Idea Factory and its otome factory, Otomate, is at its best when working with stories based in history. Hakuouki, for example. Or the first Birushana, which was set in the Heian period of Japanese history and let you hang out with Benkei and other famous boys (made pretty) while the Genpei War raged around Japan. I believe this to be…
People love K-pop idol groups, and this is one of the least controversial things I’ve ever written. Where J-pop has traditionally struggled outside of the domestic market, K-pop has become one of Korea’s most powerful cultural exports. So it’s entirely unsurprising that there would be K-Pop Idol Stories: Road to…
As you all know, I’m working on a visual novel about my…
FallenCranberry and Okasan’s Recipe have announced that the dark dating sim and…
It’s fitting that a game titled Shine On, My Little Sun has an almost sparkly quality to it. I think it’s the nighttime setting that does it, you can see all the stars dancing against the inky-dark sky. Announced today, the game is described as a unique take on an…
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I am genuinely surprised by the launch of the two Quintessential Quintuplets games in this “double pack” (Memories of a Quintessential Summer and Five Memories Spent With You). They’ve been published by MAGES, one of the legends of visual novel development. They’ve also been published by Spike Chunsoft, one of…
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Aksys has a habit of finding the most wonderful visual novels to localise… and Tales from Toyotoki: Arrival of the Witch looks like it continues that form. This is a coming-of-age story mixed in with a “mystery stretching back hundreds of years.” It also looks like it has some light…
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I have a particularly strong attachment to the original Cupid Parasite… indeed I think that it is that game, above and beyond any of the others that I’ve played, that convinced me that “hey, I have to make my own one of these visual novel things.” The result may not…
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After playing Read Only Memories: Neurodiver, I am absolutely up for another visual novel that explores the idea of memory. Chromatic Memories is a bit different, though: instead of chasing a villain erasing the memories of others, it’s you that is accidentally erasing your own. The game is set in…
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Spike Chunsoft knows its way to my heart. Put pretty anime girls in swimwear and, well, I can’t help but buy the thing now, can I? It’s actually a requirement that I do so. So that’s what the Spike Chunsoft team is doing to me in collaboration with MAGES with…
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My impatience for, well, anything is well-documented at this point. Waiting five years for a game seemed completely unfeasible but I have done it! I have waited half a decade for Read Only Memories: Neurodiver (ROM: Neurodiver), the sequel to 2015’s 2064: Read Only Memories. When I was offered a…
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One of the things I’ve learned in making my own visual novel is that scope can very easily blow out. Every new scene, character, idea, and story beat that you add in means more backgrounds, CGs, character costumes and music. Then it all becomes very expensive. And so, in most…
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Nearly a year after Agate launched Valthirian Arc: Hero School Story 2 to mixed reviews, the developer is trying its hand at bringing otome visual novel Celestia: Chain of Fate from story app Memories: My Story, My Choice to PC and Nintendo Switch. This isn’t something I’ve seen done a…
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During the past two years, a trilogy of titles have been released as part of the Pixel Pulps series developed by LCB Game Studio: Mothmen 1966, Varney Lake, and Bahnsen Knights. These games don’t fall into the common trap of “more content!” – instead, each is a perfectly reasonable length…
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