Edelweiss Review

Edelweiss is a visual novel developed by Overdrive. This game was released for PC in 2006 (in Japan). The version of the game I will be reviewing is the re-translated MangaGamer release from 2011. Minimal spoilers in this review, but I will avoid anything that reveals crucial plot elements or twist within this game. I will provide a general outline of the game while also providing my thoughts on it as a visual novel (production value, story, characters, etc.). Anyways, let’s get started!

Shidding and Farding? (Story/Common Route)

Edelweiss has a fairly simple premise. It’s about a group of friends (all-males) that acquire the rights to enter an all-girls school through a student exchange program. Which leads them to an isolated island that contains this school (and many beautiful women). The main motivation for participating in this program is to lose their virginity. Believing that the women within this all-girl school will drop their panties as soon as they have a male interact with them. Little do they know that the subjects available within this school aren’t just math, writing, and sex education. The school also specializes in the “dark” art of alchemy.

Losing their virginity may come at a high price… Their life.

To be honest. Edelweiss isn’t winning awards for its originality, though I do like how brash and unapologetic it is in execution. The game has the feeling of an early 2000’s teen comedy with a goofier setting (the island/alchemy being fun gimmicks). At its core, story isn’t really the games bread and butter. Instead it focuses primarily on its comedy, which is as trashy as the premise would lead you to believe. With most of the jokes being juvenile in nature. Consisting of subject matters like farts, poop, piss and sex… Lots and lots of sex. So if you are expecting some cleverly constructed comedy VN like a Majikoi with this one, you’re not going to be getting that type of comedy. Instead this is more along the lines of something like a Golden Boy (OVA series), with slapstick and shock humor being the main source of laughs. Now this may come off like I’m shitting on the game. In actuality I enjoy this type of humor and the execution of it for the most part is very good (when comedy is the focus). I just want the audience reading this review to know what kind of game they’re getting into. Don’t expect anything beyond this type of humor and you will be far from disappointed in regards to common route. Because the absurdity and childish nature of this games brand of humor really makes it feel different from many of the visual novels I’ve experienced within the same genre.

Edelweiss is willing to do anything to get you to laugh and because of this it aims consistently for the low hanging fruit in regards to comedy. I really liked this approach because regardless of whether or not the jokes the landed, entertainment would be guaranteed. The game is absurd to the maximum degree. Common route literally just feels like a compilation of sex-fueled hijinks with the bros. With the friend characters consistently doing absolutely EVERYTHING in their power to impress girls or get their rocks off. Because of this jokes didn’t need to land as long as I was invested in the absurdity of their actions. Because although I found common route to be consistently entertaining throughout, it does get repetitive at points with the comedy it has. The charm can wear off fairly easily when the humor is very one-note (even if I personally didn’t feel this way on my initial playthrough of it). Though the game does find many creative ways to tell the same joke about desperately craving sex (to the point where you want to suck your friends man-boobs). If you’re a fan of absurdist, almost surrealist humor. You’ll probably enjoy Edelweiss like how somebody would enjoy scrolling through the latest okbuddyretard post. You just want to see how much stupider it can get and when it comes to this, Edelweiss is fantastic.

Misogynism is not far from the games main brand of humor, though I personally was never offended by it due to the insanity of it all. I can see this being highly offensive to some people. It’s just a warning to those that don’t like games whose main source of laughs are based around accounts of sexual harassment. Edelweiss like I said is very hard to take seriously initially (common route) and because of this I never got angry when I saw jokes like a women being called a lesbian because they don’t show interest in the guys. So if you don’t like misogyny, I’d steer very far from Edelweiss.

A Mixed Bag (Characters/Mini-Rant on Routes)

One thing that’s completely undeniable even to the biggest Edelweiss hater out there is that the main male cast have a lot of chemistry. Because of this, all their interactions regardless of writing quality are extremely entertaining. The dialogue feels like it truly reflects who they are, in many ways it’s genuine. Which is a very valuable asset to have in a raunchy comedy. Because even if the material is weak (writing-wise), you can at least laugh it off because your buddies are telling you the joke. Sometimes it doesn’t matter what the jokes is, rather it’s who tells it. Edelweiss is a prime example of this with the main male cast it has.

Like yeah you’re gonna see some ugly ass shit with them, but they’re your bros. What can go wrong?

Pierre, Daigo and Appo carry every scene they’re a part of throughout the common route. They’re probably my favorite aspect of Edelweiss. Though there are some glaringly obvious flaws when it comes to their character arcs. I’m not a fan of the fact that Appo is the only one to get a fully developed character arc. Pierre and Daigo have mini-arcs in common which feel like they’re purely there to satisfy a checklist rather than being good on their own. It’s fine because character writing wasn’t the strong suit of Edelweiss; however, I am left disappointed knowing that they could have been great arcs had they been given more time. Along with this, once the focus shifts to the heroines (after you start their routes), they become completely irrelevant. Which is a massive shame. Because it makes all the development they made in common route feel completely pointless.

In a perfect world, I could romance this hunk of a man…

The side characters in Edelweiss are also pretty good, though they feel largely underdeveloped minus Hisae and Fuusen. A lot of the time they feel like punchlines to jokes rather than actual characters. Which isn’t a bad thing to have in a comedy, but I do feel that characters like Rin and Sakura had more to offer than what was shown (next review). Fuusen was surprisingly very developed due to having an actual arc in common. Something I was not expecting at all. She actually came off more likable than the majority of heroines when I finished common route. I actually was hoping she had a secret route (regardless, I don’t think MC has a chance in hell of NTR-ing Appo). Hisae is an interesting case where she actually has some great stuff within the heroine routes. She’s actually the highlight of them (to an extent). Really like what they did with her. Outside those two characters, nothing really stood out when it came to the side characters.

My biggest issue with the cast of Edelweiss are the MC and heroines. Sadly that’s a huge issue when they’re the primary focus of the visual novel. The main character is fine when he’s interacting with his friends, but once you actually put him in an environment where he might have to think. That’s where he suffers the most. He’s not the type of main character to carry a scene, rather he’s the type of main character to make a small observation and walk away. In other words, he lacks a defining personality. Not to say that he doesn’t have good scenes (sometimes he can be great), but he’s far from a highlight of Edelweiss. Usually it’s the material he’s given that’s good, not the writing of his character itself. Give a more introspective or charismatic MC half the material Haruma (MC of Edelweiss) was given here and he’d make them fantastic. Haruma would just make that scene serviceable.

When it comes to heroines, they are generally below average minus Natsume and Mei. Natsume is generally very well written, though I do think the material she’s given holds her back (route). Mei is great for her puns and general personality, though lacks substance. I will go more into this, but I generally think the heroine’s are very weak in Edelweiss…

The character writing in Edelweiss is spotty to say the least. Because despite some massive highlights within it (the MC’s friend group), there are also some massive downsides (most of the heroines and MC). Edelweiss is a very weird visual novel in the sense that I generally think the game would be far better if it had male routes instead of female ones. Because common route has one massive flaw that isn’t immediately apparent until you play through the heroine routes. It developed the male cast way too much. To the point where the heroines are extremely forgettable and have no momentum going into their routes. This would not be a death sentence if the writing of the heroine routes was strong, but that isn’t the case at all. The routes are generally ambitious, but lack due to the heroine’s feeling like such afterthoughts going into them. It also doesn’t help that the game doesn’t introduce the darker elements the routes delve into early on. Because even if it’s somewhat there (the dark tone), the game does not spotlight it enough for the transition to feel anything more than contrived. I will delve into the specific issues each individual heroine route has in their respective sections, though I think it was important to be transparent as to why I don’t like the heroine’s (for the most part). Common route builds up the male characters only for the heroine’s to take up the focus when it should have been the reverse.

Too long; didn’t read:

Unimpressive in Quality and Competent in Nature (Production Value/H-Scenes)

The production value of Edelweiss is not very strong. It’s very outdated for a VN made in 2006, which does make sense when I consider it’s the first VN that Overdrive produced. The easiest thing to point out is that Edelweiss does not offer many CG’s at all. They do the bare minimum here, and this isn’t a case where I can excuse it because:

My mind can create a more intense picture than what they could present…

Because if anything, Edelweiss is incredibly underwritten and very limited in its vocabulary. So it is incapable of describing something more intense than what can be shown to me in-game. It’s literally that the game just feels very lazy in this department, with many of the CG’s lacking any impact at all. I feel that many CG’s lack impact due to the fact many are used for very mundane things. And once the actual drama ensues, they lack as much CG’s until the climax of the route. Along with this, I do not find the artistic direction of Edelweiss to be very pretty compared to its competitors at the time. Making this glaring flaw more apparent to me as I think about it. The game does offer some “animation” with lip syncing and blinking for the character sprites. Something that I do think differentiates it slightly from its contemporaries. Though I honestly think it feels forced most of the time. Especially when the characters aren’t as expressive as I’d like, making the “animations” feel pointless.

Despite my critiques of the lack of CG’s, some can hit hard. Especially stuff like this. Giving the game a lot of personality compared to the super deformed CG’s I’m really accustomed to seeing within the medium.

I like the music of Edelweiss. It’s far from the best I’ve heard within the medium, but it’s quite competent in spots and has a good sonic palette. The heroine themes are fun too. I like the tropical and almost aquatic sounds that Haruka and Mei’s themes embody. Really fitting their happy-go-lucky and naïve personalities. Natsume’s melancholic theme is also a massive highlight of this soundtrack with the music box accentuating her mysterious and complex sadness. The atmospheric tracks in Edelweiss are also quite good and the game’s use of repetition for the sadder tracks can really put me into a trance when reading the drama heavy portions (in a good way). Some songs even feel epic in scale, which I was not expecting at all from the type of humor I saw in common. If I were to point out an issue with the soundtrack, I think many of the tracks tonally kind of feel the same. That’s not to say the instrumentation isn’t impressive, but if you heard a sad track from Edelweiss, you heard them all. Overall it’s a fun soundtrack, though I don’t think I’ll be revisiting it outside a select few tracks.

H-scene quality of Edelweiss isn’t necessarily bad; however, I hate the placement of the actual scenes themselves. For me a great h-scene is usually placed towards the climax of the route or when the relationship between MC and heroine feels developed enough for sex to be the next logical progression. I think the lack of strong interactions between MC and heroine’s prior to the h-scene really kills my enjoyment of it. Along with this the banter between heroine and MC is just rudimentary at best, the lines themselves lack charm/wit. The dialogue also isn’t erotic enough for me to go absolutely monkey for as well. I think the reason h-scenes were placed so early into some of the routes is because the bulk of the routes were composed of the conflict. Having no real place to fit the h-scenes due the subject matter the routes would explore. In other words they were plopped early into the route to fill a quota rather than to make me care about them. This is definitely the case for routes like Haruka and Mizuki. Ran also had way too many h-scenes early into her route, though I feel that was mostly due to lazy writing as opposed to the issue I mentioned. Overall the h-scene quality for Edelweiss is standard (many eroge kind of shoehorn in whatever h-scene they want). Despite this I feel disappointed. Especially knowing that most comedy VN’s at the very least put an effort to make the h-scenes humorous, which Edelweiss does not at all. It takes itself way too seriously for them (which makes sense when you see the direction of the route). Making them largely unimpressionable beyond me just wanting to see a heroine get freaky.

Awooooooooooooooga!!!!

Haruka Route

This route is probably the best indicator of whether or not you will like any of the other routes moving forward. Since the tone of the game changes from a largely comedic one to a much darker, almost depressing one with this route. I applaud the game for trying to be ambitious with this route specifically as well. Since the subject matter it explores is quite tasteful considering we went from fart jokes to dead serious here. Though I do feel it lacks in quite a few areas. My biggest issue with this route is that MC’s relationship with Haruka is very underdeveloped. This is due to the conflict taking up the majority of the route, giving the characters little breathing room for their relationship to truly blossom.

I feel this route is also a classic example of the conflict defining the heroine rather than the heroine defining the heroine.

Really killing my overall enjoyment since prior to the main conflict the route has (towards the last 3rd), it did not offer anything interesting for Haruka herself. She is pretty much good for what she represents within the context of her story, but as a character lacks anything impressionable. The best parts of this route are actually the last 3rd of it, but I wish the character writing was a little stronger. Because if it was, I could see myself calling this route good rather than a mediocre one with an interesting concept. The main character is also on his best behavior, this is easily the most defined he is of the 5 routes. I really like how they explore his perspective on the conflict that this route introduces. I really feel for him in quite a few scenes as well, though this was sadly his peak within the story. I also really like the utilization of the gang (male friends) and Hisae (Haruka’s grandmother). They elevate this route slightly, though not enough for me to call it anything good. They just keep it from being something bad. If you do not like the tone of this route; however, you will likely detest the rest of the game. Personally I’m in the middle with the direction the route takes. Since I do consider it somewhat ambitious, but lacking in proper execution. A consistent for most of the routes in Edelweiss.

Despite the MC and Haruka lacking much chemistry, I do think I like their relationship by the end. It just feels very limited due to the really weak start it has.

Mizuki Route

This route in my opinion had the highest potential amongst the 5 heroines. The conflict is actually my favorite on paper by miles. Touching upon some very depressing subject matter with a surprising amount of maturity. Though the writing of the route absolutely kills it. The route lacks any subtlety at all with the realism it tries to depict and not only that, MC really let me down here in terms of being the best version of himself. He does not elevate the mediocre writing at all, instead actually making the conflict less and less interesting with each scene he’s a part of. A lot of the same criticisms I applied to Haruka apply here as well, though at the very least MC was interesting towards the end of that route.

In this one he could have been replaced by a broom and not much would actually change, at the very least with the broom I could say it was different.

For me this route is another example of a shitty situation not making for great character writing. Cool concepts need good execution. Another aspect I dislike about this route is that it moves too quickly, lacking any commitment to slow burns. Which absolutely cripples the routes full potential. Despite these issues though, I do thing Mizuki is quite good in this route. I really like how much we learn about her through this conflict and it can be quite endearing to see her try to be the best version of herself despite the adversity she faces. It’s just I know that if a different writer had this script, it would be far better. Which absolutely kills me because it just ends up being an average route at best. There’s no reason for a route with such a depressing and interesting concept like this one to be so bland. It literally does the bare minimum writing-wise. But I can at least respect its slightly anti-climatic ending. Which I find to be quite sweet in its sentiment, though not really as strong of a payoff as I’d like for the subject matter of this route. A big shame considering I went into this one expecting great things (once the conflict started).

I would say the overall relationship between Mizuki and MC is better than Haruka, though it’s not by much sadly…

Ran Route

Simply put, Ran is an unlikable heroine. I find many of her actions detestable throughout and this route feels like it was written by a 3rd grader due to how little care was put into creating any meaningful conflict between her selfish ways and relationship with Kazushi. This route is almost comedic with how predictable and straight up garbage its writing is. A prime example is the home cooking scene which is easily one of the worst things I’ve read in a long time. Ran is perplexing to me because I found her to be the most enjoyable heroine in common initially, though that went down the shitter as soon as her route started up with like a billion h-scenes (hyperbole). The comedy in her route is not even trashy funny, it’s just unfunny and boring. Tonally the route also makes 0 sense in the grand scheme of Edelweiss. It does not add to any of the themes established in the other 5 heroines route (only being slightly connected due to involving alchemy). It has a very slapped together feeling to its implementation within Edelweiss.

Which really shows when the conflict is the least conceptual and most dumbed-down of the routes within this game.

The routes main theme is that being selfish is bad. Which is fine I guess, though the way it goes about it is straight up insane. Making Ran incredibly annoying throughout every scene within this section of the game. There’s almost 0 redeemability to her by the time I finished this route, making the moral lesson go completely over my head. Ran burned the bridges to absolute ashes before I could even start to care about her epiphany towards the end of this one. Maybe the route does kind of have the juvenile humor of common, though it lacks the charm of it due to the near malicious intent Ran has with every action she commits within it. So yeah it’s like common route without the best aspect of its humor. I do not have any praise at all for this route, even the CG’s are the worst the game has to offer. A route that had no place in being here.

Rather shove my penis into a pencil sharpener!

Mei Route

Another example of the games inability to to elevate good material beyond average. The conflict this route has is fantastic and foreshadowed quite heavily throughout common. This had all the makings of a great route. I was excited to read this one, absolutely salivating at the idea of some good puns and even better drama. Sadly this game is unable to get any emotion out of me (up to this point) beyond disappointment. That’s not to say the route is the worst of the heroines, I actually consider this the best route besides Natsume and the bad ending of common. But that’s not because the writing is particularly strong, it’s actually because Mei herself is a very fun heroine. Not only that, but she’s the kind of character that can elevate average material to good material.

Her relationship with Kazushi (MC) is quite strong (the best of the heroines) and the conflict is interesting enough despite mediocre execution.

This felt like the longest route in a way because it does have a larger emphasis on Kazushi earning Mei’s love. Which is a plus for me. Where this route does lack though is that I find the ending very anticlimactic. I appreciate the concept of the ending a lot, but I really don’t have much emotion towards it because the prose is so limiting. This is another example of the games simple writing style not allowing for a bigger magnifying glass to be applied to its conflicts. Because of that they don’t feel like they have any gravity to them. What I’m saying is that Edelweiss has good routes on paper (besides Ran), but the writing itself is too juvenile to actually make these good concepts something special. Mei has a decent route overall, I just know it could be stronger in many areas. Which hurts to say, but it’s the truth.

God, I wish that were me…

Natsume Route

The best route Edelweiss has by miles. It’s the only time I felt Edelweiss was able to execute a concept well enough for me to not come out with a negative taste in my mouth. Natsume and Kazushi have a very cute relationship with many ups and downs, along with this, the route develops the cast a lot relative to the other one’s. It felt like I was reading a slightly more serious version of common for at least half this route with how much time was spent with the gang. I wish the other routes went more into this direction because it would have made the development in common feel less pointless. Since again, the heroines of Edelweiss lacked so much development PRIOR to their routes starting. Natsume was saved simply for the fact that she wasn’t the only character with major involvement within her route. So she didn’t have to carry the story on her back, others did as well besides her.

I find the conflict in this route to be the most conceptual and abstract, though in a way where it does actually fulfill its potential and doesn’t feel untapped.

Where this route lacks is just that the style of writing Edelweiss has is not necessarily suited for high stakes conceptual drama. That’s not to say it’s bad in this route (believe me, it’s quite good), but I do think it limits it from being a route I look at as great. Finding it to be only very good. The darker direction of the last 3rd also felt quite natural and almost subversive in its mystery (when compared to the other routes). I also really like the implementation of alchemy in this route, leading to an interesting resolution that I found quite cool in concept. I wouldn’t say this route “saves” Edelweiss, rather it just makes me less regretful that I played it. What the route lacks in insight/introspection it makes up for in good execution of its concept. Which is more than I can say for the rest of this game.

Natsume is also hilarious. Something I neglected to mention throughout this review. She is the type of characters to elevate material. Which is an asset not many characters in this visual novel had.

Concluding Thoughts

Overall I find Edelweiss to be a mixed bag. It shows high potential with the concepts presented within its routes, but cannot follow through with most of them due to the lack of maturity the writers have when it comes to creating a conflict and going above and beyond with it. The game is the definition of complacency. I really wish the game had just stuck with its comedic tone and explored the male characters further rather than shoehorn in some substandard nakige stuff for its routes. Because although it does have minor successes (Natsume and Mei), for the most part it’s just not well executed. Definitely a disappointment, though I don’t think it’s something I quite regretted playing. Especially because I found common route and Natsume’s route to be highly entertaining.

….an yes. Panchu was underutilized.

Strong 5 to a Light 6

If you guys want to check out my thoughts on the fandisc. I wrote a review for The Visual Novel DataBase!

Hoshi Ori Yume Mirai Review

Hoshi Ori Yume Mirai is a visual novel developed by Tone Work’s. This game was released for the PC in 2014 (in Japan). This version of the game was translated by Tsurezure Scans in early 2019 (they really did a great job with this one). Minimal spoilers in this review, but I will avoid anything that reveals a crucial plot element in this game. I will provide a general outline of the game while also providing my thoughts on it as a visual novel (production value, story, characters, etc.). Anyways, let’s begin!

A Look Towards Our Future Together (Setting/Story)

Hoshi Ori Yume Mirai has a setting we’re all accustomed to in this medium. It takes place in a town called Shionagi, and a large portion of the story is going to be taking place in a school setting. In this school, Hino Ryousuke (the protagonist and a recent transfer student) will meet 6 potential love interests that will make him look towards a better future for himself. Already, this game doesn’t seem too special based off these 3 sentences. The way this game deviates from the typical galge (or the ones I’m used to) is that it attempts to go incredibly in-depth with the relationship that Ryousuke has with each heroine. The time-span of his relationship with each girl will not just span high school to graduation, it spans well after adulthood. Despite the school portion of this game lasting significantly longer than the After Stories it provides, the relationship in adulthood feels far more consequential to both Ryousuke and his lover in the route. They reach adulthood together and forge a path towards a beautiful future, each route typically having a climax involving marriage between both characters. The game has a general tone of optimism throughout, so drama is infrequent. There is some level of conflict in the routes, but it never feels overblown. The game is a very happy one. It doesn’t try challenging the player’s ideals. Instead, it attempts to provide them a close look into relationships and how they shape us into the people we are today.  This game is more about self-improvement and reaching your goals, keeping the drama minimal because it only wants to show us one thing: how these characters reach their dreams together despite some of the hurdles imposed by them and their environment.

The protagonists relationship with each heroine feels earnest. Their bonds will shape the story of the game. It’s the most important aspect of the game. Because of this, if you’re looking for a plot-heavy game that’s going to be throwing twist after twist at you. This isn’t the type of game. It’s very much a charage in the purest sense.

Ryousuke has recently moved back to Shionagi (his hometown) after being away from it for several years. It is here where he enters a new school and attempts to chase down his dream of being a great architect. He makes 6 female acquaintances while at school and, depending on his choice during a fateful camping trip, he will share his future alongside one of these female characters, bearing their baggage and vice versa. This is the main story of Hoshi Ori, like I stated previously in this review. It’s not the most exciting visual novel to describe story-wise, since a lot of the “story” is its characterization and relationship building. Which is why the meatiest portion of this review will be the sections talking about each girl individually and their routes. What makes Hoshi Ori a special visual novel is how it executes the stuff I described earlier (its characters and their relationships). The game’s focus will entirely be on how Ryou’s relationship with each girl will evolve over the years after the school portion by observing through his perspective on the things that have changed and the things that remained the same.

Choose wisely.

The Citizens of Shionagi (Characters)

This game contains 6 heroines and 3 (2 of which will be shown to avoid potential spoilers) minor characters. Including the main character, this makes for 10 characters (with portraits). They are:

Hino Ryousuke – The main character. His dream is to become an architect. As a protagonist, Ryousuke is very proactive. He will constantly be looking towards his goal and will attempt to give his all in order to make his goal a reality. He also has a certain level of innocence and honesty to him, such as attempting to make calls to his friend asking for advice on condoms.

Shinozaki Marika – The childhood friend to the protagonist. She was happy to see Ryousuke come back after his exit from Shionagi. Very kind and strong-willed, she was once a very sick child when she knew Ryousuke during his childhood. Has much changed from then and now?

Narusawa Rikka – Born into music. Rikka was once someone who had interests for bigger and better things with her skill at the piano. Despite her clear talent, she is missing a key component to elevating herself to the next level. Confidence.

Yukimura Touko – A loner who constantly stays in the old school building in order to avoid social interaction. She is the only female love interest to also be a transfer student (like Ryousuke). Will her newfound friendship within Ryousuke’s group break her out of her self-imposed shell?

Ousaka Sora – A quiet person who is rarely expressive. Sora finds herself with only one true love in her life: stars. Despite being very knowledgeable on stars, it seems she can’t quite come off as passionate as she obviously is through her voice. Will she be able to express her true feelings to others about stars by the end of this story?

Segawa Natsuki – A very energetic girl who happens to be a part of the “prestigious” graduation album committee. Because of this, she’ll constantly take pictures in order to capture every moment of students lives in this school. Her love for photography can sometimes come at the annoyance of fellow students. Why is she so passionate, relative to her committee members, about photography?

Okihara Misa – Misa has a heartfelt connection towards the ocean (and by extension marine life). Having been born into a family with a interest in the sea (her father being the director of a local aquarium), she is exceptionally knowledgeable on the subject. How far will her love for it bring her?

Azuma Morio – An architect who Ryousuke admires and hopes to follow the footsteps of. In spite of Morio’s reputation for his great and meticulous work, he is very laid-back and casual. How much will Ryousuke discover about himself and his career interacting with his lifelong idol?

Nirasawa Shuuichi – The head of the event management committee (which Ryousuke is a part of). As a former companion to Ryousuke when they were kids, they often find themselves butting heads due to their familiarity with each other. Has a lot really not changed (about Shuuichi) between the time Ryousuke left Shionagi and now?

Personality wise, what I described is standard for the visual novel medium. These character archetypes aren’t exactly breaking new ground (except maybe Morio with his occupation/personality allowing for a fresh perspective in the workplace). What Hoshi Ori does correctly with these characters is execution. One of my favorite aspects of Hoshi’s characterization is that, despite the characters being able to be taken fully at face value most of the time, the game does subvert the players expectations with them. A shy character like Marika can be assertive/proactive, and an energetic character like Natsuki can be intelligent/wise. They aren’t simply just one thing. They have multiple layers. This goes along with their actions. A gag involving a character had them cooking with ingredients that seemed very unconventional. Seeing this, Ryousuke told himself that he’d eat it because he cared about them, but he wasn’t exactly looking forward to it: by the time he was about to have the meal served to him, the game flips the scenario upside down to Ryousuke being the one that isn’t knowledgeable on how to prepare the food because it came out fantastic. A lot of the character humor in Hoshi Ori will be situations likes this. Situations that tell the player that they may not know everything about each heroine and that there is more to a person than what’s presented initially. This is what makes the game feel special because it throws the occasional wrench into the characterization to throw the player off and keep their interest. This isn’t to say that the game completely avoids being generic (it can be at times), but it finds a very good middle-ground appealing to both fans and casuals of its genre (charage).

Characters fulfill typical archetypes but aren’t completely one-dimensional. This adds a layer of humanity to them.

The use of side characters in this game is minimal. Most of the side characters (such as the parents or fellow students) don’t have character portraits, and they are instead used to portray conflict in the heroine’s route. There’s nothing wrong with this, since the conflict in Hoshi, despite feeling very small (compared to a typical visual novel), is always relatable and solved in an interesting manner because we see every step that leads towards the solving of the conflict along the way. It never feels quite forced, always fitting the tone of the game and the characters involved within the conflict. The 3 (though I can only show 2 for spoiler reasons) side characters with portraits are fantastic. Shuuichi fulfills the role of a best friend character magnificently. Despite being presented as a joke immediately, he very much has a very successful life and isn’t just used as a punching bag for the rest of the characters. Ryousuke often looks up to him for relationship advice. It’s honestly one of the most fresh presentations of a “friend” character I’ve seen in a while, since he isn’t relegated to mostly comedic relief. Being very much his own person. Morio is also great as well, allowing us to see a more determined side of Ryousuke’s character. Feeling more like a mentor than a boss to Ryousuke, he gives his sentiments on Ryousuke’s lifestyle (both praising and criticizing the fact that he’s so young) and providing advice to him on how he should go about solving his problems. He’s a very admirable figure despite his initially off-putting personality.

One slightly missed opportunity in this game for me was that I wished Ryousuke’s parents got more spotlight, especially with how involved other families of the heroines felt in this game. They got a few moments, but they always felt like they could fulfill a larger purpose in providing Ryousuke advice on his relationships and problems (similar to Morio) in the After Stories.

A great thing about Hoshi Ori is that it manages to balance character development very well between all its heroines. They all feel like they get a time to shine throughout the common route in various ways. The routes themselves having many moments that distinguish each girl from one another, so that debate for who is the best heroine (or route) isn’t always going to be one answer. This is far from a one-note game where the girls will have unevenly distributed time to share. They all feel like their own entity and have roles to fill that show different sides of Ryousuke’s personality. Examples of heroines showing a particular aspect of Ryousuke’s personality are Marika revealing his more doting side and Sora displaying his hardworking side throughout their routes. Each girl, despite the quality of their routes differing (in my opinion) , manages to bring something new and fresh to the table.Their dreams are distinct enough for each route to feel completely different despite all of them following the same structure (school section, problem that gets solved in the school section, and then after story with marriage as the cherry on the cake). The relationship between Ryousuke and each heroine feel detailed enough to the point in which the player will be able to remember specific months and days in which they had certain interactions with them. The characterization in Hoshi is simple, no signs of grey morality or complexity at all. The game at its core, is just trying to tell a story about how two people can change their own lives by finding confidence in each other.

PSA: Contraceptives are BADASS!

A Helping Hand Towards Our Dreams (Gameplay/Production Value/H-Scenes)

Hoshi Ori Yume Mirai is a visual novel. It doesn’t change up the formula with its “gameplay” in any way. You make choices, and you get to a route based on those choices. A great thing for fans of simpler choice system is that the choices in this game are very straightforward. There is only one bad ending in this game (Touko), and because of this, you’ll be able to breeze through the game for the most part if you’re eyeing a specific heroine. There isn’t going to be some long arduous choice system like a game such as Fate/Stay Night. You will be able to get to a route with absolute ease. A very nice QOL thing that Hoshi Ori provides is a way to start immediately at a route when you press the “Start” option after you finish. Nothing too special, but I really liked the presentation of it. I also noticed a sprite viewer that let me configure character portraits into cute situations. Very cool additions in my opinion.

The settings in Hoshi Ori are typical but effective for the most part. What you would expect from a visual novel.

Looks quite CLEAN!

A cool mechanic that Hoshi Ori does have is a phone. Here the player will receive calls from other characters and even take pictures with occasionally. Though, I felt it was somewhat cheap (wish some choices could be made through the phone (such as calling certain heroines)), it was a cute addition to spice up the game.

On the production value side, Hoshi Ori absolutely went all out. There are plentiful CG’s for each heroine (though I wish the side characters got something as well), and the art is gorgeous for the characters/environments. Every character, due to the games high production value, feels incredibly expressive, showing a lot of personality through the way they move their faces and bodies. They even have separate character portraits that have items such as sunglasses, blindfolds, and stuffed toys. If I had nitpicks with the visuals of Hoshi Ori, it’s that I wish the environments had slightly more personality to them, since they just look pretty rather than having character. I won’t remember Shionagi as a place outside of a few select places dispersed throughout the game. But honestly that’s just a small issue that really didn’t affect how much effort and money obviously went into this game. The game also boasts a great soundtrack with fantastic ED’s for EACH heroine. These ED’s even have neat imagery that directly relates to the heroines dreams (such as Natsuki’s involving photos or Sora’s involving stars to present images), which is a really nice touch, and it made me understand how important their goals truly felt by the end of their routes. Voice work is also great with well known voice actors such as Tanezaki Atsumi and Ono Ryouko providing their talents to bring these characters to life. One of my favorite moments reading a visual novel specifically had to do with this game’s voice work. Marika’s voice actor (Aji Sanma) gave an absolute STELLAR performance throughout her route, breathing life into a very initially seeming reserved heroine with her voice-work in the After Story. I actually felt goosebumps during many moments due to her immersing herself fully into the character. I felt this way for the other heroines as well (goes to show how great the voice acting is), especially Rikka and Sora.

The OST of Hoshi Ori initially put me off, since it just felt like anything else. But as I played through the game, many of its songs really grew on me as I saw the context in which the tracks were used. My favorite tracks are: Wish on a Star, A Night of Falling Stars, Dream and Future, Reach the Sky, Eternal Feelings, Star Tale, A Blue World, and While I Wait for the Stars.

H-scenes in Hoshi Ori are quite good for the most part. They aren’t really trying to be plot relevant, and I can respect that it has a lot of variety in sex positions/situations with its h-material. But I do feel that the game does include too many at them at points, and they can really feel annoying at points in the After Story section where they take up at least 30% of that section of the game. Despite that small issue, the h-scene quality is nice. There’s a lot of variety here. Lactation, pregnancy sex, bondage, titjobs, handjobs, cowgirl, condom sex, etc. So I appreciate that they did try to vary the pool, so that it isn’t just normal sex. An aspect of the h-scenes I really enjoyed are the interactions after them sometimes, such as heroines trying to learn how to “please” Ryousuke through looking it up online or Ryousuke himself trying to buy condoms throughout each route. Speaking of condoms, I enjoyed that Ryousuke always bought them thinking about the heroine rather than himself. He always wanted to consider how they felt about sex and didn’t want to badger them about it because he truly enjoyed their company. It’s vanilla touches like this that make the h-scenes incredibly enjoyable to read through, especially if you care about their relationship.I also liked that the game gave options to where Ryousuke would unleash his load. Details like that really make them feel meticulous in the art department. I do feel that the h-scenes in Misa were bad (but I will explain that when I talk about her route). Overall quality of them are great though, and the pure vanilla sex (for the most part) really adds a layer of depth to their relationship at points. If I were to criticize the visuals of the h-scenes, I do feel that the game does go a little overboard with the proportion of some characters. I can understand characters that are a little thicker, such as Marika or Misa, having massive thighs and buttocks, but thinner ones, like Rikka and Sora, look laughingly massive in some of the CG’s, which is off-putting when we see CG’s that show respectable proportions but nothing that HUGE (what they show in some of the h-scenes).

Ryousuke respects women. That’s something I loved about these h-scenes. He always feels like he’s never forcing anything on them initially (outside of Misa) or afterwards. He always considers the heroine first. A very lovable trait to his already great character.

Sora Route

Sora is an interesting heroine in the sense that I initially thought her route was just good for the most part, until I got to the end of her school portion. This is where my opinion of her completely changed, and I found myself loving the earlier moments with her much more with context of the person she would become in the future. Throughout this route, Sora is characterized as quiet, until you mention stars. Then she goes on expositional speeches about every detail relating to stars, almost reading like an astronomy textbook. This was cute the first few times, until it became grating with how repeatedly she would go on and on about information without sounding as passionate as I feel she could be. Then the game addresses this towards the end of the school portion that Sora actually has trouble conveying her true feelings towards stars through words. I still think they could have cut down on her tendencies to talk about stars for long periods of time, but I felt that the payoff made it worth reading through due to how it was addressed towards the end. Especially with how the After Story puts a very neat bow on her character, making it more about Ryousuke reaching his own goal to be an architect through her encouragement, mirroring him helping her in school. She became a more defined character, and I found myself missing those long tangents about stars as I thought about it. That’s not to say I had a negative feeling throughout (I did mention finding the earlier stuff good, but nothing fantastic until the later stuff) her route. There are fantastic moments spread throughout the route with Ryousuke and Sora’s relationship. The confession scene between the two, working together at a job to raise funds, and working on a project with the group being particular highlights in the early portions of this route.

Looking back on it, her seemingly irrelevant info-dumps about stars found itself relating to the story at several points in significant ways. It really wasn’t as bad as I initially thought, and once I saw that the game had her talk like this in order to address it at the end of her school portion, I really liked this choice in retrospect.

Overall, the relationship between Ryousuke and Sora is awesome. They both work together to make up for their individual flaws, and I really liked how the game characterized them through their dates, being extremely cute and wholesome (having Ryousuke eat her pickles off the burger was a nice touch). The After Story has their relationship evolve in the sense that Ryousuke is the one receiving emotional support from Sora rather than the opposite in the school portion of her route. This After Story had a big focus on Ryousuke’s career as an architect as well as his relationship with Sora when they live together. Ryousuke has a lot of trouble with his own confidence as an architect. Sora, in this route, has a certain level of maturity not seen in her school portion at all. She feels very wise and more passion driven (possibly due to her job in the planetarium) than she was in her school days. Seeing how far she came really put into perspective how significant Ryousuke coming into her life was to her in terms of growing as a human being, and she returns the favor in the After Story by emotionally supporting him, providing a place for him to discuss his troubles at work. Really, the only thing I’d fix from this route is cutting slightly down on Sora’s star talk. It’s honestly a fantastic route overall.

Sora has fully blossomed into a beautiful young lady by the start of her After Story.

Marika Route

I absolutely loved this route. From beginning to end, I was consistently entertained by Marika and her relationship with Ryousuke. This route was handled with so much care, that I honestly prefer it to Rikka (a route that seems to be the fan-favorite of this game). This is Hoshi Ori to me. A wholesome experience that subverts my expectations when needed and puts me into a day in the lives of people’s existence together. This route, in my personal opinion, has a lot of influence from Nagisa’s route in Clannad in terms of the tools the route has. What makes it completely different from that route; however, is that it completely tones down on the drama aspect of Nagisa’s route. Instead, it chooses to focus on Ryousuke’s fixation on Marika’s past. Being childhood friends, Ryousuke constantly witnessed Marika miss out on so much of her life due to her sickness. And once he left, he really didn’t know what she would end up becoming. There was always a hint of doubt in Ryousuke that she would adjust herself due to witnessing her most of his life in a weakened state, so the route focuses on that worry that Ryousuke has. I won’t dare discuss the conclusion of Marika’s character arc. But seeing her change so much as a person initially from Ryousuke original vision of her was, for me, the best moment of Hoshi. I love how they subverted my expectations with her character by constantly throwing situations that made me lose confidence in her health only to make me feel ashamed I even had these thoughts to begin with. They made Marika a STRONG female character by showing me her actions.

When I say this route had the tools of Nagisa’s route, that’s the only big similarity they have. I see some influence here with the set pieces they used. One of the big ones being Marika’s passive mother (Sanae) and aggressive father (Akio).

The bond that Ryousuke and Marika share is incredible. It never felt like one character was supporting the other more; it was completely even. I love all the interactions they had together. I genuinely felt happy as I read each line of text in this route. The most beautiful scene in the game, to me, is their wedding night. I legitimately was overwhelmed by emotion in that specific day. It encapsulated how far Marika really came as a character. She discarded her past self and became a woman worthy of others to look up to. No longer was she a weak child, she fully blossomed. I also really enjoy how the friendship element in this route is handled. All the characters provide a fresh perspective on their relationship and assisting them with their issues. The climax of the school portion and most of the After Story are superb as well. Being the highlights of the route, they gave me the most genuine sense of accomplishment reading through. I truly felt like I learned about Ryousuke’s true nature here and how caring of a person he is in those portions. It’s a side of him that wasn’t as prevalent in the other routes (to me personally). If I were to nitpick, I don’t think the conflict in the school portion was as creative as it could be (kinda being similar to the Sora one), but outside of that, I just love everything about this route. This is a huge highlight of the game (which is saying a lot since so much of this game is great) to me.

Such great development here for Ryousuke. It was here where I truly felt that he was a fantastic main character.

Natsuki Route

Natsuki brings a lot of life to the game. She is the comedic relief in the game and, because of this, is relegated to making comments that the player will find funny. These comments oftentimes come off as annoying and rude to her fellow students. I’ll be honest. I thought Natsuki was a brat when I read the common route, but once I got to her route, my reservations on her character vanished. I love the development that she undergoes here so much, and I think it’s one of the strongest character arcs in the game overall. You really see that Natsuki has a lot more to her than just being a clown. Her relationship with Ryousuke brings out a side of her that shows how caring of a person she truly is and how a lot of her initial annoyances were just moments of immaturity that she would grow out of with time. The After Story in particular really showcases her maturity (and some immaturity) as she grew older. I really enjoyed that a lot of her problems stemmed from the fact that she didn’t apply herself, despite being very capable as a person. Ryousuke provides the push she needed to achieve great things. It really shows that labels can’t truly define a person, and if they have the right tools, they can surprise anyone with their determination and talent. Her passion for photography is also highlighted very well. In my opinion, whenever she talked about her craft, it was consistently entertaining. She really knew how to find a middle-ground between giving information and also inserting personality into that information. I can say without a doubt that it was fully her. I never felt like I was reading a book with the way she described her passion.

Very great way of showcasing her hobby without making it feel expositional. She truly is ONE with the camera.

A potential issue that I can see people having with this route is that they don’t enjoy the fact that Natsuki becomes more submissive than she was presented initially. I can see this posing an issue with people who didn’t think that it made sense for it to go that direction. My counterargument is that this route hints at it sometimes with the way she gets shy when Ryousuke proposes that she takes lewd photos of her (because she was badgering her friends to do so as well). I think the route also suffers from an After Story that’s great but feels short-changed due to being less impactful and shorter than the other ones. Though, I really enjoyed the unconventional result at the end, which put a smile on my face when I finished the route.I also think some portions of the route feel weird to have, since they don’t really relate to anything, such as Sora talking about cucking twice. It didn’t make anything more interesting, and it just confused me. The actual conflict in the route also feels the weakest in the game. I didn’t mind that the routes had small conflicts, but this one really felt minuscule and didn’t add much. These things don’t really take much from the route, but I do see them as things keeping it from being as good as the higher tier routes in this game.

Fantastic character who carries the route from something decent to great. All the interactions between her and Ryousuke really made the relationship here feel believable. Though, I wish they emphasized more of his character here, since I felt he was more of a prop to Natsuki’s character.

Misa Route

I did not like this route. It really sucks, since I do enjoy Misa’s character, but man does this route feel so weak compared to the other ones. It’s easily the black sheep of Hoshi Ori. The route started off very well with Misa giving very passionate speeches about the ocean. I especially enjoyed that we saw how infectious her love for the sea was when it made Sora take a step back and not think about stars for a moment. There’s a lot of beauty in having others become interested in your hobbies. But the route really screws up afterwards. They accelerate the relationship between Misa and Ryousuke far too quickly and don’t give the player enough time to process everything. This route in particular got into the h-scenes immediately without building to them like the other routes. Not even after the first date, Misa and Ryousuke are having sex. This really put me off since it came literally right after Ryousuke’s confession to her. I’d be fine if the relationship felt very developed afterwards, but it almost feels stagnant. It’s just constant boob jokes and shallowness with Ryousuke constantly talking about Misa’s body rather than her. It really felt like I learned nothing about them through them being together. If anything, both characters regressed because nothing of note happens until the very end of her After Story, and even then it feels incredibly slapped together and rushed with how quickly it goes about it.

Not even a few moments after Ryousuke confession, this happens. No room to breathe or take in their relationship at all. It’s a huge contradiction from the other routes in terms of structure.

I don’t really learn more about Ryousuke here, and Misa honestly seems very well off without him, if the After Story is any indication. There is a time-skip of several years, and the player is never given a proper answer to how long the characters were truly separated. According to Ryousuke, they haven’t been on talking terms for that time but somehow got into an argument slightly before the After Story. This is already a red flag and a HUGE deviation from the other routes that emphasize the characters relationship being strong well into the time-skip. If distance was a theme of her route, I could see this having potential to be something fantastic, but it immediately discards this plot point afterwards. Misa and Ryousuke have drunken sex after barely addressing their relationship issues (which felt uncomfortable because it almost felt like Ryousuke was taking advantage of her being drunk), and everything is fixed. This is honestly the point where I couldn’t play the game for a day because of how infuriating this moment was. After I continued, the After Story did get better with some great relationship building between the two, and then it just ends. The ending feels like a wet fart compared to the other fantastic ones in this game due to how little I actually cared about their bond. It seemed to have won me slightly back with some of the shenanigans in the After Story, but it wasn’t enough.

This route was a disappointment and is easily my biggest issue with the game. It’s tonally inconsistent and a huge departure in style from the other routes.

Rikka Route

The fan favorite and with good reason. Rikka’s route is quite possibly the most consistent route in the game in terms of characterization. Rikka is very clearly the heroine with the most effort put into her character with how much love she gets from the scenario writer and the artist (even having a character EXCLUSIVELY drawn for her route). She even has the longest initial segment before the games intro with a CG to boot. A lot of obvious love went into her route. Rikka is much more of a character here than the other heroines, having her perspective showcased almost as much as Ryousuke’s. It feels like she’s a protagonist in this route rather than an actual heroine. The love that Ryousuke shares with Rikka is easily my favorite besides Marika. Both characters constantly interact with each other in meaningful ways that allow the reader to know so much about both of them. The friendship aspect is also the most consistent of the routes. Rikka finds herself to be a part of a group that empowers her to move forward with her own dreams and aspirations, and it’s so fantastic. It’s so fantastic. This route has so much going for it that it honestly I almost feel guilty that it isn’t my favorite (but what can I do). I really can’t praise this route enough, but I do have some small personal issues with it.

Rikka gets an incredible amount of development. Her insecurities being very clear as you advance further and further into the route. I’m going to avoid talking much about them in order to make it a surprise for the reader!

I personally did not like the h-scenes in Rikka’s for the most part. A lot of them were cute, but it honestly got really excessive and felt like they detracted too much from the route at points (which I didn’t feel for the other heroines nearly as much as I did here). Though if you like anal, you’ll love these scenes! I also felt that the route itself only felt like it exceeded the others in terms of Rikka’s characterization. It was valuing consistency far more than absolutely defining moments (not to say she has none, she has many, but they don’t stick in my head as much as other characters). These are honestly the only things keeping it from being the best route in the game for me. Outside of that, it’s honestly a fantastic route with minimal issues. It’s constantly throwing things at the player to keep their interest, and I really appreciated the direction they went with Rikka’s character by the end. It feels incredibly sweet. I’d be lying if I said the final scene in her After Story didn’t put the biggest smile of my face. It’s such a perfect moment to end her route on after all that hardship she endured earlier. A highly enjoyable route that honestly deserves its reputation.

Such a lovable character!

Touko Route

I think this route is easily the most polarizing in nature from the rest of the game. It’s almost a walking contradiction if you think about how the other routes are structured. This route isn’t about her trying to accomplish her dream, instead, it’s more about her trying to get one. She doesn’t have a hobby/goal initially at all, so she kinda coasts through life doing whatever in order to get by. A huge departure from the other routes. This is why I feel that the best way to get enjoyment out of this route is to play it last. Then, the context of the route makes sense. This is the girl without a true aspiration, and she will find one through her relationship with Ryousuke. That’s where this route feels the most natural, and all the choices it makes are logical. This one is emphasizing Ryousuke’s determination to accomplish his goals and his attempt to help someone realize their own hidden passion. I feel this route utilizes a lot of tricks from the other routes and feels the most “true route-y” in terms of plot relevance. Touko is a very interesting character, being the only one who is capable of knowing how Ryousuke feels as a transfer student in a new environment (though for him, it’s more familiar due to his past). Because of this, she keeps herself alone for the most part in order for her not to grow attachment to others. The reason being that she’s going to be moving away soon and that she keeps herself in the old school building in order for her not to grow bonds. This is why I believed that the game kept her interactions with the other heroines minimal. A great choice if you see what it was going for narrative-wise.

I believe another way the game tells the player that Touko doesn’t like making attachments to others is through her labeling others based on their hobbies. This indicates that she has some level of jealousy that they have passion for something (unlike her) and also showing that she doesn’t see them as TRUE friends because of how scared she is to attach herself to others, knowing that she’ll be gone from their lives soon.

I feel also this route has the biggest challenge in terms of Ryousuke confessing to a heroine. Touko is a very distant character and, because of this, refuses to attach herself to others out of fear that she’ll care too much for them once she leaves, so there is a layer of insecurity that she has imposed by her own beliefs. Because of this characterization, I believe others may not gravitate as much towards her character. She is a very self-deprecating and self-loathing (being one of the more introspective characters in this route, having some perspective shifts even) character. This attitude may cause a huge rift between the player and character, where they find her sticking out as a sore thumb due to how different she is from the other girls. I personally loved this choice, since it made her extremely interesting to me contextually, having the biggest conflict in the game overall. It made sense why she was the final choice for a heroine on the “heroine select” screen. She has the most weight to her in terms of baggage, and it feels like the logical progression from the other routes. That’s not to say Ryousuke and Touko’s relationship isn’t at the forefront. It very much is, if anything, Touko finds the most direction in her life out of the heroines through her relationship with Ryousuke. But this is very much Touko’s story rather than Ryousuke’s. For better or for worse.

I love this route, especially with how the gap between Touko and her friends become smaller as it progresses, but I do understand that its choice to deviate may rub others the wrong way.

Concluding Thoughts

Hoshi Ori Yume Mirai is a visual novel that, despite having some missteps here and there in its writing and structure, is still amazing. I found myself consistently happy playing through this one, and I’m glad that Tsurezure Scans brought it to life with their fantastic translation of the material. It’s not quite my favorite visual novel (or even charage), but it’s a very admirable effort from Tone Work’s that shows a lot of potential for a masterpiece, if they keep experimenting with this formula of relationship building and characterization. The best 3 routes in this game (in my opinion) are easily Marika, Rikka, and Touko. The other routes are great (besides Misa). The issues in Hoshi Ori are very easy to fix and would probably require mostly minor editing. The game has such a likable cast that is elevated with the bonds they share with the protagonist and how that bond brings them closer towards their dreams. I wouldn’t recommend this game to people who like a lot of conflict in their games, but if you want something wholesome and comfy that will occasionally subvert your expectations, then this game is the perfect one to add to your backlog. And with that, I’m giving the game a…

Light 9

Euphoria (18+) Review

Euphoria is a visual novel developed by Clock Up. This game was released for the PC in 2011 (in Japan). The version of the game I will be reviewing is the HD edition available on MangaGamer that was localized in 2015. Minimal spoilers in this review, but I will avoid anything that reveals a crucial plot element or twist in this game. I will provide a general outline of the game while also providing my thoughts on it as a visual novel (production value, story, characters, etc.). Anyways, let’s get started!

Pleasure or Despair? (Setting/Story)

Euphoria takes place in a white room. A white room in which the player has a choice. To insert his keyhole inside the unlocker or die. The problem is that the protagonists keyhole is his penis and the unlocker is a woman’s hole. This is the basic premise of Euphoria. Combine this with fetish fuel h-scenes (including scat) and some good character writing from time to time, it’s no wonder Euphoria has gained a following. It’s essentially SAW with a focus on the “porn” part of “gore porn”. The setting of Euphoria may seem like any other “survival game” from the outside, and in many ways outside of the sexual aspects to it, it very much is. Despite this familiar setting (room with a voice that gives instructions), Euphoria differentiates itself completely from the typical game of its genre by exploring more of the taboo aspects of sex rather than the actual sex itself. Because of this, Euphoria feels less like a nukige (despite very much fitting the bill) and more like a visual novel that can stand on its own while also adding to the player’s collection of fetishes.

I didn’t know how sexy nose hooks were until I played this game…

Takato Keisuke (a male) is stuck with six other women in a white room. Various people from his school make up this group, five students and one teacher. Because of the rules given by a mysterious voice that is providing this “test” for Keisuke to “rape” his friends, he must choose to “assault” (in various ways) one of them (or more if you wanna make it hard to get to one route) in order to survive. Except that’s what he tells himself. Inside of Keisuke’s heart hides a demon, a person who enjoy administering this sexual torture onto others joyfully. This clashes with the other side of Keisuke’s heart that tells him that what he is doing is wrong and taking advantage of the people sacrificing their bodies isn’t something to get sexual gratification from. This is the crux of Euphoria’s themes. The taboo of fetishes along with enjoying things that are perceived as “evil”. The answer is never given to the player whether or not what Keisuke is doing is right. However it explores his condition from multiple perspectives that enable his sexual tendencies.

Morality is explored in a very interesting way in Euphoria.

One of the biggest questions coming out of this review for the reader will be this:

Is Euphoria’s story good enough for me to read through all the h-scenes despite me reading visual novels for the narrative?

And the answer I will give may surprise you. I have praised this game a lot in the early portion of this review. This is because I see the appeal to Euphoria and what it brings to the medium. In my personal opinion Euphoria has the tools for a very engrossing story and it does reach a certain level of its potential in its later routes, but for the most part it was a disappointing experience that was still quite decent. The story of Euphoria generally is a mixed bag.

What I told the reader up to this point was pretty much the basic story of Euphoria (until the routes add complexity to the story). These are also the rules in case the reader wants more information on what I described.

I will refrain from talking about what in specific makes these routes different from what I initially described the story as (at least until I go in depth on the route quality). However I will give the reader a warning that Euphoria mostly takes place in the “death game” setting. There is a change of scenery once you lock onto a girls route, but the game is mostly going to take place in that white room. The game has a structure in the “common route”. It goes:

Sex-Character Development-Sex-Character Development.

Which would be fine if the game wasn’t as ambitious as it tries to be. Euphoria creates huge expectations from the h-scenes and character development for a good payoff in its routes. Because of the lack of fantastic payoff (which is consistent for most of the games routes), Euphoria constantly stays in a state of limbo story-wise because it relies heavily on a twist introduced towards the end to justify all the other routes and buildup the player had to endure. A twist that has been done better in many games before it and after it.

A lot of what Euphoria is building towards is its twist. And because I feel the twist lacks as much punch as other games and only differentiates itself in one way (which I will explore later), it doesn’t make the routes that came before it worth their buildup.

Too Far Gone… (Characters)

There are seven characters in Euphoria:

Takato Keisuke – The main character that is the unlocker of this game. He must choose picking from other keyholes while combating his natural tendency to “go too far” with his sadism.

Manaka Nemu – A sweet girl who doesn’t try to enable any of Keisuke’s sexual tendencies in any way (she does the opposite). Her character revolves around playing mind games with Keisuke to turn him into a “beast”. She constantly frustrates Keisuke and aggravates his condition further towards hostility.

Aoi Natsuki – A teacher who taught at Keisuke’s school prior to being put into the “game”. Being a teacher, she helps diffuse hostile situations (among the group) along with being overall very optimistic (in order to calm her students).

Makiba Rika – A childish girl who was a student at Keisuke’s school. She is easily the most immature of the bunch but shows signs of self awareness the more Keisuke picks her for the “game”.

Byakuya Rinne – An emotionless girl that was also a student at Keisuke’s school. The more Keisuke gets to know her, she opens up about her tragic life and the events that turned her into a “sinful person”.

Andou Miyako – The class rep of Keisuke’s class.  She’s very aggressive and serves as the character that questions the motives and rules of the “death game”.

Hokari Kanae – Keisuke’s childhood friend, she’s the person that he trusts and loves the most. She is his main motivation for him to get out of this “death game” for most of the game.

These characters vary in importance for the main routes of Euphoria. However the game does try to balance character development between all of them by making them constantly interact with each other after every sex act in the “game”. The lengths in which their characters are explored in Euphoria varies greatly. Some characters get a lot of screen-time and don’t really develop in interesting ways while some do with a lot less focus. We get revelations to what their roles are in the “game” towards the last set of routes in Euphoria, but they never feel fully realized. An example of this would be Rika’s character who gets a lot of development in her route and Rinne’s route. Despite this the payoff in those routes feel extremely lackluster relative to the build they give her character. Then she’s completely an after thought at the end of the games true route. Her character served only to make other characters better and a game with such a small cast should be able to have characters do both. The main twist the game does have allows for characters to have very interesting multifaceted personalities that slowly unravel as you get further through the game, but it feels lazy when there are characters whose functions don’t really provide more to the table than being plot devices. Another character in the cast that brings little to the table is Natsuki. I do like the ideas that her character explores with Keisuke, such as his insecurity with revealing his demons. But at the same time her character arc is extremely predictable (one of the “twists” involving her feels only useful to justify the ending of Euphoria) and boring. Miyako also provides little outside of what her role is in the story (from the moment you see her, you know her fate). Half the female characters in this game just exist. They’re nothing new or interesting, which is a huge shame considering the themes that Euphoria explores allowing for more experiential./unconventional development for them.

Despite my critiques of Euphoria’s cast, there are many bright spots. Rika had a chance to do something great with her route, but was only disappointing.

The cast of Euphoria despite having massive downsides does prove itself with 4 characters. Keisuke does have times in which his character feels lackluster (particularly in Rika’s/Natsuki’s route). But for the most part it’s awesome. Each route allows for him to explore different sides of his mindset. It’s very in-depth (even in the routes I dislike) and consistent. Without saying much, the main character is the farthest thing from a self insert and I felt that was great (especially with the red flags the game had with his eyes being concealed for most CG’s). Another great character was Rinne, she brought so much to the table with her unique development, her arc being the only “twist” in Euphoria to surprise me. Her character dealt with the concept of punishment and salvation. Because of this she enables Keisuke to mercilessly punish her because of her deep seeded resentment caused by her mother. Along with having a clear and interesting arc, Rinne also had my personal favorite relationship with Keisuke in the game. It went through many tribulations and the fact the game keeps many things ambiguous with the ending of her route only serves to further interest me in her character. Nemu and Kanae are also well written (for the most part) and unique characters with a lot going for them. They provide a lot of the “meat” in Euphoria’s narrative and reinforce the most important themes that Euphoria explores.  Nemu’s mind games are by far the most interesting aspect of Euphoria and Keisuke’s insistence to protect Kanae along with her role in the story later only serve to make the story stronger. Kanae does not only serve to the story, she also has a very complex character towards the final routes of Euphoria. Undergoing massive character development. (that does provide mixed results with the direction in which the story goes in the true route). Nemu is devious and is by far the best heroine in Euphoria. She is the “spice” that brings Euphoria to life with the insanity she brings to the “death game” with her smug and devious interactions with Keisuke. She’s an immediately interesting character while the other ones I’ve praised are slow burns.

Four out of seven good-great characters isn’t a bad thing, but Euphoria definitely could have cut off fat with such a small cast.

Art or Torture Porn? (Gameplay/Production Value/H-Scenes)

Euphoria plays like a typical visual novel. It doesn’t have many aspects that differentiate it from what’s commonly accepted in the medium. You make choices and you lock onto a route based off the choices you made (specifically choosing one girl to target to get to their route). Of course the choices are unconventional (choosing a keyhole is definitely not something I see regularly), but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s a pretty bare-bones and normal choice system. It’s not nearly as complex as something like Clannad or Never7, though it didn’t have to be. It’s a fairly acceptable choice system that gets what it needs to done. I feel half the “choices” in this game (particularly in the beginning) feel very inconsequential and only exist to make the choices more varied, but we do get more neat decisions made once you lock onto a route. One of my favorite things about the choice system in Euphoria is that the very first choice in the game determines the players fate in a really cool way. That was a creative choice that definitely fit into the “grander scheme” of the story Euphoria presents in its latter half. But I feel outside of small choices here and there, the choice system in Euphoria isn’t anything unique or exciting.

This is a screen that the player will frequently see. He must choose between these characters to insert Keisuke’s unlocker into.  I personally really liked this choice at first. To group all the characters into one visual. But the choice system lacks excitement because many of the choices you will be making will be the same. Choose one girl. Rinse and repeat. The problem being that many of the choices Keisuke will be making in this game will have less to do with getting to know characters and what makes a “good choice” to interact with them and more with choosing one girl and just doing their route by making the same choice over and over again. There’s no sense of knowing characters intimately and learning what choices are logical based of your interactions with them.

The production value of Euphoria for a game of its kind is very good. The voice work for the game is fantastic and the art is great, especially when you take to context the themes that Euphoria is exploring. Not taking everything into face value being a major one. A lot of CG’s contrast with each other in a cool way as characters slowly corrupt and reveal more about themselves with each act of sex. It’s a nice visual to have along with Keisuke’s moral dilemma of whether or not he should enjoy what he’s doing because it’s inherently evil (but also a necessity). Voice actors give very convincing performances throughout the game, all the sex acts they partake in vary in pain and the actors do well in revealing how much pain the characters are in to the reader. There are some very emotional performances in some of the routes, showing a lot of range with the voice acting as well. One nitpick with the production value of Euphoria that I found annoying is that the SFX wasn’t very impressive. They do use noises that fit the logic of what’s occurring in the CG’s, but I found it very forgettable and there weren’t many noises that stood out to me in any way. The music of Euphoria was great initially but felt very repetitive after a long period of time since the game tended to re-use the same tracks over and over again. Despite this, I do find a lot of good tracks. Brutality, Tragedy, Solitude, Madness, Lust, and Door to Paradise being awesome tracks.  So overall the OST of Euphoria was good but not fantastic.

The settings for Euphoria are actually really good, it pretty much lets you configure the game to your liking and allows for less of a barrier for people who can’t handle certain things in a visual novel. You can turn off the scat/gore CG’s (which instead of censoring it via pixels, just removes the CG’s that are gore/scat). Another cool feature is being able to adjust pretty much all the sound for the sex acts in the game (even being character specific). It’s a nice system.

The H-scenes in Euphoria are good for what they are. A lot will definitely offend people and they definitely delve into the darker side of sexual intercourse, but if you know anything about the reputation of Euphoria, you shouldn’t be surprised. There’s piss, shit, gore, asphyxiation, hairjobs, electrocution, and more. If you have a fetish, this game will make sure to include a scene for you. It’s by far the most diverse set of h-scenes I have ever seen for a game. My only issue is that the dialogue for the h-scenes because of how many there are tend to get very redundant. There is only so many times you can describe a penis until I get bored and the game makes sure to include many synonyms for a woman’s vagina and a male’s penis for occasionally funny moments in the process of sex. There just wasn’t enough funny or interesting dialogue during the sex, the only consistent character h-scenes in Euphoria were Nemu and Rinne, the rest showed signs of brilliance but weren’t nearly as good. An issue I had with the h-scenes was the incorporation of the “bonus game” which was a segment in the game where Keisuke would delve into more “vanilla” sex acts with the girl. This really hurt the flow of the game and only felt like it was incorporated to appeal to people that wanted something more “normal” with Euphoria. This would have been fine if the game made them separate from the main game and put them in the “bonus” section of the main menu as “what-ifs”. But the fact there are 2 bonus games in the middle of Keisuke doing these horrible things to girls and he’s not really developing at all from them really made them feel pointless as story content. They add nothing and only exist to appeal to people who aren’t even the demographic of Euphoria.

The best h-scenes in Euphoria are: Tickle Torture (Nemu), Laundry (Kanae), Crazy Threesome (Rinne), E-Thot (Rika), and Latex Hell (Natsuki).

Natsuki Route

This route is definitely the most vanilla one that Euphoria has to offer (despite having  shitting and blood). It deals with the concept of Keisuke learning to accept his dark side and coming to terms with it. It’s a sweet route in terms of tone, there are some sad moments in it every once in a while but nothing too emotional. My issue with the route stems from the fact that it feels like such an afterthought. Nothing really stood out in it. There are opportunities for some really cool development on both ends, but it doesn’t try being more than Keisuke being uncomfortable with revealing his condition to Natsuki because he feels she won’t accept him. This was good until they delved too much into this aspect of his character and after they “exit” the white room it becomes some melodramatic and boring “never give up” schlock. There are some cool foreshadowing to the true route of Euphoria with the ending and some character interactions after they exit the room, but it doesn’t justify it being really mundane (minus some scenes here and there). The climax of this route is just bad. It’s sloppily structured and only feels like the writer for it didn’t know how to end it. Which is weird considering how tense the situation the characters are put in felt like prior. Obviously I do know why it’s like this (after we learn more about Natsuki in the later routes), but it only slightly enhances the logic of the route. This is bad without context and only decent with context. This would have nothing without the game trying to tie it slightly to the main route (and it could have been done in a more interesting way considering how cool Keisuke’s development was in the beginning portions of her route).

and ever…

Rika Route

I really disliked Rika when I first played this game. I thought she was bratty and didn’t offer anything to Euphoria at all besides complaining and being a baby. This was until her route came along. Now I like her (but have reservations on saying that because of the direction in which the route goes). Rika showed a lot of potential to explore one of the most obvious sides of Keisuke’s character, the pain his actions cause to others. And the route was doing really well in this regard by having her h-scenes reflect how emotionally and physically violated she felt because of Keisuke. Her character constantly questioning whether or not it was even worth it to continue the game because she felt that Keisuke was only using her. This played perfectly into her character of being immature and not really knowing how to deal with a sexual relationship like the one she had with Keisuke. The beginning and setup for this route was great, it’s one of the best paced ones in the game as well. The issue comes once they exit the room. Her character stagnates and once Keisuke reveals his true feelings for her, the route takes a massive dip in quality. All the buildup for all the pain that was inflicted on her only for her to just give the most obvious and bland answer to him. It felt completely illogical from any standpoint, she just gives into to him without any real consequence (the game does try making her mad at him, but it was only for a moment). Then the climax of this route occurs. It’s one of the most generic things I’ve ever seen in a visual novel, nothing of real value comes from it. They already showed all the foreshadowing they needed with Natsuki’s route, it was not needed at all here. The ending for Rika (and also Natsuki) are just bad, if they had one of them go in that direction it would be cool since at least it felt justified with the direction the game goes at the end. But having both just make them feel unnecessary.

To describe Rika in one word: Disappointment.

Rinne Route

Her route was the darkest one in Euphoria (in my opinion). I also found it to be the best one because it balanced a lot of the darkness with sentimentality on Keisuke’s side. This explores a side of Keisuke that’s really unconventional. His actions being encouraged. A partner who actually uses his dark tendencies to go too far in order to cleanse themselves of their own sins. In many ways, Keisuke’s application of pain is used to make someone feel better about themselves instead of being looked down upon too much (though Rinne does make sure to tell Keisuke that his beast shouldn’t fully consume him). Rinne also provides a lot of the most grotesque h-scenes in Euphoria with her body going through an absurd amount of pain throughout. I’m really glad that they didn’t go to the predictable direction with her character (to make her a masochist) and instead opted to show a side of something very unique. Someone who receives punishment because they find themselves to be inadequate. Because of this, Keisuke and Rinne become really close throughout the early portions of her route. Their relationship being put through multiple tests as the game progresses. Escalating into a very complex web of revelations once they exit the room. The climax of this route despite leaving room for interpretation (and being more clear once you finish the game) is also masterfully done. It’s a very unorthodox ending that only serves to add layers to Rinne’s character along with the main story of Euphoria. This is a quality route that deals with themes of bloodline, religion, and choice. A huge step up from the previous routes I mentioned.

A lot of vanilla to go along with the despair.

True Route (Nemu/Kanae Route)

Nemu and Kanae are routes that complete each other. Nemu is the buildup and Kanae is the payoff. I feel these routes definitely have the potential to be the best route for most people who play Euphoria, and in many ways they’re great. They constantly leave you wondering what directions the characters are going to get into while also maintaining a good balance of darkness and sentimentality. I especially like how Keisuke is done in these 2 routes, feeling like a person I want to root for (which I only felt for these two routes and Rinne). I do think a wall that the routes both have in common is that Nemu’s “evil” deeds become absurd. They last for a long time and only serve to reinforce an idea that the reader already knows, she’s a bad person and uses others. I think if they cut it halfway, the routes pacing would be great.  I don’t really have much to address here (for spoiler reasons) besides that Euphoria goes towards a very polarizing direction in Kanae’s route where a lot of things completely change. The twist itself is fine and they do make sure to shock the reader a lot when it’s revealed why the game is occurring. But it loses a lot of steam in the closing moments where they incorporate a time-skip (that feels very half-assed) and end on a very inconclusive but sad note. I found it too hard to suspend my disbelief that the actions in the last moments of Euphoria even occurred, it felt like the game was just trying to end things quickly because the author didn’t know how to end the route. Possibly wanting to leave everything on a sour note in order to appeal to the utsuge fandom. Which to me lacked a lot of logic because the game goes towards a much more melodramatic and affectionate direction once you see the revelation made in Kanae’s route. Instead of going for a complex direction, delving into the more psychological aspects of the twist. Euphoria focuses more on the emotional side of it. A direction that really didn’t fit the tone of what the game was striving for prior. Regardless, overall these are good routes that accomplish a lot and are definitely the most iconic. When people say:

Euphoria actually has a good story  

This is what they mean

Not much to say here besides that Euphoria does have some surprises along the way.

Concluding Thoughts

Euphoria lacks a lot of polish in regards to structuring its routes payoffs and also going all the way with its premise. In many ways it doesn’t know what it’s going for and the tone feels a little off on multiple occasions. I find it hard to say that Euphoria is a good visual novel or even eroge/nukige (there’s nothing wrong with these genres of course). It tries being too ambitious for its own good and because of this doesn’t know what to do with its story or characters a lot of the time. The appeal to Euphoria is mostly the shock value, but it also tries being very emotional throughout with varying degrees of success. It should have stuck with one tone and gone all the way with it instead of trying to incorporate so many elements into its story.  Combine that with filler scenes throughout (Nemu is evil, I know) and some perplexing choices in the end, Euphoria feels like squandered potential for something fantastic. It has many tools of a great visual novel but because of these small issues that culminate into a huge one, I can’t feel justified in rating the game too highly.

Decent 6