What are you playing?

[Suzu Fanatic]

5 minutes ago, Fred the Barber said:

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

It's alright, I can barely remember what I did last month, but I can remember articles I read in a gaming magazine almost 30 years ago. It's a useless gift

[bogdankl]

5 hours 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?

 

I lost broke my glasses and stopped reading cuz I was half blind and did not want to put my nose 2 cm away from the monitor :))

now that I got some new glasses and a new monitor it's time to restart tho...

 

Spoiler

Illyasviel's brutal death and archer kidnapping Rin afther betraying her left a pretty bad and depressing taste in my mouth

 BTW I was saying that it was ridiculous felling bad for Caster but I absolutely adore Illya even tho she is basically just as bad as caster :))

 

it's time to restart... tomorrow cuz i can't hold my eyes open, too tired, too sleepy

[Suzu Fanatic]

Just now, bogdankl said:

 

I lost broke my glasses and stopped reading cuz I was half blind and did not want to put my nose 2 cm away from the monitor :))

now that I got some new glasses and a new monitor it's time to restart tho...

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Illyasviel's brutal death and archer kidnapping Rin afther betraying her left a pretty bad and depressing taste in my mouth

 BTW I was saying that it was ridiculous felling bad for Caster but I absolutely adore Illya even tho she is basically just as bad as caster :))

I know what that's like all too well ;_; (glasses breaking)

@spoiler - that just means the writer is succeeding at his job

[Turnip Sensei]

VA-11 HALL-A turned out to be pretty excellent.

It's those kind of games with lot of heart that I really like. It's obviously made with lot of love for Cyberpunk and Japanese popular culture, a weird mix that works. The setting both parody and depressing portrayal of itself, as well as parody of modern times. Waifuboom 2010s, click-bait newspapers, VR-porn... There's lots of anime references, but mostly as secondary punchline.

Core part of the game is just talking with various clientele. The characters are wonderfully varied, some more important than others, but seeing new ones is always exciting. There might be few that rub you the wrong way, but it's strange how fast your view of the people might change after talking a bit a sharing a drink. Much of it is thanks to the writing, which is witty, engaging and very life-like. They dialogue is snappy and entertaining, and manage to be clear and not unnecessary complicated while talking about more heavier themes like politics. Through dialogue with the clients you get to know them better and learn about their stories. And while It's interesting to learn more about them, at some point I just started look forward to seeing the familiar faces again, hearing what silly things they have to say. Or serious topics too, VA-11 HALL-A doesn't shy way from more darker themes. Depression, insecurities and so on, these are handled pretty naturally, but never become too overwhelming. 

VA-11 HALL-A is just nice heartful game about human interaction. It's silly and little grim at the same time, but very humane overall. People don't change fundamentally that much, be it dystopian future or whatever. There's good and bad times, work sucks and future is scary. And there's always a need for a cup of alcohol and someone to talk. Sometimes you might even find a friend that way.

The developers suggestion is very apt, VA-11 HALL-A is best enjoyed by getting comfy, maybe with drink in hand. And just enjoy the good music, great atmosphere and have fun with the story and the characters.   

[bogdankl]

OH MY FUCKING GOD

I stopped reading literally less than 10 fucking lines before the reveal of who archer is, fuck my life... that twist tho :))

 

fate/stay night could have easily been one of the greatest jrpg's of all time, hell you've got a perfect foundation with all the stats and special powers that the servants have

[Fred the Barber]

I picked up VA-11 Hall-A earlier today and played through the first day so far. The prologue grabbed my attention right away, and the game is fun and engaging. There's gameplay elements, yes, but ultimately the game is basically just about reading character dialogue, so as Turnip said, it's enough of a VN for me. And I'm quite pleased to say that the writing does not suck, which is crucial given that the game is, well, pretty much just dialogue. The gorgeous pixel art and excellent soundtrack sure as hell aren't hurting my impression of the game, either.

[Vokoca]

5 hours ago, bogdankl said:

fate/stay night could have easily been one of the greatest jrpg's of all time, hell you've got a perfect foundation with all the stats and special powers that the servants have

Well, Fate/EXTRA is a thing. 

 

I've deiced to work on my Vita backlog and read something on the side with Mahoyo, so I've started the PSP edition of Hayarigami. The main subject matter of this VN are urban legends. Have you ever thought about what would happen if you took Phoenix Wright and replaced all the cases with creepypastas? Yeah, probably not, but the authors here apparently did.  The main mechanics of the VN are as follows - collecting Database entries (sometimes this feels more like wikipedia itself, I am pretty shocked how detailed they are), managing your Courage Points, which functions as a very limited currency allowing you to select specific choices; and lastly filling out the Inference Logic chart, which basically asks you to fill out people'S relations and identities. You can do this optionally at any time, but at the end of each case you are asked to check it for the last time, and your performance will be graded. I've only finished the first case so far. At first, it seemed strangely short - and only then I found out that the arc actually has multiple ways you can go through it. You can even get an ending without seeing much of the truth behind the crime at all, or flat out get an bad end too. 

The story was pretty interesting so far. The art is strange, kind of water-coloury, but it fits the atmosphere. The soundtrack is surprisingly good... and the OP is... liveaction.  That, coupled with no voiceacting, gives the entire VN that obscure, almost janky feel that's somehow very enjoyable in the end - pretty curious where it goes from here.

[HotTrax]

Otome Domain – Cutest dude ever. 
Ha at the bit towards end of ch.1. 
 

[Thunderbro]

Recently got back into the Steins;gate VN. I got the Suzuha and Faris endings so far and I'm excited to read through the other character endings that couldn't make the cut into the anime. 

[john 'mr. customer' smith]

Reread saya no uta, this time with the physical copy, which was uncensored and i could've sworn has more CG's

Anyway, still brilliant

[bogdankl]

WAIT WHAT, GRISAIA NO MEIKYUU WAS TRANSLATED??? WTF, WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME oh my god oh my god OH MY GOD

 

is there anywhere I can track the status of the 18+ version? Grisaia was I think my second vn and one of the big reasons I am reading vns (hipster here, read it before it got on steam... I think) and I read the 18+ version so I would like to continue like that

[Vokoca]

29 minutes ago, bogdankl said:

WAIT WHAT, GRISAIA NO MEIKYUU WAS TRANSLATED??? WTF, WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME oh my god oh my god OH MY GOD

 

is there anywhere I can track the status of the 18+ version? Grisaia was I think my second vn and one of the big reasons I am reading vns (hipster here, read it before it got on steam... I think) and I read the 18+ version so I would like to continue like that

Not trying to rain on your parade or anything, but you might actually want to wait before Rakuen is translated as well before you read the grand route. The grand route continues the main plot in the series - but it also has probably the worst cliffhanger in existence. It's just setup with no payoff; unless you have some amazing patience, I would recommend waiting for Rakuen too to save yourself from the suffering. 

That said Meikyuu also has afterstories for every single route in Kajitsu, and these at least don't attempt to murder you with an unfinished story.

[DharmaFreedom]

Just finished Majikoi S [held on to koyuki's route for A-1's release]. It was an enjoyable read.

I got A-1, Tokyo Babel, Seinarukana, Root Double and Dracu-Riot waiting, among a list of others.  I love Majikoi so i sort of want to hold on to A-1 longer and just savor the fact that its there waiting for me to read. Had a taste of Mio's route with Dracu-Riot, but figured i better just wait a couple of months for the edit and Miu translation. The teams going to the trouble to do it for us and all. Ready to devour both those Vn's though.

No idea which to pick next...

[onorub]

Doing Rio's route in Dracu-Riot and i think i'm getting too old. I got so bored during the misunderstanding scenes between her and the MC that i started playing this song over them:

Spoiler

 

 

[Suzu Fanatic]

17 hours ago, Vokoca said:

Not trying to rain on your parade or anything, but you might actually want to wait before Rakuen is translated as well before you read the grand route. The grand route continues the main plot in the series - but it also has probably the worst cliffhanger in existence. It's just setup with no payoff; unless you have some amazing patience, I would recommend waiting for Rakuen too to save yourself from the suffering. 

That said Meikyuu also has afterstories for every single route in Kajitsu, and these at least don't attempt to murder you with an unfinished story.

Yeah, I've made the painful decision to wait for +18 Rakuen to come out before getting into it - the idea of a cliffhanger is not appealing~

[Any]

19 hours ago, onorub said:

Doing Rio's route in Dracu-Riot and i think i'm getting too old. I got so bored during the misunderstanding scenes between her and the MC that i started playing this song over them:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

I finished her route already, accidentally deleted the game, need to get it back to continue Azusa's route, if possible I would like to hack it as well since someone's already translating it, btw Rio and Yuto look good together

Spoiler

 

[Dreamysyu]

Tokyo Babel, finished Sorami's route. I am pretty impressed by this VN so far, it's much better than I expected. Raziel's route in the end drags a bit too slow because there are a bit too many fight scenes, and actual plot isn't very interesting, but Sorami's route changed the balance.

Pros: great idea, great story, nice interesting characters, good fight scenes.

Cons: very little actual character development. Also, I would prefer the plot to be a bit less adolescent (though it's probably just nitpicking).

Now, need to finish Lilith's route and start second Grisaia... probably, in another two months. RL has been taking quite a lot of time recently.

[Vokoca]

Picked up Zero Time Dilemma yesterday, if that even still counts as a VN at this point. Got an ending in the first 5 minutes of playing, 10/10 playtime truly worth the money.

No but really, it's pretty interesting so far. Here's hoping for Uchikoshi not falling back onto his usual plottwist.

[Scorp]

19 minutes ago, Vokoca said:

Picked up Zero Time Dilemma yesterday, if that even still counts as a VN at this point. Got an ending in the first 5 minutes of playing, 10/10 playtime truly worth the money.

No but really, it's pretty interesting so far. Here's hoping for Uchikoshi not falling back onto his usual plottwist.

No doubt he will, as he do not know any new tricks at all in 20 years. I spent about 15 hours on ZTD, and so far it is rough copy-paste/reuse of all VLR puzzles/story. Actually only good scenes were in C Team, other two had almost no interesting moments so far (I first completed all what was possible in Q and D, opened 2 endings). My only hope that final ending would be something, as so far it is just mediocre scenes, too much gore, bad character development.

 

[bogdankl]

I haven't been exactly at mu best in the past two days so I have yet to start the havens feel route but holy hell reading the preface of the walkthrough I'm like, is this a walkthrough for a vn or a grand strategy game :)) either way... my body is ready

 

this is probably the first time when I say this but I "enjoyed" the true end for the UBW route more than the good end

Spoiler

it just feels like a fitting end, I love saber I really do, but when I heard she has to stay in this world and feed of the magical energy they give her It just felt... off, If saber is to stay in this world I think she needs to become a full blooded human again(which I doubt will happen), also great fight between shiro and gilgamesh the cg where he is stabbed in the head is just about the most beautiful and satisfying thing I ever saw

side note: from what I read in the vn I think the holy grail is some sort of ancient mesopotamian evil (I hope they delve into this more in the haven's feel route) but i found it pretty funny that a the hero gilgamesh is trying so hard to use it also I hope I'll get more Illya in this route, I think she is just about the best part of this vn 

 

[HMN]

Finally finished Grisaia no rakuen's grand route a few days ago,and i can't emphasize how extremely exaggerated the story was towards the final parts of it i still enjoyed it pls don't judge. Now i understand why it's being described as a "Hollywood movie". O_o

I don't think the "prologue of grisaia" is worth my time,though,and i've already had enough of the VN for now,so i started majikoi A-5.

Heard great things about Margit's route in A-5. Hopefully it can deliver~

Spoiler

cute.

 

[Barktooth]

Still playing HoshiMemo, finished secret heroine's route finally.

Spoiler

Great route, I cried several times. This really is like the perfectly executed nakige IMO. I don't know if Mare's route can be better than this, I'm a huge sucker for the whole childhood promise thing and that's what made this route for me. The ending was pretty sweet, You-kun made an amulet out of Mare's meteorite, kind of like Taiga and Ren.

The part with Kasumi somehow sending him back in time to re-do everything was kind of bullshit, but I'm not going to hold that against the story because it's just too good in every other aspect.

Annoying how this route had so little CGs compared to others, they really skimped out on it.

[Mr Poltroon]

After years of waiting, I have finally started reading CLANNAD. Time to see myself how uneventful and padded the majority of it is.

I'm also taking on the challenge of landing in a route of my choice without consulting a walkthrough. I've played a good number of 'old' Key games before. I've played One ~The Radiant Season~. I'm ready for the nonsensical and apparently meaningless choices that somehow land me in a random character's route.

Another important part is the OST. I've actually never heard CLANNAD's OST, so that will be interesting. Here's hoping this one's as comedic in nature as most other Key VN's. Since I've already watched the anime, here's, uh, hoping things don't get too sad.

[Fred the Barber]

On 6/28/2016 at 8:38 AM, bogdankl said:

this is probably the first time when I say this but I "enjoyed" the true end for the UBW route more than the good end

The "true" endings in F/SN were definitely more emotionally satisfying than the alternative endings, for me. As for the UBW "Good" Ending:

Spoiler

It just made me feel bad for Rin. It not only feels like a harem end, which I'm not a fan of in general), but one where one of the girls is decidedly less loved than the other. Which just kind of sucks.

 

[Vokoca]

Well, finished ZTD (yeah, I know it isn't really a VN anymore, but hey, it started as one...). I wasn't disappointed, though I wasn't super impressed either - which, in the end, is a good result I suppose. I had two main issues with VLR; the main plottwist being pretty much a carbon copy of Uchikoshi's previous works, and the characters being all just eccentric.... nothings. ZTD improves on the characters a lot, as I at least personally found them much more interesting than the previous cast - or their previous rendition; as for the plottwists.... well, they are similar, as you'd expect, but not to an insulting degree like VLR, at the very least. Uchikoshi at least tries to focus on new things while using all his old tricks, some of which in a pretty interesting way - my only complaint about the story being that the Zero gimmick/reveal was even more stupid and unbelievable than VLR's was. I love dumb plottwists, but there are just some things Uchikoshi tries to get away with and it doesn't really work. He was really pushing it in VLR already, but here it just feels downright unbelievable. Still, it wasn't really the crux of the entire story, so I could look past it at least.

Overall, I enjoyed it a bit more than VLR. For better or worse, it is just more Uchikoshi - but at least this time he knows his tricks are already known, and doesn't try to hide them all up until the true ending.