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About this blog

This is a series of condensed articles from my main Blog.

Reviews, News and Analysis are my specialty and will be updated weekly on the main site followed by here.

Entries in this blog

Analysis

Comedy VNs – Genre Deep Dive

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   I Laugh, You Laugh, We All Laugh   Making people laugh is a particular talent and more than any other it is dramatically effected by the medium it is presented through. Stand up comedy and visual novel humour might share a similar desire to entertain but they could not be further apart in terms of how they reach that goal. The unique set of tools available to visual novels has led to a
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Review

Akai Ito Review – Blood Red Threads Of Love

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Genre - Horror, Yuri     Play Time - 25 hours    Developer - Success     Steam    VNDB   Shaped By Inevitable Bonds   Being bound by the red string of fate is a common trope in Japanese romance stories and at first glance you might assume that Akai Ito would follow these conventions given its emphasis on yuri. However, nothing could be further from the truth as the game takes this rom
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Analysis

An Anatomy Of Visual Novels – Unlockable Extra Content

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Shiny New Things   Everyone likes to be rewarded for their effort and video games are happy to oblige with a variety of Extra Unlockable Content. These bonuses are often treated as a side show disconnected from the important main sections of the game and relegated to a sub menu where it has little impact on the greater structure. For visual novels this unlockable content has a much more
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Analysis

Mystery VNs – Genre Deep Dive

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Through The Lies And Deception   Of all the genres Mystery is perhaps the one visual novels have the most tools of engage with. The levels of subtly and the precise execution needed to ensure a balance between the known and unknown so that the player is never lost is no easy task and demands a degree of control many games lack. At the same time they have to be able to spin other delica
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Review

9 -nine- Series Review – Fragmented Artefacts From The Beyond

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Genre – Supernatural, Action, Mystery    Play Time – 9 hours per game   Developer – Palette    Steam    VNDB   No Power Without Consequence   Everyone wants superpowers and think themselves far more capable of using them than the fictional heroes from comics or movies, but what they rarely consider is that for every hero there must be a monster and this monster will be destructive to
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Analysis

Built-in Flowcharts – An Anatomy Of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Divergent Paths To The Future   For the longest time when you wanted to know how to get to a specific route in a visual novel the only options open to you where trial and error or looking up a walkthrough. However, in more recent years there has been a trend to include built-in flowcharts that fill out as the player progresses through the game. These help the player understand the struc
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Analysis

Yandere Horror VNs – Genre Deep Dive

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Obsessive Love   The Yandere is perhaps the most iconic ‘Dere’, not just within visual novels but within the more general anime fandom, with their distinctive mix of love and violence, they have found their way into everything from Comedy to Slice of Life. It is the particular combination of Yandere and Horror that is the focus today and the way this niche aspect of visual novels has ca
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Review

Kunado Chronicles Review – A Beautiful Post-Apocalypse With A Side Of Mechanic Menace

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Genre – Action, Post-Apocalypse, Supernatural    Play Time – 35 hours    Developer – Purple Software    Steam    VNDB   Beneath the Sakura   Once the apocalypse is over and all the damage is done, will the world be a peaceful place? And what of those who come after, how will they adapt? These are the questions Kunado Chronicles opens with and it uses them as the foundations up
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Hybrid Visual Novels – An Anatomy of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   The Best Of Both Worlds?   When talking about visual novels there is a tendency to present the medium as pure and distinct from all other types of games. Of course the reality is that other games influence visual novels and visual novels influence other games in a cycle of mutual adaptation and growth. The most noticeable manifestation of this union is the hybrid visual novel. This bein
Review

AI: The Somnium Files Review – The Mysteries Of The Mind

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Genre – Mystery, Detective, Sci-fi    Play Time – 30 hours    Developer – Spike Chunsoft     Steam    One Eye Lost And Another Gained   Found wandering in the street with a missing eye and no memories, Date is taken in by a woman calling herself Boss, given a new eye/partner Aibo and takes up the role of detective. Now years later he finds himself investigating the murder of a
Analysis

Enforced Play Order – An Anatomy of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Directions From On High   The player is a wild and chaotic beast prone to doing what you least expect and are both the joy and bane of developers. This is especially true for any game which focuses on narrative as its core element since there is no guarantee the player will experience the story in the way the designers intended and even more so if there is any form of freedom offered.
Analysis

Yuri VNs – Genre Deep Dive

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Forbidden Love?   If there is one genre which thrives in the visual novel space it is Yuri. While other mediums and types of games touch on Yuri, there are none that put their entire focus on it in quite the all consuming way present in visual novels. Rather than being a sideshow for another genre to use as romantic fluff, it is front and centre in many of the best and defining titles y
Review

Sunrider 4: The Captain’s Return Review – A Glorious Return?

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Genre – Sci-fi, Action, Mecha    Play Time - 22 hours    Developer – Love In Space   Steam   Return From Exile   A fall from grace changes a man and exile from all he has ever known can break him. Such is the state of Kayto Shields as the curtain rises on the fourth game in the Sunrider series. This is the tale of how he pulls himself up from the pit he has fallen into, but thi
Analysis

The True Ending – An Anatomy of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Final Destination   Controlling how your game ends is crucial to the impression of it the player walks away with. This is an especially pressing issue for games with any kind of choice system which provides the option of alternative endings. If not handled correctly this can cause the narrative to come across as inconclusive and lacking a coherent identity. Something to tie the events
Analysis

Horror VNs – Genre Deep Dive

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   There Is Something Behind You   Genres define the games they inhabit and how the game uses its unique features to achieve or subvert the expectations of the audience. This is especially true for horror which aims to invoke feelings in the player that many other genres deliberately steer clear of. As such it is an excellent candidate to begin to observe how visual novels adapt themselves
Review

Gnosia Review – In Space No One Can Hear You Scheme

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Genre – Mystery, Social Deduction, Thriller    Play Time – 20 hours    Developer - Petit Depotto    Steam    VNDB   With Knives Out and Masks On   Trapping a group of people in a remote location and forcing them to into a game of social deduction is a premise with a surprising among of interesting scenarios to give despite how simple it is at its core. We have death games like
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Episodic Stories – An Anatomy of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Tales From A Distant Land   How a visual novel is structured is perhaps one of the most important, but also the least immediately obvious, element for the player. The way in which the pieces of the narrative fit together often determines the kind of story you are going to tell and tools available to impart emotions and ideas. As such the choice to assume a structure based around Episodi
Review

Kiss the Demiurge Review – Flowers in a Garden of Demons

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Genre – Yuri, Modern Fantasy    Play Time – 6 hours    Developer – YuriEureka    Steam    VNDB Note – I did receive a review copy from the developer. A heads up if that fact might bother you.   Something Wicked This Way Comes   In most settling magic is normally a force for good and even when it is not, the protagonist is special enough to make the most of it regardless. T
Analysis

Meaningless Choices – An Anatomy of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   Empty and Pointless?   The illusion of choice is one of a video game’s most fragile tools, a single contradiction or misstep in presentation and the whole thing shatters and the player feels cheated. As such the idea of a Meaningless Choice is one which is viewed in a negative light as something to avoid alongside the idea that all choices must offer some form of consequence, no matter
Review

A Clockwork Ley-Line Trilogy Review – A Mistifying Mystery

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Genre - Mystery, Fantasy.   Playtime - Roughly 20 Hours Each, 60 In Total    Developer -  Unison Shift: Blossom    Steam    VNDB   Three Ley-Lines Shall Reveal The Truth   Creating a trilogy of games is an ambitious undertaking and one where so many tiny things can go wrong and ruin the whole package. It needs a glue to hold it together and keep the player invested in the long term, s
Analysis

The Sub-Heroine Route – An Anatomy of Visual Novels

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here.   She Was Always Right Beside Me   A story always has its heroes and heroines, defining characters who shapes the narrative and break out of the normal to change the world around them. These are the people who the player remembers long after they have put the game down and are the focus of a developer's time and effort. But what about the supporting cast? The men and women who stand bello
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Amnesia: Memories Review - A Wonderland Of Love And Paranoia

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Genre – Otome, Mystery, Drama.   Play Time – 35 hours.   Developer – Otomate and Design Factory.    Steam     VNDB   Reinvigorating The Cliché   Using amnesia as plot device is a common tactic by many creators who want to put the protagonist on the same level as the player, but its use rarely goes beyond being an excuse for exposition. Enter Amnesia: Memories, as you might have been a
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Heaven Will Be Mine – Review - Clashing Steel And Warming Hearts

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Genre – Sci-fi, Mecha, LGBTQ+.    Play Time – 8 hours.   Developer - Pillow Fight Games.   Steam   VNDB   Finding Heaven   There is a certain beauty to the simple impulse to say, “Wow that is so cool”. It is a short phrase filled with an innocent emotion many of us lose as we get older and the realities of life turn everything into a grey soup. An adult is meant to be mature and sensi
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Lamunation! Review - It's A Mad And Brilliantly Shining World

This is a condensed version of the full review which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Genre - Comedy.   Play Time - 15 hours.   Developer - WhitePowder   Steam   VNDB   Always Be Happy!   Most visual novels use comedy in some form, be it a joke to break tension or a scene to make the player empathise with the characters, but few commit to it as the single focus of their identity. This is for a good reason, humour is subjective and as such making a comedy game with a wi
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Analysis

Hello Lady! Analysis (Spoilers) – Pieces of Potential

This is a condensed version of the full article which can be found on my Main Blog Here. Academic Subterfuge   The English release of Hello Lady is a game in a strange situation. Being a translation of the Complete Edition, it is effectively three games tied into one which leads to some interest quirks. I knew that I would have to play the game since I enjoyed one of the developers previous works, Coμ. Coμ was a flawed but entertaining game and it is with these expectations I when
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