April 2011 Eroge Releases

Due to the earthquake and tsunami in March, there have been many delays covering titles from March and April. If Rewrite hadn’t been delayed to June, this would’ve been quite the month with key, ALICESOFT (Daiteikoku), August (Aiyoku no Eustia) and Navel (SHUFFLE! Love Rainbow) all releasing games. Even now, it is quite a packed month, although nearly half are delays.

Understandably many titles have been delayed resulting in something of a double month of eroge releases. While this means bad news for everyone’s backlogs, at least there is sure to be something for everyone, even lolicons, furries, siscons, and those who enjoy tedious gameplay have something to look forward to.

White ~blanche comme la lune~

Company: ねこねこソフト (NekoNekoSoft)
Game site: White～blanche comme la lune～
Release date: April 8, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from March. While this game has the same title as NekoNekoSoft’s debut title in 2000, this is a different story altogether. Shigetomo is a 25 year old insurance agent who lives a pretty standard life with his imouto Hotaru ever since their parents’ deaths 10 years ago. One day he travels to a small faraway island for work, but was shipwrecked. When he awoke, he found himself in a seemingly different time and place, where everyone was pure and trusting. He wondered if it was a time slip or a parallel world and thought about looking for a way back to the world he knew, but he soon grew fond of this place and its people. In particular, a young pair of sisters take a liking to him. However there’s a hidden secret which he soon finds out about…

Still looks loli… I wonder how much imouto Hotaru factors in the story. Maybe her oniichan suki suki beam will bring him back.

Ten year old primary heroine. She is too young for anyone playing the game and as a person you should question your attraction to her. the end.

Sakura-iro Quartet

Company: アトリエかぐや Berkshire Yorkshire (Atelier Kaguya Berkshire Yorkshire)
Game site: さくら色カルテット
Release date: April 8, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from March. In the near future, bioroids called Iris were created using genes from animals to be the perfect partner for humans. They now live together with humans in harmony. Ryouta is a meddlesome student at Anba Gakuen who comes upon a stray Iris named Sakura. He decides to take her under his wing and to become her master, but then Sakura’s older sister Ui shows up, along with a suspicious guy Shinji. Even his schoolmates Ayano and Momoka get involved. It seems that she holds many secrets…

The more I look at the art, the more I like it. It must be something to do with the shading or eyes or something. Usamimi is still the best.

Kemonomimi nukige, for those of you furries who fantasize about your pets. If poorly driven H scenes, and cute “moe” characters are your thing rejoice.

Mecha-con!

Company: onomatope*
Game site: めちゃ婚！
Release date: April 8, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from March. This is the debut game for onomatope*. A sudden change in law by the government ten years ago decreed that rich men must have multiple wives and father lots of children. Haruki’s parents passed away in a traffic accident and he inherited the family wealth while continuing to manage the Sakurajima business group. Even though he hasn’t had a girlfriend before, he now must propose to those girls that are closest to him.

Good art and a nice cast of seiyuus. Botherline nukige with lots of 3p and harem scenes. I guess it wouldn’t be a bad pick-up if you need to relieve any pent-up stress.

Another worthless nukige for those who prefer to objectify their females and prefer not to bother with troublesome stories to read.

Duelist × Engage

Company: プラリネ (Praline)
Game site: デュエリスト×エンゲージ
Release date: April 8, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from March. This is the first game by Praline. Yukito lives a peaceful student life with his mother while helping out at the family cafe and making bentou everyday for his osananajimi Monaka. One day, his late father’s secretary came to inform him that his fiancée is coming and he must marry her or they’ll be kicked out of their house. She is Violetta, the daughter of the famous Soleil family of the European island country of Corunglain. She meets him for the first time and breaks the silence by saying: “You are my fiancé? Then draw your sword!” Not interested especially in this huge month. Pass.

Plot is terrible, writer just so happened to have worked on one of the best written games I have read recently.

Kyuukyoku Mahou Shoujo Zettai☆Aneki

Company: アクシス (AXIS)
Game site: 究極魔法少女 絶対☆姉貴
Release date: April 8, 2011
Comments:
Akira’s older sister Hikari is amazing, placing tops in the national mock exams, almost setting world records in athletics and she’s even a ‘mahou shoujo’ that takes care of bad guys. As the school’s representative, she was given the opportunity to enact any proposition that she wants. She announces to everyone that she will be attacking any club that she wishes and if they lose to her, then they will be disbanded. With a smile, she wished everyone good luck. To save their ‘volunteer club’, they decide to fight back with all they’ve got. No.

Game of the year.

Yuusha to Kimi ni Hanataba o

Company: クライン (KLEIN)
Game site: 勇者と彼女（キミ）に花束を
Release date: April 8, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from March. The magic city Reifan is where thousands of years ago, a goddess saved the world from being taken over by the demon lord. The protagonist is an adventurer who travels around the world and he comes to Reifan. Along the way, he saves a female knight who was attacked by a monster. Before losing consciousness, she says “to the magic school in Reifan…”. Upon arriving at the school with her, the principal informs him that she is Princess Cynthia from the neighboring country, and that monsters have been threatening the area lately. He asks him to become friends with her so that she will not be worried. When he was leaving the room, a girl named Teana calls out to him and she gets him to stay at the Crystal Goddess Inn where she works. Both art and story could be much better.

Yay for MMO the eroge, nothing like replicating hours of tedium in a visual novel format.

11eyes -Resona Forma-

Company: Lass
Game site: 11eyes－Resona Forma－
Release date: April 15, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from March. This is a fandisk for 2008 release 11eyes that includes a before, after and ‘if’ story, with particular emphasis on Lizelotte. There’ll be a mix of both serious and light raburabu stories. Of course, the cross vision system makes a return. There are also some user-written short stories included. Pass since I didn’t play the original.

Terrible games make for terrible fandisks.

Marguerite Sphere

Company: メテオ (Meteor)
Game site: Marguerite Sphere -マーガレット スフィア-
Release date: April 22, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from March.The coastal city of Shiromine is known as the town of flowers since marguerite flowers can be found everywhere. There’s a legend that the flower spirit will grant the wishes of pure and earnest boys and girls. Daichi lives together with his twin imouto Matsuri and they attend the Shiromine Gakuen together. Matsuri has many admirers due to her cute looks, but she’s very cold to everyone, because she is hesitant to show her true feelings. Daichi thought that his days would continue like this until he met a fortune teller who told his future without his consent.

Even if it’s a copy of Clover Point, another Miru imouto means I’ll be playing this. Gotta take ’em all home!

Yosuga no Marguerite.

Sora Sphere sounds better.

And I want it to sound better why? Besides that sounds like a real game name, not as clearly a frankenstein sewn together from the titles of the two games.

I’m sure you love the otouto in Hoshikaka a lot, so how about T.P. Ayumu?

Oh.

Oh god…

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

…Don’t give Circus any more grand ideas please… *shudders in the corner from imagining that*

sisters ~Natsu no Saigo no Hi~

Company: ジェリーフィッシュ (Jellyfish)
Game site: sisters～夏の最後の日～
Release date: April 22, 2011 Delayed to April 28, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from February. Far away from the hustle and bustle of the city lies a small rural town in a mountainous region. A young man meets a pair of beautiful sisters there along with their mother, and lives together with them. Their days together are full of happiness, but he didn’t know that there is a hidden secret.

This title has been constantly delayed, so it would wonderful to see it actually released. The selling point of sisters is that it is animated, quite beautifully if you ask me. The trailer gives that nostalgic feel which I love so much. The H scenes in demo were quite ero. I wonder why they all walk around with no bras though… Oh, and did I mention there are sisters? Chika-chan is sooooooooo cute!!! Definitely will check this out (if it comes out).

Of course Micchi would be interested in something about sisters, really who could possibly be surprised by that at this point. I can see the appeal in a slice of life type of story in a rural setting where a city boy winds up finding himself, tried and true if a bit cliché. Surprisingly I find myself ever so slightly interested in this game, as there is potential for a decent story, although this also leaves me with the nagging feeling that the narrow emphasis on the sisters and setting will give birth to predictable drama. There is also the animation factor which seems like a gimmicky selling point that may have soaked up much of the development focus. Seems to me this is a must play game if you are into romance drama and sibling relationships, as the triangle aspect will probably play a major role in the plot and how the story lines play out.

I’m fine with the sisters, but why does the mom get a route too!?

Because they didn’t want to lose to Nekonade.

Trailer

Vanitas no Hitsuji

Company: RococoWorks
Game site: ヴァニタスの羊
Release date: April 22, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from March. Claude goes on a journey with the one he calls father, Eliphas, a magician who can alter other people’s awareness, making them think illusions are reality. When he was walking the streets of Engelbourg, he noticed something sticking out from an empty barrel. A couple guys asked him if he saw a girl around and he used his ‘color magic’ to trick their eyes and save the girl, Therese. At that time, he didn’t know that this chance meeting would have a profound effect on the fortress city, nor that there were engels (angels) sleeping there.

Interesting storyline, nice polished art. The only problem is it’s always not the most anticipated title for the month. If I have some time to tackle the backlog, I might check it out.

More interesting than a fight over Tuesday, less than likely to be amazing.

Kamidori Alchemy Meister

Company: エウシュリー (Eushully)
Game site: 神採りアルケミーマイスター
Release date: April 22, 2011
Comments:
In the Setetori region of the southern part of the Raulbhach continent lies the Mikelti Kingdom. Among the seven major cities is the artisan city of Yuidora. This is where a young orphan named Wilfred lives, pursuing his dream of becoming an artisan. As tensions between neighbouring nations rise and a threat of war looms, three girls in distress come to his place and he helps protect them. Using a new technique that he discovered and with the help of other races, will they be able to restore peace to the lands?

The battle system for this RPG/SLG is an upgrade from their previous title Himekari Dungeon Meister. The main theme this time around is the ability of the heroines to change form based on their equipment, and even some scenes are dependent on them acquiring certain forms. I’m sure you could waste a LOT of time playing this. Hemi probably has planned to disappear for a few weeks after this comes out.

The first of many games this month which feature an artistic theme, and also a game the requires more effort than a click of the mouse to play. Lazy as I am, I have never been fond of eroge that make me work, as the gameplay tends to be too poor to be anything other than a hassle, especially on subsequent playthroughs. I do however find the form changing idea appealing, if the gameplay felt like it had more depth to it I may have been inclined to play this game. Alas a story copied from “Shounen manga for dummies” is far from cohesive enough to bind together gameplay barely underwhelming enough to tear me away from any number of better made RPG games.

Primary Step

Company: パープルソフトウェアdelight (Purple Software delight)
Game site: Primary Step
Release date: April 28, 2011
Comments:
Minato lives alone because his parents are away for work. He is friendly with many of the girls that live in the same apartment as him and attends school together with them. However, his parents inform him one day that he will be transferring to another school. His quiet days soon gradually become quite rowdy as all the girls want to show their feelings for him when they realize that this is the last chance they will get.

A new scenario writer and a new illustrator. And in recent Purple Soft fashion, it ends up being… well, standard fare. Even the chars don’t seem to stand out. There’s absolutely nothing that sets this game from the many others that came before it and the others that will soon be made. I hate to sound like Zen, but this will be forgotten in a couple months. Does anyone remember their first game? Point taken.

When a game can turn Micchi into a gentler version of me, something has to be wrong here. I know I probably sound like a broken record by now, even I feel a little burnt out being forced into saying much of the same month after month about games each more uninspired than the last game they saw fit to copy. Eroge such as Primary Step fail at standing out in every way possible so much so that there is no way to generate interest amidst the plethora of other games whose premises range from carefully sculpted dramas set in a slice of life reflection of our own world, to the outlandishly absurd flip-flops of reality including aliens, alternate dimensions, or whatever twisted drug induced hallucinations a crazed writer can imagine. By contrast Purple Soft’s latest forays into eroge construction feel lacking the creative appeal many of their past titles have flaunted, losing the one thing they really had going for them, interesting plots and settings. While past games have invariably been ruined by sub par writing incapable of bringing a worthy setting to life in anything resembling a coherent and captivating manner, Primary Step ventures into a realm where the only thing that could possibly save a game lacking any sort of individual claim to fame is brilliant writing, a dangerous business model for a company these days. A new scenario writer gives hope that there may be something of  diamond in the rough here, though when faced with a plot destined to become buried amidst the pile of forgotten eroge I can only wish Purple Soft all the best in the future while writing them off for the present. Settings so compelling I felt like reading the story even despite writing your average community college English major could compete with, you shall be sorely missed as I reminisce over what was something of a bright spot within the cesspool of mediocrity your average eroge resides in.

I don’t think I can ever be as mean as you, even if I tried…

Oh it’s surprisingly easy, just say what you think without caring if people are offended by it.

SHUFFLE! Love Rainbow

Company: Navel
Game site: SHUFFLE! Love Rainbow
Release date: April 28, 2011
Comments:
This is the fandisk to various games from the Shuffle! franchise. It features after stories for Sia/Kikyou and Primula from Shuffle! Essence+, Kaede’s story after she regains her memories in Really? Really! and an another story for subchar Ruri. My fav chars are Sia and Kaede, so obviously I’m happy about this. Primula as an oniichan-ko? Yes, I’ll take that too! Although I do feel a bit of Shuffle! overload… I think Navel is starting to exploit Oretsuba now.

I would like to take this opportunity to start off with a little quote from my Shuffle! Essence+ review, proving that Nostradamus is my bitch.

“I am willing to bet that if there is an opportunity to place her in a following game or fandisk based in the Shuffle! universe, Matsuri will be a heroine. Her character served no point than as an advertisement for a new character design.”

And look what we have here a fandisk meant to fill in more of the gaps left after Essence+ had its chance, and *gasp* lo and be hold there is a route for the sub heroine advertised during the Daisy route of Essence+. Seems Navel is still sticking to their entirely predictable business model centering on heroine advertisements for their next installment in a series. While I have to give them credit for providing ever so slightly more variance than Circus offers, I still feel their methods are unscrupulous baiting meant to deprive consumers of the most money with the least amount of effort. I can only hope for a true end this time for the Shuffle! series, and not a prelude for yet another game about interdimensional princesses entering mating season.

Well, I’m not sure if this one is supposed to be the Sia centric title, so maybe there’s still more in the works. Or one for the lolipedofins.

Like they need another game about their living blow up doll loli…

Hey, it’ll sell well!

That’s what I am most afraid of…

relations sister×sister.

Company: エール (Aile)
Game site: relations sister×sister.
Release date: April 28, 2011
Comments:
This is the first game by Aile. Kouhei lost his mother when he was young and now his father who had raised him up has decided to remarry. Since it’s been 10 years since his mother’s death, there was no reason for him to object. However, he was surprised when his new mother brought along two daughters. Suddenly he had two new non-blood related sisters: older sister Kaori, who is great at everything and very popular at school, and younger sister Chisato, who is just as pretty as her sister but has a fear of men. Other girls soon find out about this, including his osananajimi Haruka, resulting in his life turning upside down.

The second game this month featuring a pair of sisters that enter the protagonist’s life (why doesn’t this happen to me). The art by Kamiya Maneki is really sparkly and I love it! This makes sense since I liked Noblesse Oblige which was also drawn by her. I don’t have as much faith in the story though, but we’ll see how that goes. My fav for sure is ‘perfect osananajimi’ Haruka, although she’s quite tsun. *sparkle*

Vapid and cookie cutter eroge concept created around the idea that it is necessary to bring potential love interests into the story in a manner which leaves all responsibility for establishing contact out of the hands of our average gutless protagonist. Further compounding the creators decision to ignore a concept known as “Creativity” they have chosen to label the primary said love interests with the term “Sister” for those readers who prefer to indulge in incestuous fantasies about all things contained under the hierarchy of “Sisters”. Only this time, in order not to offend anyone the writers have been sure to include the usual cop-out most eroge readers are familiar with, as the magically appearing sisters of course have no real relation to our protagonist. Well with my obligatory denouncing of a lame and reused concept to base this plotline around, I do have to say I find the artwork appealing in its choice of styles to blend. While yes the story is not going to be anything outstanding, unique, or memorable there is a certain appeal to what appears to be a better than average example of where the standard for eroge lies. With that said, I will probably at least give this game a passing chance to impress, or prove me wrong, mostly so I can take a better look at the artwork.

You mean so you can take a better look at the sparkles.

Oh yes, I do so love sparkles, they set my heart aflutter with the serene glitter that so strikingly portrays a characters most heartfelt emotions… Or just because I like that style of hair shade and was interested in seeing it in action, ya know could go either way really.

I still say it’s the sparkles.

Don’t judge me!

Morobito Kozorite ~Joy to the World! The Lord is Come~

Company: CLAPWORKS
Game site: もろびとこぞりて ～JOY TO THE WORLD！THE LORD IS COME～
Release date: April 28, 2011
Comments:
This is the debut game by CLAPWORKS. Kyouya attends Tsukiyama music school, but he has lost sight of why he plays the violin. He spends his days with his cheerful osananajimi Mayuko, his carefree best friend Jousuke, his kouhai who considers him her rival Yukari, and his senpai Shiki, who is a genius composer but has zero life skills. On one chilly autumn day, a girl with an angelic voice moved in next to his room at the dormitory. After meeting Kano, he gradually remembers the joy of music that he had forgotten.

The illustrator Kisaragi Mizu has previously worked on otome games, such as D.C. Girl’s Symphony, while all 3 scenario writers have worked on Windmill titles. The story reminds me of DEARDROPS, although probably the story won’t be as solid. However, at least CLAPWORKS is putting more of an effort than Purple Software.

I agree with Micchi about this resembling DEARDROPS, also reminds me of Owarinaki in the arrangement of cast and subject matter. To be expected that any successful or potentially successful concept will have imitators, the problem with this game however is that instead of building upon the previous games and making something better with the foreknowledge of what works and doesn’t… they have dropped the proverbial ball. The tortured artist struggling with inspiration only to have a fateful encounter to change their outlook and bring them back on the right path is a very common theme for any game that has so much as a footnote referring to artists of any type. Of course as the focus is on a creative medium I cannot really discount this tried and true formula entirely, what I can say though is that the game lacks the sense of presence in the cast, concept, and setting to bring such a story to life. It is not so much that I have a problem with a reuse of a popular concept, but rather the bar is set higher when the central theme is something that has been both well and poorly done in the past giving the creators more to work with. Considering that side of it, I can’t in all good conscience pretend there is anything but at best average storytelling at work here, and for a game that needs to emphasize the story and development of cast, I say to the rubbish heap with you and your mangled visions of easy money to be made off of an undiscerning audience CLAPWORKS.

Sakura no Sora to, Kimi no Koto ~Sweet Petals For My Dear~

Company: ひよこソフト (Hiyoko Soft)
Game site: サクラの空と、君のコト～Sweet Petals For My Dear～
Release date: April 28, 2011 Delayed to May 20, 2011
Comments:
It has been said that wishes will come true when the sky is full of cherry blossom petals. However, the number of sakura trees have dwindled due to recent re-development and one can no longer see such a sight. Ryou is the son of a famous artist and much was expected of him, but he decides to live a life of a commoner with few friends. One spring day, his osananajimi Kanata suddenly fainted and was hospitalized. Since that day, his days began to gradually change.

In addition to his wish for Kanata to get better quickly, there’s also the growth of Ryou’s artistic career. The other characters belong in the art club, which is in danger of being disbanded. I’m not sure why they have to add such a cliché. Otherwise it’ll just end up like a Canvas2 clone. Let’s see if Hiyoko Soft can transition well from their debut mystery title (Tsukisome no Kasa) to a more lighthearted school story. Or maybe more denpa.

Of course if the DC series is anything to go by we already know cherry trees grant the arbitrary wishes of angsty teens, among other amazing feats of literary genius such as creating delicious snacks in the palm of your hand. So this time instead of duplicating Higurashi, albeit doing a much better job right up till the end, Hiyoko Soft decided to copycat the DC universe with a layer of Canvas thrown over top for good measure. It seems to me their business model revolves entirely around copying the successes of other companies instead of coming up with their own creations. Regardless of where they got the idea this game reeks of forgettable mediocrity. Rarely do I hold a bad game against a company but Tsukisome made me rage like no game ever has before, the writing was decent, the story was surprisingly interesting, and yet they screwed it up with dark themes centering around completely unnecessary NTR rape scenes. I would not be surprised at all if they somehow manage to do the same this time around. At the very least there is little story to worry about them ruining here, the usual cast mixed with wishes, clubs in danger of being disbanded, added to a helping of emotional artist struggling with life and you have a mixture of stolen clichés in this melting pot of redundancy. Aside the problematically repetitive and predictable story lines, Hiyoko Soft has failed miserably to impress art wise in the past, with enough proportion and pose errors to give even the Shuffle! series a run for its money in the awkward artwork category.

Why is it that every game with themes based on the fine arts revolves around a “Oh I’m so sad! I cannot do X anymore because I am sad, woe is me I sure hope some nice girl comes along for me to bang her so I might cheer up ever so slightly.” I am so sick of the concept that the arts are focused on emo kids hopped up on drugs for problems they don’t have trying to be something they are not. Sure Van Gogh may have been slightly crazy, and Picasso randomly decided normal art took too much effort, but that does not mean emo kid equals artist. I would love a game written by people who realize artistic talent has nothing to do with how many anti depression medications you are on, how sad you look, or how much black you can wear. Just as an afterthought, I don’t necessarily mean this to apply to the above game, simply added this rant here as it was the last of the games with artistic themes, though present I predict it will be far more mild in this game. I suppose I could have added this to the camera game but I don’t consider pictures art.

Folks, I was there when he was raging about Tsukisome. It was not a pretty sight.

I think I had every right to after how badly they ruined what could have been good.

Temaribana

Company: TOPCAT
Game site: 手毬花
Release date: April 28, 2011
Comments:
When Kotora came to, he was on an old-fashioned bus alone heading to Murakumo boarding school. During the long bumpy ride along the mountain roads, he looked outside the window and saw a beautiful yellow-green scenery which warmed his heart. A girl got on the bus and looked at him coldly and asked him if he was a transfer student. He didn’t know why she didn’t like him. The next girl that got on the bus told him not to worry about it since she was always like that. From what I’ve heard, the story digest doesn’t actually match up to the demo, so I’m not too sure if the main game will start off differently or not. There’s something about the faces or eyes that throws me off though. Pass.

Given the conflicts between summary and demo, I will refrain from any commentary too detailed without enough prior knowledge to do so. So from what little is definitely correct we can assume the game appears to be a slice of life drama with an emphasis on rural community. Nothing about this stands out as being of impressive quality for a game of this genre, and so for lack of concrete info I will mention that their previous release NanaPri was somewhat poorly written, sadly this does not bode well at all for Temaribana. Not too interested myself as there are much better games coming out this month regardless of whether this would normally interest you or not, still if you are really into rural settings and slice of life oriented drama this seems like it may be decent choice even if it is not anything mind-blowing or unique, at least that is assuming the game itself does not turn out to be something completely different…

Hatsukoi Yohou.

Company: I.D.
Game site: 初恋予報。
Release date: April 28, 2011 Delayed to May 27, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from February. This is the first game by I.D. The pure white snow descends on the street, turning it into a beautiful snowscape. It’s like it is a pure heart that hasn’t been sullied. However, that purity quickly disappears once touched. Koutarou lives alone and he often wonders how lovers pass this cold season. Do they become closer to one another and spend the holidays by themselves? It would a lie to say for him to say that he doesn’t feel lonely at times. Then this winter, he fell in love for the first time. A first love he cannot forget.

The concept of Hatsukoi Yohou. is to create a game that gives the feel of a shoujo manga but for a male audience. The end result is a story that puts an emphasis on heartache, nervousness and irritation, while maintaining a ‘moe’ appeal. And that’s basically what tickles my fancy! ^^ The pure snow imagery reminds me of Mashifoni, although that’s less about lack of impurity, but more an open canvas. The art by Ryuuga Shou is a bit more old school with the eye shapes and lineart. All the characters (maybe with the exception of Setsu) are captivating and I want to learn more about them all. This is one of my top picks for this month, recommended for those that are looking for a romance drama.

Maybe it is just me but using snow or cherry trees or any such nonsense as a metaphorical allusion to life or the future or even a relationship as a central theme does not give a story deeper meaning nor make it more romantic. As I happen to feel frustration from the perspective of the protagonist on the level of a Shoujo storyline are best kept to NTR games I can’t say I find much of value here. Having always stated I utterly loathe shoujo stories for being so terrible I would almost rather watch or read something to do with magical girls, to me this game is nothing short of blasphemy against all that is holy. In the interests of fairness however I will say that … uhh… nope can’t think of a positive, the art is just as bad as the story, somehow they managed to bring that awkward and poorly drawn shoujo style into an eroge with about five percent fewer sparkles to help keep from turning off a male audience. Frankly unless you are into angsty drama being forced down your throat like … well use your imagination, mine involved prisons and showers and is probably best left unsaid here,  point being it is something marginally less pleasant than watching a marathon of Madoka Magica and the most apt comparison I could envision to compare with playing this game. So in conclusion unless you are a god amongst masochists, happen to lack male genitalia, or somehow really like that feeling of indecisive and frustratingly impotent romantic build up I advise against this game.

It’s sad girls in snow and rose backgrounds! Where’s your pure maiden heart?

Defiled by your incestuous loli lust.

Kagura Soushunfu

Company: でぼの巣製作所 (Debonosu)
Game site: 神楽早春賦
Release date: April 28, 2011
Comments:
This is the latest game in the Kagura series, featuring the ‘baka trio’ from the previous game Kagura Gensoutan as the protagonist and main heroines. After restoring peace to the school, Seiichirou, Yayoi, Azusa and Shizuru all leave to pursue their own futures, leaving Akira, Kanade and Makoto to continue their studies. However, there’s a feeling of uneasiness since there’s still one corner of the school building which hasn’t been fully sealed and it is teeming with youkai inside. How long will the barrier hold up and will they be able to overcome this danger even though they aren’t that experienced at all?

Never got into this series since I don’t have an interest in seeing monsters violate girls dressed in traditional Japanese clothes. Come to think of it, has there been any games illustrated by Yamamoto Kazue that doesn’t involve youkai?

Oh hey awesome a series I never paid attention to! This means no one cares if I ignore it… which is exactly what I am doing.

Daiteikoku

Company: ALICESOFT
Game site: 大帝国
Release date: April 28, 2011
Comments:
Daiteikoku is the 3rd installment of the Dai series, now expanding to a war of the universe. Prior to the unification of the universe, people populated individual colonies which were disconnected from each other since it would take hundreds of years to move between them. Thanks to the research by the Aerith Empire, it became possible to move instantly in the universe using warp gates. This was known as the Age of Discovery. With the expansion of each colony’s territories, history repeats itself as battles break out and areas are conquered. 939 years later, three large nations decide to fight for varying reasons, lighting up the universe with the flames of war.

ALICESOFT and SLG fans must be highly awaiting this game. The SLG system has been upgraded to allow greater freedom. Personally, I don’t play that much SLG games due to the sheer amount of time that needs to be spent on them, but this one does interest me a bit. Who doesn’t want to rule the universe? I know who I’ll be supporting… the Soviets! Look at those berets! ^___^

Praise to whatever god gave me two releases in a row this month that are continuations of an ongoing series to completely ignore as all the fanbase needs to know is it is coming out on a given date, and those who aren’t fans probably don’t want to be fans in the first place. Life is good.

History of the Universe

Character Movie

Game System

Miina△Desu! (Miina-san, Kakkee Desu!) -Love Icha Doukyo Seikatsu no Susume-

Company: FIANCEE
Game site: 美衣菜△です！（みいなさん、かっけーです！）－Loveイチャ同居生活のススメ－
Release date: April 28, 2011 Delayed to May 27, 2011
Comments:
This is the debut game for FIANCEE. Yuusaku confessed to Miina and they became lovers. She was an ojousama who had lived a sheltered life, but now they will be living together. However, it doesn’t all go smoothly, with their neighbours being suspicious of them, their classmates learning about them living together and other love rivals appearing. It also doesn’t help that he doesn’t understand girls well nor does she understand boys. The only thing that works to their favour is their strong love for each other. Will that be enough to overcome all their obstacles and come to a happy end?

The game system revolves around 6 parameters for Miina: affection, assertiveness, submissiveness, curiosity, aggressiveness and femininity. By choosing properly, you can turn her into your ideal ‘wife’. I guess that Miina is the true end and the rest of the heroines are reverse NTR routes. All the charas are nice, so personally I don’t mind him ending up with someone else, especially Usako. The stories are mostly about love triangles, as suggested by the triangle in the title. Just an aside, but the OHP looks like the exact format as many Abel Software games. Maybe the companies are related?

Perhaps it is only me, but I feel this game premise would have done better under the assumption of an arranged marriage between Yuusaku and Miina instead of a more simplistic dating situation. There is something about the inclusion of other characters and ability to change her that lends itself to more of a time consuming character creator than a well thought out story. I have already mentioned recently my extreme distaste for anything that involves modeling a heroines characteristics to suit your personal tastes and how offensive I find such concepts so I shall leave that part alone here. Instead I just want to ask what the point of a game like this is, almost feels like a wordy version of games such as Dance Mixer, where you create a character to your tastes and then…. do nothing with it. Suppose there has to be some appeal in the changes over time in her character by the late game and all but with a shallow premise like they love each other but somehow don’t understand a thing about each other I cannot imagine there being any really worthwhile character interaction or development. The changes in her character will most likely be minimal at best involving little more than a slightly changed dialogue reaction to a few scenes or a change in her looks to reflect how her person developed. If you just so happen to be one of those minority (god I hope its a minority) of readers who care more about the moe traits of a character than their story and development as a person or romantic interest then this game appears to have been made to cater specifically to your shallow preferences.

Moe Moe Daisensou☆Gendaiban

Company: システムソフト・アルファー (SystemSoft Alpha)
Game site: 萌え萌え大戦争☆げんだいばーん
Release date: April 28, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from February. This is an all-ages game with the heroines based off military aircraft and vehicles, and they are known as ‘maidens of steel’. There are three scenarios available: Europe during World War II, the Far East during the Cold War and the Vietnam War, and finally the Middle East during the Iran-Iraq War. The game is broken up into 3 parts: adventure (ADV), simulation (SLG) and communication (COM). The battle system has 3d sprites wandering about the map destroying stuff, although the mechanics are similar to the previous games in the Moe Moe series. There are a lot of different artists working on this game, but the girls are all pretty cute. Graf looks like Kirino… Oh, and of course their clothes shred when they take too much damage. More bastardization of history. I’m lovin’ it.

Oh the rage,  the blinding, seething rage. I am unable to properly articulate the depth of my hatred directed at the people who were responsible for this abomination. What saddens me even more is that people could actually find games like this interesting. I imagine the board meeting went something like this “Hey colleague B did you see the latest war footage? I have always liked military aircraft.” “Oh really colleague A? I have always liked girls, did you see the latest moe RPG, I just love it when their clothes are torn off.”. Then along comes Colleague C with what to them is a brilliant idea to combine the two in an insult to human intelligence and decency. I think what bothers me most is their inclusion of real wars, if this was set in an alternate universe, well whatever its silly and definitely not something I would be interested in, but as it is I feel the game is making light of war in such a vulgar and crass manner that the creators should be ashamed of themselves. It is not hard to create your own reality or setting, even making it nearly identical as long as it is not a direct association it is all good, but turning something that people fought and died in for the sake of their family and country into sex toys for depraved and horny teens is something I feel crosses a line into the realm of disrespectful.

System

Koi dewa Naku –It’s not love, but so where near.

Company: しゃんぐりらすまーと (Shangrila Smart)
Game site: 恋ではなく ――It’s not love，but so where near.
Release date: April 28, 2011 Delayed to May 27, 2011
Comments:
This is the debut title by Shangrila Smart. There are two protagonists: Norifumi is a guy who has been taking pictures since he was small, and Yumi has been working as a model. Instead of a cast of heroines, this game rather follows a story told from both of their perspectives. Even though the title suggests that it isn’t above love, it tells a drama of adolescence set on the solitary island of Toshima. Their childhood friend Tasuku had wished that they can film a movie of their lives up to their graduation. Spending Christmas with everyone, a fateful Valentine’s Day, love and friendship… everything is captured by their pictures. But not much time remains until their graduation when they will go their separate ways.

What’s with all the technical camera talk? While I find the idea of just having a story instead of having to ‘win a girl’ refreshing, I really don’t care about what types of camera each character uses and all their differences. But to each their own. It seems like on the romance side, it’s pretty much set that Norifumi and Yumi will end up together as I’ve seen no other H scenes to suggest otherwise. This falls in line with other AB2 companies’ story-centric works, like Applique’s recently released Artemis Blue. But I really don’t care that much about cameras…

Before I even venture forth into my thoughts on this game I would like to mention that I feel they could use to add an “me” after the “so” in the title… ya know so it makes sense in english and all, or at least do away with the “where”.

When talking about the story on the other hand I feel that it is a wise move for Shangrila Smart to develop a game that stands out as unique in that it focuses on a primary girl almost if not exclusively and focuses on the development of their respective relationships, dreams, and careers. There is however a problem this creates in an eroge market, if the primary heroine does not appeal to you there is little reason for you to bother with this game, this significantly narrows the consumer base who may potentially purchase the game. Perhaps if she was a blonde twintail loli they would be able to manage but I worry the appeal is currently not wide enough. As Micchi mentioned the camera references are somewhat off-putting if you happen to not be into photography, with that said I appreciate the use of camera types as an analogue to the various characters personalities, it is almost a clever idea. However as it is a bit too forceful and lacking in subtlety, the writers ability to convey the implied meaning behind it with calculated subversiveness is lost upon a reader faced with the writer’s obnoxious attempt at creating an easily understood connection. Sadly as much as I want to applaud the company for the risk they are taking in developing a story and character development centric game, it just is not the type of game for me, so while my hat is off to them I can’t play this game myself.

Maybe they took the ‘me’ out of the title because it’s about ‘us’. ;3

Oh you could be onto something there, if only the more likely reason was that they failed to look up the word “Some” in the dictionary.

Aiyoku no Eustia

Company: オーガスト (August)
Game site: 穢翼のユースティア
Release date: April 28, 2011
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from March. A long time ago, God created angels to serve him and humans borrowed the angels’ powers. While they prospered greatly from it, they forgot to pray to God. He punished them by removing the angels from the world, sending the world into chaos. While the world crumbled, a holy maiden made a prayer and God forgave her and her fellow believers and floated the city of Novus Aether into the sky.

One day, a corner of the city broke apart and crashed down below, killing many citizens regardless of gender, age and social standing. This event is known as the ‘Grand Forte’ (great fall) tragedy. A nonstop rain has descended on the city, building up stagnant water on the lowest level of the city, also known as the ‘Prison’. There was also a disease where people grow wings and a unit called the ‘Wing Hunters’ was created to take care of them quickly.

Caim is a former assassin who does odd jobs around the Prison, but he now does not wish to kill anyone. While tracking a carriage of maidens sold to the local brothel, he comes upon a young girl Eustia who contracted the wing disease and sees her enveloped in the light that preceded the Grand Forte, which caused him to lose everything.

I think with the extra delay, the expectations for this title are even higher. The demo was one of the best that I have seen and the game being fully voiced is a big plus.

Looks good, but looks can be deceiving.

Micchi’s Top 8 for This Month

1. Koiiro Sora Moyou FD Aiyoku no Eustia
2. Hatsukoi Yohou.
3. SHUFFLE! Love Rainbow
4. Daiteikoku
5. Marguerite Sphere
6. Vanitas no Hitsuji
7. relations sister×sister.
8. sisters ~Natsu no Saigo no Hi~

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Aiyoku no Eustia
   
2. Vanitas no Hitsuji
3. Duelist × Engage

There needs to be more sisters.

Agreed, more sisters without routes please.