Eroge Recession?

Well good riddance, I've started playing the game again. I heard there's the new Da Crapo II Second Season anime, so I should pick up my slack.

On another note though, I think my likehood towards these games is slowly fading for some reason. I don't think it's because of my busy real-life schedule, and I recently got my copy of Another Days too. Is this bishoujo game/eroge/galge industry in some sort of recession? I don't find any new game particularly exciting. I don't see many posts about them in english anime blogs either. Somehow there's doesn't seem to be much energy in the game genre at all, and I would wonder why. Please read on for my random thoughts.

When I was in Japan last year, of course a lot of bishoujo game hype only happens around Akihabara. There are posters of them all over the place, and some of them sometimes too raunchy for the young or untrained eye. Being the outsider-foreigner that I am, I thought that eroge is king in this otaku town. Not quite. Around fall of 2006 Akihabara seemed to have Code Geass-mania. That Sunrise-CLAMP offspring sparked too much glare on my eyes, and it obstructs my bishoujo view. Personally I don't like mecha anime so I kinda skipped on that. I thought to myself though… after the awesome Akiba coverage of Haruhi and even Lucky Star (which I thought wasn't good at all)… where's Kanon?

I thought that Kanon was Kyoto Animation's return to form, after lazing themselves out of the simplistic art and animation in Lucky Star. This franchise is bigger than Air, and having the return of the major seiyuu from the 2002 version seemed like a very big deal. Where is it though? Everytime I go to Akihabara, all I see were Code Geass. Much worse, Kanon didn't turn out to be as groundbreaking as Air. Maybe it's the play-safe story modifications or the animation was still recovering from post-LS illness. Not just that, but the other bishoujo game-based anime weren't up to snuff at all either. We had a string of forgettable anime of this genre. Though these anime properties don't necessarily represent the bishoujo game industry itself, it does play a part in trying to promote that genre of gaming to the otaku or mainstream public.

More importantly though, there are the games. As far as I can recall when I was there, the sole bishoujo game with the most hype was ef by Minori. With that breathtaking opening sequence and a potentially awesome story and CG art I thought this would be the game of the year (2006). Actually it wasn't. I read somewhere (lost the link though) that ef was a disappointment in terms of sales, and even Da Capo II sold better.

Now I am playing Da Capo II, and I tell you, there's nothing special about that game. Pitching in bishoujos and a central magic sakura mystery sounded like early 2000 when the first Da Capo game came to be. Nowadays these game companies seem to only ride on their own waves, creating sequels/side sequels of their own games just to fuel a bit of hype. Da Capo II, To Heart 2, Fate/hollow Atraxia, Tomoyo After, Muvluv Alternative, Summer Days. You know something's bad when you need to milk your popular franchise as your new game. It's a bit like what Final Fantasy VII is right now. It was almost the greatest game ever made, and yet all these second-rate sequel/side games (and average anime and CG movies) coming out based on it is slowly degrading the godliness of that original game. Summer Days was also controversial in requiring huge patches just to be playable, that's such a gross mistake.

While I'm far and away from Japan right now, it's bad enough that I myself don't even know a good bishoujo game from 2007… except for maybe Little Busters. Right now Key is the only prolific game company that seems to survive the recession, but even they have some problems of their own. Kyo-ani's Clannad is not doing well again (too much filler, too less Kyou and Tomoyo), and it seems that they're releasing another major game way too early. Either they need revenue, or Little Busters is not getting good mindshare.

What's wrong? Where are the revolutionary stories and games of the bishoujo industry? Is there some sort of writers' strike going on over there? Last year I was pondering on the sheer number of bishoujo games continually coming out, but if those thousands of games don't have good stories, much less good moe~ CG art, I don't think this will bid well for the industry as a whole. I think it's at its saturation point already. With TONS of games around, you wouldn't know where the real gems are. If it requires much effort to find a game with a decent story, you would tend to rely on the usual big-name companies. But as I said earlier, those big-name companies tend to go the milk-cow route, so their games will be a bit cookie-cutter.

Lastly, with the continual explosion of the doujin industry, things are worse than ever. Think about it, these major companies are being threatened by the little guys doing doujin software. Since Tsukihime, Higurashi and Touhou, doujin groups are continually upping the ante and are able to compete with the big guys. While some of doujin eventually go professional, I wouldn't be surprised if a backlash happens, that when you can't sell enough of your good game as a commercial product, maybe making it come closer to your intended audience (at otaku conventions as doujin) is better.

Clearly there's something wrong with bishoujo gaming nowadays. I have outlined a number of reasons already:
- Other anime hype overpowering bishoujo games
- Average bishoujo game-based anime
- Hype disappointments
- Sequelitis
- Writers' block
- Doujin vs. Commercial

Again, from where I'm sitting, I wouldn't even know the whole story, but I can certainly feel the lack of energy from here. I'm still staying positive though that the genre can deliver good games once again. The anime side is in a bit of a recovery with nice stuff like School Days, ef, and Kimikiss. That new Key (and Type-Moon too) game seems to be generating a bit of hype. Another Days seems to be selling well too. I don't think this industry is gonna fall, but I certainly hope things will get better this year.