Otome Game Review – Mother Goose no Himitsu no Yakata

Alternative Titles: マザーグースの秘密の館, Mother Goose’s Secret Mansion

Company: Quin Rose

Release Date: 23.06.11

Platform: PSP

Genre: AVG, quiz, U.K Culture (lol)

Artist(s): 藤丸豆ノ介 –
Fujimaru Mamenosuke + others

Official Site: http://quinrose.com/
game/mother_psp/top.html

Plot Summary: Erika Fleur (Name change possible) wakes up one morning and notices that a book on her shelf is glowing brightly. The book was a collection of nursery rhymes called ‘Mother Goose’ and it was given to her by her grandmother when she was small and yea, Erika had forgotten all about it. Since its glowing, she opens it and … finds herself in some mansion surrounded by 5 men who introduce themselves as the inhabitants of the book.

Turns out she was summoned by them with the help of the owner of the mansion, ‘Lady Goose’ (orz, no idea how to translate グース婦人). Obviously Erika wants to return home and she gets hopeful when they reassure her that even Lady Goose can’t trap someone in a book. The reason she was called was because they couldn’t stand having their whole existence forgotten and got sick of waiting for her to open the book. So yea, they tell her that they’ll let her go back when they believe that she knows them well enough. … Which means? She has to take exams over the nursery rhymes with one of the men and once she gets full marks 10 times, they’ll let her return. … so.

The player has to take the exams which is basically getting 10 questions right. AND, one gets to check each poem during the test and the system is nice enough to show you the right one. Sounds great?

1 exam = 10 questions

1 guy = 10 exams = 100 questions

Total number of guys to go for = 5.

…. SO IN ORDER TO COMPLETE THE GAME, I HAVE TO ANSWER 500 QUESTIONS ON NURSERY RHYMES… CORRECTLY!!! and yea, you can only pass the exam when you get 10/10 right. So? One question wrong means you have to restart the whole exam.

Wonderful =.=

———————————————————————————————————

Arthur Lindgren

(CV: Sakurai Takahiro)

Typical British Gentleman that likes to stick to British ideals. He’s basically a nobleman that lives close to Lady Goose’s mansion. What’s with the japanese and 紳士’s. Used to live in UK but never really think that British = gentlemen. *cough* anyway.

Erika is pretty pissed at the situation she is in so in order to give her abreak from studying (that is basically what she has to do the whole time), Arthur offers to give her treats every time that she passes an exam. So yea, he suggests that Erika comes along with him for a walk as that’s his ‘gentlemanly’ hobby. More like what a retired-old-man-with-nothing-better-to-do would do but she receives a death glare when she points it out.

One time, he teaches her about flower meanings and how some have double meanings (?) or something. Another time he tells her about the Cottingley Fairies (lol – even I know) and how some kids tricked the nation with fake photos of fairies. Seems like Arthur really likes the occult coz the next time he’s talking about people faking UFO’s. （＾－＾＿）.

Well, one day he gives Erika some flowers with the meaning of effort. Yea, and pisses her off by saying that she’s too young to understand love. I dunno, the first part he keeps on treating her like a kid and seems to be the most laid back character but despite the fact that he’s the one who calls himself a gentleman, I guess he couldn’t stand himself and is the fastest guy to start glomping her. =.= Gentleman. … Where? And he’s the one treating her as a kid. lol

Erika doesn’t want to go back to her own world but then as she knows it’s impossible to remain inside the book forever, decides to think positively (?) and enjoy the last date with Arthur. Some reason he’s wearing some other formal clothes.  He says that he has prepared something for her and after their last walk; he takes her to a church and appears with a bouquet of roses. Erika’s extremely shocked and is happy that she managed to spend her last moments (sounds like she’s about to die lol) with him. … Then he goes to his knees and proposes to her. … O.o seems like he’s going to leave with her. I mean, if someone can go into the book why can’t someone go out? Happy ending.

———————————————————————————————————

Bacchus Moore

(CV: Suwabe Junichi)

The chef at Lady Goose’s mansion and also works at night at his own pub in the city. Uses his ability as a chef to give Erika food to make her study. Basically attempting to force her to study by feeding her. (=^_^=)  I guess it would work on me.

He feeds gives her cheese once and another time he takes her out to a sweet shop. … And tricks her into eating licorice. =.= in order to enjoy her reaction. Have nothing to do with this but our family used to give licorice away for Halloween as no-one liked it. Poor kids XD. Maybe that’s why my house was egged.

I dunno, now that I think about it, Bacchus seems to be teasing her the whole time as well. Most of the guys treat her like a kid so no surprise. Erika knows that she’s practically being fed but can’t really do anything ’cause the food is too good to resist. In order to thank him, she decides to cook him something. Pretty stupid to cook something for a professional but Bacchus is happy anyway. … To the point that he wants to put it on his menu at his pub.

He invites her over to his pub as thanks and gives her some special drink that you set alight. …. … … And somehow this leads to him kissing her. Guess he couldnt maintain himself.

On the last date, Bacchus asks if she doesn’t mind helping him out with something. He wants her to give out some small pouches of food/sweets (?) to the people who pass by and so Erika does. She doesn’t understand why but everyone congratulates her when they receive it. One finished, she asks Bacchus what they meant and he reveals to her that this was what the people who couldn’t afford a church ceremony would do in order to get the community to know that they were married. The husband would give them to his wife and the wife would pass them to the people. Erika’s like ‘=.= we’re married now…?’. Bacchus proposes properly and says that he is going to Erika’s world with her.

———————————————————————————————————

Cezary Fritche

(CV: Morikawa Toshiyuki)

A researcher that’s so poor that he’s living in Lady Goose’s mansion ’cause she approves of his studies on Greek mythology. He helps Vincent with his studies as well so I guess; he somehow enjoys helping Erika as well.

They get on pretty well compared to the other characters and despite the fact that Cezary was making fun of Erika in the beginning for being stupid enough to forget about them, he changes his opinion of her when she becomes interested in Greek stuff as well. Once, they become too engaged in some topic that somehow they get way too close to each other and yea, Cezary becomes embarrassed and shifts away. Lol

They go for a walk in the woods and yea, start talking over holy Christmas trees and mixing of religion etc. He tells Erika over how it’s pretty interesting to watch what she does cause of her personality to which she’s like, ‘stop treating me like a test subject’. … But when Cezary asks if she doesn’t like having him interested in her, she can’t talk back. So Cezary kisses her and mutters over how he wishes that he could simply carry her away with him like the Greek gods.

This pic is so pretty XD

For their last date, Cezary takes her to go star-gazing. Erika tells over how most woman think its romantic to swear their love to the stars. … (Shit translation). But then Cezary counters by saying that most star constellations are based on pretty O.o stories so instead of pledging to the stars, its way better to pledge to each other. …. He tells her that he’s going to follow her to her world and she’s like, ‘that’s as crazy as what the Greek gods would do’. He agrees and says that this time it’s going to be Erika who’s going to carry him away. So yea, Erika’s like, ‘sure I’m going to be here to carry you away’ XD.

———————————————————————————————————

Eric Burrel

(CV: Toriumi Kousuke)

Does practically anything as long as you pay him and helps out sometimes at Lady Goose’s mansion as well. Despite the fact that Erika receives treats, she feels bad considering that Eric isn’t that well off.

He shows her around the town and I guess he’s the chara who gets events that are closer to dates than study periods. He gives her ice cream and teases her over being too embarrassed to feed him.

Another time, he decides that he wants to buy something proper for her instead of food (I think that’s what all chara’s been giving her). They go window shopping and Erika stops to look at a dress. When Eric suggests that she at least tries it on, Erika is like ‘I don’t think I’ll fit!’ as the dress is one that needs a corset. … And Eric being a wonderful gentleman grabs her waist and is like ‘course you’ll fit. … Are you sure you’ve been eating. I’m worried I could snap you’ while she’s going ‘WTF!! GET OFF ME!!’.

He takes her out to a hill and shows her some honey bees. This time Erika tells him over some type of bee, who have been proven scientifically to be unable to fly. Weird thing is that they can. The reason? … Because the bee’s themselves have no idea that they can’t. So that’s why this type of bee is a symbol of doing something that’s actually impossible.

Eric decides to give her a present as the last time he tried to buy her something; he ended up pissing her off for having no manners. He gives her a stone with a pattern of Erika with a bee. Seems like he carved the pattern in himself. At least Erika has something that she can take back with her. … But yea, Eric is like, ‘for the past few exams, I’ve been praying that you’ll fail. Shame that it doesn’t seem to work’ ( ｉдｉ ).

On their last date, Eric asks her to help him choose what kind of shoes to buy. … The time that they’re about to leave is close and Eric starts saying that he’s all ready now to go to her world. Erika = WTF O.o. Seems like buying new shoes help the wearer to achieve a goal or get to somewhere safely. He proposes to her and says that he doesn’t want to leave her anymore.

———————————————————————————————————

Vincent Noble

(CV: Yasumoto Hiroki)

A student at a close-by school who often uses the library in Lady Goose’s mansion to study. Also comes to visit Cezary who he calls his teacher.

He gets on pretty badly with Erika in the beginning because he doesn’t really like women. When she teases him about it, he clearly states that the main reason for his hatred is because ONE woman forgot all about their existence. … Well, this causes the two to be shouting at each other the whole time and in this route, Erika practically forces Vincent to give her treats as she sees no other point in bothering to study. Vincent has no idea what a girl would like so yea, he uses the easiest one. … Feed her. Other things that he does are show her the crown jewels.  Yea, Women = like money and food and jewels. How simple we are.

Anyway, when they’re taking a walk in the forest, Erika trips over despite Vincent’s warning. He manages to pull her up once but then this leads to the two falling over. … Erika expects him to start shouting at her to get off but all that follows is a silence. Vincent is like … Girls are so light. … And things begin to get awkward between them.

I guess he manages to pull himself together cause the next time they meet; he uses the fact that girls are light to an advantage and uses Erika as a way to get some books that were high on the shelf. Too bad he had no idea that Erika’s going ‘wtf, wtf, wtf, what the hell’ and is as confused as hell.

I guess after this the two are pretty cute together. Vincent asks Erika to help him buy a tie pin and yea, when she puts it on for him, they realize what they are doing and both start blushing as hell.

He invites her to watch Romeo and Juliet and yea, I guess this is what causes him to start thinking about being in a position that one cannot get the one he loves. I dunno. Something like that. He goes on his knees and the two start acting out a bit of the play. Aw.

He takes her on a walk in the woods and brings up the subject of kissing under the mistletoe. … He tells her over how the mistletoe was believed to have the ability to make miracles happen or something and that by kissing her, he wants to go with her to her world. Is that the only way he can man himself up to kiss her? Well, either way, it worked!!

———————————————————————————————————

HAREM ENDING + ∞

You get this special harem ending when you complete all the routes. And yea, it’s basically all the characters fighting over Erika.

Arthur: How would you like to be the wife of a nobleman?

Bacchus: What? I can cook anything you like. Isn’t the wife of a cook obviously better?

Cezary: I thought you said you were interested in what I research. Best to come with me.

Eric: I might not be rich, but yea, compared to the rest I obviously am way more social and know everyone around here.

… Poor Vincent gets pushed away for being ‘a kid’. Ha!.

Anyway, apart from that, this basically sums us this game up. Erika asks who the hell Lady Goose is as despite the fact that she’s lived in her mansion, she still hasn’t seen her. … They reveal to her that a person called Lady Goose never really existed. Mother Goose is what the collection of the nursery rhymes is called but it’s unlikely that every song was written by the same person. So?

The reason why they’re called Mother Goose is because the person who told the kids the rhymes was called that by them. So yea, she was likely some servant who looked after geese. …. …

-the end-

(this is what the game said. okay?)

———————————————————————————————————

… Okay? …  … … … Otome Game? Where? What did I just finish? This is basically a game that teaches us about the U.K. and Nursery rhymes. Otome game is a bonus.

Awesome Seiyuu cast and yea, I have to repeat myself. Otome game is a bonus. The main point is that we have hot voices reading out nursery rhymes. I mainly read the English ones and all I have to say is that. … The English voices were pretty crap. Hmm, I mean, in English, they read out the rhyme once and then if it’s a song (e.g. Hey Diddle Diddle, Twinkle Little Star) they would sing it. … And yea, the song was pretty =.= meh.

About the rhymes, some that I would swear were songs weren’t sang (e.g. Jack and Jill). AND other ones seemed to be different from what I learnt them as. (e.g. The Guy Fawkes Poem – remember remember …). I dunno, I guess this game is for jap people who have no knowledge of them so……

Characters: Fav chara = Eric with Vincent / Bacchus / Arthur coming afterwards. orz Cezary. Not only were you megane, but I found that you were such a waste for your voice actor. Most interesting chara (what they teach you during the treats = Arthur (I enjoyed the UFO + fairy talk). Would have chosen Cezary but … I already was a fan of Greek myths (as they’re hilarious) so nothing new. Erika’s pretty cool, standard quin rose heroine – not a doormat.

Art. The Basic CG isn’t bad. Actually pretty good for Quin Rose standards. BUT!! ONE POSITIVE THING ABOUT NURSERY RHYMES!! ALL THE NURSERY RHYME IMAGES ARE PRETTY!! I dunno, they got pretty good artists, one guy from studio ghibli, another who did the art for Kuro to Kin no Akanai Kagi (18+ game) and a couple of others. AND! We have over 200 images for nursery rhymes.

The game overall. I’m repeating myself for the THIRD time but the otome game is the bonus. It’s like they make you take the test so you can see the event. At least it’s pretty easy to complete the game. They give you some extra scenes of two chara interactions but apart from that they don’t appear in anyone else’s routes. The Harem ending is simply a ‘congrats for completing the game!!’. Hmmm, apart from that. Biggest disappointment = … THE ENDING IS ALL THE SAME!! + NO EPILOGUE!!

Recommend for people who want/interested in: A simple Otome game, Practice Jap + English, Enjoy Nursery Rhymes, Like the U.K….. AND LIKE PRETTY ART!! You don’t need to play the proper routes to see the nursery rhymes CG. I would keep it in my psp to simply browse through the CG.

———————————————————————————————————

Some of the nursery rhymes mentioned are pretty O.o so I’ll put some of them down.

Tell-tale-tit
Your tongue shall be slit
And all the dogs in town
Shall have a bit

There was an old woman had three sons,
Jerry and James and John
Jerry was hung and James was drowned.
John was lost and never was found,
So there was an end of her three sons,
Jerry and James and John

Little Borden took an axe
And gave her mother forty whacks
When she saw what she had done,
She gave her father forty-one.

My mother has killed me
My father is eating me
My brother and sisters sit under the table
Picking up my bones
And they bury them under the cold marble stones

…

…

I apologise for my taste. XD