What are you playing?

[douggle]

Getting ready to ring in the new year probably playing Maggot Baits

[Eclipsed]

God DAMN Ciel Nosurge's true end with regards to Ion and the Player stings so fking much, it's legit top tier bittersweetness and now I gotta find a way to cheer up myself b4 everybody thinks I'm cray for being depressed-ish on New Years

[Suzu Fanatic]

Playing Cartagra for the first time (also have KNS 1/2 sitting in my backlog, going to go through them after)

Locked myself into Hatsune's route without intending to (was playing without looking at the walkthough):

 

Gotta admit, I'm not a violent man by nature - but if I was Shugo I would've punched Nana in the face and dragged her to the police after she admitted being involved with that crazy nun at the school, and all that she 'took part in" - not to mention her stupid detective guessing game (at the park) might be what delayed Shugo long enough  from saving Rin. Instead the writer akwardly shrugs it off like no big deal, Shugo lets it slide? really? sigh...

 

Oh well, this was just one path - and I'm not even done that yet, the other routes will reveal more I'm sure.

 

It's pretty good though, been a long time since I let myself read something "dark". I guess the last thing was the complete Higurashi series? Or maybe it was muvluv? can't recall.

[Jade]

Will start playing Gahkhtun(?) . Here's hoping it will be a good one

[kingdomcome]

I am really disappointed that White Album 2 Closing Chapter is not yet translated, I would love to continue the story.

So now I have a dilemma on what VN to start next, so this is where I ask for your help..

Subarashiki Hibi ~Furenzoku Sonzai~ - (http://tlwiki.org/index.php?title=Subarashiki_Hibi) < It states that the translation progress is 100%, but the editing progress is only 98.4%. So what does that really mean, is it completely translated but a small part isn't refined?

[Fred the Barber]

SubaHibi is getting an officially-licensed translation: http://forums.fuwanovel.net/topic/12586-subahibi-is-getting-an-official-localization/. You'll have to wait a little while longer for it.

[Josephl64]

Finished "Toushin Toshi II"(all endings) and "Policenauts".

 

Just started "Snatcher".

[hitoribocchi]

Finished Noble Works, time to do Shuffle! now.

[Fred the Barber]

I'm in chapter 4 of Gahkthun, which is still excellent. It really hits on all cylinders - plot, characters, art, all are great. The music isn't my favorite all the time, but it definitely has its moments, and even the tracks I didn't especially like at first are growing on me with familiarity.

I can see why people speak so highly of this translation. The diction of characters is both well-chosen and consistent, and nicely varied to showcase the big social gap between Tesla and, well, everybody else. A simple example that nicely illustrates: twice so far, when Neon does something that makes her look particularly dumb, Tesla uses a stock Japanese phrase including "baka" that would usually get translated as "you look like an idiot", while the translation reads "It makes you look like an imbecile". That word choice is perfect for Tesla. It would be out of place for anybody else in this VN, or in pretty much any other setting, but it fits his character like a glove. Overall, there's a clear, consistent hand behind the translation with a real flair for English. The language isn't obtuse or anything like that; it's just plain well-written.

The copy editing quality is also top-notch. I don't think I've seen even a single spelling or grammar error so far, whereas in most professional translations, I'm used to seeing quite a few. Poor copy editing is my mortal enemy, since it pulls me out of the immersion, so Gahkthun has been quite a pleasant experience on all fronts.

[Jade]

Will start playing Aku Josou.

I'm prepared for it to be a disappointment but that MC tag of Sadism + Trap is too tempting to ignore  

[hydro]

Read a fair bit of Noble Works over the past few days. After realizing she's voiced by Amane I went with Shizuru's route first. The one thing that stands out is HOLY SHIT SHURI BEST GIRL. He should have more screen-time. 

[Fred the Barber]

Naturally, right after my post above, I went and played Gahkthun and stumbled upon a grammar error (something like the phrase "what an amazing person" with the "an" dropped - very easy to overlook when reading quickly). Sigh. Well, nothing's perfect, but this game is at least damn good.

[Josephl64]

Just finished "Snatcher" ~

[Zantax]

I managed to get back my two posts I made, that were lost during forum data loss. Thanks gods for firefox history ^^ Since I don't write very often I don't want effort of writing those posts go to waste so I will post them once more ^^

--------------------------

After about 9 months of struggle I finally managed to finish the last route of Astralair no Shiroki Towa. If I would summarize it in one word it would be: disappointment.

However it could be it was a bit of my fault of having too big expectation. I stared reading it not long after finishing Irotoridori no Sekai and Irotoridori no Hikari. While those VNs are not perfect and some routes are rather meh, the true, Shinku route have superb quality considering all of: plot, characters and overall emotion, and is definitely one of my best experiences considering visual novels up to this time. Thus starting Astralair I was expecting something of similar quality. Unfortunately at the time I didn't know, that the plot for Astralair was not whiten by the same person that made Iroseka and Irohika, but the person involved in making Hoshizora no Memoria...

And you can feel that a lot. Everything that people say about Hoshimemo can be also said about Astralair: generally enjoyable characters and mostly uninteresting plot. Well, it's not all true. Astralair is worse... Three of kids are really enjoyable to interact with, girls are funny to talk to (as long it's not romance part of their plot, when every one of them annoyed me at some degree), but protagonist and 'true heroine' Yuuki are really bland and uninteresting. Riku is typical 'hero just like you' with no personality, and Yuuki is just lolicon bait, being childish, kind and cute, but the same as prot having no personality. Because of that true route was even more disappointing. Close to the end there were many teary or dramatic scenes, but I couldn't feel them since I really didn't care about Riku and Yuuki and their flat romance...

I said Astralair have, similarly to Hoshimemo, uninteresting plot. However in Hoshimemo it wasn't that much of a problem, because there was not much plot there anyway. Astralair though is quite plot-heavy, and because of that this weakness in much more visible.Every time I thought I got a bit interested some stupid cliche happend, because everything MUST have sickeningly happy ending, and I was pulled back to the ground. Also repetition - almost every route drama comes basically from the same place - lack of communication between family members are bad. Exactly that. Almost every time the problem arises, it's because people thought it is better to keep everything to themself and run thoughts wildly, rather than sit and talk a bit. I know that this kind of problems exist in RL, but please, not every freaking route and subroute!

Well, it's time to wrap it up. Is that bad VN? No, most of characters are still enjoyable, visuals are as always really nice, and soundtrack also have some very pleasant pieces. If you read Hoshimemo and liked it you will probably like Astralair at similar level. However, after great Irohika and Iroseka this VN is just a disappointment... 7/10.

-----------------------------

Finally freed from Astralair I could move to other VNs. For now I wanted to wash myself from all crappy drama and cheesy happy endings so I finished Tenkiame.

It's definitely a moege, even though there are quite large number of ero scenes (21 for 2 heroines). It's also quite short, so those scenes are like every 30 minutes of reading, but still I wouldn't call it nukige, because you could cut out 90% of ero and one wouldn't even notice. There is almost no plot, and absolutely no drama. It is full of slow, calm mood however. It really feels like you are on countryside vacation.

Visuals are ok I guess. Heroines have nice design, and there are animated sprites. Unfortunately there are only a few poses and animations, and lip sync is dreadfully bad, so after good first impressions I was a bit disappointed after all. Also grandma seiyu is really bad - it sounds like young woman tries to sound old (and it's probably the case). Music is really nice though.

After all it's just a moege. Still, if you are tired after busy work day then it's not that bad to have some rest with Shiro and Kon

 

[CeruleanGamer]

Finished Eiyuu Senkin Gold. Gameplay was better than original and there's a lot more extra content, characters, h-scenes and dungeons but the story is worse and it felt a lot shorter 

Started Noble Works. I got the good first impression vibes from this just like when I player Princess Evangile. Hope it doesn't disappoint and leaves a lasting impression as well.

[Canicheslayer]

I gathered all my courage and finished Clannad (the After Story). I don't regret it because I absolutely loved the "Normal" Ending (ten times better than the "true" ending). So desperate but so beautiful 

Overall, Clannad was excellent. Particularly the casting (YES Sunohara too ).

Girl Ranking : Tomoyo = Kyou = Kotomi > Fuko = Nagisa = Yukine = Sanae > Misae > Mei = Ryou

Route Ranking : After Route > Tomoyo = Fuko > Yukine = Kotomi > Nagisa >> Kappei = Mei > Ryou/Kyou (slightly disappointed but the route is correct) > Misae (Good but too short) = Baseball > Koumoura (The only route I really disliked)

And the last words are for Fuko :

Spoiler

 

[john 'mr. customer' smith]

sekien no inganock, pretty seminal so far, 

[XReaper]

managed to play through izumo4 just in time & after more or less creating a small timetable (daily chart) i´m mentally prepared to the fullest for whats considered entering the holy realm of "eternal NEETism".
this basically means due to current unemployment of mine the next 3-4months (or longer) will consist of reading (dark) nukige for 6h, 5h on more storydriven stuff (chuuni/militaristic/horror/mystery/apocalyptic/non-moe), playing oldschoolish rpgs for 5h & talking/groping/playing with my figurines for ~2h.

edit: though i still need getting rid of the huge backlog of mine first, before moving on to the main dish.

edit2: nah i dont have anything more meaningful (?) to do with my life, as i grew to despise humanity as a whole, dont plan on getting intimate with 3dpd´s anytime soon & prefer to talk to those only via phone if its non avoidable from the beginning...

 

[Fred the Barber]

I'm in the middle of Gahkthun, which is still amazing, but because my physical copy of it arrived, I've also been replaying bits and pieces of Comyu (and holding the ctrl button through the rest, because I'm mostly just trying to unlock the whole game right now so I can play the parts I want at will later). Benio, man. She really is the perfect choice for the first route. I've found that I'm not actually that big a fan of meaningful choices; I'd rather have a well-planned story delivered to me in a certain order, either the way Comyu does it, or better yet like anything from the Steampunk series, where it's basically a kinetic novel.

[DarkZedge]

Finally finished Comyu and am going through Noble Works

[Chronopolis]

Still playing Kokuzai wo Ukerubeki mono. Seriously, the author has a penchant for utsuge developments. I'm feeling pretty sick to my stomach. If the VN didn't have it's own charm, genuineness, and impression-lasting characters, I would have called bullshit and quit already.

Edit: Finished the game (Kokuzai wo Ukerubeki Mono)

Honestly, I should have known from the opening chapter where this was headed. Oh, the thought passed by mind. But I think I took for granted the structure this VN would take.

"Maybe this game is about giving someone something and then slowly taking it away from them, in the most painful way possible."

"Ohh, the protagonist is going to get it?"

Those ideas I had jokingly were very wrong, but also correct in a way. What I wasn't prepared for was how painful and sick this game would make me feel.

I thought I liked dark things. No, I just like sorrow, melancholy, gentleness, stoicness, and catharsis. This is like the first part of Saya no Uta, except without the excitement of horror. You're like "WHY is this happening?". And there is no answer. At least no answer that will answer your question.

Plot twists that revolve around some iron law, already sit pretty sinkingly in my stomach. But this didn't use that. It, while not directly, was thematically bound to that, all over, which some how made things much much worse.

The characters, even the ones you want to adore, weren't my favorite characters of all time, not by a longshot. I wouldn't even call them my favourites. Most of the characters here were rough around the edges, lacking the polish and focus that you see in most characters. Basically they had all these human like moments which normally would be superfluous in a normal story. But they all had moments were you could acknowledge them, or even be moved by them. The cast of characters was something the VN did well, even if I'm left wondering if it had any meaning in the end.

The plot progression. You can't really predict what will happen next. You probably can't, and if you can, I doubt it's the kind of story where you'd gain any satisfaction from doing so. While the cause and effect is decently explained, the plot is kinda forced and railroaded at times, though it does pass through a number of memorable moments and countless semi-memorable (also semi-weird) moments.

As a fantasy story, this story doesn't exist. Even though there's a somewhat of a world, and worldy events. If you take it as such, you'll be extremely frustrated come the end. One should read it as seeing a cast of characters, with their own views, positions, and personalities.

Notably, Kokuzai wo Ukerubeki Mono, relative to any other VN I've played, was fucking torture. The first half was balanced, if not kinda jagged and severe, but the second half was ridiculous. Even the really well-closed out ending and it's catharsis was not enough to hold at bay the frustration and anger of "what the fuck was the point of that?" of the last third. (The ending was great. I cried buckets.) Who the fuck enjoys this? How do you expect me to feel the rush of valor at some character's last moments when I'm too busy vomiting internally and being empty from what's happened in the last couple chapters. It's like trying to enjoy your favourite comfort food while swishing a mouthful of hot sauce. I'm numb, I'm in pain!

In any case, the doujin artist is an otome writer, and their preferred pairing is younger woman with older men. So you get some pretty odd and somewhat unsettling (probably as unsettling as typical moe eroge relationships to a normal person) relational undertones. And so the tactic of surviving utusge by periodically gazing at the moe doesn't work at all here. It was a very bitter VN to read. I don't regret it...but, that doesn't change the fact that the last third was torture.

I respect what the author's created and acknowledge their skill in certain areas (like pulling one in to the story, and the characters), but I'm not touching any of their utsuge works with a twenty foot pole. Even though the premises catch my eye... Never.

[Akirooge]

Recently I'm playing Katawa Shoujo, it was something interesting and I 'm not bored ..... yet
The first heroine I will select will be Hanako 

[Eclipsed]

Picked up Danganronpa 1 & 2 for my Vita, it's on sale in NA PSN atm so go go go

I was always interested in this VN ever since Shiko mentioned that I was Celes in the Fuwanovel Ambidex game by Stray Cat ages ago (RIP his soul).

VNs that I pick up on a whim tend to be the ones that I actually read (KnS, euphoria, swan song..) vs. the ones that I plan to read (Gahkthun, Fate/Stay) so uh, with any luck I'll be posting my thoughts here soon. 

~~
u: finished prologue

This has got to be the fastest I've ever gotten hooked to a VN, Danganronpa's presentation is just too good, and as a bonus the Vita version has significantly better graphics than PSP version, so yay me for waiting for the sale

All the characters are unique enough especially with their ultimate labels so they are easily identifiable, btw, who had a FuwaAvatar Eternal-or-not crisis? it's not everyday you can be introduced to 15 characters and remember their names right away >.>

The gameplay elements also look very promising, I actually feel pretty excited to play this

 

[Jibril]

After delaying for more than 1 1/2 year, I actually finished Cross Channel.

Needless to say I was disappointed, amazed, satisfied and my mind is now completely NTR'd with all of the mindwreck edgy plot twists.

I suppose I had to praise the psychological aspect of it. It's amazingly well detailed and thorough. Definitely a good VN.

[Kawasumi]

Taking a break from Umineko while I wait for the team behind the new ps3 port to release chapter 3 and continuing the JP grind in himanatsu and started cartagra.

Cartagra? What can I say? Love the setting, love the OST and prostitute heroines/characters just clicks with me for some reason, the protag seems kinda annoyed all the time though lol