For those interested in this game, you have my apologies... but I honestly just couldn't bring myself to play anymore of this after completing the short common route and Sohori's route. I have a number of reasons, but the main ones are:
1. This is a lolige. I am not and have never been a lolicon and my tolerance for non-immortal human lolis is pretty low. All but one of the heroines in this game are either complete lolis or borderline, and to me, that is just visually tiring after a while, especially when nobody acts like it is strange that a whole bunch of lolis like the same guy.
2. The protagonist. First, he is a 'nobody' whose background setting should have let him be somebody. I am so tired of nobody protagonists and cipher protagonists. Despite apparently being capable overall and a pretty good beginning characterization, his basic personality changes (branches off about sixty degrees) the second you enter a heroine path... He comes across as a serious, straight-laced guy with a strong sense of responsibility in the common route... and when you get on the heroine routes, he turns into the usual 'doofus character' that defines so many moege protags.
3. I am not in the mood for a pure romance VN right now... to be honest, even if this were a kamige, I don't think I could really enjoy it at the moment. Fortunately, it is nowhere near that good (the protagonist's personality change kind of sinks any chance of that), so you really aren't missing anything, from what I read.
Generally speaking, if you are a weaboo and/or otaku and you reveal your hobby, you generally tend to end up on the receiving end of all sorts of unbelievably irritating questions. This is my list of the most annoying questions I've heard as an otaku/weaboo.
1. "Is that a cartoon?" Almost every anime fan gets asked this at some point, though generally speaking, this is an event that was a lot more common when I first started watching anime. To be blunt, American cartoons tend to be one of two types... the kid-oriented or the adult-oriented comedy (Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park). However, anime's sheer variance leads a lot of fans - including me - to want to clearly delineate a difference between the two, despite the fact that the actual Japanese anime definition includes Western cartoons.
2. "Why do you hate your country?" This is perhaps the dumbest question I've ever heard, but I've been on the receiving end of it countless times during my weaboo life. The fact is, I don't hate my country. My country does a lot of stupid things, but it raised me, it helped form my personality, and it has kept me fed. I simply prefer to study Japanese culture and language over American. Unfortunately, trying to explain that this is essentially a matter of aesthetic tastes is pretty pointless in the case of those who ask this question (since they've already made their own conclusions).
3. "Why are you dressing up like that?" When you cosplay, this is perhaps the most unbelievably obvious question you can ever get. Back when I still cosplayed, it drove me insane to be asked why I was dressing up that way when it was bloody obvious I was doing it for fun because I liked the anime/books/etc it was based off of.
4. "Why is there a poster of a cartoon character on your wall?" This gets old, fast. When I still bothered buying swag, it was as annoying as hell to have the occasional visitor to my room ask this and similar questions about the swag in my room.
5. "Why do you like the Japanese when they are the ones who started WWII?" This is mostly a question asked by someone who has only read US history books or high school level world history textbooks... WWII was the results of both sides' arrogance and over a half-century of bitter economic competition, preceded by an even more arrogant series of attempts to turn Japan into a Western satellite country (ie. late nineteenth and early twentieth century China). That said, the question has absolutely nothing to do with why I like Japan. I like Japan because its unique cultural development has so many interesting aspects to study, and I am fully aware of the insanity of war-era Japan and the cultural quirks that led to it, unlike the people who ask this question.
6. "Japanese games are all the same... why do you play them?" This is a more recent question and one of the few that has a legitimate point, though it is made from ignorance (usually some newbie listening to a long-time vet complain). The fact is, otaku media, in particular their games, are slow to change... The shifts in the market are slow, and so gluts of certain types of games are endemic to the industry. The same applies to all otaku media, really. Japanese business-people hate change and are slow to adapt to it. The eccentric exceptions are just that... exceptions. The answer to the question I usually give is that I honestly just enjoy Japanese style more than Western when it comes to telling a story, and more than half of my reason for living is experiencing good stories.
7. "That Japanese sword look like it would break with a single whack of this hammer... why don't you just buy a broadsword?" lol... this question I got when I was showing off my 日本刀 （a katana actually made in Japan in the old manner) to another guy who does broadsword fencing. The simple answer to this question that I gave him is that my sword is prettier, because I didn't want to get into the arguments about the difference in purpose. The more complex answer is that katanas make more sense in an era without metal armor than a broadsword (katanas are designed to slice, as opposed to the way western blades are designed to smash and crush as much as cut). Again, there is also the aesthetic, lol.
8. "Do you support what the Japanese did in China during WWII?" Now this question... I've never got how people can ask this question. Do people really think that even a weaboo would lack that much common sense and clarity of thought? Seriously?! Of course I don't in any way support Japan's actions during WWII. Only someone who hasn't read history could have. In regards to America, there were mitigating circumstances and legitimate reasons, but China was another matter entirely. China, for all intents and purposes, was basically a helpless, defenseless region (I don't call it a country because it wasn't and hadn't been since Britain won the wars in the nineteenth century), and there was absolutely no need for any of the excesses Japan undertook during the invasions and occupation there. The same goes for Korea. I almost punched the last person who asked me this question.
This is actually my second time playing this VN, though my first playthrough only went through Neko and Kohane. I will say that playing this after the original series does change my perspective somewhat, as it is easier to get the many references throughout the VN. Hakari, one of the heroines, is the cousin of the protagonist from the original trilogy and the protagonist is Kani's cousin. Jiro is a relative of one of the Kenpou Club's members from the time of the first protagonist (ten years before), Cherish is the daughter of one of Serebu's father's friends, Kasumi's family is served by the Kurogane family (Otome's family), and Neko was raised in an orphanage that came to be owned and run by Sunao's father. In addition, one of Murata's little sisters is a classmate of the new protagonist and... well it goes on like that. In other words, it is hard to fully appreciate this game without playing through the original series, which is probably why I ended up being so bored with it the first time around.
Common Route
To be straight out, the common route is pretty hilarious, in a style that is almost equivalent to that of the original series, though the new character dynamics are quite a bit different. For one thing, the 'group of friends' is a bit looser than in the original series (in the original, it was a really tight friendship, like a family), and the school's situation is a bit different. Hakari, who is the Student Council President, is a natural manipulator and a genius, but she lacks Erika's hedonism and charisma, so she generally controls things from behind the scenes. This is opposed to the hard-headed Morals Committee, which is led by Neko, who is obsessed with rules and whose ideals just don't match with those of Hakari. This is a source for most of the conflict in the common route, and it is generally amusing.
Neko
I can't say I've changed my opinion of Neko's route. Similar to the original Otome route in the original Tsuyokiss, it is a surprisingly weak route for such a character that leaves such a strong impression. For better or worse, Neko is a bit hard-headed... like Otome she is ridiculously strong (both of them are about .8 of Momoka from Majikoi in terms of strength), and she is a stickler for the rules... but in exchange, she is ridiculously cute once she falls in love with the protagonist (definitely went for gap-moe here), but there is a severe and unforgivable lack of drama in this route, despite some foreshadowing. I think that they intend to use Festival to give that foreshadowing life - and probably intended to from the beginning - but it makes for a pretty frustrating experience.
Hakari
The protagonist's osananajimi, the Student Council President, and the original Tsuyokiss protagonist's cousin. To be honest, her route has the same problem as Neko's. It sticks to a very simple love-comedy equation and doesn't go into any of the down and dirty that frequently framed the background of the original trilogy. For that reason, I can't help but give this route a reluctant thumbs-down. I'll be perfectly honest... this VN is starting to remind me of Nigakki for the crappy heroine routes.
Cherish
Cherish (also known as Cherry) is the granddaughter of a former American General. Her personality is bright and straightforward, and she is the game's 'bakaloli'. Her path is a bit weird, in the sense that she and the protagonist never quite fall into the conventional 'lovers' slot, where both sides are passionately in love. Generally speaking, in VNs when a friend makes the transition to lover, there is a bit of tension and drama, but in this case it simply doesn't happen. To be honest, even after the six hours of this path, I had to ask myself if she was a heroine at all (despite the kissing and sex scenes). Like the other paths, hers lacks any significant drama.
Kohane
Kohane's role is a lot like Nagomi's in the original series. She starts out as a delinquent-like girl and once she goes dere, it is the most extreme of all the heroines in contrast. Also similar to Nagomi, it is the protagonist sticking his nose into her circumstances that eventually results in them becoming close, though there are some significant differences both in degree and detail. Kohane is easily the best of the four heroines available when you start the game, or so I've concluded after having played those four routes. However, like the other routes, it ends in a way that makes it feel incomplete. I have to conclude that this entire VN was designed to make way for Festival.
Sumika
... well, here is definitely the true route of the VN. The difference in detail, quality, and overall everything between it and the other routes is even worse than Majikoi's true route. Sumika's route basically brings everything that never quite came to fruition in the other routes to the forefront - including cameo appearances from Otome and Kinu (Kani). Sumika grows a great deal across the path, and it is easily the best path in all the Tsuyokiss games so far... but in exchange, it has sent me into a screaming rage. Why? Because all the other heroine routes were so weak, probably precisely in order to make Sumika's route strong. I absolutely hate it when a company deliberately weakens other heroine routes in order to make the true heroine's route stand out. In this case, it was rather extreme, considering how stand-out the heroines were as characters. So, though I went ahead and adjusted my vndb vote a bit upwards, I nonetheless do not feel good about this VN. Hopefully, Festival will rectify the crime that is this VN, and thus make me happy, lol.
Edit: In terms of raw quality, while Sumika's path is better than any one Tsuyokiss path in the previous games from a pure drama perspective, the sheer atmospheric gap between it and the other paths, as well as the fact that the paths were generally left improperly or unresolved, meant that I honestly couldn't enjoy it as I would have if it were just one path amongst the others. For this reason, I can't help but condemn Candy Soft for doing it this way.
One thing I've noticed over the last seven years is that people frequently have subtly different opinions than I do, and I get asked frequently how I can play so many moege/charage despite the fact that it isn't my preferred genre.
The answer is relatively simple... I read about 20 times faster than most of the rest of you - with the exception of a few bibliophiles. What is a true chore, taking up tens of hours for you, might very well only be a short eight to ten hours for me. Reading that fast - whether in English or Japanese - gives me a greatly different perspective than a lot of the others here.
1. Stamina- My stamina for reading in general and reading VNs in particular is far higher than the rest of you. Fundamentally, the idea of breaking a VN up over the course of weeks or months is alien to me, since even the longest ones will only take me about thirty hours (even in a busy week, I can usually manage to squeeze that in during breaks and meals).
2. Stress- Because VNs aren't drawn out for me, I don't suffer through the slice of life and daily scenes like some of you do. I can sit back and enjoy what I'm reading without feeling any stress whatsoever from the reading itself, as long as the VN isn't too bad. In addition, even scenes too difficult to read for the average VN-player are relatively simple for me to read, so i don't get significantly stressed out by that factor either.
3. Stimulation- One of the reasons people tend to get tired of VNs is a lack of stimulation due to low reading speed. I read fast enough that a good VN's stimulation will be close to constant, whereas a slow reader will sometimes come to feel 'in-between' scenes that are meant to be short and informative as painful and long.
4. Pleasure in reading- The act of reading in itself can bring me something close to sexual pleasure if what I'm reading is interesting. The reason I like chuunige is because to me, the stimulation from a good chuunige is actually better than sex. There is always something going on and that something is usually meant to shake up the emotions or engage the intellect. Since, for me, reading something like this really does give me so much pleasure, I can honestly say that concerns about length don't bother me at all, lol.
5. Burnout- I burnout less often than you (this applies to most people so I'm saying it in general to the community, apologies to those this doesn't apply to). For me, burnout is a process that takes months, usually when there has been only charage for two to three months in a row (thus leading to insufficient stimulation to keep me sane). There is another type of burnout that I experience when I play a truly great VN... but this is something that is almost like that feeling you get after a night of good sex, so it is closer to 'pleasurable exhaustion'.
So, for those who wanted a reference for what it is like to be me when it comes to VNs, there you have it.
Common Path
The common path in this VN is, I'm going to say straight out, better than either the original's or Nigakki's. Part of this is the variety of events. Both the original and Nigakki tended to have a lot of event repetition in the general sense (ongoing jokes like Inori Sensei being late to class and Kani's reaction to it), and while some of that is inherited, in general there was a lot more in the way of interesting events throughout the path. However, what really brought the path to life was the fact that the choices you make actually change how scenes turn out, rather than being totally meaningless in the long run. In terms of raw quality, this common route is pretty high up there, and it is worth paying attention to.
Otome
I'm going to be blunt... this path is incomparably better than either the original or the Nigakki path. Otome's path was only slightly better than Kani (my Kani/Kinu-hate being eternal) in the first one, and Nigakki was in general so horrible that I don't even want to remember how bad it was. In general, Otome's path follows the same trend that I saw throughout the rest of this VN in comparison to the other two games in the trilogy... much higher quality overall, better character development, and much less awkward developments in the path itself.
Serebu
First, I'm going to say this... Serebu's path is absolutely hilarious. Not that there aren't tense moments, but most of her path that I remember most vividly are the numerous comedic scenes. Her overall character during the VN as a whole is incomparably better and deeper when compared to that miserable experience in Nigakki, and the actual events of her path feel 'real' (I use the term advisedly, considering the nature of the Tsuyokiss/Majikoi setting). I particularly loved After Story 2, which contains some scenes that had me laughing hysterically for a solid ten minutes. This gives me hope for the side-stories in Tsuyokiss Festival, which has years-after stories with Leo and the heroines from the original trilogy.
Yoshimi
As the series'
in some ways, Yoshimi got gypped in the previous VNs. Her path was decent in the first VN and downright horrible in Nigakki. So, quite naturally, the third try manages to do what the first didn't (as it did with Serebu's and Otome's paths). This VN digs into Yoshimi's character and past much deeper than the other two, while at the same time dealing with her relationship with Erika in a more realistic way. It is also distinct from the previous two paths, in that the relationship formation is more 'traditional', though it is questionable whether this is positive from an objective perspective (as the old-style ways of sudden relationship formation sometimes make more sense than modern methods). However, in actual quality, her path is much better than it was, because there is more detail and Yoshimi actually manages to grow as part of the story without extreme measures having to be taken.
Nagomi
As always, Nagomi's dere is the best of all, seriously. This time, the process to make it to the goal was a bit more stretched out and more complex than it was in the previous two games. Not only that, but there is a lot more content in general. The actual issues in her path are in general the same, but the details changed quite a bit between the three games. Also, Kani vs. Nagomi is always hilarious, making this path a bit lighter in spirit than it would have otherwise been. Unlike in the previous two games, the actual resolution of Nagomi's issues is not done through a somewhat evasive manner. Instead, it is brought to a true resolution that doesn't leave the sort of sad/regretful aftertaste that defined the other two because of the way it happened.
Erika
First, I should say that Erika's route was pretty weak in both the original and Nigakki. Part of this was probably a lack of imagination on the part of the writer at the time, because Erika really wasn't the kind of type to fall in love with someone like the protagonist, and her somewhat ruthless image is a major part of her character. However, this time the progression to a relationship is pretty natural and amusing, rather than being awkward and boring, which is a relief, since I happened to like Erika herself. In addition, the relationship itself feels more natural, less forced, with a lot more variety in the way of events and story. I was glad to see they finally escaped the trap of the pattern of the original in this version.
Sunao and Kani
I couldn't bring myself to play either of these routes. The routes in this VN are long, and it is kind of depressing playing a long route for heroines you don't even like, lol.
Overall
By far, this is the best game from the first trilogy. I'm not exaggerating, it really is that much better. The routes are more complete and the heroines are far more developed. If there is a downside it is that in the Full Edition, some scenes were actually cut out, lol.
Mmm... having finished the final path, my conclusion is pretty clear... This is a game that had a lot of potential that was primarily screwed up by how poorly executed certain game mechanics were and the way they did the two protagonists. In my previous posts, I already went over my feelings on the two initial paths and their protagonists, so I'll leave that where it is and move on to the third path. The third path - the true path - basically shifts gears completely, drastically altering the series of events immediately after Kai and Shizuma clash mech to mech for the first time. This is partially because of certain revelations that occur immediately before, and things progress rapidly to a revelation of the people hidden backstage... and the traditional 'lets go kill the bastards who have been manipulating us!' last ride down the mouth of hell. To be honest, after the mess they made of the other two paths, it was really hard to get up any enthusiasm whatsoever. Kai's path felt staid and forced, whereas Shizuma's path was... unusual but horribly painful to play through, primarily because of Shizuma himself. Shizuma actually becoming a human being is probably the best thing about the third path. He drops the paranoia and most of the angst, and he actually become something approaching psychologically stable. If he'd managed to drop into that mode in his own path at some point, I probably would have been more forgiving, lol. Other than that... Kai never does really grow that much. He remains a two-dimensional prop with a fondness for airheads (all three of the heroines are airheads or exceedingly naive in some way). He spouts formulaic phrase after formulaic phrase, right through to the conclusion. It doesn't help that the manipulators behind the scenes are also less than inspiring, once the initial emotional release is achieved. My final conclusion on the series canon issue is that one or the other is canonical but they can't coexist with the inconsistencies obviously present. Chronologically, Kenseiki would have had to have happened after Yumina but before Corona. Unfortunately, certain events in Corona make that impossible, so I had to just give up, in the end, on figuring out whether Eternal intended any of the series to have a true chronological consistency. Also, the difficulty spike near the end of the game is a bit ridiculous, though I was still able to get through it by picking off enemies at the edges until I'd isolated the more annoying ones... that and strategically making certain my people with support skill-blocking skills were available to all the other characters at all times to deal with the really nasty support skills the bosses tended to have. This is also true of Corona, in a way... There is a huge difficulty spike near the end of that one that makes it virtually impossible to achieve victory without abusing the protagonist/redhead/Corona combo to blast away the bosses' barriers. My final conclusion about the game as a whole? It would have been much, much better if they had made it consistent with the series' other games and had fixed the leveling so that all the characters would level together (I loathe the grinding that is inevitably required in srpgs where you have lots of characters who level individually). I also think it would have been better if they had really, truly made using Stigma and Alpharia a 'good thing', as they are both as weak as kittens, except for their support skills... and as mechs combined with their respective protagonists, they actually make Shizuma and Kai a little weaker, in some ways. The sword-people proved useful throughout the game, though the fact that some of the best party-attack skills are on them, so having them constantly equipped frequently felt wasteful. Story-wise... Kai's path was tolerable, Shizuma's path was painful, and the third path was good... but that just means they made the first three fourths of the game into a slogfest, which is a huge downer. Giving the sub-heroines their own unique paths was a good choice, as it gave them a chance to be distinct from one another. Unfortunately, the fact that the third path makes it all irrelevant kind of kills the fun, doesn't it?
For those who haven't read my comments on the first Tsuyokiss game, here they are. I'm now going to move onto the direct sequel to the original, Tsuyokiss Nigakki
Tsuyokiss Nigakki is the second VN in the series, based in the second semester of the same year in the protagonist's life. The introduction of a new character - Serebu - seemed like it might change the dynamics a bit... but it really didn't. I was honestly disappointed with the lackluster common route and the sheer amount of repeated text from the original (In particular, Erika's route suffers from sharing exactly the same general beginning pattern, just adding on a few details in a cheap attempt to make it seem like a new route). I'll be straight with you... the lack of really good development for Serebu and the weak paths for the repeated heroines (weak because I basically just experienced nearly identical paths yesterday) meant that this VN falls flat on its face... and that is probably the reason why this one wasn't included in the omnibus of Tsuyokiss VNs released last month. After all, there is no real reason to remind people that Candy Soft's flagship series produced a sub-par game with so many cut corners, now is there?
Understand... I realize that using mostly the same heroines means that there was going to be a lot of similar events, but the VN as a whole came out feeling... washed out in comparison, despite a few minor tweaks to the visual character designs. Part of this was the aforesaid issues with repeated text (something you probably wouldn't notice if you weren't me and used to nitpicking on stuff like that), but an even larger part of it was the issues with VAs (several were switched out, for whatever reason) and the lack of any true depth to the new character. I'm not going to say that there were no new events on any of the heroines' paths... but the basic pattern for each was pretty much the same in a general fashion. To be honest, there were a thousand different ways they could have approached a new Erika path (the original being a bit poorly designed in the first place), but they chose to do the initial relationship formation in exactly the same way with a very similar track of events. I wanted to kick the writers by the end for repeating the studying scenes (albeit with new CGs and new text, if with the same meaning and atmosphere), and I wanted to do so even more for the pathetic way Erika comes to almost exactly the same conclusions at about the same time in the path. It is a sequel not a fandisc... give me something new for the sake of Nyarlathotep! I would have been perfectly happy if they'd actually gone through the trouble of not having paths for the previous game's heroines at all, if they were going to do it this way!
This kind of blatant attempt to exploit the original's popularity with as little effort as possible pissed me off, seriously.
Edit: I will say that dere-Nagomi is great no matter how times I see her. She makes every other kuudere I've met seem pleasant and friendly in comparison until she goes dere... where she becomes the ultimate deredere heroine.
Edit2: To elaborate on the 'paths are the same' issue, some are identical in the general process, and others also are identical in the ending. Nagomi's path was the best in the original, and it continues to be the best in the new one. Yoshimi's path is straight-out weaker in this one, Erika's is essentially unchanged save for the ending, etc etc. The big difference is that the game overall is much shorter than the first one.
First, I should explain the differences between this version and the original. The endings and part of the story are extracted from the PS2 version, which got generally higher ratings than the original PC version, and paths from the Minikiss fandisc were added on (including Konoe Sunao's route), making the game as a whole feel more complete. This basically means that this is the definitive version of the VN and you should really play this one if you want to play Tsuyokiss.
Second, I bring up the simple reality of this VN... it was made in 2005, during the height of the 'moege golden age', when most of the best moege, charage, and the like came out. To be blunt, if we are just talking about variety of expression and scenario design, there are very few 'modern' moege variants that can compete with the best from the period of time between 2004-2007. This is a direct result of trends narrowing the range of expression in moege/charage as time went on, rather than an absolute drop in writing quality, so please do me the favor of not lumping this in with those 'but everything was better back then' people. I like retro stuff but I can admit when it really hasn't aged well.
Third, this is my second time playing Tsuyokiss. To be honest, the first time I wasn't impressed... part of it was that I'd just come off of Majikoi in Japanese (Minato Soft being a subsidiary of Candy Soft), and another part was that at the time I was a lot less tolerant of non-fantasy moege/charage. A few warnings about this VN is that it was made during the time when tsundere culture was just becoming fashionable as a distinct concept rather than just slang in VNs (tsundere having peaked back around 2010 in VNs, as opposed to 2007 in anime). As a result, they defined this VN as a 'tsundere' VN at the time, even though - strictly speaking - there is only one straight-out tsundere heroine (Konoe, who wasn't even a playable heroine in the original), with most of the others being variations on the kuudere (Nagomi), 'arrogant heroine' (Erika), or bakakko themes (Kani - also known as Kinu). There is also a yandere in there (most Candy Soft games have at least one borderline yandere), though I won't tell you who it is unless you ask. Basically, this was made back in an era when the various ideas of 'dere' weren't nearly as clearly defined as they tend to be now (mostly because writers basically force the heroines into those archetypes) and it is considered the work that basically defined the 'dere' idea for VNs.
Having played a lot more moege/charage since playing this the first time, I was surprised at how well it stands up to modern VNs. In fact, it leaves most of them in the dust. Part off this is that the Full Edition includes even more content than the incredibly long original (this VN took me almost thirty hours to complete), but another large part of it is that the lack of 'archetype-fitting' means that you can sit back and enjoy a much freer characterization experience. I honestly hated Kani, both the first and second time through, but I found it much more enjoyable to play through the other routes (except maybe Erika's, since she is something of an arrogant bitch no matter what point in the story you are at) than I did the first time around.
That said, this VN doesn't really compare well visually with modern VNs, save in basic aesthetic sense in the CGs/drawing (modern styles being the result of modern technology rather than actual advances in artistic skill). However, in terms of the audio, outside of a few voices like Sunao's (Sunao's voice is a bit... pale and awkward, to be honest) the audio comes out comparatively well in comparison to most modern VNs.
A few aspects nostalgia freaks and people tired of the de facto restrictions on moege/charage romances that exist today will probably like that there is a side route for the teacher, and the heroines aren't universally justified in their motivations (there are a lot fewer 'convenient' twists to character situations than there would be today, and as a result, it feels more natural despite using the same storytelling style as Majikoi).
On the other hand, this is no more and no less than a straight-out love-comedy with a lot more of the old-style slapstick introduced by Love Hina and Tenchi Muyo than you generally see today. It also shows off the beginnings of what would eventually become the 'complete nonentity protagonist' that dominates most moege/charage made between 2007-now. While Leo has a lot more personality than a modern moege/charage protagonist generally has (with notable exceptions here and there), he does show a lot of the qualities that have become cliched in modern moege/charage protagonists (half-hetareism, 'average' everything, 'is normally lazy but pulls out all the stops when needed').
So... if you want some nostalgia, mixed with VN historical value, mixed with high-spec writing and scenario design, this is a good choice... if you can get over the usual art-bigotry that seems to define all you young whippersnappers.
Edit: Oh, and otakus, it isn't your imagination. Fukahire's VA is the same one as Reinhardt Von Lohengrimm from Legend of the Galactic Heroes... one of the weirdest choices I've ever seen, lol.
Thanks to Zenophilious for showing me the internet cache so I wouldn't have to revive the posts by rewriting them.
Izumo 4
First, an introduction to Izumo the series. This is just based on various scenario outlines and reviews I read (I haven't actually played any of the Izumo games before this one), but it is basically a simple rpg/VN hybrid series that involves the kami of Shinto myth in an older-style chuuni gakuen fantasy setup. My interest in the series originated with the OVA that came out over a decade ago (based on Izumo 2), and despite it being a hentai, it actually had an excellent story (one of the weirder aspects of some older hentai anime, lol). Anyway, this focus on a 'Japanese' style of fantasy was one of the big draws of this series for me, and the only reason I hadn't played any of them up until now was a simple lack of availability... most of Studio e.go's games have been unavailable, so I hadn't gotten around to playing them (that and they weren't high on my list of priorities due to my low tolerance for the mediocre gameplay written by the programming team they share with Debonosu).
Now... for those still interested in playing this after all that I've already said, here are some serious reasons to want to play this game... First, Light's Zero Infinity Team is completely responsible for all the writing in this game, meaning that it is extremely high quality and the scenario design itself is on a much higher level than the old Studio e.go's works. They are also partially responsible for some of the BGM.
Unfortunately, the Debonosu team is responsible for the artwork and voices, meaning that people who can't stand the older styles of VN artwork are inevitably going to be put off at first glance. First, the voice actors are all people that aren't in extreme demand like some of the more idol-like seiyuu are, and as a result, some of them you will probably either not recognize (newbies) or feel nostalgic about (vets). The parts of the music not done by Light's team make up most of the 'everyday' themes, though the battle themes, the opening and ending, and several of the themes used during major scenes are definitely done by Light (the style is recognizable from Dies Irae and Kajiri Kamui). The artwork... to be honest, I had no problem whatsoever with it. It is a pre-moeblob style, where there was more variance in heroine design. In particular, heroines like Enishi, who looks like an adult human being rather than a pair of boobs with a heroine attached, have gone out of style since, and I hadn't realized how much I missed them. In fact, I picked Enishi as my first heroine solely on the basis of her character design, lol.
Story-wise, matters are fairly simple... except the Zero Infinity team definitely let loose its Masada-worshiping genes on a lot of the major plot elements, and as a result, you end up with a far more interesting story than I've generally experienced in any Debo or e.go game. In particular, Hakuto and Enishi stand out as the best kind of 'mysterious heroines', though Enishi is more of a walking tragedy, versus Hakuto being a walking absurdity.
I picked Enishi as my heroine for my first playthrough (there are no distinct routes, though there are apparently distinct endings and numerous scenes unique to each heroine). Enishi is... a temporary antagonist who exists in the vein of the 'eternal sufferer' heroine archetype. If you like heroines who have been through hell and still managed to maintain a good heart despite their exhaustion with life, she is an excellent choice.
I really liked the way they played with the concept of the kami in this VN... in particular, the relation of faith and belief to a kami's nature and the changeability of the kami. It is a central theme - in fact it becomes more and more central toward the end - and I in particular loved the way Enishi herself deals with it (as well as hearing her relate her personal experiences with how it relates to she herself). You apparently get another perspective from Hakuto, but I'm going to wait a while before I go back and play another heroine of this, despite being able to restart with everything.
In terms of gameplay... as I indicated above, it isn't something to write home about. There really aren't any truly great aspects to the gameplay, though the elemental combo system adds a decent level of strategy to boss battles (since regular battles generally aren't hard enough to justify using elemental combos, lol). The presence of an auto-battle function and the way anybody can learn any magic through the magatamas, as long as they have the corresponding one equipped, means that you can effectively make all your characters all-rounders. This is really useful in the mid to late game, when more and more bosses can really lay down the status effects and render you utterly helpless if you don't watch yourself (not to mention that the game's version of mimics has an instant death spell that effects all of your party members). Nonetheless, having played through the game from the beginning... I really recommend just begging someone for their clear-save and using that to trample everything right until the end. Since the battle system is nothing to write home about, I see no reason whatsoever not to just sit back and enjoy the story if you can get away with it, since the story does stand well on its own.
Overall, I give this game high marks as a chuuni-fantasy story and low marks for gameplay. The art is going to split people's opinions based on taste and tolerance, so I'm not going to dictate to others whether they should play this game, like I might otherwise. If you want something with a lot of Japanese themes with great writing and story, this is a good choice. Just be prepared for some easy grinding and some dungeon-drudging to get you to the end of it.
Miagete Goran, Yozora no Hoshi wo
Yes, I more or less said I was thinking about not playing this... and I wouldn't have, either, if it weren't for the fact that I had three separate people beg me during one of my brief appearances on mirc to play it... and the fact that I had so much trouble getting Izumo4 setup. So, while I probably won't play Korona's route (she annoys me), I plan to play the other three routes for VN of the Month.
First, my worries about the osananajimi issue have been, to some degree, borne out by my experiences in this VN. To an extent, a lot of the character development for Hikari and Saya seems to have been entirely reliant on flashbacks, though they were good flashbacks. To be honest, once I found out why they'd become so distanced from one another before the story began, I was more than a little exasperated/disappointed at how petty it was, but it wasn't as bad as some similar situations I've seen in other VNs in the past.
The music in this VN is generally high in quality, so much so that I felt the need to actually come out and mention it. Some of it is reused from other Pulltop VNs, but there are several high quality themes used that are unique to this game.
Art-wise, a lot of people have been making a lot of noise about this game, and I can see why. It was very hard not to choose Saya's route from the very beginning simply because of the degree to which they made her visual characterization so absolutely perfect in combination with her audio one. Looking at it from a purely writing/story-based perspective, her character is no different from a hundred different 'shy osananajimis' I've encountered in the past, but the characterization in this game manages to bring her to life to a degree that makes her stand out from all the heroines and characters... by leaps and bounds. Of course, I'm a contrary bastard who never chooses such obvious 'main heroines' on my first playthrough, so I chose Orihime first.
The common route is a classic seishun-drama, focused around a combination of flashbacks and a 'personal revival' (the renewal of a character - usually the protagonist - that leads to them regaining something they lost or abandoned) scenario. If I have a complaint to say about the common route it is that there is a severe lack of 'bumps in the road'. Generally speaking, a 'good' seishun drama scenario will have some major bumps in the common route in order to give you a reference point by which you can emotionally grasp how hard it was for the characters to do what they were doing. In that sense, the common route can be considered a failure, as far as seishun drama goes... except that the flashbacks provide that 'bump' for you, the regrets of the past basically acting as a replacement for the lack of such obstacles in the present.
Orihime
Mmm... Orihime is a dreamer. Dreamer heroines are some of the most annoying heroines out there... or some of the most inspiring (or both). Orihime tends toward the former in my eyes, but that is mostly because my view of such heroines/characters is automatically negative, due to my preference for pragmatism and practicality over dreams and ideals. As a heroine, she has some serious oddities, though... and they are amusing enough that I never managed to hate her. However, her route isn't exactly an exciting one, and humor and light romance with no obstacles doesn't really make for a memorable path (I'll probably have forgotten this path existed two months from now). The choice to make her an 'ojousama' heroine was probably a poor one, as an underused ojousama character setting is like having a bottle rocket set up and not lighting it up.
So basically, her route was amusing... but there was nothing really emotionally moving about it, from my perspective. For better or worse, it is light fare that doesn't leave much of an impression.
Edit: Hikari
Hikari is one of the two main heroines, the two points of a love triangle between the protagonist and his two osananajimis. Typically for her type - the somewhat tomboyish genki-heroine - she is extremely awkward in how she deals with the protagonist's advances and just doesn't know when to quit when it comes to trying to dump him off on her shyer, much more adorable best friend Saya. This quite a typical scenario in this kind of love triangle, and - to be honest - I found it to be unbelievably irritating. It was made worse by the fact that it was obvious that was the way they would choose to do things almost from the beginning of the path split (Saya and Hikari share a rather large amount of story, as their paths are split off completely from Korona's and Orihime's). That isn't to say it was an awful path... those who have played Kono Oozora will recognize the general 'feeling' of the path... it is by the same team, after all. This is a lot more apparent in this path than it was in Orihime's, though the influence was almost as obvious in the common route. Also, you should probably know that the Soaring Club makes an (text-only) appearance as a part of the path, for those who are interested... please no one ask for this to be tled by Sekai Project, lol. I honestly can't see any way the relationship formation would make sense without the h-scenes.
Edit2: Saya
Saya's route is pretty close to what you would call the 'classic osananajimi route'. Why? Because the first worry that comes up when they get together is 'its no different than it was before!' I had to sigh in exasperation that they actually went through with using that particular trope, because it is one of the primary reasons osanajimi routes tend to be as boring as hell. That said, Saya's character is by far the most well-developed of all in the entire VN, and as a result, her path has the strongest emotional impact. In fact, it has even more drama to it than Hikari's, and it gets pretty emotional at times... but because of the way they drew out the drama, it started to feel monotonous toward the end. I did think that the actual epilogue and ending parts were really good, but I have to conclude that they went a little overboard with Saya. However, Saya's character is... adorable. She's one of those extremely devoted types with infinite patience, and the result is really, really hard to choose anyone else for your first heroine of the VN, lol.
Overall
I have a few comments to make before I conclude this. First, this VN's route balance is horrible. Hikari's and Saya's routes and characters get almost all the emphasis, and as a result, anyone who plays the other routes will be able to tell at a glance that they are sub-heroines. To be honest, this VN would have been much better if there had only been Saya's and Hikari's routes. However, Saya's and Hikari's routes are both quite powerful, leaving you feeling satisfied (with their routes) at least partially because of the same over-used flashbacks that ensured that Orihime and Korona would be relegated to sub (or sub-par) heroine status in comparison. In reality, Saya's and Hikari's routes feel like they are an extension of the flow of the common route, and that is how it should feel in a case like this. For those who are interested in this VN, I suggest you just play Saya and Hikari's routes, as the others can only be disappointing in comparison.
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.
Ok... normally I chose my Random VNs really at random, on a whim, through whatever method comes to mind. However, this year there were a number of requests - mostly from off-site people (c'mon guys, I shouldn't be having two-thirds of those that make requests be off-site people, considering this site is the only one I'm really active on). First, due to my Venus Blood, Ikusa Megami, and Sengoku Hime marathons of previous years, I was asked to marathon another long-running series with numerous entries by several people who argued convincingly for it. That series is Tsuyokiss. Understand, I am not fond of this series. The original is one of the more overrated pieces of cliched VN material out there, and the sequels hardly vary from the original at all in terms of concept or content. Nonetheless, I chose to hear out this request and you'll have the opportunity to read about my journey through this major series, at least in part due to the recent release of an omnibus version of the entire series. I will also be (have already restarted) replaying the entire Grisaia series as a revival event, entirely in Japanese while also explaining some things I noticed after having gone back and forth between the two versions of the original (this was originally a request, and I'm still unsure if I can manage to do this without turning it into a translation criticism party). Now for single-game replays... I'll be replaying these VNs for certain in the next year: Houkago no Futekikakusha, Hoshi Ori Yume Mirai (to give it a proper review this time), Noble Works (again, this is on a request from someone who wanted me to do a full commentary on the game), Ruitomo (again on request), and Soukou Akki Muramasa (on request). All of these requests were made over the course of the past four months, and I am kind of angry that certain someone gave out one of my private emails to certain members of the larger community, as it meant that I had to actually seriously sift my junk mail box. I'm also accepting requests for random VNs from the last five years that I haven't played, though in this case I reserve the right to seriously think about it before doing so.
First, this VN is done in a similar vein to that of the Chuushingura VN, in that it is historical fiction with elements of fantasy. In this case, the protagonist is Okita Soujirou, the infamous Shinsengumi swordsman (in this case a trap, lol, since the Shinsengumi are all women). For those wondering how they chose to do this VN, it is pretty interesting. I have so far played three of the four end-story arcs (Hijikata and Kondou share the same arc, as do the Saitou/Sanou and the Sakuma/Higo pair). The 'true history' arc is Kou's ending, which follows the same basic story as the original history, with the minor addition of the fantasy element. In this one, the protagonist's fate follows history exactly, as does that of the Shinsengumi. The other paths I've played are the Sakuma arc and the Sakamoto Ryouma arc. Sakamoto Ryouma, who was infamous for his (in this case her) neutrality and what were considered wild ideas by many, was assassinated after he succeeded in making arrangements that might have brought about a peaceful end to the Shogunate, were it not for certain events. This arc is something of a what-if story, where Ryouma wasn't assassinated and you get to see how that alters history. It is a threesome ending, with the infamous Tosa assassin Iori as the other part of the triangle, lol. Sakuma was a famous scholar and scientist who advised the Shogunate in the years leading up to the war and was eventually assassinated, leaving the shogunate without its primary scholar of foreign technology. This is also a what-if story, where Sakuma survives to alter the fate of Japan. Sano and Saitou's ending is basically an alternate epilogue that is a part of the same path. The last arc, which I'm playing at the moment (I will edit/update this post when it is done) looks like it focuses on a Hijikata and Kondou, and I'm interested to see how they'll handle that. A few comments on the story in general... one thing is that this VN, like Chuushingura, gives you a lot of insight into an era that is a bit overly romanticized, retaining a strong element of that same romanticism while at the same time going into the gory details of what went on (both political and literally gory details, lol). The degree of detail in this VN will probably be overwhelming for the average person, and I can see that they are lining the story in general up so that they can later create a 'true ending' fandisc, if the VN is well-received. To be honest, the linguistic difficulty of this VN stays around a 7-9 throughout its length, and I honestly can't see it being comprehensible for someone who isn't at least familiar with the historical outline of what happened in Japan between 1861-1868. Another thing to understand is that anyone who reads this with even a slightly objective point of view should be able to see how this era eventually resulted in the birth of the insane nationalism that defined Imperial-era Japan before and during World War II, and it does indeed touch on many of the underlying issues that created the antagonism toward the West in Japan. It doesn't gloss over economic or political issues (in fact, those are central to the progression of the story), and as a result, it can be a bit confusing if you've only heard one side of the story (the average western textbook doesn't mention the unequal treaties, the bombardment of Ezo, Satsuma's brief conflict with Britain, or the element of proxy war between France and England involved in their internal civil war). For weaboos, this is pure crack, just like Chuushingura. Sure, it is bloody, violent, and shows off the less romantic side of the fall of the shogunate... but the Shinsengumi fights are as wonderfully violent as you would expect from the legends (even up to the recreation of the infamous Ikeda-ya incident). As a VN, it is also probably the most solid VN, from a literary perspective, written this year, simply because they simply added on and breathed life into the existing history and romanticized events of the era. What-if stories about Sakomoto Ryouma surviving aren't uncommon in jidaigeki historical fiction, but this is the first time a VN has gone into this much detail on the era. PS: Will update this later. Edit: Ok... first, the Hijikata/Kondou paths are both split out of the Kou path (so naturally, the protagonist's fate doesn't change), but in exchange, the endgame changes greatly, diverging from history (where Kondou was executed and Hijikata died in the battle for Hokkaido). Nonetheless, the story is definitely a tearful one, with the more traditional 'tragic hero of the losing side' feeling that you generally expect from Shinsengumi-related stories. The actual storytelling between Kondou and Hijikata's paths doesn't change much, though the actual end result does indeed change. Overall, this VN was a good experience for me... I got deeply emotionally involved with the characters, weeping over their suffering and glorying over their triumphs, and I honestly felt that it did justice to the writer's expressed intent 'Shinsengumi with an element of steampunk fantasy'. Shuuri's path (Sakuma's arc) touched the most deeply on the steampunk elements, for those who are interested, and honestly, I preferred the Ryouma and Sakuma arcs over the Shinsengumi ending arc. Nonetheless, the VN as a whole was immensely enjoyable. However, I do think this needs a true ending arc, and I honestly hope that Takaya Aya (the main scenario writer for this VN and most of Caramel Box's other VNs) will produce a fandisc to fulfill that desire for me, lol. That said, this was an immensely satisfying VN with no real downsides, save that the protagonist was only partially voiced (probably due to budgetary constraints). Edit 2: Just so no one mistakes my feelings about this VN, the endings and the paths themselves are satisfying. My single complaint - that there isn't a unifying true ending and it felt like there should have been - is mostly because I was put into that kind of mood after an experience that was in someways similar to Chuushingura (except the protagonist kills LOTS of people, lol).
Tentacle sex and rape are the two big downers to this series. For a series with such good writing, it is amazing how quickly it becomes repetitive once h-scenes get into the picture. On the bright side, corrupting the heroines in Empire, Frontier, and Hypno almost always has immensely hilarious results after the mindbreak. It is kind of irritating that you pretty much have to mindbreak them to get the really good strategic skills, though.
Abyss
To be honest, this is the game in the series I liked the least. First, it is the first one that introduces the tentacle impregnation=new troops system that was the recruitment system for this and Gaia. Second, it has the weakest set of heroines and protagonist in the entire series. Third - and last - it uses a dungeon-defense gameplay model, which I despise. To be honest, the Law route of this game is incredibly boring, story-wise, with a huge amount of cliched jrpg knock-off plot twists. While this isn't unexpected, the main heroine's personality is the worst part of it... her idealism wears on you after a while, and both the protagonist and the antagonist are both weak enough not to be able to make up for it. The Chaos route suffers from 'we just stuck an evil route on it for mad science self-indulgence' syndrome, and the ending is, if anything, even more pathetic than the Law ending (think a bad ending in a chuunige with the positions reversed). While the story is actually mildly enjoyable while it is going on, the aftermath is singularly disappointing and dissatisfying.
Frontier
I'll just come out and say it... this would have been the perfect story if the main antagonist wasn't such a straight-out 'Me Dark Lord, Destroy world because me bored!' Kefka knock-off. Oh, the details are mildly interesting, but the last chapter is almost unforgivable. If it wasn't for the overwhelmingly good cast on the protagonist's side of things, as well as the game's excellent story as a whole (if you cut out the ending sections) this would probably be an eminently forgettable game. The protagonist's motivations, his background, and his abilities as a general and a warrior make him a really attractive main character, and the fact that he isn't just a mass of endless ambition and sadism (unlike many VNs along the same lines) is a huge attraction for this game. The actual gameplay is somewhat improved from Empire (the previous strategy-conquest game in the series) but the game balance is kind of broken at points (think sharp spikes in difficulty, especially at the beginning and end).
Gaia
... you almost have to be impressed about how completely they integrated the monster-birth recruitment system into this game. It isn't nearly as annoying as it was in Abyss, where it made the actual process of recruitment a matter of extreme annoyance (especially if you wanted to constantly alter the makeup of your forces). However, you do spend an inordinate amount of time staring at the little calendar part of the UI and checking to see how it will effect the power of the units you intend to birth. Again, like all the previous games in this series, it suffers from a lack of a good antagonist. There is nothing really sympathetic about the final antagonist (too faceless). The actual base story is much, much more interesting than Abyss... and the main heroine of the Law route is undeniably adorable, as well. lol (out of character for this company is that there are no h-scenes for this heroine, hahaha)
They also added a dungeon-raid event battle system where you send your troops through an enemy's dungeon, in addition to the dungeon-defense and construction that makes up ninety percent of the game. This is a definite improvement, and the actual dungeon-construction and defense is a lot more refined (though I still thought it was inferior to Demonion's).
Hypno
This is undeniably the best game in the entire series, from all angles but one - heroine development. Individual heroine development - usually done through a combination of sex events and conversational events - is a lot less deep than it was in the previous games (yes, it is somewhat weird to say that there is character development when it comes to mindbreak and tentacle-H, but it happens to be true). It also departs from the previous games' style in that you pick your path early on and have to stick to it (basically, you either decide to break Sylvia or become her friend by either continuing with the sex-training or picking her regular conversational events after the required initial scene).
This is perhaps the only game in the series where I actually found the chaos route worth playing, though the ending was perhaps less interesting than the actual antagonist and the process of going through the route. The Law route feels very much like a route to redemption from the hell his life has been for Leon and the world in general.
However, as anyone who plays this game from the beginning will notice, the true flower of this game's story is the relationship between Leon and Anora. The mutual interdependence, absolute trust, and unstinting love they give one another from the very beginning is touching, even though Anora is pretty much a neutral evil character and Leon a true neutral one, lol.
The Law route antagonist, as per the course in all the other games by this company, is a bit of a yawner, though the actual fight against him is pretty good.
In terms of the gameplay... it is undeniably improved far and above all the previous games in the series. Being able to invest resources in increasing your income of the four resources (food, ether, magical energy, and coin) as well as war (experience gained every turn automatically by all recruits) and medical (automatic healing on every turn) allows you to do something other than conquer to build up your base of power. The conquest itself is done in stage format rather than in continental conquest format, which has its downsides in terms of gameplay flexibility but has the advantage of not kidding you about how much freedom you have (both Empire and Frontier basically did the same thing but gave you the illusion you were freely conquering the world). The actual recruitment system, which has been evolving since Empire, reaches its peak in this one, where character customization is the most advanced so far, without the unnecessary complications of heroine impregnation in Gaia.
Overall
Overall, as a series... it makes you hate tentacles after a while, if you didn't already. It also makes some great protagonists (Empire, Frontier, and Hypno in particular). It also has very flat antagonists and gameplay that tends to be somewhat disappointing. Nonetheless, if you can slog through the H scenes (or just ignore them) Hypno - at the very least - is worth trying. Unfortunately, this series will destroy anyone who hates rape or tentacle sex, so I can't recommend it for the uninitiated... or for those who prefer soft H. To be honest, I started turning off my emotions after the first tentacles appeared and if it weren't for the fact that the moment the heroines' broke in Hypno was so deliciously evil, I probably wouldn't have bothered to read any of them. I'll never replay any of the games in this series, but I'll probably at least try the new ones in the series, if only out of curiosity to see whether they've improved the storytelling to fit my standards completely.
Caramel Box is one of my favorite companies. I'll say that right off the bat. They have one of the best writing/producing teams in the business, and it tends to show. Not only that, but their VNs tend to run the gamut, all the way from nakige to chuunige. While artist-freaks will sometimes nitpick on the details of their CGs, their artistic style is unique in VNs, retaining some older techniques and mixing it with new. In addition, their musical choices are similarly odd, frequently utilizing tunes that you normally wouldn't expect to create powerful emotional effects and shape the atmosphere of certain scenes. Another issue is that there is that they have a tendency to disregard many of the cliches of the industry. In most of their VNs, the classic heroine archetypes are either nonexistent or used in a different fashion than is common to other VNs, and I've yet to read one of their VNs that fell into the trap that is the 'non-entity protagonist' that so many other companies allow themselves to be caught in. To give you an idea of what I mean by the wide variations in this company's choice of genres... Toppara- Nakige/charage with a strong element of catharsis and self-healing that led me to add it to my 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' list. It also has only one human heroine... and a total of nine heroines, lol. Shuumatsu Shoujo Gensou Alicematic- A fantasy chuunige, with a direct Cthulhu Mythos theme to it. The addition of serious, well-researched sword techniques combined with elements of the mythos drawn straight from Lovecraft's own works was impressive, even to my relatively inexperienced brain at the time I played it. Semiramis no Tenbin- A social commentary combined with a deep personal drama and a quite deliberate denial of moral absolutism in regards to matters of law and human relations, all wrapped up in the interactions between a near-sociopathic heroine and the inhabitants of the protagonist's own surroundings. Otoboku (series)- The original cross-dresser protagonist VN and its kamige sequel. The combination of Taisei-era girl's school otome storytelling with modern charage/nakige techniques has become something of a signature for the genre in general, though most don't manage to recreate the same atmosphere. Aekanaru Sekai no Owari ni- A somewhat average-quality hard science fiction based in a dystopian future of underground arcologies. Boku no Te no Naka no Rakuen- A classic fantasy-style story in a fictional world, with a typically amnesiac protagonist with special powers... that somehow manages to be enjoyable anyway. Meguri Megureba Meguru Toki- Supernatural ghost story, with two distinct sides, each with two heroines... the supernatural and the non-supernatural. The contrast between the two is one of the more fascinating aspects of this VN and it is the reason why I consider this VN a potential recommendation to people who like to read things for their 'atmosphere'. Komorebi no Nostalgica- This isn't technically by Caramel Box, but it was both (partially) funded by it and written and drawn by their main team, so it might as well have been. It is a hard science fiction story based in a post-WWIII world where almost everything before the war was lost - culturally, and its society has changed radically due to the coexistence with the sentient AIs known as Metosera. It begins with the awakening of an old-model android named Cinema, who provides a window on the world before the war as well as showing an alternative to the Metosera's own AI evolution. This VN touches on many of the negatives and positives brought up in science fiction in regards to AI technology in a thoughtful and deep fashion while also providing a deeply emotional story and a wonderfully well-developed cast of unique characters.
Edit: You can see why I consider this to be a somewhat oddball company, can't you? This company generally produces high-quality VNs in such a wide variety of genres and messages/themes that it is impossible to pin down anything other than their style, which is also unique. I honestly haven't encountered a team or company that does things the way this one does, and for that reason, I think most people reading Japanese VNS should at least try some of their works. Edit2: For those who haven't read some of my other comments on VN companies in general, I should probably explain something about the average VN company. Most companies retain one or two teams, usually specializing in the same type of VN, with members switching out at irregular intervals. This is a lot of the reason for the massive drops and rises in quality you see in a lot of VN companies. A company with a single team whose members are pretty much the same as when the company was started is almost unheard of... and that that team has produced such a large variance in the nature of its VNs, whether it was genre-wise or in terms of theme, is also extremely unusual. As an extreme example, Whirlpool produce charage with story... always. There are variances in the balance of moe, character, development, and story, but the general nature of their VNs doesn't really change. The same can be said for Nitroplus, which produces three types of VNs from three different teams... dark fantasy chuunige (the Muramasa and Jingai Makyou team), psychedelic fantasy (the Sumaga Team), and the Science series team, which produces VNs that are... a bit 'different'. Nonetheless, all these VNs still produce a basic 'area' of the VN industry that the company as a whole specializes in. Yet another would be Navel, which specializes in generic charage, while occasionally experimenting with more unusual projects such as Tsuriotsu. Even if a company covers multiple 'areas', those areas are generally very narrow, such as Front Wing and its split between nukige and story-focused VNs such as Grisaia and Hatsuru (they might not seem to have commonality, but the protagonist of Hatsuru has a lot of the same self-hating qualities that Yuuji had).
I’m going to be frank with you about this VN. Maggot Baits is in no way, shape, or form a story with good guys. Everyone in this VN is a monster or scum. This VN has way too much guro, even for a VN focused on the grotesque, and it is actually made worse by the high-quality writing, lol. That said… story-wise, if you skip through 90% of the H-scenes, this VN is actually pretty good. Unfortunately, if you don’t skip those h-scenes, it is very hard not to see this as one big snuff-film turned VN. Horror… it is that. It is definitely horror. Unfortunately, it is pretty obvious that the writers were just being self-indulgent with the sheer number of such h-scenes (was it really necessary to have multiple mind-break scenes for every single Witch introduced, even the ones who weren’t really significant to the main story?) The writing in this VN, ironically, is first-class. The problem is, there is so much torture – sexual and otherwise – that it was pretty hard to maintain my interest through large parts of the early VN, where they kept digressing to look at h-scenes of witches that the protagonist never encounters. To be blunt, this is a failure of scenario design, despite the VN as a whole being very well-written. Visually… the VN is about as high-quality as it gets. Unfortunately, that high-quality just means that those with weak stomachs will spend a lot of time vomiting. The audio in this VN (I’m ignoring the voices, since way too many of them are h-related) is fairly high-quality, with a focus on death metal tunes and dark techno. What’s most ironic about this VN is Ending 2, which is the closest thing you can get to a ‘good’ ending. Ending 1 isn’t a bad ending… but it is very much an Akiha from Tsukihime-style ‘normal’ ending. Well, in the sense that there really isn’t any sweetness and a lot of loss. There is a bad ending early on, but it is more like an ‘oops, you screwed up, time to die’ ending, and it feels kind of tacked on, considering you can only access Ending 2 after completing 1. On the bright side, Ending 2 is actually pretty touching, leaving a definite impression and a sense of salvation Ending 1 didn't have. The protagonist... think of someone who has gone completely over the edge due to his desire for revenge and reduced himself to being a killing machine, willing to use anyone and anything for the sake of his goals, and you will have a decent picture of the guy. In Ending 2, he shows off a softer side, but throughout the path leading to Ending 1, he is a cold-blooded bastard. Overall… what can I say about this VN? It is a party for those who like extreme guro, but for anyone else, this is going to be a high-stress VN that they probably won’t even get halfway through before dropping. This VN is tailor-made for a niche within a niche in the VN community that generally doesn’t see much high-quality work (that isn’t a remake of old stuff) anymore. That said, it didn’t appeal to me, except once I basically excised the h-scenes and thought about it that way. This VN is a major failure though, from a scenario design perspective, simply because too much effort was put into inserting extra gratuitous sexual violence scenes that just made the entire thing seem monotonous after a while.
Izuna Zanshinken is one of three pretty high-quality VNs made by Akatsuki Works Black during the period of a single year. I say 'high-quality', but it was more for the pleasure levels rather than literary value. Izuna Zanshinken and Yurikago yori Tenshi Made are both what I like to call 'perfect examples of chuunige crack' that are also readable by people who aren't translators or native Japanese. Of course, there are hard moments, but in comparison to the normal ruck of chuunige, they are relatively easy on the brain. The third VN is Hotel, a post-apocalyptic utsuge based in a post-war world where for some reason, all life is slowly dying out for no apparent overt reason. It is a story about how a small community of survivors live their best amidst the growing realization there is no salvation coming. It is a melancholic VN that had me crying repeatedly and hit me with a mild mindfuck revelation at the end, while at the same time ending on a highly emotional note. Izuna Zanshinken is the story of Musumi Kotarou, a young boy trained from birth for the sole purpose of being a 'kept' vigilante assassin. Kotarou's style integrates basically 'whatever works', though he prefers to use katana, claws, kunai, and his bare fists. Since his style is specialized for killing with no element of 'sports' to it, it is pretty brutal at times, lol. Mmm... to be blunt, this VN is drenched in blood. There is more raw violence and bloodshed in this VN than in any other I've ever played. I don't mean the kind of magical violence that you see in a lot of fantasy VNs, where people are wiped out without a trace... I mean people being cut down, strangled, stabbed, cut open, dismembered, etc. Both the CGs and the writing are kind of graphic at times, and for those not used to blood, this will probably put them off. However, because of the nature of the protagonist's work, there is always good reason why people have to be killed by him, at least... and his killing are generally pretty cathartic. The musical style of this VN is almost exclusively variations on classical Japanese music with Japanese or Chinese instruments. Everyday scenes will sometimes have more western additions, but even those will include at least some Japanese instrumentals. Indeed, in many ways they were basically reinventing the 'jidaigeki' style in a VN based in a modern era. Visually... think lots of blood? The style itself is pretty and there are a lot of CGs in this VN, not just H ones. Content-wise... other than blood, there is some rape (no heroine rape though). There are also other objectionable concepts introduced such as human slavery, cannibalism, and lolis with bone fetishes. Most of the VN is done in episodic fashion, with single incidents making up a single chapter. The paths are distinctive, with the 'introduction' or 'common' route helping you to get used to the atmosphere before you go into the heroine routes. In the heroine routes, romance generally isn't the focus, though it is an element. One of the more enjoyable things about the routes is how they shape things so the protagonist plays a different role with each heroine. With Suzuka, it is the protector, servant, and confidante, with Shinobu, it is the role of the mentor and partner, and with Hikaru it is the role of friend and eventually an ally. 'Choices' in this VN are actually mostly choices of what scenes you want to watch (except for a few bad-end/good-end choices at the end of each path). For instance, in one scene you might get one focused in a slice of the protagonist's daily life interacting with the heroines or people at school (though school doesn't play much of a role, overall). However, the other choice might be a Socratic-style lecture from a teacher, where the students debate recent events and issues, like the recent abolishing (fictional) of the death penalty and its effects on society (this issue is actually a central social theme of the VN as a whole), or a scene told from the viewpoint of a victim, an assailant, or an antagonist. Perhaps my biggest objection to this VN is that it was designed with a sequel in mind. You can tell because of the way the secret ending (accessed by filling in the rest of the flow chart) is done, leading you to think that matters are nowhere near their conclusion. Overall, this VN is one of those that I think everyone who can stand the sight of blood should read, just so they can have the experience. It isn't a kamige, but it is a highly cathartic, highly emotional trip down a bloodstained road inside the experiences of a vigilante assassin. Here is one of my favorite CG progressions, for those who want to have a idea of what it is like (spoilers)
Pulltop's new VN, Miagete Goran, Yozora no Hoshi o looks beautiful, has a large cast of voiced characters with sprites, and generally is an obviously high-budget VN... but it is also a VN I'm not really interested in. You might want to ask why... after all, I like Pulltop's games in general, and it doesn't look any worse than the others by the same company, in terms of production values. It is also being hyped a lot (inasmuch as VNs are ever hyped) and a lot of the people who have just begun playing Japanese VNs are excited... unfortunately, veterans are somewhat less so (with a few rare exceptions). Here are the reasons: 1. The existence of an the protagonist's memborship in an astronomy club. I'm going to be blunt... no other club has so many protagonists as members of it in all of VNs. For every four moege, there is one with a 'tenmon bu' and the protagonist is either a member or helps out. The obsession with stars is more of an otome thing, so I can't help but wonder why... I really am tired of reading VN lectures on constellations I don't give a crap about. 2. The existence of two osananajimi heroines... the osananajimi heroine is the biggest cop-out heroine type. The reason? Because the simple statement 'we are osananajimis' becomes an excuse for laziness in character development and relationship development. It also becomes an excuse for one of the most fundamentally idiotic tropes out there... the 'osananajimi>lovers transition'. I have yet to see one of these that wasn't annoying and made real sense when you took a step back and thought about it. 3. The decision to include a non-entity protagonist. Understand, one of the signs any given VN-maker will almost always give - without realizing they are giving it - when they are going to make the protagonist a non-entity or cipher is failing to give the protagonist his own character profile, even when other male characters have one. I am sick and tired of this reliance on using 'normal' protagonists with a group of heroines harem. It doesn't work and it doesn't make sense, so I wish they'd just stop it. It is one thing if the heroine's link to the protagonist is non-love/non-interest before you get on the actual path... it is almost conceivable that way. However, the dense idiots created by most of these companies just don't work as harem masters.
None of my incarnations has ever been very good at pretending to be nice. Yes, that is an understatement, from a purely objective perspective. However, when you are a sentient universe-eating monster that used to be a fat, bald otaku from a frontier planet in a rather pathetic galaxy in an even more pathetic universe, it is kind of hard to understand how to be ‘nice’. Understand, I was just out to have a few drinks, perhaps eat some of the more nasty criminals that infested the city of Neo Lovenia, and maybe find a few people worth loving… I had no intention of getting involved in something so utterly boring as a slum-dwellers’ riot when I left the sewer-level apartment I’d chosen more out of memories of a certain child’s cartoon back ‘home’ than any practical reasons. Unfortunately, as with most matters involving mortals, I wasn’t exactly given a choice whether to get involved or not. Especially when a really pretty girl hidden under the rags of a filthy slum-dwelling piece of mortal trash was tossed off a bridge, straight into my arms… That, in and of itself, would not have been much of a problem. On any other day, I would have simply eaten the girl, made her into one of my trillions of immortal servants, then gone on about the business of getting myself debauched in the biggest city on one of the most degenerate planets in all of that particular universe. Unfortunately, the men in the silly blue robes with the magic staffs had the bad taste to try to blast me with lightning bolts, probably thinking I was one of the girl’s allies. Since this verged on that most terrible of all sins, incivility, I decided to retaliate in kind. It wasn’t my fault that the fragile matter of that particular space-time continuum wasn’t up to the task of withstanding the equivalent of a sigh of exasperation from me. The bridge, the rioting slum-dwellers in their filthy rags, and the entire unit of what passed for police on that particular sorry excuse for a civilized world, were suddenly wiped from existence, along with a large portion of the surrounding streets and buildings… and a perfect half-sphere of the water running through the reservoir below. Needless to say, I was somewhat dismayed. While I tended to devour all sorts of nasty things in my true form, I generally refrained from drinking the water on planets like that one… one could never tell just what was in it, after all. The oily taste of rotten fish and the bits of effluvia that tended to infest the waters on backward worlds like this one filled my mouth, reminding me of why I generally refrained from such activities when in mortal form. The girl in my arms was quite unconscious, and I was briefly tempted to just toss her in the river and be done with it… but she was also unreasonably pretty underneath all that grime. So pretty, in fact, that she reminded me of my own mortal days, when I spent most of every day staring at a computer screen at animated beauty because the world around me was so ugly. As such, I believe that it is only reasonable that I should be forgiven for deciding to refrain from eating her before I got to know her. Once an erogamer, always an erogamer, after all. Having returned to my home, such as it was, I found myself at a loss. Being a sensible creature, I’d long-since arranged for my own pocket dimension full of all the creature comforts to follow me wherever I went, and there was no chance of trouble from the outside entering without my permission. Unfortunately, I had seemingly lost my wits, deciding to bring a mere mortal child, however pretty, to my sanctum, full of walls of eroge, anime blu-rays, and video games from every era of my pox-infested homeworld’s technological age. As such, I was quite well-aware that my home wasn’t exactly suitable for the inhabitance of beings of the female persuasion. The nightmare of many otakus yet to obtain the power of true enlightenment, of taking a girlfriend home only for her to find out about his hidden passions and reject him furiously, briefly raised its head. I shook my head, smiling somewhat wryly at my rather prosaic worry. After all, if all else failed I could always eat the girl anyway. Pretty as she was, she would be even prettier with glowing orange eyes and a bear-trap smile full of endless hunger. However, now that I had refrained from eating her once, I found it difficult to consider doing so anyway. I am nothing if not stubborn, as a particularly bone-headed (literally) Neanderthal discovered when we got into a headbutting contest during one of my many pleasure trips to my homeworld’s distant past. So it was that I found myself transforming the girl’s rags into a simple kimono (again, once a weaboo, always a weaboo), cleaning her body by the simple expedient of turning all non-living matter on the surface of her skin into quick-evaporating anti-bacterial soap. Why did I have to inherit the original’s otaku-obsessions? I wondered, feeling a bit exasperated. All of the avatars made by the original have their own quirks and individual leanings, though the essential nature of the being we represent is unchangeable. However, I am one of the few unfortunates to have inherited the original’s ‘hobby’ and tastes. The one thing all of us inherit is ‘hunger’. It takes different forms, depending on the individual, but all of us eat people. If it is the simple fondness one might have for their favorite meal, the result tends to be what most mortal races would call a ‘monster’. The individual’s basic personality survives being eaten… but their body and their desires are changed drastically. In the billions of years since my maker had eaten this particular universe, I’d come to understand just how differently our emotions toward those we eat effect various species. If we happened to actually know and like the person in question, the result that came out the other side was generally superficially unchanged… after all, the more we know and like someone, the less likely we are to want to turn them into a duplicate of ourselves. But I digress. I was speaking of our ‘hunger’. In some cases it manifests as lust, in others it manifests as greed, in some it manifests as sadism, and yet in others it can manifest as a desire to kill. It isn’t always negative… if it was, very few universes would have managed to survive our presence. In my case, it is pride, the desire for recognition given free reign. Need I state how paradoxical my otaku hobbies and my ‘hunger’ are? I’ve not quite gone so far down that path as the original went… so I’m not about to proudly state that I love eroge to the world. Unfortunately, that meant that I was generally forced to hide my hobbies on whatever world I chose to use as a foothold at a given time. As such, I vanished the various otaku paraphernalia in the room, transforming the walls into something resembling the inside of a castle lord’s room from the Middle Ages (imagined by me), with a four-poster canopied bed, deep purple silk sheets, covering the walls with bookshelves filled old-fashioned hand-written, hand-bound books in the local language (translated in an instant). As a bow to my ever-present weabooism, I left the katana and wakizashi hanging sheathed on nails driven into the wall and the set of samurai armor I’d created in one of my all-too-common fits of obsessive madness on its stand in the corner of the room closest to the heavy varnished-wood door. I took another look at the girl and sighed deeply. Her fuzzy black cat ears and silky black tail attracted my otaku-obsessions like a fly to honey, and the fact that she was a Japanese-style bishoujo only made it worse (considering the whole reason this universe had been devoured was because the original found out there were naturally-occurring cat-people there). The urge to eat her was briefly overwhelming, but it soon receded, tamed by certain… other feelings. Unlike the original, I have some restraint, after all. I picked her up, threw her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and carried her over to the bed, where I dropped her, covering her with a down-filled quilt I materialized out of thin air. Her white, oh-so-white skin which contrasted so wonderfully with her midnight-black hair once again invited me to dine upon my guest, but I had little difficulty suppressing the urge this time. That done, I picked a random book off of the shelves and began reading, Hmm… Waylander by Gemmel… my original’s tastes are a bit predictable. I reflected as I waited for her to wake. The story was about a kingslayer assassin, and it was written by one of the original’s childhood favorite authors. While the story started as a straightforward revenge story, describing the rapid collapse of the man who became Waylander into the worst pits of human nature, it was still an enjoyable read… very much like cheap fantasy junk food. A few hours later, I sensed her stirring in the bed, her ears twitching and her breathing becoming shallower. An instant later, she shot upright, screaming. Irritated, I created a sound barrier around her head and waited for her to stop. The cat-like ears of the native form I was using were highly sensitive, and her screaming could have awakened the dead. I observed her closely, seeing that her wide, unfocused eyes were a large, brilliant emerald in color and her teeth had the prominent canines that distinguished her visually from humankind, together with her ears and tail. Eventually, her eyes focused, and her screaming stopped, and I released the sound barrier, waiting for her to speak. “…w…wh…who are you?” She asked in obvious confusion, her voice hoarse, most likely from the screaming. “My name is Clephas.” I replied, giving her what I thought was a gentle, reassuring smile.
Mmm... first, I should probably mention my first encounter with the company that made this VN, Hulotte, Imouto no Okage de Motesugite Yabai! Moteyaba was a pretty straightforward take on the 'popular protagonist that forms a harem he eventually chooses a girlfriend from' trope, and as a result, while it was decent, I didn't find anything to be particularly interesting about it. In a way the same can be said about Yomeyaba, in that it uses the same (common to about ninety percent of charage) tropes and is true to the ideas behind them... but in the same breath, I can say that it did manage to distinguish itself in some ways that were different from the genre norms (well, really they just hit another cliche of a less common variant, but meh). Basically, the protagonist in this VN is the descendant of a kami (I distinguish 'kami' from our Western concept of God because it is distinct) and as a result, he possesses superpowers... in his case, the ability to enhance his body... and dream about his potential future wives. Generally speaking, this VN moves pretty fast, the common route lasting just long enough to get you to like the characters without becoming the centerpiece of the story (as is common in many charage common routes). Instead, the centerpiece of this VN is the way the protagonist and the heroines adapt to some of the weird ways his powers and heritage effect their relationships. As a focus, this is pretty much the ideal for a fantasy charage, as an introduced setting almost has to be utilized properly in order to make it complete (and to prevent jaded VN-gamers from bashing it up one side and down the other), lol. I was particularly impressed with the heroine epilogues, as they tended to be pretty good in length and extended farther along than is the norm for a charage (normally, it ends before they graduate from school). This allows you to have a good idea of what the characters' lives are like after marriage (which is one of the major focuses of the VN) and gives you a sense of closure many charage are deliberately designed not to give you (so they have an excuse to wring more money out of fanboys with fandiscs). There is a harem route in this VN... and oddly, it is one of the few harem routes I've encountered that were foreshadowed or made sense in the greater context of the story, in my experience (some story-focused VNs also have harem endings that are the results of really unusual situations, and this is close to those, albeit with more sex). It explains some of the divine relations between Yoshihara Ookami (the kami from which the protagonist and his family are descended) and his wives, giving you a general idea of how it relates to Daiki and his wives in the harem route. Overall, this VN was interesting... and people who like charage with ichaicha and decent drama will find this to be well within their allowable limits... but the fantasy element probably won't satisfy someone who likes superpowered combat and the like, as there is none of that. The protagonist rarely uses his powers, though the heroines with powers do so a lot more profligately, lol.
Arika's path is... one of the ecchi-est paths I've seen in a non-nukige in a while. That is to say, Arika plays the role of the 'honor student' of the future, the ideal of the people from Yoshikazu's era. There are minor spoilers in the box below, but they were significant enough I had to box them up. Besides this, it addresses seriously a number of issues when it comes to modern child-rearing and the reasons why it has become so hard (in an oblique manner) for kids to be raised in an era where most people live urban lives. Overall, it is an excellent path, even if it is one that makes you want to run for the toilet in a good way.
Kotobuki's route comes at some of the same issues as Arika's from another point of view. Kotobuki suffers from a typical malaise common to some young women, where the idea of sex in general seems unclean or wrong to them. This is reflected in their reactions to the opposite sex in general, and they often overreact by coming to prefer extremely concealing clothing. This is the first time in the VN that you really come across the difficulties of the divide between the past and future, for the simple reason that the protagonist and heroine are on opposite sides. Yes, it is an issue, both throughout the relationship itself and during its formative stages. I think they did a really good job of bringing Kotobuki to life during this route, giving her feelings significant impact, when matched to the protagonist's own. While Kotobuki herself fits into the classic 'yamato nadeshiko' archetype, she also shows a great deal of growth in the story, and that is one of the primary reasons I liked this path so much.
Iroha... Iroha is pretty much the picture of the 'innocent girl' heroine. She is one of those girls who speaks of herself in the third-person, and she is unbelievably 'genki', always smiling, always having fun, always affectionate, like a puppy. This doesn't change much throughout the path, though the 'flavoring' of her outlook on life does change somewhat after she and the protagonist become lovers. Unlike the other three paths, there is a rather significant obstacle to overcome in their case (or rather, it wasn't resolved in quite as simple a way). Overall, I found her path enjoyable, though I - quite honestly - enjoyed the other paths more, if only because I liked their epilogues more (I really wanted to see a five-years-later Iroha). Overall, this VN definitely meets my standards for a first-rate charage, and if you do enjoy that kind of thing, this is an excellent choice. It is also a solid VN of the Month candidate, and it is always nice to have more of those. It is a highly ecchi VN, and it also contains quite a bit of propaganda. However, the propaganda isn't overbearing and it is subtle enough that it doesn't destroy the atmosphere at all most of the time (in fact, it is part of the atmosphere lol).
For those who care, I posted my thoughts on Clochette and VN activism in general in this post ( http://forums.fuwanovel.net/blogs/entry/975-clochette-activist-vn-makers-or-just-endless-oppai/ ). Now, a few issues with this VN. Kokonatsu (Koko kara Natsu no Innocence) very much follows in the tradition of combining science fiction, fantasy, and/or science-fantasy elements in a charage with solid scenario design and writing to create an interesting whole. In this case, it would probably be best to call it science-fantasy, because it involves time travel. The protagonist, Hotaruzuka Arika, and Hotaruzuka Yuno are from 100 years in the future. The Hotaruzuka sisters are traveling back in time to do their 'Promenade', which is essentially a graduate thesis, on Akio Village, whereas the protagonist got tossed in by accident. The future they come from is basically one where all forms of recreation and individuality have been removed from society, almost by default. Kids are born in tubes using genetic manipulation to get the 'best' part of the two 'donors' (only one is considered the parent), and people live by minute-to-minute schedules, using their 'Devices' to perform all sorts of tasks that maintain the future world. As a result of this, imagination and sex drive are nonexistent in the future, save for a few people like the protagonist who were born naturally and raised in a 'traditional' environment. There is a lot more to it, but I'll leave it at that. In the common route, most of the amusement in the story comes from Arika's difficulties adjusting to the inconveniences of the past, and most of the common route is taken up with getting to know and love the heroines and side-characters, as well as in comparing and contrasting the differences between the two eras through the protagonist's point of view. In many ways, it is a classic case of a person who didn't fit in at home fitting in in a new setting, and the protagonist's unique multi-sided viewpoint is one of the reasons it is so interesting. Yuno is Arika's little sister, though their relationship is a bit more complicated than that (I'll leave it to yall to find out just how weird it sounds). Yuno is, in opposition to her straight forward 'future' role-model student older sister, a natural trickster, who enjoys nothing so much as confusing others and dragging them along in her wake. This doesn't change much when she gets together with the protagonist, but her point of view widens a great deal. The drama in her path and its solution is interesting and well-detailed in the telling, and the actual after-credits epilogue was a nice conclusion, though the whole thing only scratched around the edges of what was going on behind the scenes in the main story. So far, this VN is proving that Clochette is still doing what it does best... combining activism/subliminal propaganda, good storytelling, ecchi characters and character designs, laughter, and generally interesting concepts to create a whole that is more interesting than the sum of its parts. Now... on to Arika's path (I'll be doing the 'villager' paths after). Edit: There is also a definite undertone to the story that the mechanization and urbanization of society eventually led to a future where humans stopped caring about one another altogether, becoming so obsessed with rationality that they lost adaptability as a species. This is important to the story in general, but it has parallels to social media, the internet in general, and 'connectivity' in general. The nature of humans' instinctive need for close interpersonal contact is brought up subtly several times, and it gave me some food for thought along the way.
I'm currently playing Koko kara Natsu no Innocence, the latest VN by Clochette, a charage company specializing in busty heroines that tends to produce first-class character development and heroine stories. One aspect of Clochette that I've always thought was a bit funny was the obsession with 'shoushika', the current phenomenon in Japan where fewer and fewer young people are getting married and/or having kids. This is touched upon to one degree or another in a lot of VNs, because it is an issue that becomes bigger every year for the Japanese. Why? Because they are dying off faster than their kids are being born, and it has been that way for more than two decades. That in itself wouldn't be that big of a problem normally... falls in population are actually positive when you get to modern population levels. However, the drastic population fall in Japan is such that it is constricting them economically to a degree that scares many of their social scientists, making it into as big a scientific deal there as climate change is here. Clochette has a tendency to insert subtle anti-shoushika propaganda into it throughout its length, actively encouraging the reader to go out and have kids. It is one of the funnier things about it, as most charage gloss over the kids aspect outside of the h-scenes (and then it is only get the perversion levels up). However, themes of continuation across generations, preparing for the next generation, thinking about a future for the kids, etc. are common to all of Clochette's games, to one degree or another. Ironically, it is this 'activist VN-writing' that is what makes their stories frequently so much fun to read, and the message itself is kind of amusing when you think about it (since we aren't Japanese). However, I do find it interesting how VN makers will sometimes use the platform for subtle activism (brainwashing through eroge, lol). If you want another example of VN-activism, Semiramis no Tenbin is a bit more blatant about it, hitting on almost every major piece of 'dirty linen' in Japan's social closet. VNs in general, like all entertainment media, can be used in such ways... and frequently, the best VNs will be activist on one level or another, because passion plus skill tends to bring out much better results than just one or the other. Edit: Namima no Kuni no Faust is another example of somewhat blatant 'VN-activism', and in its case, it is a combined statement, criticism, and speculation on capitalism as a religion. Yes, I say a religion, because to those who worship the mighty dollar, that is precisely what it is. The entire VN is a story about a true free market economic society taken to its logical conclusion. It was a fascinating exercise, and it left a lot of food for thought, without necessarily being completely negative about capitalism in general or even some of its more obvious flaws.
Mmm... first of all, this is by Onamatope, a company previously known only for its harem-ge from the Mecha-con series. The Mecha-con series fell somewhere into that thin area between a nukige and a moege, and it was actually pretty decent for something in that area of the VN universe. So, keeping that experience in mind, I went into this VN with a more open mind than some people probably would have. Fortunately, this VN wasn't a disappointment, precisely because I wasn't looking for it to be something out of this world. Ok, first... this is a chuunige, in the sense that it follows a format I think most people will be familiar with... this young guy is transformed and forced into a world where he has to fight to survive, with many pretty girls around him... sound familiar? It should. That right there is the basis for about ninety-percent of the entire 'gakuen battle' type chuunige sub-genre. In a few ways, this VN definitely borrows from Draculius, which I still think is the best non-superviolent vampire VN. There are a lot of differences between the two... but they share the commonality of allowing for a coexistence of slice-of-life and comedy with a more serious background story. I'll say it straight out though... there should have been an Iris path. I don't say this because I'm a lolicon (though the protagonist and his ancestors all were, apparently) - as I'm not - but because Iris was, at first, second and third glance, the most interesting female character in the VN. All the heroines had their moments... in fact, I was really, really surprised at the degree to which they managed to balance all the paths and gave the heroines an equal amount of story. Due to the fact that the first half of their paths are the same, you might think Aoi and Lycoris got a bit screwed over, but their events after the split are distinct enough - and long enough - that I can't really say either got screwed over by the scenario designer's choices. In that sense, this VN is something of a triumph of the art of scenario design, which was one of the areas in which Onamatope generally shined in its near-nukige Mecha-con series as well (one of the reasons my impressions of those games were positive). In terms of raw writing... the battle writing is actually some of the better non-Light and non-Propeller I've seen. That isn't to say it is first class, because it isn't. The protagonist is way too much of a hetare when it comes to dealing with his vampirism, and the fact that they chose to make all the heroines, sub-heroines, and the protagonist a bit 'baka' was a bit of an odd choice that had moments where it fell flat. The regular narrative writing is better than you generally see in a nakige (which generally get favored with the best moege-variant writers), and I can honestly say that the pacing didn't throw me off very often, though there were some shaky moments midway and early on. In terms of visuals... this VN definitely needed more combat CGs. I knew they would cut corners on this, as Onamatope is not a company that can afford the kind of budgets for visuals that monsters like Will and Light can. There was a bit too much reuse of the same tachie poses to simulate combat, and the best I can say is that they gave the protagonist a face and a tachie for once, which was a huge plus. ... unfortunately they didn't give him a voice. Perhaps one of the biggest no-nos with a modern chuunige is to fail to give the protagonist a voice. The simple reason for this? Because the protagonist in a chuunige is always intended to be an actual person, rather than a simple self-insert. As such, it is rather ridiculous to give into that particular convention when even using a random staff member would probably satisfy most people. Generally speaking, the music in this game is... generic-sounding in the sense that chuunige music can ever be generic-sounding. That means that the tunes are ones I suspect get sold to every company intending to make this type of VN, with a few twists and changes in the rhythm to make them sound different to the ears of someone who doesn't listen. On the positive side, there is no point in this VN where I felt like the music was misused, which is a far bigger flaw that simply reusing music tracks from other games. Overall, what can those of you looking forward to the localization look forward to? I'd say that if you want some slice-of-life with vampires merged with a low-level chuunige story, this will definitely be something to look forward to. On the other hand, fans of more serious chuunige will not be satisfied by this, as the game is just to light in the slice-of-life scenes and the protagonist is a bit too much of a near-hetare when it comes to the vampire issues.
Well, that was a bit of a surprise... after people's iffy ratings of the trial, I'd honestly expected this VN to be disappointing, in general, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that the VN as a whole exceeded the expectations I'd had for it previously. What were those expectations? I thought it would be a mere variation on the usual 'human goes to another world, gains ultimate power, defeats the evil, and gets a harem' theme that defines most VNs that have a protagonist go to another world... with a strong taste of Japanese nationalism. However, it wasn't anything of the sort. Oh, the protagonist is indeed a kamikaze pilot, as advertised... but his outlook is a lot more interesting than you would have expected from someone willing to smash himself into the side of a ship with a plane. In fact, his view on patriotism in general is pretty negative, despite his own insistence on his duty. He is short-tempered, quick to get in a fight... and just as quick to drink and party with those he was fighting with a moment before (if they weren't trying to kill each other). He is definitely a soldier, because his point of view is written in a very similar way to that of various historical fiction written by Vietnam and WWII vets (outside of some certain areas). It does retain that uniquely Japanese 'emotional surrealism' that is a part of all otaku literature, and he spends an indecent amount of time philosophizing in his head for someone who is essentially an iron-skulled grunt by nature. His description of his feelings about WWII resembles a great deal several first-person accounts written by soldiers on the Japanese side, and it is quite obvious that the writer of the story did at least some research on the matter. One thing some of you should keep in mind is that, despite the fact that a lot of girls fall in love with him, this protagonist is not a ladies' man and he generally doesn't indulge, except with his chosen heroine (he's definitely monogamous, lol), so you needn't worry about the kind of careless going back and forth between various women that defines a lot of 'go to another world' protagonists. If you were looking forward to a harem story, you'll be disappointed though. This VN is a lot darker than it shows from the front, much as Grisaia was designed to be much darker than it seemed at first (has the same writers, so it stands to reason). While there is a lot of light-hearted stuff in here, there is also a lot of bloodshed, slaughter, and betrayal as well. This is perhaps one of the grittiest 'trip to another world' VNs I've ever read, and I honestly was impressed with the degree to which the writers and artists were willing to dig into the down and dirty aspects of the war. The issue that will, on some level, inevitably come to the mind of anyone who reads this VN all the way through is the zombies... to be honest, the artistry of the zombie designs in this VN is a bit ridiculous, in the sense that they actually went to the trouble to make them look graphically disgusting (torn off ears, exposed muscle and sinew, etc etc). There are even dragon zombies, which are pretty freaky as well. Story-wise, this VN has pretty much just two pitfalls... it requires you to read between the lines on a lot of issues, and there is perhaps less detail to the endings than you might wish. Frequently, you'll be directly prevented from knowing the thoughts of certain characters at certain important moments, simply to keep you from spoiling the heroine routes or to give impact to later scenes. This is actually a well-used technique, but it also makes the dog-people chapter a bit hurried toward the end, because of how much isn't touched upon deliberately to make Aira's path more powerful. The endings... honestly, Yukikaze's and Aira's are good. However, Ria's and Meltina's endings are kind of lacking. In Ria's case, this is inevitable, for reasons that become obvious at the end, but in the case of Meltina it is just a little frustrating. Ria's path is unique amongst all of them in that it is almost entirely told from the heroine's perspective, outside of some scenes near the end. Indeed, the protagonist's on-screen role is very limited, and the most important scenes are always away from him, with Ria on her own. You are required to play Yukikaze's path first... and the reason for that is pretty obvious... she's the main heroine. The heroine paths are all distinct toward the end, but it is Yukikaze's that has the most straight-out, easy to understand impact. Ria's path has a lot of impact for another reason... but it also has the weakest ending/epilogue (though Meltina's is also a bit weak). The music in this VN is really good... but it is also a mix of rearranged and slightly altered themes from several chuunige that I recognized... surprisingly this doesn't matter all that much, because the music is extremely well-used, frequently with an artist's touch for timing. Visually... if you liked Grisaia's everyday visuals, you'll probably like the everyday visuals here. The protagonist in this VN is deliberately made to look like a somewhat ugly guy in his late twenties, so that is a change... and as I said before, the zombies in this VN are pretty hideous (in a 'good' way). For some reason, they reused Michiru's mouth design on a number of characters in this VN, and I found myself considering them to be morons from first meeting, even i they weren't, lol. Unfortunately, this VN won't be for everyone... people who want a moege won't have much fun with this, and there is perhaps a bit too much moe for those who want something really dark. At the same time, people who can't stand zombies will hate this VN, because zombies make a lot of appearances (and one of the heroines is a 'special' zombie). The fact that the main heroine is a bit overly idealistic/emotional at times will also be a letdown for someone expecting her to be a classic warrior princess. However, this is also a VN that brings a lot of disparate elements together to create an interesting whole... In other words, for me it was a good ride... for you? Honestly, there are a lot of points in this VN that will bother at least some of the population, and there is a lot of subtle criticism of certain WWII issues that might offend others or make them feel like this is a purely ideological piece. Indeed, there is a definite sense of 'Gundamness' around some of the themes, but I honestly found it enjoyable and stimulating, overall.
Edit: I'm finding it kind of funny that some people are joining vndb just to give 1 scores to VNs to drag the numbers down... Anyway, what I really wanted to add a few points... first, a lot of people are going to be tempted to see Visra as the US... but it is actually a lot closer to if you added Nazi Germany's leadership to America's industrial and natural resources, with an even stronger dose of 'ethnic cleansing'.
Yes, I'm going to say it right here and now... this is a kusoge. Oh, there are some good points...but unfortunately, the really half-assed way things are done between and after the most vital points kind of make this VN the crap it is. First, this VN as a whole suffers from the 'didn't go far enough' and 'not enough detail' syndromes. Even the romantic elements in this VN feel truncated, and that is usually the only story element in which charage excel. Why do I say 'didn't go far enough'? It is fairly simple... the combat scenes in this VN are mediocre, at best, with a feeling of 'uh, is this supposed to be interesting?' that is worsened by the poorly-calculated use of moe elements. There are some good CGs in this VN, but the way they are used is... uninteresting. As for lack of details... there is literally no real detail to the endings, the conclusion of each of the heroine stories is so quick that you have to ask yourself 'eh, was there drama here?' I was outright amazed by the way they managed to completely waste the setting. The protagonist is a genius... so what? They never really use that element outside of the endless tests, and he doesn't really show it in the battles (the battles are so simple that they make the protagonist actually seem like an idiot). I kept getting broken out of the characters' world view because of that. There is no sense of style to the scenario design of this VN whatsoever, and I was absolutely amazed at the failure of the writers to actually make such an interesting setting work. It is like someone handed a one-handed monkey a ten thousand dollar set of paints and a hand-crafted artist's brush and let him go on it. This VN started out with promise and crash-landed completely. Sorry to say, but what little joy I got out of this VN is ruined by being buried in the crap that enveloped the rest of the VN.
