February 2015 Eroge Releases

Everyone knows about shooting stars and tanzaku, but did you know that mirrors and loli whales also grant wishes? There’s not too many titles this month, but there’s some chara-ge with varying levels of plot included. MintCUBE’s Ama Koi Syrups, Whirlpool’s Kujiragami no Tearstilla and YuzuSoft’s Sonuva*itch Sanoba Witch should tide you over until March. minori’s Soreyori no Prologue promises to be a good title as well.

For such a small month I am surprisingly hopeful for the games being released. Though my embittered hatred of the continued monotony the entire industry is suffering continues, sigh. Still there is enough here to give me some hope, and maybe nudge others ever so slightly to stop copy pasting the same games over and over again. After all there isn’t much point when a game feels as though the writing and story are just there as a conduit for H scenes.

Ama Koi Syrups ~Hajirau Koigokoro Shitakunaru Amagami-sama no Koi Matsuri~

Company: MintCUBE
Game site: あま恋シロップス ～恥じらう恋心でシたくなる甘神様の恋祭り～
Release date: February 27, 2015
Comments:
This is the first game by MintCUBE, a sister company of CUBE which focuses on cute ero. Sachikazu lives in Hoshikago-machi which holds a festival called Hoshiai (Meeting of the Stars) every Tanabata. One early summer day, he went with his osananajimi Tsuyuri to a small shrine on the rocky shore to make an offering of handmade sweets. There they met the strange round being Manjuu-sama. After being embraced by it, Tsuyuri’s face turned increasingly red and her breathing became heavier. He was about to help her, but was instead pushed down. It looked like she was sexually excited. She turned back to normal after he sprayed his semen on her. Then, a girl in a miko outfit, Hozumi, appeared before them and proclaimed that since Manjuu-sama had awakened, she will help make sure the “Thanks of the Hoshiai” is performed accordingly.

The only way to combat the sexual urges that are caused by Manjuu-sama’s mysterious ability is his semen! With his imouto Rin and English transfer student Anastesia also dragged in, the festival of love has begun!

Feels like an even more ecchi Kurafuta without twins. I like Pan’s art, but I’m not feeling drawn to it as much I was to Kurafuta. It’s possibly since the plot pretty much marks this as a total nukige. There were many times in the trial where ecchi/H scenes were thrown in just because. That being said, all the chars (especially Tsuyuri and Rin) are very cute, particularly in the waitress uniforms. Rin has a ‘warphole’ to oniichan’s room, called the ‘oniho’. Manjuu-sama is like a Pannya wannabe, but her true form is…!!

I don’t see why they need a second company when this basically amounts to the direction they were taking their main brand anyway. A shame Cube was a company I had high hopes for once upon a time. Many bad games later I cannot see either the main nor sister company creating something worth reading.

Sakura Synchronicity

Company: WHITESOFT
Game site: さくらシンクロニシティ
Release date: February 27, 2015
Comments:
It was April and the first year for Haruka and his imouto Rise at Sotoorihime Gakuen, which is surrounded by beautiful cherry blossoms. First meetings with new friends awaited them, as well as reunions with childhood friends. And, as if it was waiting for this exact moment to come, the synchronicity of love begins.

This is a story where all the heroines love the protagonist at the same time with mutual affection. According to Wikipedia-sensei, synchronicity is “the occurrence of two or more events that appear to be meaningfully related but not causally related”, in other words, a sequence of meaningful coincidences. WHITESOFT loves delving into philosophical themes, so this is right up their alley. And that usually means it’s not up mine.

I cannot be the only person who thinks pinky looks utterly insane in that picture above… Creepy heroine stares aside though I do have some hope for this game, albeit not a lot. The Idea is sound, it is just that the writing will determine whether the game is a diamond or dung. Which lets face it, stacks the odds against the game as writing has not been the strong point of eroge in quite some time. Kudos for being ambitious though.

Boku no Hitori Sensou

Company: あかべぇそふとつぅ (AkabeiSoft2)
Game site: ぼくの一人戦争
Release date: February 27, 2015
Comments:
The world that Eiji knew changed completely one calm spring day. The school which he attended was attacked by evil enemies which cannot be seen. The students all took up arms to protect the things which they treasured the most. It was a battle which would not end until there was only one left standing.

This is a drama about how fate plays around with Eiji and his girlfriend Rumi, although I find these types of stories quite forced since they’re pitting a group of people against themselves usually under the guise of a ‘game’. I’m also not fond of the vertical text since it covers up the art and is generally hard to read. The first trial wasn’t badly written, but it was boring and the characters held no appeal. Pass.

This reminds me of the worst part of Kanon, the completely random nonsensical invisible monster fighting that was the main story of the one heroine uhh Mai? I expect it to be about as well written as when Key makes the attempt at anything beyond romantic drama.

Oh god, I hated Mai’s route.

I liked the character but I hated her route and entire backstory just as much, it was so bad in every way.

Kamitsure ~7 no Nijou Fushigi~

Company: りぶる (Libre)
Game site: カミツレ ～7の二乗不思議～
Release date: February 27, 2015
Comments:
Mutsuki is very much a girl. However, she knew ever since she was a child that a ‘boy’ existed inside of her. Sometimes he would appear to help her, sometimes to trouble her. Her parents soon divorced because of this and she was separated from her dear twin imouto Nanami.

The years passed and there was a new transfer student to Mutsuki’s all girls school at the end of the summer vacation of her first year. It was her long-separated twin imouto Nanami. However, her personality had changed from doting to cool. Mutsuki was worried that Nanami would become outcasted in the class, but she was particularly cold to her.

She heard from her roommate about one of the school’s seven mysteries, the large mirror in the concert hall. She went there and asked the mirror what she should do. At that moment, she was swallowed up by an ‘alternate time’, then reappeared in front of the mirror. There was a bright light and she heard a voice say to her: “I will grant your wish”.

When she came to, she was in her own room. Was it a dream or was it real? She was holding a small mirror in her hand. From that moment on, the relationships between Mutsuki and Nanami, as well as with the girls around them, began to change greatly.

I don’t get the part about the boy inside her. It’s basically just a yuri-ge, so it’s not like there’s any guys around. They’ve been changing their synopsis over the past few months, so maybe it’ll end up being cut in the final version. Either way, it’s a yuri-ge and no guy doesn’t like yuri. Especially one that is full of cuties. Mirror, mirror, on the wall. Tell me who’s the lewdest of them all.

I don’t like yuri.

But you like traps, right?

I like pushing younger siblings into bear traps?

Kishi×Kano

Company: ぷちうさ (Puchi Usa)
Game site: キシ×カノ
Release date: February 27, 2015
Comments:
This is the first title by Puchi Usa. Souichi attends a knight training school which was founded in a coastal city which was rebuilt with the support of many foreign nations. He trains hard every day to achieve his goal of becoming the victor of the large-scale friendly competition “knight festival” and earn the title of “honour knight”. One day, it was announced that there’ll be a new duo format at the festival. Soon after, many girls who had feelings for him began appealing to be his partner, both in training and in love.

What’s with eroge writers loving knights? I’d rather them do sports or something else, but maybe that’s not fancy or doesn’t have enough prestige. Art is so-so, plot is so-so, oppai is covered by a sword. That doesn’t leave a memorable first impression for me from a new company.

Koikishi with more boobs. Like Micchi, I really hate these games, the knight themes are painful to read. Please eroge companies, I beseech you to at least match the setting to your theme if you want to write these games. Throwing random concepts, like knights and trying to fit that into a modern high school setting usually through sports is beyond unappealing and silly, it is blatantly moronic and insulting.

I’d be happy with any sport instead, except ‘water sports’.

And here I thought with your preference for little sisters those would be your specialty..?

NO!

A shame, seeing as how most of those imouto creatures you have a hankering for seem to enjoy that sport. I figured you would want to bond with them over a shared interest.

They don’t enjoy it! I don’t enjoy it! It’s a shared DIS-interest!

PV

Sanoba Witch

Company: ゆずソフト (YuzuSoft)
Game site: サノバウィッチ
Release date: February 27, 2015
Comments:
Shuuji has a secret: he is able to perceive the feelings of others. His classmate Nene also has a secret which she cannot tell anyone: she involuntarily gets sexually excited. One day, he accidentally came upon her masturbating and since they both knew each other’s secrets, they soon became close friends. He then found out that her condition is a by-product of her witch’s contract.

Nene’s secret activities as a witch also pull in kouhai Meguru, senpai Touko and transfer student Tsumugi. The peaceful days become quite hurried and Shuuji has a slight feeling that something is about to begin.

What a convenient, I mean, inconvenient ability! It’s up to me to help Nene with her problem! To be honest, I haven’t really played many YuzuSoft games lately as their characters haven’t really endeared themselves to me. It’s same with this cast, from which I don’t really have a clear favourite. Meguru’s personality appeals to me, and so does Tsumugi’s witch outfit, but neither grabs my heart like an imouto does. That said, I’ll probably still end up playing it just to see how it is. Just please not another route like Airi’s in Amairo. Ughhhhhh…

Yuzusoft gets worse with each and every game they make, as odd as it may sound coming from me, Yuzusoft much like Key, need to go back to standard high school romance games, all the extra rubbish only detracts from their games main selling points. Also my previous point for a similar game stands when it comes to Mr. Protagonist being able to understand others feelings cheapening the story. What’s more, the emphasis on ero with the whole random masturbation theme is just pointless and belongs in a nukige, not here. Unless of course Yuzusoft wants to shift to a nukige company. Still though a good charage needs characters worth their routes and I can’t help but feel they are rather weak this time around, better luck next game guys.

Silverio Vendetta

Company: light
Game site: シルヴァリオ ヴェンデッタ
Release date: February 27, 2015
Comments:
In the near future, fossil fuel deposits have dried up and nations scramble to secure the few resources which remained. It was at this time that Japan successfully discovered the previously unknown “Astral” particle was successfully discovered by Japan, which would solve all of the world’s energy problems. However, the other nations would not recognize Japan’s superiority and set out to take the new technology by force, sparking the Fifth World War.

The entire world descended into a fierce war, but no one realized what was the greatest danger to humankind. The malfunctioning of the new Astral nuclear power reactors caused a seismic space-time earthquake which wiped out Japan and most of eastern Eurasia. With the birth of the second sun, Amaterasu, came a drastic change in the world situation. It was impossible to maintain the current culture with a lack of electronic circuits, so the war ended without any victor, but only a deep scar.

It took a thousand years before humankind recovered from this catastrophe. Then another unprecedented calamity came to the capital of the military nation of Adler in former Western Europe. Blood and screams filled the burning streets as the city descended into bottomless despair. Two strange beings appeared to challenge the hero and test the fate of mankind.

Zephyr did not believe this fierce heroic battle suited him and decided to run away instead. He did not care about winning the battle; he just wished to live a normal life. For the only girl whom he had saved, he promised to turn his back on everything. This is not a story about heroes; it is a tale about those who have lost.

Play if you liked Dies irae. Chuuni just isn’t my cup of tea. I do appreciate the setting construction though, even if it means I need to write more.

I would like to know how a country with almost no natural resources was able to build a particle collider capable of finding some magical energy particle that the LHC could not. Even more how a country with no real military power could be a side in a fifth world war. But nitpicking details aside, why bother making a setting only to run away from it? The whole wanting to live a normal life shtick is getting old in general, even more so when you try to make a fantastical setting only for your protagonist to want none of it. While not my type of game even were it to look more promising, it would be nice to feel like effort was put into more than the CG sets in games nowadays.

Soreyori no Prologue

Company: minori
Game site: ソレヨリノ前奏詩
Release date: February 27, 2015
Comments:
Shuu is able to read the feelings of others. However, it only brings him pain, especially in places with many people, like a full train. One day, he noticed that he was not able to feel the emotions of a girl on the train, even when he focused his ability on her. Before he knew it, he was completely fixated on her and wanted to know more about her heart although he didn’t even know her name. He only knew that she was a student at his school.

One summer day, the girl went to the school’s roof instead of the classroom. He curiously followed her and when he reached the top, he was greeted by her cold gaze.

“There is a wall surrounding my heart. You cannot pass through it.”

I really like this story. I know it’s clichéd, but it has just the right mix of fantasy and romance. Combine that with minori’s usual presentation and music, and I’m sure this should do well. The trial was a pain to get, but I enjoyed almost all of it (aside from the ero). It focused on Towa and Shuu, ending with a new beginning. It’ll be interesting to see how Shuu’s character develops, as the story is not only about the heroines. Osananajimi Mayura also had some screentime, but kouhai Haruka didn’t appear. I wish they would have some smaller charas too (even if their personalities are fine), but after Supipara, they probably won’t be going back for a while. Bigger oppai is more ero in their eyes after all (I beg to differ).

What is with all the emotion voyeurs lately? I know it is an easy deus ex machina to abuse in tons of ways, but it sure feels like there was some summit between the makers of these games to all come together and decide on the next big gimmick. Though if they actually cared about more than trying to use a gimmick for their games they may have just made the protagonist a quiet and astute loner. If they had simply given him the feeling of understanding others perhaps at the cost of his sense of self they could have had something to write about and bond with both for the heroines as well as the reader themselves. Maybe in that situation have the heroine be someone similar and thus thanks to each other they are able to add color to their world of grey and blah de blah blah etc. Instead you have characters bound at the hip by unique circumstances written into the setting.

Akuma Musume no Kanban Ryouri

Company: ソフトハウスキャラ (SofthouseChara)
Game site: 悪魔娘の看板料理
Release date: February 27, 2015
Comments:
Located at the main crossroads, the town of Kaste is known for being a border town with monsters appearing nearby. Gin decides to start his second life by opening a shop in a corner of this town. However, things don’t go smoothly for a newcomer to the business: there’s problems with the locals, roaming monsters and brawling adventurers. Lucky for him, he has his trustworthy allies at his side! With their help (and troubles), will his shop become prosperous?

Another SLG from SofthouseChara, this time it’s an inn/shop management sim. I’m sure some of us have wondered how innkeepers in RPGs make a living off adventurers. Now it’s your turn as Townsperson A to make your mark! Capitalism, ho!

Interesting idea actually, especially with the constant bombardment of repeat games. Never really a fan of economics styled games but I may actually pick this up just for a change of pace. Whether good or bad at least it is something that isn’t mired in a cesspool of underachieving carbon copy mediocrity.

Kujiragami no Tearstilla

Company: Whirlpool
Game site: 鯨神のティアスティラ
Release date: February 27, 2015
Comments:
The water capital, Amanoshima Island, brings in many tourists with its network of canals. It became prosperous due to its ‘energy water’ industry which can be used for everything from consumption to energy, and a school was built to do further research on it. It is on this mysterious island that there is a folklore about a water god who can grant wishes.

One day, Yuuma drifted ashore in a suitcase. He met a young girl Riru, who was the kujiragami (whale god) in the legend. However, for some reason she had lost her ability to grant wishes. She asked for his help to regain her powers and thus, he became her messenger. This is the beginning of the story about the return of the legend of the water of wishes.

I feel like I’m gonna have a whale of a time with this one! As with Whirlpool’s chara-ges, I have no problems with their art nor seiyuus. The storytelling will probably end up like all their other games, so I’ll just focus on their characters. Bracon imouto? Check. Oneechan-like osananajimi? Check. Loli goddess? Check. Alright, let’s do this! Make me wishes come trueeeeeeeeeee~!!!!!（ﾉ￣▽￣)ﾉ

I feel that Whirlpool would do better if they were slightly more down to earth in their settings. Then their games would feel a little less randomized, as though they just threw a bunch of ideas in a hat, picked one out, and using whatever it was to make pretty much the same game they always do. But since they focus on making charage it may be much better to simply let the focus be entirely on them with minimal influence from the setting. Not to say they have to set it in ye ole Japanese high school every time, they can vary them as much as they like from fantasy to sci fi, just keep the random wishes and whales out of it in favor of making good characters with enjoyable routes to the backdrop of whatever pretty wallpaper they choose as their setting.

Bishoujo Mangekyou -Kami ga Tsukuritamouta Shoujotachi-

Company: ωstar
Game site: 美少女万華鏡 -神が造りたもうた少女たち-
Release date: February 27, 2015 Delayed to March 27, 2015
Comments:
This is the third chapter in ωstar’s Bishoujo Mangekyou series. The golden age of humans on Earth had long ended. Mad scientist Ryuunosuke lives alone in a tower located in a place like the end of the world. He seeks friends in this abandoned place and used magic-like science from ancient civilizations to create two maid robots, Alice and Dorothy, in his ideal forms.

I know you just want the Happoubi Jin ero.

Artwork is the only reason people play these games, so all else is irrelevant. The artist is probably the best if not one of the best working in the industry right now though, so even just as reference material it could be worth a look for anyone who enjoys that “Anime” style of art.

Mainichi ga Harem Sugite Ore wa Yome o Kimerarenai!

Company: PeasSoft
Game site: 毎日がハーレムすぎて王子（おれ）は姫（ヨメ）を決められないっ！
Release date: February 27, 2015
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from January. Chiaki is the son of the Tenmyouji family, which runs the the leading zaibatsu in Japan. At his birthday party, his parents decided that he’ll marry Nina, the daughter of a famous Italian opera singer and a Japanese world-renowned pianist. However, he rejected their matchmaking, stating that he can’t marry someone who he just met. They reluctantly accepted his opinion and came up with a new set of conditions.

1. He must attend Tsukimiya Gakuen, where there are many girls from high-class families, and search for a bride while studying.
2. He must conceal his social status and use a false name.
3. The girl that he chooses must be sexually assertive. (← since they want lots of grandchildren)

He agreed to their conditions since he can choose his own bride. There, he met four girls: the friendly and cheerful Ayano who is great at cooking but seems to have a secret, the proud and dictator-like Tamaki who sets strict school rules on a whim, the rich Misuzu who’s always on a high horse, but is actually quite an idiot, and the extremely ecchi Nina who followed him to Tsukimiya Gakuen even though he had turned her down. Along with his expressionless sharp-tongued maid Chloe and his meddling imouto/maid Rurika, he begins his search for a bride. However, it seems like they are all either quite sadistic or masochistic. Will he be able to safely make a choice?

Good on Chiaki for taking charge of his future, but alas his only choices are all eccentric ones. Is it because they are ojousamas that they develop differently from us normal folk? If I really had to choose one of them, I’d go with Ayano or Nina. I’m not a do-M!

Alright you want to make a game about an expensive private school for classy girls, fair enough. Protagonist does not want to have an arranged marriage, not just fair enough, kind of a necessity to even have a story. False names and concealing your status, sounds like a good idea to me. The condition of the girl being “Sexually assertive” basically throws the whole thing out the window and into the dumpster. What could have been a natural flow where the protagonist finds himself aquainted with some of the more eccentric girls of the school, perhaps due to his lack of status or whatever reason would have been fine. By adding in this single condition the entire process is setup to be cheapened. Why is that? It’s simple, the entire plot is forced to go into a direction rather than letting it happen. From the perspective of writing it is the difference between taking the time to write out a steady and seamless progression of showing without telling, and slapping together an amorphous mass of telling without showing. Lets be honest, it is not as though we have a choice outside of the few heroines the game gives us, and H scenes are assumed in an eroge. So why would you need to openly force the heroine’s sexuality into the process. It speaks to poor writing and design. A little spice is nice, but too much is poison.

I think that condition was added to appease all those do-M and do-S folks out there. It’s true though that a good eroge shouldn’t have to force extremes to be interesting.

I agree that it is probably for a certain crowd, but the problem is that you could just as easily introduce the characters in say, the demo and hint at their characteristics without spelling it out. Gives the game an air of mystery and a sense of “Wow I want to know how things develop so I must play!” instead of having it all forcibly spelled out, and in this case set in stone as the rules of the universe.

Micchi’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Kujiragami no Tear Stilla
2. Soreyori no Prologue
3. Ama Koi Syrups ~Hajirau Koigokoro Shitakunaru Amagami-sama no Koi Matsuri~

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Akuma Musume no Kanban Ryouri
2. Sakura Synchronicity
3. Bishoujo Mangekyou -Kami ga Tsukuritamouta Shoujotachi-

I’m gonna regret playing the Whirlpool game, am I?

Yes. And on that note I actually found 3 games in a month with ten or so games to choose from and yet there is zero overlap between us, go figure.