August 2011 Eroge Releases

It’s Comiket month and if not for all the July delays, the number of doujin games might have outnumbered the professional ones. But here we are with titles we have seen before, like Diamic Days and Love-Bride Eve. Also out this month is the much anticipated ALICESOFT’s Rance Quest, along with 07th Expansion’s Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni. Zen might have something to say about them, but I think he’s too busy copy pasting comments.

This August makes me wonder why more months can’t be as easy to write, after all there are only ever a few games worth commenting on to begin with, would be nice if the companies realized this and only bothered to release those. That said as far as actual August releases there is little to choose from and most are not all that interesting as the majority of games are delays or doujins. I am not even going to bother commenting on 07th Expansion, I have said all I need to in the past, and they don’t deserve the commentary or any more attention in the first place.

Trif

Circle: triangle (doujin)
Game site: Trif トライフ
Release date: August 13, 2011 (Comiket 80)
Comments:
This is an all-ages game by doujin circle triangle. She was very very beautiful, like she was in a picture, cut off from the world. So beautiful and pure, as if she would break if merely touched. This was the first night when I fell in love at first sight. I think Miyuki’s supposed to be the main heroine, but it was her imouto Misato that caught my eye. I have a soft spot for those energetic trouble/moodmaker types (and striped kneehighs). Not much to say about the story. Art is pretty good for a doujin.

He fell in love with her at first sight and so the stalking began. Or at least it should have, would make the game a lot more interesting and stand out clearly amidst its peers, could have been like an Assassin’s Creed only with stalking instead of assassinations! Not much going for the game story wise, as there is a certain depth lacking in most fated meeting stories, especially when they involve love at first sight. None of the characters feel as though they are anything special to me either, although I do agree that by doujin standards the art is above average, although were it professional I would have noted the art as a negative.

Futaba☆Channel 3

Circle: 夢見奏 (Yumemisou) (doujin)
Game site: ふたば☆ちゃんねる３
Release date: August 13, 2011 (Comiket 80)
Comments:
The latest title in the Futaba☆Channel series by Yumemisou. Itsuki was spending his summer vacation doing nothing at his house when one day he found himself turned into a girl thanks to a bar of soap that his osananjimi Mii was carrying. She was delighted that it worked and wanted him to play with her for one day. He agreed, thinking that she knew a way to turn him back. However, nothing happened and his summer vacation of chaos has begun.

That. Soap. Again. It’s dangerous stuff. But it’s ok! We’ve got no troubles! Life is the bubbles! I kinda like Yumemisou’s art and their stories are not bad (even though they’re a bit short). This should be full of comedy like the previous games in the series. Go check it out since it’s probably only an hour or so anyway.

Just think how much you could sell that soap for in prison… A simple story obviously based around comedy, if it appeals to you even slightly then may be worth the price of admission.

ChuSinGura 46+1

Circle: れいんどっぐ (Rain Dog) (doujin)
Game site: ChuSinGura 46+1　- 忠臣蔵 46+1 –
Release date: August 13, 2011 (Comiket 80)
Comments:
This is a sound novel by Rain Dog depicting the events of Chuushingura, where 47 ronin  sought revenge for the death of their master, Asano. The twist here is the protagonist Suguha falls into a time slip and ends up in the Edo period, and the ronin are mostly girls.

Nothing major to complain about the graphics, but the amateur aspect definitely shows in the action scenes in the OP. As with all bastardized historical/fictional stories, old men are turned into cute and beautiful girls. That’s something I definitely wouldn’t complain about. It gave me Shuri after all.

The conflict between trying to take this story seriously which it is obviously trying to be, while involving risqué outfits and overly busty heroines and cheesy action scenes kills my desire to play this. Nothing against the Koihime style of gender swapping in theory, but honestly no series, including Koihime has been able to do a decent job of the story going along with it. I expect much of the same here, as it looks like more of an excuse to throw in some ero for people who enjoy this style of setting than something revolving around a story worth reading.

Worst☆Contact ~Shinigami Kanojo to Uchuujin~

Circle: non color (doujin)
Game site: わーすと☆コンタクト　～死神彼女と宇宙人～
Release date: August 13, 2011 (Comiket 80)
Comments:
Kanata is a shinigami who had her eyes set on one boy from Kamidera-jima, Ayataka. Even though she summoned up the courage to approach him, he told her that he could not go out with a shinigami. However, this didn’t discourage her one bit, instead making her more determined. At the same time, an alien Sarasa came to the island in a (space)ship and abducted him. He told her too that he could not go out with an alien. However, she didn’t understand him at all.

A pretty random plot, but considering how ApRicoT makes those work, maybe this one might too. While an innocent alien is tempting, an imouto longing for her oniichan is even more so. Don’t make your imoutos sad!

You can totally tell the creators tried oh so very hard at the premise for this game, toiling away night and day to come up with this masterpiece of a plot. Upon reaching the peak of perfection they then decided to throw it all out and use this rubbish instead. I wouldn’t bother with this even if I felt so inclined to play a random comedy plot at the moment, what little story there is to drive the comedy here will undoubtably crumble and fall through your hands like so much sand.

Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni

Circle: 07th Expansion (doujin)
Game site: 彼岸花の咲く夜に
Release date: August 13, 2011 (Comiket 80)
Comments:
Higanbana is the latest work by Ryukishi07 and 07th Expansion after Higurashi and Umineko. It started off as a manga and the games will be based on these stories. Same atmosphere, art quality and trolling faces as you’ve come to expect. I’m not really too interested in this as the novelty has worn off.

[Censored by Micchi]

Boukensha no Machi o Tsukurou!

Circle: Tamamo Studio (doujin)
Game site: 冒険者の町を作ろう！
Release date: August 13, 2011 (Comiket 80)
Comments:
Rick is an adventurer who is on a dungeon-exploring journey. While riding a horsecart on the way to town, a fellow passenger (a black slime named Rodriguez) gave him a black pendant. Because of this pendant, the townspeople of Burren thought he was coming to rebuild the town. They requested that he become the head of the village and he declined, but he gave in when the daughter of the previous village head, Kuria, asked him again.

This is an SLG that combines town building and dungeon crawling. Animation and story aren’t the main selling points here and I’m not sure about the game balance. Maybe it’ll be ok for a few hours. Who knows?

I would have named the protagonist Armin personally. This game reminds me of some other actual rpg game, correct me if I am wrong however I believe it was Rune Factory. Either way though this may actually be decent, assuming the gameplay is not completely lame as most are, I may actually play this game despite requiring work and being a doujin.

D-EVE in you

Company: Twinkle
Game site: D-EVE in you
Release date: August 26, 2011 Delayed to September 22, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from July. Ren is the son of the president of Hiura Productions talent agency. While the company used to produce lots of top idols in the past, now it is managed solely by them with no current idols to their name. They wish to regain their past glory and a huge opportunity appears. The idol-raising Houou Girls’ School was recently built and the principal allows Hiura Productions to secure a classroom. However, his father Yukichi suddenly collapses and Ren is forced to take over as the role of lecturer instead. With limited knowledge about how to raise idols, will he be able to bring the 4-girl idol unit D-EVE to stardom?

He should go watch the Idolm@ster anime for some tips.

I am willing to bet the secret to producing popular idols ends up being copious amounts of H scenes. Perhaps breasts the size of watermelons is yet another positive factor in creating a popular idol. Of course they have not forgotten the lolicons in the audience and have courteously provided a flat chested girl to be the Cyllene to their Jupiters. More pointless idol moe to appeal to the people into that by given them a group of such characters to choose from. I have yet to see an idol based game that doesn’t look like something put together by said idols. As far as the art I don’t see Mucchi’s problem as their ratios are proportionate respective to the style in use, I can only imagine Mucchi is racist against large chests and since they are taller than a meter they don’t quite look childish enough for his tastes.

MISTAKE×MISCAST

Company: ミニヨン (Mignonne)
Game site: MISTAKE×MISCAST
Release date: August 26, 2011 Delayed to September 30, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from July. This is the debut title for Mignonne. Itsuki occasionally has dreams about a lover from his past life, Suou-hime. One morning in homeroom, a new transfer student named Rin who looks just like her appeared in front of his very eyes and he embraced her, happy that he finally met her again. “What are you suddenly hugging me for… What’s wrong with you?” Well, it’s natural that he would get hit after that doing that to someone who he met for the first time. However, that isn’t what shocked him the most. It was that the cute Suou-hime that he knew was now a tomboy. Meanwhile, her twin older sister Yui, his osananajimi Kuu and the rest of the class watched dumbfoundedly.

I’m pretty sure they’ll end up together in the end, all raburabu.

I wonder which game mignon got his past life from, there are plenty of choices after all. As far as his current life this is about as standard as eroge setups come, a dangerous choice for a first attempt at a game, unless the writing is amazing, this is likely to be a failure, especially in a month with so many more appealing releases, notably key releasing Rewrite, the competition is too fierce for a new company to not stand out in some way that attracts people other than die hard fans of the particular setup they have chosen. Since it is not my concern however I will take a look at the game when it is released to see what mignon is capable of, since though it may be standard there is also nothing that stands out as immediately bad or sub par save some minor artwork issues.

Doushite Daite Kurenai no!? ~Onna no Ko Datte Yaritai no!~

Company: chococo
Game site: どうして抱いてくれないのっ!?～女の子だってヤりたいの！～
Release date: August 26, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from July. Haruto loves girls a bit too much and confesses to them indiscriminately, ending up being rejected every day (the count is up to 665 now). One day, a cute girl transferred into his class and he quickly went to confess to her. The girl Misuzu responded with a question: “Do you want to make a girlfriend? To find love? Or maybe only to have sex?” Caught off-guard, he stutters that he might want a girlfriend. Hearing his answer, she smiled and cast a magic spell on him making him popular amongst girls. He didn’t believe it as first, but when girls he had never met before started confessing to him, he found himself in heaven. That is until she told him that the spell will wear off as soon as he has had sex with a girl and that girl will forget about him.

Ren-chan is such an adorable ‘girl’! >w<

Simple solution to the problem this spell presents, have Kanon invite Haruto to have a good time in his brothel, two birds with one stone. Essentially this is just another harem style game with the sole differentiating factor being the spell that was cast on him, how to dispel it and the consequences thereof. Is that really enough to justify playing this game? I can’t imagine why it would without a compelling story and cast, the latter of which is pretty much standard fare, and the former appears to be unimpressive by all appearances.

Pochi to Goshujinsama♥

Company: SkyFish poco
Game site: ぽちとご主人様♥
Release date: August 26, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from June. This is the first game by SkyFish poco, a sister brand of SkyFish which specializes in more extreme ecchi scenes. Hiro’s osananajimi Chiwa is like a little sister to him. Instead of a promise to marry each other, they made a promise with a toy choker to keep a relation like a dog and its master. When Chiwa left with her mother to England, she vowed to return to Japan one day and be in the same class in school one day. A few years later, she finds out that her mother will be remarrying his father. However, if she becomes his true imouto, does that mean that she can’t marry him anymore!? She hurries back to Japan and asks him if he remembers their promise. She offers to become her oniichan’s pet and wants him to love her a lot.

When she last came back, she found out that he had become really S while cleaning his room. Even though she loves having a collar on and serving her master, she doesn’t like being bound or struck. She wants to have a kind master, but he in turn wants her to understand his own likings. In the two months before their parent’s remarriage, what will become of their relationship? Both siblings and lovers. A dog and its master. Chiwa and Hiro’s raburabu S+M days begin.

This is actually quite into S+M, exhibitionism and similar themes. Might not be for everyone. (But Chiwa is so darn cute…)

Nana to Kaoru the eroge. I just don’t care and since Micchi only included it because of the pet I can’t find a good enough reason to say any more.

Zombie no Doukyuusei wa Princess -Fushijin Detective-

Company: アーベルソフトウェア (Abel Software)
Game site: ゾンビの同級生はプリンセス -不死人ディテクティブ-
Release date: August 26, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from July. Aruba was killed as he watched his osananajimi Karen being taken away. Even though he was dead, he was determined to find out who the culprit was. The demon princess Ruuna offered to help him with his goal if he signed a contract to become her servant. He agreed and became a zombie that can surprisingly still feel pain. She would order him to do things that normal humans wouldn’t be able to do, such as jumping out of a window on the 15th floor, in order to solve mysteries that are happening around the school.

I’m not really sure what jumping out of a window has to do with solving mysteries…

Who wouldn’t sign a contract with a demon even without a real reason, I know I wouldn’t even have to think about it zombie or no. Of course this is little more than a Kore wa Zombie Desu ka ripoff in eroge form which I am sure just about everyone realized instantly. While the pain part kind of sucks, I can also see how it would be somewhat entertaining, as I know I at least have wondered how certain things feel, what is it like to be shot, to be stabbed in the heart and so on since you can feel pain still you can answer such questions without the need to worry about permanent damage. All of that aside though the story feels lacking here, there just is not enough of a well developed substructure for this to really grab the reader. I will play it simply because I am so sick of action based titles sucking lately and this is more or less tolerable.

Diamic Days

Company: Lump of Sugar
Game site: ダイヤミック・デイズ
Release date: August 26, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from July. Rei is supposed to be starting second year at a newly established school after transferring out from Happousan Gakuen, but he couldn’t find his name on the bulletin board. At first he was not too happy about all the troubles, but then he realized that he is starting anew in this school and he has the opportunity to create the school life that he wanted, from the student council and anthem to the annual festivals and clubs.

Diamic Days is worked on by the same staff that made Prism Rhythm, Lump of Sugar’s venture into the iyashi-kei genre. This time the concept is having fun and enjoyable school life. It’s not gonna wow you with the story, but Lump of Sugar’s great at chara-ge, so play it with that in mind. Kotora~♡

Ah yes the second string group for Lump of Sugar make another appearance, then again considering how bad HGB was maybe they should be the new core of this company. Other than that nothing special here, it is about as cookie cutter as eroge can be, not even bothering to develop more to the story and setting than a basic high school love comedy. If you are either new to eroge, or enjoy reading the same jokes, same character designs, and same stories and routes over and over then there is something of value here worth playing. If not however it would probably best to steer clear of this as I know I shall be doing.

Yuyukana -under the Starlight-

Company: NanaWind
Game site: ユユカナ -under the Starlight-
Release date: August 26, 2011 Delayed to September 22, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from June. This is the debut title for NanaWind. In the downtown core is an old torii. Through this gate, one would find themselves in a find themselves in the resort island of Aoshima, full of trees and sunflowers and surrounded by the emerald green ocean. Akito lives in this lively city and attends Aohi Gakuen. One day, a new transfer student appeared in his class. This black-haired bishoujo embraced him, proclaiming that she had always wanted to meet him.

Typical chara-ge, pick up if there’s a chara you’re interested in.

Not much to say about a game that has no story to begin with, either you want to watch the CG in action or you want to play another game there is nothing else here as the characters themselves fail to stand out amidst others.

Love☆Kiss

Company: Lime
Game site: ラブ☆キス
Release date: August 26, 2011
Comments:
Ever since he was small, Yousuke has been switching schools every year due to his parents’ work, so he’s never been in a school for more than half a year. This year is no different with him getting a call from his parents on Valentine’s Day telling him that they will be moving again when spring comes. When he got to school, two classmates confessed to him. He asks them that he will be moving away soon, but their feelings for him did not waver.

A typical love triangle-type story. Maybe their love will encourage him to go out and live on his own like any self-respecting eroge protagonist should (imoutos are allowed and encouraged). I have a bit of a problem with the art since it’s kinda bland, possibly because the backgrounds are so simplistic. Pass.

As neither of his potential heroine options are all that attractive to me I would advise Yousuke to continue on with his life’s journey in the hopes he lands in someplace he may find himself a better partner. Failing that though and finding himself in a stereotypical eroge setup allowing him to choose I would instead ask him to shut the hell up and not annoy me with his boring and predictable story. Who needs friends who can’t make their stories any more interesting than the usual cookie cutter eroge filler and moe bait pointlessly taking up space in most monthly posts.

He needs to find himself an imouto. An imouto is all you ever need.

At least most would fit neatly in a suitcase.

Love-Bride Eve

Company: WHITESOFT
Game site: ラブライド・イヴ
Release date: August 26, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from July. Atsushi and Miyu are childhood friends who are known as the perfect couple by friends and family. They’ve been together since they were small, live next to each other, and are often teased by others for acting like newlyweds. However, there’s one big problem. They’ve never properly confessed to each other. Even though they are so lovey-dovey, it is too embarrassing for them to say those few words, believing that they do not have to say it because they know it deep down. However, Miyu wants to one day have the courage to say the words “I love you”.

The OP is pretty catchy and Miyu would be a great girlfriend. This is at the top of my list again.

It should come as no surprise given Mucchi’s endorsement of this series that I have the opposite opinion. Well that is the case on my personal taste at least, as far as the game itself is concerned for what it is I have to admit that it does appear to do a good job catering to the target demographic, if not managing to stand out enough to really justify it as anything more than standard. I have to at least give them a nod for doing more than Lump of Sugar has this month and at least giving more background and meaning to the standard school romance comedy.

Rance Quest

Company: ALICESOFT
Game site: ランス・クエスト
Release date: August 26, 2011
Comments:
This is a continuation of the Rance series from the previous title, Sengoku Rance. It is a dungeon crawler type RPG, with MMO style maps where you are free to roam. As he normally does, Rance goes around ‘conquering’ bishoujos while trying to find a way to free Sil from the ice she is trapped in. A schoolgirl that he saved, Sachiko, accompanies him on his journey, but then he finds himself cursed – he can no longer do H with girls!

But it’s ok, since strong (high level) bishoujos are OK! It goes without saying that if you’ve been following the Rance series since the beginning, you’d have preordered this already. While Rance’s character isn’t for everyone, there’s no doubt that this will be a well-made game by ALICESOFT. These don’t come along often, so you might as well check it out.

This combat system was not fun back in the 80s when it was pioneered by the Ultima and Might and Magic series, and it is most certainly not fun now. The only games that even dare to have something like this are eroge, if they stuck to what Micchi referred to as “MMO style maps” for the combat as well these games may have been more enjoyable. Anyway too much H, not enough story, and the worst RPG combat system ever conceived by man make me allergic to this series.

Akikaze Personal +Ore to Boku to Kanojo no ○○+

Company: LilacSoft
Game site: 秋風ぱーそなる ＋俺と僕と彼女の○○＋
Release date: August 26, 2011
Comments:
Hideto lives in the city of Isaki, where his parents run a liquor store. Since 5 years ago, he has had a special type of split personality where each side knows and even talks to the other and can switch back and forth as they please. Because of this, he has problems with his memory. One day, his osananajimi Nanami, who he hadn’t seen in 5 years, returned to Isaki-shi. He had always believed that his other side, Shuuto, was born because he wanted to protect her.

It’s kinda hard to grasp what the story will be like and where they plan to go with the whole split personality thing. But at least all of Lilac Soft’s games (Ano Aoi Umi Yori, Re:Seven) have elements which make you feel it’s slightly different from other games. That’s something better than what Purple Software has been doing lately…

An interesting premise, I wonder if the split personalities will eventually turn into one dominant due to heroine choice, if so that would be sorta boring as it is rather predictable. There has sadly almost always been a pitfall with games that try new things as they tend to stick too firmly to a few core moe-game concepts, school setting, stereotypical heroine archetypes, standard relationships, etc.. Though for a month with only a few non delayed games this is one I am looking forward to giving a chance in the hopes it may be interesting.

On the topic of Purple Software games I can’t think of a single example where they have delivered on their premise with a good story that backs it up and was enjoyable to read. Or for that matter even characters that made you want to care about them and their problems.

Oh look, it’s a Purple Software game up next!

Mirai Nostalgia

Company: パープルソフトウェア (Purple Software)
Game site: 未来ノスタルジア
Release date: August 26, 2011 Delayed to September 2, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from July. Youichi is able to move objects without touching them, but other than that he lives a normal life just like everyone else. That is until Anna appeared, claiming to have been rejected by his future self. After that, he met his cousins Nono and Hinano who lived apart from him, as well as the shrine maiden Iori who said she had been waiting for him. His life has suddenly become a lot more complicated.

Time travel games can be a hit or miss, but at least this shows more creativity than their recent games.

Purple Software manages to troll me in the most annoying ways possible, many of their games have potentially interesting settings and plots but then the writing turns it all to rubbish. Due to the past precedence I am wary to say the least, and while I like the potential ideas here I am hesitant to endorse a company that has betrayed me so many times in the past and most likely will yet again. Given that this is a fairly slow month for me I think I will dare to set foot in the Purple minefield once more as the premise this time sounds better than the last few games.

Renai Katei Kyoushi Rurumi★Coordinate!

Company: riffraff
Game site: 恋愛家庭教師ルルミ★Coordinate！
Release date: August 26, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from July. This is the professional debut for doujin circle riffraff, featuring a remake of their doujin title Renai Katei Kyoushi Rurumi. Early April is the start of a new school year, when new relationships and new lives blossom. However, Ayuhisa spends his days in his room and doesn’t even go to school. Of course he hasn’t had a girlfriend before nor even held hands. One day, a private teacher of love Rurumi appeared at his door with the goal of bringing him out of his hikikomori state by restructuring his lifestyle, teaching him about fashion and even lessons about girls. Then Rurumi’s rival Mana shows up along with his non-blood-related imouto Shizuku. And how will he react to a beautiful oneesan that he met online Honoka and an ojousama Chieri? Let the private lessons of love begin!

It’s almost as if riffraff is still a doujin circle, as this doesn’t seem much different from doujin games this month.

A game that is more or less a gender swapped version of a typical shoujo makeover story. For once I am in agreement with Mucchi that the hikikomori protagonist is a detriment as is how lackluster the game is for a debut as a professional group. I am however not in agreement about the imouto, I may play in the hopes there are some enjoyably mean options regarding interactions with her. Not much else here that seems worth it though, the premise is not enough to stand above other games, the fact its a remake will likely weaken sales, and perhaps worst is that the characters lack a unique appeal. Ah well I still wish them the best, as regardless of the flaws it is still a doujin circle going professional, so for as long as they are putting the effort in to make the games they want I’ll support them even if I don’t agree with their tastes.

Micchi’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Koiiro Sora Moyou FD Love-Bride Eve
2. Diamic Days
3. Mirai Nostalgia

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Zombie no Doukyuusei wa Princess -Fushijin Detective-
2. Akikaze Personal +Ore to Boku to Kanojo no ○○+
3. Boukensha no Machi o Tsukurou!

This was the easiest month to write EVER.

Copy paste is my hero.