What are you playing?

[Kenshin_sama]

Alright, I've gotta hand it to BlazBlue's writer, this guy is crazy smart with how he writes his story. There's a very intricate science fantasy plot and the grand scheme of things aren't explained outright. There are several hints that are laid out regarding the plot throughout the whole story, and it's basically left up to the reader to put everything together and come to a conclusion. I thought everything would be explained a little more simplistically in the true end, but it turns out I was wrong. I'm not entirely fond of this kind of storytelling since I prefer to just take in the emotional parts without having to think too hard about what's going on, but the story is intelligent enough that I can appreciate it more than I normally would.

I probably could have figured the plot out if I wanted to, but I decided to read a plot analysis instead. It probably would have taken me several days just to come up with half the stuff I found in the plot guide on GameFAQ, so yeah. Why do the all the work when someone else has already done it for you, right?

My final score for it on VNDB isn't gonna be very high, and that's mostly because the regular paths were mostly there for build up and not too entertaining by their own merit. They do keep you interested though. I tend to rate VNs based on my experience in every route, and most of the excitement is in the true end. It really is a great game though. And if you're the type of person that likes to figure out complex plots using scattered hints on your own, then you'll likely enjoy BlazBlue more than I did. I definitely plan on playing the rest of the games in this series.

Oh, and if you're able to, get the console version. The Steam version has sync issues with the video and subtitles, and the dub's not that good, lol. The video problem isn't that big a deal since there aren't that many of them, but it's still annoying. Unless you understand Japanese, the only reasonable way around this problem is to play the English dub videos in the game folder since the subs won't work on the Japanese videos, and they're kinda difficult to read when out of sync (they don't show up at all in the last video). It's not worth it to switch the game's audio except for the opening video. The videos in the true end will require you to replay certain game segments (saves are limited and you have to navigate to the options menu outside of story mode) and it kinda breaks the immersion.

[XReaper]

thought it was a good thing to bridge some time until the advent of purino party (yes, seriously so) , as well as waiting for the everlate postman-chan and therefore started reading 2 rather unknown ones, namely cyber-rebeat & kagerou, which stand in stark contrast to eachother plot- & theme-wise. regrettably i got hooked pretty badly on them so far.

edit: going to have legit nightmares for sure

[Funyarinpa]

rereading Higurashi's second chapter Watanagashi, because it's amazing and Tatarigoroshi is too late for me. Was craving something with as likable as a cast and found nothing.

[Fred the Barber]

Since they're all I've been reading lately, I'll take a moment to say good things about the last project I edited for and the one I'm currently editing:
To Heart 2 is pretty entertaining. It's a straightforward moege with a huge cast of heroines, and to some extent represents the solidification of many of the tropes you see today. One interesting thing about this is that there are some tropes there that didn't end up being popular enough to become super common, but which might be to your taste. And on that note, I'd like to recommend:

Spoiler

 

 

Tama-nee is the older sister figure you secretly wish you had in your life, but wouldn't admit to it even here. She was my favorite character I encountered in the game, even though her route didn't live up to her character. Also, her H-scene at the end of the route is intense
And then there's the twins.

Spoiler

 

They've got the opposite thing going on from Tama-nee - none of the characters on this route are as amazing as she, but the route is way, way better than I anticipated going in. The drama is surprisingly real. I was a little bit leery when I picked it up. I mean... twins? Sounds like an obvious play for whipping up teenage males into a frenzy without putting out too much effort. And, yeah, it is that. But it's also filled with relatable conflict and relationship difficulties that feel less like your typical moege artificial obstacles and more like understandable human problems. And then at the end:

Spoiler

 

twincest

 

So yeah, play the twins' route, too.

Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't heartily encourage you to play through all the bad ending scenes for the twins (one wrong choice and you'll land there, anyway). That's not just me wanting someone to read the stuff I edited - it's often legitimately hilarious, and one scene is crushingly heartbreaking. I'd find it a tragedy if nobody else ever played the game-within-the-game, Love Love New Heart, and equally tragic if you don't get to have your heart broken the way mine was by some of those scenes.

 

And so, that leaves my current project, MajoKoiNikki:

Spoiler

It's good. Like, really good. So far I've only read the prologue (which I've now read most of twice, and first-pass edited half of myself), but I'm very, very excited to keep reading and see what happens next, and I'm basically head over heels for all the characters. When we were divvying up first-pass edit duties for the character routes a couple days ago, I literally couldn't decide which routes I wanted because all the girls are so much fun. Look forward to it!

[akaritan]

I finished No, Thank You!!! a bit ago. It was my first BL title, and I liked it enough. The art is very nice, and it's one of those stories that you can tell has been very well planned out in advance, which always makes me happy. There's a lot of replay value, and the addition of new text after finishing portions of the game helps with that, but it does make it very annoying to get 100%.

 

I might move on to Ozmafia, but I'm going to want to read Grisaia no Meikyuu when it comes out as well. Should I wait on Ozmafia and get Grisaia as soon as it comes out, or start Ozmafia now? And is there a recommended route order for Ozmafia?

[Eclipsed]

Rip in pieces @Zenophilious, but I'm finally ready to commit to Fate/Stay \/

[BookwormOtaku]

Finished the Brute route for euphoria, that was...interesting

Now moving on to try and finish the true route and after several minutes of skipped text...I was not expecting this game to remind me of an episode of Red Dwarf

Spoiler

"Back to Reality" Actually in that scene if they'd revealed Keisuke's real name was Duane Dibbley this game would get an instant 10/10

 

[Kawasumi]

4 hours ago, BookwormOtaku said:

Finished the Brute route for euphoria, that was...interesting

Now moving on to try and finish the true route and after several minutes of skipped text...I was not expecting this game to remind me of an episode of Red Dwarf

  Hide contents

"Back to Reality" Actually in that scene if they'd revealed Keisuke's real name was Duane Dibbley this game would get an instant 10/10

 

I always love the last scene

Spoiler

What a beautiful collection  

 

[gunter]

On 19/06/2016 at 10:46 AM, Kawasumi said:

I always love the last scene

  Reveal hidden contents

What a beautiful collection  

 

hehehe, i totally agree with you on this point x)

i just finished kara no shojo the second episode (i'm amazed by how intricate the relations betweens the characters are,and by how we had clues about how all this will end from the beginning )  and i just find kinda low and depressed right now (it had to be expected from this kind of game ) nonetheless,i'm waiting for the third episode .

and currently,i'm playing Steins;Gate, i just finished suzuah's end . all the technical description are slightly hard to understand for me,but i enjoy it a lot .

[BookwormOtaku]

Finally finished euphoria. I have to say it's been a good read, and while the ending's good I can't  help but feel a little less than satisfied. I'd say it's a combination of wanting to see Keisuke do a little more after what was explained  in the epilogue and the last scene feels a little on the short side.

One thing though...

Spoiler

After the credits rolled something about the game became strangely similar in feel to NO, THANK YOU!!! from the whole secret organization bits to the bittersweet tone (though if you count Ryu's route as the true ending NTY arguably ends on a happier note than euphoria). Of course there's also the fact that it's the same artist, but still...Seeing as ClockUp and parade have the same parent company it kind of has me wishing for a crossover

 

[HotTrax]

Sakura no Mori Dreamers – 

 

Was a bit surprised to see on how much of a happy note all of the individual routes ended on. \m/ 

12 no Tsuki no Eve – 

 

IDK why I have been sitting on for a while but finally got around to it. With something like time travel it can always fall apart and lose you sometimes. This managed to not go off the rails, too much, and was understandable. I enjoyed the format the story was told in, the different paths playing out and what resulted from that specific timeline playing out. There were some lingering things that I would have liked to know more about but eh. Overall alright OST, good art (glad they toned down the sizes in other games, cause those things are huge), and an okay ending.

Astralair – 
With FD this year decided to revisit. I did not really like Kotori all that much at first. Her attitude at times was annoying but now I think she is fine. Corona I like her and all but she does not deserve the worst ending ever created. Ichika is too damn adorable, nothing major happens in her route but who cares? She is the best. Rinne = yes. Descriptions of after stories sound great, especially the main route.

 

[Chuee]

1 hour ago, HotTrax said:

Ichika is too damn adorable, nothing major happens in her route but who cares? She is the best. 

Finally, someone that agrees with me. 

 

[XReaper]

thanks to tyrosin (ill-willed) recommendation movie-wise i´m now mentally unable to proceed reading kagerou , so i switched over to fictional hero gin gaia instead. took me alittle for warming up to it, but now i´m having a blast.

[Tyr]

3 hours ago, XReaper said:

thanks to tyrosin (ill-willed) recommendation

Only the best feels from me, buddy.

[Funyarinpa]

Rereading Higurashi's second chapter, Watanagashi. It is amazing, it is beautiful. It's terrifying. It's heartbreaking. It's heartwarming. 

This is shaping up to be one of my favorite VNs. 

[DarkZedge]

Just finished Majikoi A-1 and now I'm playing Grisaia no Yuukan..afterwards I'm gonna finish the before route from Root Double then finish The House In Fata Morgana.

Made it my mission to finish up all the stuff I've started. 

[XReaper]

18 minutes ago, DarkZedge said:

Just finished Majikoi A-1 and now I'm playing Grisaia no Yuukan..afterwards I'm gonna finish the before route from Root Double then finish The House In Fata Morgana.

Made it my mission to finish up all the stuff I've started. 

a noble task, which i utterly failed to accomplish myself...

[DarkZedge]

9 minutes ago, XReaper said:

a noble task, which i utterly failed to accomplish myself...

Don't suffer, we all fall prey to this kind of behavior..we just need to get fired up and not let stuff we started pile up just because some other things came out or we found out about them.

You can do it, I know you can just like I will do so. 

[Turnip Sensei]

Don't know what others think, but VA-11 HALL-A is enough of a visual novel for me.

And it's pretty damn good. The characters are quirky and interesting and so is the dystopian setting. The random conversations in the bar are really engaging, flowing really naturally between silly and serious topics, much like random conversations normally tend to do. It also looks really dope, the soundtrack is a blast and the game just oozes character.

Can't think of a better way to spend a nice summer evening. Time to mix up some more drinks, turn on the scan-lines, up the volume a notch and get back waifu bartending!   

[Scorp]

Same for me. Valhalla is definitely an old-school VN, with choices replaced with mixed drinks. Have a vibe similar to Snatcher. Also another good retro-style VN Adventure is Read Only Memories (this one looks even more like Snatcher and Policenauts).

[Daydreamer97]

After hearing about how good Higurashi is, I bought the Chapters 1 and 2 bundle on Steam last week and started playing. I finally finished Chapter 1 yesterday and I'm on Chapter 2 now. Now, I understand the hype. It's really good. Even the lighthearted comedy stuff at the beginning didn't bother me much, I still liked reading it. Chapter 1 really creeped me out and scared me. I reached a point in the vn when I was reading at maybe 4:30 in the morning, closed it and waiting until dawn before playing again because I got so scared. Still, I've enjoyed Higurashi more than any otome game I've played even if it's horror and I generally don't touch horror stuff.

The Steam Sale starts tomorrow so I'm probably buying The House in Fata Morgana and possibly G-Senjou no Maou or maybe World End Economica.

[Vokoca]

Finished Kara no Shoujo 2 some days ago. I was kind of let down by the true ending and overall less ambitious structure (no complex bad ending routes) compared to the first one - that coupled with there being almost no twists that would really surprise me made me enjoy it a little bit less than the first entry in the series.... is what I feel tempted to say, but the superior character interaction and presentation of the sequel put it at the same level as its predecessor in the end. I would give it an 8/10, although that doesn't really mean anything anyway, haha. I expected to be depressed more, hopefully the last entry in the trilogy can deliver on that when it comes out.

Speaking of unfinished trilogies, upon some masochistic impulse I've decided to start reading Mahoyo. I'm really enjoying it so far.... which makes this entire experience that much worse, because we all know Nasu is never going to finish that thing anyway.  If anything, Mahoyo truly sets the new standard for what a chuuni VN's presentation should be like - a stndard that probably no one will be able to follow, unfortunately. Also, whoever decided it was a good idea not to include VAs despite how ridiculously high-budget everything else is deserves a whack over the head - and if it was Nasu he deserves at least two.

[Fred the Barber]

3 hours ago, Vokoca said:

Finished Kara no Shoujo 2 some days ago. I was kind of let down by the true ending and overall less ambitious structure (no complex bad ending routes) compared to the first one - that coupled with there being almost no twists that would really surprise me made me enjoy it a little bit less than the first entry in the series.... is what I feel tempted to say, but the superior character interaction and presentation of the sequel put it at the same level as its predecessor in the end. I would give it an 8/10, although that doesn't really mean anything anyway, haha. I expected to be depressed more, hopefully the last entry in the trilogy can deliver on that when it comes out.

Speaking of unfinished trilogies, upon some masochistic impulse I've decided to start reading Mahoyo. I'm really enjoying it so far.... which makes this entire experience that much worse, because we all know Nasu is never going to finish that thing anyway.  If anything, Mahoyo truly sets the new standard for what a chuuni VN's presentation should be like - a stndard that probably no one will be able to follow, unfortunately. Also, whoever decided it was a good idea not to include VAs despite how ridiculously high-budget everything else is deserves a whack over the head - and if it was Nasu he deserves at least two.

I'm pretty sure lack of voice acting is Nasu's thing, though I don't remember where I read that (perhaps in ancient history somewhere in this very thread) - F/SN didn't have them until it was forced on him for the Vita Realta Nua release.

[Suzu Fanatic]

19 minutes ago, Fred the Barber said:

I'm pretty sure lack of voice acting is Nasu's thing, though I don't remember where I read that (perhaps in ancient history somewhere in this very thread) - F/SN didn't have them until it was forced on him for the  Vita  PS2 Realta Nua release.

Fixed

Speaking of which, calling @bogdankl how F/SN coming along for you? Or have you had a chance to go through any more of it?

[Fred the Barber]

12 minutes ago, Suzu Fanatic said:

Fixed

Speaking of which, calling @bogdankl how F/SN coming along for you? Or have you had a chance to go through any more of it?

Oops. Can you tell I flunked History of VNs 101?