February 2019 Eroge Releases

Has it really been that long since Happiness! and SHUFFLE! came out? Windmill’s Happiness! 2 Sakura Celebration and Navel’s SPIRAL!! are apparently sequels, even though there are major differences. If you’re in the mood for RPGS, the much anticipated Evenicle 2 from ALICESOFT is here, along with Astronauts Sirius’ Guildmaster. feng’s Yume to Iro de Dekiteiru, featuring art by karory, has finally went master-up after countless years, while SAGA PLANETS has made their first fandisc in a while with Kin’iro Loveriche -Golden Time-. All in all, it’s shaping up to be a pretty good month.

Not a particularly impressive month. We have a choice between spiritual successors, RPGs, fandisks, and single heroine games. I guess there is Feng’s new game, but frankly I wouldn’t get my hopes up for it. Who knows though, in the end anything can happen and maybe, just maybe one or even better more than one of the games will turn out being something truly special. 

Happiness! 2 Sakura Celebration

Company: ういんどみるOasis (Windmill Oasis)
Game site: はぴねす！2 Sakura Celebration
Release date: February 22, 2019
Comments:
It was the year of the cherry blossom, when the flowers bloom longer than usual. This only happens once every 10 years in the town of Misaki, and the spring festival Shikinensai was much larger and livelier. Just like the blossoming flowers, many feelings from the past return to the forefront.

“Seeing nii-san’s smile after two years… yup, this is where I should be”
“I know… he isn’t really like that. So this year I’ll surely … the real him”
“I wonder… if I can do it. No, I must. To regain that relationship…”
“Everything should be perfectly in place. I definitely won’t let it happen again… like that time…”
“It’s been ten years since I’ve returned here. Maybe I’ll meet him again?
It would be nice if I did…”

Their feelings intermingle like the flower petals fluttering in the sky and are the catalyst for the start of a new tale that begins now.

Even though there is a 2 in the title, this is not a sequel to the original Happiness! game. However, there will be a sense of nostalgia for those that played the first game that came out 13 years ago, with plenty of similar events (the trial starts just before Valentine’s Day) and names. It has a stellar cast of seiyuu (Agumi Oto and Naruse Mia are back!) and the usual Ko~cha art. But will the story hold up to the name that still brings back good memories for many? I would like there to be a more direct link to the past game, similar to D.C., but maybe this will turn out alright.

Just a title using some recognition to win a bit of goodwill from the consumer for what would otherwise be a generic eroge experience. I wouldn’t expect too much from this one as without a legitimate link to claim it as a number 2 the title should be disregarded entirely. Just evaluate it as is without any further expectations and at least you shouldn’t be too let down.

Aibeya

Company: あざらしそふと (Azarashi Soft)
Game site: アイベヤ
Release date: February 22, 2019
Comments:

“Starting from tomorrow, you’ll be staying at Aki’s place”

After Kouta’s mother suddenly said that, he ended up living with his childhood friend Aki. Being together with her all the time, he developed some feelings for her. However, he did not know if it was ‘love’.

“Then, how about we try being lovers?”

A trial period as lovers under the same roof. Are they just childhood friends, or something else…?

The latest in Azarashi Soft’s series of low-priced single-heroine games. He actually stays with her only for two weeks while his house conveniently undergoes a full renovation, but that’s enough time for them to become lovers through some ‘accidents’. This time the art is by Oryou, which is incentive enough for many, including me, to check it out.

The only solution to childhood friends being friend-zoned is to imprison the protagonist and remove all other route options it would seem.

Evenicle 2

Company: ALICESOFT
Game site: イブニクル2
Release date: February 22, 2019
Comments:
This is the sequel to Evenicle. There is an illness spreading through the world called the ‘hero disease’ where using magic will result in early death. People skilled in combat fought with monsters aware of their shortening lifespan. They fought to eliminate as many monsters as possible to protect their families and friends.

In this tragic world appeared a young man, Alex, who was blessed with a legendary healing ability. His body fluids can cure any ailment without physical trauma. He set out to save the girls suffering from the ‘hero disease’.

I loved the first game, so I’ll definitely be playing this. A simple enjoyable RPG with a good dose of comedy mixed in. There’s a trial out that’s over 1 GB, but I’m holding off to enjoy the full experience when it comes out. You can bet I’ll be spending more time I should capturing monsters.

I would be more interested without the contrived reasoning behind the protagonists copious H scenery. When I can’t feel myself caring about what I am reading all that is left is whether or not the gameplay is good… Not a place any eroge wants to be as their gameplay has only ever been mediocre at its absolute best. I’ll stick to playing a normal RPG if in the mood as at least then I have gameplay as well as a story to read.

Guildmaster

Company: アストロノーツ・シリウス (Astronauts Sirius)
Game site: ギルドマスター
Release date: February 22, 2019
Comments:
The adventurer’s guild “Amakakeru Oyou” is based in a pub on the outskirts of Dantor, a former Dwarven mining town located on the foot of the mountain and the gateway to a labyrinth that attracts ambitious adventurers. The guild is run by the pub owner Neil and his daughter Lusit and was one of many guilds that controlled the wave of adventurers descending upon the town seeking to get rich quick. However, it had been running at a loss lately due to the departure of competent adventurers and the rise of a powerful rival guild “Kokuyou no Tora”.

Then last month, a notice revoking their business licence was delivered to the guild. Since the town only allows guilds with licences to operate, it was only a matter of time before the guild would have to close. In order to regain their licence, they will have to show some tangible results within a few months.

It was at this time that the guild’s breadwinner Edgar had his strength taken by a mysterious monster while exploring the labyrinth. He could not continue as an adventurer any longer, and the remaining guild members used this incident as an excuse to leave. Soon, Edgar remained as the sole adventurer belonging to the guild.

Lusit took this opportunity to suggest that Edgar become the new master of the guild. Her father was getting old, and if a skilled and famous warrior like Edgar took the reins, it might attract young adventurers to the guild. Edgar still had some lingering regrets as an adventurer, but after considering his current physical state and desire to pay back the guild, he accepted her offer and became the new guildmaster of “Amakakeru Oyou”.

This is your orthodox dungeon exploration RPG; you form a party, accept a quest to enter the dungeon, then complete your mission for rewards to grow the guild. It’s a cyclical process that takes time – time which I will be spending on Evenicle 2.

I have the feeling Astronauts Sirius survives solely on their rather unique art style. Their games tend to leave a lot to be desired otherwise afterall. I don’t dislike the game nor the company it just feels too bland to have any real value in playing through the game sadly enough. I do wish Astronauts Sirius the best and am rooting for them as they are slowly improving game by game.

Which brings me to a rather painful endorsement. Of the two offerings this month Evenicle 2 is probably the better choice. If only because stupid is still more entertaining than bland.

Clichés and H aren’t a bad thing. That’s why Evenicle was so popular.

I would be fine if it was just a normal cliche for a comedy game. The problem I have is when they use some mechanic built into the setting and characters where the protagonist is basically forced to sleep with the heroines because he is special in some way. It is just plain lazy to go about things in that way. Not to mention it destroys the story and cheapens the comedy. There are too many better options to accept such things on a professional level. There is nothing wrong with a focus on H scenes as the primary content, but at least put some effort into them. Even more so when it is the primary focus. As is, may as well just play a proper RPG with an HCG slideshow on another screen for a better result.

Nekogami-sama to, Nanatsuboshi -Imouto no Ane-

Company: SWEET&TEA
Game site: ネコ神さまと、ななつぼし -妹の姉-
Release date: February 22, 2019
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from January.

“Good morning, onee-chan!”

Reiji was happily greeted by his beloved imouto Erika who had bright blonde hair and cat ears. Yes, even though he is 100% male, he is also her older sister. Her cat ears are also very much real and can appear and disappear on a whim. It became like this due to a little complicated reason, but he accepted it without changing his ways. However, this should not be normal – she should be calling him ‘onii-chan’ and she shouldn’t have cat ears. He thought that if he would be able to do something about his own problems, then she would be also be freed from her current state.

Onee-chan…?? All this is because of the Fujisaki Usa-voiced nekomimi girl Fuuko. She saved her in the past, and some of her power remained inside Reiji. No matter how it happened, I don’t mind the nekomimi though. But I’m definitely a male, not an onee-chan! What is this conflicted feeling…. I love Suimya’s art and it is an imouto-ge after all (just one heroine), so maybe I’ll check it out after all.

The title spoke the word! the forbidden word that sends our Micchi into a berserk lust.

Kin’iro Loveriche -Golden Time-

Company: SAGA PLANETS
Game site: 金色ラブリッチェ-Golden Time-
Release date: February 22, 2019
Comments:
This is the fandisc for Kin’iro Loveriche, taking place three months after Ourou transferred into Noble Gakuen, around Christmas and New Year’s. There are after stories for each of the heroines, as well as routes for sub-heroines Ayaka and Mina.

It’s been a while since SAGA PLANETS made a fandisc, but there’s plenty of interest for this one. I wish they made one for Hanasaki or Natsunagi though…

Fandisk in the end.

Toshiue Kanojo no Amayaka Dousei

Company: とこはな (Tokohana)
Game site: 年上彼女のあまやか同棲
Release date: February 22, 2019
Comments:
Ryuunosuke started living by himself this summer while preparing for his entrance exams. He saw a woman in the street who was helping a mother and their child, and he was so captivated by her beauty that he also offered his help. They parted ways afterwards, but he found out later that Hinaki was actually the daughter of his next door neighbour and also his senpai at his school of choice.

He was delighted to have someone suiting his tastes so close to him. Moreover, she also became his private tutor to help bring up his grades. It was like a dream and he was motivated to pass his exam, but then one day she suddenly made a surprising request.

“Will you be my boyfriend?”

It was because she wanted a pretend boyfriend due to certain circumstances, but he readily agreed since he already had feelings for her. An older woman that became first his private tutor, and now his girlfriend. Thus begins their exciting and intimate co-habitation life.

Maybe Zen is into the onee-san types. Pass.

There’s no maybe about it. Zen IS into onee-san types. Which pretty much sums up all that can be said about the game itself. As that’s all that there is to it, either you like the heroine type or don’t. Which means everyone should be into this game as onee-san types are always better than the alternative imouto or kouhai.

No need to fight. There’s a game for me and a game for you.

Very true. If we both liked the little sister heroines imagine the bloodbath…

Boku no Mirai wa Koi to Kakin to. ~Charge to the Future~

Company: Sonora
Game site:
Release date: February 22, 2019
Comments:
This is the first game by Sonora. Kyouya finally earned enough from his part-time job at the convenience store to buy the smartphone that he had yearned for. He immediately downloaded lots of apps on to it, but they were all ‘free (with in-app purchases)’. When he began to play them, he couldn’t get far before being forced to pay to unlock more content. He had worked so hard just to get his smartphone, so he resolved to not spend a dime more and set out on a mission to find an app that was truly free.

Finally, he came upon “CUFFS Story’s”, a social game RPG set in the real world using AR (augmented reality) which had been rapidly gaining popularity. He could enjoy the game fully without spending any money on it and he became completely absorbed in it. Before long, he was part of a guild and found out at an offline meeting that they were all from the same school. The bonds that had been formed online turned into ones in reality.

As you might have guessed, Sonora is a sister brand of CUFFS. If eroge can’t beat mobage/social games/gacha games, might as well make one that mimics one. However, it still remains an eroge at its core, and no matter how flashy the gacha animations are, they are just superficial and don’t seem to contribute to the plot. Now, they might throw in a plot twist later in the game, but I’m already knee-deep in gacha games to play a mock one… (although that didn’t stop me from pulling repeatedly during the trial…)

If only more people were like the protagonist we wouldn’t have to deal with all the online gambling or annoying game mechanics built around it. So I applaud you Kyouya, even while I feel your game is boring, pointless, and has more or less been done before.

Yume to Iro de Dekiteiru

Company: feng
Game site: 夢と色でできている
Release date: February 22, 2019
Comments:
Ai and his childhood friends used to play together as part of the ‘World Defence Club’. But one day it disbanded and one of the girls changed schools, so they gradually lost touch with one another.

Now the girl who had left, Hiiro, returned and their circle of friends came together once more. However, this time their club name was the ‘Shrine Gate Defence Club’. They give advice to students for relationships, even though they themselves did not have any experience in romance. As they participate in the club activities, they started to think about falling in love too.

Oh, it’s been at least five years since feng made a game with multiple heroines. And it’s drawn by karory and written by Nakahiro as well! The tale of childhood friends coming back together isn’t exactly new, but with this staff it should turn out decent enough. I’m debating whether or not I want to play the game just for the imouto Ren. She was very cute in the trial (calls you nii-san at school and onii-chan at home).

Go back to single heroine games Feng. You were better at that. It has been ages since I trusted Feng enough to pull of a full scale eroge. Seems they felt the same about themselves as well with all the single heroine focus. So when they come back after a long hiatus we get a generic club activity eroge. An established company really should know better.

This game had been in the works for many years, so it probably will turn out alright. Feng’s production values are not as high as Windmill or even Navel, but it’s hard to fault them for going back to a school setting since it’s what they’re good at.

SPIRAL!!

Company: Navel
Game site: SPIRAL!!
Release date: February 28, 2019
Comments:
Chrome is an agent for the Divine Intelligence Agency who had just finished a difficult infiltration mission when he was suddenly called in by his boss for a new task. When he was told that it was concerning the royals, he wondered what dangerous job it would be this time, so he couldn’t believe his ears when he heard what it was.

“Eh? It’s just attending a school…?”
“Correct. They want you to enrol as a student in the human school specified in the file I just gave you. As a human, of course.”

It seems that recently the princess of the God realm was thinking about studying in the human world, so they wanted him to do some investigation in advance. He had hoped to take a much-needed break this summer, but he had no choice but to accept the mission.

Similar to Happiness! 2, this sequel seemingly doesn’t have much relation to its predecessor. It is Navel’s 15th anniversary of SHUFFLE!, but the staff is different and so is the school. Gods, humans and demons still co-exist, but I don’t see any demons in the character list. In fact, all of the heroines are human. I do like the Fujisaki Usa-voiced pure kouhai Mizuki though. Hau~ omochikaeri~!

Shuffle was probably the only decent game Navel has ever made. Why would I say that when by the standards of today it was not really anything special? Simply because it wasn’t pretentious about what it was nor what it tried to be. Sure the setting wasn’t all that well thought out but it also didn’t have too major a conflict as the story was never particularly serious. This is where Navel fell off on their later games. Too much focus on story with writers who could only write about characters. Trying too hard to be something you aren’t will never end up with good results.

Now for Spiral. If we compare it spiritually to Shuffle I can only say it’s horribly lacking. The heroines just aren’t as interesting or varied. Without the characters to back it up there just isn’t anything here worth the read sadly. Maybe one day Navel will get struck by lightning and have an epiphany. Till then I can only sigh at what could have been.

Amamane

Company: プレカノ (Prekano)
Game site: アママネ
Release date: February 28, 2019
Comments:
Even though Seiichi was better at baseball than everyone else, he was unable to perform at his peak during games due to his nerves. He trained hard by himself to get over his stage fright, but it only resulted in him overworking himself and collapsing on the scorching grounds. His kouhai Satsuki held him in her arms and told him:

“I’ll become your girlfriend and your manager and support you fully so that this will never happen again!”

Thus, she started helping him with everything, from his practices to his private life. Naturally that includes lap pillows and homemade bentos, but sometimes also having sex.

“You’re too harsh on yourself, senpai. So I’ll pamper you in return♪”

Seiichi was happy for her affection, but he wished to give it his all during training.　Satsuki believed in his true strength, but she wished for him to be happier.　Their youthtime match starts now!

So now you get to choose between osananjimi, onee-san type and kouhai among the single-heroine games this month! I do like the sports setting (even if they will likely just gloss over it), so either this or Aibeya would be my choice for a quick play.

So moral of the story is Kouhai can only win when she throws her body at the protagonist before an onee-san can even meet him. Sounds reasonable enough to me.

PV

Swallowtail -Ano Hi, Ao o Koete-

Company: NIKO
Game site: スワローテイル -あの日、青を超えて-
Release date: February 28, 2019
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from January.

“On the day of the festival, let’s go steal a mask from a stall”

Shou’s girlfriend Yuuna suddenly said those words on the day before the festival. She was the type who would come up with outrageous ideas all the time, but at that time he was particularly looking forward to it. She was a capricious girl who wouldn’t get close to people, but since he was worried about her, he couldn’t just let her be and before he knew, he had fallen in love with her.

“I don’t want a bought mask. I want a stolen one”

He unwillingly went along with her on that fateful day and carried out their plan. But the sight of her running into the crowd was the last he saw of her.

Three years later, Shou had left his hometown to attend university in Tokyo and was now going out with his childhood friend Rie. Even though it’s a busy time for them with seminars having started, he fully enjoys his days studying with her. One month before the start of this year’s festival, he received a message on his phone with no sender.

“On the day of the festival, let’s go steal a mask from a stall”

Their frozen time together has resumed once more…

This scenario is more intriguing than the MORE brands’ usual fare. If your ex-girlfriend was encouraging you to commit crimes and then ditched you, then returns when you get settled with a new girl, I’d suggest you don’t pay attention to her again! Nothing good will come out of it! But what is good here is the impressive seiyuu cast, including Kusuhara Yui (not balloons!), Akino Hana, Suzuya Maya, Ayumi Sara, and many more. I’ll probably still pass though since it’s a strong month.

I have to agree with Micchi that when a crazy ex comes back it is best to draw a line with her and hold it with your life. What makes it worse is the protagonist is already in a relationship when crazy girl comes back. Would have been one thing if he was just thinking about it as he was attracted to her, like say Hatsukoi Sankaime. But when things are basically over at the start the protagonist is going to be an asshole in every choice but his current girlfriend.

Micchi’s Top 5 for This Month

1. Evenicle 2
2. Happiness! 2 Sakura Celebration
3. SPIRAL!!
4. Aibeya
5. Yume to Iro de Dekiteiru

Zen’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Toshiue Kanojo no Amayaka Dousei
2. Guildmaster – Yes I said Evenicle was a better choice objectively. I just subjectively disagree.
3. Kin’iro Loveriche -Golden Time-

I’m ready to save those saving the world!

*Swoons* Don’t worry Onii-chan I’ll be the one to save you instead of the world~