RowGames: Gangsters In Love First Impressions (Voltage Inc. AmeMix)

Game Description:  

“You’re leading an ordinary life in sunny California when suddenly you get kidnapped by LA’s most wanted gang!  

Thrown into the extravagant life of these stylish but dangerous gangsters, you must choose one of them to watch over you…but who can you trust?  

Living in the gang’s world isn’t easy, yet in the face of all the shootouts and explosions, an undeniable attraction begins to form…  

Not only are you the key to important information the gang needs, but you are also in possession of something else they are missing in their lives: your heart!”

—Story summary, Voltage Official Website  

Title: Gangsters In Love
Route:  Prologue + Free chapter demos
Developer: Voltage Entertainment USA, Inc
Genre: Romantic Sim, Slice of Life, Mature YA, NA, interactive adventure, episodic 
Platform Played: iPad/Iphone (iOS)

Avalable on : iOS, Android

Disclaimer: CGs/SS/IMAGES belongs to voltage inc./ voltage entertainment USA or either one of this branches.

Game Plot

The game starts off with the MC (You) and her dog, Seymour house sitting for her parents while they are away on vacation. 

Suddenly the house is attack by a gang of mask gangsters who are after your parents! Apparently your parents are NOT on vacation and are undercover feds following a gang and got their cover blown so now they are on the run. 

You then get saved kidnapped by ANOTHER gang this time not masked and apparently are LA's most wanted gang and they take you (and your dog cause ASH they are nice dog people) to their mansion for your safety as their hostage till they can find more clues about your parents and their whereabouts. 

 

There you meet the other members of the gang and and is given a choice of who you want as to be your watchdog/ bodyguard/ babysitter/ whatever you call it while staying at the mansion. 

Whoever you choose will become the person who watch over you (and you'll stay with) but also the person you'll assist with when investigating into to your parents disappearance as well who you'll fall in love with. 

The Characters

There are five potential lovers in this game, four guys and one girl. My first impressions are based on the routes that I've played which is the prologue, the free demos for the available characters and Ash's Main Story1. 

Chance Valentine 'The Boss' - The leader of the gang. Described as cold and rude at the start but that's because he has a hard time showing his emotions. He's very VERY self confident, calculative and good at what he does. He's the classic Alpha male that voltage usually released first. 

Yoshimitsu Valentine 'The Yakuza' - The hot headed samurai of the gang and Chance older half brother. He's passionate and proud of his Japanese and Yakuza heritage (he's half Japanese on his mother's side). If the MC were to choose him he'll make her his 'apprentice'.

Irving Monroe 'The Justice' - A famous celebrity lawyer, the brains of the gang and is the owner of the mansion. He's also the one who keeps the gang out of trouble and the law on their side. If the MC were to choose him he'll use her as his 'fake fiance'. Side Note when I saw his character design I immediately thought of Corbin Blue from High School musical! loll if ever they need a voice actor for his character maybe they should get him. 

Ash Winters 'The Hit man' - The quiet, dog loving, gun hiding crazy, mysterious hit men of the gang. Not much is known about him or his past. He's my most anticipated guy in his game! 

Aurora James 'The Hustler' - The flirty, feisty, pro poker player and the one who takes MOST of Yoshimitsu girls. This is interesting as its the first time I'm playing a voltage game with a female love interest. I'm not sexually interested in woman but I am INTERESTED IN HER! Will definitely get her route! She reminds me of a mixture of Chloe from Life is Strange, Santana Lopez from Glee and Eleanor from The Royals who are like my favorite characters from the respective shows/game. It ever Voltage USA need a voice actor for Aurora I fan cast Ashly Burch who voice Chloe in Life Is Strange to voice her!

 

The MC (You) - (i assumed) in her early twenties and has moved out with her parents. This is probably one of the more refreshing MC's I've encountered in all of voltage. Maybe its because the game IS made from the US branch but its nice to see a more diverse MC in not just personality but her looks as this MC has tanned skin and blond hair! She's strong independent personality, does not let herself be a damsel of the situation, has a sharp photographic memory (its mentioned some of the routes) and her inner monologue is GOLD!  The closest this MC reminds me of is the MC from True Love Sweet Lies for her strong and sharp personality, a good balance of being sweet and sassy and has confident! Heck even down to the way she is dressed reminds me of the MC with her pink girly preppy outfit! Bonus: THEY SHOW HER CHARACTER'S SPRITE IN THE POV!!! THIS IS GREAT!!! I wish more of voltage games will show its MC's sprites. So far only TLSL, In Your Arms tonight and of cause this game has shown the MC's sprite.

Game Play

The mechanics is the same as all voltage games. Two 'three choices' question that influence the ending of the game. The Thrilling Love end is the dramatic/climatic ending while The Passionate Love end is the sweeter loving end. 

The game is paced out with three 6 chapter main stories (AUD 4.49 a route) unlike the Japanese voltage where you have a 12 chapter MS followed by a 3 chapter epilogue etc, with two unlock-able His/Her POV ending. The end POV is influenced by your choices and can be unlock one at a time depending on your choices. You can buy the end set (AUD 1.49 per route) if you don't have time to unlock both POV and it comes with a bonus image. 

Its gonna take some getting used to on how the stories are paced. The AmeMix games are written and released makes it feels like an actual episodic game (which if you've been on this blog for a while you will know its one of my favorite type of games) like Telltales games and Life is Strange and though I HATE and will probably wave my fist at the world at the cliff hangers, I still think its fun theorising and anticipating on what's gonna happen to the next while waiting for the next main story.

Need more information about the game play? Check out my First Impression of Voltage Inc Otome games where I go into more detail at the end.

Looks/ Sounds

The start screen art of the gang in the car with Chance on his bike throwing flowers at the MC was enough for me to shout 'I HELLA WANT THIS GAME'! It like love at first sight as I love the idea of the game and how fun, dramatic and badass it looks! What surprised me more was the cutesy pinky background! I normally don't like this sorta cutsy pinky stuff but it looks adorable! Especially with the KowBowWow puppy as the game's mascot! Seriously I hope voltage make some cute merch with KowBowWow puppy like plushies, action figures, cute little key chains and heck if they make a hoodie (like the one that Irving wears) I'LL BUY IT!!!

As for the character design, I'm experiencing this AmeMix games for the first time and I like how it still have that voltage japan anime influence with a western twist. Its a good mix/hybrid of the both branches. Also really appreciate that the MC has eyes!!!

The background art of this game is well detailed, grand, glitzy and glamorous which suits the game especially when we get to certain parts of the mansion like the garage, the entrance hall, the game room and the characters rooms! As for the soundtrack, if you like soundtrack for True Love Sweet Lies, you're sure to love this!

Normally I don't talk about feels but this game SHOULD be played on your phone for a better experience of the game! There were so many action scene like gun shooting and car chases that made my phone vibrate like crazy like how the dual shock for the ps4 vibrates in certain action scenes. 

Also something to appreciate about this game is that they give an ACTUAL game released scheduled! Voltage normally update their site every fortnight of the upcoming routes/games being released but the fact that there are DATES just makes it better and helps when waiting for the games/routes to be released so that I know when to check out the app.  

Narrative/Writing

This is the first time I'm playing a voltage game from the US branch, in particular their AmeMix's franchise. I can't really compare this to their other game Astoria: Fate's Kiss as I have yet to play that game however I can compare it to some similar games in the Japanese Voltage library. 

I like the idea of this game where it suddenly throws you into this world of fast pace action, gun loaded car chases, glitzy rich lifestyle and of cause swoon worthy steamy romance. The themes of the stories are similar to True Love Sweet Lies and Love Letters from Thief X but instead of underground detectives or robin hood thieves, we have glamorous badass gangsters! 

The cast of characters is the most diverse cast I've encountered in voltage and what's great is that we have people of color and a female potential lover to choose from which a nice change from what I'm used to in the Japanese otome game. Their relationship and banters with each other is one of my favorite as it reminds me of how the cast of LLFTX interacts where they look 'dangerous gangsters' on the outside but in the inside they are all a bunch of close knit dorky friends messing around with each other that will make you go 'I can't believe this people act like this!! Are they really gangsters who are keeping me hostage?'. 

Overall

I highly recommend if you like the Voltage Japan games and have yet to play the AmeMix games you need to try this! It a great introduction into the AmeMix game that has that familiar scenario where 'oh crap I'm in danger and suddenly I have a haram of potential lovers on my hand to protect me'  like LLFTX, MSB and TLSL, along with being thrown into the glamorous rich and fancy lifestyle that will make you go 'damn you rich people...'  like Kissed by the baddest bidder, the Be My Princess series and maybe even Butler Until Midnight as well as having that similar anime inspired art style with a western twist, a great and diverse in looks and personality cast of characters and best of all one of the best MC I've encountered in voltage with an actual spine and eyes.

The characters I'm anticipating form this game are Ash and Aurora but after seeing screen shots and reviews on tumblr I'n now REALLY interested in all the characters in the game.

What are your thoughts / route recommendation for Gangsters In Love?  Also follow me on tumblr (rotantrm) and the hashtag  #row plays otome  and #row plays GIL for more of my otome rambling and game play commentary. 

Till Next Time, Happy Playing