Pallas_Raven

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Directions From On High The player is a wild and chaotic beast prone to doing what you least expect and are both the joy and bane of developers. This is especially true for any game which focuses on narrative as its core element since there is no guarantee the player will experience the story in the way the designers intended and even more so if there is any form of freedom offered. Visual novels fall into this category and since their narratives form the backbone of the experience it is vital for many of them to ensure the player never gets lost or confused as to the intentions of the story or finds a major plot point before they should. The solution which many visual novels have developed is the Enforced Play Order. This is a restricting of what parts of the game the player has access to at one time and acts to control their progress while ensuring a smoother transition from one route to another. However, there is no unified approach to how this Enforced Play Order should be implemented. There are instead three main ways it implemented, a completely rigid play order, only having the finale locked and moving in and out of controlling the player’s progress. It is these which will form the basis of discussion in this article and will be explored to see the pros and cons of each method. So let’s follow the path laid out before us and dive into the Enforced Play Order. Rigid Play Order Sometimes the best approach is to give the player no freedom at all, why risk them misunderstanding something when you can take them by the hand and make sure they experience everything correctly? This is the idea at the core of the Rigid Play Order and it is the realm of the plot heavy visual novel which would suffer the worse from the possible confusion of the player. Being rigid does have its advantages and does not necessarily exclude them from the benefits of the more flexible approaches. Controlling the player’s approach to the game provides the developer with a rigid framework to shape their visual novel around as they do not have to account for any discrepancies which might occur due to the order a player experiences it in. In other words they have control over the pacing and plot progression in a way which is simple for both them and the player. Having a tightly paced game makes sure the player is on the same page as the game and forges a more memorable journey as the highs and lows are presented to the player in a way that feels natural. A more free-form visual novel risks becoming more lumpy with sections of good and bad content showing unevenly throughout and leaving an inconsistent taste in the player’s mouth. Rigid Play Order avoids this pitfall through the smooth direction it can give the player and the way it can ensure that they are given the best content at the right moment to leave them with an overall positive impression while communicating its ideas. If there is one game which embodies this approach it is Wonderful Everyday. Each route exists in a linear order with a distinct segregation to make it clear when the narrative has moved on and ensures the player knows exacts the direction to go next. Despite this there is a strong flow throughout the entire experience as the different character perspectives on the same events slowly fill out the player’s understanding in a rewarding way that makes sure they have exact amount of new information to be engaged while keeping the mystery thick. This would not be possible without the exacting control offered by the Rigid Play Order since without this backbone it would not be possible to know what the player would do first and so be forced to spread the content thin across the game while not giving the larger nuggets present in the actual game. It might be tempting to paint the entire approach to Rigid Play Order as one that comes at the cost of player freedom but, while there is some truth to this idea, many visual novels which follow this method have a flexibility that becomes available upon repeated playthroughs. Most games using this technique do so through a series of unlocking routes and these extend from a common route like most other visual novels. So once all have been unlocked what remains is a standard free-form narrative many expect from the medium and this makes the next playthrough one tailored by the player as they can pick and choose which parts to replay. This freedom is fine for the Rigid Play Order since it is mainly interested in ensuring the first experience is as strong as possible and as these games often rely major plot elements not being spoiled there is no reason to constrict the player after the curtain has been pulled back. Finale Only Lock Not every game wants to tell a complicated story but many still want to have the sense of conclusion and cohesion offered by a more rigid narrative. To answer this need the approach of the Finale Lock was born. This method gives the player freedom within the main narrative but prevents them from accessing the final route or section until all other content has been completed. As such this leans heavily into the more free-form nature of visual novels. Placing characters front and centre is what this approach to Enforced Play Order thrives on. As the visual novel cannot rely on the order a player experiences the game outside of the final route, it instead has to make the thrust of its themes through each routes’ main heroine and have the final heroine acts as the thread that ties the emotional core of the game together. This leads to a style of narrative favouring a resonance with the player over engaging their minds and by extension is free-form due to not being constrained by a need to tell a story in a set order as it relys on the feelings of the player to form its identity. The final route is provides a means to bring the character beats together into something more cohesive rather than the soup of emotion it would be otherwise. Clannad is a good example of this character emphasis and its role within a final route. For the vast majority of the playtime it gives the player free rein over its many different parts but once these are completed the After Story final route is unlocked. This brings together the emotional heart of Clannad which was spread out over the game into a place where it can be easily viewed and player can come to appreciate the journey to this point. It also works to pay off the feelings built up in each route and gives the player a place to come to terms with them in a structured manner. Of course not every visual novel using this approach is interested in anything as complicated as emotional resonance, for many it is simply a means to give a conclusive feeling to the game and reward the player for getting through the rest of it. They achieve this by packing the majority of the plot and action into the final route to create a sense of escalation after the relatively static structure of the heroine routes. This contrast acts as a type of reward with everything that came before being a strong form of catharsis and this works to encourage a tired player to continue to the end. Once a conclusion is reached to the final route, the release of coming out of the high of the climax gives it a sense of finality which leaves the player with a wave of satisfaction. When looking at Date A Live: Rinne Utopia this approach can be clearly seen. The final route belongs to the titular Rinne and is a distinctive deviation from the standard structure present in all the other routes. Coupled with the general sense that everything is falling apart at the seams and the route take on a unique identity that immediately grabs the player and revitalises their interest in the game. It is in many ways the carrot dangled in front of the player throughout the game given Rinne’s obvious importance and this adds to the sense of finality present as the climax of this final route arrives. Mixing Control and Freedom Of course between these two extremes are the visual novels who want to merge control and freedom in order to best fit their narratives. For these the approach of moving in and out of controlling the player’s options was formed to suit their needs. To achieve this these games will open with freedom or control and shift into the opposite one and back again as the story they are telling demands. What results is an experience formed around the narrative but it is a delicate balancing act with many points where the player could lose interest. This approach to the Enforced Play Order is a delicate balancing act between freedom and control and runs the risks of both extremes. If the game leans too much into control it could lead to the player feeling restricted, but too much freedom and it could confuse the themes and ideas it is attempting to show. Just enough of each end of the spectrum must be shown to the player to achieve the desired effect before switching to the other end in order to prevent either from outstaying its welcome. Should the equilibrium be struck then the visual novel can have the best of both worlds, gaining the clarity of one and the openness of the other. A good example of this is I/O which starts out with an extremely rigid series of sections before opening up for a time and then closing up again for the finale. Having this space in the middle allows the game to provide room for the player to contemplate the mysteries the previous sections set up and tackle the part they want more information about. This is directed by how the rigid sections controlled their presentation of its mysteries and so even in a free-form space the player still have a concise direction to follow with their curiosity. Just like with Rigid Play Order, this mixture of freedom and control is a matter of emphasis and pacing within the game’s structure. Switching between such vastly different feeling structures creates a distinctive divide that highlights each section through the peaks and troughs provided by changing between them. What results is a mechanism via which the visual novel can shape how the player views certain parts with the use of contrast to create a looser form version of what Rigid Play Order aims to achieve. Perhaps the strongest example of this can be seen in Virtue's Last Reward which subtly weaves in and out of a free-form structure as the player makes their choices and hits locked sections they need to complete another part to access. These locks funnel the player down set paths but in such a way that does not immediately feel restrictive and instead fuels the player’s curiosity as to what is hidden behind them. On top this it ensures the player can never stumble upon anything important without proper context which in a narrative focused game like Virtue's Last Reward is critical for its success. Conclusion Exercising control over the player is something which offers visual novels a lot of options when it comes to tailoring the experience they are presenting. An absolutely rigid approach give the game the means to pace itself to the player’s benefit for a smoother and even structure. On the other hand just having a single unlockable final route provides a sense of closure the game might otherwise lack. If you mix these two methods together the result is a flexible ebb and flow to the game but at the risk of gaining the negatives of both. Overall the Enforced Play Order is an interesting tool in the visual novel developer’s pocket and offers an opposing design space to the more kitchen skin approach for a healthier spread of constructions. It is definitely something to keep in the back of your mind as your game comes together as even a small amount of it can significantly change the perception of its narrative.

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Forbidden Love? If there is one genre which thrives in the visual novel space it is Yuri. While other mediums and types of games touch on Yuri, there are none that put their entire focus on it in quite the all consuming way present in visual novels. Rather than being a sideshow for another genre to use as romantic fluff, it is front and centre in many of the best and defining titles you can play. On top of this prominence there is a distinct difference of approach to the genre taken by Japanese and Western developers. One presents a romance steeped in purity and idealism while the other focuses in on the issues of identity and belonging that effect the characters. These divergent paths have led to a variety of content and themes not present in many other spaces. Over the course of this deep dive these elements will be explored as well as a rich landscape of creators and visions of what Yuri means. Let’s fall in love with a cute girl and find out what makes the genre tick. Vision of Purity – Japanese Yuri Pervasive within Japanese Yuri is the idea of the romance as being akin to a garden of flowers and the pairing as the most brilliant blooms among them. The focus on a very specific set of emotions adds some distinctive flavour to the love story and helps this genre stand out. However, under the surface there is the same treatment of love as a form of titillation to sell a product in many games which use Yuri as a secondary element. At its core the link to flowers and purity found in this style of Yuri stems from an extreme idealisation of the lesbian romance. It is placed in opposition to a male centric romance story which is by contrast is a tale of desire and lust with love being the ultimate driver behind it but obscured by this layer of impurity and dirtiness associated with men. In contrast the female is seen as the purer sex and thus it follows that any love between two of them would be equally pure. Even when lust does enter the conversation it treated with a sanctity as if it were the precursor to a holy act of union. Generally this is caked in vaguely Christian iconography and language, such as the pair attending a Catholic school, to present the pair’s relationship as an act before some kind of unseen divine presence which accepts their choice of partner. We can see this in the Sono Hanabira series where the complete focus on a single couple makes it stand out the most. For each game their pairing is presented with a sort of all consuming sanctity, everything points to the couple from the supporting cast to the everyday events, even previous games’ couples act as conduits to insure the new couple comes together. An entire world orientated towards an outcome is a pretty convincing argument for its legitimacy. Theirs is a union painted through bright colours and delicate gazes and there is an almost otherworldly glow to their encounters to better emphasise the feelings they are enraptured by and the purity of their intention. Sono Hanabria is a particularly good example of these traits since it leans into lust as part of its content and even there the colours never let up, their acts are done in the light of day and have none of the messiness of a male orientated union, but it is instead one where only the cleanest intentions are realised and this is reflected in their language and generally cleanliness of proceedings. Overall it is a unique presentation of romance that puts this particular coupling on an almost unattainable level. These distinctive traits do allow for the exploration of some emotions often forgotten about or sidelined in a more traditional romance story. The two points it excels at are the capturing of the feeling of wishful longing and the power our desire for human connection has over us. Capturing the essence of wishful longing within a romantic context is something many stories gloss over in favour of the more dramatic aspects of a relationship, such as the confession, and the intense focus affords to it in Yuri helps the genre stand out. Needing to be with someone else for your happiness is a part of love that effects both participants in often vague ways and the pale colour and idealises space of Yuri is a perfect place for exploring this since it can shift its already vague imagery towards this equally vague subject. In doing so it can present the emotions of its characters and explore the reasons for their emotional state and the effects it has on people. By extension the power of the human desire for connections is expressed through the completion of the longing and the realisation of the pair’s bond. Similarly to the longing, this is made possible by Yuri’s extreme emphasis on the emotional states of its characters and makes the strength of their desire for each other clear and gives a good space for exploring what exactly this means in practice. Of course not everyone sells this vision of purity for the right reasons, there is no denying that the teasing of Yuri is a strong selling point for a product and there are many visual novels which lean into this for all the wrong reasons. These are the type of visual novels which have Yuri as a flavour to entice in an audience without then committing to the idea as in practice they pay it off with only vague insinuations. They also make use of the aesthetic by signalling the colour and composition associated with Yuri to paint the game in Yuri to complement the main thrust of the game, but the result often feels hollow because the juggling act between these elements is difficult to manage while keep a consistent tone. An example of this attitude to Yuri can be seen in The Curse of Kudan which uses it as a side element to drive the emotional core behind its main mystery focus. What results is a confused experience with the Yuri cues not matching the serious and darker mystery causing a form of narrative whiplash. Alongside this is the problem of the romances feeling undercooked and merely in there to act as bait to keep the player hooked without the developer considering that will have to pay this off at some point. This type of treatment for Yuri is strangely common despite its very mixed results from an overall game standpoint and more often than not leaves a sour taste in the player’s mouth. A Vision of Reality – Western Yuri For Western Yuri the presentation and priorities are very different than with Japanese Yuri to the point at which the only commonality at times is their base subject matter. Rather than pastel idealism there is instead a sense of the weight to the relationship. It is something to be treasured but there are many experiences which will be difficult or strange to those under these emotions. This shift in approach from their Japanese peers stems from the different origins of those creating the influential titles and the space around the topic which has developed. Even when the setting is fantastical Western Yuri has its sights firmly set in the real and grounded experience that reflects the lives of actual lesbians. These take the issues and frames them individually within events and characters who bring it into an easy to digest form that emphasises the emotions involved. Presentation of these themes is not limited by an established visual language and instead plays host to many contrasting uses of imagery from other genres with interesting merges taking place in order to get the desired effect. As a result there are a lot of different interpretations of the same ideas that have arisen leading to many new ways of approaching the Yuri design space as well as a fair amount of cross-pollinating from popular games. One of the best examples of this culture of design can be seen in Blackberry Honey. This visual novel, set in mid-19th century England, takes the issues surrounding lesbians relationships and puts them into a distinctive historical context which allows them to standout against a world hostile to their existence. In assuming the visual identity of the era the game gains a presentation it can play with to better convey its ideas without being bound to a set of prescribed iconography. On the other hand this does mean the game has to work twice as hard to make sure it is clear in its intent since it has nothing within the player’s established understanding of the genre to fall back on. It is a trading of stability for freedom and it is a common choice among many Western Yuri games. The difference in approach originates for the far more indie centric development of Yuri visual novels due to the way the market has developed in the West. Rather than being defined by an industry in need of profit to survive, the Western scene is defined by individuals or small groups who act within the genre out of a love for it and as a result the vast majority of the visual novels produced by them are passion projects that their developers do not expect to make large (if any) profits from. As you would expect this leads to a diverse field both in terms of game concepts but also the people involved due to the low barrier for entry and easy access to simple but competent engines. Of course such a wide array of releases leads to an unevenness in terms of quality with many being basic in nature with a few which stand out for their distinctive originality, but each one has the same passion and contain the experiences and thoughts of their developers. NomnomNami is a good example of an individual within this space. Their projects are small in scale but tight in focus and have allowed them to develop a visual and narrative identity of their own that reflects their passion for the ideas they express. Rather than being made with an eye for sales their projects are the stories they want to tell and this comes across in every moment of these games. They also showcase of how there is a lot of overlap in Western Yuri between the genre and other LGBTQ+ narratives and spaces. Many of their works often touch on, if not outright make the focus, other feelings effecting this group and the commonality between them. Conclusion Regardless of which of the two approaches you might follow in your own work or play, there is no denying the unique power that Yuri has to inspire the presentation of often unexplored ideas and emotions in relatable fashions. Be it through the bright colours, pseudo religious imaginary and idealism of Japanese Yuri or the grounded, alive and real issue orientated Western Yuri, there is no limit to the sheer variety of expressive tools on offer for budding developers. Each one offers some angle on love that a more traditional romance experience would shy away from but which Yuri makes front and centre for all to see. The strange mixture of longing, desire, hopes, acceptance and realisation which make the space such a sight to behold continue to attract more people into the genre. Perhaps something here tickled your creative juices and you want to explore this space more and doing so would definitely be worth your time as the diversity on display is not something any one article can possibly capture.

Honestly I do not blame you, Liberation Day was a mess in so many ways and definitely left a major scar in the reputation of the series.

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

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Final Destination Controlling how your game ends is crucial to the impression of it the player walks away with. This is an especially pressing issue for games with any kind of choice system which provides the option of alternative endings. If not handled correctly this can cause the narrative to come across as inconclusive and lacking a coherent identity. Something to tie the events of the game together is needed to ensure the player in clear as to the intent of the story. For visual novels this manifests in the True Ending which gives developers an immediately recognisable tool with which to create their branching narrative without having to worry about issues relating to interpretation. This is one of visual novel’s most well known features, outside of perhaps the Bad End, and has shaped how they form their structure and mechanical elements. However, is this a deserved reputation or have people merely become too intrenched in what is familiar to see the clear weaknesses in this method? Let’s meet our inevitable fate and see what the True Ending has to offer. What Is A True Ending? For the sake of this argument the True Ending will be defined as the primary ending to a route shown through the structure of the route itself and through the finality of its presentation. At first this might seem like a fairly simple definition, but it is in its interaction with other ending types and the overall structure of a visual novel that it becomes muddier. The first thing many people do is place in it a contrasting position to the Bad End, but this is more than a bit misleading. It assumes that a True Ending needs to be positive in nature in order to be the opposite force and this is simply not correct for many True Endings. Their ability to be flexible is one their greatest strengths and this includes being bittersweet or tragic in nature. By the same measure they are sometimes confused with Good Endings under the false assumption that the True Ending has to be happy. The only defining element that binds all True Endings together is their role as a conclusion to a route’s narrative. Another confusing interaction is with the True Route which is a technique many visual novels also utilise and can make for a lot of head scatting for an outside observer. Put simply a True Route concludes the game while a True Ending only concludes a route, through a True Ending can conclude the final route of the game but it generally plays second fiddle to the force provided to the narrative by a True Route. Providing Resolution At its core a True Ending is primarily interested in giving closure to a narrative. This is a complicated task as tying all the parts of route into a whole that leaves the player satisfied requires finesse. One of the main ways it has to achieve this aim is through the route’s focus character. Since the whole route revolves around this character the player’s eyes will be on them and they will likely have a great investment in this character’s struggles. As such a True Ending can frame itself through this character by linking its events to the end of their character arc in way that suits the overall themes of the story. This might seem like something an ending of any story should do, but the way it commits to it is different as it has an eye to how this individual route fits into the puzzle of the visual novel’s totality. Commonly this manifests as the ending leaving enough space in the character’s personality for growth in later routes while also not undercutting their resolution in the route itself. A good example of this is how G-senjou no Maou handles its character route endings in relation to the narrative’s progress. Each True Ending is paired up with a Bad End to ensure it has the highest impact through showing the failure of the character arc and how it relates to it success. There is an effort to never make the True Endings too happy in order for the character’s victories to come across as hard won. It also allow for later routes to provide them with a different type of resolution which does not come across as hollow by comparison to the character’s own route. What results is a controlled establishing and fulfillment of character resolution on the character route level and within the context of the complete game. The other important manner in which True Endings present resolution is through the use of the route as a marker within the visual novel’s overall plot. A route can assume a role as within the narrative both in terms of plot development and the message of the game. The True Ending of a route can leverage this through line to highlight itself as tying up this element of the game so it can be clearly burned into the player’s mind. When presenting an aspect of the plot, the True Ending can provide a moment of clarity for the player and tie up that part of the story so it does not have to be constantly reinforced, while also giving the ending a sense of satisfaction. On the other side, we have the message the game is trying to present and how an individual route plays into that idea. A True Ending can piggyback on the part of the message contained it its route by making this its core driving force in contrast to the other endings. It acts as a resolution to this element and this reflects back onto the ending, giving it a sense of closure and connection to the game as a whole. Flexibility With Tone Of all the way to end a route there are none as flexible as the True Ending and this is due to its ability to shift dynamically to fit the needs of both the route and the game overall. As has been alluded to before, one of the most noticeable ways it achieves this is through its ability to set the expectation for the ending in a way that does not demand the ending be neither happy or sad, but simply satisfying. In having this player expectation a developer can use True Ending to present what they want without worrying about disappointing the player and potentially losing their interest in the rest of the game. It also results in a wide variety of different ending constructions even within the same game and helps provide excitement since the player feels as if they cannot entirely predict how things will pan out. Fate Stay Night showcases this design philosophy well with its satisfying but not saccharine endings which play out dramatically differently to one another. The True Endings of Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven’s Feel could not be more different from each other in terms of vision and outcomes, despite still feeling as if they belong in the same game. This is due to how they take their respective route’s core ideas and drive them in contrasting directions to highlight a different angle on the same message. Without the expectations provided by True Endings, the way they play with events, which do not end entirely happily for those involved, might be viewed as a betrayal of the time the player put into the story. Providing satisfaction is not the only way in which player expectations can be leveraged to the benefit of a True Ending. For internal True Endings, those that do not conclude the game, there is an understanding that they are not entirely final in nature and this can be used to allow for a form of open ending to provide greater route flexility. This gives space for the ending to shape its own identity while not being tied to concluding everything it has covered and avoiding stepping on the toes of what other routes are going to focus on. In Corpse Party: Book of Shadows can be seen a series of good examples of how useful this aspect can be. Book of Shadows is a collection of connected smaller stories which each cover a different element of the story and world, so there is a lot of overlap between them as their respective themes and plots intersect. The True Ending of each story uses the expectations of the player to cleanly conclude their own narratives and still provide the room for the other stories to exist and form a whole puzzle together. Statement of Themes And Ideas The significance a True Ending holds within the structure of the narrative makes it the prefect framing device for a game’s themes and core ideas. As the player is expecting a finality to what is presented to them during a True Ending, they will be paying heightened attention to what is transpiring and be more susceptible to any implications or subtleties the developer wants to send their way. By mixing in themes and ideas from the rest of the game into this conclusive segment, the player will become more aware of how these elements have been present throughout the whole experience and come to understand the point of what the game is saying to them. This has a tendency of manifesting in visual novels with a single high impact True Ending such as Steins Gate which has its entire game structure push the player towards this ending. Its funnelling of the player gives a focus to the True Ending and makes the process of helping them understand the themes easier since all its important ingredients were presented in an obvious line. A True Ending just allows for these pieces to be brought into the light and Steins Gate exploits this opportunity to the full extent of its worth. How a True Ending relates to its fellow endings can be used to create a thematic contrast in order to allow the message of the visual novel to spelt out for the player. This generally involves having the True Ending be connected to choices and outcomes which are fundamentally different from any of the other endings. The result is a section of the game that stands separately from the rest and shines a light onto the problems in the thinking which lead the player to the other endings. WE KNOW THE DEVIL utilises this method especially well by having the other endings focus on a single characters struggles in isolation and having the True Ending showcasing that the solution to their issues can only be found through all the them facing their problems together. This contrasts isolation with unity provides a strong statement about which one the game thinks is the more compassionate and human path. While this is a particularly extreme example it nonetheless showcases how the True Ending can be used as a tool within the framework of other endings. Conclusion There are few features of a visual novel more memorable than its True Ending and this is due to how powerful a technique it is for leaving an impact on the player. Its focus around providing resolution for characters and plot elements gives it a flexility to imbue these parts of the narrative with the impact they deserve without causing issues for any future routes or overarching plot. Not being bound by expectations of tone lets a True Ending be satisfying for the player without needing to compromise itself and be suitable for use in any genre that might need what it offers due to its neutral narrative nature. On top of this, it offers a chance for the developer to make a statement about their vision for the ideas and themes of the game due to the conclusiveness of the True Ending or through its contrast with all the other endings. Through all these unique features the True Ending can offer you a chance to shape your visual novel and leave the player with a powerful memory that will stay with them long after they have closed the game.

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here. There Is Something Behind You Genres define the games they inhabit and how the game uses its unique features to achieve or subvert the expectations of the audience. This is especially true for horror which aims to invoke feelings in the player that many other genres deliberately steer clear of. As such it is an excellent candidate to begin to observe how visual novels adapt themselves to accommodate and play to the strengths of a specific genre. When a developer sets out to make a horror game they are shaping their game into a framework with the aim of creating fear and dread in the player. This is an extremely narrow set of priorities which often leads to creative use of assets and ideas, but also restricts what a game has access to in terms of standard motifs since it is highly incompatible with other genres. Visual novels are by nature a medium of limited means of expression while still being extremely flexible and has lead them to have an odd relationship with horror. Let’s dive in and find out exactly how the bond between them manifests. Less Is More In Horror And VNs The strongest bond between horror and visual novels is their understanding that less is more when it comes to narrative and presentation. For horror this is about not giving away too much information in order to insure that the source of the fear and dread does not become a known quantity and thus familiar to the player. By contrast visual novels lean into this narrative style more out of necessity due to the limitations of the medium and the need to keep the pace of story up while making the most out of the assets available in creative ways. Regardless of their differing reasons for this choice, it makes for an excellent pairing with horror which is able to cleanly achieve its aims and not put a burden on the resources of the visual novel. Perhaps the most iconic example of this common trait is the original Higurashi. This title had a very limited budget to work with resulting in the creator having to make all the artwork himself and splitting the overall narrative into a series of shorter visual novels. However, these apparent shortcomings were in fact strengths for the horror focus of the game. They prevented the source of the fear from becoming an easily identifiable element through the odd style of the artwork, and limited nature of its implementation does as much for obscuring the truth as the narrative. While other horror visual novels might not practice this technique to the extremes of Higurashi, they nevertheless lean into it for both budgetary and artistic reasons to help form the desired dread in the player. Monster Of The Week When it comes to structural elements, there is one type which both horror and visual novels love for longer form storytelling and this is the episodic format. The most common manifestation of this format for horror visual novels is a monster of the week style where the threats facing the characters changes regularly to keep the player on the edge of their seat. By not sticking to a single monster the game can preserve the overall sense of the unknown since it can discard an individual threat the moment the player no longer feels fear from them. It also allows for the build up of a greater and insidious final antagonist to act as a capstone for the game through an escalation of the dangers facing the characters, thus making the entity responsible for all the previous monsters come across as particularly threatening. The Death Mark games showcase this compatibility through the various ghosts and ghouls the developers based their episodes around and the way in which the visual novel format complements this approach. Each self contained segment has its own mystery and mechanical puzzles to complement the associated monster and provide a pacing tool through which the game uses to control the build up and release of tension. This is important as for a game of Death Mark’s length as it cannot keep a constant tension otherwise it will wear out the player and cause them to want to stop playing the game. So the solution Death Mark hits upon is to simulate the highs and lows of an overall horror experience on a smaller scale to give space to breathe and generate excitement for what is coming next. It is the also a great pacing tool utilised by visual novels in general to make break their longer games into manageable chunks, leading to them slotting nicely alongside horror. Control Over Information One particular sub-genre of horror which does not adhere to the episodic format is Denpa, a genre where controlling the player’s access to information is critical to the effectiveness of its fear. Given the limited means visual novels have of presenting the player with information, they are capable of providing a developer with precise control over what is know, while still offering the option to drop hints and create striking moments. This might be through the use of specific character portrait placement, subtle audio cues or the clever narrative moments. There are a surprising number of avenues to rely ideas down but these have limitation on the amount which can be conveyed at once and this sets the player’s expectations for what they are witnessing. Together these are excellent tools to sow doubt in the player's mind and invoke a paranoid state in them that is the hall mark of Denpa. Soundless - A MODERN SALEM IN REMOTE AREA – is a good example of how compatible Denpa horror and visual novels are at their core. The overall aim of Soundless is to create a sense of claustrophobia and doubt the game can channel into making the player question everything as events decay into a whirlpool of madness. To do this, the game establishes a status quo through a set of symbols and sounds that meet the player’s expectations while subtly cueing them in that something is not right, but never allowing them to put their finger on what it is. Thus when events start to slip into an uncontrolled descent, the player cannot tell if the protagonist is a reliable narrator to events given how off they can be at times, but still having to grapple with them as their only source of information. The restricted space to understand what is happening provided by the limitations of the visual novel medium ensure the player will always be in the palm of the developer’s hand and experience the desired dread. Conclusion Horror, just like humour, varies by person, some find grotesque monsters scary while others find the unknown a source of dread. Regardless of what type of horror experience is desired, visual novels offer a flexible environment to create an emotional roller-coaster for the player. Their compatibility with horror is founded in a fundamental commonality with how the two approach their structure and execution. From an emphasis on a limited means of presenting ideas, to an episodic centric approach to long form stories, to an ability to create gaps into which the player can project their own monsters. Together they can create games and narratives which would not be possible in other mediums due to their more expansive tool sets and differing player expectations. Horror is a genre defined by its ability to make something from very little material and visual novels understand this approach in a way nothing else can hope to match.

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Genre – Mystery, Social Deduction, Thriller Play Time – 20 hours Developer - Petit Depotto Steam VNDB With Knives Out and Masks On Trapping a group of people in a remote location and forcing them to into a game of social deduction is a premise with a surprising among of interesting scenarios to give despite how simple it is at its core. We have death games like Danganronpa, more mystery orientated titles like Virtue’s Last Reward or multiplayer experiences such as Among Us and each brings a unique angle to the same basic idea. Gnosia seeks to add its own flavour to this sub-genre by taking the social deduction aspects of a game like Among Us and simulating it in a single player narrative visual novel where the player is trapped in a time-loop focused around this element. There is more to this game than that simple summery allows and bellow the surface is a distinctive sci-fi world. However, do all Gnosia’s parts work in combination or is the idea of a single player social deduction game a fundamentally flawed idea? Let’s get trapped a spaceship with a monster and find out. Trapped In A Nightmare With Me – Narrative and Themes At its core Gnosia is a mystery thriller with a large helping of sci-fi to spice up proceedings. The cast has just escaped the destruction of a world at the hands of the gnosia only to find out there are an unknown number of gnosia onboard the ship. The gnosia infect humans and as such it is impossible to immediately tell which of the crew have been turned and only through debating it and social deduction can the crew save or doom themselves. This is the base premise the player is initially presented with but soon after they have navigated their first encounter the gnosia to its conclusion, they find out that they are trapped in a time loop where they relive these debates again and again. On a base level this gives Gnosia a constant sense of tension since you never know who is on your side and who is against you, whether they be gnosia or someone who believes you to be a gnoisa. This feeling that everyone has their knives out and is just waiting for a chance to off you creates a narrative paranoia which the player must overcome as it is the only chance they have of escaping this loop. On top of this you are given the opportunity to choose to be the gnosia and turn the dynamic on its head while seeing the story and characters from the angle of the monster and providing another means to understand what makes them tick, piece together what is really going on and why you can be the both hero and villain of the story. It helps that the overall pay off for the time spent in these loops is engaging and suitably ramps up the stakes to make the later cycles hold more weight in the journey towards the truth. One of the most striking ways in which the game complements this pit of snakes is through contrasting it with the vivid universe it provides snippets of. A world were people merge themselves with cats, dolphins walk among us and complicated cast systems rule the galaxy from the shadows. These elements and more help shape our impression of this world and their variety makes each new fragment of information a delight to uncover and move towards a more complete understanding of the situation. Just as the overarching mystery is careful to never reveal more than is necessary, the world is kept to single pieces of knowledge told to us by characters who consider it normal and do not expand on it in much depth. This allows from it tantalise the player with the possible complexity on offer but also does not overstay its welcome and make the player wish the game would just move on to something more important. Despite all this praise the universe of Gnosia, it can sometime rub a bit too close to the stupid and causes tonal problems when put alongside the life and death drama the characters are undergoing. While this issue does not come up very often, it can still be jarring to have it happen when you were trying to take the events seriously. Space Is A Strange Place – Characters In a game so focused around social deduction the quality of the characters holds greater significance than it would in other genres, since it needs them to act as both narrative and mechanical elements. Gnosia mostly sticks the landing with its colourful cast but there are a few aspects of how they are often presented which prevent them from truly reaching their potential. The narrative focuses around the duo of the player character and Setsu who share the ability to remember previous loops and for most of the run time it is their struggles you will experience. Having a companion in your endless cycles gives a surprising level of warmth to the cold void of space knowing that, even if they stand against you in the debate, they are working towards the same end goal as you. It also helps invest you in Setsu’s own journey as they come to grips with their place in this crew and in this universe as a whole and your closeness to them lets you form the bond necessary to cheer for them every step of the way. By investing in this connection the player furthers their immersion in the role of the player character through a little bit of role-playing stimulated with the focus around a central companion character. This bond is by far Gnosia’s most impressive narrative achievement as it could have gone wrong so easily if Setsu had been too present or too absent from the story or simply had an irritated information dumping role and it is a testament to the developer’s skill that the final result is such a strong dynamic. A ship of fools is perhaps the most apt way of describing the rest of the cast. Each brings something wildly different to the table, they often rub each other the wrong way and they all have something to hide. Forcing them all into a life or death situation where they have to work together to find the monster hiding among them allows these characters to slowly reveal more about themselves in a natural manner. In combination with the many loops the player undergoes, there is enough space to explore them in great detail both as crew and as gnosia and this possibility of being the antagonist gives them a depth by showing them not simply as they want to be seen but also as they are like with the mask off. The variety of personalities on display is astonishing with the energetic Comet being contrasted with the silent Kukrushka and the reserved Gina with the arrogant Raqio. The narrative thrives off their interactions and for most of the early game scenes between small sections of the cast form the majority of what the player experiences, so it is a good job that they are so strong and emotive. Gnosia would not be nearly as memorable as it is without the focus on these characters and when you walk away from the game it will be your time with them that you will remember above all else. Brilliant Stars In The Night- Visual, Audio and Gameplay When it comes to the technical side of the game Gnosia there is a clear vision of how to implement its features to sell the feeling of being trapped on a spaceship in the far future. The music and visuals do a lot of heavy lifting to immerse you in the strangeness and tension of the setting. While the gameplay makes the player feel the experience of a time loop in an almost visceral way. However, a few strange missteps led to unnecessary frustration and poor pacing. The art and music direction of Gnosia is the place where its world building and characters are invoked in sensory manner to complement the way they are written. Visually the distinctive character designs lend a lot to presenting their personalities to the player without them having say a word. You can tell the type of world that they belong to by the way they dress and hold themselves as well as providing small hints as to what to expect from them when the debates start. It also makes it clear who they are at a glance which helps prevent any confusion that might occur in the chaos of the debate where everyone is regularly cutting in with their own opinion and it might otherwise be hard to tell them apart. They also comfortable fit into the general sci-fi aesthetic of backgrounds and CGs to form a whole vision of a distant future entirely distinct from our own time. The music complements this feeling with its synthesiser tones and leanings into a looser and almost magical audio landscape. In its totality the experience of playing the game is greatly aided by these the two aspects. To effectively communicate the situation of the player character, gameplay is utilised in the form of a repeating cycle where a new gnosia much be identified. Each loop consists of a series of debates about who is the gnosia interspersed with down time to try and convince other crew members to side with you and intermittent character and plot scenes. This repetitive structure works in the game’s favour by immersing the player in the role of the player character through having them experience a similar situation. It also allows for little triumphs and failures to occur more often, while preventing either from becoming so common as to frustrate the player or make the challenge of the debate seem trivial. A wonderful balance has been reached with how the game gives the player new skills to use in the debates and the increasing escalation in the complexity of the debates and the result is a well rounded progression of difficulty. Having the resistance escalate as the player grows closer to escaping the loop helps increase the tension and also the longing for success as the player knows that this is a sign that they are on the right track. It is surprising how well all these elements work in tandem to create the time loop without stepping on each others toes and the final result justifies Gnosia’s choice to implement these systems. There are some strange issues with the gameplay which hold it back and these have to do with the way it backloads most of the plot and how the later sections introduce gameplay scenarios which are wholly dependent on RNG. The game opens strongly with a flurry of plot developments which are nicely tied into the character arcs of the main narrative players, but shortly after this point new plot scenes almost entirely dry up. This results in the middle of the game feeling as if it drags on for far too long with the player simply left to play through the loops without any sign that they are making progress. A choice like this risks loosing the player and is highly unnecessary given the later plot elements could have easily been redistributed, since they do not have anything which specifically requires them to be located at the end of the game. As for the late game scenarios, these consist of challenges the player must overcome in order to progress which sounds like a fine idea in theory but run up against the inherently RNG nature of the debating system. Turning debates to focus on a specific direction is difficult to achieve due to the other crew mates attempting to do the same and the system where the player is punished for being too aggressive in their attempts to move events by having the crew turn on you out of suspicion. The result is a frustrating reliance on the whims of other crew mates to carry the debate and they are often more of a hindrance than a help. Verdict – Its unique brand of single player social deduction coupled with its vivid universe and strikingly human characters make for an enthralling take on the genre. Pros + A cast who are flexible in their personalities allowing them to be the hero or villain of a loop without it appearing contradictory to who they are at heart. + Touches on a variety of issues relating to identity and makes them fit into the character arcs. + The setting is rich in a distinct style that merges the mundane with the absurd to create a living universe. + Through the debates the player gets an intimate sense of what defines the characters which complements how they are presented elsewhere in the narrative. Cons - Some characters feel as if they exist as just a joke and feel out of place next to the heartfelt struggles of everyone else. - The plot progresses extremely slowly after the early game and it can feel as if you are doing something wrong. - There are some scenario’s in the later part of the game which are frustratingly wholly dependent on RNG for your to suceed at them.

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Tales From A Distant Land How a visual novel is structured is perhaps one of the most important, but also the least immediately obvious, element for the player. The way in which the pieces of the narrative fit together often determines the kind of story you are going to tell and tools available to impart emotions and ideas. As such the choice to assume a structure based around Episodic Stories is something worth examining to see exactly what consequences it has on the games created within it. Over the course of this analysis the subtleties of this approach to storytelling for visual novels will be put on full display and also the opportunities it offers for your own work as well as how these features might be integrated into it. For this article the idea of Episodic Stories will be tackled from two angles, single visual novels where the structure of the game is episodic and a series of visual novels where one game is an episode of a greater narrative. These two are distinct in their implementation but share a lot of the design features which characterise episodic storytelling and putting them side by side will reveal what makes visual novels a prime medium for this style of games. Internal Episodic Struture When it comes to the episodic style within a single visual novel there is one method which utilises it in its purest form and this is the Anthology. These games are constructed from a series of mostly self contained episodes that have an overarching direction while not influencing each other to any great extent. This method of narrative presentation allows for the developer to tell a variety of tales with differing themes and also keep a consistent vision between them through common elements due to the structure of the visual novel setting the player’s expectations for the isolated nature of each one. It might not even have a set point of view character as with Corpse Party: Book of Shadows which uses the flexible nature of the anthology format to make each of its episodes focus around different scenarios but it also keeps the core idea of a repeating cycle present in each one so there is a strong sense that they are all tied together. Even with a strong through line, this kind of Episodic Structure can never truly escape the feeling it is just a collection of pieces rather than a cohesive narrative, since its purity makes its core elements immediately obvious to the player and they will always have this at the back of their mind. Some games, such as Ace Attorney, attempt to mitigate this issue with the inclusion of other mechanics, like point and click and court room challenges, to provide stronger connective tissue through another method of player interaction with the story. However, even these possible aspects can have the opposite effect by contrasting with, and thus highlighting, the self contained nature of each episode and drawing unnecessary attention to it. On the opposite extreme are the visual novels which use the episodic structure but do not openly attempt to present it to the player and instead blend the beginnings and endings of each story together as best they can. In this case the episodes are generally consigned to a longer common route where they act as tool to control the pacing of this section and the more modular nature of this approach helps hide any possible clunkiness in the transition into a character route. Visual novels utilising this structure tend to belong to the Slice of Life genre with each episode be a different scenario in the characters' everyday lives and the space provided through it facilitates choices that reflect only upon the present moment to mitigate the expectations for consequences. The common route of Cafe Stella is an excellent example of this practice as it has various self contained episodes about things which happen at the cafe that are blended together with a little connective tissue to form the set up for the character routes and gives each character an episode to shine in. The issue with this approach is how little it suits genres outside of Slice of Life, the overall looseness of this type of episodic structure makes the story feel like it lacks substance and nothing of importance is happening, which is the opposite of what is need in a more serious or more plot heavy narrative. External Episodic Struture In recent years there has been a trend for releasing shorter visual novels as part of series of episodes within a greater world and narrative. The reason for this shift is in part monetary, visual novels are expensive to make while also mostly having a niche audience to recoup the cost from and this can lead some developers into financial problems. Creating smaller, more digestible and more frequent releases provides a reliable stream of income for the developer and gives the players regular doses of their favourite stories to keep them invested in the universe. Perhaps the most successful example of this model is Grisaia: Phantom Trigger which has reached its eighth volume and maintains a strong fanbase. It took the strong basis of the original Grisaia games and made a more modular version of its core narrative structure (various girls with issues) with fresh faces to draw in new blood. The result is a profitable series that keeps its fans satisfied with a constant trickle of the best aspects of the Grisaia games and keeps the series alive. Of course money is not the only reason for the existence of episodic releases for visual novels, it also offers a chance to gain the benefits of both short and long form writing. Each individual episode is an inherently short form exercise due to the limited space and as such allows for a more intimate and character focused story to be told without becoming lost in the grander narrative. On the flip-side, the series of episodes in their totality are a long form story that allows the developer to have more in-depth themes and plots due to the greater amount of space available to pace them out without losing the emotion of the individual episodes. Higurashi is a poster child for this approach to narrative structure with each section having been released separately and forming their self contained mysteries which feed into the overarching mystery of the series in an engaging feedback loop. In Imitation Of TV Or Inherent To Visual Novels? When it comes to episodic storytelling the first thing most people think of are TV shows since it is incredibility prolific in that medium due to the need to split the viewing experience into manageable chunks. It is clear that for many visual novels this is where they got their ideas about how to adopt the episodic structure into their games. One of the clearest examples of this is The Sliver Case and its sequel which lean into detective shows both aesthetically and structurally. To complement the grimy and noir feeling of the visuals, the games adopts episodic elements by splitting into story into several episodes for different characters and has each of them clearly divided into individual narrative beats with cut-ins as if there is going to be an advertising break which gives the player a point to cleanly leave and come back to the game later. This imitation of of TV undoubtedly has benefits for visual novels leaning into genres normally covered by it but come across as strange in a medium not limited by the same issues as it. Many episodic stories in visual novels are not in imitation of TV and are instead a variation brought about by the inherent modular nature of their routes. Visual novels thrive in the telling of different connected stories and the clear lines between them which often form are perfect for dividing them into sufficient episodes to increase their individual focus. Perhaps the strongest game to implement this idea is Wonderful Everyday with its collection of interconnected episodes each showcasing a different angle of the same story in a linear order to control their impact on the player. It takes the character focus of the standard visual novel routes and breaks it into more digestible bits where the game can drop hints about the narrative direction while relying on the structure itself to obscure what is actually going on until the very end. Any medium who’s standard structure can be easily broken down into pieces is prime territory for episodic storytelling and visual novels are no exception to this rule. Conclusion There is something distinctive about the ways in which visual novels have adapted the episodic storytelling model into their structure. They at once pay homage to their influences while also playing into the advantages their own nature gives them with this tool. Not only is this influence applied to single visual novels but also to entire series of games which play up the same tricks but over a longer time frame to keep their series alive and provide the benefits of short and long term writing. Whether it is to hide the signs where a route begins, betray expectations or present an anthology of individual stories, the episodic model is here to stay within visual novels and presents a compelling case for a the inclusion of even more free-form styles of structure within the medium. Ultimately its use in a visual novel comes down to how well the developer can balance its integration with the other narrative elements they plan on utilising. The more naturally linear your story is the less it benefits from being broken up into episodes and instead it will kill the pacing of the narrative. Despite this complication an episodic structure should definitely be something you should consider the next time you start to develop a visual novel.

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Genre – Yuri, Modern Fantasy Play Time – 6 hours Developer – YuriEureka Steam VNDB Note – I did receive a review copy from the developer. A heads up if that fact might bother you. Something Wicked This Way Comes In most settling magic is normally a force for good and even when it is not, the protagonist is special enough to make the most of it regardless. This is not the case for Minori, magic took away what she held dear and ignited in her a zealous hatred of magic which has consumed her life. Such is the set up for Kiss the Demiurge the first game from YuriEureka, a Yuri centric visual novel developer, and it leaves a strong first impression with this aggressively negative presentation of magic. If there was a game which exemplified the idea of betting everything on the story then this game is surely the poster child with an initial visual presentation which might turn some people off. But does this whole hearted commitment to the narrative pay off? Let’s launch an infiltration of the Magic Club and find out. In Pursuit of Magic – Themes and Narrative Magic is at the heart of Kiss the Demiurge, both as a narrative and thematic element. It binds each character in the Magic Club to their past and not always in the way you first expect. They cannot live without it but it is a curse upon them that prevents them from accepting who they are here and now. It combines these strong thematics with a variety of character routes that reflected uniquely back onto Minori in clever ways. However, its narrative is not without issues which stem from its opening act. The single strongest element of Kiss the Demiurge is how it handles its character routes. All three routes are focused around the Minori’s core conflict related to her missing parents and each one of them approaches the issue from its own unique and heroine centric angle. There is a superb balance between the time given to Minori and the route’s heroine with the two intertwining to such a degree that a scene related to one often pulls double duty as an examination of the other’s motivations. Alongside the greater conflict are the smaller interpersonal conflicts between the pair and they act to both accentuate the bigger events and as a moment for the player to catch their breath before the next gut punch. Binding every part of Kiss the Demiurge together is the spectre of magic. It haunts all the characters both directly, with the members of the Magic Club, or indirectly, with the cast’s families, either way it circles back to the emotional core of each character. For these characters magic is an escape from something they don’t want to face and it provides a convenient excuse to pretend that they have some power over a situation they in reality do not. It is used by the narrative as a meaning of concisely conveying the themes of accepting the past and loving yourself through offering a negative example of them and asking the characters to overcome it. While what each character is attempting to obscure from themselves is different, they are all able to act as mirrors for Minori due to their common investment in magic and it helps sell the idea that no one is above the feelings these characters are struggling with. The deftness on display with how the narrative handles this thematic keystone is a sight to behold and works wonders to elevate the story to greater heights. If there is one notable weakness to the story, it is in the short and rushed feeling common route. This is a problem since this part of the game contains most of the narrative set up for the three routes as well as most of the interactions designed to sell the group dynamic. While the basic premise of Kiss the Demiurge is not a complicated one, the lack of room given to presenting it to the player leaves it feeling underdeveloped and the transition into the character routes abrupt. In choosing to rush into the main routes, the game lacks the establishing pacing generally offered by a common route and does not properly account for any possible confusion it could cause. Adding to this lacking feeling is the surprising absence of many scene which sell the Magic Club as a group rather than just their relationships with Minori. This results is a strange disconnect between their supposed friendship as they tell it and what the player actually witnesses and once the character routes start it leads to a feeling that the heroines exist in their own narrative bubble rather than as a group. Neither of these issues are deal breaking and their brevity also acts to hide their flaws as the player will quickly move onto the meat of the game and forget all about them. Magic Club Misfits – Characters No matter how good a story's structure and themes are they are nothing without a set of character to make the player care. Fortunately the cast of Kiss the Demiurge fill this role with flying colours and form compelling bonds with Minori which both complement and contrast her personality and desires. This extends down to the secondary cast albeit to the weaker extent you would expect of more minor characters. It is rare to have a zealot as the protagonist, someone so fixated on a single cause that they cannot see the absurdity of their words and actions. Minori so completely believes in her crusade against the evils of magic to the point at which she does not understand the damage she is doing to others and herself. At the same time this also gives us a peak into just how fragile she is with this purpose being the only thing holding her together. Her beliefs are so absolute yet so full of holes that the result is a picture of a uniquely human individual who has become lost from any source of happiness. It is in how she interacts with the members of the magic club where we can see the strength of choosing this kind of protagonist. There is a constant battle inside Minori between her hatred of magic and her burgeoning feelings for each heroine, between the curse of the past and the promise of the future, and as this conflict slowly tears her apart we get to see the truth of her motivations. This all makes from a strong protagonist to act as our eyes into this world and someone who is at once alien and familiar to the player. When it comes to Minori’s love interests, the three members of the Magic Club, they prove to be just as strong characters as she is with each of them offering a different kind of contrast to her. We have the high energy Akane, the timid Chitori and the elegant Tomoko, they are all things Minori is not and this works to define them against one another while at the same time showcasing their personalities. Each heroine reflects something back onto Minori, it starts out as just personality flaws and ends up being their greater trauma. Minori is forced to face the parts of her she does not want to see through them just as they do through her. Their competing personalities lead to distinctly different feeling character dynamics such as Minori being the more assertive member in the relationship with Akane but the weaker and more dependent person with Tomoko. Their bonds are define their interactions and the events with excellently written banter to help sell the lows and highs in their lives. Achieving a Lot with a Little – Visual, Audio and Technical These three areas are the points at which Kiss the Demiurge shows its biggest weaknesses and the constraints of the budget under which it was made. While it does still have some great elements in these areas, it is obvious that the game is not attempting to sell itself on visual or audio presentation and if you are going to play this visual novel it is going to be in spite of them and not because of them. The quality of the art Kiss the Demiurge uses from its character portraits and backgrounds is easily its weakest aspect. The character portraits are awkward in their posing and lack overall detail giving them a slight feeling of being uncanny. There is also a lack of different expression in general, with secondary characters like Minori’s mother suffering from only having one expression making her appear miserable at all times even when she is supposed to be happy. If there is one benefit to the style of these portraits it is the choice to have none important characters be presented as indistinct black human shapes and how it helps communicate Minori’s state of mind with her fixation on a few people and her lack of care about anyone else. Backgrounds suffer from a similar lack of detail to the portraits but since they are not the focus of most scenes this impacts the player’s enjoyment to a lesser extant. Despite this issue they are effectively used by having backgrounds alter depending on the character action in a scene and provides the sense that the backgrounds and character are part of the same world rather than disconnected elements. CGs are the one area where the quality of the artwork is noticeably higher and each one is an impressive in its beautiful use of colour and motion. While they are few in number over the course of the game, their infrequency adds to the impact they have when one appears on screen and allows the moments they accompany to stand out from the rest of the narrative. The choice of music is generally used to a similar effect but there is a noticeable lack of variety to it, so expect to hear the same tracks quite often. They are all suitable for the game’s tone and narrative and fulfil their function setting the mood and contributing to selling the emotions and events. Verdict - A cast of compelling characters and haunting themes define Kiss the Demiurge and come together to form memorable package which overcomes its flaws. Pros +Minori is a compelling protagonist filled with zealous fervour yet slowly falling apart at the seams and seeing how she reacts to the rest of the cast is always engaging. +A strong casts whose moments of weakness and strength humanise them while simultaneous link them in a common idea of escapism from one’s own weakness. +The heroines’ character arcs are perfectly woven into Minori’s own in a way which brings out a different side of her for each of them. Cons -The majority of the art is of middling quality with a lack of variety in character expressions which can lead to the game feeling stilted. -Early pacing is a bit off leaving the common route feeling rushed in favour of individual character routes and the group dynamic in a lacking state. -Interface is a slightly alter version of the base Ren’py one and has all its quirks and irritations.

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Empty and Pointless? The illusion of choice is one of a video game’s most fragile tools, a single contradiction or misstep in presentation and the whole thing shatters and the player feels cheated. As such the idea of a Meaningless Choice is one which is viewed in a negative light as something to avoid alongside the idea that all choices must offer some form of consequence, no matter how minor. Games such a Mass Effect and output of Telltale embody this fear of making anything the player does feel as if it does not matter. A Meaningless Choice is one which does not effect the outcome of the game in any noticeable fashion outside of a possible change in one or two lines of dialogue after the choice, or could even be the same choice offered multiple times, and it is the boogeyman of narrative choice focused games. When it comes to visual novels the picture becomes noticeably blurrier, on the one hand there are those which follow the common wisdom and make their choices all have meaning, such as increasing the affection value with a heroine, but on the other are those which use a large amount of Meaningless Choices in their structure, often mixed in with real ones. It is this second group which will be the focus of this analysis and the surprising ways that the unique position of visual novels allows them to be more flexible with the presentation of choice. Engagement For The Player At their most basic level all choices serve the purpose of engaging the player, be it through the consideration of romantic options or life or death battles. Meaningless Choices also fall under this category, but due to their inherent low value they act upon the player in their own distinct manner. Rather than providing any grand spectacle, their role is to keep the dial of engagement ticking up and prevent the player from losing interest by showering them with smaller doses of the highs given by more significant decisions. These small nods to the player involve them more directly in the narrative and give them a moment to pause and ponder what has just occurred, which engages them with story in a more conscious manner while they make their decision. It is easy for the player to slip into a trance like state and not be properly looking at what is being presented to them and, given the narrative heavy nature of visual novels, could lead to a sense of boredom due to the lack of other gameplay elements to keep their attention. By containing small points of engagement, visual novels can avoid this pitfall and also create a cohesion throughout the entire experience, hence the use of Meaningless Choices. Aokana -Four Rhythms Across the Blue- uses this approach to pad out the space between its important choices but uses them sparingly enough to make sure they are still effective and unobtrusive. There is a careful balance showcased in Aokana between having Meaningless Choices to increase engagement and just using them to fill space which could cause the player to become irritated with the constant interruptions, and this is key to their presence in a visual novel being beneficial. Choices As Roleplay By far the most common use of Meaningless Choices is as a means for the player to roleplay as the protagonist. This generally takes the form of deciding their reaction to events which are obviously of no importance and provide a selection of in character choices to give the player a little room to co-author the character. Having a co-authored protagonist is far from unique to visual novels as many western rpgs use similar techniques for their player character with perhaps the most iconic of these being Geralt from the Witcher games. However, it is far more prolific in the medium of visual novels, pick up any of them and you will likely find each one has some degree of Roleplay Choices. This prolific presence is no doubt due to the increased importance choices have in visual novels as the primary means of interacting with the player, outside of including some other gameplay style, and means that visual novels must make the most out of this limited resource. OELVNs in particular tend to use Roleplay Choices due to their closer cultural relationship to western rpgs with games like Sunrider leaning heavily into this aspect of visual novels to supplement the narrative feel of their events. Immersion In A Feeling Of Helplessness Sometimes the sense of agency provided from choices can be turned on its head, the player can be stripped of power through Meaningless Choices and be made to feel the powerlessness of the characters. Most other games would fear the idea of putting the player in a position of weakness like this since many lean heavily into a power fantasy and would be concerned about the player losing interest if this illusion is not constantly fed. Visual novels by comparison tend towards a variety of forms of emotional resonance and often choose to have lows to complement the highs which other games would struggle to implement. Stripping the player of their primary agency while still offering the pretence of choice is what Meaningless Choices excel at. They make it clear to the player how helpless the protagonist is and how nothing they attempt changes an outcome they never had any control over. Rather than simply being told this is the case, the player gets to experience the character's feelings through their own actions in the face of this unchanging reality. Cartagra: Affliction of the Soul is a strong example of how effective this technique can be for creating empathy. While it does have some real choices mixed in, it uses a heavy amount of Meaningless Choices to communicate to the player the desperation and powerlessness of its protagonist in the face of the murders which threaten those he holds dear. It compliments the overall bleak tone of the game and allows the player to sink into the atmosphere and character mindsets without the game having to spell it out from them. Of course this approach is a balancing act, be too aggressive with the choices and the tone can become overbearing or silly in the absurdity of the lack of consequences, but be too light in their use and the player may not even notice the intended effect at all. Disguising What Choices Actually Matter As alluded to earlier, the function that ties together the use of the Meaningless Choice is its ability to disguise what choices have consequences and what is just filler. This not only functions as a form of engagement by keeping the player on their toes, but more importantly it also serves to create a more believable experience. Our lives are not only determined by single large choices but also the smaller choices of our everyday activities can collectively have just as much of an impact. As we grow up we learn the intricacies of these choices to the point at which they almost become second nature and are only thought about at the back of our minds. It is this lower level decision making which Meaningless Choices simulates and so the player inherently ascribes value to them where none exist since it resembles something they are intimately familiar with. In doing so Meaningless Choices hide the important choices in a coat of noise while helping them to appear more natural in an apparent web of choice and consequence. Most visual novels using Meaningless Choices utilise this technique in some fashion, even if it is only by accident, it is a fairly common feature in the Slice of Life genre such in the Sakura games and My Girlfriend is the President who use it to create a sense of normality to their worlds. Conclusion Every part of a visual novel serves some function even if it was not intended by the developer, and Meaningless Choices are a strong example of how careful consideration of every aspect is needed to avoid any undesired influences on the player. They can form a solid backbone for the more substantial narrative elements by providing the space to roleplay and disguise the choices which actually matter while helping hold the player’s engagement. On the other hand they can offer a chance to disempower the player through a feeling of helplessness in the face of what appear to be unavoidable fates. There is an impressive degree of flexibility to Meaningless Choices and they are a strong tool in your development toolbox and are more than filler, just beware of overusing them as the illusion could quickly breakdown.

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Genre - Mystery, Fantasy. Playtime - Roughly 20 Hours Each, 60 In Total Developer - Unison Shift: Blossom Steam VNDB Three Ley-Lines Shall Reveal The Truth Creating a trilogy of games is an ambitious undertaking and one where so many tiny things can go wrong and ruin the whole package. It needs a glue to hold it together and keep the player invested in the long term, sometimes this is a grand adventure or a world ending threat. A Clockwork Ley-Line chooses an overarching magical mystery to hold its games together while it focuses on telling episodic stories which feed into each individual game’s themes. The stakes are decidedly more personal than many other trilogies, but is this to these games benefit or does do they collapse under their own weight? Let’s begin our search for Mists and find out. Granting Wishes At A Price – Themes and Narrative The structure of these games is their most distinctive feature with a focus on episodic narratives which each correspond to a route in a ladder style visual novel. An overarching mystery sit behind these cogs and makes sure they are not just a series of unconnected incidents. However, having so many interconnect parts does cause some unwanted friction between them. At its core A Clockwork Ley-Line is a monster of the week narrative. Each chapter is a different episode in which our heroes must uncover the identity of whatever Mist (magical artefact) is terrorising the school and put a stop to it. Of course this is just the basic formula and the game has a great deal of fun with how it establishes and resolves the Mists and makes full use of the secondary characters who get pulled along for the ride. This approach emphasises the character stories and how they play into the main cast’s arcs by relating them to their own personal weaknesses or by having them personally invested in the outcome of an investigation. Cleverly A Clockwork Ley-Line varies the tone of its episodes throughout the whole spectrum, some are comic and others are tragic. This ability to switch suddenly is utilised add a degree of unpredictability to what the player will experience next and how it will end in order to keep the formula from becoming stale. If there is one problem with this episodic approach it is that in the final game where the overarching narrative takes centre stage, the structure of individual stories can feel a bit redundant when everything one of them just flows directly into each other with little to idenify between them. Attached to each episode (except the last one of a game) in the first two games is a side route exploring a character in a romantic context. Together these form the ladder structure of Ley-Line and give it the much needed space to present the player with more in-depth character studies. The focus afforded by this structural choice allows these routes to have the ability to communicate the more mundane aspects of the world, how it links our characters and in particular how its effects the protagonist, Koga Michiru. It does help that the romances are all handled quite well with suitable build ups and believable bonds between each heroine and Koga and there is an effort made to make every one of their relationships noticeably different. There is a question which hangs over the trilogy and binds it all together. Who are the Night Class and where did they come from? It is a suitably weighty one with a lot of parts to the final answer and revelations are provided to the player at an even pace to keep them hanging on every scrap of information. The grand reveal and resolution at the end it both climatic and cathartic with every narrative tread coming together in a way which reflects back onto the characters’ journeys to get here. There is one problem and this is way the mystery is paced across the three games. Very little of importance to the main plot happens in the first game and what there is can be found concentrated at the end and the story only feels as if it gets going in the second game. While there are a lot of important character moments in the first game, it is difficult to shake the feeling that it could have been trimmed down and merged into the second game for a shorter playtime. Student By Day, Magical Problem Solver By Night – Characters To investigate a mystery you need a team and clients with problems to solve. A Clockwork Ley-Line puts together a strong cast to fill these roles and relates them to one another through their adversities. However, these games do not have an entirely even approach to the presentation of their characters. The central cast of Ley-Line are the members of the Bureau for the Investigation of Special Affairs which starts out as just Koga, Kotarou and Ushio and, while it does expand as the games progress, these three carry the emotional heart and soul of the story. Their initial relationship is a somewhat rocky one with Koga and Ushio often rubbing each other the wrong way and Kotarou having to act as a mediator between them. Seeing them come together as a skilled team and overcome the Mists they face is one of the highlights of the trilogy structure of these games. The later additions to the Bureau all further the group dynamic by forming connections to the original three and are used to bring out their flaws and strengths. Chemistry is the greatest asset Ley-Line has and it makes use of it cleanly with the main cast. To have a mystery to investigate there must first be clients and this is the type of character most Day Students fall into. They are each introduced in an episode, come into contact with a Mist, have their problem resolved and then only make minor appearances afterwards. This is a fairly standard approach for a monster of the week formula and Ley-Line knows this so it makes sure to spice up these characters through the bonds they form with the Bureau and how its members grapple with the consequences of the Mists. Each one of the Day Students have been created as a pair to the Mist which effects them and their personalities in some way relate directly to what the Mist offers, since in universe they are drawn to those who desire their powers, even if they do not know it. These dynamics act as the main appeal to each episode and humanise this supernatural conflict which might otherwise seem distant from reality. It is when we reach the Night Students where the quality and consistency of character presentation begins to drop. Despite being the focus of the overarching narrative thread, they are only really present in the first game before they fade into the background during the second game. When they are presented to the player they often fulfil the same purpose as the Day Students in being clients for the Bureau. In this role they excel and provide a slightly off-kilter version due to their inherent supernatural situation, which creates uncertainty about how much of what they say is the truth. This makes them being dropped like a stone in the second game such a shame as it would have been interesting to see how this remixing of the client/Bureau dynamic could have taken further. The choice to reduce their presence is even stranger when you reach the third game where all the plot twists about the Night Students are revealed but they are not there to react to them and feel underdeveloped compared to the Day Students. Clockwork Design – Visual, Audio and Technical When it comes to the design of these games’ systems and assets there is a consistency to them that allows the three games to appear as if they were made at the same time. This philosophy means each game shares the same overall strengths and weaknesses in these areas and a player who has an issue with one of the will have an issue with all three games. Visual direction is one of Ley-Line’s most striking aspects. These games have the ability to form a spectacular divide between the magical and mundane parts of the setting through their use of colour, backgrounds and even the Mists. The mundane is much as you would expect from a visual novel of this genre and consists of the expected symbols of school life those familiar with the medium have come to expect. It is only when placed against the altered yet beautiful magical world and items that its role as a mirror becomes obvious and the contrast becomes clear. The magical world is one of strong and permeating colours which seep into everything, transforming what we know into new forms with regular patterns being prevalent throughout. Each Mist perfectly encapsulates the feelings embodied by this idea of magic. They are at once majestic and at the same time acting as agents of chaos who represent the wild and dangerous side of magic if not properly controlled. Together these aspects form a duality but not one without subtly and elements of one visual style can still be seen in the other showing how the two are interlinked. For the most part Ley-Line follows the industry standard when it comes to technical polish and features. We have the normal suite of unlockables, customisation options and in game interfaces. The only aspect in which Ley-Line deviates from the norm is in how it treats its unlockable side stories and their relationship to one another. These stories are a small collection of what if and after story style narratives and they are structured in such a way as to form their own small thematic package distinct from the main game in its complete focus on the romantic elements of the games. They have a set a pattern for unlocking but there is enough flexibility to allow the player to experience them with a degree of freedom and they rely on their consistent ideas to hold theses stories together. Verdict – This three part mystery blends episodic storytelling and a grand narrative seamlessly into an intriguing visual novel which play to the strengths of both approaches. Pros + A gripping overarching mystery which cleverly integrates the Mists and escalates appropriately. + Each episodic story offers a bite sized adventure and these are well blended into each complete visual novel. + Well defined central cast who play off each other and endear themselves to the player. + Routes offer an opportunity to explore aspects of the world and characters which the main narrative would not have time for. Cons - The first game is almost entirely fluff of no consequence to the overall narrative or character arcs. - Night Students feel underdeveloped and this is not helped by them fading from the spotlight in the second game. - Some of the routes feel unnecessary or badly integrated into the narrative.

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here. She Was Always Right Beside Me A story always has its heroes and heroines, defining characters who shapes the narrative and break out of the normal to change the world around them. These are the people who the player remembers long after they have put the game down and are the focus of a developer's time and effort. But what about the supporting cast? The men and women who stand bellow our protagonists and who sit closer to the normal and mundane, individuals who would normally stand in the background of a scene. Visual novels have found a place for them within their structure in the form of the Sub-Heroine Route. This curious phenomenon is the topic of this article and it has a surprising degree of complexity and variety to its form. From its implementation to its effects within the narrative, there is a fair amount to cover. And perhaps along the way you might see the value and place of including a Sub-Heroine Route in your own work. In The Shadow Of Importance – Defining The Sub-Heroine The category of Sub-Heroine is one which is somewhat vague by its nature. It has been used to refer to a variety of characters, such as those who have major routes but are not focus of the overarching narrative or those are not the clear favourite of the writers. However, the set of characters which this article poses as the real Sub-Heroines are those minor characters or important supporting character who would not under normal circumstances have a route of their own due to their nature as secondary characters. They tend to either reflect the more normal aspects of the protagonist’s life or they are some type of plot device required by the story and in most cases these are the people the developers tend to want the player to not fixate on. So having entire, albeit shorter, routes dedicated to them is a strange choice under normal circumstances. Their routes tend to take two forms, shorter unlockable routes and offshoots of an existing route, and it is these which we will be examining. Perhaps the common manifestation of the Sub-Heroine Route is in the form of shorter unlockable routes in which the protagonist chooses said heroine over the main cast. These are generally the home of Sub-Heroines who are minor characters which would normally occupy supporting roles and have little influence on the overall narrative. This type of Sub-Heroine Route is treated as a form of unlockable reward for the player to incentivise them to keep playing and potentially uncover more hidden content. In terms of structure, they focus around a single point of conflict, often romantic, and spend their entire play time exploring it without any diversions or interactions which are not absolutely necessary. Sometimes they are even paired up together with another Sub-Heroine Routes if their content is similar enough in order to save on space. A prime example of this practice can be seen in Senren Banka with the coupled routes of Koharu and Roka who share an initial build up before splitting off into their own self contained sections. Their shared path is disguised as a competition between the two heroines to see who will get to be with the protagonist, Masaomi, and gives them a change to shine through various character interactions before they enter their isolated routes. It also allows them to serve as a sort of antidote to the grander narrative plots of the main heroine’s routes by offering a glimpse into the mundane lives of the rest of the cast. A less common type of Sub-Heroine Route is one which exists as an offshoot of a major route. In these the narrative will shift off the original main heroine and moves onto the Sub-Heroine while maintaining the same thematic and tonal aspects. The Sub-Heroines often found here are those which under normal circumstances would serve as plot devices or form part of the world building and the routes they off shoot from are generally the ones they have an important role to play in. This results in an expansion of the player’s understand of this character and their role in the story. It is less prevalent than the separate route type due to the effort required to set it up and there being no call for such a route in many less narratively complex visual novels. An interesting example of can be seen in Hoshizora no Memoria with Mare’s route which is an offshoot of the final route of the game. Here the player gets to see the mysterious Mare behave in more human fashion as opposed to the aloof manner she has been throughout the game and serves to tie her character up. Mare is a constant presence in the narrative but never shifts out of a supportive role, acting as a means of moving the narrative forward both within a route and in an overarching sense. There is a definite argument that Mare’s route is not a particularly good Sub-Heroine route due to it being short in duration and lacking in substance, but it is nonetheless a good example of how this type can be presented and placed inside a visual novel. Why Writing Sub-Heroine Routes Is Hard There are relatively few Sub-Heroine routes in visual novels compared to total number of titles which just include a spread of standard routes. This drought has come about for a variety of reasons with the most prominent being that the compact nature of a Sub-Heroine routes requires a certain set of narrative skills. Writing a long main heroine route is very different from a short form narrative with a single focus. As has been expressed earlier, this is a problem which many Sub-Heroine routes suffer from and there have been various attempts to mitigate it such as the aforementioned partial merge of two routes in order to give the developers more space to work with. However, these are just band-aids and demonstrate the writers are much more comfortable creating a longer story than managing the swifter pace of a short route. Knowing how to keep events to their necessary space while at the same time not making the whole route not feel rushed is an off-putting challenge for many and so they simply choose to avoid the problem entirely. Another noticeable barrier to the effective inclusion of a Sub-Heroine route is the fact that the emphasis they place on mundanity through these more minor characters is difficult to make engaging for the player. Our everyday lives are not filled with constant excitement and so a narrative focused around such ideas and themes may bore an audience which is expecting an escape from that life. There is also the issue of how it can rub up against a serious and supernaturally inclined story with the sudden shift into a slower paced route coming across as jarring and even as a betrayal of the experience the player signed up for. It is a delicate line to tread when designing a Sub-Heroine route and there are as many aspects to consider as there are in a main route even if the outcome differs. Balance has to be found between the heroine’s arc, their lower narrative stakes and their shorter length, and this is a struggle for many Sub-Heroine routes. As such their quality varies even more wildly then normal routes despite how relatively few of them there are and it is perhaps a sign of how flawed their core ideas are in practice. For The Importance Of The Sub-Heroine Route If Sub-Heroine routes are so hard to get right within their constraints and they focus on less important characters, why would anyone choose to use them at all? This is the inevitable question which comes from the issues shown above and a perfectly reasonable reaction to them. However, even in the face of these concerns the Sub-Heroine route offers some unique strengths which allow it act as an important narrative pillar for the main routes. The first of these, which has been alluded to before, is the contrast it provides. By supplying a point of reference for the player for what the more grounded elements of the world and characters are like, it gives the player a lens through which to appreciate the dramatic highs of the central plot. It makes clear that not everyone lives in the high powered drama and action which the main cast finds themselves in, there are normal people living their lives and doing their best to deal the changes brought by the protagonists. This sense of perspective is lacking in many visual novel and the Sub-Heroine route can give a space where the developers can insert the necessary fleshing out of their vision. The other strength offered by the Sub-Heroine route is the opportunity it gives for humanising more minor or plot device characters and providing another angle to their interactions with the main cast. There is an inherent imbalance necessary in a standard linear narrative to allow for a proper pacing of events and arcs which visual novels have assumed to make certain they can keep the player engaged. However, it is only in breaking out of these conventions where the medium can truly show its uniqueness. The Sub-Heroine route plays into the non-linear nature of visual novels by allowing for the exploration of characters who would normally go ignored and in doing this expands the player understand and investment in the overall game. No longer are these character to be simple background noise, they are as alive as the main cast and in many ways more relatable due to the smaller scale of their problems and triumphs. In addition their optional nature ensures the player will never become bogged down by them and helps keep the Sub-Heroines from the possibility of overshadowing the main heroines. Conclusion If there is one thing which the existence of the Sub-Heroine Route demonstrates it is the flexibility and engaging nature of visual novels. Having the ability to examine the side characters of a story within a cohesive and thematic section of the game is a major advantage of the medium. While Sub-Heroine routes do have their issues in terms of being difficult to write for, due to their short length and focus on the more mundane, the ability to humanise these characters and provide much needed contrast greatly outweighs these problems. The debate as to whether a game should have one or not is a matter decided by the overall narrative need for these strengths and a defined enough secondary cast to utilise it with. Having a Sub-Heroine route can elevate a story in a surprisingly effective manner and should definitely be on your list of possible options when you create your own visual novel.

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Genre – Otome, Mystery, Drama. Play Time – 35 hours. Developer – Otomate and Design Factory. Steam VNDB Reinvigorating The Cliché Using amnesia as plot device is a common tactic by many creators who want to put the protagonist on the same level as the player, but its use rarely goes beyond being an excuse for exposition. Enter Amnesia: Memories, as you might have been able to guess from its name this is a story about a protagonist with amnesia. However, unlike many other titles this one uses the amnesia as a key point to build around and create tension between the player and the unknown. This is a game about uncertainty, be it in relationships or unknown motivations, and overcoming it to build a future together with the one you love. It is also a perfect example of the pros and cons of a complete self-insert protagonist and how it can be used to effectively sell a tone and immerse the player. Overall it is a very interesting example of its genre and as we move forward you too will come to appreciate how it achieves its success. Can You Every Truly Know Another? - Narrative and Theme When it comes to narrative complexity Amnesia: Memories is on the simpler side with a focus on a few well worn themes and ideas. It is how these elements are put together which raises it above many of its kin. The methods it uses to achieve its success are focused around putting the player in an unknown social situation and asking them who they can trust. Back this up with a solid selection of romance options and the result is quite impressive given how similar it is to its peers on a base level. The vast majority of the tension present throughout the story originates for the question of who to trust. By placing the protagonist in the same position of ignorance as the player through their amnesia the player cannot look to the protagonist's interactions for guidance which enhances the sense of isolation. Feeling out which of the male leads you can trust and tentatively getting to know them forms the bulk of the experience. The acts of opening yourself up to these people through the protagonist is a strangely cathartic experience and adds an intimacy to character moments knowing that they had to earn your trust. Later in a route the tension provided by the unknown is refocused solely on the hero who is the object of the romance and in some cases even ratchets it up further by revealing a hidden side to a person you thought that you knew. Through the game’s willingness to play into our fear of the unknown and shift the source of that uncertainty when needed it can achieve an engaging current to push the player to continue to play. Having a strong sense of romantic storytelling is key to the success of any otome and Amnesia is no exception. Each hero is distinct from one another both in terms of personality and the content of their routes and this allows the player choose from a wide variety of experiences to meet their tastes. This mixing of choice and blind uncertainty heightens the romantic tension between the player and their selected hero and feeds into their investment in the struggles of that character. By playing on this feeling, the narrative of the route can hold the player's interest though the slow revelation of the hero’s flaws and their intimacy with the protagonist. While the actual content of the routes is not necessarily the most original for an otome, it uses the above techniques to obscure this with a sincere presentation of the story which does its utmost to sell the emotions of each scene. The one major issue with this approach is the fact that there are times in the story when it can come across as nothing more than a hot guy buffet for the player to choose from, rather than a selection of believable people for you to invest yourself into. This is mostly a side effect of the blind choices presenting options whose only immediately perceivable consequence is the affection of a specific hero and leads to it feeling a little shallow at times. However, the problem is only really noticeable after a few play throughs when you have a feel for the game’s tricks, before that point you are too focused on the tension of the unknown to notice it. Full And Empty People - Characters Discussing the characters of Amnesia: Memories presents an interesting problem as it is a narrative defined by the presence of a none-character as much as it is by the heroes. This gaping void takes the form of the protagonist and their complete lack of personality creates a unique set of problems and opportunities. Of course the main cast are still the stars of the show with an excellent variety of personalities which clash and complement the overall narrative choices of the game. Having a self-insert protagonist who only speaks through the dialogue choices made by the player is hardly a special feature of Amnesia with the dozens of other game which uses this narrative device, especially in the mobile gacha space. Instead what makes it stand out is the way in which it commits to this protagonist for the purposes of immersion and building atmosphere. Rather than being content to simply let the player project themselves onto the protagonist, Amnesia takes things a step further by placing the protagonist, and thus the player, in a position of vulnerability through her amnesia and the contrasting information provided by a cast of unknown people who claim to know her. By bringing the player and protagonist closer together it makes it easier to blur the line between the two and allow the player to experience similar emotions to the protagonist through their emotional investment into her. The inclusion of a self-insert protagonist comes with a few noticeable downsides. First of all there is the issue of how to fill the down time where the protagonist is on their own or where the narrative needs to express some idea or feeling and cannot use another main character to do so. The answer to this problem for Amnesia and many other games using similar protagonists is to have a companion character who acts as the voice of the narrative and set the mood or delivers exposition. In this case the role is assumed by Orion, a character whom only the protagonist can see and plays a critical role in the plot as the instigator of the amnesia issue. While he is relatively inoffensive for the most part, there are times when it becomes too obvious that he is the voice of the developer trying to push you into a certain state of mind and in these moments he can come across as an irritation. The second issue with this choice of protagonist is the lack of proper back and forth between her and the male leads. This results in sections where the hero talks at the protagonist rather than having an interaction with them as a consequence of her silent status and developer not wanting to overuse choices in order to keep them feeling special. Thankfully these moments are uncommon, but when they do happen they can bring you out of the experience by making you more aware of the limitations of this narrative design choice instead of focusing on the emotional weight of what is being said. A Dream Across Every Inch - Visual, Audio and Technical Amnesia’s presentation and technical aspects are somewhat of a mix bag with the game playing it safe in many areas while still having a flair of its own. The overall package is of a high quality due to this title being from a larger studio and established design of their games shows itself throughout. However, this comes at the cost of being unable to distinguish itself from its peers and failing to keep up the quality set by the narrative. One area which does not disappoint is the art direction with striking colours and patterns across every surface and character. The four suits of playing cards is the motif which the game uses for its visual design with each of the main hero being associated with one of them and assigned an appropriate colour to match. Presenting the characters and environments through this stylised imagery creates a striking contrast between each hero and keeps the artwork feeling stimulating over the course of the entire game. Alongside these elements Amnesia chooses to have each background make use of contrast and vague outlines leading to an almost dreamlike feeling to the events playing out in them. The CG similarly play up this strong visual identity, but here it is used to create intimacy and focus on the emotion or idea the image is attempting to invoke by carefully emphasising the key element with distinctive designs and colours. Together the package understand how to play to the strengths of the medium and makes sure each aspect can shine in the appropriate manner. In terms of features and technical polish Amnesia is the base level you would expect from a visual novel with a few interesting additions. This is to say that it has the standard list of features, such as a gallery and a skip function. On top of this is has an in-game tracker for the affection, trust and suspicion of your chosen hero which is useful when it comes to figuring out what choices raise each value. There is one strange feature in this package and that is a set of mini-games only available on the main menu. These are incredibly detached from the rest of the game's content to the point where you would question why they even exist, but I suppose they are there for those who want a distraction from the main game. Regardless, those playing Amnesia will not find it wanting on the systems level and most likely will not notice any potential improvement which could have been made. Verdict – Amnesia: Memories is a game as much distinguished as harmed by its commitment to creating tension and immersing the player in the role of the protagonist. Pros and Cons - Pros- + The male leads give a good variety to narrative and the types of relationships on offer to the player. + A satisfying final route which raps up all the hanging plot threads in a nice bow and feels suitably final. + One of the strongest uses of a self-insert to sell the bond between player and protagonist and create a palpable tension through the unknown. + The art style adds a dream like quality to the game and helps sell the atmosphere and the romantic fantasy. Cons- - Having a self-insert protagonist can hurts character interactions and leads to some stilted scenes. - At times it can be a blatant buffet of hot men for the player to choose from to the point of being off-putting. - A mediocre soundtrack and lack of interesting technical features hold the game back from being a more well rounded package.

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Genre – Sci-fi, Mecha, LGBTQ+. Play Time – 8 hours. Developer - Pillow Fight Games. Steam VNDB Finding Heaven There is a certain beauty to the simple impulse to say, “Wow that is so cool”. It is a short phrase filled with an innocent emotion many of us lose as we get older and the realities of life turn everything into a grey soup. An adult is meant to be mature and sensible so expressions of wonder at something are frowned upon. After all “The nail that sticks out gets hammered down”, being different is hard and finding a place to belong is the eternal quest. Heaven Will Be Mine is an exploration of this space through the medium of cool mechas and three protagonists who are each seeking someone who understands them and a place to be themselves. As you will soon see it has a deep understand of its subject matter and the skills to speak to the player through their mind as well as their heart. The Tale of Some ‘Bad’ Girls - Narrative, Themes and Metaphor The story of Heaven Will Be Mine is through a unique mix of intimate interactions and clever implications and metaphors. It brings three distinctly different protagonists to the table to enable its rich narrative and places them on contrasting side of a conflict they have an increasingly personal investment in. Their conversations and the factions they side with form the backbone upon which the metaphor driven events and the story's themes are built. Presenting the player with a choice of three possible protagonists the moment they start the game is a bold decision. We know nothing about each of them outside of the brief description provided nor what the consequences of our choice will be. However, this ultimately works in the game’s favour as it sets the tone for the types of choices the player will be presented with and the individual centric nature of the narrative. The result of having three different playable protagonists and asking the player to play through each one separately is that it allows for each path to focus on their own thematic angle. It also provides a more even experience inside each protagonist’s route in order to keep the messages and ideas clearer while also presenting a sense of variety in the long term. If there is one thing this game loves above all else it is figurative prose and in particular metaphor. This covers everything from the elegant writing style to the awe inspiring visuals. When a metaphor is used it is not made of a single element but from combining parts to create the desired effect. This commitment to ensuring the quality of the metaphors helps to fuel the player’s immersion by surrounding them with metaphor and giving them the room to soak it in. Through this engagement with the player the themes and messages on display can be subtlety conveyed to them in an organic and gradual fashion which prevents the game from coming across as preachy. The downside to this figurative prose driven narrative style is its sheer variety and indirectness can confuse the reader as much as it informs them. Heaven Will Be Mine does not do much to alleviate this problem and instead expects its audience to keep up with the ideas and themes being thrown subtly their way. As a result it is possible for someone to completely bounce off the game and fail to understand it or leave with the impression that it is nonsense. So it is worth keeping this in mind if you struggle with more opaque writing then this story might not be for you. Those Who Seek A Place To Belong - Characters It is obvious from the moment you start playing Heaven Will Be Mine just how important the characters are to the themes of the story. If metaphors are the fine threads which make the narrative shine then the characters are the loom on which the story is weaved before our eyes. The three protagonists from whose perspectives we view the story are the rebellious Saturn, the kind Pluto and the thorny Luna-Terra. Each one brings a contrasting personality to the table and the resultant banter mixed with their near constant flirting brings humanity to the depths of space. Their interactions form the majority of the what the player experiences within the game so this aspect needed to be strong and it delivers this in spades while blending in and around the metaphor rich scenes. One key element the protagonists recognise quickly is despite their often clashing personalities they all do not belong and their differences are not valued within Earth’s gravity. This leads them to slowly take solace in each other as they flirt and explore their feelings towards others, towards themselves and towards the people they work for. It is a mixing pot of emotions which drives forward these protagonists towards the ending the player chooses for them. Glittering Stars And Cosmic Abysses - Visual, Audio and Technical When it comes to the presentation of this layered narrative and its complex characters Heaven Will Be Mine delivers on multiple levels. Haunting visuals are complemented by a soundtrack which expresses loneliness and companionship in the depths of space. This is a game which understand well the trapping of the genres it draws from and how to use them in an appealing and powerful manner. Saying a lot with a little is the strongest aspect of this visual novel’s presentation. There is no wasted space in any moment of the playtime. From the use of the protagonists’ cockpit views to express what kind of person they are as well as their facial expressions to the use of showing directed parts of an image to slowly build up the scene while playing into the metaphors present in the occupying text. The economising of content is definitely a result of the budgetary restrictions which are visible in the overall small pool of art assets. However, it is from this necessity that innovation is born and Heaven Will be Mine understands how to utilise what it has to great effect in a manner which allows it to outshine games with a much higher costs. This also enhances the role of metaphor in the game and makes it lean into its unique style all the more. If there is one visual element which best encapsulates the distinctive style of Heaven Will Be Mine it is the self-ships. These are the vessels through which our characters act out the major events of the story and serves as another powerful image of their selves. Their designs of an evocative mix of other worldly cosmic forces and human vulnerability and each one perfectly reflects the pilot while still being consistent with the overall aesthetic of the game. The game’s Evangelion influences also peek through here with the self-ships having an aesthetic and purpose reminiscent of the Evas while still being distinct from them. Abstract imagery invokes what concrete picture cannot and this is the core strength of not only the self-ship designs but also the art direct as a whole. The game could have simply used a more standard mecha design and it would have functioned within the narrative but lacked the impact and presence of the self-ships. Placing a focus on the self-ship design was ultimately rewarded the game with an excellent supporting pillar for the overall experience. There is one area in which Heaven Will Be Mine struggles and this is the lack of quality of life features. These includes an absence of standard elements such as a skip function and a gallery. Not having these features can be felt more acutely on the repeated playthroughs the game expects you to do since you cannot pass over text you have already which can make them a chore. The omission of a gallery is a disappointment as it would have been nice to be able to examine the beautiful art at my own pace rather than how it is shown in game. None of the absent features are a deal breaker as they game itself excels in most other aspects, but it is something to keep in mind if these features are important to your viewing pleasure. Verdict – 9/10 – Heaven Will Be Mine is one of the few visual novels which truly understands the power of metaphor and themes and employs it with such finesse that its every moment is a pleasure to play. Pros + Hits hard with an art style and soundtrack which use vagueness and imagery to invoke emotion and imply the metaphor in each scene. + A cast which is one of the most flawed and empathetic sets of characters in fiction with even side characters getting the emphasis they deserve. + The game understands the trappings of the sci-fi and mecha genre and knows how to play to their strengths with exceptional ease. + A strong commitment to its thematics which echoes throughout the entire game and keeps them present in the players mind. Cons - The only ending which make sense for each character is their faction one and the others feel somewhat forced for the sake of having choices. - Its heavy use of figurative prose could make the game too vague for some people. - Lacking some features such as a skip function or a gallery.

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Genre - Comedy. Play Time - 15 hours. Developer - WhitePowder Steam VNDB Always Be Happy! Most visual novels use comedy in some form, be it a joke to break tension or a scene to make the player empathise with the characters, but few commit to it as the single focus of their identity. This is for a good reason, humour is subjective and as such making a comedy game with a wide appeal is a difficult feat. Lamunation comes along and says ‘but what if we just double down on our style, twice the intensity should mean twice the appeal’. It makes for quite a strong statement of uncompromising vision and it is this which will either enrapture you or turn you off the experience. However, does this gambit really work to draw you into its humour laden world? Let’s find out. So I Hear You Like Ramune – Narrative and Themes Lamunation has a surprisingly diverse set of narrative tools and tricks to break up its comedy into manageable chucks while offering something substantial to chew on. This a game which knows how to lean into the emotions it draws out through its humour and utilises them to create a bond between player and characters. However, this approach is not without its issues and these force a strange balancing act with the game’s writing. When a game opens with the cast skydiving with no safety equipment just to get the perfect photo you know what sort of experience you are in for. Setting the tone for the type of humour the player will be presented with and acclimatising them to this content is one of Lamunation’s greatest strengths. While it opens with a bang there is a concerted effort to make sure that future jokes and events have some basis in what has come before, and in doing so establish the boundaries of this humour within the player’s mind. This is cleverly used with a selection of delayed pay offs to keep earlier moments of the narrative in the front of your mind in a manner that does not detract from your enjoyment of the immediate joke or scene. These work in tandem to ensure a coherency throughout the entire game which is surprising given how off the rails it gets. As for Lamunation’s particular brand of humour itself, it sits in the Pop Team Epic end of the spectrum rather than the more traditional Slice of Life humour found many other visual novels. What this means in practice is a parade of increasing improbable and elaborate situations which serve as the focal point of whatever joke is being made and it is interested in having its characters be both the straight man and the advocate of this madness, often at the same time. However, it never reaches the disconnected segments which define Pop Team Epic and instead structures them along character route lines with certain through themes for each which are a constant presence for the player to latch onto. As such this is a particular friendly example of this type of humour for newcomers, it never ventures into complete nonsense and meets them halfway by offering a familiar route based core so its tendrils of humour can wrap around you. If there is one noticeable weakness to the narrative of Lamunation it is the lack of a plot centric driving force, outside of Corona’s route, to propel the player and keep them hooked. There are forces at play in each route to keep the narrative going but they lack any overall direction and are only relevant in that single moment. It is hardly a unique feature of Lamunation as many other visual novels use similar techniques, but it is a problem here due to its combination with the focus on humour. As you might imagine this can lead to the story feeling like a string of jokes which are going nowhere in the grand scheme of the game. Thankfully this is only something which comes to the front in retrospect after a route has been completed, but it does hurt player retention since it might make them feel as if there is no point to playing another route since they have seen all it has to offer. A stronger foreshadowing and focus on building up Corona’s route would have gone a long way to alleviating this issue and it is a shame the developers did not choose to play up an overarching narrative. While the character routes might lack a strong plot through line they make up for with the focus on making each scene as memorable as the last with a gradual escalation in their quality. Lamunation understanding how to get the most out of every single screen of the game and milk it for as much humour as possible. It manages to make sure that this constant barrage of new content is not overwhelming by ensuring it never puts two events which are too different next to each other, which help to provide a sense of progress and continuity to what would otherwise be a seemingly random series of encounters. Helping this along is the core of most visual novel routes, a focus on a small subset of the cast. This trick is especially effective in Lamunation as it gives it an otherwise absent bedrock for the player to identify with and invested in. In combination, these traits create an extremely impactful experience in the moment supporting the humour at the core of the game’s presentation. Bring Smiles To Their Faces – Characters Lamunation is a highly character focused visual novel and without its strong cast the humour would not be able to land properly. Their banter and bonds serve as the basis of everything which happens in the game, so it is a good thing that they are utilised to their fullest extent by placing them in strange circumstances and having them react appropriately. There has been a concerted effort by the developer to keep the cast number down with most scenes involving a handful of the five main characters and maybe an occasional side character popping up. Each of their conversations mixes small glimpses of their various personalities with the humour in an organic manner by ensuring the lens of a scene never extends beyond that small group of characters. This enables an intimacy with them which the game can leverage to make sure you are laughing along with their antics as if you were part of the group yourself. The effect of this angle is that the strong and distinctive personalities of the cast are put front and centre as the main pole around which the humour can dance and bring the madness of proceedings into a more relatable format for a wider audience. Such an empathsis on characters is the corner stone on which Lamunation is based. Brilliant Moments in Bright Tones -Visual, Audio and Technical Everything about the visual and audio of Lamunation pops with a vigorous and upbeat energy which is infectious in its aggressive positivity. The art style’s sole focus is making the humour and character moments have as much impact on the senses as possible. In order to achieve this it liberally utilises a strong light colour pallet and exaggerated character poses and features which shift and change to suit the needs of the scene. The music follows a similar vein with cheerful tunes that are designed to invoke the feel good vibe at the core of the game’s thematics. These songs lean heavily into synthesiser sounds and this lends a near future feeling to the setting while assisting in detaching Lamunation for the expectations of a realistic narrative. However, both sound and imagery suffer from a common problem in that they can feel somewhat standard at times. Most Slice of Life visual novels lean into similar aesthetic and musical choices for different reasons but the result for Lamunation is the sense that it is just another in a long line of such titles. It never escapes from this feeling over its play time and this is a shame as the visuals and audio are by no means of poor quality. If Lamunation missteps in any serious way it is in the failure to lock Corona’s route behind the completion of the other two. This is a problem because as mentioned before Corona’s route acts as the finale to the game and wraps up all the previous routes, meaning that it simultaneously spoils those routes and references events which it expects you to already know while providing no context. It is truly baffling why the developers would think it is acceptable for an unsuspecting new player to be allowed to accidentally choose a route which could potential ruin their overall enjoyment of the game. Of course if you know about this fact it is easy to plan your playthrough around it, hence why it has been brought up here, but this is not an issue the player should ever have to consider in the first place. Verdict – Lamunation’s uniquely mad brand of humour coupled with its likeable characters creates one of the most compelling comedy visual novels. Pros + A distinctive and insane brand of humour which always finds a way to surprise. + Visual and audio which invoke a brilliantly bright and memorable world. + Strong and easily identifiable characters who banter in a believable and funny manner. + Has some strangely cathartic character routes which work as a pay off to the humour. Cons - Can feel directionless at times with one comic scenario after another instead of plot progression. - With no route unlocks it is possible to play Corona's route first despite the fact it is clearly intended to be the finale. - The small cast is as much a curse as a blessing given how it limits the variety of interactions.

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Academic Subterfuge The English release of Hello Lady is a game in a strange situation. Being a translation of the Complete Edition, it is effectively three games tied into one which leads to some interest quirks. I knew that I would have to play the game since I enjoyed one of the developers previous works, Coμ. Coμ was a flawed but entertaining game and it is with these expectations I when into Hello Lady. What I got was an extremely compelling but uneven experience and here I will endeavour to explain the causes and strengths I encountered. In this analysis I will cover my broader thoughts on Hello Lady which could not be included in the review since they contain spoilers for most of the plot. As such I advise you to read my original review before continuing onward if you just want to know whether you should play the game. The Fires of Love and Revenge – Route Analysis -Common Route - Hello Lady’s Common Route is on the longer side and as such has to keep things engaging through a variety of events. There are your standard slice of life sections, which do a good job at establishing the characters, a mock superpower battle, for a little bit of action, and a sizeable dose of tension between the character's motivations. The majority of the Common Route is nothing terribly special with it leaning into established genre ideas as its backbone. However, what makes it stand out is how it ends. The curtain is pulled back and the player gets to see the true extent of Narita’s desire for revenge and how far he is willing to go. It is almost theatrical in how it frames Narita’s act with a specially made replica gun and perfectly timed entrance in order to inflict the greatest amount of fear in his target. Narita is the lead actor in a tragedy fuelled by hate and we have front row seats for this disaster. -Akahito Tamao - This is a route which opens and ends strongly but has a meandering middle. The inciting incident of Narita discovering Tamao is a spy acts as a great source of tension with the two teaming up to plan an infiltration of the secret lab while not trusting each other. However, this conflict goes out of the window once Narita confesses his love for Tamao and the narrative never quite recovers from this loss. Shifting the focus onto the romance between the two might seem like a sound choice in theory, but they are meant to be getting ready for a life or death situation and seem to lack any sense of danger. The interactions between the two are cute and do a good job at selling their budding relationship while setting up for the gut punch later on. Tamao’s route regains focus in the final stretch with a heart wrenching battle of wills between Tamao and Narita over Narita’s desire for revenge and it is a high point of the story which saves it from the dip in the middle. Tamao and Sorako are the two initially available routes and share some similar problems. As mentioned in my review, the game cannot know which of them you will choice first and as a result there is a lot of repeated information in each which can kill the pacing of whichever one you choose second. On top of this issue there is the feeling that these two routes only have one route’s worth of new information in them and can feel empty at times as a result. Tamao’s route covers the secret lab and Sorako’s route covers Narita’s past, but neither cover their topics in much depth since the major revelation are being kept for later in the game. -Katsuragi Sorako - Sorako’s route is a much more even experience than Tamao’s even if it never reaches the same highs as that route. Having Sorako act as a constant remainder to Narita of the past and how it was not all as bad as he wants to remember it being. Coupling this with Sorako’s generally more positive disposition, makes her an excellent foil to him with her both supporting his actions and undermining them in the same breath. The overall character arc for Sorako is a strong and familiar one with her gradually gain the confidence to make her wishes a reality and make Narita see her for who she is rather than his memory of her. It is just a shame then that this route is plagued by questionable choices which add nothing to the route. The choice to have Sorako be a cross-dresser is an easy example to use of this problem. There is precisely one scene in which this aspect of Sorako is explored and it only gets a few lines dedicated to what has been a repeated and obvious visual part of her identity. Nothing else is done with it, Sorako never behaves like a male, it never effects how anyone treats her and even her own family (the very people she is trying to impress by doing this) never bring it up. It is almost to the point that it seems as if Sorako may have original been written as a male character but was changed later in development and the cross-dressing is a remnant of that process. This would explain why it is not brought to our attention much since a male dressing as a male is not something you would draw attention to. Overall, it is just a strange clash between how visible this trait is and how little it actually matters. -Takazaki Eru - With Eru’s route, the overarching narrative picks up and we get lots of information to help understand what is going on. Watching the interactions between Eru and Narita is the highlight of this route since Eru’s no nonsense attitude contrasts wonderfully with Narita’s tendency for flamboyance and they bounce off each other well. Of the routes from the original game, this is the strongest with an excellent flow to it. We get an opening which sells the start of romance between Narita and Eru with two coming naturally together as they bond over their common interests while Eru slowly opens up about her past and develops beyond the idea she is a doll. Throughout this there is always a sense that Eru is hiding something which adds a nice tension to affairs. The final part of Eru’s route has some of the best and worse aspects of the original game. It becomes very clear that Saku is not in her right mind any more as it is revealed she is responsible for the murders of people with powers. This creates a situation where Eru’s loyalty is tested and she turns on Narita, but comes around after Narita pushes through Eru’s power. Having this conflict between hero and heroine is a strong way to finalise their relationship and it is the highest point of this route and plays off what has been established between the two throughout the narrative. It is after this point which the greater issues with Hello Lady start to rear their heads. Saku’s dropping of any illusion that she is not the antagonist here and going to town on the school set her up nicely as a threat and makes you question which Saku is the real one, this one or the one we knew before. This is an interesting direction to go in but runs into the problem of having to hold back a lot of information about Saku and any revelations about her powers until her own route. As such the confrontation with Saku is incredibly underwhelming, Narita attempts to attack Saku only once and when this fails simply lets Eru use her power to win in an anticlimactic manner. Eru’s power is systematic of the strange ability design at play throughout Hello Lady. The ability to influence the mental state of another person to the point that attempting to harm Eru cause the person to attack themselves sounds like a cool idea in theory, but in practice is highly incompatible with the action focused nature of the narrative. It appears the developers were aware of this problem as there are only two proper fights involving Eru, the one just mentioned above vs. Saku and on in the final route. Both consist of two people standing opposite each other making noises as they have an invisible mental battle. This does not exactly make for compelling viewing especially for the confrontation with Saku since it is meant to conclude Eru’s character arc and is an underwhelming note to end the route on. -Otonashi Saku - Oh boy, here we are at the finale of the original game and the route with the most missed potential and strangest twists. It has a lot of ground to cover in terms of plot points and for the most part it is well paced with a good build up of the relationship between Narita and Saku while giving the final nail in the coffin for the legitimacy of Narita’s revenge. The cracks only start to show once we reach the finale were Saku’s lack of flaws reaches it apex with her being effectively absolved of any wrong doing with regards to her evil self, which makes her hard to empathise with especially in contrast to the mentally anguished Narita. Evil Saku is barely utilised throughout the route's duration with this part of Saku only surfacing on a few occasions and even then only for a moment. It really feels as if the developers did not want to have this part of Saku effect the players impression of her in any negative way. This is furthered by the revelation that this part of Saku was not really her succumbing to Onslaught Syndrome and was in fact her being possessed by Ruri and used like a puppet to commit those murders. This puts Saku in the clear for being responsible for those deaths since there is no way she can be expected to fight against a mind control she had no idea was even happening. Honestly this is a lot of missed potential and in a later section I will expand on this in more detail. Next we come to fight between Kurofune and Narita which the entire game has been building up to and is completely undermined by Saku’s presence. The fight has to constantly stop and start so that Saku and Kurofune can debate their actions and explain their motives. This completely kills the pacing of the fight with Narita barely being involved in a scene which should be the climax of his character arc and revenge. To put Narita in the background of his own fight and instead favour Saku, who has far less investment in this fight and does not actually throw a single punch, is a strange choice and leads to this fight feeling somewhat like a damp cloth to end things on. Of course this is not really the end as our eleventh hour villain takes the stage. Ruri is very poorly set up and is basically a cardboard cut out evil who is just there to be defeated. However, this section has some redeeming features which elevate it above the Kurofune fight. It nicely acts as the final blow to Narita’s motivations as the source of his desire for revenge is still alive and was not the person what he believed her to be. On top of this, the fight against Ruri is suitably climatic with everyone pitching in to overcome her and her own powers being excellent for a final antagonist. At this point it is worth bringing up the elephant in the room, Saku’s power. It turns out she has the ability to negate anyone else’s abilities and can take them from the person if she wants to. This ability is so absurdly powerful in the context of Hello Lady given how prominent those with powers are in the narrative. Saku is basically invincible if she chooses to actually use her powers which for the most part she does not so the plot can happen and seemly for no other good reason. It is a shame Ruri’s fight is finished because of Saku’s Deus Ex Machina power but I suppose Saku had to be involved somehow. Thus ends the routes contain in the original game. Quite a mixed bag with just as many excellent moments as strange narrative choices. If this were the entirety of Hello Lady I would not remember the game so kindly. However, it is not the end and what comes afterwards goes a long way to filling the holes in the original game. -Kabutoyama Mitori - When I realised one of the two New Division routes belong to Mitori, I cannot say I was very interested in it. In the original game Mitori is a character who’s death, at the end of the common route, acts as an inciting incident to break the status quo and introduce a new layer of mystery to the game. There was not much else to her and as such my expectations were low for her route, but little did I know she would become my favourite character and her route would stand head and shoulders above the rest. Mitori’s slow decline as she struggles against the Onslaught Syndrome as it is eating away at her is everything I had hoped for when Evil Saku was introduced. Witnessing this decline from both her internal point of view and from Narita’s makes for a compelling narrative as both have to grapple with this problem in their own ways, all the while being on the run from the school who are doing everything in their power to kill Mitori. The way this decline is contrasted with the growing relationship between Mitori and Narita, even in the face of this inevitable demise, works to heighten the tension and make their bond a beacon of light in this dark time. The whole experience plays out as any good tragedy should, we know how this is going to end and no matter how hard the characters struggle they cannot escape the ending. It is precisely this fight against the inevitable which makes their efforts beautifully futile and you cannot help but cheer them on. When Mitori’s end does come it is with one of the best fights in the game between herself and Narita and perfectly encapsulates their relationship while still being a climatic showdown. Few visual novels do this kind of tragedy and it was a pleasant surprise to find an example of it in Hello Lady. -Hishia Mori - This is a route characterised by its tendency to meander. It spends the majority of its play time dumping flashbacks and information about Hishia and Narita’s past. Most of this knowledge we could either already infer from what is known or adds nothing of value. This is a shame as the actually relationship between the two is a sweet romance focused around how the pair have a similar traumatic past and find solace in one another. If it were not for the poor pacing for the majority of the route this would have been one of the better example in the game of how to handle romance. However, there is one part of this route which makes it worth playing through all the dry backstory, and this is the fight against Kurofune. Here we can see what the fight in Saku’s route should have looked like and how you do a climatic fight where the heroine contributes without overshadowing the main conflict. Let’s pick apart why this works and Saku’s does not. Firstly, Kurofune is established as a threat by demonstrating his strength directly against Hishia and Narita, rather than being constantly interrupted, which allows for a greater catharsis when he is defeated. Second, character growth is naturally tied into the procession of the fight with it coinciding with the resolution of the main relationship. Finally, Hishia contributes to the fight in a way which makes sense for her character while not taking the limelight way from Narita who is the person with the greater investment in this fight. It also helps that Kurofune is given an expanded suite of moves to make the longer fight feel fresh throughout. This fight is one of the best in Hello Lady and it amazes me that it is consigned to a fandisc route. -Superior Entelecheia - Hello Lady’s grand finale route is juggling differing priorities. It is at once an explosive conclusion for the story and characters as well as a remedy for the issues of the original game’s narrative. Despite being pulled in these two directions it does an excellent job making sure neither overshadows the other and ends up as a suitable send off from the whole game. When it comes to being a conclusion to Hello Lady, this route knows it has to up things to eleven to keep the player engaged to the very end. It achieves this by giving all the characters enhanced versions of their powers to increase the spectacle of the fights and having all the major conflicts in the prior routes come to a head at the same time. This might sound like it would be overwhelming but in practice there is a strong flow to events in part due to it using a lot of elements the player is already familiar with, ensuring they will not become lost in the non-stop action. This route’s second objective is to fix issues with the original game and the two most prominent examples of this are Saku and Ruri. Saku gets the smaller enhancement with greater emphasis being placed on her fear of being left behind by those she loves and more general weaknesses to counteract the damage done by her own route making her too perfect. Overall the game is successful in crafting a more compelling personality for Saku, but there is still the lingering harm done by her own route which is difficult to undo. Ruri on the other hand is given the majority of the spotlight since she essentially had no personality before this route as anything other than a throwaway villain. Her transformation from generic bad guy to empathetic heroine is this route’s greatest success and the main appeal of playing it. By placing her in contrast to the rest of the cast and playing her off against Narita, the player gets a nuanced look at what motivates her and how despite everything she might say that she is as human as the rest of the cast. Having her be forced to question her world view also adds a lot to her character and we get to see her struggle to come to terms with what is happening around her. It also wonderfully expands Nartia by acting as a chance for him to be a real family member now that the mask has dropped and the resulting interactions create just the right balance of tension and feeling. Greater Than The Sum of Its Parts – Overarching Thoughts -Three Game Chimera - As a merger of three games there is some inevitable strangeness in how the whole package is put together. Going from the cohesiveness of the original game to selecting the next route from the main menu rather than from your own choices is quite a jarring shift. It bring a certain awareness of the fact this a game to the forefront of the player’s mind and this is one thing most games strive to avoid wherever possible. While this is not the end of the world for Hello Lady, it is disappointing that there was no attempt to merge these detached routes into the original game. This would have certainly required some additional effort on the developer’s part, but the benefits for immersion into this wonderful narrative and the coherence it would have provided would have been well worth it. -Saku’s Missed Potential - When Evil Saku was introduced in Eru’s route I was immediately intrigued by the twist that a previously beacon of moral purity has a darker side to them. This is initially presented as Onslaught Syndrome but the player is clued into the fact it is not this because of how the sympoms of Onslaught Syndrome do not exactly match what is happening to Saku. She is too in control and too human. However, this potential dies as you enter Saku’s route with it being pushed into the background and ultimately revealed to be a case of possession by Ruri and not anything related to Saku’s character. This is the single biggest missed opportunity in Hello Lady, especially given how many of Saku’s plot points and character traits would play well into a darker self and her overall arc. So join me as I engage in a thought experiment (read as Fanfiction) about how this could have been handled better. Saku’s character arc can be broadly split into two parts, her fear of being left behind. born from her friend’s death, and her struggles to reconcile the idea of being noble with the realities of an unfair world. Her struggles with her friend’s death are the fertile breeding ground for the construction of another personality to deal with the issues Saku does not want to face. Multiple personalities as a part of having powers already has a precedent with Sorako so this would not be out of left field. This new Dark Saku would be assertive, ruthless and willing to do whatever it takes to deal with threats and in particular problematic people with powers, everything the original is not or does not want to admit to being. The focus on those with powers would stem from the established fact that the person who killed her friend was someone with powers who managed to get away with what they were doing for a long time and was not somebody the normal authorities could handle. So Dark Saku’s answer is to kill these people to prevent them from causing harm since nobody else is willing or able to do it. Saku would have some awareness of what is happening to her but not remember the events when she is Dark Saku (as in the actual game) and also cannot quite bring herself to fully reject her other self’s methods. It is also easy to justify why Dark Saku would have killed Eru’s Owner given how he treated Eru as a thing rather than a person and thus would be unacceptable to Saku’s values. Saku would also feel responsible for Eru since she would be aware of being involved in Eru’s current state and as such she would take Eru under her wing even if she is not comfortable with Eru’s attachment to her. Conclusion Quite a lot of ground has been covered in this analysis but I hope that it was insightful as to the many strengths and flaws of Hello Lady. It should be obvious now this game is far from perfect with odd pacing issues, problematic choices of superpowers and general missed potential. However, it should be equally clear that it shines brightly with emotive character arcs, outstanding action scenes and an understanding of how to get the most out of each moment. Never has a visual novel made me so conflicted about if I think it is good or not throughout its entire length and swinging wildly backwards and forwards on which side of the divide I sit on. So ends my brief journey into madness and I will now try not to think about Hello Lady for a while, it has occupied too much of my mind.

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Genre – Superpowers, Action, Multiple Route Mystery. Play Time – 50 hours. Developer - Akatsuki WORKS. Steam VNDB It Started With Fire The quest for revenge is a time worn tale which has assumed many forms and is notoriously difficult to get right. It can be a struggle to get the audience to empathise with a character who is seeking revenge, especially when they start destroying the lives of others and potentially killing people. Hello Lady throws its hat into this complicated ring and presents its answer to this problem through a merger of mystery, romance and action. The version we have translated into English is the Complete Edition which includes the base game, the New Division fandisc and an extra final route. This package leads to some strange overall narrative quirks, but are its strengths enough to overcome them and craft a compelling tale of revenge? Let’s step into the shoes of Narita Shinri and find out. A Game of Three Parts - Narratives and Themes Despite being a merger of three separate sections (Original Game, New Division and the Final Route) written at different times there is a surprising level of cohesion between their overall narratives, but also some strange choices which lead to moments that don’t quite add up. Each part brings something unique to the table and explores the world or characters in order to create a complete experience for the player. - The Original game - This is the first section of the game which the player has access to and it is here they will spend the majority of their time. It follows a structure of sequentially unlocking routes in order to control the information given to the player and provide a sense of progression through the overarching mystery. However, this results in there being little sense of agency on the part of the player with the only freedom being given in the very beginning and even then only in the choice of two routes. As such it falls on the characters and plot to hold up the narrative and they succeed wonderfully. Narita Shinri’s pursuit of revenge and how it interacts with each of the heroines differently makes for a gripping tension as each brings a unique angle to his quest and calls it into question his motives. These dynamics are extended to the supporting cast with Narita having to dance around them in order to conceal his intent from them and enact his plans. This atmosphere between the characters is further enhanced by the mystery of the plot as the secrets of the school and of the world are slowly revealed and play on the sense that Narita is not in control of the situation. - New Division - New Division consists of two routes which are accessed entirely separately from the original game and as such have no build up to them as the player is suddenly thrust into the heart of the narrative. As you might expect this can be a bit disorienting, but it is mitigated by the routes making it clear when they take place in the timeline of Hello Lady. The two routes added are for Kabutoyama Mitori and Hishia Mori who were previously minor characters and now step into the limelight. Mitori’s route is the stronger of the two with a heart wrenching story which not only expands the characters involved, but also the explains some unanswered questions and grows the world building in interesting ways. It is one of the best routes in the game and only held back by how it can only build on certain plot points and not conclude them. On the other hand Hashia’s route is more uneven. The opening parts of the route repeats information we already know or could infer as well as containting numerous information dumps about Hashia’s past with Narita. This leads to it feeling very front loaded with content and kills any forward momentum the route might have be able to develop. However, this is balanced out by an extremely impactful finale where all the build up is turned into payoff with Narita and Hashia having a joint fight which is not only a spectacle but also ties their character arcs together. An overall slow route filled with filler content is ultimately saved by Hello Lady’s distinctive ability to make every conflict engaging and tense. - Final Route - It is difficult to say much about this route without spoilers since it acts as a culmination of all the previous sections. What can be said is that it is a worthy finale for the whole game and wraps up everything from character arcs to stray plot points. It also understands that in order to be a send off for the game it needs to crank things up to eleven and it does so in a brilliant explosion of action with new enhanced powers for the entire cast. On top of this it gives much needed depth to the eleventh hour villain from the original game and turns them from a cardboard cut-out designed only to be beaten by the heroes into one of the most interesting characters who wonderfully ties Narita’s story together. Without this route Hello Lady would have been a much weaker experience and its presence more than makes up for the short comings of what came before. Web Of Liars – Characters The cast of Hello Lady covers a variety of roles effectively with characters switching positions between ally and enemy depending on the route and events. Their banter and tension does a great deal to sell the narrative and make each section of the game distinctive. However, they are not without flaws and there is a particularly glaring failure to be found. It is rare for a visual novel to have a main cast this evenly strong and intriguing to watch dance around their scars and hopes. Narita is our protagonist and point of view character and epitomises the game’s standard of characters. He is a complicated and conflicted person who at once driven by his quest for revenge and his empathy for those around him. This conflict between his aims and the new companions he has found forms the strong backbone of each route's narrative and themes. It is also nice to have a protagonist who will get things done rather than waiting for the plot to move them forwards as can be found in many other visual novels. Now lets address the elephant in the room, Saku. For the majority of the game she is a strong character and acts as a foil to Narita with her moral righteousness contrasting with his crookedness. They work well as a duo to highlight the flaws in each others approaches to life and their aims which adds to the already dynamic cast interactions. However, this all goes out of the window once the player enters Saku’s route. The game becomes obsessed with painting Saku as pure and true to the point at which they blast way anything previously interesting about her character and make her flawless. At one point it looked as if the game was going to have Saku be involved a moral complicated situation but it back peddles on this plot point and absolves her of any possible wrong doing. This is all before we reach the issue of how her power is a deus machina which could solve so many threats in the narrative if she decided to use it, but of course she does not so the plot can happen. Overall, this leaves a sour taste in the mouth and, while the final route does a lot to mitigate this damage to Saku’s character, it feels like there is a favouritism towards Saku over everyone else. Superpowered Spectacle – Visuals, Audio and Technical When it comes to the polish of the moment to moment gameplay, Hello Lady delivers some noticeable highs within a competently put together package. The game is not without flaws but it is clear the developers have an understanding of how to get the most out of their chosen medium. Juggling the different tones and selling them through the visuals is a delicate affair and one which Hello Lady manages to thread nicely. By utilising a wide array of colours to complement the type of scene they are accompanying and makes it clear to the player what emotions they are trying to invoke. Bright colours and strong still poses show that you are in a slice of life or romance section, while darker colours and dynamic stances turn up the heat for an action or dramatic section. The art style itself is nothing you have not seen before and utilises a very standard anime aesthetic, but the developers are comfortable with it and know how to get the most out of it. On the technical front, there are some nice touches which elevate the game and one very questionable choice. For the good features, there are changing title screens which switch every time you complete a major section of the game and give a sense of progress for the player. In addition, Hello Lady is a game which uses both NVL and ADV to their full effect alongside each other and this merger elevates scenes and the tone of the game. As for the big misstep, it takes the from of the choice system and how it add unnecessary confusion. The choices come in two forms, ones which directly increase a heroines affection and ones which increase or decrease Narita’s stance towards the school. Heroine affection choices are the most standard, pick the option your chosen heroine likes to gain points. This is made easier by the game including a little picture each heroine on the options they want picked. The issues begin to appear when you factor in the choices which effect Narita’s feelings towards the school. Some heroine routes require a certain stance towards the school by Narita while others do not care about it and there is no way to know outside of trial and error which ones want what stance. This leads to a lot of confusion for the player with them repeatedly having to go through the common route and test various combinations of choices to see what gets them on a route. As you can imagine this is a frustrating experience and not conducive to keeping the player engaged. To top it all off the routes do not in any way recognise the stance of Narita based on these choices and just focus on the heroine leading you to question why they even exist. Verdict – While there is an unevenness to Hello Lady's quality, it is ultimately an extremely compelling package which keeps you engaged with revenge and mystery and plays on your feelings for its characters. Pros - + A compelling overarching mystery and an emotive tale of revenge form an exceptionally strong narrative core. + Having proactive and morally questionable protagonist with a drive to get what he wants is a breath of fresh air. + The various and competing desires of the cast make for some tense and heart-warming moments. + Careful use of visuals and audio alongside an understanding of how to get the most out of the medium allow each scene to shine. Cons - - The quality of the narrative is uneven with some sections being stronger than others, which is not helped by the game being a messy merger of three different games. - One of the most nonsensical choice systems in any visual novel. - Saku is favoured too much by the writers to the point at which she barely has any flaws and is far too virtuous. - Certain plot points are not developed properly or given space to breath, most noticeably the original game’s eleventh hour villain.

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Genre - Crime/Police, Otome, Romance. Play Time - 30 hours. Developer - Otomate, Design Factory. Nintendo Eshop VNDB A Story of Light and Dark Fandiscs are difficult to get right. Sitting in a strange midpoint between sequel and expansion of the original game, they have to balance the desire for more of the same with the sprinkling of something new they need justify their existence. The answer Collar X Malice Unlimited presents to this problem is to create a contrast between its new and old aspects by taking the lightest and darkest moments of the original game and expanding upon them. This approach results in a Fandisc which stands out among its peers but this approach it is not without its own drawbacks. Let us dive into the mystery behind X-Day once again. What Happens After The Curtain Falls – Narrative and Theme It is in the narrative structure of this game where the focus on the contrast between light and dark can be seen in sharp relief. Unlimited is broadly split into two halves, the After Stories and the Adonis Route. These two could not be further apart from each other in terms of tone and work well to provide a balanced package by preventing the overall feeling of the work from swinging too far in one direction. -After Stories - These are the follow ups for each route’s true ending and here we get to see where Hoshino’s relationship with each hero went after the dust settled from the Adonis threat. The strength of the interactions between Hoshino and the male leads continues here and the singular focus on the romantic elements allows for the banter to take centre stage. Getting to see them just be themselves without being under constant threat is a nice change of pace from the original game and gives some much needed growth to those relationships. They are also the perfect length to not overstay their welcome with just enough romance and conflict to wrap up their character arcs while still being concise. These light stories act as a great antidote to the dark parts of Unlimited and are a great pallet cleanser. -Adonis - Exploring what happens after the Bad Ending of a visual novel is something which rarely happens. However, this is exactly what the Adonis Route does, it expands on the ending from the original game where most of the cast die and Hoshino accepts Saeki’s offer to join Adonis. To start from such a bleak point is a bold decision and one which lets the writers explore the darker side of this world and the people who inhabit it. The route itself is focused around a cycle where Hoshino has been tasked with discovering a traitor within Adonis. In order to find out who this Judas is, she must interact with each member of Adonis and get to know them in a bid to uncover their true intentions. As such the player is presented with a choice each day of who among the key members of the group to spend time with as the clock slowly ticks down to the new X-Day. Humanising the members of Adonis is the focus of your time with them. They are all broken people who desperately want a place to belong and Adonis has taken advantage of that to use them as tools, but in the end they are still people with hope and dreams just like the heroes. However, you have to look beyond that and ask if they what they present to you is their true self and this is helped by the impending X-Day adding tension to each encounter. This route is the meat on the bone of this Fandisc and is the main reason for playing as it stands far above the After Stories. The Humanity of Heroes and Villains – Characters Unlimited is a game about the struggles and triumphs of its characters even more so than most in its genre. As mentioned earlier, the main conflict of the original game has been resolved and as such this Fandisc only has the smaller personal conflicts left. This means that it leans heavily into how attached the player is to the established cast for its narrative backbone and luckily for it these are a strong set of personalities. On the one side we have the returning cast of heroes for their After Stories which gives each a chance to have one final dance in the spotlight. However, the issue with using established characters who have already been the focus of an entire game is they may not have much in the way of new interactions to give. This is a problem which Unlimited has a hard time juggling as there are many conversations and events which feel like the game is just wholesale repeating itself with how similar it sounds to their interactions in the previous game. Thankfully this ends up not being too bad since there is an effort to space out the familiar by including new developments for the characters and expanding on old ones. It does not completely remedy the issue and playing the After Stories back to back makes it stand out more with the repetition becoming somewhat tiring. A Familiar Coat of Paint – Visual, Audio and Technical Reusing assets is the name of the game when it comes to Fandiscs and Unlimited is no exception. A vast majority of the visuals and audio are recycled from the original game. This is not to say that there are no new assets, for example there are a selection of new CGs scattered throughout both the After Stories and Adonis Route. However, they are so sparsely used that you would be hard pressed to differentiate a screenshot of Unlimited from one of the original game. While it is unreasonable to expect a Fandisc to make an entire game’s worth of new assets, it is nevertheless disappointing encounter so little new material over the thirty hours you will be playing. A few more splashes of new imagery and sound would have gone a long way to helping Unlimited stand out in its own right. On a technical level, Unlimited is identical to its predecessor with one exception, the mechanics of progression, and it is here where the game has its most noticeable weakness. Gating the Adonis Route behind the completion of some of the After Stories is a massive misstep. Not only is it unclear which After Stories you need to complete to unlock it, it also makes you play through content you might not be interested in to get to the main attraction of the Fandisc. On top of this, once you reach the Adonis Route you have to start from the prologue section after each cycle in order for your progress to count. This might not seem to be a big deal at first until you realise the game allows you to access any scene you have completed in the route, which are displayed in the same list as the prologue, creating an unclear line of progression for the player who might accidentally choose the wrong scene. These issues cause needless confusion and muddies an otherwise amazing experience to the point where you question why these design choices were made. Verdict – An excellent fandisc which expands on both the light and the dark elements of the original game in a well paced and presented package. Pros and Cons - Pros - + Expanding on one of the original game’s Bad Endings is a clever move and expands the depth of Adonis as an organisation and the humanises the people within it. + Hoshino continues to be one of most well realised otome protagonist with a more even power dynamic between her and the other characters. + Revisiting the romances for the After Stories gives a good sense of how these relationship have developed. + The banter between Hoshino and the heroes is still a pleasure to watch and their interactions are the main appeal of the After Stories. Cons - - Being forced to do the After Stories before you can access the Adonis Route is an unnecessary barrier. - Uneven quality among the After Stories with some being distinctly better and more thought through than others. - The lack of many new assets is a disappointment, but is understandable given this game’s status as a Fandisc.

Is this really happening? I'm kind of surprised, it has been so long since those original games were released. You would think they would have gone for a more recent title. Not that I am complaining. All aboard the hype train....

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here. For visual novels, the written word is their backbone and how it is presented to the player is key to controlling their tone and pacing. Over the years the methods of presentation have been standardised into two types, ADV (ADVenture) and NVL (NoVeL). These two have become the dominate styles and are often positioned as diametric opposites in what they set out to achieve. When a developer creates a visual novel they will often exclusively use one of these two types based on if it fits their intended vision. But what is it that drives their choice and why have these two methods emerged as the dominant forces in the medium? This article will examine these two competing styles to find out what makes them tick and how you can utilise them when making your own visual novel. ADV In general ADV refers to a text box which only occupies as small section of the screen. It is normally located at the bottom but also can take different forms such as speech bubbles or other hovering text boxes. ADV is by far the most popular type of text presentation with over 19000 tagged games in VNDB and it can be seen as the face of the medium given how much it has become associated with visual novels. One of the primary reasons for this popularity is the faster pace it offers. An ADV textbox can only show a few lines of text at a time which the player can quickly read before clicking to show the next lines. This means the player is always being presented with new content and encouraged to never dwell on previous lines which gives them a sense that they are rapidly and constantly progressing through the game. As such the overall pacing of the game is sped up and for games focused on action or want a less dense feeling to their narratives, the choice to use ADV makes sense. This can be further controlled to the developer’s liking through the mixture of dialogue and narration to slow or speed up the feeling of a scene. The 9-nine- series is a good example of this practice with its mixture of slice of life, suspense and action scenes demanding a shifting but brisk pace. The game’s ADV delivers this by mixing speech heavy sections with rapid descriptions of events depending on the needs of each scene. Even with these elements it can be difficult to slow the player down and make them contemplate what has occurred due to the inherent forward momentum of ADV and the lack of space it gives to what has just happened. Complementing this faster pace is the lighter tone offered by unobstructed visuals. The smaller textbox of ADV places a greater emphasis on the backgrounds, portraits and CGs behind it and these cover the major of what the player will be seeing. As you would expect this means the visuals have to carry more of the weight in selling the narrative and is a consideration for visual novels where their art style is a big selling point as ADV allows it to shine. A focus on visuals also creates a less serious tone than NVL due to the shorter segments of text and an overall brighter feeling due to their prominence. This is the main reason slice of life and romance visual novels prefer ADV as their aim is create an enjoyable but not demanding experience for the player which they can comfortably slip in and out of and ADV provides this flexibility to the developers. One of the most prominent examples of this practice can be found in any Yuzusoft game where the lighter tone of ADV is utilised to its full effectiveness with their decorative and translucent text boxes and bright aesthetic. It is impressive to see how small changes to the colours of an interface can shift the player's perceptions of a work towards a more relaxed atmosphere. By emphasising images through the smaller textbox of ADV, the styles of narrative told using it tend towards an external focus. What this means in practice is that these visual novels tend to have flat or self-insert protagonists with the focus being placed on the interactions between and other characters to carry the players interest. Amnesia: Memories is an extreme example of this external focus with its complete commitment to the self-insert protagonist and reliance on conversations between characters to carry the narrative weight. There is only a limited amount of introspection possible in a format which is inherently forward moving and what is present tends to be brief and supported by emotional moments with members of the core cast. This is one of the major downsides of the momentum offered by ADV, slowing things down can be difficult without killing the pacing of the overall narrative. NVL The approach of NVL to text and narrative presentation is in many ways the other extreme to the ADV method. It generally manifests as a single large textbox covering most of the screen, sometimes with a boarder around the edge, through which the visuals bellow can be seen even if they are partially obscured. When a developer chooses to use NVL it is clear they want the writing to be front and centre with the player's undivided attention. This is a result of having the text take up a good portion of the screen and it changes how the player interacts with the game. The presence of more lines of text on screen at any one time creates a slower pace to the narrative since past lines linger on the screen and the player may reread them in light of the new information being presented to them. We can see this clearly in Higurashi When They Cry which utilises its tense and horror based narrative to make the player hang on each sentence for a clue and attempt to find meaning in how the lines are presented, which in turn fuels the atmosphere in a cyclical manner. A side effect of this approach is the introduction of a more demanding tone than is found in ADV due to the increased prominence of the text and the way in asks you to dwell on the complete picture each page is showing instead of just a since line. These combine to favour more narratively complex stories since these elements of NVL are often overkill for simpler tales. One of the largest benefits to using NVL is the minute level of control it is possible gain over what text is shown as well as where and when. This gives the developer the ability to emphasise key moments by breaking from the established structure of the text and surprising the player. These can be something as simple as a single word at the centre of the screen to as complex as an entire scene presented as if it were a text chat log. Perhaps the most vivid example of this is Fate Stay Night which uses the colour, position, font and shapes available to control player perceptions with a level of finesse not possible without NVL. The ability to spice up the narrative presentation can never be underestimated and it injects life into what might otherwise be a boring wall of text. However, there is the ever present risk of overusing this trick and the temptation to show off through it must be controlled since it will rapidly become familiar and breed complacency in the player. A major drawback of utilising NVL is way in which it pushes the visual aspects of the game into the background. By placing a large text box in front of both the background and portraits, it creates a sense of distance from them and encourages the player to consider them less important than the writing. As you would expect this means that their art styles often tend towards clearer shapes and an uncluttered visual presence since a more distinctive and loud use of colour and form would become muddied or lost under the layer of text. While this is normally worked into how the game presents itself so as to not draw attention to it, there is undeniably something lost from not being properly able to engage with the visual aspects in a more chaotic and expressive fashion. Merging The Two Sides So far I have been presenting ADV and NVL as if they are entirely opposite and incompatible with each other. Of course this is not true, in reality there is nothing stopping a developer from switching between the two styles depending on the needs of the scene. Do you want to have a moment of introspection then switch to NVL, or perhaps you want a fast paced actions scene then switch to ADV. Wonderful Everyday perfectly encapsulates this mixed philosophy as it weaves in and out of both styles of presentation to allow the importance of a scene or moment to be understood by the player. On top of all of this it allows for the ability to play with player expectations through establishing one of the styles as being only used for a certain character or type of scene only pull back the curtain to reveal the truth later on. The flexibility on offer is endless and can be tweaked to fit the needs of the game’s narrative, further adding to the toolbox available. Conclusion As with any medium there are differing approaches to presentation and none of these are necessarily better than any other, but instead offer benefits to certain genres and themes. Such is the case with the ADV vs. NVL debate. On the one side we have ADV with its tendency towards faster pacing and external focused narratives and on the other we have NVL with its introspective tendencies and more demanding tone. Of course you can combine the two in the same visual novel and play with their contrasting properties if you are willing to run the risk of confusing the player. Each one of these options is valid when used properly and allow the developer to have control over the effects of both the text and visuals in order to achieve their desired emotion or theme. In the end you will have to make the call about what you feel will work best within your visual novel and lean into what makes your chosen style tick for the best results.

Wow. I am kind of surprised it made the list. At least it is some visual novel representation on the list.

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here. When Everything Goes Wrong A good story is often defined by its ending and a bad one can be redeemed by it. Visual novels are no exception to this rule and must contend with this opportunity multiple times over the course of the game. The most common form of endings used in visual novels are the Good and True Endings, but there are also some games which use Bad Endings. This kind of ending is one in which the protagonist fails in some fashion based on the players choices and it is generally treated as a short optional side path to expand the players experiences. Handling a Bad Ending properly can be a difficult task as they are inherently negative by nature and can make the player feel as if they are being unfairly punished. Bad Endings can be broadly split into two types, the Tragic End, where events end poorly for everyone involved, and the Dead End, where the protagonist simply dies. There is obviously a degree of overlap between the two types and this will be explored more as we address them separately. Their are other mediums which have the player character die based on the players choices like with Dead Ends, most notably choose your own adventure books, but none which place the emphasis on them which visual novels do with Tragic Ends. This strange evolution is what this article will be exploring as it details the aspects and usage of the Bad Ending and why it fits some games but not others. Tragic Ends Of the two types of Bad Endings the Tragic End is by far the most common simply because it can fit into any genre and does not require any form of character death. This allows it to sit alongside a more grounded or personal drama oriented story. Death can still be a part of a Tragic End but it is rarely the defining element and as a result it can explore the outcomes of a failure in an expansive manner not present in Dead Ends. One important feature of a Tragic End is how it expands the narrative in some fashion, be this hinting at a future revelation or showing another side of a character which might otherwise have been hidden. This offer the visual novel a chance to allow the player to explore the narrative and feel rewarded with the sense of discovery and the idea that they have had a glimpse behind the curtain. On the flip side the Tragic End can serve the same tension providing purpose as a Dead End and be something the player wants to avoid so they can have a happy ending for the characters they are invested in, which keeps them on their toes. Player engagement is one of the most important aspects for a game and the use of Tragic Ends provides it with ease, but to really explore how they achieve this we will need to look a few examples of good implementations of them. Let’s start with a simple example in the form of Himawari. This game utilises a series of Tragic Ends during its opening section which can be reached by making incorrect choices. These fall under the peek behind the curtain type of Tragic End as Himawari initially presents itself as a simple slice of life story with an eccentric cast and these peeks act as subtle confirmation to the player that all is not as it seems. Strange character behaviour and unexplained events define these endings and each one is given a unique piece of the puzzle to tantalise the player with. Himawari also understands when to stop using Tragic Ends. Once the big twist is revealed in the second section and the curtain is pulled back there is no longer any need to peek behind it and so Tragic Ends stop appearing after this point. In many ways it is the poster child of how to utilise Tragic Ends in the most basic manner and how powerful that effect can be for keeping the player engaged when nothing appears to be happening on the surface without forcing this content down their throat. Virtue’s Last Reward handles its Tragic Ends in a very different way, it makes them a mandatory part of the games structure. Almost all endings before the True Ending are some form of Tragic End and serve the purpose of pushing the narrative forward in various ways while also providing the idea of being trapped in a more meta narrative sense. This all fits into the death game style of story which Virtue’s Last Reward tells. The game could have got away with simple Dead Ends if building tension was what it needed from its endings. However, instead Tragic Ends were used to help build out the world and mysteries while the life and death drama plays out to its sad conclusion. By using so many negative endings the game creates a maze like quality to its narrative which encourages the player to try and find the way out for both themselves and the characters they have grown attached to. It is this blending of motivation and mystery building which makes Virtue’s Last Reward an excellent example of how Tragic Ends can be used to clever effect. Dead Ends In contrast to the complex possibilities offered by the Tragic End, the Dead End results simply in the swift death of the player character or another key character. Dead Ends are often short in length and are the closest visual novels come to having a simple game over screen, but unlike them Dead Ends have a degree of narrative flexibility. The most common use of the Dead End is to build tension within a visual novel by offering a fail state. This works to sell the lethality of a situation though showing it rather than simply implying it, which allows the story to keep a sense of suspense throughout its length rather than the player becoming accustomed to the threat of death. It is surprising how a sudden death from a simple choice can wake the player up and make them think more carefully about what they are doing in order to avoid a similar fate again. Fate Stay Night is the poster child for the standard use of Dead Ends to create tension. It is visual novel centred around life and death magical battles so it offers many opportunities to provide the player with a choice which could lead to their death in combat. The constant presence of death helps sell the battle royale as dangerous and its participants as superpowered warriors who are not to be taken lightly. Without the Dead Ends the length of Fate Stay Night would have led to the player no longer finding the battles tense since they had seen similar fights before, but the constant threat of a Dead End makes every choice something they have to carefully consider. There are so many Dead Ends in the game that it keeps track of which ones you have achieved turning it into a collection element with a small reward for getting all of them. If there is one problem with how Fate Stay Night handles Dead Ends it is that sometime it can be hard to determine why you got a specific ending even with the hint system in place and this can lead to frustration for the player. Lack of Popularity If Bad Endings are as useful and expansive, as has been shown here, why do so few visual novels use them? The simple answer is the game’s genre determines whether the negative features of Bad Endings are necessary for them. For example, one of the most common genres of visual novel is romance / slice of life and it generally steers clear of anything serious and instead want its tone to be light and upbeat in nature which is highly incompatible with Bad Endings. On top of this those genres which are more compatible with the negative tone of Bad Endings might choose not to use them because of the potential to upset the game’s pacing by diverting the player onto a side path which they might not want to see. Those visual novels which do use Bad Endings do so since it fits the type of narrative they are trying to tell. Conclusion There are a wealth of possibilities when it comes to the forms Bad Endings can take and their use within a visual novel’s narrative. The Tragic End offers a chance to explore a side of the world and characters that might not be possible otherwise and Dead Ends give tension and stakes to events. Of course you want to know if you should include a type of Bad Ending in your visual novel and the answer to that is based on if it suits the story you are trying to tell. Do you need the tension and mystery they add and are willing to pay the cost of potential pacing issues and player confusion when they make a wrong choice? If you answered yes then it might fit into your story, but be careful since the trade off may effect you in ways you do not expect like the confusion over the cause of a Dead End as in Fate Stay Night. Overall, the Bad Ending and its mutations are a strange feature of visual novels and it will be interesting to see how they develop in future.

Thank you for the complement, I am glad you like my reviews. As for scoring system, I am of the same opinion as you but I use them because I feel it is what people expect. However, I have never been happy with that approach and I will definitely be experimenting with removing the score in future reviews.

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here. In The Beginning If there is one structural element which is used by most visual novels it is the Common Route. This linear opening section contains the choices which decide the route you will be sent on as well as providing world and character building setup so that the routes can focus on their specific hero/heroine. They are so ubiquitous with visual novels that even those who are not familiar with medium still associate them with the Common Route. Why has such a distinctive structural ingredient become so ingrained into the mind of visual novel developers? Other games which emphasise choice do not share this aspect and instead opt to use different structures, such as the actions and consequences approach of Telltale games or the Mass Effect series. Visual novels alone champion the Common Route. This article will dive into the technical implementation of the Common Route and find out both why it is so widely used as well as its strengths and weaknesses. The Backbone of a Visual Novel - The Pros and Cons When it comes to implementing a common route into a visual novel there are many advantages but also trade offs to doing so. This section will cover some of the most prominent examples from each end of the argument and why you might consider having one in your game. The strengths of the Common Route revolve around its function as the foundational pillar from which all other routes and elements can build on. The most prominent strength is the fact that the Common Route often does the heavy lifting when it comes to establishing the world and characters of the story. This means that the main routes do not have to get bogged down with exposition and can focus purely on their specific characters, themes and plots. The Common Route ensures a level of understanding on the part of the player which the writer can rely upon as a basis for what they can subsequently create. This prevents pacing problems in the main routes where the majority of important and memorable events happen and makes sure that the player is left with a positive impression rather than becoming bored with in-universe explanations. In a similar vein, the Common Route allows for the establishing of a malleable status quo and sets the tone for the rest of the game. This is important as the routes which diverge off the Common Route are likely to have distinctly different themes and plots which might contradict one another if placed side by side. By building a flexible foundation in the Common Route a visual novel can avoid possible contradictions through allowing for a variety of outcomes to be reasonable extrapolations from that base situation. Working to complement this is how it establishes the tone of the game. While this might be subverted later on, it sets expectations which can be built off and provides a sense of consistency for the game as a whole. On a more practical level the Common Route is a useful tool to control the scope of a visual novel. There is obviously the contraction into a single section of the world building and character set up as mentioned before, but on top of that it is an easy area to insert in events from other routes which were cut for pacing reasons and need a new location to play out. In addition, it is a section which the player will repeatedly traverse through meaning it allows for a padding of the play time if you need to control how fast the player consumes the game. Broadly speaking the weaknesses of the Common Route come down to the bad writing habits it can cause in some writers if they are not careful with its implementation. We often see this in the poor pacing which can be found in many Common Routes. The desire to put all the exposition and character set up in the Common Route can lead to an over-saturation of this content leading to a bloated and slow feeling pace and as a result it can struggle to hold the players attention. The Common Route should never outstay its welcome, it is not the star of the show just the warm up act. As such knowing what length of Common Route is appropriate for your visual novel is a key skill for the game’s overall pacing. The Foundation of Many Faces - Types of Common Route In order to accommodate the needs of the countless different visual novel in existence, the Common Route has been adapted to suit their differing purposes. In this section, some of the most common types of Common Route will be covered to see why each one is used. The most standard of all Common Routes is the straight line. However, even this simple structure has some important variations to it in the form of whether it has early or late branching routes. This decision changes the dynamic of the player's interaction with game. Common Routes which start branching earlier generally have a faster pacing and a shorter length as the routes rapidly take centre stage. This type is generally chosen when the visual novel either wants to quickly split the plot into distinct sections with heavily divergent events or wants to focus in on specific characters rather than there interactions with one another. Tsukihime is a strong example of the first category, it has an opening Common Route which introduces the characters in a basic fashion before splitting into the Near Side and Far Side routes which focus on different aspects of the plot and the world. The second category is best exemplified by Katawa Shoujo which does not dwell on its Common Route and instead diving into the routes quickly so that the focus in placed solely on the characters and their struggles. These examples of early branching Common Routes reveal the strength of using one, the ability to emphasise a particular aspect of the narrative by shifting the focus into it rather than dwelling on the Common Route itself. For visual novels with a focus on plot or characters as its core appeal having an early branching Common Route allows them to keep the momentum up while playing into their strengths. The last type of Common Route which will be covered here is the Ladder Structure. Of the Common Route types this is by far the least used by developers and this is due to the fact it requires them give up a lot of the non-linear aspect of visual novels in exchange for its strengths. In a game with a Ladder Structure the Common Route takes on the role of containing the main plot which would normally be contained in the routes and forms the majority of the play time. Character routes generally diverge off the Common Route at set intervals such as near the end of chapters (hence it forms a kind of ladder), though they are generally optional and only expand on the Common Route rather than containing key plot points. The only exception to this is the final route which comes straight off the end of the Common Route and is almost an extension of it to conclude the story. The most iconic example of the Ladder Structure is Steins Gate which follows the above formula to a fault with each heroine getting a small route but with the focus clearly being on the Common Route and its push towards a narrative conclusion. This works for Steins Gate because of its thriller writing style which keeps the pace up throughout its duration and the side routes act as a sort of breather from the main plot and it results in a more even experience than a standard route based game. The Ladder Structure works best for visual novels which want to emphasise their more linear stories but still want to have some routes to keep the reader engaged through choices. It trades the benefits of a more non-linear structure for a tighter narrative experience. Why are common routes so common? When looking at visual novels as a whole, this is a natural question to ask given the frequency of Common Routes. The obvious answer is to point to the benefits which have been listed above as the primary motivating factor for their inclusion and this is in part true since Common Routes provide what visual novels need in terms of structure. However, there is another factor at play, expectations. Common Routes have become such a ubiquitous part of the medium that the audience expects one in every visual novel, whether the game needs it or not. This is especially true for romance based visual novels where the player's choice of heroine/hero is so important that not having a Common Route might anger some players since it betrays their expectations. That is not to say that there are no visual novels without Common Routes, we can find plenty of examples from the simultaneous story sections of games like Wonderful Everyday and Zero Time Dilemma to the recent trend for episodic games like Phantom Trigger and 9 nine. Instead this perception of the necessity is just a limit on the creativity of visual novels and one which needs to be broken if we are to see more interesting and experimental games in the medium. The Best Fit For All? Common Routes are at the heart of visual novel design as a pillar of support for the non-linear aspects brought about by the presence of routes and it provides these games a flexible anchor they can build around. The exact structure and use of a Common Route has mutated into different forms over time to fit the needs of each story, but at their heart they focus on marrying the linear and non-linear. Despite how useful they can be, you should never become too attached to them and instead ask if they are what best fits the story you want to tell. Be inventive with your Common Routes and maybe you will create a new type Common Route which revolutionise the world of visual novels. After all there is nothing common about a good Common Route.

Let's hope that is true. More variety is definitely a good thing.