Visual Novel Cafe

[kzel]

I've been playing Clochette's latest game はるるみなもに!, and while I have yet to complete a single route, I have to admit I'm more than a little disappointed at what the game has offered so far.

The main theme, "deities", is so shallow it doesn't make sense. You're telling me that in a world in which gods walk around and perform miracles (including stopping the ever-convenient truck from hitting a child, to appeasing typhoons...), there are people foolish enough to not believe in them? The various goddesses don't make any effort to hide their presence and youkai walk around in plain sight, and yet an entire city is content to just basically ignore them. I guess you could draw parallels to some other blatant denials of reality as seen lately in the news, but I don't want to get political so I'll leave it at that.

There's nothing wrong in particular with the protagonist, but I much preferred ここから夏のイノセンス！ Yoshitsugu to this game's Tatsuki. Instead of offering a nice contrast to a society obsessed with performance and competition, as well as educate the heroines in the value of a peaceful and quiet time, the MC of this game is back to the old cliche of the (fake) donkan onna tarashi. The game tries to push the fact that he's more a "god-killer" than a lady-killer, but considering the reaction of classmates and childhood friends alike, it seemed more like he just makes everything (women, gods and youkai alike) fall for him with the usual display of meddling, tenacity and an abundance of flattery.

The game starts with three heroines absolutely infatuated with him, and while the other two's resistance made me hope for some actual romance there, one of them fell already after an out-of-nowhere series of praise in old-speak that only a god would appreciate. Anyone else would probably back away slowly from the lunatic...

And now I'm standing at the final choice of the game, after a pathetic swimsuit-showing event already seen a thousand times in other games. And after some rather heavy lecturing about dedicating his life to someone (while at the same time assuring it's perfectly OK to venerate multiple deities, yay for contradictions...), the final question is thus : "誰を気持ちよくさせたいか"/"Who do I want to make feel good?". Are you kidding me? Is this a nukige? I know I'm playing an eroge but thanks for rubbing it in my face and also crushing any hope of any love story I could have had left still.

I'm seriously considering dropping the game right here and now...

EDIT : Miori route finished. As I suspected, the motivation of the characters remains pure sexual attraction rather than actual love. Not saying sex is not part of romance, and it was heavily featured in Kokonatsu as well, but I like to think it's not ALL there is to a relationship. Rather than having the characters develop an actual bond, the route drags on showing both Miori and the MC hating themselves for having 'impure' thoughts. I don't like pervert protagonists but the reverse is kinda the same : too much of a saint and it's incredibly hard to relate to. Compare to Kokonatsu's MC who was at least honest about his urges (and so was Yuno, the game's best heroine).

The icha-icha that followed felt out of place because it's basically a complete flip-around. The final crisis was very predictable and its resolution again involves sex rather than feelings (unless you think it's only possible to have a child with someone you love...). As a story it's shallow, but as a nukige the story drags on too much. It'd be fine if the text had other merits but it's neither interesting nor funny, and the various heroines' apparent pure lust for physical pleasure doesn't help finding them cute in any way. I may play Mei's route because Kiritani Hana but her sudden dere-dere switch at the end of the common route really put me off, so that'll have to wait, possibly indefinitely.

Not recommended.

EDIT2: Played a bit of Mei's route, but I'm giving up after the first ecchi scene. Somehow the route reminds me or Iroha from the previous game, in that it strongly feels like Mei is mistaking reliance/yearning/dependence for love. Not that she'd know since she's new to human relationships, but the advice she gets pushes her in the wrong direction and that just felt as she was being deceived: she offers herself because she thinks it's the only way the MC will stay with her, and she needs his help. Where's the love in that... Same goes for the MC, apart from some light sexual stimuli nothing really happened between the two, and yet he professes his eternal love to her? I'm not at all convinced, and that makes all the ecchi scenes essentially useless.

 

[kzel]

Time for some more comments on the VNs I've read recently.

めいくるッ！ Welcome to Happy Maid Life!! : I wanted something light-hearted after the crushing disappointment that was はるるみなもに!, so I went back to ASa Project and tried out their very first game. I was a little anxious given the very nukige-ish setting, but thankfully ASa Project as we know them now were there from the start. The situations and conversations can be genuinely funny and the characters in their exaggerated stereotypes are a perfect fit for the high-speed comedy. I like that the game isn't afraid to break the fourth wall and comment on its own genre's downfalls. Unfortunately, ASa Project's games tendency to get much worse once entering heroine routes was already present here as well : the routes are very short, there's less comedy and the abrupt (relatively) serious developments don't really fit the mood the game was trying to establish so far.

As far as characters go, I liked the MC, even though he's not perfect by any means. He's quick to anger, can be cruel and shortsighted, but I really appreciated how he regrets his harsh words almost immediately afterward. Heroines are no perfect angels either, which is a nice change from the usual "everybody is nice and cooperative". I especially liked Ririna's attitude and Ion's almost yandere attachment to the MC, but the others have their charms as well. Since their respective routes are so short, even less interesting characters like Suiren or Mao are fine to follow along for a couple hours, especially as their route tends to heavily involve totally new or rarely seen sub-characters for a bit of novelty.

For a bit of a good laugh, it's certainly not the worse game out there. For an eroge it's pretty awful, since the heroine routes are bad and the ecchi scenes are laughably short : most of them lasting less than a minute.

こいのす☆イチャコライズ : What looked like a pure nukige at first turned out to be pretty good. I've only completed Sachi's route so far, and the writers differ for each route so I won't judge the game as a whole just yet, but I really liked how carefully and slowly the relationship between the MC and Sachi developed. Most moeges and charages could take lessons in writing the beginning of a romance from this game. Even after the beautiful confession, it takes a while for the couple to jump to sex and it's done very gradually as well. As a side note, Sachi's first time scene has got to be the longest ecchi scene I've read so far, easily lasting more than an hour! Unfortunately once the sex begins, it doesn't stop for hours and hours. It was to be expected given both the MC and Sachi are perverts, but still.

I counted more than 30 ecchi scenes (and that's only for one heroine!), some of them really long, some really short. Every day-to-day situation leads to sex, and Sachi's particular inclination (masochist...) didn't sit too well with me for a at least a good number of the scenes. Each HCG is used multiple times with subtle variations, but there are limits to this technique and in a good number of scenes, the drawings failed to mach the text description. Speaking of the art, I found it okay but not very cute either, and the ahe-kao sometimes felt a little weird. It's been a while since I've heard Akino Hana -Sachi's CV- in a pure nukige, and her most extreme moans could also be a little unsettling. I'll be honest, I think this was too much at once and I was starting to skip-read some of these, but then the game went back to seriousness in an unexpected plot development, and renewed my interest with a nice display of effort from both the characters. I especially liked the realism of the plot's last scene with the MC's dad. After that, it's back to the daily sex for a while until the closing credits roll in a rather anticlimactic fashion.

I'll be playing the other routes to see if the same quality can be expected from the other writers.

 

[kzel]

5th post in a row... and I only post about once a week. Where is everyone?
Anyway, quick update on the visual novels I'm currently reading :

こいのす☆イチャコライズ : Unfortunately, the other two heroines didn't benefit from the same amount of effort as Sachi, at least in terms of scenario. Natsume is pretty cute as the "genki" stereotypical heroine. She falls quickly for the MC for no apparent reason but she's fun to follow along so it's fine. This route being written by the same person as Aikagi, I may try it after all. Since once the ecchi events start they keep going and going, this route is 100% nukige. Ichika was much of the same, but I didn't like either her character or the MC in her route, so I skipped a large portion of her route. She felt just... weird and alien : a mix between a mother and a daughter, unaware of society's codes and entirely devoted for no apparent reason. The MC was also a no-no for me. He tries to be philosophical but fails, and can be quite a scum. From the frequency of HCGs I'd guess not much scenario happened during what I skipped through. Even the last set of events with the parents and the proposal felt oddly unsatisfying for some reason. I suppose I just don't like this particular writer.

HimeのちHoney : Another ASa project game from the past. This one has much less humor and gags, and the character's attitude can be irritating, both the overconfident MC and the haughty nobles that surround him. The common route was surprisingly short, and entering kobetsu the game turns into a pure moege with somewhat odd characters. I liked Erisu as the innocent-looking little devil that she is. She also compensates for the lack of Erisu route in Meikuru, the two character being essentially the same but with a different last name. Kiyora was alright as the typical tsundere with a secret, and Koito was a little strange but not too bad either. Not much interest in the other two.

呪いの魔剣に闇憑き乙女 : A nice character raising simulator, with some dungeoning on the side. Most of the battle is directed by the AI, so grinding levels, items and skills points is a necessity. New Game+ is pretty much mandatory for any end-game content. Skipping previously read text, a run through the whole game lasts about two to three hours so that's fine. Triggers for heroine routes are pretty obscure (I had to look at the wiki), especially the need to NOT fix the demon sword past +2. Knowing that in advance would have saved me lots of trial and error, but at least these "wasted" runs made Claire strong enough to defeat the last boss first-try. I still have Sara and Rosetta to go through eventually.

 

[kzel]

I've given a try to アイカギ, but I found it missed the point completely. Contrary to Amakano, there's very little setup for the love story : one week of cohabitation and a date, that basically it. It was certainly not enough to get me to like Shiori's character, given that she's not my type. The game literally starting with an ecchi scene also didn't help sympathize with the MC. Without any attachment to the characters, the following icha-icha just felt bland and uninteresting, as I found myself skipping or skimming for most of the few hours it took me to reach the end credits.

Other than that, I've also been reading some of ChuableSoft's older stuff lately:

Sugar+Spice! turned out to be an interesting game, though it's certainly not without its faults. I like being able to choose between a lot of events, but the story processes as though the player has seen them all. I deliberately chose to ignore some involving character I didn't like, but the game will mention them later, which create some kind of odd disconnect. I also really appreciate the ability to confess early or later (or as soon as the game starts in NG+), but since the main events progress the same either way apart from some extra sub events, it also creates the same kind of disconnect. The MC's behavior can sometimes be borderline cheating considering he can get in a relationship early... Thankfully Episode Skip helps quickly get through the main events the second time around.

While rather predictable, I found Uta's route pretty good. It reminded me of Rinka's route in SukiSuki. It has a good mix of drama (most of it near the end) and fun moments. The ending was risky, and I'm not sure I like how things turned out in the end, but at least it doesn't leave on a sour note. Tsukasa was a cute character involved in some interesting growing-up drama, but alas the game was too eager to provide an easy cope-out for the situations involved. There are interesting lessons about what one can do and choice in there, but in the end the game backtracks on its teaching and miraculously solves everything in the best way possible, which is kind of a shame. Again, at least it doesn't end on a sour note. As for her end-of-route drama, it was ridiculous. I haven't played Ai, Haneru or Yumeji's routes yet, as I don't really like the characters to begin with.

Sugar+Spice 2 was basically more of the same, but with different characters. The art is a bit better and there are more efforts put in the ecchi scenes. I liked Ginga's route drama, and especially its conclusion. I think the MC is a little too quick in his progress but at least the results make some kind of sense. Her normal ending is surprisingly the hardest to get, and kinda depressing but worth watching just to shut-up that bitch teacher at least once. Sana's route drama was alright but alas, poorly introduced during the first playthrough. Some crucial elements of her character are missing if you don't listen to her history with the MC, which can only happen if... you don't confess until the very last chapter and deliberately ignore her confession event. As with the previous game, the other heroines I really don't like so far, be that Fuuka's attitude or Kaoruko's arrogance, though I find her philosophy of life interesting at least.

ラブらブライド has some of the best art and CV cast I've seen from ChuableSoft so far. Alas, it's rendered completely worthless by a bland cliche harem-style scenario in the common route, and a hetare donkan MC afraid to commit until the very end, especially in his sister's route. What a shame.

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Next month's releases coming up, so here are a few comments. I'll just shamelessly copy-paste what I wrote elsewhere a few weeks back, since I have nothing else to add.

9-nine- Kokonotsu Kokonoka Kokonoiro : I found both Akeiro and Nanarin to be very enjoyable mystery/horror games. Some of the routes in the games were better than others, but Kazuki Fumi has shown that he can write something emotional (Kotori in Nanarin, the twins in Akeiro). I’m also not fond of the decision to separate the game in multiple installments, especially if each game is treated as a “case” in which the protagonist happens to fuck each heroine without carrying the relationship for the next.

D.S.i.F. -Dal Segno- in Future : Weird starting point for a fandisk, as it seems to be after the last unlockable route involving Ame. In it, the protagonist didn’t hook up with anyone else, and Ame disappeared by the end of it. I’m not sure how it’ll hook to the stories of the four other heroines.

Meguru Sekai de Towa Naru Chikai o! -Meguri Kuru Haru- : I’d be fine with this if the original did not already feature a younger loli character as a heroine : Mafuyu. Still, I’m looking forward to an extension of the married life with the other three, the main game didn’t have much difference apart from who the occasional ecchi scene involved. I also hope they fixed the broken RPG mechanics : the game had too hard random encounters by the end (for your own sanity, just run in the last two dungeons…), useless “skill discovery” system, the plot-related “married skill” were overshadowed by more powerful standard ones, and too generic youkais with generally the same abilities made the capture part uninteresting at best.

Niizuma LOVELY×CATION : as a fan of the xCation series and Iizuki Tasuku’s art, I just have to play this. The demo was both reassuring in its early part, making a return to the roots of the xCation games after a rather shallow PurelyxCation, but also worrying in its mechanical, lazy writing in the married part. It’s actually rare for games to go beyond the actual marriage at it often stands as a sort of ultimate goal (as in tonework’s YumeMirai or Gin’Iro). Adult characters (one excepted, but she is pretty mature) is always a plus for me. I happen to enjoy the item collection/statistic management part (and generally anything requiring me to think and pay attention to what the characters say), I’m glad it makes a full return.

 

[Mahou]

Niizuma LovelyxCation is a must-get. It's a bit of a shame that there's only three heroines but nothing too bad.
And I'm looking forward to 天結いキャッスルマイスター in May. Without checking anything in-depth it seems like Eushully's next one might be similar to Kamidori, which I enjoyed playing back then (except of the boring grind). One may or may not like the typical harem MC screwing every non-antagonist girl with a sprite but I hope it will not be as questionable as 神のラプソディ. Haven't played the title after that but have read it wasn't that impressive (story-wise).

 

[Veshurik]

I think that the attendance in this theme is extremely low. That's so sad... We need something to do with that.
Unfortunately, I don't have a time even play in trials, so... Eh... I just can read other comments and listen to them.
Thanks for not dropping this thread.

 

[pingtoryan]

Between work and Vagrant Story (starting from zero, again) I feel too tired to go on these days...

 

[kzel]

And I'm looking forward to 天結いキャッスルマイスター in May. Without checking anything in-depth it seems like Eushully's next one might be similar to Kamidori, which I enjoyed playing back then (except of the boring grind). One may or may not like the typical harem MC screwing every non-antagonist girl with a sprite but I hope it will not be as questionable as 神のラプソディ. Haven't played the title after that but have read it wasn't that impressive (story-wise).

I remember dropping 神のラプソディ because of its protagonist screwing everything and anything while acting all innocent otherwise. I think I went as far as the mermaid and the scene in which he gets raped by the muscular girl? The gameplay wasn't bad, typical tactics RPG, but involved repeating each map several times to get the bonuses, which was long and annoying.

I think that the attendance in this theme is extremely low. That's so sad... We need something to do with that.
Unfortunately, I don't have a time even play in trials, so... Eh... I just can read other comments and listen to them.
Thanks for not dropping this thread.

I have no intention to drop the thread, though I do admit at times I feel like I'm abusing it as my own little corner of the internet to post my visual novel related rants. I hope that doesn't put people away from posting their own things. I sometimes wonder if I shouldn't just start a blog and free the all of you from my long series of complaints but eh, too much work that'd take time I'd rather spend reading more VNs... Besides, I can't claim I'm writing review or anything, just biased random thoughts for the most part.

Between work and Vagrant Story (starting from zero, again) I feel too tired to go on these days...

I never finished Vagrant Story... Maybe I'll get to it someday.

 

[Mahou]

So, I have sporadically played 神頼みしすぎて俺の未来がヤバい by Hulotte, even though I agreed with the inital sentiment that their settings are becoming repetitive. Now, let's start off with a tad of general premisse: Whereas with the vast majority of VNs you as the reader are actively pursuing the girl of your choice, Kamitanomi takes it one step further, due to plot reasons, and gives this awareness and perspective also to our MC. At first this concept made me a bit uneasy (similar to hulotte's second game if you went for Kanae's route with the MC purposefully rejecting, due to the route structure, the other girls. Fortunately not without some guilt). This sounds a bit strange as in RL you'd actively search for a common interest with your potential love interest as well (or just ask her out ^^), so it may just be my fickle mind *lol*.

Character-wise, I have no complaint. Your local (school) idol with a very low "string meter", but which - as Urara explained - can easily increase (bad!), Nanami with ridiculously high "red string count" value of 870,000,000. Obviously the value must decrease at a "rapid" rate for the game to not be a drag. And "detective" Yukari with a middle value, who's the hard-to-read, super perceptive kouhai. Oh, and as the first confession scene showed she's with her way of talking terrible when it comes to transmitting feelings *lol*.
I went for Nanami who had the most importance in regards to the background and school setting. Both the MC and she are CLUMSY when it comes to love. Hail the almighty power of headpats! Overall, a nice route dealing with her issue as the main reason why the "string counter" can't hit 0. Her realisation + resolve to solve the/her personal drama was quite good imho. Even though, her being the daughter of the prime minister had no active role in any of the drama and was more of a reason why the school rooftop was turned into a "holy ground" (a passive aggressor, so to speak).
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As for April's line-up: Obviously, Niizuma LoveyxCation: I haven't played too much into it yet but went for Aiko's route first. I loved the interaction between the MC and the daughter of his neighbour. Aiko as a childcare taker is obvious wife candidate. Her VActing showed also the flaw with LxCs lovey call system, which has been also presented in other LxCs. Her saying the MC's name (as in "*first name*, good morning") sounds often a bit copy-pasted. Nothing grave, as there are as usual tons of pre-set first names.
Otherwise, it seems based on a blog post that their last title is more meaty on the story (Yuki + her family and Nono earlier on).

I was actually also looking forward to 9-nine- ここのつここのかここのいろ, but that stopped after I read about the business model of 1 game per heroine. Just give me another Mashiro-iro Symphony type VN already, Palette!

 

[kzel]

Her VActing showed also the flaw with LxCs lovey call system, which has been also presented in other LxCs. Her saying the MC's name (as in "*first name*, good morning") sounds often a bit copy-pasted. Nothing grave, as there are as usual tons of pre-set first names.

Five games later, and the Lovely Call System still feels off to me too. There's this strange pause and change of tone between the name and the rest of the line that sounded wrong no matter what I chose. Also, I don't understand why is there no default name option despite the extensive list. Everyone else call the protagonist "Hibiki", but it's still not an option for your wife...

Otherwise, it seems based on a blog post that their last title is more meaty on the story (Yuki + her family and Nono earlier on).

It's better than PURELYxCATION, but it's still not a game I'd read for the story. I can't speak for Aiko's route, but Yuki's and Nono's drama were very lightly handled (especially the latter, everything goes so smoothly...).

 

[Mahou]

1) Five games later, and the Lovely Call System still feels off to me too. There's this strange pause and change of tone between the name and the rest of the line that sounded wrong no matter what I chose. Also, I don't understand why is there no default name option despite the extensive list. Everyone else call the protagonist "Hibiki", but it's still not an option for your wife...


2) It's better than PURELYxCATION, but it's still not a game I'd read for the story. I can't speak for Aiko's route, but Yuki's and Nono's drama were very lightly handled (especially the latter, everything goes so smoothly...).

1) It's really strange because Amakano 2 and Amakano 1's fandisc managed to adapt the Lovely Call system (without the pre-sets and the MCs default name) without much trouble iirc. I think the main offender and yet at the same time the inital appeal point is the voice for each name option because I didn't feel this awkwardness with his default family name. I also agree on the Hibiki bit, the default "Hii-san/kun" is rather too obvious as an endearing name. It may fit for Nono but not really as a general one.

2) I certainly don't mind it being handled lightly but it's as usal my personal bias. Anything not as awkward as LovelyxCation's Yuni route is at least acceptable for my happy-go-lucky mindset :).

 

[kzel]

Yeah, Azarashi Soft did the "various ways to call the MC" better, even if the options are more limited. I think hibiki-works has put too much effort in their lovely call system for what it ends up being. I'd have preferred they put their resources elsewhere (bug fixes?), but I guess that's one way to differentiate their game from the competition, and the commercials sure focus a lot on it.

You won't find any drama similar to LOVELYxCATION, let alone anything remotely close to Yuni's route. It's all very peaceful, and the few obstacles the couples face don't ever endanger the sweet and lovey-dovey mood the game maintains all along.

EDIT: After playing a bit of Aiko's route (up to marriage), I think the Lovely Call problems are exacerbated in her route. Compared to the other two, she has a lot of lines that follow the pattern "*name*..., blablabla", and it's immersion-breaking each time. As Mahou mentioned, her route also has a few very visible inconsistencies, I don't remember that many for Yuki or Nono. Since I'm also not a big fan of her route's happenings or the character in general, I'm going to leave it at that. I'll probably write some more detailed impressions in the following days.

In other news, the patch for 水葬銀貨のイストリア is finally out, I've been waiting for a month to play this game in decent conditions. Hopefully the misspells and spites bugs are mostly sorted out.

 

[Mahou]

Well, Aiko's as perfect as the perfect wife trope can get. Whether that's good depends as usual. But yeah, she has many lines with *name*, *text* especially in the married couple chapter. Even though, I like her character, one thing that has also gotten a bit tiresome is MC constantly repeating how he's glad to have married her, followed by the "これからも よろしく お願いします" set phrase. A simple "I love you" would have been more than enough. I'm not THAT dense :D.
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I finished Yukari's route in the last mentioned Hulotte title and it was sugary-sweet, despite the order of progression being reversed. That simple reason why her string counter stayed at 3 was indeed *very* forgetable, heck even I had forgotten about it! Overall, I thought it was great to see her changing from her detective mindset - which was okay given the provided background - to a "normal" girl.

 

[kzel]

I found Aiko's route really poor compared to Yuki and Nono. Aiko's utter devotion is difficult to explain considering what little happened prior to the wedding. One minute she's unsure of her feelings, the next she's head-over-heels in love... The married part was really the worst of it, with those constant reminders of how good it is to be married. Considering how worried Aiko seemed about her mother, there's oddly little mention of her once she's married. The overarching plot is very shallow (it could fit in a single sentence), and it feels like the writer is constantly stretching for length because he's out of ideas.

I also didn't appreciate how it was felt necessary to constantly assert the MC's dominance, be that physically (Aiko's clumsy), mentally (she struggles doing crossword? MC does them in a minute), or by how Aiko just leaves every single decision to the MC. Rather than a perfect partner, I couldn't help but see her being depicted as a perfect servant. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I guess some people want that from their partner in life, but I find that a little sad.

Her choice of presents also has to be the most boring and impersonal I've seen in quite a while.

Spoiler: Aiko's presents

Necktie for birthday.
Necktie for Christmas
Necktie for wedding anniversary.

Gee, thanks...

 

[Edrosik]

heh this site is dead i cant download any visual novel lately and when i ask for some reupload i dont recive any answer

 

[kzel]

Here are some long overdue comments on the game I've been playing lately. I've been lazy and progressing slowly.

新妻LOVELY×CATION : I've finished it a while ago so I've had time to mature some thoughts about the newest and last entry in the xCATION series.

Let's start with the system for the newest iteration. I won't mention the numerous bugs, I think they've been talked about enough already, the game was playable from beginning to end in its 1.02 form, though flawed. The game is divided into two parts, before and after the wedding with one heroine. The first part plays like a good-old xCATION (PURELY excepted), with items to collect on the map in between short scene with the heroines. As usual, the common route is very short and the game jumps right into heroine route, which is something I still appreciate greatly. This time around, stats seems to have taken an ever further reduced impact though, as I can't recall ANY stat test during the pre-marriage part, for any of the heroine. Getting certain items early will still trigger some additional dialogue during their respective scenes but that's about it. No more hidden items (that needed a specific stat value, or certain items already collected) or stat bonuses make the whole mini-game a lot less interesting.

Once married, the system switches to something new, and it's there that problems start to show up. First off, you can stay at home and see an event chosen RANDOMLY among the list of currently available ones. Since some events are time restricted, it's entirely possible you'll keep seeing generic events and miss the critical ones, even though it was available. You can scum the system and save/load to get the event you want, but that's really annoying and breaks the flow of the game. Getting out with your wife is only useful if some events are available on the map, otherwise going out alone offers much better items that also trigger additional dialogue. These date events sometimes get added through the course of the game, meaning that the completionist will check every day if something's available, before reloading if there wasn't. Finally, inviting an heroine to the bedroom is the only way to see most of the H-scenes. These scenes tend to be completely disconnected from the main story, and since their content is helpfully summarized before starting them, offer absolutely no surprise element. I find this system very difficult to appreciate, it's like choosing scenes from the EXTRA screen of a game I would have downloaded a complete-save of : very little context, no impact on the story.

Story-wise, it does the job adequately. Aiko's story starts the best, with the actual inclusion of sub-characters and a nice chain of events, but alas breaks down completely once she accepts the MC's confession. Some people say marriage is a graveyard, and indeed it is the death of Aiko's character. Yuki's route is interesting thanks to her unique views on things, and because she manages to keep her stubborn character even after being married. The situation with her parents also helped create a modicum of tension. As for Nono, it's probably the funniest and most entertaining route, and the one in which the MC makes the most effort. It does however suffer from a world that I found too lenient, as the couple succeeds a little too easily and move on to the next step too fast.

Overall, not the best entry in the xCATION series, but not the worst either. There was potential for something more but I'm fine with what was offered anyway, so I'll leave the complaints at that. Only six appends is disappointing though, and given all the troubles with bugs and surrounding the VR ceremony, I don't think hibiki-works will walk away from this title unscathed.

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D.S. i.F. -Dal Segno- in Future : it's a fandisc, but it's a nice epilogue to the two heroines' story I have read so far. Io grows a little more and learns to face her mother and have confidence in herself. Noeri still clings to her role as the self proclaimed MC's little sister, but the arrival of Mei (the MC's real sister) makes things a little interesting. The game has a little bit of common route used to remind players of what happened during the main game, which was helpful as I had forgotten much. There's also a new location introduced and Ame makes a short return, but it seems both will only really be used for her route, which I haven't read yet.

---

花咲ワークスプリング！ : since I recently upgraded my OS, I've finally been able to run it. The wait... was not worth it, as the game after an interesting prologue and some hints at drama elements (the club of regrets), quickly turns into a pretty standard moege. Especially entering heroine route, it's difficult to find any originality or feeling, at least for the two routes I've read so far. A real shame as I really liked both the characters and their respective CV, but their routes' drama was just boring, cliche, and handled better in other games I read recently. The icha-icha was entertaining though. The decision to lock the last ecchi scene of each heroine until after ALL are completed is questionable, since I don't think I'll want to go back to the first heroine after clearing the other three (sorry Wakaba). After clearing both Wakaba and Hikari's routes, I don't really feel like going through the other two, as I didn't like Ayano's characters, and I didn't appreciate how the MC forced his opinion on Inori at the end the common route. Apparently the game has a "true" end, is it worth clearing all the routes to see it? I guess there are also the two subs, Kanna and Nonoka, who get unlocked as well.

 

[Mahou]

Well, the True route focuses mainly on the MC and his reason for being such a lazy @ss, instead of a "special" heroine. Not outstanding, but not terrible either, I'd say. Saga Planet seems to be hit-or-miss when they don't make a drama-heavy title (à la Hatsuyuki Sakura!), and even though I kinda wanted such a title from them, I agree that Hanasaki Work Spring was kinda lackluster overall.

As for Niizuma LoveyxCation: Pretty much what you said. The bedroom feature felt rather tacked-on.

 

[kzel]

Well, the True route focuses mainly on the MC and his reason for being such a lazy @ss, instead of a "special" heroine. Not outstanding, but not terrible either, I'd say. Saga Planet seems to be hit-or-miss when they don't make a drama-heavy title (à la Hatsuyuki Sakura!), and even though I kinda wanted such a title from them, I agree that Hanasaki Work Spring was kinda lackluster overall.

I see, thanks for the info. The reason for the MC's attitude was already touched upon during the two routes I played. From what I gathered :

Spoiler: Hanasaki MC

He had a very eventful and fun childhood, in great part thanks to Inori's brother. However said brother disappeared one day, and now his days are bland and boring, so he just sleeps them off.

I thought this theme would be the main focus of Inori's route considering her brother, but I guess not... Here's hoping it won't be another dose of moralizing against being a lone-wolf. As a bit of a lone-wolf myself, I actually respect Inori's attitude and agree with her opinion. Seeing her bend to the MC's pathetic meddling is rather irritating.

This is my second Saga Planets game (after フローラル・フローラブ), and so far I really don't see what the hype is all about. I'll maybe try this drama-heavy title you mentioned.

 

[pingtoryan]

This is my second Saga Planets game (after フローラル・フローラブ), and so far I really don't see what the hype is all about. I'll maybe try this drama-heavy title you mentioned.

That's some heavy stuff...even CTRL-ing through I can feel the pressure. Sure as heck don't want to go back to it again, but then again, I've had my fill of drama from my very life and don't need any more...alas, YMMV.

Its music is some of the best stuff I've come across though, both BGM and songs.

 

[Kri]

I see, thanks for the info. The reason for the MC's attitude was already touched upon during the two routes I played. From what I gathered :

Spoiler: Hanasaki MC

He had a very eventful and fun childhood, in great part thanks to Inori's brother. However said brother disappeared one day, and now his days are bland and boring, so he just sleeps them off.

The truth is way more bad than that, almost at a "retarded" level imo. Its not a very big spoiler since you almost figured out all of them already, but if you are going to read all of it you might want to skip this:

Spoiler: Inori's brother

in short one day MC gives a key chain or something like that (cant exactly remember) to Inori's brother, then some fire starts at the Inori's brother' working place, he jumps into fire because the key chain is in it and its an important gift from a friend (apparently that one or two dollar worth thing is way more important than his life), dies in the fire.

This situation seemed so mannered that because of it almost every drama felt very very forced & amateurish. Also Ayano's route was pure annoyance to me, at almost every possible angle. Its definitely one of the worst routes I have ever read.

Well at least hikari was cute though, its something.

 

[Gururururu]

花咲ワークスプリング！ : since I recently upgraded my OS, I've finally been able to run it. The wait... was not worth it, as the game after an interesting prologue and some hints at drama elements (the club of regrets), quickly turns into a pretty standard moege. Especially entering heroine route, it's difficult to find any originality or feeling, at least for the two routes I've read so far. A real shame as I really liked both the characters and their respective CV, but their routes' drama was just boring, cliche, and handled better in other games I read recently. The icha-icha was entertaining though. The decision to lock the last ecchi scene of each heroine until after ALL are completed is questionable, since I don't think I'll want to go back to the first heroine after clearing the other three (sorry Wakaba). After clearing both Wakaba and Hikari's routes, I don't really feel like going through the other two, as I didn't like Ayano's characters, and I didn't appreciate how the MC forced his opinion on Inori at the end the common route. Apparently the game has a "true" end, is it worth clearing all the routes to see it? I guess there are also the two subs, Kanna and Nonoka, who get unlocked as well.

Having played most Sagaplanets' games I can say that Hanasaki is the worst one imo and I don't get why people like it. Nonoka's and Kanna's routes were also the best for me.

 

[kzel]

I finished 花咲ワークスプリング！, and my earlier comments remain true : it's a pretty uninspired and boring read. Playing through Ayano and Inori's route, I'll add that for both their cases, it doesn't feel great that the MC ends up being little more than a substitute.

Ayano's route was actually the most enjoyable of the six, because it had a little bit of mystery that managed to keep me interested until the answers were given near the end. She mostly calms down on the sexual harassment during her route which was my main gripe with her character. I tend to like scheming characters controlling things behind the scenes (and behind the protagonist), so she earned points back with that. Not a fan of the "baby" phase of the MC though.

Inori's route was as I feared more lecturing about how people shouldn't like being alone. Add in some questionable behavior by the MC (breaking promises, fighting) and the route was actually quite irritating. It's a shame as it started alright, and for once the MC was putting a bit of effort in the relationship, something he didn't with Hikari (sleeping at the most inappropriate times, being late on dates, etc...).

Kanna's route was... fine I guess. Neither the MC nor Wakaba were listening to her which caused a lot of forced/unneeded drama, I would have preferred something involving her past but oh well.

And Nonoka. Playing this part, it felt like "the imouto" route, being as standard as it can be without a hint of originality (complete with sickness event). Which was fine, she's a sub and some people like sister routes (me included)... except the game betrays them by having the MC renounce his brotherhood to be with her. That's just... no. Whoever wrote this route clearly doesn't understand the appeal of imouto routes at all.

And we finish with a True route in which the MC acts like a complete dumbass, following in the footsteps of his mentor. Let's not forget the ultra convenient fire at just the right time, and the fact the MC is unable to find a branch... in a forest. Ending the game on this note was clearly not the smartest move, and I really don't feel like going back to the four additional ecchi scenes that are now unlocked.

The truth is way more bad than that, almost at a "retarded" level imo. Its not a very big spoiler since you almost figured out all of them already, but if you are going to read all of it you might want to skip this:

Spoiler: Inori's brother

in short one day MC gives a key chain or something like that (cant exactly remember) to Inori's brother, then some fire starts at the Inori's brother' working place, he jumps into fire because the key chain is in it and its an important gift from a friend (apparently that one or two dollar worth thing is way more important than his life), dies in the fire.

This situation seemed so mannered that because of it almost every drama felt very very forced & amateurish. Also Ayano's route was pure annoyance to me, at almost every possible angle. Its definitely one of the worst routes I have ever read.

Well at least hikari was cute though, its something.

You remembered it right, except it wasn't a cheap thing apparently but the symbol of their friendship. Still not something worth doing what Inori's brother did. I agree Hikari was cute (Toono Soyogi's voice helps), but I found the MC's behavior in her route downright disrespectful. I've also read a very similar drama in HimeのちHoney recently and it was handled better.

Having played most Sagaplanets' games I can say that Hanasaki is the worst one imo and I don't get why people like it. Nonoka's and Kanna's routes were also the best for me.

Is there a particular game from Sagaplanets that you would recommend then? I don't mind heavy drama if it's properly executed and doesn't come out of nowhere.

 

[pingtoryan]

Marmalede's got a new game on schedule...http://www.web-marmalade.com/products/mashimaro/index.html

Boy, I'm getting pretty tired with them pastry joints...

 

[Kri]

You remembered it right, except it wasn't a cheap thing apparently but the symbol of their friendship. Still not something worth doing what Inori's brother did. I agree Hikari was cute (Toono Soyogi's voice helps), but I found the MC's behavior in her route downright disrespectful. I've also read a very similar drama in HimeのちHoney recently and it was handled better.

Oh seems very interesting, can you spoil me a little about that? To be honest I didnt have any interest in himenochi since I already have a very big backlog and very little time, but if its really that similar with Hikari's route then I might jump into that.

 

[kzel]

Oh seems very interesting, can you spoil me a little about that? To be honest I didnt have any interest in himenochi since I already have a very big backlog and very little time, but if its really that similar with Hikari's route then I might jump into that.

Spoiler: Hikari route BIG Spoilers, HimeのちHoney Minor Spoilers

The route itself is not that similar. Hikari is a quiet kouhai, devoted, and fell in love with the MC at first sight. The character in HimeのちHoney whose drama is similar is nothing like that. However, the two characters situation is very similar. Both have a hearing disability, and both show the same signs throughout the route : misunderstanding words, apparently forgetting or ignoring conversations or calls, and sometimes saying things that make little sense. When Hikari started showing those signs I suspected she had hearing problems immediately, and I was right on the money.

I said her drama was handled better in HimeのちHoney because in my experience, people with disabilities don't really want pity, help or special arrangements. What I think they want most is to be treated like everyone else. Hikari keeps her condition secret because she thinks people will distance themselves from her if they find out, and start hating her. In short, she's ashamed of her disability. In her route, once the MC knows her secret he immediately jumps to her aid, and convinces her to tell her secret to the rest of the group so that they can adapt to her situation (no more whispering, talking clearly, repeating when she asks).

In HimeのちHoney's case, the character it involves is afraid of that very thing : she has been receiving special treatment because of her disability, and her parents make their best to keep it secret because the truth would shame them. However, she just wants to live a normal life without constantly wondering if people are nice to her because she's different, out of pity, or because they really want to be with her. So she keeps her condition a secret and enlists in the school. When the MC finds out and starts unconsciously treating her differently, it inevitably leads to a clash.

I wouldn't really recommend HimeのちHoney, especially if your backlog is already large enough. For an ASA Project game, it's not that funny, and it has quite a few annoying moments with arrogant nobles and an overconfident MC. The game is short though, so it doesn't require as large a time investment as your typical VN. Also, Erisu is a cute little devil.