I’ve never played any AliceSoft game, but this is something that’s always kind of bugged me: when your character at the start of the game already has a history where he is supposed to be this badass, and yet you start the game at LV1 and suck in combat against most dudes. I understand why games do it, but it always irritated me.
\o/
As an Ikusa Megami fanboy (well, Ikusa Megami and Genrin no Kishougun since both series are very intertwined --even more with the release of VERITA), this is a game I shall preorder!
In Ikusa Megami II, you end with monsters with ??? HP, more or less early, depending on the difficulty setting you chose.
Or not? “1” is a relative thing; that you start level 1 doesn’t mean you’re strong or weak, depending on the levels of the “basic human being.” IIRC, in the IK and GnK series, you start a bit above level 1 and hardly fight your “average human being” (it happens, though, but the fights aren’t really hard --OTOH, I rarely found a RPG where fights are “hard” after a few hundreds levelling up time…)
Alicesoft actually thought up reasoning for this phenomena, at least in the Rance Universe. Basically the faster you are able to level up, the faster you will lose levels once you start slacking off. Using Rance as an example, after he accomplishes some heroic feat and reaches an extremely high level, he stops gaining experience by being lazy and loses levels until he starts up again. Eushully on the other hand…let’s just say that I enjoyed starting ??? over with Lily crushing everyone in one hit.
A few random notes:
A new eroge brand, KAI has announced their first title, WALPURGIS, with Banya Izumi as one of the writers (although from what he says on his homepage, he’s only in charge of part of the scenario, so I guess they’re listing him as the main writer/not announcing the others for advertising purposes).
Evo Limit’s OP is up. The video doesn’t sync quite as well with the song as I was hoping for, but the contents of the OP make me very excited about the game. I honestly can’t see it having any serious competition in its genre for the rest of the year (at least from games that have a release date). It makes FLAT’s Utatemeguri look decidedly second tier in every respect, and while there’s Nitro+'s upcoming title from the Demonbane team (afaik, there aren’t any other details about it available yet) and Type MOON’s Mahoutsukai no Yoru (almost certainly won’t be nearly as epic in scale), and unless Evo Limit’s trial was completely misleading I can’t see it being inferior to either of those two eroges. (also this title is screaming out for JAST to license it. While it is in a similar vein to most Nitro+ eroges, unlike say MURAMASA it could be localised without ending up with a watered-down version of the original).
And now that a reasonable number of reviews are up for February’s titles: FifteenHounds - three really good reviews, so I’ll be getting it for sure. Kashimashi Communication - very mixed reviews in all regards. Some of the reviewers expecting a usual AXL title were disappointed, while others were very positive about it. Tsubasa wo Kudasai - again, very mixed reviews, but all suggest that the title does have some flaws to it. I know Lancer-X is playing it at the moment, so I’m very interested to hear his thoughts on it after he’s cleared it. Hinomaru - turned out to be rather good. It’s been a few months since the last good school comedy/bakage so I’ll probably grab it at some stage. Magicarat Radiant - hard to tell at this stage. Most of the dicussion on 2ch has been about how attractive Chikotamu is (after she participated in a signing session on the release date), not the game itself. 
Saimin Seikatsu - a range of different opinions. Generally people seem like the concept, but not necessarily the execution of it. Ane Death - pure nukige, though perhaps not quite as well executed as some of Atelier Kaguya’s other eroges. Koitou Ranma - as expected, a landmine.
999’s reopened for March. They’re selling CanvasDVD and Suigetsu again (were also listed 4-5 months ago), both of which are easily worth the price of admission, but apart from that everything looks fairly forgettable.
KASHIMASHI KASHIMASHI KASHIMASHI!!!
Wait, isn’t this a yuri? What happened to the boy turned to a girl by aliens? What did they doooo!!?? 
Most of March’s titles have gone master up.
Atelier Kaguya’s Team Heartbeat (M&M’s (probably their best artist) sub-brand) has finally announced a new title, Kiriya Hakushakuya Rokushimai, with almost double their usual number of CGs/ero-scenes, presumably implying a corresponding increase in scenario length as well. Having scenario writers like LeimonZ (with 14 Norn titles under his belt) on board doesn’t exactly inspire much confidence, but it’s still definitely got the potential to outdo Serina if the get the story (somewhat suggestive of another mansion eroge :P) and writing right.
OP for Softhouse Seal’s Mama wa Joshikousei and OP song for Softhouse Seal GRANDEE’s Zettai Junshu?Kyousei Kodzukuri Kyokasho (their first full-price eroge). Both are gloriously Sealesque :P.
WINTERS’s has announced ???◊??? KISS Detective. I expect the concept will be just as silly as the average Softhouse Seal game, with ‘kiss’ replacing ‘nakadashi’.
Daiteikoku (third entry in the ‘Dai-’ series after Daiakuji and Daibanchou, all of which are area conquest SLGs (as are Kichikuou/Sengoku Rance)) will be delayed because of multiple issues with the gameplay.
Rewrite might be coming a bit sooner than expected. I guess the April Fool’s site renewal should make it clear if we’re getting it this year.
I haven’t had a chance to play it yet, but Berlin Kyoushitsu looks like a rather interesting free game.
(and finally, Cthulhu’s shown itself to be a (slightly) more ‘equal opportunity’ tentacle eroge, with the twincest scene.)
10 days to go!
Well,you forgot to add on shipping time. Hopefully by the end of the month.
Quite a few announcements of new titles, the most important of which is Palette’s upcoming eroge ‘Steal my Heart ?Rhapsody of moonlight?’. Unfortunately it’s not a Kusukusu/NYAON game, but having Tamahiyo on art and Kimura Koroya, Tanaka Ichirou, and N as the three writers isn’t a bad combination either. Additionally, Meteor (Shinju no Yakata, Clover Point etc.) seems to have revived with two upcoming games on the horizon.
An updated trial and extended trial for Cthulhu has been released, and it gives a much better idea of (what’s presumably) the game’s final form. The music issues are still there, but most complaints about Itou Hiro’s planning/scenario/writing are now gone. Sorry for doubting you… (that said, it’s still definitely inferior to Mugen Kairou 2). Also, Gore Screaming Show and Mugen Kairou are now on dlsite, which shouldn’t have any of the credit card issues that gyutto + some other sites have for gaijin.
April’s gonna be one hell of a month. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get anything, since I’ll probably be still busy with Chtulhu and Subarashiki Hibi, but ??? and ??? are definitely on my wishlist. I’m gonna pass on Ikusa Megami VERITA (I just started Ikusa Megami Zero and I also want to play the first two games before getting to this one) and DEARDROPS (I’m just halfway with Kira Kira, so another music-themed eroge would be a little overkill, and besides I’m gonna wait to get it in English from Mangagamer), but both of them are definitely top tier games.
Kansen 4 is surely gonna be a big hit, but I don’t really like the art and although I would be interested in an eroge with a classic zombie theme, I don’t find the whole sex zombie concept particularly appealing.
Oppai fans will probably we waiting STARLESS, and Kurohime brings Liquid back to fantasy settings, but if I were to choose a sexromp from next month lineup, I think I’d go with ???.
Anyway, next month’s lineup is simply amazing 
What do you guys think?
April looks pretty good. Nowhere near as good as March but yeah… I plan on getting Evolimit and Akatsuki no Goei to start with. VERITA can wait - I know it’ll suck probably 50 hours out of my life and be addictive to boot. DEAR DROPS can also wait because it’s not by Setoguchi Renya.
I have no interest in STARLESS apart from seeing the reviews about the game. It looks like Sei Shoujo lost control entirely. JAST needs to acquire this one for localisation. NEEDS TO.
EDIT: Oh, and PARA-SOL. I’ll be honest, I’m still thinking about it. The scenario writer scares me a little and the end result could be anything
From the comments on 2ch, even for one of Liar Soft’s low-budget titles, Dosukoi! seems to be very thin on production values, and just a general disappointment. Probably best avoided.
I don’t think I’ll be preordering anything in April, as although I very much want to play Evo Limit and Ikusa Megami VERITA, they’ll both take a huge amount of time to clear, and I doubt I’ll have much eroge time in May.
The third installment of Akatsuki no Goei should fix the perceived length problems that many players noted. Comparitively, the number of voice files has doubled from the original figure (approximately 32000, compared to the original’s 16530 and Principaltachi no Kyuujitsu’s 10616 - numbers courtesy of Lancer-X), which implies the scenario should be approximately twice as long. The other major difference is a shift in the relative proportions of ??/??, from 90/10 to 70/30.
Strongly agreed that JAST needs to pick this up, particularly after seeing this yesterday wwwww I don’t think I could every play STARLESS, as there’s no way I could take it seriously, and I wouldn’t be able to get through it while keeping a straight face. That said, for Sei Shoujo fans (or more particularly DISCIPLINE fans), it contains over 2000 CGs (including variants), and judging by the feedback the trial’s been getting, it shouldn’t disappoint.
Even after reading the plot summary/character profiles and watching the OP, I still have very little idea of how PARA-SOL will work as a game. Besides that, I’m keeping an eye on Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi, Choujikuu Bakuren Monogatari (the trial was rather promising), Amatsu Misora ni, DEAR DROPS and a few others like Neko?Koi with the hope that it won’t turn out to be a complete waste of a very good artist.
Finally, this is my nomination for April’s worst drawn CG. :roll:
Edit: Just noticed Lose’s ??? (GOTHIC DELUSION). The scenario team is very strong, and it looks like they’re going all out with the production values, so I’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on it. Interestingly, GOTHIC DELUSION’s genre’s a Visual Motion Novel, meaning that the game has no decision points/is completely linear.
Edit 2: Evo Limit’s been delayed to the 28th of May, and the standard version will now be released on the 25th of June.
Also, missed this earlier, but a new Setoguchi Renya game (the author Karabe Yousuke is generally suspected to be his new pen name, after he retired from the eroge industry and began writing novels (well, I guess technically they’re light novels, but it’d be hard to call PSYCHE one, due to the lack of illustrations)), Kurai Heya is being adapted as a game from one of his censored works of the same title. For me, it’s an absolute must buy.
I’ve have no plans on making any orders until May due to lack of $$$, by which time PARA-SOL should have some reviews up.
True, even though CARNELIAN on her own makes PARA-SOL utterly tempting and the long wait and planning gone into this project it could turn out as waste of talent. I guess I’d have more confidence in this project if Katagiri Yuma would be in charge (rather than sub writer) but on the other hand April is a light month for me with Evolimit pushed back to May.
Dear Drops looks interesting. See if I can get that anywhere. Gothic Delusion also looks cool.
Does Getchu ship internationally?
No, but there are companies that will recieve the package then ship it to you. ErogeShop is also an option if you want to avoid the hassle.
From looking at early reviews/2ch, White Album 2 IC seems to have some problems with cost performance, and more particularly how the game was advertised by Leaf, with regards to playtime and the number of CGs. I’ve seen varying figures, but all suggest that the amount of content isn’t really appropriate for the price. I’ll wait until I play it before coming to any final decisions, but as it stands, I’m sure Leaf is firmly to blame (rather than the writer) for partioning a game that never needed to be split in two in the first place, and moreover, partioning it into two very unequal segments.
Site for Steal My Heart is open. The front illustration on the webpage looks somewhat odd, but the tachie and sample CGs seem to be a lot better, but not really on the level of Palette’s other artists. Not sure about the story, but it’s probably the sort of game that will succeed more on the writing and characters, and so far the signs are promising. (incidentally, as Mashiroiro Symphony had anti-gaijin protection applied to it, presumably the same will apply to their future releases as well).
Real Imouto ga Iru Ooizumikun no Baai’s site has added the first in a series of development notes. Although I’m interested in it because of the writer, I’m really really not sure what to make of the story, particularly after seeing that article. There’ve been suggestions that it also contains NTR too. It should turn out to at least be an average mid-price eroge, but it’s kind of hard to tell if they’ve gone a bit too far with the concept.
The site for Softhouse Seal’s latest masterpiece, Dairankou!! Semen Sisters is now open. Even moreso than other Seal titles, the story is… incredible.
For anyone that wasn’t able to get hold of a copy of Wanko to Kurasou earlier/purchase it from gyutto, it’s now available on dlsite for 2980?.
And finally… :roll:
Makes it an easy decision not to preorder Daiteikoku.
Edit: Taiyou no Ko’s site opened today, and since the project is being spearheaded by Akabe2/Looseboy, it blocks gaijin. Courtesy of Lancer-X, here are the story and character pages.
How many negatives does that last sentence have?
This thread was looking neglected, so I’d just thought I’d pop by and say that Subarashiki Hibi is really really good. I’ll write a review sometime next week since I’m going away for Easter.
Still a long way to go, but I can’t see it turning out being any less than really really good either. As good as the demo was, that’s been by far the weakest part of the scenario that I’ve read.
Although there haven’t been any formal announcements for Rewrite today beyond the ‘Rewrite18?(Sexy!!)???’ update, Ryuukishi07 has mentioned that there will be two versions of Rewrite, with the all-ages one having a new heroine/as yet unnamed writer (but probably not one of the original members of the scenario team) in charge of that route. Unless the scenario writer in charge of the new character turns out to be terrible, I can’t see any reason not to go for the all-ages one.