EdwardWongHPTIV

Well certainly a company has to make money. Not to mention paying wages and having cash flow as to avoid becoming a victim of interest rates. I wasn't faulting them for making a profit. If the market of collectors will bear it then it hardly matters. Everyone defines value differently. Personally I'd rather have functionally adequate packaging rather than how fancy it is. But as I think I alluded to before I'm not a collector so that doesn't mean much. My default thought when I see extravagant packaging is - "I paid for this thing that's just going in the trash..." But again that's different when you intend to sit it on a shelf to display. In other words I, the untargeted market in this discussion, will now shutup.

You could also call them tropes. lol. Aren't you saying the same thing I just did? Well I suppose I didn't explicitly state that otaku were ok with it but I implied it. Well time will tell how I feel about this VN.

I've sometimes wondered how easy it is to be a comedian in Japan. If slice of life Japanese fiction is any indication you could keep doing the same material... mostly. Seriously though the situational humor seems to be rehashed quite a bit. Thankfully it's not always the case. Though I admit I've been known to forgive this when I like the characters.

I suppose there's that. Hindsight being 20/20. The expectation - "Surely it's not that bad and there'll be a twist?" Though it's honestly rare for a story to catch me off guard so expecting it to is wishful thinking. Oh well, damned if you do, damned if you don't. I guess in a way I should be glad for characters I absolutely hate. At least then I have a definite reason to not stick with the route.

There's always skipping thru it suppose. I wonder why I don't do that myself? Must be a M.

But unlike pokemon sometimes the grinding is the reward itself? *drumroll*

Eh? Isn't that kinda contrary to your stance on collecting them all?? Well not that we aren't all contrary at times when it comes to tastes. Personally it sometimes just comes down to timing. Like I can't read slice of life heavy stories/games one after another. I will literally want to gouge out my eyes. Gotta mix it up.

I was joking, but I see your point. Routes not games. In that case I kinda agree with Nier insomuch that I feel disappointment if I don't enjoy the majority of the routes. Or at least don't outright dislike most of them. Personally I'm not so much about completion than seeing all the content. Which turns into a slog if I'm not enjoying it. The difference being I'll drop a game. I realize I'm not always going to like every route, but I feel like I should at least enjoy the experience as a whole.

Well, if you aren't trashing your own wallet "collecting them all" then you must be of the Team Rocket mentality.

Well, I'm not trying to trample on anyones hobby of collecting boxed games. I just can't help think that there is a slight disconnect between the perceived value and the actual one. But that's true of all things deemed collectible, right?

I wonder if the cost difference is really that much in this day and age? If it's something that can be mass produced overseas then the greatest cost is probably just designing the thing. Certainly there would be a difference but I'm thinking it's not in the 10's of dollars range? Dunno. Though the problem might ultimately be the volume. If they aren't making enough to fill a few shipping containers the cost per unit might go up significantly. Not that I know. Just my gut feeling after seeing some of the needlessly complex packaging PC parts sometimes come in. Either there really isn't much cost in such things or they're really desperate to differentiate themselves from the competition. Which seems kinda silly since most people buy parts online these days and I doubt the packaging even enters into their consideration.

I voted last time but didn't end up joining because I was being a cheapskate (was going to grab it on sale but dithered because of my back log). This time I actually have Koisuru and would be willing to grab chrono clock. Not to mention everlasting is free iirc? At any rate I'm leaning towards the former two but can't really decide. I'll think on it before I vote.

Just trying to be optimistic for a change.

Oh? That's a pretty big deal huh? Fandisk as stretch goal? Especially since it doesn't appear to have a fan translation. Somehow I feel like they won't have much difficulty hitting that goal. I mean they're already 2/3 thru the initial goal. /shrug

In the interim I've read most of Mushoku Tensei... eh.. I have mixed feelings. It highlighted one problem I have with Isekai - weak endings. Well honestly I feel that way about most fiction these days to be fair. The mysteries setup within the world building of the setting tend to end up being pretty underwelming/predictable. More specifically I felt that Mushoku Tensei jumped the shark a bit after first major arch played out. Ultimately it felt like the author didn't really know what to focus on and everything ended up feeling average at best. Tbh, I haven't the last couple volumes but I did spoil myself by skimming thru some of the ending chapters. Maybe I'll change my mind if I properly read through it but everything seemed about what I expected. Then again most serialized Japanese fiction is more about the journey rather than the endings. It's rare I'm satisfied with an ending. Here's hoping a oneshot Isekai like this game will be different.

Yeah, VNs without gameplay elements (like rpg's) can practically just be thrown together with many of the existing engines I'd imagine? Most of the effort goes into content creation. AAA games would be even worse off if they didn't have additional middleware (game engines). You'll still have to interact with certain APIs and there's a learning curve but at least you don't have to recreate the wheel. Well, I suppose the main purpose is for portability between platforms. At any rate it still takes quite a bit of effort to customize them for the intended target. That's why certain publishers love having franchises with regular 1-2 year releases. They can maximize the investment in whatever engine (homegrown or off the shell). The downside being they tend to vary little and are are rather cookie cutter. Another example (iirc) is overwatch? Wasn't that created using the leftover assets of the now defunct Titan MMO? That one had been in production for quite a few years. Don't think it was shadow of the colossus level but was getting long in the tooth. At any rate I think it's fair to say someone('s) dropped the ball in most of these examples. Though some of it might have been simple bad feedback from internal testing. Creating something "fun" isn't an exact science after all. While we can't really say if it resulted in a better game I can at least appreciate the desire not to fail.

While waiting always sucks when you're watching a pot boil, I'd rather more games get delayed for little details/polish. I think the more troubling trend is games rushed to market because of some arbitrary deadline. You might say not achieving your "promised" release dates is a result of poor planning/management but I think releasing a unfinished product is worse frankly (game breaking bugs/missing content/etc). Not that release dates are contracts with your fans, but some fans seem to think they are. Of course major delays in the form of multi-month/years is a whole other story. That's clearly a whole other level of mismanagement. Always under commit and over perform has been my motto. Anyways, I might have to pick this up. I've been focusing on things other than VNs of late.

I'll have to check the LN out. Wait, are you talking about reading the Japanese LN's or translated? *Waits for obligatory "It's time to learn Japanese" post* Joking aside we shall see. Come to think of it I haven't read any VN's on the subject either.

*Cough* Well, I've read the manga adaptation of the first two and despite my grumbling I do like those two. Though Tate no Yuusha just finished an arch that I was beginning to find tiresome. Hopefully it gets better. I remember reading Zero but I either didn't keep with it or the translation was dropped (the manga). While the setups for both fall into my list, I just really like the characters of both series. So yeah. Love it or hate it. But I groan inside every time I see the same backstory... (I probably should get into reading LN's)

I'm sure you could find older examples in novels/literature... Like I said the idea itself isn't to blame it's how the Japanese Mangaka/Writers are executing the same scenario's when they could do so much more with a little creative freedom. But they don't because it's gotten popular and they're trying to cash in on the trends. Or perhaps it's mainly Doujinshi doing the cashing/fandumb. Either way the result is the same - fatigue. Never watched Escaflowne. I know the name but back then I was too busy with work and my exposure to anime was mainly from childhood and eventually Adult Swim. Can't remember when that started. I dunno about Isekai anime with girl protag's (at least off the top of my head) but there are a few manga currently running. Of course most of them read like an otome with a bunch of "good looking" guys doting on her. Which I don't really have a problem with. I mean I'd be a hypocrite if I did given the vast number of harems focused on male readers. I just don't understand the appeal of a bunch of tall lanky dudes who typically are at some level all sadists (I know not always). /shrug. Guess that's what Japanese girls like. I recall a Japanese survey about RL male actors I saw somewhere. It was pretty clear that manly guys were not on their menu. Anyway, I digress. I'm looking forward to another game from frontwing. I'm just being cautiously optimistic.

Isekai... it's sad how quickly I caught on to the meaning even though I wasn't trying to learn Japanese. Which I should, but it's hard to find the time. I can totally understand why it would be banned. It's pretty lazy in my opinion. Not in so much that a story is about another world. It's that they keep rehashing the same tropes and basic setup.

Ehhh... that does sound like a PITA. I didn't get far enough to have to worry about this. Guess I'll be sure to use a walkthrough when I pull it off the backburner.

Hmmm... Might be interesting. However, stories are pretty polarizing to me. I either love 'em or hate 'em. Really comes down to the characters and to a lesser extent how interesting the setting is.

Oh, did Grisaia drop too? I looked earlier in the day on steam and it still said "April" for the release date. Anyone wanna bet how long the 18+ will take? lawl.

If it was a fetish VN then the MC would probably be an eastern magician that uses urine to power his "magic" that would probably have the side effect of stripping clothes (but only off of the heroines of course). Thankfully it seems not to be that...