What are you playing?

[LostPomegranate]

Currently I'm reading "Figures of Happiness". An oldge from JAST, only a little over an hour in and it's okay so far...bit different.

 

Since my last post though I finished Hapymaher, read Ero Voice!, NTR'd by Clumsiness, Aokana, Aokana EXTRA 1, Aokana EXTRA 2, Imouto no Seiiki, Gakkou no Seiiki, and Chihiro Himukai Always Walks Away. Reviews for all are up on VNDB - I posted my Hapymaher review here as well. Out of those I'd recommend Hapymaher and the Aokana's to anyone. Chihiro Himukai ro anyone who likes a sweet short story, and Ero Voice and the two Seiiki's to people who like the art and nukige. NTR'd by Clumsiness was....well..to quote the game itself "This game is stupid and is not meant to be taken seriously" - that is a literal warning that comes up when you launch it. It was so stupid it was funny at times, other times it was just plain stupid.

[adamstan]

20 hours ago, LostPomegranate said:

Currently I'm reading "Figures of Happiness". An oldge from JAST, only a little over an hour in and it's okay so far...bit different.

I'm looking forward to your opinion when you finish it. I remember stumbling upon this title while starting my VN journey, but I never actually read it. I only remember that some reviewers trashed it, and also I don't like the art style (character design) - those faces look worse than early KEY titles, and that's something

[LostPomegranate]

On 8/4/2024 at 8:36 AM, adamstan said:

I'm looking forward to your opinion when you finish it. I remember stumbling upon this title while starting my VN journey, but I never actually read it. I only remember that some reviewers trashed it, and also I don't like the art style (character design) - those faces look worse than early KEY titles, and that's something

Welp. I got to do 5 endings and the download version from Jast's website blocked the rest of them. There's a bug in that version right now - best I can tell - that there's a duplicate choice presented instead of a different choice, so the trigger for allowing a later choice isn't ever hit, so you can't choose one of the pathways at all, which locks Narumi's, Kokoro's, and Minamo's good and true ends as well as Mio's best ending. Other than THAT bit of mess, it was a subpar moege with a pretty thin story. I wouldn't have trashed it too much myself, but it was aiming for somewhere in the 3-4/10 range. Broken though = 1/10 for me.

 

Since that post I've already read Planetarian and Planetarian Snow Globe. I cried. Then I felt a little better with Snow Globe.

 

Now I'm onto Uchi no Kanojo.

[littleshogun]

Decided to tried previous Venus Blood VNs (Empire and Abyss), and let's just say there's a reason why Ninetail decided to localize their VN starting from Frontier because Frontier is where Dualtail put major overhaul on the unit creation which they still use in Savior with some improvements in each of post-Frontier entries.

[Hiashi]

I'm thinking of getting the localized Suzukuri Karin, but I would like to know if there's a way to apply the append content. Even if it's not translated.

[fuyopon]

On 8/16/2024 at 11:22 PM, Hiashi said:

I'm thinking of getting the localized Suzukuri Karin, but I would like to know if there's a way to apply the append content. Even if it's not translated.

Shiravune does make available the 18+ content patch for Steam releases, here you go

[fuyopon]

Been reading so much stuff but this week was a slump for sure. It's not that I didn't want to read anything, I just started a new job and it's been exhausting. Besides being a completely 180 from my usual sleeping schedule (making it impossible to do anything but be a zombie during the day before work), I was so stressed out that I wasn't able to properly focus on anything :((

That said, let's see...

I ended up dropping Grisaia after all lololol I guess it just wasn't for me, and it's a shame because I'm sure I'd have loved it when I was younger. I also read a bunch of Cherry Kiss Games releases, such as Bunny Girl Cumming for my Carrot, Hentai Homewrecker, Cosplay Cumdump: Doing it Doujin Style, Ara Ara Auntie Incest and Sexcalibur: Knights of the Pound Table. Oh, and I also got to play the early release of Orcsoft's I Wanna Fuck my Mom's Best Friend!
Some were fun, some were a bit awkward to read. At the end of the day, I've had my fill and I think I'll be fine without more nukige for the next few months...

The last VNs I read were two quick reads: Queen of Moths and un/FRAGMENT.. For such short tales, they were pretty alright. I enjoyed Queen of Moths more, but un/FRAGMENT. was certainly a good effort!

[alexfang452]

On 8/3/2024 at 12:33 AM, alexfang452 said:

After I finished Black Heaven, I decided to start Sucker For Love. I kinda wish I didn't since this VN would have been perfect to read in October. That's what I get for not looking at the Steam tags again. Anyway, I just saw one of the endings in Chapter 1. This chapter did not forget to remind me that this VN is a horror game with one moment making me jump. 

As for Black Heaven, I enjoyed it. The story's dark elements were not distracting, the characters were more interesting than I thought they would be (especially Lyse and the protagonist), and none of the endings gave me a feeling of complete satisfaction. Then again, after remembering the current state of their world, what ending would make me happy without feeling like a copout?

I enjoyed seeing the protagonist's experience at Itzon Academy. Seeing the different ways immortality is being explored was interesting. 7/10

Since this comment, I have finished Sucker For Love and Girls in Glasses.

Sucker For Love was a fun VN to read through from start to finish. The gameplay could have been better, but it did not bother me since the VN has other things to appreciate. Some of these things include the designs of the girls and their voice actors. Another commendable thing is how each chapter was different. Chapter 1 was simple to let the player get an idea as to how this game works. Then, Chapter 2 makes things a little tougher. Chapter 3 is where things get REALLY crazy. Also, the game is not that scary. There were a couple of frightening sounds and visuals, but they never made me feel like the game was trying too hard to scare me. Overall, it is an entertaining VN that can be a little scary at times. Lastly, the protagonist may not have a name, but he does have some funny lines. 7/10.

The story of Girls in Glasses goes like this. You follow Hidekazu as he starts a new spring semester at a private academy. By using the map system (it has been a while since I have read a VN with this), you can determine which heroine the protagonist will end up with. The story and characters are simple. Aside from being a bit of a marine nut and the one thing we learn about him in Kana's route, Hidekazu is just your normal protagonist. As for the heroines, you have an airheaded childhood friend, a quiet and shy bookworm, and an overworked student council president. The biggest problem that I have with this VN is the length of the routes. There is so much that could have been done with them. I was not tracking my time with these routes, but I am pretty sure it would take you at most 2-3 hours to finish one of them. Also, this VN does the thing where the other characters disappear from the story once you start a route. Despite my issues, I still enjoyed it because of the themes that were explored in the routes. Even with their short length, the themes were included in the story well. I may give it a 7/10, but I would not recommend picking it up anytime soon. There are A LOT of VNs out there. Sadly, Girls in Glasses does not do much to stand out from the others. 

Edited September 3, 2024 by alexfang452
incorrect word usage

[LostPomegranate]

Oof...so since my last post I have finished quite a few VN's - I did a "shortge rush" in August and I wrote a blog post here about it...but here's the playing update.

 

I have read...Uchi no Kanojo, Uchi no Imouto, Uchi no Koibito, Neko Para Extra, Vol 0-4, DraPri 1-3, FD, Invisible Cock, Stay. - Fragments of Memories - , Imolicious, My Ex Sister in Law, Invisible Man's Stealth NTR, Yandere Sister Loves me too much!, Breeding village, Yozora Rhapsode, Yandere Goddess, Games&Girls, Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai Houkago Shippo Days, LipTrip, Suteki na Kanojo no Tsukurikata, OshiRabu: Waifus over Husbandos & FD, Megasuki trilogy, Dreamlike Love with Seira, Kemonomichi 1, 2, FD, Amayakase, Do you believe in Santa? and Sonohana 1, 6, 2, 4, 3, 5, 7, 9, 8, 10 and Konomi no Naku Koro Ni. In that order.

 

Since that...I started Hanahira. I've committed myself to finishing all the Sonohana series (only 11 more to go!) before I start anything else major.

Edited September 3, 2024 by LostPomegranate

[alexfang452]

On 9/2/2024 at 11:50 PM, alexfang452 said:

Since this comment, I have finished Sucker For Love and Girls in Glasses.

Sucker For Love was a fun VN to read through from start to finish. The gameplay could have been better, but it did not bother me since the VN has other things to appreciate. Some of these things include the designs of the girls and their voice actors. Another commendable thing is how each chapter was different. Chapter 1 was simple to let the player get an idea as to how this game works. Then, Chapter 2 makes things a little tougher. Chapter 3 is where things get REALLY crazy. Also, the game is not that scary. There were a couple of frightening sounds and visuals, but they never made me feel like the game was trying too hard to scare me. Overall, it is an entertaining VN that can be a little scary at times. Lastly, the protagonist may not have a name, but he does have some funny lines. 7/10.

The story of Girls in Glasses goes like this. You follow Hidekazu as he starts a new spring semester at a private academy. By using the map system (it has been a while since I have read a VN with this), you can determine which heroine the protagonist will end up with. The story and characters are simple. Aside from being a bit of a marine nut and the one thing we learn about him in Kana's route, Hidekazu is just your normal protagonist. As for the heroines, you have an airheaded childhood friend, a quiet and shy bookworm, and an overworked student council president. The biggest problem that I have with this VN is the length of the routes. There is so much that could have been done with them. I was not tracking my time with these routes, but I am pretty sure it would take you at most 2-3 hours to finish one of them. Also, this VN does the thing where the other characters disappear from the story once you start a route. Despite my issues, I still enjoyed it because of the themes that were explored in the routes. Even with their short length, the themes were included in the story well. I may give it a 7/10, but I would not recommend picking it up anytime soon. There are A LOT of VNs out there. Sadly, Girls in Glasses does not do much to stand out from the others. 

Since this post, I have finished Wolf Tails and started Honey*Honey*Honey.

Wolf Tails surprised me with its characterization. It was not perfect as one character just told another character's entire past to the protagonist. The characterization allowed me to care more about these characters than I thought I would. Even the protagonist provided me with some intriguing information about his/her past. Also, I liked the lighting used for the character sprites and the backgrounds. Overall, I think you should read it if you are looking for something short.

So far, I am about 2 hours into Honey^3. The premise of a world where the genders have to keep their distance sounds interesting. Currently, the story is focusing on Tsukasa which makes sense because of her father and her relationship with the protagonist. One thing that I appreciate is how frequently it is showing me CGs. I cannot wait to see what happens next in the story.

[marinanakadzava_90135]

I'm playing Lagerta visual novels. It's a Russian visual novel with interesting stories—my recommendation. They have English translations.

Edited September 15, 2024 by marinanakadzava_90135

[fuyopon]

On 8/25/2024 at 4:40 PM, fuyopon said:

Been reading so much stuff but this week was a slump for sure. It's not that I didn't want to read anything, I just started a new job and it's been exhausting. Besides being a completely 180 from my usual sleeping schedule (making it impossible to do anything but be a zombie during the day before work), I was so stressed out that I wasn't able to properly focus on anything :((

That said, let's see...

I ended up dropping Grisaia after all lololol I guess it just wasn't for me, and it's a shame because I'm sure I'd have loved it when I was younger. I also read a bunch of Cherry Kiss Games releases, such as Bunny Girl Cumming for my Carrot, Hentai Homewrecker, Cosplay Cumdump: Doing it Doujin Style, Ara Ara Auntie Incest and Sexcalibur: Knights of the Pound Table. Oh, and I also got to play the early release of Orcsoft's I Wanna Fuck my Mom's Best Friend!
Some were fun, some were a bit awkward to read. At the end of the day, I've had my fill and I think I'll be fine without more nukige for the next few months...

The last VNs I read were two quick reads: Queen of Moths and un/FRAGMENT.. For such short tales, they were pretty alright. I enjoyed Queen of Moths more, but un/FRAGMENT. was certainly a good effort!

Since this last post I have read a lot of indie OEVNs and although some were misses, most of them had something interesting to say. I'm planning on writing a review for these in October! Those are Queen of Moths, Reflection, Little Lamb, Boa Retina, DIVINATION, God is in the Radio, The Remains of My Affection, and Girlfriend Simulator, just in case you need some spoopy reads for next month (in advance.)

I'll try to finish Umineko's Chapter 6 this week, wish me luck.

[LostPomegranate]

Since my last post I have completed quite a few...

 

Hanahira, Sonohana 11-15, Sonohana New Gen, Sonohana Angels 1-3, Sonohana Yuricycle, Senren Banka, Biniku no Kaori, Marco & The Galaxy Dragon, and 9-nine- Episode 1 so far. I'd recommend Senren Banka to any moege fan and Marco to nearly anyone. The Sonohana's to any yuri fan, although some aren't worth reading without having read some of the previous ones since for the most part they (New Gen and Angels being exceptions) are continuations of the same story. Biniku no Kaori was an interesting mystery / nukige hybrid thing that if you're into mysteries you'd probably like, but I'd recommend going straight for the true route with a guide, as the bad ends spoil quite a bit.

 

And now I'm reading 9-nine- Episode 2. At the rate I'm going, I'll probably finish this series out within a week.

[adamstan]

I had some break in reading after finishing GINKA in July, but today I finally decided what to read next - and I started reading console version of Strawberry Nauts. I just finished the prologue. It might be clichey, but I think I like where it's going - it promises to be feel-good moege, and that's just what I'm needing right now

Might try something more serious next however

 

[STARKX9]

Just finished White Album 2 Coda Kazusa True route, truly a stunning experience, now I guess I will replay the c.c. or go play Aokana extra that I bought over a year ago...

[LostPomegranate]

Since my last post I finished out the 9-nine series, read Yosuga no Sora and Haruka na Sora, Future Radio, Maid for Loving You, I Wanna Fuck My Mom's Best Friend, Kakenuke Seishun Sparkinig, GINKA, Chrono Clock, Destiny Star Girlfriend 1-3, LAMUNATION! and Marshmallow All the Way Home. Honestly I'd recommend every title here to the right audience. Chrono Clock is probably the weakest title for its intended audience though.

 

Currently reading the Clockwork Leyline trilogy.

[alexfang452]

On 9/13/2024 at 5:25 PM, alexfang452 said:

Since this post, I have finished Wolf Tails and started Honey*Honey*Honey.

Wolf Tails surprised me with its characterization. It was not perfect as one character just told another character's entire past to the protagonist. The characterization allowed me to care more about these characters than I thought I would. Even the protagonist provided me with some intriguing information about his/her past. Also, I liked the lighting used for the character sprites and the backgrounds. Overall, I think you should read it if you are looking for something short.

So far, I am about 2 hours into Honey^3. The premise of a world where the genders have to keep their distance sounds interesting. Currently, the story is focusing on Tsukasa which makes sense because of her father and her relationship with the protagonist. One thing that I appreciate is how frequently it is showing me CGs. I cannot wait to see what happens next in the story.

Since that post, I finished Honey*Honey*Honey and Prison Princess: Trapped Allure. Now, I am slowly progressing through Slay the Princess and Livestream 2: Escape from Togaezuka Happy Place.

Honey^3 is an entertaining VN that should have been longer. I did not think it made as much use of its premise as it could have. Also, the heroine routes are too short. It is a fun VN that I would recommend if you are looking for a VN whose main purpose is to entertain you. However, it could have been better.

Prison Princess: Trapped Allure continues the story of the hero, Zena, and Aria. It is like the last game where you slowly make your way through it by solving puzzles and finding items that you can use to solve puzzles. Julietta, one of the new characters introduced, might be my new favorite character from this series. This game did not give much to the hero, Aria, or Zena. The hero is just a kind, bland protagonist who does nothing when he is called a pervert. Aria and Zena do not get much other than fun interactions with other characters. The other six characters that we have to save are VERY underutilized. After you save them, they do nothing until the final battle since they are tired. At most, they have 3 unique conversations in the Waiting Area. I will give this game credit for almost making me shed a tear while I was reading through one of its endings. If it were not for that, I would have said that this game is decent at best.

[kofu]

I've just finished reading Cartagra and Kara no Shoujo a week ago and since 2 days ago I finished ATRI ~My Dear Moments~. I'm currently reading Swan Song and am really enjoying the descriptive writing and atmosphere, super good. 

[LostPomegranate]

Has been a "slow" month for me.

 

Since finishing the Leyline trilogy, I read Shinigami no Kiss, Summer Pockets, Seven Days, Kon's Lessons, reread Noble Works, and read Hatsuyuki Sakura.

 

Out of those I'd really only blindly recommend the Leyline Trilogy to pretty much anyone. Summer Pockets was the best read though, but nakige aren't everyone's thing. Seven Days was surprisingly good for what it is but was very uneven, which was frustrating. Noble Works is standard Yuzu, but not supernatural which is nice. Hatsuyuki Sakura was good, but I feel like it's overrated. It has some pacing issues as well as I felt some overuse of macguffins and in general plot threads / questions that go unanswered. Its music is pretty amazing though, so it still got a 7/10 (good).

 

Now I've moved onto Comyu.

[alexfang452]

On 11/28/2024 at 1:04 AM, alexfang452 said:

Since that post, I finished Honey*Honey*Honey and Prison Princess: Trapped Allure. Now, I am slowly progressing through Slay the Princess and Livestream 2: Escape from Togaezuka Happy Place.

Honey^3 is an entertaining VN that should have been longer. I did not think it made as much use of its premise as it could have. Also, the heroine routes are too short. It is a fun VN that I would recommend if you are looking for a VN whose main purpose is to entertain you. However, it could have been better.

Prison Princess: Trapped Allure continues the story of the hero, Zena, and Aria. It is like the last game where you slowly make your way through it by solving puzzles and finding items that you can use to solve puzzles. Julietta, one of the new characters introduced, might be my new favorite character from this series. This game did not give much to the hero, Aria, or Zena. The hero is just a kind, bland protagonist who does nothing when he is called a pervert. Aria and Zena do not get much other than fun interactions with other characters. The other six characters that we have to save are VERY underutilized. After you save them, they do nothing until the final battle since they are tired. At most, they have 3 unique conversations in the Waiting Area. I will give this game credit for almost making me shed a tear while I was reading through one of its endings. If it were not for that, I would have said that this game is decent at best.

I'll make one more post in this thread for this year. I am still reading through Livestream 2 and Slay the Princess. Also, I finished Queen Beast and started Go! Go! Nippon! ~My First Trip to Japan~. Despite its short length, I felt that Queen Beast executed its story well for the most part. I just did not like the development of the romance between the two main characters. Also, some comedic parts to this VN's story makes it hard to take it as seriously as it wants me to. 

So far, "Go! Go! Nippon!" is decent but enjoyable. The characters and story are fine at best, but I do like seeing the different areas of Japan. 

Merry Christmas everyone. And have a Happy New Year. See you all in 2025. 

[adamstan]

Few days ago I finished console version of Strawberry Nauts.

It was quite decent moege. Nothing less and nothing more All heroines are quite likeable, with my personal favorite being quiet Yao

I love the comments she makes on various occasions - short, but always amusing

The routes are unfortunately a bit uneven in quality. Definitely the most interesting and elaborate one was Houmi's story.
It featured some light supernatural/sci-fi parts, which was a bit unexpected, but they worked decently in the end. (And actually they aren't that rare in typical moege when you think about it). And this route had my favorite kind of ending when it comes to moege/romance VNs.

Spoiler

Marriage ending of course

Unfortunately I started the game with the weakest route - childhood friend Itsuki. While she's great character, her route felt very underdeveloped, especially in all-ages version. (Not that H-scenes made it much better ). It almost made me drop this game, but I'm glad I didn't, since all other routes were much better.

There are also some side-endings for other characters - the weirdest one being definitely the route for the "Upperclassman Girl #C", where we never learn her actual name . Those routes feel a bit rushed, since they are much shorter and come kind out of nowhere, with little connection to the common route - they really have the feel of "unlockable bonus content"  

There's also console-exclusive heroine - Marika. Her route was nice, but also a bit unpolished IMO.

The main highlight of this VN for (apart from quite likeable heroines) is humor - I found it quite funny, and laughed many times at character's comments or reactions.

All in all - 7.5/10, which is my "base" score for decent games. It might go higher when there's something special about it, or I will detract points for annoying  or badly made things. I consider anything 7 and upwards to be good. (I even enjoyed some of the 6.5 or 6 titles, but the shortcomings were too obvious to rate them higher )

[LostPomegranate]

On 12/17/2024 at 8:35 AM, LostPomegranate said:

Has been a "slow" month for me.

 

Since finishing the Leyline trilogy, I read Shinigami no Kiss, Summer Pockets, Seven Days, Kon's Lessons, reread Noble Works, and read Hatsuyuki Sakura.

 

Out of those I'd really only blindly recommend the Leyline Trilogy to pretty much anyone. Summer Pockets was the best read though, but nakige aren't everyone's thing. Seven Days was surprisingly good for what it is but was very uneven, which was frustrating. Noble Works is standard Yuzu, but not supernatural which is nice. Hatsuyuki Sakura was good, but I feel like it's overrated. It has some pacing issues as well as I felt some overuse of macguffins and in general plot threads / questions that go unanswered. Its music is pretty amazing though, so it still got a 7/10 (good).

 

Now I've moved onto Comyu.

Another month down, some more VNs down as well...

 

Comyu, UsoNatsu, My Klutzy Cupid, everlasting flowers, Fatal Twelve, Parquet, and Family Project all completed, now I'm onto Ego's Spark before Tenshi Souzou releases this Friday...

 

Out of all those...I'd actually recommend pretty much all of them to someone. Comyu is a great chunige by the same makers as Hello Lady! and feels very similar but with a dragon. UsoNatsu was actually my favorite read of 2024 (ignoring rereads), a well written yuri slice of life drama / coming of age tale. Fatal Twelve was a pretty good mystery / death game with some light yuri. everlasting flowers was another coming of age / drama tale with extremely light yuri undertones (nothing outright). My Klutzy Cupid is your general moege with nothing outstanding about it but also very little that was bad either. Parquet is Yuzusoft's take on an all-ages story with just romantic undertones rather than an outright romance story, which was refreshing, although I wish the afters didn't effectively end on cliffhangers. Family Project is the one I'd only recommend if you like slapstick / silly comedy because otherwise it's a one-note slog through the dramatic which is how it was for me.

 

See you next month with probably another 5-6 completed.