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Visual Novels Community Thread | A Little Something for Everyone

Other than Virtual Novel, is there anything interesting going on with VR visual novels? I tried the Angels & Demigods demo, but was pretty unimpressed. With layered 2D in a 3D space, it was more like having the backgrounds be wallpaper and the characters cardboard cutouts.
 
Other than Virtual Novel, is there anything interesting going on with VR visual novels? I tried the Angels & Demigods demo, but was pretty unimpressed. With layered 2D in a 3D space, it was more like having the backgrounds be wallpaper and the characters cardboard cutouts.

There is Virtual Kanojo, but its more like a Summer Lesson clone with hentai-elements.
 

Yuuichi

Member
Is Rance still so rapetastic?
Kind of kills the chance of me ever playing the games if true.
Yup. I can't play alicesoft games for the same reason.

Other than Virtual Novel, is there anything interesting going on with VR visual novels? I tried the Angels & Demigods demo, but was pretty unimpressed. With layered 2D in a 3D space, it was more like having the backgrounds be wallpaper and the characters cardboard cutouts.
VN's are always several years behind on a technical level (budget constraints + adaption of tech in the JP market) so I don't think we'll see anything substantial for several years.
 
I don't really think VNs in VR make much sense. Reading a bunch of text and looking at static images is not the way to make a VR game. And once you move beyond that you're not really making a visual novel anymore.
 

JulianImp

Member
Now that I'm back home and have a PC I can use, I'm finally back to playing Fata Morgana, and have read up to the beginning of the third chapter.

The first story felt a bit slow at first, but got better over time. The second story was intriguing right from the start, and the twist actually felt pretty organic and foreshadowed well, so that was refreshing as well. I'm only hoping later episodes don't rely on throwing a plot twist that forces you to rethink earlier events though, because it could get stale if all stories ended up relying on such a narrative device.

Having liked it in Umineko, I've enjoyed how the second story relied on unreliable narrators to deliver its twist, and I also like how the story doesn't appear to rely on fantastic elements as much as in using such things as metaphors or stand-ins for mundane things, but then again there's the maid's character, as well as the master and the white-haired girl that's been present in every story so far, so I'm not entirely sure whether I'll be able to just write all those things off as mere metaphors and/or causaility by the end.

My only gripe with the game is with its music, since too many songs have vocals, and short looping BGM with lyrics tend to get on my nerves after a while. The use of Portuguese for several lyrics and jingles is kind of weird for me as well, since I can get parts of what's being said due to the language's similarity with Spanish, but some other parts sound alien to me, taking me out of the narrative every now and then to try and decipher what's being said in the lyrics.

I also honestly didn't expect to be given a choice in the beginning of the third chapter, since Fata Morgana looked like just a kinetic VN up to that moment. I wonder how interaction's going to be used going forward, since the one scene I got was apparently self-contained and didn't impact the main story directly yet.

I don't really think VNs in VR make much sense. Reading a bunch of text and looking at static images is not the way to make a VR game. And once you move beyond that you're not really making a visual novel anymore.

I think series such as Ace Attorney or Danganronpa could work in VR, but only for the investigation segments since the courtroom or nonstop debate scenes require tight direction and timing, and that couldn't be achieved if the player could be looking anywere while the dialogs take place (kind of like when the player chooses to fool around during cutscenes in Half Life, I guess).
 
So digital-only for Vita... Looks like even the physical PC copy will be all-ages for now, with an 18+ patch later on?

The patch was always coming later than the digital launch. Did they specify that the physical edition would require the patch too? Though I suppose they might have to do it that way.
 

Curler

Unconfirmed Member
The patch was always coming later than the digital launch. Did they specify that the physical edition would require the patch too? Though I suppose they might have to do it that way.

They did not, so I assumed that maybe there's a patch also later for the physical copy? Unless it will be held off until it gets added in. (I do wish there was an option to have both in the physical copy, with an option on which version you would want to play >_>)
 
They did not, so I assumed that maybe there's a patch also later for the physical copy? Unless it will be held off until it gets added in. (I do wish there was an option to have both in the physical copy, with an option on which version you would want to play >_>)

The patch is stated to come 3 months after launch, I would expect the physical copies to get printed around that time anyway. Though I can't see them making two versions of the physical edition so it'll probably be all-ages without the patch.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
So what's the deal with the 18+ stuff in Dies Irae? Was it actually removed from the 2012 release or... what? I'm guessing it's yet another VN where the whole thing is better with them stripped out.
 
So what's the deal with the 18+ stuff in Dies Irae? Was it actually removed from the 2012 release or... what? I'm guessing it's yet another VN where the whole thing is better with them stripped out.

The most complete version of the game with the most content doesn't have 18+ content, but to silence people complaining about censorship the kickstarter project is going to release a patch to reinsert them. So they're essentially making a version of the game that has more content than any release in Japan. Though my understanding is that none of that stuff is important.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
The most complete version of the game with the most content doesn't have 18+ content, but to silence people complaining about censorship the kickstarter project is going to release a patch to reinsert them. So they're essentially making a version of the game that has more content than any release in Japan.

Gotcha.

Well, I'm in at the $50 tier. Gotta have mah DRM-free shit.
 
I don't really think VNs in VR make much sense. Reading a bunch of text and looking at static images is not the way to make a VR game. And once you move beyond that you're not really making a visual novel anymore.
My thought is that VNs would make the transition better than most games, because there wouldn't be problems with things like locomotion or camera movement. Most VNs are already played from a first-person viewpoint, so letting a person better inhabit that viewpoint would be even better. The biggest difference would be instead of totally flat and static backgrounds, you could take a look around.

But as long as 2D is still the norm, going full 3D is a pretty big (and costly) jump.
 

Curler

Unconfirmed Member
Would anyone that backed be able to ask if the physical does have 18+ on it or not? I want to confirm (in my case, that it doesnt :x) before I back.
 

gaiadyne

Member
I didn't even know this project was still alive.

Yeah I honestly forgot about it. I just happened to learn about it since I decided to check out vndb on a whim to see if anything new came out. Saw people were discussing it and lo and behold I found out the patch was done.
 

Knurek

Member
Whatever happened to further Key Steam releases?
Weren't we supposed to be getting both Little Busters Extasy and Rewrite Harvest Festa this year?
Did Harmonia and Tomoyo After flop so badly they put them on hold? Anyone knows?
 

PhleBuster

Neo Member
Whatever happened to further Key Steam releases?
Weren't we supposed to be getting both Little Busters Extasy and Rewrite Harvest Festa this year?
Did Harmonia and Tomoyo After flop so badly they put them on hold? Anyone knows?
I don't think there's ever been any ETA for Little Busters! release announced. It's most certainly coming, no worries.
 

JulianImp

Member
Fata Morgana - Up to sometime after the
sixth
door


This has been quite good, and it's interesting how the story is still a mix of mundane events and the fantastic elements afforded by the maid's story. My only gripe is that the stories all have the twist that you were being told things in a sligtly distorted way, and that the new interpretation puts everything on its head. That had already gotten predictable by the end of the second door, so seeing it happen on all later doors as well was anticlimatic and led to a sense of disdain in how I'd basically have to keep doubting whatever the narration presented to me up to the next unreliable narrator twist.

It also felt a bit annoying how I was presented a timed multiple choice after the
sixth
door, flubbed it due to not realizing I had to choose quickly (something that had never happened to me before), and the worst part was that I was forced to go back to a previous door from the chapter select, and thus had to wait a long while with the text on skip mode to get back to the choice a second time. In all, choices seem kind of weird, since sometimes you can only take one, but others you're actually allowed to choose all of them one by one without any kind of penalty, and this last time the choice was actually timed... those inconsistencies in the little gameplay I experienced were quite jarring, since it seemed like the game was just messing with me on a meta sense rather than presenting a clearer set of rules for making choices.
 
Whatever happened to further Key Steam releases?
Weren't we supposed to be getting both Little Busters Extasy and Rewrite Harvest Festa this year?
Did Harmonia and Tomoyo After flop so badly they put them on hold? Anyone knows?

Visual Arts never gives status updates on this stuff. Or any notice before it's out on Steam. The things we do know are mostly from Q&A at conventions.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
Got a response on the Dies Irae 18+ on disc question


On the physical version itself, there will be no 18+ content included, due to Kickstarter restrictions. There will be a separate patch to unlock (or add, if you want it to be clear) the contents, which comes 3 months after the release. More information on the patch download will be forthcoming.



Doesn't really bother me -- as I said, it's probably better without the 18+ stuff. But there's the answer
 

Knurek

Member
Doesn't really bother me -- as I said, it's probably better without the 18+ stuff. But there's the answer

Two days without a project update, pledge amounts also seem to have dropped significantly.
Let's hope light doesn't fuck things up. :\
Sharin no Kuni KS picked up a bit, nearing 96k. They probably won't make the VITA target, but even if people wanting that cancel, it shouldn't bring them down below 80k. So that's good. Looking forward to the game.
 

Curler

Unconfirmed Member
Got a response on the Dies Irae 18+ on disc question


On the physical version itself, there will be no 18+ content included, due to Kickstarter restrictions. There will be a separate patch to unlock (or add, if you want it to be clear) the contents, which comes 3 months after the release. More information on the patch download will be forthcoming.



Doesn't really bother me -- as I said, it's probably better without the 18+ stuff. But there's the answer

Good to see! Time to back it then!

Although, I'm surprised with the answer... There HAD been a couple KS VNs lately that DID have the 18+ version on the patch, and they offered that version as a PC download reward, too! Can't remember it, but it was really recent... I wonder how they were able to do it, then? The Chrono one I think it was?
 
Good to see! Time to back it then!

Although, I'm surprised with the answer... There HAD been a couple KS VNs lately that DID have the 18+ version on the patch, and they offered that version as a PC download reward, too! Can't remember it, but it was really recent... I wonder how they were able to do it, then?

You're probably thinking of ChronoClock. It's probably just a matter of how much one is willing to risk getting Kickstarter's attention and having your project ruined.
 

Curler

Unconfirmed Member
You're probably thinking of ChronoClock. It's probably just a matter of how much one is willing to risk getting Kickstarter's attention and having your project ruined.

Yeah that was the one. I wonder how they were able to get away with it? Sekai usually did stuff like KARAKARA and I think one more via Indiegogo due to the H material (edit: oh yeah, Ne no Kami).
 
Good lord MYTH is melting my goddamn brain, I was all good then out nowhere i became almost completely lost. And I don't think there's anywhere I can go to get an explanation for this shit.

I said before this was like Higurashi but now it's turned into Umineko on meth.
 
Saw an uhhh, interesting new VN pop up on Steam. Its your last chance in new school. Based on the description and screenshots I'm guessing it's a machine translation from Russian to English? The backgrounds also seem higher quality than the characters and somewhat familiar--I'm not sure if this is because they were ripped off of something, or it's just that they're such cliche settings.
 

Knurek

Member
Saw an uhhh, interesting new VN pop up on Steam. Its your last chance in new school. Based on the description and screenshots I'm guessing it's a machine translation from Russian to English? The backgrounds also seem higher quality than the characters and somewhat familiar--I'm not sure if this is because they were ripped off of something, or it's just that they're such cliche settings.

Why are there 500 people playing this game? Is this some kind of Steam Card trading scam/money laundering scheme? What the eff?

Sharin no Kuni KS picked up the pace in the past few days, they are close to $101k now... Maybe even will reach VITA stretch?
Dies Irae KS just cratered. 3 days without a single update by light, and still no mention of stretch goals. Not looking good IMO.
 
Why are there 500 people playing this game? Is this some kind of Steam Card trading scam/money laundering scheme? What the eff?
To be honest for $2.67 I was considering getting this game to see how ridiculous it would read, but yeah I was wondering about those hundreds of people going for easy cards too.
 

Knurek

Member
20161218201352_1b7s93.jpg


GOTY 2016
 

PhleBuster

Neo Member
To be honest for $2.67 I was considering getting this game to see how ridiculous it would read, but yeah I was wondering about those hundreds of people going for easy cards too.
I was thinking about this for a while, after seeing it had 900+ players which made absolutely no sense for a paid game of such obvious... I'm not sure I can even use the word quality here.

This is completely speculative and not meant to defame anyone, but the explanation that makes most sense to me is:
1. "Game" is released on Steam using all free assets
2. "Game" has trading cards.
3. "Developer" is gifting thousands of copies, likely to a botnet.
4. Bots(?) churn out thousands of trading cards.
5. Profit.

99% sure it's not actually people buying the game.

Edit: After doing the obvious thing and checking the publisher, they released a very simple platformer a week ago that hit almost the same number of players at its peak. So likely that's the size of their botnet (speculative), and they'll keep releasing a "game" per week (of any sort that they managed to get their hands on) until they're shut down (supposing that even ever happens).
 
In this case I am the 1%. Curiosity killed my dollars. It seems to be made with TyranoBuilder, and unfortunately regular old F12 for screenshots doesn't seem to work so there's half my fun gone. But at least here are some nice broken English quotes from early on:

"This is my chance to make new friends, and a beautiful girl."

"Maybe i lie down, and wil be watch to sky."

"I patrol the school in search of violators, that you saw and realized that here something is wrong."
"Hi,i lost my class room."
"ohhh,let me you'll take."

"Mom,i at home."
"MOM,I AT HOME!"
"Where my mother?"

"This is only my first step into the world of boobs."

"I have heard your speech on the radio, your words have inspired me, take me on his team to seize the women's boobs."
"Hi, I do not understand what you're saying."

There's a portion not long after this where textboxes stop showing up altogether, though I continued to hit Enter and (after several silent scenes) they returned.

Aaaand with 20 minutes on the clock I've hit an ending, though probably not the only one as there were a handful of binary choices. Boy oh.

EDIT: All but one choices are false "But thou must!" types, so there's one choice 95% through that decides which of two endings it goes to. What a total turd scam.
 
Beat MYTH, well that was.......something......

To give you an idea of how confused I am.

Zero Escape series? pfft, simple

Metal Gear Solid 2? mostly understood when I was 11

Kingdom Hearts series? please, this is nothing

The Silver Case? took a little effort but I got it all

Umineko? not that bad at all

MYTH? *walks out room with no pants* gentlemen I have witnessed some nonsensical shit
 
Beat MYTH, well that was.......something......

To give you an idea of how confused I am.

Zero Escape series? pfft, simple

Metal Gear Solid 2? mostly understood when I was 11

Kingdom Hearts series? please, this is nothing

The Silver Case? took a little effort but I got it all

Umineko? not that bad at all

MYTH? *walks out room with no pants* gentlemen I have witnessed some nonsensical shit

I read it over a month ago and trying to remember what the hell happened at the end is a real struggle.
 
I read it over a month ago and trying to remember what the hell happened at the end is a real struggle.

I felt like i was missing some scenes from looking at the character chart.

I don't know if it's supposed to be that way but characters would show up before they're introduced in the story.
But particularly im talking about Hibiki and her mom, where the hell did that shit come from with the mom being a sex crazed maniac who murdered her husband? It just showed up in the chart and was never adressed in the game. Is it supposed to be like that? And for that matter I barely know what Hibiki's deal is period.
 
Re: Sharin no Kuni has blazed past that Vita stretch goal days before the end of the campaign.

So much for it going against every other Kickstarter precedent over the past five years and falling below $80,000.
 
I'm done with Himawari. It was good, but kind of disjointed? There's an enforced route order, but the game peaks in the middle two routes (even though the 2048 route was overly long and should have ended much sooner). The last route doesn't feel like much of an ending, and then it has a surprise twist post credits that continues on in some side stories, but doesn't get resolved at all. I suppose it is finished in the untranslated fandisc, but I can't say I really cared all that much for that plotline introduced so late as it's pretty divorced from the main character conflicts of the game. And that's where Himawari really shines, in its characters. The cast is really well fleshed out and the characters are all flawed multi-dimensional figures that have pretty compelling internal conflicts.
 
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