What VN are you playing? What do you think about it?
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I've been reading Umineko no Naku Koro ni and I finished EP2 yesterday.
Regarding the first episode, using the PS3 tweaks, I'm pretty sure that it's clear how more engaging the story is. If you're not used the VNs without voices you may find the first episode a bit boring. I believe that the first episode is indeed the weaker episode of all episodes given the need to present us the story, the characters and how they act and other elements. So, having voices and better art (although I certainly agree that the original sprites have their own spark - I even took a liking to them) in my opinion makes it more easy for immersion.
I found the visual effects used better than the original version and I think the voices are pretty good to fit most of the scenes even in the most intense moments. However, I'm not sure if this is because of the tweaks made to the voices, but in few occasions, it's possible to hear a little bit of noise when the voice is playing. Well, not that I complain because as I said, the noise is very weak. Also, sometimes the voices don't work properly (don't play at all in a certain phrase / on occasions when the text goes automatically for a bit and before a voice associated with this process didn't finish, another voice starts interrupting the previous one). Well, the current release of the tweaks is just a beta version so it's natural to exist some kind of errors.
Given that I've already read Umineko previously, I managed to figure out some things that I didn't manage to understand in the first time and of course, note more details given by the author in the story. I found it fascinating in a way. My evil self sometimes couldn't help but smirk with some events =3
The BGM and sound effects are also great. Ryukishi has great talent to choose BGMs. It's not for nothing that I have the entire soundtrack on my external HD =P
Well, things already got very interesting in EP2 and I remember they just get better in EP3 so I'm totally looking forward to start reading it.
Oh, and I just remembered about the voices
And to conclude this post, I'll just say this:
Without love it cannot be seen.
Regarding the first episode, using the PS3 tweaks, I'm pretty sure that it's clear how more engaging the story is. If you're not used the VNs without voices you may find the first episode a bit boring. I believe that the first episode is indeed the weaker episode of all episodes given the need to present us the story, the characters and how they act and other elements. So, having voices and better art (although I certainly agree that the original sprites have their own spark - I even took a liking to them) in my opinion makes it more easy for immersion.
I found the visual effects used better than the original version and I think the voices are pretty good to fit most of the scenes even in the most intense moments. However, I'm not sure if this is because of the tweaks made to the voices, but in few occasions, it's possible to hear a little bit of noise when the voice is playing. Well, not that I complain because as I said, the noise is very weak. Also, sometimes the voices don't work properly (don't play at all in a certain phrase / on occasions when the text goes automatically for a bit and before a voice associated with this process didn't finish, another voice starts interrupting the previous one). Well, the current release of the tweaks is just a beta version so it's natural to exist some kind of errors.
Given that I've already read Umineko previously, I managed to figure out some things that I didn't manage to understand in the first time and of course, note more details given by the author in the story. I found it fascinating in a way. My evil self sometimes couldn't help but smirk with some events =3
The BGM and sound effects are also great. Ryukishi has great talent to choose BGMs. It's not for nothing that I have the entire soundtrack on my external HD =P
Well, things already got very interesting in EP2 and I remember they just get better in EP3 so I'm totally looking forward to start reading it.
Oh, and I just remembered about the voices
Spoiler:
And to conclude this post, I'll just say this:
Without love it cannot be seen.
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Playing Kaigen Seito.
The RPG is pretty cool to play (and it reinforces the prequel's style very well), though I'm still quite unsure who the protagonist is. I think he's the rival of Hanachisuru's protagonist - at the very least he definitely cannot be Hanachisuru's protagonist since he's not a 'pretty boy'. Still...
The RPG is pretty cool to play (and it reinforces the prequel's style very well), though I'm still quite unsure who the protagonist is. I think he's the rival of Hanachisuru's protagonist - at the very least he definitely cannot be Hanachisuru's protagonist since he's not a 'pretty boy'. Still...
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Well, I finally learned how to installed the crack for Tick! Tack! and Dra+Koi. Since I went through SHUFFLE! before, I'm currently going through Tick! Tack!. Although I'm considering just going through Dra+Koi first. Well, at least Nerine's sequel is hilarious. Although a decent amount of the appeal is because I went through the anime and the visual novel. I can't wait for my beloved Kaede's game to be translated~
Also, I got around to two more routes in Duel Savior. I can't remember the first girl's name, but she's the blonde with two hair buns. That one was lackluster, as expected, but I had a good laugh at the CG of her eating a chicken wing. The other one was Mia's, which I found to be surprisingly good. Although I do have a rather large complaint in
I'm also annoyed with how the difficulty is increasing. Instead of it being better (AI increasing the passable levels, certain characters get buffs that would fit (such as Mudou losing the ability to stunned by any attacks)) it just became that the AI can execute perfect blocks very often.
Also, I got around to two more routes in Duel Savior. I can't remember the first girl's name, but she's the blonde with two hair buns. That one was lackluster, as expected, but I had a good laugh at the CG of her eating a chicken wing. The other one was Mia's, which I found to be surprisingly good. Although I do have a rather large complaint in
Spoiler:
I'm also annoyed with how the difficulty is increasing. Instead of it being better (AI increasing the passable levels, certain characters get buffs that would fit (such as Mudou losing the ability to stunned by any attacks)) it just became that the AI can execute perfect blocks very often.
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Well I guess plot wise it WASN'T bad, but heck Mia's character is just annoying. The harem end final boss should interest you though.
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Mia is an awful character, and even if her route was as good as the Lily or Nanashi routes I wouldn't have any interest in her. On the bright side, I only have Kaede's route left until I get to experience the route that's said to be better than the best two normal routes.
Edit: And thus I got through a playthrough in Tick! Tack! in a few hours. It was very entertaining, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who hasn't gone through SHUFFLE!. Or at the least, Nerine's route. I like the idea and execution, but getting certain routes seems to be more difficult in exchange. Not that I care, since there's walkthroughs for subsequent playthroughs. You require knowledge of the original game to fully understand what I'm about to say.
With the characters, the original four and a half (and another half. However, calling it five would be false) didn't really change. Well, Mayumi was more focused on money and slacking, but other than that nothing changed. The newer characters ranged between interesting and just not appealing.
Bark, the butler, was entertaining at times, but I also kinda wished he just went away. His character felt like he was just there, despite having an obvious feature shared only by the new heroines. Which...kinda doesn't help him.
Sage, the maid, despite being tsundere, was awesome to be around. Most likely because she was mostly tsuntsun around only a single character, and mostly deredere around another character. She didn't abuse her position as tsundere like most of them do, and I really like her for that.
Ai, the...I don't know what she is, completely put me off. Despite being a character that I should love, I couldn't stand being with her. I don't have any comment with her, since I didn't experience any more of her than required.
Cineraria, the sister, was basically Sia, Shin, and Asa's energetic parts combined. She was a good source of humour, but she didn't really go beyond that other than to state something I already knew at the beginning. I like her a bit, but not too much.
Finally, Forbesii, the second main character, was like he was in the original SHUFFLE! game. I liked him getting more screen time.
The music was quite good, but after listening to it in the sound test I learned that it isn't as good as it was in the game. Basically, it's great at setting the mood, but don't expect much out of it outside of helping the game. With voices, I loved the voice acting. I found myself listening to everyone finish what they were saying instead of skipping it after reading the text like I normally do. I personally believe it was done very well.
It's a slice of life, so it was focused more on being as normal as it could be, so don't worry about the plot. It's just a disappointment anyway, since it gives you the idea that you can screw with quite a bit of time. You cannot. It also affects the future Nerine in quite a few ways, depending on your options. And instead of branching off to future B, time goes on a straight line to future A. Meaning your choices in the past could change how future Nerine looks and acts and will have taken effect immediately on the Nerine with you now. Not how I think time travel works, but I digress.
Edit: And thus I got through a playthrough in Tick! Tack! in a few hours. It was very entertaining, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who hasn't gone through SHUFFLE!. Or at the least, Nerine's route. I like the idea and execution, but getting certain routes seems to be more difficult in exchange. Not that I care, since there's walkthroughs for subsequent playthroughs. You require knowledge of the original game to fully understand what I'm about to say.
With the characters, the original four and a half (and another half. However, calling it five would be false) didn't really change. Well, Mayumi was more focused on money and slacking, but other than that nothing changed. The newer characters ranged between interesting and just not appealing.
Bark, the butler, was entertaining at times, but I also kinda wished he just went away. His character felt like he was just there, despite having an obvious feature shared only by the new heroines. Which...kinda doesn't help him.
Sage, the maid, despite being tsundere, was awesome to be around. Most likely because she was mostly tsuntsun around only a single character, and mostly deredere around another character. She didn't abuse her position as tsundere like most of them do, and I really like her for that.
Ai, the...I don't know what she is, completely put me off. Despite being a character that I should love, I couldn't stand being with her. I don't have any comment with her, since I didn't experience any more of her than required.
Cineraria, the sister, was basically Sia, Shin, and Asa's energetic parts combined. She was a good source of humour, but she didn't really go beyond that other than to state something I already knew at the beginning. I like her a bit, but not too much.
Finally, Forbesii, the second main character, was like he was in the original SHUFFLE! game. I liked him getting more screen time.
The music was quite good, but after listening to it in the sound test I learned that it isn't as good as it was in the game. Basically, it's great at setting the mood, but don't expect much out of it outside of helping the game. With voices, I loved the voice acting. I found myself listening to everyone finish what they were saying instead of skipping it after reading the text like I normally do. I personally believe it was done very well.
It's a slice of life, so it was focused more on being as normal as it could be, so don't worry about the plot. It's just a disappointment anyway, since it gives you the idea that you can screw with quite a bit of time. You cannot. It also affects the future Nerine in quite a few ways, depending on your options. And instead of branching off to future B, time goes on a straight line to future A. Meaning your choices in the past could change how future Nerine looks and acts and will have taken effect immediately on the Nerine with you now. Not how I think time travel works, but I digress.
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castor212 wrote...
Replayed Saya no Uta JAST version.Still a wonderful love story.
Same, tis a favorite of mine so Ive had the jast version preordered since it was first announced.
I also just finished forcing myself through muv-luv extra, sumikas route. It was pretty weak to say the least but I understand it is a necessary sacrifice in order to fully appreciate alternative.
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Finished Kaigen Saito by Nitroplus.
Honestly I wished this could've been longer, but Hanachisuru (its prequel) was built on a single brewing conflict between two swordsmen on the first place, so there really isn't much to say.
One of the biggest faults I find in this game was the language barrier. Even though it wasn't nearly as convoluted as Dies Arae was there were many instances where I struggled to understand the story. The final puzzle is nearly impossible for any non-Japanese readers who relied completely on translation programs to complete, because it is a 'Complete the sentences' mini game at least a whole paragraph long.
Also I never really knew who the general was even though it was mentioned in the epilogue (I kinda jumped too fast). She seems to be Akane's wife but what the heck, when did he even get someone like that? Confused.
Anyway, I'm a genius. My completely random and intuition-propelled deductions turns out to be correct even though the story deliberately tried to mislead readers WAHAHAHAHAHA! This is related to a central truth in the VN so play it to know what I'm talking about
At any rate there's nothing much to talk about. As before, this is ultimately about the story of a swords duel, and I really couldn't say anymore without spoiling the story. Instead I'm just going to briefly summarize the main scores:
1) Plot. Average, not that good but tied up many ends with great satisfaction.
2) Music. Well, it's Nitroplus. It wasn't really remarkable, but definitely suited the atmosphere well.
3) Characters. This is a hit or miss. I can easily see people hating or love the characters like hell, so can't really say much. Deep, with nonsensical logic (that only swordsmen could understand, a SAMURAI especially - who can really define the line between 'normal' and 'nonsense'?) that could haunt your nights.
Aaaaand now playing I/O Revision. By top to bottom order, the first route (the boy) is too introductory and I couldn't really feel anything for the protagonist.
Honestly I wished this could've been longer, but Hanachisuru (its prequel) was built on a single brewing conflict between two swordsmen on the first place, so there really isn't much to say.
One of the biggest faults I find in this game was the language barrier. Even though it wasn't nearly as convoluted as Dies Arae was there were many instances where I struggled to understand the story. The final puzzle is nearly impossible for any non-Japanese readers who relied completely on translation programs to complete, because it is a 'Complete the sentences' mini game at least a whole paragraph long.
Also I never really knew who the general was even though it was mentioned in the epilogue (I kinda jumped too fast). She seems to be Akane's wife but what the heck, when did he even get someone like that? Confused.
Anyway, I'm a genius. My completely random and intuition-propelled deductions turns out to be correct even though the story deliberately tried to mislead readers WAHAHAHAHAHA! This is related to a central truth in the VN so play it to know what I'm talking about
At any rate there's nothing much to talk about. As before, this is ultimately about the story of a swords duel, and I really couldn't say anymore without spoiling the story. Instead I'm just going to briefly summarize the main scores:
1) Plot. Average, not that good but tied up many ends with great satisfaction.
2) Music. Well, it's Nitroplus. It wasn't really remarkable, but definitely suited the atmosphere well.
3) Characters. This is a hit or miss. I can easily see people hating or love the characters like hell, so can't really say much. Deep, with nonsensical logic (that only swordsmen could understand, a SAMURAI especially - who can really define the line between 'normal' and 'nonsense'?) that could haunt your nights.
Aaaaand now playing I/O Revision. By top to bottom order, the first route (the boy) is too introductory and I couldn't really feel anything for the protagonist.
Spoiler:
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Completed Swan Song. Still clung to the hope for an Aroe route throughout the Good Ending. Wanted to get retarded with her.
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Yay FINALLY SOMEONE POSTED IN HERE! Though I have 3 reviews in queue because of the long delay. >_> Still, let's get one out here and hope for more posts! XD
RANDOM EDIT 1: Bunny Black 3 is out, and despite its enticing art - unless you're a strong fan or love good gameplay more than anything - I would advise NOT to play it for several reasons.
1) This company is infamous for making VNs with little to no story at all. Literally.
2) For whatever reason they focus on gameplay and gameplay ONLY. Voice-acting (if they have one) sucks most of the time, and the music is just fair.
3) They make VERY addictive games. I remember playing Mon o Mamoru Oshigoto for 3 days straight, which was surprising when you consider that from the beginning to the end, the gameplay consist of only 1 TOWER DEF STYLE MINI GAME, 1 MAP from the BEGINNING TO THE END, and NOTHING ELSE. It's going to time sink you, and you'll going to feel bloody unworth it later on, but when you play it you'll fall. You'll fall like a drug addict. *shudder*
I/O Revision II Review:
The biggest problem I/O Revision ever presented was theories, as it was its attraction point.
Welcome to I/O Revision II Review, and fortunately for you all I won’t be writing this as confusing and convoluted as the game was, even if the review length often was out of control. Let’s dive straight into some of the main points of the game.
This is a Visual Novel where instead of just 1 Main Character, it has up to 4 in total: ishi, Yumi, †˜He’, and Ishitar. You will go through the story and study (literally) from their point of view during the attempt to find and save Hinata’s sister, and so on.
First, I/O Revision is the single most complicated visual novel in the entire genre – far, far, far more so than even the Infinity series, which was at least casual readable… I think? – and takes occult theories beyond anything I’ve read so far. It’s from this VN that I finally understood that the author wasn’t a mathematics expert, but just an occult fanatic who devoured the knowledge simply because it was part of the occult. This was made especially obvious when during the most final epilogue (yeah I have to put in the emphasis, or you won’t know which epilogue) when one of the sub characters rambled about incomplete/not-well-fabricated-enough-yet theories like Twister and Ten Dimensions whatever with a tone like †˜Aw, if only’ and like KEEP YOUR GODDAMN OBSESSION OUT OF THE GAME ARGHHHHHH
But to be honest, the plot is very unique among visual novels at that time. Time travelling is a norm – I don’t even need to spoiler it honestly – as the MCs relive both critical and unimportant moments of life trying to achieve their objective. At some point, as a result of all the time traveling and doubts whether it even happened, the most emphasized keywords in the entire game – What is real? Are you there? I am here. Am I here? Do I exist? – is going to haunt your (and the MCs 100000 times worse) experience like a curse exactly as the author meant it to be. I would even go as far as to say that it’s good and well documented with (fabricated) facts to support its theories, with its Archive/Encyclopedia filled with mixes of true facts, mythical lore, and lots of (unnecessary) theories. I can’t exactly say that it’s well plotted since Deux Ex was absolutely central to the story, but yes, very detailed and very complete.
But they should’ve ended with Mutsuki’s (Hinata’s sister) arc, seriously. It was already a clusterfuck of confusion and nonsense when
What. The. Fucking. Fuck. Hell.
Onto the characters, because if I talk about the plot anymore I will die from brain overload and parallel processing and OH GOD I NEED TO SHUT UP.
Hinata: Weak at the beginning, and still weak all the way. He was said to be a genius, but because of the occult nature of the plot all I see is a guy who has too much interest in the wrong things, who managed to obtain the. His beginning role towards saving his sister was to solve a stupid crossword puzzle, which while admittedly was the , it still sounded far more pathetic as compared to the other characters. In short lousy. Did I mention that Mutsuki actually said it to his face that he doesn’t have an interest in girls because they were identical twins and Hinata literally could’ve been a girl and shit? God, this is so sad (absolute no offense to gays, I’m just saying that the character’s so… sad >_>).
Yumi: In complete contrast to Hinata even though they’re the same age, epic. Originally she is an innocent girl (hacker =D) working in Ishitar’s group †˜Criminal’, which is basically a private (gray-zone) IT security organization. Later on, after the
†˜He’ – As the rumored God of the Internet, he †˜He’ is the God of War in the game, and he is unstoppable most of the time.
†˜Ishitar’ – Leader of the organization †˜Criminal’, she is cute, mature, and has the most interesting voice and character of the game. Both her and Yumi, because honestly the story would suck horribly without them giving their utmost support throughout the story. She and †˜Criminal’ accidentally (most tragic) got involved with the Hinata/Mutsuki business, and as a result she
As for Sakuya. Theoretically you may see her as an MC, but she disappeared for like 90% of the game after Hinata’s beginning arc, and would only appear at the very end, despite some rather well character build-up. She was not a favorite compared to the others, but all the same I felt sad for the way she’s… used by the author during his magnificent fail of the TRUE FINAL NO SHIT End to all Ends! disaster Oh well.
Music? Pass. Nothing much to say. Most of it gave the right impression at the right time. However, it has a MAJOR problem where the BGMs would get mixed altogether when you’re switching between windows, and sometimes it still happened even when you didn’t screw up (like checking a browser then clicking back at the wrong time), and it would persist until god-knows-when before stopping. The experience can be horrendous when the wrong BGMs get mixed together.
Best Voice of I/O goes to Ishitar, no question. I’m surprised that I’ve never heard her – or at least, not in the same tone – in the other VNs; she’s just so cool and funny at the same time!
Graphics. Well… not bad considering its age, and no one’s crazy enough to refine every CG in the game just because it’s old. Or maybe there was but not this artist.
In conclusion, I give this a 6 out of 10. It was a VN that could’ve been good, but suffered from over-complication of plot, an absolutely insufferable character, and bloated by ridiculous amounts of theories, plus some system errors that were never fixed. Lastly, I salute the English translators because honestly, if I ever pick up translating as an interest or side job, I would NEVER translate this game lol. In fact, I would RUN LIKE HELL.
RANDOM EDIT 1: Bunny Black 3 is out, and despite its enticing art - unless you're a strong fan or love good gameplay more than anything - I would advise NOT to play it for several reasons.
1) This company is infamous for making VNs with little to no story at all. Literally.
2) For whatever reason they focus on gameplay and gameplay ONLY. Voice-acting (if they have one) sucks most of the time, and the music is just fair.
3) They make VERY addictive games. I remember playing Mon o Mamoru Oshigoto for 3 days straight, which was surprising when you consider that from the beginning to the end, the gameplay consist of only 1 TOWER DEF STYLE MINI GAME, 1 MAP from the BEGINNING TO THE END, and NOTHING ELSE. It's going to time sink you, and you'll going to feel bloody unworth it later on, but when you play it you'll fall. You'll fall like a drug addict. *shudder*
I/O Revision II Review:
The biggest problem I/O Revision ever presented was theories, as it was its attraction point.
Welcome to I/O Revision II Review, and fortunately for you all I won’t be writing this as confusing and convoluted as the game was, even if the review length often was out of control. Let’s dive straight into some of the main points of the game.
This is a Visual Novel where instead of just 1 Main Character, it has up to 4 in total: ishi, Yumi, †˜He’, and Ishitar. You will go through the story and study (literally) from their point of view during the attempt to find and save Hinata’s sister, and so on.
First, I/O Revision is the single most complicated visual novel in the entire genre – far, far, far more so than even the Infinity series, which was at least casual readable… I think? – and takes occult theories beyond anything I’ve read so far. It’s from this VN that I finally understood that the author wasn’t a mathematics expert, but just an occult fanatic who devoured the knowledge simply because it was part of the occult. This was made especially obvious when during the most final epilogue (yeah I have to put in the emphasis, or you won’t know which epilogue) when one of the sub characters rambled about incomplete/not-well-fabricated-enough-yet theories like Twister and Ten Dimensions whatever with a tone like †˜Aw, if only’ and like KEEP YOUR GODDAMN OBSESSION OUT OF THE GAME ARGHHHHHH
But to be honest, the plot is very unique among visual novels at that time. Time travelling is a norm – I don’t even need to spoiler it honestly – as the MCs relive both critical and unimportant moments of life trying to achieve their objective. At some point, as a result of all the time traveling and doubts whether it even happened, the most emphasized keywords in the entire game – What is real? Are you there? I am here. Am I here? Do I exist? – is going to haunt your (and the MCs 100000 times worse) experience like a curse exactly as the author meant it to be. I would even go as far as to say that it’s good and well documented with (fabricated) facts to support its theories, with its Archive/Encyclopedia filled with mixes of true facts, mythical lore, and lots of (unnecessary) theories. I can’t exactly say that it’s well plotted since Deux Ex was absolutely central to the story, but yes, very detailed and very complete.
But they should’ve ended with Mutsuki’s (Hinata’s sister) arc, seriously. It was already a clusterfuck of confusion and nonsense when
Spoiler:
What. The. Fucking. Fuck. Hell.
Onto the characters, because if I talk about the plot anymore I will die from brain overload and parallel processing and OH GOD I NEED TO SHUT UP.
Hinata: Weak at the beginning, and still weak all the way. He was said to be a genius, but because of the occult nature of the plot all I see is a guy who has too much interest in the wrong things, who managed to obtain the
Spoiler:
Spoiler:
Yumi: In complete contrast to Hinata even though they’re the same age, epic. Originally she is an innocent girl (hacker =D) working in Ishitar’s group †˜Criminal’, which is basically a private (gray-zone) IT security organization. Later on, after the
Spoiler:
†˜He’ – As the rumored God of the Internet, he
Spoiler:
†˜Ishitar’ – Leader of the organization †˜Criminal’, she is cute, mature, and has the most interesting voice and character of the game. Both her and Yumi, because honestly the story would suck horribly without them giving their utmost support throughout the story. She and †˜Criminal’ accidentally (most tragic) got involved with the Hinata/Mutsuki business, and as a result she
Spoiler:
As for Sakuya. Theoretically you may see her as an MC, but she disappeared for like 90% of the game after Hinata’s beginning arc, and would only appear at the very end, despite some rather well character build-up. She was not a favorite compared to the others, but all the same I felt sad for the way she’s… used by the author during his magnificent fail of the TRUE FINAL NO SHIT End to all Ends! disaster Oh well.
Music? Pass. Nothing much to say. Most of it gave the right impression at the right time. However, it has a MAJOR problem where the BGMs would get mixed altogether when you’re switching between windows, and sometimes it still happened even when you didn’t screw up (like checking a browser then clicking back at the wrong time), and it would persist until god-knows-when before stopping. The experience can be horrendous when the wrong BGMs get mixed together.
Best Voice of I/O goes to Ishitar, no question. I’m surprised that I’ve never heard her – or at least, not in the same tone – in the other VNs; she’s just so cool and funny at the same time!
Graphics. Well… not bad considering its age, and no one’s crazy enough to refine every CG in the game just because it’s old. Or maybe there was but not this artist.
In conclusion, I give this a 6 out of 10. It was a VN that could’ve been good, but suffered from over-complication of plot, an absolutely insufferable character, and bloated by ridiculous amounts of theories, plus some system errors that were never fixed. Lastly, I salute the English translators because honestly, if I ever pick up translating as an interest or side job, I would NEVER translate this game lol. In fact, I would RUN LIKE HELL.
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lol Zolnir and his wall of words.
Started Cartagra, it's nice to see Shugo, Kazuna, and Hatsune 2 years before Kara No Shoujo. I doubt I can finish this fast since my lappy condition is getting worse.
edit : got my eyes on Saimin Yuugi "sequel". I hope they stay with the real method of hypnotism
Started Cartagra, it's nice to see Shugo, Kazuna, and Hatsune 2 years before Kara No Shoujo. I doubt I can finish this fast since my lappy condition is getting worse.
edit : got my eyes on Saimin Yuugi "sequel". I hope they stay with the real method of hypnotism
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I've finished about 80-90% of Yandere. I have....86/106 CG or something like that. There are a few good scenes, but a lot of really great death scenes are missing. Mainly the chainsaw one. I still have one more route left and I plan to get it tonight.
I'm also starting Kara no Shoujo finally. I've had it for a few weeks now but I hadn't started it until now. Hopefully it quells my hunger for horror visual novels.
I'm also starting Kara no Shoujo finally. I've had it for a few weeks now but I hadn't started it until now. Hopefully it quells my hunger for horror visual novels.
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Amatsukaze ~Kugutsu Jinpuu-chou~ review.
Originally I had wanted to wait until I've finished the Evil Route first before writing this, but after finishing the true end (well, I'm going to assume that Natsume's end is true here since it's the most plausible) my hands itched to put this down. In complete contrast to the tonnes of complains I had for I/O Revision, this one is going to be showered with flowers and honey. You have been warned! =3
Amatsukaze's most singular beauty lies on its story, plot and setting. To be honest, it has been literally months since I've last read such an awesome story (VN genre) in MONTHS. It is tightly plotted, fantastically told, with touchingly realistic characters and wonderful engagements to boot. By the gods, this could've easily become a top seller should it be made into a Light Novel! How on earth could a Visual Novel give me goosebumps equal to the ones such as Brandon Sanderson's epic novels??
You start of with an amazing prologue showcasing some of the best - perhaps only Muv Luv Alternative has ever showed the same style of sprite movement, the ACTION and SPEED - sprite usages I've ever seen. You would first be introduced to a world of ninjas, and so there are ninjas - you and Natsume - running across your screen with lightning speed, engaging one another in close melee as they attempt to outwit and outmatch the other. Before you know it you start to feel breathless and restless. This is a 2008 product, and it absolute trumps nearly every single VN I've seen in terms of sprite usage quality, with exception to Type Moon's latest product. Heck, it's on the same, if not ABOVE Fate/Stay Night in that category (even though F/SN is admittedly older, they make excellent comparison). It's worth reading this through if only to watch them run and jump and stab and slash and fight all over the screen, like god damn!
At first I was slightly skeptical about the length of the game, since it's only has 4 chapters from what I've seen from the walkthrough. But hell, i didn't know how WRONG I was. It was VERY long, VERY detailed, VERY well written, VERY exciting, and basically every part of the story was written with a SOUL inside it. I could truly see now why the author didn't continue writing after Amatsukaze (is that correct?); he literally put EVERYTHING he had inside this one game and burned all of his inspiration and energy at once. This is the kind of effort that would take months and years to heal up, and many authors never managed to find the same kind of energy to write through another gargantuan epic again. The plot was unpredictable and complicated (in a good way), and the ending caught me absolutely by surprise. The bittersweetness of it... Ah, damn. The author really got me well right there, and I'm happy he did it.
The setting was set at a warring period, and so the author adjust accordingly to match that time's morals. Make no mistake, people treat killing here about as easy as squashing a fly. Bloodshed is vivid and EVERYWHERE. The morality view/conscience is completely different from Dea Ex Machina, where the characters had power enough to doom the entire human race and but couldn't have the heart to kill even one person. If that person is identified as an enemy, the protagonists would go clean up and murder them without the slightest guilt as long as it means serving their lord. It WAS the way of the ninja, and most importantly it felt REALISTIC. That was the most important thing in the entire world where most such games fail horribly with the used-to-death family/friendship/love concept. Make no mistake, they ARE as true as anything else as the world, but their place in the world comes AS CIRCUMSTANCES SEE FIT. There's a limit to how many demon lords or dragons or whatever you can slay by love/hope/peace etc and not make people facepalm like hell.
I'm also impressed at the practicality of some of the character's outfits are. Let's take Yu Nagi for example: At first glance it seems like fan service, since she's wearing just a loose kimono with absolutely nothing else within. But her Ninjutsu has direct relation to that: Under moonlight, when she cast her Ninjutsu, she can become invisible and assassinate people without ever being seen. Thus it makes very good sense why she wore such revealing clothes; clothes she could take off very fast and very easily in the middle of a fight (not to mention the obvious surprise factor lol). Moreover, female ninjas are advised (probably not required, but most advised) to learn sexual techniques, get used to it and endure them so they could build some level of immunity in case they were caught and tortured by the enemy. It made the sex scene selections - where the protagonist, Jinma trains the female characters against various methods like hypnosis, humiliation, shame, drug etc AUTHENTIC (though the dude was so serious about it - VERY serious - it can't help but feel authentic), and that's really cool in my opinion.
And then there's the characters, by the gods everyone was so well told! Let's take a look at the enemy: There are 7 Megokdou High Ninjas (or whatever you call them, basically the bosses) in total, and they are NOT two dimensional in the least. One would expect the protagonists to knock them down like dominos one by one and hit the final boss since it's VN fantasy genre norm, but hell no this VN is different. Some enemies, in fact most enemy bosses you take down during the early stages would come back later on to fight Jinma because the protagonist hadn't managed to kill them. And some of them will come back and again, and again, and AGAIN because thy're very good at running away. Let's take say, Dougen for example. He's basically a woman raping bastard because his power is the all controlling Evil Eye, and if any of you like Yu Nagi then most sorry, she gets NTR'd and brainwashed by his power during the PROLOGUES lol. It won't till a chapter or two later before Jinma's crew save her. Now then, let's sum up his personality a little: He's a coward, he uses women as his human shield, he's lowly cunning, he absolutely loves dominating people with his Evil Eye, he loves torturing mature woman (no interest in lolis!), and he's VERY good at escaping his pursuers. All of these qualities have been known by the most pathetic and pitiful villain you can find in common fantasy VNs.
But is Dougen two dimensional? Absolutely not. I can't really well explain here, but you just have to read it for yourself. All 7 Megokdou High Ninjas have their own motives and wills, and so it becomes extremely interesting when some of them began plotting behind each other's backs. It was only natural for a group where most people are completely in it for their own selfish benefits. This caused a great number of confusion that had Jinma's crew running around like a dog, almost never having time to rest as they trapped the enemies, and sometimes got trapped themselves. It was these engagements that make the entire story so believable and interesting.
Also, remember what I said about the world? Amatsukaze's world is easily merciless. Loyalty can be repaid with a pitiful, dog's death (literally). Death is preferable to forgiveness. A threat dead is nearly always better than a threat alive. And then when the protagonist acted out of emotions and not logical thinking, again and again his own emphasis that he's acting unlike and failing as a true ninja appeared as he chatized himself and worked harder. These little things slowly built up into massive, gorgeous things, and they were impressive as they was amazing.
About powers and abilities and skills, obviously there are some that came from Dea Ex Machina. For example, Kanzaki Sword Style managed to survive through time and pass till Amatsukaze, and if I remember it made it into Gears of Dragoon's timeline as well (even that Tree Demon! So that's the connection kukuku!). I'm actually rather curious about er, Akebi's (the red headed little girl)? eyes, because it seems like the one. There's very obvious reference to the prequel as well as her power was said not to be of Ability or Magic, but of something else.
And finally we're onto some lighter stuff. About the BGM, they are fantastic and MOEROOOOO!!! especially when Evil Wind shows up. There are a surprising variety of battle BGMs, and it's guaranteed that you'll enjoy most, if not all of them as you card battle your way to victory.
But alas, we have to talk about the game's weak point, which is the gameplay. I personally think that they made the right choice of replacing the prequel's RPG part with a much simpler event choice selection + 1 parameter lookout, with more focus on the card battle as that is the essence of the game, but I guess some people may miss it a little. I suspect that it's both the story and the sheer size of the story that made it implausible to apply them without making people feel tedious and fed up. In fact, the gameplay has been absolutely crucial in advancing the story's plot, because I don't think the experience would've been half as enjoyable or as explored if it was done the common, no gameplay style. It was some good designing there, but unfortunately the card battles hasn't really changed that much, except that the enemies are more annoying and they can use like 5 Skill cards pre-battle. IT'S SO FREAKING UNFAIR!
All in all, a 9.3 out of 10, and honestly if I hadn't taken marks away because of the hit-or-miss dissatisfaction regarding the gameplay, this would've like score a 9.6 or something. It was THAT enjoyable!
Originally I had wanted to wait until I've finished the Evil Route first before writing this, but after finishing the true end (well, I'm going to assume that Natsume's end is true here since it's the most plausible) my hands itched to put this down. In complete contrast to the tonnes of complains I had for I/O Revision, this one is going to be showered with flowers and honey. You have been warned! =3
Amatsukaze's most singular beauty lies on its story, plot and setting. To be honest, it has been literally months since I've last read such an awesome story (VN genre) in MONTHS. It is tightly plotted, fantastically told, with touchingly realistic characters and wonderful engagements to boot. By the gods, this could've easily become a top seller should it be made into a Light Novel! How on earth could a Visual Novel give me goosebumps equal to the ones such as Brandon Sanderson's epic novels??
You start of with an amazing prologue showcasing some of the best - perhaps only Muv Luv Alternative has ever showed the same style of sprite movement, the ACTION and SPEED - sprite usages I've ever seen. You would first be introduced to a world of ninjas, and so there are ninjas - you and Natsume - running across your screen with lightning speed, engaging one another in close melee as they attempt to outwit and outmatch the other. Before you know it you start to feel breathless and restless. This is a 2008 product, and it absolute trumps nearly every single VN I've seen in terms of sprite usage quality, with exception to Type Moon's latest product. Heck, it's on the same, if not ABOVE Fate/Stay Night in that category (even though F/SN is admittedly older, they make excellent comparison). It's worth reading this through if only to watch them run and jump and stab and slash and fight all over the screen, like god damn!
At first I was slightly skeptical about the length of the game, since it's only has 4 chapters from what I've seen from the walkthrough. But hell, i didn't know how WRONG I was. It was VERY long, VERY detailed, VERY well written, VERY exciting, and basically every part of the story was written with a SOUL inside it. I could truly see now why the author didn't continue writing after Amatsukaze (is that correct?); he literally put EVERYTHING he had inside this one game and burned all of his inspiration and energy at once. This is the kind of effort that would take months and years to heal up, and many authors never managed to find the same kind of energy to write through another gargantuan epic again. The plot was unpredictable and complicated (in a good way), and the ending caught me absolutely by surprise. The bittersweetness of it... Ah, damn. The author really got me well right there, and I'm happy he did it.
The setting was set at a warring period, and so the author adjust accordingly to match that time's morals. Make no mistake, people treat killing here about as easy as squashing a fly. Bloodshed is vivid and EVERYWHERE. The morality view/conscience is completely different from Dea Ex Machina, where the characters had power enough to doom the entire human race and but couldn't have the heart to kill even one person. If that person is identified as an enemy, the protagonists would go clean up and murder them without the slightest guilt as long as it means serving their lord. It WAS the way of the ninja, and most importantly it felt REALISTIC. That was the most important thing in the entire world where most such games fail horribly with the used-to-death family/friendship/love concept. Make no mistake, they ARE as true as anything else as the world, but their place in the world comes AS CIRCUMSTANCES SEE FIT. There's a limit to how many demon lords or dragons or whatever you can slay by love/hope/peace etc and not make people facepalm like hell.
I'm also impressed at the practicality of some of the character's outfits are. Let's take Yu Nagi for example: At first glance it seems like fan service, since she's wearing just a loose kimono with absolutely nothing else within. But her Ninjutsu has direct relation to that: Under moonlight, when she cast her Ninjutsu, she can become invisible and assassinate people without ever being seen. Thus it makes very good sense why she wore such revealing clothes; clothes she could take off very fast and very easily in the middle of a fight (not to mention the obvious surprise factor lol). Moreover, female ninjas are advised (probably not required, but most advised) to learn sexual techniques, get used to it and endure them so they could build some level of immunity in case they were caught and tortured by the enemy. It made the sex scene selections - where the protagonist, Jinma trains the female characters against various methods like hypnosis, humiliation, shame, drug etc AUTHENTIC (though the dude was so serious about it - VERY serious - it can't help but feel authentic), and that's really cool in my opinion.
And then there's the characters, by the gods everyone was so well told! Let's take a look at the enemy: There are 7 Megokdou High Ninjas (or whatever you call them, basically the bosses) in total, and they are NOT two dimensional in the least. One would expect the protagonists to knock them down like dominos one by one and hit the final boss since it's VN fantasy genre norm, but hell no this VN is different. Some enemies, in fact most enemy bosses you take down during the early stages would come back later on to fight Jinma because the protagonist hadn't managed to kill them. And some of them will come back and again, and again, and AGAIN because thy're very good at running away. Let's take say, Dougen for example. He's basically a woman raping bastard because his power is the all controlling Evil Eye, and if any of you like Yu Nagi then most sorry, she gets NTR'd and brainwashed by his power during the PROLOGUES lol. It won't till a chapter or two later before Jinma's crew save her. Now then, let's sum up his personality a little: He's a coward, he uses women as his human shield, he's lowly cunning, he absolutely loves dominating people with his Evil Eye, he loves torturing mature woman (no interest in lolis!), and he's VERY good at escaping his pursuers. All of these qualities have been known by the most pathetic and pitiful villain you can find in common fantasy VNs.
But is Dougen two dimensional? Absolutely not. I can't really well explain here, but you just have to read it for yourself. All 7 Megokdou High Ninjas have their own motives and wills, and so it becomes extremely interesting when some of them began plotting behind each other's backs. It was only natural for a group where most people are completely in it for their own selfish benefits. This caused a great number of confusion that had Jinma's crew running around like a dog, almost never having time to rest as they trapped the enemies, and sometimes got trapped themselves. It was these engagements that make the entire story so believable and interesting.
Also, remember what I said about the world? Amatsukaze's world is easily merciless. Loyalty can be repaid with a pitiful, dog's death (literally). Death is preferable to forgiveness. A threat dead is nearly always better than a threat alive. And then when the protagonist acted out of emotions and not logical thinking, again and again his own emphasis that he's acting unlike and failing as a true ninja appeared as he chatized himself and worked harder. These little things slowly built up into massive, gorgeous things, and they were impressive as they was amazing.
About powers and abilities and skills, obviously there are some that came from Dea Ex Machina. For example, Kanzaki Sword Style managed to survive through time and pass till Amatsukaze, and if I remember it made it into Gears of Dragoon's timeline as well (even that Tree Demon! So that's the connection kukuku!). I'm actually rather curious about er, Akebi's (the red headed little girl)? eyes, because it seems like the one
Spoiler:
And finally we're onto some lighter stuff. About the BGM, they are fantastic and MOEROOOOO!!! especially when Evil Wind shows up. There are a surprising variety of battle BGMs, and it's guaranteed that you'll enjoy most, if not all of them as you card battle your way to victory.
But alas, we have to talk about the game's weak point, which is the gameplay. I personally think that they made the right choice of replacing the prequel's RPG part with a much simpler event choice selection + 1 parameter lookout, with more focus on the card battle as that is the essence of the game, but I guess some people may miss it a little. I suspect that it's both the story and the sheer size of the story that made it implausible to apply them without making people feel tedious and fed up. In fact, the gameplay has been absolutely crucial in advancing the story's plot, because I don't think the experience would've been half as enjoyable or as explored if it was done the common, no gameplay style. It was some good designing there, but unfortunately the card battles hasn't really changed that much, except that the enemies are more annoying and they can use like 5 Skill cards pre-battle. IT'S SO FREAKING UNFAIR!
All in all, a 9.3 out of 10, and honestly if I hadn't taken marks away because of the hit-or-miss dissatisfaction regarding the gameplay, this would've like score a 9.6 or something. It was THAT enjoyable!
0
Installed Snow Sakura and Tokimeki Checkin. Playing thru Snow Sakura first, it's fun bt since its an old VN the art isn't as good as the current VNs.
0
Minna Daisuki Kozukuri Banchou short review.
This is going to be very short, since I managed to finish the game in one sitting about 4 ~ 5 hours. But it deserves a review so just a little thought here. Btw this game is ENGLISH TRANSLATED and is one of EUSHELLY's earlier games, so you might be interested to check it out.
First, if you're expecting plot, don't. The game knows how to make its sweet romance moments, but the entire story basically can be summarized as, 'we can do this because we can' and that's all. Of course, without the constraints of reality this is a really relaxing (most of the time) game, like with the help of the Goddess of Fertility, your wives can give birth to children in weeks, and you equip these children to gain bonus stats and extra skill to fight... yeah it's a very ridiculous but fun setting. The final boss scene doesn't even make sense, though of course it's all for the laugh so if you don't take it seriously, everything's fine and dandy.
Now, the core of this VN is its gameplay. Basically it's a pinball-styled game where you control with your mouse or joypad (if you have one) and complete various objectives such as: knock all enemies off the map, finish number 1 in 5 laps of racing, dodge the bullets, reach the goal, kick the ball into the goal (yeah like seriously, it sounds as bullshit as it can be, but FUN... except for reach the goal). You won't get bored, only frustrated especially when playing Reach The Goal on the ice maze. I hadn't equipped all 5 members to conserve on BP, and I suffered nearly an hour just to not slip the fuck off the fucking ice. It was the only unfun and tedious thing I've encountered throughout the game though, so I guess everything's fair. There's no limit to retries either so you can just try a level again and again until you get pass it.
There's even a fertility mini game where you play as, wait for it, THE SPERM! (lol) breaking through obstacles and avoiding contraceptions (LOLOLOL) and reaching the... well I don't really need to say right? There are 5 levels of difficulty depending on your love level with the heroines, but honestly since you need 100% love (hence easiest difficulty) to get their endings anyway you might as well do it and save some time. Impossible is near impossible for a reason, and you have to be very lucky to get through. Still it wasn't too bad of a design.
Overall, this was a game worth playing (if only for the laughs, though mostly the gameplay) and I rate it here about 7 out of 10.
This is going to be very short, since I managed to finish the game in one sitting about 4 ~ 5 hours. But it deserves a review so just a little thought here. Btw this game is ENGLISH TRANSLATED and is one of EUSHELLY's earlier games, so you might be interested to check it out.
First, if you're expecting plot, don't. The game knows how to make its sweet romance moments, but the entire story basically can be summarized as, 'we can do this because we can' and that's all. Of course, without the constraints of reality this is a really relaxing (most of the time) game, like with the help of the Goddess of Fertility, your wives can give birth to children in weeks, and you equip these children to gain bonus stats and extra skill to fight... yeah it's a very ridiculous but fun setting. The final boss scene doesn't even make sense, though of course it's all for the laugh so if you don't take it seriously, everything's fine and dandy.
Now, the core of this VN is its gameplay. Basically it's a pinball-styled game where you control with your mouse or joypad (if you have one) and complete various objectives such as: knock all enemies off the map, finish number 1 in 5 laps of racing, dodge the bullets, reach the goal, kick the ball into the goal (yeah like seriously, it sounds as bullshit as it can be, but FUN... except for reach the goal). You won't get bored, only frustrated especially when playing Reach The Goal on the ice maze. I hadn't equipped all 5 members to conserve on BP, and I suffered nearly an hour just to not slip the fuck off the fucking ice. It was the only unfun and tedious thing I've encountered throughout the game though, so I guess everything's fair. There's no limit to retries either so you can just try a level again and again until you get pass it.
There's even a fertility mini game where you play as, wait for it, THE SPERM! (lol) breaking through obstacles and avoiding contraceptions (LOLOLOL) and reaching the... well I don't really need to say right? There are 5 levels of difficulty depending on your love level with the heroines, but honestly since you need 100% love (hence easiest difficulty) to get their endings anyway you might as well do it and save some time. Impossible is near impossible for a reason, and you have to be very lucky to get through. Still it wasn't too bad of a design.
Overall, this was a game worth playing (if only for the laughs, though mostly the gameplay) and I rate it here about 7 out of 10.
0
Zolnir wrote...
I had to scroll for three seconds to delete the contents of that post..erherm besides using me as a filler so that more frequent VN players can post (yes that "Finally Someone" has a name) I have a question-would someone have to play the other VNs in the series to understand the game? If so should I go in chronological order released or chronological order of the story?
0
Playing Rance Quest, beat the Magnum arc and I was in the middle of going through 120 level floor of Malgreed X. Just got most of the characters to 60....and then I entered world 2. Just fucked myself, it is hard-mode and all the quests are reset. Backup save files were missing because I cut and pasted rather than copy and paste.
0
Well... All I can advise you to do is to give up. When I played the vanilla Rance Quest is was so frustrating that I get a 100% save files just to look at the CG, and then I realize with intense horror that there's too little CGs to even worth the time I've spent on the game (about 12 ~ 13 hours of sheer HELL). They fixed it up later, but well, too late.
In a sense, the biggest mistake Rance Quest ever made was to cap Rance's ability to have sex. It's like a cap on your own boner where you had to grind hours down a bottomless sink just to get that one sex scene, and that one sex scene will send your hours of grinding down the drain by a god forsaken level reset. I never understood why people like level resets. So they grant you better base stats, then what? It's like a giant 'FUCK YOU' finger up your nose as you're forced to shit out your own bloody efforts down the hole.
Suddenly you realize why Rance wanted to hang himself at the beginning, and that half of you want to follow suit. It wasn't a pleasant revelation.
In a sense, the biggest mistake Rance Quest ever made was to cap Rance's ability to have sex. It's like a cap on your own boner where you had to grind hours down a bottomless sink just to get that one sex scene, and that one sex scene will send your hours of grinding down the drain by a god forsaken level reset. I never understood why people like level resets. So they grant you better base stats, then what? It's like a giant 'FUCK YOU' finger up your nose as you're forced to shit out your own bloody efforts down the hole.
Suddenly you realize why Rance wanted to hang himself at the beginning, and that half of you want to follow suit. It wasn't a pleasant revelation.
0
Kaimax
Best Master-San
Started playing Dangan Ronpa, currently in Chapter 3.
It's a pretty good one, a mixed between the tension of 999 with Phoenix Wright.
I'm hardly playing any VNs due to MH3U.. >_>
It's a pretty good one, a mixed between the tension of 999 with Phoenix Wright.
I'm hardly playing any VNs due to MH3U.. >_>