Scars Unseen

out of |n3|

Hmm... I tend to go with strong characters, and given my avatar, my first two choices should be no big surprise, but... Mitsurugi Meiya from Muv-Luv Alternative: Makise Kurisu from Steins;Gate: and as a bit of an oddball choice in comparison, Ikezawa Hanako from Katawa Shoujo:

Actually, that scene with Kotonoha is one of the reasons I hate Makoto so much.

Absolutely. My expectations for this anime are currently rated "3."

What if you expect just the right amount?

Maybe it's because it's still fresh on my mind, but.. Muv-Luv Alternative:

Yeah, I'm using part of my tax returns to get a compressor for my airbrush. I'm also planning on wiring it up to get some glowing bits on it. As for the model, mine has the shield as well as the guns. It's the Storm Vanguard/Strike Vanguard Spec. Do you use normal modeling glue, or something like Ambroid or Tenax? Yeah, I've done a few HG and MG Gundams, but I'm working myself up to being good enough to do this one justice:

I don't collect figures, but I do collect models. Mostly Gundam, but I have some Armored Core as well. And my newest addition, which I can't wait to put together is...

Well since people keep talking about it, I think I'm going to give Hoshizora no Memoria a go next.

In my continued journey through all things(that have been translated) Muv-Luv related, I have started watching Akane Maniax. Well either that or someone slipped me some LSD when I wasn't looking. This show is a bit weird...

Most of the good endings made me hate Makoto more. I've only managed one playthrough so far where Makoto was a decent human being. Most of the time the game eventually forces you to be a creep. I think, however, that my current most hated character is Sumika from Muv-Luv Alternative.

I haven't played the two VNs you mentioned, but "well written" is probably the defining trait of Grisaia no Kajitsu. I've played other VNs that I found more emotionally moving, and others that that I liked the route layout better, but the actual writing style in Grisaia no Kajitsu is consistently top notch both in the humorous and dramatic parts of the story. The common route is technically little more than slice of life comedy, but I never once felt like it was dragging despite its length. It helps that the protagonist/narrator is awesome. Yuuji could have made School Days fun.

I dislike excessive fan service because it makes it hard to recommend some otherwise stellar anime to some of my friends. The Monogatari series comes to mind...

Muv-Luv consists of two parts: Extra and Unlimited. You have to finish the two main routes in Extra to unlock Unlimited(but they are so similar that after finishing one, the other may only take an hour if you skip previously read scenes). Extra is a very light, kind of bland rom com. It took a while for me to push through it, but in reality, it isn't that long. Not that great, but the backstory is important. Unlimited is still fairly light overall, but because it starts getting into the meat of the real story, I found it to be a good read in and of itself. Finishing one route will get you everything you really need to get ready for Alternate, but finishing all routes wouldn't take that much time(since they only split at the very end of the game; it's more like multiple epilogues that multiple routes) and they do all hold some relevance in Alternative. Muv-Luv Alternative is the reason you play the above two. There is a dramatic tonal shift from the previous two, and the end result is a pretty amazing action drama that kept me from getting a sensible amount of sleep until I finished it. For some completely unnecessary, but possibly amusing context, watch Kimi ga Nozomu Eien (also known as Rumbling Hearts) first. It involves some characters that show up in Alternative, but is otherwise unrelated. You could play the VN too if you can read Japanese.

Just picked up the Zone of the Enders HD Collection, so going to have some mech action fun.

Favorite overall: Makise Kurisu from Steins;Gate (though that may be cheating since it's a VN adaptation...) Favorite Action Girl: Naomi Armitage from Armitage III. I mean, just look at this... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gNmuATrrto

For the first time in 6 years, I was alone this Valentine's Day. However, I saw something so novel I had to get it for one of my female friends anyway: I was hoping for a Gendo one for maximum hilarity, but a box of chocolates with the image of an emotionless clone on the front was a good way to go too. If I was still with my ex, I would have bought her a cactus.

Just finished watching Rumbling Hearts... that was a rather surreal experience after playing Muv-Luv Alternative. Starting up Total Eclipse next.

I haven't played many VNs yet, but it is already getting hard to pick a favorite, because different VNs do different things for me. I'd say that my favorite three are Steins;Gate, Grisaia no Kajitsu and Muv-Luv Alternative. Of those three, MLA made the best use of art, and was probably the best emotional roller coaster. Grisaia no Kajitsu was the most consistently awesome, with no real weak points in the writing. Steins;Gate's awesomeness I mostly attribute to the attention to detail paid to the science fiction aspects of the story along with having my favorite characters of the VNs I've read.

Well I can't really argue with that since I did in fact predict how it would end. I did get emotional about it though, even if it possibly wasn't the emotion I was supposed to be feeling. I can see why they did it that way. I was starting to get epic battle fatigue by the time that scene came along.

And this is why genres are a limiting way of classifying things. It's not really an RPG so much as it is a lightweight visual novel with RPG elements that makes fun of JRPGs. The shops serve no purpose? The shops are literally a joke. The game also makes fun of healing at the inn and other well established JRPG standards. If you are trying to play MGQ as a standard JRPG, of course you are going to be disappointed, because that's not what it is. You may as well get upset at a roguelike for not having a deep and engaging story. Monster Girl Quest isn't for everyone, no doubt about it. But it isn't without its charms, and if the question being asked is "does the game improve after the first game," then my answer has to be "absolutely."

Just finished Muv-Luv Alternative... A couple of VNs I've played have made me cry, but this is the first one that pissed me off as well. Probably going to watch Total Eclipse before deciding what VN to play next... I need to let some tension out before I board the next roller coaster...

The largest difficulty with the harder monsters comes from watching for cues given in battle. Some of the fights require you to switch spirits mid-fight, guard or counter at specific times and the like. Then too in the longer fights, skill point management is important(though admittedly this does become trivial once you regain Salamander) since not having enough skill points when a spirit wears off can be an instant fight ender. Not every fight in the game is challenging, but I felt that enough of them were that the game was more challenging overall than most JRPGs I've played(not counting optional bosses that exist purely to give compulsive level grinders something to do).

To summarize the above, Little Busters is the best and worst VN of the bunch, but it also falls somewhere in the middle. Despite that, Rewrite is the top pick of Key's works, except possibly for when you're playing CLANNAD. Additionally, Angle Beats will definitely probably blow the rest of them away when it comes out, so be sure you play Planetarian. Also, Kanon is pretty good.

Considering you don't have all of those skills for a large portion of MGQ3, I'm going to have to admit to some skepticism on that claim.