dwaif

I finished Virtue's Last Reward last night, and haven't stopped thinking about it since. I picked up the Zero Escape Nonary Games last steam sale, and powered my way through 999. It's funny since I immediately went into reading ever17 after learning that Uchikoshi was involved instead of jumping straight into VLR. Few weeks later, I ended up diving right into VLR.
Ever17 left me craving some massive spoiler plot-twist style games, and VLR didn't disappoint in that regard. 
The soundtrack especially left a good impression on me. Same level of atmospheric sounding as 999. Couple of the puzzle rooms didn't sit well with me, but that can't be helped.
This track especially grew on me. It plays all the time whenever there's down time in-between the story. I listened to it plenty skipping through previous choices, and thought it fit very well.
This song was so good too. They used it for just about every major explanation for the events of the game.
For anyone looking for a plot-twist filled emotional trip, 999 and VLR are the two games to give a chance. They're serious and darker than the standard vn affair, but well worth the time and effort put toward them. I admit that I had to use a walkthrough, and advise doing so to prevent any frustration. Those puzzles were difficult, man. I personally liked 999's puzzles more, but VLR really made you have to think.
I have yet to play Zero Time Dilemma, though I heard it isn't really a visual novel and isn't as good as the other two. I'm a little hesitant to start it, though I'll probably run through it pretty soon just to finish the series off.
On a side note, I'm looking for something light and relaxing to read next. I finished Yumiko's route in Grisaia (for the second time) last week, and understood more about her than when I read her route the first time. Might just be time to jump straight into her afterstory in the next game, but we'll see.
 
 

I finished Virtue's Last Reward last night, and haven't stopped thinking about it since. I picked up the Zero Escape Nonary Games last steam sale, and powered my way through 999. It's funny since I immediately went into reading ever17 after learning that Uchikoshi was involved instead of jumping straight into VLR. Few weeks later, I ended up diving right into VLR.
Ever17 left me craving some massive spoiler plot-twist style games, and VLR didn't disappoint in that regard. 
The soundtrack especially left a good impression on me. Same level of atmospheric sounding as 999. Couple of the puzzle rooms didn't sit well with me, but that can't be helped.
This track especially grew on me. It plays all the time whenever there's down time in-between the story. I listened to it plenty skipping through previous choices, and thought it fit very well.
This song was so good too. They used it for just about every major explanation for the events of the game.
For anyone looking for a plot-twist filled emotional trip, 999 and VLR are the two games to give a chance. They're serious and darker than the standard vn affair, but well worth the time and effort put toward them. I admit that I had to use a walkthrough, and advise doing so to prevent any frustration. Those puzzles were difficult, man. I personally liked 999's puzzles more, but VLR really made you have to think.
I have yet to play Zero Time Dilemma, though I heard it isn't really a visual novel and isn't as good as the other two. I'm a little hesitant to start it, though I'll probably run through it pretty soon just to finish the series off.
On a side note, I'm looking for something light and relaxing to read next. I finished Yumiko's route in Grisaia (for the second time) last week, and understood more about her than when I read her route the first time. Might just be time to jump straight into her afterstory in the next game, but we'll see.
 
 

I finished ever17 yesterday and was blown away.
I went in knowing next to nothing, with only a vague understanding that the final route basically made the game.
Base game routes were solid. I ended up enjoying Tsugumi's the most out of everyone. She just clicked.
I really enjoyed the art and soundtrack. The art felt crude at times, but hard a charm to it. The music had the early 2000s vibe and felt ahead of its time for the serious tracks. Well done atmosphere overall.
Reading through the first three days of each route took me some time and energy, but everything past that had me nearly glued to my screen. I enjoyed the plot structure immensely, the way certain scenes matched up and appeared in separate routes. I had chills run down my spine seeing the same scene play out from a different perspective, and things just not adding up. By the end of the second route I had a ton of theories in mind, and loved that the game felt like a puzzle just waiting to be solved.
The experience of it all is something I won't forget. It's one of those games where I think "man, this is why I read visual novels."
I'm eager to find more experiences like it.

I finished ever17 yesterday and was blown away.
I went in knowing next to nothing, with only a vague understanding that the final route basically made the game.
Base game routes were solid. I ended up enjoying Tsugumi's the most out of everyone. She just clicked.
I really enjoyed the art and soundtrack. The art felt crude at times, but hard a charm to it. The music had the early 2000s vibe and felt ahead of its time for the serious tracks. Well done atmosphere overall.
Reading through the first three days of each route took me some time and energy, but everything past that had me nearly glued to my screen. I enjoyed the plot structure immensely, the way certain scenes matched up and appeared in separate routes. I had chills run down my spine seeing the same scene play out from a different perspective, and things just not adding up. By the end of the second route I had a ton of theories in mind, and loved that the game felt like a puzzle just waiting to be solved.
The experience of it all is something I won't forget. It's one of those games where I think "man, this is why I read visual novels."
I'm eager to find more experiences like it.

I finished ever17 yesterday and was blown away.
I went in knowing next to nothing, with only a vague understanding that the final route basically made the game.
Base game routes were solid. I ended up enjoying Tsugumi's the most out of everyone. She just clicked.
I really enjoyed the art and soundtrack. The art felt crude at times, but hard a charm to it. The music had the early 2000s vibe and felt ahead of its time for the serious tracks. Well done atmosphere overall.
Reading through the first three days of each route took me some time and energy, but everything past that had me nearly glued to my screen. I enjoyed the plot structure immensely, the way certain scenes matched up and appeared in separate routes. I had chills run down my spine seeing the same scene play out from a different perspective, and things just not adding up. By the end of the second route I had a ton of theories in mind, and loved that the game felt like a puzzle just waiting to be solved.
The experience of it all is something I won't forget. It's one of those games where I think "man, this is why I read visual novels."
I'm eager to find more experiences like it.

I mentioned in the What are you playing? thread, but I'm rereading Grisaia.
almost finished with the common route, and I'm eager to start reading through each girl's route a second time.
I'm enjoying the story all over again

I mentioned in the What are you playing? thread, but I'm rereading Grisaia.
almost finished with the common route, and I'm eager to start reading through each girl's route a second time.
I'm enjoying the story all over again

I finished Eden* last week, and man was that a trip. Despite the length, the time spent with Sion felt genuine and precious. What stood out to me was how expressive everyone was. Even if it was basic, just having animation for the characters saying their lines made them feel more alive. I remember specifically Elica and Sion having scenes where it would show them from different perspectives, not something I've seen that often.
I swear it's the music that makes these kind of games get to you. I enjoyed the soundtrack, and would get misty eyed with a couple songs in particular. This track in particular hit hard. Sion's theme fit so well, and felt bittersweet in so many ways. It's a shame that the ost was a bit hard to find, considering the quality.
I enjoyed it overall, and recommend it to anyone interested in reading a short yet high quality end of the world love story. Just be careful with those feels though.
 
 
On another note, I've been rereading The Fruit of Grisaia from the very beginning for the second time since MangaGamer released the unrated version not too long ago.
I forgot most of what happened in the common route, and have been enjoying it my second time through. I know it's the MangaGamer version for sure since there's some scenes that caught me off guard when I read them, thinking "wait there's no way this was in the steam version lol". It's interesting to read again having completed most of the routes. Plenty of foreshadowing, and an altogether different perspective. There's been a couple times where I've turned off the in-game music, and can see that scene in a completely different light. It's all so good. I'm taking it pretty slow to let it all seep in naturally instead of rushing through it all at once like I did when I first read it.
Funny enough, I'm planning to follow the same route format I did the first time around
Yumiko > Michiru > Sachi > Amane > Makina
My reason for reading it again:
 

Grisaia no Kajitsu, without a doubt. I had actually read a few visual novels before, like Danganronpa and Phoenix Wright, but I didn't think of them as such at the time because I had no real knowledge about the medium. I actually experienced my first visual novel, which I have now forgotten the name of, sometime in the late 90's, but I didn't even realize it until recently because at the time I just thought of it as some random porn game.
Gaming has always meant a lot to me, but over the years as I've grown older and had to take on more responsibilities in life, I've become less and less inclined to waste time (I don't really like that term, but whatever) on gameplay-heavy games. I now prefer games that prioritize the story, and I've even started playing almost everything on Easy difficulty just to be able to experience that story without any hassle. That, in turn, made me take a real interest in visual novels, since they are so focused on that story element I'm seeking.
That spark ignited, I started picking up on people mentioning this visual novel called Grisaia no Kajitsu, or The Fruit of Grisaia, time and time again on some of the gaming websites and forums I frequent, and that made me more and more curious. Said and done, in early March 2018, I picked up Grisaia no Kajitsu and was hooked more or less immidiately. It was both fun, exciting and sad, and the story connected with me on a deeper level than anything I had ever experienced in a game or movie before.
Despite having read/played those other visual novels I mentioned earlier, I consider Grisaia no Kajitsu to be my first, because it was the first time I looked at something as such, and it opened my eyes to the medium and made me fall in love with it.
I've read a ton of visual novels since then and might even consider a few of them better than Grisaia no Kajitsu, but I think it will always hold a special place in my heart for taking my life in this direction.

Chronoclock was actually my first true visual novel I read, and it's safe to say that it was a good choice on my end. I really liked most of the cast, minus D.D lol
It's moege that has an interesting enough premise to keep playing. Grisaia is pretty good, it just takes forever to get through the common route. It also has such a massive shift in tone and only a couple of choices that matter. I can't blame anyone for not wanting to play it all the way through because of that.
Right now I'm getting into Planetarian. I'm not that far in, but the setting has me interested since it's something I haven't seen from Key before. I imagine it won't take me long to breeze through the entire game in one sitting, but we'll see.
 

Chronoclock was actually my first true visual novel I read, and it's safe to say that it was a good choice on my end. I really liked most of the cast, minus D.D lol
It's moege that has an interesting enough premise to keep playing. Grisaia is pretty good, it just takes forever to get through the common route. It also has such a massive shift in tone and only a couple of choices that matter. I can't blame anyone for not wanting to play it all the way through because of that.
Right now I'm getting into Planetarian. I'm not that far in, but the setting has me interested since it's something I haven't seen from Key before. I imagine it won't take me long to breeze through the entire game in one sitting, but we'll see.
 

I find it difficult to get all emotional and worked up over a visual novel without investing a lot of time into it, and I'm not the type of person to just break out in tears over something sad.
granted I haven't read any of the higher rated shorter / kinetic novels such as Planetarian or Eden*, but I will eventually.
I recommend:
Grisaia no Kajitsu - This was my first true visual novel, and if it doesn't make you shed tears of happiness or sadness, then expect to shed tears of despair during certain routes.
Subarashiki Hibi  - I just finished it this month, and man was it a trip. It's ridiculously over the top with drama and has a ton of explicit content. That's saying very little though, to say more would otherwise be spoilers. The message is clear at the end, and it had me in tears.
 
I feel ya for key though, I read Clannad and Little Busters, and I've never cried so much in my entire life. Clannad had me fall apart like 10 times. Little Busters made me break down for 2 weeks
It's difficult to find media with the same effect. If you're interested in something outside of realm of vns, I recommend you play NieR:Automata, if you haven't already.
 

glad to see I'm not the only Michiru lover here, haha.
her and the rest of the cast were the deciding factor for me wanting to read more visual novels. the unseen depth that gets revealed through their routes that offers a new perspective of them and explains their actions during the common route was brilliant; it makes me want to find more experiences like this one.
 

I thought about just staying a guest and lurking through some topics every now and then, but I really like the atmosphere of this place... everyone's nice and chill... I think 
I named myself dwaif a long time ago. I'm a pretty old user from the blockland forums (the only other forums I use nowadays), if you don't know what that is... well... it's like playing with legos on the internet.
 
I found this website completely by chance. I'm really new to visual novels, and I'm sorta picky... I went through dozens of reddit recommendations and wound up reading through recommendations here too. My first ever VN (or dating sim) was Heartache 101 …like years ago, and I still play it sometimes! I didn't touch any more vns until one day out of the blue I wanted to give the genre a shot, and played Chrono Clock earlier this year. I really enjoyed it, and started Grisaia no Kajitsu. I played through Yumiko's and Michiru's route so far, and loved every minute with them. Grisaia really exceeded my expectations, and actually made me tear up lmao
ChiruChiru is the best girl in my book B^)

that's pretty much it though... there's not much else to know about me I guess, but feel free to ask me anything!
thanks for having me here, and I hope we all get along!

I thought about just staying a guest and lurking through some topics every now and then, but I really like the atmosphere of this place... everyone's nice and chill... I think 
I named myself dwaif a long time ago. I'm a pretty old user from the blockland forums (the only other forums I use nowadays), if you don't know what that is... well... it's like playing with legos on the internet.
 
I found this website completely by chance. I'm really new to visual novels, and I'm sorta picky... I went through dozens of reddit recommendations and wound up reading through recommendations here too. My first ever VN (or dating sim) was Heartache 101 …like years ago, and I still play it sometimes! I didn't touch any more vns until one day out of the blue I wanted to give the genre a shot, and played Chrono Clock earlier this year. I really enjoyed it, and started Grisaia no Kajitsu. I played through Yumiko's and Michiru's route so far, and loved every minute with them. Grisaia really exceeded my expectations, and actually made me tear up lmao
ChiruChiru is the best girl in my book B^)

that's pretty much it though... there's not much else to know about me I guess, but feel free to ask me anything!
thanks for having me here, and I hope we all get along!

I thought about just staying a guest and lurking through some topics every now and then, but I really like the atmosphere of this place... everyone's nice and chill... I think 
I named myself dwaif a long time ago. I'm a pretty old user from the blockland forums (the only other forums I use nowadays), if you don't know what that is... well... it's like playing with legos on the internet.
 
I found this website completely by chance. I'm really new to visual novels, and I'm sorta picky... I went through dozens of reddit recommendations and wound up reading through recommendations here too. My first ever VN (or dating sim) was Heartache 101 …like years ago, and I still play it sometimes! I didn't touch any more vns until one day out of the blue I wanted to give the genre a shot, and played Chrono Clock earlier this year. I really enjoyed it, and started Grisaia no Kajitsu. I played through Yumiko's and Michiru's route so far, and loved every minute with them. Grisaia really exceeded my expectations, and actually made me tear up lmao
ChiruChiru is the best girl in my book B^)

that's pretty much it though... there's not much else to know about me I guess, but feel free to ask me anything!
thanks for having me here, and I hope we all get along!

I thought about just staying a guest and lurking through some topics every now and then, but I really like the atmosphere of this place... everyone's nice and chill... I think 
I named myself dwaif a long time ago. I'm a pretty old user from the blockland forums (the only other forums I use nowadays), if you don't know what that is... well... it's like playing with legos on the internet.
 
I found this website completely by chance. I'm really new to visual novels, and I'm sorta picky... I went through dozens of reddit recommendations and wound up reading through recommendations here too. My first ever VN (or dating sim) was Heartache 101 …like years ago, and I still play it sometimes! I didn't touch any more vns until one day out of the blue I wanted to give the genre a shot, and played Chrono Clock earlier this year. I really enjoyed it, and started Grisaia no Kajitsu. I played through Yumiko's and Michiru's route so far, and loved every minute with them. Grisaia really exceeded my expectations, and actually made me tear up lmao
ChiruChiru is the best girl in my book B^)

that's pretty much it though... there's not much else to know about me I guess, but feel free to ask me anything!
thanks for having me here, and I hope we all get along!

I thought about just staying a guest and lurking through some topics every now and then, but I really like the atmosphere of this place... everyone's nice and chill... I think 
I named myself dwaif a long time ago. I'm a pretty old user from the blockland forums (the only other forums I use nowadays), if you don't know what that is... well... it's like playing with legos on the internet.
 
I found this website completely by chance. I'm really new to visual novels, and I'm sorta picky... I went through dozens of reddit recommendations and wound up reading through recommendations here too. My first ever VN (or dating sim) was Heartache 101 …like years ago, and I still play it sometimes! I didn't touch any more vns until one day out of the blue I wanted to give the genre a shot, and played Chrono Clock earlier this year. I really enjoyed it, and started Grisaia no Kajitsu. I played through Yumiko's and Michiru's route so far, and loved every minute with them. Grisaia really exceeded my expectations, and actually made me tear up lmao
ChiruChiru is the best girl in my book B^)

that's pretty much it though... there's not much else to know about me I guess, but feel free to ask me anything!
thanks for having me here, and I hope we all get along!

I thought about just staying a guest and lurking through some topics every now and then, but I really like the atmosphere of this place... everyone's nice and chill... I think 
I named myself dwaif a long time ago. I'm a pretty old user from the blockland forums (the only other forums I use nowadays), if you don't know what that is... well... it's like playing with legos on the internet.
 
I found this website completely by chance. I'm really new to visual novels, and I'm sorta picky... I went through dozens of reddit recommendations and wound up reading through recommendations here too. My first ever VN (or dating sim) was Heartache 101 …like years ago, and I still play it sometimes! I didn't touch any more vns until one day out of the blue I wanted to give the genre a shot, and played Chrono Clock earlier this year. I really enjoyed it, and started Grisaia no Kajitsu. I played through Yumiko's and Michiru's route so far, and loved every minute with them. Grisaia really exceeded my expectations, and actually made me tear up lmao
ChiruChiru is the best girl in my book B^)

that's pretty much it though... there's not much else to know about me I guess, but feel free to ask me anything!
thanks for having me here, and I hope we all get along!

I thought about just staying a guest and lurking through some topics every now and then, but I really like the atmosphere of this place... everyone's nice and chill... I think 
I named myself dwaif a long time ago. I'm a pretty old user from the blockland forums (the only other forums I use nowadays), if you don't know what that is... well... it's like playing with legos on the internet.
 
I found this website completely by chance. I'm really new to visual novels, and I'm sorta picky... I went through dozens of reddit recommendations and wound up reading through recommendations here too. My first ever VN (or dating sim) was Heartache 101 …like years ago, and I still play it sometimes! I didn't touch any more vns until one day out of the blue I wanted to give the genre a shot, and played Chrono Clock earlier this year. I really enjoyed it, and started Grisaia no Kajitsu. I played through Yumiko's and Michiru's route so far, and loved every minute with them. Grisaia really exceeded my expectations, and actually made me tear up lmao
ChiruChiru is the best girl in my book B^)

that's pretty much it though... there's not much else to know about me I guess, but feel free to ask me anything!
thanks for having me here, and I hope we all get along!