The developers behind Criminal Girls X at Mikage just announced a crowdfunding campaign for the game on the Japanese platform Campfire.
The campaign is fairly peculiar, as its goal is to provide a “console-like” full release on iOS, Android, and Windows 10 PC for the game. It’ll start on April 26 and will last 74 days, with a target of 6,000,000 yen, which translates into roughly $53,614.
The Criminal Girls series was originally released on PSP and PS Vita, but the development team realized that it’d be hard to release a game in 2020 on PS Vita since it’s being discontinued. That’s why they decided to go with mobile and PC.
Of course, the default business model will be free-to-play, but when the team announced the game a while ago, they saw a comment on Twitter that left an impression. “When a social game’s service ends, nothing remains.” Of course, the memories of playing the game still exist, however it’s true that gamers can’t enjoy the game anymore once it shuts down.
While working on the free-to-play version of the game, the developers started thinking on how to provide a “console-like” package that could be enjoyed forever. Of course, that would have been difficult to achieve with the existing framework. That’s why, after receiving advice from various sources, they decided to resort to Campfire. Their goal is to determine whether the product is something the costumers want, and to provide it if it is.
Getting a code of the game will require a pledge of 6,480 yen ($58), while a physical limited edition will cost 14,980 yen ($134).
We also learn more about the story of the game (which will be a mix of RPG and visual novel). The hero unexpectedly meets a cat who calls itself “God.” Wanting to save a loved one who died in an accident, he has to pass the trial of reincarnation. Within a time limit of one year, he has to rehabilitate 24 “half-sinners.”
The stage of the trial is the world between Earth and Hell, the world of strife, named “Shura.” Transformed into a cat and deprived of his memories, he will have to lead the sinners of all kinds to salvation.
The scenario is written by Sou Yoda, who wrote the original game.
It’s worth mentioning that the money raised by the crowdfunding campaign is exclusively for this full “console-like” release, since Mikage already has the budget to complete the free-to-play version of the game.
The free-to-play version is expected to release in February 2020, while the full version should come in May 2020. The game will also support virtual reality.
The series by Nippon Ichi Software is known for its two previous releases Criminal Girls on PSP and Criminal Girls 2: Party Favors on PS Vita. Both made it to the west but had to be censored by NIS America due to content that wasn’t considered exactly wholesome by the western rating boards.
