I originally thinking of writing one long 2018 retrospective post but figured I won’t finish it thanks to possibly sheer size of the content and the accompanying incoherence.

So I decided to just write the post one category a time.

Starting off with eroge because I feel like to.

Update: oh whoops I forgot one rather important talking point.

Numbers

Let’s look at the number first.

Played

• Total played: 8

That’s very low even for my already-low average. It doesn’t help the fact that three of them are short titles like 9-nine (both) and Nekonin 2. Counting each as one third, my total is down to 6. Not even one a month – more like two months. And looking at my current speed, it looks awfully similar.

…that’s a good reminder for me to play a bit faster.

Anyway, apart of that, let’s see the numbers by company

• Cube: 1
• Saga Planets: 1
• Yuzusoft: 1
• Whirlpool: 2
• Palette: 2
• Tinkle Position: 1

Somehow got one Cube in. There’s also Tinkle Position which is new because their latest title is singlehandedly drawn by K-Ko. The rest are usual suspect.

Oh, and it’s down from 11 previous year. I really need to concentrate a bit more when playing and not distracted with stuff like writing this post.

Bought

• Total bought: 10

In retrospective, it shouldn’t be too bad – even considering one is repackage (Aokana), two are single routes (Nekonin 2, 9-sorairo), and one is minor expansion (Full Uso).

Had I have no backlog, I can probably finish them on time. Though it’s a bit sad considering I bought 19 previous year.

I guess I took the lesson of not buying too many. Or there just aren’t many interesting ones this year. I also didn’t buy anything older which is great? Not like there’s much backlog I vaguely interested at the moment.

A bit more thoughts

Spoilers ahead?

Koisuru kanojo no bukiyou na butai (Cube)

This one took two months to finish. Looking at my impressions, it’s almost waste of time. It’s actually expected due to it being Cube.

My favorite heroine listing didn’t actually changed much though I ended up not quite liking everyone but Sana, Chisa, and Maria. The last two wasn’t on my initial list but hey 3P.

Karumaruka circle

Taking one month and half, it wasn’t as bad as Koikano. The finale was pretty good as well though I wish they involve Karumaruka a bit more in the individual routes. Koyomi is cute btw.

I think I like this a bit more than Hanasaki Workspring except Nonoka (and Wakaba).

No favorite heroine order change here. If only they release non-barbie pillow cover…

Riddle Joker

After two backlogs, I finally played something recent. Or more like it’s the latest at the time. It was pretty fun to read and the high production quality was really nice as well.

With reading time about one and half months, I repeated the pace I previously with Karumaruka.

I think I overnighted (or more like overmorninged?) some of them a bit. So, yeah, it’s pretty good.

No favorite heroine order change here either. Though unfortunately the pillow covers aren’t that good and Toypla tapestries have rather questionable quality.

Nekonin Exheart 2

Short story by Whirlpool, and somehow I finished it in a week. Not much fluff, just H. Er, a bit story in it as well.

Too bad I’m not interested in most of the H scenes. The only heroine I care, Ritsu, only has one intercrural an one almost-3P-but-not-quite with not so good angle and annoyingly accompanied by Maya.

Should be better in the fandisk thingy which is currently backlogged.

No change in favorite heroine order. Or more like there’s no order with just Ritsu > Saiha > Nachi.

Ha ha ha no original heroines in my list.

9 -nine- kokonotsu kokonoka kokonoiro

At four days total read time, it’s one of the shortest I’ve ever had. The story was pretty interesting if not annoying thanks to it won’t be finished until next year.

The mystery is intriguing enough and her went out of control, ending up badly, and how the storyline is constructed is pretty interesting.

The H scenes wasn’t interesting (because I’m not interested much in her) and I ended up turning off the animation. I don’t remember if I turned off the main character voice as well or not.

9 -nine- sorairo sorauta soranooto

And then this one lasted a bit over a week. Not sure why because it was certainly more fun to read compared to previous one.

The H scenes were rather hilarious as well. The MC being a scum helped as well.

Animation was still, after all, turned off. It just sucked too much.

Then there’s the whole supernatural battles thing.

Looking forward to next one. Not sure how they’re going to send MC’s fire ability to the new timeline. Or if at all.

I also recently learned the Rigveda leader is voiced by Tomokazu Sugita. Lol.

Onii-chan, asa made zutto, gyutte shite!

I recorded two months total play time for this one. Barrage of H scenes sure isn’t something to look down on. Doesn’t help there’s some other events interleaved like comiket and kansai trip.

Pretty much as expected, I think.

As for favorite heroines order, it got slightly changed with me liking Kohaku more or less the same as Akane. Sora is still last.

Fandisk this year?

Hatsujou sprinkle

Started off good and then a bit downward toward the end. With total a bit less than two months, it’s still a rather slow read.

A bit sad how they handled Shizuku route.

Oh well, at least Mio and Hazuki were pretty good.

No change on favorite heroines order. I think.

Extra

Floral flowlove. The title which I randomly started in July while playing Onigyu only to be paused again to resume Onigyu and then pushed way back to end of year.

I shouldn’t do this again and just push forward with whatever I started off.

Disappointment

…and I completely forgot about this.

So there’s one major disappointment for this year which is Hulotte using online DRM for their title. There’s also them dealing with it with complete silence.

I ended up not talking much about the goods and stuff which is quite sad considering how much I like Ikegami Akane illustrations.

I still ended up buying it and thankfully the protection was really easy to break if almost non-existent. Also applicable to another Whirlpool Nekonin title which came up later.

They seem to be doing fine after all this crap which is good for them, I guess? But unless something extraordinary happens I don’t think I’ll buy any further titles from them. I just hope Ikegami Akane moves to another company.

So, yeah, not really looking forward to this one…

Overall

My favorite for 2018 is Riddle Joker. Good balance between story, illustration, music, and all other factors. Looking at story alone I’d pick 9-nine series though. And for H scene I’d pick… Karuma Circle just for Koyomi alone 😎

A mixed bag year, I’d say. It doesn’t help I didn’t play any Ikegami Akane/Yukie/Chikotam-illustrated titles.

Future

This year started off rather quiet with barely upcoming titles on my list. That said, at 69 backlogged titles, I still have a very long way to go. Also I really should aim back for one month a title speed which I’m on verge of failing at the moment. Yay.

I don’t think I’ll change how I choose which games to play though.