Jump to content

VN Reading Club - September: Swan Song


Nimbus

Vn Reading Club September - Apocalypse Month   

28 members have voted

  1. 1. Which VN do you want to read this month?

    • Daibanchou
    • Ever 17
    • Kikokugai
    • Sharin no Kuni, Himawari no Shoujo
    • Swan Song

This poll is closed to new votes


Recommended Posts

Well here we are, the fifth month of the Club's revival and the final month of Phase 1. Last month we looked at Sekien no Inganock (check out the thread here http://forums.fuwanovel.net/topic/11104-sekien-no-inganock-vn-reading-club-august/),those who posted seemed to really enjoy it so hopefully this month will be just as successful.

 

This months theme is "Its the End of the World as we Know it" (admit it, you just sang that).
So why did I choose this theme? I'll be honest, I was heavily inspired by Inganock for this choice. The setting of that VN was perfect for story and I felt the idea of a post-apocalyptic setting still had a ton of potential. That and I've been playing Fallout Shelter non-stop for the past week. Keep in mind this theme isn't exclusively post-apocalyptic in the "humanity was wiped out" way, it also includes settings that take place after any kind of cultural or technological revolution that changes the world in a dramatic way. 

 

And the winner is.........

 

Swan Song

OyD6CYE.jpg

It is a snowing Christmas Eve… Everything seems so peaceful when a huge earthquake occurs. The earthquake causes the city to be in ruin, and the surviving people need to find ways to stay alive. Some go crazy and rob others, some cling onto God, some gather to live together. The 6 main characters meet at a church while they were trying to find shelter from the snow. What will they see and experience in this extreme situation…?

 

 

We'll take one week to get started before getting into our first impressions. Remember to use the spoiler tag if you end up discussing Swan Song ahead of time. 

 

Have fun folks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I voted for Kikokugai because it was the only one on the list that I haven't read. Then I realized that if any of the others gets picked, it will be sort of like I cheated since I've already read them all. Does that mean I should undo my vote?

 

:michiru:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, just don't talk about it for a while and use spoilers.  I'd already read Coμ when it was picked as the VN of the month, so I voted against it, but it won, and so I just waited a little bit for people to get a feel for it, then used spoilers when applicable.  If you want to change your vote later, go ahead, but that's a silly reason to change your vote so early  :P

 

I was gonna vote for Daibanchou, but it's an RTS, sooooo...nope.  If you want tips on losing an RTS as fast as possible, ask me.  I was left between Swan Song and Kikokugai, and Kikokugai sounds more interesting.

 

The gameplay element of Daibanchou is very significant. In fact, it's so prominent that I almost don't consider it a VN. It's up there with Sengoku Rance and Kamidori Alchemy Meister in terms of how much gameplay there is.

 

Fun though, if you like that sort of thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Allright,now imma fired up.From all the list ive read only swan song(shameful to admit that),so i basically will read anything.But Daibanchou is rts,and i was bored to death with utawarerumono.Like,if i wanna play strategy,i i will play some real strategy,why the story need to be pushed on the rails of rts?So anything other will go fine)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been wanting to read Ever17 at some point, both because the description sounds interesting and because of its very high ratings (#8 overall on VNDB, and a full point higher on average rating than either Swan Song or Kikokugai). But it's looking like the odds aren't so good for it... maybe most people played it already? Well, any of these aside from the RTS-heavy game is fine by me; I just need to finish Majikoi up soon so I have time to read whatever we choose.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know if you guys have a different definition of RTS or what(I always thought it was Real Time Strategy, like Starcraft), but Daibanchou is turn based and not what I expect when I hear that acronym.  Also I don't know if it's a good choice for a reading club since there's so much gameplay and so little actual story.  Plenty of character stuff but the actual story stuff is lacking until quite late in the game, and different people are going to concentrate on different characters.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gameplay visual novels are completely acceptable so long as they have a story. Eien no Aselia for example has a ton of gameplay but also has an absolutely brilliant story. If a gameplay visual novel ever is chosen the requirements for reading them will be a bit different from other visual novels; an example of this would be a single route requirement for example. We would likely help each other with the combat via strategy discussions and the like. If a gameplay visual novel is chosen ever there will be a few differences in the way we do things. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Gameplay visual novels are completely acceptable so long as they have a story. Eien no Aselia for example has a ton of gameplay but also has an absolutely brilliant story. If a gameplay visual novel ever is chosen the requirements for reading them will be a bit different from other visual novels; an example of this would be a single route requirement for example. We would likely help each other with the combat via strategy discussions and the like. If a gameplay visual novel is chosen ever there will be a few differences in the way we do things. 

I'm not talking about gameplay visual novels as a whole, I'm talking about this specific one.  Of course, this is only my opinion and obviously I don't have anything to do with the reading club aside from that I've been watching the topics.  

 

The problem I would expect with Daibanchou specifically is that the game has a lot of different characters that have their own little substories that it uses to fill the time between things happening in the main story.  There's nothing wrong with this, but since the player's actions determine which characters you get to know(and even which characters you get, period), even two people playing the same route could have very different experiences.  Also, Daibanchou is a conquest game and it's possible to fight your opponents in different orders, which will also change the way a player will see the story.  I just feel like it would be hard to have a good discussion about the story of the game with first time players when the game experience can vary wildly from game to game.  

 

Compare it to your own example, Eien no Aselia.  In that game, aside from route specific and new game plus events, the game is going to play out more or less the same every time.  You get the same characters for the same chapters and the events are scripted to occur at the same times.  It's easy to discuss what's going on in that game because everyone on the same route is seeing the same story(possibly minus some side events if you let someone die), even though the game part might play out differently for them.  It's a much better choice for a reading club setting.

 

None of this is to say that Daibanchou is a bad game.  It's not going to be for everyone, but I would certainly suggest people at least give it a shot if they're okay with Alicesoft games.  The variety that makes it hard to discuss based on one playthrough is a huge upside in my opinion, just not in this particular setting.  Though, again, it's just my two cents and it's way behind anyway so it probably doesn't even matter. 

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...