RIDDLE JOKER - Infiltrating with Nanami. Scared Ayase was cute

February 23, 2026 · 1:03 PM

RIDDLE JOKER is a visual novel developed by Yuzusoft and released in 2018, which also became available in English a few years later. This visual novel is set in a world where supernatural powers called "Astral Abilities" exist, and the people who possess them are often targets of discrimination.

The story follows Arihara Satoru, an agent for a government agency. He is asked to infiltrate a school for Astral users along with his younger sister, Arihara Nanami, in order to monitor a particular student named Mitsukasa Ayase, who could potentially be the target of a terrorist attack.

Nanami, I understand what you're trying to do, but putting something on the fork would help.

Quite cat-like Ayase, you just need the tail though. Let me see if I can find one...

The events alternate between normal moments of school life, where Satoru interacts with the heroines, and scenes where Satoru and Nanami infiltrate the school facilities to extract information relevant to their objective from the advanced computer systems.

This creates a consistent loop in each chapter where you get plenty of comedy and relaxed scenes upfront before delving into more action-oriented spy segments in the second half. This structure continues even in the specific heroine routes, though those generally focus more on the specific problems of each heroine.

We complain about Ayase's chest, but her work into masquerading it is downright impressive.

The real question is how Nanase was able to hide these bombs because at first sight I thought she was small...

The academy holds many mysteries that are revealed slowly across the various routes, and you will need to play them all to get a good grasp of what is happening. In my opinion, Mayu and Ayase's routes are the most relevant in that regard. Because there is no single true ending, each route is technically canon.

The heroines are:

Mitsukasa Ayase: The main heroine of the story. She is a proud and popular girl who becomes a target for terrorists after being interviewed on TV regarding a specific incident. While she may seem serious and composed at first, most of her personality is fabricated. She is actually a closet pervert with low self-esteem and tsundere tendencies. Additionally, her chest is also fabricated, as she uses significant padding to fake its size.

This was one of the most funny/cute scene that we got in the game. Hazuki having fun acting like various characters and creating a story on her own. Of course she didn't expect MC to be there... View video page

Arihara Nanami: Satoru’s younger sister, though they are not related by blood. She is an extremely dedicated girl (essentially a "deredere" type) who is skilled at cooking and housework. She serves as backup for Satoru during his missions, and they share a strong connection based on a past that is slowly revealed during her route.

Nijouin Hazuki: Satoru’s classmate and the manager of the dormitory where he lives. She is very diligent and follows the rules to the letter. As the daughter of high-ranking police officers, she strives to be more like them. Her idealism often clashes with reality, and facing this conflict is a primary focus of her route.

Hazuki changes her personality dramatically in her route to the point it was hard to even recognize who she was.

Mayu's story was the most important when it comes to developments and definitely worth exploring if you want to know more about the Astral powers.

Shikibe Mayu: An upperclassman who is much older than Satoru because she has stalled her graduation for many years. There are secret reasons for this, as well as why she has been given a personal laboratory within the academy to research Astral Abilities. Her story reveals a great deal about the background and setting of this world.

Mibu Chisaki: A minor heroine and an underclassman to Satoru. She is a classmate of Nanami and an extremely outgoing, cheerful person who can make friends with anyone in a very short amount of time. She is interested in fashion, but her petite frame causes a complex that prevents her from wearing more mature outfits.

Ayase with the school uniform feels and act like a main heroine. She has that 'aura'.

Example of Astral Ability with Hazuki using her control of water.

Among the heroines, my overall favorite is definitely Nanami because of her history with Satoru, her extremely affectionate personality, and her amazing design. She can get a bit possessive during her route, but it never felt too annoying to me, so it was well-balanced. My second favorite is Ayase because of the gap between her outward persona and her more natural self.

I have to say that the game has wildly different quality levels when it comes to the routes, to the point where I felt some of them must have been written by different people. Hazuki's route, in particular, was completely insufferable due to the preaching and double standards shown by both Satoru and Hazuki, which really lowered my interest in her character.

Stop trying to play around it, the truth is bare in front of my eyes Ayase. Those are paddings!

As usual the quality of the art is downright amazing. Hazuki looks great here.

Overall, Yuzusoft is usually a hit-or-miss company for me. They always have high-quality production elements (visuals, animations, and audio), but their stories often devolve into boring content or a downright incoherent mess. Thankfully, RIDDLE JOKER was a positive experience for me. I can definitely suggest it if you are interested in a moderately long visual novel (it took me 42 hours)