Code: Realize Wintertide Miracles (Switch Review)

Game: Code: Realize Wintertide Miracles
Genre: Adventure, Visual Novel
System: Nintendo Switch
Developers | Publishers: Idea Factory | Aksys Games
Price: US $39.99 | EU € 39,99 | UK £35.99
Age Rating: US T | EU 12+
Release Date: February 25th, 2021

Many thanks to Aksys Games for the use of a review code!

Once again I’ve spent some of my time away from actual novels to play a visual novel. This time I picked up Code: Realize Wintertide Miracles, the third in the Code: Realize series. Let’s take a look!

Story

This game continues the tale of Cardia and the various people she met on her previous adventures. This is an otome game but for the most part, the “paths” were completed in the previous titles in the series and this is simply a collection of short stories, some of which took less than 20 minutes to complete.

The stories are broken into 4 categories: triangle dates, Christmas scenarios, a handful of character side stories that run alongside paths in the last two games, and a series of special epilogue scenarios that are unlocked after everything else is completed.

It should be noted that it’s expected that you’ve played both previous Code: Realize titles before tackling this one. I’m a rebel and am playing them out of order, having only played the first one (Guardian of Rebirth) prior to picking up this game. However, your best experience would be to play both Guardian of Rebirth and Future Blessings before picking up Wintertide Miracles.

That said, the short stories were fairly playable even though I’d only played the first title. They do a decent job of catching you up on what you need to know in the Christmas routes. However, I would avoid the long side stories for Finis, Sholmès, and Canterella until you’ve played the previous games.

Types of Stories

Triangle dates are short, fluffy stories where you have a brief adventure with two characters of your choosing. This leads to some sugary sweet and tropey scenarios that are by and large delightful. Picnics, shopping, and a night out at a formal event are some of the outings Claudia goes on with her guys. There are also a few preselected options on a “secret” menu, bringing the total to thirteen of these short tales. 

Christmas scenarios are just as the title suggests. They are short tales of finding love at Christmas time with each of the five guys. I really loved these. A Christmas tale is like a jolt of serotonin no matter the time of year, and these really hit the spot. I enjoyed playing through the romantic scenarios with my favorite Code: Realize characters.

There are three supplementary stories that are more involved. They have more action and seem to supplement paths in previous games more directly. Of special note to Sherlock Holmes fans is the fact that he gets his own side story here! The special epilogue scenarios are more fluff stories with our favorite characters in more established relationships.

Art, Music, and Voice Over

I am starting to wonder why I bother putting this section in when reviewing Aksys Games titles. Art and voice-overs are always top-notch. Simply gorgeous backgrounds adorn this game, especially when the mansion and London are decorated for the holidays.

The characters are well-drawn. I particularly like the design of Holmes and Watson, but I am partial to any version of them the world at large wants to throw at me, so take that with a grain of salt. The music is nice but somewhat repetitive. It never got annoying, but it did get stuck in my head sometimes. Voice acting was wonderful, as usual.

Potential issues

I think I always say this, but otome visual novels have their own set of tropes that you either love or hate. I definitely found this title to be pretty mild in regard to the ones I hate. There was a kind of grey consent storyline involving truth serum and bad decisions in one of the triangle dates that was uncomfortable, but that’s the only thing I noted that someone really might want to know about going in.

There are some scenarios that have flashing screen effects (either the screen goes briefly entirely white or entirely black). Just something to be aware of if you have a sensitivity to that sort of thing. I happened to have it on fast forward when I reached that segment and it almost gave me a headache.

There are a few small translation blips, but nothing major. Just some awkwardly worded sentences here and there. Loading times are a bit long, but nothing game-breaking.

Conclusion

Code: Realize is a classic in the visual novel genre, particularly among titles that have been localized to English. If you haven’t played it yet, you probably will at some point. Unlike the original title, where some of the paths were quite aggravating to me (*cough* Saint Germain *cough*) I found this one to be filled with mostly light-hearted fluff that was a delight to play, mixed with some longer more action-oriented tales. There are a few scenarios I wasn’t crazy about, but overall this title is filled with feel-good romantic silliness that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up