Tester’s Corner: Free Friends Ed. Vol 1

I wasn’t sure what to expect when the opportunity to test Free Friends arose. As a sex-heavy title, it wasn’t the sort of game I’d usually play. Even so, the art looked nice and I thought the main character was very cute, so I decided to give it a try. I’m glad I did, because I ended up enjoying it a great deal.

Kurahashi Yui may be the only girl in the game (with a sprite, at least), but that’s certainly not a negative aspect at all. A model student, she’s sweet and polite. Whenever anything bad happened to her, I’d find myself wishing I could give her a hug (and not for any sexual gratification, perverts!).

And happen those bad things did… The story starts off with the schoolgirl having a rather unpleasant experience in a love hotel with her teacher. Following the story from the perspective of the rapist, you get to make choices that will ultimately determine the outcomes of Kurahashi and yourself.


You certainly can’t say that this teacher is neglecting his students…

Each choice you make forms its own distinct branch. I recommend starting off being the meanest possible person to can to her, then gradually softening up in subsequent playthroughs where you’ll find out more about the protagonist’s (or “antagonist’s”, I suppose) motives. I liked that there are clues to Kurahashi’s and the teacher’s backgrounds in some of the routes that are fully revealed in others.

The music, though it doesn’t draw attention to itself, is pleasant to listen to and is used fittingly to the mood of each scene. That said, I would have liked there to be a greater number of tracks than the seven (plus one that plays over the end credits) used as it felt somewhat repetitive towards the end. Considering the relatively short length of the game, though, it’s really a minor qualm. Fujimori Yukina did a good job of voicing Kurahashi, and conveys the character’s emotions very well.

 

063015_0437_TestersCorn2-2

She’s soon about to become dirtier than when she entered the bath.

 

As for what is possibly the most important aspect of Free Friends, the sex scenes are plentiful and use a wide variety of positions and fetishes (the scene pictured above featuring Kurahashi in a school swimsuit is one of my favourites). And when the time comes for the protagonist to cum, you’re often presented with the choice of whether to let it all out inside her, or let it spurt onto Kurahashi’s body, with variations of the CG for each. The great thing about visual novels compared to real life is, of course, that you can experience both by simply reloading a save file and picking the other option.

Free Friends is great if you like eroge that are slightly edgy and have lots of sex. But even though that’s not exactly what I’m into, I found there was a surprising amount of depth to the story and really enjoyed playing it. Now when can I get my hands on Free Friends 2…?

 

—Lycoris

Bookmark the permalink.

2 Comments

  1. I went with the good route first on my first playthrough and now regretting it as I feel so bad acting as an extremely evil guy on the other route to Kurahashi.

  2. Neat Tester’s Corners. It definitively gave a good impression of the game.

    However, I miss the “wild days” of the Tester’s Corner when (some of them) were far more random and often funnier. What ever happened to Nurio, for example?

Leave a Reply to BloopCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.