What are you playing?

[snowbell55]

Well, I get to cross an item off my VN bucket list today - I finished off The Fruit of Grisaia. Just the Yumiko route, mind, but still, I'm really happy about it as it's one VN I've been wanting to read since having finished Katawa Shoujo, which means, in essence, about as long as I've been reading VNs. Unfortunately, though, I didn't really like it and I'm quite underwhelmed thus far (probably due to having overly high expectations). Part of that is probably because I wasn't actually all that interested in Yumiko (I stumbled onto her route by accident) and the other part is most likely because I found her route to be, well, underwhelming. 

The Fruit of Grisaia Yumiko route spoilers

Spoiler

It seemed to be your generic "come out from under the thumb of your corporate father" route which I've seen before in Noble (☆) Works. Admittedly, it was fleshed out better here, but I still felt like it was overwrought and manufactured. I didn't really have that much a connection towards Yumiko (not sure if that's the right way to write it), and I think shortly after the flashback happened it became clear that that was going to be an issue going forward, which sadly wound up being the case. If I'd cared more about her story then perhaps it would've hit harder but alas. The other thing I didn't like was the time-skipping. After the climax of the route there was a bunch of timeskipping and it felt like it was going to fast-forward to try and pack in a few emotional moments (oh look the Dad has been visiting to try and find peace with himself - oh look now they have a kid) but didn't have the time to actually flesh those points out or make them impactful so they wound up coming across as being by-the-numbers. I found this to be especially egregious with the baby (who's been there for maybe 15 minutes at most) somehow making Yumiko's dad "thaw" - something he never really did during the rest of the story. 

Things aren't all bad though - I really liked the SD art, and the common route sections were great too. I also like the music, and the extras portion of the VN is the best I've come across yet, with several options I've not seen before, like being able to choose specific scenes to replay. I really like the amount of options they packed in there. 

I'm still hoping (and expecting) that the other routes will be better, and I'm going in terms of least interested to most interested, so will read the Makina route next, then Sachi, then Amane or Michiru (still undecided) before finishing with whichever route from the previous two I haven't read yet. It is entirely possible, though, that I might make a pit stop and read eden* before continuing onwards.

Edited September 14, 2018 by snowbell55

[Thyndd]

4 hours ago, snowbell55 said:

I'm still hoping (and expecting) that the other routes will be better

For what it's worth, Yumiko's route was also my least favorite. I liked her character, but her route was for me, as you said, pretty uninteresting. My favorite routes were definitely Sachi's and Amane's. Without spoilers, Sachi is a big hit or miss and I ended up loving it  (it might be totally different for you though), while Amane's route is the most generally considered "solid route overall", and it's many people's favorite. Makina is also pretty interesting... as long as loli stuff doesn't weird you out  And as you've already experienced during the common route, her lines are gold, so you ain't getting bored. She was my first Grisaia heroine btw, being the order I followed Makina -> Sachi -> Amane -> Michiru -> Yumiko. It's often suggested as a starter route because it provides a little more insight into Yuuji's character, which is appreciated when it comes to understanding his interactions in the other routes down the line.

Michiru... I adore her, but her route doesn't harmonize at all with the rest. Really, if you feel like taking a break from Grisaia, reading Michiru's route can ironically have a similar effect  

[r0xm2n]

Finally on my new PC build! Hooray!

Gotta finish putting on essential programs, then I'm re-downloading MUV-LUV...

[LanThief(HUN)]

11 hours ago, r0xm2n said:

Finally on my new PC build! Hooray!

Gotta finish putting on essential programs, then I'm re-downloading MUV-LUV...

Well i didin't need a new pc because it is a beast

[Thyndd]

I read Sono hanabira ni kuchizuke wo, the first game, which is both my first yuri eroge ever and my first nukige (that I played to completion, at least)  The only other nukige I tried was Nekopara and couldn't get past the first half (is Nekopara a nukige? I mean, it must be right? I can't fathom why else people would play it). Welp, since Sonohana is very short this time I managed to finish it in not much more than 2 hours. 

I went in with zero expectations aside from some cute yuri scenes, but I'm not even the biggest yuri fan, so not even that factor could've made it more appealing for me. Verdict? Wow, it's actually not terrible! Of course I wouldn't expect full-fledged characterization in a 2 hour long game, 1 hour being exclusively dedicated to h-scenes, but the relationship between Yuna and Nanami had some interesting aspects. Honestly, the fact that I went back and forth between feeling conflicted by the nature of their relationship (you know, emotional blackmail) and seconds later I understood that as some sort of game they both enjoyed is a pretty amazing feat for this kind of game. I can definitely see why it's considered top quality within the yuri eroge world.

Not the kind of thing I'm used to reading, but now and then it's good to try new stuff 

[Inorin]

Finally completed the entirety of 428 Shibuya Scramble after 51 hours.

 

I had actually completed the main story 2 days ago but because I was supposed to complete a walkthrough, I had to go over everything that needs to be completed. The effort that I had to go through for meh content kind of dampened my experience with the game, but I still quite liked the game nonetheless. Contrary to my initial expectations, there are actually voice acting and animated images in the Canaan chapter. It was an interesting read and provides a bit of background information for 2 prominent characters in the game. While there weren't any mind-blowing plot twists or super emotional moments in the game, it doesn't suffer from any major pacing issues (if you discount the bad ends) which is always a plus. Overall I'm going to give it a 8 out of 10.

P.S Canaan kind of reminds me a little of Ryogi Shiki from Kara no Kyoukai LOL

 

[adamstan]

Browsing all translated VNs on vndb, I stumbled upon Koi iro Chu! Lips, which seems to be rather obscure moege. Let's give it a try  

[Thyndd]

I think the time has come for me to play Umineko. I've been putting it off because it's long af and from what I've heard, a pretty dense read, and I'm lazy  Furthermore, I easily get obsessed over a mistery or challenge of some sort and yeah... I can waste all day thinking about it, so I'm pretty scared of what Umineko might do to me. 

I only know the basic premise. The head of some rich family is going to kick the bucket and everyone gathers in an island to discuss over the inheritance, then they get killed   The setting looks like something out of Meitantei Conan. Oh, and I've also heard that:

There is super natural stuff, magic and witches. This kinda spoils a little the mistery I guess, and probably I'd be better off not knowin, but oh well, what's been seen cannot be unseen.

 

Well, that's all, wish me luck 

[Inorin]

6 hours ago, Thyndd said:

I think the time has come for me to play Umineko. I've been putting it off because it's long af and from what I've heard, a pretty dense read, and I'm lazy  Furthermore, I easily get obsessed over a mistery or challenge of some sort and yeah... I can waste all day thinking about it, so I'm pretty scared of what Umineko might do to me. 

I only know the basic premise. The head of some rich family is going to kick the bucket and everyone gathers in an island to discuss over the inheritance, then they get killed   The setting looks like something out of Meitantei Conan. Oh, and I've also heard that:

 

  Hide contents

There is super natural stuff, magic and witches. This kinda spoils a little the mistery I guess, and probably I'd be better off not knowin, but oh well, what's been seen cannot be unseen.

 

Well, that's all, wish me luck 

Well, I wish you the best of luck Umineko's not an ordinary murder mystery where everything gets revealed in the end. Most things are purposely made vague and you gotta wrack your brains to figure out what the murders are all about. Even if you search online for answers, there won't just be a single theory to explain everything. If you still have doubts after finishing the game, I would suggest reading the manga (which is what I'm doing now btw) since I've heard that it explains many vague areas which weren't properly covered in the vn.

[Dreamysyu]

9 hours ago, Thyndd said:

Oh, and I've also heard that:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

There is super natural stuff, magic and witches. This kinda spoils a little the mistery I guess, and probably I'd be better off not knowin, but oh well, what's been seen cannot be unseen.

 

Well, that's all, wish me luck 

Believe me, this spoils almost nothing. Good luck!

Just don't read it too fast. Umineko is the best if you give yourself some time to stop and think for a bit.

[littleshogun]

As for now I decided to put aside of Your Diary because of technical issue, and decided to go back to Fureraba now that I'd enter Misakichi's route proper. Let's see if I could finish her route (And therefore Finished Fureraba) by the end of this month.

[adamstan]

I just finished a rather obscure moege, Koiiro Chu! Lips, and have to admit - it was nice.

After reading discussions over at vndb forums I was worried, but, as it turned out - needlessly. True, the game is built around popular tropes, but it is executed nicely, characters are likeable, and I haven't got to the point of being tired/bored by those tropes yet

Setup is little similar to what we'll later see in SakuSaku, the main difference being that Karen is honest Cupid, and not loli shinigami dreaming of changing her occupation

Game uses "anime-format", similar to Heart de Roommate, complete with episodes, previews, eye-catcher screen in the middle, etc.etc. However, playing OP and ED for each episode was little too much. So, overally it was nice, but I think HdR executed it better.

Common route does good job at presenting all characters, and there are lots of funny bits in there as well. I liked the SD CG's very much. It would be nice, if there was a route for Rinka (iinchou), as she seems to be nice girl too, but well, can't have it all...

As for routes, I started with Karen

It was nice love story, I really liked Karen in it, and how the whole story unfolded. There were some tear-jerking moments near the end too.

Next was Shizuku-sensei

This route was very good too, with many funny as well as romantic moments. There is also nice plot twist, with Shizuku being actually

Spoiler

Ojou-sama with overprotective father and arranged marriage on the horizon

There were also some nice thoughts about relationships in general thrown into dialogues. And dialogues between Karen and Mei in previews for this route's "episodes" were absolutely brilliant, the best in the whole game.

After that I went onto Misaki's route

While Misaki herself was sweet, her route felt little bland, despite writer's effort to spice things up using Yuu It wasn't bad, but in terms of "how much did it move me", it was the weakest.

Then, Nagisa:

I found her rather annoying in common route, but her route surprised me, as I got to really like and care for her. Also, this route gives off some KEY vibes near the end

Spoiler

The thing with Nagisa being alter-ego, embodiment of Mei's unrequited feelings, reminded me of Michiru from AIR or Mio from LittleBusters.

And finally, the highlight of the whole game, and the "true" or main heroine - Mirai

Man, I have soft spot for tsundere and osananajimi heroines, and here it was done really well. That route hit me hard in the feels many times - even in supposedly mundane moments. Mirai is great, as far as tsunderes go, she's for me right up there with Kotori Habane from Konosora (well, maybe slightly behind, Kotori being still my best girl ). Truly great route, I'm glad that I saved it for the end.

I really liked the way H-scenes were handled in this game. If I have any fetish, it would be vanilla And the scenes in Koiiro are great, clearly of the "making love" rather than "fucking" kind, filled with some sweet (and sometimes even tear-jerking) dialogues. This is one of those games that wouldn't do well as all-ages title, at least not without some serious rewriting to show all that affection in some different way.

Graphics and music were good, nothing to complain about.

Translation is rather on the "liberal" side. Something like Fureraba, but with some meme references/4chan speak thrown in. It works surprisingly well, and it's mostly done with comedic bits. Serious moments are serious, just as they should. There are many typos, but besides that, it's good.

So, overally, I think it deserves something around 7.5/10

Quite enjoyable experience, if you're not totally anti-moege, give it a try.

Edited September 22, 2018 by adamstan

[LanThief(HUN)]

Iv'e never tried these vn's before.But iv'e heard of them.

I will give them a try when im finishd whit DeCapo3 X-Rated

Anyway thanks for the heads up

Edited September 22, 2018 by LanThief(HUN)

[adamstan]

2 minutes ago, LanThief(HUN) said:

Anyway thanks for the heads up

You're welcome

Actually, I just accidentally stumbled upon it by browsing all translated releases on VNDB. Haven't heard of it before.

Edited September 22, 2018 by adamstan

[Dreamysyu]

So, yeah, I was reading it pretty passively, so it took me some time to finish it, but I'm more or less done with Grisaia no Rakuen. Well, I'll be blunt, the main story is probably the worst part of the whole main trilogy. For some reason the authors decided to drop everything that made the story in the previous games actually good. Character development? Gone. Actually, I feel like even the development from the previous games was dropped for the sake of comedy. I mean, none of the characters felt particularly different from how they were at the beginning of Kajitsu, other than Michiru turning from a lovable idiot into an annoying idiot. Yuuji's monologues are also gone. The comedy, by the way, is pretty repetitive and mostly doesn't even feel funny at this point. Actually, it's quite noticeable that the authors simply ran out of ideas at this point. The story is mostly written in a 3rd person narrative, but it honestly reads like bad writing. Other than that, the pacing is also pretty bad, and the author somehow decided to add weird sci-fi and conspiracy theory elements to the last part of the series. And the ending... is weird, I guess. I don't know, maybe I sound overly negative, because I still can't say I hated this story, but I didn't like it either.

So, yeah, I'm kind of disappointed. I honestly don't feel like reading the After Story. Actually, is it even worth reading if I didn't like the main story? I don't know, Maybe I'll return to it at some point. So far, I'll just drop it.

The Prologue, on the other hand, is really nice. It's nothing amazing, and pretty short, but overall, it's simply a pretty good read.

Final ratings: 5/10 for the main story, 7/10 for the Prologue, 5.5/10 overall.

[snowbell55]

8 hours ago, LanThief(HUN) said:

Iv'e never tried these vn's before.But iv'e heard of them.

I will give them a try when im finishd whit DeCapo3 X-Rated

Anyway thanks for the heads up

What do you think of Da Capo 3 X-Rated? Have you read any of the others in the trilogy before? 

9 hours ago, adamstan said:

I just finished a rather obscure moege, Koiiro Chu! Lips, and have to admit - it was nice.

Y'know, I've been thinking for a bit that our tastes seem to be pretty similar and having read your review of this I now am convinced they are and kind of really really want to read this. I was interested at first, but that combo of tsundere + childhood friend + twintails + canon heroine is much too strong for me to ignore lol. Thanks for writing the review :D. 

Edited September 22, 2018 by snowbell55

[Funyarinpa]

On 9/20/2018 at 4:57 PM, Thyndd said:

I think the time has come for me to play Umineko. I've been putting it off because it's long af and from what I've heard, a pretty dense read, and I'm lazy  Furthermore, I easily get obsessed over a mistery or challenge of some sort and yeah... I can waste all day thinking about it, so I'm pretty scared of what Umineko might do to me. 

I only know the basic premise. The head of some rich family is going to kick the bucket and everyone gathers in an island to discuss over the inheritance, then they get killed   The setting looks like something out of Meitantei Conan. Oh, and I've also heard that:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

There is super natural stuff, magic and witches. This kinda spoils a little the mistery I guess, and probably I'd be better off not knowin, but oh well, what's been seen cannot be unseen.

 

Well, that's all, wish me luck 

you poor, wonderful, innocent fucker.

Do it. Just download the voice only patch and get started.

Godspeed.

[Thyndd]

19 hours ago, Funyarinpa said:

you poor, wonderful, innocent fucker.

Do it. Just download the voice only patch and get started.

Godspeed.

I mean, I've already gone through Higurashi... so I've already experienced at least a little of what Ryukishi07 is capable of... maybe?  We'll see. And on that note, I'm currently halfway through chapter 1 and came across the first mystery, when:

Spoiler

Someone (supposedly Beatrice) lent an umbrella to Maria and gave her a letter. Now they are debating whether a 19th person on the island is plausible. Well, obviously I have nowhere near enough pieces to start putting some theories together about whether Beatrice exists or just what's going on for that matter, so everything is just a big hunch for me right now, but, I'm starting to get Higurashi vibes and something tells me that Beatrice is gonna be this story's Oyashiro-sama, whose existence depends on the perspective from which it's analyzed. As I said, this is a totally baseless assumption, just a big hunch and my experience with the author's previous work.

Anyway, so far I'm enjoying the atmosphere and the characters. At the beginning the youngsters seemed a bit bland in comparison, but now they are starting to get some development. I can't wait to see what's all the fuss about, what with all the teasing 

[Ranzo]

Picked up Kanon for the first time in years and finally finished the Makoto route. Boy has it been a while.

 

[adamstan]

36 minutes ago, Ranzo said:

Picked up Kanon for the first time in years and finally finished the Makoto route. Boy has it been a while.

I think my favourite routes in Kanon were the ones I played first and last - Nayuki and Ayu. But other three were good too. And to think that back in April I sweared that I definitely won't read AIR or Kanon due to their character art style Guess I got gradually used to it via LB! and Clannad, and so then not only was I able to enjoy AIR and Kanon, but One too. Well, life is full of surprises

 

Now, what to read next...?

@snowbell55 - when you get to the Koiiro, write your impressions in this thread, I'm really curious how will you find it.

Edited September 24, 2018 by adamstan

[Dreamysyu]

5 hours ago, Thyndd said:

I mean, I've already gone through Higurashi... so I've already experienced at least a little of what Ryukishi07 is capable of... maybe? 

[Jun Inoue]

Time to replay this great game, this time with the limited run Vita edition! @Templarseeker

 

[Thyndd]

I finished Umineko's first episode and Beatrice's dojo () and man was it fun. I think I'm supposed to rack my brains with this VN, so let's start the guessing game as early as now.

Warning, Umineko spoilers ahead, obviously, but also some from Higurashi and Ever17. 

 

So while I was reading this episode I came to the conclusion that the way they presented the facts, it necessarily required a supernatural explanation. Of course, when a mystery novel seems to want you to think the explanation is supernatural, most often than not the message it really wants to convey to the reader is that it all has a perfectly logical explanation. It's a method to get you excited. And, in case the explanation were indeed magical in nature, enough hints are usually given in order to justify it. That follows from the principle that any story must be meaningful, worthy of being told, and thus every bit and piece must be relevant in one way or another. This is some meta reasoning and therefore it's kinda like cheating, but hey, if witches can cheat, so do I 

 Kihihihi. In Higurashi for an example (and I feel like I'm relying too heavily on Higurashi, but I can't help it... It's a big part of my experience with the genre and it's from the same author, no less...), while ultimately requires some magic here and there, many of the mysterys can be perfectly solved by logic and knowledge of the real world alone, assambling the pieces of the puzzle throughout the different arcs, and some other mysterys employ a combination of fictional stuff (the hinamizawa syndrom, for example) that ultimately explain things fairly logically. The "a wizard did it" type of magic is relegated to those aspects that, while necessary to fully explain the story, don't have a big role for within the internal consistency. 

What I'm getting at is that I'm fairly convinced that Umineko must do something similar. On the other hand I was also fairly convinced that there was no plausible non supernatural theory to explain all the mysterys IF things happened as they are presented. Ergo let's assume they didn't. So, it probably features an unreliable narrator, just like Higurashi. The thing is, I couldn't come up with any reason why the narrator should be unreliable. You see, in Higurashi the reason is the Hinamizawa syndrom, and the fact that you are seeing things through the perspective of people who are infected with it. In ever17 the reason is that the characters themselves must trick you into thinking you are in a different time frame... Well, that's oversimplifying it a lot, but if you read ever17 you sure know what I mean. I couldn't imagine the reason why the Umineko narrators should be unreliable, considering most of the time it's either Battler or a 3rd person (omniscient? Probably). Aaaand then at the end they reveal that everything the story has told was merely based on Maria's diary. Ok then. It sure didn't appear like that from the way the narration was structured, but if it was a literary reconstruction then it's all good. So, my prediction for the next episodes is that they will repeat the story, and it will features some common occurrences and some new ones. I'm guessing the goal will be to solve the mysterys than can be logically solved by putting the pieces together. 

As for the Tea Party, well, you can definitely interpret it as the revelation that the witch exists and has an direct impact in the story (though that doesn't necessarily mean all the mysterys are supernatural, at all), or, given that the characters kinda break, not the 4th, but the 3.5th wall, you can consider that it's the author trying to communicate with the reader. Kinda teasing you a little too 

Welp, let's see what new info will the 2nd episode bring! 

Edited September 26, 2018 by Thyndd

[Dreamysyu]

I guess, it's finally time to read the legendary tale of nazi wizards.

By the way, the 4:3 patch apparently got released today. I guess, it's too early for it, but does anybody have any comments about whether it's actually worth installing? I'm not really sure if I care about cropped images if they don't show anything important tbh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On 9/26/2018 at 7:51 PM, Thyndd said:

I finished Umineko's first episode and Beatrice's dojo () and man was it fun.

Actually, you didn't mention it, but did you read ????? ? I just wanted to say that you should always read both epilogues after you finish the episodes. Unlike with Higurashi, these "dojo" epilogues in Umineko are actually very important for understanding the story.

Well, this time I'm not going to comment on what you write. I personally believe that the best way to enjoy Umineko is to go in completely blind. So, enjoy the second episode. It's going to get even more insane.

On the other hand, it's actually not as easy to spoil as something like Ever17, considering that there are countless "alternative" theories flowing online.

Also, did I say that I'm a massive Umineko fanboy?

[Thyndd]

27 minutes ago, Dreamysyu said:

Actually, you didn't mention it, but did you read ????? ? I just wanted to say that you should always read both epilogues after you finish the episodes. Unlike with Higurashi, these "dojo" epilogues in Umineko are actually very important for understanding the story.

Oh yes I did, the 

Spoiler

Tea party with Beatrice and totally-not-Rika, right? I'll be honest, I have no clue how all that about "the power to kill someone with almost total certainty", "the power to kill endlessly" and "the power to make any miracle come true as long as the probability isn't zero" is related to the story. I guess that now that totally-not-Nipah-chan will lend Battler her power something's gonna be different. Probably, if I had to guess, I'd say it won't affect the story directly (that would be equivalent to confirming the existence of witches), so... probably some useful tool will appear on the game's menu at some point during the 2nd chapter. What is born in the metaworld stays in the metaworld; that is, the reader's world.

 

43 minutes ago, Dreamysyu said:

Also, did I say that I'm a massive Umineko fanboy?

I recall you saying something like that, yes  I hope I share the same enthusiasm once I finish it!