November 2016 Eroge Releases

A pretty short list of games, but it’s still much better than last month. Look beyond the beautiful exterior in SWEET&TEA’s Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana. There’s even more lies in Studio Ryokucha’s Natsuiro Koi Uta and Campus’ Aki Uso -The only neat thing to do-. If you’re looking for some straight-up slapstick comedy, ASa Project’s Suki to Suki to de Sankaku Ren’ai should fit the bill.

Good month by modern standards. Sure all the best games are essentially pretty generic in concept, but compared to the majority of games these days I’ll not look a gift horse in the mouth. Point being nothing groundbreaking or special, but should be plenty of solid enjoyable eroge to play this month.

Low Spec!? ~Ore to Kanojo to Seikyouiku!~

Company: はむはむソフト (HamHamSoft)
Game site: Lowすぺっく!? ～オレと年下妹（カノジョ）とせいきょーいく！～
Release date: November 25, 2016
Comments:
Reiji is the acting manager of the Shidou cram school and also acts as the guardian for its students. As their ‘onii-chan’, he looks after his imouto Riina, his best friend’s imouto Miko and close sisters Hane and Sora. However, they grow cuter and more ladylike day by day, unintentionally arousing him to his limit. Will he be able to keep his hands off them or will their innocent temptations be too much to resist?

This is the latest and last title in HamHamSoft’s SLG (semi-little girl) series. The cram school is basically his home and he’s essentially babysitting a bunch of kids. HamHamSoft likes adding a bunch of mini systems, like the scheduling application, camera mode and pillow talk. The most important addition this time is the SLG study mode, where you can gaze at and touch the SLG who lie on the bed. You can also make requests which effect the H scenes in the game. There’s also a imouto conquest rock-paper-scissors mini card game which was a good waste of half an hour. This is the loli-ge of the month. Hurray!

A suggestion for anyone who finds this game remotely appealing. First, go get a car battery, doesn’t matter what kind as long as it is all nice and charged up. Next take some jumper cables, clamp them onto the top nice and tight. After that take a shower and before you dry off attach the other end of the cables to wherever feels most appropriate any time your pedo thoughts come out. Do this enough and you will either be cured, or dead. A win win situation for humanity.

Note: Please do not try this at home.

Unless you’re a pedo.

Yomegami My Sweet Goddess!

Company: ALcot
Game site: よめがみ My Sweet Goddess！
Release date: November 25, 2016
Comments:
Hayato was a transfer student who arrived in New Masado City in the fall. He is the reincarnation of the God of Terror Angolmois who had went on a rampage in the Heavens and was sent to the human world to atone for his sins by doing good deeds. Under the tutelage of his ex-goddess mother Iris, he lives a peaceful life as a upright and earnest young man.

However, the curse of his past brings him many hardships. Upon arriving at his new town, he happened upon Mikoto, the daughter of a yakuza, and accidentally kissed her on the lips. What if the ensuing misunderstandings would cancel out all the good deeds that he had done!?

With the help of Mikoto’s best friend, the meddling class rep Mari, he got the opportunity to apologize to her. But then the innocent dog-eared Riko, who had a connection with Angolmois, attacked him for the dark magic which he still possessed.

Hmm… for some reason the trial didn’t do it for me. Maybe it’s because I felt that the characters and dialogues were too forced to appeal to players or draw a laugh. It did end off with a cliffhanger, not unlike Satsukoi. I guess you would like it more if you wanted something more magical. Mana is a big topic in the game: he has to collect it, but it’s harmful to humans in high doses. It also makes his crotch shine brightly. Riko is like a pet puppy, while Iris is the latest in ALcot’s ‘dame’ series of characters: the da-mama. I never thought I’d hear a mom say that her son’s virginity is reserved for her. Anything is popular in eroge.

For some reason? This “Reason” wouldn’t happen to be because the hateful word “Imouto” is missing in this particular title would it? Naah, Micchi doesn’t care about such things, what was I thinking!

When considering the game itself on its own merits I must say the lack of a little sister is a wonderful thing. Also the entire plot and setting the game is based around is entirely pointless in all ways. The single purpose for his past life is to give the writers something to write about, and a loli mother to abduct into H scenes without feeling guilty.

Which is where the whole problem of the game lies. What is the point of any of it when in the end everything comes down to another generic high school romance. Coming up with some arbitrary backstory that is only unique because most people would realize it was too stupid to write a story around is not a good selling point. Either just make the usual generic game and focus on making it good; Or actively develop your setting away from the damn high school so it has actual relevance to anything.

Imouto is not hate speech. Imouto is love. Imouto is life.

Imouto is illegal.

Aki Uso -The only neat thing to do-

Company: Campus
Game site: アキウソ -The only neat thing to do-
Release date: November 25, 2016
Comments:
This is the third title in Campus’s Uso low-priced series, focusing on Eris. It follows the scenario of what happens at Mahoshi Gakuen if the magic contract didn’t end up in Satsuki’s hands and if Souichirou had protected Aoi from being taken over by the succubus.

Four years ago, Souichirou came upon a girl under a row of maple trees, with boys twice her size sprawled out the ground around her. She had crimson red eyes and radiant golden hair. He realized via his special ability of detecting lies that she was not human. The girl Eris was in fact a vampire, the only daughter of the famous Cartlet family, who had run away from home to escape her parent’s strict rules and an impending arranged marriage.

Now the two of them are really close, having lived together since that fateful meeting. One day, she did not feel well and he took care of her while she recovered. She asks him out of the blue to have sex with her. What is the true meaning behind her request!?

She’s not a slut; it’s a matter of life and death! Eris was pretty cute back then, giving Aoi vibes with her cool demeanour. Now she’s just a NEET-wannabe. However, she does come with her own personal servant, the Kusuhara Yui-voiced Shizuku, who can blatantly lie with a smile. She also is all raburabu with Aoi. Why isn’t Shizuku a heroine!?

I’m not buying it. If anything she should be anemic and want him to be her blood bank. The whole “Sleep with me” thing is just painfully stupid and unnecessary. It ruins the atmosphere and the pacing. After that is brought up I just can’t take such a story seriously, as everything ends up just being an excuse for H scenes.

Well, they do explain the reasoning behind not biting humans (“once you go human, you can’t go back”), although I do have to admit the sudden H request is rather laughable.

Yeah, it’s not that they don’t try and find an excuse, it’s that they created a situation they needed an excuse for in the first place.

Suki to Suki to de Sankaku Ren’ai

Company: ASa Project
Game site: スキとスキとでサンカク恋愛
Release date: November 25, 2016
Comments:
Ever since his father’s remarriage when he was a young child, he has lived with his stepsister Nanaru, while enjoying a happy otaku life with his childhood friend Maho and the rest of the otaku club. However, this everyday calmness was broken with the return of his real imouto Suzu one month before summer vacation. She was pretty much the perfect imouto, and it created an awkward relationship between Suzu and Nanaru. They both strived for his attention, appealing to him with their starkly different hobbies and personalities. As if that wasn’t enough of a problem, his senpai Shiina fell in love with him at first sight and forced her way into the club, causing Maho to start acting oddly as well. Caught up in two triangle relationships at the same time, what will happen to him!?

I’m always game for Asapro titles and this one is no exception. Their common routes are quite funny and I laughed quite a bit during the trial (particularly when Shiina told me exactly which choices to make to get on her route). Nanaru gets most of the funny faces, while Sousuke plays the tsukkomi role. Both imoutos are cute in their own ways, and Shiina is a total pervert (she’s an eroge player after all). Brown-skinned subchara Cara is quite different when she’s dieting…. I’ll probably play this when I want to just mess around and not think at all.

Basic game without gimmicks. I wish more companies would realize that sometimes it is better to just make a game good, than make a game unique. If the reader is unable to enjoy it what is the point? This is why Asa Project games tend to be well received. There is nothing unusual, just characters interacting to drive the plot and comedy. By focusing on parts of the game that matter, they are able to make the entire process of reading fun. Sure they are essentially charage but after so much failure even among charage of late it is nice to see someone is still able to properly pull it off. I’ll take a good charage over a bad any other type of game any day.

Otome ga Irodoru Koi no Essence ~Egao de Orinasu Mirai~

Company: ensemble
Game site: 乙女が彩る恋のエッセンス ～笑顔で織りなす未来～
Release date: November 25, 2016
Comments:
This is the fandisc for Otome ga Irodoru Koi no Essence, with after stories for the five heroines and short episodes for sub-heroines Maori and Yakumo. There’s also a secret episode from the perspective of the principal Kotoe.

Most importantly, we get more Chihiro. Everyone needs more trap protagonists!

Fandisk. I guess they were having trouble coming up with a scenario for their next trap, so we get a fandisk.

Natsuiro Koi Uta

Company: すたじお緑茶 (Studio Ryokucha)
Game site: 夏彩恋唄
Release date: November 25, 2016
Comments:
Kazuma grew up under the strict guidance of his great-grandfather. However, he was labelled as unfit after a childhood illness, and regained his freedom with the subsequent lessening of the controls which had been forced upon him. This strict environment was abolished when his great-grandfather passed away a few years later, and his imouto Ayaka, who had gone to a private girls’ boarding school, returned to live with him. Finally he could enjoy a normal daily life.

However, one day he met Shion, who introduced herself as his fiancée. While sitting in Cafe Luce, run by his osananajimi Hikaru’s family, he found out that his planned marriage was still valid despite his great-grandfather’s passing. It was at that time that his classmate Yuuna, who was nearby, suddenly stood up and proclaimed that she was going out with him. It was a lie to get out of a marriage meeting with an older man whom she had absolutely no interest in. Presented with an opportunity to get out of his own predicament, he played along with her lie. Thus began their new life as a fake couple.

Natsukoi gives the same vibe as Koisora, led by a childish (DT) protagonist who doesn’t hold back when calling girls names. The trial was quite short, but I did like the slightly different intro. There’s an a downloadable append that comes with the pre-order version with an additional raburabu scenario. That means more of the innocent imouto Ayaka! She’s so cute! Hau~ omochikaeri~!

While there is nothing special about the general summary of the game, likewise there is nothing incredibly wrong other than the cliches. The mere fact it is a Studio Ryokucha game makes me eye it with great suspicion. I worry that much like KoiSora everything will randomly fly off the rails and turn into complete nonsense for no good reason. On the other hand if they have finally mastered the generic eroge then it may actually be worth playing. Much like the Asa Project game above, if you can’t write about anything more than the generic eroge template, don’t try to force it. Here’s hoping they learned from their past mistakes and will finally make a game with a solid foundation for their characters.

I know one thing for sure: they’ve nailed the imouto archetype to a T.

It’s not exactly pin the tail on the donkey levels of difficulty. Only real choice in the matter is Onii chan, Nii san, or Aniki. Takes more effort to get it wrong than right these days.

Gakkou no Seiiki

Company: feng
Game site: 学校のセイイキ
Release date: November 25, 2016
Comments:
This is the third game in feng’s Seiiki series, this time with two heroines instead of just one. Youhei’s older sister Yaeka is his homeroom teacher. She looks dignified as a teacher, and is very popular amongst the students. However, she’s always drunk at home and leads a very loose private life.

His classmate Maika is a transfer student who is into all things Akiba. She always invites him after school to go walk around Akiba. He’s gotten used to seeing her with a grilled squid in one hand and buying up doujinshi and doujin games.

This daily life, which he thought would continue forever, changed completely when rumours spread that Maika would be suddenly called back to her home country. Youhei and Yaeka try their best to help her remain in Japan.

For a low-price game (3000 yen), you get two heroines! You even get to choose between small and big! Does this mean feng can go back to making a full game now?

I wouldn’t be asking Feng to make a full priced game so soon. Might get what you asked for in the form of another Hoshikaka.

Anyway send Maika back, no one wants her anyway. Yaeka is so much better. Only one heroine needed this time, why make the production take longer and waste our time with a pointless extra?

Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana

Company: SWEET&TEA
Game site: 枯れない世界と終わる花
Release date: November 25, 2016
Comments:
This is the first title by SWEET&TEA, a new sub-brand in the CLEARRAVE group. Shou and Ren arrived at a beautiful town full of colourful flowers. They met the three sisters Haru, Kotose and Yukina, who run the cafe “Famille”, and he starts working there in exchange for a bed to sleep in.

In the middle of the night, Shou follows Haru far away from the town to a hill covered with flowers as far as the eye could see. He watched as a little girl whom Haru was embracing turned into a flower under the large moonlit tree. She noticed his presence and smiled lonesomely while looking fondly at the beautiful flowers in full bloom.

“I have survived up till now in this world by doing this. But I still want to continue living… even if it’s in exchange for other people’s lives.”

Shou looked up at the petals which fluttered down and responded:

“No matter what this world forces upon you, no matter how many people won’t forgive you… I’ll still pray for this world to end.”

It’s no surprise that a game from a new brand affiliated with Palette would have beautiful graphics and a stellar cast. The scenario by Yukihito seems interesting, with a fantasy world whose beauty belies its melancholic side. There’s a lot of questions raised from the trial: most importantly the identities of Shou and Ren, who appeared in the middle of the flowers, as well as the sister who Shou sees sleeping in the rundown church.

In terms of the characters, I really like Ren’s mannerisms (almost like your daughter!), and of course I have to mention the cheerful Yukina, voiced by none other than Agumi Oto. She’s not the protagonist’s imouto, but still an imouto none the less. Nishishi!

Color me intrigued. Anyone getting rid of annoying children is all right in my book. All the better if they turn them into something much more pleasing to look at.

Despite my curiosity as to where this is going, I am equally worried. A story like this will require a fair bit of skilled writing to pull of the emotional depth necessary to convince the reader. Which sadly, is something sorely lacking in today’s eroge market. I will be among the first to cheer them on if they pull it off. If instead it turns out to just be a gimmick for a cheap emotional and or mystery hook then I’ll be hoping this is also their last game.

PV

Micchi’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana
2. Suki to Suki to de Sankaku Ren’ai
3. Natsuiro Koi Uta

Zen’s Top “3” for This Month

1. Suki to Suki to de Sankaku Ren’ai
2. Gakkou no Seiiki
3. Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana
4. Natsuiro Koi Uta

So many quality imoutos!

I hope they are all turned into flowers.