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I hear you with that. It seems the writer forgot some details while doing her route as well, for example the common route explains obviously she can't text on her phone only do calls due to her lack of sight but in her own route she texts people no problem. The whole thing of her blindness felt disrespectful as it was handled so poorly the fact it was used just for a gimmick is even more noticeable. I mean look at Katawa Shoujo that was created by a armature team and the way they handled blindness there was both respectful and heartwarming.

I expected much from all of them. I think the common route was pretty funny and all the game's assets, both graphical and technical, it is a shame how it does not focus on the story at all. And it is not like they did not develop it to be moe or to grab steam sales - all characters simply deviate from their original idea and have their routes turned into something completely unbelievable from the start. I think my biggest disappointment was with Misaki, since it was just a second route for Michiru with a bad ending for her (as, obviously, you get with Misaki in her route). Speaking of Michiru, I NEVER got the idea of her being blind, as the game only reminds you she is when it is irrelevant. In some moments, her sprites seem to be looking at you, and from I know from real blinds, it is not how it is supposed to be. Cro has more problems than that, and I cannot get why the hell they went the way they did. Even the beginning of it was great, with a huge plot twist and the characters being coherent to it, just to ignore everything as a whole and to put Cro as a brand new character who has nothing from the one we got to love. The worst thing is: the MC don't give a fuck about any of that, he only wants to date someone. On a side note, D.D. was ironically the only route to stay true to its previous development.

Don't expect too much from Cro's route, as you'll probably not like it either. I'm struggling exactly with this problem, as Cro was the character I was hoping it would be incredible, but her route is disappointing in many different ways.

Well I've watched this. I felt it was a little rushed overall, with dramatic stories happening abruptly and then being resolved quite quickly without too much of a bother in mostly predictable ways when there could have been much more exposition. Additionally the age difference didn't bother me; I know what they were trying to do with making him so young but it was actually unnecessary to make him that young. They could have been 20 and 16 instead of what looked like16 and 12 and the story would have worked just as well but oh well it was what it was. Also the Engrish lyrics were laughable as usual but I'm used to them by now. However none of that detracted from the fact that this show had soul and was heart warming and made me smile and laugh quite a bit.Thanks very much for the recommendation! It wasn't fantastic, but I still really enjoyed it, 8/10. Think I have to add it to my ultimately satisfying endings list as well. Queued up next, thanks! I have no problems with harems

AKIRA's art has this mesmerizing charm that I really like.

Finally got around reading more. I've been spoiled by books so much lately that I managed to read 5 books in the time I spent thinking when to continue with Deardrops. Anyways. Yayoi's route was pretty weird that it's made just like a cop-out side-route (short, skims around the main story/themes), but despite these it wasn't that bad. The drama was interesting enough that I almost forgot they should still have a band and the ending was really cool. Kanade's route seems pretty good. I really like how Kanade itself narrates about half of her route (so far), makes it feels like it's actually her story too. But it also makes me wish even more that Shoichi would have more personality. He already drowns under others during group scenes, partly due to not being voiced and not having enough presence because of that. Contrasting that with Kanade makes it even more obvious.

Hi. So, I've been out of the VN actuality (I don't know if that's the word (<- French guy)) for some time, so I was wondering what was the most recent translated popular stuff ? Basically, the VN that got translated within the 6 last months that almost everybody read. I'm doing Majikoi A-2 right now (thanks again to the team) and I'm already planning to read Grisaia no Meikyuu, but what else ?

Phantom Trigger is stand-alone, you don't seem to need to know anything about the original to understand it. However, it will spoil some things, as the events of the third Grisaia game heavily influence its setting, so if you do plan on playing those games, play them first.

I finished Yayoi and Rimu's routes a few days ago. While Yayoi's route was short, I thought it was pretty good! I agree about the one CG near the end being absolutely awesome 9the one with Yayoi in the park with the guitar); I think that is my favourite CG in the game so far! As for Rimu's route, I wasn't a fan of it and was hoping it was going to be better. I definitely think it was disappointing; the drama felt really forced and stupid, and a lot of the route was predicable. I am looking forward to seeing how Kanade's route turns out since I am reading her route next.

Woooowww !!! Thanks 　ありがとうございます！

My absolute favorite? Sayori, without a doubt. That woman is probably closest to what humans consider perfect drawing. It also was a fun trip to follow her development on those skills ever since the first nekopara concept art came out, way before the actual release of volume 1 (back then, she most likely had a goth phase, which was spilling into her art) I just wish we got more than just Nekopara from her in the west. I heard Koikuma is super good. In terms of art that intrigues me, I have to give a shout out to Ray-kbys. Not only are his subjects really bizarre most of the time, but he also has a really fascinating way of drawing eyes, colors, shades and is integrating visible emotions into the motives. Fans theorize that Ray might actually just be Cthulhu's pen name for girl drawings. Who knows. I have to mention though, that I also follow both of them for non-game art as well. If I had to pick artists strictly from a Visual Novel basis, the Yuzusoft gang (Kobuichi, Muririn and Komowata for the SDs) do good work (and they are actually getting better with every game). An urgently necessary shout out goes out to all the background artists who rarely get their work praised. I wholeheartedly thank them for providing us with fantastic scenery, since I rarely come across bad backgrounds in VNs. Even if the sprites look terrible/outdated, backgrounds usually salvageable.

Now, I'm well aware that most people don't play VNs twice. Visual novels are a static media, similar to one of the old 'choose your own adventure' novels in interactive terms, so this is only natural. To be blunt, the main reason I go back and play old VNs is because nothing is satisfying one of my itches amongst the more recent releases. That said, there are some pieces of advice I can give for those who habitually re-read their favorite books and rewatch their favorite anime. 1- Wait long enough for your memories to fade: The human brain has a tendency to 'compress' old memories, and it is rare person who, through training or at birth, possesses an eidetic memory. As a result, details do fade over a period of time that tends to vary greatly with the individual. In my case, the base runs from a year to a year and a half for VNs that made a good impression and four months for ones that didn't. 2- Pick your paths: When it comes down to it, most of us are going back for a particular heroine or path. We aren't that interested in rehashing the heroine paths that we didn't find that interesting, and this is only natural. Sagaoz and other sites with complete saves can let you go to the true ending without bothering with the heroine endings, if that is what you want. 3- With gameplay hybrids, make full use of your save data: Most VN hybrids have NG+ built in, and as a result, you can breeze through the game portions of most of them rather easily by simply using your own save data. This is immensely helpful in games with a particularly tedious bent (like srpgs), where re-leveling would take forever. 4- Limit replays to your favorites: While I occasionally get a junk-food-like craving for something crappy that nonetheless remained in memory, in most cases I only really enjoy replaying my favorite VNs (in my case, a list of about fifty). 5- Nakige and utsuge work, but pure charage don't: I'm not kidding. Pure charage are agonizing to replay, no matter how long after you go back. I can still cry for the sad scenes in a Key game, but if you asked me to replay anything by Feng or most games by Navel, I'd rather cut off my balls and hang them out to dry on my windowsill. 6- If you fall asleep, just stop- In my experience, nothing is worse than getting bored of your favorites and then forcing yourself to continue. If you can't pay attention or if you suddenly lose interest, it is time to stop. If you force yourself to continue, there is a distinct possibility you will ruin your own impressions of the game in question for future playthroughs. 7- Stay away from pure mindfucks- I shouldn't have to explain this, but I will... the value of a mindfuck is in its surprise. Games centered on a mindfuck, with the sole purpose of trying to fool you into thinking one thing while something else is going on, are terrible for VN replays. This is because they are probably the most spoiler-vulnerable genre out there. 8- Highly emotional or intellectually stimulating works will often gain more depth: This isn't a fanciful statement. In my experience, a VN that is trying to get across something else besides pure story or something that is trying to make you cry will inevitably make for a better replay than something that is just shoving sex, romance, and comedy in your face. I could probably replay Houkago no Futekikakusha, for instance, three or four times in a year without the emotional aspects fading significantly, and I find new things out about Dies Irae, Vermilion, and Devils Devel Concept with each playthrough. 9- Infodumpers take longer to recover from: Bradyon Veda, I/O, Muramasa, etc... VNs that infodump seriously as part of the storytelling tend to leave a lot of info inside your brain. As a result, it takes significantly longer for your memories of them to fully 'compress'. Don't expect to be able to enjoy anything with frequent infodumps at less than one and a half times that of any of your other favorites. 10- A good night's sleep is your friend: Why am I emphasizing this? Because to get the best out of a truly great VN, a well-rested body and brain is necessary. Nothing kills enjoyment of a good story like being unable to grasp it due to brain-numbness from sleep deprivation. Hope yall enjoyed my little lecture, lol.

I actually dropped money on Neko-nin exheart, because of how much the production value impressed me. Nothing world breaking story or character wise, since it's just another one of those short, fluffy kinetic novels, like Nekopara, KaraKara or strictly speaking even the Sakura titles. Other than to those lazy Sakura Xs however, it feels like all the money for Neko-nin Exheart was on the screen: Great UI, lots of flashy overlay effects, excellent audio in all areas (background moans, spriteless characters with actual voices, etc), little animations in the static sprites and really high quality art (even the SDs look great). Also, top-notch decensoring which always wins me over. This actually beats a lot of longer VNs I've read in terms of raw technicalities (which isn't fair, since Neko-nin was made 2 months ago). I would say Nekopara is still ahead due to the animation quality and how beastly Sayori draws everything, but I was still thoroughly impressed from a technical standpoint. I would actually recommend this to everyone who likes this genre of short-vns without much substance. Which, since we're on Elitistnovel.net shouldn't be that many people, but hey.

@Kiriririri Yep, this analysis is just on what's popular so more obscure niche stuff, both in Japan and for OELVNs, aren't well represented. It's not meant to be a complete picture of the VN scene, just of what the "mainstream" is (in as much as the VN scene has a mainstream). My analysis on trends with VN protagonists is now up: https://bunnyadvocate.tumblr.com/post/159955558977/visual-novel-protagonists-what-are-they-made-of I hope you guys enjoy it, I had a lot of fun analysing the data. There's some fun stuff to come in part 2, some odd connections that I didn't expect.

Between last night and tonight, I finished both Rimu's route (I only had like five minutes left in it, it turned out) and Yayoi's route. Rimu's ending was kinda sweet, I guess, but all in all a pretty disappointing route, with rather forced, trivial drama. Yayoi's, on the other hand, was actually good, if short, and it had one CG near the end (not in the H scene, you pervs, before that) that I thought was awesome. Deardrops was worth playing for that CG alone, but now it's time for me to move on to the more substantial routes! I'm pleased to say that I'm really looking forward to Kanade's. It took her a while to win me over, but I have a feeling she's going to kick all kinds of ass. I'm actually more excited for her than for Riho, at this point.