Sunday, December 21, 2025
Due
to the rapidly approaching sprawling monster that is Christmas, this
months round-up is a little earlier than usual but still filled with
the same excellent visual novels as always. It has been a period
mostly dominated by the Slice of Life Romance genre with a few other
smaller oddities of the horror variety using this time to slip in.
Let’s dive in and see what you should be playing from the recent
releases.
Official Releases
Saihate Station - Twilight Railway
While
technically not a new release, this DLC has received an English and
Thai localisation which notable increases the number of people who
can now enjoy it. Following on from the events of the base game, Haru
Akinashi and Shion Tatsunami are spending their lives together in
relative peace until the train suddenly starts to move again. The
focus this time is more on Shion than Haru with a deeper dive into
their motives and past as the train’s destination latches onto them
in its usual twisted way. It is also significantly less interested in
the horror element of its narrative and the resulting tale is a
highly introspective one where its cast hold the majority of the
game’s engagement. Just like the base game this is a short a sweet
ride for those looking for something which respects their time.
LOVEPICAL-POPPY!
After
Yaotome Tetsuya’s house burns down he is left with no job and no
place to live and takes a job as live-in caretaker of a girls
dormitory in order to survive. As you can imagine high jinks ensues
with the typical misunderstandings and romantic tension making up a
lot of the early slice of life sections. The heroines are the stars
of the show in an extremely direct and slightly over the top manner due
to how the player gets to see a lot of their personal lives while
Tetsuya spends time taking care of them. This adds a nice bit of
humanity to what might otherwise be cardboard cut-out girls and gives
them enough distinct traits to make them memorable. While
LOVEPICAL-POPPY! does not reinvent the genre in any way, this is
still a fun time which will appeal to fans of the light and low
stakes end of the genre’s spectrum.
A Maiden's Serenade
During
the night of the local Mermaid Festival Shichiri Takumi has a chance
encounter with a girl who has a beautiful singing voice and this chance
meeting begins a cascade of change to his life. The gentle touch of
romance and building of the character’s bonds over time are the
game’s main focus. It is completely committed to the love being
shown on screen and wants each heroine to have their own clean-cut
relationship in order to remove any potential overlap between them.
Rather than trying to differentiate itself in its content, A Maiden's
Serenade carves its emotional identity into the hearts of its players
so they walk away with a feeling of fulfilment and a smile on their
faces. Since the game is clear about this upfront you should be know
if this is for you immediately and definitely pick it up should it
match your tastes.
Fan Translation
Sousaku Kanojo no Ren'ai Koushiki
Patch Download VNDB Genre
– Romance, Slice of Life Play Time – 25 hours
For
our final slice of life romance we have a story about a group of
characters who each have their own creative passions and have to
grapple with marrying it to the struggles of their lives. The
protagonist is a writer for games and lights novels and among the
rest of the cast are a romance novelist and an illustrator, this
focus on creatives and the processes they go through to get and act
on inspiration runs across the title’s entire length. In
orientating the narrative along this axis Sousaku Kanojo can lend its
world and characters a foundation beyond simple romantic interest and
paint their conflicts in new colours so the player has something
unique to hold in their memories of the game. A well put together
story of romance and filled with person battles which will excite those looking
for a grounded human story.
Tsui no Sora Remake [2025 ver]
Patch Download VNDB Genre
– Denpa, Psychological Horror, Mystery, Philosophy Play Time –
18 hours
Another
version of Tsui no Sora has been given an English translation, this
time it is a new edition of the Tsui no Sora remake released in 2025.
It has a lot of similarities to the original remake expect for a
major face lift to the sprites, additional CGs, some new scenes and
the overall flow of the title has been revised. These changes put it
in a weird position when recommending it to people who have played
the previous version since while, there is enough here to make
experiencing it worthwhile, it can feel very familiar for a good
chunk of the playtime. Regardless, it is still a game worth checking
out to be remained of just what a powerful game it is to engage with.
