Which game do you want Clephas to play first? (poll closed)

[sanahtlig]

It's actually a comedy scene.  Comedy decapitation.  You know, like comedy rape.  You're supposed to laugh.

[babiker]

I don't want to report you, but man, I'd be surprised if that image is on par with this sites no-porn-pics laws.

It fits into the "wtf Japan" list...

Laugh? LOL! (luling over the fact that it was supposed to make me laugh...)

[edwd2]

why no fraternite?

[sanahtlig]

I don't want to report you, but man, I'd be surprised if that image is on par with this sites no-porn-pics laws.

It fits into the "wtf Japan" list...

Laugh? LOL! (luling over the fact that it was supposed to make me laugh...)

Describe what you think is happening in that picture.

[babiker]

A very tough task... Hmmm, OK, I'll give it a try.

I suppose the guy is trying to rape ze girl, and the girls head is flying because... F, I have no idea. Though now that I'm looking more closely, I can say that there is no porn here. Hehehe, sorry, over reacted a little there

[sanahtlig]

I don't remember the exact details, but here's the approxmiate sequence of events:

Nanashi clings to the protagonist in the hall; he tries to push her away.  During the struggle the protagonist loses his balance and falls on top of her, and the force of the collision sends her head flying.  The protagonist runs off, and after a few minutes Nanashi the zombie finds her head and reattaches it to her body.

[LordBlane]

Actually, I love zombies stuff, rpg and rogue like...  I'm not saying that the story is that bad for Shinsei Mokushiroku. But the gameplay is horrible. You start on a A point and you need to go to a B point. The entire map is like a corridor. And you need to fight monsters to get it.  You repeat the same stuff like 5464694498749 times just to read the next part. It's really annoying... Btw, I almost finish 1 route on Astral Air. The game is good . 

[Chronopolis]

Voted for Hoshi Ori Yume, but FAVOURITE is fine too. I've heard enough good things about Irotoridori that I unconsciously think of it as a decent game even though I know little about its contents. The rest of the list is a total blank.

[babiker]

I don't remember the exact details, but here's the approxmiate sequence of events:

Nanashi clings to the protagonist in the hall; he tries to push her away. During the struggle the protagonist loses his balance and falls on top of her, and the force of the collision sends her head flying. The protagonist runs off, and after a few minutes Nanashi the zombie finds her head and reattaches it to her body.

Oh, THAT'S what happened... Anyone could have figured that out (# sarcasm)

[sanahtlig]

Oh, THAT'S what happened... Anyone could have figured that out (# sarcasm)

It only amuses me that in the absence of information, rather than simply acknowledge they don't comprehend the situation, people fill that absence with their imagination and then rail against the fabrication they've created.

 

It reminds of the furor a while ago over a CG from an indie VN on Xbox Live: http://www.siliconera.com/2009/08/23/indie-visual-novel-removed-from-xbox-live-due-to-inappropriate-visual-cues/

[Toranth]

Debo no Su Seisakusho makes third-rate gameplay-VNs that sometimes have an interesting story, mostly not.

Hey, now, Debo no Su is distinctly second rate gameplay with uninteresting plots.

First rate is Alicesoft or Eushully.

Third rate is Koihime Musou.

[Clephas]

Baseson is the ones that made Koihime Musou... and the original is the least interesting of their 'gaishi' VNs.

[sanahtlig]

Debonosu's games have decent gameplay systems, but the story is usually bland cookie cutter filler.   The gameplay isn't so awesome or involving that it makes up for the boring story.  That's what makes them third-rate gameplay VNs.  Their art is pretty nice, so it's a shame they can't snag a decent writer.  Otherwise they might be able to break into the high 70s or low 80s with their games.

 

I view Ninetail and Escu:de as second tier gameplay developers (although their recent entries in the Venus Blood series put Ninetail in the running for first tier now).  Their titles are generally a tier above Debonosu's current offerings, and pair average/good story with average/good gameplay systems.

[Clephas]

Debonosu has a number of problems... but their inability to write a decent story is the biggest.  I played a few of their games, but none of them even managed to be as interesting as a decent charage.  That only makes the decent character designs go to waste, which pissed me off. 

 

Edit:  Also, at some point I plan to play Shinen no Hitomi wa Koi no Iro, because I'm a youkai fetishist.  However, since the various descriptions don't say what kind of game it is, I dunno whether I'll finish it or post about it.

[Toranth]

Baseson is the ones that made Koihime Musou... and the original is the least interesting of their 'gaishi' VNs.

Oh, I agree. I was just using it as an example of a game with terrible "gameplay". Baseson does better when they don't do any gameplay attempt at all.

 

Debonosu's games have decent gameplay systems, but the story is usually bland cookie cutter filler.   The gameplay isn't so awesome or involving that it makes up for the boring story.  That's what makes them third-rate gameplay VNs.  Their art is pretty nice, so it's a shame they can't snag a decent writer.  Otherwise they might be able to break into the high 70s or low 80s with their games.

 

I view Ninetail and Escu:de as second tier gameplay developers (although their recent entries in the Venus Blood series put Ninetail in the running for first tier now).  Their titles are generally a tier above Debonosu's current offerings, and pair average/good story with average/good gameplay systems.

I was referring to the gameplay part, not the overall quality of the games. On gameplay, I'd put Nine-tail (Dual-tail, etc) and Softhouse Chara in first tier, with Escu:de being all over the place (some games good some not) but primarily a high second-tier studio. Astronauts' Demonion games are also second tier, like Unicorn's Sengoku Himes, or Catwalk's RPGs.

Third tier gameplay I'd say is stuff like Koihime Musou or Princess Hunting on the low end or Tentacle Lord or Shojo to Maou to Tactics (aka, Baby's First TRPG) at the upper end.

But if you add in story and characters and art, I agree - Debo no Su produces the most amazingly bland stuff. Even back when they were Studio e.go, they were incapable of producing anything above mildly interesting. It's kind of impressive, actually, how this group of folks can release 40 or something games, and have almost all of them get a 70 on EGS.

However, if you add in factors other than gameplay, the various studio vary a lot more. Eushully gameplay is always good, but would you call Kamidori a good game in terms of story? Softhouse Chara makes wonderfully complex systems, with rarely more than a premise. Shojo to Maou to Tactics has a nearly brainless system, but the characters are amusing and the story isn't bad. I'm enjoying that part of the game more than I did any gameplay in it.

[sanahtlig]

Overall, I'd rank the main gameplay developers as follows: Eushully >= Alicesoft > Softhouse Chara = Ninetail > Escu:de = Gesen18 / Unicorn-A > Debonosu / Studio Ego = Catwalk

 

Eushully and Alicesoft are in the top tier, hands down. The ranking of Softhouse Chara and Ninetail really depends on whether you're emphasizing story or gameplay. Softhouse Chara gameplay is highly unique but the story is usually secondary and not very well developed. Ninetail is the opposite. I've excluded GIGA (only played Duel Savior), Xuse (they're not really dedicated to gameplay titles), and Eternal (only played Yumina). If I had to guess, GIGA is probably up there with Alicesoft, and Eternal is probably on par with Escu:de. It's worth mentioning that Softhouse Chara has been slipping lately; they've had trouble producing quality titles, while the gameplay in Ninetail's titles (particularly the Venus Blood series) keeps improving.

 

Kamidori has probably the best gameplay system I've seen in a VN.  The story is mediocre, but even story-wise it beats Debonosu's titles because it's actually somewhat interesting.  Overall it's still a top tier title, although it still pisses me off that whenever I bring up Eushully's great story titles, everyone (who hasn't played them) dismisses them as Kamidori tier.  Softhouse Chara is just all over the place.  Most of their games are at least decent, but a few like Ouzoku and Wizard's Climber are fantastic.  Ouzoku even has a pretty decent story, while Wizard's Climber has a story that spans playthroughs which I found pretty unique.

[Clephas]

Ouzoku is great... the only downside is that it's on the upper end of the difficulty slope for SofthouseChara's titles.  Considering that SofthouseChara games' difficulty levels are high in the first place, that's saying a lot.

 

Kamidori, storywise, is the second weakest of the games based in the Ikusa Megami universe (Himegari being worse).  Battle system-wise... you have to understand, I've never been impressed by a VN battle system in the true sense of the word, because my standard for turn-based systems is the Grandia series, and for strategy it's Dragon Force.  It's hard not to face the average gameplay-VN with resignation rather than expectation, when you have two high level titles like that sitting in the back of your head.

[Clephas]

AstralAir wins, I'll be starting it in a few minutes, lol.  I request the thread be locked, since its purpose is over.