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Sanada-Kun wrote...
Why I'm enjoying KnS.... I already met 3 different bad endings yet it doesn't stop me from playing. Also the titlescreen music, damn so captivating. fuck this gamefaqs walkthrough always lead me to bad end first lol.
Actually, getting the bad endings first is kinda helpful in this game, since it allows you to understand better what happens where and when - and also shows you some of the creepiest scenes in the game. Love that game, I should replay it one day. <3
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First off, a job well done once again to Eushelly even if the gameplay is not exactly up to expectations. I definitely had a lot of fun (and frustration, even if it's their trademark) going through this, and the lore was both satisfying and refreshing at the same time for numerous reasons.
One of the biggest reasons I enjoyed this was because this was set at a time far back into the past (At least a hundred years I think? spoilers:). The humans of this time are incredibly tough as seen from god-blessed, special individuals such as our protagonist Vaishaito and Yun Garu United Nation's (I dearly hope I got this right lol) King Gyantoros, the 3 Musketeers, Marshal Garumus and Marshal Olfan - all of them are just so god damn STRONG. You get the sense that this is a land once upon a time where countless legendary heroes thrived and reaching god's realm (as in the universe's gods and not THAT God, as a disclaimer) is not too far away a concept. Nearly every character character get to show off their incredible strength in all sorts of ways - Neneka beasting entire armies, Air Siul practically unstoppable by any humans but Vaishaito, Kreis the perfect magic wielding Swordsman with a secret technique that even Vaishaito didn't manage to beat whole game, and Al is just GODLY and when coupled with Ryun they just WIN - and even when we take technology and intelligence into consideration, there's just no limit to its awesomeness.
Morality wise this is a major up from the usual cliches, such as no one really has any qualms about building a super weapon or two to ensure peace and stability. Consider this:
I might be able to give an in-depth talk on how modernized sex is for our protagonist - I mean sure girls were falling for his 'charms' left and right in a bad-storytelling way but the way he views and feels all love equally is well, good - but since this is a sensitive topic, I'll refrain from doing so.
Not to mention that if you choose to go the Ha-Oh route (also known as Evil route, even if you can still technically befriend all the girls without turning them into prostitute to enter it, but WHY NOT??), the choices you make REALLY make you feel like a complete asshole with a sun of black laughter accumulating in your stomach. I admit to AHAHA, AHAHAHAHAHA -
*stomps squishes burns*
... Eh, do forget my inner demon thanks. Continuing.
Another praise that I'd like to add is how well the events are strung together. If you follow the true route, I assure you that you will never feel the slightest awkwardness progressing through various events, be it the character or main stories, especially near the latter part of the game where you have a choice to choose which country to conquer first. Of course if you purposely try to screw them up then your experience will be damaged at your own expense, so please exercise a little judgment tq. Thing is, you expect to run into some sort of inconsistencies be it time-related etc after reloading saves like a complete maniac, but really, I don't see them if they exist. Very good, Eushelly.
Now then, about the gameplay. I'll be straight with this: It lacks depth, it's a huge time sink, and even though it complements well with a war-themed game (troop positioning, kiting etc) the execution is just poor. Here is a list of fails:
1) Most equipments are next to useless. Mostly I just rely on Al, Vaishaito and Riseru during the early game and Al + Ryun + anyone combo to beast through all fights without really needing tweaks on this department. I'm really disappointed; this was supposed to be Eushelly's department! There's even a very useless equip (Enemy HP does not go down under 1) which only use was to stall the enemy with a decoy and backdoor their bases, and well let's face it: when murdering troops gives a lot more EXP and technically far simpler, why would you ever want to do so? It's not like you can use them on most - if not all - boss stages anyway, you are REQUIRED to kill the boss to win most of the time!
2) There are 2 strategies: Kill everyone, and kill everyone. Oops, I meant the latter one to be destroy bases, but I do that so infrequently I could literally count them with two hands (unfortunately after 2 playthroughs and thousands of fights the number just HAD to pass by one hand). Most of the time they're fairly simple: Position your melee murderers at the front, ranged at the backs, wait, profit! Of course you would be tweaking formations around and pausing and rearrange your positions very frequently, but that's about all there is to the gameplay. And since with 2nd playthrough you get the options to have clone generals, and damn I'm just sitting on everyone's faces even at Hard Mode FUAHAHAHAHAHAHA ~
Do note that the final few boss battle of True End and can be quite difficult. These are fights that really require to think carefully which generals to use and what equips you should put on, with careful positioning and meticulous timing and kiting since one wrong step means restarting the whole damn thing again. These are the fights that I enjoy most!
2) The tutorial is harder than most battles you're going to encounter. ABSOLUTELY NO ONE can pass it without dying at least once, like WTF MAN!?
3) Resource whoring is a pain in the ass, and unless you boot out most of your Monster soldiers you won't have enough generals to cover all territories on the map (if you have Append). This is kind of bullshit, but after a certain point you really don't care about building placements except for those that you absolute require for certain resources.
4) The quests are mediocre and repetitive and tedious at times. You just, murder all the way!
5) Your supposedly super giga epic Madou Warship is useless, I repeat, ABSOLUTELY USELESS in actual fights. Even in the story it didn't get to show off its glory beyond the point when it was first created, which I must say is a really low oversight by Eushelly here.
6) Don't need to build traps. Never needed dem stupid traps they only eat up space and ruin building placement SO USELESS!
But okay, I admit there are some goods in the gameplay despite everything:
1) Story related battle events tie in quite well with the fights, and when Yun Gasoru EXPLODED with troops and attacked ALL adjacent countries at once I admit I broke one helluva cold sweat, with tonnes of reloads.
2) There are shortcut, repeatable battles where you can level up your generals VERY quickly, and when coupled with EXP boost equip you just shot through the levels in no time at all.
3) Even though I never needed to consider this as much as I had with Sengoku Rance, you do have to coordinate your troops appropriately at proper locations before making an attack, and it could be challenging (even though rushing the capital always wins ~)
4) It was VERY entertaining to buy body parts and equips for our beloved Madou Koukakus (Kukuku ~) and they are absolutely CRUCIAL in turning Al into the merciless god of massacre as you just throw her in like some Terminator that just rapes EVERYTHING. Oh yeah.
5) At latter part of the game, using Vaishaito is going to screw - you - up. The Anti Omni Element is the second most powerful attribute in the game (Majin is the first) and it absolutely, COMPLETELY counters Vaishaito unless you drop a title or two and switch to Physical, which makes him bullshit anyway. This is one game where the protagonist ISN'T overpowered - actually he feels underpowered with a useless early game Sweep super and later a 90 ENERGY SELF-BUFF WTF IT COSTS TOO MUCH! - and when that happens you just NEED your other generals to make the cut. That makes it interesting.
In short, gameplay could be improved, and perhaps the RTS choice may not be the best, but it was an interesting attempt that certainly kept me occupied for at least fifty (bloody) hours. They REALLY need to understand that RTS ain't RPG though. -_-"
Now then, music. Average, but gets progressively cooler and the final boss fights are of course not disappointing. Not exactly eargasm stuff but definitely passable.
Voice acting. Normally I combine this with the above, but this NEEDS a paragraph of its own, because it's one of the BEST traits of Madou Koukaku. Without further ado, I hereby declare that they are FANTASTIC. Olfan was the coolest and best out of them all, bring out maturity, seriousness, age, conviction, cruelty, wisdom and all sorts of other amazing thoughts every time he speaks. I almost wish that he was the protagonist, but then we wouldn't get to hear him much and that would've been an absolute waste. Al's peculiar tone is a hit or miss, but for me it's a hit and I grew to really, REALLY love her as the game progresses.
Art! Man oh man Corona is so cute, whether in True or Ha-Oh route. Riseru was spectacular even though she was given the cursed 'Osanajimi' position. Al had 3 different battle garment designs! This time I actually have no faults to pick and I feel like I could love all of them! Great job!
Character. It would take forever if I start so I'll keep it short. Al's story was beautiful, Riseru's was thoughtful, Olfan's felt sobering but respectful, Anarosette's was quite refreshing... it's great to see stories evolve and prosper.
And that's it for the long review. I'll give it an 8.5 considering that it does have a number of faults, though ultimately shadowed by a story of legends with great characters.
One of the biggest reasons I enjoyed this was because this was set at a time far back into the past (At least a hundred years I think? spoilers:
Spoiler:
Morality wise this is a major up from the usual cliches, such as no one really has any qualms about building a super weapon or two to ensure peace and stability. Consider this:
Spoiler:
I might be able to give an in-depth talk on how modernized sex is for our protagonist - I mean sure girls were falling for his 'charms' left and right in a bad-storytelling way but the way he views and feels all love equally is well, good - but since this is a sensitive topic, I'll refrain from doing so.
Not to mention that if you choose to go the Ha-Oh route (also known as Evil route, even if you can still technically befriend all the girls without turning them into prostitute to enter it, but WHY NOT??), the choices you make REALLY make you feel like a complete asshole with a sun of black laughter accumulating in your stomach. I admit to
Spoiler:
*stomps squishes burns*
... Eh, do forget my inner demon thanks. Continuing.
Another praise that I'd like to add is how well the events are strung together. If you follow the true route, I assure you that you will never feel the slightest awkwardness progressing through various events, be it the character or main stories, especially near the latter part of the game where you have a choice to choose which country to conquer first. Of course if you purposely try to screw them up then your experience will be damaged at your own expense, so please exercise a little judgment tq. Thing is, you expect to run into some sort of inconsistencies be it time-related etc after reloading saves like a complete maniac, but really, I don't see them if they exist. Very good, Eushelly.
Now then, about the gameplay. I'll be straight with this: It lacks depth, it's a huge time sink, and even though it complements well with a war-themed game (troop positioning, kiting etc) the execution is just poor. Here is a list of fails:
1) Most equipments are next to useless. Mostly I just rely on Al, Vaishaito and Riseru during the early game and Al + Ryun + anyone combo to beast through all fights without really needing tweaks on this department. I'm really disappointed; this was supposed to be Eushelly's department! There's even a very useless equip (Enemy HP does not go down under 1) which only use was to stall the enemy with a decoy and backdoor their bases, and well let's face it: when murdering troops gives a lot more EXP and technically far simpler, why would you ever want to do so? It's not like you can use them on most - if not all - boss stages anyway, you are REQUIRED to kill the boss to win most of the time!
2) There are 2 strategies: Kill everyone, and kill everyone. Oops, I meant the latter one to be destroy bases, but I do that so infrequently I could literally count them with two hands (unfortunately after 2 playthroughs and thousands of fights the number just HAD to pass by one hand). Most of the time they're fairly simple: Position your melee murderers at the front, ranged at the backs, wait, profit! Of course you would be tweaking formations around and pausing and rearrange your positions very frequently, but that's about all there is to the gameplay. And since with 2nd playthrough you get the options to have clone generals, and damn I'm just sitting on everyone's faces even at Hard Mode FUAHAHAHAHAHAHA ~
Do note that the final few boss battle of True End and
Spoiler:
2) The tutorial is harder than most battles you're going to encounter. ABSOLUTELY NO ONE can pass it without dying at least once, like WTF MAN!?
3) Resource whoring is a pain in the ass, and unless you boot out most of your Monster soldiers you won't have enough generals to cover all territories on the map (if you have Append). This is kind of bullshit, but after a certain point you really don't care about building placements except for those that you absolute require for certain resources.
4) The quests are mediocre and repetitive and tedious at times. You just, murder all the way!
5) Your supposedly super giga epic Madou Warship is useless, I repeat, ABSOLUTELY USELESS in actual fights. Even in the story it didn't get to show off its glory beyond the point when it was first created, which I must say is a really low oversight by Eushelly here.
6) Don't need to build traps. Never needed dem stupid traps they only eat up space and ruin building placement SO USELESS!
But okay, I admit there are some goods in the gameplay despite everything:
1) Story related battle events tie in quite well with the fights, and when Yun Gasoru EXPLODED with troops and attacked ALL adjacent countries at once I admit I broke one helluva cold sweat, with tonnes of reloads.
2) There are shortcut, repeatable battles where you can level up your generals VERY quickly, and when coupled with EXP boost equip you just shot through the levels in no time at all.
3) Even though I never needed to consider this as much as I had with Sengoku Rance, you do have to coordinate your troops appropriately at proper locations before making an attack, and it could be challenging (even though rushing the capital always wins ~)
4) It was VERY entertaining to buy body parts and equips for our beloved Madou Koukakus (Kukuku ~) and they are absolutely CRUCIAL in turning Al into the merciless god of massacre as you just throw her in like some Terminator that just rapes EVERYTHING. Oh yeah.
5) At latter part of the game, using Vaishaito is going to screw - you - up. The Anti Omni Element is the second most powerful attribute in the game (Majin is the first) and it absolutely, COMPLETELY counters Vaishaito unless you drop a title or two and switch to Physical, which makes him bullshit anyway. This is one game where the protagonist ISN'T overpowered - actually he feels underpowered with a useless early game Sweep super and later a 90 ENERGY SELF-BUFF WTF IT COSTS TOO MUCH! - and when that happens you just NEED your other generals to make the cut. That makes it interesting.
In short, gameplay could be improved, and perhaps the RTS choice may not be the best, but it was an interesting attempt that certainly kept me occupied for at least fifty (bloody) hours. They REALLY need to understand that RTS ain't RPG though. -_-"
Now then, music. Average, but gets progressively cooler and the final boss fights are of course not disappointing. Not exactly eargasm stuff but definitely passable.
Voice acting. Normally I combine this with the above, but this NEEDS a paragraph of its own, because it's one of the BEST traits of Madou Koukaku. Without further ado, I hereby declare that they are FANTASTIC. Olfan was the coolest and best out of them all, bring out maturity, seriousness, age, conviction, cruelty, wisdom and all sorts of other amazing thoughts every time he speaks. I almost wish that he was the protagonist, but then we wouldn't get to hear him much and that would've been an absolute waste. Al's peculiar tone is a hit or miss, but for me it's a hit and I grew to really, REALLY love her as the game progresses.
Art! Man oh man Corona is so cute, whether in True or Ha-Oh route. Riseru was spectacular even though she was given the cursed 'Osanajimi' position. Al had 3 different battle garment designs! This time I actually have no faults to pick and I feel like I could love all of them! Great job!
Character. It would take forever if I start so I'll keep it short. Al's story was beautiful, Riseru's was thoughtful, Olfan's felt sobering but respectful, Anarosette's was quite refreshing... it's great to see stories evolve and prosper.
And that's it for the long review. I'll give it an 8.5 considering that it does have a number of faults, though ultimately shadowed by a story of legends with great characters.
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Zolnir wrote...
Voice acting. Normally I combine this with the above, but this NEEDS a paragraph of its own, because it's one of the BEST traits of Madou Koukaku. Without further ado, I hereby declare that they are FANTASTIC. Olfan was the coolest and best out of them all, bring out maturity, seriousness, age, conviction, cruelty, wisdom and all sorts of other amazing thoughts every time he speaks. I almost wish that he was the protagonist, but then we wouldn't get to hear him much and that would've been an absolute waste. Al's peculiar tone is a hit or miss, but for me it's a hit and I grew to really, REALLY love her as the game progresses.They should've just paid Wakamoto to voice everything and everyone. Even the women.
I pretty much agree with your wall of text.
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So, because I was so bored, I wasn't able resist the temptation and decided to read some Umineko fan VNs.
Until now, I read Total Seacat Island and Witches & Woodlands.
Total Seacat Island is still being developed and the author wants to make a lot of chapters. In other words, it won't be finished anytime soon. Also, it uses the PS3 sprites and obviously, a lot of Umineko spoilers. One curious thing is that you don't find only Umineko spoilers in the story. There's also Higurashi and there was a reference to Steins;Gate although for Steins;Gate I wouldn't call it a spoiler.
Anyway, from what I read so far, I like a lot most of the story (well, this is mostly a parody). I couldn't enjoy as much as I wanted some events because it seemed the author gave the impression to be rushing things but once again, on the most part, I was VERY entertained reading it. If I ever want to laugh a bit I already know what to do =P I'm looking forward to the final release.
If I was to rate Total Seacat Island as it is now I would give it a 8/10.
Regarding Witches & Woodlands, if it wasn't a certain part of the story I would give it a 9/10. Anyway, I'm pretty sure this is the best fan work I read so far in any VN released outside Japan. Once again, major spoilers for Umineko are presented in this game.
This game is very amusing and clearly makes us remember Umineko with the battle of wits. It uses the original sprites from Umineko and the sounds and I must say, they were used very well. Many kudos to the creator. The original content was generally very good to contribute to our immersion and entertainment.
If you're looking for amusement I guarantee you'll enjoy Witches & Woodlands. In the end, I give it a 8.5/10.
Now, regarding what I'm reading now:
I'm currently reading School Days. So far I only got the best Sekai ending and damn, if that's the best ending I don't even want to know what's coming in those bad endings. I like the style used on School Days since it's almost like watching an anime but regarding the story, it's just mediocre.
Makoto, our protagonist, is such a horrible protagonist that I only want to drop the story. His interaction with the girls, his plain incompetence, indecisiveness and a lot of other aspects of his personality just makes me feel like I'm wasting a lot time reading this story. The female characters aren't much better either with the exception of Sekai (at least until now I can say she was reasonable).
However, it gets a bit interesting when the Yandere signs finally start to show. Well, I'll try to finish the story just to get all these fantastic reactions =P
Until now, I read Total Seacat Island and Witches & Woodlands.
Total Seacat Island is still being developed and the author wants to make a lot of chapters. In other words, it won't be finished anytime soon. Also, it uses the PS3 sprites and obviously, a lot of Umineko spoilers. One curious thing is that you don't find only Umineko spoilers in the story. There's also Higurashi and there was a reference to Steins;Gate although for Steins;Gate I wouldn't call it a spoiler.
Anyway, from what I read so far, I like a lot most of the story (well, this is mostly a parody). I couldn't enjoy as much as I wanted some events because it seemed the author gave the impression to be rushing things but once again, on the most part, I was VERY entertained reading it. If I ever want to laugh a bit I already know what to do =P I'm looking forward to the final release.
If I was to rate Total Seacat Island as it is now I would give it a 8/10.
Regarding Witches & Woodlands, if it wasn't a certain part of the story I would give it a 9/10. Anyway, I'm pretty sure this is the best fan work I read so far in any VN released outside Japan. Once again, major spoilers for Umineko are presented in this game.
This game is very amusing and clearly makes us remember Umineko with the battle of wits. It uses the original sprites from Umineko and the sounds and I must say, they were used very well. Many kudos to the creator. The original content was generally very good to contribute to our immersion and entertainment.
If you're looking for amusement I guarantee you'll enjoy Witches & Woodlands. In the end, I give it a 8.5/10.
Now, regarding what I'm reading now:
I'm currently reading School Days. So far I only got the best Sekai ending and damn, if that's the best ending I don't even want to know what's coming in those bad endings. I like the style used on School Days since it's almost like watching an anime but regarding the story, it's just mediocre.
Makoto, our protagonist, is such a horrible protagonist that I only want to drop the story. His interaction with the girls, his plain incompetence, indecisiveness and a lot of other aspects of his personality just makes me feel like I'm wasting a lot time reading this story. The female characters aren't much better either with the exception of Sekai (at least until now I can say she was reasonable).
However, it gets a bit interesting when the Yandere signs finally start to show. Well, I'll try to finish the story just to get all these fantastic reactions =P
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Actually forgive me for being blunt, but School Days was such a shit that I could never understand how it became as hyped as it is. As you know I'm a plot guy, and the plot is just HORRENDOUS. The Yandere element didn't appeal to me as much because my personality's already half darkness so after the first 2 endings following the walkthrough I deleted the game immediately. Lousier mangas had given me better time, to make the impression clearer.
As of now I'm going through 機械仕掛ã‘ã®ã‚¤ãƒ´ ～Dea Ex Machina～ as recommended by one of the repliers to my review from VNDB, and damn I had not expected this quality from just the PROLOGUE alone. One of its good traits is that sub/throwaway characters have their own sprites and god, PERSONALITY! Haven't touched the gameplay yet, but I'm definitely looking forward to play this as soon as I get my hands free.
As of now I'm going through 機械仕掛ã‘ã®ã‚¤ãƒ´ ～Dea Ex Machina～ as recommended by one of the repliers to my review from VNDB, and damn I had not expected this quality from just the PROLOGUE alone. One of its good traits is that sub/throwaway characters have their own sprites and god, PERSONALITY! Haven't touched the gameplay yet, but I'm definitely looking forward to play this as soon as I get my hands free.
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Zolnir wrote...
Actually forgive me for being blunt, but School Days was such a shit that I could never understand how it became as hyped as it is. As you know I'm a plot guy, and the plot is just HORRENDOUS.After some thought I take back what I said about finishing School Days. I completely agree with you. I wasn't expecting something good to start with but even so School Days managed to severely disappoint me either by the characters themselves, either by the events.
It's just not worth it to read the whole story to get the Yandere reactions even if the style used may be appealing. At least, that's how I feel. Well, seeing as I'm also usually a plot guy this is not surprising.
So, after posting this comment the first thing I'm gonna do is to uninstall School Days and save 11GB of space.
About what I'm gonna read now I think I'll start Umineko once again but with the PS3 tweaks. It's confirmed that the tweak to Chiru will be released this month so I'm very sure that I won't wait for it's release even if I start now. This, given how much free time I usually have and Umineko being so long. Finally, reading Umineko tweaked will surely be such an extraordinary experience that I'll probably get an aneurysm or something lol
And yes, I'm a big fan of Umineko. I even imported it. Unfortunately, so far I only own Umineko Chiru EP5-EP8. The release with EP1-EP4 wasn't available at the time I bought Umineko Chiru but I plan to buy it too.
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Kaimax
Best Master-San
School Days is shit, the hype comes from the anime airing where it was replaced with the Nice Boat, people who never played/heard of it suddenly got an interest in it.
I've finished it all, because I want to finish it.
I've finished it all, because I want to finish it.
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I thought people play school days for bad ends lol. won't touch it since its too big for my lappy.
0
Osadai, a frivolous novel that involves taking one fist-full of salt and in the other hand your recently cleaned (and soon to be cleaned again) dakimakura. Any other appendages should be oriented towards flailing hysterically during the many comedy segments.
0
I recently started replaying Saya no Uta after I got the 'official' game, to see if there are any noticeable changes. Aside from uncensored p0rn (and as far as I can remember) only one line was missing (it wasn't important, but it was nice, however small it was).
0
Holoofyoistu
The Messenger
Hey I love visual novel and ergo, but I. Still new to them. Can anyone tell me what site to use, what programs to run them on and what are some of the best ones? I would really appreciate it.
Thanks!
Thanks!
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Holoofyoistu wrote...
Hey I love visual novel and ergo, but I. Still new to them. Can anyone tell me what site to use, what programs to run them on and what are some of the best ones? I would really appreciate it. Thanks!
Check the uploads section of Visual Novels, Doujin Soft, and Eroge.
Check the masterlist (a lot of games have dead links), the FAQs and Tutorials and FAKKU! Recommends! v2.0.
Of course, check section rules.
VNDB is very useful for info about VNs (Visual Novels). Explore it. The site doesn't support piracy.
There are other sites where you can download VNs either by direct links or torrents. Just google it.
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I started playing Men at Work 2. I did one route so far and it was ok. Taking a break from it and started playing another pretty old one called Brave Soul.
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xninebreaker
FAKKU Writer
Working on Rewrite myself. My goodness, it's pretty darned good. My first Key VN, and it's certainly not disappointing. I got through Lucia and Chihaya's route, and I'm saving Kotori's for last. Looks like I can't do that, so onward down Kotori's route now!
I honestly feel tears welling up in my eyes sometimes. They haven't run down my cheeks yet, but here's to hoping it will! I will truly applaud Rewrite if it can make me produce tears that I cannot control.
I honestly feel tears welling up in my eyes sometimes. They haven't run down my cheeks yet, but here's to hoping it will! I will truly applaud Rewrite if it can make me produce tears that I cannot control.
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xninebreaker wrote...
Working on Rewrite myself. My goodness, it's pretty darned good. My first Key VN, and it's certainly not disappointing. I got through Lucia and Chihaya's route, and I'm saving Kotori's for last. Looks like I can't do that, so onward down Kotori's route now!I honestly feel tears welling up in my eyes sometimes. They haven't run down my cheeks yet, but here's to hoping it will! I will truly applaud Rewrite if it can make me produce tears that I cannot control.
[size=14]So many tears on Shizuru's route.[/h]
0
機械仕掛ã‘ã®ã‚¤ãƒ´ ～Dea Ex Machina～ review.
So I've finished the True Route for Tia and Good/Normal Route for Shuri and believe that it would be enough for me to form a reasonable opinion on the game.
Now then, on the plot, specifically the prologue first. I found it to be an excellent opener that had me attracted like a magnet, and I was really impressed at how the VN gave life even to the most insignificant sub characters (SHE Security Division grunts) in the game. As the protagonist made his escape from the company, hacking open doors and blockades while utilizing tools to disarm or knock out personnel, and even dodging almost certain defeat from the most dangerous duo combi of SHE's Security Division Homura and Kenji, I came to like the character almost too quickly if only just for his resourcefulness. As he passed out from internal bleeding, with his electronic companion helpless and screaming futilely for help, the mysterious rescue they've been waiting for finally arriving... It was a really, really good prologue. For an old game, it certainly has quality up that most current VNs couldn't even hope to match.
But that good impression took a downward swing as the story progresses from there. Basically you're trying to buy back the corporation SHE through either sheer amount of capital or shares in the form of technological knowledge, and the way you would do that is to... decipher mystery lost technology codes and make sex toys out of it. I am not joking; I find it hard to swallow even after the few days I've spent playing the game. After all that serious, slightly dark but unbelievably cool setup they went and did such a thing. Like whaaaat?
The explanations made to mysteries and sciences and generally the setting itself was also horribly inadequate. I barely understood some of the technology and terms that were explained in such an offhanded way - the absolute opposite of the Infinity series - that it became a great source of dissatisfaction. That's the single biggest problem I find in Dea Ex Machina: It simply was too short. The world and character and plot needs so much expanding that it feels like the author just gave up after the initial burst of energy. If that was true than he's actually much like myself, but that's another story.
There's also one other problem that grated my nerves throughout the entire game. There were a LOT of factual inconsistencies and errors that were either partially false or outright made up for sake of convenience (I couldn't for life remember them now since I slept like only 2 hours this morning sorry), and there were even moments of Deus Ex Machina (yes apparently the author want to make full 'use' of its title) that could easily make you throw up a table screaming WTF. Admittedly this was an ability the AI Tiara could use, but still some of them just doesn't make one bit of sense. Like Absolutely ridiculous.
Even the protagonist toned down immediately from his initial awesome experience. Whatever resourcefulness he showed during the prologue, the man who successfully escaped like a million grunts and 2 inhuman captains was completely gone, and whenever a grunt shows up unexpectedly while he was loitering the city he was like 'OH SHIT I'M GOING TO GET CAUGHT THE WORLD IS GOING TO END NOOOOO'. Of course, he was ultimately awesome when he displayed magnificent arrogance, determination and cyber skills near Tiara's True End, but by then it was far too late. The image that was constructed during the prologue didn't feel like it ever existed, and all the protagonist was good at was... decipher codes and make sex toys. Lost technology, sex toys. No matter how many times I mumble it in my head these 2 words JUST DOESN'T FIT TOGETHER WTF!
Though, that was about all that I'm going to complain about the VN. The plot was rather entertaining (although naive and even stupid at times) and although the endings were predictable to a fault, they were pretty good. Most impressive was how they develop every single character painstakingly and in a easygoing way that I would've liked more than Root Double's methods. Kuon in particular, was the absolute Queen right till the end and I absolutely LOVE her for it; Tiara be damned if I get to choose honestly. Everyone had their cool moments, and Homura in particular almost - ALMOST - was as cool as the butler from Demonbane. VERY good.
The gameplay, especially the card battle was VERY impressive and fun to play despite its rather shallow depth (Barely need to strategize for the Research/Development phase). You have 3 cards with different colors that act like Rock Paper Scissors plus values of 1 to 20 and Special Effects that would determine victory or defeat. Now, the card game itself still could easily be boring, if it wasn't for that linear bar of animation showing off the characters beating the crap out of each other as you win or lose a round. And they're impressive! For example, when Kenji combos (with mix of all 3 colors, let's say) he will combo accordingly with long, middle and short range gun smackdown that's more awesome than most 3D fighters. Ishiria screams like a banshee even when she fights normally, and when she goes Limit Break the voice actor sounded REALISTICALLY MAD. I don't really like their death voice though but whatever.
And the card game itself is not easy. Sure there are programming settings that you can exploit (like how AIs prefer to start any move with a higher value card, etc), but hell, the game is NOT EASY. The first time you play through Homura's likely going to be that tall wall blocking at your victorious path, taunting at the rather useless Tiara as you repeat again and again trying to take down this awesome boss who throws GRENADES as his ranged attacks. There is a walkthrough that requires you to level up Tiara and Famu to level 60 before actually following it, and if you do it the initial fights would become easy as pie, but still Tiara route's battles - especially the last three or four - can be very challenging. Point is, it's very fun, and you seldom feel any tediousness at all.
Conclusion: Rating this 8.3 out of 10. There were numerous faults and some which cannot be overlooked, but ultimately it was a fun ride and definitely got me motivated to try out the sequel (it was apparently the best among the Machina Chronicles, but we'll see).
Btw, use Famu in battles. You'll see what I mean when I say Tiara SUCKS.
So I've finished the True Route for Tia and Good/Normal Route for Shuri and believe that it would be enough for me to form a reasonable opinion on the game.
Now then, on the plot, specifically the prologue first. I found it to be an excellent opener that had me attracted like a magnet, and I was really impressed at how the VN gave life even to the most insignificant sub characters (SHE Security Division grunts) in the game. As the protagonist made his escape from the company, hacking open doors and blockades while utilizing tools to disarm or knock out personnel, and even dodging almost certain defeat from the most dangerous duo combi of SHE's Security Division Homura and Kenji, I came to like the character almost too quickly if only just for his resourcefulness. As he passed out from internal bleeding, with his electronic companion helpless and screaming futilely for help, the mysterious rescue they've been waiting for finally arriving... It was a really, really good prologue. For an old game, it certainly has quality up that most current VNs couldn't even hope to match.
But that good impression took a downward swing as the story progresses from there. Basically you're trying to buy back the corporation SHE through either sheer amount of capital or shares in the form of technological knowledge, and the way you would do that is to... decipher mystery lost technology codes and make sex toys out of it. I am not joking; I find it hard to swallow even after the few days I've spent playing the game. After all that serious, slightly dark but unbelievably cool setup they went and did such a thing. Like whaaaat?
The explanations made to mysteries and sciences and generally the setting itself was also horribly inadequate. I barely understood some of the technology and terms that were explained in such an offhanded way - the absolute opposite of the Infinity series - that it became a great source of dissatisfaction. That's the single biggest problem I find in Dea Ex Machina: It simply was too short. The world and character and plot needs so much expanding that it feels like the author just gave up after the initial burst of energy. If that was true than he's actually much like myself, but that's another story.
There's also one other problem that grated my nerves throughout the entire game. There were a LOT of factual inconsistencies and errors that were either partially false or outright made up for sake of convenience (I couldn't for life remember them now since I slept like only 2 hours this morning sorry), and there were even moments of Deus Ex Machina (yes apparently the author want to make full 'use' of its title) that could easily make you throw up a table screaming WTF. Admittedly this was an ability the AI Tiara could use, but still some of them just doesn't make one bit of sense. Like
Spoiler:
Even the protagonist toned down immediately from his initial awesome experience. Whatever resourcefulness he showed during the prologue, the man who successfully escaped like a million grunts and 2 inhuman captains was completely gone, and whenever a grunt shows up unexpectedly while he was loitering the city he was like 'OH SHIT I'M GOING TO GET CAUGHT THE WORLD IS GOING TO END NOOOOO'. Of course, he was ultimately awesome when he displayed magnificent arrogance, determination and cyber skills near Tiara's True End, but by then it was far too late. The image that was constructed during the prologue didn't feel like it ever existed, and all the protagonist was good at was... decipher codes and make sex toys. Lost technology, sex toys. No matter how many times I mumble it in my head these 2 words JUST DOESN'T FIT TOGETHER WTF!
Though, that was about all that I'm going to complain about the VN. The plot was rather entertaining (although naive and even stupid at times) and although the endings were predictable to a fault, they were pretty good. Most impressive was how they develop every single character painstakingly and in a easygoing way that I would've liked more than Root Double's methods. Kuon in particular, was the absolute Queen right till the end and I absolutely LOVE her for it; Tiara be damned if I get to choose honestly. Everyone had their cool moments, and Homura in particular almost - ALMOST - was as cool as the butler from Demonbane. VERY good.
The gameplay, especially the card battle was VERY impressive and fun to play despite its rather shallow depth (Barely need to strategize for the Research/Development phase). You have 3 cards with different colors that act like Rock Paper Scissors plus values of 1 to 20 and Special Effects that would determine victory or defeat. Now, the card game itself still could easily be boring, if it wasn't for that linear bar of animation showing off the characters beating the crap out of each other as you win or lose a round. And they're impressive! For example, when Kenji combos (with mix of all 3 colors, let's say) he will combo accordingly with long, middle and short range gun smackdown that's more awesome than most 3D fighters. Ishiria screams like a banshee even when she fights normally, and when she goes Limit Break the voice actor sounded REALISTICALLY MAD. I don't really like their death voice though but whatever.
And the card game itself is not easy. Sure there are programming settings that you can exploit (like how AIs prefer to start any move with a higher value card, etc), but hell, the game is NOT EASY. The first time you play through Homura's likely going to be that tall wall blocking at your victorious path, taunting at the rather useless Tiara as you repeat again and again trying to take down this awesome boss who throws GRENADES as his ranged attacks. There is a walkthrough that requires you to level up Tiara and Famu to level 60 before actually following it, and if you do it the initial fights would become easy as pie, but still Tiara route's battles - especially the last three or four - can be very challenging. Point is, it's very fun, and you seldom feel any tediousness at all.
Conclusion: Rating this 8.3 out of 10. There were numerous faults and some which cannot be overlooked, but ultimately it was a fun ride and definitely got me motivated to try out the sequel (it was apparently the best among the Machina Chronicles, but we'll see).
Btw, use Famu in battles. You'll see what I mean when I say Tiara SUCKS.
