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For most people who play VNs, taking a break is a normal thing. Even taking a hiatus of a few months or a year seems to be standard for many in our little community. For ten years, for me, it wasn't. My new addiction to litrpgs succeeded in breaking me of my compulsive VN-reading for the first time in a decade. While some might consider this a bad thing (and have told me so), others have said that it was a good one. Personally, as I've started playing Purple Soft's latest game, Seishun Fragile, I'm leaning more towards good than bad. Many things that had ceased to be joyful in recent years have regained their luster, such as cheap manzai humor, obvious moe, and general donkan harem protagonist antics. I won't say I love that last part (ha, like that would happen), but I can say that my viewpoint on it is less... bitter and jaded than it was before. I've had a refresh, and I don't regret it, despite how much it built up my backlog with those few games I bought anyway despite not starting any. One thing I find interesting is that I find it easier to find good stopping points than before, instead of just forging on ahead for a straight twelve hours and then flopping into bed. I no longer stare at the screen for entire days while downing endless snacks and bottled water. I also didn't want to get rusty on my Japanese, which is why I started up a new VN today. It was then that I realized that I no longer felt the pressure that still remained, even after I tossed aside VN of the Month. To me, this was an amazing sensation, harking back to my third year playing VNs, when my love of the medium was at its most fanatical. I've advised many people to take a step back and rest from VNs when they have started to lose their way, but this was the first time I took my own advice... and it worked (even if it was by accident).

I have a thing for dramatic entrances, lol. It's good to see you again. Been kinda keeping to myself lately after my hospital visit in February (I'm fine now, no worries), but I think I'll be sticking around more often. I really missed you guys.

You haven't played Higurashi, Umineko nor Ciconia. So you could start with those

Aw, you guys!

I literally just finished reading Umineko around an hour ago. So these are my raw thoughts and immediate reflections after completing it. I will probably do a more comprehensive overview of Umineko after I've had it digest for a couple of days. What a beast... I first began this journey in mid May, and I've just finished it now. So in around 4 months time, I have clocked in at a total play time of 141 hours. In that time I've not only finished University, worked on multiple projects (both personal and academic), read several books, but I've also moved and started a job. This is to say, I've been quite busy in between reading Umineko. And I've taken multiple breaks from it. It has not been a completely consistent ride from beginning to end. But also, it feels weird to part with it now. Even if I wouldn't touch it for a stretch of weeks sometimes, in the back of my mind it was always present and I felt a pressure to get back to reading it whenever I could. The ending was fantastic, and I feel fully satisfied with it. But now it feels like I have to part with a friend I got to know very well. And despite being quite happy with most of the twists this story had to offer, I can't deny that at times it was a slog. Reading the last part of Ep.8 today I thought I was nearly finished, and yet it still took me ~4 hours to complete. This was mostly due to a very dragged out fight/battle sequence that while interesting in parts (especially at its end), mostly felt bloated. And this criticism of bloat is by no means reserved for only this part, but rather is a consistent issue throughout. The highlights of Umineko are so great, that when you do get to those parts often you instantly forgive the frequency of tedious and dragged out scenes you had to suffer through in order to get to the truly exciting bits. Yet none the less, even if forgivable, these bloated scenes are no joke. If you have an average reading speed like I do, these tedious sections can sometimes take up hours of your time. This was part of the reason I frequently took breaks from Umineko. As often I would finish a fantastic climactic scene and call it a day. But then I knew that the next part would be one of those mundane sections which made it hard to get back into reading the VN the next day. I would actually procrastinate reading Umineko at times precisely because I knew I was facing a part that would be dull and stretch out for a couple of hours. And when its a nice Saturday evening and you can do literally whatever you want, resigning yourself to reading something that you know will be boring for the next 2 hours is a hard decision to make. Even if you know that by powering through those 2 hours of boredom, you will be rewarded thoroughly in the 3rd or 4th hour. If Ryukishi07 got himself a decent editor I think Umineko could have been a quarter or maybe even half as long, and still be just as good. Actually it would probably be better, because then you wouldn't have the unnecessary excess anymore. Despite that though, when Umineko is good it truly is at the level of masterpiece. There really is nothing like it. The entire cast, for the most part, is very strong and memorable. I think that is Ryukishi07's greatest strength as a writer. He consistently creates very interesting characters. And even if his writing often drags on, you still put up with it because you want to see more interactions with these characters and what will happen to them. The introduction of Furudo Erika in the second half was a great treat, and I enjoyed her sadistic and incredibly cruel personality immensely. It was great fun to watch her do intellectual battle and make enemies with everyone. Then there was also Bernkastel, who has been a favorite of mine since early on. In general, all of the witch and supernatural characters were great in my mind. George, Jessica, Kanon, and Shanon never quite fully grew on me, though I did eventually grow more sympathetic to them. However, I definitely found the parts that focused on them the least interesting bits. From episode 1, watching what seems to be the setup for a typical murder mystery evolve so much in scope over the various episodes, I am at awe reflecting on it all now. The story goes in so many different directions, and yet it feels entirely consistent with itself. It's a mystery like no other. It manages to literally breaks all the rules, and yet somehow sticks to them. That in itself, honestly, is proof to me that magic exists. For anyone that enjoys great fiction, Umineko is certainly a work worth reading.

Huh, I didn't know that there's a thread for birthdays here! Well, thank you @littleshogun ^^

From what I can tell, giving hearts to girls that you don't choose doesn't make any difference whatsoever; the only thing that matters is the amount of hearts given to the girl you choose in the end. As I understand it, for Hajime himself to confess to the girl, you need to have given that girl a majority of heart points. If you pick a girl with either 0 heart points or one that has less heart points than any other girl, that girl will do a second confession instead and you get to choose whether or not to accept it. To be honest, I have no idea why they even implemented this system, as it's mostly just needlessly confusing.

Seconding this. There are plenty of great older VNs worth checking out. And the above ones are fantastic

I also didn't expect it either. So let me say happy belated 30th birthday to @Kenshin_sama, and while I'm at it happy 29th birthday to @nazim10. I hope that both of you will have good birthday.

I've been sort of out of it since April, but Silverio Ragnarok comes to mind, for untranslated. The conclusion of the Silverio series is as impressive in its own way as the first two entries.

Wow, happy birthday, @Kenshin_sama! Didn't expect to see you back.

I like how my most recent "Santa Hats for your Avatars" thread is currently pinned in the Member's Lounge.

Hi Narcosis! It's a bit of a combination of both Live2D and E-mote, along a bunch of custom code I've made myself It's supposed to be an informative topic, yes, hehe. I'd like more people to get to know my game, and I want to show you guys my hard work! However, of course, I want to link the Kickstarter/Steam Greenlight here too once that is up. 1: One of my artists is already making lewds of the characters on her own accord lol. Adult content isn't in the initial plans, but I'm open to it if circumstances for it are favorable (enough people want it, financial availability such as lewds being an explicit Kickstarter stretch goal or something, etc) 2: Dating sim with mechanics! Yes yes. There will be time and stat management. 3: The whole game will be animated. The demo is 100% animated currently. 4: The plan is to sell it as a single, complete game! 5: Not yet! I'm working on it though, and it should be ready once the Kickstarter+Greenlight is released, if not those pages themselves already have all of the info. I really liked the writing (the writer who partnered with me for that is just... hnnNNNGG SO GOOD, MAN), and a lot of the humor he has put in made me laugh out loud. Thank you for considering giving it a try! Also, thank you for asking these questions, Narcosis, because it helps me know a bit more about what people would like to know about the game. If you have any more, I'd be glad to answer!