As the title says, there are some issues for March's VN of the Month... namely the fact that there are too many releases, lol. After playing 3 VNs, I've played less than half of the releases for March.
This means that I'm going to have to prioritize. Now, in this case the obvious cuts are going to be the gameplay VNs. I'm going to avoid them this time around, simply because neither of them looks like anything special anyway. I'm also tempted to avoid Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu. The reason? The more I look at it, the more I realize that the most interesting aspect of it is the name. The characters and concept don't really speak to me, and I'm increasingly getting to where I don't trust Takahiro for anything outside of Majikoi. The reason for this is even simpler... the more I've read his other stuff, the more I've come to think that he literally doesn't have anything interesting left in his brain. Making it worse is that I don't have much of a taste for stories that center around something even remotely focused on the entertainment industry, and that includes game-making.
Now, what is left after I excise those and the ones I've already played... the Dies Irae side-story comes to mind, but I honestly can't get up much enthusiasm for a side-story prequel, even to a VN as great as Dies Irae. The new Liarsoft game also comes to mind (are you seeing how ridiculous March is this year now), but I just flat-out don't enjoy most of Liar-soft's VNs that much. Sekien was great when I was starving for VNs before I began seriously playing untranslated, but I honestly couldn't get into any of the other Steampunk games. Maitetsu is just flat-out out of the question.
In other words, looking at what's left over, I'm having trouble getting up a desire to play another. If all else fails, I'll try Liarsoft's newest VN or Dies Irae, but...
I'm definitely going to have really, seriously mixed feelings on this VN when it is done. The problems with the common route still apply, but some of the heroine routes make up for the problem. I'm not going to say this is going to be another Tasogare no Sinsemilla... that possibility never even really existed. For better or worse, this VN has serious pacing issues near the beginning (yes, the heroine routes are longer than the common route), and the difference between even the non-true heroine routes is a bit sharp, based on my experience with Yui's, Honoka's, and Koharu's routes.
First, Honoka's route is straight-out the best of the non-Misaki routes. I say it is 'the best', but that is mostly because it strikes the best balance between the heroine and the protagonist and their problems. Unlike in the average charage (it is questionable after playing this route whether this can be seriously considered a charage), there are multiple points of drama, and the actual story (non-ichaicha/H) is fairly extended. I was actually impressed by this route in the sense that I haven't encountered one like it in a while, but that just emphasizes how 'patchwork' this VN feels as a whole so far.
Second, Koharu's route... for better or worse, this is a lot closer to a charage route than Honoka's, in the sense that the drama is very self-contained, mild, and it is over relatively quickly (in the larger perspective of the route as a whole). Unfortunately, this just points out how much better Honoka's route was, both in detail and in general. This is what I mean by the VN feeling 'patchwork'. There are seriously good points to this experience, but then there will be long stretches of mediocrity or intermittent moments of brilliance with the same. It feels like it was written by three separate writers at times, lol.
Third... Yui's route. Yui's route is a lot closer to Honoka's, in that the conflicts involved are more serious/have more serious consequences. Again, this tends to contrast with Koharu's route, which felt bland and drama-less in comparison.
So far, the biggest common point between the three paths is that the protagonist is a bit clingy and if the girls didn't already love him, he'd probably be stalking them (seriously, this was my thought as I played). That said, I liked how natural (in terms of the plot) the relationship-formation stage was in all three paths, though the paths themselves tended to feel a bit drawn-out.
Now, on to Misaki's path... and the wrap-up.
First, I should say that this starts out like a first-class nakige in classic non-Key style (which means no loli heroines with weird speech patterns and less than six heroines total, lol). I generally am fond of Applique for giving me Tasogare no Sinsemilla and the Arcology series, but when they screw up, it is usually in a way that should have been blatantly obvious as they were doing it.
The protagonist and his daughter (yes, his daughter) are a great combo, and their past is one of one bit of tragedy and despair after another. The protagonist's personality is one I can definitely enjoy vicariously, and Millia (his daughter) strikes a perfect balance between 'genki' and 'emotionally scarred'. The choice of an 'onsen town' as the main setting was excellent, and things were really looking hopeful...
...until the common route ended immediately after you dig into the protagonist's past. Now, I'm all for tearful revelations and the like... but someone with the protagonist's past doesn't just come out and spill the beans only a few weeks after getting to know a bunch of people. That was unrealistic based on his personal setting, to say the least. Worse, the other characters' reaction to it was... weak. Making it worse is that, while you've gotten to know Misaki (the supposed true heroine) a little bit when the split occurs, you've barely scratched the surface with the other heroines. In other words... I went into my first path not caring one bit about the heroine I was supposedly going after.
It was like seeing someone setting up a beautiful stained-glass mosaic... and then filling the last few pieces with concrete. To be honest, the haste with which they progressed the last third of the common route is game-breaking for me precisely because the protagonist and his past are looming in the background. Based on this alone, I can say this isn't going to beat Akeiro, though I thought it might compete for VN of the Month when I first started it.
I might just update this post if I decide to drop this one... I'm going to finish the path I'm on, and if I don't feel satisfied, I'm dropping it.
Edit: Based on my experiences in Honoka's path, I'm going to continue playing, but the problems with the common route and its pacing still apply.
This is a question I wonder if many people here have asked themselves... do you honestly like Japan, as a country (whether you've visited or just look in from the outside)? My own feelings are... mixed. Japan has a pretty fascinating culture that is essentially a scrapbook of various elements drawn from cultures that contacted it that were then evolved based on what the people of a given era wanted/needed. However... the country itself is pretty problematic looking at it from the outside. Political corruption, resurgent nationalism, toleration of organized crime, and the tendency to ignore all 'domestic issues' by those outside the household in question (including the police) are all reasons to be ambivalent about Japan. However, the closeness of police to people's lives (the kouban system), otaku culture, and the traditional aesthetic values of Japan are pretty interesting.
We all have our reasons for the way we feel about Japan, if we feel anything. If you'd asked me fifteen years ago, I would have unhesitatingly chosen option 1, but the more I studied, the more I realized just how many problems the country just fails utterly to deal with. That said, if you asked me the top three countries - other than my homeland - that I'd be interested in living in, Japan would still be number one. Why? I got addicted to hot springs after a visit to one in Arizona, and studying history is one of my major hobbies. Pretty hedonistic of me, eh?
Tokyo Babel is scheduled to be released pretty soon, so I decided to replay it. As Propeller is one of my favorite companies and Tokyo Babel has a more or less permanent place in my top fifty (when the number of VNs you've played passes five hundred, fifty is a good place to be, lol), so this doesn't bother me. Tokyo Babel is one of the few purely all-ages titles from Japan on the PC, and it is a chuunige of rare quality that was obviously written with one of a dozen or so pairs of eyes on Masada and the rest on an internal vision that more prudish Christians would probably call blasphemous.
Tokyo Babel is not only the name of the game, it is also the name of the setting, a remade version of Purgatory floating in mid-air, where angels, humans, and demons are working together desperately in hopes that they can convince God to stop squishing the universes. This is not a VN for the excessively religious to play... to be honest, there were moments when even I felt uncomfortable and I've never seriously adhered to any organized religion, though I was raised Christian.
Some of the major characters include Astaroth, Belial, Carmael, Uriel, and many other famous or infamous demons and angels. The three heroines are Raziel, Kugutsu Sorami, and Lilith. Raziel is the angel who recorded all of creation in her book, the Sefer Raziel (this is partially taken from various apocryphal mythology). Kugutsu Sorami is the first character you meet in the VN, whose ignorant untainted perspective gives you your first clear insight into the world from a human perspective. Lilith is the first wife of Adam, who left him and who lay down with demons and produced all the monsters of the world (book of Enoch).
Understand, like a lot of stories using Christian mythology, it uses bits and pieces from Milton's Paradise Lost, medieval literature, Gnostic ideas, and many other elements and branching-off literature that went off in all directions since the genesis of that particular faith. One thing to keep in mind if you are a Christian and were raised to believe that Lilith never existed is that the Bible is not and has never been what we would call 'complete', as each version had bits and pieces grafted on or removed based on what the powerful and influential of an era or region felt was convenient, necessary, correct, and/or all of the above. The Book of Enoch is one of dozens of 'books' not included in the accepted versions of the Bible, that were considered paradoxical in the eyes of the church of the time. So... just keep an open mind when reading up on this kind of thing, because Wikipedia isn't exactly reliable when looking up religion-related facts.
Now, setting philosophical, historical, and other issues aside... this is a pretty enjoyable VN on a lot of levels. Propeller developed its own (fairly hilarious in my opinion) style of humor that is incorporated into the story, and its effect in Tokyo Babel is one of humanizing the characters. I don't think a lot of people who read chuuni really understand how vital a few moments of humor can be in giving life to a character, even in this type of VN. While Masada and his type choose another path, Propeller's writers generally choose to use humor as one of the elements of their characterization. On another level, this VN is chuuni crack. The protagonist is a self-hating guy with a dark past and a deathwish seven billion kilometers wide, but he also has an even stronger sense of responsibility toward those he comes to care about, which is seen in the heroine routes. The situation is one fit to drive even the most optimistic mind to despair, and there are bad guys behind the curtains, waiting to push everyone in the abyss.
In other words, this is one of those VNs that has almost an infinite capacity for fun in a chuuni sense of the word.
The art style of this VN is... unique. In some ways, it feels like an elaboration on Propeller's previously-preferred style, but it was actually done by a completely different artist from their previous works and it does show in a lot of places. In particular, the vivid designs you see on the more monstrous demons and monsters in the VN shows this off very well. Leviathan (the giant serpent) and the Seven Beasts from Setsuna's sword are two of the more distinctive examples of this art-style, and ones that honestly impress me even today.
Sound-wise... I'll be straight. There is no such thing as a bad Propeller sound track... well, until Sougeki no Jaeger anyway. Tokyo Babel's isn't as good as Evolimit's, but that's kind of like saying that Sasaki Kojirou wasn't as good a swordsman as Musashi (token weabooism, lol). Generally speaking, the songs in this VN vary to a surprising degree, ranging from techno tunes, to rock, and even a few hymn-like ones. The one thing that unifies them is that none are poorly used, lol.
Now... down to the story. I've already described the basic concept above, but now I'll get into structure. This VN is split into three major routes after a pretty short common route (the trial ends about the same time you are supposed to head into the heroine routes, from what I've heard). Raziel's route is the one that keeps you furthest from the 'deepest truths' of the VN, and having played her route is pretty good preparation for Sorami's route, as Sorami's route reveals some things that might make it hard for some people to read Raziel's route and take it for what it is. Raziel's route has a bad end that is seriously... bad. However, it is also a highly-detailed and reasonably long diversion from the 'good' (this is debatable) ending. Sorami's path has a good ending (bittersweet but technically a good ending), a normal ending (really sad...), and a bad ending (like Raziel's, it is fairly long). Sorami's path has a different focus on the events in Tokyo Babel than Raziel's, and I've heard some people describe Raziel's, Sorami's, and Lilith's paths as the Angel, Human, and Demon paths in that order... However, that is a pretty generalized statement and one that doesn't really feel correct, lol. Lilith's path... is the true path. I'm going to be blunt. If you are silly enough to try to do Lilith's path first, you'll deserve your inability to figure out a third of the references in the path, because it is constructed so that the information from the previous two paths feeds directly into the events in that one. In other words, if you haven't played the other two paths, Lilith's path has a lot of potential for being confusing. Lilith's path has three distinctive bad ends, one true end, and one 'Setsuna' end, which is a branch-off from the true one. Lilith's path has some of the best battles in the VN, and there are no secrets left in shadow by the end, which makes it a great way to end things.
A few thoughts about Propeller as a company... Propeller doesn't really produce that many overwhelmingly attractive heroines. I'm pretty sure that this is deliberate, as there is a definite tendency toward the story being more important than the heroines in these VNs. For people accustomed to the extreme character focus that defines a lot of VNs, this has a potential to be problematic... Take Ayakashibito, for instance... how many of you really, seriously were obsessed with the romantic aspects of the VN (if you read it)? There are even heroines in Propeller games that are actually deliberately made to seem bland (the elf in Bullet Butlers, for instance) or somehow unattractive for situational/emotional reasons (Kaori in Ayakashibito). This is a part of their style, which calls for heroines to not take up the whole of the limelight in the VN, and it is one of the reasons I honestly find their VNs so enjoyable, other than the sheer chuunige nougat that makes my mouth water.
Overall, while Tokyo Babel is no Dies Irae, it does have a high level of quality, as well as being one of the few chuunige to dare to avoid the 'perfect happy ending' that has become standard even in many VNs of the type in recent years (for some reason, bittersweet endings are less popular these days...). It can definitely play on your emotions at times (especially the endings), and there is just enough humor to keep the VN as a whole from being unbearably heavy. Of course, if you dislike gloomy protagonists who don't really understand other people very well, there might be some abrasive moments in this VN for you... but Setsuna comes by that particular set of flaws honestly, so I never held it against him, lol.
Naitou Tohru is the protagonist of Hapymaher and the character whose viewpoint you share for about 85% of the VN. He is a character whose personality and situation are defined by a sense of loss and guilt so painful, it has literally driven him to the brink of insanity. Oddly enough, the thing I find most admirable about him is the fact that is self-aware enough to actually rely on someone (most of the time) when he is at his limits and outside his specialty (which is altering/controlling his own dreams).
A few words about his situation without giving away anything that would ruin the story. If you know the concept of a 'lucid dream', you also know that it is a dream where you are aware you are dreaming (this often leads to you remembering more of it). In Tohru's case, he sees nothing but lucid dreams... which means that the barriers between reality and dreams in his consciousness are extremely blurry and he is incapable of 'resting' psychologically when he sleeps. He rarely, if ever receives what we would call 'restful sleep' without the aid of drugs that send him into utter insensibility, and in his dreams, he is capable of doing practically whatever he wants, in many cases.
Tohru's character can sometimes be seen as a symbol of self-control - as I said in my post on Maia - because he really does have a ridiculous level of self-control for someone still in his teens. He is not really that dense, though he often pretends to be out of self-defense. However, he has a lot of psychological hangups even in real life that have reinforced his somewhat blurry view of reality... ones he actually needs to maintain his mental and emotional balance, even if he realizes they are ridiculous.
Tohru's clear-eyed view of dreams can be seen as a contrast to his somewhat blurry view of reality, as he is almost always the first to realize when he and the other characters are dreaming and when they aren't... and what the nature of the dream is. To him, nightmares are everyday stuff, and he is so inured to the pain that accompanies them by experience that it would be tempting to see him as nerve-dead from the outside.
He does have his weaknesses, even in dreams, though... and their names are Saki and Maia. He is heavily dependent on Saki (self-evident within seconds of encountering her) and... holds other emotions towards Maia.
So what can I say? In another VN, I might seriously dislike him, because he is too aware of those around him to be your standard harem protagonist, but he does have some seriously admirable elements... such as a sense of compassion and good Samaritan-ism (limited to women most of the time) or his willingness to endure pain for the sake of others. However, he is also more than a little clumsy when it comes to handling those close to him and he frequently makes a wild boar look mild and easily moved.
Before anyone asks, no I'm not translating this VN as a whole. For one thing, it is long and I'm lazy. For another, it actually has a small chance of coming over here, so I'm not going to do something that will spoil the whole game for them (I want this officially localized). This is a fully narrated version (narrated by the poster of the video) of the first few scenes of Hapymaher, which was my VN of the Year 2013. This VN has ridiculously good music... and a frequently heartbreaking story.
2:38-14:42 The youtube guy voices the narration and the protagonist, in a way that is pretty good... and this is a translation.
There is no need for you to do anything. Just leave everything to me.
Also, when it comes to your 'true desires', they are something you just think you understand.
Misfortune, happiness, difficulties, weeping, pain, pleasure, and fun… I will provide them all.
I know for certain what to do to make it so, after all.
But even so, you will still force yourself to go on.
You like to give up as well, don’t you?
That’s why I’ll capture you.
You like that as well, don’t you?
You always need to be looked after, after all.
That place was an extravagant room.
In the center was a wide, heavily-built table.
Upon the table, a pot with steam wafting from it and colorful candies and treats were lined up.
The fluffy couch and the handwoven rug upon the floor were all intended for the guests that came here.
Here, the preparations for a tea party are always complete.
That room, which seemed like it had lept out of a dream or a story, looked like a bad joke to me.
That was because of the coloring… black, white, red, purple, pink, blue… all the colors I could see were vivid ones. It was as if the room were decorated like a butterfly.
Though it was a room that seemed as if it was from an aristocrat’s mansion, the color made it seem as if it had tossed aside all forms of dignity.
It wasn’t just the inside of the room that was strange.
Outside the window, vegetation grew so thickly that it was if it were a botanical garden.
The only light was the flickering light of the stars and the moon. However, even that was blocked by the thick growth of the forest.
Thin trees, thick trees, flowers blooming despite the fact that it was night, and the overgrowth of grass, vines, and leaves.
The excess of plant growth around the room seemed to indicate that no human hand had intervened there in centuries.
However, the room itself was new, in all ways.
That strange place was filled with the silence of the forest and the presence of living things.
Suddenly, a single shadow appeared in the room.
Roses, which were not amongst the flowers blooming outside, began to bloom as if in order to conceal the shadow.
The white roses, which seemed to grow in fast forward, began to give off the sweet smell of burning honey as they bloomed, as if someone had set fire to them.
The roses spread slowly like spilled water, giving off the scents of tea, honey, sweets, and the deep forest.
And then the shadow took on the form of a young girl and stood there as if she had been there from the beginning.
The girl who stood amongst the white roses laughed quietly.
“Since I’ve been called, I must treat you to my hospitality.”
With a mien of mixed enjoyment and sorrow she whispered.
Opening
Second Scene
And so, I dream once again today.
When I came to, I was lying in the forest at night.
“Why am I dreaming this dream again…?”
There is no point in complaining. I rise and begin to walk through the forest in my dreams. I walk, I walk.
In that deep forest, the light of the stars and moon filtered through the trees is all the ilumination.
Even though the forest holds the sense of no presence other than “ours”, even though it is perfectly silent…
Even so, I can’t seem to believe there is no one else there.
A beast, a bird, a person, or perhaps even something like a ghost.
I’m not sure, but I sought to leave that forest, holding her hand amidst the intense sensation that something is there.
I almost trip over thick roots and stumble over buried stones.
Even so, I continue to walk holding the hand of the silent presence following me.
I know that this is a dream.
In the end, a dream is a dream.
I know. This is the past.
Even if this actually occurred in the past, what I am seeing is merely a dream.
So, what I am seeing here is utterly meaningless.
This is a dream.
I know that better than anyone. I know!
However, even so. No matter how well I know it is meaningless, I can’t bring myself to let go of this hand I'm holding.
“It will be all right ______. Let’s return home.”
There is no answer, nor is there a sense of a nod.
However, I don’t release that hand.
I know what will happen after this. It is a dream I’ve seen countless times.
I can leave this forest. It is a dark forest where I can’t figure out where I am, but I can return.
However…
“Ah… will we be able to go home?”
The direction of the light changes changes.
The forest goes from deep forest of the inside to the shallow forest of that which is close to the outside.
The trees are thin, the young ones begin to stand out, and the light filtering through the trees increases.
“We will return for sure this time… together this time for sure…!”
My legs shiver from walking through the forest, and I’m not sure my voice is coming out.
Even so, the sensation of the hand gripping mine was there.
-I know what happens after this.
---Please stop.
I can also here my own voice screaming those words.
However, I also think ‘this time for sure’.
.It’s just a dream! Why give up if it is only a dream?! Even if it is just in a dream…!
We walk, step by step, toward the outside.
If we get through this forest, we can return home.
The light from the outside gets stronger. The area becomes brighter.
And when I exited the forest…
… the hand I was supposed to be holding was no longer there.
“Why?! Why…?!”
I knew it. I knew it would be this way.
Only I can leave the forest.
We will never be able to return together.
“Why...?!”
You gave up didn’t you? You know, don’t you?
I should already know… know that only I returned.
It took me a long time to understand and I caused a lot of trouble in the process, but shouldn’t I have figured this out by now?
“That’s… even so…!”
And… Even if you returned together in the dream --- it isn’t like she’ll come back, will she?
After all, this is just a dream.
It changes nothing. It is just self-satisfaction. Even if I know it is a dream, it can’t have any effect on reality.
First, VN of the Month 2016 basically comes down to a competition between two titles, World Election and Tsumi no Hikari Rendezvous. The other stuff from February was mostly... disappointing. Shugotate 2 is great... but one of my rules is that direct sequels and continuances of previous games can't compete if they require knowledge of the original to enjoy (and in this case that is true).
Both games in the posts above are solid VN of the Month candidates... and if they were in separate months, it is likely they'd both end up being the rulers of their individual months. However, looking at it objectively, Tsumi no Hikari Rendezvous edges World Election by a hair (actually, either one could be named VN of the Month, but I had to give Tsumi extra points for my bias).
That aside, lets move on to talking about what titles I'll be playing from this month.
March Releases
Might or might not play the VN below.
https://vndb.org/v18237
Giving Lose the benefit of the doubt, despite the ridiculous look of the VN below.
https://vndb.org/v18131
I avoided the anime so I could read the VN below without bias, so I'll be playing it.
https://vndb.org/v14303
I wouldn't be Clephas if I didn't play the VN below. However, since it is a side-story, it isn't eligible for VN of the Month.
https://vndb.org/v18685
I'll definitely play the VN below... but if it is as bad as its related VN (Koi no Aria) I'll probably drop it.
https://vndb.org/v18635
Almost certainly won't play the one below, unless I get extremely bored. Astronauts sometimes does really good work with fantasy rpgs, but most of them are straight rape-tentacle things.
https://vndb.org/v18761
Edit: Almost forgot these two, even though they were on my list of to-play VNs at the beginning of the year... March has a few too many releases though, lol.
https://vndb.org/v18651
https://vndb.org/v18495
Now, those who remember my rave from last year will probably sigh in exasperation (or boredom) that I'm posting on Minori again. I mentioned before that I dislike most of Minori's games on a personal level, even while acknowledging the high-level art and sound in them...
My reasons were varied but all of them were pretty amorphous, probably because I was so blinded by that intense, instinctive dislike that I never really sat down and meditated on just what was driving me crazy.
I mean, Minori's VNs are visually exceptional, with generally high-level (if similar-looking) heroines and backgrounds, and in terms of sound, they use some of the best VA's in the business, to generally excellent results. Their characters are generally round, feeling like people, and the writing quality is above average.
So what is there not to like?
I seriously asked myself this question when I realized I was dragging the extra luggage of the two games I just went through and was trying to shrug them off. As I began the VN and reached the early turning point (most Minori games have a major turning point in the common route that causes the conflicts/issues later on, though there are exceptions) it came to me exactly what was driving me crazy.
It was the protagonist.
Does that sound crazy? Most Minori protagonists, for better or worse, are your average adolescent... perhaps with some strange ability, perhaps with psychological scars, but they are ultimately 'normal' adolescents with all that accompanies that (Eden* being an obvious exception).
To my horrified fascination, I realized that it was the very fact that Minori actually goes through the trouble to round out their adolescent protagonists that is driving me up the wall in each of their games. Now, for those of you who are old enough to be able to look back on adolescence with relief... perhaps you will recognize the sheer number of facepalm (or head-desk) moments you run into when dealing with an adolescent protagonist who acts exactly like an inexperienced adolescent would in the situations involved in most of Minori's games. Generally speaking, if you can think of a common mistake someone would make in a given situation at that age, a Minori protagonist will make it, usually to disastrous - or at least painful - results.
For better or worse, Minori's protagonists aren't really ciphers... and normally that would have been a reason for joy for me. Unfortunately, they happen to be round characters in a way that makes it unbelievably painful to be imagining myself in their positions (and not in a pleasant utsuge fashion). Of course, they also tend to grow a lot during the story, but the impression of the first part of a Minori game usually makes me want to slam my head into a wall... As such, can I really be blamed for having trouble fully appreciating the game as a whole? Probably, if you ask the right people. *smiles wryly*
Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to get past this issue, now that I'm aware of its root... but I am glad that, at the very least, I've managed to figure out precisely what was driving me insane, rather than just having a knee-jerk reaction to Minori's games.
Since I finished getting the acidic, poisonous, and unreasoning emotions out of my system - see this post:
I was able to get through this VN without a lot of pain and twisted emotion such as I experienced with Soreyori no Prologue.
First, this is a VN that people who prefer moege/charage will not like. I say this because, despite the high-quality visuals, this is - like most of Minori's more recent VNs - just a few steps too far in the direction of 'down in the mud romance drama' for the tastes of those who like the sappy, mindless romance that defines most VNs of the type.
Also, I will say that the best heroine in this VN is Fuuka (for reasons involving my personal tastes that I won't spoil). Tsubura is just too... weak-willed for my tastes. Ai is the central heroine, but she is typical of some of my least-favorite Minori heroines in being a bit too... attached to her own metaphors.
Having said that, this VN starts out in a way that I really didn't like (sparking the previous rave post that I used to lance that particular boil of toxic emotion), so I honestly can say that while the events in the common route were ones I didn't enjoy reading, they don't detract from the overall quality of the game. In fact, for people who like this kind of 'afternoon drama romance story', this will be a perfect treat. The simple fact that I don't enjoy that type of thing outside of a few specific scenarios is irrelevant to this fact, so remember that my personal distaste is pure bias, not a statement on the technical quality of the scenario.
I honestly can't find a way to describe this story in any way without spoiling it. This VN is so dependent on its specific methodology of revelation in order for the reader to enjoy it that any spoilers here - even minor ones - would be criminal on my part, so I'm going to decline to do an in-detail analysis of what I read, outside of a few generalized statements. Tsubura, for better or worse, is a personality that will seriously split those who read this. Her path has some seriously good points emotionally, but as a character, she will drive some people insane, because she can be seriously pathetic as a person sometimes. Ai's path... is dependent on the common route, and the revelation of certain personality traits (and hiding others) is integral to telling her story, so I'll refrain from any further comment except to say that it feels like a 'typical Minori star-crossed, twisted into a pretzel romance, for better or worse'. Fuuka... is Tsubura's opposite. She is strong-willed, bad-mouthed, and pretty capable overall. She is my favorite of the three heroines (as I mentioned above) and her path stimulates one of my tertiary fetishes. However, her path will also split those who read it, though for different reasons from the other two paths.
I have to mention this issue, despite it being one that most Minori readers are already familiar with... the unbelievably long h-scenes. For some reason, Minori seems to adore making h-scenes that last forever, have a ridiculous number of CGs, and are so intrusive into the story at some points that they actually make it hard to keep up interest in the story in general (there are some that aren't intrusive - and are even necessary to the story flow - but some are seriously...).
Visually and audio-wise, this VN is of average Minori quality (which is higher quality than the average VN ), but there are definitely issues with the graphic system, such as stuttering in the animations and occasional random freezes (usually lasting only a few seconds). The random freezes stop if you turn off the animation, and I actually enjoyed the story more once they were gone... so I can honestly say the animation doesn't add anything to the experience one way or the other.
In terms of raw scenario design and writing quality... the scenario design is pretty high quality, but the writing is somewhat spotty at times (daily life scenes are somewhat shoddier at times, whereas the quality jumps suddenly in the most vital scenes... not really noticeable unless writing is really an issue for you like it is for me).
Overall, this VN wasn't a bad experience once I got past my own issues... but I think that VN readers in the community will be split based on personal tastes when it comes to the game in general. It isn't a kamige by any standard, and it is an unabashed soap opera type story (though without endless seasons of meaningless twists). However, whether that is a good or bad thing is entirely up to you. As I said before, some people will actually have more trouble than I did, particularly people who like the relatively simple romance that is the common fare of charage, nakige, and others of the type. There are some seriously strong emotional moments in this VN... but it is not really a VN that will stimulate the intellect, as it is basically an adolescent romance story.
First, this VN is by Giga. Yes, Giga, the same people who did the Baldr series. However - and I have said this repeatedly in my comments on other non-Baldr Giga VNs - the second Giga steps outside of hard, complex, violent sci-fi... they get third-rate (except the visuals). The best non-Baldr VN I've even tried to play by Giga was Harvest Overray, and even that was only just above average for a charage with a central story (though the humor was the best of Giga). In fact, if you ignore the visuals, every charage they've made other than Harvest has been just below the charage average.
This one doesn't escape that trap, unfortunately. To be honest, I thought from the description on Getchu that they might have actually made something worth playing this time (despite the crappy character profiles). Unfortunately, what I got was a surprisingly shallow VN, whose best content is based entirely in parts (not the whole of) the heroine routes and where the rest stinks of potential but never quite manages to make it live.
I really and honestly thought I would like the characters... after all, if there is one thing Giga seemed to be capable of doing outside of its visuals and the Baldr series, it was a halfway-decent characterization, right? Right?
Wrong.
I honestly couldn't believe how shallow the characterization is, especially in the common route. The best you get in the common route is a vague, archetypical idea of what the characters might be like (Kanae being the most obvious). Unfortunately, the heroine routes basically say 'what you saw in the common route is mostly just a bit extended here'. Tomomi's path had some moments... but the other heroine paths were a patchwork of poor character development and a sudden shift to the 'endgame' after a relatively short bit of story progression.
Is this a kusoge? Not necessarily. I've played much, much worse charage in the past and not criticized them this viciously. Unfortunately, I'm also not in a charitable mood at the moment, because I was hoping this would wash the Kadenz Fermata flavor out of my mouth so I could play Tsumi no Hikari with a calm, reasonable heart. This is basically a very, very short charage with a very minimalist approach to... everything. When carried out properly, a 'minimalist' charage can sometimes be better than a longer one. Unfortunately, the failure to properly develop the characters (especially the protagonist) in the common route led to me being unable to care very much about the heroine routes. This made for a very 'rough' and 'slapdash' experience, at least in my (biased at the moment) opinion.
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.
Here it comes, a possible VN of the Month!!! Seriously, I hadn't expected that Whirlpool's ten year anniversary game would be this good. It is written by the same person who wrote Koisuru Doll to Omoi no Kiseki, and it feels in many ways like a return to the better of Whirlpool's two distinct styles. Whirlpool's two styles are:
1- A straight moege/charage that makes a vague attempt at seriousness on occasion and inevitably falls into the habit of producing endlessly repeated 'ongoing jokes'.
2- A VN that seems like a pure charage at first but develops a more serious and involved story with great drama as the game goes on. Most of these have a 'true ending', and the characters in general are better designed than in the first type's case.
This one is based in a world where five different parallel Earths merged into one. One was the human world, a second was the Goumakai (demon world), the third was the world of the divine (angels and gods), the fourth was the world of the beastpeople, and the fifth and last was the world of machines. Twenty years before the story began, this event caused a lot of conflict and chaos, and it was only resolved to an extent right before the protagonist's birth. At the same time, humans with special powers started to be born, and the protagonist was one of them.
The protagonist of this story, Kei, likes to believe he is a 'normal' guy and will say he is to anybody and everybody if they ask... but no one seriously believes it. He is one of those 'metsuki warui' protagonists who appear frightening naturally, and his power makes him even more frightening, especially since he had the bad taste to get into a battle with Sofia, the most powerful being in the world (and bring her to a draw) on her first day at school. As such, he is somewhat isolated. He is also unbelievably dense (standard VN protagonist quality) and kind-hearted, lol.
Anyway, in order to avoid being dragged back to the human part of the world, where he would normally have spent his entire life being watched and studied (he is the most powerful human 'Neos', and as such, he grew up basically being researched and watched), he decides to run for Student Council President. The common route of this VN is entirely taken up by the election and his efforts to convince the student body he is worthy of the presidency. The common route is pretty well-paced, and it gives you an opportunity to get to know each of the five main heroines (there are also eight sub-heroines with mini-routes).
The main heroines are Kururu (the true heroine), Sofia (the daughter of the former Demon King and the most powerful being on the planet), Faura (the wolf-girl and leader of the school's beastpeople), Papheel (a loli angel), and Iori (the protagonist's tsundere little sister). Except for Kururu's routes, most of them have a standard fall in love>brief ichaicha>conflict>resolution>ichaicha>ending resolution that has a nice pace, not wasting your time with endless dating or giving you pathetic 'we are still in school' endings. In fact, I was quite satisfied with the four main heroine routes other than Kururu's, and I didn't feel that the writer did the heroines a disservice with the balance of attention between them.
Kururu's route... is technically the true route, and it reveals her secrets as well as the full measure of the protagonist's ability. It has two endings - a 'normal' ending that you are required to see first, then the true path that digs into Kururu's true nature and past, as well as certain events during the common route that are left unexplained in the other routes. Overall, it is decent, though it lacks the impact of some other true routes I've encountered (if the other main heroine routes were a 1, it was a 1.2 or 1.3).
Overall, this is a pretty high quality, well-written VN that is worth reading if you want something that isn't quite your average charage but don't really want to become an adventurer and go play something like a horror, mystery, or chuunige.
First, let me state that 2015 is the flat-out worst year for VNs I've seen out of the last six. There was a lot of upward and downward flow hovering around the line known as 'mediocre' or 'average', but there were - saying it straight out - no kamige and few titles that really stood out from the crowd. It is definitely the worst year since I started VN of the Month, just two years and five months (or so) ago.
Unlike in 2013 or 2014, there are not a lot of titles I really even seriously considered to be in the running for this spot, even in a vague sort of way. While there were a few titles that jumped out at me toward the end of the year, I wouldn't have even seriously considered them in either of the two previous years. Heck, my top three titles this year wouldn't have even made it into the top twelve last year or the year before. That is how bad it was.
In 2013, the winner was Hapymaher by Purple Soft, its unbelievably high-quality soundtrack, art, presentation, and storytelling barely edging past Komorebi no Nostalgica for the win. While both games could pull both my emotions and intellect into play, Hapymaher's musical presentation gave it an overwhelming edge on that front, making it the winner.
2014 was also a hard choice... but in the end, it came down to Nanairo Reincarnation, the only VN that year that I honestly had no reservations about. Semiramis no Tenbin, Hello Lady, and a few others were runners-up that year (in fact, 2014 was an amazingly good year), but in terms of complete overall quality and appeal, they couldn't match Nanairo.
Unfortunately, 2015 just doesn't have any candidates that match those. Silverio Vendetta was immensely fun for me, but it has flaws in its structure that disqualify it, in addition to having way too niche an appeal. While I did praise it, Kyuuketsu Hime no Libra (which - as most of us know - has been Kickstarted for translation) just doesn't make it to the level I demand from VN of the Year Candidates. Sakura no Uta, for all that it does have its moments, has a deeply flawed overall flow and a lot of technical issues with the story presentation. Soreyori no Prologue was an interesting experience, despite being typically Minori (meaning sincerely annoying at several major points), but it wasn't a game I could seriously consider for VN of the Year. Natsuiro Recipe is probably the best 'iyashikei' product made in the last three years, but it isn't something I could honestly consider for raw quality. Koko Kara Natsu no Innocence had the typically high levels of overall quality I associate with Clochette (despite the boob fetish), but again, it wasn't quite there. Hatsuru Koto Naki Mirai Yori was an immensely fun ride, but - like Silverio Vendetta - was both deeply flawed and too niche in appeal to seriously be considered.
So what was I left to consider, really?
Basically it came down to Kikan Bakumatsu Ibun Last Cavalier, a surprise entry in the last part of the year that tries to replicate, at least in part, the magic of Chuushingura (the VN, not the movie or the various books), except with a lot more bloodshed and in a steampunk version of the political and military conflict surrounding what led up to the Meiji Restoration. Now, at first I was tempted to think that I was jumping to conclusions, because it was so fresh in my mind... so I let almost two months pass before I made my decision, while I went about the task of reviving my memories of various VNs I played during the year.
It really was odd what came back to me during that time... Sakura Nikagetsu was one of the more memorable ones (definitely not VN of the Year material, but it was immensely amusing), as was Rakuen no Shugosha (a cheap kinetic utsuge in a total anti/non-anime style), and Sorcery Jokers (the most technically sound of the straight-out chuunige that came out during the year). I honestly had to reject the former two outright, simply because their visuals make them a no-go for ninety percent of the people I know, no matter how much fun or how high quality a psychological experience they might be. Sorcery Jokers was actually a lot harder to dismiss, when it came down to it. In terms of scale, I was really tempted to say it could compete with Kikan Bakumatsu... but if asked which left a better impression, I would have instantly said Kikan Bakumatsu.
To be honest, either title would have been a compromise. Neither is as good as any of the best VNs from the last four or five years. They are definitely good, as in being worthy of being listed as VNs to remember. However, I definitely wouldn't have put them up as candidates in another year.
For the idiots who kept asking me if I'd say yes to Bansenjin *spits on the floor* even Masada pisses on his own feet sometimes (too much of an attempt to recreate the success of the Shinza series).
OK, I started playing Gears of Dragoon 2 about four days ago (I've only managed twenty hours so far, due to work), and I have a few comments on the game.
For better or worse, Gears of Dragoon 2 Reimei no Fragments is a dungeon crawler/rpg/VN hybrid, and like most VNs of this type, it is pretty big. To be blunt, in 20 hours, I've only managed to get to level 24 and get halfway through Chapter 2. Considering that with the same amount of time I was already halfway through (or farther) with each of the Venus Blood games, that means that I have long way to go. As such, I'm excluding this and Sengo Muramasa from VN of the Month for January. I'm not really seeing anything glorious enough to surpass the experience of Tokyo Necro, anyway.
The battle system is a pretty straightforward turn-based one, though it has a limited-size skill palette that makes the game a bit inflexible at times as I've gained access to more skills. The leveling system is an experience-based one where you gain levels by defeating enemies, then use skill points to increase skill levels or progress farther on the skill tree. The game experience is added to somewhat by the presence of a guild-leveling system (where you get guild points for finishing missions, then use them to increase the levels of the four guilds - (Warrior - which affects the item shop-, Thief - Which effects item drops and dungeon mapping -, Priest - which effects damage and healing, as well as drops for certain types of items - , and Mage - which effects drops for certain items, etc), making the game more convenient. I started out focused on the Warrior Guild, but the Thief Guild is a lot more utilitarian... if the Thief Guild's level is one above the current chapter, every dungeon in that chapter will come pre-mapped, thus making planning a lot easier.
Story-wise... it looks like it could be interesting, but the ratio of dungeon to story is a bit too lopsided toward the dungeon, thus making it hard to connect with the characters and story overall. This is a problem some of the Venus Blood games also had, but I honestly think this is a bit worse. The protagonist stumbles a bit too often for his apparent confidence, and the main heroine is once again a ditz (why is it that rpg/dungeon crawler heroines almost always are?). To be honest, I do wish we could customize how the characters level up their stats, as some of the characters have really, really half-assed statistics despite their roles, whereas others have ones lopsided toward roles other than theirs. I think this is mostly a matter of poor design, so I honestly can't be really complimentary about the game so far.
Now, for the reason why I'm going ahead and announcing VN of the Month early... to be blunt, Fire Emblem Fates is coming out, and I'm probably not going to touch a VN for a week at least after it does, meaning until February's VNs release. Also, except for this one and Sengo Muramasa, there really isn't anything left to play that is interesting.
VN of the Month January 2016
January was a month of extremes... I played two kusoge, one kamige, and one high-quality one. Obviously, there is no other candidate for the VN of the Month except Tokyo Necro, but it should be mentioned that Hataraku Otona no Renai Jijou would have had VN of the Month potential in many another month. It isn't a kamige, but it was solid enough to remain in memory. While having to plow through two kusoge was painful, the other two were worth it.
Mmm... because I replayed Lost Azurite, I thought I'd do a bit of comparison... also because I didn't feel up to playing Sengo or Dragoon yet. Fake Azure Arcology is based some time before Lost Azurite, in Amahara, an arcology completely cut off from the outside world. It is a city that basically tries to maintain a sense of the 'outside' inasmuch as it is possible while essentially living inside a giant dome. Seasons and the sky are simulated, as is weather, and it is even possible to cook real food (though it is reconstituted through the recycling systems for the most part). The element of the setting most central to the story is 'Flight', a type of race-battle involving fast-moving airplanes dogfighting while struggling to reach the goal first.
The protagonist, Chihiro, is a former pilot who lost the ability to fly due to a certain traumatic event. He acts bright and cheerful and is something of a troublemaker, but he is constantly struggling with his desire to return to the skies. Near the beginning of the VN, he suddenly finds himself rescuing a blonde girl from a downed aircraft, and that is how the story really gets started.
To be honest, most of this story is the heroines beating up on the protagonist because he is so utterly hopeless at anything other than making trouble and flying. I'm pretty sure anyone who has watched anime from the late nineties and early 2000's will recognize the 'punching bag protagonist', who seems to spend all his time getting insulted and treated like crap by women who love him anyway. To be blunt, he is that type. For those who can't stand this type of situational comedy, I honestly have to warn you against playing this.
Reti, the blonde girl, is Noel's counterpart in this story, in the sense that she originates from the same place (and even has a brief cameo appearance in the true end of Azurite). She is cheerful, free-thinking, and a bit cat-like. She drags Chihiro around behind her as she explores Amahara, and it is her appearance that drives the feelings of the various heroines out onto the surface.
Rio is... a girl that really looks like she should be yandere. Seriously. In fact, there are a lot of moments, both in her path and otherwise, where you almost see her that way. She and Chihiro are osananajimis, and their past is complex and wrapped up in the events that caused Chihiro's trauma and the aftermath. She is what is called a 'heavy' woman, in the emotional sense, and that is the primary cause of conflict with her and Chihiro throughout the story.
Akira is an imouto-like character (sort-of) who is also Chihiro's osananajimi... but she is also from a powerful family that serves as a lodestone for the trouble in this story. Her path is, to be honest, mostly involved with that family and its problems. It is also the weakest path, looking at it from an objective perspective.
Haruko, the final heroine, is the protagonist's former rival, a fellow pilot who went through training school with him. Her path is one of the better ones (if you are just going for detail, Rio's is the best), and it is the most intimately involved with the sport of Flight, for reasons that are self-evident.
Overall, to be honest this story does not in anyway match that of Lost Azurite. I don't say this as an insult, but Lost Azurite was both darker and more unconventional. For that reason, those who like Lost Azurite might very well hate this one and vise-versa. That said, both times I played it, it was a fairly interesting (if at times irritating due to protagonist issues) trip into the future, and I honestly liked most of the characters, despite everything. I do think this VN could have used a much longer and more solid set of after-stories, and I would have liked to see an added ending for a certain character, but other than that, most of its flaws are forgivable.
Re:Birth Colony is a VN that has a special place in my heart. It is the second VN in the two VN series about a future where a rain of meteors rendered the planet's surface lifeless and humanity is living in arcologies of various types. The first one, Fake Azure Arcology, I plan to replay a bit later. It has the same writer as Hapymaher, Harukiss, Sakigake Generation, and a number of other VNs going back to 2007.
The protagonist, Keram Souji (also known as Rindou Souji), is the adoptive child of a noble in the multicultural arcology of Aquarius, some 500 years after the Star Rain (the disaster) and a few years after the events in FAA. The society he lives in is one split between two areas... the 'Central District' where the nobles and what amounts to middle class citizens and normal corporations operate... and the outer regions that are controlled by criminal syndicates such as the multicultural (with heavy oriental leanings) Gentian. It is a world where the nobles have absolute power... as long as they don't seriously screw up. On the surface, Souji seems like the standard role model student... However, Souji's other identity, as a first-rate hacker raised by Airi (also known as Rangiku) and working for Gentian, is somewhat less... pure.
Souji is a pragmatist, except where his friends and family are involved. Then, he will use any means he can put his hands on to completely obliterate whatever is threatening those he cares about. Seriously. One of the best scenes in the entire VN involves him essentially
In the early part of the story, Souji comes upon a girl called Azurite in a facility sealed off for the past five hundred years, and his - relatively - peaceful life gets turned upside down.
For better or worse, the story of this VN is focused on Souji and Azurite, and while things come to a resolution in all the paths (sort of) it isn't one that is really satisfying in the sense that someone as greedy as I would prefer. I mean,
, but that ending wasn't exactly a resolution to the story's main conflict, lol. The various paths all reveal elements crucial to creating the big picture in Azurite's path, which is the true one... but because of that, they leave too much unresolved by definition
As a whole, the story of the VN is first-class, but that sense that the heroines other than Azurite are just foils for her is more than a little irritating... I loved Noie (both conceptually and as a character) so I was a bit miffed at how her route gets gypped.
Technology in this setting is pretty advanced... in particular cybernetics, AI, and networking technology are all way beyond what is possible now, even if you set aside certain super-abilities possessed by the protagonist and Azurite. That kind of hard sci-fi is one of my biggest addictions, so I quite naturally adore that part of this VN.
Overall, this is a VN that will seriously tickle people who love hard sci-fi and twisted, dystopian societies. I honestly hope they will produce a third VN in the series (a distinct possibility, considering how open-ended the series' concept is), so I can experience more of this lovely stuff.
Since most of the people who read my blog at all are probably already aware of this, I'm not going to hide the fact that moege/charage aren't my favorite sector of the VN industry. I see VNs in general as a storytelling medium first and a visual art third or fourth, so the overfocus on visual elements that defines 'true moege' and the inevitable inconsistencies and storytelling incompetence in charage can be pretty irritating for me.
That said, I have and do enjoy some charage/moege. Ones like Nekopara, that are cute and over relatively quickly, can actually be an enjoyable bit of relaxation, and the best charage - such as Lovesick Puppies or the various Alcot comedy-focused VNs - can be truly amusing to read. However, there are some things I can't stand about some charage...
One of the most annoying aspects of charage is the tendency to go to a lot of trouble to build an interesting setting for the heroines or protagonist... and then either fail to utilize it as part of the characters' story, underuse it, or 'change their minds' because it is inconvenient for a particular heroine path. This is a complaint those of you who read my blog or have read my blog have probably heard before. To be blunt 'if you build it, at least use it well' is my attitude toward efforts at building a setting. Give the protagonist a tragic past and psychological scars? Then you should make his healing a part of the story of the heroine paths. Give the heroine a major issue/problem that is a fundamental part of her life and she can't resolve on her own? Please don't insult my intelligence by resolving it in ten seconds with no real drama whatsoever. This is a pet peeve of mine that drives me up the wall, and when I come across charage that actually manage to break past this kind of failure, I am generally happy to praise them up one side and down the other.
An excess of random (and I do really mean random) h-scenes used in place of character development in a heroine path. Now, let me tell you that it is quite possible to utilize an h-scene as a part of character development. Alcot in particular favors this technique and it is the primary reason why I read all their h-scenes (actually, this habit annoys me, as I normally skip h-scenes). There is absolutely nothing wrong with using an h-scene to develop a character... in fact, VNs like Vermilion, Jingai Makyou, Uruwashi no, and Dies Irae actually have h-scenes that are used to further develop the characters. However, h-scenes that take the place of telling the characters' story are an occasional bad habit that pops up in about one third of all charage. Yes, eroge characters tend to be like randy monkeys when they cross the line into loverhood... but that isn't an excuse for ignoring further character development entirely.
Ichaicha. Now, the concept of 'ichaicha' is so fundamental to Japanese romance in VNs that it is unavoidable even in many more serious games. I honestly don't have a problem with it... in reasonable amounts. However, there is a phase in about two-thirds of all moege/charage where there is literally nothing but this!!! If it were spaced out a bit with more story progression and/or character development (in the case of moege/charage dealing with the heroines' and/or the protagonist's personal issues) it really would never be a problem. Unfortunately, the 'endless dating phase' can often be interminably long... does anyone really want to suffer through eight dates (frequently to the same places and with no real change in the events involved) for each heroine?
That said, charage do have a lot to offer. There are some seriously well-designed and written ones out there that actually tackle all the issues introduced as part of the story. Lovesick Puppies was one of those, and there are yet others who take the setting and run with it such as Suzukaze and Maikaze (a game and fandisc) by Whirlpool. I honestly have to applaud when a VN focused almost entirely on the characters manages to fully utilize a reasonably well-designed setting. Consistency isn't always necessary in a charage (in fact, it is frequently ignored), but a charage that actually manages to keep the individual routes consistent with the base setting is more attractive than one that doesn't, generally speaking. For all that charage are composed almost entirely of tropes and archetypes in most cases, I can forgive that if they manage to do so in a way that is pleasing and makes sense without being excessively trite.
What does all of this come down to? A good game is a good game even if it is a charage or a moege, and a kusoge is a kusoge even if it is one of my beloved chuunige. I could go on to name a half-dozen chuunige that are so terrible I don't even want to recall them as a demonstration, but I'm sleepy, so I'm going to leave it at this.
... well, I guess I was wrong. They do still make pure moege. The only problem with this is that 'pure moege=kusoge' these days, so I honestly can't see a reason to be happy about that.
This VN was written partly by the same guy who wrote Flyable Heart, and it is by a company (Hexenhaus) that has a fondness for producing moe-based VNs focused on eating establishments of some sort (this case, a Cafe Club at a school). I'll be perfectly honest... this VN starts out with all the elements necessary to create a decent charage. It has a protagonist with a face (who can pass as a woman), can cook just about anything, and is generally popular. It has a set of heroines that had the potential to be interesting (a cosplayer, an ojousama, a kouhai who is afraid of men, and a girl that obviously has a hidden side). The idea of the Cafe Club, where they run a cafe inside the school grounds, also had the potential to provide all sorts of interesting situations.
Unfortunately, my experience with this VN was... that they just failed to utilize any of these elements effectively. The heroines are shallow/underdeveloped (even after their routes are done), the protagonist never does anything interesting, and the actual heroine routes are basically - lovers at or near Christmas>sex>ichaicha>more sex>endgame (with easily resolved personal issues). To be honest, I wouldn't have had any problems with this, if they had at least managed to develop the heroine's personalities and routes properly. Unfortunately, it was both a short and boring experience, as a whole.
For those who might have been interested in this... don't bother, it is a kusoge.
As the title above indicates, this is a story about the love life of a working adult... to be specific, a twenty-five year old salaryman named Oga Itsuki. At the beginning of the story Itsuki, who has already begun to settle into the dull exhaustion of the salaryman style of life, is awakened to just how pathetic his life is by his immediate superior, who suggests he try to change himself. The amazing thing is that he does go through with it, and it changes his fate (makes it interesting).
First, I should say that this VN won't be for everyone. It has a lot of h-scenes, and the protagonist seems to attract lonely women (single and otherwise) who are desiring of a one-night-stand. He even cheats on all of the heroines at least once (though the ones after theyofficially become lovers are optional scenes). That said, this isn't a nukige... it has a bit too much story and makes too much sense for that (well, except for the fact that he attracts so many women).
This VN is pretty short. I finished all the paths in about ten hours, about the same as a low-level moege. The fact that comedy and everyday slice-of-life make up only a minority of the story is pretty beneficial here, as the story of each heroine - and the common route - progresses at a good, relatively fast pace that gets down to the meat of things without a lot of side-tracking. There is no 'endless dating' period like you see with the schoolkids of your average charage, and the protagonist's relationships with the heroines are pretty interesting in and of themselves... well, amusing anyway.
I can honestly recommend this to someone who is tired of the endless school romances that plague VNs but doesn't want to head off into the wilds of Chuuniland to escape it. Overall, this VN is a fun ride that is over quickly enough that it doesn't become boring or trite. The endings are pleasant and the heroines are interesting enough that it really is worth getting to know them.
... it has been almost a year and a half since the last release from Studio Ryokucha, and I was looking forward to this, almost despite myself. This company has produced some really good games over the years, and I have generally enjoyed most of their games I've played thoroughly. At first, it seemed like this one might end up being one of the better VNs by this company, but once I finished my first route, I was forced to come to the realization that my expectations - based on the building of the setting in the first half of the common route - were not going to be met.
Why did it get my expectations so high? Quite simply, they went out of their way to create an idea of the setting that leads the reader to anticipate some really interesting drama (though not necessarily action) later on, particularly in the heroine paths. Unfortunately, once you get on the heroine paths, it is little more than three parts H-scene to five parts ichaicha with a small dash of 'worries about the future' drama. The protagonist ends up doing the same thing in each route as a solution to future problems, and by the time I'd finished two routes, I honestly had lost all interest in the game as a whole.
This is one of those cases where the classic slice-of-life romance formula just doesn't work, and I was more than a bit pissed off at the way they ruined things after all the effort they went through in the common route to plant the seeds of a lot of potential future conflicts. In particular, Rio's path is unbelievably disappointing, considering all the potential ways they could have done it given the way they presented her as the game's main heroine.
As a whole, this bit of slice-of-life is something of a waste of time, and I honestly can't recommend it.
To be honest, it is really hard to comment on this series of sequels/fandiscs...
S
For better or worse, S really is a sequel, starting from just before the events in the true route of the original. It adds a massive number of characters (seriously, the number added is ridiculous), extended after-stories for the original game, a what-if scenario for Yuki, and five new heroine paths... unfortunately, those heroine paths are hit and miss.
I'm going to say it outright... Tsubame's path was boring. Oh, there were some good fights, but I honestly never got to like her as a character, so there was no sense of tension in any of what happened for me. I really could have done without this path existing at all.
Monshiro's path, on the other hand... is first-class (as long as you are a lolicon or don't watch the h-scenes - which I didn't). Combined with the complete after-story in A, it is one of my favorite paths. Part of that is because Yamato grows more in this path and its related Majikoi A paths than he does on any of the others, and the other part is because it is just all-around the best constructed of the heroine paths.
Tatsuko's 'path' is basically just an after-story for the true path of the original where you choose the Itagaki sisters. There isn't much there but h-scenes and ichaicha, so it is hard to comment on it.
Kokoro's path is... less than memorable. Honestly, it felt like they didn't put much effort into it at all.
Margrit's path is pretty good, if you like the side of himself that Yamato showed in Chris's path. If you hated it, you'll hate this path.
A
First, I'll say that all but one of my favorite paths from 1-4 are Kuki-related (split-offs from Monshiro's path). Asumi, Stacey, and Ri all get paths in this one, and I liked all of them, though Asumi's was the best of the three. I also liked the Monshiro after story, Rin's story, and Homura's story. Each one is about equivalent in length and content to a full heroine route in the original Majikoi, so there is no reason to complain about the amount or depth of content. Seiso's and Benkei's paths were good, but not as interesting as the paths above. Other than that... there isn't much to say. I didn't really like Yukie's sister's path (mostly because I hate the 'pretend lovers' trope like the plague).
One thing I noticed is that, throughout Majikoi A, they were setting up for a potential fourth Majikoi game... and I honestly don't know how I feel about them wanting to continue to milk this series and cast of characters.
I decided while I was playing my Tsuyokiss marathon to replay the Majikoi series. My reason? I played the original over five years ago, and my perspective on it was bound to have changed since. In that sense I was correct. I came to one conclusion that I'll go ahead and state beforehand... Majikoi is a game that definitely picks its readers (in a sense, this is true of all of Takahiro's games).
Whereas the Tsuyokiss series is, for better or worse, a series of VNs in the 'traditional golden age beginning of the charage' style, Majikoi is more like 'I thought of this setting while I was high on pot and decided to take it as far as it would go'. The fact is, Majikoi is most enjoyable for those who can sit back, let go of their grip on reality, and just enjoy it for what it is without constantly being driven crazy by the over-the-top (in a different sense than a chuunige) nature of the setting and characters. If you can't do that, you are bound to hate or at least be disinterested in this VN. Noble Masters, the first Minato Soft game written by Takahiro, had a similar sensation to it, but Majikoi pretty much takes it as far as it can go (without escaping the slice-of-life boundaries of Takahiro's stories completely).
For better or worse, most of this VN is slice of life. It is generally good/amusing slice of life, so I actually don't mind even now, but the sheer number of 濃い characters can at times grate on the nerves, even as those same characters provide a lot of amusement. The obsession with strong women that Takahiro obviously has makes for a great set of heroines in all of his games, but it also means that the protagonist's position is weak, no matter how talented he is (even seeing things through Yamato's eyes is pretty frustrating sometimes, though not as stressful as either of the Tsuyokiss protags).
Unfortunately, people who like 'soft' women will find this VN less than attractive. All of the main heroines are pretty headstrong and difficult to deal with, and Takahiro's approach to the romantic part is pretty... sex-trainer-ish at times. It was like that in Tsuyokiss as well (from the summaries on Getchu, I'm pretty sure it was intentional). Chris's path caused a lot of arguments from prudes and 'freedom of H-scenes' Fuwans in the past, if you want the most drastic example, lol.
I honestly enjoyed the VN as a whole still... but I probably wouldn't rate it as high as I did back then, if I were playing it for the first time now. Kazama is just annoying to me now, rather than being a piece of comic relief, for instance. As I said above, there are a lot of points in this VN that split opinions drastically based on taste, and those who love this VN will love it... and those who hate it will trash it like crazy. I love the setting, simply because it reminds me of Simon Green's love of 'there is no point in explaining, I just want to put this in there so I will' writing style. It is an acquired taste for those used to reading stories with more rational settings though.
VN jargon can be one of the most confusing things on the planet for newbies, when they first start playing VNs. I say this as a straight-out statement because jargon-related questions are some of the most common ones I get from newbies, and jargon-related misunderstandings are pretty common. However, I'm not making this post to explain each piece of VN jargon's definition and the like, but rather to poke a few holes in the illusion of the 'stability' of the VN lingua franca that people like me tend to let people believe in for the sake of convenience.
First, the idea of the VN term that everybody assumes is used widely in Japan but really isn't. In VN otakudom, this is pretty common. First, I'll give you the examples I'm aware of off-hand.
1. Visual Novel- yes, this is a term that was coined by the Japanese, but it only ever took off here (there are occasions where it is used in Japan, but not in quite the same way we do). However, it has become the umbrella term for an entire medium over here, an umbrella term the Japanese don't use that way primarily because they lump all 'games' in together as the same medium. I see visual novels as a storytelling medium, but the Japanese see them as games, despite the lack of any real gameplay. This is not a matter of absolute definitions but rather a mindset, so I'm not going to insist my personal interpretation of the word is absolute here. The closest thing Japan comes to umbrella terms for VNs is 'bishoujo geimu', 'otomege', and 'gyaruge' (the first referring to male-oriented VNs with beautiful females, the second referring to female-oriented VNs of a certain type, and the third being a term that tends to change wildly depending on who is using it).
2. Charage- yes, you've heard me use this word a few times in the past... and indeed it did get used sometimes by Japanese makers or players to describe VNs of the type I use it to describe. However, if you want me to be straight about it... a few others and myself basically took the term, used it like crazy, and made it a piece of the jargon for the sake of our own convenience. It caught on here but it never caught on in Japan. Occasionally I still see someone use it in a Japanese board, but it is primarily a term used and defined by western players.
3. Chuunige- Actually, I'm pretty sure this was invented by the Fuwanovel community, lol. I use it because it is so convenient to describe the genre, but before it came around there was no jargon for the type of VN this has come to define. I actually laughed hysterically the first time I saw the term 'chuunige' pop up in a Japanese forum used casually to describe Dies Irae, and when I saw the easter egg in Semiramis no Tenbin where the writer said he'd been asked to try making a 'chuunige' I rofled hard. However, I'm about 90% sure we, the Western vn-players coined the term, even if it went over there at some point.
Terms that mean pretty much the same thing on both sides of the water do exist.
1. Nakige- for better or worse, this is probably one of the most well-defined VN genres. That is probably because Key did such a good job of forming the foundations for it, and the term caught on really well over there.
2. Utsuge- similar to above, this is a term that is used on both sides of the water, more or less in the same manner.
3. Otomege
Now that I've ranted on all that... I should probably give a few examples outside of VNs where this has happened... or at least one. Manga and anime are terms we use to describe Japanese comics and animation. However, in the eyes of the Japanese, both are umbrella terms for all comics and animation. Of course, there are terms that have gone over there that have also gone through mutations of their own (they are known as pseudo-anglicanisms), so don't be surprised if you come across katakana words whose meaning doesn't even resemble what they sound like (the katakana word for an apartment, for instance). While there are a lot of common points of understanding on both sides of the water, there are also a lot of points in our jargon that have warped and changed to fit our understanding or have been adopted here even though they got tossed to the side over there. Anyway, for those whose experience with the community has been confusing, Western VN jargon is, for better or worse, only just escaping its formative stages, so be patient with us lazy (and somewhat senile) old-timers. Jargon exists for everyone's convenience but defining jargon is a pain in the butt, as meanings change over time little by little.
This is a VN made by a long-defunct company called Cait Sith. Its members went to a number of places afterward... the more famous ones include Nekoneko soft's art crew and the writer of Sekai to Sekai no Mannaka de. In fact I can see that, in this case, some of the inspiration for the writer's later works definitely came from this VN. It is about a young man living in a mysterious village of youkai. He was raised from a very young age by the town's doctor, Waka-sensei, and he was watched over warmly by the town's various youkai, until one day a young human girl named Yuuna was brought home by Waka-sensei, leading to the beginning of the story.
Generally speaking, this is a warm-your-heart story, with three youkai and one human heroine. Riku is essentially a lump of warmheartedness, incapable of squishing a fly. His friendly and easygoing nature endear him to a lot of the youkai residents, and he is generally beloved, though thought a bit odd. The human heroine, Yuuna, is a pretty straightforward innocent genkikko... she is pretty much what would happen if you made Riku female and even more naive. The second heroine is the Yukinko (variation on the Yuki-onna theme) Sayuki, who is responsible for bringing winter to the village. The third is Rin, a bakeneko in training to become a nekomata (higher level of cat youkai) while she runs the village's only general store. The fourth and last is the kitsune tochigami, Aya, who is a hedonistic, lazy kami that prefers drinking and sleeping to doing her job.
The individual heroine paths in this VN are pretty emotional, designed to bring out tears, but this doesn't go down the utsuge path, sticking to something closer to a nakige. While the paths tend to be a bit predictable from the perspective of someone who has played as many non-violent fantasy VNs as I have, they are still touching (there are certain developments that became archetypical in the last few years that were new back in 2008, lol), because they feel more natural. I honestly liked all the paths in this game, though I'd say Aya's path left a really strong impression in my memory (mostly because Aya has the most interesting past and the protagonist's full past and nature come to light in this one).
Overall, this is another good addition for people who like soothing VNs with mild catharsis and youkai heroines. It has an aura similar to Toppara in some ways, though the protagonist isn't a self-pitying young man like in that one. Those who liked Toppara or Kaminoyu will probably like this VN, whereas those who wanted something a bit less peaceful probably won't enjoy it that much.
