As someone who read a wide variety of high fantasy novels over the years and experienced the golden age of fantasy (1980-2000) novels in the US, I am a lover of adventurer stories. This doesn't change even with switching to Japanese web novels, where 'true' adventurer stories are a solid minority of the isekai and fantasy genres.
First, for those who are unfamiliar with the difference between isekai and high fantasy, it is fairly simple. Isekai requires that the protagonist have an origin in one world and be present during the story in another, so it doesn't strictly require the story to be pure fantasy (science-fantasy and certain types of science fiction also work). High fantasy, on the other hand, has no involvement with our own world, often having various rules and powers such as magic or psionics that don't exist here.
A 'true' adventurer story - as I define it anyway - is a story where a protagonist becomes an adventurer and travels the world, builds a life as an adventurer, and/or delves dungeons for profit and exploration reasons. However, there is also one last requirement... the protagonist can't be 'overpowered'. The hardships of the story are part of it in general, and an overpowered protagonist - by nature - isn't adventuring, he is vacationing, lol.
Not that I don't love overpowered protagonists in isekai and fantasy settings, but for someone who wants to vicariously experience adventures, overpowering the main characters generally isn't a great idea. If the protagonist is overpowered, then his enemies need to be overpowered as well to make the story a true adventurer, and these days, most stories of this sort in Japan tend to nerf the antagonists in general.
Annainin wa Isekai no Jukai o Samayou
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/1177354054918935123
This particular one is the one I think of the most when I think of 'True Adventurer Stories'. The protagonist of the story gets thrown into an isekai by a random portal and has to struggle to survive in a forest before eventually reaching civilization. He eventually manages to return to Earth, where he ends up becoming a guide for people who want to pass through 'his' portal to the other world. It is a very down to earth story, with a protagonist who is capable but not overpowered.
Isekai Ten'i, Jirai Tsuki
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n0350em/
This is one of my more recent favorites, as I only finished it up to its current end point a few weeks ago. The protagonist of this story dies - along with his entire class - and gets the option to select skills using points gained based on his capabilities and talents on Earth. As other members of the class request powerful 'cheat' abilities, the evil god (self-proclaimed) tells them there is no such thing as a cheat ability, and he learns when he selects 'Help' as his first skill selection that all the classic cheat skills (Skill Theft, Skill Copy, XP increase, etc) all have massive demerits that far outweigh their benefits. Thus, he avoids the traps and selects a skillset based on surviving in the new world, where he is joined by his childhood friends Touya and Haruka. The early part of the story is them starting out as adventurers and building a life base for themselves in the town they arrived near, while slowly raising their rank and improving themselves through training and fighting monsters. While the protagonist and friends are pretty capable by the end, they are - at best - on the higher end of the average veteran adventurers in capabilities, so you won't see them overpowering everything from the front like a lot of isekai protagonists.
Bastard Swordsman
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9619hu/
This one follows a reincarnated protagonist who was born between two people of different ethnic backgrounds (and is thus a target for mild racism) and works as a low-ranking adventurer in town. While he is technically overpowered, he almost never shows this in his regular life, instead mostly working odd jobs and helping out those around him. If he doesn't use his special ability (which is basically a trump card that takes a lot out of him) he is about as strong as the higher-ranking adventurers, but he deliberately spends his life taking on small jobs, occasionally dribbling knowledge from his previous life anonymously to those who can use it, and generally just enjoying life in general. This is pretty much a slow-life story, so don't expect anything grand out of him.
The fact that I can only name three such web novels, despite devouring tons of fantasy and isekai over the past five years should tell you just how rare this kind of thing is. If any of you have any suggestions to add to this list, I would be grateful, lol.
For those who are still interested, I've been considering three VNs to play (I'm only going to play one for now), mostly because, for the first time in a while, there have actually been more than one notable release inside a four month period.
The LoS game looks to be a low-tension mystery fantasy that is probably going to turn out to be a nakige, based on the getchu page.
Wakai Seyo looks like what it probably is, a moderately high-quality charage by a company known for its eccentric VNs.
Ambitious Mission is the latest Saga Planets game, but just looking at it from the outside mad me feel like it was one of the mediocre ones (there is a huge gap between the quality of Saga Planets' best games and their normal ones).
As such, I decided to toss the coin and let the few people remaining in our dying community decide which I'll play for me. If I get more than ten votes on a single VN, I'll immediately start playing it, though (because I seriously doubt more than five or six people will actually vote on this... and even that is probably optimistic).
Hyakusen no Jou ni Katawareshi Toki (from here on known as Hyakujou) is Eushully's latest game, based a generation or two before the events of Kamidori in the same region. It is technically a prequel, and the setting of Kamidori - the city of Yuidora - plays a pretty important - though not central - role in the story. For those who want to know what the 'canon' is, it is Route A of the Law Route. The game is designed to be significantly easier if you play the Chaos Route first, supposedly. However, I decided to focus on the 'true history' route for this review.
First of all, Hyakujou's storytelling is done in a semi-free scenario, where - similar to the SaGa Frontier and Romancing SaGa games, you pick your destination and progress the story based on where you go. In this case, though, the flaws of that approach are fairly apparent. To be blunt, you are given far too much freedom and too little direction. Since you can never tell whether an event is central to the plot or just a character-related event (technically they are differentiated, but several character events are required to progress the story for each city, so differentiating them is often meaningless). This is the second most painful part of the gameplay and the reason why I decided to give this game a low score, because it makes the story disjointed to a ridiculous degree.
I mentioned that there are painful parts of the gameplay... and I need to come out and say this: They seriously balanced this game horribly. First, this game absolutely requires an insane amount of grinding. Just staying at the same level as the enemies required me to spend over twenty hours just grinding for materials and levels. The enemies from the very beginning are on the higher end of the difficulty scale for Eushully games, which makes things even more annoying from the player's perspective. Sudden bumps in difficulty level are standard for the course, and I found myself cursing aloud at Eushully a lot of the time. It's not because of the difficulty that I was bothered, though. I was bothered by the fact that just gaining a few levels took hours of effort. To be blunt, this isn't an MMO. There is absolutely no need to make experience-gaining a painful process to this degree.
One thing you have to understand about the story is that the protagonist and his friends are fairly ignorant about events behind the scenes, and they only get involved with them fairly late in the story. This is another negative issue, because Mark and friends' goals are overly vague and result in a lot of disordered events, going from city and city only to experience the same issues (corrupt nobles, oppression, etc) with only a minority of events actually feeling linked to the story that supposedly began with the events of the prologue. The beginning and end of this game's story are very well-ordered, and the end run was really interesting. However, it came at the cost of me lacking a sense of investment in what was going on.
The actual writing/scenario team is identical to that of the last five Eushully games, which makes sense since only Fuukan no Grasesta amongst those came close to matching the better Eushully games. The artwork is typical Eushully, retaining the same nostalgic style. However, there are far fewer CGs in this game compared to previous games, and the entire story and game felt like they were working from a lower budget - though not a lot lower. Considering that I would be perfectly happy with them reusing the old IM battle system, it annoyed me that they felt the need to redesign things (wasting budget) in a way that doesn't really work (the formation and placement system is actually cruder than what was seen in much older Eushully games, making me wonder why they bothered making a new one).
Overall, this game is a representation of Eushully's gradual decay. While the concept was interesting, and the effort to engage the Kamidori fans with a prequel is worthy of praise, the poor gameplay decisions pretty much eliminate any benefits they might have gained by piggy-backing on a classic's glory. The decision to utilize a semi-free scenario storytelling system was a huge screwup, as it resulted in a disjointed story that felt like it only had an end and a beginning, without a clear line between. I also found the decision to put the H-scenes in a separate patch and only include them in the extras to be a bit silly, since Eushully fans want their ero, and Eushully without ero just feels weird.
Eushully has been, for the past quarter century, one of the constants of the VN cosmos. Why? Because, with their first game Ikusa Megami, they struck gold in terms of setting design. Eroge VN/RPG's have created some seriously odd results and synergies over the past quarter century. The company that most embodies that is Eushully and the setting that embodies it is Dir'Lifyna, the world of the Ikusa Megami series and Kamidori Alchemy Meister.
There are lots of arguments as to why the setting was so attractive. Ikusa Megami was not a very impressive game, even at the time. It's visual aspects were pretty standard for turn-of-the-century VNs, (actually a bit less so, considering what the gold standard of the time was). The gameplay was unimpressive too. However, the story and the hints about the deep, surprisingly well thought out setting that were dropped resulted in a cult following that caused sales to erupt, resulting in the second game, which was far more refined in every way, whether it was in visuals, sound, gameplay, or even story-telling.
However, it was the telling of Celica's origin story in Ikusa Megami Zero that truly put this setting on the map and had numerous people going back to play the older games in hopes of recapturing the magic of the experience and the fascinating setting that accompanied it. Celica's progress from an idealistic paladin of a god of adventurers to the infamous God-Slayer of the original games was harrowing, emotional, and very, very revealing about the shades of gray that compose the setting as a whole.
To really understand Dir'Lifyna and the way its stories are presented, one has to see past the limitations of the two major sides and their mutual enemy (Dark, Light, and the Old Gods). It is very, very easy to paint the Dark as 'evil' and its denizens as corrupt and destructive. However, in the context of Dir'Lifyna's setting, Darkness just represents one side of an eternal war for dominance over both the mortal and divine realms. Very few of Eushully's games have a Dark-aligned god or their worshipers as the ultimate antagonist of the story, and most people aligned with the Dark seem to simply have a looser idea of what good and evil are than the more structured view of those devoted to the Light. Throughout the Ikusa Megami series and the other side-games, Light-aligned gods and their temples are often the cause of the worst horrors one sees going on, whether it is betrayals, massacres, or endless wars.
This doesn't mean the Light side is evil, either. Rather, both sides have a different vision of how the world should be, and many of the Dark gods are gods who departed from the Light because their viewpoint simply was incompatible with those who led. The god Celica originally worships, Barouhart, is a god of adventurers, a war god, and a god of storms. He is utterly amoral in his view of the world, being pragmatic to a fault. This is why he sacrificed the entire clergy of the region Celica was living in to corruption in order to make an attempt on the life of a single Old God who was in no way evil or attempting to disrupt the order of the world. In his eyes, sacrificing a few thousand of his most devoted followers to seal or slay an Old God was more than a worthy exchange.
This goes to the heart of the third side of the eternal conflict of the Dir'Lifyna world, the Old Gods. To be straight about it, the Old Gods are Earth's deities, who fought for the losing side of the War of the Corridor, during the merging of Earth and the winners' worlds into one. Their human worshippers were stolen by the Living Gods and most of the Old Gods were killed, sealed away, or put into servitude in various ways. The people of Dir'Lifyna generally treat the Old Gods the same way an earthling would treat one of the Cthulhu Mythos gods, with horror and fear or with a lust for power. The gods of Dir'Lifyna treat them as potential balance-breakers in their game, seeking to eliminate their influence and relics as best they can.
Now, why are the wars of the gods reflected on the surface of the planet? That is one of the more interesting questions. It also feeds into the way magic works on Dir'Lifyna. Almost all magic - except for species magic like that possessed by the Spirits and Demons - is fueled by mana. However, most beings don't inherently produce usable mana on their own (though some sorcerers manage to do so eventually through training and study). Most intelligent beings devote themselves to a god, their faith and raw (unusable to them) mana going to their god, who refines it for their own use before returning a portion to the worshiper. Most of a god's power and ability to recover that power after fighting come from this act of worship. As a result, the more worshipers offering their mana in the form of faith and prayer to them, the more power they have and the faster they can recover it. In addition, what their followers believe about them effects the shape of their abilities, allowing them power over various aspects. This also feeds back into what spells are easiest for their worshippers to use (Vastar's worshippers being best at using destructive Darkness Magic, Ice Magic, and Alchemy, for instance). A worshipper of Marsterria (the antagonist deity of the Ikusa Megami series) for instance tend to be able to use Light-based support and attack spells, but because his aspect is primarily of war, they aren't that good at healing magic (though most high-ranking priests manage to use it anyway). On the other hand, Iryun, the goddess of healing of the Light side, has followers who are fundamentally incapable of using attack magic but are excellent at healing and support.
The moral ambiguity of all sides and the sheer complexity of the setting mean that this is a world that has endless possibilities for play, making it easily one of the most fun universes to experience in JRPGs in general, even setting aside the fact that they are eroge.
This particular WN is remarkable for a lot of reasons. The protagonist of this story is reincarnated in another world as the adopted son of a lich general in the service of Dairokuten Maou (lol, if you can guess who else got reincarnated, I'll clap in congrats), and he joins the demonic armies as a commander while hiding the fact that he is human behind a skull mask and lich's robes. The story itself begins after he has already begun to become famous as a conquering commander but before his real talents have been shown to the world. The protagonist really is the most powerful mage in the story, having survived his grandpa's spartan (and inhuman) training methods, but his major talents actually lie in strategy and administration, meaning he is more general and administrator than he is a mage most of the time.
There is no actual romance in the main story (despite the fact that about seven women have fallen for him by the end), so those who desire romance in their stories shouldn't go after this one. The closest he comes to a romance is his surprisingly intimate relationship with Sati, his maid who was a slave of the lord of a city he conquered in the prologue. Within the story, Sati is the personification of the 'common humankind', whereas Jiron (the protagonist's aide-de-campe, who is an orc) represents the monster races' common people. The viewpoints these two provide during the story just with their comments and actions help to provide perspective, a technique that is often used by skilled writers.
Most of the story goes back and forth between Ike (the protagonist) overcoming incredible odds to push the Demon King's agenda forward and him building up his territory of Ivalice using his knowledge of Earth. I honestly thought a lot that him revealing his true self to Lilith would have made for interesting results, but, unfortunately, to the very end, Ike only reveals himself to a very select group of people who saw through him anyway.
This story is complete, thankfully, with a prequel gaiden story and a single after story attached after. If you like strategist/tactician protagonists in fantasy worlds, it is a good choice to read.
I've been devouring web novels for some time now, so I have a pretty wide experience (within my preferred genres). My preferences probably won't match many of yours, but I figured I would make some recommendations like I used to with visual novels.
Isekai'd+Overpowered/cheat protagonist
Death March Kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyousoukoku (https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9902bn/)- Despite the anime being a flop, this is easily one of the best fantasy web novel series of the type. In addition, the LN version differs so greatly from the web novel that you can actually enjoy them completely separately from one another, which makes them double the fun.
Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou (https://ncode.syosetu.com/n8611bv/)- Yes, the anime was mostly crap (except for Yue being a vampire goddess), but the web novel is awesome. It was also something of a trendsetter, setting the gold standard for the 'betrayed protagonist rises to be the strongest' trope. The web novel has a huge advantage over the light novel series in that the after-story (which is now longer than the original story) is godly and immensely fun to read.
My Classmates were Summoned to Another World but I was Reincarnated (https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16816452221074480581)- Basically, the protagonist dies during the summoning and gets reincarnated as a true vampire by the ditzy goddess of the world her classmates were summoned to and goes on a self-indulgent journey/adventure/rampage across the surface of the other world. The protagonist is definitely chaotic neutral in personality, though her actions often split off into chaotic good and chaotic evil depending on who she is dealing with. For people who want to laugh at a protagonist's absolutely insane antics, this is a good choice.
Isekai ni Houchi-ge Riron o Mochikondara Isekai Saikyou ni Nareru Isetsu (https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330652291194063)- Basically a gamer gets reborn into a rather harsh and massive fantasy isekai, where he uses sorcery to create autonomous spells that go around killing monsters so he can level up faster. He is a leveling addict and this story, like most of this author's stories, is full of insane characters (including the protagonist and heroine). This is one of the few male protagonist WN series I've met that doesn't include a harem.
Toriaezu Shinu Wa (https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16816700427424058338)- Made by the same author as Houchi-ge, it was his pilot work. It is complete (this author follows through and consistently posts his works, so you don't need to worry about fade-outs), so you can just dive in and read from the beginning to the end. In this one, the protagonist and his class get summoned to another world, and when he finds out some of his nastier classmates intend to assassinate him, he uses the plot to get out of town (faking his death) and gain his freedom. This one is pretty dark, the protagonist actively committing genocide and purges against religion (though the religion deserves it), and his girlfriend is a psychotic yandere who is incapable of empathy for anyone but him. However, the character personalities in this one are really well presented, which matches this author's style.
Paradigm Parasite (https://kakuyomu.jp/works/1177354054891938248)- Protagonist is reborn as a parasite that possesses the corpse of a young noble and proceeds to rampage across the psychotic isekai he ended up in. He is utterly cold-blooded, pragmatic, and predatory by nature. This is a pure chaotic evil protagonist acting on his worst instincts throughout much of the story.
Isekai'd+Adventurer/Not overpowered
Jiriki de Isekai he! (https://kakuyomu.jp/works/1177354054941828435)- By coincidence, the protagonist manages to create a magic circle that transports him to another world... by killing him. The god who greets him informs him that his actions count as suicide, thus he won't be granted any special rewards. He is reborn as an orphan and regains his memories by accident, his skill (not a cheat skill) activating for the first time as a result of a near-death experience. He sets out to become an adventurer, living his isekai life as best he can. This series is complete, so you can just dive in and read it from beginning to end.
Karyoku no Nai Kaze Mahoutsukai wa, Isekai nite Ken de Mau (https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330652107435856)- An excellent story for those who want a reincarnated protagonist who isn't overpowered and lives his life as an adventurer. The protagonist is half-halfling, half-giant in a world that is a half-step away from the age of mythology.
Annainin wa Isekai no Jukai o Samayou (https://kakuyomu.jp/works/1177354054918935123)- Protagonist falls through a gate to another world and is forced to become an adventurer in order to survive. Eventually, he is able to return to Earth and becomes a 'guide', teaching people how to survive on the other world.
Modern Fantasy/dungeons (sometimes with an isekai'd then returned protagonist)
Isekai Kara Kikan Shitara Chikyuu ga Fantasy Deshita. Ato, Make Heroine domo, Kocchi Minna (https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330650225915619)- This one focuses on a protagonist who succeeds in killing the evil god in another world and returns to earth, only to once again face his childhood friend presenting his newest lover to him with a victorious expression. However, he doesn't care at all, as he is finally free of the hell of the other world! (He really, really hates the isekai). This series is mostly humorous as Nacchan's manic personality and immense power meets Earth's fantasy beings in clashes that are usually disastrous for the fantasy beings.
Shachiku Kensei, Haishinsha ni Naru (https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330657186803576)- Mix of dark humor and overpowered action as a guy in a business suit explores the depths of dungeons. It is updated irregularly but even just what is there so far is worth reading.
Seikatsu Mahoutsukai no Gekokujou (https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16816452218254294002)- Oppressed protagonist with a gift for the weakest school of magic discovers the sage system for his school of magic and develops it for combat, eventually becoming a famous dungeon crawler and magic developer. Series is complete and the battles are pretty cool. While technically the protagonist is overpowered, that is because he works hard at it and discovers ways to deal with the situations he encounters.
Maou o Taoshite Gendai ni Kaetekitara Parallel World Deshita! (https://kakuyomu.jp/works/1177354054888599901)- An overpowered isekai protagonist returns to earth with his divine fox lover, only to find that he returned to a parallel world where dungeons emerged during WWII. The story is mostly ecchi+action+people being people. The series is complete.
Onmyouji/Youkai/Modern Fantasy
Gendai Onmyouji wa Tensei Lead de Musou Suru (https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16816927863187332284)- The protagonist is reborn into a version of Japan where youkai and onmyouji are still at war with one another and uses his self-awareness to prepare for his future by building up his power young. Pretty fun to read, still ongoing if slowly so.
Inousha ga Futsuu ni Iru Sekai he Tensei Shitara (https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16816452218603293395)- Protagonist is reborn into what he thinks is a game world in the body of a villain who does pretty horrible things to most of the heroines. This series is pretty dark, and it becomes evident (through other perspectives) that this isn't actually a game world early on. The protagonist is technically overpowered, but so are a lot of the enemies and one of the main heroines. It shows the dark and hard sides of harems and political marriages as well, so for people who want a 'happy harem' story, this isn't a good choice.
Demon Ruler (https://kakuyomu.jp/works/1177354054882154317)- Salaryman protagonist gains access to pocket dimensions where he can take out his daily stress on real monsters and gain money and power. Quite naturally, he enthusiastically dives into his new hobby. Fun to read, gets more apocalyptic after a while.
Anata no Tenshoku wa 'Daiyoukai' Desu (https://ncode.syosetu.com/n2559fp/)- One of my all-time favorites. The protagonist lives in a future where humanity's population once fell to critical levels and only recovered through the use of the 'oracle' system, which tells people their ideal occupations. When he uses it, it tells him his ideal occupation is being 'a great youkai', and he is introduced to the real reason why the system exists... to balance the supernatural with the natural. The protagonist is more than a little crazy, his adopted mother is Tamamo no Mae, his adopted father is Shuten-doji, and his adopted grandfather is Sojou-bou (he is actually descended from all three). This series has a lot of dark laughter, interesting action, and a few moments that will have you weeping until snot flows out of your nose. Too bad this author's other works are sub-par at best, lol.
Fantasy, not from Earth
Kami-sama ni Muriyari Ikikaesareta (https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16816452220822010394)- This begins as the sad tale of a young orphan boy (recently deceased saving a little girl from a wolf) faces the goddess who broke her promise and failed to protect his mother and himself. As a result, she tries to revive him, but he demands that he be allowed to die, drawing the attention of higher beings, starting a series of events that eventually results in him being granted access to all class skills and resurrected with two divine guardians. This is not a tale of a guy doing whatever the hell he wants and making a mess of the world. Rather, it is the tale of a boy who has suffered so much he no longer reacts to the little pains and reacts to others with cold rationality, ignoring most of the social rules in the process. The protagonist is rather wordy when he thinks someone is doing something wrong, and he has no hesitation about confronting people with it.
Kurotobi no Seija (https://ncode.syosetu.com/n9105fz/)- Cleric makes a deal with a dark god for power to get back at those who exiled him. Decent read for those who don't want an Earthling protagonist.
Rise of the Ronin is an open-world game that covers important events from 1853-1868 from the perspective of a ronin (masterless samurai) of the fallen Kurosu-han (fictional). This period of history is often called the 'Bakumatsu' (TL: The End of the Shogunate) or the events leading up to the Meiji Restoration beginning with the opening of Japan (signing of unequal treaties) and ending with the surrender of Edo to the Satsuma-Choshu forces. Your character is one of a pair of twins (you can choose male or female) who has a chance encounter with Sakamoto Ryouma before he enters Yokohama, and much of the central story is told from your outside perspective interacting with important individuals in one of four periods of the time: The anti-foreigner movement and Ansei Purges, the rise of the Anti-Shogunate movement, the breakout of open conflict in the streets of Kyoto (the Ikeda-ya incident and the first Choshu Rebellion), and the Boshin War.
What I didn't like
There were two major issues I had with the game, not having to do with the gameplay but rather with the story. The first was the blatant favoritism of the scenario team toward the anti-Shogunate side of things. The second was the blatant historical inaccuracies that were just plopped in.
To be blunt, from the very beginning, you are encouraged (and not subtly so) to side with the Anti-Shogunate (Tobaku in future mentions) forces. It is at its most blatant in the prologue and first chapter, where your main character's homeland is destroyed by the Shogunate (Bakufu in future references) after a failed assassination attempt on Admiral Perry. In the first chapter, you meet a lot of famous and interesting figures in the Tobaku's historical membership, Sakamoto Ryouma, the silly drunkard Katsura Kogoro, the gambler Takasugi Shinsaku, and the idealistic young hero Kusaka Genzui, and for much of the main story you are basically following the major points of Ryouma's journey, even as you go off to do side-quests and the like along the way. In addition, the main Bakufu characters are a Geisha with a creepily subtle approach to things and an old man who seems like he'd order your death without a blink if he felt like it.
The problem is that this deliberate placing of extremely likeable and idealistic characters on one side and a slightly creepy group on the other makes it natural to just choose the Tobaku side from the beginning. While later chapters introduce more interesting characters on the other side, such as Katsu Kaishu, the Shogun Yoshinobu, and the Shinsengumi, you are still encouraged at key points to take the side of the Tobaku, and it isn't even subtle.
The second issue, historical revisionism, is actually tied in with the issue above. Two key points that I need to stress are the enthronement of Yoshinobu and the death of Kondou Isami of the Shinsengumi.
The former, the enthronement of Tokugawa Yoshinobu as Shogun, is something that - in actual history - didn't occur until August of 1866, whereas in Rise of the Ronin he is already Shogun in 1858, when Yoshida Shoin is executed. This might seem like a minor revision, but considering how it was the internal disorganization caused by his predecessor's illness and inability to rule that led to Ii Naosuke having the power to order the Ansei Purges that martyred a lot of Tobaku philosophers and activists, the only reason I can see to treat his character the way they did was to make him seem incompetent, thus leading to more favorable impressions of the Tobaku side in comparison.
The latter is less of an issue, except as a convenience for those who wanted the story wrapped up neatly in the second Edo chapter. However, losing Kondou early in the sequence of events (since he was still active after the surrender of Edo), was a somewhat questionable decision. I will admit that the event itself was incredibly emotional to watch in video, and a certain mission involving the Shinsengumi survivors afterward was equally so.
What I did like
The gameplay is the first thing that comes to mind. There are so many different ways to fight your battles in this game, from utilization of its nine different main weapon types (including bare fists), to the varying combat styles (particularly in the katana and nodachi styles), to the use of the hang-glider and horses to get around. The mini-games are interesting without being intrusive, and they include hang-gliding courses, target-shooting with a rifle, horse-archery, and mock fights in the dojo with NPC unique characters, all of them for prizes.
For side-quests, you have collection quests for each region: treasure chests, Usugumo Dayu's cats, cleansing of violent ronin, and taking pictures of scenery. I should note that the cats and dogs in this game are ridiculously cute and a constant source of easy items that can at the very least be disassembled for upgrade parts. Completing all the quests in an area of a region gives you a reward that helps you advance your character or your bonds with NPCs.
Your home, a small longhouse that is on the edge of town in each region, is a good place to meet random friend NPCs and interact with them without going to them. It is also the place where you initiate pilgrim dog and cat service missions, both of which are a steady source of income without effort. You can redecorate it with your favorite weapon, a picture or scroll, and six curios that attract different personality types amongst the NPCs you've met so far. In your house, you can also put together an ensemble through the redesign feature that lets you look less like a murder hobo.
Story-wise, there are a ton of extremely emotional moments. This was a period of Japanese history that was full of heroes on both sides, many of them tragic and glorious at the same time. The fact that it is possible to save three major tragic heroes from their fates (Sakamoto Ryouma, Okita Soji, and Takasugi Shinsaku) earned points with me. The battle of Toba-Fushimi is a perfect illustration of why the samurai caste was doomed, as men with swords fought against others armed with rifles, gatling guns, and cannons. Being able to fight this battle and other key scenes from both sides without replaying the game from the beginning made the story as a whole come to life. Though I was a bit annoyed that your efforts don't make any difference in the final result (I love it when historical games let you break history), but the personal story was decent enough, in the end.
Conclusion
Rise of the Ronin is one of the better open-world games I've played, making others like Assassins Creed seem stale and boring in comparison. This might be because I'm a weeb and tired of AC's stale plotline, though. The story is impactful and emotional in a way purely western-made games never seem to manage for some reason, and it showed off why Team Ninja is one of the better game developers out there.
Sakura, Moyu is the latest game by Favorite, the producers of Hoshimemo and the Irotoridori series. For those who aren't yet familiar with Favorite, I should tell you that there are three things this company is known for. For one, they produce first-class 'nakige' in a unique style full of pastel colors and manipulation of visual and narrative perspectives. Second, they are known for their excellent stories and characters, regardless of which writer they have on the job. Last of all, they are known for being lolicons (lol). No, I'm not kidding. The fact that every one of their true heroines at least looks like a loli at first glance says everything, hahahaha.
Sakura, Moyu was written by Urushibara Yukito, the same writer as the Irotoridori games. As such, it should surprise no one that the setting is layered and complex and the story not at all what it seems on the surface. It should also surprise no one that there is a lot of emotionality in this game... but I don't think anyone was expecting just how emotional this game is. To be blunt, I spent roughly 80% of this game either on the verge of or in tears. Considering that the game is one of the longest games I've ever played (at least partially so because I so thoroughly relished Urushibara's writing style), that's a lot of tears... and a lot of tissues *glances at the overfull wastebasket next to his pc and the empty tissue boxes lying around it*.
However, there are some issues with this game that need to be mentioned to get them out of the way. Few games are perfect, and this one is no exception. To be specific, Urushibara has always been mediocre at the romantic elements of his games. Unless the romance exists at the end of a path full of suffering and despair or occurs in an incredibly stressful situation, he can't seem to write it very well (in other words, he is good at dramatic love but only a bit less than average at everyday love). As a result, the romance in the first two paths (Chiwa's and Hiyori's) feels abrupt and forced... not to mention the fact that the beginning of Chiwa's path is so at odds at first with the game's atmosphere that I had to put the game down for two days to get past the emotional disconnect it created. Hiyori's path is somewhat less problematic but still feels forced and abrupt, so I'm basically saying that readers who have high hopes for romance in these two paths will probably be disappointed, at least to an extent.
One other issue that always nags at you as you play the numerous paths is the treatment of Kuro, the game's true heroine... to be blunt, like all of the Favorite true heroines, the story is set up so that if you aren't on her path, she gets screwed over to one extent or another. Now, if you don't instantly fall in love with Kuro during the opening scenes, like I did, this might not be a problem for you, but one reason I spent the end of every path in tears and couldn't empathize with the characters' happiness was precisely because of this.
This game is very much a story of self-sacrifice... to the extent that it feels like every time you turn around, someone is sacrificing something for the sake of someone else. The creatures of the Night (the underworld-like dream realm the characters fought in ten years before the story's beginning) are, as is openly stated, driven to feel unconditional love for humans, and as such, their excessively kind hearts spend much of this game suffering as a result of human actions and the tendency of humans to disregard their own happiness at the oddest of times.
This is also a game full of loneliness... to a degree that 'loneliness' or 'lonely' (さみしさ and さみしい) are the two most common words in the game by an exponential level. All of the main characters in this game suffer from loneliness to one degree or another at some point. Some take it on of their own will, others have it inflicted upon them, and yet others endure it because it is their fate. As such, there are very few points outside of the relatively few standard SOL scenes (compared to the game's over length) where the game isn't somber in atmosphere.
This game is also unbelievably layered and complex... so much so that it reminds me of games like Harumade Kururu and Ever17 in retrospect. It has been a long time since a writer managed to keep me so thoroughly in the dark about so much of the game's general story for so long (the last time was Bradyon Veda), and, in that sense, I'm grateful for this game's existence.
I do, in fact, like how it all (the main story) ends, and I even liked how each of the individual paths ended, taken by themselves (If i ignore how Kuro gets screwed over). I also found myself to be completely satisfied once I finished the game... to the extent that I don't think I'll ever be able to replay this game. This game was very high stress in the sense that I was constantly being bombarded with the characters' emotions, and as such, it isn't a game that would be easy to come back to any time soon. The sheer length of the game also adds to this.
In conclusion, this is a game that is worthy of the legacy of Favorite as a company, worthy of being the first mainline project since the release of AstralAir in 2014. It has problems and the game is probably one that is emotionally stressful. However, for catharsis addicts, it is a worthy addition to their collection of nakige and utsuge, lol.
Come into being, oh starlight written upon the heavens, for we are a shining falling star.
From the moment this heart began to beat, the dark prophecy was set in stone. The messenger of disaster is given no right to live upon the earth.
Sunken deep beneath the dark ocean, the serpent burns its very self with curses. It will never be forgotten, it will never be forgiven. The grinding of scales, the raging fangs. For the sight of Midgard burnt upon the inside of its eyelids stokes the flames of its hatred.
Do you desire my death, oh gods? Then you are resigned to your fate, are you not?
The promise of reaping what one has sown. The great serpent sheds its skin again and again in order to become the prophesied divine demon.
The endlessly long, massive body and resentment. It isn't enough, more, more, more, more... it devours and writhes, and now it is too late.
The World Serpent has been completed. Looking down upon the small planet, its fangs glisten with malice and its tongue flickers.
Now, who should I swallow first?
Metalnova- Sacrilege Jormungand!
Be burnt upon the heavens, oh my guardian star, that I might raise up the metallic flame.
The black death that corrupts the half-man, half-horse. The endless poison of the hydra whispers to me to give up my immortality, but I merely snort, calling it unworthy of consideration.
Let my hooves resound against the earth, let me draw my bowstring back, let me hold my resolve within my heart as I run toward the horizon. Neither suffering nor despair can cause this great bow to rot away!
For if I listen closely, I can here it... the sound of lightning in the heavens.
Oh great father in the heavens, you say that it is too soon for me to become a constellation? You bless me again with the order to fight? Then I will go all out, giving everything I have.
I have cut off my rotten flesh and replace it with iron limbs.
I need not tainted blood, I shall change it out with burning oil.
Until you call me to your side and become one of the constellations, now my comrade let us go together into battle!
Let us raise up the promised vow and loose the arrow to pierce through evil!
Metalnova, Overdrive Sagittarius!
Come into being, oh starlight written upon the heavens, for we are a shining falling star.
The time has come for your punishment, oh dark god of the bloodlline of the cloud giants. You now reap what you have sown, so look upon this. The blade you once forged with your own hands has been freed from the iron box.
The flames will never forgive the countless sins whispered of in the shadows. With the flames burning with rage, you will be burnt away with your castle.
Turn to ashes, oh kingdom of the heavens! Rot away, oh Valhalla!
And listen, you souls of heroes! Those collars are unbefitting of you.
Let us march forth to strike down the gods. For the sake of the world that will bloom once again after the solemn hell.
Metalnova-- Valhalla-birth Laevateinn!
Come into being, oh starlight written upon the heavens, for we are a shining falling star.
The noble duty of chaining the hungry wolf. If all others stand still in terror, then I shall be the one to complete it.
Now go ahead, take a bite. My off-hand was offered to the demon beast, and as it hungrily devoured the flesh and blood, it was chained down firmly.
As the price for my bravery, crimson drips from the end of my mangled arm. My fingers will never return, but why should I regret it?
If I can protect prosperity and the law, as well as show my bravery...
... to be a shield is my honor. I beg of you, that you should smile and praise me.
'Your devotion is the example of what a protector should be.'
Metalnova- Tyr-Bind Gleipnir!
Come into being, oh supernova written upon the heavens--- for we are a falling star from the Age of Gods.
Oracle received, beginning revelation of the star.
The plundered afternoon light brings forth the frozen blizzard. The wind, the sword, and the wolf... the steps to ruin within the winter prison.
The uncountable ruins stained our family and brothers in crimson. Not even the three children of the gods were excepted. There are no longer bonds between the sun, the moon, and the sea.
Then, oh Tsukuyomi who rules the dark of night, give to me twilight.
This is the realm of man, that which stands between the heavens and earth. If the ancient laws are no longer needed, it is the gods that should be massacred. The enraged butcher bares his fangs from the depths of Hel.
Chew upon the roots of Yggdrasil and open your wings, Nidhog!
Then I shall guide that flight with the moonlight that falls upon the path of night! To a brilliantly-colored twilight that lies at the end of the Age of Gods!
It needn't be said, oh silver goddess! For I exist only for you.
The demonic dragon rises from the underworld, tramples the rainbow bridge and devours the nine universe to become a new sun!
Now is the time, bestow Fate upon the jaws of madness!
Oh, thou martyr of Light, dig your fangs into my heart and complete Ragnarok.
Metalnova- Silverio Fimbulvetr!
Baldr Sky Zero is an entirely different animal from Baldr Sky Dive. I say this as a warning for those who are looking for a complete duplicate of the experience. Baldr Sky Dive was very much like a post-apocalypse apocalypse story in some ways, with a bunch of revenge thrown in. There is much to recommend to both duologies but they are fundamentally different in some ways.
This review is of the first half of the Zero duology, which covers the Sakura, Kei, and Fran paths. I chose to review it separately because the time between each game’s release was enough to make some differences to the experiences between the two games… enough to require me to feel a need to separate them into two different reviews.
This path focuses on amnesiac Edward, a Simulcram pilot who is discovered in a corporate virtual space by the members of Squall, the SAS (Southeast Asian Sector) branch of Fenrir. He is ‘rescued’ (he mostly rescues himself) and brought back to the base, where – after some ‘interesting’ events – he joins Squall, which is probably one of the more interesting mercenary teams I’ve seen in a VN or anime.
A few notes on the setting. This story is based a few years before the events of Sky Dive (which is why it is called Zero). The path that most fans believe to be canon to Sky Dive is Sakura’s (for reasons that become obvious during the last part of the path), and the rest of the paths are essentially parallel world paths similar to how Dive treated the non-true paths.
The SAS is a different animal from the city Dive is based in. Unlike that city, people spend far less time in virtual space in the SAS, due to a psychological phenomenon that causes homicidal paranoia in those who spend too much time confined there called Black Dog. The SAS is in a constant state of low-level warfare, with people being born and dying at an exponentially faster rate than the rest of the world.
The setting itself is in many ways far more brutal and cruel than the one you see in Sky. In the SAS, human experimentation is as common as soylent green, the body parts of debtors are sold on the open market (often by the debtor themselves before they are killed), and children are produced in lots to be trained as soldiers. Every newborn child has a chip similar to Kou’s in Dive, and the sheer rate of death has resulted in a far higher aptitude for Simulcram piloting than in the outside world.
Squall, in this harsh setting, is a rare small elite unit… of what would seem to be complete psychopaths if you didn’t have a constant window into their daily lives and personalities. Squall has a horrible reputation for blackmail, extortion, and general carnage, but their abilities make them too valuable to be disposed of. As one character puts it, ‘The people in Squall seem perfectly normal, but once they get on the battlefield, they laugh and joke as they spread slaughter and carnage.’ To members of Squall, even more than to the average citizen of the SAS, war is just a daily activity, and killing not something to get concerned about to any significant degree.
In just the common route, Edward likely kills more people than Kou does in both Dive games combined.
However, outside of battle or preparation for such, the character interactions in this game are often humorous, regardless of the subject of conversation. Edward has very little impulse control beyond a certain point, Sakura has a serious potty mouth and a gambling addiction (really, all of them are gambling addicts), Kei is constantly eating, Merrill has no common sense, Reena is constantly ragging on the Commander about his brothel bills, Dmitri is a sadist who never loses at gambling and uses invisible floating turrets to get his point across, and the Commander is a whimsical bastard who loves war, women, and alcohol far too much.
In other words, this cast of characters, and the atmosphere of the game in general, will be something of a shock to anyone coming straight from Dive or expecting a similar experience.
Moreover, the shift to polygon-based 3D graphics for the combat makes the gameplay a significantly different experience. The gameplay is somewhat less fluid and streamlined than the traditional Baldr battle system, and the Giga team obviously didn’t have the programming talent at the time to really handle Unity (which means save frequently and expect random crashes even with the last game update).
Kei
Kei... is on the surface a stubborn genkikko with an excessive fondness for food in a world that has a serious dearth of good cooking (though Riina can make soylent green palatable through nanomachine reprogramming). However, underneath that somewhat fluffy exterior is a will of iron and a typically-SAS pragmatic attitude toward the mercenary life of risking her life and killing people on a daily basis for money. I mention the latter because, while all the characters share this attitude to one degree or another, it is an unexpected element to her personality in particular, given the template she seems to fill at first glance.
Kei's route is, as should be obvious to anyone who reads through the initial encounter with her, a trip into her past with Edward (it is so blatantly obvious she knows him from the very beginning, so her efforts to obfuscate make no difference at all). It is pretty interesting and exciting, and it provides the most intimate view of what it is like to grow up as a normal child in the SAS (hint: It is horrifying even by the standards of a tin-pot dictatorship/banana republic). It is the route most often recommended to be played first, in part because of this fact. For most people who play this game, Kei is the least liked heroine, because she does better as a joke character and Merril's sidekick.
Sakura
Sakura is... a surprisingly complicated girl. Your first impression of her is as a foul-mouthed wildcard who has no self-control and a horrible gambling habit (all true), but she is also surprisingly innocent about some things and sensitive about the others on her team in a way that is only rivaled by Riina, who fundamentally misses nothing.
Her path is focused on her own past and Church 22, a half-religious organization of virtual drug-addicted wounded and retired soldiers who constantly go on suicidal rampages throughout the SAS network. Let's just say that Church 22 is very much like a cult, and the Kool-aid is CGH (the virtual drug in question). It is also the canon link path to Sky Dive, for those who are interested.
Fran
Fran is Commander Goodman's daughter, an underdeveloped girl (the story calls her a loli, so she's a loli, lol) who has a tendency to take solo missions and act on her on recognizance more often than is probably wise. She is highly intelligent, but her social upbringing (in a mercenary organization that has a high rate of psychological cripples) has left her with a speech impediment when she is outside the spheres of warfare or hostile/semi-hostile interactions with her fellows.
This is the only path I'll mark for its romance, though Sakura's was interesting that way too. This path's romance is very much a seduction by Fran. She essentially wears Ed down (not emotionally, since he falls in love with her early on, but rather H-wise) over time through sheer persistence. It is fairly hilarious to watch, though this path may be the reason this game will never get brought over here.
This path is also about equal in length to the previous two combined (it adds an extra chapter and each chapter is around 25% longer). The reason for this is because the scale of what is going on is so much bigger than in the previous two paths. Elements of Sakura's plotline are included in this path, but those are incidental to what is going on, for the most part. Fran has a rather obvious grudge against Wotan and WALRUS, who are considered the most dangerous group in SAS's net wars (and that's saying a lot, considering how many threats exist). This path plows a really complicated path through the ins and outs of SAS politics, science, and history, and it has a great deal of potential for traumatizing the reader if they have a good imagination.
If it weren't for Fran's and Edward's relationship being so utterly hilarious, this path would be downright depressing. However, the comedic parts of this path serve to lighten the atmosphere just enough to strike a balance between it and the darker elements.
Conclusion
If you go into this game thinking to see a carbon-copy prequel to Baldr Sky Dive, then you really need to change how you are thinking. In reality, this is a drastically different story, though it is still a Baldr story at heart. Horror, humor, and warfare all in one package... so whether the reader likes it or not will depend mostly on how the reader takes in the content.
Short Guide to text-hooking Baldr Sky Zero
I'm just going to come out and say it... all games that use mono or its successor Unity (VNs, that is) have text-hooking problems, for those of you who can't wait for translations but don't quite have the skill or the patience to read the kanji or just want the furigana for reference. Pretty much your only real options are Textractor and VNR (ITHVNR no longer being workable on Windows 10). The h-code up on the h-code wiki is a fake, so don't bother.
Textractor is my recommendation for this game. VNR doesn't reliably pick up the threads that have the text in them, and it has a tendency to cause freezes, because you can't delete the excess threads that VNR continually detects, causing freezes, load problems, and general annoyance all around. It makes the game almost unplayable.
Here is the guide to hooking this with Textractor without making it crash.
1. Start Baldr Sky Zero and either start a new game or load an existing one that is in the middle of a story portion.
2. Start Textractor (whether you have already hooked this game before or not, you have to do it this way or the game will crash before you can do the next few steps)
3. Hook the game then proceed one line forward in the text. Do NOT click like crazy to try to get it to work. Click once, then leave it alone until it proceeds.
4. As soon as it has proceeded to the next line, go back to textractor and click on 'remove hook'.
5. Look through the drop down list of threads until you find ones that seem to contain most or all the text.
6. Delete ALL hooks (by double-clicking on them) that don't contain the text in question.
7. Close the remove hook box.
8. Open it again after proceeding at least once more through the text, then repeat the process on any excess hooks that might have popped up.
9. Generally speaking, the textractor thread-linking function is unreliable with mono/unity games, so you'll probably have to deal with a few cut-off symbols in the thread that contains all lines (in my experience, it usually cut off the last one to three symbols, varying upon the line).
10. Configure game does not work properly with this game, so don't use it.
Fate/Grand Order is the name of the mobile game/visual novel/card battle game that has become synonymous with the Nasuverse over the last seven years or so. For those unfamiliar with the game, I'll go ahead and describe the flow of events that lead up to this particular chapter-turned-anime in the spoiler box below.
In the game, Camelot is considered to be the first 'serious' chapter and the one with perhaps the deepest link to the other Fate/Stay Night series in spirit (considering the characters involved). The sheer level of scenario quality and artwork that went into the game version was completely different than what you saw in previous chapters, and it lacked the somewhat oddly humorous aspects that went into them.
The anime, split into two movies, is easily one of the top-quality Fate-series anime I've seen, if only because it shows the main reason why a lot of people keep playing FGO, despite the game being a blatant money trap waiting to suck your bank account dry if you aren't careful.
Throughout the last few chapters of the first main volume and the Lostbelt Chapters, FGO continually jerks at the emotions, showing you both the dark and heroic sides of the Heroic Spirits that appear on both sides of the conflict. In a way, I consider Camelot to be the true starting point of the current FGO 'style', and it shows. I cried numerous times during this movie, and while the action falls far short of work done by ufotable on other Fate series anime, the producers did not fail in any way to grab the attention and emotions of the watchers.
Most of the important moments of the original game are presented in an impactful manner, and the only real complaint I have is that certain characters didn't have the time to make an appearance in the first movie (Tawara Touta in particular is impactful in the sense that he and Arash were a team in the original content and brought life to the mountain people settlement part).
The moments that stand out to me most in the second movie are Mordred vs Sanzo, Tristan vs Serenity and Cursed Arm Hassan, and the final conflict (Lion King vs Mash, Ritsuka, and Bedeviere). This is not so much because the fights were awesome but because the lines and their presentation were perfectly designed to produce a result that would remain in memory and impact the emotions.
Overall, while the animation quality of this anime falls well short of the ufotable-made Fate series, in exchange the emotional impact is on a completely different level.
I'll go ahead and begin with an intro to my current experience with Light Novels and Web Novels in Japanese. For the last two years, I've been reading them at a rate of 60-100 chapters a day (faster in the case of below-average size chapters). I primarily read fantasy with a side of science fiction (no, not just isekai, though I love isekai). This isn't hard, because fantasy and science fiction make up over three-quarters of all the LNs and Web Novels out there. This is a bit ironic to my eyes, since it was the reverse with VNs, where romance and slice of life made up over 90% of all JVNs.
The great thing about web novels is that you can read them at your leisure without paying anything, and if you like it, most good authors have a patreon you can contribute to or get a light novel release you can buy to put money in their pockets. The downsides are that there are usually three bad web novels for every one good one, and even the good ones usually have problems with the writing (a web novel I read recently used incorrect kanji for common phrases in a number of cases, making it annoyingly hard to read).
The good thing about Light Novels is that they generally have added and more refined content compared to the original material, and they generally also come along with at least some pictures to help you get an idea of what the characters look like (some Japanese authors just suck at describing character appearances beyond hair color and skin color). The downside is that light novels are generally more expensive than standard paperbacks or ebooks and rarely go down in price even after years or even decades have passed. As such, they are often a huge burden on the pocketbook (in particular, a lot of LN series give you very little content for each $10 volume, as little as one hundred fifty short pages in a lot of cases, which is totally not worth it).
The upside of web novels in terms of content is that web novels tend to be more freeform and creative. However, in exchange most are never completed and many of them just trail off because the writer runs out of ideas. This is opposed to Light Novels, where I've definitely experienced situations (repeatedly) where authors are just continuing out of momentum and the story never goes anywhere... which is horrible when you are already overpaying for novels that are far too short for the money in question. It is pretty common for LN series to run to 20+ volumes and yet never really get anywhere...
You might be wondering why I chose this VN for the first one to review in quite some time, and you would be right to wonder. I wonder why I felt drawn to this VN myself, given how the first impression from the cover is a nukige. However, something about it drew me in and made me want to play it. Thankfully, it isn't an experience I grew to regret, so I'll go ahead and give you my impressions.
This VN focuses on a club (six girls, one guy) who get stranded in an abandoned village in the mountains, surrounded by impassible mist. The protagonist, Itsuki starts having ero dreams that disgust him, and the girls gradually start acting strangely. A red-eyed, white-haired girl named Kagome occasionally appears and hints at the nature of his predicament and warns him the only way to leave the village is to offer up a sacrifice.
Up to now, there are no actual spoilers you can't find on the official website.
Atmosphere-wise, this game kind of resembles Higurashi, though the actual content is drastically different (basically exchange violence for h-scenes and Rika for Kagome, lol). A great deal of the actual plot parts is the characters gathering food and researching the village as they try to find a way out, even as they find themselves going a little crazy (sometimes realizing it, sometimes not). The story itself is structured so that most of the content is shared, with the final split-off occurring rather late in the game (about seven-eighths of the way through). If it weren't for the impact of the last scenes in each ending, I would have complained about this, but it works out well because the point of the split-off is timed perfectly from the perspective of telling the story as a whole.
For people who want a straight-out happy ending, I recommend only playing Kagome's path, because it is really the only ending where things turn out in a way that doesn't leave you with a bitter taste in your mouth. I very much enjoyed the way the writers portrayed the differing perspectives between the various characters, with the discussions between Kagome and the protagonist often providing the most food for thought.
In conclusion, this is a VN for those who like a little mystery, a lot of H, and bittersweet experiences.
... it's been a while since my feelings on a VN have been as complex as my feelings for this one are. I say 'feelings' because this VN has massive emotional impact... not as much as Hapymaher, but nonetheless a lot of emotional impact.
To be blunt, Makoto is nothing like Hapymaher's protagonist, so if you were hoping for more of his 'consumed by sorrow and despair but still living my life' personality, sorry, no luck here. Makoto is... a blank slate. I don't say this in a bad way. For better or worse, Makoto has lived his life in an isolated village where people literally don't talk any more than is absolutely necessary, lest they accidentally compel one another with their power, 'kotodama'. Makoto has a fiance named Mana (and no, not that kind of lukewarm, 'distant fiance' sort of thing you see in some VNs, since they actually get down to business), and a rather nice, slow life in that village... However, he yearns for the outside world, where people can talk to people without restrictions.
He escapes from the village and collapses from hunger in a small town four days later, where he is saved by the first of four heroines, Kokoro. From there the story begins, as he makes the journey from an innocent 'kami' to a real human being with all the baggage that comes along with it.
A lot of the most interesting parts of this game come from the fact that he naturally doesn't understand much about the outside world. Makoto's innocent, unstained viewpoint, combined with his natural kindness and willingness to embrace new experiences, feel surprisingly refreshing. Things other 'normal' protagonists would worry over don't even occur to him, and he is so laid back he makes the drugged hippies of US in the sixties seem tense. While he does change as part of the story, his personal 'lens', through which he sees the world, remains remarkably clean throughout... not to mention the guy has absolutely no sense of sexual morality (in other words, his idea of sexual morality is 'don't use his power to compel people to have sex with him').
The first of the heroines, Kokoro, is a shojo manga addict who has fantasies about immoral relations with older brothers. She is a natural at unconsciously grasping the hearts of others around her without trying, and she is pretty much the picture of a heroine who 'exists to be loved by everyone'.
The second heroine, Kyouko, is a miko that can see dead people (yes, I went there). She has huge self-esteem problems and is more than a little weird... for one thing, her reaction to Makoto is one of the more unique heroine reactions to a protagonist I've encountered over the years... for another, she is abnormally self-derogatory in both action and word.
Mana... is the protagonist's fiance from the village. She is pretty much apathetic about other people, unless they have the decency to provide her with food (from her point of view, people who give her food move up from 'stone in the road' to 'slightly adorable insect' in most cases). She is a bit of an S, when it comes to Makoto, and Makoto is pretty much her reason for living. Because of a careless use of kotodama by another member of the village, she is always cold and in her eyes, it is always snowing.
Hotaru... is the true heroine of this story. Cheerful and active, not to mention highly intelligent and perceptive... she is actually a fairly attractive heroine from the start. However, she has less initial impact than Mana or Kokoro, for reasons that are fairly apparent. Since that is by design, I actually am not complaining about this, though.
Now, to get to the downside of this game... it uses the G-senjou 'ladder' story structure, wherein the story progresses arcs where you choose to either pursue the heroine associated with that arc to an ending or move on with the main story. I can say that the path endings for the non-true heroines were actually pretty good, but having played the true path, they are comparatively low-impact. A lot of this is the fact that the major events of their 'paths' are in the arcs they branched off from, so little is added by their endings save for more sex and some minor tying up of loose ends.
To get back to the main game... the true path is the impact I was talking about. The main arcs were all emotional, so I guess you can say that the other heroines' 'paths' were also emotional, but, as I mentioned above, there is a definite sense that very little was added by choosing one of the other heroines. Hotaru's path is easily the most powerful 'arc'. In fact, it is so emotional and powerful that there are two ends for it. The first one (which you are required to watch first) is... sad, to say the least. It isn't a bad ending, but it is a sad one. I know I cried. For the second ending... well, let's just say it is a good one and leave it at that.
Overall, my viewpoint on this game is... just as mixed as I said above. My conclusions on the G-Senjou story structure are unchanged in the least. I still believe that all VNs that use that story structure should be changed to kinetic novels, just so I don't have to deal with heroine endings that are neglected by the creators of the stories themselves. While all stories with true heroines inevitably put a much larger emphasis on the true heroine, the way this story structure trivializes the other heroines is really irritating, especially when they are good heroines, like these were. However, if you take the arcs, characters, and the true endings separate from that source of irritation, it is a great VN. It just happens to use the single worst VN story structure in existence. Indeed, that story structure and the inevitable realities it brings along with it are the only thing that kept me from naming this as a kamige.
PS: I will erase any and all comments that spoil anything in the last arc. I say this because this is the type of VN that can only be enjoyed to the fullest once, not the type that merely changes flavor with each playthrough, like Devils Devil Concept. Anyone who spoils this VN should have their skin sliced open, drawn back, then have salt rubbed into the exposed flesh.
... *Clephas drools and goes off to make BBQ*
[Hey, your Mom is an evil woman (toxic woman)!] [I... I can't argue with that.]
(Move... Move! Move! Move, please! If I don't move now...!!)
He tries to move his legs to get away from the three approaching him.
However, he can't move.
His body won't move an inch. It is as if he's being tied down by an invisible something.
(What is this!? What is this!? This is... what is it...? It's as if I'm being enveloped in something...)
At that moment, something was reflected in Ibuki's eyes.
It was a gigantic translucent tail.
It was a gigantic, soft tail with gleaming fur that wrapped around his body.
It was extending from in front of him--- to be straight, it was coming from behind the blond girl to wrap around him.
"Ah"
He was dumbfounded.
From behind the girl two more gigantic tails appeared and swept away the other two that were approaching him.
Incidentally, the only things harmed by the gigantic tails were the guy and elderly gentleman, and there was no damage to the nearby structures.
It appears that she can choose what the translucent tails will pass through.
As he was indulging in that bit of escapism...
"Eh!?"
The girl was right in front of him.
She was giving him a sweet smile that threatened to melt his heart on the spot as she looked at him.
Slowly, her mouth opened.
(What... what is she planning to say? What does she want to ask?)
Thump, thump, thump. His heart throbbed hard within his chest.
(Ok, come on. Come at me! My vocation is a great youka--)
No matter what she says, he will be fine. He will be able to respond calmly and somehow make his way out of this situation.
Or so Ibuki thought...
"Nice to meet you Ibuki, I'm your mother. I've loved you in every way for a thousand years."
His confidence was shattered in an instant.
What was expressed was emotions so sweet as to induce nausea.
He knows he is not particularly perceptive, but he somehow knows... There was no lie to the words 'I love you' as they came out of her mouth.
The problem was the type of love.
There is no doubt in his mind that, though she called herself his mother, she was also expressing 'other types of love'.
It was frightening, so frightening. It was terrifying beyond belief that her emotions were so obvious and intense that a single word was enough for him to understand.
Devilish and monstrous. He couldn't help but understand the girl in front of him was fundamentally different from humankind.
"And so, yes... I think I'll state my appeal points."
The girl (self-proclaimed mother) smiled like a child while clapping her hands.
"... you like this, don't you? This type of girl."
In an instant, the childish, innocent smile vanished as if it had never existed and a demonic smile that looked like it would split her cheeks wide appeared.
"I know" "I know" "I know" "I know" "I know" "I know" "I know"
That single word echoed in his mind over and over.
"Even if I can't become omniscient, I know everything the man I love desires."
Slim, white fingers caressed him under the chin.
"People say a lot of things about me. Toxic woman, slut, woman who destroys nations... But... oh yes. I can say this even so. Until the moment the man I loves reaches his terrible end, no; even after that, I never let them feel regret that I stole their hearts. After all, there is no other woman as 'convenient' to a man as I am, past, present or future, no matter where you look."
Haa her warm breath tickled at his ears.
"This is what men seek in a woman: To be at their side like a wife, to connect like lovers, to be spoiled like a grandmother, accepted like a mother, embraced like an older sister, rely on them like a little sister, and adore him like a daughter."
Even the Red Comet was a bit more humble... or so Ibuki wanted to say, but...
(... She's probably telling the truth.)
Looking into those eyes full of certainty, it is obvious. This vixen that calls herself his mother is... ah, he can't avert his eyes. She is most definitely the nine-tailed fox whose name went down in history as a beauty that ruins nations. He didn't have the words to deny the statements of a woman who knows men more than any other in existence.
"How pathetic? How selfish? How... How adorable a desire that is..."
Her expression was ecstatic, full of scorn and fondness, and a sweet fragrance wafted around him. She was too toxic. Even closing his eyes and sealing his nose, he became dizzy. Even so, he managed to stay upright and listen to his self-proclaimed mother's words.
"The only person who can fulfill that desire is me. Precisely because I once toured three countries, indulging in all forms of hedonism and corruption, I can do so. There is no other woman who can love you like I can, you know? I'll love you with everything I am, so you need to love me back, Ibuki?"
Smack, she kissed him on the cheek. Even as he was being pushed around by the sensation of his brain going numb, Ibuki couldn't help but think this.
(This... what a... egotistical woman.)
I'll devote myself to you entirely, so I would be happy if you came to like me too. If you took her words at face value, it would seem like she was saying something innocent and womanly. However, the sentiment there wasn't nearly that cute.
(She's pushy beyond belief...!!)
Ibuki acknowledged that the nine-tailed fox wasn't incorrect in her statement of a man's ideal woman. However, that was just a reflection of the id revealed when a man's pride and self-control were ripped away entirely. In addition, that desire was most likely so close to an unconscious desire as for there to be no real difference. If not, then all the world's men would be hopeless trash.
(It's rationality and pride that make us human."
For that reason, though there were differing tastes like large breasts or tight butts... There were very few men who were seeking the type of woman the fox described while sober. Ibuki was the same. He didn't want a lover, nor a mother or sisters. It would be correct to say that in his case, those desires were faded and weak at best.
However, the nine-tailed fox cared nothing for his situation. 'You know you like this, don't you?' she said arbitrarily and forcefully while shamelessly asking him to love her. It was the penultimate form of egotism, of trying to force emotion upon him.
(However, what's really awful is...)
That even with her obvious egotism, she had the ability to force one to accept her. Whether it was the inhuman attractiveness fit to ruin a man's life with a single glance, or the experience she had built up to now in using words and observations to manipulate others. There was no way for a normal person to resist if she set eyes upon him. They would fall into corruption in no time flat.
(Even I'm pretty close to the edge.)
He knew she was egotistical and pushy, but he couldn't find it in himself to find the nine-tailed fox's existence unpleasant. Rather, he was feeling good about it. For that reason, he told himself over and over again about how dangerous she was. But well... the results were predictable. It was a resistance more unreliable than a candle in hurricane winds.
(Hmm, is it already too late?)
Was he still sane? Did he only think he was resisting her? Was he not already long-since fallen to her wiles and sinking into a well of pleasure?
Ibuki's sanity was being shaved away to the point where he was unsure of the reality in front of him, but...
"Nevermind."
He let out a deep breath. To put it simply, she simply was on another level. What could a boy that hadn't even lived twenty years do against her? 'They who only have bad ideas might as well be asleep.' Thinking just made him tired, so he might as well rest. Ibuki decided to just go with the flow and let things happen as they would.
"... Hmm..."
The nine-tailed fox showed a smile different from the ones before. In it were admiration that was exceeded by annoyance, and a lovesickness that far surpassed her annoyance.
"Now, self-proclaimed 'mother'. Before you try to show off your appeal as a woman, don't you have something else you should do?"
Her name. He told her to introduce herself first. She knew his name, but he didn't know hers. He'd figured out she was the infamous nine-tailed fox, but if she was taking on a humanoid form, she had to have a name for it.
"What should I call you? Kumiho? Daji? Tamamo no Mae?" "Fufufu... bzzt, you are way off!"
She made an X with her index fingers in front of her face. The gesture was unbelievably sly. It was apparent she was faking it, but it felt so natural it was vulgar. If one couldn't reach that level, there was no way one could be called a siren.
"After all, those are the names of women loved by other men? They are symbols with no more value than broken straws, destined never to be used again. They aren't the right name to call myself in front of the man I've loved for the past thousand years and will continue to love until the void takes this world."
The name I name myself here has to be for you, for only your sake. Ibuki felt chills go up his spine as she whispered that into his ear, but he gestured for her to continue.
"Fufufu, so hasty. That's fine though. Yes, I want to introduce myself as soon as possible. For the past thousand years I thought about it and only recently - six years ago - I decided upon my name."
In an instant, she turned her back to him and made some distance beween them, showing only her profile as she quietly stated her name.
"Shino."
He tried to deny it as a coincidence.
"That's because...."
He recalled her words 'six years ago'.
"It's the name of the only woman to have left a scar on your heart."
With a cheshire cat's grin, she ripped the scab off the old wound.
"You...!"
A Ibuki tried to reach for her in anger, the nine-tailed fox stopped him with words.
"'Now you've done it'"
A pure as a child.
"'You got angry'."
As crafty as the most toxic of women.
"You directed your attention at me."
Shino smiled.
"Now there is no escape for you."
As if he was paralyzed, he became unable to move. He wasn't tied down with her tails, it was her words that bound him in place.
"From now on, whenever you call my name, you will remember your past woman and your heart will throb with pain. No, I made you aware of me this way, so even if you don't say the name, you might feel it just looking at my face."
Baring a heart full of rage, hate, and jealousy, Shino smiled.
"What will you do? Will you avoid the name and call me Mom? Ah, but the more you do that, the more you might become conscious of it."
Tap, tap, tap, she once again approached him, deliberately making sound with her steps. She looked up at him from below after approaching him and stabbed him with her words.
"Another choice would be to call me Shino over and over, wouldn't it? Are you going to act as if it doesn't matter while enduring the pain? Ah, but if you get used to the pain, your memories of her might become weaker."
She touched his chest with her slim fingertips, caressing him.
"When you stop feeling pain, your heart will be painted over with me."
As if to aggravate his pained heart.
"There won't be any way for a woman from the past to touch your heart... aaaaah!"
With an expression of a woman overwhelmed with escstasy, was Shino looking at a future that was certain to arrive one day?
"Haha!"
In an instant, the front of Ibuki's shirt was torn open and his skin was bared.
"How long will it be before the name of your wound becomes mine?"
Shino brought her lips to Ibuki's chest and licked it with her tongue. A sensation that was not quite pleasant nor unpleasant went through his body from his chest.
"..."
"Fufufu, what is it?"
"... I just fully realized it?"
"Realized what?"
"The meaning of the phrase 'toxic woman'."
He understood it for the first time after fifteen years of life. No, he didn't want to understand it. Ibuki repeatedly made deep breaths and put his head in his hands.
(... what is this?)
It was a bit much for his first experience of the World of Illusions. It was beyond hard mode. Did he do something wrong? No he hadn't. He couldn't say he lived a pure and good life, but he lived normally. But this was just too horrible.
(Is that it? Is it my parents? My parents blood?)
Setting aside Soujou Bou (Clephas: one of his three youkai ancestors), the remaining two bloodlines. The oni who wreaked havoc on Kyouto during the Heian Period, Shutendoji. The toxic woman who spread immorality and corruption across three nations, the nine-tailed fox. Was it revenge for the sins of those two bloodlines?
"Uuu...."
It would be cruel to blame Ibuki for getting down on his hands and knees. Ibuki was a child that had just graduated from middle school.
"There, there, good boy."
Struck to the heart, Ibuki was embraced by Shino, who began caressing his head. Her expression was that of an affectionate mother, but it wasn't an expression the source of the problem should have had.
(So soft and smells so goood... this is no good!!)
He could feel his corruption gauge filling up, so he pulled away from Shino.
"Anyway... umm, Mom? I have someone waiting for me. For the moment, umm... just let me take care of this later!!"
Right now, he just had to get away from this woman. Making that decision, he tried to use an excuse, but that plan was shattered in an instant.
"Are you talking about the guy from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? He isn't coming."
"Eh?"
"Of course, after all your mother (me) is coming to meet you. Don't worry, I made sure to tell them."
She quite naturally wrapped her arms around his.
"Now, let's go home together... to our new house.
Ibuki felt faint at the sight of Shino's smile.
(I-I have to live with this...)
I have a new family. That phrase briefly went through his head before being swept away into the distance.
Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no, is on a shortlist of kamige that I tend to recommend to newbies to VNs or those who missed it during their first rapid obsessive blasting through the 'classics'. For some reason, people are making excuses not to play the newly-fantranslated game. I'm going to first pick apart the reasons that have been given for not playing it, even if it falls into the realm of their tastes.
Number one reason, the one that is hardest to speak against, is that the game itself is practically ancient and as a result the visuals seem dated. That isn't something I can entirely refute, but I can say this... Kamishino has some of the best visuals for its time, and its sprites and character designs are truly exceptional. While it does show its age, this isn't a truly good reason not to play it, in my mind.
The second reason people give me is that 'only four of the six routes are translated'. I find this to be the silliest reason... since anyone who has played the game in Japanese can tell you that the two routes that aren't translated fall so far behind the other four in quality that the game is actually better off without them. Frankly, the 'main school' routes are simply more emotionally powerful than the other three routes, which is the point of a nakige (which this is). I'm going to go ahead and explain why you are better off without the two untranslated routes... for one thing, the routes are much shallower in terms of characterization and emotional depth. For another thing, the twin heroines are just... not really a good match compared to the other four heroines. A large part of the point of the story is how Tsukasa heals himself by healing the hearts of the girls, and there really isn't that much of that in those two paths. In fact, Tsukasa's issues are ignored for the most part, making those two routes feel like they aren't even part of the same game. The only translated 'branch school' route is good for a different reason than the other three translated routes. It strikes much more to the heart of how high society functions in general, with more of a focus on the heroine's ambition and Tsukasa being more of an accomplice than a savior/healer as he was in the other three translated routes.
The third and last reason people give me is 'no one is really hyping it' or 'I'm waiting for reviews'... to be honest, this is a fairly silly reason. If you look for them, ancient reviews for this VN are all over the net. The reason it didn't get hyped that much is frankly because the translator (Ittaku) thought people would pick it up without the need for excessive hype. I felt the same way, since normally the community jumps on 'classics' when they get fantranslated or localized. This is probably more of a shift in how the VN community is now, as I've noted there is even more art bigotry in recent years than there was when the community was at its most passionate.
Now the reasons to play it... the first reason, which is fairly obvious, is the sheer emotional depth of this story. The three 'main school' heroines (Miyabi, Tonoko, and Shino) all have incredibly emotional paths with a completely unique story progression and deep character development. This is, in fact, the main reason I replayed this game twice, despite it not being a chuunige or a straight-out plotge.
The second reason is the setting. While a girls' school might seem like a common setting, it should be noted that this game's setting served as an inspiration for a number of later games that you have probably played or even just heard of. Two that stand out are Grisaia no Kajitsu and Koisuru Natsu no Resort. The situation for four of the heroines (the ones that are translated) is very similar to that of several of the heroines (specifically Makina and Yumiko) in Grisaia, and Koisuru Natsu no Resort essentially steals the game's theme and waters it down significantly. The main reason I say this is because the school setting in this case is, just like the previously-mentioned titles, one that is meant to essentially be an exile or holding pen for the heroines by those who sent them there.
Last of all... I should note that the four translated routes are some of the most well-paced routes I've seen outside of works by Masada, Shumon Yuu, or Higashide (which it is unfair to compare to in the first place, lol).
While this post is full of my personal opinions, I should note that this is one of a small number of VNs I use for my gold standard in VNs in general and have so for over a decade. Missing out on playing this VN means missing out on one of the best nakige in VN history.
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n8490cj/
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n4499fl/
This series is the latest gem I came across. It isn't the only one I came across, but I've decided to only present ones that have gone over 200 chapters without getting boring, which is a very small proportion of the web novel population, lol.
In this series, Earth's greatest bare-handed fighter, a master of qi and warfare unmatched on our planet, walks through a tunnel to an alternate version of Earth where magic exists and an ongoing war between monsters and humans is threatening to end humanoid civilization. Armed with his large variety of chuunibyou combat techniques (even he admits it), his iron-like body, and his inherent immunity to magic-based attacks, he cuts a swathe through monsters and evil cultists alike.
Generally speaking, this story is one where the protagonist constantly flips people's conceptions over on their heads while consistently pursuing his own personal sense of honor and style of life. In a world where magical power is everything, he is the opposite, the most powerful mortal in existence while also not having a drop of magical power. The first story begins a bit slowly, with him faking it a bit to get a grasp on how his new world works. However, it quickly accelerates after the initial 'adventures' with the temporary party he meets after his initial arrival.
It needs to be said that the protagonist is essentially a 'Goku' type of character combined with the archetype of the stoic and ruthless warrior monk. He is extremely harsh with his enemies and those who are hostile toward him, while being incredibly forgiving and easy on his friends and allies. He can also get along with a wide variety of types, including kind-hearted and clumsy catgirls and cold-hearted avengers. However, he is also very judgmental toward those who don't even make the effort to be better, and downright cold and brutal to those who don't understand honor or even simple straightforward social mores that are nearly universal.
Overall, the series is immensely fun to read, though the second story is only coming out slowly, so it will be some time before it is complete.
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/1177354054885318680
This particular WN is one where the protagonist is summoned... by the demon lord to save him from the hero! The protagonist, Kuroki, becomes a Knight of Darkness and faces off with his trauma - the hero in question - and begins a story of endless misunderstandings and plot twists.
That is, in fact, the peculiar flavor of this story. Over 90% of Ankoku Kishi Monogatari's characters are self-absorbed pricks on some level, with the gods being the worst examples of them all. The protagonist, Kuroki, and the demon king Modes are the most humane characters in a world full of narcissistic men and women. On one level, this is hilarious as it leads to an endless series of misunderstandings, turn and turnabout. On another level, it is exhausting, because everyone misunderstands everyone else. There are no Eureka moments, there are only a bunch of self-absorbed powerful deities, heroes, and monsters who all fail to understand each other's motivations on any level.
Kuroki is no exception to the misunderstandings... but in his case, he is just really pessimistic about how people see him and his own abilities (despite actually being one of the top most powerful beings in existence almost from the beginning and working his ass off to get more powerful).
The human side of things is Hellenistic, with independent city-states working loosely together on matters they have in common and fighting one another when they aren't. Humans are much, much weaker on an individual level than even goblins or orcs, (incidentally the biggest hole in the setting is the fact that humans are still alive at all) and so their trade routes are constantly endangered, and food production is war.
The demon side is feudalistic, with Modes at the top as the king, and his vassals all taking care of their own lands. The demons are not pure evil, but a lot of the Nargol races are cannibalistic toward humans while at the same time seeing them as aesthetically pleasing (in a sexual manner). This brings me to the second major hole in the setting... the fact that every species sees the human form as aesthetically pleasing (even ones like Arachne, Empusa, and centaurs). I'm pretty sure the writer did this on purpose, but it drives me a bit crazy that a giant scorpion finds human women more attractive than his arachne wife.
Overall, while this can be a fun read, it can also be infuriating at times.
Edit: Adding more details about the characters... The protagonist Kuroki and one of the hero's party, Shirone, are childhood friends/osananajimi, and Reiji - the hero - is a rival who traumatized Kuroki and was the cause of him becoming obsessed with martial arts. Shirone is a dreamer who loves heroes but is too self-absorbed to realize she is constantly hurting Kuroki's feelings with her idolization of Reiji. Reiji is a handsome but animalistic guy who goes out of his way to save girls (he seems to have an instinctive grasp of where to find women who need him) and thinks nothing of guys. Reiji is one of the top two narcissists in the story, whereas Shirone is just a blockhead.
Alrena, the 'main heroine' of the story, is one of the world's goddesses and the one who summoned Reiji and his party of girls. She is a self-absorbed woman who dislikes most men (including Reiji), but particularly dislikes Modes for his hideousness and the fact that he used her hair to create his wife, Mona. She is really good at faking compassion, but the truth is she cares little for most people beyond how they are useful to her. This kind of personality is actually rather typical of the more powerful characters on the human and Elios pantheon's side of things.
Come into being, oh starlight written across the heavens... for we are a shining falling star.
Oh how foolish, you blind and ignorant master of the throne! How could you believe that you could take from my heart hope for the future with a mere prison at the bottom of the sea and an endless labyrinth?
Look within these two eyes. Know the fierce and undying flame within my gaze. I already fly far into the distant sky, seeking the solemn flame (the sun).
Even though my wings burn and melt away, there is nothing for me to fear.
Fly oh Icarus, that you might obliterate the sins. Rage, smash, and burn everything away!
Let us bring down judgment upon all that is impure as we burn in the light of victory!
Upon my fall, so shall the flames of creation arrive!
For that reason, oh all that is evil. Submit and quietly die out.
Metalnova-- MkBlaze Hyperion!
Shine brightly in the heavens, oh my guardian star, that I might raise up the iron flame.
You are so beautiful, oh treasure that stretches as far as I can see. The jewels I stole when I killed my father, the mount of gold wet with crimson... oh why do they shine as they grab hold of my heart and never let go?
Now nothing is reflected in my eyes but what shines oh so brilliantly. I won't hand it over to anyone, for it is mine! The dragon relishes his joy as he breathes poison breath upon it.
Oh steel sword that pierces and tears apart that joy.
Oh death scream that resonates through my nest. The evil creature is slain, and the epic saga begins!
Oh immortal hero who knows not fear. I acknowledge that you are true treasure of mankind, and the true form of the gold I desire! Before the solemn light, my overflowing desire brings life to my dead flesh!
For that reason, I will devour you whole. For you are mine, I will hand you over to no other!
To speak a prophecy of ruin and endings, I will thrust a sword into your back!
Metalnova--- Sigurd's Bane, Dainsleif! (Demon dragon's war story, the hero-slaying sword of ruin)
Fall from the heavens, oh my guardian star. Obliterate everything within the iron abyss.
I have served at the side of Hades for many ages. I am the beastly and arrogant wolf who prays for the fall of all that is bright and noble while easing my hunger with the flesh and blood of the dead.
Spit out curses, devour hope, grind the jaws of despair. The deadly poison that drips from my fangs desperately, oh how desperately desires the collapse of the heavens. Let the shining brilliance be corrupted, without exception.
Go extinct, go extinct, let everything be reduced to garbage. The shrieks and tears have fallen into the abyss. The only thing I have left to cling to is the sound of the harp that plays within the darkness.
For that reason, sleep for now within the depths of the dead sea at the side of your love's corpse, oh minstrel. Oh my grudging scream, reach the heavens. Howl out to the empty moon!
Metalnova- Howling Kerberos (Shriek in madness, oh accursed silver wolf!)
The video below starts in the middle of a side-story where Valzeride (the antagonist and hero of Silverio Vendetta) confronts Gilbert over his ideals. They begin to fight because their ideals, while both based on goodness and light, are inherently opposed. Valzeride ultimately sees himself as inhuman garbage and strives to slay evil and bring happiness to the people of Adler, whereas Gilbert wishes to create a world where people like Valzeride are free of jealousy and judgment of the masses. In Gilbert's words 'A proper reward for hard work and goodness, and a proper punishment for weakness and evil.' In order to incentivize good and hard work, he wishes to create a social system where hard work and good behavior are instantly rewarded, and where there is no way to gain from doing evil or being lazy. It sounds great... if it weren't for the fact that it is predicated on the elimination of all weakness in human society.
"It is my victory. Let us walk into the future together." Having lost his weapon and any chance of escape, the zealot's powerful sword is thrust through Valzeride's body. Torn, crushed organs, a blow that should instantly have ended his life. However, he was absolutely sure that the miracle in man's form in front of him would definitely survive. If he didn't strike with the intent to kill him one hundred times over, it wouldn't even be possible to make him take a knee.
For that reason, Gilbert had no mercy. He twisted the handle of the sword piercing Valzeride's body and gouged his body vertically with the blade's edge. The wound was forced open, his organs, already pierced, further ripped apart. His perfectly trained muscles were ripped open and blood flowed like a waterfall. It was over. Having most of his major organs destroyed and lost this much blood, even the hero should be unable to continue fighting. Gilbert gained a certainty of his victory from the sensation of the sword in his hand.
In truth, it was just as he thought. The moment the challenger of light threw aside defense to strike, the duel's outcome was decided. Gilbert had not failed in any respect. Every move he made with his deep insight and brilliant brain created a brilliant outcome at this moment. However...
"No, I will absolutely stop you here. I now know you to be the most dangerous man I've ever met. For that reason, I will crush you, no matter what... I will not let go. I will be the victor!" So this was it, a retaliatory blow that should never have been released smashed into Gilbert's face. It was an impact equal to a direct hit from a meteor. An impact sufficient to make him think heaven and earth had been reversed resonated from Gilbert's jaw to his brain.
"Guagh!" The true form of the meteor was reflected in Gilbert's startled yes... a fist. Yes, the hero continues to fight as if nothing had happened. Undying, standing, his knees not even bending, ignoring the sword piercing his guts and the organs spilling out, as if to say it was not nearly enough. And this was with him disarmed of his catalyst, his body back to basic standards... Valzeride retaliated with the force of his will and bare hands alone. This was, of course, not a measure of last resort taken on the edge of absolute defeat. From the very beginning, with the belief that where there is a will there is a way, he aimed for that moment when his enemy stepped within range to finish him off.
The combo that came after was unbelievably fast, accurate, and perfectly calculated to shake and crack Gilbert's skull. If the fists were unleashed just a little bit too fast or slow, Gilbert would have been able to avoid them. This truth illustrated the fact that this retaliation was a part of pre-established harmony.
No matter how well Gilbert used his Elysium's Astral to control the fight, to deal the final blow, he would have to step within Valzeride's range. At that moment, no matter how well-planned his chess moves were calculated, he had no choice but to take a risk. For that reason, he had thought he took all precautions... or so he thought... but the King of Light easily and bravely trampled upon his preparations. With burning, brilliant fighting spirit.
"I fully understand your ideals. You bewail the fact that the world makes it so that pursuing justice has too little reward. In this current world, there simply aren't any benefits to walking the straight and narrow path. That's what you wanted to say, wasn't it?" To Gilbert as he wavered and was defenseless, Valzeride threw words instead of fists. To use this opening to deal a fatal blow and bring things to an end would be easy. However, as he was a hero who could not forgive evil, he explained his comrade's mistake to him. With the sword still piercing his belly, he calmly, with hawklike eyes, looked down upon Gilbert.
"I understand. It is true that the world being full of evil at present is a matter of course. This is because good is painful, hard, and has little benefit. Even if someone puts their nose to the grindstone to walk the correct path, there is in truth no guarantee they will be rewarded. People seek perfection from hard workers, after all." The absolute victor acknowledged the words spoken by the warrior of the transient world. It was easy for evil to prosper in the current world. That the world's very structure, the nature of creation made it so. "In this state, those with the ability to do so wouldn't even consider walking the correct path. Lifeforms, without exception, try to take the most efficient actions to adapt to their environment. This is no different for humans."
Plants grow upward to take in more sunlight. If there are multiple sources of sustenance, even slime mold will stretch itself out in the most efficient path to reach it. It need not be said that animals - humans in particular - were the same. Even in the world after the Casastrophe, they managed to adapt over the course of a thousand years.
They adapted to their environment and recreate themselves to gain more food. That is the true nature of life. Then... "For that reason, humans staining their hands with evil and indulging in laziness is quite natural. The reason is that one can merit more efficiently by doing so than walking the straight and narrow. If one tries to balance good and evil, it is only natural they will slip toward evil. This is just a grave reality, and it is incorrect to ask whether this is right or wrong."
"For that reason, seeking to make hard work and justice equivalent to one another and create a society where, as long as you work hard, you will be saved, is a quite natural way of thinking." It was a goal that lay on the other side of a labyrinth that would benefit the race as a whole more than the individual. Simply place rewards on the correct path and punishment on the incorrect ones. If he did that, then as a matter of course, all humans would walk the path of collective prosperity and evolve into a terrifyingly correct race... that was Gilbert's logic.
"However..." At that instant, the pressure on Gilbert was multiplied. A shudder made its way through Gilbert's body, even though he had yet to recover his sight. He staggered as he tried to step back and evade, grasping at his fading consciousness. To step back into the territory of Elysium, where his impact manipulation still functioned.
However, at the moment he tried to take a step back, his body shuddered to a stop. Rather than stepping away from him, he moved closer to the hero's side. This was because Valzeride grasped the large sword piercing his body and thrust it deeper into his body. The blade would not come out of Valzeride's terrifyingly powerful spinal muscles, and as a matter of course, Gilbert was pulled out of the paradise controlled by his star.
The next blow of the fist shattered his cheekbone. When he staggered, his head was grabbed in one hand, and in the next moment, a knee strike slammed into his face. "Guagh...!" "What you are lacking is self-awareness." He desperately kept his brain, which was trying to shut down from the impact and pain, using the sound of Valzeride's austere voice as a guide.
"Understand this, we are madmen. For that reason, no matter how much we offer up correct logic, it isn't a madness the common people can follow. We must first acknowledge that truth and strongly admonish and restrain ourselves." From agove the collapsing Gilbert, his voice rained down. To his messed up sense of hearing, that voice sounded many times bigger than it was, and it was as if it came down from a place far above. In addition, he was kicked so hard in the belly that his organs liquified. While he was still bent over, a combo of meteoric blows struck him, the destructive actions continuing.
"Those that can bear true correctness are extreme fools like you and I. This is no joke or metaphor... your ideals will ruin humanity." Sure punishment and reward. Karmic justice. That beautiful order would drive humanity to extinction.
"Urgh... Not... yet...!" The words of judgment were accompanied by a rain of fists. Even facing that baptism of fire, Gilbert refused to collapse. Every bone in his body was broken, his organs pulverized, and his consciousness was cutting out moment to moment. Still, the apostle of Light continued to stand through force of conviction... However.
"Understand this. We are the true disciples of contradiction. The sinners who should be punished beyond good and evil are none other than heroes who known not darkness." However, at last, his broken hands fell from the grip of his sword, and his star of white night faded. "That future is a hell masquerading as a paradise. Ally of justice? Howl all you want."
Valzeride took hold of the grip of the sword piercing his body and ripped it out. He threw the sword with overwhelming strength, causing the blade to pierce through Gilbert's body. His body, thrown off its feet, was slammed into the opposite wall with the force of a meteor. "Urgh... ga...!" The seeker of ideals was crucified with his own sword, shards of metal flying from the point of impact. From his lips came a groan of pain. His voice refused to come out in the face of this absurdity.
"What you desire is a universe composed only of stars... it not only denies darkness but all those stars that don't shine. In paradise, there is no place for the common people." Yes, Gilbert's paradise denied those who fell outside the rewards of justice. Of course, this included in that were those who weren't correct but were not truly evil. There are those in this world, of course, who neither hold onto the past nor aim for the future, just trying to live peacefully in the present. Those who stood between night and day, on the line of twilight were the same.
Most people in the world were neither good nor evil but those who dwell in the between. For that reason, this conflict was inevitable. For the ally of justice's ambition was a future that the enemy of evil could not tolerate.
"I will say it again, be aware of your flaw. To create a society where correct logic is carried out absolutely is to cut off all those who are not correct." Before the pathetic loser, the hero nonetheless walked forward without letting down his guard and picked up his twin katanas. What moved him forward was invincible force of will. His body should have been in critical condition, but he had yet to even stagger.
"I will absolutely bring light to the people of this country. For that very reason, I can't acknowledge an ideal that discards the majority of them. I will give evil the appropriate punishment, but I have no intention of denying those who have yet to take a step forward. I am willing to be enough of a hypocrite to watch over the late-blooming flowers." Valzeride took a stance with his sword, as if to say 'if you still want a fight, come!'.
"... if you seek to be the protector of a heaven that exists not on this earth, then call yourself Rhadamantis." At that moment, the oracle was spoken, and the man's fighting spirit surged. For he knew that to correct the man driven to madness by looking at the hero was his responsibility and atonement.
"But, even so!" Gilbert forcefully pulled the sword impaling him on the wall and once again activated his Astral. Even in a hand whose bones were broken, his nerves were still connected, his muscles alive. Then if he just ignored the agony and grasped the grip, then it was still possible to wield it. As such, he fiercely defied reality.
Without the plug keeping it inside his body, blood gushed forth. From his severed major arteries and punctured major organs a massive spray of crimson spread through the air. It was apparent that this was enough blood loss to endanger the life of even enhanced men like them. Even without that, he was wounded all over and his arms and legs betrayed him. However, he... no, he as well displayed unbelievable strength of will by forcibly keeping his consciousness awake and showed the stubbornness of the Light.
"I want to see a world where those who shine are rewarded...! Yes, I want those such as you to be rewarded!" He cared nothing for the consequences as he enhanced his body. He forcibly moved his broken arms and legs, running straight at the hero.
That was the true feelings of the zealot of Light. It was the fruit born of the roots of his ambition. His insight showed him the future awaiting the iron hero. He saw the end where the hero shaved away at his life, threw everything away, and without any thought of reward offered himself up as a sacrifice... for the sake of the unseen masses, a story of self-sacrifice and death. Gilbert was enraged at that pre-determined future.
The heroic story of a noble being must not be a tragedy under any circumstance. At the end of the path followed by the Light, there must be paradise... At that moment, that was all Rhadamantis the Judge desired and offered up to the shining star he saw as the ultimate. 'I want you to find happiness', the cry of his soul screamed. "Don't make me laugh!" In response was the ferocity of the hero.
Valzeride awaited the approaching swordsman with composure, a katana in either hand. The destructive light of his star enveloped his sword blades. "I need no salvation whatsoever. I will go to hell of my own free will. I will live and die for someone else. Know that it is only for that reason that my heart beats."
Stepping forth from the shattered steel of the floor, the hero swept toward his opponent like a tornado, his weapons glowing with the aurora of judgment. "Come into being, oh starlight engraved upon the heavens, for we are a shining falling star." He drew the divine blade. Oh Rhadamantis, surrender to the fires of heaven!
From here on, the results really don't need any words, now do they?
"I have no regrets whatsoever about the fate I chose, bore, and walked to its end."
"The reason is that I had only to but bear the burden alone. It was a situation where the madman known as Valzeride was the only one that needed to suffer to the end."
"If offering up the Monster of Light as a sacrifice would bring my homeland prosperity, then there need be no hesitation. It truly was a perfect exchange. As I desired, I ran through the infinite hells to their end."
"Believing to the end that, beyond the holy war, a shining future where someone would be able to smile awaited..."
"My vow to fight using my willpower is unchanged even now. Even though I have fallen and become a Demon Star, I still feel that I must protect the goodness and peace of others."
"For that reason, be at peace, Horizon. Oh young man who is worthy of respect and the name of 'hero'"
"Ruin will not come to you even in the final battle in two days. As, if it is a matter where I alone must suffer, if the Lightning Emperor of Slaughter need only but suffer to the end..."
"... if at the end, I am able to stop someone else's tears, then, as always, there is no need to hesitate."
"The garbage known as 'the enemy of evil' is as foolishly invincible as ever."
"I know. That is why I wish to show you my answer."
"I wish to prove it to my great predecessor."
"I find that answer to be bright... no. That's right."
"I'll look forward to it."
Isekai Tensei ni Kansha wo
This is a warmhearted isekai where an elderly gamer with diabetes and other health problems gets reincarnated while playing a full-dive VR game. In his new youthful body, he sets out to be an adventurer using the skills he purchased at the beginning of the game. In the process, his kind and wise nature draws in a lot of people and eventually results in his first romantic relationships in his life.
Overall, this story is easygoing and warm-hearted from beginning to end. A large reason for this is that the setting is one where the constant threat of monsters and the lesson of how monsters destroyed civilization when people got obsessed with fighting each other has pretty much ended nation vs nation warfare. For those with a fondness for fantasy adventure but don't want the political conflicts that are usually endemic to isekai, this is actually a pretty decent choice. The protagonist himself is a gentle and wise man, while having the strength of will to do what is necessary.
Fukushuu wa Tenbatsu o Yobi, Majutsushi wa Poyapoya o Tanoshimitai
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n8216dt/
This one is a bit of an oddball series. In this case, the protagonist, who just took revenge for his wife and daughter's death at the hands of a rich boy's hit and run, is about to turn himself into the police when a meteor falls on his head. His soul is ripped from his body and forced through the void, gaining power along the way until it accidentally enters the soulless body of a dying young boy named Ricardo.
A lot of this story is about the protagonist pursuing various lines of sorcerous research and teaching others with short periods of intense action. The protagonist was a teacher in his previous life, so he has a good deal of general knowledge (better than the average isekai protagonist) as well as the advantage of a growth ability that other people can't access. Throughout the first two-thirds of the story, I wouldn't call him overpowered, though some of the devices he develops are. However, late into the story he basically stops being on a human level and becomes more powerful than the rest of the human race.
There is mild romance (slow-burn romance with a younger woman), nepotism (the businesses he starts are mostly dropped in his family's hands), and lots of obsessive research into magic and magic devices.
All in all, it is a pretty balanced story, with no single aspect being given too much time. There are a few points where the story slows, but those periods are relatively rare (compared to other isekai that get over 100 chapters).
Kurono Senki, Isekai Ten'i shita Boku ga Saikyou nano wa Bed no Ue Dake no you desu
This one never got completed, so don't take this as a recommendation for it. Sadly, I can see why the author dropped it toward the end, as it drags on and there is a lot less insight into characters and character motivations as things go on, making it obvious he was just putting one foot in front of the other for large periods of the story.
Kurono, the protagonist, is a young man who gets transferred to another world that is full of war and is taken in by a former mercenary turned aristocrat with a military bent. Kurono himself has no real talent for the military, but he has the usual wide and shallow spread of modern knowledge from his high school education. At the beginning of the story, he fights a desperate battle after his superior ran off and left him in charge of the demi-human soldiers (who are considered disposable). He manages to achieve a costly victory and as a result becomes a noble in his own right, where he starts making reforms based on his knowledge of Earth.
He also takes a LOT of mistresses along the way, most of them elves and half-elves who were abused earlier in life. His taste for women only gets stronger as the story goes by, and it is probably the reason for the weird title. I will say that the periods where the action intensifies are first-rate, but the periods in between drag on for what feels like forever. There is far too much time spent on other perspectives and his sex life (I won't call it romance, because the only ones he seems to truly love from his heart are Layla the half-elf and the elf twins).
Overall, it is an interesting story that never really lives up to its potential because the author kept losing motivation in the middle.
First, I should note that this game suffers from what are likely budget constraints. I say this because some of the VA choices are... questionable. Ragou's VA in particular is something of a disaster, with a discordant mismatch between the voice and the characterization. This stands out even more because other choices like Kaen and Diran's male VAs are actually really awesome matches.
I failed to properly articulate what the music in this game resembles at most sometimes... and that would be Persona 5. Something about a number of the tracks resembles the ones seen in that game enough that, in combination with the horrible color choices, made me feel like something was off at a lot of points in the story.
Common Route
The common route of this game is not particularly long (the game as a whole is not nearly as long as any of Light's other games), but it does serve its purpose. In introduces the primary antagonists, the heroines, the side-characters, and the protagonist while setting the stage for future conflicts. It is functional, more than anything else, and if it weren't for the excellent characterization for Mizuri, Shion, Amane, and Tsubasa, it would be considered bland. Ragou and Kaien, for pure chaotic evil characters, are pretty amusing to watch, despite the fact that they are doing horrible things to people.
My complaint is that there is too much time spent on SOL for a Light game. Yes, there is a sense that you need to know what the characters are losing for it to be poignant when everyday life is disrupted, but the ratio is a bit skewed for this game, considered the golden ratio of SOL to plot and action in any good chuunige is 1:4:3.
Tsubasa
Tsubasa is a weird heroine... not the least of which because she is a TS heroine who was once a guy. However, in opposition to this, she tends to be the sexiest of the three heroines due to her characterization (it was intentional). She is also the most 'classic' onmyouji of the two human heroines, using some familiar onmyouji techniques and preferring the bow as her weapon of choice.
Her story is, at least in part, a confrontation with her past, and the primary conflict - for her, at least - is internal rather than external. While there is some buildup to a major confrontation toward the end, it needs to be said that the whimsical nature of the antagonists makes the shift to the final battle somewhat abrupt. In addition, it felt like this path didn't really have the sheer drama I'm familiar with from the company's usual works. It isn't a horrible path, but it does feel more like a Millie path than a Chitose path.
Amane
Amane is Hayato's adopted older sister who was raised by his grandfather with him. She is a total brocon and constantly clinging to Hayato when she is with him. However, the best way she can be described when she is away from him is 'cold and competent'. She is a master of kenjutsu and a 'power type' onmyouji, using techniques that fall into the 'open path' style of direct combat rather than the more roundabout styles like Houjutsu (which is basically a preparation is everything), Fuujutsu (the art of binding and sealing), or Injutsu (the art of curses and turning ties against an opponent). It makes sense, since the protagonist takes a lot of his inspiration from her.
Her path is more involved with Kaien, as opposed to the way Ragou was the prime antagonist for Tsubasa's path. You'll discover this during his first appearance, but Kaien is the kind of absolute evil that just deserves a good superhero punch to the face. He likes to make people suffer above all other things, and he finds the hatred people direct his way to be pleasurable. The irony is that, rather than the confrontation with him, Amane's inner conflict with her yandere nature is the bigger draw point of this path. To be blunt, if you played the common route, you'll have noticed the signs of yandere in her actions, and this path brings them out in a big way midway through. Uncharacteristic of Light's usual style, it isn't taken to its logical conclusion, instead being solved with the power of love *vomits*.
Shion
Shion's path is far more typical of Light's style, in that it is long, highly-detailed, and has a lot of twists and turns.
Now for some explanation. Amongst the Magatsu, there are thirteen called the Thirteen Demonic Generals, who both possess a humanoid shape and intellect, as well as the ability to touch on one of the Seven Aspects of Creation and use them in a spell that matches their desires. Shion, also known as Saikakou Nue, is one of these. In the distant past, she was sealed away by the founding onmyouji of the Isurugi bloodline (Hayato and Amane's ancestor) during the Heian era. Shion herself is one of the few of her kind that is capable of coexisting with the human race, for reasons that are only illuminated in her path. She is a contrary individual, being something of a tsundere combined with someone who puts on arrogant airs and brags about her abilities to any and all that will listen.
To be honest, I was a bit startled at the huge difference between Shion's path and the other two. While the first third is mostly SOL, almost the entirety of the remaining two-thirds is pure plot and action. There are plenty of good action scenes toward the end (the last two chapters of her path are almost entirely battle scenes), as well as background for Kaien (whose origin story is unbelievably sad) and Shion (whose origins are equally sad, which seems to be typical of most humanoid Magatsu). The ending itself is a tear-jerker, and I was somewhat annoyed at the very last part, for reasons that will be self-evident to anyone who dislikes Ragou.
Conclusion
I'd say this one is on the lower end in terms of quality for a Light VN, even if you don't include the minus points for the character design and VAs. It is ironic that even a low-quality Light game is still better than most of what the rest of the industry can produce, though, lol. Typical of my habits, I have been a bit harsh on this game, as it is in my favorite genre. It isn't going to become one of those chuunige I replay on a regular basis, either. However, it is still fine if you are starved for the genre.
Edit: If I have one thing I wish they would redo (other than some of the VAs and the artwork) it would be making the story somewhat less straightforward. Too many of the conflicts in the story are resolved too easily for a Light game, and there is no foreshadowing or long sides that give life to the characters' hidden sides. In particular, Ragou remains a two-dimensional character to the end, despite being the main antagonist. It is ironic that the nihilistic sadistic demonic priest Kaien has a more filled out character than him.
