Euphoria is a visual novel developed by Clock Up. This game was released for the PC in 2011 (in Japan). The version of the game I will be reviewing is the HD edition available on MangaGamer that was localized in 2015. Minimal spoilers in this review, but I will avoid anything that reveals a crucial plot element or twist in this game. I will provide a general outline of the game while also providing my thoughts on it as a visual novel (production value, story, characters, etc.). Anyways, let’s get started!

Pleasure or Despair? (Setting/Story)

Euphoria takes place in a white room. A white room in which the player has a choice. To insert his keyhole inside the unlocker or die. The problem is that the protagonists keyhole is his penis and the unlocker is a woman’s hole. This is the basic premise of Euphoria. Combine this with fetish fuel h-scenes (including scat) and some good character writing from time to time, it’s no wonder Euphoria has gained a following. It’s essentially SAW with a focus on the “porn” part of “gore porn”. The setting of Euphoria may seem like any other “survival game” from the outside, and in many ways outside of the sexual aspects to it, it very much is. Despite this familiar setting (room with a voice that gives instructions), Euphoria differentiates itself completely from the typical game of its genre by exploring more of the taboo aspects of sex rather than the actual sex itself. Because of this, Euphoria feels less like a nukige (despite very much fitting the bill) and more like a visual novel that can stand on its own while also adding to the player’s collection of fetishes.

Takato Keisuke (a male) is stuck with six other women in a white room. Various people from his school make up this group, five students and one teacher. Because of the rules given by a mysterious voice that is providing this “test” for Keisuke to “rape” his friends, he must choose to “assault” (in various ways) one of them (or more if you wanna make it hard to get to one route) in order to survive. Except that’s what he tells himself. Inside of Keisuke’s heart hides a demon, a person who enjoy administering this sexual torture onto others joyfully. This clashes with the other side of Keisuke’s heart that tells him that what he is doing is wrong and taking advantage of the people sacrificing their bodies isn’t something to get sexual gratification from. This is the crux of Euphoria’s themes. The taboo of fetishes along with enjoying things that are perceived as “evil”. The answer is never given to the player whether or not what Keisuke is doing is right. However it explores his condition from multiple perspectives that enable his sexual tendencies.

One of the biggest questions coming out of this review for the reader will be this:

Is Euphoria’s story good enough for me to read through all the h-scenes despite me reading visual novels for the narrative?

And the answer I will give may surprise you. I have praised this game a lot in the early portion of this review. This is because I see the appeal to Euphoria and what it brings to the medium. In my personal opinion Euphoria has the tools for a very engrossing story and it does reach a certain level of its potential in its later routes, but for the most part it was a disappointing experience that was still quite decent. The story of Euphoria generally is a mixed bag.

I will refrain from talking about what in specific makes these routes different from what I initially described the story as (at least until I go in depth on the route quality). However I will give the reader a warning that Euphoria mostly takes place in the “death game” setting. There is a change of scenery once you lock onto a girls route, but the game is mostly going to take place in that white room. The game has a structure in the “common route”. It goes:

Sex-Character Development-Sex-Character Development.

Which would be fine if the game wasn’t as ambitious as it tries to be. Euphoria creates huge expectations from the h-scenes and character development for a good payoff in its routes. Because of the lack of fantastic payoff (which is consistent for most of the games routes), Euphoria constantly stays in a state of limbo story-wise because it relies heavily on a twist introduced towards the end to justify all the other routes and buildup the player had to endure. A twist that has been done better in many games before it and after it.

Too Far Gone… (Characters)

There are seven characters in Euphoria:

These characters vary in importance for the main routes of Euphoria. However the game does try to balance character development between all of them by making them constantly interact with each other after every sex act in the “game”. The lengths in which their characters are explored in Euphoria varies greatly. Some characters get a lot of screen-time and don’t really develop in interesting ways while some do with a lot less focus. We get revelations to what their roles are in the “game” towards the last set of routes in Euphoria, but they never feel fully realized. An example of this would be Rika’s character who gets a lot of development in her route and Rinne’s route. Despite this the payoff in those routes feel extremely lackluster relative to the build they give her character. Then she’s completely an after thought at the end of the games true route. Her character served only to make other characters better and a game with such a small cast should be able to have characters do both. The main twist the game does have allows for characters to have very interesting multifaceted personalities that slowly unravel as you get further through the game, but it feels lazy when there are characters whose functions don’t really provide more to the table than being plot devices. Another character in the cast that brings little to the table is Natsuki. I do like the ideas that her character explores with Keisuke, such as his insecurity with revealing his demons. But at the same time her character arc is extremely predictable (one of the “twists” involving her feels only useful to justify the ending of Euphoria) and boring. Miyako also provides little outside of what her role is in the story (from the moment you see her, you know her fate). Half the female characters in this game just exist. They’re nothing new or interesting, which is a huge shame considering the themes that Euphoria explores allowing for more experiential./unconventional development for them.

The cast of Euphoria despite having massive downsides does prove itself with 4 characters. Keisuke does have times in which his character feels lackluster (particularly in Rika’s/Natsuki’s route). But for the most part it’s awesome. Each route allows for him to explore different sides of his mindset. It’s very in-depth (even in the routes I dislike) and consistent. Without saying much, the main character is the farthest thing from a self insert and I felt that was great (especially with the red flags the game had with his eyes being concealed for most CG’s). Another great character was Rinne, she brought so much to the table with her unique development, her arc being the only “twist” in Euphoria to surprise me. Her character dealt with the concept of punishment and salvation. Because of this she enables Keisuke to mercilessly punish her because of her deep seeded resentment caused by her mother. Along with having a clear and interesting arc, Rinne also had my personal favorite relationship with Keisuke in the game. It went through many tribulations and the fact the game keeps many things ambiguous with the ending of her route only serves to further interest me in her character. Nemu and Kanae are also well written (for the most part) and unique characters with a lot going for them. They provide a lot of the “meat” in Euphoria’s narrative and reinforce the most important themes that Euphoria explores. Nemu’s mind games are by far the most interesting aspect of Euphoria and Keisuke’s insistence to protect Kanae along with her role in the story later only serve to make the story stronger. Kanae does not only serve to the story, she also has a very complex character towards the final routes of Euphoria. Undergoing massive character development. (that does provide mixed results with the direction in which the story goes in the true route). Nemu is devious and is by far the best heroine in Euphoria. She is the “spice” that brings Euphoria to life with the insanity she brings to the “death game” with her smug and devious interactions with Keisuke. She’s an immediately interesting character while the other ones I’ve praised are slow burns.

Art or Torture Porn? (Gameplay/Production Value/H-Scenes)

Euphoria plays like a typical visual novel. It doesn’t have many aspects that differentiate it from what’s commonly accepted in the medium. You make choices and you lock onto a route based off the choices you made (specifically choosing one girl to target to get to their route). Of course the choices are unconventional (choosing a keyhole is definitely not something I see regularly), but it doesn’t change the fact that it’s a pretty bare-bones and normal choice system. It’s not nearly as complex as something like Clannad or Never7, though it didn’t have to be. It’s a fairly acceptable choice system that gets what it needs to done. I feel half the “choices” in this game (particularly in the beginning) feel very inconsequential and only exist to make the choices more varied, but we do get more neat decisions made once you lock onto a route. One of my favorite things about the choice system in Euphoria is that the very first choice in the game determines the players fate in a really cool way. That was a creative choice that definitely fit into the “grander scheme” of the story Euphoria presents in its latter half. But I feel outside of small choices here and there, the choice system in Euphoria isn’t anything unique or exciting.

The production value of Euphoria for a game of its kind is very good. The voice work for the game is fantastic and the art is great, especially when you take to context the themes that Euphoria is exploring. Not taking everything into face value being a major one. A lot of CG’s contrast with each other in a cool way as characters slowly corrupt and reveal more about themselves with each act of sex. It’s a nice visual to have along with Keisuke’s moral dilemma of whether or not he should enjoy what he’s doing because it’s inherently evil (but also a necessity). Voice actors give very convincing performances throughout the game, all the sex acts they partake in vary in pain and the actors do well in revealing how much pain the characters are in to the reader. There are some very emotional performances in some of the routes, showing a lot of range with the voice acting as well. One nitpick with the production value of Euphoria that I found annoying is that the SFX wasn’t very impressive. They do use noises that fit the logic of what’s occurring in the CG’s, but I found it very forgettable and there weren’t many noises that stood out to me in any way. The music of Euphoria was great initially but felt very repetitive after a long period of time since the game tended to re-use the same tracks over and over again. Despite this, I do find a lot of good tracks. Brutality, Tragedy, Solitude, Madness, Lust, and Door to Paradise being awesome tracks. So overall the OST of Euphoria was good but not fantastic.

The H-scenes in Euphoria are good for what they are. A lot will definitely offend people and they definitely delve into the darker side of sexual intercourse, but if you know anything about the reputation of Euphoria, you shouldn’t be surprised. There’s piss, shit, gore, asphyxiation, hairjobs, electrocution, and more. If you have a fetish, this game will make sure to include a scene for you. It’s by far the most diverse set of h-scenes I have ever seen for a game. My only issue is that the dialogue for the h-scenes because of how many there are tend to get very redundant. There is only so many times you can describe a penis until I get bored and the game makes sure to include many synonyms for a woman’s vagina and a male’s penis for occasionally funny moments in the process of sex. There just wasn’t enough funny or interesting dialogue during the sex, the only consistent character h-scenes in Euphoria were Nemu and Rinne, the rest showed signs of brilliance but weren’t nearly as good. An issue I had with the h-scenes was the incorporation of the “bonus game” which was a segment in the game where Keisuke would delve into more “vanilla” sex acts with the girl. This really hurt the flow of the game and only felt like it was incorporated to appeal to people that wanted something more “normal” with Euphoria. This would have been fine if the game made them separate from the main game and put them in the “bonus” section of the main menu as “what-ifs”. But the fact there are 2 bonus games in the middle of Keisuke doing these horrible things to girls and he’s not really developing at all from them really made them feel pointless as story content. They add nothing and only exist to appeal to people who aren’t even the demographic of Euphoria.

Natsuki Route

This route is definitely the most vanilla one that Euphoria has to offer (despite having shitting and blood). It deals with the concept of Keisuke learning to accept his dark side and coming to terms with it. It’s a sweet route in terms of tone, there are some sad moments in it every once in a while but nothing too emotional. My issue with the route stems from the fact that it feels like such an afterthought. Nothing really stood out in it. There are opportunities for some really cool development on both ends, but it doesn’t try being more than Keisuke being uncomfortable with revealing his condition to Natsuki because he feels she won’t accept him. This was good until they delved too much into this aspect of his character and after they “exit” the white room it becomes some melodramatic and boring “never give up” schlock. There are some cool foreshadowing to the true route of Euphoria with the ending and some character interactions after they exit the room, but it doesn’t justify it being really mundane (minus some scenes here and there). The climax of this route is just bad. It’s sloppily structured and only feels like the writer for it didn’t know how to end it. Which is weird considering how tense the situation the characters are put in felt like prior. Obviously I do know why it’s like this (after we learn more about Natsuki in the later routes), but it only slightly enhances the logic of the route. This is bad without context and only decent with context. This would have nothing without the game trying to tie it slightly to the main route (and it could have been done in a more interesting way considering how cool Keisuke’s development was in the beginning portions of her route).

Rika Route

I really disliked Rika when I first played this game. I thought she was bratty and didn’t offer anything to Euphoria at all besides complaining and being a baby. This was until her route came along. Now I like her (but have reservations on saying that because of the direction in which the route goes). Rika showed a lot of potential to explore one of the most obvious sides of Keisuke’s character, the pain his actions cause to others. And the route was doing really well in this regard by having her h-scenes reflect how emotionally and physically violated she felt because of Keisuke. Her character constantly questioning whether or not it was even worth it to continue the game because she felt that Keisuke was only using her. This played perfectly into her character of being immature and not really knowing how to deal with a sexual relationship like the one she had with Keisuke. The beginning and setup for this route was great, it’s one of the best paced ones in the game as well. The issue comes once they exit the room. Her character stagnates and once Keisuke reveals his true feelings for her, the route takes a massive dip in quality. All the buildup for all the pain that was inflicted on her only for her to just give the most obvious and bland answer to him. It felt completely illogical from any standpoint, she just gives into to him without any real consequence (the game does try making her mad at him, but it was only for a moment). Then the climax of this route occurs. It’s one of the most generic things I’ve ever seen in a visual novel, nothing of real value comes from it. They already showed all the foreshadowing they needed with Natsuki’s route, it was not needed at all here. The ending for Rika (and also Natsuki) are just bad, if they had one of them go in that direction it would be cool since at least it felt justified with the direction the game goes at the end. But having both just make them feel unnecessary.

Rinne Route

Her route was the darkest one in Euphoria (in my opinion). I also found it to be the best one because it balanced a lot of the darkness with sentimentality on Keisuke’s side. This explores a side of Keisuke that’s really unconventional. His actions being encouraged. A partner who actually uses his dark tendencies to go too far in order to cleanse themselves of their own sins. In many ways, Keisuke’s application of pain is used to make someone feel better about themselves instead of being looked down upon too much (though Rinne does make sure to tell Keisuke that his beast shouldn’t fully consume him). Rinne also provides a lot of the most grotesque h-scenes in Euphoria with her body going through an absurd amount of pain throughout. I’m really glad that they didn’t go to the predictable direction with her character (to make her a masochist) and instead opted to show a side of something very unique. Someone who receives punishment because they find themselves to be inadequate. Because of this, Keisuke and Rinne become really close throughout the early portions of her route. Their relationship being put through multiple tests as the game progresses. Escalating into a very complex web of revelations once they exit the room. The climax of this route despite leaving room for interpretation (and being more clear once you finish the game) is also masterfully done. It’s a very unorthodox ending that only serves to add layers to Rinne’s character along with the main story of Euphoria. This is a quality route that deals with themes of bloodline, religion, and choice. A huge step up from the previous routes I mentioned.

True Route (Nemu/Kanae Route)

Nemu and Kanae are routes that complete each other. Nemu is the buildup and Kanae is the payoff. I feel these routes definitely have the potential to be the best route for most people who play Euphoria, and in many ways they’re great. They constantly leave you wondering what directions the characters are going to get into while also maintaining a good balance of darkness and sentimentality. I especially like how Keisuke is done in these 2 routes, feeling like a person I want to root for (which I only felt for these two routes and Rinne). I do think a wall that the routes both have in common is that Nemu’s “evil” deeds become absurd. They last for a long time and only serve to reinforce an idea that the reader already knows, she’s a bad person and uses others. I think if they cut it halfway, the routes pacing would be great. I don’t really have much to address here (for spoiler reasons) besides that Euphoria goes towards a very polarizing direction in Kanae’s route where a lot of things completely change. The twist itself is fine and they do make sure to shock the reader a lot when it’s revealed why the game is occurring. But it loses a lot of steam in the closing moments where they incorporate a time-skip (that feels very half-assed) and end on a very inconclusive but sad note. I found it too hard to suspend my disbelief that the actions in the last moments of Euphoria even occurred, it felt like the game was just trying to end things quickly because the author didn’t know how to end the route. Possibly wanting to leave everything on a sour note in order to appeal to the utsuge fandom. Which to me lacked a lot of logic because the game goes towards a much more melodramatic and affectionate direction once you see the revelation made in Kanae’s route. Instead of going for a complex direction, delving into the more psychological aspects of the twist. Euphoria focuses more on the emotional side of it. A direction that really didn’t fit the tone of what the game was striving for prior. Regardless, overall these are good routes that accomplish a lot and are definitely the most iconic. When people say:

Euphoria actually has a good story

This is what they mean

Concluding Thoughts

Euphoria lacks a lot of polish in regards to structuring its routes payoffs and also going all the way with its premise. In many ways it doesn’t know what it’s going for and the tone feels a little off on multiple occasions. I find it hard to say that Euphoria is a good visual novel or even eroge/nukige (there’s nothing wrong with these genres of course). It tries being too ambitious for its own good and because of this doesn’t know what to do with its story or characters a lot of the time. The appeal to Euphoria is mostly the shock value, but it also tries being very emotional throughout with varying degrees of success. It should have stuck with one tone and gone all the way with it instead of trying to incorporate so many elements into its story. Combine that with filler scenes throughout (Nemu is evil, I know) and some perplexing choices in the end, Euphoria feels like squandered potential for something fantastic. It has many tools of a great visual novel but because of these small issues that culminate into a huge one, I can’t feel justified in rating the game too highly.