is a Japanese
adult
An adult is an animal that has reached full growth. The biological definition of the word means an animal reaching sexual maturity and thus capable of reproduction. In the human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social an ...
social simulation game developed by
Tactics
Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to:
* Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks
** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield
** Chess tactics
In chess, a tac ...
, a brand of
Nexton
is a Japanese Software company, software publishing company specializing in the publishing and distribution of Eroge, adult visual novels for 23 game development brands that Nexton is partners with. The company is located in Osaka, Japan. The ...
. It was released on May 23, 1997 for
Windows
Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
PCs, the same day as ''
To Heart'' by
Leaf
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leav ...
. The
gameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game. The term applies to both video games and Tabletop game, tabletop games. Gameplay is the connection between the player and the game, the player's overcoming of challenges, and t ...
in ''Dōsei'' follows a
branching plot line which offers pre-determined scenarios with courses of interaction, and focuses on the appeal of the sole female main character Manami Minase. The player assumes the role of protagonist Masaki Yamada who is living with Manami shortly after they have graduated from high school. Masaki earns money at a job, and when he returns home will have sex with Manami often; this process of work in the day, and sex at night repeats many times throughout gameplay.
''Dōsei'' was re-released on September 14, 2000, with the title ''Dōsei Memorial Selection''. The game's original soundtrack was released bundled with ''
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
'' soundtrack in August 2000 at
Comiket 58. Four of the staff that created the game—
Itaru Hinoue,
Shinji Orito, Miracle Mikipon, and Shinory—later became four of the founding members of the
visual novel
A visual novel (VN) is a form of digital interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with static or animated illustratio ...
brand
Key.
Gameplay and plot
''Dōsei'' is a
romance social simulation game in which the player assumes the role of Masaki Yamada. Much of its
gameplay
Gameplay is the specific way in which players interact with a game. The term applies to both video games and Tabletop game, tabletop games. Gameplay is the connection between the player and the game, the player's overcoming of challenges, and t ...
is spent on reading the story's
narrative
A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, whether non-fictional (memoir, biography, news report, documentary, travel literature, travelogue, etc.) or fictional (fairy tale, fable, legend, thriller ...
and
dialogue
Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...
. ''Dōsei'' follows a
branching plot line with multiple endings, and depending on the decisions that the player makes during the game, the plot will progress in a specific direction. Throughout gameplay, the player is given multiple options to choose from, and text progression pauses at these points until a choice is made. To view all plot lines in their entirety, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and choose different choices to further the plot to an alternate direction.
The story begins on Sunday September 14, 1997 with two main characters shortly after graduating high school who are living together.
They are, the protagonist and the heroine who he is living with; both characters' names can be altered to anything the player chooses. There are two parameters related to Masaki and Manami which change depending on decisions the player makes during gameplay. Masaki's parameters are physical and emotional strength, and Manami's parameters are degrees of affection and lewdness. How much money the protagonist has from his job is also a factor in the game;
the player starts out with 100,000
yen
The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro.
T ...
.
There are numerous scenes with sexual
CGs depicting Masaki and Manami having sex. Typically, Masaki will come home from work and will have sex with Manami after a short conversation with her. This continuously repeats many times, causing much of the gameplay to occur during sex scenes. Depending on the choices, the protagonist may even become unfaithful to Manami which is when more sex scenes with five different women can be viewed. The player is occasionally given the opportunity to rest, but if Masaki rests too much then he will soon go bankrupt and the game will end.
Development and release
''Dōsei'' was
Tactics
Tactic(s) or Tactical may refer to:
* Tactic (method), a conceptual action implemented as one or more specific tasks
** Military tactics, the disposition and maneuver of units on a particular sea or battlefield
** Chess tactics
In chess, a tac ...
's first game. Planning was headed by YET11, who also did programming, and Don, who wrote the scenario,
though this person did not contribute in future Tactics titles. Art direction and character design was headed by
Itaru Hinoue, and was the second time she had ever contributed in a visual novel. Hinoue also contributed with the
computer graphics
Computer graphics deals with generating images and art with the aid of computers. Computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, digital art, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. ...
along with Miracle Mikipon, Shinory, and Suō Akiyama, and Mikipon also worked on the game's animation sequences. The music in the game was mainly
composed by
Shinji Orito who had at the time moved to Tactics after working under
Leaf
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leav ...
for three games. Hinoue, Orito, Mikipon, and Shinory later became four of the founding members of the visual novel company
Key founded in 1998. Three others—Myū, Paste, and Ishisan—also helped with the music, but between them only composed one third of the game's soundtrack.
''Dōsei'' was first released in Japan on May 23, 1997 as a
CD-ROM
A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...
playable on a
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft and the first of its Windows 9x family of operating systems, released to manufacturing on July 14, 1995, and generally to retail on August 24, 1995. Windows 95 merged ...
PC. The release date was coincidentally the same day
Leaf
A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the plant stem, stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leav ...
released their visual novel ''
To Heart''.
Nexton
is a Japanese Software company, software publishing company specializing in the publishing and distribution of Eroge, adult visual novels for 23 game development brands that Nexton is partners with. The company is located in Osaka, Japan. The ...
, the publishing company Tactics is under, re-released an updated version of ''Dōsei'' compatible with Windows 95/
98 on September 14, 2000 under the title ''Dōsei Memorial Collection''.
DMM released ''Dōsei Memorial Collection'' as a downloadable edition compatible with
Windows XP
Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct successor to Windows 2000 for high-end and business users a ...
on June 3, 2011.
Related media
The game's soundtrack was released bundled with the soundtrack for ''
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
'', the game Tactics made after ''Dōsei'', and was called ''Dōsei and Moon Original Soundtracks''.
The album contains a single CD and was released on August 10, 2000 at
Comiket 58 by Exobitant Records. The disc contains 31 tracks; the first 15 pertain to ''Dōsei'' and the latter 16 are from ''Moon''.
A collection of trading cards featuring art from ''Dōsei'' and ''Moon'' were also released.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dosei
1997 video games
Bishōjo games
Eroge
Japan-exclusive video games
Romance video games
Single-player video games
Social simulation video games
Tactics (brand) games
Video games developed in Japan
Video games scored by Shinji Orito
Windows games
Windows-only games