Visual Novel Cafe

[amaimono]

Oh, thanks, by the way, guys, congrats with 4000th reply in that thread! And with 400 pages. In 2019, finally...

Oooh! That makes sense in Hooksoft game, I just misunderstand... Then nice, I want to see it!

The name of the game says "Which of 1 you want to love?" or what?

どっちのiが好きですか？
どっちの1が好きですか？

I don't know what means "i" as variation of name.

It's the English "I" > "Which me do you like?".

 

[Frankincense]

According to official teaser, "i" is pronounced "アイ".

 

[|♚|KK|♚|]

Oh, Hooksoft's new game looks interesting...hmm though it's kinda similiar to an otoge called Tlicolity Eyes,
I'd like to try their games (Hooksoft's) but I'm between E School Life & IxSHE Tell. If you guys tried any of these which one would you recommend?

 

[kzel]

Arguably neither of these are Hooksoft's best works. E School Life is rather shallow and to some extent boring, I haven't played IxSHE Tell because of the ultra popular protagonist but I don't remember it being praised as exceptional either. Staff-wise IxSHE Tell is the closest but the upcoming game invited old and new writers, including one writer from ex-minori. If you're not limiting yourself to these two you may want to look further back to Amenity's Life or even Melty Moment.

 

[pingtoryan]

Oh, Hooksoft's new game looks interesting...hmm though it's kinda similiar to an otoge called Tlicolity Eyes,
I'd like to try their games (Hooksoft's) but I'm between E School Life & IxSHE Tell. If you guys tried any of these which one would you recommend?

E-SchoolLife is indeed TOO bland to the point that the artwork is carrying the whole thing and IxSheTell isn't exactly better either (it turned me off hard at one point)...but if the choice's between the two I'd pick the former...but that's just me because I don't like the loud nature of the latter.

MeltyMoment's where Hooksoft's at their best IMO with little choices that matter and actually entertaining to go back and pick them all, Amenity's Life is also quite entertaining and not too shabby either...going further back, PriministAr and StrawberryNauts are a little drama-heavy but quite good too while SuGirlyWish and LovelyQuest aren't exactly greatest for story but have their entertaining moments......and there's HoneyComing, back when eroge was story-heavey, if you find that to be your preference...

 

[qing]

Hey guys, question about a purchase for those better acquainted with the language than I...

If I purchase the DL ver of セックスオープンワールドへようこそ from https://dlsoft.dmm.co.jp/detail/moonstn_0015/, would I get the 透けマタニティドレス立ち絵 bonus? It seems like they're trying to say that it's only for the package version, but I don't know if I'm correct in interpreting it that way.

 

[amaimono]

Hey guys, question about a purchase for those better acquainted with the language than I...

If I purchase the DL ver of セックスオープンワールドへようこそ from https://dlsoft.dmm.co.jp/detail/moonstn_0015/, would I get the 透けマタニティドレス立ち絵 bonus? It seems like they're trying to say that it's only for the package version, but I don't know if I'm correct in interpreting it that way.

Yes, you'll get the "transparent maternity dress" patch if you pre-order from dmm (cost 9,720 En including tax). You'll also receive wallpapers and Madree's windows sounds if you pay the full 10,584 En.

I'd be happy if you're thinking of sharing those extras, but to be honest, they aren't worth it. In my book, anything less than extra scenes/drama CD/OST isn't worth it.

 

[qing]

Yes, you'll get the "transparent maternity dress" patch if you pre-order from dmm (cost 9,720 En including tax). You'll also receive wallpapers and Madree's windows sounds if you pay the full 10,584 En.

I'd be happy if you're thinking of sharing those extras, but to be honest, they aren't worth it. In my book, anything less than extra scenes/drama CD/OST isn't worth it.

Yeah, I wasn't thinking it was terribly worth it either way. I was sorta trying to test how well I understood sales on Japanese sites. Thanks for the response!

 

[kzel]

So, August games. Well, I had nothing on my radar after a short review of what was coming up, and after playing a few titles I can't say I've really felt proven wrong. Anyway, here are some short comments:

アマアネ -My Sweet Sister- (finished):

Spoiler: ama ane spoilers

The latest Campus low-price games have all had a common feature : a first half devoted to setting up the relationship, and kept all-ages (as well as available for free as a demo!). That was a good thing in my book, as that meant that at least some time and CGs were devoted to getting the romance started. In this one though? Not so much. There's H in both the "main" part and the after story, and the major sacrifice to this was... that the heroine starts at maximum affection and actually proposes to the protagonist a few minutes into the game. What's left to tell as a story then? Well, mostly being witness to the protagonist's endless hesitation to give an answer one way or another as the heroine continues her relentless approaches. The worst is that very early he peeks on something and finds out he does have feelings for her (honestly, it felt less like love and more like lust), but it still drags on as the protagonist delays his answer while enjoying the heroine's approaches escalating to more and more ecchi stuff. I guess this is more like a nukige, but this a strange choice from Campus and while Hanasawa Sakura does a good job for the voice, the CG art was rather inconsistent (both sprites and actual CGs) and had a fair number of problems that prevented from actually enjoying the H scenes, especially the weird animation thing they tried to go for that didn't sync up with lines on auto properly and looked incredibly awkward.

若葉色のカルテット (played Hiyori and Miyako) :

Spoiler: wakaba iro no quarter spoilers

Lump of Sugar's mostly known for their past glory with Tayutama, and recently they're tried to either reboot the brand (with Tayutama 2), or make some kind of reboot with the two latest ones. The results turned out falling far short of the original, and the same holds true for this one as well. What holds it back the most is, as usual with current Lump of Sugar, the story, at least in the two routes I played as well as in the common route. The common route takes so many shortcuts to introduce its humans that have animal features and can turn into actual animals (but the game assures us they are 100% humans...) that it's hard to take it seriously. And yet as a joke title the humor is so thin that I can't really say it's funny either. The romance aspect is pretty shallow here, it all moves very fast when the heroines are not instantly struck with love at first sight. Miyako was okay as a childhood friend I guess but she was so strangely childish, and the conclusion is just so handwavy it hurts. Why the school would accept their proposition given the main problem (a 'mistake') was already very well happening and publicly known is a mystery. Hiyori's just plain weird and could sometimes be borderline creepy. Her obsession with being a maid doesn't really make any sense as it does for say Angie in Mashiro Iro Symphony since she just made the stuff up overnight, and I surprisingly found myself agreeing with the angry dad at the end rather than with the stupid couple. It seems his worries were well placed too since she didn't improve but instead got worse given the epilogue. Anyway, the story is really nothing to look forward to in this one, but at least the art and the CV do a decent job and my goal to hear a bit of Ui after a long time was fulfilled so I guess that's that at least. The music is a little awkward and sometimes feels out-of-place but mostly does the job. Furry lovers may enjoy the fox and cat ladies but that's not my thing so I'll leave it at that.

That it! Time to go back to older titles while hoping Study § Steady doesn't get delayed any further.

 

[Veshurik]

Thank you for your reviews, there are only a few eroge that month.
kzel, you didn't play Wanko no Yomeiri by Alumi Soft? But... oh, it looks like Nekopara or Nekonin exHeart, and again in several parts.

I don't know anything about rootnuko company, but Like x Love... nukige, I think?
Judging by its name, it's only 1 part of that series, maybe... Low price games now rules the market?

I understood, anyway, it's easier to produce, costs less money, and better pay for 20 CG than for 80-100.
And can gain more profit because of low price (even I can't afford buy eroge for 9800 yen nowadays).

About Lump of Sugar... I heard ton of opinions, that many players don't like that company at all and call it "Lump of Shit". Do you know why? I didn't play their games.

 

[amaimono]

@Like x Love: A dating sim cum nukige. Yes, depending on the sales, the other girl might get her own route. The VA is good at voicing H-scenes but sounds utterly fake during normal conversation. Story: 4/10. Writing: 3/10. VA: 4/10. BGMs: 7/10. Art: 8/10.

===========
@Amakano character CDs: Karaoke-level singing + binaural abomination. What were they thinking??

 

[kzel]

kzel, you didn't play Wanko no Yomeiri by Alumi Soft? But... oh, it looks like Nekopara or Nekonin exHeart, and again in several parts.

I didn't play it, no, for the same reason I didn't play Nekonin exHeart and quit Nekopara very early during the first game and never returned to it. The whole concept of romance (and sex) with pets turned beastgirls is something that is very repulsive to me. I'm not a fan of beastgirls in general, but when they're obviously little more than pets you can talk to, exploit in your business of choice, and fuck when you feel like it, it just feels wrong. There's no romance there if you ask me, especially as it all tends to end harem style. Yes the CV and art can be good (esp. Nekopara), and some day-to-day scenes can be cute, but the underlying idea feels so wrong, and a society that either encourages or has no qualms with it feels completely twisted. On the other hand, I have to say I was completely appalled by the idea of incestuous relationships when I started eroges, but I eventually somewhat warmed up to the idea (I got done corrupted...), so I don't know, maybe I'll give the genre a try eventually but not in the near future.

I understood, anyway, it's easier to produce, costs less money, and better pay for 20 CG than for 80-100.
And can gain more profit because of low price (even I can't afford buy eroge for 9800 yen nowadays).

10k yen, that's like 30 rolls of a standard gacha game, pocket change my friend. For that price, you have a shot at getting MAYBE a high rarity character, VERY UNLIKELY getting the one you actually want, and for the character you do get : a couple of low quality CGs and a few minutes scenes. Maybe the Japanese public would buy more eroge if the mobile game industry wasn't sucking up all their time and money... Well, I'm not one to talk since I do play them in a free manner, but I understand the temptation to fork up cash and think that's it has had an overall pretty bad effect on the whole adult game industry. There's been quite the crackdown against these business practices in normal gaming (ie lootboxes) but I don't see them going away from 18+ titles anytime soon.

About Lump of Sugar... I heard ton of opinions, that many players don't like that company at all and call it "Lump of Shit". Do you know why? I didn't play their games.

I haven't played too many of their games but from what I gather, Lump of Sugar made one big hit title (Tayutama) a long time ago and has then gone downhill ever since. I suppose there's a bit of resentment from players who saw a company making good eroge turn into what it is now. I played Tayutama and it was indeed very good, I remember enjoying 運命線上のφ, but disliking コドモノアソビ, and I haven't played either the Tayutama sequel or the various attempts at recreating it under a different name, because I just don't think LoS has the capacity to tackle Tayutama's themes and do better now. Most of the problems I had with their recent games lie in the scenario/story, the art is actually pretty good.

@Like x Love: A dating sim cum nukige. Yes, depending on the sales, the other girl might get her own route. The VA is good at voicing H-scenes but sounds utterly fake during normal conversation. Story: 4/10. Writing: 3/10. VA: 4/10. BGMs: 7/10. Art: 8/10.

I peeked at a walkthrough and it seemed to be rather interactive in terms of number of choices at least. Apparently there are two different gauges too that lead to different scenes depending on their completedness. Then again, the alternative choices didn't see to change the answer much (maybe the tone is slightly different?) so I don't know how much impact they have on the actual conversations.

@Amakano character CDs: Karaoke-level singing + binaural abomination. What were they thinking??

Was that included in the recently released complete box? Anything else in there that wasn't already released for the other games?

 

[Veshurik]

@Amakano character CDs: Karaoke-level singing + binaural abomination. What were they thinking??

Oh, really? "snow crystal" cover selling on their live is better, maybe? I heard the cover, it's good, I think.
But I didn't hear character songs yet.

What means "binaural abomination"? Thanks!

 

[amaimono]

I peeked at a walkthrough and it seemed to be rather interactive in terms of number of choices at least. Apparently there are two different gauges too that lead to different scenes depending on their completedness. Then again, the alternative choices didn't see to change the answer much (maybe the tone is slightly different?) so I don't know how much impact they have on the actual conversations.

I don't think there's any missable scenes. You might miss some extra CGs if you pick a wrong choice, but I think that's it as far as the penalty goes.

Was that included in the recently released complete box? Anything else in there that wasn't already released for the other games?

I think they're sold separately. Azarashi went with the cheap option and had the original VAs sing the opening & the character songs. Only listened briefly to Sayuki's and Mizuki's CDs. I wish I didn't.

Oh, really? "snow crystal" cover selling on their live is better, maybe? I heard the cover, it's good, I think.
But I didn't hear character songs yet.

What means "binaural abomination"? Thanks!

The VAs for Amakano are good at voice acting, but they aren't exactly professional singers.

Binaural is 3D sound. In this case, it means you hear the VA's voice just in your left or right ear. All three voice dramas are about "mimikaki" (the heroines cleaning your ear) and the implementation is as bad as it was in Hoshizora E Kakaru Hashi.

 

[Kri]

Thank you for your reviews, there are only a few eroge that month.
kzel, you didn't play Wanko no Yomeiri by Alumi Soft? But... oh, it looks like Nekopara or Nekonin exHeart, and again in several parts.

I don't know anything about rootnuko company, but Like x Love... nukige, I think?
Judging by its name, it's only 1 part of that series, maybe... Low price games now rules the market?

I understood, anyway, it's easier to produce, costs less money, and better pay for 20 CG than for 80-100.
And can gain more profit because of low price (even I can't afford buy eroge for 9800 yen nowadays).

About Lump of Sugar... I heard ton of opinions, that many players don't like that company at all and call it "Lump of Shit". Do you know why? I didn't play their games.

I'm not sure where did you hear the "lump of shit" thing, but their games are not "that" bad, I'd say they are pretty much an average, maybe slightly better visual novel company. Their most popular / hit titles are Itsusora, Magical Charming, Tayutama, Hello,good-bye. I dont know itsusora but I'd say all other three are pretty decent / good titles and Hanairo Heptagram wasn't bad either.

For some god only knows reason they tried to force some weird gameplays / gimmicks to their titles between 2013-2016 and I didnt enjoy those to be honest, but other than that I definitely wouldnt call them "shit" at all. Well most of their games are moeges so if you dont like those type of games you may not enjoy them.


By the way I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned it but Nexton has opened a discord channel for their overseas users and I'm in love with it. In the channel there are actual people from the japanese company itself (directors, writers, illustrators and other staffs) and they are answering most of questions as much as they can.

This is the first time I could speak so directly with a visual novel company's staff (not to mention that its my favorite game's creater, sengoku koihime) so I'm a little too hyped about this. Of course I asked the koihime's future / possibility of a new sengoku koihime as soon as I can and got this answer:

"[Regarding to koihime series and sengoku koihime sequel etc, we would love to produce it
However, our hands are currently full with Suzukuri karin chan. We'll make an announcement if there's any movement so do stay tune for it.
The Japanese community is also asking the same question. The staff knows everyone is looking forward to sengoku FD/sequel but we would also need to gather the right people to handle the title well as well. Give us a little more time]"

So now future looks a little more positive :D

 

[amaimono]

By the way I'm not sure if anyone has mentioned it but Nexton has opened a discord channel for their overseas users and I'm in love with it. In the channel there are actual people from the japanese company itself (directors, writers, illustrators and other staffs) and they are answering most of questions as much as they can.

Love it. Would be great if it leads to more of their eroges being uncensored (in particular their Azarashi, Liquid, and Lusterise brands).

==================
In other news, someone has been arrested for threatening to burn down Visual Arts' company building. Those damned sickos...

 

[Kri]

Love it. Would be great if it leads to more of their eroges being uncensored (in particular their Azarashi, Liquid, and Lusterise brands).

The best thing about the channel is, they didnt open it for the "localed english games", they are actually listening ideas / answering stuff about their only japanese games, showing ways to how can outsea users purchase their goods and how can make it easier etc.



Speaking of baseson, I've just reached halfway of the Shin Koihime Musou -Kakumei- Ryuuki no Taimou but unfortunately my thoughts about it is not as pleasant as other two remake titles. They actually fixed - made many improvement from the older game. For example the "main story" is way better than original, They actually gave a proper reason - setting for all Toutaku's act instead of just "I was just puppet some other bad guys forced me to those", which made everything more sense and gave a strong character to Toutaku. Since they've fixed this starting point of the game and added the Emperor as well, the entire game's plotline felt way more natural and reasonable.

I also pretty much liked all the new characters, most of them are cute and was kind of necessary so they fitted into game very well, They were another strong point of the remake.


So while doing all those good stuff, writer forgot one very important thing. THE PROTAGONIST. In this remake our dude kazuto literally does NOTHING in the main story. Seriously there are some scenes where heroines talking between themselves for 25-30 lines without a single narration or a single reply from our protag. Hell I couldnt even figure out if those scenes are happening in front of the mc or not until kazuto says "okay" or something like that. Yet still every heroine acts like our protag is a big shot or something, which makes it even more annoying.

I'm not saying he should go and kill the enemy generals but in the original Shoku route protag was at least doing some stuff like saving Yue - Ei, stopping Ren's fight and adding her to the shoku ranks, Becoming a decoy, giving suggestions from his future knowledge etc. This time none of those stuff are happening, our mc is literally AFK in the main story while he is returning his active - proper old self in the heroine event scenes.

So in the end its not all bad or unreadable level, but having an AFK protag in the main story definitely leaves a bad taste in the mouth / takes all the credit they did and doesnt give the same feeling from the original game. I'm reading it as a kind of fandisc so I'm still enjoying it tho.

 

[amaimono]

The best thing about the channel is, they didnt open it for the "localed english games", they are actually listening ideas / answering stuff about their only japanese games, showing ways to how can outsea users purchase their goods and how can make it easier etc.

One step at a time I guess. Japanese eroges are expensive, but the experience of purchasing one of them, holding your breath over the customs, and finally seeing the box sits on your shelf is very gratifying (maybe it's just me, but Japanese game developers seem to design better boxes than their Western counterparts). Well, for now, I'd be happy if it means proper usage of English in Nexton's future titles.

 

[amaimono]

Anyone got the original Script.pac of Majikoi?

 

[kzel]

Study § Steady finally got a demo and mastered up, good news! Maybe September won't be such an empty month after all. Well, there's also Cross Concerto but the package release got delayed to next month.

Quick comments on recently played VNs while I'm at it:

AI: The Somnium Files : Played in English with English voices, I actually preferred the English voices to the Japanese ones for once, and the translation is pretty good apart from some clearly obscure Japanese jokes or references. Coming from the same director as the Zero Escape series, the plot is as convoluted as one would expect with its fair share of twists and turns, with info sparingly dispensed into each of the game routes. Contrary to the Zero Escape games (especially the later ones), there's less reliance on magical effects/technology and in the end, apart from some minor details here and there, it all mostly makes sense. There are still some unsolved mysteries though (Mizuki? Cross route memories?), maybe to leave room for other games. The humor is in large parts back to 999's avalanche of sex jokes even though the series calmed down on that front with the later entries, while the serious parts are actually pretty well done. The game contains as usual with this studio its fair share of puzzles, but I felt that overall it was probably the least 'puzzly' games so far. The dream sequences are generally very straightforward and while there is some room for exploration of stupid actions, figuring out the fastest way to solve the level, and finding the hidden items, it never really came close to what the Zero Escape escape rooms offered in terms of challenge (again, especially the later ones). Overall, a pretty good game, though I recommend not picking it up on PC if you're running Win7 as my playthrough has its fair share of bugs, mostly a nasty freeze in the beginning, and some occasional hangs during the (extremely frequent) PiP recaps that each time required a quick save/reload to fix. Nothing insurmountable but it's probably better to stick with one of the console versions for the best experience.

HoneyComing -ハニーカミング- & Fandisk (Asahi, Marino, Yuma) : Despite its age, it's actually a very enjoyable read, with more "meat" to the stories than typical Hooksoft fare even though the resolutions tend to go far too fast for relatively big issues (Marino, Yuma). The fandisk completes the game in a very good way, containing a good amount of both icha-icha and H scenes that the main game tends to lack. I especially liked Marino and Yuma's stories, it's been a while since I've seen a protagonist actually put so much work into getting into a relationship with a heroine (or just stop being ignored), a nice change from the current trend of mote-mote protagonists that barely have to lift a finger. Asahi's route on the other hand felt a little dragging at times. Still, probably one of my favorite Hooksoft games after Melty Moment.

 

[kzel]

It's been a long time coming after multiple delays, but finally スタディ§ステディ is here. So how is it? Well, after playing through a route and a half, what I can say is that it's certainly different from past Marmalade productions, in that it has shed a lot of things to concentrate on... the ecchi scenes. More below.

Spoiler: Study Steady spoilers

Marshmallow, and Primal Hearts 1&2 before it, had a rather lengthy common route with events that sometimes felt like unneeded padding. Not so much in this case. Gone also is the omnipotent MC. Here we have a loner young boy with no special talent (or friends!), and much of the opening scenes is spent speaking to the MC's personal AI assistant while getting introduced to the heroines. The writing style is very straightforward, kinda remminescent of the PrettyXCation 1&2 style, with time passing quickly between events. As far as actual happenings, there's not much apart from a blizzard shelter event (where/what are the adults doing...?) in which the protagonist gets to show off his (AI assisted) skills, and then some small AI related issues that never crop up again, enough to get the MC's ass moving right before the opening credits.

After that? The heroine has been decided by the previous choices, and it's a one-on-one show from there on on. Afficionados of interactions between heroines will probably be disappointed at the almost complete disappearance of the other characters during an heroine route. Said routes progress relatively quickly, with the biggest hurdle being a completely donkan protagonist : I guess having an AI as his only friend didn't help him develop his people skills (that he has no problems displaying when it's involving complete strangers though!). Once the confession hits, complete with in-package love-letter, the game shifts to erotica quickly and stays on that trend all the way to the end, full of icha-icha but without much in terms of other events or drama. One final choice in the route decides what epilogue and associated sex scene to get, and that's about it.

It's been said before that Marmalade would maybe be better off just focusing on ecchi scenes and cropping all the cruft they tend to put in their games, and they did exactly that in this one. The scenes are indeed numerous (7/8 per heroine), fairly long and well done and as usual with Marmalade surprising in how aggressive and open the heroines can be. The usual Marmalade "all night long" scenes are back too. All in all, as a nukige, the first scenes of both Mai and Hazuki (especially) are rather questionable, but overall it's very good on that front.

It's been a while since we've seen a game attempt the "choose the protagonist's name and have the heroine call it" thing, something that hibiki-works has been struggling on for years before finally getting something halfway decent with their latest (and last, RIP) xCation entry. As far as Marmalade's attempt... it's awful. The usual pattern is lines like "Name ... (long pause) Hey! How are you?", extremely awkward, when it's not completely off during ecchi scenes, as the name is read in an entirely different tone from the rest of the line. The worst part? There's no default option as far as I know, and it's impossible to disable the "feature" as it was in the xCation games.

The E-mote usage is pretty good but it's only for sprites, and the setting is a little off too. Boobs jiggle way too much, are heroines even wearing any bra to support their floating air balloons? Also, no breathing motion at all once the lines are ended makes the heroines freeze in time before their next line, it's not that big of a deal but it does take a bit of time getting used to (or just read forward while they speak). Speaking of voices, points for hiring not so prevalent voice actresses like Aji Sanma and Himari.

So there you have it, a game focused on icha-icha and sex scenes, with little to get in the way of that, be that story or interactions with other characters. In that sense, the absence of the letters included in the package, asked to be read at crucial points in the routes, is pretty painful as that was probably supposed to be the high point of the stories.

 

[Mahou]

スタディ§ステディ: I agree with the common route part as I haven't played much into the heroine-of-choice's route. The MC is dense... so dense ;_;. I feared or expected as much when he proclaimed in the beginning of not understanding why you'd need or want a gf. Yes, I took that at a big warning sign *lol*. The name-calling feature has indeed quite a different vocal tone than the usual voiced dialogues and the awkward silence with the last name followed by the honorofic in some cases. Personally, I thought the dialogue between his AI and him kinda neat and a bit funny how the AI got more devleopment than the other characters :D.

 

[kzel]

Finished Hazuki's route. It was certainly... different. While Mai's route followed the familiar pattern of a (short) love story with its key scenes, Hazuki's was just one giant big joke from start to finish. As the narration likes to point out often, there wasn't an ounce of romantic mood in it. That even extends to the ecchi scenes, featuring situations more meant to incite laughter than excitement. I guess it's okay to have one character be little more than a vector for jokes in a game, but I hope the remaining two will be more "standard".

The AI's dialogue can be funny but I really didn't like the machine-like intonation they gave to her voice, especially when she tries to convey emotions or "screams" in a flat tone...

 

[kzel]

We're approaching the second half of October, and with it the usual boom of horror themed games and movies in anticipation of Halloween. And thus, what better than to delve into the latest horror VN by Silky's Plus Wasabi, きまぐれテンプテーション. After the success of Nanairo Reincarnation (despite some flaws) and the overall improvement that was Akeiro Kaikitan, there was certainly room for expectations. I'm not gonna beat around the bush any longer and just say that as a horror game, it was disappointing, as a romance novel, it was pretty bad, and as a mystery/investigation game, it made one fatal mistake that made the experience wholly unpleasant. Light spoilers below.

Spoiler: Kimagure Temptation light spoilers, rant

There are usually three pattern to horror games that feature some ecchi/ero elements. The first, and best, is when the scenes are integrated in the story and fit with the mood of the game. Think Sakura no Mori Dreamers 2's Madoka, or even the twins in Akeiro Kaikitan. The second, and most common pattern, is ero scenes that are largely detached from the horror element and happen in after stories or in between cases. Usually these scenes don't serve a real purpose story-wise but at least they're not detrimental to the story, and can be skipped without any worry. And then you have the last pattern, that is games that appear to follow the second pattern, but in which who and when you fuck is in fact very important. Scenes themselves may be completely detached from the main horror story, BUT whether one read them or not will determine the success of the unrelated mystery/horror investigation despite it making absolutely no sense.

This game is a prime example of the third pattern. During the story you are presented with opportunities to fuck the main heroine during downtime moments. But if you dare say no to her, then you're forced into a bad ending without knowing it, in the worst way possible: at some point you have to choose words to convince people, but if you didn't fuck the girl at every opportunity then you fail no matter what you choose. But lo and behold, when you do fuck her, convincing said people becomes a practical auto-win situation, with the words chosen barely having any impact on the outcome. The same words you attempted and failed before now miraculously reach out to the completely unrelated persons. This is both stupid in terms of internal game logic, and extremely irritating as a player. It's an insult to player intelligence to even present the choices in the horror part, when the main forks are actually decided whether you went for the unrelated ecchi scenes in the middle of your horror story or not.

Said horror story wasn't bad per se, if a little generic for people used to the studio's and the writer's ideas. You have the usual themes of abuse (both moral and physical) and madness, to which is added some drug use, but to be honest it's nothing actually that scary. The mystery isn't very deep and while there is a shocking reveal, its impact pales in comparison to what was in Nanairo Reincarnation. The gore is also kept to a relative minimum as well.

It's something that was present to some degrees in Nanairo but largely improved in Akeiro, but this game moves back to the extreme shorthanding of romance development. Were we supposed to get attached to a character that basically rapes the protagonist 30 minutes into the story, without much of any feeling at all? I guess we were, and were expected to just jump on her at every turn, but I didn't get hooked at all and didn't all the way through the game. Anne's position as a comic relief didn't help her character much, and her behavior in anything but the true ending ends up being dishonest, love indeed.

Overall, disappointing in all fronts. Maybe the H scenes are good, I skipped them all so I can't tell. Read if you like the main heroine from the get-go, otherwise don't bother.

 

[pingtoryan]

SMEE's trying to pull a TravellingStars...