Eroge in Review: Zutto Sukishite Takusan Sukishite

So I kind of had a release date for this article planned a long, long time ago. It got pushed forward due to happenings and I decided I would at least get it done before the newest game from the same company released (the 26th of sometime last year that I don’t even remember anymore). That didn’t happen either so you can imagine I’m a happy camper. A friend also proposed I get it posted this Valentine’s Day which I thought would be another cool idea. But here we are in the now and just…don’t say anything.

Welp, the gang is all here. Might as well get started.

Zutto Sukishite Takusan Sukishite (ずっとすきしてたくさんすきして) which can be thankfully abbreviated to “Sukisuki” is a game from onomatope* that hit shelves somewhere around the end of June 2013. In the case you played C:drive’s “Dokodemo sukishite itsudemo sukishite” (どこでもすきしていつでもすきして), Sukisuki was fully intended as the sister work for it (albeit published 5 years later). Like my previous review, it is a full fledged eroge so it’ll run you the wholesome near 9000 yen over if you want to get your feet wet (or you can snag a digital copy for 7000 or so). But that’s why I’m here, right? To tell you whether you should be buying this stuff or not. But why Sukisuki? Simple. If you don’t know me, I’m a huge fan of Shiratama (who was one of the lead artists of the game). If Shiratama works on something, then I’m am about 99.9% sure to throw money at it. A magazine with an illustration pack-in? A game? A handbag? A coaster? As long as Shiratama is providing the artwork I won’t say bunk about buying it. So there’s your reasoning.

Unlike most of the games I’ve gone over on this blog, the Sukisuki review will probably be pretty drab in comparison. It’s not exactly the most stunning game to come out in it’s time, but it’s also not the worst thing you’re going to play in your life. In the odd case you wanted to waste money on something horrible you can go back to the last eroge I reviewed (Cutie Bullet) and I think that’ll give you just what you want. But is Sukisuki a BAD game? Oh, not at all. Sukisuki is what you’d expect from a standard eroge, and it has enough fun and laughs to make it an enjoyable experience. If you’re in the market for what it’s trying to sell you that is.

Sharing music with me? Talk about a make or break relationship.

There’s no real reason to bend your ear too much about what Sukisuki is about as the genre of the game describes it entirely. So let me hit you with this. Sukisuki is under the genre of a “brain melting lovey dovey couple ADV”. And that genre fits the game entirely. In fact, there’s no more reason to even have to talk about the content of the game at this point. But I will anyway. If that genre didn’t tell you, Sukisuki is about le romance. The bulk of the game is spent on one youth’s endeavors to have the most joyous relationship he can with one of the various women who surround him.

You play as the disturbingly average Tokito who decides that despite being surrounded by so many girls he has yet to experience the magic of love and dating. After reading a book about developing the courage needed to chase your dreams, he decides it’s finally time to try his hand with one of the lovely ladies around him. One of those many lovely ladies include his attractive but disgustingly nerdy (so much no guy wants to touch her) younger sister, Towa. Another face in this mix is his childhood friend and ready to be housewife, Koharu. Alongside her in the childhood friend department is Tokito’s bad influence and game loving tomboy, Raika. Tokito’s fourth option is his quiet and reserved classmate, Serina. Finishing off the cast is Tokito’s co-worker, Towa’s best friend, and always male hating, Touma.

And, naturally, the cast slowly comes together due to all their different relations to Tokito. It’s not a particularly stunning cast but they do work together in a really strange way. You have enough heads in the bunch to be sensible, yet the dumb in Raika and Towa to add a bit of humor from time to time. The actual nice part of the game is that the game often switches perspective to the girl Tokito is dating during routes so they can have the entire female cast come together and have girl talk. And this is probably a good thing since there’s not too much of the game (and definitely not much worth replaying) before the routes themselves start. So the entirety of the cast at least gets to keep itself present in the game for the roaring majority of it.

Sorry that it’s not a 3D image guys.

For those who have played a lot of eroges, you probably know exactly what kind of game you’re getting into. It’s not really meant to jog your brain with it’s exciting plot or ideas. Nope, it’s just meant to melt it with lovey dovey romance. But I do think it’s actually really amusing and each route covers a different side to new relationships. Alright, so mostly relationships that have sexual issues, but there are still others issues mixed in there. And, sometimes, half the fun is getting to the actual relationship. Each route has it’s own little touches here and there that make it feel a little different, and it really tries hard to not steer the same way each time. And for the kind of game it is, I can appreciate the sense of it since it could easily just fall back on the sex or take the easy way out here and there.

But it’s not all candy and rainbows. There are plenty of flaws present in the writing here and there, and there a lot of times where I want a character to say something and not just let certain issues slide. There are just those times where the entire cast just lets things slide that NORMALLY wouldn’t be okay. But suddenly when the topic gets on sex they all gasp together at once. In that sense, the writing just gets really convenient when it doesn’t want to deal with something. The writer obviously wanted to cover what they wanted to cover and decided to write over the other details because of it. Like I said previously, it’s just that type of game. It’s hard to really ride it too hard for doing what it does but, at the same time, you’re probably going to say, or at least think, something of it.

I just think there’s something about the game’s design that’s just charming. And, fine, that’s probably some bias talking. I find it really hard to talk extensively about the CGs because chances are it’ll turn into me blabbing about how adorable Shiratama’s artwork is. So let’s talk about it in some boring, general fashion. Sukisuki gives you a decent amount of CGs but does the smart thing as any eroge and recycles scenes with the small adjustments to fit the scene. But it’s better than nothing and it packs in some cute little animated SD CGs to accompany scenes from time to time as well. So I’ll just throw in my little comment and say that I just feel the entire game is soft on the eyes. Maybe it’s the coloring, maybe it’s something else (Shiratama artwork), but I just felt incredibly relaxed as I played through Sukisuki.

But just how was the sex?

Even though I can’t say it about the entire soundtrack, I love Sukisuki’s music if just for the opening. “kiss me kiss to you” is just one of those really adorable songs that doesn’t just fit it’s material well but just has that aged charm. It’s a song that feels like it belongs in an older generation and I am 100% fine with that. The rest of the soundtrack is fitting but you’re probably not going to go back and listen to any of it for any reason. It doesn’t take anything away from the game but it doesn’t add any real value to it (again outside of the opening and some of the endings).

It’s not exactly a dramatic game so it’s hard to make any unique comments about the voice acting (much like the soundtrack). The game does have a good amount of well established voices in it though and they all cover their parts well. I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that the charm of a lot of lines came from the delivery. So while I can’t say that there are any award winning performances in Sukisuki, a key to comedy comes from delivery and that is something that the Sukisuki cast provides.

And if it needed to be said, the sex is plentiful. Very plentiful. Actually, it doesn’t make up the bulk of the game but it almost feels like it. It could just be the fact that the topic of it comes up a lot, but it’s there and if you’re into lovey dovey kind of sex scenes, this is probably your thing. And, no, I don’t really want to hear what your weird little fetishes are. So I’m not going to go much further than this. But if you’re looking for something a little on the weird side, you’re probably sniffing around the wrong place. Sukisuki is just straight, fresh couple lovey dovey sex. And since I always seem to bring up this point, the scenes are well implemented enough. It is a love story so I would be a little worried if they weren’t, but the volume of them doesn’t really interfere with properly working them into the scenario.

Some things are just so cute you need to punch someone as an end result.

As you can see, Sukisuki is just a very face value game. It’s nothing that’s incredibly mold breaking but that doesn’t necessarily make it bad. In a sea of games that sometimes try too hard to be different and end up failing, it’s nice to have a game that’s down to earth and just keeps it practical.

I just felt the need to talk about it because, well, Shiratama for one. It’s one of the few other ways outside of purchases I can help support her. So it’s akin to the reason I do all those Aikatsu! CD reviews. The other thing is that sometimes games like this just go unnoticed for no real reason. With an ever expanding market and the growing online distribution of games (some being big releases and other minor), it’s easy for good games to go unnoticed. Sometimes it’s good to have those people out there to spread the word and, better yet, become one of those people.

Overall
I think it’s nice to take a break from the hustle and bustle of the day with a game like Sukisuki. It’s so simple and easy to digest that you can just kind of slump back in your chair and get to take a few deep breaths. And the fact you get a few good laughs here and there is really just a bonus. Are there probably better games out there than Sukisuki? Of course. Does that mean it’s a complete waste of time and there’s no merit in picking it up? Of course not.

Sukisuki is still a really enjoyable game and something that is either completely for you or not. And you can easily figure it out for yourself. Are you not really into the action, drama thing? Check that box. Are you a fan of simple school life romances? Check the next box. Go to the Sukisuki homepage and check out the artwork. Does it strike you as adorable? Check that box too. If you managed to check all those boxes, then chances are you’ll get a good amount of enjoyment from Sukisuki. So go buy it. Really. Do it. Now.