Gaikokujin No Sensei (Foreigner Teacher) is an excellently written visual novel that got plenty of actual laughs out of me. It’s always nice when the smaller visual novels put an effort into the writing, as opposed to simply shoveling tropes and nudity onto you in perpetuity.
In a nutshell, it’s a “fish out of water” story about an American with limited (and initially no) Japanese language skills working in Japan. However, he ends up meeting a couple of Japanese spirits who end up tied to him, who are also in a world very unfamiliar to them. The writing is really a standout here, and while your mileage on any individual girl may vary, I almost guarantee you’re going to laugh out loud several times. Better yet, the game is fully voice acted, beyond your character, which is particularly rare for such a small team’s game. That brings me to the second big selling point: the voice acting is exceptionally good, with Justine Lee (who voices Fumo, one of the four romance paths) as an absolute standout, in my opinion. A lot of smaller indie games (understandably) have less-than-stellar voice work when it’s included, but GNS has four very talented women featured in this game.
Those of you who expect a lot of nudity/h-scenes in a game will be disappointed. In the route I played, I saw one, maybe two topless scenes, and that’s as explicit as it’s ever going to be. But that’s not the point of this VN. This VN is comedy and romance-focused, to be VERY clear. There’s a constant soundtrack of music playing, usually 15-20 second loops. They’re fine for what they are, often setting a mood for a scene, but they’re not going to get stuck in your head or anything.
If there’s any real criticism I have, it’s with the CG’s. The art style didn’t work for me in most of them. Two different artists did the CG work, apparently and their styles are VERY different. They’re never BAD, but it’s jarring how much better one CG will look from another in the same route. I’d have preferred a bit more consistency in that department, but it’s a minor criticism in the grand scheme of things.
Given that each route will take around 3-4 hours (depending on how fast you want to burn through the reading/listening to the voices), you’re looking at around 12-16 hours to see it all. For $10 USD, that’s more than fair, given the quality of what you’re getting. This game has charm and heart, and I really look forward to what this dev does next. (And I really hope the next one also has Justine Lee. Seriously, I cannot say enough good things about her performance here.)
CLICK HERE to buy Gaikukojin No Sensei (Foreigner Teacher) on Steam. Do it. DO IT NOW.
The Chuck is a lifelong gamer who was born in Ohio, but now lives in much closer proximity to Mickey Mouse.
The Chuck has found his life to be a series of improbable and almost unbelievable events, starting when he was twenty and caught the bubonic plague from a prairie dog. He was as surprised as anyone when he found out that's something that can happen.
When he isn't gaming, The Chuck can be found enjoying baseball, (American) football, pro wrestling, and horror movies. He is most commonly seen in the company of one or more cats.
Reclusive by nature, The Chuck is (like most semi-feral creatures) reward-driven. Approach with caution and some form of treat.
Comment here