Import Games for Adults: Tsujidou-san no Junai Road

Tsujidou-san no Junai Road Review

                Another eroge company I’ve followed for years is Minato Soft as they always produce enjoyable comedies with an equally enjoyable cast of characters. Strangely, for as much as I’ve enjoyed their products, I’ve never finished a single one of their games until now. The main reason being the games that are part of their well-known Maji de Watshi ni Koi Shinasai series are partially translated and I want to experience the remaining major routes (especially Miyako’s)  in English so I don’t miss a single thing in translation and Kimi ga Aruji de Shitsuji ga Ore da has simply been on my backburner for years. This has kind of changed now that I’ve played and finished Tsujidou-san no Junai Road, released September 28, 2012 by Minato Soft’s subsidiary company Minato Carnival. This game didn’t disappoint by being an enjoyable read on par with the Majikoi series…along with being possibly the longest eroge I’ve ever played.

Pros: Excellent light hearted slice of life filled story with a good amount of plot diversity, great characters, good artwork, good music, great voice acting.

Cons: Monster length of the story may turn off some, plot branching point has and creates some minor issues, Maki’s route over does foreshadowing, Saeko’s route seems oddly placed, unwinnable heroines, a few hiccups in the art department with male character face drawings.

WTF?!: Allow me to introduce our main antagonist (of sorts) Ganaha. 

She (that’s not a typo) is voiced by good old Joji Nakata (I think I am going to need to start keeping score between him and Wakamoto).

                In TJR you play as Hiroshi Hase, an all-around normal student at Inamura Gakuen in Shonan. His life changes when he sees his delinquent classmate Ai Tsujidou help a stray kitten in the rain and from there ends up befriending and growing close to her. This ends up drawing the attention of Ai’s two rivals, Renna Katase, the leader of the largest delinquent gang in the area, and Maki Koshigoe, a lone delinquent just as strong a fighter as Ai. And so begins a summer filled with bizarre rivalries, friendships, and romance.

                When it comes to good character driven slice of life stories, TJR delivers the quality you’d expect of Minatosoft. The likability of the characters (click here for profiles) is perhaps the key to what makes this such an enjoyable read; each character has their own unique personality and hilarious quirks that get at least the right amount of exploration. This includes Ai’s amusing (and often cute) social awkwardness often masked (intentionally or unintentionally) by her delinquent gang leader persona to the bizarre but strangely believable friendship that forms between the muscle of Renna’s gang, Tiara Ichijou, and Hiroshi’s best friend and honor student, Tarou Bandou. This helps to keep the slice of life that makes up a majority of the plot fresh and has you interested in either learning more or seeing more of the characters.

                That’s not to say there isn’t an overall plot beyond the slice of life, it’s there in the conflict that forms as a result of the relationship Hiroshi forms with each of the three main heroines: Ai’s being the glaringly obvious difference between her lifestyle and Hiroshi’s and whether or not their relationship can last despite that, Renna’s being the trouble with managing such a large and growing gang, and Maki’s being how the troubles from her life start affecting Hiroshi (we’ll get to why I’m not talking about Saeko in this later). The slice of life exists to build up the relationship so not only so we can believe in it, but also so we’ll want to see resolution of the aforementioned conflicts. I should also point out another thing done well in the writing of each route’s plot is the drama is written in well; it occurs at just the right points in the story, never overstays its time in the story and as a result doesn’t create an awkward feeling of contrast with the predominantly lighthearted tone of the game.

                Before I get to discussing the routes, I feel I should address something: the inevitable comparison between this and Majikoi. Let me make this as clear as possible: If you liked Majikoi and want to give this a try… DO NOT GO INTO TSUJIDOU-SAN NO JUNAI ROAD EXPECTING MAJIKOI you will only be setting yourself up for disappointment. This game does not have the central group dynamic Majikoi has, the only thing Hiroshi and Yamato have in common is libido, and there’s  probably enough differences I can list to fill several pages but let’s just move this forward. While these two are very different games, there do exist a lot of things that will appeal to fans of Majikoi as there are some thematic similarities like the friendships portrayed or formed over the course of the story and that air of genuineness about them that come as a result of the character interactions and major story events. It also does take advantage of the fact that it takes place in the same universe as Majikoi, though sadly no one from that series makes an appearance. I’m sure many a fan will get a nice chuckle out of a certain scene in Renna’s route…and start wishing for a full on crossover game someday.

                Now let’s move on to the routes. Tsujidou-san no Junai Road has four routes…technically. Each of them are good in their own way and offer a unique story and three of them even have some plot diversity. As for what I meant by “technically”, I’ll get to that soon enough, but first the rankings.

1)      Ai

2)      Renna

3)      Maki

4)      Saeko

 

Ai’s route takes first place because out of all of them her route has the most writing effort put into it. Now don’t take that the wrong way, the other main routes are also well written and doubtless had a lot of effort put into their creation, it’s just that Ai’s route just has more in comparison. The choice to be on her route reads like the natural progression from the branching point of the common route, she has the best chemistry with Hiroshi, her route has some of the funniest scenes in the game, the story utilizes the prominent and side characters best, and her route has the best character development. Her arc of making friends aside from other delinquents starting with the class representative, Ayumi Houjou, is interesting and funny not only because of the quirks on Ai’s end but also because it makes the friendship believable and it also establishes Ayumi’s character and her prominence in the story. We also get some development on Hiroshi’s end in the later parts of the route that does a good job supporting the resolution of the problem he and Ai have to deal with. Finally, and perhaps most obviously, Ai’s route has the advantage of having more story content, the best example being unlike the other heroines she has two very distinct endings…and they depend on the color of her hair*.

Renna’s route comes in at a very close second as the story it tells is nearly as good as Ai’s. There’s a more conventional conflict of sorts as this is the only route in this game that really has a villain and it ties really well with the aforementioned problem of a large gang. I should also admit one other thing this plotline does well besides not overdoing the drama of this storyline is it manages to turn what looks like an apparent flaw in the storyline (mainly concerning the villain’s motives) into a plot point that makes sense in the grand scheme of things. The route’s story also gives good insight into Renna’s character from her dream of forming the largest gang ever to her bonds with her circle of friends (and I will say while not as good as with the Kazama family in Majikoi they do have a very good group dynamic themselves). The chemistry between her and Hiroshi is also really good, being very different from the one between him and Ai, and it not only manages to pull off a good tsundere type relationship but even point out and make fun of a few tropes of that type of romance. The only thing that keeps Renna’s route from tying with Ai’s is because of the branch point in the common route, which I’ll need to address now.

The reason Ai’s route feels like such a natural continuation from that point is because the common route exclusively builds up her relationship with Hiroshi so choosing to go on another route creates a few problems. First it gives the choosing point an artificial feel, this kind of creates a second problem in it kind of gives an awkward feel to scenes where Ai has to deal with Hiroshi going out with someone else where while these are effective scenes you can’t help but have a nagging feeling about the aforementioned choice point. Third it means from that choice point the story then has to slow down in order to start building up Hiroshi’s relationship with Renna or Maki into a romantic one. To the writer’s credit the buildup does succeed in creating a believable relationship that you want to read more about and I realize the plot slowing down is necessary to achieve that, but still…

Maki’s route has an interesting story approach as it’s in this route that we learn more about Hiroshi in the area of backstory. While the backstory in and of itself isn’t anything special it does provide some good character insight into Hiroshi and to some extent Saeko and Yoiko and it does end up tying in with the overall story of the route pretty well. Impressively the writer not only managed to have this work well with the plot of the route but also manage to present it in a way that it doesn’t really overshadow Maki so you never feel like she’s a side character in her own route. Of course the romance between her and Hiroshi is a good one and while there is a more comical approach to it than with the other two  (which makes sense considering Maki’s laid back personality) it’s still believable and when the time comes for the dramatic parts of the route near the end those scenes are both effective and don’t clash with the tone of the story. What keeps the route from tying with Renna’s is in addition to the aforementioned problem from the branch point there’s a flub in the approach to the dramatic parts of the story: too much foreshadowing. After a certain point in the story literally every other scene foreshadows the problem that’s going to arise from Hiroshi dating Maki and it’s a lot more than just a few scenes. Foreshadowing is supposed to create suspense in how while things are calm at the point in the story you’re viewing your thoughts keep straying back to that previous scene and you can’t help but wonder what’s going to happen that will inevitably upset this calm. Usually the foreshadowing scenes are few and happen infrequently with a lot of story in between so as to create that suspense, but in this case it happens so frequently you’re annoyed instead of in suspense and end up feeling impatient for the dramatic story event to just happen so you can get it over with.

Finally we get to Saeko’s route…which is basically a side route as it’s not even close to halfway as long as the main three. I’ll say that its main weakness doesn’t exactly lie in its shortness as it feels like it’s about the right length and the approach the route takes for how she and Hiroshi end up together works well enough…with the right context and that brings us to the route’s weak point. Here’s something you should know: don’t play Saeko’s route until after you finish Maki’s as there is some focus on her and Hiroshi’s relationship growing up that provides better credence to the relationship than the route itself. Strangely the route doesn’t branch off from Maki’s but at the main branch point. All in all, even though Saeko’s route is as the bottom of my route ranking it’s not a bad route, just a clumsily implemented route.

One more thing concerning routes, if you took a look at the character profiles you’ve probably noticed there’s a good number of female characters and a lot of them are unwinnable. I admit this is a minor flaw since there is a fandisk that have a route for Yoiko and Azusa, and most of the other unwinnable heroines aren’t delinquents and their having routes would clash with the game’s theme. That still leaves room for a route for Kumi…and Hana…

The last thing I should address concerning the plot is something that may be a flaw for some: the length of the game’s story. I said it before and I’ll say it again, this is in all likelihood the longest eroge I have ever played. Take a look:

The thing is that play time counter stops counting at 99:59, so expect to do A LOT of reading. You have been warned.

                In the area of presentation TJR does just about everything right. Everyone but Hiroshi is voiced and the VAs turn in amazing performances. The music is ranges from good as a background theme to excellent, especially the ones used late in the routes for major dramatic events. The art is really good for the most part, though there are some instances where the artist’s drawing of some of the male character’s heads seems a bit off. A good example is in a few CG where we see Hiroshi’s face there seems to be something off about the angle.

                As for the ero scenes, they’re all really good both in the area of artwork and voice acting. There’s also a good number of them so that’s one benefit of the game’s monster story length right there.

In Conclusion:

                Tsujidou-san no Junai Road is an excellent eroge that is well worthy of sharing the same universe as its older cousin series, Majikoi. The story may be long but it the slice of life and characters are written well enough that the length isn’t really much of an issue. I enjoyed it just as much as I’ve enjoyed what I’ve played of the Majikoi series and I highly recommend it to anyone can play untranslated games. I should point out that the writing style is pretty easy to read if you have a basic understanding of Japanese, just be aware of the story’s length.

Final Score: 9/10 Must Own

Author Recommendation: Buy it now.

*Slight spoiler, but concerning the two endings Ai has, I recommend seeing the ending where she keeps her current hair color first and then do the other one as the latter end has a bit more to it than the former.

Import Games for Adults: Kyonyuu Fantasy 2 Tokuten Story

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Games for Adults Halloween: Saya no Uta

Saya no Uta

                Well, given how all I’ve been covering this Halloween have been imported eroge and the sadly limited amount of horror themed eroge available in English, this review was probably to be expected. Seeing as how mediocre Insai no Shima was it just wouldn’t do to end this year’s Halloween on a low note and so for that we’ll be taking a look at Nitro+’s classic horror romance eroge, released by JAST USA on May 6, 2013, Saya no Uta.

Pros: Overall excellent horror story, characters are interesting, good artwork, great voice acting, excellent music.

Cons: A couple pacing issues.

WTF?!: From Fuminori’s perspective, every weapon looks like the Soul Edge.

 

                Saya no Uta tells the story of Fuminori Sakisaka, an unfortunate young man who is the only survivor of a car crash that claims the lives of his parents. Yet that is the least Fuminori has lost as the injuries he suffered were so severe one of the treatments he had to undergo was brain surgery and the aftermath has left him with a warped view of the world around him. To Fuminori his surroundings appear to be mounds of twisted flesh, people appear as completely repulsive monsters, and everything that he can touch or taste comes across as equally disgusting. It’s so bad that Fuminori can’t even stand to interact with those who he once considered his closest friends. What keeps Fuminori going though is a mysterious girl he met and befriended while at the hospital named Saya, the only one who appears human to him now. It’s through Saya that Fuminori now has the companionship he needs, but questions remain. Who is Saya’s father and why is he missing? And just who or what is Saya?

                I have to say in all my years of playing visual novels I have yet to encounter one as dark, disturbing, creepy, and somehow beautiful as Saya no Uta. If you ever wanted to see if a serious romance and horror (especially the kind reminiscent of the Cthulhu mythos( could be blended, then this could very well be worth a look. I know that sounds ridiculous if not impossible, but trust me when I say the game succeeds to being an interesting romance and a good horror story.

                Regarding the romance, note how I call it interesting because that’s really the best way to describe our central pair of Fuminori and Saya. The writer,  Gen Urobuchi (who some of you may know as the writer for Fate/Zero and Puella Madoka Magica), does a good job in establishing these two as a couple by showing how not only are they together just because of Fuminori’s condition but also because of how they complete each other. You get a good feel of how they’re two people alone in the world under extraordinary circumstances and they give each other the companionship they both desperately need. This is also supported by their interactions that do a good job in making it believable that these two genuinely care for each other. All of these things are not only good elements, but also very necessary…to show that there is no atrocity or depravity too horrible for these two to commit all so they can remain together.

                This is where the romance leads into one of the major parts of the horror aspect of the story. At a certain point in the story Fuminori has to choose between staying together with Saya or have his senses returned to normal. Choosing the former, which is the canon choice (the other choice leads to a premature, but still well written in its own way, ending), leads the pair down a path where they go to all manner of lengths to insure they remain together and happy. When I say “all manner of lengths” I really mean it as the murder of even a possible threat to their happiness is the least of what they’re willing to and do. These two go to very disturbing lengths for each other’s sake with very little regard for who they harm in the process (and boy does one character get the worst of it) and yet somehow you can’t entirely hate them because the story does a good job presenting why they’re doing these things and they do make sense from their point of view. It also helps that this pair is able to command your attention from there as the story kind of gives the Fuminori and Saya a larger than life air in their crusade for their happiness together; they’re almost like an Eldritch Bonnie and Clyde.

                Of course the horror element of this game isn’t just composed of the disturbing; at times it can evoke a good scary atmosphere. All of these moments involve the mystery behind Saya and her missing father, and they all serve to evoke that sense of foreboding in investigating something that one would probably be better off not. These range from minor moments such as descriptions of how what went on in the hospital while Saya was secretly living there which serve to build up the mystery behind her (even if it is pretty easy to figure out) to strong moments of fear of what the dark conceals such as when Yoh investigates Fuminori’s house. That’s one scene that’ll have you at least mentally shouting at the screen “Don’t go into the house, you fool!!”

                As for the characters (click here for profiles) they’re all well written, even though Fuminori and Saya get the focus, and you get a feel for their situations when you play from their POV. As a result you do care enough about the other characters besides our two mains that you do feel bad when bad stuff happens to them, which also helps on the horror front. Aside from the aforementioned scene with Yoh, the best example can be seen in Koji, who depending on perspective can be considered a hero or a villain. You really feel for this guy as he gets drawn into the mystery surrounding Saya without even knowing about her and when that mystery takes him down a path of vengeance you may even end up rooting for him. Even a character like Ryoko, whose main involvement isn’t until late in the story manages to leave a good impression.

                If there are any flaws to this game’s story I’d say, and this is nitpicking mind you, that there are a couple of pacing issues. Mainly I think a few story elements could have been looked at a little longer such as maybe a little more of either Fuminori or Saya interacting with the world outside or maybe a little more screen time for Ryoko. I’ll admit that maybe once or twice it seems the game may be trying a little too hard to be disturbing, but that’s really just because maybe the events happen a little too close together. Then again one other good thing about Saya no Uta is its short length (it'll take you 5-10 hours to complete) means no filler and I wouldn’t want to risk ruining that.

                In the area of presentation Saya no Uta does phenomenally. The artwork is good even though it doesn’t have the polish a lot of VNs typically have. I’d say that works to the game’s advantage in a couple ways: first, it gives everything a good hand drawn feel that actually helps in giving the characters a little extra in their expressions and posture than if they had been your typical anime artwork, and second, when it comes to the more horrific or supernatural looking artwork the artist succeeds not only in creating imagery meant to be strange and horrifying but also in somehow managing to put in an element of beauty to some of the images that doesn’t stand out. The music track for this game is also excellent with each track capturing and conveying the right mood for their respective scenes perfectly, be it the searching feeling you get from “Seek”, the lurking feeling from “Scare Shadow”, or the chaotic yet badass feeling fight music of “Savage”. Yet perhaps out of all the tunes, the most memorable to me is the theme song titled “Saya no Uta” as it really succeeds in bringing about the right feel for the third ending, evoking a mixture or triumph, soothing, and mourning. Equally amazing is the voice acting; every character is perfectly voiced, but the standout performances are without a doubt that of Hikaru Midorikawa as Fuminori, followed close behind by Yasunori Matsumoto as Koji. And to any otakus from my generation who recognize both names from The Slayers, enjoy watching Zelgadiss and Gourry kill each other.

                As for the ero scenes…well, I’m not entirely sure what to say about the ero scenes. They’re not meant to get a rise out of you as their purpose is to disturb and/or horrify. Even the more innocent seeming scenes have a pretty disturbing context to them once you’re aware of certain plot elements, not to mention the music that plays during those scenes give you a feeling that something isn’t quite right with what’s happening.

 

In Conclusion:

                Saya no Uta is an excellent horror eroge and certainly one of the best of the few horror visual novels officially available in English. I will warn you that this game is not a happy story and can get downright disturbing, but if you can take that then you can enjoy a horror story that has good characters, suspense abound, and two main endings that will both leave quite the impression on you. I highly recommend this to you, especially considering you can get it at Rightstuf for about twenty bucks, so price shouldn’t be much of an issue.

Final Score: 8/10 Awesome

Author Recommendation: Buy it now.

 

                And before anyone asks, no I haven’t read the infamously bad comic book adaptation. The copies are rare and I’m not really interested in scouring the internet for scans.

                So with that this year’s Halloween reviews have come to an end. Hope you all enjoyed the string of reviews I posted and hopefully at least one of those reviews has gotten you interested in trying out one of them. A Happy Halloween to you all and I hope we get to do this again next year.

Import Games for Adults Halloween: Insai no Shima ~Chi to Hakudaku no Nie~

Insai no Shima ~Chi to Hakudaku no Nie~

                Having covered zombies, psychotic killers, and aliens this Halloween how about a look at something featuring some of the more classic monsters? Our next review hails from Hourglass, released on December 12, 2010: Insai no Shima ~Chi to Hakudaku no Nie~. Featuring in this game are vampires, a werewolf, a giant ape (King Kong or Big Foot take your pick), and…a giant multi-tentacled pink worm…okay, three out of four isn’t bad.

Pros: Interesting premise for the story, core characters are alright, Shinobu’s story is pretty good, good artwork and voice acting, decent music, interesting use of CGI.

Cons: Story seems indecisive about itself, only Shinobu’s route matters storywise, unsatisfying conclusion, weak villain, weak sub characters, overuse of CGI.

WTF?!: Who knew after Gilligan and co. left the island monsters would move in?

                Insai no Shima tells the story of a small group of friends who decide to visit the island of Karasujima, a small island long since deserted after a devastating earthquake many years ago. Among them is our main character, Shinji Takeda, a boy with the ability to see glimpses of the future in his dreams. Lately Shinji has been having a series of nightmares in which some unknown horror attacks his friends and a woman in red seems to call out to him. The trip to the island is mainly for Shinji and his friends to relax and unwind at a largely unused beach and possibly look into some of the strange legends about the island’s history. Things take a strange turn when an earthquake hits and Shinji and co. find themselves on what seems to be a completely different island and the boat they took to get there and its boatman are gone. As the group explores the island to find shelter and possibly help it soon becomes clear that this island seems to have people living there, but its inhabitants are not entirely human…

                In the area of story, Insai no Shima has a lot of good story elements. The premise of a group of friends unwittingly going to a haunted island, discovering and struggling to survive against the monsters that inhabit it, and how the romance plots with the heroines would fit into all this are all the making of a good horror themed eroge. This was a game that I was really looking forward to playing and reviewing for this October since it seemed to be perfect for Halloween, but sadly this game somehow ended up being okay at best.

                Before I start discussing what’s wrong with InS, there’s something about it I think needs mentioning: it looks and feels a lot like a game from the Kansen series. The game even seems to use the same program as Kansen 5. I did a bit of checking around and it looks like some of the people who worked on the Kansen series worked on this, though I guess that’s to be expected because it and Speed share the same parent company, Janis. The reason I’m bringing this up is because InS has quite a few things in common with its more renowned cousin, though it seems to have inherited the flaws of the series more than the better parts and isn’t helped that it also has flaws of its own.

                To its credit, InS does have a decent start with it taking time to introduce the characters while slowly building up into the main story. Thanks to that we get a good enough impression of our main characters so we’ll remember them and also actually care about their survival in the main part of the story. Of the main characters I’d say Shinji and Shinobu are the best introduced with the former being a decent MC and his ability to see the future is pretty well presented and does a good job setting the ground for what’s to be an overarching mystery (more on Shinobu later). The beginning part of the story also succeeds in getting the player interested in the island that’s going to be the main setting and wonder just what is it that’s going to make it such a dangerous place. Sadly the game isn’t really able to deliver much when it gets to that point in the story.

               Perhaps the biggest story flaw InS has, and this one being wholly its own, is how indecisive its story comes across as. When it comes to the horror area it seems like the writer wasn’t sure if he wanted the story to be mysterious or scary which results in it being neither and leaves you with many overall bland scenes. A good example would be this one scene where the characters are exploring the island and come across an impaled corpse: the music and imagery clearly indicate this is supposed to be a scary scene but the writing for the scene doesn’t do a good job conveying a feeling of dread because it’s too short and really just comes off as pointless overall. I could see this scene used for a mystery/horror effect if it took place earlier in the game, before it was revealed that the island was inhabited so as to build up the mystery of who or what is on the island with the characters, but since at that point we already know all that and already seen how the island’s inhabitants are that dangerous so the scene doesn’t really have any effect at all.

                That said, the faults of this game’s story structure are best seen in our main villain, and vampire, Kasumi. While the beginning of the game does a good job building her up, one she actually shows up and takes an active role in the story prepare to be about as confounded as the writer seems to be as to what sort of villain she’s supposed to be. The game tries to present her as a villain that’s supposed to be mysterious, intimidating/scary, and sympathetic but fails on all three counts. It fails on the mysterious end because the revelations about Kasumi are all conveniently revealed through Shinji’s dream sight ability which gives that series of story segments a very railroaded feel that isn’t helped by the fact that these segments tell more than show and once you’ve seen it in one route you won’t see anything new until you play the true route so that also hurts the replay value of there.

                As a villain that’s supposed to be intimidating and/or scary villain Kasumi fails for a two reasons. First, her barely showing any emotions was obviously there to portray her as this cold monster that doesn’t care who she hurts or kills to get her way, but it more results in her having almost no personality instead. Second, for a vampire her powers are surprisingly ineffectual: her flame abilities most of the time barely hurt (let alone kill) anything, her power to control her minions sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t for barely any reason, and the only supernatural ability she has that causes Shinji and co. trouble is how hard she is to kill. As a result we have a villain that’s a threat but the story does little to back that up. Seriously, if your vampire villain in your serious horror story is less scary than Marceline from Adventure Time you might want to consider a rewrite.

 

                Finally, Kasumi fails at being a sympathetic villain because that almost wholly depends on the dream sequences Shinji sees. While this could have made for a good plot element in us seeing two completely different side to our villain and wondering what the difference could be, that’s prevented by the main plot barely acknowledging the reveals from the dream sequences so it comes across as our villain just coming off as evil but the story wants us to feel some sympathy for her just because it says so. While the writer tries addressing this in the true route, one of the main problems of that route brings that down.

                Before I get to the true route though, I feel I should discuss the other routes first. I’d give you a ranking, but that’s kind of pointless because the only route that really matters is Shinobu’s. Like with some of the Kansen games, the story is pretty much written with one heroine in mind and in InS’ case it’s Shinobu. This is kind of a double edged sword since Shinobu’s role in the story is really the best written (the only problem being her route’s ending comes across as faker than even the cheapest Halloween costume). I’ll even go so far as to say her story’s probably the best part of the game. She has a nice little subplot of dealing with her own personal problems throughout the course of the story, the relationship she has with Shinji feels like a natural progression from close friends to lovers, and she even manages to have moments where she outdoes Saori in the badass front.

                The obvious problem that arises though is Saori and Rin’s routes (which I like about equally) don’t really have as much impact as Shinobu’s. While both characters are likable, have their moments of coolness (between Saori’s sword skills and Rin’s bomb making what’s not to like?), and form a believable enough relationship with Shinji in their routes (I’ll even admit Saori’s good ending ends on an interesting note) it still feels weird playing the scenes not unique to their route since like I said before the main story is written Shinobu in mind as the heroine. It also doesn’t help that their personal problems are really minor and forgettable in the grand scheme of things. As for anyone whose taken a look at any Japanese walkthroughs and seen Kasumi has a route, then you’ve mislead as that is just a short bad ending with Kasumi that has no real bearing to the plot yet for some reason requires you to see the bad endings for each of the three heroines to unlock it.

                Back to the true route, which is basically Shinobu’s true ending, while it does answer the hanging questions the non-canon endings leave and does its best to try and validate Kasumi’s sympathetic moments one glaring problem really curtails both. The true ending is probably one of the best examples of why we have the storytelling rule “Show, don’t tell”. The moment things move on in a different direction from where Shinobu’s non-canon route ended and Shinji and co. are back at the original island, a certain character shows up and for several minutes said character starts explaining everything so as to answer the aforementioned questions. This scene just comes off as boring since it’s just a long infodump with very little input or reaction from the main characters at this new information and there isn’t anything to spice it up like some unique imagery to go along with the explanation. After that we get a hastily put in final enemy for our heroes to defeat (though I will admit it is hinted at early in the game so it’s not a plot element that comes out of nowhere), it’s defeated almost as quickly as it shows up, and we get a short epilogue that ends on a weird note. This ending just leaves you feeling drained after all this so whatever impressions it’s trying to make on the player fall flat since you won’t really care by then. It also doesn’t help that even though this is the true ending for Shinobu there isn’t really any unique moment between her and Shinji in the epilogue for them to appreciate making it out alive and together. Once again, we’re only told that.

                The final problem Insai no Shima has in the writing area concerns its two sub characters, Hiroshi and Nao. They’re basically supposed to be a sub pairing similar to Kansen 1, 3, and 4 but I think the writer forgot a major part of what made those memorable was there was something about them that was interesting. These two are often just dull, having very little to say or contribute to the plot for a good portion of the game. Their only real plot significance is a sub plot where Hiroshi secretly has a thing for Shinobu even though he’s with Nao and is holding a mixture of jealousy at her closeness to Shinji and frustration at his friend’s not seeing it. This could have been an interesting story bit, but it fails at that because aside from its introduction in the prologue (which you actually have to replay to see because Hiroshi’s POVs are locked until you clear a route) it’s pretty much pushed to the side until really late in the game. It also doesn’t help that at that point in the game where it’s used as a conflict between Shinji and Hiroshi, the latter doesn’t come off as sympathetic as the writer probably intended which makes it harder to sympathize when the consequences of that conflict happen to him.

                Concerning the system, Insai no Shima uses about the same program that would later be used in Kansen 5. They even share the same POV switching that the fifth game introduced to its series. While not as glitch plagued as Kansen 5 was, InS has the habit of crashing if you’re not running it as an administrator and there are the occasional text spacing glitches (sorry no pictures this time since they occur during the ero scenes). There are timed choices, but they're not as annoying as in the Kansen series because you have a couple seconds to read the choices before the countdown starts.

                In the area of presentation, InS does good for the most part. The voice acting is good for all the heroines and the music is pretty good. One thing that the game does that is interesting is how it uses CGI. Being an eroge company there’s obviously going to be budget limits, so the CGI would obviously be cheap looking. This is actually used to an advantage by using the dark to mostly obscure that, but shows enough so that enough of that uncanny valley look can be used to create a creepy looking image. Sadly the people at Hourglass didn’t seem to know when to show restraint as they decide to use of those sequences as Kasumi’s attack animation and it is used so often you get sick of seeing it. As for the artwork, it’s all good for the most part be it the character artwork or the CG, though I should point out there is one odd hiccup where the werewolf design in the CG looks awesome, almost Jon Talbain-ish, while the character portrait looks cartoony.

 

                As for the ero scenes, they’re good, though like with Kansen 2 there’s a bit of an unusual placement for some of them. All of Saori’s “good” ero scenes only occur in her normal ending and not in her good ending. Plus it’s weird that out of all three heroines Shinobu, our main heroine, only has only three ero scenes (only one of them “good”) compared to Saori who has seven and Rin who has six.

 Character Profiles:

Shinji Takeda:

Main character of the game. Shinji is usually the quieter member of the group, usually preferring to stay in the background socially.

Shinobu Ichinomiya:

Shinji’s class mate and childhood friend. Shinobu is generally the more positive and upbeat member of the group. She used to be in the school’s archery club, but quit after an incident she doesn’t like talking about.

 

Saori Kyogoku:

Half French on her father’s side, Saori , despite her looks, has a fluent command of the Japanese language and has a pretty dignified air about her most of the time. Learned swordsmanship from her father, but due to her father’s strict upbringing has a difficulty expressing some of her emotions to others.

 

Rin Igasaki:

Shinji’s classmate and the group’s mischief maker. Rin is definitely the cleverer of her circle of friends, though she uses most of her intellect to come up with pranks and make fireworks. Is very sensitive about her height.

 

Nao Kobayakawa:

Shinji and co.’s homeroom teacher. Is secretly going out with Hiroshi.

 

Kasumi Izumo:

The master of Karasujima, this mysterious woman appears before Shinji soon after the group arrives on the changed island. Seems to be drawn to him out of curiosity, but her intentions are shrouded in mystery.

Hiroshi Uesugi:

A friend of Shinji and Shinobu’s since childhood and one of the more outgoing members of the group. Is secretly dating Nao.

 

In Conclusion:

                Insai no Shima is a horror eroge that had so much potential; so many of its story elements sound great individually, leaving you with expectations of a good horror story. Sadly the writing that ties all those together really bring it down. Thankfully there are some good story elements that save it from being a bad game, but I only recommend getting it if you can get it at a low price.

 

Final Score: 5/10 Average

Author Recommendation:  Try it out.

 

                Also yes, I am aware of there being a “Motion Plus” version of this game coming out in December. Not interested.

                In other Janis related news, the anime OVA for Kansen Ball Buster has screenshots on getchu and it looks terrible (warning NSFW images if you follow the hyperlink). You know considering most of what I’ve gotten from Janis’ companies this year have not been what I’d call treats I think I owe them a trick or two. I’ve got the toilet paper necessary, but now that leaves getting all the way over to Japan and finding their office…