Visual Novels

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I'm struggling to muster up the will to keep playing Ever 17. I've been through Tsugumi's and Sora's routes and I don't think I can handle another conversation about chicken sandwiches.

You's route has definitely been more interesting so far since there are some signs of a twist coming that I've been told Coco's story blows open but this is tough. I feel like I could skip 1/3rd of the dialogue. I've got no problem with slice of life stuff that builds the characters (I even think it's worth playing muv-luv extra), but there's just something about the dialogue in ever 17 that just does absolutely nothing for me.

Am I missing something or is ever 17 one of those games that doesn't hold up to it's successors because it was an early VN that did the whole mindfuck twist first?

I'm not sure but it wouldn't surprise me. 999 did the collapsing underwater base, and a lot of the reveals were borrowed by later VNs.

 

[JamusActimus]

I finished Raging Loop the other day. It really had me hooked, which is rare for game to do these days. I think it falls off in the last 1/3 of the game, but it was still good, dropping from a 10/10 to a 9/10.

I was pretty dissapointed with how linear the story was. You need the bad end to advance. The story chart is pretty much a straight line.

It really falls off a lot the end. I was a bit unconfortable with the Mc falling in love with a 16 year old in one route.
You expect everything will build up to something bigger.

It was pretty good overall tho. The game has great ideas with the new game plus and the protag Hassan being a liar trickster that even lies to the reader.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

I was pretty dissapointed with how linear the story was. You need the bad end to advance. The story hart is pretty much a straight line.

It really falls off a lot the end. I was a bit unconfortable with the Mc falling in love with a 16 year old in one route.
You expect everything will build up to something bigger.

It was pretty good overall tho. The game has great ideas with the new game plus and the protag Hassan being a liar trickster that even lies to the reader.

The biggest problem to me was the old man was somehow a badass nobody could stop, but then just kinda dies stupidly like the ultimate pushover. He seemed like an unstoppable supernatural force initially, which is misleading as hell.

As for falling in love with the girl, it's inappropriate but I've seen more questionable stuff in Jap games. It was an act of mercy they left Meiko completely out of any creepy scenes or comments at least.

 

[Jhonny Jhon]

Is there any game with a similar premise to Katawa Shoujo?

I remember that there were some people talking about making a spiritual successor to it, but Idk if it ever got off the ground or not.

 

[BananaSplit²]

https://game.mages.co.jp/iwakura-aria/

Mystery ADV game set during the summer of Japan 1966, in the middle of an economic growth after the war. The MC, Kitagawa Ichiko, is hired as a maid for the Iwakura family in their private residence but eventually get to learn soon the secrets deep buried and a plot to foil.

Game is confirmed so far to have a total of nine endings and it's currently a Switch exclusive, no announcement for a PC version or an English translation yet.
Besides the artstyle itself, I'm especially digging the use of the graphic novel-like panels drawn in graphite pencils.

 

[AWarmToiletSeat]

Is there any game with a similar premise to Katawa Shoujo?

I remember that there were some people talking about making a spiritual successor to it, but Idk if it ever got off the ground or not.

Fruit of Grisaia? It's more about mental disabilities, and things get fuckey after the first game. But, if you like Katawa Shoujo, there's probably something for you there. Just pretend Labyrinth and Eden don't exist.

 

[Baraka Obama]

Fruit of Grisaia? It's more about mental disabilities, and things get fuckey after the first game. But, if you like Katawa Shoujo, there's probably something for you there. Just pretend Labyrinth and Eden don't exist.

The first game is death by Slice of Life. It just keeps going. Took forever to get to a single character's ending.

 

[Dysnomia]

I finished Raging Loop the other day. It really had me hooked, which is rare for game to do these days. I think it falls off in the last 1/3 of the game, but it was still good, dropping from a 10/10 to a 9/10.

The music is crazy good, my favorite is the one that plays during the Death Note-esque mind games where everyone is trying to deduce the killer/s:

I wish the sequel would get localized, even though it seems quite different.


When I read "Western visual novel" I was waiting for you to mention the LGBT shit, and knew it was coming, because it's inevitable. Too bad because it looks cool at a glance.

Oh God why? I love the graphics. And I know you can just choose to be a normal person. But it's so irritating that there are very few western VNs that can just not do that. I am interested though.

Anyway, speaking of PC-98 style, has anyone played the remake of YU-NO? I played the PC fan translation but my old PC died when I had one ending to go. It's kind of tedious due to backtracking via save jewels being a mandatory mechanic. It's actually part of the plot because of how the mirror works. Does the remake have any QOL features to make things a bit less tedious? I'm fine with playing through the story again. But the backtracking... You have to memorize where to put a jewel so you can get on an alternate route. Get a bad end and have no jewel save anywhere near your route and hello "skip text" for the next few minutes.

 

[Baraka Obama]

Anyway, speaking of PC-98 style, has anyone played the remake of YU-NO? I played the PC fan translation but my old PC died when I had one ending to go. It's kind of tedious due to backtracking via save jewels being a mandatory mechanic. It's actually part of the plot because of how the mirror works. Does the remake have any QOL features to make things a bit less tedious? I'm fine with playing through the story again. But the backtracking... You have to memorize where to put a jewel so you can get on an alternate route. Get a bad end and have no jewel save anywhere near your route and hello "skip text" for the next few minutes.

I played the Yu No remake and I really liked it. The new visuals are honestly pretty good, definitely a different style but I thought it was very cohesive. It does make some of the backtracking easier and as far as I remember it gives you some extra jewels, and it makes it easier to play without a guide. I managed to 100% the game without a guide.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

Oh God why? I love the graphics. And I know you can just choose to be a normal person. But it's so irritating that there are very few western VNs that can just not do that. I am interested though.

Yeah, it's unavoidable with western man's longing for cock. The graphics are pretty eyecatching, and the option to be normal is great and all, but it's a total buzzkill to be propagandized to 24/7/365. You can practically guarantee it'll seep into other areas of the story too.

Seems worth a sail to the high seas, or bought used if there's a physical copy.

 

[AWarmToiletSeat]

The first game is death by Slice of Life. It just keeps going. Took forever to get to a single character's ending.

I don't hate the slice of life segments in Grisaia. Yuuji's a funny guy and his antics are fun to read. I think other games do it better. But, Grisaia's entertaining enough to read moment to moment as long as you don't have a pre-existing negative disposition toward goofy character interactions.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I don't hate the slice of life segments in Grisaia. Yuuji's a funny guy and his antics are fun to read. I think other games do it better. But, Grisaia's entertaining enough to read moment to moment as long as you don't have a pre-existing negative disposition toward goofy character interactions.

They should have done what other VNs did which is to lock some of the common route filler beyond heroine route progression, so that even when you replay from the beginning there is extra scenes to remind you how things happened before the plot started. Would have also helped the pace.

Anyway, speaking of PC-98 style, has anyone played the remake of YU-NO? I played the PC fan translation but my old PC died when I had one ending to go. It's kind of tedious due to backtracking via save jewels being a mandatory mechanic. It's actually part of the plot because of how the mirror works. Does the remake have any QOL features to make things a bit less tedious? I'm fine with playing through the story again. But the backtracking... You have to memorize where to put a jewel so you can get on an alternate route. Get a bad end and have no jewel save anywhere near your route and hello "skip text" for the next few minutes.

I remember it was alright. not too much of a bother in doing the routes, though the flags were pretty annoying. Also holy shit there is a lot of unintentional (and intentional) incest in it.

 

[WelperHelper99]

I am playing Muv-Luv. Apparently its 100 hours i've been told. Over 4 hours in. Its good. I am waiting for the mecha shit to hit, but apparently that's the second half.

Lord help me, this is going to take a while. Also lol, this is the game i play on my new rig. Looks great coming out of a 4070 super.

 

[HexFag]

I am playing Muv-Luv. Apparently its 100 hours i've been told. Over 4 hours in. Its good. I am waiting for the mecha shit to hit, but apparently that's the second half.
View attachment 6067103
Lord help me, this is going to take a while. Also lol, this is the game i play on my new rig. Looks great coming out of a 4070 super.

I'm glad the 4070 super is being put to good use. Muv-Luv reminds me of the fact that a TOTALLY NOT VIVA LA VIDA song made it into the original CD release as a weird reference, but was taken out of all subsequent releases. I don't know how the hell he got away with this back in the day but I wish more people did shit like this.

 

[WelperHelper99]

I'm glad the 4070 super is being put to good use. Muv-Luv reminds me of the fact that a TOTALLY NOT VIVA LA VIDA song made it into the original CD release as a weird reference, but was taken out of all subsequent releases. I don't know how the hell he got away with this back in the day but I wish more people did shit like this.

Ok I was two when this game dropped in 03. What song are you talking about? I know the song by Coldplay, but that was 2008. Otherwise nice OST. Shame its not in the version i have.

 

[HexFag]

Ok I was two when this game dropped in 03. What song are you talking about? I know the song by Coldplay, but that was 2008. Otherwise nice OST. Shame its not in the version i have.

You never watched Shrek 2 before?

 

[WelperHelper99]

You never watched Shrek 2 before?

Ok i hear it now. Holy shit lmao. Sorry i got to this late, i just cleared the Sumika route (Heart broke for Meiya btw at the end). Thing is im not too surprised. From my 7 hours in, it had a very 2000's vibe, especially in some of the dialog. Putting in a song rip is not surprising to me for Muv-Luv lol.

 

[Code991]

I am playing Muv-Luv. Apparently its 100 hours i've been told. Over 4 hours in. Its good. I am waiting for the mecha shit to hit, but apparently that's the second half.
View attachment 6067103
Lord help me, this is going to take a while. Also lol, this is the game i play on my new rig. Looks great coming out of a 4070 super.

I'm glad your enjoying it so far. Some people will tell you to skip right to Unlimited but I consider Extra to be mandatory for the full experience.
There's also no feeling like using your $1,500 gaming PC to play visual novels lol.

 

[WelperHelper99]

I'm glad your enjoying it so far. Some people will tell you to skip right to Unlimited but I consider Extra to be mandatory for the full experience.
There's also no feeling like using your $1,500 gaming PC to play visual novels lol.

After clearing Sukimia's route, I agree. The game is building up the characters first, that much is clear. And yes, rocking a i9 with 64gigs of ram and a a 4070 to play a VN feels amazing. Smooth as glass, barely pegges the CPU on the readouts whereas my shitbox laptop was screaming to run fucking Fate.

 

[Poop A Loop]

Ok i hear it now. Holy shit lmao. Sorry i got to this late, i just cleared the Sumika route (Heart broke for Meiya btw at the end). Thing is im not too surprised. From my 7 hours in, it had a very 2000's vibe, especially in some of the dialog. Putting in a song rip is not surprising to me for Muv-Luv lol.

It's absolutely worth at least playing the two main girl's routes in Extra and Unlimited. It adds depth to what you experience in Alternative. Anyone who says to skip Extra is just straight up wrong for lots of reasons that are also spoilery. I always like reading people's reactions to finishing the trilogy so I'll be interested to read what you think.

It's definitely one of those games where you'll be hurting yourself if you look up spoilers for Alternative so just be careful about that.

I'm not sure but it wouldn't surprise me. 999 did the collapsing underwater base, and a lot of the reveals were borrowed by later VNs.

You were right in the end. Just finished the true end and I feel like I was reading a proto-Somnium/999 storyline but with worse dialogue. Ever17 wasn't the worst thing in the world but I definitely had to force myself to finish. The twist was interesting but not the mindblowing experience people online were saying it was. I think I'd have a better opinion of it if the dialogue was better but whatever. 6/10 still better than Forspoken, Horizon: ZD, and Spiderman.