February 2010 Eroge Releases

Even after weeding out such wonderful titles such as Saimin Seikatsu and Migite ga Tomaranai Boku to, Osananajimi no Shimai, we’re still left with a list predominantly full of nuki-ge, fandisks and random bizarre stuff (aka Hinomaru)! If you’re looking for something resembling a story, your best bet is Tsubasa o Kudasai. In my eyes, this month is all about the magic tale Magicarat☆Radiant.

What a month this is. Perhaps one of the worst in recent memory, I have a lot of trouble finding a single game worth the minimal effort a glance would require. A good month for those of us who enjoy good stories to work on our backlogs with our free time.

Rain memory -Amayadori-

Company: flap
Game site: Rain memory－あまやどり－
Release date: February 19, 2010
Comments:
The download version of this game is already out. Basically there’s a guy who hates rain and he meets a girl whose name is Rein. And then they get it on. As the cover art suggests, this is a nuki-ge and that’s all there is to it.

Why even bother including these games, there is no story, the cover alone is enough to invalidate commenting upon this game. Afterall doing so means I would have put more effort into writing than the people making the game did.

Puara!

Company: しゃくなげ (Shakunage)
Game site: ぴゅあらっ！
Release date: February 19, 2010
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from January. It’s an ecchi comedy with girls throwing themselves at Reiichi and wanting to bear his children. A dream come true?

Boring characters capable of making even a certain hobo look appealing, character development which making a nukige look deep, and a premise that is can make even Higurashi seem interesting… Not really sure where I was going with all that other than I covered this game already and well.. it looks painfully boring.

You just can’t comprehend how awesome some characters are.

Nor do I want to.

Real Kanojo

Company: ILLUSION
Game site: リアル彼女
Release date: February 19, 2010
Comments:
ILLUSION continues to make strides in 3D eroge, this time with better rendering for characters. However, everything still looks like crap. But no matter since you can have fun poking her cheeks and nose while wearing 3D glasses (included for your viewing pleasure)! Kidding aside (mostly), the idea of using webcam recognition for choice selection is a brilliant idea… if you had a T-CAM. Also, why is 83 the smallest available?

Oh look Japan has finally discovered bloom and HDR lighting, only to proceed in overusing it, thus granting the poor girl a healthy radioactive glow. Nothing like abusing new (New at least for countries who lack a real PC game market) methods of dynamic lighting to blind people into thinking your graphics are amazing. Afterall with enough lighting the fuzzy effects make your bland textures which are only there to add a 3d effect to a simple model look almost good enough to be revolutionary… ten years ago. Though I have to admit they did do a rather good job in replicating the effects of gravity on human anatomy, Einstein would be proud to witness such a faithful reproduction of the attraction between objects of significant mass. Sadly when such massive objects are pulled from their ideal orbits they exhibit an effect the scientific community refers to as “Sag”, this effect has the tendency to negate the visual appeal said massive objects otherwise generate. Well.. had they not shown pretty much everything I could have found fun in this game during the trailer I no more desire to pok.. err pick this game up.

We have to find a cure for sag.

2D heroines.

Sengoku Hime 2 ~Senran no Yo, Gunyuu Arashi no Gotoku~

Company: unicorn-a / げーせん18 (Gesen18)
Game site: 戦極姫2～戦乱の世、群雄嵐の如く～
Release date: February 19, 2010
Comments:
This is basically an expansion to Gesen18’s 2008 simulation game Sengoku Hime, with additional heroines and factions, as well as the introduction of seasons. While I’m not too keen on the system, I know there are other Sengoku-based games which have better art and accurate body proportions. I do like the OP song though.

Reminds me of Shin Koihime Musou, as it is also an expansion only this game looks so much worse. While I enjoyed Koihime I disliked Shin Koihime, I get the same feeling with this game, too many characters to properly develop anything interesting. Not to mention there is just something about the way things are portrayed and characters look that makes me laugh at the silliness of the girls leading armies. I don’t really mind the gender swapping historical figures for stories but this one just feels poorly done in just about every aspect that matters. I suppose I get a similar vibe as with Reincaration Shinsengumi, which just ruins any potential the game would otherwise have had.

Hinomaru

Company: WHEEL（ホイール）
Game site: ひのまるっ
Release date: February 25, 2010
Comments:
Considering that WHEEL’s debut game was about pantsu being the glory of the macrocosm, it’s not surprising that this title is full of gags. As a matter of fact, I don’t even know what the story is about. It’s billed as a “anime-style love comedy ADV”… whatever that means. The title gets its name from the student council president Hino drawing a circle (‘maru’) denoting her approval. If you’re looking for randomness, this is it. It feels similar to last month’s Yunibaru!.

I would not enjoy going to this school, tis a silly place. While comedy is good, as I have said many times before, without some grounding comedy loses impact. Just plain wacky is boring to me, it is too easy, and just not funny when the setting itself becomes an act of comedy.

WHITE ALBUM 2 ~introductory chapter~

Company: Leaf
Game site: WHITE ALBUM 2～introductory chapter～
Release date: February 26, 2010 Delayed to March 26, 2010
Comments:
The introductory chapter of the second installment of WHITE ALBUM, it once again is a love story taking place during winter. On a cold winter night, the sounds of the guitar, piano and a clear voice from the rooftop combine harmonically. This was the beginning of a new relationship. I never played the original and it’s not necessary to do so, but something seems off with the artwork. A nice touch with it being converted to widescreen.

Never liked White Album, the whole idol / band premise never ceases to annoy me. In addition there is just nothing of noteworthy interest other than that.. As Micchi already pointed out the artwork is just plain bad, with enough flaws that were I so inclined to write about it I could compose a short story paying homage to the artists lack of ability.

Ohimesama wa, Panther-Leo

Company: Hecate（ヘカテ）
Game site: お姫様は、ぱんてられお
Release date: February 26, 2010
Comments:
Mamoru is a university undergrad who, being a hikikomori, doesn’t go to school unless absolutely necessary. One day in May, he was lectured by a prof due to his lousy attendance. He went to the roof for a breath of fresh air and while he was sitting on the bench and looking at the sky… a hole opened up in the sky! Out comes a lion princess, followed soon after by her brother and sister. Furries with snake eyes in a very convenient plot. I had a tough time finding a regular CG. We’ll call this one a nuki-ge too.

Nekomimi. Umm probably a bit more to it than that but it really is just an excuse for nekomimi mode. Another problem I have with it is I hate pathetic main characters, I cannot see a hikikomori being a very interesting character, let alone girls with cat ears having something interesting other than H scenes. While I don’t mind the whole cat ear thing, the way it is used as a simple H scene gimmick really precludes just about any game with cat ears from being played by me.

Kashimashi Communication

Company: AXL（アクセル）
Game site: かしましコミュニケーション
Release date: February 26, 2010
Comments:
Joutarou has average grades and isn’t bad at nor excels at athletics: basically an ordinary student. But, he’s famous in the school since he works for the ‘cross-cultural committee’. This isn’t your normal club; the members are interested in UFO and aliens, ghosts and spirits. He wishes for someone normal and one day he gets his wish in the form of a lost girl from another country. What he doesn’t know is that she’s actually a princess.

AXL is well known for comedy, so I’m sure they will make this work even though there are so many eccentric characters in the cast. I’m not as excited about this title as Like a Butler, maybe because there isn’t a character that stands out to me. The man in black made me laugh.

Maybe it is just me but this game feels terribly uninteresting. The characters feel so mundane and ordinary that no matter how amazing a story may be I could not find myself being interested in the least. Not to say the story is interesting, considering it is one of those Haruhi spinoff types. Perhaps not a terrible game, at the same time the perception of a hastily cobbled together storyline making use of generic characters hardly makes this game a worthwhile investment either.

KOI-LABO

Company: DIVA
Game site: こいらぼ［KOI-LABO.］
Release date: February 26, 2010
Comments:
An university student majoring in arts, Ryou heads to Kaikyouku to become a teacher-in-training. While traveling by boat to the town, he could hear an unpleasant sound. A girl nearby offers him a pair of headphones and tells him that he can’t live on the island without them. Later he finds out that her name is Karen and she is the class rep in his assigned class. It’s headphone-moe. I never thought it was possible. What interests me more is the source of the sound. But if the headphones block out noise, how are they supposed to hear each other well? I don’t get it.

LSD plus staring at headphones on a desk is about the only way I can imagine coming up with a plotline like this. Creating new situations, settings, and characters which embody traits never before seen is something I applaud, however when there is little sensible use for the change I can only see it being used as a cheap gimmick to stand out against competition. Unfortunately, this game appears to fall under the latter, I cannot forsee any logical or useful implementation of a form of noise requiring the continued use of headphones just to live there. No matter what is the reason or cause it just cannot interest me enough to find out with the contradictory elements of the art style, setting, and gimmicks.

Addressing Micchi’s problem with them hearing each other, I would imagine they are just noise cancelers set to a specific wavelength to match the sound the island produces.

But if that worked, couldn’t they just broadcast that same noise canceler across the island, thereby negating the noise?

But if that worked, no headphone moe!

NekoNeko Fandisk 3

Company: ねこねこソフト (NekoNekoSoft)
Game site: ねこねこファンディスク3
Release date: February 26, 2010
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from January. A fandisk with short stories and mahjong. Only play if you’ve completed a NekoNekoSoft game. I’m just waiting for more Ai-chan~

Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeah!

Majicarat☆Radiant

Company: Parasol
Game site: まじからっと☆れいでぃあんと
Release date: February 26, 2010
Comments:
This is Parasol’s debut game. Hiroaki is a second year student at Arihara Gakuen and lives a normal life. He meets two girls one summer day, one with golden hair and the other with silver hair. They tell him that they’re actually magicians and his normal life now descends into chaos.

I’ve been waiting for this title since it was first announced. Not only is the art clean and pretty (and pastel), but the story is a love comedy based around magic. I played the trial and while it wasn’t amazing, I felt it was pretty good. I particularly thought the loli teacher Urara was hilarious and reminded me of Choko-sensei from Kissmao. The OP is also really catchy and happy. Shy kouhai Suzuri and ‘imouto’ Nano-chan are really adorable! Hau~ omochikaeri~!

Hi there, im a magician, please select a girl and let hijinks and H scenes ensue. To be perfectly honest I am running out of drive to even bother insulting games like these. While it may be a middle aged pedophiles delight, the use of magic is pointless, the characters are loli, loli, loli, and boring, and quite frankly the story is worthless. If you happen to be one of those (Micchi, M3rry, etc.) who lustfully yearn for the bodies of children just download the CG set to save your time and money.

Ore no Imouto no Erosa ga Uchouten de Todomaru Koto o Shiranai

Company: ZERO
Game site: オレの妹のエロさが有頂天でとどまる事を知らない
Release date: February 26, 2010
Comments:
I’m only including this because it’s such a blatant attempt to cash in on the popular light novel Ore no Imouto wa Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai. So there’s a sister, step-sister, cousin and cross-dressing trap; can’t go wrong with that. ZERO is a pretty old brand that specializes in nukige, yet they basically all sucked. I don’t foresee this changing in the near future. Compared to this, Imouto Smile is a masterpiece.

I really don’t see the comparison to Ore no Imouto blah blah, tsundere imoutos have been done before and will be done again, it is hardly something limited to OreImo. Same with the plethora of sister like alternate characters, there are plenty of games that have similar themes, many of which predate OreImo. Since that was Micchi’s only reason for including it, I won’t have to say anymore, hooray.

It’s because the title structure and the way it is written is basically a copycat of Oreimo. Not to mention ZERO’s site has a mock manga-style DVD cover which looks awfully like the Oreimo vol1 cover.

Amai Toki

Company: P-factory
Game site: 甘い刻 -SweetTime-
Release date: February 26, 2010
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from January. My lack of interest in this game transcends from one month to the next.

Just ask the ghost of eroge past if you want my opinion.

Shakkin Shimai 2 After Story

Company: Selen
Game site: 借金姉妹2 AfterStory
Release date: February 26, 2010
Comments:
This is the fandisk for Shakkin Shimai 2, including after stories Kaho and Kasumi, as well as a harem after story. I like Selen’s art: it’s both cute and sexy.

.

Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi

Company: feng（フォン）
Game site: 星空へ架かる橋
Release date: February 26, 2010 Delayed to April 23, 2010
Comments:
Kazuma moved to Yamabiko-chou due to his younger brother Ayumu’s health and ended up staying at the Yorozuyo inn, owned by his father’s friend. On his first day at school, he got lost and asked for directions from a fellow student, Ui. She led him on an offbeat path and he accidentally fell and kissed her. Coincidentally, this was all seen by Ui’s friend, Ibuki, who thought he was a bad guy and declared him to be an enemy.

There’s nothing too special about Hoshikaka. It’s a scenario that we’ve heard of so many times before, with characters who don’t particular stand out nor deviate from standard archetypes. I was hoping because of the title that it would have something to do with Tanabata, but I haven’t seen any mention of it. If someone does decide to play it and it is related to the Tanabata story, please let me know!

So protagonist transfers, but wait here lies the unique abnormality for this game, YOUNGER BROTHER! For once the powers that be decided not to make it a younger sister, thus surrounding the protagonist with all females other than the complementary perverted friend. So since there are no clingy little pests to deal with everything is looking good so far, oh wait.. accidentally kisses a girl from a seemingly innocent chain of events.. boooring I take it back this game sucks. Maybe if you happen to want something to read in a sort of lazy manner while not really caring about the plot or characters this may have a bit of appeal… otherwise ignore with extreme prejudice. Perhaps the only redeeming feature I could imagine would be a little brother route that is extremely easy to activate just so I could laugh at imagining peoples faces when they see it.

Tsubasa o Kudasai

Company: skysphere
Game site: 翼をください
Release date: February 26, 2010
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from January. This is skysphere’s debut game. Seitenshou Gakuen is famous in Shizoaki since there is a legend that angels were created there. Mitsuto is a student there who doesn’t like the monotony of everyday life: waking up at the same time, going to school and coming back home after classes. He cleans the old and unused three-story Building B by himself. One day as he was sweeping the floors, he ended up on the seemingly nonexistent 4th floor and finds a girl reading a book alone. Her name is Hinako, and soon after he can start seeing things and people that normal people cannot see. The secret of the angels is starting to become unraveled.

The story is very promising, especially since the concept of angels isn’t just one of purity, as shown by the OP and the CGs. The art also fits the theme quite well, with well-done backgrounds. If you want to play something different this month, take a shot at this one.

I do not much care for the presentation of the concept, it feels as though there is something missing from the story, too much of a silly girly depiction to bring out the full potential of the concept. Not to mention that the whole idea of the school being the center is just plain stupid. With what little story there is being mostly given away by the OP I cannot see any value at all in bothering with this game since the characters certainly are not a selling point here, so unless you have a fetish for angels or wings, or perhaps if you are an emo kid do yourself a favor and skip this game.

The artwork is very simple and non committal, it feels almost as though the artist could not decide on their own style so is hovering between a realistic and cartoonish portrayal. In addition there is a significant lack of shade clarity further resulting in a rough and childish feel to the artwork.

Koitou Ranma ~Watashi ga, Anata o, Mamoru Kara!!!~

Company: アーベルソフトウェア (Abel Software)
Game site: 恋刀乱麻～わたしが、アナタを、守るからっ!!!～
Release date: February 26, 2010
Comments:
The Sumeragi Gakuen is under attack from 5 other schools who are after its enormous wealth. The school’s battle representative Biryuu is on the verge of falling when our hero Miyabi appears and somehow helps her recover. She tells him that he has the ‘sun element’. The goal is to unite the schools and end all the battling. The system is kinda like the Sengoku games, without the RPG factor. Hemi must be drooling over this. Well, there’s definitely one rule that this game follows: the longer the battle drags on, the less clothes the heroines wear.

You really have to love how the theme is a terrible excuse to make schoolgirls fight in torn up uniforms. Games like this with absolutely no possibility for plot development, intriguing stories, or even decent characters are worth no more than their CG. The amount of problems I have with this game just so happens to be inversely proportionate to my desire to write and point them all out, therefore as you know my opinion and the general information.. I quit, have a nice day.

Micchi’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Magicarat☆Radiant
2. NekoNeko Fandisk 3
   
3. Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi
   

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. I weep in despair
2. Lamenting my misfortune
3. No new eroge
   

You know it is a slow month when Micchi’s top 3…  are a top 3.

Nice haiku.