Madou Koukaku - Gameplay was really good. Al's voice was perfect!

March 31, 2026 · 12:50 PM

Madou Koukaku ~Yami no Tsuki Megami wa Doukoku de Utau~ ( 魔導巧殻～闇の月女神は導国で詠う～) is a visual novel developed by Eushully and released in 2013 that follows a style quite different from the other entries in their repertory. Why? Well, contrary to the usual RPG, this time around we have an RTS (Real-Time Strategy) game with a world map and individual battles. Think of it as a Total War game with hero units.

The story follows Weissheit Zerinder, a general of the Melkia Empire, as he rises in rank and works to defend his homeland. The country is commanded by the emperor and four field marshals; when one of them dies, Weiss is installed as the successor, opening the door for a change in the power dynamics of the empire.

I still can't get over how the Madou Koukaku like Al are so small and yet bring so much firepower compared to everyone else.

Liselle's main heroine power is outstanding, but I stil feel I liked her less than other heroines from the other countries.

Who will you choose as an ally? Who will you chase as an enemy? There are three routes (Weapon Route, Magic Route, and No Choice Route) that are linked to which philosophy you align with in the game. Basically, it all sums up to your preferred way to wage war: either rely on Madou Koukaku technology (Weapon) or Magical Creatures Fusion (Magic).

There are many endings that you can achieve, including a true ending linked to the Weapon route and a harem ending linked to the No Choice Route. The character-specific endings do not depend on which route you are on. This means you need at least three playthroughs to get everything unlocked.

Neneka, once she moves on from the war becomes quite a lovable character. Just look at her smile when playing with children!

Neneka is quite powerful lore wise, but being one of the first enemies you face, she's doomed to be defeated very quickly.

The story is strictly linked to the progress you make on the map, and there are turn limits to achieve particular objectives. Each heroine has her own set of conditions to join the party or die, which requires a level of strategy if you want to get them all on your side. The amount of complicated flags makes it pretty much impossible to achieve a 100% run without following a guide, so I really suggest you get one.

As I mentioned earlier, the visual novel game part starts on the world map screen, which is divided into provinces that have different owners and are interconnected through specific paths. You can move your troops between them and need to keep an eye on all borders to avoid getting overwhelmed. In this mode, you can also recruit new units and manage the finances of your faction.

Eiferia is technically one of the Marshal of the story, but she never felt that imposing like the other ones. Actually quite a cute one.

Lacrille is a dangerous one to conquer because her character has a few tricky flags that may cause her to not fully join us.

Diplomacy is also allowed, but generally, it boils down to "who am I going to attack next?" You have various choices at the beginning, but difficulty varies quite a bit depending on the country, so you do not want to risk invading powerful countries early on or you will be destroyed.

Once the battle begins, the screen moves to the real-time strategy portion, which plays on a field with multiple units (hero and non-hero) from each side facing off with a particular objective to reach (most of the time, it is just to destroy the opponent). Hero units are generally the most powerful, and you want to try to help them gain experience early on to keep up with the enemy.

Getting Feruano Lir to join us was not easy with the flags, but definitely worth it. She's quite a good helper in the story.

Liselle is hot though, shame she hasn't got that many interesting scenes except for the route where it involves her original country.

Listing all the characters that appear in this game would be a monumental task, so I will just tell you which were my favorites for a series of categories, as I did in previous reviews.

For the best-looking character, my choice goes to Alphimia Zara. She is a dark-elf type of character, and I am not usually very fond of those, but she has quite a few CGs where she is outright stunning, and it is impossible to deny her appeal. She is quite a manipulative person at first but mellows out after officially joining the group.

For the best voice, the choice is obviously Al, the main Madou Koukaku of the protagonist. She has an inflection that is impossible to forget, and I still have it impressed in my mind despite it being years since the last time I played the game. The seiyuu Orikasa Ai did a great job there, and I am genuinely curious about a new game from Key that has her in the list of seiyuu, releasing next month, called Anemoi...

Defeating and conquering the elves Elfaticia and MayMay was definitely the hardest battle I had to face in the game. I could've been underlevelled maybe?

Al showing her cuteness, again them being small makes them even more adorable. I wonder who decided that was the ideal form for them to take...

For the best heroine to pursue romantically, my choice definitely goes to Liselle L'ourson. She is the main heroine for a reason; she is someone you can trust to be on your side and always support the protagonist in his quest. She does have the quirk of being a bit fanatic when it comes to mechanical engineering, but that is quite cute too, so...

For the best mascot of the series, my choice goes to Neneka Harness. She is a very aggressive and antagonistic character at the beginning, leading beast troops to invade the country, but once befriended, she becomes one of the cutest balls of fur (she is a foxgirl) that I have seen in a visual novel.

When it comes to voice quirks Lune is quite a good one with her 'desu no' suffix at every sentence.

I still feel Margireta and Li Anes got done dirty, but being a princess and a knight kind of sealed their life.

Overall, Madou Koukaku is a solid visual novel with great gameplay elements and an interesting storyline that will keep you focused on trying to discover the truth behind the events unfolding in the empire and the world at large. The game is quite long and can easily take more than 100 hours to complete fully, considering the three routes and various endings.