Adult Games #6

Amorous Professor Cherry (2004)
By: ZyX Genre: Visual Novel Players: 1 Difficulty: N/A
Featured Version: PC
Also Available For: Nothing

All of the so-called adult games I have covered so far here at Red Parsley could really be categorised in the same way: they're all arcade or arcade-style games and they would all be perfectly playable with the modest adult content removed (which usually consists of a few boobies here and there). Games such as the one featured here are a whole different deal, however. It's a visual novel - a type of game very popular in Japan but which I have limited experience of so far; I've only played one in fact, namely Kanon, which itself has a very small number of pervy scenes, although there is also an 'all ages' version. Amorous Professor Cherry, on the other hand, definitely does not have an all ages version. As I discovered within seconds of starting it, we're in full-on 'erotic' game territory here. In other words, porn (or specifically, hentai). But is there a decent game beneath it all?

There is actually a lot of this kind of stuff over in Japan. Some older systems, especially those not released elsewhere, were heaving under the weight of the masses of adult titles found on them (with varying degrees of sauciness), and nowadays of course it's the good old PC that hosts the greatest number, most of which are visual novels. I've been discovering all this fairly recently (it's all part of the service!) but the first example I actually tried playing (besides Kanon which doesn't really count) was Amorous Professor Cherry, and to be honest, the story didn't give me a lot of hope that it was going to be anything other than blatant porn. The player takes the role of 19 year old high-school student Kouta Koikawa, you see, who is smart and diligent but an all-consuming crush on his 26 year old homeroom teacher, Chieri Hase, is distracting him and causing his grades to slip.

Being the conscientious-but-naive type, Chieri (Cherry) decides she must always do everything within her power to help her students. But how does she resolve to help this student with this particular problem? Well, to put it in terms appropriate to this innocent blog, she offers to provide him with a bit of... *ahem*, sexual relief, prior to any lesson from which he may feel otherwise distracted. How she initially goes about this I'll leave to your imagination, but as you might expect, Kouta coincidentally feels 'distracted' every day from that point on, sometimes multiple times per day, and Ms. Chieri's ministrations evolve and vary accordingly. These two characters aren't the only ones in the game though. Kouta's best friend is Shigeaki and often found hanging around with both of them is Kiyoka Yorii, the school 'idol'. Plus, when the narrative switches to Chieri's point of view as it occasionally does, we also see a fair bit of Mamiko Kanai, her friend and fellow teacher who is also 26 years old.

Naturally, you can also pursue the odd physical dalliance with the two other ladies if you so choose, and yes, even more than one of them at once. Kiyoka is a tough nut to crack but Mamiko is the opposite. She's insatiable, a bit of slut even, who has already had 'relations' with several other students. It is possible to steer proceedings into a more relationship-ish setting but the main focus of all the routes through the game is very definitely sexual. Indeed, unlike Kanon, whose single sexual encounter on each route could easily be removed without affecting the story in the slightest (and was, for several versions), here there are many pervy scenes, some of which go too far for my liking. Of course, though, being a visual novel, you can avoid these particular routes if you so desire, by way of the choices you make when prompted, and stick to the 'normal' ones. As much as any of this game is normal, obviously.

There is of course an audience for this kind of thing but I'm not sure I'm among them. I don't mind fan service in games or anime (and let's face it - visual novels are kind of a cross between the two), the odd booby here and there, or even a sex scene, but only as long as it doesn't detract from the story or objective. When the entire story and/or objective is the sex though; when the only reason to play is to view sex scenes, it becomes a bit pointless doesn't it? The scenes in question are quite numerous and varied if that's your thing, and there are even a number of brief animated sequences which portray a variety of 'acts'. The quality of the artwork is pretty good too. The characters look quite appealing (in normal circumstances), although both teachers have unrealistically-giant boobs, and the backgrounds are quite detailed, but I would have hoped there would be more of both really.

Besides Kouta there are only the four characters, and the number of different 'locations' isn't too great either. Similarly, the music is good enough but there aren't that many tunes so they do get somewhat repetitive. The dialogue is a real mixed-bag for me. All characters but Kouta are voiced (in Japanese only) as well as their dialogue appearing on-screen in text, and there is a lot of squealing and exaggerated sexual sounds during those particular scenes as well. The technical stuff is adequate enough though; the game's main weakness is its story or lack thereof. There are a few funny scenes, mainly involving Chieri who can be quite cute in some ways, and even a couple of moments that border on the emotional if you really try and dig them out, but for the most part everything is all very directionless. The only point of continuing, or even starting the game, is to see the hentai. That's it.

As far as that is concerned... Well, as mentioned, they are numerous and quite varied, but also range from slightly improbable to totally preposterous, but in both cases Kouta's 'endowment' and sexual stamina are completely unrealistic, as is his ability to please the ladies so well. That's to be expected though, I suppose - I imagine the game was written by a guy who had a crush on his own teacher; kind of an attempt to live out the fantasy, perhaps. But for the rest of us? Well, I won't repeat myself, you'll know by now if this appeals to you. If you do fancy giving it a try, you easily can - unlike many similar titles, it did get a U.S. release, but I won't be seeking out more VN's of this type (although they seem so prevalent I don't doubt I'll encounter another one sooner or later anyway!). It's difficult to know what score to give this game though. On one hand, I'm pretty sure it does what it does well, but on the other, it's not really a game for gamers. Somewhere in the middle then?

RKS Score: 6/10

Special Note: As you might imagine, it wouldn't be the best idea on my part to include a 'gameplay video' with this review (I'm sure I'd be reported pretty sharpish!)...