What VN are you playing? What do you think about it?

Well what are you looking for?

Well I am open to any but as to be specific I am looking for a plot twist.

..That's really vague and more details would be preferable, but I'll see what I can do.

I will paste the VNDB links in the names, though you might be better off consulting Zolnir or Amorim's reviews within this thread for a more personal perspective on these Visual Novels.
Kira☆Kira judging from what you've been playing this might be the most familiar
G-Senjou no Maou you like plot-twists right? Then this should be good
Dangan Ronpa a far-cry from what you will probably be accustomed to, but it will indulge your curiosity the most out of all of these.

Why thank you for the advice. I will start immediately. Thank you. You have my gratitude.

Grisaia no Kajitsu is what I'm playing atm.

Finished Sachi's route and currently in Amane's. I love the dialogue and the superfluous military references, but if I were to be critical

Edit 1: Finished Yumiko's route.

Edit 2: Finished Michiru's route, some bumps, but I liked it.

3: Finished Amane's route. Honestly, it felt really boring at first, but it simply got better and better the more I read.
Big Spoiler:

4: Finished Makina's route. Loved her story the most, even though I prefer the other girls.

You can check the FAKKU Recommends! thread to see some great titles.

Also, if you like twists you may want check the infinity series along with Higurashi and Umineko. Prepare to be mind-fucked!

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Well, I finished Symphonic Rain quite some days ago. I'm going to complement on what I said here.

After finishing the two final routes I'm... a bit disappointed but let's go for the good parts. The twist I thought I figured out by the end of Torta's route were worse than I thought they would be. Totally got me by surprise. It was also great to see the many conflicting thoughts along with other twists.

However, I felt that the story overall on these final routes didn't manage to give the impact I was expecting to. It felt somehow lacking so I couldn't enjoy as much as I wanted some scenes. This is probably related to the sense of detachment I felt throughout the story.

Nevertheless, I believe that Symphonic Rain is a great VN and do not regret starting it. The art although different from usual is nice and the soundtrack is also nice. Regarding the gameplay, I can play guitar hero on facebook on hard mode fine but I just couldn't keep the scores high while playing the tracks on Symphonic Rain lol. In the end, I put the gameplay on auto-mode.

Overall, I give a 8/10 to Symphonic Rain.

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I don't plan on reading the Grisaia series so soon because of the sequels. I'm planning to wait until the final game is being translated to start the series. Let's see if I can wait until then lol

End Sleep short review.

So first, I'd state right out what drew a fickle person like me towards this Visual Novel. Number 1, a severed head and body decorated on top of a crystal formation. Number 2, silvery long hair. Yes, it's that simple to attract my attention.

In short, End Sleep is a murder mystery that discusses deeply about interpersonal (or was it intra? oh whatever) relationship and psychology. The length of the VN was by no means long - it was pretty short, featuring a small madness within a small space spanning for just a couple of days.

Usually I dislike short VNs (even though I'm an avid writer of one-shots - oh the irony), but this one, while not perfect, managed to live up to expectations and coerced me to complete everything.

I love it for its realism and simplicity. There were no overly elaborate plots or twists. Most of the crimes are fairly simple, and honestly it's surprising how hard to deduce the culprit because despite the small number of people, everyone seemed to be hiding something dark behind those smiles. And yet this is just part of being human.

Its realistic because most of the time, the protagonists and other characters acted properly as a real person would in real life. There weren't much dramatics, and there weren't much heroics, if at all. The 'sleep sleep' end even showcases a dark path where the protagonist realized his own crime and punished himself to an eternity of confinement (though it ended somewhat happily in the 'After Story' reveals). The idea was believable, and that's what made it good.

Above all, the most enticing part of this VN is its music. Its soothing songs can calm the heart, while the frightful ones never failed to string my tension, and even now I'd prefer to avoid those because it'll give me nightmares. That is awesome.

As for the faults of this VN, one would be that it could've benefited from more CGs. There were some scenes where it could've really used one but was never applied, and the tension and dramatics were significantly reduced.

The true end was considerably low key and ordinary compared to the other ones, and honestly that was only because it was real. I can't explain it, but if you ever read Swan Song then you'll probably get what I mean (specifically the happy end). And while it's good in my opinion, I believed they could've added an After Story for the True End. Every other heroine route had one (they also give clarification to mysteries that remained unsolved despite) so I didn't understand why they don't do it. I really want to see how 'she' grew up as a person, and not just a single, unnarrated CG.

Also, if you were expecting some sort of epic mystery then you'll be in for a huge disappointment, because that was not the focus of the story. The murders were simply used to describe the small world and the difficulties within it, and help tell a story where two souls were ultimately redeemed.

And it was beautiful.

I am grateful for the information that you have gave me. You have my thanks.

What's the other 720p game?



You're torturing yourself, friend. If the entire series does get translated, you yourself know how long that's going to take.

After reading through 2 routes and nearing my 3rd I don't see how the character specific routes could be continued into the sequels. I'm assuming that the sequels continue with the true route, which I haven't read yet.

Edit: Apparently there is no true route.

Rewrite is 720p.



Yeah, it'll be a long time. That's why I don't know if I won't yield to temptation lol

On the TLWiki the team says that Grisaia no Kajitsu is "Reasonably complete in its own right.". But even so, I don't want to end with a feeling similar to the one I had when I finished Muv Luv Unlimited and wait a long time for the sequel to come out. Well, if when I read thoughts of people that finished the game say they can feel a sense of closure good enough to not feel THAT impatient for the sequel, I'll probably pick Grisaia no Kajitsu before the sequel gets translated.

X-change 3!

It isn't a good as X-Change 2 :\ Mostly I don't like the different voice actors, but it is still a great VN and gender bender story.

Finished Kira☆Kira. A summary of what made Kirari's route interesting-horrid music here. The other routes were fine but simply paled in comparison to Kirari's though if I had to say Chie's pulled off the romance better but that might just be bias from the osananajimi factor.

Finished playing Kansai and Yousei by Sakevisuals.

For Kansai, I'd have to say that it was pretty old or unpolished because even though it seemed to feature an interesting case, the culprit was so dead obvious that I didn't realize it in the first place. I kept expecting the plot to twist but it just... didn't.

Also, interactions with sub characters (those other than Li Mei, officer and the twins) are minimal, if not disconnected. There just wasn't enough lines to make you feel anything for them - although in real life it'll probably be the same case more or less - to give them life, and one of the reasons it didn't pop into my head who was the culprit because, well, they just weren't described enough.

I might even think that the first game, however simple it was, might have done better.

There was also the problem with the full screen option where every time you alt+tab out to check something and go back in, you lose control over some functions (like the skip button). Tap enter once after that and it'll revert to window mode (as if you had 'Alt' held), and you have to go into the options and set it back to full screen for things to work properly again. If you're wondering why I'm going through so much trouble that's because the graphics looks best in full screen. In window mode they just looked... weird or something.

By far the worst offense of the game was that there was neither the usual skip button on the text box interface, nor the choice to clear off the text box itself. This was basic setup even on the default Ren'py interface but for some reason they've decided to remove it, and it sucked hard. It was purely coincidence that I discovered the 'Tab' button was for auto skip, and before that I had to hold Ctrl all the way to the end. How annoying. The text box itself was also too dark and cover one third of the screen, so when you're trying to examine things it sometimes really felt like you're missing interactable objects.

However. Despite the flaws stated above, Kansai has managed to produce some pretty amazing characters. The twins, inspector Gurski and Li Mei are such wonderful people that even though the play time was short (I literally finished both games in just under five, or even four hours) they just shone brightly. The story may be bad, but Kangai and his new buddies' interaction made the entire experience shine. You'll have to play it yourself to see it.


Also, things get infinitely better in Yousei, the latest sequel to the series. Almost everything was about ten times more polished than it was before, and for once someone came up with a good textbox interface that didn't feel like it needed tweaking. You have about five small buttons (if I remember correctly) that allows you to select all of the basic functions of a Visual Novel, and an almost transparent text box which was crucial in an mystery themed game like this. And then the sprites were changed and improved into a much higher quality one, which was a delicious treat especially on a cute girl like Li Mei.

This time you get to interact a lot more with the characters, and deeper too with Kangai's new family. Really, the best trait of the entire series were its main characters (like good god, I love ALL of them, and I don't remember the last time I don't at least hate one). Li Mei was as usual adorable as hell and yet deadly to the bone; Aki was super cool and witty and god DAMN I love her antics; Naoki's cowardliness was given a good enough explanation that he now actually looked cool, and finally Miko is just THE cop anyone would like to befriend. Although it's best to avoid them altogether, generally speaking ^_^.

Oh, and did I mention about the voice acting? There's a clear improvement between Kansai and Yousei, and Yousei is seriously THE game to buy for if only just for the voices. They truly made the characters alive, and god DAMN again Aki and her voice actor were a match in heavens. Sakevisual must've been astronomically lucky to find the perfect match so quickly (since Kansai).

However, again, despite such a great cast of characters - and really, they're one of the best I've seen and hell, I'VE FINISHED BOTH GAMES IN LESS THAN FIVE HOURS! - the plot is just subpar. Once again the audience were treated to a delicious and far bloodier murder which investigation, ironically, was about as dull as mowing the lawn. I can tell you that it all boils down to click, talk, talk, click, talk a lot more. What's funny is that you would gather a tonne of information during the investigation, but only a couple among them are actually key to the case. I guess it's realistic, but it can also be borin.

Also, the Examine part of the game is still pretty much dead useless. With the exception of ONE - and JUST ONE - examination that's absolutely critical to progress the game (I had to check the walkthrough to pass that point because it's existence was completely random, unlike in Kansei where the object was actually pretty intuitive, and even on full screen most people wouldn't even notice that object), the others simply yield pointless observations. They need to enhance this part and actually make the exploration part relevant, rather than leaving it all up to conversations. I also dislike the fact that they didn't 'light' up an interactable object so it'll be easier to navigate and realize (like how Dangan Ronpa did).

The other thing that I feel truly annoyed about the series was that THERE WAS NO WAY TO CONFIRM WHICH ENDING YOU'VE GOTTEN. I, by pure luck and coincidence, managed to get the true end on my first try, but even now I'm still having doubts whether what I got was really the true end since there's no actual indicator at all inside the game. I actually have to check their walkthrough and compare ending scenarios to match which to which, and honestly this is just bullshit. I should not need to do this.

All in all, while Jisei, Kansei and Yousei may NOT be worth their price (I bought it on 50% discount so it's okay, but their full price felt a tad bit too high) if you measure by its length, the incredible cast of characters and excellent voice acting were worth the value. Buy it at your own discretion.

So I finished Grisaia no Kajitsu. Most of the humor is hilarious so it was quite pleasant to read for long periods of time. Some of the content is on the Sci-Fi side of things (Michiru's route), but it's a minor dissatisfaction if a dissatisfaction at all.

I read some reviews about how the overarching story is lacking, and I would have to agree. I think the thought process on making this VN was to introduce the characters in this first game, and then continue the overarching story in the later games. After finishing the first game I'm left wanting more. Unfortunately, I doubt it'd be as pleasant to read the other games with a text-hook and machine translations.

So should you pick it up? Yea, it's worth getting introduced to the characters and their individual plots. The overarching story is brushed up on, but never detailed in any concrete way - a good way to build hype. If you can stand that type of tease, then start reading.

I am in a dilemma.

It's not like I don't have VNs to play. It's not like I don't have games to play, so to speak. I do not lack material.

But there's this horrendous reluctance to touch any of it, and the excuses were beginning to mount by the hundreds. Let's take some of the unread visual novels I have right now:

1) Cave Cave Deus Videt. This is one of the most interesting VNs I've played, and it's also the hardest and most mind boggling one. You'll have to play it to know it, but let's just say I'm currently stuck at a quiz where I'm tasked to find a 'something' that's gluttonous (since I tried to select objects that are 'greedy' but they're wrong) in a painting, which you can zoom in several times, while looking through freaking tunneled, spotlight vision. Long story short I gave up.

2) 君と彼女と彼女の恋. Honestly I don't know why. It's Nitroplus, it's yandere (or it seems to feel yandere the first 5 minutes I played it in the office... please forget what I say will you?), and yet for some reason I don't feel like picking it up. Maybe it's because of their new piracy protection stuff; it annoys me.

3) なつくもゆるる. I don't mind loli, but it goes off topic and tsukomis so much that literally 80% of the stuff I read until now were jokes. This reminds me of another game who never got to the POINT OF THE FUCKING STORY even though I've been reading for nearly 8 hours and was riddled with the same problems (too many FUCKING tsukomis). They had to be from the same company or writer.

4) 暁の護衛～罪深き終末論～. Thanks to a certain someone on vndb who scared me to hell by saying that it has the exact same problem as Reminiscence (Epic start, lousy ending. I got DEPRESSED and TOOK 1 DAY LEAVE FROM WORK because of it man, it was THAT BAD), and was in fact a hell lot worse. It seriously scared me. I CANNOT suffer another go like that again without tearing off my hair.

5) DominancE. I'm not feeling horny at the moment DUH.

6) 幻創のイデア. Now this 1 is actually good. Fantastic music as usual; 3rd Eye does not disappoint when it comes to creating atmosphere. However, it has a few problems. One, its art was unfortunately a step down from Shinigami no Testament. Two, it's 7GB huge. Three, it has a piracy protection system that's annoying to crack, and while you're able to play it after crack ITH cannot hook its complete text. Basically you HAVE to load up the extra 7GB (totaling 14GB just to play 1 Visual Novel...) if you want ITH to hook up the text perfectly, like WHAT? Also, the opening read like a soap opera. Ugh.

Aaaaaaaaaaand that's about the 6 VNs I have in stock but was extremely reluctant to go through. Granted I'm probably going to read through 幻創のイデア tonight, but in 4 1/2 hours EU LCS LOL 2013 is going to start so it's not going to be a 'until I black out' section. That makes me reluctant. WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO ME, GOD!

In other words you are too lazy to even fap, welcome to my life.

Looks like you've just stepped into a similar world that I'm in right now.

The difference is I'm just replaying all the first eroges and VNs that I touched. already played Critical Point and Brave Soul again.... I'm also considering to reinstall Gibo and slave pageant just for for the shits and giggles...Heck, because Illusion's new eroge is just as boring as their previous, I installed Artificial girl 3 all over again.

EDIT:
Well, LxC2 Append Life July is OUT, that will distract me for a couple of hours... lol

EDIT 2: OH MY GOD, EVERY GIRL GOT AN UPDATE FOR JULY~~!!!
I blame summer... :D

Still going on Heaven's Feel. Completed Tsugumi's route on Ever 17 today. Great game. I thought it was very straightforward. Neo said should play Sara and Choco's routes as well. So that I will do.

The Kid a shit.

Grisaia no Kajitsu. After finishing Amane's route I am horrified to consider the concept of going through the other heroines route if this is what is in store for me, but I am a WideEyedMAN so to hell with my personal feelings this is a MAN's duty.

EDIT: Ahaha as it turns out I'm an idiot who assumed that Amane's bad ending was the true one...

I'm going to listen to this song and create a thread which will have SPOILERS in big bold letters on the name that will ask you to describe a profound feeling that a moment in a VN left upon you (different from Memorable VN scenes thread..hopefully) and if it changed your views on life. Hoping to find evidence that overemotional reactions to fictional events have a meaning or some sort of pattern or if it's even legitimate to feel such things over something false.

Rance 01 remake... WOOT WOOT

C'mon september~~~