General Eroge Impressions & Discussion

[Mahou]

Spoiler for PC3:

No, I had decided to go into the normal route first so I let the battle against Ikusa going on until it ended normally. I plan to go hard mode in my next playthrough.
Strangely enough, I had more SP troubles than tension problems during the last battle. To be precise, it was mostly Eiji who ended SP-starved when he arrived in front of the boss Guess that's the drawback from equipping him mostly with full hp recovery items than with the hp+sp recovery. And the boss' switching immunities wasn't helpful either *lol*. At least it gave enough time to charge tension when necessary
@Liliam: I let her soften the enemy up or get the killing blow so AoE wasn't really necessary as I usually sent Shirely and Mari together with her in one direction of the crystals. I gave her a Bind with an 400 AoE heal which made her slightly supportive, and helped me in the long run to smoothen things out. With so many binds, I tend to struggle somewhat to find an efficent setup (outside of the alicesoft wiki) and tend to keep the binds I'm about to level-up equipped during boss battles

[Cosmic Eagle]

Kaijin no Karshel.

Latest story in Liar Soft's Steampunk series. Joint work between Liar Soft and Nitroplus

Images

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Karshel refers to Tick Tack Man's Mega Engine Clock

[Mahou]

Just completed Happymaher. Purplesoftware had somehow a strange taste with this VN. It had its creepy parts, touching parts and epic fails. The latter are mostly most of the h-scenes, which simply felt rushed lots of times. The OST was quite nice, imho.

Spoiler for General comments from the beginning to the end:

To start off, the main character, Tooru, is a major hetare, but fully aware of it and with reason(s). Sadly this hetare-ish characteristic leads to the failed h-scenes when his "holding back" decides to have reached its limit. His lucid dreams are obviously the major driving part and his deceased sister Maia is a major teasing little "demon".
Anyway, Happymahrer's romance felt rather weak and focus more on the various dream-scenarios so that it was, at least with my degree of jp. knowledge, at times hard to understand what was dream and "reality", just like the people in-verse felt like .
Character-wise, I enjoyed Keiko and her bored character sprite *lol*. Her rather dry personality was well-made, but as for every rich-family-daughter her father was a major jack@ss. I cheered innerly when Maia epically trolled him in the dream world.
Saki's role was decent and her in-game "position" as the imouto-replacement was harsh on her. Her conclusion where Tooru and she bid ultimately farewell to Maia was (maybe overly?) dramatic and her epilogue one of the best of the VN. It was somewhat disappoining that Tooru didn't have a real talk with Saki's caretaker seeing that he was always uneasy around her.[
Yayoi-sempai's route was, well..., over-the-top when the dream-in-dream turned shortly into a vampire-esque movie.
And~ Alice: Her real route counts obviously as close to a true route as it can be as it explains he whole dream scenarios, especially the tea-party-room. Her first ending is imho pretty negligible as it ends halfway in. The final revelation was already hinted in other routes by Maia's questions and teasing remarks. Tooru and Alice's farewell in the dream world was quite sad, but uavoidable D:. Sadly, also most of her h-scenes were very bad. In exchange Tooru's interaction with Maia was probably the best/most enjoyable of all routes. Well, in regards of how everything played out her epilogue/ending wasn't really suited for a true "lovers ending", but was next to Saki the best epilogue. Be aware of deus-ex-machinas.

Lastly, what were the developpers smoking when they had decided to make a "Maia" route. It's pretty much a bad ending, yet requires a 2nd+ playthrough .

Personal conclusion: I liked the idea behind the whole dreaming scenario, but some things could have been made simply better. The gender-bender-part was abrupt and the scene that lead to it simply creepy. Given the MC's hetare trait, the girls were all quite direct of their "needs" and commented often how he hadn't done anything to them *lol*. In terms to overall plot revelance/MC's past connectivity, Saki > Alice 1 + 2 are all routes that are really required. Yayoi and Keiko are quite independant, but provide (more) hints of the general mystery.

Non-spoiler conclusion: While better than let's say Shiawase Kazoku-bu, it didn't reach my preferance of Hatsukoi Sacrament as I had to question the at times strange sense of the writers. Personally, I recommend at least a slightly careful dive into the VN as I'd count it to the unusual VN settings/themes.

[Dagger]

Finally got around to Ourai no Gahkthun. Hm. Difficult to sum up my thoughts. My overall impression is generally positive, but I can't see myself ever playing it again. It never really lost my interest, but it hasn't left a lasting impression on me like Inganock, Sharnoth, and Sona-nyl. Now, that means it's much more my cup of tea than most games out there... but compared to others in the steampunk series? Kind of meh.

I didn't feel that way the whole time! I loved the beginning. For much of the first half of the game, I was especially intrigued by the obvious influence of Revolutionary Girl Utena (hey, it's my #1 favorite anime; having the Utena factor be off the charts was nothing but a plus for me). I did a bit of googling and was relieved to find other people making the same comparison, haha. And I did enjoy how readable the text/story are compared to the writer's other work.

I think that sheer readability actually backfired in the end, though, at least for me. I can tolerate--and outright enjoy--Sakurai's recycled scenes and ritualistic chapter structures when that repetitiveness gives me something to hold onto and glean important clues from in the midst of an obtuse, sometimes confusing (but ultimately rewarding) world/story. Just like how Ikuhara Kunihiko's weird and maddening but fascinating quirks as an anime director work so well with something as layered as Utena or Penguindrum.

But Gahkthun is so clear and straightforward that the same repetitive narrative devices I enjoyed in some prior steampunk games just seemed like overkill here. And poor Neon is infuriatingly slow to get interested in asking the questions that will have been bothering players (or at least me) practically since chapter 1.

Still gonna try out the fandisc when it appears, of course. And I did enjoy the romance. Sharnoth is still king when it comes to sheer personal chemistry between the main characters, though.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Dagger

Finally got around to Ourai no Gahkthun. Hm. Difficult to sum up my thoughts. My overall impression is generally positive, but I can't see myself ever playing it again. It never really lost my interest, but it hasn't left a lasting impression on me like Inganock, Sharnoth, and Sona-nyl. Now, that means it's much more my cup of tea than most games out there... but compared to others in the steampunk series? Kind of meh.

I didn't feel that way the whole time! I loved the beginning. For much of the first half of the game, I was especially intrigued by the obvious influence of Revolutionary Girl Utena (hey, it's my #1 favorite anime; having the Utena factor be off the charts was nothing but a plus for me). I did a bit of googling and was relieved to find other people making the same comparison, haha. And I did enjoy how readable the text/story are compared to the writer's other work.

I think that sheer readability actually backfired in the end, though, at least for me. I can tolerate--and outright enjoy--Sakurai's recycled scenes and ritualistic chapter structures when that repetitiveness gives me something to hold onto and glean important clues from in the midst of an obtuse, sometimes confusing (but ultimately rewarding) world/story. Just like how Ikuhara Kunihiko's weird and maddening but fascinating quirks as an anime director work so well with something as layered as Utena or Penguindrum.

But Gahkthun is so clear and straightforward that the same repetitive narrative devices I enjoyed in some prior steampunk games just seemed like overkill here. And poor Neon is infuriatingly slow to get interested in asking the questions that will have been bothering players (or at least me) practically since chapter 1.

Still gonna try out the fandisc when it appears, of course. And I did enjoy the romance. Sharnoth is still king when it comes to sheer personal chemistry between the main characters, though.

Sakurai definitely changed her tone in Ourai into one that's more shounen-ish and chuuni ww

But hey, Jo and Emily are awesome.

As for Sharnoth...well, A.Z.T.T should really come back so we can see the dynamic between her and M. Would be very funny if Azathoth is another clueless girl like Lily and A.

Sona Nyl still remains the best for me though. And well may be the most important so far seeing how Tick Tack Man is practically confirmed to be the last boss now.

[Mahou]

I'm done with most routes of Lovesick Puppies and have had much sugary sweetness with the VN. First off: The VN isn't meant for a deep, drama-fest story as most scenes are daily life-ish and hence very normal.

Spoiler for a bit more detailed:

The VN is divided in chapters, but only the ~ last 4 (out of 12/13 chapters in total) deal with confession and thereafter and this may surely seem slow at times (depending on the route). The few bits of problems and the last two or last chapter appears to be more in a summarized layout than the normal flow of the VN with dialogues and such.
For me the big strength: The characters. The MC, Kotarou, was for me definitely of the better types. Yuki and Orie seemed to have received more "readable" character development. The latter especially in terms of how Kotarou and her relationship has been defined and will progress (during her route). In fact, Yuki's route has a point where it deals more with her friendship with Orie and actually Kotarou and she . It has a hints of Orie also having feelings for him, but it doesn't turn into a serious love triangle (fortunately).

Still, the "hnnghh"-effect has been very huge for all girls and my "happy-o-meter" has been exploding since then .
The OST is okay-ish with fitting tracks for the more serious moments. 4 h-scenes per heroine in-route + 1 extra on the append disk.
Personal conclusion: Despite the few serious scenes in it, Lovesick Puppies is obviously more on the light-hearted side and a feel-good VN. Imoutosan was rather annoying, but you cannot have everything . And Orie's admirerer can be pretty creepy at times.

[Dagger]

Forgot that today is April Fool's!!

Well played, Nitro. Well played.

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Dagger

Forgot that today is April Fool's!!

Well played, Nitro. Well played.

Yeah I wish...

Although really Nyaruko vs Nyar vs M vs Tick Tack Man....

How is that even supposed to play out...it's like Nyarlathotep deciding to fight with itself...

[shmaster]

How it plays out matters not. You know it'll be bloody awesome if it ever came true.

That reminds me... ever watched that Nyarlathotep cross over with Touhou on Nico?

[Cosmic Eagle]

Originally Posted by shmaster

How it plays out matters not. You know it'll be bloody awesome if it ever came true.

That reminds me... ever watched that Nyarlathotep cross over with Touhou on Nico?

....No...

Link?

[shmaster]

http://dic.nicovideo.jp/a/%E5%B9%BB%...BA%8B%E5%A4%89

There are 3 starting arcs that took place simultaneously.
The Lost No. which is a secret profile thing.

Then the 5th arc which is the climax.

Then a 6th arc where this cross over discontinued at.

[Cosmic Eagle]

The heck...second vid...

俺の嫁～～！！ indeed

[shmaster]

BTW, this is the right link for the introduction.

http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm3063653

[erneiz_hyde]

Sigh...

So I tried playing Haru Urare a few days ago....These kinda game is dangerous. At first, you feel nauseous playing it, eating away at your conscience bit by bit. Yet the gameplay is just enough to hook you in and you felt compelled to keep coming back, even if you feel like throwing up the whole time. You slowly feel deader and deader inside as you keep playing, but at the same time a feeling of satisfaction blooms.

I have played lots of nukige before, some with more outrageous h scenes than this, but this game (and Musumaker I remember playing for a while, until the nausea became too great to bear and I just quit), have a certain enticingly destructive power that none of those other nukige had. I'm guessing it's the 売春 simulation part that gets me, but isn't it strange that something more outrageous than this didn't provoke as much emotion? Or was my scale off and 売春 really is down there among the worst?

sigh...

[erneiz_hyde]

Double posting, but it's a few days apart so I guess it's okay.

So yeah, I just barely managed to get away from HaruUrare, keeping my crumbling conscience for the moment .
And I figured to try Happymaher next. I thought I would get some happy sugary thingy coming my way, but woe is me when I realized this game is really nightMARE fuel (well, not really in the usual grotesque kind of way).
I don't know if it was intentional since the whole theme of the VN are dreams and nightmares, but I feel this gotta be one of the most jarring VNs I've ever played. The plot and scenes just jumps all over the place without warning with little to no explanation. Perhaps there will be more reveal when I clear more routes, though I've only cleared Yayoi's route now (yay Kazane!). Since I'll be saving Saki, Maia, and Arisu for last (Arisu and Maia is last because I think either one of them will be the true route or have the most reveal), that means going for Keiko next.

[Child_of_Sierra]

^^ so I decided to see what was so bad about Urare... and was intrigued that we could create
custom members ala Daiteikoku ... tried to cheat my way only to find out that my custom S rank character went to the rival club... guess I should go back trying to play Rance.

[erneiz_hyde]

Originally Posted by Child_of_Sierra

^^ so I decided to see what was so bad about Urare... and was intrigued that we could create
custom members ala Daiteikoku ... tried to cheat my way only to find out that my custom S rank character went to the rival club... guess I should go back trying to play Rance.

Btw! Did you properly play Urare? Did you experience some kind of discomfort like I described when playing it? I play Rance as well, and as you know, a lot of the H-scene there are outrageous. But, when I play Rance why didn't I feel the same crushing nausea as when I play Urare? It actually felt invigorating playing Rance, especially when the Rance theme starts playing, even though what he does is absolutely terrible.

[Mahou]

Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde

Double posting, but it's a few days apart so I guess it's okay.
Since I'll be saving Saki, Maia, and Arisu for last (Arisu and Maia is last because I think either one of them will be the true route or have the most reveal), that means going for Keiko next.

That's the order I would recommend as well, if only because Arisu's route is slightly a special case in terms of structure . But, yeah I found it also somewhat strange-ish up to confusing with all the jumping-around.
As for Maia: Uhm, may your expectations not be betrayed

[Child_of_Sierra]

Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde

Btw! Did you properly play Urare? Did you experience some kind of discomfort like I described when playing it? I play Rance as well, and as you know, a lot of the H-scene there are outrageous. But, when I play Rance why didn't I feel the same crushing nausea as when I play Urare? It actually felt invigorating playing Rance, especially when the Rance theme starts playing, even though what he does is absolutely terrible.

Define proper play? I managed to finish it once but have yet to unlock any CG's. My japanese is very basic to begin with so that probably saved me from the rather depressing dialogue between the main character and the heroines.

I don't think I felt the same nausea playing this game as you did. However I did feel sorry for my initial "members". The game for me turned into helping those 3 make it through the end in one piece, (no negative status or N rating) rather than actually caring about the named characters. (Twisted logic really, when releasing them after the 1st turn should make more sense.)

Discomfort? Like the feeling I got when I realized that the gameplay is all about turning characters into commodities that degrade over time so I can profit off them? It was there but I've been desensitized by doujinshis I read before.

And yeah, Rance is more enjoyable because the ero is just a small part of the bigger gameplay. Hare Urare focused solely on the abuse of characters.

[Newprimus]

Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde

Double posting, but it's a few days apart so I guess it's okay.

So yeah, I just barely managed to get away from HaruUrare, keeping my crumbling conscience for the moment .
And I figured to try Happymaher next. I thought I would get some happy sugary thingy coming my way, but woe is me when I realized this game is really nightMARE fuel (well, not really in the usual grotesque kind of way).
I don't know if it was intentional since the whole theme of the VN are dreams and nightmares, but I feel this gotta be one of the most jarring VNs I've ever played. The plot and scenes just jumps all over the place without warning with little to no explanation. Perhaps there will be more reveal when I clear more routes, though I've only cleared Yayoi's route now (yay Kazane!). Since I'll be saving Saki, Maia, and Arisu for last (Arisu and Maia is last because I think either one of them will be the true route or have the most reveal), that means going for Keiko next.

Interesting coincidence, I finished Yayoi first too (All hail boobs!). I'm going Saki, then Keiko, then Maia, and then Arisu.

I think Arisu's route should be saved for last. I took the unique choice option that leads into her route just to see what it's like and the IMPLICATIONS. I was like, "OOKAY, back away from this and get back to Saki route. This HAS to be saved for last!"