2021 has been a great year for visual novels. We’ve had a ton of great ones released in English. Shiravune has made a big splash by dropping repeated surprise releases. We’ve seen some surprisingly good indie releases too. As we roll over into 2022, we’d like to take a look back. KuroKairin, Wes Playfair, and myself […]
AIKAGI, a short visual novel from Azarashi Soft and Frontwing, is a romance with an iyashikei flavor. Iyashikei, sometimes translated as “healing”, describes soothing works that show people living out ordinary, peaceful days. Add in a cute girl and a cozy shared apartment and you have all the ingredients for a warm, cuddly love story. […]
Forgive me Lord for I have sinned. Repeatedly and with great pleasure. Through the few hour playtime of The Humbling of a Holy Maiden, I’ve corrupted one of your servants. And she liked it. Not Your Standard Isekai Following the standard ‘reincarnated in another world’ theme, you play as the ‘Professor’ who has died and […]
Dohna Dohna ~ Let’s Do Bad Things Together is an adult RPG/visual novel, where you do bad things to fight against those worse than you. Living in a dystopian city where everything is controlled by an evil organization, you have to resort to some pretty evil things yourself… Objectionable Adult Content Let’s get this out […]
Money makes the world go around. Yuki, the protagonist of Renai Karichaimashita: Koikari – Love For Hire knows this well. This visual novel developed by ASa Project and brought to us by NekoNyan follows his life as a ‘rental human’, acting as a lover, brother, and more to different heroines. Siscon Woes Yuki loves his […]
I played X-Change when I was probably too young to be allowed to. My memories long faded, when I heard that JASTUSA was releasing the X-Change – Complete Collection with a remastered version of the games, I was intrigued. On hearing that it even included X-Change R, with a bunch of new content, I decided […]
Money, woman, and power. These are all common to fantasize about. Harem Kingdom hits all three by transporting you to another world, where you’re the king and it comes with a built-in set of wives. This is by Smee, who also created the popular comedy romances Fureraba and Making*Lovers. Unlike the previous titles, this one […]
LIP! Lewd Idol Project doesn’t hide its focus – it’s right there in the name. While there is a story, this title from Toffer Team is very much about the lewd adventure. It contains uncensored nudity (even on the Steam version) and sex scenes. Story The story follows Kairi. Dreaming of being an idol, adored […]
Iyashikei, often translated as “healing”, is a concept in anime and manga that refers to calming works showing characters living peaceful, everyday lives intended to have a soothing effect on the audience. Chihiro Himukai Always Walks Away might appear to fall squarely in this genre. Honestly, it’s not the type of visual novel I usually seek out, […]
Onigokko! is a 2011 visual novel from ALcot localized via JAST USA that sells itself as a modern-day fairytale. With heroines drawn from Japanese folklore and a dashing phantom thief as the leading man, the stage is set for magic, adventure, and of course love. But is Onigokko! more smooth criminal or bungling burglar? Let […]