Shira Oka Demo Available!

After many years of hard-work, sweat and tears, one of the first full-fledged aspiring American-made commercial visual novels/dating sims is finally available! Or at least a demo of it is. Produced/released by the California-based game company Okashi Studios, Shira Oka hopes to act as a catalyst of sorts for the bishoujo industry in America and was released by fans for fans!

When you first start off, the player, starts off as a professional slacker who reflects back on his high school days with disgust and pain. He missed out on everything that life had to offer to him spending his time at the bar until one day he wakes up, talks to an angel, and he finds himself as a high school student once again!

Taking a page out of Tokimeki Memorial‘s and Persona’s playbook, you have four major categories in which you can distribute points to: intelligence, fitness, creativity and charm. While making your character, you’ll also have the ability to stylize your character with different sliders that fall underneath the different stats. The only catch? They’re the only things that you can’t change once you start the game. Additionally, you may also distribute your points into a ‘my quirks’ system that functions as an amalgamation between ‘my traits’ in Sims 3 along with a skill-building tree in a MMO. Want to get rid of your “lazy” trait? Then save up ten points, but spend them and you’ll lose your chance to build up your stats. It’s these little things that I believe makes Shira Oka any stat fan’s dream and adds tons of replay value.

As the main character, you’ll start off your journey during Golden Week in Japan. Which to any of you not accustomed to Japanese culture, is the equivalent of Thanksgiving Break. Many leisure-based industries experience a boom, people are off and it’s a National Holiday. My only problem?

That the main character seems to have accepted the fact that he was just sent back in time a little readily. I mean, if I were sent back in time I would probably freak out before I thought of things that I could change. Not that it’s a bad thing, it’s just something that could have used some improvement. Anyways, onto the main features…the girls! There are a total of nine bachelorettes to choose from, and while I will admit that all of them are cute and moe in their own way, I’m very curious to see on whether or not Satsuko will be available as a datable option as she’s currently my favorite among the cast. Followed by Aya.

Featuring the voice talents of American voice actors/actresses such as Stephanie Sheh (Mikuru, the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya), Julie Ann Taylor (Ai Ebihara, Persona 4) and Laura Bailey (Serah, Final Fantasy XIII); this is easily one of the inspired and most impressive visual and audio presentations for an American bishoujo game. Something that I should know of, considering that I’ve aided in the production of one for the past few years. The only thing is that not every line is voiced, although given the limited budget and scope of the game, I still have to say that it’s a job well-done. From the art style to the opening video, everything is quality. Also of note is the fact that unlike most visual novels, characters don’t stand still. They hop, bounce, etc. making for a much more immersive environment than other games.

During the game, players will have the ability to choose how they want to spend their days, either by going to school, working out, doing art, studying, etc. which will each affect your ability to perform a different activity. Depending on your stats, traits and fatigue level you may either fail or succeed, but either way you’ll still gain some points for them. Spend too much time doing one activity, and your skills in another will drop. So you’ll need to plan everything out accordingly. The only thing that I have yet to figure out though as of this time is how the game determines how many days you spend repeating each activity. On occasion, your schedule will be interrupted by event days, which is the point where you’ll get to interact with the girls.

When prompted, players get to choose between two different dialogue choices instead of being limited to periodical choices like in most visual novels. Choose the wrong thing to say at an inappropriate time, and the girl will begin to dislike you and just like Sakura Taisen’s time-based system, some of the dialogue choices are timed, meaning that you can’t sit there debating on which one to choose. You’ll need to act quickly, just like in real-life or the other person may start to dislike you. Personally, I can’t wait to see how the choices I make will affect the paired endings.

Although this is only a demo, and only covers the first month or so, it’s a good representation of what we’ll be able to expect out of the game whenever it reaches its inevitable ‘Golden Master’ state. I for one am really looking forward to its release and hopefully they’ll have some merchandising to go along with it. A Satsuko Dakimakura anyone?

Pros:

-Nine different girls to choose from, with over ten endings + a surprise

-Very impressive presentation for an American-made bishoujo game. Professional in every sense.

-Nice interaction.

-I love the fact that someone in America is trying to branch out. We need more games like this, and if it sells well developers should take notice! In other words, please DO NOT pirate once the game is out!

Cons:

-Despite being made in America, it’s very ‘Japanese’ which may be a turn-off for some players.

-Some of the voice acting is hit-or-miss, but that’s a given.

-Needs more save points. You can only save once you’re back at the home hub.

Download links (courtesy of Shira Oka):

Windows (XP/Vista/Win7) Download Site 1

Windows (XP/Vista/Win7) Download Site 2

Mac (OSX) Download Site 1

Mac (OSX) Download Site 2