General Eroge Impressions & Discussion

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by hyl

a teaser image of Minori's latest game called 夏空のペルセウス


Found on their site.

http://www.minori.ph/lineup/perseus/index.html
(you probably need a japanese proxy to view this page, because Minori apparently blocks foreign ip's)

More info will be published in 2 magazines: techgain and push (which unfortunately isn't available in the usual webshops that i buy my magazines from)

More new Minori is good....Always good

[farios]

Speaking of minori it seems that their latest game Supipara didn't meet up their expectation and have to continue on a manga or light novel, i didn't play the game but the visual was amazing,well i guess they got a little carried away with the all-ages thing

And it seems that this Natsuzora no Perseus(?) is for 18+ again

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by farios

Speaking of minori it seems that their latest game Supipara didn't meet up their expectation and have to continue on a manga or light novel

Out of curiosity, is there a source for this? I understand of course that a different game is coming up next, but it's quite possible that they've had two different teams working on it.

Edit: Found the source, which is a summary of this month's Push magazine apparently.

[Dagger]

Ugh, that's disappointing. I was really looking forward to playing Supipara... but it would suck if the second half never came out in some form.

[hyl]

More screenshots for Natsuzora no Perseus





edit: found some magazine scans on http://pcgameconquest.blog.fc2.com/

[Yye1]

is it me or does a lot of eroge main characters have Junichi as their name

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Yye1

is it me or does a lot of eroge main characters have Junichi as their name

Well, (depending on the kanji of course) it has a fairly simple and straightforward meaning of "first-born" (son), so it's somewhat of a generic name that tells you something about the protagonist. I think it's not a terribly uncommon name in real life either.

[Mahou]

1) So ~ Just dived into Mikurin's route until first h-scene.
As I said before, I like Mikurin, yet her whole dilemma about bottling her problems up, could have been a tiny bit shortened up. Then again the whole moments prior to the confession and the scene itself was very lovely. The chocolate-kiss took quite an amount of courge for her . I think up to ecchi 1 they also have made a cute couple (Sakura no Reply manages to make each couple quite adorable, IMHO).
BUT, Ichigo, oh Ichigo. I know you are smart, but seriously? "What's the matter with me. My heart aches and I feel all fuzzy and strange when I think of Mikurin" You have three choices what this feeling symbolizes: a) love, b) koi, c) Liebe/l'amour .
Generally, given Ichigo's "smile magic" I thought that the magic would play a more defining role, not counting Mikurin's power. Sure, maybe not as much as with Da Capo ... I think you have the only supernatural thingy also in Mai's route

Spoiler for Mai ending stretch:

during the final bit where Ichigo's outburst made her see again

2) I finished one route in Shiawase Kazoku-bu
First off, the strong point(s): The heroines. Osananajimi, cute kouhai, robot, student president, sempai. And a poor male friend who is forced to crossdress 99 % of the time *lol*. The music is also enjoyable, similar to most of the humor.
The boring: Hello MC. He's pretty generic. Bad at school, ecchi-mind, donkan. Based on this most dialogues concerning his ecchi-ness (and the female cast "glaring" at him) gets quickly boring.
Anyway, route 1 Osananajimi Konoha: Not too bad. Her drama was okay-ish, but MC's first two attempts to "cure" her have been a horrible excuse to include an h-scene >_<. The final way of solving it was correctly done, but lead to an uhm ... unhealthy outcome for the MC, which leads to me conclusion - the epilogue.
I first really thought it would end melodramatic due to how the the scene started and the ending pre-creditroll ended Obviously, I was glad it ended on happy terms ^^.

@"popular" MC names: I also feel to have encountered a handful "Kousuke", "Yuuto" and at least two Yuyas

[johnishida]

Recently started DCIII but decided to leave it on hold to play some game trials.

First was Alcot Honey Comb next title: 1/2 summer. My first impression of the game was positive. All the characters are very likable with Ushio as my favorite and already wishing for Kazuha route. Really like the art for the game with the artist being the same one that worked on Lump of Sugar's PrismRhythm.

The plot has the classic "protagonist returning home after years of absence" with a few twists including a supernatural element. Not as much as is Harupoco but there is quite the amount of comedy in this game along with much appreciated romance and ichaicha.

Looking forward to the full game.

Spoiler for 1/2 summer Trial:

... I was curious what kind of role would Kuroha (a supernatural being that only the protagonist can see) play in what seems to be a mostly romantic centered game but, from what the trial shows it looks like she is just a plot device to help the protagonist develop a relationship with either of the heroines. It is implied there are reasons why she needs to protagonist to develop a relationship, though.

Kuroha also has the ability to create an imaginary (?) world(s) (restricted to the town she lives in) where our protagonist has already developed a relationship with any girl he wishes. No problems there but it kind of afraid the writers may use this world as an excuse to skip all the relationship development...

Second game trials I played was AXL’s Dolphin Divers. My impression for this one wasn’t as positive as 1/2 summer’s mainly because the trial focused too much on the “training” part instead of developing the characters so we could get to know them better. Surprisingly the only character we get to know a little more of is a secondary heroine.

Still, the trial was enjoyable for the most part and both the main and sub heroines are charming which is why I’m thinking of giving the full game a chance.

Finally, also read the trial for UnisonShift:Blossom’s Tokeijikake no Leyline. This one was really good. The trial is divided in various scenes developing both plot and characters. This trial did a great job at getting my attention and interest in the full game. There seems to be only three heroines but, I’m hoping for a secret Rito route.

Spoiler for ”Tokeijikake no Leyline Trial”:

Plot is a mix of magic and mystery. The protagonist transfers to a new school and during his very first day manage to get himself involved (and his new friend) with the mysteries that plague the school as part of an especial committee dedicated to solve them. These mysteries mostly involve stopping and recovering the magic items known as “Mistes”. They also help the students of the “Night World”, a special space that covers the school at night.

The trial had a lot of choices so you can voice your reasoning when facing a mystery. These choices don’t affect the final outcome and probably just work to increase the affection of Ushio. If you got your reasoning right, she will compliment the protagonist.

[farios]

Originally Posted by johnishida

Recently started DCIII but decided to leave it on hold to play some game trials.

First was Alcot Honey Comb next title: 1/2 summer. My first impression of the game was positive. All the characters are very likable with Ushio as my favorite and already wishing for Kazuha route. Really like the art for the game with the artist being the same one that worked on Lump of Sugar's PrismRhythm.

The plot has the classic "protagonist returning home after years of absence" with a few twists including a supernatural element. Not as much as is Harupoco but there is quite the amount of comedy in this game along with much appreciated romance and ichaicha.

Looking forward to the full game.

Spoiler for 1/2 summer Trial:

... I was curious what kind of role would Kuroha (a supernatural being that only the protagonist can see) play in what seems to be a mostly romantic centered game but, from what the trial shows it looks like she is just a plot device to help the protagonist develop a relationship with either of the heroines. It is implied there are reasons why she needs to protagonist to develop a relationship, though.

Kuroha also has the ability to create an imaginary (?) world(s) (restricted to the town she lives in) where our protagonist has already developed a relationship with any girl he wishes. No problems there but it kind of afraid the writers may use this world as an excuse to skip all the relationship development...

1/2 Summer trial left a bad impression to me, the plot felt really rushed, the main character seems to accepts all of the oddity around him too fast that i didn't feel the importance of all of it, and the scene in the bathtub what the hell was that supposed to be? I liked Harupoco but this is really not a promising start

[hyl]

I agree that Leyline's trial was prety good, but it was also very short :/

[johnishida]

Originally Posted by farios

1/2 Summer trial left a bad impression to me, the plot felt really rushed, the main character seems to accepts all of the oddity around him too fast that i didn't feel the importance of all of it, and the scene in the bathtub what the hell was that supposed to be? I liked Harupoco but this is really not a promising start

Yes, he does accept everything so quickly I can't help but wonder if Kuroha may have something to with it. We must also consider that her existence is common sense for all the people related to the inn which may be why I found nothing wrong with it.

I would not say the plot is rushed because the trial ends with more questions than answers regarding Kuroha's goal. I believe it's more accurate to say the plot didn't have a proper development to catch the readers attention.

All that say. I agree that the plot may not deliver in the final product but, I'm in mostly for the characters anyway. Harupoco had a nice plot but lacked on romance and ichaicha. 1/2 summer seems to be the opposite just from the trial.

I agree that Leyline's trial was prety good, but it was also very short :/

I believe a second trial is on the way though it may only contain those h-scenes listed in the first.

[Mahou]

Done with 3 routes of Shiawase Kazoku-bu. I feel like letting loose a bit of frustration!

Spoiler for venting:

You have pre-confession lovely interaction between main chara and girl x, but as soon as confession and h-scene 1 are accomplished, the "mood" does hardly change or gets overshadowed by the incoming light drama waves were the girl keeps quiet about it and the useless MC ponders that something *is* troubling his gf, but doesn't do anything and just keeps thinking about it >_<. Oh yeah, in-between are h-scene 2 and 3. Sooo much potential relationship-wise, sadly most of it for naught.
Speaking of the MC: A brick of wood would have been as interesting. Useless at school, and his mind is mostly preoccupied with ecchi thoughts and the only occation where he's proactive is during the ecchi because he "cannot hold back anymore" . No, I don't expect a super percecptive lead, just something more normal.
http://vndb.org/v9096 -> Purely based on the description, I expected something hearthwarming or alike to the "healing animes", hence the "rediscover the meaning of family"-part. Yet, you don't see the MC being concerned of it. Heck, you learn only a few information about his family and done.

Anyway: Mikage's route was probably the most harmless route as there was no real drama in it. And the short part from her point of view was quite cute .
Ougi's route had one of the mentioned lovely moments pre-confession, but the constant uneasiness was annoying and the drama conclusion between her dad and her was just stupid in how it started *shakes head in disbelief*.

Oh well, time to play someting more "simple" like Fortuna Rhapsody Or I try Kono Oozora ni, Tsubasa wo Hirogete

[hyl]

The 2nd leyline trial is just as expected just the first trial but this time with the 3 H-scenes that were not accesible before.

[Mahou]

Yoho, as I have much time on hand, an bunch of brief impressions (as usual).
Kono Oozora ni Tsubasa wo hirogete: The game has given off a great atmosphere/vibe when it comes to flying with the glider (basically the main theme of the VN is that the [sky] soaring club where MC and co joins builds a glider in oder to view some kind of special dawn above the sky). The OST fits greatly during the test flight and the real deals. And the heroines are likeable. Due to her large screentime during the opening(s) Kotori-chan appears to be more "important" plot-wise. Her dream to fly being connected to her being bound to the wheelchair. She appears to have the tsundere traits, but her dere side is super adorable and cute Furthermore the confession scene did totally fit the overall theme of the VN. route still ongoing ~
On the other side *ugh, the osananajimi Ageha. Gosh, it was a pain in the @ss that she bottled everything up until the end The only icha-icha were pretty much the h-scenes, but the ending was well enough. Her younger sis would have been a cuter route choice in addition!
Strangely, the last two girls - twins - were only offically introduced after the second opening.
Still, I can warmly recommend to try at least Kotori-chan's route

Secondly, I peaked into Fortuna Rhapsody. Uhm, ignoring the drama that is to be expected, I'm unsure what to exepct. Unlike other goddess-genres the local mystery chara starts with total amnesia, i. e. she cannot communicate coherrently nor can she understand the language. Obviously, she's instantly attached to Mr. MC and absorbs the things taught to her like a sponge.

And ~ Hatsukoi 1/1: Even though it's futile to hope for a no-drama in a title named "Hatsukoi", I have already started to take a guess which scenario will happen to which girl. Nontheless the girls are very likeable, the MC more or less usual and I will still hope for a few rabu-rabu + icha-icha moments pre-drama start.

[relentlessflame]

Regarding Kono Oozora ni Tsubasa wo Hirogete, I definitely agree that Kotori's route is the centerpiece of the work, and the whole story is well-conceived and assembled. The metaphors and symbolism are a little bit blatant at times, but still well-done; it's pretty easy to identify with both Aoi and Kotori as they go through their journey together. I also agree about Ageha... the route wasn't bad, and there were definitely some interesting thematic elements, but the main source of the conflict was frustrating to watch play out (and even when you understand why it was, it still doesn't make it seem all that justified). The routes for the twins are a bit shorter (two half-routes), and I think the relationship there was a fair bit less realistic, but they still incorporated a few interesting themes and concepts (I liked use of the "Nothing Gold Can Stay" poem and related analogy, for example -- Yoru really came into her own during that route). Right now, I'm working to finish Amane's route, which contains a lot of the backstory that was alluded to in the other routes. In the end, though I would still say Kotori's route is the strongest and the other routes can't quite measure up, there is still some motivation to play through all the different routes to see the story from various unique perspectives. The art and music are quite good, and they make good use of effects here and there to enhance the presentation (similar to Bell Stars, also by Pulltop). All in all, a solid work that could easily be recommended, particularly if you like the theme.

Regarding Hatsukoi 1/1, I was won over by the trial mostly because the pacing of the story is very good, and the characters are fairly well-developed. It probably won't win any awards for originality (it's an anniversary work, so is playing a bit on being a tad "old school"), but it seems very well put-together. It's another game where I think there'll be some incentive to play through all the routes.

[Mahou]

Speaking of trial. I also played the trial of Futsuno Fantasy and I loved the setting of "how to make fun of old school rpgs" in it and basically turned the whole idea around so that it centeres around the Maou wanting to live despite the prophecy saying "You are going to be defeated by the heroine and her team no matter what" Funny how so many clichés are being used: Taking the stuff found in lockers, NPCs with the same dialogue one-liner, "immortal" yuusha, etc
The comedy certainly appealed to me.

Edit:
Finished Futsuno Fantasy 1. I loved it even though it used every cliché of rpgs it could muster. Obviously, the corny moments didn't bother me either. Jade's change of mind at the end, during the final battle, was nice and his VA during that part + the final boss theme were quite cool. His whole tsukkomi act during the journey was funny because he questioned and went "WTF" on each roleplaying "rule" A nice welcome was that all h-scenes were optional, but I think at least the scene of heroine is required to get for choosing the girl-of-choice's route in part II.

And~ Hatsukoi 1/1
Long drawn-out drama once it appears, but fortunately not each was untolerably bad.
Midori: Yuuma and her rabu-rabu moments were sweetness incarnated and very needed before her drama started which hit the main lead like a truck with full speed. For sure, I could feel for Midori's quite heavy regret, self-loathing and pain she had to endure. 'Nuff said both deserved their happy end without a doubt.
Yukino: I didn't expect that the VN used a koibito-gokko scenario as one of the pre-confession anxieties and I only encounterd such a scenario once (which was painful to "read"). Furthermore the usual lack of awareness of the MC that childhoodfriend relationship can also lead to going out with eachother made it more annyoing than it could have been maybe. But, here as well their rabu-rabu time was sweet and nedded because drama #2 showed up after it was forshadowed. To be fair it wasn't too bad, but felt like Midori's drama too long, i. e. until the last stretch of the route . Fortunately, the MC had supportive friends or else he would still be doomed in that regard.
Still on-going: Kyou -> Pre-confession drama felt the most unneeded or rather too forced than it did any "good".

[hyl]

My initial impression for 1/2 summer and Sora's route.

Spoiler for spoilers for Sora:

While the premise is pretty generic, but the female heroines were all likeable. The concept that Kuroha could transport Kaname to an alternate or futere world (it's unclear from only reading Sora's route) was interesting and it motivated the main character to find out more about Sora, but in the end it was somewhat a cheap plot device to get the 2 together.
Also i find Sora's change from sheltered , androphobic and sometimes rude kuudere/tsundere to a more openly extremely cute, more energetic deredere character a little hard to believe and somewhat too at the beginning of her own route
This wouldn't be a problem if it had some nice romantic and ichaicha moments, but even that was lacking in Sora's story. The reason is that her entire story focuses way too much on the boring and dragging story about helping lost/abandoned animals (mostly cats) and finding them an owner.

Kuroha hardly appears at all in this route, so nothing about her like the alternate worlds or why she wanted Kaname to get paired with a girl so fast etc. gets explained. I think there is some vague hints about her story when Tsugumi was talking about the legend about the dragon and lake and at the end of the route you get the chance to read more about it narrated by Kuroha, but that's still not too much.
Also this route had pretty much no drama, so it remains pretty bland.

Atleast Kazuha (she ended being my favorite character, but sadly this imouto didn't get her own route) and Kanami brought some humour in this otherwise boring route :/

The visuals are ok, but nothing amazing eventhough some character proportions were a little off in some scenes and some of the backgrounds in the inn looked odd. Some of the BGM's like "Reminiscent" were very nice and quite relaxing.

Let's hope that the other 3 stories are better, because Sora's route ended being disappointing


edit:after playing it the 2nd time while aiming for Kanami i realized that i mistook the last part of the common route (picking the choices (3 times) that lead to a specific heroine) as the first part of Sora's route. So that means Sora's route was even more boring than i thought

late edit:
finished Kanami's story and it was so much better than Sora's

Spoiler for spoilers for Kanami:

I liked her alot because of her genki personality and that she was used for comedic moments in both the common and Sora's route.

While she was still as fun in her own route, her story is slightly more serious as it turns out that she is the ghost of the sickly girl whom Kaname met when they were kids.
She lived again because of her wish or regret (i kinda missed that part how she became alive, but i guess it's thanks to Kuroha) of wanting to meet Kaname again (and have sex with him o_o ). Kuroha says that Kanami only has a few weeks left before she disappears from the world. While this story could have been depressing , the writer went for a more happier approach because the 2 used their last few moments for creating happy memories (with lots of ichaicha moments and nice romantic scenes),
While there was still some drama , it didn't overshadow all the fluffy moments. Well except near the end, when Kanami did disappear. They did pull a huge deus ex machina at the end though.

In the end i really liked Kanami's route , eventhough the

Spoiler for spoiler:

ghost plot

kinda came out of nowhere and the story itself is not that original.

[Yye1]

hi i just got akaneiro ni somaru seka and mashi iro symphony and im just wondering if there is an english or chinese walkthrough?

[Micchi]

Originally Posted by Mahou

And~ Hatsukoi 1/1
Long drawn-out drama once it appears, but fortunately not each was untolerably bad.
Midori: Yuuma and her rabu-rabu moments were sweetness incarnated and very needed before her drama started which hit the main lead like a truck with full speed. For sure, I could feel for Midori's quite heavy regret, self-loathing and pain she had to endure. 'Nuff said both deserved their happy end without a doubt.
Yukino: I didn't expect that the VN used a koibito-gokko scenario as one of the pre-confession anxieties and I only encounterd such a scenario once (which was painful to "read"). Furthermore the usual lack of awareness of the MC that childhoodfriend relationship can also lead to going out with eachother made it more annyoing than it could have been maybe. But, here as well their rabu-rabu time was sweet and nedded because drama #2 showed up after it was forshadowed. To be fair it wasn't too bad, but felt like Midori's drama too long, i. e. until the last stretch of the route . Fortunately, the MC had supportive friends or else he would still be doomed in that regard.
Still on-going: Kyou -> Pre-confession drama felt the most unneeded or rather too forced than it did any "good".

I played Runa's route first and it almost made me quit. Personally, I found Yuuma in her route to be too dense and drama too dragged out for me to get into it. Some nice moments though. Good thing, I tried Yukino's afterwards, since that was much much better. Way to go, supportive friends.