Moujuutsukai to Oujisama (猛獣使いと王子様)

Title: 猛獣使いと王子様
Company: Otomate
Release Date: June 30, 2011
Platform: PSP
Official Site: http://www.otomate.jp/beast_psp/
Walkthrough: http://momokan.chu.jp/momokan/beastprince-g1.html
Synopsis:

One day, Tiana happens to be in the marketplace to buy ingredients for dinner. A vendor offers her four animals: a lion, wolf, rabbit, and duck. She thinks it might be good to practice her beastmaster skills with them! Turns out that not only they can talk, they are also the princes of the Kingdom.

Heya! It’s been a while. Life has been very demanding and Harry Potter is very interesting that I couldn’t put it down hence my absence. But yay! I’ve finished Mojuutsukai to Oujisama! o/ I’ve been meaning to play this ever since I’ve started in the otoge fandom. But of course, a new game comes out and the backlog has suddenly flown out of the window. ヽ(´▽`)/

This game is just lovely with its nice combination of plot, characterization, art, and music. The story is divided into 8 chapters for the princes and 7 chapters for Klaus and Silvio. The first part is like getting to know each other where Tiana and her guy try to unravel the mystery behind the curse. The latter part is mostly solving the problem at the same time going through the guys’ route.

I liked the fact that you get to see the story in every angle. While the main points almost remain the same, there will always be something different that connects it to the backstory of your chosen guy. There is a part where they have to split up so Mattheus and Alfred remained at Cattleya while Lucia and Erik go to Renard. I had so-this-happened-when-this-scene-happened-in-this-route moments which makes it more interesting. Another plus point is that even if Klaus and Silvio’s routes are one chapter short than the rest, they don’t particularly cut the scenes… well they do, at some minor parts which by this time you already have an idea of what really happened. I am worried that they might give rushed endings. To my luck, they don’t. But those routes are still short, not to much time to be lovey-dovey. Not even a kiss CG! It’s like they got close, realized they like each other, finished off the bad guys, they stayed with each other…and the end? Noooooo. (≧ロ≦)

MtO has a wonderful set of characters that will immediately draw you more into the story. Starting off with our heroine.

Tiana

A young lady who dreams to be a beastmaster.

What makes her stood out among the pool of heroines is that she is not clumsy, not flat-chested, not a bad cook, and certainly not a damsel-in-distress. She is good at taking care of other people as she is the one who looks after the princes. With her beastmaster skills, she can fight the bad guys too! It surprised me at first when she’d rather join the guys in their fight than sit still. She is nationalistic that even if she is in danger, she’ll join the battle to protect her beloved kingdom.

She works hard and is determined to become a beastmaster. This must be the source of her animal fetish （´∀｀）. She can’t help but pat and play with the animals.

Mattheus

I-I’ll try not to be biased in this route. (ღˇ◡ˇ)~♥

Prince? Check!
Blonde hair? Check!
Lady-killer? Check!
Woohoo! /o/

Mattheus is the eldest among the princes and has the lion form as an animal. Initially, he strikes me as a moody, dominating lion but due to his upbringing, being the next king and all, he is used to be the one giving the commands.

People usually think that he is like his father, ruthless and all, because of their physical resemblance. Of course, Mattheus bby isn’t like that. But his allergy to guys causes more misunderstanding since other guys think he is just being a snob. Poor guy. (⌣_⌣)

With his good looks, he has tons of fangirls oggling (including me /shot) him and even goes to Tiana’s house to see him. He flirts with Tiana a lot…and she resists him. HOW COULD SHE DO THAT?! Because I can’t. It’s already hard to keep my eyes off him whenever he appears what more when he starts pulling the moves.

Alfred

He is the second Prince and takes the form of a wolf.

Doing this after Mattheus is like testing my resistance. While I keep on stealing glances to his older brother, I find Alfred adorable in his own way. He is unexpectedly cuter when he smiles. So boyish~.

Alfred is well-liked by the soldiers probably because he is that manly www. Once during the festival, he wins in a contest of physical strength. After that, he and Tiana are chased by the brawny men from the tournament… because they’ve become Alfreds fans after seeing his strength pffft. Great. So while Mattheus has a bunch of fangirls, his younger brother has muscular fanboys. XDD

Because of his serious nature, I thought I wouldn’t enjoy his route. But Alfred has an unexpectedly funny side.

He is so serious about working out that not even his animal form can prevent him from working out. Yup, think of a wolf doing curl-ups (or is it push up?) (´∀｀)

Apparently, he is not so much into girls as Mattheus. This makes his brothers tease him when he is doing the moves with Tiana. His sweetness and innocence is endearing that it is impossible not to like him after playing his route.

Lucia

The mean-mouthed duck.

Hmm Lucia… I don’t exactly know what to feel in his route. Maybe because Syo keeps on popping in my head whenever I hear his voice

Lucia almost always says mean things. But the guy has good observation skills as seen in how they made money for the powder. He is a dependable guy with his quick thinking ability which saved them most of the time.

Perhaps he is the only one whose backstory doesn’t involve any royal family drama. However, he has a promise in which he wants to fulfill no matter what. Fun fact: he used to be a chubby kid and he diets because of it. wwww. A guy who refuses to eat sweets only because it will make him fat xDD

Erik

Bunneh…

Erik is the youngest among the princes. He takes the form of a cute rabbit who has a frog stuffed toy called Caspar. He looks frail yet cheerful and helps Tiana with the household chores.

I think the biggest revelation in the game is his backstory. I’ve been spoiled about it years ago but it still surprised me. After the big change, I started feeling scared to Erik. At the same time, I also feel sad when he let go of the past. So you see, this left me with conflicting feelings lol.

All I can say is I need the continuation of that ending GAHHHH. There is not enough romance to fully like him. I feel like his route have only scraped the surface of the real Erik and I want to know more about him (I sound like Tiana lol).

Klaus

Hmm. Like Lucia, I don’t know how to feel about Klaus.

Klaus’s route will open after you’ve finished playing Mattheus end. He is Tiana’s childhood friend and works as an assistant librarian.

As I’ve mentioned above, his story is one chapter short from the other routes. They have compressed the main points of the plot so nothing really happened other than the two of them realizing they love each other. There isn’t much romance. Heck, don’t even expect a kiss CG.

I’m not really into charas like Klaus especially during times when he nags Tiana. Who is he, her mom?

The problem with his route is that it is being overshadowed by Lucia’s promise. While they are almost the same, the promise makes Lucia’s case a lot sweeter than him.

Silvio

Fluffy cat~~

Silvioooo. I’ve been looking forward to his route the moment he first appeared. He immediately flirts with Tiana the moment she steps inside the store.

Another thing that excites me to play his route is that I’m wondering how the story will turn out since Silvio is supposedly one of the bad guys. And just like Klaus, his route started earlier and one chapter short.

I love how honest Silvio is. He expresses his love bluntly and would do anything for Tiana. Sweet~. But then again, no kiss CG. WTH. Snow Bride you better make up for it. xD

My favorite character goes like this: Mattheus (bet you don’t expect that |D) > Silvio = Erik = Alfred > Lucia > Klaus.

There is a side-story where Tiana is sick and Gerda gives her medicine but instead of making her better, she turned into a cat instead lololol. My favorite part is when the guys are arguing which of their animal counterpart will get along well with cat!Tiana www. The side-story is best played after playing all the routes because there are some spoilers about the characters everywhere. Though I played this right after I finished Mattheus XDD. So it is like play the main route and then the ex-side story of the guy. Likewise, you will get an extra CG (the last CG in the gallery) after you finished playing each route.

There is a gauge on your friendly level with the guys. Of course, a full bar means you are on romantic terms with said guy. You fill it up by mofumofu and by choosing the correct answer.

Unlike most games, nobody ever calls Tiana by her name even if you leave it at default (I never change names because of my laziness xP). The reason perhaps is due to being a port of a previously released game.

What I find a nifty feature of the game is that whenever I start, there is an option wherein if you don’t click to anything else it will automatically direct you to your most recent saved data. It saves me the pain with all the clicking and such.

A unique feature of the game is the mofumofu system wherein you sort of touch the guys in their animal form.

The easiest for me is Silvio and Lucia. Meanwhile, the toughest is Erik; I couldn’t get the patting right! Once you’ve accumulated enough mofumofu points (that’s how I like to call them lol), the Extras will be available. Each guy has sort of hidden story that will only open if you have enough points. I’m not sure if the mofumofu side game outside the main plot is included.

If you can’t get enough of the mofumofu, you can also play it as a mini game. The option can be found in the title page.

The sprites are pretty and so as the eye-catching CGs. It gives off a royal and serene feeling. Even the backgrounds have vibrant colors which is very pleasing to the eye.

As for the music, I love the opening and ending theme. Both are lovely! The other bgms have a fairytale-like sound in them.

Wrapping Up!

MtO is a wonderful game with a beautiful balance between the plot and its appealing characters. Added to this mix are the attracting art and soothing music. Definitely, one of the must play games!