JAST USA, a publisher of Japanese games translated into English, has shipped Yin-Yang! X-Change Alternative. The erotic role-playing game, for Windows-based personal computers, is the company’s latest interactive “dating-sim” for adults.
In Yin-Yang, developed by Crowd, players assume the role of a Japanese boy who finds he’s become a girl overnight.
Like the other three games in Crowd’s X-Change series, it focuses on the tribulations of a male main character who must find a way to return to normal, usually while navigating various adult situations. In Yin-Yang, the player assumes the role of Kaoru, an unfortunate Japanese youth who was born with unique “yin-yang” DNA that is both male and female. When a potion combines with his special DNA and changes his body into that of a beautiful girl, he’s faced with some tough choices that usually lead to sex in various forms: a forbidden liaison with a classmate, serving as the private sex slave of a spoiled rich girl, or having a unique experience with a female friend who is transferred into an androgynous body accidentally. There are 12 unique game endings for players to explore.
“We continue to see more and more acceptance of adult themes in the modern medium of computer games,” said Peter Payne, owner of JAST USA, “Yin-Yang is a title that fans have been chomping at the bit to play for months. This game has it all: a great story with a hilarious premise, full English translation, and uncensored graphics. We think it will do well.
“As usual, Yin-Yang is much more than a game where you have to figure out how to get the girls in bed with you,” Payne continued. “For example, the writers of the game have put a lot of thought into what kinds of emotional reaction a male might have if he were suddenly transmogrifed into female form. Going beyond the obvious sexual opportunity such a situation would offer, the game explores much deeper issues as the player interacts with other game characters.”
Ever since the first computers with color displays, Japan has had a strong culture of “love simulation” computer games: games that simulate sexual interaction between players and various game characters when the player “wins” their love. PC dating-sim games often are referred to as “hentai” or “H” games by U.S. fans.
JAST USA/PCR Distributing has been involved in licensing and translating Japanese dating-sim games since 1998. The company has a catalog of more than 50 English-translated games, including themes like maids, “cat girls,” and more.
All characters in the game are age 18 or older, according to the company.
