April 2015 Eroge Releases

Did you know that it’s been almost 9 years since D.C.II came out? Well, CIRCUS is going back to its best title to provide a canon link between the second and third games, D.C.II Dearest Marriage. BaseSon’s Koihime series also makes a comeback with the first chapter of the retelling Shin Koihime†Eiyuutan. On the RPG front, there’s titles from the usual suspects: ALICESOFT’s Evenicle and Eushully’s Kami no Rhapsody. For something that doesn’t turn back the clock, Purple Software’s Chrono Clock promises to be a good read.

So, April fools joke this year is, that there is no April fools joke, ha, ha. Although compared to most months these days there are a few games that might be worth playing, which says a lot. Always nice to see companies like Circus and BaseSon give up on trying and just whore their characters out over and over.

FLOWERS -Le volume sur été- (Natsu-hen)

Company: Innocent Grey
Game site: FLOWERS -Le volume sur ete- （夏篇）
Release date: April 17, 2015
Comments:
This is the all-ages sequel to FLOWERS -Le volume sur printemps-. In the season of first meetings, a girl with a wounded heart, Suou, found a friend and lover who would accept her, Mayuri. However, Mayuri left the school without telling her the reason. Suou was in denial about her loss, and fellow bookworm Erika was gravely worried and looked for a way to heal Suou’s broken heart.

With the early arrival of summer, a girl Chidori transferred into the school. She approached Erika by chance and told her that she was a coward. It was the worst first meeting for the two who would end up being twinned by ‘Amitié’.

I didn’t play the first title as it didn’t really appeal to me. If you don’t mind a serious yuri-ge, then it might be worth looking at this series.

Not a fan of yuri or yaoi games, the intent seems to be shouting “I’m made of yuri, come play me!” rather than trying to make the content worthwhile. Pretty much the same here only with a rather shallow attempt at drama, I will have to pass yet again, sorry girls.

D.C.II Dearest Marriage

Company: CIRCUS
Game site: D.C.II Dearest Marriage～ダ・カーポII～ディアレストマリッジ
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
This game follows Otome’s route in D.C.II and is composed of 3 parts. “Graduation days” takes place during Yoshiyuki’s final year at Kazami Gakuen and shows the last fun-filled days for their close circle of friends, culminating with the graduation party. “Married life” details Yoshiyuki and Otome’s daily lovey-dovey lives after his proposal on his graduation day. “Dear to…” makes the link between this canon route to D.C.III.

If I had to choose between one of the Asakura sisters, there’s no question that it’d be Yume. She’s such a better heroine than Otome. D.C.II is the best game in the D.C. series, but I’m not finding myself wanting to play this game as soon as it comes out. Maybe I’ll check it out for Yume and Nanaka, but… ugh Otome. Why Otome? =_=

Oh who am I kidding, I’ll probably end up playing it anyway since I’m a D.C. fan.

Ha, haha, ahahahahahahahahaha. So much for the end of Da Capo II. Circus has gone back to their roots, farming D.C.II till the soil is barren and dry. I guess D.C.III as expected was not quite good enough to be worth farming in the same way. Although to me the best part of this whole mess is that Otome wins. Now I get to point and laugh at Yume becuase no one likes her.

I don’t like you. You don’t get to comment on D.C. again.

PRETTY×CATION2

Company: hibiki works
Game site: PRETTY×CATION2
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
This is the latest game in hibiki works’ CATION series. Spring is the season of new beginnings. Your parents have left you to work abroad in France and you move to the lakeside town of Sakimiya, where your mother once lived. While it is a great for those who love the outdoors, it is much less convenient than living in the city and you don’t feel comfortable at all.

Passing by the harbour, a woman who was fishing strikes up a chat with you. She tells you that falling in love is like fishing: you have to cast out into the unknown and it requires assertiveness and patience. She suggests that since you’re new in town, it’s a good time to try something new, like love.

Where do you start when you don’t have any experience? Will you be able to change yourself and find your dearest lover in this town? Full of both anxiety and excitement, you feel that your first love will soon begin.

The system is the same as the other 3 games, including the ‘lovely call’, ‘sympathy system’, H scene bonuses based on stats, ‘lovely shot’, ‘walking talk’, and use of the CHAIN messenger. Of course, you can change the protagonist’s name from the default (Ogawa Nagare). They’ve also incorporated the E-mote system into the ADV scenes. Append scenarios have been planned for every month after its release.

After playing P×C, I’ve realized that there’s basically no reason to play these games unless you like the heroine a lot since there’s practically no overarching story to speak of. It’s just a bunch of somewhat disconnected scenes that you need to work for. I didn’t mind playing for Sakura and Nozomi last time, but while Honami is nice, Shimakaze Azusa doesn’t hold the same appeal. The use of the E-mote system is a great idea, although there’s no way to adjust the bounciness.

So to sum matters up, the game is about a protagonist is encouraged by an off duty prostitute doing her best to land a catch. Then H scenes ensue.

Natsuiro Recipe

Company: PULLTOP Air
Game site: なついろレシピ
Release date: April 24, 2015 Delayed to May 29, 2015
Comments:
This heartful story is the first title by PULLTOP Air. Takefumi lost his mother when he was small, and he hasn’t kept in touch with his father who lives abroad. Unlike his peers, he’s a simple and honest fellow who lives true to himself.

One day, he received a letter addressed to his father from a girl Yuzu who called herself his daughter. Her grandmother had passed away a month ago. She didn’t know how to live by herself and thus, pleaded for his help. Takefumi thought that if he became her guardian, then it would solve many of her problems. Even though he was perplexed at the sudden appearance of an imouto, he did not hesitate a second in helping her.

He headed to the mountain village Shiratama-mura where he was greeted by Yuzu. Just like that, they became siblings. Even though it was awkward at first, their sibling bond gradually deepened as they lived under one roof. Yuzu wished to re-open her grandmother’s restaurant, and together they develop their own true ‘home cooking’.

We call it ‘food porn’ in the West and it’s meshi-tero (culinary terrorism) in Japan, but essentially it’s the same thing. In addition to having delicious bishoujos, there’s also delicious food. I have to admit I’m a ‘hana yori dango’ person, so that sweet red bean donut up there is making me drool. Of course, if my imouto makes delicious food for me, that’s even better. Or we could make it together!

As for the story, I don’t expect too much coming from Takashima Eiji (C@F!, Witch’s Garden) and Orihata Keisuke (1/7 no Mahoutsukai, Koiken). I’ll be happy if it’s just an iyashi-kei game with lots of food. In fact, I didn’t particularly like the pacing in the trial; it was kinda boring and the jokes weren’t funny. I guess it might appeal to you if you like girls who can’t cook.

May I opt out of the bland, tasteless heroines and instead go on the succulent, delicious, much more nutritious, and fulfilling food route?

If I am honest about the game itself however, the main problem with it is the convenience factor of the absent parents as well as any other family. As the setup is pretty much identical to Natsu no Ame, I have to compare how one game deals with how a new, previously unknown entry to the family affects everyone, while the other just says “Here have a little sister as our gift to you”. Adding in the food theme is little more than a shallow gimmick for the game.

Evenicle

Company: ALICESOFT
Game site: イブニクル
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
The creator of the world, the Holy Mother Eve, gave two commandments: one must not kill another human, and one must only have one partner for life. However, knights are exempted from the latter divine rule, so that they can produce powerful offspring to fight against monsters. Somewhere in the land, there was a young man Asterisk who wished to marry the beautiful twin sisters who raised him. He decided that he will become a knight and get lots of wives! Thus, he set out on his journey with great enthusiasm and ambition.

The system is the same as the one in Rance Quest, although the game feels more like Dorapeko. It’s an open world RPG and is actually pretty fun to play and doesn’t require much skill. There’s plenty of female monsters to capture as well (they become items which boost your stats). It’s perfect for a time waster. The heroines are cute and fawn all over the protagonist (maybe a little too easy, but this is a harem game after all). The story is pretty predicable, but funny nevertheless. I really enjoyed the trial and look forward to playing the full game! Riche is a cutie ><b

I guess at least the protagonist is honest about wanting to catch them all. Even if that is the sole motivation for the character and indeed the entire game.

Verethragna ~Seisen no Duelist~

Company: アストロノーツ・シリウス (Astronauts Sirius)
Game site: ウルスラグナ ～征戦のデュエリスト～
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
The trading card game Verethragna is a game created by the world’s largest game company Link World. Players summon and fight with gods and demons, heroes and monsters summoned from other worlds. It has become extremely popular, with people of all ages addicted to it.

Tatsumi, the head of a zaibatsu, was trapped by the Kokuryou Gakuen’s chairwoman Metsheila into a hidden duel tournament. He suffered a horrible defeat and was bounded from leaving. She sent a challenge to his son, Akira, telling him to fight to the top of the duelist ladder at the school if he wished to exact revenge for his father. Accepting her challenge, he enrolled as a student at the school.

One day, when he accidentally wandered into the woods behind the school, he encountered unidentifiable monsters. However, he was saved by a card of Kiskill, the dark armor-wearing goddess of darkness. He fought up the ranks with her by his side, was selected as one of the 21 knights (ritter) and aimed to become the ‘duel kaizer’. What is the Metsheila’s intention and what is the truth behind Verethragna and the other worlds?

This time it’s a card battle RPG instead of labyrinth ‘tower defence’. Will you become the duel kaizer? I still haven’t finished the last card game… Damn angels…

I am aware that cards make for an easily marketable hook when making a childrens series to ensure extra money comes in from their parents. However with an 18+ targeted demographic the schoolyard gameplay thing has got to go. Maybe I am just bitter about my hatred for almost every card game in existence but I still maintain that an RNG simulator does not a fun game make.

The card battle system isn’t bad, incorporating elements from Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh!. I just don’t think it’s the best choice for this month.

I get the concept, I just feel its been a poor choice since we have evolved as a species beyond using paper for everything.

Now you can buy electronic trading cards!

Which defeats the point of card games in the first place.

Chrono Clock

Company: パープルソフトウェア (Purple Software)
Game site: クロノクロック
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
Rei is the son of the head of the major corporation Sawatari Group. He owns a watch passed down from his grandfather which grants him the ability to turn back time by five minutes, with an hour cooldown time. However, he doesn’t plan to use it for saving the world or anything big like that. Instead, he uses it to make his daily school life more interesting and fulfilling. In particular, he wants to get a girlfriend and made a list of cute girls to confess to. Since he could use his ability to turn back time if he was rejected, he would be able to confess without any risk.

One day after school, he watched as a girl fell from the roof. He hurriedly turned back time and went to the roof, interrupting the first-year Miu’s confession to his best friend Shuuji. She is an extremely timid girl with an unlucky constitution, but she was able to summon up the courage to confess her feelings. Her straightforwardness, despite lacking the power of the watch to help her, left a deep impression on him. Thus, he decided to help her confess once more. It was the beginning of a strange love triangle and the sowing of the seeds of courage for Rei’s own confession.

The story is a nice mix of serious and silly moments. Yes, there’s the time rewind ability, but it’s not overused like other games where such an ability appears. Purple Software games usually are decent, and I have the feeling that this one will be memorable too. I liked the prologue (covered by the trial), as well as all the heroines. Well, Makoto is a bit scary at times, but I’d gladly go out with any of the others. I also want to know more about the time goddess Chrono (Kuro). The OP is quite soothing; I’ve listened to it quite a few times already.

I WANT TO TAKE MIU HOME!!! She’s extremely smart and had skipped a couple grades. However, she’s still a child emotionally, so she seems to always be in a fluster. I just wanna hug her… and take her home!!! Hau~ omochikaeri~!

Amusing that a story including time travel is actually more down to earth than usual. By Purplesoft standards this is about as close to a generic game as it gets. Which is the problem with it, the usual appeal of their games is missing. Traditionally the concept behind Purplesoft games tends to be interesting enough to make up for some of the lower quality writing, development of the story, and characters. I hope they are able to pull off a more generic story, even with the time travel bit being a major problem, especially the casual nature of it, how tempting it must be for the writers to use it as a deus ex machina.

Sorcery Jokers

Company: 3rdEye
Game site: ソーサリージョーカーズ
Release date: April 24, 2015 Delayed to June 26, 2015
Comments:
One day, magic suddenly was born. It was not only known by people, but it was also recognized by the current government. Now, it is used as an energy resource and has permeated many other fields. This story is about six people who live in a world where magic exists whose fates are intertwined.

The fourth hot-blooded battle title from 3rdEye features dual protagonists in the caster (magician) Haruto and the outcast Senri. The conflict is predominantly between the magicians recognized by the school/state and those who are not (outcasts). Besides the slight changes in the setting, we should expect pretty much the same. If you like this sort of thing, go for it. They seem to be good at it.

Way too chunni for me as much as I enjoy varied settings and things, I hate over the top chunni. Never helps to have multiple protagonists either, I cannot recall any game successfully pulling that off. Two points of view makes it too difficult to bond with the characters.

Puramai Wars

Company: ASa Project
Game site: プラマイウォーズ
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
“Modesty, fairness and grace”: That’s the motto by which Chihaya and his sisters Kyouko and Mei were brought up with by their strict father. Their family was well-respected in the neighbourhood; You could say they’re the ideal family. Due to an unexpected event, they ended up sharing a house with the family of one of their parents’ co-workers. Chihaya heard that there were three beautiful sisters and was looking forward to living together with them, but it turns out that their nature is totally opposite of their family!

I love ASa Project for their gags (mostly dirty jokes), so I’m definitely playing this. Let’s see how many weird faces they can make this time. The trial was great and I want more Mei and Minori~

For a simple comedic title I am glad to see a game that isn’t trying to be pretentious about its origin or purpose. There is nothing wrong at all with making any type of game, just don’t try to hide what it really is behind cheesy gimmicks or tarted up H content. No one likes being lied to, and that counts for marketing too. No need to add some random theme in an attempt to spice up or cover up the high school romance comedy. For a fun lighter game this is definitely my pick for the month.

The conniving Tomoe is perfect for you.

Hey, I like prim and proper too.

Kami no Rhapsody

Company: エウシュリー (Eushully)
Game site: 神のラプソディ
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
The great plains of Kvarna spreads out from the border between the western part and the central plains of the Raulbash continent. This was the territory of the demi-humans who have resided here peacefully for thousands of years.

One time, the ‘Kami no Kaido’, the ruler of the southeastern plains who is close to God, declared that he would train a successor to inherit his immense power and knowledge. With those words, he opened the gates to the holy land, ‘Shrine of the End’ (Tsui no Goshi). The successor candidates were bestowed the privilege to explore the previously-sealed area and various abilities by the Kami no Kaido, to overcome the severe trials that lay before them.

Youths from all races and religions heeded this call and gathered together, including the young researcher Erballade who left his hometown to seek wisdom and the unknown. There will only be one successor. With honour, wisdom, power and wealth, along with the expectations of their hometowns, a fierce competition is about to begin.

It’s a good thing that Golden Week is a few weeks after the release date since you’ll probably still be playing it at that point. There’s almost 100 hex-grid battle maps with many different objectives in this SRPG. As usual, you can train and strengthen your units, while befriending enemies. There are skill medals which you can acquire from treasures, and the weapons all are based on musical instruments. Even if it’s your first time, the tutorial does a good job of explaining the system. You can also modify the difficulty level. It was pretty fun to play, so if I have time to waste, I might consider playing it a bit.

It has been awhile since I felt even a little tempted to play any game with more than a click the option level of gameplay in it, but here I am considering it. I suppose the stars have aligned and I feel like giving these style of games another shot for a new year or something. Standard rules still apply though, don’t expect too much in the way of story, nor gameplay both will definitely take a hit from the hybridization. Still waiting for someone to put together a worthwhile story first then fill it in with enjoyable if simple gameplay. Someday I have faith a person will come along and figure out this simple recipe.

Kagura Kaentan

Company: でぼの巣製作所 (Debonosu)
Game site: 神楽花莚譚
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
This roguelike RPG is the latest game in Debonosu’s Kagura series. This world is different from the the human world. There are youkai who normally hide in the shadows or sunlight, but can harm humans. Mikoto and Ryouka are two mikos under the tutelage of the goddess Sakatome-sama, and they are tasked with exterminating the youkai. They travel across the land as part of their training. One day, they arrived at a history-laden old town upon the request of Satsuki and Takayo, who informed them of strange events occurring around the town. That evening, Takayo was kidnapped by the youkai and the mikos headed to the land of the youkai to save her.

You get to choose between the short-range or mid-range mikos as your main character. It’s not truly roguelike with perma-death (since you can reload before each randomly-generated map), and it looks quite look their past games. You can play with the keyboard, mouse or controller. There’s also some weird faces on the sprites. The gameplay is not that interesting. I’d choose the ALICESOFT or Eushully game over this any day.

I’m with Micchi here, not much to expect in the way of story nor gameplay. Even more there are plenty of better titles along the same lines this month.

System

Soushuu Senshinkan Gakuen Bansenjin

Company: light
Game site: 相州戦神館學園 万仙陣
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
This follows the grand ending in Hachimyoujin, where Yoshiya doesn’t confess to anyone. Yoshiya’s group are now in their second year at Senshinkan Gakuen, joined by new students Nobuaki and Shizuno. There were a few more hiccups along the way, but every day is full of laughs and smiles. No one thought that it would change, but while devoting all their time preparing for the culture festival, they happened upon a secret of the school and were confronted with a nightmare which eroded reality. They didn’t have any special abilities to combat these strange occurrences, but then their inner elements awakened and the wheel of dreams begin to turn once more.

The school banter is fine, but chuuni is not my cup of tea. Pass.

Pretty lame and already a continuation so standard fandisk rules apply here.

Shin Koihime†Eiyuutan 1 ~Otome Enran☆Sangokushi Engi[Shoku]~

Company: BaseSon
Game site: 真・恋姫†英雄譚1 ～乙女艶乱☆三国志演義［蜀］～
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
This is the first of three low priced sequels to the Koihime series, focusing on the Shoku generals. It is only available via download (DMM). It appears to occur in an alternate timeline from Shin Koihime Musou or Moeshouden. The main heroines are Aisha, Sei and Sui, although there are also new characters, such as Sui’s imoutos Ruo and Sou. With a NEXTON-PASSPORT, you can also enjoy an H scene append for Touka and Renka.

Hawawa! I’m thrilled that there’s more Koihime. The art has gotten a much needed boost, making Shuri and Hinari more adorable than ever! While I’m not expecting too much of a story, I’m glad that I get to romance in the three kingdoms again.

It is nice to see BaseSon finally shrink the heronine pool for a game instead of expanding to near infinity. Also nice of them to focus on the three best girls. What always plagued these games was the overwhelming amount of heroines which left all of their stories feeling quite lacking in the development department. That said though it does feel like everything since Koihime has not turned out as they wished so going back and trying to milk what has worked in the past. 

Walkure Romanze Re:tell II

Company: Ricotta
Game site: ワルキューレロマンツェ Re:tell II
Release date: April 24, 2015
Comments:
This is the second mini fandisc for Walkure Romanze, featuring Celia and Akane. It is only available via download (DMM). More fandiscs and I have the feeling there’s two more to come…

The world of DLC and micropayments is sweeping eroge as well it seems. As I loathe this game I hope they make something else soon so I don’t have to see it pop up during these summaries anymore.

Micchi’s Top 4 for This Month

1. Chrono Clock
2. Evenicle
3. Puramai Wars
4. Shin Koihime†Eiyuutan 1 ~Otome Enran☆Sangokushi Engi[Shoku]~

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Chrono Clock
2. Puramai Wars
3. Kami no Rhapsody

Yume, Nanaka and Mahiru are so much better than Otome.

It would seem as though the creators of all those characters know the truth about their creations. Otome wins. Oh, Nanaka is an acceptable answer too. Yume still has her dreams, where she can live beyond the reaches of her crushed hopes after crying herself to sleep at night. Sadly she will eventually wake up to realize she wasn’t good enough to be chosen and start anew another day in her lifetime of regrets and melancholy days. April fools you little wench!

T___T