CAVEAT: This review is a frank assessment of Moero Chronicle Hyper, and as such, contains descriptions and images that may not be suitable for all ages. Please keep in mind that this game is not for kids and is M Rated.
Moero Chronicle Hyper is, by and large, a first person dungeon crawler. It’s also much more than that insomuch as that it’s a classic example of modern moe gaming. For those of you that aren’t familiar (which is likely pretty much everyone in the West), moe is a genre of storytelling that has grown into being in Japan over the last couple of decades during the rise of video games and modern anime. It’s partly romance, partly eroticism, and partly an exercise in kawaii (cuteness) as well as ecchi (sexy naughtiness).
Moe games tend to toe the line between x-rated and just plain pervy, and they never really cross over into overt pornography. They try to focus on interpersonal relationships and cute characters that are wildly provocative while at the same time telling stories of romantic love. If this sounds like a teen novel and not a video game, don’t worry, it’s definitely a game. And a darn good one overall too, but definitely not one for the conservative gamer or younger audiences!
Moero Chronicle Hyper, from Compile Heart and Idea Factory, tells the story of Io, a teenager and denizen of a small town. While Io is in what seems to be the midst of puberty, his town is going through a crisis. Monster Girls, such as his best friend Lilia, are suddenly going crazy and rampaging through the town and surrounding areas, attacking people for no apparent reason. Monster Girls are basically girls in cutesy and provocative outfits who seem mostly human. Io is kicked out of town until he can solve the problem of the rogue Monster Girls for the mayor, who doesn’t seem to want him back and so he and Lilia set off into the surrounding dungeons to purify the Monster Girls and save the world.
Turns out purifying the wayward Monster Girls involves fighting them in combat, attacking their clothes until they mostly fall off, and then using the Switch touch screen (if you’re in portable mode) to touch them in various places until…um…something happens. That’s pretty much as much detail as the game actually gives, constantly alluding to the events without showing them or overtly discussing what’s happening, a hallmark of many moe games.
To find these Monster Girls, you’ll have to fight through dungeons filled with overly sexualized enemies wearing panties on their heads or shaped in the form of genitalia. Seriously. The game itself is extremely similar to the Etrian Odyssey series, exploring dungeons, auto-mapping them out as you go, and finding the various items, outfits, and girls along the way. Combat is pure standard RPG fare, save for the fact that Io himself can’t fight and can only use his libido to imbue power into the Monster Girls’ attacks. You’ll also meet a horny seal (yes, you read that right) who is obsessed with panties, and some various other miscreants and oddballs along the way.
There’s also a handy reason Moero Chronicles Hyper included the Hyper in its name. Turns out they’ve added a hyper button, allowing you to speed up any segment of the game to super speed to cut down on any tedium. It works great for grinding RPG combat, as well as wandering back through dungeons you’ve already visited and finished, making the game much more approachable.
In addition to the Hyper modification, Moero Chronicles Hyper has also added vibration to Bumping Scratch Mode on the Switch. Didn’t I mention Bumping Scratch mode? Oh my. Bumping Scratch mode triggers when you’ve knocked off all a possessed Monster Girl’s clothing. You’re then asked to ‘begin rubbing’ and you use the cursor or touch screen to touch her all over, raising her, um, arousal bar until she is maxed out. If successful, you purify her, freeing her from the evil control that is forcing her to attack humans. If you do a really great job at Bumping Scratch, you can even manage to trigger a Nude Flash (though the girls aren’t actually nude) which is even slightly more risqué. It’s pretty much just as bad as you think, and if you weren’t sure, there are pictures. I did mention that this one isn’t for kids after all…
Finally, there’s your home base. You go back to the town inn to rest and communicate with the Monster Girls you’ve rescued (incognito of course, since you’re banned from town). In the inn, each girl has a room where you can talk to them in various events designed to bring you closer to them, upgrade their rooms, and of course, Bumping Scratch to your heart’s content, both in a free mode and in one that costs money where you raise your intimacy levels. You can also change the girls’ outfits if you find more, changing their stats in the process, and create items by using combinations of Monster Girls and captured monsters to hatch eggs (don’t even ask about how that biological process works). It all weaves together in a gloriously perverse tapestry where you develop multiple relationships in an attempt to save humanity before we’re all wiped out by, well, cuteness.
Music, gameplay, and graphic design on Moero Chronicle Hyper are all quite solid. It’s a beautiful game and fully voiced in Japanese. It plays exceptionally well on the undocked Switch and is still quite good in docked TV mode as well. By now, you’ll likely know if Moero Chronicle Hyper is your kind of thing or not, but overall it’s a fun and funny game that tends to lean pretty heavily on the questionably naughty bits. Oh, and there’s a fair bit of political incorrectness thrown in for good measure, even going so far as to fat shame some of the Monster Girls, so be prepared for pretty much anything.
At the core of Moreo Chronicle Hyper is a solid but basic 1st person dungeon crawling RPG. It’s fun, but it’s nothing special. The storyline isn’t epic, but it’s entertaining and oddly charming in its own pervy way. Expect cheap laughs and visuals that are well drawn and you won’t be disappointed. Otton the seal is definitely the star of the show for that! This is a fun, lowbrow game that’s surprisingly entertaining and really manages to shine on the undocked Switch, especially for what it is. Get out there, collect some panties, and put an ecchi smile on your face!
This review was written based on a digital copy of Moero Chronicle Hyper provided by the publisher. It was played on a Nintendo Switch in both docked and undocked mode. No panties were stolen during the writing of this review. All screenshots are of actual gameplay.