Turnip Sensei

SeaBed is purposefully written in a really passive fashion. Partly to show Sachi's mental state, but also to emphasize the themes of the whole work. There's hardly any "drama" and structure is pretty flat, because the story and the characters refuse to dramatize their situations. After all, isn't that what we all do? Downplay our problems and just keep living our daily lives? SeaBed does get more interesting towards the end (plus the later chapters are shorter too), but for the most part it's is very low-key. Not that I think that any explanation can help if SeaBed's style doesn't work with someone, but I'm really impressed by it. The passive tone and the lack of explicit emotions in the narration is really unusual and pretty brave choice. I'm not surprised it is seen as boring, but I personally find it strangely calming. It's not captivating in the usual sense, but there's a nice feeling of time just flowing peacefully. Kinda like reading an old diary. I also think it's amazing how touching the story manages to be despite being what one would traditionally consider "uneventful".

Elysia Wentworth and Lily the Stranger from Shiei no Sona-nyl. Two amazing female protagonists in one game! And incidentally probably my favorite protagonists as well. I'm personally very fond of Elysia's refined and melancholic, somber demeanor. I really like Mary from Sharnoth too. ...And pretty much every other Steampunk MC as well.

I'm bit curious. What questions you wanted to be answered? There's also already Steampunk Full-voice Fandisk which has 4 extra stories for Inganock. Rest of Phenomeno as a VN would have been really cool indeed.

If I had to choose a favorite, then... I guess a shared vote for the whole Steampunk-series wouldn't be too bad. Those VNs are all very special to me.

Sona-Nyl! Can't wait to read it again and share the experience with everyone. Also Shunkyoku no Tyrhhia! Getting a new Steampunk game after 5 years is super exciting! Sakurai is not main writer this time which is bit of a downer, but on the other hand this way Tyrhhia is one step closer to making Sakurai's dream of Steampunk-series being a shared universe come ture.

Looking back, I didn't read all that many VNs in 2017. But I had fun with the few that I did read. Enjoy some arbitrarily made up categories. Best Journey/Story Best "My kind of Story" Best Music: Favorite Characters: Best Localization: Best Food for thought:

But glad you liked Gahkthun overall. I like the series especially because of the character focus and more subtle character development. The inner dialog tell so much about the characters even without explicitly stating anything, but it's not for everyone. And this style is definitely not perfect and doesn't work with every character, but despite all the flaws Sakurai is still to writer that manages to consistently come up with utterly fascinating characters.

VA-11 HALL-A is seriously good, so +1 to that. One of the better Cyberpunk stories out there Utawarerumono sequels (Mask of Deception and Mask of Truth) are also really worthwhile. Could be grouped together I would also recommend SeaBed, but since it just released and pretty much no-one has read it, that can wait

All the VNs in Steampunk-series have god-tier openings. Ones from Sharnoth and Gahkthun being probably my favorites I also have soft spot for the OP of Kusarihime. It's kind of endearingly retro

SeaBed is a curious VN. One of my favorite VNs in 2016 and reading it again in English was every bit as wonderful as when I first read it. SeaBed very unique in a way that doesn't stand out. You could describe it as a psychological mystery, which isn't wrong, but is quite far from what the story sets out to do. Even calling it a Yuri-game feels bit wrong since that makes it seem like the main characters being two women in love is something special, when it just completely normal. That's what SeaBed is mostly, mundane. It's people living their lives. Reminiscing past vacations, trips around the world, and all the silly stuff they did when they were younger. Dealing with their problems. Feeling sad for the things they've lost and things they can't remember. And continuing to living their lives. SeaBed is also written in a way that emphasises this. The style is actually really unique, but it's very easy to overlook since everything feels so mundane. The narration is very passive, distant, emotionless. Most everything is described in the same matter of fact manner that lacks the normal emotional elements we usually expect from narration. The characters don't judge what's happening, normal and unnatural, reality and dreams are all taken in as they are. To me reading Seabed felt like reading my old travel diaries. The events and cursory thoughts are there, but the emotions are lacking. Our feelings feel so obvious at the moment that the thought of writing them down doesn't even cross our minds. Yet reading this diary afterwards, and I'm left wondering how I really felt back then. It's also lack of dramatisation that makes SeaBed stand out. We don't consider our lives especially special, and don't make huge fuss of the events that may occur. Most of the time we only realise the change afterwards, if there were any in the first place. SeaBed also refuses to make a show out of anything. In SeaBed, an event or piece of information that could be framed as a huge plot-twist in any other VN is dealt with the same normalcy as everything. With the same "I see". This kind of "flatness" was very refreshing to me. By refusing the comply with the rules and structure we expect from drama, SeaBed weaves a very relatable, humane, and ultimately very touching story. Slice-of-Life is there to remind that there's joy to be found in mundane, that it too can be special. SeaBed goes step further and shows that mundane is just how thing are, and it's neither good or bad. TLDR; SeaBed is pretty unique and really hard to explain. And it's definitely not as boring as my ramblings might suggest. There's the mystery which is pretty intriguing and the characters are really good. That said I don't blame anyone for finding the unorthodox writing styling really boring and uninteresting, although I personally really like it. It has this dreamy, kind of hypnotic feeling to it. The non-linearity, slow pace, and the mundaneness of it can also be off-putting to some. But for those looking for unique experiences, SeaBed can be something special. And do try the demo. Seeing it for yourself will surely tell more than any of my attempt to express it. Oh, I guess I should mention that the presentation is really good for doujin VN, and the soundtrack is great and very fitting.

from Gahkhtun

It took a long while, but I finally finished Subahibi. And if anything, I'm very conflicted. Not as much with the VN, but myself. Like I mentioned before It's My Own Invention was from time to time too much for me to stomach and that certainly didn't help. Luckily the rest was better and it was just a problem of getting back to it. I guess when it comes to Subahibi you could say it has two layers: the surface level (or just the story) and "deeper level" (the ideas of the author) and depending how well these things meld together in someone's head can hugely impact the enjoyment. But in my case these elements kind of drifted around. At times amidst all the ugliness I just wanted to hear more of the philosophy, more food for thought. At times, just see the next part and make sense of the whole. Ultimately I really enjoyed Subahibi for what it was. The story itself is interesting with utterly fascinating and many-faceted characters and it challenges the reader to think in the most wonderful way possible. Yet, there's still this nagging feeling that I failed to truly appreciate it. Usually, as I look back at what I've done and read, and regret my lack of knowledge and understanding. A truly trite though of course, because without that I would know even less. But when it comes to Subahibi I feel like If I could have had the chance to read it when I was younger, more naïve, Subahibi could have something special. Who knows. But enough with existential crisis. If there's one thing that Subahibi does amazingly it's how it encourages the reader to think and read. My favorite parts of the VN are when the characters are used to teach the reader something. Be it philosophy, mathematics, economy, or literature. Through these scenes SCA-DI not only shows his understanding and knowledge of these subjects, but most importantly his enthusiasm. A heartfelt feeling that something is fascinating and the wish to share it. And not just wanting to teach about something, but to try share that enthusiasm. There hasn't been any other work like Subahibi, that has managed to make me so readily visit library and research. Not because I felt like I wasn't able to understand something, but because I wanted to learn more about subject and go beyond what was taught to me. I've seen people being intimidated about Subahibi because they feel like they have to know philosophy to understand it. But I feel this is very wrong. Basics are very helpful of course, but Subahibi is work that wants to teach you philosophy and how think. In fact, I think it's better to dive in to it knowing less and then studying inspired by it. Be brave and I dive into the unknown! Subahibi was curious experience and I'm still not quite sure how to feel about it. Fascinating it certainly is, in many ways. Like many have demonstrated Subahibi has the potential of being something truly special, and even if it won't end up that way for someone I feel like it has still lot to give.

Yeah, Subahibi is uh.. quite the experience. Down the Rabbit Hole I, especially nearing the end of it was the kind of writing/storytelling I really enjoy. Beautiful, inspiring and encouraging to explore oneself, at least for me. It's been a while since anything has inspired me to hit the library and start perusing poetry, philosophy and children's fables. Where as Down the Rabbit Hole II was weird but interesting, It's My Own Invention made me straight up feel physically ill for a good part of it, on top of being generally unsettling. I was so mentally exhausted after that I need to take a break from the whole VN. ...Which conveniently happened almost exactly when Utawarerumono: Mask of Truth came out. Hurray! I previously predicted that it could be "BEST SHIT EVER(TM)", and while it's too soon to say how true that is I'm enjoying it immensely. Oh, how I missed to whole cast... Without any spoilers, it's heavier, more serious and tragic, but the lighter parts aren't completely gone. Like people grasp for happiness even in the darkest times, Slice-of-Life has its place in every story. One could even say it shines even brighter in these circumstances. Utaware3 is pretty much more of the same, which is exactly what I wanted. I'm also really glad the localization has kept it's quality. It's a rare pleasure reading as joyful and lively text.

For me, it was totally worth it. 30 hours of really solid story and amazing characters. And I can imagine it being even better if you are really fond of original Uta. I've only seen the anime, so it's not like I didn't get the nice throwbacks and connections, but the kind of attachment to the cast of the Uta1 that comes from personally experiencing the characters through reading and gameplay wasn't there for me. That said, if you end up buying Mask of Deception I can almost guarantee you'll be dying to buy the sequel to that too, so maybe waiting and seeing if it goes on sale just before or little after the release of Mask of Truth is not bad idea either.

Spent the last weekend playing Utawarerumono: Mask of Deception and what fun that was. It's a story roughly split in two halves, beginning being introduction to the setting and the characters and the latter half where "shit gets real", so to say. Both are very good in what they are set out to do, and it's one the big reasons why I found the game so engaging. The first half is pretty much slice-of-life and comedy with few missions in between. But man how good the slice-of-life is. Even though there's lots (and lots) of it the individual scenes themselves are really well paced and pretty much never drag too long. It feels like the writers had quite specific plans on how long a scene should take and what it should contain, and it shows. The scenes are snappy, fun and a joy to read. Time just flies reading different stuff about avoiding work, boozing, food (the amount of effort put in to the imaginary food culture is astounding), more boozing, silly comedy and the like. You get to know the cast really well and by the time the story starts to really get going I was totally rooting for everyone. This in turn made the dramatic events that more satisfying and eventual climax more meaningful. Somewhat to my surprise Utaware2 turned out to be one the most solidly written VNs I've read in a while. It's not like it's the "best VN ever", just really good and it manages to accomplish exactly what it wants to, something I can really appreciate. And while pretty much all of the cast is great, the "main characters", Haku and Kuon deserve some extra attention. The game literally starts with Haku, the hero, being saved by the "heroine" Kuon and being wholly helpless without her. This kind of little unusual relationships continues farther in the game with Kuon being very active and also pursuing her own goals, while Haku is more easy-going and mostly trying to find his own peace and place in the world. Not to mention Haku's mysterious charm of a good-for-nothing man. A very big part of the enjoyment also comes from the quality of the translation. There's only so much good script can do with mediocre translation, but luckily Utaware's translation is top notch. In fact, my favorite of all the things I've read in while. Sorry Dies Distinct character voices full of personality! Colorful vocabulary! Consistency! It's awesome! It's great! I guess it should be mentioned that Utaware2 is very much a prequel quite like Trails in the Sky FC, so the enjoyment may vary depending how tolerant you are to that kind of open endings. I personally didn't mind since Mask of Deception is very satisfying on it's own right while setting up for something even bigger. And if nothing else, going by what this game has to offer the sequel, Mask of Truth, has potential for being "BEST SHIT EVER(TM)"-tier of experience. (September couldn't come any faster...) The combat system is pretty cool too, the game looks fantastic, music is great, the setting is super interesting and fleshed out (the in-game glossary is tons of fun) and so on... There's so much good stuff in this game. If this is what happens when good developer makes "mainstream" VNs with good budget, then I want more.

Finally got around finishing Riho's route. And what a way to end my time with Deardrops it was! The concert scenes were probably the best in the game and the passion for music and the different forms it takes was really intense. Too bad the auto-play scenes went little too close to being excessive near the end, but otherwise I'm very satisfied. Can't see any other way it could have ended. On the whole I'm not too sure how I feel about Deardrops, but it's certain that I don't regret reading it. The amazing concert scenes and passion for music alone was worth it. And I think it's best I leave it at that.

Fitting for a music themed story, the music has been my favorite part too. Especially how it isn't just about playing music, but how music plays a big role in someones life. Music shapes who the characters are. The concerts and performances are the pinnacle of that. They are not just performances to show good music, but more about the feelings the music evokes in the performers and listeners. More often than not the performances are the conclusion of a story ark or a character development, where they bare their feelings, dissolve their doubts, anything through songs. Music ties everything together and it works so well. I'm pretty sure all of the major performance so far have managed to move me in some way, which is actually really cool and something I really didn't expect. Kanade's route especially was full of such powerful scenes. The autoplay in concert scenes is really nice, mostly because I read way too fast for what's intended. Being "forced" to listen through the whole song at least for me makes it easier to concentrate on it, and so enjoying it more. But more after I'm done with Riho's route.

AKIRA's art has this mesmerizing charm that I really like.

Finally got around reading more. I've been spoiled by books so much lately that I managed to read 5 books in the time I spent thinking when to continue with Deardrops. Anyways. Yayoi's route was pretty weird that it's made just like a cop-out side-route (short, skims around the main story/themes), but despite these it wasn't that bad. The drama was interesting enough that I almost forgot they should still have a band and the ending was really cool. Kanade's route seems pretty good. I really like how Kanade itself narrates about half of her route (so far), makes it feels like it's actually her story too. But it also makes me wish even more that Shoichi would have more personality. He already drowns under others during group scenes, partly due to not being voiced and not having enough presence because of that. Contrasting that with Kanade makes it even more obvious.

I've been thinking exactly the same. Gigs are definitely the stand-out part so far, but the meantime between them is not always that interesting. Bit more of youthly hijinks wouldn't be bad for a chance.

Got till the title drop/OP and I'm kinda liking this. Don't know about the rest, but the music scenes surprised me with how engrossing and powerful they are. It's not easy trying to express the atmosphere of a music performance through text and BGM so I'm glad Deardrops nailed that for me. The characters are pretty interesting and cool, except Chika, who luckily hasn't shown up much after her horrible introduction. Most of the cast being (young)adults is also pretty nice. The start was pretty promising, so here's hoping the rest holds up too.

Hell yes, NieR:Automata is the best game I've played in a while. Not only is it fun game on it's own to just play, but it's also really deep with it's story themes and actually utilizes the fact that it's a game to it's fullest potential. The amount of topic it touches is unbelievable and it gets better the deeper you dive in to it. At first I thought the writing was bit shallow, not bad but still. But in retrospect everything starts to fit together and you start to appreciate the minimalism, you could say, in context. I should play Automata again from the start and see how much more I can get out of it now, but at the same time I kinda don't, as I feel like I'm betraying myself in some extent towards the game. Not going to explain more because of spoilers!, but Automata is fantastic at making messages through it's mechanics. And as it touches so many themes (like really, I've heard people saying that NieR:Automata is game about everything in life, and it's not necessarily wrong) there's bound to one that touches you on a personal level, or you find something about yourself. I know I did, and I wish I could talk more about, but... Maybe later. NieR:Automata is the kind of game that, if it really clicks with you it won't leave your mind and you just keep constantly thinking about it. And yeah, the music is fantastic. I might have been mashing F5 on iTunes impatiently waiting for the release of the Original Soundtrack. Very heartily recommend!

Totally! The previous reading clubs had some really cool discussions (while it lasted) and were tons of fun. It also happens that I'm not going to be as unreasonably busy anymore and I've been kind of itching to get back to reading VNs, so this is good chance as any. If needed I would gladly help brainstorming and coming up with themes or ideas.