Otome Game Review: Cafe Enchante

Hello and welcome to another Otome game review! This time, we will talk about Cafe Enchante - the last Otome game localized in English and released by Aksys Games for 2020. Let's assume that this post will contain spoilers but I can assure you that I will not dive into each character's story pot. I will be sharing my thoughts per character and the game as a whole. Let's start!

Game Details

Release: November 5, 2020 (English release)

Developer: Idea Factory Publisher: Otomate / Aksys Games

Voiced: Yes (Japanese)

Language: English

Platform: Nintendo Switch (Physical game and Digital)

The Story

Image source: nintendo.com

Located at the outskirts of Tokyo is a simple coffee shop, Cafe Enchante. Kotone Awaki, a hard-working, young office lady, decided to revisit the coffee shop which she inherited from his grandfather who passed away. As she reminisced her times in the cafe when she was still young, she went ahead to scan the whole area until she stumbled upon a "staff only room." Opening the door led her to discover yet another door, which is antique yet huge with the "closed" sign in it. As her curiosity grew, she went ahead to flip the sign to "open." And after a while, four weird-looking men appeared in front of her.

She then discovered that these men are "non-human," to which had been an avid customer of the Cafe during the time that his grandfather still runs the place. But sadly, an organization called GPM had been on the lookout for these non-humans as they might bring risk to the human world. Will Kotone consider to re-open the cafe so she could entertain these non-humans?

The Characters

Kotone Awaki (the name is changeable) - as mentioned above, she's a cheerful office lady but sadly, her line of work is related to 'scamming people' on products that they offer that's why she decided to file a resignation and revisit Cafe Enchante.

She's young and thinks logically about things which are why I adore her. She's also vocal about what she thinks (but depends on this situation, of course) and she's brave. She welcomed these human, non-human, and weird situations that she's currently into, without thinking that it will become a big burden on her life.

Image source: nintendo.com

Misyr Rex (CV: Kenji Akabane) - He was the first non-human to appear in front of Kotone. Misyr is the demon lord from the land of Asmodia. He's so powerful that he can use different types of magic and just snap a finger when there are situations that needed to be resolved. Misyr is the one who's into black coffee, that he can drink more than three cups in a day (lol).

Misyr is a logical yet sarcastic person. He can be a cock-blocker depending on which route you take (especially on Rindo's route!) Yet, he's the type of guy who will look for you and love you unconditionally. Also, I wanna take note of Kenji Akabane. This is the first time I heard him being a lead role in an Otome game and to be honest, I love his tone of voice as Misyr, especially when he laughs sarcastically (lol)

Despite being the poster boy, I didn't enjoy Misyr's route that much. Especially with how Kotone has become at the end (oops I'll stop here!). Misyr's route will be unlocked after you finished playing the four love interests.

Image source: nintendo.com

Il Fado de Rie (CV: Kaito Ishikawa) - He's a fallen angel from the land of Caelm. Il is a techy, intelligent, gentle yet fragile guy. Fragile like the men will insist that they'll accompany Il if he wanted to go outside alone, will get his plates after eating and etc. Il loves sweets and juices. He's also powerful and with his power combined with Misyr, they work together to create magic so that the humans around the vicinity of the cafe will just ignore their non-human presence when they are outside.

Il is such a mood! He loves and obsessed on Otome games (lol!) Every Otome gamer will definitely relate to Il's dialogs. It's so fun reading all his dialogs. He's such a fanboy! But man... Once you reached his route, you'll definitely hold back to your seat and be surprised at each happening that will unfold...

I would also like to add that Il's voice didn't remind me of Dante Falzone (Piofiore) at all. Good job, Ishikawa-san!

Image source: otomate.jp

Canus Espada (CV: Yuichiro Umehara) - The headless knight from the fairy world of Medio. Canus has a huge build. He thinks and decides things in a mature way and he's the one who usually sees things thoroughly like Misyr. He's physically strong too and shoves a heavy sword effortlessly. He loves to help Kotone with running errands like grocery shopping, cleaning the cafe and etc. Since he's headless, the color flare on his head changes depending on his mood. t's amusing to see his reactions too! 

Canus' route was the first route I played and didn't regret it. Despite my initial love for him (I look forward to his route after Aksys' announcement), his appeal to me didn't last long after completing his route. But it is just me (lol).

Image source: nintendo.com

Ignis Carbunculus (CV: Yuki Ono)  - Ignis is a beast from the land of Bestia. He's strong, short-tempered, with huuuge appetite and our tsundere boy in the game (lol). Ignis is the strongest beast among their land and either he's feared, or want by the other beasts to defeat. Ignis has the will to not kill other beings but is willing to fight and do his best to protect the people who need to be protected, especially Kotone.

Ignis is my favorite guy in this game! Like wow... despite the circumstances that he has been into, his love never changed. I love him! I don't usually go for the tsundere-type but I'll definitely make an exemption for Ignis. After getting his happy ending, I literally clapped, sighed, and smiled with satisfaction. And that last CG of him is... hot like him. (*fans self*)

Also, let me add Ono Yuki's voice... it's raw, it's rough, and I loveeeeee it.

Image source: nintendo.com

Kaoru Rindo (CV: Junichi Suwabe) - Rindo works as an agent on GPM, the organization that runs tests or captures the non-human who are risky for the human world. Kaoru is assigned as the person to monitor the beings on Cafe Enchante and is the only human love interest in the game. He's around 40 years old (I forgot his exact age), a smooth guy who loves sports cars, and a gentleman as well.

Despite my questionable feeling after completing his route (I honestly didn't like how things turn out in his situation), I love the feel of maturity he is giving. I mean, we finally have a human guy who's in his forties and became a love interest, it's refreshing to see! This gave me the big reason why I love Rindo and he's my second favorite of all. Playing his route sends butterflies on my stomach and let's add Suwabe-san's suave voice, a total package!

The Music, Art, and Graphics

Image source: nintendo.com

The game is really good, especially the sceneries. I'm a total sucker for cafe music! So I really enjoy the relaxing music Cafe Enchante has. For the character design, it's not bad at all. I love the overall aesthetics of the game. I guess it was Il and the side characters in his route that made me more amazed at the character design because they look so lovely!

The Game Navigation

The game navigation has the same set-up for Hakuoki and Piofiore. It's easy to navigate.

The overall gameplay is the same as from Code: Realize, that you have to start over after finishing a route and press the SKIP READ and choose the choices for the guy that you are aiming for. Take note, the skip is too long like in Code: Realize so you might need a bit of patience.

Each route contains one happy ending and bad endings. Some routes only have one bad ending. This game contains extra content as well - each love interest has an interview and they'll answer each question. These are located on the "Extras."

Overall Ratings and Final Thoughts

4.2 / 5.0

To be honest, I am not into the Isekai genre on any Anime/Manga/Games. So Cafe Enchante doesn't appeal that much to me but I still purchased the physical copy as part of my collection. Playing the main story at first didn't pique my interest that much. But as you proceed further and reached for the guy that you choose to play, I didn't expect that it can go real deep (especially Il's route).

And of course like the other Otome games, friendship really does the work. Each love interest is working together to save one another. And also let's add Kotone. She might look weak at first but I grew to love her especially on Rindo's route. Ignis' route made me question the game's rating because of the last CG he has (lol!)

Cafe Enchante is a big 'woah' for me because I didn't expect the routes. Although some routes disappoint me but other routes made me really go 'woooah!' I'm satisfied still after completing the whole game. And this made me more excited for 2021! I hope we could hear more amazing titles to be localized in English :D

Date finished: 17 November 2020

Recommended playthrough: Canus > Rindo > Ignis > Il > Misyr

Favorite character ranking: Ignis > Il = Rindo > Misyr = Canus

Looking for a walkthrough? Otomekitten did a walkthrough for this game!

Thank you for reading and happy gaming! I hope this post will help you decide if you'll be buying this game or not (but you should! XD) In case that you want to know more about the game, hit me up at Instagram @reveriewonderland ;)