Moero Crystal H is developed and published by Compile Heart and originally released back in 2019 for Japan but is now available the world-wide release as of September, 2020.

Moero Crystal H is a visual novel, dungeon crawl, adventure game with heavy Ecchi and fanservice content. Players assume the role of the hero named Zenox and you quickly fall in the plot of the game and meet the first of many teammates you can recruit, Luanna.

The backstory and plot is quite strange. A bra is stolen from a shrine but it is not just any bra, it is the “Bra of Darkness”. Zenox and Luanna are tasked to track down the bra thief before the end of the world happens, by using the “Panties of light”, which just so happens to be stolen by a pink Otter as they are talking about them. Queue the perverted teammate that reminds me of Master Roshi and so with the newly formed team of three, you set off on the adventure to reclaim the bra.

The combat is very easy as it is turn based mechanic. Zenox is a non-combat character whose role is to boost, heal and change the order for team mates. The team size is five, which can be filled with Monster Girls you meet in the world and after you defeat them in combat (which is done by destroying their clothing), you then “scratch” them in certain places to have them become friendly with you and your team.

There is meant to be around 80 unique Monster Girls you can battle and recruit to the team. Dungeons also have random fights that happen as you walk around however Monster Girls and boss type enemies you can see before fighting, so you have the chance to heal up before a hard fight.

There are tutorials for everything new you, the player, will come across. The first time you enter combat it will give a quick breakdown on how Zenox is used to assist the team, recruiting team members or forming bonds. It is all covered which was a massive plus in my books, as I would’ve not known what the hell was happening.

Progress wise, it is very straightforward. Each dungeon has multiple floors to explore but these are optional and when the story was ready to advance I tended to just plow on. There isn’t much motivation to explore further.

The audio is in Japanese so if you don’t speak it the text is translated in English. There are alot of talking parts of the game so be prepared for a lot of reading ahead of you. The text can be skipped along quickly though by pressing the Y button. The story was very bizarre for me to get invested in so this may be handy for some. I would advise headphones especially if you are playing in public as there can be moans during combat and “scratching” events.

Graphically, it is nothing special, as it is a visual novel style game so there are no animations. As you progress you can change the outfit of Monster Girls which changes the battle stats but funny enough the best stats tend to be given by wearing less clothing.

This style of game is a bit of a weird adjustment as I was not expecting the fanservice the level that the game had to offer, in saying that, the more I got into it and used to it, the harder it got to put down. My only negative I can add is that there was a lack of choices when they were asking Zenox (The player) a question or what they should do next. More ability to guide the direction of the character may have added to the plot failings.

While the bizarre plot line I struggled to get invested in, the combat system did hook me. I can’t really place many faults on the game. Surprisingly, a solid effort from such a strange game.

Written by: Shane Walsh