Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Awaclus]

But weakness and dread are fine feelings, too. Time to read Cartagra ~Affliction of the Soul~.

So, this was... certainly worth it. Much more so than it initially seemed like. I don't think I liked it as much as Kara no Shoujo though (which, by the way, I've started to appreciate much more after I've had time to sort it out in my head, and is now both my favorite book and my favorite video game), but even then, I don't feel like my expectations were unmet either. I would recommend it if you liked Kara no Shoujo, and if you haven't read KnS yet, you should read it first I think.

[popsofctown]

I feel like I would enjoy visual novels on my DS rather than on my computer, because I don't want to sit at the computer and read.  But I don't know of any besides Ace Attorney which I've played, and like, though I wish it was less interactive so I could enjoy the story more.  The last one I played had some really hard clue gathering parts i'd rather skip.

[Awaclus]

So, while waiting for Kara no Shoujo 2, I reread the entirety of the first episode of Kara no Shoujo*. Incredible rereading value, I was surprised by like half of the plot twists again and I think it even freaked me out more than it did on the first time (which is quite remarkable), not to mention I understood many of the details a lot better after having read Cartagra.  Certainly helped me reinforce my belief that this thing is both the most fucked up, and also the most genius thing I've ever read, seen or heard. Getting the different h-scene choices was nice too.

*: Yes, I slightly misjudged how long it would take me and how soon KnS 2 would be released.

[Awaclus]

Kara no Shoujo 2

Just finished this. It was no less of an extreme experience as the first installment in the series (although it does take a while before it gets there) and it was phenomenally good.

[markusin]

I'm a total noob to the visual novel scene, but it looks like there are too many good ones to count. I played the Phoenix/Layton crossover game on the 3DS but that's about it.

I have only played 3 visual novels. Umineko no Naku Koro ni is my favorite one. It also involves lots of fun characters...that may die at any point...multiple times.

I've read the first Chapter/Episode of Umineko, through I'm aware of the direction it takes later on. Totally my kind of story and I think it's awesome so far. I'm excited about reading more of it. It's just...SOOOO LOOOONG. I haven't been able to find the time to get through it at a consistent pace. Its soundtrack is ridiculously good though, to the point where I've put it on my phone to use as standalone listening music. Apparently they're going to rerelease it in English on Steam with updated assets. I'll be all over it once that happens.

Just a heads up about Umineko: its story is independent of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (and has a completely different feel), but it spoils some aspects of Higurashi. If you can, get through that story first (either through VN, manga, or anime) because you might end up liking Higurashi a lot.

Speaking of mystery stories, if I had a PSVita I would be all over the Danganronpa series, but alas I do not have one (as far as handhelds go, my 3DS is already starting to collect dust). I instead chose to read through a Let's Play of the first game. Really fun stuff. I'm in the middle of watching a Let's Play of Danganronpa 2. I'm liking the second game even more. I feel the individual mysteries in the second game strike a much better balance between challenge and fairness.

They're making a 3rd Danganronpa on PSVita and PS4. Hrm, a PSVita is looking more tempting now.

Once I get through those games, I want to check out Muv-Luv+extra+alternative. Oddly enough, Muv-Luv:Alternative is the core game and the stuff before it is like prologue. I think a good way to descibe M-L:A would be to say it's what you might get if you crossed Attack on Titan, Gundam, and maybe Topgun. In fact, I think M-L:A was a major source of inspiration for Attack on Titan. I'm a fan of mechas in general, as well as AoT, so I'm really hoping I'll enjoy this series.

[Awaclus]

I'm reading Steins;Gate now. As was the case with YnS for me, I liked the anime, people kept telling me the VN was better, and they were right. Some of the alternative endings go really interesting places. I haven't gotten the true end yet though, but I assume it's the one I already know from the anime.

[Titandrake]

Played the first Ace Attorney. Liked it quite a bit. (Didn't like the bonus case as much, since it basically threw a ton of new characters and mechanics at the last second and forced you through a marathon.)

Played 999. Also quite good. I'm a bit annoyed that one choice I made which didn't seem important was required for the true ending, but otherwise it's very well crafted. There's a lot of things that only make sense on later playthroughs.

Finished Hatoful Boyfriend, which is excellent, and finished Holiday Star, which is less excellent but still amusing. You have to finish all of Hatoful Boyfriend to enjoy Holiday Star, jumping into the middle of continuity isn't going to work out very well.

[Seprix]

The last case in the first game is flipping fantastic!

[ConMan]

The last case in the first game is flipping fantastic!

I agree, I really enjoyed it, and I really wish that the mechanisms they introduced in it (the ability to rotate items, and spraying luminol) got more of an appearance in the later games.

[pingpongsam]

So, this is nothing like House of Leaves?

[Kirian]

So, this is nothing like House of Leaves?

[LastFootnote]

The last case in the first game is flipping fantastic!

I agree, I really enjoyed it, and I really wish that the mechanisms they introduced in it (the ability to rotate items, and spraying luminol) got more of an appearance in the later games.

They got lots of use in the 4th game, which was the next game to be released after that bonus case was created. The original Japan-only version of Ace Attorney I on the GBA only had four cases. The fifth was added when the game was ported to the DS.

[LastFootnote]

Played 999. Also quite good. I'm a bit annoyed that one choice I made which didn't seem important was required for the true ending, but otherwise it's very well crafted. There's a lot of things that only make sense on later playthroughs.

The third game in the Zero Escape series came out 8 days ago. I'm partway through it now.

If you liked 999 and have either a 3DS or a Vita, you should get Virtue's Last Reward.

[markusin]

Played 999. Also quite good. I'm a bit annoyed that one choice I made which didn't seem important was required for the true ending, but otherwise it's very well crafted. There's a lot of things that only make sense on later playthroughs.

The third game in the Zero Escape series came out 8 days ago. I'm partway through it now.

If you liked 999 and have either a 3DS or a Vita, you should get Virtue's Last Reward.

Do you have to play the Zero escape games in order? Are these games I can find in stores in the West? I enjoyed Danganronpa and have been interested in this series from the same developers (partially).

The first two Danganronpa games are on Steam now. Umineko is getting a localization on Steam that comes out on my birthday.

[LastFootnote]

Do you have to play the Zero escape games in order? Are these games I can find in stores in the West? I enjoyed Danganronpa and have been interested in this series from the same developers (partially).

Of course you don't have to play them in order. I strongly recommend that you do play them in order, though. And why wouldn't you?

999 and VLR will be out on Steam eventually. I don't know if you can find the handheld versions in stores near you. You can definitely find them on Amazon for <$30 each.

[ConMan]

I played VLR up to the game-breaking glitch, I have now learned the trick to get past it so I will get back to it soon-ish. There's a friend at work who's offered to lend me his copy of 999, and according to him the ending to VLR leads in to the new game strongly. You can get VLR on the 3DS eShop (as well as the new one), for physical copies they can be quite hard to track down.

[Awaclus]

I just read the true end of FLOWERS ~Le Volume sur Printemps~. Which is to say that I haven't read the other endings yet because for whatever reason, you can't get them until you've completed the true end.

But holy hell that was an absolute masterpiece. As you can tell if you've read this thread, I'm a pretty huge Innocent Grey fan in general and despite being the only all-ages work from them that I've read, it delivered upon all the aspects that I've come to expect from the studio, and the social commentary in it was wonderfully blunt and on-spot.

[markusin]

So many visual novels I want to check out. So little time.

I have a PS Vita now, so that opens up my options a bit I think. Umineko and Corpse Party are currently in my backlog. What can I say, Corpse Party: Book of Shadows was on a good sale so I got it along with the base story.

[Awaclus]

I finished Steins;Gate 0 today. It felt a lot more like a DLC or an expansion to the original story than a work of its own, because it definitely added a lot of new content and fresh ideas that were interesting and stuff, but it didn't really add anything groundbreaking in terms of the crazy science stuff, it wasn't as touching as the original, it wasn't as intense as the original, and it kept revolving around the plot of the original. All in all, it was very enjoyable since I was already a fan.

Also, the recursion ending was stupid, but I assume it was supposed to be a troll ending so I guess it worked well enough at that.

[Awaclus]

I've been playing CLANNAD for a very long time (years) now and it turns out I just inexplicably lost all my save data and achievements and lights and stuff. Great, I guess I can do without the true ending.

[O]

Clannad has fast skip (at least on the Steam version) but if you weren't as emotionally invested as I was you don't need the true end, as long as you played a bit of Afterstory. If there's some way to transfer save files I could give you my 100% completion ones.

YnS felt far worse than the anime to me, but that could simply be that I have a lower tolerance for incredible shitty translations than you do. Props to the one guy for translating it but his English skills are really not great.

How long does Steins;Gate take to diverge from the Anime? I'm ~3 hours in and will finish it eventually regardless but the visual style is slightly offputting, with the eyes specifically.

More importantly, this is probably the longest VN thread in existence that doesn't mention Fate. So I'll break that streak. Fate is awesome, Route 1 > 3 > 2


If you like Romance based ones (IE Clannad) and aren't attached to Japanese culture, Katawa Shoujo is 100000x better than you could ever reasonably expect for a game that came off of 4chan about disabled people. It's genuinely well written and non-offensive (standard smut scenes apply). It's also free/legal to download with no need to mess around with translation patches.

[Awaclus]

Clannad has fast skip (at least on the Steam version) but if you weren't as emotionally invested as I was you don't need the true end, as long as you played a bit of Afterstory. If there's some way to transfer save files I could give you my 100% completion ones.

I'm not sure if it'll work but I would definitely appreciate that.

How long does Steins;Gate take to diverge from the Anime? I'm ~3 hours in and will finish it eventually regardless but the visual style is slightly offputting, with the eyes specifically.

It's largely pretty linear IIRC. You start getting choices, each of which is directly between continuing the true storyline or getting an alternative ending, after Mayuri starts dying. Other than that, it just covers the science stuff in a lot more detail and the true end is exactly how it was in the anime.

Steis;Gate 0 shits over Fuka Ryouiki no Déjà vu since its very beginning, which is glorious because that movie was awful.

[markusin]

I just finished trying a visual novel of sorts called Long Live the Queen. It's really more of a light "choose your own adventure" story than a full-fledged epic narrative like most of the VNs discussed in this thread, and its price reflects that.

Basically, you play as a princess soon to be coronated as Queen. The goal is to survive for 40 weeks, at which point you are coronated as Queen. Each week you can study two subjects among a large selection, boosting your knowledge/proficiency in them. How fast you pick up on a particular subject is influenced by your mood, and you have some control over your mood.

The challenge comes from how there are plenty of skill checks that result in your death if you fail to meet them. Sometimes you can direct the story around those checks, and sometimes having certain skills can open up more decision choices and opportunities. And sometimes you are forced to rewind several weeks (i.e. save scumming) to prepare for a major crisis. A lot of it comes down to trial-and-error in the end, but I think there are multiple different paths/strategies that can lead to victory.

I found one path to success so far.

[Awaclus]

I'm playing Danganronpa right now and this is very entertaining.

[Awaclus]

I'm playing Danganronpa right now and this is very entertaining.

So it turns out I missed out on motherfucking Chiwa Saito and a bunch of other seriously kickass voice actors because I thought the selection for the language of the voice acting was a selection for the language of the text and so I chose English. I thought that for once, I could just skip the anime and go straight for the VN but now I guess I'll have to watch the anime for the VAs. Dammit.

That aside, I finished this and my initial impression pretty much carried on throughout the entire game. It was tons of fun. The medium difficulty was too easy but I did have a couple of game overs so it was still a bit of a challenge at least. What's most noteworthy about Danganronpa is that it actually feels like a game and not really like a VN due to the plentiful amounts of actual gameplay, but that was fine since I don't particularly hate games.