General Eroge Impressions & Discussion

[doyalike]

Does anyone here know if Corona Frizini has a route in Madou Koukaku?

[hyl]

Finished Grisaia no Rakuen completely (well minus the extra H-scenario's) and while playing it it seemed very good. But after letting it all sink it, it seems that this story is very flawed.

Let's start with the good. The first 60- 70% of the game was very good.

Spoiler for route spoiler:

The girls decided to undertake an operation to free Yuuji with the help of "Thanatos".
IMO that was the best part of the story. It showed the very good character interactions between the girls and what they felt for Yuuji to risk their lives for. The preperation before the rescue felt similar to the "Ocean serie" movies and it was very well done.
The occasional serious tone were nicely interupted with some humour (most often by Michiru)
The rescue itself was very and very good , because it had incredible badass (Sachi :3) and tense moments

My main problem was the final act

Spoiler for summary of the final act, thus huge spoilers:

when Yuuji litterly "rambo's" in and kills every soldier in the secret base of Heath Oslo. That part showed how dangerious Yuuji can be when he wants to kill, but it gets quickly stupid....
Yuuji first faces his "younger brother" (I think he was called "the pawn" and he is even voiced) as a "sub-boss", who is a "imperfect" clone of Yuuji raised by Oslo. The fight was nice untill it became some kind of doping fight.
Then he faces Heath Oslo, who uses a sword that was initially used by Asako and he took it as a souvenir in their fight. Also i forgot to mention that out of nowhere before the final battle JB reveals that Heath Oslo was the one who injured Asako (happened before she met Yuuji) which eventually lead to her death >_> So this fight has also become a personal vendetta for Yuuji

Then after killing him, Yuuji finds out that Heath Oslo was a clone of someone who is the "real" Heath Oslo who has lived for over 160 or so years (forgot how many years exactly because the plot became too stupid), who is a warmonger who controls the war and peace of the world in shadows.
And then he offers Yuuji to become the next Heath Oslo ...............
Which leads to the good and bad ends

edit: Oslo also has an henchman who has a name (Travis IIRC) and voice, but i never saw the point of that because he gets killed of so anti-climatically fast and easily as if he was some random grunt that Yuuji kills in the final act.....

My other complaint was the out of nowhere sci-fi, which was almost nonexistent in the previous 2 Grisaia games

Spoiler for Thanatos project:

Which is some kind of national defence supercomputer that can monitor any kind of activities made by anything electronic and it's very early revealed that Kazuki (!) is pretty much the core of Thanatos.
She helps the girls as a supercomputer for most of the story and she becomes the brain of the resecue operation

The Afterstory was meh.

Spoiler for Afterstory:

An epilogue to the main route , but it's primarly a harem route with H-scenes. Also the WTH ending

The prologue chapter on the otherhand was very good

Spoiler for prologue:

It's Yumiko's story when she first came to Mihama as the only student and how she later met the other 4 main heroines after they transferred in one by one.
The route ends with Yumiko hearing that next spring a male is going to enroll and after trying to find out about his past she proclaims to never accept him.

It was however still a fun but short ride and reading Rakuen felt like as if i was watching Iron 3. The pacing, tension, characters and twists were good. The execution to the buildup of the first half of the story was excellent but the actual climax and main story was lacking


edit: i don't think Rakuen has explained what exactly happened in Kajitsu >_>

Spoiler for spoiler:

It seems that Yuuji has "saved" every one of the 5 heroines, but in a way that he didn't stick to one route. (something which i find wierd but i think this can work as the plot for the upcoming anime, but i doubt that this was intended when they made Meikyuu last year)
So apparently Meikyuu and Rakuen follows a nonexisting harem route of Kajitsu

Also for the people who haven't played the game, don't read my spoilers. It takes the fun out of it if you decide to play it

[spasdas]

no kazuki end?

[hyl]

Originally Posted by spasdas

no kazuki end?

Unfortunately no, but there is a heroine choosen at the end of the afterstory and i know already that some might not like it

Spoiler for afterstory ending spoiler >_>, don't read it if you are going to read Rakuen:

It's Chiruchiru, because she was the first one to get pregnant due to her stupidity......
And that's why i said earlier a WTH ending

edit:
forgot to add this: for me Rakuen has so far the best soundtrack from any eroge that i tried/read this year

[Mahou]

Mah, I think I'll remain content with just Grisaia no Kajitsu. Some dramas were a bit too extreme, but overall I have enjoyed my time with it. I was never interested in part 2 and have no real motivation for Rakuen for the time being, at least. Just waiting for Da Capo 3 x-rated .

In the meantime I'm killing time with Maou to Odore - Code: Arcana and playing Sakurasou on PSP. It's not much VN-ish due to the heavy emphasis on the game-development schedule, but it has its share of funny moments so that I can hold out until the end. I won't go into further "details" as that would belong the thread in the sakurasou sub-forum, but Sorata's perma-tsukkomi act nearly every dang second sentence is nerve-wrecking after a while.
And I may try Ojousama wa Gokigen Naname (for no special reason).

[Cold~as~Ice]

can someone give me their thoughts on this game.
http://vndb.org/v629

I'm trying to fill in the hole the Grisaia series left so I need some suggestions please

[Newprimus]

Half-time (sort of) report on Tsujidou-san no Junai Road.

This game is made by Minato Carnival, which I think is a sister company to Minato-soft, which is responsible for the Majikoi series. Playing through Tsujidou-san, I can see the resemblance; the humor, wacky characters, and quality story writing. If you liked Majikoi, there's a very good chance you'll like Tsujidou-san no Junai Road.

So I finished one of each of Ai and Maki's routes. This game is sssoooooooooooo gooooooood. I love it. It's got hilarious humor and heart-pulling drama, and everything on the spectrum in-between. I'm so glad I started this game on almost a whim after looking for another banchou game after Koiseyo Imouto Banchou. From my experience so far, both Ai and Maki's routes have their vast breadth of humor and great drama; emo enough it pulls the heartstrings but not so much that it becomes annoying. While the theme is similar, of a normal person like the protagonist and a delinquent girl falling in love, how each route does it is uniquely different and enjoyable in its own way. And I love how heroines don't just conveniently disappear from each others' routes, and instead play some part in each story.

Now if you really, really hate stories about delinquents and banchous then maybe you won't enjoy Tsujidou-san no Junai Road, but this game is soo damn good with its characters and story that I have to strongly recommend this to everyone. I marathoned Maki's route a whole night, slept four hours, and finished it after midnight. That's how much this game just holds you.

[Soviet]

Originally Posted by Cold~as~Ice

can someone give me their thoughts on this game.
http://vndb.org/v629

I'm trying to fill in the hole the Grisaia series left so I need some suggestions please

The problem with the Akatsuki no Goei trilogy is that the writer really can't be bothered to write proper endings. They are usually rushed and unsatisfying, with Shuumatsuron being totally unfinished, guess they ran out of time or money during the production.

Now, in terms of pure entertainment value it doesn't get much more awesome than Akagoei, the humour is amazing and always present, the characters are so much fun and with Kaito and Tsuki you pretty much get the best protag and the best maid of all time.

Kaito basically acts like a weak joker, so everybody always assumes that he is all bark and no bite even though he is freakishly powerful so it is always entertaining waiting for the wolf to shed its sheep clothing.

Read it for the humour and Kaito being a total badass but don't expect a grand conclusion for anything ever in this series. Also, Reminiscence comes out this Friday, it's set 150 years after Akagoei and shares some characters, with the main heroine being Kaito's daughter. My most wanted game for this month, can't wait.

[Kirayuki]

Originally Posted by Soviet

Now, in terms of pure entertainment value it doesn't get much more awesome than Akagoei, the humour is amazing and always present, the characters are so much fun and with Kaito and Tsuki you pretty much get the best protag and the best maid of all time.

And there is Son, on top of that he is voiced by Midorikawa Hikaru with his several references to some of his other works. Can't really go wrong with that setup. Some of the gold moments came from Kaito's interaction with this guy.

Originally Posted by Cold~as~Ice

can someone give me their thoughts on this game.
http://vndb.org/v629

I'm trying to fill in the hole the Grisaia series left so I need some suggestions please

What Soviet wrote, though I'm not sure if it can replace Grisaia. It's definitely a fun series, but prepare to be offered with improper conclusions for most of the time.

[Hemisphere]

Originally Posted by Soviet

Read it for the humour and Kaito being a total badass but don't expect a grand conclusion for anything ever in this series. Also, Reminiscence comes out this Friday, it's set 150 years after Akagoei and shares some characters, with the main heroine being Kaito's daughter. My most wanted game for this month, can't wait.

Holy shit. Really? Oh god now I have to check it out.

I loved the humor in all of Akatsuki no Goei's titles, and Kaito and Tsuki's tandem are the best for me with their witty and snarky back-and-forth banter. And I agree, the game falls flat on its face whenever it tries to come up with satisfying endings. And Shuumatsutron was completely screwed over during its first release, being a broken, glitchy mess that needed a patch just to get route progression right.

And Midorikawa Hikaru being reduced to a butt monkey was just comedy gold for me (I liked his character's sister in the third title though).

[n0m@n]

I love Akatsuki no Goei series. You dont look at the plot. You have to enjoy the conversation between the characters and their humour to enjoy it. Yeah, plot-wise it wont satisfy those people who is looking for eroge with strong plot. But the dialogues and jokes are the funniest among all the eroge I played. Hence my favourite eroge of all time.

If you play the fandisc(the second one), you wont be available to stop laughing when you play the extra route about Son losing his virginity. There is a warning sign which pops up saying, "Due to his wishes, his pen$%& is portrayed bigger"(Kaito said its small like hell).

[Hemisphere]

Don't get me wrong, I loved the hell out of it, and I really wish more comedy eroges were around like Akatsuki no Goei (and MapleColors/MapleColors 2/Unival/that Sengoku Gakuen title by the same company). I just wished that it had better endings and a better, more coherent story so that overall it'd be strong, but its humor was enough to win me over.

I enjoyed the fandisc so much my sides were hurting at most of the gags, but I also loved the Tsuki-Kaito dynamic in it in Tsuki's route.

Now I have to go off and reinstall Unival Paranormal Girls whachamacallit. The humor in that one cracked me up badly too.

[n0m@n]

Lol. Yeah, the ending is weak. The PSP version added a special ending for Reika:s route in the remake of the second one. Though PSP version had to take out certain comments/dialogues which was quite disappointing. I loved Raita:s philosophy of Used-product(secondhand girls) are trashes and stuff and how he was the victim of bullying.

[Hemisphere]

I wish I found out about Reminiscence earlier. Trying out the trial now, and the option to bother Aksella's cleaning had me in stitches (and the resulting "reward" as good eye candy, mmmmmmmmmm).

I missed this kind of humor. All the tongue-in-cheek insults, tsukkomi-boke, breaking the fourth wall gags, oh god how I miss them all since my last AkaGoei title.

[ArchmageXin]

Anyone tried G-Senjou Mahou yet? It has very little sex scenes and not much in term of rape...but god the story is sad .

Spoiler for Painful spoilers:

The first branch the MC tried to corrupt an innocent girl. The second heroine you have Daddy recommending you to rape her. The third girl your family is busy crushing via economic scandal...and the true ending? You get sent to jail for 8 years to save your lover from....your own brother.

And that is the good ends. I don't even want to see the bad ends

[Soviet]

Originally Posted by Hemisphere

I wish I found out about Reminiscence earlier. Trying out the trial now, and the option to bother Aksella's cleaning had me in stitches (and the resulting "reward" as good eye candy, mmmmmmmmmm).

I missed this kind of humor. All the tongue-in-cheek insults, tsukkomi-boke, breaking the fourth wall gags, oh god how I miss them all since my last AkaGoei title.

Reminiscence seems more plot-focused and not really mostly a comedy like the Akagoei games though. The humor is still awesome and the character-interaction is ace but it has a much more serious tone going by the trial.

Looking forward to how Aki's route is going to play out in the game, you don't see this kind of brother-sister relationship very often. They really fucking hate each other. And not in the cute harmless "onii-chan no baka!"-way, it's actually deep burning hatred, pure and absolute.

[n0m@n]

Originally Posted by Soviet

Reminiscence seems more plot-focused and not really mostly a comedy like the Akagoei games though. The humor is still awesome and the character-interaction is ace but it has a much more serious tone going by the trial.

Looking forward to how Aki's route is going to play out in the game, you don't see this kind of brother-sister relationship very often. They really fucking hate each other. And not in the cute harmless "onii-chan no baka!"-way, it's actually deep burning hatred, pure and absolute.

Maybe something a bit similar to what happened between Kaede and MC from Shuffle! Kaede hated the MC(forgot his name) after her mother:s death since she believed her mother died because of MC, though she changed before the game began(It wasnt his fault, but he just made stuff up to help her get her conciousness back or something). Yeah, its definitely not a love-hate sibling relationship but a pure hate-hate thing. Its really hard to imagine what you have to go through to hate your sibling to that extent.

One more good thing about Reminiscene is.....we have Yuuki back! It doesnt hurt to have a character we are familiar with(Though his hair changed).

[Hemisphere]

Originally Posted by Soviet

Reminiscence seems more plot-focused and not really mostly a comedy like the Akagoei games though. The humor is still awesome and the character-interaction is ace but it has a much more serious tone going by the trial.

Looking forward to how Aki's route is going to play out in the game, you don't see this kind of brother-sister relationship very often. They really fucking hate each other. And not in the cute harmless "onii-chan no baka!"-way, it's actually deep burning hatred, pure and absolute.

I love the comedy because it's familiar ground, but the serious tone of the story has me wondering if I should take it with a grain of salt or not - mostly because my experience with AkaGoei is still fresh in my mind. When it comes to coming up with stories with serious tones, this writer starts off strong enough, but starts to lose it when he has to tie things up altogether or end them properly. I'm afraid that the main game is going to have some severe out-of-character moments once you go down certain routes (like Aki's, probably - though this is just early speculation on my part).

And the sibling loathing thing, yes. It's not just something new you see aside from the oniichan imouto pandering that's common out there, but their hatred of each other is so genuine that it's just refreshing to behold for some reason.

Originally Posted by n0m@n

One more good thing about Reminiscene is.....we have Yuuki back! It doesnt hurt to have a character we are familiar with(Though his hair changed).

Same. I was laughing pretty hard when Yuuki showed up and he and the lead suddenly bonded together over breasts.

[cranston]

Has anyone got recommendations on imouto-moe games? Moe being more important than H.

[Newprimus]

Originally Posted by cranston

Has anyone got recommendations on imouto-moe games? Moe being more important than H.

I have one: Koiseyo Imouto Banchou. Unless you dislike banchous, this one's got insanely cute and moe imoutos up to your ears. It's also more moe than H. And icing on cake, it's got great action too.

Eina. Greatest tsundere, easily-embarrassed imouto ever.