What is Reddit's opinion of
The Visual Novel Database?
From 3.5 billion Reddit comments
➔ The Visual Novel Database website
By popularity on Reddit, this Service is:
100 reviews of this app found across Reddit:
<strong>Katawa Shoujo</strong> was mine, and I'm pretty sure the majority of the VN userbase will say the same thing.
I'm very glad that I decided to indulge in the VN that is Katawa Shoujo back in July 2014, because it introduced me to VNs, one of the best mediums I have found to date.
While it is definitely not perfect, Katawa Shoujo still is an amazing ride and it will hold a special place in my heart for a long time.
Probably the best visual novel available on Steam right now. If you're wondering about the price tag, its well justified as VNDB says it clocks in at over 50 hours in length. Having played the version before this release, I can attest to this length as I'm a few dozen hours in and still have 2.5 routes to go. If you're wondering about the quality of the story and characters, I would say the its pretty top notch (as would most of /r/visualnovels). It is also one of the funniest damn things I've read with a sarcastic-ass protagonist that actually has a presence and personality of his own as opposed to simply being a self insert for the player. I've also already cried 3 times while reading this if that's any indication of quality.
Another random tidbit of information if you're wondering, this is the 17+ version with the H-scenes cut. The uncensored version will be released by Denpasoft at a later time.
Monmuse Quest Might be something you might want to look into? The story is great even though you might think it's all about having sex with monsters.
Note: This is a game not manga ~
That one isn't very good. Grisaia no Kajitsu is one of my favorites. It's comedy and slice of life for a long time, but it gets quite serious once you get into one of the girl's routes. If you don't mind sinking in 50+ hours into the game to 100% all the routes, it's worth your time. cough... and, uh...cough good ~~sex scenes~~ plot. Unfortunately, you'll have to go to the high seas to find it.
Edit: I have been getting replies asking for a torrent link, and I will provide (via PM 'cause I don't think I am allowed to post it in a comment on an askreddit thread) if you reply to this or message me.
Edit 2: I just remembered that the School Days VN has uncensored, fully animated h-scenes. So, it's probably the best in terms of eroge. However, I can't provide a link for that because I bought it (unless you are also willing to spend $40.)
Still the same as the ones I picked for the MG survey:
And no, the current current WA2 project can't in good conscience be called a proper translation.
Meh can't blame them. so far AUGUST has clearly been the worst offender in terms of same face syndrome through their entire VN/Anime roster since the making of their company from 2002 to the next game that yet has a release date.
It's practically a running gag at this point. I think I'd actually be upset if AUGUST gave their heroines new faces.
Hint: It's probably Aoiro Rinne. IIRC one of the MG's translators like it a lot and 輪廻 (Rinne) mentioned in that dialogue. It certainly sounds like an interesting title, probably solid choice to localize.
If anyone's curious why it's not Dies Irae:
1- Game is too big and hard. Garejei mentioned even those scenes take up too much time and whole game is out of question. This probably applies even if you consider Conjueror (Himawari translator) working on it too.
2- I really, really doubt Light would agree with that.
3- その輪廻はもう止まらん. (The cycle of death and rebirth cannot be stopped) This is what makes it certain. As someone who played the Dies, let's just say, uh, there is no 輪廻 (Life and Death cycle) concept in Dies to stop.
There you go. The pinnacle of Japanese subtlety in naming works of fiction.
Why, it's the best title since the famous visual novel, Maiden Rape Assault: Violent Semen Inferno!
Artist = TheBlueberryBlanket
I believe it references Boy Meets Girl.
Also, I'd join Hanako for some reading. Reading some good books with great company sounds like a plan to me.
Edit: Less repetitive.
Hoshizora no Memoria is the most beautiful VN I've played so far. It was my first commercial VN, so I didn't fully appreciate just how high-quality it was while I was reading. It might just be the first VN I re-read.
That's right ladies and gents, TODAY I'm here to introduce you to the wonderful news that MONOBENO is getting a REAL translation!!
It's still early days but I have faith.
So why dont you head over HERE and let the translation team know that we're all rooting for them and that their efforts mean a lot to us.
I know it's no Irotoridori no Sekai but it's the next best thing!
I for one cant wait to get started and am hoping they update us frequently on progress, releasing the routes as they go.
You're thinking of the Classic Tsundere. The Modern Tsundere is exactly that.
I think it's fairly indisputable that OELVNs are going to dramatically improve in quality over the next few years. We're seeing the transition from what are essentially fan projects where the producers work for free until release (and so can only recruit from their circle of friends who are willing to take the "work now, pay later" gamble), into companies that have sufficient funds to pay salaries up front and hire professionals.
However there are a couple of pit-falls that might keep western VNs permanently playing second-fiddle to their Japanese counterparts:
- The tendency to ape Japanese VN styles and tropes. It doesn't inspire much confidence in the originality of a western VN's plot when it shamelessly adopts anime styles. I'd prefer western artists to find their own styles and produce something unique like Cinders.
- The overlapping talent pool between VNs, manga, and anime within Japan will be hard to beat. Quite a few high calibre writers started their careers with VNs before moving onto higher budget industries, but given the low regard so many Western gamers put on story, it's hard to see the western VN industry ever attracting talent of the same calibre.
I think it's either cancelled or just put on hold. If it means anything, within that time span Suda51 and 5pb. did in fact make a visual novel together, although I doubt it's the same one.
I think one of my favorite route progressions is actually from Analogue: A Hate Story, specifically the way you have to unlock the "harem end". [Spoilers] (#s "It requires using information from another playthrough and manually entering a number for a text log you read to show it to a character. The game even lampshades there being no way you should have known that. It reminds me of the type of stuff the Metal Gear series would do, like how Meryl's codec number is on the back of the game box, or how you have to switch controller ports when fighting psycho mantis")
100% Be on the watch for Fault -Milestone One-. For a game with a $30k budget, it's insanely high quality, with an amazing story, very well done characters, and a bitchin' soundtrack. I'd wager it goes for 50% off during the summer sale, bringing the price tag to $7.50 USD.
Also, Everlasting Summer is free on Steam, so that's worth looking at as well.
I decided to play Go! Go! Nippon! ~My First Trip to Japan~ because apparently it’s “the first game ever produced exclusively for overseas players”. As an overseas player, this interested me.
You play as a filthy gaijin that travels to Japan for a week to presumably acquire his own harem.
Apparently this guy sets up his living arrangements in Japan by conversing with two guys in an internet chat room he has never met before. I would like to introduce him to my Nigerian prince acquaintance.
Upon arriving in Japan, the two guys he met in the chat room turn out to be cute teenage girls! In another twist no one saw coming, their parents are out on business for two weeks.
These two girls act as your tour guide as you explore the rich culture and history of glorious Nippon. Apparently there’s more to Japan than anime, manga and VNs!?
Every day, you’ll get to decide which places to visit and enlighten yourself with trivial facts about Japan that you’ll probably forget by the end of the week. The places you visit include Shibuya, Ginza and Akihabara. Before you ask, no you cannot visit Akihabara every day. I tried.
But seriously, there are a couple of features that I found somewhat interesting. At the start of the game you put in the exchange rate of your country against the yen. It was fascinating, discovering the relative costs of items like okonomiyaki or an express train ticket to Kyoto in your country’s currency. Most of the places you visit are of course real places and there’s usually a “show photo” option that brings up the real world equivalent in google maps. Like so. I thought it was a neat feature.
Go! Go! Nippon! ~My First Trip to Japan~ is like a Japanese history and culture lesson with your waifu as the tour guide. It’s a weaboo’s wet dream.
After reading this VN I feel like I’m getting a little closer to being Japanese.
馬鹿外人
I'd probably give the award to Kamidori. There are (IIRC) 17 girls with all kinds of personalities and physical traits.
Close second would be Shirou's harem in Fate/Hollow Ataraxia. Quality over quantity for this one. Saber, Rider, and Sakura. Who could ask for more?
I just recently got into VNs and I am starting with Fate Stay/Night. I finished the first route yesterday and I thought it was totally amazing. I had to control myself from jumping right in to the next part because I wanted the ending to sink in. I am planning on starting the next route later this afternoon and I am super stoked.
Edit: Forgot to add link
There are already some utterly fantastic reccomendations here (any Telltale series, Gone Home, The Longest Joruney, and many more), so I'd like to suggest something a little less mainstream that people here may be unfamiliar with. I'm talking of Visual novels. VNs are less interactive than other games, you're mostly just reading, but many often include choices like Life is Strange that allows you to significantly alter the direction of the story.
Here a few VNs you might want to check out as a starting point:
Don't take it personally babe. It's a high school drama from the perspective of a teacher who tries to keep his students interactions from spiralling out of control. Conveniently it's also free to download and fairly short.
Cinders is a twist on the classic Cinderella fairytale with a wonderfully sharp witted protagonist. It manages to give depth to the traditional villains of the tale (the step-sisters) and in doing so it makes them far more sympathetic and interesting.
Higurashi. This one doesn't have any choices, but it's a fantastic horror story that builds up a chilling atmosphere as you don't know who to trust.
Nope, sorry :\
VNDB generally does a very good job of listing all the releases for a VN in their various languages, along with links to the sites for the releases. If you check the VN she's from, your options seem to be Japanese, Chinese, or a partial translation in Finnish (don't think I've ever seen that before)
if you want the best of the best then you my friend are looking for WANKO NO KURASOU This is censored
And in uncensored we have the story by the amazingly talented gen urobuchi SAYA NO UTA Available uncensored.
If you want light hearted then go wanko, if you're okay with a little horror then PLEASE give Saya a go. My god it is a masterpiece like no other!
Ultimate☆Boob Wars!! ~Big Breasts vs Flat Chests~
Expected: Plotless nukige romp fun for the whole family!
Received: An overarching story that literally had me laughing out loud, and the most emotionally charged action scenes I've seen in a VN.
Currently working through Muv-Luv and I'm at the part where they are in the Hot Springs. There's not much to say really, though I'll have to admit the characters have gotten a bit more bearable now that I've been used to them. Besides that, I have been speculating a bit on what might happen later in the story.
I really think that[Muv-Luv speculation:](#s "Sumika is going to die pretty soon. She's already got a ton of death flags on her. Her diary entry was the first scene in the entire VN, not to mention those frequent dream sequences that Takeru has, and that one specific dream where Sumika was taken away from him by her parents. I feel that if any of the characters are going to die, Sumika is going to be the first, as it would be a major shock to everyone and it would add for some interesting character developments. If she doesn't die early though, I'm literally 90% certain that she's going to die at some point in the story.")
Your google-fu is weak. I can't read spanish, but the earliest indexed matching copy of this picture is on a spanish website from 2014.
http://www.taringa.net/lJahnsen/mi/3ClcY
They point to Monobeno Pure Smile as being the source, I believe.
Which points to this ps vita game:
Ever wanted to know who wrote a particular VN, or what other things he's written? Or maybe you have a favorite voice actress and want to know what other games she's been a part of? This new update makes it easy to find out. It's still a wiki/community effort, however, so be sure to contribute.
Also, everyone should check out the games on this page, the best voice actress. Like, objectively.
^^^^lol
Michiru from idol mahou shoujo chiruchiru michiru. But she was designed to be stupid/incompetent as possible for maximum comedic effect, so I don't know if she qualifies.
There is also Takayuki from kimi ga nozomu eien. He is worse than Takeru in many aspects. He runs away from his problems, whiny, and just very unlikable.
Still reading Muv-Luv Alternative, though progress has been slow since I'm finishing finals at the moment. I recently finished the [ ](#s "BETA invasion") arc. [ ](#s "While the Objective 21 and BETA invasion arcs were both great, nothing has topped CHOMP and Takeru fleeing to his original world for me yet. I don't like Sumika much and I'm a little disappointed that she's the main heroine over Meiya despite Meiya being a better character in my opinion. Also that first H-scene... what the fuck? I don't really know what I expected but I didn't expect that. If the writers' goal was to make me feel uncomfortable, they definitely succeeded since I haven't read a VN scene that disturbing since Saya no Uta or Kara no Shoujo.")
I'm new to this whole visual novel thing, and after enjoying Katawa Shoujo so much, the next logical step after browsing this subreddit's sidebar was to read Grisaia no Kajitsu. Right now I'm in the middle Sachi route after finally completing all 1000 hours of the common route (which I have zero complaints about since it was consistently funny as hell). As for Sachi's route: damn. I have come close to tears during multiple parts of this story so far. They're doing a brilliant job of getting me emotionally attached to the heroine with some clever narrative tactics. I just want to reach out and give Sachi a hug after all she's been through. Although her behavior is very over-the-top, the explanation the writers gave justified this surprisingly well. In terms of writing and dialogue, GnK is many many levels above what I saw in KS. The addition of voice acting is huge bonus too, especially with the amazing performances all around. What really makes this VN special though is the main character, who is goddamn phenomenal. He is truly multi-dimensional and unique, while also being very likeable. He might just be one of the MCs of all time.
Relevant vndb links
EDIT: MangaGamer blog with more detailed information
If you're talking about Visual Novels, here's a couple of site that will help you find what you're looking for:
http://animu-mango.wikia.com/wiki/VN_Recommendations https://vndb.org/v/all?q=;fil=tagspoil-2;o=d;s=rating
Based on your previous experiences though, I would recommend you start with Narcissu, which is free on Steam at the moment, Little Busters, made by the same company as Planetarian and eden*, which is also on Steam.
I haven't played many Western VNs but I will recommend Juniper's Knot by Dischan Media. It's a short VN (<2 hours) about an immortal demon and a young boy. It's an emotional narrative with a decent soundtrack and beautiful illustrations.
It's free so go check it out if you can.
It's a shame they halted the full development of the Dysfunctional Systems series. I was really looking forward to it.
Generally, since VNs are built up using formulaic patterns, there's a strong bias to use certain seasons because they set up the stage for certain events
Summer = summer break for students + an excuse to have the standard swimsuit/beach scene
Winter = christmas events, new years events, and snow imagery, which is pretty rare in tokyo and most of the major cities aside from the much more sparsely populated northern side of the island
Spring = the cherry blossoms is a national symbol, plus it's the time of new beginnings (students enter school) as well as endings (students graduate) and it easily leads into summer...
Autumn tends to the the short end of the stick because it doesn't have as many trope events associated with it. There is a tradition of fall being associated with food, and reading books, and there is always momiji-gari which is essentially autumn leaf viewing (like cherry blossom viewing)
Off the top of my head the two games I can think of that really used autumn as a central theme is Asairo which was a great game and Akizora ni mau confetti which I've heard was a fairly bland game...
OH MY GOD DOES THIS MEAN THE RANCE SERIES WILL HAVE A CHANCE TO BE OFFICIALLY TRANSLATED?!?!
The game looks pretty decent though but anyways, always welcoming any Alicesoft games being officially released!
here's vndb link https://vndb.org/v284
Edit: It seems that 2.0 Translations will still be working on the Rance series BUT they will not released any fan patch translations anymore, they want it to release it officially through MG, more info
Probably the best visual novel available on Steam right now. If you're wondering about the price tag, its well justified as VNDB says it clocks in at over 50 hours in length. Having played the version before this release, I can attest to this length as I'm a few dozen hours in and still have 2.5 routes to go. If you're wondering about the quality of the story and characters, I would say the its pretty top notch. I've also already cried 3 times while reading this if that's any indication of quality.
Guess who is actually making progress in Tsukihime? This guy!
I finished Ciel's route a couple of days ago. I really enjoyed it. I liked it better than Arcueid's route, but I'm still a sucker for Arcueid, so I got the Good End first. I actually liked the Good End better than the True End. [Tsukihime Ciel Route](/s "The way Shiki survived in the good end was more realistic. In both ends, he stabs his own death, but in the Good, he has Arcueid helping him to survive. The epilogue was very fan-service-y, although the dream in the True Epilogue also felt unnecessary too.") Maybe I just need to look at an in-depth explanation of the ends.
Now it is time to start the Dark Side of the Moon! I'm going to try to get to Akiha's ends first. We'll see what happens though, as I'm still not using a guide.
Visual Novels don't get coverage from gaming press because they're not video games. The term visual novel is pretty much what it sounds like, it's a novel accompanied by visuals. What differentiates a VN from Zork? That would be the visuals. What about Monkey Island? In that case it would the the gameplay, something MI and Zork have in common since they're both games.
But what about The Walking Dead or Gone Home? Again, these games aren't blocks of text with background images. In TWD you're navigating the world, interacting with characters, and solving insultingly simple puzzles and QTEs. In Gone Home you're trying to solve the puzzle of how to enter the attic, all while a seemingly spooky narrative unfolds around you.
That's not to say that all VNs aren't games. Take Kamidori for instance, that's a fully-featured game with VN elements sprinkled in. If it was released on Steam right now there would be tons of people buying it up, probably completely unaware of the huge amount of lewd content it has.
That one is very good; however, Grisaia no Kajitsu is one of my favorites. It's comedy and slice of life for a long time, but it gets quite serious once you get into one of the girl's routes. If you don't mind sinking in 50+ hours into the game to 100% all the routes, it's worth your time. cough... and, uh...cough good sex scenes plot. Unfortunately, you'll have to go to the high seas to find it. I can provide a torrent link (via PM 'cause I don't think I am allowed to post it in a comment on an askreddit thread) if you reply to this or message me.
Edit: I just remembered that the School Days VN has uncensored, fully animated h-scenes. So, it's probably the best in terms of eroge. However, I can't provide a link for that because I bought it (unless you are also willing to spend $40.)
Extremely hyped about this. Apparently some consider it as good as Ever17.
For context on the video, it was originally posted on Yeti's official YouTube channel, but taken down when they realized the game hadn't been announced yet. OP's link is a reupload.
It's directed by Takumi Nakazawa, director of Never7, Ever17, Remember11 and I/O.
Been rereading Subahibi, since I read it over five years ago and wasn't very good at Japanese then.
I honestly have issues with the way it's written nowadays; the easiest way to describe it is that SCA-Ji's Japanese is simply not very "clean." In general it's hard to say that the text is pleasing on an aesthetic level, since there are tons of quirks and many awkward phrasings or lines that don't flow well in context. That said, it does seem to start improving the further you get into the game - you can tell that SCA-Ji wrote it over a rather long period of time and grew as a writer in the process. There's also a huge amount of text copy/pasted from the original Tsui no Sora (1999) in the earlier chapters, which doesn't help.
Anyway, I finished both endings of Invention last night. Despite my complaints with the writing, Subahibi definitely has a certain "magic" that is all its own. Everything with Kimika toward the end of Invention is great, in particular. Hopefully the mediocre text doesn't end up impacting my score too much, because there's definitely some great stuff here.
edit: fucking bot
So, last week, I finished reading Fault -Milestone One-, and it was a fantastic story. I'm excited for the release of Milestone Two, especially with the cliffhanger at the end of One. The thing that shocked me most about Fault was that even though they had a measly $30k budget, it has 720p art assets, a <strong><em>fantastic ost,</em></strong> and an incredibly moving story to boot.
As the weeks pass by, I continue my stall for time as I await the 18+ release of Grisaia. This week's menu: Tokyo School Life. May I just say that after only an hour's worth of reading, this has gotten comically bad. The art assets, while pretty, have their faults, the BGM is decent, but repetitive, and the writing is worse than the MC for Go Go Nippon. At this point, I've changed my mindset from "this is a work of literature" to "I'm essentially reading Birdemic right now," which has made this more enjoyable. Rather than groan at every little thing, I laugh at how horrible the writing is. I don't see myself giving this a very good rating. Mayhaps this will be the week of terrible VNs; I already have Sakura Angels and Sakura Fantasy on my computer, so I've got some fantastic writing ahead of me.
The most erotic for me was Wanko to Kurasou. The cross between loli, kemonomimi, and slight incestual themes rubbed me the right way that I've never seen before, and not sure if I ever will see again.
EDIT: So someone decided to gild me...thanks internet stranger!
while it may be disappointing that manga-gamer's localisation announcement is mainly Nukige I'd be happy about it since both game's were released in japan 6 months & 1 year ago respectively. While it may not initially be a good thing nukige art has slowly gotten better over time & having recent nukige get localised might encourage more Nukige VN Company's to keep their uncensored CG's for Western Localisation releasess instead of Mangagamer redrawing the uncensored CG's themselves. It's also a good announcement financially since most of Mangagamers sales have come from nukige.
That aside, I dont know what the two localised nukige are like but I know that some nukige released by japan have a good story outside the sex scenes with examples like Euphoria & Bishoujo Mangekyou -Norowareshi Densetsu no Shoujo-
Finished 2 episodes of Umineko. I absolutely loved the first episode, the events were great and it seems Ryukishi has a good knack for getting you to like/get used to his characters quickly (at least for me). Episode 2 was great too, although I didn't really like the first day as much as the first episode. The second day I liked a lot though, especially towards the end, [](#s "And especially that fucking scene of Rosa and Maria trying to escape. Definitely the fastest a VN has made me cry.")
Also I'm a little sad that I looked into the BGM folder and saw [Not Really Spoilers](#s "Tsurupettan") cause I would have been really surprised by that otherwise (I did know there was something Touhou related in this, just not what specifically.) Also while talking about the soundtrack, I just wanna mention how Dead Angle sounds like it came straight out of a Silent Hill game.
There is a third option, which is having quantity and quality at the same time. vns like basenjin and muramasa show that you can have both quantity and quality at the same time but of couse those are far and few in between.
If I had to pick between the two, I would go for quality. In my opinion, it's better to have few cgs that really captures the moment than a lot of mediocre cgs that are forgettable.
Hm... anything from Light maybe? I've never heard about anyone attempting to translate one of those at all, and they do look pretty cool. Like Dies irae.
The Ikusa Megami series from Eushully also comes to mind. Who knows though, maybe MG/Jast/Sekai can make it happen with Eushully someday.
But honestly most of what I really want to read is getting translated, or is planned to get translated eventually.
- Root Double -Before Crime After Days-
- Subarashiki Hibi
- I'd love to say Sayonara wo Oshiete, but that one hasn't moved in quite a long time I think. So I guess Myth / LB EX/ME / 12Riven / Steam Higurashi could fit there instead. Maybe even Shiny Days. Oh, and definitely the Grisaia sequels as well. It's hard to pick. :p
Unlike a book you have visuals(mostly still images but sometimes moving), music and voices. Dedicated bookworms may disagree but I think this extra information helps with immersion.
Unlike a game the audience don't expect to do stuff 100% of the time. Making a game and writing a story are complex things on their own and mixing the two will take an even greater amount of effort.
Unlike a movie a text based media can have longer monologues etc. without feeling stale. They're usually cheaper to produce too.
Edit: Saya no Uta is probably a good example to look into. It's fully voiced by talented actors and has some really impactful imagery. The text for the most time could be read on it's own as a book. That is a slightly bad thing to me because the different ways of conveying the message should complement each other and not just coexist. For example the text often describes who says something and in what tone, but we already heard the line spoken so that isn't necessary.
I started Little Busters! last night. I haven't finished any routes but I like it. The characters are all amusing and Rin and Kud are just 3cute5me. Unfortunately I have papers and exams for the rest of the week so I won't be able to pick it back up until the weekend, but that's life.
Edit: Forgot the damn link again.
I made a little writeup about <strong>Coμ - Kuroi Ryuu to Yasashii Oukoku -</strong>, here, which I'm finished with now.
I also was thinking whether to start with Umineko, or continuing with <strong>Sharin no Kuni</strong>, which I went for in the end.
I'm on Chapter two, going down the Sachi route first, because I absolutely love the 'energetic type' character, and I currently like her more than the other heroines.
[](#s "The cave exploration was strange. They had so much trouble going there, and Kenichi sprints back through it in a few minutes? Either he was acting in the beginning, and concealing his badass-mode, or he found a different way out; I'm not sure..")
I got no further than around the first H-scene, because that's always a good point to stop reading, since it gives the readers a break by skipping to the next morning or something like this. Let's see how it plays out.
Finished '&' and if there is one word that describes this vn, it would be disappointment. It's definitely not a bad vn to read but I do think that the traditional route system really hurt the way the story is presented. If anyone is interested in the romance part, you won't find it here as the only time I actually felt like there was any chemistry between mc and the heroine was in Urara's route and even then it was very shallow. I think this vn would have been much better in a chapter format so it didn't have to waste time on the non-existent romance and instead spend time on developing the story or the villains.
Speaking of villains, I didn't like that they would just suddenly appear, do their bad things, and then gets beaten by the main cast. Having [ ](#s "Jun and Jyuri") as the villains were far more interesting since it shows how having power can corrupt anyone especially the characters that the reader is already familiar with. [ ](#s "Jyobirex"), or however you spell that name, was also an interesting character that I wish they spent a bit more time on instead of having her show up in the last half of the last route.
This is a bit of nit-picking, but I question the wisdom of playing amazing grace in this vn. Considering amazing grace is a christian hymn, it just felt out of place in a vn about 2 pagan goddesses that grants people's wishes by giving magical items out (not a spoiler). If anyone is wondering, the song is sung by Yui Makino who sung the op for aria, which just got greenlit for a 4th season.
If there is one thing that this vn excelled at, it is definitely the atmosphere. The vn conveyed very well the sense of adventure and mystery you had exploring places when you were young. So if you are in the mood to feel nostalgic about the past again, this is the vn for you. But other than that, everything else was just above average and nothing special.
Im reading Muv-luv because everybody say that Muv-luv Alternative is really good. Im in Meiya route after [Spoiler](/s "the lacrosse female match in the sports festival") and Im having hard time reading it, because I find it really boring. MC is too annoying and dialogues/characters too cliché. If it wasnt for the Muv-luv Alternative hype I would have dropped this VN 30 minutes after i started it. I hope I finish soon Meiya route and than start Sumika so I can unlock Unlimited.
Edit: Im sorry, but as a comedy/love/schoolthing I really dont like it so far :/
<strong>Katahane</strong>! Not many people here seem to have read Katahane. It's a fantastic visual novel with an interesting setting, cool story, good characters, and a very soothing atmosphere. It's awesome and I'd recommend it to anyone here.
<strong>Ayakashibito</strong>'s translation was released over 10 months ago but it still hasn't even broken the top 100 in popularity on VNDB. Great action visual novel with a likable cast of characters. I really like the group dynamics, too. Interesting mythology and well-written combat. Recommended if you like Japanese mythology and superpowers.
Last but not least, <strong>YU-NO</strong>. I guess it's not that underrated, but still, more people should read it. It's one of the best, most intriguing mystery visual novels I've ever read. It also has amazing music. Don't be put off by the outdated graphics; you'll quickly grow to love them.
Muv-Luv Trilogy has one the best story told in visual novel medium, if not in any media at all. If you can get past Extra, which is your typical rom-com, the next two titles in the series will blow your mind away. I can't really say why since it'll be a huge spoiler but what I can say is isn't VNDB's higest rated visual novel for no reason.
Not a game, but related to this topic, is there any site similar to The Visual Novel Database, but for games? It would be nice to be able go to some site and enter a bunch of tags (i.e, "custom character, RPG, Sci-fi") and some filters (i.e, Console, user/Metacritic rating, etc...) and get a list of games that fit the criteria.
Not an anime, but if you are a Lovecraft fan, you should absolutely check out visual novel Saya no Uta. It is a must-see, unreplicated anywhere else in anime world (that I know of) true Lovecraftian horror experience. Even if you haven't read any visual novels before, it's a really good one to start with.
Another visual novel that is connected to Lovecraft is Zanmataisei Demonbane. You could think its mecha-futuristic lolita setting doesn't combine really well with Lovecraftian horrors. And you would be right - it's not a Lovecraftian horror. It's more like a mecha shounen story with loosely Lovecraftian world setting. You may be able to enjoy it if you keep an open mind and don't mind that [(minor ZD spoiler)](#s "Necronomicon is a lolita girl keeping company and fighting evil with MC"). I enjoyed it after initial shock and disappointment - just don't expect a horror.
I'm also interested in replies to this thread, since I don't know any good Lovecraftian animes. But Saya no Uta is too good not to be mentioned in a Cthulhu-related thread ;-)
> I don't understand how it is so appealing to anyone when there is such a vast amount of actual pornography readily available.
But it is actual pornography. It's drawn sure, but that doesn't mean it can't be erotic.
> I don't understand how an eroge game would have gameplay worth playing
Most are just visual novels, so if you don't enjoy those, there's not much fun to be had. There are exceptions though (see: Kamidori Alchemy Meister, which is a pretty good RPG)
> graphics worth playing
I really like the anime style, but again it's a niche, not everyone is into that.
> a story worth playing
There are fantastic stories out there. You spend the vast majority of time reading, so that's not much of a surprise.
> I don't understand how the genre would be worth anyones time vs other forms of already available media.
It's just a different medium. A 'movies don't make books obsolete' kinda thing. Personally I just enjoy reading the stories, getting to know the characters. I would get nothing out of it, if I just skipped to the sex scenes. It's about context for me.
> I also don't understand the type of person(s) attracted to this type of game and why it is so important.
What type of person reads steamy romance novels? With how big a success 50 Shades Of Grey was, I don't think it's that unusual to enjoy eroges. It's mostly the same thing, except with a few pictures and some choice.
As to why it's so important: it's not, really. It's just odd, that there isn't really anyone serving that market, when Japan alone is able to support the production of so many of them.
Rewrite, and damn it's good. I have only finished Kotori's route (which seems to be more of an introduction to the VN) and just started Chihaya's.
At this point, nothing is bad. I like all the characters, though I don't know about Lucia (guess she's okay)
I will play in this order: Kotori > Chihaya > Lucia > Shizuru (which I'm looking forward to the most) > Akane
I'm knew to the whole 'unlocking' thing this VN has. For example, you unlock Shizuru's route by completing Kotori's, and you unlock Akane by completing Chihaya's. Also it is a build-up. I have only read VNs in which every route focuses on a different thing, and it looks like this may be different, though I'm not sure.
I think I will give this VN a 10/10 rating, but it is still to early to tell.
Poor automod-chan is confused by the new sticky threads, she doesn't know what to do!
Anyways, I'm still going very slowly through Katahane, but last week was busy for me, so i really didn't get anywhere in it. I think I'll have a lot of free time this weekend, so I'll aim to finish it and have a write up for next week.
Started reading Tsuki ni Yorisou Otome no Sahou.
Oddly enough, many of the VAs from Koiken Otome are also in this game... and that game felt like it wasted its seiyuu talent.
I heard a lot about this from Getchu's 2014 ranking(Luna winning many years in a row), so it got me curious. Its been like 1-2 years since I got some formal JP education, so I believe the most I can read out of this is around 40-70%. Rest is with constant dictionary assistance. I honestly don't think I'm doing it justice, but even then, I found it really enjoyable. So far I'm at about when Asashi, and his bunch just finished the school ceremony(Still in prologue most likely).
At this point, I'm not sure whether I'm turning gay for Asahi, or more infatuated with Luna. Asahi feels really pure, and lovable(best girl status, but he's a guy), and Luna is like..its hard to express in words, but lovable. Asashi and Luna's VA seem to fit really well too, and I feel an irrational love for both of them.They are really meant for each other, is the feeling I'm getting so far.
Ursule with her bizarre Japanese and Minato with her osanajimi infatuation seem to be quite different from the normal, so I find them pretty interesting, and not shallow characters. Risona is probably my favorite side character for now, simply because she's speaks funny, and is a brocon. However Mizuho seems to be lacking. I don't really see Mizuho contributing much so far other than "want to take Asahi home" for herself. Seems a bit shallow, but we'll see. Still don't know how to feel about Aeon yet, but he's scary is all I can say so far.
I don't know how to feel anymore. I used to hate Navel because Shuffle was a god awful experience for me, but now I really love them for this. Huh.
Also, throwing in a recommendation for The Royal Trap. It recently received an HD rework that added a huge quality boost to the background art, and the characters are surprisingly deep and likable (looking at you, Gaston and Callum). Censorship issue does not apply.
Steins;Gate (Vita), currently still on Chapter 1. The story, characters and SMS/phone mechanics are definitely my type so far.
One thing I didn't expect was the great use of comedy, both through "Okarin's" priceless inner monologue and the interactions with the rest of the cast. I absolutely lost it when that @channel forum post came up with all of the typical internet lingo. :D
The text speed advances parallel to the voice acting which is definitely appreciated (eliminates the annoying "Oh, wait. He/she wasn't finished yet." problem). Seeing a voiced MC was also a pleasant surprise, and I like the in-game TIPS as a convenient dictionary. The only minor gripe I have so far is text formatting since some parts are shoved into the next line.
Can't wait to continue reading when I get home!
HeroEMIYA
Meiya Hero
Note: I have not yet read the Muv-Luv trilogy. If you want to respond with a "subtle" reference to a spoiler regarding any or all of the Muv-Luv characters, be advised that I will "subtly" murder your family.
Well Higurashi no Naku Koro ni's first episode made it to Steam. I decided it was finally time to play it.
Help me. Please. I need more. Now. I'm in love.
It would be hard to find a point I disliked. The beginning was kind of dry, but the slow burn of establishing the mystery, setting, characters, etc. was great. The lighthearted comedy scenes were actually really fun. Once the plot began rolling in earnest I was absolutely enraptured by the atmosphere of suffocating paranoia. Every piece worked together so well, the art and the music and the line pacing and the everything. Asdfghjkl;'
Here's my notes. I've never actually tried to take notes on mysteries I read before but because I'm trying to resist reading the old translations I lacked outlet for everything. Have fun with my speculations and picking at the details I decided to mark as important.
On another note, I tried watching the first arc in the anime. What an awful adaptation. How that ever gained a reputation I'm not sure, maybe it doesn't seem as bad when you don't have the source to compare it with.
MangaGamer please release the second chapter reasonably soon. I don't know how long I can hold on.
Maybe the old translation isn't thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat awful...
EDIT: I cracked and got the old version to compare parts of Ch 1. More than the TL, the PS2 sprites are so much worse, they have almost no expressiveness. Oh well gotta do what I gotta do~
Ourai no Gahkthun, since I'm a huge Inganock and Sharnoth fan.
Koisuru Natsu no Last Resort since it looks really cute, and I have been watching the translation of it since Mdz started it last year. Excited to see it finally getting a release.
Majikoi S since I am also a fan of Majikoi, and more Wanko is never a bad thing. Also because if it gets translated, there's a chance that they'll turn their attention over to A 1-5, which means even more utterly goddamn adorable Monoshiro (with hopefully less H-scenes, she might be precious as heck but I'm not a resident of Loliconia).
I've mentioned before that I dropped Fate/Stay Night after the prologue (which is a few hours long by itself), but I haven't really explained why, so here goes...
I liked the universe, I see why many people would enjoy the VN and the action scenes in particular were eye-opening (I had previously dismissed action scenes as "not really possible" in VNs), but due to the way it repeated the explanation of the premise (what the holy grail is about, how masters/servants work together etc.) again and again... and again, and again, and again... eventually I went from tentative understanding to stretched patience and then to feeling intellectually insulted. Maybe it gets less repetitive after the prologue, but I didn't have it in me to find out.
Hoshizora no Memoria ~ Wish Upon a Shooting Star~
Without a doubt, this visual novel has affected me the most out of any I have ever read. I am fascinated by the night sky, and I love gazing at the stars, the constellations, and the cosmic phenomena. My friends have also described me as someone who frequently reminisces on past nostalgia. It's no wonder HoshiMemo clicked so well with me.
I love the metaphysical concept of a nightmare. In my own words, I would describe a nightmare to be something that inhibits your focus on the future; a thing that irrationally influences your decisions in the present. Everybody has their own nightmare, and they take many different shapes and forms.
Reading Hoshizora no Memoria caused me to deeply reflect on my life. It made me realize that your memories can serve to motivate and make you stronger, or it can bind your gaze and misdirect your priorities. There is a fine line between strength and weakness when it came to looking back on the past, and I was undoubtedly weakened by my own nostalgia. It made me step back and assess that I had a nightmare of my own. One that ended up being something I would never have thought would possibly be my nightmare. One I didn't even realize I had.
I have since then tread carefully when reminiscing, and I realize now that I shouldn't rely too much on the past. My nightmare no longer haunts me as I am constantly more aware of it, but it could easily find its way towards me again if I permit it. Nightmares are recurring, after all.
I don't want to sound like a hopeless or weak-minded individual when sharing all of this, but the amount of introspection Hoshizora no Memoria has dealt me continues to influence me to this day. I'm glad I found and read this visual novel, because I feel that my own character has greatly developed as a result.
Edit: Wow, thanks so much for the gold, I am extremely flattered.
I'm hoping to finish Fate/hollow ataraxia sometime in the next day or two. Currently I'm at 88%, about 35 hours in. After how emotionally draining F/SN and the F/Z anime were, hollow is exactly what I needed. The light-hearted comedy is great, and while the core story isn't as engaging as F/SN, it's interesting enough to keep me going. [](#s "The lack of Kotomine is a little disappointing, since he's easily one of my favourite characters in the whole franchise. Considering how Heaven's Feel ended, though, reintroducing him in a comedy probably would feel a little cheap.") My only other complaint is how Shirou's narration has changed. His new-found sense of humour fits the tone of the novel, but it's still a little jarring after nearly 60 hours of him being so uptight in the original. It's a minor thing in an otherwise great comedy.
I was going to start ef as soon as I finished, since it's been sitting on my desk for nearly a month, but with the newest Majikoi patch on its way, I'm conflicted. I guess it depends on the Fate ending: if I'm happy, I'll play ef and depress myself again. If it's a downer, Majikoi can cheer me up.
I finished Saya no Uta, which now is one of my top 5 VNs, and my second 10/10 on VNDB.
I really don't know how to describe it. At first, I was very put off by the images and sounds that I had to put it on hold a few months ago, but now I decided to tackle it. It's the 'confrontation method' I knew of that helped. The longer you're experiencing things you don't like, the easier it gets, until you don't have any problem with it anymore.
The story itself was very beautiful. I'm unfamiliar with Lovecraft, but it seems that he gets associated with it a lot, so I guess I'll read something written by him sometime. What I found surprising, though, was the last ending. [](#s "I think it was good, but it wasn't as fitting as the first end (where Fuminori ends up in prison). I guess I like depressing ends more, too.")
[](#s "What I personally found to be the weakest ending, was Koji's. I can see what it tries to do, and it's well made, but I just didn't like it. I might be able to elaborate on it when I read it again, but it kinda went out of my mind, except for the last line (one bullet always remaining for his salvation or whatever).")
It has a great soundtrack which fits perfectly. The two vocal tracks are so amazing, I even have Shoes of Glass on my phone. I just have to be careful not to burst out in tears.
Anyways, what I also found strange is that I didn't cry at all. I got emotional and had to struggle a little bit, but it didn't affect me as much as other VNs. Maybe it's because of its length that I just didn't get attached to the characters as much.
Even though I see some flaws, I couldn't bring myself to give it a 9/10 or 9,9/10. I just feel like it's a great experience overall, and it's very beautiful. I really don't know how to approach this vote objectively, so I gave it a 10/10, because that's what I felt while reading it. I knew I didn't like some parts, but they are pretty much erased from my memories right now.
I'm reading in the recommended order (Komari -> Rin1 -> Kurugaya -> Haruka -> Muscle & Kud -> Mio -> Rin2).
Finished Komari and started Rin1.
I shouldn't have expected much from Komari since it's the first in the list order, but it still disappointed me. It felt waayyy too short. Also I didn't really care that much about her...
As in all Key VNs, I like all of the characters. If I had to choose my favorite one, right now it would have to be Rin, Kud or Kurugaya.
Also, why is it that I always love the protags best friend? I fucking love Masato (Yoshino is still better though).
The scenes between Ati and Gii in Sekien no Inganock. I'm not particularly a fan of h-scenes in VNs, but these were done pretty well. It was also a nice change of pace since both characters were adults.
Yes, Juniper's Knot is a sweet little kinetic novel and enjoyable while reading.
It's a shame Dischan halted development of Dysfunctional Systems, but it's a even greater shame that they halted development of Cradle Song. It's so ironic that they began with DS in order to fund CS... There should be a demo available of CS and it made me a Dischan fanboy back then - so good.
I'd recommend Sepia Tears if you're looking for something short and sweet. Cute and colorful art, simple love story with a hint of drama here and there, and some light-hearted comedy sprinkled about. It's a relaxing read.
It's freely available for download here.
Finished Sachi's Route from Grisaia no Kajitsu yesterday.
I enjoyed it a lot, and it even made me cry a little (Which doesn't happen often with VN).
The first time was when [](#s "Yuuji finds Sachi in the park and you realise she's been waiting here all this time.. ").
The second time is when [](#s "she reads the letter.") Holy shit that part was heartbreaking. The VA did a perfect job here, I could feel the emotion in her voice.
The bad ending was.. absolutely terrible. I couldn't even take it seriously.
I'm now going for Michiru's route. I'm kinda interested to see why she's so dumb. If there is a reason, that is.
I literally subscribed to this subreddit today, as a result of having started playing <strong>Katawa Shoujo</strong>, my first VN ever, at the behest of a friend, and streaming it. I've just finished Rin's path and have also finished Hanako's route. My plan is to get through every ending, then move onto <strong>Nekopara</strong> (bought for me for a friend) and then <strong>Song of Saya.</strong>
Having never played a VN before, I'm actually enjoying what can be done with the medium. I'm very glad I gave them a try.
I just finished off Makina's route in Grisaia no Kajitsu. As I mentioned last week, I had previously only read Yumiko's route, and I couldn't really understand why people thought that Yumiko's route was bad. Well, I sort of get where they're coming from now, in that it deals with some similar themes to Makina's story, though they're also completely different. I still think that Yumiko's route was pretty good, and people have been incredibly unfair about it.
When I read the common route, Makina was quite easily my least favourite character. I don't particularly dislike the token loli/imouto characters, but her character just really annoyed me before. I did start to like her somewhat, though, as Yuuji spent more time with her in the first half of her route, but even by the second half where they [ ](#s "go on the run from Ichigaya"), I think I was more invested in the story because of the revelations about Yuuji's character and his "work" than I was for Makina.
Anyway, I also spent an evening rereading Planetarian earlier this week. I'd not read it in years, but it's always been a favourite of mine, since it was my first VN. I bought the Sekai Project Steam release during the holiday sale and figured it'd be fun to go back and reread it. I already had a high opinion of it, but I was actually surprised at how much I'd forgotten. I guess ~6 years is a fairly long time, and I did remember pretty much all of the major twists and plot points, but it seems 6 years is a good amount of time to go back and for everything to feel fresh as though you were reading for the first time.
Just finished Little Busters!
Overall thoughts: wonderful common route and decent side routes, but Refrain (the "true" route) was on a whole other level. The way the relationship between the main characters and [](#s "the unveiling of the secret of the world") were developed and the use of [](#s "multiple perspectives") in that route was fantastic. As for the heroines, I absolutely adore everything about Rin (I actually went so far as to order her Nendoroid shortly after finishing the VN) [](#s "and i was especially pleased to find out that there was extra romantic content for her during the second Refrain playtrough"), though the other heroines each have their own merits.
There's still a bit more to do in terms of the Baseball minigame and other extra content, but I'll be saving that for when EX is fully translated.
EDIT: Forgot to mention that I'm also starting Coμ. Interesting premise, and I've been looking for something a bit more active.
I finished Yumiko's route from Grisaia no Kajitsu.
It wasn't bad.. but not great either.
At least I wasn't expecting much since most people considers it the worst route.
I was wondering if I should start another route only 1 day after since I usually take a little break (often needed, emotionally speaking) but I decided to start Sachi's route, proof that it didn't left a big impression.
Japan's had a PC market for years now; it's just a completely set of games that typically don't leave Japan except by fan translation. There are a lot of visual novels for PC in Japan. VNs just aren't a popular genre in the west.
I think to some extent the market for them might be expanding now due to an increased interested in anime and manga, although they're still very niche here in the States. Playing Japanese VNs without at least a passing familiarity with anime and manga would be a bit of a culture shock, and that's to say nothing of the fact that a lot of them feel very sweet and innocent and then suddenly ZOMG HARDCORE PORN.
That's not to say that there are no pornographic games in the US, but there are certainly less of them, and they generally fit into three categories:
- Straight up hardcore porn
- Pornographic humor
- Gritty realism with sex thrown in
For most people, between the heavy use of manga tropes and the cute-vs-porn mood whiplash, I'd imagine a lot of Japanese VNs would cause a severe case of culture shock in mainstream western gamers.
TL;DR: There are plenty of PC games in Japan, but the western market for them is very limited.
Ah, shoot. I'm not at all prepared this week.
I did read a little more of Umineko Chiru, but not enough to say much about it. A lot of stuff came up/happened in the past week, so I just didn't get around to reading it much. So here's just a few brief paragraphs with a few thoughts:
[Episode Six](#s "It's about time Kanon came out to Jessica with his feelings. But something feels off. About Shannon and Kanon with the way they acted like it's either going to be Shannon/George or Kanon/Jessica. I know that Kanon said that if Shannon ever left Rokkenjima, he said he'd quit, but I feel like there's more to it than that. There's got to be a better reason that it has to be one or the other. And as I've said in the past, my greatest theory pins Shannon as the culprit and Kanon as a major accomplice. I wonder if this plays into that at all (assuming my culprit theory is correct).")
[Episode Six](#s "I loved Erika's duel with Maria over the candy appearing under a cup. Not really because of the fight itself, but because of Gertrude and Cornelia coming in and saying stuff like 'let it be known that this fight is pointless/childish'. It made me laugh, but they were totally right. Erika is such an intellectual rapist.")
I also got through the part where [Episode Six](#s "George spoke to Shannon about what kind of person he was in the past"), but I don't have any particular thoughts on that. Oh, well. Hopefully, I'll have more to say next week.
Try Umineko no Naku Koro ni, it's a kinetic novel with a heavy emphasis on the interplay of the mystery and fantasy genres. It gets pretty meta but moreover there is a mystery behind it and the narrative challenges you constantly to try and solve it. It's a very indirect form of gameplay but I feel it's relevant (as long as you keep reading the result is the same for all the arcs except the last one).
It definitely covers all the bases that you're looking for (except the true end bit, thematically). MangaGamer is working on a translated rerelease for Steam, but you can check out the demo (which is the entire first arc) here. The same site will also have translation patches for the rest of the games, so long as you have copies of the games from other sources (you can purchase the games from MangaGamer and will need to apply the English patches)
One thing to add, the series as a whole is long and moreover pacing is pretty slow, but it has major payoff moments in every arc and the best OST in gaming IMO.
So, finished up Planetarian this last week. Planetarian was very good, albeit very short. There's a lot of potential for that world that Key created, and I would have loved to see more of it. That being said, I thought it was an excellent story, showing the struggle of a man who has [minor spoilers?](#s "lost everything and ekes out a living in a dying world.")
As of now, due to the impending release of Grisaia 18+, I've decided to read some throwaways to pass the time: VNs that, should Grisaia come out while I'm still reading them, I'll have no trouble dropping. On the menu for this week, we have Sakura Fantasy - Chapter One. Going into it, I expected the same level of quality that I got from Sakura Spirit, but I'll say so far the quality is pretty decent for a VN in this category. Perhaps they learned a thing or two between now and then - either way, it's a fun and easy read, with no shortage of tits.
Spent a few hours on eden*.
It's good, but nothing past that. It has the same problems almost any short VN has - things move too quickly, it does not spend enough time to make the whole scene (characters included) complex. The protagonist is not an exception, despite being in the spotlight all the time he can be fully described in a single sentence, just like any other character. I did not like the portrayal of felixes - [!](#s "they are not even close to a convincing representation of more than a hundred years old extremely intelligent beings"). Human characters besides MC just don't get enough spotlight to have an impact. The pacing is pretty good - as I said, the main problem is with length, not pacing. Other than that, I'd argue that normal sequence of the events would be much better (hell, it's better in almost all cases). By starting from the finish eden pretty much spoiled most of the turns (can't call them twists), which is a shame. Setting is nice, I think the balance between details and their impact is pretty good there. Few minor issues here and there, but that's okay. As for the plot, it's nothing extraordinary, a mildly bittersweet story - in one word, passable.
Now the visuals. This VN is gorgeous. If the story was a little bit lacking, the production value partially covers it. Really, it's very plesing to the eyes, I wish same kind of quality was everywhere.
The music... It's pretty nice, but nothing specifically caught my attention. Will listen to the soundtrack specifically some other time (I'm actually almost done with read VNs' OSTs).
So, if you have ~5 hours of just comfortable reading with beautiful visuals and without complex stuff, go for it. If you are looking for something very deep, this is probably not the right title to start with.
I'm finally reading VNs with actual regularity again and am currently finishing Shikoku no Sharnoth, rekindling my love affair with Sakurai Hikaru. I plan on doing a full write-up next week when I finish, but here's what I have in the meanwhile:
Fuck the minigame. Probably what kept me from finishing it in the first place, each minigame segment effectively made me take a (lengthy) break from the game. After finally beating the third segment, I started a new play-through with it turned off. It's been sooo nice. I honestly don't care if I miss anything at this point, and I can always accost /u/ewig_custos if I feel like I really did miss something important.
If someone ever told me I'd find Agatha Christie attractive before reading Sharnoth, I would've laughed at them. Well congrats Sakurai, you win.
I mentioned it when I first started reading, but the name drops are out of control. I've probably spent as much time trying to figure out the references as I have reading the VN.
Seriously though, the minigame is beyond terrible.
Sakurai did a wonderful job with steampunk turn-of-the-century England. It's more subtle than most and the outfits aren't overly obnoxious with gears and goggles all over the place.
On that note, The fashion rankings for this game are going to be ridiculously fun. So many wonderful outfits.
Finally I got a chance to start playing Sumire this week while I'm waiting for an Ame no Marginal engine modification to get implemented.
Spent almost 4 hours, possibly more, on the bonus 15th anniversary short material in the game. So many old characters and gags, with at least a few characters from every game they released (Except the original White from 2000). I need to make a table to see who has what roles in the game, I'm sure Maki Izumi has at least 6, possibly more characters in this mode alone....
Only spent about an hour in the main story so it hasn't gotten anywhere yet. No spoiler tags simply because this is all in the demo or intro site materials...
But the MC is older than your typical eroge MC, at about 24 or so. Once an avid consumer of anime, eroge, etc, he's been struggling with how as life and responsibilities build he's stopped watching those shows, playing those games except only rarely now. Hits fairly close to home.
The only thing he regularly does is go online into an chat game thing where everyone often has avatars taken from various eroge (mostly NNS characters). And they hang out and chat... and because it's an online world based off eroge, of course there are ero-chat functions where you can apparently select from various situations and the system will pose the avatars and give people lines to read to "make" an ero-scene... And the girls occasionally will play with this feature, only to crack up laughing at the ridiculousness of the lines that are generated... So far so odd...
It's pretty 無駄にエロい but at least silly enough that I can just roll with it and let it slide.
In anycase, at this early stage in the game, the MC thinks all the girls are simply guys using female avatars and voice changers, and so now I'm waiting to see how the story actually develops.
What you want to look/search for is Otome (= means that it is targeted at girls).
There's also visual novel database but it also lists tons and tons of games that are only available in Japanese.
Started with <strong>Majikoi</strong> aka. <strong>Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai!</strong> two days ago and have been absolutely hooked since.
Started it because a couple guys in our fate/stay night community started it and I didn't have anything to do one day and had it on my wish list anyway. Also, there happens to be a certain mod on this subreddit who was fangirling madly for one of the characters, which further spiked my interest. I'm now about 14 hours in it, started with Wankos route and am at the beginning of August or somewhere around there.
This VN is super fun so far. Haven't enjoyed reading one this much in months. The humor I find absolutely awesome and while there has been very little plot or development so far, I loved the hell out of it. I'm looking forward to how the romance and the characters are going to develop in their respective routes, and how the MC will grow.
The MC himself is a fun guy to play as. I like how he has a bit more character than most other MC's with his own way of thinking, and not being stupid for once. There are also soo many characters in this game, it was quite overwhelming at first. Miyako is the shit, too. She has so many great one-liners that cracked me up, and the voice for her is awesome. I think I'll save her route for last.
I'm playing Muv Luv Alternative at the moment.
Holy fuuuuck. I can't get over that one scene.
The [ ](#s "coup d'etat arc") was pretty interesting and all, but when I found out that [ ](#s "they were going to graduate, I was pretty hyped to see the team move forward. Then when Marimo talked about doing those OS tests I literally groaned out loud, because I thought that this was just going to be more filler. I was so shocked to hear that siren go off and that 'WARNING BETA' flash on the screen.")
I was reading this pretty late last night and was at the scene where [ ](#s "Marimo was motivating Takeru after he went on a rampage....and then that thing happened. Talk about unexpected deaths. Man, just thinking about that scene gives me chills. That face was pretty disturbing. Wonder how this is going to affect Takeru.")
It was at that point where I pretty much went, "Welp. That's enough Alternative for one night" and went to bed.
[ ](#s "In hindsight though, I was expecting something like this to happen, everything was just going too well for Takeru and his friends, but I didn't expect shit to hit the fan this fast. Looking back on it, I think the game was kind of making fun of me in a way by subverting my expectations, they tried to make it seem like these practice battles were just going to be more filler, but then all this happens. This may not be what they intended, it's just how I felt.")
Basically caught up on some anime, finished reading the recent Stormlight Archive book from Sanderson, caught up a bit on some gaming ...
So I managed to build up enough motivation to read some pure SoL (e.g. Clannad or Muv Luv). I'm not really much of a generic SoL fan in general. Between the two I could stomach Clannad a lot more, so I started with that and went through Misae's route and halfway through Tomoyo's.
Initial reactions:
I got to the end of Misae's route and realized / discovered this wasn't an 18+ VN. Somewhat disappointed. Shrug. Got over it although I was mildly surprised.
The dream sequences seem like they're trying too hard to be symbolic and to replace actual storytelling and development, or to be redundant with that development. Still, I think they're an ok change of pace. They are interesting from a novelty perspective, I guess, and in some ways serve as a periodic recap. Overall ambivalent, leaning towards "nifty".
Misae's route was too short, but based on the fuwa walkthrough this seems to be an exception.
Those foreheads. I don't mind it so much but it is definitely something that cannot be unseen, so to speak.
Misae and Tomoyo have been entertaining thus far.
Sunohara is fairly entertaining but I tire of the comedy centering on him. Basically trolling the guy is only funny for so long. The [minor comedic spoiler](/s "I am beautiful dog") line is gold though.
Overall Clannad seems rather light so far and easy to read as long as I don't get 15 minutes of consecutive Sunohara. The old interface takes a little getting used to compared to more modern VNs, but I can't fault it for that. Just have to deal.
After winning a Steam key for Little Witch Romanesque (thanks for that by the way) I decided to play it and it's amazing.
First let's talk about the novel itself, it's neither an NVL nor an ADV as it follows a comic book style where speech bubbles are used to indicate who is speaking. The music is good, it's not as good as say Umineko's (bad example, because nothing beats Umineko, but you get the idea) but it definately has its charm.
I won't go into detail about the plot but in romanesque, you play as a wizard named Domino and train two young magi named Aria and Kaya in a tower for three years. Fortunately you wont be alone because as your harem expands, so does the number of residents in the tower and the amount of teachers that can teach Aria and Kaya. By the end o the 3rd year, Aria and Kaya graduate and your ending will be based on who you helped using the spells you teach Aria and Kaya.
On top of all that there's a really neat dice minigame where the faces of the die get to determine how many spirit you get which determines what spell you can teach. If you're thinking thinking that such a system would be purely luck based then please remember that you're a motherfucking wizard so you can actually bump the dice to make it land on the face you want. But what makes this minigame so good is that if you get a certain combination of dice, Aria and Kaya can use the spells you teach them to increase the points you get, or to increase your dice, or create an vicious earthquake that will violently shake all dice. It's how you make this spells interact to get more points what makes it so addicting.
Overall it's the perfect game to relax over the weekend while you wait for your heavy game to finish downloading. Still don't like it? Then Illectatio!
I just started Tsukihime a couple days ago... I'm on day 6 I think, 95% sure I'm in Arcueid's route. I'm really liking so far, it has a nice dark atmosphere, an interesting setting and plot, and that same weird but great Nasu writing. It's especially cool to see some concepts that got elaborated on in F/SN show up, like mystic eyes and [](/s "reality marbles? I feel like the game mentioned that Nrvnqsr was one/was using one, although that was a bit unclear.") Can't wait to see how the mystery unfolds across all the routes.
I just finished Ever17. I don't want to hype it too much because sometimes that can ruin a game but it was the most a VN has ever surprised me. I really liked the ending.
For the most part of the game I was confused as hell. I really like the Mystery genre and I enjoyed having to think deeply about not only the game's plot but some existential questions too.
The characters were great. I particulary loved Tsugumi. She is probably one of the cutest chracters of all the VNs I've read. Takeshi was a really cool guy and although he wasn't as clever or thoughtful as other characters, I came to like his earnest optimism. I loved the clever web of relationships and backgrounds with the characters but I honestly wasn't too enthralled by Sara, You and Sora as heroines.
A few minor complaints would be the translation. Maybe it's becasue I have a mediocre understanding of Japanese but it annoyed me to hear sentences changed for no particular reason but to Americanise and dumb down the text. For example, whenever Sara says "Nin, Nin!", the translation has it as "Nin, Nin, Ninja!" because obviously us westerners are too dumb to understand. This is the corrected script I'm referring to, btw, not the awful original including classics such as "Naturally, I knows the hacker" and "Kidere?".
I can't hold the translation or other issues such as sound quality, resulting from the game's age, against it but I do feel they are important to note because they did impact my experience.
Appendum: If I was to give one major criticism of Ever17 it would be that [ ](#s "I never really cared too much for Coco's fate. I was much more desperate to save Takeshi from death and Tsugumi from despair. For Coco, I felt the reader wasn't given enough of a reason to like her and want to help her.")
I wouldn't know about the "take turns to play it in a group" that you got going, but other than that I can understand the type of enjoyment you got out of School Days. It was sort of the same for me the first time around.
And I was gonna mention the fact that choices in VNs are pretty damn common, but honestly, School Days does it better than most I've read. It feels more 'alive and moving' - like an anime - and because of that the choices also feel more significant whenever they show up... and there's many of them. Plus they're on a timer of course which also has a big impact ---> DON'T USE A WALKTHROUGH. At the very least not for your first playthrough.
You can look forward to Shiny Days. :p
All that said, if you want a reeeally good story, you oughta look into some other VNs as well even though they don't do things the same way as School Days (which you obviously love). There's plenty of good ones translated. You clearly had a very unique experience with School Days when you decided to play it with a group of friends... it was pretty much like you watched an anime together, except you also made choices along the way. So I'll admit that it won't be the same with other VNs. But in your own free time at least and if you're interested at all, you should consider reading some other VNs. They ~~might~~ will surprise you.
Kajiri Kamui Kagura is the most beautiful visual novel I've ever come across. It looks incredible. The art style is so vivid and gorgeous, I've never seen anything like it. Very unique. Take a look.
Analogue is top-tier, for western VNs. Japanese novels are in far greater quantity and diversity, so their 'top tier' is something else entirely. There are definitely titles with more interactivity, more depth, and more freedom of agency than Analogue, if you'd be interested in trying one of them out.
If you want, I'd be happy to help you find the one that fits what you're looking for best. I could toss out some of the classic greats here, but in order to find out what really fits what you're looking for, I'd need a few questions. If that sounds promising, feel free to send me a PM. If you'd rather look for yourself, vndb is a great resource.
Hmmm... Forest, YU-NO and Higanbana (really good non-WTC title from Ryukishi... not talked about that much though I don't think).
But especially Forest. Where do you even start with that one? I enjoyed it a lot, yet right after finishing it there was quite a few things I didn't fully understand... and that was fine. It was a surreal experience with awesome music and an art style that I like quite a bit. Haven't read anything like it before. Really weird VN with an odd style of storytelling, and that's one of the reasons why it's fun to go through.
I would include Digital along with Analogue and Hate Plus. While it's not a direct preque (VNDB says it is, but it merely takes place in the same world) l it is definitely a predecessor and shares many of the ideas. Christine Love has a few others, but I don't think they are as notable.
“A defence attorney's job is to believe in people, and to believe until the bitter end. That's what a friend of mine told me once.”
I finished Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations the other day which is the third game in the Ace Attorney series.
I recommend playing a case until the end if you decide to take a long break. Sometimes the game relies on previous knowledge obtained earlier in the case. I was busy with another game and when I came back to T&T, I didn’t know what to do since I forgot important information.
I had to guess…
OBJECTION! music continues to play Damnit! soft reset
The mysterious Mr Godot is introduced as the new prosecutor. As for what I think of him? Well… The weak get washed away by the tides of fate… The strong drink it up. My coffee is bitter today, just like my destiny (He likes to spout philosophical nonsense).
It’s great to see Nick’s growth throughout the series. I believe it’s his 3rd year as a lawyer. He no longer relies on Mia as a crutch to win cases. It’s nice to see him as a fully fledged defence attorney.
A few people have told me that T&T is their favourite game in the series and I can see why. I think a part of it is playing as different people, which is refreshing. They all have different personalities but they all share the same desire for justice.
Also that last case… Wow.
That’s it for the Phoenix Wright trilogy, now I’ve got to get my hands on the rest of the series.
This is my break week so I am trying to play some fun/entertaining stuff. Thankfully, my hormones don't get provoked easily so I can enjoy some H stuff.
--Finished ヤンだ私に精液ちょうだい♪
What would you do if your little sister, childhood friend and classmate turned into yanderes just because you threw away some weird charm you found on the ground?
You don't know? Well our Tough, Cool and Hard-Boiled protagonist Mamoru doesn't know what to do either.
Reading difficulty: Easy.
Do I recommend it?: If you like yanderes, yes.
--Started Bishoujo Mangekyou -Norowareshi Densetsu no Shoujo-
Well I can't give any opinions about the story because I am just an hour into the game.
But I can definitely say that the art is exceptional and the characters are very interesting.
Reading difficulty: Hard.
Do I recommend it?: Yes (For now.)
I plan on starting Majikoi A until next thread if I can catch up to this anime season.
Edit: Well that turned into a TV commercial..