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VN of the Month November 2016 - Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana


kivandopulus

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Clephas was clear about Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana being the winner , and none of the rivals appeal to me in the slightest, so I concur here. Micchi has a wider selection including Suki to Suki to de Sankaku Ren’ai and Natsuiro Koi Uta

 

1. Memory's Dogma [161104] LizArts 1 2 3 4
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A neuroscience × genetics × near-future sci-fi visual novel adventure game.
In 2030, due to Japan’s advancements in neuroscience, memories can now be saved and recorded. This is called e-Memory.
However, due to the rapid increase in the number of crimes using the e-Memory technology, the government has introduced strict regulations on human memory data.
In essence, the government now holds a monopoly on all human memory data.
The recording of still-living humans was forbidden, and the e-Memory technology was only to be used on the deceased, giving rise to the establishment of "Connect Centers." These state-owned and operated facilities allowed one to call and communicate with the dead.
These "Connect Centers" allowed people who were still in a period of bereavement to cope with their loss by talking with their recently deceased loved ones.
The protagonist, Kusuhara Hiroki, is a college student struggling with suicidal impulses after the sudden passing of his close childhood friend, Mizunashi Sorano.
Her memories were to last only until August 26—a mere four more days. Kusuhara teams up with his friend, Amamiya Kakeru, in an attempt to steal Mizunashi Sorano's memories from the server where they were stored.
In the midst of this, the two discover the secret of the Connect Centers, and are suddenly embroiled in the fight taking place behind the scenes.
Game is released in English and has English reviews

 

2. Fate/Extella [161110] Type-Moon 1 2 3
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The Moon Cell Automaton is a spiritron computer, which exists on the moon and has the power to grant any wish. All across the spiritron-constructed virtual world, SE.RA.PH, Servants and the Masters who control them fight for the right to be the Moon Cell Automaton’s one owner in a ceremonial conflict known as the Holy Grail War.
Now, the Servant Nero Claudius and her Master have won the Holy Grail War and have obtained the universal wishing mechanism, the Holy Grail.
They also obtained the Regalia, a ring that proves their kingship. With it, they rule over their once-enemy Servants and start a new beginning on the moon’s new world.
But a new enemy has appeared before them. And this enemy has something that shouldn’t exist: another Regalia.
Action is released in English and has English reviews

 

3. Aki Uso -The Only Neat Thing To Do- アキウソ -The only neat thing to do- [161125] Campus 1 2
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It follows the scenario of what happens at Mahoshi Gakuen if the magic contract didn’t end up in Satsuki’s hands and if Souichirou had protected Aoi from being taken over by the succubus.
Four years ago, Souichirou came upon a girl under a row of maple trees, with boys twice her size sprawled out the ground around her. She had crimson red eyes and radiant golden hair. He realized via his special ability of detecting lies that she was not human. The girl Eris was in fact a vampire, the only daughter of the famous Cartlet family, who had run away from home to escape her parent’s strict rules and an impending arranged marriage.
Now the two of them are really close, having lived together since that fateful meeting. One day, she did not feel well and he took care of her while she recovered. She asks him out of the blue to have sex with her. What is the true meaning behind her request?!
There is an English review

 

4. Gakkou no Seiiki 学校のセイイキ [161125] feng 1
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This is the third game in feng’s Seiiki series, this time with two heroines instead of just one. Youhei’s older sister Yaeka is his homeroom teacher. She looks dignified as a teacher, and is very popular amongst the students. However, she’s always drunk at home and leads a very loose private life.
His classmate Maika is a transfer student who is into all things Akiba. She always invites him after school to go walk around Akiba. He’s gotten used to seeing her with a grilled squid in one hand and buying up doujinshi and doujin games.
This daily life, which he thought would continue forever, changed completely when rumours spread that Maika would be suddenly called back to her home country. Youhei and Yaeka try their best to help her remain in Japan.
There is an English review

 

5. Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana 枯れない世界と終わる花 [161125] Sweet & Tea 1 2 3 4
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Shou and Ren arrived at a beautiful town full of colourful flowers. They met the three sisters Haru, Kotose and Yukina, who run the cafe “Famille”, and he starts working there in exchange for a bed to sleep in.
In the middle of the night, Shou follows Haru far away from the town to a hill covered with flowers as far as the eye could see. He watched as a little girl whom Haru was embracing turned into a flower under the large moonlit tree. She noticed his presence and smiled lonesomely while looking fondly at the beautiful flowers in full bloom.
“I have survived up till now in this world by doing this. But I still want to continue living… even if it’s in exchange for other people’s lives.”
Shou looked up at the petals which fluttered down and responded:
“No matter what this world forces upon you, no matter how many people won’t forgive you... I’ll still pray for this world to end.”
There are English reviews

 

6. Kirigirisou 霧切草 [161125] Spike Chunsoft
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The main character is a completely normal student with nothing unusual about them. They get lost one night while returning home, left driving in a dense forest. Vision still obscured, they meet the mysterious beautiful girl Kirigiri Kyouko, and give her a ride.
However, after getting into an accident, the two of them take refuge in a nearby Western-style house. That house is in fact where Kirigiri had been headed, but with a huge tree growing inside, it’s a bizarre place.
The heroes are assaulted by a creepy Western-style suit of armor, a skull buried in the garden, and a girl who’s just like Kirigiri Kyouko…
You are the protagonist. Can you solve the mystery of the house and escape from this strange place?
Detective

 

7. Natsuiro Koi Uta 夏彩恋唄 [161125] Studio Ryokucha 1 2 3
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Kamiki Kazuma was placed under his great-grandfather's control as a young man. However, as a result of his childhood illness, he was labeled as being unworthy and removed from his great-grandfather's oversight. As a result, he was able to return to a normal lifestyle and went back to enjoying a normal life with his childhood friend, Takanashi Hikaru.
After his great-grandfather died several years later, the Kamiki Family stopped its tradition of absolute control. As a result, his little sister Ayaka, who was attending a boarding school, was able to return to a normal life.
He'd finally obtained a normal life. However, a girl naming herself his fiance, Suwa Shion, appears, disrupting his quiet life.
At the same time, Tsukiyono Yuuna, who was being forced to attend marriage interviews with an older man by her father, sought to find some way to get him to give up on her.
As a result, she lies by saying that she was going out with Kazuma, who just happened to be there. Kazuma, wanting to do something about the fiance who had suddenly appeared before him, decides to go along with Yuuna's lie.
And so their life as a false couple begins. What will happen to them from here on?
There are English reviews

 

8. Suki to Suki to de Sankaku Ren'ai スキとスキとでサンカク恋愛 [161125] ASa Project 1 2 3
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Meet Sousuke, our protagonist. He's just your average student, living in a rural town. Ever since his father remarried when he was young, he's been living together with his little sister Nanaru.
Together with his childhood friend Maho and their other friends, they have fun geeking out at school in the Otaku Club (or the "BC," as they like to call it).
Sousuke enjoys those tranquil, peaceful days... But then one day, only one month before summer break, that peace is shattered.
"I've missed you so, so much... Nii-san!!"
It's his blood-related little sister! His beloved little sister, who had gone with their mother after the divorce, and she's back! Suzu silently flaunted her status as the 'real' sister at school, at home, and out around town, while stepsister Nanaru was just left feeling awkward and out of place.
Stepsister Nanaru: "It's too late to come in here claiming to be the 'real' sister, I've already trained him, hohoho."
Real sister Suzu: "Fine! I'll just RE-TRAIN him!!"
"This is bad. This is VERY bad. My sisters are going completely haywire!"
But if that wasn't bad enough for our poor protagonist, now some upperclassman called Shiina, who 'forced herself' to fall in love with Sousuke at first sight, appears! And if you thought the childhood friend Maho was still normal, too bad! She's acting slightly bonkers too. What is our poor protagonist going to DO?!
This is only the beginning of a wacky, zany love triangle fiasco hot enough to cool the summer heat
There are English reviews

 

9. Yomegami: My Sweet Goddess! よめがみ My Sweet Goddess! [161125] ALcot 1 2
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In Yomegami the world is at peace, but mankind is unaware of the miracles in this world, as well as the struggle going on in the world of Gods.
We pick up the story in spring in a provincial town called “New Masado City”, when a transfer student named Hayato transfers in at an unusual time. Hayato is the reincarnation of a devil that went on a rampage in the past. His mother, iris, is also a reincarnation of a former power. But in her case it’s a goddess rather than a devil. She told him that if he performs enough good deeds in the human world, he would be able to return to the world of Gods. And so Hayato attempts to live his life as a youth in accordance with her words.
Unfortunately, the devil’s power still hold power over him and it happens that he snatches a kiss from his new classmate Mikoto. If this misunderstanding continues, all of his previously accomplished good deeds will be nullified! He takes on the help of his best friend and class president Mari to find the right way and time to apologize. But then a mysterious and mischievous dog-eared girl appears and events take a turn for the worst.
Why did this have to happen to him!? It seems his life is too deeply connected with his previous existence…
There are English reviews

 

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1. Otome ga Irodoru Koi no Essence ~Egao de Orinasu Mirai~ 乙女が彩る恋のエッセンス ~笑顔で織りなす未来~ [161125] ensemble
This is the fandisc for Otome ga Irodoru Koi no Essence, with after stories for the five heroines and short episodes for sub-heroines Maori and Yakumo. There’s also a secret episode from the perspective of the principal Kotoe.
Fandisc

 

 

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Yomegami...ok, this is a game typical of Alcot's main company, a fantasy comedy with a strong H element (generally speaking, Alcot's main team tends toward really sexy ecchi and H).  It has a good protagonist, excellent heroines, and a strong enough story to almost stand up to a plotge.

Sankaku Ren'ai is a charage, obviously.  I will note that it is a solid charage that might have been VN of the Month material in a slow month.  It is not a game I found memorable, but it also doesn't bring back any bad memories, which was something that started to become common about this time.

Aki Uso's description above is flat-out wrong.  All of the Uso series games are based in the same timeline, but the romantic portions diverge.  The order of the games is the chronological order in which the protagonist might have potentially formed relations with them.  Like all the Uso series games, it is of excellent quality but only stands up if you are familiar with the previous games.

Natsuiro Koi Uta is a middle ground game for Studio Ryokucha, a company that isn't very prolific but generally produces high-quality games when they do put them out.  It doesn't get anywhere near their top titles, but it isn't the worst title they've ever put out, either.  It is a bit too SOL-centric for fanboys of the company (in other words, its base plot isn't good enough for the fanboys), but if you wanted a charage with a strong setting and plot, this would be a decent choice.

Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana... I've posted on this game twice, but I'll go ahead and give you a few high points.  Karenai Sekai falls in the zone between an utsuge and a nakige.  To be blunt, too many bad things happen to characters in this story for it to completely fall within the nakige genre, but the endings are happy ones, disqualifying it from being considered an utsuge.  This game has huge emotional impact, enough catharsis for anyone trying to blow off some emotional steam, and an excellent set of characters that are worthy of caring about from beginning to end.

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Memory Dogma - The opening song is quite good with some 2D animation and the story has some potential even with serial format. Too bad though that apparently the company has been bankrupted before they even manage to create the second part of this, so let's just say that the chance to see this worked on was none (At least until the company was revived somehow).

Sukiren - It has two triangle love story, although unlike White Album 2 or School Days it's on the lighter side. Other thing to note is that each heroines have a otaku media that they like, and one of the interesting thing here is to see on how said media did influence the heroines personalities. Oh yes Nekonyan did localize this so you can play this in English, and while mod Clephas said that this is charage one should note that Sukiren here has a lot of comedy that come from otaku media. Nekonyan also localize Karichaimashita, and from what I hear apparently Asa Project did improve the formula that they have in Sukiren at Karichaimashita later.

That's all for my comment on November 2016 releases.

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