Game: 7’scarlet
Genre: Adventure, Visual Novel, Otome
System: Nintendo Switch, PS Vita
Developer | Publisher: Toybox Inc. | Otomate | Aksys Games
Age Rating: EU 12+ | US Teen
Price: US $49.99 | UK £44.99 | EU € 49,99
Release date: May 15th, 2025
A review code was used, with many thanks to Reef Entertainment
In 7’scarlet, Ichiko, our female main character, is invited on a trip by her childhood best friend, Hino. They are going to a small town in the country called Okunezato. About a year ago, Ichiko’s brother was last seen there before he went missing. Hino discovers a group online called “The Okunezato Supernatural Club”, and in hopes of finding out more information about Ichiko’s brother, they go to a meeting of the club in Okunezato.
But quickly after their arrival, Ichiko and Hino discover some weird things about this small town. As Ichiko uncovers the truth about her brother, all of the dark secrets this town holds are slowly revealed.
The Supernatural Club Members
There are five routes to play in the game, with a secret “true” route. Hino and Isora’s route are playable from the start, after that the game will indicate the route order by slowly unlocking the other routes. So I ended up with the following route: Hino -> Isora -> Toa -> Sosuke -> Yuzuki.
Hino Kagutsuchi
Hino is Ichiko’s childhood friend and classmate in 7’scarlet. He is always optimistic, loves his sport Futsal (and won’t shut up about it) and is universally liked by all the girls. Hino also loves collecting random stuff everywhere he goes.
Hino was pretty annoying at the start of the game. It is obvious he has liked Ichiko for a long time, but never had the guts to tell her about it. He was also overly protective and kept butting in on her conversations. Like, let a girl breathe! It got better further in the route, but only because they spent a lot of time together.
Hino is the exact reason why I don’t like childhood friends turning into lovers. There was very little romance in his route, and all of a sudden, Ichiko had feelings for Hino. There wasn’t a lot of build-up to it, which was a shame.
Isora Amari
Isora is introduced as the temporary chef working at the Fuurin Cafe, in the hotel where Ichiko and Hino are staying. He has already obtained a chef’s license, but is training hard to improve his culinary skills. His specialities are pastries and desserts. Isora is younger than Ichiko, since he is still in high school. He is always cheerful and takes good care of his customers, and frankly, everyone.
What a whirlwind this route in 7’scarlet was. The mystery in Isora’s route was so good. I really didn’t know exactly what was happening and how it would end. Story-wise, this was a good one, but like with all the other routes, the story wrapped up too quickly for my liking.
Romance-wise, I am on the fence. While I like Isora a lot more than Hino, he quickly had this creepy vibe going on, and towards the end, I even thought we had another Toma situation on our hands. Which was a good build-up for the story, but it got in the way of the cute romance that could have been.
Toa Kushinada
Toa is the nerdy type and a big cat lover. Everywhere he goes, cats seem to follow him around. He is super clumsy, constantly tripping over things or dropping stuff. Toa is also not good at interacting with others and avoids eye contact.
Toa was okay… This route in 7’scarlet was different from the others, because the mystery aspect only really came to play towards to final chapter. And by the time I caught on to what was happening, the conflict was already over. I think with Toa’s route, it was more focused on the romantic connection between Ichiko and Toa. Which was a good change-up from the other routes. But again, I felt no real connection between them.
Sosuke Tatehira
He is a medicine student, and Ichiko first bumps into him at the local library. He catches her just in time as she falls trying to grab a book. He approaches everything in a logical way and is very well-mannered. But surprisingly, he loves the outdoors and sports as well.
Sosuke’s route in 7’scarlet is great! Finally, some more information on the mystery that is Okunezato is revealed, and it doesn’t disappoint. Although I already knew where the route was headed, because of all the hints in other routes, I didn’t mind. The route has a good balance between romance and storyline, and finally we got to see Ichiko develop feelings at a slow pace for someone, and in the end it didn’t feel as disingenuous. Sosuke was adorable as a love interest. At the start, he is distant and a know-it-all all but further in the route, he softened up and started caring for and protecting Ichiko.
Yuzuki Murakumo
He is the super strict and bossy owner of the Fuurinkan hotel. Yuzuki is also the son of the Murakumo family, who owns and leads the town of Okunezato. We rarely see Yuzuki in the other routes, as he lets a child staff member basically run the hotel on his orders. So, not until his route do we see what he is really like.
Right away, Yuzuki had my heart. He is a Tsundere to a T, and I loved his initial cold behaviour, which sounds weird to say, but those who get it get it. I finished this route pretty fast, and was happy to finally discover all the secrets the town has. The route in 7’scarlet had a well-balanced combination of mystery and blossoming romance between the main characters. And this was the route where we finally got some sweet slow burn romance.
Visuals and Sound
While the visuals of 7’scarlet were pretty, the characters, while reading and in the CG’s, didn’t always match very well. Ichiko, for example, looked totally different whenever we saw her in the CG’s, she was way prettier than she looked in the corner of the dialogue box. Hino had the same issue.
Also, there weren’t a whole lot of CG’s. At times, I was waiting to see the CG pop-up, because it was the perfect moment, but it didn’t come. They could’ve done a lot more with this.
The opening and ending songs were so good! They were definitely bops, and every character also got their own ending song. And I enjoyed most of them fully. I even got to listen to the artist mao again for one song. She has also made music for Piofiore, and I have loved her music since then. The BGM is always good, nothing to special or something I would listen to even after playing the game.
Overall Thoughts
Upon opening the game, at the main menu, there is a creepy male voice saying 7 Scarlet… When I started up the game for the first time, it creeped me out, and I started laughing. There is a different line every time the game opens, and it’s just funny to me how they say it.
A big thing to note about the game is that it is heavily focused on the mystery aspect. While I enjoyed this a lot, the romance in the game took a backseat. I felt like the romance between the characters was not really there, except for the end of the route. They suddenly admit to having feelings for one another and declare they never want to part from each other. This felt a little weird and cringy to me.
And also, all the routes/love interests had the same thing in common with how they fell in love with Ichiko. I mean, is she some kind of goddess of love that everyone instantly falls for?
In 7’scarlet, there are videos added to the story. For example, for the opening song, but also whilst playing the game, moving elements are in the background like a flowing waterfall. This is not something that I have seen in an Otome before, and it was a nice addition.
Conclusion
Wow this town of Okunezato in 7’scarlet has some serious issues they have to look into! I did not at first know where the story was going, but I liked the mystery of it all and the added supernatural elements. The romances were fine, I wasn’t completely convinced by them, except for Sosuke and Yuzuki’s route. But if you like a good mystery story, I would recommend 7’scarlet.
Final verdict: I like it
Do you like our content?
Support LadiesGamers as a member on Patreon!
Or buy us a cup of coffee or tea on Ko-Fi!
