September 2010 Eroge Releases

There’s fandisks galore this month, satisfying fans of Baldr Sky, Ruitomo, ef and Pia Carrot 4. The highlight of this month was to be TYPE-MOON’s highly anticipated Mahoutsukai no Yoru… but it was delayed to later this winter, so you’ll have to do with another month of seeing if Hoshikaka will finally come out. Hurray.

Although we are not quite out of the eroge drought yet there is a light at the end of the tunnel at least, with this month showing a slight improvement over previous months. The delay from Type Moon makes me want to go postal however as I was really looking forward to a new game from them which was not some retarded SD spinoff of one of their existing games.

Soleil -Première-

Company: F&C
Game site: それいゆ -PREMIE’RE-
Release date: September 3, 2010
Comments:
Keito is appointed as the manager of a small youkan named Shichiyoutei in Shinkawa-chou. He is greeted by three maids Yurika, Ayumi and Fimnet, all with different personalities. It is said that kindness changes people and so their calm and quiet days begin. This title was first released at C78. Obviously an ecchi iyashi-kei game featuring maids. Art looks a bit old school.

If I you have ever sat back and thought to yourself, “Wow you know I am sick of plotlines that take effort, I just want to be as lazy as the writers who come up with the most simple excuse for H scenes possible” then you have a winner here. Then again if you never happened to find yourself thinking along those lines you have an excellent excuse to go gay all neatly wrapped up in a box for you.

How can you turn gay when there’s maids servicing you? (Stitch aside)

Well some people do not like to hire their maids off a city corner.

Pia Carrot e Youkoso!! 4 Fandisk

Company: カクテル・ソフト (Cocktail Soft / F&C)
Game site: ぴあきゃろ4FD -Pia▼キャロットへようこそ!!4 ファンディスク-
Release date: September 3, 2010
Comments:
This Pia Carrot 4 fandisk focuses on additional stories for Akemi, Sora and Haruna. Similar to Soleil above, this was first released at C78.

I really love fandisks, they are so easy to comment on. Oh by the way, it’s a fandisk. There done.

Tenshi no Nichiyoubi “ef – a fairy tale of the two.” Pleasurable Box.

Company: minori
Game site: 天使の日曜日 “ef – a fairy tale of the two.” Pleasurable Box.
Release date: September 17, 2010
Comments:
This is the fandisk to the ef series. It consists of three parts: After and another stories for the ef cast, a sd chara side-scrolling action game and a Blu-ray animation movie. The after story takes place in the January following the end of the game, with the returning of Renji and Shuuichi. In the another stories, there are three additional routes for Yuuko, Nagi and Mizuki (Renji’s cousin). Yuuko’s route does not include any H scenes. Perfect for those that follow this series or like the artwork.

Ef is the kind of game that makes you want to take a relaxing drive to your nearest high school and punch the first emo kid you see in the face as hard as you possibly can. Too much pointless drama to make me ever want to have much to do with it.

Rui wa Tomo o Yobu Fan Disc -Ashita no Mukou ni Mieru Kaze-

Company: 暁WORKS (Akatsuki Works)
Game site: るいは智を呼ぶファンディスク -明日のむこうに視える風-
Release date: September 23, 2010
Comments:
This fandisk for Akatsuki Work’s 2008 title Ruitomo is comprised of routes for subchars Yenfei, Megumu and Miyawa, as well as a side episode. All the main heroines from the original game will have short stories with H scenes. Ruitomo was a great game about overcoming hardships together and this fandisk will help resolve those hidden truths that remained.

I am so happy *In tears of absolute joy* with so many fandisks this month it is like the commentary writes itself.

Baldr Sky DiveX “Dream World”

Company: 戯画 (GIGA)
Game site: BALDR SKY DiveX“DREAM WORLD”
Release date: September 24, 2010
Comments:
This is the fandisk for GIGA’s Baldr Sky series, featuring a variety of different stories and mini games. Included are Dream Stories original another stories, survival mode dungeon crawlers, battle arena, and more. There’s also a collaboration with NekoNekoSoft (Scarlett), Minato Soft (Majikoi) and Nitro+ (Muramasa). A great selection for an amusement disk.

Seems more like a collaboration with Circus given how Giga is milking Baldr Sky.

Green Strawberry

Company: LOVERSOUL
Game site: Green Strawberry
Release date: September 24, 2010
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from July. Spring has arrived and Hiroki prepares to transfers to the prestigious Sennosha private school. However, he is always unlucky and due to illness, he ends up starting school two weeks late. When he arrives at the dorm, he’s told that he no longer has a room. Nothing jumps out either in the plot or the artwork. It seems too shallow at first glance. Pass.

Should have released last month if they wanted to actually sell this game. This game only looms above the competition when gazing upon the epic mountain range arranged for scaling at your leisure. Dr Seuss would be sad that Green Strawberries are for hardcore mountain men only.

Orange Memories

Company: パープルソフトウェアdelight (Purple Software delight)
Game site: Orange Memories
Release date: September 24, 2010
Comments:
This is the first title by Purple Software delight, focusing on the reunion of childhood friends. Entering the fourth year of university, Hiroki received a call from Nagae Yujirou-sensei who asks him what he aspired to be in the future. He tells him that he wants to be a teacher and his former teacher invites him to his current school to gain training as a practice teacher for 3 weeks. This school is located in Hokashi-chou, where Hiroki had previously lived.

There’s something about Purple Software titles… the plot never really grabs you, yet there’s not anything that really turns you off it either. This time the protagonist is older, so similarly the ages of the heroines go up accordingly, although there’s still a 1st year loli in the mix. I’m disappointed that they’re not making animated PVs now.

Well it is Purple Soft, and frankly I have given them far more than enough chances to make a good game yet every single time they have failed and slapped me across the face. Regrettably, I am not masochistic enough to keep coming back for what amounts to a bi monthly beating. Even more so considering how lackluster this plot sounds in comparison to many of the others they came up with. The real hint as to why this game is going to be bad is the initial 3 week time limit, far too short to really establish a good story, so even if you like the characters don’t expect them to be done any justice by the writing, either in overall story or individual routes.

I sort of agree with Micchi only I tend to be sucked in by the premise of a good plot when reading a summary of Purple Soft stories, only to have it fall apart completely when I get to reading the actual game.

Strangely I have a fascination with this artist’s eyes however, they look like glass almost as though they were dolls eyes.

You always end up playing their games for the onee-san types, you do-M.

Well granted I do much prefer the onee san over the pesky imouto, however they usually suck me in due to their plots sounding like they have potential… only to fail in every way possible in living up to that potential. Also I am probably more of a do-S.

School Days HQ

 

Company: オーバーフロー (Overflow)
Game site: School Days HQ
Release date: September 24, 2010 Delayed to October 8, 2010
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from August. This is a remake of the original School Days from 2005. The screen size expands from 640×480 to 800×600 with better backgrounds, new scenarios routes and lots more H scenes. The story still begins the same way with the love triangle between Makoto, Kotohona and Sekai. I really hope they didn’t only add BL scenes.

Wow, Overflow never ceases to amaze me with utter contempt for their customers. I love how there is so little here it feels as though this game would have been sad as a fandisk, is there really a need to bother for such a pathetic resolution increase? Sure you get more H scenes.. but really are those really that important? Yes there is some new content but on the whole I can’t help but feel this is nothing but Overflow tea bagging their customers and being paid a bit of extra cash to do so.

Sakura Bitmap

Company: HOOKSOFT
Game site: さくらビットマップ
Release date: September 24, 2010
Comments:
In the quiet town of Koisaki-chou, it is very rare for a boy to be born. Fumitaka is the lone boy among girls and it was quite problematic. Many years have passed and it is still the same. There’s a local festival Koisaki-matsuri that lots of girls attend since it is said that one can find love there. He has a feeling that he too will fall in love.

This is definitely a harem. Good for him. But he has a guy friend too, who is competition.  Don’t worry, there’s a patch in the limited edition that solves this problem as it turns him into a girl, with new tachi-e and voicing (different seiyuu) altogether! No route though, unfortunately. Girls are pretty cute, especially Kanae-chan. She reminds me of Hoshimemo‘s Aoi a bit, except without the sharp tongue.

This game confuses me to be honest, there is a strange contrast between how well done the artwork and visuals in general come across when compared to how bad the story is. Artwork comes across as clean and very professional with skillful shading for both hard and soft light, giving the viewer a certain sense of atmosphere that completely fails to match the plot and setting for this game. I can’t help but think .jpg would have suited a story of such stature a lot more than .bmp.

Sword World 2.0 Replay Tanodan ~Inishie no Fune o Oe!~

Company: ocelot
Game site: ソード・ワールド2.0リプレイ たのだん～いにしえの船を追えっ！～
Release date: September 24, 2010
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from August. This is an all-ages kinetic novel based on the Fujimi Shobou’s fantasy novel TRPG series Sword World 2.0. Tanodan is short for ‘tanoshii dungeon’. Sherry runs away from a planned wedding and meets an aspiring dwarf adventurer named Chirol. With no place to call home anymore, she decides to join Chirol on her journey. Along the way, more people join their party including healer Lexus, ‘bunny’ magician Popo, swordswoman Justine and elf Cety. Visiting new cities and exploring dungeons together, this is a tale of love and friendship. Don’t care enough to follow this tale of a runaway. Pass.

Since this game interests me about as much as imoutos, you can deal with a copy paste from August.

Such a generic story I am falling asleep just thinking about it. The only saving grace I see here is that it is made by ocelot, as I have developed a certain degree of affection towards the Polyphonica series. I really cannot see much of value here at all, though in an effort to recover some good karma I’ll say they just might pull off a game worth playing despite the lackluster premise.

Walpurgis

 

Company: KAI
Game site: ヴァルプルギス
Release date: September 24, 2010
Comments:
This is the first game by KAI, a sister company of AMOLPHAS. One winter day, some humans suddenly turned into monsters that massacred those around them. With glowing wings and halos on their head, they looked like angels rather than monsters. The sight of angels slaughtering humans is surely a sign of the impending end of the world. No one knows what their purpose is, and a school was built to train students to be mahou senshi fighting against these angels – ‘the four halos’. Ren looks like a normal student, but he actually has a magic bloodline and was scouted to be a teacher at this school.

The scenario writer Izumi Banya has mainly done nuki-ge and dark games previous to this title, so it’s interesting to see how this will turn out. Sure it’s moe, but with mahou shoujos, you know there’s bound to be tentacles and the sample gallery shows plenty of it. There’s also the requisite transformation scenes. At first glance, it seems like a cross between Nanoha and 11eyes/Persona. Characters are pretty cute, especially Isuka and Konata.

The sight of Mahou Shoujos is surely a sign of the impending end of my world. I can only pray that I would be one of the first to be massacred by the angels so I would not have to deal with such a painful setting. Killing angels without giant robots makes my inner child die a little.

At least you also don’t have to deal with a crybaby.

Dealing with imoutos is enough to warrant hazard pay due to stress accumulation.

Rakuen no Rukia ~Blood Moon Rising~

Company: ミュスカデ (Muscadet)
Game site: 楽園のルキア
Release date: September 24, 2010
Comments:
After the passing of his grandmother who was his only relative, Kazuma returns to a boarding school Meikyou Seigakuen in his hometown. Located in the mountains, it is a quiet school. There he meets his childhood friend Mikoto who he thought had perished in the great fire ten years ago. Likewise, she thought that he had died, so they were happy to be back together once again. However, on the night of every full moon there is a ‘bloodsucking incident’. He noticed that Mikoto acting suspiciously and soon he is wrapped up in events that he does not understand.

Muscadet is more well-known for dark games, so this is a genre change for them. Whether or not scenario writer Tsurugiri Iwao is up to it remains to be seen. There are mystery and battle elements to this game, so it’s not your typical moe romance comedy. Worth checking out perhaps?

I am interested in the plot yet wary over the writing, after a fairly typical story introduction the story moves on to what is almost a closed circle setting combined with the standard mysterious events. As to whether the game is worth playing or not I find myself entirely at a loss, so when in doubt give it a shot and stop playing if it is terrible I suppose.

As Micchi pointed out the dark game connection worries me a lot, as I do not enjoy such games at all. At the same time I am also on my knees with thanks to whatever higher being saw fit to encourage something non “Moe romance comedy” to not only be released this month but even possibly worth playing.

Will the mystery be how many bad ends are in the game?

As long as the bad ends are not too ya know… bad, I am fine with them. Fate had something like forty if I recall right, but they did not take you far from a choice to kill you painfully… I hate being led on for awhile then not knowing at which choice things went wrong, or rape scenes either one of those and I tend to drop the game on the spot.

Shiomizaki Gakuen Engekibu Koi Play ~Anata to Ichaicha Roleplaying!~

Company: メテオ (Meteor)
Game site: 汐見崎学園演劇部 恋☆ぷれ～あなたといちゃいちゃろーるぷれいんぐ！～
Release date: September 24, 2010
Comments:
This is the first game by Meteor since their revival under the Silver Bullet brand. Shiomizaki Gakuen is a gigantic boarding school with over 1000 students. It prides itself on the learning environment and requires all students to be part of an extracurricular club. Junya transfers to this school to watch over his little sister Kokoa who is starting first year this spring. While walking around the campus to decide on what club to join, they meet the drama club leader Sena. Easily persuaded by Sena’s smooth talk, Kokoa decides to join the club and Junya follows her. However, the drama club doesn’t actually do anything… it’s more like Sena’s private room, complete with a maid Ayuka. One day, Sena suggests that they do a love role play. Is this just acting, or is true love?

It’s a little odd not seeing Yuyi’s art, but she’ll be in their next title Margaret Sphere. Instead they’re using Sakurazawa Izumi and Hinayuki Usa. The way they draw eyes is quite distinctive, giving it a bit of sketch feel. Kokoa is definitely an amaenbou-type imouto who can’t be without her oniichan ^^ She even gave her pet doll the same name as him! Don’t worry, oniichan will take good care of you! :3

I gave up on this the instant I read the protagonist transferred to care for his little sister, there was no possible redemption for me after that point. However being the trooper I am I bravely gathered my courage and soldiered on only to meet a tragic end being pushed off a cliff by Micchi when reading about the love play. Quite frankly this game exists solely for moe, the end; There is nothing else to this game at all, placing this game firmly on my “Avoid with extreme prejudice” list. The biggest problem I have with these games comes down to how bad the stories are for the sake of being cute or just moving things along quickly to get to H scenes, no matter what the reason I always feel empty and apathetic towards both the characters and their stories by the end of one of these games.

Oh? I thought you would’ve been interested in Sena, you do-M.

I have no interest in characters who exist only for moe, even if I enjoy that type of moe.

You make no sense.

Funny how from my perspective, YOU make no sense. EVER.

Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi

Company: フォン (feng)
Game site: 星空へ架かる橋
Release date: September 24, 2010 Delayed to October 15, 2010
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from August. 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. I was really disappointed when it was delayed last month as I was actually looking forward to it. Here’s hoping that it actually comes out this month before the October rush.

Little brother, kiss, friend, enemy, delay, repeat.

Chougen Yuuki Mugen Finity

Company: だんでらいおん (Dandelion)
Game site: 超限勇希 ムゲンフィニティ
Release date: September 24, 2010
Comments:
Eight years ago, the Voldan tried to invade the world, but were repelled by one man who risked his life for the future of the world. His name was Touma and he piloted a robot with the help of a young boy and a masked girl. After this incident, he left the world to fight other enemies. The young boy, Tamaki, was viewed as his successor, but he soon lost his powers with age. Now no one remembers him until he meets ‘him’ and ‘her’ and the story begins once again.

How can you go wrong with a baby-faced shota protagonist, loli, mechas, heroes and infinite space? Well, this game originally started as an April fool’s joke. So take that as you will. This makes me think of Okiba ga Nai!.

I would have laughed more if it still was an April fool’s joke. As it stands I have had enough Voltron, Power Rangers, and all other such spinoffs to last ten lifetimes. I can only apologize for the apparent maturity my inner child shows in spurning all such plotlines on principle.

Koi to Mizugi to Taiyou to ~Sumire-jima Life Savers~

 

Company: ブルームハンドル (BloomHandle)
Game site: 恋と水着と太陽と～スミレ島ライフセーバーず～
Release date: September 24, 2010
Comments:
Eiji returns to his hometown of Sumire-jima during the summer vacation and for some reason, his friends at the swimming club all decided to come with him. He is asked by his old friend Youko to be a temporary lifeguard since they are short on people. Surrounded by beautiful girls in revealing swimsuits, will he be able to do his job without trouble? One thing for sure: BloomHandle knew how to do its job. The theme is swimsuits this time and there’s plenty to go around. Don’t expect anything from the plot though.

I am starting to feel like a parrot when it comes to lazy writers and lazy plots / settings, but If you really need to look at swimsuits and lifeguards without any story involved.. go to the beach. Or failing that if you are landlocked then just acquire the CG set, it will be just like you played the game, no one will know the difference.

fortissimo//Akkord:Bsusvier

Company: ラクリマ (La’cryma)
Game site: fortissimo//Akkord：Bsusvier（フォルテシモ アコルト ビーサスフィーア）
Release date: September 30, 2010
Comments:
Reiji is a typical student on the remote southwest island of Tsukuyomi-jima. However, due to an unexpected event where his life was in danger, he awakened as the 13th magical summoner.  After summoning the spirit and magical superweapon Sakura, she gifts him with the special ability ‘Da Capo,’ which allows him to summon anyone who he met in the past 24 hours or reverts items back to its previous state (up to 24 hours ago). Now they must participate in a battle they cannot avoid.

This is La’cryma’s first title since the Soramitsu series and true tears. They are affiliated with CIRCUS with common illustrators and scenario writers, and even the same producer (tororo). Think of this as a battle royale, similar to FLAT’s Killer Queen, with each character possessing a different ability and weapon. I really like the opening song by fripSide and yozuca* also has some tracks as well. The upbeat PV has got me really interested in this title, even though I shouldn’t expect too much from the plot. Oh, and the imouto Sayuki will do anything to protect him, and wields a pair of black and white guns named Utamaru and Archimedes. Sounds familiar?

My instincts tell me that I hate this game, but I really liked the OP. Even if the premise about the main character suddenly developing powers and being dragged into a world he knew nothing about previously was not so overused, and didn’t pretty much ripoff Fate in a uselessly moe way there is little here to suggest this title being worth reading. Just because there is little else worth reading this month (Hoshizora doesn’t count, chances are low it actually comes out) I will at least spare a glance in this direction.

OP1

OP2

uni.

Company: CIRCUS
Game site: uni.
Release date: September 30, 2010 Delayed to October 28, 2010
Comments:
This is an all-ages love comedy ADV which takes place in a girls-only school and the main character is a girl. Hoshizora Kirara is the perfect girl with great grades and personality, but she has one thing that worries her: her own name. While some friends think that it’s a cute name, most of her classmates think that it’s weird. She resents her father who used to be part of a motorcycle gang, and wishes to leave her home and live alone. Even entering Fuumi Gakuen doesn’t help her downcast feelings until she notices a recruitment poster that was looking for a member to join the Hatsunejima student discipline committee.

No matter what CIRCUS does, it always comes back to Da Capo. Now they’ve had games with a boy among girls, a girl among boys and now a girl among girls. All they’re missing now is the BL title (what?). All joking aside, I’ve got nothing against the setup since it seems like a whole different cast in the same setting. Well, aside from the female Suginami. There needs to be more characters with black berets. Megumi needs to be taken home! Hau~ omochikaeri~!

Well at least Circus is doing something slightly different even if it is still in much the same way. Does make you wonder if direct Da Capo spinoffs are the only trick in this Circus though, as anything else they touch tends to wind up on the wrong side of terrible. Then again I don’t even care anymore, as long as people keep buying into it, Circus will always be Circus.

Wait, there’s a right side of terrible?

Yes. Not completely terrible.

Moekoi Ishin! ~Atashi-ra, JK, Shinsengumi!~

 

Company: アーベルソフトウェア (Abel Software)
Game site: 萌恋維新！～アタシら、じぇいけー、新閃組！～
Release date: September 30, 2010
Comments:
Tsubasa is normal in every single way, except that his family left him in severe debt, so he is constantly doing part-time jobs. However, his luck changes when he becomes the fiancé of a girl from a famous family due to a promise by his late grandfather. If he accepts the marriage, the debt will be paid off for him. He ends up transferring into Gose Gakuen where the head of this household was the schoolmaster. The girl he is to marry, Kurumi, is a cute, proper and prim ojousama who is guarded closely by a group of girls. They declare that they will not allow him to marry her until they deem him worthy to be her fiancé. To this end, they train him to be a great man in all ways, including in bed.

So basically they want to have their fun with him first. Abel Software sure has a fetish for schoolgirls in torn seifuku carrying weapons. Not my cup of tea.

Do I even need to put in the effort to bother trying to insult a game this bad? It pretty much insults itself in every way possible, the only thing I find questionable is why writers even bother with games like these, just make the game boot up to a selection screen where you click on a girl and right to the H scenes, I am quite sure they would get rave reviews from the people who play this garbage.

Micchi’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi
2. fortissimo//Akkord:Bsusvier
3. Shiomizaki Gakuen Engekibu Koi Play ~Anata to Ichaicha Roleplaying!~

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi
2. Rakuen no Rukia ~Blood Moon Rising~
3. fortissimo//Akkord:Bsusvier

I would like to point out that Hoshikaka has been on both my list 3 times and Zen’s list 4 times.

I would like to point out that the more we agree on things, the worse a month usually is.