What are you playing?

[Ranzo]

Finally got around to finishing that Soundless vn and I thought it was pretty good thought it was also pretty weird.

Some of it seemed a bit heavy handed but it was all right in my book

 

[Kei kun]

i started ChonoClock a week ago ,like my playthrought almost to the end my first route with Michiru ,good grief it's low attractive while read this one so i hope my assumption will be miss and it's made me impressed at the end of this and another routes.



------  oh... it's impress me now.

Edited October 3, 2018 by Kei kun
updated after end a route.

[littleshogun]

Still Fureraba, because I didn't manage to finish it by the end of September. Considering that I'm at almost halfway of Misakichi's route, I'm sure that I can finish Fureraba by the time for Sanoba release here (Although I'm not going to get the jealousy scenes anyway).

To answer @Dreamysyu question in regard of reading the after story, I would say that if you like that Yuuji got to live together with several girls after supposed chaotic Rakuen's story, then of course it'll worth to read that. Otherwise, it would be for the best if you could just treated Rakuen main story as the fandisc one, or to put it into a better note Yuuji's route. As for me, I'm pretty much already quite cynical with the FD duology (ie Meikyuu and Rakuen) since Frontwing announced those two back at 2012 (Granted that they'd probably in need of some cash after they saved from bankruptcy), but I'd still say that Yuuji's backstory is still worth to consider as the canon though.

Edited October 4, 2018 by littleshogun

[Thyndd]

I finished Umineko's 2nd episode with its respective Tea Party. This game is such  troll and addictive af. Ok let the rant start. Perhaps for those who have already read it it's not that interesting reading the nonsensical theories of someone new to Umineko, but oh well, at the very least it'll help me put my thoughts in order 

 

 

For starters I didn't quite expect them to directly show me all the magic stuff, at least no more than in ep 1, so it was a surprise when right from the beginning Beatrice showed up in front of Kanon and Shannon. It's not that it changes anything really, since as I already mentioned during my ep 1 discussion it's not clear whether the facts that we are shown actually happened as they are narrated, and the fact that the story seems to be a reconstruction from a letter inside a bottle doesn't help when it comes to trust that info. However, and that's the key clue that I learned in this episode, whatever is discussed by meta Battler and Beato must be factual. Otherwise it wouldn't make sense to have Red text, as you can't really declare as the truth something that just didn't happen. So... what meta information was I able to gather from those conversations? 

Well, from the first, the chapel mystery, there are actually two possible scenarios. It seems that Beato couldn't repeat in red that the envelope hadn't been resealed. Ok, that's interesting and if we assume that it had indeed been resealed, then it explains how a human could have done it without requiring magic. I think that the reason Beato couldn't say it in Red is most likely because the culprit is human, but there are other possibilities. First of all, the envelope could have been open and sealed back for any other reason, and the witch, who did in fact kill the 6 people in the chapel with magic, had nothing to do with it. In this case, Beato would not be able to prove that she killed them with magic even if it was the truth. Another possibility, and admittedly a very weird one, is that Beato just didn't feel like saying that in Red, that is, she forfeited that game. I don't think that's the case, but what I'm saying is that it could be very misleading to assume that just because she refuses to say something in Red, then it's false by default. In any case, the chapel incident sets a precedent as the first mystery that we know a reasonable explanation for. 

Then Kanon and Jessica murders. Oh boy. I was so excited for this one, because it was the first that involved someone other than Kanon and Shannon clearly seeing supernatural bullshit, AND the red text was already introduced, so I'd be able to get some juicy info. Of course I was expecting Battler to resign this time, because being able to make the witch admit that it was possible to do it without magic would be as good as giving away that the narration was unreliable, assuming that Beato won't hold back from saying stuff in Red if she needs to do so to win (in other words, that winning the current game is her first priority), as I said earlier. Unfortunately Battler didn't put up a fight at all. Come on my boy, it's not your fault that you lost this one, it was definitely a plot device, but you could have wrung much more Red info out of her!! 

Yeah.. so.. I'm back at the starting point I guess, however, I'm feel way more convinced than before that the murders must have an explanation (even though, ashamed as I am to admit it, I couldn't figure one out. Those locked rooms seem so impossible...!!). They must have one, if only for storytelling purposes. Think about it like this. Imagine you're watching a movie whose plot revolves around one dude that has been sentenced to death for a crime he claims he didn't commit. The evidence, fairly scarce, seems to point towards his culpabilty. How would you expect this movie to finish? Surely it'll be that, after the struggle, enough evidence is found to support his innocence and gets out alive, or, for a sad ending, they manage to prove him innocent but it's too late and the dude has already met his maker. In other words, the tension in this plot lies on whether he'll be able to save his life or not, NEVER on whether he is guilty or innocent. Just imagine how anticlimatic it would be if, after killing him, they just proved he was definitely guilty  

Now for a change imagine the plot was  almost the same, but a lot more evidence came out pointing to his innocence, some of which was apparently incredibly strong. In the end, he gets out, as it would happen in any respetactable court. NOW it would be a good twist if he'd been guilty all along, huh? This goes back to what I mentioned during the episode 1 discussion about a story having to be worthy of being told. In real life, the saying "if you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras" applies. In fiction, it's most likely zebras, depending on the focus point in the narration. Let's call this the fictional zebras principle  it probably already has been named differently at some point, but I don't know it, so whatever. 

The thing is, after all the mystery build up and expectation for an explanation, having everything explained by magic would not appear to be a good twist. I guess it could manage with some weird trick, but more often than not it would feel disappointing and anticlimatic. So, that's why I'm not accepting you just yet, Beato. The funny thing is, Beato herself says something along the lines of the fictional zebras principle when talking about the locked rooms. Something about how every locked room mystery novel must abide by the rule of not having secret exits, places to hide, or key duplicates, and how any detective in these novels would never follow those lines of reasoning XD. Think zebras, muh friend. 

I also want to talk about the true goal of Beato. If the murders have a human culprit, how is she related to them? Why are the murders following the epitaph fairly consistently? (this time around Nanjo and Kumasawa were shown to die chronologically before Shannon, George and Gohda, yet followed the reverse order according to the epitaph. That's the only inaccuracy I could find) and ultimately what is she trying to accomplish playing the same game over and over, when one successful run was enough to "revive her"? Yes sure, she is a cruel witch that wants to toy with humans and make them suffer to stave off boredom. Think zebras though. It's obviously not gonna be that. And think zebras again. She's probably not gonna be the cruel being we are being told to believe. I even came up with the crazy theory that the game could work exactly the opposite that we think it does: Beatrice wants Battler to win, but she is still giving him a very slim chance so he can bring about a miracle. By denying the witch he would find an answer to the puzzles and maybe avoid the tragedy of Rokkenjima. Farfetched, I know, but even if that's not it there must be a reason why Beato is so set on making Battler live through that again and again. Of course, this would mean that Beatrice as a witch really does exist, but she would be involved only in the repitition, not the crimes. 

Edited October 4, 2018 by Thyndd

[Dreamysyu]

So, I finally started this beautiful thing.

Well, technically I already read the prologue once when it just came out, but it doesn't count as I was only checking that everything works and wasn't going to actually read it.

My first impression - it's epic, bring me more!

[Dreamysyu]

15 minutes ago, Thyndd said:

addictive af

I actually read Episodes 2-6 in something like two weeks, which it crazy considering my usual reading speed. Which was also about a week before exams at the university started.

Though I definitely don't recommend reading it very quickly. I just didn't give myself time too think. I realized at the end that I had some nice ideas which actually could potentially lead to me solving the mystery, but in the end, I realized nothing.

19 minutes ago, Thyndd said:

maybe avoid the 

Was the cliffhanger intended?

[douggle]

Been taking time off to do other things but I am just about finished with Baldr Force, an incredible vn so far Liang best girl

[Thyndd]

1 minute ago, Dreamysyu said:

Was the cliffhanger intended?

I was typing on my phone and accidentally pressed the send button  I've already edited it.

3 minutes ago, Dreamysyu said:

I actually read Episodes 2-6 in something like two weeks, which it crazy considering my usual reading speed.

That's crazy considering any reading speed  Like, 5 episodes in 2 weeks??? Assuming ~15h per episode that's 5h+ every single day. Good thing I've got no exams as of now 

[Dreamysyu]

7 minutes ago, Thyndd said:

5h+ every single day.

Something like that, indeed. I came home at, let's say, 4 PM, wanted to read for an hour and to start preparing right after that, but ended up stopping at 1 AM. I honestly don't know how I didn't fail those exams.

Actually, it was literally the only time when I was that engrossed in reading a VN.

[lunaterra]

Sunrider: Liberation Day - Reads like mediocre fanfiction for a high school anime in a military sci-fi AU...except for the H-scenes, which are just plain terrible. The plot quickly becomes extremely ridiculous, especially in the DLC, and the characters aren't interesting enough to make up for that (read: most of the characters are anime stereotypes). Also, I managed to die twice in a row on one level despite playing on the easiest difficulty.

Mahou Show-Jo - A short (~40 minutes) kinetic novel about a retired magical girl. Cool pastel aesthetic, nice music (even if I still don't really understand vaporwave). The ending's pretty abrupt, but since this was a game jam game made in 2 weeks, I can forgive that. I'd love to see a longer, more complete game in this setting.

[Stormwolf]

A sky full of stars and have to vent 

Not sure where to begin with this butchery of a moenovel release. Translation is fine but what else is left? Protagonist has a personality and is proactive, yet he's useless and almost doesnt do anything. Romance is more or less non existent in hikari's route for example. She's also so much into saya during her route that a genre shift to yuri wouldnt feel far off. Even saya herself says its too much. so there is more or less nothing left. I mean, who even cared about that project of theirs? It had a beautiful ending, but thats where my praise of the route begins and ends.

Saya was a bit too childish and nonsensical. Romance is there and acceptable this time around though. but this time hikari takes too much space in the route and same as hikaris route, makes for really rare situatioms where the protag is alone with the chosen heroine..It had some utterly ridiculous drama, but didnt pull the route to the gutter. Also had a great end. Not as good as hikari's end, but pretty great nonetheless.

Dont really care about the other two routes.

Would this vn be better if it wasnt butchered by moenovel? Probably, but i honestly dont know.

I have to mention that the music in this vn is great!

[adamstan]

You're difficult to please

[Funyarinpa]

2 hours ago, lunaterra said:

Sunrider: Liberation Day - Reads like mediocre fanfiction for a high school anime in a military sci-fi AU...except for the H-scenes, which are just plain terrible. The plot quickly becomes extremely ridiculous, especially in the DLC, and the characters aren't interesting enough to make up for that (read: most of the characters are anime stereotypes). Also, I managed to die twice in a row on one level despite playing on the easiest difficulty.

Mahou Show-Jo - A short (~40 minutes) kinetic novel about a retired magical girl. Cool pastel aesthetic, nice music (even if I still don't really understand vaporwave). The ending's pretty abrupt, but since this was a game jam game made in 2 weeks, I can forgive that. I'd love to see a longer, more complete game in this setting.

That second one sounds interesting! 

[lunaterra]

It is! There's a lot of little details about the setting that make me wish it were longer so that it could go more into the magical girl culture. But as it is, I'm really impressed that it was only made in 2 weeks. It's definitely a unique little VN regardless.

-

I'm keeping track of the VNs I've been reading for #HorrorGameOct (which will mostly be short, free games) on Twitter, but for the record:

1. Tim's Birthday - VN/point-and-click hybrid, ~1 hour long, about a girl stuck in a time loop where her little brother is brutally murdered at 2:18 PM on his birthday. The main reason this took me an hour is because I missed something obvious in the P&C section. Has a kinda weird moral.
2. The Doll and the Spider - Kinetic novel, ~15 minutes long, about a magical doll who needs to get inside to protect her little girl from the monsters of the witch's hour, and the pet tarantula who takes her there. The font's hard to read and the art isn't that great, but it has an unexpected ending.
3. Painting Your Skin - Kinetic novel, ~20 minutes long, about a sleepover between best friends that gets crashed by monsters. The title of the game doesn't make sense until the very end.
4. White Worm - Kinetic novel, ~15 minutes long, about a normal person with a very abnormal ailment. Creepy as hell, and pretty gross at points, but why didn't the protagonist even consider going to a doctor? The black-and-white-and-red coloring and the hand-drawn aesthetic add to the atmosphere.

Edited October 5, 2018 by lunaterra

[Stormwolf]

6 hours ago, adamstan said:

You're difficult to please

Im sure i am they did good with if my heart had wings though. Really enjoyed that one. Although i read it with the restoration patch

[adamstan]

IMHHW is unreadable without patch, that's for sure. I also rated it higher than Miagete, but that was because side routes in Miagete (Orihime and Korona) were weak for me - but I loved Hikari's and Saya's.

And yeah, music is great in both VNs.

6 hours ago, Stormwolf said:

Would this vn be better if it wasnt butchered by moenovel?

The only differences:

 - in hot spring scene in common route girls would have nipples
 - SD CG in the same scene would be shot from different angle, with Akito's, ekhm, "rocket" visible
 - you get 4-5 H-scenes of various quality per heroine

Whether that would make it better or not is up to you

 

Edited October 5, 2018 by adamstan

[littleshogun]

I'm still willing to wait though, although to tell the truth it would be need a long wait until the sex scenes were translated. So perhaps it would be the best if I just move on and read the censored version, and yet in the end I'm still hesitate because of the lack of sex scenes. Yeah I'm quite confuse to write my dilemma in regard of Miagete here lol, but in the end I'm leaned towards waiting for the sex scenes to be translated however long it is.

As for Miagete's routes, I believe that Konno Asta here took some reference from WA2 in regard of love triangle drama, which is quite evident that Saya was have a role in Hikari's route and also the fact that Saya herself was have the role in all routes. Also they did shared the past together, which I believed that Konno Asta here took some page from WA2 Introductory Chapter. So what I could say from looking at the spoilers is that Miagete here is probably a lighter version of WA2, although I may exaggerated it too much though.

If you want the reason of why you managed to find Miagete's side routes (Orihime and Korona) were weaker, I believe that it was because it's disconnected with the main plot. Yes I said disconnected because if we looking from the common route the main plot here is the love triangle between Saya and Hikari, and the side routes heroines were just came after the main trio (Saya, Hikari, and Akito (The MC)) relationship was established. Of course the routes for both of them would disconnected from the main plot, and therefore it might cause some discrepancies. It also help though that the writers for two side routes (Takashima Eiji) here is different from the main writer here.

Edited October 5, 2018 by littleshogun

[Stormwolf]

54 minutes ago, adamstan said:

IMHHW is unreadable without patch, that's for sure. I also rated it higher than Miagete, but that was because side routes in Miagete (Orihime and Korona) were weak for me - but I loved Hikari's and Saya's.

And yeah, music is great in both VNs.

The only differences:

 - in hot spring scene in common route girls would have nipples
 - SD CG in the same scene would be shot from different angle, with Akito's, ekhm, "rocket" visible
 - you get 4-5 H-scenes of various quality per heroine

If that would make it better or not is up to you

 

Definitely better. Did you get feeling of affection from hikari? To me it was so sparce that it felt a bit forced when it happened as they acted more lile friends than anything else. Route was definitely written with h scenes in mind if you ask me.

Sayas route was fine though even though the drama was ridiculous..

[adamstan]

29 minutes ago, littleshogun said:

It also help though that the writers for two side routes (Takashima Eiji) here is different from the main writer here.

I think different writer may be main cause. Also, those two routes are more on the bland side, and thus maybe writer was more relying on h-scenes to spice things up.

29 minutes ago, littleshogun said:

in the end I'm leaned towards waiting for the sex scenes to be translated however long it is.

If sex scenes are important to you, then yes, you have to wait. I think they're not worth it, but to each their own.

And it's not that I'm anti-H. H-scenes were important for Konosora, and it wouldn't be as good without them. I also really enjoyed ero-scenes in recently read Koiiro and some other games, but in Miagete they (at least half of them) felt somewhat forced, and their placement was odd at times.

9 minutes ago, Stormwolf said:

Did you get feeling of affection from hikari?

Actually, yes. It is worth noticing, that the route implies that they have sex at least twice - just the intercourse itself isn't shown, but I'm fine with this. If there were two h-scenes, in places where it is implied in all-ages version (when they return home from the railcar, and after their argument in Akito's room) it would be perfect, but the actual placement and number of scenes in +18 version

Spoiler

1. In the railcar, (replaced with just kissing in all-ages edition)
2. Right after, in hot spring - that was too much , this was completely omitted, implied sex scene happens after they go home (Akito says "I want to stay with you all night")
3. In the club room (the excuse in all-ages version that she fell asleep was actually pretty good)
4. Boobjob with half-asleep Hikari and then 5. actual scene in Akito's room (in all-ages version she straddles Akito but clothed, and there are some similar dialogues, which end with "If you tell me I'm heavy, I'll hit you", and then is impled sex scene)

disrupted the flow of the story for me. But yeah, it could use some h-scenes, just not as much as they actually made

9 minutes ago, Stormwolf said:

Sayas route was fine though

Yeah, I agree. Drama was little over-the-top, but I still enjoyed it.

Edited October 5, 2018 by adamstan

[r0xm2n]

Been binging Muv-Luv Alternative pretty hard.

And.......

Spoiler

Cue rather intense battle sequence......

.... protag gets smacked with Heroic BSOD......

.......... well now it's over at least. Cue nice pep talk.......

..............

CUE HORRIFIC AND EXTREMELY GRAPHIC DEATH SCENE!!!!!

.........

....... and now game is talking about PTSD.....

.... no VN has dealt with PTSD since Grisaia no Kajitsu, and that was pretty nasty back then....

..... Jesus, this VN is intense

[Stormwolf]

18 minutes ago, adamstan said:

I think different writer may be main cause. Also, those two routes are more on the bland side, and thus maybe writer was more relying on h-scenes to spice things up.

If sex scenes are important to you, then yes, you have to wait. I think they're not worth it, but to each their own.

And it's not that I'm anti-H. H-scenes were important for Konosora, and it wouldn't be as good without them. I also really enjoyed ero-scenes in recently read Koiiro and some other games, but in Miagete they (at least half of them) felt somewhat forced, and their placement was odd at times.

Actually, yes. It is worth noticing, that the route implies that they have sex at least twice - just the intercourse itself isn't shown, but I'm fine with this. If there were two h-scenes, in places where it is implied in all-ages version (when they return home from the railcar, and after their argument in Akito's room) it would be perfect, but the actual placement and number of scenes in +18 version

  Reveal hidden contents

1. In the railcar, (replaced with just kissing in all-ages edition)
2. Right after, in hot spring - that was too much , this was completely omitted, implied sex scene happens after they go home (Akito says "I want to stay with you all night")
3. In the club room (the excuse in all-ages version that she fell asleep was actually pretty good)
4. Boobjob with half-asleep Hikari and then 5. actual scene in Akito's room (in all-ages version she straddles Akito but clothed, and there are some similar dialogues, which end with "If you tell me I'm heavy, I'll hit you", and then is impled sex scene)

disrupted the flow of the story for me. But yeah, it could use some h-scenes, just not as much as they actually made

Yeah, I agree. Drama was little over-the-top, but I still enjoyed it.

Its 17+ why does it have to be so vaguely implied? A scene with them undressed under the bedsheets etc is a powerful enough scene and not porn, so it should be more than fine.

[adamstan]

13 minutes ago, Stormwolf said:

A scene with them undressed under the bedsheets etc is a powerful enough scene and not porn, so it should be more than fine.

Ah, yes, that would be nice too - I love those cute "after-scenes" whenever they're present. Unfortunately, AFAIR, no such scenes in original version either

Edited October 5, 2018 by adamstan

[Stormwolf]

1 hour ago, adamstan said:

Ah, yes, that would be nice too - I love those cute "after-scenes" whenever they're present. Unfortunately, AFAIR, no such scenes in original version either

Absolutely, but then the japanese have a bad sense of tact and delicacy. Goes from cute girls and romance to "omanko kimochiii", "ochinchin sugoooiii" etcetc. Even i think the h scenes can be a bit or way too much. The example i gave is what i'd really prefer.

[adamstan]

14 minutes ago, Stormwolf said:

The example i gave is what i'd really prefer.

So we're in agreement here IMO, scenes in KonoSora managed to maintain the balance, while in Miagete they were leaning too much on the "just porn" side for my taste. There were some good moments there, but overally I don't think I lost too much by reading +17 version.

Edited October 5, 2018 by adamstan

[Stormwolf]

6 minutes ago, adamstan said:

So we're in agreement here IMO, scenes in KonoSora managed to maintain the balance, while in Miagete they were leaning too much on the "just porn" side for my taste. There were some good moments there, but overally I didn't think I lost too much by reading +17 version.

 

We're a bit in a disagreement about hikari's route though, but that's fine. I found it hard to think of it as anything but friends with benefits or simply being friends outside those way too few moments of her route where it's only protag and her. I agree with those who say that a vn cutting out the side heroines once you enter a route is bad, but when they're present for like 95% of the scenes then it's also a problem, just the other way around. And when you had alone time with her she was more like "saya, saya, saya" .. The route was better than saya content wise, but as a heroine Hikari lost spectacularly.

Edited October 5, 2018 by Stormwolf