April 2016 Eroge Releases

The new D.C. is here! CIRCUS starts down a new (similar) path with D.S. -Dal Segno-, while the staff from Himawari returns for FrontWing’s all-ages title ISLAND. MadoSoft’s love comedy Wagamama High Spec also comes out this month in case the anime piqued your interest. My interest is completely in Tinkle Position’s Onii-chan, Kiss no Junbi wa Mada Desu ka?! My body is 100% ready!

A fairly busy month with lots to choose from and yet only a few worth choosing at all.

Tsui Yuri ~Okaa-san ni wa Naisho da yo~

Company: eye★phon
Game site: つい・ゆり ～おかあさんにはナイショだよ～
Release date: April 22, 2016
Comments:
The serious and slightly stubborn Ichika and friendly and childish Futaba are a pair of twins who get along so well that it’s sometimes embarrassing for their family and friends. They would always be together doing anything or going anywhere since they were kids. This didn’t change one bit even as they grew up and their personalities and tastes differed. Not a single day would pass without seeing the reliable Ichika taking care of the doting Futaba.

However one day, their mother, who was worried about them being too dependent on one another, warned them they would not be together forever no matter how well they got along. After hearing those words, Ichika and Futaba’s relationship began to gradually change into one more than just siblings and family.

As you can probably tell from the title and synopsis, this is a yuri title. This is the package release date, as the download version already came out last month. Actually, it was first announced back in 2013, but went into hiatus for 3 years. Mmm yuri twincest… Siblings are a wonderful thing.

Yuri.

Natsu Uso -Ahead of the reminiscence-

Company: Campus
Game site: ナツウソ -Ahead of the reminiscence-
Release date: April 22, 2016
Comments:
This is the second game in Campus’s low-priced Uso series. There are many types of lies and everyone has their own reasons to lie. It could be to protect, to deny, to misrepresent, or to keep things unchanged. Souichirou can tell if someone is lying, even if he doesn’t know the specific reason. He gained this ability from a magician one day after wishing to know ‘true feelings’. In exchange, he requires magic power from fulfilling magic contracts, under the guise of the ‘Neko no Te Bu’ (cat’s hand club) at Mahoshi Gakuen. As a result, he became known as the school’s top troublemaker.

Souichirou first met his kouhai Aoi last summer when she was dispatched to inspect his ‘Neko no Te Bu’ club and she watched him with hostile eyes. In the year since then, they had gotten closer and then moved apart from one another. Now, after many twists and turns, the club has got a new member and the days were rambunctious as ever.

Then one day, he woke up and found himself in a room which he had visited once a year ago. When he tried to recall what happened the night before, he got an intense headache. Sleeping next to him was the girl who always verbally abused him. Moreover, she was totally naked for some reason.

While the characters are the same as Haru Uso, the story is completely different (think of it as parallel worlds). I’ve been waiting for this game ever since I met Aoi-chan in the previous game! She’s definitely not honest with her feelings and the protagonist’s lie detecting skill would come in quite handy here. Did I mention that she’s voiced by Natsuno Koori? The trial had some interesting developments (regarding their past relationship) and the H scenes were so good. Come with me, Aoi-chan! Hau~ omochikaeri~!

Not as clever feeling as the first game. As this time it is setup to rely entirely on a gimmick in such an obvious way that all subtlety is lost. Furthermore it enhances relying on the character to drive everything rather than the story plot and setting. Even when the character is good that is a recipe for disaster. In this case however little miss tsunderella’s midnight magic is dispelled too easily. A sneer here, a snide remark there, the glance of death in between and we have the bare naked punchline that she secretly likes him waiting to be delivered. And so, we wait, and we wait, and we wait some more knowing what is going to happen years before it does. Oh no Mr. Lie detector here can see through the most common character archtype since the dawn of romantic comedy, what a shocking surprise. If only the audience could have been clever detectives and picked up on that sooner, how well hidden it was. Of course given there is a single kouhai heroine we know the panties are striped from the start. But at least bait us with something so we don’t have the horrible feeling of deja vu with every single line.

Kouhais have more than shimapan in their wardrobe. Always that shoubu pantsu for that special occasion!

Which are just striped panties of a different color….

D.S. -Dal Segno-

Company: CIRCUS
Game site: D.S. -Dal Segno-
Release date: April 28, 2016
Comments:
The star-shaped island of Kazanajima is like a paradise with its comfortable and refreshing summer climate. Atsuya came to the island to attend the boarding school Kazana Gakuen. He was greeted by the floating ‘fairy of luck’ and paradise maintenance manager, humanoid AI Ame, who guided him to the dormitory. He would soon meet many girls at the school and dormitory:

Classmate Himari, who looks like an idol but is actually a lonely free spirit.
Student council leader Hazuki, who is flawless in looks and grades.
Chuunibyou Io, who calls herself the ‘daughter of the demon king’.
Cousin Noeri, who is in her rebellious age and apt to do more than she can.
And finally, the AI Ame, who exists to bring happiness to everyone.

What kind of happiness will come to Atsuya in this paradise where misfortune befalls no one? A new love begins here…

It’s a new series from CIRCUS! Yes, I know that it is extremely similar to D.C., down to the musical title and a Suginami-like character in Tsujitani, but maybe this spells the end of one of the longest eroge series behind Rance? I’m not so sure I’m ready to invest another dozen or so years, but I’ll likely still play the first one. CIRCUS has nailed down the chara-ge formula and I’m interested in all the heroines. At this point, I don’t even question that there’s an AI who’s merely a hologram. I trust that somehow she will end up in my bed. While Io and Ame are good choices, I have to go with the cousin Noeri, who takes over the imouto position from his true imouto Mei (who probably will make an appearance later on). Then I will have TWO imoutos. Hau~ omochikaeri~!

Da Capo by any other name. Given that DC the third coming was far from the hit Circus had hoped to milk for the next ten odd years they seem to have decided that the problem was drumroll please… the title. So we get instead of Da Capo, Dal Segno. With a distinctly unique title we are able to instantly feel this is clearly a completely different game.

Sure the secret to DC was something simple, the characters. Afterall no one would really be able to argue that the storyline or setting were well done in any way shape or form. So what made it an enduring series for so long? Well thought out pacing and a bit of mystery. Each character had their own personality archetype which was nothing special. Yet what made them special and the game worth playing is that each character had some backstory element to bait the reader in. While playing you found yourself wanting to know why maiden likes tree so much, dream is useless, or summer is actually winter. Thanks to the constant baiting; dangling those luscious morsels of character development in front of us they were able to keep that series going for an eternity.

On the other hand the wishes and somewhat nonsensical setting, such as the random tsun boob toaster, did detract from the merits. So what do they decide to do with new games? Generic eroge with another nonsense setting and all the tools they need to deus ex machina their way through the now holographic toaster panties. Since the end of DC you sure have been batting a thousand Circus. Maybe like Giga Circus is or possibly soon to be was, a one trick pony.

If CIRCUS is a one trick pony, what does that make TYPE-MOON?

A two trick pony.

ISLAND

Company: フロントウイング (FrontWing)
Game site: ISLAND
Release date: April 28, 2016
Comments:
This is an all-ages title by FrontWing. The island of Urashima is located far away from the mainland. While it is like a paradise rich in nature, it has been suffering a slow decline due to its complicated past over the past five years: discord with the mainland due to the local disease ‘baimonbyou’ (soot crest disease), the abandoned marine station, a trio of attacks on the ‘three great families’, rumours of the kids being spirited away, and a legend which had been orally passed down through generations.

The keys to saving the island are three girls from the three great families, Karen, Sara and Rinne, but they did not have the power at that time to change its future. Then, a young man Setsuna washed up on the island. He claimed that he came from the future and led the charge to change the future, while not giving a damn to any of the island’s traditions. He was confident that everything will be fine with him here, but he had an ulterior motive. Will he alone be able to change the futures of the three girls, the island, and the world?

The illustrator and writer from Himawari, Kuuchuu Yousai and Goo, are collaborating once again on this title. So it kind of makes sense that this is an all-ages title. It’s not really a must for me to have H scenes in a game (there’s always nukige for that), so I’m interested in how the story will unfold here. Will they be able to save the island? Come to think of it, wouldn’t this make a better anime adaptation than a typical love comedy? Oh hey, they are making one!

Is a place I wouldn’t want to be. Oh Frontwing, Frontwing, Frontwing. What am I to do with you? A single poorly made series manages to win the lottery and you spend it all on more lottery tickets. A wise investment if I do say so myself. Surely one of the new games they throw at us will be a winner! God I hope it is not Island though. As bad as it was to see Hatsumira suffering from the same writing issues which plagued Grisaia, at least the setting and characters meshed, giving it a leg up on Grisaia.

Island on the other hand is just a train wreck of lackluster insanity. Everything is pretty arbitrary and already decided. Nothing is really new just a collage of ideas slapped together since people were dumb enough to not care for Grisaia why should they care now, right? Nothing like being given the problem and the answer at the start only to have to sift through the work in the middle. All of which combines to form the main issue, why? Why do I want to know what happens on the island, why are the girls of the three families so important, why people are disappearing, and why is stupid Eustia gimmick disease isolated to this island? The sad truth of it is, I don’t care about why. None of the questions that are there to bait the reader are interesting. Each element is only there out of a token attempt at story.

What they should have done instead? Simple. Three houses make up the governing body of the island, and compete over resources among their factions. Protagonist is either some developer there to build a resort or hotel and has to choose which area. Or he moved there for something like medical reasons or just to get away from a previous life. Let the reader act as a mediator or fan the flames. Build on the setting and characters. So some area is closed, maybe the protagonist who is not part of a faction takes it over and rebuilds that area as a neutral zone for people. The point being all these random gimmicks do nothing but weaken the story, the characters, and even the setting. Sometimes simple is best.

Shimapan is simple…

Not as simple as a flat color. So once again, simple would be best.

PURELY×CATION

Company: hibiki works
Game site: PURELY×CATION
Release date: April 28, 2016
Comments:
This is the latest in hibiki works’ CATION series, with art by Nanaroba Hana. Spring is in full bloom in Asahama, a town reminiscent of old Japan. Hibiki found himself moving here due to his parents’ transfer for work. While it was his first time living alone, he was able to make friends and get familiar with his surroundings pretty quickly. Everything was smooth sailing, but he felt like there was something missing in his life. In the middle of his youth which only comes once in a lifetime, his first love may be just around the corner.

Most of the system is the same, with E-mote sprites, the ‘lovely call’ system and the addition of more bonuses and a simpler affection system. While the change in scenario writer to Orugouru is good, I’m not sure if the way the system is set up allows for a cohesive story aside from a string of ichaicha moments. I was also a bit disappointed with the art; some of the perspectives were odd (such as the piano), while the colouring fails to add depth to the drawings. It feels like the series has declined since LOVELY×CATION2.

An attempt at selling generic under the Purely Cation brand. Though I really have to ask why would he move by himself when his parents transferred for work? Shouldn’t he have either stayed where he was, or moved with them? Likewise if it was a high school he planned to attend regardless then the moving bit was irrelevant? Apparently these days a family moving means everyone scatters like roaches.

Purely Marriage ~Akai Ito Monogatari Madoka-hen~

Company: Lass Pixy
Game site: Pure Marriage ～赤い糸物語 まどか編～
Release date: April 28, 2016 Delayed to May 27, 2016
Comments:
This is the first title by Lass Pixy, one of three low-priced titles, each focused on a different heroine. Touma has reached a critical turning point of his life. He was asked to marry the daughter of the richest family in town, Serika, after incidentally saving her life. After hearing that he had become Serika’s fiancé, his osananajimi Madoka and imouto Sakura also declared themselves as their fiancées. While they are all very important to him, he can only choose one of them as his bride and they each pressed to be chosen while hiding their real intentions secret.

This is the first of three low-priced titles, each focused on a different heroine. The games are very affordable at only 1480 yen apiece, while still maintaining good production values. There’s no harm in trying it out.

Purity being the theme yet again apparently, I will be as pure and honest as I can while saying you pay for what you get.

WIZARD LINKS

Company: 筆柿そふと (Fudegaki Soft)
Game site: WIZARD LINKS
Release date: April 28, 2016 Delayed to May 27, 2016
Comments:
Hikaru is a normal student, who lives with her parents and younger brother. One day, she had a shocking encounter with a strange girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, Elena, who was a magician who had been sent to hunt ‘devils’. Hikaru’s daily life greatly changed as she was dragged into their intense battles.

I’m waiting for the inevitable defeats and resulting H scenes. The succubus is pretty cute.

You can tell this is not a game focused on younger Sisters because Micchi wrote about as much as I do when it is. Not that I feel any differently because the game sucks, but my point remains mostly valid.

Anata o Otoko ni Shite Ageru!

Company: チュアブルソフト (Chuable Soft)
Game site: あなたをオトコにしてあげる！
Release date: April 28, 2016
Comments:
Toushirou found himself in Nanohana Gakuen’s best couple contest even though he didn’t have a girlfriend. It was so that the name of their “Wednesday club” would be etched in the school’s history on the winner’s trophy displayed in the showcase at the school entrance. The four girls in the club decide to train him to become a better man, while also advancing their relationship with him to improve their chances of becoming his partner. Will they be able to win the contest and who will he choose as his ‘girlfriend’?

A pretty light romance comedy with an interesting cast of opponents in the best couple contest (coupcon). They includes twins, a yuri couple, and an engineer and robot duo. Out of the four girls, I like osananajimi Itsuki the most. I’m hoping for plenty of NIYANIYA moments!

Go wacky or go home Chuable. Sure the opponents work, but the protagonist and heroines need to match it better.

Onii-chan, Kiss no Junbi wa Mada Desu ka?

Company: Tinkle Position
Game site: お兄ちゃん、キッスの準備はまだですか？
Release date: April 28, 2016
Comments:
This is the debut work for Tinkle Position. The Seguchi family has a very peculiar house rule. Possibly influenced by their mother who kisses practically everyone, all four of the imoutos yearn for kisses from their onii-chan for practically everything. Of course, there would be kisses for leaving and sleeping, but it would be wanted even for phone calls and going to the washroom.

However, one day, he moved out of the house to concentrate on his studies. His imoutos would bring him midnight snacks every day, but there was an argument over who would be the one to do it. So, they decided to add a new house rule: the one who kisses onii-chan the most during the day will be responsible for bringing him the midnight snack!

If you’re thinking that it looks a Galette game, you’re right since essentially the same team from the Onii-chan series is working on this game, including the illustrator K-ko, scenario writer Azumabito and director Chata. When the imoutos ask for a kiss, you can click the mouse and they will give you a kiss. I remember pressing the screen at Denkigai way too many times for this. No regrets at all.

There’s no way that an imouto lover like me can not play this game! IMOUTO KISS! IMOUTO CHUU! COME TO ME, SWEET IMOUTO LIPS!!!!!!!

Okay I will stop, take a deep breath and pretend the whole imouto archetype is not irritating for just a moment. Aaaand ready.

Problem. Why are they cheapening the process by making the entire premise some pre caught sister frenzy? If you absolutely must keep to this theme make it so they used to mimic their mother when they were younger and kiss each other. So far so good little kids not knowing what they are doing is cute. As they grew he started to avoid them as logical brothers would. Still good. If you must have total bracon siblings, then spice it up, make it so the concept is to stealth the kisses when he isn’t paying attention. Say while sleeping, or on roofies, or after being hit in the head with a hammer . While he is unaware let the perspective shift and options there decide who wins. As is there is no weight to the characters or decisions. It is just a “Pick the younger sister you want to see H scenes with” simulator. Boring. Develop your characters a bit. I mean I know younger sisters aren’t real characters, but its fiction pretend they are.

Deep Breath over. Stupid imouto gimmick.

Kono Koi, Seishun ni Yori.

Company: MORE
Game site: この恋、青春により。
Release date: April 28, 2016
Comments:
Spring has come once more to Sakuraba Gakuen and the students pass through the school gates with new hopes.

Ace pitcher Tatsuya wishes to make the nationals after falling short last year.
Class rep Chiharu wishes to change herself by revealing her hidden feelings.
Osananajimi and manager Kyouko wishes to go to the nationals together with him.
Loafing classmate Nao wishes to graduate as soon as possible.
Top student Rin shoulders the expectations of everyone around her.

As third year students, it was their final year at the school. What lies ahead for them? There will probably be both moments of happiness and sadness, but they will be able to one day look back fondly at their youth.

Ahh, what better to tell a story about youth than baseball and love? These type of stories are usually rather satisfying for me to read, even if they’re pretty much just packed full of clichés (field trips, beaches, courage tests, love triangles, etc). However, the trial for this one fell way short of expectations. The dialogue is badly written, with not much direction, and all the while I had to read it in what must be the Japanese equivalent of Comic Sans. There were also problems with the perspectives (they’re not farther away when you just shrink their sprite at the same spot) and the monotony of some BGMs. At least the OP is not that bad, but I’ll be passing on this.

The story of pitcher looking for a catcher. That is all really. Plot wise there is nothing of substance to build from, heroine wise nothing new. To make matters worse the general polish of the little things is completely lacking. There’s a guide on how to do this type of story right called Natsu no Ame, More I suggest you peruse it first next time.

Nama Love

Company: oct works
Game site: なまラブ
Release date: April 28, 2016
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from March. 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

LILYCLE Rainbow Stage!!!

Company: PARTICLE
Game site: りりくる Rainbow Stage!!!
Release date: April 28, 2016
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from March. 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.

Wizards Complex

Company: ういんどみるOasis (Windmill Oasis)
Game site: ウィザーズコンプレックス
Release date: April 28, 2016
Comments:
It’s already been several years since it was confirmed that witches existed around the world. Magic has become part of everyday life, and it was common knowledge that only women can use magic.

However, this no longer held true when a single boy was found to possess magic abilities. This boy, Aoi, was invited to attend the Mikuni Academy for Witches. It was a peculiar school where the students were separated into two groups: the East Tower housed domestic students, while the international students occupied the West Tower. Each tower was governed by its own student council.

He was initially nervous being the only male student, but he quickly got along with the others. He was expecting a bright and enjoyable school life. Then, he and his classmates were forcefully enlisted as the new student council members for the east tower, and were thrust into a series of magic competitions between the two student councils. They must protect the honour of their tower, but there was one problem: he couldn’t use magic at all.

The plot sounds awfully like many other magic school titles with a protagonist with great hidden powers and a gender ratio bordering on infinity. However, Windmill makes it somewhat fun to read thanks to the comedic parts, and I got through the trial in no time. The main thing that bothered me was Honoka’s “C’est super!”, which doesn’t sound right at all. Just don’t expect the story to be as intricate as Witch’s Garden. In fact, the scenario writers haven’t even worked on any of their previous titles. You might want to check out the trial to see if it’s up your alley.

More wizards this month. Also more molding stories around what has to be the worst setting template of our times. This whole lone guy being the only male in the world with powers or magic or mecha panties has got to go. It is essentially a built in deus ex harem mechanic with logic that amounts to “A wizard did it”. You know they could have used the eastern vs western tower thing by making one for men and one for women. Or failing that at the very least make him a trap. But no. Instead we get lone guy thrown to the hordes of ravenous female wolves intent on ripping his clothes off to have their way with him. Why even bother with choices?

Tarareba ~as in What If stories~

Company: Aries
Game site: タラレバ ～as in What if stories～
Release date: April 28, 2016 Delayed to May 27, 2016
Comments:
Aside from possessing relatively useless psychic powers, Kanata is a normal guy who is engrossed with reminiscing about his days as a student while running away from reality. One day while at his part-time job, a mysterious girl suddenly appeared before him.

“Your constant delusions about the past – I can hear them all.
If you really want to go back that much, I will send you there.
However, don’t come back with any regrets.”

The next time he opened his eyes, he was back in his house eight years ago. With the help of another mysterious girl Thea, he got the chance to live the school life which he so longed for. He didn’t have any fond memories from back then, so he resolved to redo it this time and leave with no regrets.

The title comes from the combination of two conditional suffixes ‘tara’ and ‘reba’, signifying regret on the part of the protagonist. The story is written by Yoshii Hajime and Sama Yuuma, both of whom worked on Scramble Lovers. An interesting tidbit to note is that Thea can only be seen by Kanata and Hein, the girl who had sent him back in time. I’d love to go back to my school days, although not necessarily redoing everything since I do have fond memories myself. It’s enjoyable to reflect upon them especially when as an adult, you’re pretty much stuck in a daily work routine. Then again, if there was a girl like Thea waiting for me… I think I might want to go back.

Aries really should have watched The Butterfly Effect as it may have helped them appear competent. Next.

They could also have played the ISLAND trial, which explained the same thing.

Boku no ×× wa Ryousei-tachi no Tokken Desu!

Company: Carol Works
Game site: ボクの××は寮生たちの特権です！
Release date: April 28, 2016
Comments:
When Akira heard that his aunt who had looked after him as a child was in critical condition, he hurried to her home. But she was actually just feigning illness to force him to take over her job as the dorm mother of the girls’ dormitory while she went abroad for a vacation. Although he refused the position since he is not good with girls, he was made to take it due to his feminine looks. That’s how he ended up as the dormitory mother at the sports-specializing girls’ school Saint Feyless, while dressing up as a girl.

However, his secret came out almost immediately and he became a toy for the girls, who were full of curiosity. Luckily, it was only the girls who lived at the dormitory who knew about his true identity and he was able to carry on normally outside. Thus begins his dual life as a sweet dependable dorm mother by day, and the girls’ plaything by night.

Akira looks like a girl and sounds like a girl. Hell, he even acts like a girl and gets bosses around easily. You know you’d love this, you do-Ms. Since it’s a sports-centric school, all the heroines are part of a team with their own uniform. I always prefer cheerleader and tennis outfits!

Makes total sense in every way for this to happen. Not that I really care as sure it is as fictional as bracon brats. The problem is just how little effort was put into developing the setting we find our characters in. By doing so properly the heroines become more attractive, and the protagonist is more relatable. Not hard to add in a simple modifier like him going to school nearby and thus living with his aunt. Just that tiny change into how the story plays out lets the reader ease into things with a better grasp on what is going on. Said aunt can then leave later on without the whole thing feeling like a rush to heroines and H scenes.

Wagamama High Spec

Company: まどそふと (MadoSoft)
Game site: ワガママハイスペック
Release date: April 28, 2016
Comments:
Despite being a student, Kouki is a manga author whose work is serialized in a weekly magazine. Since it’s a quite naughty love comedy, no one except his imouto Toa and her friend Mihiro knows about it.

One day, he found out by pure coincidence that the student council leader Kaoruko was the illustrator for his manga. She had been looking for a male student to help out with the student council, so he ended up joining her, on condition that his involvement with the manga was kept a secret. However, the overly serious deputy leader Ashe, oblivious to his situation, was vehemently opposed to his induction. Meanwhile, there were many requests and problems coming from the students…

MadoSoft’s latest game comes out on the heels of the anime adaptation, which starts at the beginning of April (even though I don’t get why they’re getting one at all…). It’s a pretty standard icharabu comedy with Clochette-level balloons and lewdness. I’m also a fan of Nanateru’s SDs. Toa’s personality is very much like Anzu, with little drive to do anything. As someone who also considers sunlight as an enemy, I really understand how she feels. I’d spend my days playing eroge and MMOs, with Lewd Pink a kouhai visiting me every now and then. That would be bliss!

Yet another protagonist roped into some club filled with heroines on top of a generic high school romance.

Sankaiou no Yubiwa

Company: エウシュリー (Eushully)
Game site: 珊海王の円環
Release date: April 28, 2016
Comments:
In the west-central region of Lunoche of the Raulbhach continent, there’s a legend of a great pirate who hoarded up many treasures, defeated demons by himself, vanquished other pirates and established a nation. His name was Gautherio Bonezzi, the greatest ruler of the seas who achieved everything that he desired. However, that was not the end of the tale about the “King of the Coral Sea”. Several hundred years later, he appeared once more on a ghost ship, proclaiming that he would grant an audience to the one who gathered all six rings to prove their worthiness and fulfill their wishes.

It seemed like just an old tale that could be passed off as a bedtime story, but then there were reported sightings of a ghost ship out at sea. Excited that the legend is indeed true, people began to battle with one another to collect the rings before the great king disappears again.

The selling point for the latest Eushully SLG is that you can start off as one of six different characters: the pirate Aritz, magician Sonya, cursed angel Agnes, half-succubus Raphaela, vampire Arvid, and merchant lord Borja. Each of them has their own difficulty level, unit type, playstyle and H scenes. There may also be extras if you clear the game with all six characters.

Before you attack others to take their rings, you have to collect resources and build up your armies. The map is pretty huge, with over 400 land and sea locations. The resources you collect are not safe until you bring them back to your flagship, subject to attacks from your rivals or maybe even something more dangerous.

The battle part itself is automated with maximum of 6 units on the field per side. You just need to decide which units to use, and assign the basic tactics and formations, although you can also use magic to alter the course of battle. Each unit is formed of up to 9 persons, with stronger units consisting of fewer people. There’s a lot more intricacies which I will allow you to find out more when you play.

Eushully always very involved systems and this one is no exception. With the selection of six protagonists, this would considerably extend the already long playtime. I hope that there’s enough differences among them so that it doesn’t get repetitive. If I were to play, I’d only play with the loli magician.

Oh Eushully, I want to like your games as you do have some good ideas. But the sheer tedium of playing them gets to me. In this case a full RTS with expanding maps along the lines of Supreme Commander, or a turn based hybrid like the Total War series would have served this game better. As much as I liked Ogre Battle, in this day and age the system is primitive. At least with the different faction concept there is more of a reason to replay the game, I hope at least. Nothing about their games was worse for me than when replaying the same tedious gameplay just for new routes.

Story wise its just One Piece meets eroge, nothing to see here really.

I will still play the game for both nostalgia and hope that the few good ideas they have here pan out.

OP + game system

Chuuni Hime no Teikoku

Company: ウシミツソフト (Ushimitsu Soft)
Game site: 厨二姫の帝国
Release date: April 28, 2016 Delayed to July 29, 2016
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from January. This is the first title by Ushimitsu Soft. Behind the skyscrapers which rise like castles in the old downtown area of the 23-ward Galapagos lies a remodelled love hotel, inside of which lives a self-proclaimed princess from another world, along with her guardian knight and personal maid. In reality, they are actually a gamer addict, a light novel author and a elf cosplayer. The protagonist inherited the management duties for this building from his mother and signed an extremely suspicious leasing contract, triggering the princess’s ability and making him her ‘hero’. He must now begin a chuuni life with new abilities outside of his control.

Chuuni stories really make no sense. There’s also his osananajimi Suzuka, who’s also conveniently a chuuni who wears around a cape all day (even in the summer). The princess is really cute though. It’s not my job to cure hikikomoris, but I’ll gladly bring her home with me. Or maybe play games with her. Or take her home with me and play games with her. That sounds like a plan.

A dragon came and ate everyone, the end.

I’m assuming that you are the dragon and ‘ate everyone’ is a metaphor.

You know for these times when your way of thinking shines like a beacon in the night I think of the words a wiseman once said: “Oniichan no sukebe!”

Sengoku†Koihime X ~Otome Kenran Sengoku Emaki~

Company: BaseSon
Game site: 戦国†恋姫X ～乙女絢爛☆戦国絵巻～
Release date: April 28, 2016
Comments:
This is the 18+ version of BaseSon’s Sengoku†Koihime with almost double the scenarios and CGs. There’s new characters and routes, with the Houjou route being accessible after finishing the main story. I was surprised when the original game first came out and it was all-ages. Well, this should be a wonderful treat for those who have waiting for it (and I know at least one person who is crazed for it). Enjoy!

Baseon is out Circusing Circus. Bait them with all ages, make them pay again for ero. Otherwise just another Baseon game though. Which of course means too many heroines and too little development.

PV

Koi to Mahou to Kanrinin ~Unmei no Haguruma-hen~

Company: Prometheus
Game site: 恋と魔法と管理人 ～運命の歯車編～
Release date: April 28, 2016 Delayed to June 24, 2016
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from February. This is the second mid-priced game for Koi to Mahou to Kanrinin, focusing on Kasumi and Hisano. Takeru has been the dorm manager at Hazuki Gakuen since the beginning of the school term. When his osananajimi Kasumi and transfer student Hisano found out about this, they also moved in to the dorm and it became very rowdy every day. He had remained distant to others due to his self-hatred of his innate ability, but he gradually started to treat the girls living in the dorm like family. However, they had feelings for him and became anxious after realizing that he didn’t see them as anything more than family. At that time, a cute girl appeared from a book inside a small shrine in the backyard…

Similar to the first game, there’s a relatively typical eroge setting being described in the synopsis and then thrown some completely unrelated event at the end. I don’t mind mysterious cute girls, but wouldn’t just having the girls be more aggressive for his love be enough? As always from this staff, I’m not expecting much from this title.

When Micchi doesn’t expect much from a story there is nothing I can say that would be worse.

Pre-PV

Micchi’s Top 6 for This Month

1. Onii-chan, Kiss no Junbi wa Mada Desu ka?
2. D.S. -Dal Segno-
3. Natsu Uso -Ahead of the reminiscence-
4. Wagamama High Spec
5. ISLAND
6. Wizards Complex

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Sankaiou no Yubiwa
2. Sengoku†Koihime X ~Otome Kenran Sengoku Emaki~
3. No.

The new cash cow has arrived!

And left after dropping you a present, all yours Micchi.