Game Review: Voice Love On Air

By Rae

Players: 1
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC (Steam)

It’sssss Rae with yet another non-otome game! This time around we have something a little different than what I would normally play- a BL stat-raising game, Voice Love On Air. I have played explicit yaoi games in the past, but I was never one to play the more light-hearted (and less... tantalizing) BL genre. However, I do love a good stat raising game! There is nothing that beats seeing my decisions have a fruitful outcome.

This slow-paced BL game is developed by SOFTSTAR and Noisy Fish for both PC and the Nintendo Switch. SOFTSTAR are a Taiwanese company with lots of RPG and horror games under their belt. After looking them up, I can safely say I have never played one of their games. New territory! It also seems like this is their first step into the BL genre, which is actually really interesting considering their other games are so different in comparison. Oh, last note before we jump into the review, this company DOES use AI. They don’t hide its usage and state where it is used. From what I can gather, it is mostly used in the Drama CD’s icons and textboxes/UI. While I would prefer to keep AI art FAR from anything I play, I will give them credit to owning up to it and that it isn’t blatant. I did occasionally question some art, but it was never the main character portraits or voices.

But I digress, let’s get into the meat of the game.

Story

In Voice Love on Air, you play as Aki, an introverted and blunt sound engineer. He has a special trait- he can hear people’s “true feelings” from their spoken voice. When someone lies, intentionally or unintentionally, he hears a dissonance that hurts his ears. Feeling more comfortable with ambient sounds, he creates his own sound studio and works as a sound engineer. It’s a quiet and lonely job, separating himself from others. However, without any clients, he quickly becomes dependent on a woman named Mone, a producer and “big sister” to Aki. At first, I sincerely thought they were related with the way they speak to each other, however, she is actually a friend of Aki’s deceased older sister. Mone loves BL and sees the shining opportunity to have Aki become a voice director for her productions. Aki is hesitant at first. Not only will he have to work around his sensitivities to others voices, the subject matter is one that he has some trauma with. After helping with one project, the two decide to continue working together, as Aki surprisingly has talent for voice direction (much to his discomfort), and needs the money to continue his 200,000 debt payments.

As you play the week-by-week stat raising, the story will progress in intervals. Moving the plot forward feels natural and not intrusive to the game play, however, it did feel sparse and often a bit too vague to put anything together without blasting through another multiple months. You meet new clients and new voice actors you can recruit without doing anything special. The game REALLY focuses on the business and stat raising aspects, with meeting new characters and romance options being very minimal. I actively went on “dates” where it almost always felt like hanging out with a friend or worse, an acquaintance. I have some mixed feelings on this. On one hand, it feels very realistic as to how relationships grow and provides a very calm play experience. On the other hand, if I am asking someone on a date, I want a little something. We are eating cake at a cafe? Give me a scene where the two touch or feed each other or something?! Instead, we get a very plain conversation. “I like food.” “Oh? I couldn’t care less about what I eat.” “Cool, okay. The dates over, bye.” “Bye.” At one point, I just gave up on the dates. They are only there to raise affection stats, ironically.

The Boys

Despite the cast being larger than I expected, you can only romance the four on the cover art. You got each archetype covered- the “strict and serious glasses” Wesley, the “looks rough, but loves his family” Ryousei, the “childhood friend who supports” Yuki, and the “loud and determined” Junichi. Each one is a voice actor in your studio that you can direct and enjoy time with. In my opinion, they are bland and pretty one note. Their personal arcs were cliché and easy to guess how it would play out. None of them were particularly interesting to me and I had a hard time picking out which one I wanted to aim for. Turns out Yuki is a locked route that you can only get by replaying, so in reality, you only have three boys to pick from for your first play through. Or you can do what a lot of others did and NOT pick one and have a solo ending.

Why give a C+ instead of a D or F? Their designs are really good!! I think they really stand out from each other and their personalities really match their design. You can get a feel of who they are from their accessories and outfits. Plus, their voices are interesting! I was surprised to hear a Japanese voice cast, and especially surprised to hear a few I recognized.

Aki - Manaka Sawa / Masatomo Nakazawa (Clear – Dramatical Murder, Haruki Nakayama – Given, Tatsumi Kazehaya – Enstars!)
Ryousei - Yukke Aoume / Fujino Yuuki (Harry Brown - Satsujin Tantei Jack the Ripper, Deranged Boyfriend ~Itsuki Takaoka~)
Wesley – Santa Hiiragi / Yuki Ono (Dante – NU: Carnival, Ignis Carbunculus – Cafe Enchante, Yuzuru Saeki – Collar x Malice)

While the game isn’t fully voiced, I loved listening to the Drama CD’s I could create (more on that in gameplay), and having the voices for the main plot was always a good sign that I was moving in the right direction. I picked Ryousei because his voice caught my attention. I hadn’t heard it anywhere else, so I did a little search and turns out he’s a streamer and has voiced some R18 doujin CDs?! I immediately followed. I’m weak to such a voice lol.

Gameplay

Being a management/stat raising game, there is A LOT to go over for game play. I will do my best to keep it brief without leaving out anything important.

To start, you are given some visible and hidden stats- Recognition, Profession, Communication, Performance, Fatigue, and Affection/affinity. Recognition is raised as you complete projects and get your name out into the network. The next three are stats you are able to grow by either taking classes or succeeding in projects. Fatigue comes naturally through the week and forces you to figure out a rest system, or you will fall ill and lose time. There is an affection stat that isn’t as visible, but you can see it in the actor’s profile folder. Your main goal is to max these stats and complete projects to pay off your quarterly debt. Some projects specify that you need to be past a certain number, and you’ll have to work around it to be able to tackle said project. You can purchase stuff from the store to help grow stats, but beyond using it a bit at the start, I definitely suggest to not waste your money unless it’s a gift or debt payment.

Once you start a project, you have four steps to complete, meaning it takes four weeks to finish. It follows the same patterns every time- Check Details, Appoint, Table Read, and Record. I find the most fun in the Appoint and Record parts, however I noticed a lot of fun special talks during Table Reads too. For Appoint, it’s the chance you can decided who gets to voice what and how. There are several voice types each actor can use. If you work with them often and raise affection, they can unlock some interesting ranges. I think this part is really fun. Ignoring min-maxing for the moment, I love being able to freely pick someone, then also get the option of HOW they read their lines. Sometimes it’s barely different, but other times, it really changes the vibe of the script. A script that has two roles is double the fun because you get to pick who is seme and uke, and do I love a mature/rough sounding uke!!!

Ahem. Remember to save often so your odd combos don’t fail the game.

The Record part is a mini game where you can suggest and direct, as well as take actions that can up everyone’s mood, relive your stress, or smack someone into submission. Each actor has their own quirks in the recording booth and can effect themselves, the other actor, or even Aki. I’ve seen frustrations over this, but I find it fun. It can really throw off a recording session. Plus, if you go to the school area during free time, you can gain better ways to control the sessions, leading to an easier play. At the end of recording, you get paid and you get to hear a short version of the BL Drama CD you just created. This was honestly the shining part of the game to me (ignoring some of the ugly AI covers). As someone who listened to way too many BL/Yaoi Dramas when I was young, getting to pick out the exact voice I wanted to hear say the lines was SO GOOD. Cathartic, even. Some are simple and wholesome, others a little spicier, but it never leans into 18+ territory.

Beyond the main part of the game, there is free time on the weekends you can use to gain affinity with characters, obtain new projects, or rest up. This part was a good addition to the main week, as it added a little extra dialogue to some of the boys who felt like paper cut outs. You could also use this part to ask the cast out on “dates.” Most of these are so platonic, it hurts. It’s just a little too light on the romance aspect for me.

Conclusion

If you can overlook the use of AI and the significant lack of romance, I would say that Voice Love On Air worth picking up on sale. I enjoy stat raising games and this one felt very smooth and easy to understand without it babying the player. I enjoyed the story that was told while playing and I thought the sheer amount of different ways you can hear the recordings was crazy cool. However, even with all the positives, I don’t see myself playing another route.

Check Out Voice Love On Air on Nintendo Switch:
https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/voice-love-on-air-switch/

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Story: B-
Gameplay: A
Graphics: C+
Music/Sound: C
Value: B

Overall: B-

Pros:
+ Really good stat raising game that you can pick up and put down easily. Gives a good amount of options so it doesn’t feel railroaded.     
+ Results of your grind are soooo good. I really enjoyed saving before appoint people for projects, reloading and changing out who gets what part. Just remember to put in the actors that match the best at the end of it so you get the S rank, earning you a little extra dough.    
+ Fun OST, I would absolutely listen to it outside of the game.     
+ Found a new voice actor to enjoy from a game about voice actors. I don’t know if that’s funny or intended, but yay!

Cons:
- The “dating” system and lack of romance in general. I don’t mind a story-focused game, but when you call your game a BL (Boy’s Love) and there is only L (Love) after the end credits, it’s a little... misleading. It’s a good reward, but it definitely won’t keep those that were expecting some hand holding.    
- There is almost no reason to spend time with the other boys, as they have no ending/no romance/no anything. If they aren’t one of the main four (three if it’s your first play through), it’s a waste of time and effort trying to pursue them.
- Some issues with text formatting and occasional translation errors, but nothing extreme.
- Locked character in a game that doesn’t change path/story with a second play through is not a great move. Locked routes in otoge work because it’s usually an entire route change or a plot relevant change. Gave me absolutely no interest in that character and I basically dropped him like a sack of potatoes when I figured out he was locked.
- Lacks a harem ending. There’s a solo ending, but no harem ending!! Hello?! This would have been an easy way to build it up too, with how you can go on “dates” with everyone throughout the game.

A copy of this game was provided to us free-of-charge by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This did not affect our review in any way.

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