General Eroge Impressions & Discussion

[erneiz_hyde]

There, done! Finished HapyMaher. I'm not really one for detailed review so I'll just write whatever came up in my mind now.

It was in a whole a fun ride, but none of the individual routes felt really "special" to me. The last 'true' route was quite good, but what really left an impression is Tooru's struggle with Maia. It's building nicely bit by bit in each route while Maia's 'route' itself is actually none existent. For favorite heroine though, I choose Saki, if only for Aoyama Yukari.

Also, I'm not sure, but was Purple Software really this fanservice-heavy? The last one I played was Mirai Nostalgia and I don't really remember seeing awkward angle shots in there (or maybe I just don't remember). I'd say this is what's bothering me most throughout the play-through.

EDIT: spoiler for Hapymaher

Spoiler:

This is my no.1 favorite scene in the whole game. This truly felt like the climax, the pinnacle and final conclusion between Tooru and Maia. The bgm song "幸福の残滓" also really makes the whole scene more climatic (which I just realized was mislabeled when the scene plays). I really like how Tooru is finally able to realize and accept his own "ego" without losing sight of reality. It's that 'middle ground' between 'pragmatism' and 'idealism' which I've always admired. He realize the selfishness of his actions, and maybe even the hypocrisy behind it, but nonetheless is able to mount the conviction to see it through.
「だってその方が間違い無く良いと思ったんだ」もの

[blitz1/2]

Originally Posted by hyl

Another plus for me is that she is voiced by Yukito Saori, who currently voices lots of imouto characters

Yep, and another osana najimi chara by Hiroko Taguchi. xD

but damn, yukito is giving Oto Agumi a run as the new imouto queen.

@Erz: Yep, Aoyama Yukari hasn't lost her touch either.

[Snuffle]

Originally Posted by hyl

Another plus for me is that she is voiced by Yukito Saori, who currently voices lots of imouto characters

Hmm just listened to the voice sample for her character in Shoujo Shin'iki, It's not what I was expecting when I saw her design. She sounds too much like Aino from Lovely Quest (high pitched voice). I was hoping she would use the tone she used in Koikishi Purely Kiss when she voiced Yuu Fujimori (another imouto, lower pitch), or at least, something in between the two.

I just started Koikishi Purely Kiss, barely past the intro. So far I'm liking the setting, the characters, and of course the art work. I only plan to read through Yuu's and Mana's stories, the other characters don't really interest me, but we'll see if they grow on me.

[ArchmageXin]

Originally Posted by Snuffle

Castle Fantasia 2 is okay I suppose, don't expect too much. I'm not sure how far I got in the story before stopping, and it's been at least 2 years since I played it, so I might not remember too well. There is no building in the game, it's pretty much what you're assuming there with arrows.



Oh god... Kurano Family was a fantastic game, it suited my taste very well. Tomoka and Emma are my favorites. I don't think I've ever liked a Tsundere more than Tomoka. And Emma, oh man, don't get me started, I'll drool if I start talking about her LOL. She's #1 for imoutos for me. Her seiyuu is my #2 of my favorites now. (which reminds me... I was suppose to make an avatar of Emma )

Shucks, So does anyone know any good ones that involve Sandbox activity (I.E build your castle, fortress) or at least good RPG mechanics (I.E train/arm your army of girls/monster soldiers)?

Has to be translated...alas.

[Newprimus]

Sengoku Rance? Completely translated ,btw.

[Cirno]

Originally Posted by blitz1/2

I also cant wait for Lass's new VN.

Looking at your avatar, you'll pick Takagi Sana's route first, right?

Originally Posted by ArchmageXin

Shucks, So does anyone know any good ones that involve Sandbox activity (I.E build your castle, fortress) or at least good RPG mechanics (I.E train/arm your army of girls/monster soldiers)?

Has to be translated...alas.

this

Originally Posted by Shinova

Sengoku Rance? Completely translated ,btw.

Madou Koukaku from eushully would fit perfectly with your description, but it's not translated.

It's not like you got too much of a choice when you're limited to translated ones.

[blitz1/2]

Originally Posted by Cirno

Looking at your avatar, you'll pick Takagi Sana's route first, right?



this



Madou Koukaku from eushully would fit perfectly with your description, but it's not translated.

It's not like you got too much of a choice when you're limited to translated ones.

I actually made that connection, but it would be if Kanade was bro-con material. xD

But yea, SANA first and then the other osana najimis. xD

[Mahou]

Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde

EDIT: spoiler for Hapymaher

Spoiler:

This is my no.1 favorite scene in the whole game. This truly felt like the climax, the pinnacle and final conclusion between Tooru and Maia. The bgm song "幸福の残滓" also really makes the whole scene more climatic (which I just realized was mislabeled when the scene plays). I really like how Tooru is finally able to realize and accept his own "ego" without losing sight of reality. It's that 'middle ground' between 'pragmatism' and 'idealism' which I've always admired. He realize the selfishness of his actions, and maybe even the hypocrisy behind it, but nonetheless is able to mount the conviction to see it through.
「だってその方が間違い無く良いと思ったんだ」もの

Yeah, this scene was one of my personal highlights of Alice/Arisu 2's route . And I consider Maia's "route" personally as the bad ending of Hapymaher. Honestly, I was expecting something completely different from it and was left with a "WTH have they done with this route!?"-feeling.

Originally Posted by Snuffle

I just started Koikishi Purely Kiss, barely past the intro. So far I'm liking the setting, the characters, and of course the art work. I only plan to read through Yuu's and Mana's stories, the other characters don't really interest me, but we'll see if they grow on me.

Wasn't too fond of her route, although it did bring the taboo-theme across in a more serious fashion than in, let's say, romance-comedy VNs.

[relentlessflame]

I recently finished Strega's Komorebi no Nostalgica and thought I should post something about it.

All in all, I thought it was pretty good. There were some little things that annoyed me here and there, but overall the story came together well in all the routes, and it's structured such that the "Final Episode" can follow any of the routes (so there is no one route that's the "canon ending"). I'd basically say the genre is sort of a "light" sci-fi/fantasy. I say light because even the author stated (in the omake) that they were trying for the feel of a light novel, and I'd tend to agree that it has that feel. People looking for deep and serious sci-fi probably needn't apply. The main themes of the work are friendship, understanding each other, what it means to be "human", and of course "nostalgia". The overall tone they're going for is more-or-less a "healing game" (sort of similar in tone to Lump of Sugar's Prism Rhythm, but with more sci-fi and action).

Spoilers

Spoiler for A brief idea of the story and some opinions, with no major plot spoilers

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

In all, my personal opinion...

+ Graphics, music, and overall production are very good
+ World setting is interesting
+ Most of the characters are pretty fun and interesting, and they have a good dynamic
+ Story is pretty solid and develops its overall themes fairly well
- Some of the romantic development is sudden and feels a bit rushed
- The "wingman" character here is a bit of a tired stereotype to me (total meathead)
- A lot of terminology; they do have a glossary that appears in-game, and is in the extras for reference... but yeah, sometimes it feels like they're using fancy terms just to make it feel more "sci-fi".

All in all, it's a pretty good "all around" game. Would be a pretty decent starter eroge for people who are anime/light novel fans. Probably won't do much for long-time players that are jaded, but I also wouldn't call it a bad choice for most players.

Edit: Should also mention that there's a giant patch to download, but it's mostly to fix name errors in some of the credit videos. Should have mentioned the game is roughly structured like an anime in the first half with an OP, ED, and next-episode preview. This structure is nice because it gives you easy stopping points at logical breaks in the story.

Edit 2: Oh yeah, and also, the protagonist is partly-voiced... but it's weird because it's really "partly". He's voiced usually in the more important scenes story-wise, but other times there's no voice acting -- and that's throughout the story and not just in "those" scenes. It might have been nice for him to have been voiced the whole time, but on the other hand you get used to it, and it does make it a bit less jarring when he suddenly goes voice-less for the adult scenes...

[thewingedone]

I just completed Rewrite, that used up a lot of time....

[Newprimus]

Anyone every played yandere-themed games? I'm playing one now for the first time, a Norn game about yandere sisters. And YyYYYyiiiiikkkes!!!!

It's like reading a Kirintei doujin, but multiplied by like a hundred!

[Wild Goose]

... so I went back and played Divi-Dead, and am feeling a little nostalgic.

I started trying to get into PC gaming in 2002 or so. At that time, my rig was a Pentium 386; it had 24 MEGABYTES of RAM and a 100 MEGAHERTZ CPU. Bought it second hand. (Damn, I'm old. ) Only games I could play were C&C, Red Alert, Sim City, Starcraft, and eroge.

First Eroge I ever played was Divi-Dead. Going back to the game, I kinda find it... somehow... dated?

Current Eroge I've been trying to play is Muv-Luv Extra. Got all routes done except Trollmine. I still think Meiya is best girl, even if she can't cook worth a damn.

[ArchmageXin]

Hi guys:

I found a game called Brave souls, played like a whole...2 minute it.

I found the game extremely clunky for some reason, the animation was just awful and look like something meant for DOS...while I don't have high graphic expectations, but to encounter "lag" in a 16 bit game when my comp can run SCII at ultra graphic is telling me this game was not designed for advanced platforms.

My question is, is this game worth playing? Plot wise, is it just a generic sword man story with H, or there is some depth to it? (I don't expect Fate/night level writing)

[erneiz_hyde]

I remember playing it, but I can't remember anything special about its story. There were some plot twists if I remember right so it wasn't that bad of a story. My main hook was the gameplay though, so if you don't like the gameplay I don't know if you should insist on playing. I mean, it wasn't bad a story, but not that great either.

[ArchmageXin]

Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde

I remember playing it, but I can't remember anything special about its story. There were some plot twists if I remember right so it wasn't that bad of a story. My main hook was the gameplay though, so if you don't like the gameplay I don't know if you should insist on playing. I mean, it wasn't bad a story, but not that great either.

I mean the graphics was SNES level no doubt, but there was something clunky the way it worked...like screens are not moving seamlessly, attacks (even for SNES level animation) was clunky, as if my computer had a hard time processing it as if it was a High End game.

When I tried to figure out how to use potions, the screen froze...and I died XD. A SNES level game lag on my machine...lol.

Also, I like my basic games to be windowed....this was full screen only =(

~

[Snuffle]

Originally Posted by ArchmageXin

I mean the graphics was SNES level no doubt, but there was something clunky the way it worked...like screens are not moving seamlessly, attacks (even for SNES level animation) was clunky, as if my computer had a hard time processing it as if it was a High End game.

When I tried to figure out how to use potions, the screen froze...and I died XD. A SNES level game lag on my machine...lol.

I played a few hours of that game before I got bored, didn't even bother finish it. The battle system was so ridiculously basic, I think it there were only like 2 or 3 skills, and I don't even remember what the heroine you choose to bring with you does. I might install it again just to check out how it was for nostalgia sake.

The part I bolded in your quote. Some old games rely on a specific engine/software/hardware (don't remember which) provided by your video card. Modern video cards no longer support those out of date things those old games require.

Grim Fandango comes to mind when it comes to needing extra software support to make the game run smoothly. I'm glad there's a fan made program to run it, but I still haven't finished it since it's so long... (It's not a VN, it's like Sam and Max, Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, The Dig, etc.)

There's also some Studio E.go! games I would like to play through, Izumo 2 ~Gakuen Kyousoukyoku~ to be exact, but images do not transition between each other unless I press ctrl which skips some text at the same time >_>. I heard that a dual boot with Windows XP or older will help, but I rather do that on a laptop I plan to buy eventually rather than my main machine.

[ArchmageXin]

Originally Posted by Snuffle

I played a few hours of that game before I got bored, didn't even bother finish it. The battle system was so ridiculously basic, I think it there were only like 2 or 3 skills, and I don't even remember what the heroine you choose to bring with you does. I might install it again just to check out how it was for nostalgia sake.

The part I bolded in your quote. Some old games rely on a specific engine/software/hardware (don't remember which) provided by your video card. Modern video cards no longer support those out of date things those old games require.

Grim Fandango comes to mind when it comes to needing extra software support to make the game run smoothly. I'm glad there's a fan made program to run it, but I still haven't finished it since it's so long... (It's not a VN, it's like Sam and Max, Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, The Dig, etc.)

There's also some Studio E.go! games I would like to play through, Izumo 2 ~Gakuen Kyousoukyoku~ to be exact, but images do not transition between each other unless I press ctrl which skips some text at the same time >_>. I heard that a dual boot with Windows XP or older will help, but I rather do that on a laptop I plan to buy eventually rather than my main machine.

I know exactly what you mean, so I wrote my thread here asking u guys if it is worth the pain to play this game by suffering through the subpar performance. But from you two's opinion I am better off trying something else. Clearly this is not Kamdori-level game mechanics or Fate/Night-level story writing. And the graphics probably don't support good H scenes either.

[Wild Goose]

Well, lucky for you all I've actually played Brave Soul. And cleared it. Bout five times or so. This was way back in 2007. IIRC I think I got all the endings for all the girls, even the secret girl.

Graphics wise, yes, it doesn't appear much, but I honestly found the gameplay to be quite decent. Sure, it was simple, but to me, a guy who hadn't grown up with SNES games, and had a stunted gaming life, I found it to be quite fun. Then again I had missed out on a tremendous amount of gaming, which is why I attempted to catch up in 2007.

Gameplay wise, each girl you bring along does different things. First girl's a healer, you get a rogue, an archer, a gunner... damn, I'll have to go and replay the game; it's been about 6 years, y'know.

Also, I played the game windowed. I'm not sure where your difficulty in getting it windowed is - have you looked in the options? (I'm reminded of the legions of people complaining that it was impossible to remap buttons in the PC version of Ace Combat: Assault Horizon, which was something I did.)

The H-scenes are actually pretty well done, though that's because they're static art. The artwork is quite nice, however, and I have to give it props.

Also it's unfair to compare this game to Kamidori or Fate/Stay Night when it preceeds them by quite a few years. It's basically your typical portable JRPG brought to the PC with H-scenes, though it's quite fun. I dunno, I liked it.

Not as much as Reccetear, but what Reccetear lacked in H-Scenes it made up for in buying and selling like a boss. I personally found Kamidori to be somewhat frustrating, however. Maybe I'll replay it someday.

[hyl]

I get so hyped what i read today
Sagaplanets has their latest game announced : カルマルカ＊サークル
And August has a FD for 大図書館の羊飼い called Dreaming sheeps

Spoiler for maybe NSFW:

I really need to get this month's issue of Push!! magazine

[VN-Angel]

Finally finished SubaHibi. Let me make a short review here~( to vent my irritation~xD)

SubaHibi~ started with slice-of-life yuri prologue which lead to
-First arc : Ah~seems like it is a horror VN
-Second arc: WTF!! sex with desk!!! mahou-shoujo!!!! WTF!! Futa!!!! WTF!!! Psycho everywhere!!!!!
-Third arc: Ah~ just a story of bullying~ ....wait WTF!!!!!!!!!!
-Fourth arc : WTF!!!!!
-Third arc: WTF!!!!!!
-Final arc: people craziness at its max
And then it ended with
.......
...
....
1 ending : WTFFFFFFFFF just happened!!!!!!!!!
2 ending: WTFFFFFFFFF just happened!!!!!!!!!
3 ending: WTFFFFFFFFF just happened!!!!!!!!!

My impression : WTFFFFFFFFF just happened!!!!!!!!!
........
....
...
..
Conclusion: It is a VN you will probably love it to your heart or hate it to your bones. Seem like I'm the latter, unable to stand its weirdness.
SubaHibi~ the weirdest VN I have played, period.

Originally Posted by hyl

I get so hyped what i read today
Sagaplanets has their latest game announced : カルマルカ＊サークル

Seem like I need to finish Hatsuyuki Sakura ASAP.