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About this blog

This is a series of condensed articles from my main Blog.

Reviews, News and Analysis are my specialty and will be updated weekly on the main site followed by here.

Entries in this blog

Analysis

Multiple Route Mystery – An Anatomy Of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.     Puzzle Pieces Scattered To The Wind   Putting together a mystery in order to find the truth is one of the most rewarding narrative and mechanical feelings it is possible to give the player. The route based structure of visual novels places them in a unique position to take advantage of this niche. They can spread their mystery over the course of their story in a non-linear manner
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Pallas_Raven in Analysis

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Analysis

SRPG – Uncovering The VN Hybrid

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Mixing Words And Chess   If you want gameplay that mixes the grand feeling of strategy while still maintaining a strong character focus then the SRPG is generally the way to go. Hence why visual novel developers find this style mechanics appealing and select it to form a hybrid with in order to compliment the visual novel's narrative tone. Here the SRPG will be defined as a strategy gam
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Pallas_Raven in Analysis

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Review

Digimon Survive Review – Friends of Tooth and Claw

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Genre – SRPG, Adventure, Sci-Fi     Play Time – 23 hours    Developer - HYDE, Inc. and Witchcraft     Steam    VNDB   Of Harmony, Morality And Wrath   As a long standing franchise Digimon is no stranger to having games in all genres imaginable made for it and so the choice of a hybrid visual novel and SRPG should come as no surprise. For Digimon Survive the most important part
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Pallas_Raven in Review

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Analysis

Achievements – An Anatomy Of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   The Completionist Drive   It is human nature to want to be rewarded for our accomplishments hence why people are so happy to get a bit of paper at the end of a university course. Games love to tap into this emotional response through Achievements and visual novels are no exception. Achievements are generally used as both a system of rewarding the player and a means of encouraging them t
Analysis

Dark Fantasy – Genre Deep Dive

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.     The Dark Night Of The Soul   Dealing with the parts of human nature we would rather not look at can be difficult to fit into many genres due to audience expectations for heroic tales. As such if a story wants to tackle these subjects it needs to build its entire world and tone around them, thus was born the Dark Fantasy. This genre takes its fantastical elements and uses them to c
Review

The Grisaia Trilogy Review – Fruits of Many Flavours

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Genre - Romance, Action, Drama    Play Time - 100+ hours    Developer - Frontwing    VNDB    Steam   The Blind Leading The Blind   Reflecting a character’s flaws back onto them through their interactions with the heroines has long been a core of the visual novel narrative design. However, few showcase the power of this approach quite like the Grisaia trilogy which takes it as f
Analysis

Timed Choices – An Anatomy of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Under Pressure   As a medium visual novels lack many ways to get the player to make split second decisions and one of the few they do have is the Timed Choice. These are as simple as they sound, the player is presented with a normal choice but must consider and act on it under the pressure of a time limit. Some games show the timer ticking down while others merely state that the clock i
Analysis

April Fools – Genre Deep Dive

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   That Time of The Year   Once a year people come together to pull pranks or other humorous activities on each other in an effort to lighten up their lives and visual novels have become a vessel for this practice resulting the birth of a genre. The games which spawn from it are parodies of established titles or series where their essence is exaggerated for comic effect while keeping the q
Review

Hoshizora no Memoria Review – Shining Amongst The Sea Of Stars

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Genre – Slice of Life, Romance    Play Time – 50 hours    Developer – FAVORITE    Steam    VNDB   A Boy And His Shinigami   If the plot of Hoshizora no Memoria were described to you in its most abstract and literal form then you might be forgiven for thinking of it as another run of the mill slice of life/ romance visual novel. In many ways that opinion is not entirely wrong, b
Analysis

In-Game Encyclopedia – An Anatomy Of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Knowledge Is Power   When exploring complicated ideas it can difficult to make sure the player understands what is going on while still making the dialogue and events believable and not an exposition dump, even more so if it uses a lot of in universe concepts. The answer which visual novels have come to is the inclusion of an in-game encyclopedia that unlocks new entries as the player e
Analysis

Thriller – Genre Deep Dive

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   The Enemy Within   Sometimes we just need a little danger to add some excitement to our lives, but do not want to actually put ourselves in harms way so we turn to the Thriller. This genre has had a long history of fiction covering everything from spies to crime in order to keep the reader on their toes. In many ways it is similar to another genre visual novels thrive in, Horror, since
Review

Stella Of The End Review – Do Androids Dream Of Being Human?

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Genre – Sci-fi, Post-apocalypse, Journey     Play Time – 7 hours     Developer – Key     Steam     VNDB   How To Make A Human   Key has an interesting fixation with robots and AI and Stella Of The End marks their third notable attempt to address this subject matter. While their games all use it to showcase something about humanity, using the machines as a mirror, each individu
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Analysis

Mini Games – An Anatomy Of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Small But Mighty   When it comes to additional styles of gameplay within visual novels, they do not need to be as grand or demanding as a JRPG or SRPG component and the smallest of gameplay cycles can have a far greater effect in the right situation. Enter the Mini-Game, short and simple mechanical simulants that aim to prove value in being concise. Including these lends a form of textu
Analysis

Space Sci-fi – Genre Deep Dive

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Breaking Through The Firmament   When looking up at the stars how can one not be filled with a sense of wonder? Since humans first stood upright we have told stories about what lies in the expanse above our heads. In the past this would have been the realm of gods and mythical creatures, but, now that people can reach it, the tales have shifted into the subject of today’s article, space
Review

Steins Gate 0 Review – In The Shadow Of A Giant

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Genre – Sci-fi, Thriller, Action    Play Time – 30 hours    Developer – Mages    VNDB    Steam   A Future That Could Not Be Saved   Struggling long and hard against fate only to find out you are the person who killed the one you love is enough to break a man and break Okabe Rintarou it did. Now he drifts through life in a world he knows is doomed to a hellish end. However, fate
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Pallas_Raven in Review

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Analysis

Polyamorous Endings – An Anatomy Of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   A Relationship With Many Sides   When it comes to relationships most forms of media present monogamous pairings as the normal and rarely explore beyond this line of thinking and when they do the presentation of the opposite extreme is generally negative. Enter the visual novel, here is a space where polyamorous relationships are given an equal examination to their more traditional peers
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Pallas_Raven in Analysis

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School Slice Of Life – Genre Deep Dive

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   The Brilliant Days Of Youth?   Of all the genres that dominate the visual novel space there are none which can compete with the behemoth of school slice of life. Beyond the many games utilising it as their core narrative element, many others use it as a secondary pillar to ground their more fantastical or emotional genres and give them an easily recognisable touch point with the player.
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Pallas_Raven in Analysis

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Review

Majikoi! Love Me Seriously! A – The Afterlife Of A Game Series

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Genre – School Life, Comedy, Romance    Play Time – 10-15 per game    Developer – Minato Soft    VNDB   When Only Characters Remain   Once a game series has given all the stories it can, what remains to be extracted from it? Perhaps you expand the world by adding a new setting or maybe you introduce an exciting new threat. The answer the Majikoi A games have settled on is to f
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Pallas_Raven in Review

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Character Customisation – An Anatomy Of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   What Shall I Be Today   There is a tendency in visual novels to have some degree of self insert aspect in their protagonists due to the prevalence and intensity of first person narratives. Some of them take this to its natural conclusion by giving the player a means of deciding parts of the character they are going to inhabit and these manifest as customisation options. They range from
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Pallas_Raven in Analysis

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Review

Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon- (Remake) Review – Reimagined Under A Brilliant Moon

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Genre – Urban Fantasy, Suspense, Horror, Action    Play Time – 30 hours    Developer – Type Moon   VNDB   Will It Disappear At Dawn?   The remake of Tsukihime was once considered a dead project by the fanbase due to how long it took to show any results to the point of being a running joke. Even when it finally did produce something the resulting visual novel only covered the fi
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Pallas_Raven in Review

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Gacha Mechanics – An Anatomy Of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   What Is In The Box?   One of the latest and perhaps most contentious recent development in the sphere of visual novels is the rise of gatcha mechanics as one of the prominent elements in the design space. Leaning heavily into the mobile market, they involve spending currency for acquisition of a selection of random characters and items from a set pool with rarities attached to them. For
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Analysis

Comedy VNs – Genre Deep Dive

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   I Laugh, You Laugh, We All Laugh   Making people laugh is a particular talent and more than any other it is dramatically effected by the medium it is presented through. Stand up comedy and visual novel humour might share a similar desire to entertain but they could not be further apart in terms of how they reach that goal. The unique set of tools available to visual novels has led to a
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Pallas_Raven in Analysis

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Review

Akai Ito Review – Blood Red Threads Of Love

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Genre - Horror, Yuri     Play Time - 25 hours    Developer - Success     Steam    VNDB   Shaped By Inevitable Bonds   Being bound by the red string of fate is a common trope in Japanese romance stories and at first glance you might assume that Akai Ito would follow these conventions given its emphasis on yuri. However, nothing could be further from the truth as the game takes this rom
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Pallas_Raven in Review

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Analysis

An Anatomy Of Visual Novels – Unlockable Extra Content

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Shiny New Things   Everyone likes to be rewarded for their effort and video games are happy to oblige with a variety of Extra Unlockable Content. These bonuses are often treated as a side show disconnected from the important main sections of the game and relegated to a sub menu where it has little impact on the greater structure. For visual novels this unlockable content has a much more
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Pallas_Raven in Analysis

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Analysis

Mystery VNs – Genre Deep Dive

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Through The Lies And Deception   Of all the genres Mystery is perhaps the one visual novels have the most tools of engage with. The levels of subtly and the precise execution needed to ensure a balance between the known and unknown so that the player is never lost is no easy task and demands a degree of control many games lack. At the same time they have to be able to spin other delica
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Pallas_Raven in Analysis

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