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Plk_Lesiak

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Blog Comments posted by Plk_Lesiak

  1. 1 hour ago, HataVNI said:

    Let's hope this series blows up again. (...)

    Thank you! Honestly, during the pandemic I saw mostly a bit of a downwards trend in game jam stuff and general liveliness of the scene... And then, while I tuned out of it, we got 140+ entries in this year's NaNoRenO, which is just insane. If the coming Spooktober and the Yuri Game Jam go similarly, than yeah, there will be a lot of fuel for this series, alongside some occasional Steam or mobile VNs that aren't game jam related...

  2. 25 minutes ago, onorub said:

    Even though cutesy style of commentary is not up my alley at all, one thing i do appreciate about vtubers is that they brought back the "hidden face" aspect that youtube gaming had back in the late 2000's. I feel that community became too much of a cult of personality in the early 2010's with the face reveals.

    The non-JP v-tubers usually don't lean into the cutesy aesthetic that much. There are exceptions, but I don't think any of the girls I highlighted in the initial part of the post could be described in that way. They utilize the cute anime aesthetic of their avatars in some ways and play with weeb culture motifs, but not to the point of playing a character or hiding their personalities.

    And the cult of personality... I don't know, it can get pretty cultish out there. 😛 And I'm not even sure how much avatars change, in this infamous Vice article the author said how being anonymous and hidden behind Live 2D makes agency v-tubers interchangeable/expendable... But that's pretty much BS. The voice and personality of the person behind the avatar are everything and because every girl develops a personal brand, they can't just be switched out with someone else. Less than an average idol group member can, at least. The part I like is that it's at least not your usual idol worship. The appeal of most of the girls is very much in them being weebs and weirdos, and being relatable. I know about some v-tubers way more than I knew about any YouTuber I've followed over the years, as one of their gimmicks is building a personal connection with their audience rather than just producing entertainment. Even disregarding the leaks I've seen "braking the 4th wall", I feel like anonymity of v-tubers is way less relevant than people make it out to be, outside of leveling the playing field when it goes to RL appearance and removing some negative aspects of internet fame (and making the agency v-tubers even more vulnerable to being screwed over by their managers, despite of what I said earlier).

  3. Well, this is a thing now, I guess. '^^

    Seriously though, I am working on VN-related projects, but also I would be lying to myself if I didn't acknowledge the degree to which v-tubing is part of my weeb interests right now, and the thing that brought me back to any kind of creative activity. I won't be making many posts on this blog, but I might use it in the future for an interview or two, or something similar to this list if I find another theme that interests me enough. I hope that some of you will find it more interesting than annoying~

  4. 18 hours ago, Q2004Q said:

    Sorry for the late comment but I didn’t know that it had multiple endings. I played the original version, when it was still Stellaren 1, Stellaren 2, Stellaren 3 and till 6 maybe or 5 I don’t remember. It has been a long time since I played it and when I played it I don’t think there was a different endings. Moreover, I think there were never been any routes to play. It’s just one storyline and that is when (spoiler I think) M and K traveled out to space somewhere (I don’t really remember). Is the original (Stellaren 1,2,3,.....) and the compiled (Stellaren ONLY) one different? Or maybe there was a different endings on the original one, it’s just that I never know about it, mind you that I have only played it once and that was really long time ago when it was 2016 maybe.

    If you do reply thank you in advance!!

    On second thought you’d probably won’t remember since it’s not a popular VN

    It might not be popular, but it hold an important place in my heart. ^^ I don't think there's much difference between the early episodic releases and the full game – the endings were likely implemented in the final release, because they rely on tracking your choices throughout the whole thing, but the story is still very much linear, with choices either getting you a game over or influencing scenes immediately after them in minor ways + giving you affection points. Also the endings are just one CG each with a little bit of story, showing the protagonist ending with one of the main three girls (the K. ending being canon). You're not missing out on much if you never experienced them. :)

  5. Honestly, you just need to look in the right places/ask the right questions. People will overwhelmingly recommend you popular things, for obvious reasons, but if you search for specific themes, unusual story structures or just ask people for things they consider to be hidden gems, you will get answers you probably haven't seen before.

    Every fan community has a bit of a hive mind when it goes to what is celebrated and talked about and what is kept on the margins. I don't think VN fandom is particularly bad in this regard, but either way, you have all the tools necessary to break through the groupthink - asking for obscure VNs, browsing VNDB, reading review blogs. You just need to use them. 

  6. 11 hours ago, Mr Poltroon said:

    Like, certainly, I appreciate that The Heart of the Woods masterful experience, but I know what I'm getting into if the premise is 'a goth girl meets a fairy girl and yuri ensues'. I was not expecting ebi's usual stuff, and actually hoping it wouldn't be in. This is all great news to me.

    Definitely. Just to be clear, my main complaint is not that the game is not like HotW, but that even within the silly/lighthearted formula things could've been done better, when it goes to the flow of the story and consistency of the writing. Those are not as important here as they would be in a VN that treats itself seriously... But they always matter, unless you skip all the text and just watch CGs. 😛

  7. 2 hours ago, Zalor said:

    Synergia is a title I've been anticipating since its project announcement on Fuwa way back when. I haven't gotten around to it yet, but I think it's main selling point is the art and unique Cyberpunk aesthetic. I couldn't point out the specific details, but the art somewhat reminds me of Doomfest's art. In the sense that both Doomfest and Radi have a quality to their art that is definitely very anime in influence, but it also has aspects that are distinctly western in feel. I love this combination. Personally when VNs deviate too far from the anime aesthetic I find them off putting, but I do like to see variation. And the typical anime style seen in most JVNs nowadays bores me. Both Doomfest and Radi hit the in between sweet spot perfectly for me.  

    Yeah, I think the artstyle hits this really delicate balance in a few areas... It's pretty simple, yet stylish and defined enough to never feel low-effort. And indeed, close enough to traditional anime style to not feel jarring in a VN. If only the storytelling was just as well-rounded and polished... :vinty:

  8. It's a nice one for sure. I Kind see it in the same light as other early, notable kinetic EVN –Juniper's Knot, That Cheap and Sacred Thing, some freeware Ebi-Hime projects... Cool short stories that utilize the medium well and tell something meaningful despite their minimalism. It might honestly be my favourite formula, as the large, meandering VNs always lose me a bit over time, even if they are high quality.

    Speaking of ebi-hime VNs, I'm really curious what your impression of Lucky me, Lucky You would be. For some reason, I developed an unhealthy obsession with that VN and consider it to be the most underrated one in ebi's catalogue. I'm not sure any other VN author would put out a story like that, but it'd be interesting to see whether a genuine literary buff finds it similarly fresh and thought-provoking. ^^

  9. 1 hour ago, Mr Poltroon said:

    I'm properly warned not to expect romance, and frankly I'm not looking for it if the game isn't trying to tease it (as I've found out, that's the reason I tend to dislike a lack of romance; it's because it's almost always teased and used as a hook to keep one reading until the end).

    I'll be curious what are your impressions when you actually get deeper into the game. This is a pretty unusual story in that while it isn't completely devoid of romantic tension, whenever it happens you can expect Sable to actively resist it, as romance is way down on his list of priorities. It's somewhat SNAFU-esque, but without misanthropy being the driving motivation of the protagonist. :P And in the sequels expanding on the specific routes, at least two of which are in the work by Zetsubou, the romance finally blooms to some extent. I personally thought the game made it pretty clear with the flow of the story that romance is not the point even when it's most present, but I imagine many people would be confused why a game all about heroine routes, some of whom are obviously into Sable, handle things in such a way. :>

  10. 4 hours ago, Zalor said:

    That sound quite interesting. I maybe wrong since I am completely ignorant about Yuri VNs, but I always felt like yuri JVNs were pretty much just fetishization. It seems that EVNs have a stronger tendency to show the more realistic nuances of homosexual relationships. 

     Also, and this is just a side note. Eldritch University is a really good title name.  

    I wrote about it a lot in the past, but definitely, EVNs have a much wider range of approaches to LGBT issues and tons of yuri EVNs are actually made by minority creators. Of course, sometimes you have a lesbian creator making fluffy GxG porn because they enjoy that stuff, but generally, you'll have a lot more games implementing a semi-realistic approach and trying to build a believable dynamic for the GxG romance. Even something like Love Ribbon, which might look super-fetishistic at first glance (sister incest), has some very interesting scenes of one of the sisters discovering her sexuality and trying to make sense of it. It feels way more authentic than how Japanese writers usually do it (if they even bother to touch the topic), and that's at least to some extent because Razzart, the author of that game, actually knows what she's writing about. :>

    To be fair, this game's writer is a guy, but did a very good job here – and that is despite using a cliched "all-girls school when everyone is assumed to be a lesbian" setting for the first game... In a way, this series is a really cool example of Western influences and influences of otaku media clashing and melding into this weird amalgamation of themes that do not always agree with each other, particularly in Academy, where the fluffy romance formula did not synergize with the horror plot at all. Maybe playing just the sequel is the way to go after all... '^^

    Edit: And only now I realized how sad it is that games conditioned me to consider "main plot" and "romance" as separate entities and be genuinely surprised when the two are connected in a truly meaningful way. Video games suck. :P

  11. 2 hours ago, Zakamutt said:

    > a teenager crumbling under pressure from her toxic and demanding family
    I feel like this is a poor description because it misses the class aspect of Lynne I thought was somewhat obvious (and calling her family toxic feels overly reductive). It feels clear to me that she's written to be lower class and part of her struggle is dealing with a sense of low worth that brings (cf. her comparisons to Lynne), apart from her generally grimy (in all senses) surroundings.

    anyway I guess maybe I'll read this ge later if I can acquire it, idk tho

    Well, you're right of course, but I didn't want to explain Lynne in detail either, but rather give some point of reference... I might rephrase is later, but it's kind of hard to do as briefly as I wanted to do it – it'll be reductive no matter which angle I emphasise. :P

  12. 3 minutes ago, alpacaman said:

    I actually disagree with VNs being a hot medium. As far as I understand the concept of hot vs. cold media, it refers to density of information a medium provides. (...) 

    That is a completely different definition from the one Zalor presented though, touching on a seperate issue. It kind of makes both claims true... But when it goes to the mode of engagement, I'm definitely with Zalor on this. In my experience, reading VNs is close to reading a novel or watching an engaging show, when it goes to mental effort. I can watch YouTube or play traditional PC games for hours/days on end, but VNs are way more emotionally stimulating and I need proper mood and mental energy to tackle them.

    ...and that's why also get burned out on them and anime pretty regularly, even though I still consider those my favourite forms of entertainment. :C

  13. 11 hours ago, Zalor said:

    I love it when a VN actually make proper usage of having multiple endings by expanding on different things with each different route. That sentence alone convinced me to check out Eislyn’s Apocalypse. 

    Also the honorable mention, Unfamiliar Work, looks to have quite an interesting art style. At least based off of the sample art on the itch.io page. 

    Indeed, Unfamiliar Work looks very different, which is something to appreciate, but I'm still not sure what that story was about. :D

    I'll be curious about your impressions of Eislyn's Apocalypse when you get to it. Zakamutt lately accused me of overhyping stuff in my game jam articles and I can't say he's totally wrong. Just the fact that you confront it with very amateurish entries can make a game that is just decent look like something really impressive or make you ignore some flaws... Which I don't think is a massive problem, as these posts are more about selecting noteworthy games from the sea of random weirdness, but if someone has really high standards they might expect a lot more than a game jam title can reasonably deliver. :>

  14. 1 hour ago, alpacaman said:

    Oh boy...

    Now I'm really curious what their other titles are like.

    Hehe, well... You can check my Episicava review (linked it in the post) to learn why I found it infuriating. I have to say I find them bad in that bewildering way that makes them interesting for a connoisseur of crap such as myself, but I'd not seriously recommend reading them. :P

  15. 11 minutes ago, Zakamutt said:

    The comedy is better and everything is just tighter and everyone else is CRAZY sorry NOT sorry (probably the actually good subs from CMS available help but)

    Hah, how interesting! I actually found Nise meandering and (relatively) boring. Basically everything between Bake and Second Season felt like filler, not bad really, but nowhere near as captivating. I'm always amazed with how people's opinions differ. ^_^

    That EVN though, looks quite interesting. Might check it out this weekend, considering how short it is... My reading output is at disastrous levels though. I should start working on NaNoRenO coverage soon and if this quarantine apathy doesn't leave me I think I'll be working on it for the next three months. :P

  16. 1 hour ago, Arcane City Game Studios said:

    As you had previously mentioned, Arcane City: Lyn;Lin used an infodump at the end of the story. There's a specific reason behind it though and it's setting up a future project. Prologue Infodumping seems weird to me though as it would sort of spoil the universe from the get-go :blink:

    Well, of course a prologue wouldn't work in a mystery horror story, but that's not what I was talking about. It's particularly meaningful for high-concept fantasy and sci-fi world that can be confusing to the player if it's not explained properly. Giving just enough context to make it comprehensible at the beginning, and minimize the need for infodumps when the action picks up pace is pretty optimal. In the case of your story, I simply think it could've done with a lot less info in general. I'd like it more being vague than just explaining the lore this way. :)

    48 minutes ago, alpacaman said:

    I think infodumps at the beginning are rarely employed because there is no in-story-conflict yet readers can connect it to. At least to me they feel more like homework than useful information most of the time and I tend to get bored before the actual story even begins.

    A way of infodumping that's rather unique to VNs that can be rather effective is adding opportunities for expositioning outside of the actual story. For example an encyclopedia can be a good way of explaining things characters in-universe wouldn't talk about normally without taking you out of the story for too long. 428 utilizes this feature brilliantly, adding funny side stories to its exposition and even secretly setting up plot devices. VA-11 also has an approach I really like where you read news stories and internet boards inbetween story-sections (although admittedly it's used more for world building than infodumping).

    That is a good point, but if you think of it as another method of "scattering" the infodumps to keep the complexity of the world without creating the walls of info in the middle of the story it should still be worth it. I also don't like encyclopedias if they contain information actually crucial to understanding the story – as you said, it can be cool for fleshing out your world, but it can't be a primary method.

    ...I might also be speaking from one specific trauma of an EVN with a world that was pretty much incomprehensible because of lack of proper exposition, and with encyclopedia which created more questions than it answered. A good prologue could've done miracles for that game. :P

  17. If it flaws properly with the story, I wouldn't even call it an infodump. I think when people talk about those, they mostly mean the first kind you mentioned: just walls of information bringing the story to a hold for a significant amount of time. But for this reason, I kind of feel an infodumping prologue is underutilized in VNs. You can quite easily avoid putting clunky exposition in the middle of your game by explaining the basics of the universe at the beginning. Maybe devs avoid it because it's cliched to do a narrated introductions like that, but particularly in EVNs, I feel like a lot of storytelling issues and confusion could be avoided that way... 

  18. 15 hours ago, Mr Poltroon said:

    (Have you played Life is Strange? Did you know it has a fan VN 'Love is Strange'? I played a route and it was the sweetest thing.
    As a result I've been inspired to infiltrate the den of wolves that is the Doki Doki Fan Game/Mod community and I've found a couple of things I might try there. Edit: Not the one you reviewed because I trust your judgement and out-of-characterness kills me inside.)

    I've heard about the fan VN... If I go for the original, I'll probably watch a playthrough – if I remember well, it's one of the few high-profile games Western with genuine f/f romance. It would even be a nice topic for a blog post, but I'm not sure I'd be up for buying it and bothering with puzzles right now...

    With the Purist Mod, you can also just skip through the first three arcs and go straight to the Monika one. It's cheesy AF, but not irritating in the way previous three are. :) I'm also on reading shorter/easier VNs at the moment. Otherwise I would be completely stuck with no motivation to read anything...

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