Clephas Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Currently, the candidates have been narrowed down to two VNs: Semiramis no Tenbin and Nanairo Reincarnation. For the sake of fairness, I'm waiting for a chance to play Teito Hiten Daisakusen by Liar-soft before I make a final decision, though. A few comments on some of the runner-ups... AstralAir no Shiroki Towa Normally, this would have been one of the competitors for the top seat. Unfortunately, Favorite indulged in a certain bad habit fantasy VNs with true endings tend to have problems with... foreshadowing the true ending in the epilogues. To be blunt, a certain level of foreshadowing for the true ending of a VN in the process of pursuing the actual path, as well as maybe a few verbal hints here and there near the end, are not a problem and are actually necessary for setting the stage. However, considering Favorite's fondness for emotional highs and the way they engineered the endings, it was a serious downer for me, as someone who analyzes by second nature, to have those hints pierce my buzz. Bradyon Veda If I let my fanboy spirit get away from me, this would have been my first choice. Why? It has everything a chuunige-lover could possibly want in it. It has incredible detail, a definite sense of drama, and as much moral ambiguity as you could possibly desire. Moreover, it has some of the most well-designed combat scenes I've seen in a VN in some time. Unfortunately, this also means that I can't evaluate it objectively in relation to other VNs, so I'm restricting it to an 'Honorable Mention' reward. Houkago no Futekikakusha For simply hitting you emotionally, no other VN this year even gets close. Unfortunately, it also has so many inconsistencies and unexplained aspects to the setting that I reluctantly came to the conclusion that rejecting it was the only option. Sekai to Sekai no Mannaka de In my eyes, this redeemed Lump of Sugar from the ignominy of a series of seriously bad VN-making choices in recent years. This is their first truly great VN in many years... but it falls slightly short of AstralAir in raw quality and character development, though it does a better job with completing the individual stories than that one did. A few Comments Unlike last year, there are no truly great musical tracks to worship this year, so there aren't any that are going to propel themselves to the top based on this aspect. As a result, the choices I made this year were based on presentation, character development, and plot, for the most part. In terms of character development, AstralAir was undeniably the best... and it had good presentation. In terms of all-around quality (a balance of high level quality in all areas) Nanairo and Semiramis both surpass AstralAir, showing a level of skill and orchestration that, while it does not leave it in the dust, does indeed edge them slightly past it. I say this for the benefit of the Favorite fanboys who are inevitably going to protest AstralAir not being included in the finals. In terms of straight-out plot, Semiramis is undeniably the best, whereas Nanairo has a better balance between the three aspects I mentioned above. Tay 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwd2 Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 nanarin hands down. EDIT: my runner ups would be: Majo Koi Nikki, Tenbin no La Dea, Dekinai Watashi ga Kurikaesu, Hoshi Ori Yume Mirai, hmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clephas Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 Majo Koi Nikki is out of the question... same for Tenbin no la Dea. Tenbin no la Dea is too... small scale and dissatisfying for those who played Zero and Verita. Dekinai Watashi is good, but not that good. I considered Hoshi ori Yume Mirai, but I can't evaluate it objectively (for the opposite reason to Bradyon Veda). Edit: Majo Koi Nikki is out of the question for a very simple reason... it is second-rate for a VN of its type. The idea behind it wasn't too bad, but the way it was carried out... I can't count the number of times I fell asleep trying to trudge through it. I managed to make it to the end anyway, but then... *sighs* Hoshi Ori hit so many of my pet peeves within the first chapter that I just couldn't evaluate it completely objectively. I recognize it as a good romance VN, but since I honestly didn't enjoy it, it is impossible for me to even consider it. Tenbin no La Dea is good quality... for what it is. Unfortunately, what it is is what basically amounts to a VN/dungeon-exploration combo with a significantly weaker story than previous entries in the series. It definitely doesn't approach the level of quality you can see in any of the candidates I put up, though it is visually beautiful. It does serve as an interesting addition to the saga of Serika, but... Dekinai Watashi has the downside of being an utsuge and thus being comparable to Houkago no Futekikakusha... which plays much better as an utsuge on all levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwd2 Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Well Astral Air was disappointing and actually drove away some devoted favo fanboys. The coloring is getting more ridiculous too. I'd agree that La Dea certainly didn't live up to its expectations, given Eushully's name, though I liked most of the Ikusa Megami series back then. Semiramis no Tenbin seemed pretty generic to me, I was an hour or two in before getting bored, it's still somewhere in my external hard disk though I probably won't bother. I might check out Houkago no Futekikakusha later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clephas Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 Well Astral Air was disappointing and actually drove away some devoted favo fanboys. The coloring is getting more ridiculous too. I'd agree that La Dea certainly didn't live up to its expectations, given Eushully's name, though I liked most of the Ikusa Megami series back then. Semiramis no Tenbin seemed pretty generic to me, I was an hour or two in before getting bored, it's still somewhere in my external hard disk though I probably won't bother. I might check out Houkago no Futekikakusha later. I don't think you can get any farther from generic than Ami and the protagonist's relationship and what happens throughout the story... you must read fairly slowly if you didn't get to that point in three hours. Edit: Also, I don't know where you got to the misunderstanding that AstralAir drove away the fanboys... while it didn't add as many new fanboys as Irotoridori, it achieved a similarly high level of quality, though less effort was put into the setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Isn't Soushuu Senshinkan Gakuen Hachimyoujin from 2014? Would have expected to see that somewhere on your list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clephas Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 Mmm... I don't really want to get into why I didn't list it as a possibility... but the biggest reason is that Bradyon Veda is higher quality and I couldn't consider either for the same reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alucard Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 Based off a quick preview of your top choices I think Semiramis no Tenbin has an edge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clephas Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 In terms of appeal, Nanairo is more directed toward the mainstream... that is because Semiramis is in many ways an uncompromising criticism of Japanese society's worst aspects (the tendency toward group-think, extreme peer-pressure, weak sex-crime laws, 'hands-off' policy toward domestic issues, etc.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chronopolis Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 In terms of appeal, Nanairo is more directed toward the mainstream... that is because Semiramis is in many ways an uncompromising criticism of Japanese society's worst aspects (the tendency toward group-think, extreme peer-pressure, weak sex-crime laws, 'hands-off' policy toward domestic issues, etc.). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clephas Posted January 9, 2015 Author Share Posted January 9, 2015 A few things I should mention - if only to cut off those who might start referring to vndb and erogamescape ratings in order to try to influence my decision - is that ratings on the big VN database sites are heavily colored by bot and troll votes... not to mention purchased votes. Not to mention that translated VNs generally get much higher ratings than they really deserve on vndb. So, my basic word on this issue is 'not worth paying attention to'. Also, another word on erogamescape... its ratings are a 'mainstream rating' system, which means that inevitably, VNs with wide appeal will naturally climb their way to the top, even if a slightly more niche VN (such as a nakige with dark undertones) is outright better. This adds to the unreliability of ratings on database sites in general. To be blunt, the fact that Fureraba, which is what amounts to a second-rate moege, made it into the top ten for 2013 says all that really needs to be said. Moege have 'wide appeal' but outside of visuals and voices, their actual quality is generally low. The 'weight' of my standard is focused on narration and storytelling, though I do let exceptional presentation, music, and art take a part in my decision. The side-effect of the high 'average' for VN visuals makes it difficult to find exceptional quality in that area, and in the case of music, the general tendency toward putting less emphasis on the aspect tends to result in hundreds of tracks that sound exactly like every other track on other VNs... ones like Hapymaher whose musical quality is in the area of legendary soundtracks like Nier or Chrono Cross are rare, to say the least. In many ways, this makes storytelling the area where differences in quality can make a VN truly stand out, without a lot of extra cash being plunged into the making of the VN (incidentally, that is Key's basic strategy). That it is the area that moege neglect the most often makes my frequent complaints about the genre only natural, lol. Like I said before... there are times when a VN-maker's efforts in their unique specialty area really are exceptional. An example of this would be Favorite's art style, which is quite easily amongst the highest-quality in the entire industry. Another example of this would be Akatsuki Works and Light's storytelling, which are undeniably the most reliably high-quality in the industry. A kamige, as I define it, is a VN that does just about everything right and where all the elements in the story and presentation come together to create something beautiful and enjoyable. Generally speaking, you'll find maybe two or three kamige a year. So far, I have never gone into a VN expecting a kamige and come out thinking it was a kamige. This is the primary reason why I play so many varied VNs... simply because I want to find those VNs who exceed the limits of what is good and become 'awesome'. Dies Irae, for instance, is undeniably a kamige. However, there are a lot of people who simply wouldn't be able to get into it because of the subject matter or the density of the narration. The same goes for Semiramis no Tenbin, and even moreso for Hapymaher (VN of the Year 2013). The reason why there are few straight moege that are kamige is simple... moege are generally made under such strict direction from the producer that the resulting material inevitably feels... contrived in a bad way, sort of like a failed play or a crappy movie. The little things a writer or scenario director might do to soften these ragged edges are frequently denied to them by the companies they work for... which is one reason why I prefer to choose VNs by companies rather than by writer. While some writers are capable of writing something really good despite their superiors' interference, that kind of writer is relatively rare. As such, it has always made more sense to me to pay attention to the companies, lol. Anyway, back on topic. In my experience, truly great VNs tend to be at least a little niche. When I say 'niche', I don't necessarily mean a 'niche that I like', either. Nanairo's edge of horror, for instance, is definitely not something I like... and yet I didn't really have any hesitation in calling it a kamige, because it was self-evident that it was. Semiramis no Tenbin's merciless exposure of Japan's lax laws on sex-crime and even weaker ones on domestic violence were painful to experience... and something I really would have preferred not to face. However, I didn't have any problems with praising it up one side and down the other in the end. It is fairly rare for a VN to get so far into my 'bad side' that I can't evaluate it properly... which is why Hoshi Ori Yume Mirai already gets one of my three Special Mention slots for 2014, along with Hello, Lady and Bradyon Veda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clephas Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 /index.php?/blog/46/entry-409-vn-of-the-year-2014/">http://forums.fuwanovel.net/index.php?/blog/46/entry-409-vn-of-the-year-2014/ This is my VN of the Year 2014 blog post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Satsuki Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Hmm...is Sekachu really that good...? Btw, did you try out Unmei Senjou? It looks kinda more interesting than Sekachu, though I haven't checked it out yet (I did play the trial, but it didn't leave much impression on me, the only thing worth mention is the investigation and "slice choice" system) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clephas Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Unmei Senjou no Phi is terrible. Beyond salvation. Sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.