Lux-Pain

[Bane Rieko]

Lux-Pain is set in the historical Kisaragi City, a town plagued by mysteries from small mishaps to murders - with no logical explanation as to why these events occur. It seems "Silent", a worm born through hate and sadness, has infected humans and forced them to commit atrocious crimes. The heroes parents, Atsuki, are the victim of such crimes. To avenge his parents, Atsuki goes through a dangerous operation to acquire Lux-Pain in his left arm, a power so strong that it turns his right eye golden when using it to seek and destroy Silent for good.

(from Wikipedia)

I just picked this up today (with the free art book from GameStop!) and these are my first thoughts:

Animated Opening!
Voice Acting (in english)
They look like the Code Geass characters (seriously, it looks like Sunrise did the game)
I recognize the voice but I can't find a cast list! (in either language)

Trailer in Japanese (yes, that's Light's VA laughing):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INz1AF55PEw

After reading the only two available reviews online I have come to a distinct conclusion:
The reviewers didn't know shit about the game they were playing. (granted, they probably never played a game like this before... but research never killed anyone!)

Yeah, it's an adventure game and yes it it also advertised as a puzzle solver. But you know what else? You can tell from the BOX it's also a visual novel. That means reading.
LOTS of reading. That means you have to think to understand what is going on. Also, the IGN guy admitted he quite after 20 minutes... if he had played for another 30 he would not have been so confused. And look at his past reviews, do you see another game like this? I didn't! Just because it's different from Phoenix Wright doesn't mean it's terrible.

This game is like a visual novel on steroids. You're used to point, click, read every 15 to 20 minutes? Well now you get to choose where you go, search scenes, fight (yes! fighting in a visual novel!), and have English dubbed voice acting.

Yes, you read that right. They dubbed it for us! And while the dubbed sentences don't match the text sometimes, it's still great quality. And I swear the little purple haired kid named Shinji is played by Greg Ayers and I will find proof that it is!

Overall? Good game. Not for everyone, but if you like anime you'd probably want to shell out the $30 bucks for the game and free art book.

[Aaerul]

I thought release date was 27th of March??

Been keeping my eye out on this one. Any good?

[Aaerul]

I am not one bit satisfied with how poorly written this review is. I guess the notion of enjoying passive adventure games for this reviewer is completely out-of-the-world.
http://au.ds.ign.com/articles/965/965741p1.html

Someone on these boards have got to share their experience.

[Bane Rieko]

Apparently it came out early. I thought that was the release date too... maybe GameStop had it out early. Even the cashier was confused.

Trust me, they do it no justice. It's like a visual novel but with adventure and puzzle solving elements to it. Obviously this person is a fan of games where you don't have to THINK to find out what's going on. It's actually very well made and fun once you get used to the controls.

And when people complain about the price.... come on! $30 for a game and a book is a steal! It'll be $25 or $20 for the normal one!

[Bane Rieko]

I've edited my first post with my thoughts after reading the review from IGN and Nintendo Power and playing the game for the past 2 hours straight.

[Aaerul]

Originally Posted by Cosign

I am not one bit satisfied with how poorly written this review is. I guess the notion of enjoying passive adventure games for this reviewer is completely out-of-the-world.
http://au.ds.ign.com/articles/965/965741p1.html

After some thoughts, I might have been too harsh on IGN's review. Its probably the first time this reviewer has even played a Japanese adventure game. Lets just leave it to RPG-fan to do the audience-centric reviews then.

[Asamidori]

I personally loved the game, but I played it in Japanese. One of the few that managed to keep me up past my usual sleep hours wanting to know the story.

Totally agree with the reviewers having no idea what the hell they're talking about. I think the term "adventure game" confused them since an ADV is pretty different between Japan and everywhere outside of it.

[Sides]

Originally Posted by Asamidori

Totally agree with the reviewers having no idea what the hell they're talking about. I think the term "adventure game" confused them since an ADV is pretty different between Japan and everywhere outside of it.

ADV is pretty much the same in the west, just look at the old lucasarts titles. Then again you either like these types of game or hate them. People with low patiences tends to hate them and prefer 3d beat'em ups or 3rd person shooters, which are being sold or described as ADV by some people for soime odd reason.

But from what i've heard, the translation job is badly done and kind of degrades this title. I'm going to pick it up next week, so i cannot judge it myself at the moment

[holyalexander]

the game is indeed cool and interesting...

[Catnips]

This game looks interesting..

[denice25]

Its pretty awesome....

[ShapetheSky]

Originally Posted by Sides

But from what i've heard, the translation job is badly done and kind of degrades this title. I'm going to pick it up next week, so i cannot judge it myself at the moment

I heard that too, from the examples I saw it at best reads stale (or too literal from the japanese text) but looks more like a pooooooorly done editing job. Maybe time constraints - at least I don't want to think companies actually hire people who lack the necessary skills to translate games. >.<

Originally Posted by Bane Rieko

I recognize the voice but I can't find a cast list! (in either language)

I actually bothered to add every single japanese seiyuu voicing for Lux-Pain over at Anime News Network when I played the game last summer...if you're curious just enter the game in the search. There are some real big names like Noto Mamiko and Takehito Koyasu amongst others too :3

[Sety]

Have to throw up a big tip for everyone.

Try buy the European version of Lux-Pain, it doesn't suffer from the abysmal text translation job that the US version supposedly does. However the vocals are still inconsistent with what is being read but that can be fixed by turning off voices.

[Kid Ying]

Finished the game yesterday. Man, the localization...

But the game is pretty good. A good story, good characters, charming girls and stuff. It was pretty fun to play. I got the good ending without knowing that there is multiple endings. It's an easy game, but very entertaining.

To me it was a 7/10.

[Sides]

Originally Posted by Kid Ying

Finished the game yesterday. Man, the localization...

But the game is pretty good. A good story, good characters, charming girls and stuff. It was pretty fun to play. I got the good ending without knowing that there is multiple endings. It's an easy game, but very entertaining.

To me it was a 7/10.

What would you compare it to time hollow?

[Shadow Kira01]

Looking for seiyuu lineup?

http://www.lux-pain.com/special/index.html

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%...82%A4%E3%83%B3

So, generally... This ADV is somewhat like "Nanashi no Game" and "Time Hollow", except that it has anime cutscenes and anime character designs making it more like Time Hollow than the latter. Fortunately, it has multiple endings unlike Time Hollow making it a better game?

[Kid Ying]

Originally Posted by Sides

What would you compare it to time hollow?

I like Lux-pain more. The artwork is better, the characters are very nice and the story is better(imho).

Time hollow got better gameplay and a REAL translation, but Lux Pain was more enjoyable to me.

[rg4619]

Totally agree with the reviewers having no idea what the hell they're talking about.

I think the reviews are understandable. Bear in mind that Snatcher, Phoenix Wright, and Hotel Dusk received rave reviews, so it isn't like they can't enjoy Japanese adventures.

However, for those who aren't ardent fans of the genre (not to mention its associated artistic and scenario stylings - these things might greatly enhance our enjoyment of a game, but they're neutral points to everyone else), it's that much more important for the content to be fantastic. Poor translations and average storytelling just won't cut it.

[Shadow Kira01]

JAPAN VERSION

Saijo Atsuki - Miyano Mamoru (Death Note - Yagami Light)
Ray Platière - Midorikawa Hikaru (Gundam Wing - Heero Yuy)
Liu Yee - Koyasu Takehito (Gundam Wing - Millardo Peacecraft)
Mido Akira - Nakamura Yuuichi (Clannad - Okazaki Tomoya)
Natsuki Venevskaya - Chihara Minori (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Nagato Yuki)
Nora Döbereiner - Kitamura Eri (Toradora! - Kawashima Ami)
Yamase Yui - Asano Masumi (Spiral - Hiyono Yuizaki)

[Kid Ying]

Originally Posted by Shadow Minato

JAPAN VERSION

Saijo Atsuki - Miyano Mamoru (Death Note - Yagami Light)
Ray Platière - Midorikawa Hikaru (Gundam Wing - Heero Yuy)
Liu Yee - Koyasu Takehito (Gundam Wing - Millardo Peacecraft)
Mido Akira - Nakamura Yuuichi (Clannad - Okazaki Tomoya)
Natsuki Venevskaya - Chihara Minori (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - Nagato Yuki)
Nora Döbereiner - Kitamura Eri (Toradora! - Kawashima Ami)
Yamase Yui - Asano Masumi (Spiral - Hiyono Yuizaki)

holy shit. yuki, light, heero and zechs is in the jp version? Now i'm sad with the eng dub...