February 2013 Eroge Releases

Is this a dream? Both Innocent Grey’s Kara no Shoujo 2 and ALICESOFT’s Pastel Chime 3: Bindseeker come out this month. If you want to learn something, OVERDRIVE’s Boku ga Tenshi ni Natta Wake will teach you about love and happiness, while COSMIC CUTE’s LOVESICK PUPPIES should show you the bonds of family (and make you want puppies). How wan-derful!

Finally a month with some games that are worth playing even if not groundbreaking. While  not a monsoon it is nice to have some rain on the parched earth that was the eroge market over the last few months. Even some of the lackluster games for this month are better than the majority of the previous months. But for once I am happy with average, after hitting what sure felt like rock bottom at least before they reach new lows It feels great to actually consider playing some games again.

Kara no Shoujo 2

Company: Innocent Grey
Game site: 虚ノ少女
Release date: February 8, 2013
Comments:
This is the continuation of Innocent Grey’s 2008 title Kara no Shoujo. Hitogata is a village located in the snowy mountains of the Hokuriku region. A girl was murdered on the night of the festival honouring the clay doll Hinna-sama, leading to the villagers believing that this was the curse of Hinna-sama. One who did not believe in Hinna-sama shall be killed if they attended the festival.

Two years after Touko’s abduction from her hospital room, Reiji’s imouto Yukari saved a man who was trying to commit suicide. He was said to also be a victim of Hinna-sama’s curse. Reiji begins his investigation under the influence of Touko’s disappearance and his knowledge that the religious group which was thought to have dissolved six years ago had resurfaced and was planning something.

The game is separated into two parts: present and past. It continues to use the detective and notebook systems. It is highly recommended that you played the original game. I’m sure many of you are quite looking forward to this, especially if you’re more into story with plenty of ambiance and mystery instead of a character-driven one. Even though the trial was relatively short, it was quite captivating and made you want to play more, especially with so many unsolved elements which confuses the reader early on.

Ah, rise of the neglected backlog I have been meaning to get around to for years now yet never had the drive to. Whether they are good or not I’m not sure myself, but it does seem like an interesting game, just the subject matter is something I find hard to get in the mood for. With good artwork and what at least seems like a more mature story and setting than most games these days have I think there is plenty of potential for it to be worth playing. What bothers me however is the large delay between games and how much of this game was planned from the original, in the sense of the story itself meshing with each other. Or whether they chose an easier route by using a known and well received name, setting, and characters to improve their chances of success with the game. Still finally gives me some incentive to take the original game out of the backlog and play something I wanted to get around to for so very long.

Royal Duty/Flush!!

Company: Lime
Game site: Royal Duty / Flush!!
Release date: February 22, 2013
Comments:
Yuuma attends a school for the elite and wealthy and does not have any relatives. He spends his days like a commoner as much as possible, while quite aware of the elite status of those around him. However, one day he was proposed to by a transfer student who was the princess of a small country! It was their custom to find a marriage partner as part of their coming of age ceremony and she had come to his school to do just that. His objections fell on deaf ears and when he looked to his osananajimi for help, she confessed that she had always loved him.

This is basically a medium-priced nukige with an exceedingly generic plot. I think with that amount of money, it’d be more worth getting an ALcot Honey Comb game. At least you get imoutos.

How dull, such a mediocre plot does little to warrant consideration as reading material. Obviously little effort was spent on the story here, so this one is for you noisy animated HCG lovers.

Pastel Chime 3: Bindseeker

Company: ALICESOFT
Game site: パステルチャイム3 バインドシーカー
Release date: February 22, 2013 Changed to February 15, 2013
Comments:
There once was a thick fog which covered the oceans, separating the two continents of the world. When the fog suddenly vanished one day, explorers eagerly travelled to the newly appeared continent. Now that it has been more than half explored, their enthusiasm has since died down and there only remains a handful of adventurers who continued to challenge the unknown. However, even in this world that has lasted through wars with the powers of the sword, magic and God, there still exists many unknown dangers and miracles. If the seal is broken, then there is no other choice but to fight, in order to not lose what is precious to us.

This title takes place 8 years after Pastel Chime Continue. However, it is now a simulation/tactical RPG instead of a dungeon exploring RPG. There is a new system called the bind system, where a spirit possesses someone and grants them powers in exchange for a curse that is levied on them. I’m quite fond on SRPG (it’s a hate-love relationship since I end up spending too much time on them), so I’m definitely looking forward to this. The characters are interesting (especially Lilium), and it seems like the difficulty level isn’t too hard like in past games.

Better gameplay format when eroge are considered than most manage. I, along with Micchi enjoy tactical RPG games, simple yet enjoyable gameplay at its best. Given it is fairly easy to make and balance these games compare to most modern designs I feel this is a better thought out solution to the gameplay problem. That said, while the format itself is acceptable that does not mean the gameplay will be as fun as it could be, these games have some major flaws that often brings about a lackluster feeling that only increases during replay. While not much of a problem for the majority of traditional tactical RPGs an eroge where you will likely wish to read through the various differences available over the course of the multiple heroine’s routes this can be a deal breaker of sorts. Couple this monotony with restrictively small fields and the necessity to repeat the same actions on a given field many times to grind your characters to acceptable levels to tackle the next challenge and well the system loses some appeal. How they deal with these issues as well as the core gameplay of character abilities will determine the fate of the gameplay side. On the other hand I have yet to see any game with gameplay turn out to have a well thought out story with likeable character development and involving routes for them. I sincerely hope that one day some company will manage to combine these two elements in an eroge to compliment rather than conflict with one another. So far the closest to approach this Arcadia in my opinion would be Eien no Aselia, however both elements were plagued by tiresome issues, most notably problems with the routes themselves and lack of real interaction time with the characters.

System

Prism◇Recollection!

Company: クロシェット (Clochette)
Game site: プリズム◇リコレクション！
Release date: February 22, 2013
Comments:
In the year 2040, there have been considerable technological advances, especially in city centers like Tonan. One day in late August, Masanobu returned to his hometown after being away in Tokyo for about 3 years and transferred into Kujougaoka Gakuen. After meeting Sayaka and getting a short tour of the city, he later joined her club, ☆☆☆ Club (Three Stars Club). Its primary function is to guide tourists and it is pretty well known both within and outside of the school. He got to know her and fellow club member Hinano well, and his classmate Aina and imouto Konoka also joined the club which became an oasis to him.

Oppai! Oppai! The average bust size for Clochette has been inching upwards and it’s at 91.5 average for Pricolle. I really wish they some balance, but I guess I’ll have to settle with Konoka. She isn’t the clingy type, but there’s absolutely no doubt that she’s a bracon at heart. She jots down memos about everything he does, takes pictures of him when he least expects it… wait, that makes it sound like she’s a stalker. Oh well, I have no problems with that too! Imoutos know their brothers best! The story wasn’t particularly interesting, so if I were to play this it’ll be for Konoka. Hau~ omochikaeri~!

Clochette must have a plastic surgeon sponsoring them or something, their continued growth is nothing short of remarkable, even to the point of reaching the completely unnatural. Maybe in the future through the power of stem cells we learn not to cure cancer or other diseases but how to make better breast implants that are even more convincing. Ah progress, always nice to know the future prospects of our species as envisioned by the creative minds of our day hold true to what is most important in life, yup. Well the extra person worth of baggage slung over their chest area aside the game would appear to center around guiding tourists around a city since this is something all high school students should spend their time doing as a completely useful and well respected club activity the world over. I mean who wouldn’t aspire to guiding some ignorant tourists around the area you live pointing out all those boring little tidbits anyone with a pair of eyes would be sure to miss without your expert assistance. It is a well documented fact actually that without a guide no one has found the Eiffel tower while in Paris, ever. Absolutely has to be a high school student who barely knows anything about the world around them as well, this is a key point that makes tours so much more interesting, why would you book a tour with an actual agency with their own buses and other means of people transport to a wider variety of locations when you have busty teenagers to walk you around instead! And that is why Micchi loves imoutos.

Mote Sugite Shuraba na Ore

Company: プラリネ (Praline)
Game site: モテすぎて修羅場なオレ
Release date: February 22, 2013
Comments:
Hayato was the smart and attractive vice-president of Kamijou Gakuen’s student council. Kind, considerate and reliable, he was naturally quite popular among girls. However, he secretly was in four separate relationships due to various circumstances! So far nothing bad had come out of it… until the new school term this spring.

The student council president Aoi joined his class! His osananajimi Saki enrolled in the same curriculum! His former tutor Shiho became his homeroom teacher! His cousin Hinano who lived in the countryside joined his school! With all four girls in the same place, how could he keep his secret intact? He wouldn’t dare think about what would happen to him if his strict mother found out about it. Moreover, blood would likely be shed if the girls themselves found out.

Four-timing only works in eroge (adultery is not a good thing! be loyal to your imouto!). Not really sure how they could all believe that he was their lover, but I guess I don’t mind a shuraba-type love comedy. Lots of ichaicha and jealousy is what I’m looking forward to and there should be plenty of that in store here. Life is so difficult when you’re too popular. But being an imouto is even more difficult. You have to protect your oniichan from all those vixens out there.

So an eroge protagonist who is open and honest about his two, three, or in this case four timing during the common, or perhaps we shall now call it the harem route of games. A rather forcible ploy to bring everyone into the same school with pre existing attachments in order to sleep things along. Although given the focus in this game perhaps that can be an acceptable sacrifice despite how I personally would prefer the heroines showing off their jealousy and competitive spirit in the normal situation of trying to win his affections without the rampant cheating of our oh so manly protagonist. At least when you are so popular you wont have to rely on a fallback like the little sister route only those poor guys rejected by all other females with nowhere else to go end up as a sad sack of misery and despair. Not a game for story certainly, simply a game hat exists to bring about a certain situation for the readers enjoyment, without all the arrogant pretense of an actual story in an attempt to misguide and advertise falsehoods or pedophilia for the sake of sales I have no problems with this game or its target demographics.

Imouto routes are not fallbacks! They are the foundations which all romance comedies are built upon!

A foundation built upon sand results in stories as shallow as imouto chests.

Seisai no Resonance

Company: Yatagarasu
Game site: 星彩のレゾナンス
Release date: February 22, 2013
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from January. Otofuse-jima is a remote island located south of the mainland. While it is a beautiful sightseeing place surrounded by clear seas and lush forests, it is also bound by tradition. A long time ago, a giant fireball came down from the sky, burning the island for three whole days. Since the men were out fishing, it was up to the women to control the flames and protect the island. They sealed the fire so that it would not ravage the island again. Even now, a sealing ritual is performed by a selected pair of mikos.

Kanae came to Otofuse-jima looking for her mother who was formerly a miko there, but had went missing 7 years ago. She also had an acceptance letter into Sakihana Joshi Gakuen. However, she was attacked by a girl from the island’s secret organization Shouraikai which is in charge of the rituals, then found out that her enrollment had been revoked. Leaving the school grounds, she noticed something amiss and came face-to-face with a giant monster. Suddenly, the amulet which her mother had given to her for protection lent her fire powers to defeat the beast. Her power was sensed by the miko candidates and she was taken in by the school. She also became part of the otome-kai and a miko candidate herself. It is the otome-kai’s duty to put their lives on the line to fight against these strange beings known as ‘impurities’. They have to train together to strengthen their bonds while cleansing the impurities using their powers.

This fully-voiced game uses a real time 3D map battle system modified from the one used in Tentacle Lord. The battle system wasn’t bad, but I was able to easily win battles with auto-target and some button mashing. After beating the story mode, an arcade mode where you can control over 10 different characters will be unlocked and another story will also be available. With a female protagonist and no male lead in sight, this is a good pick-up for anyone who likes chuuni and yuri. Yuu is so delicious (berets make everything better). Nagi is also fine too.

*facepalm*

Komorebi no Nostalgica -Raggio di sole nostalgico-

Company: STREGA
Game site: 木洩れ陽のノスタルジーカ -Raggio di sole nostalgico-
Release date: February 22, 2013
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from January. This sci-fi ADV is the debut title for STREGA. In the distant future, humans live together with AI and history had been forgotten. Youta enjoyed his quiet life even though he was often manipulated by his genius programmer (but also extreme troublemaker) imouto Akira. One day while accompanying Akira, he came upon a hidden room. With the help of some old friends, they managed to open the door. Inside they found a pretty android girl in a deep sleep. Her body and her heart was broken. Akira decided right there that she wanted to fix her and her words fired up everyone’s curiosity, just like when they were kids. Thus begins their heart-warming days with the android girl Cinema.

The art and story are done by Norita and Takaya Aya, the combo that worked on the Otoboku series. Even though SF isn’t generally my cup of tea, the ‘group of friends gathering together again’ angle makes me somewhat interested. Of course, there’s also the imouto factor, although I’m not particularly fond of Subaru Maia’s rendition. Akira’s bad habit (skill) is hacking into her brother’s computer. Probably to find out what fetishes he’s into (like bloomers?).

So, Chobits anyone? Not that I am inherently against this but so many minor problems like his sister being a programmer just reeks of setting manipulation, I mean come on it’s not something you are just born with. Further issues involve the means used to include the android into the story and the guiding plot involving her. There is some hope given that I like the people involved but the game does feel rather haphazard in what it wants to be and how it wants to go about the story. Still probably going to be worth a read for me.

Ryuusei☆Kiseki -SHOOTING PROBE-

Company: ユニゾンシフト・アクセント (UnisonShift Accent)
Game site: 流星☆キセキ ‐SHOOTING PROBE‐
Release date: February 22, 2013 Delayed to March 29, 2013
Comments:
Due to many satellite accidents, the world was littered with countless space debris. Space development had been suspended and people’s dreams of reaching the stars were stalled. Hayato decided that he could not wait such a long time for all the space debris to clear and development to resume, so he set out to build a model rocket which will be able to pierce through the debris. He continued to try despite repeated failures and the cool gaze from those around him.

On his 99th try, he thought he had finally attained success until his rocket collided with something. Running to the crash site, he found a naked girl holding a rocket. She opened her eyes and introduced herself as Twink, a space probe who had come to investigate Earth. However, she was unable to break away from Earth’s gravity due to the collision with his rocket. He promised to help her return to her home star.

UnisonShift Accent is trying to make a touching icharabu story that seems to be more suited for Blossom. The scenario is written by Hasegawa Ai (Koitate, Koiken) so I don’t really have too high hopes. Nothing wrong with the characters who are all in my strike zone. As a side note, I really don’t like the OP. The song is all over the place and what’s the point of showing the entire lyrics with kinetic typography? I feel like it totally detracts from the video and Ozawa Akifumi and osa’s artwork.

Oh Unisonshift will you ever learn to stay within the boundaries your feeble and uncreative minds can properly conceive and comprehend? I must say all Unisonshift brands seem to compete with each other on how much they can insult the intelligence of their reader base with each new release. On this point alone I will say they are becoming an adept and skillful company with their settings, stories, and even characters. That settled I think it might behoove me to explain in a more verbose fashion the exact problem I have with these companies. To start with given their style of writing (Mediocre standard eroge fare) there is no need to include all the unnecessary extra story and setting elements. In case of this game the alien stalker girl and debris field are completely worthless. They are in place not to add spice but to hide flaws in writing that would otherwise be plain as day and make the game difficult to receive positive consideration. Removing these elements leads to games that are excessively plain and downright boring. Which brings up the reason it is so intolerable for a company to rely on dishonest means and an ignorant fanbase, they do not have a clue what they are talking about with their own settings. If they at least understood the concepts and were able to incorporate that into their games, fine nothing wrong with trying to spice things up. Instead they throw together random words they quite obviously have no comprehension of to make their games more exotic while putting the burden of suspending disbelief upon the reader. For something they expect people to pay good money for this is downright insulting that they expect the reader to make concessions towards them being lazy at their job. I find it amusing how tolerant people are towards slacking off at such a job when gross incompetence at this level would result in immediate disposal anywhere else.

LOVESICK PUPPIES -Bokura wa Koi Suru Tame ni Umarete Kita-

Company: COSMIC CUTE
Game site: LOVESICK PUPPIES -僕らは恋するために生まれてきた-
Release date: February 28, 2013 Delayed to March 22, 2013
Comments:
This is the first game by COSMIC CUTE. Kotarou is a normal student at Hatao Gakuen who is a member of the ‘counselling room’. The ‘counselling room’ was viewed by many as a place for complaints and random requests. Even though he was pitied by them for being part of some a troublesome place, he didn’t mind it since he naturally liked helping out with other people’s problems.

One day, he was entrusted with a girl named Orie, who had committed a crime which almost got her expelled from the school. Even though her attitude was difficult to deal with, she earnestly completed all the tasks which he assigned to her. When she found out that he was living in an apartment, she implored him to let her stay there. After finding out the reason why she was so insistent, he agreed to take her in.

But not soon thereafter, his uncle informed him that the apartment will be demolished. He didn’t want to lose his home filled with memories, while she didn’t want to lose her newly found place where she could restart her life. With the mascot-like Maruna and transfer student Sonya moving in, and classmate Isami and trusted osananajimi Yuuki’s also showing up often, the apartment became more lively. Even if only for a limited time, their ‘family’ bonds strengthen.

Happy happy puppy♪ Wow wow♪ Set in the same world as WLO and written by the same scenario writer Andou Kotatsu, the heroines are like puppies which you wish to care for. I look forward to many puppy eyes and shirt tugs. I particularly want to look after Maruna and Sonya~ Can I keep them? The trial was pretty slow to start off, but it got better once everyone was in the same house. I’m not really sure why they’re including the PDA use (Soralis) other than it being the newest fad. Ayano is quite the amusing imouto, while I haven’t seen an osananajimi like the Kiritani Hana-voiced Yuuki. She just gives off the osananajimi vibe perfectly (it’s almost like she’s been friend-zoned from the start). It should be worth looking forward to this.

Happy happy puppy♪ Wow wow♪ Damn, this OP is too catchy.

To start with cats are better than dogs, puppy or not. Next the use of a club like setting to introduce a means for the protagonist to be forced into interaction with heroines is sloppy. A new teacher, social worker, counselor, or at least meddlesome student, perhaps a class representative or something could have been used in its place to better effect with a more natural feeling. It would have even been preferable to use an existing connection such as a childhood friend or younger sister to establish the point the connections to other heroines can branch out from. Creating a form of responsibility that the protagonist would have towards the heroines via a made up setting detail meant to allow the writer to be lazy about setting up the initial character connections and development is a common form of cop out in the eroge world. While the very beginning of a game is not as important as what comes later it does set the stage and while perhaps not significantly negative to just throw everyone together immediately via a contrived setting with that explicit purpose, a large amount of potential positive character development and attachment is ignored by using this approach. In a game with emphasis on heroines being dependent on the protagonist this is an oversight that hampers the depth that can be achieved with their characters throughout the story. Even more so when writers resort to such means I find it hard to trust that the rest of the game wont follow suit, opting for tried cliches instead of unique and fulfilling circumstances.

end sleep

Company: LilacSoft
Game site: end sleep
Release date: February 28, 2013 Delayed to April 26, 2013
Comments:
Itsuki has lived an unlucky life. His parents passed away when he was young and his relationship with his adoptive parents did not last long. Now an university student, he took up a high-paying live-in part-time job in a mansion deep in the mountains despite being suspicious about it.

When he got there, he met a beautiful girl who wondered if he would become her older brother. Not knowing what she meant by this, he chased after her into the mansion where many other people had gathered, all but one of whom were around his age. Their task was explained to them there: to live there while playing their assigned role. As foreseen by the girl from earlier, Sui, he was given the ‘older brother’ role, while she was the ‘imouto’.

This strange life began without any problems, until one rainy night when the sound of glass breaking echoed through the mansion. They hurried towards the sound and found one of their own, Miho, had been brutally murdered.

It’s one of those closed-door murder mysteries with a very convenient setting and a protagonist who willingly gets himself involved. I generally would play these only if there’s a character that is worth saving, but I don’t feel that way towards any of them. Pass.

How convenient his parents died and he has no one else around to oversee his actions. When even Micchi points out the glaring problems of a game rather than what to hope for you just know the game is going to be a complete and utter train wreck for the ages. Lets keep things as short and sweet as possible this time in tribute to the complete lack of effort and talent on display for this game. Setting is flawed from the start with closed circle and completely manipulated by the writer to cater to whatever whims they have. Characters just don’t feel right, while no one expects 2D characters to be realistic, these go a step beyond into the realm of 1D characters with no redeeming qualities only awkward issues. Finally the story itself is hardly anything spectacular, standard fare for this genre and even then it feels sub par. For this month if you crave something of a similar vein, go with Kara no Shoujo 2, chances are you will fare much better than with this waste of life.

Inpyuri -Hito to Anata to Ayakashi to-

Company: ロゼブル (Rosebleu)
Game site: いんぴゅり -ヒトとアナタとアヤカシと-
Release date: February 28, 2013
Comments:
Strange other-worldly beings known as youkai have existed in Japan since ancient times. Not too far in the future, humans lived together with youkai harmoniously and studied their mysterious abilities. Kazuto lived in the research city of Hakuya-jima and had grown up with youkai by his side. Following his motto of enjoying every moment of life, he enrolled in Shirane Gakuen with his osananajimi Shizune. However, on the day of the entrance ceremony, he reunited with a girl who he used to play with and who had saved his life: the oni girl Miyabi. That spelled the end of his normal days as many other youkai and humans flocked to his side.

Seems like a similar template to the Tiny Dungeon series. Kazuto has Miyabi’s oni blood in him from the accident, which gives him youkai powers and allows him to easily be friends with both humans and youkai. Other than the youkai theme, there’s not much that separates it from a typical love comedy. So if you like fox spirits, tengu, zashikiwarashi and other youkai, this would be for you.

Certainly not going to be the best story, but the real question is will they be able to pull off the writing that made Tiny Dungeon enjoyable despite its numerous flaws. Their previous game was unable to match up and turned out predictably boring. Otherwise this game is pretty standard fare with a slightly modified setting to allow for a more “Exotic” appeal from the heroines.

Minna Sasagechau!

Company: ぱれっと (Palette)
Game site: みんな捧げちゃう！
Release date: February 28, 2013
Comments:
Other than being a member of the occult research group at Chuurenjaku Gakuen, Kenta is like any other normal student at the school. Even though nothing too much out of the ordinary happens every day, the time he spends with his osananajimi, classmates and other club members are lively. One day, he had a dream where he was having sex with a naked girl who he didn’t know. You would think that that’s a typical dream for a boy going through puberty, but the next day that girl, the succubus-in-training Phyllis, transferred into his class!?

Palette making a nukige? Somehow that doesn’t sit too well with me… The art is by Tamahiyo, who previously worked on Steal My Heart. I would’ve rather they used Izumi Tsubasu or Kusukusu instead. I’d take the Wakana and Nozomi shimai-don though.

Hapymaher

Company: パープルソフトウェア (Purple Software)
Game site: ハピメア
Release date: February 28, 2013
Comments:
After an accident, Tooru experienced lucid dreams every time he slept. Realizing that he’s in a dream all the time means that his body cannot rest, leading to him getting rest only when he collapsed from exhaustion. One day, a girl who he hadn’t seen since the accident appeared in his dream. The girl Maia was the cause of his current condition and is a nightmare to him. However, another girl named Alice wandered into his dream, vowing to save him. Maia whispered in his ear: “This is the story of a sweet happy nightmare”.

Interesting theme and they’ve got the right scenario writer in Morisaki Ryouto (Re:birth colony) to make it work. With outfits like those, it’s definitely a dream I’d like to be in. I’m not sure which way they’re going to go with the story, but it’d be interesting if they threw in some false awakenings in for good measure too. Love Maia’s cat eyes. The OP is one of my favourites so far this year; it has quite a mysterious fairy tale feel to it.

I have decided that Purple soft are the trolls of the eroge scene. It just has to be on purpose when we reach this point, they simply enjoy taunting readers with interesting concepts and seeing how far people will chase the carrot dangled in front of them. Their meetings must revolve around carefully plotting what new setting they can make interesting and appealing only to turn into something so average and boring it can turn diamonds back into coal. This time the bait is not just with the setting and story but also the character designs, opting for a more risque approach that appeals to a variety of tastes. I refuse however, not this time! I won’t be suckered into the purple minefield laden with tasty morsels that are most definitely nothing more than pretty looking creme filled lies.

I’ll do it in your stead. Can’t say no to imoutos in my dreams.

Unfortunately I am going to be sucked into the purple minefield yet again, I’ll give it a shot, but this is the last time! I swear, honest.

Pocket ni Koi o Tsumete

Company: 青空ビスケット (Aozora Biscuit)
Game site: ポケットに恋をつめて
Release date: February 28, 2013 Delayed to March 15, 2013
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from January. This is the debut title for Aozora Biscuit. The gender split in Sayahama-chou’s Kouchourinkai Gakuen is greatly imbalanced, with 2 boys for every 8 girls. However, it’s not like a harem situation for the boys since they are treated as nobodies. Faced with a dimming future, the boys decided to create an unofficial ‘hero club’ with the aim to become people that everyone will want to have around.

Pokekoi uses the same Live2D animation system as Latte’s Imosen. From the CGs, it seems like this is closer to a nukige and the setting sure does allow for it (every boy gets 4 girls based on the gender split!). Obviously Mau is my type of heroine (berets make everything better), but I’m undecided if that’s enough for me to even consider playing this. And oh god, that denpa OP.

When a game does so little to properly establish the setting in a way that makes explaining the situation at least plausible if not completely logical you know there is very little emphasis on the writing and story. What is left then typically comes down to characters and H scenes. Sadly these days we have a label for sub par games that need a word to hide behind so they can excuse themselves from writing anything halfway decent because hey the characters look cute, ya know those things called charage? While this leans more towards the nuki side of games my point is that even if you like the way the characters in games like these look, why bother when their stories and development are so poorly written?

Loveressive LOVE×AGGRESSIVE

Company: スミレ (SMILE)
Game site: ラヴレッシブ
Release date: February 28, 2013
Comments:
This is the first title by SMILE. On Valentine’s day, Kaname was confessed to by four girls at the same time: carefree osananajimi Kotora, blonde rich transfer student Reo, baka genius kouhai Ryou, and small meddlesome senpai Mao. They vowed to try to make him love them before White Day. His objections would not waver the resolves of these aggressive girls who are after their man.

As the title suggests, Loveressive is all about girls who are aggressively vying for your love. It has some part animation, uses a ‘tsubuyakki’ system (kind of like a Twitter direct messenger), as well as the ‘love judgment’ system, where you can ‘catch’ (accept) or ‘release’ (reject) their advances. If you don’t act enough, it’ll be force you to accept! They don’t call it a nukige, but it sure seems like one. It feels quite similar to a HOOKSOFT game with all the gimmicks and focus on characters. Not a bad pickup for a comedy this month.

Emphasis on what makes a game like this enjoyable seems to be more about the system itself rather than the heroines. At least in my opinion trying to herd all selections down to the same basic choice with only a variation on how that choice is presented waters down the whole feeling and enjoyment. Without a story to read or interesting level of diversity among heroines who are basically all come pre caught with the only concern being who to choose I can’t feel as though there is much worth looking at here, unless you are so into aggressive girls that you absolutely need your fix this month.

Unmei ga Kimi no Oya o Erabu Kimi no Yuujin wa Kimi ga Erabu

Company: WHITESOFT
Game site: 運命が君の親を選ぶ 君の友人は君が選ぶ
Release date: February 28, 2013 Delayed to March 29, 2013
Comments:
The quiet town of Tounoyama-chou was full of shrines and churches, stone circles and other ruins, as well as an underground labyrinth which was built during the war and other historical structures. It was known as a spiritual place, where many believed in fortune telling and miracles. The protagonist transferred into Tounoyama Gakuen and the fortune-telling deemed him as the ‘destined boy’ upon which the school’s future rested upon. However, a great uproar ensued when they found out that he was just a normal person. During that time, he met many girls and his osananajimi Riri revived the occult club as the ‘destiny research club’ and proposed to see their futures together.

From Schrödinger’s cat to the butterfly effect. WHITESOFT likes trying out other themes, even though I personally don’t find it that well done. Seeing and possibly changing the future isn’t that rare among eroge, but it’d be interesting to see what spin they can put on it.

Boring premise with no real purpose. Such silly setting elements make me physically cringe to think about. There are few games that go so far out of their way and put so much effort into avoiding any chance at having to put even the tiniest amount of effort into their story or setting. Most nukige manage better plots and settings than this, as you really have to try to make things this bad.

Boku ga Tenshi ni Natta Wake LOVE SONG OF THE ANGELS.

Company: OVERDRIVE
Game site: 僕が天使になった理由（わけ） LOVE SONG OF THE ANGELS.
Release date: February 28, 2013
Comments:
Tomoe’s life appeared to be quite dull. He didn’t make any friends (of course no girlfriend) nor did he have any hobbies. He gets up only to go to school and sleeps after he returns home. Every day is just the same unchanging routine. However, he was not unhappy with his life. There is nothing to lose when you don’t have anything in the first place. If you wished for something, you would only end up getting hurt in the end. He knew this since he had already tasted the cruelty of the world before.

His quiet days came to an end when the angel Aine appeared before him. Angels are the protectors of love, who spin the ‘red string’ and sing to support humans. Tomoe did not believe that love could bring happiness, but Aine objected and enlisted his help in getting couples together. Maybe seeing the many forms of love and happiness with his very own eyes would make Tomoe understand what true happiness is, as well as the reason for him living on.

Bokuten is set up in an omnibus format, featuring different love short stories with Aine and Tomoe being the common thread. I don’t mind this setup since Tomoe’s character will gradually develop over the course of the stories, moving towards a final resolution. It’s not OVERDRIVE without songs, and this time it’s the angel band CaS featuring songs by milktub and STUDIO 696. I’m amazed how they manage to fit guitars into every story, but it actually works quite well in this case. Characters are cute, but the body proportion seems off (especially the lower body). I’ll likely play this since I like love stories with magical elements even if I don’t particularly like the main character (he’s an ass like Hatsuyuki, but at least with a reason and he actually does care for others).

Yes random angel appears because we all know that the concept of all angels were created to foster love as though they were all cupid in disguise. Couple the poorly thought out reasons to bring in angels with some boring love stories and you have a winner, right? Right?

Koi no Hanashi to

Company: I.D.
Game site: 恋の話と
Release date: February 28, 2013
Comments:
When Hajime was small, he had an older sister who he often played and slept with, even though he didn’t quite remember that time in detail. It had been many years since their parents had suddenly divorced, but one day, he was reunited with his sister and they lived together once again. Even though she was quite grown up now, she still doted on him greatly, as if to make up for lost time. Sensing an opportunity, the popular class rep and his quiet and mysterious classmate also got closer to him, and he also met a national singer-songwriter.

The problem with I.D.’s previous games was the storytelling and nothing has changed since then. I don’t mind the art, but with the characters being uninteresting and the seiyuus not doing a good job at voicing them either, I’m sensing a landmine here. Sana-nee is quite cute though.

As Micchi already pointed out the problem here is that there is no real story to speak of. Whether a game without a reason to keep reading is worth it or not is up to you.

Micchi’s Top 5 for This Month

1. Boku ga Tenshi ni Natta Wake LOVE SONG OF THE ANGELS.
2. Pastel Chime 3 Bindseeker
3. Hapymaher
4. Ryuusei☆Kiseki -SHOOTING PROBE-
5. Prism◇Recollection!

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Kara no Shoujo 2
2. Komorebi no Nostalgica -Raggio di sole nostalgico-
3. Hapymaher

I wish Clochette would remember the importance of balance.

I wish Micchi would learn the importance of balance. There are heroines other than younger sisters.

Yes, I know they exist. Every game needs supporting characters.

That’s why imoutos were created after all.