Games I'm currently working through:
Scarlett (Nekoneko Soft)
The game is really different from your typical bishojo game because the setting is huge: all over the world. So rather than having the entire game confined to some generic Japanese town/city (or worse yet, some generic school) with a splatter of characters, you get to go all over the world and meet all sort of people from different countries. The first eroge to have a hollywood action thriller feel to it? Certainly, it's refreshing to see a game with such a large world view and such a diverse cast. It's not very often you get to see visual novels like these, so this one is a joy to play through. (Amelia is cute, go super dojikko~ (taking a bath in the sink was brilliant
), but then again, so is Kurou ^^; )
Besides that, I'm just sad to see that this is actually Nekoneko Soft's last game. Kataoka Tomo-san is a great scenario writer, and I hope I can see his stories again in the future.
true tears (Lacryma)
Now then, now then, the art by Izumi Rei-sensei was the main reason why I bought this game. Even if the game sucked, at least I got to support her. ^^;
Well, how was it?
...Just to say this first, I haven't finished the game yet (not even close). In any case, I went down Rui's route first...
......Hmm, lukewarm, this story is. I can feel the character and the story, but it required an effort on my part. The game's schedule system really made the story feel broken up into mini-episodes rather than one big story. As a result, sometime it felt unnatural for a serious event to "suddenly occur". I loved the art, the musics and voice were all nice as well, and even the story concepts were excellent. But the way it was presented really weakened the impact quite a bit.
Key games like AIR and CLANNAD were much more "cryable" because their stories fully immerses you, and then hit you hard with a tear-jerker after you became fully absorbed in the story. On the other hand, true tears is meant to be a tear-jerker to begin with (hence the title), but the "immersion" aspect could've been done better: you can't cry for the characters if you can't feel for them.
Really, the game is great in all departments, the art, music, acting, story are all excellent. But the execution is just unexciting.
Well, I'm not done with the game yet, so maybe it's a little early for me to say all this, somebody give me the ability to stop time so I can finish it. m(_ _)m
Upcoming games I'm looking forward to:
H2O (Makura)
Makura's debut game.
I was drawn to this game by the super fine art and the interesting story premise: the main character is a blind young man who moved to the countryside to live with his uncle due to his father having issues with work. Also, the game is split into 2 major sections: Meeting and Reunion. During the first part of the game, the story focuses on how Takuma got to meet the main heroines and how he became involved with them. After the 1st portion ends, the game enters the 2nd portion, which portrays the reunion between Takuma and the girls after a few years of seperation. By this point, we can see how each girl has grown throughout the years (both physically and mentally), and we can watch how our main characters finally complete their unfinished stories. There's also a 3rd portion of the game that portrays the life of Takuma with the selected heroine after they finally get together in the 2nd portion of the game.
What can I say? Sometimes, a game just clicks with you, and H2O is one for me. I watched the demo movie (which you can download from the official site linked above), and I loved it. I actually bought the July PUSH magazine just for find out more about it and play the trial version...
And after finishing the trial version, I can say this game is a winner for me. The art quality is incredibly high, the characters are all very nicely presented (a little bit on the stereotypical side, but it's obvious they were aiming for that childish naive feel (because there's a hidden side to that)). On top of that, I absolutely love the main character, Takuma! I have never seen such a funny blind guy before. ^^; The serious portions of the story, particularly about Takuma and his blindness, as well as Hayami being bullied at school, were really absorbing, I find myself wanting to know more and more about the story and where it's going... A sign of a good novel!
And the deformed character art used during comedy moments are so cute~! (>ヮ<)
Summer Days (0verflow)
I don't think anyone who has played School Days would NOT buy this game. ^^; Especially for Setsuna-lovers like me. (>ヮ<)
For what it's worth, I played the trial version (first chapter of the story). The animation is still choppy in places, just like the previous game. But if you think of this as an "animated visual novel" rather than a full-fledged animation, then it becomes much more forgivable.
Anyway, since the chapter was played out from Setsuna's viewpoint, I was a little surprised to see a selection point when Makoto showed up. Then again, only a hetare (loser) like Makoto is capable of even THINKING of calling his little sister Itaru "my girlfriend". ^^; (I chose "my treasure". And surprisingly, Makoto is actually capable of being gentle and sweet. ^^; Must be a fluke)
