Going from right to left: Heroine, Yoshitsune, Benkei, Kotarou, Tsugunobu, Tadanobu

Minamoto no Yoshitsune (CV: Tachibana Shinnosuke) – The son of the Minamoto clan. His deepest desire is to beat the Taira clan, and he fully believes in his older brother Yoritomo in Kamakura. His mother gave him a flute which he keeps with him at all times, and he watches over the heroine.

Musashibou Benkei (CV: Tsuda Kenjirou) A former monk of Mt. Hiei who now works for Yoshitsune. He’s intimidating without even trying to be, so he often scares people. He likes to cook and seeing people enjoy food makes him happy. Though he doesn’t show much emotion, he’s actually good at looking after people. (I am totally doing his route first. I knew I would like him, and I love his voice actor too!)

Kotarou (CV: Matsuoka Yoshitsugu) – A quick, nimble young man who’s good at talking to people, he has his own reasons for working for Yoshitsune. He has a complex about being short and is determined to become even bigger than Benkei one day. He can’t seem to help being mean to the heroine.

Satou Tsugunobu (CV: Miki Shinichirou) – Yoshitsune’s comrade who lives with him in Hiraizumi. He’s very loyal, and is almost too straightforward in his moral code. He also loves swords so much, he does some blacksmithing. He sees the heroine as a younger sister.

Satou Tadanobu (CV: Suzuki Yuuto) – Tsugunobu’s younger brother who’s an archery expert, and is seen as a bit of a womanizer. He likes to tease the heroine and watch her reactions.

Mikage (CV: Koyasu Takehito) – Yoshitsune’s mysterious teacher, he actually tries to kidnap the heroine.

Brothers Conflict is finally out, I might get it next week.

Toki no Kizuna!! Not a PV just the opening, but it’s the first vid I’ve seen for it. It’s SO PRETTY. And the heroine has a hawk! Can’t wait.

A gameplay vid of Black Wolves Saga. Rejet has a bunch up. I’m afraid to play this…

Hana Awase!! It says near the end that there will be three volumes at only 1470Y each, for Mizuchi (the eyepatch guy), Himeutsugi, and Karekurenagi/Utsutsu. Does this mean that Iroha (guy with the blue background) doesn’t have a route??

And a very well-drawn fanvid for TMGS3 (Seiji), no words:

Man, there are so many Tokimemo videos, I could do a whole post on them. Good time-wasting.

Jyuzaengi. The first 45 seconds are just announcing the seiyuu, so skip over that to get to the real PV (although honestly it seems like they’re mostly making really sure we see that the CGs have flowing hair and blinking eyes). I dunno about Ishida Akira’s character, his little kid voice here sounds pretty annoying.

And finally, Bakudan Handan:

Which I’m definitely getting, although I have a feeling I’ll end up only doing about half the routes.

The alchemy is also foolproof – whenever you make something it’s for a specific purpose, and the ‘correct’ combination is the only one that you can do.

I’m disappointed that the alchemy is so shallow, but as a visual novel it’s not bad. You do get to choose what tasks to do each day and it’s impossible to do them all. Right now I’m just doing the ones involving my target (Ralph) and then after that, either random tasks or I choose to skip out on them altogether and just mind the store. The tasks are separated into four sections; one for the three major festivals that occur during spring, and then one for Other (which seems to be related to the fairy Popotte maybe, or possibly a past Alchemist?).

C’est tout for today, I should finish Ralph tomorrow.

But hey, since I haven’t read up on it, I could be wrong – it could be an exaggeration. So let’s take a look – there’s still only a teaser for the game (which the pic is from), but there are some drama CDs.

So I went to the site, and did some sample listening. The first one features your little stepbrother Kakeru, and your sempai Atsushi.

When you listen to the samples, they seem to be more about getting rid of the other guy rather than blowing up at you.

Because this was the first edition, released two years ago, I thought I should check out a more recent one.

This one is about a girl, her fiancé, and her butler. This one also seems to focus more on the rivalry, although they do sound kinda crazy when insisting that she only care about them.

Although the characters definitely go into creep mode, in a fictional setting it doesn’t seem so bad.

However, the teaser pic for the game…suggests even more serious craziness. I’ll have to see more about the plot before deciding whether to get this or not.

1. Lots of rape. In unexpected places, by unexpected characters. Oh, you thought you would be safe with your childhood friend? Nope, he gets crazily jealous and rapes you. And you end up with him (Lovers Collection) – that might even be the happy ending. In all the other routes this guy was nice? In his own, he will likely rape you (Akazukin, Ijiwaru).

2. Torture of the heroine. Not only is the heroine often raped, but I’ve seen many scenes where she’s tied up (and not in a fun silky scarf kind of way but rough rope that is described as leaving marks), made to stay in stress positions, and sometimes caused a lot of pain intentionally. By the ‘heroes’. (Akazukin to Mayoi no Mori)

3. Humiliation. Again, only of the heroine OF COURSE. There are so many here I can’t describe just one. How about the one where she’s made to wear a vibrator all day at school (could be vaginal or anal, I can’t really remember) and is actually incoherent by the time the ‘hero’ deigns to remove it (Jingi Naki Otome, this is also in a good route IIRC).

4. Sexual assault / Crime. It’s not romantic when men drug you, ok game makers?! Nor when they kidnap you, or give you things to erase your memory. (Yume o Mou Ichido, Tsundere S Otome and Sumire no Tsubomi, and Akazukin)

5. Virgin/whore dichotomy. I think game makers could do with a quick course in Feminism 101. Liking sex doesn’t make a woman evil. And if you’re making games…with sex in them…for WOMEN, maybe you should realize that! This is one of the most annoying things, because it feels like game writers are insulting their own customers. You’re interested in sex? You’re awful! You’re not pure as the driven snow? You deserve to be verbally abused at all times, especially sexytimes! This comes up when the heroine doesn’t want to admit that she wants sex, and if she ever does (even if it’s half-forced), ‘heros’ will call them really awful names – in the middle of sex! – and treat them like crap. (UH, almost all R-18 games? I remember it specifically in UTM and Ijiwaru My Master. Sugar Beans is awful for this)

6. Painful sex. You know, I’m just going to put it out there that even losing your virginity doesn’t have to hurt usually (depends on the person of course). And if I’m playing a fictional game, I’d rather have it be enjoyable. But often, even non-deflowering sex scenes are described as painful, and really, it’s not fun. Sex, especially fictional fantasy sex, should be good for everyone!!

7. Lack of women in charge. It seems like R-18 games right now are 95% made for ultra-hardcore submissives. Almost the only time I’ve seen the heroine dominate the hero ever is 1) when she turns evil (thanks again Sugar Beans, and Vampire Sweetie!) 2) when she tries a bit and then the guy turns the tables and ends up dominating her hardcore. I had high hopes for Tsundere S Otome, but apparently the level of S in heroines and S in heros is waaaay different. Like S in a heroine is when she’s not fawning over him, and S in a hero is when he ties the heroine up, blindfolds her, and then makes her cry.

8. Anal sex. I actually wouldn’t mind this one, apparently it’s quite common (?) and can be fun, but in otome games it NEVER IS. It’s painful and usually happens when the ‘hero’ is mad, and seems more about domination than pleasure. (Jingi Naki Otome)

9. Toys. Again, I wouldn’t mind it so much if it didn’t always lead to the heroine being humiliated, crying, or in pain. (Jingi Naki Otome again)

10. Sex scenes which are designed like hentai scenes. Who is the market for R-18 otome games? From a lot of the CGs, you’d think it was men, because the heroine is naked way more than the guys, and the sex scenes often show way more of the heroine than the hero, or are posed in a way that the heroine’s body is fully shown while the hero is mostly hidden. If I’m a heterosexual woman, I’d like to see more of the guy please! Same goes for voices.

11. And while we’re talking about voices. In way too many R-18 otome games, the guys show little to no emotion during sex, other than anger or sarcasm or smugness when they make the heroine ‘lose control’. It doesn’t even seem fun for them. Why do you want to have sex so much if you’re not enjoying it?? Sometimes they sound like they’re doing a science experiment instead of enjoying some hot sexytimes (Crazy Rabbits).

Alright, that’s all that I have for complaints (think it’s enough?.) It’s too bad, because I feel like love stories (which otome games are, supposedly) naturally lead into sexual relationships most of the time, especially if your main characters are adults. I just feel like the market for otome games which show sexual relationships along with the ‘falling in love’ stage are really lacking in quality.

Apparently, the romance novel industry was in a similar situation around the 70′s and 80′s (backlash or something maybe?), with lots of rapey heroes and humiliation of the heroine, along with the condemnation of women who weren’t pure and innocent. That industry eventually matured and now there’s a huge variety, from totally PG to NC-17, with lots of positive, happy sexual relationships shown. Hopefully R-18 games will get there sometime.

In the meantime, I do have ideas on what games are LESS bad than most.

1. Of course, Tsubasa no Oka no Hime. This has no rape that I remember (I think I finished all but the old man’s route), almost no problems with humiliation, painful sex, or demonizing the heroine if/because she’s into sex. I love it. Plus the guys actually show emotion during the sex scenes, AND there is some genuine (light) domination by the heroine.

2. Some of Mirai’s older games I think were actually better at this (does that mean it’s getting worse??) Hoshi no Oujo ~Yoshitsune~ wasn’t too bad for humiliation and rape, in most of the routes. Just don’t go for the younger silver-haired brother, or Yoritomo’s bad route. Or Goshirakawa.

3. Another older game, Toiro Komachi. Not a great game, but most of the sex is consensual, except for that evil businessman. And the heroine isn’t a virgin, even though she’s single and unmarried!! Shock!!

4. Aromarie’s games, Gin no Kanmuri, Ao no Namida, and Tsuki no Kage (something I can’t remember, the name is long). Comparatively, there’s less rape(except for the blond guy in Tsuki, watch out for him), the heroine is less of a doormat, and the guys enjoy the sex. Also, no scenes that I can remember where there is unwanted anal/toys. Heroine is also not a virgin in both these games.

5. (edit) I haven’t played Dessert Love on the PC, but there’s no rape in that one. Another older game! This gives me a bad feeling about upcoming games…

Did I miss any (comparatively) good R-18 games? Do you totally disagree with what I’m saying? Let me know in the comments! And sorry if you’re not into/turned off R-18 games. Regular PG posting will resume on Wednesday.

• Vampire Sweetie (PC)
• Black Wolves Saga Bloody Nightmare (PC)
• Scarred Rider Xechs + FD (PSP)
• Harutoki 5 FD (PSP)
• and Atelier Elkrone(PSP)

After not too much debate, I started up Elkrone first. One, I really want to see if there’s a good alchemy minigame, because I love collecting and making things in-game (yeah I am that annoying crafter in MMORPGs that wants all the recipes). And Otomate has done it before – Kanuchi had a crafting system that I really liked. And two, I’ve played Xechs and Harutoki 5 so the FDs can wait, and Bloody Nightmare…I need to work myself up to it, I hear it’s really dark. If it’s anything like Gekka Ryouran it’s gonna be intense. Vampire Sweetie I’ll probably play in fits and starts.

So far in Elkrone, I’ve only made one thing, but it seems really simple. You need three ingredients, and from my understanding you already have one or two of them (they’re more like catalysts and they don’t get used up) that you get from your fairy friend Popotto. Doesn’t seem very complicated, as you can tell when you have a match. I haven’t gone collecting yet though, so maybe that is more involved.

As for l’amour, I’m pretty sure I’ll go for Ralph (the main guy) first. I’m not even out of the intro, I’ve only met him, Johanne the adventurer, and the old weapon shop guy (voiced by none other than Madao! Gintama’s ruined me for this guy’s voice, good thing he’s not catchable). Ralph is a former classmate and classic tsundere, really obvious and pretty cute.

That’s it for now! Once I have more idea of the story (no idea if there’s an overarching plot but there are some hints) I’ll post again. And tomorrow or Sunday will be video time!

Issho ni Gohan, the cooking-centric drama cd series, is being made into a game by Otomate for the PSP – for release in September. The heroine becomes the landlady at a boarding house for a nearby cooking school which she attends (which all the guys go to/have graduated from). In addition to the affection meter which changes with your dialogue choices, it will have a cooking skill meter which also affects your endings, raised by cooking minigames and quizzes.

Characters:
Yoneda Hikari (CV: Kaji Yuuki) – the second-year student who’s able to become friends easily with anyone
Karasawa Rei (CV: Ono Daisuke) – the graduate with a harsh personality who’s running a nearby curry restaurant
Toriyama Yousuke (CV: Shimono Hiro) – the first-year who looks up to Hikari and is the house’s moodmaker
Daitou Natsu (CV: Tsuda Kenjirou) – a fourth-year in the Japanese food program, he grew up in a traditional Japanese house and knows archery and ikebana. He’s strict about people following the rules and has a hard time blending into groups.
Unoha Nao (CV: Fukuyama Jun) – the weak-bodied fourth year who’s a bit of an airhead, who’s also artistic
Umino Riki (CV: Suzumura Kenichi) – the popular second-year who DJs at a club to make money and wants to ‘produce’ a restaurant

Ther’s also a teaser pic about a new game about ‘glass heart syndrome’, and not being ‘allowed’ to get ‘tokimeki’(I think you’re not supposed to get romantic feelings in the game) from Otomate. More details next month.

And finally, a diagram showing all the different ways you can customize your guy in Custom Drive, resulting in (supposedly) over 1,000,000 variations: hats (5), glasses (5), personality (5), hairstyle (10), clothes (10), accessories (10), over 3 different characters. Now if I remember high school math, the law of permutations would mean that there are…hm, I only get 375,000 permutations. Either I’m wrong (impossible!), or D3 has some explaining to do! We won’t be satisfied with only 375,000, am I right?? …OK, I’ll give them a pass this time.

Looks like Quinrose is really getting into paired games! First there was 12ji no Cinderella and 24ji no Cinderella, and now there’s Ouma ga toki and Hyakki Yakou! The heroine, Tatsuta Ui, is a dragon god princess, who’s #1 in the school and uses fire. She’s half god and half youkai, and tries to live up to her royal lineage at school, but secretly feels hemmed in. I think the artist is getting better, the characters look more polished (although they still look pretty stiff – I think that’s a Quinrose thing). Other than the school setting, I don’t think there’s any connection – perhaps this is set before or after Ouma Ga Toki.

New game from Otomate, Genroh – by the same artist who worked on Nise no Chigiri (kya!), this is set during the Genpei Gassen, or the war between the Minamoto and Taira clans in late 1100′s (the same time period as Harutoki 3). The heroine, Saya, can see people’s feelings. The main characters include Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Musashibou Benkei (who is a totally gorgeous silver-haired bishounen here).

Double Score is a new PC games series from BlueMoon where all the romanceable characters are significantly older than the heorine – the youngest is eight years older, the oldest is 29 years older! There will be six games, each with two character routes, and there are also drama CDs coming out starting in June. The heroine has a part-time job as a miko at a famous love shrine, and through her work there, meets the other characters. The games will be Y2500 each, which seems kind of expensive for only two routes each (although I say this having spent $4 each on Pirates in Love routes, where there are no voices and the story is pretty short, so…)

And finally, the seiyuu for 24ji no Cinderella were announced!
Louis Reed (CV: Suzumura Kenichi) – A childhood friend who’s in training to become a knight
Linus Randol (CV: Yusa Kouji) – Your fiancee, who’s in the nobility
Oswell Savaret (CV: Tsuda Kenjirou) – A magician tutor
Damian (CV: Morita Masakazu) – A mouse monster
Feather (CV: Shimono Hiro) – the pigeon (goose? I can’t remember) monsters from 12ji
Spencer Hendrick (CV: Nakata Jouji) – maybe not romanceable? The prince’s servant
Sirius Bradley (CV: Takahashi Hiroki) – probably also not romanceable, a magician

I feel like there was more news than that, so I’ll go check Girl’s Style again. Sorry I didn’t post this earlier, I have no excuse – I bought some doujinishi anthologies along with the mags (you know those large tankoubon size ones for popular anime?) and was distracted. And yes, they were Bleach, and they only had about 15 pages of Ulquihime in all 400 pages, boo.

• It’s set in a world where gods who have forgotten their love for humanity are re-educated by one young girl. The two characters shown so far are Apollon, and Tsukito, from Greek and Japanese mythology respectively. One thing the producer mentions is that the catchphrase is “Love is Pain”, and that they are trying out something rare in otome games, tragic love. It sounds like they want to try to have some very angsty routes, but they say they’re also putting in happy routes.
• The setting is a school, created by the gods, so it’s not a normal school at all – it looks like a European castle, and it has different sections for the different mythologies. For example, the Japanese part is mountainous, and the Greek part is a beautiful garden. The creators wanted to do a fantasy game, but one that had familiar rules, so they settled on a school life/fantasy mix.
• Besides the two characters presented already, Odin and Loki will be the Norse representatives, and there will also be Egyptian mythology figures (I hope they do Horus and Anubis, I’d love to see hawk (falcon?) and jackal-headed characters!)
]]> http://lijaka.com/blog/2012/04/kamigami-no-asobi/feed/ 4 http://lijaka.com/blog/2012/04/tokimemo-gs3-psp/ http://lijaka.com/blog/2012/04/tokimemo-gs3-psp/#comments Sat, 21 Apr 2012 04:28:57 +0000 lijakaca http://lijaka.com/blog/?p=1643 I got it a couple days ago and am going for Ruka first. I never finished his route on the DS even though I like him quite a bit – I always seemed to get pulled into love triangles and then go for Kou

Skinship is pretty different here – all the guesswork is taken out, but instead there’s a timing challenge to get more hearts, which I actually find kind of harder than the DS version. I haven’t gotten to the point where I can choose koakuma or angel yet, but I can’t wait – I hear the angel side is similar to the DS so I’ll probably do mostly koakuma (like I wasn’t going to anyways).

The animation does make it feel much more interactive – character expressions match what they’re saying really well (I think better than the DS version…) and of course the better picture and sound of the PSP helps a lot as well. The CGs are so smooth!

I haven’t seen the new guy, Hasumi, yet – I think he might only transfer in for the last year.

Oh, and one last thing I’ve noticed – the birthday presents are different! Not too hard to guess though.

I’m not even done my first year, so still lots of playing time to get through and see what’s different.

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