What are you playing?

[Thelord]

Atm I'm playing Serment!

[ciel_yuri]

I guess, I'm starting Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth. I'm in the middle of so many VNs that I wanted to wait awhile, but with the way the last game ended I'm afraid I can't wait. I really love this series. I heard they're making a fighting game or something, but this is really the last VN one huh?

[Alcorin]

Slowly getting trough No One But You... Truth be told, I bought it solely because the male best friend (Ryo) has a route XD I know that it doesn't have the best reputation, but ehh... I kinda like it? I admit, I might just be biased because Ryo turned out to be basically me with a weiner and a tad worse home life... Like, seriously. The similarities are almost uncanny o.O I like the other characters well enough too, even tho I'm only on my second route (Yui is best girl). Heck, even the protagonist is pretty cool, at least in my opinion. Maybe my standards are just painfully low, but whatevs, I'm having fun  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[adamstan]

Ah, I read it. I think it was one of the first VNs I read after flash h-dating sims

It had some good moments (Chinatsu and Yui endings), but routes have really ridiculous plot holes (especially Megumi and Shiro), and the way it tries to mimic japanese VNs is just cringey, because it's poorly executed. Complete opposite of this was, say, Katawa Shoujo - although it was unvoiced OELVN, in my memories of it I hear japanese voice acting  So it can be done properly, but NOBY is just really badly written

While I rated it a little higher than @Decay (I gave it ~5/10), his review is spot-on:

https://fuwanovel.net/reviews/2016/01/29/no-one-but-you/

Edited November 13, 2018 by adamstan

[Decay]

12 minutes ago, adamstan said:

Ah, I read it. I think it was one of the first VNs I read after flash h-dating sims

It had some good moments (Chinatsu and Yui endings), but routes have really ridiculous plot holes (especially Megumi and Shiro), and the way it tries to mimic japanese VNs is just cringey, because it's poorly executed. Complete opposite of this was, say, Katawa Shoujo - although it was unvoiced OELVN, in my memories of it I hear japanese voice acting  So it can be done properly, but NOBY is just really badly written

While I rated it a little higher than @Decay (I gave it ~5/10), his review is spot-on:

https://fuwanovel.net/reviews/2016/01/29/no-one-but-you/

I'm curious. Did they ever add in the stretch goal routes and all the other kickstarter stuff that wasn't there at launch?

[adamstan]

5 minutes ago, Decay said:

I'm curious. Did they ever add in the stretch goal routes and all the other kickstarter stuff that wasn't there at launch?

As for the version that I played (I think it was about a year ago), if I remeber correctly, it had h-scenes, but no voice acting, voiced OP song or additional routes. And it still had bugs/scripting issues with incorrect date during routes.

[LemiusK]

Ah man... finally reached it, the super-bad end of Tsu/Sora in Ever17. And ho boy, is it a bad end alright. A major "You royally f***ed up" moment. Phew. Poor You. Probably gonna play her route next... and probably getting her bad end next. Ugh. Hope it's not as graphic as that previous bad end...

I mean, I liked You enough, and she's probably my favorite out of all the selectable routes (Coco's route isn't selectable during your first playthrough), but the only reason I didn't pick You first was because Takeshi's perspective felt more relatable, since Kid's like 14 or something, not to mention his medical condition. Oh well.

Still, can't believe how close I was to the bad end the last time I played this (right before I dropped it). Can't remember why I dropped it the previous time... what a waste. 

Overall, not as tedious an experience as I remembered. Probably because I'm more used to all the infodumping by now, and also because I pretty much just skimped through all those walls of text, so it feels faster this time.

[Thyndd]

43 minutes ago, LemiusK said:

Ah man... finally reached it, the super-bad end of Tsu/Sora in Ever17. And ho boy, is it a bad end alright. A major "You royally f***ed up" moment. Phew. Poor You. Probably gonna play her route next... and probably

I can still hear the damn OST playing in my head  Now I'm sad. Gotta get a chicken sandwich brb. 

43 minutes ago, LemiusK said:

Overall, not as tedious an experience as I remembered. Probably because I'm more used to all the infodumping by now, and also because I pretty much just skimped through all those walls of text, so it feels faster this time

Most people say that Ever17 is worth it just for the true route, aka Coco's route. I can see that, though if the other routes rub you the wrong way and you find yourself wanting to commit suicide, then I probably would advice against it 

Anyway, in my experience one of the things that made the more tiresome parts of Ever17 more bearable is the theorycrafting. There are quite some clues along the way as to try to guess what's going on there, and it was really fun for me to try and put the pieces together. Maybe you could do the same? 

Good luck with the rest of the VN. I believe you still have Tsugumi and You's routes left? (Edit: not Sora's, obviously, I messed up) 

Edited November 13, 2018 by Thyndd

[LemiusK]

17 minutes ago, Thyndd said:

Anyway, in my experience one of the things that made the more tiresome parts of Ever17 more bearable is the theorycrafting. There are quite some clues along the way as to try to guess what's going on there, and it was really fun for me to try and put the pieces together. Maybe you could do the same? 

Hm. Well, yeah, that would work, I guess, though I can't say I enjoy puzzles that much.  The more fun parts of Ever17 so far are comedy-related or drama-related. Any time Sora starts spewing existential musings, the tiresome feeling comes back. lol As opposed to theorycrafting, thinking what Sora's trying to say, I was just thinking, "How could I get through this wall of text ASAP without missing anything important?" 
 

29 minutes ago, Thyndd said:

Most people say that Ever17 is worth it just for the true route, aka Coco's route. I can see that, though if the other routes rub you the wrong way and you find yourself wanting to commit suicide, then I probably would advice against it 

Well, I usually have the policy to play all the Bad Ends first before reaching the Good/True Ends. Much more satisfying that way. Besides, I've been through Muv-Luv Alternative and only shed a few pea-sized tears. This is small fry.

Spoiler

(as much as it hurts to see Coco like that...)

 

30 minutes ago, Thyndd said:

Good luck with the rest of the VN. I believe you still have Tsugumi and You's routes left? (Edit: not Sora's, obviously, I messed up) 

Well, it's only my first Bad End so far, so I still have... every other route to go. lol

[Thyndd]

3 minutes ago, LemiusK said:

Any time Sora starts spewing existential musings, the tiresome feeling comes back.

Still better than your average linear algebra lesson at uni 

6 minutes ago, LemiusK said:

Well, it's only my first Bad End so far, so I still have... every other route to go. lol

Oh boy, well then, good luck. Do not rush it, you risk dropping it a second time, and it would be a shame. Even if this is a medium-length VN, it took me even more time to finish than other 50+ hours VNs 

[LemiusK]

2 minutes ago, Thyndd said:

Oh boy, well then, good luck. Do not rush it, you risk dropping it a second third time, and it would be a shame.

Fixed. 

The second time I dropped, which was the last time, I was nearly at the end of Tsugumi+Sora's Bad End without realizing it. Heh... But yeah, this game can be a chore to get through. But like I said, I think I'm getting used to it by now.

Edited November 13, 2018 by LemiusK

[Dreamysyu]

17 minutes ago, LemiusK said:

"How could I get through this wall of text ASAP without missing anything important?"

They aren't really that  important, honestly. Even if you skip some details, everything will still be explained at the end.

I actually agree with @Thyndd about theorycrafting. Ever17 is a curious case in this sense because, while the final sci-fi mystery is probably almost impossible to get, there are still a lot of other things that you still can get if you pay attention to all the little details. While I'm not really the biggest fan of the story of this VN, I personally never had as much fun trying to connect all the loose ends. In the end, I even reread a certain route twice just to check my theories.

OR you could just forget about it and to be completely blown away by all the revelations in Coco's route. This also works pretty well.

[LemiusK]

1 minute ago, Dreamysyu said:

I actually agree with @Thyndd about theorycrafting. Ever17 is a curious case in this sense because, while the final sci-fi mystery is probably almost impossible to get, there are still a lot of other things that you still can get if you pay attention to all the little details. While I'm not really the biggest fan of the story of this VN, I personally never had as much fun trying to connect all the loose ends. In the end, I even reread a certain route twice just to check my theories.

OR you could just forget about it and to be completely blown away by all the revelations in Coco's route. This also works pretty well.

Well, I don't know about theorycrafting but, I guess I do have one or two vague ideas about what's going on, so I could always see if my ideas match up with the truth later on.

Spoiler

(Also, I accidentally saw the true picture of Kid in VNDB... when I accidentally clicked on the "SHOW ME DEM SPOILERS!" option. Hah........ I have no excuses. Luckily, I didn't see any details other than a brief glance of the picture.)

Anyway, being blown away by a revelation is always fun. I like that more than the figuring out part of a mystery.

But honestly speaking, if you really want me to get motivated into figuring out a mystery, the VN needs to provide incentives - or rather, the player figuring out the truth needs to be relevant to getting a good ending. That way, I would put in that extra effort to get it right. Otherwise, the only satisfaction I would get is stroking my own ego on what a good job I've done. Feels kinda superficial IMO if the VN is not engaging me to figure it out.

I remember that in 428 Shibuya Scramble, there are at times a few choices that would ask you to remember earlier information fed to you. Sometimes, getting the wrong answer hardly matters, but it's those kind of choices that make me feel more satisfied knowing that I've remembered the relevant information.

Compare this to Ever17, when Tsugumi asked me to adjust the valve out of nowhere without properly informing me which way to turn it. Sure, it's Takeshi's fault for being a clueless dolt, but still. There's no motivating factor to get you to remember, so I don't really feel bothered.

[Alcorin]

9 hours ago, adamstan said:

As for the version that I played (I think it was about a year ago), if I remeber correctly, it had h-scenes, but no voice acting, voiced OP song or additional routes. And it still had bugs/scripting issues with incorrect date during routes.

OP song is there now, it jumps out at you outta nowhere, but isn't too bad. The H-scenes allegedly exist in a patch somewhere out there, idk, didn't - and wouldn't - bother, as apparently they aren't very good either way. Still no voice acting or routes other than the ones that have been there since launch. There are afterstories, tho (and judging from what I've read those have been patched in after the initial release). The game is still buggy as hell, too.

 

Yup, reading the review confirms that my standards are at an all-time low XD Then again, a thing doesn't have to be good to be enjoyable, I suppose  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

[LemiusK]

Reached the end of Makina's ending in Grisaia no Meikyuu. That's two endings down (after Michiru's). One distinct difference I noted is that not only is Makina's route a lot more serious, there's surprisingly a lot more focus on the side characters than Makina herself, as opposed to Michiru's route. Also, Michiru's tsundere is in full form in Makina's route, whereas she's more dere-dere in her own route. lol I actually love her more in Makina's route than in her own route... Weird. She's just a lot more spunky in Makina's route, not to mention her playing the straight man to Sachi's boke is adorable and fun to watch. I think it's also because I like Michiru more when she's irritated. She's cute when she's angry. 

As for Makina... well, there's a bittersweet taste, but given how her route turned out in Kajitsu, it's not surprising. Man, the feels. Wonder how much sadder Amane's route's gonna be... Angelic Howl's still the best route in Kajitsu.  Honestly, with that perfect ending in Kajitsu, I don't know how they're gonna top that.

 

[Zidan209]

Still on Umineko, trying to stomach episode 3's conclusion. I am just speechless at how this VN is changing so often and so suddenly. 

Spoiler

I've been totally out of it, ever since Eva's split personality became the witch, and maintained that until the end, lol. This episode made me question where the story even would go. First I thought that Battler would be playing against Eva from that point onwards. Then i was thinking of Eva going out of control and being an actual villain in the story and Battler joining forces with Beato. 

Did not even come to mind that it's been an act that started all the way back when the predecessor made appearance. In any case, the revelation didn't stump me, as I was instead happy that the game would keep on going between Battler and Beato (I would otherwise be sad that the VN destroyed the character that it's been building for Beato since the start). Now that I was teased so much as the reader, I just can't wait to get into the last part of the question arc, mainly because some choices should finally come up.

Probably hasn't read a VN before that could manage to perfectly create so many different atmospheres inside a single story. From being a legit horror mystery VN in episode 1, through episode 2 which turned the story into a game full of Beato's teasing, into this bamboozling emotional ride full of surprises... Umineko's already gone beyond meeting all my expectations

 

[Ranzo]

Finished Crystalline and by god did they fuck up the world building also the writing was for the most part pretty mediocre. The jokes were by and large both cringe and suck.

They seemed to have regressed since Ace Academy

Artistically though it was a huge leap in quality

The voice acting for the main characters was real good

Not so much for the side and bit characters

Don't fucking put beach volleyball and karaoke in a visual novel about a fantasy world you stupid fucks!

[LemiusK]

1 hour ago, Ranzo said:

Don't fucking put beach volleyball and karaoke in a visual novel about a fantasy world you stupid fucks!

But those are the typical trademarks of an anime setting, no? LOL At least, that would be what I would think of when writing for a VN with anime artstyle. Sigh. Western VNs. What can you do...? 

[alpacaman]

On 16.11.2018 at 6:10 AM, LemiusK said:

But those are the typical trademarks of an anime setting, no? LOL At least, that would be what I would think of when writing for a VN with anime artstyle. Sigh. Western VNs. What can you do...? 

As long as there are no baseball matches, corrupt politicians and/or a childhood friend the protagonist has forgotten about, you're lacking in the anime trope department.

 

I'm only a few hours of reading time away from finishing Umineko and I'm dissapointed they haven't added any new characters to the cast so far. I counted up to somewhere beyond fifty who have a sprite in episode 5 or 6 but stopped when it got too confusing because I didn't know if I should count certain characters several times or not. 

Other than that Umineko is obviously superb. I might even say it's one of the best things ever (*magical screeching sound*).

Edited November 17, 2018 by alpacaman

[Dreamysyu]

16 minutes ago, alpacaman said:

I counted up to somewhere beyond fifty who have a sprite in episode 5 or 6 but stopped when it got too confusing because I didn't know if I should count certain characters several times or not. 

I remember seeing a blog post where somebody counted how many characters there actually are in Umineko, and I think they got something around 60, and they actually skipped some insignificant characters who only appear for a very short period of time, like

Spoiler

Italians an the military in the 7th episode.

They also made

Spoiler

a separate count for how many character there actually are there, if you know what I mean.

 

[LemiusK]

Just a small update:

Almost reached You's bad end in Ever17, I think. Thinking back now, it's almost amusing how I thought that the VN was too lengthy, its pacing cumbersome. But having read the likes of Umineko and G-senjou no Maou, in hindsight, Ever17 almost seems short, considering that there are only two routes as opposed to other VNs (three if you count Sara, which is mixed with You's route; four if you count the unlockable Coco, also mixed with Sara and You's routes).

But it's no surprise I once thought so, since I did take a long time to finish Umineko as well. In fact, I dropped it a couple of times too before being determined to finish it for good a year ago. You get used to these things, I suppose. The more you read, the more you can read, if that makes any sense.

Still haven't warmed up to kinetic novels and novels with few choices though. Maybe someday, maybe.

Next, there's Cartagra. So much ecchi. I basically skipped most of them out of disinterest. I find h-scenes kinda boring, since the "in-and-out" procedure is almost the same. There's very little variety there, especially in terms of the noises characters make. One good thing though is that most h-scenes don't add anything important to the story and is very skippable. The only exception I could think of was one of Amane's sex scenes in Grisaia no Meikyuu, where she narrated the process. That one stood out more because it's obviously much more different than your average h-scene.

But anyway, think I'm reaching the normal end of Cartagra too. Things are coming to a close, and soon, Kara no Shoujo will finally begin. Can't wait.

Footnote: Favorite girl in Cartagra was Hatsune. Her ending was... warm. Kazuna's also cute though, with her bouncy attitude. Will have to see how her ending fares.

Edited November 17, 2018 by LemiusK

[HataVNI]

Currently playing Inochi no Spare from Akabeisoft3. A game about designer babies which purpose it is to live as a remedy for their siblings to counter a serious illness called "Oumonbyou"
The setting reminds me a LOT of the movie "Blueprint" which I read around middleschool so it felt really intriguing to me

Blueprint: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0321473/
Inochi no Spare https://vndb.org/v19513

[LemiusK]

Just finished Amane's After Story in Grisaia no Meikyuu... Needless to say, hers is the most emotional so far, compared to Michiru and Makina. Angelic Howl triumphs again. But man, each of the After Story so far has a different flavor of their own that befit the respective heroine. Michiru's was humorous, Makina's was bittersweet, and Amane's was emotional and melancholic.

I haven't read the "Main Route" of GnM yet, so I don't know much about what's going on with Kazuki (and thank god for that, that I managed to avoid any spoilers so far), but man, Amane's story sure dropped a lot of hints. And with Amane's relationship with Kazuki, her route almost seems more fitting as the True End of the story, or at least tied into the True End canonically. It's almost a shame that her route will most probably be separated from the True End as its own standalone story, existing in its own parallel universe where Yuuji picked Amane. I definitely hope that if Kazuki does show up in the future, there will be more development between Amane and Kazuki (though obviously, this seems inevitable and such development will 100% have some form of appearance). Just kinda wish that Angelic Howl was the True Route, that's all, since it has the most involvement with Yuuji's family.

Anyway, I have mixed feelings about that final shot of Amane's After Story. On one hand, it does prove what I'm suspicious about correct (not that it's that difficult to guess to begin with), but on the other... eh, kinda wish they left it ambiguous 'till the Main Route begins. Beh.  Oh well. Still have two more heroine routes to go before I will start the Main Route.

[LemiusK]

Man, You's explanation of the fourth-dimension in Ever17 triumphs Sora's in that it was so much easier to understand. Should've began with her route first. I still yawned a little, but it's far easier to comprehend.

Edit: Reached You's bad end. Not as horrifying as Tsugumi+Sora's bad end, but still... melancholic. The feels.

...and that's when I realized that I still have ONE more bad end to go! GAH!  The feels is too much. lol I just wanna get to the good ends already... And also, I'm lukewarm about Sara as a character. Peh.

Edited November 18, 2018 by LemiusK

[Dreamysyu]

51 minutes ago, LemiusK said:

..and that's when I realized that I still have ONE more bad end to go! GAH!  The feels is too much. lol I just wanna get to the good ends already... And also, I'm lukewarm about Sara as a character. Peh.

I'd suggest going for some good end, honestly. Sara's bad end appears almost at the very end of her route, and it's pretty short and unimportant.