Mr Poltroon

Okay, so, Umineko is interesting in how it wants the players to solve the things (Not only that, but I'll focus purely on the episode murder mysteries).
 

Laid-back camp S2, is the only anime I need in my life. but the bonus non non biyori s3 makes this the best anime season in years. 

Hey, everyone!
We're starting the new year by finishing off the Redemption storyline from last month. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, I think it's another strong story, and I hope many of you will agree! But I'm happy to now be moving on to other things that may be a little more fun generally~
Besides that, there's another trio of excellent CGs to brighten things up, including a first one for the Villainous Sleeper Agent storyline that was long overdue. Penlight's really got a lot of CGs going for it now, huh? And I've got no intention of stopping anytime soon...
As ever, you can find this month's release in PC, Linux, Mac and Android versions, on my Patreon or itch.io pages. I've also linked the most recent flowchart guide on the public news post on Patreon.
Anyway, that's about it for this update! Next month's release is going to be a bit of a mixed bag with no clear writing focus, while I have a feeling some of the art additions I have upcoming are going to be very well-received!
Enjoy the new release and I'll be back soon enough~

What's New

Redemption storyline fully scripted to a conclusion along one path New CG for Sayori's Doll storyline, just before the epilogue New CG for the Villianous Sleeper Agent story path New CG for Hiroko's original storyline, near the end The dialogue for the Villainous Sleeper Agent scene where the CG appears has been revised slightly Word count is now around 256,000 Spanish localisation: Various edits and corrections to the existing script Minor typo corrections
Known Issues

Changing the language on a line where an animation occurs (like screen shake) will throw up an error.

Hello again!
This is another monthly update I'm really proud of. First things first, I've gotten one path through the Doll storyline completely written up to a conclusion! I'm mostly really happy with how this one came out, and I'm sure it'll become a few reader's favourites~
There's "only" three new CGs with this release, but they're all spectacular, and you'll deffo want to revisit the Devotion, Reversal and Hiroko's first storylines to see them!
And finally, I also developed an entirely new story path almost entirely from scratch! The Redemption storyline, where Kyou initially starts on the path of villainy (the Devotion path to be exact) only to turn away from it and try to right that wrong, is now available in this release. It's... definitely not what people would expect to find in these kinds of games, but it's a very Penlight kind of story and it's the kind I've wanted to tell for ages. I hope folks will enjoy what's currently written and look forward to a concluding part after Christmas
Once again, you can find this month's release in PC, Linux, Mac and Android versions, on my Patreon or itch.io pages. I've also linked the most recent flowchart guide on the public news post on Patreon.
Happy holidays, everyone! I'll be back in the new year with another fun update~

What's New

Sayori's Doll storyline is now scripted and playable up to a conclusion! New story path "Redemption" scripted to the end of the eighth day, and outlined to a conclusion New CG for Villainous Devotion storyline New CG for Nozomi's Reversal storyline, near the end of the currently-written script New CG for Hiroko's original storyline, near the end Akiko's sprite has been upgraded, featuring a new pose, casual outfit and some new facial expressions Word count is now around 252,000 Spanish localisation: Various edits and corrections to the existing script
Known Issues

Changing the language on a line where an animation occurs (like screen shake) will throw up an error.

Tay

Burning down the Capitol is an old British pastime, and thus I condemn it in the strongest terms.

I will take off the hat after I take down my Christmas tree. So, probably in March. 

Finished Code Vein! Meaning I've completed the best route and all the base game optional content, the DLCs proved too much of a pain for me – I guess I don't have the patience to play soulslikes seriously after all and the extra levels had no story. However, for what the "casual" experience (playing on normal difficulty with a companion) offered, it was all really satisfying. It was at time challenging, but never frustratingly so and the versatility of the gaming mechanics was great. It was extremely convenient to switch between various builds and play styles, and resources & gear necessary for that were easily accessible, meaning you can experiment to your heart's content. I didn't even grind anything outside of getting lost on two particular levels and killing the same mobs multiple times there – people joke about finding your way in the Cathedral level being the most difficult boss of the game and they're definitely onto something.
However, the story probably deserves a deeper comment, because I really didn't expect to like it at the beginning. However, despite being filled with various brands of over-the-top anime BS, the game does something really interesting. At first you're just confronted with the apocalyptic setting and tons of abstract lore dropped at you all at once, but then the mechanic of gaining new abilities is fully tied with relieving other people's memories and experiencing their struggles during and after the apocalypse. It's cheesy, but a lot of those memories are interconnected and relevant for player's quest. You get a good look at both your allies and the antagonists (there's really just one villain in the game, and he's not even the main focus of everything – everything else is just tragedy on top of tragedy and trying to repair things that went wrong in humanity's last-ditch efforts of survival)... And soon everything starts feeling personal and decently fleshed out. If there was a bit more definition to the protagonist, this could've been a pretty decent chuunige. :3 Especially because it was all really stylish and gloriously edgy, particularly those scenes of reliving memories...
8/10, play it with Game Pass, don't buy the DLC unless you're a Soulslike fanatic and are looking for pain.
Now I'll probably let the Xbox rest for a while and get back to my other weeb hobbies properly...

Maji de Watashi ni Koishinasai

Summary

Kawakami City is famous for its strong dedication to its samurai ancestors. A strong fighting spirit is always valued and it's even an important factor in succeeding in school there.

Yamato, a second year student from Kawakami Highchool is always with his close friends (4 boys and 3 girls). They have known each other since they were young and have done loads of things together. They have many other friends, but this seven people is a close-knit group, they even have a secret base where they meet...

With the new semester, they welcome two girls into their group and shortly after things start to change...
 
Ending Guideline / Suggested Route Order
 
There are 5 main routes, 6 sub-routes and 1 hidden route, as well as a couple of other endings.
Initially you'll be forced to choose one of the 5 main routes. As you finish them more and more sub-routes will open up, and after finishing all of the main routes the hidden route will be unlocked. 
You may play all of these in any order you wish.
 
To get into a route, finish the prologue and you'll get into a choice screen. You get into a route by exhausting all red spheres with any given character. Each time you select a character she will lose a sphere.
Walkthrough
Choices crucial for certain CG's will be detailed below. Choices recommended will be written below, but only choices which will otherwise lead to a bad end will be in bold. Timed choices are included in the choice number. After Stories and Sub-Routes have no story relevant choices.  
 
Prologue

Momoyo Route

Chris Route

Wanko Route

Miyako Route

Mayucchi Route
 
Sub-Routes
Hidden Routes
Attribution

This walkthrough is based on info attained here, all info tested by yours truly.
Summary stolen from VNDB.
 
Changelog:
(23/08/18)
- Fixed broken main image.
- Fixed broken spoilers as a result of forum updates.

Happy new year. Yes yes.

EUROPEANS RUIN EVERYTHING.

Well, 2020 was utter shit, but it's over now (at least here in Europe) and the new year has a real chance to be better. So, congrats everyone on surviving this madness and I wish you all a wonderful 2021, one that will make us all forget the crap we went through! 

Happy holidays peeps!

I finished Abyss of the Sacrifice and did manage to somehow clock in 33 hours so I guess that's a relief. Though admittedly I probably lost 10 hours just getting absolutely hardstuck in some puzzles, so it's maybe more of a 20-25 hour VN depending on how gitgud you are.

There's only 16 BGMs, but they've got some pretty catchy techno-y escape room themes going on so I never felt the tracks were too limited/stale:

I enjoyed my time with it. Again, most puzzles are doable but there are some that are wtfmuxlogix-tier so I recommend if you are approaching 30minutes+ on any particular puzzle to just go look it up (I used this site which was for the 2010 game, and just google translate the page) to save yourself some frustration.  
The pacing can feel a bit off sometimes because every time you pick a stage you'll also get some background lore characterization flashbacks on that specific heroine, but in a story that mainly focuses on the isolated trapped mystery aspect you kind of don't need to know their backgrounds (ie. Zero escape did fine not knowing many of the character's backgrounds prior to them being trapped) and it can interrupt the flow sometimes when you just wanna get on with the story. But hey, it's 5 kawaii high school grills, so we gotta get some characterization goin' on.
The overarching mystery is decent, but nothing too fancy if you've already played the likes of Ever17, ZeroEscape. Missed opportunity in that you'll probably have a good idea of what's going on maybe 50-75% of the way through and then it's just figuring out how to escape, no more mystery, no more twists and turns.
The process to get the ends is in itself a puzzle, which I kind of thematically liked: there is an ending for every heroine, with one of them leading to the true ending, but it's based on what order you play the later stages in the VN. An enforced play order so to speak. So you'll have to pay a little bit of attention to what unfortunate shenanigans happens in the later stages so you can eventually pick the right play combination to victory. Of course, you can just walkthrough the play orders for the endings, but I think there is some narrative value in trying to figure it out yourself.

Playing certain later stages will lock you out from playing other stages because reasons*. (Blue is a completed stage, Gray is a locked out stage, Yellow is a stage not yet played, and Blank is a stage you've played on a prior run but not unlocked on your current run because reasons. You can only play Stages on your current column). Jitka's "Zero" stage is the default game over btw, so I was screwed on the pic above, but thankfully the game lets you menu one way back to a prior stage completion point once you get an ending and try proceeding again from there.
*reasons spoiler:
 


...Think you can make it to the True Ending? Or will you be doomed to eternal failure Raging Loop style? I for the record tried for about 30 minutes of play orders for the True End but threw in the towel cuz it just ain't fun having to skip through the stages lol

Overall if you just wanna play another trapped sci-fi mystery escape room VN, Abyss is a solid choice

I QC'd this together with Infernoplex, casual_scrub and someone called Jack. It was an arduous, monumental task but we probably did well enough. Should you find some problems feel free to post screenshots in the #majikoi-discussion chat on the JAST Discord or here! (*´∀｀*)

Happy Majikoi-mas

Took me a while this year.

The release date for official release of Majikoi by JAST has been announced and it is tomorrow December 25th!
https://twitter.com/jastusa/status/1341026098662891523
 
You can buy the game here:
https://jastusa.com/majikoi-love-me-seriously
Those that have preordered the physical edition will get digital keys so that they can play on release while the physical shipment is being handled.
 
Unfortunately due to licensing issues the English release won't contain the full voice cast of the Japanese release, but the main characters are all still voiced. You can read more about this in this blog post:
Blog post is NFSW!
https://blog.jlist.com/featured/official-jast-usa-post-about-majikoi/
 
But there are already rumors that the community is working to fan patch the missing voices into this release so maybe it won't be an issue for long.

If you ever have trouble finding your current avatar again, rest assured that I can produce another one of equal quality.

Took me a while this year.

Well, if you say so.

Guess what I'm reading now!
Hint: it deals with ninjas
Hint2: it's an otome
Hint3: It's Nightshade / Hyakka Hyakurou Sengoku Ninpou-chou
It's actually fascinating how many otomes are getting localized in the west... I've read some big otome titles like Code;Realize and CollarxMalice and they've always excelled at having a mature, interesting story with high stakes and Nightshade looks to be another contender

You play as female protagonist (first) Enju Ueno, a 16 year old shinobi who is the symbol of peace between two once long-feuding-but-are-now-united shinobi clans, being the daughter of the clan heads. She's the coming-of-age modest, naive, "I'm a princess but please treat me like a normal person" type who's eager to prove her worth, but everyone insists on pampering her:
 

The first tag listed on VNDB is "Life and Death Drama", this oughtta be interesting...

Alrighty, one more finished! This time, I finished all the endings left from The Nonary Games.
Ending 6
Ending 4
True Ending 
Overall, it wasn't a bad game, not at all. I mean, I loved discussing it with my peers, especially when it came to the mystery!
Paranoia: Deliver Me
I started playing this one today and I plan on finishing it this week! 
First Impressions
Positives:
The art and the soundtrack is beautiful, as it should be, since the game itself is about music lel The mood can be very spooky and me likey Negatives:
The translation is awful and it kinda breaks my immersion and overall enjoyment of the vn... Also, the voice acting isn't that good; I'm not sure if it's because I'm not used to listen to Chinese, but they all sound like they don't care about what they are saying and don't really feel the character they are playing 😕 The choices are damn weird, the fuck... How am I supposed to know what to do? And there's no walkthrough available out there [cries] THE SKIP ISN'T WORKING AAAAGH—! Well, this is all I've got for the week! 

Because obviously I'm a dumb dumb and that was a silly assumption to make. Everyone who read the VN already and then that comment of mine was probably like LOL

Finished Raging Loops. Overall enjoyable. Here's the fav bgm:

Honestly most of my enjoyment from this VN came from the Feasts, and that's mainly from my personal bias of loving group-battle-of-wits-discussion type scenarios ala Danganronpa. 

The endgame reveals were unfortunately kind of a big yawn. Waaaay too much last minute background history infodumping and kanji reordering wordplay reveals when you just wanna get the show over with. Getting the final 5 keys was about as tedious as Link having to fetch all of the Triforce shards in Windwaker. And it doesn't even ultimately end in with a big bang, just a matter of fact kind of resolution. Anticlimatic.

(SPOILER) Random thoughts to various revelations (SUPER SPOILERS)
 

Wait a minute, I just finished World End Syndrome, which delved into Yomibito lore pretty thoroughly, and now I gotta deal with it AGAIN for Raging Loop? Is Yomibito a common folklore thing(I didn't even know about them before reading WES), or did I just supermassive coinkydinky read two VNs back to back that decided to involve them lol 

Pffft, I'm Takeru Umisho, a certified Yomibito expert, and I can definitely say that Haruaki Fusaishi ain't no Yomibito.

Anyways, protagonist 24 yo. Haruaki Fusaishi gets into a recent breakup, takes a one way motorcycle trip to the middle of nowhere to clear his mind, gets into an accident, and eventually finds himself in a remote, desolate village called Yasumizu where the villagers are extremely cold to "outsiders". There is one friendly face though: Chiemi Serizawa, a 21 year old college student who returned here for vacation. She finds the lost Haruaki and vouches for him.


 
Raging Loop already lives up to its name, as the game takes the time to explicitly tell you, "Hey, you'll run into a lot of necessary bad ends to progress the story, glhf"


Without further ado, time to go die~

Finished World End Syndrome. The final few routes for Yukino and Miu were pretty fun, because they finally touch upon the murder mystery and Yomibito lore aspects of the VN that the prologue hooks you in with whereas everything else in between was just standard slice of life & world building & heroine personal baggage solving. So overall it's like 90% SoL and 10% murder mystery / supernatural lore lol.




Btw, anyone wanna play Among Us? LOL
 

 
It's a shame, because while reading their routes I constantly found myself going, damn, this VN would've been even more awesome if the entire thing revolved around the mystery aspect. But ultimately all the slice of life did serve its purpose and softened me well for going into:

Yup, there's a truth route to look forward to by the end of it, yeee. It's nothing too mind boggling; a bit of a shame considering you have a title like WORLD END SYNDROME so you might be expecting the true route to have reality bending consequences (it doesn't), but nevertheless it was still a pleasant truth route. 
Hint: it deals with:




Alright, detour over. Back to Raging Loop

I finished Hanako -> Saya -> Maimi routes in World End Syndrome. Apparently you need to do these three before you can do Yukino's and Miu's, and so far the supernatural lore regarding the Yomibito-undead-reviving-every-100-years thing hardly has any presence, so I'm guessing the final two routes will start touching base with that.
 
Hanako Yamada / Rei Nikaido

Heh, and I'm Takeru Umisho, from Muv-Notes Luv-Robotics ; Alternate DaSH
This girl is great. She's the (true personality) socially awkward clumsy girl (fake alias) Hanako Yamada by day and the rising idol sensation (true name) Rei Nikaido by night. She comes to Mihate Town to film for her latest movie after being inspired by the Town's legends, and joins the Mystery Club under her incognito name out of desire to experience being a normal high school girl.
 
 
Saya Kamishiro
Honor student. Athletic. Rich. Talented. Gorgeous. The girl's got it all.

That's a funny way of saying "Hey I like you, can we walk home together?"
 
Maimi Kusunose

LMAO! One of the rare times my boi Kensuke actually gets some good shots in. (Ironic, because she's actually his one true crush despite all of his fanboying for the idol Nikarei). Maimi is the hotheaded tomboy down to earth speaks her mind type.


Unfortunately, even though Takeru was able to avoid having an uneventful summer leading to his prologue-demise by mingling with some heroines, it turns out: