Kindred Spirits on the Roof is a yuri visual novel, meaning it focuses on same-sex relationships between girls as opposed to the standard male-on-female relationships found in most visual novels and eroges. Yuri titles are by no means new to the visual novel market, but this is the first time one will be released to the mass English-speaking market uncensored.
The game, which features a love story between two ghosts who want to have their “first time” together before they pass on, is more focused on the relationships between the girls in the school than it is on the sex. This may very well by why Kindred Spirits on the Roof is allowed to fly on Steam. Honestly, some big Western titles, such as The Witcher 3, have more sexual content.
While Kindred Spirits is not a hard eroge packed with sex, it’s easier to label it as an eroge because it’s a Japanese visual novel with sex included. It will be the first to make it to Steam completely uncensored, but chances are it won’t be the last.
This release is certainly not the first eroge to make it on Steam, and it’s not even MangaGamer’s first adult-oriented game on the platform; but it is going to be the first one to be released with no censorship. This would be unthinkable a couple years ago.
These are both censored eroges from MangaGamer on Steam.
Whatever the reason Kindred Spirits on the Roof got approved, this is surely not going to be the last uncensored eroge on Steam.
The ero visual novel market is vast, and there are hundreds upon hundreds of titles that are lighter on the sex and heavier on the relationships between characters. Valve and MangaGamer have opened Pandora’s Box, and it’s going to be very interesting to see what’s inside - but I would not expect to ever see any overly explicit visual novels make their way to the platform.
Kindred Spirits on the Roof is scheduled for a 2016 release. That is more than enough time for some people to get prepared for a new type of first for Steam and for others to stew in their moral outrage over lighthearted pixellated boobies, despite the touching story. Hopefully we’ll see more of these titles make their way to the platform in the future.
