My Favorite Galgame of 2017

I counted it up: I played 64 galge this year. For comparison, 2016 was 77 and 2015 was 80, so it’s trending exactly the way I figured it would. Fewer games every year, which is solid proof my life is getting fuller.

Not many, sure, but I did get through most of the big releases, and honestly the year as a whole left me disappointed.

For one thing, a bunch of the big studios put out nothing. Even the old moege factories were quiet. Yuzusoft had no new game, SAGA PLANETS is releasing at the end of the month—I’m enjoying what I’ve played of it so far, but I haven’t finished, so it misses the cut.

Most of what I did play was fan discs. Fan discs, more fan discs, and “fake fan discs” wearing a “second installment” label. Strip out those sequel cash-grabs and what’s left is moege and landmines.

I thought about it for a whole day and barely scraped together a list. It’s a pretty personal one. Use it as a reference if you want.

(Ranked in order)

You can hit play on the music first and read along. The button on the right opens the playlist.

8, Amenity’s Life

A make-up-purchase award for a game I missed last year. I weighed it against Making＊Lovers and decided to give the recommendation slot to this one.

Because it’s genuinely funny. SMEE’s games are funny too, but theirs lean more on romance. HOOK is different—fewer constraints—and this anthropomorphized-cast game is a lot of fun.

If all you want is a cheerful comedy style, this won’t let you down. The snark in here hits harder than SMEE’s, and it adds an SNS chat system on top, so it’s basically HOOK at full power.

7, Hatsujou Sprinkle (初情スプリンクル)

Uzushio-soft’s rebirth game. Compared to other studios in the same lane—Yuzusoft and the like—it still feels a step short, but hey, no new Yuzusoft game this year, right…

The standout here is the main heroine. She’s cute. Explosively cute. A lot of the smaller personality traits are handled really well too—if you’ve had a girlfriend like that, you’ll know I’m not making it up. The dialogue is funny and reads light and easy, perfect for breezy entertainment. The other heroines aren’t as well built as the main one, but they’re a big step up from Uzushio-soft’s previous work, and the black-tights/cola fans will find their fun too.

6, Shugaten! (しゅがてん！)

Why recommend this? Look at the picture. Because it looks good.

Aside from the art, the story isn’t a trap either—a fairy-tale-style tale, that’s all.

The protagonist is basically air; this is a yuri story. The soundtrack is another highlight—it’s just pleasant to sit in while you play. The fact that it pulls that off alone makes it worth a try.

5, Suisou Ginka no Istoria (水葬銀貨のイストリア)

This should have been my most anticipated game, should have been sitting at Top 1. But I thought about it and decided it doesn’t deserve that spot.

Scenario writer Rukuru can tell a story—can make it rise and fall, like with Mahou Tsukai no Paper, and like here. Objectively, Suisou Ginka no Istoria is a story full of twists and breathless pauses, real highs and lows, but mostly lows. The whole mood slides downhill from the midpoint and turns straight-up depressing. The heroines suffer as much as anyone can suffer, and so does the protagonist. Even though the script tells you it’ll be a Happy End, the gloom keeps making you doubt it.

As a story it’s decent, but as an experience it’s really not pleasant. It sat wrong with me. And the game has this contrived “twist for the sake of a twist” structure—afterward, all you’re left with is “that was well done,” nothing that sticks. For fans of the earlier work it’s a bit of a letdown; for young people without much mental fortitude, playing something this depressing really won’t make you happy.

It doesn’t make you think, and it doesn’t bring joy. This one’s positioning is genuinely awkward. Maybe people who love big twists should give it a shot.

4, Casablanca no Tsubomi (カサブランカの蕾)

If Suisou Ginka no Istoria was “good story” without leaving anything to reflect on, Casablanca no Tsubomi goes the opposite way: simple plot, but endlessly lingering afterward.

On the surface it’s a nukige, but the ending is unexpected. Unlike most nukige endings, doing wrong and indulging, betrayal and deception don’t lead anywhere good. After you drown in lust, what you get is emptiness.

The story looks absurd, yet sometimes you see real-life performances of it on X (Twitter) and Reddit. That’s the satire.

Absurd story, real-world mirror. Ridiculous, sad, and hard to forget.

3, Anata ni Koisuru Renai Recipe (あなたに恋する恋愛ルセット)

Do you like cute girls? Good music? Soft voices? Do you like listening to mellow music while a cute girl talks to you in a soft voice? Then this is the game for you.

Nothing here is peak, it just has no real weak points: good art, good music, good CV work, good story. Put it together and it’s a moege selling heroines.

Most of the scriptwriters are women, so the pacing feels different from other male-oriented stuff. Some call it slow; I think it’s fine. This game isn’t about the story, it’s about the girls. The story is you learning to make sweets with them. That’s it.

The CV cast mixes veterans and newcomers, each with their own flavor. The art is, to me, the best of the year—I’m still using it as a wallpaper—and I’m still listening to the ED. That tells you how much I like this one.

If you just want to look at cute girls, nice art, and listen to mellow music, this game will hit you with sugar-sweetness.

There was one other game in a similar vein this year: Ouchi ni Kaeru made ga Mashimaro desu. Why didn’t it make it? Too long, the art isn’t as good, and while there are plenty of jokes, a lot of them are hardcore. The script skews more male-oriented; the female-written style here just feels nicer.

2, Ouka Saki (桜花裁き)

Lots of games this year had unusual systems chasing playability—Ouka Saki, Hoshifuru Yoru no Farnese, and Mono no Aware wa Sai no Koro.—but Ouka Saki is the standout.

Why is it good? Simple: the system is great, the gameplay is fun, and the story has depth. It’s one complete package.

The setting is an alternate pre-Meiji-Restoration Japan, and precisely because it’s alternate, you can’t guess where it’s going.

This is a game made with care—way better than that dumb plot Nakazawa wrote—which is why it had the confidence to port to PS4. You don’t do that without substance.

If you like Ace Attorney, give this a try. It’s genuinely fun, and hard, too. I just personally can’t stand that little slice of Japanese history.

1, Kage no Umi no Apeiria (景の海のアペイリア)

This is the game that hit me hardest this year, because it’s a con job from the start.

At first it feels like Sword Art Online. Then it turns out it’s not SAO—it’s The Matrix.

Style is one of a kind. The dirty jokes are brutal, and the logical reasoning sections are hardcore as hell. The writer seems to have written this to shut up the nitpickers who complained his “building a rocket” logic was sloppy—there’s a mountain of data explaining “why I wrote it this way,” to the point where parts read like a textbook.

Still, the impact stuck with me. I know a lot of STEM types play galge, and plenty love this pseudo-science style of plot. Kage no Umi no Apeiria is exactly that game. The romance writing is so-so, but the story’s excitement and atmosphere are a style all their own this year. Worth a try.

Not many games this year are worth recommending. To be honest, the most-read impressions I wrote this year were all about Doki Doki Literature Club!. I still don’t recommend it—it’s a horror game made by a crazy person.

There are a few games more interesting to recommend, not for quality but because they’re worth experiencing. Three of them, separately:

Amanatsu Adolescence (甘夏アドゥレセンス) A game that goes off the rails at the midpoint and perfectly demonstrates what “just writing whatever the hell you want” means.

Senji Tantei (一千字侦探) A creative game you can finish in one minute. (The author even left a comment.)

Aoiro Note (アオイロノート) Not especially long, but an absolute showcase of landmine design. Insane. I strongly suggest playing it in shitposting mode.

As a bonus, here’s my best 2017 galge music list. Styles are all over the place, but these really are the best I heard this year (even though plenty of the games themselves are trash).

19, Shiode Misaki - Koi no Su☆Ichakoraizu - Koi no Su☆Ichakoraizu OP 18, kicco - Miracle☆Feel Free - Tayutama 2 - After Stories OP 17, Yumeno Yuki - Change The World - Golden Hour OP 16, Matsushita - Hey Darling! - Wagamama High Spec OC OP 15, hana - Sorakoi (Summer memories Ver.) - Casablanca no Tsubomi ED 14, Shimotsuki Haruka - leap in your mind - Honoguraki Toki no Hate Yori OP 13, luna (Mizutani Runa) - Tantei Seven - Tantei Seven OP 12, Suzuyu - Euphorium - Astraea no Shiroki Towa Finale -Shiroki Hoshi no Yume- OP 11, Hashimoto Miyuki - Koi no Pas de Deux - Amenity’s Life ED 10, Fuyuno Sakura - PRIZM/CIRCUiT - Natsuiro Kokoro Log Happy Summer OP 9, Yuzuki Sora - love you - Sakura Hirahira Koi Moyou ED 8, Sakura Saki Momoka - Growing up - Koi no Su☆Ichakoraizu insert song 7, Chata - Sugar×Sugar - Ouchi ni Kaeru made ga Mashimaro desu ED 6, Moka Choko - Mashimaro Whip - Ouchi ni Kaeru made ga Mashimaro desu OP 5, Chata - Candy a Mine - Shugaten! OP 4, Satou Hiromi - Jiyuu no Tsubasa - Tsukikage no Simulacre OP 3, Yuka - Girls’ Carnival - Making＊Lovers OP 2, yuiko - Chiisana Amai Koi - Anata ni Koisuru Renai Recipe ED 1, Yakushi Ruri - Apeiria - Kage no Umi no Apeiria OP

The music’s already in the player up top. Play it yourself.

Game list (updated on the games list page):

Yoru Meguru, Bokura no Maigo Kyoushitsu /archives/7630/

Ruri no Kasane ~Imouto Monogatari /archives/7610/

Finding Paradise https://plumz.me/archives/7594/

Pure Marriage Akai Ito Monogatari Serika-hen /archives/7571/

Kizuna Kirameku Koi Iroha /archives/7512/

Making＊Lovers /archives/7476/

Qie Ting Qin Yu /archives/7418/

Sakura Hirahira Koi Moyou /archives/7358/

Nora to Oujo to Noraneko Heart 2 /archives/7310/

Hoshifuru Yoru no Farnese /archives/7260/

Doki Doki Literature Club! /archives/7057/

Mono no Aware wa Sai no Koro. /archives/7031/

Onii-chan Migite no Shiyou wo Kinshi Shimasu 2 /archives/6965/

Zannen na Ore-tachi no Seishun Jijou. /archives/6933/

Golden Hour /archives/6821/

Wagamama High Spec OC /archives/6784/

Hatsujou Sprinkle /archives/6719/

Sakuranomori†Dreamers 2 /archives/6656/

Aoiro Note /archives/6636/

Ouchi ni Kaeru made ga Mashimaro desu /archives/6621/

Kage no Umi no Apeiria /archives/6585/

Tantei Seven /archives/6501/

Haruoto Alice＊Gram /archives/6436/

Ao no Kanata no Four Rhythm Extra 1 https://plumz.me/archives/6519/

Kekkon Shugi Kokka /archives/6358/

Pure Song Garden! /archives/6406/

GRISAIA Phantom Trigger VOL 1 GRISAIA Phantom Trigger VOL 2 /archives/6336/

Hatsukoi＊Syndrome /archives/6323/

Inaka Kan Kiseki no Iki-Shinriki de Junboku Musume ni Sei Chuunyuu♥ /archives/6304/

PakoMane Watashi, Kyou kara Meimon Yakyuubu no Sei Shori-gakari ni Narimasu… /archives/6284/

Chicchana Hanayome Mada Mada Tsubomi da Mon’ /archives/6246/

Casablanca no Tsubomi /archives/6226/

COLOR OF WHITE /archives/6202/

Anata ni Koisuru Renai Recipe /archives/6185/

Baldr Heart /archives/6145/

Tayutama 2 - After Stories /archives/6093/

9-nine- Kokonotsu Kokonoka Kokonoiro /archives/6049/

Otonari Koi Sensou /archives/6012/

Amanatsu Adolescence https://plumz.me/archives/5970/

Koi no Su☆Ichakoraizu /archives/5935/

Natsuiro Kokoro Log Happy Summer /archives/5907/

Hataraku Otaku no Renai Jijou /archives/5893/

Suisou Ginka no Istoria /archives/5815/

Timepiece Ensemble /archives/5763/

Houkago ni Midareru Ane Kyoushi to Tonari no Heya de Aegu Imouto Koibito ni Natta Onnanoko ga, Shiriai no Iya na Otoko ni Netorareru /archives/5747/

Ouka Saki /archives/5658/

Onii-chan, Kiss no Junbi wa Mada desu ka? Ecchi no Junbi mo Mada desu ka? /archives/5634/

Nekonin Exheart /archives/5624/

Shugaten! /archives/5592/

Kanojo to Ore no Renai Nichijou /archives/5557/

Tsukikage no Simulacre /archives/5521/

Majo Koi Nikki Dragon×Caravan /archives/5477/

Kimi no Hitomi ni Hit Me /archives/5461/

Astraea no Shiroki Towa Finale -Shiroki Hoshi no Yume- /archives/5419/

Hoshikoi＊Twinkle /archives/5402/

Corona Blossom Vol.3 Journey to the Stars /archives/5381/

Senji Tantei /archives/5355/

Koi wa Yumemiru Mousatsu Girl! /archives/5348/

Imouto ga Ji ni Natta no de Zayaku wo Irete Yatta Ken /archives/5335/

Honoguraki Toki no Hate Yori /archives/5366/

PARA-SOL /archives/5320/

Akiyume Kukuru /archives/5288/

Amenity’s Life /archives/5257/

See you next year.