What are you playing?

[AaronIsCrunchy]

Still on Amane's route (Grisaia no Kajitsu); however, it's turned from something I genuinely considered abandoning into possibly one of the most gripping/depressing things I've read. It's... stunning in its inevitability.

[Eclipsed]

Aight it's here boys n' gals, get rdy for some more funzies n' misc. ramblings soon^TSM

 

[kingdomcome]

So I went back to Katawa Shoujo to do Hanako's route.. and I must say. Katawa Shoujo is  a really solid VN. Love it.

KS was actually my very first VN years back, I finished all the routes except Hanako's and Rin's route.. I will eventually do Rin's one, but I like to enjoy KS over a period of time.

[Decay]

10 hours ago, atorq said:

I bought No One But You, hopefully it will be good but my hopes are quite low, other OELVNs have really dragged down my expectations. The art seems quite nice so far though.

 

10 hours ago, Dergonu said:

Do tell us what you think of it when you get a little further. I've been planning on picking this up but .. Ehe, well, I have to wait until Febuary.

(I might have spent all my money on VNs and kickstarters already )

No One But You is quite bad. It's short but somehow I still can't finish it, it just repels me with every fiber of its being. My only regret is that I couldn't finish my review sooner to save some people's money. Apparently some people here are buying it?? Madness. Don't do that, it's not worth it.

It's just poorly written, to get the most important aspect out of the way. It enters into this weird uncanny valley-like territory where they mix in some natural-sounding english expressions into a sea of bland and unnatural dialogue. The few bits of stuff that isn't bad just highlights how bad the rest is. I think I'd prefer stiff J -> E translations over this. Simply put, the dialogue is absolutely cringeworthy. Maybe if the plot was good, I could stand to suffer the constant cringing, but it's really not. 

Maybe I could easily power through this if the production values were good, but they're not. NOBY is obviously a half-finished VN that really has no right being sold as it is. The art is pretty bad. The sprites are okay, but the backgrounds are literally half-finished and are full of horrible-looking placeholder art. The music is really grating and some of the songs sound so amateurish I wouldn't be surprised if much of it were placeholder tunes composed by someone who has never made music before. And there are occasional typos in the script, too.

It all makes me kind of reluctant power through and finish it so I can write a proper review, but if people here are actually buying this turd then maybe I should just grit my teeth and get back to it.

[Dergonu]

56 minutes ago, Decay said:

 

No One But You is quite bad. It's short but somehow I still can't finish it, it just repels me with every fiber of its being. My only regret is that I couldn't finish my review sooner to save some people's money. Apparently some people here are buying it?? Madness. Don't do that, it's not worth it.

It's just poorly written, to get the most important aspect out of the way. It enters into this weird uncanny valley-like territory where they mix in some natural-sounding english expressions into a sea of bland and unnatural dialogue. The few bits of stuff that isn't bad just highlights how bad the rest is. I think I'd prefer stiff J -> E translations over this. Simply put, the dialogue is absolutely cringeworthy. Maybe if the plot was good, I could stand to suffer the constant cringing, but it's really not. 

Maybe I could easily power through this if the production values were good, but they're not. NOBY is obviously a half-finished VN that really has no right being sold as it is. The art is pretty bad. The sprites are okay, but the backgrounds are literally half-finished and are full of horrible-looking placeholder art. The music is really grating and some of the songs sound so amateurish I wouldn't be surprised if much of it were placeholder tunes composed by someone who has never made music before. And there are occasional typos in the script, too.

It all makes me kind of reluctant power through and finish it so I can write a proper review, but if people here are actually buying this turd then maybe I should just grit my teeth and get back to it.

Aw, well that sucks to hear. Based off the art and how the kickstarter went I had high expectations for this. 

I´ll skip on buying this title then. Save the money for better VNs  

[atorq]

3 hours ago, Decay said:

No One But You is quite bad. It's short but somehow I still can't finish it, it just repels me with every fiber of its being. My only regret is that I couldn't finish my review sooner to save some people's money. Apparently some people here are buying it?? Madness. Don't do that, it's not worth it.

It's just poorly written, to get the most important aspect out of the way. It enters into this weird uncanny valley-like territory where they mix in some natural-sounding english expressions into a sea of bland and unnatural dialogue. The few bits of stuff that isn't bad just highlights how bad the rest is. I think I'd prefer stiff J -> E translations over this. Simply put, the dialogue is absolutely cringeworthy. Maybe if the plot was good, I could stand to suffer the constant cringing, but it's really not. 

Maybe I could easily power through this if the production values were good, but they're not. NOBY is obviously a half-finished VN that really has no right being sold as it is. The art is pretty bad. The sprites are okay, but the backgrounds are literally half-finished and are full of horrible-looking placeholder art. The music is really grating and some of the songs sound so amateurish I wouldn't be surprised if much of it were placeholder tunes composed by someone who has never made music before. And there are occasional typos in the script, too.

It all makes me kind of reluctant power through and finish it so I can write a proper review, but if people here are actually buying this turd then maybe I should just grit my teeth and get back to it.

 

I was actually looking for a review before I bought it but in the end it was priced at a point where I could justify buying it even if it turned out to be shit. Sad to hear it's not going to get better, it did seem less and less promising the more i read and i barely read anything.

[Tahish]

Hello guys I'm currently playing Eiyuu Senki Gold in normal mode

[AaronIsCrunchy]

Well, I finally finished Amane's route last night on Grisaia no Kajitsu; it kept me up until about 4:30 in the morning, and I enjoy sleeping so that's most unusual. Really impressed with it overall.

Spoiler

For a while, her route had a feel of the utsuge about it. Obviously it wasn't exactly, but the knowledge of nearly the entire class dying and it being stretched out over such a long time was somewhat difficult to deal with at times. However, I'm pleased that they made the backstory as long as they did, as I really got a sense of the descent into hopelessness and infirmity that would have been experienced.

And the climax of the final night at the 'camp' actually shat me right up. I was expecting something vaguely along those lines, but the description of animalistic, terrifying personalities and ghoulish characteristics physically turned my stomach.

Sachi's was the best route in my opinion beforehand, but now, I'm not so sure. The first couple of hours of this are a fucking nightmare with all of the sex, but the cut-scene and the bit after more than make up for it.

Makina's to go, and then I finally finish Grisaia... after only 5 months or so.

[Dergonu]

30 minutes ago, AaronIsCrunchy said:

Well, I finally finished Amane's route last night on Grisaia no Kajitsu; it kept me up until about 4:30 in the morning, and I enjoy sleeping so that's most unusual. Really impressed with it overall.

  Reveal hidden contents

For a while, her route had a feel of the utsuge about it. Obviously it wasn't exactly, but the knowledge of nearly the entire class dying and it being stretched out over such a long time was somewhat difficult to deal with at times. However, I'm pleased that they made the backstory as long as they did, as I really got a sense of the descent into hopelessness and infirmity that would have been experienced.

And the climax of the final night at the 'camp' actually shat me right up. I was expecting something vaguely along those lines, but the description of animalistic, terrifying personalities and ghoulish characteristics physically turned my stomach.

Sachi's was the best route in my opinion beforehand, but now, I'm not so sure. The first couple of hours of this are a fucking nightmare with all of the sex, but the cut-scene and the bit after more than make up for it.

 

ahh yes, Amane's route. It's fantastic. You are not alone, it kept me up all night as well

(Angelic howl, NOT the H-scenes ... Mainly...)

[Kawasumi]

1 hour ago, Dergonu said:

ahh yes, Amane's route. It's fantastic. You are not alone, it kept me up all night as well

(Angelic howl, NOT the H-scenes ... Mainly...)

the h-scenes kept  me up at night, for different reasons  

[Forgetful Frank]

Eu...Eu-- Euph...

Spoiler

Euphoria...

 

[Vorathiel]

^Enticing, isn't it? 


I play Ikinari Anata ni Koishiteiru. What a rollercoaster it is. I might end up writing full review of this, because that strange title it is.
So. I really sympathize with protag, who is just abused by girls around him. I feel genuinely sorry for him, and if VN is making me feel actual emotions for characters (instead of, f.e. anger on writers for stupid plot), then it's really meaning something.

Common route was at points baffling, sometimes cringing, and on one sequence was really positively scary and creepy (school ghost interogations). (I can't wait for Subahibi, cause it was the same guy who wrote that and common route in Ikinari ^^). But it wasn't really good. It was fine. 6/10

Then I went on Tsumugu route. It was just shit. Badly written, horrible structure, very short and boring. 2.3/10

After this I started Ryou route. It started painfully. I was really negatively attituded to Ikinari at this point, so I took every scene with bad anticipation, but... It slowly redeemed itself. It even had a h-scenes which was further developing characters, and have a reall meaning to further relations! How often is that?! I happily gave it 6/10.

And now, Tane route. OH. MY. GOD. Reall people. Reall characters. Story. Developments. Great writing. Emotions. I even nearly cried. Twice! First when

Spoiler

Tane was bullied

and second time during buildup for a first sex scene. So much great, trully lovely emotions in here. I haven't got a teary eye (not in sad kind of way) during VN since first confession I read in Majikoi - with Miyako.

And that's not all! It is really great peek to a minds of adolescent first lovers. Their behaviour, their thoughts, they feel real! I was the same (when I was 13, not 16-17 like them, but still)!
And what really stealed my heart was this Chouji(protag) thoughts:

First he scolded himself for having 'lewd' thoughts on his newly girlfriended girlfriend. I was cringed. Then he said that he must stop his urges, he must treat Tane as his little sister. (I was cringed and baffled - cancer basically). And on top of this, he said to himself, that he must never look at Tane as a woman (I was left petrified with baffledness, totally stumped and dissapointed, cause route was good so far).
Sounds terrible, right?

But... he reedemed himself. He redeemed himself oh so much! How? He just few scenes later explained, why he must contaminate his urges for having sex with that really busty, airheaded, not-very-smart, but lovely girl. He said that she IS JUST LIKE A CHILD. And he cannot touch a kid light that. That it is wrong to violate that immature person. That this is too early for her to have sex. F*CK YEAH! Chew that all you loli-violating protagonists! This is how you treat a child-like girl (note that she was childlish just in behaviour, not in physique!).
I was so happy that I unknowingly did a Banderas gif posture. Like that:

and then it all turned out that she is mature enough (and not with just saying this, actually showing this in going-ons!), and finally after beautiful scene they had sex. Nothing rushed, great buildup, perfectlly (till now) written route. 9.5/10

I didn't finished it yet though. I have still around 4-5 h scenes to endure. :| And I'm really affraid that quality will just go down. But hopefully not very much.


To summ up - Ikinari, while really not perfect, and strange title is my second favourite (after MuvLuv series) title right now. I love it.

[ChaosRaven]

I've just finished Walkure Romanze Retell II, so I'm finally through with all Ricotta VN's now. Though I've just played Celia's route in Retell II. There's still Akane's route, but currently I'm not really in the mood to play it.

I've therefore started my cross reading of Akatsuki no Goei Trinity and Lovely & Cation 1 & 2 now. This will be quite a ride since the former is, like the name indicates, a trilogy, and the latter also has two parts. Akatsuki no Goei Trinity is also a re-release of the whole series in high resolution art. The original was just in 800 x 600 while the new version is in wide screen 1280 x 720 which is quite an improvement:

Old:

Spoiler

New:

Spoiler

 

[Vorathiel]

Ugh, I really dislike cropping CGs, movies or anything. If it is in 4:3 then leave it at that, just adjust the size.

[Fred the Barber]

Thanks to a helpful certain someone around here, I've been playing the patched version of G-Senjou, after initially playing the Steam release for a while, and I have to admit that the higher resolution on the Steam release looks noticeably better. But dem H-scenes (that I haven't even reached yet), tho.

[BookwormOtaku]

Finished Natsuki's route in euphoria and I quite enjoyed it. She and Keisuke had some nice chemistry and the route had some surprisingly funny moments at the end be it a revelation about Natsuki (wish we could have seen more of that) or how the two of them don't include Rika in their rescue plan. Just started Rinne's route

[FinalChaos]

8 hours ago, BookwormOtaku said:

Finished Natsuki's route in euphoria and I quite enjoyed it. She and Keisuke had some nice chemistry and the route had some surprisingly funny moments at the end be it a revelation about Natsuki (wish we could have seen more of that) or how the two of them don't include Rika in their rescue plan. Just started Rinne's route

I am on her route, and have to say that her character turned out to be pretty interesting. When she was introduced I was sure that she would fill the role of a generic-bland teacher, was a pleasant surprise to see her other sides.   

[Nashetania]

22 hours ago, Forgetful Frank said:

Eu...Eu-- Euph...

  Reveal hidden contents

Euphoria...

 

[Dergonu]

Ok, still playing majikoi. Finished Wanko's route now, (the first route I played)

Oh man it was beautiful. I cried like a little girl.

This one is definitely going on my "favorite heroine route" list.
 

Spoiler

 

This moment... Oh my God the feels.

 

Not 100% sure on which one I'm doing next. Kind of torn between Momoyo and Yukie. Gonna take a break and wipe away my tears and decide.

 

[Forgetful Frank]

On 1/22/2016 at 11:36 PM, Vorathiel said:

^Enticing, isn't it? 

Very! So far it's true what everyone says, if you can persevere through the terrible mind-breaking awful stuff, the story is so interesting and really makes you want to know more. Why are they there? Who is behind it all? I can't wait to continue playing some more.

[Canicheslayer]

2 hours ago, Dergonu said:

Ok, still playing majikoi. Finished Wanko's route now, (the first route I played)

Oh man it was beautiful. I cried like a little girl.

This one is definitely going on my "favorite heroine route" list.
 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

This moment... Oh my God the feels.

 

Not 100% sure on which one I'm doing next. Kind of torn between Momoyo and Yukie. Gonna take a break and wipe away my tears and decide.

 

In my opinion, Wanko has the best route in Majikoi. It changed my vision of this character. Like you, She made me cry like a broken-hearted teenager

Before reading her route, I thought she was just the mascot of the Kazama family  

 

Edited January 24, 2016 by Canicheslayer
Sorry...

[Decay]

49 minutes ago, Forgetful Frank said:

Very! So far it's true what everyone says, if you can persevere through the terrible mind-breaking awful stuff, the story is so interesting and really makes you want to know more. Why are they there? Who is behind it all? I can't wait to continue playing some more.

Or you can join the deviants among us and enjoy that stuff. 

[Stormwolf]

On 1/22/2016 at 0:36 AM, Vorathiel said:

^Enticing, isn't it? 


I play Ikinari Anata ni Koishiteiru. What a rollercoaster it is. I might end up writing full review of this, because that strange title it is.
So. I really sympathize with protag, who is just abused by girls around him. I feel genuinely sorry for him, and if VN is making me feel actual emotions for characters (instead of, f.e. anger on writers for stupid plot), then it's really meaning something.

Common route was at points baffling, sometimes cringing, and on one sequence was really positively scary and creepy (school ghost interogations). (I can't wait for Subahibi, cause it was the same guy who wrote that and common route in Ikinari ^^). But it wasn't really good. It was fine. 6/10

Then I went on Tsumugu route. It was just shit. Badly written, horrible structure, very short and boring. 2.3/10

After this I started Ryou route. It started painfully. I was really negatively attituded to Ikinari at this point, so I took every scene with bad anticipation, but... It slowly redeemed itself. It even had a h-scenes which was further developing characters, and have a reall meaning to further relations! How often is that?! I happily gave it 6/10.

And now, Tane route. OH. MY. GOD. Reall people. Reall characters. Story. Developments. Great writing. Emotions. I even nearly cried. Twice! First when

  Reveal hidden contents

Tane was bullied

and second time during buildup for a first sex scene. So much great, trully lovely emotions in here. I haven't got a teary eye (not in sad kind of way) during VN since first confession I read in Majikoi - with Miyako.

And that's not all! It is really great peek to a minds of adolescent first lovers. Their behaviour, their thoughts, they feel real! I was the same (when I was 13, not 16-17 like them, but still)!
And what really stealed my heart was this Chouji(protag) thoughts:

First he scolded himself for having 'lewd' thoughts on his newly girlfriended girlfriend. I was cringed. Then he said that he must stop his urges, he must treat Tane as his little sister. (I was cringed and baffled - cancer basically). And on top of this, he said to himself, that he must never look at Tane as a woman (I was left petrified with baffledness, totally stumped and dissapointed, cause route was good so far).
Sounds terrible, right?

But... he reedemed himself. He redeemed himself oh so much! How? He just few scenes later explained, why he must contaminate his urges for having sex with that really busty, airheaded, not-very-smart, but lovely girl. He said that she IS JUST LIKE A CHILD. And he cannot touch a kid light that. That it is wrong to violate that immature person. That this is too early for her to have sex. F*CK YEAH! Chew that all you loli-violating protagonists! This is how you treat a child-like girl (note that she was childlish just in behaviour, not in physique!).
I was so happy that I unknowingly did a Banderas gif posture. Like that:

and then it all turned out that she is mature enough (and not with just saying this, actually showing this in going-ons!), and finally after beautiful scene they had sex. Nothing rushed, great buildup, perfectlly (till now) written route. 9.5/10

I didn't finished it yet though. I have still around 4-5 h scenes to endure. :| And I'm really affraid that quality will just go down. But hopefully not very much.


To summ up - Ikinari, while really not perfect, and strange title is my second favourite (after MuvLuv series) title right now. I love it.

There was much to dislike about this vn, but Tane and her route was NOT among them!

[Ike]

Decided to put in mi signature the VNs I'm currently playing.

With any luck I'll have time to read them during summer vacation.

[hydro]

Finished Sena and Teacher's route in Noble Works. I only know of one other Short Green Haired Maid in anime/VNs, this girl: http://myanimelist.net/character/38128/Angelina_Nanatsu_Sewell

She was the first thing I thought of when I first saw Sena. And guess what, her VA is in this VN! She doesn't voice many characters, so this is something. I guess she voices Sena then...nope. Ange's VA voices the teacher instead. But Sachi's VA is in this VN as well!   Buuuuut she voices Makoto. All these chances to double up on the meido callously dodged. 

Anyways:

Spoiler

Teacher's route had one of the most abrupt endings I've ever seen. Basically finished 10 minutes after the common route branch. It seemed especially quick to me as I skipped all repeated common route scenes, so including her unique common route scenes the whole thing couldn't have been longer than an hour. I actually thought I had done something wrong, then I remembered this VN doesn't have bad endings. He didn't even get to tell her he was a body double or anything. Whatever, was nice enough I guess.

Sena's route was mostly expected, I was talking to a friend while reading it and predicted almost everything in advance. But it was pleasant overall. And there were a couple of funny and unexpected moments. Like someone spreading a rumor that MC was banging 3 of the other heroines at once. Also Akari thinking kissing causes pregnancy, and no-one bothering to correct her.