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Barent
Jun 15, 2007

Never die in vain.
I'm pretty deep into the common route on Grisaia and I'm finding it pretty hilarious/charming. Not sure how much of it is due to the translation, but I'm really liking the dialogue so far. It seems a lot more witty than you'd typically find.

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Dessel
Feb 21, 2011

I should've remembered to edit my post in time, but this dialogue appeared in the third part of the first game in Higurashi: I'm no longer going to rely on the three families that might or might not be controlling the series of mysterious deaths. I'll be the MySQL and conduct the curse. What the hell? I imagine it's some odd translation error. I mean, what does a database management system have anything to do with...

Bakanogami
Dec 31, 2004


Grimey Drawer
Grisaia Michiru Route thoughts: Worked out pretty good, I'd say. It helped that the flashback sequence for Michiru was pretty short, especially after the massive one that dominated Amane's route.

The premise of her condition is far fetched and kind of out of nowhere, but I think I'll just try and accept the explanation that rather than actually having some American girl in her head due to an organ transplant, that she merely came to think that was what her alternate personality was, unconsciously shaping it herself. It still doesn't really explain the bit at the very end with the crayon drawing, but it's a good enough explanation for me to accept the premise. Looking forward to reading the after route.

Curious that this route seemed to have less of a timeskip at the end than most of the others, with rather a return to normality and some loose ends still untied. Even if she's getting along with her other personality, that would still be a great strain on a romantic relationship and so on. Disappointed we never got to see the other character's reactions to it.


Makina route thoughts: It explained a lot of mysteries, but there were still a couple of things that were left out or kind of weird. The thing with Yuuji's right hand and his having murderous impulses even before his family fell apart kind of came out of nowhere. Also, while I commend them for breaking the mold of having a lengthy flashback in every route, I actually felt it would have helped, especially since we were essentially getting both Yuuji and Makina's histories handed to us.

I also wasn't a huge fan of the endings, either. There's lots of weird stuff to point out there. Why is she pregant in the Bad Ending 6 months later, but there's no mention of a baby in the good ending a year later? Why did they adopt Makina as an agent in their Ace slot when in the bad ending she would have just had what Yuuji had given her at school plus less than six months of whatever training they gave her? And they had her on duty while in her third trimester? And in the good ending, why the hell would Yuuji be okay with this Was the bad ending implying that she kept Yuuji's decaying remains in a garbage bag in front of the counter, and if so, why did nobody seem to report this to the police? I can understand in the bad ending, but why did she want to go to Florida in the good ending when before she'd said she wanted to open her shop near all her friends? Not having any sort of real reconciliation with her mother was kind of jarring after Yumiko's route. They went through the trouble of giving her a character sprite that didn't shout "bad guy", so it seems kind of weird that it got left with her being a heartless uncaring monster in basically every situation.

Basically, it felt like it was the most important route but was written by a different writer than the rest of the game. Still, the action was pretty good, and the first half was enjoyable. I do sincerely regret their decision to make their relationship a romantic one and have H-scenes. It felt like it worked much, much better as an awkward adopted father/daughter relationship without sex.

On the bright side, this route basically confirmed my earlier suspicions with its mentions of "The Professor" who works in the basement of Yuuji's company. That was a bright point.


Another gripe, with Amane route spoilers mixed in with the above two: After having starving to death be such a big deal in the Amane route, it seems like they really lightly treated locking Michiru in a coffin with no food or water for 3 days, mentioning Makina being tied up without food or water for 6 days, and Yuuji not eating anything for 2 weeks. Especially Michiru, since they don't even mention her being thirsty after getting out. Kind of a jarring juxtaposition.

Blhue
Apr 22, 2008

Fallen Rib
Sounds like you probably came to the same conclusion I did as to who the professor is. Also, yeah about Michiru's food thing. "Man neither of us have eaten or drank anything in 3 days. Welp, let's go gently caress in the bath, sounds like a plan."

Cynic Jester
Apr 11, 2009

Let's put a simile on that face
A dazzling simile
Twinkling like the night sky

Bakanogami posted:

Makina route thoughts: I also wasn't a huge fan of the endings, either. There's lots of weird stuff to point out there. Why is she pregant in the Bad Ending 6 months later, but there's no mention of a baby in the good ending a year later? Why did they adopt Makina as an agent in their Ace slot when in the bad ending she would have just had what Yuuji had given her at school plus less than six months of whatever training they gave her? And they had her on duty while in her third trimester? And in the good ending, why the hell would Yuuji be okay with this Was the bad ending implying that she kept Yuuji's decaying remains in a garbage bag in front of the counter, and if so, why did nobody seem to report this to the police? I can understand in the bad ending, but why did she want to go to Florida in the good ending when before she'd said she wanted to open her shop near all her friends? Not having any sort of real reconciliation with her mother was kind of jarring after Yumiko's route. They went through the trouble of giving her a character sprite that didn't shout "bad guy", so it seems kind of weird that it got left with her being a heartless uncaring monster in basically every situation.

My problem with the endings go along the same line. They're dumb. Which is pretty jarring as the rest of the game is generally written well and consistently for what it is. Sure, she's super intelligent and learns quickly, but 6 and 12 months to reach Yuuji levels of skill just seems absurd, especially since it seems to not be her first missions. And why Yuuji would be okay with her taking over his job is completely beyond me. Like, the really bad ending, I get that if Yuuji died and she flipped out, that might be the path she ends up taking. But with Yuuji alive and her out from under her mothers thumb? I just can't see any way to make that make sense.

secret volcano lair
Oct 23, 2005

Bakanogami posted:

Basically, it felt like it was the most important route but was written by a different writer than the rest of the game.

Amane and Makina routes were written by the "main" series writer (Fujisaki) who also handled the main routes in the sequels. Meikyuu is mostly about Yuuji's past and explains the questions you'd have about that.

Makina endings: She's basically in on-the-job training at the end there rather than a full agent. Getting shipped off to America is part of the process. They get into this and how/why it happened in the after.

Also I have to assume that (Michiru route) Yuuji gave the girl water before carrying her off, since he is an authority on the importance of staying hydrated.

Bakanogami
Dec 31, 2004


Grimey Drawer

PaulC posted:

Amane and Makina routes were written by the "main" series writer (Fujisaki) who also handled the main routes in the sequels. Meikyuu is mostly about Yuuji's past and explains the questions you'd have about that.

Makina endings: She's basically in on-the-job training at the end there rather than a full agent. Getting shipped off to America is part of the process. They get into this and how/why it happened in the after.

Also I have to assume that (Michiru route) Yuuji gave the girl water before carrying her off, since he is an authority on the importance of staying hydrated.

Well, it's nice to hear that they at least addressed such things. Speaking of which, I was probably going to just charge into Meikyuu after finishing off Sachi's route, is there an order I should do things in?

secret volcano lair
Oct 23, 2005

Bakanogami posted:

Speaking of which, I was probably going to just charge into Meikyuu after finishing off Sachi's route, is there an order I should do things in?

Probably read the afters before the grand route, since it ends in a way that will make you eager to move on to the third game.

Chickenfrogman
Sep 16, 2011

by exmarx
Done Amane's route. Wasn't bad, but Common Route was better and I agree with the idea someone said earlier that it feels like Angelic Howl was written and then a route had to fit it in. Angelic Howl was really good, but it definitely had pacing problems. Just started Michiru's route and my god. I can't stop laughing, this is hilarious.

"Go further. A bit further. One more step."

planetarial
Oct 19, 2012
Annnd I finally finished Higurashi. Which means it's time for a wrap up post. Huge spoilers ahead and don't read this if you haven't finished the eight novels.

Just. Wow. That was a drat good mystery, and I can't believe R07 churned out this entire thing in like four years. Most well developed cast I've ever seen too, I don't think there's a single named reoccurring character outside of Rina and Teppei who don't get a moment to shine and a piece of the development/backstory pie. The final arc is really really awesome. I wish I could have seen the car shooting with Tomitake and his group animated because it was pure :black101: and one of the best action scenes of the VN outside of the climax of Rena's arc. I might actually watch just those scenes in the anime. The scene where Ooishi meets Akane and Shion at his friend's grave also really stuck out to me, that was a good scene. And everything about the giant puzzle thing was great because it provided a truckload of important information to tie together some loose ends and gave everyone some depth. Though I do agree from earlier posts that Rika plucking the bullet out was a bit too much. I can't really figure out why the remakes disregarded the arc and made up their own. I can see making the ending more bittersweet even though I'm a fan of happy endings if you earned them.

Man it's ironic though that Mion was initially painted as most crazy one of the group and taking part in the shinanigans turns out to be the most sane and only member outside of Rika who doesn't fall victim to Hinamizawa syndrome.


Long story short (literally): Good story but drat it was long.

But I still have a few lingering questions.

- The CPS from Higurashi really suck and why on earth would they call and ask Satoko if she's being abused in front of her abuser? I mean no poo poo she's going to lie about it.

- That other Rika, Frederica something, why the German name and how was she able to go into the distant past and fix Takano's past so she doesn't grow up to be screwed up if Hanyu was unable to rewind past two weeks in the end? Also, I see she shares a name with an Umineko character, same person or just a reference?

- I get why Hanyu exists, but she still seems out of place for a story that proves the supernatural theories are false and provides real grounded explanations for why the mystery happens. Anybody else feel that way?

- Why did it take Rika so long to figure that she needed friends to break her endless repeating cycles?

- How can Rika and Satoko live on their own? I get why the village doesn't care, and Rika is mentally old enough but somebody like Satoko who had a poo poo childhood and is very mentally ill shouldn't be able to just fend for herself.


- Outside of the Dice Killing arc is there anything else worth checking out? Any translated PS2/DS arcs that are decent? Even if I find some of them rather pointless and introducing more characters when there doesn't need to be anymore added in. I won't be checking them out anytime soon though, I need a break.

Myriad Truths
Oct 13, 2012

planetarial posted:

But I still have a few lingering questions.

- The CPS from Higurashi really suck and why on earth would they call and ask Satoko if she's being abused in front of her abuser? I mean no poo poo she's going to lie about it.

- That other Rika, Frederica something, why the German name and how was she able to go into the distant past and fix Takano's past so she doesn't grow up to be screwed up if Hanyu was unable to rewind past two weeks in the end? Also, I see she shares a name with an Umineko character, same person or just a reference?

- I get why Hanyu exists, but she still seems out of place for a story that proves the supernatural theories are false and provides real grounded explanations for why the mystery happens. Anybody else feel that way?

- Why did it take Rika so long to figure that she needed friends to break her endless repeating cycles?

- How can Rika and Satoko live on their own? I get why the village doesn't care, and Rika is mentally old enough but somebody like Satoko who had a poo poo childhood and is very mentally ill shouldn't be able to just fend for herself.


- Outside of the Dice Killing arc is there anything else worth checking out? Any translated PS2/DS arcs that are decent? Even if I find some of them rather pointless and introducing more characters when there doesn't need to be anymore added in. I won't be checking them out anytime soon though, I need a break.


- Probably because they felt that political pressure was leaning towards them not helping Satoko. They're certainly pretty incompetent, though.
- Frederika Bernkastel. Her name comes from Furude + Rika = Frederika, and Bernkastel is a town known for its fine wine, which Rika is quite fond of. Dice Killing goes into a little more detail about her relation to Rika. As for the final scene, by this point I don't think Bern even needs Hanyuu anymore. This ties into the whole notion of the Fragments that's central to the When They Cry universe; Bern isn't really time traveling here, she's just jumped to that one impossible fragment where Takano lives happily. Note that that has no relation to the Matsuribayashi fragment, so Rika will still get her own happy end too. And yes, Umineko's Bernkastel is the same person as Higurashi's, the one recurring character, although Bern has a much larger role in Umineko.
- I don't think she's out of place exactly. In the first place, Higurashi's solution involved hallucinatory brain parasites. That's not what I would call 'grounded'. Also, Rika can time travel. It's actually the premise. So Hanyuu being explicitly supernatural shouldn't be too out of place. In addition, she properly resolves the recurring questions about Oyashiro-sama that came up in all the routes.
- Because she didn't trust them enough to tell them about the time travel, and she was only getting more and more cynical and nasty as the cycles continued, so that option became even harder for her later on, until she was just too despairing to even care.
- Satoko gets regular injections, so her Hinamizawa Syndrome doesn't normally affect anyone. Rika's close association with the Irie Clinic and the organization as a whole also helps. She's convinced them to support Satoko as a test subject, so they're relatively safe and protected. She also gets handouts from the villagers.
- I do not believe any of the noncanon arcs are translated, but there are a number of manga adaptions of them that are pretty decent. Onisarashi in particular I thought was pretty good.

Barent
Jun 15, 2007

Never die in vain.
Michiru route down. Yeah those flashbacks are pretty ridiculous, and from what I'm hearing they're the shortest? Not so sure about this. The comedy is great and the common route is awesome and hilarious but the serious stuff isn't holding my attention as well as MLA did. Yuuji's still pretty great though. I'm far more interested in the overarching story.

Nate RFB
Jan 17, 2005

Clapping Larry

planetarial posted:

- The CPS from Higurashi really suck and why on earth would they call and ask Satoko if she's being abused in front of her abuser? I mean no poo poo she's going to lie about it.

- Why did it take Rika so long to figure that she needed friends to break her endless repeating cycles?

-RK07 actually brings this up in the post-Minagoroshi thing. He acknowledges/appologizes that he wrote them like that for the convenience of the story and that in real-life they would take such things much more seriously.

-She mentions that she did so in the past, but they never believed her or took her advice the wrong way leading to disaster. The straw that broke the camel's back was Keiichi remembering events, which seemingly just meant she had to go through enough loops so that they would be able to trust/believe her. The events of Minagoroshi obviously would resonate across fragments for all of the characters.

Dessel
Feb 21, 2011

So I finished Tatarigoshi, the third question arc in Higurashi and... uhh, few thoughts.
I want to keep believing there's nothing obviously supernatural going on, but the game's not giving me much choice at this point. It could be missleading me on purpose, though. The reports of the villagers dying randomly outside the village, Keiichi surviving (Well, could be reasoned with him being in some sort of air pocket, or hell, someone giving him a breather or some poo poo when he was passed out). Yeah, Keeichi asking the village to die and it... dying is kind of hard to argue against except for a coincidence. I honestly thought Satoko might've been just mad, though. It's entirely plausible that his uncle was in fact dead and she was just hurting herself because of her state of mind. It seems a bit of a red herring trying to claim the uncle was still alive with no actual sightings by Keiichi. And the grave site he picked could've been the wrong one. I mean - there *were* two grave sites, perhaps he was so shaken he forgot about that and selected the wrong one? The other one could've been covered by the effect of the hard rain and/or some minor landslide.

The doppelganger is more difficult to explain. It's possible all the girls were just in on it, trying to fake an alibi for Keiichi without Keiichi's knowledge or approval. After all, we saw no comment from any adults of having seen Keiichi. It seems that the acts the classmates described during the festival matched almost 1:1 to one of the previous routes. I wonder if that has any meaning. Some psuedo time travel stuff happening allowing several Keiichis to exist at the same time? Hah. The steps... Satoshi, huh? Plausible if we believe in the supernatural in the game's story. Or just Keiichi going nuts, or his sprained ankle acting weirdly, anything, really. The detective really seemed to be the "harbinger of the curse" in this route. Hell, his name is awfully similar ro Oyashiro. The way he acted towards Keiichi was no way for a police officer to act towards a minor or an adult, regardless of how guilty he might seem. The doppelganger in the route centering on Mion is still hard to explain. The one killing Keiichi in the end. Fair enough, it could've been some sort of hallucination as he just died.

I wonder if the experiments during the war will still resurface in the one final question arc and the answer arcs. Some mad speculation to make the scale of the events to fit the narrative in a realistic way would be some sort of government/organization cover-up of those experiments. That *could* explain people outside the village dying around. Perhaps a combination of both supernatural and government intervention? Perhaps they *know* something is wrong and they're trying to "cover up the supernatural" - in the past literally by having that dam project that would've buried the village under water.

The photographer guy really seems to be unlucky, huh? Does his "girlfriend" have something against him? Is she murdering him on each route? She might have a larger role than what appears to be the case. Even though she died on this route as well...

Also, drat Keiichi, you bloodthirsty bastard.


Oh well, pointless rambling and speculation that doesn't probably make any sense. Heck, I'm not sure there even is a singular explanation for all the routes.

Bakanogami
Dec 31, 2004


Grimey Drawer
Getting into Grisaia no Meikyuu now, working through the after stories. I'm so very glad that there's another "conference".

sunken fleet
Apr 25, 2010

dreams of an unchanging future,
a today like yesterday,
a tomorrow like today.
Fallen Rib
Grisaia chat:
Did anyone else feel like Yuuji's abilities were sort of inconsistent in between routes? I mean in the Yumiko route Yuuji goes around beating millions of dudes to a pulp barehanded (granted they're "faking" the first few times but they get serious eventually and he's still winning). But then in the Makina route 3 cops show up and he just loving dies - and he's all prepared and poo poo this time too, he's got weapons and a plan and poo poo and he still gets stomped. I dunno I was just expecting some 007 poo poo I guess and it didn't happen.

On the subject of the Makina route people have been saying it's got bad end / worse end which seems pretty apt but why is the worse end where he kills the antagonist? I mean the whole route is nothing but buildup about how much you should hate her and how she's ruining everything and will stop at nothing to be a generally soulless husk of a human being. I mean I get that killing is bad and VN type media like to drive that point home but I can't be the only one who really wanted to hit the pull the trigger option at that point right? I guess that's actually a really dumb question but that was all I could think after playing that route. And then you go back and pick the less cathartic option and you just get the marginally less terrible end :geno:

secret volcano lair
Oct 23, 2005

Sinking Ship posted:

Grisaia chat

Welp, the guys he was fighting barehanded didn't have guns. You never see him lose in a hand-to-hand fight. Also "SP" officers are trained VIP bodyguards compared to a bunch of goons.

Series definitely ramps up in terms of action though. The third game is basically Metal Gear Solid.

I felt the choice was all right since you've had it repeatedly driven home that he's only holding himself together because of the way Asako got his mind under control. It felt pretty clear that once he snaps and starts killing people again things are going to go to hell one way or the other.

unpronounceable
Apr 4, 2010

You mean we still have another game to go through?!
Fallen Rib
Just finished day 8 in Heavens Feel. :ohdear:
Going back a bit, I was happy to see Sakura and Saber gang up on Shirou after he went to meet Ilya at the park. The two of them were making up, but then Saber just had to die :smithicide:.

That shadow is terrifying, and Shirou, with his hosed up ideals, is going to go after it alone. He knows he can't do anything but he's still got it in his head that he has to do something. I don't know what's going to happen, but he can't push himself like he wants to. Either he'll have to give up his ideals or he'll kill himself.

After Sakura's intermission, I really don't know what'll happen. I know she was insanely dependent on Shirou, but I didn't think she was psychotically dependent on him. I feel like she's going to break his legs or something.

Nephilm
Jun 11, 2009

by Lowtax

unpronounceable posted:

Just finished day 8 in Heavens Feel. :ohdear:

The real Heavens Feel starts here.

Krinkle
Feb 9, 2003

Ah do believe Ah've got the vapors...
Ah mean the farts


I've been watching saltybet.com for days and I think all these meltyblood reskins might have spoiled tsukihime for me kohaku and hisui are robot witches???

Blhue
Apr 22, 2008

Fallen Rib
poo poo. That's the twist to the secret 6th route.

Hommando
Mar 2, 2012

Krinkle posted:

I've been watching saltybet.com for days and I think all these meltyblood reskins might have spoiled tsukihime for me kohaku and hisui are robot witches???

That's just Melty Blood being silly, neither of them are robots or witches.

Rody One Half
Feb 18, 2011

Krinkle posted:

I've been watching saltybet.com for days and I think all these meltyblood reskins might have spoiled tsukihime for me kohaku and hisui are robot witches???

Yep, you might as well not even bother with it now.

Silver2195
Apr 4, 2012

Reminalt posted:

That's just Melty Blood being silly, neither of them are robots or witches.

To elaborate a bit, Mecha-Hisui is actually a completely separate character from Hisui, and the Tsukihime franchise after Tsukihime itself (with the notable exception of Tohno Family Con Game) takes major liberties with Kohaku's characterization.

Pornographic Memory
Dec 17, 2008
Tohno Family Con Game was a fanfic wasn't it? It just got included in Kagetsu Tohya because Type Moon are cool bros I guess and it was also really really well done.

Silver2195
Apr 4, 2012

Pornographic Memory posted:

Tohno Family Con Game was a fanfic wasn't it? It just got included in Kagetsu Tohya because Type Moon are cool bros I guess and it was also really really well done.

Correct. The other two fanfics in KT are Dawn (also pretty good) and Hisui-chan, Inversion Impulse (terrible).

Endorph
Jul 22, 2009

Melty Blood's premise is that a vampire named Wallachia turns lies and rumors into reality, which is why Kohaku is a witch and there's a robot version of Hisui.

Barent
Jun 15, 2007

Never die in vain.
I get that it has to involve "choice", but these bad ends in Grisaia (especially Sachi's route) seem incredibly arbitrary and stupid. Oh well. Just Makina and Yumiko left now.

Krinkle
Feb 9, 2003

Ah do believe Ah've got the vapors...
Ah mean the farts


Endorph posted:

Melty Blood's premise is that a vampire named Wallachia turns lies and rumors into reality, which is why Kohaku is a witch and there's a robot version of Hisui.

I never once assumed they were real, on any level, in any capacity. I mean there are skins where they just hit people with their butts and the brooms they're carrying. I never assumed Ghetto Iron-man was real either. Is there a marvel intellectual property that makes it rain, transforms into a ghetto blaster, and has big booty bitches twerking when he defeats evil?

Lord Koth
Jan 8, 2012

For those not aware, the demo for Yumina the Ethereal was just released on JAST's site. Information about the story and characters can be found on the various other tabs in that link but, for those looking for more than just reading, the game does have a significant RPG element to it.

Nyaa
Jan 7, 2010
Like, Nyaa.

:colbert:

Lord Koth posted:

For those not aware, the demo for Yumina the Ethereal was just released on JAST's site.
Oh hey, I'm playing the Chinese version of this. It's pretty great so far (I think 1/3 way into the game) except the skill system is a royal pain to manage. :smithicide:

DamnGlitch
Sep 2, 2004

Nyaa posted:

Oh hey, I'm playing the Chinese version of this. It's pretty great so far (I think 1/3 way into the game) except the skill system is a royal pain to manage. :smithicide:

Skill system...

Am I the only one who is put off by more complex VNs? I like to play normal video games a bit but I'm usually put off by VNs that are any more involved than reading and making a choice now and then.

Davzz
Jul 31, 2008
I prefer "gameplay-focused" VNs than regular ones personally, but then again, once you reach the point of something like Kamidori, the only thing "VN" about them is how they tell the story using still images interspersed with full-screen CGs, isn't it? Then suddenly Disgaea and Ar Tonelico are now VNs and I dunno, not many people are going to agree with that I guess.

So I guess there's the VNs that are more "adventure game like", such as Snatcher/Policenauts/Yu-No/Phoenix Wright. Those are either really atmospheric or really annoying depending on the writing quality.

"Make a choice once in a while" VNs for me are light fare I guess, which I can throw in between a complex RPG or something in case I get bored.

Bakanogami
Dec 31, 2004


Grimey Drawer
Working through Grisaia no Meikyuu now. Finished up the After Stories, so I thought I'd post my thoughts.

(spoilers ahead for appropriate after stories, but I'll try to keep them light since most people here have only played the first one)

Yumiko after: The ending wrapped things up pretty good, so it seems like this was mostly made to squeeze as much Moe out of Sakaki as possible by putting her in weird situations. Not that I'm opposed to that, of course. It was light and fun, which is one of the Grisaia series' strengths.

Amane after:
Was glad to finally see the scene where Yuuji meets Amane's Dad, which was mentioned in the ending but not depicted. As one of the only members with a normal family situation, these sorts of bits provided a nice contrast. I actually really enjoyed Angelic Howl, too, so hearing Amane and Yuuji reminisce about Kazuki put a smile on my face. The very end also provided a nice bit of foreshadowing. I'm really want to see them getting around to revealing some stuff soon.

Michiru after: The ending left things in position that promised to be interesting in a follow up, and it largely delivered. That being said, I had honestly been hoping to see some more common route-ish antics and Michiru interacting with the rest of her classmates. Instead the route is dominated by Date stuff between her and Yuuji, and honestly while it's fun, I felt that Michiru's original route provided quite enough of that. Maybe it's just because I had gotten my hopes up, but I guess I was a little disappointed because of that.

Makina after: While it did clear up a lot of the doubts and problems I had with Makina's original ending, it still kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. The after story basically opens with Makina, just for kicks, launching a sniper attack on her mother's office with bloodshot, drug-addled eyes. While the original ending hadn't really left that much resolution between them, essentially all this adds up to is them laughing at her mother's terror. It doesn't really advance the plot or provide character development at all. Combine that with the fact that one of the route's themes is Makina's frustration that Yuuji won't let her do solo missions or kill anyone, and it's still really hard to shake the feeling that Yuuji may be leaving Makina worse off than she was before.

Highlight of the route was definitely everyone's reactions to Yuuji showing up alive and missing an arm. Especially Michiru.


Sachi after: Probably the best all around after story. Provided realistic unresolved problems with their relationship and character development to get over it, had an unique setting compared to the other routes, and managed to squeeze in a little action in with it. Was a little surprised they didn't choose to have some sort of resolution with Sachi's mother, but they'd already packed a fair amount in.

Nyaa
Jan 7, 2010
Like, Nyaa.

:colbert:

DamnGlitch posted:

Am I the only one who is put off by more complex VNs? I like to play normal video games a bit but I'm usually put off by VNs that are any more involved than reading and making a choice now and then.
I guess it's more of what I expect going into the game and how fun the game mechanic it is to me. I enjoy VN with mini-game sized gameplay like 999 and phoenix wright that mix well into the narration and part of the story or at least skip-able like Little Buster. Full on complex technically-VN-game with big story might distract me away from the storytelling, but it's depends on how well the narration weaves it all together I guess.

Nate RFB
Jan 17, 2005

Clapping Larry

DamnGlitch posted:

Skill system...

Am I the only one who is put off by more complex VNs? I like to play normal video games a bit but I'm usually put off by VNs that are any more involved than reading and making a choice now and then.
I sort of agree. A lot of VNs with the bog standard "Common Route" + "Individual Routes" bug me quite a bit, and more often than not either feel limited by their format or introducing extra work on the part of the player without actually improving the narrative. Higurashi and Umineko are essentially completely linear and they are much better for it.

On the other hand, Fate/stay night worked wonderfully with its route structure because 1). The routes actually combine to showcase a narrative arc (helped by being unlocked linearly), 2). They diverge very early on, and 3). The "wrong" choices are enjoyable in their own way. And while it's not perfect the scene skipping is robust enough that you can repeat the route again and get back to where you were very quickly.

VLR was incredibly complex with tons of endings and choices, but it worked just fine because the flowchart system made it painless to explore all the options. It in fact encouraged doing so.

So I think VN developers are capable of stitching together convoluted or complex structures and making it work, but more often than not the addition of choices to me just invites more hassles for the player to deal with.

ViggyNash
Oct 9, 2012
Decided to start Grisaia because the thread can't stop talking about it. Just met little Mecha Rainbow Godess. I'm gonna enjoy this.

e: "The Tsundere is a cursed existence." SOLD.

ViggyNash fucked around with this message at 21:47 on Aug 13, 2013

Nihnoz
Aug 24, 2009

ararararararararararara

DamnGlitch posted:

Skill system...

Am I the only one who is put off by more complex VNs? I like to play normal video games a bit but I'm usually put off by VNs that are any more involved than reading and making a choice now and then.

I might disagree with you, but that depends on whether Rance is considered a VN. It honestly shouldn't be, probably.

Cake Attack
Mar 26, 2010

In Grisaia, am I on the Sakaki route if I get assigned to be her bodyguard?

It seems like I am, even though I don't really want to be.

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Blhue
Apr 22, 2008

Fallen Rib
Yes. You get on her route if you didn't make any of the choices that would branch off on another route. Everyone else but Sachi has one obvious choice that sets you on whoever's route. For Sachi you have to help her both times you have the option to and praise her when asked. If you don't help her, the praise bit doesn't trigger her route.

Blhue fucked around with this message at 23:53 on Aug 13, 2013

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