Highschool Romance Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

Highschool Romance Switch NSP Free Download Released on November 18, 2015, Highschool Romance stars Shoji, a young man who just transferred into an all-girls’ academy for his final year of high school due to some paperwork errors by his parents. Upon arriving at the school, Shoji is encouraged by the principal, Lea Rowen, to cross-dress as a girl and try to fit in, pointing out that, if he were to try and transfer elsewhere, the amount of paperwork and time it would take would put him behind in his studies and at a disadvantage as he prepares to transfer into a university.ROMSLAB.COM BEST SWITCH GAMES

Highschool Romance Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

Thus begins the trap comedy that is Highschool Romance. Thrust into this strange new world, Shoji must find a way to hide the fact he’s a male, survive a year in the dorms, and possibly make some friends which could result in love blossoming. If you’re familiar with Himegoto or Otoboku: Maidens Are Falling For Me, then you’re probably already familiar with how this should play out. If not, we’ll get to that. First, though, the graphics.

Let me get this out of the way right off the bat.

I strongly dislike this art style. I can’t put my finger on it, but it really just bothers me and feels like an imitation of an anime style rather than being done in an anime style. That said, the artwork is gorgeous. This is honestly some of the best artwork I’ve seen in a PC visual novel at this price. Despite my dislike of the style, it’s easy to tell there’s a lot of love and care that went into drawing and producing every asset of Highschool Romance. There is a problem, though, which is that, while the artwork produced is very good, there’s not nearly enough of it. Specifically, the character art.ScourgeBringer Switch NSP

Highschool Romance Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

The main problem here is that characters aren’t expressive outside of the CGs. For example, at one point one of the girls, Hoshi, ends up drunk and her character art doesn’t change from her default smiling art. Out of the 160+ screenshots I took for this review, barely any of them show emotional change outside of the occasional blushing or a laugh. As such, you never quite make an emotional connection with the characters and you’re never quite pulled into the story. So, graphics are a mixed bag, but what about the music?

The music is actually pretty good.

In fact, it’s probably the best part overall about Highschool Romance. While it’s not something I’d load onto my music player to just enjoy, every piece does fit the mood and help to convey what’s going on. Especially considering there’s no voice work in this one. However, for a game at this price point, I think that’s fine, especially as much of the budget probably went into the artwork. Really, I have no complaints here. The game design is where problems start to show up.SD Gundam G Generation Cross Rays Switch

Highschool Romance Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

Visual novel game design is something that’s been pretty refined for years. Unless you’re adding features to make things easier for the player, there’s just a few basic elements you need to make sure they work properly. One of the most crucial of all being the skip read text feature which is there to make repeat playthroughs easier. I ran into some odd issues where Highschool Romance would not skip text even though I had already read it, or would skip text I hadn’t read yet. While the game can be patched to fix this (and may have, as the version this review is primarily based off of is 1.1 while the game was just updated to 1.2), it’s still a pretty basic feature to implement poorly.

Let’s revisit the premise of Highschool Romance for a moment.

Shoji has just transferred into an all-girls’ academy due to a mistake on his parents’ part. Because the premise is that Shoji is put into this odd situation, we can easily forgive any issue with the setup to this. In fact, the game tries to explain this by noting the school was originally co-ed until a few years ago and that his parents merely checked the wrong box for gender (which can still raise several other questions). A trap story really has only a few key points to hit to be successful. The character should struggle with maintaining their identity as the other gender.SD Gundam G Generation Genesis for Switch NSP

Highschool Romance Switch NSP Free Download Romslab

The character should probably (but not always) feel guilty for lying to others about their gender and for doing things they shouldn’t be doing (like being in the girl’s locker room while others are changing). And, finally, the unveiling of their true gender should be dramatic. It should a moment where the trap character is sweating bullets and wondering if they’re about to be shunned, or if the person who found out will be accepting of the circumstances no matter how bizarre they can be. The character making the discovery generally should have a moment of shock or crisis themselves even if it’s only for a few moments. Essentially, dramatic tension should be kept so that the payoff of the reveal feels rewarding to the reader; we can see the true colors of our characters, and the better aspects or flaws of humanity.

Add-ons (DLC): Highschool Romance Switch NSP