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Learn More About Tokimeki Memorial 4

By Jenni . September 30, 2009 . 1:14pm

Learn More About Tokimeki Memorial 4 It’s been eight years, but there’s finally going to be a new entry in the main Tokimeki Memorial series. As you’ve probably seen from stories appearing on Siliconera, Konami was focusing more on the DS incarnations of the Girl’s Side spin-off in recent years. But now, Tokimeki Memorial 4 is set to appear on PSPs on December 3, 2009 for 5,250 yen.

 

It’s a bit of a hallmark for the series, since this is the first time a Tokimeki Memorial game is going to debut on a portable system. Plus, it’s a way of celebrating the series’ 15th anniversary.

 

The main story and purpose of Tokimeki Memorial 4 is similar to all of the previous Tokimeki Memorial games. It’s a combination life sim and dating game, where you go through three years of high school and hopefully find a girl to end up with at the end. Your stats, which are determined by what activities you choose to participate in, influence whether or not girls will like you. You can also make friends with guys who will be your rivals for said girls’ affection.

 

Learn More About Tokimeki Memorial 4

 

So, the goal at the end of the game is to go the Legendary Tree, where there’ll hopefully be one of the girls waiting for you there. The story goes that if two people in love there meet, they can be together forever.

 

As Spencer mentioned before, Tokimeki Memorial 4 has only just been announced so there isn’t much information available. Even the website only opened recently. Here’s what we do know:

 

  • It’ll have more characters and events than other Tokimeki Memorial games.
  • Ai Kawashima is going to be performing the game’s opening and ending themes.
  • There’ll be some real-time effect elements.
  • The speech synthesis system returns – which means the characters will probably be able to say your name like they did in the Girl’s Side games.
  • The two "main" heroines are Maki Hoshikawa and Satsuki Yu.
  • The main character’s cell phone battery life will also have some kind of effect on play. Like, if you don’t charge it, you may miss calls or not be able to call when you need to.
  • The phone’s used for a lot more than just calling people, this time around. Screenshots suggest it’s used for news and email as well.

 

The famitsutube YouTube account has a trailer of what looks like the opening movie uploaded as well, in which Maki and Satsuki feature quite prominently.

 

 

As a side note, I love the look on the guy’s face as he’s trying to study. Hilarious. We’ll be sure to keep you updated as more is learned about the game!


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  • http://www.nisamerica.com NickyD

    See, now, if only I could even hope a company would pick something like this up for a US release. My ability to learn another language is proving quite poor.

    • CleruTesh

      It is kind of absurd. Looks like a great game, going on #4, but we haven’t seen even one of them. I have been lamenting recently about how great a percentage of games have some form of violence as their central mechanic. I really hope that our country experiences a shift away from that paradigm, and opens the way for titles such as this one.

      • JeremyR

        Actually though, Konami actually tried this genre (dating sim) in the US. On the PSP no less. “Brooktown High”.

        It flopped.

        Admitted, there are perhaps reasons for it flopping. It being developed in the west, its horrid art style, it not really working with memory cards bigger than 2 gb (can’t save to them)

        But Konami tried. They even went the extra distance, including a full color manual and the cover art was reversible (that is, inside had alternate cover art), something they didn’t even do for Castlevania PSP (well, that had a color inside cover art, but the manual was B&W)

      • Aoshi00

        I think it’s because “digital romance” is always being ridiculed automatically and people who play it are seen as losers in the West. People will say “why do you want to date a 2D girl in a video game?” you know… I say just learn Japanese.. so far being able to read manga and play games is the only good that it has done me..

        • http://ofurotaimu.dreamwidth.org shirokiryuu

          Personally I think niche games like this should be released on DLC. I mean, it’s less of a risk and less expensive. I doubt it’ll sell well, since I don’t think there are many Americans who’d play it. Although I think it would be nice if Visual novel-esque games were released that way

        • Pichi

          Its a shame how its seen that way in the West. To me, its no different than people who want to read romance novels in a way. In dating sims, you get more freedom to go about it.

      • http://honorless.net honorless

        I dunno. If you’re talking about interactive fiction in general, I’d be tickled to see games like Bureaucracy make a comeback. But all the “big” JP dating sims seem analogous to Harlequin romance novels in quality. The characters are largely stereotypes pulled from anime shows I wouldn’t watch, and the visuals aren’t that great either.*

        That last part is really what gets me. I can understand doujin portraits being plain or outright ugly, but Konami’s got the money and clout to hire a set of artists who could put Vanillaware levels of detail in. Why don’t they bother, even for this series’ 15th anniversary?

        * I must admit that a number of Nitro+’s games appear to be a cut above the rest, and I haven’t been able to try one of theirs yet.

        • CleruTesh

          Quality issues aside, a bad simulation of love is still preferable to a “good” simulation of hate.

  • http://twitter.com/ravenschwann Tim Nguyen

    I would love to try this out, but I’m importing way too many games as it is, and I haven’t been studying Japanese as much as I should be. Still can’t read anything D: I’m really liking the art style.

  • Aoshi00

    I’m sry, but the My-Hime-esque art style does nothing for me, I prefer the art style in Love Plus. SD portraits are cute though

  • fuzaku2

    Damn. Not only do they try to sell us effeminate men, now they start emasculating the girls as well! Sorry, but Tokimemo2 will be the last one I have played.

    • http://several-hours-into-the-game.blogspot.com/ Nika

      Isn’t there always a tomboy character in these games? Basic stereotype.

      • Aoshi00

        I love the “boku” type :)

        • CleruTesh

          I didn’t know the term for it, but I agree. Tomboys FTW.

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