9 RIP Review: Romancing the Supernaturals

Finally finished all 9 routes of the game. Took me a little more than 2 weeks. This game has A LOT of stuff to unpack so here's my long rant.

Some info

The game is split into 4 different storylines (worlds). Depending on the choice you make at prologue, your common route will be in that world, as the synopsis of the game is literally about being spirited away into another world.
Each world can romance 2 LIs.
The 2 LIs in each world will share a common route for 5 chapters. Then their individual routes will be 4 chapters long.
There are 2 good ends (each with CG to unlock). And 2-3 bad ends (no CG unlock) per LI route. Only Kureha has an extra "neutral" end. Only Minami has 1 bad end CG to unlock.
I thought this is supposed to be a horror/romance game at first but there was hardly any horror except for some jump scares lol.
Common route of each world is very different. Section below shows the amount of spoilers among the worlds (plus amt of horror/romance level).

The Worlds

School World - Hardly any spoiler about overarching plot (some jump scares but overall very little horror, little romance)
Urban Legend World - Very minor spoilers about overarching plot (no horror, progressing cute romance)
Another World - Some spoilers about overarching plot (no horror, ROMANCE MAX)
Yokai World - Huge spoilers about overarching plot (no horror, just slice-of-life romance)

How I enjoyed the game

There is no specific route order but some bloggers suggest clearing both LIs from each world then move on to another world (from least to most spoiler world)
Or play 1 LI from each world in the school, urban, another then yokai order and then repeat another round (total 8 LIs + 1 final)
I did the latter because I like to revisit the world again after learning more from other worlds to gain some new perspectives. Plus, I followed the 9 RIP twitter and this was the order in which they posted for LI introductions
My play order: Hibiki -> Sena -> Seiya -> Koharu -> Kureha -> Kouyou -> Minami -> Yukimaro -> Final

LI impressions, with emojis (in my play order)

Hibiki (School world) 😨😢😭😭😭😭

Hibiki is a sweet but crazy boi. There was 1 jump scare moment but other than that, not as scary of a game as I thought 9 RIP would be. His story is just tragic and it HURTS. I feel bad for him the whole route. I love how he slowly grows and becomes more honest with himself and with MC at the end. And... THAT LAST CG!! Ugh! Yes, I cried! The voice acting and music really got to me... I love his 2nd good end more. It's bittersweet but it's well done and I love it. A great first route to the game!

Sena (Urban Legend world) 😳😲😊🥺🤨😓

Sena is a nice guy. He's bright and a great listener. The start was interesting, the buildup was good but.. the route itself doesn't have much substance (last 2 chapters just.. why?) I feel like in a game with this many LIs, a few are bound to get the shorter end of the stick and unfortunately in 9 RIP, it's Sena. The way they just reveal his back story is meh for me. No impact. And the way the romance develops... It felt like it's because it's his route that they're together, if u know what I mean. Anyways, just a little disappointed but there were cute moments. No horror at all.

Seiya (Another world) 😂🥰🥺🥰🥵😊

Tachibana Shinnosuke AKA Piofiore Henri's VA voiced this man perfectly! His visual is most my type so when I first saw the trailer, I know I'm playing the game for him! Every time this man blushes or starts his delusion rants, I can't help but smile like a fool. I would never expect this dignified-looking man to be such a blushing boi and a tease! I love how straightforward he is in expressing his feelings! He is even a self-proclaimed delulu hentai lmaoo! This man is 100% made of honey! He's sooo sweet! At the end of his route, I wanna adopt this man! Romance in this route is MAX and no horror at all.

Koharu (Yokai world) 😺🥰🥺🥰🤭😂

His name literally means 'Spring Fox' so he loves talking walks and has a cute side. Even though he talks bluntly and looks scary, he's actually warm and considerate. Reminds me of a cat. Overall, his interaction with the MC is sooo cute. They're both are quite clumsy at expressing themselves so I enjoyed their moments. But I think the route itself was kinda plain. Nothing really happens other than fluff. Not that it was not enjoyable but it suddenly feels like I'm playing a slice of life game when I'm expecting darkness and horror.

Kureha (School world) 😊😱🥺🔍🥶😊

My first impression of him was that he's a gentleman but he's actually a goofball too. He and MC have great chemistry from the start. And there are jump scares when something suddenly pops out so in case you're weak-hearted, this is a warning. This route combines horror, a bit of angst and a bit of romance. I personally can't simp Kureha since he's too plain for me but I do enjoy his route. His route has and extra neutral end. The good end titled "9 R.I.P." is not bad but I think I like the 2nd good end best.

Kouyou (Urban Legend world) 🤭😨😱🥰💖💘

I expected him to be like a tsun/kuu dere but he turned out to be kind, teasing and gentle sweetheart! He hides a lot of feelings to himself and sometimes uses the mask to hide his expressions when he gets shy or embarrassed haha! Even though Sena is his BFF, I love his interactions with Kureha or Seiya more! So cute! His chemistry with MC is the best so far. Their cute little teasing and banters makes my heart swoon! And the fact that this route has Minami... It definitely gets exciting haha. Man, I enjoyed this route so much that it felt short. They have the best end imo. Gosh I love them! So cute!

Minami (Another world) 🥵🤭😳🥰🤭🥵

Though his visual is not my type, I decided to play him because his VA is Piofiore's Yang, which means I can expect chaos. Oh yeah~ Whenever that voice is heard, I squealed a bit. Minami is that character you either like or don't like at first glance. But me after first chapter of common route... I LOVE HAHAHA! And when I get to his route, I love him even more! Such an interesting character! And the way the enemies to lovers story is perfectly executed... I can't get enough. And the way he fell... He fell DEEP hahaha! One of the most if not highest sugar content route for sure! Clearly, the game also loves him because he has the most CGs out of all the LIs. He even has 1 CG in a bad end, which is something the other LIs don't get in their bad ends.

Yukimaro (Yokai world) 😂😆🥰🥺🤧🥰

First impression of him in the common route was that he's so funny and energetic, a positive being of happiness. He has that child-like innocence that you just can't help but like. And his love for anime and desserts are relatable haha! His interactions with MC made me smile and laugh so much! The route itself just give me diabetes! Though there is not much other than fluff like Koharu's route. I still enjoyed it though! They're both just so sweet and cute! Yukimaro is such a pure, loving guy!

Secret LI (Yokai world) 😄😐😅😆

Honestly, I don't know how I feel about this LI. The whole time I kinda guessed he was the secret LI but when it was revealed he was the secret LI indeed, I was... disappointed. He doesn't really bring anything new to the table. I'm not a fan of his archetype as well so... It was okay I guess. At least I was entertained but... yeah, not much to say about him.

Route ranking: Kouyou = Hibiki > Minami > Seiya > Kureha > Koharu = Yukimaro > Sena = Secret LI

Husbando ranking: Kouyou >>> Seiya = Kureha > Minami > Koharu > Yukimaro > Sena > Hibiki > Secret LI

LI ranking: HIBIKI >= Kouyou > The rest

(Sorry Hibiki, I LOVE your route and I wanna give you a hug but you're not husbando material hahaha!)

Conclusion

I like Misa as the MC. She's a bold, brave, strong, empathetic, sometimes stubborn/persistent and charming protagonist. She stays calm and tries to think rationally for solutions in the face of adversity aka when being spirited away to other worlds. But of course, she's relatable because she's not so logical when it comes making decisions that would impact her relationships. I think a lot of her concerns are things that we've all gone through and will go through throughout our lives. We see her spending time in her thoughts and also voicing them out to the LIs. Usually with the help of the LIs and the people around her, we see her grow and reach to her own conclusions at the end of every route. But she's not just the one being "saved" in the routes, she's also the "saviour" of the LIs in their routes. Through her persistence, strong sense of justice, empathy and kindness, she can build strong bonds with the LIs that would "save" them, as some of these non-human LIs have quite tragic back stories.

About the game's setting... I was truly expecting something dark and horror but what I got were romance stories about a human and a non-human. Some were angst, some were cute, some were mysterious, some were a roller coaster of emotions but ultimately, I wouldn't classify this as a dark and horror game. More like a "romance game with the undead that turned out mostly sweet or sad or cute". The horror parts of the game are just a few jump scares and maybe the horror stories they shared. Though I don't find the horror stories scary at all lol. So, even though the game was not what I expected, do I still enjoy it? YES. Though if I have to nitpick, the individual routes were only 4 chapters long so some routes felt short and romance had to be rushed. Also, some routes made me ask why is this even a route because it doesn't contribute to the overall plot and the romance/story is meh (sorry Sena). And because of the large number of LIs, CGs are only 6-8 per LI... So little for a greedy person like me. Minami wins with 9 CGs. But it's still not enough for me because...

The art is just... gorgeous. I'm sure everyone has seen the trailers, posters, website, etc. Yuuya's art really blew me away. CGs are beautiful and some were even more beautiful that I had to stare for a minute before continuing the text. The game UI and design is also breathtaking. The music is also great and some of the piano tracks really loosen my tear ducts 😭

TLDR: this game gets a 8/10 from me.

The characters are all likeable and relatable. The MC is fantastic. Some routes made me teared up and some routes made me squeal and drown in sweetness. The premise of the story is interesting and refreshing. The voice acting is stellar. Other than the few nitpick points I mentioned earlier, it's a solid game that anyone who's looking to romance non-humans (lol) can enjoy!

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