Cancel A Format

''This is an article that serves as an overview of a Hetalia fan-game. To see the Fandom wiki created for this game, visit the Cancel a Format Wiki.''

『Cancel a format』 is a dōjin soft otome visual novel game created by dōjin circle From the World's Dumpster, and the creator of HetaOni, Tomoyoshi. It was released on August 13, 2010 for Windows platforms through an online digital purchase service. Physical copies could also be purchased at Comiket (コミケット, Komiketto) during the December 29-31, 2010 event. The story follows the leading protagonist, whose default name is Rare (ラーレ, Rāre). Rare transfers to the World Academy after being found by a group of nation representatives within academy grounds. Due to the special circumstances surrounding her sudden appearance, she is admitted to the academy on account of being a lost nation, and to curb her memory loss. As the school year progresses, depending on the choices the player makes, the protagonist will fall in love with one of the nations, and eventually marry them if the right conditions are met.

Cancel A Format is based on Himaruya Hidekazu's bestselling manga and anime series, ヘタリア Axis Powers' (now known as ヘタリア World☆Stars), but has no affiliation with the official anthology, nor the creator himself. The link to Cancel A Format's official web page can be found on the popular Japanese blogging host, FC2. When the game was released in 2010, players could own their own physical copy by purchasing the game through Toranoana's online shop. On November 27, 2014, the spokesperson for From the World's Dumpster, Tomoyoshi, gave express permission for the DeviantArt group, Cancel-a-format-FC, to redistribute the game files at no extra charge. The link to the base game can be found on the page of the Deviantart group. Because the game is in Japanese, there was an English patch of Cancel a Format in production under the management of AvalonMelody, Nueraia, and various other group administrators. Along with volunteer translators and fellow fans of the game, their shared aspirations resulted in the creation of Cancel-a-Format-FC. There were plans to translate the game into English, whether through a patch, or by recreating the game in full in a Unicode-compatible visual novel engine. Unfortunately, the project was cancelled at the behest of the creator, who requested for there not to be an edited version of their game created or distributed. Therefore, Cancel a Format is only available in Japanese, with options for translations made available through third party applications.

Gameplay
Cancel A Format is an interactive text-based visual novel that follows a branching plot line, with the player's decisions determining which of the game's multiple endings they receive. The game is set in W Academy, and its main story follows the main character as she familiarises herself with the educational institution, the neighboring city, and her status as a rediscovered nation. When the game begins, the heroine has no name to speak of, and is known only as ???. It is only when she meets the rest of the cast that her name is decided on. The default name for the female protagonist is Rare (ラーレ, Rāre); however, the player is welcome to rename her to whatever they please.

Gameplay in Cancel A Format is similar to most other visual novels for the PC, with the controls limited to the mouse and the only interactions being clicking to forward the game's narrative, to choose between multiple plot choices, or pick a nation to mingle with. The save button can be used at any point during the game, which also features several pages of save slots, allowing gameplay to be easily picked up from prior to a choice the player made. An arrow button in the upper right corner also allows the player to skip dialogue and interactions they have already experienced. The game follows the standard formula of a traditional otome game, in which Rare, the mysterious protagonist, can become closer with and gradually become romantically involved with a nation of her choosing. The game itself lasts for four seasons, with each season lasting 15 days. The protagonist will spend 60 days total in the academy, increasing her reputation among her fellow students, potentially finding love in the process. Each day is roughly divided into two periods: morning and afternoon, in which the protagonist decides to meet a nation, picked by the player from a list which is generated randomly at different times. Additionally, she is allowed to attend two classes a day that my also generate a random encounter with any one of the characters.

Favorability
Certain days have special events which tie in to the overarching plot. These generally grant greater amounts of favorability, and probably can involve more than one character depending on the event and whatever choices the player makes. The more the protagonist spends time with a certain character—whether it's on purpose, or even by chance—the greater the character's favorability will increase. The favorability of each character can range from 0 to 10 hearts: with 0 hearts resulting in a cordial-but-distant relationship, and 10 hearts leading to affectionate scenes between the protagonist and their chosen love interest. It roughly takes five or six encounters to complete a heart, at which time an event will occur. As the protagonist gains hearts, the character will gradually become more friendly. At 5/6 hearts, the character in question will initiate a romantic relationship with the protagonist.

It is possible to have a joint romantic encounter with two characters at the same time, with characters such as America and England, or Germany and Prussia. To do this, the protagonist must attain four hearts with both of the characters, and complete the special declaration attempt scene at the garden house. Hereafter, one of the � icons will replace the friendly encounter, with the joint romance encounter. However, the player must complete all this by Autumn 2, or Rare will enter a monogamous relationship with the nation that has the higher favorability. If the player is not careful, they may trigger a 'confession rejection', where the jilted nation will enact a scene which implies they have fallen in love with the protagonist, but cannot act on their feelings due to knowing of their intimate relationship already.

After Winter 15, the ending is played out. The type of ending which can be achieved depends on the player's choices, and which character the protagonist is the closest to. The bad ending(s) initiate(s) from a multitude of ways: the player could fail to gain 5 hearts, make certain choices in dialogue trees, or get locked into a route, but fail to attain enough hearts to activate the good ending. The normal end occurs when the player gains 6 hearts with one character, and finally, the true end occurs when the player succeeds in gaining the necessary level of favorability with their chosen character while choosing the correct dialogue choices if necessary.

Events
Events are chances to improve the heroine's favorability with certain characters. There are events that are linked with certain days, and are otherwise unavoidable. Such examples include the summer festival, the cruise, the hot springs trip, and the school festival.

Plot Summary
The story begins with Rare, the protagonist, waking up in the ocean. She is ignorant of her whereabouts, her name, or who the people around her are. After coming ashore, she wanders through town, just barely missing North Italy and France due to their womanizing behaviour offsetting the heroine. Without a place to stay, she eventually runs into an unnamed man whose nefarious intentions are interrupted at the behest of Hungary and Belarus. After making sure she's okay, she parts ways with the two and eventually finds herself at the World Academy, where the rest of the cast discover her sleeping body the following day. Due to the properties of the academy, wherein mortals are not allowed past the gates, the protagonist is theorized to be a nation of unknown means, and is quickly enrolled into the academy to ensure the smooth return of her memories.

There's only one problem—she's enrolled as a man, and becoming close risks the chance that they will find out that she is a woman. Rare must balance her personal issues, her friendships, and a blossoming love while maintaining the precarious balance that she has held up. Whether or not she succeeds is ultimately up to the player.

Characters

 * Protagonist—default name Rare (ラーレ, Rāre)—is the main protagonist and playable character of Cancel A Format. Though the protagonist's default name is Rare, the player can choose whatever name they like. Her personality is largely static, though minute changes can be dependent on the player's choices and whomever she interacts with. Her physical appearance consists of short, black hair that cuts off just past her neck. Due to its bright hue, it is often mistaken as purple. Her eyes are not visible, but it is stated that her eye color is a dark golden brown. The protagonist is a woman, but she can easily pass off as a feminine boy, which only serves her interests as she attempts to fool the rest of the cast into believing she is one.

Major

 * America
 * Britain
 * China
 * France
 * Germany
 * Italy
 * Japan
 * Prussia
 * Russia

Minor

 * Austria
 * Belarus
 * Canada
 * Hungary
 * Liechtenstein
 * Romano
 * Spain
 * Turkey

Bug Reports/ Errors

 * Save humping through the game can cause an error in which the game no longer recognizes what day it is. This will cause day-dependent events to not occur and the game never to end even if it goes beyond Winter 15. Bug is likely occurring as a 'flag' that is being either erased or reset whenever the game is saved and re-loaded multiple times. No solution discovered other than starting a brand new game and avoiding re-loading a save.
 * Protagonist's name changes mid-game if it is altered in the 'System' screen, regardless if a previous save under a different name is loaded. Therefore, it is impossible to have two games simultaneously under two different protagonist names. Effects appear only to be cosmetic, but requires further testing to see if will cause 'infinite game' bug.
 * 'Missing Dialogue' message will cause the system to immediately crash. Only code crash discovered so far is for Britain's love-rejection dialogue, occurring when the protagonist is already in a relationship with someone else, but Britain reaches 5 stars. Only solution thus far is to avoid the situation by reloading a previous save or starting over again.
 * Game crashes upon activation for the first time. This is due to either an incomplete installation or corrupted extraction from the download. The solution order is as follows:
 * Ensure Non-Unicode text is set to Japanese.
 * Uninstall, Reinstall. May require up to 3 tries before fixed.
 * Remove download and re-download, then reinstall again.

Trivia/Extra Facts

 * Cancel a Format is very loosely based off of a similar visual novel, Gakuen Hetalia.
 * The protagonist's default name, Rare (ラーレ) is derived from the Japanese on'yomi pronunciation of raare (央), which translates to "central".

Gallery
Cancel A Format's Fandom Wiki CG Gallery