General Eroge Impressions & Discussion

[nikorai]

Avisch

Can someone explain what Oretsubasa's about?

Honestly I didn’t play it.　
Valdraさんに聞いたほうがいいと思いますが。
I think we better ask Valdra-san.

The Navel girls explain that the prelude has 3 separate stories and you can play them in any order you like and they are set 3 years before the main events. See below for the link to translation.

Meanwhile I copied the overview from getchu.com -

――大都市・柳木原。
おびただしい数の人と建物がひしめく、巨大な繁華街。

――季節は冬。
空を見上げれば、そこには無表情な白い空。

ありがちな悩みとありがちじゃない悩みを抱えた若者たち。
彼らが出会う、恋ともろもろ。
それはきっと何処にでもある、ありふれた物語。

A big city – Yanagihara
Great numbers of people and buildings, a huge business district.
- The winter season.
If you look at the sky you can see nothing but a white empty sky.
Young people with ordinary and not-so-ordinary troubles.
They meet, love and do all such things.
Apparently there’s nothing in it, it’s all very trite.

Utau

as far as the ~Prelude~ goes the intro/prologue of the navel girls were enough to make me fell sleep

Oh, and I found the first part to be quite entertaining. It even inspired me to actually translate the text.
Here’s the link to the script. I may have made a few mistakes translating it. The text still needs heavy editing.
But still.
http://www.sendspace.com/pro/dl/ymqr78

[Skyfall]

Originally Posted by Erhjegel

What I meant to imply was that rankings aren't necessarily the basis as to what is good or not. As an example, just like Haruna was voted as the most popular character in FA, even though other characters have much better backstories and possible openings for afterstories. But meh.
.

Ho, so you are saying liking Haruna is "bad taste" ? *death glare*
Personally i find a character like her quite endearing. There is something about a caring and kindhearted girl that i can't pass up, even if she has serious self-esteem issues. She might be lacking Erika's playful quirks, but i am quite fond of her regardless. No accounting for taste indeed, but i wouldn't be so hasty when it comes to assigning which characters it is "wrong" or "right" to hold in high regard. There is no right or wrong in this regard, and certainly no "correct" answer.

I will however argue the backstory part.

Spoiler for Kanade / Shiro:

Kanade's path is, for all intents and purposes, completely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things and does not contribute anything to your understanding of the characters, nor the plot. Every single detail related to the two sisters is explored to a greater depth in Haruna's route. You don't learn anything new after playing Kanade's route that could be considered relevant. Not even about Kanade herself. (With the exception of the bit in the end regarding Iori and his past regarding the tree ... though even that didn't really mean anything in the long run). And the tree drama was easily the weakest piece of writing in Fortune Arterial ... some details were downright ridiculous.

I am not saying it is a "bad" route overall. Certainly good if you like Kanade and her quirks and enjoy seeing more of her. But as far as the other 4 routes go, you can clearly feel in the end that they were written with the True End in mind. Not the case here, as Kanade is as disconnected from the main dish as it can get. One would not miss anything at all regarding the story or characters would her route be skipped entirely. The stand alone tree drama isn't really stellar either. Adds nothig to any of the characters either. Not a "bad" route, but certainly not a "relevant" one in grand scheme of things. In the end, her route, while a good dose of her quirky character, feels nothing more as a "what if" afterthought to Haruna's route.


Shiro's route was the second "low point" of Fortune Arterial. What i absolutely loved about FA overall and that was present in all the other routes, is the dynamic approach to drama and character relationships. Issues get introduced and tackled, problems are being worked towards to and you never feel the situation is on a standstill - it is always going somewhere, working on the drama and character interactions. In comparison to that, Shiro's route was stale and uneventful. The drama felt stagnant, character interactions somewhat lacking (Even the usual antics of the student council were not really present), romance not very convincing and just plain overall. By the time the first H scene rolled around i realized i am no longer playing to see how the route ends, but to actually see it end, period.

And then the end rolls around and the characters reach the resolutions they do ... and i am left staring at the screen thinking "wait ... all that for that??
". Didn't really help that the same resolution could have been used the second Seichiro realized what Shiro truly wants ... expect it took us a few hours of stale drama and beating around the bush to get there in the end. Structure wise, this was the weakest route - it struggled filling the time with content that would be either relevant, or funny. In the end, the route didn't have all that much of either.

These two routes aside, Fortune Arterial was a quite fantastic experience overall, and when the True End came along, i could have stood up and applauded to the writers... and this is not something one would find me saying often. The way they wove together the independent stories (4 of them at least), the way they connected all the details and explored the Vampire origins, their bloodlust and reasoning behind it and kenzoku ... impressive. Truly impressive. Most vampire stories don't usually spend their time to go in-depth regarding these issues we usually take as granted part of the theme, and for that i can applaud the writers, along with the quality of writing they pulled off. Most stories can't manage this much.

A masterpiece in its own right, likely my favorite story dealing with vampires up to date as well. Overall, Fortune Arterial was an experience of rare quality, one i don't think i will get to experience anytime soon again.

[Sailor Enlil]

Well at the moment I'm having fun with Shin Koihime Musou, or rather, already finished all of it, but enjoying a AGTH translation of the "special" campaign that gets unlocked after finishing the 3 "regular" ones (the ones for each of the 3 factions).

Spoiler:

It's about 3 guys, a doctor named Kata, and two crossdressers - Chousen from the first game, and Himiko, a newcomer, all bumbling around trying to "help" the injured characters, with all kinds of hilarious results, including the crossdressers scaring the daylights out of some of the girls by their mere appearances, but the funniest of all has to be

Spoiler:

when Sonken, vice-leader of the Wu faction, has to take a certain medicine made of outrageous ingredients that scare her to death

[Hemisphere]

Originally Posted by Skyfall

Ho, so you are saying liking Haruna is "bad taste" ? *death glare*
Personally i find a character like her quite endearing. There is something about a caring and kindhearted girl that i can't pass up, even if she has serious self-esteem issues. She might be lacking Erika's playful quirks, but i am quite fond of her regardless. No accounting for taste indeed, but i wouldn't be so hasty when it comes to assigning which characters it is "wrong" or "right" to hold in high regard. There is no right or wrong in this regard, and certainly no "correct" answer.

I will however argue the backstory part.

Spoiler for Kanade / Shiro:

Kanade's path is, for all intents and purposes, completely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things and does not contribute anything to your understanding of the characters, nor the plot. Every single detail related to the two sisters is explored to a greater depth in Haruna's route. You don't learn anything new after playing Kanade's route that could be considered relevant. Not even about Kanade herself. (With the exception of the bit in the end regarding Iori and his past regarding the tree ... though even that didn't really mean anything in the long run). And the tree drama was easily the weakest piece of writing in Fortune Arterial ... some details were downright ridiculous.

I am not saying it is a "bad" route overall. Certainly good if you like Kanade and her quirks and enjoy seeing more of her. But as far as the other 4 routes go, you can clearly feel in the end that they were written with the True End in mind. Not the case here, as Kanade is as disconnected from the main dish as it can get. One would not miss anything at all regarding the story or characters would her route be skipped entirely. The stand alone tree drama isn't really stellar either. Adds nothig to any of the characters either. Not a "bad" route, but certainly not a "relevant" one in grand scheme of things. In the end, her route, while a good dose of her quirky character, feels nothing more as a "what if" afterthought to Haruna's route.


Shiro's route was the second "low point" of Fortune Arterial. What i absolutely loved about FA overall and that was present in all the other routes, is the dynamic approach to drama and character relationships. Issues get introduced and tackled, problems are being worked towards to and you never feel the situation is on a standstill - it is always going somewhere, working on the drama and character interactions. In comparison to that, Shiro's route was stale and uneventful. The drama felt stagnant, character interactions somewhat lacking (Even the usual antics of the student council were not really present), romance not very convincing and just plain overall. By the time the first H scene rolled around i realized i am no longer playing to see how the route ends, but to actually see it end, period.

And then the end rolls around and the characters reach the resolutions they do ... and i am left staring at the screen thinking "wait ... all that for that??
". Didn't really help that the same resolution could have been used the second Seichiro realized what Shiro truly wants ... expect it took us a few hours of stale drama and beating around the bush to get there in the end. Structure wise, this was the weakest route - it struggled filling the time with content that would be either relevant, or funny. In the end, the route didn't have all that much of either.

These two routes aside, Fortune Arterial was a quite fantastic experience overall, and when the True End came along, i could have stood up and applauded to the writers... and this is not something one would find me saying often. The way they wove together the independent stories (4 of them at least), the way they connected all the details and explored the Vampire origins, their bloodlust and reasoning behind it and kenzoku ... impressive. Truly impressive. Most vampire stories don't usually spend their time to go in-depth regarding these issues we usually take as granted part of the theme, and for that i can applaud the writers, along with the quality of writing they pulled off. Most stories can't manage this much.

A masterpiece in its own right, likely my favorite story dealing with vampires up to date as well. Overall, Fortune Arterial was an experience of rare quality, one i don't think i will get to experience anytime soon again.

"What I meant to imply was that rankings aren't necessarily the basis as to what is good or not. As an example, just like Haruna was voted as the most popular character in FA, even though other characters have much better backstories and possible openings for afterstories. But meh."

Yo. Bad taste or not, like I said, if you like it then you like it and all's fine and dandy. Or not. I like Asuku San, but overall her route is the weakest in Itsusora so obviously I too am guilty of aforementioned bad taste. Not to mention that I have a soft spot for Hiroko Taguchi-voiced characters (which includes Haruna), and me going on a limb and saying that she is less important than the other characters is, while storywise rather accurate, pretty much a blasphemy for me because I LOVE Hiroko Taguchi's characters.

So what am I getting at here? I don't know. I guess I'm rambling. But yeah. Subjectivity wins hands down and if you find something that someone else disagrees on just laugh and brush it away. Or something. Rankings are bleh. Like statistics.

[Skyfall]

Originally Posted by Erhjegel

"What I meant to imply was that rankings aren't necessarily the basis as to what is good or not. As an example, just like Haruna was voted as the most popular character in FA, even though other characters have much better backstories and possible openings for afterstories. But meh."

I am not placing all that much faith in polls either, but what i took an issue with was you essentially saying it is wrong to find Haruna as the favorite character of FA. You are saying that should be considered false however, based on your second bolded part ... except how is this part the objective truth on the matter ? (or, quite frankly, even matters when we are talking purely about favorite characters, not specific aspects of their stories ). On that, i would argue that Kanade is the character with easily the weakest backstory in FA (Her backstory is the reverse situation of Haruna's, so they are even on this regard ...except her's is not as explored as Haruna's is, nor does she share Haruna's special connection to Kouhei, nor does she have anything connecting to the True End). She is purely "Haruna's sister". And that is all about there is to her character.

If i misunderstood what you were trying to imply about liking Haruna's character, then i am backing down though

Yo. Bad taste or not, like I said, if you like it then you like it and all's fine and dandy.

So what am I getting at here? I don't know. I guess I'm rambling. But yeah. Subjectivity wins hands down and if you find something that someone else disagrees on just laugh and brush it away. Or something. Rankings are bleh. Like statistics.

Now this i can definitely agree with. I am playing the game for my enjoyment. I don't need anyone's else approval to like a character. Which is why i don't see the need to fuss over polls in general - who cares what they say, i am here for myself, not for them

Or not. I like Asuku San, but overall her route is the weakest in Itsusora so obviously I too am guilty of aforementioned bad taste. Not to mention that I have a soft spot for Hiroko Taguchi-voiced characters (which includes Haruna), and me going on a limb and saying that she is less important than the other characters is, while storywise rather accurate, pretty much a blasphemy for me because I LOVE Hiroko Taguchi's characters.

See, i disagree here with the notion that liking a specific character has got to do much with the supposed "strength of her route" (Though in case of FA, as already noted, i am not conceding the point that Haruna is the weakest route - Kanade's is more irrelevant by a long shot(like, completely), and while content wise Shiro has more "relevant stuff" (or does she actually ? Now that i think about it, she has only one detail relevant to the True End story, which puts her equal to Haruna, but for argument's sake lets assume she does), but structure wise it is the worst of FA routes.
Erika/Kiriha > Haruna > Kanade > Shiro, if we go by "quality of writing"
Erika/Kiriha >Haruna/Shiro> [no longer relevant in any way] > Kanade, if we go with "actually has anything to do with the Vampire side") has all that much to do with the actual "quality" of a story path of said character. Those are two fairly different criteria. And while, depending on how much weight you put on the former, it might affect your appreciation and understanding of the later, it is not the be-all end-all of things For example, i have heard on various cases that Marino's path is the "best" in Honey Coming, but i am not touching it with a ten feet pole, simply because she would have boiled me out of my sanity long before i would get to the part where i start caring about her route Mmm ... end conclusion ? I should probably get around to Itsusora some day

[Dagger]

Holy shit. I just hit the most amazing plot twist in OreTsuba, and I'm still in what I assume is the trunk of the game. Maybe I'll revive the old thread after I get my first ending.

[Master Anime]

Just Started Playing Campanella
Campanella Protagonist truly walking pheromone

[johnishida]

Originally Posted by Master Anime

Just Started Playing Campanella
Campanella Protagonist truly walking pheromone

Must agree with that. He doesn't do anything to get the girls fall for him. Just standing there is enough hahaha

I'm currently I'm chapter 1. Haven't played that much.

[uis]

Anyway can someone please list good VN release this year ???

[Crimrui]

I'm messing around with 3d Custom girl at the moment. Dress-up kinda relaxes me when I have a free time after work.

Can anyone please share a few Yuri type games? It can be tactics, RPG or Visual novel both translated or not. It doesn't have to be all that popular just give me few that you heard or that you personally played and liked.

[Nosauz]

I'm finishing up Tears to Tiara, and currently on the ero burners are F/HA, and Aneimo also I went back to play heart de roommate, and all I can say is I hate that game 4ever, its just to heart breaking to play anymore I just hate bittersweet endings but when they lean heavily to the bitter I just can't take it.

[Kresnik]

For January release, I'm playing Tenkuu no Yumina and Amber Quartz, alternately.
The only hard thing about Yumina is that we need to play all difficulties (Normal, Hard and Super Hard) to unlock the final ending.

As for Campanella, maybe I'll find a free time slot in the February schedule, since there's not much good releases this month unlike March which will be very tight. >_>

[Micchi]

I am still playing Shin Koihime Musou. The battle system change from the original is refreshing and the story is different. I was really hyped up for it and even though it's not as awesome as I imagined, it is still pretty good. It's also fun to see the parallels with the original Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Hinari is so moe ><

Still haven't touched the January releases yet. That would be Campanella.

I don't see myself freeing up time before Tapestry and Like a Butler come out though...

[Crimrui]

I saw some good reviews on that Tears to Tiara PC game, and from what I've seen on the trailers regarding the story and gameplay, it really looks amazing. Is that game linear or multi-ending one?

[Tran225]

Anyone play Narcissu? if so how do u let it play on auto? lol

[Newprimus]

If you haven't already, Like a Butler trial version out on AXL's website! YEEEEESSS!!!!!

[Nosauz]

Originally Posted by Crimson Cloud

I saw some good reviews on that Tears to Tiara PC game, and from what I've seen on the trailers regarding the story and gameplay, it really looks amazing. Is that game linear or multi-ending one?

Its linear, unfortunatly its quite a long game if you play on impossible, because you have to pretty much out level your opponents by 3-4 levels, and xp is gained via the actual character hitting or casting a spell, so the combat parts are actually the most frustating especially if you just want to focus on the story which is amazing. Of course if your a bishojo fan you have to play it on impossible since thats the only way to get all the cgs, and I'm pretty sure thats the only way to get all the hscenes too. Overall its a great game really fun, the voice acting is superb, and the story is just great.

[Newprimus]

Right, just completed the trial of Like a Butler.

Spoiler for trial:

Basically we have the protagonist, Narumi Kazuki, and his childhood friend and landlady, Yumino Kanade, who are both fairly ordinary people, if a bit unwealthy so to speak. 85,000 students took an exam to apply for a scholarship to a world-famous school for the rich and privilaged situated near their town and Kanade turns out to be the only winner. Which means tuition is free and she gets to attend an elite school for the super rich and famous. Thing is one of the requirements requires that all students attend school with an escort/steward of the same age/grade level who will basically serve as their maid, if the student is a male, or basically a butler if the student is female. Kanade begs Kazuki to be her butler and attend the school with her and eventually he gives in.

So follows the adventures of two ordinary people, Kanade and her butler Kazuki, into the land of the super rich and famous.

hence the title, Like a Butler.

Let's see, the game so far is interesting and seems fun. Probably as fun and interesting as Princess Frontier. Though neither seemed as fun as Koitate though.

[Sterling01]

The Sumaga fandisc just got a pv
It does have spoilers in it.

[Dagger]

So is this, like, a fandisc or an expansion disc? I'm still assuming fandisc for now, but their wording is kind of sketchy.