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Inorin

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Posts posted by Inorin

  1. Finished Eien no Aselia yesterday. Overall a decent read, but there were several issues which I had:

    • The requirements for Kyouko/Tokimi are too complicated
    • Main antagonist is as generic as it gets
    • Main story doesn't diverge much in all routes except Kyouko/Tokimi and Lesteena. After the first playthrough (with Aselia), I sort of understood the direction which the other routes would take. So I basically replayed the game multiple times just to get a few unread lines in between and a different epilogue.
    • Too many battles. Sure, I can just press 'l' to skip the battle, but the fact that there are so many battles means that I had to press 'l' multiple times to skip them, when the skip function should have already done that.

    Final rating: 7.8/10

    And now on to Seinarukana, the sequel to Eien no Aselia. Honestly, I have no idea how the route order even works, since I can't seem to find any solid walkthroughs in English online. I'm aware that there are 6 routes, and so far I only know of potential 3: Nozimi, Satsuki, Narukana. What about the other 3? In general, I know that Narukana requires NG+, but are there any other requirements for routes which I should know of? Where can I find JP walkthroughs for this? I'm only at Chapter 2, so a route hasn't decided yet, but I read that Chapter 8 is the divergence point, so I'm not sure what to do when the time comes.

  2. 18 hours ago, Dreamysyu said:

    I only used Dakkodango guide, and I didn't have any problems getting into any of the routes. It's been a while and I don't really remember, but I think it's okay that Uruka appeared in that scene. The game will make you follow Uruka's or Lesteena's route before the battle of Mallorigan, but after that you will switch to Kyoko or Tokimi if you did everything right.

    I actually found out my issue, and it was that I didn't use New Game+ -- I had loaded a save on the prologue of my very first playthrough, which was a big no no for Tokimi/Kyouko. I had looked up the Steam guide which said that New Game+ wasn't required, which was why I thought loading a save would be fine. Turned out it wasn't fine at all LOL

  3. Currently playing Aselia the Eternal right now, and I'm stuck at the Kyouko/Tokimi routes. Tried the Dakkodango guide; didn't work. Tried the guide on Steam which claims that it fixes the errors in the Dakkodango guide, but I still keep seeing Uraka in Turn 10 of "Mission 14: Defend Ransa". Is this normal, or should I be seeing someone else instead? If not, who should I be seeing in Turn 10?

    The choices I made are the ones required for the Kyouko/Tokimi routes, plus the first 3 choices for Lesteena (excluding the last one so that I can quickly switch over to Lesteena's route once I'm done with Kyouko's and Tokimi's routes). Could this be causing the problem (having made Lesteena-specific choices)? I've completed the first 3 routes by the way.

  4. Got NP1 Nobu, NP3 Fran and NP3 Nitocris (and a third Beowulf spook LOL) before finally landing Nero. Took 33 tickets and 420 SQ (started with 656 SQ). Thank goodness I had quartz saved up.

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  5. 6 hours ago, ChaosRaven said:

    it wouldn't just be better to skip straight to Mask of Truth that has all the good stuff.

    Nah you probably shouldn't do that. There's a major plot reveal at the end of Mask of Deception which links directly to the start of Mask of Truth, so it's better not to skip MoD.

    6 hours ago, ChaosRaven said:

    BTW, I think the review would have been also readable with normal font size. :blink:

    Sorry about that; I've changed the font size and colour now.

  6. Completed Mask of Truth a while ago, and with that, I have finally finished the entire Utawarerumono trilogy. Man, now that I have completed this trilogy, I feel so empty now. I expected so much from this, and boy did it meet my expectations.

    Seiyuus
    Before I get to the story itself, let me first get to the cast. Fujiwara Keiji (Rest in Peace), Sawashiro Miyuki, Kugumiya Rie, Tanaeda Risa, Sakura Ayane, Minase Inori, Murase Ayumu, Namikawa Daisuke, Takahiro Sakurai; just those names were enough to tell me that the voice acting for the trilogy were going to be splendid. The seiyuus here (for the most part) voiced what they were known for, but what caught me the most by surprise was Sawashiro voicing Aruruu. Ayaneru also sounded different (compared to the characters that I know whom she had voiced) while voicing Uruuru and Saraana, but then she had always been known to have many different voices for many characters, so I wasn't that surprised compared to Sawashiro. This just goes to show how damn well these seiyuus can portray their voices, huh.

    Prelude to the Fallen
    And now to the story, starting with Prelude to the Fallen. It started off well, and while there were numerous slice-of-life events in between, the pace was decent. The villains were very typical though, so I couldn't help but roll my eyes at how the villains behaved.

    Spoiler

    It was certainly an eventful journey for Hakuoro, from being just a villager to being an ouro to being a divine entity. It was also nice that some of the enemies that Hakuoro faced were actually decent people, and I’m glad that they would eventually become part of his group. Sakuya losing her shit was a huge pity though, considering that there was quite a lot of development surrounding her prior to her breakdown. The final reveal which revealed Haukuro to be some God, Eruruu to be his former wife’s (Mikoto) reincarnation and Kamyu to have an alternate personality in Mutsumi, was something I couldn’t predict, considering that there was close to no hints until the very end. Plot reveals are always good, and it was overall a very enjoyable experience.

    Final score: 8.7/10.

    Mask of Deception
    Next up, Mask of Deception. This is probably the weakest entry in the series, with a myriad of slice-of-life events, so much so that they probably outnumber the number of fight scenes. It started pretty well though, just like its predecessor.

    Spoiler

    Oshtor's death at the end was a huge surprise, and I could feel myself slowly trying to process the implications of that, since he’s a big shot, and it would cause huge political turmoil if news was to break out that Oshtor was dead. However, before I could finish my train of thoughts, Haku came back to his group donning Oshtor’s mask, and that’s when I knew that Haku’s in for a long and arduous ride. Unsurprisingly, Kuon decided to go back home after learning of “Haku’s” death, and just when things were starting to get good, the story decided to end itself (*Labyrinth of Grisaia flashbacks*). Come to think of it, there was a particular event where Haku acted as Oshtor earlier in the game, so I suppose that sort of foreshadowed what was to come, huh.

    Anyways, this entry was interesting but had its shortcomings: namely too much slice-of-life and pointless fanservice, so I'm giving a score of 8/10. 

    Additional note : I love the OP so much.

    Additional note 2:

    Spoiler

    I still can’t believe Kuon is the daughter of Yuzuha, despite her looking more like Eruruu.


    Mask of Truth
    Last but not least, Mask of Truth. Considering that this entry is #9 on vndb, I had the highest expectations for this. Although the start felt a bit like Mask of Deception with all the slice-of-life events, that all changed with the start of the rebellion arc. Not gonna lie; Raiko really felt like Lelouch. His methods of manipulating his opponents to his needs, and ability to adapt to situations, is reminiscent of S1 Lelouch, and it amazed me how Haku was able to escape from most of his strategies.

    Spoiler

    Really, if it wasn't for a certain other guy's interference, Haku and co would already have been obliterated by Raiko's mortar. When Raiko died, it initially felt like the game was going to end, because the battle between Raiko and Haku was pretty damn epic, and felt like a final boss fight. However, there were simply way too many loose ends (at that point) for a VN rated so highly on vndb, so there should be at least one more major arc afterwards, and I was right. Woshi turned out to be the true mastermind pulling the strings behind the scenes, and while I definitely had my suspicions, I never could quite figure out his intention. However, when his intention was eventually revealed, I couldn’t help but sigh in exasperation as it turned out to be a pretty lame one, which got even lamer when Woshi was revealed to be a clone. So much for being a true human, huh.

    Honestly though, I can’t help but feel that the cast in Prelude to the Fallen would have easily dispatched every enemy which Haku and his group had difficulty facing.They could literally defeat

    Spoiler

    a divine entity,

    while Haku’s group was struggling against mere humans/kemonomimis. I really wanted Hakuoro’s group to play a more active role here, and I’m glad that they got more screen time towards the end of the game.

    Spoiler

    Seeing Eruruu and hearing Hakuoro for the first time since Prelude to the Fallen made me feel just how long the Utawarerumono journey has been for me; I couldn’t help but feel emotional :’).

    While the final battle in Mask of Truth may not be as epic as that of Prelude to the Fallen, it certainly evoked the same amount of emotions as it did in Prelude to the Fallen,

    Spoiler

    and I couldn’t help but feel saddened by the loss of Haku. Dude’s been using his Akuruka whenever he feels cornered, so I knew he would definitely use it against Woshi. I can’t help but feel for Nekone; first Oshtor died, then the Haku died; it’s almost like her brother died twice. On the bright side, Haku was the only casualty amongst the main cast, and even allowed Hakuoro to turn back into a human and return to Eruruu’s side. 

    Final score for Mask of Truth: 8.7/10

  7. Finished Dies irae ~Interview with Kaziklu Bey~ a while ago, and wasn't expecting much, but I'm glad it (slightly) exceeded my expectations. Decided to give it a 7.5 in the end.

    Now, on to Utawarerumono. I'm very much looking forward to exprerience the trilogy; it's probably one of the few translated popular VNs which I have yet to experience.

  8. 25 minutes ago, Flutterz said:

    Don't forget that you have to Ascend once and Bond 5 whoever you pick, otherwise they'll vanish in 2 months. :makina:

    I don't have to worry about that; I'm gonna overwork my future Waver anyways :makina:

  9. Phew I'm so glad that I have at least one Event Servant in each drop category now; I'm so much prepared as compared to last time when I only had Shuten as my only SSR. I remembered this event as my first full event (my first event was actually the F/Z collab but I only joined midway), and it was anything but pleasant.

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    On an unrelated note, I finally managed to get my first SSR Saber in JP after 8 months. Dioscuri looks like they are gonna be a fun unit to use, with the huge potential of NP spammability and plethora of passives

  10. Completed the final route in Dive 2, and with that, I have finally completed Baldr Sky after 2 months. Honestly, I could have completed it much sooner, but due to other commitments, I had to stall it for a long time (I was in Nanoha's route in Dive 1 before I stalled). Only managed to get back to it this week, and boy was it well worth it. Each moment didn't feel dull (except for Reminisce, since that was ,for the most part, slice-of-life), and my eyes were always glued to the screen. 

    At first, I felt like Baldr Sky was slightly similar to Guilty Crown (Gray Christmas vs Lost Christmas), but as I went on further, I started to see similarities to Yuno and Evangelion (especially the latter). I'll discuss more on the reasons in the spoiler review below.

    Anyways, what I liked about Baldr Sky is that it explores the possiblity of AI and humanity coexisting with one another, something which I have not seen being done in other visual novels. I also liked the pacing here, which is surprising considering that many >50h VNs have terrible pacing. Last but not least, I really liked the openings for both Dive 1 and Dive 2. When either opening was playing during the final few battles in the final route, I actually stalled killing the enemy because both openings were just that good. However, one thing which I didn't really like is how the antagonists were treated: One of them is a sadist who has an inferiority complex with the only motivation behind his actions being the typical "abused from childhood" story, while the other doesn't even that much of a presence until the very last route. 

    Spoiler review:

    Spoiler

     

    First things first, since Sora's route is the one which provides the most plot points, what I say below is based on her route only. 

    I had my suspicions that the Kou in World 0 (Sora's route) was actually the simulacrum, since pretty much everyone around him was telling him that he was supposed to be dead. Therefore, I wasn't really surprised when the revelation came. Additionally, before Sora's route, I knew that there were 2 higher existences controlling Father Gregory and Agent in the other 5 routes, and I suspected one of them to be Sora, but never really knew who the other one was, so I'm glad that cleared up in Sora's route. I also never would have guessed that the scale at which Sora and Neuzehn played their "multiverse" game was this huge. There is where I got those strong Yuno vibes when Sora started showing the world tree map thing, with multiple branches and divergence points. Additionally, the fact both Yuno and Baldr Sky have their first 5 routes be 5 possible worlds and the final route be considered the "True" world, further strengthening my conviction that Baldr Sky was slightly influenced by Yuno. 

    I mentioned earlier that besides getting Yuno vibes, I also felt Evangelion's influence here, and the reasons are simple:

    1. The "collective human mindset" aim of the Ark Project in Baldr Sky is very similar to the Human Instrumentality Project in Evangelion

    2. Aki is a clone of Kou's mother in Baldr Sky. This is similar to Rei being a clone of Shinji's mother in Evangelion.

    And finally, before I forget, when Rain started to die, I really felt like it was going to end up like a certain visual novel famous for killing people off. Instinctively, I knew that Nanoha would be the one to die next, and everyone else would later die off one by one for dramatic effect. That actually turned out to be the case, but then I certainly didn't expect them to revive all of a sudden (especially the Fenrir members; they had an extremely minor presence in Sora's route so I didn't expect them to revive too). I have mixed feelings about this tbh; on one hand, I'm glad that everyone's alive and well,on the other, I'm wondering just how much emotional impact it would have left me if they had stayed "dead" in the Es.

     

    Overall, a 9/10 for Dive 2. Thought I wouldn't like it that much since Dive 1 wasn't particularly outstanding, but I'm glad this wasn't the case for Dive 2.

    On a side note, the OP for Dive 1 has some parts which sound like some parts from the Schwarzesmarken OP

    On another side note, I just realised I've only completed 2 VNs this year. If only my schedule this year wasn't this packed...

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