Plk_Lesiak

Indeed, although people say it's based on her personal trauma of working as a waitress and getting an intestinal disease out of stress. So it's symbolic. Some of it at least. Not sure about the closeup at the very beginning, but the rest...

Yup, but for what it is, I think it was only a little bit too short – could've used slightly more development around the moment when the romantic parts kicked in. It makes sense the author rushed it for an event, as it even feels similar to the higher-end NaNoRenO or Yuri Game Jam VNs, but it probably doesn't deserve half of the bashing the dev himself gives it in the author's notes. 7/10. I've also read through Planetarian and well, it definitely lived up to the hype when it goes to the emotional impact. I have a hard time remembering when a VN genuinely made me cry, but I was completely defenceless against this ending. It's also all-around a great example of how awesome short stories in VN form can be – whether literary adaptations or original ones, I think these are the ones where visuals and good music offer the greatest added value. You never get that stale/repetitive feel that @solidbatman likes to talk about, and which is inevitable when you deal with tons of dialogue and similar events repeating over and over again, but all elements are synergizing with each other all the way through. Anyway, quite a compelling little game. 8,5 tears out of 10. I think I'll go through Harmonia now, I know it's considered to be a lesser Key game, but it's also pretty short and kinetic, and I feel like playing another one of those. :3

Oh hey, is it just me, or is this song absolutely brilliant?

You're alive HMN? That's actually more shocking than the OP's announcement. ^^

(Belated) All Best Wishes to @Clephas and @Kawasumi!

Finished Lonely Yuri... And well, it definitely got better and more comfortable than the pretty... Ekhm... Forceful opening suggested. It's still 80% fluffy yuri fanservice, but the other 20% consists of really nice, subtle character development and romance progression. The theme of loneliness wasn't elaborated on that much, simply because of how short the whole thing is, but it was present more than I've expected, with a lot of small clues on why the girls act the way they do and how much they need each other. By the end, it was just as fuzzy-feeling and satisfying as I hoped for. 7/10 I'm also halfway through Hitomebore/Love as First Sight and its... A lot cuter than I've expected, considering the author's taste for weirdness and macabre. Maybe some surprises or tense moments are awaiting me later down the line, but so far it's really wholesome and nice to read. I guess that is by itself, in a paradoxical way, a spin on monster girl tropes – focusing on the person behind the unusual traits and developing a very traditional romance arc with them. If it stays this good all the way through...

Welcome to Fuwa! That's one awesome ambition BTW, hope it works out for you. ^^

Dead waifu, best waifu. ^^ EDIT: I guess I should contribute in a meaningful way too. This thread made me think a bit and I still came to the realization that I less have favourite types as much as I have those that don't work for me, like most airheaded heroines for example. Also, maybe it's my perspective being warped by yuri, but I usually see romance through pairings more than just heroines. A good romance arc and chemistry with the protagonist will be crucial on whether I care about the girl in the end. Although, if I had to pinpoint something, I'd say that my favourites are more mature/reliable heroines and those that are cold/hostile at first but show decent depth and warmth further down the line. Using the reliable template of Fruit of Grisaia, Amane and Yumiko are my types way more than all the other heroines in the series. If we go into visuals, I guess my main hooks would be dark hair, glasses and slim figure. Thus, probably the heroine everyone but myself hates, Flowers' Rikka Hanabishi, would be as close to my "ideal" as I can think of right now. I also adore the pairing itself, but once more, I'm probably the only one.

All best wishes to You @Silvz! Sorry for being late.

When it goes to the Western market for Japanese eroge, VenusBlood FRONTIER is one of the most interesting marketing phenomena in the recent past. Belonging to a series that is most known for its corruption theme and related sexual content, it was rather brilliantly rebranded with a focus on its in-depth gameplay mechanics and the morality system which allows players to shape the fate of its fantasy world in various drastic ways. It is also a game I was highly anticipating because of its rare premise – the ability to play as an anti-hero protagonist who can either become a ruthless oppressor, or a benevolent tyrant protecting the world from destruction and terror. All this coupled with a set of goddess heroines that can be either corrupted into obedient tools, or allied with for the goal of protecting the innocent people trapped in the apocalyptic conflict, and destroying those responsible for starting it. The international version of FRONTIER is also a bit more than just a Western release of a classic SRPG – it is, by most measures, the definitive version of the game, with significant improvements and new content added thanks to the localisation project's Kickstarter funding. Its goal was very clearly to attract both English-speaking and Japanese players, which at the same time it makes it even more of a notable treat for the non-JP audience. High-budget games of this type very rarely appear outside of Japan, and even less often reach Steam, but the Western release involving significant improvements rather than just cuts and localisation-related glitches is borderline unheard of. This doesn’t mean that the road onto the biggest PC distribution platform was without hurdles: the final version, released in late January 2020, had to make some concessions when it goes to suggestive content and language, deviating from the initial “all ages” version the studio created. However, the full 18+ version is, in the old-school fashion, available for Steam players through a free patch, and what's worth pointing out, even that version gives a convenient option for opting out of all explicit content. Just by selecting the “skip extra scenes” option in the settings you can avoid h-scenes completely, making the whole game pretty approachable to players that would rather skip the porn and focus on the core story. And in my experience, even the most “compromised” Steam version is a complete-feeling and satisfying experience. But, what exactly it has on offer and can Ninetail really hope for it to get the attention of more "normie" crowds? Read the full article at evnchronicles.blogspot.com

I guess that's normal, laptops are always under more stress than something that just sits in one place for years without being disturbed in any significant way. Plus a lot more components and inevitable problems with internal space and cooling... Still, I'm kind of becoming of a fan of all-in-one computers for the kind of things I use my PC for, that is office work with a lot of multitasking and low-end gaming. My next VN machine will most likely be one of those, when the obnoxious gaming rig my brother left me with dies. Getting rid of the giant box and a good portion of the cables swarming around it will be a nice feeling, not even talking about the electricity it pointlessly devours. I'm also pretty sure if its graphic card had a soul, it would already beg me to end its miserable existence of mostly displaying static 2D waifus with like 1/80 of its computing power. ;p

That's curious. I've been playing a lot of those on a relatively low-end all-in-one computer and never had this kind of problem (unless the whole system froze for a few seconds, but that's usually from Chrome eating all the RAM :p). Maybe it's some kind of compatibility issue?

It's pretty fitting for American folk though. I actually like it myself, but there's also the fact this recording is from 2013, when she was just 17. She refined her singing a bit since then.

Nah, it was obvious that "beautiful girl game" was translated from "bishoujo gemu/美少女ゲーム" and that, AFAIK, suggests either an eroge or a dating sim. Someone who knows the Japanese context better can correct me if I'm wrong. So, the mystery of the non-existant game is solved.

Started reading Lonely Yuri... Not high on the consent that game, or at least the opening parts. I guess it'll get less questionable soon. And well, it's obviously cute AF. Will probably enjoy it more the longer it goes. :3

So it's not even a "fictional" game but a fake one? That's like a level deeper! ... Are the artbooks NSFW? The "beautiful girl game" part is a good hint that it's meant to be a VN though? As much as it makes sense to discuss the genre of something that doesn't exist beyond heroine artwork.

Well, this tablet's specs are super-basic. It'll probably do for most VNs, but I'd still recommend something with 8GB ram and 4-core processor. That will make a huge difference in multitasking and everyday use outside of reading. Although if you want just a dedicated VN reader, nearly anything will do. Edit: something like this for example, in the i5 version: https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/laptops/ideapad/ideapad-c-series/Lenovo-IdeaPad-C340-14IWL/p/88IPC301187

That's actually a decent twist! Although, I'm not sure it would work that well as a VN... Feels more like a LN or (indeed) webcomic premise. Especially in the past, I had fantasy or sci-fi themed dreams with a lot of action on regular basis, but they never had a weeb feel to them even in the times when I mostly consumed otaku media. I wonder if that's going to change the longer I delve into anime stuff...?

How OP were you?

Stolen from Scientific Diagrams that Look Like Shitposts

In my case they aren't that inaccurate, but I'm not sure I like Steam's assessment on my priorities when choosing games...

Confession: Reviewing long VNs is agony. I've just finished the first version of my VenusBlood FRONTIER review and on one side I really had a lot of things I wanted to say about this game and reasons to recommend it to people, but on the other, I feel like I've sacrificed half of my soul playing through all of it too quickly, and the rest was consumed by this Word file I'm looking at. Maybe a hobby that drains you from all your lifeforce is not an optimal choice after all...?

Wait, you usually skip the "non-h parts"? And you don't get off to anime porn? Could you elaborate on this? It's super-curious. And we'll I would separate gamer communities from companies. The latter are rather high-pressed by anti child porn laws and various moralistic lobbies. I don't think they're wrong that they'd risk more by embracing that kind of content than they are by scarring off the very niche audience highly interested in it.