Symphonic rain

[Stormwolf]

Ok, so i was really recommended this VN. I usually avoid stuff with crappy endings. I don't mind if something turns bad, if only there is somewhat of a decent resolution in the end. Well, i just finished the first route and that's one shitty story tbh. Where was the dump both friend and potential gf options? (i couldn't find it even though i looked really hard for it) They're both absolute trash. I didn't understand Fal's tactic in getting close to Asino just to get closer to chris. In the end she did everything herself with no problems or hesitation and made one heck of a scene in the process. It felt like a bad ending when chris forgave that girl and went with her. 

Are all the routes as enraging? 

[onorub]

From what i heard, that particular heroine is pretty infamous and the others are not nearly as bad.

[Beichuuka]

I guess it depends......?
Overall, though, the only real happy ending in the game that I can remember is the last route.

[Stormwolf]

Not sure how people crave reading depressing stuff tbh. It's good that the last (true) route is a good one. Problem i guess is the crap i'll have to go through to get it

[Mr Poltroon]

Depending on how you look at things, you may perceive them as different things.
I, for one, thought Fal's route was really romantic in its own way. Fal herself is simply a very unique kind of person, that isn't predisposed for normal love.

[Silvz]

Well, if you're expecting things to get better, I recommend reading other VNs. Fal is the worst person ever (personality), while the other three are what you'd expect from a common drama/romance VN.

Be careful, though, as both heroines before the true ending have depressing stories, about abuse, self depreciation and other bad stuff, while the true route, although not happy per se, does have a good ending.

If you really don't care too much, you could skip completely the second route, as it doesn't change anything in the story. That said, you must read at least Torta and Al Fine (before true route) in order to get the full story and all the twists it has.

[Okarin]

2 hours ago, Stormwolf said:

Not sure how people crave reading depressing stuff tbh. It's good that the last (true) route is a good one. Problem i guess is the crap i'll have to go through to get it

Depressing stuff... isn't that the fabled feelz?

It can be interesting if you're in for some drama, but I agree it isn't always welcome. If you're prone to depression yourself I wouldn't recommend it.

[Stormwolf]

It really does depend on the type of drama. Drama that makes me seriously dislike the characters is not the type i like. I already dislike Fal for being deceiving and also testing waters with Asino and comes crawling back (perhaps not the best way to say it) when she realized who's the right one for her. The good ending there should really be a breakup, since he's always gotta be at the top of his game to keep the relationship steady. Also i dislike Asino for getting it on with Fal behind Chris's back and acting like an idiot when found out. 

Abuse and stuff doesn't really phase me as long as they don't have some stockholm syndrome feelings towards abuser. 

But i'm continuing this, and while this might be the wrong approach, i do assume every girl (except Phorni) is a deceiving bitch at this point 

[Fred the Barber]

Fal is unique, very divisive, and often not well liked. I think her route is awesome, but that's almost certainly a minority opinion. Lise is simply boring, IMO, and Torta's route is... well, you'll see. At any rate, you shouldn't write off Symphonic Rain until you've finished all three of those heroines' routes: strangely enough, none of them is a good indication of what the game is really like.

[RedK]

Symphonic rain is kamige.

[Stormwolf]

1 hour ago, Fred the Barber said:

Fal is unique, very divisive, and often not well liked. I think her route is awesome, but that's almost certainly a minority opinion. Lise is simply boring, IMO, and Torta's route is... well, you'll see. At any rate, you shouldn't write off Symphonic Rain until you've finished all three of those heroines' routes: strangely enough, none of them is a good indication of what the game is really like.

Lise is boring, but heck of a lot better than Fal. Too bad they force 2 more fal routes on me before the end. But i guess we differ on that opinion. Lise had a sad ending for sure, but the way they spun the ending it was in a way that she'll get better. How much better is the question though.

On Torta's route now. Sounds like i should prepare 

[Silvz]

4 hours ago, Stormwolf said:

But i'm continuing this, and while this might be the wrong approach, i do assume every girl (except Phorni) is a deceiving bitch at this point 

spoiler????

Spoiler

 not all of them, but the whole point of this game is to deceive the reader

I mean, like other said, Fal is the only mean heroine here, and since you are going to read it anyway, I hope you enjoy the other routes as much as I did.

Last edit: Torta is, at least in my opinion, the true heroine in SR. The way you are describing your experience, hating Fal, bored with Lise is pretty much what all of us felt reading the game.

Edited November 13, 2017 by Silvz

[Being]

You sure it's not just you? Fal's route was a great introduction and I really enjoyed it and I really liek Fal too. Yeah she's not unconditional wuv you sex slave perfect waifu like most heroines, that doesn't make her "mean", she clearly cared for Chris in her own way. Lise is cute as fuck, maybe the worst route cause of some heavy handed content, but I can't say I was ever bored reading it. Torta and onward is much better yeah but it's not like Fal and Lise routes are bad, they're at least well above average (great in my book)

[Stormwolf]

I really should remember to spoil stuff.

Spoiler

Yes, in her own way, that's right. She's simply in love with his talent, nothing else. And now she knows that he plays the way she likes it when he's in despair. Combine this with her personality traits and her willingness to do whatever it takes, and you'll never have a semblance of a good relationship. Well, i wanted that breakup button in the good ending

There was a thing in Lise's route that never was explained. Was it left unexplained or do i find out at a later time?

Spoiler

When Lise and Torta wanted to talk to each other in private. Was strange since both apparently didn't know each other. With Lise being who she is, made it seem like it was something important.

Since i MIGHT have been spoiled by true ending steps "don't remember" to play the 3 heroine routes, and "remember" to proceed to true route i can kind of guess what's going on though, but hopefully i'm wrong. Repressed memories and/or mental issues with other characters knowing, and act supportive but secretive about it aren't exactly that uncommon in VN's.

 

Edited November 13, 2017 by Stormwolf

[Stormwolf]

Spoiler

Is al fine the whole story again from tortas perspective? Kind of feels like a waste of time if it is, since everything was self explanatory before the end of her route, and confirmed at the start of al fine.

 

[Fred the Barber]

On 11/12/2017 at 4:19 PM, Silvz said:

Fal is the only mean heroine here

Spoiler

Fal isn't mean; she's a psychopath. That is a world of difference conceptually but not exactly a redeeming factor, so it's completely understandable that so many people hate her. But it is, at least, very different (for the genre) and a hell of a lot more interesting than her merely being "mean."

 

[Stormwolf]

Lol.. That accordion music during the last route is from "trails in the sky" isn't it? Might be mixing it up with another song, but sounds very similar.

Edited November 14, 2017 by Stormwolf

[Stormwolf]

Just finished it. Solid 8/10. 

Would have given it a 9 if it wasn't so predictable. I figured out the rest of the twists before the were revealed, so that's a bit of a disappointment. 

Spoiler

 

Fal is the only girl i disliked. Lise was boring, but still cute in a way. Torta.. Well, she's dedicated and she knows what she wants and goes through great lengths to get it, that's for sure. She went a bit nuts towards the end, but she always had the best intentions and her ending was somewhat nice. I'd say it was sad or bittersweet if we knew Arietta at that point, but we didn't really. True ending well, it was kind of amazing even though i had figured out arietta was phorny even before starting the route. Well, i only had strong suspicions.

The only one i was sad during the true ending was Torta. But when i think about it, i'm not sure if she'd done good or just damaged him further. Traumatic psychological experiences should be treated. Pretending like nothing is not the right way to go.

Only real complain other than the existence of fal would be that i'd like for them to explain stuff a bit more. Why did Arietta take the form of a fairy. Why was she suddenly able to sing, and unable to sing once she went back to being Arietta? Small stuff really, but i like things which are relatively out of place to be explained.

 

 

Edited November 14, 2017 by Stormwolf

[Fred the Barber]

9 hours ago, Stormwolf said:

Just finished it. Solid 8/10. 

Would have given it a 9 if it wasn't so predictable. I figured out the rest of the twists before the were revealed, so that's a bit of a disappointment. 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Fal is the only girl i disliked. Lise was boring, but still cute in a way. Torta.. Well, she's dedicated and she knows what she wants and goes through great lengths to get it, that's for sure. She went a bit nuts towards the end, but she always had the best intentions and her ending was somewhat nice. I'd say it was sad or bittersweet if we knew Arietta at that point, but we didn't really. True ending well, it was kind of amazing even though i had figured out arietta was phorny even before starting the route. Well, i only had strong suspicions.

The only one i was sad during the true ending was Torta. But when i think about it, i'm not sure if she'd done good or just damaged him further. Traumatic psychological experiences should be treated. Pretending like nothing is not the right way to go.

Only real complain other than the existence of fal would be that i'd like for them to explain stuff a bit more. Why did Arietta take the form of a fairy. Why was she suddenly able to sing, and unable to sing once she went back to being Arietta? Small stuff really, but i like things which are relatively out of place to be explained.

 

 

Spoiler

FWIW, a lot of people (myself included) have Al Fine as their head canon, and either consider it to be the game's true route, or just consider the game to not have a true route. Kind of splitting hairs, maybe, but regardless I really like Al Fine. Phorni's route is great and all, but Al Fine is the perfect level of bittersweet for me.

 

[Beichuuka]

I feel like the last route is more of a bonus route, really, considering how much of nothing you do during the game itself.

[Stormwolf]

Spoiler

Well, that's just cause it's so different than the rest. While i agree that al fine is somewhat of a fitting ending, i don't think it's the true one. The last route, all that has happened to him, is resolved by him remembering and deciding to move forward. This is true route stuff.

 

[littleshogun]

4 hours ago, Beichuuka said:

I feel like the last route is more of a bonus route, really, considering how much of nothing you do during the game itself.

In a way, I could say that the bonus route was what some people could call fanservice. Yes fanservice because it provide another closure to the fan who didn't want bittersweet ending, and yeah I knew that fanservice always meant for thing like nudity and skimpy clothes while Symphonic Rain girls clothes were quite conservative lol. About whether the bonus route was could be considered true ending or not, well I just leave that to each people there.

[Ranzo]

I really "loved" Fal's route because of how very different it was I was really taken in by her character from the get go so I was floored when her betrayal finally hit me. I love when something affects you like that. It was like Jade Empire all over again. I didn't even see it coming that's the best part.

Anyway, I felt the final ending was like a nice cherry put on a delicious but tear drenched cake.

Plus the last song was just wonderful.

 

[Stormwolf]

On 15/11/2017 at 9:01 AM, littleshogun said:

In a way, I could say that the bonus route was what some people could call fanservice. Yes fanservice because it provide another closure to the fan who didn't want bittersweet ending, and yeah I knew that fanservice always meant for thing like nudity and skimpy clothes while Symphonic Rain girls clothes were quite conservative lol. About whether the bonus route was could be considered true ending or not, well I just leave that to each people there.

It's definitely not a bonus route. I don't get why people think that tbh. It's meant to be depressing in the beginning, and for each step it gets a little brighter. He almost found true happiness in Torta's route, but not quite. The finale was supposed to be the payoff for all the sadness that has happened, and it solved all the problems he had, and the worst any will get from this is a little heartache. Even Lise should be OK now that he didn't get involved with her.