More sexual than your average JRPG…
For those unaware, Moero Chronicle H focuses heavily on sexualization. It has you not only ripping the clothing off females, but also has another core mechanic that’s nothing but salacious. You’re required to rub their nude bodies. We feel this should be stated upfront so you know what you’re about to read.
The Story Of A Boy And His Harem!
Moero Chronicle H begins with a lad rushing through an open field. His name is Io, and he’s doing this with hopes of dispelling impure thoughts. For you see, upon gazing at a woman, certain desires creep in. Desires that weren’t an issue before. He continues, motivated by his want for relief. That is until overexertion swallows his body. He collapses, only to wake minutes later. As his eyes open, he notices his childhood friend standing there. Her name’s Lilia, and you come to learn that she’s a monster girl. With their eyes locked, she asks if he’s okay. Io nods but slowly realizes something. The lust is gone. He‘s succeeded. Relieved, the pair return to town; to Monstopia. It’s there that they learn the monster girls in the six regions beyond are acting odd. However, Lilia remains unhindered. Why is that?
It’s an intriguing mystery, but as you uncover more, you’ll find an underbelly of perversion.
Localization Is Far Off From Quality!
Moero Chronicles H has two set sections of gameplay. One of these incorporates Visual Novel elements. An area that quite frankly proved troublesome. It was disappointing, with several mistakes throughout. Because they are so common, any chance to lose myself in the silliness was null. It didn’t exist and that’s a problem for me. All throughout the game, you’ll encounter minor hiccups and major ones. One example of a small one is;
“You can talk really to birds, can’t you?”
A simple word shuffle and it’ll make sense. A bit nit picky but as I already pointed to, it’ll only get worse. One instance that had me scratching my head was;
“Then switch to the other foot and do the repeat the set again. After that-”
I’m not sure what was the original idea here. At first glance, it seems that “do the” shouldn’t even exist. At least with that exclusion, it’ll be understandable. Oh, but this incoherent chatter isn’t even the worse. How about this gem that I came across;
“If you want to get used to it quicker, try make yourself twisted and you’ll be fine”
Poor sentence structure is the bane of Moero Chronicle H. While I was still able to surmise the core plot, I felt that I missed out on other facades; primarily interactions. There were times that the banter read badly. See the above samples. I also found that the localization was victim to over-explanation. It routinely took the scenic route to get to a point. Word choice was definitely in need of improvement. He says while writing a long-winded review. To Moero’s credit, when dialogue was smooth, I did love it. It’s just a shame those personality glimpses are far too scarce.
My final complaint is one that’s plagued anime forever. It’s difficult to discern age. There were a few girls that struck me as young; maybe thirteen. Now, I like shameless fan-service. Moero Chronicle H is unabashedly proud of what it is. I’m fine with that. However, even my degeneracy has a line that shouldn’t be crossed. During my session, I came across a line that left me uncomfortable. The line in question is;
“In our world, fully mature is too late. Only a developing can possess that mysterious feeling!”
Granted, it’s vague and open to interpretation. When I first read it, my understanding was it referred to young girls. A child essentially. I was thrown off, so I read it again to confirm. Suddenly, I perceived it differently. Maybe it‘s actually talking about older women. Given their age, they’re seen as undesirable. Those still in their twenties, however, are ideal. This emphasizes my first gripe. The localization is nothing short of dreadful. The above comes off as a direct translation. There’s no adapting it to make sense for our dialect. It’s strange too as originally, Moero Chronicles H was on the Playstation Vita. It made me curious how someone could look at this and not recognize the much needed polish.
On a positive note, I shook my head at the silly motivations. Not because of how bad they are, but of how outlandish. You’ll meet a creature within the first hour or so. You’ll then notice a cloth around its neck; maybe it’s a scarf. After introducing itself as Otton, you’ll also learn the truth of what it is. Yeah, those are a pair of panties. After some chatter, he’ll request to accompany you. Don’t worry because before you can mistake him as selfless, he sets it straight. See, his motivation is actually really perverted. With the overabundance of girls that you’re sure to find, he expects to widen his collection. Panties will be dropping. Yeah, that’s uh, noble, I guess.
Defeating Foes And Rescuing Girls!
Underneath all the lewdness and the not-so-partial nudity, you’ll actually find a competent JRPG. There are some interesting mechanics at play.
The gameplay in Moero Chronicle H falls into the DRPG genre. You’ll be traversing through dungeons in first-person. One aspect I feel is rarely ever great are the environments. They were dull and lacked vibrancy. They’re bland and because of its PlayStation Vita roots, the simpleness is amplified. Fortunately, the same can’t be said about the character designs. Each girl is beautifully drawn. What’s especially neat is that each one has various variations to imply movement. The transition between each one is fluent. I never found it awkward. A lot of attention was put into these sprites. Enough of the art chit-chat though, you’re here for the mechanics.
One of the earliest tutorials you’ll come by will cover something dubbed “The Aura Square”. In other words, these are the element types. There are four in total;
- Fire
- Water
- Earth
- Wind
As I’m sure you’ve already concluded, each one has a weakness. Upon using it, you’ll be able to inflict massive damage. Pretty by-the-numbers so far. Here’s where the uniqueness comes in. Moero Chronicles H encourages you to exploit vulnerabilities. In doing so, you’ll trigger something called “Aura Combo”. By successively activating this and spamming the attack, I’ll better the combo. This not only translates to better loot. It’ll also give me an experience boost.
Girls Aren’t Giving Easy Access!
I do have a minor gripe with vulnerabilities. As I’ve said many times in reviews, my memory is that of a goldfish. It’s a disability, and I forget one moment to the next. So, it’s unfortunate that enemy types are never obvious. To even see them, you’ll have to return to Monstopia and check into the Inn. While there, you’ll have to check the bestiary. Because I was continuously forgetting what I had seen, I was constantly returning. It was tedious and I’d resort simply to brute-forcing it. I rendered a key mechanic void because of this. I’d also miss out on great gear. I find it odd that an enemy’s aura is hidden during battle. I will say that variety of enemies is minuscule. Tougher versions are displayed through color variation. I’d imagine this makes it easier to follow for the average gamer. Not for this fish brain. Paper and pad gaming it is!
It’s important to note that Moero Chronicle H has classes. It also approaches that in a unique but crude manner. While exploring, you’ll find clothing for each girl. Well, that’s a lie. Most will be underwear. Each one found will have a unique skill applied to it. I really liked this. Gave it a sense of customization. I could deem her a fighter, cleric, or mage. To add further variety, you’ll see stat shifts as well. While a certain pair focuses on Attack and Defence, the other singles out its magical counterparts. The only thing I didn’t like was how it was either g-strings, bikini briefs, or boy shorts. I kind of wanted normal but sexy outfits, like a skirt or maids get-up. Give me some variety and tease my brain.
And now for the reason I felt it important to include the note above. In Moero Chronicles H, you’ll be able to recruit monster girls. To do so, you’ll have to weaken them. As damage is inflicted, their clothing will rip. Once you’ve stripped them to their panties, the mechanic kicks in. You’ll now be tasked with rubbing them. The objection is to locate her pleasure points. You do this by lightly pressing, poking, pinching, or petting. Stars will indicate that you’ve found her spot. Hearts, however, tell you that you’re hitting it just right. To do this, you have two options. Either use the buttons or utilize the touchscreen. I suggest the former as the latter is clunky. Even then though, it’s still trial and error. I found that certain spots were tiny. As I rubbed, I needed to make sure it was precise or I got nothing. This makes me think there’s a very, very small hitbox. One that was implemented with a stylus in mind. I still did it after a few minutes. It brought a lot of frustration until I did though.
The Undressed Verdict Is…
The core gameplay is fantastic. It’s fun and it’s engaging. The class system is implemented in a way that stays true to Moero Chronicles H. I couldn’t tell you how good it was when I hit a high “Aura Combo”. Then to not only get a tiny boost in experience but to also earn some real impressive armament felt rewarding. It’s also very important. Late in the game, you’ll face enemies that can kill your girls in a single shot. They’ll also use abilities that can brutalize your entire party at once. And don’t get me started on the post-game content.
While yes, you’ll be able to heal via magical spells, only Io can do so with items. He can’t attack, but he can offer power boosts as well. This, in my opinion, was awful. If the women I have in my party have no cleric skills, there’s only one chance to heal. This forced me to not be able to experiment fully. I needed to have a healer or I’d have a bad time. A lot of needless deaths happened due to having a train run on my girls. Toss in how I wasn’t able to always utilize vulnerabilities and I was in big trouble. The girls should have been able to use items.
I, unfortunately, can’t recommend this at full price. The localization is abysmal. As is, the game-play is what got me through. Fan-service was fine. Although, I felt it went overboard by having every outfit be panties. I picked this up at 50% off, and I feel that’s a good price. In other words;
WAIT FOR SALE ON MOERO CHRONICLE H
“Localization and lack of quality of life additions hold this game back. Interesting mechanics and ideas make it fun”
Other Versions on: PC, PlayStation Vita
Purchase Link: Humble (Steam/PC)
If you would like to read about JRPG games, you might be interested to read this review of Atelier Ryza.
Many thanks to my credit card company for helping me acquire this title.
Painfully single, but still somehow a master of dad jokes. If asked, he’ll answer it’s for his inner child. Fabio enjoys JRPG’s and has embraced his anime love.
