regret so so can resolve it. Yeah, it’s a lot, but this route does take a more slice-of-life vibe and does a good job balancing everything. It definitely helps how often times multiple aspects of this route overlaps so it can tackle two things at once organically.

Sena

Sena was the first LI I did in Urban Legends. You don’t meet him first in this route, but I just had a feeling I wouldn’t like his route so I did him first. Sena is childhood best friends with Koyo and in life he a popular idol known as SENA. He’s wildly passionate about being an idol as he really loves it, he’s really talented in every aspect but dancing (which his fans found charming), he has a bright personality, and a sparkling aura that you can practically see. He is also a reserved and considerate person who also doesn’t shy away from occasionally joking around, teasing Misa, and professing that he fell in love on first sight. Sena was basically born to be an idol. Which makes what happened more tragic as he died just three years after debuting. No wonder he’s so in denial of his death that he doesn’t know he’s dead and his memory resets every day so he doesn’t have to face the illness that killed him. Due to how popular he was, it didn’t take long for an urban legend to pop up. It’s rumored that you have a chance at spotting the ghost of SENA if you visit the local park and he was dubbed as the “Young Man Gazing at the Stars” due to that was what he was doing when the first person spotted his ghost.

Sena was the LI that I wasn’t really that into. He’s nice, but I wasn’t really into his personality and while his memory reset situation was interesting you don’t really get a lot of the real Sena. Plus, I didn’t really know how his route would play out. I am glad to say that he really does come to life (pardon the term) as you’re at the end of the Common Route and in his route. I did like how his memory loss affected how he viewed his feelings for Misa, how he played off of other characters, and how Misa wasn’t a fan of Sena which helped elevate one of his insecurities. He knows that Misa likes him for him and it’s so sweet how he wanted to remember Misa’s name himself rather than being told. I did also like how Sena notices when others are deflecting (thanks to his own experience of deflecting compliments) and goes along with it before revealing that he knew haha. However, I just found his route to be just alright. It just felt like the writer(s) just didn’t know what to really do for his route other than showcasing what a pain one of Misa’s negative traits is (which worked I wanted to smack Sena with a rolled up newspaper so many times). I also thought this route was leading up to a different focus and was going to go deeper into Sena’s character, but it just doesn’t and I was pretty disappointed. This route just slowly lost steam after it build up from the Common Route and the ending felt rushed.

Koyo

Up next is Koyo and he’s associated with the local, more heartwarming version of the “Merry Mary” urban legend. It’s said that when Merry Mary calls, its to bring a message from a loved one that’s passed away. Koyo is the first ghost you encounter in Urban Legends and while he first comes off as hard, uncaring, pushy, a total jerk, and a conversation bulldozer; you learn that that’s just how he shows that he cares about you. He’s also pretty hard to read, dorect, and leaves explaining for what he’s doing for later, but he’s selfless, sticks up for Misa, passionate about helping other ghosts cross over through his Merry Mary “job”, and you do eventually learn why he felt so responsible for Misa. That he didn’t want Misa to be all alone so he was pushy about hanging out with him. I also loved his banter with other characters, the way he teases Misa, and how surprisingly funny his jokes are (if he doesn’t have dry humor I don’t know who does), but he also doesn’t like asking for help and can’t take compliments well as he doesn’t seem to think he’s a good person. He does also turn out to be pretty famous himself and what he did when he was alive is so funny with context that he’s friends with Sena and Kureha.

I really enjoyed Koyo’s route and I’m so glad I played it after Sena’s as his is the strongest of the two. I even think how Sena’s character ends up by the end of this route is better than how he ends up in his own route. I loved Koyo’s personality and he gets even better here as he shows a hint of having a jealous side. Koyo and Misa were really cute together, I liked how they both helped each other, and Koyo had some good banter with other characters (especially one that made up for some funny moments). I did also like the plot of this route with how it incorporated a side character that turned out to be totally crazy and how it handled Koyo’s backstory. It was totally unexpected in a good way. Overall, this route was great with its sweet romance and angsty plot.

Other Realm

Next up is the Other Realm and instead of facing her dilemma, Misa decides to go to her favorite cafe and order a parfait. Misa really beats herself up over running from her problems despite knowing it’s just going to get worse. After she finishes per parfait, she decides to wander around to avoid her mom bugging her about going to medical school and she finds herself at her local shrine. Misa thinks about praying before she ultimately decides not to finding it better for her to figure out things for herself. As usual, the mysterious voice cryptically talks to Misa, Misa gets a phone call that she doesn’t answer, and her survey is cleanly split in half before she loses consciousness.

When Misa wakes up, she first finds that a man with strange imitation metal horns is all up in her face trying to wake her up. As Misa takes in her surroundings, she finds herself on a train. A red train that she doesn’t remember getting on and looking outside reveals a red moon bathing a big city in red. Actually, Misa doesn’t remember anything past getting ready for school. Misa is lowkey freaking out and is about to cry, but she does pull it together to be a calm and confident anchor for the stranger with her…who is acting scared, freaking out, and crying. They bond and Misa’s motherly instincts seem to be kicked into gear, but this guy is not what he seems especially when Misa just falls asleep and has a strange dream. When Misa wakes up again, she meets the other LI who came into save her. He is the more trustworthy of the two and he even dedicates himself to keeping Misa safe, teaching her about the Other Realm (aka Hell aka Hidden Realm), and finding a way to send her back to the Mortal Realm before the atmosphere takes too much of a toll on Misa. Although, he was not ready for Misa to do some dumb things and stress him out with the fact that the other LI managed to get to and bond with her first.

Minami

I actually really liked both Minami and Seiya through their previous appearances in other routes, but Minami shows up first so he has the honor of being the first LI I did in the Other Realm. Minami is a demon and man does he deliver on being one. He is specifically an Incubus which manipulates their target’s dreams so they’ll have nightmares to feed on their terror and lower their willpower so they can manipulate them into a soul pact. Which is not good for the human, but great for the Incubus. Minami is quite an interesting character who seems to be experiencing a push and pull within himself as he wants Misa’s soul but also wants her romantically. First of all, I want to mention how good of an actor Minami is and that I would have been fooled if I didn’t already play the route he also shows up in. Even when he messes up, it’s subtle and he knows to cover it up by diverting your attention. Anyway, Minami is quite moody and you’ll never know when he’ll have one of his mood swings, selfish, impatient, sadistic, and is easily annoyed; but he does actually adore Misa, will protect her, and is so cute when he’s in denial about the reason why he’s keeping her alive. It’s also so cute when you end up flustering him. I did also find it strangely endearing how he’d threaten you so you wouldn’t do something he didn’t like again (like biting off your ears) and how proud he seems when Misa listens to him.

He’s also like a little kid as he’s easily bored and demands to be entertained. I joked to myself during one section that he’s like a bored little kid having to go to his parent’s workplace.

Like I mentioned before, I loved Minami. I loved his scene when he appeared in a previous route and I loved him in his own route. Though, I do know he’s more of a love him or hate him kind of LI with how toxic he is. I definitely had some “oh boy” reactions, but I think it just really helped that Minami was unapologetic, he is like that from the beginning and you watch him grow as the route progresses, and just the way his character was executed. I loved Minami’s personality, how he and Misa interacted, how Misa got used to him until she felt comfort being around him, and how Minami put his own comfort to the back burner for Misa. I also really enjoyed the route’s plot. I thought it was going to go another way, basically acting as a parallel to what I thought Seiya’s route would be, but it turned out to be much better as it focused more a on personal conflict that I was not expecting. Though at the same time, it makes a lot of sense as the game leads up to it pretty well (and I’d say the pacing overall is pretty good). I also love how Seiya was in this route and it was so funny seeing them having to be around each other reluctantly and the bickering. Also, I wished we got more scenes with Misa being feisty as I have a feeling that Minami liked it (and I liked it too).

This is definitely a Frenemies to Lovers romance and I loved it so much.

Seiya

It’s Seiya’s turn! Seiya is a ghost, but he isn’t one that’s still lingering in the Mortal Realm. Instead, he’s actually working in the Other Realm as the Grand Warder of Hell. He oversees punishment of those who gravely sinned in life. Seiya is pretty calm, collected, sympathetic, and a diligent workaholic. Seiya isn’t that expressive, but you can still tell what he’s feeling through his tone of voice. Except when he’s joking around since his tone doesn’t change so he sounds super serious. Seiya is also pretty protective once Misa is in his care and you can tell how much Misa worries him and that she’d be sending him to an early grave with some of the foolish things she does if he wasn’t already dead. However, the most important aspect of Seiya is that he’s a hopeless romantic. In the other routes he shows up in, he is pretty jealous when he sees Misa and the LI in love; and in this route he does have a tendency to interpret nearly everything as romantic and let his imagination run wild. It is so easy to make this man blush and while you think it makes it less special, it surprisingly doesn’t. Being a hopeless romantic also gave him a lot of practice to not being at all shy in showing his love to Misa and professing it to literally everyone that he loves her. Also, Seiya says the most out of pocket stuff sometimes and that’s so funny.

I really loved Seiya in his appearances in the other routes and totally wasn’t falling for him in the LI routes he’s a prominent side character in. I fell even more in love with him during Other Realm Common Route where he was finally one of the LIs that were focused on. For that reason I had high hopes for Seiya’s route. I am glad to say that my hopes were fulfilled as I really enjoyed his route as well. Seiya’s route is one that you can guess the antagonist and be right, but it doesn’t hurt the route as it focuses on the romance and has an interesting twist conflict at the beginning that you wouldn’t have expected (but makes sense). I also loved the romance here and how it was more Misa falling in love since Seiya falls fast and hard. I also really appreciate how Seiya didn’t push Misa and instead waits for her to open up. I did also like how his route was just as healing for him as it was for Misa.

Spirit World

Last, but not least, is the Spirit World. This one was a bit of a surprise and a really nice change of pace. This goes the same as the Other Realm Common Route, but Misa decides to pray. She prays asking for help in finding what she’s supposed to do. All seems normal…until a few seconds later where Misa starts hearing two voices. One new voice and the other being the mysterious voice that talked to her already. Totally freaked out, Misa ends up getting an exorcism from the shrine priest. It does work…in a sense. It only (temporarily) expelled one of the spirits following Misa and she starts being able to see and hear the spirits that were around her at the time. Misa ends up calling Sayaka telling her what happened knowing hse’d believe you and she in turn suggests using a spirit board to ask how to get rid of the other spirit. Misa is both skeptic about it actually working, but also kind of hoping it would work. She actually thought of not doing it, thinking it was just a stress hallucination, but she ends up doing it after freaking herself out. Luckily, no one is home cause it goes badly. I blame it all on Yukimaro. This route has three spirits hanging around Misa in the Mortal Realm and as you probably guess it is a bit chaotic. Though, they do help out in helping Misa find her passion.

Yukimaro

Yukimaro is technically the first LI Misa meets and he’s a Guardian Spirit in training. Guardian Spirits are basically spirits that wish happiness for mankind and thus volunteer to do just that. They tie themselves to a specific human, stay until they’re happy, and then released to find the next person they want to bring happiness to. Yukimaro isn’t officially a Guardian Spirit yet, hence the “in training” part, but if everything goes well with Misa he will be. Yukimaro decided to make Misa his master partly due to finding it interesting that a god was stalking you and then the burdens she had made him want to make you happy. Yukimaro himself isn’t what you’d expect by the way he dresses. He’s practically a little kid with some seriousness. He has a lot of childish qualities, energetic, joyous, loves sweets, loud, and can be fun around as long as he’s not doing something embarrassing since he’s oblivious to when he’s being annoying. Though, he does bring a good source of encouragement for Misa, has some good ideas that you just have to let him do his thing to see how effective it surprisingly is, and he’s dependable. Not to mention how funny the dynamic he has with the other two spirits. He is also a good fit to be a Guardian Spirit with how he’s always happy and easily makes others happy. It’s a wonder how his other Guardian Spirit attempts were failures…actually nevermind he was probably even more annoying not being able to play off of two other spirits.

Yukimaro appeared in a previous route and while I did like the scene, I found his voice so annoying so I already planned to do his route first. Petty, I know. Once I got into the this Common Route and played through his route, I have to say that he did turn me around. Don’t get me wrong, he still annoyed me and I hate how he’s the reason that Misa became haunted, but he did grow on me, his dynamic with the other two spirits is great, he is genuinely helpful, and I couldn’t help but smile at nearly every scene he was featured in. I especially loved his dynamic with Koharu and how much the bicker. I did like his route and I think it balanced their growing romance, the slice-of-life aspects, Misa trying to find what she’s passionate in, and having the fact Yukimaro is going to leave eventually really well. Though, I think the reveal of the mystery about his past was underwhelming. I also didn’t like how pushy he was with Misa getting into her personal space and doing things without asking or when she says no.

Koharu

We’re nearing the end and it’s time for Koharu. Koharu is the spirit connected to the Spirit Board, which is basically like a Ouija board but it’s written on a piece of paper with a torii gate drawn on, uses a coin, and has a slightly different ritual. However, if you take your finger off the coin before doing the proper send off, the spirit will haunt you. Well, that’s basically what happens to Misa after Yukimaro scares her though it turns out to not be that bad. Koharu does come off as impatient, often irritated, gruff, menacing, and speaks harshly by default; but you do notice this is to hide his true nature the more you’re around him. You notice the little subtle moments where his true emotions peak through, catch him smiling when he thinks no one is looking, bends the rules a bit, actually tries to cheer Misa up in the guise that her being sad makes him irritated, and cooks. He’s a tsundere through and through and I love him for it. I also love how no nonsense he is and how kindhearted he actually is. Not to mention how much he hates Yukimaro and their bickering.

Koharu also appears in a previous route, which also features Yukimaro, and I knew I would like him just by those scenes. Going through this Common Route path made me even sure about it. I think I may like tsunderes cause I loved noticing the subtle ways he showed he cared, how adorable it was that he tried to hide his blushing, and going “mmhmm” when he tried to hide his true feelings behind being harsh. I also did love learning more about the whole Spirit Board business, getting to know Koharu more, his connection with another LI being brought forth which I was not expecting, and how an event that seemed silly turned out. I especially appreciate how it didn’t feel like it stretched out a particular aspect of the plot. It was weird how Misa finding her dream was more in the background here, but I honestly think it made the route better as it did allow everything else to have enough breathing room. Anyway, yeah, I loved Koharu, I loved the slice-of-life vibe here, I liked the angst, and I really enjoyed reading through this route.

Koharu is husband material.

Secret Route

Yep, there’s a secret route here! This route is locked until you complete the Godly Endings for Minami, Yukimaro, and Koharu. Honestly, it’s pretty obvious that there will be a secret route once you play through this Common Route path. I’m not going to reveal a lot here, as this is very spoiler-y, but I will say that I did really enjoy his character during the Common Route and his route. He’s a really interesting character and you just can’t hate him. Once you go down his route, half of it does act as a re-trend so Misa can discover and pursue her passion, but we do get to learn more so we could understand where

A part of me does wish this was a full 4 chapter route like the others as this one was the route I felt rushed Misa’s feelings and we could have gotten more interactions with everyone, but a part of me also was glad it was shorter as I felt pretty satisfied and done with 9 R.I.P. as I was going through his route. It really depends on how it would have been executed.

Here’s my route rankings:

Koharo > Minami > Koyo > Seiya > Secret Route > Yokimaru > Hibiki > Kureha > Sena

*Looks at my ranking* I think I may have a type.

I also do recommend playing the Common Routes in the order I ended up doing them in (School Ghost Stores->Urban Legends->Other Realm->Spirit World) or at least leave the Spirit World for last. Personally, I found that it got better and better with the route order I ended up going with.

All in all, I liked all the routes and thus LIs. There was one that was a dud for me personally, but it was still a good route and I think that’s pretty good for an otome game with 9 routes. I was worried about this game having 9 love interests as there is going to be some fight for some screen time, but there is nothing to worry about. It was honestly a really smart idea to have four different Common Routes that feature two of the LIs (with one having three due to the Secret Route LI). This allowed everyone to have enough screen time and room to breath and show off their character to endear themselves to the player. Even if the LI made a bad first impression. There could have been a bit more time before you’re given Love Catch choices, but each character does get enough scenes to where you can tell if you’d like them or not. I did also like how different each Common Route path was. They all had different vibes, different stories that fit the LIs that were a part of it, and focused on the different aspects of this world’s lore. Also, yeah, I really liked the lore here and learning about everything as I played more. I’m so glad Misa was an occult skeptic as I really don’t want to imagine how Sayaka would have been if this was happening to her. I did end up liking the majority of the endings and I did like how there was a bittersweet undertone to everything due to the nature of these relationships. I did also like how each route was made to push Misa to confront one of her weaknesses, with each route focuses on one (aside from the Spirit World which does all three), so Misa is forced to grow. Like how Urban Legends was focused on taking action. I’m also so glad Spirit World was Misa staying in the Mortal Realm so we can see Misa figuring out what she should pursue through finding out what she’s passionate in and talking to her mom and Sayaka to clear the air and start their healing and growth. I really liked the side characters (except Reika) and how they appear in more than one Common Route and how other LIs make cameos in other routes as side characters. There is also a focus on continuity as every route happens on the same timeline and you do get mentions of events that happened in other routes, but just without you there. Even small things that you think wouldn’t play a part or were mistakes by a character getting it wrong comes around to be touched upon.

Other than that, this features a lot of perspective changes which I really liked as they all gave new information and insights. There were even some scenes that happen while you’re in an LI’s head that doesn’t happen when you’re with Misa. There are times where you’ll get a map and asked which LI you want to visit and this gives you a change to do a quick hangout and ask them about various topics. You won’t be able to ask about every topic, but that is what saves are for. There is also the usual choice selections, but this time it does label them as “Thoughts”, “Affection”, and “Insanity”. Affection is used to indicate a Love Catch choice where you can raise the affection for an LI if you pick the right choice. For the most part it’s easy to guess which one would, but there are some that are tricky. Insanity is used to indicate when Misa’s sanity will take a hit. This shows up as a stat in three Common Routes, two where it’s used to determine if you get a bad ending in the Common Route and the last interestingly playing into if you go down a specific LI route or not. However, a bad ending choice in the LI routes can be any of the three so the game really does keep you on your toes.

There are also some extras here. You can look back on CGs, watch the OP and each LI ED, check the glossary if you need to look at what a term meant, and you can listen to the individual music tracks that were featured all throughout the game. There are also special messages each LI has that plays on the main menu after getting their Godly and Heavenly Ends, you’ll be able to hear their responses to six topics, and you can have a short story read about the LI if you met a certain condition.

There were a few negatives that I had. Some Heavenly Endings did feel like they felt they should have been Godly Endings, some of the routes could have benefited by being longer, and the sound effect for the menu can be pretty annoying when you’re looking through the text log. The Secret Route was also begging to have one or two more CGs. Lastly, some people may not like how quickly the characters fall in love. I personally don’t mind, even though I like slow burns more, but I know some may not like how quickly things progress. Also, I really wished we got to see Misa’s sprite as she was so cutely designed.

In terms of the localization, it’s really good here. There were a handful of times that I noticed mistakes like a word being misspelled, being the wrong version, or the wrong word which can cause confusion for where you’re going and where an item was. Other than that, the script was perfect.

To tie everything up in a bow, the music, artwork, and voice acting are amazing as always. The background music was pretty good and it fit the situation and the character themes really did fit the characters. The standout tracks were definitely the opening song, which fit the game’s vibe and LIs really well, and the multiple ending songs. Yeah, multiple as this game goes through the effort of having four different ending songs for each four Common Route paths. I did also like the sound effects, especially the ones that play for the chapter screens that give off a creepy vibe and then switch it up for the Spirit World chapter screens. The artwork is beautiful as always. All the CGs look amazing, the backgrounds look good (aside from the school gate one where most of the time it both has its gate closed and opened??), and the character designs were all great as everyone had a unique look that also played into their history. My favorite designs were Minami (so cute I want to hold his face), Seiya (that angsty priest vibe he gives), Koharu (peak tsundere), and the Secret Route character. Though, I’m a bit confused why Kureha has some fire-y elements to his design. The voice acting was wonderful as always. They all fit their character, it really brought the characters to life, and there were so many good line deliveries. So many. My favorites were definitely Minami, Seiya, and Koharu.

Verdict

Overall, I really enjoyed my time with 9 R.I.P. I was expecting this to have more horror elements in it, but at least one Common Route is spooky, supernatural elements, and a bittersweet undertone running throughout as you’re romancing ghosts and spirits as a living human. Some routes do stumble towards the end and the romance may progress too quickly for some, but I really enjoyed Misa and watching her growth, I loved the worldbuilding, the LIs were all great, and I enjoyed most of the routes. And as always, the artwork, voice acting, and the writing style was amazing. Having four different Common Routes was an unique approach that definitely worked in the game’s favor as it let every character (yes, even side characters) have enough breathing room, their spot to properly shine, and let all 9 LIs get enough screen time. Which is definitely needed as you’ll be diving into their emotional backstories as well. I was engaged all throughout my playthough and I’d say that 9 R.I.P. is definitely worth playing. Especially if you’ve wanted an otome where you romance ghost and spirit boys!