Nanairo Reincarnation is VN of the month. Other masterpieces are Minamijuujisei Renka and Sekai o Sukuu Dake no Kantan na Oshigoto . Yet again I get to follow Clephas choices and fail to find anything else worthwhile. Micchi with his seven picks likes pretty much everything else as well - Yakimochi Stream , Onii-chan, Migite no Shiyou o Kinshi Shimasu, plus delayed titles
1. Ano Harewataru Sora yori Takaku あの晴れわたる空より高く [140926] ChuableSoft 1 2 3
There were just five of us when we first started developing rockets. We didn't have enough money, equipment, or knowledge. Everyone told us we would fail, but I...
We... didn't give up. None of us.
We lived on Amanoshima, an island far to the south of mainland Japan and the location of a large aerospace program. Our school, Amanoshima Academy, had a prestigious aerospace curriculum and students from all over the nation attended it, eyes set on being a part of the next generation of rocket scientists.
"Hey. Want to make rockets with us?"
That was why I was so surprised when asked me to join her. I was enrolled in the normal curriculum, not aerospace, and nobody ever doubted the fact that I was an idiot. But when I looked into her eyes, I saw how sincere she was... and it shook me.
Finally, I decided to join the small rocket club she was the president of: Byakko.
"You won't make rockets at Byakko."
The one who told me that was Reimei Kaho, vice-president of the largest and most illustrious rocket club of the many at our school: the ARC. She had come to notify us that we had been dissolved.
There was only one way to stave off our own abolition. We had to win a rocket competition before the beginning of the second term. There were five of us. Arisa. Me.
"We can make rockets at Byakko too."
Ibuki Nazuna, who loved rockets like nobody else.
"I want to be in your club."
Michibiki Honoka, my childhood friend who loved to play tricks on others.
And, finally, Kaho, who had made so much trouble for us initially. Together we tackled rocket science.
We had to win a competition if we wanted our club to endure. And, even more than that, we wanted to launch a rocket that our own hands had built and see it soar toward space.
The Karman line: 100km of altitude.
Higher than the clear sky.
We worked hard and chased our dreams to the edge of space.
There are English reviews
2. Minamijuujisei Renka 南十字星恋歌 [140926] Studio Ryokucha 1 2 3 4
Ryousuke’s twin imoutos Rena and Rina are geniuses who had already finished all their university courses and now work at the research facility at the southern island nation of Guinberne. He was worried about them, wondering if they would overwork themselves and fall down. So, he decided to transfer to a school in Guinberne, where he was put into the ‘special treatment’ class full of peculiar students.
There are English reviews
3. Nanairo Reincarnation なないろリンカネーション [140926] Silky's Plus 1 2 3 4 5 6
Kagami Makoto is in his 3rd year of college when he inherits the estate of his late grandfather and starts planning out what he's going to do with his newfound home. However, his plans are foiled when his childhood friend Iyo, who turns out to be a zashiki-warashi, introduces herself, looking exactly the same as he remembers her from over a decade ago. Then, a woman named Kikyou, who claims to be a demon, also appears before him. After that, it isn't long before a pretty detective at the police department comes knocking on his door, imploring him to take up his family's duty of helping wandering spirits pass on to the afterlife and assist the police with any and all supernatural crimes reported in town. But when a case that's bigger than any of them ever imagined comes his way, will he be able to handle it? With the power of clairvoyance, an ability passed down through his family that allows him to see spirits, maybe he and his demon familiars can pull through, and he can be a proper successor to his family's legacy.
Game is localized and has English reviews
4. Passage! ~Passage of Life~ パサージュ！～passage of life～ [140926] Giga 1
Yuuya grew up on the Myoujin shopping arcade alongside his four childhood friends, Nana, Risa, Mio and Ayako. One day, he joined the graduation album production committee. He felt growing uneasiness as the preparations made him think of his future. What dream does he wish to pursue? What will happen to his unchanging days with his osananajimis? He wasn’t the only one who fretted about this.
The future is still a long ways away. They look to make memories at the school festivals and other events during the last year before their graduation. Along the way, their relationship begins to change: from childhood friends to lovers. This is their own special story for something that could happen to anyone in any place.
There is an English impression
5. Sekai o Sukuu Dake no Kantan na Oshigoto 世界を救うだけの簡単なお仕事 [140926] Rosebleu 1
Arata is a hot-blooded guy who aims to become a hero and runs about every day helping others along with his osananajimi Akari. One day, he received a mail looking for heroes to save the world. He thought it was just spam, but it was actually a genuine contract mail. His room became a gate to another world Ragnagia and an epic adventure full of laughs and tears awaited them… or so he thought.
It took a mere day for him to defeat the maou and save the world. After hearing the ending theme play, seeing the credits roll by and a short epilogue, the gate to the other world shut and it was the end of this story.
However, when he returned to his room he received the same mail as before and the gates to Ragnagia opened once more. It seemed that the maou would reappear after a set period. When he arrived at the maou’s castle, he discovered that the new maou Ciel was useless. He helped her instead of attacking her and she fell in love with him at first sight.
When he and Akari returned victorious, they found out that they couldn’t return back to their original world. So, they continued their hero duties while looking for a way home. Will they be able to do so? And what is the meaning behind the respawning maou?
There is an English review
6. Tengoku Hime ~Shinsei Tairan Soukai no Hasha-tachi~ 天極姫 ～新世大乱・双界の覇者達～ [140926] Gesen 18
A crossover work featuring heroines from Gesen18’s previous games Sengokuhime (set in the Sengoku period) and Sangokuhime (based on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms).
The main change is that the battle system is now real-time. As a result, you’ll have to note the movement speed of armies, in addition to their attack powers. This allows more strategies to be implemented by the player on the battlefield.
RTS
7. Yakimochi Stream ヤキモチストリーム [140926] Madosoft 1 2 3
Takumi had been studying abroad in England for a year when he received a telegram from home: “Imouto, serious condition, come back immediately”. He didn’t know what happened, but he rushed home to find his imouto Sana in a hikikomori state. She was also singing a song bashing England and streaming it online. How did his cute and pleasant imouto, who loved him so much, become like this?
He couldn’t leave her like this and decided to stop his studies abroad and transfer into the same school as her, Seishin Gakuen. However, he was soon reunited with other girls who loved him just as much. His new school life full of jealousy and icharabu has just begun!
There are English reviews
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1. Kanojo ga Ore ni Kureta Mono. Ore ga Kanojo ni Ageru Mono. ~KISS My Darling:Mecha-con case3~ 彼女が俺にくれたもの。俺が彼女にあげるもの。～KISS My Darling:めちゃ婚case3～ [140926] Onomatope* 1 2
Mikado is a normal guy who longs for a harem and bringing happiness to all the girls in the world. Since this requires lots of money, he spends every day and night doing part-time jobs. His mad scientist and hikikomori imouto Tsubasa was worried about her dear brother neglecting his studies. So, she created the ultimate sleep-studying device Pandora to help him, resulting in him having lots of information from the net downloaded into his brain.
At that time, a beautiful girl Carrot transferred into his class. After hearing her refined greeting, he knew from her name that she was the princess of a certain country. With her true identity suddenly made public, she became really close to him and his surroundings began to change.
This is the third game in onomatope*’s harem-centric Mecha-kon! series. The concept is split into two parts: lovers and bride (family). It has a ‘family chat system’ WIRED, as well as a ‘girls talk scene’. Not only are the heroines available, but there’s routes for sub heroines as well.
Nukige has English reviews
2. Onii-chan, Migite no Shiyou o Kinshi Shimasu! お兄ちゃん、右手の使用を禁止します！ [140926] Galette 1 2 3
Hiroto is a student who lives by himself. One day, he injured his right hand while protecting his younger sisters. Luckily it was not serious, but they mistakenly thought it was the opposite?! He was excused from school until it healed, and his imoutos forbade him from using it. Of course, it would be quite inconvenient, so they suggested that they will always be by his side, as his ‘right hand’. From that day on, everything that he did with his right hand was left to his younger sisters: eating, taking a bath, doing groceries, going to the washroom, masturbating… “Leave everything to us, onii-chan!” Nukige has English reviews
3. Walkure Romanze Re:tell ワルキューレロマンツェRe:tell [140926] Ricotta Announced as a series of append stories. The first installment focuses on Noel and Ayako. The second installment focuses on Celia and Akane. Fandisc
Foreword: Never faced crossovers in visual novels before, so expectations ranged from weird fandisk to something like Soukou Akki Muramasa since I rated both original games high.
Synopsis:
Depending on which route you choose, you start out as either Alfred Arrowsmith, after his united front with Rick against Gustave, or Kuki Youkou after his final confrontation with Soushichi. Ungaikyou (literary means the mirror beyond the clouds), a youkai made from the failure attempt of the mirror of the three artifacts belonging to Amaterasu (the Sun god in Japanese mythology), has chosen these two to help them create a world of their own. In exchange, Alfred and Kuki are temporary exempt from going to the netherworld and finish their lingering desires…in their non-respective worlds.
After the completion of the two stories, the final route—Chronobelt—unlocks. Almost immediately after Kuki and Alfred finish dealing with their lingering desires, invaders have slipped through the portals and into the Infinite Corridors (the space connecting the two worlds). Before long, team Ayakashibito is in a constant war with team Bullet Butlers in what can only be described as the city of Chaos.
Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv-PwZGYTHAmfELzDEYeRcXZ
Game type: Supernatural action fandisc
Character Design rating: 6/10
Protagonist rating: 7/10
Story rating: 6/10
Game quality: 8/10
Overall rating: 7/10
There are three English reviews (1 2 3) which actually portray the nature of the game vividly, but I could not understand some things from them, like length, structure of all three parts and how H events are incorporated. Basically, I needed decide for myself whether it's a fandisc or stand alone complex story.
So, there are three parts - Ayakashibito where Rick helps to prepare school festival with Ayakashibito characters, Bullet Butlers where Kuki fulfills his revenge wish, and Chrono Belt where Soushichi gets in a time loop and faces antagonist together with other heroes. And I already see a problem here. Three separate episodes mean an anthology, and I seriously don't like anthologies. This time it's all familiar characters already, but three loosely connected stories with three different characters is not how a normal game should look like. If it's an integral work, then is there a connection between these stories? There definitely is. Basically, all three happen in different worlds, and there is a travel between these worlds by a means of some mirror or something. That's a very loose link. We basically destroy two perfectly normal worlds with additional supernatural elements just to satisfy our need in crossover. Are first two stories really needed for Chrono Belt? Actually, nope. These stories are introduced just to give Rick happy childhood that he never had and to show coolness of Kuki as he fights enemies of his specialization - youkai.
How long are these stories? Rick episode has a lot of characters communicating with each other for some time, so it takes it rather slow ending up at 8 hours. Kuki episode is shorter and more straightforward, so it ended at 4 hours for me. Chrono Belt took 9 hours for me. These are pretty short lengths for finished stories. As for endings, there are just two branches at the very end with the final decision. It looks less and less like an integral game to me. There is also one unskippable bad ending linked to the nature of time loop. And it's a very bad ending when you need to do same things like 10 times over and over and get tentacle rape scene. Good job, Propeller!
What are the most distinctive traits of a fandisc? Random H scenes, naturally. And Chrono Belt route is full of them. It all follows the same flow - Soushichi decides to go to some place - there he meets and spontaneously violates a girl - time loops back to where it started. Rinse and repeat with all the available girls. It's an absolutely disgusting move to introduce travel between worlds, time travel, get two rather conventional routes for each of the game just to throw in a nukige at the final True Route. I absolutely can't stand game's structure, nature and concept. Oh, and H scenes are same ugly as in original games.
Hey, but did not I just put a masterpiece score for Chrono Belt? I did. The reason is that whenever I start to actually read those routes, they are really great. Not all heroines got much screen time, but writer really tried to saturate every second of gameplay with awesomeness. Dialogues, events and battles are top notch. I seriously dislike this stupid time loop as well as some innate murderous intent against characters of opposing game, but it's a very enjoyable read with nice additions to characters' personalities and cool ending.
So, in conclusion, Chrono Belt is not a sequel or an integral game. It's a fandisc from all the sides - structure, length and H events. But it's a fandisc of two fantasy fighting plotge, so there is enough extension into chunige to appeal to all fans. I can't rate a fandisc any higher than that. I would not even recommend reading it if you don't want to see such detailed and finished stories to erode with sudden time and space continuum shifts. But if you liked both games and can get over some conventionality, then it's an enjoyable read and worthy addition to original games, though not outstanding as a separate product.
Foreword: I never expected a 80 hour long race out of this "episodic" story. How much time should pass till opening? What about length of the epilogue? Should there be some lines after the final credits? Believe me, Steel will surprise you with each answer. I knew that scenario from Kadokura Keisuke would be enjoyable. But it took me a full week to be able to digest it.
VNDB: https://vndb.org/v6416
Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5Nc368AlSs&list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv9jHMWwIIkzFPiTpLJ-eMP7
Synopsis: The protagonist, Tomoya, was abandoned by his mother at a tender age. He was taken in by Honjou Arisa after a chance meeting. Four girl adoptees who had joined the Honjou family home for similar reasons also lived there.
Though they were not related by blood, Tomoya treated the girls as if they were his siblings. They lived peaceful lives at the Honjou residence... but one day, he encountered a strange woman in town. She was wreathed in something that looked like iron – and upon seeing her figure, he remembered that he, too, had once harbored such a metallic augment.
"Is that... your Anima?"
A right arm turned to metal... A peculiar corpse discovered at school... A transfer student exuding dark mist... And a foreign warrior wreathed in thick steel armor... Tomoya's peaceful life would soon begin to crumble as disaster came to visit him and his sisters. To protect them, he shall have to once again wreathe his right arm in Anima.
Game type: Supernatural abilities chuuni story
Character Design rating: 8/10
Protagonist rating: 7/10
Story rating: 9/10
Game quality: 4/10
Overall rating: 7/10
Basics first. This is a story of a big and powerful Honjo clan. Main character Tomoya is an adopted child who lives in the family for the last five years. Only few families possess the anima ability to turn their body into weapons. They have rivals, but don't show their powers to the outsiders. Tomoya only starts to master his anima. That brings us to structure.
There are four chapters. Three first chapters have similar shape. Each of them is devoted to Honjo sisters and their anima - first Misaki, then Ayano, finally Iori. These three chapters have two endings each - initially the true one when the heroine comes off the stage in some way and then the side happy ending with each heroine. After each of four chapters there's a short explanatory chapter which is devoted mostly to past events and Honjo Alice heroine. The fourth chapter has only one ending and is devoted to the most mysterious heroine Nishinomiya Akizuki. It also covers most of the loose ends of the game. Epilogue chapter (with a small Final chapter which finalizes Explanatory Chapters) is very different from the other chapters and presents after-story for the different characters that remain on the stage up to the point.
Phew, with that covered - almost - without spoilers it's possible to go on. Story is thrilling, and text is really rich. Characters are quite developed despite having no voicing thanks to whole 15-hour long chapter devoted to each of them. What I liked the most is that there are very few SOL scenes. Protagonist Tomoya starts off pretty well with all his powers awakening gradually and evolving with more emotional experiences. But game really lacks a good conflict. There are some goons (including elite ones) from the rival family, but that's it. So in result Tomoya just does not have opportunity to actually fight since we constantly need to show battle prowess of our chapter heroines. Thus he gets from cool to passive losing charm. Due to the lack of conflict some fights happen even between heroines out of trifles. But on the other hand, some antagonists jump to the stage out of the blue. Momentum never gets lost.
Time to get back to story since it's the main flavor of the game. Each chapter is actually very different, so we can't stop being surprised. Misaki chapter is our straightforward nakige with personal drama and focus on the heroine alone. Ayano chapter suddenly changes focus from heroine to her anima. Iori chapter is totally different again since Iori actually can't fight. Maid Noriko has to fulfill that function, so Noriko actually gets her own ending as well. Third chapter also marks the main conflict of the game and uncovers Honjo clan secrets. Fourth chapter has the most straightforward conflict between main heroines Alice and Akizuki against their own antagonists. As for epilogue, it gives off too much of Clannad scent which is a great minus for such Clannad hater as me. Each chapter is named after anima name and explanatory chapters are called Shizoid because of the very different perspective presented.
The saddest part is graphical presentation and absence of voicing. That gives a huge penalty to the quality evaluation. I can't really imagine many persons to be able to read such a huge story with such poor presentation. But - on the other hand - how many real modern masterpieces are there without voicing? Can't really remember even one out of the blue. That's an enormous feat by itself.
Clephas was clear about Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana being the winner , and none of the rivals appeal to me in the slightest, so I concur here. Micchi has a wider selection including Suki to Suki to de Sankaku Ren’ai and Natsuiro Koi Uta
1. Memory's Dogma [161104] LizArts 1 2 3 4
A neuroscience × genetics × near-future sci-fi visual novel adventure game.
In 2030, due to Japan’s advancements in neuroscience, memories can now be saved and recorded. This is called e-Memory.
However, due to the rapid increase in the number of crimes using the e-Memory technology, the government has introduced strict regulations on human memory data.
In essence, the government now holds a monopoly on all human memory data.
The recording of still-living humans was forbidden, and the e-Memory technology was only to be used on the deceased, giving rise to the establishment of "Connect Centers." These state-owned and operated facilities allowed one to call and communicate with the dead.
These "Connect Centers" allowed people who were still in a period of bereavement to cope with their loss by talking with their recently deceased loved ones.
The protagonist, Kusuhara Hiroki, is a college student struggling with suicidal impulses after the sudden passing of his close childhood friend, Mizunashi Sorano.
Her memories were to last only until August 26—a mere four more days. Kusuhara teams up with his friend, Amamiya Kakeru, in an attempt to steal Mizunashi Sorano's memories from the server where they were stored.
In the midst of this, the two discover the secret of the Connect Centers, and are suddenly embroiled in the fight taking place behind the scenes.
Game is released in English and has English reviews
2. Fate/Extella [161110] Type-Moon 1 2 3
The Moon Cell Automaton is a spiritron computer, which exists on the moon and has the power to grant any wish. All across the spiritron-constructed virtual world, SE.RA.PH, Servants and the Masters who control them fight for the right to be the Moon Cell Automaton’s one owner in a ceremonial conflict known as the Holy Grail War.
Now, the Servant Nero Claudius and her Master have won the Holy Grail War and have obtained the universal wishing mechanism, the Holy Grail.
They also obtained the Regalia, a ring that proves their kingship. With it, they rule over their once-enemy Servants and start a new beginning on the moon’s new world.
But a new enemy has appeared before them. And this enemy has something that shouldn’t exist: another Regalia.
Action is released in English and has English reviews
3. Aki Uso -The Only Neat Thing To Do- アキウソ -The only neat thing to do- [161125] Campus 1 2
It follows the scenario of what happens at Mahoshi Gakuen if the magic contract didn’t end up in Satsuki’s hands and if Souichirou had protected Aoi from being taken over by the succubus.
Four years ago, Souichirou came upon a girl under a row of maple trees, with boys twice her size sprawled out the ground around her. She had crimson red eyes and radiant golden hair. He realized via his special ability of detecting lies that she was not human. The girl Eris was in fact a vampire, the only daughter of the famous Cartlet family, who had run away from home to escape her parent’s strict rules and an impending arranged marriage.
Now the two of them are really close, having lived together since that fateful meeting. One day, she did not feel well and he took care of her while she recovered. She asks him out of the blue to have sex with her. What is the true meaning behind her request?!
There is an English review
4. Gakkou no Seiiki 学校のセイイキ [161125] feng 1
This is the third game in feng’s Seiiki series, this time with two heroines instead of just one. Youhei’s older sister Yaeka is his homeroom teacher. She looks dignified as a teacher, and is very popular amongst the students. However, she’s always drunk at home and leads a very loose private life.
His classmate Maika is a transfer student who is into all things Akiba. She always invites him after school to go walk around Akiba. He’s gotten used to seeing her with a grilled squid in one hand and buying up doujinshi and doujin games.
This daily life, which he thought would continue forever, changed completely when rumours spread that Maika would be suddenly called back to her home country. Youhei and Yaeka try their best to help her remain in Japan.
There is an English review
5. Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana 枯れない世界と終わる花 [161125] Sweet & Tea 1 2 3 4
Shou and Ren arrived at a beautiful town full of colourful flowers. They met the three sisters Haru, Kotose and Yukina, who run the cafe “Famille”, and he starts working there in exchange for a bed to sleep in.
In the middle of the night, Shou follows Haru far away from the town to a hill covered with flowers as far as the eye could see. He watched as a little girl whom Haru was embracing turned into a flower under the large moonlit tree. She noticed his presence and smiled lonesomely while looking fondly at the beautiful flowers in full bloom.
“I have survived up till now in this world by doing this. But I still want to continue living… even if it’s in exchange for other people’s lives.”
Shou looked up at the petals which fluttered down and responded:
“No matter what this world forces upon you, no matter how many people won’t forgive you... I’ll still pray for this world to end.”
There are English reviews
6. Kirigirisou 霧切草 [161125] Spike Chunsoft
The main character is a completely normal student with nothing unusual about them. They get lost one night while returning home, left driving in a dense forest. Vision still obscured, they meet the mysterious beautiful girl Kirigiri Kyouko, and give her a ride.
However, after getting into an accident, the two of them take refuge in a nearby Western-style house. That house is in fact where Kirigiri had been headed, but with a huge tree growing inside, it’s a bizarre place.
The heroes are assaulted by a creepy Western-style suit of armor, a skull buried in the garden, and a girl who’s just like Kirigiri Kyouko…
You are the protagonist. Can you solve the mystery of the house and escape from this strange place?
Detective
7. Natsuiro Koi Uta 夏彩恋唄 [161125] Studio Ryokucha 1 2 3
Kamiki Kazuma was placed under his great-grandfather's control as a young man. However, as a result of his childhood illness, he was labeled as being unworthy and removed from his great-grandfather's oversight. As a result, he was able to return to a normal lifestyle and went back to enjoying a normal life with his childhood friend, Takanashi Hikaru.
After his great-grandfather died several years later, the Kamiki Family stopped its tradition of absolute control. As a result, his little sister Ayaka, who was attending a boarding school, was able to return to a normal life.
He'd finally obtained a normal life. However, a girl naming herself his fiance, Suwa Shion, appears, disrupting his quiet life.
At the same time, Tsukiyono Yuuna, who was being forced to attend marriage interviews with an older man by her father, sought to find some way to get him to give up on her.
As a result, she lies by saying that she was going out with Kazuma, who just happened to be there. Kazuma, wanting to do something about the fiance who had suddenly appeared before him, decides to go along with Yuuna's lie.
And so their life as a false couple begins. What will happen to them from here on?
There are English reviews
8. Suki to Suki to de Sankaku Ren'ai スキとスキとでサンカク恋愛 [161125] ASa Project 1 2 3
Meet Sousuke, our protagonist. He's just your average student, living in a rural town. Ever since his father remarried when he was young, he's been living together with his little sister Nanaru.
Together with his childhood friend Maho and their other friends, they have fun geeking out at school in the Otaku Club (or the "BC," as they like to call it).
Sousuke enjoys those tranquil, peaceful days... But then one day, only one month before summer break, that peace is shattered.
"I've missed you so, so much... Nii-san!!"
It's his blood-related little sister! His beloved little sister, who had gone with their mother after the divorce, and she's back! Suzu silently flaunted her status as the 'real' sister at school, at home, and out around town, while stepsister Nanaru was just left feeling awkward and out of place.
Stepsister Nanaru: "It's too late to come in here claiming to be the 'real' sister, I've already trained him, hohoho."
Real sister Suzu: "Fine! I'll just RE-TRAIN him!!"
"This is bad. This is VERY bad. My sisters are going completely haywire!"
But if that wasn't bad enough for our poor protagonist, now some upperclassman called Shiina, who 'forced herself' to fall in love with Sousuke at first sight, appears! And if you thought the childhood friend Maho was still normal, too bad! She's acting slightly bonkers too. What is our poor protagonist going to DO?!
This is only the beginning of a wacky, zany love triangle fiasco hot enough to cool the summer heat
There are English reviews
9. Yomegami: My Sweet Goddess! よめがみ Ｍｙ Ｓｗｅｅｔ Ｇｏｄｄｅｓｓ！ [161125] ALcot 1 2
In Yomegami the world is at peace, but mankind is unaware of the miracles in this world, as well as the struggle going on in the world of Gods.
We pick up the story in spring in a provincial town called “New Masado City”, when a transfer student named Hayato transfers in at an unusual time. Hayato is the reincarnation of a devil that went on a rampage in the past. His mother, iris, is also a reincarnation of a former power. But in her case it’s a goddess rather than a devil. She told him that if he performs enough good deeds in the human world, he would be able to return to the world of Gods. And so Hayato attempts to live his life as a youth in accordance with her words.
Unfortunately, the devil’s power still hold power over him and it happens that he snatches a kiss from his new classmate Mikoto. If this misunderstanding continues, all of his previously accomplished good deeds will be nullified! He takes on the help of his best friend and class president Mari to find the right way and time to apologize. But then a mysterious and mischievous dog-eared girl appears and events take a turn for the worst.
Why did this have to happen to him!? It seems his life is too deeply connected with his previous existence…
There are English reviews
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1. Otome ga Irodoru Koi no Essence ~Egao de Orinasu Mirai~ 乙女が彩る恋のエッセンス ～笑顔で織りなす未来～ [161125] ensemble This is the fandisc for Otome ga Irodoru Koi no Essence, with after stories for the five heroines and short episodes for sub-heroines Maori and Yakumo. There’s also a secret episode from the perspective of the principal Kotoe. Fandisc
Year 2013 exceeded my expectations. I was able to choose as many as 34 masterpieces, even one more than in fruitful 2012. Surprisingly, there's a better selection of chuunige as well - industry is absolutely alive and kicking. However, now it's truly the last year of abundance - sneak peek into 2014 shows the number of masterpieces being in the mid twenties. Visual Novel Openings 2013 .
My list of masterpieces in 2013:
Boku ga Tenshi ni Natta Wake
ChuSinGura 46+1
Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai
Electro Arms -Realize Digital Dimension-
Futagoza no Paradox
Getsuei Gakuen -kou-
Gensou no Idea ~Oratorio Phantasm Historia~
Grisaia no Rakuen
Hapymaher
HHG Megami no Shuuen
Himawari no Kyoukai to Nagai Natsuyasumi
Inpyuri -Hito to Anata to Ayakashi to-
Izayoi no Fortuna
Jesus 13th -Ushinawareta Gakuen-
Kara no Shoujo - The Second Episode
Karumaruka ＊ Circle
Kimi to Kanojo to Kanojo no Koi.
Koi Suru Tame ni Umaretekita-
Komorebi no Nostalgica
Lovesick Puppies -Bokura wa Koi Suru Tame ni Umaretekita-
Natsu no Owari no Nirvana
Natsukumo Yururu
Ojou-sama wa Gokigen Naname
Prism ◇ Recollection!
Reminiscence
Ryuusei☆Kiseki -Shooting Probe-
Seihou no Prismgear
Sengoku † Koihime ~Otome Kenran ☆ Sengoku Emaki~
Shoujo Shin'iki ~ Shoujo Tengoku -The Garden of Fifth Zoa-
Timepiece Ensemble
Tojita Sekai no Tori Colony
Tsukiakari Lunch
XBlaze Code: Embryo
Yume ka Utsutsu ka Matryoshka
As for year 2013, apparently, Clephas chose Hapymaher . I'm absolutely subjective when I choose game of the year thinking only of personal preferences, so I choose ChuSinGura 46+1.
And I need to announce what I'll be reviewing. Sadly, Dunamis15 can't be hooked. Or rather it can and I can get wall of text, but no lines are loaded into memory, so proper play is impossible, and I'm not going to repeat what I did with Psyclone - copy-pasting lines from the wall of text on the fly, it was also a much shorter game. So for 2011 I'm going to review Noblelige instead .
I find two games in the utter need of English reviews, so I'm taking up Seihou no Prismgear and Shoujo Shin'iki ~ Shoujo Tengoku -The Garden of Fifth Zoa- for review. See you there!
Kinda forgot to post May. ChronoBox made the day for me with Ojou-sama no Hanbun wa Ren'ai de Dekiteimasu! and Newton to Ringo no Ki as other masterpieces. Clephas had the second one in mind for the winner. Micchi adds such titles as Anata ni Koisuru Ren’ai Recette and Nekopara nukige
1. Amayui Castle Meister 天結いキャッスルマイスター [170526] Eushully 1
“Magesmiths” are wizards that specialize in labyrinth construction and restoration. Avaro, one of them, sought to one day run his own workshop. To realize this dream, he accepted a job in Influse Kingdom of investigating some ruins. Unfortunately, he got caught in a cave-in and ended up lost. As he wandered, he came across a girl, sleeping inside a magic stone, Fia.
After waking up, Fia told him that she has no memory of herself; however, she knows that she is unmistakably a Goddess. Continuing, she tells Avaro that she could, if she wanted to, move the entirety of the ruins with her Godly powers, and she points out that she has to, no matter what, make it to the closed-off holy ground of the Kingdom. The "Mist Corridor of the Sacred Sound."
Fia, who has said nothing but what could only be nonsense so far, invites Avaro to join her on her journey, saying that he can use these ruins as his workshop however he likes if he does. Although doubtful, Avaro accepts her conditions and becomes the apostle of the self-proclaimed Goddess, and while using the moving ruins as his atelier, they head north.
Before long, rumors of the ‘Gualacuna Fortress’ are spread across the country, and while fighting anyone who comes after the fortress, thinking that it has valuables or is a threat, Avaro searches for the truth related to the Goddess’ memories.
Along with the Goddess of Marriage, “The Story That Weaves Bonds” marks the beginning..
RPG
2. Anata ni Koi Suru Ren'ai Recette あなたに恋する恋愛ルセット [170526] Unison Shift 1
The recently-founded Rokkasei Gakuen doesn’t have a rich history. One of its notable features is that students will select their specialization during the second term of their first year. Haruma decided to pursue the confectionery course that had been added this school year for the simple reason that he loves sweet a lot.
Nonoka, who loves both eating and making sweets
Yuzuki, who looks to be perfect at everything, but is actually quite clumsy
Fuuka, who possess maternal instincts and fortitude behind her quiet demeanour
Miel, who has a discerning palate, despite her lack of motivation and energy
Haruma’s meetings with these unique girls in his class draws him further not only into the charm of sweets, but also sweet sweet love...
There is an English review
3. ChronoBox クロノボックス [170526] No Brand 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Nayuta was one of many students who attended “EDEN” on a small solitary island called “Angel Island”. The enjoyable time that he spent together with his friends was put to an end by a sole black box and a “girl in black”.
Surely, it will be all right. It’s best to keep forgetting the past which should not be remembered and continuing living their lives with their angel-like friends who have gathered in EDEN. The nightmare on which the girl leads them has yet to end...
There are English reviews
4. Hanidebi! Honey & Devil はにデビ！ Honey & Devil [170526] Eufonie 1
Yuuto was returning home after finishing up his part-time job when some men in black suddenly appeared and forced him into a car.
“Hurry up and take off your pants! I can’t take it anymore!!”
Without given a choice, he was sexually assaulted inside by a girl named Ouka, who had become possessed by a succubus after carelessly touching a sealed book. It caused her to become aroused indiscriminately. She had desperately searched for a way to drive away the succubus and targeted him since he was the descendant of an exorcist. While Yuuto didn’t know anything about exorcisms, she would be able to withstand the succubus’ powers for a short time by having sex with him.
He was at a loss after such an unexpected first meeting, but it didn’t end there. She arranged for his immediate transfer to her school, the prestigious Ten’ouji Gakuen.
“Please have sex with us and drive out the succubi!”
It wasn’t just Ouka who was possessed by a succubus, but three other girls as well: the pretty book girl Ruri, the strict monitor Aoi, and the student council president Kaoruko who is his childhood friend. Will he be able to expel the succubi and what will become of their relationships which started off with sex?
There is an English review
5. Newton to Ringo no Ki ニュートンと林檎の樹 [170526] Laplacian 1 2 3 4
"'Newton' was actually the pen name of a brilliant-minded girl!?"
Protagonist Syuji Asanaga and his childhood friend Yotsuko Utakane, whilst tracking down Syuji's missing grandfather, unexpectedly ended up travelling through time.
What they witnessed upon their arrival was the presence of a single girl right in front of them.
This particular girl would go on to be dubbed as the father of modern-day science, Sir Isaac Newton!
That's correct, Newton turned out to be a small, flat-chested girl!
Unaware of this, Syuji loudly crashed into the apple tree right in front of the girl.
"Just now... I came up with something that might be incredibly ground-breaking, you know!?"
It was at the moment our main couple travelled through time, right then and there, that Newton discovered universal gravitation!
And just like that, through Syuji's witless conduct, the great scientific discoveries of that century had all crumbled to ashes.
What's more, like the domino effect, this would gradually end up altering key points in history.
It is now sometime during the 17th century!
The story is set at a prestigious English university called "Tenbridge University",
named for the fact that it spans a total of ten bridges!
Will Syuji ever be able to rectify history and return to the present!?
Game is localized and has English reviews
6. Ojou-sama no Hanbun wa Ren'ai de Dekiteimasu! お嬢様の半分は恋愛で出来ています！ [170526] Luxury Tiara 1 2
The pretty boy Hajime is an agent of a large secret organization, who was asked by the boss one day to do the impossible. His mission was to infiltrate Houshou Girl’s Academy, where only pure maidens are allowed, and to claim the title of the greatest lady: ‘Highness’. Thus, he traded in his weapon for lipstick to become an agent of matchless beauty. What is the purpose of this strange mission?
There is an English review
7. Ojou-sama to Aware na (Ko) Shitsuji お嬢様と憐れな（こ）執事 [170526] Carol Works
Rikudou is pretty much homeless because of his freewheeling father. Fortunately, his uncle took him in and arranged everything for him with the sole condition that he serves as a bridge between him and his rebellious daughters. He readily agreed, thinking that it was a common worry for a father, and thus his days of suffering began.
Moege-ish game with a trap protagonist is contrary to my interests
8. LoveKami -Useless Goddess- [170529] Pulltop 1 2 3
"I took in a goddess!"
It was after the descent of uncountable goddesses in Japan...
Most goddesses were able to blend in with humans, living peacefully and happily together. Some of those goddesses even went on to become idols.
However, there were others who simply refused to follow the rules. These goddesses prefer living freely and doing as they please, inadvertently causing all sorts of trouble for humans.
Goddesses who are naughty are called Aragami.
The protagonist, Sho Narumi, stumbles upon a goddess who collapses on the street and attempts to help her. Soon enough it is revealed that she's the Aragami who had been causing frequent power outages in one small-town area of Tokyo. Sho decides to protect his beloved hometown by helping the goddess to get rehabilitated!
"Rehabilitate the goddess!"
Wait...aren't goddesses supposed to help humans?
With the setting moving from Akihabara to a quiet small-town area of Tokyo, the story of one naughty goddess's rehabilitation begins now!
Game is released in English and has English reviews
9. Kangoku Shounen 監獄少年 [1705] SEEC
It's at the end of Taisho era.
The main character, Tetsu Akatsuki witnesses an incident in 12-Story Prison which is one of hub of Secret Police…
The closer he gets to the truth, the more he finds that the dark of 12-Story Prison is deep.
Holding your own sense of justice in mind, solve the mysteries together with your partner!
The mystery novel adventure game about the justice and friendship between Tetsu and Nagi, who put their lives at risk.
Detective
BLOCKED
1. Omokage Railback - Episode Hachi: Deiki no Tsuki 面影レイルバック・エピソード捌 泥亀の月 [170502] Hiqo Soft 1 2 Prequel of Omokage Railback that tells the story eight years prior to Omokage Railback. Demo/Fandisc has an English impression
2. Neko Para Vol.3 Neko-tachi no Aromatize ネコぱら Vol.3 ネコたちのアロマティゼ [170525] NEKO WORKs 1 2 3
Patisserie "La Soleil", run by Kashou Minazuki, is flourishing thanks to the help of two catgirls: Maple, full of pride and a little on the haughty side, and Cinnamon, an impulsive daydreamer.
These two are especially close among among the rest of the sisters. One day, Maple encounters something that shakes her belief in attaining her dream. Cinnamon, unwilling to see Maple suffer, wishes to help her in any way possible... but she can't figure out how. This story is a heartwarming cat comedy about their ambitions and the bonds between family members... with a little ecchi on the side, too.
Nukige listed for the sake of opening
3. Hime-sama Love Life! -Motto! Ichaicha ☆ Paradise!- 姫様LOVEライフ！ -もーっと！イチャイチャ☆ぱらだいす！- [170526] Princess Sugar Heroines' afterstories Fandisc
I remember enjoying Grisaia no Kajitsu a long time ago even though nowadays Frontwing eternal greed for releasing series in episodes and inserting ads in their official channel and everyone else's channels makes me sick. Micchi favors Lover Able and some fandisc.
1. Artemis Blue アルテミスブルー [110224] Applique -Imouto- 1 2 3
In 2040, a mysterious natural disaster causes all planes to stop functioning above 500 feet (150 meters) of the Earth’s surface, resulting in over 20 million deaths. The year is 2060 and it is forbidden to fly above this limit. Pilots call this stretch from 500 feet to outer space ‘Artemis’s hymen’. Now a group of people operate a transport agency from the abandoned building that was to be the New Third Tokyo International Airport (nicknamed Edowanzu). They wish to fly higher than what is permitted by aviation laws.
Haru is a cheerful, honest, polite and hardworking girl who always wanted to become a pilot. Following her dream, she went overseas after graduating from high school and earned her pilot license after two years in an aviation school in San Diego. She applied to become a co-pilot and got an interview with the Kubo Air Transport Agency. There she met Katsura Keima, the test pilot who had broken the impenetrable barrier in Project Ikaros five years ago.
There are English reviews
2. Flag Heshiori Otoko フラグへし折り男 [110225] Hamham Soft
Kogorou is the assistant instructor at the Suzuhara-ryuu Kendo dojo in Minoudai. He lives alone at the top of a hill and his osananajimi Mahiru comes to wake him up every day, even though she knows that he will already be out of bed and dressed by the time she gets there. That’s because she is like many other girls who has fallen in love with him because of his honesty and seriousness. He is known as the ‘man who breaks flags’.
A comedy with flat characters and eye-tearing graphics.
3. Grisaia no Kajitsu グリザイアの果実 -LE FRUIT DE LA GRISAIA- [110225] Frontwing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Mihama Academy - on the surface, a closed learning environment established to nurture students who find themselves at odds with the world around them; in actuality, an orchard-cum-prison built to preserve fruit that has fallen too far from its tree.
Whatever the circumstances behind its establishment, Mihama Academy is at present home to five female students, all with their own reasons for "enrollment." For better or worse, each girl has established a routine obliging of her current situation; life moves at an idle, yet accommodating pace within the walls of Mihama.
Yet with the arrival of the institute's first male student, the nearly preposterously opaque Kazami Yuuji, the students at Mihama begin to fall out of step with their predetermined rhythms. Will Yuuji prove to be the element the girls around him needed to take hold of their lives once more, or will the weight of their pasts prove too steep a wall to overcome?
And in the first place, just who is Kazami Yuuji? While the true nature of the "job" he is wont to alight to at the most haphazard of moments remains shrouded in secrecy, one thing is for certain - his encroachment upon the quiet orchard known as Mihama Academy will prove itself momentous in one way or another. And of course, one cannot discount the possibility that perhaps Yuuji himself carries the weightiest past of any of the students...
Game is localized and has English reviews.
4. Hime-sama Gentei! ~Princess Limited~ 姫様限定！～Princess Limited～ [110225] Princess Sugar
Celina is the princess of the prosperous western European country of Mellberg and came to Japan to study at a normal school while concealing her true identity. Since she is a distant relative to Yuu, she ends up living in his house. One day, the princess of the resource-rich country of Marualand, Olivia, was exiled to Japan in a coup d’état. Quickly gaining notice around the town, she was treated like a honored guest. However, Yuu disapproved of her snobby attitude since he had grown accustomed to being around princess Celina. Then, Celina told Olivia not to be near him as he is her most precious person. Not backing down from the challenge, she states that she will make him hers.
Scenario is crappy and boring, so I'd call it a moege. Olivia's collapsed personality is probably the most memorable element.
5. Hinata Terrace ~We don't Abandon You.~ ひなたテラス ～We don't abandon you.～ [110225] Giga
Yoshihisa doesn’t have any relatives, but he doesn’t feel sad or lonely. While there’s nothing wrong with his personality, he finds it difficult to connect with others. Upon acceptance to the school, the school director offered him a cheap room if he helps out around the apartment. He meets the other residents: dojikko classmate Hina, the class rep Natsuki, and his teacher and self-proclaimed guardian Fumika. One day, a girl arrives carrying a letter and introduces herself as his imouto.
If it's Giga with unidentified scenario writer, it's a kusoge by default not worth anyone's time. Typical Giga moege.
6. Lover Able ラブラブル～Lover Able～ [110225] Smee 1 2 3 4
Haruki and his imouto Kaho move to a new town due to their parents’ work and are taken care of by their uncle. Due to a promise made between the adults, they have to help out at their uncle’s beachside cafe Fruitia. During the summer, he meets a girl that transferred in at the same time Chinatsu, quiet and mysterious classmate Satsuki, lively kouhai Tsugumi and fellow part-timer Nanako. Of course, Kaho is always by his side. This is the beginning of a summer romance.
It sounds like a pretty standard love comedy plot, but what makes Lover Able different is the customization. Prefer short hair to long hair? Want her to wear a dress instead of T-shirt and shorts? The system allows you to tailor the heroines to hit all your moe sweet spots, making all those ichaicha moments even better.
There are English reviews
7. Nekonade Distortion 猫撫ディストーション [110225] Whitesoft 1 2 3 4
Tatsuki’s imouto Kotoko is striken with an incurable disease and spends every day in her room reading books. He told himself not to enter her room to avoid giving her any stress. One night, he saw lots of shooting stars in the sky and wanted to let her know since she loved seeing pictures of stars and space. When Tatsuki opened her door, he found Kotoko without any vital signs. He blamed himself for causing her death.
On another day much later when the night sky was full of shooting stars just like that fateful day, he visited her room just like before. To his surprise, Kotoko was there. The next morning, his parents thought that Kotoko had never died, and for some reason, his pet cat turned into a catgirl.
There are English reviews.
8. Soukyuu no Soleil ~Fullmetal Eyes~ 蒼穹のソレイユ～FULLMETAL EYES～ [110225] SkyFish 1
Soukyuu no Soleil is a tactical battle SLG which is the successor to SkyFish’s previous “Valkyrie Saga” titles Shirogane no Soleil and Gouen no Soleil. The story takes place in another world where there is a white and a blue moon in the sky. The humans are constantly fighting magical monsters called ‘berserk’, which are weapons which activate using the souls of humans. Valkyries come from the white moon to aid them in battle. This is where the main protagonist Sora meets the valkyrie Odette on the battlefield and fight alongside one another.
There is an English review.
9. Sweet Robin Girl スイートロビンガール [110225] ChuableSoft 1
The town of Levindom feels unchanged from the past, with red-brick buildings lining the stone-paved roads and overlooked by an old castle. In the Lower Town, there is a small and quaint cafe called the Birdies’ Perch, which used to be popular among the locals. But now, no one comes to enjoy coffee there anymore. The owner Sydney, burdened with increasing debts, drowns his sorrows with wine. As the payment date draws near, he prepares to lose the last thing that he owns.
That’s when four young girls came to his shop. Their names are Fiona, Elen, Meg and Primrose. They all lost a place to call their own for different reasons. The leaves turn red and the wind becomes chilly, but yet these girls continue living happily while he just laments at his current dire situation. He realizes that he cannot just give up and, motivated once more, he opens the cafe with their help.
There is an English review.
10. With Ribbon [110225] Hulotte 1 2 3
This is the HULOTTE’s debut title. Shoutarou had a dream where a very young girl who he had never seen before leapt at him, saying that she finally found him and she had wanted to meet her father. She said that even though he’s not her father yet right now, he definitely will be. With a kind smile, she tells him that will understand what she’s saying soon. After waking up, he walks to Tokimizu Gakuen like usual with his osananajimi Hina and saves a girl from being hit by a car. It’s the same girl from his dream! “I’ve come to support your love, papa!”
There are English impressions.
BLOCKED
1. Flyable CandyHeart [110225] Unison Shift: Blossom 1 2 3 4 5
Flyable CandyHeart features the full cast of the original game as well as cameos from Nanatsuiro★Drops, Alice♥Parade, Peace@Pieces and Kiminago.
There are individual spin-off routes for each of the six FH heroines, the new routes for Yui and Suzuno are the final pieces to the multiple route mystery of the original game.
FCH also features three bonus routes; one for everyone's favorite student council secretary Gumi-chan, one in which Shou has the opportunity to become even more intimate friends with Akira, and finally the mega crossover route.
Fandisc
2. Koi Katsu! コイ☆カツ！ [110225] Silhouette
Rino is forced to join a club that involves sexual activities. She does not know anything about boys, so she asks Togo for help. He opposes this idea, but agrees after threat to reveal his small secret. The mysterious club awaits.
Nukige, but with an opening.
Foreword: Could not miss probably the best game in the series. All conceptual things are given in a different review (1), so I'll slack with just an impression.
Synopsis:
There are two different worlds... They are quite similar, but conflicting with each other. One of the world is called the World of White Silver that exists independently. However, the other world coexists with other worlds, closely affecting each other. People of these worlds hate to be invaded by others. And this power invites another chaos...
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv_krD6OdwnhHB-nWGXn6p2t
Game type: Chunige
Character Design rating: 9/10
Protagonist rating: 8/10
Story rating: 9/10
Game quality: 9/10
Overall rating: 9/10
To explain score split I need to return to Shirogane review. I disliked protagonist, unnatural romance, harem relations, focus on ero, obsession with loli heroines there. And now imagine that all that is fixed in the second game without adding new flaws. And that in short is why I'm so excited about Gouen no Soleil.
Even worldview is better. It used to be pretty much usual world with school, childhood friend, older sister teacher and all that boring stuff while gradually trying to become powerful enough to oppose berserks. This time only very start happens at school, then strange girl comes to school with a humanized toad, and they teleport protagonist to a different world - world of chaos - in sister's body. So first of all all the conventional life ties get torn, plus chaotic nature of this world promises a lot of excitement.
And excitement we get. There are some outstanding characters and scenes including battles to encounter in this world, but everyday scenes still take the bulk of time. And what game really excels at is everyday scenes. Most of them happen in a mansion with all cliche attributes - sadist blonde mistress, butler and maids. Tempo is really good, and humor is everywhere, even in battle scenes. There's not a grain of boredom in this game, unless you play for the second time for a different heroine since many scenes are shared due to limit of two route branches.
Let's say couple words about characters. There's no centerpiece heroine like Hagar this time, but heroines are nice and varied. It was strange to see both of maids get their endings, but maids personalities are also distinctive. Even Rin does not look like a loli most of the time, to my relief. As for protagonist, he/she is surprisingly decent as he/she familiarizes with this new world pretty fast. Most of the time protagonist spends time as a girl, and that girl has a face, so we don't associate ourselves with her, and it allows to skip all the horny-ness altogether, let alone think about harem. Apart of repeating masturbation scene in the bathroom there is hardly any cliche trap/body transfer moves. Finally we can focus on the story and heroines without persistent goal to get them in bed. H scenes are mostly focused in boss battles after defeat, so I absolutely did not feel any irritation with them. There are no those weird zooms, camera moves in H events from Shirogane, and length is short. Oh, should also mention that I've no complaints with art. I wish other Soleil games had the same style as Gouen.
But what I describe looks very much like perfect 10/10 score. So what kind of flaws do I nitpick over this time? Well, setting is indeed chaotic, and it does not bother to give proper explanations to the reader. But there is another technical flaw - number of CG. The total number is 74 with variations which diverges from common case of around 100 CG. I don't really care that there are only 1 or 2 HCGs per scene, but game would really benefit form normal battle CG. As of now, all battles happen in text dialogue mode with some rare slashing effects laid upon character sprites. Heck, I barely scratched enough CG for this review. Oh, well, and I believe that perfect 10/10 visual novels should be serious stories. And given all the moe and comedy tilt I just can't call Gouen no Soleil a serious story.
What we get in the end is a surprisingly appealing mix of genres. I'm weak to games relating in metafiction, and this time there aren't only references to Shirogane no Soleil, but also to Harukazedori ni, Tomarigi o let alone references to future games. I still intend to skip Skyfish SOL games, but perfectionist in me realizes how satisfying it is to unwind such complex web of ties in each game.
Nothing good comes out of July. But if I had to play one thing, it would be Fuuraiki 4
1. Amayui Labyrinth Meister 天結いラビリンスマイスター [210721] Eushully
After a great adventure over the giant moving weapon ‘Gualacuna Fortress’ Avaro finally acquires a workshop he once dreamed of, but fortress can not move on its own anymore with the magic in its core lost. One day a ghost of the fortress appear, Fia calls her "Kuna" and welcomes to the family. However, spirit is constantly worried about magic anomality on the north-eastern border. So our heroes decide to spend honeymoon investigating the source of trouble.
SRPG
2. Fuuraiki 4 風雨来記4 [210708] FOG
The player is a mid-level reportage writer who participates in “NohiCom,” a reporting competition between magazine publishers, and hunts for stories in Gifu Prefecture.
During the day, you will travel by motorcycle and experience the beauty of nature and the different lifestyles of the people. At night, you will camp and write about the things you saw.
Discover more of Gifu’s charm, write the best articles, and aim to win the competition within the four-week deadline.
Tourist tour adventure is back
3. Fuyu Kiss フユキス [210721] Giga
Japan was in the midst of a record setting cold wave.
My city - Uetsuruto - was no exception, as we were beset by day after day of freezing weather.
Then, one night, I received a text from an unknown number.
"Look outside your window! Snow! It's snowing!"
Sure enough, the world outside my window had been transformed into a white wonderland.
"I'm sorry to text you so late. It's just... you were the first person I wanted to tell."
That was the final message they sent me.
I had no idea who the sender was.
Yet I had the strange feeling that, very soon, I might just fall in love.
In a world of snow, a warm and gentle love story is woven.
When seasons are over to put in the title, there are still twelve months to use with Kiss
4. Parquet [210731] Yuzusoft SOUR 1 2 3
In the near future, a technology called Brain-Machine Interface connects the brain and machines. This technology brings about a new paradigm and opens the gates to the digitization of human memory itself.
From these new discoveries, "he" is born. An illegal experiment mixes thousands of memories into a single vessel, creating a wholly new being.
Having only the memories of others, doubts about who he truly is start arising in his mind, until he gathers the courage to go out into the world in search of his true self.
As he steps into the real world, he meets two girls, Kido Tsubasa and Ibaraki Rino. Both kind souls whose lives have been touched by unscrupulous BMI experiments, just like him. Learning to live together with their secrets, "he" and "they" will bring about big changes...
Game is released in English and has English reviews
5. Asagao wa Ai o Shiranai. アサガオは夜を識らない。 [210730] MELLOW
Main character travels on a train with a remote island as a destination place. That dream of a rainy night will come true...
Middle price work that tries to create a mysterious atmosphere, but gets boring from the middle unless you can appreciate all the beauty of living creature death nonsense. Not a plotge for sure.
6. Shin Hayarigami 3 真 流行り神3 [210729] Nippon Ichi Software
A new set of occult incidents are investigated by police detective Houjou Maki and her partner Sena.
Detective
7. Ore-tachi no Tatakai wa Kore Kara da! 俺たちの戦いはこれからだ！ [210714] Vridge Inc. 1
Get ready to be reborn into a fantasy world, just seconds before the last boss' demise!
You have no memory of your adventure or heroic strength, and yet the people celebrate you as the Hero who saved the realm. This is just your typical adventure game filled with heroes and heroines... except it starts where games usually end.
Game is released in English and has English reviews
8. Houkago⇒Education! ~Sensei to Hajimeru Miwaku no Lesson~ 放課後⇒エデュケーション！～先生とはじめる魅惑のレッスン～ [210721] Escu:de
Rurinofune (lapislazuli ship) Academy ––
The school where ambitious young students from all over the country gather day after day in the pursuit of knowledge. It's not a boys school per se, however, the student body consists of 100% males, which makes people refer to it as the "aromantic stone ship."
However, lately the principal has been employing more professional women teachers, who are adept in many fields. Those women have been enjoying reverence and popularity as though they were idols by the male student body.
Our protagonist, Arato Kanata, had been moving away from his prestigious hometown and came to Japan and attends Rurinofune Academy as an off-season transfer student.
In order to have a chance at graduation, he has to take some after-school remedial classes for several months. And the girls responsible for these classes are those cherished girls that all the students yearn for.
Being closer to these teachers than the average student, the character of Kanata's relationship with them soon turns intimate...
SIM
9. Yuukyuu no Campanella 悠久のカンパネラ [210730] Windmill Oasis
The kingdom of Atlastia --
North of the world, there's a group of flying islands - this is where the flying continent of Atlastia and its well-known titular kingdom is located. And not only in Atlastia itself - everywhere across the flying islands - the legend of a particular clan is being passed down from generation to generation.
The legendary heroes clan, "Oasis."
Even though they had saved the continent 100 years ago, their sub-commander Chester Silver has laid dormant for ages now. Now, about 100 years have passed and as Chester wakes up from his long arduous slumber he...
...bears witness to the Idol Princess Claria singing her songs to entertain the public. He wakes up as being one of her supporters cheering her on.
And then --
Spurred on by Claria's admiration for the Heroes Clan "Oasis," Chester Silver gathers his former companions, the twin sisters Angelique and Juliet Gilbert, to embark on a new adventure.
At the same time, a mysterious woman who had woken up from her slumber in the crypt of a ruin, Colette says:
"Now that Colette has woken up, this world's fate is sealed."
Strange incidents begin to occur in the world and with the causality of 100 years past intertwining, the adventure Chester seeks is closer than he thinks.
For those who liked prequels
Foreword: It's the only fantasy battle game of the month, so it's a natural choice to play.
Synopsis:
The main character is Haruto, a soldier. One day, he loses his life during a battle. To get back to life, he'll need to get the energy of other people. However, it's hard to do so.... Just when he gives up, Noah and Firia stop him. They decide to offer their bodies to him....
Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2b9TvxnBQI&list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv8XAUhTcdaTO60VfvBTk47Y
Game type: Fantasy Fighting Pure Love Nukige
Character Design rating: 6/10
Protagonist rating: 4/10
Story rating: 3/10
Game quality: 6/10
Overall rating: 5/10
I so liked this game's genre definition in one Japanese review as "Pure Love Nukige" that I took it for myself. It just fits so good. For decades eroge could be roughly divided in pure love and devil games, and devil games were inevitably nukige, so pure love and nukige could not be imagined coexisting. Moege usually lacked depth and affinity for heroines, so it's difficult to call them pure love. Tsurugi Otome Noah manages to present developed and pure hearted heroines without corrupting them. That's basically the secret of this game. Majority of Japanese reviews put really high scores because of it - 65 to 75. But for me any kind of nukige gets a huge penalty instantly. Heroines appeal bears little meaning for me as well, so your evaluation might be significantly higher after playing this game.
One hour introduction is pretty much epic with the adventurers party consisting of Hero, Saint, Tank and Magician fighting the Demon King. But our protagonist tank Haruto gets killed by Demon King black spell. Haruto gets revived, but acquires appearance of Demon King and blackness that erodes his soul. Magician Sarlun says that cutting blackness out can lead to dire consequences, so she suggests to substitute darkness with purity of Hero Noa and Saint Orfilia... by everyday sex.
Composition-wise there is one hour introduction and some two hour ending. Between that is 17 hours of fillers (it's with H events themselves cut already) with just everyday H events and devil general appearing who just joins the fun. That's it. Very simple and very stupid. Even those who evaluate game highly say that it should have been cut at least twice. I'll also mention that game seriously lacks normal CG and reuses CG and HCG widely. I counted some 30 H events in the game, and from midgame it's mostly 3P.
Don't really what to say more about this game. If yuusha and saint girls manage to charm you, it's going to be a passable run. If not, welcome to my world of pain while playing this game.
Komorebi no Nostalgica is VN of the Month. Hapymaher , Boku ga Tenshi ni Natta Wake , Kara no Shoujo - The Second Episode are also good choice. Clephas thought highly at least of first three. Zen also expects a lot from the last one, and Micchi seems to be a fan of Pastel Chime franchise while Prism◇Recollection fills his cuteness meter this month.
1. Kara no Shoujo - The Second Episode 虚ノ少女 [130208] Innocent Grey 1 2 3 4
Prewar-era Japan.
Deep in the snowy mountains of northwestern Japan, there exists a settlement called Hitogata, the Village of Dolls. On the night of the festival honoring the clay idol Hinna-sama, a girl is murdered.
The villagers all blame Hinna-sama's curse. One outside the faith has joined in the festival of Hinna-sama, and brought the painful death of the curse down upon themself.
October, 1957.
Two years have passed since Kuchiki Touko's abduction from her hospital room.
Tokisaka Reiji's younger sister saves a man who had tried to commit suicide.
He, too, is the most recent victim of "Hinna-sama's curse"——
Tokisaka Reiji begins his investigation, clinging desperately to the hope that Touko can be saved——
And at the same time, a strange religious group said to have dissolved six years ago begins to move again, to put a certain plan into motion——
The curse will be carried out, whether by the gods or by human hands.
There are English reviews
2. Sakura-sou no Pet na Kanojo さくら荘のペットな彼女 [130214] Netchubiyori Ltd. 1 2
Sakura Dormitory is a dorm of the high school affiliated with Suimei University of the Arts (often shortened as Suiko), which hosts the strangest, trouble-making students. After being kicked out of the normal dorm for keeping a stray cat, Sorata Kanda moves into Sakura Dormitory. As he starts to get used to the life in the dorm, Mashiro Shiina, a world famous artist who cannot even take care of her daily life, moves in. Sorata is forced to become Mashiro's handler. The story is about their daily life as well as mental growth.
Anime Spin-Off
3. Pastel Chime 3 Bind Seeker パステルチャイム3 バインドシーカー [130215] Alice Soft 1 2
One day, during a mission with a 0% danger probability, an A-class adventurer Kaitos comes across a mysterious witch and accidentally disrupts her ritual. As a result, many evil spirits called Binds are released into the world and Kaitos, being affected by the ritual too, doesn't have much choice but to start helping the witch in sealing the Binds that have been set free.
Enlisting the support from his friends both new and old, our hero sets out on a quest which ends up being much more complicated than a simple Bind hunt...
SRPG has English reviews
4. Toaru Majutsu to Kagaku no Ensemble とある魔術と科学の群奏活劇（アンサンブル） [130221] Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.
In the "Magic (Surface)" story, the Gate of the Gods Descended from Heaven, a Magic Cabal, whose existence is wrapped in a veil of mystery. This story is the one that is featured in Toaru Majutsu no Index: Road to Endymion light novel. In the "Magic (Hidden)" story, the Venus Probe Contest, is a contest in which rockets are launched throughout the world to probe Venus. An event related to that project called the "Venus Probe Project Race" is being held on the Academy City SNS Rondo Net. Here, an incident begins when Kamijou Touma applies for the race. Finally, in the "Science (Hidden)" story, the Academy City SNS Rondo Net is a type of SNS that has grown popular among Academy City students, where registered users can not only communicate amongst each other, but can also acquire things like coupons and for buying things. The number of users of the service has grown explosively. Saten Ruiko has an eye for the current fads, so she tries out the service.
Anime Spin-Off
5. Komorebi no Nostalgica 木洩れ陽のノスタルジーカ [130222] Strega 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
In the distant future, humans live together with AI and history had been forgotten. Youta enjoyed his quiet life even though he was often manipulated by his genius programmer (but also extreme troublemaker) imouto Akira. One day while accompanying Akira, he came upon a hidden room. With the help of some old friends, they managed to open the door. Inside they found a pretty android girl in a deep sleep. Her body and her heart was broken. Akira decided right there that she wanted to fix her and her words fired up everyone’s curiosity, just like when they were kids. Thus begins their heart-warming days with the android girl Cinema.
There are English reviews
6. Mote Sugite Shuraba na Ore モテすぎて修羅場なオレ [130222] Praline
Hayato was the smart and attractive vice-president of Kamijou Gakuen’s student council. Kind, considerate and reliable, he was naturally quite popular among girls. However, he secretly was in four separate relationships due to various circumstances! So far nothing bad had come out of it… until the new school term this spring.
The student council president Aoi joined his class! His osananajimi Saki enrolled in the same curriculum! His former tutor Shiho became his homeroom teacher! His cousin Hinano who lived in the countryside joined his school! With all four girls in the same place, how could he keep his secret intact? He wouldn’t dare think about what would happen to him if his strict mother found out about it. Moreover, blood would likely be shed if the girls themselves found out.
Harem titles are usually crappy. This is exactly such case.
7. Prism ◇ Recollection! プリズム◇リコレクション！ [130222] Clochette 1 2 3
In the year 2040, there have been considerable technological advances, especially in city centers like Tonan. One day in late August, Masanobu returned to his hometown after being away in Tokyo for about 3 years and transferred into Kujougaoka Gakuen. After meeting Sayaka and getting a short tour of the city, he later joined her club, ☆☆☆ Club (Three Stars Club). Its primary function is to guide tourists and it is pretty well known both within and outside of the school. He got to know Sayaka and fellow club member Hinano well, and his classmate Aina and imouto Konoka also joined the club which became an oasis to him. There are English reviews
8. Royal Duty / Flush!! [130222] Lime
Yuuma attends a school for the elite and wealthy and does not have any relatives. He spends his days like a commoner as much as possible, while quite aware of the elite status of those around him. However, one day he was proposed to by a transfer student who was the princess of a small country! It was their custom to find a marriage partner as part of their coming of age ceremony and she had come to his school to do just that. His objections fell on deaf ears and when he looked to his childhood friend for help, she confessed that she had always loved him.
Scenario is too short and does not feature anything out of expectations league, so it only gets a chance if you get to like one of heroines.
9. Seisai no Resonance 星彩のレゾナンス [130222] Yatagarasu 1 2
Otofuse Island is a remote island located south of the mainland. While it is a beautiful sightseeing place surrounded by clear seas and lush forests, it is also bound by tradition. A long time ago, a giant fireball came down from the sky, burning the island for three whole days. Since the men were out fishing, it was up to the women to control the flames and protect the island. They sealed the fire so that it would not ravage the island again. Even now, a sealing ritual is performed by a selected pair of mikos.
Kanae came to Otofuse Island looking for her mother who was formerly a miko there, but had went missing 7 years ago. She also had an acceptance letter into Sakihana all-girls academy. However, she was attacked by a girl from the island’s secret organization Shouraikai which is in charge of the rituals, then found out that her enrollment had been revoked. Leaving the school grounds, she noticed something amiss and came face-to-face with a giant monster. Suddenly, the amulet which her mother had given to her for protection lent her fire powers to defeat the beast. Her power was sensed by the miko candidates and she was taken in by the school. She also became part of the otome-kai and a miko candidate herself. It is the otome-kai’s duty to put their lives on the line to fight against these strange beings known as ‘impurities’. They have to train together to strengthen their bonds while cleansing the impurities using their powers.
There is an English review
10. Ai ♂ Mai ♀ Misuto あい♂まい♀みすと [130228] Hakudakukei 1
Ikumi's childhood friend Mana has a father who's a scientist and inventor. One night Ikumi goes to his laboratory to check on him for Mana's sake and is accidentally caught in the Ai Mai Mist. The Ai Mai Mist changes him into a girl.
While Mana's father searches for a cure Ikumi lives with Mana who watches over her. Adjusting to life as a girl will she want to remain that way forever or change back into a boy? Will she date other girls or fall in love with a boy? The future contains many possibilities.
There is an English review
11. Boku ga Tenshi ni Natta Wake 僕が天使になった理由 [130228] Overdrive 1 2 3 4 5
Nestled between the mountains and the ocean somewhere sits the harbor town of Inogo City, a prosperous place with an atmosphere of the exotic.
It is this city, watched over by the church at the summit of the highest mountain, where a boy and a girl first meet.
The boy's name is Kirinokojima Tomoe. A lonely young man, who believes neither in love nor in happiness.
The girl's name is Aine. One who sings of love to fill the world with happiness, who was born for that very purpose... an angel.
To anyone who saw him, Kirinokojima Tomoe would have seemed to lead a singularly boring life.
He didn't even attempt to befriend others, nor did he have a girlfriend, unsurprisingly. He was involved in no hobbies or interests to speak of.
Waking in the morning only to go off to school, returning home only to sleep. An utterly ordinary, routine life, each day no different from the day before or after it.
But he was not in the least unhappy with his life. For him, a life of "nothing" was also one of "nothing to lose".
Wish for something, and you would only end up getting hurt.
After all, he'd already sampled enough of the world's bitterness for one lifetime.
Until, like a herald of the end of that tranquil existence, an angel appeared.
"Angels". The protectors of human loves. The ones who spin the "red thread", and those who play its melody.
"Love can never bring people happiness.", said Tomoe.
"That's not true at all! Falling in love makes your heart feel all light!", Aine replied.
Tomoe, who soon found himself aiding the "acting angel" with whom he couldn't see eye to eye on anything in her work, is is drawn alongside Aine into deep involvement with others' romantic lives...
The many shapes of love, and the forms of happiness that pass before our eyes every day.
This is their journey to find the true meaning of happiness.
And at that journey's end, his own reason for living on...
Game is localized and has English reviews
12. Hapymaher ハピメア [130228] Purple Software 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Lucid dreams.
Dreams where you know that you're dreaming.
After an accident in his youth, Tooru Naitou began to have nothing but lucid dreams. Always being aware of when he's dreaming meant that his mind could no longer rest when he was asleep. Only when he collapsed from utter exhaustion does he finally get a reprieve.
Lucky for him, he has a childhood friend, Saki, who insists on calling him 'Nii-san' that tries to do what she can to support him. In his science club, his senpai Yayoi is endlessly amused by his awkward way of living. And he has an underclassman, Keiko, who likes to sing in front of the station and likes to call him weird for his less than normal attitude towards life.
Tonight, Tooru dreams again. But this dream is different from those that came before.
"Maia...? Why are you in my dream...?"
A girl he hasn't seen ever since he started having lucid dreams, and to Tooru, this was the very worst form she could take. But Maia wasn't the only one who appeared.
"I'll put an end to bad dreams right here."
With those words, a girl who calls herself Alice rescues Tooru from Maia's grasps. Alice says that she's a traveler of dreams, and now she's come to Tooru's dream. What could all this mean? The anxious Tooru certainly has no answers as Maia softly whispers into his ear:
“This is the story of a sweet, happy nightmare.”
There are English reviews
13. Inpyuri -Hito to Anata to Ayakashi to- いんぴゅり -ヒトとアナタとアヤカシと- [130228] Rosebleu 1 2
Strange other-worldly beings known as youkai have existed in Japan since ancient times. Not too far in the future, humans lived together with youkai harmoniously and studied their mysterious abilities. Kazuto lived in the research city of Byakuya-jima and had grown up with youkai by his side. Following his motto of enjoying every moment of life, he enrolled in Shiramine Gakuen with his osananajimi Shizune. However, on the day of the entrance ceremony, he reunited with a girl who he used to play with and who had saved his life: the oni girl Miyabi. That spelled the end of his normal days as many other youkai and humans flocked to his side.
There are English reviews
14. Koi no Hanashi to 恋の話と [130228] I.D.
When Hajime was small, he had an older sister who he often played and slept with, even though he didn’t quite remember that time in detail. It had been many years since their parents had suddenly divorced, but one day, he was reunited with his sister and they lived together once again. Even though she was quite grown up now, she still doted on him greatly, as if to make up for lost time. Sensing an opportunity, the popular class rep and his quiet and mysterious classmate also got closer to him, and he also met a national singer-songwriter.
Cuteness and tension are on max levels right from the start, but scenario is short and mostly neglected in favor of emotions, so impression is poor.
15. Loveressive ラヴレッシブ [130228] Smile 1
On Valentine’s day, Kaname was confessed to by four girls at the same time: carefree childhood friend Kotora, blonde rich transfer student Reo, airheaded genius kouhai Ryou, and small meddlesome senpai Mao. They vowed to try to make him love them before White Day. His objections would not waver the resolves of these aggressive girls who are after their man.
There is an English review
Tokyo Babel is VN of the Month while I also acknowledge Rose Guns Days as a masterpiece. Micchi is interested in Sakura, Sakimashita, some fandisc and some imoutoge
1. Corpse Party -The Anthology- Sachiko no Ren'ai Yuugi♥Hysteric Birthday 2U コープスパーティー -THE ANTHOLOGY- サチコの恋愛遊戯♥Hysteric Birthday 2U [120802] MAGES. GAME 1 2
Sachiko Shinozaki, tragically murdered at age 7; such a sweet girl, taken away at such a young and tender age! Sure, she may have reacted by becoming a bloodthirsty, vengeful spirit responsible for the deaths of countless other children, as well as their erasures from history, but everyone knows that in her heart of hearts, she's just an ordinary, innocent little 7-year-old... right?
Well, no. Because you see, today is her birthday! She'll be turning... 7 again, naturally. But in celebration, she's decided to grant all her victims 24 hours of amnesty from their suffering by gathering them all together for a...hysteric? birthday bash. (What makes it “hysteric,” again?) There will be party games, entertainment, adventure, and most of all, romance!
Why romance? Well, that's simple. Sachiko has only one thing she truly wants for her birthday, and that's to see all the students she's killed (and re-killed, and re-re-killed) put on a romantic comedy show for her amusement. Whether it be a movie, a play, or just some off-the-cuff party hijinks, Sachiko had better see her ships come to pass... or else!
Join Sachiko and the lovable cast of damned souls from previous Corpse Party games—along with a few new faces—as they take the very concept of genre and toss it aside. Prepare to experience terror, discomfort, joviality, and confusion in equal measure as Heavenly Host Elementary plays less-than-heavenly host to cooking contests, co-ed mixers, interpretive stage drama, traditional party games, and Lovecraftian horrors alike. Because you know what they say: Hell hath no fury like a 7-year-old girl bored...
There are English impressions
2. Kono Bushitsu wa Kitaku Shinai Bu ga Senkyo Shimashita. Portable - Gakuen Summer Wars Henこの部室は帰宅しない部が占拠しました。 ぽーたぶる 学園サマー・ウォーズ編 [120802] BOOST ON
A group of energetic students not belonging to any club (going home club) goes to a field trip during summer vacations and skirmishes in competition with the club of military enthusiasts.
Light novel spin-off
3. Rose Guns Days ローズガンズデイズ [120811] 07th Expansion 1 2 3 4 5 6
Taking place in Japan at the end of World War II. Devastated in the aftermath of defeat, the Japanese government complies with the Allies' reconstruction plan. Japan begins to recover from the loss after a few years, but America and China intricately divide the nation on a municipal level. Eventually, China's military districts become Chinatowns, and places controlled by the United States are Americanized. The many Chinese and American immigrants make Japanese people the minority in their own land. Some Japanese are unwilling to accept this fate and secretly gather their strength to challenge the new system.
A girl named Rose Haibara works at the club Primavera and lends money to Japanese people so that they can rebuild their lives. Meanwhile, Leo Shishigami is best known for his reputation among women. Everything begins to change when that legendary man meets Rose in the spring of 1947.
Game is localized and has English reviews
4. Tantei Opera Milky Holmes 2 探偵オペラ ミルキィホームズ2 [120823] bushiroad
More adventures of detectives Milky Holmeswith with new protagonist Ellery Himeyuri now.
Anime spin-off
5. Tokushu Houdoubu 特殊報道部 [120823] Nippon Ichi 1
Nipponichi, the developer that brings the world all sorts of wacky games are celebrating their 20th anniversary. And instead of doing it with a cake, they do it with Tokuhou, a game that aims to show you the real world, from reality to beyond. The gamer becomes the Assistant Director of the Tokuho Show, Yuzuhara Ryo. He's sent to all sorts of regions in Japan to find explanations for what appears to be supernatural occurrences. The cases you investigate in might include mysterious fires, poltergeist reports, kappas and all sorts of chilling crimes. But you don't have to head into the dark unknown alone, the mysterious co-workers and the cute assistant are all behind you.
There is an English impression
6. Fushikitan Kyuukon Sennen Shoujo 不死鬼譚 きゅうこん 千年少女 [120824] Ocelot
Motoki belongs to the news club at Yuzuhara high school. One day, his kouhai Kaede confessed to him and he accepted it, becoming lovers. They started to investigate one of Yuzuhara-chou’s seven mysteries, about the fenced fields, but the club leader Maki started to look like she was being possessed. A mysterious girl who thy met at the dam, Mitsuki, told them that it all stemmed from a bulb (kyuukon) that he had buried.
Novel adaptation rather than a usual game. Should be fine for those who like bizarre mysteries.
7. Hin wa Bokura no Fuku no Kami ~Binbou no Kami-sama Datte Shiawase ni Naritai to Omotteiru no da~ 貧は僕らの福の神～貧乏の神さまだって幸せになりたいと思っているのだ～ [120824] Bonbon Company 1 2 3 4
A beautiful girl Yoshino transferred to Academy Touju, attracting the attention of many boys at the school. But rumours spread that any boy that gets near her will fall into financial misfortune and they began to distance themselves from her. Some kind girls offered a helping hand, but were struck extremely hard into poverty. Soon she found herself isolated.
However, Yoshino’s curse doesn’t scare Daichi – he’s already as poor as he could be. She wondered if he was fated to be with her and revealed herself as the god of poverty. She used to be a zashiki-warashi and believed that if the aura of poverty around her were to be completely cleansed, then she would return to normal. He agreed to help her out by staying by her side so that no incidents would happen, but she also wanted him to help those girls who she had unwillingly cursed. Thus begins his life together with the girls at the run-down Sanshunkan dormitory.
There are English reviews
8. Sakura, Sakimashita. さくら、咲きました。 [120824] SORAHANE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
The year is 2238 and due to newfound technology, humans now can choose not to grow old. It is a world of eternal life. Tsubasa readied himself for another school year, the only difference this year being that the swimming club he was part of had been disbanded. His childhood friend Tsubame encouraged him to join the life club, a peculiar club dedicated to searching for ‘life energy’. While he wasn’t sure what that meant, he ended up joining anyway. The club spends its days digging for treasure, eating desserts at Shitoran-tei and running a cosplay fashion show. Most of it was quite random, but it was quite enjoyable. After another day out with Tsubame, he returned home where the streets were eerily quiet. There was a special TV broadcast announcing that there was an asteroid headed on a collision course to Earth and that there was practically no chance of survival.
There are English reviews
9. Ano Hi Mita Hana no Namae o Bokutachi wa Mada Shiranai. あの日見た花の名前を僕達はまだ知らない。 [120830] guyzware 1
6 girls and boys create a group called 'Super Piece Buster'. They were unseparated until one of them, Honma "Menma" Meiko passed away and separated her 5 friends.
10 years later, Menma appears in front of her now grownup friend Yadomi "Jintan" Jinta. Menma asks Jintan to fulfill a wish that she can’t remember to move on to the next life. That’s where you come in.
The PSP game has a branching story and multiple endings made just for the game. On top of the visual novel component, this game has a communication mini-game where you can talk to a 3D model of Menma everyday.
Anime spin-off
10. Fragment's Note [120830] Ullucus Heaven 1
"I-I can't, you're like a little brother to me. Besides, I already have a boyfriend..."
"... I'm sorry."
One not-so-special afternoon, I, Tenjou Yukiha, confessed my love to my childhood friend and got turned down.
But before I have any time to grieve, a girl suddenly appears right in front of me.
"Nice to meet you!"
"I'm your daughter from the future, and I traveled all the way back in time to change your life for the better!"
That's how I met my self-proclaimed daughter-of-the future, who changes my entire life.
That was the beginning of it all.
The beginning of my new future.
Mobile game has an English review
11. Yami Kara no Izanai Tenebrae I 闇からのいざない TENEBRAE I [120830] BOOST ON 1
Tenebrae is a horror adventure set in a fictional futuristic place called New Island City where a huge incident occurred involving multiple people, some of whose stories the player can experience by playing through each of their perspectives. This game is a first out of planned but cancelled four episodes, and though each episode work as a standalone story, they all share the common core which helps bind the overall story.
In this first episode, the story follows a reportage writer, Seiji Inugami (犬上 征爾) who one evening receives a phone call prompting him that something big is going to happen in New Island City. While reluctant to take a commission to collect the data onsite at first, he ends up coerced into agreement by the caller who blackmails him with something from Seiji's past which he was part of 15 years ago where he witnessed something he shouldn't have. On his way to the city, he ends up meeting his old friend, police detective Kaoru Saegusa who is working on a case involving a series of disappearances. While friendly chatting, they hear what sounds like a sea of screams in the distance. As they look toward it, they see a huge black fog enveloping the area. Thus, the search for answers and uncovering the mystery behind it begins.
PSP exclusive mystery
12. Dai Ni Ongakushitsu e Youkoso!! 第二音楽室へようこそっ!! [120831] Wheel
Masato returned to Japan after 3 years in Vienna with his parents. Immediately after his first day of class at Yonamori Gakuen, his osananajimi Kana grabbed his hand and dragged him to the second music room in the old school building. She welcomed him to the music club, which everyone in the school dismisses as just a group of weird kids playing together. What will happen to his new school life?
Banal charage with tilt into H and bakage
13. Imo-bilizer! 妹びらいざー! [120831] Silver Bullet 1 2
The protagonist has a younger sister named Saki. She’s cute, great at studying and excels at sports… pretty much the perfect sister. They aren’t closer than any normal siblings would be. It’s not like he’s a siscon nor she’s a brocon, or at least that’s what he thought. He wondered if he should fall in love with someone, perhaps his older sister-ish childhood friend Izumi, her baby-faced but big-breasted younger sister Mizuumi, or maybe Saki’s cheeky tsundere best friend Yui. But something seemed to be missing. Something that, unbeknownst to him, had always been close to him.
There are English reviews
14. Imouto no Katachi イモウトノカタチ [120831] Sphere 1 2 3 4 5
Yukito doesn’t have a single relative after a great flood which claimed the lives of his parents when he was small. That was also when his younger sister went missing. One day, he happened to hear in the news that the past records pertaining to the disaster would be available to the public for the 15th anniversary of the event. He decided to return to his hometown of Kugumi village, holding on to the belief that if he checked those records he might be able to reunite with his long lost younger sister that he only faintly remembers.
There are English reviews
15. Mahou Shoujo 魔法少女 [120831] Shinjita Baka ga Ore Datta 1 2
One day monsters appear in Kakyou City. The school Chiyoko and Haruka are in shakes like during an earthquake and the window panes shatter all at once. During the commotion, the two rush to the rooftop. They see bodies lying in the street and smoke in the distance.
A strange talking cat approaches them and asks them to become 'warriors' in order to fight against 'Biomonsters'. Panicked, Chiyoko is first to agree. She receives a round gemstone-looking transformation device along with a rather painful needle in the back. She suddenly finds herself able to travel faster than the speed of sound. Together with Haruka they are barely able to fend off the Biomonsters.
The cat tells Chiyoko and Haruka they have to search for more students with the potential to become 'warriors' like them. Over the next few weeks they continue searching for members, however, Chiyoko's reputation as a dangerous person and her lack of common sense causes her to be misunderstood frequently. Beyond that, not everyone isn't so willing to risk their life. Why should they be? This isn't the army. No-one is there to force them to join, or to keep order.
Some reach out to others. Some reach out to their friends anew. Others sit back and watch anxiously or with disapproval. Even as the threat of annihilation grows, their personal worries remain in the air.
The days ahead lay filled with turmoil, large and small.
SRPG
16. Naka no Hito nado Inai! Tokyo Hero Project 中の人などいない！ トーキョー・ヒーロー・プロジェクト [120831] ALcot 1 2 3 4 5 6
The Tokyo Hero Project was a plan which was implemented two years ago, placing cosplaying heroes in each of the 23 wards to promote public order. But not many people knew that they actually possessed special powers and fought against the secret evil society Black Outsiders (BO) at night.
Koutarou is a poor student who lives by himself. One night while he was making his way to a part-time job, he saw a fierce battle between a cosplayer and someone wearing a kigurumi. Due to the incident, he ended up missing his part-time opportunity and his friend Nagahiko suggested a new one for him. A young girl with a black manteau welcomed him: “How wonderful it is to have you here at the secret society BO group!”. From that day on, he battles against heroes while wearing a mascot character powered suit. Do your best, Koutarou!
There are English reviews
17. Revolver Girl ☆ Hammer Lady リヴォルバーガール☆ハンマーレディ [120831] Kai
The world having turned into a barren wasteland after The Crash, humans now live in small colonies, spending their days in fear of monsters called Deadhezz which roam rampant outside. However, there are those known as ‘Hunters’ who eradicate these monsters as a living. Maria and Kiriko are two such Hunters who are based in Carrier Town. One day, a girl named Nena requested their services as her bodyguards. They readily accepted, excited for a new adventure with high reward, but what lies in store for them?
Despite normal synopsis it's actually a nukige with lots of corresponding fetishes included
18. Shiromiko 白神子 ～しろみこ～ [120831] Exception
Kouta was an unattractive soccer club member. After his classmate and childhood friend Youko was suddenly hospitalized, he learned from his mother Fumiko that their family holds a secret power that can cure any disease.
Again, a seemingly normal synopsis holds a dark H-tilt bullying story from a nukige maker company
19. Tokyo Babel 東京バベル [120831] Propeller 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
The gates of Heaven are closed shut; the realm of Hell consumed by flood. And in their wake, countless parallel worlds wither away, one after another. The surviving angels and demons gather at the city they believe to be their final chance at salvation: the floating purgatory of "Tokyo Babel".
Joined by humans, they embark on a pilgrimage across the seven layers of Babel, hoping to ascend Jacob's Ladder in an effort to re-open the gates of Heaven. Their journey would be an atonement toward the heavens.
And yet, their plans fall into ruin as a group of pilgrims -- their minds consumed by madness - set out to lord over the numerous layers of Tokyo Babel with the intention to wreak complete and utter havoc atop the floating purgatory.
Amidst this neverending impasse, a lone youth is saved from the ruins of his devastated world - Tendou Setsuna, a man denied human treatment since birth.
Joining his savior, Lilith - known as the Witch of the Night, he begins his journey across Tokyo Babel...
...yearning for an answer to a single question: Why he still possesses the will to keep on living.
There are English reviews
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1. Episode: Ave Maria ~Alphabet Children~ Episode: Ave Maria ～アルファベット チルドレン～ [120810] Studio Beast 1 Additional Scenario Disc for JQV that covers Natalia's character history. Fandisc with an English impression
2. Irotoridori no Hikari いろとりどりのヒカリ [120831] Favorite 1 2 Now finally together in a new world, Yuuma begins living with Shinku. Even though they both love each other greatly, they become flustered when they try to convey their feelings across. There’s also after stories for the other four heroines, along with a side episode for Shinku’s younger sister, Ai. Fandisc
Foreword: It's always nice to read a work with a fresh concept
Synopsis:
You start out in a flashback, the last remaining two humans fighting against him. Of course, after that you wake up in a place unknown to you along with a bishoujo and you lost all your memories.
The girl with you explains that this is no longer a world you once lived in, a world where trains, bus and bicycles no longer exists. People travel by flight, literally. Not only that, but people transforming into colossus form, reading invisible books, and opening doors that cut through space continuum. Yep, welcome to Planet Mars.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwGwDxf37gEkgI9_JS3fmEW88IUR_XqcZ
Character Design rating: 9/10
Protagonist rating: 10/10
Story rating: 9/10
Game quality: 9/10
Overall rating: 9/10
It's my first reading of Evolimit, so it's much better to read reviews of people who have at least two readings (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10). But since recording is done from the third try (first recordered with free BGM samples, but got so many copyright claims that re-recordered without BGM, part of second try got lost somehow) I should provide at least a short impression.
Protagonist here is outstanding and trustworthy. But can't call other elements perfect. I don't understand Lidia as romantic interest. The evolution element of the story freaks me out to an extent as any game about genetics and mutations. As for game quality, my complaint is more about pace of writer Higashide Yuuichirou as well as his extensive worldbuilding. Yet again there are a LOT of sub-characters, and everyone is given proper time to develop. But my problem is that I don't like some characters like Renato, and I don't want to see them at all let alone suffer during very long tête-à-tête dialogue scenes. I really believe that game would only benefit from smaller size, but there are some industry and some quality standards, and it's a rule of the thumb that it's best to increase than decrease, so it's just my taste.
Game is not that much about story as it is about worldbuilding and characters in this unusual world even though theme is really fresh. Those who played and liked Ayakashibito and Bullet Butlers already know what to expect. Those who did not like either of those, probably won't be able to enjoy Evolimit, and no praise would change that, won't even try.
Surprisingly, all age Adabana Itan and ATRI -My Dear Moments- put traditional titles to shame this month.
1. Adabana Itan 徒花異譚 [200618] Liar-soft 1 2
A girl finds herself in a dark and unfamiliar forest when a monster appears out of nowhere and attacks. A mysterious boy, wielding a brush as if it were a sword, appears just in time to cut down the monster.
He calls himself Kurofude, and he addresses the girl in a familiar tone as Shirohime. Yet she does not recognize him or the name he calls her. She has lost all of her memories.
According to Kurofude, they are in the land of Adabana, a realm of illustrated books. Their tales are like dreams; no matter how deeply one immerses oneself in them, once one wakes up, they are gone. Thus the name Adabana—a name given to flowers that will never bear fruit. Their duty is to travel through story realms and look for signs of distortions in the tales.
Shirohime, a girl with seemingly all the agency of a doll, accepts this explanation and opens a book handed to her. The title: Hanasaka Jiisan. As she opens the dilapidated illustrated book with its pages riddled with worm-eaten holes, the pages glow brightly and whisk the girl and boy away to a fairy tale realm...
Game is released in English and has English reviews
2. ATRI -My Dear Moments- [200618] Frontwing 1 2
In the near future, a sudden and unexplained sea rise has left much of human civilization underwater.
Ikaruga Natsuki, a boy who lost his mother and his leg in an accident some years earlier, returns disillusioned from a harsh life in the big city to find his old countryside home half-swallowed by the sea.
Left without a family, all he has to his name is the ship and submarine left to him by his oceanologist grandmother, and her debts.
His only hope to restore the dreams for the future that he has lost is to take up an opportunity presented to him by the suspicious debt collector Catherine. They set sail to search the sunken ruins of his grandmother's laboratory in order to find a treasure rumor says she left there.
But what they find is not riches or jewels; it is a strange girl lying asleep in a coffin at the bottom of the sea.
Atri.
Atri is a robot, but her appearance and her wealth of emotions would fool anyone into think she's a living, breathing human being. In gratitude for being salvaged, she makes a declaration to Natsuki.
"I want to fulfill my master's final order. Until I do, I'll be your leg!"
In a little town slowly being enveloped by the ocean, an unforgettable summer is about to begin for this boy and this mysterious robot girl...
Game is released in English and has English reviews
3. Anabel Maid Garden アナベル・メイドガーデン [200626] Barista Lab
My childhood friend is my fiancée and my… maid!?
It was the day before summer break. On that day, the protagonist, Kuzuhara Kei, was given an astonishing instruction from his father:
“You have a fiancée. Go greet her.”
Kei, still harboring unrequited feelings for his childhood friend Annabel , proceeded to the meeting place planning to decline the marriage proposal. But waiting there for him was… Annabel in maid clothes.
“I’m your fiancée, and from today on you’re my master♪”
And so, this summer break Kei began living together with Annabel.
The girl that was his childhood friend, close friend, and unrequited love had become his childhood friend, close friend, fiancée, and… maid!
Yay, more vanilla nukige
4. Kirakira Stars Idol Project Nagisa [200619] sushi_soft 1
"You're the idol you used to sing to on stage?"
After their first live performance, Nobuyuki and Ai have a fateful encounter with the top idol, Nagisa Yukihiro.
Six months later.
With Miwako's kindness, Nobuyuki and his friends attend a joint lesson with Uesugi Productions, a long-established entertainment production company.
While getting involved with Nagisa through joint lessons, it is decided that an idol festival - DivaFes - will be held, but...
"What are you going to do? What do you want to do as an idol?"
"I want to join in--no, I want to try!"
DivaFes in a joint lesson, and Ai takes on the trial to take the next step as an idol.
Yay, more idols. Also in English.
5. Nekotsuku, Sakura. ねこツク、さくら。 [200626] Lump of Sugar 1
Gods (ghosts) reside in this school...
Kuji Academy's building has a vast history and boasts its vast facilities and a huge number of students.
One spring day, main character Ootsuki witnessed an odd event while helping with the entrance ceremony: Cat ears grew from the head of Ayano, a female freshman!
Another girl with cat ears appeared to apologize to the two. She introduced herself as Tsuki, the "twin god" younger sister, a guardian deity rumored to protect the school.
Tsuki explained, "My older sister possessed Ayano. That's why she grew cat ears!"
The "twin gods" true identity is that of two cat ghosts that haunt the academy. They also seem unable to get out of the school grounds.
Aki, the older sister, got tired of it. She planned to possess Ayano as a means to get out of school.
However, even while possessing Ayano, Aki is unable to leave! As Aki's wishes cannot be fulfilled, Ayano remains possessed.
Thus, Ootsuki's new school year starts as he tries to find a method to grant Aki's wish with the help of his good friend Renka and the occultism enthusiast Yayoi.
There is an English review
6. Ore wa Hime Bushou o Haramasetai! オレは姫武将を孕ませたい！ [200626] Momoiro Pocket
Main character went to museum on a trip and was lured by a painting. He regained consciousness during Sengoku Era. A dignified girl with a sword was standing above him. She called herself Oda Nobunaga. Main character tried to find benefit even from this turmoil era.
Title basically says "I want to impregnate warrior princess", and that's basically it, don't expect a story
7. Qualia ~Yakusoku no Kiseki~ QUALIA ～約束の軌跡～ [200626] PURESIS
The AI-equipped android “Machina” was the world’s first to pass the Turing test.
She was an extremely sophisticated android that could be mistaken for an actual human, however it seemed that she still had immature areas that could be developed further.
The protagonist and developer Hiro, along with the co-developer Karen, prototype robot Proto, and Machina—who started working as Hiro’s maid—lived their daily lives which intermingle with one another.
As Machina matured day by day, Hiro began to grow special feelings for her…
An android heroine and a brilliant but lonely protagonist—
the two mutually struggle to grow, defy fate, and attain happiness.
This is a story of pure love and heartfelt bonds.
Need moar vanilla nukige
8. Maokatsu! ~Maou to Yuusha no Idol Seikatsu~ まおかつ！ ～魔王と勇者のアイドル生活～ [200626] Wonder Fool
Main character was summoned to another world as a hero to defeat the Demon King. But instead he decides to make Demon King top idol and spread new entertainment in this different world!
Rough production and story as well as idol theme don't leave this game a chance.
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1. Hime to Otome no Yakimochi Love -Kirameki Natsu Monogatari!- 姫と乙女のヤキモチＬＯＶＥ-きらめき夏物語！- [200626] Princess Sugar
Summer themed fandisc.
Fandisc
Foreword: Was a difficult choice, in the end just chose Garden because it had slightly better scores and impressions than competitors within the month.
Synopsis:
When I regained consciousness, I was lying on the bed. I didn't know what happened to me, but I felt terrible. "Are you alright?" There was a girl in front of me....
After one week, I've been transferred to a new high school. Due to some certain events, I started to distance myself from everyone. I just wanted to be left alone in peace until the graduation. But two girls laid waste to all my plans...
Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv9_y9EBo5Q3aZxhpBDHUSdk
Game type: School charage
Character Design rating: 6/10
Protagonist rating: 5/10
Story rating: 4/10
Game quality: 5/10
Overall rating: 5/10
Don't let the scores scare you. It's actually a good charage. I can't stand school charage without a twist, but game actually has a special approach to the school, so there are no classes, no bell - you even forget that it's school eventually. But charage part is too dense, I'll elaborate on that.
Imagine that our hetare protagonist gets awakened by a bright nice girl Ruri, then she and Erika drag protagonist to life. Teacher Mana constantly cheers him up and even flirts to some extent. And now imagine that none of these three main heroines (and only these heroines show up in the first hour and a half) routes are present in the game (Erika actually had stab unvoiced route). It was a huge shock only to get routes for sub-heroines initially. Erika and Mana eventually got their routes with patches, but main heroine Ruri never got one... and most negative impressions are linked to this fact of how raw game was initially issued and how Ruri never got her route. Just needed to mention it. And Ruri route got taken away because it was hurting integrity of the game. I interpret it as having fantasy or mystery elements that would reveal true nature of this place. I feel that such True route is missing.
"The place on Earth that is closest to heaven" is sub-title of this work, and it describes game perfectly. Basically, protagonist shuts in himself after losing important childhood friend Chinatsu. And he is suddenly placed in the atmosphere of constant gentle love, friendship, support, kindness - basically a mini-paradise as if created to heal his wounds. But it also causes a problem. Because of such protagonist's passiveness and drama actual heroines have to be super pro-active and super-positive only allowing some occasional drama by the end of their individual routes. No need to say that everyone loves him from the very start including teacher. It's a very sugary game, but without modern glimpses and flashy-ness, so it feels more like a heartwarming game.
Ryo recovers eventually from his hetare state and appears to actually have an ability to anticipate future and read human hearts alongside developed intuition, but I absolutely detest such weak protagonist.
Game takes place at school, but focuses almost exclusively on extra-curricular activities, school festival and just having fun. There's a long period, about a year, so for me it was an endless streak of monotonous events. There are a lot of hairstyle and costume changes - up to 12 different dresses get changed per heroine.
Only two more things are left do discuss - heroines and quality. And no heroines routes stand out too much. Without Ruri, Erika becomes main heroine, and her route is all about comparing her to deceased Chinatsu. Other girls have different twists, but cutest heroine Azami has weakest drama-free route. Mana route is too polite. Overall, heroines routes vary greatly in quality, and couple poor routes dent this game considerably. Needless to say, everyone is in love with Ryo from the start.
As for game quality, it's ambiguous. Game has absolutely tremendous BGM. I never notice BGM, but here it may become one thing that keeps me playing just to hear the music, seriously. Art is gorgeous, but CG are actually lacking, so all you get to remember is standing sprites. Moreover, game uses NVL format, so whatever great art is used, it gets darkened and covered with wall of text all the time nullifying the brightness and coziness of the game. Humor might be that last resort to get me to like a charage, but Garden can hardly boast of any humor at all.
So, I am personally is incompatible with this sugary charage due to cut main heroine route, lack of drama or twist in individual routes, poor protagonist and rather long and unexciting routes. But if you care for bright heroines and warm atmosphere of friendship and support between many heroines, this might be a great game for you.
Foreword: It's Akatsuki Works. Do I need to add anything here?
Synopsis:
Human, monsters, and beasts... The world doesn't forgive them... There is a town where mysterious cases often happen. The ones who have special ability called Enja. The origin of Enja is "devil". They get together as if led by something unseen and kill each other.
Sora is an Enja boy. He lost his parents several years ago and now lives alone. His life is full of peace, rest, and destruction. Peaceful school life with friends. Strange dreams he has every day. Battles against devils that appear in the town at night.
His "contract" leads him to a hell of sadness, fights, and carnage. He also meets some girls along the way. Love, obedience, subordination, immorality, and desire. Sora, who doesn't know how to love, is a broken human. What does Sora get, what does Sora lose through contracts with the girls? At the end of the contract, he meets the last devil...
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv-jYx7aFo_S2dhjAFrqQIaq
Character Design rating: 9/10
Protagonist rating: 8/10
Story rating: 8/10
Game quality: 8/10
Overall rating: 8/10
Game has good English review coverage (1 2 3 4 5 6), and mine is not really needed. Still, will at least give impression, explain the score split and maybe nitpick a little.
Concept is the most curious thing here as it does not really look like anything I encountered before (which is not necessarily a good thing). Can't understand anyone who'd compare this game with FSN, because the only common point is that protagonists attend school and have superpowers, but it's basically what almost every chunige has. FSN is actually an absolute opposite, because Devils Devel Concept is about a non-human protagonist involved in an eternal war between two factions of omnious moral principles. In this regard it looks like Gekkou no Carnevale or abominable Mindead Blood. But these games again can't be compared, because Devils Devel Concept MC is basically a super-entity, on an absolutely different level than anyone else. And I can't really remember similar visual novels. What comes to mind from recent anime is One-Punch Man and Overlord. But DDL stands aside even from them because Sora is basically a villain, a broken creature. He is an emotionless man of simple wishes a pleasures despite his power, just as Saitama. Both of them want to lead a quiet life and ideally not get involved in any fighting, but people around them try to motivate them to fight the greater evil. But Saitama is an otaku who joins a superhero league, and Sora is a primordial beast with lowly instincts and destruction urge. That's one huge difference that determines the whole flow of the game.
And when we speak about the flow, I always try to understand what moves the game and makes us want to read it. In this regard DDC is again something unseen before. It's not about romance, not about battles, not about daily conversations in the company of friends, not about grand mystery, not about confrontation with a big baddie, not about jokes, not about masterfully written text, not about moe, not about sex. Wait a minute... it seems that we exhausted all the possible known options. Not really, because I deliberately mentioned conversations in the company of friends, but Devils Devel Concept is about tête-à-tête conversations with various heroines, plus a bit about other things. Heroines don't really communicate with other girls in this game. Different characters are from different strata, and explaining their beliefs to each other takes the bulk of game time. Basically all we do is learn about protagonist gradually and in each route about girl's visible side and then concealed side. All those talks seriously hurt the tempo, plus there are constantly hyperlinks to terminology that can be checked either right now or in the glossary later in the same manner as it was in Saihate no Ima and I/O. I love such info-dumping layers and they allow to tell a lot more details about the setting. With such an omnipotent protagonist fighting can't really be an option as battles end in an instant or move to spiritual world to cut all regeneration attempts of the adversary. Only exploration of the world, heroines and protagonist mysteries remain as viable options.
And that brings us to the most important feature of the game - protagonist. I know I already took a lot of time with him, but now we need to assess his moral side as the whole game assessment depends on whether you like protagonist or not. And I don't. I absolutely understand that his unrivaled power is something very unique in the medium. I absolutely like his direct honest emotionless attitude and lack of interest in the bigger schemes. But power tends to corrupt; and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Sora is an abominable, unpleasant person and a rapist with destruction urge. His simpleton nature leads to satisfying only lowly desires - to rape and to kill. He takes what he wants when he wants. I see zero reason how such unpleasant person can be liked. And I believe that heroines to not really like him let alone love. They basically are hunters who know or guess about Sora nature, so they are sent to observe his behavior. And - as I see it - they agree to be raped just to lean to his immense powers and try to manipulate him. They may have own lowly desires awoken at times, but it's still a calculated approach deprived of any romance, at least from the start. And in this regard Mutsuki looks like the most interesting heroine. She is a cynical smoking sex-friend who does not belong to any organization and does not really need anything from Sora. Basically, she shares his outlook in many ways despite her innocent look. Oh, and since we're talking about heroines, I absolutely can't understand why Misora has the same look as Yuuga from Bokutsuba.
Let's talk about some technical details. Character design is mediocre. CG vary greatly by quality. H scenes look like more like animals mating. There is an abundance of blood which makes me sick, personally. Despite installing the latest 1.03 patch I could not get normal speed and instant text drawing, was way too fast this way, so had to put up with text drawing gradually, and that's bad. Battles are basically decided in one blow and concentrated in couple routes.
I already mentioned the good things, but to sum it up it's thoroughly developed setting and personalities of protagonist and heroines. There are a lot of interesting discussions about morality and just atmospheric decisions with different cut-ins. But outside the context and the mystery game does not really have a strong story. And that's why it tries to impress and shock with aesthetics, invincible and immoral protagonist. And the true Mia ending falls into the same category. It's the worst ending, so it can not leave any reader indifferent. Such beast as protagonist does not really deserve a truly happy ending. But did I really like this concept? I did not. The novelty, coolness and impact are great. But both Saitama from One-punch man and Ainz from Overlord are examples of how it's possible to create positive image of a super-enitity while imbuing them with same moral hesitations and adding actual intelligence. And I like both of those cases much more.
Foreword: I only got sort of interested in Femme Fatale as prequel of Edelweiss and as a part of chaotic production of Inspire company. Detective mystery game should be a safe bet for an interesting story, right?
Title: Femme Fatale
Developer: Inspire
Date: 2001-05-25
VNDB link:https://vndb.org/v11647
Youtube walkthrough:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEQ3nVwC13A
Synopsis: Taisho era. Main character is a detective in Tokyo. He returns to hometown to dispose of his father's legacy. Local policeman tells him about a case of girl death from illness at a boarding school, but under suspicious conditions. Detective decides to investigate the incident as he needs to stay at the town for some time anyway.
Structure: 9 days
Length: 6 hours
Game type: Taisho era detective mystery
Difficulty: Easy as each wrong decision immediately delivers a bad end.
Character Design rating: 1/10
Protagonist rating: 1/10
Story rating: 1/10
Game quality: 1/10
Overall rating: 1/10
Rating comments: Should I even continue? I'm gravely offended by this game.
Protagonist: Yagami Shinobu is faceless, voiceless and hardly with any individuality at all.
Characters: Game does not have heroine routes - just one story with lots of bad ends. Girls are well written and have voice, but when spontaneous H events start to trigger one by one any charm that's left just evaporates.
Story: There's hardly anything happens during those 9 days. Each day is divided into some 10 phases, so it's roughly 90 phases where you need to check the new information about places, then the new information about persons and then advance the events further triggering some dialogues and coming out of nowhere spontaneous H events. I admit that it might be me who was not attentive enough to see the correlation of arriving information, but absolutely nothing happened till the last 9th day when you come to the dormitory for the 10th time or so and you're greeted by a character who says "Hey, I expected you to come earlier, but still well done" and that character just tells you who is the killer etc... Credits.
CG: There is on average ONE non-HCG per every girl, and it's CG when we first meet that girl. That's just nothing, an insult.
Overall comments: The story is absolutely banal and greatly ero-tilt so that every girl showing up on the screen could have her performance. All the important information is compressed into one last day. I skipped all the BAD endings (which are all just H events), but there were still some 6 (!) spontaneous H events incorporated into the story-line. So I really hope Edelweiss would have much to do with weapons, because the kind of story Femme Fatale has is a scam and should be only distributed for free like it used to be done for several months.
Foreword: Won't lie, I only picked this game since the other notable titles of the month were gameplay-centered. But this one is a mystery story centered around time travel which makes it stand out among the rows of typical charage in October 2000.
Title: Kaichuudokei
Developer: Free's
Date: 2000-10-13
VNDB link:https://vndb.org/v21778
Youtube walkthrough:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8GxGaUo6Yc
Synopsis: Some girl appears before main character and gives him pocket watch. The next day she meets hero once again, but she had no recollection of the yesterday encounter. Strange events start to pile up turning into bizarre incidents that are able to claim one's life. Can he protect the girls?
Structure: Game takes some 5 days, but we have to repeat only last 2-3 days usually through time travel
Length: 3.5 hours for one route
Game type: School crime mystery with time travel
Difficulty: I'd say moderate. Composition is unusual, so it's possible to get lost without knowing how to proceed after bad ending
Character Design rating: 6/10
Protagonist rating: 5/10
Story rating: 7/10
Game quality: 5/10
Overall rating: 6/10
Rating comments: 6 is the best score I can give to a non-masterpiece game. Game is about the mystery, so characters aren't much developed, same as protagonist. Game quality gets a dent for some poor CG, no voicing and constant crashes at win10 at sound effects play (win98-ME does not have crashes, but it's impossible to hook text there).
Protagonist: Nothing much special. A normal high school student who got involved into a mysterious case.
Characters: There are three heroines - Asuka, Haruka and Sakuya, but the main heroine with the most intriguing plot like is Asuka.
Story: Main character receives pocket watch from a girl one day, but when the same girl moves to his class the next day, she has no recollection of giving the watch. There are several incidents targeting girl's life and of course death in the end which triggers time jump with the need to prevent death. There are four cycles of the same events, and each time we get to uncover new part of the mystery and observe different suspects. The ending was very unexpected for me. Great composition and story, actually.
CG: Most are fine. Good thing that there are very few H events in the game, two per heroine or so.
Sound: BGM turned out to be nice and inspirational, especially liked the danger motives.
Thoughts: The motive of the game is that innocent looking persons are usually the most vile. And it was nice to see how that idea played out in each of girl routes.
Overall comments: I liked the story here. It's complex enough and short enough to keep the thrill from beginning to the end, creating an overall positive impression.
Deardrops and Comsome! ~Combination Somebody~ make the only masterpieces for me in June. And first one is more polished. Micchi for once agrees with me although anticipating even more from Angel Ring.
1. Deardrops [100618] Overdrive 1 2 3 4 5 6
Shouichi was known as one of the ‘nobles’ of the violin world. Having started playing the violin when he was 3, he won the national violin competition when he was in middle school and went to Germany to play in orchestras. However, due to unknown reasons, he returned to Japan, gave up playing the violin and became a freeter. One day, he starts working at a live house and meets many other amateur musicians who are living their lives their own way. Together they will have to overcome obstacles in both their personal lives and as a band. To Shouichi, the live house is a new beginning in a new place… a new world which has opened to him when he thought that his future as a musician had closed.
Game is localized and has English reviews.
2. Kourin no Machi, Lavender no Shoujo 光輪の町、ラベンダーの少女 [100624] Akabei Soft2 1 2 3
It’s the beginning of summer in a normal town. Sousuke is your standard guy going to a normal school along with the typical cast of characters: the childhood friend living next door, the cute loli, the blonde twintail tsundere, the bespectacled discipline committee member… This couldn’t be anything but a slapstick school love comedy… until a girl with long black hair appeared. “I want to cry too…” Even though Hikaru is very strong, she is also weak at the same time. Everyone else is the same way – they are fragile when they are alone. That is why they seek bonding with others.
There are English impressions
3. Narcissu 0 ナルキッソス ゼロ [100624] Stage-nana 1 2
"Life is like a waiting room, except people don't leave in the order they enter."
Japan in the 1970s. Before the first hospices were established in the country. A boy grows up helping the family business, a senior citizen's home.
Regularly skipping school to help at home, he gets left behind a year in school.
One day, he meets a girl that had also been left back, and they become friends.
This is a story about two kids growing up.
About the wall between those leaving, and those left behind.
It is about the origins of the Seventh Floor hospice.
And finally, the origins of "the rules".
Game is localized and has English reviews.
4. Ama Ane あまあね [100625] PeasSoft
Daisuke attends Touka Gakuen in Miou-jima, a small town which is an 1-hour ferry ride from Tokyo. He is great at housework and studying, but because of his scary looks, people mistakingly think he is the worst deliquent. He works as the caretaker of the Yashima-sou school dorms where his two older sisters Otome and Megumi live. They know he is an earnest and kind person. One day, he receives notice from the school that Yashima-sou will be torn down.
Despite the allusive setting, main character does not attack girls, but dutifully patrols dormitory. Band performance is organized as a mini-game, but has no influence for the story. It's even possible to finish the game without the girl if by the time of final even none is flagged. So it's again rather interesting common route and disappointing individual routes (especially due to weird drawing at times).
5. Angel Ring [100625] Moonstone 1 2
Satoru likes the 2D world and loves 2D girls. One day, he took care of a weakened pure white dove. When he woke up the next day, a beautiful girl who he didn’t know was hugging him. Not only that, but she was naked. His imouto Sana comes to wake him up:
“Hey aniki, hurry and get u- ehhhh!!?＃！※‡？々♂☆♀!!?”
The game is based around two concepts: ‘love angel’ and ‘angel ring’. Love angels come from heaven to support love between people. They don’t have any special abilities except for flying. They feel a great sense of responsibility towards 2D maniacs like Satoru. If there is someone who loves someone else, but doesn’t have the courage to take the next step, the ‘angel ring’ floating around the love angel’s neck will begin to glow. It helps the love angel realize people’s feelings.
There are English reviews.
6. Bitter Smile. [100625] Giga 1 2
Yuu returns to his hometown after being away for many years and meets the Todoroki sisters, who run a takoyaki shop named Senju. He ends up living on the 2nd floor of the shop with them.
There are English reviews.
7. Bokura wa Piacere ボクラはピアチェーレ [100625] ad:lib
This is the debut title from ad:lib. Masamichi was raised by his father who is a shrine priest. On the night of the day he began attending Souei private school, someone snuck into the shrine grounds. He thought that it was a thief, but it was actually Sakura, a girl who he had seen singing earlier in the day for the light music club. Her dad had left the family entrenched in debt, so she ended up homeless and came to the shrine to find a place to sleep. Having heard her troubles, Masamichi allows her to live with him.
K-On club has different outdoors activities with band itself as a side hobby due to recent light music boom. And for the same reason game stylized for anime. Scenario is very boring because nothing interesting is happening, even moe level is low. Compared to Deardrops there's very low focus for music. Another debut work that tries to ride the wave without investing in scenario.
8. Can Fes! ~Itazura Majo to Naisho no Gakuensai~ きゃん☆フェス！～いたずら魔女とナイショの学園祭～ [100625] Pumpkin Soft
When the protagonist was small, he took care of a lost witch who would not show her anger even if she was teased. She didn”t talk much, but occasionally said “If I get my powers back…” One day she disappeared. Ten years later, the witch Prim comes back and declares that he will now be her servant!
A normal moege. At some point you just decide who to protect since you can't protect everyone.
9. Comsome! ~Combination Somebody~ こんそめ！ ～combination somebody～ [100625] Silver Bullet 1
The protagonist Kyoutarou transferred to "Senshu school" to catch up with his deceased aunt - a troublemaker, infamous for her anti-social and destructive activities. Kyoutarou's objective is to find his sister, who mysteriously disappeared about ten years ago.
One day, he finds a girl that's caught in trouble with some ruffian. He helps her escape and treats her a meal, but in exchange she steals his bag and runs away while he is in the washroom.
A few days later, she came to his house and said she was his sister. Obvious lie, but she had his aunt's business card. He allowed her to live in his house, believing that it was sort of a sign.
A traumatic memory for me since this game had huge number of choices and without walkthrough I faced gameover too many times before giving up. But it's mysterious Silver Bullet brand and Hino Wataru who brought us Rui wa Tomo o Yobu and Coμ , so miracles happen even to ordinary school setting. Things start to surprise from the start as opening and style is done in 8-bit RPG flavor as a battle against maou. There are a lot of fighting heroines. And "comsome" is actually a finished dish in french... But generally it's about a circle of friends, and their help is required to achieve the goal. Everyday scenes are a pain to read. A nuclear and unrefined mix, but with strong sense of individuality. It's not Ruitomo by shreer quality, but absence of trap protagonist and RPG-affinity makes this game special for me.
10. Dual M -Sora no Kioku- デュアル・エム ―空の記憶― [100625] Abel Software
Mika and Loki run a VA detective agency at Chesterland School, the Japanese branch of a British school for foreigners. Of course since they’re amateurs, they don’t get many cases. However, Mika is a psychometrist, able to understand the past of someone or something just by touching them. It comes at a price though. If used on a human, the target will lose all their memories related to him. Due to a past incident, his mother has lost all memories of him and so he now always wears a glove on his hand. One day, Loki read about a story about the murder of the owner of the club Couples Apples in the newspaper and wanted Mika to try to solve the case, but he is hesitant since he doesn’t want to use his power. Then, he was approached by two girls who say they are being threatened and want him to stop the culprit.
Abel Software must be desperate to even pollute detective setting they are probably best known for. Basically, it's four detective episodes with some H scenes. Protagonist has supernatural powers, so it's not great as a mysery.
11. Okitsune-sama no Koisuru Omajinai おキツネ様の恋するおまじない [100625] chorus
Yasuto confessed his love to the school idol Kyouka, but not having talked to her at all before, not surprisingly she said no. Broken-hearted, he went to the shrine where he had prayed constantly before the confession and cursed the god, calling them a liar. A darkness surrounds him and a large white fox appears. He apologizes profusely, but she sends tons of snakes after him as retribution. Evading the snakes by climbing a nearby tree, he thought he was safe until he heard a creaking noise. Then, suddenly the tree fell on the shrine, which was demolished. Fleeing to his house, he was surprised to find a miko with beautiful pale hair in front of him, angry that he had destroyed her shrine.
Lousy debut work. It looks like a nakige, but scenario is too short, so nothing even has a single chance to develop. Let's just pull minimum number of heroines together - four - and make it full price. Heroines other than kitsune are hardly noticeable.
12. RPG Gakuen あるぴじ学園 [100625] Circus
A school founded by a legendary hero 1000 years ago is now on the verge of bankrupcy. Ikumi wonders why the school entrance exam is exploring a dungeon. He didn’t do well at all, but somehow he passed! Something must be wrong since there’s only girls around. It seems that the school will now focus on adventures in love… Ikumi’s hectic hero life has begun!
RPG
13. Shirogane no Cal to Soukuu no Joou 白銀のカルと蒼空の女王 [100625] Kogado Studio 1
Following a final war with the dragon race thousands of years ago, the remnants of prehistoric technology called Pashiate is left. Lately, this technology has been used to create E-technology, the basis of wealth in the Fulcrum empire. However, there are people who wish to use Pashiate for ill purposes. Cal Ruslan is a student at the Imperial Junior Academy, and also a government agent known as a ‘Library’ who protects the Pashiate technology. She operates the giant heavy robot Alper, which is the only thing that can defeat the ghosts of the past.
There is an English impression
14. Soranica Ele [100625] light
The world ends. What will you see in the sky at that moment?
Marine Academy City Noah has gathered people from around the world who can use Wings, powers that manifest themselves as seals on their chest. On the island, there is a Colosseum. It is rumored that the person who wins 13 battles in a row will become an Ark. Until an Ark appears, these students live a peaceful life. One of them is Tsukasa Hayasaka, a second year student with no particular ambitions.
A mysterious new student, Zenobia A. A. Axelrod, has joined the school, and Tsukasa's best friend Kikunari Souma is talking about the end of the world. Ophelia U. Diefenbaker is the student council president. Honoka Yamamura, Naki's friend, helps her out. Tsukasa also has to deal with his feisty cousin Naki, the eccentric Kaguya Patelliere, and the only seemingly normal person at the school, Saya Sayado.
Until one day the news is broken that the world is already ending. What will Tsukasa and his classmates do?
Let's save the world seven times in loop with five times normally, then once epically and one in a harem to bring all memories from previous routes. Writer failed to make routes interesting, and harem one is redundant. With proper realization it might shine.
15. Ten no Hikari wa Koi no Hoshi 天の光は恋の星 [100625] Eternal
Mitsuhiko attends Seiyou Gakuen and one night, his childhood friend Rio was going to confess to him when there was a loud noise. He sees his classmate Koiboshi on the rooftop with a blank look on her face. Not listening to their calls, she falls from the roof. He runs to catch her, but her body is surrounded by a mysterious light and he falls unconscious. When he wakes up and found himself and the school in a very deep hole. He gathers the remaining students and teachers and begins to find a way out of this hole.
RPG
16. Tiny Dungeon ~Black and White~ Tiny Dungeon ~Black and White~ [100625] Rosebleu 1 2 3 4
The young heroes from the demon, god, dragon and human worlds meet at the Trinity school to hone their skills. There was a world-destroying war 25 years ago caused by human greed. Now, one young man has a vision of the past human hero who tells him that the future is in his hands. Which future will he choose: Vell of the demon world, Note of the god world or Ururu of the dragon world?
There are English reviews.
17. Kurai Heya 暗い部屋 [100630] Kurai Heya Seisaku Iinkai 1 2
Seitaro Hino has lived a life secluded from society, together with his mother since childhood. He easily gets ill whenever he inhales the polluted air outdoors, so he spends his days by indulging in self-studies and literature in his apartment, darkened by the boarded-up windows. One day, when his mother suddenly dies, Seitaro is forced out into society and surprisingly his respiratory disease seems to have been cured by itself.
Nevertheless, all these sudden happenings and new impressions are too much for him, and he is soon struck by aphonia. His aunt, Yoko Oshikawa, decides to take care of him until he has adapted himself to the new environment and is able to stand on his own.
Doujin, but with English reviews
18. Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru ~Futari no Elder~ 処女はお姉さまに恋してる ～2人のエルダー～ [100630] Caramel Box 1
Occuring some years after the original game, this follows a new crossdressing boy and the lady-like girls who surround him at Seio Girl’s Academy. Chihaya is a boy with beautiful silver hair who was teased in class due to his looks and ends up transferring into a girl’s school run by his relatives. There he meets a girl named Kaoruko who tells him to be totally honest no matter what happens. They soon become close friends and are both nominated to become the next Elder!
Trap games can have sequels? That's new. Just spare me from it.
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1. Clannad - Hikari Mimamoru Sakamichi de ＣＬＡＮＮＡＤ -クラナド- 光見守る坂道で [100603] Key 1 2 3 4 A "visual sound novel" adaption of the Hikari Mimamoru Sakamichi De short stories. Fandisc with English reviews
2. Manken! まんけん！ [100621] atelier773 1 2 3
Comedy fanatic and high school student Mairu Hibisu has decided to set up a comedy club in her school, but her nemesis and the head of the student council, Chitose Karasuyama, isn’t about to make things easy… The school rules require a minimum of 5 students to set up a new club and Mairu is 3 people short! Spring break has just started and Mairu has until the end of April to recruit the 3 new members she needs to start the club or Chitose will have the last laugh!
Guide Mairu through idyllic Cherry Tree Town as she makes new friends and endeavors to persuade them to join her high school comedy club in this anime-style comic adventure game.
~Laugh and the world laughs with you~
Doujin, but localized and with English reviews
3. Eroge! ~H mo Game mo Kaihatsu Zanmai~ えろげー！～Hもゲームも開発三昧～ [100625] Clock Up team Anise 1 2 3 4 5
The player takes the role of Mochizuki Tomoya, a guy that lives on his own with only a day job at a convenience store keeping him afloat. While he really likes eroge, he can't draw, isn't much of a writer or composer, and doesn't know much about business. Still, his dream is to get a job at an eroge studio in hopes of creating what he loves, eroge.
Tomoya's luck takes a turn for the better when he sees a help wanted ad for the local studio Flower, and after a meeting with the company president (who to his surprise looks like an elementary school kid), manages to get a job as administrator of the company's website. Tomoya's glee at being part of the eroge industry is short-lived, as he soon learns that Flower is on the chopping block due to their first title being a massive failure.
After playing through Flower's first title, Tomoya realizes that his co-workers don't know anything about eroge, lacking the insight and understanding needed to make a good game. After some nudging from the president of Flower's parent company and some soul searching of his own, our protagonist takes it upon himself to save Flower by teaching the four girls on staff the ins and outs of what makes an eroge good. The story thus focuses on Tomoya's role as a pseudo-consultant while getting to know the four heroines of the story as the player is given an interesting look at the world of eroge development.
Nukige, but localized one and with English reviews
4. Kud Wafter クドわふたー [100625] Key 1 2 3 The Little Busters' trip was a complete success, and summer vacation has finally begun. Everyone heads home for a bit to see their families. Everyone, that is, except for Riki (who has no family) and Kud (whose family lives in another country). One day, an accident occurs that floods the men's dormitory, which leaves Riki with no place to stay. Luckily, Kud is willing to lend a hand, and she's also looking for a roommate. Fandisc
Bakumatsu Jinchuu Houkoku Resshiden Miburo does not have serious contestants in a Comiket month and is VN of the Month. Kin'iro Loveriche is another masterpiece. Clephas had somewhat the same vision. Micchi prioritized Koi ni, Kanmi o Soete, Natural Vacation and Kin-iro Loveriche
1. Sangoku Hime 5 ~Hishou Kourin Senkou no Toushin~ 三極姫5 ～飛将光臨・戦煌の闘神～ [171208] Gesen 18 1
Girl incarnations of famous Chinese generals continue to help main character to conquer the whole China. Eight different heroine scenarios are prepared.
TBS
2. Bakumatsu Jinchuu Houkoku Resshiden Miburo 幕末尽忠報国烈士伝 MIBURO [171222] inre 1 2
It is the Bakumatsu era.
There has long existed a mysterious sort of power... The legends say that this power awakens within a chosen person when the nation is on the cusp of fate. A person with this power can read an enemy's weaknesses like an open book, and can cut them down with a single stroke.
Supposedly, the enemy's weak points are designated by tiny lights... and sometimes, bright flames of crimson. The lights often manifest as what can be called "orbs"...
In the decade since the arrival of Commodore Perry's black ships, Japan has been in the throes of unprecedented turmoil. The political heart of the nation has transitioned from Edo to Kyoto, and within Kyoto lies a lawless zone known as Tenchu. In order to keep the law within this area, a special police force comprised of ronin, known as the Wolves of Mibu, or Miburo (later to be known as the Shinsengumi), was formed, with Kondou Isami as the leader.
One day, they happen to save the life of a certain man by the name of Mita Ken.
Within the dying days of the shogunate, his chance encounter with these keepers of the peace, all of whom have their own idiosyncracies, is where our story begins...
There is an English review
3. Kin'iro Loveriche 金色ラブリッチェ [ 171222] Saga Planets 1 2 3 4 5
Noble Private Academy: it is where the ladies and gentlemen of the future are raised. At this boarding school, students not only learn basic education, but are also taught how to be dignified. This year is especially unique since royalty from the small Scandinavian country of Sortilège were invited to the school. Ouro caught the eye of the princess Sylvia after a certain incident, which led to him being beaten up at the school and ultimately placed into a vacant room in the girls’ dormitory.
There are English reviews
4. Natural Vacation なちゅらるばけーしょん [171222] Hibiki Works
Kairi stepped out of the air-conditioned bus and had to squint his eyes from the blinding sunlight and summer heat. When he slowly opened his eyes, he saw the sparkling azure ocean in front of him, with the clouds adding pockets of white to the sea of blue, and he smelled the faint scent of the ocean brought in by the gentle breeze. He moved here from the city to live with his grandfather after his parents went abroad for work. The kind townspeople welcomed him to their town, including two girls Haruka and Yuzuki.
Would you like to spend a wonderful summer break together with them in this town?
E-mote animation is used, so we already know it's going to focus on cuteness and erotics. Don't expect a story. SOL scenes are also mediocre at best.
5. Suite Life [171222] Chelsea Soft
As part of the “SUITE LIFE” TV show, seven strangers began to live together in the same house. They all came from different backgrounds, but they must break down the walls that exist between them to become like family.
Game introduces different modes like camera mode or reading mode to liven up the SOL, but of course it remains just a moege-ish game with short common route, H emphasis and no distinctive story.
6. Fuyu no Polaris 冬のポラリス [171229] Stage-nana 1
A mysterious global pandemic is making people disappear into thin air. A mysterious glass object carried by a girl found adrift at sea. Two stories that set two pairs of protagonists off on separate journeys around the world. What does it mean to live, make mistakes, and live again?
Game is localized and has English reviews
7. Nillhana ニルハナ [171229] unitcheese 1 2
Morimiya Takuya was spending his life in idleness, doing shady jobs and getting involved with dubious women.
"I want you to infiltrate a certain care facility and expose what's going on inside."
Such was the request a certain mysterious girl, Yuu, approached him with.
Captivated by her, Tatsuya accepts - but the facility in question appears to be much more suspicious than he had imagined.
The shady owner.
Dark pasts looming in the corners.
Sex with the female convalescents.
The more time Tatsuya spends inside as a live-in care volunteer, the more his mental state deteriorates.
Between flashbacks of the past and strange nightmares of a far-off land, will he be able to leave the facility unharmed? And just what is Yuu's goal?
There are English impressions
8. Koi ni, Kanmi o Soete 恋ニ、甘味ヲソエテ [171231] Canvas+Garden 1
My new home is my grandmother’s house that also functions as a café. Due to my grandmother’s recent illness and hospitalization, however, she was forced to close the café until further notice. When I heard about my grandmother’s situation from Chisato Komada (a childhood friend who is like an older sister to me), I looked around the desolate café and my heart was filled with a sense of loneliness. It was then I immediately thought:
“I want to bring the shop back to life again and show it to grandmother…!!!”
We renovated the inside of the shop and gave it a new name. We prepared a new menu and café uniforms and began the hiring process to find new, part-time staff. Right away two girls, Niwasaka Rira and Shionomiya Rishie, came into the cafe.
「“Um… would it be ok if we worked here?”」
An unusually strong breeze blew cherry blossom petals inside the shop and they fluttered and danced around the cafe, myself, and the girls around me. This could only be a premonition of the bittersweet tale that would soon follow…
Game is localized and has English reviews
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1. Hikari no Umi no Apeiria ~Casablanca no Kishi~ 景の海のアペイリア ～カサブランカの騎士～ [171222] Silky's Plus Dolce
This is the fandisc for Hikari no Umi no Apeiria. Reiichi’s friend disappeared. After consulting with Sara and Nanami, he found out about the existence of an app called the Boundary II α system. He logged in once more to Second to solve the mystery of his friend’s log-in for over a month. This was the beginning of a new incident. He must find a way to log-out of the α system in which he was trapped, but he had forgotten everything about Apeiria…
Fandisc
2. Nemurenu Hitsuji to Kodoku na Ookami -A Tale of Love, and Cutthroat- 眠れぬ羊と孤独な狼－A Tale of Love, and Cutthroat－ [ 171222] Clock Up 1 2
Takeo lives at a love hotel in Shinjuku’s Kabukicho, working as a janitor and cleaning after the guests leave. He is quite tired and listless during the day since he suffers from chronic insomnia. The only way he can fall sound asleep is by killing someone. Thus, he works behind the scenes as an assassin for the head of the ruling gang in order to get a good night’s sleep. Even though it’s an extremely risky business, the days were relatively stable and peaceful.
One day, Takeo met the call girl Azami. When he embraced her, he had the best sleep that he’d ever had, so he thought about keeping her by his side. However, she was being chased by his boss, which meant that keeping her would amount to turning against him and an end to his peaceful life.
Nukige listed for the sake of reviews
3. Sky & Heart Last Survival [171222] Giga Sky & Heart Last Survival contains a survival mode similar to the survival modes of the previous games, and ero scenes for a few of the Fei from Baldr Heart. In the survival mode you play as Sou, and you have all weaponry from both Baldr Heart and Baldr Heart EXE aside from the collaboration weapons. Almost all units from Baldr Sky, Baldr Sky DiveX and Baldr Heart are present as enemies Beat em up fandisc
Foreword: Apocalypse angel story is enough to bait me as long as there aren't more intriguing candidates, but in July 2003 there weren't any.
Title: Kono Sora ga Tsuieru Toki ni
Developer: Digital Monkey
Date: 2003-07-25
VNDB link:https://vndb.org/v4269
Youtube walkthrough:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv_A5pJN26duNo4X_aEnGCZ-
Synopsis: Main character lives happily with his lover and friends around him. But one day the world comes to an end. Protagonist's brother is looking for a leader in this crumbling post-apocalypse world and he finds the leader in protagonist's lover Sena who undergoes transformation suitable to call her God's child... The two people keep on living happily. However, the fate is not smiling at them.
Game type: Eschatological human experiments drama
Difficulty: Easy
Character Design rating: 5/10
Protagonist rating: 6/10
Story rating: 5/10
Game quality: 5/10
Overall rating: 5/10
Rating comments: Game itself is of mediocre quality, but plot loopholes do not leave it any chance to be treated like a proper game.
Protagonist: Itsuki has a face and he's quite a decent protagonist who does not chase after each skirt. But for that we have his older brother Reiji who insults every girl in the game.
Characters: There are two routes reserved for other heroines than Sena, but Sena is the main heroine, so I needed to see her route first. And after seeing it there was no room for going on with this game, ever again. All heroines in this game are pretty much alike - they behave normally in presence of Itsuki and have even some emotional moment before H-event - that in-between of the multiple insult scenes with Reiji.
Story: Story is divided into three structural elements. Common route prologue prior to the disaster, main part at the time of disaster and epilogue after the disaster. Prologue is just about funny school life and birth of love with Sena, quite nicely done, actually. But main part messes everything. First, we get to choose one of two protagonists at least 10 times in the game. And selection Reiji scenes shows us insult scenes with his lab worker or one of three female test subjects each time. Selecting Reiji scenes also forbids us from reaching True ending rendering friendship ending instead. As for the main story... nothing is really known. The facts are that Itsuki awakens after a month of coma and finds the world totally changed - almost all the buildings are damaged, people starve and live outdoors. At the same time some mysterious organization appears that concentrates power in its hands and develops a weapon to oppose some external forces. We're not told anything about those external forces, and autocratic organization calls everyone to join forces to protect their homeland. As just one incident, organization sends 120 air crafts to bomb the mainland. At the same time organization makes experiments over girls to grow them wings and - surprise - use them to kill pilots in the pilot cabins of air fighters. And what kind of experiments are used? I think you know yourself - it's an eroge, after all. No answers are really given - how demilitarized Japan managed to afford and build 120 air-crafts in one month, how organization managed to usurp power, what kind of disaster happened - nothing at all. There's no use to describe main part any further, since there's no sense in this half-baked setting. We're not even explained how it ends - something happens, be happy about it. We get some explanation, but it's just usual deus ex machina thing.
Thoughts:
This game is what happens when story is neglected at all. We're basically told that what you read holds no sense. How is it possible to try and read other heroines routes after that? I reached both normal and True end for main heroine Sena. But these are absolutely the same stories save for just several different scenes and endings. Game's a shame, really.
Overall comments: What we get is ero-centered end-of-the-world adventure about nothing, not even about knowing other heroines better, so there is no repeat-ability. Let's just treat it like an experience an move on.
Foreword: I'm sure that first brand's title bears a message of what kind of games it's going to make. Yuzusoft is a big player on the scene, it's good to know its roots.
Synopsis: You play as part of the brass section of the school band. However, they have closed your school due to low student population and have redistricted all who went there to another school. That school's brass band has already been well established there, and your new school cannot have two brass bands. Not only that, but they ridicule you and your classmates and consider the lot of you untalented. To remedy this situation, the two bands have been issued a contest--judged by the student body--to see who is truly better and who will be the formal brass band. You only have a month to practice and be the best.
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naeimcev-js&list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv9mQKZwErS9svM0Wv_q4R_6
Game type: Normal school musical club romance.
Character Design rating: futsu
Protagonist rating: futsu
Story rating: futsu
Game quality: futsu
Overall rating: 5/10
Wow, I don't know what to talk about in this case. Every element of this game is so cliche that nothing stands out at all, and I can't evaluate them individually. I just put a score that I consider the most ordinary. When I have nothing to say, I describe my experiences in the same order as they happened. But not sure it's going to save me this time as this game is a synonym to boredom.
Walkthrough insisted on starting with Tae route as so that there would be no stupid random additional choices further on. But I wonder if there's another way since the only wish coming when playing her route is about uninstalling the game. She deserves the first prize for being the most ordinary childhood friend ever presented. But when it comes to the "drama" of her route, it's just horrible. She turns into unstable personality with only female complexes inside. It's what I call the B word.
Game surprisingly has as many as two tsundere heroines. Initially I was going to play only true tsundere route - Yuki. Well, imagine a typical tsundere. Yes, it's exactly what Yuki is like. Blonde, small, twin tails, rich and arrogant, noisy, "betsuni" - she has it all. It's quite difficult to ruin a tsundere route, but Yuzusoft do the best of their ability. And yes, Yuki is angry even after H events.
I only went for Noriko route to see something that does not fit the standard cliche. And it plays out much worse than Yuki. I just can't believe Noriko as a character. It's an absolutely artificial character and awful tsundere.
It's especially bad that Bra-Ban tries to play on musical grounds. It's not something fresh as Kira-Kira, it's not even something cute like K-On, it's just on the level of Sound! Euphonium - supposedly ok, but too boring to figure out yourself. I rarely notice BGM in games, but here even BGM is terrible, full of trumpet sounds.
AXL and Yuzusoft have a lot in common - they start the same year, they issued a doujin game beforehand, and both those games are shameful lolicon stories. But one company chose to seek its own path, and the other one just cloned first To Heart for the big buck. I have serious doubts about Amamiya Ritsu skill as scenario writer, and I shall try to avoid Yuzusoft works whenever possible.
Foreword: I'm not really good with nakige and you want me to play an utsuge? Oh, well, I'll try.
Synopsis:
Aster tells the story of four young men, whose lives are connected by one incident.
It all begins with Hiro Sakaki. He is a high school student, and enjoys his life with his old friends, Saki and Saya, twin sisters.
Under the summer sun, their relationships change little by little... "There is no miracle but hope..."
Youtube:https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs4Gp5VU4Fv_PLH2Q-nMbv9gQbzxI31ky
Game type: Utsuge
Character Design rating: 8/10
Protagonist rating: 7/10
Story rating: 6/10
Game quality: 8/10
Overall rating: 7/10
First of all, there are other English reviews 1 2 3 4. And since game is not story-focused, they cover pretty much everything I would. So I'll try something eccentric - compare this utsuge with the only nakige I still remember well - Moshimo Ashita ga Hare Naraba, or Moshiraba for short.
So, despite spirit extension of Moshiraba, two games have actually much in common. Both have older sister and younger sister as main heroines, as well as a cast of several side heroines. In both games we date older sister, and younger sister has to love quietly. In both games older sister dies (oh, come on, everyone spoilers this about Aster, seriously, can't discuss anything without this spoiler), and younger sister becomes her substitute. It's overall a good move since we can constantly see different traits of older sister in younger sister, and this common love for older sister is a good enough tie already, as well as a tearjerker.
But there are even more differences. In Moshiraba younger sister Tsubasa is seriously much younger than Akiho, so she has to compete for protagonist alongside two other side heroines - Tamami and Chihaya. In Aster all the competition is eliminated since side heroines have different protagonists and don't really intervene in other girls' routes. Saki officially becomes main heroine, furthermore because she looks identical with Saya. The biggest difference among the two games is that Tsubasa dies right in the first couple minutes of Moshiraba and then is only present as a ghost, so can't participate in normal human romantic relations. When there's a will, there's a way, so in Tsubasa route we make it work and also look for a way to revive her in some way. But Aster is purely realistic. Girl dies. Full stop. Move on in a different way.
But let's cast aside obvious differences and focus on what makes us like both games. In Moshiraba focus is on the supernatural elements and close relations between sisters. But Tsubasa also has inferiority complex over her sister, so she cries a lot. In Aster older sister Saya can't have screen time after death, so prologue is devoted almost exclusively to her while main route becomes fixed on younger sister Saki. Saki's advantage is that she is a mature nice girl who does not have dire complexes and does not really cry. Basically, Saki's pleasant personality becomes the thing that makes us love Aster. But what makes me love Moshiraba is cheerful older sister Tsubasa, other heroines pale in comparison to her. So in the end it is two sides of one coin - you either forget old love and try to substitute it with new relations or stay true to initial feelings. But in Aster - and thus in reality - there is no choice available, reality sucks. The fantasy concept of dating a ghost is more to my liking.
But with all the differences both games are more or less on the same scale. Then why one is nakige and the other one is utsuge? Actually, I don't see a reason. Core definition of utsuge is that it leaves reader depressed, and most of the time these games have no happy end, no help, no hope... That's absolutely not true for Aster. We get happy end in all of the four routes. Yes, Saya dies, but it happens in the end of prologue, basically before the very game routes themselves even begin. So why should we be depressed over prologue in four big routes to come next? It does not make sense. Yes, in all four routes there is some sort of drama, but just as in nakige we get over it together with the girl and become stronger. It's an absolutely nakige trait. There is one more "utsuge" addition in Aster - it's the 10-minute after-story showing us Saya last moments that were omitted in prologue. So what? It's just extension of prologue, a touching scene to infuse reader with additional emotions before making a judgement and putting the game a score. It has zero conceptual meaning. There are nakige with deaths too, and Aster is exactly such case of a nakige with death. Main characters bear this burden of death all the time, but it's what we do in real life. We suck it up and move on. So do main characters of this game. Nakige is not what Key privatizes with its stupid humor first half and squeezing tears absolutely everywhere possible. Nakige is much wider than this. Ballade for Maria is an Utsuge. For Elise ~Elise no Tame ni~ is an Utsuge. Before calling something an utsuge, ask if it leaves you depressed. Calling games like Kira☆Kira and Aster utsuge is plain stupid as these are not depressing experiences.
Seishun Fragile still takes the upper hand, yet for me it's the month without masterpieces.
1. Ano Hi no Tabibito, Fureau Mirai あの日の旅人、ふれあう未来 [200828] Pulltop 1
Yuuri arrives at Chichijima island, looking for his former girlfriend Tamaki, seeking closure to their withered relationship. After entering the high school Tamaki became an actress, and they slowly drifted apart, but never said proper farewell. Then suddenly she has retired, and apparently retreated to the "Sunset station" hotel on Chichijima.
On the way to the hotel, Yuuri meets Eri - a shy girl who dreams to be voice actress. In order to pursue that dream, she wants to try working at local radio.
Indeed - former "Sunset Station" hotel is now the home of the Bonin FM station. And it seems that station is on the verge of closing down. Tamaki is also there, but she's in pretty miserable state.
Yuuri needs a place to stay, Eri wants to be VA, and Tamaki needs a place where she can recover - so in order to keep the station alive, three young people start to live there together, and make their own radio show.Yuuri arrives at Chichijima island, looking for his former girlfriend Tamaki, seeking closure to their withered relationship. After entering the high school Tamaki became an actress, and they slowly drifted apart, but never said proper farewell. Then suddenly she has retired, and apparently retreated to the "Sunset station" hotel on Chichijima.
On the way to the hotel, Yuuri meets Eri - a shy girl who dreams to be voice actress. In order to pursue that dream, she wants to try working at local radio.
Indeed - former "Sunset Station" hotel is now the home of the Bonin FM station. And it seems that station is on the verge of closing down. Tamaki is also there, but she's in pretty miserable state.
Yuuri needs a place to stay, Eri wants to be VA, and Tamaki needs a place where she can recover - so in order to keep the station alive, three young people start to live there together, and make their own radio show.
There is an English review
2. Kakenuke★Seishun Sparking! かけぬけ★青春スパーキング！ [200828] Saga Planets 1
The protagonist, Toono Yuu, is a junior at Kazami Academy,
At the age of puberty and youth. But...
"Youth? What's that? You know I'm busy with my part-time job."
He's an extreme realist who devotes his youth to his part-time job.
He's does well with his schoolwork and spends all his free time earning money at his job every day.
His hobby is checking his bank balance.
His childhood friend Hibiki who couldn't overlook this and his classmate Riri who looks up to him decided to try to put him in a club and change his life.
Hibiki, a lively girl, recommended to him the Activity Club, commonly called the Act Club, whose slogan is "Let's have fun enjoying our youth in school!".
Riri, a serious girl, recommended to him the Volunteer Club, commonly called the Negative Club, whose slogan is "Let's spend our youth making the world a better place".
Each club persistently tries to recruit Yuu.
"I'm not interested in either club. In the first place, youth isn't necessary for me."
Disregarding what Yuu wants, the girls drag him around each day.
Why in the world did things turn out this way?
"That type of thing hasn't been decided yet has it?"
"Get ready! Soon you'll enjoy your youth!"
Just what type of youth is awaiting him!?
There are English impressions
3. Seishun Fragile 青春フラジャイル [200828] Purple Software 1 2
Shiki Yuuto is normal student living with his imouto-like maid Toune in a big Europe residence built by his ancestors from long time ago. However, he hides a big secret from everyone. He is actually descendant of branch family from a lineage of high class wizards which moved to Japan hundred years ago. Despite being a shabby wizard, he used to help people with magic while chasing the "Bad Wizard" as duty given to head of clan, but now he is just lazy around and doesn't care much about magic anymore.
One day, while he is cleaning the old church behind his house, a mystery blonde wizard suddenly crashes into the church and is helped by his classmate Setsuna who "happens to be there by chance". The wizard introduces herself as Riz Mathers and claims to be his relative from the head family in British who comes to be his master. This fateful encounter between the three of them will unfold a bitter sweet story about their youth.
There are English reviews
4. Houkago Cinderella 放課後シンデレラ [200828] Hooksoft 1
"After school, I think that girl might be waiting for me..."
"If she's able to, I want to be friends with her and go home together."
"I might be able to go home together with her after we have a chance meeting with each other."
A feeling of love awakens on the way back home from school.
In this work, you will enjoy a romance with the heroines while fully enjoying the romance situations/events which occur on the way back home from school.
What I cherish is the "excitement" that occurs when I leave school,
The excitement of finding the girl I'm interested in on my way home,
The excitement of the two of us going home together,
And the excitement of confessing.
Hooksoft presents a school romance with the theme of "excitement".
There is an English review
Foreword: I liked De-Ja a lot so sequel was a natural choice.
Title: De-Ja 2
Original Title: デ・ジャ２
Developer: Elf
Release Date: 1992-06-25
Summary: After events of De-Ja you're the winner in life. You have fame, respect, money and the love of pretty Gachako. What else to wish for? New adventures and unveiling new mysteries, of course. You get intrigued by the story of "crystal skulls" and one mad archaeologist knows exactly how to find them...
VNDB Link:https://vndb.org/v2349
Game Type: Command selection with elements of point and click adventure visual novel
Story Length: 12 hours.
Complete Story Clearing Difficulty: Easy!
Comments of Difficulty: You can see story progress in percentage. Difficulty was surprisingly subpar to prequel. The greatest planets puzzle was rather easy since the only information you got was light to the light and dark to the dark and it was repeated over and over. Compared to infodumping of prequel puzzle, it was a paradise. There was also the puzzle for piracy - the puzzle that you were supposed to clear only if had brochure shipped with the game. But unlike prequel, there was no randomization on this part, so in just 3-4 errors you inevitably make it to the finish and you don't even need to load game for that.
Character Design Rating: 6/10.
Story Rating: 8/10.
Protagonist Rating: 7/10
Game Quality: 8/10
Overall Rating: 7/10
Rating Comments: Well, that's a harsh one! It's classic Elf adventure that we're talking about! But that's how I feel. I see every element as inferior to De-Ja either for a reason or sometimes because that's not fresh anymore. I felt bad about too many things. Length got almost twice as long. CG got really scarce. Protagonist stopped being that badass hooligan, Gachako got lots of bi@tch traits. And with all this huge length (some people claim to spend over 30 hours on it) very monotonous gameplay, quite an inarticulate story line and lack of really funny moments to cheer up in the mids of the journey.
Structure: 100% division just as prequel.
Story: Because of implemented command selection variant I may have missed some parts of it since you have to click at everything up to five times and while reading same lines over and over tend to skip even important parts. So one mad archaeologist makes us really interested into the crystal skulls story. But you soon find him dead in his own house almost simultaneously with his daughter. As you prove to each other that you're not the killers there's a natural desire to investigate the death together. With the safe deposit key found in his pocket you discover a green crystal skull inside the cash. With that you make your way to Palau temple and thread by thread approach the secrets of this temple and locations of two other crystal skulls. Archaeologist daughter get mysteriously killed in the process and with Gachako you manage to unwind this knot of secrecy only to discover the identity of the enemy and his plot just in the final of the game. I don't think I spoiled much, actually since there are lots of characters and details not even scratched.
Characters summary: There are quite many characters here, but I found all of them (besides old acquaintances from De-Ja) quite dull. Girls were pretty, but I was shocked by their minor role as one-scene filler in the mids rather than original characters the prequel had. There is exactly one other girl that Hatsushiba Hakase got into relations with, the mad archaeologist's daughter. But she appears kind of late, disappears kind of soon and she plays an important plot role. Without spoilering too much, I'd just say that's she's not really mad archaeologist's daughter...
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Gachako: Whoa! Miss Gachako got even more... how do you say it... mature. But as for me her character went awry. All she's saying all the time is "Say that you love me", such sleazy talk. She demands constant attention, behaves as if she owns Hatsushiba Hakase and bi@tches about everything. But the culmination for me was meeting her with another guy (archaeology institute worker from De-Ja) by chance. Her motivation was "You aren't paying me enough attention so I wanted to have fun and invoke jealousy". That's just boring, really. I just see here how netorare Elf is being born in this very moment. And it's not even close to the really intriguing relationships like in C's Ware "Desire". Just stupid woman stuff.
Protagonist: So it's same Ryuusuke, but he's called Hatshushiba Hakase so often that original name rarely shows up. He's still cool and he's kinda totally pro sticking his hands everywhere. Just impression is not as fresh. But Protagonist is really a savior of this game.
Sexual Content: Look at the picture and hereby try to believe that there is nothing going on with this girl. She's just a hotel owner. Not a scene... nothing. And now imagine that there are lots of other cute girls that play their minor roles that have nothing but the flirt. And now you know the sexual content of De-Ja 2. Apart of Gachako and that archaeologist daughter there is actually nothing. But there are as many as two H-dreams. So even this part is lacking.
Affection for the Characters: Low overall. Women play too small roles and there aren't charismatic males.
CG Score: 7/10. CG aren't bad. They are just way too scarce for this volume. Women are depicted with care, but you better remember this or that stance because you'll hardly be able to see another one.
Sound Score: Voicing is good in multi-pack version. No protagonist voicing of course.
Addictiveness: I'm rather spectical about this work.
Technical Aspects: So game is command selection. And quite a determined one. It's not rare that you have to click everything up to 5 times to progress. It has point and click moments only to search the dead body or among the shelves of books or on a desk. It could easily be pure command selection, not much of a change. It's said to be such mix because players weren't ready to such bold jump to point and click on ELLE release. Pretty weak argumentation. There are animated objects like in ELLE, but they are scarce and they aren't fun when you select them upon the look menu and finding them out directly by clicking. So yet another step back from ELLE.
Conclusion: It's not going to be game of the year 1992 of my choice. Most of Japanese reviews I read claim this game to be another masterpiece. It might be, actually true. All I rant about is that I was not thrilled since the beginning, then there was not a definite goal and not even a clear enemy, just some loose events that somehow manage to lead somewhere out of coincidence. Repeating choices mechanics did not let me enjoy the talk puns. I did not like the characters. And I especially did not like the ending where upon real 30 minutes time you're being told what this game was really about, what were the people and circumstances behind the so random events which somehow managed to lead to a final. It's like you played for 15 hours and did not even notice events were made up for it. How could I even notice that behind the randomness and foolishness. I'm sure this game can be enjoyed a lot if you find the story or the character of your liking. I failed to find an appeal point and little irritations piled into this review.
