Anima Mundi
This was developed by Karin Entertainment, released in Japan in January 2005 and released in English by Hirameki International in May 2006.The game is described as a “gothic horror adventure.” There are no sex scenes and romance doesn’t feature hugely in the storyline but the main character does form a romantic attachment to other male characters in several endings. The English version of the game had edited CGs which removed gore and nudity so that the game would get a “Mature” instead of “Adults Only” rating but an unedited patch is available for download. I’ve played Animamundi and wouldn’t really recommend it; I found the storyline a bit silly but I suppose as I am not a fan of all things gothic, I am not really the target audience for the game. Animamundi seemed to be critically very well received but I would say you could give it a miss if the premise doesn’t immediately attract you. It has gone out of print and so physical copies of the game seem quite hard to find nowadays although one might occasionally surface on ebay.
More information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animamundi:_Dark_Alchemist Wikipedia page
http://gamergirlsunite.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.215 review
http://darknesseternal.50webs.com/index.html - fansite
Silver Chaos
This was one of the few fan-translated BL games before Togainu no Chi. It was developed by the well known BL games company Vividcolour and released in July 2002. An English patch was released for it on Aarinfantasy by Emeryl and LostUno. Both the game and the patch are downloadable from the Aarinfantasy forum among other places. I personally didn’t like this game as it had, for me, a very uninventive storyline. None the less, it’s quite well known and popular and also short and undemanding so, worth trying out.
More information:
http://blgames.ukepile.com/database/silver/silver.php - review
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Chaos - Wikipedia page
More information:
http://blgames.ukepile.com/database/silver/silver.php - review
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Chaos - Wikipedia page
Graduation
This is a doujin (fan-made) BL game that was released in September 1999. Though not fan-translated, it has an inbuilt option to play in English or Japanese. There’s very little information about this game that I could find in English other than it having a high school setting and I haven’t played it yet myself. In any case, the game can be downloaded from the Aarinfantasy forum.
More information:
http://www.joinac.com/GAS/products/graduation/index.html - game info page (Japanese)
More information:
http://www.joinac.com/GAS/products/graduation/index.html - game info page (Japanese)
Kuro no Tsuki
Another fan-translated game. The English patch for this was released by a now defunct group called Lavender Cross. The game was developed by Moon Parrot and released in May 2001. I haven’t played this yet nor heard much about it but it seems like a decent fantasy-themed yaoi game. As with the previous games, the game and the English patch are downloadable from the Aarinfantasy forum.
More information:
http://www.moon-parrot.com/html/index2.html - Official page (Japanese)
More information:
http://www.moon-parrot.com/html/index2.html - Official page (Japanese)
Boys Hospital Ward Full Voice Version
This is neither playable in English nor fan-translated but an English version of the script is available in the game’s omake file. It was developed by the company Singing Canary and released in February 2004. Again I haven’t heard much about this game but it seems to have a high shota content if that floats one’s boat. It’s downloadable from the Aarinfantasy forum as usual.
More information:
http://blgames.ukepile.com/database/hospital/hospitalfv.php - review
Information for Absolute Obedience/Zettai Fukujuu Meirei is on the Langmaor page.
More information:
http://blgames.ukepile.com/database/hospital/hospitalfv.php - review
Information for Absolute Obedience/Zettai Fukujuu Meirei is on the Langmaor page.
Togainu no Chi
Literally translated as “Blood of the Reprimanded Dog”, this game was released by Nitro+CHiRAL on the 25th of February 2005. The game was then re-released as Togainu no Chi TRUE BLOOD on the PS2 in May 2008 and on the PSP in December 2010. The PS2 and PSP versions removed the sex scenes and added some new characters. There were also two manga adaptations, one of which was released in English by Tokyopop, and a twelve episode anime adaptation which came out in October 2010. This anime was streamed with English subtitles on Anime News Network. Both the anime and the English-translated manga also removed all sex scenes from the story. A fan made English patch for the game was started in December 2008 by the translation group Yaoi Forever and released on July 21st 2012 on the Aarinfantasy gamespot forum. As you can see from the number of adaptations and re-releases, this is/was a very popular yaoi game. It has a dystopian setting and concerns a young man called Akira who tries to win a fighting tournament in exchange for being freed from prison, having been falsely charged with murder (a bit of Enzai plot in there).
More information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togainu_no_Chi Wikipedia page
http://www.deathsvertigo.com/trueblood/ Fansite
http://metanorn.net/2013/02/boys-love-game-review-togainu-no-chi-true-blood#more-130252 Metanorn.net review
http://yumiisdream.blogspot.ie/2010/11/game-review-togainu-no-chi.html Yumii’s dream factory review
http://goldensneer.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/togainu-no-chi/ Goldensneer.wordpress.com review
More information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Togainu_no_Chi Wikipedia page
http://www.deathsvertigo.com/trueblood/ Fansite
http://metanorn.net/2013/02/boys-love-game-review-togainu-no-chi-true-blood#more-130252 Metanorn.net review
http://yumiisdream.blogspot.ie/2010/11/game-review-togainu-no-chi.html Yumii’s dream factory review
http://goldensneer.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/togainu-no-chi/ Goldensneer.wordpress.com review
Hadaka Shitsuji (Naked Butler)
Released by Mada Koubou on the 16th of September 2011. A fan made English patch for the game was started in September 2011 by the translation group Yaoi Forever and released in April 2013 on the Aarinfantasy gamespot forum. This seems to be a rather unusual and divisive game in the yaoi gaming community. It seemingly has very little plot and is more just porn for porn’s sake. It is also very over the top in its sadism and it doesn’t take itself seriously. Hadaka Shitsuji is one of the rare yaoi games with a seme protagonist and the set-up involves the protagonist, a college student, being hired as a master to a house full of butlers where part of the job is abusing the butlers.
More information:
http://ponytale.lalaparadise.com/bl-game-hadaka-shitsuji-naked-butler-madalabo/ game information
http://koorinokokoro.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/bl-game-review-hadaka-shitsuji-by-madalabo/ Koorinokokoro review
http://puchiverse.tumblr.com/post/12341421640/hadaka-shitsuji-review Puchiverse.tumblr.com review
More information:
http://ponytale.lalaparadise.com/bl-game-hadaka-shitsuji-naked-butler-madalabo/ game information
http://koorinokokoro.wordpress.com/2011/12/08/bl-game-review-hadaka-shitsuji-by-madalabo/ Koorinokokoro review
http://puchiverse.tumblr.com/post/12341421640/hadaka-shitsuji-review Puchiverse.tumblr.com review
DRAMAtical Murder
Released by Nitro+CHIRAL on the23rd of March/27th of April 2012 (an early release edition came out in March and a regular edition in April). A fan made English patch for the game was started in August 2012 by the translation group Yaoi Forever and released in April 2013 on the Aarinfantasy gamespot forum. The game has a futuristic setting and concerns the life of Aoba, the blue-haired main character who is just trying to get by in the city he inhabits until he is swept into something involving the big corporation in his area and his own mysterious abilities.
More information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRAMAtical_Murder Wikipedia page
http://kisscoma.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/dramatical-murder-common-route/ Plot summary
http://meganecchi.tumblr.com/dmmdsetup installation guide
http://sandeian.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/bl-game-review-dramatical-murder/ Domshiki review
http://chocolatemix.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/dramatical-murder-review-non-spoiler/ Chocolatemix.wordpress.com review
http://yumiisdream.blogspot.ie/2012/05/game-review-dramatical-murder.html Yumii’s dream factory review
Shikimic.wordpress.com review
More information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DRAMAtical_Murder Wikipedia page
http://kisscoma.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/dramatical-murder-common-route/ Plot summary
http://meganecchi.tumblr.com/dmmdsetup installation guide
http://sandeian.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/bl-game-review-dramatical-murder/ Domshiki review
http://chocolatemix.wordpress.com/2012/06/13/dramatical-murder-review-non-spoiler/ Chocolatemix.wordpress.com review
http://yumiisdream.blogspot.ie/2012/05/game-review-dramatical-murder.html Yumii’s dream factory review
Shikimic.wordpress.com review