No.5277
Post and discuss games you're playing that fall into the BL genre.
Prior BL games thread
>>3281 No.5283
>>5276>Man, woman, or bothI'm glad there's a toggle for anything geared towards hetshit but even so, the bl purist in me would just get annoyed that it's even included but that's just me
No.5285
>>5283Do you ever play VNs with a 50/50 gendersplit? I feel like the only thing weird is that it's ths singular het option in an otherwise gay game.
No.5286
Tbh Animamundi is a very plot-heavy game, I would hesitate to call it a proper het route. It's more like… the game takes places in fantasy medieval land, a lot of these people are expected to have children even if they're turbo gay.
No.5290
>>5276>a ton of questions right at the beginning like you're playing Pokemon Mystery DungeonThis description is really funny. I'm curious about what this affects in the game outside of the male/female preferences.
>>5285>singular het option in an otherwise gay gameNTA but this is what struck me as weird, too. I know a lot of otome games have a yuri route, so I guess it's the BL equivalent to that? I wonder if the company's otome game set in the same universe has a lone yuri option.
No.5345
Today's VN was "Another Rose in His Garden" I normally try to link to them but the Itch.io page I got it from is gone now…This one is clearly not aimed at me, it's Omegaverse themed and actually the first Omegaverse thing I've read since I have negative preconceived notions that this did not remove.
To start I think any one of the elements could work in isolation knotting, mpreg, heat cycles, somehow there being female ABO as well? it's really just weird in a contemporary setting with no magic or alternate races that might exhibit the traits. Again not the target audience but I couldn't suspend my disbelief and this VN didn't really seem interested in worldbuilding.
Ignoring that though I still didn't like it, this is a very "straight" BL and by that I mean it's 50 Shades of Grey and every single one of those abusive business bastard smut novels. Your character is Abel an omega who is pretending to be a beta (which I guess are "normal people?"), and he is taking "heat suppressors" to hide his scent which the strong alpha Mars immediately notices and then forces himself upon you. The whole smells along with knotting is so weird to me, maybe if you establish the character as a werewolf or something I wouldn't find it as off-putting. Anyway the game then becomes a nukige with him coercing you for sex, slapping you around, getting into some pretty heavy bdsm, and public humiliation like fucking you infront of an entire boardroom meeting. It's very much PWP, but there are 3 endings, each of them bad! Mars is just an absolute bastard and I hate him, the worst ending in my opinion is when he forces you to get pregnant after telling you he'll look after you but when you leave your job and family he just abandons you with a bunch of other fucktoys at his mansion.
I get that this is a very popular type of relationship, but I'll never get it. Dark and abusive relationships work best for me when twisted fucked up feeling grow out of them. Like a stalker or serial murderer who kidnaps MC but loves him even if he's objectively being abusive. In this case it's hard to tell what the feelings even are because there's this constant aura of "heat" and being drawn to "scents" that I don't even know if the MC has any meaningful connection to Mars, that bastard doesn't have any feelings outside of "must rut"
Well whatever, I'd give it 1/5, it might appeal to people who are more into this fetish. The salsa soundtrack was good at least and it's short only about 3 hours for all endings. According to the extras there's another VN with the MC Abel but who knows what or where since Itch is being retarded.
No.5349
>>5345If I actually did have this fetish, the fact that they made the alpha dude sound like the omegaverse version of a RL manosphere guy would put me off even more than it already does. Once you bring realistic 3DPD shit into fictional men it ruins them.
No.5354
>>5353What started out as a kinkmeme thing that let cis dudes have animal hormone driven no-prep anal sex was eroded into "let's feminize the one who can get pregnant".
No.5357
Tonight's VN Anteholic
https://qbstudios.itch.io/ante-holicThis is an hour-long kinetic VN about a demon and cop duo trying to track down a murderer, but really it's a prequel to a still-in-development VN and seems mainly interested in setting up its world and characters. The whole thing has the feeling of someone playing with their OCs, which isn't bad; it's just not exactly the deepest story since the murder mystery takes a back seat to the author explaining her universe's soulmate-identifying marks, and how angels, witches, and demons work. I liked it; it's ridiculously easy to sell me on detectives, so I'd give it a 3/5, but it's too short to really recommend. It might be better and/or worse if the full thing ever comes out.
>>5349He's more Mr. Grey than manosphere. Again it very much feels like a smutty bodice ripper aimed at housewives moreso than BL, very off-putting and weird.
No.5359
>>5358I've been waiting for this for years so I'll get it day 1. Trying to temper my expectations since the screenshots look iffy.
No.5363
>>5358Maybe I'll get it, but not as soon as it's released because I have a lot of games and visual novels in my backlog. Once I've completed all the visual novels I have I'll buy more of them during sales.
No.5368
>>5358I think it'll be an accurate if somewhat awkwardly worded translation. They keep using the word "flight" in promotional material which means nothing in English but corresponds to the Japanese word 高跳び which can mean flight from authorities, like in a car chase, which the game has plenty of. Plus, MangaGamer has a much better reputation for accuracy than JAST. As for the text itself, you can change the font to your liking in the options menu, so it shouldn't be a problem.
I hope people buy it so we at least have a chance of seeing a bad egg translation within the next decade. I know the Japanese fans are excited at the prospect of the fandom getting a bit more lively these days too.
Also… I want new ivagian fanart. It gets treated like a boomercore ship in Japan and is brought up near exclusively in a nostalgic context. It hurts my soul.
No.5370
>>5368>I hope people buy it so we at least have a chance of seeing a bad egg translation within the next decade.Yeah for me this feels like a potential lose-lose situation cause if it sells poorly they have ammo to blame fujos but if the translation is bad and it sells well it could come off as fujos buying something regardless of quality.
No.5387
>>5384The only problem with the PSP version is that its sanitized. As such, Yukihito didn't get a hot explicit sex scene and that is incredibly disappointing.
No.5398
>>5396One of the screenshots on the store page is worded strangely.
>>5248 It may not be a big deal in the long run but it could also be a bad sign.
No.5399
>>5398The game took years to be released - perhaps it's the early translation?
No.5400
>>5399That's what I'm hoping, going to buy it regardless as I want to support them bringing over games and this is one I've been waiting for.
No.5410
Another day another VN
https://chanimk.itch.io/a-pact-with-me"A Pact with Me" was the next one on the list, and it is a perfectly fine 5/10 VN. It was about four hours long and had three main routes with multiple good and bad endings for each boy. The story follows Belial, a demon who 100 years ago fell in love with the man he had made a demonic contract with. After the twenty years of the pact were up, he had to collect his lover's soul and ate it, leaving no trace of the man in existence. Now heartbroken, he avoids making any more pacts, but after years of no contracts, he is weakened and starved, on the brink of death. Lucifer tasks you with forming a pact with someone to eat a soul so you don't die.
The game is spread out over six days, with one scene for each route given each day, though you can sleep to skip the rest of the day if you don't care about a character.
The main romance options are Renan, a struggling musician who was probably the least interesting. His father hates him, and he's dealing with a stalker and self-consciousness about his ability to perform. Shilo, a businessman who is the sadist psycho option, has some Light Yagami energy and was my favorite as he cuts down people who get in the way of his company. And lastly, Lior, a very shy boy who is just seeking friends. His route starts really childish as you basically help him go viral on a social media site so he can make friends because everyone who see him hates him, but then it reveals
he's actually hated because of demonic possession by Lucifer, and the route gets substantially better in the last few days.
I don't think I'd recommend it even if you like demon stories. Most of the routes just kind of feel derivative and lack an extra "punch" that would make them unique. It has a good core concept, and I like Belial as a protag, but none of the routes are gripping.
No.5411
>>5410Thanks for the review! The art could have looked better…
No.5412
>>5411Yeah, I'm actually cherry-picking the screenshots too, some of the CGs especially the kissing ones were a bit egregious. Given that it's a small game with two creators it feels mean to comment on
. Personally speaking if a story is good enough I'll overlook lackluster art, this one just didn't excel at either so it makes the art extra… not good.
No.5419
>>5418SOURCE??? Are they going to bypass JAST? That would be so weird.
No.5421
>>5418SEX WITH YUKIHITO
>SEX WITH YUKIHITOSEX WITH YUKIHITO
>SEX WITH YUKIHITOThey should do a special edition and add a sex scene. Even if its just a wholesome one, dammit. Hell even the good route with Shiki needed some improvement but whatever. Stuff I will continue to carry in my heart…
No.5432
>>5431Found a fuller shot. Looks like the Hub is a British style Pub, which is I suppose slightly more interesting than a pop-up cafe.
Akira is my favorite here I really like the necktie, followed by Youji, the hat is cute nonna!
Aoba is almost good, I like the glasses on Ren, but whatever pleated garment he's wearing (skirt?) just looks ugly as does the see-through overshirt.
No.5433
>>5421Was his good route/worth it even without sex in it ?
No.5434
>>5432Glasses are so not cute, not even on Ren!!!
No.5448
>>5447Yeah even before I noticed the literal buff furry I felt that this artstyle is too "gay/bi male" coded for me.
No.5449
>>5447>>5448This is easily my most anticipated VN. I get the "bara" complaint, but personally I think it looks cute and the premise is right up my alley.
No.5451
>>5447looks like it was made by western gay guys, really doesnt look appealing
would be even gayer if the mc is the seme
No.5452
>>5447>I find the MC cuter than the LIsI could instantly tell he's Haiki's art, but the designs of the LIs read as other artists from your pic and sure enough, it's another GYEE situation of bara artists banding together to try to reel in the gays
I did find pic related LI hot, and the mascot character is really cute… sure enough, Haiki did their designs too
I've liked some of his oneshots, I think at this point he gets my pass as the current only acceptable bara artist, especially with how much better his characters look than Mentaiko Pedo's LIs
No.5453
>>5452Tbh I don't care about the furrys at all but the human looking LIs are hot enough to intrigue me.
No.5454
>>5449I think they're going for a NTY thing where it's targeting fujos and gay men, not my taste personally though.
Only furry character I've seen that fujos were mildly interested in is the wolf guy from ZZZ (I liked the deadpool clone robot though…) and a bit of legoshi.
No.5455
>>5452I'm sorry for saying this but he's my type.
No.5456
>>5452I'm interested in this guy and the armored knight. I don't mind a bit of bara here and there.
No.5457
>>5456Same as long as the porn CGs aren't grotesque and it isn't hyper muscles I actually like the more "mature" look the guys in games like this have. I don't know, is there a term for "light bara" character types? If the tiger wasn't there I wouldn't have even lumped it in with bara.
No.5463
I just read a VN I found on VNDB, and there was surprise, untagged cuntboy. It's bizarre because there is a tif character, but the cuntboy is not a tif. The tif character (who doesn't have a route) had titchop scars, and the other character did not, so what the fuck? Before you ask why I played this, neither of these things was tagged on VNDB, and by the time I got to the tif, I was already like halfway done, and I figured the only guy with a completed route would have a penis since he’s not a tif. I'm so fucking pissed. It wasn't tagged on VNDB, and it's not even in the content warnings (which I checked after being jumpscared). The game was already on thin ice because it was written in second person (not my preference because it feels an inch away from a self-insert), but this made me lose it. Tag your fucking shit. I don't see how you make that mistake unless it's an intentional and malicious attempt to deceive your reader.
No.5468
I'm not the nona who usually posts reviews, but I wanted to talk about Start;Again and maybe encourage some of you to try it. I just finished it, and I thought it was pretty fun for a short VN. Essentially, you’re playing as a young guy named Sebastian who wakes up in an unfamiliar place with three other people. They are all given two hours to escape.
If that description didn't tip you off, it's very reminiscent of Zero Escape, and it's made even more similar with its flowchart function. I love it when VNs incorporate flowcharts because they make it easier to navigate routes, and this flowchart is integral to the plot. There are also puzzles, which are pitifully easy. It initially led me to suspect the 8-year-old was the mastermind because they seemed like the kind of puzzles a child would make kek. It was a short-lived thought, but man, it would've been awesome foreshadowing.
The mystery was easy to figure out, and I had correctly guessed all of the twists before reaching the true route. However, I still had a lot of fun with it. The ending was very satisfying, and I'm glad I played it. Also (major spoilers, although you can figure this out long before it's revealed), the fact that in retrospect, Rinne is having to watch a past version of her dad (with full knowledge he is her dad) and his dead best friend go through their awkward tsundere romance bullshit while trapped in a life-or-death situation is incredibly funny. It also makes any situation where she's teasing them about having feelings for each other while they vehemently deny it so much funnier.
I will say that the story can be kind of disorienting when you start. You're not given much context, and the characters' relationships change depending on where you are in the flowchart. This is further complicated by how much you'll be jumping around the flowchart. The VN is sort of light on romance, but I personally enjoy the "you’re given X hours to seek a way out of this life-threatening situation" genre of VNs, so it was still nice to see a BL interpretation of it. Also, one of the boys has a giraffe neck, and it bothers me.
No.5479
>>5478My backlog is full
and personally the Alicesoft/Rance associations make me ehhh but it's always nice to have more VNs translated in english, especially BL ones. I'll try it if I have time later this year or next.
No.5480
>>5478Neat. I don't care about Rance but I've always been interested in this for having actual gameplay, which would set it apart from most BL games. There's another gameplay BL called Angel's feather that had a fanpatch in the making from the person who did Phantom thief Jade's patch but progress was slow and it's been a long time since I last checked it.
No.5523
Luckydog1 is officially released on MangaGamer.
Hope you guys enjoy it. It's a lot of fun.
https://www.mangagamer.com/r18/detail.php?goods_type=1&product_code=1494 No.5525
>>5524I wasn't as much disturbed as just grossed out by it. I genuinely don't get fujoanons who find it unironically arousing, every character including the protagonist was an annoying uggo and even the fetishes I could've found hot in another game were executed in such an unerotic way they did nothing for me.
No.5526
>>5525I don't find it arousing it's too intense, but the characters are cute and I think MC is funny despite being a sadist.
>>5523Thank you for the reminder!
No.5527
>>5522From what I've heard the English censored version deleted all vanilla sex scenes but left the tentacles rape scenes from bad endings which … was definitely a choice lmao.
No.5529
>>5527Whaaaaaaaaat? What were they thinking
No.5530
>>5523I'm playing through it right now using a guide (
https://terracannon876.wordpress.com/trivia/lucky-dog-1/lucky-dog-1-walkthrough/) and planning to go Bernardo->Ivan->Luchino->Gulio. I'm only an ESL so take my opinion with a grain of salt but for the most part the text doesn't seem as awkward as in the store page screenshots. Just some wording in the prologue was off to me. When the game transitioned from the prison section to the escape I thought the game got stuck on the score screen cause clicking, enter and space bar did nothing. Turns out I had to press the Escape key so I wanted to mention it here in case anyone else wants to start playing too.
No.5531
>>5530To be completely honest I think the amateur translator went overboard trying to make the dialogue sound "natural" and added way too many stock phrases and too much period slang too. They're also clearly not a writer and it shows - I wish they'd just let the characters speak like actual humans. But if you can tolerate the injected corniness it seems like a serviceable translation. Lucky Dog 1 is a pretty lighthearted game for the most part so it's at the level where I'd say that level of corniness is tolerable, but if they ever get around to doing Bad Egg I'd absolutely want them to use a different translator.
No.5532
I can't with the art of this VN. I'd hope for something like Haiiro no Arcadia, Galtia or Tokyo 24ku to have been translated, but I guess MTL it is for now.
No.5534
>>5533It seems like they basically remade the game from scratch rather than just modified the original text, so I'll excuse it like any other post-launch indie game. Write up a bug report.