January 2018 Eroge Releases

Welcome to another year of imoutos and fandiscs! I’ll be busy furthering my sibling skinship in MOONSTONE Cherry’s Imouto Paradise! 3 ~Onii-chan to 5-nin no Imouto no Sugo~ku! Ecchi Shimakuri na Mainichi~, enjoying a good nap in GIGA’s Soikano and playing with my pet in Lump of Sugar’s Yorite Konoha wa Kurenai ni. It’s like nothing has changed at all.

Sure the start of the year may have thrown us all into the hellish pit of lustful younger siblings but like Pandora’s box, there is still hope. Along with the deluge of unwanted mob midgets there are a few potential diamonds that either spurn the needy gremlins completely in favor of actual human companionship or downplay them as a necessary evil to appease the wallets of the Micchis out there. While we may not be off to a great start in 2018, it could be so much worse, so I’ll take what I can get. Happy New year everyone.

Zutto Mae Kara Joshi Deshita

Company: feng
Game site: ずっと前から女子でした
Release date: January 26, 2018 Delayed to February 23, 2018
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from December. Haruya’s family runs a group of ryokan and he grew surrounded by women, led by his pushy sisters. He never truly got over his uneasiness around girls, so he had only attended boys’ schools until now. While he was more comfortable around his guy friends, he was at the age where he started to show interest in the opposite sex. He wondered if he could find a girl who was cute and not scary.

Returning to his hometown after ten years, he transferred to a co-ed school for the first time. He was excited to meet new people, but unexpectedly he was reacquainted with an old friend with whom he often played as kids.

“Eh… You weren’t a boy!?”

Haruya had always thought that Sena was a boy, so he was undoubtedly surprised when he discovered the truth. She had a totally different feel around her, and she had grown to become very beautiful….

It’s just a low-priced game where you can get to know your childhood friend quite well. Sena has a complex about her large breasts. Yes, oppai complex is a real thing.

Feng hasn’t done a full scale game in quite awhile. I suppose this format works better for them anyway as misses aren’t as big of a deal, while hits are even better. This time is nothing special, and thanks to that may not be too bad. Better to keep things simple and enjoyable than ruin everything attempting a gimmick.

That said, their cover art annoys me. Slapping an HCG right there on the front doesn’t say anything good about a game. Can only hope it is bait, and not telling how the story goes.

Aikagi ~After Days~

Company: あざらしそふと (Azarashi Soft)
Game site: アイカギ ～アフターデイズ～
Release date: January 26, 2018
Comments:
This is the fandisc for Aikagi. Nozomu and his childhood friend Shiori became lovers after the Christmas confession. They had been attending the same university since the following spring, and then their first summer as a couple arrived. Despite being childhood friends, they had not spent their summer vacations together for a while. Nozomu proposed that they make plans to fully enjoy this summer to make up for all their past years apart, and Shiori readily went along with it.

A two-month long summer vacation. The first summer for just the two of them. Dressed in light clothes and swimsuits, he saw another side of her that was different from winter, and his heart began to race once more.

“This summer feels like it’ll be a fun one…!”

Shiori is a cutie. I do wish that Azarashi Soft moves to widescreen one day.

Fandisk number 1 of the month.

Grisaia: Phantom Trigger Vol.4

Company: フロントウイング (FrontWing)
Game site: グリザイア ファントムトリガー 第4巻
Release date: January 26, 2018
Comments:
This is the fourth volume of FrontWing’s all-ages Grisaia: Phantom Trigger series. Kumashiro Megumi (Gumi), recently transferred from St. Aile’s International School, has been training hard together with Rena and Maki – now fully recovered from their injuries. With the help of her mentor, Tohka, she’s shaping up to be a fine sniper.

Just as one new student settles in, another has her sights set on joining the girls in Class A, Mihama’s elite combat unit. Her name? Sengoku Taiga. Haruto, the team’s handler, has one condition for Taiga’s transfer: that Chris serves as her supervising officer. The two seem an unlikely pair at first, but after spending some time with little Taiga, Chris soon finds a way to see things from her perspective.

It’s at that moment that the nation is suddenly rocked by a terror attack on an unprecedented scale. Chris rushes to the scene, aware of what’s at stake, but paying no heed to the dangers ahead. Just as she did, once before.

“This is even worse than we could’ve imagined…”
“Two of the guys are dead! What happened? What the hell happened!?”
“Y’know what it means to bring nukes into the country…?”
“It’s scary, shooting someone for the first time… My legs are shaking.”
“That fool… Is she trying to ruin everything!?”

The death toll keeps on rising, but SORD are stuck watching helplessly from the sidelines. What destiny awaits Chris, Taiga… and Mihama Academy?

“Oh, right… I must have died…”

Clutching to memories of her long-dead mother, she too prepares for an eternity of slumber.

Not going to dignify this garbage by even thinking about it anymore. It is bad to the extreme, objectively. The end.

TRINOLINE:GENESIS

Company: minori
Game site: トリノライン：ジェネシス
Release date: January 26, 2018
Comments:
This is the fandisc for TRINOLINE and it’s actually the first fandisc from minori since 8 years ago! It contains stories for all the characters (including sub-characters Hanako and Ayaka). There’s also a mini story for Yorino chara poll winner Towa. Enjoy your balloons.

Next bit of fandom in our list. 

Real Eroge Situation H×3

Company: 自宅すたじお (Jitaku Studio)
Game site: リアルエロゲシチュエーション！ H×3
Release date: January 26, 2018
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from December. This is the fandisc for Real Eroge Situation. Shinobu was confessed to by Ayame, Kanna and Yuri, then was subject to their non-stop sexual advances. He had planned to choose one of them before the school festival, but he was ultimately unable to do so.

“Ehehe, it’s been a while, onii-chan♪”

One day, his childhood friend Ui returned after moving away when they were still kids. Her parents were originally supposed to accompany her, but they had urgent matters to attend to. Nazuna suggested that Ui stay at Shinobu’s home in the meantime.

“I’m being serious. I’ve always always loved you, onii-chan.
So… have sex with me♪”

She was extremely direct with her feelings for him which had built up over the years they’ve been apart. This was the trigger for the other girls to make even more extreme sexual advances towards him! Surrounded by four girls who are infatuated with him, this is truly a harem situation!

The main route is an if story that includes all three main heroines plus new heroine Ui. There’s also routes for sub-heroines Miru/Nazuna and Ren/Kasane. The triple H stands for Hard, H (ecchi) and Hentai. It’s the perfect name for a fandisc where you can basically do it with everyone, don’t you think? They also did the obvious thing and added an ‘imouto’. You know how this industry works, Jitaku Studio!

More Fandisk.

Trial OP

Lost Echoes

Company: petit linge
Game site: ロスト・エコーズ
Release date: January 26, 2018 Delayed to February 23, 2018
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from December. This is the first game by petit linge. Riku was taking photos at the street corner when he met the self-proclaimed minor goddess Umi. He didn’t know if it was a fated meeting or simply planned, but she asked him to go to the past and change one particular event that happened back then. His assistance was needed since he contained the soul of one of the people involved in that event.

If he didn’t help her, what would happen? His surroundings and everything he took for granted will surely change, and misfortune will befall his childhood friend Yuika. This is because in Yuika’s past life as Chiyo, she killed her dear friend and her lamentation had persisted over the next 430 years, gradually eating away at her soul. The only way to save her was to avoid the incident that caused her regret, but this was the last chance to do so.

So that means there’s pretty much one true route (for Yuika). This is the first story written by Sakuragi Tomoe, so I’m not sure how well it’ll end up considering these kinds of plots can get quite messy. It has the feel of an older game; maybe this is because of the art (or the amateurish website). Matsuda Risa has been getting fewer roles lately, so it’s nice to see her voice Hinao.

Setup does not leave my hopeful towards the story here. Would have been more meaningful if the past was slowly revealed in memory fragments to help guide your choices that would then change the present. In other words simple memories the protagonist slowly recalls instead of the whole go back to the past to change the future. All the while imparting a sense of meaning to the player and their decisions. Coming to terms and preventing things from repeating in a historical loop through the cycle of reincarnation would have been a better way of doing essentially the same thing without the need for deus ex goddess.

CM

Yorite Konoha wa Kurenai ni

Company: Lump of Sugar
Game site: 縁りて此の葉は紅に
Release date: January 26, 2018
Comments:
There are two races who have co-existed in this world for hundreds of years: the ‘mahoroi’ who have animal ears, wings and tails, and the humans who don’t. The maple-adorned town of Tsugumomi, located at the base of a mountain, is said to be the origin of the mahoroi. This is where Seiji encountered a mahoroi girl in a scene much like those in countless stories from the past.

“… I finally met you…!”

She looked at him with misty eyes and flushed cheeks, parted her lips and did her best to convey her hidden feelings.

“Um, um. My… no, I…”

Yes, this is the beginning of a traditional love story…

“I… am master’s pet♪”

NOT!! Rather than a love confession, she proclaimed to be his pet! The relations between the mahoroi and humans were shaken by this girl Momiji’s appearance, but above all, Seiji’s surroundings changed drastically after the self-proclaimed pet’s intrusion. It’s a new page in the storied history between the two races. What will happen from now on?

This is a kemonomimi title much in the same vein as Tayutama, although instead of just the normal ‘living and working with each other’ premise, they went out and essentially confirmed that they’re like pets. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, especially with Moekibara Fumitake art. And Momiji’s appearance is also the catalyst for bracon imouto Suzuna’s brazen advances. Sounds pretty perfect to me! Hau~ omochikaeri~!

Basically Lump of Sugar realizes their games suck. So they keep trying to simplify down to the basics in an attempt to identify the problems. Last time it was a return to Tayutama, ya know the last thing that was even moderately decent from them. What we have here is a Tayutama story so stripped down it may as well be a nukige. So essentially animal ears with what will most likely be typically bad Lump of Sugar writing. Given how flawed their thinking is I suspect their next attempt at a game will be about a magical world where girls are replaced by animal ear headbands.

I’ll give Lump of Sugar a hint here. Clean up your settings, plots, and stop writing what could be summed up in one sentence over the course of ten or so chapters. There problems solved. Without the weird nonsense and completely unnecessary settings that grow off of a high school like a mutated tumor we won’t require hours of exposition in the first place. A plot that is not essentially as normal as it can be before being warped by and also in turn warping the setting to fit itself would also be appreciated. Needless and incompetent complexity benefits no one. Lastly stop over writing every little detail. Sure all of these go hand in hand, which of course means the previous two issues affect the writing as well, but let things flow naturally and keep up a pace to keep the reader invested. Everything does not need to be stated openly, dialogue and monologue can be spaced out and simplified to keep the plot moving at a more natural pace. Take care of these and maybe I’d start caring about Lump of Sugar games again.

I’m glad they’ve done away with the gimmicks, at least this time or maybe they’ve moved them over to their sister companies (like QUINCE SOFT). Lots of good advice here in general, like animal ear headbands. Don’t they have those in real life that express your emotions? Did anyone buy one?

Even if someone bought them I would like to think they did not try and romance their headband…

Sora no Baroque

Company: light
Game site: 虚空のバロック
Release date: January 26, 2018
Comments:
Blessed with a great physique and physical prowess, Nao used to be the hope of the track and field club. However, his aspirations were dashed by a torn knee ligament injury that resulted in his retirement from competitive sports. He fell into depression, having lost his goal in life up till now, and turned to using his strength to pick fights instead. He was chided by his former manager Sachi and fell in love with her. So, he confessed to her and was crushed when she turned him down, wishing for the world to end.

In that instant, the city of Akatsuki was destroyed by a mysterious super-earthquake called the ‘Koushin Unique Earthquake Disaster’. They were unable to establish any outside contact, nor were they able to find a way out. At this critical moment, a special power called ‘baroque’ awakened within Nao, which he had to use to defend against strange monsters that suddenly appeared, as well as to repel secret organizations that sought to use these abilities for their own goals.

This still has the same feel as Dies irae, so I’ll pass.

There is a reason you feel the game is the same as Dies Irae you know Micchi; All Light games are essentially the same exact thing with a few minor details switched around.

Didn’t you play Dies irae? So you’ll be playing this too then?

Yes, I played Dies Irae. and that KKK game for a bit, and the vampire one. But when it comes down to it you play one you played them all. So no I won’t be playing any more. Honestly did not like a single one of them much. Some of the characters were ok I guess, and some music and effects were decent, nothing else was worth it though.

Mikagami Sumika no Seifuku Katsudou

Company: プレカノ (Prekano)
Game site: 見鏡澄香の制服活動
Release date: January 26, 2018
Comments:
The protagonist met a girl in a school uniform at Japan’s famed theme park Delight Resort. While it was their first meeting, they hit it off right away, but they didn’t exchange contacts before leaving their separate ways.

Some days later, he discovered after moving into a new home that his neighbour was the girl from that day. Even though she was happy to meet him once again, she froze upon hearing her friend say:

“Hey… He thinks you’re a high school student, doesn’t he?”

Sumika had already graduated from high school, and was in third year at university. On one hand, she was looking for a job, but on the other she was wearing a school uniform that was not befitting her age. It was a revival to remember ‘that time’: a second school life.

This is a low-priced offering from Prekano, at a mere ￥2480. Do you like girls who pretend to be younger they actually are? Does age matter that much if you get along well?

Interesting game and idea. There is more and more focus on more mature themes as in post high school. I approve of this trend. This particular instance makes for a rather nice bridge between the two. Maybe it helps that I prefer the older heroines rather than the annoying children. That said I am not a fan of the whole setup being so convenient, she just happens to be his neighbor after moving. Since the game is low priced however I will forgive them for rushing their setup if the rest of the story is enjoyable.

PV

Shogun-sama wa Otoshigoro

Company: ALcot
Game site: 将軍様はお年頃
Release date: January 26, 2018
Comments:
Nobuyuki is a normal student who was involved in a traffic accident. After regaining his consciousness, he found himself in the Edo period!

Yoshimune, a beautiful swordswoman whose hobby is vanquishing evil.
Muneharu, the flashy daughter of one of the three great families.
Tamaki, his imouto who also time-slipped to the Edo period.
Rin, a shy kunoichi who lives next door to him.

Along with these four beautiful girls, he acquired possession of the cheat sword “Reitou Retsuzan”, which has a mind of its own, to become the greatest swordsman of Edo. It wouldn’t be long before the battle for the mysterious ‘hidden treasure’ would lead to a major event that would shake the Shogunate.

ALcot’s got a knack for whacky stories and bracon imoutos (voiced this time by Uehara Aoi). I like their games, so I’ll probably try it out if I have time.

Honestly I want to complain about how they went a little too far trying to make the story interesting. Could have just left it at he wanted to become the greatest swordsman or whatever. But well, at the end of the day this is not the kind of game you play for story. Which I guess also means they didn’t need to try so hard and should have put that effort back into making things fun. Sometimes simple is best. Either way so as long as the writing is funny and Tamaki either dies or gets kicked back to whence she came all will be well I suppose.

Agreed on the first part.

Not the second part? Personally I found that to be the best part though.

Shoujo to Toshi no Sa, Futamawari.

Company: あかべぇそふとすりぃ (AkabeiSoft3)
Game site: 少女と年の差、ふたまわり。
Release date: January 26, 2018
Comments:
Masami is an officer worker who has lived an uneventful life. His parents passed away, he was hospitalized for a while, then he changed jobs because of it. Various things happened, but apart from those, he lived in the moment. Then he realized that he was at the age where others were calling him oji-san. Yet he didn’t have friends nor a girlfriend, kept his distance from his colleagues at work, and lived by himself.

However, he did have a cousin Rin who often called him and he enjoyed talking with her. She worked as a hostess at night, so she leaves her teenage daughter Mizuka alone at home every night. She asked him to take care of Mizuka whenever he had time. So, he called her and asked if she would like to have dinner together.

A lonely man and a lonely girl. Due to this trivial offer, their time alone gradually became one for both of them.

As opposed to the Prekano game, Mizuka is most definitely still a young student. Once again, there’s nothing wrong with an age gap. It also seems that there may be more development to the story than just to their relationship.

Gender swapped Mikagami Sumika. That said while I do approve of mature titles, not as much a fan of finding excuses to abduct little girls to your bed. Double standards maybe, but I feel the idea here is more predatory than in Mikagami Sumika. Taking advantage of the situation to make a naive girl feel loved. Were it a pure reverse of the former I would be perfectly fine with it. In that case everything would be mutual, natural, and up to individual judgement.

Soikano

Company: 戯画 (GIGA)
Game site: 添いカノ
Release date: January 26, 2018
Comments:
Kouhei has lately been seeing dreams where he is falling, and it made him chronically sleep-deprived. So, he would take a walk every day around the school grounds for a comfortable place to take a nap during lunch break.

One day, he visited the rooftop greenhouse for the first time and took a nap there. When he woke up, there was a girl who he didn’t know sleeping next to him.

“Wah!? Why!?”
“Nn… This, is my, reserved spot…”

Yoake was a problem child at the school. Why is it that she never shows up in class even though she comes to the school? He begins to know her secret after napping together with her every day.

Why is there no dakimakura tokuten? It seems like they missed a perfect opportunity! It’s also odd to see Ayumi Sarah voice the G-cup onee-san Tsubame and not the (F-cup) itoko Aika or imouto Riku. Expect a lot of ‘healing’ scenes. That sounds pretty good to me after a busy past few weeks…

Somewhat simple and bland charage by Giga. Maybe exactly what they need. Will be up to the writing in the end though. If things are kept simple and yet interesting and enjoyable the whole way through it may be as Micchi stated the kind of game that is nice to wind down from without having to think about anything.

And here I thought Micchi could only be cleansed by rubbing himself on a washboard.

ಠ_ಠ

Don’t look at me as if you don’t complain about “balloons” every other month.

Imouto Paradise! 3 ~Onii-chan to 5-nin no Imouto no Sugo~ku! Ecchi Shimakuri na Mainichi~

Company: MOONSTONE Cherry
Game site: 妹ぱらだいす！3　～お兄ちゃんと5人の妹のすご～く！エッチしまくりな毎日～
Release date: January 26, 2018
Comments:
This is the third game in MOONSTONE Cherry’s Imouto Paradise! series. With their parents departing on a business trip, Yuuichi was left alone with his five imoutos for the entire summer vacation. He wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to be closer to his imoutos, and they were also strangely assertive, leading to ecchi incidents one after another. Just how far will the Nanase siblings go?

ALL. THE. WAY.

Imouto Hell.

Micchi’s Top 4 for This Month

1. Soikano
2. Yorite Kono Ha wa Kurenai ni
3. Imouto Paradise! 3 ~Onii-chan to 5-nin no Imouto no Sugo~ku! Ecchi Shimakuri na Mainichi~
4. Shogun-sama wa Otoshigoro

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Mikagami Sumika no Seifuku Katsudou
2. Zutto Mae Kara Joshi Deshita
3. Shogun-sama wa Otoshigoro

Lots of imoutos and itokos this month! It’s like a belated Christmas present!

Santa himself must have been naughty last year then.