Clephas
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Blog Comments posted by Clephas
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46 minutes ago, granit said:That's interesting because I keep hearing everywhere how VNs are getting worse and worse in terms of quality each year.
(Same with anime. )
That's not total BS... with anime in particular that feels like it is the case. Maybe two or three really interesting anime per season, plus a tendency to leave series incomplete. With VNs, there is a huge variance from year to year. 2014 was a good year but 2015 was an awful year. 2016 was a great year. While there is a general decline in quality amongst charage in VNs (the most common type of VN other than nukige), there just happened to be a good number of first-class releases throughout the year.
Also, a lot of the companies that helped make VNs into a popular medium in the first place have gone under in recent years... or have lost key personnel. Right now, companies are trying to excavate or raise new writing and art staff. As an example, Propeller's popular writer retired from VNs after Tokyo Babel. The writer of the Tiny Dungeon series died. A number of other major names also retired or went on to do other things. As a result, the number of companies producing first class VNs fell dramatically, particularly in 2015.
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6 hours ago, Kiriririri said:
That's almost standard practice to me.... what really bothered me was the way they
Spoilerwhined about how much trouble was waiting for the protagonist and his girlfriends and never bothered to make it materialize. I was looking forward to confrontations with the town's conservatives in the other heroine paths.... what a waste.
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8 hours ago, Palas said:
How do you even get to appreciate a soundtrack if you read in the speed of light? I always wanted to ask this but never had the opportunity
The soundtrack plays while you play the game. I don't read at the speed of light. I just read as fast as the voice-acting and my own reading allow, though I do skip h-scenes.
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Anything with an 8 or above is good, if it isn't an action type. I tend to rate more harshly with chuunige than I do with other types. The ones I really like, I rank highly, but the ones I'm not satisfied with tend to fall into the 6-7.5 range. Any charage that gets below an 8 you should avoid, since they are crap. I rarely rate below 7 on commercial VNs, because most of them reach a certain level by default. An 8 means the VN is potential VN of the Month material, meaning it meets the basic 'acceptable level of quality' to be considered, even if it isn't chosen. A lot of this is that I didn't want my dislike of charage/moege coloring the ratings on vndb too much, so I start most games with a default of 4 and add points for good stuff in them. Games have to be truly terrible for me to rate below a 4, lol.
2 minutes ago, Valduran said:Well then.
But yeah, it's nice that you've already voted on practically everything that might be interesting to me, gives me a more firm idea on stories that aren't really getting proper ratings due to lack of western audience. -
21 minutes ago, Valduran said:
Yep, for sure. But alas it's gonna be a (long) while. My backlog is absurdly huge on account of only just having developed my reading ability to the level of Native-Language VNs--also saving Light for later since they are the company I am looking forward to most. I haven't even read Dies Irae yet, sadly. We'll see whether or not I even get to it before the localization is released. That'll be an interesting race lol.
...I wonder how long its going to take me to catch up to how much you've read for that matter.
You've cited the number you've read as somewhere around 600 I believe, and while I probably plan to skip many of the charage and more slice-of-life romance stuff that you've read over the years I'm sure that still leaves me with a fair few hundred to go on. ^^
At any rate, your blog is adding titles to my backlog faster than I can read them atm lol. But in a way that's a good thing.Also, that doesn't count the replays or the nukige, lol.
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27 minutes ago, Valduran said:
That's what I like to hear lol. The "immersion high" (and the unfortunate period of coming down off it) is an experience that is truly unique to VNs, and the best sign of a great one imo .
Definitely looking forward to reading it for myself.Remember to play Vendetta first... without that, you won't know the 'why?' of what is going on.
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5 hours ago, RedK said:> It again turned into a Ctrl-pressing fest for the ichaicha parts.
For what reason
Yuzusoft's bad habit is the inclusion of repetitive ichaicha (multiple dates where one would do, multiple h-scenes where one would do, etc). I actually don't think Senren was that bad as Yuzusoft games go, at least when you compare it to the two thousand lines of h-scenes in some of their games, lol.
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1 hour ago, Darklord Rooke said:
There's a reason why writers are advised NOT to be PC. It limits their ability to describe, and it limits their ability to tell and describe truths. There's lines I draw, and I refuse in any way to be limited in my language because people aren't happy with certain words. It's like when people frown at you for swearing, it's offensive to some people but it didn't stop anybody from actually saying them.
I agree with this... it is fine to avoid hurting someone's feelings within sane limits, but forced over-sensitivity causes resentment - and at times - conscious prejudice (as opposed to subconscious prejudice) in people who are otherwise easygoing and open-hearted. While I'm fine with avoiding subjects that are likely to offend a single group while speaking, I honestly don't think I should have to avoid that kind of thing while writing fiction or making a point in an essay.
I've seen more than one relationship sour when one side insisted on the other being over-conscious of certain verbal limits. In addition, there is a big difference between actual prejudice and using language one side considers prejudicial. I'm fat and balding, and that in itself has lost me clients in the past, despite my proven skill level. That is prejudice that is built into society. However, I'm not about to take offense when someone says 'man that is one big fat airplane' or some kind of casual statement like that.
I have psychological problems, but it doesn't bother me when someone describes the plot of a movie as 'crazy' or 'insane'.
In other words, being bothered by words not directed at you intentionally that are built into language and into literary styles is a waste of time and energy better spent elsewhere. It's like complaining about the needle pricking your finger when someone is stabbing you repeatedly in the gut. You are missing the point entirely.
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3 hours ago, Yukiru said:
Hmm? How does this work? I mean, is it so bad it's sad or is it so sad it's bad? How is this not an utsuge?
lol... this game isn't horrible... but I felt the endings were done horribly/were of extremely poor quality compared to the main story... even worse than charage endings, to be blunt about it. In addition, unless you are into that sort of thing, the deduction game breaks up the pace and is a bit irritating. Last of all, the sorrowful part is built into the game but it never reaches the intensity of an utsuge... it is just vaguely depressing through most of its length.
Edit: To be straight about it, it felt like being handed a watered-down beer (one part beer to nine parts water) when you asked for straight vodka...
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One thing I like about AXL characters is that only a very small minority of them are the type of 'directionless young people' that dominate most VNs... Everybody has their own views on life, their own desires, and - most of the time - their own dreams and aspirations. Only sub-characters (ones without sprites) tend to be without some kind of purpose in life.
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2 minutes ago, Dergonu said:
Hm, might as well give this a go. I did like the first game, though it wasn't anything amazing. The art was stunning and certain parts of the game was pretty badass, but other than that it bored be a bit at times. And if you ask me, I think the game was a bit tame during the "guro" scenes. (Most of it happened "off screen" in narration, and the really dark scenes were extremely short.)
Then again, as a fan of guro games I might have a pretty different opinion compared to most other people on that front, lol.
Anyways, I love dragons and knights and stuff, plus I am a bit interested in knowing what happens next with Roy, so I'll check it out at least.
Quick question
Is there an H-scene involving a dragon at any point in the game, kind of like with the giant in the first game?
Answer to your spoiler box:
No, but there is an indiscriminate nympho antagonist who has necro tendencies, as well as a cannibal antagonist. Generally speaking, the sexual elements in this one are mild, with only one non-consensual scene. The really brutal stuff is in the killing scenes. I especially like the dragon-slaying one, lol.
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Mmm... I'd suggest that you ask for a summary of what happened in the previous game, so you at least have an idea of what is driving Roy.
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7 hours ago, Nosebleed said:
I started reading it the other day and plan on finishing soon. I am amazed at how enjoyable it is.
It is not the type of game I'm usually into, but the pacing and the issues are really well done and I'm enjoying every minute of it.
Already cried, too.
Looking at the game objectively, I probably should have objected to some aspects of it... but it was just too emotional right from the beginning. As I said in the post, it is very 'bare bones', since they don't create the massive volume of side-scenes most VNs use for basic character development. In this case, that turned out to be a positive thing, since Nekopara's writer apparently has the skills to manage it. I guess it shouldn't be a surprise, considering how Strawberry Nauts was a massive hit in Japan.
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7 hours ago, Norleas said:
This game is in the grey area to me, though have his own qualities and much potential, the principal point, the emotional impact, don't hit me in nowhere. Some questions that appear and are not explained about the fantasy elements don't make anything positive, the whole background seems too weak to make a foundation in my opinion.
The structure is bad too, with rushed relations to give h-scenes in the epilogue and somethings that are resolved in the blink of a eye, if you don't need romance, don't make the mc go to a romantic relationship, make they solve the problems and go to a normal end or make a kinect novel and give more time to the building. The sadness that i was supposed to feel don't appear principally because i don't have much connection and relation with the characters and the game don't give me time to this.The romantic elements are mostly tacked on for the sake of tradition/for those who can't stand VNs without romance, from what I could tell. As for explaining the fantasy elements, this was closer to a fairy tale or surrealistic fantasy style, rather than a chuuni or high fantasy style, where the world mechanics are deep and complex. As an example of another VN that has similar aspects of deliberately vague fantasy elements, I can point to Tsubasa o Kudasai, where the mechanics of what was going on frequently made no sense or were deliberately left unresolved to avoid infodumping.
I've experienced a few other VNs of this type, where character development is a lot less important than the situation itself. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. There are some types of readers who absolutely have to have in-depth character development, and for people like that, a short kinetic novel (which this mostly amounts to) is almost never satisfying.
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36 minutes ago, Dergonu said:
I suppose it can work. Since we don't have anything of the sort here, I guess the idea just seem so strange from outside. I mean, I would never consider myself qualified to decide the fate of someone in court. That's not something a random otaku like me, who has absolutely no education in law or anything of the sort should be doing at all.
One of the problems when you leave things to a judge is that you are basically handing your fate over to the prosecutor. Since he has decided to bring you to trial, that means he has a reasonable chance of convicting you based solely on the facts - even if you didn't do it. While, in a murder case, a judge is unlikely to convict based solely on circumstantial evidence (unless it is truly damning, such as leaving the victim's house five minutes after they are estimated to have died), a judge is also unlikely to be swayed by arguments of emotional derangement or self-defense in most cases, being well-aware of the most minute elements of the law. Logically, the only time it actually really makes sense to do a judge trial from the defendant's point of view is if you are confident you can wriggle out of things based on a technicality or the minutiae of the law (usually white-collar crimes).
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5 hours ago, Dergonu said:
Lol yeah, it seems like a rather idiotic system.
It isn't so much idiotic as it is a result of both sides of the case acting for the sake of their constituents. In the case of the prosecutor, they want jurors more likely to go along with their case. In the case of the defense, they want jurors more likely to be sympathetic to their client. In the end, those who walk the center road of opinion are the most likely to remain, since extreme cases on both sides will almost always be excluded if both sides are competent. The system breaks down occasionally - incompetent defense lawyers, prosecutors deliberately choosing jury members likely to be prejudiced against the defendant - but in most cases, things work out fine.
Also, considering that they pay you only forty dollars a day for what can sometimes run to nine hour sessions, it makes sense to give jurors an out by acting crazy or prejudiced.
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11 hours ago, Dergonu said:
Can confirm.
Playing it now, and it's pretty great. Though, I personally want it to just cross that "extreme" line that Maggot Baits etc does... It feels like the game can't quite decide on whether it should just be pure evil, or if it should hold back a tad bit.
If you are going to make a guro game, you don't really need to hold back in my opinion, lol.
It gets a bit more extreme in general toward the end. One of those 'the happy moments enhance the evil' setups...
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7 hours ago, Guest anon said:
If you were to choose between this and Onigokko, what would be your choice?
That's actually a pretty hard choice... but I'd probably pick this one, when it came down to it. It fits my tastes more exactly, for one thing.
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31 minutes ago, ChaosRaven said:
Oh cool, I wasn't aware of that. Was a bit annoyed that my hardcopies were more or less made obsolete with the collector's edition, but if there's an official patch, it turns into a win for me.
I knew that it was the same writer, that's why I was asking. But I only read the original Akagoei, not the successor Tsumibukaki Shuumatsuron, so I've no clue about its endings. But if it's based on a bad ending, it probably has a more serious tone to it than the predecessor.
Anyway, I've planned Reminiscence for reading next year. No real plans for Tsumibukaki Shuumatsuron yet. Might pick it up afterwards maybe - will depend on my motivation and what else is available at that time.
I recommend that you go ahead and play Anzu's and Tae's routes in the Akagoei Fandisc, as well as Reika's and the teacher's routes in Tsumibukaki Shuumatsuron before you bother with Reminiscence...
VN of the Month January 2017
in Clephas' VN home
A blog by Clephas in General
Posted
mmm... I've seen some good signs, some not so good... With this kind of thing, I like to take the long view. I'm hoping a new generation of good writers will pop up before the last of the first two generations retire, lol.