March 2016 Eroge Releases

It’s a busy month with many hyped games coming out, highlighted by Lose’s RailRoad-love Maitetsu. The game version of Minato Soft’s Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya o Mezasu comes out this month, while ensemble’s protagonist once again finds himself in a skirt in Otome ga Irodoru Koi no Essence. Astronauts Sirius’s Dungeon of Regalias ~Haitoku no Miyako Ishgalia~ should appeal to RPG fans, while SILKY’s PLUS WASABI seeks to match the quality of their previous work with the suspenseful and mysterious Akeiro Kaikikan.

Lots of releases, sure. Some looked forward to? That’s nothing new. Are they any good? Eh, this month? Probably not. There may be some games with unique elements and others with laid back traditional safe zone appeal but they all swing, miss, and hit themselves in the face with the bat in one way or another. I hope that one day the companies which make eroge realize gimmicks don’t make a game better, they often make it worse. Hoping for idiots to not notice and buy inferior products with little effort put into them does not make for a good business model.

Ichibun no Ni Koigokoro

Company: 天ノ葉 (Amanoha)
Game site: 1分の2恋ゴコロ
Release date: March 25, 2016 Delayed to May 27, 2016
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from March. This is the first game by Amanoha. Aoi doesn’t go to school; instead he works hard every day on part-time jobs to care for his two imoutos, Hina and Runa. While he does have some regrets about not attending school, he is satisfied and motivated by the sight of his imoutos’ smiles.

One winter day, Aoi was working harder than usual in order to celebrate his imoutos’ birthday, which was fast approaching. Then he reunited with his former kouhai Minori and met his shy neighbour Koyuki. These encounters brought about changes in Aoi’s relationship with his imoutos.

The story is written from both the perspective of the protagonist Aoi and each heroine, to develop a greater sense of romance. There’s no trial out yet (even though they said it would be available in December), but all the heroines are cute, especially his angelic imoutos. This is the first story by Nakamura Panda, so I’d suggest approaching it with tempered expectations.

Do I even need to say it?

But it’s not a fandisc!

You’re right. It’s much worse.

Dies irae ~Interview with Kaziklu Bey~

Company: light
Game site: Dies irae（ディエス・イレ） ～Interview with Kaziklu Bey～
Release date: March 25, 2016
Comments:
This mid-priced all-ages title is the second spin-off for the Dies irae series in commemoration of the upcoming anime, after the drama CD “Todestag Verloren”. The protagonist Wilhelm Ehrenburg, also known as Kaziklu Bey, is an SS officer hunted by the United Nations as a remnant of the Third Reich and an enemy to the world. An interviewer visits him in Brooklyn and he recounts how he met the albino girl Claudia Jerusalem on the battlefield at Warsaw in 1944 and the events that unfold afterwards.

Nothing more for me to add since I have no interest in this series.

More occult nazis.

Akeiro Kaikitan

Company: シルキーズプラス WASABI (SILKY’s PLUS WASABI)
Game site: あけいろ怪奇譚
Release date: March 25, 2016
Comments:
Four girls committed suicide one after another. It was rumoured that their deaths were caused by the “spirit of the old school building”. For most, this was just a silly rumour, but Yashiro could not just ignore it. This was because he had been troubled by a strange dream ever since the shocking incidents, which caused him to get weaker day by day due to not being able to sleep soundly. One day, he saw a black-haired girl beckoning him in the hallway, but he was pulled back by a strange girl named Velvet. She told him to be careful because he was cursed.

SILKY’s PLUS broke on to the eroge scene with the well-received Nanairo Reincarnation. This suspenseful supernatural title is also written by Kazuki Fumi, with Makoto and his oni (Aoi, Fuyou and Iris) reappearing as subcharacters. The trial kept me hooked, so I’m expecting a story of equal quality here. I want to be with twins Ruri and Ruka more ><b

Flimsy plot. The whole thing reeks of contrived mechanic to get the protagonist from point A to panty B. Not enough atmosphere building to properly invest the reader into the mystery. Which only serves to make them feel detached from the why. Why did the girls die, why bad dreams, why would anyone name their kid Velvet? All of these questions exist to draw the reader in order for them to enjoy the process of revealing each answer. Questions should not be tossed at the reader in a giant lump like a disinterested parent trying to shut their brats up. Such a poor grasp of pacing leads to little or no sense of connection with the characters or their actions. Point being, as a mystery game they have failed. Whether or not the rest makes it worth playing we can only hope so.

So, panty B is the end goal for all eroge protagonists?

If it is not, I don’t know what I have been reading all these years.

Nama Love

Company: oct works
Game site: なまラブ
Release date: March 25, 2016 Delayed to April 28, 2016
Comments:
This is the first title by oct works. Sayohama private school was created a few years ago through the merge of a boys’ school and a girls’ school. Carrying on the tradition from when only young ladies attended the school, it was forbidden to have relationships with the opposite sex.

At the end of October, Shouta’s osananajimi and student council president Mafuyu addressed the students at the closing ceremony of the school festival and declared that from that moment on, they were free to fall in love.

Earnest but slightly clumsy Mafuyu, who isn’t as close to Shouta as before.
Cool pianist Saya, who is adored by all students and loves cute things a lot.
Meddlesome tsundere imouto Mio, who dotes on him only when she’s at home.
Timid literature girl Kotoha, who became friends with him while skipping class.

No longer bound by the school’s rules, their hidden feelings began to overflow in this new season of love.

Spring is the time of more school love stories. This particular one makes use of the E-mote system. The seiyuus for the main heroines are lesser known, and I hope that the one voicing imouto Mio does a good job because I really like her character. She’s cheeky and confident, visits his place pretty much every day to help him around the house, is quite amaenbou when alone with him, and of course a total bracon with a mischievous curiosity in sex. Imoutos are the best! Hau~ omochikaeri~!

Ah the story of “Don’t be gay” turned into “It’s all okay”, how romantic. Nonexistent plot means everything hinges on the writing, comedy, and heroine routes, good luck Oct Works.

PV

Maitetsu

Company: Lose
Game site: まいてつ
Release date: March 25, 2016
Comments:
“RailRoads” are humanoid control modules which are paired with a locomotive. However, many rail lines had been discontinued due to the rising popularity of ‘aerocrafts’, a safe and convenient aerial mode of transport. As such, their accompanying RailRoads also went into a deep sleep.

Soutetsu had lost his entire family in a rail accident and was adopted into the Migita household, which runs a shochu brewery in the city of Ohitoyo. He returned to his hometown to save it from the potential water pollution that would occur if they accepted the proposal to build an aerocraft factory nearby. He woke up the RailRoad Hachiroku by accident and became her owner. For different purposes, they agreed to help find her lost locomotive, with the help of his imouto Hibiki, the town’s mayor and local railway chief, Paulette and others.

There are three main routes, for heroines Hachiroku, Hibiki and Paulette. In addition, there are mini routes for the sub-heroines Reina, Makura, Kisaki, Nagi and Fukami, as well as a harem route. Additional appends are planned post-release. Similar to Monobeno, it uses the E-mote system. There are over 100 planned CGs, including 50 HCGs (most likely some of them based on the many polls they were holding in the previous months). The list of seiyuus is quite impressive, featuring Kiritani Hana, Himari, Anzu Mitsu, Kawashima Rino, and many more.

Reina is extremely adorable! Can I take her home? I’m taking her home! This must be the appeal of train moe. That being said, my favourite characters are human: Hibiki and Paulette! I love Hibiki’s speech, where she sometimes switches to her regional dialect. Paulette is so gentle and oneechan-like. The cast is great and well-balanced (takes notes, Clochette and minori). I’m definitely on the hype train for this one!

The story of how Soutetsu became a legend drifting his 86 around the mountain rails of his hometown. Honestly the foundation of this story and setting is really stupid and poorly thought out. The basis is trying to force the train aspect into an eroge but it was done in such an unnatural way. This gives a problem where the train bit could be swapped out with any other random fetish machine without any difficulty story wise. Little to no personal investment in the problems at hand compound the issue further. Only bother with the game if you absolutely must play a certain route.

Would it be going off the rails if you want to play the train route?

I hope that train ends up delayed for eternity.

LILYCLE Rainbow Stage!!!

Company: PARTICLE
Game site: りりくる Rainbow Stage!!!
Release date: March 25, 2016 Delayed to April 28, 2016
Comments:
This first all-ages title by PARTICLE is based on a series of yuri drama CDs. The main characters are new idol Yuuno, student teacher Tamaki, and hall monitor and ninja Saeka. The story is focused on their triangle relationship, although the other 12 girls from the drama CDs will also show up, sometimes with surprising pairings. Instead of a single protagonist, the player can switch the viewpoint among the girls.

There’s nothing wrong with cute girls and a yuri story, even if it wouldn’t be among my top picks for the month.

Yuri.

Omokage ~Ecchi na Happening!? Nan demo Don to Koi!~

Company: あかべぇそふとすりぃ (AkabeiSoft3)
Game site: オモカゲ ～えっちなハプニング!? なんでもどんとこい！～
Release date: March 25, 2016
Comments:
There have lately been strange rumours in the provincial city of Mihana: witness reports of girls masturbating, and girls suddenly breathing heavily. As a guy, Sei would like to see it with his own eyes, but he dismissed it as a simple urban legend. However, one day after school, he saw a girl who looked like her was masturbating by rubbing her back against a locker. He didn’t realize it at that moment, but he could sense something strange from certain places and girls. He wasn’t the only one who had the same sensations, but also his osananajimi Minato, cool senpai Gekka and cheerful kouhai Hinami. It seems that these incidents were caused by ‘omokage’, which are like spirits which possess humans and affect their mind and body until their desires have been satiated, so they decided to form the anti-omokage club to combat them.

It feels like the story was written to incorporate H scenes. The three routes are written by different scenario writers (none of whom have good track records), and the dialogue doesn’t flow well. It’s fine if you treat it like a nukige, since they do the ero parts quite well (a lot of slight ahegao). I’ll probably play it for the senpai-loving slightly haraguro kouhai Hinami only. My nadenade technique will amaze her!

As nuki as ge can be.

Grimo☆Love ~Houkago no Witch~

Company: しろいぱんつ (Shiroi Pantsu)
Game site: グリモ☆ラヴ ～放課後のウィッチ～
Release date: March 25, 2016
Comments:
Yuuma had his future all planned out: he would join the literature club, fall in love with his senpai, and become a best-selling light novel writer. However, it all came apart when his homeroom teacher informed him that the literature club had been disbanded many years ago. He couldn’t find another club where he would be able to write novels, so he ended up finding a nice place in the library to focus on his writing. Then, he was forcefully recruited to the student council as the secretary, mainly to take care of the mounds of paperwork which had piled up.

After some incident, he ended up as a member of the second literature club, which was actually the occult club and the Grimoire ended up in his hands. According to club leader Yuzuna, if one makes a contract with the book, then they will become popular with the opposite sex. She was really eager to try it, and he became her test subject. However, it actually possessed magic which made others sexually excited, causing all types of ecchi events to occur around him!

All you need to know is that the school ‘principal’ is a dog who loves the protagonist a lot and often humps his leg. It’s a baka-nukige through and through.

See above, but at least it tries to have some humor I guess.

The one above has much better art though.

Good point, that is pretty much all that matters in a nukige after all.

School of Fantasia

Company: 玉藻ソフト (Tamamo Soft)
Game site: スクールオブファンタジア
Release date: March 25, 2016
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from February. This harem RPG is the professional debut for doujin circle Tamamo Studio, under the name Tamamo Soft. All of a sudden, there were children who were born in Japan with special abilities. They were segregated to a school located on Tendoujima, an island in the southern sea. Meanwhile, the relatively normal Yorito drifted on to the island after being swept by the waves from his adventurer father’s raft. After Himeno saved his life with artificial respiration, he ended up transferring into the Tendoujima Gakuen. Since he was suspected of being a spy, he accepted a request to explore the dungeon where monsters dwelled in order to establish his innocence. He enjoyed a pleasant life with the girls at the school, getting to know them better and solving their worries, but soon he became involved in various events while investigating the dungeon.

The RPG system still looks like a doujin, but you know you’re on the big stage when you manage to snag some recognizable seiyuus (Ogura Yui, Momoi Ichigo, Toono Soyogi). The protagonist is your usual brute who has great strength, but lacks common sense. I’ve always wondered why they do put swords in the hands of these people…

Chaos. Pure chaos is how I would describe this game. The plot is all over the place the gameplay as well. I would like to give them some credit for maybe trying to change things up even in a bad way, but its just much too pathetic an attempt. Just because you can make things work as a doujin group where expectations are low doesn’t mean the same standards apply when doing things professionally.

Dungeon of Regalias ~Haitoku no Miyako Ishgalia~

Company: アストロノーツ・シリウス (Astronauts Sirius)
Game site: ダンジョン オブ レガリアス ～背徳の都イシュガリア～
Release date: March 25, 2016
Comments:
The floating city of Windal was full of prosperity due to its advanced magic culture. However, an unexplained massive magic explosion sent the city crashing to the ground, killing almost all of its citizens. Only a huge crater and the ruins of the city underneath it remained.

Nomads built many villages and over time, the area turned into the large metropolis Ishgalia. Reckless adventurers came to the city to challenge the demon-infested labyrinths under the city in the hopes of striking it rich. The battle-seasoned Orias, who has no memories before becoming a mercenary, arrived at Ishgalia in search of his forgotten past. What awaits him in the depths of the labyrinth and the ruins of the floating city?

So far only the battle system trial is out and they’ve changed from 3D to 2D. With a system similar to Dragon Quest and ToHeart2 Dungeon Travelers, it’s easy to get a hang of, but it wasn’t especially interesting to play. It was a chore to move around. I’ll possibly be playing Tree of Savior by the time this comes out, so I won’t be able to spare the time to play another RPG.

Another garbage dungeon crawler. I really wish RPG eroge put some actual effort in as I would love to play a good one.

Rep Kiss

Company: 戯画 (GIGA)
Game site: リプキス
Release date: March 25, 2016
Comments:
This is the latest title in GIGA’s Kiss series. Souji moved back to his hometown and was excited at starting a new life there, even though he was a bit saddened that it wasn’t the same as before. He went out to the convenience store to do some shopping after moving in and met a pretty girl at the entrance. She called him ‘Sou-kun’, a nickname which he hadn’t heard in a long time, and he realized that she was his childhood friend Kanade. He was surprised by how beautifully she had grown up. Their chance meeting spurred the revival of half-forgotten feelings.

By now, you know what to expect from this series, with a rather donkan and uninspired protagonist in a school setting. This time the main heroines are two pairs of sisters (I prefer Saki and Yuiri), and there’s a hyper imouto who doesn’t have a route. It doesn’t have something which at least makes it a bit different from other games. That’s not saying that it’ll be bad, just that it won’t be great.

Another “The Giga Game”.

Otome ga Irodoru Koi no Essence

Company: ensemble
Game site: 乙女が彩る恋のエッセンス
Release date: March 25, 2016
Comments:
This is the latest title in ensemble’s cross-dressing Otome series. Naoto worked as the sous-chef at the mansion of the Amagi family, who owns the leading zaibatsu in Japan. One day, he was asked by the madame to assume the chef position at her daughter Sakuya’s school because she thought that she was acting strangely and she wanted him to report back on her.

Even though he felt overwhelmed being at the famous Maishiro girls’ school, he was still full of expectation for his new job. Then, his boss Yakumo gave him some shocking news: he will have to dress as a girl and attend school with Sakuya, since it was easier to keep an eye on her that way. Despite his resistance, he was introduced as the new student and cook, Chihiro. If his true gender is found out, then he might lose his job and be reported as a pervert. Will he be able to fulfill his duties as a cook and a student at the school?

It’s amazing how ensemble manages to keep writing cross-dressing games and still making them interesting. I quite liked the trial; it was rather entertaining. Then again, I’d always prefer a story with food over knights or art. This time there’s also a ball for which an edel (princess) is chosen by the students. You can be sure that our pretty protagonist will earn that title. My favourite characters are imouto Noa, kouhai Serika and student council president Akari. I’m still wondering how an imouto can’t recognize her onii-chan even under a disguise. They all have onii-chan sensors, don’t they?

Oh, and if you get the limited version of the game, you can get a mini scenario with all the trap protagonists!

Oh Ensemble, how far you have fallen. Since Canvas their games have steadily gone downhill. As I actually liked Canvas the slow train crash was rather painful to watch for me. Will this game be any different? Well story wise probably not. Way too forcible in the setting and purpose of him cross dressing. Honestly they could have just made him a chef at the school from the start, then have him lose a bet or any of a dozen other reasons to cross dress. After which he meets someone while on break or going home and has a dual role to play. Instead employer makes the incredibly illogical decision to make him cross dress to spy on their daughter. The other problems lie in the really stupid princess bit. Which essentially mimics the terrible plot of their Aria game. I can only hope they know enough about cooking to carry through on the subject matter. As one of the most noteworthy appeals of the Canvas game was that they at least had enough knowledge about actual art to make a convincing game about it. A feature lacking in every game since.

But they tempt me with descriptions of desserts all game long!

Proof they know more about food than singing and whatever it was they came up with in between.

Toki o Tsumugu Yakusoku

Company: あっぷりけ (Applique)
Game site: 時を紡ぐ約束
Release date: March 25, 2016
Comments:
It was late spring when Hayato arrived at the remote hot spring town of Yunohara with his daughter Miria to start a new job at the traditional inn Kusakabe-an. Hayato has a special magic ability, but since it can only be used within 10 seconds, it’s not really useful to him. Freed from a rough upbringing in an orphanage, he was glad to finally start a new life, working at the inn while attending school. He met many supportive people in the school and town, including the daughter of the inn owner, Misaki. However, these halcyon days would soon be shattered when the orphanage director came to take Miria away.

I’m kind of torn about this game. While there was a lot in the trial and I enjoyed most of it, the final moments when Miria was taken away makes me wonder how the full game will be like. Miria (who’s actually not his daughter) was essential to setting the positive mood and now that she’s gone, will it be totally different? Will the game focus on the school life instead of working at the inn? What is the purpose of his magic when it isn’t really used? Story-wise, I think there’s more potential here than many other games this month, but there’s enough questions that make me wary as well. Well, at least Yui-chan will still be there for me.

Yet another story so desperate for drama they resorted to making random stuff up. Both the daughter and the abduction bit make little to no sense at all. After all there are huge questions left with her, where none of the answers feel natural. The very existence of a magical ability hints at possible deus ex machina resolutions later on. Even more so when it is not properly incorporated into the setting. A game where they tried to do too much to stand out. Had Applique taken the daughter and magic out of it I probably would have been itching to play a laid back slice of life game.

Tokeidai no Jeanne ~Jeanne à la tour d’horloge~

Company: ライアーソフト (Liar-soft)
Game site: 時計台のジャンヌ ～Jeanne à la tour d’horloge～
Release date: March 25, 2016
Comments:
Near the end of World War II, Young Free France soldiers Rolland and his best friend Olivier participated in the Invasion of Normandy to free their mother country. However, they came under heavy anti-aircraft fire during their pre-dawn raid of the enemy base and was forced to make an emergency descent. They were separated from the rest of their unit and wandered in the dark woods until they suddenly were ambushed by a cavalry led by Edwalda the Black Princess. Rolland was severely wounded while protecting Olivier and he fell unconscious.

When he came to, he was in the middle of a quiet forest next to a spring, being nursed by a pretty girl. The wounds which he had suffered had all completely healed, making him wonder if the ambush was merely a dream. He was actually in an alternate world shrouded in fog, and the girl who saved him Jeanne was a “prisoner of time”, held captive by the history of the long war. When he met her, the clock tower broke its long silence and time began to tick once more.

I don’t really care for the art nor their stories, so I’ll pass as usual.

Liar is running out of ideas. Their games are typically a lot more interesting than this garbage. Try harder next time, and maybe don’t just copy Frontwing’s homework with a slightly altered setting. You get an F for cheating and a trip to the Dean’s office Liar.

Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya o Mezasu

Company: みなとそふと (Minato Soft)
Game site: 少女たちは荒野を目指す
Release date: March 25, 2016
Comments:
This is the all-ages game version of the currently-running anime series. Buntarou does plenty of part-time jobs, helps out at the drama club and enjoys his school life. However, he doesn’t have any idea of what he wants to be in the future, as he has dream which he is motivated to attain. One day, his classmate Sayuki asked him for a favour. Since he had some interest in her, he agreed without much thought. However, in fact she wanted him to help her write the story for a bishoujo game.

He was uncertain that they would be able to make a profit off such a game, but Sayuki was confident that it would be a success. However, they couldn’t make it with just two people, so he was tasked with finding other students to join them. He was able to fill the remaining roles, with his osananajimi Yuuka doing the voices and kouhai Uguisu in charge of the art. Thus, the game research group was born. With such a collection of troublemakers, would they be able to successfully develop a game and make money off it?

This fully-voiced title is created by the team of Tanaka Romeo and Matsuryuu, which worked on the famed CROSS†CHANNEL. There’s some really funny parts that got me to laugh unlike other games, but at times it just felt like a revolving door of otaku references and in-jokes, which feel like pandering to the expected audience. The characters are rather cookie cutter and I would’ve expected something better. I had high hopes before playing the trial, but I’ve been disappointed with the trial and most likely won’t end up playing it when it comes out. Maybe I’ll just watch the rest of the anime.

This entire series is basically the result of Minato being too successful. After success comes the pressure to repeat it. This usually leads to playing it as safe as possible so as not to alienate their existing fanbase. Sadly this then leads to mediocre games. As Micchi said the characters are boring and the jokes aren’t funny especially since their nature relies on the reader knowing the references. Although just the plot itself was forced and obviously half assed, it’s worse when the writing is unable to properly follow it up. Games like this can only really be popular with what are essentially weebs more interested in a spot the otaku reference circle jerk than a quality product.

Tengokuhime 2 ~Haken Soudatsu, Gen’you no Shousei~

Company: げーせん18 (Gesen18)
Game site: 天極姫2 ～覇権争奪、幻妖の将星～
Release date: March 25, 2016
Comments:
Everyone lives happily in the paradise Venard, where there is no fighting nor starvation. Generation after generation, the king governs the paradise by following the divine messages in the ‘Book of Prophecies’. However, one day these messages stopped appearing and strange beings appeared from a distortion in the space-time continuum. With strife breaking out in various areas, the king decided to use a secret art which had been passed down the Imperial family. In exchange for his life, the new rulers would be summoned to govern Venard. With that, he disappeared without a trace. What will become of this world?

This title uses Sengokuhime5 and Sangokuhime4 as the base. We can pretty much ignore the plot since it’s just an easy way of getting the generals from Sengoku and Sangoku into the same place. There’s four factions who fight amongst each other, while also having to deal with the youkai which appeared. It’s still a real-time strategy game during the battle phase, but the governing phase is turn-based. There are H scenes for every female general. I guess it’s more of the same for Sengoku/Sangoku buffs.

The Gesen18 game take number whatever we are up to now.

Koi to Koisuru Utopia

Company: らぶまてぃっく (Lovematic)
Game site: 恋と恋するユートピア
Release date: March 25, 2016 Delayed to May 27, 2016
Comments:
This is the debut work for Lovematic. Kureha Gakuen, also known as the ‘outdoor baths school’, was formed just last year by the merger of a boys’ school and a girls’ school. The school administration was concerned that the boys and girls were not getting along well, so they decided to create the ‘intergender relations normalization committee’. Kazuya was enlisted into the committee, along with his osananajimi Kaho, class rep Yukina and enthusiastic classmate Nanao, each of whom had a different view on the matter. He figured that since he didn’t have any experience with love relationships himself, it would be best to get closer to the girls.

It’s not often that you see Peko doing a non-yuri title. That alone makes me want to play it. But I do have to wonder what’s the purpose of three sizes on the character page when they don’t match the drawings? I’m pretty sure those aren’t 75.

These days the whole school merger is the generic cop out plot. Sadly I cannot think of any off the top of my head that have actually made an even halfway decent game of it. So here we have a game boldly declaring their intent to continue such a trend. Just another fodder game that exists to keep me away from games I want to play for another five minutes. Which I may add is five minutes more than they spent deciding on which eroge template they wanted to use for their epic saga of fill in the blanks.

You’ll be pleased to know there’s more school merger games next month!

I propose a merger of blank space where the green garden of school mergers normally go.

Micchi’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Maitetsu
2. Otome ga Irodoru Koi no Essence
3. Toki o Tsumugu Yakusoku

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. M
2. M
3. O

All aboard the loli trains!

I hope your train derails, both out of pedo spite and so April is delayed as long as possible for the sake of my MMO time.

No way, you’re doing your part so I can play my MMO.

BUT! Onii-chan’s are supposed to spoil their imoutos~