Posts Tagged ‘visual novel’

Neighbor Review

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Developer: OTUSUN LAND
Publisher: OTUSUN LAND
Platform: PC – Steam

Despite being a pretty longtime visual novel fan, the Neighbor remake was a surprise to me – I’d never even heard of the original! Players enter the story alongside protagonist Yuuki Kae as she moves into a new apartment. Unfortunately, the place is clearly horribly haunted.

The haunted nature of the apartment is incredibly apparent right from the get go. There are entities banging on the walls at all hours, hand prints that suddenly appear on glass, and far worse. Yuuki can’t deal with it and ends up rooming with a college student in the same building. The two of them end up working to unravel the mystery behind the haunted apartment.

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It’s a surprisingly effective horror story, with excellent sound to go along with it. The scares won’t make you jump out of your seat – instead they’ll creep into your mind late at night. Neighbor is more akin to a creepy but safe campfire tale. Don’t expect to spend too much time playing, though. The whole thing took me just under three hours to complete. As a kinetic novel, there are no choices or multiple endings to explore.

Though the game might not be long, it’s still a fun little jaunt through a scary story. It’s especially refreshing to see Yuuki as a protagonist because she’s an adult in her 30s rather than a high schooler. Check out Neighbor if you’re looking to curl up with a spooky visual novel for a few hours.


Score: 4

4 out of 5 alpacas


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Sisterly Bliss Review

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Developer: eyephon
Publisher: MangaGamer
Platform: PC

I didn’t go into Sisterly Bliss expecting anything special. It looked like yet another short, frivolous yuri nukige. As it turns out, there’s more lurking beyond the sweet exterior. In some sense it might not even be fair to classify the title as nukige. There is a real attempt to bring life to the characters alongside a decent storyline over the course of approximately four hours.

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Your Dry Delight Review

yourdrydelightlogo

Developer: Argent Games
Publisher: Argent Games
Platform: PC – Windows/Mac/Linux

Why are there so few video games set in 1920’s America? It’s such a storied, unique time. Your Dry Delight brings players right into the era of Prohibition. In particular, the visual novel centers on two detectives trying to take down bootlegging operations in Chicago.

Detective Richter only needs to visit his first speakeasy to meet with an incredibly handsome, enigmatic mob boss named Meyer. From there the story proceeds into a brief, dramatic romance between them. Alternately, the other path lets players finally become closer to their boss at the bureau.

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There are only two paths in Your Dry Delight based on a small handful of dialogue choices. Interestingly, after forking, the two converge back into a single ending. It’s a cute ending – and one that fits with the history of Prohibition. The game’s quite short, though. Expect to spend an hour and a half with it at most.

I would’ve liked to see more in Your Dry Delight. There’s not enough time to learn about the characters. They’re also not super stressed about shielding their sexuality, which seems inaccurate to the time. With all that said, Argent Games released the title for free, so there’s only so much room for complaints.


Score: 3

3 out of 5 alpacas


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Immoral Study Scenario 1: Shirakawa Reiko Review

immoralstudy1boxart

Developer: Scoop
Publisher: Himeya Soft
Platform: PC – Windows 95, PC-98

There are all kinds of stories in visual novels. Some are action packed mecha tales while others focus on pure romance. Certain titles include sexual content as part of the story (eroge) and others (nukige) make that their sole aim. Immoral Study Scenario 1: Shirakawa Reiko falls squarely into the nukige camp.

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Pro Lesring: Ring Out!! Review

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Developer: ZyX
Publisher: Otaku Publishing, Ltd.
Platform: PC – Windows 95

It’s pretty easy for English-speaking gamers to access visual novels these days via official translations, original English titles, and fan translations. Back in the 90s, your options were much more limited. European publisher Otaku Publishing, Ltd. released a handful of games before their piracy-based demise at the turn of the new century. They brought out Pro Lesring: Ring Out!! in 1997 for Windows PCs.

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No, Thank You!!! Getting Physical Limited Edition!

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Back in April, we at Pixel Pacas reviewed MangaGamer’s first BL release, No, Thank You!!! Although it was not at all what I had expected, it still turned out to be quite the unique visual novel. For the first week of launch, and even a while after, that game sat at the top of their digital sales chart. At the time I had hoped all this interest would result in a physical release.

Tonight MangaGamer announced that No, Thank You!!! is indeed getting a physical version. The Limited Edition includes a DRM-free copy of the game, official 22 track soundtrack, 40 page mini artbook, two-sided DVD cover, and of course a special slipcase to house it all in.

Given the huge community for BL games, and their desire to support each and every English release, I have no doubt that this is a limited edition that’s set to sell out fast. Pre-orders for No, Thank You!!! Limited Edition* (NSFW link) are available now at $49.95 ahead of the July 6th release date!

Are you going to buy this new hardcopy or is the digital version good enough for you?

*This is an affiliate link for MangaGamer.

Complete List of Sekai Project-Published Games

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If you’ve visited Pixel Pacas before then you know we have a huge love for all sorts of visual novels. From otome to horror to eroge to, well, anything else we’re happy to give them all a shot!

One of the biggest publishers in the visual novel space, Sekai Project, is the newest but has quickly risen to become a name that most visual novel fans know. This is thanks in large part to their Steam focus which allows them far more attention than JAST USA and MangaGamer. After all, both companies just recently began utilizing Steam.

Just how many games bear Sekai Project’s name on them now, though? After all, it seems like they’re constantly announcing new titles! We’ve gone through the grunt work of finding each one.

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eden* PLUS+MOSAIC Review

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Developer: minori
Publisher: MangaGamer
Platform: PC – MangaGamer*, Steam

Most of the time, my reasoning for selecting one version of a visual novel over the other is to get the original, authentic experience regardless of any potential negatives or positives associated with that release. eden* posed a different sort of challenge. For those who aren’t aware, the original version was actually a so-called all-ages release, with more content being added afterward for eden* PLUS+MOSAIC. This review is for that latter version, and it honestly impacted my opinion.

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The Royal Trap Review

The Royal Trap Logo

Developer: Hanako Games
Publisher: Hanako Games
Platform: PC – Direct, Steam

I’ll admit, after falling in love with Hanako Games’ Long Live the Queen I didn’t believe there would be any game in their library able to even come close. As such, The Royal Trap was quite a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, because so much of the story reveals itself upon multiple playthoughs, I’ll just stick with sharing the starting point.

You play as Madeleine Valois. She has spent her life protecting (and effectively raising) Prince Oscar into a proper and well-rounded gentleman. His goal? Get selected by another nation’s Princess as a worthy partner, at which point he’ll no longer require Madeleine’s services. We start off with Oscar and Madeleine visiting Princess Cassidy along with others looking to win her hand. Unfortunately, things won’t play out as anyone expected.

The Royal Trap Featured

As with any good visual novel, the storyline is intriguing and each character brings something unique to the table. In my play time I discovered a handful of typos, but those could easily be resolved with patches (if that hasn’t already occurred). There are also 15 endings to uncover, meaning you’ve got a lot of potential hours of gameplay available. It’s definitely recommended to see The Royal Trap through to conclusion.

The release on Steam is an “HD Version” which of course updated the resolution to 1440×900. Background art has also been redone, though as I never played the original I can’t comment on the upgrade. CG scenes are gorgeous and even a bit steamy at times, which is great! Most of all I love Madeleine’s character. In comparison to most other otome game protagonists, she is truly her own character, rather than a blank slate for players to envision themselves as.

My only real complaint with the game is that there is apparently a recommended order to do the routes in, which I was unaware of going in. By doing so you get the best unveiling of the story/world so definitely check this post out if you intend to play the “right” way. But beyond that, The Royal Trap is a lovely visual novel worth your time.


Score: 4

4 out of 5 alpacas


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No, Thank You!!! Review

No, Thank You!!! Boxart

Developer: Parade
Publisher: MangaGamer
Platform: PC – MangaGamer*

I am amazed at the continual proliferation of visual novels in the West. With that said, it seems that certain types of titles (eroge, etc) might never be met with the same level of respect. It’s such shame because the content of these games tends to bother people enough to not even give them a shot. In the case of No, Thank You!!! there’s quite a loss as this game delivers a strong storyline and mostly believable cast along with some serious twists.

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