5 (visual novel)

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5
Image:5-logo.png
Developer(s) Ram
Publisher(s) Visual Art's
Platform(s) PC
Release date JP July 25, 2008
Genre(s) Eroge, Visual novel
Mode(s) Single-player
Rating(s) 18+
Media DVD
System requirements Windows 2000/XP/Vista

5 (5 -ファイブ- 5 -Faibu-?) is a forthcoming Japanese adult visual novel currently being developed by Ram, scheduled to be released on July 25, 2008 for the PC as a DVD. 5 is the third game developed by Ram after an eight year hiatus since the first release of their last game, Koigokoro. The game is described by the development team as a "dramatic adventure",[1] and a "noisy northern province love comedy" (ドタバタ 北国ラブコメディ Dotabata Hokkoku Rabu Komedi?).[2] The game bears the tagline, "Five little love tales which are likely to be buried in snow." The gameplay in 5 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.

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

A conversation in 5 depicting the main character talking to Airi.
A conversation in 5 depicting the main character talking to Airi.

5's gameplay requires little interaction from the player as most of the duration of the game is spent simply reading the text that appears on the screen which represents either dialogue between the various characters or the inner thoughts of the protagonist. Every so often, the player will come to a 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. One of the goals of the gameplay is for the player to enable the viewing of hentai scenes depicting the protagonist, Takahiro, and one of the five heroines having sexual intercourse.[1]

[edit] Plot and characters

The story of 5 revolves around Takahiro Inaba (稲葉 孝弘 Inaba Takahiro?), who makes a trip to Hokkaidō, Japan with his younger sister Airi Inaba (稲葉 愛理 Inaba Airi?) in the winter. The two find their way to Kaede Okina (奥菜 楓 Okina Kaede?), a friend of their father's, only to realize that their visit is not expected as their father failed to contact her beforehand. Despite this, Kaede welcomes them to stay at her farm, where the main portion of the game's story takes place, and provides them with food and shelter. After two days at the farm, Takahiro rides Kaede's motorcycle to the town's shopping district and accidentally collides with a lively, but clumsy girl named Honoka Orito (織戸 ほのか Orito Honoka?), injuring her leg. Due to this, Takahiro decides to take her home where he meets her older sister Nene Orito (織戸 禰音 Orito Nene?). Nene, unlike Honoka, is more reliable, intelligent, and takes care of the general domestic household chores.

[edit] Development

5 is the third project developed by the visual novel studio Ram, after an eight year hiatus since the original release of their previous game Koigokoro. Much of the staff for 5 did not work on Ram's previous two titles Negai and Koigokoro. Art direction and character design is headed by the artist Bang!, which will be the artist's first work on a visual novel.[3] Background art is headed by Torino.[1] For work on the scenario, the author Kai returns as the only scenario writer for 5 that also worked on Ram's previous two titles.[4] Hiroshi Yamaji and Kanrinin also worked on the scenario, despite the two having not been on the staff for many visual novels.[5][6] The music in the game is composed by Jun Maeda of Key, and VWN who also worked on the music for Negai and Koigokoro.[7] Both Kai and Torino have worked with Maeda in the past on previous Key titles.[4][8]

[edit] Release history

On May 15, 2008, a free game demo of 5 became available for download at Ram's official website.[9] In the demo, the player was introduced to the main characters in the game through a length sequence that is typical of the gameplay found in a visual novel which includes times during gameplay where the player is given several choices to make in order to further the plot in a specific direction. The full game will first be released on July 25, 2008 as a DVD playable only on a Microsoft Windows PC.[1]

[edit] Music

The visual novel has two main theme songs, the opening theme "The Wind's Reason" (風の理 Kaze no Ri?), and the ending theme "Eternity" (永遠 Eien?), both sung by Haruka Shimotsuki.[1] Both songs were written and composed by Jun Maeda of Key.[1] Arrangement was handled by two artists, Takumaru for the opening theme, and Magome Togoshi for the ending theme, both of which have previously worked with Maeda on albums released by Key under their record label Key Sounds Label.[10][11]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Top page at 5's official website (Japanese). Ram. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
  2. ^ Ram's product list (Japanese). Ram. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
  3. ^ Bang!'s visual novel contributions (Japanese). ErogameScape. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
  4. ^ a b Kai's visual novel contributions (Japanese). ErogameScape. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
  5. ^ Hiroshi Yamaji's visual novel contributions (Japanese). ErogameScape. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
  6. ^ Kanrinin's visual novel contributions (Japanese). ErogameScape. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
  7. ^ VWN's visual novel contributions (Japanese). ErogameScape. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
  8. ^ Air staff information (Japanese). Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
  9. ^ Download section at Ram's official website (Japanese). Ram. Retrieved on 2008-05-29.
  10. ^ Sorarado Append image album listing. Chudah's Corner. Retrieved on 2007-03-17.
  11. ^ Air Original Soundtrack booklet transcribed online (Japanese). Retrieved on 2008-05-29.

[edit] External Links