#86

Belgerum (Circle)

Every once in a while, a new Visual-Novel pops up like mushrooms after the rain.
The trick to know which one to pick nowadays with such high variety of them, is to review the studio's past works, to get a better understanding how much should you get invested in their projects, and also pay attention to improvements they make at newer releases.

Yes, in a good number of cases the stories are either bland or written poorly, or the art direction isn't good enough, but in my opinion if you're a fan of the genre, then it's a good practice to support studios that do try to well.. be better I suppose, making an effort to thrive by improving their story-telling and quality of their artwork.

All of that led me to check out Belgerum, after seeing their latest release "Slimy Sextet".
I'll be honest: I thought that "Sextet" stands for "Sex Tetris", which had me intrigued to what kind of game it'll look like, but alas, it was a through-and-through Visual Novel.

I took the bite anyway and continued to explore this project, and continued to find out a beautifully drawn novel - on rails I must say, but with a storyline that while it didn't appeal to me specifically (not big on fantasy setting that wasn't built up slowly), I can absolutely see the appeal to anyone looking for a light-hearted quick experience.

Naturally, that was hardly enough to dedicate a whole post for, so I took it upon myself to check the rest of Belgerum's projects... and I must say, this is when I realized that I must extend the scope of my reviews.
There are so many small projects out there that not worth more than a paragraph of review, but dedicated studios are very well worth highlighting.

Belgerum's expertise is Visual Novels on rails, with minor interactions from the player.
They started out with turn-based combat elements that eventually got scrapped, as they realized that a good visual novel is all about the characters, story-telling, and of course the illustrations.
Not all of their projects are fully voice acted, but those that are have done great work, and do get carried by it to immerse you into their worlds.

If you asked me to recommend you one title that would be Maid Mansion, where you can truly see how much the studio has grown in better understanding of their audience looking for more than just H content. It's a classic "Came for the "plot", stayed for the plot".
Not to mention the beautiful artwork, being the latest release before Slimy Sextet.

Overall I'd recommend checking out Belgerum more as a whole, and not just one project.
I do feel that we'll keep hearing more from them, being established as a solid short story H novels that will continue to improve their works as time goes by.

List of Belgerum's releases (in order):

1. Demon King Domination: Deluxe Edition
2. Magebuster: Amorous Augury
3. Elf Enchanter: Arousing Anima
4. Steamy Sextet
5. Maid Mansion
6. Slimy Sextet

❤️ For relevant H content of these titles you may contact me in DM for referrals.