Oct 26, 2014 12:34 AM
Visual Novels I've Played
Anime Relations:
Togainu no Chi
As the title says -- visual novels I've played, in absolutely no particular order! (Although I'll place related titles together as I read them.) Have at it!
Note: I do not, under any circumstances, view hentai scenes, with Katawa Shoujo being the only exception (since the CGs weren't awfully explicit in the first place). Expect I've skipped through or disabled H-scenes in any VN that has them.
Completed VNs
Kodoku ni Kiku Yuri - 7/10
Also called "Lonely Yuri". An adorable yuri visual novel. The characters are oddly charismatic and likable -- they grab you from the first few minutes into the story. Seri and Fusa both have their own personalities and they're quite distinctive at that. You'll find that it's easy for them to get underneath your skin, particularly Seri. She's just so...laidback, and she's quite a fun character. Fusa is simply adorable. Fusa and Seri also have a surprising amount of depth. They're not your typical flat characters; they both have their own issues which they work through together. Overall, a short visual novel that'll give you less than an hour's worth of read time, but still intriguing in and of itself.
Boku no Shokora - 6/10
A cute and short visual novel (around thirty-forty minutes of reading total). Pretty linear. The different scenarios are amusing. Overall this visual novel reminds me of a typical shoujo anime or manga. Takaomi is cute but dense; the heroine is somewhat tsundere. Not worth playing through more than once. No character development or any interesting ~revelations~. Just a simple story. The art is cute; reminscent of a shoujo manga, what with the huge eyes and pretty hair. I...didn't really notice the music, so no comment on that. I-I don't even remember if it's voiced l-lol. It probably isn't. Overall, something to pick up if you have time to waste.
Narcissu - 9/10
Optional Tags: QQ
The tale of two terminal patients running away from the hospice and setting off on a road trip with only one goal: to not die at home or at the hospital.
Proof that you don't need a large budget to make something extremely powerful. Beautiful, sad, melancholic, and wonderful. Narcissu is filled with pure, raw emotion and I love it. The characters are interesting, the art is pretty (although Setsumi is much too...moe and childlike for my tastes; she's supposed to be at least twenty years old and she looks like a six year old). The music is good, albeit repetitive, but it carries the atmosphere the VN wants to quite well. It's partially voiced, and I must say that I love Setsumi's voice. Quiet, pretty. Overall a solid read.
Negaeba ~From the Bottom of the Heart~ - 7/10
Extremely short (less than ten minutes of playtime), yet manages to have a lot of impact. Touching, chilling, and even thought-provoking. This is a free doujin game, so don't expect an amazing budget or great art. Not voiced.
Juniper's Knot - 7/10
A short VN that will probably take you less than two hours to play through, Juniper's Knot tells the story of a demon and a boy who meet in a silent town. The art is quite nice, and the music is atmospheric. The characters are developed enough to be distinctive and the mysteriousness of the story keeps you intrigued as to what will happen next and what will be revealed. A good VN that could probably be great if only it were longer.
The Second Reproduction - 8/10
Optional Tags: QQ
My Route Order: Gardis -> Jin -> Lezette
Wonderfully addicting otome game about princess of the kingdom Almenan, and her mission to assassinate the demon king Gardis.
Gardis' route = best route, hands down. Both his bad end and his good end lead to some pretty great developments. I'm glad I played his route first since it lead to the most amazing mindscrew ever.
"WHAT NO. I JUST STARTED PLAYING. I'M GETTING A BAD END?! ALREADY?! BUT I BARELY DID ANYTHING. WHAT DID I DO WRONG???? NO STOP. STOP IT YOU'RE BOTH IDIOTS. NO THE GAME CAN'T END LIKE THIS YOU CAN'T. ...OH. WELL. OKAY THEN. Carry on, carry onnnn."
Jin's route had some nice moments, but all in all it would have been better if it had been written...better. While I do find the general idea of his personality interesting, it's hard for me to like him when the first thing he does is get the heroine drunk and take advantage of her. Extremely difficult to believe he likes her for anything more than her body. In addition, Jin's route didn't really cover any new ground. I suppose it's natural considering that he's a side character, but that doesn't mean that you have to tease me with the idea of something possibly developing only to completely forget about it in favour of angst and misunderstandings. On another note, Jin does, however, get some points for being wonderfully yandere. Although, now that I think about it, Gardis is pretty yandere, too.
Jin also manages to remind me of a certain someone.
"Y U NO UNDERSTAND, I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU." /tableflip, temper tantrum
~undetermined amount of time later~
/more tableflips and temper tantrums because whoops, someone touched Christina the wrong way
...Yeah, you both need lessons on how to not-care. Kudos for whoever knows who I'm even talking about.
I only played Jin's good ending, didn't bother getting his bad one.
Lezette is the second best character and I'm kind of glad I played his route last. His kindness washed away the slightly bad
aftertaste Jin left~.
To understand the whole story, you'll have to play all the routes. It's heavily implied in Gardis' route that ~spoiler~ is ~spoiler~; in Jin's route, it's implied that something is blocking ~spoiler~; and in Lezette's route, this is all confirmed.
The main character, Christina, is quite dynamic. It is very enjoyable to watch as she grows and develops throughout the different routes of The Second Reproduction, and I personally think her development is done realistically.
The English translation is...passable. I can't say anything about the written parts for I do not know enough kanji; however, the spoken parts are...okay. They're simplified, mangled, and even have liberties taken. For instance, "she was only nice to me" is translated as "she said I was her favourite daughter". An even more irritating example is "I don't want it to die because of me" translated as "I've already caused enough deaths". There are also parts where dialogue is cut for the sake of shortening and simplifying what is being said. It irritates me, but I suppose it's okay. At least there's an English patch, right? Like I said, it's passable. The VN itself is a good enough read to make up for a shortened English script.
Phenomeno - 8/10
This manages to be one of the most creepy things I have ever read. Honestly. It's great. The characters that were actually given some screentime (Karasu, Krishna, Yoishi) are all quite interesting. They all have their own quirks and personalities that make them likable in their own way. The storyline is also extremely thought-provoking, while not necessarily the most original. Where have I heard the story of someone in need of accommodations and snapping up a mysteriously low-priced house? You'll probably be able to guess some of the twists and turns, but that doesn't take away from the sheer atmosphere this story has. It's very powerful and, for the most part, you'll be on your toes.
"NO NAGI. DON'T DO IT. DON'T GO UP THERE. IF YOU HAVE IYA NA YOKAN YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T. NO. STAHP. ALFJDALKFJD I TOLD YOU NOT TO WHAT ARE YOU DOINGGGG."
As for the visual novel itself, it's quite short; about an hour and half, two hours' playtime at the most. There are no choices to make, and there are no routes. It's purely a story to be read and experienced by the reader. That being said, it's a very good one, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Katawa Shoujo - 8/10
My Route Order: Emi -> Rin -> Hanako -> Lily -> Shizune
This game is quite good at drawing you in with an intriguing opening that definitely gets you interested in the main character's plight. Hisao, our charming lead, ends up having a heart condition which causes him to have to be enrolled in a school specifically for the "crippled" -- students with conditions that would benefit from them having easy and quick access to paramedics and trained medical professionals.
Katawa Shoujo gives you five girls to choose from. Emi, the happy-go-lucky runner; Rin, the eccentric artist; Hanako, the shy bookworm; Lilly the noblewoman; and Shizune the dictator. All girls are interesting in their own ways and certainly developed. Many of these facets are only visible in the girls' respective routes. Hisao himself also develops and rediscovers himself in different ways depending on which girl you get him to choose.
The shortest route is probably Rin's or Emi's, each clocking in at about 3 hours according to my playthrough. Hanako's was 4 hours, and Lily and Shizune both took me about 5 hours to complete. Lily has a good ending and a neutral ending; Hanako and Rin have good endings, bad endings, and neutral endings; and Shizune and Emi have bad endings and good endings.
The strongest aspects the VN has are not its art or its music. While both are good, the art is almost painfully obviously amateur in some places. The music begs for almost no changes. But I digress. The best thing KS has going for it is its relatable characters and scenarios. I swear, even with someone like Rin, who was so eccentric I thought I would not be able to empathize with her -- I did, and I did so very strongly. There were some scenes in some routes that hit very close to home. Like Emi, for example -- I've had a friend who I wanted to help dearly, only to have them turn me away, saying they don't want it or need it. I've had them grow inexplicably distant just after I thought we were close. The characters in KS are not defined by their disabilities; they are fully realized human beings despite them and because of them, and that is what makes it such a powerful story in and of itself.
I wouldn't really be able to tell you what my favourite route was. I liked all of them, for various reasons. I even found reading Shizune's route to be interesting and enjoyable, despite popular outcry and chagrin that there is only one choice to make in her route. It's still an intriguing branch of the story all on its own. Katawa Shoujo is worth reading just for what you can experience and learn about yourself as a person while making your way through it.
Dropped VNs
Yo Jin Bo
Definitely inferior to TSR so far as far as a otome game goes. The characters and the humour annoy me. None of the male protagonists appeal to me, which is much the worst thing for a game where part of the gameplay is based on choosing a man. The humour is lame and doesn't make me laugh, it just gets on my nerves. It's annoying, it's not witty. The graphics are...not good. The text bar is preposterously made and it doesn't look professional at all. Even the fact that this seems fully voiced so far does not make it better than The Second Reproduction. I might be biased, since TSR was the first otome game I played, but...TSR had an interesting storyline, captivating routes (particularly Gardis and Lezette), and I actually cared about the characters. Yo Jin Bo...well...I don't. It just seems childish compared to TSR. What I probably hate the most, aside from the characters, is the fact that I can't even save or exit unless I clear a "chapter".
Togainu no Chi
Nice art, nice music, interesting atmosphere and some likable characters. Combine that with "sexy" yaoi rape and you have a miserable concoction I am dropping faster than a hot potato.
Note: I do not, under any circumstances, view hentai scenes, with Katawa Shoujo being the only exception (since the CGs weren't awfully explicit in the first place). Expect I've skipped through or disabled H-scenes in any VN that has them.
Completed VNs
Kodoku ni Kiku Yuri - 7/10
Also called "Lonely Yuri". An adorable yuri visual novel. The characters are oddly charismatic and likable -- they grab you from the first few minutes into the story. Seri and Fusa both have their own personalities and they're quite distinctive at that. You'll find that it's easy for them to get underneath your skin, particularly Seri. She's just so...laidback, and she's quite a fun character. Fusa is simply adorable. Fusa and Seri also have a surprising amount of depth. They're not your typical flat characters; they both have their own issues which they work through together. Overall, a short visual novel that'll give you less than an hour's worth of read time, but still intriguing in and of itself.
Boku no Shokora - 6/10
A cute and short visual novel (around thirty-forty minutes of reading total). Pretty linear. The different scenarios are amusing. Overall this visual novel reminds me of a typical shoujo anime or manga. Takaomi is cute but dense; the heroine is somewhat tsundere. Not worth playing through more than once. No character development or any interesting ~revelations~. Just a simple story. The art is cute; reminscent of a shoujo manga, what with the huge eyes and pretty hair. I...didn't really notice the music, so no comment on that. I-I don't even remember if it's voiced l-lol. It probably isn't. Overall, something to pick up if you have time to waste.
Narcissu - 9/10
Optional Tags: QQ
The tale of two terminal patients running away from the hospice and setting off on a road trip with only one goal: to not die at home or at the hospital.
Proof that you don't need a large budget to make something extremely powerful. Beautiful, sad, melancholic, and wonderful. Narcissu is filled with pure, raw emotion and I love it. The characters are interesting, the art is pretty (although Setsumi is much too...moe and childlike for my tastes; she's supposed to be at least twenty years old and she looks like a six year old). The music is good, albeit repetitive, but it carries the atmosphere the VN wants to quite well. It's partially voiced, and I must say that I love Setsumi's voice. Quiet, pretty. Overall a solid read.
Negaeba ~From the Bottom of the Heart~ - 7/10
Extremely short (less than ten minutes of playtime), yet manages to have a lot of impact. Touching, chilling, and even thought-provoking. This is a free doujin game, so don't expect an amazing budget or great art. Not voiced.
Juniper's Knot - 7/10
A short VN that will probably take you less than two hours to play through, Juniper's Knot tells the story of a demon and a boy who meet in a silent town. The art is quite nice, and the music is atmospheric. The characters are developed enough to be distinctive and the mysteriousness of the story keeps you intrigued as to what will happen next and what will be revealed. A good VN that could probably be great if only it were longer.
The Second Reproduction - 8/10
Optional Tags: QQ
My Route Order: Gardis -> Jin -> Lezette
Wonderfully addicting otome game about princess of the kingdom Almenan, and her mission to assassinate the demon king Gardis.
Gardis' route = best route, hands down. Both his bad end and his good end lead to some pretty great developments. I'm glad I played his route first since it lead to the most amazing mindscrew ever.
"WHAT NO. I JUST STARTED PLAYING. I'M GETTING A BAD END?! ALREADY?! BUT I BARELY DID ANYTHING. WHAT DID I DO WRONG???? NO STOP. STOP IT YOU'RE BOTH IDIOTS. NO THE GAME CAN'T END LIKE THIS YOU CAN'T. ...OH. WELL. OKAY THEN. Carry on, carry onnnn."
Jin's route had some nice moments, but all in all it would have been better if it had been written...better. While I do find the general idea of his personality interesting, it's hard for me to like him when the first thing he does is get the heroine drunk and take advantage of her. Extremely difficult to believe he likes her for anything more than her body. In addition, Jin's route didn't really cover any new ground. I suppose it's natural considering that he's a side character, but that doesn't mean that you have to tease me with the idea of something possibly developing only to completely forget about it in favour of angst and misunderstandings. On another note, Jin does, however, get some points for being wonderfully yandere. Although, now that I think about it, Gardis is pretty yandere, too.
Jin also manages to remind me of a certain someone.
"Y U NO UNDERSTAND, I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOU." /tableflip, temper tantrum
~undetermined amount of time later~
/more tableflips and temper tantrums because whoops, someone touched Christina the wrong way
...Yeah, you both need lessons on how to not-care. Kudos for whoever knows who I'm even talking about.
I only played Jin's good ending, didn't bother getting his bad one.
Lezette is the second best character and I'm kind of glad I played his route last. His kindness washed away the slightly bad
aftertaste Jin left~.
To understand the whole story, you'll have to play all the routes. It's heavily implied in Gardis' route that ~spoiler~ is ~spoiler~; in Jin's route, it's implied that something is blocking ~spoiler~; and in Lezette's route, this is all confirmed.
The main character, Christina, is quite dynamic. It is very enjoyable to watch as she grows and develops throughout the different routes of The Second Reproduction, and I personally think her development is done realistically.
The English translation is...passable. I can't say anything about the written parts for I do not know enough kanji; however, the spoken parts are...okay. They're simplified, mangled, and even have liberties taken. For instance, "she was only nice to me" is translated as "she said I was her favourite daughter". An even more irritating example is "I don't want it to die because of me" translated as "I've already caused enough deaths". There are also parts where dialogue is cut for the sake of shortening and simplifying what is being said. It irritates me, but I suppose it's okay. At least there's an English patch, right? Like I said, it's passable. The VN itself is a good enough read to make up for a shortened English script.
Phenomeno - 8/10
This manages to be one of the most creepy things I have ever read. Honestly. It's great. The characters that were actually given some screentime (Karasu, Krishna, Yoishi) are all quite interesting. They all have their own quirks and personalities that make them likable in their own way. The storyline is also extremely thought-provoking, while not necessarily the most original. Where have I heard the story of someone in need of accommodations and snapping up a mysteriously low-priced house? You'll probably be able to guess some of the twists and turns, but that doesn't take away from the sheer atmosphere this story has. It's very powerful and, for the most part, you'll be on your toes.
"NO NAGI. DON'T DO IT. DON'T GO UP THERE. IF YOU HAVE IYA NA YOKAN YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T. NO. STAHP. ALFJDALKFJD I TOLD YOU NOT TO WHAT ARE YOU DOINGGGG."
As for the visual novel itself, it's quite short; about an hour and half, two hours' playtime at the most. There are no choices to make, and there are no routes. It's purely a story to be read and experienced by the reader. That being said, it's a very good one, and I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Katawa Shoujo - 8/10
My Route Order: Emi -> Rin -> Hanako -> Lily -> Shizune
This game is quite good at drawing you in with an intriguing opening that definitely gets you interested in the main character's plight. Hisao, our charming lead, ends up having a heart condition which causes him to have to be enrolled in a school specifically for the "crippled" -- students with conditions that would benefit from them having easy and quick access to paramedics and trained medical professionals.
Katawa Shoujo gives you five girls to choose from. Emi, the happy-go-lucky runner; Rin, the eccentric artist; Hanako, the shy bookworm; Lilly the noblewoman; and Shizune the dictator. All girls are interesting in their own ways and certainly developed. Many of these facets are only visible in the girls' respective routes. Hisao himself also develops and rediscovers himself in different ways depending on which girl you get him to choose.
The shortest route is probably Rin's or Emi's, each clocking in at about 3 hours according to my playthrough. Hanako's was 4 hours, and Lily and Shizune both took me about 5 hours to complete. Lily has a good ending and a neutral ending; Hanako and Rin have good endings, bad endings, and neutral endings; and Shizune and Emi have bad endings and good endings.
The strongest aspects the VN has are not its art or its music. While both are good, the art is almost painfully obviously amateur in some places. The music begs for almost no changes. But I digress. The best thing KS has going for it is its relatable characters and scenarios. I swear, even with someone like Rin, who was so eccentric I thought I would not be able to empathize with her -- I did, and I did so very strongly. There were some scenes in some routes that hit very close to home. Like Emi, for example -- I've had a friend who I wanted to help dearly, only to have them turn me away, saying they don't want it or need it. I've had them grow inexplicably distant just after I thought we were close. The characters in KS are not defined by their disabilities; they are fully realized human beings despite them and because of them, and that is what makes it such a powerful story in and of itself.
I wouldn't really be able to tell you what my favourite route was. I liked all of them, for various reasons. I even found reading Shizune's route to be interesting and enjoyable, despite popular outcry and chagrin that there is only one choice to make in her route. It's still an intriguing branch of the story all on its own. Katawa Shoujo is worth reading just for what you can experience and learn about yourself as a person while making your way through it.
Dropped VNs
Yo Jin Bo
Definitely inferior to TSR so far as far as a otome game goes. The characters and the humour annoy me. None of the male protagonists appeal to me, which is much the worst thing for a game where part of the gameplay is based on choosing a man. The humour is lame and doesn't make me laugh, it just gets on my nerves. It's annoying, it's not witty. The graphics are...not good. The text bar is preposterously made and it doesn't look professional at all. Even the fact that this seems fully voiced so far does not make it better than The Second Reproduction. I might be biased, since TSR was the first otome game I played, but...TSR had an interesting storyline, captivating routes (particularly Gardis and Lezette), and I actually cared about the characters. Yo Jin Bo...well...I don't. It just seems childish compared to TSR. What I probably hate the most, aside from the characters, is the fact that I can't even save or exit unless I clear a "chapter".
Togainu no Chi
Nice art, nice music, interesting atmosphere and some likable characters. Combine that with "sexy" yaoi rape and you have a miserable concoction I am dropping faster than a hot potato.
Posted by
Cryptic-senpai
| Oct 26, 2014 12:34 AM |
1 comments
 |
Outpacing | Sep 29, 2021 10:10 PM
not bad
|