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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

Horror VNs – Genre Deep Dive

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   There Is Something Behind You   Genres define the games they inhabit and how the game uses its unique features to achieve or subvert the expectations of the audience. This is especially true for horror which aims to invoke feelings in the player that many other genres deliberately steer clear of. As such it is an excellent candidate to begin to observe how visual novels adapt themselves
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Hello Lady! Analysis (Spoilers) – Pieces of Potential

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Academic Subterfuge   The English release of Hello Lady is a game in a strange situation. Being a translation of the Complete Edition, it is effectively three games tied into one which leads to some interest quirks. I knew that I would have to play the game since I enjoyed one of the developers previous works, Coμ. Coμ was a flawed but entertaining game and it is with these expectations I when
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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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Fighting Games – Uncovering The VN Hybrid

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Fight Start!   As a style of gameplay Fighting Games are at once wonderfully expressive and yet incredibly restrictive and so combining them with visual novels make for an interesting hybrid. The primary feature which binds the two together is their heavy focus on characters and invoking strong emotions through their expressiveness. Visual novels offer the chance for fighting games to e
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Event CGs – An Anatomy Of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Capturing The Action   When visual novels wants to enhance the drama and impact of a particular narrative beat or intimate character moment they turn to Event CGs. These large and intricate graphics depict these key moments with a vivid detail which the character portraits are no capable of replicating. Each one has such a profound effect on the player due to the infrequency of their us
Analysis

Episodic Stories – An Anatomy of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Tales From A Distant Land   How a visual novel is structured is perhaps one of the most important, but also the least immediately obvious, element for the player. The way in which the pieces of the narrative fit together often determines the kind of story you are going to tell and tools available to impart emotions and ideas. As such the choice to assume a structure based around Episodi
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Enforced Play Order – An Anatomy of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Directions From On High   The player is a wild and chaotic beast prone to doing what you least expect and are both the joy and bane of developers. This is especially true for any game which focuses on narrative as its core element since there is no guarantee the player will experience the story in the way the designers intended and even more so if there is any form of freedom offered.
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Dating Sims – Uncovering The VN Hybrid

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Making Yourself Desirable   Many outside the visual novel space often make the mistake of referring to romance visual novels as Dating Sims and at a glance it is easy to see why given their shared focus on pursuing a chosen heroine or hero. The two types of game have had a long and connected history with Dating Sims utilising visual novel elements to sell their story sections and buildi
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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
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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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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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Cafe Stella Analysis (Spoilers) – There Is Only One Yuzusoft Game

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog HERE. Secrets Of The Dead   My relationship with Yuzusoft’s work has been a mixed one. The quality of the artwork and the likeable characters draw me to their games, but I often find myself burned out on them due their often unnecessary length and inability to handle their core premises with any depth or consideration. Despite these feelings, I continue to come back to their games so I can only assu
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Built-in Flowcharts – An Anatomy Of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Divergent Paths To The Future   For the longest time when you wanted to know how to get to a specific route in a visual novel the only options open to you where trial and error or looking up a walkthrough. However, in more recent years there has been a trend to include built-in flowcharts that fill out as the player progresses through the game. These help the player understand the struc
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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
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Apocalypse – Genre Deep Dive

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Until There Is Nothing Left   As a species we have a strange obsession with the inevitable demise of everything we have built in the face of sudden and uncontrollable disasters. There is a kind of catharsis at seeing this scenario play out in a fictional setting and witnessing how the characters attempt to adapt to the end of the world as they know it. This genre of Apocalypse stories c
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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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Adventure Games – Uncovering The VN Hybrid

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Pixel Hunting   Creating a sense of immersion within a fictional world has always been one of the greatest strengths of visual novels so it is only natural they would end up paired with a style of gameplay about interacting with the details of that world in the form of Adventure Games. These are titles which involve clicking on elements of the environment in order to solve puzzles or me
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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
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