Furifuri

] and is the fifth title to be developed by 130cm, after their previous titles such as "Princess Bride". The gameplay in "Furifuri" follows a linear plot line, which offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the five female main characters.

Gameplay

The gameplay in "Furifuri" requires little player interaction from the player, as most of the duration of the game is only spent on reading the text that appears on the screen, representing either dialogue between characters, or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Every so often, the player will come to a "decision point", where he or she is given the chance to choose from multiple options. The time between these points is variable and can occur anywhere from a minute to much longer. Gameplay pauses at these points and depending on which choice the player makes, the plot will progress in a specific direction. There are five main plot lines that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. To view all five plot lines, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and make different decisions to progress the plot in an alternate direction.

Plot

etting and themes

The main part of "Furifuri"] Nihongo|Zyun Ōtori|鳳潤|Ōtori Jun|"Voiced by": Usako Usada, another heroine, is the apprentice to the hero Nihongo|Merluza|メルルーサ|Merurūsa|"Voiced by": Naoki Koshita. Though proud of this fact and works hard in becoming a hero, she wishes of a romantic interest of someone her age. She maintains a calm personality, and never hesitates before helping anyone. [citeweb|url=http://130cm.jp/games/furifuri/chara_zyun.html|title=Zyun's character introduction at "Furifuri"'s official website|publisher=130cm|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-07-23] Nihongo|Mako von Ostwind and Kako von Ostwind|馬子＝フォン＝オストヴィント、鹿子＝フォン＝オストヴィント|Mako Fon Osutovinto, Kako Fon Osutovinto|"Voiced by": Airi Himekawa, both heroines, are twins born to the royal family of a pirate country. Despite their selfish personalities, they care about others, though in a subtle way. [citeweb|url=http://130cm.jp/games/furifuri/chara_futago.html|title=Mako and Kako's character introduction at "Furifuri"'s official website|publisher=130cm|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-07-23] Nihongo|Kaguya Tsuruya|月詠かぐや|Tsuruya Kaguya|"Voiced by": Haruto Tsuruya, the fifth and last heroine, is a first year student from Haruaki's school. She is a model student, and is the only other waste club member other than Haruaki, joining due to her crush with Haruaki. [citeweb|url=http://130cm.jp/games/furifuri/chara_kaguya.html|title=Kaguya's character introduction at "Furifuri"'s official website|publisher=130cm|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-07-23]

tory

The story of "Furifuri" revolves around the male protagonist Haruaki Aki, a young high school student who lives in the town of Hoshifuri. One day, on his way home from school, Haruaki observed the falling of a waste. Having always been a fan of the waste, and because of the rare chances to obtain waste even to locals, Haruaki heads straight to where the waste has landed. Upon his arrivial, Haruaki discovers a small piece of light. As he reaches out for it, the light disappears, leaving only the piece of waste. As Haruaki slips it into his pocket and decides to go home, two lights suddenly blows from the sky, and along with the lights, two girls, Minori Momose and Zyun Ōtori lands on the ground. The two girls then engaged in battle while Haruaki watches by the side thinking they are shooting a film. Haruaki is then seriously injured, but is able to recover with the power of the waste he found eariler, absorbing Minori's master, Horobi in the process. With Horobi now residing in Haruaki's body, Minori decides to stay at Haruaki's house, with Zyun staying in town to monitor them.

Development

"Furifuri" is the fifth title to be developed by 130cm, after previous titles such as "Princess Bride". Art direction is headed by Iko Izumi, who has also provided the character designs used in the game, and will be the artist's first work on a visual novel project. [citeweb|url=http://erogamescape.ddo.jp/~ap2/ero/toukei_kaiseki/creater.php?creater=12357|title=Iko Izumi's profile at ErogameScape|publisher=ErogameScape|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-07-22] Planning for "Furifuri" is headed by Makoto Hyōtō, with the scenario being provided by Kansei Nishisora. Music used in the game is composed by U-ma. Both Makoto Hyōtō and U-ma has previously been in the development team of "Kanojo-tachi no Ryūgi", 130cm's previous game. [citeweb|url=http://erogamescape.ddo.jp/~ap2/ero/toukei_kaiseki/creater.php?creater=3972|title=Information on "Kanojō-tachi no Ryūgi" at ErogameScape|publisher=ErogameScape|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-07-23] Two pieces of theme songs will be used in the visual novel. The opening theme, entitled "Stars Biscuit" was performed and written by Kotoko, and was composed and arranged by Maiko Iuchi.

Release history

On July 25 2008, a free game demo of "Furifuri" was released to the public online, which gave the player a glimpse into the characters and the story of the game through the typical gameplay of a visual novel in which the player reads the text that appears on the screen. The full game was released on August 29 2008 as a DVD playable only on a Microsoft Windows PC.

Reception and sales

"Twinkle Crusaders" was placed as the seventh most purchased game on solely Getchu.com throughout the month of August 2008, [citeweb|url=http://www.getchu.com/pc/salesranking200808.html|title=Getchu.com's August 2008 sales ranking|publisher=Getchu.com|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-10-05] and was also the fifth most purchased game in Japan that month, according to a national ranking of PC games in Japan. [citeweb|url=http://www.pc-press.net/sales.html|title="PCPress" August sales ranking chart|publisher=PCPress|language=Japanese|accessdate=2008-10-05]

References

External links

* [http://130cm.jp/games/furifuri/index.html Official "Furifuri" visual novel website] ja icon