Playing the bad guy can be an enjoyable change of pace! These kinds of stories give a neat alternate perspective and even the opportunity to write a strong redemption arc. Of course, this is assuming the villain you’re playing is all-powerful at the start of their story, but what happens when they’re put out of […]
Cafes seem to be a frequent setting in visual novels. Yuzusoft is no different, with titles such as Senren*Banka and Parquet having heroines who work as café waitresses. They’ve decided to go all-in on this theme with Café Stella and the Reaper’s Butterflies, which bills itself as a paranormal romance, but features more sachertorte than supernatural. The Death Goddess’ […]
Dōkyūsei: Bangin’ Summer brings us back to the early 90s of adult gaming, with this remake of a classic dating simulation game. Some credit the original Dōkyūsei by Elf as establishing the concept of pursuing a single heroine in dating sims and visual novels, so it’s interesting to experience a piece of the history of […]
Anime, JRPG, and fighting game fans can rejoice. The P-1 tournament is back. Grab your tarot card or evoker, strengthen your social links, and have a great day at your Junes. It’s time for Persona 4 Arena Ultimax. Persona has become a little bit of a household name since Atlus released the enhanced port of […]
Developed by Otomate, Idea Factory, Dairoku: Agents of Sakuratani is a fantasy otome visual novel that brings players into a world packed with Japanese mythology and folklore, supernatural encounters, and love. Originally released in May 2020 in Japan, this Nintendo Switch title has subsequently been localized into English and published by Aksys Games in December 2021. […]
You’re never in short supply when it comes to farming games, there’s usually always a new one just around the corner. This is especially true of publisher Marvelous, who have put out many over the past half-decade via their Story of Seasons series. However, one spin-off series called Rune Factory fell into dormancy—that is, until […]
Phantom Breaker: Omnia is the sequel to an Xbox 360/PS3 title I had never heard of – one that never made its way out of Japan. More interestingly, it ties into the fantastic beat ’em up Phantom Breaker: Battlegrounds which was ported to just about everything. Is Phantom Breaker: Omnia worth shouting about? Let’s find […]
2022 marks the 25th anniversary of the Atelier series that began back in 1997. The series has never been less than very active, but the past few years have been especially busy. The Atelier Ryza duology brought the series into a new limelight as it pushed it further with new innovations and gameplay changes, to […]
Sometimes too much of something can be bad for you. Hajime finds this out in KamiYaba: Destiny on a Dicey Deadline. Being obsessed with the idea of finding love, he visits a lot of shrines and gets tons of charms – too many as it turns out. A goddess of matchmaking appears before him, saying […]
Romance is an essential ingredient in all otome visual novels, but I have yet to play one that examines the concept of love and relationships as holistically as Cupid Parasite does. Developed by Otomate, Idea Factory, and published by Idea Factory International, Cupid Parasite is a fantasy romantic comedy (rom-com) otome visual novel that is as fun as it […]