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Started playing KoiChoco. Was initially interested in it because of how beautiful the art was, but was a bit weirded out with the combination of themes in its title. I've been reading for around three hours, so I haven't gone far enough to really get into depth with any of the story elements.

Spoiler

I admit, having absolutely no knowledge about the story of the game really helps in keeping you invested in reading. I really like it when games tease you with the different plot points they'll be using for the different routes along the common route, so the bouts of discrimination, scandal, and politics happening in the background of the SoL scenes really helps me keep going. Chisato's weird ritual with chocolates, the fact that students need to work in a factory as part of their scholarship, and the "Oosawa incident" they keep bringing up whenever things start concerning the current Student Council President are some of these teasers they keep poking at me as a reader.

I stopped at the part before they made the internal election for the club's running representative. If there's anything I feel weird about regarding that, it's that I share the same sentiments with Oojima on the matter - it feels forced to make him participate in the elections. Feels like a super underdog story where some unknown guy suddenly wins the Super Bowl because he tried. But then again, I guess that's what makes it interesting. What kind of tactics will a club about eating sweets and snacks employ to help their representative win the hearts of the masses? How will they incorporate the overall socio-political atmosphere the school has with regard to its student population and systemic organization? How can sweets and snacks possibly make people vote for them? Will they even win? Will they even run? Aaaah, pretty damn exciting!

As for the characters, I'm liking Isara the best right now. I'm such a sucker for deredere characters. But it's pretty damn obvious that there's some deep hurting happening inside of her. She smiles too much, and too much always means something. I hope whatever her route ends up being, it deals with the issue of scholarship students nicely. I'm really excited to read her route. I'll save it for last though! By the way, she just physically hurts me whenever Oojima talks to her. Goddamn, what a ball of fluff. She fell from the heavens, with "..Aha!" as her mantra. Goddamnit, aha. That smile can kill, aha!

Spoiler

D_h7ta_U0AATi_Z.png

 

Yaoi sticks.

Edited by Kosakyun
...Aha!
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So, I finished playing When They Cry today (which is like the first four chapters, seriously the nomenclature of this whole thing is bupkis)

Anyway, it was a good old time that was fun for the whole family, until the organs started getting removed:marie:

The only part that I found a bit wearing at times was that the events kept playing out the same way in the beginning (With some obvious shakeups)

The second part typically comes through in the end but it kind of feels like I'm trying to read a story four times in a row but I end losing my place and have to start over from the beginning

 

I also finally finished the last route in Nurse Love Syndrome. It was the chieftain in case you were wondering. I forgot how much I truly loved that vn, especially the well done epilogue (So many vns seem to either skip on it or approach it half assedly, usually with a tepid sex scene)


I think I'll play The Falconers Moonlight next since that's been languishing in my wishlist for four thousand years

 

Edited by Ranzo
Aha! (Fuck not again!)
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Done with Little Busters! I finished it off by winning the baseball match, which was surprisingly easy after clearing all routes. When I tried it during my first playthrough, I got my ass handed to me, but now I won without the opposing team scoring a single point.
The baseball minigame itself feels like wasted potential. It's fun at its core, but there are two things that ruin it for me:
1. The damn cats. Don't get me wrong, I find it kinda funny how they mess around on the field, but I hate how the gameplay pauses every time one of the cats are hit by a ball, because Rin has to make a comment about it. Considering how often it happens, it gets repetitive really fast and wastes a lot of time.
2. The fact that they use separate windows for the field and where your character is. It can be pretty hard to get the swing timing right, since the ball reaches you basically at the same moment it becomes visible in the character window, and you can't really use the field window as a reference when trying to hit the ball either, due to how zoomed out it is.
If they just addressed these things, it would be much more enjoyable. It could actually make for a pretty decent mobile game.

Aaanyway...
This is most definitely one of my best VN experiences so far. Despite the extensive play time, it managed to keep me entertained for the entirety of the VN, unlike Grisaia no Kajitsu, which I also consider one of my favorite VNs but still frequently lost interest in during the common route.

I'm feeling a bit ambiguous about the true ending, though.

Spoiler

On one hand, I'm a sucker for happy endings and I'm glad that everyone made it through safely, but on the other hand, I feel like the impact would have been much bigger and more memorable if it turned out that Kyousuke couldn't be saved no matter what you do. It felt a bit too convenient how every single person was saved, more or less turning a traumatic event that the entire story was revolving around into a passing thought.

 

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2 hours ago, Seraphim88 said:

 

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On one hand, I'm a sucker for happy endings and I'm glad that everyone made it through safely, but on the other hand, I feel like the impact would have been much bigger and more memorable if it turned out that Kyousuke couldn't be saved no matter what you do. It felt a bit too convenient how every single person was saved, more or less turning a traumatic event that the entire story was revolving around into a passing thought.

 

You played Little Busters! English Edition, right? If so, have you played the three routes outside the main cast?

If so,

Spoiler

Screw Saya's route! Argh!

 

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1 minute ago, Mr Poltroon said:

You played Little Busters! English Edition, right? If so, have you played the three routes outside the main cast?

Yup, I've done them all! And yeah, her route was definitely the worst. I didn't find it bad it per se, but it paled in comparison to the other ones.

Spoiler

It's mainly because I didn't enjoy the minigame, but the entire route also seemed kinda pointless due to it having no connection to the rest of the game (unless you count when Kyousuke mentions darkness executives during the unknown lifeform part of the common route).
The Idiot Riki sub-route was pretty funny though, with the rambling about convenience stores and whatnot!

 

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49 minutes ago, Seraphim88 said:

Yup, I've done them all! And yeah, her route was definitely the worst. I didn't find it bad it per se, but it paled in comparison to the other ones.

  Hide contents

It's mainly because I didn't enjoy the minigame, but the entire route also seemed kinda pointless due to it having no connection to the rest of the game (unless you count when Kyousuke mentions darkness executives during the unknown lifeform part of the common route).
The Idiot Riki sub-route was pretty funny though, with the rambling about convenience stores and whatnot!

 

You misunderstand me.

Spoiler

It's not for being good or being bad. It's for being... so sad (see, it rhymes!).

She's dying. There's nothing to be done. The final moments she will ever experience are these. But in the end, it's not her space. (I'd call you heartless for calling it pointless, but that's the very point. You need to get attached to her or there really is no point.)

 

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Spoiler

I don't mean that her personal circumstances are pointless, just that the route feels so in the grand scheme of things. She's just this random character that Riki stumbles upon by chance when he's picking up the notebook he forgot in school. She's neither seen nor mentioned anywhere else, and her only relation to anything is that she briefly befriended Riki during a stay in Japan when they were children.
I'd say they do a pretty poor job of explaining how she ended up where she did. I can't even remember her cause of death being mentioned in the VN, so I actually had to look it up to find out she died in a flood.

If not for the humor, this route would have been pretty "meh" overall.

 

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I'm currently a few hours into Tsukihime. Does it by any chance share assets with Fate? Some of the backgrounds seem identical to me, like the sitting room in the mansion vs the one in Hollow Ataraxia (where Bazett and Avenger hang out). Then again, I haven't read Fate in quite a while and my memory has always been kinda wonky, so maybe they're simply similar and nothing more.

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1 hour ago, Seraphim88 said:

I'm currently a few hours into Tsukihime. Does it by any chance share assets with Fate? Some of the backgrounds seem identical to me, like the sitting room in the mansion vs the one in Hollow Ataraxia (where Bazett and Avenger hang out). Then again, I haven't read Fate in quite a while and my memory has always been kinda wonky, so maybe they're simply similar and nothing more.

I don't think so? Isn't the BGs in Tsukihime photographs with filters on?

Here's the BG you mentioned in FHA btw.

Spoiler

oOA5rki.jpg

 

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Wow, the extent to which my memory fails me in this case is equal parts baffling and scary. There really aren't many similarities at all, so I honestly have no idea where I got the feeling that "I've seen this before". It really goes to show that memories can't be fully trusted.

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I've been finishing a lot of visual novels lately since I decided not to have a productive summer in any way

These are some of the vns I have recently completed

The Falconers: Moonlight

This turned out to be really interesting I especially loved the amount of world building this relatively short vn had and I liked the main character quite a bit. Having it set in New Zealand of all places during the 1800s was a interesting change of pace.

A Light in the Dark

This was another short but quite good vn, the atmosphere was really intense and the story moved along at a great place. The only problem I kind of had with it were the timed choices, I didn't feel like they helped the story any and were more of a nuisance than anything else. It was a bit preachy about its message but I thought it was a decent enough one so I let it slide.

The Expression Amrilato

I found this to be a very good yuri title and I thought the setting and the focus on language was very unique. The protag was good and the romance was sweet and satisfying.

Some of the lessons really just became a bit of a chore but thankfully you can skip out on it in the settings. I want to come back to it at some point just to read some of the text that was in that other language.

Neighbor

It was a pretty spooky ghost story and I found it to be very enjoyable

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I encountered a seriously annoying bug in Tsukihime today.
There was a clock ticking in one of the scenes, and for whatever reason, it didn't stop in the next one... or the next one... or the next one. Basically, that clock just continued ticking constantly in every single scene from then on. Not only that, but it also somehow became tied to my save file, because although the sound stopped when I went back to the main menu or restarted the game, the ticking resumed as soon as I loaded the save.
To solve the issue, I had to start the game over again and skip through everything I'd already done during my previous playthrough.

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On 7/27/2019 at 6:25 AM, Seraphim88 said:

I encountered a seriously annoying bug in Tsukihime today.
There was a clock ticking in one of the scenes, and for whatever reason, it didn't stop in the next one... or the next one... or the next one. Basically, that clock just continued ticking constantly in every single scene from then on. Not only that, but it also somehow became tied to my save file, because although the sound stopped when I went back to the main menu or restarted the game, the ticking resumed as soon as I loaded the save.
To solve the issue, I had to start the game over again and skip through everything I'd already done during my previous playthrough.

I had a similar sound bug in Himawari (it was looping rain in my case). It was tied to my save too.

It happened as a result of auto skipping through a certain scene. Had to go back and play through the scene normally.... :michiru:

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Just a general idea: shouldn't this thread be pinned instead of all those super-outdated compilations? It's kind of a core part of the forums...

Anyway, to the topic. I was actually reading quite a few things lately, even though it doesn't show very much in my VNDB. I've finished the route I once skipped in Fragment's Note, Misha's (the deredere childhood friend) and read all the three arcs of After Stories. It's one of the very few genuine mobile JVNs (that is, counting those that actually tell stories and not the microtransaction-riddled messes just masquerading as VNs) that were translated into English and I can't really decide what to think about it. The main intrigue is quite cool and I like most of the characters, but there are just no limits to how dumb and repetitive this VN can get. The stepsister's and childhood friend's routes are nearly identical, the drama showing up after the main plot is resolved is utterly idiotic and drags on for an eternity. But I still kind of can't force myself to hate it, especially when reading it leisurely on my phone. After Stories were nice to read mostly because they skipped on serious drama and just focused on the protagonist and the heroine of your choice figuring out what their relationship should be like. And in the end, two things are certain: Eri is the best girl (she starts as a bit of a confused moron, but I think a slightly-traumatized teen could easily end up being that way – at least she has an actual personality) and Misha is annoying as f*** when she's not in a supporting role. But also, even if I'm reading through an utterly mediocre series, I find it impossible to not feel some connection to the characters and to not enjoy the whole thing more and more over time (well, Sakura MMO might be an exception, but that's beside the point...). I'm slowly starting to get into Fragment's Note 2 and I think I'll enjoy it even if it repeats most of the sins of the original – also because every VN reads better when it's your only entertainment during a long, boring bus ride...

I've also finished reading No One But You and well, it was entertaining for all the wrong reasons. I have a review of it more or less ready and it will show up soon, but damn, I'm sometimes amazed by what kind of monstrosities VN writers can produce. I think I've lost like 10% of my brain cells reading through Shiro's and Megumi's routes. Also had a bitter laugh after learning that ebi-hime wrote Chinatsu's route (it was okay-ish, way above the ones I've already mentioned for sure), not only getting involved in this trainwreck but also having her nick misspelt as "ebi-himi" in the credits. 

And continuing with ebi-hime, I went back to reading The Language of Love, happily reminding myself what a mature work by a talented writer looks like. It's utterly mundane in its flow and themes, but still manages to be original by tackling the kind of everyday scenarios and characters that aren't usually a part of VN's romantic fantasy, with a struggling single mother and a screw-up in his mid-twenties being at the center of it all. Also, it gave me that awkward moment of realization, that even these unusually old VN lead characters are still six-seven years younger than me. When did that happen? :notlikemiya:

Edited by Plk_Lesiak
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7 hours ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

I've also finished reading No One But You and well, it was entertaining for all the wrong reasons. I have a review of it more or less ready and it will show up soon,

I'm looking forward to it :D

7 hours ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

Also had a bitter laugh after learning that ebi-hime wrote Chinatsu's route (it was okay-ish, way above the ones I've already mentioned for sure),

Yeah, it was definitely the best route. It was also the first route I've read. Another semi-decent one IMO was Yui's. But Megumi's and Shiro's were utterly ridiculous...

7 hours ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

Also, it gave me that awkward moment of realization, that even these unusually old VN lead characters are still six-seven years younger than me. When did that happen? :notlikemiya:

I had that kind of sad "revelation" while playing Kazoku Keikaku - not only MC, but also Masumi, the older, mother-like, heroine, was younger than me. :notlikemiya:

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Finished two pretty short vns

Over The Hills And Far Away

The setting was very unique and I'm a sucker for historical background

The two main characters were well done and had a good rapport

Unfortunately, I thought it was pretty short and the ending felt very rushed. It was bittersweet but I kinda saw it coming( I thought it would have been even more bleak)

Spoiler

I didn't figure that the mad tracker was the redcoats former partner but he wasn't established that much. Also how did Mai get away from the solders that quickly and without their involvement?

The ending was abrupt and a bit disappointing, I thought there might be a small epilogue but no, story ends.

I also played Lake of Voices which I thought was surprisingly good. The quality of the voice acting was even more surprising. It was tense at times, the art was good, the mc was good.

Bemelle was the best and he had the best voice for the role.

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5 hours ago, adamstan said:

Yeah, it was definitely the best route. It was also the first route I've read. Another semi-decent one IMO was Yui's. But Megumi's and Shiro's were utterly ridiculous...

 

It was probably the best-written one, but my favourite is still going to be Ryo's. Unlike all the edgy crap, going for a light BL route with the best buddy character was actually a pretty ballsy idea and I like how it was handled. Plus the drama in it is straightforward and avoids those worst cliches (the sudden appearance of the "childhood promise" trope kind of soured Yui's route for me).

Chinatsu's route, on the other hand, is decent overall, but kind of exposes all the weaker parts of ebi's sensibilities. The mystery is quite obvious even by the end of the common route and later the piling of tragedy over tragedy overdid it in my perspective. It was going for this super-heavy emotional impact, but I kind of felt nothing by the point it ended.

Thus, my personal ranking is Ryo > Yui > Chinatsu >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Shiro & Megumi ;)

Edited by Plk_Lesiak
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As for the "childhood promise" trope - for some reasons I seem to like it (as well as "childhood friend" heroines -> Chinatsu), and it was actually one of the reasons I liked Yui's route, but of course its execution in NOBY is seriously lacking. It was one of the first VNs that I've read (after Army Gals and Battle Girls from Dharker) - that probably "helped" it a bit, as I knew basically nothing about genres' tropes and cliches back then ;)  (Although gigantic plot holes and inconsistencies of Megumi's route were already obvious). For some reasons I didn't like Ryo as a character too much, and BL is generally not for me, so that's it.

And then I read first "full-sized" JVN - if I'm not mistaken, it was Dal Segno - and difference was like night and day... Then followed Harukoi Otome (mixed bag...) and Princess Evangile (great), and after that there was no going back - the only EVN that managed to capture me since then, and stand on its own when compared to JVNs was Katawa Shoujo.

Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to NOBY review at EVN chronicles :)

Edited by adamstan
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Finally done with Language of Love... Quite a joyous experience, really. Like I've mentioned before, it's a celebration of mundane, imperfect romance, with two adults that kind of lose their way and then find new meaning to their lives in each other. A very slow-burn, awkward kind of love story, where neither side really knows whether they'll be able to make it work, but grow to care and depend on each other too much for things to go any other way. All with the unruly, 6 years old daughter of the heroine at the center of it, who's also the source of most of the story's humour and witty dialogue, where both the protagonist and the heroine has to fight with her stubbornness and irrefutable, childish logic.

Also, it features a wonderfully awkward, romantic h-scene. This is one thing I really didn't enjoy in Blackberry Honey, Ebi's other eroge - while the story there was quite excellent, the h-scenes were very porny and completely mismatched with the setting (with both language and various details – since when Victorian-era maids shaved down there???). Here everything stuck together perfectly, enhancing the overall climate and narrative. The whole experience probably won't be for everyone, considering how purposefully-mundane it all is, but it was a while since I was this satisfied with a VN – while it wasn't amazing, and basically didn't even try to be, there's hardly anything in it that I didn't like. A strong 8/10.

Edited by Plk_Lesiak
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5 minutes ago, Plk_Lesiak said:

there's hardly anything in it that I didn't like

I have one thing I didn't like, but it's not a fault of the game at all. It just doesn't apply to me and I'm not a fan.

Spoiler

The protagonist here was, uh, sort of suffering from depression and pressure. Even in this sweet title, ebihime finds a way to bring in the dark.
I get it. Not everyone is like me, and everyone has their own problems. I just don't like this idea that suffering/problems makes a character deeper. My life problem is that I can't empathise with all these brooding protagonists. What luxury!

 

Edited by Mr Poltroon
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