♥Eat, Play, Love♥ -Let's Play Ristorante Amore

Let's see how much code I screw up, here.

Ciao! I am Tallulah Graves, and you may count me amongst the many who have turned to Let's Playing in a desperate bid to win the hearts and minds of the masses. With that in mind...



Allow us to begin an exciting excursion into the world of Ristorante Amore! It's a free dating game from Cyanide Tea that was created in a single month. It's available for download from the linked site, so feel free to download and play along at home!

I'd never even heard of this game before last night, so naturally this promises to be a well-informed and insightful playthrough. As I've little else to add as far as game information goes, I'll let the website take over from here:

This is in no way a cliche. Perish the thought. I'm certain that Ms. Kingston will easily surpass our high standards for otome game protagonists.

Before we can swim in the vast, open sea that doubtlessly is this game, however, we will need a name. Shall we come up with something witty and charming, or stick with Lily?

Leave Lily as the name.

Ciao ciao~! Wheeee this game <3 I vote we name our Protag-chan Josh! ... I am completely serious! :D

Out of curiosity, why Josh?

Ooooh this is a blind run? ouo In that case, Imma just let you know that Josh is the name of a character~ You'll meet him eventually~ Don't think too hard about it~

"Josh" is a fairly normal name suggestion for this forum, actually. Have you seen what names some of the other protagonist-chans have gotten saddled with?

I'll vote for leaving it as Lily, though.

Oh, I think I've heard of this game. Sounds very nice.
I second Josh. That's a nice name.

Ah, this game, I remember the first LP of it on this forum :)

Lily! I don't know what Donmai is planning, but I'm scared.

Yes, but I'm always curious as to why certain names are chosen. I find it interesting.

Lily is winning, at the moment, so in the interest of getting underway I'll wait another minute or so before leaving her untouched. ...So to speak.

"Good morning, Hazelfist-chan, how are you?"
"Hi, BLS-chan! I see today you are ballin'--"
"I will cut you."
"What?"
"Nothing."
"You called?"
"No, it's nothing, What-chan."
"Hey, has anyone seen Queen Hither?"
"I dunno, maybe she's hanging out with Wench somewhere."
"Huh."

And so our story begins...



The sky was the limit. But you know what? It's now been more than four months since I graduated from college and none of my dreams have come true yet. Real life can be pretty har-



...And with that, we get our first glimpse of our high-reaching protagonist. She is, shock of shocks, fairly average.



Darling, at the risk of being rude, I daresay I've found your problem.

A tall, dark stranger comes upon the scene...



Oh look, we've found the mean one. Ladies, I think we can change him.

I have a technical kink to work out. Be right back.

An amalgam of Doumeki and Watanuki. Wow.

Incidentally, this game has a rather nice jazzy score... that seems to end and loop in a very strange spot. It's a bit odd. I'd upload a clip, but I'm not sure how to rip it from the game. I'll look into it.

Lily is not quite sure how to respond to her co-worker.



She briefly entertains a fantasy of dropping him, but struggles to retain her composure. She can't go to jail. Not again.



Our heroine is a subtle sort of lady. She's a lover, not a fighter, and aspires to be above the petty man in front of her.

Mysterious Jerk: You think that makes it okay?



Part of me continues to be annoyed with Spectacles McDouche, but part of me remembers being a waitress and being repeatedly warned about dropping things with her T-Rex arms. I'm going to sit this one out, Lily m'dear.



Just as our darling Lily is on the verge of wilting...



A challenger appears, and the plot thickens.

AHAHAahahahkrkrkrkrkrkr

I forgot how much fun this is

oh annoyed co-worker
you so cute
oh princely co-worker
oh boy

Awesome Another LP of this game~ And a blind run of it at that~

I feel like I'm the only one in the dark. Hmm, maybe I should have picked something else.

Continue. This is one of the more pretty visual novels. Most on this forum have worse art and worse plots. In my opnion.

Nonono keep going~! Avocado did a LP of this waaaay back but it's more entertaining to watch someone grope about blindly! You're doing great! This is a great game! Yes~!

There's plenty of new people who probably haven't gone back far enough to see the original LP anyway.

This kinda looks like an indie version of an Ouran dating sim. ALL OF MY LIKES.

I'm gonna download it and play too, so I can be all superior and knowledgeable along with everyone else!

Tallulah, I love your user name and I have a very strong urge to call you Lulla. I shall try my best to refrain, but no promises. Weeee~

A rather distraught Spectacles states most emphatically to the newcomer that Lily broke nearly $150 worth of china, a feat which makes me question just what sort of restaurant our flower has found herself in.



His words are soothing, but his smug grin says we'll pay for our mistake later. A shiver runs down Lily's spine. She didn't think she was in that sort of game.



Spectacles, you see, has a little-known trauma involving broken plates. The last time the restaurant hired an otome protagonist, she broke every plate in the store, seduced the manager and forced him into turning tricks to make up the deficit. She called it a "bad end," but the meaning of that phrase confuses him to this day.



In this economy, I'm lucky to have a job at all and most of the time, I enjoy my job very much. The patrons are nice, and my co-workers...

"In this economy?" Ooh, topical!




The question makes Spectacles' eyebrow twitch as the flashback begins. He tried being happy, once. The first time he tried to smile his entire face went into spasms and a nearby mirror cracked at the sight. Children screamed as their eyes melted from their heads. A nearby car swerved and hit his family.

He was never happy again.

(If you insist on making me talk to this man, game, I insist on making him less irritating.)



He's discovered our secret! Quick, Lily, to the escape pod!

Call me whatever you like. I stole my name from one of my favorite people, Tallulah Bankhead. I'm thrilled you like it!

Lullah, dahling, I now officialy like you. Rejoice. /throws confetti

This is totally an Ouran doujin game! The broken china, the boring protagonist, the meganekko distinguished gentleman in glasses. This is awesome.

I vote for Pierre, btw. I mean, if we are allowed to vote. Are we? Can we?

Go ahead! I'm fairly certain there's one more fellow who hasn't appeared yet, though. If you're not into cranky bespectacled fellows or stoned surfers, there's still hope.

Yeah, I know. I played this game. A bit. Some time ago. I think.
But I already know who I want to see romanced in this LP. :D

Lily is keenly aware that remaining in the good graces of authority figures is highly important if you want to advance in life. That's my girl.

Also, time to expose a huge pet peeve of mine: people who don't understand that an ellipsis is three periods. Three! And with few exceptions, you should only use one exclamation point. Don't judge me, I'm an English major. This has been a public service announcement.




Tragically, the job openings for people whose skills consist of fantastically special coordination and a vendetta against expensive plates have dwindled in the last few years. Lily blames the administration. Nepotism, however, never goes out of style!



Lily, does your plate depravity know no bounds?!


He means well, I think, he's just a little... ummm... picky. But he never demands more work from me than he himself puts in. Ethan is a very hard worker.

Pierre asks for the broom Lily presumable obtained during her ponderings.



Lily's eyes are drawn to the lower half of Pierre's face as he talks. She knows it's wrong, but that chin...

Pierre insists it's alright as he's on break, which baffles my tiny brain as I was under the impression that being on break means you didn't have to sweep things. But I digress...



I have good news, we've found this game's good-natured. sucker. All aboard the gravy train!

This is suspicious. You are suspicious. You know who else doesn't show any outward emotion but general pleasantness? Serial killers.



Yeah, yeah. We're on to you, Mr. Lovett. You agree with me, right, Lily? ...Lily?


Lily greets the new arrival as Liam, and...


I suspect Liam is the unloved red-headed stepchild of this game as he didn't even get to lecture us on how we need to stop dropping his "special" friends, the plates, before his sudden appearance. It's all right, Liam. I already prefer you to Spectacles and Dexter Lovett.




Enough about the dishes, already!

Lily once again claims that it was an accident. You know, my lovely, the more you say that... the less true it sounds. Liam assures her everyone makes mistakes, and I quietly nod my head in agreement since clearly this entire opening was one.



Liam claims it's his job to sweep things, takes the brush away, and sweeps... where Pierre just swept...

...

The words "Oh, Pierre!" are never not going to make me think of Singin' in the Rain.

I need to go to work now, I'll be back in a few hours when my shift is over. Hopefully I will become funny, or this game will start to pick up. Feel free to discuss the merits of dating a plate fetishist versus a serial killer in the meantime.

Tallulah, I really recommend you don't read avocado's LP until you finish.

That said, are we allowed to vote yet? We went after Liam last time right?

I plan to remain as dumb and blind as possible while playing this. I feel it's more fun for everyone that way.

And yes, voting is open! Your choices are:

Ethan, an angry young man with vision problems whose smile killed his whole family. Only plates understand him, but Lily's plate vendetta makes their love an unhappy one.

Pierre, whose calm demeanor hides a man with a taste... for human flesh!

and also Liam, who is normal or something idk

I will be back in a few hours. Arrividerci!

I think seeing this as a blind run-through really changes the feel, so you should keep going without worry. Plus your comments have been pretty funny so far. :D

Aw, don't worry. The beginnig is a tiny bit boring and I had a bit of a hard time LPing this myself, but you're doing a great job. :D

No, Ethan.

GO, PIEEEEEERRE

I vote for spectacles otherwise known as Ethan, by the by. Because that is the type of effed up girl I am.

edit: Oh if we went for Ethan last time then I vote for Pierre.

Nope, protag-chan went after Ethan last time If I remember correctly.

I'll throw a vote for Pierre too. Let protag-chan love you, princely blonde french chef guy!