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Happiness+

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ETERNAL. A visual novel. 

I don’t even remember how I found this VN, but since that day it’s been the back of my mind. From there website:

ETERNAL is an original styled “cinematic" visual novel, aiming to be more along the lines of a motion comic or anime. To achieve this, the game will expand from the standard first-person view, and branch into numerous camera angles with over 2000 original illustrations. The visual style takes influence from Studio SHAFT.

ETERNAL is split into 5 heroine routes, followed by the double length true route. Each route is roughly the length of a full-length novel or your standard EVN. With a word count of over 600k, and illustration count of roughly 6 anime episodes, ETERNAL revolutionizes visual novels.

Which is cool, but holy crap is it ambitious. They’re going to “revolutionize” visual novels. Damn. Shit. Furthermore, I saw their videos. It’s really odd. I like it odd.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MCtpr6PJ8Fc

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EyEEbnfYcGQ

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0vH2eyC6QSA&feature=youtu.be

Somebody is a fan of Akiyuki Shinbo and SHAFT.

What caught me was a “church fight”, 😆. I don’t know; it just seemed really off the wall and really cool. However, there a few people working on this VN, as seen on their Staff page. 

The company behind it is Mawari Works and it’s their debut Visual Novel. Personally, I feel like starting out with a such a grandeosie Visual Novel like this would be a massive challenge. I really don’t want to send them any bad vibes or negativity because the product is not out yet. (But, interestingly enough is that Sekai Project is releasing this and they recently had a major layoff back in August.) I don’t really see that much talk about this visual novel anywhere even though it has a tumblr page, like wut? It seems that the target audience is American otakus. Everything in English. SHAFT is well known here in America. 

 

But someone will make the argument that Japanese people obviously are going to be interested in this too, yeah, I get that. However, Mawari Works according to the vndb is a English Amateur group. Either way, their target market is us. Frankly, I am sold already because I am easy otaku. I see SHAFT. I nod my head and think, “good shit”. 

Worst case scenario: it’s trash I wasted like quite a bit of money on this, but least it pushed the VN medium forward because people always bitching about how JVNs are crap nowadays and we’re more likely to be in a EVN renaissance.

 

Oh wait, I am one of those people. I literally made a post previously about the struggle to find a good horror VN, let alone a good JVN horror. 😔

But I seriously doubt this VN is going to be that bad. I am going to be very optimistic and say this VN will be good. If I am wrong, I will eat my words and write a review about this. Hell, it would be like my first VN review or something.

Anyway, what do you guys think? 

http://eternalproject.tumblr.com

 

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All it does is ripping off Shaft Factory's direction and the wtf which often comes with it. It's hardly a revolution. It sure is different for the medium, though, which makes me curious to see if it has more than a pretentious appearance.

Edited by Wiz
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7 hours ago, Funyarinpa said:

A more interesting and substantial revolution would be moving the fuck away from the classic "heroines get routes" structure.

VNs do exist that do this like Enigma, Subahibi ,Narcissu, Spike Chunsoft VNs (Danganronpa, 999) or Fata Morgana.

Edited by Akshay
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1 hour ago, Akshay said:

VNs do exist that do this like Enigma, Subahibi ,Narcissu, Spike Chunsoft VNs (Danganronpa, 999) or Fata Morgana.

and of those, I think Danganronpa is the only one that didn't sell like shit, and thats only because its aesthetic appeals to the "omg i luv hot topic!" portion of the vn/gaming community. 

TL Note: Hot Topic is a retail store that caters to middle school girls with edgy clothing and anime toys. 

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2 hours ago, Akshay said:

VNs do exist that do this like Enigma, Subahibi ,Narcissu, Spike Chunsoft VNs (Danganronpa, 999) or Fata Morgana.

All of these are pretty linear though (I'm not sure about Danganronpa, but I heard that it's not even really a VN in the traditional sense). Whenever we have any substantial route division, it's pretty much always the good old "heroine get" structure.

As for the original topic, I'd rather not comment on it before I see the final project. So far im not really sure what to expect from it. On the other hand, I don't really expect this to be a revolution of any sort. Well, only time will tell. :sachi:

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3 hours ago, Dreamysyu said:

All of these are pretty linear though (I'm not sure about Danganronpa, but I heard that it's not even really a VN in the traditional sense). Whenever we have any substantial route division, it's pretty much always the good old "heroine get" structure.

Danganronpa could also be considered linear. It doesn't have routes, but minigames you must complete in order to proceed. 

It seems to be true that it's almost always a route structure based on different heroines, though mind you, that's only on the surface. Most of the time each of the heroines routes tell a very different story (unless we're talking moege), and the choices throughout said route usually have an impact on the plot aside from the romantic development or reward scenes. That's why I don't really care that much about it and you won't see me complaining too often. What I'd like to see though is some kind of inversion in this structure, so, instead of spliting the story into different branches based on the heroine, and from there different plot lines branch off, do the opposite: split the story into different plot lines first, and from there, give the opportunity to pursue certain emotional relationship with a character within that certain branch, which could not have been possible otherwise. If anyone knows any translated VN that does this and does it well, I'd really appreciate the information :sachi:

On topic. As other people have said already, I don't think it's necessarily a revolution since it's only on the aesthetic aspect, but I am still excited. If SHAFT is one big inspiration, I have to be. I absolutely love how they play with the animation to convey feelings and sensations beyond the medium, closer to painting than cinematography.

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12 minutes ago, Thyndd said:

What I'd like to see though is some kind of inversion in this structure, so, instead of spliting the story into different branches based on the heroine, and from there different plot lines branch off, do the opposite: split the story into different plot lines first, and from there, give the opportunity to pursue certain emotional relationship with a character within that certain branch, which could not have been possible otherwise. If anyone knows any translated VN that does this and does it well, I'd really appreciate the information :sachi:

I think, if I understand you correctly, some chuunige should fit that. Fate is the first one that comes to mind. Like, it's basically it, no? Tsukihime fits partially: the story divides into two big branches at the beginning based on the plot, but after that you again choose a heroine in a more or less standard way. I'm not sure if Tokyo Babel fits. You technically chose an enemy who the protagonist is going to fight first and not the heroine, but, I think, all the routes were still pretty character-based from the very beginning, so it's probably not that.

24 minutes ago, Thyndd said:

It seems to be true that it's almost always a route structure based on different heroines, though mind you, that's only on the surface.

To be honest, that's exactly what I find annoying. In quite a lot of plotge it doesn't even matter who the protagonist hooks up with, because the difference between routes lies a lot deeper. I think, I already wrote about it at some point, but I just believe that the classical route structure just makes the stories in VNs a lot more rigid than they should be. If you pick up a non-otome/yuri VN with multiple routes, you know that it's going to be about a male high-school student surrounded by cute girls and only by cute girls, and there's no way away from this formula, at all. And if you pick up an otome, it's going to be the same, just gender-reversed (and probably not set in a high-school).

By the way, I don't want to further derail this thread, so maybe we should start a separate thread for this topic.

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1 hour ago, Thyndd said:

It seems to be true that it's almost always a route structure based on different heroines, though mind you, that's only on the surface. Most of the time each of the heroines routes tell a very different story (unless we're talking moege), and the choices throughout said route usually have an impact on the plot aside from the romantic development or reward scenes. That's why I don't really care that much about it and you won't see me complaining too often. What I'd like to see though is some kind of inversion in this structure, so, instead of spliting the story into different branches based on the heroine, and from there different plot lines branch off, do the opposite: split the story into different plot lines first, and from there, give the opportunity to pursue certain emotional relationship with a character within that certain branch, which could not have been possible otherwise. If anyone knows any translated VN that does this and does it well, I'd really appreciate the information :sachi:

 

999 and especially Virtue's Last Reward are structured like this if I understand you correctly. 999 gives you different information based on choices you make early on and you need information from the two major routes to reach the true ending. VLR branches off with every decision, each one kind of focussing on another character (not a heroine) and giving you information you need to reach the true ending where all routes converge.

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38 minutes ago, Dreamysyu said:

I think, if I understand you correctly, some chuunige should fit that. Fate is the first one that comes to mind. Like, it's basically it, no? Tsukihime fits partially: the story divides into two big branches at the beginning based on the plot, but after that you again choose a heroine in a more or less standard way. I'm not sure if Tokyo Babel fits. You technically chose an enemy who the protagonist is going to fight first and not the heroine, but, I think, all the routes were still pretty character-based from the very beginning, so it's probably not that.

Hmm I also though of Fate, but it still does just one split. Like, the Fate route, UBW and HF can also be called the Saber, Tousaka and Sakura routes respectively, right? But yeah, it's definitely very close to what I'm looking for. If only in every one of those routes you could choose the romantic interest without straying too far away from the plot, it'd be perfect. I haven't read Tsukihime or Tokyo Babel, so I'll check them out, thank you!

43 minutes ago, Dreamysyu said:

To be honest, that's exactly what I find annoying. In quite a lot of plotge it doesn't even matter who the protagonist hooks up with, because the difference between routes lies a lot deeper. I think, I already wrote about it at some point, but I just believe that the classical route structure just makes the stories in VNs a lot more rigid than they should be.

I can understand why something unnecessary can feel annoying, but hey, on the bright side, if the plot is not conditioned by the heroine you end up with, that kinda allows some more flexibility. Yes, I'd also very much like that the differences between routes were a direct consequence of the choices you pick so that they feel relevant, and I've actually created a thread on this same topic not so long ago. I think at this point the fact that VNs still rely mainly on the pick-your-waifu structure is just a bad vestigial habit that was carried over from their birth and it's time to leave it behind, that's why I advocate for that inverse structure I mentioned. Romance is fun, I love it, definitely one of my favorite components in any story, but it just doesn't make sense for a VN to have its route structure based on romantic choices when the plot is not mainly driven by the romance.

26 minutes ago, alpacaman said:

999 and especially Virtue's Last Reward are structured like this if I understand you correctly. 999 gives you different information based on choices you make early on and you need information from the two major routes to reach the true ending. VLR branches off with every decision, each one kind of focussing on another character (not a heroine) and giving you information you need to reach the true ending where all routes converge.

That does sound very interesting. 999 was on my to-read list and I almost picked it to read now. I ended up picking Umineko, but I'll probably go back to it after I'm done with the seagulls. VLR I've never heard of. It's from the same developer as 999 huh... Guess I'll play 999 first and then if it's my cup of tea I'll read VLR. Thank you for the titles!

1 hour ago, Dreamysyu said:

By the way, I don't want to further derail this thread, so maybe we should start a separate thread for this topic.

Yeah... I'm so sorry @Happiness+, I carelessly followed the rant on the waifu structure and now your thread is a mess. I'll stop it here, this is my last post on this issue.

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Zero Escape's two first games' structures are a improvement over your usual charage but it is still not a good example of how routes should be made. In those two games, it branches based on what door you open. Even in VLR, ally/betray AB game is determining which doors will be opened later. This is not plot related and imo a pretty bad way of using a branching system. It's random and all you see is the awkward shadow of the puppeteer everywhere.

I tend to forgive charage when each routes is giving away a piece of a global mystery, not just random stand-alone drama I don't give a shit about.

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4 minutes ago, Thyndd said:

That does sound very interesting. 999 was on my to-read list and I almost picked it to read now. I ended up picking Umineko, but I'll probably go back to it after I'm done with the seagulls. VLR I've never heard of. It's from the same developer as 999 huh... Guess I'll play 999 first and then if it's my cup of tea I'll read VLR. Thank you for the titles!

VLR is the sequel to 999, so you should read 999 first anyway. You don't have a real choice anyway as long as you don't own a handheld, since for PC they are exclusively sold as a bundle.

 

7 minutes ago, Wiz said:

Zero Escape's two first games' structures are a improvement over your usual charage but it is still not a good example of how routes should be made. In those two games, it branches based on what door you open. Even in VLR, ally/betray AB game is determining which doors will be opened later. This is not plot related and imo a pretty bad way of using a branching system. It's random and all you see is the awkward shadow of the puppeteer everywhere.

I tend to forgive charage when each routes is giving away a piece of a global mystery, not just random stand-alone drama I don't give a shit about.

In the case of 999 I agree, since at first it's pretty cryptic which route your choices send you down. But once you think about it, the way you reach the good routes is pretty logical because you just have to keep following the characters that gave you important information at the previous door. In VLR I found the AB system to be one of the best parts since you could never know what implications your choices had, but the immediate impact was still obvious (certain characters liking you more/less). All branches except for the bad endings gave you new information necessary to understanding the greater mysterey or at least someones motivations. My main problem with the branching system was that there was a lot of repitition between them since a lot of events happened no matter what choices you made before but tiny line changes force you to read a lot of the content several times.

 

I agree that this part of the discussion should be moved to a different thread.

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Well I just think that when Sekai started to work seriously on both of Daybreak and Baldr Sky, but as for this VN I think the graphic itself was not quite appealing so people didn't put much interest to this. I just hope that we can see more of this, and apparently we could do that in near future because the developer right now was preparing another demo. Once again I'll just wait and see in regard of this.

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