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About this blog

This is a blog primarily focusing on but not limited to VNs.  It is primarily designed to express my opinion on otaku media (jrpgs, anime, manga, LNs, VNs, etc), individual VNs, and otaku community issues.   Most of the posts are related to my VN of the Month and Random VN columns, originally started in threads in the forums. 

As of March of 2017, I'm also looking for people to help with VN of the Month.

Entries in this blog

Evenicle Part 3: Plot in general

A few thoughts on the plot, so far. I've reached the sixth chapter (there are a total of seven), and one thing I've noticed is that this story basically follows the 'theory' of jrpg plot development to the letter (well, the cannibalism, rape, and general horrors are a bit beyond the pale of what is normal, lol). Basically, they give you a world that is somehow 'odd' or feels 'wrong' but is nonetheless more or less peaceful... then they give you the seeds of strife. As a matter of course, I
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VN: Vermilion Bind of Blood

This is my fourth time replaying the Light VN, Vermilion Bind of Blood, and to my startlement, I realized that my only commentary on this is is in my ancient VN of the Month Thread on the forums.  So... of course I cannot leave my beloved public ignorant of this game (though I've made a habit of recommending it to everyone, like Evolimit). Vermilion was the first chuunige made by Light's second team, and it was my first experience of the team's work.  It is also probably that team's single
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VNs: Otomimi Infinity

Why did I pick this game to play?  Because, when I went into Shugaten, I was actually wanting a bit of charage goodness.  So, it seriously pissed me off when I got a mindless loli moege.  As a result, I decided to pull out one of my favorite fetish games, Otomimi Infinity.  Otomimi Infinity is based on island in a world where beast-people and humans live side by side (it isn't mentioned often enough to reinforce this, but the beast-people were originally artificial creations).  On the islan
Clephas

Clephas

5

Natsu no Majo no Parade

Natsu no Majo no Parade is a classic-style 'dotabata love-comedy', meaning that it is partially about romance and partially about what amounts to a situational comedy.  The VN was made by a newborn company called Wonder Fool.  It is based in a world where (mostly female) magic-users called Witches go around helping people (the setting is never really properly explained, probably because the writers were lazy when it came to world-building). The protagonist, Yukito, is a normal guy whose mot
Clephas

Clephas

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Sorceress Alive

Originally, when this game came out, I bought it, played the first part of the prologue, facepalmed over the protagonist's actions, then dropped it.  I still don't think that choice was a mistake, even now.  That's not to say this is not an excellent game (it is), but the fact is that Kouki being a total doofus at times is annoying as hell.  This game is split into two parts, Sorceress and Alive.  The two parts have significantly different story progression and outcomes, and it would be saf
Clephas

Clephas

1
VNs

Ojou-sama no Hanbun wa Ren'ai de Dekiteimasu!

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b264/Rihochan/Ojomasu.png Now, this was a game I didn't really have high hopes for, but I am glad to say that I was pleasantly surprised.  While this falls short of kamige level (primarily due to the disproportionately short epilogues), it is definitely an interesting take on the trap protagonist ojousama-ge.  Generally speaking, trap protagonists and ojousama-ge go together like hot fruit pie and ice cream.  While the formula (begun with the original
Clephas

Clephas in VNs

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Maboroshi no Dystopia Part 1: First Impressions and Ruriko's path

For various reasons, I had high hopes for this VN. For one thing, it is by the same company that did Reminiscence and for another, I just liked the basic concept. However, there is one issue that is more than a little irritating... they used an entirely new main staff (new writer, new artist) and tried to maintain an aura of similarity to the Akagoei series without the heart and soul that made that series interesting. First, the protagonist is obviously a knock-off version of Kaito, with a
Clephas

Clephas

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Impressions: Soushin no Ars Magna

To be clear, I dropped this game today after about nine hours of playtime, mostly because I wasn't getting any joy out of it.  That's not to say the story wasn't interesting, but... Anyway, Soushin no Ars Magna is the most recent release from Ninetail, the rpg-focused sister brand of Dual Tail, the makers of the Venus Blood series... and it shows.   This game reuses a modified version of the gameplay from Venus Blood Brave, which was a more dungeon-exploration oriented game than previo
Clephas

Clephas

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Mousou Complete

Ok... there really isn't much to say on this VN, because it is ridiculously low-budget/low-quality. That isn't to say that it doesn't show moments of brilliance... it is just that the pacing is so terrible it is like the story got tossed into a high-speed blender before being pulled out and taped back together... with a lot of missing pieces. I'm not fond of pointless ichaicha, but when all the heroine routes but one feel so truncated you feel like they might as well not even exist... well, y
Clephas

Clephas

2

Tayutama 2 or Sen no Hatou?

A simple question, with the poll closing at the stroke of midnight Monday morning US Central time.  Which VN do you want me to play first?  Honestly, there is no chance whatsoever of me playing anything else before at least one of these two, so feel free to make your decision based on which you are most interested in. For those who aren't aware of the games: Tayutama 2 is the direct sequel to the original game, based off of Mashiro's ending as canon.  The main heroine is one of Mashiro
Clephas

Clephas

8

Random VN: Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost was the first game in Masada's/Light's 'Shinza series (Paradise Lost>Dies Irae>Kajiri Kamui Kagura).  For the sake of those who read Dies Irae but still don't understand how this universe/setting works, I'll explain it in a spoiler box at the end of the post.  Paradise Lost is based in the ruins of a city once called Sodom, now the Quarantine City, a city full of poisonous miasma that causes death and mutation in its inhabitants, a city sealed from the outside world by a
Clephas

Clephas

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My March Release schedule

I'm going to be blunt.  As soon as Persona 5 comes out, I'll probably drop everything and stop talking for at least two or three days.  As such, you can pretty much be sure that the time from now until the fourth is the time for me to play VNs, lol.  This month is, however, extremely heavy on the number of releases, if not the level of excitement that follows them (Minori's style is antithetical to me, so I really do want to offload Trinoline on someone else, despite their high quality productio
Clephas

Clephas

6

Lump of Sugar redeems itself! (Kodomo no Asobi Part 1)

First, I should explain why I felt a need to make a title like that... though it is really quite simple.  Out of Lump of Sugar's last five VNs, three were complete kusoge.   Only one of them was something worth remembering (Sekai to Sekai no Mannaka de) and the others were just downright rotten, due to their use of really stupid gimmicky progression systems (flowcharts with tons of scene-locks and going back and forth, Magical Charming's half-assed 'gameplay' etc etc) that ruined the games even
Clephas

Clephas

4

Why I always play games with nonhuman heroines first.

My name is Clephas, and I am a pervert. lol, just kidding... or not.  Considering how long I've been playing eroge, I'm definitely a pervert.  However, that isn't really what this post is about. When I look at the VNs for a month, the first thing I look for are chuunige, then fantasy/sci-fi, and then non-human heroines (though the last two are interchangeable depending on my mood).  The distant fourth is an interesting protagonist, the fifth is an interesting heroine (if I don't find a
Clephas

Clephas

6

JRPG: Tales of Berseria

It has been a while since I bought a new jrpg and played it all the way through in under six months...  To be blunt, most new jrpgs just aren't worth finishing these days.  I gave up on Atelier shortly after Mana Khemia, Square hasn't produced anything interesting in ten years (for a story-addict), and most of the best old series are dead or in semi-permanent hiatus stasis.  Before this, I played Zestiria, and if you read my comments on it, I mostly liked it, though there were some aspects
Clephas

Clephas

5

Kimi to Tsunagaru Koi Flag

To be blunt, I only started this one first because I don't want to read something written by Kazuki Fumi (the writer of Nanairo Reincarnation) just yet... I'm sleep-deprived, so I wouldn't be able to appreciate it, lol.  In any case, it was either this game or the new Windmill release, and, when in doubt, I try to get the new company games out of the way first.  This is written by Scokan, a new writer on the VN scene.  Judging by what I saw in the common route, he is about of average level
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VNs: Tsuisou no Augment (both)

Tsuisou no Augment, when I first played it, blew me away.  Part of it was because it was so surprising, part of it because it was just that good.  Thankfully, it turned out to be just as good on a second playthrough. First, this VN doesn't fall into any of the standard genres.  Most of the game is hilarious, some of it is romantic, some of it is hot and sexual (seriously so), there is serious drama, and there is even some guro, though of limited scale.  The game begins with Hideya, the prot
Clephas

Clephas

1

April Release: 9 -Nine- Sorairo Sorauta Soranooto

This is the second game in the 9 -nine- series, a half-chuunige series that began last year.  For my comments on the first game, look below.   I'm going to be blunt... all my complaints about the previous game in the series still apply here.  While a little more information is revealed in the second game than the first, and two of the characters (Haruka and Sora) come to life a great deal more than in the first game, it has to be said that the sense that I should have waited for all t
Clephas

Clephas

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Clephas' 2018 VN recommendations

This is a list of VNs I think are worthy of playing, regardless of my vndb vote (no VN of the Year, since I don't do VN of the Month anymore).  While I haven't been playing much since September, the fact remains that I still played a large number of VNs this year.  Feel free to object, but I have no obligation to listen anymore *whistles cheerfully as he juggles the flaming skulls of those who have opposed him in the past). Fuukan no Grasesta Mirai Radio no Jinkou-bato Haru to Yuk
Clephas

Clephas

2

Rensou Relation and VN of the Month Announcement

This is the newest title from Lump of Sugar, and as is typical of their recent productions, it has a needlessly complicated system for story progression that would have driven me insane inside ten minutes if I hadn't dled the patch that removes the gimmicks from their site. From what I've heard, LoS finally heard the screaming of their fans, that they didn't want anything to do with the pointless gimmicks that plagued Unmei Senjou no Phi and Magical Charming. Kind of sad that it took them a f
Clephas

Clephas

1

Bokura no Sekai ni Shukufuku o

This game is the one I've been waiting for... a mimikko nakige that doesn't ignore the setting or human nature. At the beginning of the story, the protagonist, Kazuki takes in a puppy he finds abandoned in the park, feeds her, and then falls asleep with the half-feral cat he feeds occasionally watching.  When he wakes up, they've both transformed into mimikko, a catgirl and a doggirl...  Soon after, it becomes apparent that shortly after this event, pets around the world began turning into
Clephas

Clephas

4

VN of the Month, October 2017

First, I should mention that this was an awesome month.  There are multiple releases worthy of consideration for the winner and there are two releases that will be added to overall consideration for VN of the Year 2017. The actual twin candidates were: Yami to Hikari no Sanctuary and Imoten The runner-up was: Junjou Karen Freaks For various reasons, I avoided playing several VNs this month, including Boukyaku Shitsuji and Tsugihagi Make Peace.  The biggest one with the former is t
Clephas

Clephas

6

Bunny Black 2

This is the second part of my marathon of the Bunny Black series. In this one, it is some years after the events of the first game, and the protagonist and friends find themselves at war with a faction of angels... Now I'm going to be straight here... the game system is a lot less refined than the one in the first game, at least in terms of the battles. There is far too much guesswork involved, and as a result, you can find yourself in severe trouble at times, even if you came prepared. Th
Clephas

Clephas

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Sakura Sakimashita Part 5: Serika and Kaname

Serika and Kaname Serika's and Kaname's routes are two branch-off routes, Serika branching off from Miu's and Kaname branching off from Miyako's. Kaname's has a similar ending to Tsubame's, albeit without the massive infodump of backstory. Serika's is a lot more comical (pretty hilarious) and actually has a 3P H-scene with Miu and Serika (where Miu basically manipulated Serika into it, lol). Serika's definitely goes for comedy, mostly because Serika is a comedy-relief character, though she is
Clephas

Clephas

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Random VN: Komorebi no Nostalgica

Yes, it is another Takaya Aya game... to be specific, his joint work with Morisaki Ryouto (known for his sci-fi bent and work with Applique).  This work is also considered to be one of his penultimate masterpieces, which is ironic, since the company he created got bought out almost immediately after this game was released, hahaha.   Anyway, Komorebi no Nostalgica was one of two contenders for my VN of the Year 2013 and lost out to Hapymaher.  However, given how Hapymaher has proven somewhat
Clephas

Clephas

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