In preparation for the release of the Silverio series' conclusion, Silverio Ragnarok, next month, I decided to replay Silverio Trinity, one of my favorite chuunige. First, I should note that I consider the Silverio series to be one of the three most well-designed VN settings in existence. One is Eushully's Dir Lifyna, the other being the Nasuverse (Type-Moon's Fate and Tsukihime universe). In terms of details, unique aspects, and generally fascinating fun, they all have their high points. Dir Lifyna's high points mostly revolve around the intricate dance of dark gods, light gods, old human world gods, demons, demi-humans, and the faith-based magic that make up its background. The Fate/Tsukihime universe's strengths lie in its approach to the occult, the inhuman, the mystic, and the unnatural.
Silverio's strengths lie in a combination of turn and turnabout philosophy mixed with a world that has survived the tribulations and trials of our own, plus another fifteen hundred years (and one cataclysm that ended our civilization). As in the excerpt of Silverio Vendetta I previous translated,
The first game had an intensive philosophical focus on the two extremes of victory and retribution. Zephyr himself is defined as an eternal loser, whereas Valzeride, the antagonist, is defined as the ultimate victor.
In many ways, Trinity is an answer to the question Vendetta poses, since Vendetta, despite its ending, didn't really pass judgment on the argument between the two extremes. Trinity's protagonist, regardless of which path you are on, is a straightforward young man who is facing a fate that is in many ways far worse than Zephyr's in Vendetta was. However, he is also potentially the second-wisest character in the game (behind Galahad, who is an example of the best kind of priest) in the game, depending on the path. His experiences and his limitations have the potential to give him a perspective unique among all the characters in both games, which makes him an ideal protagonist for the second of three games.
Like most Light games, this game has over the top action... but it needs to be said that some of it is seriously crazy even for Light. Gilbert is probably among the top three scariest characters I've seen in any otaku media... not so much for his abilities (though he is extremely capable) but for how his mind works. He is unbelievably intelligent, simulating literally hundreds of potential outcomes for each action he takes, manipulating everyone involved in the story with a skill that makes my head hurt. What is worse is that he is also ruthless without being in the least bit cold-blooded. What do I mean? Gilbert is the kind of guy who will kill someone, hate himself for it, and use his anger at himself for what he did to them as fuel to keep him going on his path.
This game, like Vendetta, uses a very similar approach to telling its story to Dies Irae by Masada. It is heavy on exposition, relying far less on the dialogue (in fact, dialogue is often as not used as an accent in key scenes) than is normal in most VNs, often waxing poetic about the characters' thought processes, their nature, and various other elements key to the scene.
The story of Trinity is based three years after Vendetta in the city of Prague. Prague is one of the few cities that remains mostly unchanged from our own era... save for the fact that the Japanese National Diet now sits in its center, making it a religious spot for the Japan-worshipers of the world-spanning religion based in Canterbury (which is also the name of the nation that rules the British Isles). It is also a strategic key point for both Adler and Antaruya, two countries that have been at each other's throats for decades at the point this story begins. As such, it has become a quiet battleground, with people fighting and dying in surprisingly large numbers but no one really acknowledging the conflicts in the open, so as to avoid showing weakness to the other two nations.
In general, it is a pretty explosive setup.
Now, I love this game... on my third playthrough, I found myself translating random scenes and sending them to friends, who complained that if I was going to tempt them with excerpts, I should translate the entire thing (which of course, I didn't deign to respond to, lol). It has its flaws (the fact that there is no Alice path... I'm a sucker for mature heroines who have survived horrible pasts more or less intact save for a wide streak of amorality), but it shows off the best of Light's non-Masada team's skills. In fact, it was this game that led me to pronounce that they had surpassed Masada, simply because they have proven to be far more consistent than he is (he reminds me of George Lucas... dreaming grand, often poetic, but with eccentricities that get in the way and with a tendency to pander at weird moments).
If you want a game with great exposition, an interesting concept, a deep setting, and great characters, this one is an excellent choice... if you've already played Vendetta. Unfortunately, most of this game doesn't make sense without playing Vendetta.
Understand, I'm not a huge fan of the moege and charage umbrella genres. This is something I'm sure anyone who reads this blog is already well-aware of (to the point of exasperation in some cases) and at this point, it isn't something I need to reemphasize. However, I've noticed that I've never really mentioned what I do like about moege/charage and their positive elements... and I thought I'd go ahead and put that down here.
1. Charage do make decent breaks from my workday, as they don't require much in the way of brain activity to enjoy.
2. Generally, their visuals are maintained at a level where they are pleasant to look at (some other genres use really odd art-styles... in the case of 07th Expansion, outright ugly ones, lol).
3. Junai (pure love) is a romantic genre that puts you at ease, in general. After all, you know that a happy ending is coming and there is no reason whatsoever to fear for the characters' future.
4. Comedy- Most charage at least attempt to be comedic. That they don't always succeed (increasingly, they don't succeed in recent years) doesn't detract from the fact that it is a quality of the genre.
5. Slice-of-life- Though you need to take it with a grain of salt, charage are actually much better as tools for learning about modern Japanese culture (outside of subculture) than anime and manga are, simply by the nature of a story with narration. That said, it is ultimately an exaggerated, compartmentalized, and idealized version of 'everyday life', lol.
VN of the Month, May 2018
First, VN of the Month, May 2018 is Shunkyoku no Tyrhia. While the game had some serious flaws, like all Liar Soft games, it was enjoyable enough that I felt it worth becoming a candidate for VN of the Month.
Maoten
Maoten is the game I was looking forward to the most for June's releases... and I was not in any way disappointed. The game is classic Candy Soft in some ways (the over the top characters, looser sexual mores than the norm in non-nukige, etc), but it also stands out as its own story.
This game focuses on a small town where a large number of demons settled after giving up rather quickly on conquering the world. The protagonist, who is at first unaware of this, is forced to an awareness of their existence by the rather extreme occurrence of Carlen's emergence into the world. Carlene, who is essentially a hedonistic free spirit with a child's attention span, becomes a catalyst for an interesting central story.
The protagonist of the story, Rentarou is a fishing addict with a kind heart and an inordinate fondness for women with large breasts (I know... *smiles wryly and shrugs*). He can be be proactive when it is necessary, but, as is typical of many essentially introspective protagonists, he has a tendency to fail to ask for help when he needs it.
There are three heroines in this game (though there are several noteworthy side-characters with h-scenes as well). The heroines are Rita (the protagonist's psychotic osananajimi), Yuuri (the protagonist's adoptive elder sister who happens to be a battle angel), and Carlene (the demon lord who devoured Shiva when he came down to obliterate the demon world).
In Maoten's world, demons who disrupt the human world seriously are subject to obliteration (usually along with any geographical features and lifeforms in the area) by the Angels, who are 'guardians of order' (supposedly). As such, the demons who arrived twenty years before survived by making agreements with Earth's government to allow for their settlement there.
Common Route
The common route varies between comedic and serious moments, with those same moments (typical of Candy Soft and its subsidiaries) often being mixed heavily. Generally speaking, most of it is comedic, with the more serious moments concentrated mostly in the beginning and at the end. A lot of this is simply because of the need to form a solid picture of Carlene's character, since she is the only one of the three heroines not to be living in immediate proximity to the protagonist.
I enjoyed the (rather long) common route and it had good pacing. However, it did leave a lot of things to your imagination int he worst way, so I felt myself wanting more even as I went into the heroine paths.
Carlene
Naturally, Carlene's path is the one I chose first. The relationship formation in this path is... kind of weird. Oh, there is definitely love there, but the resulting relationship can't really be called romantic. Rather it ends up as a rather weird version of a Queen and consort relationship, mostly due to Carlene's beliefs and her own view of her feelings toward Rentarou. There were a lot of rofl moments in this path, not the least during the h-scenes (you know that you are enjoying it when the h-scenes make you laugh). The actual story was good... and though I disliked how they dealt with the protagonist's own major issue, I just shrugged and lived with it in the end. The ending is one that made me smile, and it was perhaps too convenient... but I've yet to encounter a good ending from this company or its subsidiary (Minato soft) that wasn't that way to one extent or another.
Yuuri
Yuuri is an adorable person. While she seems both strict and friendly in public, in private with the protagonist, she is very much the 'wannabe oneechan', and she values her relationship with Rentarou greatly. The relationship building in this path is ridiculously straightforward, but in exchange this path deals with the events of ten years before (which involve the protagonist).
Like Karin's path, this one starts mostly amusing but becomes more story-focused as the protagonist digs deeper into past events surrounding the decaying hospice and himself. It was enjoyable, and the ending is worthy of a few happy tears in itself.
Rita
Rita's first path is something of a bad/normal ending. The story itself is excellently-written (as should be expected, given my experience with the previous paths), and this story deals the most intimately with the protagonist's most dramatic past issue. That said, this path has a much darker turn than the other two, at least for a time, and there is one scene that is borderline guro, so anyone coming into this one should be prepared. The humor in this path is much like the humor in the rest of the VN (typical Minato-soft/Candy Soft style character typical humor).
To give you a better idea of Rita's personality, she is like Kagome from Comyu (if she wasn't killing people to survive) or Momoyo from Majikoi (if she wasn't a martial artist). She is actively mischievous, strongly attached to her small circle of closest friends, and extremely hedonistic and self-absorbed much of the time.
Rita 2 (Another Path)
This path is referred to as Rita's second ending, but it is actually a non-romantic ending that serves as a general conclusion (it also wraps up the biggest loose end from the first Rita ending) to the story as a whole. This path is equally dramatic to Rita's path, but it is also a lot more emotionally stressful for much of its length. That said, I can honestly say there are no more secrets to this game's setting once this path is done, so it left me with a definite sense of satisfaction with the game as a whole.
Omake
The omake scenes in this game are basically a series of post-Another Path story and h-scenes focused on side characters (including one yaoi scene with Ramu). They are mostly humorous and/or ecchi... and it was nice to get some h-scenes with the game's rather large set of interesting female side-characters.
Conclusion
A first-class game that I've already put on my list of VN of the Year candidates. If you like the Majikoi style, this is an excellent game for you, but if you don't like it, there is a good chance you'll hate it. This game is apparently based in the same world as the Majikoi series, based on a cameo of certain characters, but I honestly question that, since I can't see Momoyo failing to sense Carlene and come to 'visit', lol.
Ok, anyone who has read some of my rants about microtransactions will wonder why I decided to play this f2p smartphone game... until you remember I'm also a Nasuverse fanboy.
I made the questionable decision of picking this game up about two and a half months ago, and since then I've been left with a lot to ponder. First, I'll list what I like about this game.
1. Relatively easy to play for free, in the sense that simply doing free quests and story quests can get you the in-game Saint Crystals necessary to roll for higher-rarity servants with only a bit of patience.
2. Charity Servants, the ones that you can get from completing event quests, are often really good (there are exceptions, even so far, but meh), so if you just do the events, you can still build a decent party before going for the higher-difficulty story quests.
3. Leveling up Servants can be fast if you have the items ready.
4. Battle system is decent, if sometimes deliberately frustrating (to encourage you to spend money, probably).
5. Support Servants borrowed from friends can let you clear hard quests easier.
6. The story of the main game is extremely well-written (though the translators made a lot of obvious stumbles by not fixing the language into English grammar at some points).
7. Manages to recreate the often ambiguous emotions drawn out when you played FSN or watched anime like Fate/Apocrypha that gave the series such grandiosity, along with the usual Nasu humor.
Negatives
1. Too many obvious ways in which they try to get you to spend money, with the constant summoning campaigns and sudden difficulty spikes during and post Camelot.
2. Blatant Japanese-style gacha-addiction builder.
3. Missions can be extremely long irl time, and AP regeneration speeds make it possible to play seven hours a day on story missions during half-AP campaigns... which eats at rl a bit too much.
My Experience
My rule when playing standard video games that I already know I want is 'I'll spend $60 and no more', and I kept to that rule, with a lot of headaches from temptation and obsession with cute or awesome Servants (Evil Artoria is just sexy in her portrait at final Ascension, lol). I've managed to enjoy the story of the main game and laugh through the events so far (the GudaGuda events were hilariously designed and written). However, the lack of breathing space between events and summoning campaigns leaves me feeling exhausted even if I only play a few hours here and there. Every time I wanted to sit back and enjoy the story, there was that time limit to get all the great skill-up and ascension items I didn't want to have to farm from the game nodes, and now there is an event coming up that requires you have completed the main story through Solomon... which is annoying as hell, since BB really looks cute, so I want her in my roster to stare at with drool dripping from the corners of my mouth, like with Medusa Rider and Evil Artoria...
Yes, that is the level of obsession this game can create for Fate fans. The fact that several familiar faces are available in the beginning-of-the-game gacha (including Archer from FSN and Heracles) is tailor-made to draw a Fate fan in and trap him with his own lust. I don't recommend anyone with a collector's tendencies or addictive tendencies in general play this game, as it is a potential money sink for any such individual, sadly. Since I am such an individual, my words should have weight, lol. It takes real effort for me not to look at the summoning campaigns when I don't have Saint Crystals or summoning tickets.
On the other hand, this game manages to actually tell a good story, and, having just finished Camelot (which is a difficulty spike on par with suddenly dipping into a Souls game when you thought you were playing Ar Tonelico level), I can tell you it is worth at least going this far. While it lacks the huge emotionality of Fate/Apocrypha or the original FSN, it makes up for it with the sheer number of personal stories and glorious ends the various Servants manage to meet. The fact that this definitely feels like a Fate story in both depth and detail makes it even better for a Fate fanboy.
However, where things fall short is that we have yet another silent protagonist, similar to Fate/Extra. While this makes, justifiably, the Servants the stars of the story, it can be a bit frustrating that your only inputs are frequently humorous interjections.
Personally, one thing that has had me laughing on numerous occasions is how gloriously weird some of the Berserker characters are... since they are all psycho to one degree or the other, this can lead to some... interesting results. While our friend Lancelot from Fate/Zero makes an appearance, most of the Berserkers can and do speak, even if their manner is downright crazy or obsessive.
Higashide might be familiar to Western anime fans as the writer for the Fate/Apocrypha LNs and the new anime series, or he might be familiar as the writer of Ayakashibito and Tokyo Babel. However, of late he has definitely begun to worm his way into the collective consciousness of the Western otakus.
So what kind of writer is he? He wrote one of my single favorite VNs, Evolimit, and his works definitely have a certain... style. Perhaps the most obvious reason why he leaves and impression is that he is really, really good at creating characters on both sides of the line of his battle stories that are both larger than life yet still empathetic. While I could also mention the delightful sense of humor he puts into his works, and that is indeed a defining aspect of his writing, what really defines his games is the sheer overwhelming power of the characters and the emotions born from their interactions.
Of the top ten most memorable scenes I've read in a VN, three of them have been from one of his VNs. Higashide loves his tragic heroes, his great villains, and all the colors of humanity in between. The Disasters from Evolimit and their final moments in Shizuku's path still break my heart... even in memory. Selma's bravery in overcoming her own internal demons in the face of prejudice and malice from those around her in Bullet Butlers still strikes me to the heart today. Kuki-sensei's bravery and strength of will to overcome his own past in the crossover fandisc Chrono Belt fills me with the same bittersweet emotions it did the first time.
His characters are so... alive. That is something few VN writers can manage. Moe, as a tool of storytelling, is really good at leaving an initial impression. However, HIgashide is someone who can utilize moe without making it the center of the story, using it as a spice rather than drowning the main dish in moe ketchup.
He really is one of those rare writers who can make a story that is better than the sum of its parts. He is also really, really, good at presenting that story in a way that leaves and impression that doesn't fade even after years have passed.
As a writer, he doesn't really go for the obscure or for the philosophical. Many of his works, by the end, start to feel like a Greek tragicomedy or a heroic saga. They leave you with a feeling of the grandiose, and they are far more straightforward than you usually experience with a chuuni writer, most of whom will often go for being obscure, just out of habit. The fact that he can create that sense of grandiosity while giving his characters the humanity they need to strike at the hearts of the readers makes him one of my favorite writers of all time.
It just sucks that he doesn't intend to write any more VNs.
(For those interested in the gameplay, I used a clear save I downloaded from the beginning to skip the battles, so you'll need to ask someone else)
Gouen no Soleil is the second entry in the Soleil series and the first one where Lovecraftian elements are included. For those wondering about cameos and characters from other games, the protagonist of this story, Nagare, was classmates with the protagonist of Shirogane, and in some of the endings, you get to see the world and some of the characters of Harukazedori ni, Tomarigi o.
The game starts with the protagonist encountering a girl that looks like the little sister he sees in his dreams, accompanied by a Deep One (yes, those Deep Ones) in a trenchcoat and hat. Upon encountering him, his 'sister' gives him a gleeful smile and he loses consciousness, waking up in a ruined building that seems to have once been his school, trapped in the body of his little sister.
What follows is a bit messy, but he ends up contracted to the weaponized spirit, Rin, who was made from a Black Kirin (a spirit whose role is to speak of the end of the world) and forced to join the Seireichou, an organization dedicated to protecting the foreign world he finds himself in from foreign threats. While he does this in order to find a way to retrieve his body, he ends up seriously helping them out, despite the cold cruelty of the leader (a loli named Mugen) and the general harshness of the world he finds himself in.
This VN is a bit heavy on the gender-bending, so for those who don't like that kind of thing, you might want to avoid it. There are good reasons why the protagonist's sexuality is so... fluid, but they are mostly used to amuse the reader, lol.
Like Shirogane, this game has a relatively high ratio of serious story to slice-of-life in comparison to most VNs, with slice-of-life being almost entirely relegated to basic character development. Unlike Shirogane's protagonist, Nagare isn't a natural philanderer... but he has his own issues, since his soul is gradually adjusting itself to his new body.
Anyway, the story itself is typical Soleil... extremely hard on the characters, full of destruction and apocalyptic drama, and deliberately obscure at many points. Anyone familiar with the typical Japanese take on the Cthulhu Mythos will figure out who is behind the villains of the story pretty quick. However, it is nonetheless a nice, dark little story with innumerable bad endings and two separate paths to the various heroine endings (Ouka's arc contains all the heroines except Rin and Ruru).
Don't expect deep characterization... this company generally doesn't waste that kind of effort outside the main heroines of its games (Rin and Ouka in this case) and the protagonists. As such, the endings other than that of the two main heroines are perhaps not as powerful... but I liked some of them, at least... especially the threesome ending with the two Valkyries.
I've been considering this for some time, but it has suddenly become a reality.
To be blunt, I've come to my limit when it comes to playing pure SOL games. Oh, I can still enjoy many of them, but if you asked me whether I can look at them without my resentment of 'normal' SOL content blinding me, the answer is no. If I have to read through one more template date scene or see another osananajimi climb through the window from next door, I'm going to start tearing out the last remaining hairs atop my head.
*coughs* Ahem, now that I've got that out, it needs to be said that I've been doing this since September of 2012... a ridiculous amount of time to be playing roughly 80% of all non-nukige VNs that come out (I'm figuring those I dropped or just couldn't play because they were just that bad into the twenty percent).
Just to be clear, I will still continue to play VNs and comment on/review them in this blog. However, I will no longer play as many outside my tastes, nor will I go out of my way to seek gems from companies I hate reading from.
I realized while I was playing Koisaku (Ensemble's latest game), that a few years ago, I would have read this game without any real problems, and I wouldn't even have blinked at the crap that now drives me up the wall. Oh sure, Ensemble's base quality has fallen massively, but when I took a step back, this is actually one of the better amongst their more recent games, with plenty of indications of real stories for the heroines in the background. However, I found I just couldn't tolerate it.
It hit me in the date scene that occurs in the common route... I have no tolerance for date scenes at all anymore. Scenes like that exist for every heroine in every SOL VN, and they all turn out in almost an identical fashion. Reading it, even though it was basically a 'friend date', was like dragging my brain through mud. I just couldn't do it.
I promised myself that I wouldn't BS myself on this particular matter years ago... and I knew the limit was coming. I just didn't realize that it would be this soon.
So, I have to announce that this is the end of my VN of the Month column. Now, all that remains is my Random VNs and whatever VNs I choose to play each month.
I will continue to play what I'm interested in, and that will probably include slice-of-life at times. However, I will no longer play SOL out of a sense of duty to my readers.
My original reasons for starting VN of the Month
When I first started Clephas' VN of the Month, it was because vndb gives nothing to you for info on their games beyond poor tls of the game summary from Getchu, character profiles, and sometimes tags (that might or might not be accurate). I felt that that didn't do most games justice, and I hated the way I had to go into a game blind on so many occasions. As such, I started putting up commentaries on just what kind of VN I was playing, with few or no spoilers. This was a need that, at the time, was not being fulfilled (and as far as I know, still isn't, since most reviewers include major spoilers because they are inconsiderate).
Over time, my routine each month started with figuring out which games weren't nukige and which I would play first... and picking out which one was the best after I played them (the latter of course being entirely a matter of my opinion, informed as it might be).
However, it is time to set down my burden. I tried handing off my work to others, and that worked for a while (thanks to @Dergonu@fun2novel@BookwormOtaku@Kiriririri for their help over the last year - yes, even you, Kiriririri). In the end, though, I'm just one man... and one middle-aged man with increasingly bad health isn't going to be able to keep this up any longer. Heck, I'm amazed i kept going this long.
I do hope someone else takes up the torch of at least informing people of what to expect in newer games (and not just the ones from popular companies), but that isn't my job anymore.
Thanks for reading,
Clephas
Finn is an angel who is also an oracle for the god of the other world where all the non-humans live. In the story, she has basically been told to 'go to the human world and learn', and she is a total innocent who is incapable of acting on her own. Her main draw as a character is the way she attaches herself at the hip to the protagonist almost from the beginning and her generally straightforward and innocent reactions to anything and everything. Her path is a simple one, with a really obvious path to the ending. Her cuteness was great... but to be honest, I felt her path, like Kuroe's, was kind of lacking in depth.
Rea
Rea's path is... a classic example of what happens when people who aren't used to writing serious non-romance scenes try to write a bit of serious drama (the only serious drama/action I've seen so far in this VN). To be honest, it feels abrupt and forced... and it is obvious that the writer doesn't really have a strong image of what he wants to do here. It doesn't help that the actual antagonist is so ridiculous-looking that it is pretty much impossible to take what is going on seriously or emotionally attach to what is going on. As a path, the ichaicha part is about par for the course with Hook Soft's VNs in general, but the attempt at seriousness just doesn't go down right.
Edit: I should clarify that Rea's path is not all drama... it is mostly ichaicha (like all Hook soft paths), but the above description is how I felt about the experience with the drama at the end of the path.
This scene is the opening of Silverio Vendetta, and the two monologues (one from Zephyr, one from a spoiler character who isn't named in the scene) define the nature of the game's theme.
“勝利”とは、何だ？
What is victory?
“栄光”とは、何だ？
What is glory?
それを得れば、何も失わずに済むのだろうか
I choose that path, will I be able to live without losing anything?
救えるのか。守れるのか。本当に、幸せになれるのだろうか
Can I save what is mine? Can I protect it? Can I really find happiness?
問いは切実。なぜなら、勝利というものはとても恐ろしいものだから。それが輝きの内に秘めている毒牙を、俺は誰より痛感している。
I ask this earnestly. For victory is by nature frightening to me. I know the poisoned fangs hidden within its glorious light better than anyone.
身の丈を超えた栄誉、使い切れないほどの大金、人目に付かざるを得ない大成功……そういったものはどうしても過剰摂取してしまった途端、逆に所有者を苦しめにかかる。
Honors that leave capability in the dust, more money than one can spend, success that can't help but be noticed... Those things can't help but cause the holder suffering the moment they overdose upon them.
つまりは反作用。
In other words, it is a reaction.
分かりやすいところでは敗者からの妬みつらみに有名税、人物像の一人歩きに、あらぬ期待や噂話。過激なものでは殺害予告、崇拝脅迫などなどと……
Amongst the more obvious would be jealousy from the defeated, the price of fame, the public's view differing from reality, and unfounded rumors and expectations. The more extreme end can even go to death threats, worship, blackmail, etc...
悪意か、あるいは逆に暴走した善意ゆえか。どちらにしても恐ろしいことには変わりなく。
Whether it is malice or berserk good will, they are both terrifying.
それは時として単純な敗北を上回る激痛と化し、更なる破滅の呼び水となる。
At times, that even becomes a suffering far more terrible than simple defeat, and it can even become the cause of utter ruin.
大きな事業が成功した代償に、愛する家族に累が及べば本末転倒。それと同じだ。
It is the same as losing your family as the cost for succeeding in business. It's counterproductive.
時としてここは負けておくだとか、少し遠慮をしてみせるとか、そういった配慮が必要な瞬間は間違いなく存在している。勝てば官軍とは早々いかない
It is an absolute truth that there are times when it is best to consider allowing defeat or showing humility.
無論、だからといって勝利するなと言っているわけでもないのだ。そんなことを真剣に語るやつは心底馬鹿だし、目が曇っていると言う他ない。
Of course, I'm not saying 'don't win'. Anyone who says that is a total idiot and is blind to reality.
人ならば誰しも、いいやどんな生物であろうと例外なく勝利という結果を目指す。それが自然で、当たり前の行動原理だ。そもそも負けてばかりでは生きることさえ難しく、無制限に敗者を許してくれるほど世の中は甘い形に出来てはいない。
Humans... no all living things regardless of origin seek a victorious result. That way of being is perfectly natural and a matter of course. It is truly rare that victory is unadulterated. In the first place, if you are always on the losing side, it is hard to even live, and the world isn't so kind as to infinitely forgive the defeated.
だからそいつの器に見合った勝利と、妥協できる程度の敗北。その一線を見極めて行動するのが充実した人生を送るコツではなかろうかと、思わざるを得ないのだ。
That's why the ideal is to seek victories one is capable of handling and defeats one is capable of accepting. I can't help but believe that the key to living a full life is acting while keeping an eye on that thin line.
大きな夢を目指すことで惨めに敗れるくらいなら、最初から挑戦せずにそこそこの勝負で済ませておくのが最も賢く、傷も浅い……と。
'Rather than suffering a terrible defeat as the result of pursuing a great dream, it is much smarter and less painful to avoid challenging your limits and be satisfied with minor victories and losses...'
反吐の出そうな弱者の論理展開だがこれを口にしているやつは存外多く、かくいう俺もその一人。
That's the nauseating thought process of the weak, but there are a lot of people out there who talk this way... and I am one of them.
卑小？ 凡人？ そうだな、指摘されてもその通り。自分自身でよく分かっているよ。予め負けた時のために予防線を張っているだけだろうと誹られても、まったく、ぐうの音も出ない
Pathetic? Mediocre? Yes, what you are saying is correct. I know that very well. Even if you say I'm just making excuses for the time I lose in advance, I can't refute you.
そうだとも、俺は小物だ。
That's right, I'm a pathetic man.
人としても男としても、小さな器しか持っていない。
Whether as a person or a man, I am only capable of so much.
大した理想や信念もなくその日暮らしの金銭さえ手に入れられれば満足という、翻弄される風見鶏。
I live without any real ideals or convictions, an opportunist who is quite satisfied as long as he can make enough money to live day by day.
受動的、かつ厭世的。ただ一言、情けない。
I'm passive as well as pessimistic. To sum me up in a single word... pathetic.
けれど──
However...
それでもただ一つ、言い訳をさせてもらうなら悟ったまでの人生について具申したい。
Still, if you'll let me make one excuse, I would like to report on the life I lived until I came to this realization.
俺は何も負け続けたからこうなったわけではなく、求めてもいない勝利のせいでこうなってしまったのだから。
I didn't end up this way because I kept losing but rather because of an unwanted set of victories.
そう──勝てば碌なことにはならない。
That's right... nothing good comes of winning.
必ず、より強大な姿となって次の苦難が訪れる。
Without fail, the next, much larger tribulation follows it up.
それは冗談みたいな言葉だが俺にとっては紛うことなく真実だった。
That might seem like some kind of joke... but it was an absolute truth for me.
本当に、ああ本当に、いつもいつも、いつもいつもいつもいつも……
Really, oh really... every time, always, always always...
敵に、任務に、難問に、勝負に、勝ったところで状況が一向に改善されない。それどころか、難易度がアップした状態で似たような事態が連続するという始末。まったく訳が分からない。
Whether an enemy, a mission, a difficult question, or a competition, achieving victory fails to improve the situation. Moreover, I found myself facing similar situations at escalating levels of difficulty. Seriously, what's with that?
身をすり減らして勝った途端、より恐るべき難題が必ず目の前にふりかかる。
The moment I won by running myself ragged, an even worse problem would always, without exception, pop up before me.
血反吐をはいて生き抜いた途端、どこからか容易に超えざる大敵が次は俺の番だと出現してくる。
The moment I came out victorious, puking blood, another great enemy would appear before me.
まるで運命という宝箱をぶちまけでもしたかのように。際限なく湧き出てくる次の問題、次の敵、次の次の次の次の──勝者が負わねばならぬ義務。
It was almost as if the contents of fate's treasure box were scattered before me. Problems, enemies, and every tribulation you could possibly imagine welling forth endlessly... the duty a victor must bear.
おまえは見事に勝ったのだから、栄光を手にしたのだから、次のステージに進むのは当然でより相応しい争いに身を投じなければならないとでも？
Is the world saying that, since I won, since I achieved glory that proceeding to the next stage is a matter of course, and I have to throw myself into a more fitting conflict?
それが勝者の宿命だから？ ふざけろよ、こんな馬鹿げた話があるか
Because that is the duty of a victor? Screw that! Can there be anything more idiotic than this?!
誰しもみな現状をより良くしたいから勝利や栄光を願うのに、なぜか俺に限ってはそれが自らの首を絞めていくのだから、不条理という他ないだろう。
Everyone seeks victory and glory to make their present better, but for some reason, in my case, that just strangles me. You can't call that anything other than absurdity.
そして当然、凡人なのだから負けもする。いいやむしろ、何も出来ずに地を這う方が多いくらいだ。
And of course, since I'm just a normal person, I lose as well. No, it was actually more common for me to be crawling the earth, helpless.
それが嫌だから研鑽を積み、慣れない努力に手を伸ばしたこともある。
There was a time when, because I didn't like that, I took the unfamiliar path of working hard.
けれど勝てば、決まって訪れる次の困難。永遠に脱出不能の蟻地獄。頭がどうにかなりそうだった。
However, if I won, I was doomed to face the next tribulation. It was a hellish existence I was incapable of escaping. I felt like I was going to go mad.
そんな状態に置かれて尚不屈の意志を保てるほど、人の心は強くない。
Placed into that kind of situation, the human heart isn't so strong as to be able to maintain an indomitable will.
だから、俺はもう十分だと疲れ果てて。
And so, I decided I had enough, exhausted.
このまま、ただ流されて生きることを選択し。
I chose to live going with the flow.
自分が塵だということを、嫌になるほど受け入れたのに。
Though I hated it, I even accepted the fact that I was worthless trash.
けれど──
However...
それでも、守らなければならない子が出来たから。
Yest still, I found a girl I had to protect.
彼女を救うために、このちっぽけな命を懸けると誓った。ゆえに後もう一度だけと奮い立たせて、再起する。
I vowed to use this pathetic life to save her. For that reason, I forced myself to stand and go forth once again.
一世一代、最後の博打。そして俺は何の因果か勝ってしまい……
It was a once in a lifetime, final gamble... and for some reason I won...
どうしようもなく“勝利”を手にしてしまったのだ。
And I achieved yet another terrible victory.
それがすなわち、地獄への片道切符に変貌するということをついぞ甘くみたままに……
I foolishly failed to realize that that was doomed to transform into a one-way trip to hell...
(at this point, it changes narrators from Zephyr to another)
死神が呼び寄せられる。手に負えない艱難辛苦が訪れる。
The grim reaper is called forth. Trials and tribulations beyond my ability to handle arrive.
守り抜くなど絶対不可能。勝者へは永遠に至れない。
Protecting her to the end is absolutely impossible. He will never become a true victor.
訪れる次の大敵──次の不幸。次の苦難。次の破滅。
What comes is another enemy, another misfortune, another tribulation, another ruin.
掴み取ったはずの未来は暗黒に蝕まれたまま続行していく。
The future he thought he'd reached continues to move forward, eaten away by darkness.
むしろ手にした奇跡を呼び水に、よりおぞましい新たな試練を組み込んで運命を駆動させるのだ。
Rather, the miracle he managed to create becomes fuel for another challenge, turning the wheels of fate.
それが“逆襲”と呼ばれるものの本質。
That is the nature of a 'counterattack'.
弱者が強者を滅ぼすからこそ成立する概念は、ゆえ逆説的に、勝利の栄華を手にしてしまえば執行資格を失ってしまう。
As it is a concept that exists through the weak destroying the strong, if the glory of victory is achieved, the right to use it is lost.
……彼は永遠の負け犬、呪われた銀の人狼。
... He is an eternal loser, the cursed silver werewolf.
常に敗亡の淵で嘆きながらあらゆる敵を巨大な咢門で噛み砕く、痩せさらばえた負の害獣。
The gaunt evil beast who crushes all enemies in its great jaws while howling its despair from the depths of defeat.
次にやって来る狩人が更に凶悪な存在になると分かっていても、自分自身の宿命から逃れられずに足掻いている。
He continues to struggle, even though he knows that the next hunter will be even more terrible than the last, unable to escape his destiny.
“勝利”からは逃げられない。
It is impossible to escape from victory.
“勝利”からは逃げられない。
It is impossible to escape from victory.
“勝利”からは逃げられない。
It is impossible to escape from victory.
「ならば────」
"Then..."
──さあ、どうするか？
... now, what will you do?
Hmm... to be honest, I haven't played many VNs of this type, mostly because they don't really fit my tastes.
This is one of those dark horror/rape/sex training VNs that also happen to be based in the middle of the Cthulhu Mythos universe. To be precise, this one is based on an island that mirrors Innsmouth in the mythos. It is ruled by the Mashuu Family, and the protagonist ends up marrying the last daughter of that family, Mizuki. He also gets stuck with an immense power and the role of giving women over to the islanders as breeders.
I'll be blunt, while I liked the actual story, there is way too much dark H in this VN, for my tastes. It was made worse by the fact that I actually liked the 'heroines' and I didn't like to see the gang rapes that are part of the VN's story.
The funny thing is that the actual relationship between most of the heroines and the protagonist is actually... pleasant, most of the time. Given that is a Cthulhu Mythos story, it is inevitable that people go insane or fall under the control of evil. However, on the flip side, the girls are basically stained with darkness somewhere at the core from the beginning, and the protagonist, for all his own insanity and flaws, is something of a salvation to them.
I can't really say that any of the endings are 'good'. I did like Riri's ending, and the bad guys mostly got their just desserts in the true ending. However, I've never been fond of VNs that aren't utsuge where everyone goes insane to one degree or another, lol.
Let's first lay out my basic view... I loathe microtransactions.
I'm not an anti-industry activist, and I don't have a serious bone to pick with any individual company about them. I've had a few bad experiences with them, but the reason for my loathing is something more fundamental, that I came to realize only after I'd put a year or so between my worst experience with them.
First of all, my experience was with an MMORPG on PC, rather than a blockbuster title or a smartphone game. As such, in some ways my experience is probably the most 'traditional' one for the original form microtransactions took... the 'pay-to-win' model of massively multiplayer games.
Basically, in that game, you could not only buy clothing and armor with real money, you could also massively accelerate your experience gaining and basically not even do several annoying but important quests that gained you new skills and and access to higher classes if you were willing to fork over enough money. Now, this was the game that essentially put an end to me playing MMO's, even out of curiosity. Before then, I'd only played subscription-model games, and as a result, I'd never experienced a game designed to essentially squeeze more and more money out of people in that manner. My frustration kept growing, because up until then, I'd basically played games when they first came out until I reached the level cap, then dropped them, cancelling my subscriptions and deleting my account. However, in that game, I kept on running into roadblocks to my curiosity about the world I'd entered, and when that frustration reached its peak... I made the mistake of indulging in microtransactions to speed things along.
I probably wouldn't have realized what it was doing to me or my bank account, if it weren't for the fact that I got caught up in a minor scandal where a GM was raiding players' accounts using his administrative rights and selling off their non-bound equipment and items on the marketplace. While it wasn't a direct result of my microtransactions, it nonetheless served to cool my head... and make me realize I'd basically thrown away money on virtual items, some of them with frigging time limits for their use. I got my money back for the stolen items, but only after I flatly stated I wanted nothing to do with the game after that and threatened to lawyer up if they refused. So, I managed to escape before I reached the degree of financial loss Japanese 'kakinhei' have been casually enduring for years before the concept wormed its way over here (incidentally, it is much, much worse in Japan, China, and Korea than it is here...).
Microtransactions are essentially an outgrowth of the dlc concept, save without even attempting to give you value for value. Once you've purchased dlc, it is yours, you can leave it installed without worrying the 'time limit' will run out, and you don't need to feel driven to show off how much money you wasted to people who were just as stupid as you were. However, the most critical difference is that dlc isn't an 'infinite product'. It isn't constructed to draw ever greater amounts of money out of the user and indulging in purchasing dlc or a season pass for a regular game you like isn't nearly as damaging to your wallet or your mental health as microtransactions are.
Edit: To be clear, I see microtransactions as being one of the most fundamentally dishonest types of scam directed at consumers to have cropped up this century. The techniques are well-established, predatory, and poisonous, especially to those too young and inexperienced to realize that money doesn't spray in infinite clouds of green from the cards in their parents' wallet.
I'm currently playing Black Wolves Saga, an otomege by Rejet. I'm going to repeat a statement I've made many times in the past about otomege in general... their tropes are like a cancer on the genre in general. DIDS (Damsel in Distress Syndrome), tsundere heroes, psychotic/obsessive/possessive heroes, and dominating heroes rot these VNs from the inside in the same way the osananajimi heroines, airhead heroines, and self-insert protagonists of male-oriented VNs do to those.
This VN is no exception.
The protagonist is your typical optimistic, slightly airheaded doormat that makes up ninety percent of all otomege protagonists. That this VN is an utsuge only makes this stand out more... she attracts a huge host of yandere, yangire, and just generally insane and/or broken heroes who are - to one degree or another - obsessed with her. To be honest, I was almost impressed that they could manage to put so many crazy people in as romantic interests in a single VN.
I finished the two Cait Sith main heroes' paths last night... and my thought was 'This is what is listed as a GOOD ending? Seriously? Just how much of a moronic doormat can she be?' To be blunt, it resembled some of the bad endings I've seen in chuunige where the protagonist basically spends the rest of his life as a sex-slave for a psychotic female who isn't quite a heroine before she decides to kill him on a whim. There is absolutely nothing likable about either of them, no redeeming value to them as people... and you are required to finish their paths to access some of the more interesting heroes.
To be honest, this entire VN would be a lot more interesting if they had put it in complete 3rd person and made you just a spectator to what was going on rather than forcing you to self-insert into an idiotic ditz who occasionally shows signs of intelligence, only to make you give up on her five minutes later when she thinks, says, or does something so completely idiotic that it cancels out those brief moments of actual intellect.
I'm being really harsh... but where this story really stands out is in the depth of the setting and the degree to which the writer captures the insanities of human nature when driven to extremes by a hellish life or the events of the world around them. The characters are generally distasteful scum or people who make you want to kick them in the head for stupid naivete, but in exchange, you get a story of genocide, intrigue, torture, and murder that lines itself up with a number of other dark fantasy out there... and doesn't lose out completely, despite the cast of characters.
Another place where this VN stands out is in its music and art... the art is a unique style, with the use of colors and detail you generally don't see even in your average otomege. The music is dominated primarily by gloomy and sorrowful tunes... but those tunes are pretty high quality, so it is a plus, despite most of the tracks being depressing.
While I plan to play one of the wolf paths, I have no interest in playing all the paths of this VN, so think of this as my general impression for the time being. Being the protagonist of this VN is just too frustrating given the setting for me to be able to stand it much longer.
After trying both of them, I dropped Anata o Otoko ni Shiteageru and Sankai, for similar reasons. However, this leaves me with two VNs that have varying levels of interest from the community to play... Island by Frontwing and Wagamama High Spec by Madosoft.
Madosoft... produces thematic VNs, rather than your standard charage. They pick a theme and unify all the heroines into that type. This tends to have pretty awful results so far (both Yakimochi and Namaiki were kusoge, though they were fairly popular with the fans of older-style moege), so I'm honestly not hopeful for the VN.
Island... I plan to give it a chance, and I'm honestly hopeful for it, after reading up on it.
I'm going to be honest... this was a month of unrealized potential and over-hyped games. To put things straight in my own words... I really, really don't want to name anything from this month as VN of the Month. If I were to name a VN of the Month based solely on quality and ignoring my own policies on sequels and remakes, it would definitely be Sengoku Koihime X. Nothing this month even gets in the same region as that VN, for all its flaws. Unfortunately, I do have a personal policy on naming direct sequels, fandics, and remakes as VN of the Month, so it isn't a full candidate.
On the other hand, Island, for all its hype, turned out to be something of a disappointment for me. I like Front Wing's games, for the most part, though I do end up disliking some of them. I honestly thought like the setting and characters looked interesting when I was reading up to it in the weeks preceding its release. However, when I got into it, I had a definite sense of dejavu, and not in a good way. To be honest, though I do like a good mindfuck sometimes, the somewhat absurd nature of the ones in Island left me a bit irritated. Moreover, the weakness of the initial paths and the true ending were enough to push it below the level I demand of VN of the Month vns, even if it will still be named on my potential recommendations for the year as a whole.
Wizard's Complex was, in some ways, my biggest disappointment for the month. It comes from Windmill, a company that has produced a number of first-class games (such as Kamigakari Cross Heart and HHG). However, the hopes I had crumbled with surprising speed once I actually started playing the VN. My misfortune in playing this VN was expecting more just because the company in question had produced more in the past.
Almost by default, this leaves Wagamama High Spec as the VN of the Month 2016... though I feel it is unfortunate that Island didn't blow it out of the water, as I'd hoped it would. Dal Segno, for all that it had its good points, had some severe problems that just made it impossible to take seriously, in the end.
I'll be frank, Soushuu Senshinkan Gakuen Bansenjin feels more and more like a 'worthless sequel' the more I read. I don't say that out of cruelty but simply because I have no attachment left to the characters from the original, except a general feeling of 'that story was over, for god's sake move on!'. Some people already know my feelings about sequels in chuunige VNs, and Masada is particularly bad when it comes to returning characters. One of the problems is that Masada tends to actually complete his stories inside that one VN in such a way that you are left exhausted and satisfied... and thus you can't help but feel a little betrayed when he up and creates a sequel.
Moreover, this is a time when I would really have preferred them to just create a new cast of characters from scratch. Yoshiya is Masada's most boring protagonist - I can say this with absolute certainty - and the other characters are similarly bland in comparison to his other works. The fact that the first VN was still a lot of fun was simply because Masada is good at telling stories in general. To be honest, I was a lot happier when I was only thinking of the possibilities for this game.
Worse, because I know where it is going - Masada's hints are more blatant than usual - I'm starting to be unable to retain an interest. 有体に言いえば。。。白けた
I feel like I feel when watching a zombie movie... something that shouldn't be moving is moving, blech. I don't care really what Masada planned from the beginning, because this has been a singularly unpleasant experience so far.
Edit: I just figured it out. I wanted Shizuno (the white-black haired girl) to be the protagonist, with only minimal interference from the old cast. To be honest, her weirdness would have made her an excellent new protagonist, and I hate that I'm spending so much time in boring old Yoshiya's head when a more interesting brain is nearby, lol.
I've been a gamer for 22 long years. I began my journey into the endless ocean of corruption that is video games with Super Mario Bros on the NES, and - while I've more or less fallen out of love with modern jrpgs - I have played a rather large number of Japanese role-playing games over the years. Since this is a general otaku forum, I though I'd go ahead and include a list of famous pre-2008 jrpgs that can still be played today, without having to go out and hunt through bargain bins, resort to emulation, or use a non-internet-capable gaming system to play (in other words, that you only need current or the most recent previous generation of systems to play).
First, your most obvious source is going to be... Steam. I'll make a quick list of JRPGs that have been ported to Steam that I think an otaku can still get some pleasure out of. Unfortunately, while the library of games of this type being released for this platform is rapidly expanding, there is a lot of ground to cover. Phantasy Star II- The first game from the series to be imported here, it has an interesting, if somewhat gaunt, story that is fairly enjoyable. The difficulty level is high (like most games from the era), but if you can play modern jrpgs on hard mode, you probably won't have a problem with this. Phantasy Star III - If you want to see where they first used the 'role-play across multiple generations' idea, this is the one. Story-wise, it is pretty basic (like most rpgs from that era, where space was so limited) and the difficulty is pretty high, but it is also fairly enjoyable. I honestly suggest you pull out Cheat Engine later on though. Phantasy Star IV- The flower of the Phantasy Star series, unmatched to this day. This game pushed the Sega Genesis to its limits and was one of the first games to utilize (a somewhat rudimentary) mission system. Unlike the previous entries, the story is much deeper and more interesting, and the overall world-building is excellent. Valkyria Chronicles- Ok, if you don't know about this, you are either new to jrpgs or have had your head buried into the sand... Final Fantasy III Final Fantasy IV Final Fantasy V Final Fantasy VI (in my opinion, the best game in the series, even today) Final Fantasy VII Grandia II- one of two excellent games in this series (the others mostly sucking), it has both an excellent story and the single best turn-based battle system I have ever seen in a japanese role-playing game. Shining Force- an oldie but a goodie. It is a very basic Japanese-style srpg made during the Genesis era. Shining Force II- Same as above, but more refined, with a better-written story and better music. Shining in the Darkness- A first-person dungeon-crawling rpg by the makers of the Shining Force series Tales of Symphonia (from back before the Tales series started to suck... planned later next year) Disgaea- The original comic over-leveling jsrpg that started an entire sub-genre. Planned for release in February of 2016. Trails in the Sky- It was a classic, long before they actually managed to get it over here on the PSP (I'd already played it).
For those wondering about the virtual console on Nintendo systems, I have to apologize and say that it is just too hard to sort through what can be played on what... I will say that I can honestly recommend both Ogre Battle games (on Wii only so far) and anything with Mother or Earthbound on it. I've heard rumors of several other old favorites, but so far neither hide nor hair of them has popped up (I'm thinking of you, Breath of Fire). On the PSN... Suikoden Suikoden II (a kamige, play it. It is still good even today) Grandia (the original) Growlanser Wayfarer of Time (you need a Vita or a PSP for this, but it is considered to be the best game of a first-rate series that got seriously gypped due to Working Designs' and Atlus's poor advertising) P3P (Persona 3 on the PSP and Vita, lol) Xenogears (still one of my favorite rpgs... it has aged better than some, though the fact of how they squeezed in three discs of story onto the last disc due to time constraints is still quite apparent) Castlevania Symphony of the Night (barely fits in the 'rpg' layer, but meh) Wild Arms (the first - and in some people's eyes - the best of the series) Wild Arms 2 Final Fantasy VII Final Fantasy IX Alundra (straight out Link to the Past style action jrpg) Arc the Lad Arc the Lad II (you have to play the original to make this comprehensible) Arc the Lad III (ditto to above) Front Mission III (Final Fantasy tactics with mechs in a future-setting) Vagrant Story (mixed feelings about it, but it was essentially a good game) Legend of Mana (a bit screwy structure and storytelling, but the various arcs are generally interesting, if you manage to do them in order) Breath of Fire IV (the first sign of the eventual death of the series, it was still fairly good) Chrono Trigger (duh) Chrono Cross (best music) Vanguard Bandits (extremely psychotic storytelling in an srpg combined with mechs in a fantasy world) Final Fantasy V Final Fantasy VI Persona 2: Eternal Punishment Persona 2: Innocent Sin (play this before above) Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth Tactics Ogre Final Fantasy Tactics
PS2 Classics (most require a PS3 or a PS4) Disgaea Disgaea 2 Legaia 2 (dunno why they put this up and not the original, but it is pretty good) Odin Sphere (not to my tastes, but I know lots of people who love it) SMT: Digital Devil Saga I and II (basically one game in two... story-wise the best SMT game, period) SMT: Persona 3 FES Persona 4 SMT: Nocturne (main series, think demonic Pokemon with a central plot) Suikoden III Romancing SaGa
Recommendations for Emulation on old systems that shouldn't be missed Straight-out, you should play Growlanser 2 and 3... and possibly consider playing the Japanese version of the original (PSP version or PS1 version) with the translation at hand. The series is unbelievably good... especially 3. 3 has some of the best atmosphere I've seen in any Jrpg, as well as a number of ways you can subtly alter the story and its progression. I love the original Growlanser battle system, as it exists through IV (Wayfarer of Time) for its unique take on the semi-real-time srpg. I also recommend emulating Dragon Force and Panzer Dragoon Saga for the Sega Saturn... because both games are excellent and are ridiculously expensive to obtain normally (unopened copies of Panzer Dragoon Saga have sold - from my hands - for five hundred to fifteen hundred dollars a piece). PS: To this day, I still use Growlanser 2 and 3 to draw in newbies, because the games are easy to understand, have extremely high production values for the era in which they were made, and are still pretty today.
First, I should note that, despite how it begins, this VN turned out to not be a nukige. However, it is definitely not a 'pure love' story from beginning to end. A literal translation of the Japanese name would be 'The warped lie and love letter' with 'letter' being interchangeable with the word for a stereotyped reputation.
Second, I should warn anyone who plays this to either do Saeko's path last or read only her path. It is just too hard to pick another heroine after picking Saeko. I did it, but I can honestly say that I felt like I was abandoning Saeko the whole time.
This game's setting is like this: The protagonist as a child was a little... mature for his age. He and his girlfriend at the time (Saeko) even went so far as to have sex (without really understanding how society would see their actions), and eventually a rumor went around that he had raped her, even as she moved away. This left him bitter and feeling betrayed, the rumors destroying his family life and isolating him. The young man at the beginning of this story has basically accepted his false reptutation and chosen to act it out, forming relationships with multiple young women (who are the heroines of this story). Then, Saeko returns, stating a desire for him to 'dirty' her again.
A lot of this game is about the protagonist slowly overcoming his past and forming a more honest relationship with the girls despite the rather warped way it begins (thus the name of the game). Saeko's path can be considered the 'main' path, because it deals most directly with the protagonist's past. However, regardless of the path, the protagonist manages to get past his trauma and rise above it, if you pick the good ending, lol.
Anyway, this game surprised me with its quality of storytelling. I honestly enjoyed the interplay, and the protagonist's change of heart is portrayed with surprising subtlety for a Japanese writer (most Japanese VN writers tend to like the 'sudden overwhelming flood of emotion' way of doing things). While there is plenty of h content in the game, it is not overwhelming, though it is definitely more than the average charage.
Overall, this game is not suited to someone looking for straightforward relationships and love with relatively pure beginnings. The characters in this VN are all scarred or damaged in some way, which becomes obvious as you play. Nonetheless, I found it an immensely enjoyable experience.
Edit: Oh, and if you dislike sado-masochistic relationships, you should probably avoid this VN. While it doesn't go to the real extremes like mutilation or electric shock, it does touch on more 'normal' SM activities.
Playing: Koisuru Kimochi no Kasanekata by Ensemble. This VN is by the same company that did Otome ga Tsumugu Koi no Canvas (kamige) and Ojousama ha Gokigen Naname. The company specializes in ojousama-ge (games with mostly wealthy heroines) and generally the protagonists in their VNs are either wealthy themselves or have some special talent that makes it logical for them to be around the wealthy. There last few games have been mediocre, unfortunately... Golden Marriage wasn't bad per se... but it wasn't great either. Koi no Aria was pretty bad, sadly. I honestly hadn't expected their quality to fall to such a degree so suddenly after the way Gokigen Naname got my hopes up by going at things from an entirely different direction from their earlier games. Planning to play: Hatsuru Koto Mirai Yori (the one I'm most interested in this month) Kodomo no Asobi (Lump of Sugar's latest game... to be honest, considering how horrible their last few games have been, I don't have my hopes up for this one) Naderebo (maybe, if I have time... new companies have begun to make me nervous after how many times I got burned this year) Yome Sagashi ga Hakadorisugite Yabai (Honestly, no real hopes for this... Hulotte is a pretty meh studio) Koko kara Natsu no Innocence (yay, Oppai Company, otherwise known as Clochette, has made a new game! lol Still, this company does make games with good characters and story... they just have really pervy h-scenes and busty heroines) Magical Dears (standard Navel... meaning it will probably be a fantasy charage of moderate quality that gets hyped ridiculously regardless of quality)
Surprisingly enough, Sora no Tsukurikata has managed to avoid driving me insane with rage. *pauses for the gasps of shock and the screeches of terror from the audience*
In the end, this VN managed to mostly avoid the violence you would see in most VNs with mafia members as main characters, and it did so without going down the 'total moe-moe' route that most VN writers would have chosen in the same case.
Haru is the main heroine of the game, but her route doesn't relegate the other heroines to inferiority like many other ladder-type main heroines do. Thankfully, it feels almost identical to the other routes, save in that her route not only uses the events in her arc but also the other arcs to make it over into a complete story. That was a nice choice on the part of the author, in that it made the other heroine routes 'real' without taking away the fact that Haru was the main heroine.
Haru is... a bit weird. She's an up and coming mage with a penchant for sticking her nose in other people's business and a cheerful optimism+childish idealism that would be annoying if it weren't also leavened with a surprisingly high capacity for reason and an impressive ability to concentrate on solving a problem. She is, in the end, a normal kind-hearted girl, but this is one of those rare cases where that didn't turn out to be a bad thing.
Perhaps the biggest difference between Haru's path and the others is that the protagonist's personal issues are revealed and resolved in full, though perhaps not in a way that I would consider satisfying. In fact, I thought the events leading up the end of the fourth arc and the beginning of Haru's story were way too rushed. It seemed as if they deliberately truncated the protagonist's personal suffering in order to focus on Haru... and while that is typical for the average charage, it surprised me in a VN that has been so very atypical otherwise.
One thing I liked about the endings in the VN is that they all extend several years past the climax of the story... and into the period of time where the characters have chosen their paths in life, rather than merely going with the flow.
Now, for my verdict on what I enjoyed most about this VN... it was the comedy, of course. The character dynamic in this VN clicks in that ideal way that you see in the best VNs (though the antagonist is weak and/or a non-entity for most of the game), and that leads to some amusing running jokes.
Overall, this VN was a fun ride. It isn't an especially violent one (well, outside of Rizal cursing anyone who uses a gun to die repeatedly and be resurrected until they go insane), despite the mafia element. This surprised me, considering the way the VN began, but it wasn't as much of a disappointment to me as it might have been. This is no kamige, but it is definitely VN of the Month material.
Minamijuujisei Renka is by far my favorite Studio Ryokucha game. The setting, the characters, and the presentation of this VN are first class. The only real downside this VN has is that the true (Kanori's) ending stops short of tying up all the loose ends.
The setting of this VN is in a southern island, purchased from old Britain by a now-defunct kingdom and colonized by the nobles from that kingdom. It is called the 'Dukedom of Gwinburg', despite being ruled by a king because of the fact that the individual who originally developed the islands (two centuries before) was a Duke who merely bowed and lent his lands to his king-in-exile when that king arrived, fleeing from their original homeland.
This VN is surprisingly deep in concept, touching on concepts that will be familiar to anyone who is aware of the way South Africa was alike during Nelson Mandela's youth. The white nobility basically lord it over the aboriginal and immigrant communities, despite most of them being laden with debt, and, until Kanori became princess, the majority of the country was either mined-out wasteland or slums (outside of the districts held by the nobility). Kanori spearheaded an initiative that brought foreign investment - primarily from Japan - as well as building low-cost housing out of abandoned containers from cargo ships, and as a result, the slums disappeared and the wasteland was filled in and rebuilt as an economic district where companies carried out various research that is borderline illegal in their homelands.
The protagonist of the story, Tobe Ryousuke, is brought to the Dukedom by his twin little sisters who agreed to work at a research lab in return for letting him go to school. The reason for this is that he was working his ass off to support them, then collapsed from exhaustion, making the twin geniuses resolve to act to save him from himself.
Ryousuke is a kind-hearted young man with a maturity far beyond his years and a streak of altruism a mile wide. He is also athletic and sincere (though he is only of average intelligence), with an extensive knowledge of survival techniques and outdoor pursuits such as hunting and spelunking. His good nature easily worms him into the hearts of the heroines, especially Kanori, and he is one of the more believable protagonists I've seen in one of Studio Ryokucha's games.
There are five heroines in this game... Miyako (Ryousuke's cousin on his mother's side), Mitsuki (a genius engineer who is utterly incapable of taking care of herself), Elize (a loli knight who is Kanori's best friend and a member of the white nobility), Sakuya (a mischievous master hacker who spends most of her time exploring the old tunnels beneath the school), and Kanori (the immensely popular half-Japanese princess of Gwinburg).
Miyako's personality is more than a little acidic, and she is the type of tsundere who insults everyone in public and is extremely dependent on her beloved oniichan in private (her oniichan being Ryousuke). As a heroine, she is fairly adorable, and the drama in her path primarily focuses on Ryousuke's and the twins' origins rather than her own issues, since her issues are mostly resolved in the common route.
Mitsuki is also more than a little dependent on her small circle of friends and loved ones, both in the physical and emotion sense. The reason is that she is incapable of noticing hunger, thirst, or even outright exhaustion once she begins thinking on a subject, sometimes leading to her spending several days at a time in thought, not taking care of herself. At first she is merely dependent on Ryousuke's kindness (he brings her food and looks in on her to make sure she isn't dying), but that turns to rather open romantic affection relatively early in the common route. Her path is the weakest of the five, focusing on side issues that don't reflect that much on the main story.
Elize is a 'tsundere with reason'. Setting aside the fact that she is an adorable loli that is easily lured using candy in particular and food in general, her tendency toward violence against the protagonist primarily comes because of her worries about Kanori. She has an incredibly strong sense of duty and is more than a little uptight. However, that translates into a rather intense 'dere' when she falls completely for Ryousuke. Her path is primarily focused on the political element of the main story.
Sakuya is a living loli-shaped ball of curiosity, driven to seek out others' secrets by her impulsive nature. The way she falls for the protagonist naturally extends from her curiosity, and hers is perhaps the most straightforward of the romantic paths. Her path is primarily focused on the espionage elements of the main story.
Now we come to Kanori. Kanori is a multi-faceted character, being both an anti-establishment princess driven by the political and social realities of her current country, as well as a girl in love with a guy she only met recently. She is also a 'fujoshi' (spelled 'rotten girl' in kanji). Her love for Ryousuke is sincere and straightforward, but she has some serious issues hiding behind that smiling exterior. Her path covers all the aspects of the crisis that is ongoing in the story, but it ends on a somewhat unsatisfying note due to a failure to tie up the major loose ends of the main story (everything is revealed, but the revealed secrets are not brought to a resolution).
Overall, this is a game that combines the best of the moe-charage and story-focused VN. It has a wonderful cast of characters, a well-thought-out setting, and it presents it all in a wonderfully beautiful package. If it weren't for Studio Ryokucha's utter inability to handle making a satisfying ending, this VN would have reached kamige level.
First, this VN was written during Pulltop's brief 'golden age', by the writer of the Kamikaze Explorer, Dracu-riot, Noble Works, and Amairo Islenauts, as well as the writer of the original LoveKami. As such, it can be said that they had something of a dream team put together for this game... since two of the four writers were skilled moege-with-story writers. I pulled this game out of my 'treasure box' so I would have something to revive me from my fugue state, and it actually turned out quite well in the end (I still have about a half-dozen highly-ranked VNs I have refrained from reading and am keeping for emergencies).
This game centers around a young man living as the 'honorary citizen' of a 'kingdom' in the middle of a small Japanese town and the little queen who rules it. Hayato is your typical charage/moege protagonist, in that he is kind, dense, and of average everything except for his extreme skills at mundane tasks like cooking cleaning, repairing the roof, and tending the household garden. He devotedly serves Ruha, the young queen and descendant of a line of Germanic (in the larger sense) exiled when they refused to surrender their titles to the empire that conquered them a little over a century before. Ruha is beloved by the local community (for the obvious reasons like cuteness and her sincere manner, as well as less obvious ones like tradition and her deceased mother's reputation for philanthropy), but her 'kingdom' is extremely poor due to her mother having blown the fortune on a combination of daily expenses and her mother's local philanthropy.
Kunitomo Miori, one of the other heroines, is from a local wealthy family that has always resented Ruha's family, seeing them as flies in the ointment. She has extremely low communication skills and is fatally shy, while seeming cool and composed on the surface. Nozomi is the granddaughter of the head of a major corporation. She is gentle-mannered and graceful, but she has an inordinate fondness for arthropods in general and spiders in particular. Misao is the childhood friend of Miori, the protagonist, and Ruha, the daughter of the local baker, a slightly airheaded but kind-hearted girl. I was particularly fond of Nozomi and Miori for their... rather unique characterizations. It showed me how even just a few years passage was enough to stagnate the medium, since I haven't run across any identical heroines in years.
Now, down to business... is this game good? The short answer is, yes. Is it a kamige? No. It has enough small flaws and lacks the impact necessary for me to call it a kamige. Nonetheless it was an enjoyable VN, with a depth that most modern charage companies deliberately avoid putting into their stories, lol. In addition, the game has wonderful epilogues and after-stories, which was a nice change from the shitty ones you see in most VNs of the type. Obviously, Ruha's path is the cherry on this particular sundae (following the rule of five years ago that 'all true paths must be for loli heroines', lol). It deals with the setting elements most central to the game in a way the other paths don't, and it was rather obvious Ruha was the main heroine from the beginning, though the others weren't neglected in their own paths ( I could have done without Misao being a heroine though, since I don't like air-headed osananajimi heroines).
The biggest negative points of this VN were the protagonist's density about love and romance, and how slow he is on the uptake at certain important times.
You might be wondering why I chose this VN for the first one to review in quite some time, and you would be right to wonder. I wonder why I felt drawn to this VN myself, given how the first impression from the cover is a nukige. However, something about it drew me in and made me want to play it. Thankfully, it isn't an experience I grew to regret, so I'll go ahead and give you my impressions.
This VN focuses on a club (six girls, one guy) who get stranded in an abandoned village in the mountains, surrounded by impassible mist. The protagonist, Itsuki starts having ero dreams that disgust him, and the girls gradually start acting strangely. A red-eyed, white-haired girl named Kagome occasionally appears and hints at the nature of his predicament and warns him the only way to leave the village is to offer up a sacrifice.
Up to now, there are no actual spoilers you can't find on the official website.
Atmosphere-wise, this game kind of resembles Higurashi, though the actual content is drastically different (basically exchange violence for h-scenes and Rika for Kagome, lol). A great deal of the actual plot parts is the characters gathering food and researching the village as they try to find a way out, even as they find themselves going a little crazy (sometimes realizing it, sometimes not). The story itself is structured so that most of the content is shared, with the final split-off occurring rather late in the game (about seven-eighths of the way through). If it weren't for the impact of the last scenes in each ending, I would have complained about this, but it works out well because the point of the split-off is timed perfectly from the perspective of telling the story as a whole.
For people who want a straight-out happy ending, I recommend only playing Kagome's path, because it is really the only ending where things turn out in a way that doesn't leave you with a bitter taste in your mouth. I very much enjoyed the way the writers portrayed the differing perspectives between the various characters, with the discussions between Kagome and the protagonist often providing the most food for thought.
In conclusion, this is a VN for those who like a little mystery, a lot of H, and bittersweet experiences.
First, for those who haven't already read it, these are my thoughts on Minori: http://forums.fuwanovel.net/index.php?/blog/46/entry-341-clephass-rave-minori-vns-and-why-i-dislike-them/
Read that if you want to know where I'm coming from when I talk about Minori, because I don't like repeating myself, unless it is to brainwash people into playing Dies Irae.
Common Route
I'm going to come out and say this... this is a typical Minori common route. It feels like every other Minori game (other than Eden*) I've played, and I came away from it as pissed off and depressed as you might expect. Self-hating protagonists are all well and good, but self-hating protagonists who hate themselves and fail utterly to learn from their mistakes are irritating as hell.
Haruka
... now if you expected me to rave and hate about Haruka's route as much as I did in the previous post about Minori, you are in for a surprise. Haruka actually managed to grab and keep my interest, and the route is actually quite excellent. I still hated the protagonist for most of the route, but because I took a night to sleep on it, I was able to look at this route for itself, rather than for being connected to the common route. First, there are a lot of things that I didn't like about this route... but Haruka is probably one of the best heroines Minori has ever produced, so it is worth noting playing a protagonist who is falling in love with her almost made it worth forgiving them. The path itself is a somewhat twisted romance... but that is to be expected. To be blunt, this protagonist is incapable of having a normal romance without screwing it up (and he still screwed it up a few times this time, as well). Nonetheless, if there was ever a Minori heroine worth having to endure this protagonist's fumbling to fall in love with, it is this one. My fondness for psychologically screwed-up heroines came to the front in my attachment to this path, if you couldn't tell.
That's enough on Haruka, moving on to Mayura's route, then Touwa's (to be honest, I don't really care about either, since I'm wishing Haruka's was the true route now).
Wakaba-iro no Quartet is the latest mimikko VN from Lump of Sugar, a company that has a huge variance in quality from game to game (kamige one time, kusoge the next, lol). Lump of Sugar has of late mostly been doing mimikko games, with the Tayutama sequels/FDs and now two newer IPs having come out in the last four years. Since I love mimikko (it was my first fetish) this is a happy thing for me.
In the setting of this game, the mimikko come from an isolated mountain nation and are basically considered a genetic variant of humanity that has the ability to transform into animals. The protagonist of this story, Yuuto is a normal (think standard-issue VN protagonist) perverted young man who lives in an outwardly run-down dorm (inside it is modern and well upkept) with his osananajimi/childhood friend Miyako and his cat (who later turns out to be a mimikko) named Ai. However, things change for him when a young princess from the mimikko nation named Sophia transfers into his school and a girl named Hiyori confesses her love for him and asks to become his maid at the same time (yes, that was a wtf moment, but it was funny). Soon after, Sophia comes to live at the dorm (right after Hiyori does) and Ai is outed as a human being, resulting in all four heroines living under the same roof with the protagonist.
Now, I'm going to say this straight up... I never had any intention of playing the non-mimikko routes in this game. I like Miyako and Hiyori, but my love of mimikko means that they could only disappoint in comparison, even if their routes were better, lol.
The common route of this game is the usual LoS mix of cute and mild hilarity (Ai is probably the single cutest thing in the entire VN), and it is also the part of the game I had the most fun with. It isn't terribly long, but it doesn't really need to be. In it, there are some issues that come up and are resolved, giving you a solid idea of the character and personality of the heroines before you are presented with a straightforward choice of which route you go to (no other choices, yay!).
Ai
I went for Ai first, simply because Ai is so cat-like after nearly twenty years solely in her cat form that, as a cat person, I couldn't do anything else. Since I just told you she is definitely cat-like, anyone who has ever lived with a cat has a basic grasp of her personality (lazy, imperious, etc).
Ai's path is a pretty straightforward sibling-like relationship transforming into lovers path (think one of those paths where cousins live together and suddenly fall in love with one another one day), with a few twists due to Ai's past and a rather startling revelation about her origins. Since this was a straight-out charage, there are no dark parts to this story, but the ending is cute and a years-later epilogue, so I was satisfied.
Sophia
Sophia is outwardly very princess/ojousama-like, but her basic personality is that of a future NEET (lazy, hedonistic, etc). Or at least, that is how they portray her in the common route. However, in her own route, her negative (not negative to me, negative in the context of the story) qualities don't come out that often... which surprised me, because her personality would have provided an endless potential for gags, even moreso than Ai's cat-like behavior.
Romance-wise, the path is very much standard vanilla fare. Don't expect any surprises, because there aren't any, really. There is some decent ichaicha, but nothing excessively cute, nor is there a huge amount of meaningless dating. That said, for being vanilla fare, it is well-paced and doesn't become boring.
There is some drama to the path, but it is resolved relatively easily (though not quite as easily as in Ai's path). I honestly felt that more detail could have gone into some aspects of the drama if they reworked things a bit (and I am half-sure an FD with an Aria path will pop up at some point), but, similar to Ai's path, I was happy with the ending and epilogue, which is rare in and of itself (though LoS is better about epilogues and endings than most charage/moege companies).
Conclusion
Despite being a fetish-ge for mimikko-lovers, this is a decent charage, though not one that reaches the highest tiers. I don't think I would recommend it above all the other mimikko-focused games out there, but it is definitely worth a play if you've exhausted all the other mimikko fetish games.
For various reasons, I haven't had time to push my way through the rest of this VN. The biggest reason is simply because I had too much work to do. I haven't even been playing Fallout 4... god what a boring few days. Anyway, this latest entry covers Shizuku's path and the episode marked IV... both of which have a lot of similarities. Shizuku's path doesn't really feel like a heroine's path, to be frank about it. Almost all of it is a reminiscence of what occurred in the months immediately before the beginning of the story, leading up to the funeral scene that the story starts out. On the positive side, it does reveal a lot of secrets (Sui's secrets, Shizuku's, and just what Akashi and Naoya were doing in those few months), as well as the meaning of the beginning scene's stupid jokes. Perhaps it was because Shizuku's role in the VN as a whole up to this point was relatively weak (despite her living with the protagonist during the VN), but it was harder to get into her path, though I found it interesting, and I did like that it filled in the gaps left by the various heroine paths... but again, it felt more like an informative side path than a real heroine path. This is sad, because Shizuku in general is an interesting character (despite her lack of development during the common route). Her path lacks any serious drama because the drama she was involved in was done before the story began. This is a technique some writers in VNs use... but almost never works. Sadly, while this path might be a good tool to pull the VN as a whole together and fill in plot holes, it doesn't do justice to Shizuku at all. IV is a bit different... it covers the first meeting between the protagonist's father and mother, as well as revealing just why the relationships of the Natsume family are so weird and why no one talks about it. To be honest, I could have gone without them covering this directly... just knowing at the third person what went on with the Nakamura's was enough to give a full understanding of the background, and a bit of judicious infodumping would have had the same effect without showing me the protagonist's mom naked (considering the manner in which I read VNs, that just felt weird). Now... onto Ai's path and the true ending. For those looking forward to it... cheer me on, as I have no idea whether I'll have the time to finish this up before Friday.
