Isekai Harem Hentai Visual Novel Review: Koihime Musou

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Written by Rastafoo69, edited by Otaku Apologist

Koihime Musou, a harem hentai visual novel developed by BaseSon. Originally released in Japan on January 26, 2007. Download on Nutaku.net. For PC Windows. Full Japanese voice acting. Uncensored genitals.

After you stop a thief holding a magic mirror, you’re sucked back in time to experience the period of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms! Only this version of ancient Chinese history doesn’t feature sweaty men as heads of the warring states, but cute anime girls in desperate need of dick! Explore the world, stop the endless wars, and find your way back home!

This review covers the original visual novel that started the Koihime Musou series. This amazing adult game inspired a SFW anime and a Playstation 2 game.

STORY

The setting to this story crosses three genres. It’s a time travel game where you’re sent back to ancient China. It’s an isekai game where a normal person is transported to a supernatural world. And it’s an alternate history game.

As a visual novel made in 2007, the writing is much more loose than what you’d expect nowadays. The protagonist can fuck every girl in town, but the ending will show him devoted to one. You’ll often befriend people who tried to kill you earlier. And, things tend to work out perfectly no matter the odds.

The game features three endings, matched with three main girls. This was a huge disappointment since there are so many others to choose from. I wanted to marry Chouun, but got stuck with Aisha instead. The bonus harem ending was nice, but pretty unrealistic.

The game is at minimum 20 hours long. Naturally, the MangaGamer translators made some mistakes. There are small common typos in the dialog, such as “renouned” when it should have said “renowned”.

Altogether it’s a very linear experience. There are no branching plotlines or meaningful choices. Though it flows naturally, each story event introduces another waifu into the mix.

You’re outnumbered by enemies, but Shokatsuryou, the strategist, joins your team. Just when you’re looking for a strong fighter, Chouun appears. You need more troops, Kousosan is there to help! You can trust that every plot point is going to add more characters, which eventually feels like lazy writing.

Speaking of lazy writing, you fight the Yellow Turban bandits like five times. Alternatively, sometimes the writing is too complex. Each girl has multiple names. For example, Aisha is also called Kan’U, and also called Unchou. These names are used interchangeably, making things very confusing and hard to remember.

However, the one thing the writer excels at, is classic comedic moments. Like when you tell your generals about your clothing, it’s hilarious! There’s a line, “Do you doubt the almighty polyester??”, it made me laugh out loud. Even in the anime adaptation, the main story is put to the side to focus on the hilarious dialogue.

CHARACTERS

Hongou Kazuto is the protagonist of the story. In present day, he was a history buff for the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He’s trained in kendo, but isn’t very good in actual fights. As the self-insert character, he is written to be balanced and uninteresting.

Aisha is the main waifu of the game. She’s got long black hair, a teal dress, and copper colored eyes. She’s an idealist who wants to bring peace to the world, putting up a tough facade to do so.

Chouhi is the secondary waifu of the game. With reddish pink hair and a giant spear, she’s the childish and mischievous member of the group. She’s one of the few girls who doesn’t start the game with a massive crush on you.

Shokatsuryou is the third waifu of the game. She’s the short and quiet blonde girl with a green ribbon on her waist and hat. If you want a socially awkward girl who blushes uncontrollably, choose her.

There are 30 other characters in total. The lusty milf Kouchuu, the headstrong fighter Bachou, the blunt and uncaring Chouun, the list goes on. Speaking frankly, there’s too many characters. At some point I was praying the game would stop introducing new names, but it never did. It’s impossible to remember all these names, and few of them develop beyond “I secretly have a sensitive side and love you”.

GAMEPLAY

Koihime Musou is a visual novel. Click the screen to advance the story. Press CTRL to skip text. Use mouse scroll to open the text log.

In spite of being over a decade old, this game still runs smoothly on Windows 10 systems. In all my hours playing, I didn’t experience a single glitch or crash! The game lacks branching story choices.

There is a home phase and battle phase. During the home phase, you can visit some of the women you’ve recruited to your side. Because there’s a limit to visits, the game has replay value to come back and pursue other women next time.

The battle phase seems complex but it’s super simple. First, choose a general. They have special abilities to damage enemies. Second, choose your strategist. They will give bonuses to certain battle formations. Third, choose your troop types. Will you priorize heavy armor or archery? Make sure your troop type matches your strategist.

For example, making Aisha your strategist gives a bonus to the “Inverted Wedge” formation. That means you should prioritize archers for high attack potency. As long as your formation, troops, and strategist go together well, each battle will be a cake walk.

In simple terms, its like Pokémon. As long as you learn the types and use them well, the game is super easy. And there’s so many strategies to win, it’s near impossible to lose. There’s only 19 battles, and they’ve very spaced out. If you lose in battle, the game gives you more troops so you’ll win. When you’ve finished game at least once, you don’t have to fight in future playthroughs.

This game should not be compared to other military strategy games like Leane of Legitimate Crown. In those games, combat is a primary focus. In this game, you often go a half-hour or more without battles.

GRAPHICS

The game has a Japanese anime art style. With thousands of artworks throughout the game, the visuals never get boring. Both men and women are depicted in standing art, except the protagonist.

From a glance you can tell these artworks are incredible. But it’s really the details that impressed me. Aisha’s breasts for example. While other games have two spheres with nipples exactly centered, this game does not. The breasts look curvy and realistic, making this feel less like hentai and more like a virtual sex experience.

This game was originally censored, and was uncensored a long time ago when MangaGamer was only beginning. The genitals in this game look pretty wild.

Dick size varies dramatically. Sometimes being 5 inches, other times it’s a third arm on your crotch. Sometimes the dick is pointy, other times it has a rounded tip. Sometimes the dick is a smooth cylinder, other times it has foreskin and shading. It’s like the artist was slowly learning to draw dicks as he went.

The letter spacing in this game is just plain bad. Sometimes the letters are smashed together and difficult to read, other times they’re spaced out like crazy. This isn’t game-breaking, just annoying.

In spite of these flaws, the visuals are overwhelmingly fantastic. Unique visual graphics are used to convey your attacks. Like when you thrust your weapon forward, you can see a polearm weapon move horizontally while a fitting sound plays. It really feels like I thrust my blade forward!

There are over 160 CG images and 58 unique sex scenes. This is because many artworks are completely nonsexual. This game can be played without sex scenes, and would still be magnificent. Battle art and eating together are just some of the great examples of character building moments.

Multiple scenes are only available in the game and not the gallery, like when you first deflower Aisha. I highly recommend you play the game in full, rather than downloading a full-save.

Cut-in images are often used for moments like tit gropings. If these characters seem familiar, you likely recognize them from doujins or the anime adaptation. Their unique character designs were perfect for a television appearance, so you know they’re good!

VOICE ACTING AND SOUND EFFECTS (SFX)

Koihime Musou features full Japanese voice acting for 30 characters in total. Most of them are women, but the minority of male voice actors does spice things up and add tension to big moments.

A unique VA was used for every girl, which helps keep the thirty voices distinct from one another. Their way of phrasing things makes them distinct, but most western players won’t really notice. For example, the voice for Chouun has a way of dragging out words to emphasize an emotion like surprise or frustration. Even something as simple as saying “nani” varies dramatically between each character.

The unique personalities are matched by voices, even to the extremes. Chouhi for example, has a high-pitched voice to match her short stature, but its not childish, because she tends to speak firmly and directly as a warrior. Overall, the voice work in this game is phenomenal, and set the standard for high quality performances that the hentai industry follows to this day.

The sound effects are equally impressive. You can hear footsteps getting closer and closer! You can hear the wind “whoosh” as you swing your kendo stick. You can hear the mirror shatter as you drop it. And of course, a firm “slap” when you’re hit by a girl. The attention to detail here is unmatched, I have absolutely no complaints.

MUSIC

There are 44 songs in total. Listen to the OST on Youtube here. Of course, listening to the tracks alone will only convey so much. The best way to fully appreciate them is to play the game!

The track “A Will Stretching a Thousand Miles” plays on the title screen. It’s a soft and mystical lullaby similar to a music box. When you start the game this seems ill fitting, but at the ending it really hits. It’s a song that evokes memories and emotion, that only gets better with time.

Four of the tracks are fully voiced with lyrics and rhythm and everything! “Beyond the Azure Skies” is a classic anime opening with a bouncy and hopeful tune, while “Howling Soul” is a rock song with electric guitar and drums.

These songs always hit at the perfect moment. When you think you’re in a safe place, relaxing music plays. Then you realize you’re lost and the music dramatically changes to a techno pop beat that’s super energetic and wonderfully conveys your panic! Simply put, this game is the ultimate standard of what visual novels should strive to be.

HENTAI

Although there are 58 sex scenes, you have to remember this is a 20-hour game. Often you’ll go a half-hour or more without sex. Remember that the story always comes ahead of the hentai scenes.

There are no wild fetishes featured here. Most girls fall in love with you after a few short conversations. First they are hesitant, then they open their legs for you. The experience is super relaxed.

Often times you’ll witness a juicy panty flash, only to be blue-balled for another hour. The girls never change into ahegao sluts or something, they’re always kissing you and enjoying your company, rather than losing themselves to good dick.

Most sex scenes have both you and the girl fully clothed. Outside of some petite girls with small tits, there’s nothing questionable to see here. Just a simple, vanilla, hentai experience. The focus is on the love, not the lovemaking.

CONCLUDING WORDS

Koihime Musou is a fantastic visual novel in the harem genre. The music is perfect, the voice acting is engaging, the visuals are professionally drawn, everything is fantastic! The story and gameplay are typical to the visual novel genre. If you fall in love with the characters, you also have anime an adaptation and doujins to keep enjoying them!

Download Koihime Musou. If you love content-rich visual novels, check out our review of Sakura No Mori Dreamers.