ELF Corporation
Encyclopedia
ELF Corporation is an eroge
Eroge
An or Ero-ga is a Japanese video or computer game that features erotic content, usually in the form of anime-style artwork. Eroge originated from galge, but unlike galge, they feature erotic/pornographic content.-History:...

 studio. One of its most popular games is Dōkyūsei
Dokyusei
is the first game in the popular Dōkyūsei series of eroge dating sims by ELF. The original Dōkyūsei , released in 1992.-OVA:...

, a pioneering dating sim
Dating sim
Dating sims are a video game subgenre of simulation games, usually Japanese, with romantic elements. They are also sometimes put under the category of neoromance. The most common objective of dating sims is to date, usually choosing from among several characters, and to achieve a romantic...

, which has had a sequel, and been turned into video and TV series. The character design of the main villains from the -saku series is the company mascot. They are also known for visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...

s, their most famous being YU-NO: A girl who chants love at the bound of this world
YU-NO: A girl who chants love at the bound of this world
, is a Japanese visual novel/graphic adventure game developed and published by ELF Corporation, originally as an adult game for the PC-98 in 1996. The game's protagonist travels between various parallel worlds in order to solve the mystery of his parents' disappearance...

 (1996).

élf was founded on April 27, 1989 in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...

. As of 2004, the CEO is .

efc, the ELF Fan Club (エルフFC), has an active membership.

There is a project that aims at recreating the game engine for other platforms.

List of ELF games

(√ produced or × distributed)

  • Ashitanoyukinojou あしたの雪之丞
  • DE-JA DE・JA
  • el
    Él (visual novel)
    is a Japanese adult visual novel developed by the ELF Corporation which was originally released for the PC on September 29, 2000. A two episode hentai original video animation series based the game was also created...

     [él]エル
  • FOXY
    Foxy
    Foxy may refer to:*Fox Terrier, various breeds of dog*Slang for sexually attractive*Foxiness, a characteristic flavour found in wine made from Vitis labrusca vines*5-Methoxy-diisopropyltryptamine, a drug with the street name "Foxy"...

     FOXY
    • FOXY 2 FOXY2
  • Hana to Hebi 花と蛇
  • Hyakki 百鬼
  • Koi Hime K-O-I-H-I-M-E 恋姫 (also called Mystic Princess)
  • Limeiro Senkitan
    Raimuiro Senkitan
    is a 13 episode anime that aired in Japan between January 5, 2003 and March 30, 2003. It is based on a hentai game by ELF, giving the series heavy doses of sexual innuendos as well as girls in both their underwear and fully nude .It has two sequels: a second season Raimuiro Ryukitan X; and a 2...

     
    らいむいろ戦奇譚 (also called Lime)
    • Limeiro Senkitan 2 らいむいろ戦奇譚★純 (also called Lime 2 - Purity)
  • Masaru Ashita 2 (Masaru 2) 勝 あしたの雪之丞2
  • Metal Eye METAL EYE
    • Metal Eye 2 METAL EYE2
  • Mikagura 新・御神楽少女探偵団
  • RAY-GUN RAY・GUN
  • Refrain Blue Refrain Blue リフレインブルー
  • Shangrlia SHANGRLIA シャングリラ
    • Shangrlia 2 SHANGRLIA2 シャングリラ2
  • Words Worth
    Words Worth
    is a five-part animated pornographic direct-to-video series and a RPG computer game. It also has a side story series, Words Worth Gaiden . The game's story is linear, with only one story decision near the end, leading to one of five different endings...

     WORDS・WORTH
  • YU-NO YU-NO: A GIRL WHO CHANTS LOVE AT THE BOUND OF THIS WORLD この世の果てで恋を唄う少女YU-NO

  • Dragon Knight series ドラゴンナイト
    • Dragon Knight
      Dragon Knight (video game)
      Dragon Knight is a sword and sorcery eroge/role-playing video game series by the game company ELF. It has also a hentai OVA and a four-episode series based on it....

       DRAGON KNIGHT
      ドラゴンナイト
    • Dragon Knight 2 DRAGON KNIGHT II ドラゴンナイト2
    • Dragon Knight 3
      Knights of Xentar
      Knights of Xentar is an eroge role-playing video game released for PC DOS in North America in 1995 by Megatech Software. It is also known as Dragon Knight III in Japan and is part of the Dragon Knight series of games created by Japanese game developer ELF, who originally released the game for the...

       
      ドラゴンナイト3 (also called Knights of Xentar)
    • Dragon Knight 4
      Dragon Knight 4
      Dragon Knight 4 is an anime-style role-playing video game developed by ELF Corporation and released in Japan on several platforms between 1994 and 1997...

  • Nanpa series
    • Dōkyūsei
      Dokyusei
      is the first game in the popular Dōkyūsei series of eroge dating sims by ELF. The original Dōkyūsei , released in 1992.-OVA:...

       (Nanpa 1)
      同級生 (also romanized as Doukyuusei)
      • √ Dōkyūsei Screen Saver Collection 同級生SCREEN SAVER COLLECTION
    • Dōkyūsei 2
      Dokyusei 2
      is a video games published by ELF and sequel to Dokyusei. Dokyusei 2 was released in 1995 in DOS version and in 1997 in Windows version....

       (Nanpa 2)
      同級生2
    • √ Dōkyūsei 2 SP (Nanpa 2 sp) Sotsugyousei 同級生2SP
    • Kakyūsei
      Dokyusei series
      The is a series of 13 popular eroge by ELF. The original Dōkyūsei , released in 1992 for the NEC PC-9801 microcomputer, is generally considered to be the first dating simulation...

       
      下級生
      • √ Kakyusei Screen Saver Collection 下級生SCREEN SAVER COLLECTION
    • √ Kakyusei 2 下級生2 Game Website
    • √ Jankyusei (Game Boy Color)
  • -saku series
    • Isaku
      Isaku
      is a hentai survival horror game released for DOS in 1995. A Windows version and a sequel, Shusaku, were released in 1997. A sequel to Shusaku was released on PC in 2001 going by the name of Kisaku...

       
      遺作
    • √ Shusaku 臭作 (also romanized as Syuusaku, and called Stinko)
    • √ Kisaku 鬼作
  • Strip Mahjong Series 脱衣雀
    • √ Elf All-Stars ELF ALL STARS Datsui Jan エルフオールスターズ 脱衣雀
    • √ Elf All-Stars 2 ELF ALL STARS Datsui Jan 2 エルフオールスターズ 脱衣雀2
    • √ Elf All-Stars 3 ELF ALL STARS Datsui Jan 3 エルフオールスターズ 脱衣雀3

Silky's distributed by ÉLF

Silky's is a game studio whose games are mostly distributed by elf, and several of which have been made into OAV
Original video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...

.
Silky's website

  • Ai Shimai 愛姉妹~二人の果実~ (also called Immoral Sisters : Two Immature Fruits, and 'aishim')
    • Ai Shimai 2 愛姉妹・蕾 …汚してください (also called Immoral Sisters - Bloom ...Please Deflower, and 'aishimai tsubomi')
  • BE-YOND BE-YONDビ・ヨンド 黒大将に見られてる
  • Dorei Kaigo 奴隷介護
  • Flutter of Birds flutter of birds ~鳥達の羽ばたき~
    • Flutter of Birds 2 flutter of birdsⅡ 天使たちの翼 (also called Flutter of Birds 2: Wings of an Angel)
  • Jokei 女系家族
  • Kotodama
    Kotodama
    refers to the Japanese belief that mystical powers dwell in words and names. English translations include "soul of language", "spirit of language", "power of language", "power word", "magic word", and "sacred sound"...

     愛しの言霊
  • Mobius Roid Möbius Roid メビウスロイド (also called Moebius Roid)
  • Nikutai teni 肉体転移 (also called Teni)
  • Shitai 肢体を洗う (also called Slave Nurse)
  • Sweet sweet~半熟な天使たち~ (also called Sweet: Semi-Matured Angel)
  • Valentine Kiss Birthdays 2 : Valentine Kiss バレンタインキッス (365DAYS of SUPER NANPA SIMULATION)

YU-NO

ELF's most famous visual novel
Visual novel
A is an interactive fiction game featuring mostly static graphics, usually with anime-style art, or occasionally live-action stills or video footage...

, YU-NO: A girl who chants love at the bound of this world (1996), featured a non-linear branching science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 plot revolving around time travel
Time travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...

 and parallel universes
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...

. The player travels between parallel worlds using a Reflector device, which employs a limited number of stones to mark a certain position as a returning location, so that if the player decides to retrace steps, they can go to an alternate universe to the time they've used a Reflector stone. The game also implemented an original system called ADMS, or Automatic Diverge Mapping System, which displays a screen that the player can check at anytime to see the direction in which they are heading along the branching plot lines. Similar systems have later been employed in the 2010 role-playing video game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...

s, Radiant Historia
Radiant Historia
is a role-playing video game developed and published by Atlus for the Nintendo DS. The game's development team mostly consists of Atlus staff who previously worked on Megami Tensei games like Persona 3, Strange Journey, Nocturne and the Etrian Odyssey series. The development team also includes...

 and the PSP
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...

 version of Tactics Ogre
Tactics Ogre
is a Japanese tactical role-playing game created by Quest. The game was originally released in 1995 on the Super Famicom in Japan and then re-released on the Sega Saturn in 1996 and the PlayStation in 1997...

. YU-NO also featured a famous FM-synth
Frequency modulation synthesis
A 220 Hz carrier tone modulated by a 440 Hz modulating tone with various choices of modulation index, β. The time domain signals are illustrated above, and the corresponding spectra are shown below ....

 chiptune
Chiptune
A chiptune, also known as chip music, is synthesized electronic music often produced with the sound chips of vintage computers and video game consoles, as well as with other methods such as emulation. In the early 1980s, personal computers became cheaper and more accessible than they had previously...

 music soundtrack composed by the late Ryu Umemoto
Ryu Umemoto
Ryu Umemoto was a Japanese video game music composer, born in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. He is known for composing soundtracks to various visual novel and shoot 'em up games since the 1990s, for several companies including FamilySoft, C's Ware, ELF Corporation, D4 Enterprise, and Cave...

.

External links

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