I get people asking me all the time why I like this VN so much, and indeed, there is a lot about this VN that makes it a somewhat eclectic choice. The only thing that is even remotely moe is the basic visuals, and the arcs of the story range from the shocking to the creepy.
First, the biggest reason is quite simple... Kamio Ami. It is really rare for a heroine to so completely shatter pre-existing standards of what a VN/anime/manga heroine should be. Ami is the single most pragmatic, cold-blooded, and manipulative heroine I've ever come across. She also mixes that with a hedonistic side that makes her even harder to read.
The second reason is a bit more complex. This VN basically crucifies modern Japanese culture from beginning to end. It pokes holes in common Japanese preconceptions of what should be, and it outright sneers at the assumption many make that the law is there to protect people. I don't think I've ever come across a VN that so completely finds the most distasteful aspects of modern Japanese law and customs and dissects them for you to see.
If you choose to take it that way, this VN can be seen as a symbolic jab at all the things the Japanese don't want to think about when it comes to their culture, whether it is the way their law treats domestic disputes or the fact that, of all the first-world nations on the planet, they have the least effective rape-victim protections. This VN is fairly merciless, and the fact that it is represented through two character opposites at both extremes of the spectrum - Ami (realism) and Eru (law and order) - only creates a higher degree of symbolism that reminds me of the best philosophical fiction I've read in English.
Now... do you still wonder why I love this VN, or why I put it on the list of potential VNs of the Year for 2014? It isn't a kamige, but it is an impressive literary achievement. I'll be straight out and say this VN really picks its readers. Straight-out weaboo types and moege-lovers won't get into this (for different reasons), and those who want to keep their illusions about Japan will also be made to feel a little uncomfortable during the course of reading this VN. However, it is nonetheless something worth reading, for those who simply enjoy a good read.
There is a pretty good chance there won't be a VN of the month for June, simply because there aren't enough VNs coming out to make it a competition. As far as I can tell, there is only one not-nukige coming out for certain tonight (in our time) and it doesn't look like it will be one that is worthy of the VN of the Month, from the looks of it. I will still play and mini-review it, but please forgive me if you don't see a lot of new posts for the next month or so.
Ok, for those who read my first post on this game, you probably have a good picture of how I see the gameplay in this game. There are hints of really excellent possibilities in the actual battle system... if you can ignore the fact that you have to equip skills (as medals) - even the personal ones - and the fact that many of the characters you get access too later are at one of two extremes... either way too weak or way too strong for the time in which you get them. As an example, the angel is way too strong when you get her, and Tsumugi is really weak when you get her... it generally goes that way throughout the entire game, as you get various characters. Making it worse is the fact that all the advantages of the game system go to the characters you got earliest, meaning that evolving your party past a core of characters you got relatively early on is fairly difficult... Another issue is that the orbs you get as you go along are way too slanted in how they appear (each map completion gets you a certain orb or two), and this means that characters whose own ability grids are slanted in a different direction - mages in particular - are pretty much screwed as far as growth goes. A final issue with the battle system is actual skill use... all magic skills have to be activated without movement and archer attacks are the same. Of course, considering the way some of the environments are put together, the ability to use high level magic or archery after moving would be a bit of overkill, but for large time-limited maps, this pretty much eliminates the usefulness of mages and archers entirely. This unbalance is a huge problem in making mages useful at all...
As for the story... it takes a really, really long time to get going, you have to choose one of two heroines relatively early on (neither of which is all that attractive, in comparison to some of the non-human girls)... but things do start to pick up a bit about the seventh and eighth chapters. Unfortunately, considering that means there was nothing but hints of what might happen and repetitive fights with predictable 'oh Eld is such a mysteriously great guy despite being weak' events. To be honest, that gets old really quickly...
Edit: Understand, I'm not hating this game. However, considering how good they did on the side-events (many are amusing, some are exciting), you would think they would have done a better job with the main story so far... There just isn't that much impact to it, and the atmosphere just isn't one conducive to emotional involvement as well as intellectual, which is a big downer with a high fantasy setting.
First, I want to say thank you to those who patiently listened as I whined and complained about this VN as I played it. I should also explain what I was complaining about first, so that people don't get the impression that this is an awful VN, just because I have complaints about it. I'll place this in spoilers for people who don't care about my whining.
Second, I should say that I have a firm belief that Ryukishi's VNs make better anime than they do VNs, because his scenario design is far better than his writing (not to mention his art). His love for torturing and killing his own characters is very similar to that of George Martin or Glen Cook, but he mixes it up with that peculiar disconnect from reality and surrealism that is unique to Japanese writers, especially when it comes to violence or sex, lol.
The first part of this story looks like it comes out from a Japanese-colored version of our own film noir. To be honest, I found it pretty amusing and an overall fun ride. I cried and laughed with the characters, and I got to like the various people Rose and her crew met. The second part is somewhat less amusing, as it is mixed in with hope followed by a quick fall into despair, as things take a turn for the worse that never quite gets better. The third and last arc (there are four seasons but only three arcs, really) is devastatingly emotional and full of a despair far surpassing that of the first two. Friends die, others betray, and characters you have come to love suffer. In other words, it has all the ingredients you need for a good trilogy (which is what it feels like).
The themes involved will probably confuse about fifty percent of those who read this who aren't from Asia. I'm not kidding. Simply put, it requires the ability to appreciate the character, weaknesses and strengths of the Chinese, Americans, and Japanese at the same time. As such, the learning curve for fully appreciating this VN is a bit steep. In fact, in some ways it is more steep than I/O because the matters it deals with aren't matters of science but of culture and people.
I suggest anyone who wants to fully understand a lot of what they say - especially the exchanges between the Chinese mafia and Rose's people - read up on current events in the relations between Japan and China, because this story has been heavily influenced by the recent mess in diplomatic relations between the two. A lot of it is mixed up with the usual emotionalism that defines Japanese writing, but the core arguments are based in current events, rather than just ones of the distant past.
Is this a good VN? That's an excellent question, me. To be honest, it is hard to say. There are a ridiculous number of flaws to the setting, and the writing, while much better than Ryuukishi07's past efforts, is still less than poetic (and his event descriptions are still as weak as ever). However, if you just look at the fun factor...? This is a fairly enjoyable experience. Oh, for those who hate to see characters they like suffer or die off or who can't deal with concepts like prostitution, organized crime, or corruption as a matter of daily life this would be a hard VN to read. In some ways, this is far darker than his past VNs, because the actual daily events include no sense of fantasy, save for the setting itself. As a result, people who could enjoy Higurashi, Umineko, and Higanbana with no problems might very well show signs of rejection with this one. At the same time, people who despised the others might very well like this one, because - while it does share all of Ryuukishi's usual habits - both bad and good - it is outside of his usual ballpark in the subject matter.
Edit2: Whoops, the last edit was a bit too... sharp. To avoid controversy I have sealed it behind a spoiler tag. Read at your own risk.
Yes, I went and played a game in this series, mostly because Sanahtlig is an old friend and I didn't want to keep brushing him off. In fact, I'm marathonning this series starting with this game.
First, an initial umbrella statement... this would have been a first-class story (though flawed) if it weren't for the massive amounts of tentacle rape and choukyou. Am I serious? Yeah. Despite everything, the base story is actually really good.
Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the gameplay. It takes the form of a conquest-strategy VN where you use six-soldier units to attack cities that are defended by up to six soldiers. Unfortunately, there is nothing resembling actual strategy to the entire thing. Oh sure, you have to manage your resources and keep your soldiers healthy... but that's the closest you get to it (there are some strategic elements to the management of the power gauge and the use of skills, but those are minor). Basically, it is a 'make your units more powerful than the enemy's, then stuff them down his throat through brute force' approach. It has its moments, but they are few and far in between.
The biggest upside of the story is the protagonist - for all that he is a ruthless pragmatist and schemer - and his closest subordinates, and the biggest downside is the final antagonist... I mean, you just don't get any more cookie-cutter than the last boss. I will say that the actual last battle in the Law route was pretty cool, but I was thoroughly bored by the boss's motives within ten minutes of its appearance. The ending also felt generic and truncated, which is sad after the richness of the actual story leading up to the end.
This is the newest title from Lump of Sugar, and as is typical of their recent productions, it has a needlessly complicated system for story progression that would have driven me insane inside ten minutes if I hadn't dled the patch that removes the gimmicks from their site.
From what I've heard, LoS finally heard the screaming of their fans, that they didn't want anything to do with the pointless gimmicks that plagued Unmei Senjou no Phi and Magical Charming. Kind of sad that it took them a few years to figure it out though.
That said, this VN... is not something worth writing home about. Oh, it is as pretty as any other LoS game, and it does have a decent setting and characters... but - when the gimmicks are stripped away - it is a bare bones second-rate moege. The only route I played that I can say was completely worth the time I spent on it was Ichika's, which is probably why she was the main heroine.
The biggest downers of this VN are:
1. The gimmicks
2. The protagonist (think 'the one true idiot')
3. A lack of any sort of details of what goes on with the heroines outside of the actual relationship with the protagonist. This makes the heroines much flatter than they really needed to be and weakens the overall attachment to them.
I'll be blunt. This VN will please a crowd of those who just want a sweet romance leading up to H-scenes and very very mild interpersonal drama. However, it will be immensely dissatisfying to anyone who likes to get to know the characters in full. There are lots of tidbits dropped along the way, but the lack of details just makes that more frustrating.
VN of the Month, May 2015
Ayakashi Contract
My reasons are very simple... no other VN from May's releases even approached Ayakashi Contract in one simple area... a sense of completion and satisfaction when it was complete. While Sumire succeeded in breaking out of the 'box', Ayakashi Contract manages to use everything in the box to its best effect, which is something that should be praised, even if it falls short of kamige-level.
Haruka
Haruka is the traditional 'older woman' heroine that used to be included in just about every VN, as a token to those who preferred that type. Of course, they don't come out and say how much older she is, but considering that she was in her teens when Tsumugi was a toddler...
Anyway, she is a spiritualist/youkai hunter who comes to the town with the intention of hunting down a man-eater that is supposedly hidden in the populace. She gets wrapped up in the events of the main story in the common route and ends up settling in the town (and incidentally falling in love with Yukiya).
She has some serious emotional scars, and overcoming those is a big part of her path. In this case, most of the obstacles that tend to be put in the path of her type of heroine and a younger protagonist don't exist, so don't expect much trouble from the outside about their romance. Rather, this path centers around her work, her personal traumas, and how she overcomes them with Yukiya's help. Like Minagi's path in the previous post, her path's ending is quite excellent and extends several years after the actual ending of the story, which left me feeling satisfied, needless to say.
Anna
Anna is the protagonist's younger cousin (who of course calls him oniichan, lol). She is a bright, energetic young girl with an eternal smile. Her path tends more toward the mundane, with a focus on rejuvenating the town through her and the protagonist's activities. The drama in her path is less tear-worthy than Minagi's or Haruka's, but in exchange you get a really hilarious scene in which the path's antagonist gets his just-desserts.
Perhaps the funniest part about this path is the clashes between her father and Yukiya, though, lol. Similar to the other paths, it touches on events well-along the line after the endings, when Yukiya and Anna have settled down and begun living their non-student lives. Not only that, but it ends on a really sweet (cute-sweet, not cool-sweet) note that I'm sure soft-VN lovers will like.
Midori
Midori is the mayor's daughter and the story's serious, straight-laced heroine (of the 'iinchou' type). She is the most negative toward the youkai of all the heroines, and her start with the protagonist is about what you could expect with a lucky-sukebe event and a straight-laced girl, lol. The actual path is focused on the need - and it is present - to balance the needs of the forest and the youkai that live there with those of the people of the town. This search for a middle path is the source of most of the drama in the story, and it leads to some tense moments. Similar to Anna's path, this one isn't really tear-worthy, but it has enough laughs and normal emotional ups and downs to satisfy most readers.
Her path goes the least distance from the end of the story and is thus the least fulfilling, from the perspective of those who love after-stories.
Tsumugi
Tsumugi is your typical 'wannabe' spiritualist. You know the type that you see in various anime/manga/VNs that love the occult and want to get involved with it but have absolutely no talent for it, right? Well, she's the typical one of that type.
Similar to Haruka's path, this has a focus on the spiritualist side of things, and there is plenty of foreshadowing for those who are used to the typical patterns of VNs in modern fantasy settings. That said, it is carried out well, and the characters, setting, and events are all used to paint a really good picture. You'll probably cry at several points near the middle of her path, and the ending is quite satisfying (and adorable, lol). Like all the paths but Midori's in this VN, the after-story is quite satisfying and emotionally fulfilling.
Overall
The word that comes to mind with this VN is 'complete'. It is fairly rare to come across a VN that a company obviously has no intention of fandiscing to death or even hinting at some sort of side-story addition. This VN is designed to be one complete set of heroine stories, and it does everything it sets out to do about as well as you ever see. Those who like fantasy mixed with romance but without the intense violence of a chuunige will like this VN, as will those who like nakige.
This is also my current prime candidate for VN of the Month (though Sumire would have been worthy if this hadn't been around). I know that most people will go 'eeeh, but I thought you disliked this kind of obvious moe-appeal VN?!' However, the fact is that any VN genre can be pleasurable if it is done as well as this one was.
I'm not going to argue about what defines a VN here. To be blunt, the fights over that issue - which were fairly pointless - were bad enough in the forums. That said, I am going to explain why VN terms tend to be so fuzzy and hard/impossible to pin down.
1. We are basically defining a medium that is new to us (new being a relative term, lol).
2. Pseudo-Japanisms like charage, moege, nakige, etc. are generalized terms that represent a certain type of structure and purpose to individual VNs. For people who like to nitpick, these terms really aren't fitting, because they are basically umbrella terms that contain a lot more than you'd think.
3. The Japanese otaku-media tendency to turn everything into an archetype creates an illusion of a 'universal unity of ideas'.
Of course, there are a lot of different reasons besides these, but these are some of the more obvious ones. However, perhaps the one that bothers people the most are the pseudo-Japanisms that I and some others use and have been helpfully defined (inasmuch as that is possible) by various people. I should first explain what a pseudo-Japanism is. First, as a prime example, a visual novel is a term that came from the Japanese originally, but it is one we took and redefined for our own purposes. While the term originated in Japan, it is rarely used over there and the fundamental meaning is slightly different to them than it is to us. This is similar to the pseudo-anglicanisms like 'マンション’ that litter the Japanese language.
Similarly, while the term 'moege' was coined in Japan, the actual meaning of the word changed immensely just in the past few years, as it was absorbed and reshaped by the perceptions of the Western community. Anyone who has played a 'straight moege' like Shuffle or Da Capo will understand what they are, but once you start expanding into the various other types that expanded from moege to birth new child genres, people start getting confused.
To be blunt, we've gone and created a new specialist genre that pretends to be from Japan but is really almost wholly our own, because the meanings are not, strictly speaking, matching to those in Japan anymore. Of course, in a narrow sense of the word, some are the same - such as nakige and utsuge - but in the broad sense of the word, the concept of the 'charage' is almost entirely one we created to define a type of VN that branched out and away from the VNs we define as moege.
In other words, the big mistake a lot of new and old people in the community make is in thinking these terms mean the same to the community in Japan as they do to the people here. These terms are ultimately ours, as they have been irreversibly shaped by our perceptions of their meaning in the way they are used.
For the sake of those who don't have as much experience as I do, I'll explain the Japanese tendency toward archetyping everything. First, you have to understand that Asian culture in general sees imitation as a compliment, rather than a failing or an insult. Second, Japanese thinking is hyper-conservative, despite the rich sub-cultures that have bored holes into the base of their society. This extends to otaku culture as well and is encouraged by the commercialization of new mediums and genres as they become popular. In Japan, it wouldn't be wrong to say people 'like what they recognize'. It is this that leads to archetypical characters, settings, and stories being so dominant in VNs, anime, and manga. Of course, we see the same thing over here... but it is a much slower process. In just two or three years, we can see what was new becoming an archetype in otaku media. Over here, it tends to take ten to twenty years. It is simply a function of how our cultures work. Americans tend to dislike obviously repeating themes, and as a result we have a lot of encouragement for 'creativity' and it is harder for something to become an archetype in the first place, because we move on so fast. The Japanese find something they like, then they repeat it over and over until it becomes a tradition. Modern technology has just exacerbated this tendency, when it comes to otaku culture, lol.
Edit: I should also note that the natural tendency of the Japanese is to polish things until they shine, a tendency that is reflected in their high-quality domestic products. To an extent, we can see that with VNs, as companies tend to prefer to produce a solid product that is similar if not identical to all its previous products. Unfortunately, the limitations created by that are unsuited to entertainment in general, which is the big reason why great artists and writers will all of the sudden suffer from a deep drop in quality (usually because companies want them to reproduce exactly the same VN as before, lol).
Ok... there really isn't much to say on this VN, because it is ridiculously low-budget/low-quality. That isn't to say that it doesn't show moments of brilliance... it is just that the pacing is so terrible it is like the story got tossed into a high-speed blender before being pulled out and taped back together... with a lot of missing pieces.
I'm not fond of pointless ichaicha, but when all the heroine routes but one feel so truncated you feel like they might as well not even exist... well, you just can't have good feelings about it, now can you? It's like they surgically removed anything that might have developed the cast more either before or after the path split. Moreover, the actual heroine stories are basically template patterns of their various character type, with a few minor setting-based twists. Heck, even Mia's ending (she being the true heroine) is ridiculously true to her character type's patterns, with all the details sort of white-washed or hurried along.
In other words, this entry by the new company, In-sync, is a worthless hunk of steaming kusoge.
Edit: As an elaboration and an example of how horrible this game is... the last scenes on Mia's path (ending1) have the parts of the process that would have made the entire business at the end more poignant simply cut out.
Just a bit of warning for those who are using really old versions of Translation Aggregator... to be blunt, they don't work with the current version of Windows 7 or 8. To be more specific, the way the old versions use the dictionaries causes a bug where the application no longer pastes the clipboard contents. I hadn't updated mine since the 2012 update, so I was really surprised when, after I updated my Windows (on both my work and personal computers) that TA stopped working. I figured out what was wrong and went ahead and got the newest version, which was made earlier this month, but it was still a bit of a shock when the reliable tool I'd been wielding for speed-reading VNs suddenly stopped working, lol.
Wow. This is definitely a case of not being able to judge a book by its cover... or by its summary, either. I don't think I've encountered a VN with as much emotional impact as this one since Houkago no Futekikakusha, last summer.
Sumire is by Nekoneko Soft, one of the oldest existing VN brands... They are one of the 'founding names' of the moege umbrella genre, while also producing more serious works through their subsidiaries, such as Cotton Soft (of Reconquista and Owaru Sekai to Birthday fame).
Sumire is rather unique, by the standards of current VNs. The protagonist, rather than being a student, is a salaryman in in his mid-twenties, a socially inept man who was an otaku but has lost most of his passion. He goes to a virtual chat room/online game that imitates a school, where people use characters from Nekoneko Soft games as avatars. There, he is part a sub-community of four people (including him) of people that are similarly awkward.
This story is... emotional to say the least. So far, I've finished two arcs of the story (there is only one actual path, though there are apparently multiple endings) and I had to spend the last thirty minutes or so easing myself out of crying-mode. What is so good about this? Generally speaking, I have to say it is the overall presentation and characterization, as well as the narrative.
The depth of the characters lent by the narration and dialogue - keeping in mind that they are the same type of person, generally speaking - is impressive, considering how relatively short a time I have been playing. At the same time, the story itself - for all its odd aspects - is one that is mostly easy to understand. It reminds me of some of the best works of last decade (2001-2010) in that it tries to just tell a story rather than pretending to be something in particular (ex. a charage, a nakige, etc).
So, unless they seriously screw things up, this is VN is a definite candidate for VN of the Month...
Edit: Changed this post so it reflects the whole game.
Now that I've finished the game - and yes it is that short - I will go ahead give my final word on it. This game stops a bit short of kamige-level (the ending is a bit too short and 'things are looking up' optimistic for that), but it is nonetheless an excellent game.
Now, for the overall... first, I should say that there are a total of three arcs. There is one focused on Sumire, then Hinahime, then Akari. Sumire is the main heroine, with the other two girls having 'extra' h-scenes in the omake section or as an extra on the second playthrough.
The first two arcs are both straightforward - relatively speaking - stories of alienation and redemption, with a bit of love and friendship thrown into the mix. Really, in the first two arcs, you can't really get a good lock on what is motivating everyone, which isn't surprising, really. About two thirds of the game is in the characters rl and a third in the virtual space (it is more like half and half in the early game and ends up mostly rl at the end).
For those who like mild mindfucks... Akari's arc will fulfill your desires to an extent. You'll find out the last few undiscovered secrets of the characters, including what links them together. In addition, you'll also have to choose between one normal, one bad, and one true ending. The true ending is a nice conclusion, though it is very short. The normal ending is sad, and the bad ending is a bit... depressing looking at it from the outside.
Overall, this is an excellent VN, though short. I'd recommend it to those who want something unusual to break out of their usual reading habits but don't want something violent or with lots of sexual drama.
I know many people have chimed in on the debate about what precisely VNs are to them... but the three main schools of thought pretty much come down to 'story-delivery system', 'pretty picture delivery system', and a mixture of both. To an extent, I can sympathize with all three... but I fall mostly with the 'mixture of both' school of thought with a leaning to the 'story-delivery system' end of things. Why? Because, when it comes down to it, all forms of otaku entertainment are story-delivery systems, when you get right down to it... even if that story is somewhat out there, disjointed, or so mixed in with pointless moe that it is hard to recognize. Of course, that is in the larger sense, so it is basically playing with sophistry on my part to think that way... *loves making it impossible for anyone else to win the argument*
Nonetheless, it is a valid point. I love stories, in general. I live for fiction in all its forms, though the written word is my preferred way to receive it, preferably with narrative, not just dialogue. More than anything, my taste in VNs is shaped by this simple root cause... in the end, I'm a narrative junkie who needs his fix. Chuunige like Dies Irae give me that in the most obvious form, and every once in a while, a fantasy masterpiece like Ikusa Megami Zero comes along and revives my love of world-building and deep settings. Even more rarely, I hit gold with something like Konata yori Kanata made, which burns so deeply into my soul that it causes an epiphany.
The last half-decade of my life has been pretty much shaped by my addict's pursuit of good VNs. As a result, outside of my work I'm pretty much the picture of the hikikomori erogamer (actually, since I work from home...). At the same time, I've more and more come to realize that almost no one across the water has any real idea of the potential of the medium in general for storytelling, despite having the best of all tools in all areas relatively easily at hand.
If I walk through a section my local bookstore (any fiction section), I can pick out at least a dozen titles I've read and left their mark on my way of thinking and expanded my mind in general. Going through all the VNs I've played, I can name only about forty out of the five hundred that left their mark in a significant way on my mind and spirit... and that is seriously a small number, even proportionately speaking. Less than a tenth of all the VNs I've played have been something worthy of remaining for the future... and how sad is that? This is despite the sheer potential the medium has... When I think of it objectively, I'm sometimes driven to despair.
As mentioned above, this VN is a mass of wasted potential. Yes, there are really good points... but between those good points is an interminable amount of pretty much pointless ichaicha, slice-of-life, and a number of other things that made me want to scream.
First, neither Lisa's nor Koharu's routes escaped the trap of mediocrity that Chris and Rie's were taken by. Sadly, both routes are fairly standard charage romance with predictable turns of events... so predictable I fell asleep during Lisa's route, lol. To be honest, at times I really hate the Japanese's fondness for considering being average to be a good thing. That said, I did like that Lisa's, Rie's, and Koharu's paths all had epilogues that touched on a future more than half a decade in the future, when the characters are set on their new life paths. This is a huge plus... that would have been better off in a more interesting VN, lol.
Kureha's route, on the other hand, manages to escape at least some of the difficulties the other routes had, if only because it is the only route where the protagonist actually has a deep history with the heroine beforehand. At the same time, there were some bad moments - the typical osananajimi 'I love you but you don't consider me to be of the opposite sex!' scenario *sighs* - that left me wanting to tear my hair out. The ending was good - for once they didn't chicken out - and the epilogue went twenty years into the future, which was nice. Sadly, it still suffered from an overall lackluster 'intermediate stage' during which you had to wait interminably for the two idiots to figure out that they loved each other, which is a huge - massive - downer.
Overall, this VN is perhaps the most frustrating charage I've played in a year or more, in its near-continuous failure to use the setting and indulgence in the usual anti-exceptionalism and excessive story archetype use (that felt awkward, to boot). To be blunt, Haruto had the potential to be a first-class protagonist, but he showed up as a third-rate one because they were unwilling to make this a somewhat (it would have only taken a little effort) darker themed story. The simple introduction of an antagonist or the protagonist facing his personal issues without the filter o the heroines would have been a huge boost to the plot, overall. They spent way too much time minimizing the vampirism issue.
I picked this one as my second game for VN of the Month May for a very simple reason... this company's previous works(1/2 Summer and Timepiece Ensemble) were overall enjoyable/emotionally powerful and I was hoping for a repeat of the experience. I'll be honest and say outright that it is nowhere near either of those two for sheer emotional impact, but I did find it more interesting in some ways, intellectually.
First, the basic setting is pretty interesting. The VN takes place in a school with an absolute caste system, where most of the students are 'failures' brought in from around the country and forcibly enrolled in order to reform them and a few dozen high-level students rule over them with an iron fist. This is achieved through the use of bracelets and anklets that stick together when activated at a special student's console and a collar that can unleash electric shocks as punishment.
The protagonist basically comes into the school with the purpose of doing something about Tenjouin Aika, who is the overall absolute authority of the school, as well as being the head of the special students' organization through sheer charisma and personal ability. The story is split into two differently themed sets of routes, one purely romance-themed and the other focused on the behind-the-scenes occult circumstances that shaped the school's policies. The former's heroines are Naho and Nono, with Nono as the main heroine of that one. The latter is focused on Aika and Kanade, with a focus on Aika. That isn't to say that Kanade or Naho's routes are neglected... it is simply that the most important issues for each of the two main themes of the game is only resolved in the main heroines' routes.
The overall quality of the game - both in terms of narrative and basic story structure - is quite high and generally enjoyable, but it lacks the nakige-qualities of 1/2 Summer and Timepiece Ensemble, which is something of a downer. Rather, it focuses - sometimes to excess - on the rather straightforward themes I mentioned above, the occult issues and the straight-out romantic ones. The main theme of the story in either case is individual/personal growth, though it is a bit more complex than that.
I think that the biggest problems with this VN - and what stops it from being a truly superlative one overall - is that there is no exploration of heroine or protagonist backstory whatsoever and the fact that the lack of an extensive after-story for the heroines other than Aika.
Final
Having finished this VN for the second time, there were a number of things I took notice of in a different way from the first time through... but perhaps the biggest one is simply that I was surprised at how many of the most important details I remembered. I had to laugh when I realized I'd subconsciously solved the riddle of the path themes in my first read through, and they came back almost immediately after I entered them.
First, with Valeria's path, it is straight-and-narrow love and the mixture of hope and despair it creates. Like all the paths in the good Propeller games, it is a highly emotional story, and the stories of both the antagonist and the heroine are described in intimate detail, giving life to the characters to a degree that is very pleasing for someone who wants both emotional and intellectual value from his VNs.
Second is Yuki's path... this one is, above all, redemption and faith. The theme is perhaps not as simple as it might sound. For one thing, the focus of faith theme is a man who hates the god he worshiped and desires to be hated by him... and is instead the obvious focus of that god's love. You don't get much more ironic than that. The redemption theme... can only really be touched upon by spoiling everything, so I'll leave it at that.
Third is Selma's path... and this is perhaps the least obvious of the themes. It is basically 'the nature of a hero' and 'desires hidden even from oneself'. The former is brought out through the recognition of what it means to be a Mystic One (the 'inherited heroes' of the setting), and the twisted lifestyle it forces on those who inherit the title and power. The latter... is again one you can't touch upon without spoiling things horribly, so I'll leave it at that.
So... what is my overall conclusion? I really, really want to replay Chrono Belt, right now, lol.
To be honest, if something more interesting is up before I start this, I'll probably play that... why? Simple, you can name the protagonist, which is enough of a downer for me that I seriously want to avoid this if I can.
Setting that aside... this looks to be a fairly standard charage, though the protagonist isn't - for once - a high school student (instead a college student). A big downside of what I read on the title was that it seemed like the protag is a total dimwit, even by VN standards... if a possibly amusing one. Another is that the list of settings for the heroines are all standard archetypical ones that make me want to scream because they are so familiar - in a bad way. The only positive thing about it is that it isn't in a high school, so there are no sudden transfer students, student council presidents, or class president heroines... which is nice.
Can you see how much I don't want to play it from what I said above? Or would you like me to elaborate? lol
God, I think I understand why most of the long-time VN bloggers have always been even more negative than I am about this kind of VN... which is sad, since I joined this site to get away from that type of person. Anyway, for all that bitterness above, rest assured moe fans that I'll at least give this VN a chance before I decide to drop it into the abyss of 'VNs not worth playing'.
Why should you play Chrono Belt, fans of Ayakashibito and Bullet Butlers?
This is your reason. Do you really need another?
But seriously, this fight is told entirely from Kuki's point of view, and as a result it is suitably awesome. Rather than doing it in order, I went ahead and did the Kuki-viewpoint segment first solely so I could re-experience the awesomeness that is Kuki Youkou.
Anyway, Chrono Belt isn't so much a fandisc as a true-ending crossover of both games. Basically, it happens after the ending of both games, and it is a VN that manages to standout on its own as awesome, though it is reliant on the characters from the two games for its plot.
To be blunt, this VN manages to satisfy fanboy crossover 'what-ifs' while not being ridiculous, which is a feat in and of itself. I'll leave it to you to imagine what those what-ifs are, because, as always, I refuse to spoil it for you. I will say that there are three segments: Kuki, Alfred, and - last of all - the main segment. All three are generally cool and interesting, though the last one is kind of heart-breaking or stomach-twisting at times, for fans of both games. I won't be doing a complete rundown of this VN, because it is quite simply impossible to do so without spoiling its origin-VNs.
PS: Incidentally, this is one of only a few fandisc-type VNs that I've played/read that weren't excuses for extra H-scenes (though there are extra H-scenes, lol).
Selma Fortenmeyer
For various reasons, it isn't possible to tell the story of Bullet Butlers without telling the story of Selma Fortenmeyer, Rick's master. Selma is the true/central heroine of Bullet Butlers and the focus of most of the conflict in the VN, in the sense that she sparks most of the disasters and victories by her very existence and her position.
Her growth as a character is easily the most powerful and obvious in the story, and it really is an incredible degree of growth. To get a picture of it, you should know that at the beginning, she is the picture of the ennui and apathy-infected noble daughter. She knows nothing is expected of her, but she isn't allowed to flee from her position in life. Moreover, she is at a point in her life where she doesn't value her existence at all, save in that Rick and Valerie care so much for her.
However, as the story progresses and events force her to the forefront, she grows into her role with speed and alacrity, gradually overcoming the despair that has infected her and rising to the occasion. Playing this VN for a second time, I was struck even more by this progression - and this is just in the common route - from a worthless younger daughter to a strong-willed hero.
For those who played Ayakashibito, Selma is a significantly different barrel of fish... in reality, Rick's role is closer to Suzu's in their relationship, and it really does show. At the same time, both characters are a lot more mature than those two (Rick is twenty-four and an experienced gunslinger and butler, after all). As a result, there is a depth to their character dynamic that has a different quality than that of Soushichi and Suzu.
While Selma, of course, shows herself at her best in her own route, she does nonetheless grow into her role in the others, as well. She is easily the best heroine in this VN, but it is a mark of Propeller's own peculiar proclivities that none of the routes can be considered to be 'neglected' in relation to one another. Even though Selma's route is the 'true' one, the other two routes both have their own impact and power.
Bullet Butlers has one of the more interesting fantasy settings that I've seen in a VN. Think film noir combined with elves, lizardmen, orcs, and magic and you won't be far off. The guy you see above is Rick Arrowsmith, the protagonist of the story and butler to one of the potential heirs of the draconic Mystic One (spiritual - not necessarily physical - descendants of the heroes who defeated the Undead King who serve as symbols of God's favor).
Now, Bullet Butlers was made by Propeller, the same company that made Ayakashibito and my long-lasting favorite VN - Evolimit. If there is one thing that some people might have noticed about Ayakashibito, it is that, to an extent, the heroines were less than satisfactory (from a moe-addict's point of view) and yet they still liked it... now why was that? It is a simple fact that the story in each heroine's path far surpasses the attraction of the heroine herself, that's why. lol
This is actually a quality that is present in all four of Propeller's really good action VNs (Ayakashibito, Bullet Butlers, Evolimit, and Tokyo Babel) but is especially evident in this one. The main reason? Two out of the three heroines are abysmally unattractive, lol. That said, their paths on the other hand, show the flair that made me fall in love with this company and still gets my hopes up even now, despite two major kusoge flops in a row.
This VN has a ridiculous amount of gratuitous violence in it, which is a reflection of the violence of the world they are living in. It is a world where death-worshiping cultists fight policemen in the streets, and where it is a matter of course for a security detail to drag half its number out in body bags... or in urns full of ashes scraped off the road. It is a world where men use magic to summon bullets into their guns and some guns can launch lightning or fire instead of simple solid slugs. Betrayal, murder, and general mayhem punctuate just about every major turn in the story... and to top it off, the protagonist's gun is eating his soul.
This VN stands out as being significantly different both from Ayakashibito and the others that followed in atmosphere... but at heart, it is still Propeller at its best.
Hmm... I pretty much hit what I didn't like about the story and gameplay in the other posts, so I'll try to outline what is likeable about the game as a whole.
1) The game uses a skit system similar to the Tales games, letting you have short silly conversations at certain points on the map.
2) The variety of skills available - once you've filled them out a bit - is actually really good. By the end of the game, I had a way to deal effectively with just about any situation, without brute force tactics... though healing skills were still lacking in general.
3) While HP growth slows after level 50, the growth of other stats - particularly Asta's - actually increases somewhat.
4) There is an overworld map to explore, in traditional jrpg style.
5) Most of the game has you laughing
For those of you looking to play a gameplay-VN who don't really want a terribly deep story, this is actuall a good choice... but for those looking for an IMZ-style epic, this isn't a good choice. I'd say the story is actually slightly better than most of Alice Soft's other games, as is the humor.
VN of the Month Announcement
Winner: Chrono Clock
The details of my reasoning are on the forum thread, though I think most of you would be able to guess from the posts.
I'm an obsessive VN player, and I doubt there are many here who could match my experience. However, there is one issue I've more or less deliberately closed my eyes to when it comes to VNs... and that is the sheer amount of anti-feminist propaganda inserted into untranslated Japanese VNs in general. There are a number of major, really obvious examples of this, and I'll go ahead and describe them for you.
1. The 'female teacher who never gets married because she acts too much like a guy' archetype. This isn't even a heroine archetype. It is just a side-character archetype... but literally the most common non-heroine, non-protagonist one in existence other than the 'idiot friend' one. How is this anti-feminist? First, it assumes women with certain qualities - hard-working, focused on their jobs - aren't attractive. Second - and more insidious - it assumes that all such women should want to get married, so it is something of a double-whammy.
2. The 'strong-willed heroine who becomes completely submissive the second she and the protagonist become lovers' archetype. This is perhaps the most insidious of the heroine archetypes when it comes to this issue. This is more or less a manifestation of the hidden widely-held Japanese male belief that even the strongest woman secretly wants to be dominated by a man. Yes, there are plenty of otherwise strong-willed women that use mild SM as stress relief, but the same can be said for men...
3. Otome games. Yes, I know some would protest this, but it is really obvious, when you play them. First, almost all otome game protagonists are easily-dominated wilting lilies or women who become so the second they meet a strong, handsome man. Second, even those that aren't spend a ridiculous amount of time being 'rescued' by men (Damsel-in-Distress Syndrome). Third... exactly how many otome games do you see that appeal to women who prefer to be dominant, in general?
There are any number of such themes, archetypes, and concepts that demonstrate this little reality, but it is something you should probably keep in mind when you think you are going a bit over the edge playing moege, thinking real women might be like those on the screen. Remember that while some women really do fill the archetypes, they are exceptions, not the rule. At the same time, assuming that they should fulfill those roles/archetypes is one habit we probably shouldn't import from Japanese otakus, despite our taste in games, lol.
A few thoughts on the plot, so far. I've reached the sixth chapter (there are a total of seven), and one thing I've noticed is that this story basically follows the 'theory' of jrpg plot development to the letter (well, the cannibalism, rape, and general horrors are a bit beyond the pale of what is normal, lol). Basically, they give you a world that is somehow 'odd' or feels 'wrong' but is nonetheless more or less peaceful... then they give you the seeds of strife.
As a matter of course, I've been able to read this story's future in general almost since the beginning, to a ridiculous extent. This is born of having played every jrpg that came out for the NES, SNES, Playstation, and Playstation 2... (basically, everything from the 'golden age'). This story is ultimately a jrpg story, told using some VN techniques. Of course, the protagonist being a natural philanderer (though not a forceful one) made the VN into a frequently hilarious experience... at the cost of frequently weakening the more serious elements of the story. This is Alice Soft's bad habit coming out to play once again... rather than using comic relief as a tool to occasionally lighten a more serious mood, Alice Soft tends to use it to utterly shatter even the most serious of atmospheres, which is the main reason I've never come out of a game by this company feeling satisfied.
I don't have much hope that this VN will escape the Alice Soft jinx, but I plan to finish it, nonetheless.
Yes, I said my next post would be the end of this game, but the game is surprisingly long... especially considering the obscenely high encounter rate on the world map and the fact that if you don't keep your levels up (level 10 at least at the end of chapter 1, 20 at the end of 2, etc) you really are screwed. If nothing else, you won't be able to keep ahead of the regenerative abilities each chapter's main boss (except 1's) seems to possess.
The reason for this? Primarily it is the cost of healing items and the dearth of good healing skills. Lieschu's magic healing skills can only be used once per battle and require a huge BP charge before you can use them, and Cass's healing skill also has relatively high requirements in that area. Healing items actually increase in cost every time you buy them, depending on how many of them you have, which makes flexible use of healing impossible. This pretty much eliminates any strategy other than 'hit as hard and as fast as possible' when fighting bosses.
The upside is that if you do overlevel, it is pretty rare for you to die on the story bosses and getting through normal battles is much easier.
I realize that they were trying to create a balanced system by limiting healing in this way, but in doing so they eliminated most of what makes turn-based rpg battles enjoyable, which is strategizing for survival. Not to mention that since you can't heal yourself along the way, it isn't uncommon to get really low on hp before you even reach a boss, if you aren't careful.
In other words, the substituted tedium for thinking, a common mistake many 'new' jrpgs tend to make...
Ok, this is the first part of my words on Evenicle, which will be the last VN I play from April's releases. I am only playing this one because it was specifically requested by several people, and to be honest, I wasn't really looking forward to it. I am not a fan of the Rance series or Alice Soft in general, because their VNs' plots just aren't that interesting, generally. The ratio of goofy to serious is generally too slanted in the goofy direction, so I tend to get bored about halfway through. Not to mention that most of their games' actual plots are so awfully written that they might as well not exist at all.
That said, as a game - so far - Evenicle is actually fairly enjoyable, for what it is. Asta, the protagonist, is - like almost all Alice Soft protagonists - a harem-maker and a sex-fiend, but fortunately, he isn't a Rance-type, which was a relief for me - since I loathe Rance. Story-wise... the setting is interesting and what is going on in general has possibilities, but I hate that they use so much obvious foreshadowing... especially in the naming of certain areas (El Quixote, lol).
I'm at the end of Chapter 3, and one thing I'm finding is that the actual difficulty level of everyday battles is just a bit too uneven. There are way too many points where the difficulty spikes low or high, where it doesn't really make sense for it to do so... and that's just regular fights. Boss fights tend to be anticlimactic, with the exception of one fight at the end of Chapter 2 - so far.
The way you gain skills is a bit irritating as well. It seems like you randomly get skills for the various characters at the end of battles - regardless of levels - and out of chests, of all things. I've never been fond of games that add useless or annoying gimmicks onto what is - in the end - a regular jrpg-style game outside of story segments. However, I more or less expected this kind of thing, because Alice Soft is almost as bad as Idea Factory about the gimmicks issue...
Well, that's it for now, look forward to my final review after I've completed the game.
Aah... to be honest, this VN is really nostalgic. After about an hour, I felt like I'd begun an old-style love-comedy anime, full of whacky antics and blushing girls who pretend they don't - or don't realize - they all like the same guy... I only played three of the routes - mostly because it is a straight-out love-comedy with no real story at all. However, I can say that this VN has a few major attractions for someone looking for something light to play.
1. It really is just one big laugh-spree. It is comedic twist after comedic twist, with almost everything being an excuse for a joke.
2. The heroines actually aren't template (ohmygod!)... well, I'd say that at the very least the Jinguu girls aren't.
3. This game's atmosphere in general is a reminder of what old-style otaku love-comedies were like. For those who want to indulge in nostalgia, it is a good choice.
