What are you playing?

[adamstan]

I just read piano scene in ATRI. Since I'm a keyboardist too, it was especially moving for me.

[alpacaman]

So I finished MYTH a few days ago. It's kind of hard to talk about since it's one of those VNs that don't really lend themselves to being discussed in terms of superficial production values or plot consistency, kind of like SubaHibi or The Silver Case. Personally I think I liked it despite still not being able to pinpoint what it actually wants to tell its audience. I'll probably need to read it again at some point to get a better understanding.

[adamstan]

I just finished ATRI, and I'm in tears

This VN is nakige that seems to be very good at tugging at my heartstrings. It was great read, and while I recognized tropes from many other works, it just all worked well together. Judging by the length and unknown publisher, I seriously didn't expect it to be that good. Some of the ATRI's backstory reminded me a bit of Tanaka Romero's writing. Obviously there are also many KEY influences - it's almost unavoidable when you're making nakige

All in all, it was great, I can rate it on the same level as Kanon or Summer Pockets with confidence - so it's 8.5/10 from me.

[HataVNI]

Atri is a very good game, but Aniplex.exe is not a new star on the localization heaven. 

[adamstan]

5 hours ago, EroHataVNI said:

Atri is a very good game, but Aniplex.exe is not a new star on the localization heaven. 

True, but it's their first attempt at VN publishing, so they were new to me, since I'm not too familiar with anime localizations, which seems to be their primary field.

Edited June 27, 2020 by adamstan

[adamstan]

By the way, @Seraphim88, how long did it take you to complete English version? I have 28 hours on my Steam clock, but of course I'm much slower when reading in JP than in EN.

[Seraphim]

9 minutes ago, adamstan said:

how long did it take you to complete English version?

Hard to say, I'm afraid. I have a bad habit of pausing in the middle of gaming sessions and then leaving the games on in the background for extended amounts of time while I do other stuff. As such, my playtime on Steam can usually never be trusted. In ATRI's case, the timer says "29 hours", but you could probably shave off roughly 10 hours from that.

[Silvz]

1 hour ago, Seraphim88 said:

Hard to say, I'm afraid. I have a bad habit of pausing in the middle of gaming sessions and then leaving the games on in the background for extended amounts of time while I do other stuff. As such, my playtime on Steam can usually never be trusted. In ATRI's case, the timer says "29 hours", but you could probably shave off roughly 10 hours from that.

mine says 37 hours, so I get your struggle

[adamstan]

15 hours ago, Silvz said:

mine says 37 hours, so I get your struggle

Already? B-,b-,-but you said that you're near the beginning of the story

To stay on topic - I'm starting Natsu no Ame.

Edited June 28, 2020 by adamstan

[adamstan]

I'm somewhere past the middle of Natsu no Ame 's common route. It's good - unless you dislike Konno Asta's style of course Rikako and her story in common route share some similarities with Kotori from IMHHW, but they're different enough.

It also uses the trope which seems to be Asta's trademark, reappearing in IMHHW, ASFOS and ATRI

Spoiler

of MC who has lost something important in his life due to unfortunate circumstances, and tries to reclaim it

 

On the technical side - VN seems to work pretty well with all major text hooking tools (I'm using AGTH for it), but there's one tiny problem - characters/words with furigana are rendered in separate thread/stream, so they are missing from the main hooked text.

Edited June 29, 2020 by adamstan

[Daydreamer97]

I played KonoSora and it's the first (only?) moege I played. The best part of the game for me was the common route and even though I used the retranslation patch, I skipped every H-scene because honestly, it felt like it ruined how I perceived the characters. I played Kotori's route first, which was good, then Asa and Yoru, then Amane. After playing Asa and Yoru, both routes left a sour taste in my mouth so I skipped Ageha after reading that a lot of it revolves around sex and stupid drama. I'd rather just leave her and Aoi as best friends. Amane's route was the best one I think because it explains a lot about the Soaring Club, their motivations, and their teacher's motivations. Also, I feel like Aoi had the best chemistry with Kotori and Amane. I did enjoy the friendship dynamics and the high points where they were flying in the glider. I also decided to watch Amane's route in the fandisc on Youtube just to see Isuka and Tatsuya get together.

A small rant, but I disliked how the scene replay was exclusively all sex scenes. I wish there was some romantic fluff in there somewhere. 

Overall, I felt like the game was okay. As I said, it was the first moege I played and while the art looks good, I felt like the character designs were a little lackluster. Although, this might be because I'm used to otome games and more plot-heavy games with elaborate character designs. I did enjoy parts of the game, but I think I'd stick to otome games and plot-oriented VNs. 

[StringM]

Currently playing Kanon. Really fun so far, been loving it.

[adamstan]

23 hours ago, StringM said:

Currently playing Kanon. Really fun so far, been loving it.

Kanon is quite good indeed.

Just make sure to use all-ages option in patch. H-scenes in Kanon are on the legendary bad level*. Even Key removed them from later editions. Also I'd recommend getting voice patch which adds voices from console version.

*There are some people, who read them for laughs, but they definitely don't fit the story.

[StringM]

16 minutes ago, adamstan said:

Kanon is quite good indeed.

Just make sure to use all-ages option in patch. H-scenes in Kanon are on the legendary bad level*. Even Key removed them from later editions. Also I'd recommend getting voice patch which adds voices from console version.

*There are some people, who read them for laughs, but they definitely don't fit the story.

Sadly, I'm playing the +18 version

[adamstan]

3 minutes ago, StringM said:

Sadly, I'm playing the +18 version

But are you using English patch or playing it in Japanese? If you're using patch, it has option to convert into all-ages version - if memory serves, you do it by replacing some files. (Or, to be precise, by putting additional SEEN<number>.txt files from patch's all-ages folder into game folder, which contain alternative script versions)

Edited July 3, 2020 by adamstan

[StringM]

43 minutes ago, adamstan said:

But are you using English patch or playing it in Japanese? If you're using patch, it has option to convert into all-ages version - if memory serves, you do it by replacing some files. (Or, to be precise, by putting additional SEEN<number>.txt files from patch's all-ages folder into game folder, which contain alternative script versions)

Oh yeah I'm using the english patch. Currently finishing Mai's arc, haven't had any nsfw but I feel it's coming really soon. Should I really avoid it?

[adamstan]

7 minutes ago, StringM said:

Oh yeah I'm using the english patch. Currently finishing Mai's arc, haven't had any nsfw but I feel it's coming really soon. Should I really avoid it?

The scene near the end of Mai's arc is perhaps the only one that made at least some sense, so you might check it out, but you also won't miss much without it. Others are pure fan(dis)service At which point in the story are you now? (You might put in in the spoiler tag).

Edited July 3, 2020 by adamstan

[StringM]

Just now, adamstan said:

The scene in Mai's arc is perhaps the only one that made at least some sense, so you might check it out, but you also won't miss much without it. Others are pure fan(dis)service At which point in the story are you now? (You might put in in the spoiler tag).

Currently starting january 27. Pretty interesting so far but I'm having the feeling I should have went for other route. I mean, Mai's one is great but I really wanted to check on Ayu better.

[adamstan]

Did you start with Mai's route? That's interesting choice, I wouldn't have thought of that I started with Nayuki, and finished with Ayu. The reasons (let me quote from my "review")

On 2.08.2018 at 8:35 PM, adamstan said:

Nayuki's route felt natural for first one to read, it makes nice introduction into the world.

 

On 2.08.2018 at 8:35 PM, adamstan said:

Ayu is main heroine of the game and her route is closest to "True Route" we can get here, that's why I read it last.

Also, those two were my favorite routes.

As for my impressions of h-scenes:

On 2.08.2018 at 8:35 PM, adamstan said:

I played with All-ages patch. I briefly checked some of the h-scenes, and they feel so out of place and out of character, that it's best to go MoeNovel on them and pretend they never were there. Really, they feel like the result of applying Rule34 to the characters. Avoid at all cost. KEY stories don't work as eroge at all, period.

 

[StringM]

2 minutes ago, adamstan said:

Did you start with Mai's route? That's interesting choice, I wouldn't have thought of that I started with Nayuki, and finished with Ayu. The reasons (let me quote from my "review")

 

Also, those two were my favorite routes.

As for my impressions of h-scenes:

 

Yeah you are right, Key definetely doesn't feel like it should be nsfw.

 

What's the best way to aim for another route btw? Just read the whole thing again? Or maybe go back to different saves? (I have some)

 

Edit:

Spoiler

I just got my first H scene. It was MC fantazising over Sayuri and Mai having sex. It felt really weird and out of place, as you said lol

 

Edited July 3, 2020 by StringM

[adamstan]

9 minutes ago, StringM said:

What's the best way to aim for another route btw? Just read the whole thing again? Or maybe go back to different saves? (I have some)

With KEY, considering they have a lot of choices (and inside of that, lot of not obvious ones) it's usually the best to use walkthrough There is even one right here on the forums So you'd have to check if any of your saves are close to the branching points.

Or start from the beginning and skip already-read text.

Edited July 3, 2020 by adamstan

[fuyopon]

Alright, so... after finishing 11eyes, I began reading Kara no Shoujo 2 and resumed my reading of Clannad (since then, I've finished Kyou's and Kappei's route and I'm on my way to the Sunohara siblings'). I'm also almost finished with Ace Attorney: Miles Investigations! 

Kara no Shoujo 2: the first murder happened and I'm hyped  

Clannad: honestly, this vn is like Harry Potter for me in the sense that I should've read it sooner lol I feel like I'm too old to read this, it's so overdramatic and cheesy and meh- also, it doesn't help that I don't like Tomoya lol

[ztrepzilius]

Tried the Mangagamer remake version of Beat Angel Escalayer. Erotic magical girl theme. UI looks neat.

Edited July 3, 2020 by ztrepzilius

[Mr Poltroon]

I've just played Chapter 4 of Master Magistrate. Extremely satisfied with the outcome of this mystery game! Still have a couple of epilogues to go through, though.

Chapter 4 thoughts (spoilers):

Spoiler

First off, this case isn't as clear cut as others, and that is intended.
There's very little evidence at the actual scenes, so most of the trials here rely on what your witnesses tell you and whether it matches your conjecture. The reason it's done this way is because both trials rely on you having a completely different perspective and theory on what happened each time, which would be hard to do with hard evidence at the scene.
Instead, the trials are driven by what the witnesses say, which is why we were headed straight towards the wrong path during the first day: The main witness was making half of what he said up the whole time. The only reason we manage to solve anything is because the second time around the problematic witnesses are much more forthcoming.

That said, despite the lack of evidence the chapter was extremely compelling! This is because upon the beginning of the incident it is made quite apparent that whoever is behind it has access to a lot of behind the scenes knowledge. The few bits of evidence left incriminate the very people we work with, leading to the first big mystery of whether somebody is trying to incriminate us or pulling a double bluff by leaving evidence of themselves. As a magistrate, the protagonist spends the first day trying to believe his coworkers and looking for external criminals, though it is at this point that he comes up with a terrifying theory: That all that has happened so far in the game was in fact all planned from the very start, due to a specific set of coincidences necessary to motivate this crime. However, he bottles up that theory (since the only ones with the knowledge and power to pull of it off are a very limited subset of people, most of whom very close to us).
If at this point the player hadn't started yet, this is the point where the player is likely to examine everybody on the team's suspicious movements and wondering about a traitor. Personally, Okita, Yamagami and Saotome were immediately suspicious as a result.

The entire first trial something feels off. The suspect we are pursuing isn't trying tremendously hard to lie well, being purposefully vague about movements and motives, but insisting they didn't do it. There's no way he could be the culprit when he's this sloppy, but on the other hand, about half the time he got shafted was because of something Saotome did or said*. It didn't occur to me at the time, but this is similar to Sakura's trial, if only subtly so. In Sakura's trial the whole team was giving us warning signs, but this time it seemed like we were on the right track, yet something was still off with the truth and the witness. (This makes a lot of sense with what comes later!)

*Incidentally, Saotome/Saito in this case is awesome. She is such a chaos element, and it all perfectly fits into her character such that you can't help but feel it's natural things get messy if she's involved.

One of the most compelling parts is that we aren't the only party investigating this and trying to bruteforce their way to a solution. Ooka, the protagonist, is caught right between the middle of two opposing forces manipulating and warring each other, leading to muddled motives and actions and general confusion.
The first trial was off because it was wrong, but didn't seem like it was wrong because the team was being manipulated by a traitor. The suspect was being so unhelpful and suspicious because he himself was suspicious of the team and investigating them. Being truthful didn't seem like the right move at the time.

Once we get through the first trial, and survive the interim, the second trial is different. The first party, who gave us the slip during the first trial, were caught off-guard for the second, and given the situation, ended up deciding that being truthful would probably be more helpful, due to the fact that we, the magistrate, were acting independently. It's this truthfulness that finally allows us to get to the bottom of the case and the reveals and all that jazz. The constant conflict of parties behind the scenes was extremely well done.
 

 

Interesting contradiction: At one point, we are told "Swordfighting Technique A is unsuited for taking on multiple opponents at once." which we interpret to mean that it should not be used to take out a group of people. However, that is not actually what it says! And the case makes use of this misunderstanding the reader is sure to have. The given technique is perfectly suited to take out multiple people one by one, so as to avoid the need to tackle multiple people at once. The subtle difference in meaning here is of much importance, but not how we are likely to interpret it, so we're never asked to point it out directly, but rather we discover it when we try to contradict a statement using our misunderstanding.

GENUINELY GOOD ROMANCE WHAT IS THIS

Sakura's Route

Spoiler

Sakura's route is extremely good, or at least it was so to me. It's characterised by a down to earthness I don't see too terribly much from VNs. Its main traits are the two of them spending time together, respecting each other and learning from one another until they become two peas in a pod. Their personalities have some differences, but their core ideals align like in no other route and they soon realise they are a natural fit for each other, deciding, in that case, to come together.
As two workaholics their private life is somewhat scarce, but those are the moments the VN chooses to depict. And these two have a fantastic private life. They are curious, so they often end up trying new things, from the bath, to alcohol, to rape fantasy, to bondage. At the end they always discuss what they enjoyed or didn't in a way that makes me love their relationship.
Another thing about this route in particular is how ridiculous the comedy in it is, and it makes for a fun change of pace. As for the ending of the route, there is nothing more appropriate for these two than trying to have normal sex for once in their lives... and failing.

Okita's Chapter

Spoiler

I'm going to have to divide this in two, because this chapter has a choice which diverges things considerably.

Hijikata

Spoiler

If you choose to respect Kondou's wishes, then Okita will never witness any of these events. Instead, you get to witness the most traditional 'Japanese spirit' events you ever will. Seriously, Kondou's final moments seemed so traditional and so seeped in history that it feels delightfully foreign.

It's just a few scenes you have to notice for yourself, the last moments of a man who may or may not have regrets, who may have left the world a better place than he found it in, but who still made bad choices that simply are intolerable in Japan on this period.

You hate that this is happening, as does Shimei, so he relates to us. And yet, Hijikata and his Japanese spirit, suffering though he is, powers through it, trying to give Kondou a noble death, and Kondou is grateful for the opportunity. Our foreign values, I think, make this scene much better, for how irrational it seems, and how everyone is suffering but still proud, or glad?

Awesome.

At the end, we hear more about Hijikata's feelings, which we respected, and about loose ends from previous cases.

Okita's Route

Spoiler

This route is where everything goes to bollocks. By allowing Okita's presence during the execution, she gets to witness her last loved one getting decapitated. She still has friends, of course, but to her, at her mental state, it feels like she has nothing to care for, and feels like her friends are the ones that killed her loved ones. It's the route where she has a very hard time recovering from her surrogate parent's deaths, and the route where Shimei feels the need to get really invested in helping her.

Before his death, Kondou showed a new-ish side of him, that of a dad, offering sage advice, telling Okita to not forget about her friends, and to not give in to despair.
She, of course, does exactly the opposite, like a proper rebellious teenager.

Not to diminish her experiences. Her reaction is natural and her situation traumatising.

This route is essentially her road to the depths of hell, and Shimei's attempts to help, and the resulting romance that blossoms. I have not much to develop on this besides: traumatising, scary, unexpected, hopeful, cute romance.

 

Rimu's Route

Spoiler

Finally, a childhood friend with a crush done right. What characterises this route for me is that it went
Rimu: "Hm. I guess things have finally calmed down. Guess we can settle together now, Shimei?"
Shimei: "Pardon?"
Rimu: "I see no competition in sight, so I'm going to take you on the best date of your life and make you fall for me."

It's deredere correctly done. It's not like there isn't embarrassment, but it's not the crippling embarrassment you often see in these VNs. Embarrassment such that it drags out stories and the like. Instead, she directly signals that she likes him and takes him out on a date to see if he's interested. After which, they predictably hook up. All whilst keeping up her self as we've known her the whole game. After that, it's back to their normal routine of work and inventions and sexies on the off-time. Everyone else's already used to this, since these two have been together since the start.

Nothing like a proper deredere without any balderdash.

 

[Hexa]

9 hours ago, Mr Poltroon said:

I've just played Chapter 4 of Master Magistrate. Extremely satisfied with the outcome of this mystery game! Still have a couple of epilogues to go through, though.

Chapter 4 thoughts (spoilers):

  Reveal hidden contents

First off, this case isn't as clear cut as others, and that is intended.
There's very little evidence at the actual scenes, so most of the trials here rely on what your witnesses tell you and whether it matches your conjecture. The reason it's done this way is because both trials rely on you having a completely different perspective and theory on what happened each time, which would be hard to do with hard evidence at the scene.
Instead, the trials are driven by what the witnesses say, which is why we were headed straight towards the wrong path during the first day: The main witness was making half of what he said up the whole time. The only reason we manage to solve anything is because the second time around the problematic witnesses are much more forthcoming.

That said, despite the lack of evidence the chapter was extremely compelling! This is because upon the beginning of the incident it is made quite apparent that whoever is behind it has access to a lot of behind the scenes knowledge. The few bits of evidence left incriminate the very people we work with, leading to the first big mystery of whether somebody is trying to incriminate us or pulling a double bluff by leaving evidence of themselves. As a magistrate, the protagonist spends the first day trying to believe his coworkers and looking for external criminals, though it is at this point that he comes up with a terrifying theory: That all that has happened so far in the game was in fact all planned from the very start, due to a specific set of coincidences necessary to motivate this crime. However, he bottles up that theory (since the only ones with the knowledge and power to pull of it off are a very limited subset of people, most of whom very close to us).
If at this point the player hadn't started yet, this is the point where the player is likely to examine everybody on the team's suspicious movements and wondering about a traitor. Personally, Okita, Yamagami and Saotome were immediately suspicious as a result.

The entire first trial something feels off. The suspect we are pursuing isn't trying tremendously hard to lie well, being purposefully vague about movements and motives, but insisting they didn't do it. There's no way he could be the culprit when he's this sloppy, but on the other hand, about half the time he got shafted was because of something Saotome did or said*. It didn't occur to me at the time, but this is similar to Sakura's trial, if only subtly so. In Sakura's trial the whole team was giving us warning signs, but this time it seemed like we were on the right track, yet something was still off with the truth and the witness. (This makes a lot of sense with what comes later!)

*Incidentally, Saotome/Saito in this case is awesome. She is such a chaos element, and it all perfectly fits into her character such that you can't help but feel it's natural things get messy if she's involved.

One of the most compelling parts is that we aren't the only party investigating this and trying to bruteforce their way to a solution. Ooka, the protagonist, is caught right between the middle of two opposing forces manipulating and warring each other, leading to muddled motives and actions and general confusion.
The first trial was off because it was wrong, but didn't seem like it was wrong because the team was being manipulated by a traitor. The suspect was being so unhelpful and suspicious because he himself was suspicious of the team and investigating them. Being truthful didn't seem like the right move at the time.

Once we get through the first trial, and survive the interim, the second trial is different. The first party, who gave us the slip during the first trial, were caught off-guard for the second, and given the situation, ended up deciding that being truthful would probably be more helpful, due to the fact that we, the magistrate, were acting independently. It's this truthfulness that finally allows us to get to the bottom of the case and the reveals and all that jazz. The constant conflict of parties behind the scenes was extremely well done.
 

 

Interesting contradiction: At one point, we are told "Swordfighting Technique A is unsuited for taking on multiple opponents at once." which we interpret to mean that it should not be used to take out a group of people. However, that is not actually what it says! And the case makes use of this misunderstanding the reader is sure to have. The given technique is perfectly suited to take out multiple people one by one, so as to avoid the need to tackle multiple people at once. The subtle difference in meaning here is of much importance, but not how we are likely to interpret it, so we're never asked to point it out directly, but rather we discover it when we try to contradict a statement using our misunderstanding.

GENUINELY GOOD ROMANCE WHAT IS THIS

Sakura's Route

  Reveal hidden contents

Sakura's route is extremely good, or at least it was so to me. It's characterised by a down to earthness I don't see too terribly much from VNs. Its main traits are the two of them spending time together, respecting each other and learning from one another until they become two peas in a pod. Their personalities have some differences, but their core ideals align like in no other route and they soon realise they are a natural fit for each other, deciding, in that case, to come together.
As two workaholics their private life is somewhat scarce, but those are the moments the VN chooses to depict. And these two have a fantastic private life. They are curious, so they often end up trying new things, from the bath, to alcohol, to rape fantasy, to bondage. At the end they always discuss what they enjoyed or didn't in a way that makes me love their relationship.
Another thing about this route in particular is how ridiculous the comedy in it is, and it makes for a fun change of pace. As for the ending of the route, there is nothing more appropriate for these two than trying to have normal sex for once in their lives... and failing.

Okita's Chapter

  Reveal hidden contents

I'm going to have to divide this in two, because this chapter has a choice which diverges things considerably.

Hijikata

  Reveal hidden contents

If you choose to respect Kondou's wishes, then Okita will never witness any of these events. Instead, you get to witness the most traditional 'Japanese spirit' events you ever will. Seriously, Kondou's final moments seemed so traditional and so seeped in history that it feels delightfully foreign.

It's just a few scenes you have to notice for yourself, the last moments of a man who may or may not have regrets, who may have left the world a better place than he found it in, but who still made bad choices that simply are intolerable in Japan on this period.

You hate that this is happening, as does Shimei, so he relates to us. And yet, Hijikata and his Japanese spirit, suffering though he is, powers through it, trying to give Kondou a noble death, and Kondou is grateful for the opportunity. Our foreign values, I think, make this scene much better, for how irrational it seems, and how everyone is suffering but still proud, or glad?

Awesome.

At the end, we hear more about Hijikata's feelings, which we respected, and about loose ends from previous cases.

Okita's Route

  Reveal hidden contents

This route is where everything goes to bollocks. By allowing Okita's presence during the execution, she gets to witness her last loved one getting decapitated. She still has friends, of course, but to her, at her mental state, it feels like she has nothing to care for, and feels like her friends are the ones that killed her loved ones. It's the route where she has a very hard time recovering from her surrogate parent's deaths, and the route where Shimei feels the need to get really invested in helping her.

Before his death, Kondou showed a new-ish side of him, that of a dad, offering sage advice, telling Okita to not forget about her friends, and to not give in to despair.
She, of course, does exactly the opposite, like a proper rebellious teenager.

Not to diminish her experiences. Her reaction is natural and her situation traumatising.

This route is essentially her road to the depths of hell, and Shimei's attempts to help, and the resulting romance that blossoms. I have not much to develop on this besides: traumatising, scary, unexpected, hopeful, cute romance.

 

Rimu's Route

  Reveal hidden contents

Finally, a childhood friend with a crush done right. What characterises this route for me is that it went
Rimu: "Hm. I guess things have finally calmed down. Guess we can settle together now, Shimei?"
Shimei: "Pardon?"
Rimu: "I see no competition in sight, so I'm going to take you on the best date of your life and make you fall for me."

It's deredere correctly done. It's not like there isn't embarrassment, but it's not the crippling embarrassment you often see in these VNs. Embarrassment such that it drags out stories and the like. Instead, she directly signals that she likes him and takes him out on a date to see if he's interested. After which, they predictably hook up. All whilst keeping up her self as we've known her the whole game. After that, it's back to their normal routine of work and inventions and sexies on the off-time. Everyone else's already used to this, since these two have been together since the start.

Nothing like a proper deredere without any balderdash.

 

Hey, could you please do me a favor and give me your completed save data. All I have left to do is Rimu's route but my save data got corrupted after a crash. After trial and error the corrupt part seems to be datasu.ksd which seems to keep track of user settings and overall completion and what I need to do to get into the epilogue. I can't find anyone else having uploaded a complete save for the English/International version anywhere.

Edited July 3, 2020 by Hexa