Pub Encounter: Yuze Ryunosuke

So...er...I finally found the time to install Pub Encounter on little dude's Windows PC and played through a route today. I had to go through the Prologue again which reminded me how, er, little the art charms me. I mean, seriously?? These characters are all my age and they've basically just given them a shed-load of wrinkles. Some more so than others. As I'd noticed before, this isn't an otome where you gradually fall into a route -- you have to actually select a character. So I kind of randomly picked the one that seemed like the "shy businessman" type partly because he was the only one that had a "Season 2" as far as I could tell and his wrinkles weren't as bad. So, meet Yuze Ryunosuke.

I got about 2/3 of the way through his route and realised that I had no idea how I was doing other than a mystery intimacy % score when you save (which I just did after every chapter). So I did look up a walkthrough just to see if there's even any way to tell how you're doing and apparently I was picking all the "good" answers for the best ending naturally, which was good. There were, eh, two in the last bit I probably would have picked a different answer for (so sue me, I don't like pink), but it was nice to see that I think I would have received the best ending no matter what. Though, to be fair, it looks like there are only "Good" and "Best" endings, so I guess you can't really get disappointed no matter what. I think the next one I'll try I won't do any of it with a walkthrough to see what happens.

But. Okay. Let's see...I'm not entirely sure how to write about this one. I mean, I liked it. I wouldn't say it wowed me. The storyline was okay -- basically, he was burned in the past by a stalker and now doesn't trust women but, you, of course, he soon finds himself falling for because you're different. Or, actually, just NOT an insane stalker. Because dude literally seems to attract these likes bees to honey. 

He's the owner of a lingerie company. He seems a, um, very unlikely candidate for this job, but okay. 

On the plus side, he's fairly sweet. Kinda stiff and shy -- except after you guys start seeing each other and then he gets a bit more...assertive. 

And, weirdly, you make the first move -- he's walking you home after you get a bit (a LOT) tipsy and...well...you basically practically assault him because he tastes like a Bellini. It's actually kind of horrifying and hilarious because THEY CHOSE THIS AS THE CG. And the poor guy looks completely scandalised and terrified. And this is at the very beginning of the route. 

I...just...did they think this was a sexy picture? 

Anyway, MC, being the patient, always altruistic gal she is, helps him sort out his (new and old) stalker problems as she dodges rocks and gets doused with cold water. She is the epitome of turning the other cheek. Sometimes literally. She also, apparently, works for free for him while also holding down her own job (that she hates) and he, er, pays her in lingerie? And shmexy times? Kind of? 

The best ending has him proposing in front of all the other regulars at the pub. I suppose it's fairly satisfying and his character was nice. I do wish that they'd made her a bit older. He's 41 (and actually, I think the youngest of the regulars at the pub? So this feeling will only get worse, I suspect) and she's gotta be in her twenties. It really would have felt better if she were in her 30's. The MC in general was decent -- not as wimpy as some, but not as ballsy as others either. I didn't want to smack her though (mostly), so that was good. 

The shmexy-times were fairly low key (mostly text-y "Oh my" and "Oh what are you doing?" kind of stuff) so not as cringe inducing as, say, Fashioning Little Miss Lonesome but not necessarily what you'd expect from something with the sub-title "Forbidden Romance." That's not the bits I read for anyway, honestly, so that was okay. 

Story-wise, it was really, really obvious who the (number 2) stalker was from the beginning. Actually, the whole route, once they set up the basics, was really obvious. I'm curious as to whether the others will be equally transparent or if this will hold any surprises. Definitely at least two of the others seem WAY more flirty, so we'll see where that takes the story.

Did I enjoy it? Yeah. I wouldn't say it gave a high level of satisfaction though -- I don't see re-playing this route in my future. I will do the second season and the date thing you unlock after completing the ending, but I don't think this is one that you'd replay again.