What are you playing?

[LostPomegranate]

It's been a pretty good month so far for visual novel releases and reading.

 

Currently I'm reading A Tithe in Blood https://vndb.org/v51138 and am planning on picking up Dear Mirror Flower when it releases tomorrow (PST) https://vndb.org/v55725 as well as finishing my NekoPara reread finishing with After.

 

Since my last update I've read: Perennial Dusk - Kinsenka, Happiness (2): Sakura Celebration, Clover Reset, Pillagers of Raillore, KANADE, and Ushinawareta Mirai o Motomete. I also reread NekoPara Extra, Vol 0, Vol 1, and Vol 2.

 

Out of those I'd actually recommend all of them. Kinsenka is probably the highlight though if you like dark-ish plotge. Happiness is a fairly standard moege which was a fine read, but nothing to write home about. Clover Reset was just a straightforward slice of life yuri story that was super all-ages (no kissing even), but was cute. Pillagers of Raillore is just a discount Sorcery Jokers, so it's decent to good, but has all of the same issues Sorcery Jokers had - massive power creep, anticlimactic ending cause it was built up too much, and kind of annoying protagonists (SJ only had one annoying protagonist though). KANADE was incredibly cute, but straightforward, but Kanade herself was incredibly cute and I wish it was twice as long so it had more time to develop characters. Ushinawareta Mirai o Motomete is a pretty good visual novel, but has the same issues a lot of games in that specific genre have with repeated events, etc., but the characters are pretty great, so it makes it still a good read. Reviews for all of them are up on VNDB if you're interested in reading in more detail.

 

See you again in another month with another 5-10 done I'm sure.

[adamstan]

Thanks! I have two of those new Frontwing titles (Kinsenka and KANADE) on my radar, as well as Ushinawareta Mirai o Motomete, so it's good to hear they're decent

 

[alexfang452]

On 5/26/2025 at 9:59 PM, alexfang452 said:

It has been a few months since my last comment here. College kept me busy till the very end. Also, Momocon just ended. Since this comment in March, I finished Sakura: The Jirai-kei Magical Girl, Mojika - Truth Rears Its Ugly Head, and Love's Sweet Garnish. As for Livestream 2, I failed to make any progress on it. I have been too busy playing other games. Currently, I started Love's Sweet Garnish 2 over a week ago. 

Mojika is definitely my favorite and most memorable of the three. It is VERY different from any VN that I read with its plot containing many scenes that are hard to read through. However, it did not get into my Top 10 due to me not liking most of the characters that much and the routes not doing enough for me. I get what the story was leading up to, but it does not come to a conclusion that satisfied me that much due to my thoughts on its characters. Sakura: The Jirai-kei Magical Girl is just a decent VN. The scenes with the UMAs or half-humans are the best parts of this VN's story. It is just a shame that Sakura was making me a little mad due to her laziness and inability to clean up after herself. How she acts is not cute just because of her gender. Also, the romance is just decent. It is not a VN that I would recommend to anyone anytime soon. At least Tsubaki was always a pleasure to see. Lastly, we have Love's Sweet Garnish. If you are not captivated by seeing cute girls, then you will not like this one very much. Many events for most of the story feel repetitive. Also, the characters do not really deal with any problems until the heroine routes. For one of them, they had to make a character be out of character despite their little screen time prior to the start of the route. Thankfully, the rest of the VN (its sweet premise, a couple of wholesome moments in the routes, etc.) is fine, making it a decent VN in my eyes. 

Since this comment, I finished Love's Sweet Garnish 2. I am still finding ways to avoid Livestream 2, even though I should have finished it months ago. 

Love's Sweet Garnish 2 is definitely an improvement over its predecessor. It adds more variety to the plot, puts more time into the scenes that take place at school, and continues to provide me with wholesome scenes. However, it still has its flaws. If you are not captivated by the story or the cute characters, then this VN will bore you as none of its jokes landed for me. The closest this VN was able to get me to laugh was a funny line read from Ciel who has the better route in this VN. Koron's route was a little boring. As for the afterstories, I thought that they were fine. Overall, better than its prequel, but it is not a VN that I will remember for a while. In the end, get the Love's Sweet Garnish duology if you want to read some relaxing and wholesome VNs with little to no stakes.

Currently, I have just started reading ACE Academy. It is a VN that I read nearly 5 years ago but stopped for no reason. Now, I want to finish it. Maybe I will finish Livestream 2 first.