Leaderboard

Bunny Black is a VN and dungeon crawler by SofthouseChara, a company known for complex and well-designed game systems based in fantasy worlds. Bunny Black is one of their earlier games, and it is a lot more focused on the actual gameplay than the story. However, the gameplay is actually quite well-designed, with the ability to purchase monsters to serve as the other members of your party, the ability to choose how you will advance Darcs (the protagonist), and a mission system reminiscent of many other games of the type, where you go to the bar/item shop and take on missions to advance yourself in rank, explore the dungeons, and obtain items and money. To be honest, this game requires a ton of grinding for the early part of the game, both to obtain the rank necessary to use more powerful monsters and the levels necessary to survive battles. However, once you reach around level 35-40, and have a solid party, you can enter the dungeon known as the 'Gate to the Demon World', a dungeon that has rest spots and high-experience enemies to allow you to power level your party to whatever level you want them to be. At that point, it is possible to get up to level 70 in a matter of about four to six hours, if you hunt efficiently (if you were smart enough to get the skill that increases gained experience). That will let you complete the game, with ease. A more problematic aspect is the story... what there is of it. To be blunt, this game's 'story' is almost all about the gameplay and the ridiculous number of H-scenes (about 70% of them about raping adventurers and other female enemies) included. The funny thing is that the supposed primary heroine, the Maou, is the flattest character in the game, up until the end. Sad... that they didn't manage to inject the same level of storytelling quality seen in Ouzoku. A few pieces of advice: This is not a game to be taken on lightly... be prepared to die a lot at first, as you get used to the gameplay. Also, this game consumes an immense amount of time, (fifty-five hours total for me) meaning you probably will not be able to finish it with even reasonable quickness. There are very few decent healer monsters, so you'll probably end up having to use Darcs that way, by accessing the healing skills (he can use them all, if you use his skill points that way). Moreover, since he is the most over-powered ally in the game, you'll probably end up using him as a frontline fighter as well (he absorbs damage way too well). I'd suggest you get the first level of the treasure-box opening skill and the identification skills, as not having these will be a huge drain on your funds otherwise. My final party formation had four sorcerer monsters, two long-range monsters, and two frontline heavy-hitters... Most of your party for most of the game is going to be made up of sorcerers or front-liners, because of the number of early enemies you'll barely be able to damage with regular attacks. Sadly, if you try to go the other way, you'll probably never get anywhere.

This VN, like most of Rosebleu's VNs, is a fantasy/comedy VN. In this case, it is based in another world, where the protagonist was summoned and helped defeat the Demon King with his ex-girlfriend the Hero Scyana, the perverted swordmaster Hairen, and the berserk cleric Fran. The story actually begins after all these events have occurred and the protagonist has broken up with Scyana (for good reason), and he has started to attend an academy in the kingdom's capital city. As is to be expected with a Rosebleu game, the introduction of the character dynamics and the background story is both interesting and hilarious. Like most games by this company, they tend to rely on tried and true running jokes in human form that are introduced at the beginning of the story, such as the Dragon Race's reaction to Ururu in Tiny Dungeon. The actual story is quite simple... not that the actual process isn't interesting and emotional. Quite the reverse, actually... the birth of the protagonist's friendship with Aika, for instance, is extremely emotional (both because of the background emotions and the actual emotions born from the event). Not only that, but since the protagonist is basically this over-powered super-mage, there are some really amusing points where someone attacks a friend and he snaps... pissing off someone who can level a mountain with a single spell isn't a good idea, lol. The heroine routes aren't terribly long... but neither is the game as a whole. As proof, I finished it in a single day, despite having had to work about half of it (it took me about ten hours to finish the game). Nonetheless, what is there is actually quite excellent. The heroines' worries are very human and realistic (albeit twisted in weird ways in some cases) and thus it is easy to empathize with them. Because the pattern of the basic background story is one that is familiar to anyone who plays old-style jrpgs, it is actually quite easy to empathize and imagine it as it is described. As a final note, if you want a more serious drama combined with the same kind of humor, the Tiny Dungeon series is a better choice. This VN is very focused on the romance and comedy, rather than the drama that was the focus of Rosebleu's flagship series. This VN is a very good example of that humor, and it is definitely a VN to keep in mind if you want something light and short that is also quite good.

I've been playing this one off and on since it came out, but I went ahead and finished it today. To be honest, this game's difficulty level is about three levels higher than either of the previous ones, whereas the actual gameplay isn't improved all that much from the second one. The addition of a town-building element just made the game tedious, rather than adding anything to it. Story wise... a good beginning, some good moments in the center, and a last part that falls flat on its face. The final antagonist is too flat, and the last boss battle is fairly anticlimactic. I'll be blunt and say that the second game did a better job in terms of story. I honestly can't give this game a good rating.

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. This is probably the reason why a lot of fans of the first game were disappointed with this one. For dungeon-crawler games, the first one was a decent meal with dessert and this one is like breakfast at a truck stop diner. I also found it far more annoying this time that monsters start at level 1 when you hire them, since it is actually much, much slower to level in this one. Story-wise... it is actually several levels above the first one, if you ignore how abrupt the events during the last third of the story are. In particular, the protagonist's feelings toward his daughter and many, many lovers are described in detail (though Darcs is, in the end, Darcs). Again, like the first game, this is basically a one-path story with a lot of side-events. Do expect a ridiculous amount of H-scenes, though. Visually, this game is much, much improved over the first game, in every aspect. If I have one area in which I can unreservedly say they did better than the first game, it is this one.

I keep getting questions like, 'Who are you?' and 'Why should I listen to you at all about VNs?'... not to mention questions that are a bit more personal. So, I thought I'd answer those questions I'm willing to answer (feel free to ask more in the comments, and I'll answer those that I can in a second post). Full Handle Name: Clephas Aurenius Handle Origin: A unique character I made up for a fictional fantasy universe some ten years ago. I've been using it as my sole handle for eight years now. Age: 33 Country and State of origin: Texas in the United States Hobbies: Gaming, VNs, reading (fiction and non-fiction), otakuism, mini-reviewing untranslated VNs, anthropology, linguistics, brewing rum and root beer, cooking, and attempting to define VN terms that are actually a lot more vague than I try to present them for the sake of convenience *smiles slyly* Profession: ghost writer (don't ask me about this, look it up) Dream: To build an underground house in a seismically inactive (inasmuch as that is possible) area and retire. Take a six-month trip to Japan and tour the hot springs, shrines, and temples. Likes: Efficient and/or cunning work. People with a non-harmful sense of humor. Pragmatism. Chuuni-fiction, fantasy, science fiction. Good stories. Dislikes: Wasting time (from my perspective). Being mentally inactive (this is actually painful for me). Foods with jalapeno or parsley in it. Sloppy work done when a more efficient method obviously exists. Political corruption (outside of reasonable limits). Personality: I have a rather massive temper, that I manage to restrict through breathing exercises and violent video games. I value thinking as something that is both necessary and enjoyable. I am excessively introspective, to the degree of actively mocking myself and being self-derisive when I think I might have been in the wrong on some level. I am a natural troll who reformed himself as best as possible. I tend to think that everything is funny on some level, even my own stupidity and outright disaster. I am a recovering megalomaniac. My role-play: The 'forums' Clephas is actually quite different from the original Clephas, in that he is a lot more comical and exaggerated. He is the megalomaniacal and overwhelmingly arrogant side of my personality, deliberately exaggerated to the very limits, to the point where it is actually funny. He is something of an insane deity who devours universes and envelops them in his infinite stomachs, using avatars to interact with those inside. He honestly thinks eating people (both whole and chewed) is an expression of love. He also does various seemingly (and most probably) meaningless things solely for the sake of his own amusement. What Fuwanovel means to me: In a lot of ways, Fuwanovel is my last community. I've just seen too many otaku communities collapse under their own weight to willingly involve myself with several at once, anymore. In many ways, I joined Fuwa solely because I thought it would be fun to argue with Aaeru (and it was immensely fun). I respected her for the strength of her beliefs, even if I disagreed with her on a number of points (pragmatists rarely agree fully with any idealist). Fuwa now is the community I've come to love, with the people I've come to love (Marie, Tay, solidbatman, Nayleen, fun2novel, Flutterz, Zakamutt, Mephisto, etc. etc), and so I'm more or less in it for the long haul. I chose this community because it was a lot easier to talk about VNs here than in the more Jaded tlwiki-related communites. What are VNs to me: I like VNs, both as an enjoyable storytelling medium and as one with an immense potential for growth (if someone can just kick the industry out of its nukige/moege and cookie-cutter chuunige rut). They are emotional and intellectual rides (better on the emotions in most cases), that frequently have an impact far out of proportion with their actual quality. My VN Experience: Tsukihime was my first VN... and it stunned me when I first played it back in 2007. I immediately devoured every single translated VN, in a marathon that lasted about two months... then dove into my first untranslated - Jingai Makyou - on 9/14/2008. As I'd been fansubbing for over a year by then, I'd thought I had a full grasp on Japanese as a language... but it was a rather rude kick in the butt. Translation Aggregator with Jparser presented me with a challenge that allowed me to get around the lack of kanji knowledge on my part... in exchange for mastering how Japanese syllables were put together in reverse (normally a skill learned through kanji, rather than learning it first, then learning kanji). A few last comments: No, I do not have and will never have a Facebook or Twitter account. If you really want to chat with me live, pm me and ask me to get on IRC (rizon). Do not ask me to help translate more than one scene of a moege, as doing more than that (even for a friend) would make me want to scream. I do not have a lot of free time, other than that which I use to play VNs, so no I don't go to otaku conventions. I can cook a traditional Japanese breakfast... but sadly, the only parts I really like are the natto, the miso soup, and the pickled vegetables (cooked fish that tastes like cooked fish makes me feel sick). I have a fourteen-year-old calico cat, whom I adore and who tolerates me as a favor to me as her devoted slave.