What are you playing?

[Deep Blue]

My copy of Steins;Gate for the Vita arrived yesterday and I started playing today. The show was one of my favorite animes of all time, so I'm looking forward to the visual novel.

[Eclipsed]

BoS: Ch. 6 - Mire disturbed the fk outta me

 

Because Yuka still has her Sachiko paper fragment she apparently has some level of protection against direct ganks from Sachiko herself

 

 

...and so Sachiko spends the entire chapter 'befriending' Yuka...

 

 

and takes her on a tour to experience the horrors funtime of the Underground Bomb Shelter

 

 

...until Yuka succumbs to the Darkening

 

 

making her easy prey

 

 

and voila! we just experienced the behind-the-scenes from one of the best Wrong Ends from the first game! 

 

Some fked up shit

[Sonrio]

Sharin no Kuni; just got done with Ch 4! Almost done with this haha

[Turnip Sensei]

BoS: Ch. 6 - Mire disturbed the fk outta me

[Eclipsed]

Finished Book of Shadows.

 

Will post a proper misc.thoughts/rambling tmr cuz sleep but for now pretty hyped up for Blood Drive

It's a shame that Blood Drive exists so you know Ayumi won't actually die, but man I screamed when blood started squirting out from her neck >.>

 

[Funyarinpa]

So decided to finish off Grisaia no Kajitsu after like a 3+ month stall, I only have Makina route left.

 

(GNK SPOILERS)

Who had that one flashback scene where her mother is taken away from her and she's left alone on the top of the hospital as it rains? Also who had that scene where she's lying in the hospital bed but can't move or talk or anything

[Eclipsed]

Corpse Party: Book of Shadows Misc. Thoughts/Ramblings(SPOILERS)

Story: 6/10 Book of Shadows is composed of 20% what-if & 70% behind-the-scenes scenarios; with the final 10% being an actual sequel to the first Corpse Party. It plays in Episodic fashion, with each Chapter focusing on a specific set of characters in their respective scenarios.

 

While overall these Chapters served to enrich the universe of Corpse Party beyond that of the five surviving characters from the main cast, I constantly found myself simply not caring for the backstories for these other characters so I couldn't enjoy reading them as much as I would have liked to, though in the end I did appreciate their existence.

 

Individual Chapter thoughts & ratings out of five ☆'s:

• Chapter 1 "Seal" (☆☆☆☆): One of my favorite Chapters, this chapter explores the 'what-if' case where Naomi is actually able to save Seiko from her hanging fate. I couldn't help but cheer Naomi on as she monologues to herself about how she'll definitely save Seiko this time- and she does! Unfortunately, 'tis all for naught as we learn the mechanics of this world: if characters are destined to die, saving them from how they died only results in them dying in a more horrific way moments later. An excellent way to start off Book of Shadows~

...

 

• Chapter 2 "Demise" (☆☆): Explores the what-if case where Mayu doesn't immediately get splattered onto the wall. Unfortunately, not much is offered in the case that she does: she meets up with Yoshiki and some side character Nana, has some flashbacks to Shig (Morishige), and then dies. Really would've liked to see how Mayu x Shig would've stacked up against the Heavenly Host, had they been given the chance. Alas, Mayu eventually meets her (worse) fate:

;-;

 

• Chapter 3 "Encounter" (☆☆☆): This chapter explores Yui's (Shishido-sensei's) background, back when she was 17 and attending Kisaragi High School as a student (with some cute teacher-student interaction between an ill absentminded Yui & Satoshi before and after the flashback). We learn of Yui's aspirations of becoming a teacher, get to see her interact with her first love Tsukasa, and even have her face off against Yoshie (in which you should never choose a broom to defend yourself or hide in a locker 'less you want to die horribly). Enjoyable segment overall that made me appreciate Yui's character a bit more. Side comment: a cool little 'show, don't tell' thing the writers did that I liked was mentioning that Yui got 'marked' on her arm during her encounter with Yoshie (the incident itself being played off as a dream). In the 'present' with Satoshi however, the CG clearly shows her mark proving that the incident did indeed happen, though no further comments are made.

Hey look it's 17 year old version of Yui! That means everybody else was like 11 or 12. 

 

I spy the Mark of Yoshie!!

 

• Chapter 4 "Purgatory" (☆☆☆☆): ~Obvious 4-star rating bias cuz favorite character Naho is in it~ This chapter focuses on Naho's best friend, Sayaka's perspective and the events leading up to Naho's entering of the Heavenly Host. We get to see a cheerful outgoing Naho living out her days as such a normal high school girl and it becomes hard to believe she becomes such a stoic as a spirit after her death. Even the VA stated that she was surprised that Naho would have this type of personality >.>. This chapter was worth just to see Naho's catlike persona, though it's a real damn shame Sayaka had to get offed; she was a real looker 

Srry, only fodder characters get to have fanservice CGs

 

Best side characters in the game. By far.

 

RIP Sayaka.

 

• Chapter 5 "Shangri-La" (☆☆): Focusing on Shig who groups up with some of the fodder students Mitsuki and Fukuroi in his search for Mayu. Combined with Chapter 7 gives some interesting insight as to the dynamics of the students from Byakudan High School and the more interesting side character, Kizami, but overall this chapter was a snore fest. Really have to give props to Mitsuki though for dying to Kizami without giving him the satisfaction of actually dying (aka begging for her life, screaming in pain, etc.). Chapter ends with more of Shig's corpse fetish as he stumbles upon Mitsuki's body:

Luckily Morishige goes insane and suicides at the sight of Mayu's corpse, but I swear he would officially be the most creepiest character in the world if he acted this way instead.

 

• Chapter 6 "Mire" (☆☆☆☆): Another one of my favorite chapters from an objective standpoint, though since I'm extremely fond of Yuka it's also one of my least favorite chapters. Focusing on Yuka's perspective in the case she gets captured by psycho onii-chan Kizami, we get some cheap fanservice where he slices vertically down Yuka's dress before getting ganked by the zombie man, allowing Yuka to escape. Sachiko comments that Yuka's paper charm is still protecting her, so Sachi takes the play-with-my-food route and spends the entire chapter befriending Yuka until she could make her succumb to the Darkening and then kill her. See this post for more info, cuz frankly I don' want to see those Yuka CGs ever again.​

​

• Chapter 7 "Tooth" (☆☆): Another Byakudan High School focused chapter, through the eyes of Tohko who has a mad crush on pre-psycho Kizami. Blah blah blah they all get trapped in the Heavenly Host and then one of their friends die and Kizami goes psycho. Tohko ultimately escapes, and locks herself up in the Nurse's Office. The same office that you meet her in the first game where she'll stab Satoshi btw. Connections!

Yes, Kizami is totally the murderer because he threw our dead friend down the stairs in an attempt to convince us that he's dead so we can all abandon his dead boy and try to leave the school!

 

 

Chapter 8 "Blood Drive" (☆☆☆☆): Finally, the bit of sequel we were waiting for! Narrated by Naomi, she visits Seiko's family in hopes of interrogating her siblings as to the existence of Seiko (everyone who died in the Heavenly Host is forgotten, with the mysterious exception of Naho and her mentor) before being stopped by Ayumi who suggests they go visit Sachiko & Yoshie's household. In the mountains. By themselves. And hitchhiking with a stranger. At night. And getting lost in the woods for a couple hours. >.>. 

 

Anyway they eventually find their way to their objective and work their way to the basement where it's revealed Ayumi Shinozaki is indeed a distant relative to Yoshie&Sachiko Shinozaki. Go figure. And find the Book of Shadows, which introduces witchcraft & black magic to the equation of Corpse Party (gotta explain the HeavenlyHost somehow rite). Ayumi skims through the book before finding a spell on reviving the dead and boldly declares to Naomi that they should try it. Uh huh. We all know how successful these things always go in these types of stories...

 

They attempt to revive Mayu, which they do- except she's missing her face and then promptly dies via rune-marking explosions (some speculation as to why the revival failed is that Mayu doesn't exist in this universe anymore, so she cannot be revived. or the Book just hates Ayumi)

 

The rune marking explosion starts afflicting Ayumi, who pleads for her life as Naomi fumbles around, unsure of what to do. Just when Ayumi's fate appeared sealed, her sister Hinoe arrives and dispels the curse, embracing a relieved Ayumi... before having her head explode. Commence Blood Drive

 

 

 

Blood Drive. Btw Ayumi, I didn't know you had a sister...!!

 

 

 

Music: 9/10 I really enjoyed the techno-horror BGMs, they did a fantastic job matching the mood. Some of my favorite moments include:

• Struggling Against Fate during the Naomi-rescuing-Seiko segment in Chapter 1. Really captured the 'we're gonna save Seiko this time!@#' feeling. *Sigh* but it just wasn't meant to be..

• Escape from Samasara during the Let's-see-how-long-Mayu-can-survive-now-that-she's-given-the-chance segment in Chapter 2. Mayu isn't treated very nicely throughout the Corpse Party series, but she's given a moment to feel badass with this track as she soloes her way through the HeavenlyHost... before dying again.

• Dead End during the climax of Prologue: Blood Drive where Ayumi was about to get torn to shreds for dabbling in the Book of Shadows. Very tense moment.

 

Outside of the horror there can be some soothing Slice-of-Life tracks like the Everyday, Good Friends, etc..

 

 

Art: 7/10 Looks good enough, though sometimes characters can look noticeably different between CGs:

 

 

 

...what? You're telling me that was intentional..?!

 

/joke  overall the art's good.

 

~~

Overall: 7.5/10 A good 'prequel' to expand upon the Corpse Party universe for fans of the series, though it leaves much to be desired in the sequel aspect. Though I guess that's what Blood Drive is for 

[Turnip Sensei]

I did Kaoru's route in Ayakashibito.

The scenes were Suzu was jealous and tormented Kaoru gave me some nasty Comyu flashbacks. Luckily that issue was solved pretty quickly, and other than that I really liked the route.

The final assault to the Dominion headquarters was epic, and Kotarou-Sensei is the one the most awesome characters I've seen.

I had to take a break and laugh out loud when he spared Reina saying: "It's because you're a good woman."

 

The other routes seem interesting as well, since there's lots of unanswered questions. Still, reading a route-based VN reminds me once again how much more I prefer VNs with linear plots. After finishing one route, I don't really feel like going through the common route again to see what lies behind different choices. And to me, having different endings snatches away some worth from each of them.  

[akaritan]

So decided to finish off Grisaia no Kajitsu after like a 3+ month stall, I only have Makina route left.

 

(GNK SPOILERS)

Who had that one flashback scene where her mother is taken away from her and she's left alone on the top of the hospital as it rains? Also who had that scene where she's lying in the hospital bed but can't move or talk or anything

 

I believe that the first one was Yumiko and the second one was in Mitcher's route, but it wasn't Mitcher herself.

[Eclipsed]

Now that I've successfully made the transition from Moe Slice-of-Life to Horror I'm picking up Ss-s-sss-Saya no Uta

[Josephl64]

playing Rance 03 and my days are glorious

[Eclipsed]

Finished Saya no Uta.
 
Misc. Thoughts/Ramblings (Spoilers)

First Impressions

• Boot up the game: Oh look, nice and tranquil title screen music !
• Start the game: Warning label pops up: "This game is very grotesque. Would you like to blur the background(s)?"  -> Hell naw, keep everything uncensored!
• #@%$$#@$######%@$#^%$% -> Ehhhhhhhhh? DAFK TURN DOWN THE VOICE VOLUME
• OH GAWD WHY DIDN'T I CHOOSE CENSOR

 

Story: 8/10 Boo-hoo protagonist Sakisaka Fuminori's family all died in a horrible accident with him being the sole survivor thanks to surgery, but he awakens to have all of his senses warped to display the world as a gorified paradise and so he distances himself from his friends Koji, Omi, and Yoh and lives with this grotesque extraterrestrial life form Saya whom, due to his condition, he sees as a beautiful young girl and as his savior from this mad world.
 
And they bang everynight. 

Climaxes in Fuminori killing everyone close to him including his neighbor, keeping the girl who liked him Yoh as a pet, and then having a glorified 1v1 duel against his best friend Koji before Saya goes into labor and "blossoms" and so Saya successfully biologically takes over planet Earth.

 

// I'd summarize this ending as "disturbingly beautiful". 
 

Totally would've liked to see what that angelic scene would've looked like in 'reality'

Probably just a bunch of bloody intestines flying out...

 
 
 
Alternatively, Koji could consult Dr. Ryoko first instead of immediately going for his glorified 1v1 duel, in which Dr. Ryoko will get the most badass scene ever by managing to shoot(kill) a liquid nitrogenified Saya despite being axed by Fuminori moments before. Humanity is saved, and Fuminori axes himself in the head twice at the sight of a dying Saya. Saya uses her last bit of strength to sludge-crawl her way to Fuminori's corpse and affectionately brushes against him before finally dying. Koji is the sole survivor out of the cast, his only comfort being the knowledge that he can end his life anytime with the single bullet he purchased that costed more than his revolver itself.

 

// An excellent slap-in-the-face foil ending to the above, it's like "Yeah, I'm pro-humanity&normality's survival, fk Saya and Fuminori, love-conquers-all is a myth!" This ending is the only one that made me cry.
 

"You won the battle, but I won the war"

 
 
 
Alternatively alternatively, Fuminori could just be a douche and choose to restore all of his senses, prompting Saya to abandon her pursuit of love cuz she's too shy even though Fuminori would probably still bang that slimy err... yeah... and meanwhile Fuminori gets hauled away into an insane asylum for the murder of his neighbor's family and Omi, left to forever wait for Saya to return to him should she ever need him.
 

// Best ending if you are a Yoh fan, since this is the only one where she lives.

 

Dammit Saya I would've totally still banged you even after recovering my senses!@#

 

Art / Music: 7/10 Not bad, considering made in 2003.
 
~~
Overall: 8/10 A fine read if you like gory, dark and twisted settings. Lots of interesting thematics.

[Suzu Fanatic]

Finished reading Mio's route in Koi ga Saku Koro Sakura Doki, thus completing everything currently translated.

 

Uuwaaah.... Mio's route was pretty bad, lol... it was cute - and I could still like it on a basic level - but pretty aggrivating, and overall a pretty big let-down, at least compared to how well-developed Konami's route was. (it was a huge breath of fresh air, how they actually addressed the issues regarding their relationship)

 

Still looking forward to the full patch though .

 

EDIT: btw Eclipsed, I approve of your current avatar, nice choice

[Jade]

Start playing Yatagarasu's WItch under wishes to commit the Night (?). Here's hoping it will be entertaining

[Eclipsed]

Cuz I'm a bic boi now I'm gonna do Kara no Shoujo.

 

And then Umineko.

 

And then Muv-Luv Alter-7/10-does-not-deserve-very-high-a-place-in-the-hallmark-of-VNs Trilogy

 

And then Fate/Stay

 

And then Majikoi + S, A, III, X, ZZ

[Decay]

Cuz I'm a bic boi now I'm gonna do Kara no Shoujo.

 

And then Umineko.

 

And then Muv-Luv Alter-7/10-does-not-deserve-very-high-a-place-in-the-hallmark-of-VNs Trilogy

 

And then Fate/Stay

 

And then Majikoi + S, A, III, X, ZZ

 

Play Cartagra first. So many people make this mistake.

[Eclipsed]

Play Cartagra first. So many people make this mistake.

Yessir

 

How related are the two btw? Prequel/Sequel or like sameuniverse/share characters type of thing

[Decay]

None of the major plot points of Cartagra are carried over into KnS but three of the characters (the protagonist and the main heroine, and one of the police detectives) do show up and they play a mildly important role and deliver some moments that are greatly diminished without playing Cartagra first. Apparently KnS2 has more characters from Cartagra and it sounds like it might connect the two in a more significant way.

[Zantax]

Astralair no Shiroki Towa

Finally finished Hazuki (and Ochiba...) route. It was OK... -ish I guess. Mainly because Hazuki (and Ochiba) was there, and I liked her a lot. Especially compared to how much I hated Ichika and Kotori in their routes. Plot once again was garbage with ass-pulled happy end. I am wondering about one thing though.

Did really scenario writer thought it is OK to use the same reason of drama and the same solution every time? Seriously, for the 6th time source of drama was lack of communication between family members, and again the solution was to talk a bit -.-' Really, every route and subroute had that crappy excuse of drama this far...

I also thought: there is no way the same person wrote this sorry excuse of a plot in Astralair, and great, complicated and unpredictable plot of Iroseka. And I was right. Scenario was made be different people, and the one in Astralair was made by the same people that were working on Hoshimemo, where plot was also mostly very weak and happy endings really crappy. It was my fault to expect too much from this VN I guess...

Well, next is Rinne route. I don't have any hope anymore that plot won't be total garbage, but I really like Rinne, and am in love in her seiyu voice so I'm quite looking forward to this ^^

[Chuee]

Did really scenario writer thought it is OK to use the same reason of drama and the same solution every time? Seriously, for the 6th time source of drama was lack of communication between family members, and again the solution was to talk a bit -.-' Really, every route and subroute had that crappy excuse of drama this far...

 

Yes, because that's a major theme that runs throughout multiple routes, which is best exemplified by Ochiba's Rune. Then again I'd say most of the drama is more complex than just "Person A did a shit job communicating with Person B, so now things are like this." Most of the routes try and convey similar messages through different scenarios so I'd expect the same.

[Fred the Barber]

What on earth happened? Eclipsed is actually playing VNs again?

 

I wrapped up Majikoi (all routes, main, side, and Agave) today, and am now waiting for my copy of Swan Song to arrive for the reading club. I'm looking forward both to a change in tone and to reading something a bit shorter, after Majikoi turned out to be super long, though I'm pretty sure Swan Song is going to be too heavy for me. Oh well.

 

Spoilery thoughts on Majikoi:

I really didn't care much for the Agave route, whereas normally I'm all about the "true" route. I think the problem was that there were a few characters about whom it changed my view too much, particularly Jun (for whatever reason). Maybe it's just solidarity for a character with a shaved head, but he's a likeable guy; I didn't think it fit his character (nor Aoi's) to go in for something as overboard as the events of the Agave route.

 

For the other routes, Mayucchi's was my surprise favorite, maybe tied with Momoyo's. Setting up and executing those large-scale fights are clearly where Majikoi's writers are at their best, but when things are too serious (like the Agave route), it seems I'm just not able to enjoy those scenes as much. So the tone of the major events in Mayucchi's and Momoyo's routes was perfect.

 

I really strongly disliked Chris's route; the indirect but nonetheless present message of "rape women to get them to agree with you" is abhorrent. And even setting aside that element, it was honestly kind of boring... I usually found Chris and Yamato's relationship more interesting in other routes; I think maybe it was in the Agave route when they were sitting around marathoning a historical drama and talking at length about it, and I wondered why their route didn't have more of that and less H.

 

I found Wanko's route a major disappointment - the "see, your ten years of hard work totally wasn't wasted" scene wasn't especially convincing; on the contrary, that, along with her new dream, all left me feeling that, actually, maybe all that training was wasted. With that kind of feeling, it was hard to feel positive about the story. I'm all for feels, normally, but somehow this route just didn't do it for me.

[Suzu Fanatic]

What on earth happened? Eclipsed is actually playing VNs again?

 

I wrapped up Majikoi (all routes, main, side, and Agave) today, and am now waiting for my copy of Swan Song to arrive for the reading club. I'm looking forward both to a change in tone and to reading something a bit shorter, after Majikoi turned out to be super long, though I'm pretty sure Swan Song is going to be too heavy for me. Oh well.

 

Spoilery thoughts on Majikoi:

I really didn't care much for the Agave route, whereas normally I'm all about the "true" route. I think the problem was that there were a few characters about whom it changed my view too much, particularly Jun (for whatever reason). Maybe it's just solidarity for a character with a shaved head, but he's a likeable guy; I didn't think it fit his character (nor Aoi's) to go in for something as overboard as the events of the Agave route.

 

For the other routes, Mayucchi's was my surprise favorite, maybe tied with Momoyo's. Setting up and executing those large-scale fights are clearly where Majikoi's writers are at their best, but when things are too serious (like the Agave route), it seems I'm just not able to enjoy those scenes as much. So the tone of the major events in Mayucchi's and Momoyo's routes was perfect.

 

I really strongly disliked Chris's route; the indirect but nonetheless present message of "rape women to get them to agree with you" is abhorrent. And even setting aside that element, it was honestly kind of boring... I usually found Chris and Yamato's relationship more interesting in other routes; I think maybe it was in the Agave route when they were sitting around marathoning a historical drama and talking at length about it, and I wondered why their route didn't have more of that and less H.

 

I found Wanko's route a major disappointment - the "see, your ten years of hard work totally wasn't wasted" scene wasn't especially convincing; on the contrary, that, along with her new dream, all left me feeling that, actually, maybe all that training was wasted. With that kind of feeling, it was hard to feel positive about the story. I'm all for feels, normally, but somehow this route just didn't do it for me.

 

That's going to be a pretty strong change of pace, that's for sure lol. But it is a good read. But yeah, you'll need to brace yourself a bit.

 

Decided to try Snow Sakura - noticed Decay reading it a little while back and figured I'd give it a shot. It's okay at first glance, though I'm not very far at all yet.

[Decay]

Snow Sakura had its amusing moments but I kind of got bored of it after two routes.

[bogdankl]

i stopped reading for a while <my life was devoured by a certain evil video game> and now i'm tring to return to comyu, i have some questions however

 

1. out of the five heroine routes which nuber is Ayaya?

2. Does Ayaya's route contain any relevant plot information or can i just skip it? i honestly don't really like her and i would rather not bother with the route if it does not add anything relevant

[Suzu Fanatic]

i stopped reading for a while <my life was devoured by a certain evil video game> and now i'm tring to return to comyu, i have some questions however

 

1. out of the five heroine routes which nuber is Ayaya?

2. Does Ayaya's route contain any relevant plot information or can i just skip it? i honestly don't really like her and i would rather not bother with the route if it does not add anything relevant

 

1. Can't recall, I believe 3rd or 4th.

 

2. Sadly, none. You can completely ignore her route. (I had high hopes personally, but it turns out to be a pretty shallow experience.)