kivandopulus

A nice busy month. I'd only call Rune Lord and Harukaze dori ni, Tomarigi o. 2nd Story ~Tsuki no Tobira to Umi no Kakera~ masterpieces with traditionally chunige having the upper hand over charage. As for review, won't be any this month. Will only review couple games per year, probably with video playthroughs properly backed up, will see when first appealing for review game shows up. As usual, Micchi is mostly interested in fandiscs. 1. Last Window: Mayonaka no Yakusoku ラストウィンドウ 真夜中の約束 [100114] Cing 1 2 3 4 5 6 It is the sequel to Hotel Dusk: Room 215, starring protagonist Kyle Hyde and being placed one year after the events of its predecessor.The game has visual and audio styles similar to the first game's. In this game, Kyle Hyde finds himself in the Cape West Apartments, Los Angeles, in 1980. The story of this sequel is separate from the first game's, even though it includes some connections with it. Console release, but localized and highly evaluated 2. Rain Memory -Amayadori- Rain memory－あまやどり－ [100122] Flap Basically there’s a guy who hates rain and he meets a girl whose name is Rein. Short looped novel with just one heroine and confusion between dream and reality. After three laps relations become clear. Game was sold for like a quarter of normal price. 3. Ar Tonelico III ~Sekai Shuuen no Hikigane wa Shoujo no Uta ga Hiku~ アルトネリコ3 世界終焉の引鉄は少女の詩が弾く [100128] Gust 1 2 3 4 Ar Tonelico 3's story unfolds on another tower located in the same world as Ar Tonelico and Metafalss, the towers that provided the settings of the two prequels. On the third tower, Sol Cluster, a ruling regime of Reyvateils oppresses humans as lower-class citizens. The protagonist is a young construction worker by the name of Aoto. He has never liked the Reyvateil nation of Clusternia, and when he encounters an amnesiac Reyvateil named Saki who is being pursued by them, this animosity turns into outright hostility. The two are joined in their escape by another Reyvateil, Finnel, who possesses a secret and accompanies them for reasons of her own. RPG is localized and has English reviews. 4. Mirai Nikki -13 Ninme no Nikki Shoyuusha- 未来日記 -13人目の日記所有者- [100128] Kadokawa Shoten 1 Based from a manga by Sakae Esuno. The game introduces Kirisaki Azami as the thirteenth diary owner. The game also has a system called "Yandere Operation", where Yuno will taking an action based on player's choices when her bar is full, which can be a bad or a good thing. Player can also looking at their diary in the game, although it will automatically be done every time the entry affects the story. PSP Manga spin-off 5. airy[F]airy ~Easter of Sant' Ariccia~ airy[F]airy ~Easter of Sant' Ariccia~ [100129] RococoWorks 1 There is a large sacred tree in Alicia Forest near the village of Nemi. Once every year it’ll glow and if a couple vows to love each other under its glow, they will live happily ever after. Elmo is preparing for the the annual Easter of Sant’Ariccia festival. His adoptive father disappeared 3 months ago and he had to take over the graveyard duties. Every Tuesday midnight, he has to participate in the battle of ‘Eremita’. If he loses, Tuesday will be stolen from this world. There is an English review. I actually played it in the past and can't recommend it either. Exotic slow-paced slice-of-life without ability to concentrate on anything. 6. Curefull! キュアフル！ [100129] Giga Yuuya is a talented soccer player and he was going to enter via a scholarship, but he suffered a leg injury shortly before admission and the scholarship was revoked. Now he had to take the entrance examination as a regular student and he was depressed and wanted to give up. Enter his childhood friend Haruna, who was like an older sister to him, cheering him on to do his best so that they can be together. After making it in with her support, he finds out that the cheerleading club Haruna is part of is in danger of disbanding. He understands the power of the cheering spirit and decides to join the club to help keep it alive. Even more boring than previous Giga same themed work Cheerful. 7. Doinaka Channel 5 ~Kochira Suzune Gakuen Housou-bu~ ド田舎ちゃんねる5～こちら鈴音学園放送部～ [100129] Hamham Soft Doinaka Channel 5 takes place in the countryside. Keisuke and the Suzunone Gakuen broadcast club are asked to help make a TV program to promote the town. However, each segment will be capped at 5 minutes. Two previous games of Hamham Soft were pretty much nukige, so even bakage looks like a step forward. We choose a girl, location and theme of a program and shoot it with the outcome of either satisfied or angry sponsor. Only the program itself is interesting, and thanks to high variability interest can keep up for a while. 8. Harukaze dori ni, Tomarigi o. 2nd Story ~Tsuki no Tobira to Umi no Kakera~ はるかぜどりに、とまりぎを。２ｎｄ　Ｓｔｏｒｙ　～月の扉と海の欠片～ [100129] SkyFish Global warming had caused the water to rise, covering more than half the land. At the same time, an outbreak of the Satori disease wiped out half of the world’s population. It is said that everyone has been infected with the disease and it’s only a matter of time before the symptoms show. While at the hospital, Wataru meets Akari and her kindness and smile captures his heart. Prequel was rather difficult to understand, but this time it's a straightforward poetic and only occasionally sad love story on the brink of world's collapse. Both main heroines and sub heroines are full of charm, so it's a decent charage. 9. Id -Rebirth Session- id［イド］－Rebirth Session－ [100129] Rootnuko 1 2 3 Shirou runs a detective office. One day, Sakura visits his office. She is actually a younger sister of Shirou's old friend. "I would like you to find my older brother..." There is a cafe near his office called Cafe Seaside, it is located in an isolated place. A rumor about the cafe spreads through the internet and people start gathering the cafe, 12 boys and girls. The master of the cafe in mask tells them about his plan, then they get on a ship and arrive on a small island. But what for? Various mysterious cases., endless serial killing, who is the culprit...? There is an English review 10. Kagura Gakuen Ki 神楽学園記 [100129] Debo no Su Seisakusho A murder case happens at school. Nazuna is a miko. She is often sent to the scene of the crime when the case is about monsters. As she investigates the case, she meets Kouta. He is actually half human and half monster. Nazuna starts pursuing him. But one day, a female student goes missing... Also, Ibuki, another miko, transfers to the school... All Kagura games are RPG with violation on defeat in focus 11. Mercuria ~Mizu no Miyako ni Koi no Hanataba o~ メルクリア ～水の都に恋の花束を～ [100129] Hearts 1 One day, Wataru, Himiko, Ai and Seishuu accidentally fall into a shining puddle on their way to school. When they put their heads our of the surface, they find that they are in another world called Imbruglia. The girl standing in front of them is actually Princess of the country. To go back to their world, they join a magic school... There is an English review 12. Narikiri Bakappuru! "Hontou wa, Anta to Nante Ichaichashitaku Naindakarane!" なりきりバカップル！「本当は、アンタとなんてイチャイチャしたくないんだからねっ！」 [100129] Nel Shinichi is a pretty typical guy, except that his childhood friend who lives next door is one of the smartest and most beautiful girls in the school. Her name is Kanami and their relationship is akin to siblings since they’ve been together for so long. One day when they were taking shelter from the rain, they accidentally broke an old relic and Hiwa, the fox spirit that rules over the land, punished them by placing a curse on them. Soon, the school views them as a couple and their parents wants them to marry, even though they don’t have feelings for each other. The only way to break this ‘curse’ is to kiss each other whenever they’re told to. Game is based around kisses and flirt. There is a good variety of four heroines, plus bonus one that is not cursed. Evaluation greatly depends on affinity to such concept and individual heroine appeal. 13. Otome Renshin Prister 乙女恋心プリスター [100129] Escu:de 1 In a nameless world where there is a ring of light in the sky and a giant tower on the ground, there exists mysterious living things called ‘Pristers’ which are alter-egos for the girls they follow. There’s a big event to determine the ‘magic girl’ and each of the 3 kingdoms send their own team to compete for the title. Raising SIM with an English review 14. Rune Lord ルーンロオド [100129] Clock Up team Dyo 1 2 Seigi is just an average but passionate student, who is addicted to manga and anime. He also belongs to the virtual club. The club is like the anime club or manga club, just watching anime videos or enjoying plastic models. One day, he sees a UFO flying down to his school. To check it, he sneaks into school at night and finds a huge robot... There are English reviews. 15. Seirei Tenshou ~Kowareyuku Sekai no Shoujo-tachi~ 精霊天翔～壊れゆく世界の少女たち～ [100129] Xuse 1 2 3 The world of Kougyoku (crystal). A world that was told to hold the legendary medicine, "Inochi no Shizuku" (Life Drop). Many were those who tried searching for it, but nobody was able to find passage to the world. Christopher Tangram, a treasure hunter for life. Wielding the 5th rank Eternity Sword, "Ryuushou" (dragon flight), he has been able to obtain a map with the world of Kougyoku's coordinates on it. Riding his trusty airship within the branches of Jikanju (Tree of chronicle), he flies toward his destination. But... There are monsters dancing in the sky. There are people getting slaughtered with no place to escape. And the island of treasures is nowhere to be found. There are girls fighting against the innumerable abominations. Their elegant bodies a bad match for their graceless weapons, the girls lash out with their Eternity Swords. They who are born from this world of Kougyoku are the kin of Cryst. Christopher, as an outsider, is mistaken as the Hero by the Cryst race, and asked to save the world before its ruination. He came looking for a treasure, but was drawn into a deadly war. All the while looking for the treasure, his battle to save the world of Kougyoku and the Cryst race begins here. Scroller has English reviews. 16. Shapeshifter シェイプシフター [100129] Age 1 Yuuma is caught in a fierce battle and a pretty girl comes to his aid. Her name is Natia and she intends to protect him and the town from destruction. He greatly wishes to be able to help her, and that’s when a bright light envelops them and Natia’s weapon transforms into a giant sword. So a normal boy will become the key to saving the world... no, the universe! There is an English review. 17. Sugar Coat Freaks シュガーコートフリークス [100129] Littlewitch 1 Haru is a second year student at the prestigious Ruritania Royal College. One day, a small girl appears and issues him an order. She is Tamahime, a princess from the distant Oukoku, who wanted to try living the life of a commoner. To this end, she pretends to be Haru’s little sister Tamako and transfers into Ruritania. There is an English review. 18. Tsukisome no Kasa -the end of scarlet luna- 月染の枷鎖-the end of scarlet luna- [100129] Hiyoko Soft 1 The protagonist, Kagami Renka, moved to the remote country town of Hasumi-mura due to his stepfather's new job. Renka intends to find information about his real parents after hearing that Hasumi-mura was his mother's hometown. Renka's mother died when he was young, and he never knew who his true father was. While taking a stroll shortly after arriving in the village, Renka discovers a Shinto shrine partially submerged in the water. Since the first thing anyone does on finding a creepy shrine in an unfamiliar area is explore it, Renka enters the shrine. Poking around in the altar room, he finds a mysterious doll tied up with numerous chains. Feeling that something is not quite right, Renka attempts to leave the shrine as quickly as possible, but not before the appearance of a girl in a white dress. "Who are you?" Making friends at his new school, he gradually opens up to them about his intention to search for information about his true parents. The days pass, and when the full moon comes, he learns of a legend particular to Hasumi-mura: an event that takes place every 44 years. Again, he meets the girl in the white dress who calls herself 'Amane', while walking along the beach. She tells him that they should not meet, but agrees to tell him about the festival and the strange deity it honours if he meets her at the shrine after the festival. After the festival, Renka continues to search for information about his parents with his new friends. As the moon wanes, he learns more about the village, the legend and the mysterious 'Hasumi' family that historically presides over Hasumi-mura. The new moon approaches and Renka starts to uncover an insidious web of tradition and deceit involving many of the families that live in Hasumi-mura. His friends begin to disappear and, too late, Renka learns of the true nature behind the ritual the village practices every 44 years. When the moon disappears, everything comes to an end. There is an English review. 19. Unival! Paranormal Girls Strike!! ゆにばる！ PARANORMAL GIRLS STRIKE!! [100129] Apricot 1 Shinichirou is the master of the ‘Big World House’, but the tenants aren’t human. They’re witches, gods and aliens! They have lots of enemies so every day is troublesome and he has to help fight them off to protect their ‘peaceful’ life. There is an English review. BLOCKED 1. Hana to Otome ni Shukufuku o Royal Bouquet 花と乙女に祝福を ロイヤルブーケ [100129] ensemble 1 This is the fandisc for Hana to Otome ni Shukufuku wo, featuring after stories for each of the heroines from the original game. Fandisc 2. Hoshizora no Memoria -Eternal Heart- 星空のメモリア Eternal Heart [100129] Favorite 1 2 3 4 5 It contains addition story routes as a sequel to complete the Yume and Mare routes of Hoshizora no Memoria, as well as an additional side story for the other heroines of the game. Fandisc 3. Kikouyoku Senki Tenkuu no Yumina FD -ForeverDreams- 輝光翼戦記 天空のユミナFD -ForeverDreams- [100129] 1 2 3 4 At school, there is now an exciting competition for the next school captain. The students who go to the final are two girls, Yumina and Nayuta. The main character is Ayumu, a close friend of Yumina. He supports and fights with Yumina. But the final ends in a draw. Though they promise to fight again in several days, Nayuta tells Yumina to give Ayumu to Nayuta as her personal secretary until next battle. Ayumu is depressed at first, but he gradually understands Nayuta's concerns as he spends time with her... Fandisc 4. Onimari. ~Oni ga Yumemishi Tsune no Yo ni, Itaru Osanaki Koi no Hajimari~ 鬼まり。～鬼が夢見し常の世に、至る幼き恋のはじまり～ [100129] 130cm There is a small village deep inside the mountains. Akito, who lives at a shrine, used to live a boring life, but the shrine gets popular after they successfully performed the shrine festival. Yes, a lot of people now visit the shrine every day. Also, Akito has a girlfriend, Ayako. Akito now lives a happy life... But one day, Koharu, his older sister, suddenly tells him, "I'm gonna be a respectable older sister for you!" Fandisc

Year 2009 was cool in my evaluation due to two 10/10 masterpieces. It starts to get weird, but the overall number of masterpieces for me is exactly 20 yet again this year. New portion of Visual Novel Openings 2009 with songs. My list of masterpieces in 2009: Abyss -Homicide Club- Amber Quartz Bengarachou Hakubutsushi Boku no Te no Naka no Rakuen Coμ - Kuroi Ryuu to Yasashii Oukoku - Devils Devel Concept Eden* They Were Only Two, On The Planet. Heliotrope -Sore wa Shi ni Itaru Kami no Ai- Hoshizora no Memoria -Wish upon a Shooting Star- Kitto, Sumiwataru Asairo Yori mo Like a Butler Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai! Natsu no Ame Ore-tachi ni Tsubasa wa Nai - Under the Innocent Sky. Shinjisougeki Carnival Soukou Akki Muramasa Steins;Gate Tapestry -you will meet yourself- Trample on "Schatten!!" ~Kagefumi no Uta~ Zettai Karen! Ojou-sama VN of the year was spoiled before during awesome October month - it's Soukou Akki Muramasa But yet again google ruined my routine by wiping my second channel, so need to decide where this all is going one more time. First, brief recap. First channel was shut down due to violation of community guidelines after publishing short 2-minute video of Nanairo Daydream ~Nanami Wonderland 2~ . It basically started with nsfw scene on the beach, so might slip something there, or might be totally different video since google likes to find something bad months after video's initial publishing. I never got answered what exactly violation was about and which video's fault it was. Any appeals got returned within 15 minutes, so pretty sure no human ever reviewed that. Google breaks its own rules of three strikes since I had 0/3 strikes. This second channel takedown is due to copyright. Natsu no Ame BGM rights owner issued some 50 complaints for each of game's videos (for each play fragment, apparently) at the same time, so it was instantly 500 violations or so. Usually it's just 1, only Garden had some 30 per video, but at that point I ignored and nothing happened for a year. If I ever record any gameplay, it will be with BGM shut down. But the question is why would we need playthrough without BGM. Once again Google breaks its own rules. There was no warning, no strike and even no way to appeal - the only option for me was to find email of publisher and ask him to take down complaints or counter sue rights owner in US court. SERIOUSLY? Monetized partners channels are given 7 days to deal with complaint or do smth with video, but channels under 1k subs are just instantly shutdown. And once again there are no real rules here, because content owners just show their ads on the claimed content videos 99% of the time as claim is applied. And on the 100th occasion someone decides to take down video instead. And with 500 takedown complaints sent at once it's an instant shift from innocent to grave recidivist. Basically, there aren't clear rules, and creator is always guilty by default with the only protection measure being monetized partnership. I don't want to gamble with a cheater anymore as channel that doesn't bring ads money and takes a lot of space can be shut down literally at any moment under any pretext at all, so there are three ways of blog development that I see: 1. No more channels. Just blog with same format month articles and occasional reviews is enough. 2. Make a channel with only games that I like and BGM cut. With smaller number of videos it's going to be possible to backup stuff. 3. Make same channel with great video frequency, just with BGM cut.

Actually, takedown was due to copyright this time since Natsu no Ame BGM rights owner issued some 50 complaints for each of game's videos (for each play fragment, apparently) at the same time, so it was instantly 500 violations or so. Usually it's just 1, only Garden had some 30 per video, but at that point I ignored and nothing happened for a year. If I ever record any gameplay, it will be with BGM shut down. But the question is why would we need playthrough without BGM.

Another sucky month. I recordered couple routes of Fake Azure Arcology by the time my second youtube channel got hammered, so let's call Fake Azure Arcology VN of the month since too many releases this month are gameplay ones. Yes, I know I promised to review Atori no Sora to Shinchuu no Tsuki , but for the same reason don't want to pull it out without video. It was a heavy and not interesting game, anyway. Micchi is fascinated about fandiscs, as usual. And there won't be usual end of the year poll next time - rather there will be poll about direction of this blog. 1. Tokimeki Memorial 4 ときめきメモリアル4 [091203] Konami 1 Developed and published by Konami, Tokimeki Memorial 4 is the fourth flagship release in the Tokimeki Memorial series. In Tokimeki Memorial 4, the player assumes the role of a charismatic student who attends three years at the fictional Kirameki Academy. Within the setting there is a legend told, that when two people in love confess their feelings to each other beneath the blossoming cherry tree of Kirameki, their devotion shall be everlasting. SIM has an English review 2. School Love! 3 ~Mirai e no Allegretto~すくぅ～るらぶっ！3～未来へのアレグレット～ [091204] DisAbel One day, Arisu, a new student, joins Haruka's class. She suddenly says, "It's you. You're the culprit. Come with me now!" Haruka is surrounded by a strange whirl and sent to... When he regains his consciousness, he finds himself being in his town. But it looks somewhat different. Yes, he time slipped back to 20 years ago! According to Arisu, she is now investigating some mysterious phenomenon. If she can't solve it soon, it will cause a devastating damage to the world... Like this, Arisu and Haruka start investigating the cause of the phenomenon together... Prequels did not catch stars from the sky, so let's introduce time travel to spice things up. With year 1988 some things look funny, but nostalgic atmosphere is conveyed poorly. The whole fuss is to introduce heroines from the prequels here. Small volume and inconsistent development don't add it points. 3. Soukai no Valkyria ~Kokou no Oujo Lutia~ 蒼海のヴァルキュリア ～孤高の皇女ルツィア～ [091204] Anastasia A long lasting war.... There is a submarine that only female soldiers are on board. However, the ship is captured by an enemy country and the war finally ends.... The soldiers are still kept hostage, but they believe in the return to their homeland.... Anastasia already did submarine escape game previously, but this time captain is a woman. Now it's a single road with the aim to trigger all the crazy events. From the middle development becomes dark with spies uncovered amidst the crew, and main heroine getting violated. 4. Kyokugen Dasshutsu 9-Jikan 9-Nin 9 no Tobira 極限脱出 9時間9人9の扉 [091210] Chunsoft 1 2 3 4 5 Nine people have been kidnapped by a mysterious person called Zero and are forced to participate in a survival game called the "Nonary Game". Each player has a bracelet numbered 1–9, which they must use to pass through doors numbered 1–9 to reach the exit before 9 hours run out and the ship in which they are in sinks. Various puzzles must be solved in order to advance through the ship and reach the exit, while uncovering the mysteries behind the Nonary Game. Game is localized and has English reviews 5. Caucasus ~Nanatsuki no Nie~ クロウカシス ～七憑キノ贄～ [091211] Innocent Grey 1 2 3 4 There is a small village. One day, two university students visit the village to do research about a local legend handed down from generation to generation. However, they are struck by snowstorm and saved by Venio. They are invited to her mansion and a strange wedding ceremony is held there... If a bride can spend one night in a coffin safely, their marriage will be completed. However, it is all destroyed by someone unknown... There are English reviews 6. Hidamari Basket ひだまりバスケット [091211] Eufonie 1 2 Keito is an average student. He lives a peaceful life with his mother, Haruhi, and his younger sister, Kasuga. However, Kasuga secretly loves Keito. One day, she tells him that she loves him and they accidentally kiss each other.... To make matters worse, Haruhi finds out and Keito is ordered to move to a school dormitory. But Kasuga never gives up! Keito meets various girls at the dormitory and his school life gradually gets busy... There are English reviews 7. Kurogane no Tsubasa ~The Alchemist's Story~ クロガネの翼～THE ALCHEMIST’S STORY～ [091211] White Cyc 1 2 Natsuki has a special power. One day, his father gets remarried and he starts living with his new mother and younger sister, Haruna. He also has an old friend, Nanami. Nadia and Lilith suddenly join his class as well. Natsuki is cautious at first, but he gradually becomes friends with them. Haruna, Nanami, Lilith and Nadia.... He lives peacefully with them, but this is just the beginning of his extraordinary life.... There are English reviews. 8. Shirokuma Bell Stars♪ しろくまベルスターズ♪ [091211] Pulltop 1 2 3 4 When Touma was a kid, he met a Santa Claus. He is now a full-fledged reindeer and works with Nanami, a Santa Claus. But Nanami is always easygoing. They now visit Shirokuma Town, where something mysterious often happens. Driving for fairy tale, this is a story of happiness. There are English reviews 9. Fake Azure Arcology フェイクアズール・アーコロジー [091217] Applique -Imouto- 1 2 The Earth was hit by 5 meteors 500 years, sending humans underground, underwater or in buildings called “arcology”. However, humans soon forgot how things were like outside of the utopia they lived in. Chihiro lives in Amahara, an arcology built on the land previously known as Japan. He had a passion for ‘flight’ motorsports and trained hard to be like his idol. But his idol died in an accident, and he lost his goal in life. Then one day, a ‘flight’ broke the walls surrounding Amahara, crashed to the ground in front of him and out stepped a golden-haired girl. There are English reviews. 10. Eternal Sky ~Yuukyuu no Sora no Kanata~ Eternal Sky～悠久の空の彼方～ [091218] Tsukasa Kei is just an average student. One day, he sees numerous paper planes flying all over the sky. He wants know who flies these paper planes and rushes out of his classroom. When he gets to the rooftop of the school building, there is a girl with long and black hair. She looks at him and says, "Do you believe in a legend that paper planes deliver your love?" Super boring reading with uselessly long descriptions and very short important pieces. There are two endings prepared for each heroine - sad one with low favorability and happy one with high favorability. Low quality disappointing work. 11. Icha Pri! ~Ojou-sama to Icha Love Ecchi na Mainichi~ いちゃぷり！ ～お嬢様とイチャラブえっちな毎日～ [091218] Moonstone Cherry Masaki was told by his grandfather that he must marry one of the Tenjouin sisters who are also his cousins: tsundere Yuzuna, tennen Sakura or pettanko Koyuri. And there’s also a maid who’s his osananajimi, a brocon imouto and a loli nurse. Banal moege. 12. Kachou Fuugetsu ~Koi ni Ochitaru Hanazono no Hime~ 花鳥風月 ～恋ニヲチタル花園ノ姫～ [091218] Silver Bullet 1 Issei lost his mother.... He was supposed to join an ordinary school, but he is forced to join Hanamiya School, a girls' school, as a female student. On his first day at school, he meets Anzu, the captain of the student council. Lucky or unlucky, Anzu likes Issei and she appoints him as the executive of the next year's student council.... Well, will he be able to live a peaceful school life? Like this, his strange school life starts.... There is an English review 13. Rance 02 Kai - Hangyaku no Shoujo-tachi -ランス02改 反逆の少女たち [091218] Alice Soft 1 2 Ten years ago in the town of Custom, four young girls were appointed as disciples to the old mage Ragithis. They were to be raised as mages and then to work as town's guardians. But after the ten years of training due to unknown reason girls rebelled against Ragithis and killed him. During the harsh magic battle a whole town were entombed in the underground and a barrier spell was put on town preventing everyone from going out. This is when Rance appears with Sill on his side, and taking a job of defeating magician maidens and saving the town. But after some research he finds out that actual evil guy was Ragithis himself, who put four magical rings on four maidens. That rings are giving a great boost of magical power to it's bearers, but also able to steal magic power from virgin sorceresses and after collecting magic power of 40 maidens anyone could use these rings to obtain unlimited power. The leader of girls, Masou Shizuka, figured out Ragithis's plan and rebelled against him but it was too late - cursed rings could not be removed and the curse started to dive maidens crazy. Now they are sheltered in the labirinth beneath the town abducting young girls from the town and killing everyone who tried to go into the labirinth and stop them. It seems that the only way to release them from the curse of the rings is to steal a virginity from them, and the only man up to this job is Rance. RPG with an English review. 14. Shinobi Ryuu 忍流 [091218] SofthouseChara 1 The setting is Sengoku era. In the east island country constantly stricken with wars, multiple ninja clans maneuvering in the background exists. One of them, the Suigen clan, started to weaken and its collapse is imminent. Leading that clan is the protagonist. Although his skill as a ninja is practically nothing, his management abilities and his capability to make enemy women betray their clan is top-notch. With him at the helm, he plans to revive the clan and makes strenuous effort to subdue the wars. Strategy 15. Shutsugeki!! Otome-tachi no Senjou ~Yami o Kirisaku, Nibiiro no Tekkoudan~ 出撃！！乙女たちの戦場～闇を切り裂く、にび色の徹甲弾～ [091218] Gesen 18 One day, Shoichi is mistakenly arrested for attempted coup d'etat. He loses his future, family and friends.... "I can't believe anything anymore...." After he is released, he is sent to a private military company called Sage. But Sage is far from just a military company because there are a lot of pretty girls. He enjoys his life there with them and works hard as a soldier. Through two different daily lives, what will Shoichi learn...? Strategy 16. Usodere! 嘘デレ！ [091218] 1 2 Since the main character lost his parents when he was a kid, he now lives alone. One day, his grand-father, a man of property, tells him to move to his house. He is confused at first, but he decides to start his new life. He also transfers to a new school, but he is actually one and only male student. Every girl is interested in him because they think he will inherit his grand-father's property sooner or later... Like this, a battle for him starts... There are English reviews 17. Lucky☆Star - Net Idol Meister らき☆すた ネットアイドル・マイスター [091223] Vridge Inc. A training simulation game of Lucky Star where Konata has suddenly decided to become a net idol, and in order to stay popular, she needs a manager, who happens to be you, the protagonist. You can also manage other Lucky Star characters. Anime spin-off 18. Dungeon Breaker ダンジョンブレイカー [091225] Tamamo Studio Main character is studying to become monster trainer. But he fails to master this job in his village, so he goes to the capital city. RPG 19. Gengetsu no Pandora 幻月のパンドオラ [091225] Q-X 1 One day, Fumiki joins the game research club. When he goes to the club room, hot water suddenly comes out from the ground! Also, a girl appears in front of him and plugs a cable into his chest. When he regains his consciousness, he finds himself being in a digital world. There, a girl suddenly appears and says to him, "Collect some data of human desire..." When he comes back to his world, his portable game console changes into something different... The console is called "Pandora" that makes human desire something like a game. With this strange game console, what kind of games will be created...? There is an English review. 20. Master by Maid [091225] Moviendo The protagonist is a detective with a former coffee shop for a detective agency. One day, a self-styled maid named Nami recruits herself as the protagonist's assistant while diligently tending to his sexual desires. With a former cafe and maid, the detective agency starts getitng mistaken for an actual cofee shop; a messy story kicks off from the Detective Maid Coffee Shop~ Heartwarming bakage about Nami passionate about maids , but working as detective assistant. Short low quality fetish work, but a funny one. 21. Pia Carrot e Youkoso!! 4 Pia♥キャロットへようこそ!!4 [091225] Cocktail Soft It’s the last summer vacation in Taichi’s school life. He got a call from his older sister Akemi inviting him to come to his hometown to play. She works at the Pia Carrot cafe and after being introduced to the manager Sayuri, he ended up helping out at the cafe. This will be an unforgettable summer vacation. SIM 22. Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica - After School 神曲奏界ポリフォニカ AFTER SCHOOL [091225] Ocelot The third installment of studio Ocelot's Polyphonica Crimson series, releasing as an all-ages kinetic novel. The story is set between game episodes 3&4, and the light novels. Very short work about 10 hours total. For those who liked world in prequel Crimson Polyphonica. 23. Zettai★Maou ~Boku no Mune-kyun Gakuen Saga~絶対★魔王 ～ボクの胸キュン学園サーガ～ [091225] Score 1 One morning, protagonist's parents suddenly informs him that they are actually an ex-king of demons (maou) and a heroine. As a candidate for the next demon king, protagonist gets transferred into another school... located in the demon world. Except for him, all of the students in his new class are girls. His new school life as a demon king candidate begins... There is an English review for this RPG 24. Signal Heart Plus Signal Heartぷらす [091227] Purple Software Prologue is the same as in Signal Heart, but now hero can choose between Mayuki, Eiko and Tsurugi instead of four main heroines. Remake 25. Natsuiro Kami Hikouki 夏色紙ヒコーキ [091229] Circus 1 This VN is a story about some people, some paper airplanes, and 2 summers shared between them that they will never forget. Unlike just about every other VN out there, this story doesn’t involve romance between the hero and heroines. Instead, it focuses on weaving a beautiful environment and touching interactions between characters. There is an English review. 26. Totsugeki! Ningen Sensha Limited Operations とつげき！人間戦車 LIMITED OPERATIONS [091230] Yakiniku Banzai! 1 2 The land of Japon has been split in two and thrown into war by two nations, the Empire of Japon and the Kingdom of Japon, who use biological weapons known as "Human Tanks" to fight their war. But now the war between these two has turned into a proxy war between the Human Tanks themselves. The stage is a land not unlike modern day Japan - the land of Japon. The Empire of Japon and the Kingdom of Japon, two nations locked in war for an age, have finally agreed to a ceasefire to end the bloodshed. To improve relations between the two countries, and due to the decrease of the radiotoxic particles that the Human Tanks use as fuel, the tanks themselves are about to disappear from all of Japon. Fifty years since Human Tanks were first developed... Our hero, Yatarou Shirahase, acting as an officer in the Imperial army, is dispatched on a mission to subjugate the Human Tanks. He must now battle an enemy of the same make as his own beloved company of Human Tanks. There are English reviews. 27. Kehen 3 - The Innocent LunA: Eclipsed SinnerS 刻痕Ⅲ - The Innocent LunA:Eclipsed SinnerS [0912] Angels Blue Digital Entertainment 1 2 3 4 The third title in the Notch Series, although it is a standalone story. A faraway island that has been forgotten by the rest of the world for decades had itself turned upside down, and peaceful life on it came to and end because of a series of brutal murders that had happened, getting even the protagonist, Asakawa Yuhito's childhood sweetheart killed. Can he find the real killer, and the deep dark secret behind the most powerful two families which governed the small island for times since immemorial? There are English reviews. BLOCKED 1. Again AGAIN FBI 超心理捜査官 [091210] Cing 1 2 3 In Again, an interactive crime novel developed by Cing, we play as FBI Agent J, the sole survivor of a string of murder cases that took place 19 years ago, who must use his special "past vision" skill (it allows the player to see locations in different times in order to notice the differences and solve puzzles) to investigate a new series of homicides linked to the past ones and to the mysterious serial killer Providence. Console exclusive, only including it because of missable reviews. 2. D.C.II Fall in Love D.C.II Fall in Love ～ダ・カーポII～フォーリンラブ [091218] Circus This compilation includes three sets of stories: ---> "After Stories" Various after-stories focused on relationships with six heroines, added in D.C.II P.C. Sexual scenes are included. ---> "Kazami Educational Institution Drama Club -Autumn Premiere-" Movies created by school drama club with Anzu Yukimura as a scenarist/director and her classmates as actors. Some horror, drama and frags are guaranteed. ---> "Ultimate Battle!" Internecine wars between classmates of the protagonist, which occur during the school cultural and sports festivals. You can even hear the singing of some heroines here. And there is also the story about sexual harassment of Yoshiyuki's sisters. Fandisc 3. Manaka de Iku no!! ~Leaf Amusement Soft Vol.5~ 愛佳でいくの!! ～Leaf Amusement Soft Vol.5～ [091218] Leaf From visual novel maker Leaf, creators of To Heart, Comic Part and Utawarerumono, comes a new Fan Disc focusing on the adorable Komaki sisters from To Heart 2 and To Heart 2 Another Days! Manaka and Ikuno (put together in the title as a pun that also means "I'll go with Manaka!") star in a series of minigames and stories put together by the entertainment geniuses at Leaf. From Mananatsu, a 3D adventure game telling the after story of a day in Manaka's summer, to MAJIKARU Fight!, an action game where you pick from one of six characters and clear stages, beating your rivals to get the high score, to Princess Collection, a card battle game featuring characters from around the Leaf universe of games, and last but not least, Final Dragon Chronicle Guilty Requiem, a 3D dungeon RPG featuring all your favorite To Heart 2 characters in new costumes and roles. If you've wondered where the super hot fantasy version 2H2 characters are from that you've seen, this is it! Fandisc 4. Hoshiuta ~Starlight Serenade~ ほしうた～Starlight Serenade～ [091225] Frontwing 1 2 It is autumn... A boyfriend and a girlfriend get closer little by little... But one day, their relationship suddenly changes after some accident... Fandisc 5. Ice no! あいすのっ! [091225] Artemis. 1 Tomokazu is living alone in his house. It is winter, and just as usual, it is cold and everything around is covered with snow. What is unusual is the girl named Saki that he met in the snowy field. The girl claims to be his childhood friend whom he promised to marry once they grow up. He does not have any memory about childhood promise nor he even recall that he has a childhood friend. Yet the girl payed no heed and decided to live together with him in his house on the very same day they met. Nukige, only including it because of missable review. 6. Baldr Sky Core Defender [091229] Giga Baldr Sky Dive2 “Recordare” fandisc Fandisc 7. Anaheim Girl's Love Story アナハイム・ガールズ・ラブストーリー [091230] Fan-na 1 2 A girls' love story between two Anaheim Electronics engineers. It also chronicles the development and construction of the fourth unit in the Gundam Development Project (GP-04 Gerbera), and its subsequent alteration into the Gerbera Tetra as seen in the "Gundam 0083: Stardust Memories" anime. Doujin girls love, but including it since I kinda managed to write a review for it some years ago

Google was always best in comparison to Bing. Baidu is just old generation word-to-word translator.

Textractor kinda worked at times for me after another google api change, but had to use Bing for last four games or so. Good to return back to Google.

Hikari no Valusia ~What a Beautiful Hopes~ is VN of the Month, but for me it's not a masterpiece. I happened to play Sorafune and Shiden ~Enkan no Kizuna~ in the past, so will take Atori no Sora to Shinchuu no Tsuki for review. Micchi is understandably fascinated by Baldr Sky Dive2, but also lays hopes on Imouto Smile, Shiden and Suzunone Seven fandisc. 1. BlazBlue: Continuum Shift ブレイブルー コンティニュアム シフト, [091120] Arc System Works 1 2 3 4 The game is set after the events of Blazblue: Calamity Trigger. A few days have passed since the reported raid by Ragna the Bloodedge, The 13th Hierarchical City "Kagutsuchi" forgets to celebrate New Years, as his alleged involvement in the "Mysterious Bombing" and "Huge Pentacle Sightings" becomes the talk of the town. With the Novus Orbis Librarium offering no official explanation, the citizens voice their own theories, exaggerating and spreading rumors like wildfire. The name "Ragna the Bloodedge" is engraved in the minds of the people. Completely indifferent to the state of the city, the silver-haired Grim Reaper grips his massive sword and quietly bides his time—waiting for the chance to achieve his true objective. And then, the enormous "power" that has ensnared the "Grim Reaper" begins to activate... Fighting is localized and has English reviews. 2. Hikari no Valusia ~What a Beautiful Hopes~ 白光のヴァルーシア ～What a beautiful hopes～ [091120] Liar-soft 1 2 In a big city in the desert called Valcia, only young people called 'adept' are allowed to go out. The city used to be covered with a canopy, but people can see the sky and a lot of people visit the city through the canopy now. But this inflow of people gradually changes the city... Young people called "adept" are the ones who search into various ruined labyrinths full of treasures and danger, and fight against monsters called 'horror'. Recently, these monsters called 'horror'", which are supposed to exist only in the labyrinths, started to appear in the city. People are now afraid of the change of the city and the monsters. One night; a boy sees something shiny, another boy learns what to love, a girl finds the meaning of the starry sky, and an assassin sheds a tear of remorse... There are English reviews. 3. Koigoromo ~Mazu wa Korekite!~ 恋衣～まずはコレ着て！～ [091120] Catear One day, Minoru tells Sachi that he loves her. Sachi is surprised and says, "If you could disguise yourself as a girl, I'd say yes!" On the next day, Minoru appears in front of Sachi in a girl's school uniform. Sachi is excited to see his beauty and decides to... It's basically an animated trap game in specific style made for girls. 4. Usotsuki to Inugamitsuki ウソツキと犬神憑き [091120] Kuroneko-san Team Tsukumo’s father had always told him not to be near the forest when dusk approaches. However, he was curious and often tread near the forest even though he cannot walk well due to an accident. One day, he sees something red along the road… is this blood? Then he could smell the scent of a beast, even though he could not before. Was this the reason why he was told to stay away? It's about calm daily life at the shrine with various youkai. Then there are five different individual route with one counting as a True End. Atmospheric work with unusual heroines, but don't expect a thrilling story. 5. Shiden ~Enkan no Kizuna~ 紫電～円環の絆～ [091126] Akatsuki Works Hibiki 1 2 In this world, there are people with special abilities. Behind the face of normal human lives, people fight. Be it creatures from the dead, other humans or even creatures between themselves. That always happens, but the balance of the world is always maintained. This time, things are not going so smoothly. One man, together with three of his subordinates rise up from the dead. They seek destruction and control over the entire world. The four undead beings that cannot be killed now wages war against the world, starting from Japan. Their key is the shrine maiden, the only one left of her kind. There are English reviews. 6. Puzzle -Bokura no 48 Jikan Sensou- パズル −ぼくらの48時間戦争− [091126] Kadokawa Shoten A group of masked terrorists assaults an elite high school. The talented students will have to find a way to avoid being killed while also finding a way out. Timed search for pieces in order to escape? Too many elements that I detest. 7. Atori no Sora to Shinchuu no Tsuki アトリの空と真鍮の月 [091127] TopCat There is a school in a small village. One day, Haito, who is back to the village for the first time in six years, transfers to this school, but there are only four female students. According to them, people in the village believe in some kind of god. As he lives there, he gradually finds a secret the villagers try to hide... Beginning is atmospheric, but as the whole gods battle unfolds it gets confusing. Protagonist is cursed, and heroines try to break it, and scenario is the same for every girl. Heroines are rather interesting, so it's a good game if contrast between SOL beginning and fantasy development does not scare you. 8. Baldr Sky Dive2 “Recordare” Baldr Sky Dive2 “Recordare” [091127] Team Baldrhead 1 2 3 4 5 6 One day, Kadokura Kou awakes in a virtual battlefield. He, who is a skilled Simulacrum user, soon remembers that he was pursuing someone with Rain, his partner. Kou and Rain investigate the incident that ruined his peaceful school life known as "Gray Christmas", but various mysteries stand in the way of the truth. As time passes, he gradually regains his lost memories and re-unites with his friends. When all of the mysteries congregate, the door of truth opens... Action is localized and has English reviews. 9. Dark Blue [091127] LiLiM DARKNESS 1 2 "I'll save you right away!" I try to open the door, but I can't.... I try again, but nothing happens.... "Do I need a key to open this door?" But I don't have enough time to look for it. I can't open it.... I can't open.... I can't.... "Noooooooooooooo!!" I hear your scream from inside.... I can do nothing.... You'll never come back... never.... There are English reviews. 10. Imouto Smile 妹スマイル [091127] Citoron Soft Living alone in a huge mansion after the death of his parents, our protagonist gazes outside and sees a cute girl. He thinks to himself that life would be so much better if she was his little sister, a part of his family. He then hears a knock at his door and the girl introduces herself as his little sister. Imouto moege. 11. Natsuiro Penguin 夏いろペンギン [091127] Little Princess Since his parents have gone abroad on business, he now lives at his cousin's house in a town, where he used to live. He meets various childhood friends there. It's busy, but he enjoys his school life. This is a love comedy adventure game taken place in a small town. Who will stay by his side in the end...? It's basically a failed moege since heroines are drawn cute on the surface, but in fact are just templates with zero attraction. Text is really bad, first H event is sudden. 12. Sorafune そらふね [091127] Dandelion The world is full of mysteries. Even though the adults laugh and think it’s just pretending to explore and chasing a childhood dream, a group of friends head out to investigate these mysteries and understand the truth behind things in this world. I played it over a decade ago and wrote some impression that never published. So here it goes. Story takes place around our time, but technology was developing in a way that it became almost magic-like. 60 years ago protagonist Shinichi grandpa made first contact with aliens and learned to make intelligent androids. Story takes place in a maze of unexplored routes and roads that academy students set to explore. I had hoped for an average adventuring story since there were at least several sword-wielding characters, an adventuring party and an elf. So elf turned out to be alien exchange student, adventuring party - a group of powerless students and adventuring story turned into very vague mystery. All the plot actually takes only couple sentences - students found some kind of small spaceship in the underground maze and were led back home by some wizard. Later on that wizard revealed himself as some old dragon reincarnation and was put down by common efforts of academy staff and students. So the other 99% of the game time is pretty much another charage. Characters were actually memorable and well done, but with various nuts in their heads. Humor was ok, and I especially appreciated that two chibi characters constantly cut into narration to explain different setting details. To sum it up, it was a good try but weird setting and forcing charage over plot killed interest for me quite early. 13. Toshi Densetsu wa Hito o Kuu 都市伝説は人を喰う [091127] Setsugetsuka Software There is a rumor about "Tokiko's Cell Phone". If you call Tokiko, you'll need to remove her curse. If you don't, you'll die... One day, Atsushi, who works at a cafe, accidentally calls Tokiko. He soon decides to take action to get rid of her curse with other workers. Well, will he be able to get rid of her curse or...? We choose a girl and inspect locations with her every day trying to set flags. This mundane activity takes most of game's time. Eventually there is a crappy H event, and the curse is solved. The End. BLOCKED 1. Last Waltz ~Hakudaku Mamire no Natsu Gasshuku~ Last Waltz～白濁まみれの夏合宿～ [091127] Guilty 1 It was just supposed to be a summer training. Yuki is a caretaker of the baseball club. She and other members stay at a training camp on the isolated island now. But one day, a civil war breaks out. Male teachers leave the island to see what's going on. However, they never come back. Several days later, they know that their ship is wrecked. Nothing to drink, nothing to eat, they gradually lose their self-control... Nukige, only including it because of missable review 2. Suzunone Seven! -Sweet Lovers' Concerto- スズノネセブン！－Sweet Lovers’Concerto－ [091127] Clochette 1 2 Suzunone Seven! -Sweet Lovers' Concerto- includes several short stories with eight pretty characters. -Yuzuri's Story- Two months have passed since the trial. I am now living a peaceful life with my friends. Just one week before the graduation ceremony, Yuzuri visits Yukimura's house to write a speech in reply given during the ceremony.... Fandisc

Foreword: I somehow did not play this Nitroplus game earlier, but its universally high scores are intriguing. Synopsis: In the first half of 20th century, Rokuhara Shogunate rules Japan with an iron fist of robotic suits of armor called Tsurugi, while the West wants to turn Japan into another military base. A policeman called Kageaki Minato arrives into a city of Kamakura to solve various different cases involving Tsurugi users (or Mushas), and when all other means are proven useless, defeats them with a skillful use of his own Tsurugi, the bloody red Muramasa. But he doesn't do that out of justice. He only wants to atone for his past sins and to defeat the most powerful Musha, one known as the Silver Star. “The devil I shall meet, the devil I shall cut. The saint I shall meet, the saint I shall cut.” This is the phrase that Kageaki says when fusing with Muramasa, and this is the phrase that tells both his past and his future… "Good and evil balance out each other." "This is not a hero's story. Those who aspire to become heroes are not needed." Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv8FwPtJGPnPuXZexYlIOvlf Character Design rating: 10/10 Protagonist rating: 10/10 Story rating: 10/10 Game quality: 10/10 Overall rating: 10/10 You see the scores. I was absolutely sure that nothing can beat Coμ - Kuroi Ryuu to Yasashii Oukoku this year since I rate it as 10/10, but Coμ is a conventional yet well done chunige while Muramasa is something abnormal, impossible, one of a kind - and in this regard beyond comparison. As usual, I'm going to be brief with impression since many people did it much better already (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9). Even more brief than usual since there is nothing to complain about. Can't attend any issues without mentioning the length of the game. It took me 105 hours to beat. That's insane. The script size says that it's roughly twice smaller than Steel and half smaller than Reconquista, but it's not how it feels as Steel took me 80 hours to finish and Reconquista just 42 hours. In Soukou Akki Muramasa some scenes need to be replayed for further routes, and everyone is voiced, so I guess it's an optical illusion of some kind, but it definitely feels that Soukou Akki Muramasa is the longest visual novel game that I ever played. Not going to trample over concept or characters (except that I hate Kanae for never opening eyes as eyes is the most important element in design of any character) - it has been done numerous times already. What I wish to focus on is what makes this game special. There are very few visual novels that don't center around heroines in some way. Most of those vns come from pre-Leaf era when there was no habit to prepare routes for different heroines (e.g. Eve: Burst Error or Luv Wave). Soukou Akki Muramasa does not focus on heroines at all. It's not a love story - heroines are just individualistic tag-alongs developing specific qualities inside protagonist. And for the same reason game is not afraid to get rid of the heroines. Routes distinction in Soukou Akki Muramasa is very formal and can be easily transformed to naming of personality traits or just remembering structure only by five plot chapters. Another thing that I adore in the game is constant urge to know what happens next. I can't actually remember any other visual novel with comparable thriller element involved. Text is very well done with descriptions and infodumping kicking in rarely. Everything is built around dialogues, and with every single side-character voiced it feels alive. Soukou Akki Muramasa hits all the right spots for me, but first chapter is worth reading even for chuni haters for its incomparable experience and impact. It's an epic integrate project that was only possible during golden age of visual novels. But its scale will astonish many generations to come.

Soukou Akki Muramasa is VN of the month. Among other masterpieces is Steins;Gate and Coμ - Kuroi Ryuu to Yasashii Oukoku. Of course I'm playing the Nitroplus one. Micchi considers this month to be the best in the year for bringing such sugary titles as Mashiroiro Symphony and My Girlfriend is the President. 1. Sora o Tobu, 7tsu Me no Mahou. 空を飛ぶ、7つ目の魔法。 [091002] La'cryma Soramitsu's After Story. More MoeMoe, more ecchi, more slapstick, and new characters! I wonder why it's called a sequel rather than fandisc since it's definitely in the fandisc range. 2. Steins;Gate [091015] 5pb. Games 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "The universe has a beginning, but it has no end. —Infinite. Stars, too, have their own beginnings, but are by their own power destroyed. —Finite. History teaches that those who hold wisdom are often the most foolish. The fish in the sea know not the land. If they too hold wisdom, they too will be destroyed. It is more ridiculous for man to exceed light speed than for fish to live ashore. This may also be called God's final warning to those who rebel." The story of Steins;Gate takes place in Akihabara, and is about a group of friends who have customized their microwave into a device that can send text messages to the past. As they perform different experiments, an organization named SERN who has been doing their own research on time travel tracks them down. The characters must now find a way to avoid being captured by them. Game is localized and has English reviews. 3. Coμ - Kuroi Ryuu to Yasashii Oukoku -コミュ - 黒い竜と優しい王国 - [091022] Akatsuki Works 1 2 3 4 5 6 "We are a team. No, a community..." Legends tell of a mysterious woman known only as "Girl A", who makes herself known to special individuals in a certain city and sings all throughout the night. One such night, Akihito meets four strangers as if guided by her beautiful voice... There are no feelings of friendship nor any trust between the five individuals, yet they are able to control a huge monster -- a steel black dragon -- by combining their wills and cooperating with one another. Now, on the night they obtain this power, their extraordinary life begins... Akihito later learns that a terrible price comes with the use of this power: If the monster should be destroyed, their "community" shall disappear along with it... Five strangers brought together by destiny, they decide to enter the secret world of the "Coμnet" with the help of Kagome, a black witch... Game is localized and has English reviews. 4. Hachimitsu Otome Blossomdays ハチミツ乙女blossomdays [091023] Lupinus There is a beautiful town in the country. Kyosuke is back to his hometown for the first time in ten years and starts living with Mizuki and Yuki, his old friends. He lives a peaceful school life there surrounded by them and other classmates, Rin and Konami... Since I'm in love with you, I can't say "I love you"... The girls try to approach Kyosuke, but they can't make it... Well, what will happen to them in the end...? Moege with Konami route being decent and the rest pretty much trash due to subsidiary writers. 5. Love Delation! らぶでれーしょん！ [091023] Smee The protagonist arrives back to this hometown. His new school used to be a girls' school, so the ratio of male students to female students is 1 to 9. "Yes, it's a happy school life!!" On his first day at school, he happily opens a door of the classroom... But there are only male students... As a matter of fact, all male students are in the same class, and not a single girl there... But don't give up. Once he goes out of the classroom, there will be a paradise... "I'll live a happy school life!" Charage with eccentric comedy. Upon entering someone's route other heroines just disappear, and it's disappointing. Game's mostly about flirt, so as usual need to like girl's personality. Harem route is very weak. 6. Sekirei ~Mirai Kara no Okurimono~セキレイ ～未来からのおくりもの～ [091029] Alchemist The game takes place in the Sekirei timeline, being played as a visual novel. Minato and the Sekirei in Izumo Inn encounter new characters consisting of Sekirei No. 54, Kuruse, Sekirei No. 57, Yahan, Ashikabi Reiji Koya and a baby referred to as Aka-chan. It centers around the discovery of the said baby, who is being pursued by unknown persons after Minato and the Sekirei found her abandoned in the city. Anime spin-off 7. Taishou Yakyuu Musume. ~Otome-tachi no Seishun Nikki~ 大正野球娘。～乙女達乃青春日記～ [091029] 5pb. Games Koume is a girls' high school student. One day, Akiko, her close friend, suddenly says to Koume, "I would like you to play baseball with me!" Koume accepts her offer, but can they collect nine players? What do they need first? How about the rules? Will they be able to win against a boys' team...? Anime spin-off 8. Kiss to Maou to Darjeeling キスと魔王と紅茶 [091030] Marmalade 1 Similar to the 7 school mysteries, there is a legend that there exists a maou who will appear when the flowers change color. Keiichi is approached by the school council president Sarasa, who kisses him on the lips. She declares him to be the maou and will serve him. There is an English review. 9. Maikuro ~Ore ga Watashi de Boku ga Atashi de~ マイくろ～オレガワタシデボクガアタシデ～ [091030] Abelia The male protagonist, Kunieda Yuuma, lives a happy school life with his friends. One day, Yuuma says, "It would be fun if our bodies were suddenly swapped." Almost immediately, there is something wrong with their bodies.... Oh, their bodies are actually swapped! Who did it? What will happen to their school life...? Unlike most body swap titles this one tries to be serious and deals with delicate themes such as bullying, mental disorder and sexual problems. But emotional depiction is thin and perfection level is low, so it just does not nourish the mind for the most part. 10. Mashiro Iro Symphony ましろ色シンフォニー [091030] Palette 1 2 3 4 5 6 The Kagami Academy sent Uryuu Shingo and his sister Uryuu Sakuno as part of a planned merger with an all-girls school, Yuijo Academy. Shingo, Sakuno, his best friend Mukunashi Hayata, and more of his friends from the same school temporarily transfer to Yuijo until they officially consolidate. But on their first day at Yuijo, the principal's daughter, Sena Airi, announces that she will never agree to the merger. And the students are not hospitable to the male guests! Shingo, Hayata, and the others have to work hard... There are English reviews. Played it after reading 11/10 Joyjason review and hated it immensely because of high expectations. 11. Osananajimi wa Daitouryou: My Girlfriend is the President. 幼なじみは大統領 My girlfriend is the PRESIDENT. [091030] ALcot 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 It started out as an ordinary morning, woken up by my childhood friend. Had a good breakfast… complete with morning hard-ons. An ordinary, everyday eroge scene. Or… so it seemed. Things would never be the same from that day, as peaceful everyday life was blown to bits. An accident on a spaceship heading to earth, causes it to crash into the office of the Prime Minister of Japan. The ministers end up in a state too horrible to look at. To avoid chaos, the alien choses a girl who happened to be there, and to make ends meet, brainwashed all of mankind. Nippon adopts a presidential system overnight, and incredibly, a girl, my childhood friend, is the president. The world will answer to her every whim. Game is localized and has English reviews. 12. Sakura Tale さくらテイル [091030] Fizz Masamune has just started his school life, but he soon gets involved in a recruiting battle by sports clubs. What saves him is a girl in strange clothing. He is attracted to her, but he meets another girl who looks totally different a few days later. Light and darkness. He meets his childhood friend at the school dormitory, but she has completely changed. "Masamune. I'm glad I could save you." New season. New school. New friends. The story takes place at a school gently watched by a big cherry tree. A romantic comedy charage with futuristic detailed setting and only couple decent routes. We even participate in a small revolution here! Routes done by subsidiary writers feel rather plain. 13. Skyprythem [091030] Armonica Kazuki has just entered the school. After an entrance ceremony, his classroom teacher tells the class, "We are going to have the same wing." Same wing.... This means every classmate works together for the same goal. Yes, they are gonna compose a song which will be played at the school music festival. Each student has to find a partner and compose a song together. It is called the "Feather Partner". Though there are various girls at school, who will Kazuki choose as his partner? For a musical themed game it lacks actual songs. Scenes are short and constantly abrupted with consequent warping to next one since the period is half a year. Too many immature elements stocked up. 14. Soukou Akki Muramasa 装甲悪鬼村正 [091030] Nitroplus 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 In the first half of 20th century, Rokuhara Shogunate rules Japan with an iron fist of robotic suits of armor called Tsurugi, while the West wants to turn Japan into another military base. A policeman called Kageaki Minato arrives into a city of Kamakura to solve various different cases involving Tsurugi users (or Mushas), and when all other means are proven useless, defeats them with a skillful use of his own Tsurugi, the bloody red Muramasa. But he doesn't do that out of justice. He only wants to atone for his past sins and to defeat the most powerful Musha, one known as the Silver Star. “The devil I shall meet, the devil I shall cut. The saint I shall meet, the saint I shall cut.” This is the phrase that Kageaki says when fusing with Muramasa, and this is the phrase that tells both his past and his future… "Good and evil balance out each other." "This is not a hero's story. Those who aspire to become heroes are not needed." There are English reviews, but I need to play it myself. Naturally. 15. Trouble@Vampire! ~Ano Ko wa Ore no Goshujin-sama~ とらぶる＠ヴァンパイア！～あの娘は俺のご主人さま～ [091030] Luxury Ritsu is a new teacher at a prestigious ‘classical’ all-girls school. One day, he saves his students by protecting them from some magic, but ended up getting severely hurt. When he woke up, he saw a girl named Shion, who actually is a vampire. She called him her servant since she had bit him to save him from death after he had lost too much blood. Romance grows through interaction with students, so development is mostly sober despite unhuman heroines like vampires and werewolves. This setting is hardly utilized as normal humans would fit there as well. Even though there some battles, it remans a bland charage. BLOCKED 1. Kyonyuu Fantasy 巨乳ファンタジー [091023] Waffle 1 2 3 Lute Hende is a recent graduate of the Edellant Kingdom’s Knight Academy. Unfortunately, due to his not being a very good fighter Lute graduated last in his class and is generally regarded as a good for nothing by his peers and teachers. As a result he’s assigned to the backwater border town of Boan, where they believe he’ll remain largely out of sight and out of mind. However, an encounter with a beatiful and deadly succubus will lead him to uncovering a conspiracy against the crown. Dealing with this will only be the first step in Lute’s rise not only amongst his fellow knights but eventually into the upper ranks of the kingdom itself. Nukige, including it only because of missable reviews 2. Shuffle! Essence＋ [091030] Navel 1 2 3 Bonus disc that comes with the Limited Edition of Shuffle! Essence+ Contains 3 short scenarios. Fandisc

Foreword: Cover is worryingly fanservice-ish , but with Micchi and Accany praise it should not be a problem, right? Synopsis: You start off as Kenji, a pretty ordinary kid (yes you start off as a kid) who’s visiting his aunt during the holidays with his father. There, he meets his cousin Ai, a quiet girl who is just one year younger than him. They were left together in the house so they went out to the nearby sea to play. But because Ai was so quiet, Kenji decided to play alone in the sea while Ai looked at him from the beach. Going back home, Ai lied to her mother that they had fun together. This continued right up till the end of the summer holidays. Feeling really guilty, Kenji decided to be more friendly towards her. The next year, he took the initiative and played with her. Another year passes by and he came over to her town for the holidays. They are already extremely good friends and look forward to each others company. Then the bombshell was dropped. Their parents were getting married. But they were still young and didn’t really understand what was happening. The only thing they knew was that they are now siblings. Kenji now stays in the same town as Ai and lives together with her. New neighbors, new friends and new adventures await. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv_YtB_vW7rSKK6QYqSFsBYh Character Design rating: 6/10 Protagonist rating: 5/10 Story rating: 6/10 Game quality: 7/10 Overall rating: 6/10 I actually have to retract masterpiece nomination for Sorairo. I don't have complaints about strong sides numerated by Accany (art, cuteness, child to teenage transformation, strong ending), but he just turns a blind eye to all negative traits, and there are some seriously flawed elements in here that often make reading unbearable. I was driven here by art here and expected experience akin to Reconquista or Amber Quartz. Instead, what I got was spiritual continuation of Lamune. Same world 20 years later. Basically, Sorairo main heroine Tomosaka Suzuka is a daughter of Tomosaka Tsubame from Lamune. This legacy business reminds me of horrible Summer Radish Vacation, and that's a bad comparison to undertake here. In a way it's also return to the origins of NekoNeko Soft, particularly, Mizuiro where past + present system was first utilized. Game starts with childhood period, and from the start it's all about pants, bras, bloomers and taking bath together with all three loli girls. This huge fanservice tilt kills all the seriousness for me. And many of these pervy situations get reflected later in the adolescence period. Game throws at us dozens of choices with the only meaning - to determine which girl world image will be produced on the adolescence period. Basically, heroines other than chosen in childhood can't get their full romantic endings, just half-friendship endings. And this is main feature of the game - to include six additional normal endings in addition to romantic ones. I already started complaining, so let's recall weak points. Too complex structure with 11 endings for 3 heroines and dozens of useless choices. Too much fanservice for me to bear. Loli heroines that I could not really attach to. Many events are similar creating sense of artificiality. H event usually happens early in each route. The whole work is about admiring innocent loli girls, so don't expect anything deep happening. Among good sides is generally good SOL with all heroines communicating among themselves. Girls personalities are different, but bright and positive. Abundant number of endings kills excitement, but provides sense of completeness and more detailed depiction of each heroine from different sides. Romance endings of each heroine are paid additional attention to provide a better impression with Tsubame one being the strongest. Most events happen near the sea or on a sunny day, so positive atmosphere is created. As Accany puts it, you will probably enjoy this game unless you're some anti-SOL freak. Guess that's me. I would not play it if I knew it was Lamune + Mizuiro fusion. After Natsu no Ame the contrast is especially huge. I'd like it much more if there were only true routes and more compact simple structure.

Foreword: It's a very curious game that I played in the past and then lost. Happy to find and finish it now. Synopsis: The plot of Natsu no Ame revolves around Sousuke, a soccer loving idiot who spends his days practicing with his two friends, Takeda and Midori for the day when he is allowed to return to the soccer club he was forced to resign from. The story begins with Sousuke recalling a memory from his past where he pondered what qualifies as a first love, thinking about a young girl he teased almost to the point of tears as a child. Upon snapping back to the present Sousuke is made aware of a beautiful girl busy with her cellphone. After knocking her out of the way of on oncoming motorcycle he finds that he had also sent her cellphone into the river. Being the nice guy protagonist that he is Sousuke then goes into the river to find her cellphone, however when he gives up and she tries to help him out he ends up pulling her in as well. First impressions aside he then finds out she wanted to know where his school was as she had just transferred in. Undaunted by his earlier screwups Sousuke decides to be a man and instead takes her on a tour of the town before finally dropping her off at school. In the end it seems he managed a favorable impression afterall! Upon returning home he finds the very same girl in his home… where his mother informs him that she is his long lost half sister! Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv_qJeEChKrppPpzU9YgpLA4 Character Design rating: 10/10 Protagonist rating: 10/10 Story rating: 7/10 Game quality: 10/10 Overall rating: 9/10 As you see, it's a perfect score that I can ever put to a charage that is not a plotge. There are fantastic English reviews for this game already (1 2 3 4), so I slack as usual. I used to play everything that Joyjason evaluated as 8 and higher, and that guy is usually very critical in his reviews leaving not too many games with normal scores. And for the first time ever he evaluated Natsu no Ame as 11/10... wow. Then there's this Zen guy from omochikaeri who is always very bitter in comments. I doubt I ever heard something positive from him about anything... and he writes a superlong review giving score of 90%... And now I'm enthralled as well... this game is a miracle. Since it's not a plotge, it's enough to read synopsis. But since it's a charage, heroines need a close look. This game starts with introducing Rikako, and she is breathtaking. What's interesting, no one ever tried to present a similar personality (as a quick tags search showed me). I'm tired of brainless imouto and pervy onee-chan. Rikako is absolutely special as she is seriously unhappy and unfriendly. At the same time I just can't call her a tsundere as she is out of S and M system of coordinates. I guess she is so attractive, because she is so human-like. The way she blushes while angry and narrows eyes is cute beyond any measure. She absolutely does not care about protagonist and basically runs away several times. Independent and strong-willed qualities make us respect her as a human being. Midori is supergenki and tomboyish, and her best friend to lover transformation is really thrilling to watch. Hinako is a deredere school friend which is nothing new, but she is brilliantly voiced. She speaks with a light and funny accent, though I wish it to be a full-scale Kansai-ben. Last heroine teacher Misa is surprisingly interesting as well. She is easily embarassed, but with her route we dwell into adult territory with alcohol and loli teacher's daughter. I absolutely can't recall any deficiencies of this work. By the end of Hinako route I started to think that I've overgrown all these youth anxieties and would like to see serious adult relations, but with Misa route even this argument was utterly destroyed. It gave both matureness and feeling of family with loli daughter Nene included. Could probably nitpick over something (no amount of CG is enough), but just don't want to. Even protagonist was cautious and attentive enough to give a positive impression. So let's leave things with perfect scores for once. I still stay my ground that charage should have plotge elements, so I like modern tendencies where games got so expensive to make that pure moege are eliminated and pure charage are limited. These genres have piled up enormous amount of works similar in nature and thus forgotten. But with this fierce competition the best of the best stay forever with reader and motivate to not lose interest with the genre. And Natsu no Ame smiles shyly observing the battlefield from unreachable height. Perfect.

I feel that I can safely call Natsu no Ame VN of the Month. Sorairo I'm also taking up for review, because I don't want to choose between the two. Lastly, there's Eden* They Were Only Two, On The Planet. that I remember as a nice short atmospheric game. Micchi was of pretty much the same opinion except for Natsu no Ame since it was difficult to except an overwhelming masterpiece from a new brand. 1. Kokuhaku こくはく [090914] Sound Wing 1 Main character is your typical super popular guy, and all the girls are in love with him. There is an English review 2. Jigoku Shoujo Mioyosuga 地獄少女 澪縁 [090917] Compile Heart 1 Somewhere in the vast sea of the Internet, there's a website that can only be accessed at midnight. Rumor states that if grudge is posted there, Hell Girl will appear and drag offender to inferno. All we know about this girl is that she lives with her equally enigmatic grandmother and that three straw dolls accompany her. Anime spin-off 3. Tears to Tiara Gaiden -Avalon no Nazo-ティアーズ・トゥ・ティアラ外伝 -アヴァロンの謎- [090917] Aquaplus 1 Avalon no Nazo, the sequel of Tears to Tiara takes place right after the defeat of the Erin and Albion kingdoms. The two new kings in Avalon city are planning a carnival to celebrate the end of strife and that peace has finally came. Busy with preparations, people have missed the signs of unrest in the air. When Arawn, the demon king woke up to find his room covered in strange vines, it was too late, the whole city has started mutating. SRPG with an English review 4. Angel Navigate [090918] Aries 1 Souta is back to his hometown after an interval of several years. He and his younger sister, Koharu, start living at Hinako's, their childhood friend's, house. On his first day at a new school, he met a girl and soon falls in love with her. Souta isn't actually good at talking with girls, so a friend of his introduces him to a website called Angel Navigate, where people talk about love. Souta decides to visit the website anonymously... Common route is too short, half an hour or so, and individual routes aren't much bigger - two hours on average. After characters meet in real world, all internet dating setting goes to trash bin. Dialogues aren't interesting, so I believe I can safely condemn it as moege. 5. Distance Distance -ディスタンス- [090918] Silksoft 1 "Can you become a coach of the track and field club?" Taka gets interested in the offer. That accident ruined his hopeful school life and future.... He has been doing rehabilitation hard, so it is really a great offer. Even if his position changes, he is glad to engage in the track and field again. He decides to accept the offer with hope in mind, but various troubles happen... The good thing is that four heroines train as a team, so other heroines do not disappear suddenly. Protagonist is serious. Each heroine has a different story and ending. But game lacks refinement, and quality is below average. 6. Eden* They Were Only Two, On The Planet. Eden* They Were Only Two, On The Planet. [090918] minori 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 In the near future, an ominous red star suddenly appears in the sky. Its presence is about to bring about the extinction of all life on Earth. The unified government proposes an evacuation project to take all of mankind into space, but in order to make the seemingly impossible project a reality, 'felixes' are brought into the world. Engineered to be highly intelligent with perpetual youth and longevity, the genetically modified superhuman felixes stand as humanity's only hope for survival. Sion, the most gifted of the felixes, has been kept in a research facility built on a solitary island for the past hundred years. Her sole purpose, saving all of humanity. Ryou Haruna, a soldier from the Earth's unified government is sent to watch over Sion, who desperately seeks freedom from the military that's imprisoning her. Earth's last love story is about to begin. Game is localized and has English reviews. 7. Hime x Hime 姫×姫（ヒメヒメ） [090918] Etoiles There is a famous school where rich boys and girls belong to. The school has a traditional custom that a girl called princess governs the school. The main character accidentally enters the school though he is just an average student. But he can't move to a school dormitory because of some troubles, so he starts living at Saki's, the current princess, room. Saki is selfish and he works as her tool. He doesn't like his school life at first, but he gradually gets attracted to Saki... Princess school setting is a thick red line for me. Even assassination line is taken directly from Shield 9. Personalities are rather bright, so can be ok for those who like such setting. 8. Koibumi Romantica 恋文ロマンチカ [090918] ChuableSoft 1 Here's our young man, Yuge Fumito. "I'll become a writer!" he vows to himself, and rides a train to the magnificent city of Tokyo! He comes to a publishing office with a self-made novel in his hand and knocks on the door, but the world doesn't go so easy on him as to take him for real. Fooled by a wicked bunch, he finds himself penniless and homeless. Moreover, his vital work (still unpublished, however) would become a failure. Despaired and rain-struck, there the young man kneels. Then an umbrella is softly handed to him. As he looks up, his eyes meet those of a female student, worried for him-- With a few workings of fortune, the young man begins his school life at a respectable writer's. Under the same roof with the beautiful sisters, he's running around the city with the editor girl, getting invited to a party by a British consul's daughter, followed by his childhood girl friend from his home town, getting literary advice from a cat that can speak, and so on-- The young man meets new people, gathering life experience. Among the above, there is a piece of advice the cat had told him: "Love, schoolboy. Fall in love, be loved, pine with love, make love the sole source for your script--" The young man lets "love" which he had never pondered on before, take over his mind. Will you be able to become a brilliant writer? And will the love between you and that girl you can't stop thinking about succeed?… Live the days of romantic emotions, and reach out for your dreams and love! There is an English review. 9. L.i.n.k. -Kimyou na Unmei ni Tsunagareta Monotachi no Chi to Namida no Uta-L.i.n.k. -奇妙な運命に繋がれた者達の、血と涙の謡（うた）。 [090918] SGP Software There are witches in the world. They have special power like an old magic. But the word "witch" means "assassination" in the modern world. Witches establish their own organization and run a business to secretly assassinate people. Shion has power to "curse people dead". He receives a job offer, completes it, gets a reward and goes back home. He just repeats the same day.... But one day, he just goes home on a different route and meets a girl called Ai along the way. They become friends, but this is just a beginning of ruin.... They, however, decide to walk together to step out of their boring life... Serious atmosphere is hurt by lack of explanation. Instead, same story is shown from different characters perspective... which still does not explain much. A lot of confusing stuff combined with low overall quality in every field. 10. Momoiro Guardian ももいろガーディアン [090918] Alice Soft One day, Takuma's mother says to him, "You'll be the Maou when your next birthday comes." Though he doesn't believe it at all, a girl suddenly appears in front of him to hunt him down and another girl tries to save him. These girls also transfer to his school and start living at his house... Alice Soft H tilt is so big that I had to block their last title as nukige. In this case it's claimed to be an absurdist comedy which is of course a shallow low-price story-less opportunistic nukige. Tsundere flag is the only thing that can make someone play this game. 11. Sorairo そらいろ [090918] NekoNeko Soft 1 You start off as Kenji, a pretty ordinary kid (yes you start off as a kid) who’s visiting his aunt during the holidays with his father. There, he meets his cousin Ai, a quiet girl who is just one year younger than him. They were left together in the house so they went out to the nearby sea to play. But because Ai was so quiet, Kenji decided to play alone in the sea while Ai looked at him from the beach. Going back home, Ai lied to her mother that they had fun together. This continued right up till the end of the summer holidays. Feeling really guilty, Kenji decided to be more friendly towards her. The next year, he took the initiative and played with her. Another year passes by and he came over to her town for the holidays. They are already extremely good friends and look forward to each others company. Then the bombshell was dropped. Their parents were getting married. But they were still young and didn’t really understand what was happening. The only thing they knew was that they are now siblings. Kenji now stays in the same town as Ai and lives together with her. New neighbors, new friends and new adventures await. There is an English review. 12. Hapitora -Happy Transportation- はぴとら－HappyTransportation－ [090925] Bloom Handle The protagonist Tio, who lives on a small island, runs an air transportation company. He lost his parents when he was still young, so he has been working hard with the help of other workers. One day, he decides to temporarily leave the island to learn how to fly an aircraft. But when he comes back to the island a while later, he finds there is only one worker, Aina. His company is about to go bankrupt. Raica, his childhood friend, knows it and says she will join the company, but she is actually a very clumsy girl. Will Tio be able to get through this crisis? Let's rebuild family business and create harem - yay... Text power is weak, so there's just not enough persuasiveness or excitement. 13. Mahou Shoujo no Taisetsu na Koto. 魔法少女の大切なこと。 [090925] Meromero Cute The main character is an average student (except for his pretty appearance). He has moved to a school on the island to look for his missing mother. But an upside-down chapel that appears in the sky at night, evil shadows generated by the chapel and various mysterious happenings keep bugging people on the island. He inevitably gets involved in this trouble and he transforms into a magical girl (?) when he faces one of the shadows. Days later, he hears the fact that his mother is actually a magical girl. Like this, his battle life against the shadows starts... Perverted hermaphrodite protagonist and loli magical girls make a basis for a solid story (NOT). 14. Natsu no Ame 夏ノ雨 [090925] CUBE 1 2 3 4 The plot of Natsu no Ame revolves around Sousuke, a soccer loving idiot who spends his days practicing with his two friends, Takeda and Midori for the day when he is allowed to return to the soccer club he was forced to resign from. The story begins with Sousuke recalling a memory from his past where he pondered what qualifies as a first love, thinking about a young girl he teased almost to the point of tears as a child. Upon snapping back to the present Sousuke is made aware of a beautiful girl busy with her cellphone. After knocking her out of the way of on oncoming motorcycle he finds that he had also sent her cellphone into the river. Being the nice guy protagonist that he is Sousuke then goes into the river to find her cellphone, however when he gives up and she tries to help him out he ends up pulling her in as well. First impressions aside he then finds out she wanted to know where his school was as she had just transferred in. Undaunted by his earlier screwups Sousuke decides to be a man and instead takes her on a tour of the town before finally dropping her off at school. In the end it seems he managed a favorable impression afterall! Upon returning home he finds the very same girl in his home… where his mother informs him that she is his long lost half sister! There are English reviews 15. Nega0 ~Negative Zero~ ネガゼロ~Negative Zero~ [090925] Eternal The world is made of an indefinite thing, recognition. Each person's recognition is linked to a huge congregated recognition which decides the situation of the world, according to a girl in a laptop PC who came from the future. The action to forcibly apply a recognition to the world and distort the fact is called "magic". To believe in magic is required to use magic. Distorted facts will cause a big contradiction to the world and the world will get frozen some day. If the number of girls who can use magic increases, the world will be in trouble. "That's why I don't want you to believe in dreams. Please be a debugger and save the world!" RPG 16. Signal Heart [090925] Purple Software 1 2 One day, the protagonist's house is suddenly destroyed by a fire. Since he has nowhere to live, he moves to a school dormitory. But a dormitory for male students is full, so he is forced to live at a dormitory for female students as a caretaker. Days later, the school decides to pull down the male dormitory and construct a new one since the old one is in pretty bad shape, especially compared to the female dorm, which also has more room but less students using it. However the new dormitory will only be ready after everyone has graduated, which leads to an uproar among the male dorm members. The school chairman then ask both male and female dorm to have a battle at the upcoming school festival. The one who earns more sales is the winner, if the males win they get to exchange dorms with the females. Because he lives in the female dormitory, our protagonist gets involved in this battle on the girls side... There is an English review 17. Tropical KissトロピカルKISS [090925] Twinkle Kaito left his hometown with a dream to be a big man. But he doesn't have any clear ideas, so he just lazily lives every day. It's no good. Kaito decides to work at a newly opened resort facility called "A LO HA". But he meets various girls he had relationships before there... Charage with some humor. All girls are in love and fight for protagonist confessing to him at the same time. Hello, harem. Individual routes are rather normal and quality is high, so it mends prologue stupidity to an extent. 18. Moe Moe Niji Taisen (Ryaku) 2 [chu~♪] 萌え萌え2次大戦（略）2[chu～♪] [090925] SystemSoft Alpha Second coming of steel maidens during World War II. Strategy BLOCKED 1. Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo: Akuma no Satsujin Koukai 金田一少年の事件簿 悪魔の殺人航海 [090917] Creative Core 1 2 The game puts you in a role of Hajime Kindaichi who finds himself on a luxury liner named Luna entangled in a murder mystery. Console exclusive, only including it because of missable review. 2. Princess Party Camellia Princess Party Camellia ～プリンセスパーティーカメリア～ [090918] Circus This is a fan disc of Princess Party, featuring some short stories. Fandisc 3. Pri ☆ Sara - Dokidoki x Love Love W Fandiskプリ☆さら～ドキドキ×らぶらぶWファンディスク～ [090918] Atelier Kaguya Fandisc of Prima Stella and Sarasara Sasara. Contains extra scenarios that did not made it into the main game, a harem route for both games, a Miyabi after story and a Mahiru route. Fandisc 4. W. L. O. Sekai Ren'ai Kikou L.L.S. -Love Love Show-W.L.O. 世界恋愛機構 L.L.S. -LOVE LOVE SHOW- [090924] Akabei Soft2 1 This fandisc features erotic scenes with 6 heroines, including 10 sub characters and offers alternate stories. Fandisc 5. Haruka na Sora ハルカナソラ [090925] Sphere 1 2 Haruka na Sora is the fandisc of Yosuga no Sora, it contains the routes of Kozue, Yahiro and Sora (Sequel to her YNS route) plus short scenarios such as karaoke route and the characters omake. Fandisc

Foreword: Abyss is one of the more known doujin games and even has a fuwanovel recommendation page. But I could find only one English review, so it needs to be fixed asap. Synopsis: Sasayama Akira was born into a family of assassins and trained as a child to become one of them. However, due to psychological issues, his father decided to send Akira to a relative's house, to live a normal life. Several years later, Akira gets asked by the student council president to investigate a rumor of a group called Abyss, a shadowy group of students responsible for abducting and killing students in a grotesque game. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv_JpraEZN60LRLufWm3loZt Character Design rating: 7/10 Protagonist rating: 7/10 Story rating: 8/10 Game quality: 7/10 Overall rating: 7/10 I'm still not ready to evaluate a doujin game without voicing too high. And abyss is huge. It was actually delivered in three different issues before the complete version with first one seeing the light in September 2007. As a result, completing all the routes took 38 hours, and such volume without voicing can be difficult to digest. The concept is simple - murders start to happen at school, and protagonist is dragged by a masked person to join the game. Basically, it's common battle royale concept that is popular in doujin chunige. But the actual game is neither pure survival like Killer Queen nor the battle of wits and hints like Umineko. We strive to survive, but also gather hints about opponents identities as well as learn to counter them. Quite a few mysteries pile up, and final Nami routes gives a lot of answers about protagonist past and ABYSS. And it's also not a simple mortal combat style game, because assassin means are deadly and fast, but also because multiple viewpoints are given throughout the story. We even start as a girl protagonist in common route. There's a lot to uncover, so mystery persists till the end. As for deficiencies, I still don't like this concept just because it's battle royale. Participants are placed in a limited space so that they make the story themselves like a sandbox. A lot of stuff and twists are put on top of that to make forget about the core concept, but I still don't see an interesting story behind it all. Well, I did not like any game with similar concept, even FSN, so safely ignore this point. It's been a long time since I played a game with a zero voicing. It's a matter of habit, but everything gets a huge minus from me because of that. BGM is mostly good, but there are some with just a few sounds on repeat to create tension or smth, and I'd rather hear normal melodies. Game system is horrible for auto reading. I had to put lowest possible speed, but huge chunks of text disappeared too fast after small ones, and vice versa. CG are uneven. Basically, all heroines are strong, but in other people's routes they become weak. Another nitpick is that setting of ABYSS organization feared even by police is loosely shaped, lacks detail. Battles are depicted poorly and settled with one blow usually, but buildup and wits battle prior to that is nice. Some heroines routes bring little new and can be considered bonus ones. Enough with negative points. On a bright side, in every route characters are mercilessly butchered, and you never know who or when gets to die. So there's a lot of room for emotional approach. Every heroine has her own story and motivation, and with so many masks identities remain unknown. Hints recovered throughout the game create doubts, but final route managed to take me by surprise, anyway. The good thing is that only couple heroines have traditional love scenes, some have violation, and Nonko has none at all. As you see, despite simple concept there's a lot of room for mystery, wits, tactics, twists, emotions and in-depth character stories. Don't let my evaluation scare you as it includes personal reasons. If you find such game enticing, you most assuredly won't be disappointed.

Draculius, Jingai Makyou, probably some of Soleil series.

I'm getting too predictable with limited interest range and narrowing selection. Wonder what I'll do when there are like five works in one month to choose from. Decided with September selection already, and it's going to be way out of my comfort zone.

Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai! is VN of the Month. Guess I'll need to review and evaluate doujin Abyss -Homicide Club- . As many as two doujin games during this August Comiket managed to crawl into the list. Micchi does not really see anything worthwhile, but he starts to add some synopsis starting from this month. 1. Abyss -Homicide Club- ABYSS -殺人クラブ- [090815] Festival 1 Sasayama Akira was born into a family of assassins and trained as a child to become one of them. However, due to psychological issues, his father decided to send Akira to a relative's house, to live a normal life. Several years later, Akira gets asked by the student council president to investigate a rumor of a group called Abyss, a shadowy group of students responsible for abducting and killing students in a grotesque game. Doujin game, but one of better known ones, there is an English review. Don't see anything better to review this month. 2. Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru うみねこのなく頃に散 [090815] 07th Expansion 1 2 3 4 Umineko no Naku Koro ni takes place in the year 1986 during the time frame of October 4 and October 5 on a secluded island named Rokkenjima (六軒島). The head of a wealthy family named Kinzō Ushiromiya, who lives on and owns Rokkenjima, is near death, and eleven of his family members arrive on the island to discuss how Kinzō's assets will be divided once he is dead. Also on the island are five of Kinzō's servants, and his personal physician. After the eleven family members arrive, a typhoon traps them on the island and shortly after people start to get mysteriously murdered. There are English reviews. 3. Ookamikakushi おおかみかくし [090820] Konami 1 Hiroshi, a 16-year-old boy, has started living at Jouga Town, where a big river divides ex-downtown and new downtown. There are also some mysterious customs in the town. Though he enjoys his life at new school, only Nemuru, class president, keeps a distance with him. One day, she suddenly tells him, "Don't go ex-downtown...." What will be there...? Story tries to mimic Higurashi, but does not go as far. Basically, it becomes one event shown from different perspectives, so from second lap no more mystery remains. Final ending is opportunistic and fast to deliver, not too impressive. 4. Kurai Nichiyoubi - Sombre Dimanche 暗い日曜日－Sombre Dimanche－ [090823] ZIGZAG 1 It's the sixth day of incessant rain in the city. The entire country had been shaken by a series of bizarre murders, occuring late at night on a deserted street. Because slashing throats and tearing open stomachs were his modus operandi, the criminal was rumored to be a "Modern-day Jack the Ripper." But the fourth victim was the last- the crimes just stopped. Did he fear that the police would find him, or is he preparing for his next crime? Eventually, the existence of "Jack the Ripper" began to fade from everyone's minds, though the mystery and terror remained. ...and now, in October. The rainy season has come again. The protagonist, though he lives a boring, mundane life, is antisocial and rejects others. One night, he encounters a stuffed rabbit wielding an enormous axe in a nightmare. What awaits the protagonist is a new world, cloaked in a semblance of reality but slowly eroded by madness: the stuff of nightmares. Drowning herself in the song Gloomy Sunday, his mother commits suicide in the bathtub. The twin brothers who only exist at school on Sunday. The junior from the track-and-field club who can't run anymore because of his family's deaths. The protagonist continues to roam the "world with no way out" in the ceaseless rain. He has no idea of the "truth" that awaits him there... Doujin game, but curious one and with an English review. 5. Dream Clubドリームクラブ [090827] Tamsoft Corporation Our protagonist, whom we must name by ourselves, just wanders the streets thinking about just how messed up his life is, when he accidentally comes across the Dream Club, which is an elite hostess club. He happens to be the 10000th(?) visitor, and is thus granted a free member pass for a year. In the Dream Club he will meet ten girls... just how will this story end? Usual PSP dating club crap 6. Memories Off 6: Next Relation メモリーズオフ6 Next Relation [090827] CyberFront Just before summer holiday, Shio lives a busy school life as captain of the student council with a support of Yuno, who is in charge of general affairs of the council. He sometimes vaguely thinks what he will do after graduating from high school.... There is an important girl by his side.... Those who liked T-Wave would play it, those who did not should not care. Chloe shines here. 7. Bokura no Katachi, Sekai no Katachi Schroedinger’s 僕らのカタチ、世界のカタチ Schroedinger’s [090828] Nord On the last day of training camp at school held every summer holiday, Kazuya stays up all night with Noa, who recently transferred to his school. He just stays still together with Noa, who is already asleep on his lap. When he looks up, there are two moons in the sky. Thanks to the two moons, his extraordinary life suddenly starts.... The change of the world that surrounds Kazuya and the existence of another world. What is the shape of the world they want...? Characters are good even though imbued with cliche traits, but there is little explanation of what's going on, so reader remains confused even after the end. Mixing Schroedinger parallel worlds with magic makes it even more confusing. It's neither moe, nor erotic, nor funny, nor interesting as a story, nor charming. There's just nothing outstanding to build everything around. 8. I ☆ Can あい☆きゃん [090828] LiLiM Ryota is an ordinary student. One day, when he is on his way back home, he accidentally collides with a girl, Miyu, and kisses her. At that moment, she suddenly transforms into an idol girl. Also, a mysterious creature called Qupu appears.... According to Qupu, she is a limb of the devil and she came to this world to make Miyu's wish, to be an idol, come true. But Miyu transformed herself when Ryota kissed her though Qupu didn't cast a magic. As a matter of fact, Ryota is the one who can amplify Qupu's magic power... NTR H tilt game. There is also a pure love branch which is on average moege level. 9. Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai! 真剣で私に恋しなさい！ [090828] Minato Soft 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kawakami City is famous for its strong dedication to its samurai ancestors. A strong fighting spirit is always valued and it's even an important factor in succeeding in school there. Yamato, a second year student from Kawakami Highchool is always with his close friends (4 boys and 3 girls). They have known each other since they were young and have done loads of things together. They have many other friends, but these seven people are a close-knit group, they even have a secret base where they meet... With the new semester, they welcome two girls into their group and shortly after things start to change... Game is localized and has many English reviews. 10. Meitantei Shikkaku na Kanojo 名探偵失格な彼女 [090828] Issue There is a boarding high school. Konoha meets a girl on the entrance ceremony day. Her name is Karen and she suddenly says to Konoha, "You're the culprit." According to her, the mysterious thief who sent theft notice to the school the other day is Konoha. She doesn't know what's going on, but Karen believes that Konoha is the culprit... All-age yuri detective game is totally alien to me. 11. Memoria メモリア [090828] Purple Software 1 2 There's something in this world people have been longing for. "Asteria" and "Esteria". Two separate worlds. They weren't supposed to be connected when a "gate" suddenly appeared, binding them together. At first, both populations were confused, astonished, bewildered. After acknowledging each other's existence, if wasn't long before people were allowed to circulate freely across the gate. Soon people became accustomed to one another. The story takes place in Fuyuhi, a city covered with snow, where the main protagonist, Kouichi Sakurazaka, meets a girl. It was merely a chance. However, this was the beginning of everything. A pure white story, like the pure white snow... There are English reviews. 12. Mimi o Sumaseba みみをすませば [090828] Shakunage Tetsu has moved to an isolated island where his grandmother lives due to some reasons. You can't use mobile phones there and almost all of residents are engaged in agriculture or fishery. On his first day at school, he enters his classroom.... "What? All students have animal-like ears!?" As a matter of fact, the "ear time" comes once in a few days. During the ear time, all residents on the island have animal-like ears and they can hear what others think. They are already used to it, so they just try not to think about something unnecessary. But Tetsu is confused, "What I think will be heard by everyone...?" Nekomimi moege with little depth.　 BLOCKED 1. ＠Honey Coming Royal Sweet [090828] Hooksoft This fandisc features short scenarios for the five heroines of Honey Coming and adds scenarios for four sub-heroines. Fandisc

Foreword: Shumon Yuu work from Propeller already sounds intriguing. Synopsis: We were always together. Irreplaceable friends. There was a strong tie between us even we got separated. Several years later, we have a chance to meet again at school. There are only four classmates, but that's enough. Only us. However... "Stop acting like before." Our relationship gets cold and distant. It's only me who believed in our eternal friendship. What made us like this...? "Ayanashisai Festival" Each person was given their own color. "Red" I make up my mind to establish our good-old relationship again... Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv9Pi9ybhxsFWpOmdTKILCM_ Character Design rating: 10/10 Protagonist rating: 8/10 Story rating: 9/10 Game quality: 10/10 Overall rating: 9/10 With such large number of English reviews (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11) I really don't want to butt in. And since I can't add anything new, I don't want to repeat things, so it will be a super short stub impression. Game gets penalty from me for mega donkan protagonist (although I realize that only such protagonist would fit the story) and somewhat extended main SOL part which has some dull parts and so-so comedy. Plot does not move anywhere for a long time. Also, VNDB seriously mistakes about game's length between 10 and 30 hours. It took me 52 hours, and about 40 hours were SOL scenes with occasional flashbacks while some of those scenes being seriously childish. Pretty much everything else is fascinating in this game. Art, style, characters and BGM make it the most beautiful game I've ever seen. I absolutely liked the absence of traditional routes and lack of romance theme. I get the biggest enjoyment from a charage when I choose only a heroine I like the most and follow only her route to the end. Catching up with the rest of less likable heroines always felt very wrong to me. In Asairo there's basically just one route and just one love scene in traditional sense with two more scenes without insertion bearing different emotional meaning. And while "kindness" is the essence of 90% of protagonists, here kindness becomes not the means, but the goal.

Foreword: Another Mareni work that's worth investigating. Synopsis: Tomohisa has some memory of his childhood. When he was a kid, he was often playing at some place near his house. But his parents don't remember it. Tomohisa doesn't remember it clearly, either. One day, he finds a notebook. It is about history and things happened at a small town. It's just eccentric, so no one pays attention to it. But he knows who wrote it. It's his uncle, who has been missing for years. The notebook includes a town he spent his childhood. He soon gets interested in the town and decides to visit there. Days later, he arrives at the town, but there are a lot of strange things and customs in the town. He finds various curious goods there and gradually gets to know a secret of the town and his past.... Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv_M2PBQeRRnsbtrSUj2YRUB Character Design rating: 8/10 Protagonist rating: 8/10 Story rating: 7/10 Game quality: 9/10 Overall rating: 8/10 There are English reviews (1 2 3 4), and I've been enthralled by first sacredge0 review for many years by now. Reddit review by Tanzka also concentrantes on transfering the spirit of the game. It fits this game much better than my pragmatic dry approach. Still, here I come. Concept is simple. Main character finds uncle's notes and follows them to get to the concealed town from his childhood faint memories. Town is full of curia, and with each new chapter starting with chapter 3 we get a story about an item connected to a different girl. Here is where supernatural part kicks in, and not every girl comes to terms with the reality as a result. Basically, game feels a lot like previous Kagerou Touryuuki - same new town, several heroines each with unique story, same walls of text and great atmosphere. But there are also important differences. Bengarachou Hakubutsushi does not dwell in the realm of fairytale dreams, instead it is a part of magical realism. It focuses on creating a sharply depicted realistic environment and then introduces items that pierce this reality. This realistic feeling suits Mareni writing much more empathizing power of text. Another very important difference is charming and lovely heroines delivering serious emotional impact (even cliché old-fashioned widow Matsumi manages to surprise a lot in her story). What I did not like is same text options as in Kagerou Touryuuki, which means small kanji in horizontal view, absence of autoplay options. This time walls of text were even larger, so I witnessed "text too large" message way too often. Story is rather sober. Main character Tomohisa is unjustly popular, but it's not a romance game, so I don't care about it. Ending is the same for all four heroines with only H event and epilogue being different. But there are much more good points. Game feels integrative with a cohesive story in modern times and realistic approach. Atmosphere is created by both text and really great BGM and represents joyful nostalgy, something rare to encounter. Heroines are loveable, but without moe banality. Just as previous raiL-soft game, it's not a game for everyone, so polarization can be huge - from all-time masterpiece to a boring game where nothing much happens. But by now Mareni readers already know what to expect, so it's nothing new.

Kitto, Sumiwataru Asairo Yori mo is VN of the Month, Bengarachou Hakubutsushi makes another masterpiece. Micchi is especially excited about Natsuyume Nagisa and also about Owarinaki Natsu, Towa Naru Shirabe , but too much sweetness for me. 1. Rosario to Vampire Capu 2: Koi to Yume no Rapsodia ロザリオとバンパイア 恋と夢の狂想曲 [090723] Compile Heart The school called Youkai Gakuen High School Tsukune entered is actually for monsters. But there are a lot of pretty girls. One day, Ginei plans to hold a school festival called "The Youkai Fes". The story just goes on involving the Otonashi sisters. But days later, Tsukune suddenly starts having an erotic dream every night. How come...? Anime spin-off 2. Angel Magister [090724] Mana 1 2 There is a world which is divided into the heaven region and the devil region. Baal is the man who leads the army of the devil region and tries to fight the heaven region. But his ambition is soon destroyed... He is confined for 100 years and all his memories are erased. He is now released, but there is no job to take... But one day, he is recruited as a teacher at a magic school in the heaven region. He jumps at the chance and decides to work there. In his class, there are a lot of dropout students. He takes in charge of three students and works hard! Days later, his ex-coworkers suddenly appear from the devil region and the atmosphere of the heaven region gradually becomes uneasy... There is an English review. 3. Bengarachou Hakubutsushi 紅殻町博物誌 [090724] raiL-soft 1 2 3 4 Tomohisa has some memory of his childhood. When he was a kid, he was often playing at some place near his house. But his parents don't remember it. Tomohisa doesn't remember it clearly, either. One day, he finds a notebook. It is about history and things happened at a small town. It's just eccentric, so no one pays attention to it. But he knows who wrote it. It's his uncle, who has been missing for years. The notebook includes a town he spent his childhood. He soon gets interested in the town and decides to visit there. Days later, he arrives at the town, but there are a lot of strange things and customs in the town. He finds various curious goods there and gradually gets to know a secret of the town and his past.... There are English reviews. And I wanted to play it for quite some time already. 4. Kagura Douchuuki 神楽道中記 [090724] Debo no Su Seisakusho The story takes place in a deserted spa town. One day, the residents go missing one by one, kind of spirited away.... While police investigation doesn't go well, some more mysterious phenomenon happen. The police decides to hire two mikos to investigate the case. But they are totally different, like oil and water. Will they be able to solve the case...? Features random dungeon generation, the Kagura-typical defeat-ero scenes and a multiplayer mode. RPG 5. Kitto, Sumiwataru Asairo Yori mo, きっと、澄みわたる朝色よりも、 [090724] Propeller 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 We were always together. Irreplaceable friends. There was a strong tie between us even we got separated. Several years later, we have a chance to meet again at school. There are only four classmates, but that's enough. Only us. However... "Stop acting like before." Our relationship gets cold and distant. It's only me who believed in our eternal friendship. What made us like this...? "Ayanashisai Festival" Each person was given their own color. "Red" I make up my mind to establish our good-old relationship again... There are many English reviews. But I need to play it myself. 6. Kurenai no Tsuki クレナイノツキ [090724] Alcot Honey Comb 1 2 3 Kouya, a rookie detective, is walking deep inside the forest. It was two weeks ago, a hand of an unidentified creature washed up on the shore of a river. Hard and thick skin, bristle like an animal, thick fingers and sharp nails, it was not a human's hand. Also, there was a jewel ring on the ring finger. This mysterious story was featured in a magazine and caught people's attention. Days later, the police found that it was a woman's hand, who had been missing for a month. She went missing when she played golf with her friends nearby. The police confirmed she was attacked by a stray dog, but couldn't explain why the hand looked so differently. They tried to close the case, but her husband wasn't convinced. He didn't want to believe his wife was a monster. He decided to ask a detective to investigate the case, that's why Kouya is now roaming around deep inside the forest. It is getting dark, but he doesn't know where he is now. Just when he feels dizzy, he hears someone's voice. Is that auditory hallucination? He hears a girl's voice this time. "I've been saved!" But he accidentally falls down a waterfall. When he regains his consciousness, he finds himself lying in the bed. He looks around and finds three girls. "Are you alright?" "Well, did you save me?" "Yes, I and my older sister carried you all the way here." Their mother says to him, "I'm relieved to see you getting well. But you must marry either of my daughters, Sunao or Hiori." He doesn't know what she means. A mysterious hand bitten off by someone, a small village deep inside the forest, marriage to a miko, Kouya's fate is led to unexpected direction after he meets these two girls... There are English reviews. 7. Owarinaki Natsu, Towa Naru Shirabe 終わりなき夏 永遠なる音律 [090724] Age 1 2 3 4 5 In Kyushu, there lies the small village of Sunomura. In that small village, four childhood friends, Touma Takumi, Ogami Ritsuko, Amamiya Kanon, and Takanashi Mio comprise a small music club at the village school. One day, Takumi happens to see and hear the violin performance of Orihara Ai, a girl who recently moved to the village and transferred into the school. This performance later eventually causes Ritsuko to resolve to recruit Ai into their music club no matter what. However, one day, one of the childhood friends is separated from the other three, but before doing so passes on her role of "Supervisor" to Takumi. Later, they learn that the school they all attend is going to be closed down in one month due to a government-ordered evacuation of the village. Everyone resolves to make their last month together as memorable and enjoyable as possible before the school closes down... There are English reviews. 8. 77 (Sevens) ~And, Two Stars Meet Again~77（セブンズ）～And, two stars meet again～ [090731] Whirlpool 1 2 There is a world where magic is widely spread. The story takes place at Tenryou International School, which is famous for an elite training school. The students are divided into three groups: Intelligence, Power and Fate. A school festival is held once a year. The main event is a battle in which a girl and two supporters are chosen from each group and they fight for a selected man, who has a special ring. Yes, the main character is the one who accidentally gets the ring.... While he is persistently chased by heroines, a mystery of their school gradually comes out... There are English reviews. 9. Ano Aoi Umi Yori あの蒼い海より [090731] Lilac Soft "I thought everything would remain the same...." Sora has just moved to a town in the country. There is nothing special, but comfortable.... One night, he meets a girl on the beach. He soon feels attracted to her arrogant behavior and mysterious atmosphere. On the next day, he meets her again at school. She says, "I'll become your friend...." Sora has mixed feelings, but feels something warm inside his heart. They gradually cultivate their relationship involving other unique residents. Just when they feel happiness, the world is about to change again. When they meet, their crooked and complicating fates cross.... What will happen to them in the end...? "My one and only wish is not to forget you...." Story is monotonous and short. Development is absurd and uncomfortable. Sick hero is having various drama with (sometimes also sick) girls. Emotions are poorly drawn for an utsuge, so reader inevitably starts to feel unsatisfied and unhappy because of the quality, not because of compassion. 10. Ashita wa Kitto, Haremasu you ni 明日はきっと、晴れますように [090731] Hug Natsuhiko is back to his hometown for the first time in ten years. It's a quiet seaside town, but changed a lot. There is a big bridge, where he often played, in the town. The bridge still remains the same. During summer, a big festival is held in the town and a bamboo grass is displayed on the bridge with numerous tanzaku, small pieces of paper on which people write wishes. The bamboo and tanzaku have a local legend, "Only one of the wishes on the bamboo will come true...." No one knows if it's true or not, but people believes it. This is a story of boys and girls who make a wish on the tanzaku... Atmosphere is warm enough, but perfection level is low, so impression deteriorates with every new route. There's no true route after capturing all heroines, so can't find anything special here. 11. Fault!! フォルト!! [090731] Ciel 1 Shuuichi belongs to the tennis club. There are only five members in total, but he enjoys his school life with them. One day, the situation around him starts changing when Shuuichi gets injured in an accident. While Ai, one of the members, takes a good care of him, Mio, his younger sister, stays grumpy. In such an ugly situation, a big accident happens which changes the whole situation... There are two main heroines and two sub heroines, plus there is a harem route which is unavoidable for a game with H tilt. At the start love triangle is already broken, and there is no NTR. Story is thin and lacks excitement. 12. Mecha-Mimi メカミミ [090731] Candy Soft 1 Kotarou is now living at his aunt's house because his parents have gone abroad on business. He just lives a peaceful life with his old friends and classmates. But one day, he is attacked by a group of two girls on his way to school. He is saved by a girl called Yuno. According to her, she is an android his grandfather invented. Kotarou is surprised to hear that and runs away from her. He tries to forget it, but Yuno transfers to his class on the next day. "I'll work for Kotarou. I'll watch him anytime, anywhere. I swear I'll be his sword and shield...." Like this, his life changes completely... But he might have been wanting this sort of adventure life... There is an English review. 13. MQ ~Jikuu no Hasha~ ＭＱ　～時空の覇者～ [090731] Abel Software 1 Shou, who faced his mother's tragic death, was given a word, "Collect fills...." As a matter of fact, she wasn't his own mother. He, who was surprised to hear the fact, got to know his varied fate soon. One day, a girl appears in front of him, "The world is being destroyed, Avatar." "Destroyed? Do you mean we are going extinct?" "The council has decided to erase you...." "Me? Killed? How come?" "Because you are the one who will lead this world to ruin. I objected to the decision and left the council. Collect fills as soon as possible...." The girl, who came to this world to protect him, promises him to care for him as a valet. She also tells him that she is a daughter of the former valet. "A daughter of the former valet?" "Yes, the girl who used to live as your mother. I'm her daughter." "...!?" The girl tells him to get out of this world soon. Like this, their adventure starts.... There is an English review. 14. Natsuyume Nagisa ナツユメナギサ [090731] Saga Planets 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 The story takes place on a reclaimed island, where sunflowers are planted all over, beautiful butterflies fly around and stray penguins roam around. Nagisa is a boy who can't remember his past. One day, he meets some girls. As the story goes, he gradually finds an important person deep inside his memory and true himself. The summer you were there. The summer you weren't there. The summer with you. Through various events with the girls, what kind of memory will he reach? There are English reviews. 15. Tiara [090731] Symphony Four years ago, a high-class school was established on the premises of the castle. One day, Creed, a soldier, is invited to the school and ordered to protect princesses from evil people. He meets Mio, his old friend, Silky, the woman of his dreams and so on there.... His mission is to protect them, but the story goes the other way, involving their surroundings. Who are the evil people? What's happening around them? Atmosphere is similar to previous work Ojou-sama Kumikyoku , this time it's a princess school and not just girls school. I hated that game, so there's not a single chance here. 16. Yumemiru Koi no Musubikata 夢みる恋の結びかた [090731] Atu Works There is a shrine which is said to bring romance called Ataragi Shrine. At the shrine stands a cherry tree, which always blooms in summer, inside the shrine. The local legend says if a boy and a girl tie a string on a branch of the tree together, they'll be happy forever. One day, when Tomoya visits the shrine with Taiki, his friend, they meet a girl, Sasaya, in a miko's uniform. She is actually his classmate. Days later, when he bumps into her in front of his house, Sasaya suddenly says to him, "I... love you...." Also, three different girls, Asuka, Emiri and Koeda, suddenly start approaching him at the same time. Is it just a coincidence? Or is it because of the cherry tree? Like this, Tomoya's life dramatically changes.... Damn, the second wish tree inside one month. And again there are multiple writers responsible for different routes. Slice of life scenes are full of bakage behavior. Light summer mainstream work without uniqueness.

Foreword: Game looks like a parody chunige with dimension shifts, so I'd like to know the story. Synopsis: The story takes place in the near future, when monsters frequently appear in the town. Hiromi has just moved to another school because his previous school was closed. The monsters used to be dangerous creatures before, but they are now like crows or stray dogs thanks to high-quality monster exterminators. But one day, Hiromi is suddenly attacked by a monster when he meets Kiku, who has just come to the town from deep inside the mountain. Hiromi and Kiku strangely get a special power during battle and get rid of the monster. After the battle, they meet a group of girls called Shinsengumi. Hiromi and Kiku finally join the group after twists and turns. However, they conflict with another monster buster group called Kaientai, which is an official group. Also, a girl named Hiromi, who is totally the same as his deceased twin sister, appears in front of him. Moreover, they find Monster King sealed up in the basement. Like this, their three-sided fight begins now.... Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv9ZY_y6AM3ARuIGmeHpTFQ8 Character Design rating: 6/10 Protagonist rating: 6/10 Story rating: 7/10 Game quality: 6/10 Overall rating: 6/10 A decent game overall that could be even called a masterpiece it it was reworked and reassembled. But guess I have a lot of explaining to do for each element. As usual, let's start with the concept. Main character transfers to a new school and meets Kiku who claims to know him. Monster attack alarm starts to sound, kids get attacked by a monster, but fight him off with some unsealed powers. Three shinsengumi girls from the same school show up to deal with the rest of the monsters, and protagonist with Kiku join them for future fights. Then rival Kaientai group members join the fun, and everyday slapstick comedy begins with various dimensions cut-ins. In the second part various heroines problems show up, and a lot of dimension travel is used, but ending is not necessarily happy. After three main Shinsengumi heroines routes we move to three Kaientai sub-heroines routes, then director sub-heroine Regeneration route. And finally there is True Reincarnation route which reveals piled up mysteries, connects previous disjointed parts and moves in a cohesive way without weird cut-ins that happened all the time during common route. The dimension shifts is the thing that makes game incomprehensible for all the first half. There is the current world, past world tackling previous lives, alternative reality worlds for each heroine with own future, also future parallel world of Michelle's coffee shop that serves as kind of base of operations. There is also interdimensional world with only black squares and some places of unknown location or time. All these dimensions switch without warning, and furthermore heroines can have changed personalities. It all makes head spin which renders common route to be the worse part of the game. Game does not have a real protagonist, and Hiromi is not present in most scenes at all. But luckily it all starts to make sense in the True route. Let's turn to discussing flaws. Lack of explanation is the biggest one. Game is in dare need of glossary. Directorship of common route is horrible. Production values are rather sober with few patterns. All males are unvoiced. Game features a lot of elements unacceptable by certain types of players like me - notably, loli, incest and yandere personality. Four sub-heroines endings are super-short totaling less than an hour time and with a distinctive H tilt. There is a lot of unneeded text which makes it tiresome to read - with 2/3 of the text cut this would be a masterpiece game. As for strong sides, True route mends story in a lot of ways. Slapstick comedy moments are nice. Heroines are rather attractive even though almost all of them are loli. Among them Kiku especially shines. She is the mysterious heroine from the start with common past and she is voiced by Mia Naruse with her cutest voice that I adore since the times of Sae from Nijuuei. Overall, as I said earlier, Reincarnation ☆ Shinsengumi feels as a decent game after completion, but only a minority of players can make it to the end due to numerous production failures.

Foreword: A nice otaku game always catches my attention. Synopsis: Kenjiro is lazy and has no job. One day, his mother calls him and tells that she asked his aunt to hire him at her school. However, Kenjiro is a hardcore otaku - he has no social skills to speak of, can't get along with people, and has never dated a girl... When he arrives at the school, he is shocked to find out it's an all-girls' school, and has no idea what he should do! Luckily he meets up with Nanase, his cousin he used to play together with when they were young. She, however, suddenly says to him, "Are you still an otaku? Don't talk to me at school." When he is down, he suddenly hears a familiar melody, a BGM from some famous game. He enters the classroom and finds a girl playing the game. She introduces herself as Asuka, and she happens to be the one and only member of the Comic Club.... Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv_bK0MS_DGj0C_UvdauhF91 Character Design rating: 9/10 Protagonist rating: 7/10 Story rating: 7/10 Game quality: 8/10 Overall rating: 8/10 I tend to undermine slice of life games since these games don't give me new stories. The more the importance of those ones that I can call masterpieces. And this is exactly such case. Concept is fairly simple - an otaku becomes a temporary intern at a girls school and also an advisor to a comic club. Since it's a charage, it's natural to discuss heroines. There are five of them, but only four are geeks. The last one is our tsundere cousin Nanase. She is kind of main heroine because of her special status, but her route is the most boring one as it focuses on isolated from other members romantic relations. I was seriously disappointed by her route as there are lots of such developments in any charage. There are three authors in this game, and common route together with Nanase route are written by Hasegawa Ai, an AXL scenario writer whom I seriously dislike after Shield 9 and Like a Butler. Shinobu and Mashiro routes are written by Toki Houou who did mostly eroge, but participated in script creation for Sumikko Soft first game. Shinobu is the cutest heroine who tries to hide her otaku habits and leave a normal school life. Her route is the shortest of all and becomes a poor tennis spokon with the only bright spot is common for all heroines comiket participation. As for Mashiro, her route is quite fun, but focusing on emotions, realistic problems and worries, and thus leaves a somewhat heavy impression. The last two routes - Asuka and Shima - are written by Himenogi Aku who hosted a lot of moege/charage as a scenario writer. And his lively approach actually saves this game. Both routes are light, otaku-heavy and really fun. Incidentally, H scenes are also the most lively in the whole game. Finishing with one of these routes generally provides a better overall impression, so there is some evaluation split. As for the flaws, can't say there are many. Protagonist is perverted and insensitive, but for a wild otaku it's a normal state. I did not like side characters, but they rarely show up. There are a lot of net and anime parodies and references that were incomprehensible without wikipedia even in 2009 due to aged material and letters omission, but those don't really obstruct experience. Of course I'd prefer a circle of friends story without individual heroine routes, but joint activities are also plentiful, so I did not feel locked up with a single heroine even in Nanase route. I ended up praising the game even in flaws section. So let's continue with the praise. Otaku protagonist playing eroge is easy to sympathize with. Some nerd jokes were commonplace, but there was enough unique discussions. Sheldon Cooper would want to watch Shima route who is toy trains enthusiast with ability to discern them by the sounds made. But the deciding factor for me was circle of friends atmosphere. Zettai Karen! Ojou-sama does not live up to Genshiken as ultimate otaku heaven, but it is a a properly done and amusing dive into otaku atmosphere with unusual otaku heroines, and every such success counts.

I'll call Zettai Karen! Ojou-sama VN of the month, but can't say if it is a masterpiece yet. Same refers to Reincarnation ☆ Shinsengumi! which I'm reviewing to find out its merit. Micchi doesn't see anything worthwhile this month, but Zen is enthralled by yanderege Oni Uta 1. Juusei to Diamond 銃声とダイヤモンド [090618] SCEI Onizuka Youichi - the negotiator from New York - has contracted with the Japanese police and is working for Zero Department, which had been newly formed to specialize in hostage negotiation. However, when another department request investigation of stalker case due to being short-staffed, Onizuka is unaware that it is sign of series of dangerous events soon to follow, where he and his co-workers must struggle hard to keep everyone alive, even that of the criminal. Basically, it's different detective cases with negotiation drama parts at PSP. Not my cup of tea. 2. Shihen II ~Saitan no Сatastrophe~ 詩篇II～再誕のカタストロフ～ [090619] Gesen 18 20 years have passed.... The country is governed by Felix and every citizen lives a peaceful life. One day, Jan receives a job offer that is to steal a holy sword. Jan soon accepts the offer lured by extraordinary reward. But this is just the beginning of massive disturbance.... As Jan is involved in the wave of fate, he meets five girls, which causes another great social change.... What will happen when it ends...? Shihen 69.... A forbidden power is now released again.... RPG 3. ~Pantsu o Miseru Koto, Sore ga...~ Daiuchuu no Hokori ～パンツを見せること、それが……～大宇宙の誇り [090625] Wheel 1 A meteor struck Mamoru when he was a kid, but he didn't get injured at all. That's why he was called "Miracle Meteor Boy". Seven years later, a beautiful girl surrounded by noble aura suddenly appears in front of Mamoru and he is taken to a strange place. Yes, it's inside a spaceship and there he can see beautiful girls showing their underwears... "Show the Holy Ball." He doesn't know what she is talking about. According to her, they are from another planet to get the "Holy Ball", which is a key item of succession battle for the throne. To show underwear is also a proof of the royal family and the pride of the grand universe. When they check Mamoru's body, the Holly Ball is found inside his body. As a matter of fact, the meteor which struck him is the Holly Ball. To get it out, Mamoru needs to reach a universally stunning climax. Like this, a battle for the Ball begins... There is an English review. 4. Kuru Kuru Coeur くるくるくーる [090626] Axis The protagonist visits his childhood friend Kirara at the prestigious Extraordinary Science Laboratory, or Exlab. On one of her lab's table lies a mysterious and suspicious-looking device. As the protag activates the machine, it turns out it actually is a mechanism capable of changing the gender of a person! Unlike most gender change visual novels scenario is not opportunistic, but gender is changed multiple times with different characters. There is no drama, but enough comedy. Result is really rough. 5. Nidozaki! Tartelette 2度咲き！タルトレット [090626] Shiratama Akito has just returned to Japan after finishing patissier training and goes to a cake shop called October Cherry he frequently visited before. However, he is surprised to see the shop, "Oh, it can't be true...." The shop is totally dilapidated. It seems the previous owner passed away and his daughters are now running the shop. But it doesn't go well and the shop will be closed soon. Akito decides to work with the daughters to pull together October Cherry and save it from closing down.. SIM 6. Oni Uta. ~Oni ga Kitarite, Amaesasero to Notamouta.~ 鬼うた。 ～鬼が来たりて、甘えさせろとのたもうた。～ [090626] 130cm There is a small village located far from the town. The main character is Akito, who lives at a shrine. His current concern is that he has only few friends. He has an older sister, Koharu, who excessively relies on him, and an old friend, Ayako, whom he is in love. One day, he encounters an offering box burglar and is killed by him... It looks like his life is finished, but Himeka, a demon princess, suddenly appears and saves him. Himeka loses almost all of her power for that and orders him to take care of her for a while. Since Himeka actively approaches Akito, Koharu gets jealous and conflicts with Himeka. Like this, Akito gradually gets involved in an epic battle between Himeka and Koharu... It's a Yanderege, and it deals with madness a lot. It's rare to see crazy protagonist who mumbles stuff all the time. First bigger half is positive school everyday, but about a third is supernatural and depressing. Suicide is commonplace, and salvation is not prepared for all the heroines. 7. Primary ~Magical★Trouble★Scramble~ Primary ~Magical★Trouble★Scramble~ [090626] SkyFish 1 2 3 Everything starts here... There is a school where you can learn how to use magic. The main character is Kohaku and his goal is to cure Hinana's poor eyesight. Once he enters the school, he meets various people. On the first day, he successfully soothes a wild spirit during a lesson and a rumor spreads around school, "The new student is strong!" In springtime, there is a regular test at school. It's no exaggeration to say that their future is determined by this test. The test is to complete a variety of missions. New school and new life. Friendship and love. The story goes as Kohaku overcomes various troubles to be a magical knight. There are English reviews. 8. Reincarnation ☆ Shinsengumi! りんかねーしょん☆新撰組っ！ [090626] Libre The story takes place in the near future, when monsters frequently appear in the town. Hiromi has just moved to another school because his previous school was closed. The monsters used to be dangerous creatures before, but they are now like crows or stray dogs thanks to high-quality monster exterminators. But one day, Hiromi is suddenly attacked by a monster when he meets Kiku, who has just come to the town from deep inside the mountain. Hiromi and Kiku strangely get a special power during battle and get rid of the monster. After the battle, they meet a group of girls called Shinsengumi. Hiromi and Kiku finally join the group after twists and turns. However, they conflict with another monster buster group called Kaientai, which is an official group. Also, a girl named Hiromi, who is totally the same as his deceased twin sister, appears in front of him. Moreover, they find Monster King sealed up in the basement. Like this, their three-sided fight begins now.... Parody bakage with individual routes tackling different problems arising from previous life. Due to these previous life adventures, time axis gets shifted a lot, and different parallel worlds change rapidly, thus making it difficult for understanding. To make it even worse viewpoint changes constantly. Story has nothing to do with historical Shinsengumi, just using their names. Quite an interesting yet difficult to grasp work overall. I tend to favor such works, so reviewing it. 9. Sabae no Ou Scenario II 蠅声の王 シナリオII [090626] Lost Script The protagonist's name is Es. He is an official vampire hunter and belongs to an organization called Spook House. Hunting vampires by non-human hunters... Yes, Es is non-human, a sleepless hunter. Through various battles, open up your future! Heavy gameplay elements game, just as previous ones. Introduction of voicing does not justify the pain. 10. Sakura Sakura さくらさくら [090626] Hiqo Soft 1 2 3 The Dorm Guardian vs. The School Guardian Inaba Tooru has always dreamed of living a co-ed life. That’s why, when he finally managed to transfer into the renowned Rintoku Academy, he immediately fell head over heels for two Sakuras! Sakura Nanako’s classes are strict, but at home, she turns into an overbearing mother. Kirishima Sakura may seem cold and unfriendly, but she is always ready to lend a helping hand as the class representative. These two girls are outwardly indifferent to Tooru, but put the three of them together and sparks begin to fly. In the sakura-colored season of spring, two fussy Sakuras have been caught in a light-hearted love triangle. The Internet Friend vs. The Childhood Friend "You know how romance games always give the main character that best friend who tells him about the girls? I want to be that guy." Fuse Naoki, the self-proclaimed best friend, is always ready to tease Tooru about his situation with the two Sakuras. But, unbeknownst to him, he is one side of yet another light-hearted love triangle. Nitta Akira has been Naoki's friend since before they could read and write, and is now finally living under the same (dorm) roof as him. Tachibana Kurumi used to be Naoki's MMO raiding partner, but they were separated before she ever got a chance to meet him in real life or tell him how she felt. "I understand him better than anyone else." Akira and Kurumi have Naoki stumped for the first time in his life. And so, Tooru finally gets a chance to see things from the other side. The curtains rise on this desolate showdown for love. Game is localized and has English reviews. 11. Stellar ☆ Theater [090626] Rosebleu 1 Aliens exist for sure. Even a child knows it. The world is protected by a group of aliens with special power. Daichi lives in such a world. He terribly got burned five years ago, but it's all cured and he now lives a peaceful life. But one day, he meets one of the aliens and his life slightly changes... He is forcibly appointed as to be an examiner of the next protector test. There are also three girls who move to his school to take the test and one of them is his childhood friend. He still doesn't know that there will be a big event, which will change his future, in the not too distant future... There is an English review. 12. Zettai Karen! Ojou-sama 絶対可憐！お嬢様っ [090626] Sumikko Soft Kenjiro is lazy and has no job. One day, his mother calls him and tells that she asked his aunt to hire him at her school. However, Kenjiro is a hardcore otaku - he has no social skills to speak of, can't get along with people, and has never dated a girl... When he arrives at the school, he is shocked to find out it's an all-girls' school, and has no idea what he should do! Luckily he meets up with Nanase, his cousin he used to play together with when they were young. She, however, suddenly says to him, "Are you still an otaku? Don't talk to me at school." When he is down, he suddenly hears a familiar melody, a BGM from some famous game. He enters the classroom and finds a girl playing the game. She introduces herself as Asuka, and she happens to be the one and only member of the Comic Club.... Opportunism element is quite high, so it soon becomes a variation of harem. A good otaku story with colorful heroines and refreshing ending. I'll actually take a bite of it since Genshiken spirit runs in my veins as well. BLOCKED 1. Majo ni Naru. 魔女になる。[090611] Tamsoft Corporation 1 Witch's Wish is an adventure game that tells the tale of Vicky, a young witch in training. Vicky wants more than anything to be a witch, but in her town, only rich girls can go to witch school. Her dream seems hopeless until she meets a mysterious girl who shows her how to unlock her remarkable magical powers. Vicky will use her magic to solve puzzles, help out her friends and neighbors, and uncover the mystery of the dark force which threatens to tear the town apart. Will her magic be enough to unite and save her troubled town? Console exclusive, only including it because of missable review. 2. D.C. II ~Da Capo II~ To You - Side Episodes D.C.II To You ～ダ・カーポII～トゥーユー サイドエピソード [090626] Circus 1 2 3 A collection of 4 short side stories. The first one tells about the events of a decade ago, when Yoshiyuki was adopted by Asakura family. From the second story we'll learn how Yoshiyuki became friends with Wataru and Suginami, and how the Setsugekka trio was formed. The third story is about a close friendship of Miki and Mahiru, when she was still alive. The fourth story is an alternate reality, which tells how in one rainy day Sakurai picked up a broken "μ", who was thrown out by heartless owner, and how strongly he became attached to her. Fandisc 3. Mugen Kairou 2 ~Rasen~ 夢幻廻廊2 ～螺旋～ [090626] Black Cyc 1 2 One day, Taro falls in love with a girl. Her name is Shiro and she lives in a big house. There also live four sisters. Taro often visits the house to meet Shiro at first, but the sisters propose to him he should live in the house. Like this, he starts living at their house, but what he experiences there is.... Another fantasy causes a whirl of spiral.... Are you happy now...? Nukige, only including it because of missable reviews 4. Sumaga Special スマガスペシャル [090626] Nitroplus 1 Sumaga Special mostly focuses over the certain chain of events mentioned in Sumaga which took place eight years ago... But it also features events after the ending of Sumaga... Not to mention that it also has two new heroines... Fandisc

Foreword: A localized chunige with intriguing concept, can't miss that. Synopsis: When a chance encounter drops him into the middle of a war between a secret organization of superheroes and the shadow creatures known as schatten, Himehagi Aisaku must awaken the hero within if he hopes to protect all that he holds dear. Together with the valiant princess Keziah, Aisaku will don his blazing armor and shine a light on the shadows that infest his city. But the darkness he uncovers may be deeper than anything he imagined. Courage! Conviction! Friendship! Love! Will Aisaku find the strength to see him through the rising night? Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv_8eyqu1zvK7ojhhaYm4dhc Character Design rating: 8/10 Protagonist rating: 6/10 Story rating: 6/10 Game quality: 7/10 Overall rating: 7/10 There are many English reviews (1 2 3 4 5 6 7) , but all of them fail to structuralize all the game chaos and explain what this game is about. So I have to return to basics all by myself. Naturally, I can't avoid spoilers, but without it can't even show the gist of this game and will end up like any other review out there. Trample on Schatten starts as a shounen bakage focused on kamen rider superheroes. Protagonist is attacked by a shadow and is imbued with a white ball on his palm by a doctor. This sphere both protects him from becoming a shadow himself and grants powers to fight shadows along with other Zelcraters. And after that we're given a flowchart with lots of dots to trigger events with different characters happening in reality or alternative reality at different time. There is no real purpose, no mastermind or evil organization during the mid-game, so we just get to know characters and protagonist while trying to discover superpowers based on love and fight overpowered shadows Schatten. And this is where game changes a lot. There's a lot of darkness behind heroines and protagonist past, plus all the violation IF scenes add roughness. Eventually we get prompted to enter individual sub-heroines routes that are merely excuses for H events. But when we decide to move forward with the story, sub-heroines get to die in some way or another, so each time you dump a heroine it's a death sentence. Death in Trample on Schatten is not necessarily final as there is a story mechanic to return some characters, but it's limited only to a few characters. Only by the very end of the game we enter true Keziah route , learn the mastermind identity, have a battle , and only after the battle learn about main mysteries. That's a very unexpected sequence of events. Let's address the flaws not already mentioned. I absolutely hate flowchart mechanic as it's a lazy writer's choice to give disjointed events without proper reasoning or logic. It's a huge mess. The world is not really attractive, and there are few characters in it with the absence of charismatic enemies. Battles are directed good, but they give a cliche manga feeling with all those kamen rider kickse etc. Game system has few options, and I had to go with text appearing gradually due to lack of autoreading speed adjustments. And yet in some scenes text flies like crazy and in others moves slower than desired. There are few normal CG. Gags are either based on crazy situations or rather simplistic to my liking. But I still call this game a masterpiece, and I'm really glad this game got localized because it broadens our horizons. It manages to keep reader's attention through this chaos. A presumably shounen bakage changes a lot during the course of the game and manages to make sense of eclectic pieces scattered around while provoking serious questions. Most of H events are optional and bearing zero meaning for the story, so don't see a point discussing them. The story itself is not really attractive and conveyed in a poor manner, but unusual character personalities and unexpected plot twists make it a worthy experience to undertake and remember.

Trample on "Schatten!!" ~Kagefumi no Uta~ is the only masterpiece this month. And I'll actually review its untranslated and uncensored version. Micchi mostly observes delayed and gameplay visual novels while being expectedly fascinated by Tenshin Ranman and Tayutama fandisc. 1. Boku no Oukoku ぼくの王国 [090501] Finish! Kane is a shepherd. One day, he meets Elith, the spirit of the earth. Kane follows Elith's prediction and saves Princess Sharlot, who has been kept hostage by bandits. His brave action is highly appreciated and he becomes the leader of Norland... MeiKing anime remade as game 2. Horizon no Ue ~Yogen no Sho~ ホリゾーンの上～預言の書～ [090501] Hecate This happened a long, long time ago. There was a world covered in thick dark clouds. But people from far-away lands came. They were treated like gods, and rid the world of the dark clouds. The ground overflowed with light, and new life sprouted. Trees. Animals. Fish. Birds. The gods had changed it all. But there were people who instead embraced the darkness. They were sent down, to the centre of the world, to a place called "Est". The rest united for a place called "Kaerum". Over time, the two words grew apart and a name was given to the boundary line... "Horizon..." Short boring yuri story with same development for all heroines and zero enthusiasm even in fighting scenes. 3. Rakugaki Overheart らくがきオーバーハート [090501] Chien 1 The main character is back to his hometown for the first time in several years. It seems the town hasn't changed at all. His life is boring just like before...? No, it's wrong. He finds a lot of graffiti at school, on the desk, at the corner of the classroom and so on. He soon joins the Graffiti Research Club, which does research or investigate the graffiti found at school. Through various activities, he becomes friends with a lot of students and gradually falls in love with a girl... There is an English review. 4. Alter Ego [090529] Kiss 1 Nagare Hiiragi used to have a special power. He lost it a while ago and now lives a peaceful life as a student. He has a secret ambition to destroy the Hiiragi family and be free from their curse. To achieve it, he needs to erase his father, but he can't do that... One day, he gets involved in a trouble. As he beats demons using his new power, he is saved by someone unknown. He finally gets to know the fact that the root of every evil is his father and he makes up his mind to take action to free himself and his older sister from the Hiiragi family... SRPG with an English review. 5. Cruise☆Cruise ~Shoujo no 10nen to Chiisana Yakusoku~くる～ず☆クルーズ～少女の10年とちいさな約束～ [090529] Guten Tag A young girl fell in love with a young boy and made a promise with him. But as the years passed, he soon forgot about their promise. On his graduation day, Kaoru receives a ticket to a mystery tour aboard the luxury cruise ship Trident, along with his childhood friends Chihiro and Akane. He thought it was suspicious, but he decided to go anyway. When he boards the ship, he meets his classmate Kiriko and notices that he knows most people there. It's not exactly a kusoge, but an extremely plain cruise voyage graduation story. First half is about introductions, second half about getting to know heroines, remembering and fulfilling promises made long ago. 6. Don-chan ga Kyuu どんちゃんがきゅ～ [090529] light Noriko is not immune to perverted things. She soon feels dizzy. She's recently got a boyfriend, Toshio, a talented doll modeler. He is gentle and kind. Yes, they are a good couple. Toshio worked at an amusement park nearby, so Noriko often visited there to give him a lunch box. In return, he gave two free tickets for the amusement park to her. "You can come with your boyfriend." "Well, I need only one..." Like this, they started dating... Second bullet in light low price series about side-heroine of previous work. There's very little value without playing the prequel. 7. Hana to Otome ni Shukufuku o 花と乙女に祝福を [090529] ensemble 1 The protagonist Tsukioka Akira is a normal guy living his usual life, except for one thing. His twin sister is sickly and is in the hospital and can’t go to school. Problem is that she’s been sick for too long and she may have to repeat the year, or worse drop out of school. So their parents being the most clever people in the world, decided to send him, the splitting image of his sister, over to the all-girls prestigious school to go undercover as his sister, and live her life for a while so that when she comes back, she can take his place without dropping out of school or repeating. Of course it’s a stupid idea and he resisted, but him, being someone who is easily swept away, gave in. So thereon starts his incredible life in an all girls school. There is an English review. 8. Stellula Eques Codex ~Tasogare no Himekishi~ ステルラ エクエス コーデックス～黄昏の姫騎士～ [090529] C: drive. Akira is an average guy. But one day, Izayoi, his classmate, suddenly seduces him and they have sex... After having sex, big white wings come out of Izayoi's back and she transforms herself into a soldier called Stellula Eques. An evil group also appears and Akira is attacked by them. Izayoi and other soldiers know about their conspiracy and try to stop it. What exactly is Akira's power?! What is Stellula Eques' role?! What will happen to them in the end!? Another sequel. This time it does not try to be serious and throws various parodies at the reader. There's NTR, cosplay, tentacles, even time loop. Basically, we get defeated and return back through time. Branching happens early and leads to three heroines. It's a weirdly enjoyable work with poor scenario and abrupt ending. 9. Tenshin Ranman Lucky or Unlucky!? 天神乱漫 LUCKY or UNLUCKY!? [090529] Yuzusoft 1 2 3 4 5 6 Haruki has very bad luck. A lot of trouble always gathers around him, or does he invite trouble? One day, he receives a parcel. No sender name, no address. The only thing written on it is "creature". He wasn't expecting it. It's a girl. According to her, she is a goddess and came here to remove his misfortune. Like this, she starts living at his house. However, her personality causes various troubles, involving other people. Will he be able to live a fortunate life amid such a confusing situation? What is her purpose? Will his misfortune disappear? There are English reviews. 10. Trample on "Schatten!!" ~Kagefumi no Uta~ Trample on "Schatten!!" ～かげふみのうた～ [090529] Tail Wind 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 When a chance encounter drops him into the middle of a war between a secret organization of superheroes and the shadow creatures known as schatten, Himehagi Aisaku must awaken the hero within if he hopes to protect all that he holds dear. Together with the valiant princess Keziah, Aisaku will don his blazing armor and shine a light on the shadows that infest his city. But the darkness he uncovers may be deeper than anything he imagined. Courage! Conviction! Friendship! Love! Will Aisaku find the strength to see him through the rising night? Game is localized and has English review. 11. Valkyrie Complex ヴァルキリーコンプレックス [090529] Circus 1 2 The story takes place on the continent which is divided into seven countries. Leo was born and grown up in a small village in the Reysol Kingdom. He, who is involved in a battle of Gods, leads his beloved people as a substitute soldier for Goddess that he believes in and keeps on winning battles against other substitute soldiers. From the earth to the celestial world where Gods live... Leo and his company also visit the underground world where giants, who plan to destroy the earth, live. What they see at last is... SRPG 12. Zettai Shougeki ~Platonic Heart~ 絶対衝激 ～プラトニックハート～ [090529] JIN Products The story centers on the Platonic Heart, a jewel that—according to an old urban legend—can grant any wish when collected. Only a chosen few are allowed to compete in the Platonic Heart hunt, and high school junior Aya Iseshima is one of 11 girls and women who are taking part. Anime spin-off BLOCKED 1. Shinsetsu Ryouki no Ori Dai 2 Shou 真説 猟奇の檻 第2章 [090501] Caligula Soft 1 Tsuyoshi works for a conglomerate company. One day, he is transferred to the Fantasien Department. The company owns a theme park called Fantasien and his job there is to work as a security guard in knight costume. Though he is confused at first, he enjoys working with pretty co-workers. But one day, one of his coworkers dies because of malfunction of the facilities and a strange message is sent to them something like a claim of responsibility. Is it Souichiro's work who created all systems of the theme park, but went missing just before it opened. A roaming white shadow. Is it a girl who committed suicide inside the theme park? Another murder case happens... All systems are controlled by someone unknown and a murderous battle now breaks out. Who? For what? Will Tsuyoshi be able to solve the mystery? Remake 2. Tsukumono ~Yadorigi Romance~ つくもの ～やどりぎロマンス～ [090501] Xuse 1 Meguru is an average student. He just enjoys his school life with his cousin Sae and his childhood friend Amane. But one day, when he gets involved in a trouble, something unseen tells him, "You wanna be saved?" The voice seems to come from inside himself.... When he nods, there suddenly happens a change in his body. Since then, he starts living together with a strange creature.... Nukige, basically, only including it because of review 3. Isogashii Hito no Tame no Koumakyou 忙しい人のためのこうまきょう [090519] Kasuga Soft 1 A doujin AVG based on the Touhou Project series, specifically, the 6th game The Embodiment of Scarlet Devil. Doujin, including it just because of missable review. 4. Gyakuten Kenji 逆転検事 [090528] Capcom 1 2 3 4 5 Gyakuten Kenji is a spinoff game starring prosecutor Miles Edgeworth and detective Dick Gumshoe. The investigation portions are presented using a third-person camera view. The game takes place before and after the events of Trials and Tribulations. Localized console exclusive, including it just because of missable reviews 5. Myself;Yourself: Sorezore no Finale Myself;Yourself　それぞれのfinale [090528] Regista 1 The game features four new scenarios with Nanaka and Asami getting separate scenarios, and there are two duel scenarios with Syuri and Aoi in one, and Hinako and Yuzuki in the other. Several new characters are also introduced. Fandisc 6. Tayutama -It's Happy Days- タユタマ -It's happy days- [090529] Lump of Sugar 1 2 Hello there, I'm Yuri. One day, Mashiro wins a lottery and the prize is a three-day trip ticket. It's a big surprise, but bigger accidents happen to me one by one later. For example, Mashiro asks me to marry. Well, it's an extreme choice. While I live a busy life, I finally decide which way I should go in the future. I also get a partner whom I'll walk together for the rest of my life. As you can see, the trip ticket is a tiny tiny thing. Though summer holiday starts, I still live a busy life and I get tired. Yes, my partner seems to be tired as well. When I think about having a rest, I remember the trip ticket... Fandisc

Foreword: CGs of this game look perfect, so I decided to check out why evaluations are so different. Synopsis: There is a mysterious phenomenon that some people are given a divine power, but cursed instead. Yes, those people are found all around the world. Yashiro is negative and withdrawn. One day, a girl suddenly appears and gives him a sword called "Laevatein". Like this, he gets involved in a battle. As being in a battle, he gradually gets to know what's going on around the world. A battle for the mysterious island.... A guerrilla group called "Banner".... A mysterious girl called "Iris".... Yashiro's new life starts when meeting Yuzuka, who is a member of the new Japan army. Mitsuba, a member of the Banner, plants herself in front of Yuzuka... Yuzuka, Mitsuba, and Yashiro. What will happen to them in the end...? Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv_MbMHhm_eh5a7TFMvFd2kb Character Design rating: 8/10 Protagonist rating: 6/10 Story rating: 7/10 Game quality: 7/10 Overall rating: 7/10 There are English reviews (1 2 3), and Micchi review is so detailed in all aspects that's it's seriously difficult to add anything new or say it better. With that in mind it's going to be a very short impression trying to sum things up. Concept is rather interesting as orphan protagonist goes to school while at same time participating in battles at nights during sleep with the same heroines from his school life. Eventually it's time to decide the side and make the other heroine an enemy - Yuzuka vs Mitsuba. These two routes are basically the same with just the outcome observed from the different point of view. Iris is half-human dweller of the island, but a big chunk of her route is the same repeating parts of previous routes with a new perspective opening up in the second half. Grand route is continuation of Iris route, but with an alternative detail that got changed during Iris route. I actually liked both the story and the concept, that's why I consider Heliotrope a masterpiece. But there are multiple concerns that can easily ruin this experience. So, the downsides. Orphan hetare protagonist can irritate, but we know already that weak protagonist is often necessary. This time super-protective Mitusba personality would not be able to shine without it. There are huge chunks of repeating scenes in three routes, but - again - this effect can be nullified if you only read common route and Iris route (you have enough of Yuzuka and Mitsuba during long common route, anyway). There are a lot of plot inconsistencies. Starfish character ruins all the atmosphere of seriousness. There are a lot of meaningless battles that end with no result. In battles characters are constantly crying out names of their weapons and strikes which makes it look like a cliche anime. From the middle of the game sub-characters without faces start to show up, and it felt absolutely ugly to me. All the endings are variations of open endings and thus feel unsatisfying. It's possible to find much more flaws here, and each one of them can ruin personal experience. But I urge to look at it differently. Despite the perfect graphics (except for faceless characters!) Hatena is a new brand, and it is prone to many newbies mistakes. If you come here to find mistakes and get offended - that's one thing. But I come here for the story and characters. And Heliotrope has seriously attractive heroines personalities and nice complex story. A bit of forgiving mood and focus on strong sides can make miracles there. Hatena's greatest fault is it made such cool beautiful heroines, world and story that we inevitably want to compare it with the best chunige done so far, and Heliotrope can't stand the comparison due to quality dent. It was a great experience, and haters gonna hate anyway.