This is a very enjoyable dating sim/visual novel and is a very good introduction to the genre. Full voice acting would have made this a must buy; however even without voice acting this game is still worth the under $10 price tag. The game offers a great deal of replay value and a colorful cast that you will want to get to know and learn about. I would give this game a 9/10 amd highly recommend it to anyone interested in this style of game. If you buy this game, do not get discouraged at the start; your character will suck and improve over time. Give this game a chance and enjoy a fantastic dating sim/visual novel experience.

Now this is a BIG VN

Well, its not technically a VN, more of a stat rising game, but whatever. Not being nitpicky here

This game will give you lots to play. with 10 different routes to choose from (and some bad endings along the way) you will spend enough time reliving your past

The story of a hopeless person who can relive his High School Years to change his life and maybe the lives of others.

Great hand drawn graphics, wonderful music, and a handful of wonderful stories.

only downside: this lacks a skip button for already read text.

4/5

For 5.99 USD on sale, I figured I'd give it a try. It's not my first visual novel, but this one has by far has more replay than the others I've tried. It's a fun combo of dating sim and stats, you have to adjust your focus as you try for each ending since each character has different likes/dislikes.

For me, it's a very interesting change of pace from EU III, HoI ARMA and Immortal Throne.

Interesting concept matched with good music and visuals, matched with compelling writing, and a surprisingly large amount of replay value. Surpassed all my expectations, and worth the time I put into it. Good for fans of Visual Novels.

great game

has a high replay value

can be tough at the start but once you get the hang of every thing you will really enjoy it

for a toon dating sim it was surprisingly fun

game never ends even if you fail you just get sent back to the begining and keep the main stats and perks you have unlocked

some good art work on it as well

would recommend this to any 1 looking for a challenge and fun dating sim game

An amazing game! Sweet, funny, engaging. I agree that it can be quite frustrating at the beginning, but if you can persevere, you'll appreciate why the game is structured this way. It is a game that grows on you with every replay. I hope Okashi Studio will make another game like this (a sequel maybe?)

This is a very good game with great replay value. The publishers are always open to suggestions or comments from the gamers and they are quick to fix any problems or issues. They are always updating the game to make it better and more enjoyable for their customers.

It's a great dating simulation game that requires you to increase stats and choose the right dialogues. It gets kind of repetitive after a while since you will have to keep going back to the start if you fail to keep your grades and make friends.

Still, I'd say it's a good game.

First of all I would not classify this game as an RPG. I would rather call it what it is a Dating Sim.Basically the primary goal seems to be dating girls. Also for a game that seemingly is about giving you a choice about what you want to do there really isn't as much as you are led to believe. This is because you can and will die if you don't have certain specs by a certain point that you wont know til you reach that point.You do get some benefit from the play through but repeating everything over and over has it's limits and seems to be a cover for lack of content.Basically comes down to a dating game with stats.

A lot of people have called this game a romance sim and while that's true to a point, Shira Oka is more of a social sim. Sure, you can go on dates with all the characters but it's often just a backdrop to learning about the characters: where they come from, what they like and how they see the world. While the graphics aren't exactly cutting edge, I found they were perfect for the style of the game.

The biggest selling point of the game is re-playability and this game has it in spades. There are actually 12 different endings (the friendship endings with the male characters count too!) and "your" bedroom will change with each ending unlocked (you get a souvenir after each ending).

If you can handle a sort of slow paced game that doesn't have graphics as a main selling point, this is an excellent game. In particular, I enjoyed learning a bit about Japan and Japanese culture through out the game.

My one complaint is that you will die or fail at least once before getting an ending, and to get the final ending, you must get every other characters ending before the last one. I understand why they did that but some of the characters (Aya!) are the kind of people I want to disagree with on general principles!

One of the few chance you have to see what a Visual Novel and Dating Sim really are, Shiro Oka bring this mixture, which resembles a lot with Tokimeki Memorial on the dating elements (but with a lot of new and different things) with all narrative elements of Visual Novels. It's a unique game.

Great game, multiple paths in which you can take and rather good visuals, it would be nice if the voice acting applied to more scenes (some scenes its just text to read) but thats my only real negative about the game and not a bad negative at that.

Definately worth getting if you like visual novel type games (with choices and outcomes, and stats build up)

Shira Oka is a difficult game to define. Appearing on the surface as a simple romance sim, the game quickly gains more depth than you'd expect from its quirky anime appearance. You play as a man whose life has gone to ruin; boring job, no girlfriend, no friends, nothing. Luckily, an angel give him the chance to live highschool over again and make something of his life. What that might be is completely up to you. You can study science all weekend, be a jock, go on dates with girls, and all sorts of stuff. Balancing your social life with school becomes quite an enjoyable challenge. With 10 potential love interests, there's plenty of replay value as the endings get quite interesting. I had a lot of fun with this game and would highly recommend it!

I like this game very much. It is kind of a dating sim, and I normally don't like those all tham much because of the non-replayability of most of them. This one caught my eye for some reason and I am glad it did. It is more in depth than most dating sims. For instance, although the action is mostly a 'here are your choices, now choose the right response' type of play as with most date sims, in this one, you also have to take into consideration like who are their freinds, what hobbies they like, etc. You get to also chose certain actions each turn, such as were to go, who to call, and that sort of thing. The time is broken down into days and weeks and you get to choose what you want to do each day, and you get to choose how far in advance you want to decide on your actions, so if you aren't sure what you want to do on Thursday, then just don't choose an action and when Thursday rolls around, you get to choose what to do then after having seen how things went the previous days. Also, if you fail to win the heart of someone, you get to keep the stats you have improved from the previous game, and this helps you in the next game. The dialogue and rections (especially the reaction to some of your choices)can be pretty comical in situations as are the expressions on some of their faces. I'll admit I got it here when Gamersgate had it on sale for less than the $24.99 it is currently at, but knowing what I know now about it, I would probably break down and spend the $24.99 on it if I didn't think I could get it cheaper. A boxed, non DRM version of this game would definately be worth the $25.00

The best way to describe Shira Oka: Second Chances to someone unfamiliar with the game style is as a semi "choose your own adventure" kind of game from an American publisher trying to introduce this very Japanese style game play to an American audience. The art style is nothing special and despite being primarily backdrop with little animation from the character silhouettes on screen it manages to lag a little here and there. The game play has quite some depth however as every decision affects somebody someway and you must balance six different skills in order to succeed.

Depending on what you do you make different friends and, potentially, enemies along the way with the end goal to hopefully have a girlfriend by the time you graduate. Don't be afraid to experiment with all the different options along the way, in fact I strongly encourage you to do so. The way the game works is that at various stages you either pass a given event or fail, this doesn't include every event or random encounter but rather very specific plot points and testing points. If you fail or get too many F's on your report card you are sent back in time to start over again, but armed now with the foresight and in game dialogue options of what to do better. The more often you fail, the better your chances are to succeed. In fact the only way to succeed at some points is to fail your attempt the first time so that your character can grow and learn from his mistakes. (Though that's not to say you can't choose to make the same mistake over and over again if you wish.)

There are multiple endings and outcomes, the longer you play the more opportunity you have to grow and reach the harder to get endings. The game rewards your success with experience for your character and sometimes access to cut scenes or background images. The first part is what you want to work for as each point is valuable to your success, the later is just there for the fun, though most of what you will unlock isn't all that interesting to look at. (Each ending does unlock a short video however.)

I enjoy the game, and find the replay surprisingly high for such a simple mechanic. It's basically like being in your own anime with you at the center. I got the game half off and am well pleased with the price, it is up to you if you think it is worth the full asking of $25. (I personally don't think so simply based on the lackluster art.)

Game Play: Click and watch, lots of reading, but with a focus on time management. (3/5)

Art and Sound: Decent, friendly, could be better but does make you laugh. (3/5)

Story: Heart and soul of the game, the reason you play, very nice. (4/5)

Replay Value: Practically the selling point here. Plenty of reason to try new things. (5/5)

Polish: Good, a little bug in the art sometimes. (4/5)

Very, very engaging game with its many endings. A fresh break from the traditional genres, Shira Oka was very fun for me. At first it was challenging because I didn't know what everything does, but later on it made sense. Some drawings might look iffy at times, but almost all the time, they look great.

I played through this game to an ending, there are 8 endings in total, getting to the first ending took around 10 hours gametime.

This game is very anime-themed, as it is pretty much made by anime fans for anime fans, so if anime-style situations and art turns you off, no point in getting this.

The point of this game is basically that you're a loser, and you're given a second chance to make things right. Basically, become a decent person who makes the right decisions and gets the girl.

The gameplay is a little difficult at first, because you are a loser, but it gets easier as your character progresses in the game. The point is to get a girl to like you, then do what you need to do in order to get a good ending. It's pretty generic, but the point of the game is the passage, not the destination.

Overall, I think the game's passage was quite enjoyable. It was obvious they overspent on the voice talent, getting professional voice actors, and the music was quite well done also. The characters were overall likable and effective, and there was enough content to avoid many repetitive situations, though there were a few. The game was also largely bug-free, though I did run into a couple of minor bugs. The game ending I played did have an unusual plot twist, but I will not reveal spoilers.

Overall, I'd rate this game a solid B+, and good for at least 10 hours of gameplay, with a shot at 30-40 if you really like the game. I'd definitely recommend the game at a sale to any anime fan, and at the full price to dedicated fans of the genre.