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Today I started PS3 version of '&' - Sora no Mukou de Sakimasu you ni - . I played for 3 hours so far (I'm still in the prologue), but I'm loving what I've seen up to now. It looks beautiful, the music is great and characters are, how to say it... it's all engaging right from the start, at least for me. Initially I chose this game because of "reuniting childhood friends with a bit of supernatural thrown in" premise - a bit like Amber Quartz which I loved. According to vndb's plot summary it also seems to feature some kind of "artifacts", so that brings 9 -nine- to mind. Nice combo, if you like such things, that is As for the minor things - I really like the look of font this VN uses. And group of friends in flashbacks! (It's right from the prologue, so it shouldn't be that big of a spoiler)

Reading Sousaku Kanojo, https://vndb.org/v31136 I actually wrote a long review for this but I accidentally deleted it and it is now lost in history, and I don't want to type it again since i'm lazy and there are a lot of reviews for it out there considering it is a hyped game i guess with its production values. It was enjoyable but ironically for a game about "creators" or writers and the author making fun of cliche otaku developments, they do the same cliche otaku developments in the routes. The aspect that makes this vn for me good is Kiriha, which should have been the main heroine since there was a lot of Kiriha content in the common route even moreso than Ayase the main heroine. A lot of things happen to the mc due to kiriha and kiriha is in turn changed which is good but bad for the main heroine Ayase since she's a bit overshadowed and if you headover to vndb reviews a lot of them just tell you to read Kiriha's route which is what I would say too. She's a modern tsundere and sometimes an asshole but a cold and pragmatic person which is not the kind of tsundere you usually see in charages. Usually in charages, tsunderes are emotionally driven but Kiriha is pragmatic and calculating in achieving dream, this aspect isn't totally lost in her route too. Also the game really likes to shove the word "creator" on you. It's always "This is what a creater will do" or "as a creator" and the plot does sometimes touch upon the theme it is trying to say which is "How much are you willing to sacrifice to be a creator" which is a weird theme to be trying to do since it is out of place in this rather happy go lucky but sometimes melodramatic vn. Meikei no Lupercalia did that sacrifice thing a lot better since the game really took it seriously and built on it but it felt kinda cheap in Sousaku no Kanojo where the serious stuff it's trying to do is not given too much attention making it look like the writer trying to make a story that is out of his depth. I say a lof of shit about sousaku but I did enjoy it a lot it has a strong common route, and entertaining cast of heroines, but this is just a high quality (production-wise) charage, there's no tragic depth here or something. There is tragedy but it felt cheap.

According to TV tropes most erotica writers are horny teenage girls (although perhaps that doesn't apply to VNs) ********************************************************************************* Going back to the main topic... Two days ago I finished DameKoi. It didn't exactly WOW me, but still I consider it to be very good. I had a rough start with it - it took some time to get used to the format, but then it kind of gained traction, and from the third or fourth chapter onwards everything was ok. I really liked the characters and dynamics between them - which seems to be one of Maruto's highlights. Heroines are one thing, but also side characters were very well done. I loved the trio of Mitoko's classmates - Matsuru, Rinko and Tsuyoshi. Three guys living at the house were also quite funny, and brought in some "Maison Ikkoku" anime mood I did routes in the "ladder order", meaning Kaya -> Himeo -> Asami -> Mitoko. Kaya was nice girl, and I enjoyed her route, even if it's clearly kind of "side" route. It wasn't anything special, but still nice. However, in the beginning I couldn't possibly imagine how in the hell Himeo could become love interest for Osamu Thumbs up for pulling this off Himeo turned out really lovely, although when it comes to blonde classic tsunderes, I still think her spiritual step-sister Katori Rea was even better Nevertheless her love for both Osamu and Mitoko is something to see. It was also nice to see how she grew up. Then there was Asami. I said it already, but I really loved how the game subtly shows the lingering feelings between her and Osamu and the intimacy they once shared as a married couple. If Mitoko's route wasn't as well done as it was, this would be perhaps my canon route - I really rooted for Asami and Osamu getting back together, since it was quite obvious they belong together - they just had to grow up to it. Mitoko's route was a hell of a ride - a true rollercoaster, and well, considering the stormy nature of teenage feelings, and the mess this kind of love is, I consider it well done. It did pretty good job at portraying Osamu's and Mitoko's struggle with their own feelings. I think it's good to play it last, since the "True" end unlocked after completing all other routes is actually the whole second (or rather third) part of the route, with quite significant portion of the story in it. Without it the route just kind of cuts off right in the middle. As you might know, I played all-ages version, and I have to say that its only drawback was low resolution, since it was available only for PSP. Otherwise I loved it, especially since I found animated H-scenes from the Mangagamer's release and their placement totaly not to my taste. The scenes themselves looked like slightly polished-up scenes from flash-based porn games, and while that's what ultimately brought me to VNs, today I don't like that kind of sex scenes outside the nukige - and I don't consider Damekoi a fap fodder. On the other hand, additional scenes in console release were great - they expanded the story, often were heartwarming or just funny, and the story had much better flow. I'd take them in a heartbeat over generic porn scenes. And according to the credits and cover, the PSP adaptation was also written by Maruto and Kikakuya group he's member of, so it all fits well. Apart from the various scenes scattered over the whole story, the most significant additions are added or extended post-credits epilogues for heroines who didn't have them in adult version. There's also completely new epilogue for the whole game (continuing from Mitoko's true end, accessible from main menu after clearing all endings) - so PSP version has 7 endings in total. That last epilogue is a bit similar to the "The Day I Found My Wings" from Flight Diary, since it's told from Mitoko's perspective. Below under spoiler tags are CGs unique to PSP version: Kaya: Himeo: Asami: Mitoko: So all in all, it was very nice VN with some minor drawbacks. I'd love to get high-res PC backport of the PSP version. 8/10

Is your second paragraph referring to G-Senjou no Maou again? If so, first you should probably hide it behind a spoiler tag. Second, I'm not saying it's a great twist, just that it makes at least some sense in the context of the narrative so the twist itself doesn't bother me as much. Also, is it even true there is no proper setup?

To me, the fact that the twist of Planet of the Apes is OK has nothing to do with the 'type of story' it is. It is OK because the narration never had any reason to speak of or even come close to speak of the ever remote possibility that this could be earth... until the appearance of those building's remains. Besides, I've read and watched the book and movies an eternity ago and I can't remember everything, but I wonder if there wasn't some kind of foreshadowing related to the moon (a least in the book ?). Can't remember well so I'm not too sure.