Clephas
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Blog Comments posted by Clephas
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Guardian Place- For some reason, Skyfish doesn't seem to be capable of doing a good job with anything but its Soleil series.
Hitotsu Tobashi Ren'ai- A low-level charage that tried to get by on a theme rather than actual quality.
Hyakka Ryouran Elixir- This is one of AXL's 'medieval slice of life stories', and like all of them is mostly honobono (pleasant and easygoing) save for a few moments of drama spread throughout the game and concentrated in the heroine routes.
Love La Bride- A kusoge of a charage, not worth playing or even remembering.
Madou Koukaku- Easily my favorite non-IM Eushully game. It is a conquest strategy game with a good story and a wide range of characters.
Shoujo Shin'iki- Interesting story, poor world-building, typical Lass.
Unmei Yohou- This one is worth playing for the twisted relationships the protagonist has with his sister and the childhood friends. His choices early on in life messed things up quite nicely.
Tsuisou no Augment FD- A great story FD that adds a lot to the main game. If you liked the original, it is a good idea to play this.
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I named Lovesick Puppies for this month's VN of the month, for various reasons. It is a first-class charage that falls into a very rarified territory of charage that didn't make the mistakes a typical charage tends to make.
Himawari no Kyoukai is probably Makura's sole top-quality game. While it has the oddly archaic visual style of the company, it manages to tell a better story than any of their other games.
Mirai Sekai no Planeta had oodles of potential but never really went anywhere with it.
Ryuusei Kiseki has long been on my recommended list for charage fans.
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Everyone already knows what I think of Hapymaher and Komorebi no Nostalgica, the former of which is my VN of the Year for 2013 and the latter of which is the VN that was a hair away from beating it. So, I'll focus on the others. I also re-reviewed Bokuten last year, so I won't bother going back over it.
Inpyuri- Inpyuri is a game that will probably surprise 90% of people who play it. I say this because, while it seems like a moege (Agobarrier style) on the surface, it actually has a solid story and a well-constructed setting. There are very few VNs where a single line made an impact that never quite left me, but this was one of them.
Pastel Chime 3 is actually an average quality rpg, a miracle from a company like Alice Soft, the guys who usually trip themselves up with stupid gimmicks and experimental mechanics. The story isn't half-bad either... but it also isn't a game I'd go out of my way to play.
Prism Recollection is a game by Clochette, and all Clochette games have a few things in common. Oppai, deredere imouto heroines, and surprisingly good plot and setting. This game is worth playing (I've done so three times) for a much larger audience than you'd think.
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16 minutes ago, Plastic Memories said:
no Baldr Sky >????
no Sengoku Rance > ??????????
no Muv Luv Alternative > ?????????????????????????????
1/10 reviewBaldr Sky maybe, but definitely not anything Rance or Muv Luv.
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3 hours ago, ChaosRaven said:That's certainly another interesting VN, but from Minato Carnival and not Minato Soft.
It is done in generally the same style and based in the same region as Tsujidou.
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8 hours ago, ChaosRaven said:
It looks pretty cool. Actually, it seems to be the first big new title from Minato Soft after Majikoi, which is quite some time. They just released a million Majikoi fan discs since then, except for this Shoujo-tachi thingy.
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Witch's Garden- This VN is one I've been meaning to go back and replay. It is a solid fantasy SOL plotge with a bunch of gimmicks thrown into the system and high production values, even by today's standards.
Aete Mushi Suru, Kimi to no Mirai- This is, for the most part, a solid charage. It does, however, get more serious in the heroine paths at times, and it is a high-quality game overall.
Himitsu no Otome- A really weak, low-quality trap protagonist charage.
Kono Sekai no Mukou- This is a low-budget but high quality nakige. It is by the makers of Sakura Nikagetsu and has a similar sense of humor, though it is more focused on the emotional aspects from the beginning.
The Koi no Canvas FD's writing is somewhat lower quality than the main game, but the after-stories do add something for people who wanted more of the characters after the game was over.
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Anata no Koto o Suki to Iwasete is a pretty good charage with a pretty good protagonist. It might not be VN of the Month material, but it is more than good enough for the average charage lover.
Chuuning Lover is an excellent comedy charage with a cast of chuunibyou heroines. Honestly, for comedy, this was the best VN of the year.
LoS is a hit and miss company, and Hanairo Heptagram was definitely one of the misses.
Koi Iro Marriage is a borderline nukige with a solid cast of characters and a decent story about a guy being forced to marry for the sake of his family's business.
Ryuusei no Arcadia is something that looks interesting but has no substance.
Shukufuku no Kane is one of the more memorable games from this month, an ojousama-ge with a solid story and a decent protagonist. It is something of a variation on the Noble Works theme, save that he protagonist, while he begins dirt poor, is related to a wealthy grandfather who essentially forcibly adopts him to cover his father's debts.
Tsuki ni Yorisou, Otome no Sahou is easily one of the most famous VNs from this particular year. It is one of Navel's biggest success stories and the source of one of their most popular series. The Luna path alone would have made this a first-class game with a solid (if trap) protagonist and an excellent set of heroines (even if Minato should have been a side-character).
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Months like this remind me of just how obsessive I was back then. I played ten frigging games from this month at the time, and I really thought nothing of using every scrap of my free time to do so. What insanity...
Tsuisou no Augment is about as unique as a VN can get. It is immensely humorous, has a dark and interesting plot, and it manages to be a great deal more than what it appears on the surface. I recommend it for people who want something eccentric and unusual to play.
Mon o Mamoru Shigoto is one of many kusoge made by Softhouse Chara since their initial successes with Black Bunny and Ouzoku. Believe me, it isn't worth playing.
Pure Girl is a somewhat creepy sex-heavy VN that has absolutely nothing to do with its title.
Re:Birth Colony is an excellent post-apocalyptic sci-fi based in an arcology that has fallen into a pattern of near-feudalism with the aristocrats and upper middle class (there are no other middle class) living lives about as good or better than now, and the majority of the population living under their boot and the control of the crime bosses of the outer layers. It is an excellent setting with an interesting protagonist, as well as being the direct sequel to Fake Azure Arcology.
Ryuuyoku no Melodia is from the time when Whirlpool was at its height, shooting out high quality game after high quality game, so it should be no surprise that I have nothing but good to say about this fantasy SOL story.
Sinclient is a lot of things... but what it primarily is is a mix of spy story and Iluminati-style conspiracy theory mongering. It's interesting to read once but impossible to really enjoy a second time.
Tsujidou-san no Jun'ai Road is already famous/infamous, so whatever I say about it should be taken relative to the reception from the community at large. For fans of Majikoi, it is a decent choice, coming from the same company. However, it is quite a bit less well-paced, and the protagonist is significantly less capable/interesting.
Tsukumo no Kanade is a third-rate chuunige, suffering - oddly enough - from horrible visuals with a few exceptions. Yes, the concept of fighting with tsukumogami as weapons is interesting, but it definitely needed more budget. I'm not saying it doesn't have its high points - all chuunige have some of those - but it doesn't make up for a significant amount of flaws.
Yasashii Mahou no Tonaekata... yeah, this is a charage that could have been good. Unfortunately, it never really hit any high notes, even for a charage.
Zero Infinity is a tribute to and partial imitation of Dies Irae. I don't say this to be an asshole. It is a good game in and of itself, but it channels Dies Irae far more than later works by Light's second team, and it does it in such an obvious way that it is hard to make excuses for them. The only real advantage that Zero Infinity has going for it in comparison to Dies Irae is that the protagonist is less whiney (and generally more cool-headed) than Ren and Eliza is a surprisingly great secondary heroine.
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Sakura, Sakimashita is one of the best nakige out there. It is based in a future where freedom from age has become a right due to the invention of a cheap procedure that makes it possible, making people 'tokoshie' which essentially means 'Eternal'. Unfortunately, it is at this time that an asteroid big enough to destroy the planet is seen headed Earth's way... Generally speaking, this game is heavily focused on the trials and tribulations of a young immortal in a world that looks like it is about to die.
Naka no Hito Nado Inai is a game by Alcot based in the same universe as Osadai. It is pretty hilarious and enjoyable to play for those who want more games like Osadai.
Tokyo Babel was Higashide Yuuichirou's last chuunige, an all-ages game that eventually got a localization to English. I will say that I find it an immensely enjoyable - if less humorous than Evolimit - game to play with good battle scenes an a great plot. However, it is also the Higashide game that gets the most booing from fanboys, for various reasons.
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Furuiro Meikyuu Rondo is a mild horror/time loop mindfuck mystery game that was moderately popular at the time and forgotten in favor of more polished works later. That isn't to say it isn't enjoyable, but it lacks the polish of stuff like Zero Escape.
Owaru Sekai to Birthday is one of two games by Cotton Soft notable for their extreme high quality and mindfucks. The other is Futagoza no Paradox, which came a year later. I enjoyed both games, needless to say, but then again, I enjoyed mindfucks quite a bit more back then.
Sousei Kitan Aerial feels like if you merged Eva with Muv-Luv Alternative. No kidding. The results can be off-putting for some, enjoyable for others. My personal opinion is that it is a low-medium quality game of the type that could have been made significantly better just by switching the protagonist out for someone more interesting.
Everyone knows I love Tiny Dungeon. However, Tiny Dungeon Brave or Slave is the closer for the main series, the game that brings it all together into one awesome episode of Hime being badass and the heroines getting even more so. On the other hand, the ending is the whole reason why Endless Dungeon was released (Agobarrier apparently got overruled when he wanted the ending to be a pure harem ending, then got his way later due to fan pushback over making you choose a single one, lol).
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1/2 Summer is notable as being one of the better nakige of 2010-2013. The story is interesting in and of itself, but in combination with the feels, it was a memorable experience.
Colorful Cure was a kusoge, even for a mahou shoujo game.
Dolphin Divers is a good AXL SOL game about a marine rescue team in training.
Erect is notable for being the rare charage/nukige crossover that is actually good to play from either point of view. The protagonist is a florist and the heroines are all succubi.
Fortissimo Nachsten Phase was the version of Fortissimo that finally brought multiple paths and endings into the mix, instead of just forcing you to go with Sakura. As a result, is a much better and more complete experience.
Gurenka is a chuunige I'm quite fond of, even now. It is middle of the road for quality in chuunige, but I always liked the setting and non-human heroines.
Namima no Kuni no Faust... would probably go across well for people who loved Sharin no Kuni's setting. The island on which the story takes place is a capitalist dystopia of the purest sort, where entire generations have grown up disconnected from the rest of the world while being educated in the harshest and most inhuman values likely to be created by unrestrained capitalism (think debt slavery and betrayal of your own family and friends being a matter of course).
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Fortuna Rhapsody is a poor-quality fantasy charage that is hardly even worth mentioning.
Kamigakari Cross Heart is one of Windmill's best games, along with HHG. I can recommend it to fans of Suzukaze no Melt.
Koiimo... is a pretty mediocre imouto-ge. It isn't a nukige (unlike most imouto-ge), but despite the lack of endless imouto sex, it doesn't manage to be memorable.
Shiawase Kazoku-Bu is by Purple Soft, post-Mirai Nostalgia. Do I need to say anything else?
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For me it is 1) Evolimit 2) Chrono Belt 3) Tokyo Babel 4) Bullet Butlers 5) Ayakashibito
I generally consider anything by Shumon Yuu to be unranked/SSS ranked (lol), so putting Asairo in there would be unfair to the rest. I put Chrono Belt so high because, though it was dependent on the original stories, its actual quality was above either. Typically, Higashide's antagonists are as or more interesting than his protags, after all.
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This is a rather huge month... lots of middle to high quality releases, with a bunch of duds on the side.
AngelGuard is one of a number of meh bodyguard-focused VNs that came out around this time, most of them seeming to ape Akagoei or Shugotate to one degree or another. Nothing to really say about it, since it didn't meet my standards then and doesn't now.
Grand Libra Academy is a game that could have been good... if they'd decided precisely where to go with it beforehand. This game can't decide whether it is a nukige or a charage.... and not in a good way, like Erect! was.
Harumade, Kururu is a classic. I say this because for mindfucks, this game and the series it started are generally the ones most often pointed at by mindfuck fanboys.
Hyouka no Mau Sora ni is the only kusoge ever made by Rosebleu. The less said the better.
Kouyoku no Soleil is probably the most 'obvious' of all the Soleil games. The protagonist is straightforward and what is going on is never really concealed to any significant degree. The only thing that I should mention is that there is a cameo from Primary (by the same company) in the story.
Monobeno should never have happened. Yes, the story is fascinating... but there should never have been ero involved in this story. Frigging lolige freaks *vomits*
Ore no Kanojo no Uraomote is a 'themed' moege, a type of moege that was more common at the beginning of the century, when less was expected of a writer when it came to characterization and storytelling. As such, this game is not really much to look at.
Soukoku no Arterial is one of Eushully's better games not based in Dir Lifyna. It has a solid cast of characters, an excellent story, and a workable card battle system (since no card battle system ever gets any better than workable).
Venus Blood Frontier is the second best VB game. I put it several steps behind Hypno in quality, but that shouldn't detract from how excellent it is, nonetheless. It has a solid story (except the endrun, which all VB games except Hypno screw up on) and decent gameplay (really, like all VB games, it is all about preparations).
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Dracu-Riot holds an odd place in my heart, being Yuzusoft's best VN overall, with the addition of me helping with the final translation. While I find the nerfed vampires in this story a bit absurd, I liked the setting in general otherwise. The protagonist is one of the better ones Yuzusoft has made, and the story is excellent, the writing about as good as it gets outside of a plotge specialist's work.
Otome ga Tsumugu Koi no Canvas is easily one of the best charage ever made. I don't say this lightly, having played literally hundreds of charage over the years. It is also the single best game Ensemble has ever produced, with a massive gap between this one and Ojomasu and the rest of their games. That the protagonist is a trap will put some of you off, but I still recommend this to you anyway.
Princess-Style is a mediocre charage made as Meteor's last work. I can't really say that much good about it, as all of its elements fall just short of being acceptable.
&... is Akatsuki Works most oddball game, a less dark and lonely version of Ruitomo, when it comes down to it. That's why it has mostly been forgotten by fanboys, despite it being a halfway decent game. However, it does channel too much of Ruitomo, making it impossible not to compare the two.
Strawberry Feels is probably the game 90% of you will overlook from this month... which would be a massive mistake. While Koi no Canvas and Dracu-Riot both linger at the top of all VNs in my opinion, Strawberry Feels is one of the hidden gems I started VN of the Month to find. It has a first-class story, excellent characters, and an interesting setting that, while it doesn't necessary do a whole lot that is unique in and of itself, nonetheless manages to make it feel unique.
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Grisaia no Meikyuu I believe everyone is familiar with, so I won't bother with comments.
Hatsuyuki Sakura might be controversial (some people love it, some people hate it), but it was the game that put Saga Planets on the map.
Kaminoyu is a monster girl VN focusing mostly around Japanese youkai and deities. It is pretty enjoyable, especially if you are familiar with Caramel Box's style from the early part of this century.
Shinigami no Testament is considered, at least by some, to be the best of 3rdEye's games (others say Sorcery Jokers), and it does have an interesting story. It suffers from abuse of the ladder-style storytelling and the fact that not every heroine is treated equally or well (not to mention that the true ending is a bit frustrating/bitter).
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Majikoi S is probably one of the best sequel/fandiscs ever, presenting you with a massive new plotline, a bunch of new heroines (with full paths) and a girl from the previous game that was moderately interesting becoming a heroine as well. It also leads into the A games that came later, a lot of them coming off the Kuki path (making them fairly awesome as a whole).
Bunny Black 2 was the last good Bunny Black game... for the values of good that apply to the series. 3 was unbelievably tedious even in comparison to 1, but 2 is actually decent, if you've played the first game, anyway.
Gaku Ou is LoS's attempt to make a weird science fantasy charage. It comes across more than a little incoherent at times, but it is enjoyable nonetheless. I don't consider this to be among the abominable games that LoS produces with such regularity.
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My choice for this month would be Manatsu no Yoru no Yuki Monogatari. It is a modern-style nakige (post-Key) with a solid cast of heroines. It's rare for me to pick a moe-based game over something more serious, but this game was worth it.
Kikouyoku Senki Gin no Toki no Corona... basically a better game in the world of Yumina. I liked the dragon girl a great deal more than I ever liked any of the girls from Yumina, and the story as a whole was just more enjoyable.
Appare Tenka Gomen is a seriously weird game. It is very much a BaseSon game, in that it mixes heavy-handed moe with more serious themes, but it gets away from BaseSon's usual schtick by being like a jidaigeki on a modern artificial island. Tons of heroines, lots of moe, and lots of chanbara.
Koisuru Koto to Mitsuketari is a game that shouldn't exist. It has a classic anime/manga concept, deredere heroines, and abominable presentation.
Hotel. is an utsuge. I'll say that up front. The story is about a Hotel (obviously) serving as the center for a settlement of survivors in a post-apocalyptic world, even as that world dies. This is not a story of hope but rather a story of people trying to make the best of life in a world where life appears to be doomed, but it has a surprisingly gentle atmosphere, despite that. Also, a lot of the oddities in perspective are explained in the true epilogue.
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Hare Tokidoki Otenkiame is a somewhat half-assed attempt to resurrect the miracle of Moshimo Ashita ga Harenaraba which is based in the same setting. I like games with mimikko girls, so you can probably tell how much it pains me to hate on this game, but it really isn't worth playing.
Ima mo Itsuka mo Faluna Luna is a game I assess to be somewhat higher than the rating I gave it in terms of quality (I was in one of my charage overdose pits at the time). It is a pretty decent to high-quality (depending on the heroine path) fantasy charage with a reasonably enjoyable concept/story. The protag is nothing to write home about though.
Legend Seven... is for people who like the burning type moe in their VNs and anime. It is hot-blooded everything, whether it is conversation or action, everything is hot-blooded and extreme. Decently fun to read, but afterward you never want to read it again.
Shunki Gentei Poco a Poco is actually a pretty good game I played later on because I loved one of the other VNs based in the same setting, Hatsugamai. I find it amusing that Alcot's mid-priced games are actually better than charage by other companies, and this is one that proves that particular rule true.
Strawberry Nauts is Hook Soft's single best game, ever. I'm not kidding. Nothing they've made before or since has come close. That said, it is Hook Soft and sugary sweet moe and SOL is the name of the game, even if the characters are better than in all their other games and the heroine paths are actually almost interesting.
Yurikago yori Tenshi made is an old favorite of mine. It is probably the ideal gakuen battle chuunige, the pinnacle of that particular sub-genre before it vanished forever. The protagonist is an angsty unreliable narrator who is constantly abused by several of the main characters but has a ruthless streak a mile wide. He is quite capable of murdering someone he likes simply because someone more important to him needs him to and not feeling anything resembling guilt afterward, but he is also capable of loving with single-minded fervor. Generally speaking, this game is just... fun for chuunige.
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I agree that Izuna Zanshinken is the best game from this month, but there are more games of note than just Midori no Umi and Kilometer.
MasterXRe:Master is a mediocre chuunige focused on Faustian deals and gakuen battle themes. The main heroine of this game is an airheaded ditz obsessed with demon summoning who manages to get hold of Mephisto... and promptly sells her soul to him for power. While that might seem like a fascinating theme, too much of the game is spent in pointless SOL and wasted scenes, with combat only really taking the center stage in the heroine paths.
Midori no Umi is excellent psychological horror and the game that put Cabbit on the map. I won't say it is a kamige, but if you like settings where things seem ok on the surface and are horrific below it, its a good choice.
Zerokiro (Kilometer) is essentially your standard-issue charage, of which hundreds have been produced since and are still being produced - albeit in reduced numbers - today. I dropped the VN halfway through out of boredom, due to how mundane it was.
Shinsei ni Shite Okasubekerazu is one of the more... eccentric charage out there. It would have been GOTM material at the time, if better stuff hadn't released at the same time, lol.
How Kvan failed to mention Walkure Romanze escapes me... if you want to see the prototype (which did everything better) to Aokana, Walkure Romanze is your option. This game took the 'washout combat sports player protagonist teaching newbies the ropes' gig and did something excellent with it. Not only that, the protagonist isn't sidelined in any of the paths, so you don't get that feeling of fadeout that drove me crazy with Aokana.
Last of all, the best release of the month, Izuna Zanshinken. While this game has its issues, it is probably the best splatter-violence focused chuunige I've ever encountered. The protagonist is a ninja/vigilante in the service of a very old-style yakuza family... that sentence alone should make any chuunige reader want to play it.
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This was an unusually crowded week, with multiple high-quality releases and a lot of games worthy of playing multiple times.
Kajiri Kamui Kagura- The erstwhile sequel to Marie's path in Dies Irae (Rea is canon). This is perhaps the most revealing of the games about the nature of the Shinzabanshou universe and comes with a unique visual style that goes along with the false era it projects (early Edo Japan). To people who haven't played Dies Irae, 80% of this game will be lost on you. To a lesser extent, reading Paradise Lost adds to the experience as well. I will say that this game is extremely hard to read due to numerous linguistic issues (turns of phrase from various - mixed - eras of Japanese history, archaic linguistics, use of ritual language, etc). I'd put this as the single hardest VN to read in Japanese, with Bradyon Veda being just behind. That said, it is the game I consider to be the last Masada masterpiece (Kaziklu Bey being a side-story), as his later works were mostly derivative or of lesser quality.
Mirai Nostalgia- Purple Soft's first true nakige. This was the game that first hinted at what Purple Soft was capable of, and it is based in the same universe as Seishun Fragile (so far, there are two major timelines in Purple soft games... this one and the one containing Amatsutsumi, Chrono Clock and Aoi Tori). This game is truly excellent, though it lacks some of the refinement of later games by this company.
Otomimi Infinity- This is one of three games I recommend to people who want a solid game with animal-ear heroines. It has a decent story, good comedy, and an interesting setting (and heroines). If you like girls with animal-ears (like the protagonist does), this is an excellent choice to play.
Shion no Ketsuzoku- This game had good potential, but it was unfortunately crippled by the haphazard and slapdash inclusion of too many varied elements into the setting (the protagonist in particular). The protagonist being a vampire, a messiah, and a philanderer all at the same time made creating an actual plot impossible.
Yuyukana- Like all the games in the series (Alia's Carnival, Haruoto, and Shirokoi) this game has a lot of elements I like... and it somehow comes together in a way that feels mundane and disinteresting. Seriously, I've never fallen asleep in the middle of playing a VN as often as I have for this series. This is despite it having some interesting fantasy elements and decent heroines.
Koikishi- Actually an excellent game with a decent protagonist, good heroines, and excellent heroine paths. It does have frustrating aspects (seriously, using blunt swords as instruments of law enforcement?), but overall it is a fun read with great characters (and a great incest path).
Kotowari- Going to be straight with you... I have seriously mixed feelings on this game. The biggest reason is the seriously crappy approach they had to using sprites. The story, in itself, is good to great depending on which path you are talking about. However, I got serious headaches with how they handled the sprites.
Lunaris Filia- for some reason, despite this being one of Whirlpool's best games, it is also one of its most forgotten ones. This is a vampire plotge focused on a protagonist who ends up surrounded by vampiric beauties that want him to be with them forever (and two vanilla heroines). Despite how that sounds like just your standard harem protagonist, it is actually a pretty interesting setup, and I seriously enjoyed playing it from beginning to end, both times.
Venus Blood Abyss- My least favorite VB game. It is a dungeon-defense plus breeding simulation VN that introduced me to the side of VB I liked least (I hate the mechanics of the breeding sim VB games). Story is decent to meh, protagonist is an incubus who is moderately impressive but has an unhealthy fascination with breeding girls using tentacles.
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To me, this month is a competition between Tiny Dungeon 2, Tenshi no Hane o Fumanaide and Irotoridori.
Tiny Dungeon 2 is my favorite of the first three entries of the series, for various reasons (well, mostly Hime being badass and Fon being awesome).
Tenshi no Hane o Fumanaide is Shumon Yuu, which should make it the game to play for any sensible person. It really is about as good as it gets in terms of quality, even stepping onto the level of a kamige.
Irotoridori no Sekai is... the game that turned Favorite from a curiosity to a dominant nakige company. Some people will argue that it was Hoshimemo that did this for Favorite, but Irotoridori is far more likely to be referred to by fanboys in general.
Ikinari Anata ni Koishiteiru is a mediocre game that tries and fails to bridge about a half-dozen genres with its eccentric cast of characters but falls on its face (at least partly due to the protagonist being too bland).
Kimi ni Aogi Otome wa Hime ni is another mediocre game from this month... sadly my memories of it are blurred by time, but I do remember being unsatisfied with it, in the end.
Princess Evangile is translated, so most will be familiar with it... but I'll just say that I never understood why this got a localization when it did. If I was going to pick a VN from this year to localize in 2015, when VN localizations were on the verge of beginning to release at a rapid pace, it wouldn't have been this one, considering how mediocre it is.
Shikigami is a kusoge of a conquest strategy-rpg based in an alternate history of the pre-Genji era of Japan, when Onmyouji were supposedly in charge of everything. As a concept for a game, it wasn't horrible, but the actual execution was abominable.
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Doushite Daite Kurenai no is a comedic VN of mediocre quality. The concept is a guy gaining the ability to make girls fall in love with him, but if he has H with them, they forget him.
Diamic Days is one of LoS's many mediocre games, not really worth mentioning.
VN of the Month May 2013 - Grisaia no Rakuen
in Vndbreview
A blog by kivandopulus in General
Posted
As he said, it is hard to overshadow the conclusion to the Grisaia main series, but there are a number of excellent games that came out this month that he probably wasn't aware of.
Ojousama wa Gokigen Naname- This is a game I greatly and dramatically underestimated at the time and was Ensemble's last truly good game. Despite its appearance, this game is neither a charage nor a moege. It is a strong plotge focusing on the kind of dirty dealings and multi-layered crazy emotional reactions that you'd normally see in a soap opera.
Chusingura- I'm pretty sure everyone knows this one, even though the translation sucked. Thankfully, I played it without a translation and it was good, even despite the whiny Re:Zero type protagonist.
End Sleep- This one is a decent horror VN based in the traditional setting (an isolated western mansion, lol) with some pretty horrifying killings, regardless of the path. Ironically, my favorite path turned out to be the one that you'd least expect.
Jesus 13th- A decent chuunige (sorry, doesn't go beyond decent) with ties to the Cthulhu Mythos. It has its high moments, but the fact that I never replayed it should tell you everything you need to know.
Love of Ren'ai Koutei- This game is a straight out kusoge. It had potential, but it tried to mimic aspects of Majikoi without managing to bring them to life.
Magical Charming- One of the many duds put out by LoS when they try to get 'creative'. I dropped this one a third of the way through because I couldn't stand it anymore.
Reminiscence- The erstwhile sequel to the Akagoei series, based several centuries later in two connected arcologies, Hope Town and Dream Town. The protagonist of the story is a forcefully-retired negotiator turned teacher who gets forced to return to his old dream profession. For fans of Akagoei, the storytelling will be extremely familiar, but it needs to be said that it is a different game with (mostly) different characters. For people who just want to know what the best path is, Aki's path is the single best imouto path I've ever encountered in a VN.
Tsukiakari Lunch- I can guarantee that 90% of the people looking at this month will have discounted this game.