Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~ Review for Nintendo Switch

It is hard to find love if you’re a monster, pretty ones non-exempt. Love is even harder to find if your father forbids it, regardless of his reasons being very valid. Melting the skin off of animals tends to be a turnoff for most eligible suitors.

Such is the tragic life of the beautiful Cardia (you may change her name if you wish before your journey begins), locked away in a dismal mansion, reminiscent of the X-Men school where they keep all the powerful weirdos. What on Earth am I talking about? Is this a movie? A comic book? No, but close, it is Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~ for Nintendo Switch, making this Aksys Games’ sixth otome title. If you are into otome, most likely you have had this game on pre-order for quite some time. Fret not, if you happen to be banking on Cardia looking for love in all the strange places, your money will be well spent.

Visual novels are a tricky mini-genre in the gaming world because they only appeal to a very narrow audience, and for those developers who attempt it, they have to do a really really, really good job at balancing momentum and suspense. It would be dishonest of me to say this has been pristinely executed in this title. Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~ does itself a great detriment with one of the slowest starts of any game I have ever played. The opening text is intriguing and I was excited, even uttering an audible “oooh” when the screen fades to black after the fatherly proclamation “I must keep love away from you, because you are a monster.” The beginning carried on and on for what seemed like eons, my finger on autopilot, pushing the dialogue onto the next without an end in sight. A patient 30 minutes into the narrative and I had my first interactive choice—and not a very interesting one. I stayed off the internet to see if this would ever blossom into an experience beyond watching a slow-paced anime and persevered—for your sake—to see if this is worth the thumb cramp.

The story is not the most original, but does possess all the classic qualifications of an otome. Our amnesiac heroine’s need for gloves to keep from accidentally destroying those who touch her seems like a dark twist on Frozen, but it doesn’t seem to deter her prospective bachelors much. I was pleasantly surprised to delight in recognizable characters from gothic fiction, such as Victor Frankenstein and Abraham Van Helsing. These characters remain true to their original literary portrayals, but with some unique creative adaptations. Given the slow start, I didn’t put much stock into anything other than archetypal personalities, but was pleased to be proven wrong.

Hands down best part about this game is the steampunk artwork—Eighteenth century London is a delightful backdrop. Animations are pretty static, which has received some complaints, but I think this style is congruent with a slow burn novel and I quite like it.

Overall this game gets better if you give it a chance, but that chance will take you nearly an hour to feel your commitment is just. As time went on, I enjoyed the story more than I anticipated, but I could have done without nearly a quarter of the scenes.

Rating: 6.5/10.

Check Out the Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~ Trailer:

Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~ is available for Nintendo Switch in both Standard and Collector’s Editions.

For more information, visit coderealize.us.