Clephas

Just finished this game, got the Abelus ending... and here are my thoughts on the overall story. A huge difference between this game and Zero and Verita (besides the gameplay differences mentioned above) is that it is on a far smaller scale (the entire story goes on in a single small region around a port town) and most of your time is going to be spent in a single massive labyrinth (there are other dungeons, but they are small and usually only exist for a single event). Another difference is that it is far harder to control which ending you get, at least in part because some of the endings (Katchua's and Roka's) require a ridiculous amount of micromanagement to achieve. This is because both can only be achieved under very specific conditions, which include adjusting the influence of the Musk and Merchant Associations by your choices and what side-missions you complete. Considering how clunky the basic menus are, this addition was more than a little irritating (the way Verita set the path so early in the game was far more pleasant) and it takes away from the story flow, because of the need to manage those aspects of the game. Now, for the positive elements... the character events and the overall story. It is directly linked to the events at the end of the True History route of Verita, and one of the ongoing antagonists of the series both makes an appearance and is a usable character (though only through a rather annoying process in an even more annoying dungeon, with certain events activated beforehand). To be honest, this was the most touching part of the game, for me, at least in part because I've seen the process of that antagonist along with Celica throughout the series. Just like in Verita, Marsterria's negative influence is very much in evidence (I really, really hate that religion), and what problems aren't caused by the central antagonist of the story or the ongoing series antagonist are caused by this temple's meddling. In addition, getting to see how Shuri has grown (from the virtual mute she was in Verita, to a mild-mannered and kind-hearted servant girl) and the introduction of Celica's fourth human disciple bring a greater richness to the overall cast of the series that drew me in further. However, as I said, the scale of events in this game is far lower than in the prequels. Part of this is that the events only span a year (as opposed to the centuries that passed in Zero and Verita), and part of this really is because you spend so much time plunging down into that labyrinth. In addition, the clunkiness of the menus also applies to the inventory, which can get seriously hard to deal with when your number of random weapons passes a hundred and you have no way to effectively scroll through them to plan strategy without actually trying to equip them. Overall, my opinion of this game is that it is a good dungeon-crawler VN-rpg, reliant on you knowing the story for Zero and Verita to truly enjoy, but the new gameplay aspects (both the menu issues and the event micromanagement) are seriously problematic. It also left me hungry for the series conclusion (hopefully a remake of IM2 will be coming out next year, lol), if only because, while it was emotionally satisfying, the way Celica develops in the story makes me want to know how they'll redo the last entry in his story.

The average VN takes a level of effort equivalent to four or five 26 episode series of anime combined. Since most fansub groups barely manage one before going under (if that), why do you think they'd be able to do better with a much larger project?

I'm about halfway through Tenbin no La Dea ~Ikusa Megami Memoria~ and I thought I'd give my thoughts on the basic game system, staying away from story for now. First, the actual menu system looks like a half-assed attempt to simplify jrpg menus, and it is kind of hard to master at first. First of all, unlike previous games, where you could access all menus with a single right click and choose which one you wanted from there, this one uses a menu that is constantly available on the left side of the screen. Normally, this would only be a minor annoyance, but considering the fact that there are areas with traps in them or where the story can start advancing a step or two later - basically places where accidental movement can be a problem - and the fact that you can move by left clicking and holding the button down... it is a rather clunky system. As for battles... to an extent, the effort to streamline the battle system works, as it lets you choose spells and items which are automatically locked in for use each time you click on that option. When gathering treasure and rare items to sell, this is great because it lets you use Valefor's max-treasure hunting tech each battle without going to search for it. In regular battles (against non-bosses), it is very helpful, because it lets you set your area attacks in advance, meaning it simplifies the process. In exchange... it can be an annoying system in battle, because the actual menu you choose from has multiple pages, meaning it can be frustrating to set the magic/tech you need to fight a particular boss. Visually in battle, the sprites are on a whole other level from previous games. Rather than the chibis you see in Zero and Verita, you get scaled models of both your characters and enemies, and the effect is overall rather nice. In addition, since Celica actually has a voice in battle (though not in the story sections), he doesn't get left out when fighting. So far, the most useful characters I've managed to get have been Celica (duh), Shuri (the game's only healer, thus a permanent resident of my battle party), and Valefor. Valefor is both a decent physical fighter and the game's thief character. Since you get her early, it is rather easy to gather treasure from battle. Most of the other characters I've gotten so far definitely have a down side to them in some situations (Kaura's inherent weakness to magical attacks makes her a liability in boss battles sometimes, I can't get Liliem's best phys attacks yet - which means she is stuck as a half-assed fighter for the moment -, Metasina suffers from 'useless against bosses' syndrome, and Roka is mostly powerful against demons, though she is also fairly effective against other enemies (she is like a weaker version of Celica in some ways). I recommend you go with the Merchants Association all the way on your first playthrough, though you should save Alicia from the bandits and other positive-leaning Musk Association events that effect character recruitment and the creation of new shops in town. Most importantly, you need to make sure that you get Saria turned into a disciple on your first playthrough, for various skill, character, and story-related reasons. That means that supporting the Musk Association on your first playthrough is not really an option, as if you support them in certain missions, Saria's events get cut off, which effects certain character stories from developing and certain of Shuri's skills from being unlocked. To be honest, this game's story requires way too much micromanagement of events for my taste, and since they effect skill-unlocking, this can be very annoying. Edit: I can't emphasize enough how much richness and depth knowledge from Zero and Verita adds to this game. I really, seriously, suggest avoiding playing this game if you haven't played those two, as the chronology is direct and the story isn't really independent, despite what some people think. Edit2: Forgot about skills. Basically you have this grid that you can access from the upper left corner of the screen that allows you to obtain character skills and abilities by expending points gained in battles and through missions from the mission board. Since most of the skills are opened to activation by defeating bosses, saving certain people from death/rape, and having certain people join your party, how you progress in the story effects how powerful you can become. In particular, the upper limit of the levels you can gain is determined by passing certain events and defeating certain bosses, which means if you don't go after the extra events, there is a chance you might not be powerful enough to defeat certain bosses without getting desperate. Still, the actual obtainment of the characters' combat techs and spells is much easier and less time-consuming than in Zero or Verita, which is a huge help... but it also means that you might NEVER get full access to a full character's techs in your first playthrough (other than the ultimate ones only available on second playthrough) if you don't complete certain events and dungeons.

No, maybe I'll try it next month, but for now I'm moving on. This is the lineup for June's releases (if they don't get delayed): http://vndb.org/v14847 (Crossfire was decent, so I'm going to try this) http://vndb.org/v10304 (It's by Palette... it'll either be decent or horrible) http://vndb.org/v14069 (Definitely playing this, direct sequel) http://vndb.org/v14520 (might or not play this, as Escu;de's gameplay tends to be almost as chancy as Debo no Su Seisakusho) http://vndb.org/v14595 (... I just know the moege fans are going to want me try this. Twincest being one of the favorite themes) http://vndb.org/v14760 (Caramel Box... it's been a long time since they made anything, but I'm looking forward to it) http://vndb.org/v14761 (for all it is a famous company, Giga's efforts at normal moege/charage tend to be second-rate, but I might try it anyway) http://vndb.org/v14763 (This might or might not be a nukige... when the release comes out, I'll make a determination)

Slowly lowered by a crane into a giant meat grinder while I explain my evil master plan.

After finishing Golden Marriage, I did a speed run of Verita's Louis Darkness ending. To be honest... it was boring. I don't understand why they added it in in the first place. Also, it is full of spoilers for the later chronology, which kind of made me angry. I mean, it kind of seems cool at first... until you get to the last part, where it starts throwing out blatant spoilers and Louis turns kind of stupid as well as Dark Lord-ish. In the last few scenes, in particular, he was... annoying. Is it worth it? Not really. The bosses are slightly harder, there is an annoying special dungeon during the final chapter, and it spoils you for parts of the remake and Ikusa Megami II. I really wish I'd just ignored it. I guess it is because of the high quality of the Light and True History endings... but I expected something better than this.

Granted, your body is now made out of cookies. I wish for a mahou shoujo to torment using my new tentacle monster.

This will be my final post for May's releases. I just finished Golden Marriage, the fourth game for this month. Golden Marriage is by Ensemble, a subsidiary of will that specializes in making games that involve the upper-class society (generally speaking, multiple heroines will be well-off, and frequently the protagonist is too). They were also the makers of Otome ga Tsumugu Koi no Canvas. Golden Marriage is a moege/charage, whose protagonist is a wealthy young man named Nagisa, who lives with his surrogate mother, Elvira in a mansion given to him by his Uncle after the deaths of his birth parents in a cruise-ship accident. He is pretty unusual amongst this type of game, in that he is both capable and rather obviously flawed, despite that capability. Previous to the beginning of the story, he was what he calls a 'walking wallet' for girls, mostly to alleviate his boredom. However, at the beginning of the story, he is asked by his Uncle if he wishes to succeed him as CEO of the Tachibana Group, and if he does decide to do so, he must, by his birth parents' will, find his lifetime partner and get engaged before he does so. The main heroines of the game are the perfect student council president, Yukariko; his fellow workers at his part-time job, the easygoing and active Riri and the modest and poor Kasumi; the open and honest violist Rei; and his osananajimi Touko. Generally speaking, the character dynamics in this game are pretty good, the drama is interesting though not overly intense, and the characters themselves are worthy of taking an interest in. The visual style is a bit unusual (see the vndb page if you want to take a look), and that serves to distinguish it somewhat from the common ruck of charage/moege out there. From a musical perspective, there is nothing really exceptional, but what is there is used adequately well, if not superbly so (yes, faint praise on most counts, but that's the way it goes). My complaints this game are mostly ones I have for all charage to one extent or another. I'd prefer a longer, more detailed epilogue (minus the obligatory H-scene), with a bit of a peek into their married life, but since few charage actually do that, I guess that is somewhat unfair. My other complaint is that the drama, which is a rather obvious attempt to imitate some of the things that happen in their other games in some cases(one right out of Gokigen, the other out of Otokoi) lacks the sheer intensity of some of their other games. Because the protagonist isn't an excessively passionate person in the first place (though he is loving), the actual drama was somewhat weaker than it could have been. Nonetheless, I think those who want a high-society charage with a set of decent heroines will find this a good choice. It has its flaws, but I've definitely seen worse. VN of the Month Announcement First, I should say that in the end, my decision came down to two games, Houkago no Futekikakusha and Sakigake Generation. Houkago no Futekikakusha is an excellent utsuge, though it has flaws with how it deals with its setting, and Sakigake is ideal for people who want some light romance, some comedy, and a little light fantasy. Either one would be VN of the Month material on its own, but I was pleased to have two that were worthy of considering in a single month, considering how dry April was. In the end though, simply because it managed to surprise me with both its quality and the degree to which it affected me emotionally, I had to choose Houkago no Futekikakusha as May's VN of the Month. It really was a hard decision this month... because, to be blunt, Sakigake has a much wider appeal. Futekikakusha will probably be avoided like the plague by those who dislike being required to sit through bad endings or who don't have a resistance to the despair and depressing atmosphere of a game like that. Sakigake, on the other hand, will probably appeal to anyone who likes slice of life at all. I don't think I have to say which would attract more people, now do I? Nonetheless, I chose the former because of the sheer emotional impact of the story and the degree to which I was drawn behind the eyes of the characters. It might have some technical problems, but in comparison to that impact, those are relatively minor issues.

Granted, but you can only make sex-friends. I want a combat mech so I can rampage through the city streets, shooting my giant bazooka and beam rifle while laughing maniacally at the peons being squished beneath my feet.

Mmm... it is more like the limits of the system that Nitroplus used back then also put limits on what they could do. Take a look at the sound for a lot of the games that are considered 'classics' from early last decade and before the turn of the century. Generally speaking, if they put serious effort into one aspect of the VN, some other aspect suffered. Jingai Makyou had excellent visuals for the time and a ton of text... but apparently the actual system they used for the game itself had certain limitations... I know, this was already the era of the PS2... but actual VN system development is very slow. Most just reuse systems that were developed five or six years ago (almost half of all the VNs I've played have used Kirikiri). The same was the case back then, for the most part. The result was that the systems they were using couldn't quite handle everything they might have wanted to do, not to mention that budgets for VNs with serious story weren't nearly as high as they are now. If you have the choice between hiring a great artist and a great music director, which will you choose? lol. Gekkou no Carnevale also suffers from musical deficiencies. In exchange, it has ridiculously high visual values for the character art, for the time. However, Nitroplus's early games weren't nearly as reliant on music as later VNs became.

There are a few - very few - VN companies that didn't place much importance on music a decade ago. Nitroplus was one of them. Take Jingai Makyou, for example. The music in that game is incredibly simple and very little effort was put into using it, because the visuals and the actual language of the story were just that good... but the fact remains that a better musical accompaniment would have enhanced the game greatly. There really is no way in which you might say any one factor defines a VN, in most cases. Exceptions like Hapymaher, which will probably be remembered for its music much more than its actual story (though the story is good as well), really are the exceptions to the rule. Generally speaking, my first concern is always the writing, with everything else in the VN, including the visuals, meant to enhance it, present it in a more interesting fashion. So, which is more important? Neither. Music is the 'star' of the audio of a given VN, but the voices and sound-effects are supporting actors and the backstage members. All are important, but the music and voices are inevitably going to get more attention. Does this weaken the importance of good sound-effects? No. My main reason for raving about the music direction is because it is increasingly becoming a weakness in all games, not just VNs. A VN-maker has 6 ingredients to work with: The writing, the visuals, the voice-actors, the music, the sound-effects, and the actual VN system. Now, like in cooking, how you use the ingredients you have and how high of quality they are determine the final result. If you ignore any individual aspect of a VN, you are wasting the capabilities of the medium.

Granted, but you are arrested for possessing hentai videos of lolis due to a new law forbidding the exploitation of fictional characters. I wish for a moon rock.

Mmm... the level of importance of sound effects is actually fairly dependent on the concept of the VN in question. With action VNs, it tends to be rather high, but with moege, it tends to not be prioritized all that much. To be honest, most moege just reuse the same set of sound effects (quite literally) and the results tend to be rather predictable. As for usage... the most effective usage I've seen has been in ichaicha scenes that aren't H-scenes, where the protagonist hugs the heroine and the like (for moege of course). With action games, the sound of meat being sliced, the clash of weapons, etc. are all important and tend to get used prolifically. Example of the sound-effects creating atmosphere Example of battle sound effects, lol.

Granted, but the centuries in the void have driven him mad and he eats your soul. I wish for smores!

Sound effects can serve a number of different specific purposes... but the most important generalized aspect of them is that they help draw the player/reader into the game in question, giving it a better sense of solidity.

Granted, but your internet-capable devices are fried by a mysterious EMP blast the next minute. I wish for silk pillows for my cat to sleep on.

True. The next person suffers from hemorrhoids

With the revolver in the lounge by Colonel Mustard.

Generally speaking, Light and the other major action-VN companies are exceptions to the rule. They put more effort into every aspect of their games, because they know their survival is dependent on providing an exciting experience. For 'peaceful' VNs, it is very rare now to see truly excellent music direction. Edit: What I mean is that presenting chuuni games as a representative example is... somewhat pointless. By its nature, the chuuni genre attracts talented but eccentric people, and the results can be mixed... but inevitably, there is a definite artistic edge to serious chuuni that shows in aspects such as the language, art, and music.

Granted, but the poison coating it kills you instantly. I wish for a boiled egg.

I'm so shy, I can't bear to expose my face before the infidels.

Granted, you are now a robot, with no sense of individual consciousness. I wish for an infinite supply of meat.

Flayed alive then dipped in honey before being tied to an ant hill.