夜明け前より瑠璃色な - Brighter than dawning blue -
Love-Sim PS2 port from PC, released on Dec 9, 2006.
A long time ago, the Moon and the Earth were at war, which ended with both sides incurring heavy losses. Afterwards, a temporary truce was formed, but relations between both sides are weak, and one wrong move can drive both sides to war again...
Asagiri Tatsuya lives with his sister Mai, and their guardian sister, Hozumi Sayaka, after Tatsuya's mother passed away, and their father went missing. Life is rather normal for Tatsuya, until Sayaka tells him that Feena Fam Earthlight, the princess from the Moon, is going to stay at their house during her trip to Earth...
Brighter than dawning blue is based on the original hentai PC game 夜明け前より瑠璃色な by August Soft back in September 2005. The PS2 verison is released by Aria Soft, a new company formed by August Soft. All hentai contents are either removed or cleaned for the PS2 release. One new playable character is created for the PS2 version, as well as one sub-character being upgraded to be playable, bringing the total number of "playable" characters to 8.
Links:
PS2 Version Official Site (Aria Soft)
Game Review
Warning: spoilers!!
For the first time, you have to follow a set of sequences in order to finish the whole game, which is pretty interesting. At first, you can only play through Feena's story (the true path in the game). Once you are done, you are given the options to play for the following scenarios: Mai, Natsuki, Sayaka, Midori and Estel. After you have cracked all five of them, you will be allowed to play through Wreathlit's story. Once that is done, Feena's story continues in the chapter 夜明け前より瑠璃色な, which by this time you just follow the story and not many choices are needed to be made. As a bonus for finishing the game, there are 10 omake / side stories to play through after the whole game is cracked. The original PC version only has 6 side stories.
フィーナ・ファム・アーシュライト (Feena Fam Earthlight)
The princess from the Moon's Kingdom of Sphere. She is the textbook-perfect princess: smart, and hard working. As part of her learning experience, she is staying at Tatsuya's place, much to the dismay of some in her kingdom. While officially she is here to study at Tatsuya's class and attend diplomatic functions, Feena is secretly looking for proofs to restore her mother's honor.
Secrets: this is not Feena's first time travelling to Earth, and on her first trip when she was little, she met a certain someone...
Difficulty: Medium, but since you can only play her scenario the first time, you cannot screw up too much.
ミア・クレメンティス (Mia Clements)
Feena's personal maid. She travels with Feena to Earth and staying at Tatsuya's home. Excels at every household chores from cooking to cleaning, she is also Feen'a most trusted person.
Secrets: None.
Difficulty: Easy.
朝霧 麻衣 (Asagiri Mai)
Tatsuya's young sister. Mai goes to the same school as Tatsuya, only one grade lower. A member of the music club, she plays the flute and makes Tatsuya to hear her play near the river whenever they have the time.
Secrets: Mai and Tatsuya are not related in blood, and only she and Tatsuya knows about it after Tatsuya's mother passed away and his father missing...
Difficulty: Easy.
鷹見沢菜月 (Takamizawa Natsuki)
Tatsuya's childhood friend. She works as a waitress after school in her father's family restaurant. She has yet to learn to cook properly, and aims to become a veterinarian.
Secrets: Made a promise long time ago with Tatsuya, though Tatsuya does not remember that... and she does have feelings for Tatsuya.
Difficulty: Medium.
穂積さやか (Hozumi Sayaka)
The guardian for both Tatsuya and Mai, Sayaka was part of the first group of "Earthlings" to study on the Moon. She now works as the Curator (Representative) of the Museum of the Moon on Earth.
Secrets: None.
Difficulty: Easy.
リースリット・ノエル (Wreathlit Noel)
A mysterious girl who does not talk much, and mostly keeping to herself.
Secrets: Host to another personal that keeps an eye on both Earth and the Moon, related to the Moon's official religious group.
Difficulty: Easy, once you have met the requirements to play her scenario and made the right choice.
遠山翠 (Toyama Midori)
Classmate of Both Tatsuya and Natsuki, Midori is Natsuki's best friend. A member of the music club, she plays the clarinet.
Secrets: She has some issues with her parents...
Difficulty: Medium. As part of the upgrade for PS2, her hairstyle was updated. Here is the PS2 version:
エステル・フリージア (Estel Freesia)
The newly appointed priest to the church at the Moon's living quarters on Earth. Living all her life on the Moon before this assignment, she keeps her distance towards all Earthlings...
Secrets: She loves cute puppies... and her birth is still a secret to her...
Difficulty: Medium. As a only new character created solely for the PS2 version, you have to make several correct choices early on in order to setup the correct scenario that leads to her appearance. Freesia is also written into the modified final chapter of the game.
With cute characters as a big selling point, it is one very interesting game to play, given its unusual scenarios setup. Similar to most classic dating-simulation games, there is one "sad" ending out of all 8. Of course, that is definitely not Feena's ending... Overall, a solid, good story to play through.
The bnous part: while they are short, the side stories are really funny, and worth spending time to enjoy them.
Note: I have both the normal version and the limited edition, which comes in a box, along with goodies. You can check that out here.
CG: 9
Difficulty: 6
Storyline: 10
Character Designs: 9
Overall Rating: 9