Visual novels have been a passion of mine almost as long as I’ve been into anime, and I’ve enjoyed plenty of both Eastern and Western style stories. That is why I decided to give Corona Blossom a closer look when I noticed that it launched on IndieGogo. I love the concept of melding some weird sci-fi mecha fun with some more adult themes. That said, there are a couple minor issues that I have with the campaign.
The artwork and concept for Corona Blossom looks great, and I love the idea of having Japanese voice actors with the option of reading the text either in Japanese or English. After all, some of my favorite stories are from the Land of the Rising Sun. However, my biggest issue is that they’re offering an “all ages” release for Steam at around $10 ($7 during the campaign) but are charging an extra $10 ($8 during the campaign) to get the hentai content.
I think I understand their reasoning as it’s extra work, but this is also the first time that I’ve seen an 18+ patch in a visual novel costing extra. Most of the time they’ve given the patch for free to all backers that are getting at least the base game. Of course, I also don’t know exactly how much more work will be going into the adult content, so I honestly shouldn’t judge here.
All in all, Corona Blossom is a visual novel with some interesting twists that I want to keep an eye on even though I won’t be backing it (due to issues I have with IndieGogo, not the game or campaign itself). I will definitely consider picking it up, even with the price point difference between the two releases.
