nihilloligasan

some of these things sound absolutely wild. i can't believe there's bible verses and marijuana in this game, wtf, i might not be able to handle all this crazy shit...

thank you vizualfan, very cool your system of determining who deserves the title of "man" is utterly arbitrary. there is no objective goodness within the world of meatsuits, and fictional characters are mere abstractions with the verisimilitude of meatsuits

wow, the opening perfectly captures how I feel about this. shield my eyes, emptiness inside... definitely checking this out when it's released

My first was Saya no Uta. I thought it was pretty cool and interesting, but over time my positive opinions towards it gradually decreased.

Cool looking male uniforms are nearly impossible to find...I'll just stick with females. I really like the color palette of the Sono Hanabira uniforms, and the flowing designs in the Sakura no Uta and Subarashiki Hibi uniforms are also really appealing to me.

on one hand, i get to enjoy a multimedia form of art with lots of cool stories, and i even get a new platform to create my own stories with. on the other hand, i am isolated further from society because vns are niche, and i can't publicly promote my stories because all vns are commonly equated to child porn.

mine is kinda cringe but ok Hair-Blonde, Shoulder Length Eyes-Blue, Hosome Body-Pale, Slim, Young-adult, Average Height Clothes-T-shirt, Tank Top, Blouse, Sweater, Turtleneck Sweater, Shorts, Jeans, Leggings, Glasses Personality-Secretive, Curious, Misanthrope, Eccentric, Slutty, Relaxed, Insightful, Low Self-esteem, Pervert, Reserved, Airhead Role-Based on a Real Person, Scientist, Video Game Developer, Student, American, Not A Virgin Engages In-Driving, Gambling, Investigation, Learning A Foreign Language, Sadism, Stalking, Flirting, Job Hunting, Suicide Attempt, Self Harm, Computering, Consensual Porn Production, Drawing, Music Learning, Singing Subject of-Headache, Weight Loss, Delusion, Mental Breakdown, Clinical Depression, Human Subject Research, Nightmares, Stalking, Turndown, Teasing, Disappointment

tbh i've always dreamed of a sonohana game where you're the new girl and you get to pick a new gf out of a wide selection of cuties. i think the biggest problem with this set up is that the idiot writers would probably just write a standard male protagonist with boobs

I didn't know him very well, but I have read some of his reviews. This is absolutely tragic.

jesus what happened to that girl's wrist

I'm guessing the sex/rape scenes will be censored in some way. I'm curious to see what they'll do with the new translation.

I agree that vns (as they are now) aren't utilizing the full potential of the medium. I think that's why the appeal of vns isn't readily apparent to most people. If I remember correctly, some of the earliest vns were erotic dating sims made in anime art styles, which paved the road for the conventions seen in vns today. Since vns are still a relatively new medium, I don't think they've had enough time to blossom out of these conventions. For now, the appeal of vns relies on the appeal of the current conventions: character-driven stories based on romance and graphic sex. I think there's some core aspects of vns that can appeal to people outside of the current conventions, and they're based on the structure of the medium rather than genres. They include the combination of text, sprite/bg/cg art, sound/music, and digital design. Each of these things express something unique on their own, but when combined, they have to adapt to each other to form a functional and well-crafted piece of art. I've heard many people compare vns to digital books, but I think a more accurate comparison is with plays. When you have things like art and sound effects, descriptions can become redundant; when you cut them out, you're left with dialogue and internal monologues (with some descriptions if you don't have the assets you'd need to convey everything). Art can bring the text alive on its own merit, while books require readers to use descriptions as fuel for their imaginations. I think cgs are already used well as they are now, but vn creators tend to cut corners with sprites and bgs-they use the same images over and over again. Having these pieces changed to convey different things (for example, having a character's sprite set gaining dark circles under their eyes to convey their fall into depression, or having objects in bg art used as symbolism that reflects the POV character's state of mind) can enhance the story in a way the text can't. Music is often used as a tool to enhance the story, but music can also be used as a separate way of conveying the story. Instruments can be used as symbols for characters or certain ideas, and a bit of music theory can be applied to make the soundtrack itself a medium of storytelliing; maybe instruments that represent sounds from the story's setting could be used for tracks that represent everyday life, or maybe tracks could be written to represent specific scenes instead of general emotions. Sound effects and voice acting breathe life into the setting and characters, respectively. I think both could be used more liberally, as they can add or affirm details relevant to each scene of the vn. The technical design of the vn can do a lot, but it's often overlooked. For example, text boxes could be used to convey different ideas, fonts could establish tone/mood, and text size and color could be used to represent emotions or change the way something in the text is perceived by the reader. Vns are read by clicking to new blocks of text, which could be used to create a sort of rhythm to the narration, or it could allow certain lines to be emphasized when they would otherwise blend in with the rest of the paragraph. The inclusion of choices and routes can enhance storytelling in a way that can't be found in mediums where the consumer is otherwise passive, but kinetic vns can still use the other core aspects in a way that's still unique and interesting. To sum it up, I agree with what everyone else has said-vns are appealing because they turn multiple mediums that form a unique amalgamation of mediums, and, as a result, they can't be divided into an already existing artistic platform. Vns essentially provide a strange experience that can't be pinned down in anything else.

I heard about this a few days ago, and I can't help but laugh at it. It's such a stupid idea that I can't take it seriously, I'm probably going to check it out sometime.

Invention and Insects for me (pretty basic answers at this point, though). The thing I find most interesting about these two chapters is that they use a similar framework to convey different ideas about suffering. They both feature lonely and mentally unstable protagonists that are thrust into increasingly more extreme situations that eventually lead to the "End Sky" (or, in a more literal sense, the "End Earth"). Takuji and Zakuro were ultimately trapped in their own worlds. Their perceptions of reality were twisted to the point where absurd conclusions seemed like the only sane ones. It sort of points back to Ayana's speech on how humans can't understand death and have to change it to a form they can relate to. They wanted to find the truth in the end sky, but they ended up returning to the earth instead.

Just heard about this a few hours ago. Absolutely terrible. I wonder what mindset the perpetrator was in to go to such a sickening act.