Sunday, July 27, 2025
As
the weather alternates wildly between intense heat and lashing
thunderstorms, there is no better time to distract yourself by looking at what visual novels
have come out in the past month. There have been a good number of
notable releases from a wide variety of well known developers with
long overdue fandiscs, adorable yuri and crime otome being among
their offerings. Let’s dive in and see what you should be playing
from the most recent releases.
Official Releases
Rewrite Harvest festa!
Releasing
four years after the English version of the original Rewrite, this
fandisc aims to give the player another chance to experience its
characters and world. It consists of two distinct parts, the extra
stories for each of the heroines and the Rewrite Quest dungeon
crawler. The heroines’ stories are not all after-stories as would
generally be expected with some of the merely being extensions of the
common route focused purely on one character and overall there is a
lack of emphasis on the events of the original Rewrite. Their aim is
clear to have the player experience the joys of see this cast again
rather than wrapping up loose ends. As for Rewrite Quest, it is not a
particularly complex dungeon crawler and instead is interested in
creating a feeling of adventuring with these lovable characters.
While it is unlikely to engage the hardcore player, there is enough
here to make for a good addition to the well rounded fandisc which
knows its audience.
Arcana Famiglia
Nintendo Eshop VNDB Genre
– Action, Gang/Mafia, Otome Play Time – 20 hours
Mafia
and crime are always good bedfellows with otome and Arcana Famiglia
is no exception to this rule. Our heroine spent most of her life in a
remote location with her mother until she turned sixteen when she was invited to go live with her father. Taking up this offer she steps
out of her quiet life and into her new role as a member of the Arcana
Famiglia which will come to shape her in way she could not have imagined.
It is entertaining to have a main heroine who holds a position of
power and acts in a way fitting of her authority while still managing
to display a degree of innocence befitting her youth. The suitors are
also a well rounded bunch with a good spread of personalities all of
which make sense within the setting and subject matter and combine
with or rub up against the heroine to form entertaining dynamics.
Overall, this is a fun otome which leverages its mafia elements
effectively and is a must for fans of the genre.
All the Words She Wrote
Looking
for something cute, sweet and short then All The Words She Wrote
might well be what you need. This
yuri visual novel follows Takaoka Mayo as she meanders through her
life without any direction until she gets a chance to meet the author
of her favourite light novel series The Forest Of The Elves. However,
this does not quite go as she envisioned as the author, Komikado
Hijiri, turns out to be a
woman only a few years older than her with a sharp tongue and
abrasive personality. As
the two spend more time together, they grow closer Mayo has to deal
with her budding feelings and find her own purpose in life. There
is nothing ground breaking here and whatever plot you imagined from
that outline is most likely correct since it never shakes the boat.
It is a warm blanket of
positive and comfortable romance which knows what its audience wants
and plays exactly into those expectations.
Futamata Ren'ai: Two Times the Trouble
As
an ASa Project title, Futamata Ren'ai adheres closely to the style of
intensive comedy the studio is know for and if you have played any of
their other games, such as Renai Karichaimashita, then you already
have a good idea of what to expect. This knowledge is especially
important here since comedy is so subjective and an existing example
to point to gives a handy barometer so you can decide if it is for
you. Futamata Ren'ai follows the accidental two timing antics of Koga Nao who
has found himself in a relationship with two of the heroines due to
his inability to clear up misunderstandings. It is this juggling of
these girls while having other characters
getting in the way that is the source of all the drama and humour of
the title and it does a good job of balancing comedy with character
arc which feel earned despite the light tone. The back and forth
banter alongside the strong emotional moments remain as engaging as
in previous games and for fans it will deliver the same experience
through a new and exciting lens.
No Sleep For Kaname Date – From AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES
How
do you continue a series after an ending as universe defining as AI:
Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative’s? The answer No Sleep For
Kaname Date seems to have arrived at is to pretend it never happened
and go back in time to when things were simpler. Hence why all the
cast members have returned to being their younger selves from the
first game. Whether this
is a good thing will likely depend on which of the two original games
you enjoyed more, but either extreme is still going to find the same
cast of loveable character as always engaging in another mind bending
adventure. This time Iris finds herself kidnapped and forced to play
a dangerous escape game, meanwhile a mysterious coffin like device is
discovered with the words ‘psyche me’ written on it. The only
person capable of solving these seemingly unrelated happening is once
again the duo of Kaname Date and Aiba. Can they unravel these strange
occurrences and uncover how it all links together? It is hard to
recommend this to some who has not played the previous games since it
just assumes you know who all these characters are and does nothing
to help catch a new player up even more so than nirvanA Initiative.
BUSTAFELLOWS Season 2
It
appears this is the month of Crime otome with yet another one coming out
in the form of BUSTAFELLOWS Season 2. Unlike Arcana Famiglia, this
game puts a lot of emphasis of the action and drama in the style of
an over the top crime thriller. Building off the first title’s
excellent romances, it plays off the various suitors in interesting ways which continue their respective narratives while
adding in enough new spice to make their relationship feel like it is
evolving. There is also a fair number of unlockable side stories and
these cover characters or events that did not fit into the main story
but here can work to give the world of BUSTAFELLOWS a nice bit of
additional texture. An extremely solid sequel for fans of the
original or high quality otome.
