This is yet another VN from Ensemble, the company specializing in trap protagonist infiltrations and ojousama-ge. For the first time in a while, the protagonist in this one is actually not a trap and the game actually has something approaching a good story... which was nice. However, if you ask if it met my expectations for it, that's another story entirely.
First, this VN starts with the protagonist, a part-time bodyguard from a family of such individuals, transferring into a school to secretly serve as additional security for Kuon, the daughter of the head of the powerful Hikami family. There he meets his osananajimi, Natsuki, who is Kuon's open bodyguard, Kuon's friend Erika, and the wise and somewhat playful senpai Miku. In addition, his brocon little sister Rikka transfers later on, unable to stand the idea of him being surrounded by other women, lol.
Anyway, the first thing I should say about the protagonist is that he is very close to the 'classic' protagonist type that plagues charages in most ways... he is sincere, kind-hearted, dense, and indiscriminately compassionate. However, he is also a trained bodyguard, with all the observational and martial arts skills that go along with that. Unfortunately, there are rarely few times in the VN where he actually acts as a bodyguard, because most of the VN is slice-of-life focused on reviving the Shuvesta tradition at the school, with him and Kuon at the center of it all, as the first Shuvesta pair.
Kuon... isn't exactly what you'd expect from an ojousama heroine. She's bright, enthusiastic, and 'sparkly' (her personality is extremely... bubbly). She is also highly intelligent, but she has a tendency to jump to conclusions that can drag those around her in her wake at times. I liked her as a character, and she is one of those rare heroines who actually makes ichaicha romance fun, if only for a brief time.
Erika is your average serious and straight-laced school president heroine, with the usual tendency to be a devoted and adoring lover that comes along with that type. To be straight, I thought that they could have done more to show off that side of her, since the best part of heroines like her is seeing the mask fall off completely as the story goes on. This is a rare case where I think they moved from lovers to the endgame a bit too quickly.
Miku is... a compassionate, playful, and mischievous older 'oneesan' type. Her type is less and less common in recent years, primarily because over 90% of VN heroines are of the same or lower age than the protagonist in non-nukige VNs (in nukige, really older women are making a comeback, for some reason). As a character, she was invaluable in and of herself, providing a powerful support in the other paths. In her own path... she's very aggressive. Very AGGRESSIVE (it needed to be said twice).
Natsuki is the protagonist's osananajimi and Kuon's personal bodyguard. She and the protagonist are reunited after ten years apart in this VN, and she is quite obviously dragging her puppy love for him behind her like a lead weight, though she covers it up with occasional tsundere-isms and excuses, lol. Her path was primarily interesting because it was the first one I played that actually dug into the protagonist's origins (I won't spoil it for you). I can't really say I'm fond of her type of heroine (I have negative feelings about half-assed usage of childhood friends/osananajimi settings), but I did enjoy her path...
Rikka is the protagonist's younger sister by adoption (he was adopted after his parents' death). She is a genius, to put it bluntly. So much so that she has actually already completed her education and is working as a full-fledged bodyguard, while the protagonist is still moonlighting as a student bodyguard. She adores her oniisan in a way that is rather obviously more 'a girl in love' than an imouto's affection for her oniichan (as portrayed in VNs, as opposed to rl, lol). Though she manages to cover it up with her acting skills, she is actually very slow to trust and has difficulty getting really close to non-family members. Her path was probably the most predictable of them all...
The biggest negative point of this VN, besides the fact that it doesn't provide enough action to take advantage of the bodyguard setting, is the lack of comprehensive endings and/or after stories. To be blunt, the 'drama' at the end of each path feels too obviously like it was made up specifically to wrap the routes up and provide an excuse for a fandisc. Worse, the 'after-stories' that come after each path are basically just h-scenes... usually based less than a week after the route ends (c'mon, Ensemble... I want to see what happens ten years down the road, not what happens after school the same day!).
Overall, this turned out to be a standard charage for the most part, if one with a bit more solid of a story than you see in most. While it is amongst the better games made by Ensemble in recent years, it is pure crap when compared to Koi no Canvas or Gokigen Naname. I can't help but wonder if this company will ever figure out that it contracted with the wrong writers when it was deciding who would be in the main staff roll...
ReCollect is the direct sequel to the original game, based on a 'normal' ending where certain major events in Aki's, Accela's, and Kizuna's paths never came to fruition. In fact, it is based off of a romance-less version of Aika's path, as the events in the last part of her path (before the romance/lovers thing) occur immediately before the story begins. So, if you've played Reminiscence but not ReCollect yet, it would be wise to use the update patch to activate Aika's path so you can get to know the events leading up to this game.
In this one, a new Geofront arcology called Yamato is discovered... and I literally can't say anything about the specifics without ruining it for new readers, so I'll leave it at the fact that Hidetaka does get involved with the diplomacy between them and that is the core of the story.
While Hidetaka is somewhat disappointing in the first part of the VN (as a result of his actions immediately previous, he's managed to serious piss off his boss), once things get moving with Yamato, he shows his true colors quickly, being an odd combination of a natural intriguer and a good person at heart (a rare combination to say the least).
In Kazuha's path (decendant of Tae from Akatsuki no Goei), things move quickly from the serious part to the somewhat goofy part and romance parts. As a route, it is about on par with Rin's or Nozomi's paths in the original, meaning it is short and leaves you feeling like things are unfinished. Kazuha herself is a misanthropic loli (misanthropic to the core, as opposed to heroines who fake it), so her attitude doesn't change all that much toward Hidetaka outside a few select moments. I laughed at her path, but if you asked me if it was on par with the better paths written out by this writer, I'd have to say no firmly.
Suzuka's path is significantly different. Suzuka is the Grand Marshal of Yamato, a young leader who has grown up with the responsibilities of old-style royalty to her people (and with a sense of responsibility to match them). Her path is about as long as Aki's or Kizuna's paths, perhaps longer. It is also as much about the internal politics of Yamato and its other important individuals as it is about her, so the actual romantic element feels slightly forced. This path also has some objectionable material for those who dislike stories with violence and suffering, so prepare yourself in advance if you want to read it.
Overall, despite the depth of Suzuka's path, I felt that this VN lacked a lot of the depth it could otherwise have had. What it needed was a full second chapter like the original gives if you didn't choose Rin or Nozomi, and Suzuka's path doesn't really compensate, since I still think Aki's path is more memorable in retrospect. For those who are wondering, very little to nothing seems to have been added onto the second game, unfortunately.
Shirogane no Soleil is the very first Soleil game, and it begins with Ryuuhei - the protagonist - encountering Soul Valkyrie in the ruins of the Ship of Time in Iceland (fictional). There, he contracts with her in order to save his sister and her fellow archaeologists. However, as a result, she constantly drains his lifespan (literally the time he has to live) away in order to use magic, fight, and even just to exist on the mortal plane of existence. Unfortunately, at the same time he discovers that she is really immature as a Valkyrie... when she is barely able to fend off a mere Berserk (a fallen Einherjar from the world of Asgard, which perished long ago), showing off her immaturity and ineptness.
In addition, within Soul exists Hagalle, an older-seeming Valkyrie who is rather obsessed with Ryuuhei and pretty aggressive... which makes for some interesting clashes with his childhood friend and fiance Miori (who is your typical drill-hair tsundere ojousama with a side of impulsive violent behavior). Ryuuhei is... a natural philanderer. I really can't defend him there. He is the type who gets into relationships with women without really thinking about it and doesn't really think there is anything wrong with it... but hates the resulting jealousy and catfighting that results like the plague. He also lies like a rug and makes excuses when lies don't work to distract the girls from his faults.
That said, he is also brave, insanely protective of those he loves (though he can perhaps be said to love too many women romantically, hahaha), and is a disciplined warrior with a good sense of situational awareness.
This series, typical of the Soleil series as a whole, is twisty, full of character corruption, fallen deities, hope followed by despair followed by hope, and plot twists that make even experienced chuuni-lovers blink in surprise at times. It also is deeply steeped in Nordic mythology, though with its own fantasy twists.
The character relationships are surprisingly deep, considering the kind of situation the characters are in, and there is essentially only two endings, one of which is shorter and somewhat truncated/incomplete (Soul's), and one that is immensely satisfying for those who fell in love with the characters and setting (Hagalle's). Really, there are no separate heroine endings, but the walkthrough calls them the Soul and Hagalle endings.
Did I enjoy this game? Yes, I did so immensely. It also helped me make sense of a lot of the background in Shin Shirogane no Soleil, and I'll probably end up re-rating that one after I replay it as a result. For those who like the darker side of chuuni, this is a good game to look into, and it is also attractive for people who like Norse Mythology based stories.
I recently got the impulse to go back and replay Eien no Aselia, which sat at the top (mostly by inertia and alphanumeric reasons) of my vndb votes for so long. Eien no Aselia was one of the final games I played in English before I took the dive into Japanese untranslated VNs, and I hadn't replayed it since, though I played Seinarukana within a year of entering the labyrinth.
Eien no Aselia is one of those few 'oldies' I found hadn't lost anything vital in the years since I last played it. I still immensely enjoyed the story (which is only mildly different in Japanese), and I still fell in love with Aselia on first sight (I'm a sucker for bloodstained fushigi-chan girls with big swords). I empathized with Yuuto's struggles as he went from a somewhat whiny standard-issue eroge protagonist to a fully rounded out human being with a lot of admirable qualities.
Eien no Aselia is one of those rare hybrids where the gameplay is something you can pick up easily even though you haven't played it in almost a decade. Oh, there were aspects I had to remember through trial and error, but I was using my old clear save, so I didn't have to bother with leveling or building anything other than ether gates... which made things a lot simpler. I remember just how much pain I suffered on higher difficulties to get those maxed levels... and why I never went back after finishing all the heroine paths, hahaha. The game is long, though it isn't nearly as long as Ikusa Megami Zero or some of the other strategy VNs. Playing it from beginning to end seven times was more than enough for me in the past.
A few aspects of the game have aged poorly (though not really the visuals, which were great for the time it was made). The aspect that bothered me the most was that more effort wasn't put into developing the non-heroine spirits that you fought with. While you could access scenes that did develop them somewhat if you made the right dialog choices and didn't let them die in battle, there is definitely a sense that the writers considered them disposable, despite giving them really distinctive personalities that came out on first meetings.
Replaying Aselia made me remember why I was so eager to see a third Eien Shinken game, and I'm still eagerly awaiting the day when the TBA on the vndb page for Shinyaku Eien no Aselia turns to a real release date.
After careful - extremely careful - consideration, I have chosen Nanairo Reincarnation as VN of the Year 2014. The runners-up were Semiramis no Tenbin and Bradyon Veda.
2014's top ten, based on quality with a 70% emphasis on story elements, a fifteen percent emphasis on sound, and a fifteen percent emphasis on visuals.
1. Nanairo Reincarnation
2. Bradyon Veda
3. Hoshi Ori Yume Mirai (yes, I didn't list this one as a runner-up, because I was physically incapable of doing so)
4. Semiramis no Tenbin
5. Hikoukigumo no Mukougawa
6. Satsukoi
7. Houkago no Futekikakusha
8. Hello, Lady
9. Kami no Ue no Mahoutsukai
10. AstralAir no Shiroki Towa
Story element evaluations were split fifty-fifty between intellectual and emotional impact. Ideally, any given story should touch upon the intellect and the emotions, leaving an 'imprint' behind.
As usual, I spent a lot of time thinking over this before I even considered making a decision. The original list of candidates at the end of the year (after the initial series of in-brain eliminations) is as follows:
Tokyo Necro
Akeiro Kaikitan
Amatsutsumi
Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana (knocked Inochi no Spare out of the running)
Tokyo Necro
Tokyo Necro is Nitroplus's first masterpiece outside of the Science series (Steins;Gate, for those who don't know what I'm talking about) since Muramasa, all those years ago. As such, it is an obvious favorite, being the sole chuunige kamige of the year, as well as a solid story from beginning to end even without considering my personal tastes (if anything, the presence of zombies is a negative for me, normally). It is brilliantly written from start to finish, with a masterful twisting of the elements of the setting to create a fascinating variance between the paths that made for some really interesting endgame story paths. In addition, the characters themselves were awesome, acting out their roles within the story in a down and dirty way that you generally don't get in most non-rapegames. In other words, this is Nitroplus at its dark and dirty best for the first time in over half a decade.
Akeiro Kaikitan
Like its predecessor, Nanairo Reincarnation, Akeiro is a brilliant blend of supernatural darkness with everyday life... and with real consequences rather than the moe goofiness that defines most such mixtures in VNs. It has mystery, it has horror, it has catharsis, and it has great characters. Depending on what path you choose, the protagonist's path through life is dramatically altered, as is the fate of the heroines. This reminds me of why Nanairo won the incredibly competitive 2014 competition so easily, despite the presence of Bradyon Veda and a number of other awesome games.
Amatsutsumi
Amatsutsumit is a game for those who want a good cry, and it shows. It lost out to Floral Flowlove in its VN of the Month competition, but the truth is that it should have been a dual winner, when it came down to it, since they were equal in quality from beginning to end, with only the ladder-style story structure causing me to rate it somewhat lower. Seen apart from that, however, it is an ideal example of Purple Soft's evolution from a third-rate charage maker to a brilliant maker of fantasy nakige since the release of Mirai Nostalgia.
Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana
This is 2016's biggest surprise, an overwhelmingly powerful nakige that doesn't bother doing much more than stabbing your heart with the plight of the characters and their travels from the depths of despair up the staircase of hope. In terms of emotional impact, I can honestly say no other VN in this year even got close, which is why Inochi no Spare got knocked off the list by this one. I'll be straight... I'm a sucker for the heroes drunk on their own heroism, and the protagonist in this one fills that bill perfectly. As such, I literally spent hours in tears playing this game.
VN of the Year Announcement
Those four were the final candidates when I moved to my inner-brain semi-finals, and they fought one another viciously for a place in the finals, then the golden Pocky of VN of the Year. Karenai Sekai shattered Amatsutsumi in a battle that lasted only a few moments, and Tokyo Necro and Akeiro Kaikitan fought a brutal fistfight that ended with broken bones and Tokyo Necro's heel on Akeiro's head.
In the end, there came a brutal month-long battle in my back-brain between Tokyo Necro and Karenai Sekai, the two kamige blasting entire imaginary cities away in their attempts to claw out one another's guts. Again and again, they shattered swords on one another's bones and regenerated from seemingly fatal wounds in an instant. A continent sank beneath their feet, yet they continued to war with one another, even as their armies of followers drowned in the onrushing waters of the world's oceans.
In the end it was a matter of overall brilliance of design as a victory over pure emotionalism that resulted in Tokyo Necro being victor over Karenai Sekai, thus becoming VN of the Year 2016. Unlike 2015, where there were few to choose from, 2016 was excellent, with numerous candidates from various genres to pick from. While I won't go so far as to say the year was awe-inspiring, it was indeed a pleasure to read the VNs listed above, as well as those below.
Honorable Knockouts/Worthy of Memory
Floral Flowlove
Inochi no Spare
Senren Banka
Gin'iro, Haruka
Akiyume Kukuru
Ryuukishi Bloody Saga
Signalist Stars
Yomegami
Sora no Tsukurikata
Lamunation (this and Signalist were the best comedy VNs of the year)
Sakura no Mori Dreamers (knocked out of the running by Akeiro Kaikitan)
Soshite Hatsukoi ga Imouto ni Naru (knocked out by Floral Flowlove and Amatsutsumi for nakige candidacy)
World Election
Koi Suru Otome to Shugo no Tate - Bara no Seibo - (sequel, so not a candidate)
Ou no Mimi ni wa Todokanai (two great games by AXL in one year...)
I'm going to be blunt... if it weren't for the urging of one of my online friends, I wouldn't have played this game. For one thing, it is a direct prequel to Gakthun, which I didn't have much fun with (I don't really like Japanese versions of Liar Soft games, for some reason... though I loved the English version of Sekien). It is based in a steampunk world version of one of the most-visited eras of Japanese history in otaku media, the Bakumatsu era.
In that era, Japan was opened by British air-fortresses, rather than by Perry's gunships, but the results were pretty much the same up until the beginning of the game (albeit with the usual liberties taken). Since there was no walkthrough out for this game, as of yet, I ended up on a path whose history pretty much echoed rl history save for who died and when (oh and the individuals' motivations, of course). Whether this was a good thing or not, I dunno... but the ending was decent, if bittersweet (not to mention that the last scene indicates that it is the one that heads into Gakthun).
The protagonist, Hachirou, is the child of a Shogunate vassal family famous for their real combat oriented sword style. He himself is a bit obsessed with modern steam technology, and his habit of constantly referring to his pocket watch shows off his straight-as-a-yardstick personality.
Like a lot of steampunk-series games, this one jumps around between many different perspectives for about three-quarters of the game (relatively little time is spent with Hachirou, considering he is the protagonist), but this game escapes the rather... Steven Brust-style story narration (reference to the Phoenix Guard and its two sequels, which are written in a style that is excessively dramatic and roundabout) that poisoned me against Gakthun and some of the other games by this company. In that sense, this was the easiest Liar-soft VN for me to read.
This game has heavy Cthulhu Mythos influence throughout its latter parts, ranging from a rather blatant one in the final battle scene of the ending I got to numerous smaller indications throughout.
Is this game good? Yes, it is well-written and interesting to read. Is it a kamige? I can't really judge, since I have no idea how to get the other endings without a lot of trial and error (and I'm too lazy to do that with a liar soft game). I'm giving it a decent rating because I liked a lot of it... but the way the game treated the Shinsengumi was a bit depressing at times (it really, really sucks to be Shinsengumi in this game).
Mmm... having finished the final path, my conclusion is pretty clear... This is a game that had a lot of potential that was primarily screwed up by how poorly executed certain game mechanics were and the way they did the two protagonists. In my previous posts, I already went over my feelings on the two initial paths and their protagonists, so I'll leave that where it is and move on to the third path. The third path - the true path - basically shifts gears completely, drastically altering the series of events immediately after Kai and Shizuma clash mech to mech for the first time. This is partially because of certain revelations that occur immediately before, and things progress rapidly to a revelation of the people hidden backstage... and the traditional 'lets go kill the bastards who have been manipulating us!' last ride down the mouth of hell. To be honest, after the mess they made of the other two paths, it was really hard to get up any enthusiasm whatsoever. Kai's path felt staid and forced, whereas Shizuma's path was... unusual but horribly painful to play through, primarily because of Shizuma himself. Shizuma actually becoming a human being is probably the best thing about the third path. He drops the paranoia and most of the angst, and he actually become something approaching psychologically stable. If he'd managed to drop into that mode in his own path at some point, I probably would have been more forgiving, lol. Other than that... Kai never does really grow that much. He remains a two-dimensional prop with a fondness for airheads (all three of the heroines are airheads or exceedingly naive in some way). He spouts formulaic phrase after formulaic phrase, right through to the conclusion. It doesn't help that the manipulators behind the scenes are also less than inspiring, once the initial emotional release is achieved. My final conclusion on the series canon issue is that one or the other is canonical but they can't coexist with the inconsistencies obviously present. Chronologically, Kenseiki would have had to have happened after Yumina but before Corona. Unfortunately, certain events in Corona make that impossible, so I had to just give up, in the end, on figuring out whether Eternal intended any of the series to have a true chronological consistency. Also, the difficulty spike near the end of the game is a bit ridiculous, though I was still able to get through it by picking off enemies at the edges until I'd isolated the more annoying ones... that and strategically making certain my people with support skill-blocking skills were available to all the other characters at all times to deal with the really nasty support skills the bosses tended to have. This is also true of Corona, in a way... There is a huge difficulty spike near the end of that one that makes it virtually impossible to achieve victory without abusing the protagonist/redhead/Corona combo to blast away the bosses' barriers. My final conclusion about the game as a whole? It would have been much, much better if they had made it consistent with the series' other games and had fixed the leveling so that all the characters would level together (I loathe the grinding that is inevitably required in srpgs where you have lots of characters who level individually). I also think it would have been better if they had really, truly made using Stigma and Alpharia a 'good thing', as they are both as weak as kittens, except for their support skills... and as mechs combined with their respective protagonists, they actually make Shizuma and Kai a little weaker, in some ways. The sword-people proved useful throughout the game, though the fact that some of the best party-attack skills are on them, so having them constantly equipped frequently felt wasteful. Story-wise... Kai's path was tolerable, Shizuma's path was painful, and the third path was good... but that just means they made the first three fourths of the game into a slogfest, which is a huge downer. Giving the sub-heroines their own unique paths was a good choice, as it gave them a chance to be distinct from one another. Unfortunately, the fact that the third path makes it all irrelevant kind of kills the fun, doesn't it?
To be blunt, I'd expected at least a little more from a company that has made something of a name for itself balancing moe, ecchi content, and good story-writing. This company occasionally slips up completely (Girls in Black was one example), and I'm afraid this is one of that type.
Nekonin follows an 'average guy' protag for roughly four hours (reading time) after he meets two kunoichi catgirls who say they've come to serve him. The results are pretty wacky, and I actually had hopes for how things might turn out... until the ending (there is only one). This game doesn't go anywhere. It stops at a brick wall without concluding anything. I'm more than a little frustrated, and I have to wonder why Whirlpool fucked up in such an obvious way...
I'll say it straight out... in my mind, Draculius is one of the top two vampire VNs in existence... with the other one being Vermilion by Light. Meromero Cute was a company that had a tendency toward making... eccentric works. Mahou Shoujo no Taisetsu na koto is particularly memorable for the cross-dressing protagonist who spends a ridiculous amount of time being reverse-raped in a magical girl costume... It used the fact that nobody expects mahou shoujo stories and settings to be consistent to go a bit crazy...
Draculius is a bit different... the protagonist, Jun, is the kind of guy who would be a hero in an otome game. While he isn't voiced (a mistake in my mind, but one that is common) his narration and lines have so much personality that you never see him as a 'standard' protagonist. There are precisely two paths in this VN... a 'joke' path where Jun doesn't make the full transition to a vampire during the story (focused on Rian and Zeno), and a true path, where Jun confronts the people hiding behind the curtains in the course of building his vampiric harem of a trigger-happy tsundere vampire-hunting nun, an ancient vampire who was once his father's vassal and lover, a vampire 'ojousama' whom everyone takes joy in teasing, and a loyal werewolf maid who makes a hobby out of tricking her mistress into making a fool of herself.
The action in this VN is actually a bit above the standard for chuunige of the era, though it doesn't match works by Light. At times there are battles of wits, and there is enough comedy to make a lot of modern charage seem boring. To this day, I've never met a loli in a VN that matches Belche for characterization (yes, I include stuff by Favorite). The multitude of roles she takes on and the layers to her personality and viewpoint on life make her one of the few 'ancient heroines' who doesn't seem in the least bit fake.
One of the things that is most important in a vampire story of any type is the perspective... to be blunt, a vampire setting where the vampires don't drink blood or are fundamentally harmless is... boring, to say the least. Vampires in Draculius are nothing of the sort... in particular 'Seconds', vampires made from humans, can only turn humans into zombie-like Roams (and can potentially do so just by biting someone), so vampirism is actually a legitimate threat. Firsts, like the protagonist and Rian (also called Shiso, like the True Ancestors in the Tsukihime world), don't have any of the vulnerabilities of their servant vampires... and they can make vampires that are sane. However, most Firsts perspectives are... warped, to say the least. There is nothing worse than a justified sense of superiority to make people insanely arrogant, lol.
The actual story of this tilts back and forth between the more absurd slice-of-life and the more serious parts, but this is one of those rare VNs that manages the balance nearly perfectly. People die, the protagonist kills, and the enemy is ruthless (as is Belche, lol). However, the slice of life in this VN tends to serve as a bright and amusing contrast to the darker elements, keeping it from becoming a purely serious VN.
Overall, replaying this VN has confirmed to me something that I had more or less guessed over the last few years... they don't make ones like this one anymore, lol.
Edit: The pic is Belche just after she became a vampire.
Edit2: ... for those who wonder, the h-scenes in this VN... are pretty unique. Most of them switch between Jun's and the girls' perspectives...
This is a question I've asked myself on any number of occasions (and despite my own thoughts below, I'd like to hear your thoughts on this as well). For some reason, most vampire literature with a vampire protagonist has that protagonist hating him/herself and his/her condition (switching to 'his' after this sentence, for the sake of brevity).
Let's be honest with ourselves... if we could gain immortality, immense strength, and the ability to control people's minds in exchange for having to suck human blood and stay out of the sun, the greater majority of us would probably leap at the chance. Humans are selfish creatures, and the advantages seem to far-outweigh the disadvantages on the face of it.
One common answer to this is morality. To be honest, I think this is the second worst answer of them all. Yes, in the case of a vampire setting where the vampire has to kill the subject or infects anyone he bites, it makes sense for there to be a moral issue. However, if that is not the case, this one doesn't pan out. Sure, drinking blood sounds evil in and of itself... but if you aren't human, it isn't cannibalism, now is it? Hedonism? Is there anyone in a first-world nation that isn't at least a little hedonistic?
Another one is a sense of isolation. Now this one makes a bit more sense as a negative for vampirism... but not for sucking blood. Sure, it might be hard to make friends with your food, but it wouldn't be the first time. No, the issue here is lies. By nature, vampires need to hide themselves, since they are well... scary. I mean, if something essentially eats a part of you to survive and looks similar to you, how can that not be scary in a visceral sense? So yes, the isolation is a good reason to be afraid of your own vampirism if you are a vampire.
A sense of normalcy. This is the one you see the most in VNs, and I honestly think that it is an abomination. It is the worst answer. Almost every vampire protagonist in a VN wants to regain their 'normal life', and this often results in them taking their anger out on the people who saved them and/or love them. Sure, you pay a price for your vampirism... if you can't go out in the sun (a rarity in VNs), then it is hard to go to school. If you have to suck human blood, then you can't really be called normal. However, that sense that normalcy trumps everything (no I don't mean the president) is ridiculous. I honestly find this kind of attitude annoying as hell in a protagonist, and it is only the ones who don't linger on it constantly that I'm willing to forgive.
Violent instincts... now this one is laughable. 'Vampires have violent instincts!!!' Umm... hello? What race goes around killing people for stupid reasons like religious affiliation, what side of a line on a map they live, and who has a better cow in their barn? *snorts contemptuously*
In the end, vampirism in fiction is a trade-off... and self-hating vampires who stay that way without a good reason always strike me as fake (Toshirou from Vermilion has good reason, but most don't).
First, I should say that I have no taste for loli-shota whatsoever, so I'm going to drop this now that I've finished one of the paths and gotten a feel for what this VN is like. So... this turned out to actually be a loli-shota game, despite my hopes otherwise. I have no idea of what Akabeisoft is thinking, turning its main child brand into a sub-brand that produces random games, but I can honestly say that I wish they would stick to one or two genres...
Now, this is one VN that has no business being localized outside of Japan. I say this because all the characters are blatantly underage until after the climax (after-story I saw so far was decent). They even refer to themselves as kids and they are immature right down to the voices. As such, I very much wanted to drop this VN inside the prologue. However, I'd promised I'd finish this one, if only to see if they would escape that... and they didn't.
Now, I'll say that the idea for the story, in itself, is not awful. This kind of 'Home Alone' style setup is pretty amusing, and if this were an all-ages title, I might have been able to sit back and enjoy it. However, the inclusion of h-content was a huge downer in this case, at least for me...
The characters all have their problems with adults, ranging from Orino's insanely controlling parents to the teachers' betrayal of Sen. For that matter, the protagonist has his own abusive environment to deal with. As a result, you end up with a bunch of characters who have unified around defiance of the adults in their lives by fortifying a run down love hotel, which was funny in and of itself.
Is this game amusing and interesting? Yes? Is it something I'd recommend? Not in its current form.
Update: To be clear, I didn't drop this because it was boring... I just happen to have a distaste for shota-loli focused content... In addition, considering things just from the plot and setting, this game really is interesting. Unfortunately, its possibilities are stunted by only focusing on the characters during that one period of their lives, when it would have been more interesting to see how their personalities evolved as they became adults... To be blunt, the writer went for a loli-shota thing when he could have actually made a first-rate VN story, just based on his writing and the way he presents the characters and setting. Another option he could have chosen would be to go for the all-ages route, where he would have been able to tell the characters' stories in more detail (the hints he drops about the male characters' problems are tantalizing) while discarding the hindrance of h-content (no, I'm not a prude... I just think straight-out loli-shota is distasteful).
Yes, I'm serious about dropping this VN. There are a number of reasons... but the main one is a pet peeve that has recently become my primary one when it comes to VNs... and that is flowcharts. I HATE flowcharts. Making it worse is that Kadenz Fermata's flowchart is combined with an unbelievably annoying 'gameplay' system that requires you to take a really half-assed 'active' part in the battles to bring them to the best possible conclusion... even though that conclusion is often identical to the one that would have occurred if you hadn't intervened.
I'm not kidding. Every single battle scene - and there are a lot of them - requires you to 'intervene'
breaking fourth wall setup) and change the flow of the battle by picking a course of action to take... and without a walkthrough, it is pretty close to impossible to figure out. Moreover, if you don't manage to get the best result, you get the bad ending... again. I say again because the game takes you through one of the two protagonists' viewpoints to the end, where everything is irredeemably fucked over, and then forces you to start over from the beginning (adding a whole bunch of extra side-character events to the story, but essentially following the same path with a lot of extra battles and a newborn ability to 'intervene').
I never thought I'd run into a chuunige where I hated the battle scenes, but this game actually makes it possible. Nachsten tended to play up the old-style chuunige 'endless powerups' to the extreme, and for that reason I named it 'the first true generic chuunige'. In other words... Nachsten is to chuunige what Shuffle is to charage/moege... the 'average' of the whole mess. Making an already stale formula tedious? Did they really think that was a good idea?
About halfway through my seventh battle scene in Kadenz, I realized I wasn't even enjoying the game anymore. Do you have any idea how ridiculous that is for someone as addicted and biased toward chuunige as I am? I adore chuunige battle scenes. I love the over the top moves and CGs... but this is the first time I've ever encountered one where I grew completely apathetic about the battles. A part of it is that I don't believe in breaking the fourth wall in VNs like this... I think it is a terrible idea, and the results are almost never good.
Another issue is Freya... I never thought it was possible, but Lacryma managed to create a female protagonist who is basically a copy of the third-rate 2001-2005 'heroine who is a naive, unbelievably stupid and thoughtless tool'. I never once wanted to root for her during the entire thing. I hate fanatics/zealots who are incapable of facing reality, and she is pretty much the epitome of that. It is barely tolerable in a heroine and enjoyable as 'side-character who dies horribly, suddenly, and meaninglessly just for kicks', but it is completely unforgivable in a protagonist, at least for me.
Last of all... I was never enthusiastic about them actually creating a direct sequel after they milked the original story so thoroughly before tacking that shitty/half-assed set of endings onto it. Fortissimo isn't that great a story (though the setting is almost halfway decent), and I honestly thought it was a particularly bad example of a battle royale situation. Continuing to use the same characters in Kadenz with an addition of yet more (bringing the cast over 20) just thinned my overall interest in them, and in the end I found myself not even the least bit interest in what happened to anyone.
This VN also has some serious art issues... though I'll set aside characters who were obviously drawn (as in even to my less than discerning eye) by different artists. However, the slipups with sprite proportions (one sprite suddenly being outright bigger than the rest for no real reason) drove me a bit wild at times... and the sudden shifting in some of the non-battle CGs to Irosekai's style kind of made me go 'eh, what?' Of course, I also have to mention issues with sound... such as the fact that the voices are so low in this game as to be almost impossible to hear over the BGM even on the lowest settings at times... or the fact that sound effects will sometimes carry over to multiple scenes...
To put it straight to you, everything Nachsten did wrong, this also did wrong, while adding even more problems due to the designers getting 'clever' with their half-assed ideas 'to get the player involved'.
Edit: I really do think that this is a perfect example of an immense amount of money being poured into a 4th class game. Where Nachsten is tolerable, this one strays into kusoge territory due to the tedium of completing it.
First, I should apologize to those who voted for Sen no Hatou. To be honest, I had every intention of finishing it first... but I kept running into the walls I described in the previous post, so I switched over to this game.
****** Before reading further, please realize that it is impossible to talk about this VN without spoiling the original to some extent. If you haven't played the original Tayutama, you shouldn't be considering playing this game anyway (as it doesn't make sense without having played it) so please refer all spoiler complaints to your nearest garbage can*****
Tayutama 2 is the direct sequel to the original Tayutama game, based off of the Mashiro ending. It is based fifty years after the events in the original game, and society has changed dramatically. Mashiro's and Yuuri's adopted (pure-blooded Tayutai) daughter, Kohaku serves as the main heroine, and the game itself is based in another city, which has aggressively adopted the coexistence ideals put forth by Mashiro. The two other heroines are the half-breed ojousama Hifumi and a young girl who lives for the sake of Tayutai, whose name is Nano.
For better or worse, the world has changed in this game. Instead of normal electricity, it has become possible to use 'shinki' (divine energy) to provide power, and people are living longer lives as a result of close contact with the Tayutai (Yumina, Ameri, and Mafuyu haven't aged a day due to their connections to the Great Ones). Yuuri spends most of his time bustling all over the country, solving incidents with Tayutai, while Mashiro takes care of the town where they found Kohaku.
Sora, the protagonist of the story, is a level-headed, kind-hearted (but not dense in any way, shape, form, or fashion), and insightful young man who Kohaku falls in love with pretty much at first sight. In every way possible, save for his passion for those he cares about, he is Yuuri's opposite. Where Yuuri is dense, he is perceptive; where Yuuri tends to lack in sensitivity, he is as sensitive to others' feelings as they come; and where Yuuri is confrontational, he is a negotiator.
In addition to the three heroine paths, there is also a Yuuri/Mashiro path where all the secrets hidden in the other paths are brought into the open and the central conflict of the story is resolved to its fullest extent. To be honest, I thought that path was the biggest mistake in this VN (though the redoing of the old epilogue from the original with more detail than even in the FD was a nice touch). Why? It is because it provided an excuse for failing to properly build up the paths in the main game. While any of those paths are fine for your standard charage (in fact, a bit above the average level of quality), the fact is that there are a lot of aspects to Sora himself, as well as the heroines and their future, that are left entirely unexplored.
Sora has inevitable issues... he is an orphan after all. However, those issues are ignored almost entirely (save as an excuse to let him get away with staying at the shrine), and even the heroine paths lack the depth of exploration you would normally expect, considering the level of detail in the original. This shows off how far LoS has degraded in the years since the original was released, and it was immensely saddening for me. In particular, I thought that Sora, for all that he is a wonderful character personality-wise, lacks development in terms of his past and its relation to who he is now. To be blunt, LoS should have milked that part of the setting to make Kohaku's route in particular more emotional. Considering how 'dramatic' they tried to make the last part of her path, it was hard to really get into hers or Sora's head during it.
Overall, this game is a nice treat for people who wanted more after the original game. However, don't expect the same level of impact. By itself, it isn't even really complete without a full knowledge of the original. Even worse, there was a definite sense of laziness when it came to character development that is unforgivable in my eyes (in particular, antagonist character development).
Common Path
The common path in this VN is, I'm going to say straight out, better than either the original's or Nigakki's. Part of this is the variety of events. Both the original and Nigakki tended to have a lot of event repetition in the general sense (ongoing jokes like Inori Sensei being late to class and Kani's reaction to it), and while some of that is inherited, in general there was a lot more in the way of interesting events throughout the path. However, what really brought the path to life was the fact that the choices you make actually change how scenes turn out, rather than being totally meaningless in the long run. In terms of raw quality, this common route is pretty high up there, and it is worth paying attention to.
Otome
I'm going to be blunt... this path is incomparably better than either the original or the Nigakki path. Otome's path was only slightly better than Kani (my Kani/Kinu-hate being eternal) in the first one, and Nigakki was in general so horrible that I don't even want to remember how bad it was. In general, Otome's path follows the same trend that I saw throughout the rest of this VN in comparison to the other two games in the trilogy... much higher quality overall, better character development, and much less awkward developments in the path itself.
Serebu
First, I'm going to say this... Serebu's path is absolutely hilarious. Not that there aren't tense moments, but most of her path that I remember most vividly are the numerous comedic scenes. Her overall character during the VN as a whole is incomparably better and deeper when compared to that miserable experience in Nigakki, and the actual events of her path feel 'real' (I use the term advisedly, considering the nature of the Tsuyokiss/Majikoi setting). I particularly loved After Story 2, which contains some scenes that had me laughing hysterically for a solid ten minutes. This gives me hope for the side-stories in Tsuyokiss Festival, which has years-after stories with Leo and the heroines from the original trilogy.
Yoshimi
As the series'
in some ways, Yoshimi got gypped in the previous VNs. Her path was decent in the first VN and downright horrible in Nigakki. So, quite naturally, the third try manages to do what the first didn't (as it did with Serebu's and Otome's paths). This VN digs into Yoshimi's character and past much deeper than the other two, while at the same time dealing with her relationship with Erika in a more realistic way. It is also distinct from the previous two paths, in that the relationship formation is more 'traditional', though it is questionable whether this is positive from an objective perspective (as the old-style ways of sudden relationship formation sometimes make more sense than modern methods). However, in actual quality, her path is much better than it was, because there is more detail and Yoshimi actually manages to grow as part of the story without extreme measures having to be taken.
Nagomi
As always, Nagomi's dere is the best of all, seriously. This time, the process to make it to the goal was a bit more stretched out and more complex than it was in the previous two games. Not only that, but there is a lot more content in general. The actual issues in her path are in general the same, but the details changed quite a bit between the three games. Also, Kani vs. Nagomi is always hilarious, making this path a bit lighter in spirit than it would have otherwise been. Unlike in the previous two games, the actual resolution of Nagomi's issues is not done through a somewhat evasive manner. Instead, it is brought to a true resolution that doesn't leave the sort of sad/regretful aftertaste that defined the other two because of the way it happened.
Erika
First, I should say that Erika's route was pretty weak in both the original and Nigakki. Part of this was probably a lack of imagination on the part of the writer at the time, because Erika really wasn't the kind of type to fall in love with someone like the protagonist, and her somewhat ruthless image is a major part of her character. However, this time the progression to a relationship is pretty natural and amusing, rather than being awkward and boring, which is a relief, since I happened to like Erika herself. In addition, the relationship itself feels more natural, less forced, with a lot more variety in the way of events and story. I was glad to see they finally escaped the trap of the pattern of the original in this version.
Sunao and Kani
I couldn't bring myself to play either of these routes. The routes in this VN are long, and it is kind of depressing playing a long route for heroines you don't even like, lol.
Overall
By far, this is the best game from the first trilogy. I'm not exaggerating, it really is that much better. The routes are more complete and the heroines are far more developed. If there is a downside it is that in the Full Edition, some scenes were actually cut out, lol.
Right now, while the pain meds are wearing off and my mind is relatively clear (since I don't recall anything I did or posted today before an hour and a half ago) I figured I'd post this poll.
First, I'm more or less decided on setting aside any more reading for VNs from March, at least for the next week. I will resume playing at least one more on the nineteenth, so if you want, feel free to vote on the other poll, though I will probably ignore the results from it.
The first VN on the random poll is one I keep recommending, one of the two reasons I keep playing Ensemble games, despite three kusoge in a row. Ojousama wa Gokigen Naname is a perfect example of showing off the insanity that can come out of a powerful family's internal struggles, along with the love that can flower despite it.
Sengoku Himeka is an otomege that recently got put up on Steam. Since you can apparently play it in Japanese as well, I went ahead and purchased and downloaded it.
Dracu-riot I'm sure most of yall are familiar with (I'm not really serious about this one, since I already played it twice), but I figured I'd put it up here for the sake of argument.
Draculius is my favorite 'easy to read' vampire VN, my all-around favorite vampire VN being Vermilion. I have actually played it through several times, and if you want to see an ancient review I did for it, Google Draculius and Clephas Stomach, lol. It is the VN that a lot of Libra is taken from (though the protagonist is a lot better and Belche is more interesting than Iris).
Silverio Vendetta was my favorite chuunige from last year's releases and it is getting an indirect sequel (new characters, same setting) later this year, supposedly.
Houkago no Futekikakusha is an utsuge made back in 2014 that has a lot of mixed reactions, varying wildly from person to person. I get good reactions from some people and other people can't stand it... much like some of Nostalgic Chord's other games, Rakuen no Shugosha and Marrybell ga Shinda to Papa ni Tsutaete.
For those of you not interested in any of the above, go ahead and make a suggestion after voting for 'other'. I'll at least listen to you make your case, even if I outright ignore the request.
For those who have no idea whatsoever what I am talking about, I'm referring to a type of heroine that tends to exist in a relatively high proportion with a strong central plot... the type of heroine that remains by the protagonist's side, usually no matter which heroine he chooses and is usually the true heroine. This heroine has a bond with the protagonist that surpasses that of a simple friendship or lover and can't really be cut without destroying them both. This heroine's existence is usually so vital to the protagonist that without her, he isn't entirely sane. Often, this will be the true heroine, though that isn't always the case. This type of heroine will not always be pleasant to be around... in fact, many of them are outright prickly or poisonous. However, the bond they have with the protagonist is sufficient to make parting nearly impossible, if not entirely unthinkable.
Examples of this heroine include:
Suzu from Ayakashibito
Kagome from Comyu
Shizuku from Evolimit
Selma from Bullet Butlers
Mana from Amatsutsumi
Belche from Draculius
Saki from Hapymaher
Nonosaki Akiho of Moshimo Ashita ga Harenaraba
Kamio Ami of Semiramis no Tenbin (in a weird way)
Chikae from Ore no Tsure wa Hito de nashi
Mitoko from Damekoi
Understand, I absolutely adore this type of heroine role... mostly because the intimacy (not always positive) makes for some really interesting and warped relationships. Also, the love when they do get together is... extreme, lol.
October is turning out to be a frustrating month, with the VN I was most interested in delayed until December (for some reason, December seems to be getting all the most interesting ones...). I honestly had hopes that October would break the 'dry spell' I've been experiencing since I completed July's releases. There is still a possibility of that happening, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
Right now, I'm busy with work, trying to open up a nice quiet period so that I can get all of October's releases out of the way in as short a time as possible. This is because I have a ridiculous amount of conventional games coming out next month on my list to play, and I don't want my VN habit getting in the way like it has the last few times a new game came out (yes, I'm that much of a VN junkie).
Anyway this is the list of releases for October I plan to at least try to play:
Nanairo＊Clip (I haven't played anything by this company, so I have no idea of what to expect, but it looks like a standard charage)
Unionism Quartet A-3 Days (the fandisc to the original game, mostly playing in case they give solid after-stories to the neglected heroines from the original)
Sora no Tsukurikata (Lovesick Puppies maker Cosmic Cute's newest game... definitely my initial pick for the month)
Reminiscence Collection (Random VNs rather than VN of the Month, but I can't resist)
Re: Lief (seriously, the Japanese finally crossed the line with this one, but I can't resist)
Signalist Stars (new company, looks like an oppai-girl charage)
Furerute Love Connect (charage, obviously... might or might not bother, considering how I dropped Nephrite's first game after only two hours of play because it was so boring)
Gusha no Kyouben (Akabeisoft3 is pretty hit and miss, and now they are doing comedy... I'm curious as to what this will turn out to be)
This month was almost a no-brainer... while there were some halfway-decent charage releases, there weren't any that made a significant impression. I'm afraid I don't have time to read Giga's newest half-hearted-but-pretty-looking charage (work is busy) and I haven't actually played any VNs since i finished Ninki Seiyuu last week.
Silverio Trinity is VN of the Month January 2017. Normally, I wouldn't name a sequel as VN of the Month, on principle. However, in this case, the game itself warrants it. Silverio Trinity is one of those rare sequels I could actually conceive of standing on its own, because even when I extracted my prior knowledge of Silverio Vendetta, I still felt that it was an enormously enjoyable VN. The only point on which it doesn't stand on its own is in background knowledge about the Esperanto and the Great Apocalypse that is only infodumped in incomplete form in Trinity. Of course, not having full knowledge of the events at the end of Vendetta's path in Vendetta is a handicap, but not as much of one as it would have been with another game, lol.
For those wondering about VN of the Year 2016, I'm still reviewing the candidates... I've narrowed it down to three potential winners: Tokyo Necro; Karenai Sekai to Owaru Hana; and Amatsutsumi. The most unlikely of those is probably Amatsutsumi, despite its feels (I knocked Floral Flowlove out of the competition last week). For those who complained to me about the fact that I'm not considering Senren Banka or Gin'iro Haruka, I actually have solid reasons besides personal tastes... I just don't feel like making a wall of text to explain the precise reasons why Gin'iro isn't in the running and I never really even seriously considered Senren Banka, lol.
Edit: Keep in mind that VN of the Year is the competition I spend the most time on every year, using up a minimum of the first two months of the year each year since I started, lol. Not to mention that 2016 was one of the best out of the last ten years in terms of high-quality releases (though the ones that weren't high quality tended to be singularly awful).
List of VN of the Year Winners so far
Hapymaher (2013)
Nanairo Reincarnation (2014)
Kikan Bakumatsu Ibun Last Cavalier (2015)
Again, 2015 is probably the single worst year for VNs out of the last ten, and so Kikan Bakumatsu is actually lower in quality than several releases from both 2014 and 2016, so I almost didn't name a VN of the Year 2015, 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.
For those of you familiar with my tendency to bitch and moan about this kind of story-structure, I don't really need to explain... but I'll do so anyway. The 'ladder-style' story structure is the style used in games such as G-senjou, Aiyoku no Eustia, and Sen no Hatou. While it does make it easy to fit in a 'true' path (the true path being main street) and breaking things down into 'arcs' makes for a more expansive story, that is at the cost of increasing irritation in a way that would never have come up in a kinetic novel (which all VNs using ladder-style should be).
What is that irritation? Meaningless heroine routes.
There are two types of heroine in a ladder-style VN. There is the true heroine and the 'fake' heroine. I'm not kidding... all heroines other than the true one are fakes, as are their paths, in most cases. Amatsutsumi was an exception, but it was a rare one, lol.
Now, in order to explain this, I'll outline how most of the games using this style tend to play out. There is a main story going on, both in the foreground and the background. In most cases, the background elements of the story that don't come out until you are in the true heroine's path preclude all possibility of the sub-heroines' paths actually existing in the context of the greater setting.
Another quality of these games is that the true heroine is almost always one of the least-interesting/attractive heroines in the group, both personality-wise and setting-wise. Airheads, ditzes, weak-willed victims, naive princesses, and overconfident self-proclaimed geniuses with an impenetrable belief in their own correctness (if you haven't figured it out Eutia>Hatou>G-senjou)... the list goes on, but you get the picture (again, Amatsutsumi is the exception rather than the rule). I honestly have no idea of why all these companies that choose to use this style do it this way...
Now, frequently the true path itself has excellent storytelling with round antagonists and protagonists whose value as a character far outweighs the weakness of the true heroine... but this brings up another issue. This issue is: the other heroines. The elements of the setting, the personality and objectives of the antagonists, and even the personality of the protagonist sometimes render all other heroine paths as literally impossible in most cases. If you don't mind SPOILERS for Eustia and Sen no Hatou, I'll give you some examples below.
Now, as to why that's a problem... I know it is nitpicking... but when I empathize with a heroine, fall in love with her by proxy, and see her off to a happy ending, there is nothing that can possibly drive me more insane with rage than the 'true' ending of the heroine path completely invalidating the possibility of that small happiness even occurring. Eustia's best heroines are all 'fake' heroines, the same goes for G-senjou and Sen no Hatou as well. The Leyline trilogy also suffers from this particular issue.
So do you understand now why I hate this type of VN structure? I have good reason to despise it. I still respect the makers of Namima no Kuni no Faust for choosing to make the game kinetic and just add the other heroines 'endings' as 'what if' scenarios in the extras far more than I will ever respect the makers of the games I mentioned above.
This isn't even mentioning that, by having heroine paths split off earlier, you lose a great deal of the story meant to develop the characters in the first place.
Why did I bring this up again...? Because, for the fourth time this year, I've come across a VN that I was interested in that uses this never-to-be-sufficiently-damned story structure, Sora no Tsukurikata. Damn all non-charage makers who follow fads like this particular one to hell, I say.
I think those who follow my blog might be aware of this, but I've played waaaay too many VNs this month. To be blunt, once Hanasaki is done, I'll have played seven.
I know that might not seem like much, just saying it... but it still makes up about 100 hours of play/read time in under a month. What makes it worse is that several of the VNs I played were horrible disappointments, despite being from companies I normally liked.
What am I trying to say here? It is fairly simple... no matter how much I like VNs, playing as many as I did this month is a source of real stress and almost physical pain. Several of the releases I wouldn't have bothered with at all, if it weren't for the fact that I'm committing to continuing my VN of the Month column.
Think about it... in terms of content, each one of those VNs was, on average, about at the same level as Da Capo (for those familiar with the game), in terms of length... and some were quite a bit longer. Now think about actually slogging through that many heroines, that much template romance... and really think about whether you could stand it, even if you like that sort of thing.
Basically, I'm at my limit, when it comes to charage... I've had enough laughs and innocent couples... I want something dirty, violent, and shadowy... I want people with serious, irreversible emotional and psychological scars. I want some intelligent plot twists and twisted motives... in short 'just why did every single popular moege-variant company choose to release a VN at the end of March?!'
Sorry, I just needed to blow off some steam. I'm trying to take full pleasure in Hanasaki Work Spring... if only because it is good for what it is - despite its huge flaws and the fact that Saga Planets really is wasting its people's skills.
I've played a number of releases from September's releases, and I'm currently playing Renai Phase (which I'd promised not to, as Giga is incapable of making anything truly great outside of Baldr). However, this month really doesn't have anything I'd really consider VN of the Month material... Seikishi had its fingertips on the vague possibility, and it is undeniably the best thing I played from September. Unfortunately, 'the best from September' is not good enough.
The reason I'm already putting a 'batsu' mark on Renai Phase, even though I'm only halfway through it... is because the 'koukan do' system intrudes into the VN in a manner that breaks the storytelling completely. Whereas in most VNs, you have to guess which choices do what with how the heroines feel about you, this VN commits the sin of making a noise and showing a little visual effect every time... and it is really intrusive. I know this might sound like nitpicking, but the sheer number of choices in this VN means that this is hair-pulling level annoying. Not only that, but the protagonist in this VN is fully nameable, without the brilliant system Hoshi ori used that allowed it to have redeeming value. Last of all, the greatest sin of this VN is that, from the very beginning, the protagonist is setting out to get a girlfriend on a whim. To be honest, VNs that steal from dating sims piss me off in general, but this one is particularly offensive, in my eyes. Unless the heroine paths are superlative, in my opinion, this VN has already axed any hope of being VN of the Month material.
First, I should mention that this review is split into two parts. One covers the free prequel VN released back in May and the second covers the main game, which was released last week. My personal advice is that you play the prequel first. Both games are written in a really odd fashion (multiple narrators with the prequel and third-person with no insight into the protagonist for the main game).
Prequel
The prequel covers the events eight years before the main game, filling you in on how Juri and Masashi (portrayed as the child, Koma) met as children and how Juri ended up on the path that led her to head up the Yoshioka Corporation. To be blunt... this game is kind of frustrating. The story is actually pretty fascinating, beginning as it does with a guy being asked to have sex with his best friend's beautiful wife (said guy being Koma's father, a vicious yakuza with an excessive fondness for fighting and drinking). The story is told with varying characters being interviewed by a reporter serving as narrators, and they are, quite naturally, non-omniscient, knowing only their own viewpoints on what happened. The biggest similarity in style between this and the main game is that you are never treated to the protagonist's stream of consciousness in either. Both protagonists are the silent type, only rarely speaking their minds.
There is some violence in this one, and it deliberately skirts around the edges of the yakuza activities involved. However, this, quite oddly, did not detract from the experience for m. I can say quite honestly that the main game would be a lot less comprehensible if I hadn't read this.
Main game
Omokage Railback's main game is set eight years after the incident portrayed in the prequel, and Koma (Shimizu Masashi Jr) has become Yoshioka Masashi, having been adopted into Juri's family and made CEO of the company (though because of the unique structure of the conglomerate, the real power lies in the hands of some really warped older people and Juri). His first job as CEO is to make a deal for development of the resources of Yagurana Village, a small town that once faced off against the exploitative tactics of the Yoshioka corporation and won.
I'm going to be blunt... the storytelling style of the main game is uncharacteristic for the VN medium in that it gives you almost no insight into the protagonist's inner workings or feelings. The fact that I still found the game enjoyable is a measure of the writer's skill, but it was kind of weird playing a VN where the viewpoint kept switching between heroines and side characters rather than primarily revolving around the protagonist's point of view.
This game is kind of short... and, in my mind, this harmed the game's quality somewhat. This game could have used a far more extensive stretch of slice-of-life character development, but, instead the game hurries things along in a way that felt a bit hasty.
Surprisingly, this game tackles some concepts that otaku media tends to avoid, such as transgender (non-comedic) and homosexuality (non-idealized), though obliquely through the acceptance of the said characters for who they are. I did rofl repeatedly at the fact that the two hulking African-American bodyguards Juri has along with her were in love with Masashi. The fact that you never get to know whether Masashi is actually aware of the fact that they've been stalking him (on Juri's orders) since he was taken in by the Yoshioka family was one of the many mysteries of the rather warped human relationships in this VN. More serious is Asuka, the transgender maid who appears midway through the story. Apparently, Masashi's reaction (or lacking of it) when finding out she was transgender was one of the major factors that led to her infatuation with him. I don't call her a trap because she doesn't really fall into that 'moe-moe' characterization.
Getting back to warped relationships... there are very few relationships in this VN that aren't warped. Juri is obsessed with Masashi to the point of psychosis, Lemon gets high on housecleaning (not housecleaning products, but the actual act of cleaning the house), Juri's mother... well, let's avoid spoiling that one. Even the seemingly innocent Iroha has Aya (another heroine) as her 'poison taster' (who is also required by Yagurana custom to 'test' a prospective lover first).
Overall, it is impossible to fit this VN into a single genre. It also breaks Japanese VN conventions in about every way possible without abandoning the otaku style entirely. That said, I enjoyed this VN, despite the isseus I also had with it.
Naoko is the protagonist's adopted big sister. She has an extremely straightforward personality, and she tends to spoil the protagonist rotten while thinking she's doing the reverse.
Unfortunately, her path, like Kirsti's, is lacking in the kind of ending drama that tended to characterize Minato's two big hits. I don't know whether they did it deliberately or not, but the path left me feeling unsatisfied, despite the fact that the VN as a whole is at least moderately amusing.
Harem
The harem path is basically this side-route where the protagonist doesn't choose Naoko or Kirsti and ends up in H-situations with about half the cast of females. There is no real content to it, except for somewhat forced situations that end up in the protagonist having sex with one or another of the girls. To be honest, after playing this, I almost thought the VN as a whole was a nukige.
