It’s been a couple of months so surely that means we’re due for another dose of Mini-Reviews, yay~
Today’s post is a bit of an ecclectic mix of cute and scary, low and full-price games. Shall we begin?
Official Site / VNDB
My Score: 5/10
My first game from Madosoft and it was unbelievably mid. The game reminds me of Yuzusoft’s Tenshi Reboot where the premise is super interesting but eventually gets forgotten like halfway in. Thus you end up with a game that kind of half-asses both the plot and moe aspects.
Another majorly annoying thing is that the protagonist is really proactive early on (his whole schtick for going to the elite school is to find a rich wife) and then becomes frustratingly hetare in the heroine routes. Like don’t remove one of the things that made him interesting and revert back to generic moege 101.
On the plus side, the heroines were actually pretty likable so I can see why Madosoft’s earlier titles that are pure moege were popular. The artwork was also very nice, but not really a reason to play.
I genuinely don’t have a lot to say about this game because it was so boring but I do plan on playing Hamidashi Creative soon ™ so maybe I’ll find something to like about Madosoft then…
Official Site / VNDB
My Score: 7.5/10
As part of their 10th anniversary year in 2024 Azarashi Soft decided to collaborate with fellow moege maker Lump of Sugar to release Kira Kano – a low price celebratory game. For someone that loves moege like me this was pretty much a dream collab – I like both companies a lot, but did their styles manage to mix well?
Kira Kano turned out essentially reading like an Azarashi Soft game but with artwork by the Lump of Sugar mainstay Moekibara Fumitake, and it’s absolutely not a bad thing. Ironically this is probably one of the better Lump of Sugar games I’ve played.
The solo heroine Runa is adorable – the perfect example of the kind gyaru stereotype and just very fun to spend time with. The game’s plot isn’t exactly deep but is decent enough and mixes romance with the vtuber aspect decently, even giving a light look at some of the positives and negatives of the profession.
On a technical note, the game uses emote to animate the character sprites, which adds a lot of livelyness to them.
Reading the dev blog for this game was pretty fun to see the backstory for how the game came about. Interestingly scenario writer Hozakura talks about how Runa is a more Azarashi-soft like heroine, whereas her avatar Kirara is more Lump of Sugar-esque – and yeah you can really see it once it’s pointed out lmao.
I could 100% see Kirara in a normal LOS game
Overall, this is a short, yet sweet game that I would recommend to fans of Azarashi Soft and/or Lump of Sugar. It’s a fun collaboration and I hope other companies do something like this in the future. It’s actually Lump of Sugar’s 20th anniversry this year so I hope they plan something interesting for it, other than the half-assed Tayutama “remaster” that is.
Official Site / VNDB
My Score: 7/10
Saya no Uta really needs little introduction – it’s a horror eroge from Nitroplus written by the infamous Urobuchi Gen. This was my first game from Nitroplus (although I bought a few of their games in an anniversary sale at some point) but I’ve been meaning to play this for a while, having enjoyed some of Urobuchi’s other works (Madomagi, Psycho Pass).
What makes Urobuchi’s writing interesting to me is how it has a tendency to make the reader question their morals/ideals and how his stories reimagine classic genres in new ways. Saya no Uta, despite being one of his earlier works, still holds up well in these regards.
Fuminori and his horrific medical condition make for some genuinely compelling reading and, while his actions do cross more than a few moral lines, it becomes interesting to ponder just how you would react in his situation, and I can’t find myself blaming him for clinging to Saya as his last shred of hope and humanity, as ironic that may be. It’s a great example of a horrific, twisted love story.
Saya no Uta also doesn’t overstay its welcome – it is a concise experience that can be played in a few sittings. The pacing is generally good during the start of the game but some latter sections felt a little rushed. The production values were still decent enough for a game well over 20 years old – the BGM unsettling, vocal songs gorgeous, voice acting good (Midorikawa Hikaru as Fuminori was a highlight), and the artstyle distinct (some sprites were a bit rough but most of the CGs were good).
The one area where the game was slightly let-down was the H-scenes. While some of the darker scenes were used for story purposes, which is fine, others felt superfluous.
That being said, Saya no Uta is a classic for a reason and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a short horror/thriller that isn’t too gory.
Source
Today’s post is a bit of an ecclectic mix of cute and scary, low and full-price games. Shall we begin?
Select Obliege
Official Site / VNDB
My Score: 5/10
My first game from Madosoft and it was unbelievably mid. The game reminds me of Yuzusoft’s Tenshi Reboot where the premise is super interesting but eventually gets forgotten like halfway in. Thus you end up with a game that kind of half-asses both the plot and moe aspects.
Another majorly annoying thing is that the protagonist is really proactive early on (his whole schtick for going to the elite school is to find a rich wife) and then becomes frustratingly hetare in the heroine routes. Like don’t remove one of the things that made him interesting and revert back to generic moege 101.
On the plus side, the heroines were actually pretty likable so I can see why Madosoft’s earlier titles that are pure moege were popular. The artwork was also very nice, but not really a reason to play.
I genuinely don’t have a lot to say about this game because it was so boring but I do plan on playing Hamidashi Creative soon ™ so maybe I’ll find something to like about Madosoft then…
Kira☆Kano
Official Site / VNDB
My Score: 7.5/10
As part of their 10th anniversary year in 2024 Azarashi Soft decided to collaborate with fellow moege maker Lump of Sugar to release Kira Kano – a low price celebratory game. For someone that loves moege like me this was pretty much a dream collab – I like both companies a lot, but did their styles manage to mix well?
Kira Kano turned out essentially reading like an Azarashi Soft game but with artwork by the Lump of Sugar mainstay Moekibara Fumitake, and it’s absolutely not a bad thing. Ironically this is probably one of the better Lump of Sugar games I’ve played.
The solo heroine Runa is adorable – the perfect example of the kind gyaru stereotype and just very fun to spend time with. The game’s plot isn’t exactly deep but is decent enough and mixes romance with the vtuber aspect decently, even giving a light look at some of the positives and negatives of the profession.
On a technical note, the game uses emote to animate the character sprites, which adds a lot of livelyness to them.
Reading the dev blog for this game was pretty fun to see the backstory for how the game came about. Interestingly scenario writer Hozakura talks about how Runa is a more Azarashi-soft like heroine, whereas her avatar Kirara is more Lump of Sugar-esque – and yeah you can really see it once it’s pointed out lmao.
I could 100% see Kirara in a normal LOS game
Overall, this is a short, yet sweet game that I would recommend to fans of Azarashi Soft and/or Lump of Sugar. It’s a fun collaboration and I hope other companies do something like this in the future. It’s actually Lump of Sugar’s 20th anniversry this year so I hope they plan something interesting for it, other than the half-assed Tayutama “remaster” that is.
Saya no Uta
Official Site / VNDB
My Score: 7/10
Saya no Uta really needs little introduction – it’s a horror eroge from Nitroplus written by the infamous Urobuchi Gen. This was my first game from Nitroplus (although I bought a few of their games in an anniversary sale at some point) but I’ve been meaning to play this for a while, having enjoyed some of Urobuchi’s other works (Madomagi, Psycho Pass).
What makes Urobuchi’s writing interesting to me is how it has a tendency to make the reader question their morals/ideals and how his stories reimagine classic genres in new ways. Saya no Uta, despite being one of his earlier works, still holds up well in these regards.
Fuminori and his horrific medical condition make for some genuinely compelling reading and, while his actions do cross more than a few moral lines, it becomes interesting to ponder just how you would react in his situation, and I can’t find myself blaming him for clinging to Saya as his last shred of hope and humanity, as ironic that may be. It’s a great example of a horrific, twisted love story.
Saya no Uta also doesn’t overstay its welcome – it is a concise experience that can be played in a few sittings. The pacing is generally good during the start of the game but some latter sections felt a little rushed. The production values were still decent enough for a game well over 20 years old – the BGM unsettling, vocal songs gorgeous, voice acting good (Midorikawa Hikaru as Fuminori was a highlight), and the artstyle distinct (some sprites were a bit rough but most of the CGs were good).
The one area where the game was slightly let-down was the H-scenes. While some of the darker scenes were used for story purposes, which is fine, others felt superfluous.
That being said, Saya no Uta is a classic for a reason and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a short horror/thriller that isn’t too gory.
Source
