What are you playing?

[TheCrimsonFucker]

Still reading Hatsukoi 1/1. Kinda wierd because I want to read it but most of the time I'm not in the mood to read if that makes any sense Doesn't really help that I started with Runas route and it just hurts to read. I feel sorry for her and want to slap her at the same time.

[Zidan209]

So, i finished Sharin no Kuni. A pretty solid VN with great soundtrack, story and characters. As one, who has read G-senjou prior, i just can't not point out how similiar the VNs are (i was kinda expecting it anyway, since it's from Akabeisoft aswell). I still prefer G-senjou, though. Battle of wits between 2 archenemies with some mystery elements and in Sharin, a young man who struggles with the ideas of society are both really appealing to me, but the former is just what i love the most.

Spoiler

I kinda think that they've gone a bit too far with the whole Maximum penalty thing. It was just a bit different than in G-senjou, because there's no way u could have figured this out. Just... very clever

Can't decide if Natsumi or the last spoiler heroine is the best 

I rated Sharin 9/10, 10/10 for G-senjou. 

Edited November 9, 2017 by Zidan209

[Useless-san]

On 11/8/2017 at 2:17 PM, Soulless Watcher said:

Well I finished Chaos;Child and while I'm not angry with the rest of it, I am disappointed. The individual character routes are much weaker than the initial route, but they serve their purpose in giving more insight into the motivations and history of the characters. I didn't necessarily see this as a problem, I thought they were solid building blocks of what I expected to be a kickass true ending. Well, I saw the true ending and it turns out that wasn't the point. 

The routes enforce the story's theme rather than doing something else entirely. Chaos;Child is about dealing with information and the burden of the truth. That's not to say that there are no problems in the way they were executed, it's just that they serve that purpose well. This can be, especially, seen in Hinae's and Nono's routes where both where about truth and falsehood. Uki also serves this concept pretty well, but Uki was really boring.
I think the routes also connect to how important information can also be pointless in the grand scheme of things, but that's a bit of a stretch.

On 11/8/2017 at 2:17 PM, Soulless Watcher said:

There are also several smaller issues that annoy me. 

  Hide contents

Hana Kazuki is completely pointless in regards to the larger plot and could be completely removed and you wouldn't have to change anything else in the story, she really feels like a character that was written in after a first or even second draft. Kurusu Nono's death is randomly retconed in the true ending, undermining the emotional impact of the initial event. Kunosato Mio's backstory is never expanded upon, but constantly hinted at. Itou Shinji dosn't really get any resolution and is kinda awkwardly pushed out of the story. Wakui Shyuuichi is revealed to be the major villain, but doesn't get defeated and only fucks off after making a vague bet with Takuru. YUI IS FUCKING DEAD IN THE STEINS;GATE WORLDLINE (AKA TRUE END). 

Spoiler

I wish i can say that Hana wasn't pointless. Hana is a bad character in every way possible. Actually the story would be much better without her. You could think of how her route could've played out were it based on Takuru being a true Gigalomaniac, instead of her just being there. However, you could say that her power had a major role in the discussion of how information spreads once you consider everything.

I do have similar gripes when it comes to the true route. Regardless, Nono dying probably had to do with her conscious being ejected from the synchronized delusion (C;C syndrome). Moreover, Wakui is not the main villain. Wakui is an agent of the committee. He doesn't care about what happens as long as it doesn't affect him negatively. The main Villain is still Sakumma. I do agree with the rest though.

 

 

 

I don't think the main theme would have worked out without the routes, but it will take me quite a lot more to convince you and i am not sure if you care about themes in general.

[Soulless Watcher]

2 hours ago, Useless-san said:

The routes enforce the story's theme rather than doing something else entirely. Chaos;Child is about dealing with information and the burden of the truth. That's not to say that there are no problems in the way they were executed, it's just that they serve that purpose well. This can be, especially, seen in Hinae's and Nono's routes where both where about truth and falsehood. Uki also serves this concept pretty well, but Uki was really boring.
I think the routes also connect to how important information can also be pointless in the grand scheme of things, but that's a bit of a stretch.

As a collection of side stories or fables they are fine, good even, I think it was my misperception that it would be structured in a similar way to something like Rewrite that tainted the overall experience for me. If I knew beforehand that the routes would just be their own separate thing that went along with the main route and not building towards a grand finale I probably wouldn't have been as disappointed. 

Honestly though I really didn't care about the underlining themes, I read stories to escape reality, not to learn anything to benefit it . What really drew me into the main route was the character arc that Miyashiro Takuru goes through, how he changed and matured in response to the plot. As a character story about the loss of innocence I think the main route strives as a stand alone story. 

Spoiler

Yeah, you are definitely right about Wakui. Now that I think about it, he felt very similar to Hana, in regards to overall plot relevance. 

[Useless-san]

5 hours ago, Soulless Watcher said:

As a collection of side stories or fables they are fine, good even, I think it was my misperception that it would be structured in a similar way to something like Rewrite that tainted the overall experience for me. If I knew beforehand that the routes would just be their own separate thing that went along with the main route and not building towards a grand finale I probably wouldn't have been as disappointed. 

Honestly though I really didn't care about the underlining themes, I read stories to escape reality, not to learn anything to benefit it .

I could tell from your VNDB, which is why i stopped. Nonetheless, the case of C;C is pretty peculiar as it goes to great lengths to maintain the theme's integrity and coherence. The route structure is a result of that, and it's only good if you care about the theme. Therefore, i can't fault anyone for disliking the routes.

 

Over sky on the other hand, is as you said impeccable. It is a perfect 10/10.
The structure was great with minimum downtime, and most of the scenes felt meaningful to the goal the story was heading to. It also manages to show managed to show the cast in this route as people, developing them throughout the route (save for Hana and Uki). You can just praise it tbh, there is nothing to complain about.
I wrote my impressions on Choas;Child already, so doing it again feels redundant.

[littleshogun]

At least Chaos duology girls did good job enough as eye candy at the first glance if one find the girls story (ie route) was quite lacking, although of course some people would like the girls as it is.

For the topic, I finished Mamatoto and it was quite fun. The gameplay for the most part was very easy and mostly you didn't need to grinding and strategize much, expect for the final boss (MC's dad Kakaro) in which I didn't had much problem fighting it because my average party level was at around 30. Then again, Kakaro might give some problem though if one was at around level 20 for the party. Story was very simple because basically it was just Mamatoto fighting against three countries for the world peace, except instead like Kichikuou or Daibanchou it was chapter based which make this very linear (Well you could get different ending for multiple characters based on Nanas point, but that's it). Some OST was remixed from Kichikuou, and it's quite noticeable there to me but I think it's still serviceable though. For my last word here, if you interested with drinking game you could make one based on recruitement scenes which managed by Nanas and happened automatically, because there's a lot of that in Mamatoto.

[Dreamysyu]

So, I finally finished Subahibi. And, well, it was a weird ending. I can't say I really understand what happened there, so I'll definitely need to reread some key moments of the VN.

Overall, Subahibi definitely delivered on its hype. I need to let my thoughts and emotions settle for some time, but  so far I'm pretty sure it's really the best VN I've read to this day.

[akaritan]

I started Soukou Akki Muramasa. I think it's very good so far, even if my experience has been marred by my slow reading pace. Frankly, I'm not having as difficult a time as its reputation would have lead me to believe. While the author uses odd kanji and vocabulary much of the time, the sentence structure isn't ridiculously complex. The game itself, if nothing else, is very well produced (though, that's what you expect from the phenomenal nitroplus). The soundtrack and overall atmosphere is thick and beautiful, and the art is incredibly smooth and easy on the eyes. I think I would have had a far more difficult time stomaching the more "everyday life" scenes had the soundtrack not been amazing. I'm about halfway through chapter 1, and my main problems are related to characters. Simply put, I did not start this life and death drama to read about schoolchildren. I know that it'll start putting more focus into things I care about soon enough, but I can't help but think about how much I'd rather be reading about Minato or the red-haired ojou-san than these students who I don't even really like and it's an odd choice for this type of game. With all that said I don't mind the mystery about the missing friend

Spoiler

I'm sure that everything will be juuuuust fine and this has nothing to do with those meat pulverizing sounds from the beginning of the game

and as much as I'm complaining I am enjoying this one so far.

[r0xm2n]

Got to my third route in Wagamama High Spec. Time for the Tsundere route (which are always fun xD).

While the fap material in this game is excellent, I'm kinda getting burned out on the H scenes (which typically last almost an hour).

Next VN I play, I want some actual plot thanks (and some feels too).

[Turnip Sensei]

It took a long while, but I finally finished Subahibi. And if anything, I'm very conflicted. Not as much with the VN, but myself.

Like I mentioned before It's My Own Invention was from time to time too much for me to stomach and that certainly didn't help. Luckily the rest was better and it was just a problem of getting back to it. I guess when it comes to Subahibi you could say it has two layers: the surface level (or just the story) and "deeper level" (the ideas of the author) and depending how well these things meld together in someone's head can hugely impact the enjoyment. But in my case these elements kind of drifted around. At times amidst all the ugliness I just wanted to hear more of the philosophy, more food for thought. At times, just see the next part and make sense of the whole. Ultimately I really enjoyed Subahibi for what it was. The story itself is interesting with utterly fascinating and many-faceted characters and it challenges the reader to think in the most wonderful way possible. Yet, there's still this nagging feeling that I failed to truly appreciate it. 
Usually, as I look back at what I've done and read, and regret my lack of knowledge and understanding. A truly trite though of course, because without that I would know even less. But when it comes to Subahibi I feel like If I could have had the chance to read it when I was younger, more naïve, Subahibi could have something special. Who knows.

But enough with existential crisis. If there's one thing that Subahibi does amazingly it's how it encourages the reader to think and read. My favorite parts of the VN are when the characters are used to teach the reader something. Be it philosophy, mathematics, economy, or literature. Through these scenes SCA-DI not only shows his understanding and knowledge of these subjects, but most importantly his enthusiasm. A heartfelt feeling that something is fascinating and the wish to share it. And not just wanting to teach about something, but to try share that enthusiasm. There hasn't been any other work like Subahibi, that has managed to make me so readily visit library and research. Not because I felt like I wasn't able to understand something, but because I wanted to learn more about subject and go beyond what was taught to me. 
I've seen people being intimidated about Subahibi because they feel like they have to know philosophy to understand it. But I feel this is very wrong. Basics are very helpful of course, but Subahibi is work that wants to teach you philosophy and how think. In fact, I think it's better to dive in to it knowing less and then studying inspired by it. Be brave and I dive into the unknown!

Subahibi was curious experience and I'm still not quite sure how to feel about it. Fascinating it certainly is, in many ways. Like many have demonstrated Subahibi has the potential of being something truly special, and even if it won't end up that way for someone I feel like it has still lot to give.   

[Thyndd]

I just finished Makina's route in Grisaia no Kajitsu. Overall I enjoyed it, but as I was priorly aware there are many people who are not too fond of the ending, and I can see why. 

I could easily criticize the decisions Yuuji made. Come on, it's not that hard to get your priorities right: 

First and foremost don't let Makina die, that much I can understand. But secondly, don't die yourself. I get it, Yuuji has the emotional intelligence of a water flea, but come on man, it's not that hard to figure that Makina'd be rendered mentally broken if once again the most important person for her died trying to protect her. Keeping that in mind, he should avoid unnecessary risks that don't guarantee Makina's safety. Like, ehem, killing her mother. BUT, if you have truly mulled it over and reached the conclusion that it's indeed the best option, then go on and kill the freaking bitch dead. The choice that leads you to the bad ending doesn't make any sense. I'm 100% sure that in that situation killing her was the reasonable choice, and the only reason why it shoves you into the bad ending is due to stupid moral correctness, why I'm certainly not too fond of. I mean, if you don't slay that bitch right there, you are gonna die, and Makina's gonna follow, fucking up your two most important priorities, what the fuck were you thinking in the first place when you decided to infiltrate in the Irisu's HQ?

Anyway, I might get pissed off when characters behave in stupid ways, but that is by no means bad writing or something, since it actually fits Yuuji's character pretty well the more I think about it. However:

Ok, so now Ichigaya's got a hold of some juicy intel about the Irisu family that I assume they'll use to their interest, and because of that Makina will be protected as an important witness. Hold on, but haven't they accepted the request from the Irisu family to assassinate her? Presumably the Ichigaya knew why they issued that order, or at least JB did since she was the one who told Yuuji about Makina's threat to her mother. If Ichigaya was willing to ditch the job in exchange for the information about Irisu's corruption scandals, couldn't Yuuji have tried to negotiate with them from the very beginning? Come on, Yuuji is oblivious when it comes to personal relationships, but he wouldn't overlook that rational line of thought.

*Sigh* I had to get this off my chest. Sorry for the ramble guys 

Next route I'll be playing... Amane's or perhaps Sachi's, I dunno. Any suggestions?

[Dreamysyu]

6 minutes ago, Thyndd said:

Next route I'll be playing... Amane's or perhaps Sachi's, I dunno. Any suggestions?

Well, Amane and Makina are written by the same author, so maybe it's a good idea to read something else between them.

[Plk_Lesiak]

5 minutes ago, Thyndd said:

I just finished Makina's route in Grisaia no Kajitsu. Overall I enjoyed it, but as I was priorly aware there are many people who are not too fond of the ending, and I can see why. 

I could easily criticize the decisions Yuuji made. Come on, it's not that hard to get your priorities right: 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

First and foremost don't let Makina die, that much I can understand. But secondly, don't die yourself. I get it, Yuuji has the emotional intelligence of a water flea, but come on man, it's not that hard to figure that Makina'd be rendered mentally broken if once again the most important person for her died trying to protect her. Keeping that in mind, he should avoid unnecessary risks that don't guarantee Makina's safety. Like, ehem, killing her mother. BUT, if you have truly mulled it over and reached the conclusion that it's indeed the best option, then go on and kill the freaking bitch dead. The choice that leads you to the bad ending doesn't make any sense. I'm 100% sure that in that situation killing her was the reasonable choice, and the only reason why it shoves you into the bad ending is due to stupid moral correctness, why I'm certainly not too fond of. I mean, if you don't slay that bitch right there, you are gonna die, and Makina's gonna follow, fucking up your two most important priorities, what the fuck were you thinking in the first place when you decided to infiltrate in the Irisu's HQ?

 

Anyway, I might get pissed off when characters behave in stupid ways, but that is by no means bad writing or something, since it actually fits Yuuji's character pretty well the more I think about it. However:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Ok, so now Ichigaya's got a hold of some juicy intel about the Irisu family that I assume they'll use to their interest, and because of that Makina will be protected as an important witness. Hold on, but haven't they accepted the request from the Irisu family to assassinate her? Presumably the Ichigaya knew why they issued that order, or at least JB did since she was the one who told Yuuji about Makina's threat to her mother. If Ichigaya was willing to ditch the job in exchange for the information about Irisu's corruption scandals, couldn't Yuuji have tried to negotiate with them from the very beginning? Come on, Yuuji is oblivious when it comes to personal relationships, but he wouldn't overlook that rational line of thought.

 

*Sigh* I had to get this off my chest. Sorry for the ramble guys 

Next route I'll be playing... Amane's or perhaps Sachi's, I dunno. Any suggestions?

 

 

I agree completely, the anime actually did this much better IMO (but they also had to connect of the routes together and leave space for sequels). I think most routes in Kajitsu have a bit of this problem, while the common route is consistently intriguing and very fun to read, the endings tend to be over-the-top and overly convoluted. They're enjoyable, but not necessarily hold up if you over-analyse them.

Amane route is my favourite, but after Makina I would maybe suggest Yumiko, as a change of pace?

[Thyndd]

15 minutes ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

Makina I would maybe suggest Yumiko, as a change of pace?

Though I've heard that Yumiko's situation is kind of similar to Makina's? 

Now that you mention it, I do agree that it'd be for the best to play the most different route to Makina's. Do you believe it'd be Yumiko's?

[Plk_Lesiak]

2 minutes ago, Thyndd said:

Though I've heard that Yumiko's situation is kind of similar to Makina's? 

Now that you mention it, I do agree that it'd be for the best to play the most different route to Makina's. Do you believe it'd be Yumiko's?

It has some similar themes, but is definitely less disturbing/grimdark. For many it's the least favourite one, but that also depends on how much you like the character - I like Yumiko very much so it would be hard for me not to enjoy it.

[Mr Poltroon]

6 minutes ago, Thyndd said:

Though I've heard that Yumiko's situation is kind of similar to Makina's? 

Now that you mention it, I do agree that it'd be for the best to play the most different route to Makina's. Do you believe it'd be Yumiko's?

Beyond having similar themes, the situation in Yumiko's route is also the same. It isn't really dark, and it's a nice, cute route, but the situation is very similar to Makina's.

You may prefer Sachi or Michiru, whose routes are wholly different to Makina's.

[onorub]

Reading Togainu no Chi and i'm seriously glad i'm doing so, because i was starting to get desensitised to rape in VNs and seeing stuff like that happening to a dude made it much more relatable.

[Thyndd]

4 minutes ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

It has some similar themes, but is definitely less disturbing/grimdark. For many it's the least favourite one, but that also depends on how much you like the character - I like Yumiko very much so it would be hard for me not to enjoy it.

 

2 minutes ago, Mr Poltroon said:

Beyond having similar themes, the situation is also the same. It isn't really dark, and it's a nice, cute route, but the situation is very similar to Makina's.

You may prefer Sachi or Michiru, whose routes are wholly different to Makina's.

 

Hmm, but don't get me wrong, I love dark and disturbing stories, especially when they manage to fit in between some endearingly cute moments. 

The reason I want to try something different is not so much because I didn't like the atmosphere, but just to keep it fresh, considering the VN is pretty long 

Anyway, I get the general idea I think. Thank you for your suggestions! 

[r0xm2n]

10 hours ago, Thyndd said:

I just finished Makina's route in Grisaia no Kajitsu. Overall I enjoyed it, but as I was priorly aware there are many people who are not too fond of the ending, and I can see why. 

I could easily criticize the decisions Yuuji made. Come on, it's not that hard to get your priorities right: 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

First and foremost don't let Makina die, that much I can understand. But secondly, don't die yourself. I get it, Yuuji has the emotional intelligence of a water flea, but come on man, it's not that hard to figure that Makina'd be rendered mentally broken if once again the most important person for her died trying to protect her. Keeping that in mind, he should avoid unnecessary risks that don't guarantee Makina's safety. Like, ehem, killing her mother. BUT, if you have truly mulled it over and reached the conclusion that it's indeed the best option, then go on and kill the freaking bitch dead. The choice that leads you to the bad ending doesn't make any sense. I'm 100% sure that in that situation killing her was the reasonable choice, and the only reason why it shoves you into the bad ending is due to stupid moral correctness, why I'm certainly not too fond of. I mean, if you don't slay that bitch right there, you are gonna die, and Makina's gonna follow, fucking up your two most important priorities, what the fuck were you thinking in the first place when you decided to infiltrate in the Irisu's HQ?

 

Anyway, I might get pissed off when characters behave in stupid ways, but that is by no means bad writing or something, since it actually fits Yuuji's character pretty well the more I think about it. However:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Ok, so now Ichigaya's got a hold of some juicy intel about the Irisu family that I assume they'll use to their interest, and because of that Makina will be protected as an important witness. Hold on, but haven't they accepted the request from the Irisu family to assassinate her? Presumably the Ichigaya knew why they issued that order, or at least JB did since she was the one who told Yuuji about Makina's threat to her mother. If Ichigaya was willing to ditch the job in exchange for the information about Irisu's corruption scandals, couldn't Yuuji have tried to negotiate with them from the very beginning? Come on, Yuuji is oblivious when it comes to personal relationships, but he wouldn't overlook that rational line of thought.

 

*Sigh* I had to get this off my chest. Sorry for the ramble guys 

Next route I'll be playing... Amane's or perhaps Sachi's, I dunno. Any suggestions?

 

 

Sachi's, and especially, Michiru's routes are emotional rollercoasters (compared to the other routes). I teared up in both routes actually. Amane's has an amazing flashback though (that left one heck of an impression).

As for Yuuji's decisions in Maki's route, well the Grand route in Labyrinth of Grisaia sheds some light on that...

[Mard]

Currently I'm going through Mahou Shoujo Ai 2. Really enjoyable so far.

[Zidan209]

All of this rambling about Grisaia made me pick up Makina's route and finish the VN. A little annoying loli can't hurt anyone, i guess

[Kurisu-Chan]

Ok, i am not starting Fate/Stay Night, but Little busters! steam edition. 

[Akshay]

On 11/12/2017 at 7:27 PM, Thyndd said:

 

 

Hmm, but don't get me wrong, I love dark and disturbing stories, especially when they manage to fit in between some endearingly cute moments. 

The reason I want to try something different is not so much because I didn't like the atmosphere, but just to keep it fresh, considering the VN is pretty long 

Anyway, I get the general idea I think. Thank you for your suggestions! 

Makina's route is a good starting point. Yumiko's route has no bad endings, and is comparatively less grim. While it is less emotional, than the other routes, this was probably intentional and acts as a wonderful conclusion route to the series.

You should probably play Amane into Sachi, though this is not strictly necessary. (some facts about yuuji's workplace, are learnt here as well).

Michiru's route can be played anywhere, and pretty much its own story. I would use this for the change of pace. It's very emotional, but it feels the most different/fresh when compared to the other routes.

[Dreamysyu]

Just a little advice for those here reading Grisaia: don't take Michiru's route too seriously. It's not a bad route by itself, but it has some really strange moments which require a lot of suspension of disbelief. It's quite clear the author of that route didn't really know what Grisaia was supposed to be about, so this route looks a bit strange. I personally believe it would work better in some VN by Key.

And I repeat, it's not a bad route by itself. Actually, it's pretty good.

Edited November 13, 2017 by Dreamysyu
typo

[Zidan209]

9 minutes ago, Dreamysyu said:

It's not a bad route by itself, but it has some really strange moments which require a lot of suspension of disbelief. It's quite clear the author of that route didn't really know what Grisaia was supposed to be about, so this route looks a bit strange. And I repeat, it's not a bad route by itself. Actually, it's pretty good.

I think her route was actually pretty good, there were just a few unexpected details. The outcome was a little weird, though.

I liked Yumiko's route the most, but Michiru is best girl for me.