Tokimeki Checkin! Review

Contributed by Mike Thomas
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Tokimeki Check-in

Overview: Well some people are born great, others destined for greatness. You... you're just a big slacker. Or at least you take the role of Takayuki who is a big slacker.

Review: Tokimeki Check-In is a bishoujo (cute girl) game by Japanese game company CROWD, and ported into English by Peach Princess.

In Tokimeki Check-In, you're Takayuki, who's inertia in his life has kept him from getting into a good college with his less than great high school scores. So, you're stuck running your parents rural inn. Which would be a horrible thing, except that your inn has traditionally been a haven for women on summer vacation. So... maybe things won't be that bad.

Thus the game begins. You have three days in which you have to balance running an inn, with trying to woo several of the girls who come to visit, or several of the girls who work there. But, try to pursue to many, and you'll end up with none ^_^.

That's what makes this game so much fun. There are a total of 10 girls who you can try to understand their dreams and motivations, and get to fall in love with you. But, remember girls gossip, so if you try to flirt with one, don't try make moves on another, or neither one will like you. And, say something to one of them, and expect all of them to soon know what you said ^_^.

This allows for a ton of replayability, as in game one you can just figure out the controls, game two, go for one of your co-workers, game three one of the visitors, etc., etc., etc. And with 10 very different girls, there will definitely be one that you like.

Great music adds to the game. And you can play from Midi files, or directly off the CD. However, on the downside, the game has no sound effects. Instead of hearing a thunder-boom, you'll read a text comment of a thunder boom. Instead of hearing a door opening or closing, you'll read it. To me, this oversite detracts from the game, as CROWD seems to have thought about all the other aspects so well.

Very good graphics, with a variety of character designs and settings. And the settings have different "time" shades, so you can see the hallways during the daytime, afternoon, and night. The girls do tend to be on the busty side, so you like more natural, or smaller chested girls that might detract from who you find attractive. The girls also each have a couple of different costumes, and the way they wear their clothes gives big hints about their personalities.

Great voice acting. Actors can really add something to a character, to make them come to life, and the various seiyuu of Tokimeki Check-in, really make all the girls come alive. On the downside, the male characters aren't given voices, which is a serious oversight in my opinion.

Good storylines for the various characters. Some of them are your old child-hood friends who are hoping that, someday, you'll mature into the man they know you can be. Others are about how someone was jaded because of an abuse of their love. And still others are girls simply trying to find themselves, as you are. Now this can lead sometimes to being a bit confusing to determine what to do next when trying to get one of the visitors to the inn to fall in love with you.

Good translation, with plenty of built-in hints as to what to do during a given moment. None of the lines were Americanized, and Peach Princess has included a liner-notes file to help people understand some of the cultural differences that people might wonder about the game. The liner notes are kinda-line directors commentaries you can hear on DVDs.

An entire CD of extras, plus Peach Princess has a ton of Tokimeki Check-in merchandise available on their webstie. And the game itself comes with a full color mini-catalog, a full color instruction book, and a random collectable game-art card. Also, for those who pick up the game, Peach Princess offers a hint sheet to help you understand the motivations of the various girls of the game.

Overall, a very well put together game, full of different characters, different storylines, and just a lot of good fun. Well worth visiting Peach Princess's website and picking up.

Story: 8
Graphics: 8
Music/Sound: 6
Voice Actors: 9
Extras: 9
Gameplay: 8
Editors Slant: 9
Overall (The Overall Score is not an average): 9