Rewrite: Boring, Lazy, Mediocre

[Soulless Watcher]

12 minutes ago, wyldstrykr said:

i not read rewrite for not but it is a unpopular opinion about vns?

It is a very contentious title, some love it and some hate it. It does have allot more glaring issues than your average Key title and even those who like it can agree on that point.  

[yorikbad]

12 minutes ago, Palas said:

Of course you can and the notion that writing skills stop at prose is ridiculous. The ability to craft a story, to build a world, to pace events, it's all part of a writer's skill and can't be shielded with language barriers.

Bad TL can easily ruin "the ability to craft a story, to build a world, to pace events". Also, I appeal to the statement "Ryushiki shows his skill as a writer unlike the other hacks". I need to know what so special about his writing skills. Because I'm professional writer and I don't see anything extraordinary. He's good for VN standard but that's all.

14 minutes ago, Palas said:

Don't compare visual novels to written novels

I was just joking around because clearly the OP doesn't want to express the opinion but to target people who like Rewrite. And you can compare VN to books when you talk about "the ability to craft a story, to build a world, to pace events".

But I agree about stupid textboxes.

[EastCoastDrifter]

44 minutes ago, Palas said:

Don't compare visual novels to written novels. Visual novels are not books. Not even close.

Technically, they are. VNs are really just digital books you can read on your computer, console, or phone. A lot of people just happen to call VNs "games" because of the interactivity, which not all VNs have.

[Shota_Victory]

10/10 bait.

In all seriousness, it seems obvious that you haven't played an awful lot of visual novels. Trying to compare the atmosphere in Rewrite with School Days/Summer Days is honestly just not fair, considering they attempt completely different things. Rewrite and School Days aren't even close to being in the same genre, and have completely different presentation styles.

Also, pretty much everything I've seen generally agrees that the Lucia route suffered the most from the bloat problem you complain about. None of the Tanaka routes, (with one possible exception,) are nearly as long as Lucia's, although I have to admit her route suffers less from the Ryukishi irrelevance syndrome than say, Umineko.

I recommend coming back to it once you've played a bit more, because while Rewrite certainly isn't perfect, it is very good and is my favorite KEY game of those that I've actually read.

[GUTB]

VNs are a unique medium that is between a novel and a comic book. They are a fusion of narrative and images, hence the term VN. Ryushiki normally produces very low-budget VNs with very little art assets, but they are famous for their stories and plots (even as they tend to become nonsensical -- like when lots of people called out the Baetrice mystery a white knight effect early on, and lots of other people -- myself included -- refused to believe the solution would be that simplistic, and after running around in 5 million directions and shoveling the BS high it turned out that's EXACTLY what it was).

In regards to my VN experience, I've been reading for many years. I think the first one was that old imouto game....uh I forget the title now. But I was there reading Kiminozo, with the game window on one side of the monitor and a Breen's JDIC open on the other doing kanji stroke lookups (I only did that for games I was really into like that). I was there waiting for YEARS after the first MuvLuv for Alternative, and I played that sh1t the instant it came out (mind blowing experience, unlike Rewrite). Of course, I have a few favorites that I still watch out for like Age and Akabee Soft, etc. I'm into very high end VNs or VNs with amazing stories I can dig into. Yes, School Days, Summer / Shiny Days, etc, are some of the very best VNs of their genre.

I've been noticing a steep decline of AAA and high quality VNs. Why hasn't NitroPlus put out another game at the level of Muramasa? Why hasn't Xuse put out something as good as Eien no Aselia? WTF has been LooseBoy been doing since G-senjou no Maou? And so on.

 

 

[Mugi]

Spoiler

 

[Soulless Watcher]

28 minutes ago, GUTB said:

Yes, School Days, Summer / Shiny Days, etc, are some of the very best VNs of their genre.

Ok what is you fixation on this series? I admit that I enjoy spanking off to fucked up shit too, but I think we have already established that the series is an oddity that can't be used as a measuring device to other visual novels. The series is essentially a category in itself. Unless you are genuinely saying that it has the best narrative of any nukige, in that case....... I don't really know what you are trying to achieve because the bar is already on the ground.

 

38 minutes ago, GUTB said:

I've been noticing a steep decline of AAA and high quality VNs. Why hasn't NitroPlus put out another game at the level of Muramasa? Why hasn't Xuse put out something as good as Eien no Aselia? WTF has been LooseBoy been doing since G-senjou no Maou? And so on.

That is like demanding a Olympic athlete set a record in their field every time they compete or asking why the person who found the largest diamond didn't find a bigger one afterwards. Making a masterpiece is often something that is done accidentally and expecting every title to be the best one ever is insane. The general reason why we don't get anything mindbogglingly great anymore is because no one wants to take any risks. There isn't a definite return in taking risks, so companies retread the same old ground, because the dumb masses are afraid of trying anything new. That is why Hollywood continues to make sequels/remakes/softreboots, Frontwing is tortuously prolonging the Grisaia name, and Typemoon will never stop making Fate spin - offs.   

[EastCoastDrifter]

1 hour ago, Palas said:

Uh, no. They are games. They've descended from old adventure games, still retain their mechanics and interface as well as resources, have no relationships with print media whatsoever and aren't "technically" anything other than softwares. 

If they were digital books, they'd be books, written as books, sold as books and consumed as books. They aren't. 

P.S.: they aren't "technically" anything other than softwares. 

It's still a matter of debate whether visual novels are considered games or not, so the general consensus hasn't been decided yet. There's one half that thinks VNs are not really games unless they have actual gameplay mechanics like Neptunia and BlazBlue, and there's another half that thinks they are games because they are software that requires programming. The opinion is pretty much split. For me, I think VNs lie in the middle ground in between games and books.

[VLOCKUP]

1 hour ago, KonpekiUmi said:

For me, I think VNs lie in the middle ground in between games and books.

Sums it up the best. It is a unique genre that is unexplainable because of opinions on it is split uneven.

[castor212]

summer days story and storytelling is shit

yes, i can voice my opinion here unabated, thanks to OP

[GUTB]

1 hour ago, castor212 said:

summer days story and storytelling is shit

yes, i can voice my opinion here unabated, thanks to OP

Summer Days is a masterpiece compared to the vast majority of junk VNs. Almost all games in that genre are just worthless maid/loli fluff. School/Summer/Shiny/Cross Days tackles real-type love triangles and drama. Only Kiminozo is better IMO. To draw an example, take Kiyora giving the numeric code for "I like you" to Itou, how it plays out with him and Kotonoha in the woods, how it ties into different choices, outcomes, and all the plot details that went into setting up the scenario. Now compare that to Rewrite's romance plots -- Chihaya can't even say what she feels about him, Kotarou just starts sleeping with Akane after a time skip who goes crazy for no good reason, Lucia also goes cra-cra for no reason immediately after having found true love except a throw-away line about a drug. I can't wait to read about how he hooks up with Kagari for no apparent reason.

MajiKoi is another series that utterly destroys Rewrite in basically every way. That's pretty embarrassing considering how MajiKoi is a gag/meme game from a mid-tier VN maker.

Rewrite is not a good VN. It's barely mediocre. It just barely holds you, and like other mediocre VNs, you keep reading because you've already invested so much you might as well get the few good scenes from it that it has to offer. I am aware there are many complaints about Rewrite by other people, but it annoys me everyone who comments on it has to preface everything with "this is the greatest game known to man, but if I HAD to nit-pick something I thought might be just a tiny bit better..." No. Truth: there is more wrong than right with this game.

 

 

[Kabu]

I honestly think that you're just trying to bait Rewrite's fanbase but alright, I'll bite. Yes, Rewrite does have a lot of glaring issues but to me at least it still manages to be pretty damn close to masterpiece status despite that which is a feat that very few VNs or even anything in any medium can pull off. The Common Route has a lot of charm which yes, some of the heroine routes and even the true route are lacking but they make up for it in different ways, with the action scenes and the development of the world's lore. Also, despite having romance routes it is at it's core in no way romance focused, which I admit I found to be one of its faults but that's because I love a good romance story, preferrably with a happy ending, so that's my own personal bias, yet I fully enjoyed it despite that.

P.S. Lucia's route was actually one of my least favorites despite her being one of my favorite heroines. Ryukishi's writing style doesn't belong in a Key VN, it was very much out of place and at times even a bit jarring. Also, I don't think that anyone calls it Key's finest work. That would be Clannad, which I actually don't agree with. I find their best work to be Little Busters but that's a discussion for another time.

[castor212]

so basically the majority of junk VNs are pile of shits, being called junk and all, and Summer Days is a pile of shit thats a bit better than the rest.

Summer Days' still shit story and storytelling.

 

8 minutes ago, Kabu said:

 

P.S. Lucia's route was actually one of my least favorites despite her being one of my favorite heroines. Ryukishi's writing style doesn't belong in a Key VN, it was very much out of place and at times even a bit jarring.

so the fact that he likes it the most just says that he just doesnt like Key in general

[Aizen-Sama]

14 hours ago, GUTB said:

Summer / Shiny Days is a masterpiece compared to Rewrite. The story and genre is completely different but from a technical standpoint SD utterly destroys Rewrite.

 

[Okarin]

Well, know what, I agree.

Rewrite has all the bad of Key without the good. So, probably not their best game. What kills me here is the writing: lots of stupid scenes, spineless humour, and a tremendous amount of clutter just to get to the good parts. Games like Little Busters also suffer from this, but at least the good outweighs the bad.

Ironically, the thing that killed me was Lucia's route, that I played first. At first, I liked the character, at the end, I kinda hated her. She's very immature for a person with her responsibilities, and

doesn't care to blow the fuckin' world away just because she's in distress with her friends and love interest. What an egotistic moron of a girl.

And with Chihaya's route I've stopped playing for months. It's just... dull, boring, all the epithets that you will.

I consider myself a Key fan, as I've played most of their games and will continue doing so, but I see Rewrite as a major train wreck, much like Charlotte, another epic fail.

What's sad is that the underlying story about mankind and Earth has a strong appeal; but it's handled very poorly, from what I've seen, and it was done better by X/1999, even if it never got an ending due to publisher hell.

I still plan to finish the game someday.

[Narcosis]

Rewrite is definitely Key's weakest work and a game that ultimately highlights their fall as a studio, at least for me. However, with that kind of comparison OP made, he can't be taken seriously.

[Okarin]

Fall as a studio? Well, when I play Harmonia, we'll see. Certainly the direction they took with Rewrite first, then Charlotte, is bad. But in all honesty, it all began with Angel Beats. Massively overhyped and overrated animu with the only good drama being (for me) Yui's chapter and the best character by far was Tenshi. I freaking hated Yurippe with a passion.

[Khazit]

The only thing that to this day still keeping me from finishing it is Key's art style. (The same goes for Little Buster).

Just... the eyes. Man, the eyes. They're so big it's creepy. Like they're staring into my soul, hungry, wanting to devour it.

[Okarin]

Well, YMMV. But I like Key character's eyes. And the art style has consistenly improved with the years. Can't say the same of their scenario, general writing, and overall concepts.

[WinterfuryZX]

4 hours ago, GUTB said:

Summer Days is a masterpiece compared to the vast majority of junk VNs. Almost all games in that genre are just worthless maid/loli fluff. School/Summer/Shiny/Cross Days tackles real-type love triangles and drama. Only Kiminozo is better IMO. To draw an example, take Kiyora giving the numeric code for "I like you" to Itou, how it plays out with him and Kotonoha in the woods, how it ties into different choices, outcomes, and all the plot details that went into setting up the scenario. Now compare that to Rewrite's romance plots -- Chihaya can't even say what she feels about him, Kotarou just starts sleeping with Akane after a time skip who goes crazy for no good reason, Lucia also goes cra-cra for no reason immediately after having found true love except a throw-away line about a drug. I can't wait to read about how he hooks up with Kagari for no apparent reason.

MajiKoi is another series that utterly destroys Rewrite in basically every way. That's pretty embarrassing considering how MajiKoi is a gag/meme game from a mid-tier VN maker.

Rewrite is not a good VN. It's barely mediocre. It just barely holds you, and like other mediocre VNs, you keep reading because you've already invested so much you might as well get the few good scenes from it that it has to offer. I am aware there are many complaints about Rewrite by other people, but it annoys me everyone who comments on it has to preface everything with "this is the greatest game known to man, but if I HAD to nit-pick something I thought might be just a tiny bit better..." No. Truth: there is more wrong than right with this game.

 

 

You should have compared Rewrite to Kiminozo from the beginning, people could have taken you seriously.

[Okarin]

I only know about School Days, but, what's realistic about a battalion of girls fawning over an average, self-insert guy like Makoto? The relationships may be realistic (but it relies heavily on gimmicky drama), but this fact, common to the vast majority of VNs isn't.

[Okarin]

5 hours ago, Kabu said:

Also, despite having romance routes it is at it's core in no way romance focused, which I admit I found to be one of its faults but that's because I love a good romance story, preferrably with a happy ending, so that's my own personal bias, yet I fully enjoyed it despite that.

Rewrite IS a high school story about adolescents and their relationships, and it mingles horribly with the substrate of dark organizations, ecology, end of the world, and secret agents.

I think they went for too much and failed horribly on the mark.

As for the romance, the routes consist of hooking with your love interest of choice, so there is actually romance, but it's quickly overlapped with the actual plot.

[Soulless Watcher]

1 hour ago, Okarin said:

As for the romance, the routes consist of hooking with your love interest of choice, so there is actually romance, but it's quickly overlapped with the actual plot.

Hm, thinking of it like that one could say it has the opposite problem that Little Busters suffered from. In which the majority of the novel focused on romance with each heroine (with the possible exception of Kurugaya) with the actual "plot" coming out of nowhere in the last act.

[Okarin]

Isn't that the same, though? At least in Rewrite, the heroines are an actual part of the underlying plot that no one can guess at the start of the game.

Yet, take this with all caution, as I've only completed one route, I have the game figured out however.

[Soulless Watcher]

1 hour ago, Okarin said:

Isn't that the same, though? At least in Rewrite, the heroines are an actual part of the underlying plot that no one can guess at the start of the game.

Yet, take this with all caution, as I've only completed one route, I have the game figured out however.

Well, that is what I meant. The majority of the heroine routes in Little Busters could be completely removed and not take away anything meaningful from the "plot", but they are usually entirely focused on the heroine. In contrast the routes in Rewrite add context and information about the world that makes up the "plot", while the heroines are often sidelined or at least not entirely focused on.