Video Game Vintage Title: Tayutama: Kiss On My Deity

Tayutama: Kiss On My Deity

Tayutama: Kiss on my Deity is a Japanese visual novel developed by Lump of Sugar. It was first released as an adult game for Windows PCs on July 11, 2008 in both limited and regular editions, and was later followed by an Xbox 360 version. Tayutama is Lump of Sugar's third title after their previous titles Nursery Rhyme and Itsuka, Todoku, Ano Sora ni. The story centers on the male protagonist Yuri Mito, a high school student who is the son of a family that presides over the local Shinto shrine. As Yuri performs a ritual to transfer a relic that hosts a fictional, supernatural race called Tayutai, he and his friends accidentally summon a goddess, who incarnates as a young girl.

The gameplay in Tayutama mainly consists of reading a text-based, branching plot line with multiple endings, and offers pre-determined scenarios and courses of interaction based on the player's decisions. The game received two awards from the 2008 Bishōjo Game Awards for its visuals. It received a fan disc titled Tayutama: It's Happy Days in May 2009, and made several transitions to other media. It received a manga adaptation illustrated by artist Yukiwo, who co-created an original story for the adaptation. A twelve-episode anime series produced by the animation studio Silver Link was broadcast in Japan between April and June 2009. A manga anthology series drawn by multiple artists, an Internet radio talk show used to promote the anime adaptation, and several music albums were also released.

Tayutama: Kiss On My Deity Plot

The story of Tayutama revolves around the male protagonist Yuri Mito, whose family manages the local Shinto shrine. One day during spring break, Yuri and his friends Ameri Kawai and Sankurou Kaname find in the school's woods a mysterious relic that was used in the past to seal the Tayutai, an ancient, mythological race. Yuri discovers that the school board has determined that the relic is insignificant for preservation, and that it will be demolished to allow the school to expand. After coming to the conclusion that destroying the relic may have adverse consequences, the trio attempts to relocate the relic's spirits. As Yuri performs the ritual, he summons Kikuramikami no Hime, a Tayutai goddess who explains to him the belligerent relationship between humans and Tayutai; Kikuramikami then incarnates as a young girl, Mashiro, in hopes of maintaining a mutual relationship with humans. Shortly afterwards, the relic is destroyed in an accident, releasing the entire race of Tayutai. Among them are Nue, Houou, and Ouryu, three influential Tayutai who hold humans in low regard and are referred to collectively as the "Three Mightiest" (三強 Sankyō?). Following the incident, Yuri takes Mashiro to the Yachimata Shrine to live with his family, and later finds Mashiro as a teenager, who proclaims herself to be Yuri's wife.

In their attempt to create a world where humans and Tayutai can peacefully coexist, Yuri and Mashiro battle the members of the Three Mightiest in a successive, nonlinear order determined by the player's decisions. In one scenario, Nue, a young female Tayutai, begins to steal undergarments from the Flawless dormitories due to her curiosity in them. She is defeated by Mashiro and Mifuyu Kisaragi, and finds herself befriended by Mifuyu, who later begins to take care of her as a guardian. Yumina Takanashi, Yuri's stepsister, also begins to take care of Hou, an exhausted bird Tayutai who begins to nest on Yumina's head. Yumina is later attacked by Ou, another Tayutai who makes up the Houou couple with Hou, before the couple reconciles with the help of Yuri and Mashiro. Lastly, Ameri alliances herself with Ouryu, the last of the Three Mightiest, out of jealousy from the amount of attention Mashiro receives from Yuri. After Ameri reconciles with Yuri, Ouryu agrees to stop attacking humans, and acknowledges Mashiro's goal.

Tayutama: Kiss On My Deity Gameplay

Tayutama is a romance visual novel in which the player assumes the role of Yuri Mito. Its gameplay mainly consists of reading and progressing through the story's narrative and dialogue. The game's text is accompanied by character sprites, which represent who Yuri is talking to, appearing on top of background artwork. Throughout the game, the player encounters CG artwork at certain points in the story, which take the place of the regular background art and character sprites. When the game is completed at least once, a gallery of the viewed CGs and played background music is available on the game's title screen. Tayutama follows a branching plot line with nonlinear sequences and multiple endings, where the plot's direction is affected by the player's decisions.

Throughout gameplay, the player is given multiple options to choose from, and text progression pauses at these points until a decision is made. These decisions determine the sequence in which the story's events will occur, and progress the plot toward a specific heroine's ending. There are four main plot lines in the original Windows version that the player will have the chance to experience, one for each of the heroines in the story. This is increased to five plot lines in the Xbox 360 version with the extended scenario for Nue. In order to view all plot lines in their entirety, the player will have to replay the game multiple times and make different decisions to progress the plot in alternate directions.