October 2019 Eroge Releases

It’s hard to be excited for a month when there’s only six games. Applique’s crowdfunded Cross Concerto has technically already been released on Steam, but the package version will be out this month. GIGA’s Ai Kiss continues their school setting series, albeit with a new staff. Cabbit tries to recreate their past magic with the mysterious Kagi o Kakushita Kago no Tori.

Boring month yet again. Not only are their few games but most aren’t even up to the usual standards as sad as that is. I will certainly give thanks if next month can finally improve the releases we are offered.

Mitsu Ane

Company: bootUP!
Game site: みつあね
Release date: October 25, 2019
Comments:
Hayate’s parents departed on a cruise around the world, leaving him and his three sisters Haruka, Fuyuka and Natsuki to take care of the house. He thought that these three months would pass without much problems, but his sisters decided to take advantage of the situation to draw even closer to their dear little brother.

They had once made an agreement to not make any moves on him before he became a working adult, which was reaffirmed shortly after their parents’ departure. However, Natsuki gave a daring kiss to Hayate while he was sleeping to cheer him up from the strange dreams which he had been seeing. Hayate began to see her as a woman, and this incident was seen by Haruka. Despite Natsuki’s claims of innocence, the other two sisters became increasingly impatient knowing that Natsuki was one step ahead of them. A passionate summer lies ahead for Hayate and his sisters.

Good luck Hayate. I can’t help you here.

I would like to see a new means of ridding the setting of parents for an eroge besides the usual, work, trip, or death. Or even better properly involving them in the story as ya know that is kind of relevant most of the time.

Well not that it would be relevant to Bootup as story isn’t really their cup of tea. No they are more about spamming bad artwork for incest nukige. I suppose they have found their niche, which luckily for them has little direct competition, or they would probably be out of business by now given their lackluster artwork.

I’m sure you would be more than willing to help if they were younger sisters *cough*.

There would be no need to help in that case.

Ai Kiss

Company: 戯画 (GIGA)
Game site: アイキス
Release date: October 25, 2019
Comments:
The first day for Ren at the arts school Arimori Gakuen came as a total shock to him. He was reunited with the sisters Hinata and Ayame, with whom he had drawn together when they were kids. Even though he was taken aback by their development, they quickly became close once again to make up for lost time. Moreover, he made friends with his eccentric senpai Junko and otaku girl An.

GIGA’s Kiss series doesn’t usually stand out, but this one feels different since the staff has changed. The story is written by Hozumi Kei (D.C.4), while the art is by relative newcomers Kirisawa Saki and Hazuki Gyoukoto. It’s still probably the safe pick in such a short month like this one.

Typical generic Giga game, it sure feels like there is one of these a month with how often I have to write about them. Median game, don’t expect too much, but might be nice if you want something that doesn’t need too much investment. 

Cross Concerto

Company: あっぷりけ (Applique)
Game site: クロスコンチェルト
Release date: October 25, 2019
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from September. It was spring, the season of new beginnings. Satoru finally broke free from the closed remote village where he had been held captive as an unwanted child, and entered the same school that his late mother attended. However, he was surprised to find his twin sister Ruri and her attendant Kyouka waiting for him there. He met the cool senpai Touko and occult-loving student council leader Mirai and gradually got used to the dormitory life. However, there were figures working in the shadows; will they find out the truth behind the events around them?

Applique’s 10th anniversary title was crowdfunded at 260% of the original target of 15 million yen. As a result, they were able to come up with a pretty solid title with lots of content (4 heroines, 3 subheroines, 100 CGs, an extra route). It’s nice to see the campaign be so successful; it may be a viable option for other companies. The trial was interesting, revolving around Ruri’s ability to see the future (except her own) and their attempts to change it. I’m not going to go into the details, but if you do play it, do choose both options in the single choice presented. I have no qualms about the characters nor seiyuus chosen for them. This should be a nice pick-up for those that want a more involved story.

Perhaps it may be against my better judgement but I want to give Applique a chance. They have a rather good track record and there is nothing too obnoxiously bad flashing warning lights at me. Though I can’t help but question a lot of the themes the story revolves around, it’s fine. The reason it is fine in this case, and perhaps only this case, is the solution to the entire story will determine the quality. Honestly just being slightly interested in where the story will go because I don’t immediately know roughly how things will end is good enough for me.

So there’s some news making the rounds that a certain HCG has some questionable genitalia placement. Hope they correct it before the package release.

CM

Raillore no Ryakudatsusha

Company: 3rdEye
Game site: レイルロアの略奪者
Release date: October 25, 2019
Comments:
New release date after being pushed back from July. A century or more from now, all humans have acquired superpowers in this new world. These powers are such a commonplace that those who do not possess them are viewed as outcasts. Civilization has greatly declined during this time of change with the human population greatly reduced and nature reclaiming lands which had been developed.

The town of Raillore, with brick dwellings reminiscent of the Middle Ages, is surrounded by forests and rivers and blessed with fertile soil. Since the concept of countries has vanished, it is self-governed by an order of knights who fight crime to protect the townspeople.

One time, it was confirmed that there were people called ‘errors’ with unknown powers known as ‘moments’ which bring about strange phenomena. These events caused fear to the masses and it was up to the order of knights to deal with the situation after it was determined that the errors suddenly appeared due to an illness.

Just like Korolum, there’s a battle scene at the beginning. I do like the dynamic presentation and a more interesting protagonist than your usual eroge one (what’s five destroyed buildings when you’ve caught the target?). That being said, I’ll pass on playing it, but it does look promising for those who are into battles and that kinda stuff.

What strikes me the most is the completely unnecessary setting. This could just as easily been a different world or your standard new world plot. By forcibly warping an existing setting in such an awkward manner I can’t help but have reservations towards the plot they came up with. A unique world has less common sense restraining it whereas things like lack of countries are just unbelievable regardless of their reasons. Whereas should this have taken place in a completely foreign location the common sense may have taken a different turn due to a different development. This is of course also avoiding the random superpower convenience. As much as I truly enjoy reading something where there is more substance to the romance than just arbitrary and generic high school students hook up, I am just as sick of how little effort is put into such titles. Most just end up with some random gimmick an almost copy paste low grade manga or light novel story and a few ero scenes. Take that as you will, but I do hope to eventually see some more critique in this direction so some more effort will be spent on what matters.

Kagi o Kakushita Kago no Tori

Company: Cabbit
Game site: 鍵を隠したカゴのトリ -Bird in cage hiding the key-
Release date: October 25, 2019 Delayed to December 20, 2019
Comments:
Touko was taken into custody on suspicion of committing murder and testified that she was the culprit. However, she was subsequently released due to insufficient evidence. The general public did not approve of this, so she ended up being imprisoned in a large mansion.

Youta was once saved by Touko when he was young, and he decided to live with her in the mansion after his grandmother passed away, leaving him all alone. They were joined by Touko’s friend Mion, the class rep Yoru, and their eccentric classmate Izuru. He felt that it was a pleasant life, cooking together, chatting about random things and having the occasional argument.

But who is the true culprit? And why did Touko confess to the crime? Can the caged girl be saved?

I dunno, they seem pretty happy in their own little world already. Do they really need to clear her name when they get to live in a big mansion? It’s pretty dangerous to search for the true murderer…. or maybe it’s actually one of them!? Actually, probably not. I think it’s likely just another excuse to put them all under one roof.

I have to hand it to these idiot savants for coming up with what can perhaps be the most contrived setting to throw the harem under one roof I have ever seen. Not only does the entire setup make zero sense, but as Micchi already said there is little to no reason to even bother doing anything. When the entire purpose is to create a sense of curiosity towards the questions they present, I just cannot help but feel zero interest towards the answers here. Better luck next time.

Yuusha to Odore!

Company: catwalk
Game site: 勇者と踊れ！
Release date: October 25, 2019 Delayed to November 29, 2019
Comments:
Kyou’s adoptive parents passed away suddenly in an accident, leaving him at a loss at what to do. Then he was summoned to a parallel world, where he was greeted by the person who summoned him, the holy princess Felicia.

“Welcome back, Hero. You are truly the descendant of the dragon, the Hero who I had been waiting all this time for…!”

This parallel world of Altair was once protected by a goddess and her follower divine dragon. However, they lost their lives in a war with the god Nyx from the world of Abyss. The citizens of Altair seeked power to oppose the invading forces, so a summoning ritual was performed to bring back the Hero from Earth.

“We need you. Will you fight alongside me…?”

Kyou did not see himself as a Hero, but he could not refuse to help the princess. However, he lacked any battle knowledge, so he entered an explorer training school with her. As if by fate, other girls joined them, harbouring secrets of their own. He finally found the place where he always yearned for: a peaceful life full of warm smiles and happiness.

Before long, these fine days and the whole world would be under threat. Will their bonds of friendship protect them and will they be successful in saving the world?

This is basically any isekai LN in eroge form. They aren’t that good and this one probably won’t be either. The usual escapism with a self-insert protagonist. There’s a dungeon fighting system that has a puzzle element as well. Pass.

I laughed way way harder than I should have at his parents death. Not because they died mind you, but because it was so superfluous to do so yet they were adamant enough to stick to their eroge guns and kill off the protagonists parents anyway. I mean why would you even do that when you are removing the protagonist from the world regardless of his parents existence, it’s so pointless. Sure it may come in to play later but there’s no need to actually make that happen if that was their intent. Poor eroge parents, eternally making the most noble of sacrifices so their kids can get laid.

As far as the game itself Micchi said everything I would want to already so I’m out of a job on this one. If this happened more often I could just sit back and copy paste “Micchi said it already” over and over. Oh well if nothing else the random imouto characters will stop Micchi from ever being jaded enough for that sadly.

I think their death is to highlight the fact that he’s in a pitiful position in his current world and without any tangible connections to it, free to be taken to another world where he is coveted by all females.

Micchi’s Top 3 for This Month

1. Cross Concerto
2. Kagi o Kakushita Kago no Tori
3. Ai Kiss

Zen’s Bottom 3 for This Month

1. Kagi o Kakushita Kago no Tori
2. Raillore no Ryakudatsusha
3. Yuusha to Odore!

Even though I have a top 3, most likely I won’t even touch any of them.

That’s because you are too intent on being a top, should try being a bottom sometime.

No need when you already filled that position.