Twin Tails
Member
Damn, that is lots.
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Visual Novels Community Thread | A Little Something for Everyone
- Thread starter Yuuichi
- Start date
Basileus777
Member
The power of front page promotion on a seasonal Steam sale. If My Heart Had Wings is probably going to sell a lot too, it's a shame that slot wasn't given to a VN without a horrible travesty of a translation.
calc84maniac
Member
What's the opinion here on Eden*, by the way?
Basileus777
Member
I liked it, even if the first half is better and the ending a bit anti-climatic. It has impressive production values for a VN.
As someone who doesn't know more about it than the general plot, is it impressive production values for a localized title, the time it came out, or within the grand scope of things.
Basileus777
Member
I'd say it's probably on top of all of the officially localized titles at least. I'm hardly an expert in things not available in English and I'm not saying it's Mahoyo or Muv Luv Alternative, but I was impressed. It has a lot of well drawn CGs and sprites, good sound production, etc.
Dexthepleb
Banned
Started rewrite since l finished chaos head last night its pretty fun so far
That's good to hear. I was kind of surprised when I finally decided to check VNs out, since being a Nintendo boy growing up I could not fathom games where the narrative took center stage in spite of gameplay, let alone games with no player interaction at all (kinetic novels). Now, I'm actually trying to code an add-on for Unity that simplifies making VNs on it, and am working on creating a simple one.
Since I've already implemented most basic features, I guess I should ask you guys with more experience with VNs... are there any features or functions that you've seen few games do but consider really cool?
Funyarinpa
Member
The flowchart in Virtue's Last Reward should have been an industry standard by now IMO.
è£ ç²æªé¬¼ææ£
Banned
Being able to switch from normal textbox to manga-style presentation. Makes for a more lively reading experience.
cj_iwakura
Member
Steins;Gate's phone/texting integration.
First of all, thanks for the replies, everyone.
Flowchart? What kind of flowchart is it, and why is it that you liked it so much?
That sounds cool, even though it looks like something that'd have to be heavily scripted to have all text boxes show up in just the right place. Still, the mere thought of having multiple text boxes is interesting, and something I'll keep in mind for a later version.
What does it do? I think I remember someone mentioning something about replying to character's messages in a specific time span to trigger stuff, but it'd be interesting if you could give me a more in-depth explanation (or just link me to it, even). Do you just choose from a set of responses, write something on your own, is there just a "reply" button or is it something else entirely?
While player interaction is something I haven't touched upon outside of multiple-choice questions, I guess outside of what the player can do I think it would actually be relatively easy to implement in my system if you combine questions with variable checks (to see if the "player still has time to reply" flag is still set).
Flowchart? What kind of flowchart is it, and why is it that you liked it so much?
装甲悪鬼村正;167975541 said:
That sounds cool, even though it looks like something that'd have to be heavily scripted to have all text boxes show up in just the right place. Still, the mere thought of having multiple text boxes is interesting, and something I'll keep in mind for a later version.
What does it do? I think I remember someone mentioning something about replying to character's messages in a specific time span to trigger stuff, but it'd be interesting if you could give me a more in-depth explanation (or just link me to it, even). Do you just choose from a set of responses, write something on your own, is there just a "reply" button or is it something else entirely?
While player interaction is something I haven't touched upon outside of multiple-choice questions, I guess outside of what the player can do I think it would actually be relatively easy to implement in my system if you combine questions with variable checks (to see if the "player still has time to reply" flag is still set).
cj_iwakura
Member
Moving the mouse to the right of the screen brings up Okabe's phone. People can text you throughout the game, or even call you. Kind of like Catherine, only more integral to the story. Sending or not sending texts can change the course of the game.
That definitely sounds like something that could be done by mixing and matching existing functions, but it reminds me I really should create some kind of button system for general things (save, load, autoskip, logs, options, etc.), as well as allowing developers to add their own buttons with custom functions (for example, for adding a phone sub-screen).
SubaHibi is 100% translated. --via moogy on twitter
Twin Tails
Member
SubaHibi, the true goat.
lol
Hours Left
Member
The devs of Super Health Club are aiming for a release within the next three months. They're recording the dialogue currently.
Classic.
#Soon
^lol. Spoilers indeed (for the record, I knew them beforehand so I wasn't spoiled, but the spoilers are there)
I finally managed to read a considerable amount of To Heart 2, and so far it's been enjoyable. Nothing groundbreaking, but still enjoyable. What did caught me by surprise is how well this VN plays on a tablet due to a good amount of icons being large.
I finally managed to read a considerable amount of To Heart 2, and so far it's been enjoyable. Nothing groundbreaking, but still enjoyable. What did caught me by surprise is how well this VN plays on a tablet due to a good amount of icons being large.
I just finished Corpse Party: Book of Shadows and really wanted to do a little writeup/review here to sort of talk up the game.
Corpse Party: Book of Shadows
I should open by saying I'm a huge fan of the original Corpse Party. It is by far one of my favorite horror games. It manages to bring tons of tension and freights all while being mostly a mix of VN elements and a 2D adventure game. That's quite an accomplishment. Book of Shadows, however, is a bit different. Instead of telling one full story, the game is a bunch of small vignettes that take place after a few of the "Wrong Ends" from the first game as well as a few side stories. It also ditches the 2D adventure game aspect almost entirely. Sure, there's a bit of exploration still, but it's all menu and pixel hunt based. These two things create the main problem for the game. Without the adventuring aspect, the game just doesn't have the same tension of the original. It's the same problem with the division into small vignettes. The tension is lost because so much of the story is taken up by reintroducing us to the new premise. That's not to say there isn't stuff to like here, a couple of the stories in particular are really interesting and well done, but the game can't reach the heights of the first because of this. Looking at each chapter:
Seal: A quick reintroduction in to the Corpse Party world. It doesn't do anything that special. While it has it's moments, it feels more like a chapter cut from the original. A bit too repetitive of the old story and brings not much new to the table.
Demise: A really interesting side story that reinforces the sense of death from the original. It's a fun little read, but still not much special.
Encounter: The worst story in the game. It covers the past of the only adult of the group from CP1, Ms. Yui, but most of it is taken up with this really forced slice-of-life romance section. It's also introduced with some awful fan-service. Even the horror sections barely add anything to the mythos of the world. Just really boring and unnecessary.
Purgatory: A story that should be really fun, but isn't. I love the idea of covering the beginnings of the whole Corpse Party story through the eyes of the Naho side character from CP1. It should have been a great way to tell a side story and add to the world. Instead, we get a very strange relationship between Naho and her friend Sayaka, very little new info and a POV that confusingly shifts several times throughout the chapter. The most disappointing story of the bunch.
Shangri-La: The largest and by far the most freighting tale of the game. It's probably my favorite of the main chapters. It puts you in the mind of Moshige, one of the most interesting and hard to understand characters from the original game. It's the first chapter that really felt like it added something to the world.
Mire: I don't know how to feel about this chapter. It's scary, sure, but it feels needlessly cruel to Yuka. I don't need to see a little girl played with and tortured. It was a bit much, even for Corpse Party. Suigita killed it as his performance of Yuuya, though. The chapter was worth it for his stuff alone.
Tooth: A side story that covered the other group of high schoolers you briefly meet in CP1. It's interesting enough that I feel like the whole game should have been this perspective. In the end, their story feels too small and cut short, but still a very effective horror tale.
Prologue: Blood Drive: Holy shit this was good. Easily the best thing here. The game was worth playing for this alone. It really gives a nice peak of where they're going with the Vita game and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. It also contains the single most surprising moment in the game. What a note to end on.
I enjoyed it as a Corpse Party fan, but I can't help but feel a bit let down. Sure the game is filed with bonus content, but none of that seems that interesting. The game was very slight and just felt like a major tease for Blood Drive. That being said, it did it's job there. I'm incredibly excited for Blood Drive. The direction they seem to be taking that story looks amazing and I can't wait to return to the old adventure format.
Overall, I'd give the game 7/10 (For Corpse Party fans). If you liked the original a lot, you'll find stuff here that interests you. If you were lukewarm on the first or just sort of enjoyed it, you might as well skip right to Blood Drive as nothing here is a must see.
Corpse Party: Book of Shadows
I should open by saying I'm a huge fan of the original Corpse Party. It is by far one of my favorite horror games. It manages to bring tons of tension and freights all while being mostly a mix of VN elements and a 2D adventure game. That's quite an accomplishment. Book of Shadows, however, is a bit different. Instead of telling one full story, the game is a bunch of small vignettes that take place after a few of the "Wrong Ends" from the first game as well as a few side stories. It also ditches the 2D adventure game aspect almost entirely. Sure, there's a bit of exploration still, but it's all menu and pixel hunt based. These two things create the main problem for the game. Without the adventuring aspect, the game just doesn't have the same tension of the original. It's the same problem with the division into small vignettes. The tension is lost because so much of the story is taken up by reintroducing us to the new premise. That's not to say there isn't stuff to like here, a couple of the stories in particular are really interesting and well done, but the game can't reach the heights of the first because of this. Looking at each chapter:
Seal: A quick reintroduction in to the Corpse Party world. It doesn't do anything that special. While it has it's moments, it feels more like a chapter cut from the original. A bit too repetitive of the old story and brings not much new to the table.
Demise: A really interesting side story that reinforces the sense of death from the original. It's a fun little read, but still not much special.
Encounter: The worst story in the game. It covers the past of the only adult of the group from CP1, Ms. Yui, but most of it is taken up with this really forced slice-of-life romance section. It's also introduced with some awful fan-service. Even the horror sections barely add anything to the mythos of the world. Just really boring and unnecessary.
Purgatory: A story that should be really fun, but isn't. I love the idea of covering the beginnings of the whole Corpse Party story through the eyes of the Naho side character from CP1. It should have been a great way to tell a side story and add to the world. Instead, we get a very strange relationship between Naho and her friend Sayaka, very little new info and a POV that confusingly shifts several times throughout the chapter. The most disappointing story of the bunch.
Shangri-La: The largest and by far the most freighting tale of the game. It's probably my favorite of the main chapters. It puts you in the mind of Moshige, one of the most interesting and hard to understand characters from the original game. It's the first chapter that really felt like it added something to the world.
Mire: I don't know how to feel about this chapter. It's scary, sure, but it feels needlessly cruel to Yuka. I don't need to see a little girl played with and tortured. It was a bit much, even for Corpse Party. Suigita killed it as his performance of Yuuya, though. The chapter was worth it for his stuff alone.
Tooth: A side story that covered the other group of high schoolers you briefly meet in CP1. It's interesting enough that I feel like the whole game should have been this perspective. In the end, their story feels too small and cut short, but still a very effective horror tale.
Prologue: Blood Drive: Holy shit this was good. Easily the best thing here. The game was worth playing for this alone. It really gives a nice peak of where they're going with the Vita game and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. It also contains the single most surprising moment in the game. What a note to end on.
I enjoyed it as a Corpse Party fan, but I can't help but feel a bit let down. Sure the game is filed with bonus content, but none of that seems that interesting. The game was very slight and just felt like a major tease for Blood Drive. That being said, it did it's job there. I'm incredibly excited for Blood Drive. The direction they seem to be taking that story looks amazing and I can't wait to return to the old adventure format.
Overall, I'd give the game 7/10 (For Corpse Party fans). If you liked the original a lot, you'll find stuff here that interests you. If you were lukewarm on the first or just sort of enjoyed it, you might as well skip right to Blood Drive as nothing here is a must see.
Crash Station
Member
Quite a ways into ep 5 of Umineko (some
) and still waiting for my mind to be blown.
In fact, I've only gotten more confused over pretty much everything. Like, am I stupid for not understanding how this game the witches and Battler are playing works? It seems they've only added more rules and even an extra dimensional plane between the "game board" and the highest plane where the players reside.
This is all just nonsense. Higurashi wasn't even a fraction as confusing as this.
witch hunters appeared
In fact, I've only gotten more confused over pretty much everything. Like, am I stupid for not understanding how this game the witches and Battler are playing works? It seems they've only added more rules and even an extra dimensional plane between the "game board" and the highest plane where the players reside.
Beatrice is still catatonic in the top one, but she's aware of what's going on up there while she's in the middle one, and she can converse with the Battler in the middle one who may or may not be aware of the "moves" of his higher counterpart?
This is all just nonsense. Higurashi wasn't even a fraction as confusing as this.
Funyarinpa
Member
I heard a nickname for Umineko was something along the lines of "trolls trolling trolls trolling trolls". Episode five has meta!Battler do some heavy lifting indeed, and I kind of liked Furudo Erika's role as Bern's piece.
If you want an interpretation of why Erika did that detective proclamation of hers, what it actually means and why Dlanor, Cornelia and Gertrude showed up out of nowhere to assist her, it's that
they're treating the Rokkenjima mystery as a fair play mystery, and as such have it abide to Ronald A. Knox's ten commandments
Without spoiling anything, the way piece-characters and meta-characters begin to dissociate more and more from each other is actually relevant, and a short explanation is covered a bit later. Needless to say, the series hinges on magic as a main theme, but I guess you'll eventually come to understand just what Umineko might mean by it.
After that Book of Shadows prologue, I definitely am too. It's so interesting and creepy. Also, man that ending. I really want to see them follow up on that. I feel like they've almost rung that world mythology a bit dry, but I definitely can see one more fantastic game coming from it. They've already said Blood Drive is the final Heavenly Host game, so I'm also excited to see what they do after that. A new mythology built from scratch by those guys is gonna be so fun to see.
cj_iwakura
Member
Heh, it's called Dead Patient, and it's certainly something else.
Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen Opening video
Not sure if there are spoilers, so watch at your own risk.
Anyways, hopefully it will be localized by Atlus USA. Since they've already done Aquapazza and TtT2, and they're also doing DT2, I think it's quite likely they will, but we'll have to wait and see.
Not sure if there are spoilers, so watch at your own risk.
Anyways, hopefully it will be localized by Atlus USA. Since they've already done Aquapazza and TtT2, and they're also doing DT2, I think it's quite likely they will, but we'll have to wait and see.
cj_iwakura
Member
I don't think they've ever done a straight VN before.
Basileus777
Member
This isn't a straight VN. It's not really any different than Tears to Tiara 2 in that regard.
R_thanatos
Member
There are 3 characters ( with important roles ) from the first game in the opening ( thus spoiling the fate of one) and 1 very minor character that might be someone new or not ( but remind me a lot of an old character ).
This vid is basicly spoilerless if you have no idea of who those characters are
So I just finished my first route of this playthrough of ToHeart2 (It's not the first time I read it, but it is the first time I can read all the routes) and boy, am I not happy with how this route turned out.
To be fair, after reading some routes before, you realize that Takaaki is kind of a hetare protagonist (aka indecisive), but for this route, which was introduced in this version of the VN, that aspect of him was turned up to eleven. Half the route is spend contemplating the self-deprecation of both the protagonist and the heroine, which takes an absurd time to resolve and most of the time you can't help but think "Gosh, this guy is annoying!", and the other half is fixing the problems that the heroine has. I have to admit, the second half wasn't all that bad, but the end of the route takes a nosedive again, having a conclusion that can't be called satisfactory at all. I mean, it could have benefited from expanding a bit the circumstances, and from maybe giving it more in-universe time. Instead of ending at the start of the summer, they should have shown what the hell happened at Christmas, even if they had to resort to a time-skip in the end
Here I am wondering, if the massive indecisiveness was the result of being written after the original release and flanderizing Takaaki in the end. Oh well, at least I know that it isn't that bad in the other routes and that they are way more enjoyable. Gonna read Komaki's route after this, just for old times' sake (she was always the first character I picked when starting new games).
Technical details so far; Everything's decent in term of text, save from some typos from time to time and a line or two that could have benefited from editing (remember, Sasara's route is the last one that's missing editing), but otherwise I think that the translation is fine. The only thing I'm having issues with is that I have a black screen with video playback (the opening and endings), but that's hardly a dealbreaker at all.
To be fair, after reading some routes before, you realize that Takaaki is kind of a hetare protagonist (aka indecisive), but for this route, which was introduced in this version of the VN, that aspect of him was turned up to eleven. Half the route is spend contemplating the self-deprecation of both the protagonist and the heroine, which takes an absurd time to resolve and most of the time you can't help but think "Gosh, this guy is annoying!", and the other half is fixing the problems that the heroine has. I have to admit, the second half wasn't all that bad, but the end of the route takes a nosedive again, having a conclusion that can't be called satisfactory at all. I mean, it could have benefited from expanding a bit the circumstances, and from maybe giving it more in-universe time. Instead of ending at the start of the summer, they should have shown what the hell happened at Christmas, even if they had to resort to a time-skip in the end
Here I am wondering, if the massive indecisiveness was the result of being written after the original release and flanderizing Takaaki in the end. Oh well, at least I know that it isn't that bad in the other routes and that they are way more enjoyable. Gonna read Komaki's route after this, just for old times' sake (she was always the first character I picked when starting new games).
Technical details so far; Everything's decent in term of text, save from some typos from time to time and a line or two that could have benefited from editing (remember, Sasara's route is the last one that's missing editing), but otherwise I think that the translation is fine. The only thing I'm having issues with is that I have a black screen with video playback (the opening and endings), but that's hardly a dealbreaker at all.
Basileus777
Member
I guess I know which route to avoid.
The first really needs to get a new port
I only have the anime series and OVA for what I know of the series.MangaGamer's AnimeExpo Plans
It seems they're getting three new partners. I wouldn't get your hopes up, as I wouldn't be at all surprised if it at least one or all of them are nukige developers. Hopefully if any of them are, it will only be one. I really hope they took into consideration the results from the survey though.
It seems they're getting three new partners. I wouldn't get your hopes up, as I wouldn't be at all surprised if it at least one or all of them are nukige developers. Hopefully if any of them are, it will only be one. I really hope they took into consideration the results from the survey though.
cj_iwakura
Member
I'd love to get one of those Uminekos, but I still want to get the PS3 version.
How much would they be charging?
Crash Station
Member
Umineko ep 5 complete (haven't checked the tea party yet). Honestly, wasn't mind-blowing or eventful like I expected. The biggest twist of
was revealed in the ep 4 tea party. The twist regarding
and of course when it gets confirmed, the episode ends.
I must have poured over 80 hours into this, and the only time I've really been into it was the climax of episode 3. Yet at the same time, I still want to know what the hell is going on. Just this pacing is killing me, even if the facial expressions are great as are the few times Battler is in control with his theme playing.
If episode 6 isn't exponentially more fast-paced than everything I've seen up to this point, I think I'm just going to drop this and read the manga.
Kinzo already being dead
Battler's birth and the 19th person was also easy to see coming based on all the hints we've been given,
I must have poured over 80 hours into this, and the only time I've really been into it was the climax of episode 3. Yet at the same time, I still want to know what the hell is going on. Just this pacing is killing me, even if the facial expressions are great as are the few times Battler is in control with his theme playing.
If episode 6 isn't exponentially more fast-paced than everything I've seen up to this point, I think I'm just going to drop this and read the manga.
I'm kind of enjoying the manga, even though the music helps the VN a whole lot. I don't think you'll be treated to too many crazy things in Ep6, but then again I don't remember everything.
Even if you end up reading the manga, I think you should play through Ep8 rather than read it from the manga, since from what I've heard the manga is a lot more blunt with what's actually going on, while the VN actually has interactivity for that chapter!
Crash Station
Member
Yeah, it sucks that there's so many deal breakers for me because there really is a lot I do like. The overarching plot is interesting, the soundtrack is absolutely stellar, the facial expressions are great as is the atmosphere. It's just the redundancy, reworded nonsense, and spending hours trying to prove or disprove things we already know that's killing me.
I might just read the manga of ep 6 while having the corresponding ost playlist on in the background.
Napalm_Frank
Member
Episode 6 is one of the worst paced IIRC.
calc84maniac
Member
I'm guessing another C;H hint? Don't know anything about it except hearing that the anime was terrible.
calc84maniac
Member
Yeah. The updated console version was called Chaos;Head Noah.
And the anime was terrible.
What does that even mean?