Games for Adults: Osananajimi wa Daitouryou: My Girlfriend is the President

Osananajimi wa Daitouryou: My Girlfriend is the President Review

                Regardless of your political views there’s no denying the campaign of current US President Barack Obama was an interesting spectacle to watch. From the sudden magnetism of the candidate to the marketability of the guy’s image (which could sometimes become downright bizarre), even a lot of the most politically apathetic at least took some notice of it all. Not surprisingly this was noticed internationally too and somehow this inspired Alcot to create Osananajimi wa Daitouryou: My Girlfriend is the President (called Osadai for short), released in Japan October 30, 2009 and later released officially in English (through the help of a fan translation group’s work) by JAST USA December 26, 2011. This game got the attention of the western VN community not only for its “moe” take on Obama (though that’s really just in the name) and Vladmir Putin (which with current world events context make this even funnier), but also for it’s odd but amusing (and somehow well English dubbed) trailer. All in all, this looked like the perfect bundle of Japanese weirdness that we otaku have come to love, but the question is whether it managed to pull it off well.

Pros: Laugh out loud funny comedy, main cast of characters are likable, excellent artwork and effects, very good music, great voice acting.

Cons: Remi, main villain should have been more over the top, Irina’s route is pretty weak.

WTF?!: This is our main villain, an alien modeled after former Pope Benedict XVI with a name similar to a very infamous German. Never has the phrase “Oh my God” been a more fitting reaction to the strange things I've come across in VNs.

                 You play as Junichiro Hondo who at first glance would be your typical laid back skirt chasing student with a devoted childhood friend who lives next door that you’d find in many an eroge. The thing is his childhood friend, Yukino… You know what, there’s no way I can give a summary that does this game’s wackiness justice so just check out the aforementioned trailer.

                As you can see Osadai is a game that revels in its silliness and for the most part succeeds in getting its readers to laugh. The jokes mainly range from your typical pervert protagonist antics to references to anime, games and movies. Thanks to good writing and presentation these jokes not only manage to be funny despite the cliché of the former and the potential dated-ness of the latter. That isn’t to say that’s all the jokes as there’s some laughs to be had from many of the character interactions and the humor of the random bizarre variety. Nothing best exemplifies that than the talking bespectacled space faring panda.

                Speaking of the characters (click here for profiles), Osadai does a good job giving us likable main characters to follow around.  Junichiro makes for good protagonist and each heroine has their own unique personality and fitting brand of humor to bring to the table whether as being the observer, target of or instigator of the many humorous scenes throughout the game. We also have good supporting characters in Junichiro’s friend Morita, Irina’s maid Kuon, and the (sadly unwinnable) wacky alien (and occasional fourth wall breaker) Qoo and not only do they provide some very  funny scenes  but each of them has at least a good character moment in one of the routes.

                Sadly not all of the characters in Osadai as enjoyable the aforementioned and this is where we get to what may be the game’s most glaring flaw: its villains kind of suck. First and foremost, remember the subject of the WTF?! for this game? Well I’m sorry to say that aside from the novelty of his appearance and name the game doesn’t do much beyond standard with this character in regards to villainy; he basically just acts like a standard foil when the story requires it which makes the character range from bland to annoying. If you’re going to make your main villain look like the (at the time) Pope and name him after a Nazi you’d better make the most of that and go so over the top with this character  you’d hit the moon. The VA should be hamming it up in almost every scene and the character should do stuff like fly around in Dr. Wiley style rendition of the Pope-mobile that fires spinning razor sharp crosses while he throws vials of holy water that’s actually acid (heck there you’d have the benefit of a Castlevania joke/reference). Basically in a good comedy your main villain should be at least as funny as all the other characters.

                 Unfortunately on the villain front Osadai doesn’t just suffer from a bland main villain, but also an extremely annoying sub-villain named Remi. What we get from this is a character whose main character trait is to show up and then insult and bother anyone who isn’t Yukino. That may not sound like much, but after seeing it in 90 percent (and I think I’m being generous there) of the scenes she’s in it gets old really fast, especially if the first route you play is Yukino’s. In that route Remi’s annoying traits get amplified as she’s essentially given a role that is one of my most hated tropes: the heroine’s annoying/interfering friend. Trust me I could go on a long rant about why I hate said trope with a passion but that’s for another day. Suffice to say one reason I hate it is because it’s just  a plot device to pad the story with essentially the same scene over and over until the author decides they’re ready for the plot concerning the hero and heroine’s relationship to advance and while in this case it thankfully doesn’t last long it certainly feels more than long enough. I know Remi’s supposed to be a villain and these scenes are probably supposed to make me dislike her, but a good writer should not make scenes with their villains a chore to sit through and especially not make me have to retreat into a mental “happy place” to get through the character’s scenes. And in case anyone’s curious in this case it was imagining Remi on the receiving end of what another mechanical villain gets.

                In regards to the routes here’s my rankings:

1)      Tie between Yukino and Ell

2)      Ran

3)      Irina

                The reason Yukino and Ell’s route tie is mainly because both heroines just really click with Junichiro in their own unique way. While Yukino does pretty much fall into a majority of the childhood friend type heroine tropes the game’s writing presents it in a way that keeps it from feeling stale or annoying and kind of shows why this trope has remained so prominent. I couldn’t help but find Junichiro’s interactions with Yukino cute as well as funny and considering it’s enough to cure the bad taste Remi’s role leaves once she’s kicked out of the plot is saying something. In Ell’s case not only do we have cute and funny scenes with her too, but also an interesting backstory that ties in well with the game’s story and also sets the ground for a good character arc. It also helps that in this route Remi takes the most abuse. The only reason it doesn’t beat Yukino’s route is the route is shorter by comparison and I admit the ending is a little predictable.

                Ran’s route I liked mainly not just because Ran herself proves to be a good character with some nice chemistry with Junichiro but also with how crazy it gets in bringing focus to the aforementioned panda and it only gets sillier from there. This makes for a good demonstration of how far the game can go in seemingly random humor and pull it off. The route even succeeds in giving Remi a good character moment late in the story which actually had me wanting to see more from her in the plot. That sadly brings me to the route’s fatal flaw: unlike Ell’s which while on the short side still felt like about the right length Ran’s route is on the short side and its noticeable. 

                Now we’ve reached Irina’s route and I am sorry I have to put it in last place. Having played Yukino’s route first I was really looking forward to what Irina’s would have in store seeing as how enjoyable a character she was in that route, not to mention a lot of the people who played the game either through import or a fan translation patch gave both the character and her route a ton of praise. Unfortunately this route left me bewildered at the praise instead in the end. Don’t get the wrong idea though, I won’t say Irina’s route is terrible just really weak. This route does have some good character moments and laughs with her plus she and Junichiro have good moments together too, but all that is offset by two major problems on the writing front.

                The first problem rears its head almost as soon as the route starts: an extremely slow first act. Basically the route goes in a direction that I’m sure was meant to build Irina some more as a character  while also building up the romance that’s supposed to occur between her and Junichiro. The problem is the writer seems to have forgotten you need to make scenes like these interesting in order to properly character build. Instead we get scenes that feel like filler at best to just plain boring at worst. The best example would be this one scene where we’re to learn about Irina’s hobby of Judo, but rather than anything interesting where learn about the character we instead get a boring presentation from her about the martial art. Just take a look at the picture below and you’ll see:

                Now I understand that might have been intentional considering the outcome of that particular part of the route’s story, but that actually brings us to the next problem this route has. The problem is out of all the routes in this game, Irina’s is the only one that seems to be taking things at least half seriously. Bear in mind I’m not faulting this route’s writing for trying to be different, I’m faulting it for trying to be different and failing. For example that bit with the Judo I was talking about, its attempt to be serious just results in awkwardness on the level of a bad episode of The Simpson where the writers decide to be serious about something. At the end you’re just glad it’s over and are hoping it’ll get back to being funny next time. That isn’t to say every serious scene in this route is bad; there are some quieter moments between Irina and Junichiro which do well on the drama end while feeling like a natural part of the story.  It just would have been a lot nicer if the other scenes had that kind of quality.

                In the area of presentation Osadai succeeds in every aspect. The artwork is excellent from the character designed to the many CG it uses, many of them for the more over the top comical scenes. There’s actually a manga inspired presentation for all of these with the character dialogue appearing in speech bubbles rather than the traditional text box (which is reserved for narration) and the aforementioned comical CG not only has a manga panel look to it, but some of them are even drawn to parody some specific series . There are even some effects for the character portraits that do a good job in conveying the characters’ reactions too. The music is good and the voice acting is excellent, a good example being from Ell’s VA Miru who does a voice different enough from her usual that one may not recognize her at first.

                As for the ero scenes, they’re all good but there’s a bit of an unfair balance where Yukino and Irina each get three while Ell and Ran only get two.

In Conclusion:

                Osananajimi wa Daitouryou: My Girlfriend is the President is an all-around entertaining game with hilarious comedy and a likable cast of core characters. While it does have some issues like not very well written villains and the second main heroine’s route is (to me) the weakest I still say it’s well worth your time and money if you want something light hearted and funny. You can find a copy here (this one is cheaper) or here.

Final Score: 7/10 Great

Author Recommendation: Buy it now.

Games for Adults: Eroge! ~Sex and Games Make Sexy Games~

Eroge! ~Sex and Games Make Sexy Games~ Review

                I’ll admit I’m a little late in reviewing this, but seeing as it’s Valentine’s Day it’s now time for me to give my thoughts on CLOCKUP’s Eroge! ~Sex and Games Make Sexy Games/ H mo Game mo Kaihatsu Zanmai~, released in English by Mangagamer on September 13, 2013. Some of you may have read my impression of the demo…I was less than impressed and much less enthusiastic about playing the finished product. Now that I have…I can say I know when to admit being wrong (for the most part).

Pros: Pretty good story, characters are likable once you get past where the demo ends, good music and voice acting, good artwork.

Cons:  The start of the game, the beginning portions of Momoka’s route, unwinnable heroines.

WTF?!: There’s something familiar about that hairdo…

                In Eroge! you play as Tomoya Mochizuki, an avid eroge player who wants to enter the eroge industry. Unfortunately for Tomoya he has not been able to find any work with any of the companies as he doesn’t really have any game making skills. His chance seems to come when he’s able to land a job at an eroge company called Flower…until it’s revealed that said company is facing going out of business unless their next game sells well. Upon discovering the problem lies with how each of the girls in charge of making the games is talented in their field but not very good at applying it to making eroge, it’s up to Tomoya to use his vast knowledge of the genre to help ensure a good game is made.

                While I’d like to get to the positives first, there’s no way of getting around it, the beginning of this game is kind of a chore to get through. I’ll admit I’ve never been a fan of the trope of the main character being treated like crap by the heroines at the start of the story be it in an anime/manga or game as it often makes character introductions a chore as it makes said characters unlikable and often uninteresting.  Fortunately this isn’t for a long period and the story gets better but if there’s a part of the game that shouldn’t feel like a chore to complete, it’s the introduction.

                Once you get to the main story Eroge! becomes a more enjoyable read; the heroines start showing interesting character traits, you get your obligatory ero scenes, and we start getting a look at how an eroge company working on a new game.  The last of those is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the story for a couple of reasons: first seeing an accurate enough (according to people who are familiar with the eroge industry) look at the process of making an eroge was interesting to see in how it matched in many ways with the details many indie game companies leave in posts on their websites or blogs. The writing approach does a good job presenting the process and the many trials and tribulations an eroge company could face in a way that’s easy to understand and its often light hearted look at the problems that can crop up during each phase of gaming is a good way to inform and entertain at the same time.

Second, and certainly what helps pull this game’s story up from its weak beginning, is the story’s sincere love for this niche game genre it’s built around. Interwoven in all the jokes and ero scenes is an honest look and nod of respect towards to the elements necessary to make a good eroge and the people who work hard to make those elements work together.  While I’ll admit at times Tomoya’s enthusiasm  for the genre seems a little much (then again this is during more comedic scenes), the fact that his story ultimately got me to think a little on eroge and why I like it is a notable accomplishment. Perhaps best of all each story’s route does a good job in portraying how good it would be to have someone to share that love of the genre with.

Now for the route rankings:

1)      Kisara

2)      Iori

3)      Momoka

4)      Nene

            I’ll admit after playing the demo I would have bet any amount of money against Kisara being my top pick but count this as one of the (good) curveballs life can throw your expectations . Kisara’s route wins out because out of all of them it has the best written story. Her relationship with Tomoya has a good arc and the dramatic part of her route actually did a good job getting me to care about its outcome.  On a side note, it’s an interesting coincidence that the problem Kisara has to deal with resonates quite well with some gaming related controversies that have come up recently. It also helps that part of its resolution involves a scene with Iori where her VA, Mio Okawa, really shows her voice acting talent by pulling off a convincing dramatic scene with a character far more subdued than her more well-known role as Bachou in the Koihime Musou series.

           Speaking of which Iori takes second place mainly because her route is more simple than Kisara’s, not really having a dramatic turn to it. Still the route’s story plays its strengths well by portraying a strangely interesting relationship that develops between her and Tomoya that results in a pairing that goes to interesting and amusing lengths in the kinky department but at the same time are believable as a couple. I must say both Okawa-san and the writer deserve commendation in this, the former for owning this role when compared to her previous roles and the writer for being able to portray the romance in a way that feels natural to both characters without having to go over dramatic about it.

            Momoka’s route came as another surprise as until I played Iori’s route (which I did last) hers was in second place. I fully expected her route to suck and for a while I thought I was right. Ultimately that’s why the route is in third place because the first quarter or so of it is unquestionably terrible. During that time you have to put up with our heroine being downright insufferable; I myself was gritting my teeth grumbling curses as I was formulating how I was going to roast this route as quite possibly one of the worst routes I’d ever had the misfortune to play…and then the story makes a change for the better. Basically something happens that makes Momoka’s personality do a bit of a 180, and while the circumstances for it may raise some eyebrows the fact that it makes the route readable makes up for it, not to mention the brief dramatic fallout from it was good enough. Basically from there we finally get to see some surprisingly good chemistry between the two and from there I enjoyed the route all the way to the end. I just wish the beginning wasn’t such a mental trudge to get through.

            Nene’s route ranks at the bottom because while not a bad route as it does have good scenes be they her interactions with Tomoya and several scenes of her working to become more of a leader for the struggling eroge company than its de facto mascot, it’s overall the weakest of the bunch. The main reason is because the route’s story, especially the dramatic part of it, feels like a weaker version of Kisara’s route. While that route’s conflict worked because it was more character focused in how it depended on Kisara’s reaction to it based on what’s been established of her as a character and how that affects those close to her, in this route we don’t really get that since the conflict is entirely dependent on a villain character that only appears in this route and is as annoyingly featured into the plot as you could expect. While I get why this character is there to act as a plot device to demonstrate Nene’s character development, I can’t help but feel the writers could have come up with something more interesting to demonstrate that than introducing a character that reads like a rejected character for a South Park episode.

          There is one more flaw in the story department for Eroge! and once again it’s unwinnable heroines. Basically there are four sub-heroines (technically) who help out the core cast, and while there is certainly potential for a route it’s actually a trick element to the game as at a certain point in each route you can have Tomoya cheat on the heroine for the route with one of these sub-heroines which will result in a bad ending. While I admit it’s a clever idea, I can’t help but wish these characters could receive a full on route.

           In the technical area, Eroge! is your standard VN, though in the settings one can make some adjustments to the ero scenes to make some of the “kinkier” scenes stay within the player’s comfort level.

          In the area of presentation the game does well enough. The artwork is good, the voice acting is great and the music is fine, though I do question the need for so many variants of a single theme.

As for the ero scenes, they’re all good and I can say each heroine has something different to offer in the H department so I suppose you could say that enhances the replay value.  Should also mention that perhaps another enjoyable aspect of Kisara’s route is she has some of the funniest ero scene dialogue I’ve ever read in an eroge. I wish I could show you a sample but it’s something you should see for yourselves…and since I want to keep the blog safe for work in the images department…

In Conclusion:

                Eroge!  ~Sex and Games Make Sexy Games~ is an enjoyable game fueled by a comedic yet ultimately respectful look at the genre and its game making process. While it does have the problem of a weak start and couple other writing issues here and there it’s far from enough to ruin the experience. If you want a romantic comedy that’s also heavy on the ero this Valentine’s Day (or any day) then this is certainly worth picking up. Also you have the option of buying it digitally or buying a physical copy.

Final Score: 7/10 Great

Author Recommendation: Buy it now.

                As for the anime, I can say that as an adaptation it’s pretty good and even has some unique scenes in the H department. My only real complaints are first, its handling of Momoka’s personality turn around are entirely comedic without the brief dramatic fallout. I just feel its exclusion makes the change in her relationship with Tomoya less effective. Second, I do wish Iori and Nene would get a little more focus since the OVAs mainly focus on Kisara and Momoka. Other than that it’s a good watch, though I recommend playing the game first.

Import Games for Adults Halloween: Kyonyuu Fantasy Gaiden 2

Kyonyuu Fantasy Gaiden 2 Review

                Bet you weren’t expecting this to be the Halloween review, huh? Seeing as the latest game in the series releases in Japan today and Halloween is about monsters and this series has more than its share of monster heroines and characters I think it fits…plus after playing my fair share of dark themed eroge I need something light to lift my spirits for the upcoming holidays. Anyway, with this we wrap up the story of Ryuto Hende in Kyonyuu Fantasy Gaiden 2, released in Japan on October 25, 2013. There are lots of cases where game trilogies end on unsatisfying notes such as Xenosaga Episode 3 or Mass Effect 3 (which for the record I consider okay with all story DLC but not satisfying), but thankfully Gaiden 2 spares us this by being a near perfect capstone to this trilogy many of us have come to love.

Pros: Excellent story that leads to a satisfying conclusion, great new characters (the good aligned ones anyway), both returning and new characters get the right amount of spotlight, great artwork, good music, excellent voice acting.

Cons: Side route seems a little pointless, Selveria has a couple character moments that feel a little rushed, an odd glitch late in the game.

WTF?!: To any who still feel this isn’t fitting for Halloween, the zombies have something to say…

                Set 5 years after the events of Kyonyuu Fantasy Gaiden, the story begins in the Kingdom of Hillsland, now sadly a shadow of its glorious days under the rule of King Ruin Demedium more than a century and a half ago. In the midst of the kingdom’s troubles with the kingdom of Fronce an amnesiac masked man with red hair washes up near a harbor. Unfortunately for him, upon entering town the masked man discovers too late that aside from memories he’s also lacking clothes and is quickly arrested by the authorities. Soon after his incarceration the man, taking the name Mask for lack of anything else , is given a chance at pardon (along with a group of imprisoned mermen pirates) in exchange for defeating a monster that has taken up residence in Boinbara’s castle. Meanwhile in the kingdom of Edellant, King Ryuto Hende has been apparently bedridden for nearly a month with none save the queens and his advisors having seen him since this sudden onset of illness…

                Okay, before I continue let me give a warning to those allergic to even the most minor of spoilers, it is going to be impossible for me to discuss the game’s story without spoiling the “twist” to the previous story summary. I’d like to believe anyone old enough to play these games has developed enough genre savviness to call what it is, but since I am aware no one likes to be spoiled I have to do this. If you want to see everything for yourself then believe me when I say this game is really good and if you have any investment in this series you owe it to yourself to play it. Observe the spoiler warning pictures below and either go to another page or scroll on down and continue reading (please be more of the latter).

               

               There’s no beating around the bush, yes it’s obvious that “Mask” is Ryuto with amnesia but the game is written with that in mind. The readers are expected to figure this out from the start as the real story at that point in the plot is what’s going to happen to our amnesiac hero in this new setting (for him anyway) with the mystery of how this even happened taking a back seat until later, but still there as can be seen when we switch to the POV of the returning characters from the previous two games. To those of you worried about this part of the story involving Ryuto getting amnesia, I can assure you as someone that generally hates that kind of storyline when applied to established characters that Gaiden 2 manages to do this trope in a good way. Aside from using it as a way to introduce new setting information to the player without a feeling of story contradiction as Ryuto normally would probably know this already, it’s also used as a way to introduce and establish most of the new characters, taking full advantage of Ryuto’s identity being unknown so these characters will treat him normally. More importantly though, the story does not use the missing memories as an excuse to have Ryuto act in any way out of character; at his core he’s still the good natured (if somewhat perverted) guy we’ve come to know and love throughout these three games. Of course this is all helped by the fact that this particular story arc is a good one for a start as it builds up to a surprisingly awesome climax that then leads into a satisfying conclusion…and then we move on to the main story.

                I have to hand it to the writer of this series, he knew this game had to be special and delivered. The story makes good use of its built up alternate Europe setting not only by giving each kingdom its own identity but also in making it somehow scale story elements up in some ways. You get a good feel of Ryuto’s actions having an effect throughout the continent and at several points the fate of countries end up depending on it. It all culminates into a final conflict with an overall satisfying ending with an epilogue that wraps things up nicely. That said, Gaiden 2 also does well in its slower moments in between each major story event, using these periods not just for ero scenes but also to give the characters their moments, a significant improvement from the slow filler-ish moments of Gaiden.

                 Speaking of the characters, Gaiden 2 does nearly everything right with both the new and returning ones. Regarding the former all the new characters are given good introductions so that we can remember them and (all the good ones anyway) are given the right amount of plot significance that they feel like a natural and welcome addition to the cast. The only exception to this would be Rosalyn’s father who proves to be surprisingly forgettable even for a minor character in this series. That aside all the other new characters are properly fleshed out, the best examples being with our new heroines. In Rosalyn and Estoria’s respective story arcs they both center around each of them having to deal with the sudden responsibility of ruling a country and the game does a good job giving these arcs their own distinguishable events and pacing but also in showing how each heroine ends up developing both during and after the arcs. Selveria’s makes for an interesting tie in with the final conflict Ryuto and co. have to deal with and she does have an interesting backstory, though I have to say her arc is weakened a bit by it occurring so late in the game as there are some character moments of hers that feel a bit rushed. Of course continuing what’s now tradition with this series, Gaiden 2 gives personality all the way down to the unnamed characters as we not only get a group of merman pirates who are in their own distinct way as delightful as the gnolls from Kyonyuu Fantasy 2 but a group of almost as entertaining Hillsland soldiers who do double duty as pirates and one of the better subplots in this game is these two pirate groups learning to cooperate.

                Naturally the returning characters are given the appropriate screen time as would be appropriate for the finale in this trilogy. Starting with our heroines, this time none of them feel like they’re stuck on the sidelines. Isis actually has an active role this time and has about as much plot and action contribution as Gladys does. Even our non-combat capable heroines are given opportunities to demonstrate their effectiveness in their respective roles from Neris’ significant improvement in magic since Gaiden to Emeralia, Roxanne and Ruseria’s respective roles in helping the kingdom run. Still the heroine to have it best storywise is, naturally, Shamshel as not only do we get heavy story involvement from her but we also get some really good character moments from her ranging from the comedic to some very believable dramatic ones, especially in the first arc of the game. It also helps that many of these moments work to better tie things in with KF2.

                Of course the rest of the returning cast is handled well. Martel for instance not only has more story involvement than in the last game but also has a very good subplot focusing on the student-mentor relationship he has with Felzen. Even minor returning characters get either a somewhat important role or a fitting nod by the end of the game. Yes, even the Alphabet Assassins…

                For all the praise I have for Gaiden 2, I will admit even it has a couple story related flaws. Aside from the aforementioned bit with Selveria, the most glaring would be in the side route this game has. I wouldn’t say that it’s bad, but it feels kind of pointless and this is the only area I feel the previous Gaiden did better. While there was one canon ending the other endings had interesting story bits and some good character moments too that felt like nice little accompaniments to the true ending. In this case it doesn’t really feel like there’s much to take away from the route as it never takes advantage of potentially interesting plot points. A good example is Ryuto has to deal with a different set of villains this time which ends up leading him into getting on better terms with the main villains of the true route, Enperador and his wizard Istorias. The problem is these two are given nothing to do in their roles in this route as even though they get involved in the story’s conflict; they pretty much just stand aside as Ryuto inevitably saves the day…and that’s it. It also doesn’t help that the villains for this route just come off as rehashes of the villains from Shamshel’s arc in the previous game, except nowhere near as effective. Add in that neither Rosalyn nor Selveria are in this route much and Estoria doesn't even make an appearance only serves to make the route feel even more non-canon. All in all not a bad route but the only justification I can find for its existence are its handful of ero scenes.

                There is one problem Gaiden 2 has concerning its system and that comes in the form of a strange glitch that occurs in the game’s epilogue where after a specific ero scene occurs, the in game screen shakes for a period of time before eventually stopping.

                In the area of presentation Gaiden 2 does as well as its predecessors with its artwork as good as ever, both character and CG. Though there is one kind of exception with the former as Enperador's character portrait holds the same strange pose throughout the entire game even when his expression changes.The music is also good though the best in the area of sound goes to the voice acting as all the VAs turn in great performances, especially Shamshel’s as can be best seen in the aforementioned dramatic scenes we see early in the game.

                As for the ero scenes, they’re as good as ever and this time around have the benefit of being better included into the story unlike in the beginning of the first Gaiden. In an interesting change though, Gaiden 2’s creators don’t seem to have been afraid to give the story some time before getting the players to the ero scenes. Don’t worry, the scenes are there and as plentiful as ever plus this time no heroine gets the short end of scenes, you just have to wait a couple chapters.

Characters (only covering the new major characters):

Rosalyn:

Princess and sole heir to the kingdom of Hillsland. Friendly and outspoken, Rosalyn’s desire to help her declining country has led to her adopting the guise of a pirate with a crew of loyal soldiers to harass any potentially hostile foreign ships.

Estoria:

Princess and sole heir of the kingdom of Nordlant and a friend of Rosalyn’s. Having grown up praised and admired by many throughout Eurodia for her beauty has given this princess a high opinion of herself that makes things difficult for her father’s royal advisor, let alone any potential suitors. Despite this, she is aware of her own kingdom’s coming troubles as the impending death of her gravely ill father, the king, will mean trouble with the neighboring hostile kingdom of Ostacia.

Selveria:

Queen of the kingdom of Iberia and wife to its ruler Enperador. A full blood nymph, Selveria is also a renowned fighter and commands much of Iberia’s forces in their ongoing campaign against the nation of Sultana.

Enperador the Second:

Ruler of the kingdom of Iberia, Enperador is an ambitious man who intends to rule the entire continent of Eurodia. His ambitions are currently kept in check by his country’s long standing conflict with the kingdom of Sultana, though that doesn’t keep him from making moves to manipulate events in the other countries to his benefit.

Istorias:

Enperador’s most trusted advisor and an accomplished wizard, Istorias acts as his king’s right hand through the many soldiers and spies under his command and magic.

In Conclusion:

                Kyonyuu Fantasy Gaiden 2 is not only an excellent entry into the series it is a more than worthy send off to the characters who started perhaps the best series to be found in the nukige genre of eroge. Its enjoyable story and equally enjoyable main characters returning and new make this a game anyone who has experienced the previous games and liked them owes themselves to see. My hat goes off to the creators of this series, they’ve made a story with heroes and heroines that gave at least me some positive inspiration and through that they’ve earned the highest score I’ve ever given to a nukige. May whatever new entries in this series continue to do the same.

Final Score: 9/10 Must Own

Author Recommendation: Buy it now.

                Just a quick note, yes I am aware of the side stories for Emeralia and Estoria but unfortunately I haven’t played any of them since those, like a previous side story for Kyonyuu Fantasy 2, are kept completely exclusive to certain buyers of the game.

                Well, that concludes this year’s Halloween reviews. A Happy Halloween to you all and here’s hoping we can do it again next year.