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So I got the normal ending of Swan Song and I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand I generally liked the story and how fucking bleak it could get I mean god damn. On the other hand it is way to heavy handed at times and has a lot of intolerably slow moments that sometimes drag the story down. I also was not a fan of the visual style of this vn I like sprites and it was weird not having them. One thing I really didn't like was all the times where a character would just regurgitate word vomit at you at random times. It was really annoying being assaulted by these massive walls of text, your character only egging them on for more and more.

I'll get the true ending tomorrow and then move back to NLA I still have glasses girl and teacher lady to get through.

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On 1/15/2018 at 1:56 PM, Ranzo said:

I'll get the true ending tomorrow and then move back to NLA I still have glasses girl and teacher lady to get through.

Hope you ready for the former's bad end then.

As for the title, I played Seabed and so far it's quite slowly going and I'm in Chapter 2 right now. Apparently in later chapters the story would be interesting, so I'll keep reading Seabed for now.

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Finally finished Ourai no Gahkthun, and overall it was an enjoyable read, though not without flaws.

What makes this VN really stand out is its unique and mature Steampunk setting. A large academy on a small artificial island, located close to the coast of Marseille in an early 20th century France. Most  characters are already young adults instead of teenagers and the academy resembles more a university than a school. The VN also manages to create the right atmosphere for the right moment. Slice of life scenes have a classic soundtrack that perfectly captures the feeling of a Paris inspired, lifely city, while the darker scenes are backed by an eerie soundtrack. The battle scenes were also surprisingly well done, using animated effects and such, even if some end a bit sudden. They were also not too long which was a huge plus for me.

Although the VN is written from a third person point of view, it uses a rather interesting writing style to create a semi-protagonist feeling when needed. This is done through inner monologues of the characters where they share their feelings and thoughts with the reader, usually in a voiced manner. This is often done for female characters and for Neon in particular.

Story-wise there were lights and shadows. While Tesla was an overall interesting character with some supreme lightning powers, you don't really get to know a lot about him, even to the end. He just comes to the academy as a transfer student and rescues Neon from a near-slavery fate. Together they oppose the members of the student council who use some kind of demonic bell to gain special powers - also called arts in the VN. Most chapters then showcase a conflict with one of the members of the student council, though not all of them. And so you get to know that not all of the members are just bad guys and that there's more than meets the eye.

While the VN does a marvelous job in setting up a believable Steampunk world and creating the right atmosphere for it, its biggest flaw is certainly the story-flow and character development. To use a somewhat accurate comparison, I guess most people remember the infamous Windows progress bar and when it sometimes gets stuck at about ~X% for minutes, just to suddenly jump to the end in a second. And here it's pretty much the same. While in most chapters you get to know a certain side character better, this is usually not the case for Tesla or Neon and their relationship gets stuck very soon. The chapters are also very independent from each other, to a point that the order doesn't really matter. Usually chapters should build up on each other to create a homogenous story flow, but this isn't really the case here.

But in the last chapter the VN suddenly turns up to light speed story development and literally every story and character development you can image is squished in there. It goes without saying that this didn't work out without some sacrifices in the form of abyssal size plot holes like...

Spoiler

Tesla apparently having killed Neons family without any info why, Neon forgiving him for that without any info why, everyone suddenly remembering that they were part of a big happy fucking family without any info why, everyone suddenly teaming up without any info why, etc.

So yeah, there were quite some questionmarks at the end. For that reason I find it difficult to really call this a story VN. I'd call it more a slice of life VN with a unique setting and actually entertaining slice of life since in every chapter there's new stuff happening with new CG's and sometimes even new characters. It was also somewhat interesting to see an unavoidable tentacle rape scene in a Steam VN. Granted, it was pretty tame, but WTF. :blink:

So, since I overall still enjoyed the VN and liked most of the characters, I decided to call this a good slife of life VN instead of a bad story VN, so my final rating is 7.5/10. :rolleyes:

And yeah, I managed to finish a dreadful boring Mihiro route in Wagamama Highspec in about 3 months of time - I'm so proud of me. :kosame:

Still want to try Ashe's route, but I think I'll pass on the other ones.

Edited by ChaosRaven
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3 minutes ago, ChaosRaven said:

 

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Tesla apparently having killed Neons family without any info why, Neon forgiving him for that without any info why, everyone suddenly remembering that they were part of a big happy fucking family without any info why, everyone suddenly teaming up without any info why, etc.

 

Spoiler

It's not actually Tesla who Killed Neon's family, but the Society, because they wanted to get rid of Tesla by severing his final ties to the world. Tesla just feel responsible for all this because he failed to protect Neon's family, so in his own mind he "indirectly" killed them.
It's not very clearly pointed out and Tesla's personality being what it is, it comes out pretty ambiguously and is pretty easy to miss 

But glad you liked Gahkthun overall.

I like the series especially because of the character focus and more subtle character development. The inner dialog tell so much about the characters even without explicitly stating anything, but it's not for everyone. And this style is definitely not perfect and doesn't work with every character, but despite all the flaws Sakurai is still to writer that manages to consistently come up with utterly fascinating characters. 

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On 1/16/2018 at 1:21 PM, ChaosRaven said:

 

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Tesla apparently having killed Neons family without any info why, Neon forgiving him for that without any info why, everyone suddenly remembering that they were part of a big happy fucking family without any info why, everyone suddenly teaming up without any info why, etc.

 

Spoiler

Either I'm confused here, or you are. More likely me, but I'll put this out there anyway.

As I recall it, Neon's family was hunted down because of their connection to Tesla (they supported him, which gives him power), and so he considered himself responsible for their deaths.

The rest of it was also related that, or at least so I thought. Everybody on the island was gathered there in the first place because of their connection to Tesla. It was all a grand plot to lure him in and kill him.

Or something? But it's been a while since I played it, so maybe I'm completely wrong on some/all of that. Or, alternatively, maybe I'm right about some/all of that and you understand it, but I'm not fully understanding the nature of what you're unhappy with?

FWIW, I agree a lot of the stuff you're talking about feels pretty fuzzy. I don't recall having any problems with the points you're raising, but I have unspeakably strong suspension of disbelief, so it's not uncommon for me to say "man, what a great story" about things where every other person on the planet would say "god, that whole ending was just a massive ass-pull", so I've learned not to take my being okay with a plot as a sign that it's actually okay. So, yeah, I'm definitely not trying to argue or anything, just trying to understand/clarify.

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16 hours ago, Fred the Barber said:
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As I recall it, Neon's family was hunted down because of their connection to Tesla (they supported him, which gives him power), and so he considered himself responsible for their deaths.

The rest of it was also related that, or at least so I thought. Everybody on the island was gathered there in the first place because of their connection to Tesla. It was all a grand plot to lure him in and kill him.

 

Spoiler

I think Tesla wasn't just saying that Neon's family was killed because of him, he said he (himself) had killed them. While it was more or less clear at the end that the main villain was behind all that, I thought Tesla was manipulated to kill Neon's family and that's why he said it that way. I mean otherwise 'playing drama-queen' wouldn't even begin to describe Tesla's statements. Instead of just clarifying the situation, he just sent her straight into crisis and confusion and then went away - that was pretty much the most ruthless and ignorant thing he could do. And it's unclear what Neon exactly remembered about the events later on. I missed a clarifying conversation between Tesla and Neon about those things (and many others), but the only thing that came was she forgiving him and confessing her love. The rest was more or less open to interpretation.

It wasn't so clear to me that it was a grand plot to lure Tesla to the academy, but I guess considering the events that happened and all of the council members being involved with Neon and Tesla, it's what makes the most sense. But yeah, a few more clarifications wouldn't have hurt.

 

Edited by ChaosRaven
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7 hours ago, ChaosRaven said:
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I think Tesla wasn't just saying that Neon's family was killed because of him, he said he (himself) had killed them. While it was more or less clear at the end that the main villain was behind all that, I thought Tesla was manipulated to kill Neon's family and that's why he said it that way. I mean otherwise 'playing drama-queen' wouldn't even begin to describe Tesla's statements. Instead of just clarifying the situation, he just sent her straight into crisis and confusion and then went away - that was pretty much the most ruthless and ignorant thing he could do. And it's unclear what Neon exactly remembered about the events later on. I missed a clarifying conversation between Tesla and Neon about those things (and many others), but the only thing that came was she forgiving him and confessing her love. The rest was more or less open to interpretation.

It wasn't so clear to me that it was a grand plot to lure Tesla to the academy, but I guess considering the events that happened and all of the council members being involved with Neon and Tesla, it's what makes the most sense. But yeah, a few more clarifications wouldn't have hurt.

 

Spoiler

He definitely said he killed them, but I'm rather certain that what actually happened is that the bad dude had Neon's family killed because of Tesla. Because Tesla's a special kind of idiot, he held himself directly responsible for their deaths, and thus, from his viewpoint, he might as well have killed them. Saying "I killed them" was, indeed, him being a ridiculous drama queen, but those two things (being ridiculously hard on himself, and being a little crazy in the way he talks to people) are just who he is, and, yeah, it led to the only part of the game I don't like, where people are confused and unhappy over a simple misunderstanding. Worst anime trope ever. But the rest of the game is great!

 

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Still in Seabed, and after reading it through slice of life parts which boring for some people, it started to get interesting with Sachiko's new friend become very agressive. That said, I just go through 4 out of 12 chapters though - and at the beginning of Chapter 5, so it's still a long way to finished Seabed. Oh, and so far I'd have fun reading this.

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So I managed to get the true end to Swan Song and it was a bit jarring how tonally different it was to the normal ending.
 

Spoiler

 

While the normal ending was super dark and bleak the true end was positive and slightly hopeful. The characters basically make all the right moves and manage to avoid a lot of the dumb decisions that they made in the normal route. It would have been nice if we had learned more about the extent of the earthquake damage and why there was no immediate response to the disaster. It gets sort of addressed but not in a way that really satisfied me.


 

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after months of reading I finally finished little busters <and no I don't have any intention of doing masatos route>

I gotta say this was one of the best visual novels I have ever read, very good mystery, interesting unusual story, great characters and to my surprise the additional routes were integrated in a really cleaver way into the overall story, really like sasegawas route and it threw a really good twist into a already established ideea, kana's route was amazing and the ending I taught was fantastic altho a bit confusing, at first I didn't really like sayas route but when I hit the replay section and the story started to unravel both saya and her route gained a lot of points in my eyes and I really started to like her <the ending sucked btw, I knew from the moment you find out sayas story at the middle of the route how this would end but the ending still sucked>

the only real route that I hate was kamikitas, it was more or less worthless and didn't add anything to the main story or any hints like the other routealso

It would have been nice to get an ending to kurugayas route that didn't suck, considering how much asspulling the writers did on some ocasions I'm kinda bummed out at how sad both of kurugayas endings were

Spoiler

I don't like the whole time machine twist in sayas route, If she would have died in the end that would have been a really depressing, sad and heartbreaking ending but at least It would have fit into the story, also why does she know riki? why is that just thrown there at the end? why is it that this was never mentioned before? it just feels like the end of this was pulled right out of the writers ass

 

also I don't get it after they return to the real world do they keep their memories<cuz it didn't feel like it at the end of refrain>? at the end of kana's route haruka clearly remembers but does kana too? kana shouldn't remember cuz she wasn't on of the creators of the world right? or is this the harem ending and riki gets to have 2 redheads cuz in that case im supper jelly

 

also probably a translation error when rin said she was held down by people when she was little, probably referring to the end of rin2, kyouskes sin I still don't know, I think he might have pushed rin to early to see the reality and that's why she broke but im pretty sure she broke down because of the end of rin2 but then kyouske didn't have anything to do with that it was just riki being a dumbass and aaaaaah this is giving me a headache

 

also confues as to why in kuds route she was refered to as a fake, I think she was used as fuel for this world but then why is kud the only one who's used as fuel? and why is riki trapped in the ether at the end of kurugayas route?

overall this is a must read in my opinion for anyone who is interested in visual novels

also im missing 7 achievements on steam and like 3 cgs but I just can't be bothered <pretty sure i get the cgs by doing idiot riki and sayas ecstasy mode>

now if you will excuse me I just discovered that there is a little busters wiki so ima gonna get me sum answers

Edited by bogdankl
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Finished VA-11 HALL-A finally after having put it on the back burner for quite a while. Overall, I really loved it! I enjoyed the setting, characters, music etc.

My favorite song was Synthestitch I think I listened to that song the most.

The only quibble with the game I had was

Spoiler

I would have liked to have found out what happened to the bar. Did it get ultimately shut down or what? Also I kind of wish that Jill and Dana had gotten together.

 

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Just finished Saya no Uta. Extremely good vn which had me hooked from beginning to the end.

Spoiler

 

I would have liked for them to touch a bit more on what makes Fuminori see what he sees. I guess his hallucinations were of the macabre appearance of his parents during the accident, but it wasn't stated. 

The constant perspective change was a bit annoying but not too bad.

The fact that we never saw Saya's true form was a true disappointment though.

I would have loved less open endings. The true ending was way too open. Fulfilling his final wish makes it sound like she was going to die, but things doesn't seem right for that. Fuminari isn't distressed and the "last gift" thing may be simply because she doesn't need to fulfill anymore wishes due to her changing the world. Simply put, way too open for my tastes.

 

 

Next up is Hanachirasu

Edited by Stormwolf
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1 hour ago, Stormwolf said:

Just finished Saya no Uta. Extremely good vn which had me hooked from beginning to the end.

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I would have liked for them to touch a bit more on what makes Fuminori see what he sees. I guess his hallucinations were of the macabre appearance of his parents during the accident, but it wasn't stated. 

The constant perspective change was a bit annoying but not too bad.

The fact that we never saw Saya's true form was a true disappointment though.

I would have loved less open endings. The true ending was way too open. Fulfilling his final wish makes it sound like she was going to die, but things doesn't seem right for that. Fuminari isn't distressed and the "last gift" thing may be simply because she doesn't need to fulfill anymore wishes due to her changing the world. Simply put, way too open for my tastes.

 

 

Next up is Hanachirasu

I can understand why you would be disappointed about not seeing Saya's true appearance, but also keep in mind that this is clearly inspired by Lovecraft's type of horror. The things you can't see nor understand are often the most frightening :notlikemiya: Also it kinda forces you to see things from Fuminori's perspective. 

Edited by Thyndd
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Still reading Grisaia no Meikyuu/The Labyrinth of Grisaia. I finished everything (as I thought, so far, the two after Stories written by Fujisaki Ryuuta were the best moments of the VN...Makina :wahaha:)...except Yuuji's Past. On the same subject,, I was asking myself a question about this grand route (HEAVY SPOILER).

Spoiler

Did Yuuji really kill his father? Clearly, he tried to kill him by knocking him out with this bottle of alcohol. But I thought that his mother had finished this bastard with a kitchen knife. Am I wrong? The trait "Parricide" is just troubling me (see Yuuji's Character Profile on VNDB) :wacko:

P.S. : I'm so sad for Sachi. Such a wonderful character...with two mediocre/botched routes (Meikyuu and Kajitsu) :vinty:

Edited by Canicheslayer
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4 minutes ago, Canicheslayer said:

Still reading Grisaia no Meikyuu/The Labyrinth of Grisaia. I finished everything (as I thought, so far, the two after Stories written by Fujisaki Ryuuta were the best moments of the VN...Makina :wahaha:)...except Yuuji's Past. Besides, I was asking myself a question about this grand route (HEAVY SPOILER).

  Hide contents

Did Yuuji really kill his father? Clearly, he tried to kill him by knocking him out with this bottle of alcohol. But I thought that his mother had finished this bastard with a kitchen knife. Am I wrong? The trait "Parricide" is just troubling me (see Yuuji's Character Profile on VNDB) :wacko:

P.S. : I'm so sad about Sachi. A wonderful character but two mediocre/botched routes (Meikyuu and Kajitsu) :vinty:

Spoiler

Er... That's a tough question. Whether or not he actually did, he believes he did. I'm not sure if it's made clear either way, but I'm relying on my memory here.

I'll also add that I find Sachi's after story to be bloody brilliant.

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4 minutes ago, Mr Poltroon said:
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Er... That's a tough question. Whether or not he actually did, he believes he did. I'm not sure if it's made clear either way, but I'm relying on my memory here.

I'll also add that I find Sachi's after story to be bloody brilliant.

 

Spoiler

Yeah, the idea of the bomb was cool. Unfortunately,  I did not like the writing quality (strange pace, predictability). And I think that Sachi was more interesting, more endearing in other after stories (same problem for me in Kajitsu) :mellow:

 

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Just now, Canicheslayer said:
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Yeah, the idea of the bomb was cool. Unfortunately,  I did not like the writing quality (strange pace, predictability). And I think that Sachi was more interesting, more endearing in other after stories (same problem for me in Kajitsu) :mellow:

 

Spoiler

Seems like a common problem with VNs: Heroines often undergo 'character development' and change in their own routes. Sometimes, I really like the way the change. Other times, I feel they made the character lose what was so endearing about her. In Sachi's case, I happen to very much like her personality both before and after her route. So... she's great all around. :sachi:
But she does undergo huge changes in personality and the way she thinks, so I understand how one might end up thinking she's barely even the same character or that they preferred her before.

 

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