Clephas

Garden of the Fifth Zoa was a game that got buried in a year of top-quality releases. In a normal year, it would have at least made VN of the Month, if not VN of the Year (VN of the Year is a much higher hurdle, in my mind). However, 2010-2013 was the period when the VN industry was still riding the peak, before the gradual collapse that led to today. If I were to be frank, many of the VNs I named VN of the Month in later years would have easily lost out to ones that lost it to others in this particular year or the ones before. While there were usually at least 3 VN of the Year candidates in any year until 2018 (where there really was only Haru to Yuki and Maoten if you ignore Fuukan no Grasesta being the last good Eushully game and the only one since Tenbin). Top-quality VNs slowed down significantly after 2016, when things started to go to shit. You started to see a higher proportion of bland and uninteresting works and even a fall in nukige quality (which was startling in itself, since the average for nukige has been the same since eroge first came into existence). This made works that would have been considered average in previous years look much better than they should have.

Chuushingura is an excellent choice for VN of the Year, though it wasn't mine. At the time, I wavered between Komorebi and Hapymaher. I gave Hapymaher the win because its excellent soundtrack was used to enhance its most emotional scenes perfectly, with the rest creating a general atmosphere unique to the game. In retrospect, Komorebi has edged its way slightly ahead of Hapymaher, in my mind, because Komorebi is much better when replaying. Hapymaher's Christmas arc is fine the first time, but it puts me to sleep every time when I try to replay the game. Its value on the first playthrough came from not knowing what was real and what was a dream, and the knowledge you gain from finishing the game reduces the replayability of that particular scenario way too much.

Raillore is 3rdeye's most recent chuunige, made back in 2019. At the time, I tried to play it and dropped it after the prologue, for a number of reasons. The primary reason was the lack of narration in combat scenes... For some reason, 3rdEye has almost no narration in this game, comparative even to charage. Instead, battle scenes are done using CGs, brief animations, and sound-effects. Unfortunately, this means you generally have no idea of what is going on, due to the limitations of such things. The second issue was the second protagonist, who is your classic sorta former-criminal dameningen, Grey. Grey is... very familiar. He is the type of guy who has frustrated anime, manga, and LN fans for decades with being the lazy and feckless bastard who is only good at tricking people. This type of protagonist makes for a very predictable story that is not in the least bit interesting, at least in my experience. The last was the pacing... which is generally awful. Though, it is hard not to be awful when no real effort is put into explaining the world outside of the ever-increasing number of encyclopedia terms hidden behind the game's clunky menu. Supposedly, Raillore is at least a few generations later than us, after some kind of apocalypse that destroys civilizations and leaves pockets of people with weak superpowers excavating the ruins of their ancestors living in primitive cities like Raillore. At some point before the story began, some people began losing their original superpower and gaining the power to transform relics of the old civilization into working artifacts. Unfortunately, due to several incidents, these poor individuals experience extreme persecution and, at first, are hunted to death then later are inserted into a machine that erases their power and memories. The first of the protagonists is Reno, one of the two boys in the prologue, who has been through enough hell that his personality seems to have been cut down until he became a machine-like warrior existing only to follow orders. He is a Snatcher, (so is Grey), his power allowing him to take others' superpowers temporarily and convert them into power to fuel is much more powerful superpower, which increases all of his physical abilities in exchange for transforming his personality into a berserker of sorts. Since Reno is already at Cloud (from FF7) levels of physical ability even before the transformation, this means stone buildings blowing apart at a blow and tiles cracking just from him running around, lol. Snatchers seem to suffer under a similar - if less intense- level of prejudice from the population of the city. Snatchers are generally feared and used as weapons by the authorities, partnering them with powerful supers who are tasked with judging when is best to give them permission to 'Plunder' others' powers. All of this means that if I hadn't had to dig for every, single, frigging detail by going through the encyclopedia there was an immense amount of potential for this setting. There is a lot that could be played with to make the story interesting, but the fact that you have to actually search for even vague details means that there is no real enjoyment from the world-building aspect. Similarly, this game's story should have been interesting, the battles should have been epic, and the characters should have been memorable... Unfortunately, 3rdEye's approach to the game meant that none of these promises were fulfilled. In a VN, especially an action VN and/or a plotge, narration is the foundation of the story. You can fool around with visuals all you want to color in the gaps and give people something to build on, but it is the narration that makes the story. The near-complete lack of narration in this game, particularly in battle scenes and important story scenes, is fatal to this game's quality.

If you are going to play any game in the Sengoku Hime or Sangoku Hime series by Gesen, Sengoku Hime 5 is the single best, in every way. It has the best gameplay balance, the best story for each path, and my favorite Nobunaga path by miles. Sengoku Koihime (especially after the X version was released a year later) is the best of the Koihime Musou series. I say this because they actually made the protagonist central to every aspect of the story and made him capable enough to feel 'real' instead of being a hanger-on that occasionally contributes. Magicalic Sky High was one of several mediocre charage that Whirlpool made during this period of time. Senjou no Folklore is a very, very old-style srpg/VN. It had the potential to be good, but the mediocre staff at Debonosu worked their magic on it effectively, giving us their usual sub-par result that somehow sells like hotcakes anyway. Tsuyokiss Next is a series based half a decade after the original Tsuyokiss, with a protagonist who is related to Kani and a decent set of heroines. Like all Tsuyokiss games, it is very old-style rom-com with no attempt to be anything else. Timepiece Ensemble is a high-quality plotge that is also related to 1/2 Summer. While this game isn't the greatest VN of all time, it is pretty enjoyable.

It's worth it... the voices are just better.

Another month with a ton of non-nukige releases. I played a total of 9 games from this month over the years... compare that to maybe three releases a month now, and you'll see how things are slowing down in the industry. Aka-san to Kyuuketsuki was supposed to be an attempt by Alcot to shoehorn vampires into a charage setting. Unfortunately, it turned out to be abominable bad, something that was a first for me with something by Alcot. Electro-Arms would be one of my two choices for a VN of the Month from this month, along with Izayoi no Fortuna. I say this because Electro-arms is easily the most 'mainstream' game I've seen from Light. The concept is that of an AR game that has the actual ability to intrude into real life, for those with the program installed on their phones. Reiji, the protagonist, is very much like Shirou from Dies Irae, without the whiney Ren to hold him back and without Mercurius fiddling with fate. He is wild, unbelievably clever, and an inveterate thrill seeker. Generally, regardless of which path you are on, it is an enjoyable story. There are three main stories with a bunch of sub-heroine 'normal' endings. Izayoi no Fortuna is unique in my experience... the closest parallels I can draw all come from four or five years before, with the possible exception of Tasogare no Sinsemilla. It is a summer-themed game, but thankfully the protagonist isn't a student. Rather, he is a traveller and something of a vagrant who settles in the town temporarily, thus sparking the events of the story. If this sounds like a setup similar to Air by Key, you would not be entirely wrong, though it isn't as overt as all that. HHG's sequel is an excellent finale for those who liked the original but hated the true ending. Imouto no Okagede Motesugite Yabai is one of the 'Yabai' series of harem-ge/charage made by Hulotte. This series is known for its humor and vague indications that they all coexist in the same setting. Regardless, they are generally amusing, even if they aren't VN of the Month material. Sakura Mau Otome no Rondo is yet another of Ensemble's pathetic attempts to make a decent ojousama-ge. I say this because they managed it twice, despite themselves, and they have been trying to recapture the magic with random writers ever since (as if that would work). Soshite Kirameku Otome no Himitsu is another kusoge of a charage released in this month. It really isn't worth noting except to warn the charage fans away, since it isn't even good for the genre. Venus Blood Gaia a dungeon-invasion version of the VB series based in a world ruled by giant spirit-beasts. The protagonist is a researcher who discovered a way to create a new form of energy he then used to create life... in a mad scientist sort of way. The story is good but I can't bring myself to really praise any of the tentacle-impregnation VB games, because they manage to make a perfectly good fetish seem like work. Wagaya no Himegami-sama is the final game I played for this month. As I recall, it was an average-quality charage with fantasy elements. It isn't really worth going out of your way to play, unless you already ran out of better stuff to cherry-pick from bygone eras.

Saga Frontier is one of the most oddball rpgs to have been released on the ps1, and the ps1 was long considered the 'era of classics' for all jrpg-dom, with remakes of the earlier major names and innumerable newer classics being released for the system. The Saga series in general is something of an acquired taste, due to the sheer opaqueness of the leveling mechanics and odd, often nonsensical experimentation with random game elements. In terms of game mechanics, Saga Frontier is easily the most well-explored of the series. It's devoted cult of fanboys and -girls have revealed everything of consequence about the original version over the years, so how much is this changed from the original? First of all, for those of you who have played the original, a number of quality of life improvements. The ability to quicksave and autosaves at important points mean you are far less likely to trap yourself into having to spend hours regaining progress. The immense expansion of save slots makes it possible to backtrack when you underleveled for the final zones. As important in its own way, the spark trees and probabilities for weapon/fist techniques have been unified into a single one usable by all human and half-mystic characters. Last of all, New Game+ lets you bring over character progress, money, skills, and items between paths, making it unnecessary to keep re-leveling them each time you start a new character path. However, for true fanboys, the true wow moment is the added content. Now, Saga Frontier is a game that is very sparse on active storytelling. It has the same 'silent presentation of the environment' that can be seen in a lot of the pre-2000 jrpgs taken to extremes, and this is the primarily element that takes the Saga series into a niche of its own. More than anything, I loved that they added in all the cut-out content from the original... especially a ton of content in Asellus's story, which was my favorite and most painful (leveling Asellus is painful at first) path from the original. This includes extra ways to get out of the first area (depending on your method, you end up in different places and have slightly different experiences), the fixing of the old Asellus path bug that sometimes made it difficult to get the Half-mystic or human endings, and a general polishing of the experience in general. The other chunk of added content is the Fuse path. In the original game, Fuse was a curiosity of a character usually gained too late for him to be of any use (the method for obtaining him requires confronting a firebird on steroids who can incinerate your party in one hit). In this game, he has his own path, which is essentially his case files on each of the characters where his own work intersected with theirs. Since these are always told from his - slightly narcissistic - point of view, they are highly amusing to someone who has finished all the other paths. While this path doesn't add anything story-wise, it is still funny to go through. Now for my assessment of the base game... First, the most opaque of the game mechanics, the Battle Rank System. To be honest, this is perhaps the easiest way for someone new to the series to self-sabotage. Every battle you undertake, whether it is against a slime or a dragon, upgrades your Battle Rank (which is unseen), eventually unleashing upon you a new tier of enemies for you to fight. To be blunt, if you sit around in the first area killing the same things, the game punishes you with monsters that can one-shot you in the next area, because you raised the battle rank too high. This means that grinding essentially requires you to leave whatever dungeon you are in every once in a while to upgrade the enemies into something you can actually gain upgrades off of. That brings me to the second unusual mechanic, the leveling system. Saga Frontier and the series in general doesn't have linear numbered leveling such as is seen in Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy. Instead, depending on probability mechanics and what you did in the battle (hit stuff with the sword alone, used techniques, used magic, etc) you gain a stat upgrade of some sort at the end of battle, though this slows if you are fighting enemies below your character's (hidden) level. What adds an element of annoyance to this is that the probability of whether you get any gains or not is heavily dependent on the enemy group you encounter. This makes only a few of the scaling areas attractive for grinding (pretty much just the Bio Research Lab, which always has the top tier of the battle rank). Last of all is sparking... which is the process of gaining new skills, techniques, and magic. If you use a sword in combat, your character will not only gain physical stats at the end of battle, but there is also a chance - based on the enemy's 'spark value' (a hidden factor) that your character will be inspired and obtain a new tech or magic. Sword and fist techniques are sparked randomly based on which tech or whether you simply used the weapon devoid of techs. Gun techniques are based off of you using a gun and are given to you after battle. Sparking magic requires that the character using the magic have its 'gift' (gained through quests), have used that school of magic during the battle, and the character's intelligence stat. For story, Saga Frontier will always be a somewhat disappointing game, despite the sheer beauty of its visuals. There will be innumerable times any given player will have wished for a few extra lines to flesh out a dialogue or for clearer hints to find the next place you need to go. The fact that NPC dialogue doesn't really change significantly between paths says a lot in and of itself, and this is a common complaint for people who play any Saga game. The fact that I found this to be an immensely enjoyable game is as much nostalgia as the game's actual worth.

Anyone who is interested, I'll give you a list of psp games I recommend you buy from the Vita store before they vanish: Growlanser IV All PSone classic jrpgs (With emphasis on Xenogears and the first two Suikoden games, which have failed to transition to Steam, as of yet) Persona 3's PSP version (considered the ultimate version by most) Normally, I wouldn't bother mentioning these, but the Aedis Eclipse games are decent strategy rpgs. Yggdra Union Edit: Almost forgot Persona 2 Innocent Sin, which is ONLY available there.

The Walkure Romanze FD adds on two extra (and high quality) paths for girls that were highly popular in the original. It is thus more of a true extension than just an H-append disc. Chiisana Kanojo is one of the few games I label as a 'pure moege', because it is nothing but fluff from beginning to end. Cocoro@Function- A moderately good quality VN that was stunted to an extent by the unwillingness of the writer to go farther with the game's concept. I really, really wish they'd offered a non-ero version of Monobeno Happy End... because if you essentially close your eyes, turn off the sound, and skip all ero-related content, it is actually a ridiculously high quality game. Usotsuki Ouji is one of a number of mediocre charage that Whirlpool produced during this time period. It really isn't anything to write home about.

The Tsujidou Fandisc has a lot to add to the original game, not the least of which is paths for a number of sub-heroines who were interesting in the previous game. Innocent Bullet is what I like to call a 'classic-style' chuunige. A classic-style chuunige is essentially a 'high schooler with no skills gets thrown into battle despite being incompetent' situation. These VNs were the most prevalent throughout VN history, but they tended to fall short of those who got rid of the high schooler tropes when it came to quality on all levels. Innocent Bullet is no exception, being a nice place-holder while waiting for a Light or Akatsuki works game but unworthy of repeated playthroughs. Hakugin no Agreement came to the US as Pygmalion, but this is a VN that failed on every level. This is something only those playing in Japanese ran across, but the game had numerous points where it would crash, freeze, or jitter for no apparent reason. The story itself was disjointed, the premise confusing, and the characters disinteresting. It was inevitable that Propeller would fall apart without Higashide, but I remember crying in despair after playing this abomination. Aozora Stripe is a fun rom-com VN by the makers of Erect. It has an identical visual aesthetic and a similar focus on sensuality in its heroines (which can be distracting when trying to read at times). Great if you want a stronger ero-focus in your charage, not so much if you want to sit down and read through actual rom-com. Hoshi no Ne Sanctuary is a game that I, quite frankly, underrated at the time. Oh, it isn't a kamige, but it is still a high quality charage worth playing along with a hundred or so others for fans of the umbrella genre. PriministAr... well, it is Hook Soft, but if you were to choose a Hook Soft 'fuwafuwa' charage, this wouldn't be the one I recommend. It is the worst of the lot, to be frank.

Sangoku Hime 3 is easily the best of the Sangoku Hime series, taking the best of both worlds with an improved battle system over the previous two and better visuals than later entries in the series. However, like all of the Sangoku Hime/Sengoku Hime series the story inevitably becomes disjointed due to the inherent limitations of a conquest strategy game. Noblesse of Rouge is an annoyingly long charage that has very little content to it despite its length. Reading it was pure torture back in the day. Magical Marriage Lunatics is a classic example of what I like to call 'nerfing the supernatural girls'. Essentially, all negative elements of the various heroines are weakened to make their relationships with the protagonist easier, and the drama was thus reduced to an insignificant level. About the only positive thing I can say about that aspect is that there is a bad ending for the witch girl that occurs due to a choice during an H-scene, lol. Otherwise, it is mostly standard rom-com fluff. Karumaruka Circle is a game I'd almost completely forgotten in the time since it came out, because I never had an urge to replay it. Yes, I named it VN of the Month at the time, but that doesn't mean it was kamige material. For Saga Planets, which is known for its consistent high quality, this VN was on the lower end of its curve, though not its worst game. If you haven't played other VNs by this company, you should pick them over this one. Ichiban Janakya Dame Desu Ka is a hilarious VN by Rosebleu, containing the usual slapstic+tsukkomi+sitcom humor Agobarrier specialized in. It isn't his best work, but it is still quite enjoyable. Baldr Sky Zero is the first half of the series, a gameplay VN with an 'updated' battle system (for Heart, the battle system returned to the old version) with a polygon instead of pixel style. While the frenetic pace of Baldr combat was left unchanged, I'm sorry to say that those using translation or parsing tools will find the game freezes constantly, so, despite the difficulty of the text, your best option is to read the Japanese without help. Unfortunately, this makes the game feel far longer than it is, for those accustomed to using the aid of parsers, lol. Story-wise, this game is top quality. It does, however, make for a better experience if you play it with the other half. Yume ka Utsutsu is a surprisingly (and so I said at the time) decent plotge with a good setting and characters. Unfortunately, it is also a game that wasn't put together as professionally as one might hope, leading to criticism from those who nitpick to excess. From what I recall, the untranslated readers association (the nonexistent organization on irc otherwise known as the 'it is only good if I like it' group, tlwiki's fanboys, etc) were bashing it for some reason at the time. I imagine they had their reasons, but I also remember it annoying me when some idiot sent me a pm with the logs from their irc bashing me personally for liking it.

If it has to be translated... Kamishino whenever it comes out. The girls in it are not physically disadvantaged but rather disadvantaged psychologically or socially though.

Bunny Black 3 is easily the worst of the series, which is probably why SofthouseChara stopped there. Akabanzu is a mid to high-quality charage (depending on the reader) with strong sci-fi elements (albeit 'soft' ones). Futagoza no Paradox is a kamige of a mindfuck story. I recommend it and its sibling game Owaru Sekai to Birthday to people who like this kind of stuff. Downside is that one of the heroines has a severe learning disability. Gensou no Idea is one of 3rdEye's better works, with a solid main protagonist and secondary one. Downside is that this was the VN by them where there is really only one ending but they insert epilogues for all heroine characters despite that. Grimoire no Shisho is a sort-of, kind-of decent borderline nukige/plotge similar to Kyonyuu Fantasy. Natsukumo was the second high-quality mindfuck game released in this particular month (if it helps, the heroines aren't 'true' lolis, and there is a very specific - and evil -, in-story reason why they look that way). It one of two sister games to Harumade, Kururu.

Tokyo Necro, Muramasa, Gekkou no Carnevale, Phantom of Inferno and Jingai Makyou by the same company come to mind, obviously. Other than that... Bradyon Veda Paradise Lost Tokyo Babel (translated) Vermilion Bind of Blood Abyss Homicide Club Blade x Bullet Izuna Zanshinken Yurikago yori Tenshi Made

Ryuukishi Bloody Saga might very well be the best unique work Akabei Soft 3 has created in the time since ABS2 forced a bunch of subsidiaries to merge to create it. It is a work I also come back to every few years simply because it holds a unique place in my heart. Ryuukishi is the sequel to Ryakudatsusha no In'en, a Clock-up style super-violent H-horror VN written expressly for the purpose of setting up things for Ryuukishi. As such, to understand this VN, you have to understand the events of Ryakudatsusha, at least to some extent. Ryuukishi is written on the tacit understanding that you already know Roy's background, and there is little to no attempt to explain his personality or actions in the actual VN. Indeed, effort is made to keep you out of Roy's mind 90% of the time, with much of the story told from an unobtrusive 3rd person perspective. For those who don't want to go through a Clock Up style experience, I'll explain the events in Ryakudatsusha (an outline) in the spoiler box below. The Ryuukishi setting is one closer to the Witcher than to the Lord of the Rings. Humans only kill those monsters that exist with great effort (though weaker ones like goblins can be beaten easily one on one), and it isn't uncommon for areas to be plagued by monster attacks, though this has apparently lessened in recent times, as methods of driving them away (through planting certain plants that repel monsters and such) have been established. On the other hand, magic seems to be fading to the point where most cities have never seen a magic-user and only know magical energy as a legend, even if they see monsters on a regular basis. Roy himself, despite being a traveler, has never seen magic or magical energy used, to give you a reference point. Roy is working as a traveling apothecary when the story begins, arriving in Vilduun, a walled city constantly plagued by the attacks of a red dragon. Roy, being obsessed with helping others, promptly plies his trade without compensation for the people of the city in the wake of the most recent attack. This leads to him being invited to live in the knights' garrison even as he helps with reconstruction. He also finds himself being watched over by four female knights (yes, this is a true harem VN) who have varying degrees of interest in him, ranging from budding attraction the case of Saria to suspicion in the case of Lize. Generally speaking, the story is somewhat slow early on, and there is no dramatic scene where Roy shows up the knights as you might expect in another fantasy action VN. Instead, Roy serves as a constant catalyst for change, as events slowly build up momentum. Later on, there are some excellent action scenes and CGs, but those really are late in the VN. Story-wise, this most recent playthrough has shown me how clever the design of the scenario was. Relatively minor characters like the Vice-Commander Malter and the seeming weakest of the heroines, Lize often serve to move the story along and prevent any sense of monotony. The villain characters (yes they exist) serve as counterpoints to the more 'normal' people in the story and echo Roy's past. In the end, Ryuukishi is a story of redemption, where a man with a tortures past and a constant smile breaks free from that past and becomes something better.

That's actually a surprisingly difficult theme to find. Personally, I'd love to see something like Maou Gakuin in a VN, but so far I haven't found it. Sorceress Alive kinda-sorta fulfills that desire, but honestly I thought it was kind of meh. Primary Magical Trouble Scramble is another one 1/7 no Mahoutsukai has the magic academy thing down, but it doesn't give you the high fantasy feeling (it is in another world, however). Tiny Dungeon series fulfills a lot of that desire. Last of all would be Valkyrie Runabout, a comedy VN with an op protagonist in a fantasy world about to start school (though it isn't a magic school). Edit: unfortunately, there is only one op protagonist in this group. Sorceress Alive's protagonist can't use magic, Primary's protagonist has some unusual abilities but isn't really OP. 1/7 no Mahoutsukai's protagonist has weaker than average magic abilities, though he is incredibly skilled and ingenious in using what he has. Tiny Dungeon's protagonist is a hard-worker who starts out as a weak swordsman who can't use magic and grows into the role of a leader and a master swordsman later in the series. Valkyrie Runabout's protagonist is the ex-Great Sage who helped defeat the Demon King (taken from another world) and has ridiculously OP spellcasting abilities.

Natsuiro Recipe (slow life in the country SOL that I generally recommend for people who want something heart-warming) Natsuyume Nagisa (nakige by Saga Planets) Ren'ai Karichaimashita (only reccing this because it is translated) Yakusoku no Natsu, Mahoroba no Yume

I've had numerous comments from people who were asking, 'Do you still play VNs?' in the last year or so because I hardly post anymore. When I do, it is usually litrpg, random commentary, or maybe one game a month. The short answer is yes. The full answer is a bit more complicated. First, I should note that a lot of this is about timing... to be slightly more specific, a confluence of factors that created a singularity of me just not posting anymore. The events in question are my increasing intolerance for disinteresting themes and pure SOL (that is, slice of life without a central plot, even if it is loose); Coronavirus causing a dramatic drop in the release of non-nukige JVNs; and the resulting tendency I had for going back and replaying stuff I've already posted about in the past (sometimes multiple times). While the sheer number of VNs I play per year has gone down from 50-70 to about 20-30, a good portion of those are replays. I'd say about a little over two-fifths of all the VNs I've played in the last year and a half have been ones I've already replayed multiple times, another fifth were ones I dug out of my archives, another fifth were kusoge not worth posting about, and the remaining fifth are the ones I posted on. A contributing factor to this is Coronavirus and the resulting depression in the non-nukige VN market for PC (which I play almost exclusively, since I don't want to mod my consoles for the sake of VNs alone). Companies that once put out games multiple times a year have maybe released one in the last year and a half, other companies have quietly gone out of business, and yet other ones had to drop projects because they couldn't work around the health restrictions. Charage alone have seen an unprecedented decrease in production, with entire months going by with NO releases (something that would have been unthinkable before Coronavirus). The last major issue is that my burnout on pure SOL (at least high school SOL) has turned into a complete intolerance. I once thought it would ease somewhat with time, but, if anything, it has gotten worse. If there isn't something besides pure SOL in there to catch my interest (like nakige, utsuge, or plotge elements), I simply won't be able to finish them. If the protagonist is interesting, I can still (barely) play school life that have something in the way of non-SOL elements, but otherwise, they are unplayable to me.

William Arand. Great dark harem writer. Would probably make great Venus Blood style VNs, lol. Michelle West would probably write really good plotge. Steven Brust would do good drama. Steven Erikson would probably write a grand multi-game fantasy that would blow all your minds.

Duelist Engage is one of a number of VNs I was pretty sure I underrated relative to my time doing VN of the Month. The fact that the VN stuck in my mind even almost a decade later says that this supposition was most likely correct. Thankfully, after replaying it (after so long it was mostly new to me) I found that this supposition was correct. Before I dig into story and character issues, I need to note that one way this VN stands out over modern charage is the expressiveness of the heroine sprites. Before I went back and played this, I never realized just how much the expressiveness of VN sprites has decreased over the years, as well as the lack of any individuality. Certain restrictive conventions that came into place later on (no bangs overhanging the eyes, no extreme changes in posture, etc) are not found in this VN, and it is surprising the degree to which this gives each character sprite more impact. Monaka and Tomoe (his mother) in particular have extremely expressive sprites with a distinctive style and posture that is notably different from what you see in later VNs, even those just three or four years later. It needs to be said that this is an old-style VN. That comes with positives and negatives. Old-style VNs tended to have stronger heroine routes than newer ones, and characterization was often more extreme to emphasize charm points of the various heroines. Newer VNs tend to be a bit more subtle with heroine characterization, and there is a lot less reliance on dramatic entrances and extreme personality traits. This led to a tendency - particularly in charage - for everyday life dominating VNs, versus the comedy drama that tended to be more ever-present in earlier VNs. It's a matter of opinion as to which approach is better, but I generally prefer the older style. In this VN, the protagonist, Yukito, for the sake of saving his mother's restaurant, has to marry someone from Colangrein (initially his arranged fiance, Violetta) in order to gain access to an inheritance from his father. However, Violetta is a knight and immediately challenges him to a duel, with a ballooning series of antics going out from there as more and more heroines get dragged into a traditional 'shuraba' (numerous girls competing for a single - usually donkan - guy's attention). I'm not going to go into individual heroine routes, so I'll just give you an idea of what the game is like in general. The heroines include: his fiance Violetta; his childhood friend Monaka; the aggressive loli (one year younger) Erica; the mysterious former student council president, Tsubaki; and the meek but surprisingly big-hearted Hina. Violetta is your traditional stick-up-the-rear-end heroine, who refuses to marry anyone weaker than herself and is driven to achieve her ambition of becoming the next Knight King of Colangrein. While she is essentially good-hearted, her competitive side dominates her most of the time, and she naturally takes control of most situations just by being present. On the other hand, she is needlessly stubborn and surprisingly cute when she thinks no one is watching. Monaka is the protagonist's osananajimi (tsundere due to the fact that Yukito is as dense as a warship's hull). Like a lot of early such relationships, the protagonist goes to wake her up at the neighbor's house every morning and feeds her as naturally as one would a pet. That said, Monaka isn't as much of a wild child as others of this particular achetype tend to be. While she can be aggressive, she is surprisingly thoughtful when it comes to others' feelings, which drives her crazy when Yukito fails utterly to notice her infatuation with him. Erica is the token loli of the VN (token lolis were almost universal in old-style VNs, even chuunige). Like a lot of such characters, she is as childish as her physical appearance would indicate. However, this comes from her upbringing being a mixture of mental abuse and extreme sheltering. Her family isn't exactly warm-hearted, and her bodyguards are constantly trying to rein her in, thus leaving her devoid of anyone close enough to really serve as a mentor or role model. Tsubaki is your standard Yamato Nadeshiko heroine... on the surface. She has a lot of things roiling beneath that calm and elegant exterior, not the least of which being an extremely aggressive personality that is a good match for that of Violetta, when provoked. She is also desperately poor, living in the belltower of the school, despite being a relative to a wealthy family. Hina is the most 'normal' of the heroines (even compared to Monaka). At first she merely seems meek and timid, and this is a valid assessment much of the time. However, she has the force of personality necessary to remain next to someone like Erica without being overpowered, and she is perhaps the most honest with herself of all the heroines, especially when it comes to Yukito. One thing that struck me when I played through the paths was the consistency of the main storyline. Like many early charage, this game has a solid main storyline that continues into the various heroine routes (albeit with dramatically different events following the split), and no relevant element of the setting is left ignored. The fights/duels, while not on the level of a true action VN, are still of some interest when they happen. In addition, this VN was really good at creating an emotional attachment to the heroines, which is an area where most charage tend to fail in the last five years or so. Conclusion Duelist x Engage is an excellent example of the best of the nascent era of charage, when they were just gaining momentum as a genre. As a result, it stands out greatly when compared to the charage of today, which tend to be more bland and mundane in comparison. For those who want a bit more substance to their charage, this is an excellent choice.

As he said, it is hard to overshadow the conclusion to the Grisaia main series, but there are a number of excellent games that came out this month that he probably wasn't aware of. Ojousama wa Gokigen Naname- This is a game I greatly and dramatically underestimated at the time and was Ensemble's last truly good game. Despite its appearance, this game is neither a charage nor a moege. It is a strong plotge focusing on the kind of dirty dealings and multi-layered crazy emotional reactions that you'd normally see in a soap opera. Chusingura- I'm pretty sure everyone knows this one, even though the translation sucked. Thankfully, I played it without a translation and it was good, even despite the whiny Re:Zero type protagonist. End Sleep- This one is a decent horror VN based in the traditional setting (an isolated western mansion, lol) with some pretty horrifying killings, regardless of the path. Ironically, my favorite path turned out to be the one that you'd least expect. Jesus 13th- A decent chuunige (sorry, doesn't go beyond decent) with ties to the Cthulhu Mythos. It has its high moments, but the fact that I never replayed it should tell you everything you need to know. Love of Ren'ai Koutei- This game is a straight out kusoge. It had potential, but it tried to mimic aspects of Majikoi without managing to bring them to life. Magical Charming- One of the many duds put out by LoS when they try to get 'creative'. I dropped this one a third of the way through because I couldn't stand it anymore. Reminiscence- The erstwhile sequel to the Akagoei series, based several centuries later in two connected arcologies, Hope Town and Dream Town. The protagonist of the story is a forcefully-retired negotiator turned teacher who gets forced to return to his old dream profession. For fans of Akagoei, the storytelling will be extremely familiar, but it needs to be said that it is a different game with (mostly) different characters. For people who just want to know what the best path is, Aki's path is the single best imouto path I've ever encountered in a VN. Tsukiakari Lunch- I can guarantee that 90% of the people looking at this month will have discounted this game.

Guardian Place- For some reason, Skyfish doesn't seem to be capable of doing a good job with anything but its Soleil series. Hitotsu Tobashi Ren'ai- A low-level charage that tried to get by on a theme rather than actual quality. Hyakka Ryouran Elixir- This is one of AXL's 'medieval slice of life stories', and like all of them is mostly honobono (pleasant and easygoing) save for a few moments of drama spread throughout the game and concentrated in the heroine routes. Love La Bride- A kusoge of a charage, not worth playing or even remembering. Madou Koukaku- Easily my favorite non-IM Eushully game. It is a conquest strategy game with a good story and a wide range of characters. Shoujo Shin'iki- Interesting story, poor world-building, typical Lass. Unmei Yohou- This one is worth playing for the twisted relationships the protagonist has with his sister and the childhood friends. His choices early on in life messed things up quite nicely. Tsuisou no Augment FD- A great story FD that adds a lot to the main game. If you liked the original, it is a good idea to play this.

I never said it was bad... if anything, it provides a nice counterpoint to the more overly-modern series. Too many companies try random battle systems, random storytelling styles, and random characterization and end up with crapfests. Dragon Quest's very traditionalism is often seen as refreshing by old-style fanboys. However, I'll say again that DQ isn't a series one goes to for innovation on any level. Even the newer battle system elements introduced in the later parts of the series were essentially imported from other traditional jrpgs that tried them successfully first. In many ways, DQ is the epitome of Japanese conservativism (non-political). I also wasn't boosting FF. FF has been going downhill sharply since X, at least from a fanboy's point of view. I was merely stating the differing roles the two series play within the greater genre of jrpgs.

Dragon Quest is the 'standard' (though not the gold standard) for uber-traditional jrpgs. This is because it has retained many of the conventions of the genre's early days and doesn't alter its approach to storytelling or gameplay to any significant degree with each generation, other than quality of life and visual updates. The most recent one is a rather obvious demonstration of this methodology, though it was surprisingly decent despite not doing anything interesting with the characters or setting. In a lot of ways, Dragon Quest is like Final Fantasy's opposite. Where FF was a series that pushed the limits of traditional jrpgs, DQ has stayed mostly true to its roots. Whether that is a good thing or not is entirely dependent on what you want in a game.

I named Lovesick Puppies for this month's VN of the month, for various reasons. It is a first-class charage that falls into a very rarified territory of charage that didn't make the mistakes a typical charage tends to make. Himawari no Kyoukai is probably Makura's sole top-quality game. While it has the oddly archaic visual style of the company, it manages to tell a better story than any of their other games. Mirai Sekai no Planeta had oodles of potential but never really went anywhere with it. Ryuusei Kiseki has long been on my recommended list for charage fans.