June 2014 Eroge Releases

June 11, 2014 at 1:50 am 25 comments

Let’s fall in love! I’ve definitely fallen in love with Palette’s Koi ga Saku Koro Sakura doki. Let the love fairy Tina make your dreams come true! There’s also a ring that makes you popular in Etoiles’ Koi DOKi, which is very reminiscent of Moteyaba. The loli levels are also high this month, with Iris’ Shuki Shuki Daishuki!!, Galette’s Chiccha Love Apart and Puchi Parfait’s Niina-chan Lovely Life tempting all you lolipedofins.

Pedo paradise month apparently. Otherwise just a bunch of nukige, and generic titles hiding behind artwork. Although there is at least one game I can be interested in, marking this as a better month than the average over the last year or so, I really miss when people cared about the games they made beyond justification for H content.

Harvest_OverRay_CGChiccha_Love_Apart_CG5Koi_DOKi_CG
Scramble_Lovers_CGKoi_ga_Saku_Koro_Sakura_Doki_CGRe_Lord_CG4
Semiramis_no_Tenbin_CGLove_Relation_CG4Koinaka_CG

Re;Lord ~Helford no Majo to Nuigurumi~

Re_Lord

Company: エスクード (Escu:de)
Game site: Re;Lord ~ヘルフォルトの魔女とぬいぐるみ~
Release date: June 27, 2014
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from May. In a world where swords and magic exist, the demon realm faced an unprecedented danger. Three ‘witches of disaster’ appeared and invaded a territory of the demon country of Saarland. Lacking skills due to the recent peaceful times and recognizing the witches’ overwhelming powers (including the ability to change the form of others), they surrendered the territory of Groesen to them. A half year later, the majority of the townspeople in Groesen had been turned into dolls. Wilfred decided to take back the land from the witches, and he possessed the only ability to defeat them.

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This is a follow-up strip battle SLG in the same vein as Akatoki!, except the player can target which parts they want to take off. The result will also affect the H scenes. It’s best to keep some of their clothes on! The story is written by Nishimura Yuuichi (Furuiro), but c’mon, it’s a strip battle SLG. These witches have been bad. They need some punishment.

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Since the trial is now available, I decided to try it out… and I was pleasantly surprised! Escu:de games are always fun to play due to their quirky systems and Re;Lord features a map part and a battle part. You have to use various tile blocks to advance towards the specified destination on the world map. It’s kinda like playing Tetris. You can get additional blocks by opening treasure, defeating monsters and witches. Enemies will encroach on your territory, while the witches (in the bottom right corner) will attack every few turns. Sometimes you’ll hit a barrier, which requires crystals to break.

The standard monster battles is a shooting game using the mouse. You left click and hold to charge, move around for multiple targets (spreading damage) and release to fire. Right click will activate guard, with bonuses if you do a ‘just guard’ (timing it perfectly). Spin the mouse wheel to choose between elements, which affect damage, speed and mana cost. Mana regenerates naturally except when guarding. As you level up, you can up your skills to become more powerful.

In the boss battles with the witches, in addition to regular damage, there will also be clothing damage. Depending on your likes, you can target whatever piece of clothing you wish. Once it hits 100% clothing damage, the CG will change and you have a limited time when you can attack at will. Beyond the fun systems, the story reminds me a lot of Disgaea with the slapstick comedy, serious sidekick Lia who plays the tsukkomi role, and ‘slightly’ odd main chara Wilfred (who’s fully voiced). He’s totally obsessed with manteaus and can talk about them non-stop for a full hour. I’m really looking forward to the full game now!

Who knew that the best way to get rid of witches was to strip and have your way with them, not toss a glass of water in their general direction. Which sums up the depth of this game, ankle deep kiddie pool. If all you want is stripping and H scenes your prayers have been answered, otherwise, lets just forget this exists.

Game system PV

Koinaka -Koinaka de Hatsukoi × Nakadashi Sexual Life-

Koinaka

Company: eRONDO
Game site: こいなか -小田舎で初恋×中出しセクシャルライフ-
Release date: June 27, 2014
Comments:
This nukige set in a rural town is the debut title for eRONDO. Kouta is the only son and heir to the Mikomori shrine in the small redeveloping town of Tsumagoi-chou which had been declining in popularity. He didn’t have any interest in inheriting the shrine. Instead, he focused on his studies, aiming to be a civil servant upon graduation. His widowed father talked about marrying a young girl, but then he suddenly disappeared. That girl Erina came to live with him, along with her imouto Motoka. With the help of his osananajimi Mio and a few supporters of the shrine, they managed to continue living normal lives. One day, Erina brought home a girl Mai, who called herself his fiancée. One thing led to another, culminating with Erina ordering him to get her pregnant.

The staff previously worked on bolero’s Love Lab and the same H system has been improved. It mainly consists of ‘night training’ and the number of possible commands increases as you learn more skills. There’s also an after story for each heroine after you finish their routes, as well as harem route after you finish all 5 routes. I find these types of games a bit of a chore since you’d need to replay quite a bit to get all the variations. I like Mio and Motoka, but I’m not particularly fond of the main heroine Mai. There’s not much to see here in terms of plot. If you want ero though, look no further.

In some ways I respect games like this, at least they don’t try to cover up what they are about with some crap about wishes or virtual reality betas or being forced into some club or other activity that tries to fuse the protagonist to a chosen heroine with writing that amounts to “because we said so”. Other than my respect for their honesty about the content and writing quality, there is nothing to make it any more appealing to me, not hiding under false pretenses does little to make nukige any better or worth the few minutes it takes to read the text other than moans any more worth it.

Shuki Shuki Daishuki!!

Shuki_Shuki_Daishuki

Company: Iris
Game site: しゅきしゅきだいしゅき!!
Release date: June 27, 2014
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from May. Youji was half-forced by his older sister Mimi to be the new manager (in training) of the Fancy Shop USAMi, a cute store which is frequented by little girls. He got to know the shy Chikage who helps around at the shop, the pure Russian girl Tamara who lives next door, and the ‘little idol’ Aoi who ran away from home and now lives in the park. Their relationship grows closer and more intimate as they advance towards being a slightly risky lovey-dovey couple.

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I’m staying far away from the sparkly oshikko.

Games like these should come with a built in program that automatically alerts the authorities upon install, thus allowing apprehension and subsequent castration of the offending criminal.

Chiccha Love Apart

Chiccha_Love_Apart

Company: Galette
Game site: ちっちゃらぶアパート
Release date: June 27, 2014
Comments:
Naoto is a NEET who was entrusted with managing an apartment which had previously been under his grandfather Taizou’s care. Taizou told him that the building is blessed by the god of marriage. He was expecting to be surrounded by beautiful women, but in reality, there were only ‘girls who will become beautiful women’. Every day, he completed his managerial duties while shutting himself in his room.

One day, he met a mysterious thing while doing cleaning: the (self-proclaimed) patron god of the apartment, Tama! It warned him that its powers have dwindled from being shut in for so long and at this rate, disasters will befall those who live in the apartment. To help it recover its powers, he must fulfill three conditions: do not neglect the management and maintenance of the apartment, strengthen relationships with the tenants, and do not let anyone move out of the building.

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This is the second of three loli-ge this month and the best one of the bunch in my opinion. Galette’s previous title Oniichan Sharing was quite lewd enjoyable and they even brought back the seiyuus for the twins Chiko and Yuu (who now voice Ayaka and Hinata). There’s also Fujisaki Usa voicing the pure and tennen Nina. I’m sure they’ll all grow up to be very beautiful, especially Takano and Ayaka. Well, I’d gladly take the playful lovestruck Ayaka as is. Hau~ omochikaeri~!

Games like these should come with a built in program that automatically alerts the authorities upon install, thus allowing apprehension and subsequent castration of the offending criminal.

Niina-chan Lovely Life

Niina-chan_Lovely_Life

Company: ぷちぱるふぇ (Puchi Parfait)
Game site: にいなちゃん Lovely Life
Release date: June 27, 2014
Comments:
This is the Puchi Parfait’s debut game. One morning, Kenichi was pushed down on his bed by his imouto Niina and three other girls An, Yuriko and Momoka. They were unhappy that he had been delaying making a decision on whom to go out with. However, he admitted that he was indecisive and loved each of them equally. They made him promise to go on a date every weekend with one of them for the next half year and go out with the girl who he likes the most. “I’ll definitely become your girlfriend, no matter what ecchi method it takes!”

LOvely LIfe = LOLI (at least in appearance). Puchi Parfait promises over 100 H scenes and there were 15 in the trial alone (three for each char, plus three 3P). You can throw this one into the nukige bin. Not sure why he’s so motemote, but I guess I shouldn’t question such things. The charas are quite cute, although there’s not much development due to being a nukige. Myself, I’m partial to the mischievous Ogura Yui-voiced Momoka. The system is quite simple: choose a heroine, location and outfit, then enjoy! Other options are gradually unlocked, including 3P and harem scenes, which they do not skimp on.

Games like these should come with a built in program that automatically alerts the authorities upon install, thus allowing apprehension and subsequent castration of the offending criminal.

Out Vegetables

Out_Vegetables

Company: ソフトハウスキャラ (SofthouseChara)
Game site: アウトベジタブルズ
Release date: June 27, 2014
Comments:
There were two wishes in the world: one was an immoral wish to become a phantom thief, the other was a perverted wish to have one’s treasure stolen by a phantom thief. It would not have been a problem if wishes stayed as wishes, but the two people who harboured these desires met each other. A ‘night festival’ was established under the dark side of a mega-corporation as a competition for phantom thieves. This is where the story begins for Zenshirou and the two phantom thieves-in-training girls who he leads, Tomoe and Mirai.

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This is a SofthouseChara game, which naturally means it’s a SLG. As Zenshirou, you get to guide your phantom thief duo around to gather info, prepare for the heist and of course, carry out the act. Flawless execution will net you the most ‘phantom thief points’, with the team with the most points at the end of a season being declared the champion.

The trial was interesting to play as you have to do advanced scouting and prep up in order to pull off a successful heist. I didn’t really know how the cards worked at first, so I failed quickly as the guards beat me up. It was better the second time around as I learned to tailor the available cards to the room types and pass through as few rooms as possible. I didn’t place high in the rankings, but I guess you’d do better in subsequent seasons. They should really update the system page on the official game site though.

Finally a game that gives the creators due credit with the title, making it clear from the outset that it is made and written by vegetables with a poor grasp of the English language. As would be expected when a vegetable attempts to mimic human thought processes, the concept is entirely meaningless, nonsensical, and completely irrelevant to anything. Had they not been vegetables, a train of thought may have arisen where the necessity to concoct a wishful concept around a school for something that would never have a school to begin with. Instead maybe they could have ya know, actually used what most games do and fail at, a standard high school setting where the protagonist was forced to keep his identity a secret, while following in his parents footsteps. Maybe the girls could represent a rival and someone who found out about his double lifestyle. Nope instead we get some lukewarm thievery as an excuse for poor game mechanics to lead into H scenes. Good job mutant vegetables that learned to write! I however, preferred when you were trying to eat people, not write about them.

I think I’d prefer anything over carnivorous mutant vegetables.

Hey at least it would make vegetarians less wimpy. And written word would be restricted to things with brains.

Scramble Lovers

Scramble_Lovers

Company: Aries
Game site: スクランブル・ラバーズ
Release date: June 27, 2014
Comments:
One day during lunchtime, Shingo gathered with four girls who had transferred into the same class as him. His twin imouto Yui suggested that they undergo ‘love training’ in order to find a wonderful first love. He thought he had heard her wrong, but the other girls all readily accepted the idea. Thus, the first love agreement was formed. It contained 5 articles: 1) one must report all activities, 2) one can try anything they wish, 3) one should not forestall others, 4) one should tell others if there is any progress in their situation, and 5) if anyone reaches the goal, then everyone else should offer them their congratulations. With the summer festival as the deadline, the girls begin their quest for first love.

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A tried and true setting where mock love becomes real. All of Aries’ games are similar, with a school setting and a lack of magic and sci-fi aspects. This particular game is written by 5 different writers, so I’m be inclined to believe that the quality will vary by route. There’s not really a pull for me among the characters, so I’ll be playing something else instead.

So allow me to get this straight, the people at Aries were so completely out of ideas for a game, they could think of nothing better to bring characters together and make them interact, than love training? Seriously? If this is the best they could do they should probably stick to fan fiction using the stories, settings, and characters envisioned by others. For so little payoff from such a large investment, I have trouble believing this will be a memorable or even just decent game, try harder with fewer writers next time Aries.

Semiramis no Tenbin

Semiramis_no_Tenbin

Company: キャラメルBOX (Caramel BOX)
Game site: セミラミスの天秤
Release date: June 27, 2014
Comments:
Ever since he hit his head, Reiji can sometimes hear things which he shouldn’t be able to hear. The doctor told him that such cases of acousma would gradually fade with time, but he felt rather restless about it. One day, he met Ami, the transfer student who had held all the boys in the class captive on her first day. He wasn’t excited like his friends, but rather worried about her after looking at her slightly vacant eyes.

That night, he met her by chance on the way back home from the convenience store. She told him while smiling that he was qualified to become a magician, and he felt a shiver through his body. He realized that he couldn’t defy Ami, who called herself a ‘devil’. It was as if she could read his thoughts. Afterwards in the classroom, he would hear her whispers, by which she would reveal the true feelings and intentions of his fellow classmates. He felt that the classroom had become a ‘kind prison’ full of lies and façades. Will he be able to escape from Ami’s ‘prison’?

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This is Caramel Box’s first non-nukige title since Otoboku 2 in 2010. They’ve brought back the same duo that worked on that game: illustrator Norita and scenario writer Takaya Aya. Reiji supposedly walks the line between good (Eru) and evil (Ami). The trial was too short to get a good grasp on the game… other than a conniving Kirihana.

Not too keen on the setup here, the whole magician and supernatural bit feels awkwardly placed, almost as bad as your average magical girl plot. The potential for vastly different outcomes and scenarios is interesting however, provided there is an actual choice in the matter with significant changes in the entire story as a result. If the writing is good enough the half assed stumbling block at the start could be overshadowed, and the writing in Otoboku 2 was not bad, so there is a reasonable amount of hope for a good game here. At the very least it does give me something to look forward to, good or bad in the end at least that is something praise worthy. Besides we all know the evil route is the best route, so here’s to being able to make an actual choice to be a bad guy for once.

Harvest OverRay

Harvest_OverRay

Company: 戯画 (GIGA)
Game site: ハーヴェストオーバーレイ
Release date: June 27, 2014
Comments:
In the near future, technology has developed to the point where most things have been digitized, from everyday items to entertainment. Makito is a game-loving student who is full of curiosity. He tries every game that comes out, but he had lately been dissatisfied with them.

One day, he received an invitation to the closed beta of an augmented reality (AR) game called ‘Harvest Onreal’. It was the highly anticipated newest work by Cymell Corporation, which had produced the prominent AR game ‘Cherry Blossom’. He was very excited to play it even though he had never seen a game labelled as a ‘live game’ genre before. He signed up for the game without reading the user agreement at all and later found out that he could not exit the game nor turn off the AR.

Makito got others around him caught up in it as well: game-loving ojousama kouhai Lilia, the most powerful (and short) senpai Komachi, transfer student Yuuka who he met by chance at the beach, and his genius programmer imouto Sumi. They gathered together as the ‘next generation club’ with the goal of clearing the game.

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Augmented reality game in closed beta… this sounds awfully like Clochette’s Sakigen. I’ll treat it similarly as a chara-ge. The set-up doesn’t seem that different from C@F either, especially since the city they live in Yahiro-shi, as well as Yagami Gakuen, are special areas where AR technology is being tested. However, I love Bell more than Lorelai (CV: Fujisaki Usa). The system will also allow for much cosplay ecchi. Imoutos are amazing. They will soon take over the world with their programming prowess. I, for one, will welcome our new imouto rulers.

Terrible spin off of the standard alter reality fare that comes and goes. Essentially a game just here for the ecchi / H content, with a flimsy setup to justify getting in the pants of the standard array of 2d girls.  I’ll take the blue pill please, even cyanide would be better than this poison.

Love Relation

Love_Relation

Company: I.D.
Game site: ラブリレーション
Release date: June 27, 2014
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from March. Yuuto’s house burned down one spring day. Luckily, he and his parents escaped injury, but they lost everything else. His parents could stay in their company dormitory, but only a 1-bedroom unit was available. They also didn’t have any relatives nearby who could help them. Ultimately they were able to secure a place for 3 persons, but it’d be a month before they could move in. His suggestion that he would spend a month in a capsule hotel was overheard by his homeroom teacher Sakurako who happened to be sitting behind them at the family restaurant. He ended up staying at her home in exchange for doing household chores. However, will living in a house surrounded by three sisters be too stimulating for a boy in puberty like him?

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I.D.’s plots leave much to be desired. None of their titles have been rated over 60 on EGS. Their heroines don’t have much appeal either (one of them just happens to forget wearing panties often). I didn’t feel like the trial was well written at all. In fact, it felt worse than their previous games as he managed to sex up two girls within a few days of living with them. Pass.

So after reading one too many eroge Yuuto realized the reason he was unable to live life surrounded by girls arguing over the rights to his pants is because of the existence of parents, thus he hatched his plan to set the house on fire, so he could be the eroge protagonist of his dreams. Lo and behold he was rewarded for his proactive role and given a home made to surround him with his choice in boobs. I suppose chasing the pesky family away with flames is one way to isolate a character, but at least have the decency to kill them off before staring the pity parade of protagonist worship.

PV

Lilium×Triangle

Lilium_Triangle

Company: ぷちぱじゃま (Puchi Pajamas)
Game site: リリウム×トライアングル
Release date: June 27, 2014
Comments:
This is a low-price yuri title from Puchi Pajamas, a sub-brand of Pajamas Soft. Haruka was a succubus who came from the demon world to kiss and peropero human girls and suck their energy. However, she didn’t meet a single one in the street until sisters Yuuna and Sana asked her if there was something wrong. Haruka took an immediate interest in them and wanted to immediately drain their energy, but it didn’t go exactly to plan and she just looked like a strange person.

In the end, Haruka somehow ended up freeloading at their place and spending a normal life with them. It was something which she wouldn’t have experienced in the demon world, so she thought that it would be nice to be like this forever. However, Sana confessed to her one day and she realized her feelings towards them. She had never fallen in love before, so she was at a loss at what to do. It was a strange love triangle, but the days that they spend together are ones of happiness.

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Cute girls everywhere! It’s probably not very long, so it might be fun to play through for a day or two. I’m hoping that it’s extremely diabetic-inducing sugary sweet. They all look so adorable, especially Sana! Why does it seem like almost all Sana’s are dangerously cute? Hau~ omochikaeri~!

Makes no sense at all, in any area of the game, it’s yuri, and the characters are about as entertaining and original as your average weeaboo’s opinions. Three strikes, this game is out, there is not enough fire in hell to get rid of it fast enough for me, pass.

Reminiscence Re:Collect

Reminiscence_ReCollect

Company: てぃ~ぐる (Tigre)
Game site: レミニセンス Re:Collect
Release date: June 27, 2014
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from May. This is the sequel and ending to Reminiscence. The main story is focused on new heroine Suzuka, and subcharas Kazuha and Ren. Of course, there are also after stories for the 5 heroines from the previous game, Kizuna, Aki, Axela, Rin and Nozomi.

It’s been 2 years since Hidetaka became a special duty official. The others have gone their own ways since graduation. A big change has come for Hope Town and Dream Town with the discovery of a new city Yamato. They wished to maintain peace via diplomacy, but Yamato sent a one-sided demand for them to hand over all their technology. They were especially interested in the Kurayashiki name and requested Kazuha be sent to them. If their conditions were not met, then they would attack both cities with full force. The special duty officials from Hope and Dream devoted themselves to tense negotiations to avoid such an outcome.

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Since this is the sequel, I wonder if Aki will love her nii-san…

Since this is the sequel, I don’t actually have to write anything… do I?

Ore ga Yamata no Orochi Nara

Ore_ga_Yamata_no_Orochi_Nara

Company: ソフトハウスSORA (Softhouse SORA)
Game site: 俺がヤマタノオロチなら
Release date: June 27, 2014
Comments:
This is the first title by Softhouse SORA. Shouta lives in the beautiful and peaceful port town of Suga-chou with his osananajimi Mai. He enjoys his days together with Mai, her best friend Yuzuno, his classmate Sayuri, respected senpai Yukiho, and best buddy Shingo. However, they were caught up in an unexpected event one summer vacation. He felt like that ‘someone’ within him was about to awaken, and he turned into Yamata no Orochi.

Yamata no Orochi is the legendary 8-headed and 8-tailed dragon which was slain by the Shinto storm-god Susanoo. There’s no recognizable names among the staff. Neither the plot nor the artwork interest me. Pass.

I can’t really see much value to this unless someone who’s only knowledge about Japanese mythology comes from anime sees it and thinks “Wow I know the name Yamata no Orochi!” and thus finds this as reasonable justification for it automatically being good, good at fueling elitism over ignorance at least. There are so many better ways to have gone about this story, but honestly it doesn’t feel like story was any sort of focus here beyond an excuse to throw in some H scenes. When a game has so little work put into it, it is hard to take it seriously. I can only say try harder next time, and maybe I’ll care enough to bother.

I ended up playing a bit of the trial and it’s pretty much a mess. The system is primitive with many standard options missing, and the SE are horrendous. The plot was barely touched on and we just got a bunch of H scenes. It’s probably not worth anyone’s time.

Now I have a reason, and want to play it.

You just HAVE to be difficult, don’t you? :(

I thought that was in my job description here…? I MUST be difficult, or else I get fired. :(

Kagami no Kuni no Ohime-sama ga Gakuen Seikatsu to Koi o Hajimemashita

Kagami_no_Kuni_no_Ohimesama_ga_Gakuen_Seikatsu_to_Koi_o_Hajimemashita

Company: Felicia
Game site: 鏡の国のお姫様が学園生活と恋を始めました
Release date: June 27, 2014
Comments:
At the end of summer vacation, Takuma snuck into Hinoura Gakuen at night with his osananajimis Iku and Masato, and best friend Reiko. They planned to investigate one of the school’s seven mysteries about a ‘disappearing shadow’ and also do a courage test at the same time. Reaching the large mirror which was the source of the rumours, they deemed that it was just a normal mirror and there was nothing strange about it. However, when Takuma touched the mirror, he was sucked inside it.

When he came to, he found himself in an unfamiliar place with an unknown girl knocked down in front of him. She was the princess of the Aquaknight Kingdom, Sara. She had wished to go to Takuma’s world, on the other side of the mirror. He sympathized with her having her future pre-determined by others since he had also experienced this in his past. After that, she came to live at his home since he had a strong desire to help her out after seeing her crying and vowing to be able live by herself.

Is the grass really greener on the other side? Living by yourself isn’t as simple as it looks, oh sheltered princess. I’d be hesitant to take in one but luckily Takuma is a kind-hearted protagonist. Now if she was a bit younger and a bit smaller in the chest department, I might reconsider.

School mysteries are a pretty standard theme, and in this case function as the excuse to get into some princess panties. With a bunch of already met with friendly relationships to the protagonist heroines, the writing amounts to throwing a bunch of already caught fish onto the lap of our stereotypical protagonist. Most likely things will have a standard common route appealing through comedy, then the princess route will be about a combination of homesickness and problems with the affairs in her home. At best one could hope for a choice on which side to live and thus altering the ending, at worst it won’t even be an issue. Every other heroine will have their token standard routes, with the potential for some emphasis on different circumstances of parting with princess panty. If such a bland game appeals to you, or you absolutely must get into this princesses panties for some reason, rejoice, this is, well it is a game at least, maybe not the best nor the worst, but it does exist and I suppose that has to mean something.

Koi DOKi

Koi_DOKi

Company: エトワルズ (Etoiles)
Game site: 恋DOKi
Release date: June 27, 2014
Comments:
Yuzuru is like any male student: he wants to be popular and do it with a girl. He talks about ero with his classmates and has ecchi fantasies when he looks at cute girls. He chooses his wardrobe carefully and reads ero books and watches AVs to prepare for the moment when it appears. Even though he’s been marked as a troublemaker by the public moral committee’s Suzuka, it’s still an enjoyable school life to him. He doesn’t feel lonely at home while his parents are away overseas since his imouto Kokoro is always there to greet him with a smile.

One day, he helped a girl who claimed to have come from the future, Miku. She gave him a ring and told him to wear it if he wanted to become popular. Indeed, his life changed upon wearing it, with all girls in the school falling for him, including Suzuka who had considered him as an enemy.

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The story seems like something straight out of a harem LN and feels a bit like Moteyaba. There’s shades of With Ribbon since Miku came from the future to correct the past. Due to an incident, he had become unable to have sex with girls, so she came to make him popular. I have no problems with the characters nor their seiyuus. Kokoro is my sweet angel! She stays up to welcome him home, got better at cooking for his sake, doesn’t mind him doing her laundry, cleans up his room and organizes his ero books when she finds them. What a wonderful imouto! Hau~ omochikaeri~!

His MTK (moteki, popularity period) has arrived, but will he able to break free from the IDN (isshou doutei no noroi, curse of being a virgin for life)? One shouldn’t expect too much from the plot, but it’s probably sufficient for a few laughs.

Deus ex machina magnet ring from a future cereal box solves all problems apparently. One wonders why it was necessary to have the future elements in the story, when it could just as easily have been some ring from a fertility god or something that he found while, I dunno, skipping class, or if you wanted a bit of humor have him get hit by a car, go flying off the road and hit an old abandoned shrine where it drops from or something. Would have given much the same effect without having to involve a deliberate manifestation of will upon the story to direct the outcome in the shape of Miku. Would also allow for a more progressive comedy in the beginning, as well as a better segway into the inevitable ethical choice of whether to wear the ring or not. Instead we get a game that wears its lack of interest in its own story proudly, so one should not expect much development from the story nor characters.

Maybe Miku’s his daughter or something? It’s been mentioned that they do look similar (as far as genetics in eroge goes).

Wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case, but still not only has it been done, but is entirely unnecessary and awkward for the story.

Koi ga Saku Koro Sakura doki

Koi_ga_Saku_Koro_Sakura_Doki

Company: ぱれっと
Game site: 恋がさくころ桜どき
Release date: June 27, 2014
Comments:
Spring is the flowering season, the season of the cherry blossoms. It is the time for first meetings and partings, when the buds start sprouting.

Yuuma is a second-year student at Mihaya Gakuen who listens to love problems from girls at the school and gives them thoughtful advice. This has made him quite popular and loved, resulting in a 21,000 yen (taxes included) ‘love bounty’ placed on him. The girls came to him with problems ranging from jealousy to infidelity. Having heard about so many troubles related to love, Yuuma lost any desire he had for it.

One day, a mysterious girl appeared before him. She had never been in love, but she believed that it was a wonderful thing. She asked him if he would like to be in love, and that as a love fairy, she will help his love come true.

A girl who cannot fall in love. A boy who has no interest in love. If they end up falling in love with each other, how will the world change?

Koi_ga_Saku_Koro_Sakura_Doki_CG2Koi_ga_Saku_Koro_Sakura_Doki_CG3Koi_ga_Saku_Koro_Sakura_Doki_CG4

I’ll be honest here: I’ll be playing Sakusaku since Izumi Tsubasu’s art is absolutely pretty to look at. Also the characters are well-designed and so cute! And it’s a love story with a love fairy! And there’s sakura too! I’ve been waiting for a title similar to Mashifoni, which is one of my favourite titles with all its soothing and heartbreaking moments. Yes, there’s a bit of doubt regarding the mysterious writer Minase Mirai (which appears to be a pseudonym), but I can’t help but consider this a must-play. Nothing like a pure romance story to warm me up this spring!

Tina is the self-proclaimed love fairy who ends up crashing at his place. She’s definitely small and fairy-like, and her special skills are ‘sleeping together’, ‘eating together’, ‘going out while holding hands’, and other amazing skills. She also has a familiar Kotarou who could rival Pannya. No, she’s not getting a route (I think), but you know who will be? That’s right, his cool twin-tailed imouto Konami! Just like Mashifoni‘s Sakuno, she is onii-chan’s ‘air’. She’s able to read his thoughts and yet hadn’t viewed him as more than an older brother. This means that she’s absolutely fine with seeing him naked, or being seen in her underwear. So innocent and pure. Hau~ omochikaeri~!

I spent a long time debating whether to get the Tina fleece blanket or the Konami tapestry, and the imouto won out in the end (naturally). Tina in cow pajamas is very cute though >w<b

So random nice guy who must look really flamboyant to always be invited to the girls slumber parties and involved in their talks over hunky boys. Good start Mr. Protagonist, at least its a new take on being kind I suppose. The rest of it suffers from what has fast become the standard method of head on collision for eroge characters, just force the plot as well as setting revolve around pushing them together and sticking them together. The problem with this is that all the growth and development for the characters is now limited by what outlandish method has been used to stick their inner velcro together. For example here, the dumb bug becomes the driving force behind the characters development, while the background involvement of the protagonist as the emotionless robot counselor acts as the primary wall. All of these are built into the story from the beginning and not part of character growth and development, they are not something we explore and find out as we go, they are both elements that drive the entire story from the start. What remains then is completely standard eroge, well written or not the game won’t be able to reach the same level of attachment to characters nor enthrallment of readers who are interested in the telling of their stories. As a result of the main problem being “How do we push and hold all the characters together as an excuse for our protagonist to choose which H scenes he wants from his herd of females?” instead of “How can we make this game good?’ turns the entire system into what essentially amounts to a glorified nukige. Sure there may be more text, but the essence of what actually matters is the same. Maybe it is because I started playing the eroge that established everything we see today, thus the loss of quality feels much more pronounced than had I only started recently, but I really wish they cared about their games beyond pimping them at the corner for ninety bucks or so.

Micchi’s Top 3 for This Month

  1. Koi ga Saku Koro Sakura doki
  2. Re;Lord ~Helford no Majo to Nuigurumi~
  3. Lilium×Triangle

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

  1. Semiramis no Tenbin
  2. [ Reserved for an actual eroge ]
  3. [ Reserved for an actual eroge ]

I’m loving this summer lineup so far!

You would, lolipedofin commander.

Entry filed under: Monthly Releases. Tags: , , , .

Happy Birthday Sana!!!!! We’re Still in Danger

25 Comments Add your own

  • 1. johnishida  |  June 11, 2014 at 2:41 am

    With Astralair delayed, Reminscence and Koi ga Saku Koro Sakura doki are the only titles left for me this month.

    Also playing SakuSaku for Izumi Tsubasu art. Beside that, hoping Tina does get a route. She’s the character that calls my attention the most from the game and I just know my motivation to play it will drop quickly if she is not a main heroine. Please Palette, don’t disappoint me.

    Reply
  • 2. meru  |  June 11, 2014 at 7:21 am

    I can’t wait for SakuSaku! Already pre-ordered my copy~

    Reply
    • 3. Micchi  |  June 11, 2014 at 4:11 pm

      Which tokuten are you getting?

      Reply
      • 4. meru  |  June 11, 2014 at 9:14 pm

        Sofmap :3

        Reply
  • 5. song listener  |  June 11, 2014 at 7:43 am

    what is the real release date for Koi ga Saku Koro Sakura doki? as april as already been pasted

    Reply
    • 6. meru  |  June 11, 2014 at 7:46 am

      June 27, so long as it doesn’t get pushed back any further.

      Reply
      • 7. Micchi  |  June 11, 2014 at 8:13 am

        Ah sorry about that, it was originally scheduled for April before being delayed to June. I had previously written it and moved it to the delayed games repository, but forgot to change the date when I moved it to this post. It’s fixed now.

        Don’t worry, Palette announced master up a few days ago, so it should come out on the 27th.

        Reply
  • 8. feyrisnyan  |  June 11, 2014 at 7:52 am

    Atleast Harvest OverRay isnt bad like that of the Kiss titles and has something to offer me lol Re:Lord is a must if its the writer of Furuiro

    Reply
  • 9. Scrub  |  June 11, 2014 at 10:54 am

    Aside from a couple lolige, it just looks like another backlog month for me. Should probably get started on Reminiscence one of these days since it seems to be fairly well-received.

    Really looking forward to Fraternite, AstralAir, Shinsei Mokushiroku, and Make Me Lover next month.

    Reply
  • 10. joyjason  |  June 11, 2014 at 11:13 pm

    Thanks for the list!

    I was just laughing at Zen’s posts regarding pedophilia, and even as a lolicon like myself, these games are pretty disgusting.

    Picking up Re;Lord for the gameplay/nukige needs
    Semiramis Tenbin looks interesting as well.

    …and suddenly at the top of my priority list is KoiSaku.
    I am seriously determined to finish that in a week or less after it’s released.

    The others…. nah

    Reply
  • 11. akerou  |  June 13, 2014 at 10:08 am

    Tina route confirmed ;p https://twitter.com/info_palette/status/477435218756780032/photo/1

    Reply
    • 12. Micchi  |  June 13, 2014 at 4:09 pm

      Loving the love fairy!

      Reply
  • 13. Will  |  June 13, 2014 at 10:32 am

    Finished reading and looks like there are many eroge that looks bad that released in this month.

    LOL at Zen said “Games like these should come with a built in program that automatically alerts the authorities upon install, thus allowing apprehension and subsequent castration of the offending criminal” 3 times.

    Btw, This is my final decision for this month.

    Definitely Playing:
    – Reminiscence Re:Collect

    Probably Playing:
    – Koi ga Saku Koro Sakura doki

    Backlog:
    – Re;Lord ~Helford no Majo to Nuigurumi~
    – Out Vegetables

    Others……….No thanks

    Reply
  • 14. Will  |  June 13, 2014 at 11:21 am

    btw, I’m wondering if Zen play the trial too or not since he ranted like that?

    Reply
    • 15. Micchi  |  June 13, 2014 at 4:09 pm

      He generally doesn’t play trials since he finds them a waste of time.

      Reply
      • 16. Will  |  June 14, 2014 at 8:36 am

        I see. btw, please tell Zen that I need his guidance so I can make amazing rant like him (Since sometimes I want to rant too).

        Reply
  • […] June 2014 Eroge Releases […]

    Reply
  • 18. Kien  |  June 19, 2014 at 5:11 am

    I think the main problem with the current stream of mediocrity and poor quality of visual novels(ie. generic, uninteresting high school drama, character archetypes, etc.) lies with the script and scenario writers. In nearly every VN I have seen in the past few months, I have yet to come across one that is visually or musically unappealing, but oh man those script writings…
    In all honesty, just what the hell were these people thinking when they approved of the story? I feel like the writers were drunk and on SOME kind of high before spending all nighters coming up with a story that they “thought” would be appropriate.
    I mean, isn’t half of the genre name made up of the word “novel”? Did that somehow get overlooked, or am I overthinking things? Even worse is when they try to add some kind of plot device in order to make their work unique. Often times this device is of such poor conception and construction that not only is it inconsistent with society and the world as it is, but also becomes a fulcrum for “justifying” the choices the protagonist makes, which in turn somehow manages to get the main females of the game to make unrealistic choices(aka sex in the classroom).
    I admit that I am actually new to the VN scene(3 months old), but I can already say that I find myself looking at backlogs for good VNs more often than new releases. And when I do look at some logs, I find some eroge that are more “novel” than “visual”. And its glorious. VNs such as Demonbane, Dengeki Stryker, and 11 Eyes were all fantastic in my humble opinion.
    But….despite all that ranting, I do believe I understand why this is what it is. At the end of the day, Visual Novels are more or less marketed more as “eroge”, than VNs. Remember that most visual novels were designed by Japanese people FOR Japanese people, mainly sexual fetishes and desires. And Japanese are notorious for being isolationists and closed-minded, even to this day. There must be a strong demand for visual novels containing certain sexual fetishes for different groups, and as such, these companies focus more on pumping out more content oriented around “How can I justify putting more ero scenes into this?” rather than, “What story would be more appealing to the audience?” I have a feeling that the otaku culture over in Japan is totally satisfied with a majority of visual novels that are eroge, while only a minority actually appreciates a decent story. Thus, the trend of eroge more focused on the female charters and the ero scenes, rather than the product as a whole becomes apparent.
    But I want to know what other people think, especially if I’m totally off the mark and about to get flamed by ragers. So feel free to criticize me for my hypothesis, I really do want to know what other think.

    Reply
    • 19. Kien  |  June 19, 2014 at 5:25 am

      Or If you are too lazy to read my mountain of text(looking at you Zen-Senpai), then just think about this.
      Why do you think a majority of Visual novel producers keep producing the same generic content with obvious focus on the ero as opposed to the story? Are they generating enough revenue to actually justify the wanton and half-assed marketing of scenarios we have seen dozens of times in anime and otaku culture?

      And lastly a question for Zen and Micchi(or anyone else to be honest).
      If you were able to pick 3 VN companies and have them work together on a single, epic visual novel project, gambling on the possibility of a miracle game(as well as ignoring business/marketing issues) who would you choose?

      My picks are:
      1)Nitroplus+
      2)light
      3)Lass….or..well its a toss up between that and Aquaplus

      Reply
      • 20. Zen  |  July 24, 2014 at 3:05 am

        Sorry for not seeing this sooner, after a few days I have a tendency to not check the comments again. Bad habit, but it is kind of rare for comments which I should respond to pop up later than that.

        As far as the problem with eroge and VNs in general, I have written this in the past but I can’t remember which month I commented about that so I will restate my opinions here.

        The Issue is not so much that any one group or person is to blame in the industry itself. Or rather not the established companies, but instead the problem lies with new companies trying to break out while copying past success and not looking to change the market.

        To address the first part as to why it is not the established names who are at fault per se, is because they have already achieved a level of success where risks become harder to take as an established name and the problem becomes maintaining the status quo of your brand name. Looking at this in the form of the usual pattern ignoring rare outliers, most companies that are big names now started with a hit game that puts them on the map, a second game that improves upon what made the first game good and solidifies their place, then everything is downhill after that. Why? Mostly because you have to deal with being a company, and instead of being a small group doing things simply because you want to create something that you would want to play, its about making enough money to pay your bills. What it amounts to is that safety is paramount over risk, high risk, high reward is a difficult approach to take once your company is established, so choosing to err on the side of caution is the reasonable approach. When making a game it is easier to place emphasis on the visual impact and popular character designs using a proven story than risk something people may not like as much.

        So then onto the real problem, new companies. For things to change what needs to happen is that the new companies need to realize that the two tasks they must achieve go hand in hand. The first being to make a good game, and the second to use that game to establish their good name within the market. Therein lies the problem, even if you make a good, but standard game, your name wont mean anything special as it is not memorable. Furthermore the second game that banks on the success on the first won’t have the same level of funding as had the first game been something unique. The result tends to be most new companies being forgotten amidst the pile of generic reused garbage. In turn there is no new example for the older companies to see “Hey this works, we can do this too now!”, or even just give them competition. In the end provided the same game from a known source or an unknown which would you spend your money on? This is also down to marketing, there is no way for a new company to market a game as completely as an established company can, so without a standout hit they will never be able to compete if they simply make the same games the older companies do. I don’t think the problem lies with Japan or the Japanese mentality, simply the conflict of business interfering with an artistic medium, and is something that happens regardless of the medium. Similar trends can be seen in anime, manga, movies, video games, books, etc.

        The way I see it, the solution is simple, new companies need to innovate the same way the now established names did when they first started out. We don’t need new CG styles, animated gimmicks, or cheesy plot devices masquerading as innovation. Instead we just need the people who decide to make a new company to do things for their love of telling a good story, and give us something new, or at the very least something old but actually well done, so we can see they care about it. I don’t think the games are so much about the ero, as it is easier to focus on that than good story and character development. This is where the new companies need to shine to provide proper competition and evolution to the market, instead of the current stagnation. It is fine to offer unique elements, there have been plenty of those lately, and they are generally a good way to stand out in some way that will make people consider the game. However these new companies need to temper that with a strong emphasis on writing, story, and character development as the big names had in the past in order to truly be memorable titles that earn them a place in the industry. At the same time each new hit will cause existing companies to reevaluate their own games and present more options for each new title.

        Putting three companies together isn’t something I would be very good at though, I don’t pay a lot of attention to companies or even the individuals who make the games most of the time. I simply care about each individual game as the piece of content it is. That said, currently I cannot think of anyone in the industry I have enough respect for to really want them to make something. The few times I had individuals or companies I was watching with even a tiny bit of hope I only ended up disappointed. At this point I feel dislike towards every existing company as they have all fallen into quantity over quality.

        If however there was a time machine to turn the industry back ten years I think a collaboration between Type Moon, Nitro+, and Key would be interesting. Let Type Moon do all the setting and general plot, and basic character designs, Key to make the character development and route progression, while Nitro+ works with the others to make it all a little bit darker.

        Of course all three of those companies suck now, so it would be meaningless to me if it took place nowadays.

        Reply
        • 21. sapi  |  July 24, 2014 at 1:09 pm

          i see good premises from ur argument, but even usain bolt can’t always break his previous record, i do agree some of the big company just playing safe instead of try something out of the box but i believe some of them have tried their best to bring something good although they can return to the top

        • 22. Zen  |  July 24, 2014 at 6:47 pm

          To Clarify it is not as though every game needs to one up the previous game. The problem surpasses things like setting and design, instead the main issue is effort. What I mean by that is how much thought has been put into making the various elements and themes work together as a cohesive unit. To put it another way, even the most generic character based game will improve when proper effort is expended to flesh out the characters, the setting, and their motivations. Rather than simply copy pasting what worked previously, going the extra mile to bring the two dimensional characters closer to feeling three dimensional is what makes them memorable. This is why older games still sell merchandise and newer games are promptly forgotten.

          As a supplementary note to this, another issue is in the routes and their structure. Primary heroines are a detriment to the story, as are long common routes. Primary heroines leave all other options feeling as though they are just extra baggage to claim there is more than one option. On the other hand a long common route makes the various individual routes feel shallow.

          The point of all this is that games don’t need to be amazing to be good, some of the best games that I have played were enjoyable for the simplest of reasons. It is not the gimmicks or the flashy hype, silly comedy or any of that. What every game comes down to is how well the reader is able to feel for, identify with, and feel a bond with the characters. To make that work the subtle details are important, all the way back to the start and how the characters come together can set the tone for the rest of the game. When arbitrarily welded together at the hip by the setting right away there is a subtle bad taste left by such choices that amounts to small bits of doubt lingering to color the rest of the game and choices after that. Simply by creating an organic feeling environment in line with the setting, and spending time giving your characters more personality than “Tsundere younger sister number 15873526 says “Onii-chan no baka!” every chance she gets”. There is no need to go out of the way to make a game especially unique if it is not going to be good, however it does help a new company to add some sort of gimmick for their first game, but that should never trump making the game itself good from the basic foundation.

    • 23. Touch the rainbow  |  July 25, 2014 at 8:32 pm

      I think what sells not necessarily is good , i for one like shy charas and would read the vn even if is mediocre

      Reply
      • 24. Zen  |  July 31, 2014 at 8:22 pm

        That is my point though. When things sell, especially over extended periods of time it shows that there is lasting appeal, something developed carefully during the course of a story.

        For example if you like shy characters, a well written and painstakingly developed shy character will resonate more and leave a lasting impression. Compared to the generic character which may have some appeal while reading, yet fades away quickly once the game is finished. Even if you like the archetype of a shy character they won’t all be equal. This brings me back to the point, I would rather have one good character that embodies all the traits i prefer, instead of a mass pool of mediocrity where they are all the same. It may be personal preference, but what I like about certain traits is their interaction with the setting and other characters as well as their development, not simply that they are all a carbon copy of a trait I find appealing.

        Reply
  • 25. Anon  |  June 25, 2014 at 3:32 pm

    >Games like these should come with a built in program that automatically alerts the authorities upon install, thus allowing apprehension and subsequent castration of the offending criminal.

    Is this sarcasm or not, I cant tell, it better be, lolige is the best stuff ever made.

    Reply

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I'm no longer making any eroge posts nor actively updating the upcoming releases. Thanks for following the blog through all these years and hope that it has been helpful. Please continue to support the eroge industry and love your imoutos!

Micchi

Upcoming releases

Last updated: 02/06