What are you reading? Untranslated edition

[Riku]

6 hours ago, melo4496 said:

Re-read Leyline 1. I just love this series. The pacing is great. The ADV feel is strong making the reader excited to know what will happen next as Tokusa solve the cases. I'll rate this as a page-turner if this is a book. The manner of how the writer gave/hid the information necessary for foreshadowing in what would someone normally consider as just a simple Tsukkomi-boke or slice of life conversation is just... awesome. Everything is connected. すごいし言えん 

For someone who value comedy elements in VNs, I'd say the comedy here is top-notch. Shimoneta is not used in the game, which is rather unique as most VNs depend on that for laughs. I love shimoneta too though.

I just realized that this VN is rather short, like around 12 hrs I think.

Also, for readers who love twists, this VN is right up your alley. 

Anyway, the world needs more tsunderes. http://i.imgur.com/RCCUmEs.png

I'll now go to either Totono / Inochi no spare / Onigokko. 

I've been wanting to read the trilogy for a while, but because it's going to be translated I set it aside. But considering how the first one isn't even out after all this time, I think I'll try to read them before Dies Irae comes out.

Also, like I posted yesterday, I'm reading Natsuiro Recipe right now, and while the backgrounds are beautiful, it's pretty boring for now... Should have rested a little after Kisaragi, now I kinda want something with action.

Edited April 26, 2017 by Riku

[melo4496]

On 4/27/2017 at 2:56 AM, Riku said:

I've been wanting to read the trilogy for a while, but because it's going to be translated I set it aside. But considering how the first one isn't even out after all this time, I think I'll try to read them before Dies Irae comes out.

Also, like I posted yesterday, I'm reading Natsuiro Recipe right now, and while the backgrounds are beautiful, it's pretty boring for now... Should have rested a little after Kisaragi, now I kinda want something with action.

It's good stuff, only if you appreciate Ushio. The other routes are weak but I think some are decent (like Tsubaki's).

.........................

Finished Inochi no Spare. Length is 13.5 hrs
That fucking kabocha. Naita yo maji de kusottare!!! ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡
What striked me most in the game is the Family theme. The main reason I cried.
Otoo-san, Okaa-san, Shimai, Ani. 家族っていいなー ｡ﾟヽ(ﾟ´Д｀)ﾉﾟ｡
いわゆる１つの、甘くて切ない物語ってやつ！
My impression in the game is "hope" rather than "depression". 
I specially love the epilogue. I cried there and got goose bumps.
What a lovely story.

Spoiler

 

Edited April 28, 2017 by melo4496
'cause I don't want to double-post

[Riku]

Dropped Natsuiro and started the first Leyline. It seems that many people find the side routes a waste of time, so should I still read them, or pass them and go back after finishing the trilogy? Do they add to the story overall so it's better to read them?

 

EDIT: Searching a little told me that it wouldn't add to the story, it would even contradict it. So, yeah, might go back and skim through them quickly at the end.

 

EDIT 2: Finished it (True Route). Well, like often said, it was good but not outstanding. Love the art and the comedy is quite good. Really hyped for Leyline 2! (Thought it'll have to wait until wednesday or even thursday, as I'll be busy until then)

Edited April 30, 2017 by Riku
I wouldn't have to edit to avoid double-post if people posted here more often. >.>

[Dergonu]

Been playing Majo to Tsurugi to Sen no Tsuki the past few days. Pretty cool game so far. It's clearly a nukige, but it does have a pretty interesting story and concept, and I'm liking the writing. Reminds me of XX of the Dead on that front.

Wish they would have put a bit more effort into the combat scenes though, as they do feel like it's mostly the same thing over and over, and so far there hasn't been a single CG related to the scenes yet except for the main character's transformation scene. Then again, I still have a decent amount of endings left, so maybe there will be more if it later.

[Riku]

So, couldn't resist and just finished Leyline 2! And, dayum, it was good! Really liked all the revelations at the end, though I have a question:

Spoiler

We learn that Furoyamachi Neko is using Suwa Aoi's body during the night thanks to the magical circle in the west dorm. But here's the thing, in the first Leyline, Furoya was with Koga for at least one whole day because of the incident with the Janus Key, but she didn't turn back to Aoi. So yeah, how is it possible? Because they were in the same place as the main magic circle? But even then, it should only be actived at night. Also, weird there wasn't a word about how Aoi was absent during that time. (I mean, a Day Student disappeared and nobody cares? Koga is one thing, being from Tokusa, but Aoi is a normal student...)

Also, just another really little thing, just how much Koga isn't human? He's not human enough to be able to enter the storehouse, but sufficiently human to not be affected by the Mist Lamp (don't remember the name) who can only shrink non human. But to be fair, you can ignore it if you think that you need to be near to be affected and Koga was too far when Momo was shrunk.

Anyway, good stuff, starting Leyline 3 tomorrow!

Edited May 3, 2017 by Riku

[melo4496]

11 hours ago, Riku said:

So, couldn't resist and just finished Leyline 2! And, dayum, it was good! Really liked all the revelations at the end, though I have a question:

  Reveal hidden contents

We learn that Furoyamachi Neko is using Suwa Aoi's body during the night thanks to the magical circle in the west dorm. But here's the thing, in the first Leyline, Furoya was with Koga for at least one whole day because of the incident with the Janus Key, but she didn't turn back to Aoi. So yeah, how is it possible? Because they were in the same place as the main magic circle? But even then, it should only be actived at night. Also, weird there wasn't a word about how Aoi was absent during that time. (I mean, a Day Student disappeared and nobody cares? Koga is one thing, being from Tokusa, but Aoi is a normal student...)

Also, just another really little thing, just how much Koga isn't human? He's not human enough to be able to enter the storehouse, but sufficiently human to not be affected by the Mist Lamp (don't remember the name) who can only shrink non human. But to be fair, you can ignore it if you think that you need to be near to be affected and Koga was too far when Momo was shrunk.

Anyway, good stuff, starting Leyline 3 tomorrow!

I was waiting for somebody else to answer your question, because I really suck at analyzing and paying attention to minor details. 

Spoiler

I don't quite remember the specific details of the switching of night and day students so this is going to be unreliable, but anyway. Theory 1, it's a plot hole. lol Theory 2, because Neko was not in the dorm where the magical circle does the switching, at the time it operated. The disciplinary committee makes it sure for the students to go back in the dorms before the "night world" comes into action, and see to it that students go straight to the dorm (where the magical circle does the thing). This means that they won't switch, if not inside the dorm. Even if Aoi disappeared, she was not yet introduced in Leyline 1, so it's unnecessary for the writers to mention her in the first game. Or, nobody cares about her. She has no friends. Everybody hates her. lol For the second question, it will be answered in the 3rd game.

Leyline 2 has the biggest cliffhanger ever... I hope the 3rd game will satisfy you 

[Riku]

Thanks for answering, but I thought the same thing at first, but here is the problem:

Spoiler

If doing that would allow Night Students to still be here, all the plan of using the magic stones would be meaningless. I think the magic circle in the West Dorm is activated at the same time as the Night and is deactivated when the Night ends. Well, I guess perhaps you could say it's possible that the magic circle uses enough magic to let the transformation last a few days. But in that case it would be possible to do it without the stones. Though, yeah, Kasumi and Tsubaki wouldn't want to help. A shame it's not explained.

I know for Aoi, but still, she does have friends, so plot hole. x)

Also, a thing I always thought was weird and his pretty blurred is when Ushio came to the school. All point to her coming before the end of the first year. Even in the first day of school, we see that she was here since the year before. But now, the problem is her relationship with the Night Students. It's my guess, but I think the Night Students are eternally in the same class repeating the year. Yet, they still remember the previous year with Ushio, and Ushio act as if it's normal and that, for example, Hina and Iba were in first year and now in their second year, meaning that Furoya wasn't here before, which is impossible. So yeah, it's not clear, but it's pretty much a plot hole too.

 

Edited May 4, 2017 by Riku

[melo4496]

On 5/4/2017 at 7:05 PM, Riku said:

Thanks for answering, but I thought the same thing at first, but here is the problem:

  Reveal hidden contents

If doing that would allow Night Students to still be here, all the plan of using the magic stones would be meaningless. I think the magic circle in the West Dorm is activated at the same time as the Night and is deactivated when the Night ends. Well, I guess perhaps you could say it's possible that the magic circle uses enough magic to let the transformation last a few days. But in that case it would be possible to do it without the stones. Though, yeah, Kasumi and Tsubaki wouldn't want to help. A shame it's not explained.

I know for Aoi, but still, she does have friends, so plot hole. x)

Also, a thing I always thought was weird and his pretty blurred is when Ushio came to the school. All point to her coming before the end of the first year. Even in the first day of school, we see that she was here since the year before. But now, the problem is her relationship with the Night Students. It's my guess, but I think the Night Students are eternally in the same class repeating the year. Yet, they still remember the previous year with Ushio, and Ushio act as if it's normal and that, for example, Hina and Iba were in first year and now in their second year, meaning that Furoya wasn't here before, which is impossible. So yeah, it's not clear, but it's pretty much a plot hole too.

 

Pretty much common in the mystery genre. Never bothered with them 

Finally got in the mood to read some new VN after rereading KnS series. I'm on 3rd terrace in the second episode. Satsuki is a goddess http://i.imgur.com/6vq8TKk.png and Chizuru is a bitch http://i.imgur.com/E02ONgR.png 

For new reading, have just started Tasogare no Sinsemilla. The setting is Countryside, which is my favorite setting. The art is so good. It makes me wonder why this VN's art is more refined than Tsukikage no Simulacre, which I tried a little bit before. Sakuya hasn't appeared yet, but I can see that she will be my favorite heroine. Looks like it's going to have mystery! I would love to know why a lot of people love the game. http://i.imgur.com/zairJ4J.png

[Riku]

And finished! (Well, still have the Another Story part, but it's aside from the Main story, so i'm posting my opinion now)

It was good. Or more like, good and sometimes awesome.

Leyline 1: Good, but nothing outstanting, as it's the game supposed to make you discover the world of the VN. CGs are beautiful, and BGMs are kinda nice too.

Leyline 2: The background was set in the first game, so it can go deeper. A little like the first one at first, then it quickly becomes better going deeper in the story. The revelations are amazing and the end really emotional. CGs are beautiful as always, and the new BGMs are nice, particulary Vanish.

Leyline 3: To be honest, I liked the atmosphere of the second game better, but I really liked it too, and Ushio is just too cute in this one. My only complaint is that, well, you know. Anyway, really liked the end, it was beautiful! CGs are eye candy as always, with a few REALLY beautiful ones, and really liked the Ley-Line BGM.

 

Anyway, all in all really liked this trilogy. Plot holes aside, the mysteries were cool. I really liked the humour and the characters, thought I would have liked Koga to be more proactive sometimes, but he's not bad at all. Ushio is a given, and Omaru (Yeah, well, once you're used to it...) and Shizuka are really well developed.

So yeah, time well spent!

Now, I did Kisaragi Gold Star, Natsuiro Recipe (well, only Yuzu's route), and the three Ley Line in succession, so guess I'll rest a few days before playing the next one. I wonder what I'll read next... (I also have Sora no Kiseki the 3rd to do, hope I'll be able to finish everything before Dies Irae)

[Dergonu]

Finished Majo to Tsurugi to Sen no Tsuki, and I really liked it. Should have a review up on Clephas' blog sometime later. This game made me quite interested in the prequels, so I might start up Pendulum sometime, to get a bit more of the story.

Now, time to return to ChuSinGura, Bushi no Kodou and kiss my free time goodbye. \o/ Gotta finish the FD before the sequel comes out later this year.

[Yuuko]

6 minutes ago, Dergonu said:

Gotta finish the FD before the sequel comes out later this year.

>actually believing it will come out this year 

[melo4496]

Finished Tasogare no Sinsemilla. Length is 35-40 hrs. A fantasy-mystery VN by Applique. I have to admit this is not my thing. There are 7 heroines and finishing all routes including the fragments will lead to the Sinsemilla episode which is the best thing in the game. However I'm not much impressed to be honest. My biggest problem is that I only like 3 out of the 7 girls (Sakuya, Misato, Akane, 2 of which are even sub heroines) making the routes of the girls I don't like, hard to enjoy and stressful. I find Iroha bland, the way Ginko talk exceeeedingly annoying, and there are even two children. My dislike for most of the characters ruined it for me. That being said the 4 "main" heroine routes are technically pretty good. Overall, imoutoge. Sakuya is a first-class imouto. http://i.imgur.com/mq8neAb.png

..............

Finished Kimi to Kanojo to Kanojo no Koi (13 hrs). 嗚呼～すっきりしたぜ。Kami yo, I feel so proud finishing this game. Thank you for this xp lol Top-notch art, bgm, presentation and concept. I have no idea that I have a VN like this sitting on my backlog for years. This is my first Nitroplus VN and it's wArPEd aS f U C k. Recommended to those who like baseball, I guess... haha... ha ha ha ha. . .otoko no. . .roman daze.  .  .  . Miyuki.  .  . aishiteru.  .ze.  .  .  .

http://i.imgur.com/Mkay36y.png My favorite character in the game. Love the voice acting.

http://i.imgur.com/iXz20vJ.png The best girl in the game though  

Edited May 14, 2017 by melo4496

[Zakamutt]

Finished Stargazer-少女は星の夢を見る-. It's pretty... okay if you can take some feels and like yuri. More importantly though, this is the first VN I have actually completed in Japanese that's not 明日終わる世界、その前夜, and frankly that one is less than 500 lines in total. A single route plus the common of watajuu is probably longer than Stargazer still, and I finished two of those, but... just let me have this, okay? ｗ

I guess maybe I should continue Hatsusaku now... maybe finishing off In White before that so I get more random doujinge under my belt, lol.

[Riku]

It's me again! So, since last time, I tried World Election, but put it aside after a few hours. Wasn't too into it, but wasn't bad, so for now it's on hold.

Then I read Yomegami. Well, just Airis' route to be precise. Wasn't bad, but didn't like it that much.

Then, the main one: Aokana.

I wanted to read it for quite a long time, but with all the translation projects I waited, and waited, then for some reason, a few days ago, I got the sudden urge to read it, so I did it.

Long story short, enjoyed it, was really fun, loved the art and the musics, so if someone could tell me how to extract ALL the CGs (FC and normal) as well as the BGMs I'd be really grateful.

Asuka's route was obviously the most satisfying, but really liked Misaki's route too. Mashiro's route was cute, and, unfortunately, I wasn't interested in Rika's route and half-read it, skipping a lot of text. Best character is obviously Aoi, one more reason to like Asuka's route. As for Masaya, I was a little disappointed as he's useless most of the time as a Second, and I really wanted to see him play FC (like most of us). So yeah, I'm waiting for Zwei not for Saki, but because I hope he'll play FC in it.

Got the Vita version too, and damn, the CGs are even more beautiful on the Vita screen! The few added CGs are nice too, as well a the few new tracks (OP and I noticed one during the final match in Misaki's route). Still can't listen to the BGMs, but they added a Replay for all the matchs, which is cool!

 

Now I guess I'll read a short one and wait for Dies irae.

[melo4496]

On 5/20/2017 at 0:14 AM, Riku said:

Asuka's route was obviously the most satisfying, but really liked Misaki's route too. Mashiro's route was cute, and, unfortunately, I wasn't interested in Rika's route and half-read it, skipping a lot of text. Best character is obviously Aoi, one more reason to like Asuka's route. As for Masaya, I was a little disappointed as he's useless most of the time as a Second, and I really wanted to see him play FC (like most of us). So yeah, I'm waiting for Zwei not for Saki, but because I hope he'll play FC in it.

I want to reread this thing. I have the same thoughts except that I'm waiting for Zwei for Saki too. lol I was amazed with the concept of FC, but the protagonist is weak-willed. He should regain himself on Zwei, yes.

Houkago no Futekikakusha (21 hrs). I have tried this last year but was too scared and dropped it after knowing their situation. こんな世界なんていやだよ！うわぁぁぁ～　お母さああぁぁぁん～！yeah I was something like that. Though because of Inochi no Spare, I became quite confident so I read it. Turns out I developed a strong resistance towards tragic stories.

Looking at vndb, the distribution of votes is really wild. While I can understand why some readers hate this game, I just love it so you can do nothing about it. Houkago no Futekikakusha is a fantasy-utsuge with mystery and chuuni elements. A pattern can be seen in the routes, but it never felt repetitive. I hated Shiori-sensei but hey, I came to like her and it turned out that she had the better route aside from Haruka. Kanade though is simply the cutest heroine (piano girl~ otoko no roman!) and am quite disappointed with Asagao because she felt like an incomplete tsundere... My route rankings will go as Haruka>Shiori>Kanade>Asagao. For heroine rankings, it will go as Haruka>Kanade>Shiori>Asagao. Asagao is by no means a bad girl or has a bad route. It's just that, it appeared to me that she didn't shine in her own route. lol. 

On the other hand, Haruka is the best. I have never seen a heroine as otokomae as her before. I'd say she's more courageous, and more kakkou ii than most protagonists in VNs. She is intelligent, can think calmly even on extreme situations, and will never leave those in need of her help. Plus the VA... Wow. I'm loving her VA (same as Misato in Sinsemilla), which strikes me as sexy and cute. The contrast between her girliness and "manliness" easily puts her in my list for top 3 heroines in VNs.

Itsuka who is partially-voiced (Narita from Hello lady), doesn't fell too far behind from Haruka's awesomeness. He is a ganbariya, has strong sense of responsibility, and doesn't hesitate to sacrifice his feelings for the class he treasures. He seeks to regain their carefree and casual days more than anything. Thinking about it, he's a little bit simillar with Dies Irae's Ren, but Itsuka is better. Ren kind of always try to act cool in front of the girls, but Itsuka is naturally kakkou ii.

Outstanding cast. Top-notch voice acting of all the characters. Heroines and protagonist aside, the couples in the game stood out to me as well.

Spoiler

Favorite pair would be Kuwata x Toyoshima. I'm very curious to know more about how their relationship was developed. Chemistry is batsugun. I love girls like Kuwata.

The CGs are good. Around half of them are those you would expect from a chuuni VN. The bgm are mainly piano pieces that effectively adds to the atmosphere. Games like this sure have good bgm eh. It has few icha-icha (thank God) and h-scenes but there is a patch for additional h-content. Kanade is so cute there...

Overall I was highly satisfied, and it was a lot better than I expected. I was literally clapping my hands on the ending. My biggest complaint though is that it wasn't able to make me cry. I got teary-eyed 3 times, but that's it. It's a very emotional VN but the fantasy elements prevented me from deep immersion into the story. This always happen to me. I-It's not like I don't have a heart or anything. I just find it difficult to imagine myself in the same situation as the characters in a fantasy VN. Aside from that, I wanted to see more of their slice of life scenes, even in the form of flashbacks or something. The cast is just so good, I wanted to see some more of their normal life. "Another story" for each couples would have been pretty interesting too... Too bad, I'll just leave that on my imagination... On another note, I'm not bothered in most readers complaint as to "Why on earth do the characters have to suffer on this nightmare!!!". I was like 別にいいじゃんか。細かいこと気にすんなっての lol

Screenshots

Spoiler

 

 

ハハハハハっ！おまえが普通なわけねぇだろう？

 

Can have minor spoilers I guess

http://i.imgur.com/XICl3HG.png

http://i.imgur.com/p2k0iph.png まさか！俺を励ますための、コスプレだと！？

There goes the last VN for me before starting, most probably, the busiest jiki of my life so far. And I wanted to read the Newton's apple game and Dies irae's english version too...  Hiatus, hiatus...

[Riku]

I'm starting to kinda hate myself... I just can't do every routes in VNs anymore...

I finished 2 routes (Meryl and Phyllis) of Racial Merge and started Alicia's, but I just couldn't continue and stopped. It's not bad, I really enjoyed the common route (In fact, I LOVE CR in VNs, contrary to many people), but the routes are just too normal, I guess? They are fun with good comedy and the other characters who don't disappear (In fact that what I liked the most, the utility of the side characters), but after doing two it's kinda difficult to do the others.

I guess from now on I'll just read the routes of the heroines I'm interested in, unless all the routes are needed to understand everything or they're all interesting.

On the bright side, I now understand why @Clephas likes AXL so much, and I added some of their VNs in my backlog. Also, true there are some problem with the proportions in the art, but some CGs are really beautiful, so I quite like it.

And now it's time to take a rest. To be honest, I didn't even intend to read so "much" VNs before Dies irae. So now I'll either truly rest, or I'll distract myself (again) from translating by starting another one...

[Zalor]

I really took my time with this one (mostly because I got really busy with school and then distracted with other stuff), but today I have finally finished my experience with Subarashiki Hibi. I really had some mixed views at first, but I can whole heartily say that this is without a doubt one of my absolute favorite VNs now! Holy shit, Tsui no Sora 2 really blew my mind, but at the same time was the ending that I was really craving for. The other two endings provided me with nice emotional catharsis, but they still left so many questions unanswered. Notably the relevance of the first chapter. But now after having read Tsui no Sora 2, I just... I just... I just can't express my thoughts in words. It was a fantastic ending! Now I am rereading the first chapter, and it is all finally making sense now. From start to finish Otonashi Ayana has been my favorite character.

Also, I love how at first I really sympathized with Mamiya and hated Tomosane. But as things unraveled, my feelings towards the two characters completely altered. I am really impressed by how the story got me to hate Tomosane's guts, and then later on got me to completely root for him.

[Dergonu]

Been reading Amairo ＊ Islenauts while I waited for Chrono Box to come out.

I finished the common route, and got a fair bit into the Masaki route. Think I'll wrap up her route before I start Chrono Box. (Then I'll definitely go back to the game to finish it after Chrono Box, as it's been great so far.)

 

This is my first Yuzusoft VN, and damn, it's pretty good. Everything in the game feels really high-quality. The characters are great, the art is fantastic, the "animations" each sprite has makes them feel more alive. (They react and move even when it's not their turn to speak, which is quite a nice detail.) They put a lot of effort into making side-characters as well, (which is almost a bit annoying, as I want them all to have routes now, lol.) And the music and the atmosphere in the game is very relaxing and enjoyable.
Very good game. This has certainly gotten me more hyped for other Yuzusoft titles on my backlog, like Senren ＊ Banka and Sanoba Witch.

 

Now, I'll be starting Chrono Box today. Based on the little I read from the trial, and the stuff I have seen online about it, this will be an interesting read. I'm quite hyped.

[Riku]

I think you must understand by then, but when I say 'take a rest' it means 'but, I have such a long backlog, so one more...', so I finally read ‘＆’ - 空の向こうで咲きますように -.

To tell the truth, I've been wanting to read it for years since I saw it on VNDB while waiting for Coµ's translation at that time. I like the art, there are many colorful characters and it sounded fun from the description. So I wanted it to be my first Akatsuki Works VN once I had the level in Japanese, but in the end @Clephas made me want to read RuiTomo first, so I did. Don't want to play Akatsuki Works VNs one after another, so I'll wait a little before reading Hello Lady.

Anyway, I had a tons of things (not really) to say while playing, but after sleeping I forgot quite a bunch, so in short:

Really liked the banter between the characters, it was really fun, more than RuiTomo (imo), liked most of the characters (best being Urara, uhaha, uhaha), though sometimes I couldn't stomach some depending on the route. I loved the system with the memories (Map, achievements, photos), found it really nice! On the bad side, romance was bad aside from Urara, and while I wasn't bored (good thing), it wasn't amazing and I didn't like how it developed that much. When rating it on VNDB I was reminded once more how I don't know how to rate something... (seriously...)

Also, thanks to the timer in the VN, I know it took me around 65 hours (didn't close it when eating and doing other things, so might be even less), and the average time of a Japanese reader seems to be 25 hours (from a few Japanese blogs I checked), so my reading speed is around 2.5 slower than a Japanese, I guess?

Anyway, was a great 冒険 , so I don't regret reading it!
 

Edited May 31, 2017 by Riku

[Zakamutt]

I read a bit more of hatsusaku, then I realized that I wasn't being enough of a stallfagging hipster so I picked up スキトキメキトキス instead. It's p. nice, if I finish I'll prolly write a new vndb description for it. Something like...

"I love you, but it seems I hate you too..."

After a haunting dream, an amnesiac Kurenai Akina wakes up in hospital to see a girl staring straight into her eyes, and is seized by an unspeakable fear. The girl's very presence repulses and frightens her, and yet her sweet perfume brings back a strange, conflicting love all the same. Akina must come to terms with her emotions as she recovers her memories piece by piece, and any misstep may cost her her life...

 

Idk, it doesn't technically really get into the themes of it in a way, but I'm not sure how to do that without spoiling too much. Not that it's deep or anything. It's just some creepy fun (´・ω・`)

[Tyr]

5 hours ago, Dergonu said:

Now, I'll be starting Chrono Box today. Based on the little I read from the trial, and the stuff I have seen online about it, this will be an interesting read. I'm quite hyped.

Feels to me like a Cyclet/late Black Cyc title with higher budget, though I'm only like 20% in so far. Starts to get a little bit repetitive, but I hope it's intended and will be twisted soon. It's pretty meta at times and I feel the game expects the reader to think in eroge tropes just to revert them later on.

I like the writer, I always had the feeling he could do more if he was allowed, but there was always something holding him back. Like for example, that the games he wrote for had to be low budget short fetish nukige lol.

The writing of ChronoBox is good, it's also fast-paced which is what I like but that also means there is not much time to develop the huge cast naturally. Every scene in itself is well-written, but the work as a whole seems awfully close to a nukige in how it handles characters and story progression.
ChronoBox kinda reminds me of Sukui no Serenade and while I like both games so far (as dark nukige), I think Sukui was better at hiding that it's essentially really just a nice-looking fapge.

[Riku]

Just finished ニュートンと林檎の樹. Well, I super duper want to read Dies Irae, so I'll make it short:

Don't take this game seriously, this is a complete joke. There are so much flaws that if I had to write everything I wouldn't be able to play DI before tomorrow.

That's why, only read the VN if you want something short with fun characters.

It wasn't amazing, but the end was quite emotional, so I think I'll never be able to think about Newton other than thinking about Alice.

There is also a twist in the story, so only read the spoiler if you don't want to read the VN:

Spoiler

Yotsuko aside, you're obliged to play Lavi's route first to be able to play the other routes. There is actually a reason: At the end of her route, Lavi sacrifices herself and goes back to the past to correct an event, which permits the story to advance and make you able to continue with the other routes.

So, yeah, Lavi is the sacrifice who had a story with Shuuji, but by returning to the past, only her remember everything and Shuuji continue, falling in love with the other girls while Lavi watch him. Because of that, it kinda becomes your duty to finish the VN, just for her.

Thankfully, if you do Lavi's route a second time, the dialogues will change, and at the end you learn there are two Lavi (the normal and the one from the future), and they exchange place in turn to share Shuuji. So, yeah, you need to read her route two time for her to have a "happy" end.

 

There is also a joke story after you have finished everything. If you really liked the end of the story, either don't read it, or wait a few days. It's pretty funny and the start is hilarious, but it kinda ruins the feelings you have at the end of the story.

The art ranges from averagely bad to averagely good, not many BGMs, but I liked them. There are four movies inside the VN, the best one is Yotsuko's, but Alice's hits you right in the feels. Also, there is a glossary and it's hilarious.

 

Anyway, it was fun, just don't take it seriously! And now, Dies irae!

[Vokoca]

Finished 凍京NECRO. It's probably not much of a surprise, given how this VN is presented, but 凍京NECRO is an example of what happens when you have way more flair than substance. Luckily for Nitro+, though - the flair is really fucking cool.

This entire visual novel is just a ridiculous budget explosion. From throw-away one-time use sprites to the numerous 3D-animated fight scenes, 凍京NECRO does all it can to impress the reader with its presentation. And for what its worth, it works for the most part - the 3D is pretty iffy, and probably downright shit by western standards, but if you can look past that it is really enjoyable. The models, animations and particle effects might look decent at best, but they do make for some really cool scenes when they all come together.

The story... is really good too, for the most part. It is fun and complex, full of crazy twist and turns in each of the four routes - but things start to fall apart a bit as soon as the plot tries to go outside the box. The story deals with life and death and what they mean - or so it'd like you to think, because it never really goes much deeper than the surface level. Just like the nonsensical sci-fi, it is there just to be entertaining rather than to send some profound message. It tries to, however, especially with the true route. Now don't get me wrong, the true route is presented in one of the coolest ways I've ever seen, and it's really exciting while it is all happening - but as soon as you stop to think about it it doesn't really make all that much sense. There is also this strange meta angle that doesn't quite stick the landing either - but it's not really given too much weight just like everything else, so it doesn't really detract from the overall enjoyment.

All in all, I've enjoyed 凍京NECRO a lot - but no matter how hard Nitro+ might try, the next Muramasa it is not.

[Zakamutt]

Finished sukitoki. It's not an 8.5, pabloc is either insane of one of very special interests, but it was pretty delightfully twisted. I feel the true end falters in comparison to the terror of some of the earlier endings, but maybe those just feel cheap to others. At least I've never seen the like before, so that's good w.

if you get stuck the omake no omake page unlocked eventually gets you to a walthrough for the last ending (which has two sub-bad-endings they didn't list in the ending list, lul)

[Zakamutt]

I'm bored, so let me speculate on the mysteries presented by Hatsusaku's setting after having read through chapters 1-11ish, so basically past Aya's first eroscene. Let's see how right or wrong I was when I come back to this later I guess, lol.

Spoiler

 

The more infodumpy sections toward the end of the first playthrough talk about how Uchida and Kawabe used to be related; in Uchida it seems Hatsuyuki's family/clan was in control, first both openly and in matters spiritual (shinto), then behind closed doors greasing the wheels with old money. My guess is that the "incident" at the Hotzenplotz was in some way the doing of a second influential family, from Kawabe - one that Sakura is likely part of. Given Hatsuyuki and Sakura's presentation as prince and princess, I suspect that Uchida attempted to make peace with Kawabe with her engagement to Hatsuyuki, but were betrayed somehow. It's possible that Kawabe didn't intend the result at all, or it was some splinter group from them - the result remains: the ruling family of Kawabe was slaughtered in the event at the Hotzenplotz, which is also why old Uchida is now thoroughly without power, and desires revenge with such passion.

Honestly the weirdest part about the whole thing is that two separate magical families are somehow embroiled in this vicious vendetta in this one random city. It doesn't even look that big.

 

Also, Aya has some serious best girl vibes going on. That said a certain other quality is hinted at that may be less desirable, though we've seen extremely little of that (and what did she do offscreen at the バレンタイン祭 anyway? Hell, what did Hatsuyuki do after the fade to black? Hatsusaku keeps not telling you what happened in what could have been some of the most engaging moments, and sometimes I wonder if it's just because Niijima is unwilling to write fight scenes. Then again he did write out the shinai duel, so idk.)