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This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Genre – Sci-fi, Action, Mecha Play Time - 22 hours Developer – Love In Space Steam Return From Exile A fall from grace changes a man and exile from all he has ever known can break him. Such is the state of Kayto Shields as the curtain rises on the fourth game in the Sunrider series. This is the tale of how he pulls himself up from the pit he has fallen into, but this journey will be far same smooth sailing. Love In Space are back again with another space adventure through the brilliant Sunrider universe with a familiar crew, but now on the back foot as both enemies and former allies see them as a threat. The game also features a complete rework of the combat systems and leans into creating more realistic feeling battles with tactical depth. But how does the whole package fit together and is it the worthy sequel we have waited five years for? Let’s jump into our ryders and travel to the edges of the universe and find out. The War is Over – Narrative and Themes To be in exile is to be left behind by the world and on your return you may find that the world no longer wants you. It is this feeling which Sunrider 4 focuses its plot and themes around to great effect and manages to balance the needs of a sequel with its own unique identity. It builds on Liberation Day in all the right ways, picking up the plot points left by that game and running with them inside its own narrative. The choice to put the heroes on the back foot also factors strongly into the effectiveness of the core events of the game and they work together to communicate the journey of the crew. Of course it is not perfect and the game’s relationship with the additions to Liberation Day is an uncomfortable one at best. A sequel should build on what came before in its own distinctive manner and this is no easy task, especially so when that game in the fourth in a series. The way in which Captain’s Return chooses to tackle this problem is by taking the points which defined the previous games and asking what they really meant and what people beyond the crew thought of them. This extends from both the obvious fallout from the Liberation Day massacre to smaller relationships between the crew and works to create an overall sense of both progression and returning to a familiar place. It takes the ending point and runs with it, drawing many ideas presented in that game to their logical conclusion within the tone and context of Captain’s Return, be this reinventing familiar mechas in new forms or haunting the characters with past traumas. Relying on this pre-existing backbone means the game does not have to worry about explaining every little detail again to the player and can focus on the heavy lifting of expanding the already rich universe in new and exciting ways. These all combine to make Captain’s Return a benchmark most sequels can only dream of reaching. If there is one flaw in this otherwise excellent narrative it is the uncomfortable relationship it has with the additions made to Liberation Day after its release. These changes expanded on some key points of that game’s plot and by extension the plot of Captain’s Return. However, the reality is that Captain’s Return picks and chooses which parts of those modifications it considers cannon and this leads to many moments where the player will experience a sense of whiplash as what they have experienced in the previous game is ignored by the new one. These points vary from minor details from the side story to major events and set up from the main game’s ending. It is clear that Love In Space were not entirely happy with the choices they made in the rushed additions to Liberation Day and wanted to trim back things that did not fit into their vision for the future of the Sunrider series. This does not change how this choice can take the player out of the experience which counter to how much effort the game put in to making you feel as if you are a part of this world. A Captain Is Only As Good As His Crew – Characters Sunrider’s cast has always been one its biggest strength and means of getting the player invested in the plot. Captain’s Return does a good job of developing the characters and focusing the new additions to help create a lively universe with people who exist beyond the main conflict of the series. However, there is a glaring issue staring you in the face for much of the play time and this is the inconsistent characterisation of some key characters. Captain’s Return could have relied on the affection the player base already has for the cast and cruised through the narrative without emphasising the characters too much. Instead of resting of their laurels Love In Space made sure to give every member of the main cast some sort of arc both big and small. Sola and Kryska being the crewmates who get by far the most exploration of their personalities as both are faced with very different events which shake what they once held as fundamental truths. There is also notable elements of discord between the crew and Shields who's actions create a disconnect between them and him in a subtle way which never oversteps its bounds but instead highlights Shields’ increasing desperation. This compliments the generally darker tone of the plot by providing a dose of much needed reality to the more idealistic characters and pushing them to the extremes of their beliefs. Shields as the protagonist embodies this push into an examination of the true motives for each person’s actions as he starts at the edge of what he can mentally take and is then pushed far passed breaking point. What results is a fascinating presentation of the kind of mind set that lead him down his path to ruin and having him face and accept this truth sets his character up to be ready for the challenges of future games. Most of the new characters added by Sunrider 4 serve the purpose of expanding the world building and help provide a more balanced perspective of this universe. Previously the player’s view of the Sunrider universe was limited to the areas directly involved in the conflict which gave a very narrow perspective. To rectify this issue Captain’s Return makes all the new characters serve the role of fleshing out this setting. Since the player is no longer limited to the area of conflict for the war, the narrative can take them to places and people who could not have otherwise been interacted with. Pre’ator Qisah is a good example of this technique as she serves as the player’s main point of interaction with her culture. She is a part of a people who live at the edge of Alliance territory and had their resources bled dry by them, now they are just a backwater nobody cares about. Despite this the player gets a sense of how proud this people are through the actions and words of Qisah who fervently acts on to defend her people with the will of someone that truly believes in their cause. There are countless examples of this communication of place through characters and it helps make Captain’s Return the powerhouse in the series it is. Space, Mecha and Soul Searching – Visual, Audio and Gameplay Love In Space have upped their presentation and gameplay with every new game and this is especially true for Captain’s Return as the gap between Sunrider games makes their vast improvement even more obvious. A distinctive visual and audio identity has always been a critical part of the Sunrider games and this fourth instalment does not disappoint. The overhauled gameplay mechanics help inject new life into a system which had reached its limit. Despite these positives there are a few areas where the gameplay stumbles and brings down the experience. Sci-fi has a set of expected design elements when comes to visuals and audio, especially for a game set in a far future. While these are adhered to by the Sunrider series, it has always strived to inject its own flare into proceedings. Perhaps the best demonstration of this is with the mecha designs. On a base level they adhere to the expectations of a mecha, they are humanoid and adhere to the mechanical aesthetic of the setting. However, in practice the strong use of angles and sharp points gives these machines a strangely otherworldly quality with them appearing to almost be an exaggeration of their pilot’s personalities, which is helped by their smart use of colours to make them stand out from one another. It also goes a long way to help sell these mechas as part of the greater setting and when an ancient or special rider appears their designs lean even more into these aestheic choices. This ensures a consistent presentation without losing what makes the regular mechas special. The rest of the visuals and audio follows a similar trend and together allow Captain’s Return to stand out from among its peers with an identity that many game can only dream of. The change in the foundational gameplay made by Sunrider 4 is exactly what the series needed. The system which had been in use for the three previous games was already at its limits and Liberation Day clearly felt like the end of the complexity the developers could realistically add to it without the whole thing collapsing. So this reimagination of the old system was definitely needed and the results speak for themselves. More free-form movement mechanics are the new core of the gameplay and involve a conservation of momentum over the course of several turns. No long is movement a static consideration, instead the player must think ahead about where they want to end up and plan for the future accordingly with it becoming increasingly hard to correct course the faster you go. On the other hand it also means you do not have to dedicated valuable turns to movement and can instead focus on attacking the enemy units. What Love In Space has created here is a uniquely dynamic series of interactions which demand the player consider an array of important actions each turn and keeps them constantly engaged. It is a shame then that this excellent system somewhat goes to waste due to the the other elements of gameplay, most notably the lack of mission variety, long enemy turns in the late game and basic AI. There is some attempt to spice up the mission variety throughout the game with a few mission types, but they can all be boiled down to two type, kill all enemies or move to a place. Within these two types there are some changes made to the standard formula, such as using the move type missions as a form of puzzle, but they ultimately do not stray too far form the base formula leaving them to feeling lacking and repetitive, especially as the game goes on. Compounding this problem is the long enemy turns which are a feature of the late game due to the enemy having a lot of units and each one having to perform their actions as well as move. This causes the pacing of turns to be reduced to a crawl as you can spend up to two minutes waiting for the enemy to finish a turn that only took you maybe thirty seconds due to your lower unit count. As you can imagine this kills the pacing of battles and makes them feel like a slog. The final nail in the coffin is that the AI is not even doing anything interesting during their turn since their patterns are incredibly basic. Broadly speaking they will do one of two things, move into point blank range to shoot at you or fire all their missiles at once. This predictability makes them easy to counter when you realise these are the only tricks in their book and results in the player repeating the same actions each battle and by extension causes them to tune out of the actual events of the battles. Verdict – There are few series which continue to impressive so consistently in each new entry with their narrative, characters and gameplay in the way the Sunrider series manages to. Pros + A wonderfully crafted space adventure which builds perfectly on the ending to Liberation Day. + The cast of Sunrider has always been its biggest strength and they are just a likeable and human as before. + Putting the heroes on the back foot allows for characters to show their less desirable aspects and be forced to confront them. + Achieve a more lived in feeling universe through a nuanced look at how the politics and people have shaped the world the player witnesses. + The new gameplay mechanics are a strong basis from which future games can build. + Love In Space continue to up their visual and audio presentation with each game and Captain’s Return is no exception. Cons - Implementation of the gameplay is weakened by samey missions, long enemy turns and one note AI. - Some character directions stretch believability and seem confused, particularity related to Claude. - Has a very uncomfortable relationship with the additions made to the original Liberation Day.

Mushoku Tensei is above all a redemption story and at least in anime while Rudeus' pervyness and his horrible past life are present, his positive qualities and him overcoming past traumas are much more prevalent. The very beginning of the story is pretty uncomfortable IMO but it only gets better after that, so I don't think it should be unbearable by any standards.

I bought the first volume of LN for this a few years ago, but I'm yet to read it. Honestly, I'm afraid that this protagonist will be too much for me, but I also think from what people were saying about the story that it might make up for his flaws.

Sooo, I've been catching on some stuff from my to-watch list. First, Mushoku Tensei pretty much lived up to the hype. Really cool, character-driven isekai, with barely any weak points outside of the pervy stuff (which is not necessarily all bad, there is a narrative reason for some of it, but it's definitely overdone). I've wanted to watch it before the new season starts this summer and you can easily see how the original LN kickstarted the non-game side of isekai – it's so rich in its world and narrative that 90% of isekais after it ripped off major parts of it while rarely getting anywhere near it with either personality and/or complexity. Also loved how complete the first season felt, showing this massive personal journey of growth and overcoming trauma for Rudeus, while also giving a clear direction for the future. A few minor arcs felt rushed and slightly confusing, but overall, excellent piece of anime. 9/10? Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was another one I wanted to watch for a while and also enjoyed a lot. It feels like a short story more than a full series, but considering the subject matter, that's very fitting. It's all about how the world of Cyberpunk crushes people, and how it uses the very desperation it creates to exploit them even harder at every step. How Cyberpunks themselves, supposedly ones outside of the mundane oppression of the system, are actually another cog in the machine, used by the corpo powers as they please and discarded as soon and they lose their utility... But in the end, it's also not as depressing and grimdark as some reactions made me believe. I'm not sure there is much hope in it, but there's definitely some space for humanity and for some characters finding a better future, it's not just a tragedy for the sake of tragedy as some people make it out to be. Also 9/10 for me. Then, I've decided to finally check out Tokyo Ghoul... And... WTF? Just how botched that adaptation has to be if the manga is well-regarded? I kind of like the world, as I like vampires and this is basically a not-that-major spin on that theme... But holy crap the storytelling, it's just a neverending cycle of stupid->edgy->even more stupid->even more edgy, and then just fucking end in the most awkward moment imaginable. I actually quite hated the experience of watching it, and I didn't go in with such bad expectations, only with the knowledge that the adaptation was very imperfect. Maybe watching it as a dumb 15-year-old who really enjoyed Elfen Lied would leave me with a better impression... But I don't even think that's the case, it doesn't try to be a tear-jerker, it's just over-the-top brutal and obnoxious, on top of being rushed and sucking at character development... Meh/10.

Thanks for sharing it, I really like it.

Ayy what’s good you old FuwaFucks I’ve been watching Glass Mask the “newer” version, its pretty good for a drama, shoujo. Romantic elements present but not overt, realistic setback and character growth. When i saw it had a pretty gold score on MAL i had to give it a shot, and havent been disappointed

Your dreams are much too humble, young padawan.

ISLAND VNDB: https://vndb.org/v18498 BUY on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/857450/ISLAND/ Summary Urashima is a small island, far from mainland Japan. It’s a true utopia, blessed with rich natural beauty. But the island harbours a difficult past, and it’s about to be erased, silently, from history. Soot blight syndrome, an endemic disease, has brought about a rift between the island and the mainland. An offshore platform intended for marine research has long been left abandoned; five years ago, three separate incidents brought the once influential Three Families of Urashima to near ruin. Rumours about children being spirited away have become part of the local folklore, alongside another legend, one that has been repeated on the island since time immemorial... “Let me tell you the legend of this island: it’s a story of tragic love...” The key to saving the island lies with three girls, each of whom belongs to one of the Three Families. These girls aren’t able to change the fate of the island by themselves, but might they succeed with the help of the young man who’s just washed ashore? Claiming that he’s traveled back in time, the man immediately sets out on a lonely path, challenging the long-standing traditions of the island, and seeking to change the future. But those aren’t his only goals... How will his presence transform the lives of these three girls, the future of the island, and the fate of the world...? [From official website] About "Island" Similar to G.O.'s previous works (Himawari), Island is a science fiction multiple route mystery with a fixed progression order. Your own enjoyment from the game will greatly depend whether you're capable of piecing together the presented fragments on the way to discover the truth. Despite being an all-ages title, Island is choke heavy on sexual humor (called shimoneta in japanese) and adult themes, including sexual content; explicit erotic content is simply not shown on-screen. Story discusses topics such as death and rebirth, loss of beloved ones, family, personal responsibility and a variety of science fiction related subjects - with time travel and many-worlds interpretation amongst few - but also astrophysics, genetics, spirituality, philosophy, human psychology and history of mankind. Most of the topics are entry-level, making Island a perfect choice for beginners willing to delve deeper into more complicated visual novels. General Info It is possible to actually chose between Karen and Sara during your initial playthrough, but I highly advise to chose Karen first, since her route acts as a natural introduction to the setting, without being as convoluted or cryptic as Sara's. Island contains many alternate endings (The so called BAD ENDS, although only few of them are tragic), with vast majority being story-based (non "game over" screens, where the protagonist typically just dies). Those endings need to be cleared in order to progress the story beyond certain points. The overall recommended progression order is as follows: SUMMER [Karen (restart) -> Sara (restart) -> Rinne] -> WINTER -> MIDSUMMER [Rinne End -> True End] This guide follows the above mentioned order, unlocking all the content along the way. Endings Aside from four main endings (Karen, Sara, Rinne and True End), there are total thirteen alternate endings available in-game (twelve for the SUMMER and one for the MIDSUMMER). You will see them all in a fixed order, provided you follow this guide. Names for the BAD ENDINGS are as follows (within their chronological order): Walkthrough Guide: All the saves are meant to be done during choices. The total number of saves used in this guide equals 16 and allows you to 100% clear the entire game. Save states in red are meant only for collecting BAD ENDS. You can skip those, if you prefer the trial & error approach. Regardless, this guide always assumes you have them cleared whenever required. Save states in blue are used for progression and remain the only ones you should be concerned about in general. We will be using those to jump quickly to required scenes without being forced to continously repeat large portions of the story. "Your choice" describes so called "flavour choices"; no matter the decision, they always lead to same exact outcome so pick whichever you like the most. Answers are merely kept to ease guidance. If you're lost or unsure, don't forget about the in-game flowchart! You can access it any time from the In-game menu and it can also be used to jump between already cleared scenes, similar to loading save states. Use it often! SUMMER KAREN SARA RINNE WINTER MIDSUMMER RINNE'S END RE: (TRUE END) BAD ENDINGS Attribution This guide was made thanks to the walkthrough available on Seiya-Saiga repository. All rights go to their respective owners. Everything else was done by le watakushi. If you'd like the high-res version of the title banner, PM me. Changelog 28/08/2019 - Rewrote certain parts of the guide for better workflow and fixed an inconsistency with Common/Summer route, which also made me partially omit one of the bad endings. 05/10/2018 - True end retrieved it's original name 09/09/2018 - Initial release

Hello ladies and gentlemen of fuwa! Today I will be sharing with you a little writing project I've been working on. Thanks so much to Forgetful Frank for agreeing to edit the book for me! When I started I was editing it myself, which is slow work and I often miss mistakes in my own writing, and so this way it should be a lot better for everyone involved Also, a big thanks to Melowbee for making the illustration for Kitsune! It's a wonderful confidence boost to actually have someone make drawings for my story! On to the book: キツネと私 - Kitsune and me Summary: After spending half a day locked in her clubroom at school, Sakura heads home in the middle of the night, in pouring rain. Taking refuge from the terrible conditions, she stumbles into and old and mysterious shrine. Here she discovers a strange little artifact that she thinks may have been stolen from a museum. Wanting to get it checked out the next day, she brings the artifact home. But as the artifact ends up coming to life in the form of the ditsy, energic and completely stunning Kitsune, Sakura's life will never be the same again... Information on the book: Kitsune and me is primarily a comedy, focusing on the relationship between the main character Sakura, and her new guardian ... fox-girl, Kitsune Mimiko. When writing it I focus primarily on having fun and silly interactions between the two, and purposely try to use clichés from common visual novel, anime, manga and light novel works. It's a fun little project I recently decided to start working on, and it's not meant to be taken too seriously. The story offers elements of comedy, romance (yuri), fantasy and action. The structure is fairly similar to most VNs, in that it starts of fluffy and is riddled with mainly humor, and then it gets more dramatic towards the end. Also, note that this is written in English, though I use certain words and phrases from Japanese. Again, this isn't meant to be taken too seriously. Words such as bentou will be in the book to keep the essence of the "Japanese setting" and words such as "ne" will be left in Kitsune's sentences, as they are a part of her speech pattern and that doesn't translate as well into English in my opinion. I also keep Japanese titles when I see fit, like using Kitsune's name. For these parts, translations are on the side of the Japanese symbols. DIGITAL PDF DOWNLOAD FOR THE BOOK! A sketch of Kitsune made by Melowbee! Art made by Melowbee, thank you x100!! Editing is done by Forgetful Frank, thanks so much for that! Special thanks to Nosebleed for helping me with Kitsune's name!