(18+) REVIEW: Closed Game


Title	Closed Game
Developer	Empress
Publisher	JAST USA
Release Date	May 27th, 2021
Genre	Eroge
Platform	PC
Age Rating	18+
Official Website

Closed Game is the first Empress title I’ve played. I have never had a chance to experience Starless: Nymphomaniac’s Paradise, but when the chance came up to review this Empress title, I jumped on it. I figured Closed Game would have some crazy kinks, but was I prepared for what I had gotten myself into? Let’s find out!

In this world the Earth has become a wasteland. Most of the natural resources are running thin, and people here are struggling just to survive. Meanwhile the people in the floating land, Caelum Urbs, are living in luxury with their every need met. They have many technological advances that are but a dream to the people in the wastelands. There is, however, a chance for people on Earth to live among the Caelum Urbs, if they compete in the mysterious “Closed Game.” This chance is about to come very soon for our protagonist, Tougo Magnaaten, and his childhood friend, Celicia Lockhart. They are about to get swept up into this craziness with some strangers, and what they encounter will change them forever!

The “Closed Game” is a game of survival that the people Caelum Urbs watch for entertainment. Players must get to the safe zone in each area before the time limit expires and that section is plunged to the Earth! Of course, horrible monsters and human gimps roam this land, looking to rape the girls in every way possible. Through the choices you are given throughout the story, you can pick which of the girls you wish to accompany and see just how each of their stories play out. While I think some of the routes here were pretty easy to figure out, I had to find a walk-through for a couple of them. I see no reason why some of these choices lead to route ends while others do not.

The story here is pretty straightforward and, mostly, just a driving force for all of the H-scenes fill with various kinks. That’s not to say Closed Game doesn’t have interesting characters or that the story, overall, isn’t very entertaining. I really loved all of the characters here. Our protagonist, Tougo, is kind of a wimpy guy that works as a mechanic. He’s always worried about his childhood friend, Celicia, who is a badass bounty hunter. You can tell she is very into Tougo right from the start, but like most anime protagonists, he’s pretty dense to this. Lacey Mallet is a singer, and sort of a diva on Earth. Tougo has a bit of crush on her and loves her music. Marielle Clemens is a very frail girl with an ongoing illness. She clings to Tougo right off the bat for protection, since she is gonna need a lot of help to survive this harsh game. Lastly, we have Cocona Stemper, she is a very laid back girl that seems way too chill. There could more to her than meets the eye. I could go into a couple more characters but that gets into the spoiler realm.

The artwork here was done by the well known hentai artist, Seishoujo, and is the quality you would expect. All of the H-scenes are highly detailed and have plenty of variety. The girls will encounter slimes, insects, pig monsters, and more that will rape them in various ways along the journey. These scenes are unavoidable, so if this is something you’re not into, this is probably not the game for you. There is some mild scat here as well, and I’m not a fan of that. Putting that aside, I felt like these scenes were a decent length and very well written. The character designs and costumes look fantastic as well, and even the various locations in the game are highly detailed. From the desert town you start in, to the wild forests found in one of the game zones, each area is fleshed out nicely and they even mention some of landmarks in the story, which I thought was a nice touch.

Closed Game’s soundtrack is one of the most mixed up I’ve ever heard in a visual novel. There are a ton of different track styles that range from country western, to rock, and even some electronica thrown in there for good measure. This may seem like all this shouldn’t go together, but it does wonderfully and really gives the game a lot of atmosphere. The fantastic voice cast helps this along as well. All of the Japanese actors do a great job bringing these characters to life, and make the H-scenes very steamy as well.

Closed Game was as over the top as I expected it to be. There are some extreme kinks here, but the story certainly lends itself to them. The characters and narrative are all well done, so this kept my interest throughout my 12 hours of play. This, of course, was helped along by the amazing artwork and top notch soundtrack the game has to offer. The only issue I really have with this one is some of the routes are bit confusing to figure out, but there aren’t a lot of choices here, so with some trial and error they can be figured out fairly quickly. If you’re not turned off by the extreme kinks, I would say give Closed Game a shot. While the story isn’t groundbreaking, it is entertaining and well worth the $34.99 price tag.