This is a review of the visual novel Euphoria, developed by Clock Up, and available from MangaGamer. Euphoria is a game which has an intriguing story rooted in mystery built upon a survival game. It is also one of the most disturbing and shocking games I’ve ever played. A lot of that shock comes from its exaggerated premise, a survival game based around the committing of often violent sex acts. I’m warning you now, this game is not for everyone, and if any extreme fetish disturbs you, Euphoria likely contains that fetish.
Not enough detail? It’s probably easier to list what fetishes this game does not have. There’s no incest, or selfcest, or homosexual acts, or vore. I honestly can’t think of anything else not present in Euphoria. From vanilla to scat, to MILF, there’s at least a little bit of everything.
If, like me, some of those things disturb you, but the game interests you anyway, there’s an option that lets you censor the most explicit content.
As said above, Euphoria is built upon a simple premise. The main character Keisuke, and six women are locked into a building and challenged to a survival game. A series of doors can be unlocked to free them, but only if they do what a mysterious voice says. The voice demands that the main character choose a woman from the group, enter a room with her, and commit various sexual acts with her according to a series of challenges that can range from mundane to ultra-violent. If anyone fails to follow instructions they risk their life and the ultimate freedom of the group.
Keisuke has a secret though. Violence turns him on. This is revealed very early on when one of the women, Nemu, discovers this fact and agrees to keep it a secret if he’ll only do her a few favors. Guess which kind of perverted girl she is. Since his childhood friend and a junior in his school club both find themselves in this survival game with him, he desperately wants to keep his secret.
The game has a lot of layers to it, and the survival game is only the first. There’s not a lot to be said about the story except that it has depth, mystery, and a lot of twists and turns that are equally fun to be shocked by, or to guess. The nature of mysteries makes it impossible to give details without also giving spoilers. It’s one of the best-built mystery stories from a visual novel that I’ve experienced, though some plot threads remain confusing through to the end, and it’s hard to tell if that was on purpose. Since the main plot is skillfully done though, a few loose subplot threads don’t take away from the overall enjoyment of the game.
The art style is beautiful, and there’s no mosaic censoring even if you choose to turn on censoring of extreme content (it just isn’t shown). Some of the details, like palm prints, for example, are impressive and show the effort put into the game by its developers. Lip gloss, hair (especially Nemu’s and Byakuya’s), and other small details make the game beautiful to look at even during the most shocking moments. The music is fine, but the voices are excellent, especially the voice running the survival game, as well as the actresses who plays Nemu, and the childhood friend Kanae (shown in the first image).
Now onto the shock. It’s hard to grapple with how the game makes you feel sometimes. Some moments are amazing story shocks that reveal truths about what’s happening that blow your mind. Other times it presents extreme fetish scenes. At least a couple of these feel gratuitous and excessive. They don’t really move the plot forward, or tie into reveals later, and felt like the creators were going out of their way to include every fetish in the story. A lot of the extreme content does move the plot forward though or tie into reveals and secrets, and of course it’s included to be enjoyed by people who like that sort of thing. Overall Euphoria does a better job of tying sex into the story than most nukige and many other visual novels do.
Now, I do suggest that anyone playing this game do it in a specific order. Routes are selected by always choosing the same girl each time you are given a choice. There are spoilers and reveals, that occur earlier in some routes than others. At a minimum, playing Kanae’s route last is mandatory, since it unlocks the spoiler-heavy True Ending. I suggest playing Euphoria in the order of Nemu, Rika, Sensei (Aoi), Byakuya (Rinne), and then Kanae. Byakuya’s and Sensei’s routes, in particular, generate lots of spoilers for things that are only hinted at in other routes.
Do I suggest playing Euphoria? Yes. Anyone who likes a mystery visual novel, survival games, a complex story, or extreme content will enjoy this. If you’re hungry for a good story, the game is worth it just for that. That, or the high level of quality present in the artwork. It’s a long journey, but it’s an enjoyable one, even if it requires content-warning labels. Oh, and the hentai doesn’t do it justice.
