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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

Silverio Vendetta: Vendetta

Vendetta After playing this route, I am severely tempted to immediately abuse my authority as the master of this blog and just name Silverio Vendetta VN of the Month for February. However, that really would be an abuse, so meh. Vendetta's route... let's just say it blows you away. The battles, the twists, and the overall awesomeness that accompany them are almost equivalent to that of Marie's or Rea's route in Dies Irae in impact. The way that so much of the cast evolves during the cour
Clephas

Clephas

3

Silverio Vendetta: Common and Milly

Common This VN was made by the same team that did Zero Infinity and Electro Arms, and it shows (in some ways). They have definitely improved their character balance and the way they present them, as well as the overall storytelling. The common route is fairly long (think about ten hours for me, about the same amount of time it takes me to completely finish a small charage), and it covers a rather large amount of content (there is no wasted time in this game at all, and yet it still manages to
Clephas

Clephas

3

Silverio Vendetta: Amatsu Oboro Chitose

Amatsu Oboro Chitose Chitose is a nearly pure-blooded descendant of the people of Japan, a nation that has come to be worshiped as a god by many, because of the way its technology altered the face of the world and civilization. Her sub-family of the Amatsu, the Oboro, were the ones who were obsessed with justice and noblesse oblige, which shows really obviously in her daily actions and reactiions. My first conclusion upon finishing her path was 'I am so glad I did Milly first'. Why? Sim
Clephas

Clephas

3

Silverio Trinity Part two: Mistel Valentine, Rain Persephone, True

Mistel Valentine For those who have played Vendetta, look in the spoiler box for a small gift.  Anyway, Mistel is a Paladin of the Japan-worshiping Holy Country of Canterbury, which is based in the same region as Britain is today.  She is an older woman with a strong sense of compassion, her duty as a warrior in service to her faith and her country, and a lot of experience with the ups and downs of life.  As one of the three heroines, she shares one quality they all possess... a deep
Clephas

Clephas

0

Silverio Trinity Part one: Common route and Aya Route

**** WARNING WARNING it is impossible to talk about Silverio Trinity without talking about the events of Silverio Vendetta, so this post is going to be full of spoilers.  Until and unless you have played Silverio Vendetta, do not under any circumstances read this post!!!!****               Silverio Trinity is based three years after the events in Vendetta's path in Silverio Vendetta, in the city of Prague.  The technology to make Esperanto warriors h
Clephas

Clephas

0

Silverio Ragnarok

The final game in the Silverio series enters with a whimper and exits with a bang. First, this game absolutely requires that you have played the previous two to appreciate.  Too much of what is going on requires understanding of concepts that aren't reintroduced but constantly referenced throughout the game.  This game is based only a few years after Trinity in Canterbury, the theocratic state ruled by a Japanophilic religion based on seeing old Japan as a sort of El Dorado.   I should
Clephas

Clephas

3

Signs of a saturated market: Charage/moege

Now... I know you've heard me bash charage/moege before.  That isn't the purpose here, though.  I've played plenty of VNs of the type over the years, and a decent number of them have actually managed to make it pretty high on my list of recommendations, despite the genres' flaws.  I've also mentioned before that VN quality has fallen drastically in the past two years... and I still think that, despite a few seriously stand-out works this year in general and this month in particular. The rea
Clephas

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15

Signalist Stars and VN of the Month, October 2016

Signalist Stars came at me from out of left field, smashing me across the face with a spike grenade.   I literally wasn't expecting anything from this VN, as my recent experiences with new companies have left me unwilling to hope for better.  This VN does, in my mind, fall into the charage genre, but it does it so well that I was left a bit stunned.  Signalist Stars is based in a city where people who have a burning passion are encouraged to pursue it, regardless of what it is.  In this cit
Clephas

Clephas

1

Shunkyoku no Tyrhhia ~What a Beautiful Dawn

I'm going to be blunt... if it weren't for the urging of one of my online friends, I wouldn't have played this game.  For one thing, it is a direct prequel to Gakthun, which I didn't have much fun with (I don't really like Japanese versions of Liar Soft games, for some reason... though I loved the English version of Sekien).  It is based in a steampunk world version of one of the most-visited eras of Japanese history in otaku media, the Bakumatsu era.  In that era, Japan was opened by Briti
Clephas

Clephas

3

Shukusei no Girlfriend 2 and 3 and Fujiko disc

I hadn't paid attention, but this series was apparently made by a subsidiary of the same company that owns Minato Soft... which explains the familiarity of the humor and the sound effects. Shukusei no Girlfriend 2 This entry in the series focuses on Maya, the heroine who serves as an antagonist initially in the first game.  Maya is a very straightforward girl with a strong desire to take care of those younger than her.  She is very much a warrior maiden with a strong motherly side (whi
Clephas

Clephas

0

Shugaten: Almost forgot

Sadly, I couldn't bring myself to finish this one... for a certain type of person (moe-addict plus lolicon) this is a heavenly game, but... it so boring for someone who actually wants some substance under the fluff.  This is one of those cases where there is no possibility whatsoever that an ending could justify me going through twelve hours of torture (four hours was enough for me to want to sell the game on Ebay...).  The biggest problem was the fact that there is no balance to the realit
Clephas

Clephas

2

Shuffle! Essence +

Shuffle Essence! + is the definitive version of Shuffle, which was originally released in 2004.  Shuffle was also the first game where Agobarrier, the now-deceased writer of the Tiny Dungeon series, made a claim to fame.  First, I should note that I originally played Shuffle in English and was not in any way satisfied with the results.  My primary reasons were the low quality of the localization (though it was better than what MG had done up to that point) and certain differences with the a
Clephas

Clephas

0

Shuffle! Episode 2

To be honest, I had great hopes for this game, based on the fact that Agobarrier wrote up the drafts for the story before his unfortunate passing.  I thought I'd see the peculiar humor, the deredere-MAX heroines, and the wacky antics that I associated with the original game.  I expected running jokes (frequently used as accents to various scenes), and I hoped that Navel would finally regain some of its original 'magic'. Unfortunately, it seems that those hopes are a bit too high.  Perhaps i
Clephas

Clephas

11

Shoujo-Tachi wa Kouya o Mezasu

To be honest, I wasn’t really interested in playing this VN, as you might have noticed if you read my previous entries.  However, I ended  up playing it because, once I stopped taking the pain meds (thus going into withdrawal… viva Bucket and Water Bottle!), I had a mind just clear enough to read something on the level of a charage or slightly more complex but not enough to read something like Dies Irae or Jeanne. I’m going to be straight up about this VN… like a lot of stuff Takahiro get
Clephas

Clephas

0

Shougun-sama wa Otoshigoro

This is the newest game by Alcot, based three hundred years before Onigokko (yes, it is a prequel, sort of) during the time of the infamous Tokugawa Yoshimune (who is the central character of the jidaigeki Abarenbou Shogun), the first Shogun to take the title based on the 'gosanke' system set up by Ieyasu to prevent the end of the shogunate due to the end of his direct descendants.  The protagonist of the story is a young man who has been dragged into the body of a person of the same name in the
Clephas

Clephas

0

Shirogane Spirits

To be honest, I generally dislike Giga's non-Baldr VNs, simply because the dip in quality (outside of visuals) is so sharp it isn't even funny. From dialogue and narration to voices and music, it is unbelievable how little comparative effort this company puts into its non-Baldr games. That said, this is actually quite a decent charage... though I do have some serious complaints. I'll go ahead and get those complaints out of the way first. Cons First, for all that the sound effects are
Clephas

Clephas

0

Shirogane no Soleil

Shirogane no Soleil is the very first Soleil game, and it begins with Ryuuhei - the protagonist - encountering Soul Valkyrie in the ruins of the Ship of Time in Iceland (fictional).  There, he contracts with her in order to save his sister and her fellow archaeologists.  However, as a result, she constantly drains his lifespan (literally the time he has to live) away in order to use magic, fight, and even just to exist on the mortal plane of existence.   Unfortunately, at the same time he discov
Clephas

Clephas

4

Shiranui's Journey (Evolimit): The Tale of a Hero

Be warned, this is full of spoilers for one of my favorite VNs, Evolimit.  Shiranui Yoshikazu is one of my favorite protagonists of all time, and I thought it would be good to just lay out why I loved the guy from beginning to end.           Shiranui's past   The Disaster (MAJOR Spoilers.  Don't read this part unless you have finished at least Kazuna's ending) Even entirely ignoring the events of the main story, Shiranui's story is one of quiet he
Clephas

Clephas

0

Shinsou Noise ~Jushin Tantei no Jikenbo~

Shinsou Noise is the first game by a new collaboration company called Azurite, which was founded as a joint effort by Silky's Plus and Liar Soft.  In this case, Liar Soft provided the writing staff and Silky's provided the art and programming staff.  It is also fairly obvious that the planning wasn't done by the Liar Soft team, given the general style of the story, which is more in line with my experiences with Silky's Plus (and thus lacks the annoying conventions Liar Soft usually indulges in).
Clephas

Clephas

6

Shin Koihime † Musou - Kakumei Son Go no Ketsumyaku

First, I should mention that this post is mostly going to focus on how this VN improves on the original content from Shin Koihime Musou.  The reason is fairly simple... if you like the series, you'll eventually play this, and if you played the original Shin Koihime Musou, then that is probably what you want to know.  I know I would. Next, I will go ahead and come out with it... I loved what they did with this path.  The degree of added detail in this VN is actually higher than in Souten no
Clephas

Clephas

3

September Releases (UDATED!!!)

First... I already talked about Haze Man, though you can't really call it a review, lol.  Second... I'm stalling Mono no Aware for now.  After playing it for three hours, I've come to the conclusion that I hate the setting in this game.  It feels like one of those anime episodes in an otherwise awesome series that I drop simply because I don't like how they handled it.  This game has enormous potential to be interesting... if you obliterate player agency.  Unfortunately, I hate the way this game
Clephas

Clephas

1

September 2018 Releases That I'm not Playing [Edited}

This is a list of next month's releases that I'm not playing (that aren't nukige) and my thoughts on each, based on the Getchu and official pages, as well as my experience with the writers and companies involved. Raspberry Cube This is from the makers of Wagamama High Spec, one of the most average charage in existence *Clephas sticks out his tongue defiantly at the inevitable protestors, accidentally allowing several demons he was eating to escape*  First, the good signs... this game's
Clephas

Clephas

2

Senren Banka

Before I go into this VN, I should probably bring up a few facts I’ve noticed about Yuzusoft VNs in general.   First, while most Yuzusoft VNs have a central story that is vital to the heroine paths as well as the common route, the degree to which that central plot effects the heroine paths varies pretty wildly.  In some cases – such as with Nicola in Dracu-riot – the effects of the main plot are almost nonexistent, and in others – such as Miu’s from the same VN – the effects are dramatic and int
Clephas

Clephas

4

Senkou no Clarias

It was remarked by Veshurik recently that it seemed like I wasn't really around anymore... but that isn't really the case.  I still play VNs, but the fact is, I don't play many new VNs that I haven't already blogged about yet.  I simply can't muster enough interest to play most of the new stuff that comes out, simply because there just isn't that much that looks interesting coming out at any given time.   Senkou no Clarias, by Team Baldrhead, was the game I thought would break through my boredom
Clephas

Clephas

2

Sengoku Koihime X ~Otome Kenran Sengoku Emaki

This is a partial remake/rewrite of Sengoku Koihime, which was released back in 2013.  It is by Baseson, the makers of the Koihime Musou series, and the protagonist is the nephew of the protagonist from that series.  It is based on the Moeshouden fandisc ending (where the Shin Koihime Musou heroines are all together).  In addition to h-scenes, the text itself has been partially rewritten (it is more noticeable later in the game), and they added on the Houjou Chapters, a ten-hour after story.
Clephas

Clephas

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