A Year of Visual Novels: My Journey and Thoughts

I've played text games before — actually, from the moment I got into games I wanted ones with tons of choices that branch into different endings and developments, which is one reason I'm hooked on RPGs. Of course…… my real favorite is third-person fighting ACT games, but those are too rare and getting rarer. All we see is endless FPS…… FPS…… FPS. In this shitty era of shooters, I got tired, decided I wasn't going to shoot anymore, and went back to text games.

My actual start with galge was last year when I was stuck at home for half a year, bored out of my mind…… WoW had gotten stale too, so I decided to pick up a PSP and play some galge. Over that year or so I've played a fair number of titles, so I might as well sum them up. Naturally some of what I cover includes story-heavy RPGs.

# Memories Off 4

This was probably one of the first galge I played. I forget whether I played Memories Off 1 back in middle school…… I think I did, maybe following a walkthrough from Popular Software, but I can't remember the story at all…… Anyway, we're talking about 4. I played 4 because it was the easiest to download…… and it seemed to have a high reputation.

The opening of 4 is decent — it's one of the few works I've seen where the protagonist is set up as being dumped. But I didn't really warm to the character designs; only Rinko Kanzaki was easy on the eyes…… the rest really weren't my type. With galge, on the first playthrough I like to choose according to my own wishes, and if other heroines interest me I'll look at a walkthrough to go their routes. So I spent the whole time sucking up to Rinko, and naturally got her Normal End…… Then I learned there was a True End requiring you to pursue Hanamatsuri Karin and one other (I forget who), and I lost all interest. This is why I hate that setup where the final route is hidden and you're forced to pursue other characters to unlock it.

The True End does expand things — it directly explains the mystery from the start of the game, namely why the heroine and protagonist broke up. But…… even though the ending is okay, it feels a bit forced. To put it bluntly, there weren't enough hints planted earlier, so you don't get that "oh, so that's it" feeling when you look back. Still, the flaws don't ruin it; Memories Off 4's music and story are fairly orthodox — it's the Memories Off series, after all…… What stayed with me were Rinko's Normal End and True End.

# Oreimo Portable

As a spin-off of the anime, the story follows the anime's setting, the character designs are the anime's, and even the OP and some BGM are the same…… That's not the game's selling point, though. The selling point is the system and the character animation.

You could say the Oreimo PSP game was among the first to use a dynamic character sprite system — it looks 3D but is actually 2D characters with vector transformations. Also, Oreimo's flag choices reach变态 levels; in face-to-face mode it gives you no breathing room, and you have to carefully choose your tsukkomi, and some things you can't even comment on…… or it affects affection. Besides tsukkomi determining branches, there are normal choices and Ore item choices…… basically you can't get far without a walkthrough. I played the first run myself, and because I was clueless — and the plain girl (Tamura) was all over me the whole time — I ended up getting pushed down by her……

The story isn't worth mentioning; the system is what deserves praise…… but maybe because that system was such a pain to build, Oreimo Portable's story is very short…… so much so that they had to make a sequel to fill it in.

# Tenshin Ranman Happy Go Lucky

I saw this when the translation first came out, so I downloaded and played it. The character designs need no explanation — it's Yuzusoft…… The music is good too…… except for Kanako Kanzaki's distorted voice in the OP.

The dialogue style in this game is really fun, full of tsukkomi and neta, and the voice acting is great — this is where I fell for Mai Gotou. I'd heard her voice before but never paid attention. Thanks to the fun dialogue, even the common route wasn't boring. The choices are stupidly simple: pick a character and keep going to see them.

I cleared basically all routes on PSP; the only one I might not have seen is the PC version's 3P. My first route was the imouto route (hello, I'm a Mai Gotou fanatic), then I cleared the others. I Ctrl-skipped Ruri Takeda's route…… The other routes are pretty conventional, nothing deep — having sex with the sister to save her, not becoming a god for love, the childhood friend with a split personality, becoming the teacher's pet — none of them stand out. The student council president's route, on the other hand, has some highlights and depth, and you can even find something to relate to……

Overall: great character designs, good music, and a very relaxing story…… If you want some unexpected developments, check out the president's route……

# 11eyes CrossOver

Also the PSP version — I played this last year while lying in bed in pain after surgery…… I hadn't looked up what the story was about…… At first it creeped me out…… And the whole background and character sprites look cheap — not like Tenshin Ranman where characters have rich movements and expressions, and the background shows passersby depending on whether it's class time or not…… 11eyes really doesn't do well in this regard, especially those sprites that get pointlessly enlarged for no reason……

But because I was so bored after surgery, I kept playing on and off and eventually finished it. Around the second Red Night, I discovered the anime and watched it. The result: I thought I'd been spoiled, but actually not at all! The anime has absolutely nothing to do with the game! Thank you, director — thank you for your wild fabrication that preserved my freshness for the game.

11eyes is a slow-burn story; the early slice-of-life is way too long…… and the whole tone is gloomy from the start…… Characters are introduced slowly too…… But later it picks up faster and faster, and the final ending is actually pretty good. My first clear was Yuka's route (I'm a Mai Gotou fanatic!), then I tried Yukiko's route, and finally the hidden Kukuri route.

What I liked most is CrossVision, the perspective-switching system: as the story progresses you unlock other people's viewpoints and re-watch the scene you just saw from their perspective. It's not only fun but fills in the story nicely. The overall story is too long, so I won't dwell on it; the one thing I really appreciated is how the game handles the细节 of the decisive battle between Misuzu Kusahara and Misao Kusahara. Normally in a duel the protagonist's side gets wrecked first, then wins via passionate speech + cheating powers. In 11eyes's duel that doesn't happen — it shows that between masters, what matters is detail and insight. Even though Misao Kusahara is a top-tier swordswoman, she still has her own habits, and once you figure out those habits you can land a fatal blow. As Misao Kusahara says, "You didn't beat my swordsmanship — you beat Kusahara Misao the person."

As for the final boss fight, it's the typical cheating-power routine — you can think of Shirou…… oh no, Shirou is delusion-based, while the scumbag Kakeru has a direct cosmic cheat: the Eye of the Abyss can see through worldlines, meaning the bastard is invincible……

As for the bonus Void Boundary chapter included in CrossOver…… just treat it as an extra. The creative part is the concept of "modern magic" — reading magic incantations via the internet and such. The voice acting is excellent; Mai Nakahara, Emiri Katou, and even Rie Tanaka are all great…… Only the boss fight is too stupid: four high school students, inside a barrier that silences all magic worldwide, repel a boss whose power rivals Lieselotte's — with no explanation, just cheating powers and done. Too fake……

Lastly, the music is great — whether anime, PSP, PC, or Xbox 360.

# The Legend of Heroes: Zero no Kiseki

Okay, strictly speaking this is an RPG, not an AVG, but the story is great — on par with galge, isn't it?

My only thought: after playing Zero no Kiseki, I can't go back to Sora no Kiseki — mainly because Zero is so convenient and Sora is so inconvenient……

Looking forward to Ao no Kiseki……

# Ever17

After finishing Zero no Kiseki I found this game, so I downloaded it and started digging in………… mainly because I heard the story was amazing.

At first I cleared one route, Tsugumi's, and felt confused…… it was probably Takeshi's route, so I looked up a walkthrough and cleared all the others, finishing with the Yagami Koko route…… only then was the story complete.

How to put it — I wouldn't call it amazing, but I felt it had something. Still, this is a game where "you have to accept the premise to enjoy it." The "Viewpoint Man" mentioned in the game is an abrupt existence; I can accept the creators poking fun at the player, wanting to give them the satisfaction of saving the world, but what's the deal with that boy's unscientific diving behavior at the end? And the memory CD — it was recorded in one of Takeshi's timelines, so how did you end up in front of "Viewpoint Man"……

The character designs look strongly Memories Off 4 to me…… Also, I really hate that brat Yagami Koko; by comparison, Sara Matsunaga is clearly more acceptable……

Ever17's OP is good…… both PSP and original. The ED is so-so, and the BGM — forget it…… it's all metallic noise meant to build a horror atmosphere……

Actually, if you want to trash Ever17, just grab onto that pointless "Viewpoint Man" and trash it…… as long as you refuse to accept that premise, the plot holes are pretty big……

# Mashiroiro Symphony

I played the PC version first, then the PSP version…… Overall the game is middle-of-the-road…… a typical school slice-of-life romance. Even though the opening tells you very innocently, "What is a cute boy, what is a cool girl……" telling you this is a story of pure white love, it's obviously an 18X galge — whether it's Airi actively offering her ass or Sakuno's classroom play, or Ange's naked apron, or the senpai's handjob play, they all TM destroyed my longing for "pure white" and turned it into "murky white." But that can't be helped……

The music is quite pleasant, and the style really has a symphony feel; the tracks are all named after flowers…… Apparently each character represents a flower, to put it simply it's a good game…… As for the story…… the senpai route and the two PSP routes are better. I can fully understand why the TV anime chose the senpai route…… because the senpai route ties all the girls together…… Finally, I want to say: Miu Amaha is definitely a schemer, the same kind as Kukuri — look, same voice actress.

The TV anime is well made and faithful; worth watching. Also, the TV anime's ED is really, really, really good.

# Ruri no Yoru ni

Orthodox story, orthodox August face designs. I actually wanted to do Mai's route (hello, I'm a Mai Gotou fanatic), but the first playthrough forced me onto Feena's route……

As a simple princess love story, Ruri no Yoru ni is actually pretty good, and overall worth playing — though Feena coming on to the protagonist for sex and the protagonist night-raiding Feena really blinded my dog eyes……

I watched the TV anime, then just grabbed the ED and OP and never watched again…… Everyone knows about the cabbage.

# G-senjou no Maou

I started it, then Usami appeared and I thought this heroine was too stupid, so I dropped it for a while, then picked it up again and finished……

First time I went straight for Tsubaki's route…… then I realized I was an idiot: G-senjou's story is like a filter — if you reject all the other girls, you get Usami's True End.

Simply put, it's a story of the parent generation screwing you over and the child generation screwing them back in revenge. I really like the Shiratori chapter; the mature Shiratori's words are very coherent, and that look in her eyes that dismisses everything really moves you…… even if it's a bit like a Korean drama.

Okay, I think the game's climax starts with the appearance of Tokita Yuki; her criminal reasoning is a huge highlight, and I learned a lot from it. The game seems to deliberately build an atmosphere suggesting the Maou is the protagonist, but I'd been spoiled by Baidu Baike so I had zero pressure…… The True End is grand but a bit far-fetched — I mean the part where the protagonist climbs the building alone…… and the heroine not dying from the fall. Although the protagonist owning up to all the crimes is really manly, and with "Close Your Eyes" playing it's a tearjerker…… you can't deny the Maou setup has plot holes…… or rather it feels like a band-aid slapped on afterwards.

It seems starting with G-senjou, I fell in love with galge that have adversarial psychological description, and lost interest in school slice-of-life.

# Steins;Gate

Okay, I don't have much to say about this one; the game and anime match closely. What I liked is the branch choices using text messages — creative. I followed a walkthrough and skimmed through the routes…… feels pretty much the same as the TV version……

# Yosuga no Sora

I played this out of boredom…… of course, for Sora. And the result? Music max, character designs max, story…… melodramatic as hell, damn it!

I fast-forwarded the other routes and focused on Sora's route. The story is: Sora, a huge brocon, masturbates thinking about her brother every day, gets caught by him, and then pushes him down. Although the brother feels it's wrong, in the end he can't be separated from Sora, so they run away together and live a shameless life of sometimes twice a day, sometimes three times a day.

# Tomoyo After

A game I rushed through and deleted…… I kind of like Tomoyo Sakagami's character design…… The main issue is the story is too bland. Tomoya's tsukkomi at the start is good, but later…… once Takafumi appears, the story falls into standard Key tropes……

I'm not really into Key's formula, but the music is definitely good.

# To the Moon

Strictly speaking this is also a galge. This crude RPG — I'd give the graphics 1 point, but its story and music are max-level……

No need to say more — it's a game worth recommending.

# Dead End: Kimi to Tsunagaru Kono Hate no Nai Kurayami

I talked about this game a while ago. The setup is good, novel, and badass, but in the end it can't avoid clichés. The character designs are a bit hard to accept, and the lighting is weird — like a band-aid stuck on. The deduction difficulty isn't high; I'd basically guessed eight or nine out of ten, but I really couldn't accept that the cute girl was the darkest villain……

The music has no highlights; I couldn't even make out the OP clearly.

# Guilty Crown: Lost Christmas

A supplement to the anime's story; the plot is average. What deserves praise is the animation — it shows the protagonist vs. enemy PK effects to the fullest. The music is also praiseworthy — still Hiroyuki Sawano. I love the game's ED.

Besides the great visuals and good music, the story is bland. Nothing else stands out, and the game is very short. The choices are divided into good and evil, and from the start it tells you that no matter what you choose, the ending won't change.

Rather than a game, it's more like a bonus feature for the anime……

# Memories Off 7

Just finished recently; I went with the teacher route in the end…… Mainly because Chinatsu seems like a psycho, Kasumi reminds me of Kobayashi's yooo, the foreign girl isn't my type, and Shina is too noisy. So I had no choice but to pick Moe Nonaka-sensei……

The story has some twists and develops in ways I expected, like Chinatsu's slight darkening…… and the appearance of a super yandere…… Overall I like this darker kind of story…… I plan to fill in the other routes when I have time.

As for music and art, I'm basically satisfied, but the fact that every time you go to Furyu-an there's only one track looping brainlessly — forget it.

# Games I'm currently stuck on, to try again later

Chaos;head

Natsuzora Kanata

Aozora no Yakusoku

3Days

Haruka no Sora

Sharin no Kuni

Katawa Shoujo

Memories Off 2

Eustia of the Tarnished Wings

Fortune Arterial