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I just finished Kanon.

It was beautiful. Can be seen as sort of prototype for later Key games, but still holds up on its own. I think my favourite girls and routes were Nayuki and Ayu (first and last played). Probably because we spend most time with one or both of them, whichever route we're on. Nayuki's route felt natural for first one to read, it makes nice introduction into the world.

Shiori, Makoto and Mai were good too. Makoto's story was really sad, but with many heartwarming moments near the end. Shiori's route was nice romance story. Mai's route was interesting, also with right amount of feels included. The setup for this route was very similar to Saya's route from LB!. The ending - in some ways - too. The nicest thing about this route was observing how Mai slowly opened up before Yuuichi as their relationship progressed. Then the ending hits somewhat unexpectedly, and whole epilogue sequence is vague enough that I wasn't sure if KeyMagic finally did it's work, or it was bittersweet one. Still, good route.

Ayu is main heroine of the game and her route is closest to "True Route" we can get here, that's why I read it last. It was really good, classic Key - but it started it all. Some of the most heartwarming CGs from these route for me were

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Ayu sleeping with her head on Akiko's lap, and kiss scene by the station.

Music and voices were good. Backgrounds were beautiful, and character's look didn't bother me at all - I guess I got used to this drawing style by going gradually LB! -> Clannad -> Kanon. I actually liked them.

I played with All-ages patch. I briefly checked some of the h-scenes, and they feel so out of place and out of character, that it's best to go MoeNovel on them :P and pretend they never were there. Really, they feel like the result of applying Rule34 to the characters. Avoid at all cost. KEY stories don't work as eroge at all, period.

Translation was okay. It was smooth read most of the time. However it's slightly inconsistent. On one hand, it replaces some more obscure cultural references with Western ones (with clickable pop-up TL notes explaining what whas there originally for those who are curious), and that's good.

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Like Piro lying like a sword in bed between Yuuichi and Makoto, or calling out to liars by saying that their pants are on fire and their nose grows longer.

OTOH later in Ayu's route they left ”ごちそうさまでした。” untranslated (with TL-note), which makes no sense at all. But apart from that, it's okay.

Overally - great experience, not as epic as Clannad or LB!, but for a first attempt - really good. 8.5/10

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I'm on the fence regarding the Hoshimemo.

On one hand - it has rather good score on VNDB, with 8s prevailing. OTOH there are some really critical reviews on Fuwa and elsewhere, and in addition to this, fan-TL is allegedly awful, and official release, while somewhat better, is broken (with some untranslated lines). Or did Sekai finally fix it perhaps?

Should I add it to my backlog, or don't bother?

Edited by adamstan
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So i had a couple of free from work weeks and managed to finish 3 VNs. There’re some of my thoughts about them. I’ll make 3 posts because there is a lot of text, sorry about that. Couldn’t use internet all this time, so… Hope you don't mind.

Heavy spoilers alert.

Subarashiki Hibi.


I really enjoyed this VN. Among the things i want to say/complain about it are those:
1. Don’t quite like how some conversations were really long-drawn. Afterwards, when i finished reading, all of that didn’t feel like such a bother already. But still there’re many such moments. Like in times when

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MCs talk with Otonashi (quite annoyed sometimes with some kinda philosophical stuff), or when Mamiya Takudji had talked about him being the Savior and such (that being said, “It’s my own Invention” route is a leader among these monologues), or some descriptions of mockeries. Although i understand about latter – it’s just for better understanding in what mental state Takashima Zakuro was when she decided to jump from the roof despite the fact that other 2 girls didn’t want to do it at the end. She really was in utter desperation… Which actually leads to the next point of mine.

2. I really feel sorry for

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Takashima. She did absolutely nothing wrong and just wanted to live a peaceful life. All this makes me sad. Even more when i remember how happy she was being on a date with Yuki. I hoped that maybe at the very end in some true route she’d survive but… It was quite a painful reading with her mockery and other unpleasant moments. Very unpleasant moments.

3. Aside from point 1, there is one more thing that i can’t tolerate with. I’m talking about when

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Yuki confronted Mamiya (i’ll just say that as that, all who read VN would understand) on the roof and when he stabbed himself with a knife into a heart. Seriously, what the heck? After that he casually came down the ladder and on the next day came up again as it’s nothing serious and nothing to worry about. Yeah, maybe it’s because of drugs, LSD and such, but… Really…

4. And about End Sky 2 ending. Confusing. Very confusing. My own thoughts atm when i finished were that maybe

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all events did happen only into Otonashi’s mind? Or she's some kind of Creator or whatever. There are two points to back that up. First one is how Yuki suddenly disappeared from the roof when Otonashi’s classmate came in. Immediately afterwards first time in VN we see the world through Otonashi’s eyes and play as her a bit. So why and how did Yuki disappear? Was she on the roof at all? As for the second thought – it’s about how Otonashi always knew what did happen, what is happening and what will happen based on your choices in game, no matter in what route she was talking with characters, no matter who that was. She also knew about the whole Mamiya/Tomosane/Yuki situation. It’s like she’s a script writer. For instance, how in “Looking-Glass Insects” route in the “The End of Summer” ending, upon encountering Takashima she said to her that she’s chosen the right path (resist mockery), which eventually really did lead Takashima to a happy life and future (it’s a pity it’s only alternate ending). And in “Looking-Glass Insects” ending Otonashi said to Takashima something like “you chose the wrong path” (obeying mockery), which indeed did lead her to jumping from the roof.

Dunno, maybe i’m wrong about that 4th point, but that what i thought that time. Actually, that's what i'm still thinking.
Also some H-scenes here were... Like those which you don’t see everyday, that’s for sure. It wasn’t actually a pleasant reading. I wanted to be done with them as soon as possible tbh. Gladly, most of them happen only in

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“It’s my own Invention”

route so that’s good at least. But they did put quite a heavy impression on me.
Overall, once again, it was an interesting reading. With plenty of sad moments as well.

To be continue.

 

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In continuation to my previous post, the 2nd VN I finished.

Remember11.

Well, just as i thought at the beginning – it stands between Ever17 and Never7 for me, with the former occupying the 1st place obviously. I think for those who don’t go for Infinite VNs completion and just want to read a good story – they may easily skip Never7 and go for other 2, honestly. Now as for VN itself. If we put away the ending for now, i really enjoyed the story and all characters. It was very interesting to read how they

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tried to survive in cold shack into mountains in one’s body, and at the same time did try not to be killed by someone in the other’s. Not to mention other mysteries.

I also very much like games/VNs/anime when characters

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are trapped in some places trying to escape or survive,

so that made a reading even more enjoyable for me. Plus Ever17 was a masterpiece in my eyes so I had my hopes quite high. Wasn’t disappointed in the end.

Anyway, i have only one big complaint. No matter the personal/current circumstances, no matter what happened in her past or whatever, i

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don’t like Rin at all. As well as those moments with her and food she took away. I find them utterly ridiculous. Seriously, i understand for what reason they added her and such behavior of hers (hunger, despair, coldness in mountains that change people etc), but really, one 35-year-old man and one 21-year-old girl (don’t count Yuni here) couldn’t do anything against her and couldn’t even talk back to her on even terms, behaving themselves like she’s really some kind of princess. I don’t say they had to do anything like putting her in cellar (like “Annihilation Yomogi Bad End”) or whatever but seriously, i find it all rather stupid.

Other than that – i have no complaints. Well, except for ending of course.

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Seriously, what kind of ending was that? I guess they overdid it with too many unanswered questions, only added some hints in menu (!), plus 11 of these hints open up when you collect all others (!) And even with those you can only guess some things, often with no proof, and about other unexplained moments - you just have no clue about them at all. I don’t mind if there are some hints or when you have to think about something in the end to know the truth… But here it’s just to many unknown factors. Didn’t quite expect that from studio who made Ever17 and Never7 where you had absolutely no unanswered questions by the end of reading, as far as i remember. And here we have something like “The truth is yet to be discovered” at the end of epilogue. That’s ridiculous. Too many unexplained things, too many mysteries.

That alone doesn’t make game bad of course imo. Just think they overdid it with unanswered things. All in all, i’m gonna read full analysis soon for better understanding.

Anyway, that was a very interesting reading. What you’d expect from studio that had made Ever17. Naturally couldn’t stop.

Last time to be continued.

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In continuation to previous 2 posts – the last VN I finished.


Root Double.


This is really an awesome VN. I consider it a masterpiece. Reminded me somewhat of Muv-Luv Alternative, maybe primarily because of thorough explanation of every little detail

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(to say nothing of BC, which explained via physics and psychology in detail)

you encounter, thus creating a world you can believe in.
It was really a long ride for me (a week to be precise, because no matter how you look at it, it’s always quicker to read in your native language which was not the case this time, only for previous two VNs), but it was definitely worth reading. Sorry for the number of spoiler tags below, tried to do not spell even the names when unnecessary, just in case.


About Root After part. Actually, don’t have much to say here. I read it firsthand (and think that’s how everyone should read it) and liked it all very much. Maybe there were some moments to argue about – don’t sure honestly. Even doubt they actually were. Moreover, it was also about

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“escaping from closed space”

kind of thing, like Remember11, so another good point for me. After Good Ending, couldn’t wait for continuation.


About Root Before part. It sure took a long time for that route to catch up with events in Root After, that’s for sure. What’s more, it wasn’t only

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for enlighten you about events that happened before the incident, but as it turned out, also about certain boy’s tragedy with duration for long 9 years…

At first (especially if you’re reading that part first, before Root After) you may think that’s just too cliche sometimes. And that’s actually true. Childhood friend again, even 2 of them! Of course both are girls. Transfer student, from overboard to say the least! Again she’s a girl and of course she’s blonde. And at the end of first school day – “I’m gonna protect you and will be staying in your house”. Seriously, could it be even more cliche here? lol Well, later it becomes not so funny and you forget about all that. Btw, it was quite surprising to hear such VA of Salyu. Usually transfer girl has a different personality and way more cheerful voice so i was glad with that change. And overall i’m glad Salyu turned out to be

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way better than you could think with first sight (another annoying tsundere girl who likes to command for instance. That was my first thought about seeing her, glad that wasn’t the case here).

I have some complaints about this route though. One of them is how

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they started looking for terrorist. Actually Natsuhiko’s words and thoughts after Mashiro told him about possible terrorist attack are quite logical in their own way. And Mashiro getting angry at him because he didn’t take her seriously and didn’t take any action, plus “you’re not like your old self” part… Well, i think that’s all kinda lame. Because when you think about it, essentially, she meant it that way: “You didn’t hear me out back than 9 years ago and look what happened to Yuuri. And now… i want you to do the same thing again, but this time with me! Yeah, why not, we’re only 16-year-old students, so let’s go stop that terrorist! With no plan whatsoever” Do the same stuff again, recklessly going to danger, but with me. Mmm… I don’t say it’s everything wrong here but i’d wish they did that part some other way, because it’s like they’re saying that recklessly throwing yourself in danger is the correct way of doing things.

Also i have to say that among all characters in all routes the one i’m fond of the least is

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Mashiro. I don’t say she’s bad, actually she’s way better that you could think. She did her best to support Natsuhiko after that incident, and did a good job.

It’s just i feel i have less connection with her than with anyone else, and she’s not exactly my type. In route Double we see

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all characters’ past and know more about them, but still, for me Mashiro

stays as the most cliche person till the very end. Albeit, one more time, she’s better than she could be and i’m grateful for that. But she loses to

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Yuuri in my eyes by all fronts, by all criteria. Yuuri is way better, and keeps on becoming better as the story progresses.

Also Natsuhiko, despite being also your average cliche boy in the beginning of Root Before, later he naturally develops as a character. Actually there is absolute no one person i could say that i hate or dislike him/her. And that’s awesome, all characters are different, all of them have their own motivation as well as back story and background, upon seeing which we better understand them. And how viewing their background was creatively written into story – that’s another point of praise. And not only main cast is great, i also like

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Wataru and even Subject N.

But my favorite ones are

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Watase

among male (duh, not many persons to choose from here… But he’s really good, despite all certain things) and of course

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Miyoko Tenkawa

among female – she’s just super awesome, loved her since first glance. I guess

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Yuuri takes the 2nd place here. Kazami/Ena (3rd?)

are also good, not sure, they are just different, but all are great.
And considering characters and their background – Xtend episodes do another fine job to better understanding the cast. Albeit they’re available only after you finish the story, it’s still definitely worth reading (despite many of them you’ve already read during main game, they still sometimes bring some interesting little details to the story, like

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Ena once having a dog named Sirius… That was actually unexpected and interesting to know that fact).

And when you figure out

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WHO or WHAT exactly is reading their minds to pick at their memory,

you understand one more time how creatively that was done and how much work had been made by devs to surprise you and keep your interest.
Also,

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Alice…

What a useful doll lol


About Root Double.
At first i want to say that during that route i couldn’t help but smirk to myself about

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poor Watase. Yeah, he’s one of the reasons all that happened at all but seriously… He’s just Iron Man!)) He had fallen from heights; some debris had fallen on him… He got shot, blown away by explosion waves, punched by fire extinguisher, suffocated due to oxygen-deficient air, got burnt, punched by a certain girl, hurt his ankle (thanks to the same girl), got laceration on his head, and was choked with rope from behind… His memories were erased, then restored again, dealing blow to his mind nevertheless. He was also having headaches and had other symptoms due to high BC energy level like vomiting; also he lost consciousness a couple of times… And still look at him! He’s damn cyborg) I have a feeling all other characters combined didn’t suffer as much as he was)

Jokes aside, all of Root Double route was a great conclusion to the story. Well, if you can call a “conclusion” several hours of reading, with duration maybe equal to After/Before/Current routes combined… Anyway, it was really, really great, kinda hard to express with words. And the scene’s name

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“Grand Epilogue” at the end, as well as true ending’s name “Grand Ending” –

i thing it’s so befitting to events happening at the end. They’re really grand, for the lack of better word. And the way they made that grand ending route is another demonstration of creativity from devs’ side. It was very enjoyable reading for me. It was always hard to stop myself from continuation, only 4 am on the clock did its thing. And it’s not because i “wanted” to sleep, but because i “should” go to sleep, cuz “come on, man, don’t do this to your body!”))
And the only thing i don’t quite like in the ending –

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harem part among Root Before cast.

Wasn’t necessary at all imo.


Also some words about music. OST is also very great, befitting the whole VN. Especially i loved these tracks:

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“Extra-Sensory Perception”

(main menu OST, and that’s so good i never tired to listen to it), “Words of Healing” plus some of personal characters’ OST like

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Yuuri, Salyu and Kazami’s.


Overall, i enjoyed the story very much, liked all characters very much

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(Miyoko and Watase in particular),

even more i liked them the more i’d been reading. But i guess it was to be expected. And i’m really glad that such VNs continue to appear, and hope they’ll continue to appear in the future. I guess everyone who like great stories and thoroughly created worlds should try this VN. And its ending is how it should be,

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no more sadness, no more despair.

This ending truly warms my heart. And at the true end of story i literally didn’t want to say goodbye to all of the characters after struggling with them all these

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9 hours of hell and prior.

I wanted to read a bit more, to know for instance if

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Miyoko did find some sort of cure to prolong Communicators’ lives…

But oh well, all good things come to an end eventually. Anyway, such an awesome story and touching ending. 10/10

Well, that's all for now. Sorry for such a sheet of text)) Next i really want to read "Cou- Kuroi Ryuu To Yasashii Oukoku", but dunno when it happens. I still have some video games to play.

 

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You got me interested in that Root Double. However I'll wait for next Steam sale ;)

Today I started reading AIR. The very beginning was somewhat slow and tiring (but then, it conveyed MCs feelings and situation perfectly that way, so I guess it's good). As soon as we meet Misuzu, it kicks into action. And then there's one of my favorite VAs - Aya Hisakawa :wub: - as Misuzu's mom. Looks promising.

BTW the heatwave we're currently experiencing seems perfect setting for reading this VN ;)

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6 minutes ago, adamstan said:

Today I started reading AIR.

I wonder if i ever get to that VN... Had been in my wishlist for some years, same with Kanon. I finally made some progress with Key's VNs last year after i finished Little Busters! Before that it was only Clannad that i read. And next plan was to start Rewrite. Which i actually wanted to read at first, but later discovered Root Double, so switched to that one.

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I'm watching a playthrough of Dharker Studio's Negligee  (2 hours in) and I'm... Liking it? The characters and the premise are very basic, but maybe it's because of the let's player making it funnier that it would normally be, but I'm actually enjoying the straightforward story and dialogues. The bickering between the heroines is fun and the interactions between them and the protagonist are rather cute. The fanservice is there, but not as everpresent and obnoxious it would be in a Sakura game. I wonder if something later on will manage to put me off, because so far it was a genuinely pleasant read, even if obviously still in the "trashy porn VN" category. It's probably my pro-yuri bias above anything else... 

The pricetag though... $20 for something this short and simple is a joke. I think it would be even rated on VNDB quite differently if it was sold for a reasonable amount of money - 8 to 10 dollars probably and surely not more than that. 

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Finally started on Majikoi, and boy am I impressed with the star studded cast. The game apparently has seiyuus who voiced characters for Root Double, Grisaia, Fate and Muv Luv, and looks rather light-hearted (though it probably has some serious moments in the individual character routes), so I'm really looking forward to finishing this (will probably take quite a long time though).

Edited by wei123
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59 minutes ago, wei123 said:

@cro-mag How did Root Double remind you of Muv Luv Alternative? I've always felt Ever17 and 999 vibes from it, with a touch of R11 here and there, but I don't find it really similar to MLA.

I mentioned it in my so-called review a bit. It's not about story and characters, it's just about total explanation of everything that happens and about all phenomena happening with physical, scientific and psychological points of view, with every little detail. I just remember how i was impressed when in Muv-Luv we

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naturally listened to the lectures, which dragged for several minutes, explaining who is BETA, about weapons we have about them, how these weapons work, about costumes, out tactics etc, etc.

Maybe it's a common thing for many VNs, but i still like how this creates so detailed world you can believe in.

 

1 hour ago, wei123 said:

Finally started on Majikoi, and boy am I impressed with the star studded cast. The game apparently has seiyuus who voiced characters for Fate and Muv Luv, and looks rather light-hearted (though it probably has some serious moments in the individual character routes), so I'm really looking forward to finishing this (will probably take quite a long time though).

Have fun, really! Imo it's one of the best entertaining VNs ever.

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Miyako approves!

 

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29226.jpg

So, I've finished Sekien no Inganock now. It was an overall nice read, though not without flaws.

The setting is rather unique for VN standards, since it doesn't play in a happy and shiny world, but in a cursed city called Sekien instead. After a dreadful event called the 'Revival', the city turned into a place of doom and suffering, where the sun never shines due to a never ending fog covering the whole city, and its inhabitants full of sick and mutated beings. It's pretty much a cyber punk setting with a hefty dose of Lovecraftian horror thrown into it.

Here the protagonist is a resident doctor called Gii in the lower districts with some magical powers that allow him to heal even magical sicknesses that cause horrible mutations. He also has some kind of shadow, a strong and most of the time invisible force behind him, that allows him to fight some of the more nasty inhabitants of the city. Those not so nice inhabitants are a bunch of super monsters that can be considered for all intents and purposes as Lovecraftian Old Ones that feed upon the city's denizens. So even if they are called a bit different here, you can expect to meet the likes of Ithaqua or Shub Niggurath.

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So in that hellish place, Gii saves the small girl Keea and cares for her from that moment on, together with his girlfriend Atty - the not so cute cat girl. The relationship between those three is very well written and certainly one of the highlights of the VN. Opposed to the never ending loli trend, Gii and Keea share a rather pure father-daughter relationship. Right from the start, it's more or less clear that Ati is his flame, even if they appear to the outside more as close friends and comrades, that stick stick together and help out each other.

Gii itself is certainly one of the most likable protagonists I've seen so far. Mature and intelligent with strong ideals and a caring personality. Keea is adorable and written like a normal child would be and not like a lusty loli nympho in the making like in some other VN's. And Ati is probably the counter-example of a cute cat girl. Her cat features were caused by horrible mutations, and her body has the power of a dangerous feline predator - she's a real killer. Those three main characters were very well written.

6091.jpg

Story-wise the VN had a few more flaws and I think it shows a bit that this was one of Sakurai's earlier works. While the word building and the gloomy atmosphere is very well done, the episodes itself turn into a simple 'monster of the week' pattern very soon. And Ati frequently vanishes for entire chapters instead of involving her more into the story events, which reduces her more into a well written side character instead of a main character. And while Keea itself is a good character, as a simple child she couldn't contribute to the events all that much. The ending also came a bit sudden with little to no closure, as if the writer was in a hurry to finish the story.

The audio part was good for the most part, even if the number of music tracks could have been higher. Some of them got a bit stale and overused after a while. The voice acting was stellar however, especially the ones of Gii and Ati. VN's rarely have good male voice acting, but here they were amongst the best.

Art-wise however, the VN really showed its age. While the protagonist Gii itself was rather well drawn, many other characters had over-simplistic character designs, frequently not even colorized. And some event CG's looked more like abstract art, even though in some cases it emphasized the alien look of the creatures. Though the background CG's were better for the most part. But overall, from the Liar-Soft VN's I've read so far, this had certainly the weakest art.

I had the mini games deactivated, so I can't comment about that.

In comparison to the Ourai no Gahkthun I've just recently read, I consider Gahkthun clearly the better VN since it was overall more refined. The art was better, with more engaging battles and effects, a lot more CG's, and the episodes were more focused on the characters of the opposing Governing Council and not just random encounters with some beasts. I also prefer the not-so-grim-and-gloomy setting of Gahkthun, though that's more of a personal bias. The only point I think Sekien has a bit of an edge over Gahkthun would be the character relationships. The emotional connection between Gee, Kia and Ati felt a bit more convincing than the one between Neon and Tesla.

Overall rating: 6.5/10 (I would have given a 7, but I subtract half a grade due to the outdated art)

Edited by ChaosRaven
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On 8/3/2018 at 3:09 AM, adamstan said:

I'm on the fence regarding the Hoshimemo.

On one hand - it has rather good score on VNDB, with 8s prevailing. OTOH there are some really critical reviews on Fuwa and elsewhere, and in addition to this, fan-TL is allegedly awful, and official release, while somewhat better, is broken (with some untranslated lines). Or did Sekai finally fix it perhaps?

Should I add it to my backlog, or don't bother?

 

I just finished it (and am riding on the high) and came back here to tell you it was fucking awesome (nothing below should be spoilers, just saying "it has this and this type of thing and they are good" but if you're super crazy sensitive to spoilers maybe skip it). The 3-5 untranslated lines didn't impair the story. The amount of garbled lines was actually very low, and I can't for sure even remember any. My opinion is only worth so much having only read like 15 VNs (you can see the list by clicking my VNDB link of course).

In my personal enjoyment ranking, I would say it's under Very Long stuff like Little Busters, CLANNAD, MLA, but way above most of the Long or Medium category that I've played. (Going by VNDB's definitions)

Despite being smaller scope than those big games, it actually had significant worldbuilding and mystery to it. It had the kind of multi-generational plot that I enjoy a lot, a story like The Watchmen is probably a good example of what I mean. I couldn't guess any of the plot twists, which reminds me of Key games. The boobs aren't ridiculously large; in fact there's a wonderful selection of small boobs. The loli characters are actually interesting, not ridiculous horndogs. 

The two things that stood out the most: The world building where I had to actively piece together the puzzles of how things work and what happened historically, and the imouto route which was simply fantastic. I had zero interest in "imoutos", but after this game I think I'll be specifically looking for more like it. 

What I didn't like, and this is actually a spoiler:
 

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Was how pushy/rapey the character was with Aoi and Yume. 

 

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Yesterday (or rather today around 2AM) I finished AIR

Wow, that was a ride...

First is "Dream" arc - something like "School" in Clannad. I played in the order suggested by @Flutterz's walkthrough - Misuzu, Kano and then Minagi. There are some other walkthroughs that suggest reversed order (meaning leaving Misuzu for the last playthrough). Actually both approaches make sense. Since Kano's and Minagi's stories can be considered side-stories, and Misuzu is main character, playing her route last makes sense story-wise. OTOH, reading it first gives game a structure somewhat similar to LittleBusters

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with Misuzu's Dream route playing role smilar to "Rin 1" route from LB

While Misuzu is main character of whole VN, and I love her, the best route of Dream arc is Minagi's. Minagi is lovely, first impression somewhat similar to Kotomi from Clannad. Michiru was annoying at first, but as I got deeper into the story, I grew fond of her as well. And the ending of this route hits hard with feels...

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Parting with Michiru on the roof... oh my... :rubycry: Or a little earlier, when Yukito carries her on his back as they go for a walk...

This route also has interesting quirk, because

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H-scene belongs to the bad/normal end.

Kano's route is significantly weaker, but still enjoyable, and she was very likeable character for me as well.

Misuzu is great, but her route serves mostly as introduction for later arcs.

After completing three heroine's routes, there's "Summer" arc. It has no choices, and gives backstory for "Girl in the sky" and her connection to Yukito. It was good, packed both with comedy and feels. Also, it features another VA I really like (first being Aya Hisakawa as Haruko) - Kikuko Inoue as Uraha.

Then comes "AIR" arc - something like "Refrain" or "After Story". Main heroines of this part are Misuzu and Haruko. It was great, but it hits right into the feels many times, as its very bittersweet. At the end, I cried my eyes out

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when Misuzu died in Haruko's arms :rubycry:

There are some glimpses of hope

Spoiler

Kanna's curse has finally been broken, so while Misuzu still had to die (it was foreshadowed in Summer - Winged One's soul is too much to bear for human body, so all Kanna's incarnation will die early), at least her final moments were happy. And Haruko's character development is great.

but overally, from 4 KEY VNs I read (Kanon, AIR, Clannad and LB!) this is definitely the saddest one, without clear happy ending provided by KeyMagicTM (like Clannad After Story's final run or LB's "it's not enough!").

I'm completely used to Key's art style, so no complaints here, and backgrounds are actually really good. Music was good too.

I tried both English patches (WinterConfetti's and GaoGao's), and finally switched to the former (with All-Ages addon from Takafumi). Both have their share of problems, but they aren't game breaking, so just pick your poison ;)

Great emotional ride, and it's for me right up there with Clannad and LB. 9/10

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15 hours ago, adamstan said:

I played in the order suggested by @Flutterz's walkthrough - Misuzu, Kano and then Minagi.

giphy-downsized-large.gif

15 hours ago, adamstan said:

from 4 KEY VNs I read (Kanon, AIR, Clannad and LB!) this is definitely the saddest one, without clear happy ending provided by KeyMagicTM (like Clannad After Story's final run or LB's "it's not enough!").

Now it's time for you to either move forward in time and read Planetarian (this one is really short and good) and Rewrite, or if you're really ballsy, move backward in time and read One  :makina:

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Well, since it is really short, I just read Planetarian

You were right @Flutterz, it is good. But so sad again, even more so than AIR ending... :rubycry: It reminded me of Ame's ending from Dal Segno. Both of these robot/AI heroines became almost human by the end of the story. And the track "Perfectly Human" that played during final scenes was so haunting... It was somewhat similar to the song that played during Dream World sequences in Clannad.

The protagonist had some nice character development.

BTW - it seems that the planetarium in Miagete (and especially its projector) was inspired by this story.

To sum it up - great story, packed with feels, definitely recommended - 8.5/10

Edited by adamstan
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