Herculion Games
Erotic Visual Novel, 2020
Full Service is an erotic visual novel, because let’s be honest now, the naughtiness is the only reason visual novels are even a thing. This one was recommended to me by someone that saw my review of Coming Out on Top, saying that I may like this one because it has some pretty, er, interesting visuals of guys on guys that are done by pretty well-known bara artist Mazjojo. Oh, I’ve seen some of the stuff done by that person and those artworks are… anyway, sold.
In this one, the player will control the actions of our protagonist, Tomoki Nakamoto. He’s a standard harem fantasy protagonist, in that aside from him being overworked, he has no coherent personality and is a veritable blank slate for the player to turn Tomoki into whatever the player wants him to be. One fine day, he bumps into a hot stranger, whose name we’ll later know to be Kovit Chaiyarit. Kovit hands him a card to this spa, called the Full Service Spa, and tells him to drop by for relaxing evenings that always end with a happy ending. Like all good protagonists of such games. Tomoki has no idea what happy ending is.
So, basically, this game is about having Tomoki sample the wares of the spa and navigate through the rocky waters of romance and sex with the talented staff of that place, amidst a backdrop of people in the town of Morning Wood (yes, really) slowly disappearing. The kidnapper and mastermind of these disappearances is linked to Tomoki in a way that will shock anyone that has never played such games or read such stories before.
The Meat Rack
Kovit Chaiyarit is the promiscuous happy slut that has never been in a committed relationship before. Top only. Naturally, once he’s had a taste of the slurpy tight delights of our hero, he’s all about how he’s now found his one and only. This is a pretty standard story, although the fact that he eventually gets injured protecting Tomoki adds a nice touch to the story. Then again, the fact that he does this regardless of whom Tomoki is boinking kind of ruins the whole thing.
Remi Svensson is a hot model that for some reason works as a masseur as well. Maybe the modeling money isn’t that hot. Bottom only. His entire story line is a snooze to me, as it’s about how he is so pretty that he is constantly approached by sleazy people to star in pornographic movies. It is up to Tomoki’s enlightening wang to help him come to terms that he is indeed so pretty and there is no sin in being hot.
Sota Kobayashi is the token jailbait for folks that like this thing, only in this one he is a university student and therefore no cops will break down one’s door while one is playing this game. Bottom only, because the people that like this thing also will likely like to top this… thing, I suppose. His story line is that he’s working hard massaging clients and charging them extra for sexual services because (a) he is thirsty for sex and (b) the money helps to pay for his ill mom’s treatments. His relationship with Tomoki is not predatory at all, of course, because he always makes the first move and he doesn’t charge Tomoki anything for the backdoor plugging.
Rald Schwarz is actually Tomoki’s boss, a closeted dude that moonlights as a masseur in order to explore his sexuality and get away from the pressure of living under his controlling SOB father. Top only, maybe because he is a submissive to his father that he needs to channel his inner “I’m the boss now!” onto Tomoki. His story line, predictably enough, is his efforts to be his own man and break away from his father, and he will find the courage to do so in the depths of Tomoki’s hot well of wisdom.
Not pictured here are three more potential meatsicles on the rack: Lenga Valentine, who looks like a rejected concept art from an anime and his story line is a basic “I’ve lost my memory and am vaguely doing something about it, but in the meantime, I want lots of sex!” nonsense, and twin brothers Oki and Okan Ardana, criminals that eventually become remorseful and are turned back to the good side by the healing powers of Tomoki’s arse and wang. Oh yes, Tomoki can have a threesome sex with the twin brothers—in fact, one such scene is unavoidable as it’s an integral part of what is passed off as the main story arc, and if one wants to, Tomoki can end up in a cozy ménage à trois with them.
The Meat Buffet
I’ll be honest here, as fun as it may seem on paper to hop from one hot guy to another, getting to the good stuff can be pretty tedious. The lines in the game range from banal to passable, and Tomoki is such a boring protagonist to follow that he soon outwears his welcome. This game makes it near impossible for one to stay monogamous to one fellow, which wouldn’t be an issue if the lead character’s personality varies to extreme degrees depending on whom is sticking it to him or whom he is sticking it into. With Sota, he’s the creepy, hovering big brother type that is all sage and wisdom—just don’t mind that he’s shagging a kid in a relationship that has a widely unbalanced dynamic. With Rald and Kovit, however, he morphs into a shy, uncertain “Oh, you want to put it in my… where?” blubbering twit constantly going “Ah! Ah! What are you doing to me, donga-sama!” until I can’t reconcile all these extremes of the lead character’s personality.
Gameplay-wise, this one is a simulation of a day to day period of Tomoki’s life when he’s bouncing off between the hot guys, so one is restricted to going to work, meeting one bloke, having some conversations, and then being made to go back to Tomoki’s apartment to sleep. Working time means playing a stupid mini-game, which can be skipped but skipping it also means that one will not have enough money to buy gifts for the guy Tomoki is set on bedding. Yes, the fastest way to a hunk’s bed here is by plying him with the correct gifts, and getting the money to do so means having to play that mini-game first thing every morning in the game cycle. The whole thing feels way too much like real life work, I tell you.
Of course, it is perfectly possible to skip the tedious mini-game if one wants to only romance one guy here, but let’s be real here. This is basically a harem fantasy game, and nobody plays this game only to stick to one love interest. The fact that it is impossible to stay faithful to one guy here is really telling. Those that want to shag every bloke in this game, and yes, it’s possible, will have to “work for money” hard in this game or just use a cheat and give themselves so much money from the very beginning that they can buy every gift in sight over and over without having to play the mini-game even once.
At any rate, the day-to-day rise, work, and sleep cycle slows the game down far more than it should have, and makes replaying the game a slog to go through.
Hello There, Boys
I’m not going to lie, my first choice when playing this thing is Rald. Come on, he’s hot and more importantly, he’s loaded. The others are broke, whiny, weird, or worse, criminals. What more can anyone ask for? I mean, look at Rald in that expensive suit. Then look at him in his masseur outfit, complete with anime spiky hair to show that he’s now a sexy superhero. Hello there, boss.
His story also feels the most mature and interesting of the guys’, although I am not fond at all at the resolution. He basically outs Tomoki along with himself, in the process forcing our hero to lose his job and livelihood, with no choice other than to accept whatever Rald offers him next. Then again, it does lead to all kinds of happy ending.
Married to a billionaire boss! This happy ending sure beats shacking up to a broke ho, equally broke university grad, whiny model, and weird amnesiac whatever, because of the money, baby. One has to be pragmatic when it comes to these things, after all.
Okay, I also have Tomoki hook up with the twins out of curiosity, and I have to say, as much as I hate to admit it, that one is pretty hot too. I mean, the two of them fighting over Tomoki, before deciding that the one that gets Tomoki off first is the winner—not going to lie, that’s kind of hot. Due to technical limitations, or so the people behind this game claimed, there is no epilogue moment featuring all three in a cozy household, although it is possible to get a happy ending with both siblings prior to that, but that’s just a small issue where I’m concerned, and I’m blaming that on those folks that didn’t give enough money to these people when they were raising funds on Kickstarter to make this game.
Repeatability
As I’ve mentioned, there’s not much point replaying the game often, due to the tedium of the gameplay itself. The “rewards” of going through the whole thing, which inevitably boils down to smashing on the fast forward button until the mouse protests in order to skip the scenes and dialogues one has already gone through so many times already, is to unlock all the naughty pics in the gallery by meeting various conditions. I mean, hey, people can knock themselves out if that’s what they want to do, but the entire gallery can be found online without having to go through the effort.
Final Word
So, what do I think about Full Service? As a game, it’s pretty tedious. Still, there is some vicarious charm in being seduced by a hot and rich boss by day, sex masseur by night or being fought over by horny-hot twin brothers. Once that is done with, though, I have little interest in checking out what the rest of the game has to offer, mostly because of having to click the fast forward arrow non-stop and possibly ruining my mouse as a result. A part of me will always wish that this had been a romantic smutty comic or cartoon instead.
Also, why is Tomoki forced to pick one guy for a happy ending, even after he has shagged all of them? This is another one of those games where everyone wants Tomoki, even the villain that can be defeated when Tomoki gives him the pee-pee the villain desperately wants, so I don’t know, it’s weird how this game is a harem game that forces the player to choose one fellow in the end. Why not have Tomoki become the new boss of Full Service Spa in the end, and have all his lovers go make him his money and entertain him on their days off?
Oh well. At least I’ll always have memories of Rald and the hot twin brothers.
