Towelket: One More Time

[Hikoboshi]

Since this community has a bit of users who know Japanese, I was wondering if anyone here has played Towelket, and bring attention to it for people who haven't heard or played it.

Towelket: One More Time (タオルケットをもう一度) is a series of RPG Maker games that feature a cute art style juxtaposed with a story that's very dark in tone, often very philosophical, yet still finds time to be light-hearted, because of this it's often compared to the Mother series. There's currently 7 games with an 8th one in development, as well as 3 spin off games. The games aren't a continuous story, but they share similar elements and sometimes characters recur. (Though not as themselves) Much in the way Final Fantasy sequels are.

I've played through two of them fully, and am in the middle of one more as well as one of the spin offs. The first one I played, Towelket 1, (which is the 3rd game) has been the second piece of fiction to ever get a tear to come down my eye. It easily became one my all time favorite games, and my most favorite RPG. The second one I finished ~fury~ has probably the darkest story I've ever encountered. It makes Saya no Uta look like a nice picnic in a sunny park.

I'm not very good at explaining things myself so heres the description of the games from the wiki:

Towelket One More Time 3 : The main character and their sister Kimiru are shrunken by the mysterious power of a magical book. At that time, the Kisechu, a group of tiny aliens bent on conquering the Earth, appear! The main character's allies must band together and defeat the six fish-hat leaders of the Kisechu to put a stop to their evil ambitions.

Towelket One More time 2 : A young boy, his talking cow Ushi-chan, and his childhood friend Paripariume. These three lived a perfectly normal life in a small country town. However, that peace wouldn't last... One day, Ushi-chan was abducted by aliens in a flying saucer.

Towelket One More Time : Mochasu was riding in the back of a moving truck. While he slept inside a cardboard box, an accident flung him into the river. Its currents carried him to a mysterious island where three girls were also stranded. On top of that, they had to walk like robots because they were afflicted with the Curse of Turning Corners...

Towelket One More Time 6 : The Pon aliens have run out of resources and come to destroy Earth. A young girl named Minpo and her friends rise up to restore peace. But the Pon invaders have overwhelmingly powerful technology. What will happen to Earth and its people?

Towelket One More Time 4 : A boy was led by a fairy to a mysterious ocean world. The main character Moka (Mocha?) and a girl set out to search for him. Meanwhile, the fish-hats plotted to take over the world. Can Mocha and his friends find the boy and stop the bad guys?

Towelket One More Time - ~ Fury ~ : As soon as the main character was born, he was caught up in a terrible fate. And then on the constellation Day, it came to fruition. The result of a twisted love triangle...

Towelket One More Time 5 : In the center of the earth, a pair of robots constantly jump to turn the planet. But one day, thanks to a stupid girl, the world stopped spinning! Elsewhere, a girl named Roppenchu was invited out by a girl from her class... With the world in turmoil, can everything really be put right again?

Warau Wawau : A rich little wimp named Warawau is teased by her maid again today and heads to school. But on the way, she becomes lost in the strange and mysterious World of Laughter. There she encounters a young girl claiming to be her guide, and goes on a journey through the World of Laughter. A heartwarming tale of a lady and her protector.

Kaiketsu! Nekoashi Otome-chan : Kitty girl Nekoashi Otome-chan is a bundle of energy. In order to save enough money to open a bakery, she decides to enlist in the Kitty Special Forces. As a soldier, she endures harsh training with her companions and superiors. All of a sudden, a group of girls called Otome Bakudan (Maiden Bomb) appear from the sky...

Yoru no Umi de Otsukisama wo Tsuru : In the stormy ocean, you encounter a mermaid. Then you take a job at an inn with some girls, living with them in a strange village. Who will you choose as your bride? While reeling in the moon, a dog fisherman speaks, a certain legend of the sea.

Here's some screenshots if you're interested in seeing the art style:

I hope that people will take an interest in it! While there's currently a partial translation of the first game, it would be amazing to see the others get translated so everyone can experience them because they're really moving. They make you really think a lot about why you're alive, what makes somebody a person, and what is time, while keeping a smile on your face, and have a few laughs along the way!

You can download them at:

http://www.freem.ne.jp/brand/1039 official site

http://www.mediafire.com/?29mkm8hk8uo1r33 zipped collection

You'll need the japanese RPGmaker RTP to play them.

The game works great with Visual Novel Reader if you need furigana or want to be able to copy+paste lines, but

machine translation works worse than normal due to a lot of the characters unusual names.