Players can alter handsome star’s muscle mass, skin tone, and voice.
When it was released last year, developer Illusion’s VR Kanojo (“VR Girlfriend”) made no attempts at ostensible chasteness, like some other virtual girlfriend simulators. No, VR Kanojo gave its particular audience what it wanted and was a full-on adult title, allowing you to paw at the object of your digital affection.
Illusion, or technically the company’s IVR division, is going with a less explicit approach, however, for its just-unveiled VR Kareshi (“VR Boyfriend”). Instead of taking place in the privacy of your simulated schoolgirl sweetheart’s bedroom, VR Kareshi is set in a coffeehouse and stars…well, really whoever you want.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmQfO2jG5Yk
The video preview of the in-production game shows a guy who’s right down the middle of Japan’s mainstream image of an eligible young bachelor: tall, slender, fair-skinned, and with stylishly long, yet not wildly or messy, hair. However, IVR boasts that you can customize your in-game beau however you’d like, changing his clothing, hairstyle, amount of muscle mass, and skin tone so that they meet your specific tastes as perfectly as the cups of coffee he expertly brews for you.
▼ Haruo, the puppy who greets you as you walk in the door of the cafe, does not appear to be reconfigurable, but it’s hard to imagine him being any more adorable than he already is.
As suggested by its name, VR Kareshi goes for a virtual reality feel. But while VR Kanojo was a PC-exclusive designed for use with the Oculus Rift VR headset, VR Kareshi is instead a mobile title for use with iOS and Android phones and devices, although as long as you’ve got applicable VR goggles or a head mount, it should still be able to provide a VR-level of immersion.
▼ A pat on the head is a surprisingly coveted show of affection in romance stories aimed at Japanese women.
The game even offers you your choice of three different voice actors to portray VR Boyfriend: Shotaro Morikubo, Chihiro Suzuki, and Yoshimasa Hosoya, who respectively give the character a brash, shy, or macho aura.
While romance simulators themselves are nothing new, VR titles in the genre aimed at women are still in short supply, and it’s surprising to see a title that provides so much customization, as opposed to pressuring fans to shell out for full-priced sequels once they get tired of the default guy. However, that customization is still part of IVR’s business plan, since while VR Kareshi will be free to play, you’ll have to make in-game purchases to unlock certain customization options (though if VR Boyfriend pulls your heartstrings just as he comes, then you might not need to shell out anything at all to get your enjoyment out of the game).
VR Kareshi doesn’t have a set release date, but the developers will be showing it at this month’s Tokyo Game Show, which runs from September 20 to 23. The title will be promoted with a replica of the Harukaze cafe the game takes place in, which, depending on your individual desires, is either more or less appealing than when Illusion let fans sniff VR Kanojo’s undergarments.
Related: VR Kareshi official website
Sources: VR Kareshi official website, Kai-You, Otakomu
Featured image: YouTube/IVR
Top image: VR Kareshi official website
Insert images: YouTube/IVR, VR Kareshi official website
Follow Casey on Twitter, where he’s impressed that IVR thought to replace the heart mark in the VR Kanojo with a spade for VR Kareshi.