Princess Maker 2 (Refine) Review

Princess Maker 2 (Refine)
Platform: DOS, Sega Saturn, and way too many other platforms to list (Original), PC, Playstation2 (Refine)
Genre: Life Simulation, Stat Raiser, Fantasy, with elements of Dating Simulation, Visual Novel, and an Adventure Game.
Voiced: None (Original), Fully (Refine)
Rated: Older Teen
Useful Websites: Princess Maker Corner, Princess Maker Nexus

   Remember when you defeated the demon lord, and saved the capital, so the gods granted you a daughter to raise? Yeah, it seemed lame to me, too…



    Only the regular Princess Maker 2 for DOS was ever translated into English, and it was never officially released, but floating around the internet as abandonware because the publishing company went bankrupt. The Refine edition was released for PC and PS2 in Japanese, and featured full voice acting as well as better music and art quality.

(Please don’t ask me where to download the abandonware game; google will help you there.)

Plot 3/5:
    For those of you who don’t know the series, the Princess Maker games revolve around a parent (almost always the father), who is given a daughter to raise.
    So what can PM2 due to spice it up? Well, you’re a wandering swordsman, who apparently has nothing better to do than wander around (who would of guessed?) aimlessly looking for fights, because you come upon an evil demon lord destroying a kingdom. Score! So you defeat the evil demon, who then tells you that his destruction was divinely ordained (maybe beating him up wasn’t such a good idea…?), oh, and that he killed only idiots. So the King and Queen mope to you a while about what jerks they are for leading their country astray morally, and offer the swordsman a monthly salary and home in the capital.

    This all seems like a ridiculously cheap trade-off until the gods decide to give you a gift for all your hard work! That is, a girl! Oh, wait, she’s your daughter, and you get to care for her. She’s entirely innocent and “knows nothing of the impure world of mortals”. Time to get to corrupting her then! Or, you know, I guess we could raise her to be a good little girl...
    Her name is Olive, and it is up to the player to decide upon her life (aspects such as schooling, work, adventuring, vacations, etc.), and then after she has reached her 18th birthday, how well you have done raising her is evaluated. Her heavenly origins only play out in the beginning and the end, when her deity comes to you and evaluates how well you did (which can result in some amusing “what the hell player?!” moments, both from your daughter’s resident deity and Olive herself).
    While there isn’t much of a plot per say, your task is to simply raise her, the game leaves it entirely open ended in what she does. Her moral choices, schooling, activities, and love life is entirely up to the player, resulting in a whopping 75 (or so) available endings!

Dating-Sim Aspect 2.5/5:
    Admittedly the dating simulation aspect f the game is rather low (even if to get Olive to be the princess from the title, you have to marry the prince), however it’s still quite a fun aspect to the game, even if you don’t actively pursue it. Who she marries depends on several factors, most notably her skill set, and some other factors for some.
   
Bachelors:
    There are several special bachelors that Olive can marry, as well as several general romantic roles she can fall into such as merchant’s wife, farmer’s wife, millionaire’s wife, divorcee, (high class) prostitute, Queen by marriage, and King’s concubine (he sure seems to be living that repentant life).

The Young Officer is very hard to woo, as he is only present in the palace each year on January 31st. However, while talking to him is free of requirements, his status requires his wife to have a high social reputation. (Nothing suspicious here, move along now, move along...)

The Dragon Prince is a young dragon that can be encountered when Olive is out adventuring, and if she defeats him a few times, she can eventually be proposed to by said dragon (can we say love at first punch?), who is actually royalty (and was for some reason on guard duty?), and his grandfather will pay a nice dowry of 10,000 gold. She acts quite unhappy at first, but later will grow fond of the childish prince.

Cube may be shocked one day to discover that the reason Olive never left to marry when she turned 18 was because she in fact had fallen for your all-around-good-guy demon butler! (The chance for this skyrockets if she looses a fight with he bandits and Cube rescues her.) Cube is quite nervous to marry his master's daughter, but happy.

You (the Father) can even be proposed marriage by her. (Well… She is technically your adopted daughter.) This is squick fuel for many, but Olive can confess her love for “dear old dad” as well if the two of you are close. Everyone will admit this is quite unusual, but the gods will give you their blessings for the sake of her happiness.

Lucifon, that’s right, the demon you defeated back in the day, can also marry your daughter. Of course, she has to essentially be corrupted to marry him… The gods are not happy, but there isn’t a lot they can do about it, since she’s the Princess of Darkness and all.




Graphics/Artwork 4.5/5:
    For a DOS game from 1993, the artwork is highly detailed and charming. The animated sprites for activities are done smoothly, and the monsters when Olive goes out adventuring are unique and colorful. The characters all look distinct, and overall the scenery is well done.
    For Princess Maker 2 Refine, the art was all gone over and redone, making it smoother and more realistic as computers (and the PS2) could handle higher graphic capabilities. It’s still nothing special by modern standards, but is a nice spiff-up for fans of the original game.
    The fact that each of the endings gets their own portrait of Olive, then her wedding portraits, each of the townsfolk, the monsters, the various outfits she has (plus Olive herself looks different every two years she ages, not to mention the moods for said ages), amounts to a ton of artwork that even Visual Novel games made today don’t often even try to match.
    Here are some screen comparisons so you can decide which game has better artwork:

Left: Original, Right: Refine

Voice Acting None/4/5:
    The Refine edition, however, is fully voice acted, and has an impressive cast to boot. The voices are impressive, and overall the lines are read with a great amount of feeling. I can’t say if the voice actors in this game are famous, but I do know in later games they are (such as in Princess Maker 4) so if you pride yourself on Japanese voice actor knowledge, you may recognize some of the cast. Cube’s voice is particularly well done.

Music 3/5:
    The music in Princess Maker 2 is fitting, but nothing very special. It has several unique sounds and themes, and the battle and adventure music is especially nice. It is, by no means, bad, and the tunes don’t get repetitive, but it’s not something particularly deserving of a soundtrack, unless you were a very intense fan. The battle music in particular is very catchy.

Translation 5/5:
    The translation for the DOS game was excellent, so it’s truly a shame that it never got officially released. The dialogue is error free and conveys great emotion, and they did an excellent job of capturing the cast’s personalities. In addition there are several cheat codes added into the English game to make gameplay easier, or to test out the endings and get the various requirements of them.

Controls/Gameplay 5/5:
    Overall the gameplay is simple: you use various menus to assign tasks to your daughter for the month, such as schooling, work, vacation, adventuring, and such. These are then done throughout the month. The number of classes and work she can do is staggering, and each has a cute little animation routine of her doing the chores (complete with various slapstick mess ups).
    One of the best aspects of the game is the ability to shove your daughter out into the wilds!

Like this, but with bandits and demons and monsters!

    The adventure aspect is handled much like, well, an old adventure game; you take direct control of your daughter here and wander around, finding various treasures, traps, and monsters. Depending on if she fights physically or with magic, she will level up in that skill, and combat is done in a turn based style. The monsters are all various and colorful, and the number of interactions per map is no small amount, giving the player many reasons to revisit the four available areas.
   
Overall:
    Princess Maker 2 has overall become a herald of the Princess Maker series among English speaking fans, despite the fact that there have been 6 main games (1, 2, 3/Fairy Tales come True, 4, 5, and Legend From Another World), as well as several spin-offs, both official (Go!Go! Princess, Pocket Daisakusen, Princess Maker Q, Petite Princes Yucie) and unofficial (Prince Maker), and has truly been deserving of it’s spot. Even after playing other games, this one has a special place in the series, and many unique gameplay aspects that have since inspired many others.
    It’s a very unusual game hailing from older days, but nonetheless great fun for modern gamers, due to it’s unique style and the ability to go from lighthearted and heartwarming to affably evil, and a great combination of life simulation and adventure game.

P.S. “The Underworld really isn’t so bad.”

RE: Alistair++ Review

RE: Alistair ++
Platform: Windows, Macintosh, Linux
Genre: Visual Novel, Dating Simulation (Girl Pursues Boy), Stat Raiser, Indie
Voiced: None
Rated: Everyone
Useful Websites: Game Website (with Download and Guide), SakeVisual’s Website

 A small indie company, SakeVisual, has come up with a unique twist to a dating simulation: The girl, Merui, must find the identity of a certain player in an MMORPG, Rivenwell Online, within one month. Is she worried? Not at all! After all, how hard can it be to identify one particular jerk who attends her school? It's not like she'll meet three different guys who all play the same game, after all...

Plot 3.5/5:
    Real World Traders are the bane of the MMO gaming industry, but that doesn’t stop a young girl, Merui, from placing a bet that she can find the real identity of a troll that stole her kill and a rare item that went with it.
    She knows that the player disconnected at the same time she did, and therefore must be going to the same school—using the same server—that she was. So she places a bet, that she will find him and confront him in real life, and the stakes are the item and all of her in-game earnings for the month.
    But a school project, not to mention the guy’s personalities themselves, means that she needs as much of that month as she can get.

Dating-Sim Aspect 3/5:
    One of the biggest plusses to the games is that each of the characters felt unique, and Merui was about as far from a blank slate as you can get. She was a spunky character who had enough flaws to avoid the Mary-Sue problems, and her interactions with the boys was refreshing and believable. Each of the boys was unique in their own way and had various surprises.
    There were a few downsides, however. There are only three boys to woo in this game, and one character in particular had a rather inconsistent feel across the endings. Merui can't take them on dates, but she can unlock various events and trigger many CGs (although finding what item triggers what event can be a bit tricky.)
    What is great is how the boys interact with each other: if you befriend two there will typically be a warning from one about how the other is “bad news” (remember, you are looking for a jerk from an MMO here), and if it continues you might even get a miniature confrontation event.

Bachelors:

Travis is the first boy Merui meets, a cold and aloof student who Merui thinks needs to lighten up. He also is the president of the school’s computer gaming club, and takes care of the computer lab itself. He enjoys teasing Merui.

Shiro is the quiet classmate whom Merui gets partnered with to work on their school project. He hardly ever talks to others, but doesn’t seem rude (or at least not as rude as Travs). He works very hard in school, however, and is overall a good student.

 

Derek is the local jock and ladies’ man, being both a star athlete on the basketball team and just wants to have a good time. He dislikes school and overall just wants to have fun and spend time with friends.




Graphics/Artwork 5/5:
    The artwork is fabulous. I can’t stress enough how incredible the characters, backgrounds, and CGs are: easily at or above what many commercial games go for. It really sets this game apart from nearly all other free games.

Music 3/5:
    The music is calm and relaxing; it’s not something I’d rush out to purchase a soundtrack for, but I certainly would call it a waste to play the game with the sound off. It can be repetitive at times, but overall has a nice balance of instruments and sounds that fit each setting, and doesn’t distract from gameplay. The themes that play when you unlock special events is especially nice.
   
Text 5/5:
    The dialogue for each character is unique, and there aren’t any errors or bugs in the text. They have simply done an excellent job with their narrative and overall wording to create a very distinct feel for the game that is free of errors and really helps to set the appropriate mood.

Controls/Gameplay 4.5/5:
    Alistair definitely showcases what the Renpy game engine can do: turning it into a sleek and effective system. The transitions between scenes and characters is very smooth and streamlined, and the dialogue and status interfaces are colorful and well done.
    Both the real world and Rivenwell Online each have their own interface, and the Rivenwell one accurately mimics a traditional MMORPG feel. The downside is that you can’t control the events that happen online, merely see them play out.
    But in the real world is the true focus, even if the online events are the driver: a nice status raiser is present with a clean feel. Each boy has a top and secondary status skill that Merui must raise if she wishes to woo him. The three skills are intelligence, social reputation, and network reputation.
    Merui can also help out at school for extra money, and go shopping at the local mall, where she can purchase several items that can be used to raise the guys affection, unlock small dialogues to spice up the game as well as trigger special CG events.

Overall:
    RE: Alistair++ is an excellent game, a truly shining example of what people are willing to do, and how even free games can be enjoyable. It is probably one of the best U.S. made visual novels out there for the computer today, and a truly enjoyable experience. SakeVisual has since moved on to do other projects, but their first has certainly left a very impressive mark on the industry.

P.S. Thanks to Kevin for help brainstorming on this!

P.P.S. "Don't get mad, get your enemies banned!"

Upcoming Dating Sims to Look Forward To

Here are 3 upcoming games with dating simulation aspects to keep your eyes peeled for!

First up, the commercial ones, both of these upcoming games are being produced by Marvelous Entertainment (and I have played the Japanese versions of both).

     Grand Bazaar: This game follows the classic Harvest Moon footsteps, but with several added twists. The boy's name in Japan is Luft (the game name translates as "Welcome to the Wind's Bazaar" in Japanese), but apparently the girl has none. In the U.S. game their supposed names are Hansel and Gretel. The art is almost Magical Melody in style, but it has several gameplay improvements: the annoying Sun/Water points, from Island of Happiness and Sunshine Islands, are gone; so it's back to good old farming without required mathematics! Each week a bazaar is held where you can go shopping and sell your crops that you didn't wish to ship. You can jump around and turn shipping crops into a miniature basketball game. U.S. Release is estimated for August 25th.

    Rune Factory 3: This latest installment follows Maisu (likely to be named Micah in the U.S. version), a young man who can transform into a woolie with the help of a magical belt. He stumbles into a town (amnesia strikes again) and takes over the required empty farm (which is under a giant, gorgeous tree). His goal is to unite the village of monsters with the human/elf town. Expect all the classical Rune Factory goodness!  Dual wielding swords is ridiculously fun, and the characters all have schedules which they go about their days with. The game is estimated to come out in the states sometime during 2010's fourth quarter.


Now onto upcoming super, epic, I-can't-wait Indie release!

    I am terribly excited about this one. Why? I'm a beta tester, that's why! I've had so much fun working on play testing and bug hunting for the game, Shira Oka: Second Chances by Okashi Studios. I'm practically bouncing up and down to tell you all of the exciting aspects of this game (it's quite long; so the demo only gives you a small feel of it), but most of it will have to wait until it's out! (Sadly, there isn't an ETA yet for it.)

    What if you could do things differently? Maybe life just dealt you the wrong hand, or perhaps you just didn't see the point in trying. Maybe you never met someone you wished you had, or learned as much as you wanted to.
    Thanks to one special angel, one man living in the small town of Shira Oka gets that chance: three years to relive his earlier life. To make friends, to learn, and to make something of himself.

    Of course, it might go a bit better if his angel wasn't just fired from her previous job... But hey, who was he to complain, right?
    But first, he must endure one thing: high school. There, he can meet new friends, pick up several skills, maybe experience a little romance, hopefully avoid making too many enemies, and maybe change a few other lives for the better as well.

Sounds like a sweet deal, right?

    Basically, Shira Oka is a partially voiced U.S. made game in its beta stages, a combination of a visual novel, a stat. raiser, and a dating simulation game. (It has a similar feel to the Princess Maker series in that aspect.) The hero has a total of eight girls and two boys he can befriend or woo within three years time! He also must study for various classes and can participate in clubs and holidays as well. There are also many, many random events, influenced by many various factors, so you can play the game several times and run into events that you hadn't on the last cycle (each cycle is all of the high school, and you choose activities for the weekdays and weekends). It has many cultural insights into life in Japan.
    One great aspect about this game is the art. For one thing, everyone moves. There isn't just the simple papery transitions: they all shift and change positions with smooth animations. It’s just a little extra realistic touch. On top of that, the art is adorable, and overall I can honestly say any other style just wouldn’t fit the game at all. The music is fitting, and very relaxing. It’s not too distracting, has many, many various parts, from instruments and sounds that create a very unique soundtrack. The singers are incredible, and the songs are adorable and catchy.
    Overall, Shira Oka is an upcoming game that has many makings to be great; it's a classic game with unique touches added into to make it interesting, and a game that I haven't gotten bored with even through many replays. I can't help but feel proud of the team, both creators and the testers, for working so hard, and being incredibly friendly and working well together. I am dearly looking forward to seeing the finished project, and seeing what they do in the future!

P.S. I like the game more than spicy tuna balls! <3

Rune Factory (1) Review

Rune Factory (1): A Fantasy Harvest Moon (ルーンファクトリー 新牧場物語)
Platform: Nintendo DS
Genre: RPG, Farming Simulation, Dating Simulation (Boy Pursues Girl), Fantasy, Commercial
Voiced: Partially
Rated: Everyone
Useful Websites: Ushi No Tane, Ranch Story, Official Website (日本語)


    When you’re thirsty, what do you want most? Water, right? Well, one girl’s idea of giving you water is to hand you a watering can...

    Rune Factory is a game from the popular makes of the Harvest Moon series, aptly dubbed “A Fantasy Harvest Moon”. What started as a single game meant to be a 10th anniversary special, ended up spawning it’s own series.
    Who wouldn’t want to go tame giant bulls to work in your field, and then go and battle a couple dozen orcs with nothing but a hoe in hand?
   
Plot 3/5:
    A lone amnesiac waif wanders into town, and meets a strange girl who offers to allow him to live on her farm. He, having no where else to go, accepts and soon begins turning the ramshackle place into a workable farm.
    A per chance exploration south of his fields introduces him into a nearby cave. The farm girl, Mist, soon runs after him and informs him that strange devices have begun appearing in the caves, summoning monsters and making the places very dangerous.
    However, the hero, Raguna, decides that the caves house a great deal of interest, especially since he needs said monsters to aid him in farm work. Over the series of the game, he must prove himself on both the farm and in battle, allowing him to progress to more dangerous caves and learn why these machines are there
    As any Harvest Moon, Raguna must learn to balance his new found adventures and farm work with social life, partaking in town festivals and meeting the local people, who will often give him tasks or hints. The biggest pro-factor in this game is that it doesn't try to be something it's not; it keeps the aspects simple.

Dating-Sim Aspect 3/5:
    Admittedly, this game’s dating aspect isn’t as developed as the later games, and is entirely optional. By visiting the various girls, and giving them gifts, you can woo them, and doing so will unlock various “heart events” that give you more insight into their characters. There are rivals for these girls, but they will never confess their feelings to them, so you are free to take as long as you like wooing them.
    One nice aspect is that the girls don’t just fall in love with you for giving them gifts: their interests also play a large part (and sometimes the only part) in winning their hearts. The girls also have unique ways to propose to them: most require a special item, in addition to seeing the events, for them to accept marriage, or some other requirement such as befriending the townsfolk or raising as many monsters as possible.
    However, after marriage, the girls all degenerate into mindless zombies; they never leave the house and don’t go to festivals (or even mind if you ask another girl to one!), but do cook you a dish (or in Mist’s case, three… strange ones) each day. 150 days after being married, you wife will magically bear a child, without any indication of being pregnant before. Your child will look the same no matter whom you marry, and does not have a name.

Bachelorettes:
    There are 11 potential wives for you to choose from.

Mist found Raguna outside her doorstep; she is quite a space-case, often saying weird things, especially about turnips. She manages to follow him into dungeons, somehow escaping danger despite not knowing how to fight. She's a bit of a girly-girl, but is overall cheerful. Apparently Rosetta is her rival, although she seems a bit oblivious to it.

Rosetta acts as half-rival and half-friend to Mist, and this tomboy is generally not as inclined to be as helpful as her counterpart. Regardless, she helps her father at the general store and picks up items from Raguna’s shipping bin daily. She loves frequent gifts, and is secretly a bit of a bookworm.

Bianca is a wealthy and aloof girl, who almost never goes outside or about the town, and only seems to get along with her maid, Tabatha. She has no need of any gifts, due to her wealth, and will not accept them. Despite being very antisocial, she enjoys conversation above all else-if one can get her to talk in the first place.

Tabatha serves as the maid for Bianca’s family. Her soft personality is quite a contrast to her mistress's. Above all, this elf wishes all of the races to live together in harmony, and is especially thankful when people care for each other and their monsters well.

Felicity is the mayor’s daughter, a kind girl who contracted a mysterious illness about a year ago. Despite this, she tries to remain optimistic, and wishes the best for the townsfolk. She seems to love children, and gets along especially well with the half-elf girl, Cecilia. She really only enjoys gifts during festival days.

Lara, the town's nurse, constantly worries about others health and does her best to help care for the town. She lives in the church along with her father, Pastor White. She is very much a classic motherly figure, and likes daily gifts.

Mei came to the town for unknown reasons from a faraway land. She keeps to herself and dislikes talking, often acting angry to keep others away. Secretly, she loves fishing and the seaside, although getting her to admit it is a challenge.

Tori is the resident bookworm of the town, she is a meek girl who loves reading, and is almost always at the local library. She worries somewhat frequently, especially when Raguna is in the caves, and wishes for his health. She is also very knowledgeable, but hopes to eventually see more of the world she has read about in books.

Melody is a bubbly witch who runs the bathhouse. She loves taking baths, and doesn’t particularly like gifts. She seems to get along with everyone, but her closest friend is Sharron. She will often be humming to herself as she goes about her work, and only leaves the bathhouse to visit her friend at the ruins once a week.

Sharron is investigating the strange powers of the Kasmir Ruins. She tends to avoid the townsfolk, because they do not understand her fascination with the ruins, but does not hold any true dislike for them. She is always alone at, or inside, the ruins, except when Melody visits her.
  

Lynette is only available after you have beaten the game, when she moves in with Mist. This ex-commander holds a fierce presence, but is interested in learning about the town and their way of life. She feels like an outsider to the town, but secretly wishes for their approval.






Graphics/Artwork 3.5/5:
    Overall the graphics are quite good for the DS, and overall the character artwork is well done (and in a much more serious style than the other Harvest Moon games). They only tend to have about four different paperdolls per character, however, not counting the wedding outfit. The people’s sprites’ arms are a bit long, but doing so keeps the animations smoother.

Voice Acting 4/5:
    The voice acting is only small tidbits, but I did distinctly enjoy the voices and am especially fond of Melody’s singing and Tabatha’s adorable accent. Both the English and the Japanese voice actors and actresses are amazing, and I especially adores Melody’s singing (in both languages) and Tabatha’s darling country accent in the English release.

Music 3.5/5:
    Rune Factory music is very distinctive. While I didn't turn it on and instantly declare how great the music was, I distinctly remember leaving my DS on one evening to listen to the Autumn theme. (Of course then I puzzled the next day why my batteries died, but que sera, sera.) The only downside is that the DS’ low audio capabilities can make some aspects, such as rain, sound off or only come from one speaker or headphone.
    The only song I disliked in the game was, sadly, the introduction song. The singers are the same as the Japanese version, but they seem to have a penchant for bad Engrish and it gets quite grating.

Translation 5/5:
    Overall, the U.S. translation by Natsume was handled superbly. (What a shock, eh?) There are no major errors, or any that I can remember, and each character has a distinct feel to their dialogue, and it appears to be faithful to the Japanese dialogue.

Controls/Gameplay 4/5:
    Overall, this game handles it’s combination of farming and combat aspects very well. Changing tools and weapons is easy, and they can be upgrades and charged for more power.
    Monsters can be hired to act as sheep, cows, and chickens, but in addition they can also fight alongside Raguna or help him on the farm. Organizing the barns is done on a first-caught basis, however. The A.I. could also use some work, they tend to do some strange things, such as watering every tilled soil spot, even if no crops are planted there.
    The dungeons and combat is all done uniquely, and the various weapons make combat interesting, although admittedly they do not have quite the wide range of differences in this game as in later ones.
    Sadly, the villagers do not often walk around, and on festivals stay in the same spot all day. This does, admittedly, make it easier to deliver cookies on white day and such. The festivals themselves are fun, some involving crafting, others sending you into dungeons, etc, and granting rewards for doing well.    One of the best aspects of Rune Factory, however, is its extensive crafting and leveling system. Raguna can mine, smith, make accessories and medicines, and cook. Aspects such as farming and combat are also able to be leveled, as well as the tools and weapons used can be upgraded. Many of the materials are obtained from monsters, which admittedly don’t like to drop what one needs, but overall the system is very well done.

Overall:
    I adore this series of games, and despite the various improvements in the later ones, Rune Factory one is still my favorite game in the series. I highly recommend it’s unique style for any RPG or Harvest Moon fan. It takes some getting used to, but still has quite a penchant for sucking up hours of time. Most importantly, it doesn't try to be more than it is: fighting monsters with gardening tools is ridiculously fun, after all!

Hello & Welcome!

Welcome to my little blog, setting out to prove to the world that players of romantic video games are not nerdy, obese, antisocial shut-ins who have never seen soap or been kissed. Or at least to prove that 2D characters are hot.

Left to Right: Hanako (Katawa Shoujo), Travis (RE: Alistair++), Lisa (Princess Maker 3: Yume Miru Yousei)

See what I mean? (Or at least, they're adorable, right?)

Left to Right: Yo & Mon-Mon (YoJinBo: The Bodyguards), Patricia & Lisa (Princess Maker 4)

Well really, this will just be a little blog where I take the time to review several games that have dating simulation and/or visual novel elements in them. Whereas game reviews are becoming more popular, I have noticed often in my hunt for information on said games, that I haven't been able to find many reviews of them, if any at all. This has led to several... unfortunate purchases... (Which left me screaming at the games...)

Most of the games reviewed will have romantic elements; however, some will not if they fit the visual novel requirement. (Also many/most of the games that have dating simulation in English will be visual novels, because those merely happen to be what is ported into the U.S.) The games I pick to review will not be limited by gender of the main character or the pursuits, and whereas most of the games will be Teen or lower in rating, I will cover some adult games as well. Most of the games will be in English, however, I will also try to compare translated games to their counterparts, as well as covering some games that were never translated.

Regardless, I hope this is helpful to some, and please, enjoy.