Dai Series

About
The Dai Series is a trilogy of turn based strategy/conquest games created by Alicesoft. The series is one of the company's most well known and best selling series after the iconic Rance games, and has enjoyed large amounts of acclaim and attention as a result.

Despite being considered a single series, the games under the "Dai" label are not direct sequels to one another, and in fact are completely unrelated in terms of both plot and setting. Additionally, rather than having a single artist draw all of the art for the game, each game in the Dai series has several different artists create designs for a set of characters. The major quality that unites the three games as a series is their similar gameplay, which involves gaining total control over an area by conquering territories, gathering and increasing funds, recruiting and building relationships with allies and maintaining order within conquered regions. Due to the large number of activities the player is forced to keep track of all at once and the expansive cast of characters that make up each game, the series is notorious for its hectic gameplay and steep but rewarding learning curve that give it an extensive amount of replay value, as well as a large amount of erotic content.

The games in the series include:

Recurring Elements
Beyond the various gameplay similarities between each game, there are a number of recurring thematic concepts used throughout the series:
 * The central setting of the game is a strange alternate universe version of the country of Japan.
 * The plot of the game is a pastiche of a well-known genre, with Daiakuji parodying mafia films, Daibanchou parodying shonen fighting anime and Daiteikoku parodying space operas.
 * The main protagonist is a confident and assertive young man with natural charisma, leadership skills and combat ability who has a large amount of sexual experience.
 * The protagonist is tasked with taking total control over an area, with the scope increasing with each game, beginning with a city in Daiakuji, to a country in Daibanchou, and ending with the universe in Daiteikoku.
 * There are four major organizations that the protagonist is tasked with defeating, along with several minor "neutral" ones.
 * The Haniwa will have a small neutral faction of their own.
 * The main protagonist is supported by a close family member throughout the game.
 * There are multiple female "heroines" who gain more focus than other female characters. The protagonist will have to make a choice between each of these heroines, with their decision affecting the outcome of the plot while also rendering the heroines who were not chosen unplayable.
 * One of the heroines is already in a relationship with the main protagonist at the beginning of the game. Interestingly, the extent of their relationship increases with each game, with them simply being the protagonist's girlfriend in Daiakuji, their fiance in Daibanchou, and their wife in Daiteikoku.
 * Two major male characters with pre-existing relationships with the main protagonist will join the player's forces early on. One will serve as the protagonist's advisor throughout the game and will either be a poor fighter or an outright non-combatant, while the other will be a physically formidable fighter with combat abilities comparable to the protagonist.
 * A young male "punk" character who seeks to surpass the main protagonist will join the player's forces early on. While they will initially be a poor unit, they will become very powerful should the player invest time into raising them.
 * The recurring character of Nozomi, the abused maid will appear in some capacity.
 * Characters from other Alicesoft titles make guest appearances as hidden playable characters.