What are you playing?

[littleshogun]

The interesting thing to note is that one of the writer is Suzumoto Yuuichi who joined Visual Arts because he was inspired by Kanon, and then he wrote Summer part on AIR. So it's very understandable if people say that Snow is very similar with Kanon and AIR, especially with one of the writer (Even with him only credited as Assistant writer) did work on KEY games, and even the producers did acknowledge the similarities. It's also interesting to note that the company behind Snow would eventually become Yuzusoft, which obviously are very different from what we've seen in Snow (They still have some supernatural involved in some of their VNs though).

Edited January 10, 2023 by littleshogun

[Shinyun226]

12 hours ago, littleshogun said:

 It's also interesting to note that the company behind Snow would eventually become Yuzusoft, which obviously are very different from what we've seen in Snow (They still have some supernatural involved in some of their VNs though).

Haven't personally played any Yuzusoft games but from what I do know about them/just looking at their catalog, their games are still a lot closer to Snow than the other stuff Studio Mebius typically would put out ironically enough lol.  The fact that Studio Mebius went from making Kichikuge, to a "pure love" type nakige with Snow is quite a contrast.

[adamstan]

On 1/7/2023 at 10:44 PM, Shinyun226 said:

Currently making my way through Snow Portable (the PSP port of Snow)

Before saying anything about the game itself, I've gotta complaint about the issues with this particular port.
It's my own fault for not properly researching this ahead of time but... I kind of wish I had just gone with the PS2 version instead as the PSP version is really kind of a mess.

• This version is only partially voiced (DC and PS2 both were full voice) due to what later turned out to be some misguided assumptions about how much they could fit on the UMD + load time concerns. Prototypes PSP port of Kanon apparently had the same issue but somehow all the PSP ports they did after that were magically full voice....
• Save labels are bare-bones (they only list the in-game date and nothing else) 
• No proper backlog (you have to manually cycle back one textbox at a time)
• And worst of all, the skip feature can't distinguish between read and unread text. Not the first time I've had to play a game like this (the PSX version of ONE Kagayaku Kisetstu he was like that too) but.... it makes going through all the routes a huge pain.

The trade off though is this is (presently) the only all-ages version of Snow with the Nazo no Shoujo route so... I guess I would have had to play this version in the long-run anyways if I wanted to play every route.

These annoyance aside, I just finished my first route (Sumino's) and am enjoying the game overall. It definitely has elements that are very derivative of both Kanon and Air (The very inconclusive ending to Sumino's route, and the fact that you unlock something called the "Legend" route right after feels very Air-esque), so I can see where a lot of people consider it a rip-off, but so far I think it still manages to differentiate itself enough.

Either way I'm apparently only 22% through the CGs (may not be the best metric for progress but... it's something) so... still got a lot more game left before I can pass any real judgement.

Thanks for this post I also have Snow in my backlog, and I plan to go with one of the console versions as well. It's a pity that PSP port is such a technical mess - I might try PS2 one instead in that case. And then perhaps switch over to PSP just for that one bonus route. The question is - is that new route worth it? It differs from game to game. For example, all-ages exclusive Mikoto's route from Tenshin Ranman was easily the best route in the whole game for me , while on the other hand additional route in And really soured the experience for me, especially since it was unlocked last

[Shinyun226]

3 hours ago, adamstan said:

Thanks for this post I also have Snow in my backlog, and I plan to go with one of the console versions as well. It's a pity that PSP port is such a technical mess - I might try PS2 one instead in that case. And then perhaps switch over to PSP just for that one bonus route. The question is - is that new route worth it? It differs from game to game. For example, all-ages exclusive Mikoto's route from Tenshin Ranman was easily the best route in the whole game for me , while on the other hand additional route in And really soured the experience for me, especially since it was unlocked last

No prob!

Can't personally answer if the new route is worth or not as I haven't read it yet but having browsed at least a couple of reviews that mentions it, the consensus on it seems to be kind of mixed (noticed at least a few people mentioning it being somewhat redundant).

Also worth mentioning that you unfortunately can't just jump in and play it by itself as unlocking it does require beating a minimum of 4 other routes so... if you do decide to start with PS2 and then switch to the PSP version with the intention of just playing that route, you'll be stuck either re-reading or sitting there holding the R button to for a while to skip the pre-requisite routes and unlock it (though I suppose just tracking down and using a 100% save would be an option as well).

Either way, I'll try to make a follow-up post with my thoughts about everything once I eventually finish the game.

[ztrepzilius]

Last December, I finished Nightmare x Sisters - Sacrifice of Lust-Hell. A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one from Mangagamer. Personally, I prefer Toriko series but this is fine too.

Short length nukige, simple story, beautiful art from Noba and decent soundtrack. In some case, I prefer the static scene over the animation. In certain cgs, the frame rate is too fast and janky parts that looks like moving pieces of paper. I wish I could disable it. I like the protagonist's character design and would like more variety.

Currently I'm reading Kinkoi including the fan disc. Hopefully my experience will be gold this month. I might try the upcoming official English release of Clover Day's by NekoNyan.

 

[adamstan]

I'm reading Tsui no Stella

Technically I started it two weeks ago, but then I read only the prologue, and continued today.

So far I'm liking it - at first glance looks like crossover between ATRI and Planetarian

[Nemesis]

2 hours ago, adamstan said:

I'm reading Tsui no Stella

Technically I started it two weeks ago, but then I read only the prologue, and continued today.

So far I'm liking it - at first glance looks like crossover between ATRI and Planetarian

Nice, let me know your thoughts when you finish it.

[Mago Ivo]

I'm still reading Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, I'm still early in the VN (just finished chapter 11 on the second arc - Watanagashi) and I have a genuine question :
Is Maebara Keiichi such an idiot on purpose? His stupidity is tremendous! I hope that he dies in the most brutal way imaginable.

[Dreamysyu]

21 minutes ago, Mago Ivo said:

I hope that he dies in the most brutal way imaginable.

Oh, don't worry, he will. Multiple times.

[Eclipsed]

You ever been like, well gee, I blitzed through the entire Ace Attorney Trilogy + 3DSilogy and maybe played the spinoffs like Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright 'cuz you just gotta have some more cross examination funzies and wish they would just release another Ace Attorney by now?

Not me

Well there's a VN called Ouka Sabaki / Master Magistrate that should give you your courtroom trial VN fix

Set in 1850's "Bakumatsu Era" Japan, you play as up and coming Magistrate (last) Ooka Shimei, and you got all the classic Ace Attorney inspired elements: a quirky but well meaning cast and an episodic story that goes in Slice of Life -> Case -> Investigation -> Trial format

^Gal on the left is Rimu, your resident discount Ace Attorney's Maya Fey. Classic genki sidekick support to the protagonist.
Broad on the right is Sakura, the classic hardass "Pfft, protagonist is too soft, I could totally do his job 1000x better than him".

The courtroom trials don't really play as bombastically as Ace Attorney's iconic Cross-Examination segments but they're passable. In general everything is slightly not as over the top and there are some good moments to be had. As Magistrate, Shimei is Judge Jury and Executioner; there's no back and forth defense lawyer vs prosecutor going on here.

 

 

...Did I mention Rimu is best girl? I just love it when VNs take the time to have different hair styles for a heroine. Rimu's hair down is to die for LOL

[littleshogun]

On 1/11/2023 at 5:40 AM, Shinyun226 said:

Haven't personally played any Yuzusoft games but from what I do know about them/just looking at their catalog, their games are still a lot closer to Snow than the other stuff Studio Mebius typically would put out ironically enough lol.  The fact that Studio Mebius went from making Kichikuge, to a "pure love" type nakige with Snow is quite a contrast.

Late to reply here.

As for Yuzusoft VN, I can certainly say that it's far lighter than Snow. Although you're certainly right that Yuzusoft VNs did carry over some supernatural element from Snow, and it certainly help that one of Snow composer, Famishin, would be in turn direct several Yuzusoft VNs, with the notable two are Senren Banka and Cafe Stella (Both have shrine maiden heroines), so he may bring over some elements from Snow into modern Yuzusoft VNs.

Speaking of irony, actually not only Studio Mebius that develop dark VN in the past. There's also Jun Maeda (Yes Jun Maeda who would known as KEY prominent figure) did work on Moon, and one of the sexual contents included scat of all contents (And rape as well). Oh yes, Liar-soft as well, which I get the info from Discord and naturally I denied it, only turned out to be true that they have several rape VNs (Well they still have some element of it in their newer VN, although most of the time it's not that bad). The most contrast however we have Saga Planet of all companies did produce the game with dark contents in the past, and yes their past VNs had a lot of rape which obviously contrast with their current library. All in all, it's interesting to take a notice on how several companies VNs in the past are very different with what we got used to the current companies.

Edited January 16, 2023 by littleshogun

[Nemesis]

Was reading through Swan Song and Biman5.

SWAN SONG

This seems like a good Christmas story as it starts on Christmas Eve. It has a impactful start with an earthquake destroying the town and our MC, Amako Tsukasa, finding a woman about to die from the disaster. Her last wish being to take care of Aroe, and changing her mind at the last minute to kill Aroe instead. Our MC is too pussy to kill her, so he takes care of her instead. This reminds me of the newborn baby scene in Subahibi and Tsui no Sora Remake with Yukito or Tomosane hesitating whether to kill the newborn baby or to celebrate. It is the duality of cursed life and blessed life.

With the entire town in a complete mess, Tsukasa meets a bunch of survivors in an abandoned church and takes shelter there with Aroe. While exploring the city wreckage one day he met a Salary Man who lost his entire family, who complains about the pointless life he lived suffering at work everyday for his family. Now that he is freed from those responsibilities, he feels free, but sad at the same time as he lost sight of his goals. He leaves with the line 「君に幸あれ」- "May happiness be with you".

If Scaji is good at explaining and teaching things, Setoguchi is good at showing things in action. You can only see the true nature of human's morality when civilization breaks down and laws stop functioning. This is Lord of the Flies except with Adult society. Each person adapts to the new world differently facing the reality that life has no meaning and can be easily taken away: acceptance, physical suicide, and philosophical suicide. Some people find their own value of life and do their best to survive. Others give up on the value of life and start to harm others and themselves. Others give up on reality and join religious groups for escapism.

The art is rather old, but expressive, and adds a lot to the atmosphere. Music is simple and melancholic.

They talk about what it means to be human, and how Aroe is lacking it due to her mental disability. Her habits are influenced by her disability and not from her own will. Our routines make up as a huge portion of our life. This work conveys that there is no such thing as universal happiness by using Aroe as an example.

It also covers lots of societal topics. How society handles a lot of dirty work such as Justice and punishment, so that normal people don't have to worry about it. But with civilization broken, everyone is forced to handle the topic and make decisions for themselves. People are satisfied living under illusion of safety as long as they don't have to take responsibility for it. One last thing I want to talk about is the title "Swan Song." Even if Swan Song is an illusion, people should try and struggle until their final moments so they can have a beautiful Swan Song ending. I'm not going to go into too much details as the topics covered here are pretty much the same as Black Sheep Town. Overall, it's a very solid read, though not as good as BST.

美少女万華鏡 ー理と迷宮の少女ー

Finally, in the last game of the series. The game starts out with a young girl singing Tooryanse while climbing the stairs filled with Torii, which I'm guessing is Fushimi Inari Shrine.

Sumeragi is a good addition to the cast, a mystery novelist in comparison to our protagonist's occult novelist.

The story itself is average, but the atmosphere is very well done. There are some Jigoku Shoujo reference, which was rather unexpected.

It does have some interesting themes though with the boundary between reality and dreams. It talks about Zhuangzi dreaming he was a butterfly dreaming he was a man and red pill and blue pill. Which is relevant seeing as we have been seeing the life of other people through the Kaleidoscope.

Then, they summarize through what MC found through the Kaleidoscope in the previous games:

Spoiler

1 - 僕がこの場所で捜していたのは屹度、無償の愛……愛する人の為なら自分の命すらも投げ出せるような、そんな愛の記憶を、捜していたんだ……

2 - 僕がこの場所で捜していたのは……決して諦めないあいだ……ドンナニ時間が経ってもその人の事を忘れない……そんな尊い愛なんだ……

3 - 僕がこのばしょで捜していたものは……素直になる事決して自分を偽らない、真実の愛なんだ……

4 - 僕がこの場所で捜したかったもの……其れは、仮令禁止されても貫く愛……背徳的で道ならぬものであっても、其れでも振り返りない、そんな純粋な愛なんだ……

The Biman series has made me more open to trying out some more nukige's once in a while. I'm looking forward to Happoubijin's next work.

Edited January 23, 2023 by Nemesis

[Silvz]

On 1/15/2023 at 12:17 PM, Mago Ivo said:

I'm still reading Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, I'm still early in the VN (just finished chapter 11 on the second arc - Watanagashi) and I have a genuine question :
Is Maebara Keiichi such an idiot on purpose? His stupidity is tremendous! I hope that he dies in the most brutal way imaginable.

I mean, he is a 14-year-old teenager. As a former teacher, I assure you that he is way less idiotic than some real kids can be (Not all of them, of course, but there is always "the one")

 

As of the thread, I'm happy to say that after almost one year reading it, I... dropped White Album 2.

I really don't have too much to say about this one. It is great in everything that it does, but I found two issues: it is too long, to the point that I was loosing interest because I knew that I'd have to read X more hours just to finish the "cheating route". The second issue is also related to its lenght. I almost didn't play any VNs the whole year. 2022 was basically the year that I finished Little Busters for the second time, started reading WA2 and that's it.

As soon as I decided a few weeks ago to drop WA2, I was able to play AI: Somnium Files 2 in just a few days, half of Summer Pockets: Reflection Blue and 70% of 13 Sentinels' story.

Again, I love WA2, its twists, its setting, it as a whole, but I felt that I needed to move on, and probably I'll never complete it, and I'm fine with it.

[adamstan]

Yesterday I finished third chapter of Tsui no Stella so I guess I'm still near the beginning.  (Currently I have time for reading maybe once a week, so I'm progressing rather slowly)

I really wonder, what is it with all those robot girls that makes every one of them grab me by the heart? Planetarian's Yumemi, ATRI, Dal Segno's Ame, ToHeart's Multi, and now Filia - I honestly have no idea

BTW Willem kind of creeps me out - I have strong suspicion that he might turn out to be a villain. But of course it might be just a red herring and playing with reader's impressions and expectations - we'll see

Edited January 20, 2023 by adamstan

[Bamf102]

I'm playing Gore Screaming Show. I started this yesterday and I'm having a lot of fun so far. It's a slow build-up to the horror, which I love, and most of the characters are fun to read about. I started with Akane's route and I find her to be really adorable. The music is great overall and I love the voice acting for Gore.

[adamstan]

Yesterday I finished Tsui no Stella (it took me 19 hours)

I don't think I could add much to @Nemesis's review, but I mostly agree with it

I loved it. It was great story about being (or becoming) human and relationships.

Also, as one of the reviewers already pointed out, フィリア's name could be transliterated in two ways - and both are meaningful. One is the "canon" Philia - because that's the greek word for "love" Jude named her after. But it could be also romanized as Filia, which is latin word for "daughter". Nice little touch.

I've read only two Tanaka Romeo's works so far (YMK and Kazoku Keikaku - and both only in English) - but his style is visible in this VN. At the same time, he fit pretty well into the KEY formula Indeed this story was an emotional ride, with many teary moments.

Spoiler

Delilah's death I think that was the fist scene that made me actually cry... At least in this story - unlike Planetarian - Filia survives, and carries on...

8.5/10, definitely recommend I see KEY plans to release official translation this year - I hope it goes smoothly, so more people could enjoy this great story. Since the setting is pretty universal (not explicitly Japanese) - there shouldn't be too many things prone to getting lost in translation.

[Nemesis]

絆きらめく恋いろは

Lots of worldbuilding in the introduction, explaining the history of the world. I like it, worldbuilding is a must for every decent fantasy.

The matches are also interesting and has some actual Kendou terminology built into it such as 先の先 and 後の先. Well, obviously, it doesn't go into as much detail as Hanachirasu with the forms and stances, but still pretty interesting.

So far, outside of Tsubaki, the individual routes are rather average. The tournament brackets change depending on the route which tells me that each route is written by different authors without coordination.

Overall, it's far from being a kamige, but solid game nonetheless.

[Eclipsed]

How the EFF does Witch on the Holy Night on the Switch take up 20GB LOL

Its been like 7 years since I’ve read a TYPE-MOON VN (fate/stay) so we’ll see how it goes~

[Shinyun226]

Finally just 100% completed Snow Portable!

Just gotta say, overall, I really really liked it. it really blew away my expectations.

So, the first thing to address are the Key comparisons. Yes, it absolutely does HEAVILY borrow from Kanon and Air. It uses at least a few Kanon characters tropes (Euuu + Anman instead of Uguu + taiyaki) and straight up rips off Air's overall game structure - that being said, I think it actually handles that formula/structure a lot better than Air does.

I think some arguments can be made about whether or not Air's main route is better when analyzed on its own, BUT Air as a whole is undeniably kind of lopsided.  It's 1 big route, with 2 minor routes that might as well not be there (Minagi route is actually amazing though, but I digress). Snow does a lot of what Air does ie:

Spoiler

: the Main heroine route ends rather inconclusively > you unlock a 'backstory route' (Summer/Legend) > then you eventually unlock the main heroines 'true' route

, but unlike Air the other routes in SNOW actually contribute to the overall narrative. (Also I could actually understand what was all going on in Snow, unlike Air lol).

 

Anyways, brief/disjointed thoughts on individual routes:

Sumino

Spoiler

Hearbreaking but anti-climactic. Different story and conflict, but functionally the same as Misuzu's initial route in Air and as a result doesn't stand on it's own - it's just a leadup to the rest of the game. 

Legend

Spoiler

Really enjoyable.  Drags a lot less than its Air equivalent, Summer. Also, unlike Summer, its important for all of the main heroines. 

Asahi

Spoiler

It's the Makoto route, no two ways about it. Yes the backstory is different, yes it's a rabbit instead of a fox, yes she likes boneless ham instead of nikuman, and yes it's got a happier conclusion but... it's still pretty much just Makoto's route(+なのだ)

Shigure

Spoiler

The bigfoot gags are funny at first, but they go on and on for like an in-game week so it's a bit much. But then after that it does get pretty entertaining. The time slip stuff is dumb, but a lot of fun. Kanata's reactions in these scenes are probably the most entertaining stuff in the whole game.

Ouka

Spoiler

The final route in the original version of the game, and what doubles as Sumino's "true end". Really an amazing route overall. If nothing else, this route alone makes Snow a real classic.

My only problem is it's never explained why Sumino doesn't loses her memory even though she definitely does hook up with Kanata this time around. From a gameplay perspective, I suppose the logic is you undid everythinig in Shigure's route and that broke the curse, and this carriers over when you start Ouka's route but... if that had actually happened from a story perspective, then Ouka wouldn't even exist in the first place.

Also, despite basically giving Sumino and Asahi combined 'true ends' in this route, Shigure is basically 100% absent which is a bit disappointing.

Meiko

Spoiler

Bonus/port exclusive route 1. Despite being one the clearly most popular characters in the game, kind of an underwhelming route. I mean it wasn't bad, but it was very unremarkable compared to the rest of the game + a pretty nonsense resolution imo. They spend all this time making it seem like Meiko's sportadic temporary rapid aging was going to be the big conflict but instead her "death" is just her fading away (while she still looks young) 

Meiko's overall narrative is one of the most interesting parts of the game as a whole, and this route does actually add a bunch of pretty important details,  but it kind of gets weighed down by other nonesense which is kind of a shame.

Seishiro does get to show that he's clearly the best heroine over the course of this route though. 10/10

 Nazo no Shouojo

Spoiler

(Shaman route)

Spoiler

Bonus route 2 and the reason to maybe choose PSP over PS2. Actually really good. VERY tonally different from the other routes (horror-esque), but at the same time an excellent to Ouka's route. 

Unfortunately the "best" ending is locked behind some real cryptic nonsense. Basically you have to beat the route, then go back and find a new dialogue option with Meiko, then replay the end of Legend to find another new scene, then replay the ending of the route again. How would anyone find this without referencing guides is beyond me. I mean I guess you'd know to replay the route itself when you see you're missing 2 CGs but... who would think to replay Legend?

And then after all that, I think the 'standard' ending is the better one imo. Shaman being reborn as Kanata and Sumino's 2nd child just feels like the better ending overall for me.

Bonus: Shigure actually gets to do something in this route. add 10 points

So to come back to this question:

On 1/11/2023 at 3:08 AM, adamstan said:

 The question is - is that new route worth it? 

I'm gonna say yes, I really enjoyed the Nazo no Shoujo route.

I'm probably gonna want to replay the game on PS2 someday to get the full voice experience for the rest of the game but... I do think this bonus route makes double-dipping worth it.

[littleshogun]

On 1/29/2023 at 10:26 AM, Eclipsed said:

How the EFF does Witch on the Holy Night on the Switch take up 20GB LOL

Well at least it's not as big as game dump file on PC in which it took up to 31 GB HDD lol. Also yes, I manage to play it in my laptop despite that I several time claim that I didn't own Switch and Mahoyo still didn't have translated PC version (Which I still hope that someday it'll be available), and surprisingly it run quite well on my low spec laptop. Admittedly though there are some very heavy slowdown in the animated effect, which I can see the reason why because my laptop spec is too low compared to the requirement to run Ryujinx emulator. Well have fun playing Mahoyo there.

Edited February 1, 2023 by littleshogun

[Ariurotl]

Read Bokuten about a month ago, the first VN in years for me. Sadly, it wasn't great and I can totally see why it near-bankrupted Overdrive. Gave it a generous 6/10.

[littleshogun]

Considering that Bokuten best sales is only at 19th rank on Getchu sales before not appearing anymore along with on how Overdrive need to use crowdfund to make Musicus, it might make sense that Bokuten almost make Overdrive bankrupt to a degree, although I won't be so sure if the cause might be because of the story (Which to say give justification toward Tomoe extremely pessimist view in love whilst we supposedly see on how he see more positive view in love) or not.

PS - I know that the author (Or maybe Overdrive) may not want the reader to see that the moral of Bokuten is 'Love can only bring suffering', but unfortunately with on how the setting work one can interpret that the author want to convey his pessimist view towards love.

Edited February 2, 2023 by littleshogun

[Ariurotl]

I don't have the foggiest idea whether utsuge just generally sell worse than most (especially when made by a company that was never exactly among the top names) but to me it's not that it's an utsuge (I love me some depressing VNs) but more that it's not a particularly good one. The "true" route is the only one that's more or less good (even if it is exceedingly contrived), the rest vary from just about okay to plain bad.

I haven't the energy or the enthusiasm to get into a review mode but at points it felt like it was written by an alien who has only a very faint idea of human psychology.

But hey, at least I was pleasantly surprised when it had

Spoiler

a full chapter about a gay character and it wasn't stereotypical, wasn't played for laughs and didn't even end up in him getting converted to heterosexuality somehow and hooking up with the crossdressing girl. I kinda expect those things from a non-BL VN by now.

And the worst points of it were

Spoiler

the entirety of Yuri's route where NOBODY behaved like any human being would behave at several points;
Naruko's "good" end which is just, come on, sure there's magic in this world but how just forgetting about each other's existence is going to work at all when you have all those friends in common and LITERALLY LIVE NEXT DOOR?;
and the bold decision to regurgitate the already stale "idols/musicians can't have BFs/GFs" plot TWICE.

 

[Nemesis]

Finished Mekuiro and tried Fate/Empire of Dirt.

絆きらめく恋いろは

Tsubaki > Saya=Shion > Shia

I actually like Trenka better as more Tsubaki, and the writers seem to be better at writing linear story compared to route structure that builds up. My issue is that they really don't connect the individual routes well compared to some of the better written VN's. The routes just feel like it's written separately without caring about the entire structure.

Fate/Empire of Dirt

Pretty terrible doujin game outside of the art. The prose is shit and far from Nasu quality, and the lore is warped to fit the shitty writing.

Gameplay itself is pretty much just a shittier version of FGO.

This is just really bad Fate fanfiction, and dropped it halfway through. I couldn't stand the terrible prose anymore. I regret being baited by the art.

[Nemesis]

I've been reading Kurai Heya and Oretsuba Prologue and Afterstory.

暗い部屋

My first impression is it is very Setoguchi work: a rather dark and hopeless start.

For the most part, it has similar themes to Swan Song: it's a story about despair and how people deal with it. But compared to Swan Song, it's much more of a charage. It follows our two protagonist: 日野清太郎 and 押川悠衣子。 「楽しいことが、全然ないんだもの」

It starts with the concept of death. It narrates in detail how a corpse rot and flies lay eggs on the body with maggots eventually coming out, and how a once beautiful person gets turned into rotting piece of meat.

Then our MC 清太郎 explores a new world after being locked inside the house 24/7 for health reasons. He was adopted by her aunt and her family. Oh wow, the aunt is a control freak and a terrible person. She forcefully adopted him, and when she learned about the gas mask, she wants to chase him out now.

But in the midst of that despair, he gets along with his cousin, 悠衣子 and 英, and lives a somewhat normal life for a while. It really goes in detail to be what it's like to be under an abusive family, and how abuse is not really just physical abuse. 「毎日、明日が怖いの」

It also gets into the story of their twin mothers 寿子 and 耀子.寿子 wanted to be an artist, while 耀子 wanted to be a housewife. Both of their dreams have come true, but they were both unhappy with their life.

Overall, it's another solid story from Setoguchi which is probably better as a novel rather than a VN.

俺たちに翼はない ～Prelude～

I wasn't originally planning on reading this, but since I got it along with the AfterStory I might as well.

Reading this is rather nostalgic, and Ou Jackson's prose is fun and upbeat. But story-wise nothing much happened, so I don't know what else to talk about. There is just some added introduction to Haneda's heroines.