December 2016 Eroge Releases

It has felt like there haven’t been as many games out lately, but 2016 is ending with a bang with enough for every day till Christmas. There’s detective stories like MiTi’s Hoshifuru Yoru no Farnese and Azurite’s Shinsou Noise ~Jushin Tantei no Jikenbo~. There’s ‘romance comedies’ like Sumikko Soft’s Akiyume Kukuru and Windmill’s Hatsukoi Sankaime. There’s death and trauma galore in Lass’s Liber_7: Eigou no Owari o Matsu Kimi e and MOONSTONE’s Honoguraki Toki no Hate Yori. Enjoy your holidays indoors!

A month of quantity over quality. I guess we were all bad children in 2016 and are getting coal in our stockings. With this being the last month of the year I can only reminisce and think that all in all it was a rather disappointing year. Ah well better luck next year guys.

Amenity’s Life

Company: HOOKSOFT
Game site: Amenity’s Life
Release date: December 22, 2016
Comments:
Reiji woke up early in the morning as usual and reached over in bed to check the time on his smartphone. To his surprise, there was a naked girl sleeping next to him instead. She told him that she was his smartphone and he didn’t believe it. His osananajimi Mikuri soon barged in and it took some time to get everything sorted out. Then he realized that the robot vacuum, his headphones and even the kitchen oven had turned into girls. What the hell is going on!?

The anthromorphization premise is pretty much the same as their HOOKSOFT’s previous title, Like Life, although it’s now smartphones instead of flip phones (we’re not in 2004 anymore!). The short trial felt more like a SMEE game with the comedy and pacing. I didn’t know that unlocking a smartphone could be this erotic. The new systems introduced are the mini episode system and the bulletin board system (BBS). I don’t know the new artist RINKS is, but the art looks decent enough. Maho is cute, but of course I’m attracted to the kouhai (and your friend’s imouto) Naru, who is quite inexperienced in love and not honest with her feelings. She also has quite the complex about being the imouto of a brother who’s an AV maniac, although those past nicknames are quite original. I’d hate being called “Store #2” too.

So, for those of you sexually attracted to Rotom after the latest Pokemon release, they came out with a game for you just in time.

BALDR HEART EXE

Company: 戯画 (GIGA)
Game site: BALDR HEART EXE
Release date: December 22, 2016
Comments:
This is the fandisc for BALDR HEART, adding short stories and ecchi scenarios, as well as over 50 new stages and situations. There will also be new FEIs, including collaborations with other games, such as Nora to Oujo to Noraneko Heart‘s Patricia, ChuSingura46+1‘s Yasubei, Maitetsu‘s Hachiroku, and ALIA’s CARNIVAL!‘s Tsukuyomi. You can also upload your replays online. Remember that since this is an append disc, so you will require the main game.

More of a “Give us more money” marketing gimmick than an actual game or fandisk. Essentially this is a Type Moon style game by Giga. Only difference being that it’s an expansion that requires the original. I suppose this means sales of the original garbage were not meeting expectations. Which is a good sign. Hopefully this attempt fails as well in order to avoid a rather worrisome precedent being established. Giga really needs to get their act together, it has been a long time since they made a game that is better than mediocre. 

Liber_7: Eigou no Owari o Matsu Kimi e

Company: Lass
Game site: Liber_7 永劫の終わりを待つ君へ
Release date: December 22, 2016
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from October. Kouryoukan Academy student Naoto keeps a secret even from his closest friends. It is his ability to read and write into the memories of others by merely touching them. While he could have easily abused this power, he considers it too much of a bother and carries on his life as normal.

However, threatening events began to frequently happen around him as Tanabata approached: the discovery of a mangled corpse of a girl, a large terrorist blast with civilian casualties, and the disappearance of his osananajimi Miku. He was perplexed at the events which unfolded, but when a girl showed up to kill him, he found out that the town had become a stage for a fight to the death between combatants with superpowers.

He managed to flee just as he was about to be killed. Then, it struck midnight and a blinding light enveloped the area. When he came to his senses, he found himself back three days earlier.

Naoto is one of 7 ‘rebellion’ chosen by some mysterious figure. He must kill the other six, otherwise the world will be destroyed in 3 days. The victor would have the power to grant any wish as the new ‘God’. So it’s basically a death game with a similar feel to their previous games, 3days and 11eyes. In fact, the setting is the same as 11eyes. I’m not really interested in these superpower-fueled battles (like fortissimo), so I’ll pass.

Pretty cheesy. Would have been more interesting without the “World will end if you don’t kill each other” bit. A much more interesting take on this would have been letting the character walk two paths, either being some kind of serial killer in a city using his abilities to thwart pursuit. Or hunting down people similar to himself who take the first route.

Instead we get some boring, poorly written chuuni with a protagonist who will no doubt whine about wanting to be normal at some point. I’m with Micchi here, pass.

I can’t concentrate on reading when the BGM is repeating: What are all girls made of? What are all girls made of? What are all girls made of? Sugar and spice!

Akiyume Kukuru

Company: すみっこソフト (Sumikko Soft)
Game site: あきゆめくくる
Release date: December 22, 2016
Comments:
This is Sumikko Soft’s final project. In the near future, there are certain people who have special abilities due to the artificial DNA, “XNA”, inside them. The government decided that six of these boys and girls were especially dangerous and transferred them to a newly constructed school where they would remain confined until their graduation.

However, the conditions to graduate from Rururan Gakuen were kept firmly a secret. After sorting through many clues, it seemed to them that ‘love comedy’ was the answer. What does that mean? Is it accidentally seeing a girl’s panties? Bumping into a girl with a piece of bread in her mouth on the way to school? Eating bento together or having an eccentric imouto? Well, they have all the time in world to figure it out as the day will keep repeating until their graduation.

Am I the only one who’s bothered with the fact that there will be no winter-themed game? Nevertheless, their previous two works, Harukuru and Natsukuru, had good reviews with their unique settings. This one is a ‘quantum mechanics love comedy’, which I’m not really sure what to make of, other than it doesn’t really agree with me. You can’t go wrong with art by Sasai Saji and Ichiri. The cast is also pretty good, with Arisugawa Miyabi, Anzu Mitsu, Kiritani Hana and Kazane voicing the main heroines. Then there’s the uncurable brocon imouto Mihaya. An imouto’s love knows no bounds.

Funnily enough I have been wondering about the lack of winter in eroge lately as well, a lot of spring and summer themed games.

Let me make things nice and simple for this game. The core of it seems to be an isolated setting so maintaining that as the basis there are plenty of better ways to go about this. First up toss the XNA idea, it’s stupid, of course toss the really pointless special abilities nonsense with it. Throw the terrible graduation stuff out the window as well. Isolation? Make it an island. If you insist on making the school the focal point without much surrounding setting, turn it into an international institute. After that? Just let everything happen in a way that feels natural for the characters. Simple, but much more effective than this crap.

Now I don’t particularly care about any gimmick, I just want a good story. Ideally with a setting that I find interesting to gives me a reason to want to keep reading and understanding it. In this case however, the gimmicks just make everything worse, cheapening the entire product. But in the end, what truly makes or breaks a game at least for me will always be the quality of the writing. Given what we know of the game thus far it is fairly safe to conclude the writing is at best, terrible. Sure I could be wrong, wouldn’t be the first time, wouldn’t be the last time. However, do you, or does anyone for that matter want to read such a lame story? Nothing here cannot be had elsewhere in better quality. This would be like having the option to go to Europe for a vacation, but instead choosing to go to Mexico.

To be fair, their SF school settings from past games and story writing have been very well received. It’s rather unique, so I’d argue not to take the synopsis at face value and give it a try.

Sai Love!

Company: たちかわソフトウェア (Tachikawa Software)
Game site: さいらぶ！
Release date: December 22, 2016
Comments:
This low-priced game is the first title by Tachikawa Software. Sakura is the brightest kid at school, pretty much the perfect individual. However, he does have one thing that he is bad at: love. His phobia gets tested daily as he constantly gets confessed to by the girls at school. One day, his classmate Aoba, a fellow outstanding student who has no interest in love, suggested that they pretend to be a couple. They agree to act like the most powerful couple that everyone will idealize.

Nothing really stands out from this game. Even with the low price point, it would probably be worth spending a bit more for a more complete and satisfying product.

There was some manga and I believe an anime version as well about something along these lines. Like it or not at least there is some value in an original product. I have little to no respect for blatant copycatting. Pretty stupid either way though.

Zettai Junshu☆New Kozukuri World

Company: softhouse-seal GRANDEE
Game site: ぜったい遵守☆にゅ～こづくりわーるど
Release date: December 22, 2016
Comments:
This is the latest game in softhouse-seal GRANDEE’s Zettai nukige series. The dwindling number of children due to declining birth rates was a problem, but people continued on with their lives with only a slight concern. However, the world gradually began to notice an unusual phenomenon: no boys were being born. At first, people were optimistic that it was just a coincidence, but the birth rate for boys rapidly declined year by year. Before long, it was at 1 boy per 8585 births, and it was not an unusual sight to find only one male within each city. The day of human extinction draws closer….

Then, a boy genius Touma was born. With unparalleled intelligence, he was labelled as a child prodigy who would ultimately save the human race. As the years pass, he skipped many grades and graduated from university, running for and becoming the youngest member of the Diet. Standing in the packed assembly hall, he proclaimed that in order to save the nation and the human race, there must be change: the introduction of the free sex licence!

We need more geniuses like this in the world. All our problems would be solved and you wouldn’t even need to elect a president.

There are half naked women on the cover. All that needs to be said about this one really.

It knows its audience well.

That it does, I’ll give them credit for that.

Love Love Sisters ~Hanayome & Shimai-tachi to no Dokidoki Harem Seikatsu~

Company: ぱじゃまエクスタシー (Pajamas EX)
Game site: らぶらぶシスターズ ～花嫁＆姉妹達とのドキドキハーレム生活～
Release date: December 22, 2016 Delayed to January 27, 2017
Comments:
This is the third title in Pajamas EX’s Love Love series. Kisara is an extremely talented girl genius who was entrusted with running the historic and famous Kanari Gakuen by her great-grandmother and actually succeeded in doing so. The hardworking Hitoma was not timid around her and worked as her right-hand man. She ultimately confessed to him and they married shortly thereafter.

However, it seems the overly perfect Kisara has a weak point: she tries too hard at everything. One month after their marriage, she tried out a retro game to take a breather after working hard every day even while being newly-wed and after a couple days, she became a complete NEET. Moreover, she doted completely on Hitoma after never having done so before. It felt like it would get to a point where she wouldn’t move unless it was to have sex. But who will manage the school now? He decided to work even harder for her sake.

But that wasn’t the last of his problems. They lived together in the girls’ dormitory, where all of Kisara’s sisters also live. They all have feelings for him, but he was too slow to notice them…

Retro games do take a lot of time, especially if you suffer from OCD. I wonder if it’s any worse than MMOs or gachas nowadays. This is strictly a chara-ge, so if you fancy any of these typical (odd) girls, then give it a go. For me, it’d be the twins or bunny pajamas-clad imouto Hana. Food-loving Pnina goes from a K cup to a B cup after dieting. Just how does that work?

The concept behind this game starts out rather interesting, with the focus being post marriage changes to lifestyles. After that though it throws every good point to the wind with the focus on H scenes and the fact they lived in a female dorm with her sisters. If they varied the cast of heroines, had a more organic and adult feel to the characters, and spread them out over a larger setting this game would have been worth playing. Alas, good ideas never realized.

Zen from years past would’ve describe them as a box of Skittles. What you see is what you get.

Truly wise words from a sage amongst men.

AstralAir no Shiroki Towa Finale -Shiroki Hoshi no Yume-

Company: FAVORITE
Game site: アストラエアの白き永遠 Finale -白き星の夢-
Release date: December 22, 2016 Delayed to January 27, 2017
Comments:
This is the fandisc for AstralAir no Shiroki Towa. The main story features Yuki as the main heroine as winter enters the third straight year at Tsukigasaki. There are also after stories for the heroines and a bonus story with the always popular trio, Hazuki, Marimo and Shiina! If you order the deluxe version, you’ll also get a Yukiyuki plush! Here’s to a happy end for everyone!

Thank god for a fandisk, too many games this month.

Amakano+

Company: あざらしそふと (Azarashi Soft)
Game site: アマカノ＋
Release date: December 22, 2016
Comments:
This is the fandisc for Amakano, with two episodes for each of the three heroines: a summer episode and a future episode culminating in marriage. It also includes other mini bonuses, like special commemorative voices and desktop accessories. Each heroine will get 5 H scenes. I love Duca’s songs so much. The OP’s pretty much a lock for the year-end ranking list.

Another fandisk, Hallelujah.

Shinsou Noise ~Jushin Tantei no Jikenbo~

Company: Azurite
Game site: シンソウノイズ ～受信探偵の事件簿～
Release date: December 22, 2016
Comments:
This is the debut game for Azurite. Shizunomiya is a commuter town located on the outskirts of a big city. It has many urban landmarks, while still being full of nature on the sea side. In the middle of this town is Shizunomiya Gakuen, whose students often flock to the city after school to enjoy the wide assortment of entertainment there.

Kazuma entered the school this spring, but he is no ordinary student. He has the ability to envision the thoughts of others, however he is not able to discern the source. Moreover, these thoughts often overlap one another, creating noise that makes it hard to understand them. While he was born with this ability, he still cannot completely control it and often gets involuntarily exposed to strong thoughts. Nevertheless, he still leads a relatively normal school life.

First year students are required to form ‘action groups’ which have to do various events throughout the year. The groups are chosen randomly, and the unsocial Kazuma ended up with seven eccentric members. They didn’t bother to meet up, but just to do enough to fulfill their obligations as an ‘action group’. Shortly thereafter, there was a theft in the girl’s changeroom. This would be the first case for the ‘Reception Detective’ Kazuma.

This is a collaboration work between SILKY’s PLUS and Liar-soft, the latter of which writes the story. This is a mystery/suspense ADV, so you’ll have to use your detective skills to solve puzzles and crimes. It employs a ‘voices of the heart’ system where you can tell what a character is actually thinking. You’ll have to collect clues to solve the crimes, which quickly escalate from a simple theft. It’s an interesting idea if they can make it complex enough to be worth the time. I like how our unsocial protagonist can become so confident when solving crimes (complete with Phoenix Wright’s signature pose… well, even though he accidentally bites his tongue often). The OP is one of the best this year. I might end up checking it out as the trial was rather engaging and the constant deadpan voices make for a unique dialogue.

Yet another example of good ideas poorly made. There was no need for him to have that silly special ability, nor any purpose for the action groups. Would have been just as easy to drag him into things by using a friend or even himself being accused. In addition I doubt there will be much depth to the choices and decisions. To truly pull of a detective style mystery game there needs to be a lot of branching logic puzzles where your decisions and deductions actually matter. With different results based on how well you figure things out. Ideally not just a game over if you get it wrong as well. Letting everything play out according to your own logic to an end you bring about would make this sort of game much more fulfilling.

As a side note Liar pretty much always bites off more than they can chew. They tend to have interesting ideas and settings but god awful writing. Thus no matter how much you want to continue reading, their games feel like trudging through sewage while searching for gold.

Ou no Mimi ni wa Todokanai!

Company: AXL
Game site: 王の耳には届かない！
Release date: December 22, 2016
Comments:
The village of Baarle is situated in a corner of the Reste Kingdom, near the border. The protagonist Cactus used to be part of the ‘Izayoi Knights’, also known as the ‘Ears of the King’, but he left after a certain incident. He quickly turned into a useless person and roamed across the country until he arrived at Baarle. Now he serves as the self-proclaimed bodyguard for the town while avoiding his actual job of tending the fields. He keeps getting reprimanded by the village elder Nastur, but he has found himself a home thanks to the goodwill of the villagers.

One day, a beautiful pharmacist was dispatched to the town from the capital. He was surprised to find out that it was Peony, his imouto who he used to live with. Then came Coreo, the daughter of the head of the former thief guild, along with the mysterious ojou-sama Thistle and even the princess of the Reste kingdom, Zinnia. The peaceful town had turned suddenly into a very busy one.

Suddenly, a feudal lord came and demanded that they hand over possession of the land. When the villagers understandably refused, he tried to drive them out by applying heavy taxes and asking impossible requests. Cactus could not stand still and decided to confront the lord’s tyranny to protect his precious village. He was able to save the town by using the techniques he had learned as part of the ‘Ears of the King’ and with help from the youths and former thieves.

However, at that time they still didn’t know that their actions would set off a series of events which would shake the nation…

What’s with AXL and their love for plants or flowers as names? I still can’t tell the difference between their games and having another hetare protagonist doesn’t help.

Ok, let me point out a teensy tiny little problem, well two on the same level in fact. First a feudal lord already owns the land. The peasants just work and live on it in exchange for paying taxes. Next one of the girls just happens to be ooh I dunno the kingdom’s princess. That would kind of solve matters rather easily without the need for his pointless heroism.

Everything just feels so arbitrary, as though the setting is just warping itself to make a set conclusion happen. None of the characters or conflicts feels natural or even logical. When the setting no longer really matters since it bends around as needed to accommodate the writers whims there is little to no reason for it to even exist in the first place. In other words this is little more than another “High school” romance based around the whole kids rebelling against the mean adults to save the day game.

Meguru Sekai de Towa Naru Chikai o!

Company: Studio e・go!
Game site: 廻るセカイで永遠なるチカイを！
Release date: December 22, 2016
Comments:
The Amazumi Shrine in the mountains had suffered a great fire, but has since recovered. The four sisters who live there, Akiho, Minatsu, Mafuyu and Harune, were battling apparitions for the first time when they met a strange man Nayuta, who did not remember anything but his own name. He joins them in their fight and helps them bring the shrine back to prosperity. But there seems to be someone behind the influx of apparitions….

Studio e.go! and Yamamoto Kazue are going with a cuter look, but essentially it’s still a miko RPG where you battle apparitions. The goal is to complete quests to rebuild the shrine and return it to its past glory. It’s an old-school turn-based RPG with a max party of 6 (you + 3 heroines + 2 youkai). You can train and evolve the youkai, and there’s over 100 types, so you gotta catch ’em all (sounds like a certain other game). Only the three oldest sisters have routes (complete with marriage), so too bad for those who want a Harune route. I’ll pass.

If you like these games, well you probably already know that, so not much for me to say as nothing has changed.

Zannen na Ane to no Love Comedy

Company: りびどーそふと (Libido Soft)
Game site: 残念な姉との幸福論（ラブコメディー）
Release date: December 22, 2016
Comments:
This is the first title by Libido Soft. Miyuki’s father is a gambler, his mother lives apart from them, and he’s close to being kicked out of school if anything goes wrong. However, he’s pretty happy with his life, being surrounded by his two older sisters and noisy friends.

On New Year’s day, when he and his sisters went to the shrine to make their wishes, their father jumped out from the shrine. He gleefully proclaimed that he was now divorced for good and the Yaegashi family is no more. Miyuki was shocked, but his sisters didn’t seem to mind at all. They both wanted him to live with them and he had until March to decide on who he wanted to go with.

Hey look Zen, it’s an older sister game! It’s a bit pricey for just two routes, but I guess there’s not many of these out there compared to imouto-ge. The comedy is actually not bad, if a bit random. I so was not expecting ANIKI to appear.

Okay lets ignore the fact I like older better than younger for a moment here. I have to say that especially in a month like this and despite the really stupid name for their company Libido soft has, at the very least none gone for a stupid gimmick. Just a simple game and a simple choice. I would much rather such a setup than the pathetic attempts to make things look better than they are most go for these days. Nothing inherently wrong or bad about it, quality of the writing will decide the value in the end.

Back to the older sisters. I don’t care if they are sisters or not but I hate kids so yeah, works for me.

Hatsukoi Sankaime

Company: ういんどみる (Windmill)
Game site: 初恋サンカイメ
Release date: December 22, 2016
Comments:
Everyone has experienced first love and it is a truly bittersweet experience. Taichi had also fallen in love once, but it ended very painfully for him. Two years later, he was ready to take a step forward and fall in love again. Just when he was about to begin his new relationship with a girl who he fell in love with at first sight, the ghost Rin descended from the skies. Aside from the colour of her eyes and her hair, she looked exactly like his first love. Will he be able to forget his first love and move on, or will he still yearn for it?

The story is written by Iida Kazuhiko (Gleamgarden, Sugarcoat Faeries) and Mikuriya Mikuri (Hakoniwa Logic, A-chan’s route in Floflo). Chikotam is one of the three artists (the other two being Narumi Yuu and Takashina Masato), as you’ve probably guessed after seeing Rin. Rin is so cute. Hau~ omochikaeri~! That being said, she’s not a heroine and the story mainly revolves around his first love Misaki and his current love interest Yurino. Then there’s the dark horses: Russian transfer student Emiliya, “NII-SAN LOVE” imouto Sui, and senpai Himeka. You know who I’ll be going for. I think it’s slightly different from Windmill’s recent games since it has less fantasy, and I think it’ll turn out well.

Thank god they had the sense to avoid the Rin route. This alone gives me hope for the game. Especially in a month where everything is in shades of tasteless mediocrity a solid foundation stands out as being worth a second look. I also appreciate the slightly altered tone with the whole first love vs. new love theme.

Although all seems lovely or at least, not terrible which counts as amazing for this month, there are still a few issues. Mainly how overly dramatic they are going to make things, as well as how much silly interference Rin causes. The entire story would have had more depth without the pointless character Rin. As a result it worries me what her role will be. Either a mascot meant for extra appeal, a deus ex machina resolution waiting to happen, or a device for developing characters. Any and all of which are both pointless and weaken the entire story. So for my part I’m hoping for the protagonist to be schitzophrenic, where she is the manifestation of his guilt over betraying his feelings towards his first love.

She’s probably there to add the standard Windmill fantasy element. And everyone but you loves having a loli around.

I happen to like my ghosts old enough that their deaths were probably not abortions thank you very much.

Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! A

Company: みなとそふと (Minato Soft)
Game site: 真剣で私に恋しなさい！A
Release date: December 22, 2016
Comments:
This is the compilation package version of the fandisc for Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!, including all five downloadable mini volumes released since 2013. There’s over 230 CGs and 100 characters. Are you willing to pay full price for the mini scenario disc and an arrange CD?

For all their rather ridiculous milking of this series I wish they would make something with routes for some of the side characters in Anekoji Naoko to Giniro Shinigami or whatever that game was called.

Hoshizora Tea Party Extra ~”Ai” Hajimarimashita!~

Company: SkyFish poco
Game site: 星空TeaParty えくすとら ～「恋愛（アイ）」はじまりました！～
Release date: December 22, 2016 Delayed to March 24, 2017
Comments:
This is the 18+ fandisc for SkyFish’s 10th anniversary project, Hoshizora Tea Party. The story continues one year after the events of the free version. If you want to play the all-ages version, all three chapters will be out by this winter. It seems like more and more companies are repackaging their trials as ‘free downloadable games’ to encourage players to purchase the actual eroge.

Fandisks are glorious during busy months.

Hoshifuru Yoru no Farnese

Company: ミィティ (MiTi)
Game site: 星降る夜のファルネーゼ
Release date: December 22, 2016 Delayed to early summer 2017
Comments:
There once was a ‘good witch’ who used magic to bring prosperity to the world. The people were grateful to her and enjoyed her benevolence. However, a ‘bad witch’ appeared and incited the humans to kill her virtuous counterpart. With the powerful and wise ‘good witch’ no longer around, the ‘bad witch’ was free to do as she pleased.

The people suffered as she brought on fires and floods, destroying and corrupting everything she touched. They managed to kill her too and vowed to forget about magic, but she had cast a curse upon the world: witches will continue to exist in the world. Thus began a hunt for the ‘witches’ with the intent on exterminating them all. This is the beginning of the ‘star hunt’, which has continued for hundreds of years.

Etoile stood in the middle of a church in the capital, nervously awaiting the opening of a ‘star hunt’ trial. He was a new ‘astrologer’, tasked with defending a client for the first time. He was barely able to prove her innocence, although he hadn’t been able to find the true culprit.

Afterwards, a witch with a dog familiar suddenly appeared in front of him. She called herself the ‘Witch of Justice’ and offered to assist him. It is up to them to take back the ‘starry sky’!

The premise of the game is to regain the ‘starry sky’ which was lost because of the bad witch. You have to collect evidence to prove the innocent of your clients in the witch hunt. Along the way, you’ll find who the culprits (bad witches) are and defeat them to gradually regain the ‘constellations’. As you complete more cases, you’ll begin to see the link between all the cases and confront the true culprit (really bad witch), who you have to defeat to achieve the ‘true starry sky’.

The evidence can found by searching places of interest, while the actual ‘star hunt’ involves stripping them by countering their lies and revealing the witch’s seal (constellation) on their bodies. To draw out the seal from their bodies, you must bring them to ‘ecstasy’.

The story is by Iwakata Retsu, who has worked on many games with magic in the past, but this is his first eroge script and honestly it’s pretty ridiculous, on Escu:de’s level. It’s also Yukie’s first work since QUINTUPLE☆SPLASH! (not counting the Hakoniwa FD). I guess I’ll check out the trial when it’s out, but I don’t expect too much from the gameplay other than clicking all over the screen and rubbing witches to E~C~S~T~A~S~Y~♪

This is one of those times, I really do not get Micchi. For all the complaints about writing certain summaries (*cough* Light games) there is a book written for this… thing. When it could all be summed up with “Rub naked girls”.

I’m trying to explain the reason behind the rubbing!

Because you can…? I think you put more effort into explaining than they did into thinking up their reasoning for it.

Hakui no Tenshi wa Osewazuki! ~Raburabu Ecchi na Nyuuin Seikatsu~

Company: CandySoft
Game site: 白衣の天使はお世話好き！ ～ラブラブエッチな入院生活～
Release date: December 22, 2016
Comments:
Ryou is a member of Soukou Gakuen’s powerful soccer team. One night, he was out running in preparation for the upcoming summer tournament qualifiers. Along the way, he helped an older woman who had dropped her keys, met another who was eating a huge bowl of ramen, and chased away some drunks who was harassing another. As he was about to return to the school, he saw a woman who looked like his older sister who had passed away. She seemed tired and absent-mindedly walked out into the road into the path of an oncoming car. He immediately rushed out to push her away from the car, but instead got hit himself.

When he awoke, he found himself in the hospital with broken limbs. The woman who he had tried to help was by his side. She was a nurse and vowed to take care of him until he was fully recovered since she owed her life to him. Moreover, all three women he had met earlier also happened to work at the hospital.

So, his life changed completely overnight. He was surrounded by the four ladies in his special private room who catered to his every need. They would feed him, brush his teeth, wash his body… and even help with his sexual urges!? If you were in such a hospital with white-gowned angels devoted to caring for you, how long would you want to stay there?

I think I’d want to get out as soon as I can. It sucks to be bedridden, especially in a hospital. If it’s like around here, they’ll kick you out as soon as you’ve been given a clean bill of health. They say that they’ll take care of your every need, but based on the sample CGs and the OP, I’m more inclined to believe that they will just take advantage of your body while you can’t move. For the most part, you see the same background CG (your room). His roommate Ricardo (Riko) is a pretty funny playboy. I wish he would have more scenes. There’s some more focus later on his past and current family situation, as his ‘angels’ protect him.

Rather niche demographic here. Even if it happens to hit all your strike zones I wouldn’t expect much from this game. Unless all you want is a nukige filled with older women.

Himekoi＊Sucreine!

Company: Princess Sugar
Game site: 姫恋＊シュクレーヌ！
Release date: December 22, 2016
Comments:
Ryou entered a rather unusual private boarding school built in the middle of a forest. Even though Takaramori Gakuen had turned co-ed three years ago, there were not many boys possibly due to the school not being well-known and its long history as a girl’s school. He became the focus of attention from all the curious girls since he was the only boy in the class.

Tired from the sudden attention, he was taking a break during lunch in the courtyard when his classmate Chiyuri invited him to join her occult club (which was registered as the literature club). He didn’t have any club in mind, so he agreed to temporarily join as a trial member.

That night, they went to the old school building to investigate one of the seven mysteries in the school: the ‘spell of the large mirror’. It is said that if you touch the antique mirror in the hallway at midnight while strongly wishing for something, it will come true. As he was being hurried by Chiyuri, he wished to fall in love and carelessly tripped while touching the mirror.

When he came to, he found himself back in his own room. He thought nothing of it and headed to school, where he met a girl who he didn’t recognize, Mayuki. She was wearing a beautiful dress, but it matched the surroundings. Mayuki interacted with him like they had always been close friends, and while he felt a bit uncomfortable being suddenly so close to a girl, he was actually quite happy inside. When he arrived at the classroom, everyone wore pretty dresses and quickly became his friends. It was as if it was a dream.

The next day, Mayuki was nowhere to be seen and no one knew of her existence. He thought that it might have been caused by the spell and headed back to the old school building at midnight, but there was no change in the reflection. Thus, he returned home downcast and went to sleep.

However, he saw Mayuki again in his dreams. The magic mirror had created a dream world and he could meet her every night when he slept. So begins his dual life attending both school in the real world and the dream world.

Princess Sugar games are quite colourful and pretty, but don’t have much substance. The scenario writer Yomino Machiko has experience writing fluffy stories (Chiccha Love Apart, Monobeno, Santaful Summer), so expect more of the same here. The trial was like all their other games, with a very prominent fairy tale feel. Chiyuri is omochikaeri material. Wouldn’t he get really tired since he’s basically attending school twice a day? I’ll probably end up playing something else instead though.

I can only describe this one as painful. The pain of braincells committing suicide to avoid thinking about how pathetic this is gives me a splitting headache.

Ryuukishi Bloody†Saga

Company: あかべぇそふとすりぃ (AkabeiSoft3)
Game site: 竜騎士Bloody†Saga
Release date: December 22, 2016
Comments:
This is the latest game in AkabeiSoft3’s Kishi series. Humans are no match for the powerful dragon, who could mow down everything with a swing of its tail or send everything flying with a flap of its wings. Not even an army of the strongest soldiers could stop the dragon. However, there was a hero who was able to accomplish the task. He became the king of a nation surrounding the mountains where the dragon dwelled. Veludylun was a peaceful country since the mere presence of the dragon deterred other countries from attacking it. The only threat to the country was the dragon itself.

The king established the ‘dragon knights’ to fight against the dragon and protect the citizens if it goes on a rampage. Even after the king passed away, they continued to protect the nation. While they could not defeat the dragon, they risk their lives to protect the people. The nation prospered thanks to their actions.

Many years later, a young wandering pharmacist named Roy arrived in Veludylun. He still didn’t know at that time that he would cross paths with the ‘dragon knights’ and how the nation would change when it is menaced by the dragon.

I can’t take this series seriously after its past failures. However, the trial wasn’t horrible and the protagonist is decent (and has a mysterious past), so I guess they’ve learned from their past mistakes to some extent.

Honestly I can’t think of any knight themed game that was even half way decent. Fantasy settings sure. But the specifically knight themed stories are always rubbish. Consider them a girls in armor nukige and just hold down ctrl if you have an itch that can only be scratched by an armored gauntlet. Will save you time, effort, and sanity.

Koi wa Yumemiru Mouretsu Girl!

Company: Chelseasoft
Game site: 恋は夢見る妄烈ガール！
Release date: December 22, 2016
Comments:
Ren is a nice guy who moved with his parents to the town of Mioka, where he had once lived as a young child and met his first love. He left a so-so impression in his first day in class, and just as he was about to head home, it began to rain hard just as forecasted. When he arrived at the school’s entrance, his classmate who sat in front of him, Shizuku, was standing there, having forgotten her umbrella. He graciously offered her his own and then quickly ran out into the rain. However, he was immediately struck by lightning as he exited the school.

When he opened his eyes, he was inside the school nurse’s office and Shizuku was taking care of him. When her hand touched his face, he had visions of them having sex together. It appeared that he had gained a mysterious ability to see lewd imaginations with anyone who he comes in physical contact with. Triggered by his new ability, he met the slightly clumsy airhead Aoi, the student council president and daughter of the local shrine Erika, and the energetic but androphobic Yuki. So begins his ecchi adolescence not too soon after changing schools.

All the heroines are so big…. I’d rather have the two subheroines instead (even though Chie’s 75B is a lie). The trial was actually better than expected, and it was pretty fun to read. Shizuku is like 110% tsun though. It might be worth your time if you don’t mind getting called the worst pervert ever and drop-kicked every few minutes.

Oh of course he’s a “Nice guy”. What eroge protagonist is not your stereotypical thick headed nice guy? Really though. Of all the powers they could have given him, he gains the power of puberty. Congratulations on discovering testosterone Ren. Apparently this protagonist was so dense it took a bolt of lightning to evolve him past the evolutionary stage of primordial soup. They could have at least given us a non loli scientist heroine who wanted to dissect him to find the origin of sentience or something.

Honoguraki Toki no Hate Yori

Company: MOONSTONE
Game site: 仄暗き時の果てよ
Release date: December 22, 2016
Comments:
Kouichi was greeted by his imouto Yuno at the port upon his return to the island where he was born. It appeared that nothing has changed since his departure. However, he was informed that there are monsters which frequently appear on the island. He did not take the warning seriously and was attacked one night by them. Fortunately, he was saved by the sword-wielding Komako, who continues to fight them in a battle to the death.

There is another world of darkness from which the monsters come out. It is a forbidden area which humans must not see.

I guess MOONSTONE is set on making horror suspense titles now, and they’re basically trying to do everything from the genre in one game, from jump scares to zombies. They’ve even added time looping in (overlapping with Liber_7 this month). There’s some common elements from their previous game Sakuranomori, such as the protagonist’s murdered lover. It’s not something I’d play most of the time, but I guess it’s better than making mediocre school life games (Angel Ring was pretty bad). I hope you like quick saves since you’ll probably have to use them a lot.

I see the problem here. He was greeted by a monster as soon as he got off the boat. Should have known to turn around and leave right then and there.

You’re mean :(

Micchi’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Hatsukoi Sankaime
2. Shinsou Noise ~Jushin Tantei no Jikenbo~
3. Akiyume Kukuru

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Hatsukoi Sankaime
2. Zannen na Ane to no Love Comedy
3. 2017.

So when is my smartphone gonna turn into a girl?

When you rub it enough to reach ECSTACY.