Jump to content

What are you playing?


Guest

Recommended Posts

4 minutes ago, adamstan said:
Spoiler

However, I wonder what happens if you keep being a dick to Liam throughout the whole game - I couldn't make myself do it, but walkthrough suggests, that there is separate ending variation for such cases.

 

Spoiler

Yeah, I tried several variations where he ended up with either Rena or the nurse (can't recall her name atm), but I don't know what happens if you blow him off right from the start. He and Jonas might end up in a worse relationship, but I'm thinking his health will still improve, since Leah ends up removed from cancer treatment duty no matter which ending you reach.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, Seraphim88 said:
  Hide contents

Yeah, I tried several variations where he ended up with either Rena or the nurse (can't recall her name atm), but I don't know what happens if you blow him off right from the start. He and Jonas might end up in a worse relationship, but I'm thinking his health will still improve, since Leah ends up removed from cancer treatment duty no matter which ending you reach.

 

Yeah, it seems right -

Spoiler

she's either shot or gone missing in every case.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Leonor said:

Danganronpa: I'm only in chapter 2 so far but, but! D: I'm a sad gal,, I totally didn't see that culprit coming, and I'm honestly surprised by that, since escaping dangan spoilers is almost impossible argh

Spoiling that particular bit is kinda taboo.  Even as someone who doesn't like the novels, I think it would be pretty shitty to spoil it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

55 minutes ago, GXOALMD said:

Spoiling that particular bit is kinda taboo.  Even as someone who doesn't like the novels, I think it would be pretty shitty to spoil it.

Which particular bit do you have in mind? Can you elaborate in spoilers?

(I've already played the game but am failing to picture what you're referring to.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Mr Poltroon said:

Which particular bit do you have in mind? Can you elaborate in spoilers?

(I've already played the game but am failing to picture what you're referring to.)

It's that one thing that the first chapter of V3 does that the first two novels don't.  That should probably be enough information, it's not as if there's much difference between the novels.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, GXOALMD said:

It's that one thing that the first chapter of V3 does that the first two novels don't.  That should probably be enough information, it's not as if there's much difference between the novels.

Ah, I was trying to place a moment in chapter 2, but it was chapter 1 they were referring to. Got it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

so i actually started playing evenicle, 

 

If fate is like that goth kid who always wore makeup during high school and talked about how people are actually the worst and stayed away from everyone, Evenicle is like that always happy kid who always wears long sleeves and gets along with everyone that dropped out of highschool half way through and you find out years later that he killed himself because he couldn't take the abuse at home anymore, which is incidentally what I might do before I finish reading this.

 

Both horrible, horrifing stories, it's just that one tries really hard to hide it.

 

I swear I just finished act 3 and It's... so... FUCKED, and I know it's gonna get worse but for the first time in... years I'm actually excited about something, I'm actually thinking, I can't wait for this day to be over so I can go home and play some more, I can't even remember when the last time I felt something like this was 

 

there's also  that post Ruberick wrote in my forum post that is tempting me so hard but I'm way to invested to actually read it. I know I only asked about Raimus and Riche so now I have this really horrible feeling about Tio... but I can't stop know, I'l just have to do what a lot of girls do in this VN... just bite down and take it 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just finished The Language of Love. It was short, but beautiful - very heartwarming. I wholeheartedly agree with @Plk_Lesiak's review. I liked almost everything about it - Tama's antics, the slow-paced, slightly awkward romance between Mitsuki and Kyouko, very tastefully done H-scene, with nice pillow talk afterwards... And some inspiring thoughts about relationships and life in general thrown here and there (maybe nothing new and unique, but it's nice to be reminded from time to time).

Also, I feel like I could relate to a protagonist for a bit - at least when it comes to loneliness, and being awkward at relationships. (Although I am already way older than him...)

8/10 from me.

On a side note - the Japanese setting of this VN seems pretty believable, which isn't that often the case when it comes to EVNs from what I gather ;) The only other EVN I read that managed to pull that off was Katawa Shoujo. And then on the other side of the spectrum we have disasters like "No One But You... "

Edited by adamstan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Been interested in that one for a while now, so I might give it a go when I'm done with SakuSaku and Zero Time Dilemma, which I'm alternating between right now!
Was Language of Love the VN where one of the characters is complaining about their age although they're only like 22? I seem to recall someone here mentioning that, but I might have it confused with some other VN. In any case, stuff like that makes me feel like some kind of ancient relic. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, Seraphim88 said:

Was Language of Love the VN where one of the characters is complaining about their age although they're only like 22? I seem to recall someone here mentioning that, but I might have it confused with some other VN. In any case, stuff like that makes me feel like some kind of ancient relic.

Our protag-kun here's 23, but yeah, it starts with him complaining about feeling old ;) But he kind of has some reasons for that.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really wish more VNs had background art with character faces.
As I mentioned earlier, I'm currently reading SakuSaku, and it's another case where background characters are just faceless blobs, completely devoid of any personality and emotion. Here's an example:

qNkkrG.png

To me, they basically just seem like cardboard cutouts in some cheap play, rather than give off the impression that they're actual people.
I mean, compare it to some backgrounds in Aokana:

QtOgk6.jpg

MQobbG.jpg

hSXzWd.jpg


The difference is like night and day. It does wonders for the ambience of the scene, and it seems like such an easy thing to do, I don't understand why it isn't more common.

Edited by Seraphim88
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Can't have that you know, when artists are too busy drawing as quickly as they can for their paycheck, or just copying everyone elses work, like most vn's tbh. Just look at less popular vn's, nukiges etc and you'll find a much larger variety of CG's, which goes to show how much effort they put in bigger titles.

Edited by Stormwolf
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Seraphim88 said:

I really wish more VNs had background art with character faces.
As I mentioned earlier, I'm currently reading SakuSaku, and it's another case where background characters are just faceless blobs, completely devoid of any personality and emotion. Here's an example:

To me, they basically just seem like cardboard cutouts in some cheap play, rather than give off the impression that they're actual people.
I mean, compare it to some backgrounds in Aokana:

The difference is like night and day. It does wonders for the ambience of the scene, and it seems like such an easy thing to do, I don't understand why it isn't more common.

But you see, in Aokana the background characters aren't going to grow up to be harem protagonists, that's why they have faces.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a great way to start the new year! Just completed YUNO a while ago and I'm left speechless. Now I know why YUNO has been lauded as the grandfather of many modern VNs - it's just simply that good. YUNO has been known to be as an inspiration to many Japanese media; with the likes of Fate Stay Night, Ace Attorney, Island, Steins Gate, Muv Luv, Clannad, Never7, Ever 17, Zero Escape, AI Sonmium Files and The World God Only Knows taking ideas from it. Well, to me, it seemed a lot like a Steins Gate/Clannad mashup with a bit of

Spoiler

SAO. 

At first glance, YUNO may seem like a typical sci-fi VN. However, towards the end, there would be a complete plot twist which many would probably not see coming (unless they got spoiled beforehand).  I had no prior knowledge of YUNO, so imagine my surprise when I reached the True Route.

Spoiler

Well, that isekai arc completely threw me off. Now I know where Muv Luv Alternative got its huge genre shift inspiration from.

 

Without a doubt, the route which I liked the most is the True Route (epilogue). This is the part when it started becoming a hell lot like Clannad and

Spoiler

SAO,

and when the story gets interesting. 

Spoiler

Takuya and Celes (Sayless)  was such a nice couple. That peaceful period that they had with YUNO and Kun-Kun for 4 years was so fun to read, but I knew it wasn't gonna last long. What came after Celes' death would spark a chain of character deaths, and I could feel the pain and loss for every one of them (except for Ryuzoji of course). What really shocked me was Kanna actually being Takuya's daughter. Amanda looked a bit like Eriko, so when I initially saw the photo, I was somewhat perplexed. Well not anymore. After the explanation at the end that Dela Grante was about to hit Earth and that some Dela Grante citizens were bound for Earth, it just sort of clicked.

kanna-amanda.png

 

Another thing which I also find intriguing is the possibility of Takuya not finding Illia's letter to the Imperial Capital. If he hadn't found the letter, he wouldn't have sent it to the Capital. If he hadn't sent it to the capital, the soldiers wouldn't have come to get Celes. If the soldiers hadn't come, Celes wouldn't have died (or maybe she still would but we don't know that). If Celes hadn't died, Takuya might never have travelled to the Capital. If he hadn't travelled to the Capital, he would never have gone back to his original world.

 

There are still some things which I don't quite get though:

Spoiler

1. Who killed Mitsuki/Yuuki in Mio's route?

2. What was that giant tower machine thing found under Sword Cape in Mio's route? Was it one of the tower things found in Dela Grante? If so, what purpose did they serve? I'm sure it's not just to strike lightning at those who attempt to mine ores there.

I've not enjoyed reading a VN this much since playing Rewrite and Dies Irae in 2018, so I'm really glad I finally decided to give YUNO a try . Overall, a 9/10. Up next, Baldr Sky. Very much looking forward to it.

 

Edited by wei123
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As for your second question -

Spoiler

Yes, it's one of those. And they were basically guardtowers. In Dela Grante they were shooting workers trying to escape and probably if somebody unauthorized tried to steal the ore they would shoot them too. In the "current" world obviously only the second function remained ;)

 

I see that you played the remake. How would you rate the new voices and translation? Also, did they tone down those mood-ruining pantyshots in CGs?

Edited by adamstan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just reached the first kiss CG in Ann's route in SakuSaku. This is the one:

Spoiler

IUkhFC.png

While I appreciate that they actually touch each other, unlike some of the atrocities I've seen in other VNs (like this one in Hoshi Ori), I have to admit it looks pretty awkward when they open their mouths to that extent. It made me think of this scene from Ace Ventura:

Fbfgze.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, wei123 said:

Without a doubt, the route which I liked the most is the True Route (epilogue). This is the part when it started becoming a hell lot like Clannad and

  Reveal hidden contents

SAO,

and when the story gets interesting. 

Somewhat unexpected, at least the anime completely fell apart in the epilogue. Felt like watching a completely different show than the previous episodes. lol

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Spirit hunters ng. Not as good as the first so far atmosphere and setting wise, but my opinion on that might change later. I do like the story and the characters.

 

Goes for both i guess, i wish they made the story less predictable. It follows a set pattern for every case and basically dont deviate from it, which is terrible from a story standpoint. Its always a good thing to change things up a bit and surprise the reader. Maybe solving the cases earlier once and not the last second?

 

Also dont play "scary" mode. Its cheap and silly. Flashes of something, which is not scary at all. The real scares is what you want and they're there in all modes.

Edited by Stormwolf
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, adamstan said:

 

I see that you played the remake. How would you rate the new voices and translation? Also, did they tone down those mood-ruining pantyshots in CGs?

I can't compare the remake and the original, since I haven't played the latter, but I would say that the voices fit each character just fine. I know there are others who find the original voices to be superior, but I actually find the new voices pretty decent. The translation looks good too, but they apparently changed

'Sayless' to 'Celes'.

As for your second question,  I don't think there are any of those in the first place, so thank goodness for that. However, the sexual content is still there, except that it's all implicit instead of explicit.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, I'm done with Zero Time Dilemma, and what a disappointment it was.

Spoiler

1. Character development was awful compared to in 999 and Virtue's Last Reward, and all the jumping back and forth between different characters and events, combined with the vast amount of death scenes in different timelines, made it hard to really care about what happened to them.

2. I was expecting to see more loose ends wrapped up. One example:
What happened to Aoi from the first game? He escaped with Akane during the cliffhanger ending, but while she's part of the story in both sequels, it's not mentioned once what happened to him.
I had been thinking since Virtue's Last Reward that maybe he was actually Brother and that that title was a reference to him being Akane's brother, but no, he's just randomly erased from existence. Am I supposed to assume he died from the Radical-6 outbreak or something like that? Killing off major characters off screen without any explanation isn't exactly good writing in my book.

3. What's the deal with the reveal about Zero's identity? He just suddenly showed up in the middle of a room during a scene and turned out to be a character that had not been neither seen nor mentioned before. All the other characters were acting like he had been together with them all along, yet none of them ever talked about him or took him into account in a single situation over the course of the game.

4. The ending was terrible. Sure, all the characters are alive (including the serial killer who just kills whoever she wants whenever she feels like it), but nothing is really resolved other than them feeling a bit more motivated about stopping the extinction of humanity. Problem is, they have no information whatsoever about who the person that will cause it is or how he or she will make it happen, so how exactly are they supposed to stop it?

For a conclusion to the trilogy, the ending sure feels inconclusive. It's a cheap way to keep the door open for another sequel at some point, I guess.

Edited by Seraphim88
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't hate ZTD as much as most Zero Escape fans seem to do but I admit it was a pretty weak way to end the trilogy. To address a few of your points:

Spoiler

1. Yeah, the only trio whose arc wasn't obnoxious was the one with Sigma and Phi imo, and even that one wasn't great.

3. That twist was actually quite heavily foreshadowed. There were a few references to an old and blind man being part of the crew and several scenes where the camerawork made it seem like characters were talking to the boy or the dog but the way they were adressed didn't fit (meaning it was actually adressed towards Zero). I still think the reveal felt rather jarring and out of nowhere and was pretty stupid imo but it wouldn't be an Uchikoshi game without the main twist being about perspective. The main twist in each Zero Escape game only works in its respective medium. In 999 it relies heavily on the use of the two screens of the DS, revealing that that the narration on one of the screens is actually told by past Akane. In VLR the use of a VN format causes you not to question the protagonist not being voiced because it's pretty common in the medium. It also allows the direction to restrict your vision in a way that keeps you from looking into mirrors or reflecting surfaces. The use of FMV in ZTD allows to always keep the culprit out of frame without you ever noticing, which wouldn't have worked in a VN. And as far as I know, Ever17 has a meta twist as well.

4. I read somewhere that the creators ran out of money so they had to rush the ending. I don't know how much truth there is to this but to me it certainly feels like this could be the case.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, alpacaman said:
Spoiler

Yeah, the only trio whose arc wasn't obnoxious was the one with Sigma and Phi imo, and even that one wasn't great.

 

Spoiler

Agreed. I think the most interesting stuff that happened in terms of character development was when Sigma and Diana got stuck together in the shelter, which ended up with the birth of Phi and Delta. Not even Akane and Junpei, who played major roles before, felt like necessary parts of the story, if it wasn't for the fact that several shifters were needed for that resonance shift at the end.
Eric was the worst character by far, though. He's just a nobody with a minor connection to Mira, and the only real purpose he seemed to have was to act as an instigator of violence to progress the story at certain points; something Mira could've probably done herself considering her identity.

 

41 minutes ago, alpacaman said:
Spoiler

That twist was actually quite heavily foreshadowed. There were a few references to an old and blind man being part of the crew and several scenes where the camerawork made it seem like characters were talking to the boy or the dog but the way they were adressed didn't fit (meaning it was actually adressed towards Zero). I still think the reveal felt rather jarring and out of nowhere and was pretty stupid imo but it wouldn't be an Uchikoshi game without the main twist being about perspective. The main twist in each Zero Escape game only works in its respective medium. In 999 it relies heavily on the use of the two screens of the DS, revealing that that the narration on one of the screens is actually told by past Akane. In VLR the use of a VN format causes you not to question the protagonist not being voiced because it's pretty common in the medium. It also allows the direction to restrict your vision in a way that keeps you from looking into mirrors or reflecting surfaces. The use of FMV in ZTD allows to always keep the culprit out of frame without you ever noticing, which wouldn't have worked in a VN. And as far as I know, Ever17 has a meta twist as well.

 

Spoiler

In any case, the fact that the game actively omits visual information, logical dialogue between characters and whatnot, just for the purpose of concealing that there's another person among them, means that his entire existence throughout the game is basically just a plot device implemented for this one twist. It's one of the most disappointing and boring plot twists I've ever seen, honestly.

 

42 minutes ago, alpacaman said:
Spoiler

I read somewhere that the creators ran out of money so they had to rush the ending. I don't know how much truth there is to this but to me it certainly feels like this could be the case.

 

Spoiler

Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me. I'm generally not a fan of open endings, and this is another example of one I don't like.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...