babiker

After another long gap, we have 2 new episodes! First off, a good old F/SN review:-

And the ever so controversial topic, H-scenes!

Hi everyone,
I've been reading stuff on Fuwa for a while now but never actually participated  so I decided it was about time to actually create an account.  I'm big fan nakige like Little Busters and Grisaia no Kajitsu and also occasionally lighter stuff like Majikoi.  Currently I'm reading Kamadori Alchemy Meister and I'm really enjoying it, though it has enough game play that I'm not sure if that really counts as a VN. Oh, also I do video reviews for VN's and LN's on YouTube  as a hobby and I'd love to get some feedback on my work
 
Cheers,
Belmakor19
PS: If I break any forum rules please let me know. I'm new to actually posting stuff in threads instead of just reading them so I'm sure I'll make some mistakes
 

so selling my game on steam. Gonna be all proud and everything then post it here saying "steam is the best."

[18:48:15] 妹ちゃん: Tay, did I break fuwa's search engine?
[18:48:45] Archmage Tay: ...?
[18:49:36] 妹ちゃん: Basically I unticked the box, then I just ticked it back and saved.
[18:49:44] Archmage Tay: hm
[18:49:46] 妹ちゃん: Didn't think it would do anything
[18:51:06] Archmage Tay: hm
[18:51:11] Archmage Tay: looking into it
[18:51:44] Archmage Tay: did you trigger a re-index?
[18:51:52] Archmage Tay: like, manually, or something?
[18:55:46] Archmage Tay: I doubt you caused it
[18:55:51] Archmage Tay: I mean
[18:55:54] Archmage Tay: it's more fun to pretend you did
<19:05:12> "Nosebleed": Well Tay just said I probably wasn't the cause of the fuwa search breaking
<19:05:22> "Nosebleed": Because changes only take effect when you click save
<19:05:51> "Down": I'm still gonna push #blamenosebleed2016 if you don't mind
DON'T BELIEVE WHAT THESE PEOPLE MAY TELL YOU
#EXPOSED

This is the best review on Fuwa per default, because there's no score.

Introductions:-
You can skip this part, it's a personal rant on reviews, so it has nothing to do with the VN in question
About za game:-
Among the more respectable VN forums, Monster Girl Quest is looked down upon as a joke of a game that can't be taken seriously, but that's mostly because what it seems like at first sight. MGQ is a "nukige": A game that's allegedly designed to make you... Well, fap. (Or at least that's what people tell me it is, as VNDB doesn't really tell you if it's a nukige or not... But eh, I trust in the people!) If you add to that the fact that it's a nukige were you get raped by monster girls... Well, let's just say that alone is enough to turn away most people, and to be quite frank I myself would never have touched this game if that was my first impression of it. Fortunately (or unfortunately), the first time I heard about this game was through a review made by an amazing reviewer by the name of Aaox. I'll leave a link to his video at the end of this review.
Anywho, from my own experience the "nukige" element in this game is questionable at best, and nonexistent at worst. The art, which I'll expand on later, isn't really something most people would call "h-scene material", nor is their much build up to those scenes. So if you're looking for a nukige, Monster Girl Quest is probably not the best option.
"Whom is it for then, sir Babiker?" 
Well, that's what you're supposed to figure out by the end of this review, no? Have some patience, dear reader. I'll go over what this game is all about from the story and characters to the art and music. So enough intros, let's do dis!
Story and Characters:-
MGQ is set in a fantasy-ish world, mainly populated by monsters and humans. The monsters are introduced as the bad guys, and the humans as the good guys. However, monsters don't actually kill humans, they just... well, rape them. From a normal human perspective this doesn't sound that bad, right? Particularly if you have a thing for monster girls... However the goddess of humans, Ilias, forbids having sex with monsters.We start with our young hero luka, a seemingly cheerful young boy who has a strong belief that monsters and humans should "coexist". On the day when he's supposed to receive the baptism of heroes, he hears news of a monster attacking his village so he goes out to protect his land. Luka successfully defeats the monster (unless you really want to get raped), and on his way back he finds an unconscious strong looking monster. Rather than killing the monster like a normal human, Luka tries to wake her up and tell her to leave before the humans get here, which she eventually does. However, Luka returns to the village too late for his baptism. Afterwards he meets up with the monster girl he had found sleeping earlier who goes by the name of Alice and they decide to go on an adventure, despite Luka not receiving the baptism that is required for being a hero.
From there on, Luka goes on many adventures through out the world, meeting all kinds of monsters and humans. As he comes to understand the monster side of the world more he begins to question his own beliefs that he had been taught since birth. Monsters can only ever be female, so isn't the law of the goddess Ilias forcing monsters to resort to rape in order to stay alive? Think about it for a sec: Female monsters can only reproduce by sleeping with males, who are human, and yet male humans are forbidden to do so from the goddess Ilias.
As silly as that setup sounds, this is, in my opinion, where MGQ shines best: Luka's struggle for world peace and coexistence isn't the kind of childish struggle of beating the bad guy that we've gotten so use to in most media. It's a realistic, heart breaking and very relatable battle that Luka wages against everyone around him as much himself. We see him struggle with his contradicting beliefs, his own personal biases towards monsters. While he starts his journey as a typical hero who "wants to defeat the monster lord", it becomes very clear very fast that things aren't that simple, and we see him develop into a very understanding and broad minded gentlemen.
I know I'm already taking too long with this, and I can't go on more without delving into spoilers, but I'm just so bewildered by how amazingly good the story of MGQ is. It's not just good, it's really, really good. Definitely not something you'd expect from the silly nukige it appears to be on the surface. You have terrorist organizations, human and monster kings and queens and the elite 4 whom you must defeat to finish the game-Ehrm, I mean the four heavenly knights... But yeah, you get the point. Fantastic characters with flaws and motivations, an epic plot with political and religious themes, and it still manages to be equally ridiculous and comedic... Not a single fault can I find with it.
But that's enough of that, onto the not-so-gud parts of this game...
Gameplay:-
MGQ is also an RPG along with everything else, as if it needed any more categorizing complications... Anyways, the gameplay in this game is over all very basic rpg stuff. You have your basic attack, special moves that take SP, and a few other choices you can see right here:

 There's a considerable amount of strategy involved that must not be overlooked, some opponents require you to guard at a specific time, in other encounters you must use a particular special move, etc. While the strategy does increase in complexity the more you go into the game, at some point towards the end you're mostly going to be pushing aside enemies with little to no effort, since you know what moves work against what, and enemies that require even the smallest bit of thinking will be very few and far between.
On the other hand, there are a few battles, particularly at the start that are pretty damn hard to beat unless you just talk to Ilias. Oh btw, did I mention that at death, you have the option to ask your goddess how to beat the enemy? Yeah, it's technically cheating, but useful against super hard opponents or when you're just not in the mood for a fight. Fights also have a considerable luck element in a few, especially if you choose a higher difficulty. Then there's the fact that if you lose you'll be... 
Yeah
Art:-
In my opinion, the art is by far the worst part of MGQ. Since I'd rather refrain from sharing most of them with ya'll (for your eyes), here's a tutorial on how to draw your average monster girl: 
First, pick a random animal, fruit or vegetable.
Add a vaguely female looking face somewhere on it.
Add female body parts randomly across the body, and remember: There's no limit to the amount of boobs you can add
Congratulations! You now have your very own unique and probably disgusting monster girl.
Yeah... Unfortunately a very good amount of the art is either that or just outright bad quality, like. Some of these sprites seem to be drawn by children... There is some good art here and there, in fact the difference in quality is very off putting at times, especially when the sprites are talking right next to each other. But in general, you're going to find yourself looking away from the monster girl you're facing. I would talk about backgrounds but honestly who cares about those.  Now, let us move on:-
Music:-
The music is a ok I guess. You have a considerable amount of meh, just your average game music, and a few really bad tracks, but on the other hand you have quite a lot of really good tracks, with a few being noticeably outstanding. Do note that this game is very long, even tho VNDB says its length is average that's only one part of MGQ, which has 3 parts, so in total it's around 70-90 hours-ish. With that considered, this VN surprisingly has the largest amount of tracks I've ever seen, 90 in total, so you're never really bored of listening to one track over and over again. Achieving that alone in such a long VN is enough for the music to get a pass from me.

 
Conclusion:-
This is where a reviewer usually either puts a misleading number that's supposed to show how he or she evaluates the game, or decides for you if the VN in question is worth your time or not. However, in my honest opinion that kind of takes away the value of the review itself: I've given you what I think are this VN's main strengths and weaknesses, it's for you to decide whether the pros outweigh the cons. If your art standards are well, even a little high, then you probably won't go for MGQ(Except you Ten, go read it nao). Then you have the h-scenes... And yeah, I'd understand where you're coming if you don't even consider touching MGQ solely because of those... However, if those two aren't a big deal for you, then there's a lot to be had in MGQ. This is the only VN where I almost never felt bored, for God's sake there's technically no common route at all, which for me is fantastic.
I did say that by the end of this review you should figure out who this VN is for, and I hope you have because I quite honestly have not...
I find MGQ's choice of story to be ironic, to say the least. It's about a young man fighting the prejudice against monsters, yet this very game will probably never get over people's prejudice against itself, nukige, and eroge in general for the matter. I can't really recommend it to most people myself. If MGQ where to ever receive something akin to F/SN's realta nua version, improving the art and removing the h-scenes, something like a steam release, then I'd be more than willing to support and spread it. But as it is right now... It's, just as the great commentator of the visual arts Aaox put it, "We have a game that is, despite itself, surprisingly, well crafted. It is surprisingly, emotional. It is, surprisingly, good. And that's... Well, surprisingly sad."
Aaox's review:
For those OELVN devs out there, please learn from Monster Girl Quest's example. If you have an epic story with epic characters and all that good stuff, invest in everything else that makes a Visual Novel what it is. Try to make it as accessible to everyone as possible. I can't stand to see another epic tale that denies itself from getting the recognition it deserves... Well, that took quite a while, if you read all of that than you have my dearest thanks, and I beg you to share you opinion on this VN.
TL;DR:
 

Introductions:-
You can skip this part, it's a personal rant on reviews, so it has nothing to do with the VN in question
About za game:-
Among the more respectable VN forums, Monster Girl Quest is looked down upon as a joke of a game that can't be taken seriously, but that's mostly because what it seems like at first sight. MGQ is a "nukige": A game that's allegedly designed to make you... Well, fap. (Or at least that's what people tell me it is, as VNDB doesn't really tell you if it's a nukige or not... But eh, I trust in the people!) If you add to that the fact that it's a nukige were you get raped by monster girls... Well, let's just say that alone is enough to turn away most people, and to be quite frank I myself would never have touched this game if that was my first impression of it. Fortunately (or unfortunately), the first time I heard about this game was through a review made by an amazing reviewer by the name of Aaox. I'll leave a link to his video at the end of this review.
Anywho, from my own experience the "nukige" element in this game is questionable at best, and nonexistent at worst. The art, which I'll expand on later, isn't really something most people would call "h-scene material", nor is their much build up to those scenes. So if you're looking for a nukige, Monster Girl Quest is probably not the best option.
"Whom is it for then, sir Babiker?" 
Well, that's what you're supposed to figure out by the end of this review, no? Have some patience, dear reader. I'll go over what this game is all about from the story and characters to the art and music. So enough intros, let's do dis!
Story and Characters:-
MGQ is set in a fantasy-ish world, mainly populated by monsters and humans. The monsters are introduced as the bad guys, and the humans as the good guys. However, monsters don't actually kill humans, they just... well, rape them. From a normal human perspective this doesn't sound that bad, right? Particularly if you have a thing for monster girls... However the goddess of humans, Ilias, forbids having sex with monsters.We start with our young hero luka, a seemingly cheerful young boy who has a strong belief that monsters and humans should "coexist". On the day when he's supposed to receive the baptism of heroes, he hears news of a monster attacking his village so he goes out to protect his land. Luka successfully defeats the monster (unless you really want to get raped), and on his way back he finds an unconscious strong looking monster. Rather than killing the monster like a normal human, Luka tries to wake her up and tell her to leave before the humans get here, which she eventually does. However, Luka returns to the village too late for his baptism. Afterwards he meets up with the monster girl he had found sleeping earlier who goes by the name of Alice and they decide to go on an adventure, despite Luka not receiving the baptism that is required for being a hero.
From there on, Luka goes on many adventures through out the world, meeting all kinds of monsters and humans. As he comes to understand the monster side of the world more he begins to question his own beliefs that he had been taught since birth. Monsters can only ever be female, so isn't the law of the goddess Ilias forcing monsters to resort to rape in order to stay alive? Think about it for a sec: Female monsters can only reproduce by sleeping with males, who are human, and yet male humans are forbidden to do so from the goddess Ilias.
As silly as that setup sounds, this is, in my opinion, where MGQ shines best: Luka's struggle for world peace and coexistence isn't the kind of childish struggle of beating the bad guy that we've gotten so use to in most media. It's a realistic, heart breaking and very relatable battle that Luka wages against everyone around him as much himself. We see him struggle with his contradicting beliefs, his own personal biases towards monsters. While he starts his journey as a typical hero who "wants to defeat the monster lord", it becomes very clear very fast that things aren't that simple, and we see him develop into a very understanding and broad minded gentlemen.
I know I'm already taking too long with this, and I can't go on more without delving into spoilers, but I'm just so bewildered by how amazingly good the story of MGQ is. It's not just good, it's really, really good. Definitely not something you'd expect from the silly nukige it appears to be on the surface. You have terrorist organizations, human and monster kings and queens and the elite 4 whom you must defeat to finish the game-Ehrm, I mean the four heavenly knights... But yeah, you get the point. Fantastic characters with flaws and motivations, an epic plot with political and religious themes, and it still manages to be equally ridiculous and comedic... Not a single fault can I find with it.
But that's enough of that, onto the not-so-gud parts of this game...
Gameplay:-
MGQ is also an RPG along with everything else, as if it needed any more categorizing complications... Anyways, the gameplay in this game is over all very basic rpg stuff. You have your basic attack, special moves that take SP, and a few other choices you can see right here:

 There's a considerable amount of strategy involved that must not be overlooked, some opponents require you to guard at a specific time, in other encounters you must use a particular special move, etc. While the strategy does increase in complexity the more you go into the game, at some point towards the end you're mostly going to be pushing aside enemies with little to no effort, since you know what moves work against what, and enemies that require even the smallest bit of thinking will be very few and far between.
On the other hand, there are a few battles, particularly at the start that are pretty damn hard to beat unless you just talk to Ilias. Oh btw, did I mention that at death, you have the option to ask your goddess how to beat the enemy? Yeah, it's technically cheating, but useful against super hard opponents or when you're just not in the mood for a fight. Fights also have a considerable luck element in a few, especially if you choose a higher difficulty. Then there's the fact that if you lose you'll be... 
Yeah
Art:-
In my opinion, the art is by far the worst part of MGQ. Since I'd rather refrain from sharing most of them with ya'll (for your eyes), here's a tutorial on how to draw your average monster girl: 
First, pick a random animal, fruit or vegetable.
Add a vaguely female looking face somewhere on it.
Add female body parts randomly across the body, and remember: There's no limit to the amount of boobs you can add
Congratulations! You now have your very own unique and probably disgusting monster girl.
Yeah... Unfortunately a very good amount of the art is either that or just outright bad quality, like. Some of these sprites seem to be drawn by children... There is some good art here and there, in fact the difference in quality is very off putting at times, especially when the sprites are talking right next to each other. But in general, you're going to find yourself looking away from the monster girl you're facing. I would talk about backgrounds but honestly who cares about those.  Now, let us move on:-
Music:-
The music is a ok I guess. You have a considerable amount of meh, just your average game music, and a few really bad tracks, but on the other hand you have quite a lot of really good tracks, with a few being noticeably outstanding. Do note that this game is very long, even tho VNDB says its length is average that's only one part of MGQ, which has 3 parts, so in total it's around 70-90 hours-ish. With that considered, this VN surprisingly has the largest amount of tracks I've ever seen, 90 in total, so you're never really bored of listening to one track over and over again. Achieving that alone in such a long VN is enough for the music to get a pass from me.

 
Conclusion:-
This is where a reviewer usually either puts a misleading number that's supposed to show how he or she evaluates the game, or decides for you if the VN in question is worth your time or not. However, in my honest opinion that kind of takes away the value of the review itself: I've given you what I think are this VN's main strengths and weaknesses, it's for you to decide whether the pros outweigh the cons. If your art standards are well, even a little high, then you probably won't go for MGQ(Except you Ten, go read it nao). Then you have the h-scenes... And yeah, I'd understand where you're coming if you don't even consider touching MGQ solely because of those... However, if those two aren't a big deal for you, then there's a lot to be had in MGQ. This is the only VN where I almost never felt bored, for God's sake there's technically no common route at all, which for me is fantastic.
I did say that by the end of this review you should figure out who this VN is for, and I hope you have because I quite honestly have not...
I find MGQ's choice of story to be ironic, to say the least. It's about a young man fighting the prejudice against monsters, yet this very game will probably never get over people's prejudice against itself, nukige, and eroge in general for the matter. I can't really recommend it to most people myself. If MGQ where to ever receive something akin to F/SN's realta nua version, improving the art and removing the h-scenes, something like a steam release, then I'd be more than willing to support and spread it. But as it is right now... It's, just as the great commentator of the visual arts Aaox put it, "We have a game that is, despite itself, surprisingly, well crafted. It is surprisingly, emotional. It is, surprisingly, good. And that's... Well, surprisingly sad."
Aaox's review:
For those OELVN devs out there, please learn from Monster Girl Quest's example. If you have an epic story with epic characters and all that good stuff, invest in everything else that makes a Visual Novel what it is. Try to make it as accessible to everyone as possible. I can't stand to see another epic tale that denies itself from getting the recognition it deserves... Well, that took quite a while, if you read all of that than you have my dearest thanks, and I beg you to share you opinion on this VN.
TL;DR:
 

Introductions:-
You can skip this part, it's a personal rant on reviews, so it has nothing to do with the VN in question
About za game:-
Among the more respectable VN forums, Monster Girl Quest is looked down upon as a joke of a game that can't be taken seriously, but that's mostly because what it seems like at first sight. MGQ is a "nukige": A game that's allegedly designed to make you... Well, fap. (Or at least that's what people tell me it is, as VNDB doesn't really tell you if it's a nukige or not... But eh, I trust in the people!) If you add to that the fact that it's a nukige were you get raped by monster girls... Well, let's just say that alone is enough to turn away most people, and to be quite frank I myself would never have touched this game if that was my first impression of it. Fortunately (or unfortunately), the first time I heard about this game was through a review made by an amazing reviewer by the name of Aaox. I'll leave a link to his video at the end of this review.
Anywho, from my own experience the "nukige" element in this game is questionable at best, and nonexistent at worst. The art, which I'll expand on later, isn't really something most people would call "h-scene material", nor is their much build up to those scenes. So if you're looking for a nukige, Monster Girl Quest is probably not the best option.
"Whom is it for then, sir Babiker?" 
Well, that's what you're supposed to figure out by the end of this review, no? Have some patience, dear reader. I'll go over what this game is all about from the story and characters to the art and music. So enough intros, let's do dis!
Story and Characters:-
MGQ is set in a fantasy-ish world, mainly populated by monsters and humans. The monsters are introduced as the bad guys, and the humans as the good guys. However, monsters don't actually kill humans, they just... well, rape them. From a normal human perspective this doesn't sound that bad, right? Particularly if you have a thing for monster girls... However the goddess of humans, Ilias, forbids having sex with monsters.We start with our young hero luka, a seemingly cheerful young boy who has a strong belief that monsters and humans should "coexist". On the day when he's supposed to receive the baptism of heroes, he hears news of a monster attacking his village so he goes out to protect his land. Luka successfully defeats the monster (unless you really want to get raped), and on his way back he finds an unconscious strong looking monster. Rather than killing the monster like a normal human, Luka tries to wake her up and tell her to leave before the humans get here, which she eventually does. However, Luka returns to the village too late for his baptism. Afterwards he meets up with the monster girl he had found sleeping earlier who goes by the name of Alice and they decide to go on an adventure, despite Luka not receiving the baptism that is required for being a hero.
From there on, Luka goes on many adventures through out the world, meeting all kinds of monsters and humans. As he comes to understand the monster side of the world more he begins to question his own beliefs that he had been taught since birth. Monsters can only ever be female, so isn't the law of the goddess Ilias forcing monsters to resort to rape in order to stay alive? Think about it for a sec: Female monsters can only reproduce by sleeping with males, who are human, and yet male humans are forbidden to do so from the goddess Ilias.
As silly as that setup sounds, this is, in my opinion, where MGQ shines best: Luka's struggle for world peace and coexistence isn't the kind of childish struggle of beating the bad guy that we've gotten so use to in most media. It's a realistic, heart breaking and very relatable battle that Luka wages against everyone around him as much himself. We see him struggle with his contradicting beliefs, his own personal biases towards monsters. While he starts his journey as a typical hero who "wants to defeat the monster lord", it becomes very clear very fast that things aren't that simple, and we see him develop into a very understanding and broad minded gentlemen.
I know I'm already taking too long with this, and I can't go on more without delving into spoilers, but I'm just so bewildered by how amazingly good the story of MGQ is. It's not just good, it's really, really good. Definitely not something you'd expect from the silly nukige it appears to be on the surface. You have terrorist organizations, human and monster kings and queens and the elite 4 whom you must defeat to finish the game-Ehrm, I mean the four heavenly knights... But yeah, you get the point. Fantastic characters with flaws and motivations, an epic plot with political and religious themes, and it still manages to be equally ridiculous and comedic... Not a single fault can I find with it.
But that's enough of that, onto the not-so-gud parts of this game...
Gameplay:-
MGQ is also an RPG along with everything else, as if it needed any more categorizing complications... Anyways, the gameplay in this game is over all very basic rpg stuff. You have your basic attack, special moves that take SP, and a few other choices you can see right here:

 There's a considerable amount of strategy involved that must not be overlooked, some opponents require you to guard at a specific time, in other encounters you must use a particular special move, etc. While the strategy does increase in complexity the more you go into the game, at some point towards the end you're mostly going to be pushing aside enemies with little to no effort, since you know what moves work against what, and enemies that require even the smallest bit of thinking will be very few and far between.
On the other hand, there are a few battles, particularly at the start that are pretty damn hard to beat unless you just talk to Ilias. Oh btw, did I mention that at death, you have the option to ask your goddess how to beat the enemy? Yeah, it's technically cheating, but useful against super hard opponents or when you're just not in the mood for a fight. Fights also have a considerable luck element in a few, especially if you choose a higher difficulty. Then there's the fact that if you lose you'll be... 
Yeah
Art:-
In my opinion, the art is by far the worst part of MGQ. Since I'd rather refrain from sharing most of them with ya'll (for your eyes), here's a tutorial on how to draw your average monster girl: 
First, pick a random animal, fruit or vegetable.
Add a vaguely female looking face somewhere on it.
Add female body parts randomly across the body, and remember: There's no limit to the amount of boobs you can add
Congratulations! You now have your very own unique and probably disgusting monster girl.
Yeah... Unfortunately a very good amount of the art is either that or just outright bad quality, like. Some of these sprites seem to be drawn by children... There is some good art here and there, in fact the difference in quality is very off putting at times, especially when the sprites are talking right next to each other. But in general, you're going to find yourself looking away from the monster girl you're facing. I would talk about backgrounds but honestly who cares about those.  Now, let us move on:-
Music:-
The music is a ok I guess. You have a considerable amount of meh, just your average game music, and a few really bad tracks, but on the other hand you have quite a lot of really good tracks, with a few being noticeably outstanding. Do note that this game is very long, even tho VNDB says its length is average that's only one part of MGQ, which has 3 parts, so in total it's around 70-90 hours-ish. With that considered, this VN surprisingly has the largest amount of tracks I've ever seen, 90 in total, so you're never really bored of listening to one track over and over again. Achieving that alone in such a long VN is enough for the music to get a pass from me.

 
Conclusion:-
This is where a reviewer usually either puts a misleading number that's supposed to show how he or she evaluates the game, or decides for you if the VN in question is worth your time or not. However, in my honest opinion that kind of takes away the value of the review itself: I've given you what I think are this VN's main strengths and weaknesses, it's for you to decide whether the pros outweigh the cons. If your art standards are well, even a little high, then you probably won't go for MGQ(Except you Ten, go read it nao). Then you have the h-scenes... And yeah, I'd understand where you're coming if you don't even consider touching MGQ solely because of those... However, if those two aren't a big deal for you, then there's a lot to be had in MGQ. This is the only VN where I almost never felt bored, for God's sake there's technically no common route at all, which for me is fantastic.
I did say that by the end of this review you should figure out who this VN is for, and I hope you have because I quite honestly have not...
I find MGQ's choice of story to be ironic, to say the least. It's about a young man fighting the prejudice against monsters, yet this very game will probably never get over people's prejudice against itself, nukige, and eroge in general for the matter. I can't really recommend it to most people myself. If MGQ where to ever receive something akin to F/SN's realta nua version, improving the art and removing the h-scenes, something like a steam release, then I'd be more than willing to support and spread it. But as it is right now... It's, just as the great commentator of the visual arts Aaox put it, "We have a game that is, despite itself, surprisingly, well crafted. It is surprisingly, emotional. It is, surprisingly, good. And that's... Well, surprisingly sad."
Aaox's review:
For those OELVN devs out there, please learn from Monster Girl Quest's example. If you have an epic story with epic characters and all that good stuff, invest in everything else that makes a Visual Novel what it is. Try to make it as accessible to everyone as possible. I can't stand to see another epic tale that denies itself from getting the recognition it deserves... Well, that took quite a while, if you read all of that than you have my dearest thanks, and I beg you to share you opinion on this VN.
TL;DR:
 

Yeas the great MGQ series deserves attention.
I started the game just for the lulz, I was looking for something different and well MGQ is pretty unique.
Your review is mostly accurate with the art being the worst part of the game and the story and characters being the best. Apparently the reason for the inconsistent art is because it was drawn by various people, due to budget and what not.
One of my favourite parts of the game is the plant-insect village issue. For me the depth of such side-stories(?) is what made the game so enjoyable.             
And I feel that the simplistic gameplay suits it as it's meant to story-driven with the gameplay being a secondary factor. Also the fact that grinding is literally nonexistent is a huge plus for me.   

Tbh, the entire "Your VN is an RPG, not a VN." is kind of a redundant argument. There's no clearly visible line between the two. There have been games that were on VNDB and then taken off because people thought they were "Not VN enough, too RPG-ish". I've played the demo of the original game, and while I know a lot is going to change and a lot of RPG elements are going to be added, I can safely say Black Sands knows what a VN is and is clearly planing on making one, he doesn't need someone to define the medium for him (the original game was in Ren'Py for crying out loud).
Also @Lumaria, there's a difference between giving helpful critique/suggestions, and pushing your own views and opinions of what a "glorious genre redefining VN" is down people's throats. So you have a great idea, nice. Suggesting it to people is fine, but almost ordering them to follow your vision, and belittling them if they decide otherwise? Not so nice. If you think your idea is so great please make this VN yourself. As the guys from Extra Credits once said, "Ideas are cheap. Everyone has a good idea or two".

This is one thing I think we sorely need. The most genre I love in Western Novels is Historical Fiction. Books like Percy Jackson, the Kane Chronicles, etc are what I enjoy the most, and what I would love to see in Visual Novel format. The black community also needs to be educated on its own history, so by doing this you're really hitting two birds (at least) with one stone. I've never supported a VN through kickstarter before, but I think I'll be changing that in regards to this very VN. You have all my support, really looking forward to the completion of your project 
I recommend you check out the Kane Chronicles in particular as it's based around Egyptian mythology.

I appreciate that. Something like percy jackson is what this is. I am completely changing the ancient world with the assumption that the ancient alien theory is real. It makes my "spread out idea that's all over the place" a concise story where the rules are set in stone for all pantheons.
 
I believe Lumaria is being overly critical but everyone is entitled to their opinions. The african culture thing was a little weird though. (Its not racist, but it definitely is ignorant.)

Let me put a public disclaimer before I go in on this post. I do not respond in a hostile way to almost all critiques but this was not a critique, it was a character assassination on the level of Trumpism.
 
It seems you read my entire script and all my references through your Byakugan eyes.

I will shred your critique apart since it was a hostile attempt to sound educated while belittling me.
"Akkadian is a language for ancient Mesopotamia people, not a culture."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akkadian_Empire
The Akkadian Empire was the empire that predated the Sumerians.
Next.
"Kushite Religion is very limit, there is basically no research done on it."
The reason its called Kemetic-Kushite culture is because they were one and the same. They worshipped the same gods, exchanged gods, and had the same cultural norms.
"you will run into Canaan vs Bible reference battles, its best to understand why the two are not the same."
I am using the book of enoch as my reference since historically it is based on both the biblical and canaanite religious bases. All historians agree on this.
Additionally, who said this game was about the bible? Not I. 
"Hindu mythology is way different, it never has been connected with the bible while everything else has in some way shape or just plan added."
"We incorporate ancient Kemetic-Kushite, Canaanite, Akkadian, Minoan, Greek, and Hindu mythology into the Black Sands universe while tying them all together with the ancient alien theory as the base. This will bring new fans to the genre as the ancient alien gaming world is an untapped market and the cultures of the middle east and black community would love to have heroes that look like them. "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_astronaut_hypothesis
So unless you somehow missed the multiple references to the ancient alien theory or just have no clue what it is, you should not be saying how my research is off.I would not say Elves from the lord of the rings is not the same as "elves from the norse mythologies therefore tolkien is an idiot.:"

He wasnt writing about ancient Norse mythology. He based his writings on it. I am done.
 

Transforming what we expect from the OELVN market


 
Whenever I talk to communities that play visual novels, there is always a kneejerk reaction when you say OELVN. To many, they are the bane of the visual novel world. All of the player base agrees that there were many well done and even groundbreaking OELVNs developed but for the most part, they are done poorly and use common tropes that can be redundant at times.

The fact of the matter is that OELVNs tend to be indies, have much lower budgets then Japanese VNs, and do tend to stick to the script more than change things up. This is why I am writing this now. I am pioneering a movement to completely recreate what it means to be an OELVN.

Many may say, “That is too ambitious for an indie” but I will not be stopped. Months ago I launched a kickstarter for my game but I didn’t invest enough capital to get quality art so it was ignored. This was entirely my fault. I then adapted and started making sure my original and very different idea was presented with all the bells and whistles needed to grab the attention of the player base. With that attention, I can begin to explain what I intend to do to change the game.

OELVN to Western VN

An OELVN is not much different from a Japanese VN. In fact, they are so similar that people that know of OELVNs tend to call them low budget or indies as a bad stigma. There are exceptions like Unwonted Studios and Winterwolves but for the most part, the stigma is very real. What is my solution to this?

Make a Western VN. How can you compare or stigmatize something that has no equivalent? If it has no equivalent then you must judge it based on your own personal experience with it. There are many American developers out there that try to place stories in japan and use the common. The setting of my game is in the ancient middle east. It also has elements of the ancient alien theory and historical references of many different pantheons during the time of 3500 BCE. This has never been done before, not even in video gaming as a whole. But to understand why it Is different, we must look into individual changes that make the experience different from a normal VN.

Art Style

Since the story is different, more serious, and from a certain period, we chose to use art that looks digital but has a comic like styling to it. All armor, clothing, and backgrounds are based on alien technology and period architecture/writing.

Music

We tend to make most songs fit the location of the game but we do not allow that to stop us from adding a few Asian songs to capture the mood. The music is intense and matches the flow of the game.

Flow

The game has short chapters spanning no longer then 10 minutes each. There is a world map and different type of quest which require tactical decision making and exploration. There is very little internal monologue and the viewpoint is omniscient even though you only control the main character. It will feel like mini-episodes of a very big series where you develop characters and become attached to their own personal goals.

Relationships

Unlike in other games with a BxG relationship in the genre, we have incorporated a very different mechanic to how ours works. First, you as the main player will be competing for the love of the female lead. Your actions can cause her to love or hate you and the other character’s actions can do the same. You can very well FAIL to get the girl and even more, lose the girl to your rival.

Additionally, all the characters in the game will react, listen, and follow you differently based on the reputation you acquire throughout the game. Your decisions will make them great allies or reasons for your death!

Insanity

The main character has psychological issues that he must conquer. Throughout the game you will come across spirits messing with your mind and as a result, you must either embrace these ideas or suppress them. By embracing them, you gain new powers that are extremely powerful BUT by giving away your autonomy, you also lose the ability to think rationally in situations where you have to use self-control.

Questing

Unlike other games which stick to one type of mini-game throughout the story, Black Sands offers many. There will be investigations, tracking missions, and random skill check progressions. Each one requires a completely different set of skills.

Exploration

The world lore of Black Sands is deep with mystery and discovery. While the player can choose to stick to the main path of the story, they will most likely engage in the side stories to discover the secrets of the rift. Every secret unlocks a journal entry and we have an in game encyclopedia that will explain all the lore.

Historical References

When you unlock lore entries, you get the real world context from which it was created including sources. This adds a level of education to a fantasy game that is never done.

Main Character

A common complaint about VNs as a whole is the main character being too needy and weak. In this game, the main character is a vicious fighter with an exceptional command over people. He suffers from Dementia but focuses himself using “knowledge of self” and meditation. You as the player will tell his story in your own personalized journal which will be sharable online.

Victory Conditions

In Black Sands, every turn cost time. Events happen based on the time and when you meet an obstacle for the first time, you get a progress bar on the top right. The more you learn about the obstacle, the more “confidence” you have you can deal with it. This helps you in the events that happen when you take on that challenge OR when that challenge decides to take on you. If you do not prepare well, you may be forced into a very bad situation but if you prepare for the coming enemy etc, you will succeed.

Theme

We incorporate ancient Kemetic-Kushite, Canaanite, Akkadian, Minoan, Greek, and Hindu mythology into the Black Sands universe while tying them all together with the ancient alien theory as the base. This will bring new fans to the genre as the ancient alien gaming world is an untapped market and the cultures of the middle east and black community would love to have heroes that look like them.


 
Thus, we are moving forward, ever aggressive and ever vigilant. If you have any questions or critiques, please comment below.


 

I think this sums up this thread preeeeeeeeetty well

all i know is that you hate Steam, which leads people to not trust anything about you. its sad to see how much hate you have on Steam for something so simple, maybe you can call this peer pressure. if you stop the hate you lose credit on the forum. its very sad how things when for you, we all but you dont hate Steam on this forum but continue to do so will just end on a bad taste. unlike you i dont care about credit i'm too old for that, everything and everything you youngster try to do will not work.

DOWNLOAD PROLOGUE HERE
http://www.mediafire.com/download/as5br ... 283%29.zip

Hello everyone! This is an attempt at making a fangame based on the Fate/Stay Night VN and the Fate franchise in general within the Nasuverse. We are a very small team working on this right now, consisting of three people of which two are helping on story only. Most of the coding, writing and art has been left to me. While I can handle it, any aid would be greatly appreciated. Hey, even if you're not interested in helping, your opinion on our main plot would be extremely helpful!

Background story behind the project

Now this is quite important because it might be a major dealbreaker for most in the western Fate fandom. The original idea for this game/story came from really wanting to see some Arturia/Gilgamesh interaction with Gilgamesh's personality being like it was during life and not messed up due to humanity being messed up during the time he was summoned. Gilgamesh being like he was in Fate/Extra CCC. We wanted to create a scenario that would fit into canon and would allow us to explore the dynamics between both characters, their personalities and their backstories. Of course, we don't want to romanticize it. We are fully aware of how problematic their relationship is due to Fate/Stay Night- we want to take all of this into account- but going further into the exploration of their relationship.

Now that that has been taken out of the way, this is obviously not a fanwork solely made to have Gil and Arturia interact, we created a plot that would allow us to explore and create many other characters beyond that. We want to explore the stories of servants in the three first holy grail wars, their lives and legends. 

Plot
During the events of the Fifth Holy Grail War, Ilyasviel von Einzbern, as the embodiment of the Holy Grail, sacrificed herself to close the pathway opened by a corrupted grail. The Greater Grail was destroyed, bringing the ritual of Fuyuki to a conclusion. However, the Grail had been in place for far too long, it held far too much concentrated magical energy; the sudden dismantlement of such a structure, which after 200 years, had almost become a natural part in the mana flow within the region, was bound to fail. The ritual ended, yet the mangled structure slowly begun to regenerate.

After a couple decades had passed, the Magic Association began to become increasingly more desperate to reach Akasha. They turned their eyes to the previous ritual held in Fuyuki - and sought to recreate it. The Magic Association took their own path, straying from the knowledge of the three founding families. With the complete eradication of the Makiri/Matou line after Fifth War and the Tohsaka family head, Rin, refusing to help in any way with the recreation of the ritual, the Magic Association followed their own crooked path. The Association’s mixture of stubbornness and desperation led them to take a dangerous shortcut in their new establishment. Due to lack of planification and information, the site where the mangled grail stood was revisited and used as the centre for the newly established ritual. This reestablished Greater Grail was a source of great instability - forcing it to work like a properly built structure ignited the unstable magical energy engulfing it, resulted in the opening of a leak into Akasha.

The leak led to the creation of a spiritual reality - a massive reality marble - a realm of spirits and magic with no physical manifestation, close to The Root. 
This realm, much like Akasha, is a place based on energy and magic, holding no connection to Gaia whatsoever. It is a place brimming with an aura of unfulfilled wishes, hatred and despair. Being influenced by the guidelines of the Grail War, the leak into Akasha serves as a way of summoning Heroic Spirits recorded within the Throne of Heroes. Due not being connected to the world in any direct way, true heroic spirits are summoned rather than emanations, as there is no need to worry for inconsistencies within the world in a spiritual realm. Similarly, the souls of magi are forcibly summoned into this realm to take part as "masters".

-Except there is no Holy Grail to fight for.

There is no point to the summoning. Any human with at least one working magic circuit is eligible for being summoned into this realm. Their soul will escape their body, leaving it in a coma like state. This results in many inexperienced and confused magi trapped in the place. A magus with enough magic circuits and great skill should be good enough to handle themselves and even be able to communicate with the outside world - but those with poor circuits are bound to get their minds twisted by the place, going so far into believing there actually is an omnipotent wishing granting device to fight for. 

While Heroic Spirits have no reason to fight each other, magi who find themselves in the realm need to fight for the existence of their soul. Upon the magic association noticing the great swirl of mana at the moment of the summoning of a master, they were able to investigate the potential of the leak in terms of reaching Akasha, and would continue to seek the exploitation of the system. 

If a soul - let it be heroic spirit or magus - is to perish within the realm, it will be collected by the faulty grail. The more souls the grail collects, the more power it gains to open a proper route into Akasha. Even if one does not wish to reach Akasha - they will still have to fight in order to survive against the vile attacks of the members of the Magic Association. Besides, if one wishes to escape the realm and return to Gaia, they will have to see the war through to the end.

Characters


ARTURIA PENDRAGON
Voiced by: Adoxographist
Better known as Arthur Pendragon or King Arthur, usually regarded as a male in history. She is Britain's "Once and Future King" reigning in Avalon until the day she'd be needed once more - or so was recorded in history. In reality, King Arthur was frozen on her deathbed, where she made a contract with the world.The contract stated that she would not die until she acquired the Holy Grail, which would serve as a way of amending her reign- erasing her existence in order to save her country. Despite having unlimited chances to acquire the Holy Grail, her failures in the Fourth and Fifth grail wars of Fuyuki have weighted heavily on her mind. She continues to struggle with herself, while seeking a self-destructive ideal.


GILGAMESH
Voiced by: Jon Bullock
Mankind’s oldest hero, humanity’s first king. Despotic, arrogant and selfish. Gilgamesh was born with immense power, not being fully divine nor human, with his field of vision reaching extents which not even the gods were capable of fully comprehending. His power resulted in great isolation, but his strength of self kept him from abandoning his kingship or fleeing from the mission imposed upon him. He favoured isolation as he believed that by having chosen the path of a king he had to advance through it alone. Enkidu, Gilgamesh’s friend and companion was the sole exception to this rule. Gilgamesh is a guardian of humanity, yet he did not take upon this role by sheltering mankind. Instead, he sees himself as an observer, an adjudicator and sentencer of men. He alone bears all the burdens of humanity, of sin. He has accepted this as his role.


JANE BASKERVILLE. 
Voiced by: Trina Deuhart
Jane is a magus trapped within the reality marble, Apophenia. She was born within a minor magi bloodline from Wales specialized in the creation of puppet familiars and automata. Despite great potential and strong magic circuits, Jane seldom practices magic, as she has no control over her own mana, resulting in harmful bursts of power dangerous for both herself and those around her. Upon encountering each other, she forms a contract with Saber class servant Arturia Pendragon. Jane has a great interest on the new world that has appeared before her, and seeks to explore it to her heart’s content rather than focusing on escaping or fighting other servants and masters.


ALLEN SAPIENTI CORTEZ.
Due to being the son of an important archeologist, Allen has travelled across the world all of his life. He is well versed in different cultures and is very passionate about learning about myths, legends and stories from everywhere he has visited. He has some magic circuits within his body, passed on from his mother. However, as he never did live with her, he was never trained to be a magus. He is summoned to Apophenia and paired up with Gilgamesh. Allen is enthralled with the Gate of Babylon and all the different weapons within it. Despite his lack of talent at magic, he can easily identify different heroic spirits.


 
Team
http://fate-apophenia.tumblr.com/team

Screenshots




 
FOLLOW OUR TUMBLR TO FOLLOW OUR PROGRESS!
http://fate-apophenia.tumblr.com/

The Panthers have won me $300 today, I too shall celebrate:

I don't really get the point of this thread. It feels like you're just trying really, really hard to make Steam look bad. If being the most popular pc game store doesn't make Steam "special" to you, then that's you're own opinion, but it's a well known fact and really the main reason anyone of us is on there. All of your other points are off topic.
If you're trying to make some other websites more well known, I advise focusing more on why I should go there, rather than bashing Steam.

I agree with a lot of what you are saying. It is certainly true that VNs will only become more popular if people stop making them for the niche audience that is already into them. The Japanese market has already dug itself into a hole and is stained with a reputation that is off putting to non-otaku (i.e. it is strongly associated with moe and hentai subculture). In my view, the Japanese industry is a lost cause. What pisses me off though, is how OELVN authors copy the shitty tropes that Japanese VNs do, thinking that is what VN players want! Its fucking stupid. The English VN market doesn't have the same constrictions that the Japanese one does, so there is no need to limit yourself to the tropes in Japanese ones (like always being in a fucking high school!!!!). 
The OELVN market has far more potential for creative expression, but few are taking advantage of that potential. Maybe when I'm out of college I'll take that ambitious step forward, but for now I can only commentate on the issue as opposed to actually contributing (by making my own VN). 

I think i have a really good way visual novels can be really popular in the west. and I mean immediately popular. My thoughts will be posted as I think, so I will organize my thoughts.
 
And I believe it needs to be addressed sooner than people realize. Right now, visual novels have a huge stigma. Most of them I fully agree. 
 
#1) they are too anime and manga like. 
 
#2) they focus on romance or harems. 
 
#3) less interactive and too many tropes. 
#4) boring characters/story.
Personally all these point to one thing: visual novels are far far too enclosed  in a specific culture. I know there are plenty of games. VNs referred to otome and bishounen and even bishoujo. 
 
Look up visual novels in the play/app store and you don't find many VNs that are particularly unique. 
 
And just how I believe visual novels have one distinct problem that branches out to minor problems, I believe visual novels can be solved with just one idea that can solve all the others. 
 
Answer: make visual novels meant for people who don't play visual novels. 
 
Even games like Hatoful boyfriend and danganropa who try to mix up the VN genre, they are still designed for people who play VNs.
 
Visual novels don't have to resemble anime/manga. To appeal to Westerners I believe they need to walk into the idea of visual novels and not the idea of visual novels the fans already implanted. 
here is me oversimplifying visual novels: visual and novel. A visual novel is essentially a story that is presented visually and provides choices for the player. So visual novels has to be visually appealing and feel like a really great novel in order to be successful. Like I said, It doesn't have to resemble anime/manga. it doesn't have to follow the tropes or such as otome, or bishounen/bishoujou. Remember, visual novels do get judged by their cover.
 
There is one thing that visual novels have continuously done that makes it harder to get into, especially for the west. They are simply not approachable.they don't appeal to the every day person (key note, person, not gamer, or anime fan). 
 
So how do they become more approachable? First, artstyle. Not every one enjoys the anime manga art style as much as the others. It actually detracts in some cases. When you see a character revealing Their most inner thoughts to the player but the story doesn't mesh well with the story. Here is where more universal (yet well drawn) artstyle benefits everyone. 
 
Second, and probably most importantly, characters. I noticed something with visual novels. They start off heavily slow. I rarely played visual novel that immediately grabbed my interest. it was always a gamble. Most likely because most people use the beginning for exposition. It becomes a tutorial.And I have to wait for the good part.
 
Visual novels especially need to have some character development. Something that implants players "I want to get to know who this character is". when do you personally feel so invested in a character immediately? 
and lastly, visual novels story needs to be engaging. Especially since it relies on player choice. What they say, where they walked, and who they trust. I've played visual novels that don't have strong options. I ultimately see one or two options that are really worked well but the last ones are there as a joke. I also see only one really great ending and the optional endings aren't that strong.
Here are some ideas that I have that could be great visual novels:
 
idea 1) A woman is framed for murder. She runs away but wants to find who the person framed her. She has to trust the right people, be in the right places and find the right evidence. Romance exist but is ultimately secondary. if push comes to shove she also has to kill/hurt the right people in order to survive.
(Very reminiscent of Phoenix Wright Attorney at Law, but with a more hands on approach.
idea 2) A young wo/man has to decide what his extra curriculars are in the beginning of the school year. Before deciding, s/he meets specific people who entice the player. Choosing the extra curricular will define the story with it's own unique problems,  drama, and even how you meet characters and completely different goals. 
 
(This one sounds completely typical but with a full western approach can probably gain a distinct following)
 
Idea #3) anything resembling Donnie Darko where a mysterious force follows and feeds clues and also gives you the freedom to find your own answer. (This builds mystery and enticing players to look for answers.)
 
But how to realistically make VNs more popular in the west in the immediate future? Actively make a campaign about it. Openly tell everyone you are making a VN that is meant for them. 
 
But not just any campaigns, an organized one  and look for feedback, those who don't want to play  visual novels. You'd be surprised how people want to play VNs, just not the VNs out there. 
 
 
 
 

Yet another thread from Firecat, that makes you go 【・ヘ・?】

Greetings lads. It was a long time since my first thread about Fate/History, so I thought it would be fitting to make a new one. The concept is simple, I take a character from the Fate Franchise and compare them to their historical/mythical counterparts. This is my 3rd episode thus far, and ofc, spoilers (like duh). Comments and critique are apreciated, have fun watching~
 
 
 
And may your swords stay sharp!

I thought we need a crying emoticon.
Komari's face come to mind.