Operation Backlog Completion 2026

Valentine Video Games Festival: Love Cypher Demo (and Kickstarter)

 Celebrating All Things Romantic, Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Feb 182022
 

It’s been a while since we’ve had a crowd-funding campaign to discuss, and during the Valentine Video Games Festival no less!

Love Cypher, currently seeking funding through Kickstarter, is a near-future romance visual novel set in the 2040s. You play a new student at a university studying artificial intelligence advancements.

It is a galge with four romance routes (and the possibility for more if Love Cypher should meet both its goal and subsequent stretch goals).

A demo is also available, and I played it after seeing the Kickstarter campaign. The demo is fairly short and follows the protagonist as he arrives at the university and meets the heroines.

From the demo, Love Cypher comes across as a lighthearted romantic comedy, with some silly situations and classic misunderstandings.

However, the description mentions that the advanced AI technology in this world “re-sculpts one’s identity, while keeping the individual unaware of their transformation,” which suggests there’s more to the story than meets the eye. Alongside the rom-com antics, it looks like it will deal with themes of identity and humanity.

(Nowadays I’m suspicious of anything that looks fun and lighthearted with hints of something else, but the developer has said online that the story will be philosophical, but still fun, so I don’t think we have to worry about this one being secretly depressing.)

Love Cypher will be an 18+ visual novel once it’s complete, although the demo has no 18+ content since it’s the beginning of the story.

The art looks very nice, and all around it looks like it will be a high-quality production. Although it has stock backgrounds for now, the Kickstarter page says they will be replaced in the final version. It’s tough to judge the story from the demo this early on, but the premise sounds intriguing.

So if you’re looking for an upcoming romance visual novel, you might want to check out Love Cypher’s Kickstarter page to learn more about it.

Valentine Video Games Festival: Seabed

 Celebrating All Things Romantic, Reviews, Video games  2 Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Feb 162022
 

I’ll say this up-front: I would not describe SeaBed as a romance.

But by the time I realized that, it was too late to play something else in time for today’s review, and it is a game about love.

SeaBed is described as a yuri mystery visual novel.

It switches between different time periods, showing scenes of Sachiko and her girlfriend Takako on a romantic vacation, their past together as childhood friends, and working with colleagues after starting their own business.

However, it soon reveals that in the present day, Takako has gone missing. At this point, I thought I understood why it was described as a mystery.

I was wrong.

The prologue (which is lengthy, by far the longest chapter) follows that up with another twist, and then another one, leading into one of the most confusing visual novels I’ve ever read.

SeaBed is not an easy visual novel to read. It leaves you wondering exactly what is going on, and even once you start to form an idea, a new detail will arise to make you question it all over again. Part of this is because it’s told through three primary viewpoints. At certain points, you’ll also unlock “Tips,” short scenes worth reading as soon as you unlock them to add to your confusion fuel further theories.

Despite this sense of mystery, most of its scenes are slice-of-life. Casual conversations, simple interactions, pleasant day-to-day scenes with a slight undercurrent that something might be wrong. It has a glacial pace, so keep that in mind if slow slice-of-life isn’t your thing.

Sachiko and Takako’s relationship is a key part of the story. At its core, I’d say SeaBed is a story about love, and about how it feels to be separated from someone you love. There are hints of romance at other points in the story, as well.

Honestly, I still don’t quite understand the story even after finishing it. Instead of bringing everything together so that it all makes sense, it’s more ambiguous, with room for interpretation despite the biggest points fitting together.

Click for SeaBed spoiler
I’ve come to the general conclusion that Takako is really dead and the alternate reality where she lives at the sanatorium is the imagined world created in Sachiko’s heart, but it’s not easy to explain away everything as Sachiko’s own mind working to heal herself. Some parts feel as though they must have been paranormal in nature to at least some degree, yet at the same time, it feels like it doesn’t want you to think that.

SeaBed is a game about love, although it’s not quite a romance. Was it a good fit for a Valentine’s Day celebration? I don’t know. Either way, if you like slow-burn visual novels where the genre can most accurately be described as “confusion,” you might find SeaBed to be an intriguing mystery.

Valentine Video Games Festival: Nekopara Vol. 3

 Celebrating All Things Romantic, Reviews, Video games  No Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Feb 142022
 

We’ve come this far, so why not keep going? For our Valentine’s Day review, I continued on and played Nekopara Vol. 3.

Just like how the previous main volumes each picked two catgirls to highlight, Volume 3 focuses on Maple and Cinnamon.

Maple has a secret dream she has convinced herself can never come true, while Cinnamon wants to support her in any way she can. It’s up to the protagonist to help them through these conflicts… and of course become romantically involved with them along the way.

(The story acknowledges the silliness of this ever-growing harem and his insistence on prying into people’s business.)

Like in Vol. 2, you might be surprised at the emphasis on the story here, simple though it might be. It has a good message about following your dreams and even digs into the protagonist’s own backstory and motivations a bit. I’d be tempted to call it wholesome, except, well, Nekopara has a reputation for fanservice for a reason.

It has its share of ecchi content as usual, and even the all-ages version makes it very clear when the H-scenes occur in the 18+ version, with the characters even discussing them afterwards.

Aside from that, it tells a nice story with a number of sweet and funny moments (even Shigure had some funny lines, or maybe I’m just getting used to her).

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Nekopara has a very specific audience in mind, but if you aren’t in it for the fanservice, what you end up with is a lighthearted, fluffy romance story. The romance in this one didn’t feel as central, but it made up for that with a bit more following the characters and their new relationship after the main conflicts were resolved.

If you enjoyed the previous Nekopara games, you’ll most likely enjoyed Nekopara Vol. 3 as well, for a new romance story with your group of catgirls. What better to talk about for Valentine’s Day?

(And don’t forget, the whole Nekopara series is among the prizes you could win in this year’s contest!)

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