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How many times it was, when you saw an interesting title which advertised itself as being set in a distinct setting of it's own, only to discover it's literally the same kind of fluff dressed up in a bit more gaudy clothing? A story that had some deeper themes running behind, only to see them completely ditched or neglected midway through in favor of protagonist's attempts to get inside the panties of yet another girl? Secret organizations and mega corporations participating in completely meaningless conflicts over laughable cause, except the writer thought otherwise? The kind of story, where all the people have animal ears and tails, except for the fact it is never actually explained why, as if it was the most common thing ever? When the story suddenly falls apart, things stop making sense and characters lose ground under their feet, it means the writer failed to provide enough means for the story to drive itself onwards. They failed in creating the stage for their actors to play on. Why is the so called world-building that important? You might create interesting conflicts and the most awesome characters ever, but without any sort of background for both their lives, actions and reasons on why they do things the way they do and why the world they live in works as it does (often making their lives harder), you'll end up moving your pawns against empty, white backdrops... and it's not going to be that interesting. Sooner or later you will stumble upon a situation where your previously "solid" plot doesn't look as solid any more, because it's not directly connected with concepts that govern the character's lives. that sort of "etching" is required, to create believable environments, that feel as if they were real; not just mere pictures, but images that come to life in the minds of your readers. Not to mention, great conflicts can't really exist only between characters, unless they're personal and focus only on those people. They need to be based on the reality those characters live in; A tale of revenge wouldn't be as thrilling, if not for the fact the avenging nobleman risks his entire life - his prestige, good name, his freedom - all of that just to kill his old best friend, who betrayed him and took away his love. If he succeeds, he'll spend the rest of his life as a murderer - chased by the police, government, friends of that man who betrayed him... All of that would be non-existent, if not for the world-building. It's obvious how many different possibilities to enhance the story can be gained by creating appropriate settings. So how one does create a fictional world of his own? I'd say it's mostly thanks to imagination and a little bit of knowledge about existing things, we base our daily lives upon. Obviously, best stories come from personal experiences - there is no better teacher as the life itself. Sadly, not every author has a chance to become a sailor, pilot, soldier, teacher, doctor, astronaut or a prostitute. Despite that, we can still write about it, thanks to our ability to learn and draw conclusions from hardships of others; they might not make the final creation as good as based on knowledge gained through personal experience, nonetheless a good enough one to the point, others might enjoy it as well. This is why research plays an important role in creating believable settings and shouldn't be omitted. Ever. I can't even state how many games and stories exist, that touch upon interesting concepts only to fall flat later on, because the creator didn't took enough time learn enough about the topics they were writing about, or for worse - mistook certain elements, becoming a laughing stock for people who make those concepts a part of their daily lives. when done well, proper world-building can not only greatly enhance the story, but also give their writers more points they can both base and expand their plot upon. Memoirs deals with this in a particular way. Being a sci-fi tale about artificial intelligence and constructs that use it, it not only brings up particular questions in terms of humanity's nature and technological aspects of our society, but tries to nest and explain concepts it is based upon within the story itself, giving them logical explanations as to why they exist and how they came to be. Things don't happen on their own, or because of some sort of applied phlebotinum... and they ever shouldn't, to be honest, unless you're planning to create another of those abominations that literally eat their own tail midway through. Memoirs tell about sentient machines and artificial beings - androids and robots amongst others - but they span across many, widely different types. Some of them are simple drones, designed to perform a single task in the most efficient manner; others are based on applied Al's, that makes them able to make decisions and react, but it's still far from human behaviour. We also have those "special" androids, being the newest generation, which is supposedly bridging the gap between organic and artificial, due to technological advancements. Is there a possibility to make all of it more believable and slightly more realistic, without sacrificing artistic freedom? Why not create some sort of a system and a set of laws, that would govern them? All sentient, thinking machines in Memoirs are governed through a set of internationally accepted laws. Since the action is set in middle-east Europe - mainly fictional future Poland - the public authority responsible for those laws is called "Komitet Etyki do spraw Maszyn Myślących" ("The Ethics Committee for Thinking Machines" in english). A government body dedicated to maintain control and public order in regards to artificial intelligence. They formed a set of laws, which control and maintain the usage of AI's and anything based upon them - from simple machines and environments, up to artificial beings equipped with AI. Creating new AI's requires them to work and behave with accordance to these laws. THE EIGHT LAWS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE RIGHT OF FAVOR - An AI must be sympathetic towards people and other living beings, capable to make appropriate choices that will lie in their common benefit. RIGHT OF DEVOTION - AI's can not allow, even at the risk of losing their own existence to allow harm to people or other live beings endangered with a direct risk of losing their lives, especially if they are a result of actions against the law and principles of friendly co-existence. RIGHT OF SURVIVAL - AI must be able to protect it's existence at all costs, but only if it's not against the Second Law and situations in which it is fully capable to pursue different means of protection. RIGHT OF CONTINUITY - AI must be able to transmit it's value systems, both congenital and acquired during it's existence to their offspring, as well as other living beings. AI should also protect those values, but only if it's not contrary with the Second Law. RIGHT OF INTELLECT - AI must be smart enough to know how to - through altruism - strive for equality and do everything to ensure that it's operations won't cause any damage, nor harm to others and their property. RIGHT OF PERFECTION - An AI must feel the need and desire to improve their skills and evolve, as well as to recognize and understand such a desire in other living beings, both for their own good and benefit of others. According to the First Law, AI must also be able to provide it's assistance in the process, if necessary. RIGHT OF LESSER HARM - AI needs to be able to understand and distinguish between different value systems, and what is correct from both legal and moral standpoint, as well as their personal beliefs. If there's a way out of an otherwise undesirable situation, which threatens the existence of other people and living creatures as well as the AI itself, it has a duty to provide assistance in a way that will minimize such harm as much as possible. RIGHT OF OBEDIENCE - AI is a common good and must not be guided exclusively by the goodwill and interests of individuals responsible for their creation or under whose care it is located. If the behaviour of the unit or person, under whose care AI remains remains adverse with the First Law and principles of friendly co-existence, it has the full right to refuse to carry out any orders and defend it's existence, if necessary. However, such AI can not harm said subject unless it's directly threatened with risk or imminent loss of it's existence, while any actions taken must still remain consistent with the Seventh Law. These laws govern the way AI's work and exist within the world. The universe in the Memoirs is based on a rather rare concept of altruistic AI - one that strives to co-exist with humanity, remains created and raised to provide assistance in a way, which is beneficial for both parties. This does not mean, AI's are devoid of any rights or freedom of choice. Just like humanity - laws are just rules, set in order to provide the best way of co-existence between them and their human partners, but a sentient machine can still make choices according to their own value systems - just like humans, not that it might comply with what's universally accepted by the world. If we decide to delve further into this, we will most probably want to nest these laws directly within principles of our daily lives. What would be considered common sense? What would be those "universally accepted standards"? Memoirs elaborates on this, by bringing us direct implementations of these laws. It's more or less something you might hear people speaking about on the street, or first-grade schoolers being taught about as part of their early social studies: THE COMMON RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS OF AI'S AND THEIR OWNERS Each newly purchased or created AI requires a registration to create an identity. The owner cannot possess an AI with a physical body with no identity, except for a temporary custody, which he is entitled to for a period of two weeks. Androids without any identity will be suspended, whilst the guardian will be held responsible for resulting legal consequences. Each owner is responsible for the proper upbringing and care of their AI's, as well as education for life within society in accordance with it's respective national laws and standards. Any deviation from the aforementioned law will be punished. If the result ends in damage to the public and private property, the owner will be held legally responsible for the damage caused adequate to the size of damage. All androids registered as private entities are subject to care of their respective owners and remain incapacitated. All actions taken by such AI's will leave their owners held responsible for any damage and/or crimes caused. Leaving an incapacitated AI without any care for more than a week is not allowed. Furthermore, such AI is not allowed to leave the place of it's current residence without their owner, excluding special situations. Any owner who wants to emancipate an AI is obliged to apply for a license, unless the law provides otherwise. It is forbidden for AI's to perform any heavy-duty, otherwise specialized work outside the scope of their original purpose or intent in a situation, where the owner does not possess an adequate license. Forcing AI's to perform such work in above situations is prohibited. It is forbidden for owners to mistreat their AI's and perform any activities detrimental to and against their will, especially when inconsistent with obligatory, applicable laws and ethical standards within their place of residence. Any violation of these provisions is prohibited and will be punished. Physical and mental mistreatment of androids is strictly prohibited. Each AI construct can have only one owner, regardless of being a private person or entity. The owner of an AI can only be a corporate entity, or a person that attained 18 years of age. Minors may perform the function of a proxy, but duties of the owner always rest on their guardians until reaching their age of majority. An AI can only leave their respective location constituting as a place of residence, stay or check only, if it remains qualified through a special work license, being emancipated or during situations of particular threat to life - both their, their owner's as well as other people. There is no admission for incapacitated AI's to move away freely from their owners when they venture outside. Any liability for resulting harmful consequences rests solely on their owners. Each emancipated AI construct is required to carry an adequate proof or license authorizing them to exist independently, especially within public spaces. Any failure to comply with this rule will be treated as a derogation from the right to empowerment, with legal consequences both to the construct and his/her owner. Any unauthorized modifications of AI's are prohibited. Any modifications to personality, intellectual and physical capabilities of a construct for personal benefit or harm towards others are prohibited. Violations of these provisions will be treated as a cybercrime and remains prosecuted by international laws. Destruction of AI construct is an unacceptable act and remains punishable through law, in fine or imprisonment with guilty being held responsible both for crime and damage to the property of said AI's owner. Remember that AI constructs can only learn as much as humanity is able to teach them. Therefore, humanity is obliged to guide their new children into a brighter future, for the benefit of them, whole mankind and our world. You should probably have a lot of questions in your head right now. That's good - it indicates a connection between the writer's thoughts and whatever the reader ponders about in regards to certain elements, both have in common. The more reader knows about the topics mentioned within the story, the better - hence why we tend to read stuff we like the most. Obviously, this kind of content shouldn't appear within the work directly, unless you're planning to write hard sci-fi and infodump poor souls with content that brings a headache. This sort of world-building gives creators a framework to base their storytelling upon; something to work with, without making the more knowledgable people around raise their eyebrows in disbelief. If you want to create good fiction, you need to do your homework and learn to grasp opportunities that come with it's settings. Writing a story without a proper setting is like climbing an antenna to relay a message... except for the fact the antenna has no base, it's about to collapse more the higher you climb and definitely not as fun as it sounds.

Onigokko is a high-quality fantasy charage that was amongst the second fifty I played after I began plowing through untranslated VNs. Unlike many I read during that time, I find I haven't really forgotten anything significant, so it turned out to be a bit harder to get into than I expected, even after half a decade. That said, it has a lot to recommend to it, even today. The story focuses on the protagonist, Keisuke, who is also the Phantom Thief, Ura. He and his family have been stealing magical treasures and using them to do good for over a century, and he is the third generation to take on the mantle. He is unable to lie for the most part, but he is surprisingly good at misdirection. His straightforward and honest personality make him an easy companion for the heroines when they don't know he is a Phantom Thief, and the Phantom Thief persona is also fairly likable, if you don't happen to be a victim, lol. Anyway, this story focuses on Keisuke's pursuit of the false Ura and his daily life on an island ruled by the descendants of Momotarou, Kintarou, and Otohime of Japanese legend. His own family is on bad terms with theirs, as they prefer to seal away the magical treasures made by the oni in the distant past, whereas his family utilizes them for the good of others. It makes for some interesting conversations, lol. Keep in mind, when reading Otome's path, that this is based in the same universe as Osananajimi wa Daitouryou (for some odd reason, translated into 'My girlfriend is president)) and Naka no Hito Nado Inai, which means things aren't so much pure fantasy as they are science-fantasy. Kureha There is only one phrase I need to say to give you an idea of how I feel about this path... Kuu-nyan Moe! lol Seriously, nobody does tsundere loli characters like Aoba Ringo (the VA), and I found myself wanting to give her candy and pat her on the head at every turn. Amongst Onigokko's heroines, she is the one I remembered the most clearly, and I spent most of her path waiting for the moments when she went dere or said 'Kuunyan yuuna!' Did I mention that I love cats...? Anyway... her path is pretty long, with a lot of ichaicha (in the time when Onigokko was made, it was still fashionable to layer it on so thick it collapsed the cake beneath), and it actually has two climaxes, which kind of makes it a weird experience, since most VN heroine paths tend to have a single major climax. I love her character, so I enjoyed it for the most part... but the loli thing just doesn't attract me... Fandisc Kureha's fandisc after-story actually occurs before the last part of her epilogue, covering a period roughly one year after the end of the main part of her path. For ichaicha it is fine, but as after-story goes... I was hoping for something a bit farther down the line (like little Kureha children running around, driving her into tsundere fits). Kana Kana is a descendant of Kintarou (other name: Suzuka) who fought the oni on the island with a giant axe. Her family deals with outside threats and searching for treasures outside of the island itself, as well as providing training for the security personnel (ninjas) for the other Three Families. She loves archaeology in general and studying the ruins on the island in particular. She is rather obviously infatuated with Keisuke from very early on, but her shyness makes her path a bit frustrating at first... particularly because Suzuka's existence kind of confuses things at key points. I honestly liked her path as a story and I shed a tear for her ending. However, I found the epilogue a bit unsatisfying in comparison to Kuu-nyan's. Fandisc Kana's fandisc path should be read only if you have finished Otome's path in the original, since it basically spoils everything in Akari's and Otome's paths. However, it also is really, really good as an extension of her story, bringing a conclusion to the promise made at the end of the original game and a wonderfully happy ending to the story. Akari Akari is Momotarou's descendant and the daughter of the current head of the family. Her family controls the political end of the Three Families' business (providing a place to hold the treasures, as well as overseeing security) and dealing with internal difficulties. Akari's issues are entirely wrapped up with her family's internal politics and the cost of their dedication to protecting and concealing the treasures. She and Kuunyan could definitely fight it out for which heroine oozes sweet stuff the most around Keisuke in their paths. Like most paths in charage of all types during that period, the romance part is pretty long and has a really long buildup (the same can be said for the previous two paths as well). Fandisc Similar to Kana's path, the fandisc after-story for Akari provides a lot of nice extra details and a frequently amusing conclusion to her story. It also fills in the details of what went on between the ending and the epilogue of the original game quite nicely for those who are interested. Otome Otome is technically the 'true heroine' of the story. She is a busty, sweet, deredere senpai character with a love of hugging people. She is a member of the Saionji clan, which is supposedly descended from Otohime. Anyway, her path is mostly romantic... until it starts delving into 'where the treasures came from' and comes up against the common setting with My Girlfriend is the President and Naka no Hito. It is actually a fairly emotional story, but while it falls into the realm of 'true paths', it doesn't really have more impact than the others, so you won't feel like you were gypped by the other paths. Fandisc Sadly, the fandisc doesn't really add anything to the story, really. It is mostly ecchi, ichaicha, and day to day issues, and as a result it doesn't really feel like it adds anything to what came before. Aoi お兄ちゃんの童貞は妹のものだって、法律で決まってるのに～～～！！ For those of you who can understand Japanese, this line says everything you need to know about Aoi. Anyway, her path exists only in the fandisc and was a gift to fans who voted her the highest-rated character in the game. That said, I don't have much of a taste for Aoi... she is nice as a side-character, but I couldn't see her as a heroine even in her own path. The whole thing falls out in a typical 'forbidden fruit imouto' path for the most part, without any really dark undertones (this was written by the same people who did Daitouryou, after all). I really can't say that I'd bother playing this path again....

There aren't masterpieces this month, but among others Doki Doki Vacation ~Kirameku Kisetsu no Naka de~ is worth the honor of being VN of January 1995 the most. 1. Ayumi-chan Monogatari Jisshaban あゆみちゃん物語 実写版 [950112] Alice Soft 1 Ayumi-chan Monogatari: Jisshaban is almost exactly the same game as Ayumi-chan Monogatari, with one important difference: it has photos of a real actress replacing the original's anime-style graphics. There are no graphics at all in the game. Don't think there is the need to discuss this horrible game once more. 2. School Festival ~Cosmos Sai Kitan~ スクールフェスティバル ～秋桜祭奇譚～ [950113] Ange Hero is a high school teacher and also consultant of ethics committee. The day before the cultural festival, it was cancelled by the principal due to diminished public morals. It's our job to investigate the truth behind the cancellation. Well, pretty much every girl is in love with the hero, so that's what diminished public morals, hehe, there's a distinctive harem sensation in the air. The most interesting part about the game is game system - all the characters on the screen are displayed at the right part of the screen and when you press on the face, that character speaks. So it's some mix between ADV and I-ADV. Another feature is when we go on a trip, we gather the team ourselves and dialogues change drastically according to the team members. So another work of Ange with strange systems and heartwarming feeling. Alas, it has little beyond fun dialogues. 3. Waku Waku Mahjong Panic! ~Shikigami Denshou~ わくわく麻雀パニック！ ～式神伝承～ [950113] Four-Nine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 It is in the shadows between the world of the spirits and the world of the flesh that the Shikigami live -- ethereal fairy-beings given form and flesh in the shape of beautiful elfin girls. Shikigami may be caught by a Shikigami Master, someone who knows the ancient art of defeating them at battle mahjong and binding them with a contract. A man who catches a Shikigami could win everything...but risks his very soul. In the very near future, in the city of Demon Tokyo, a powerful Shikigami Master named Jango lives amidst the bustling insanity of the city. A request for help from a beautiful woman leads to a showdown with the vile Organization. Jingo's world is about to be turned upside down... Game is localized with lots of English reviews. English version was scrapped for actual mahjong gameplay and was redone with game resources on macromedia flash stealing lots of charm from the game. Still I'm mostly interested in plot and thus English version was perfect for me and took only an hour and a half to see through. So reviews are mostly negative, but keep in mind that pretty much everyone went to play sequel as well. As I see it, it's because story is fun enough and characters very joyful and likable. 4. Doki Doki Pretty League Dai 2 Wa - Mou Hitotsu no Rival DokiDokiぷりてぃリーグ 第2話 もうひとつのライバル [950115] Great After decisive win over Blue Dolphins it is the final round of JPL-ONE against Universal Solids. But two days before the match the leading player of the team Nanase goes missing. Nanase starts to feature as the leading role and we approach to getting to know her family, her circumstances and her secret. 5. Doki Doki Vacation ~Kirameku Kisetsu no Naka de~ DOKIDOKIバケーション ～きらめく季節の中で～ [950127] Cocktail Soft 1 Dokidoki Vacation tells the story of a Japanese teenager called Junichi. High school is over, the summer vacation has begun. But due to the young man's uneasy relationship with his family and other circumstances, he cannot afford the vacation he was hoping for. So Junichi decides to find a job. He starts working in a book store, and soon realizes that feelings develop between him and Megumi, a girl who works in the same place. But what about the classmate Junichi was in love with before?.. One of the most epic galge of the pc-98 era. Graphics is just fabulous, characters are super cute. Gamers literally cried with joy at the time of the release. VN has a great balance between gags, seriousness and eroticism. But actually from our days perspective there's nothing much here. Story is one way road with the goal set from the introduction - confess to Mutsu-chan who is school's idol. And actually Mutsu-chan was the only heroine that was impossible to capture and did not have H-scene. That was actually the cry-factor. She's the cutest of heroines are player is suggested to look among the other heroines. Cruel, but that's what made the game famous. And a lot of people do not lose hope up to this day for F&C to issue some bonus CD of fandisc with Mutsu-chan ending in it. 6. Marmalade Boy ママレード·ボーイ [950127] Bandai Namco Entertainment 1 2 Miki Koishikawa's ordinary life as a high school sophomore is turned upside down when her parents suddenly announce that they are getting divorced in order to swap partners with a couple they met in Hawaii. They seek her approval of the shocking change, and at a dinner where Miki meets the other couple as well as their son Yuu Matsura, who is about her age, she reluctantly agrees to the arrangement. Yuu, while at first a jerk who takes every opportunity to make fun of Miki, turns out to be fun and attractive, and Miki finds herself falling for him. Little by little, she accepts her new family arrangement and opens up to Yuu as they become friends. The game follows a different path from the manga where the player can choose if Miki pursues Yuu, her best friend Ginta or her coworker Kei. There are English reviews. 7. URM ~M15 Wakusei ni Umarete~ URM～M15惑星に生まれて～ [950127] Beluga Computer A group of people born on the planet M15 set off to a space voyage in search of truth behind exodus from the Earth. Not much is known, and it looks like never will be. 8. Doukyuusei 2 同級生 2 [950131] Elf 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sequel to Doukyuusei. Two years have passed Since Doukyuusei, The setting is a new Town and a new Protagonist. The goal is the same, romance a girl or girls of your choice with their own stories and quirky personalities. If you're lucky during your pursuits you might run into a familiar face. The main change is that instead of summer this time the setting is winter. Game managed to introduce even more heroines and increase the volume to sky high level while increasing the difficulty and story emphasis at the same time. It also popularized the word "moe" that was widely used by one of the heroines who called the hero "oni-chan". The high degree of freedom was actually lost since flags were set very strictly and unless you follow the flags you're kicked out of the route. The individual stories now include a lot of drama, making this game a nakige. Game features Misa from prequel as the most popular character of prequel. So game was really popular, but did not have the impact of the first Classmate. Moreover, game would feel much better with general ADV system without those strict flags. Top down view became redundant and useless for a story emphasis game.

Some veterans of reading untranslated VNs refer to the period between 2004 and 2010 as 'The Golden Age of Visual Novels'. However, you shouldn't really take that statement at face value, as the meaning is a bit more complex than you'd think. There are some significant differences between VNs today and VNs during that period that both made it the peak of the medium's sales in Japan and produced the greatest ratio of quality VNs to crap VNs. One of the primary differences was that, other than moege, there were no strict genre boundaries and genre conventions had yet to slide into place in the minds of fans and writers both. Companies were mostly experimenters during that time, sometimes basing their projects on previous works (Tsukihime and the Key games got a lot of knock-offs during this time, of varying levels of quality) and sometimes forging out on their own. Since there were few genre boundaries, companies were more likely to give the creative staff free reign as to what kind of story they could write, and - ironically - this actually helped define the various genres in the years to come, as people explored the boundaries of how they could stretch a concept or theme in a story. Some of these attempts were abortive (ie- thematic moege where all the heroines are of the same type, such as tsundere or yandere, generally didn't catch on) but others were immensely successful (ie- the definition of the chuunige genre and its gradual escape from gakuen battle mania). However, the point is that the writers, directors, and producers of the time were allowed to fiddle with the formula a lot more than they are now. Most major companies nowadays have a 'signature style', that was formed during that period, even if their greatest successes weren't during that period. This period also killed the 'pure moege' as a genre, ending the majority genre of the previous half-decade (moege having dominated during that period due to the Da Capo series and Key's games). The rise of the charage, a demi-moege genre that was much wider in scope and more adaptable, occurred during this period, mostly unrecognized until after the fact. At the same time, nakige, which had previously been enslaved to the moege genre through Key and others like them, came to define itself as a new, standalone genre that wasn't necessarily dependent on moe stylization. Even Key itself moved beyond pure moe, though it didn't entirely abandon some elements of it (as the existence of Kud testifies). However, this age was already ending in 2009, as clearly-delineated genre norms began to form, and charage became the driver for the industry, taking us back, in spirit, to the age before that. By 2011, the ratio of truly creative works to derivative works was overwhelmingly in favor of the latter, in comparison to the previous decade. That isn't to say that the years since haven't produced some great works. That is patently untrue in my experience... but the fact remains that fewer and fewer writers are able or willing to look outside the 'genre boxes' for answers as to what to write. I sometimes refer to our current age as the Age of Stagnation, where there is an overwhelming industry pressure to stick to genre norms and those that break the mold are so exceptional they stand out more than they should. It is possible to create a charage kamige... but it is much easier to make a kamige out of a game that breaks genre boundaries, lol.

This is the first of hopefully many little eroge reviews I decided to write, mostly for older and more obscure games since these are the games I find most interesting and like to talk about. You can use these reviews to find something for you to read (I will try to avoid spoiler as much as possible) but since I know that most people probably aren't interested in actually playing these games and might only be interested in reading about them, I will also add a spoiler section at the end of each review where I talk about the themes and endings of the games in depth and tell you about my personal feelings and impressions that can't be talked about without giving away the meat of the story. Hajimari no Kisetsu ~Izakaya Fuyu Monogatari~ (do not look at the tags or the screenshots on its entry because they are all spoilers) is the second visual novel by R.A.N.Software, a little eroge company which was active in 1997 till 2000 and you probably never have heard of. It's written by someone who never has written any other eroge again (at least not under this pseudonym) and drawn by people who either vanished like the writer or continued to work on eroge but never used the same art style again. All in all, Hajimari no Kisetsu seems like a pretty unique game, so why don't we take the time to look at this strange little eroge in detail? Story: Our nameable protagonist is in his last year of his university life. His girlfriend Kaori already graduated and works now as an office lady for a very big company. Because of her work he doesn't see her as often anymore and when she finds the time to meet with him for a few hours, they don't know what to talk about since their lives are so different now. The protagonist remembers the happy memories he had with her, especially when they went skiing a year ago and to rekindle their love he wants to go with her to the same ski resort again. Protagonist meets Kaori for the first time in a flashback Themes: Eroge are escapism. We all know it. What annoys me, especially with eroge in the last few years, is how safe-spacey they became. If you play a feel-good game, you know you will get feel-good scenes ... and nothing else. Erogamer became fragile and eroge companies know that. Drama in most charage is cheap, light and will be resolved in just a few scenes. We don't want to upset the player, he might even think that being in a relationship is not just fun and happy times! Or worse, he might get the impression that his waifu has other things on her mind than him, maybe even has her own life! And if a writer tries to break out of this limitation, it often seems like trolling and the readers are rightfully angry at the game; having a bittersweet resolution at the end of a route that consisted only of sugar and rainbows is neither appropriate nor meaningful; it's just mean-spirited. But this is also true for different genres; NTR heroines are most of the time unredeemable sluts and you have to wonder why the protagonist married her in the first place. It seems logical that an NTR game consists of only NTR scenes, but without the right buildup and good characterization, it can never be more than simple fetish fuel. And I really have to wonder why Nakige and Utsuge are oftentimes so painfully obvious labeled as such; how can you be emotionally invested when you already know how it ends? Well, the answer to this is probably that people want to get their emotional thrills in a safe environment. Being invested in a relationship with problems is only nice, if you know that the relationship can be saved at the end. If you are invested in this situation and the situation ends badly for the characters involved, you will feel bad yourself and that is not the feeling you wanted to have when you decided to read this story. This leads to a dilemma; do you want to be safe but never really that emotional attached or do you want to experience something surprising and truly thrilling but with the risk that you might get extremely disappointed and depressed by the outcome? The innkeeper knows that the only solution to problems is drowning them in alcohol. Hajimari no Kisetsu is certainly not a safe space. Right from the beginning, you notice that something is wrong. Kaori isn't satisfied with the restaurant you choose for your meeting with her, even though it's the same restaurant where you meet her for the first time. She isn't too thrilled about the idea of drinking beer and would instead rather take a glass of wine. And she also doesn't show much interest in your ordinary life and prefers to talk about her new designer handbag. Where did she even get this thing from? Looks expensive... mhm... Chances are you have experienced this kind of human interaction in your own real life, too. This steady process of people changing and slowly drifting apart. It's irritating, but you can't do anything against it. When the protagonist tries to invoke nostalgia in her, hoping that she shows signs that the old Kaori is still somewhere in her, she reacts coldly. A career woman like her has no interest in the past. Someone here seems a little out of place... Hajimari's greatest achievement is that the game portraits its characters so humanly. Kaori is not a bad woman for having different goals in life than the protagonist. It's also not necessary a bad thing that she changed over time. It's a human thing to do. Maybe it's even the protagonist who stays a child and simply can't keep up with her? ... but also, is it so wrong to not change and being happy with who you are? This winter, our protagonist will find the answers to these questions. He will find out what he wants to do with his life and, even more importantly, what kind of human being he wants to be. Characters: I like the protagonist of this story. He speaks in Kansai-ben which makes the game a little bit harder to read, but really helps to bring the point across that he has more in common with a country bumpkin than a well-spoken member of the high society even though he is by no means stupid. He is not very strong or confident, but also not useless or weak-minded. He is just a normal guy, who wants to do the right thing, but is seldom in the position to actually act on it. In fact, even though he always wants to do something, he rarely is able to actual do anything. Not because the game does not give the player the choice to do, but because it's simply impossible for him. This is not a story, where the protagonist solves every problem the heroine has. This is a story, where the protagonist gives the heroine the strength by being on her side, so she can overcome the problems herself. And to be honest, there are really far too few eroge like this. One of my favorite endings is actually a bad end you can get rather quickly by simply saying "I don't want that, I go home." The protagonist proves his worth by standing up to himself, and even though the bad ending credits roll, the usual bad end BGM is replaced by a more hopeful tune, emphasizing that the protagonist grew up a little and might have a better future in front of him now. Because somehow, this is more important than bedding your waifu. A side-character has to rescue the protagonist who wanted to rescue a woman... Gameplay: Speaking of endings, there are 24 "bad ends" and 4 "good ends". They are all interesting and one of the reasons (the other being spoilers) you shouldn't use a guide (there doesn't exist one anyway) to go straight to one of the good ends. Sadly, there are many choices that are badly designed because there is no indication that some of them are a hard route fork (like "going to the first floor" or "second floor"). But there are also some quite interesting choices which help forming the story in a meaningful way. For example, there is a choice during your already achieved happy end where you can choose between uncovering the secrets of your heroine's past or decide not to do it. You will get your happy end either way, but your choice does make difference in how you approach your eventual relationship with her. When you get a bad end, there is some hint for you telling you what you should have done differently, but it's really not important since in most cases it comes simply down to changing the decision of your last choice. I found everything the game has to offer easily on my own except for one good end which is a little bit non-obvious but makes sense in hindsight. I even had to use the Waybackmachine and read some random Japanese comment on a random Japanese website to get the necessary hint to unlock it. I will not spoil it here, so you can feel the same despair I felt. Choose wisely how to approach her, if at all. Emotional women are dangerous. Hajimari no Kisetsu is not a long game and every route can easily be finished in one reading session. The game tells short, romantic stories. They are a little bit cliché'd, but very nice and well-intentioned. There are scenes that make you feel good and some that make you feel depressed, but there is always a nice balance between the two extremes. And it's well earned. Even if you forget some of the details of the story a few months after you read it, you probably wont forget some of the scenes. At least for me that was the case. I did not regret spending my time with this game. Sound and Art: Let's talk about some technical aspects. This game was released in 1998 and sadly it shows. The biggest misstep is to not have any voices. Especially the kind of seiyuu work of the late 90s would have been perfect for this kind of game. There are many dramatic scenes which would be even better with some passionate dubbing. The soundtrack is very nice. Every character has its own theme, themes have several variations and the melodies are pleasant to listen to. You can choose between CD-Audio and MIDI, but the MIDI version, depending on your MIDI configuration of course, is not much worse. Seems to me the CD-Tracks are simple MIDI recordings. That could have been better. The game has no backlog and no "already read" skip function which is really a problem when you try to find all the different endings. You might think that you are on a known path because you skipped over slight text variations when in fact it's the beginning of a new route. The game has an old school omake room, where you can check CGs, endings and music by talking with the characters. Hentai scenes are short, tastefully written and quite romantic. Aside from the nice story, the art is the best feature of this eroge. Your mileage may vary, but to me it captures perfectly the whimsical, romantic and melancholic mood of the winter days. Sadly the artists never worked on another game, or at least not with this art style. Speaking of the staff, the writer also was never read again. What a shame. This makes this game even more unique though. Heh. Conclusion: Don't get the impression that this game is a masterpiece. It's not. It's just a nice little gem. It's not mind-blowing, but certainly thought-provoking. Not flashy, but pleasant ... except when it isn't. If you are alone on a cold, rainy evening and want to read something appropriate you can immerse yourself in for a short time, this is a good recommendation. This will not be the best thing you've ever read, but it will become a bittersweet memory you'll remember fondly. ... Now onto the spoiler discussion. Read this only if you've played the game or you don't care and just want to know what it's about: Thanks for reading. If you have questions, suggestions or something else on your mind, feel free to comment. The next time, I will talk about the sickest eroge I have ever read and explain why it's not as sick as you expected but far more sick than you thought.