Togainu no chi is a BL (boys love) visual novel released by Nitro+ Chiral in 2005. It has kind of become a classic of the yaoi genre, having had a manga, an anime and a PSP exclusive remake, although it never reached the level of popularity as one of the subsequent titles of the company, DRAMAtical Murder. In the story, we'll play as Akira, undefeated champion of the Bl@ster underground fighting tournament, after he's wrongly accused of murder and sentenced to a life in jail. When he has lost all hope, a mysterious woman will offer him a chance at freedom if he agrees to participate in Igra, a brutal fighting tournament held in what used to be Tokyo, now Toshima, a lawless wasteland. His mission is rising to the very top and defeating Il Re, champion of Igra and head of the drug ring Vischio. However, things start to take wrong turns when a mysterious drug comes into play.
Technical stuff
-H subgenre: Yaoi/BL.
-Playtime: It's long. It highly depends on how fast you read and how many scenes you reread in each route and how much you optimize your playthrough but I'd say getting all endings takes about 25-30 hours. Although I do take longer to finish games.
-Where to get it?: You can get it on Steam for 16'79€ ($18? 20? something like that) or on the JAST USA store for $24'99.
-Does it need a patch for +18 content?: The JAST version is already patched, the Steam version is not, and you have to buy the patch on the JAST store for $4'99. Kind of a DLC that you have to install manually. Without the patch, the most explicit sex scenes are cut out, but the game is still pretty 18+ nonetheless, there's still mentions and implications of sex, not-so-explicit sexual scenes, and violence.
-Languages it comes in: The version I have (the Steam/JAST USA version) is only in English with Japanese voices, but given the game was only recently localized officially, it's safe to say there's a version with the texts in Japanese.
-DLC's: Apart from the out of Steam patch, none.
Fetishes it covers
It does have a lot of stuff, but it's main sexual theme (if you can call it that) is noncon, which can get violent. Of course, this being a BL game, it only has guy on guy action, plus a little share of BDSM, pet play, blood, submission, and general stuff. I wouldn't call it vanilla, but it's not super hardcore.
Ratings & review
-Art: 6'5/10. The art in this game has NOT aged well. Most designs feel a bit too basic, specially the main characters' ones. Secondaries and extras have more interesting designs, for some reason. Apart from that, the quality of the art fluctuates a lot, which makes me think the art was done by multiple people or that some of the art was redrawn for later editions. Some CG's have great coloring, lineart and/or composition while others do not. Some of the sprites can be weird too, but they're mostly not too bad. In conclusion, the art is old and the style can be a bit jarring, but honestly it's not that hard to get used to.
-Voice Acting: This game brings a new category to the blog, because usually I don't pay that much attention to the voice acting, until now. The audio is just as old as the art, and yet, the quality is pretty good. I don't know about voice acting as much as I do about art, so I can't really rate it, but I personally liked it a lot. There's a lot of lines, most voices fit the characters well, and the acting really helps with conveying emotions and tones the text cannot. Most characters get a lot more personality thanks to the acting, so it's really appreciated.
-Gameplay: It's a classic visual novel. Click through the text, choose every now and then. I liked the choice system, as it seems that depending on your prior choices, a scene may or may not have a choice that allows you to go to a new path. It feels like it needs more choices, but that's because the game is very long. Togainu no chi has a total of 12 endings, but there aren't more than a few choices, and only sometimes, once you're on a specific route. And the routes can get long. It depends on which and on how many common scenes it has, but every route can last several hours. Apart from that, the game has a very tidy CG gallery; a Scene gallery with the main romance, sex and ending scenes, and a OST gallery.
-Story: 8'5/10. The story is probably the best part of the game. However, it is very brutal and not for the faint of heart. There's a lot of violence, sexual and non-sexual. Quality wise, I came for the yaoi and stayed for the story. The premise of the story is fairly simple, but at some point you'll realize that so many things have happened that the story has changed completely, and with it, Akira's motives and objectives. Some routes are better written than others, some romances are more forced than others, and some endings are more satisfactory than others, but overall, I enjoyed the story a lot. However, it is a heavy story with a slow start, and the writing style doesn't help. While I got used to it fairly quickly, the writing style does make some scenes unnecessarily long, and it can be so full of filling that some days into the game feel like weeks, and that can confuse the story timeline a bit.
-OST/Sound design: Another new category to rate because I do have something to saw about this game's OST. I didn't like it at all. It's old and trying to be edgy and dark while at the same time sounding like experimental synth music. Also, at least most of the tracks aren't loopable, so you can tell when the song ends and starts again, which is distracting. Some of the tracks aren't all that bad, and most of them, even if distracting, did fit the mood of the scene well, but overall, I found the music more annoying than anything.
-Bugs: I don't remember finding any, but visual novels leave little space for bugs. Just a few typos here and there. But there was something weird. When installing the 18+ patch in the Steam version, there's a .txt file that warns you that Steam achievements won't work if you're using the patch. However, I played through the game with the patch on and working and the Steam achievements worked just fine anyway. I don't know if this counts as a bug.
-Fap worth: Well... If I'm being honest, the H scenes in this game don't feel like very good material. They can be great to get in the mood though, kind of like erotica books. As I already mentioned, the art isn't the best, and there aren't that many explicit CGs. However, the voice acting does help a lot, and some scenes are very hot. If you get off with narrative or audio better than you do with visual stimuli, this game should work for you.
Recommended?
Honestly, fuck yeah, if it's your thing. I liked it a lot, story and romance/H wise. I went in not expecting to like it much because the art style isn't very attractive, but before I knew it I got obsessed with getting more endings. If you like brutal stories, and don't mind or enjoy violence, gore, angst and drama, this game is for you. The fact that it's old so it's cheaper than most VNs and that it goes on sale fairly often also helps me confirm that it's definitely worth the price.
Final rating is 7'5/10.
Steam page of the game (link won't work if you aren't logged in Steam).
Official 18+ patch for the Steam version on the JAST USA store
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the images in this entry. They are there for illustrative purposes only. Credits go to the respective owners
Comments
Post a Comment