The Let's Play Archive

Conception Plus: Maidens of the Twelve Stars

by Psycho Knight

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Original Thread: Anime's in retrograde, so Let's Play Conception Plus: MotTS

 

Introduction



Conception Plus Japanese Opening
Theme: “Destiny ~ 12 Kaime no Kiseki” by Nano

Note: This is the Japanese opening cutscene for Conception Plus. I’ve got a whole spiel about this in the first mini update because of some weird changes that were made to it from the PSP version, and also changes that weren’t made from the PSP version in Japan but are made in the English localization.


Welcome to the SSLP of Conception Plus: Maidens of the Twelve Stars. One year ago (2018) I decided to take a shot at my first LP on SomethingAwful by doing Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars. During that LP, I made the promise that I would LP the first game in this series if it ever saw the light of day on English shores.

Apparently I misjudged the capability of Spike Chunsoft’s fledgling North American branch, because they went full throttle on English localizations. They released 12 games in the span of 16 months and Conception Plus was, fittingly (this’ll make sense later), number 13.


What is Conception Plus?

Conception Plus: Maidens of the Twelve Stars is a remastering of Conception: Ore no Kodomo o Undekure!, which was a visual novel/dating sim/JRPG hybrid released in 2012 for the PSP. This is the first game in the Conception series. The sequel, Conception II (which I already LP’d here), only shares some general terms and ideas, so it doesn’t matter what order you read these in.

Like Conception II, this game follows a self-insert protagonist that has to have fantasy not-sex with a bunch of ladies in order to create magic spirit warrior children to help him fight monsters in the world that he has been pulled in to. Also, that fantasy mind sex stuff has been ordained by Star God. Star God really loves entrusting the fate of the world to horny teenagers that he proceeds to blue-ball for fun.


Did Conception Plus add anything new?

Yes, although I’m still a little unclear as to exactly how far the changes go. Graphical improvements should be obvious given that this game is coming to the PS4 from the (long dead) PSP. Aside from that, there is an additional Star Maiden, network features, a CII style Database (which is a godsend for me), extra sexy (unless you bought the English PS4 version), as well as some other stuff like a personality adjustment for one of the Star Maidens (this is a weird one that we will discuss almost immediately in the first mini update). According to a marketing release, changes were also made to game balance, comfort, specifications, and some features were added (as well as removed).

I can’t find any concrete information on what any of the game balance stuff actually means, but for the love of Star God, please tell me that it means a bump in difficulty. I'm begging you Spike Chunsoft.

I will be sure to highlight any new features or changes that I know of as they are introduced. Some of them are confusing and some of them are funny (such as the PS4 changes to sexy stuff that caused the "CENSORSHIP!!!" crowd to rise from the grave and throw a temporary shitfit).


What kind of LP is this going to be?

This will be a blind screenshot LP with video and music links where appropriate. The LP is almost completely blind because the original PSP release was never brought to the West and I never bothered to search it out for import after playing Conception II.

There will be thread participation, the same as with the CII LP, and I don’t intend for this to be a completionist run. Speaking of…


What kind of thread participation?

In Conception II, I had the thread vote on a few things to help steer the LP. People voted on which Star Children to include in teams as well as which ending we would get. Those two things came back for this LP, although they worked slightly differently.

-Team A(wful) made its return for voting. The thread voted for individual Star Child classes to include in the team and offered up names for the little buggers.

-Team B(astard) was made up of Star Children classes chosen by me. However, I placed a condition on this team that said I had to swap in whatever Download Star Children the game decided to randomly grab. Sometimes that only happened once during a team's lifespan, while other times it happened twice, meaning that I had to kick out some of my personally chosen Star Children.

-Team C was decided on as a whole team. I used full team suggestions that users in the thread submitted.

-The "Final Teams" were decided on using a mixture of voting and basing Star Children off of users in the thread.

-Voting on the Heroines also made a return and was more important than before. Why? Because if you watched the opening cutscene (or read this intro) you will have seen that this game has way more heroines to choose from than Conception II. Instead of the 7 heroines in CII, CP gives us 13. We’re going to want to narrow that scope a little to focus mainly on 3 or 4 heroines, because trying to follow 13 different routes at once would take forever with my intended update schedule.


Naughty Content

Just like in CII, always remember the words of The Dark Id:



It's an anime VN/JRPG, it's going to have risque content, although it's largely limited to particular heroine routes. It doesn't have any actual nudity, but there are a few CG's that you wouldn't want people catching sight of over your shoulder at work. There's also likely to be blood in some event CG's.

The game has an M rating in North America. I will warn in advance of any particularly bad scenes. Also, I know first hand how great SSLP's are for reading during boring work days, so if we run into any embarrassing scenes I'll either censor them or I'll just link to the CG so the decision is left entirely to you (probably the more considerate option).



Table of Contents


Prologue/First Offering: Aries
Update I - I've been searching for a man, all across Japan

Special Update I - Conception Plus' Delivery Problems

Update II - No need to fear me; I did not come to touch
Update III - The Stars predict tomorrow you'll wake up, do a bunch of stuff, and then go back to sleep

Bonding Update I - Aries, Taurus, and Gemini
Bonding Update II - Cancer, Leo, and Virgo
Bonding Update III - Libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius
Bonding Update IV - Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces

Update IV - Let me see what Spring is like on Jupiter and Mars
Update V - Every day there’s sorrow; today, tomorrow ~ But I’m dancing instead

Second Offering: Capricorn
Update VI - If there's something strange; In your neighborhood

Bonding Update V - Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, Libra, Aries… and to a lesser degree the rest
Bonding Update VI - Aries, Libra, and Scorpio - Summary of Sagittarius, Pisces, and Leo
Bonding Update VII - Capricorn, Virgo, and Cancer - Summary of Aquarius, Gemini, and Taurus
Bonding Update VIII - Aries, Libra, Capricorn, Scorpio, Virgo, and Cancer
Bonding Update VIII - Summaries of Sagittarius, Pisces, Leo, Aquarius, Gemini, and Taurus

Update VII - I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take (Dungeon)
Update VII - I find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to take (Story)

Third Offering: Libra
Update VIII - Drink blood like a vampire without warning

Special Bonding Update I (Alfie Bonding) - I'm a goddess with a blade - Part 1
Special Bonding Update I (Alfie Bonding) - I'm a goddess with a blade - Part 2

Update IX - I've been battered, but I never bruise. It's not so bad (Dungeon)
Update IX - I've been battered, but I never bruise. It's not so bad (Story)

Fourth Offering: Leo
Update X - Just about the time you’re thinkin’ it’s alright ~ Breakdown. Takedown. You’re busted

Special Events I - The Autumn Festival

Bonding Update IX - Ophiuchus and Aries (Part 1)
Bonding Update X - Leo, Cancer, and Capricorn (Part 1)
Bonding Update XI - Libra and Bottom 7 Maiden Summaries (Part 1)
Bonding Update XII - Ophiuchus, Aries, Leo, and Cancer (Part 2)
Bonding Update XIII - Capricorn, Libra + Bottom 7 Summaries (Part 2)

Update XI - Couldn't see a thing but open skies

Fifth Offering: Taurus
Bonding Update XIV: Ophiuchus, Aries, and Leo + Summaries of Virgo, Pisces, and Scorpio (Part 1) + An explanation
Bonding Update XV: Cancer, Capricorn, and Libra + Summaries of Sagittarius, Aquarius, Gemini, and Taurus (Part 1)
Bonding Update XVI: Ophiuchus, Aries, and Leo + Summaries of Virgo, Pisces, and Scorpio (Part 2)
Bonding Update XVII: Cancer, Capricorn, and Libra + Summaries of Sagittarius, Aquarius, Gemini, and Taurus (Part 2)

Update XII: Toutes celles qui rentrent dans le jean slim en taille 34

Sixth Offering: Gemini
Special Events II: The Star Conception Festival (Part 1)
Special Events II: The Star Conception Festival (Part 2) + Valentine's Day

Update XIII: You come on like a flame; Then you turn a cold shoulder

Seventh Offering: Cancer
Special Update II: “Conception: The Game: The Anime: The Advertisement” (Episodes 1-3)

Update XIV: I’m seeing things I thought I’d never see

Eighth Offering: Virgo
Bonding Update XVIII: Final Bonding Events – Ophiuchus, Aries, Leo, Cancer + Virgo Summary (Part 1)
Bonding Update XIX: Final Bonding Events – Capricorn and Libra + Summaries of #8-13 (Part 1)
Bonding Update XX: Final Bonding Events (Part 2) – Ophiuchus, Aries, Leo, Cancer, Capricorn, Libra
Bonding Update XXI: Final Bonding Events (Part 2) – Virgo, Pisces, Scorpio
Bonding Update XXII: Final Bonding Events (Part 2) – Sagittarius, Aquarius, Gemini, Taurus

Update XV: Black is white, up is down and short is long

Ninth Offering: Scorpio
Special Events III: Flower Viewing Part 1 - Scorpio, Ares, Leo, and Cancer
Special Events III: Flower Viewing Part 2 - Capricorn, Libra + Bottom 6 Summaries
Special Events IV: Day at the Beach Part 1 - Aries, Leo, Cancer
Special Events IV: Day at the Beach Part 2 - Capricorn, Libra + Bottom 7 Summaries

Update XVI: They see me walk; They hear me talk; I make them feel; Like they’re on Cloud Nine

Tenth Offering: Sagittarius
Special Update III: PK finally breaks – Conception: The Anime (Episodes 4-6)

Update XVII: Once I ran to you; Now I'll run from you

Special Events V: Final Side Events (Part 1) - Leo, Cancer, and Libra
Special Events V: Final Side Events (Part 2) - Gemini, Sagittarius + Summaries

Eleventh Offering: Aquarius
Update XVIII: And what matters ain’t the “who’s baddest” but the ones who stop you fallin’ from your ladder
Update XIX: Prince oh Prince, are you really sincere? That you one day aren't gonna disappear

Twelfth Offering: Pisces
Special Update IV: If nothing else, I’m a glutton for punishment – Conception: The Anime (Episodes 7-9)

Update XX: All the burdens gone; Open the chest once more

Final Offering: Ophiuchus
Update XXI: The hero always saves the world; The villains get what they deserve; The boy will always get the girl

Post-Game Cleanup
Extra Update I: Alternate Endings and PK's thoughts on the Maidens
Extra Update II: Final thoughts on the game

Special Update V: Let’s finish this. Please – Conception: The Anime (Episodes 10-12)

LP Extras
Images, Videos, and Guest Contributors
Astrology Corner, with contributions from user AnAnonymousIdiot
Japanese Version Comparisons, with contributions from user Polsy
Archive Index