What are you playing?

[Turnip Sensei]

Welp, Kara no Shoujo 2 was pretty good. There's (obviously) going to be spoilers galore for the whole series, so please exercise caution.

Spoiler

Kara no Shoujo 2 turned out to be quite different from what I expected. Since I heard that they improved investigation systems I expected it to be more crime focused liked the earlier parts in Kara no Shoujo 1, but they actually decided to pursue the mystery angle that also appeared near the end of KnS1. Not that I really minded since I liked the complicated human connections, but it lessened the tension that came from the killings considerably. Kara no Shoujo 1 made me feel "we need to stop these murders, now", while as KnS2 was more akin to "why are these murders happening". Not that big difference, but the resulting atmosphere in both games are completely different. There's not that sense of urgency and the thrill it creates, and I felt little detached from the deaths since none of them hit as close.

Still, that's not really a completely negative thing, since it's very clear that Kara no Shoujo 2 follows the mystery parts of KnS1 and in that front it does way better. How everything is tied around the Hitogata Village, but also around the events and characters of previous games. Hitogata Village was especially interesting with it's old familial customs and secrets, that and Masaki's story was definitely the strongest part of the game. The involvement with Blessed Congregation, orphanage and all that felt little flimsy in comparison. Especially since some of the pretty crucial information is very clearly left for the sequel, which is kind of annoying.

But, while the mystery parts are good, the involvement from the player is pretty weak this time. The investigation system was little too punishing and obscure in KnS1, but they definitely toned it down way too much. All of the choices were really obvious and there weren't that many point where I had to actually use my head. Even the parts I though were difficult or that I misunderstood something turned out to be choices were your answer didn't even matter. It feels like they got scared about making it too difficult, but when it's easier to get good end in a crime story I feel something is little off. Even the part where I actually got something wrong (I misunderstood Kohane's secret message) the game just gives you the right answer and even spoils what's to come. 

Most of the twist were pretty easy to guess as well, at least for me. Ayako's new identity managed to slip past me and surprised me pleasantly, but other's were pretty easy to figure out. In fact too easy at times. I though the identity of the killer was so obvious that it couldn't be true, so actual revelation felt super lackluster. I also figured out the true identity of Nanako's child pretty early, so it bugged the hell out of me that I couldn't pursue Naori, not to mention he was character I suspected the whole time, for right and wrong reasons. 

I've feel like I've only complained so far, but I actually really liked KnS2. It might be inferior in the crime investigation and gameplay aspects, but as a story I liked it more. Characters, especially those involved with Hitogata Village were all well fleshed out. The children from the Orphanage and their ways to deal with troubled past were interesting as well, even if their handling was mostly on surface level. The name sake(s) of the game, the "empty girl", Ayako and Yukiko turned out to be actually more interesting in retrospect. Ayako I liked in her both incarnations, as Satsuki and Kayahara, but Yukiko I initially compared too much to Touko and didn't really care for. She wasn't as important to the main plot and her resolution wasn't handled as well, I felt like her background why she ended up like that wasn't explained that well, but considering how most of the details behind the orphanage are still mystery it might be content for the sequel. 

On more minor scale, I'm really happy Toji was brought back. She has such good chemistry with Reiji and Masaki, the combination of the three solving mysteries together was pretty cool. It was nice too see the investigations work on many fronts and it was definitely more interesting than Reiji wandering around the city alone. Too bad more people weren't bought back.  (Stella...)

Now, when is the 3rd Episode coming out? Oh, and if Ayumu won't become Reiji's assistant I'm going to... pout!? 

 

[Vorathiel]

10 minutes ago, Turnip Sensei said:

Kara no Shoujo 2 and 3 spoilers.

Spoiler

Stella is coming back in 3rd game.
Any thoughts on bad ends (two Yukaris gave me chills) and true end?

[ChaosRaven]

3 minutes ago, Vorathiel said:

Spoiler

Stella is coming back in 3rd game. 
Any thoughts on bad ends (two Yukaris gave me chills) and true end?

I'm a big fan of her as well, though I'm not sure if I should be happy that she'll make a return, or very very worried... 

[Turnip Sensei]

1 hour ago, Vorathiel said:

Kara no Shoujo 2 and 3 spoilers.

  Reveal hidden contents

Stella is coming back in 3rd game.
Any thoughts on bad ends (two Yukaris gave me chills) and true end?

Spoiler

Haven't done all of bad ends yet, but Two Yukari's was pretty unsettling indeed. Same with the Yukio ending were Yukiko regresses back to small child inside her memories. Karen and Disappearance were pretty meh.

True End

Spoiler

was mostly a cliff-hanger for me. It was pretty obvious that Touko had lived and gave birth, and I was just waiting for the revelation. It also confirmed my suspicions about Naori. But still, the final scene where Tokisaka digs Touko up was pretty good way the end the game, and the appropriate delusion of Touko's body was just the kind of bittersweet detail I really like. 

 

 

[Eclipsed]

Finished Code:Realize.

That's gotta be one of the most satisfying True Routes I've ever read, it's not like it was LB! feelsy or Zero Escape mindblowy or anything, but everything just came together to create a fantastic story from start to finish.

Lupin's da best, btw, hands down,



~~
Oh, and I guess a minireview,

Story: 8/10: Just some stoic, amnesiac, poisonous girl hang'ang out with her five capable handsome dudes in 19th century Steam London. All of them have their own backgrounds and motives for ending up where they are and what starts off as a mutual alliance slowly becomes much more... Also throw in some secret organizations, conspiracy plots, and character-centric mysteries with a dash of kyaa! romance and you've got a pretty thrilling story on your plate.

Characters: 9/10 Like I said, some stoic, amnesiac, poisonous girl and her five capable handsome dudes. Van Helsing the Vampire War Hero badass, Frankenstein the nice guy Alchemist, Impey the To-Love-Ru Lala's male counterpart, Saint-Germain the mysterious on-the-level-of-Half-Life G-man & Sephiroth clone, and Lupin the world's greatest gentlemen thief.

You can't get a more colorful cast than that, and their bond and companionship was just so great to read throughout

Art: 10/10 YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MANY DUDES i WOULD BANG-

JK, BUT MAN YOU GOTTA ADMIT THAT'S SOME HAWT ART. Cardia herself is great too, especially with dat hat. I like dat hat.

 

Music: 5/10 Sorry, once I notice music getting repetitive, it's all over! They're decent tracks that are appropriate for the setting, but they don't stand out and are limited.

 

~~

Overall: 8/10. Read it  

[Decay]

You should do a full review for the hub, we need more otome reviews!

[Fred the Barber]

3 hours ago, Eclipsed said:

dat hat. 

Sold. This is totally the next VN I'm picking up.

[DarkZedge]

Since my laptop can't be charged until I get a new charger for it I had to stall DP 2 and Shiny Days.

So I'm currently playing Sharnoth and Tokyo Babel

[Eclipsed]

2 hours ago, Fred the Barber said:

Sold. This is totally the next VN I'm picking up.

Yay!! 

 

[Vokoca]

So, uh... I accidentally got the true ending in Steins;Gate 0 as soon as it got unlocked.... It was really good, but man I really wanted to read the other routes first. :C Hopefully the rest isn't too much worse - so far I'd say SG0 is even better than the original.

[Vorathiel]

I tried Killer Queen. I love 'trapped' setting, so although grades are rather poor, I though I will have some fun with this. I'm at the end of first 'chapter/route', and I'm so bored and tired, that I just ended this for today. It's like Sharin No Kuni level of how bad it is. Characters motivations are stupid and unreasonable, their actions are angryingly stupid and surprising on 'how the hell did you even think this could work' level, their behaviour is non coherent at all, and overall plot is filled with cheap drama with 'pathophathetic' music. Even the main character is similiar. Just look at this Mummin:

Spoiler

And now at this pathetic hollow creature no 2:

Even their characters are similiar.

What else? Sprites are ugly, backgrounds are ugly, music is bad, translations is nice, setting is good (really interesting rules of this 'killing game'), protagonist is not very cliched, but obviously later ruined to fit with 'standard good guy' trope, and whole vn is longer than 10 hours, even when you're fast reader. Would not recommend to anyone.

[Eclipsed]

Lord, I shall repent for my sins of stalling Tokyo Babel by un-stalling it...in the near future.

~~
I previewed Norn9 Var Commons.

Coming in hot with the Otome hype train, let's just say that the first impressions of this VN storywise are not good. The art and music on the other hand are good. Art definitely isn't Code:Realize tier, but it's charming enough. The music is Fantasy-Surreal sounding, which I have a bias for, so it beats Code Realize in this department  

The Prologue is some 30 minutes snorefest of a 12 year old boy named Sorata, a realist type of kid who swears by science-explains-all logic narrating his average school life

Spoiler

WELL SCREW YOU, YOU'RE FICTION!!!!

He then mysteriously gets thrown into the past a century into Taisho Era (year 191X) after hearing some gal singing in his head.

Then he meets a pink haired 17 year old girl who doesn't know her own name and is the caring-but-lacking-common sense type -> she's one of the three protagonists

They board some alien ship thing and then you get slapped with introducing the nine heroes, and the other two female protagonists. TOO MANY NAMES, I CANT HANDLE

Spoiler

They're all Espers, y'know, magic power people, and they're a part of The World - a world-police type organization. And the pink haired girl is the new recruit, and Sorata just happened along for the ride. Being the realist that he is, he quietly laments to himself that he can't wait to wake up and resume his normal life. Of course, that ain't happening

 -Prologue End-

~~
It's only 30 minutes, but it was a poor 30 minutes because of the decision to have Sorata (he's ultimately a side character) narrate it and the sudden transition from Hi I have normal life to OMG ESPERS, TIME TRAVEL AND FLYING SAUCERS along with introducing the entire 12-man cast right off the bat.

But hey, at least it's not as bad in comparison to KnS2's 5 hour grind you had to do before the real story started

WHY COULDN'T I JUST START WITH THIS INSTEAD OF HAVING TO DEAL WITH THAT BS 12-YEAR-OLD-KID-BEING-THROWN-INTO-WONDERLAND SETUP

[melo4496]

Finished Leyline2. Subarashii! Well-played! Love the scenario. I won't go to the 3rd game yet. I need time to "miss" the characters for better effect lol maybe after few months. Adelheid's chapter is good but Fuhito's chapter sucks alot and is unnecessary.

Heck, the climax and true ending of the game is OUTSTANDING.

Have some CG!

[Zantax]

Well, I finished Hoshizora no Memoria: Eternal Heart over a week ago, so I guess I should finally write come kind of opinion about it...

I often read on this forum, that the bonus disc is where we can finally find a proper Mare route. Well, if bunch of random ichaicha and ero scenes without any plot, which is just a lengthen version of orginal Mare 'route' can be called a 'proper' route that is... But but, someone could say, what about Ima. There is a good bunch of plot about her in Mare route! And I would answer, yes, you are right, but I wanted Mare route, not Ima route with misplaced route selection grafics. Ima plot have almost nothing to do with Mare or protagonist, and even if I would liked it (but I didn't) I wouldn't be satisfied.

Also I realised one thing - Mare is just not a character, with whom romance do work :/ It's just awkward when in one scene you see MC patting Mare head treating her like a child, and next scene having sex with her :/ I just can't see her as a romance target. She work much better as a support little sister character (that she is in every other route).

In bonus disc we have also Yume route, and at least this time it really feels like a proper route. I did liked that instead of continuing school life we see time after graduation, including

Spoiler

marriage and childbirth (even if Mare being child of Yume don't make much sense... should I threat this as a reincarnation or what? :/)

 While this route wasn't anything great (especially part with meteorite searching was quite bad) at least it had plot that moved forward characters relations, what can't be said about Mare 'route'

That's all if we talking about routes, but there are also very short 'afterstory' bonus (1-2 hours of reading) for every other heroine. They are mostly meh, but personally I liked Asuho and Komomo bonuses (which was rather unexpected, since in original game I liked Asuho route the least). After some thought I think it's because those two bonuses pushes relationship forward at least a little bit, while the others are just repeating the final point of original routes.

At the end while it wasn't terrible or anything, it isn't really worth reading for anyone but the biggest Hoshimemo fans. If you want more Yume then you could read this, if you want more Mare then just get new CGs (there are not that many) and reread common route of original game.

[Riku]

Finished Root Double. Was great, but not awesome. My "only problem" is the dual protagonist thingy. As important as Watase is, in the end, Natsuhiko is obviously the main one and the most important. But well, all the characters are fairly importants, so at least it's a plus. Just that I prefered Watase over Natsuhiko and was a little disapointed.

I liked Watase's ending. I didn't really like Natsuhiko's ending.

Oh, and as much as I prefer Mashiro over Yuuri, that CG was ******* beautiful:

Spoiler

Now I guess I'll try to read Tokyo Babel again. I hope it will becomes interesting after a few hours.

 

[bogdankl]

fate/stay night rant

 

Spoiler

did fate/stay night seriously TURN INTO A FUCKING GARBAGE NUKIGE half way through??? what the fuck is this shit, the vn was actually unexpectedly engaging until now especially the last part where archer went out like a fucking badass, BUT WHY IN THE HOLY MOTHER OF FUCK did it go in this direction??? I refuse to read any further I FUCKING REFUSE... and why the hell did the fucking voice acting stop all of a sudden??? when the voice acting cut off I taught they were gonna pull a sort of "oh hes just dreaming" sort of thing but no, it has an actual fucking CG designed for this so I doubt he is dreaming... seriously what the shit, this is so fucking ridiculous

 

[Fred the Barber]

3 minutes ago, bogdankl said:

fate/stay night rant

 

  Hide contents

did fate/stay night seriously TURN INTO A FUCKING GARBAGE NUKIGE half way through??? what the fuck is this shit, the vn was actually unexpectedly engaging until now especially the last part where archer went out like a fucking badass, BUT WHY IN THE HOLY MOTHER OF FUCK did it go in this direction??? I refuse to read any further I FUCKING REFUSE... and why the hell did the fucking voice acting stop all of a sudden??? when the voice acting cut off I taught they were gonna pull a sort of "oh hes just dreaming" sort of thing but no, it has an actual fucking CG designed for this so I doubt he is dreaming... seriously what the shit, this is so fucking ridiculous

 

Spoiler

Umm... there's like two sex scenes in the whole Fate route. Chill out, dude. It's an eroge, but it's far from a nukige.

The voice cutting out is easily explained, also: the H scenes are only present in vanilla F/SN, while the voice acting is only present in the "Realta Nua" release made for the PS/Vita which, of course, didn't have H-scenes. You actually can only have the experience you're having right now because you pirated the game and the patch applied the Realta Nua voices onto the vanilla F/SN game. So... don't worry, nobody actually released exactly the bizarre game you're playing.

I played the vanilla release, so there were H scenes, but no voice acting. I'd probably rather have had it the other way around, voice acting and no H, but whatevs.

 

[Suzu Fanatic]

1 hour ago, bogdankl said:

fate/stay night rant

 

  Reveal hidden contents

did fate/stay night seriously TURN INTO A FUCKING GARBAGE NUKIGE half way through??? what the fuck is this shit, the vn was actually unexpectedly engaging until now especially the last part where archer went out like a fucking badass, BUT WHY IN THE HOLY MOTHER OF FUCK did it go in this direction??? I refuse to read any further I FUCKING REFUSE... and why the hell did the fucking voice acting stop all of a sudden??? when the voice acting cut off I taught they were gonna pull a sort of "oh hes just dreaming" sort of thing but no, it has an actual fucking CG designed for this so I doubt he is dreaming... seriously what the shit, this is so fucking ridiculous

 

Spoiler

 

It was ONE sex scene, that hardly counts as a nukige. I can garuntee you that sex is a very small part of F/SN. Each route has a handful of it, but hardly enough to freak out about. Don't forget, at it's core F/SN is classified as a Eroge - but don't make a blind assumption that it's going to turn into some retarded Imouto Paradise spin-off just from the odd sex scene.

Though I will admit I found the first sex scene to be pretty jarring too - i had completely forgotten it was a eroge until it came up, due to how engrossing it was up to that point. But that being said, I didn't hate the hscenes - but I'm also a dirty old man.

I will say this - if you drop this VN jsut becuase of the odd sex scene, you are doing yourself a major disservice. While not everyone subscribes to the Fate hype - there's a damn good reason it has such a huge fandom.

 

 

[Decay]

1 hour ago, bogdankl said:

fate/stay night rant

 

  Reveal hidden contents

did fate/stay night seriously TURN INTO A FUCKING GARBAGE NUKIGE half way through??? what the fuck is this shit, the vn was actually unexpectedly engaging until now especially the last part where archer went out like a fucking badass, BUT WHY IN THE HOLY MOTHER OF FUCK did it go in this direction??? I refuse to read any further I FUCKING REFUSE... and why the hell did the fucking voice acting stop all of a sudden??? when the voice acting cut off I taught they were gonna pull a sort of "oh hes just dreaming" sort of thing but no, it has an actual fucking CG designed for this so I doubt he is dreaming... seriously what the shit, this is so fucking ridiculous

 

Joke's on you for not playing the Realta Nua version. There are some crazy people on the internet who constantly try to say that the Realta Nua version isn't as good because it lacks the 18+ content and I just find that perspective so baffling when I consider how unimaginably bad the h-scenes are, to the point where they are actively destructive to the overall story. The Realta Nua version is the superior version by far and with the rewrites they did, it's also considered the canon version by Type Moon.

Basically, what I'm saying is that you're playing the crazy, outdated version abandoned by the developers. If you liked Fate so far, you should get the real version and keep going, you'll continue to really enjoy it. It only gets better.

[Suzu Fanatic]

35 minutes ago, Decay said:

Joke's on you for not playing the Realta Nua version. There are some crazy people on the internet who constantly try to say that the Realta Nua version isn't as good because it lacks the 18+ content and I just find that perspective so baffling when I consider how unimaginably bad the h-scenes are, to the point where they are actively destructive to the overall story. The Realta Nua version is the superior version by far and with the rewrites they did, it's also considered the canon version by Type Moon.

Basically, what I'm saying is that you're playing the crazy, outdated version abandoned by the developers. If you liked Fate so far, you should get the real version and keep going, you'll continue to really enjoy it. It only gets better.

 

Spoiler

I'd tentively agree with you for at least Fate and UBW, but I can't imagine HF working with sexuality missing. Subjectively speaking, I just can't see it having the same vibe - for reasons I'll avoid due to obvious spoilers.

Though I'm one of those crazy people that never found the h-scenes that bad. Pointless? yes, but not bad. But then again I first played it only expecting another eroge (ie, porn), so it was a big surprise to actually have story outweigh the eroge by such a huge margin.

And while a completely personal opinion, I despise most of the Realta Nua remixes of music (both ps2 and psp), most come across as overly busy and complicated, where the original tracks felt genuine and balanced. (but that's likely nostilgia/rose-tinted glasses)

Also, it doesn't matter what Type-Moon "wants" to consider canon. Retconning doesn't wipe out the initial concept and vision. Even if Nasu himself changes his mind, it already exists.

 

[Eclipsed]

I'll get back to Norn9 Var Commons some other time, Code:Realize just set the bar too high, resulting in me being a prick and expecting too much out of it.

SO!

Back to Tokyo Babel. Apparently I last left off at the second stratum post-Abdiel battle, gg, that's not even far

[bogdankl]

guys I am not complaining that there is a H scene

Spoiler

I just think the premise is worthy of a nukige, I mean like come on (no pun intended) sex to power her up, and Rin just jumps on to hump Shirou Saber after archer just died??? I am the only one that finds this just a taaaaad bit weird, don't you guys just find that to be at least a tad bit ridiculous? just like... a tiny bit nukige like

I love myself some good "H scenes" (if there is even such a thing) but the reason and timing for this scene is just ridiculous, which is why I was thinking this was some sort of dream or illusion

and even if there were a H scene free version I would have still picked this one

and when I wrote that post It was half past 4 in the morning I was just pissed and raging at how stupid it was, I won't just quit reading half way through but that does not mean I am gonna like it

well.... I say nukige like but it's not like I have that much experience with them, I just think this a ridiculous stain on an otherwise good vn

[Vokoca]

Nasu's h-scenes are... well, infamously bad, but I prefer HF with them, most likely for the same reasons Suzu mentioned above. I didn't read Realta Nua so I can't really judge, but from what I read up on the HF rewrites, it just doesn't seem to cut it for me. 

[Decay]

1 hour ago, bogdankl said:

guys I am not complaining that there is a H scene

  Reveal hidden contents

I just think the premise is worthy of a nukige, I mean like come on (no pun intended) sex to power her up, and Rin just jumps on to hump Shirou Saber after archer just died??? I am the only one that finds this just a taaaaad bit weird, don't you guys just find that to be at least a tad bit ridiculous? just like... a tiny bit nukige like

I love myself some good "H scenes" (if there is even such a thing) but the reason and timing for this scene is just ridiculous, which is why I was thinking this was some sort of dream or illusion

and even if there were a H scene free version I would have still picked this one

and when I wrote that post It was half past 4 in the morning I was just pissed and raging at how stupid it was, I won't just quit reading half way through but that does not mean I am gonna like it

well.... I say nukige like but it's not like I have that much experience with them, I just think this a ridiculous stain on an otherwise good vn

No, I totally understand and agree 100%, which is why I was trying to recommend the better version that rewrote those ridiculous parts of story to be a bit less stupid.

[Fred the Barber]

4 hours ago, bogdankl said:

guys I am not complaining that there is a H scene

  Reveal hidden contents

I just think the premise is worthy of a nukige, I mean like come on (no pun intended) sex to power her up, and Rin just jumps on to hump Shirou Saber after archer just died??? I am the only one that finds this just a taaaaad bit weird, don't you guys just find that to be at least a tad bit ridiculous? just like... a tiny bit nukige like

I love myself some good "H scenes" (if there is even such a thing) but the reason and timing for this scene is just ridiculous, which is why I was thinking this was some sort of dream or illusion

and even if there were a H scene free version I would have still picked this one

and when I wrote that post It was half past 4 in the morning I was just pissed and raging at how stupid it was, I won't just quit reading half way through but that does not mean I am gonna like it

well.... I say nukige like but it's not like I have that much experience with them, I just think this a ridiculous stain on an otherwise good vn

I also kind of agreed with you. In retrospect, I would've rather played the Realta Nua version. Though I do have to agree with Suzu's point about the HF route. I can't really see it working as well without the sex scenes. But in Fate and UBW, they're totally unnecessary, that first Fate one is very unreasonable in context, and they're all not very good (lack of voice acting isn't helping any).