Manga: Mysterious Girlfriend X
Publisher: Kodansha
Mangaka: Riichi Ueshiba
Genre: Romantic comedy, school story,slice of life, supernatural
Concept Game: MGX: Tsubaki Sim
Genre: 3D dating Sim
Mysterious Girlfriend X is one of the most adorable manga series out there. It’s filled to the brim with cute, unique characters that somehow gives me a warm feeling inside. Each time a new chapter is released, (which is rare) I get a feeling of joy + excitement that I usually don’t get from the other manga I read, not even One Piece (that’s a different type of excitement). Maybe it’s because of the long space of time between releases of those wonderful chapters that build up that feeling of longing, like a lover that you have not seen for months. The story of Mysterious Girlfriend X follows two young lovers Urabe and Tsubaki who share a very strange link via their drool. They are able to feel emotions that the other is feeling all through tasting each other’s drool, oh and they don’t kiss. Oh no they taste the drool by putting their finger into the other’s mouth and then tasting all that good stuff.
LOL I know, you’re probably thinking that good old Q has gone insane from all that curry he eats. I mean he’s telling you that this manga is so amazing yet it’s all about people doing all sorts of gross stuff. OK well I’m not gonna go into too much to sell you on the plot here. Instead I recommend you check (this link) for all that I have ever written about this wonderful manga. After that make sure you give the manga a good read. I promise you won’t regret it.
OK so now for the reason you’re all really here; to find out how I’d conceptualize a MGX game. Firstly before we even get started, it must be noted that this manga series must be completed first for my concept to be truly capable of succeeding, Anywho on with the game. If you’ve been guessing it would be a dating sim then you’re right. If you’re guessing a dating sim in the traditional sense then you’re absolutely wrong. To make a game that is true to the style and atmosphere of this wonderful manga there will have to be some changes to the formula. For one our protagonist will not be chasing after numerous female characters as is the norm in dating sims, but will in fact dating only one girl, Urabe. What this means is that unlike the regular dating sim where the character is tasked with acquiring a girl from a select few and then pleasing her. The player will be required to follow through with a full pre-established relationship with Urabe and manage the keep her.
I picture the game being similar to the style of persona 4 excluding all the fighting of course. Giving the player an open city to explore with progressively unlocked locations will allow the player to not only explore their relationship with Urabe, but also those with his friends and family respectively. For example the player can spend some afternoons with Ueno at the arcade and while there run into Oka who would probably then take away her boyfriend. The player may then choose to explore a bit more in depth in the relationship of his friends via a series of txt bobbles and pre-recorded anime cut scenes. Characters in the game can even borrow more from the persona formula by using a similar feature to its Social link system. By doing this the player will be required to not only focus on Urabe but in fact choose how to balance healthy relationships with other characters in Tsubaki’s life along with her. This then adds possibility for jobs and activities to earn rewards that can then be spent or given to another character to increase their social standing with Tsubaki.
By adding Jobs and other activities the developers may now be able to add mini games to mix up the gameplay and add some diversity, because as you know what most gamers hate is repetition in their games. When I think about this aspect the mini games from No More Heroes 2 come to mind. They were simple yet engaging and very repayable without feeling tedious. They don’t need to be the same 8bit style, but the foundation that they represent should remain the same, simple yet fun.
The Romance of our Title should remain on the level of the manga. This means no full frontal nudity, Shagging or any of that kinda stuff. MGX is not Futari Ecchi or Nozoki ana. It’s a cute love story that has its ecchi moments, but they’re still at the kiss and peck level. If it were to stray from that I think fans of the source material would reject the game. How the game can handle ecchi is similar to the Persona Series, yep back to Persona. Have a beach stage; every anime has a beach episode. By having a beach stage/ section it allows for the use of ecchi moments like Urabe & Oka in bath suits. It adds more mini game dynamics that can capitalize on fan service, example; the Dead or Alive beach volleyball games. Yes guys picture it now … the girls from MGX playing volley ball “mmmmm… yep sounds about right”.
Oh wait sorry about that I seem to have gotten lost in my thoughts of this titles ecchi, shameful display. Anywho MGX is a wonderful manga and it can be turned into many types of games. Even though I choose a dating sim for my concept I’m sure that it can be made into an action game, 2D beat em up or maybe an app based game with Urabe cutting stuff up with those scissors of hers (think fruit ninja). The possibilities are numerous.
This is my proposal for Mysterious Girlfriend X: the Game. Did I miss anything? What is yours?
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