What are you playing?

[akaritan]

I just finished the first Phoenix Wright game and it was really good. I normally avoid VNs with gameplay elements, but I decided to make an exception for this one and boy, am I glad I did. The cross-examinations were all a blast, and the characters were really charming and memorable, even if they weren't necessarily deep. Even though the tone and story aren't the sort of thing that's normally up my alley, it was still a great time and the ending put a really big dumb smile on my face. I'm also reading ever17. It's good so far, though I haven't been enjoying it as much as other people seemed to. I've finished Tsugumi's route, which was quite suspenseful and interesting even though I'm not particularly fond of her as a character. I'm almost done with Sora's route, which I like quite a bit less, but it's far from bad and again, has many interesting plot elements even if there are things that bother me about it. I hear that a lot of the "meat" of it is in Coco's route, so I'm definitely planning on finishing and I look forward to reading that route a lot. Sorry if this post is a jumbled mess, it's pretty late where I am.

[Deep Blue]

Finishing nagamori's route on ONE, my god it's awful, I'm cringing while reading it... it's the childhood friend route but this one goes beyond bad, the heroine is like a puppet with no brain just for the sake of the main character, I can't even finish it  how low can she go for him...it's pathetic almost sickening  the only way to redeem this route is by telling the reader that she has some kind of weird mental pathology who loves to be treated like shit, yes that's it, a psychological problem explanation would fix this route xD

[Eclipsed]

I did it bois, finally finished Fate/Stay Night after centuries of delays 

I wouldn't call it a masterpiece, but it was an overall very enjoyable read. Will admit, after suffering through the mildly lackluster Fate route, my expectations for Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven's Feel sank rock bottom, but each subsequent route managed to add meaningful lore, character depth, and present interesting contrasting beliefs resulting in a fulfilling experience

Fate suffered from being the 'intro' route- you don't get too much info about the Holy Grail War & overall universe, and the heroine of the route Saber gets heavily stagnated by Shirou's infuriating "You're a girl, so you shouldn't fight!" belief.

UBW rectifies this- Shirou ain't head over heels for Saber this time so yippee, no Saberblocking. But who cares about Saber- Archer takes the spotlight this time, and after a series of Wtf-is-this-guy-doing?! you will finally realize his game and ohh shit, things just got personal!! And of course there's Shirou x Rin, and you guys should know how much bias I have for that girl by now >.>

Heaven's Feel.... it'll drag a couple characters that felt pretty side-charactery up 'til now into the main plot... and damn, the atmosphere throughout this one can get pretty eerie and creepy. It'll also reveal some "Wtf, there's more?" lore about the Holy Grail, and there's some choices Shirou has to make that completely defy what he would've done in other routes, so it's pretty thrilling.

That being said, the characters are what made this VN for me. From Saber's undying loyalty to Rin's incessant teasing, this cast is definitely one of the more entertaining bunch with many ups and downs and it was a pleasure to witness their story.

8.5/10

Misc. Stats:

• Best route: Unlimited Blade Works > Heaven's Feel >>>>>>>>> Fate
• Best girl: Rin >>> Saber > Illya > Sakura
• Best Servant: Archer > Saber >>> Rider > Lancer > Berserker >>> Caster > Assassin 

 

TL;DR:

[Kurisu-Chan]

Finished Kappei story.

 

Yeh, it was amazing to read a route about a shotacon stealing one of the Fujibayashi girls (the worst one, so who cares?  ) But it was overrale an enjoyable route.

I have 5 routes left and After story. 

[Fred the Barber]

9 hours ago, Eclipsed said:

• Best route: Unlimited Blade Works > Heaven's Feel >>>>>>>>> Fate
• Best girl: Rin >>> Saber > Illya > Sakura
• Best Servant: Archer > Saber >>> Rider > Lancer > Berserker >>> Caster > Assassin 

Agreed on most of this. You forgot about Assassin and Archer, though, and Lancer is clearly way cooler than Rider.

[Funyarinpa]

On 4/18/2016 at 6:21 PM, Funyarinpa said:

Using Starless as an example for nukige is like using jalapeños as an example for food seasoning. It's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay in the extreme. 

Why the fuck dis someone like this after 4 fucking months

[Dergonu]

11 hours ago, Eclipsed said:

I did it bois, finally finished Fate/Stay Night after centuries of delays 

Wait, seriously? You actually did it?

*claps*

Good job! Now I have to get around to it soon too! (See you in 40 years when I finish it.) 

[Kawasumi]

11 minutes ago, Dergonu said:

Wait, seriously? You actually did it?

*claps*

Good job! Now I have to get around to it soon too! (See you in 40 years when I finish it.) 

ITS FINE, WE HAVE OUR OWN CLUB, WITH JAPANESE VNS AND GURO  

[Dergonu]

1 minute ago, Kawasumi said:

ITS FINE, WE HAVE OUR OWN CLUB, WITH JAPANESE VNS AND GURO  

Ah right, that is true, I'm done here! *runs away to the club with the cool kids*

[ChaosRaven]

12 hours ago, Eclipsed said:

• Best route: Unlimited Blade Works > Heaven's Feel >>>>>>>>> Fate
• Best girl: Rin >>> Saber > Illya > Sakura
• Best Servant: Archer > Saber >>> Rider > Lancer > Berserker >>> Caster > Assassin 

I didn't play Heaven's Feel route, but from the remaing two I still liked Fate more than Unlimited Bladeworks simply because it felt more believable.

Spoiler

The VN makes it clear from the start that being protected by a servant is of utmost importance for survival. And in Fate they actually form a pretty powerful alliance consisting of two masters (later even three with Illya) and two servants. They were an absolute force to be reckoned with.

But in Unlimited Bladeworks Rin and Shirou lose both their servants pretty early and rely more or less on Rin's magic alone. While Archer going rogue was in itself a pretty interesting development, the plot more or less fell apart when Gilgamesh came into play. He was so overpowered that he almost fell asleep while killing the supposed most powerful master-servant duo with Illya and berserker - and then claims that he 'doesn't have time anymore' to also kill Rin and Shirou after holding almost a ten minute chat with them .

But the ultimate highlight was the 'triple suicide' of Kirei, Lancer and Shinji when going against the tied up Rin . Overall the opponents were simply dumbified too much in that route. Kirei would never die such a ridiculous death and Gilgamesh simply too powerful to be beaten by them. Rin and Shirou didn't survive anymore because they did anything smart, they survived because the VN wouldn't shy away to even send them a Bortas Battlecruiser full of Klingon warriors out of space to protect them.

And yeah, there was Illya's fate too, but that's more a personal thing. 

 

[Kurisu-Chan]

so, i finished half of the first part of clannad, i'm gonna give my (really positive review)

I can't really judge the common route, as it's not a classic common route like Little busters or any other VN, but, i'm gonna give my enjoyment.

Misae route : very touching, very short, feels more like a tiny route than a real heroine.

Tomoyo route : My, God, I cried, i cried, it was beautiful, perfect, touching, Tomoyo is soo amazing, she's a great heroine, her route is great.

Ryou route : Don't care, too short/10

Kyou route : wow, didn't expect that developpment, it was a really interesting route, lacked more romantic Kyou moments, in my opinion.

Yukine Route : sweet, Yukine is interesting, the route was interesting, nothing to say about it.

Kappei Route : NTR/10, but since i'm not a fanboy of that Heroine, no problem, his route was kinda touching, though.

Overall, i pretty much like every character met so far, messing with sunohara is funnier than i thought, the events are funny and touching as well, it's a good experience, and every routes deal with the "familly" theme in it's own form, it's really touching.

 

[Eclipsed]

38 minutes ago, Dergonu said:

Ah right, that is true, I'm done here! *runs away to the club with the cool kids*

Whatta tool, I thought you were a proud hybrid, able to exist in between the realms of Light and Darkness, but now you so easily pledge absolute faith to the Dark side of gurrelitism to "be with the cool kids"

Utter disappointment!

~~

20 minutes ago, ChaosRaven said:

I didn't play Heaven's Feel route, but from the remaing two I still liked Fate more than Unlimited Bladeworks simply because it felt more believable.

  Hide contents

The VN makes it clear from the start that being protected by a servant is of utmost importance for survival. And in Fate they actually form a pretty powerful alliance consisting of two masters (later even three with Illya) and two servants. They were an absolute force to be reckoned with.

But in Unlimited Bladeworks Rin and Shirou lose both their servants pretty early and rely more or less on Rin's magic alone. While Archer going rogue was in itself a pretty interesting development, the plot more or less fell apart when Gilgamesh came into play. He was so overpowered that he almost fell asleep while killing the supposed most powerful master-servant duo with Illya and berserker - and then claims that he 'doesn't have time anymore' to also kill Rin and Shirou after holding almost a ten minute chat with them .

But the ultimate highlight then was the 'triple suicide' of Kirei, Lancer and Shinji when going against the tied up Rin . Overall the opponents were simply dumbified too much. Kirei would never die such a ridiculous death. It was simply too much to be believable anymore. Rin and Shirou didn't survive anymore because they did anything smart, they survived because the VN wouldn't shy away to even send them a Bortas Battlecruiser full of Klingon warriors out of space to protect them.

And yeah, there was Illya's fate too, but that's more a personal thing. 

 

Ah, the good ol' "It's more realistic, so it's better!" argument.

By all means Shirou and Rin should've both gotten rekt on Day 1, but then we wouldn't have a story now would we?

The opponents getting dumbified in UBW is because the main focus is on Archer, but they definitely get their own 'final boss' status in other routes.

[ChaosRaven]

40 minutes ago, Eclipsed said:

The opponents getting dumbified in UBW is because the main focus is on Archer, but they definitely get their own 'final boss' status in other routes.

Well, I think it's definitely possible to have a focus on a character without making the other characters dumb.

UB showed some different and interesting sides of some characters with Archer and Lancer in particular, so I still enjoyed the route both in the VN and the anime. But the flaws were a little too much to push Fate route from my top spot which IMHO had way smarter villains.

[Suzu Fanatic]

@Eclipsed

Spoiler

The real question is - did you read the Sparks liner high bad end? it's one of those rare ones that are so good, it's a crime to pass over

(for it to happen, Shirou must try to 1v1 Saber w/o Riders help)

 

[Eclipsed]

26 minutes ago, ChaosRaven said:

Well, I think it's definitely possible to have a focus on a character without making the other characters dumb.

UB showed some different and interesting sides of some characters with Archer and Lancer in particular, so I still enjoyed the route both in the VN and the anime. But the flaws were a little too much to push Fate route from my top spot which IMHO had way smarter villains.

Yeah, it's one of Fate/Stay's route weaknesses. Characters that are prominent in one route will become complete fodder in other routes. Sometimes I wish there was just one grand route that allows every character to have their moment in the spotlight instead of splitting it up into main focuses and villains


~~

9 minutes ago, Suzu Fanatic said:

@Eclipsed

  Hide contents

The real question is - did you read the Sparks liner high bad end? it's one of those rare ones that are so good, it's a crime to pass over

(for it to happen, Shirou must try to 1v1 Saber w/o Riders help)

 

That was the first ending I got  

I think it would've resonated with me more if Shirou had to make 'that' choice in addition to that, but I guess it's all the more poetic that he didn't even get the chance to and so we're just left with a big ol' "Wow... You know what? Fk Sakura. THIS is the True End!"

[Shimakaze]

Finally managed to finish a route in Natsuzora no Perseus, not without difficult, and only understanding like 40% of the sentences (but at least, I got the gist of what is happening).

[ChaosRaven]

24 minutes ago, Shimakaze said:

Finally managed to finish a route in Natsuzora no Perseus, not without difficult, and only understanding like 40% of the sentences (but at least, I got the gist of what is happening).

Minori's Natsuzora no Perseus and Soreyori no Prologue are the two VN's from Minori I really wanted to read. I had slim hopes for MangaGamer to license at least one of those titles, but according to Nobukazu (nbkz) Sakai's interview at AX, MangaGamer has no interest in them. Further considering that Minori announced Trinoline more less against MangaGamer's will, it doesn't look like we'll see many Minori VN's from MangaGamer anymore. So it looks like I have to read those in Japanese too. 

[Vorathiel]

3 minutes ago, ChaosRaven said:

Further considering that Minori announced Trinoline more less against MangaGamer's will

What do you mean?

[ChaosRaven]

42 minutes ago, Vorathiel said:

What do you mean?

Minori released four titles since Supipara and MangaGamer apparently has no interest in either of them. So why should they suddenly have interest in the fifth one without even knowing its reception. Minori made the announcement without informing MangaGamer before, and they surely had enough time to do that. The whole thing smells fishy. I'd say Minori made the announcement intentional without informing MangaGamer because they knew it'll be hard to refuse them now.

Natsuzora no Perseus won the Getchu graphics and ero award in 2012. It should be a mouth watering title considering MG's customer base, but they still show no interest - I wonder?! I'd say MG's lack of interest comes from the whole censoring theater with Minori. Those two companies have a history.

[LiquidShu]

Started Danganronpa 2 on PC, is there a way to change keybindings? I can't use my F1 -> F12 so RIP my handbook and transcript.

[Fred the Barber]

4 hours ago, Eclipsed said:

Yeah, it's one of Fate/Stay's route weaknesses. Characters that are prominent in one route will become complete fodder in other routes. Sometimes I wish there was just one grand route that allows every character to have their moment in the spotlight instead of splitting it up into main focuses and villains

Spoiler

But wasn't it awesome watching Gilgamesh get eaten?

 

[Suzu Fanatic]

@bogdankl @Eclipsed

This is for you both, on finishing up F/SN My favorite song in my life atm.
(last episodes spoilers)

Spoiler

I like to think of this as the true end to the Fate route - or even a "True end" for the many versions of Archer that Shirou may end up as. (That Rin/Sakura/others couldn't save)

Rin is best girl, and Heavens Feel is best route - but there will always be a special place in my heart for Arturia, no matter what.

 

Either of you have plans to go through Hollow/Ataxia? At the very least, I reccomend watching Carnival Phantasm - it's a great way to finish off the series.

[Lucius]

2 minutes ago, Suzu Fanatic said:

Either of you have plans to go through Hollow/Ataxia? At the very least, I reccomend watching Carnival Phantasm - it's a great way to finish off the series.

I wish the voiced version of the game is translated.  But I guess that won't happen for a while, considering the voiced Vita version came out not long ago. Hopefully, it would get localized some time soon.

[Eclipsed]

4 hours ago, Suzu Fanatic said:

Either of you have plans to go through Hollow/Ataxia? At the very least, I reccomend watching Carnival Phantasm - it's a great way to finish off the series.

I'm watching Fate/Zero for sure.

Dunno about Hollow Ataraxia atm, I ned voices ;-;

Probably gonna check out Fate/Extra for my PSP, and Fate/Extella for Vita when it comes out Q4 2016

[Vokoca]

On 03/08/2016 at 8:00 AM, Eclipsed said:

 

• Best girl: Rin >>> Saber > Illya > Sakura

You're dead to me.