The Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya
Nintendo Switch

Publisher – D3Publisher
Developer – D3 Publisher Inc.
Category – Adventure
Release Date – 03.08.2018

Have you ever wanted to be wooed by a gaggle of pretty men? If so boy do i have a game for you. The Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya is essentially a visual novel adult romance game. It puts you into the shoes of Kikuya, the daughter and heir to a fine clothing shop. Your mother has sent you to the brothel of Yoshiwara to find a courtesan so you can fulfill your duties and provide an heir to the family. Why you ask, because there are no men on the island of Yoshiwara, so must go pay to be impregnated. Sound a little old fashioned, well thats because its set on an island where everyone is a little behind on the times.

On your arrival into Yoshiwara proper you are greeted by the mistress of the brothel. You are then introduced to the five men who you can select to be your suitor. After you make your choice the romance begins. Your character almost immediately falls in love with whichever man you select, the rest of the story follows the budding romance between the two. Each character you chose has their own story line that plays out differently, but no matter which one chose your going to be doing a lot of reading. That’s what a visual novel is after all, the only real interaction you have is pressing a button to skip to the next line of dialog and occasionally choosing a response to a question.

The art in Yoshiwara: Ohgiya is very well done with lots of rich and vibrant colors. The only problem here is that there is only a handful of screens for each character that you choose. That might not be a big deal though depending on if your playing solely for the story or not. The background music also is very nice with a blend traditional Japanese and ambient soft scores. Once again though there are only so many tracks that your going to hear many times over.

The Verdict

While many elements of the game are aesthetically pleasing and well done, content is somewhat lacking. There just were not enough different screens for each scenario, you see the same ones so many times when different things are going on. There just should have been more and the same goes for the music. Our five different gentlemen callers could have used some more variation as well, all five of them besides obvious visual differences are very much the same type of person. None of them are what you would call a manly or macho man.

They all lean on the feminine side and if thats your thing that’s great but if not your pretty much stuck with five different variations of the same type of guy. The Story’s for each guy also suffer from far too much similarities and if your going to play through this game five times your going to have to be very very into everything about Yoshiwara: Ohgiya. The publisher D3publisher stated that this game is specifically for women or at least for those who are interested in being seduced by men. So maybe i am not the target player, but even if you do find yourself in the target audience you will most likely find yourself having the same qualms as me. However if your in the market for a visual romance novel than The Men of Yoshiwara: Ohgiya should do the trick.

TL;DR

Straightforward romantic visual novel
Lovely presentation of music and visuals with not enough variety
Engaging enough of a story for what it is
Not for children or fans of not reading a lot in games