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KainLegacy535

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    KainLegacy535 reacted to kivandopulus for a blog entry, VN of the Month June 1994 - Necronomicon   
    There are no masterpieces this month, but story-wise Necronomicon is the closest thing to a masterpiece.
    1. Libido 7 [940601] Libido 1 2 3 The main character of this game is a young girl Naru. She's trained in sisterly love by her sister. Game consists of short episodes about Naru and her friends. I'm very glad there's an English review since I was sure those are just random extreme H scenes with nameless heroines. Anyway, there's an absolute 0 of the story - just pick one of dozen stories and click through the end. It's the first game I could not make a video of since it'd be just a censored screen all the time. And since there's no story it's utterly useless to hook it and try to see opening scenes because there are none - just select the story and click. I tried several versions of it, but nothing really changed - there was no introduction. Absolutely soulless depiction of H scenes without character sprites or normal CG - just a trail of HCG. The impact of the work was tremendous due to cute heroines in fashionable dresses and extreme context. Who would have thought that such work would see the light of the day just a year and a half after introduction of censorship. I hoped to have video footage of every visual novel found up to 2000's, but have to admit now that soulless nukige take origin as early as the year 1994.  
    2. Private Slave プライベートスレイブ [940603] Raccoon (old) Hero is fond of crying women, but he can not reveal his secret to his cheerful girlfriend and thus seeks realization of his dreams with other women. It is a SM eroge, but without much emphasis on illustrations. Instead it tries to delve in psychology. A very unusual game in this regard. There are multiple branches despite the command selection format.  
    3. Ikenie ~Kyouraku no Shinden~ いけにえ ~享楽の神殿~ [940611] Cat's Pro. 1 This short game has a rather cryptic plot. The identity of the hero is unclear: we know only that he is a young male, most probably living in our time. One day he is resting after having had sex with a girl, and is mysteriously transported into a strange temple. Without knowing what this temple is, and only presuming it must be built by the Aztecs of Yucatan, the hero must find a way out of it, and back home. Weird maze full of spontaneous H events.  
    4. Trigger トリガー [940617] ZyX 1 Trigger consists of three unrelated stories, all of which heavily focus on explicit sexual content. The first story depicts violent and monster-related sexual encounters of a young woman. In the second one, a female detective attempts to investigate the murder of her father and gets captured by the criminals. The third story deals with a raid of mechanized pirates on a spaceship controlled by two young girls. The main difference of Trigger from other animated old visual novels is that it contains extreme scenes like tentacles and SM. There is some voice support as well.  
    5. Adirate あでぃらーと [940622] Manbou Goya

    Game consists of four short stories.
    1. Girl undergoes trials to enter the limited membership club
    2. Girl gets stuck, and there's the need to help her out
    3. Two young people with amnesia try to escape a mysterious hospital
    4. Kindergarten age girl gets caught and accused of witchcraft. Shories are very short and with a definite H-tilt. Scenario and approach is quite unique. For Windows 3.1 era it was really a breakthrough.  
    6. Ami - Kaze Tachinu 亜美 ~風立ちぬ~ [940624] Fairy Dust Ami-chan is a heroine from "Cream Lemon". Your job is to make an idol of her. Raising sim - typical, monotonous. Ami is cute and that's supposed to be the selling point of the game. Need to be a real fan of her and Cream Lemon...  
    7. Necronomicon ネクロノミコン [940624] FAIRYTALE HARDCOVER 1 2 3 Necronomicon is - as the title strongly implies - based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. The story is set in Lovecraft's fictional city Arkham somewhere in New England. It is said that a terrible ritual has taken place there, involving a woman giving birth to a demonic child. A journalist named Jonathan heads to Arkham to find out more about the dreadful rumors, and to explore the ruins of an ancient monastery. In the town, Jonathan meets other characters with their own agendas. Terrifying nightmares, like visions from the past, haunt Jonathan. Will he be able to preserve his sanity and solve the mystery? There are some impressions, but no good English review found so far. Game system is highlighted point and click inherited from Dead of the Brain 2. But scenario is one way road with no parts to get game over. First parts can seem monotonous as you just click on everything while gathering clues, but at some point story starts to develop heavily and grabs you till the end. There is like one H scene and with not a particularly cute girl. There are two endings... bad one and absolutely depressive one. So I like point and click mechanics, but to enjoy the game you should be prepared that it's a depressive Lovecraft experience ahead.  
    8. Paradise Arena ごくらくアリーナ [940624] Chime 1 A man named Shinichi encounters a mysterious young girl who tells him that she and her friends developed new technology that allows unprecedented immersion in virtual worlds. Shinichi is then chosen to be the test subject of the new virtual reality device, participating in adventures where his sexual powers are tested above all. Virtual reality situations are very exotic. The feature of the game is timer that starts with 100 and cuts the play once it reaches 0. Depending on the number acquired in each story the ending may change.  
    9. Venus ヴィーナス [940629] Software House Parsley 1 2 Venus is a fairly simple dating simulation game. The player controls a man named Saeki who gets acquainted with four young women, three Japanese and one Western. Each girl has her own preferences as well as parameters that describe her feelings towards the protagonist. The goal is to raise these parameters (and ultimately the girls' "love level") by repeatedly going on dates. From time to time the player is required to make choices that would influence subsequent dating. There is an internal clock that is advanced every time the player character goes on a date. Successful dating results in explicit erotic scenes. There is one impression in English, but game is really very simple. I would not be really surprised if it was made just in one month to bathe in the popularity of Tokimeki Memorial.  
    10. Cutie Cop ~Nusumareta File no Nazo~ キューティーCOP ~盗まれたファイルの謎~ [940630] Ice Soft 1 2 Cuty Cop is a game modeled after a Japanese TV show quiz, but with a background story: valuable papers have been stolen from the police department, and the only clue is a perfume smell, which most probably indicates a female TV star. The protagonist, a young female cop, has to participate in a quiz and give correct answers to questions related to Japanese TV shows. I'm not good with quizzes to say what lies ahead after all the rounds.  
    11. Nonomura Byouin no Hitobito 野々村病院の人々 [940630] Silky's 1 2 3 Cuty Cop is a game modeled after a Japanese TV show quiz, but with a background story: valuable papers have been stolen from the police department, and the only clue is a perfume smell, which most probably indicates a female TV star. The protagonist, a young female cop, has to participate in a quiz and give correct answers to questions related to Japanese TV shows. Each round has four questions, and if the player has chosen more than two wrong answers, it's game over. "Defeating" an opponent in a quiz leads to the next round against the next opponent. There are English reviews.  
  2. Like
    KainLegacy535 reacted to kivandopulus for a blog entry, VN of the Month July 1994 - DESIRE - Haitoku no Rasen   
    Crystal Rinal - Ouma No Meikyuu , DESIRE - Haitoku no Rasen and Policenauts are the masterpieces of the month, but in my heart nothing can substitute DESIRE - Haitoku no Rasen.
    1. Ash. Ash. [940708] Himeya Soft Hero is a warrior who enters a normal fantasy setting town and ... player choices determine the rest. There are about 40 endings in the game, so routes take mere minutes. It can be quite enjoyable if looked upon as a collection of short fantasy stories. Such works are rare since many readers would miss large chunks of content. But Ash is the origin of such genre and will be referenced a lot upon stumbling upon such games in future.  
    2. Ginga Tetsudou no Tabi 銀河鉄道の旅 [940708] Tonkin House Based on novel by Kenji Miyazawa. I could not get through the bridge and there was nothing of interest in the houses so I did not grasp the meaning of the game.  
    3. Dreamy 夢現 Dreamy -ゆめうつつ- [940709] Megami One day Naoki picks up a mysterious pendant hanging on a telephone pole on the way back from school. On that night two fairies came to his dream saying that an angel could return to the original world if Naoki could make some girls happy during the next ten days. He decides to sleep as much as possible during next ten days and girls start to come to his dreams... There are options during meeting girls in the dream and wrong options make the dream repeat the next day approaching the deadline. The CG are very beautiful in the game.  
    4. Crystal Rinal - Ouma No Meikyuu - クリスタルリナール -逢魔の迷宮- [940712] D.O. 1 2 3 4 5 Youhei is a Japanese teenager who is bored with his life, unable to find excitement anywhere. Even sexual escapades with various women don't satisfy him: he craves for real adventures. But on that particular day, his wishes were fulfilled in a very unexpected way. He was talking to a schoolmate named Mahiro, a girl he didn't even like particularly, when something like an earthquake shattered the school. Youhei and Mahiro hurried to the nearby classroom, only to find a strange mirror-like object - which in fact was a portal to a dungeon in another world. Now the two teenagers have to find a way to escape from the dungeon - and eventually to return home. Crystal Rinal is an adult dungeon crawler along the lines of Words Worth or Raidy games; but instead of a lonely hero/heroine, the player controls a party of two, Youhei and Mahiro, who fight randomly appearing monsters in turn-based combat. There is also a "talk" command that lets the two heroes chat with each other and comment on the situation. Some gameplay segments follow the template of a Japanese adventure, with menu-based commands and multiple choices during dialogues. It's more like ADV with RPG elements since there are only couple weapons given in the events, nothing but hp and mp rises with lvl, magic is cast by consummation of monster drop items. No money. No town. No automapping. But the charm of the work lies in fact that protagonist is no here, he's a very mediocre high school student with weak physical and mental state. There are many interesting events and characters to meet on the way, so overall the game is quite a treat, probably even of masterpiece level.  
    5. Cross Changer クロスチェンジャー [940714] Ucom A scout ship "Flam" of the evil alien association "Space Syndicate" landed on the Earth and started kidnappings of people. The Planet Minority Galactic Federation Organization warned the Earth government and suggested creating anti-alien defense force. "Cross Changer" organization was created, but it was destroyed by "Flam". Surviving members have to sell information to evil organizations, but three girls Marie, June and May decide to fight on their own. Synopsis seems to prepare for a big game ahead, but actually it's a very compact story that takes place at cafes and schools mostly. There are four episodes and each episode ends up with a battle. Another feature of the game is square small windows with faces that make the scene more lively.  
    6. Blue Garnet ブルー・ガーネット [940715] Trush Shiro Kirishini is a private detective. One day he receives a request on the phone and moves to an abandoned building as the meeting place. There was a mini size girl Myan. According to her story, she is the princess of the Kingdom of Garnet, which was protected by seven hidden treasures till someone stole the gems. She would not regain the height till the gems are returned, so hero agrees to help. The help that's required is to seduce different girls, naturally! There are seven days and seven girls, but it takes time and patience to gain money in panty guessing games and janken.  
    7. Kyouko no Ijiwaru!! ~Hachamecha Daishingeki~ 恭子のいぢわる!! ~ハチャメチャ大進撃~ [940715] Ponytail Soft Heroine Tokugawa Koyko owns Tokushima Takabee group and trillions of yen. One day she misinterpreted her brother's flu symptoms for an incurable disease and went to search for the medicine component of virgin's grey tiny hair in St.Rodrigues Academy. To obtain the virgin's grey hair Kyoko attacks both students and teachers without constraint. This is a bakage through and through. Kyoko is nuts herself, but situations she gets into are even funnier. As usual, there's hardly any story and the game can be pleasing only if you like its humor.  
    8. Shinwaden: Hatou no Shou 真倭伝 覇刀の章 [940715] Great 1 2 The game has a RPG-like story-line, but it has so many details about some fantasized gods and devils that it might be hard to understand. Yet, the game is just about saving your girl friend from the demonized enemies. The year is 2189. The city of Osaka has been redeveloped starting from 30 years ago, and there are 5 projects that are particularly prominent. You in the game happen to be a god living in human form, yet without knowing it, you live in a rotten building and there is this girl you really like. One day, she comes to you crying and asking for help to find her friend, who disappears with a man right before her eyes like a mist. There's an ok'ish English review on this game.  
    9. H+ エッチプラス [940720] Desire 1 The title H+ is rather self-explanatory to those who understand the meaning of the letter "H" to the Japanese (pronounced "ecchi", it basically refers to all things sexual). The game consists of three unrelated stories, all of which can be played directly from the main menu: The first story is a rather mundane tale of a boy and a girl who meet outside and head to the girl's apartment; thanks to the hero's irresistible charm (with a bit of help from alcoholic beverages), the two are able to engage in a variety of sexual acts. The protagonist of the second story is an aspiring journalist, who is given the task to interview a famous female movie star. The interview begins with taking pictures of the celebrity wearing different costumes, and ends with her removing those costumes and performing activities which turn into a blockbuster porn movie. The third story is dedicated to the obligatory "little girl", a female high-school student. There are two possible scenarios, both involving seduction of the poor girl: one involves a sexy female teacher, the other an older male schoolmate. Ero-centered straightforward work.  
    10. DESIRE - Haitoku no Rasen DESIRE 背徳の螺旋 [940722] C's Ware 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

    In the southern ocean on a remote island is a huge research institute called "Desire". An institute built by the large, world renowned financial group, Grandchester Foundation. It's rumored they are involved in military-related research, but what it is exactly is kept a carefully guarded secret. For this reason, a journalist for SNT (Social News Time Network), Albert Macdgul (or Al for short) visits "Desire" in order to collect information for a story. He's one of the rare few who have been granted access to "Desire". So it's in high spirits that he sets forth to complete his story. While at "Desire" he meets a girl named Tina, who is suffering from memory loss. She is destined to change his fate forever. Murder, bomb threats, mysteries shadowing her existence... How far will the chaos go? On the other hand, Makoto Izumi, technical manager at "Desire", finds out how dangerous their research is, and asks her boss, Dr. Stella, to stop all the experiments. Then she finds out that someone on the outside is going to interfere with the research... You'll either love this game or hate it. I absolutely love it. And it's easy to check out since there is a great English version of it. With this game I stopped treating visual novels as eroge. The story, composition, characters, emotions - everything is perfect.  
    11. Madou Gakuin R 魔導学院R [940728] Foresight 1 2 3 The kingdom of Digal was the only peaceful country amidst chaos, ruled by the benevolent king Deneos and his wisest advisor, the High Priest. But the time of peace has come to an end when something strange happened to the king: seemingly controlled by an evil power, he banished the High Priest from the country. Digal plunged into chaos, crime began to flourish, bandits roamed the countryside uncontrolled. At this tough time, a young man named Rezas joined the Magic School, where the most beautiful and skillful female magicians were training at that time. But the next day, the school was attacked by a gang of criminals, and most of the people there killed. Rezas and his pretty schoolmates swear to avenge this crime and bring peace back to the kingdom. Little is known to evaluate properly. What's clear is that enemies loose one by one pieces of clothes. There seems to a H-scene after each two battles. Strategy part is quite simple, so it's not really a serious SRPG. Pictures quality is uneven, many CG have distortions.  
    12. Dengeki Nurse 2 ~More Sexy~ 電撃ナース2 ~モアセクシー~ [940729] Cocktail Soft 1 2 Dengeki Nurse 2 begins where the previous game ended. The heroes of the story, the young doctor Tanchi and his sweetheart, the lovely Kirara, are enjoying a peaceful moment... when an explosion reminds them that the evil organization Black Cross has not yet been defeated. One by one, the powerful "nurses" - agents with super-powers - are sent to deal with Tanchi, Kirara, and their friends, and the only way to stop them is to use Kirara's own super-power - turning into the "electric nurse"!.. This game had a smaller impact than its prequel, but its essence is the same, bakage with constant parodies on everything with enemies to appear and be defeated. There's English review.  
    13. Giga Motion 戯画もーしょん [940729] Interheart 1 Jackie was having an ordinary life which seemed to culminate with an intimate intercourse with his sweetheart Mika. However, shortly afterwards he met a mysterious old woman who prophesied his imminent death. He was then transferred to the magical Realm Above the Clouds populated by humans and demons alike. Jackie has to find a way to return to our world and save Mika, who is considered a powerful goddess of love among the indigenous people. A simplistic RPG with animated H-scenes.  
    14. Himitsu Shirei 1919 秘密指令1919 [940729] Fairytale A group of detectives investigates various incidents using unorthodox methods if needed. The game starts as a serious thing, but soon becomes ero-centered. There are also parameters to maintain, but I did not get far enough to understand the significance of those. No Japanese reviews of the game found.  
    15. Policenauts ポリスノーツ [940729] Konami 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 The game centers on Jonathan Ingram, one of the five "Policenauts", astronauts with police training, assigned to ensure the safety of Beyond Coast, mankind's first fully-functional space colony in the year 2013. A freak accident occurs while testing a new space walking suit and Jonathan is drifted away into space and is presumed dead by his colleagues. He is found alive and well nearly 25 years later thanks to the cold-sleep module connected to the suit. Three years later, Jonathan (now a private investigator working in the former Los Angeles) is visited by his former wife, Lorraine. She asks for Jonathan's help in solving the disappearance of her current husband, Kenzo Hojo, the only clues he left behind being a torn leaf, a set of capsules, and the word "Plato". Jonathan is reluctant to take her case at first. However, after Lorraine leaves his office, she is attacked and murdered by a man in a black motorcycle suit. Jonathan, unable to catch the culprit, decides to fulfill his ex-wife's final request and travels to Beyond. There he is reunited with his former partner from his LAPD days, Ed Brown, who agrees to help Jonathan investigate the circumstances surrounding Hojo's disappearance and Lorraine's murder. There is an overwhelming number of English reviews. It's available in English. It was made by Kojima. And it's just a good game.  
  3. Like
    KainLegacy535 reacted to kivandopulus for a blog entry, VN of the Month August 1994 - Shinsetsu Ooedo Tantei Kamiya Ukyou   
    There aren't masterpieces this month, but I can't let an average bakage to be the winner, so I nominate Shinsetsu Ooedo Tantei Kamiya Ukyou as VN of August 1994.
    1. Mujintou Monogatari 無人島物語 [940805] KSS Inc. 1 Mujintō Monogatari is a self-described "survival life simulation". A plane crashes into the sea, but the protagonist survives and reaches a seemingly deserted island. The protagonist finds a cabin with a few basic supplies. From that point on, the player has to manage the hero's activities. Water, food and light sources have to be provided. The protagonist can team up with other survivors and explore the island, gradually revealing new locations; this can be done in co-operative mode. Expeditions to other places take place automatically, and must be planned in advance by the player. The protagonist's statistics (stamina, speed, etc.) will change depending on the activities chosen by the player. A survival online game, no less! Jeez, it even has co-op mode of up to three players. All the fun seems to be in finding new locations. Forget about the story here. I have some real doubts it has much to do with VN - unlike its sequels. No story, no character personalities - nothing, really.  
    2. Uchuu Kaitou Funny Bee 宇宙快盗ファニーBee [940810] Alice Soft 1 2 3 In the future, space travel has become an inseparable part of human civilization. Humanity spread all over the Milky Way. Most of the problems concerning war, ecological disasters, and others were successfully solved. Human beings have entered an era of peace. But human nature never changes, and most other aspects of human culture haven't either. Since the galaxy became a huge urban playground, a new type of criminals have emerged - interstellar thieves. Piloting their own space ship, they terrorize the galaxy with their cleverly planned tricks. Particularly notorious is a duo of two young and pretty girls, Sati and Shiori... which are the two protagonists of the game. I've got a full review prepared.  
    3. Diver's [940811] Mink 1 2 3 4 In the year 2065, the Earth's ecological system has collapsed. Global pollution made it impossible to further dwell on the planet under natural conditions. Human beings were forces to construct huge cities in artificial environment, known as "cyclones". New technology has opened ways to new kinds of entertainment - namely violent battles between cybernetically enhanced fighters... A raising SIM to train a fighter. We choose one of four girls and put her in intensive training and leisure schedule. Fights are non-interactive and depend only on parameters of fighters and tactics that trainer supposes to use before the match. There are two qualification leagues and the fighters with the high score follow into a drop-out challenge. There's a shop in the game that sells some buffs and some weapons that are mandatory in some of the battles in order to win. Trainer is not too picky ... there are h-scenes with all the four girls and with majority of enemy fighters.  
    4. Sayaka ~Gibo~ 沙也香 ~義母~ [940826] Red Zone 1 2 Sayaka Kimura is a twenty-six year old woman married to an older man who has two teenage children, a boy and a girl. Controlling different members of this household, the player follows a plot that mostly consists of sexual encounters of various kinds. There's the synopsis, but not no story follows, it's purely erotic. The notorious feature is that in contrast to previous Red Zone works the picture is light and even background uses rose color. That was a welcome change for me.  
    5. Shinsetsu Ooedo Tantei Kamiya Ukyou 真説 大江戸探偵 神谷右京 [940826] Altacia Female college student is found beheaded. Kamiya Ukyou will hold investigation again. Third work in the series and first of four works of serious nature. As always, real case is taken as the basis and this time even investigation is based on real one. Case is held with all the formalities and real impediments, so it's the first work using "True theory". While year 1993 became one that allowed extreme H-scenes and CG, year 1994 became first year to allow extreme gore CG. In this work backgrounds are using live-photo, but characters are same anime-like.  
    6. To Five ~Natsu no Tobira no Mukou ni Kimi o Mitsukeru~ TO FIVE ~夏の扉の向こうに君を見つける~ [940826] Palm Tree Soft Protagonist is a graduating high school student who has only one summer left to create memories till his life changes. This seems to be the first game with falling in love with childhood friend concept. On top of that there is a attempt to draw a truthful psychological portrait of the hero and his anxieties. Game also features point-and-click sequences. The picture composition is disappointing since usually there is a window for background, a window for house, a window for protagonist with his text bubble and the active character is depicted on top of it all. So it's a game that experimented with many concepts and failed to get noticed because of those experiments.  
    7. Tsumobaka Nisshi つもバカ日誌 [940830] Tsumobaka Nisshi 1 You play a long-haired salaryman as he visits random clubs to play in 4-player mahjongg against girls, who strip if they run out of funds. The games don't end until you either strip all of the girls or run out of funds yourself. Yet another strip mahjong game that I don't have words for.  
    8. Metal Eye 2 [940831] Elf 1 2 3 Metal Eye 2 is set in the same sci-fi universe and is closely related story-wise to the first game. In the future, people have built the floating city Zeron, where the best scientists work on creating androids, artificial human beings who look the same way as real ones. Harvest Corporation is the biggest company that creates androids. The hero of the game is a scientist named Wirg, the father of the first game's protagonist. His work is to train the androids after they have been created. One day, the company building is attacked, and Wirg has to escape. He is saved by a nun and brought into a small town in the middle of wasteland, where his adventure begins. For those who forgot - Metal Eye was crap of a game. In the sequel setting finally has a chance to bloom, but scenario is too bad to enjoy. Again, only rpg fans may find it satisfactory - party consists of 3 to 4 people and defeat of a single party member means game over. Battles are done in turn-based move first person view. On the bright side graphics got better, creating illusion of pseudo-3D isometrics.  
    9. Kikai Jikake no Marian 機械じかけのマリアン [9408] Studio Jikkenshitsu 1 2 3 Psyluth Decker is a young English nobleman. Upon hearing the news of his father's death, he goes to the family mansion, a place surrounded by strange rumors, from which he tried to distance himself. Shortly after his arrival the young man notices that almost everyone he encounters has a secret, and becomes involved in a battle between powerful shapeshifters and mechanical creatures, aided by the trusty maid Marian. There's a surprisingly good English review here.
  4. Like
    KainLegacy535 reacted to kivandopulus for a blog entry, VN of the Month January 1994 - Fuzoroi no Lemon   
    Fuzoroi no Lemon and Welcome to the Cinemahouse are masterpieces, but the latter one has fewer elements of visual novel genre and thus Fuzoroi no Lemon is the game of the month.
    1. Marble Cooking マーブルクッキング [940101] Negative 1 2 3 4 5 6 Marble, the young and innocent apprentice of magic, has always been curious about one of her master's possessions, the magic "Wand of Wishes". One day the curious girl uses the wand; as a result, an evil demon is unleashed into the world. The spirit of the wand, a rabbit-like creature known as Sirius, tells Marble that it is now her responsibility to save the world from the demon, whose vile plan is to brainwash and sexually abuse ripe pretty young girls! So there are seven stages, at which we... place carrots to summon a rabbit and watch HCG between the scenes. Something tells me this game is not so much about the story... Anyway, game even has English translation and a big faq in English... for those who want to reach perfection in placing carrots!  
    2. Gao Gao! 1st ~Radical Sequence~ GAOGAO!1st ~ラジカルシークエンス~ [940107] Four-Nine 1 2 The protagonist of the game is a college student named Yuuji Shibata. One evening, just after hearing on the news that someone has stolen a tiger, he goes out to a convenience store. On the way back, in a dark alley, he notices a strange creature, a young girl with cat ears and tail. She doesn't seem to remember anything about herself, except her name beginning with the syllable "Mi...", which afterwards earns her the nickname Mi. Yuuji brings her to his house and tries to introduce her to the world of humans. (which, naturally, also involves techniques of human procreation). But will Yuuji be able to keep Mi as his companion (sexual and otherwise), or will he have to face her mysterious past?.. I've prepared a full review of the game.  
    3. Houma Hunter Lime Dai 08 Wa 宝魔ハンターライム 第08話 [940110] Silence 1 In this episode Lime, Bass and Mizuki go to a fair and watch a magician's show. A BEM has disguised itself as one of the props, and Lime must become a magician herself in order to trap it. A light comical episode with circus focuses as theme. It's still far till the end, so fooling around is in full blossom.  
    4. Nanba Kousuke Ikasete Nanbo! 難波康介イカせてなんぼ! [940110] Altacia Kosuke is a graduating high school student who lives alone in Shinjuku. He has a secret passion for his classmate Miki and is anxious to confess his feelings to her before the final exam day. But as soon as he settles a date with Miki she dissapears and an unknown floating girl appears in a flash, then stumbles and looses consciousness. Girl is declares that a "holy war" is approaching and that the fate of humankind and Miki depends on Kosuke now. It turns out that legendary princess Kaguya actually married one of her five guards and while Miki is a descendant of Kaguya-hime, Kosuke comes from the line of her husband. In order to save Miki, Kosuke needs to sublimate passion of other girls. I can't help surprise seeing such elaborate plots devised just to chase girls. We circle around the subway stations looking for girls. But actual process is done in simulation manner. There are even stats for it. Game does not have a single japanese review or impression and I did not go far either.  
    5. Bell's Avenue 2 ベルズアベニュー2 [940114] Signa Works A collection of three main stories and several short kinetic stories:
    1. 小犬のワルツ
    2. UNDERDEEP
    3. パラゴンの災難
    4. FORUM
    5. BA散歩
    6. しおりの部屋
    7. minimum hour The structure and the content are very close to the previous part. Same over-sized body parts present.  
    6. Fuzoroi no Lemon 不揃いのレモン [940121] Softhouse Bonbee Bonbon 1 Machida Haruko, nicknamed "Faru", is a young girl who was living together with her sister Mei. Mei has mysteriously disappeared, and one day Faru received a package, which contained a video showing her sister, tortured by unknown people, crying in agony. The young heroine heads to the high school Mei studied in. She tries to get a job there, in order to investigate the circumstances of her sister's disappearance, and bring her home safe... Yet another Classmates rival and this time even with the time concept. Main character is a shemale... so trap protagonists attack started in yearly 1994... Heaven's voice system was particularly useful, it's basically tips of what to do when stuck or bored. Game is strong in every division. There a lot of unique and cute characters. Story tries to have a serious narration, but with a shemale in girls school gags are inevitable and game manages to keep that balance of seriousness and bakage. So you wonder around the school , talking to several teachers and several students in order too proceed with the story. Characters can be absent at their spots and it's possible to miss an important event. For that the system of moving back in time with a nursery cabinet is introduced. In the second half of the game money is used a lot so it's important not to waste assets on fortune telling and such. Irregular lemon actually managed to save the fun parts and not to fall behind in any aspect, so it's definitely a masterpiece game.  
    7. Miho 美穂 [940128] Red Zone 1 Miho Premium Collection no.003 is dedicated to predominantly sexual experiences of a Japanese young woman named Miho during her work at a hospital as a nurse. The game's story is rather sparse, consisting of various encounters with doctors, staff members, and patients, most of which lead to sexual scenes, often with unsavory medical undertones and torture. Red-Zone title with hospital as theme. Does not have value apart of H.  
    8. Welcome to the Cinemahouse ようこそシネマハウスへ [940128] Hard Player controls film director of Cinema House on the planet Paraiso which is in the middle of war. Much of the crew was conscripted, military censure is ravaging, but for a man of passion everything is possible. Each character has behavior patter lasting for 24 hours. According to that pattern we devise a plot and arrange actors in SLG part. Mostly we just approve or disapprove suggested variants, so it's not difficult. It's possible to talk to actors and those talks are masterfully done. If you done screening but want to start anew or shoot additional scenes, the schedule gets tight. There is also human relationships dimension and unexpected troubles that come up. Parents would naturally object in indecent role offered to the child. But the ADV part of the game is probably even better. You can walk around the town talking to inhabitants in the top down camera Classmates style immersing in the atmosphere of warring city. Even though the length of the game is not big, the degree of freedom and the replay value is great. Believe it or not, many people are calling this game their favorite game among all the pc-98 games and it's definitely a masterpiece.  
    9. Koukou Kyoushi Sei Erika Jogakuin Hen 高校教師 聖エリカ女学院編 [940129] Wishbone 1 The game has a rather simple premise: the protagonist is a young man who is looking forward to his first day on a new job, that of a teacher at the prestigious St. Erika Girls' High School. Naturally, he won't be busy with teaching alone; the goal is to get acquainted with the various female characters that populate the school, including the nurse and many of the students. A game with huge map and lots of walking around. Point-and-click system does not make things easier as well. It's difficult to get to H events and huge time investments seem to be needed to figure out the rest.
  5. Like
    KainLegacy535 reacted to kivandopulus for a blog entry, VN of the Year 1993   
    Year 1993 was... strange. Most of praised games of the year were blocked by me due to nukige nature of the games. Those games include Kawarazaki-ke no Ichizoku, Rance 4, Viper series, NOVA, Ayumi-chan Monogatari, Kindan no Ketsuzoku. And a lot of quality representatives that I don't even want to mention here are purest brainless nukige. It really looked to me as if the world got mad after the strict censorship of 1992. The number of VNs that made into my list slightly decreased from 4.08 in 1992 to 3.75 in 1993 due to increased nukige tendency. 
     
    The notable features of year 1993 included:
    - Hard disks come as an early substitute for FDD, e.g. Rance 4 was released only for hard disks.
    - Games featuring 2 or even 3 screen CG scrolling got frequent
    - Multiple games heavily introduced animation to look like TV anime
    - Several works included percentage of watched CG and it stimulated pursue of CG rather than developing story
    - As games increase in volume they start to feel uncomfortable withing Command selection formula. Command selection is generally simplified even further to such extremes as three icons or 2-3 unique variants for each selection, sometimes merging with contemporary ADV system.
     
    Let's try and count what masterpiece level games we ended up with in 1993. 
    1. Bunretsu Shugoshin Twinkle Star 2. Can Can Bunny Extra 3. Cosmology of Kyoto 4. Demon City 5. HHG Heart Heat Girls 6. Kawarazaki-ke no Ichizoku 7. Nova 8. Marine Philt 9. Ooedo Tantei Kamiya Ukyou Vol. 2 10. Prostudent G 11. Rance IV - Kyoudan no Isan - 12. Words Worth 13. Zoku Youjuu Senki -Suna no Mokushiroku- So if we talk about which game had the biggest impact on industry - it would be Can Can Bunny Extra. From this work the Swatty goddess became a meme and the game is the closest thing to a contemporary high quality charage. But I just refuse to give this nampa game the credit of being the best VN of 1993. 
    3x3 Eyes ~Sanjiyan Henjou~ is a nice gore game just to my taste, but it has lots of shortcomings. 
    Horror games like Marine Philt are one-time games that are only good while playing. 
    Bunretsu Shugoshin Twinkle Star is mostly fun only for first two chapters. 
    Cosmology of Kyoto is a gem, but it's too different from anything else to participate in the general race. 
    Prostudent G is a bakage that I refuse to give credit. 
    Words Worth is a great game, but it would appeal only to a very small percentage of RPG fans. 
    H.H.G.: Heart Heat Girls is an amazing story but it's from a relatively unknown developer Cat's Pro and its production values are greatly lacking. Dark palette, average character design and CG quality just can't be the BEST game of 1993.
    So why not Demon City? It's quite a borderline game, but so is year 1993. It's from the same Cocktail Soft company that made most acclaimed Can Can Bunny Extra the same year, so it's only fair. Demon City has fantastic production values, very unorthodox setting, cool original protagonist, great shifting story. It's persistent, fun and never boring. It made the biggest impression on me and that's what counts.
  6. Like
    KainLegacy535 reacted to kivandopulus for a blog entry, VN of the Month July 1993 - Bunretsu Shugoshin Twinkle Star   
    Words Worth and Bunretsu Shugoshin Twinkle Star are the star pair of July 1993. But it would only be fair if a visual novel and not an RPG-heavy game was VN of July 1993 and thus Bunretsu Shugoshin Twinkle Star has the upper hand.
    1. Houma Hunter Lime Dai 02 Wa 宝魔ハンターライム 第02話 [930709] Silence 1 In this episode Lime disguises herself as a schoolgirl to detect a BEM who was sighted in girls' locker room. Lime and Bass must find a way to lure the little monster out and avoid unnecessary embarrassment. In this series we get to know that not all the youkai are bad ones and need to be fought - some just need to finish some task and then they can leave this world. Lime selflessly sacrifices herself for the common good.  
    2. Kuroneko Kan 黒猫館 [930709] Fairy Dust 1 The game's protagonist is a young man named Okita. His friend Murakami has recently found a part-time job: housework in the Kuroneko ("Black Cat") mansion, which belongs to a rich and mysterious family. However, since then, Okita hasn't received a word from his friend. Worried about this strange silence, Okita travels to the mansion. There, he finds out that Murakami has left. He decides to stay and investigate the suspicious circumstances. But he is not prepared to the assault of wild eroticism that the mansion's inhabitants will soon unleash on him... There were two OVA series produced by Fairy Dust - one was a part of Cream Lemon series and the other was a new OVA. The game events create a link between those two animation works. Overall it's a high quality museum maid work with frequent animations and thus targets a specific auditory.  
    3. Naomi ~Bishoujo-tachi no Yakata~ 奈緒美 ~美少女たちの館~ [930709] Red Zone Naomi and Mina are two school girls who get enter a western-style building and get lost there. What awaits them inside? Multi-ending multi-story ADV or normal visual novel as we call it now. Unlike Kawarazaki family here there are not many endings and those aren't that different. Most of the time there is a dark screen with some items on it at times, so it's a dim work. The only characters are females so yuri is inevitable.  
    4. CAL III: Kanketsuhen キャルIII 完結編 [930710] Birdy Soft 1 2 3 Two years have passed since Wataru Ishibashi, an ordinary high-school student in modern-day Japan, visited the magic world of beautiful goddesses and rescued his girlfriend Mika. It seems he can now finally enjoy a peaceful time with his beloved girl. But one day, his old friend Ches, a cute cat-like fairy girl, appears in his room and summons him to the world of gods. It appears that Venus, the goddess of love, is in trouble. Looks like Wataru is about to begin another adventure in the world of gods! There are two good English reviews out there, but there's actually some story behind this game that we can't miss on. Cal III was originally being developed as an RPG, but then main staff had an argument with the director and established their own company. There was nothing to be done but to scrape those plans and hurriedly shift the work development into another adventure game. And there are lots of consequences to that. First of all, character design and images part totally changed, there was no more sexiness of Cal and Cal II. Game was supposed to be based around rpg gameplay, so there are zero puzzles in the game, few choices (many of which are just one choice), almost no game over parts. Plot gets pretty bizarre with weird events happening and all of the Alice in the Wonderland crew coming to rescue the sinking ship. To substitute for that pretty much everything is voiced, even narrator explanations, which hurts the tempo a lot if listening properly since just the opening would take over an hour. So it's an uneven work that differs greatly from prequels and it holds no special place in visual novel history. But for fans it was a devastating failure.  
    5. Gokko Vol. 01 Doctor Gokko Vol. 01 Doctor [930714] Mink 1 The story of Gokko Vol. 01: Doctor is quite simple: the protagonist is a young man who dreams of becoming a great doctor, study abroad, and win the Nobel prize. In reality, however, he is just an ordinary aspiring physician who has to practice his medical skills in a Japanese hospital. However, seeing how all the doctors, nurses, and patients turn out to be gorgeous young women, the hero quickly forgets the Hippocratic oath in favor of his less altruist, but more basic instincts... Theme is hospital. There is a system of scores and choosing bad options or the same option twice reduces the score. There is no saving in the middle of each of 5 scenarios, so bad answers are recognized by trial and error, there is a constant feeling of tension. H events are done in point-and-click fashion, but there are also scores there...  
    6. Gakuen Monogatari ~Ikenai Houkago~ 学園物語 ~いけない放課後~ [930717] Peach Soft 1 By the end of the 20th century, women have acquired a prominent role in the human society. Entertainment, arts, and politics are increasingly dominated by women. Therefore, a special emphasis is put on educating young women, preparing them for the turbulent social life. The world's most prestigious educational institution is the Japanese Eikou High School. Becoming a teacher in that school is the highpoint of the career of the protagonist, Takigawa Noboru. But as it always happens (well, at least in bishōjo games), the moment the hero encounters all those gorgeous female colleagues and students, he forgets all about education... The teacher is actually an agent sent to investigate the strange rumors about this school. But it really seems that the teacher forgets about everything and just enjoys the scenery. It's a one-way scenario, but movement has to be done with commands and the same corridors need to get passed over and over.  
    7. Tenshi-tachi no Gogo VI -My Fair Teacher- 天使たちの午後VI -My Fair Teacher- [930720] JAST 1 In this installment of the Tenshitachi no Gogo series, the player takes the role of Tatsuya Shindou, the new teacher in the girls-only Shirakaba High School. Following the tradition of the series (as well as many other hentai games), the protagonist's only interest is in having sex with as many girls as possible, regardless of their age and social status, and even regardless of their consent... The main branch games of the series continue to be crap since fourth one and only specials remedy it. This time there's a big number of commands and a horrible interface that harm the impression. A legitimate loli makes an appearance here and it was not appropriate for many people. The main plot is about the teacher to unwind the case of serial rapes happening in the school, but it's difficult to call it a plot, more like a louse aim.  
    8. Words Worth [930722] Elf 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 God created Light and Shadow and separated them with the power of the divine Words Worth Tablet. One day, the Words Worth Tablet shall be read and all will be understood, and Light and Shadow will join and become complete. But someone has shattered the Tablet. The Tribe of Light and the Tribe of Shadow each blame the other and war ensues for 100 years. The story revolves around the bumbling but very skilled Prince Astral of the Tribe of Shadow who may be the one to bring the Tribes together and restore peace. There are English reviews.  
    9. Kurukuru Party ~Princess Quest~ くるくる☆Party ~プリンセス・クエスト~ [930723] Tomboy The hero rescues the princes and gets an opportunity to participate in the great treasure hunt along with several competitors. I was quite surprised by the fact that I could not find any impression in Japanese on the game... until I tried it myself. It's just a tabletop game with four other competitors. Dice+card are used. The "story" synopsis is generic and it could easily be just game part without any synopsis at all. I don't really consider this game to be a visual novel at all.  
    10. Cal Gaiden - Tiny Steps Behind The Cal キャル外伝 タイニィステップ [930724] Birdy Soft 1 Cal Gaiden is not directly connected to other Cal games story-wise, completely abandoning the protagonist Wataru Ishibashi, the storyline concerning ancient Greek gods, and the multi-cultural fantasy setting. Instead, it follows the exploits of Satoru, a young man who its trying to find the love of his life. There are four possible candidates: the initial romantic interest Mari Inoue, the elusive Manako Sakamoto, and two co-workers - Ami and Yōko. Now that you know the story behind Cal III - Cal Gaiden also presents under a new light. Cal Gaiden was issued just two weeks after Cal III and its most prominent feature that it's not Cal at all. There's absolutely nothing in common apart of the fact that both are bishoujo games. And the game seems to be of quite good quality, but after Cal III fiasco very few players even tried this and those who tried were outraged by the use of Cal in the title while having nothing in common to it. So there aren't good japanese reviews of the game.There are three chapters, each for for a heroine (3rd one paired for two coworkers). The unusual thing is that ex-girlfriend Mako plays an important role in each of the three scenarios. She's persistent, short-tempered and proactive. A good thing is that the story is about grown-ups so it would fit nowadays just wine with the market overflooded with surgarly school charage.  
    11. Collector D コレクターD [930726] D.O. By the year 2000 an incurable disease has spread and men and women have become unable to have normal sex without vibrators. Hero is a designer of such vibrators. He comes to a new residential area as a sales agent. There are 8 girls in 8 flats and the key to success is to prepare the right vibrator. Very few colors are used here and even H scenes look bleak.  
    12. Bunretsu Shugoshin Twinkle Star 分裂守護神トゥインクル☆スター [930729] Studio Twinkle 1 The hero of the game, a high-school student named Touma, has a strange dream, in which he is a hero, a savior of the world in a parallel dimension. And now he is dying, having sacrificed his life for a beautiful woman whom he calls Ruby. Touma wakes up, unable to understand anything, and suddenly realizes it was not a dream... at least not entirely. A magical symbol is engraved on his forehead. Touma realizes that he will have to learn more about his heroic destiny. Meanwhile, a young, seductive English teacher arrives at his school... Birdie Soft independent branch Studio Twinkle. So the magical symbol is split between 6 parts and hero needs to find four other girls and each of girls corresponds to each of four chapters. The work is notable for its humor and crude but multiple animations, including transformation scenes almost like those of magic-girls. As for humor, it's very vivid in first two acts, but later on hardly noticeable. The choices are mostly present only in conversations, so it feels more like nowadays ADV. There are battles with enemies, but they are handled with simple minigames. So it's a high standards birdie soft fun game without command selection and without major flaws, thus worthy to be called a masterpiece.  
    13. Dareka... Special 誰か… スペシャル [9307] Wendy Magazine 1 2 Some mysterious things have been happening down at the space station. Odd energy readings, a naked girl materializes out of thin air, voices everywhere... Can you find out what's going on? Investigate, speak with people, piece together what this is. People are holding secrets. Lives are at stake. There is an English review.
  7. Like
    KainLegacy535 reacted to kivandopulus for a blog entry, VN of the Month August 1993 - Houma Hunter Lime Dai 03 Wa   
    A very weak month. But if choosing among ero-centered games, a mahjong game and an animated little masterpiece, I'd choose the last one. Houma Hunter Lime Dai 03 Wa is VN of August 1993.
    1. Houma Hunter Lime Dai 03 Wa 宝魔ハンターライム 第03話 [930806] Silence1 In this episode a fit of jealousy on Lime's side sends Bass to the hospital. Upon arrival, however, the two discover a very strange hospital manager and begin to suspect yet another BEM infiltration. This time the story is not so much about a youkai at all. Heroes just happen to find him after they deal with their own problems in the hospital. The recurring jokes start to appear and the series start to remind more of an anime episodes rather than a real game.  
    2. Mahjong Gensoukyoku II 麻雀幻想曲II [930806] Active 1 2 3 4 Mahjong Fantasia 2 is a direct sequel to the first Mahjong Fantasia game. The story mode begins with a reminiscence of the events depicted in the first game. The hero, Ring, is back with his girlfriend Tania, but mourns the loss of the lovely elf Raspberry. He travels to the Village of Elves, where he discovers that there might be a way to resurrect Raspberry - but it involved finding seven sacred golden tablets, guarded by fearsome opponents, which must be defeated in a game of mahjong... There are English reviews.  
    3. Poison Needle ポイゾンニードル [930810] May-Be Soft A collection of three short stories: 1) "Yuka's after-school" 2) "PM 12:00" 3) "Melody played with a finger" The stories are really short and ero-centered reaching some 30 minutes playtime total. The CG level is very uneven.  
    4. Denwa no Bell ga... 電話のベルが… [930817] Cocktail Soft 1 The protagonist of this game, a nameless young man, receives a phone call from his girlfriend. She is distressed and asks him to meet her immediately. From that point on, whatever happens depends on what the player decides to do... This is a grandfather of all the works with a big number of bad endings since the whole point of the game is in watching the bad endings rather than getting a single right one. But in the end plot does not matter at all and the focus of the game is solely H scenes.  
    5. Collector D Bangaihen - Gokuraku Dainishi Chiku Sales Daisakusen コレクターD 番外編 極楽台西地区セールス大作戦 [930823] D.O. After a successful mission in one residence unit the vibrator designer decided to spread his business over the whole town district. Top down view is much more comfortable than the 3D maze of flats. Graphics have been improved substantially. So only this version is polished enough for sale. The game system remains almost the same as the prequel.  
    6. City Knights シティナイツ [930826] Dott Kikaku Kusanagi Milan is the leader of the city knights girl heroes unit. Their bitter enemy is Dr. Wariwari who is a bio-scientist who has plans for the world unification and defeat of city knights. Three incidents have happened in Shinjuku with victims losing their underwear. Kusanagi Milan hurries to the most recent incident location for investigation. Another game that I could not find reviews for. And I think I know why now. I failed to find something while moving on the map for 10 minutes. And can't even trigger any door open. So the game is not really a pushover.  
    7. Marionette Mind マリオネット・マインド [930827] Studio Milk 1 Marionette Mind is a collection of three interrelated short stories depicting the adventures of an artificially created young woman. Each story is told and seen from the point of view of a different protagonist. In the first story, a young puppet-maker creates a doll of a young woman that becomes miraculously alive, and very soon discovers her sexuality. In the second story, she helps a broke performer in a puppet theater to improve his business and life. The third story is dedicated to battle puppets known as "kugutsu", where the artificial woman finally finds her home. There is some attempt to synchronize the stories as the last one is played from the viewpoint of Rio during the course of first two stories, but that's a failed attempt since the endings are very weak. After all, Studio Milk mostly produced games of genres different from ADV and joined the race only for some fast profit.
  8. Like
    KainLegacy535 reacted to kivandopulus for a blog entry, VN of the Month September 1993 - Youjuu Senki -A.D. 2048-   
    Youjuu Senki -A.D. 2048- is not really a masterpiece at all, but without strong competitors I find it entertaining enough to be called VN of the September 1993.
    1. Nurse Yuu no Muma Sensen ナースゆうの夢魔戦線 [930904] Wendy Magazine 1 2 "Nurse Yuu no Mumasensen" is an adventure game with a rather cryptic story. The player controls a young nurse named Yuu, who finds herself near a secluded military hospital, unable to understand whether she is dreaming or not. She then begins to work at the hospital, becoming more and more intrigued by the events happening in it. There is an English review.  
    2. Ooedo Tantei Kamiya Ukyou Vol. 1 大江戸探偵 神谷右京 Vol1 [930908] Altacia Detective Kamiya Ukyo is asked for an investigation, but the client is killed with her head chopped off. There was Ukyo name in the will, so agency took up the case. The series had its fan base, but game was postponed for a long time due to underdeveloped graphical technologies. Author of the script was an active detective at that time and game synopsis based on real events. Still, first two games had about 60% of fiction still involved to give the story more depth. And since the work was written by criminal expert, there is quite much uncommon terminology used. These first two works are still done in anime manner and for pc-98, but later works for Windows platform get much more serious design and reality feeling. First work is not polished enough to be considered a masterpiece, but second work is right in that zone.  
    3. Tinkle - Zenimusume てぃんくる [930909] Agumix 1 The great evil was prevented by the four legendary heroes, but the threat has awoken again. Elven heroine Narushi and her loyal pet set on a journey to get four crystals that would break the enemy's defense. Each crystal is hidden in a three-layer labyrinth. There is a Polish review available with some machine translation.  
    4. Houma Hunter Lime Dai 04 Wa 宝魔ハンターライム 第04話 [930910] Silence 1 In this episode Lime and Mizuki work as waitresses in a local cafe in order to detect the presence of a BEM. After having located the monster they become unexpectedly attached to it, which makes it harder for them to recover the jewel. Each episode is very individual. This time Mizuki plays the most important role while our heroes just observe the drama from the side.  
    5. Mouryou Senki Madara Daikongourin Hen 魍魎戦記MADARA 大金剛輪編 [930910] Kogado Studio 1 2 3 4 The game is based on the manga series Moryou Senki Madara. The story is set in a mythological era in Japan, and focuses on twin brothers, Madara and Kage-Ou ("Shadow King"), sons of the evil Emperor Miroku. While Kage-Ou follows in the footsteps of his father, Madara fights against him and for the good of mankind. The game begins as Madara is gravely wounded in his fight against Miroku, but is saved by a young warrior named Seishinja, who lives together with his sister Himika. Before Madara is cured, Seishinja has to fight demons himself, with the help of the legendary sword Kusanagi. This is a small part of a big franchise of some five series of manga and supporting content. First you have to fight alone, then Madara awakens and main character shifts. Unless you have the game manual, you wont be able to know chakra (magic) combinations. This VN ending differs from original manga since the main character here is set to destroy the world and recreate it for himself and no happy ending is seen.  
    6. Night Shifter ナイトシフター [930910] Four-Nine 1 Once upon a time, there was a young boy who loved motorcycles. Riding through the night on his bike was what he enjoyed most - until one night he crashed into a car, and was taken to hospital. There, he wakes up to find out that he'll have to go through some injections and infusions, which scares him so much that he faints... and immediately finds himself mysterious transported to a bizarre magical realm, somewhat inspired by Alice in Wonderland, with well-dressed rabbits, smoking caterpillars, but also plenty of cute girls. It turns out that this Wonderland isn't that bad - but how hard will it be to conquer the hearts of its pretty inhabitants?.. Looks like this game imitated Classmates, but without time dimension and with much lower production values. Lawful and Chaotic personalities only influence some CG and speech. Choices that have to be done from time to time hardly influence anything at all. So there's hardly a plot, just exploration of Wonderland with ultimate aim to get out.  
    7. Viper-V8 Viper-V8 [930910] Sogna 1 2 The second entry in Sogna's long-running Viper franchise, Viper V-8 has the same format as its predecessor: three separate short stories with minimal interaction and animated sex scenes. The three stories are: Friday the 18th: Obviously, a parody on horror movies, telling the story of three young girls who were sexually assaulted by mysterious masked men when camping near a forest. Demon's Night is set in medieval times and describes a battle of three young heroes against a vicious demon. One of them is killed in battle, while the other (a girl) is captured by the demon; the remaining warrior, a young man named Ryu, has to rescue his friend. Alien Wars takes place in the future. A young space pilot named Sylvie is ambushed and captured by aliens who have nothing else in mind but to have sex with her... There is an English review.  
    8. Ayumi-chan Monogatari あゆみちゃん物語 [930915] Alice Soft 1 The premise of Ayumi-chan Monogatari is rather simple: the protagonist, a young boy named Kouichi, is in love with the most beautiful girl in his school, Ayumi Kawai. One day she admits that she also loves him, and they begin a relationship. Plot is virtually non-existant and the whole point is to try each intimate date something new to get new CG and eventually get 100% CG. Very few works had CG galleries accessible in game and I don't think any measured completeness of opened CG in percentage. And thanks to graphics and cute character design the game was really popular. The game was made in close partnership with the active bbs fans which is also an impressive model that no other company could pull out. It's an important game for the visual novel history, but apart of all the novelty I only see a nukige here.  
    9. Custom Mate カスタムメイト [930917] Cocktail Soft 1 A young man finds a mysterious box. Making sure no one is at home, he opens the box and finds a scroll with a magic incantation inside. He chants the magic spell - and immediately a cute female elf appears. She says she can create any girl the hero wants. But once the girl is created, he has to figure out how to win her good graces... An easy seduction SIM which precedes a wave of SIMs in the second half of 1990s. Graphics is quite uneven.  
    10. Kachou Shima Kousaku: Super Business Adventure 課長 島 耕作 スーパービジネスアドベンチャー [930917] Yutaka 1 2 The game allows the player to play the role as a Japanese salaryman as he goes on his "employment adventure" in order to accomplish negotiations for business deals. Occasionally, the player will have to do stuff with his girlfriend and explore his office building in order to accomplish things from his employer. Game was based on popular manga and it's very realistic - it deals with dirty corporations ethics, racism, pregnancy... so it was scraped for release in the West. Series are closely connected with the original, at times for the bad, at times for the good. For example, letters are presented as in the original with its complexity, but some of the choices player makes won't have effect at all since they weren't reflected in the original. So it might be a nice game to try unless it was japanese famicom only.  
    11. Youjuu Senki -A.D. 2048- 妖獣戦記 -A.D.2048- [930917] D.O. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 The apocalypse known as "The Third" occured as a result of mankind's tasting the deadly fruit of nuclear technology. The massive radiation released in the holocaust of world war mingled with the genetic fallout from biological weapons, creating horrific mutations that came to be called "Yoju". These beasts bred in the bodies of humans and multiplied, covering the blighted landscape and pushing humanity to the brink of extinction. It is now the year 2048. As mankind's final gamble in the struggle against the Yoju, a squad of genetically engineered cyborgs was created - the Anti Strangebeast Special Police (A.S.S.P.) whose members possess combat ability far beyond that of normal humans. They have been programmed with the complete database of anti-Yoju strategies and tactics researched over years of war. These female biosoldiers have become humanity's last line of defense against total annihilation, and you have been chosen to command them. There are English reviews.  
    12. Ah! an Ah! an [930922] Wendy Magazine A collection of two short stories: 1) Face of Hakuhaku 2) Yukari laboratory Both of stories have 2 and 3 branches and endings, respectively. Game was ment to be Vol.1 of the series, but never got continuation. Drawing won't be to everyone's liking. H events are the center of the game and those are animated. The stories are too short even considering branches.  
    13. Kidou Keisatsu Patlabor - Griffon Hen 機動警察パトレイバー グリフォン篇 [930930] Riverhill Soft inc. 1 2 3 4 Digital Comic Patlabor is based on the anime series Patlabor. In the near future, officers of Tokyo Metropolitan Police pilot giant robots called "Labors" to combat criminals. Like most installments of the anime and manga, the game focuses on characters from Special Vehicle Section 2, Division 2, and the playable character is Noa Izumi. More specifically, the game follows the so-called "TV timeline", involving the Labor Griffon. There are English reviews.    
    14. Shangrlia 2 SHANGRLIA2 [930930] Elf 1 2 3 For a while peace was reigning in the magical Kingdom of Hyunckel. However, dark forces have emerged again. Commanding hellish creatures, they managed to capture the top female generals of the Hyunckel army, sealing them in special devices resembling eggs. Only three generals remained free, and they must liberate their companions and re-capture the land. There's little to be said. You either played prequel and don't need review or not played prequel, then it's better to start with that. The complexity of rules increased with sequel significantly.
  9. Like
    KainLegacy535 reacted to kivandopulus for a blog entry, VN of the Month May 1993 - Nova   
    Prostudent G and Nova are the masterpieces of the month, but when there's a choice I'd choose anything over bakage and thus Nova is VN of May 1993.
    1. Noltia ノルティア [930514] Flat 1 Noltia contains three scenarios, which are not related to each other story-wise. All the three share traditional Japanese adventure gameplay, with "Look - Talk - Think" verb command pattern, no inventory, no puzzles, and plenty of text. The first one can be played as either of its two main characters - the boy Aruto or the girl Kyoko. Both are not what they seem to be: Aruto is working for a registry organization in the World of the Dead, and he has to bring Kyoko to judgment, where it will be decided whether she goes to heaven or hell after death. However, Kyoko is actually an angel, whose goal is to save Aruto from killing himself. Both characters have special bars - the well-being of the protagonist and the proximity of the opponent to the protagonist's goal. Command choices can increase or decrease either of these statistics. Wrong choices can lead to Game Over. The second scenario casts the player in the role of a high-school student named Yoshihiko, who is hired by a gym teacher to take erotic pictures of high-school girls and bring them to him. This scenario allows movement through school locations (menu command "Move"), and, depending on the player's choices, Yoshihiko can succeed in taking the most erotically satisfying pictures, or achieve one of the "bad" endings. The third scenario is a realistic depiction of a relationship between a young man named Eiji and his little sister Miwa. The player can choose to play as either one of them. Eiji is dating Miwa's schoolmate, and Miwa tries to understand the change in her own feelings. In this episode, the gameplay is rather straight-forward Japanese adventure. Only third story is serious enough. It also uses zapping to switch protagonists, which is really fresh. A very nice experimental work without emphasis on H-element. It's one of the works that allows us to speak of 1993 year as the golden age of visual novels with lots of original stories and emphasis on scenario.  
    2. Tenshi-tachi no Gogo Special 2 天使たちの午後SpecialII [930514] JAST Main hero is high school student. But he also steals money and assets from villains to return it to the proper owners. One day he received a request by mail to get "Blue Diamond" out of debt situation. The only common part with the predecessors is that it's a school mystery. Game series is changing very slowly over time and thus starting to look bleak compared to competitors. Anyway, character design is cute and it's still possible to enjoy the game heartfully.  
    3. Prostudent G ぷろすちゅーでんとG [930515] Alice Soft 1 2 3 By the end of the 20th century, radical educational reforms have transformed the Japanese society. Students were split into opposing groups, and the more aggressive of those eventually formed a dominant organization named Order of Black Phoenix, centered on the cult of a mysterious person known as "The Queen". Outcast students have escaped to a secluded island near Okinawa. A wandering lazy and lecherous manga and anime fan named Gorō Endō teams up with a female teacher and a few students to lead an opposition force against the oppressive governing circles. Bakage from AliceSoft. Even the synopsis does not make any sense. And it should not - in fact, it's possible not to follow the story and still enjoy the game in he fullest. All kinds of elements are mixed together with constant parodies, gags and unrealistic events happening. I prepared a full review of it.  
    4. DOR Special Edition Sakigake DOR SPECIAL EDITION 魁 [930521] D.O. 1 DOR Special Edition: Sakigake is the fourth entry in the DOR series. Unlike all the previous games, it contains only one scenario instead of the usual three. The scenario follows the story of Kensuke Funaki, a young boy who attends a prestigious private high school, where the students specialize in sports as well as various theatrical activities. The biggest event of the school is an all-female wrestling competition. Kensuke finds himself in a promising situation: in order to secure his support, the young and pretty competitors are willing to go far - very, very far... The story does not differ much from other DOR stories. But this game's feature is unusual sound and partial voicing.  
    5. Nova ノ・ヴァ [930528] Cat's Pro. 1 2 The protagonist of the game awakens in the cryogenic chamber of a spaceship, unable to remember anything from his past and only vaguely recalling his name. Something strange is happening on board the ship, and it is possible that unknown creatures have found their way into it. The protagonist meets other crew members and together they try to find out what exactly is going on. The first serious work of Cat's Pro and already a masterpiece according to my rating. Actually Nova has three stories that happen roughly at the same place in the same circumstances, but only first story has enough longevity and complexity. It also has the most mystery and SF elements in it. Three stories is an experimental structure to satisfy as many players as possible. Still the selling point of the game lies in magnificent graphics and sound.  
    6. Hitomi Zaka ひとみ坂 [93] Higashikai Hotsujuku 1 The story itself is about a group of friends from high school after school is over. Everyone hangs out in a coffee house, goes on dates in said coffee house, plays occasional games of football, and sometimes go out to do stuff like visiting the fair or play the piano. There is an English review.  
    7. S.A. S.A. [93] A-Inn A collection of two short erotic stories Scenario 1 is about a parent and child coming to main character's house for recruitment purposes. Protagonist manages to coerce child to intimate relations. Scenario 2 is about main character graduating from high school and gathering to move out. At the same time imouto starts to gain consciousness as a woman. Siblings share their memories before the departure. Short erotic stories, but with great visuals.  
    8. The Ooya-san - Tamattemasu yo! Yachin ga!? ザ・大家さん たまってますよ!家賃が!? [93] Soft Circle Courreges Ohayama Harumi is the son of apartment complex owner. One day his father gives him a telephone call and asks to gather rent from five girls that are late with the payment. The girls prefer to seduce the guy and he's such a virgin that can not say no. Nothing special.
  10. Like
    KainLegacy535 reacted to kivandopulus for a blog entry, VN of the Month April 1993 - Quintia Road 2   
    There aren't masterpieces this month, but I find Quintia Road 2 to be the most interesting story-wise and thus it's VN of the month.
    1. Mahou no Shougakusei Clit-chan 魔法の小学生クリットちゃん [930491] Toukyou Club

    A letter comes to a man living alone. It's an invitation to a magic girl academy for a week with the freedom to do whatever he wishes there. It's just a lolicon doujin game.  
    2. Yougen Doumu 妖幻道夢 [930413] Ponytail Soft A youkai broke the seal placed on the shrine resulting in youkai outrage. The system is choosing places on the map and restoring the seals in each spot. If we succeed in summoning the youkai of the area the battle in the form of quiz game begins. Game is notorious for dwelling on traditional japanese folklore. Still CG are probably the selling point of the game.  
    3. Quintia Road 2 クィンティアロード2 [930415] Communication Group Plum 1 2 News Chrome is a young FBI agent who was pursuing an evasive target on a mission. Suddenly, the suspect disappeared into a portal. Following him, News found himself in a desert. Before long he meets a princess named Sarah who asks him to aid the inhabitants of the magical world Quintia against a mysterious sorcerer. Unlike prequel, there's no English review for this game and information is scarce. In the world News was teleported to magic got out of control. Fairies and dragons became an everyday sight. And evil magician Edwin Rune was preparing to dominate the world. Same five kingdoms persisted, same commands, including feature anxiety command that could do something good or something bad. Game got light RPG elements as heroes got stats, basic inventory items and real tactical battles. But at the same time story got linear, you can't choose where to go anymore, so satisfaction was not high. Playing the prequel is required to understand the gags scattered around the same locations.  
    4. Lipstick Adventure 3 リップスティックアドベンチャー3 [930423] Fairytale 1 This entry in the Lipstick Adventure series continues the story of the young private detective Gorou and his sweetheart Otomi. After attending a friend's marriage ceremony, they return to Gorou's office and find a strange package in the flowers. The package contains pictures of Otomi and several other girls, her schoolmates, some of them naked. Gorou heads to Otomi's high school to begin the investigation, without realizing that he will soon become involved in a sinister conspiracy... Final work of the series. Well, there was 4th game 8 years later made by a new company, but that was an ordinary eroge already. So in 3rd Lipstick Adventure Mami is again a schoolgirl and events take place roughly a year after first game. It's also new for the series to finally have a good sound support. From time to time perspective changes to Mami's eyes. H element was totally eliminated with provocative moments and occasional naked breast being all that's left. The plot got an unexpectedly serious dimension. First you find photos of Mami's classmates naked, then the spouse of former school director was found dead. So story was not too light-hearted. Overall good old Lipstick Adventure was back in its most technologically advanced form. It's still a great game, especially for those who played previous two parts, but compared to audacious newcomer VNs of 1993, it's fabula just got old.  
    5. Ranma 1/2 - Byakuran Aika らんま1/2 白蘭愛歌 [930423] Klon 1 2 3 The game features an original story centering on a new character, Arisa Nanjo. After Ranma Saotome's friends go missing, it is up to him to track them down. There are English reviews.  
    6. Image 2 イマージュ2 [930427] Software House Parsley 1 Like its predecessor, Image 2 consists of three episodes, which are unrelated to each other story-wise and can be accessed from the main menu; each episode can be played in two different ways ("scenarios"). All the three episodes are set in medieval/fantasy environment. The first episode tells of a "cursed" treasure room somewhere on the outskirts of a town; the only one brave enough to venture there is a young hero named Recardo. In scenario A, Recardo has to find a way to defeat a demon, using objects from the treasure room; in scenario B, he has to face a female demonic creature and seduce her without getting killed in the process. Scenario A has a large turn-based battle that can be lost; the key to winning is usage of items. The second episode stars the fighter Rush and his female companion Femir; traveling across the desert, they enter a town, and Rush decides to participate in a fighter competition. This episode differs from the other ones (and most other Japanese-style adventures) by having free movement in top-down environment. Scenario A puts the player into Rush's role; the gameplay here contains slight, mini-game-like elements of role-playing, as Rush has to win turn-based battles, gain money, and buy better weapons, equipment, and items to survive. In Scenario B, the player controls Femir. While Rush is fighting his battles, Femir investigates a strange disappearance of female warriors. The third episode is the most traditional one, both from the point of view of story and gameplay. This rather minimalistic episode depicts a meeting between the young boy Fand and the girl Remia, who is from another town. Fand shows her around, the two have a date, and the rest of the episode evolves according to the player's decisions for both characters (Fand in Scenario A, Remia in Scenario B). Second part is a huge way forward from the first one. This time each episode has a real story and there are even several branches in some. I was really grateful for the RPG episode in particular. The game is still ero-centered, but with a story emphasis now.  
    7. JYB ~Mehame Haruuga wa Himitsu no Jumon~ JYB ~メハメ・ハルーガは秘密の呪文~ [930428] Cocktail Soft 1 The game's hero, a young man named Otomegawa, encounter Chururu, a cheerful female magical creature, who accidentally curses him to become a woman. Only the princess of the Magic Land can lift the curse. The princess has been reborn as a human being and is currently living on the Earth. The problem is that as a human, she has no access to her magical powers that would help Otomegawa solve his predicament. Only a moment of true ecstasy (and since this is a hentai game, we all know what it means) will awaken her true potential! Luckily, the princess also happens to be lesbian, which perfectly suits Otomegawa's current condition and the means necessary to achieve the goal... It's more like a detective game where we search for a girl that fits description. Game incorporates concept of time alike Classmate, so difficulty level is very high. At the same time there are as many as 15 girls which further increases playtime if aim to clear. An unusual and well known game at that time.  
    8. Metal Eye Metal Eye [930428] Elf 1 2 3 4 5 In Metal Eye, the player takes the role of a young weapons expert named Findhill. His father was apparently involved in a project that dealt with creating artificial life forms. But recently he has disappeared without a trace. Findhill remained alone, in a small town surrounded by vicious monsters. He wants to become a hunter, just like his father once was, to get rid of the monsters roaming the wilderness, and get to the bottom of his father's disappearance and his mysterious project. As the next Elf game, it was stormed out of the stalls by the army of Classmates fans. But actually Mr.Hiruda was not in charge of the scenario this time. The battles balance was laughable, the encounter rate high, but need to struggle through to get to the real game, right? Not really - you fight through and see bed scenes with beautiful girls, that's how VN rpgs work. So many players felt betrayed. It was actually a good SF story with animated battles some novelty RPG features. So quite an average RPG, but the problem was that such average games hurt Elf reputation greatly.  
    9. Ripple Cafe リップルカフェ [930428] Garuda A collection of three short stories: 1) Maze dungeon 2) Life in Neorvous 3) Orchestra hit Game is not hookable and obscure, thus it's difficult to comment on the content. At the very least the stories vary greatly and have significant story components. There are also game overs on the wrong selection.  
    10. Bishoujo Hunter ZX 美少女ハンターZX [930429] Softhouse Bonbee Bonbon 1 In the 1990-ies, increased tension between powerful countries of the world and economic crisis have eventually lead to open hostility. By 2018, the world was nearly destroyed in a devastated war. A handful of scientists working for peace have devised a plan - called "Project ZX" - to prevent this disaster from happening. All they need are a dozen of young, pretty girls, who would be trained with the newest scientific equipment. The hero of the game is a lazy teenager, fan of computers and - surprise! - pretty girls, and he is the one who is entrusted by an old scientist to find and recruit these special girls, aided by a robotic bird named Chico. For the first time I see a noble aim of saving the world in a nanpa game. Game is divided into two parts with a free girls order. But the girls in the second part get information from the girls in the first part and thus are much more difficult to capture. There are 15 girls available for capture.  
    11. Four Flush フォア フラッシュ [930429] Agumix 1 In the future, the cities of the Earth merge into a single megalopolis. Life has stabilized, and each new day is similar to the preceding one. Human beings have lost connection to the culture of the past. The huge city doesn't even have a name, and is simply called "City". Poor people live in the slums, and have no access to the quarters of the rich. Corruption reigns. The hero of the game belongs to an organization of assassins known as "Card". His last mission is to kill corrupted policemen who have been trafficking drugs. The hero must hide, but his relationships with other "Card" members are anything but clear... Hard boiled SF setting with good visuals, sound and frequent animation. What's more to desire? Sometimes there's just something missing. Commands vary for each scene, so immersion is greater than in usual interactive adventure. But after great introduction the work lingers without much tension. Drawing is done my popular manga artist, but it won't be to everyone's taste. Story ends in a satisfactory fashion, but lacks excitement. Spontaneous H scenes killed the atmosphere for me.  
    12. If イフ [930429] Active 1 IF contains four scenarios, which are unrelated to each other and can be accessed directly from the main menu: The first scenario stars a 19-year-old young man who accidentally makes a wish and summons a cute-looking female demon, who is ready to serve his "master"... in various ways, including what you just thought. This scenario is sub-titled Triangle, and is dedicated to a high-school student who has a rather uneasy relationship with the girl he likes. One day he meets a female childhood friend, which further complicates his love life... Set in medieval (feudal) Japan, the scenario tells the story of a young man who is on his way to the capital city, to study martial arts by a famous teacher. He gets sick and has to stay in a mountain village. Soon he notices that strange things begin to happen there, and has to find a way to release a woman from a curse that was placed on her. The last scenario is set in a small village that lies deep in a forest, in a fictional country, and focuses on a young boy named Indy. He fancies the daughter of the village elder; one day she is kidnapped by strangers, and Indy swears to rescue her. There are several features of this work. All the stories take place in different time periods and have a short text introduction each. Another interesting innovation is that each scene has its own set of commands and at most two selections of the same command are needed to proceed with the story. So it's more than a command selection, but less than a choice selection type.  
    13. Shinc [9304] Libido 1 2 The plot of Shinc is as simple as its title: the hero - aptly named Hero Narcissus - is a lone adventurer in search of a job. He arrives at a town which is populated mostly by young sexy women. The hero hasn't even enough money to visit the local brothel. Since the king hasn't asked him to rescue a princess (yet), his first quest, given to him by the pretty weapon shop owner, is to venture into a nearby cave, "Realm of Anguish", to defeat the monsters lurking there and retrieve valuable items. Naturally, this is just the beginning of a long career, which involves saving the kingdom and becoming a true hero. RPG with quite simplified rules for this genre. The only prominent feature of this work is scrolling CG, so that 1/3 of the screen is seen to up to 1/8th of the screen. Quite mediocre plot, so game may have value only for RPG fans.
  11. Like
    KainLegacy535 reacted to kivandopulus for a blog entry, VN of the Year 1992 - Phobos   
    Year 1992 was much to my liking with few eroge and a great number of elaborate plots. 
     
    The notable features of year 1992 included:
    - Implemented censorship rules resulted in private parts censored and at some cases companies set self-censorship to a degree when no private parts were ever on a screen or sometimes even to no nudity at all - Regulations led to bigger emphasis on the story and experiments with the genres - Horror mysteries with gore pictures started to appear as a genre - Several sepia color works appeared to underline the warm atmosphere of the past events - Pure romance works started to appear, but Nanpa games were still larger in number - In several games individual endings for each heroine were implemented - As for system, several games had very weird choices for text window and icon/command window
    The number of good high quality games increased significantly.

    Masterpieces of 1992:
    1. Armist  2. Can Can Bunny Premiere  3. De-Ja 2  4. Doukyuusei 5. Dracula Hakushaku 6. Ginga Ojou-sama Densetsu Yuna 7. Joker II 8. Kiss 9. Koroshi no Dress 3 10. Kurutta Kajitsu 11. Martial Age 12. My Eyes! 13. Phobos 14.  Shinjuku Monogatari 15. Sotsugyou Shashin / Miki 16. The 4th Unit - Wyatt
    And there was a good number of works with good atmosphere and story. At first I was pretty sure that Crazy Fruit (Kurutta Kajitsu) must be the game of the year 1992 since the year born so many horror mystery novels. Then I got really intrigued by Shinjuku Monogatary. Doukyuusei (Classmate) and it struck me as a very bright and novelty game. It was supposed to be another nanpa game or dating seem and turned out to be a collection of stories that you choose yourself. It's a game of events as something keeps happening everywhere and it's up to you whether you stop and try to get to know the people there or keep on exploring. Game has very attractive characters and huge replayability potential. It's not a strategy, not an RPG, but the amount of freedom you're given makes you think it's an entirely new genre. And yet my personal preferences demand a story game for the winner. And I personally liked the story of Phobos the most among the visual novels of 1992.
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