Title: Violated Hero -I Wanted to Chivalrously Save the World- (犯され勇者～凛々しく世界を救うハズだったボク) Release date: 2011-12-16 (2012-02-29 in English) Developer: Dieselmine English publisher: Dargoth (as a fan-patch)
"Violated Hero" is a monster girl femdom dungeon crawling RPG nukige. My... that was a lot of big worlds for such a small game. I wonder if the game can live up to them. Short answer - no; long answer - read below.
Title: The Second Reproduction Release date: 2008-12-28 (2012-02-20 in English) Developer: Heterodoxy English publisher: Ate the Moon Translations (as a fan-patch)
So... "The Second Reproduction" is my first commercial otome game that I have played. That is to say, you play as a girl seeking to romance various boys. Holding a position, that genderbending is both fun and healthy I happily dove into it. My previous forays into the genre were in the form of various OELVNs, that were mostly of very low quality with the exception of "Frozen Essence" - the only game of this kind to impress me. I'm happy to say, that TSR didn't disappoint me, however it didn't amaze me either. But let's talk about everything from the beginning.
Title: Katawa Shoujo Release date: 2012-01-04 Developer: Four Leaf Studios Publisher: Four Leaf Studios
So, yeah... I wonder if there is a single person right now who hasn't at least heard of Katawa Shoujo (Disability Girl) - an OELVN developed by an international team over a period of about five years and finally released on this January. The history of the concept is probably known as well: inspired by Raita blah blah blah started on 4chan blah blah blah but no association with them anymore blah blah blah it's free... yes, that is the only thing you should know. Go play it and I will review it in the meantime.
Title of the series: Sono Hanabira ni Kuchizuke o Original title: その花びらにくちづけを Alias: SonoHana Developer: Fuguriya English publisher: SH1: Count Pacula (as a fan-patch)
SH2/3/4/5: AXYPB World (as a fan patch)
SH6/8: Petals' Garden (formerly AXYPB World) & Yuri Project (as a fan patch)
SH7: AXYPB World & Hanabira-kun (as a fan patch)
In my previous review of "Yuukuri Panic" I said that all-girl schools are the places for pure lesbian love to blossom and this time it is true. SonoHana series are known for their fluffy stories filled with girl-on-girl lovemaking. At the time of writing there already are 10 games in the series with more than half of them translated into English.
Title: Zaishuu -The SiN- Original title: 罪囚-The SiN- Alias: Guilty _The SiN_ Release date: 2003-09-26 English release date: 2011-03-14 Developer: Tactics English publisher: MangaGamer
Ah, Zaishuu -The SiN-, a visual novel from Tactics that promised to take us to the darker side of an eroge world. Considering that I'm a fan of everything that is horror, fantasy or sci-fi, I was more than eager to get my hands onto it, expecting to experience another "Bible Black". The title left me with very mixed feelings, but I suppose that is the point of this review. So, let's proceed by diving straight into the underworld of Akatsuki City.
For a change let's review an OELVN here, or at least the first chapter of one, as "Rise & Fall" is an ongoing project and only the first chapter of this kinetic novel has been released. By creators' own admission, the game has been highly influenced by "07th Expansion", and the game bears an undeniable similarity to the Umineko series. At the same time it a sort of fan-fiction, as the majority of the characters are taken from UTAU (not that I know or care what that is; something to do with vocaloids). Not knowing a lick about UTAU didn't hinder my experience with the game in the least.
