I never thought that Toradora would come out as a galge, but lo and behold, here it is. Toradora Portable! puts you in the shoes of main character Ryuuji Takasu, who has lost most of his memories, even those of his relationship with resident tsundere Taiga Aisaka. Thankfully, despite the amnesia, he hasn't forgotten his cooking skills and the obsessive-compulsive desire to clean any mess he sees... conditioned reflexes, I'll be bound.
Minori Kushieda: The hidden final boss in Monster Hunter?
The plot in this game is markedly different from that of the anime. As you go about trying to recover Ryuuji's lost memory, your choices can actually alter who his love interest will become, giving disgruntled fans a chance to pair him up with either Minori, Ami, Sumire, Sakura, and even Yuri-sensei (?!?)... but if you're a Ryuuji x Taiga loyalist, then she's still available, too.
I bet you 1000 yen that you can't guess what Taiga wants in that UFO Catcher Machine...^_^
The galge mode is a slight departure from the typical "pick the right choice to get a good ending" fare. In TDP!, you are free to explore the town in a 3D map and will have several different opportunities to interact with the other characters, but the real progress is determined by the kind of items you have. Items are gained by cleaning certain locations or received from other characters.
Why is it important? Certain choices can only be made if you have the corresponding item... if you don't have what you need, then you're stuck with the generic answer which usually leads to a bad end. As a result, you'll often have to grapple with whether or not you'll let Ryuuji clean up a messy area, because some items are gained when you DON'T have him clean. While this system has it's merits, it becomes tedious and annoying for people who don't know when it's the right time to save.
Wait, if Taiga is a tiger and Ryuuji's a dog, aren't they supposed to have CatDogs?.
If you're tired of the main game, you can try out the minigames any time in the Omake mode: There's a 3 level action beat-em-up where you play as Taiga, who's almost late for school and has to fend off the lovesick boys trying to sexually harass her in between rushing to class. There's also a memory game, where Ryuuji must pair cards before Taiga messes them up. Finally there's an Arkanoid-style game where you strip costumed female characters down to their swimsuits. Fair warning: exhibitionism-addict Yusaku is selectable too, despite being a dude.
For extras, there's still the usual image and BGM gallery, as well as a Yasuko Talking Calendar and an application where you can install ToraDora PTF themes to your PSP... that is, if you know the passwords enclosed in select volumes of the anime's Japanese DVD release... but you won't need to buy them anymore because I have the passwords handy. Make sure your memory stick isn't bursting at the seams with files(you'll need at least 300kb each), and input any of these to get a character theme. Before you ask, yes... they're case sensitive.
- Taiga Aisaka : H9H2sKie
- Minori Kushieda: f5CiiLW4
- Ami, Maya & Nanako: atKR6q9J
- Yasuko Takasu: Qz7P6Wgw
- Sumire & Sakura: 8Tnm6LLd
- Yuri-Sensei & Black Muscle: 8Tnm6LLd
Shame that MILFlicious Yasuko can't be a real love interest. Since you're supposed to be Ryuuji, it would be incest, after all...
Overall, TDP! brings something new to the oversaturated galge platform on the PSP, but it takes more than simple trial-and-error to get to where you want the story to go, which is a bit of a turn-off for those people used to such methods. But the mini-games are distractingly fun enough to give you a fresher perspective for when you're ready to return to the main game. Even if you're done with everything else, the Taiga beat-em-up is soo addicting that it even adds to the replay value. (My best score is 5552, try to beat it if you can)
So if you're a fan of ToraDora! and want a challenging galge experience, Give TDP! a shot.
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