Written by Jin0uga, edited by Otaku Apologist
Sacrament of the Zodiac, developed by Kuroirodoru Yomiji, published by Denpasoft in 2016. A lesbian visual novel available at Nutaku’s download store for $10.00. This game tells the story of two girls who fall in love, and fuck. The localization of this game has Japanese-style mosaic censorship around the genital areas.
Let’s dig into Sacrament of the Zodiac and see what we find.
STORY
The story takes place in a religious girls-only school. The students have filthy rich parents. They are groomed into young ladies, the types that greet each other like robots every day as if attending a classy tea party. On top of that, this isn’t your regular rich girl boarding school. Every year, a ritual called the “Sacrament” takes place, where girls are baptized to various goddesses. A rumor says that if a person has one of the twelve zodiac stigmas on their body during Sacrament, they will bring happiness to everyone. These stigmas can turn up anywhere on a person’s body.
Mokose Arissa is a ditzy first-year student. She is chosen as the Princess of the White Sheep, after a stigma of Aries turns up on her cheek during her Sacrament. She is an airhead, but also adorable and kind. Arissa doesn’t know it, but she’s popular in her school, some seniors even claim they want to ‘eat her up.’
Suou Hitsuji is a first-year student who transfers into the school. She’s instructed to go to the Cathedral for her Sacrament, but she arrives too early. She meets Arissa. The two virgins instantly fall in love. They kiss five minutes into knowing each other, and Arissa’s stigma appears on her cheek. Hitsuji then declares her overwhelming love for Arissa, and they become lovers. This is the fastest I’ve ever seen two people get together.
The premise might sound interesting, but the story has problems. There was very little happening in the young lesbian couple’s daily life to care about. They study, flirt, eat fancy food, and pray. After Hitsuji goes through her Sacrament, she attends classes with Arissa. After class, they go to the school’s café. They talk about how they enjoy being with each other, and how much they look forward to doing perverted sexy stuff. The day wraps up with both girls’ retreating to their rooms, and praying. The next day, this cycle repeats. Again, they talk about how much they care for each other, and how tasty the food is.
I didn’t learn much about the characters until after the second fuck. After the pussy juice had flowed, I learned that Arissa’s family is stinking rich, while Hitsuji comes from a working class family. It’s like a romance in reverse, where the girls scissor first, talk later.
The only obstacle the newly christened couple faces is Hitsuji acting like a jealous brat, lashing out at any student who talks to Arissa. There is no backlash for Hitsuji’s absurd behavior. Despite being in a religious school, the couple don’t face discrimination from their peers despite the obvious sexual relationship between them.
Sacrament of the Zodiac doesn’t take itself too seriously. The parts I enjoyed the most were Arissa trying to understand some real world concepts. For example, students can eat food without paying anything because that was covered by the exorbitant tuition fees. Arissa is under the impression that all cafés are like this.
The most memorable moment, was Arissa mistaking her love juices for urine. Arissa’s naivety brings these scenes to life, and it’s in these moments that they feel like a real couple. What the story lacks in the emotional department, it makes up in humor.
GRAPHICS
The only characters we see are Arissa and Hitsuji. They’re drawn with typical anime eyes, petite faces framed by hair that curls out at their shoulders. They wear the same uniform throughout the entire game, a starched white blouse under a black pinafore, with a red ribbon in the collar. The lack of variation is disappointing. We don’t even get to see the girls in pajamas.
The color palette jumps between upbeat and gentle. Intimate settings like bedrooms are painted in lighter colors baby blue, and warm orange. The sunlight trickling into the rooms is mellow, and gives the place a homely feeling. In contrast, public places like the classroom, café, and school garden, are loud and vibrant. The cathedral for example, mixes orange and blacks and gives it an overbearing presence. When Arissa and Hitsuji meet in the cathedral for the first time, it feels like they’re in an entirely different world, isolated from reality.
The shadows are very light. They are easier to spot in the backgrounds, where they’re used for highlighting the overcast shadow of a tree, or a building. The shadows on the characters are used sparingly to accentuate their curves. The art is consistent, drawn by the same artist.
Some CGs have the characters look anatomically strange. It’s like the artist didn’t know how to draw the girls in different positions.
MUSIC
Sacrament of the Zodiac has a soundtrack that matches the premise of a sophisticated school. Almost all songs are heavy on the violins and guitars. Playing the game, I left like I’m attending a concert. Each song creates a unique atmosphere, despite having the same instruments.
The first meeting between the couple in the cathedral had an overbearing, excited vibe to it. It felt pretentious. The violins were the highlight of that track, completely drowning out the other instruments. When they kissed, it transitioned into a simple song with a guitar, bolstered by a soprano. The atmosphere was ethereal.
The only track that deviates from the rest is the opening song. It’s a synthetic, peppy, upbeat tune that sets the mood.
SOUND EFFECTS AND VOICE ACTING (SFX)
The Japanese voice acting is decent. The dialogue is narrated, and the respective voice actors for Arissa and Hitsuji do well to bring the stilted writing to life. The side characters that never show up on screen also sound surprisingly competent. It actually feels like they’re conversing instead of merely reading off a script.
Sound effects are practically non-existent. For a visual novel set in school, I expected at least some minor sounds like the ear-splitting ring of a bell, or the chatter of a crowd in a café. The only thing that can be considered a sound effect occurs during the sex scenes, when the girls finger each other. Unfortunately, this sound is terrible. I cringed every time I heard it. Instead of a wet, squishing vaginal sound that gets your dick up, it’s like an obnoxious crinkling of plastic.
GAMEPLAY
Sacrament of the Zodiac plays like a typical visual novel. The only interaction with the game is clicking the screen to “turn the page”, and selecting from a list of options during moments of choice. There was only one instance where I was given a choice, and that only unlocked several lines of dialogue and didn’t impact the story.
You can change the point of view character by clicking the character portrait, beside the text box. You can switch between Arissa and Hitsuji, and read what they’re thinking. Depending on which girl you like, you can choose to read from their perspective. The main events and dialogue remain unchanged.
The keyboard bindings take some getting used to. Usually in visual novels, you can “click to next page” by pressing the space bar. Here, the “ENTER” key is allocated to this task, while the space bar hides the textbox. I didn’t like it since I find it easier to press space to advance the text.
HENTAI
Anime fappers will be delighted with the sex scenes. Two cute girls explore the magical world of yuri sex, learning to pleasure each other. If watching two virgins get horny and fuck has historically made your dick explode, you won’t have issues satisfying your carnal lusts with Sacrament of the Zodiac.
You don’t need to wait long either. The first hentai scene takes no more than fifteen minutes to access. For the most part, the scenes are decent in length. There are two to three CGs for each hentai scene. You see the girls’ hands shifting from breasts to the vagina, and the moments when they squirt in orgasms.
The sex itself is pretty vanilla, but the descriptions are vivid. The scenes mostly involve Hitsuji caressing or thrusting her fingers into Arissa’s dripping pussy. It’s a shame that there are mosaics, but they are minimal, and you can easily see cum staining Hitsuji’s fingers, or how it leaks onto the bed.
The voice acting is amazing during the hentai scenes. The moans and whimpers are done extremely well, and easily got me excited. Even the kissing sounded ridiculously sexy. On the other hand, the dialogue can either be enjoyable or annoying. In the first sex scene, Hitsuji talks dirty to Arissa as she touches her.
It was hot, until she started listing the parts she touched with their scientific names. I can’t get excited when erotic writing goes the distance to sound like a Wikipedia article. Other than that, the hentai was really enjoyable.
CONCLUDING WORDS
Sacrament of the Zodiac might not have an interesting story to keep you hooked, but the overflowing erotic lesbianism is enough for masturbatory purposes. If your genitals enjoy a simple, easy romance with plenty of banging, then this game is for you. Download now!
