Original Release: Software House Parsley, 1995, PC-98
Other Releases: Windows (1996)
This pioneering eroge was one of the first visual novels to incorporate dating sim and RPG gameplay elements, and was also one of the first to be translated to English for a commercial release.
True Love (Software House Parsley, Windows, 1996)
Where to Buy: Steam
How to Emulate: Play in-browser online at The Asenheim Project
Review by: Master-B
Software House Parsley cranked out a number of hentai games in Japan in the late 80s and throughout the 90s, and they stood out a bit from the morass of “visual novels” at the time by actually having substantial gameplay in some cases. True Love is one of their titles that aimed a bit higher than the usual porn mark, and it’s the only one they ever translated to English and tried to sell in the West.
True Love blends time management, RPG elements and a dating sim in a way that you see a lot of now, but was pretty unique when this first came out in 1995. You play as a college kid entering the final year of his studies and looking to “make memories.” You pick what is essentially a character class for a starting boost to certain of your stats – appearance, scholastics, athletics and artistic ability. Navigating your final year of college life is a matter of setting a daily schedule of one activity each for the morning, afternoon and night. Some things will just raise your levels, but the key to the game is scheduling the right activities at the right times to meet girls and go through their sequence of events.
So what’s the point of these events? Get Rucky. However, though True Love is an unabashed hentai game (and actually a pretty explicit one) it also focuses on relationship-building with the girls in question, much more so than the typical H-game. Getting to the end of their sequence of events successfully makes them an eligible option to be chosen as your “true love” and long-term relationship when you reach the end.
As far as the hentai content goes, it’s the standard CG static pics and there’s nothing real weird but it does show explicit sex acts. Uncensored, too, which I’m not sure if was just for the English-language release or somehow technically doesn’t violate Japan’s “no crotches” rule (IIRC there’s no penetration shown but there are some dingdong and hooha shots with the usual buckets of Messy Mayo being sprayed about).
The game has some depth to it as it is technically possible to get all of the dozen or so girls in one playthrough, but is basically impossible without knowing all of its secrets and the exact moves to make in every turn in advance. A more realistic playthrough will have you focusing on two or three.
While the writing isn’t anything special by broader standards, it was a pretty big jump forward for erotic visual novels. This was one of the first (maybe THE first) to incorporate the depth and options of the more tame romantic non-porn dating sims that were getting big in Japan in the mid-90s like Tokimeki Memorial. The localization is definitely iffy and awkward, done by someone clearly speaking English as a non-fluent second language, but it’s actually not bad on the whole. It alternates between surprisingly coherent English and giving you hilarious lines like “UUUURGH! I’M BLASTING! BLAST AWAY!” to describe the climax of an amorous adventure.
The sex content is also pretty much free of degenerate and disturbing stuff. There is one girl in the lineup who is definitely meant to look a little too young, but the game takes pains to point out she’s actually 18 (but not a 1000yo dragon). You can just totally ignore her, so whatever.
The presentation consists of decent enough art for 1995. It has the typical slightly annoying bouncy music of the Japanese visual novel of the period, though here it at least uses digital sound samples instead of MIDI and there are at least a couple of decent pieces scattered in the mix.
There’s no getting around that the main appeal here was the porn, but True Love actually has a surprising amount to offer on the gameplay and replayability fronts as well.
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