Sunday, March 30, 2025
Spring
is truly underway and just as the natural world has shown a sudden
burst of vitality so too has the visual novel space. This month has
been a deluge of major titles from classics finally receiving
official translations to exciting new games across the whole
spectrums of genres from sci-fi mysteries to romance to crime drama.
Let’s dive in and see what visual novels you should be playing from
the latest releases.
Official Releases
Love, Elections, & Chocolate
There
are few visual novels which leverage character drama quite as
successful as Love, Elections and Chocolate. The story follows Oojima
Yuuki as he attempts to prevent the closure of his club by standing
for student council president and becomes increasingly intertwined
with the girls in his life. Everything rotates around the core
pillars of the student council elections and love in order to create
an environment ripe for heightened emotions. Conflicts are grounded
yet exaggerated with the game playing off this contrast to help each
character have their own memorable arcs while using the same basic
material framed from their specific angle. Overall this is one of the
strongest cases for the value of the romantic drama style of visual
novel and if you enjoyed this studio's other work, Aokana - Four
Rhythms Across the Blue, then you will have a good time.
Ever 17 / Never 7
Steam - Ever 17 Never 7 VNDB - Ever 17 Never 7 Genre
– Mystery, Thriller, Sci-Fi Play Time – 20 – 30 hours each
Few
series can claim the level of influence attributed to the Infinity
games and this month saw the release of two of their most memorable
titles, Ever 17 and Never 7. These sci-fi classics each offer a
vastly different take on the mystery and thriller genres which keep
the player engaged with twists and a constant stream of new
questions. Ever
17 is about a group of people who find themselves trapped in the
underwater theme park LeMU and follows their struggle for survival as
odd happening begin to plague them. Meanwhile in Ever 7 we join
Makoto who
has been forced to attend a seminar on a remote island with some of
his classmates and everything seems normal until he finds a dead girl and
becomes trapped in a time loop.
Before I recommend these games to you there are a few things you
should know about this release. Firstly,
the
upscaling which was used on the artwork is of a mixed quality and
sometimes it smudges details into a blur or pushes colour over the
original lines making for a poor looking image. Secondly and more
importantly, the version of Ever 17 which has been released is not
the original but instead a modified version of the later remake. This
is important since some story changes were made to this remake that
have had a mixed reception so you should be aware of what you are
buying. Despite these issues these games are still worth picking up,
especially if this is your first time playing them since they still
stand up all these years later.
AIR
With
the release of AIR, all of the older Key titles have been officially
localised into English. Being their second major visual novel it
marked the beginning of the process of refining their identity as a
studio. AIR does not quite have all the features which would come to
define Key's later games and still has many of the rougher edges of its
predecessor Kanon. It focuses around the young traveller Kunisaki
Yukito who is trying to find the meaning behind the story left by his
deceased mother. As he interacts with the main heroines more of its
meaning becomes clear while he deepening his relationship with them
as they push through his cynical exterior. For those looking for a
strong tale of romance or like Key’s output, this is an easy visual
novel to recommend since its charms hold up well even alongside more
modern titles.
DesperaDrops
Nintendo Eshop VNDB Genre
– Otome, Crime, Mystery Play Time - 40 hours
Crime
stories and otome appear to be a powerful mixture with DesperaDrops
being the latest title to use this blend of genres. There is a
certain thrill added to the romance as the characters’ world is
turned upside-down and they must adapt to this rapid change in
circumstances. Naturally this leads to heightened emotions and it is
this specific part of mixture DesperaDrops prominently utilises to
push its variety of suitors into being open with the protagonist. It
helps that the available options cover a good spread of
personalities, appearances and ages to make, each one stand out in
order to capture your imagination and encourage you to pursue them. There is also a
very minor supernatural element in the form of the protagonist’s
power to read emotions and memories through touch. This is mostly
just a justification for the protagonist to be the centre of the
suitor’s attention and feels strangely disconnected from everything
else at times. However, despite this minor hiccup, DesperaDrops will
still scratch the otome itch and makes for an enjoyable time.
KAMITSUBAKI CITY REGENERATE
Styling
itself as a dark fantasy sci-fi visual novel, KAMITSUBAKI CITY REGENERATE immediately catches your
attention with its mash-up of normally distinct genres and ideas. It
is an isekai story where the player character is pulled into the parallel
universe city of Kamitsubaki which is on the brink of destruction.
They must interact with the various inhabitants of the city and work
together to steer this sinking ship into safer waters. Music is a
strong thematic element in KAMITSUBAKI and its role in bringing
people together despite their contrasting backgrounds and beliefs.
This makes the large amount of original vocal tracks hold additional
power over key narrative moments when they harmonize with what is
happening on screen. Overall this is a fun and well produced tale
which focuses on its core identity to great effect.
Trials of Innocence
It
is clear from the moment Trials of Innocence starts that its main
inspiration is the Ace Attorney series. Everything from the narrative
structure to the court room and investigation mechanics are extremely
close to its inspiration. Rather than feeling like a direct copy of
those games, it instead understands their core appeal and crafts its
own original story in their image. It follows a rookie layer called
Luna Ray as she comes to grips with the tumultuous legal world and
defends her clients. All the while she slowly uncovers the tendrils of
a conspiracy which deeply effects her and the lives of many. Trials of
Innocence is hardly a fountain of originality but it is upfront about
what it is and in this purpose it performs admirably.
