edwd2

subahibi

posted my thoughts on clephas' thread on that game. it's pretty unique but takes some patience to read. in regards to your post, the protagonist is devoid of certain human emotions, you'll see how that makes things more interesting. mei's route may be what you're looking for

Have you played BSD or Muramasa? Can we not generalize the qualities of certain VN aspects by production origin when they are so diverse in nature? Some VNs are aimed for simplicity, others don't have choices, some are set in casual school settings, where serious decisions aren't always applicable, the greatest decision I've made in my 18 years is probably where to attend college, other than that, most of them are what to eat, where to go, who to hang out with, on a daily basis. Why would it be more appealing to sacrifice character consistency for reader engagement? The common trade-off, If we'll let the readers make major or many decisions for the character, the extent to which the author can define and develop the character is limited to ensure that either decision is plausible. Continuing from that, is reader involvement always necessary? What's wrong with kinetic novels, or novels, plays, movies?
 
I simply hate threads that generalize very diverse subsets, the other day, I saw a thread that asked whether openings are "good" or "bad", seriously? Depending on how well it's implemented, results can vary widely. As for choices, I'll hold the same argument, we can look at specific cases and how well choices are implemented in a particular novel, given its setting, plot, characters, and how well they fit as a whole, etc.

- Skip back to scene when clicking dialogue in backlog rather than voice replay
This is quite rare but I recall some game engines have this function, makes it easy to capture a missed screenshot.
 
- Collectable character sprite and voice in game menu
Just like those in the Baldr Sky series.
 
 
- Plot flowchart
Self explanatory, also very useful to track progress and missing ends without having to rely on a walkthrough.
 
- Built in Smartphone
I recall there's one in Hoshi Ori, though its mainly used for text and screenshots, there's also one in N+'s Kimi to Kanojo to Kanojo no Koi.

damn rich bastards everywhere

Gleam Garden Review

It*s been a while since I last read a VN without skipping a good portion of it. These days, the more I play, the more repetitive things get. Much of the visual novel industry is still obssesed with the cliches and plot patterns that we've seen for years, and this is unlikely to change if market demand is strong, sadly, it still is.

Gleam Garden is Cosmic Cute's second novel, following Lovesick Puppies which released only a few months prior. Don't let its predecessor and fluffy cover art fool you though, this game isn't quite your typical moege. The story follows our protagonist Touji, a mentor who supervises the so called "witches", girls bestowed with mysterious and often deadly powers, isolated in a special training facility to aid their re-transition to society. Most of the plot takes place in this high school so don't let your hopes too high, it's still the typical slice of life you'd expect, but at least the protagonist is a teacher this time. The underlying conflict revolves around growing tension between humans as we know and humans of greater power, in this case "witches". This is, once again, an ageless theme that has recurred countless times in works of fiction and nonfiction of many media; we fear what is alien to us. Actual "witch" hunting dates back to the bubonic plague and beyond, the term itself brings negative sentiments. That said, his job isn't easy, but it pays off over time. I have to say that they saved the best for the last, the game becomes quite dramatic and action-packed near the end of each route (and for most of the true route); there are some intense and heartwarming moments here and there, expect a good ride.

You have the choice of five heroines, one hidden, unfortunately, this game has locked routes. I found three of the heroines attractive and thus only completed three routes. Some of the characters have memorable traits while others are almost entirely defined by a type, not too surprising either, it all comes down to your preferences (I hate large breasts...). The protagonist is pretty much an older version of Kaito or Yuuji, proactive, strong, decisive, and badass, not anywhere near Minato though, he lacks personality. Character development is better than average, our setting naturally helps, but the plot doesn't take us far enough to trigger any major changes, the time frame is rather limited (except the true route). I would like to see a fan disc with after stories set years later. On a side note, the protagonist*s best friend, usually the comic sidekick, plays a rather unique role here, he doesn't appear much but you'll see.

Art deserves an A. Luna's CGs, in particular, are very well done, the first one left me glued to the screen for a good minute. Soundtracks are fine, they do get repetitive at times, you can always turn the BGM lower. Character voices, my only complaint is one of the heroine's timid voice and choppy sentences, but the CV isn't to blame for what the script reads. Other than that, mostly on the spot.

Gleam Garden is worth a try if you're looking for a decent medium length novel mildly packed with action and emotion. As always, you need the proper state of mind. Want an epic scale masterpiece? Look elsewhere. Otherwise, sit back and relax.

Overall Score: 72/100
Comparison with similar works:
 

 
 
 
Screenshots:
 

 

 
 

Depends on your needs. I use some compute intensive software on a daily basis, fast and reliable hardware saves time and trouble. I don't upgrade every year or every time a new product comes out though, gotta do a simple CBA first, I'm still using a SNB quad core on my mobile workstation, the 14% faster 47mq won't justify the price.
 

Surprised these were not mentioned
 

 

 

 

Your assumption could be valid if most VNs on sale do (or did) not have HScenes and by featuring HScenes, your game is different and will thus attract that specific group of consumers. That is clearly not the case, most commercial VN releases are R18 and buyers choose between these R18 VNs. The market is best characterized by monopolistic competition, firms sell similar products but product differentiation plays a major role in determining demand. Each game offers its own plot, art, set of characters and CVs that distinguishes itself from other games and, along with reviews and recommendations, affect the consumer's choice. Small companies do not "add" HScenes, they were meant to be part of the game to begin with, and it isn't just "little companies", the well known companies feature it too, Eushully, Alice, Akabei, N+, August, Light, etc. Take a look at the top sales from last year:

 
All of them feature HScenes, and assuming prices are stable after first press, sales are directly proportional to revenue. I can pull out another chart that totals sales from 1996 to 2008, but the R18 VNs are still an overwhelming majority. This implies that the majority of the market demands games featuring HScenes, if not, companies would have removed them and spent the budget elsewhere to increase profitability long before now. Thus it is only natural for companies competing in this market, large or small, to include, not "add" in HScenes. Now, it could be true that, had the terrible game not included HScenes, it could do even worse. This is because we would be considering a slightly different market with consumers that either do not want or do not care about HScenes, demand in general would be lower, causing an even lower revenue than the alternative, but a bad game will do bad either way. You claimed that, in the long run, these companies would eventually self destruct but never gave a reason. I don't see why a company that makes R18 VN can only profit in the short run. Going back to the chart from 2013, Giga, August, Purple, Pulltop, Alice, these are brands that used to make and still make R18 VNs they still succeed. Over time, if releases are appealing, a small producer will gain some degree of brand loyalty and become more widely known, it can create child brands (minato carnival, pulltop latte, etc.), produce FDs for its known works (see that 大空翼), and so on. Even nukige producers that focus almost exclusively on sexual content can grow large and profit, take Softhouse, Cyclet, or Lilim as examples. So how does including HScenes lead to and what is this "extremely negative impact" you speak of?
 
 
 
So most VN players were fooled and only started playing VNs because they did not know about the presence of R18 content?
Ok, I don't know what to say here lol, this is just too ridiculous.
 
Even if you managed to avoid all of these, you can still quit upon the first HScene.
 

 

 
 
Oh but they certainly are, in terms of sales and quantity. In the end, I'm the one who doesn't know?
 
P.S. Work on your English, it's a pain to read.

Hehe, you don't seem to understand the nature, origin, and target audience of this medium at all. H-Scenes are the biggest hurdle? No, they are more or less what keep the medium alive. Hentai gamers? Yes, why not, we were "perverts" to begin with. 
 

 
Now there are Nukige, straight porn, there's nothing to argue about those. Most VN, however, tell a story and allow readers to familiarize with the characters. When the HS actually comes, these are characters you care about and probably like, what's wrong with a couple to have sex?  If we take the VN as a romance simulation, the sex is an important and most likely inevitable part of the relationship. Think depicting it is immature? I'll tell you what's immature: the panty shots and lame fanservice in anime and manga.
VNs are one of the few mediums that allow full length story telling with explicit sexual descriptions. I'm not saying anything without HS is bad, it all depends on the needs of the story and the purpose of the HS.
 

 

yes

誰が殺したコマドリを

Hatsuyuki Sakura
Aiyoku No Eustia
Nanairo Reincarnation
Kazoku Keikaku
Dekinai Watashi Ga Kurikaesu
Itsuka Todoku Ano Sora Ni

Gleam Garden Review

It*s been a while since I last read a VN without skipping a good portion of it. These days, the more I play, the more repetitive things get. Much of the visual novel industry is still obssesed with the cliches and plot patterns that we've seen for years, and this is unlikely to change if market demand is strong, sadly, it still is.

Gleam Garden is Cosmic Cute's second novel, following Lovesick Puppies which released only a few months prior. Don't let its predecessor and fluffy cover art fool you though, this game isn't quite your typical moege. The story follows our protagonist Touji, a mentor who supervises the so called "witches", girls bestowed with mysterious and often deadly powers, isolated in a special training facility to aid their re-transition to society. Most of the plot takes place in this high school so don't let your hopes too high, it's still the typical slice of life you'd expect, but at least the protagonist is a teacher this time. The underlying conflict revolves around growing tension between humans as we know and humans of greater power, in this case "witches". This is, once again, an ageless theme that has recurred countless times in works of fiction and nonfiction of many media; we fear what is alien to us. Actual "witch" hunting dates back to the bubonic plague and beyond, the term itself brings negative sentiments. That said, his job isn't easy, but it pays off over time. I have to say that they saved the best for the last, the game becomes quite dramatic and action-packed near the end of each route (and for most of the true route); there are some intense and heartwarming moments here and there, expect a good ride.

You have the choice of five heroines, one hidden, unfortunately, this game has locked routes. I found three of the heroines attractive and thus only completed three routes. Some of the characters have memorable traits while others are almost entirely defined by a type, not too surprising either, it all comes down to your preferences (I hate large breasts...). The protagonist is pretty much an older version of Kaito or Yuuji, proactive, strong, decisive, and badass, not anywhere near Minato though, he lacks personality. Character development is better than average, our setting naturally helps, but the plot doesn't take us far enough to trigger any major changes, the time frame is rather limited (except the true route). I would like to see a fan disc with after stories set years later. On a side note, the protagonist*s best friend, usually the comic sidekick, plays a rather unique role here, he doesn't appear much but you'll see.

Art deserves an A. Luna's CGs, in particular, are very well done, the first one left me glued to the screen for a good minute. Soundtracks are fine, they do get repetitive at times, you can always turn the BGM lower. Character voices, my only complaint is one of the heroine's timid voice and choppy sentences, but the CV isn't to blame for what the script reads. Other than that, mostly on the spot.

Gleam Garden is worth a try if you're looking for a decent medium length novel mildly packed with action and emotion. As always, you need the proper state of mind. Want an epic scale masterpiece? Look elsewhere. Otherwise, sit back and relax.

Overall Score: 72/100
Comparison with similar works:
 

 
 
 
Screenshots:
 

 

 
 

Yea I agree with this, the deformed CGs were extraneous, or they should have put in more effort.



You remind me of how some folks used to act on MAL: "Your scores are laughable", "how can you rate Code Geass lower than 9!?", "this should be better than that, etc. etc." C'mon, can't expect everyone to have the same tastes now, and if all you care is that rather trivial number I gave at the end, there are thousands of them on EGS or VNDB for you to laugh at.

Gleam Garden Review

It*s been a while since I last read a VN without skipping a good portion of it. These days, the more I play, the more repetitive things get. Much of the visual novel industry is still obssesed with the cliches and plot patterns that we've seen for years, and this is unlikely to change if market demand is strong, sadly, it still is.

Gleam Garden is Cosmic Cute's second novel, following Lovesick Puppies which released only a few months prior. Don't let its predecessor and fluffy cover art fool you though, this game isn't quite your typical moege. The story follows our protagonist Touji, a mentor who supervises the so called "witches", girls bestowed with mysterious and often deadly powers, isolated in a special training facility to aid their re-transition to society. Most of the plot takes place in this high school so don't let your hopes too high, it's still the typical slice of life you'd expect, but at least the protagonist is a teacher this time. The underlying conflict revolves around growing tension between humans as we know and humans of greater power, in this case "witches". This is, once again, an ageless theme that has recurred countless times in works of fiction and nonfiction of many media; we fear what is alien to us. Actual "witch" hunting dates back to the bubonic plague and beyond, the term itself brings negative sentiments. That said, his job isn't easy, but it pays off over time. I have to say that they saved the best for the last, the game becomes quite dramatic and action-packed near the end of each route (and for most of the true route); there are some intense and heartwarming moments here and there, expect a good ride.

You have the choice of five heroines, one hidden, unfortunately, this game has locked routes. I found three of the heroines attractive and thus only completed three routes. Some of the characters have memorable traits while others are almost entirely defined by a type, not too surprising either, it all comes down to your preferences (I hate large breasts...). The protagonist is pretty much an older version of Kaito or Yuuji, proactive, strong, decisive, and badass, not anywhere near Minato though, he lacks personality. Character development is better than average, our setting naturally helps, but the plot doesn't take us far enough to trigger any major changes, the time frame is rather limited (except the true route). I would like to see a fan disc with after stories set years later. On a side note, the protagonist*s best friend, usually the comic sidekick, plays a rather unique role here, he doesn't appear much but you'll see.

Art deserves an A. Luna's CGs, in particular, are very well done, the first one left me glued to the screen for a good minute. Soundtracks are fine, they do get repetitive at times, you can always turn the BGM lower. Character voices, my only complaint is one of the heroine's timid voice and choppy sentences, but the CV isn't to blame for what the script reads. Other than that, mostly on the spot.

Gleam Garden is worth a try if you're looking for a decent medium length novel mildly packed with action and emotion. As always, you need the proper state of mind. Want an epic scale masterpiece? Look elsewhere. Otherwise, sit back and relax.

Overall Score: 72/100
Comparison with similar works:
 

 
 
 
Screenshots:
 

 

 
 

Gleam Garden Review

It*s been a while since I last read a VN without skipping a good portion of it. These days, the more I play, the more repetitive things get. Much of the visual novel industry is still obssesed with the cliches and plot patterns that we've seen for years, and this is unlikely to change if market demand is strong, sadly, it still is.

Gleam Garden is Cosmic Cute's second novel, following Lovesick Puppies which released only a few months prior. Don't let its predecessor and fluffy cover art fool you though, this game isn't quite your typical moege. The story follows our protagonist Touji, a mentor who supervises the so called "witches", girls bestowed with mysterious and often deadly powers, isolated in a special training facility to aid their re-transition to society. Most of the plot takes place in this high school so don't let your hopes too high, it's still the typical slice of life you'd expect, but at least the protagonist is a teacher this time. The underlying conflict revolves around growing tension between humans as we know and humans of greater power, in this case "witches". This is, once again, an ageless theme that has recurred countless times in works of fiction and nonfiction of many media; we fear what is alien to us. Actual "witch" hunting dates back to the bubonic plague and beyond, the term itself brings negative sentiments. That said, his job isn't easy, but it pays off over time. I have to say that they saved the best for the last, the game becomes quite dramatic and action-packed near the end of each route (and for most of the true route); there are some intense and heartwarming moments here and there, expect a good ride.

You have the choice of five heroines, one hidden, unfortunately, this game has locked routes. I found three of the heroines attractive and thus only completed three routes. Some of the characters have memorable traits while others are almost entirely defined by a type, not too surprising either, it all comes down to your preferences (I hate large breasts...). The protagonist is pretty much an older version of Kaito or Yuuji, proactive, strong, decisive, and badass, not anywhere near Minato though, he lacks personality. Character development is better than average, our setting naturally helps, but the plot doesn't take us far enough to trigger any major changes, the time frame is rather limited (except the true route). I would like to see a fan disc with after stories set years later. On a side note, the protagonist*s best friend, usually the comic sidekick, plays a rather unique role here, he doesn't appear much but you'll see.

Art deserves an A. Luna's CGs, in particular, are very well done, the first one left me glued to the screen for a good minute. Soundtracks are fine, they do get repetitive at times, you can always turn the BGM lower. Character voices, my only complaint is one of the heroine's timid voice and choppy sentences, but the CV isn't to blame for what the script reads. Other than that, mostly on the spot.

Gleam Garden is worth a try if you're looking for a decent medium length novel mildly packed with action and emotion. As always, you need the proper state of mind. Want an epic scale masterpiece? Look elsewhere. Otherwise, sit back and relax.

Overall Score: 72/100
Comparison with similar works:
 

 
 
 
Screenshots:
 

 

 
 

I wrote a review of the Dell Inspiron 11 convertible for Visual Novel purposes, it cost $450 when I bought it but has quite a few advantages over the 8-10 inch Windows 8 Tablets: http://tieba.baidu.com/p/3264886522?see_lz=1 (In Chinese)
 
Bay trail can handle most games although it is pretty slow and lags are more apparent when you skip or use external software such as VNR. Cheap 8 inch tablets running Windows 8.1 with Atom Z37XX are quite popular among the visual novel community, although make sure that you're fine with the screen size, storage space, and highly limited performance. (Popular Models: Asus T100, Asus M81C, Dell Venue 8 (Windows 8.1 Ver.), Dell Venue 11 (Z3770 Ver.), Lenovo Miix 2 (8 or 10 inch), Lenovo Thinkpad 8, etc.
 
On the other hand, Haswell-U/Y or the latest Broadwell-M devices are certainly going to deliver a better experience with a better processor, integrated GPU, and SSD. These are also going to cost more (Consider the starting price of the Surface Pro 3) and won't be much different if all you do is play visual novels, not heavy web browsing or demanding software, in the end, it all depends on what you'll use the tablet for.

Here are a couple of pics I dug up:
 
Dell Venue 8 running White Album 2 Closing Chapter

 
 
Lenovo Miix2 8 inch, running まじかりっく スカイハイ

 
 
my Inspiron 11 running Tenshin Ranman

 
Monitoring the performance of the Acer Iconia W4 running Hoshizora no memoria

 
 
From left to right: Asus M81C, Lenovo Miix2, Dell Venue 8, Acer Iconia W4
 

 

Want a good reason to play it?
The Slice-of-Life comedy filled common route.
 
Oh, wait. It seems you aren't enjoying it. Do you not see something fundamentally wrong here?
 
You can't ask for a 'valid reason' or a 'good reason' for these are all subjective. 
I, for one, never finished Terra route as I didn't like the shift in tone. I enjoyed most else, though I also had some issues with some routes (Kotori and Shizuru) and the supernatural parts of the common route, as I thought they were annoying (as it turned out, those parts are what was actually important for the rest of the game. Lucky me).
 
What this game offers:



^My best efforts at being objective and at describing things. Also a prime example as for why I never do it.

Here are a couple of pics I dug up:
 
Dell Venue 8 running White Album 2 Closing Chapter

 
 
Lenovo Miix2 8 inch, running まじかりっく スカイハイ

 
 
my Inspiron 11 running Tenshin Ranman

 
Monitoring the performance of the Acer Iconia W4 running Hoshizora no memoria

 
 
From left to right: Asus M81C, Lenovo Miix2, Dell Venue 8, Acer Iconia W4