Foreword: I have a very strange history with Bittersweet Fools. I started playing it about two years ago, and finished it only a year later. But the most important question is why this first minori game neglected that much? I believe I know the answer to this question.
Title: Bittersweet Fools
Developer: minori
Date: 2001-08-31
VNDB link:https://vndb.org/v164
Youtube walkthrough:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CYqHFsKP-M&list=PLEJNtz1D9CPU6cTE85DdrBMeNWyN5EEbX
Eve: The Fatal Attraction has no rivals this month. Among other masterpieces I'll call Memories Off 2nd. I'll be reviewing Rije ~Saisei no Ubugoe~.
1. Itsuka no Sora いつかの空 [010907] Sweet Basil 1 Our hero is a sophomore college student living by himself. He has a childhood friend that is a girl, but he doesn't have a real girlfriend. His hope of finding someone special is fading away when his part time job eats up his time. Then he meets Eri, who happens to have lost her mem
Foreword: I'm always curious about another FlyingShine game, but this time scenario by Arakawa Takumi is the biggest attraction point.
Title: Bokura ga Koko ni Iru Fushigi.
Developer: FlyingShine
Date: 2002-08-09
VNDB link:https://vndb.org/v6544
Youtube walkthrough:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBEIudaA_x8&list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv8VvcJZUr-a2osG0BOPAdMl
Synopsis: Shinichi Manabe attends Seiryo High School. His father is a writer. 5 years ago, Shinichi went to se
Masaru: Ashita no Yukinojou 2 is the VN of the Month. Hotosenaru Uta Chitosenaru Shirushi is definitely a masterpiece as well. As for "Hello, world." with its great reviews, I'll tell you in next issue whether I consider it a masterpiece or not.
1. Hoshimatsuri no Uta ほしまつりのうた [020906] Softhouse Dew 1 Soichiro Sugimoto is a kind, quiet boy attending Yuigasaki High School. Students at this school like to throw festivals, and the upcoming festival, the Star Festival, is
Green Green and Jisatsu no Tame no 101 no Houhou are the masterpieces of the month with the latter being the winner, but I'm reviewing Assassin Ann .
1. Green Green グリーングリーン [011005] Overdrive 1 2 Green Green takes place in Japan’s countryside, in a non-descript region with forests and an isolated boarding school known as Kanenone Gakuen (鐘ノ音学園, literally translated as Sound of Bell Academy). The academy boasts of an entirely male population, and prides itself of the tradit
Foreword: I don't review anthologies and fandiscs, but this time I have to deviate from this tradition for the fandisc of the game of the year 2000.
Title: Nijuubako
Developer: KeroQ
Date: 2001-11-30
VNDB link:https://vndb.org/v6247
Youtube walkthrough:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwioMkDCF88&list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv9AcuZZF8nvm-DbGt0ZKEI3
Synopsis: Among other accessories there are two stories:
1. 『イルとスイの日常』"Il and Sui everyday" is about Il and Sui explor
Izumo is the only masterpiece of the month. I'll be reviewing both Virus and Faust this month.
1. Kakuriyo 幽冥－カクリヨ－ [011207] Cage Main character receives a request as a member of mystery club to investigate change in the behavior of classmate's older brother. At the same time beauty transfer student comes to the class, and a series of bizarre incidents starts to happen. Old school building, moonlight on the shrine and fate from the previous life - with that the sky tre
Foreword: I did not have much hope for this game until I found a Japanese review calling this game a hidden gem and praising its atmosphere.
Title: Faust
Developer: Tail
Date: 2001-12-14
VNDB link:https://vndb.org/v9803
Youtube walkthrough:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAn6MX7Tj6U
Synopsis: In a peaceful city, a series of strange "vampire" murders happened. As if to ridicule people who don't believe in the existence of such monsters victims appear one after
Princess Knights is the only masterpiece of the month. This short month has literally nothing of interest, so I'm reviewing Sollunea
1. Princess Knights [020111] Mink 1 2 3 4 In a kingdom faraway… the royal family was dethroned overnight by its own general. The king tried to escape with his son, whereas the princess who was left behind was captured by the enemy. Alone, the general gave chase and managed to catch up to the king and the prince. The king fought the general, te
Kikokugai - The Cyber Slayer and Subete ga F ni Naru ~The Perfect Insider~ are masterpieces, but only the former is the winner. I'll be reviewing Donor - Onna Tantei Ryoujoku
1. Sister Angel しすたぁエンジェル [020301] TerraLunar Main character loses his memory in an accident. After being discharged from the hospital, he starts to live with his self-proclaimed sister. Hero regains his memory while in contact with her.
And at some point the feelings of the two go
Foreword: Girl with a gun and concept similar to EVE from FlyingShine - that's a curious thing to investigate provided that only a year later the same brand will create Cross Channel!
Title: Donor - Onna Tantei Ryoujoku
Developer: FlyingShine
Date: 2002-03-08
VNDB link:https://vndb.org/v6542
Youtube walkthrough:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlZTV0b7nLY&list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv-uWqueJwenXF1BJZOgphqE
Synopsis: Futaba Kawana is an attractive American detective, wh
Foreword: Voiced protagonist has become deciding factor to choose Fearless] over Shitai o Arau. Fearless] also is a mystery to me structure-wise and story-wise.
Title: Fearless]
Developer: Active
Date: 2002-05-10
VNDB link:https://vndb.org/v2360
Youtube walkthrough:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsCMKS_aJ5M&list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv8rKP5oDa1nzt0KevjFrmhw&index=22&t=0s
Synopsis: Azumi Shizuhara is an orphaned student attending Rakuryo Gakuin.
One rain
There are no masterpieces this month AGAIN. I hate D.C. ~Da Capo~ series so much that I'd prefer literally any game over those. It's time to pay credits to Purple Software and nominate Kanade as game of the month. For some reason I picked Asa no Konai Yoru ni Dakarete -Eternal Night- for review. Why? Oh, Why?
1. PINK PANZER [020607] Liar-soft After decades of anarchy and dark times humanity regains its nation and civilization, but science, technology and cultural maturity r
Foreword: I was wondering what FC experimental branch (Dreamsoft) was capable of. Synopsis is quite fantasy-ish and girls with katana are featured, so I'm sold here.
Title: Asa no Konai Yoru ni Dakarete -Eternal Night-
Developer: DreamSoft
Date: 2002-06-28
VNDB link:https://vndb.org/v1205
Youtube walkthrough:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooV-q4jSD9A&list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv-k2sH-Gg8wOnLUF96lDXAB
Synopsis: Main character dates his childhood friend. Days pass hap
Foreword: With Fuwa and vndbreview votes combined One 2 ~Eien no Yakusoku~ got 5 poll votes which is two votes more than closest competitor Masaru: Ashita no Yukinojou 2 has. I already mentioned that One 2 is a masterpiece, so it's time to present my reasoning. As usual, I only picked two heroines to capture while remaining four remain untouched (except for common route cameo).
Title: One 2 ~Eien no Yakusoku~
Developer: BaseSon
Date: 2002-04-26
VNDB link:https://vndb.org/v670
There are no masterpieces this month. This is becoming a tradition! Guess Popotan can be called VN of the Month. I'm choosing Tamamayu ~Miserareta Mitsu no Ito~ for review. Girls with swords not as cool as with guns, but will do.
1. Tamamayu ~Miserareta Mitsu no Ito~ 玉繭 ～魅せられた蜜の糸～ [021206] Mireille Mysterious girl Shoko suddenly transfers to main character's school. One day she confesses to protagonist, but gets rejected. She says she has an ability to control the dark
Foreword: RSR is the last big game of Sogna. I can't pass without saying farewell.
Title: Viper-RSR
Developer: Sogna
Date: 2002-07-31
VNDB link:https://vndb.org/v970
Youtube walkthrough:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsrmSBbNUMM
Synopsis: A game that blends old school dungeon crawling along with animated cutscenes.
It is a dark age in the kingdom of Alitalia. Monsters ransack cities, slaughtering the men and taking the women as their slaves. Four adventu
Foreword: I was impressed with art and dark atmosphere of the game, but chose it because wanted to know the plot.
Synopsis:
There is a small island called Kugaitou. Several decades ago, a man moved there and secretly formed a religious group. He was soon revered by people on the island and the group got bigger. Souichirou, the main character, was born and grew up there.... Time passes.... Souichirou is about to move to Tokyo. Just a few days before he leaves, he and his fr
I consider only Steel to be the only masterpiece as of now. But things may change as I review both Steel and Seven-Bridge
1. Rozen Maiden ローゼンメイデン [050202] WorkJam Anime story is relayed to mobile phones. If game is finished with good results, there is also an original after-story scenario.
I really need to devise a way to block such "games".
2. Kurokami Shoujotai 黒髪少女隊 [050204] Honey Pot Kaoru enters a high scho
Rocket no Natsu is the only masterpiece of the month.
1. Minami no Umi no Odyssey 南の海のオデッセイ [021003] Global A Main character is 6th grader in elementary school. He comes to Guam island with his twin brothers fleeing from the plague. The uninhabited island gets flooded with time, and there's no other option but to try to flee the island.
GBA exclusive is of zero interest to me and pretty much everyone in English visual novel community.
Foreword: Guns and girls is a great concept, but it can go all way wrong as it happened with DoNoR. Can Silver Co., Ltd. really pull it through?
Title: Gunsister
Developer: Silver Co., Ltd.
Date: 2002-11-29
VNDB link:https://vndb.org/v2814
Youtube walkthrough:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt49qIwDIFw&list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv8Da9PQZfIpp0SKP3KvrVNi
Synopsis: 250 years from now. Human race is reduced to 2.5 billion due to fierce confrontation with the fairy race.
Foreword: Girls with swords - will they repeat success of Gunsister?
Title: Tamamayu ~Miserareta Mitsu no Ito~
Developer: Mireille
Date: 2002-12-06
VNDB link:https://vndb.org/v6182
Youtube walkthrough:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv9XSjuPuqPVDpGPnkGKY1Z-
Synopsis: Mysterious girl Shoko suddenly transfers to main character's school. One day she confesses to protagonist, but gets rejected. She says she has an ability to control the darkne
Year 2002 was quite curious. A lot of heavy weight candidates finally entered the scene.
New portion of Visual Novel Openings 2002 with songs.
My list of masterpieces in 2002:
Baldr Force
Bokura ga Koko ni Iru Fushigi.
D.U.O. ~Song for All~
Ever17 -The Out of Infinity-
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Hotosenaru Uta Chitosenaru Shirushi
Kikokugai - The Cyber Slayer
Kusarihime ~Euthanasia~
Masaru: Ashita no Yukinojou
Moekan is the only masterpiece of the month
1. F no Fuuin Fの封印 [030124] Girl's Software Main character is a university student who studies local history. As a part of his investigation he visits ancient shrine maiden island. There he finds and breaks a mirror, which is followed by a dream of a woman who lost her mind and wore girl clothes. Mysterious incidents start to happen from that point. What secret is sealed in maiden that came to his dream?
Main ch
Routes is the only masterpiece of the month. By inertia i'm choosing BM0 from FlyingShine for review this month.
1. Cannonball ~Neko Neko Machine Mou Race!~ CANNONBALL ～ねこねこマシン猛レース！～ [030207] Liar-soft 1 2 3 4 There is a big race event in space called Cannonball!
People living in the harsh space environment enter this huge interstellar event with big dreams and excitement in their hearts. The winner gets a huge reward, or at least that's what has been pr
