Trap Shrine

Trap Shrine is charming, all be it a tad short visual novel game that deals with the world of crossdressing. I have to be honest and say that I do not think I have ever given crossdressing a second thought, but I can think of very few visual novel games where that has been a main part of the story so I thought that made this sound rather interesting and a tad different to what I am used to.

The Bright Side Of Life

The story of Trap Shrine is about this poor dude who has been left as the person-in-charge of his family’s shrine. Things are not what they were and visitor numbers are way down and as a result, he is really struggling to keep things afloat. He prays to the priestess of the shrine and low and behold she appears.

She is called Himegami-no-Mikoto and she says she will help, but things are complicated with the protagonist’s best friend, Mishiro. Well, they both fight for his affections and they both so happen to be crossdressers! It is a lot of fun and the story is mostly played for laughs and it certainly made me chuckle a few times as I experienced it.

What The Heck Is Going On?

The story is told in a very over the top style and the presentation of Trap Shrine is done in the exact same way. We have these two crossdressers fighting for the affection of our hero in a very fun and over the top style that has more in common with a crazy episode of Dragon Ball Z than anything else.

The artwork is all fantastic stuff and it moves at a quick pace. I liked how detailed the characters were, but the backgrounds also have had a lot of work done and this gets you more invested in the story.

Sit Back And Relax

Ok, so the story that Trap Shrine tells is one that has a great deal of charm to it. However, there is something that I do feel will be a dealbreaker for many of you guys and that is the gameplay… there is none. This is a kinetic visual novel game, so you load it up and just follow the story as it happens.

There are no choices at all, the story only takes a couple of hours to get through and I do see it as a one and done kind of tale.

Pros:

• The three main characters all have a lot of personality
• It has some amazing artwork
• I liked how over the top the fights in the game were
• It has a very solid soundtrack
• The length may be short, but it feels perfect for this story

Cons:

• It features no gameplay at all
• I would love to have heard these characters talk in English