Another hype train? (07th Expansion's new project)

[Vokoca]

Most of my hype for this is killed by Ryu-art and the most likely lack of budget tht signifies. I love Ryu's stories, but damn it he needs to stop drawing and acting like he's still a circle. Let alone with three writers like this... this deserves far better treatment than a mere doujin it's trying to be.

[Zodai]

Most of my hype for this is killed by Ryu-art and the most likely lack of budget tht signifies. I love Ryu's stories, but damn it he needs to stop drawing and acting like he's still a circle. Let alone with three writers like this... this deserves far better treatment than a mere doujin it's trying to be.

 

All three of the writers seem to be somewhat well-known, so even if it's not some massive team of them I actually think the writing will end up quite good.  Art will leave some to be desired but that's what the console ports are for.  Though I actually liked how Ryushiki's art was in Higanbana - The aesthetic fit the tone of the story quite well, actually. 

[Funyarinpa]

I've said this before, and I will say it again

 

I FUCKING LOVE UMINEKO'S ORIGINAL ARTSTYLE

 

Those blurred backgrounds, faces of potent emotion, lack of voice acting, NVL....

 

I love it

[Silvz]

The only thing I'd love to see is Voice Acting. Besides it, I don't care about the artstyle

 

Edit: So, no When they cry? :c

[Decay]

I always get confused when they people about how expressive Umineko's original faces are, because the PS3 sprites are just as expressive, IMO. 

[Vokoca]

I always get confused when they people about how expressive Umineko's original faces are, because the PS3 sprites are just as expressive, IMO. 

I honestly think people are either just lying to themselves or are blinded by fanboyinsm because they read through the original first. Ryu's art is just bad, and the resulting atmosphere comes after the fact, in my opinion.

 

A console remake might be the only thing we can hope for right now, but that's quite doubtful since this isn't strictly WTC.

[Decay]

I mean, the alchemist sprites almost replicate the expressions exactly.

 

 

 

I honestly think Alchemist did an exceptional job with the PS3 version of Umineko. The voicework is great, and the new art is great and matches the Umineko's setting and general mood very well. It's about a million times better than their Higurashi port.

 

I mean, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but don't act as if the PS3 version's sprites are somehow less expressive when that simply isn't the case at all.

[Funyarinpa]

I was not saying the PS3 sprites were bad or anything (that is because they are faaaaar from being so), but original sprites did grow on me.

[Getsuya]

I gotta wonder what Romeo and whatsisfacethekeyguy are thinking as they write for this and see the art.

 

'Really Ryu? Really really? o... okay... I guess... *silently praying for a console release*'

 

I can imagine them bringing Ryu into the Rewrite meetings and him going 'Hey guys if I'm doing my own character I want to do the art for her route' and being met by silent, cold stares.

 

Joking aside I'm really curious if this is going to be released as a doujin game like 07th Expansions other stuff, or a legit PC release. Seems like it almost might benefit more for a direct-to-console release since it's probably going to be all-ages(?) just guessing since 2/3 of the writers have mainly only done clean stuff.

 

In ANY case, more good all-ages VNs make me happy, so I hope this one is one.

 

Edit: Though let's all remember that good art isn't everything since Ookamikakushi was a dud despite being produced by the dreamlike combo of Peach Pit and Ryuukishi07.

[Down]

Come on, the art isn't that...

 

 

O-okay

 

 

I can imagine them bringing Ryu into the Rewrite meetings and him going 'Hey guys if I'm doing my own character I want to do the art for her route' and being met by silent, cold stares.

I'll be honest, at least Ryuukishi knows proportions. I don't get nightmares when I see them, I just wonder why they're wearing flesh-colored mittens.

[Decay]

I'll say one thing about Ryukishi, I think he's actually a pretty competent character designer, and most of his character designs are better than the ones you see in most VNs. Just let someone else draw the final sprites for goodness sake.

[Vario]

 

Not really related, but still. MangaGamer will release Higurashi Hou for the West, which means the release of EVERY Higurashi arc (including Rei) on Steam with new sprites.

 

More info: link

 

Onikakushi is now slated for release this May 15th.

[Decay]

That is inaccurate information, there are a lot of arcs that aren't included in Hou, like the DS and PS2 exclusive ones. Sui is the comprehensive version that contains everything, and despite what MG says, is the real definitive edition. Hou still has a lot of arcs, though.

[Funyarinpa]

That is inaccurate information, there are a lot of arcs that aren't included in Hou, like the DS and PS2 exclusive ones. Sui is the comprehensive version that contains everything, and despite what MG says, is the real definitive edition. Hou still has a lot of arcs, though.

 

What the heck?!

 

How the hell are there so many arcs?!

 

Hopefully we will get those someday too...

[Decay]

Sui contains 19 arcs compared to Hou's 14. Yes, it's kind of ridiculous. 

[Funyarinpa]

Sui contains 19 arcs compared to Hou's 14. Yes, it's kind of ridiculous. 

[Vario]

That is inaccurate information, there are a lot of arcs that aren't included in Hou, like the DS and PS2 exclusive ones. Sui is the comprehensive version that contains everything, and despite what MG says, is the real definitive edition. Hou still has a lot of arcs, though.

[douggle]

Yes, I know. It's just the fact that they have posted it on 1st April. I liked it, btw. But still don't know what to expect.

Not all companies do April Fools Jokes, last year Key Delayed Angel Beats on April first leaving many to wonder whether it was a joke or not.

[Decay]

Since I have not read Higurashi, I gotta ask something

 

How long is an arc compared to one "episode" of Umineko?

Hmm, well, the first four may be a bit shorter, the second four about on par. The side arcs, like the ones in Rei, are usually a fair bit shorter. At reading what I believe to be at the same pace, I finished Higurashi in about 3/4ths the time it took me to finish Umineko (the eight main arcs for each).

[Vokoca]

Well, you're right. I didn't count Alchemist's arcs. But we'll still get every canon part of the story that was done by 07th Expansion, so there is no real problem.

It's not like the PS2/DS arcs aren't canon, they include more backstory on the events, characters and even Umineko tie-ins (and a completely new endings that's apparently better than the original, too), so it's not really fair to dismiss them all.

 

I still think that MG should've just gotten their hands on Sui somehow instead of wasting resources on redrawing the art and then missing out on voices anyway, not to mention all the other content. Probably just too naive on my part, but hey, if Sekai could get the Vita assets from Grisaia, this should've been theoretically possible too, right...? If Sui didn't exist, it'd be more bearable, but MG's re-release kind of just feels like too little, too late now.

 

 

Anyway, to get back on topic, here's a fun fact about the VN announcement. Trian Thology (which is also a pun on Tri Anthology) was actually originally announced with a typo in the logo itself. Good job guys...

[Kawasumi]

I still think that MG should've just gotten their hands on Sui somehow instead of wasting resources on redrawing the art and then missing out on voices anyway, not to mention all the other content. Probably just too naive on my part, but hey, if Sekai could get the Vita assets from Grisaia, this should've been theoretically possible too, right...? If Sui didn't exist, it'd be more bearable, but MG's re-release kind of just feels like too little, too late now.

 

I could rant about this for days, it just seems so nonsensical to do when sui was right around the color.

Not only is it an inferior version, sui is just strictly better. But I guess it has something to do with the whole "its only for VITA" thing I dont know.

I have ranted about this for days now xD, but yeah.

 

Anyways. the sprites kills the hype for me, I know that some people find them somewhat appealing but lets be real, its not good. It would be somewhat acceptables in VNs from the 90s, but with the tools we have now this is simply not good enough.

Heck we are working on a non budget VN right now and it STILL looks objectively better than this.

[Decay]

Negotiations are a two-way street. It has nothing to do with Sui being a PS3/Vita release, and everything to do with Alchemist, who owns the rights to the art, all of the console-exclusive arcs, and a bunch of other stuff relating to that version of Higurashi. MangaGamer has tried negotiating with Alchemist before, they want access to that stuff, they definitely didn't want to have to pay an artist to make yet another set of sprites. But Alchemist isn't having any of it, it seems. Either their asking price is too high or there are other issues involved. 

 

 

Anyways. the sprites kills the hype for me, I know that some people find them somewhat appealing but lets be real, its not good. It would be somewhat acceptables in VNs from the 90s, but with the tools we have now this is simply not good enough.

Heck we are working on a non budget VN right now and it STILL looks objectively better than this.

 

You realize that MangaGamer is drawing new sprites for everything, right? Or are the new ones the ones you're taking issue with?

[Getsuya]

Wouldn't the simple reason that they took Hou over Sui be that Sui was made by a completely different company (Kaga Create) and is for PSV/PS3 as opposed to Hou which was for PC? Plus there might be some deal with Sony, who need exclusives, that Sui stays on Sony platforms for the time being.

[Decay]

Not even 07th Expansion, the original developers themselves, were allowed to use the console-exclusive art, or any of the other chapters that were exclusive to the Alchemist releases in Hou, which they only put out a year ago. The rights to all that is a tangled mess and when not even the original devs have full access, you better believe that MangaGamer won't. They're doing the best with what they have, really.

[Vario]

It's not like the PS2/DS arcs aren't canon, they include more backstory on the events, characters and even Umineko tie-ins (and a completely new endings that's apparently better than the original, too), so it's not really fair to dismiss them all.

Yeah, they might be interesting. But as far as I know, Ryukishi didn't write any of them (he was a supervisor, though) and I'm not a fan of the idea of giving additional routes to different writers. So, I'm a bit sceptical about Matsuri/Kizuna.