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Starting a blog about western VNs and VN developers? [EVN Chronicles "Megathread"]


Plk_Lesiak

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Hello once more! Today, with a lot of joy, I present you another VN developer spotlight post, this time focused on Nami, one of my favourite yuri OELVN creators - while I have a feeling that this time the interview was a bit of random talk that was maybe more interesting for me and Nami than for anyone else, I'm still hopeful that you'll enjoy it and maybe make you interested in Nami's games:

From the next week forwards, the yuri will continue rule over my blog, for as long as I don't run out of steam and go to the next themed event, for which I already have some reviews ready. I'm dead-set on publishing at least 4 more yurige reviews before I move forward though, so I hope you're looking forward to some girls' love goodness. :3

Have a great week everyone!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well, quite a lot has happened since I've last posted in this thread and I'm quite satisfied with how things are going. The content you've seen throughout April took quite a lot of work to make, but what's coming might be even more interesting. The yuri event is slowly coming to an end - for the next week I have a very neat, non-yuri-related interview ready and after that I wish to fit one more, very fresh game, which will give me an opportunity to discuss the rare romance VNs with protagonist gender choice. Later in May, the gameplay VN month(s) is coming, where I will cover things such as the whole Sunrider series. I think there will be some really fun reviews in there and I hope you'll join me on that journey to the world of VN and strategy game/RPG hybrids.

Today, however, we have something pretty rare - another failed VN review, where I could share my grievances towards a title that I consider the worst commercial VN I've ever read - New West Game's Sweet Volley High. Apart from giving in to the sadistic part that is present in pretty much every reviewer's soul, I think it shares a few important notes on how NOT to make an OELVN - there are some things that are common issues with Western visual novels, but which this game made especially visible and easy to digest. It's a fairly short one, so I really encourage you to read it (and avoid the game it concerns like the plague):

I've also written an impromptu rant yesterday to commemorate the Lesbian Visibility Day, sharing some of my thoughts about yuri OELVNs and their connection to the LGBT issues. It was more or less a stream of consciousness, created while being half-asleep, but after a few edits I'm actually pretty satisfied with how it turned out. If you haven't read it yet, you shouldn't regret doing so now:

And that's all from me for now. Please look forward to the next week's interview - I think it's a really good one, even though the developer involved is a relative newcomer to the OELVN scene - and as always, have a great week everyone!

Edited by Plk_Lesiak
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Hello there you cute little things! The post will be short this time, because I'm tired and burned out AF, both from the VN stuff and the RL business I have to deal with lately. :vinty:

But, enough negativity, it's a happy day today! Another interview has arrived and I'm really happy with this one - @ds-sans is not only a dev whose work I thoroughly enjoy but also proved a great partner for a conversation about everything VN. I really encourage you to check out the post, unless you're completely disinterested in the OELVN scene and development, it should prove enjoyable for you. :)

I've also published a short review of his freeware title, Sounds of Her Love - a really lovely, small romance VN - feel encouraged to check that post too, it should also provide you with some context for the interview if you're not familiar with ds-sans' work. :)

And for now, this is all. Next week, I'll provide you with one more yuri-esque VN review and after that, the gameplay VN month is coming - and it should be a lot, a lot of fun. :3

Have a great week everyone!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello there, brave soldiers of Fuwa! 

This was a rather insane week for me personally, but not without some cool developments on the blog. When it goes to minor announcements, I've added VNDB links to all the old reviews and gave a slight editing run to some of them. I'm not sure why I didn't do it in the past, but it's fixed now and I will obviously keep adding the links to all future posts. Also, if you started following the blog later down the line, this might be a nice moment to check out the things you've missed. ;)

This week I've tackled a game development of which we could observe on Fuwa pretty extensively - it's always really cool to see project in which you interacted with the developers, and maybe even left your small mark on, coming into fruition. It's also a game that tackles topics that I'm personally really interested about - that of more "human" aspects of war and totalitarianism. Panzer Hearts by HELYEES proved to be both a flawed game and a very interesting one and was definitely fun to review - hopefully that's also visible on the reader's side of things. ;) I really encourage you all to read the post and if you're not sure if the game might be to your liking, there's a pretty large free demo available on Steam. 

Next week, I might tackle one more fresh release before I venture into the world of gameplay VNs - it mostly depends on the time at my disposal.

Whatever happens, I hope you'll continue to follow my blog and have a wonderful week everyone! :)

Edited by Plk_Lesiak
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  • 4 weeks later...

While most likely no one cares, I wanted to announce/clarify that the old Pride of the West Steam Curator Page and the Steam group attached to it are now officially defunct. In their place, a new Curator account has been set up - I'd encourage all those interested in my recommendation to follow this new listing. Also, I'd welcome anyone willing to join the Steam group itself - I don't expect it to grow into anything serious very soon, but one day it might be a nice corner to discuss Steam's OELVN library. :)

This is part of the wider changes connected to the blog, about which I will talk more this Sunday.

Have a great evening everyone!

Edited by Plk_Lesiak
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  • 2 months later...

Hey, it's been a while since I wrote anything around here! There's been quite a few posts I was happy about since the rebranding of the blog, but probably the most interesting things this summer are yet to come. In two weeks, I will have a very large post and it's one that l I'm particularly happy about - a review of a very interesting, newly released OELVN and an interview with its developer. 

For now, however, I'm still working on developing my external blog: the site is currently going through a makeover, after two months of being stuck with a "temporary" layout. I previously used Innocent Gray's art as a background and that went quite poorly with the whole "promote EVNs" premise. The colour scheme was also quite questionable and I wanted to switch to a more bright and neutral one. I still need a proper banner - something I was postponing for a very long time and that really needs fixing, but I wonder what you good people might think about the current look of the blog? 

Is it hideous? 

Should I burn it with the holy flames of the Inquisition? 

How to make less painfull to look at (apart from the banner, which will make the background less conspicuous)? 

--------------------------

Also, did you check out my fresh review of Perceptions of the Dead 2? Quite a charming little game, if you ask me. :3

 

Edited by Plk_Lesiak
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello there once more, you cute monsters!

Today, I have something very special on my blog - a review of Sable's Grimoire, definitely one of my favourite EVN releases of this year so far, coupled with a quite substantial interview with the game's developer, Zetsubou. SB is a very unusual game in the Western VN scene - pretty huge when it goes to the amount of content and basing most of it on the unthinkable - monster girl heroines who are not walking ****dolls or personified fetish fuel, but are used for really serious storytelling with only traces of romance (and even not always that much).

I'll be super-thankful if you decide to check out this post - I'm quite proud of it and the game itself deserves any exposure it can get.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm so lonely here lately... :(

Still, I have a small update about a tiny semi-hiatus of the external blog and my plans for the future. Also, I think I finally made my site into something that is not completely hideous, even if it's far, far from being perfect. I hope. You'll be the judge of that. :wafuu:

http://evnchronicles.blogspot.com/2018/09/vacations-state-of-blog-update.html

Edited by Plk_Lesiak
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  • 3 weeks later...

If you missed it so far, I have some exciting piece of content for you: an interview with one and only ebi-hime, one of the most talented and highly appreciated creators in the EVN scene. It's a bit of a crown jewel of my VN "journalistic" career and I would be super thankful if you decide to check it out! So, without further ado:

 

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  • 2 months later...

So, it has been a pretty joyous week in my online life of a total nobody, as both the EVN Chronicles Twitter account and my Steam Curator profile have reached 100 followers! I half expect someone to drop a Twitter follow now just to spite me, but that's a bit beyond the point - if you're not following my exploits yet, it's a good moment to start! Be a kind person for Christmas! I actually Tweet mostly on topic and some people consider my writing not completely useless. The Tweets tend to be quite grammatically-impaired though...

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  • 1 month later...

Hey, nice to be back on my lonely thread of self-appreciation (maybe it should be moved to the Creative Corner after all? It evolved pretty far away from the community discussion about the idea of setting up an EVN-focused blog...)!

As some of you might've already noticed, I've recently published another developer interview, this time giving the spotlight to Katie, the person behind the NewWestGames label. It's a culmination of a curious trip from some aggressively negative reviews of mine to legitimate discussion and some form of (hopefully mutual) understanding and respect. It might also be fun to read for someone apart from myself, so, I encourage you all to test that out (it also contains a comprehensive overview of NWG VNs, so it'll provide you with all the context necessary to follow the conversation)! ^^

Also, as whole two people asked me in the past about the ways to donate to the glorious cause of EVN Chronicles, I've decided to set up a Ko-fi account. It's a convenient way to leave small tips after seeing a piece of content you enjoy and something I'm much more comfortable with than opening a Patreon. I don't expect much out of it, but if you ever feel that I've done a particularly good job working my ass off on my ultra-niche hobby, you can express that this way - the money will go for the only use my PayPal account has nowadays, that is buying VNs and pledges to original project Kickstarters. :3

Edited by Plk_Lesiak
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Hey there good poeple! Another few months have passed and while April was a particularly poor and frustrating month for my online activities, with me having neither time nor energy to work on any of it, May is shaping up to be one of the most interesting ones I've had in a long time - it'll also be quite likely the record month when it goes to traffic on my blog. It's still obscure AF, of course, but I'm quite proud of how thing are going. :mare:

I didn't come here (just) to brag though. For some inexplicable reason, I've decided it would be a great idea to commit this whole weekend to revisiting one of the worst EVN developers out there, Yume Creations, and the post I wrote about them a while ago. They released a few notable things in the meantime, particularly the creepy incest nukige Imolicious I've mentioned in the "what are you reading" thread yesterday, so I thought it would be worth updating my post to reflect the new nightmares produced by our "dreamy" developer. I'm quite happy with how that turned out, so I invite you all to check out the new version of the post: https://evnchronicles.blogspot.com/2018/08/plklesiaks-shovelware-adventures-yume.html

If you decide to read it, thank you for your time and generally, huge thanks to all that still follow my blog through the forums. Looking at the view numbers on my post this year, barely anyone does it at this point, but even those few people that still consider my content worthy of their attention make me happy. Have a lovely evening everyone!

Edited by Plk_Lesiak
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  • 1 month later...

It's hard to believe, but it has been over a year and a half since I've started writing my blog and a full year since I moved the "center" of my activities to Blogger. For those interested, I wrote a short summary of my experience with writing about EVNs, along with some minor announcements about the future of the site. Thank you all for following my work thus far and all the encouragement I've received from the community here! And if you're interested in my musings, check them out here:

https://evnchronicles.blogspot.com/2019/07/evn-chronicles-first-anniversary-rant.html

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  • 3 years later...

Hey, let's do a small necropost! While the external blog is dead (although preserved as a nicely-balsamed corpse) and won't be updated anymore, I reactivated some of my adjacent projects. The blog on Fuwanovel will receive rare EVN-related posts, but I also resurrected my Twitter and my Steam Curator page. I'll use this thread once more to post updates, probably not every little thing, but once-in-a-while summaries of my activity. Also likely to be inconsistent, because if I go back to my stupid, try-hard attitude I'll just burn myself out again like a moron and fuel my anxiety. 😛 

So, for the start, some new steam curator entries. :)

 

Also, did you miss my new blog post with random free EVNs? Probably not, but here is it just in case. There will be a new one coming this weekend. 

 

Edited by Plk_Lesiak
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