theboxcarracer

Unlimited Blade Works is my favorite, but I think Heaven's Feel is probably a better written route. I just found UBW more personally relatable. 
 
I actually didn't dislike Shirou too much, aside from his occasional chauvinism that all VN protagonists seem to suffer from. "I helped you because you're a girl! Not because I would help any human being that was in danger! It's because you were born without a penis!" I hate that line of logic. And it's worse in Shirou's case because until a very specific point in the story, he isn't actually helpful in the least; his belief that he can somehow protect them is condescending to Saber and Tosaka in my opinion.
 
But I really liked how firm he was on his ideals and even his pushover-ness appealed to me on some level. I like an idealist protagonist, and can relate to the helping people who don't deserve your help kind of attitude, too.
 
I'm midway through the Unlimited Blade Works anime, and it's excellent. I've seen the sentiment expressed by some hardcore anime fans that they think it's only seen as good because of its high budget, but that's not the case at all. I think they're just mad that everyone is talking about it and are looking for ways to bring it down so that they can feel superior for liking less universally praised stuff. It's really a fantastic show, the fighting is excellent, the story is handled well, and it doesn't get things wrong, either.
 
I haven't seen Fate/Zero yet, but I absolutely plan to.
 
F/SN is one of my favorite VNs of all time, behind Tsukihime, which is a goddamned masterpiece.

(Last time…) Guy: "Oookay. I still think they're porny." (< not a word)   Me: "That probably says more about you than the art style."   *Tay gets slugged*   Me: "Owww!"   Guy: "No, but really. Why not just read a book or comic instead?"       (And now for the "epic" conclusion!)   Me: “What do you mean?”   Guy: “I dunno. Why read *that”—“    *he waves a finger lazily at the PC screen*    “when you could just read a comic or a book, instead?”   Me: “Um. Because variety is a good thing? For example, do you eat the same thing for lunch every day?”   *Uncomfortable moment of silence.*   Me: “You do, don’t you?”   Guy: “Yeah, generally.”   Me: “Dang. Way to pull a Ford on me. Okay, so, that was a bad example –“   Guy: “Ford?”   Me: “Henry Ford. The guy who made the cars? He’s famous for the line, ‘You can have any color [of Model T] as long as it's black.’ Meaning: sameness is boring.”   *Guy’s eyes are still glazed over*   Me: “Okay, fine. Tell me a hobby that interests you.”   Guy: “NASCAR.”   Me: “Um. No. Try again. Give me another one. A better one.”   *Tay gets slugged*   Me: “Owww!”   Guy: “Music, then.”   Me: *Rubbing arm* “What kind of music?”   Guy: “Oh, all kinds.”   Me: “What’s your favorite song?”   Guy: “’The Angry American’ by Toby Keith”   *Uncomfortable moment of silence*   Me: “I’m feeling increasingly justified, here. If that’s your favorite song, we’ve got bigger problems to deal with.” *Continuing rapidly to avoid more pain* “Okay, so, by comparison – don’t you like listening to more than just that one song? Or to just Toby Keith? Isn’t it good to get some variety?”   Guy: “I guess so. But I do listen to him most of the time. I don’t like much else.”   Me: “You’re making this very hard, [Guy]. Anyway, I’m sure that if you searched your soul you’d discover that variety is a good thing and keeps life interesting. I do read books, but I also read these things—“    *pointing to PC screen*    “—because they’re fun. And different.”   Guy: “And porny.”   Me: “What is it with you and that word?”   Guy: “It’s just what they are, [Tay].”   Me: *mucho annoyed look*   Guy: “I’d be too embarrassed to get caught reading one of those.”   Me: “How mature of you.”   Guy: “They can’t be that much different than a book, man.”   Me: “You’d be surprised.”   Guy: “Not likely.”   Me: “How about we make this interesting?”   Guy: “Fine by me.”   Me: “I’m going to let you borrow [my tablet] for a few hours. You’re going to play one of these ‘porny’ games. If it doesn’t impress you, I’ll buy you lunch. If it does impress you, however, you buy me lunch. And if it makes you cry, you have to take my afternoon shift.”   Guy: “Fine. But if I hate it, you have to take my shift tomorrow morning.”   Me: “Great.” *tap* *tap* *tap*    Guy: “So what am I reading?”   Me: “It’s a sunny little thing called 'Planetarian'.” *hands over tablet*   Guy: “Wish me luck.”   Me: “Good luck. Oh, and I locked the other apps, so you can’t snoop. Sorry.”   Guy: “D*@%.”         The After-Story: [Guy] loved Planetarian and he definitely cried. Lunch was delicious, as was having the afternoon off. He’s interested in trying another “porny game”, though I do not know which one I’ll recommend to him. I have not yet actually told him that there is, in fact, porn in some of the games. Mostly because I really hate the word “porny.”

Remember 11: The Age of Infinity one of the worst ending

Excessive fanservice is a yellow card but the one sided violence against the mc and the "best friend" character type those situations provide are the ultimate red card.

That's nice for people who don't live in households with overbearing parents who either don't allow the doors to be locked or remove the locks altogether like mine do.
 
I refuse to play VNs in the bathroom, even if it is the only inside door in my house with a lock on it. I will never sink that low.

Don't be so quick to throw in the towel. This is a place where everyone should feel welcome to share their projects no matter what level they are currently at. It would be boring if everyone's writing was the same or everyone turned in stuff without any flaws. The whole point of the critique is help writers recognize where they're at and push them beyond their limits. As long as everyone puts in effort into their writing and rewrites then I see no reason why you should stop doing something you enjoy.

Sharin no Kuni: chapter 5. A plot twist so massive it makes my head spin 

Thanks Down for covering up that Kira☆Kira spoiler otherwise I might've actually read it  

Not being able to open all of those spoilers is really making me itch to read Kira☆Kira now

I love how I just talked about not spoiling it and you go and fucking spoil it. 
 

A few months ago, Decay let me walk right into that without any warning. And I really, really appreciate him for doing that. 
 



 
I'm glad you found KiraKira to be an experience worth your time. Rest a bit, you swallowed the biggest pill in the bottle.

Nearing the end of my first route in Kira Kira (or at least I think I am) and
 



 
EDIT: Okay, it doesn't seem to be doing that, so that's good, though I do wonder how the hell this is going to wrap up.
 

I've never had one in spite of recently moving back in with my parents. You have to open two doors to get to my room, so I always hear the first one opening and have time to react before the second one gets opened. I also tend to only skim/skip through H-scenes when I'm playing a VN during the day, so it doesn't come up a lot.
 
The closest thing to embarrassment I've come with this sort of thing is the number of times I've almost slipped into a long-winded explanation about VNs or one VN in particular before realizing that that would cause my parents to know the existence of such content and thus be on the lookout for it. 
 
 
 
Jesus, after my first breakup my mother bought me a 50 hour RPG to keep my mind off of it until it wasn't so raw. A very, very different approach.
 
I also bawled my eyes out after playing Katawa Shoujo soon after a breakup. It was Hanako's route that killed me, really, especially when you consider the fact that I myself am a burn victim and could relate to what was going on so closely.

I've never had one in spite of recently moving back in with my parents. You have to open two doors to get to my room, so I always hear the first one opening and have time to react before the second one gets opened. I also tend to only skim/skip through H-scenes when I'm playing a VN during the day, so it doesn't come up a lot.
 
The closest thing to embarrassment I've come with this sort of thing is the number of times I've almost slipped into a long-winded explanation about VNs or one VN in particular before realizing that that would cause my parents to know the existence of such content and thus be on the lookout for it. 
 
 
 
Jesus, after my first breakup my mother bought me a 50 hour RPG to keep my mind off of it until it wasn't so raw. A very, very different approach.
 
I also bawled my eyes out after playing Katawa Shoujo soon after a breakup. It was Hanako's route that killed me, really, especially when you consider the fact that I myself am a burn victim and could relate to what was going on so closely.

It's a fun VN, set in a fun world, filled with fun characters. Majikoi just makes me feel good. I personally enjoy slice-of-life-y stuff quite a bit in a VN, but can enjoy a good intense moment every now and then too, and Majikoi is basically 80/20 that, in favor of the slice-of-life stuff, so it's a big win in my book. I also found most of the actual romances relatively believable (I didn't really enjoy Chris's route, though.) 
 
All this is coming from someone who hasn't even had a chance to read the route of their favorite heroine, (perhaps ever) Miyako.
 
But basically, I find that Majikoi takes place in a setting I find extremely enjoyable, with characters I like being around. Playing it immerses me in a world that I find extremely endearing just due to the fact that it lines up with my personal tastes.
 
I also like the art quite a bit, and the  H-scenes are (as you said) really well-done.

Hmmmm, well I might as well give a word concerning the... Sidetracking this thread was fated to face. I'm saying this to everyone, not just Okami. 
 
Even before the first recognizable out-of-topic post was posted, things were already getting out of hand. I am partially responsible for this, as I did (lightly) bash H-scenes a bit in my introduction, my motive behind that was mostly for comedy, and I even made a separate post saying "ITS A JOKE", yet people kept responding, and pffffffft the amount of responses was... Disappointing. So they shared their opinion, others gave theirs, and when you start arguing over something that not only wasn't meant to be talked about here, but even in its nature isn't questionable by logic... You start missing the point.
 
lol... I now remember when a friend of mine said "You want to stay loved on the internet? Never have an opinion! People hate opinions!" I thought he was exaggerating, yet here we are eh...
 
Anyway, so to clear up my second point, I consider it pointless to discuss morality. Everyone has different moral codes, codes that are shaped by many things, including upbringing, faith, culture, environment,  and most destructively (yet most effectively) by the media. But no one, and I mean no one bases their moral codes off of logic. Can you say that H-scenes are a good/bad thing based on logic? No, only based of the moral code you hold, and in order to question anyone else's morals, you need a very deep understanding of everything that affects your opinion, and the different opinions of everyone around you. Yet all I see going on is pre-assumptions, pre-judgments and over-all a never ending barrage of ignorance.
 
I loath the opinions of some people over here, and I'm pretty sure a lot of people loath my opinion. Does that give either of us the right to show it? No, it doesn't. 
 
More than once, I've seen people say "you're all pervs" in both a positive and a negative light, and in both cases its not true. So please, give us a break from all the clashing opinions/blind accusations, this thread was made for the purpose of seeing what people think are the effects of H-scenes on the medium as a whole, and many have done a splendid job sharing their thoughts, that's what I want to see more of.  

I just requested this option because h-scenes can drive readers away if the overall quality of the VN is average or lower, yet if it's already a high-quality product they'll attract the people that only want them for the h-scenes as well as the people that are legitimately interested in the plot.  Really depends on the VN itself, really, not the h-scenes.  At least, that's what I've heard, and that makes sense.
 
Dead horse, people.  DEAD HORSE.  Did nohman's GIF and post have no effect at all?  This thread is not the place to debate pure love vs sexy things, list our personal stances on h-scenes, or post blocks of text trying to get one person to admit that h-scenes aren't bad or that they're the worst thing since Cheez Whiz.  If you want to do that, stop derailing this thread and go make one specifically for that purpose, or just PM the people you want to debate with instead of arguing in people's threads.  Starting arguments (which is what this is) solves nothing, and frankly, is not fun to be around.
 

Okay people, I know this is a hard sell since this is the internet, but can we steer this conversation away from the toxic turn it has taken? This is obviously an area of great contention, meaning it is a worthwhile discussion topic. HOWEVER, wouldn't it be better to talk about h-scenes in context of the industry, how they're used and misused, and our personal feelings on them without derisively calling each others perverts and otherwise continuing to flog a dead horse? At some point (lol not really, I know), you've just got to concede that your opinions diverge and that nothing productive will happen if you continue with specific threads of the conversation.

Okay, look. I personally kind of enjoy H-scenes.
 
That doesn't mean that I think they are good for the medium as a whole. People seem to be saying that things don't need to change because they don't care what other people think; it doesn't matter if the rest of the world looks down on them and refuses to play them because you still enjoy it.
 
I don't think it's that simple, you know? As someone who doesn't read Japanese, I would love it if more VNs got officially translated and released in English, but that's not ever going to be a common occurrence as long as most outsiders to the medium only see VNs as porn. I also would love to have conversations about VNs with people outside this bubble, but that just isn't possible for me at the moment. I would really like to recommend games like Ever 17 to members of my family, or even to friends with no context for this sort of thing, but I can't do that because if they dig even a little bit deeper into this stuff, they'll find that 90% of the genre has pornographic content in it and be upset with me for liking this form of storytelling.
 
It's not just a matter of "I don't care what other people think." I mean, I feel like the pornographic content (or the perception that VNs exist only for such content) is keeping VNs from being popular in the west. And I would actually like this medium to thrive out here. There are some absolutely fantastic stories that have been told this way,and people are missing out.

I love when this happens. Dra+Koi was kind of like that for me.
I've been stalled on G-Senjou for a while now after I read one route of Tsubaki's story, but I want to pick it up again. That said I've actually got some brutal scheduling for the next few weeks, but maybe I'll find some time. I hope I do 0.0
 
Nice to see you back, boxcar

Oh god, my worst experience was definitely Remember 11. 
 
I came to it after wading through a few more lighthearted things because I was craving a more substantial plot, but holy shit, that game is complete bullshit.
 
Seriously. In order to experience every ending (which is the only way to understand any of it, because the game really drops the ball when it comes to wrapping things up in the good endings alone) you have to play through one side of the game, get a specific bad ending, then play through the other side of the game to get an alternate version of the same bad ending. And there are so many of them. And the details you get from doing that are all so minuscule on their own that you're putting in a huge time investment and getting almost nothing out of it except an ever-so-slightly better view of the big picture.
 
And even after doing that, you still know almost nothing. It's so terrible. The good endings both end with major cliffhangers that you only even sort of understand if you've gotten a whole bunch of the bad endings prior to seeing them, and even then, they're still cliffhangers that don't wrap things up at all.
 
And I totally get the whole "it's supposed to make you feel like you're playing an infinite loop, that's why you have to play the game over and over again without learning anything new at all each time" thing, but that doesn't excuse the complete lack of resolution or explanation or story or really anything. Just because it's a unique idea doesn't make it a good one.
 
I regret putting any time into it at all.

Well, it happened. We recorded an episode. I’ll warn you all that it very well may be incomprehensible due to medication, but I hope it’s not too bad. A big “Thanks!” to Ren for having me back and for taking another chance on the series.
 
I always get nervous right before an episode posts. If it’s bad, I’ll write up a summary for y’all. Sound fair?

Tsukihime.

I have officially finished Tsukihime. What an incredible VN. Oh my god, seriously, it's one of the best I've ever played.
 
Now I'm moving on to either Kamidori Alchemy Meister or Never 7.