April 2009 Eroge Releases

It’s hard to follow up the abundance of quality games from last month, but there’s still some good ones. I’ll probably end up playing other March releases, but Marginal Skip will definitely be on my playlist when it comes out. Since Zen is now an author for this site, he’ll be joining me in commenting. Micchi’s comments will be in blue, while Zen’s will be in green.

All monthly eroge release posts will now be categorized under “Monthly Releases”, which is a subcategory of “Eroge”. You can browse previous release posts from the category widget in the sidebar.

Note: This post contains mature content. All links will be 18+. Most videos should be relatively clean.

Fukai Kiri no Naka de

Company: カリカチュア (Caricature)
Game site: 深霧の中で…～Fukai Kirino Nakade…～
Release date: April 3, 2009
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from March. This time the OP has been released… and it’s pretty bad. I laughed at the censoring. This is Caricature’s first official work. I’m not interested in the plot (living with girls in the archery club in the mountains) nor the characters, so this one’s a pass for me.

I cannot possibly agree more about how bad this OP is. The song is terrible, the premise is rather boring, and the art feels awkward to me. However this makes the OP a must watch, if only for future benchmarking for how bad the song for an OP can be.

Cross Days

Company: オーバーフロー (Overflow)
Game site: Cross Days（クロスデイズ）
Release date: April 24, 2009 Delayed to June 26, 2009
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from February. As mentioned previously, this is a parallel game to School Days. I don’t really plan on playing this, but I am awaiting details about the bad ends.

I have to admit to being moderately interested in this one. Though I most likely will not be playing it, I am also interested in the bad ends. Too bad that is not enough of a reason to read through the rest of it for me.

Hey look, it’s Sakura Sakura #2!

Spicy Spycy!

Company: highsox
Game site: Spicy Spycy!
Release date: April 24, 2009
Comments:
Souma is a spy that infiltrates a school to provide inside information to the OSS (Order of St. Schurenberg), an alliance of western Europe, US, Canada, Australia, Israel and Japan. To obtain the information, he needs to be like Bond and make the bishoujos fawn over him. While it does have comedic points, this isn’t a lighthearted eroge… it seems like there’s some torture and bondage coersive tactics involved although I guess some people may count that as fetishes. This isn’t really my cup of tea.

Story has some potential though my intuition tells me that it will fall far short. The plot gives off a weak feeling as though it is not a major focus. Not really interested in silly plots to create excuses for H scenes.

Cruise Cruise ~Shoujo no Juunen to Chiisana Yakusoku~

Company: GutenTag
Game site: くる～ず☆クルーズ～少女の10年とちいさな約束～
Release date: April 24, 2009 Delayed to May 29, 2009
Comments:
This is GutenTag’s first game. A girl makes a promise with a guy when they were kids. Now they set sail on a luxury cruise on a romance-seeking journey. I wonder how they got the money to go… Anyways, the art could use some work. Also, what’s with the double naming convention? Spicy Spycy and now this.

Yawn, feels like a shoujo manga plot. I feel that the concept needs quite a bit of work to pull off. Maybe they are just fans of Titanic? I for one hope for the dramatic ship sinking everyone dies ending. Art feels a bit immature. The artist probably needs another year or two before they will be able to pull off CG that is up to par.

Smile Cubic!

Company: ABHAR
Game site: すまいるCubic!
Release date: April 24, 2009
Comments:
This is the fandisk for ABHAR’s first game Suiheisen Made Nan Mile?. I haven’t played the original game, but I do like their art, backgrounds and design in general. This includes both after and another stories.

Have not played the original, nor is this my style. As it is just a fandisk those of you who have played the original and liked it, it’s  probably worth checking out.

Haramiko

Company: Selen
Game site: はらみこ
Release date: April 24, 2009
Comments:
Haruhito is a lucky guy. He gets to live with not one pair of sisters, but two. But soon enters a chibi kami-sama and trouble (H) starts happening. This kind of reminds me of Kamipani!. I like the character designs and Miharu is so cute! >w<b

Cute!!! In a bad way. At least to me. Well the song and op are so cute and sugary that I must now get tested for diabetes. On that note does anyone else feel jealous of the power of a protagonist? Their ability to wind up in random situations surrounded by girls through pure dumb luck never ceases to amaze me. So unfair.

Secret Game -Killer Queen- Depth Edition

Company: FLAT
Game site: シークレットゲーム-KILLER QUEEN- DEPTH EDITION
Release date: April 24, 2009
Comments:
This is the PC version of the PS2 game of the same name. It is remarkably similar to the well-known film/movie Battle Royale, where one must kill or be killed. They are all provided with weapons and even wear similar collars. This is a suspense thriller type of game and possibly has some scary and chilling scenes too.

I am intrigued. This is likely to be one of the games which I play through this month. That said I do feel that the artwork does not fit the setting and theme at all. While a relatively minor fault the sense of incompatibility is slightly irksome. Concept is simple and variations have been done many times before, but it can work when done right. As a final note someone needs to tell them that the matrix screensaver is not cool anymore.

Tsun na Kanojo Dere na Kanojo

Company: PeasSoft
Game site: ツンな彼女 デレな彼女
Release date: April 24, 2009
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from March. I like dere more than tsun!! Although a tsundere imouto is fine too.

I would be a bit more interested in this were it not for the blatant attempt to cash in on tsundere mania. Mildly interesting but probably not enough that I will actually make the effort to play unless I hear about it being something special.

Heliotrope -Sore wa Shi ni Itaru Kami no Ai-

Company: Hatena
Game site: ヘリオトロープ－それは死に至る神の愛－
Release date: April 24, 2009
Comments:
This is Hatena’s first game. Yashiro is a pessimistic guy whose family disappeared. He meets a mysterious girl and gets caught up in a world of fighting that draws inspiration from Western mythology and has a heavy divine aspect. If you like fantasy and action, this one’s for you. The OP has a similar feel to Akatsuki’s Devils Devel Concept.

For this month I am most interested in Heliotrope. Plot has a lot of potential to be interesting and create entertaining settings and characters. Hopefully this will not disappoint. Though I have to admit to being a bit of a sucker for any mythology derivation.

Marginal Skip

Company: MOONSTONE
Game site: マジスキ～Marginal Skip～
Release date: April 24, 2009
Comments:
KAAAAAAAAANAAAAAAAAAAAAAADEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Feels like a good application of standard eroge concept. To me nothing really stands out other than it appears to be fairly high quality all around if a bit on the side of normal. If the style suits you, this appears likely to be a good solid game.

Ok. I’m fine now. But honestly… osananajimi with beret and ribbons that acts like an imouto? Yes! Yes! Yes!

Oh right, there’s more characters too. The story for Majisuki is that Takayuki makes a childhood promise to a girl. Then some new girls from the magic realm suddenly appear. Takayuki seems to have magic in his blood too, but he is not aware of it. So there’s some plot to it…. Fine, I’m playing it for Kanade.

Natsuiro Sagittarius ~Hamaihara Gakuen Kyudoubu~

Company: ブルームハンドル (BloomHandle)
Game site: 夏色さじたりうす～浜井原学園弓道部～
Release date: April 24, 2009
Comments:
Another game based on the archery club. This one should be lighthearted comedy/romance. BloomHandle seems to like making club-based eroge, as their previous work was about curling. The OP didn’t really appeal to me that much, but the art is nice and clean.

Comedy is a must for the high school romance genre for me. I find that a good mix of comedy in the drama makes the story on the whole more entertaining and readable. Thus Sagittarius does have some limited appeal to me. However the club basis is a bit too limiting story wise. There is not really enough of a variation between characters and settings in my opinion to pull off an interesting game. May be worth playing through one story route but I doubt I would actually play through the entire game.

Natsuiro Straight!

Company: White Cyc
Game site: 夏色ストレート！
Release date: April 24, 2009
Comments:
The second ‘natsuiro’ game this month and it’s not even summer yet! This looks to be a pretty straightforward school love-comedy. A new transfer student comes in and asks for marriage. Designs are decent and there’s an imouto (although there’s no route for her)

Feels bland. Plot setup is obvious, lazy, and boring. Characters appear to be as typical as they come and art is nothing special. Relatively decent OP song though. All in all a big pass for me.

Hanafubuki ~Sennen no Koi o Shimashita~

Company: Silver Bullet
Game site: 桜吹雪～千年の恋をしました～
Release date: April 24, 2009
Comments:
I like the OP a lot; feels a little traditional. The plot looks a bit interesting with dreams of the past and our protagonist being in a place with lots of blooming sakura even though he hates them. Akasha is such a cute loli!!

Well this is so rare I believe this is the first time that Micchi and I will agree about an OP. I rather like  it. I also think that this story looks interesting. I may actually end up playing this game.

Shinigami no Kiss wa Wakare no Aji

Company: ALcot シトラス (ALcot Citrus)
Game site: 死神の接吻は別離の味（しにがみのきすはわかれのあじ）
Release date: April 24, 2009
Comments:
This is ALcot Citrus’ first game. Interesting premise with a shinigami showing up and telling you that you will die soon. Actually, that’s similar to Applique’s Concerto Note.

Shinigami says I am going to die!? I am so there.  A bit hard to tell without an op to go on but so far I am rooting for this to be a good game.

Himegari Dungeon Meister

Company: エウシュリー (Eushully)
Game site: 姫狩りダンジョンマイスター
Release date: April 24, 2009
Comments:
I included this one for Hemi-tan, since there’s no way I’d play this. If you like H-RPGs, I’m sure you would be aware of Eushully’s games and highly anticipating this title. The multiple forms of Lily reminds me of Escu:de’s Wondering Repair.

I want to play this. I want to be lazy. It is all a question of which wins out. Most likely the lazy will so I doubt I ever will. RPGs are fun and I really enjoy the genre, however the main appeal of eroge / visual novels for me is that I can multitask while playing them. As such the RPG elements are a bit difficult to deal with.

Gachi Otome Quintet

Company: team it’s みんと (team it’s mint)
Game site: ガチ乙女クインテット
Release date: April 30, 2009
Comments:
Not a huge fan of the character design (body proportions mainly), but I did like the OP. Looks a bit peculiar.

I have to agree about the body proportions being a little extreme. Overall I get the feel that it is attempting to stand out by forcing a different type of world. I feel it may have been more interesting if grounded a little better.

Micchi’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Marginal Skip
   
2. Tsun na Kanojo Dere na Kanojo
3. Hanafubuki ~Sennen no Koi o Shimashita~
   

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Heliotrope -Sore wa Shi ni Itaru Kami no Ai-
   
2. Secret Game -Killer Queen- Depth Edition
   
3. Shinigami no Kiss wa Wakare no Aji