Product Info

Platform

Switch

Publisher

Idea Factory

Developer

Idea Factory

Genre

Adventure, Simulation

Players

1

File Size (Minimum)

3.8 GB

Release Date (NA)

Nov 28, 2023

Release Date (JP)

Dec 23, 2021

Purchase From

Amazon

Best Buy

Idea Factory International Inc.

eShop

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! -Pirates of the Disturbance- is a visual novel game based on the popular light novel and anime series, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!. Pirates of the Disturbance is not only an interesting visual novel for the Nintendo Switch but also a proper spin-off title of the original series.

A New, Branch-Off Adventure Awaits

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! -Pirates of the Disturbance- doesn’t take place as part of the main story but as a side story. That means the game’s story and events don’t correspond with the original manga/anime series. Instead, it’s a spin-off game with a brand new story. Many anime series that receive a video game tend to receive a side-story that doesn’t correspond with the series’ main storyline. It provides a fresh breath of air and a new approach for fans of the original.

If you’ve watched or read the original material from My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, then you already know most of the characters’ backstories and existing dynamics. If you haven’t, you’ll have some difficulty following the game’s story. The game will try to fill in the player with backstory, but it doesn’t feel like enough. It’s recommended to watch at least the first season, and you’ll understand why once you start playing.

The story revolves around Catarina Claes, a young daughter of a noble family. At a young age, she bumps her head and regains her memory of her past life as a 17 year-old girl who enjoyed otome games (story-based games where the lead female character builds a romantic relationship with a male character). After the shocking realization that she was reincarnated as a villain in one of the otome games she’s played, Fortune Lover, Catarina strives to change the story where she doesn’t get killed or exiled from her country. Instead of becoming an enemy to the female protagonist, she befriends her and the other supporting cast to avoid her doom. The visual novel game doesn’t go deep into detail regarding Catarina’s storyline, so watching the first season will help the player understand the game’s storyline and character development.

After the events that cleared the red flags that would have given a bad ending for Catarina, she and her friends are invited to Vinculum: a world-class cruise ship. However, it’s not just delicious food on a high-class ship that awaits her but also trouble brewing in the sea.

Like many visual novels, the game offers options for players to choose from. Depending on what option you pick, the story will change. This creates new routes to improve the relationship with one of the male characters. There is a “normal” route where the story doesn’t take specific sides with one of the characters, and after finishing the game, players will receive the “normal” ending. Players can choose different routes that will affect the storyline so that Catarina has more one-on-one time with a particular guy. There are six male characters to choose from, making this a game you’ll have to replay multiple times to see all the scenarios. The normal route doesn’t focus on any one male character, evenly giving each of them time instead and making it feel like the original series. However, the game is really short with just three chapters. The third chapter feels rushed and could have paced itself more.

Listening to the Beautiful Sea

The visual novel brings back the original voice cast of the anime series. However, only the Japanese cast is present; an English dub is not available here. The game’s soundtrack is filled with whimsical tunes. The opening song, “Baby Steady Go!” by Shouta Aoi, is energetic and perfectly matches the opening animation’s vibrant colors. The rest of the soundtrack provides balance to the game’s storyline while also not drowning out the voice acting. If players do have issues with the volume, they have the choice to adjust the background music. Additionally, there are some character voices that seem a bit lower than the others, but there’s an option to adjust each character’s voice volume, too. If that wasn’t enough, you can even turn off each or all character voices.

The game’s characters are vibrant and well illustrated, just like the original series. The backgrounds such as the cruise and the sea are also colorful and detailed. Characters are placed upfront, mostly in the center if just one is present during a scene. There is some movement animation but not much since the game wants users to read, not watch. Catarina’s avatar at the corner of the screen changes expressions based on the dialogue, so that brings some character and movement during gameplay.

The game’s user interface is clean and simple. In visual novels, there are not many controls to worry about as long as the basic controls are there, such as autoplay, skip scenes, dialogue log, and saving. In this visual novel, there are one hundred save slots—a large amount when striving for watching all the various scenarios. There are also quick saves you can utilize which only gets one save. This comes in handy when players make a mistake on a story option. If that wasn’t enough, players can also jump to a specific chapter for a character, as long as it was played through once before. In short, players have everything they need for success.

The Final Outcome

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! -Pirates of the Disturbance- is a strong extension of the original series. With returning voice actors from the original anime series, a well-written original story, and a whimsical soundtrack, it’s a great visual novel to pick up. Your fun fate awaits!

A Nintendo Switch code provided for this review. My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! -Pirates of the Disturbance- available now for the Nintendo Switch. A digital version available on the Nintendo eShop.