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Tayutama 2


Clephas

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First, I should apologize to those who voted for Sen no Hatou.  To be honest, I had every intention of finishing it first... but I kept running into the walls I described in the previous post, so I switched over to this game.  

 

****** Before reading further, please realize that it is impossible to talk about this VN without spoiling the original to some extent.  If you haven't played the original Tayutama, you shouldn't be considering playing this game anyway (as it doesn't make sense without having played it) so please refer all spoiler complaints to your nearest garbage can*****

 

 

 

Tayutama 2 is the direct sequel to the original Tayutama game, based off of the Mashiro ending.  It is based fifty years after the events in the original game, and society has changed dramatically.  Mashiro's and Yuuri's adopted (pure-blooded Tayutai) daughter, Kohaku serves as the main heroine, and the game itself is based in another city, which has aggressively adopted the coexistence ideals put forth by Mashiro.  The two other heroines are the half-breed ojousama Hifumi and a young girl who lives for the sake of Tayutai, whose name is Nano. 

For better or worse, the world has changed in this game.  Instead of normal electricity, it has become possible to use 'shinki' (divine energy) to provide power, and people are living longer lives as a result of close contact with the Tayutai (Yumina, Ameri, and Mafuyu haven't aged a day due to their connections to the Great Ones).  Yuuri spends most of his time bustling all over the country, solving incidents with Tayutai, while Mashiro takes care of the town where they found Kohaku.

Sora, the protagonist of the story, is a level-headed, kind-hearted (but not dense in any way, shape, form, or fashion), and insightful young man who Kohaku falls in love with pretty much at first sight.  In every way possible, save for his passion for those he cares about, he is Yuuri's opposite.  Where Yuuri is dense, he is perceptive; where Yuuri tends to lack in sensitivity, he is as sensitive to others' feelings as they come; and where Yuuri is confrontational, he is a negotiator. 

In addition to the three heroine paths, there is also a Yuuri/Mashiro path where all the secrets hidden in the other paths are brought into the open and the central conflict of the story is resolved to its fullest extent.  To be honest, I thought that path was the biggest mistake in this VN (though the redoing of the old epilogue from the original with more detail than even in the FD was a nice touch).  Why?  It is because it provided an excuse for failing to properly build up the paths in the main game.  While any of those paths are fine for your standard charage (in fact, a bit above the average level of quality), the fact is that there are a lot of aspects to Sora himself, as well as the heroines and their future, that are left entirely unexplored. 

Sora has inevitable issues... he is an orphan after all.  However, those issues are ignored almost entirely (save as an excuse to let him get away with staying at the shrine), and even the heroine paths lack the depth of exploration you would normally expect, considering the level of detail in the original.  This shows off how far LoS has degraded in the years since the original was released, and it was immensely saddening for me.  In particular, I thought that Sora, for all that he is a wonderful character personality-wise, lacks development in terms of his past and its relation to who he is now.  To be blunt, LoS should have milked that part of the setting to make Kohaku's route in particular more emotional.  Considering how 'dramatic' they tried to make the last part of her path, it was hard to really get into hers or Sora's head during it.

Overall, this game is a nice treat for people who wanted more after the original game.  However, don't expect the same level of impact.  By itself, it isn't even really complete without a full knowledge of the original.  Even worse, there was a definite sense of laziness when it came to character development that is unforgivable in my eyes (in particular, antagonist character development).

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That's a game i probably won't play ˆˆ.

Still, there is no need to apologize, it would be stupid to force yourself to play a game you don't even enjoy. Now i'm not even sure it is such a good idea to dive in sen no hatou.

 

With shwaezesmarken 2 incoming and vermilion that i still have to finish  (so far, aria's route is just awesome, damn, victor is badass lol)̂, i'm not in need for another read right now ˆˆ.

 

I saw one of your post some time ago, that i didn't comment, where you were asking if people wanted you to continue your review, it's a bit late but i'm looking forward to your incoming posts here each time. It help me choose the next vn to play.

 

Anyway, have fun with your next read, i'll go to work now..

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