I have been monumentally busy lately. Terribly, soul-crushingly busy to the point that I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to fit in everything I want/need to do. On top of that, my monthly Community Game-Alongs keep me acutely aware of exactly how much time I have left in the year… And it’s not a lot.
So, how can one ever hope to manage one’s time?! With a handy list, of course!
There are tons of games I want to play over the next few months, but I had to narrow things down for the sake of this post, and my sanity. Since I’m on a major otome game/visual novel kick lately, I figured that was as good a place to start as any, and I also wanted to use it as an excuse to cover some games that may not be talked about very often. And thus, I present to you: four visual novels I have to play before 2015!
Clover Toshokan no Juunin-tachi (release date: September 26)
This is one otome game that I absolutely did not have on my radar until I happened to see it pop up for preorder on Ami Ami (that site is going to be the death of me). My interest was piqued for purely superficial reasons – the game has the word “library” in the title, and the art was appealing, albeit a little generic. But this game isn’t just an otome game that features a library! The male suitors are literally books. That’s right, the books in the library have come to life, from the cutesy picture book to the wild-looking travel book. Even though this game is for PC and I generally prefer to play games on consoles, I will readily admit that the prospect of dating books completely sold me on the title.
Nekketsu Inou Bukatsu: Trigger Kiss (release date: October 2)
I have a feeling this list is going to quickly make me sound very shallow, but there was only one thing I knew about Trigger Kiss before I started writing this post, and that was that there is a mechanic in the game that actually has players kiss their Vitas. I literally needed no other information before placing my preorder. I figure if games like Monster Monpiece with its erotic Vita-rubbing gameplay mechanism can be popular enough to have an English release, then I’m going to do my very best to make sure everyone knows about what else is out there! Apparently the mechanic is rationalized by the fact that all of the characters have special powers… and the heroine’s is that she can increase the powers of others by – you guessed it – kissing them. All right, sign me up!
DRAMAtical Murder is one of those games that I really should play, but have never gotten very far in, largely due to the fact that it’s PC-only (that doesn’t bode well for Clover Toshokan no Juunin-tachi…). Now that the ages18+ BL visual novel is getting an all-ages Vita release, I have a feeling I’ll finally be compelled to go through and finish the whole thing. I just love the game’s cyberpunk-like aesthetic and focus on things like games and technology (so meta!), and I can only imagine how great it’s going to look on the Vita’s OLED screen! Just a warning, though: if you find yourself interested in learning more about DRAMAtical Murder, I would suggest staying away from the currently-airing anime. It’s a good laugh if you don’t take it seriously, but the low production values really aren’t doing the series any favors.
It’s high time an otome game tackled a steampunk setting, so I am 100% on board with whatever Code: Realize plans to throw at me. Taking place in London and featuring bishonen versions of famous literary characters such as Van Helsing and Frankenstein, everything about this game says that I’ll love it… aside from the premise. Apparently it features an amnesiac heroine who has some kind of disease that causes everything she comes in contact with to rot. After my experience with Amnesia, I think it’s safe to say I’m extremely wary of an otome game that uses amnesia as a plot point, but I can’t help but be drawn in by the gorgeous art, characters, and setting. I hope it doesn’t disappoint!
There are so many other games I could have included, but alas, any more than four and I doubt I’ll be able to make good on my word to play them before 2015. As it is, I still have piles of visual novels I’ve purchased and still haven’t touched!
Visual novel or not, what are you looking forward to playing for the rest of the year?
