Mr Poltroon
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Posts posted by Mr Poltroon
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3 hours ago, Mago Ivo said:
P.S. : I don't know if it's normal, but I love to cry. Am I weird?
The entire genre exists for that purpose. Clearly it is not that odd a thing.
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3 hours ago, Stormwolf said:
omg a visual novel for males which is not a school setting? is this real life?
Could I ask what you are referring to here?
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3 hours ago, Dreamysyu said:
Whaaaat? Nonsense.
SpoilerFin un-yandere'd himself every time it mattered. His love was such that in the majority of endings, despite his suffering and conditioning and mistreatment, he still accepted her and let her be, at the cost of his life. It was absolutely one of the things I most loved, that he could still crawl out of the abyss, if only for her. The world was most unfair on him.
Of course yandere also isn't bad,
but the route can tackle it however it prefers, so long as there's happiness.
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I've just played Chapter 4 of Master Magistrate. Extremely satisfied with the outcome of this mystery game! Still have a couple of epilogues to go through, though.
Chapter 4 thoughts (spoilers):
SpoilerFirst off, this case isn't as clear cut as others, and that is intended.
There's very little evidence at the actual scenes, so most of the trials here rely on what your witnesses tell you and whether it matches your conjecture. The reason it's done this way is because both trials rely on you having a completely different perspective and theory on what happened each time, which would be hard to do with hard evidence at the scene.
Instead, the trials are driven by what the witnesses say, which is why we were headed straight towards the wrong path during the first day: The main witness was making half of what he said up the whole time. The only reason we manage to solve anything is because the second time around the problematic witnesses are much more forthcoming.That said, despite the lack of evidence the chapter was extremely compelling! This is because upon the beginning of the incident it is made quite apparent that whoever is behind it has access to a lot of behind the scenes knowledge. The few bits of evidence left incriminate the very people we work with, leading to the first big mystery of whether somebody is trying to incriminate us or pulling a double bluff by leaving evidence of themselves. As a magistrate, the protagonist spends the first day trying to believe his coworkers and looking for external criminals, though it is at this point that he comes up with a terrifying theory: That all that has happened so far in the game was in fact all planned from the very start, due to a specific set of coincidences necessary to motivate this crime. However, he bottles up that theory (since the only ones with the knowledge and power to pull of it off are a very limited subset of people, most of whom very close to us).
If at this point the player hadn't started yet, this is the point where the player is likely to examine everybody on the team's suspicious movements and wondering about a traitor. Personally, Okita, Yamagami and Saotome were immediately suspicious as a result.The entire first trial something feels off. The suspect we are pursuing isn't trying tremendously hard to lie well, being purposefully vague about movements and motives, but insisting they didn't do it. There's no way he could be the culprit when he's this sloppy, but on the other hand, about half the time he got shafted was because of something Saotome did or said*. It didn't occur to me at the time, but this is similar to Sakura's trial, if only subtly so. In Sakura's trial the whole team was giving us warning signs, but this time it seemed like we were on the right track, yet something was still off with the truth and the witness. (This makes a lot of sense with what comes later!)
*Incidentally, Saotome/Saito in this case is awesome. She is such a chaos element, and it all perfectly fits into her character such that you can't help but feel it's natural things get messy if she's involved.
One of the most compelling parts is that we aren't the only party investigating this and trying to bruteforce their way to a solution. Ooka, the protagonist, is caught right between the middle of two opposing forces manipulating and warring each other, leading to muddled motives and actions and general confusion.
The first trial was off because it was wrong, but didn't seem like it was wrong because the team was being manipulated by a traitor. The suspect was being so unhelpful and suspicious because he himself was suspicious of the team and investigating them. Being truthful didn't seem like the right move at the time.Once we get through the first trial, and survive the interim, the second trial is different. The first party, who gave us the slip during the first trial, were caught off-guard for the second, and given the situation, ended up deciding that being truthful would probably be more helpful, due to the fact that we, the magistrate, were acting independently. It's this truthfulness that finally allows us to get to the bottom of the case and the reveals and all that jazz. The constant conflict of parties behind the scenes was extremely well done.
Interesting contradiction: At one point, we are told "Swordfighting Technique A is unsuited for taking on multiple opponents at once." which we interpret to mean that it should not be used to take out a group of people. However, that is not actually what it says! And the case makes use of this misunderstanding the reader is sure to have. The given technique is perfectly suited to take out multiple people one by one, so as to avoid the need to tackle multiple people at once. The subtle difference in meaning here is of much importance, but not how we are likely to interpret it, so we're never asked to point it out directly, but rather we discover it when we try to contradict a statement using our misunderstanding.
GENUINELY GOOD ROMANCE WHAT IS THIS
Sakura's Route
SpoilerSakura's route is extremely good, or at least it was so to me. It's characterised by a down to earthness I don't see too terribly much from VNs. Its main traits are the two of them spending time together, respecting each other and learning from one another until they become two peas in a pod. Their personalities have some differences, but their core ideals align like in no other route and they soon realise they are a natural fit for each other, deciding, in that case, to come together.
As two workaholics their private life is somewhat scarce, but those are the moments the VN chooses to depict. And these two have a fantastic private life. They are curious, so they often end up trying new things, from the bath, to alcohol, to rape fantasy, to bondage. At the end they always discuss what they enjoyed or didn't in a way that makes me love their relationship.
Another thing about this route in particular is how ridiculous the comedy in it is, and it makes for a fun change of pace. As for the ending of the route, there is nothing more appropriate for these two than trying to have normal sex for once in their lives... and failing.Okita's Chapter
SpoilerI'm going to have to divide this in two, because this chapter has a choice which diverges things considerably.
Hijikata
SpoilerIf you choose to respect Kondou's wishes, then Okita will never witness any of these events. Instead, you get to witness the most traditional 'Japanese spirit' events you ever will. Seriously, Kondou's final moments seemed so traditional and so seeped in history that it feels delightfully foreign.
It's just a few scenes you have to notice for yourself, the last moments of a man who may or may not have regrets, who may have left the world a better place than he found it in, but who still made bad choices that simply are intolerable in Japan on this period.
You hate that this is happening, as does Shimei, so he relates to us. And yet, Hijikata and his Japanese spirit, suffering though he is, powers through it, trying to give Kondou a noble death, and Kondou is grateful for the opportunity. Our foreign values, I think, make this scene much better, for how irrational it seems, and how everyone is suffering but still proud, or glad?
Awesome.
At the end, we hear more about Hijikata's feelings, which we respected, and about loose ends from previous cases.
Okita's Route
SpoilerThis route is where everything goes to bollocks. By allowing Okita's presence during the execution, she gets to witness her last loved one getting decapitated. She still has friends, of course, but to her, at her mental state, it feels like she has nothing to care for, and feels like her friends are the ones that killed her loved ones. It's the route where she has a very hard time recovering from her surrogate parent's deaths, and the route where Shimei feels the need to get really invested in helping her.
Before his death, Kondou showed a new-ish side of him, that of a dad, offering sage advice, telling Okita to not forget about her friends, and to not give in to despair.
She, of course, does exactly the opposite, like a proper rebellious teenager.Not to diminish her experiences. Her reaction is natural and her situation traumatising.
This route is essentially her road to the depths of hell, and Shimei's attempts to help, and the resulting romance that blossoms. I have not much to develop on this besides: traumatising, scary, unexpected, hopeful, cute romance.
Rimu's Route
SpoilerFinally, a childhood friend with a crush done right. What characterises this route for me is that it went
Rimu: "Hm. I guess things have finally calmed down. Guess we can settle together now, Shimei?"
Shimei: "Pardon?"
Rimu: "I see no competition in sight, so I'm going to take you on the best date of your life and make you fall for me."It's deredere correctly done. It's not like there isn't embarrassment, but it's not the crippling embarrassment you often see in these VNs. Embarrassment such that it drags out stories and the like. Instead, she directly signals that she likes him and takes him out on a date to see if he's interested. After which, they predictably hook up. All whilst keeping up her self as we've known her the whole game. After that, it's back to their normal routine of work and inventions and sexies on the off-time. Everyone else's already used to this, since these two have been together since the start.
Nothing like a proper deredere without any balderdash.
- Seraphim, ChaosRaven and Templarseeker
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What's this? I expected to have to sell my soul to have access to a Fin route, but it seems the gods have been generous.
A "DLC" for an otome I've played. I never even considered this remotely possible. -
One thing about the English language I really don't get:
"Good for you." is actually used sincerely and positively. That seem absolutely impossible to me. What?? That sentence is laden with sarcasm, dismissal or envy should I utter it. I cannot tie any positive emotions to these words, but from what I've seen people do use them sincerely. Amazing. In Portuguese we certainly don't have an equivalent sentence used positively.
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I'm playing Celeste! My fingers and getting destroyed with having to press multiple keys at the same time... It really feels like a controller game, but I will persevere, I think. Playing a chapter per session seems doable.
Tring to think of the last time I played a 2d platformer and I'm not really coming up with anything... Uh, SuperTux. I played a bit of that since it came with some state-sponsored computers for students like my sister.
It's surprising because I don't usually play this genre. I don't know if they're all like this, but I'm pretty sure Celeste is a puzzle game, where you first solve how you can reach a strawberry, for instance, then you spend 10 minutes trying to execute it and dying a couple dozen times.
Seeing by the amount of people that finished it, I'll presume it is quite doable. It's probably all the extras that'll destroy a person. I think I'll finish, at least.
It reminds me of the other platformer I've played in my life: A Hat in Time, which is the best game ever.
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51 minutes ago, Templarseeker said:
Ah how do you make spoiler tag by the way? I kinda forgot? Could you please tell me how please?
In the editor where you type the text, there's an icon that looks kind of like an eye. That's the button for spoilers.
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46 minutes ago, Templarseeker said:
Ah I have a question if you don't.
I've just finished the game however I didn't see the other girls routes on the main menu aside from Okita Shino?
Mind the spoilers, but what you're looking for is in the epilogue.
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22 minutes ago, Yuuko said:
Hopefully no one supports Sprite but too bad everyone sucks their dick from what I have seen.
Why do you hope that they are not supported?
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55 minutes ago, LewdLolis said:
Whaaat? Oh, I just want to know whether she's alive or not. By choice.. do you mean whether I agree or disagree with Kagetora? If so, I chose to disagree, I just want to know that she isn't dead or something like that, thanks. I also don't particularly like choosing different routes to see a different outcome, in real life you couldn't do that, and I pertain that to Visual Novels also.
Okay. In that case, I'll tell you what occurred with her, then:
SpoilerShe rescued Hijikata after Saito threw him overboard, but the weight made them get washed away down the river. Once Hijikata returns, so did she, except we never got to see that in the main story.
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1 hour ago, LewdLolis said:
Spoiler -
I personally really like Mai Yamanobe (in case you forgot it's the Captain girl) and she went missing in the end? I haven't played the epilogue because I went Okita's route, did she appear there? She was one of my favorite characters although she wasn't a main character. They didn't really touch on that at all... it's just she went missing and that's all that happened, unless of course, it's in the epilogue.
Your particular query is answered in Okita's chapter, depending on your choice.
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19 minutes ago, Templarseeker said:
And what do you mean by "various reasons such as consent and honesty and discussion of likes and dislikes"?
The route which I played had H-Scenes I liked, somewhat rare in visual novels, largely because of the context. They frequently made sure to maintain consent during the act and one didn't just ignore what the other was saying due to their "urges" or whatever. They often experimented in their private life, and discussed what they liked and didn't like about it. It is strangely down to earth in a very enjoyable way.
- Shaun and Templarseeker
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2 minutes ago, Templarseeker said:
Ah just want to know something about this wonderful VN! Are the Hentai scenes voiced or decent enough?
They are voiced, as is everything else but the protagonist.
(I also really like what I've seen of them due to various reasons such as consent and honesty and discussion of likes and dislikes.)
- Templarseeker and LewdLolis
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Just now, LewdLolis said:
Ahh ok, so it's not really choosing a girl? It's not a harem either though. From the tags I've read on VNDB I've came to assume that there were multiple routes you can go. I'd also assume that if there was a route for Yamanami then wouldn't there be a route for the others? Which choice should I go to dodge Yamanami's route then? Obey, not obey? I'm not sure. Do you know? I've been stuck at the choice screen for like 2 hours.
SpoilerThe good ending is achieved by not obeying.
Once you achieve the good ending then there will be an epilogue and from there you can choose the girls' routes. Exceptions are Yamanami, who is probably achieved by obeying her, and Okita, which is chosen from the chapter select screen after getting the good ending.
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24 minutes ago, LewdLolis said:
I just arrived at the first actual choice (I think it's an actual choice at least) besides the ones chosen during the trials. The spoiler will tell you what the choices are
It's to obey or to not obey Yamanami-san. I'm guessing this will veer me off to a certain path as to where I can't choose some of the girls? I'm just not sure which to pick. If anyone else has reached that far then please let me know.
SpoilerAs far as I know that's the only choice in the game, and I presume it's bad end vs good end, where bad end might be Yamanami's route.
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2 hours ago, Daydreamer97 said:
I've been playing more of Ebon Light and seeing such a high-quality free/PWYW game is really a delight. The main story is the same throughout your playthrough but the branching is really unique and provides a lot of replay value. For one thing, your MC has stats which help define or shape her personality and there's a variety of choices you can make to increase/decrease these stats which impact the storyline. The painterly style is beautiful and provides a unique aesthetic for this dark fantasy game which also has a lot of interesting lore accessible from an in-game glossary. There's also MC customization available so you can change the MC's hair style/color, eye color, skin tone, and even clothes later on.
However, what I love the most about this is that your personality doesn't impact whether your love interest stays with you or not. I mean, you can play a sweet, kind main character or a ruthless, cunning one and still get a happy ending. The story involves a young woman who drinks something she shouldn't have (which kinda gives her abilities) and gets taken to an island full of elves with a militaristic society. From there, she can choose if she just wants to survive or seek power- although, power may be the key to her survival. It's quite choice-heavy so again, a lot of branches. Also there are emo elf LIs. Each playthrough is fairly short- maybe four hours, but the branching makes it so that things don't get stale.
In any case, I have been following the development of this game for years and the end product is everything I wanted and then some. It has garnered quite a few fans in the otome game community and I really want to share it with everyone. Seriously, please check this game out. You don't really even have to romance anyone to get a happy ending. It's a good plot-focused VN with romance and emo elves I happen to love. Ebon Light is a very unique game and one of the best VNs I've played. And did I mention it's free/PWYW?
I saw your recommendations last time and I greatly appreciate them. However, this particular one seemed to have a style such that I decided to leave it be.
That said, given what you are describing now I simply cannot ignore it, I see. Not a fan of dark stuff, generally, but I'll see what I think of it.
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7 minutes ago, Eclipsed said:
But I splurged on Al Somnium Files, an adventure sci-fi murder mystery (?) https://vndb.org/v26532
Liked it a whole lot.
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I'd like to hear about stories that surpass the original premise, that original "hook" that is meant to attract one into the story.
Many stories manage start with very enticing and unique premises, but sometimes they are such that if the premise gets resolved, the story has no future. Consider, for instance, the harem genre. Most stories in this genre have the hook of providing enticing scenes and drama with a group of characters, each attracting a given amount of fans, and then dragging this along as the story is built. Because the diverse array of characters attracts different fans, it is in the story's interest to never resolve this initial premise in any way, instead maintaining it and, for example, making the story a different genre that just happens to have harem.
In most cases, if the harem gets resolved, the story will die with it, not progressing much beyond that point.One example I recall hearing about is a story about a girl who is super cold and mean to a boy, but she has the ability to become imperceptible to others, so she often activates it and expresses her affection in this way. Little does she know, he is actually the only one capable of perceiving her in these instances. So he's well aware of her affections, but he tries to keep it a secret because nobody is supposed to notice her when she's imperceptible. My feeble mind sees no way this story can continue once the initial premise is surpassed, but if it could, I feel it would be fantastic.
I believe that stories that can resolve their initial premise and then still progress beyond it for a reasonable length are the absolute best. Here's a few examples:
(Depending on what you consider spoilers, looking at this list given the topic of the thread may inherently be a spoiler. I will list the name of the story and then, in spoilers, explain why and how. The 'why and how' may be considered spoilers depending on tolerance, so please only open them if you do not mind that.)
SpoilerAngel Densetsu
SpoilerThe protagonist gets his own group of people who completely understand him, despite the initial premise of being misunderstood by all.
My Monster Secret
SpoilerA harem is born and resolved, and the story continues past that point.
Yamada's First Time: B Gata H Kei
SpoilerThe initial premise is shown to be Yamada wanting to lose her first time to a random loser so she can move on, but she sucks at it. She eventually gets falls in love with him and fails at the usual romance. Finally she gets together with him and the story continues for a while.
Kaguya-sama: Love is War
SpoilerDespite the initial premise of both trying to make the other fall for them, once they do get together the story does not end.
No Matter How I Look at It, It's You Guys' Fault I'm Not Popular!
SpoilerDespite the initial premise of being utterly unpopular, she gets a group of friends that she's popular with, and the story continues.
Yandere Kanojo
SpoilerInitially set to be a secret relationship that's constantly being interrupted by others, it eventually becomes a very solid one that's acknowledged by select people.
Ojojojo
SpoilerThe protagonist is tsundere to people, but she surpasses that and forms meaningful bonds with people.
Does anybody know of more examples?
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8 minutes ago, TexasDice said:
I'm not saying Sol Press is completely hopeless in this area, considering they managed to snatch Favorite, due to SP's utter lack of business sense, management and well... anything worth of basic praise. So if Sol can succeed with Iroseka, maybe those who cared about that will be more open to read - god forbid actually buy - Sakura Sakura.
NukiTashi 's a relatively known name, isn't it? Or is it just my circles that know about it? (It won some award or other, right?)
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On 13/05/2020 at 12:51 PM, Mr Poltroon said:
I have every intention of watching some of the anime when I have time, so I'll get back to you on that.
Here's a little update on that topic, @Dreamysyu.
As of episode 5, I am actually of the opinion that the anime is better. Whereas the strength of the Light Novels is in entering a character's head outside of Catarina, the anime finds way of making a lot of this content into events that actually take place in Catarina's presence. From what I'm seeing, it involves giving roles to characters that previously didn't have any in a given part, which is great. Better still is the fact that it's not like it doesn't dive into backstory when it wants to, so it's the best of both worlds, in my opinion. Also seeing the characters being cute is fantastic.My initial reservations regarding the pace of the first few episodes (there were no transitions between scenes!) ended up being because they were trying to reach the school phase within the three episodes, so they cut transitions rather than rush the scenes they covered. A few scenes were rushed, but it's calmed down since.
- Dreamysyu and Plk_Lesiak
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Making*Lovers, since some of the heroines are adults and they may drink depending on the occasion. I'm thinking of Saki specifically.
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Uh, yes they are. As much as anybody else.
They translate titles into English and that's that. Not much else really matters, despite what loud vocal minorities might claim.
Somebody having problems with translations has always been common and underpayment is supposedly getting better but Mangagamer is terrible in that area and for that they deserve all the flak.That all said, as long as they put out titles people who want translated VNs will get them, regardless of the company. Some boycotters exist, but not really a majority and given the piracy levels I'm not sure how much overlap there is between the "boycotters" and the pirates.
From the Japanese side they're well placed with headquarters in Japan and, considering the Japanese side often is unaware of the quality of translations (Hello SakuraGame), Mangagamer likely does not have problems landing deals on that front.
So, all in all, I'm not sure I understood what you're trying to say. As long as they have money and they continue to want to translate titles, they will do so.
- adamstan, Dreamysyu, BookwormOtaku and 1 other
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Anime Expo News Replacements
in Visual Novel Talk
Posted
This confuses me a little. Photonmelodies, which is what was announced to be released, contains the Altered Fable content. Photonflowers, which does not contain said content, was already released some time ago.
Your statement seems like it says you bought Photonmelodies and will not buy Photonflowers, when this isn't possible because the former has yet to be released and the latter is already available.
Has there perhaps been some mix up?