Kokoro ga Tsunagu Koi Shirube (ココロが繋ぐ恋標) Review

Kokoro ga Tsunagu Koi Shirube (ココロが繋ぐ恋標) came out last month. I wasn’t even planning to play it, but then I saw a Japanese review saying it was worth an “80.”

And like an idiot, I believed them.

By all appearances this is MORE’s last gasp: a shell company of a shell company of MME, a factory-line product from KATE. Word is MME disbanded right after this shipped. The whole thing reeks of LASS on its deathbed. Nothing about it says “quality.”

But I saw Japanese players online saying the game has multiple routes, and that aside from the other routes being dogshit, the main Kokoro route is actually good.

And like an idiot, I believed them again.

So on a sunny afternoon, while Cola, Zijing, and Zhu Niubi were all off getting laid, I booted up this game.

It’s not long. I beelined straight for the Kokoro route, and when I finished I just wanted to punch my own hand:

Never again will I trust Japanese shitposting and act on impulse. Blood has been spilled.

So what’s this game actually about?

Simple enough. The protagonist starts off saying he’s been possessed lately—he keeps seeing a ghostly figure hovering around him.

He tells a few of his female classmates, and of course none of them believe him. One black-haired girl even invites him to her family’s shrine to exorcise him, but nothing comes of it.

Then one day the protagonist finally figures out what the ghost is: it’s a girl…

She floats in the air, her name is Kokoro, she’s glued to him, and she says she’s head-over-heels in love with him.

The protagonist drags floating Kokoro all over the place, only to find nobody else can see her—except one chuuni girl at school.

The chuuni girl calls the floating girl an “unknown spirit from another world” and tries to destroy her, but fails every time.

Finally she whips out an exorcism spray, hits Kokoro with it, then sprays the other friends, and suddenly everyone can see Kokoro.

What follows is boilerplate: everyone eats, drinks, messes around, and the protagonist gets to choose who to bang. Naturally, since the Japanese reviews hyped up the Kokoro route, I went with Kokoro.

Then the plot gets real clunky. The two of them inexplicably start dating, but there’s a problem: Kokoro can’t touch the protagonist.

He’s torn up about it. Then one day, as their feelings deepen, they can suddenly touch each other. And once touching is on the table, it’s straight to the wheelbarrow position—three rounds a day, what a time to be alive!

But just then the black-haired girl, the chuuni girl, and the other heroines all warn the protagonist: “The Earth is going to be destroyed.”

The protagonist is shocked—why is the world ending? The black-haired girl and the chuuni girl immediately reintroduce themselves: they’re scientists from other worldlines. To solve this worldline’s impending destruction, they’ve figured out what Kokoro really is—a “phantom that doesn’t belong in this worldline.” By forcing a relationship with her, by having sex and touching her, the protagonist has broken the boundary between worldlines and created a massive black hole. The world is about to end! The fate of every soul on Earth is hanging off your dick!

The protagonist is baffled. Honestly, so was I. How does dating someone turn the Earth into a black hole? I’ve played games that didn’t pull this shit.

Of course, Kokoro overhears the conversation, and then the protagonist can’t find her—only a note at home covered in “ごめんなさい.”

Eventually, predictably, the protagonist finds Kokoro’s hiding spot. They have a quickie out in the wild, then go back to face the scientists and solve the world-ending problem. The scientists say it’s easy: just run her through this device.

In the end Kokoro gets processed—something about transferring her from another worldline to this one—the Earth is saved from the black hole, and the game hits a Happy End.

And then the game ends. That’s it…

I rubbed my eyes at the screen to make sure I’d read it right. I can’t fathom how a game at this level got an “80” from Japanese players… or rather, how this thing even got sold.

First off, most of the CGs are recycled assets from previous MORE games—SuiteLife, Casablanca no Kashibe, and some Bakuretsu Shoujo game. Aside from a pitiful handful of original CGs, it’s all old material. The voice acting is weak too; Suzuko Konami as the main heroine barely passes, and that’s being generous. The music is generic, and I don’t even want to listen to the OP—I might skip buying the OST this time. If MME puts out games at this level, going under is the only logical outcome.

I can’t even be bothered to snark about the plot. Snarking feels like losing—it’s like criticizing an elementary school essay for having low ambitions. This braindead sudden “Earth destruction” twist feels like it was pulled straight out of someone’s ass…

The game’s one redeeming moment is when the protagonist finds Kokoro again: the music, the CG, and the voice acting in that scene are genuinely perfect. I was just starting to get invested, and then the camera cuts and the protagonist starts going at it with the heroine in the wilderness, leaving me staring at a screen full of sprayed fluids, utterly helpless.

Maybe this was MORE trying to squeeze out one last payday, but with content this half-assed, I don’t know if it sold. Maybe it really didn’t, which is why MME’s president couldn’t afford a new MBPR, and why MME disbanded. Cause and effect, I guess.

I genuinely don’t know how to rate this game… Since the New Year is coming up,

all I can do is wish MME’s former president Shinichiro Kitazawa a happy New Year. Hang in there—don’t let the new shell company go under too.

Oh right, there’s one other highlight in this game…

At the very start, when the protagonist says he’s been possessed by a ghost girl, you can actually see Kokoro on the right side of the screen—but she’s extremely, extremely transparent. You have to look really carefully to notice her.

Looking back on the whole game, maybe that’s the real highlight?

Other than that, this game should’ve just been called “I Dated a Ghost Girl and Nearly Destroyed the Earth.”