Clephas

This... my first untranslated VN was Jingai Makyou, and you can bet I didn't get everything on the first playthrough. If anything, replaying good VNs later after you've gotten better at Japanese can allow you to reaffirm that you have gotten better, and the flavor deepens the more you chew in some cases. I played Dies Irae and Devils Devel Concept pretty soon after Jingai, and when I went back later, I got so much more out of them.

If you think Aokana looks interesting, go ahead and play Walkure Romanze instead... similar scenario, much better execution. As for Clover Days... as an alternative, I'd suggest something like Otome ga Tsumugu Koi no Canvas or Ren'ai Karichaimashita (if you can't stand trap protags). For Grimoire no Shisho... as an alternative (if you aren't just looking for a borderline nukige) I'd suggest Ou no Mimi ni wa Todokanai (if you want the fantasy setting) or Erect (if you want fantasy-ish girls in a borderline nukige). Both are several levels above Grimoire no Shisho in quality. If you just want to go the Spartan route I mentioned above, I'd suggest playing Yurikago yori Tenshi Made instead of Leyline because 1) Leyline is essentially one game cut into three and 2) Leyline uses the ladder-style story progression, which can be irritating. Edit: Aokana is primarily a letdown because the protagonist is an irritating hetare who has an inferiority complex that drove me crazy throughout the entire VN. The heroines all have their own issues, but that is a matter of taste...

I kind of found it interesting that the choices you did make were so... eclectic. Aokana is just an outright mediocre game, Grimoire no Shisho is a borderline nukige (really a nukige, pretty much), and Clover Days is about as vanilla as it gets for moege. Leyline isn't really a good choice for a first game, unless you are going to go the Spartan route by deliberately choosing medium to high reading difficulty VNs from the beginning. I haven't updated that list in a long time, but I essentially chose those based on a combination of reading difficulty (4 or 5 on a scale of 1 to 10) with decent characters and/or story. There are even a few kamige in the second tier (second tier tend to vary between five and six on the difficulty scale). I'd give Leyline a 6 baseline and a 7.5 upper limit on reading difficulty, though it goes up if you aren't familiar with some of the terminology. Generally speaking, anything with a difficulty below 4 is a nukige, so unless you want to start with nukige, it isn't going to get any easier than the midline.

Too bad the original was never translated at all... the others are crap in comparison.

In a good story, antagonists and villains often define the story as much or more so than a protagonist. This is because their very shocking nature, their plans, their intentions all provide a counterpoint to the desires of the protagonist's side, thus clearly defining what the story was about (incidentally, the reason I hate 'monsters/aliens eating everyone for no reason' stories is because there is no real antagonist in those stories to hate or love). So who are your favorite VN antagonists/villains? Here are my top 10 as a reference. 1- Shannon Wordworth (Evolimit)- Shannon is the kind of man who probably would have been a great king before the industrial age, a man of high intelligence and a proactive and endlessly optimistic (if in a manner that is antithetical to ethical thinking). At the same time, he is a man who will use anything at hand to fulfill his goals and has endless patience when it comes to reaching for them, as is shown by his participation in a one-way expedition to Mars as the first wave of developers/colonists. Does he feel guilt? Yes but it doesn't stop him. Does he regret the necessity of some the things he does to reach his goals? Yes, but he doesn't regret actually doing them. The epitome of 'man who believes in progress at all costs' (though how this manifests I'll leave to your imagination), he is in some ways a representative of how many non-Americans see the US... and even some of us. 2- Christopher Valzeride (Silverio Vendetta)- Perhaps the ultimate ideal hero for a militaristic nation that has just cast off the chains of oligarchical rule by military nobles, Valzeride is a man of average talent... except when it comes to working toward a goal. The man has an endless capacity to use himself as a tool, growing his abilities through hard work, repeated horribly dangerous and life-shortening surgeries, and a ruthless belief that he must act for the sake of others. A man who will never be broken by an obstacle, who will always do anything to make a better world... including sacrificing the few for the many. He considers himself to be human garbage, to be an ultimately worthless monster who must continue on his path to give meaning to those he has trampled, whether ally or enemy. His charisma is blinding, his glory burns the eyes of those who follow him, and he dares all those around him to follow in his foosteps, even as he strides the line between victory and disaster. 3- Reinhardt Heydrich (Dies Irae)- Reinhardt Heydrich needs no introduction to anyone who played Dies Irae. However, for the sake of any who haven't, I'll give him an intro. Beginning as an immensely talented SS officer, he was plagued by a sense of emptiness until he encountered Karl Kraft, the man who later came to be known as Mercurius. This encounter transformed him by forcing him to a recognition of his nature, that he loved all things, and that his love was destruction itself. Despite this description, he is not nihilistic. He is honorable (in a really twisted way, as is evidenced by his tile of Mephistopheles), he is even fair (within certain circumstances), but in the end, his love is a love that brings destruction. 4- The Living Gods (the Ikusa Megami series)- I chose this because the Living Gods (Akitsukami) of Dir'Lifyna are the true antagonists of the series, from Celica's perspective. Acting in what he thought was the best interests of his own god, he was turned into a tool to harm the woman he loved, then when he merged with her flesh, he became an enemy of the very gods he served. He seeks to do no harm, but the gods and their servants continually plague him, their fear of what he might do often overcoming common sense. His emotions fray and decay over time, becoming distant remnants of what they were, and even as that occurs, he continues to act as he and his love would have before, the broken remnants of who he was still doing good despite the world defining him as evil. 5- Minato Hikaru (Muramasa)- Say what you want about Muramasa but Hikaru makes the ideal antagonist for a story where the protagonist is driven as much by hate for himself as he is for his enemies. Hikaru is very much a creature of the id, having no real restraints on her actions such as ethics or morality. Those chains fell aside long ago, and she does not discriminate between good and evil when she kills. She merely kills. There is no malice, save for Kageaki. There is no hate, save for Kageaki. And in the end, the only thing she really cares about is Kageaki. A sorrowful figure for those of us who have read the game all the way through, for much of the story she is a pure terror. 6- Miya (Tiny Dungeon)- Her manner and methods are often roundabout and driven by fear and impatience, though this doesn't show on her face. However, beneath her often malicious actions toward Hime and his friends is a desperate young woman who wants nothing more than to live... and they just happen to be in her way. 7- Hakushaku/The Count (Vermilion Bind of Blood)- The most powerful vampire in existence, seen as a natural disaster or a being to emulate wherever possible by the vampires, he is a creature of mystery. He assesses existence entirely by his own personal aesthetic. He rejects good and evil, seeing them as a petty distraction from what is worthy and beautiful, and he punishes those he sees as ugly without a second thought. Once he decides to do something, he will work for that purpose for however long it takes, never once having a second thought about the costs in time, effort, and lives. He truly is the very image of the inhuman nosferatu of legend. 8- Mikado Kurofune (Hello, Lady)- A visionary with high ideals who doesn't hesitate to dirty his hands for the purpose of taking steps to fulfill them. A man who can see what the world, what human society is destined to become and attempts to shape it as he can for his own ideals. A man who will not hesitate when necessity calls and who has the courage to face the consequences of his actions, even as he attempts to continue on. 9- Alexandre Raskolnikov (Zero Infinity)- Seemingly the soulless embodiment of the ultimate weapon of the forces of progress, Alexandre is immediately striking in his mechanical lack of emotion toward the enemies of his cause. He merely follows orders and logically chooses the best option to complete them. However, in the depths of his soul beats the heart of a hero who wanted nothing more than to protect the weak and who chose to become a force for progress, believing that in doing so he could atone for all those he believed he had not saved. He never sees those he did save, only those he failed to, and this drives him on in an endless, cold, lonely road to his own destruction, ground to dust by the gears of progress. 10- Angiel Rag Rene and Pue Rag Ren (Yurikago yori Tenshi Made)- The ultimate antagonists of Yurikago yori Tenshi Made are just scary. Controllers and creators of plagues, they can infect entire populations with tailor-made viruses generated by Ren's power. Moreover, after centuries of life, driven by a mad desire for revenge on the God they once worshiped, their madness is so much a part of them that they almost seem sane. Indeed, it is possible to converse with them normally and even congenially... unfortunately, that conversation is usually little more than an exercise in killing time or to fulfill curiosity as they bring about the horrible doom by disease of those around them.

Sora and Kanata - Devi's Devel Concept (A couple of evil, a half-sociopathic beast of a man and a ruthlessly self-interested and powerful woman, both of them insanely possessive) Soushichi and Suzu- Ayakashibito (pseudo-siblings, soulmates, lovers... a connection so deep that it goes beyond death) Kuro and Taiga - Sakura, Moyu (seriously, the love between those two is unbelievably deep... I cry just remembering all they go through to be together) Shizuku and Shiranui Yoshikazu- Evolimit (comrades, best friends, and - in Shizuku's path - lovers with a connection so deep it survives hundreds of thousands of years of waiting) Aki and Hidetaka - Reminiscence (siblings by marriage, a love so deep and caring that it is willing to hate and be hated) Jun and Belche - Draculius (lover, mother, sister, mentor, and trustworthy ally, Belche has so many aspects to her relationship with Jun that it is hard to tell what she isn't to him)

Aselia and Seinarukana

Waka-sama is Minato Carnival and Shoujo-tachi was... *grimaces*

New title is great news... Minato soft has been mostly doing derivative works since Shinigami, and Shinigami was pretty terrible.

I don't get why they are giving the crappy Granblue a second season... the first season was bad even for a game-based fantasy anime. Lots of junk isekai anime... I kind of wish they would have continued Maou-sama into next season, since it is the thing I'm enjoying the most right now (mostly for the laughs). I love junkfood isekai, so I'll probably enjoy myself, but I do wish they would finish or continue some series that already exist rather than constantly putting out new half-seasons based off of random light novel series. I'm not excited for Hero Academia.... the series has good moments, but I hate endless shounen series that never get to the point. I'm surprised they are doing more Psycho-pass, since I felt the second season concluded things nicely (and that world is creepy as hell, even for dystopian sci-fi).

Yurayuka was released in 2017 by Cube, a company that I never got around to messing with (mostly because their other games were nukige, for the most part). I chose to put this one in my 'rainy day' archive for a time when I wanted something to play that I hadn't read before but wasn't a charage (most games I set aside are charage, since there is only so much virtual sugar I can consume without getting virtual diabetes). From the very beginning, this game makes its 'time loop' concept obvious, and a large part of the reason for this is that the focus of this game is not on mystery or mindfucks (the two primary aspects of many timeloop games) bur rather on the emotional aspects. The denizens of the timeloop realm, which is an island school with no people there other than them, number five... four girls and one guy (yes, a harem, lol, though there is no harem ending). The protagonist, Aoi, is a young man with a strong aversion to romance (almost a phobia) that partially comes from his little sister Tomoe's incestuous advances. Tomoe, is sister is basically a straight-out 'I only need nii-san' imouto character who will do anything to get him to pay attention to her. Sumire is a sharp-tongued and whimsical (also highly intelligent) young woman who seems to want something from Aoi. Tsukino is the dorm's 'mother' character, doing most of the cooking and cleaning, as well as generally babying the cast. The last character, Konoha, is a young girl who is rather dependent emotionally on Tsukino, to the point where her world revolves around her. Now, this game does do some of the 'shocking revelations' that are common to timeloop games, but most of them are rather obvious or foreshadowed by Kuro and Shiro (the mysterious twins who drop hints during all the paths and don't get involved directly with anyone other than Aoi). Now, it is tempting to lump Aoi in with hetare protagonists at first... but since he can generally bring himself to meet the emotional challenges presented in the various paths head-on, it isn't really appropriate to call him one. He does, however, have a strong aversion to making choices or getting close with other people, up to and including his sister. Each path, thankfully, has a completely independent conclusion, in the sense that it isn't required that you see any of the others to grasp the true/canon path (Tsukino's), and, because of this, I have to praise the way they handled the various paths, especially Sumire's and Konoha's. It doesn't feel like any of the heroine paths are gypped by the way the true path is handled, and it doesn't feel like the other heroines are only a tool to get you into Tsukino's panties (a common habit in many 'true end' VNs). I can't really say there is any good humor in this game (a rarity, since most VNs make at least some attempt at humor that I find reasonably close to funny) outside of Tomoe's brocon, which stops being funny if you read her path. However, there are some good cathartic moments in all the paths, especially Sumire's and Tsukino's. Tsukino's path's two endings are both tear-jerkers worthy of remembering. Overall, this game is a decent and somewhat different type of timeloop story that I found enjoyable, though it isn't a kamige by any stretch of the imagination. It did, however, grant me some much needed catharsis, and that was really all I was looking for when I picked this game out of the cardboard box I had it sealed in.

Anyone who has read one of my reviews knows I'm something of a cynic and a pessimist. I try to think the best about every VN I go into, but my first impulse is to see what is wrong, rather than what is right. Whether it is optimism and rose-colored glasses or pessimism and cynicism, and excess of either is often a negative influence on the quality of a review. Generally speaking, I usually make an effort to find something I like about a VN's concept before going in, then I start the VN trying to enjoy it as an outgrowth of that. By the end, this usually results in me having experienced both the negative and positive aspects of the VN... the problem is, when reviewing, it is all too easy to forget what is good about the VN. As a result, when I'm writing up a review, the first thing I do is write up a list of the good points I found, ignoring the mitigating negative factors. I then build the review around these and include the negative points in with the rest... but you can probably tell that being positive just doesn't come naturally to me, since I tend to be pretty harsh. However, by using this system, I've found dozens of VN gems over the years that I probably would have discarded for perceived negative qualities if I didn't use this process. Indeed, early on in my reading of untranslated VNs, I dropped numerous ones simply because they had a negative aspect that I got obsessed with. I would later go back and replay them, only to find that the negative aspect wasn't as big a deal as I thought at the time, since I made the effort to go back with a differing perspective. A poor quality in a reviewer is the tendency to ignore the negatives about something you like. Another one is to rate things entirely based on aspects you only have a vague grasp or focus on (in my case, due to my eye problems, I'm not the best judge of artwork, and my musical sense is entirely based on how it enhances the atmosphere, rather than raw quality comprehension). I'm a story reviewer. I review almost exclusively based on the story, characters, and presentation. As such, art and sound rarely have a place in my reviews, since I don't think I'm qualified to evaluate them except in the most general of terms. I can tell when a VA did an exceptional job, because it stands out enough for me to notice. I will even mention this in the review, since it takes a lot for a performance to stand out to me. However, I never pretend to know the ins and outs of specific aspects of VA or musical quality. I simply don't have the right kind of ear for that kind of thing, not being musically inclined. One thing I've noticed in some reviewers who prefer niche genres (such as myself) is to display a tendency I refer to as PGRD (or Popular Game Reactionary Disorder). It is a fictional mental disease that many of us who have a distinct preference for a niche genre display that causes us to have a knee-jerk negative reaction to popular works, simply because they are mainstream. This is a problem that is particularly common in Western otakus of around my age, who became fanboys during a time when watching anime, playing Japanese video games, and reading manga had a rather strong stigma that left us feeling isolated and defensive. However, it is also present in people who prefer niche genres (I get the double whammy, being both). That sense of isolation leads to a tendency to over-praise our favorite materials and bash anything that we see as being too popular. In reverse, there are those who automatically dismiss anything that isn't mainstream. Both types are reactionary in nature and have little to do with the quality of the materials in question. Being a long-time sci-fi addict, I can't understand why anyone would enjoy Avatar (the movie). However, if I make the mistake of saying that in front of a fanboy of the movie, I will inevitably get a vociferous lecture on how misunderstood the movie is by science fiction fans... There are many such examples of such behavior I have experienced over the years, both in myself and in others. As such, a reviewer has to be willing to examine his own motives for liking or hating something. Are you being cynical for the sake of being cynical? Are you over-praising something to the point of overlooking the obvious problems with it? Are you making excuses while thinking you are making a reasoned argument? On the other side, are you ignoring the voice of reason to give you an excuse to dislike something? In the end, bias is unavoidable... but it is a reviewer's duty to do their best to cast aside as much of it as possible, because people use our reviews as reference points when they pick what they want to play/read/watch.

To be honest, I wasn't intending to read this game... then I happened to catch a Japanese review and immediately purchased a copy (that arrived two days ago). This game has surprised me by being the first comedy SOL VN to make me laugh this year (comedy VNs being small in number in the first place making this worse), so just starting this game up was enough to satisfy me that I hadn't wasted my money. ASa Project is a company that has long produced standard charage of various levels of quality, but their last few games have been only just barely reaching levels I consider acceptable. Like their last game, Karigurashi Ren'ai, this game picks a somewhat eccentric approach to SOL comedy. In this case, the protagonist essentially takes on a part-time job that is on the border between legitimate work and enjoukousai, where he gets hired to play a role (boyfriend, boytoy, big brother, friend, etc) for his clients. This causes a lot of weird antics that are generally amusing (at least to me), and it is helped along by a cast of sub-heroines that are several levels above the two main ones in quality (yes, i'm bashing Emi and Hasumi) or general amusement factor. Tsubaki, the teacher heroine, is easily my favorite of them all, with an adorable gap between her gamer self, her teacher self, and her lonely homebody self that was very pleasing on many levels. The twins, Chinatsu and Konatsu (both total perverts, if with slightly differences in degree and vector) had a path that was full of shimoneta and didn't really have anything but humor and H (which was fine, since I never thought to see anything deep out of that relationship). After the split-off point for Tsubaki and the KonoChina twins' paths, a second arc begins, following the love triangle that forms between Hasumi, the protagonist, and Emi. It also has two short (think fifteen minutes of reading) paths for their friends, Momoko and Saki. Saki's path... is not so much a path as a bad/normal ending (with two fairly hot h-scenes). It's worth laughing about, but there is none of the intimacy of Tsubaki's path or the absolute perverted hilarity of the twins' path. Momoko's path is almost the opposite... it is more of a 'comfort sex' ending, which is good in and of itself, because it steps outside of what is normal for the SOL genre. Too bad that Momoko wasn't a main heroine, since she would be an interesting main heroine. Now I get to Hasumi... I don't care if she is one of the two main heroines. I disliked her from the beginning. I hated everything about her characterization, save for the hints of loneliness they drop here and there throughout the common path. The unnatural-feeling characterization for her just made me want to break something... and while she could be amusing at times, her interjections into the early sub-heroine paths often fell flat, at least in my estimation. Her personality comes out more after the break between the first and second arcs of the common route (first arc includes the split for the twins and Tsubaki's routes), and she makes a bit more sense... but her characterization still grates on my nerves. What really gets to me is that if it weren't for the aesthetics of her characterization, I probably would have liked her character background... that laugh just drove me nuts. I did like her half-yandere qualities, but the fact that I have to plow through that weird laugh and annoying mannerisms to get through it kind of ruins things... Her path itself is as amusing as the rest of the VN... except that her annoying mannerisms become a constant rather than an occasional annoyance. Emi makes a much better best friend than a lover. To be honest, I just found it hard to take her seriously as a heroine (fake lovers to real lovers always does this to me). The way the relationship (the business/acquaintance level relationship, not lovers) with the protagonist begins (fake boyfriend bought with money) is an amusing variation on one of my most hated VN tropes, and her personality makes for great comedy relief. However, her as a lover... sorry, I couldn't see it. It was much more amusing when she was getting verbally abused by the protagonist for her bad habits. As the butt of a joke, she is a great character, but as a heroine? Not so much, in my estimation. That said, she does a much better job as a heroine than Hasumi, at least to my mind... though the nature of the relationship between the three (the love triangle doesn't break up regardless of which one he chooses, which means the antics continue right up to the end) meant that I had to deal with Hasumi's personality even throughout this path. Conclusion One of ASa Project's better games, though it suffers from a poor choice of main heroines. Tsubaki is by far my favorite heroine in this VN, and I would have liked to see a more detailed version of her path (meeting her family, general antics, lol). This VN's standout element is its comedy, as it uses slapstick, sit-com, and manzai as needed to amuse the reader. As far as romance goes... the comedy element is far stronger than the romance element, so it is hard/impossible to take seriously, but that was this VN's salvation when it came down to it.

That would be so... if not for economic problems in Japan. People aren't as willing to open their wallets for this kind of leisure over there as they were five or ten years ago... at least my generation isn't. The current world economy is making it even worse, since everyone is afraid of a collapse and Japan's economy is constantly moving back and forth between minor growth and minor contractions (despite government economic policies that are supposedly designed to fix the problem). It is true that the younger generation has less disposable income... but that is leading to a decrease in goods sales (figurines, dakimakura, etc) rather than 'mainline' material like games, LNs, and anime discs or downloads. That also hurts the VN industry, because many companies are at least partially dependent on selling goods to make up for temporary losses (a common strategy in the VN industry). This has also led to fewer people buying new and release day versions, because the younger generation has less interest in swag/omake material (prime incentives for the somewhat obsessive collectors of my generation in Japan). Edit: Also, I should note that Japanese wages have been stagnant for decades, and fewer efforts have been made to hide that fact than were made in the US. As a result, recent inflation has negated any gains for the average person and most people know it. Also, the changes in Japanese corporate culture and structure have essentially eliminated career stability for many professions, so the argument that someone will make more money as they get older doesn't really apply here. That said, a larger percentage of the young population live off multiple part-time jobs than in previous generations, so your point isn't completely off the mark. Saturation has been an issue for over ten years... and it essentially resulted in charage becoming more... efficient (shorter and less complex VNs, constant 'tossing away' of writers and artists that asked for too much money, increasing reliance on temporary contractors even in popular companies, etc). The actual number decreasing is a relatively recent phenomenon. 2nd hand sales have always been an issue, though moreso of late... in fact, there has been something of a boom in the sales of older VNs (one reason a lot of older VNs began appearing on dlsite and DMM as download-only versions with no real announcement in the last four years). The tendency of online platforms to regularly offer sales and incentives to buy download-only versions has increased the tendency to only consume the 'main material' amongst the younger generation. Another issue is that Japanese companies are not 'light on their feet'. This is especially true of VN companies... well, really Japanese gaming companies of all types. The tendency for a company to 'find their niche' and adjust only really ineptly when forced to adapt to changing market conditions is typical. A rather famous example of this tendency would be Konami, where the use of video and audio 'tapes' (not to mention overhead projectors, lol) in presentations was still the norm four years back. This unwillingness/inability to adapt to changes in something as fundamental to gaming as video/audio tech illustrates the point rather bluntly, at least to my mind. Edit: I should note that, while I do sound cynical (and I am) and negative about the industry in my posts, I do honestly think that, after a time, the industry will manage to reimagine itself. I won't predict what it will look like in the end though, since consumption trends are unpredictable in times of economic trouble. Japan's economy hasn't been in great shape for decades, but it is increasingly vulnerable to outside influences (it was less so in previous decades due to certain trade policies) aside from the obvious ones like fuel and plastics. While I did note that there was a dramatic increase in the number of fantasy VNs in recent years (a delayed reaction to the trends in manga, LNs, and anime... at least to my eye), I don't think this trend is going to last long enough to entrench itself, though I wish it would. That is because fantasy has reached saturation levels in the other otaku media, to the point where I'm pretty sure people are going to become sick of it soon. I seriously doubt that will lead to more SOL nostalgia booms though, because the era in which the current generation grew up in is far different from the one mine did. ... I do have a few nightmare scenarios running in the back of my head for the industry as a whole, but I won't inflict those on anyone else, since they are depressing as all hell. I also have some really optimistic ones. I won't share those either, since wishful thinking rarely comes true, lol.

This is my impression of what the state the industry is in right now (some of this is repeated from previous posts I've made here on the forums). Just to get this out of the way, the VN industry (non-nukige) is currently in the process of contracting and changing priorities. The industry has long relied charage/moege to keep sales up, which has ironically led to most of the writing talent fleeing to other mediums. This wasn't really a problem until the last six years or so. Why has it become a problem? Because my generation in Japan has less money for spending on high school nostalgia than it did back in 2014. At the same time, the younger generation of otakus in Japan is far less interested in standard charage (high school situations, predictable romances, etc), so this means that the industry is not set up to compensate for the demographic changes in its consumer base. To be blunt, more and more VN consumers want something with an actual story. Unfortunately, due to the trends of the last decade, writers who can actually produce what they want are in short supply. As a result, the VN industry is contracting as companies find they can't replace the talent they abandoned during the charage boom as easily as they could the random ero-writers they've been using up until now. A few pieces of evidence (that don't involve hearsay). The relative number of plotge to charage made in the last two years (regardless of quality) has tipped toward plotge significantly... though most of those are of lower quality than in the pre-2015 years due to the aforementioned lack of talented writers. Navel and the other major names in particular are aggressively testing the waters, as is evidenced by their releases in the last few years (fewer FDs, more new IPs, resurrection of IPs with a differing atmosphere than previously seen, etc). A few hiccups: Overcompensation... the fondness of the younger generation for the consumption of escapist material has led to a string of low-quality fantasy VNs in the last couple of years (Digination being the source of many of them). This would normally be a good sign, but it is troubling that the new writing talent that is emerging isn't leaving much of an impression on someone who is as much of a fantasy addict as I am. The flow of money into these 'experimental' games (lol) has diverted funds that probably would have normally been pumped into charage developing, which has caused the actual number of non-nukige VNs released to fall overall. A key statistic drawn from my experiences over the past decade... Until the last two years, it was normal for 6 or more non-nukige VNs to be released each month on average. However, increasingly we are seeing months where only three or four releases are seen... and those releases differ significantly in nature from previous years (and are even spottier in quality).

Looks like the dl versions on dlsite and Getchu are both no-voice. The original download edition that might or might not have voices doesn't seem to be available.

Worse? Because at least there was a conclusion to each chapter of Leyline that didn't leave you completely frustrated (it just left the central story and mystery unresolved). In this case it feels like an anime where the studio went bankrupt halfway through and just randomly released what they'd already done without looking it over first.

Ryuusei World Actor is the latest VN by the up-and-coming plotge and chuunige specialist company, Digination, under its subsidiary Heliodor. This company's games so far have been somewhat unpredictable and unbalanced in my experience, with a great deal of ambition and not quite enough talent to pull things through completely. I say this from the point of view of a long-time chuunige/plotge addict, and from the perspective of a person that has played two of their games to the end and sampled two others. Moreover, this is a Kinugasa Shougo game... his first since the second Reminiscence game (which is probably why Tonari no Shoujo never got released, the whimsical jackass that he is). The bits and pieces of Kaito's worst qualities seen in Ruka (the protagonist of this game) make it pretty obvious who wrote this game, as do the way the endings are handled. This game is based in a world where dozens (literally) of sapient species coexist (in the sense that they are alive, though their countries war against one another constantly) in the only nation that accepts all races, as well as the only nation that has achieved a high-tech civilization, The Seventh Federation. The protagonist, Ruka, is a low-ranking detective with a lot of bad habits who gets on just about everyone's nerves (including the readers' at times). He rarely admits when he is wrong, complains when things don't go perfectly his way, uses numerous illegal sources, and generally makes every other cop look good in comparison (even the ones who take bribes). That said, when he wants to be, he is quite capable... even ingenious. Unfortunately, that is coupled with a lack of motivation except when cornered, a tendency to get involved with incidents his superiors don't want investigated, and a fundamentally amoral ethos to getting things done. In other words, except during a few moments when he shows his true colors, he can be a constant irritant to vicariously experience, simply because the reactions of those around him are almost entirely negative and his attitude is bad enough that you can't blame them. This game is not ladder-style, unlike many of the previous games by this company. Rather, it utilizes a classic (though I don't necessarily consider classic a compliment) structure where you must experience the three sub-heroine routes before you can see the true route (Claris's route). The heroines in this game include Claris, the protagonist's naive rookie elven partner; Chiffon, a Seguit (think inhumanly strong barbarian race) with a strong sense of honor who is living on a shoestring budget because of her easy-to-fool goody-goody personality; Mel, the princess of a primitive human nation of powerful warrior-mages who is in hiding; and Komachi, a female traffic cop who is constantly going to mixers in hope of finding the perfect guy. Common The common route, as is common in most VNs, serves as an intro to the characters, their personalities, and their circumstances. It is often humorous (well, I found it so), though there are just as many serious moments due to the nature of Ruka's job... and his bad habits. To be honest, I found the common route serviceable, but it also shares a complaint I had throughout the VN, from beginning to end... despite the fact that the protagonist is actually very capable, he almost never shows it. While Ruka can be depended on to bring cases to a conclusion, his lack of an interest in credit for his work (mostly because he knows he won't benefit even if he does get credit), his need to hide his true abilities (he has good reasons, but I honestly felt that this aspect was perhaps something they should have cut out), and his tendency to bring things to a conclusion in the worst way possible while solving the case (for him) is often frustrating. Worse is the lack of lateral connections between the heroines, with most of their connection being through the protagonist and momentary, rather than being a near-constant. The combat scenes in the common route are decent... even good. However, they are frustratingly short considering the sheer number of abilities and powers apparently present throughout the Seventh Republic and its races. The common route also fails to really bring the Seventh Republic's peoples to life, which i found irritating, since the setting has such potential. Chiffon Chiffon's path is the earliest branch (the only early branch) and is really a sub-heroine path in structure. Chiffon is perhaps the most pure-hearted person in the VN (mostly competing with Mel, though I give Chiffon the pure-pure prize due to Mel's surprising familiarity with things that made me wince). Her innocence, naivete, and strong code of honor also make me tentatively name her as one of only two people in the VN I consider to be 'true good' alignment characters (the other is Melissa, the fairy the protagonist rescues fairly early on). Chiffon's path is the weakest and (oddly considering she is probably the strongest fighter amongst the heroines) the most SOL-centric. I liked the relationship, but that was despite how it developed rather than because of how it developed. This path showed off one of the major reasons I am so wary of this company's games... the inconsistent pacing. This path is also the one that is most completely disconnected from the others, and that is more than a little irritating. The epilogue in this path is good in the sense that it is based more than 'next week' and it reflects the results of the events that occurred in the more dramatic ending parts. However, I felt it could have been more extensive, to compensate for the shortness of the main path... Komachi Komachi is my least favorite heroine. She is also a Victim A type heroine (the nosy investigative type with no ability to protect herself), which I constantly scream at whenever they get included in an action story game. This is in comparison to Mel, who is a Victim B type heroine (the virtually helpless sheltered girl who is caught up in circumstances beyond her control), and the choice to plop a heroine like this into the story is questionable at best. I honestly think she should have been position as an occasional sex-friend who dies partway through (hence the Victim A label) or a side-character rather than a heroine, considering the type of story this game is. Her path's value lies in what it reveals about certain members of the Cult, rather than in Komachi's circumstances themselves. This path is a rather obvious 'revelation preparation for the true path' path, and it seems to exist solely for providing the information that comes out in it. The romance feels a bit forced and the way the two get together just doesn't sit right with me, after reading it. Mel I'll say this straight out... Mel's path needed a 'five years later' after story. For better or worse, the core conflict is left only partially resolved (Mel's issues), and, in classic Kinugasa Shougo faction, nothing is concluded. This is the thing I hate most about Kinugasa Shougo... and the part that he seems to insist on unless the company he works for forces him to act otherwise. Mel's path itself has some excellent action scenes (several levels above either Chiffon's or Komachi's), but it feels like they only scratched the surface of the potential for this path. As such, I felt more than a little irritated about how it was handled. Unlike Komachi's and Chiffon's paths, where the romantic elements felt forced, it is rather obvious that Mel had a crush on Ruka from early on, so I wasn't bothered by the romantic shift. True/Claris Aaah... I'm going to be clear about this. This path reveals the truth of Ruka's past, which is hinted at repeatedly throughout the VN, but is mostly shoved to the side in the other paths. It also clarifies his relationship to Claris, who turns out to be a halfway decent heroine... ... unfortunately, this suffers from what I'm tempted to call 'Kinugasa Syndrome'... in other words, Kinugasa Shougo's absolute hatred of concluding his own stories (extrapolated from his writing habits). For better or worse, Claris's path suffers from this disease. Actually, in some ways it is worse, since it cuts off just when things were getting interesting, probably to let them set up a sequel. Claris's path occurs chronologically after a non-romantic version of the other heroines' paths (predictably so, since that is one of Kinugasa's standard storytelling techniques, as was seen by how he handled the transition to Akagoei 3). It is actually written quite well, and its paced about as good or better than Mel's path... but somehow, there is even less action (disappointing, considering the case they are chasing). I honestly was frustrated with how this path ended... especially since it really doesn't go anywhere beyond handling the protagonist's past and a number of h-scenes. I was deeply disappointed by how this was handled, and I'm more than a little angry about the way it cut off... It is hard to describe just how sharply this story gets cut short... literally nothing gets concluded, obviously setting things up for a sequel... but without even the minimal effort to throw the readers a bone that Shougo usually makes. Epilogue This game concludes with an epilogue that becomes available after finishing the four heroine paths. It is mostly a short get-together of the four formerly-young detectives that joined at the same time as Ruka, and it rather blatantly sets things up for a sequel... which made me want to pull out the few strands of hair still remaining on the top of my head. I hate it when no attempt is made to at least tie off a few strands of the storyline. Even in the original Akagoei, at least some of the conflicts were resolved (though he deliberately overturned most of them in Akagoei 3, with Kaoru's path being the storyline that heads into Akagoei 3). Conclusion A game whose setting possesses enormous potential, ruined by Kinugasa Shougo being allowed to indulge all of his worst habits without restraint... and with none of his good ones really surfacing at any point of the VN. Edit: When writing the above review, I tended to focus on what was wrong with the VN... and that was perhaps inevitable since I wrote each part after the conclusion of a path, and the conclusions to each path are singularly unsatisfying, even for something by this writer. What was good about this VN? First is the setting... the Seventh Federation is an interesting country, a nation enveloped in permanent darkness with numerous races coexisting within. Second? The characters. The characters are all well-defined and stand out well (except the heroines, who oddly are some of the weakest characters... well, other than Claris), and I smiled frequently at the kind of BS Ruka spewed whenever things weren't going to his advantage. The detective action is sometimes hit and miss... but Ruka really is intelligent and experienced as a detective... he is just apathetic when he doesn't have something or someone prodding him to do his job. Honestly, the only thing I can say to anyone considering reading this VN is wait for a potential sequel to come out. Until one does, this game will be nothing but frustrating to most people.

fixed it.

My answers are above.

https://vndb.org/c76126 https://vndb.org/c25696 https://vndb.org/c12468 https://vndb.org/c18314 https://vndb.org/c34521 https://vndb.org/c48080 https://vndb.org/c9704 https://vndb.org/c50404 https://vndb.org/c63986 https://vndb.org/c40541 https://vndb.org/c32429 https://vndb.org/c34901 https://vndb.org/c34955 https://vndb.org/c52656 It keeps going and going and going...

Clochette makes oppai heroine charage.

Some series/games that reused the same universe well: Dir Lifyna (the Ikusa Megami series, Himegari, Kamidori, etc) is perhaps the most famous ongoing shared universe in Japanese VNs... with more than ten games made in the universe in various time periods and regions. Essentially, it established the concepts and very generalized history of the world and the rest is branches off of that. The Silverio series handled reusing the post-apocalyptic 'Astral' universe really well, even managing to fit two entire casts of characters into a very short time period without it feeling forced. The 'Arcology' series by Applique reuses the same post-apocalyptic universe where humanity escaped into arcologies to escape a massive asteroid storm. The Akagoei and Reminiscence series reuse the same universe effectively, sharing some characters across the two series, though a huge blank spot is left as to how things got to Reminiscence (where people are living underground) from the events in the Akagoei series (where people were just living in an excessively stratified dystopian society). The Shinzabansho series by Light, written by Masada (Dies Irae, Paradise Lost, Kajiri Kamui Kagura, Kaziklu Bey) creates a strong shared universe based on the concept of a single being defining the central 'rule' of the world by essentially dethroning the previous deity. I'll avoid details so you can enjoy it for yourselves without excessive spoilers. Edit: Understand, the primary reasons for the success of multiple games in the same universe comes from whether the first game established a setting concept or story type that keeps fans interested in seeing more stuff come out of that world. Nobody wanted a second Senshinkan game, for instance, and the reason why became rather obvious with Bansenjin's release. A key point is that you don't 'destroy the setting' in the process of completing the original game. Senshinkan essentially completed the journey within itself and was played out. However, Bansenjin reopened it and brought back its uninspiring cast in an uninspiring fashion (out of all the Masada games, Senshinkan had the worst cast of characters). 'Closing out a setting' is common in fantasy-action and chuunige, where often the basis for the mystical element of the setting is destroyed or disrupted in the process of completing the story. Using weak excuses and after-the-fact loopholes to revive a setting is generally a poor choice. Creating a setting that can be reused requires you to plan for it to be reused in the first place. As an example, Silverio Vendetta's Esperanto tech, which allows for the powers the characters possess, is not eliminated through the process of completing the true route of the game. As a result, the consequences of that tech spreading create the situation that exists in Silverio Trinity, making the micro-setting in Silverio Trinity within the greater Silverio universe stronger and a logical outgrowth of the aftermath of Vendetta.

I plan to get Fujinon anyway, but I do want Tomoe Gozen regardless... I love the oni characters in this game, and I kind of want to field a team of only oni if that ever becomes possible, just for kicks. I would never let a KnK character pass, after I spent dozens of hours reworking the translation of the movies for my personal collection... Edit: I have to wonder if they will ever drop any KnK characters besides Fujinon and Shiki... Touko would make an interesting support-type Caster, probably with a multi-Guts skill named after her dolls, lol. For that matter, Tsukihime characters a Berserker Arcueid and Akiha... give Akiha an AOE NP that absorbs HP and distributes it to the party and Arcueid a regeneration skill and an invincibility skill. Oh well, one can dream.

This is the latest game by Clochette, a company known mostly for four things: It's decent stories, it's excellent characters, a tendency toward fantasy and sci-fi settings, and the forest of oppai heroines that spring up in its wake. lol Clochette is straight out my favorite plotge/charage hybrid company, mostly because they understand what they do well and don't try to do anything but develop from that perspective. The result is that I can depend on their games being enjoyable. Some people will probably go 'eh? Isn't that a matter of course?', but most companies that always produce the same genre never manage Clochette's level of consistency in quality and type. To be straight, this is the only charage company whose games I can still enjoy without reservation, even after my burnout. Kokorone is based in a setting where mysterious out of place objects, in the form of underground black pyramids surrounded by unnatural foliage, began granting people mysterious powers about thirty years before. The protagonist, Komachiya Soushirou, has one such ability that he defines as an affliction. His ability is indiscriminate telepathic reception (under the theory that people 'project' their emotions and thoughts constantly if they don't try to shut it off). He suffers from headaches and having to hear people spill their thoughts and emotions into his mind wherever he goes, and he can't shut it off. That said, seeing as this is a Clochette game, this 'constant suffering' stage only lasts about five minutes (Clochette games have dark moments, but none of them have an overbearing atmosphere). It is soon relieved by his experience of the mind of Kamishiro Sumika, one of the game's heroines, and he finds himself drawn into helping out with her club, which tries to build bridges between Magia Saucers (yes, that is the name for them, lol) and normal people. They are joined by the iai mistress and Sumika's best friend, Tatewaki Chihaya; the genius Magia researcher Tsumuri; her cat-like best friend Leeruxu; and (eventually) the protagonist's senpai-imouto Nazuna (yes, she is both his little sister and his senpai). The common route is pretty straightforward Clochette, with ecchi happenings that never cross the line, mild humor, and a few serious story/plot points that serve to properly introduce you to the setting and characters (and give you an idea of what the heroines will be like). The protagonist does deal with his personal issues in the common route just well enough to provide a baseline for them possibly becoming less important in the heroine routes (or become important again, depending on the path), which was definitely intentional and typical of heroine routes... but I never really thought Clochette would pursue the production of a game with a constantly gloomy protagonist, anyway. Chii-chan (Chihaya) Because of this route, Chihaya will forever be Chii-chan to me. I mean, Chii-chan is so adorable that you can totally see why Sumika adores her... and the route is extremely lovey-dovey, even at its darkest moments. Part of that is helped by Chihaya being a complete open book to the protagonist for much of the path, resulting in an endless cycle of ichaicha that is oddly non-annoying (probably because the ability to see into her head makes it less fake-seeming). Anyway, Chihaya's route focuses, unsurprisingly, on the personal issues for her that surround her Magia and her relationship with her father... as well as the problems Magia can cause for athletes and competitive martial artists (by law, they can't participate). This route gets highly emotional at times, especially toward the end, but it stays light and cute for the most part. Leeruxu The obligatory catgirl of this VN, a young woman who possesses a Magia that grants her incredible physical abilities and the visual traits of a cat-person. She is a friendly and whimsical heroine, closing in suddenly and vanishing on a whim. She eats a lot (think food-fighter levels), and she can generally be trusted to be smiling or encourage a warm atmosphere wherever she goes. Her path circles around her abandonment issues and the protagonist's reaction to them, and as a result, it has less focus on the characters' powers than in Chii-chan's path. There are some strong emotional moments in this path, as Leeruxu's issues have a very strong basis in her past that isn't easy go leave behind. That said, it mostly comes off as a moe-focused sort-of nakige route... especially since everything about Leeruxu is built to be moe or ero, right down to her voice. Nazuna Nazuna is the protagonist's imouto (little sister for the uninitiated) and she is pretty typical of Clochette imouto characters. How so? Every single Clochette imouto shares two major qualities... they are a total brocon and they are extremely erotically designed (all Clochette heroines manage to be ero in a good way, despite being oppai monsters). Nazuna shares this quality with standard-issue tsundere piled on top, in the way of old-style tsundere (right down to the classic tone of voice when denying her affection). Also typical of routes for these heroines, the incest issue is mostly minor to the heroine and protagonist, though there is a short period of thinking over the difficulties involved. (incidentally, Nazuna is only #4 on my Clochette imouto list, with Konoka from Prism Recollection being the top so far, mostly because they did so good a job combining her quirks, her high intelligence, and fundamentally tragic innocence... oh yeah, and her perversion) As a clarification, one reason why most Clochette sister heroine routes go more smoothly than most is because there is usually at least one other person who is supportive of the relationship, if not the entire group of heroines and sub-characters. While drama often pops up later on in the path, the initial transition is usually fast and easy, in comparison to blood-related imouto characters in other companies' games. In exchange for not being overly focused on incest drama, this path tends to focus on the issues with their deceased parents and their relationship to the school they are attending... and the dreams they left behind for the relationship between Magia Saucers and normies (lol). Note: I'm doing this VN really slowly, doing a path whenever I feel like it, but one thing I'm noticing is that there is a great reduction in drama from previous games by this company. While the issues of the prejudice between Magia Saucers and normal people are present in each path, in the ones I've done so far, it has been mostly mild. Sumika Unusually for Clochette, Sumika is the main/true heroine of this game, though you can play her path from the beginning. Sumika is a kind-hearted, innocent young woman who desires nothing more than to see others happy. Her goal is to see Magia Saucers and normal people get along, and she works hard as the club leader to make it happen (while baking cakes and other snacks for her friends). She is an 'open book', as her spoken words and inner 'voice' don't vary from one another very often, and she is the 'voice' that heals the protagonist of his growing misanthropy early on in the story. Her path, atypically for Clochette, is by far the most extensive in terms of dealing with Magia-related issues, the protagonist's past, and his problems with his ability. As a result, this path feels the most like a normal Clochette path, though it is also the only path that doesn't have an epilogue. It is an excellent path, but, having read it, I have absolutely no desire to be disappointed by Tsumuri's path, so I'll stop my play here. Conclusion As a charage, this is a top-class game, with all the best elements of a charage (ichaicha romance, SOL, mild comedy, etc) involved without most of the flaws (average/weak protagonist, lack of origin for romantic feelings, excessive dating). As a Clochette game, however, it falls somewhere below the midline, being just a bit better than Amatsu Misora Ni while falling below all their other works. That said, even a below-average Clochette game is still much better than the common ruck of charage, so I can honestly recommend it to those who love oppai and charage, lol.