What the sparkling and plain coloring, can you show me, please? Or you mean those sparkle circles, like on Ensemble games' CG arts? When all is shining... About environment.
My friend also played Hooksoft game - SuGirly Wish. At start she liked it, but then... she hate it.
She said the game had so stupid blank text, with absolutely no sense, so boring and dying... And she really pity that she wasted a time on that game, and now she doesn't even want to hear anything, when I talk with her about Hooksoft. But she loves SMEE.
Wow, you even buy new eroge... That's too expensive for me, because 8800 yen is... Ugh... Uuuuugh... >_<
I only bought Noratoto for full price, because... It was worth it, I think. But I still didn't complete that game. Ahaha...
Usually I bought eroge and some stuff like soundtrack etc. because for some exclusive bonuses, for example, where no one to upload some contents on Net, then I can buy that content and upload it...
(Oh, I remember the DLC for Royal Garden from Azarashii Soft... No one uploaded that... And to get those, there is serial code, and needed to buy license for 8800 yen, the second shop can be activated serial codes...)
Not everything to leak on the Net, unfortunately... or fortunately... That was okay, if I can buy some things freely, but some things isn't possible to get... Like old soundtrack, old eroge etc... I have a friend who collect old soundtrack, and for him... He can't even find that he want on auctions etc :)
SugirlyWish did introduced one thing...Girly Talking, and that was put to good use in LovelyQuest and MeltyMoment (the latter in particular)...but yes, Megumi and Hina routes drag on for longer than necessary and the other three aren't very memorable as far as I can recall, either. A case of good characters but inferior story...
Picked up Otoboku 3...and skim through it. As expected, there are so many little things going on that are pretty much the series' staple that skipping through is somewhat justified. Time has passed, and it is the era of advanced technology and connections...that reflects on how things plays out. I know I'm missing something, but a lot of story inbetween is typical Otoboku school life stuff in pretty much the same pattern.
Hisoka (the boy) is not voiced when in his view for over half (like 75%) of the game, like right up to the Moment of Truth save for very specific occasions...That cut the charm of the series down by a significant margin IMO.
Of course, there's a new emotional insert song sung by the usual yours truly...she's still got fight left in her yet. Emerald no Kaze gets a brand-new string version...not a big fan of string, but it's all right nontheless. A couple other old tracks get new arrangements too, notably a piano version of the first title ED [doubles as insert] song (Itoshii Kimochi).
...of course nobody 'round this part is into that kind of thing...
Has anyone played far enough into IxSHE Tell yet, to see what the Partner Selection feature actually does (the one where you can distribute the "Kyunpoints" for each heroine)? Even though it's apparently just a feature where you can give points depending on how much the heroines' approach appealed to you, I've no idea if/what it's supposed to affect as it has no gameplay influence seeing that you can add and substact the 10 points as much as you want per chapter.
Has anyone played far enough into IxSHE Tell yet, to see what the Partner Selection feature actually does (the one where you can distribute the "Kyunpoints" for each heroine)? Even though it's apparently just a feature where you can give points depending on how much the heroines' approach appealed to you, I've no idea if/what it's supposed to affect as it has no gameplay influence seeing that you can add and substact the 10 points as much as you want per chapter.
Dropped everything for Otoboku 3 and finished four routes and on fifth...since nobody around's into this kind of thing I guess I can just spout nonsense...
The faeces seem to love to hit the fan for the "main" heroines...always has been since the first installation (In the first installation's case they are all "main" to me), but this time it's as if someone's dropping a septic tank on a giant ventilation fan...for at least two or three routes anyway. This kind of thing only seriously started in the second installment...
Speaking of the second installment, one route (Utano) proved to be so impossible to whitewash that it was omitted altogether in the PSP version...in my view, anyway. Just a tidbit.
Hisoka (the MC) not being voiced for almost the entirety of common route killed my interests in any of those...the first two installations' MCs were voiced all the way through. That's the charm.
The original BGM for the third installment took a turn towards the classical side...with a couple remixed old tracks. As expected, almost the entire score from the first two titles made a comeback and all are available in the sound room. One (maybe the only) missing piece is Utano's theme, which honestly has no place in 3 due to the lack of "Wafuu" stuff (it's unique to the second installment).
Not sure if the entire score was made with reusing in mind to begin with or just a matter of recycling...the former characters' themes turned into ambient BGMs with great seamlessness even during the first installment so my money's on the former.
Hisoka even gets his own theme here - a first.
Hisoka uses his foster father's surname. The other two MCs used their mothers' maiden surnames to infiltrate. Hisoka has a very good reason to be in that place - a mission, a job.
Hisoka can cook...and from there came one of the few hard blow on his soul. There is a strange shortage of MC's "on their knees" moments in this one. I find those moments quite colorful.
Per usual, Hisoka took the Elder's office. Staying with number three, there are three elders in total, which would be the two main heroines. Apparently not of convenience, but a tradition.
The resident yuri pair this time are gamers, Mimi (the small-frame third year) and Tsukiko (the large-built first year). Times sure have changed...
There are no ghosts. Only a shell-shocked musician.
There is only something like 1 and 1/4 chapter worth of a heroine's route. It used to span at least two chapters with sporadic changes in details during the common route.
Hisoka's moment of truth goes well beyond his gender all the way into his origins...a needlessly humongous plot twist if you ask me, but it's a major component that send the faecal matter to the fan in one story pattern.
The far camp:
Sumire (serious; President of Student Council) and Ayame (lively; Secretary) the twins share one route. Orphans. A certain portion seems quite literally copypasta with slight alterations to fit the twins' respective mannerism... Hisoka's honest desire to get them out of their predicament with their guardian led the twins straight to his truth (sounds familiar?), albeit indirectly. They took it in very well. Hisoka was gifted the twins' old family house to live in at the end of it all, effectively giving it back to the them.
Matsuri the violinist has a pretty funky theme and a carefree speech that can occasionally get mildly annoying but her story is really good (for me, anyway...) and can't beat the bluish-lilac hair (what the heck is that color called, anyway?). She seems to have PTSD (I'm just exaggerating, but it's something relevant) that prevents her from playing violin well, and a good chunk of the common route is dedicated to her overcoming that. Not that unfamiliar with the outside world which Hisoka finds mildly surprising. Finds out about Hisoka's gender during an intimate moment, and considered herself lucky to have been graced with such a rare scenario. Has no clue about advanced technologies and does not like studying. Landed a job before graduating. Came out to the outside world with Hisoka and live together - she provides for and he do the housework. A significantly more normal ending considering his truth...
Mirei is the other main character (gets a unique view interface when it's her view). The third Elder. Looks like a mishmash of a couple of past characters to me (Smart and orange-ish hair like Takako, has a crappy family like her and Kaoruko, and hates losing like Awayuki). Has a beautiful theme score. Become close to Matsuri (to the point of dropping honorifics; Matsuri calls her Mirei-chan) Caught Hisoka taking off his boobs during the school festival and thus joined the club; found it out before Orihime. Faeces hit the fan when her dad got into financial trouble and show his true colors. Her INT goes up significantly as the story concludes and her mom finalizes her divorce. Works under Orihime in the future.
Hana is the short haired resident single-kanji named MC's little sister-servant - same as Kana from the first as opposed to Fumi from the second who plays the "servant" part in its literal meaning. Was told the truth straight-up after blurting out her confession, some time of meditation on both sides, and one movie date later. Got work in the student council. Hisoka was implied to have *marry into* Hana's family at the end of it all, working at their steel plant.
The close camp...I haven't finished with them yet. They are the closest to Hisoka...maybe some other time, because faeces really hit the fan in Kyoko's route and all predictions say the same for Orihime's.
Orihime is the true main heroine. Was told to live freely for one year and do whatever she wants to, even allowed to utilize her father's mega-corporation (which she is the next in line) as she sees fit. One of the three Elders. Moved into The Dormitory after the summer break. Coincidentially found out about Hisoka from a commercial that involved him in his childhood and confronted him about it which led directly to the Moment of Truth. I don't even want to imagine how much will scatter from the fan... Has a very noble-sounding score for theme, very overwhelming to the ears to hear for long time, complete with gold hair. Very sheltered and knows little of outside world i.e. never eaten fast food before.
Kyoko...the close associate, who walks Hisoka through the adaptation to the act. Also there with the same reason as Hisoka do. Ate some bullets but later found herself hurt more by a certain "pistol". Her theme has this spy-ish jazzy feel to it. That's all I have for now.
I expect Otoboku 4: Four Guardians, in a decade's time.
IxSHE Tell: Well, as Seiya's walkthrough now also indicates, there's actually a small difference with the Kyunpoint option . If you give all points to one heroine, the option won't appear in the following common route chapters anymore and you get the option to confess yourself. Ironically, for the one route I quickly tested, the confess yourself option does cut a bit of character development as otherwise the heroine had - in this case - confessed again and provided a bit of background info what lead to her (truly) falling in love. That's quite an odd decision Hooksoft made here.
My first vn in japanese finished: フォルト!! I thought i would finish 監獄戦艦2 before, but reading フォルト was much easier for me. I will try to start to read 幕末尽忠報国烈士伝 MIBURO and continue reading 監獄戦艦2.
IxSHE Tell: Well, as Seiya's walkthrough now also indicates, there's actually a small difference with the Kyunpoint option . If you give all points to one heroine, the option won't appear in the following common route chapters anymore and you get the option to confess yourself. Ironically, for the one route I quickly tested, the confess yourself option does cut a bit of character development as otherwise the heroine had - in this case - confessed again and provided a bit of background info what lead to her (truly) falling in love. That's quite an odd decision Hooksoft made here.
Finished Otoboku 3 (well, not really, skipped a lot of it because of the aforementioned lack of voice on the MC part) now...good music, crisp CGs...lovable characters...would likely not go through it again though.
Lovable characters...yes, except for Orihime. Her route feels like getting tooth pulled without anesthetics that I have to skip more than half of it. Not only that crap touch the fan, but after the storm blows over the rest feels very bland (i.e. exam scores). Orihime herself just don't appeal to me, either, but YMMV.
The new insert song is criminally underused, appearing once after the Moment of Truth and one more time in Orihime's route. It is as if there really isn't many occasions to use it. The first two installments make more liberal use of theirs. On the same topic, the new Hscene BGM is GREAT.
The other "on his knees" moment happen in Orihime's route, sans the accompanying piano slam. The piano slam comes up very rarely. The plot as a whole take on a significantly more serious tone than usual, so I guess that's a given.
All the named girls in the voice config are the ones you can go after.
Maybe I just don't like corporate involvements...it pops up seldomly in the first installment and none in second but it's central to the story for this one.
Shion(sensei) does not get to talk about her student days (aka, the events from the first) in the omake scenario. Outside of Shion there are no more links to the past except for the story patterns - this is a different school, after all. In contrast, there are explicit references to the first in the second that come in the terminology boxes.
Overall...there are things that the new one does better such as modern graphics, beautiful additions to the musical repetoire should the series be revived *again*. The story is a mixed bag, but the MC not being fully voiced is the killing blow for it, and the main, most likely to be predestined heroine to have such a boring arc that it affirms my liking to the secondary and even tertiary heroines in VNs. The other arcs range from okay to very nice...
Guess I'll just shut up for now and think of what to do next...IxSheTELL most likely...dropping Making*Lovers in favor of it maybe.
Not much reading lately, thinking back my pace has dropped drastically from 3-4 full games a month to barely a nukige and a route or two of a full-price game. I'm not especially busy, just lacking motivation. Hopefully a good game will come around to rekindle the fire before it completely burns out.
Anyway, I finished となりに彼女のいる幸せ ～Winter Guest～, and it retains much of the good and bad things of the previous Prekano game. I liked the writing and the focus on one heroine, I just can't bear reading the same common route over and over anymore. The heroine is fairly cute and more similar to the previous game's one that I would have thought. Despite being a student council president she escapes most of the tropes these characters usually have (severe, serious, genius, upper class upbringing, etc...) and is revealed to be quite teasing, playful and a little clumsy. The protagonist is rather average but didn't gripe on me which is a plus these days. The story is a rather typical romance story without any drama or tears, it's nothing original but it is relaxing and does the job for the length of the game. The biggest drawback of the previous game is somewhat fixed : the game is bit longer (but not much), and ecchi scenes are properly written this time around, even though as the story progresses on they get more and more rushed. Not a bad game.
I was just to post something about it. Well, the obvious first: It's hooksoft, so the story aspect is light to non-existant in this one. For me their VNs are mostly feel-good moe games. On the other hand, the common route tends to be sometimes quite boring.
Leaving that aside: IxSheTell's premise is rather simple: an MC who's loved by everyone, heroines confess their feelings after one pulled the "trigger" and the common route uses this prelude so that the MC can get to know them better. So yeah, the common route was personally rather uninteresting, even though this version didn't leave much room for the trope of a (super)dense MC which may be plus point here *lol*. The "private approach" after each chapter was in that regard more enjoyable (and of course important for deciding the route). I quite liked the character events for Yui as the chemistry between them felt quite nice even pre-confession during them.
Likewise, I really liked Shiori and Ayaka's confession as the personal touch in them felt more "serious" for lack of a better term.
Needless to say, the routes I've completed (Ayaka's and Yui's) were very light-hearted and the remaining on-going ones appear to be similary, even though the writers decided for whatever reason to add some short mini-drama for Ayaka... Besides that, I liked her mix of self-confidence and romantically embarrased side and her little sis is adorable :D. Yui's route was pretty straightforward and is so far my personal favorite but I cannot really explain why.
On the contrast, I couldn't really get into Kasumi's character despite that she was the key character who got the ball rolling. She's probably the most aggressive and (physically) direct heroine during the common route with her teasing and suggestions but it just didn't click with me compared to the remaining main cast.
Overall: It's hooksoft. You either like their VN style or drop it out of boredom sooner or later. For me, the feel-good factor of the heroine routes makes it worth it but that's mostly as I'm digging this kind of light-heartedness.
Not much reading lately, thinking back my pace has dropped drastically from 3-4 full games a month to barely a nukige and a route or two of a full-price game. I'm not especially busy, just lacking motivation. Hopefully a good game will come around to rekindle the fire before it completely burns out.
Sounds like you are getting the fatigue...and this sort of fatigue just doesn't pass as easily. I get it way too often, especially when I have too many things (gaming-related) to do...
Yet to dig too far into IxSheTELL myself...but I don't like the larger than usual font, for sure.
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The thing that all three Otoboku games have in common...is that certain bits are so mesmerizing (either in term of comedy or emotional, and sometimes both) that I can't help but go back and reread them, over and over, like a broken record...Other VN might do the same, but it's the Otoboku series that does it to me the most...must be the voiced protagonists...
On another note, I fired up StrawberryNauts (HD) for a bit...and caught a few things I missed. I might go back to it in a leisurely skip-ish pace...
Finished 監獄戦艦2～要塞都市の洗脳改造～ on sunday, this week i will be very busy, so i didn't start anything new, i read more light novels to compensate, but starting from saturday, i will replay some old vn's on my to play list:
Binary Pot or ウソツキは天使のはじまり. I will also start reading 銃騎士 Cutie☆Bullet, a more recent one and I'm still reading 幕末尽忠報国烈士伝 MIBURO.
Planning on reading in the next 4 months:
1.BALDR Heart
2.ヨメ充！
3.真剣で私に恋しなさい！
I finished all but Kasumi's route in IxShe Tell. Overall, my preference didn't actually change as I'd still count Yui's route as my persona favorite. The others had, of course, their nice moments, but Yui's delivered for me the "best" total package. I also liked this version of the point of view change system which even gave the PoV of non-heroine characters :). In contrast compared to other hooksoft titles their "quick time events" felt less impressive here, at least for some moments.
And, I finally completed Suzuna's route in Hulotte's Kamiyaba. Strangely, despite all routes having bascially the same structure, her route left the least impact on me, even though that sounds more dramatic than it is. I dunno exactly why it felt that way. It's a strange case where I liked her better in the friend/support role *scratcheshead*.
ウソツキは天使のはじまり and 銃騎士 Cutie☆Bullet and 真剣で私に恋しなさい！ finished. Still reading 幕末尽忠報国烈士伝 MIBURO. Starting ヨメ充！and ウィザードリンクス today, as i already have finished the work for the 2 weeks to come. I could start another visual novel but as i'm reading also some light novels this would be too much for me.
So currently :
ヨメ充！and ウィザードリンクス and 幕末尽忠報国烈士伝 MIBURO
Next:
BALDR Heart
ウソツキは天使のはじまり
IxShe Tell (i got interested with the whole discussion in this thread about this game)
When I recovered PriministAr I now realize that it is not a pleasant read...but the humor keep coming back to me...
During a mad grind for a certain MMO (with less than a thousand player online at once) I returned to LovelyQuest...now that's a pleasant leisurely read...
Something about them newer VNs do not hook...I dunno...
Yeah, people usually either love or hate Hooksoft's style. If you're one of the haters then stay away from it like a plague, is what I suggest.
IxSHE Tell definitely tried to imitate Making*Lovers in some parts, but I still feel it fell a little short.
In a game that heavily focuses on pure love and doesn't have any deep plot like this, relationship development is very important, but no heroine here starts of as a total stranger, and backstory between them and the protag is very scarcely given. Even though Making*Lovers deliberately has short common route and brings me to an individual route very early, I can still feel the bond being built up. Can't really say the same for this game. Instead, it feels more like this game is driven by slice-of-life humor rather than the building up of romance.
Also, the confession scene is suppose to be the most or at least second most powerful scene in this kind of game. But the floodgate of emotion where both sides pour out the feelings for each other that's supposed to deliver impact doesn't happen here. Not that everyone already declaring their love at the very beginning is a bad idea, but readers don't see character development that way, and it greatly waters down the actual confession scenes.
Yeah, the quick time events are definitely less impressive, maybe even unfinished. At least the reverse confession scenes aren't bad, I'll give them that.
My favorite heroines are Shiori and Yui. No special reason. Other routes are just less interesting.
Oh, still at Kamiyaba? I still like Hulotte's games but it's like they no longer bother to try to write a good climax and conclusion. Still great female characters but that's pretty much the only thing that carries the game out of mediocrity. =d
Just finished Riddle Joker. I'll give it a review some time soon.
By the way, not that long time ago there was a campaign for IxShe Tell FD where they asked for suggested situations. I'm wondering, will they really use those suggestions they've received? Does anyone know if there were such campaigns before for any other VN?
I haven't even started up a VN in a least a month, so I don't have anything to comment about... though I did download Asa Project's latest Karigurashi Renai, anyone played it?
By the way, not that long time ago there was a campaign for IxShe Tell FD where they asked for suggested situations. I'm wondering, will they really use those suggestions they've received? Does anyone know if there were such campaigns before for any other VN?
Why not? It's not particularly new anymore for studios to consider fan input. I remember Ren'ai Kyoushitsu that held popularity contests to decide who will be the main heroines (turned out to be only two out of four chosen by these contests but still), and Real Eroge Situation! also used fan input for some of its ecchi situations if I remember correctly. There were probably many more.
The first game's pretty bad though, and the second is more or less a nukige so I wouldn't say games that follow these suggestions tend to turn out for the better. It feels more like a writing team's call for help as it's fresh out of ideas, which is more or less the case for 90% of the eroges anyways considering the amount of recycling done each game.
I'll give a bunch of short impressions of the "more recent" ones I've played:
1) 雲上のフェアリーテイル: First off, I didn't play the previous VN of Cosmic Cute but there's at least one connection to that VN. The game structure is walkthrough-wise pretty much the same as in that each choice selectioin puts you either into the respective heroine's route or lets you move on until you you reach the last two heroines. Otherwise, the "common routes" were quite fun, imho. Each heroine has one dedicated chapter. But the character routes were structure-wise rather mixed. Natsu's route until the confession and first ecchi scene was quite nice, but afterwards I had the feeling it was h-scene after h-scene in a very blunt way, until the VN decides to move to the final "drama" part. Said drama part was hilariously anti-climatic, but I had to laugh (in a positive way) because it absoluely fitted Natsu's character. Others may dislike it and I'd totally understand that as well.
2) RIDDLE JOKER: I only finished Ayane's route, but thought it was nice enough and I have nothing to nag in terms of drama. Characters were likable and I had my fair share of fun, but overall I'd say I enjoyed other Yuzusoft VNs (a bit) more. Maybe that's nostalgia speaking.
3) お嬢様は素直になれない～大好きをキミだけに～: I don't know why, but I've taken a liking to the VN and its fandisc. It's nothing too spectular, mind you, but the charming points were enough. I'm quite fond of Erika's character and some of her facial/sprite's expressions were endearing *lol*.
Giga's Mellkiss: Yes, Giga's VNs are also mostly hit or miss, but I thought it was okay. The female cast's lovely, the MC's fine as well and the character interaction is nice. I liked the interaction with Suzuri, even though her route seems to be about both having contrasting point of views and still find together. Airi's route felt good too: Normal, down to earth, soothing. She's obviously the active part of the partnership :).
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Otherwise: I decided to play at least one route in ヤミと祝祭のサンクチュアリ, i. e. Arisu true ending. Not too bad, but not too great either. I mean, Mrs. Student Council President as an "enemy" wasn't really the most surprising plot twist, and I don't know why, but the romance in Arisu's route felt also rather "just there". Maybe that was intended seeing that MC and she started out with quite a strong bond. The MC was physically extremly overpowered (against human opponents), but I didn't mind it. Otherwise, I like the characters and wish that Noah had more overall screentime as a sub-character.
Yeah, Riddle Joker is definitely a fun game, but not really better than their previous games.
Here's my Riddle Joker review (minor spoiler, long =\):
The story is mainly about superpowers called Astral. Satoru and Nanami are agents of a secret government organization that fight against Astral users that plan to use their powers to commit crimes. In the beginning, the game puts you in some action right away to show what Satoru's work is and what he's capable of. All is good and well until he's on a new mission to infiltrate a school for Astral users, because this is where the game starts to get really boring.
This game's school setting itself doesn't feel out of place and actually isn't that bad. What is bad is the interesting theme that has potential is reverted to bloated amount of school life slice of life, not unlike Senren*Banka but worse because this game's comedy doesn't even compare to Senren*Banka's and that makes the read feels long and boring. And since he's an undercover agent, it's natural to expect some kind of growing distrust between characters, but that is never the main issue either. Best example is when Ayase learned about his secret in the beginning of the game; she didn't become that vary afterward. Also, the romance part is where they fail again. The transitioning from friends to lovers feels very rushed. Sometimes the heroine just realizes her feelings out of the blue without any flag events, or those flag events are just too unnatural.
I'd like to think that the reason they kept the amount of drama and the number of conflicts low is because they never intended to create a heavy story in the first place. Still, romance transition is something they need to work on much more.
There's nothing much to talk about the common route. The more interesting parts are where the game reveals some of the heroines' backstories. The common route could have been much better though if it had expanded on the main plot more instead of needless slice of life. I don't hate it but it's pretty long and boring here. There's almost no progress of the main plot until very late in the common route where we finally see some more action (with a slightly contrived plot).
1. Hazuki: Those promotional artworks always portrayed Hazuki wielding her umbrella, so why I never see her does that in the game is beyond me (in real CG, apart from the text). I think that's a pretty big fail.
Anyway, Hazuki's story has the least to do with the main plot, which makes her somewhat a filler heroine. Hazuki's romance revolves around the fact that she was picked on by a few adult when she was a small child but a boy came and saved her. She has idolized him since, not knowing that the boy was Satoru. The way she started to suspect that Satoru might be that boy is quite sudden, because there was no hint or connection at all, but she started to suspect anyway. It just looks like the writer couldn't find a good idea how to develop their romance thus just deciding to throw it at the reader's face. Another flaw here in her route is the drama. In this route, Satoru's mission is to find out who's the culprit behind the ongoing incidents in the city, and the number one suspect is Hazuki herself. I expected this event to bring uncertainty to their relationship but speculation never grew into suspicion and in the end the supposed impact was never felt. (But as I stated above, heavy drama might not be their preference in the first place.)
But there are some good things too. As it's revealed, Hazuki is a serious girl with a strong sense of justice but secretly a closet pervert who mistakes things people talk about for pervert stuff from time to time. Her reactions to people who notice her dirty thoughts is quite funny. Also, the vanilla in this route is damn strong, which easily makes her my favorite heroine.
2. Chisaki: Well, she's a subheroine. Sorry to be so hard but her existence doesn't affect the story in any significant way. She's simply here as a token loli. Having multiple subheroines is one thing, but Chisaki's story is surprisingly short and lacking despite being the one and only subheroine. In short, she got involved in Satoru's mission by chance, they spent time together and fell in love with each other. The end.
I can't even give any longer thought because of how lazy this route is. It makes the game appear incomplete. Seriously, the poor Chisaki deserved more than this.
3. Nanami: Much like Hazuki, the promotional artworks always portrayed Nanami in her organization's uniform, but in the actual story we rarely see it. Maybe because of the lack of action scenes.
We all love to capture some imouto but in my opinion this is the worst route in the game. If one happens to pick this route first, there's a fair chance that they will drop the whole game altogether, because the last thing one needs after a boring common route is a boring heroine's route. Nanami's story reveals a bit about who was behind the Astral user abduction scheme that had been going on and the danger they posed against Satoru's organization, but there's not really any depth. In short, everyone joined forces and protect the school against those offenders, and Nanami herself wasn't even in the spotlight of the final battle.
Romance couldn't salvage this route either. Even with a voluptuous body, Nanami is still the flattest character in the game. There's very little character development here. She's Satoru little sister and has been with him from the start, so there's no secret between them. She's been in love with him long before the event in the game, so there is no romance transition. The only catalyst that pushed her to reveal those feelings was a mission that went awry and threatened Satoru's life, and that definitely wasn't the first time that happened, so it really bugs me, why now.
Another thing that puzzles me is how they placed Nanami's flashback. Normally the backstory between the protagonist and the heroine should be placed before the confession scene for some emotional build-up, but for some reason they placed it after the confession scene. This scene doesn't have any important impact toward the end of the route either. This strange decision kinda ruined the pace of the story.
There's also this Nanami's trait that I simply have to bash. It's implied in-game that Nanami is a big otaku, but this is never expanded on apart from the only one time she allowed Ayase to borrow her cat ears. The writer could have made it more interesting if they had incorporated some costumes or some embarrassing situations for her, but that was not the case and another potential was wasted.
4. Mayu: Satoru's senpai and osananajimi. Not the traditional intimate osananajimi type though; they just grew up in the same orphanage. Back then she didn't reveal to anyone that she was also an Astral user for fear of the society's prejudice. She still felt the guilt about having ignored him until now. Mayu is a genius but she purposely repeated 2 years in school because there was some work she wanted to finish before her graduation no matter what.
Mayu-senpai plays the big sister role but she doesn't have that much attentive and protective aura like the big sisters in other games, which makes her feel a bit different (all she did was making coffee for Satoru). She's more like an advisor. However, she doesn't have any other interesting distinct traits either (or at least they're not portrayed very well), which makes her fall to the generic side somewhat. One thing that mildly annoys me is how she constantly teases Satoru about his personality when he was a kid. Even though he made it clear that he didn't want to talk about the past, she kept doing it anyway. It's annoying because this doesn't lead to any interesting events and doesn't have any significance role in developing both characters either, so it's kinda pointless and tedious that I get to see her does that again and again.
The romance in this route, though, is pretty great, probably the best in the game. Satoru's mission in this route requires him to infiltrate Mayu's research lab and to approach her in order to get some valuable information. He started to feel a sense of guilt about using her and at the same time develop romantic feelings for her. The feeling that he doesn't want to hide things from the one he loves is detailed very well, and everything that leads to the confession scene is really sweet.
Unfortunately, the confession scene is pretty much the climax of the route. There are still some incidents that will happen later but those scene aren't as powerful or even comparable, making the rest of the route relatively boring.
Mayu's route explores how Astral users couldn't keep their powers in check and went out of control. It reveals some secret and is connected to the main plot about Ayase, so I suggest playing this route before Ayase's route.
5. Ayase: The student council president. (She's the only one in the room for the whole game though. Maybe they're all ghost members.) She got famous because of a past incident and became the center of media attention. Her job is public relations, advertising the school while maintaining the public image of Astral users at the same time. She's kind and friendly to everyone, but that's just a facade. In reality, she's lazy, easily irritated and quick to complain. Satoru learned of this side of her when they discovered each other's secret, him not being an ordinary student and her chest being padded lol.
It's fun to see Satoru teases her for her small chest and make her lose her temper, but when he does it like all the time it gets old and really repetitive. I feel the writer should have been more creative and come up with new ways to torment her and bring that side of her out. It would be way more interesting. Also, despite her attitude, she was pretty quick to accept him and his secret. No uncertainty or insecurity of getting exposed by her is felt through the whole game. That's another potential to spice up the story ruined.
The romance in this route is decent at best. Even though she shows concern for Satoru from time to time, their interaction makes it hard to see her as a romance candidate or anything beyond close friends. There just aren't enough hnngh moments and it feels a little abrupt when they finally admit their feelings. The confession scene is pretty interesting though. They just have to work on creating the impact to the reader more.
Ayase's story expands on why she's being targeted by the bad guys and details her backstory, the school's secret, and the ongoing incidents of Astral users losing control of their powers, which are essentially the core of the main plot. The conflict in this route is quite good; the intensity is definitely higher than all the other routes combined and there are also several nice twists that caught me off guard. Frankly, Ayase isn't really my type of girl, but I still enjoy her route nonetheless. Wish all the other routes have the same quality.
Yeah, I suggest you play this route last because of how it reveals almost everything in the story.
Here's my last thought. Things have been wrong for this game since before its release. As I stated in the routes review, those promotional artworks are quite misleading. When I saw a lot of skyscrapers I kinda expected some urban stealth mission or chase through the whole city or something like that, but in the end the cast almost never left the school premises and the story ended up confined to mostly school life. They couldn't bring the most out of the characters either. Lots of potential are wasted which makes this game bland even with this setting. Well, not to say that this game has absolutely no redeeming features though. There are some scenes that are worth playing through for (which I won't spoil). The ichaicha though a little long is still not bad if you don't easily get bored of it. Oh, and Hazuki. I can't get enough of Hazuki lol.
Riddle Joker still feels a lot like their previous games but maybe it's partly because they didn't want to make any drastic changes and risk hurting their current fanbase. If you expect something entirely new, you'll be disappointed. But if you don't hate the way they've done things until now, this is still a very good pick, though not as good as their previous works.
Thanks for the review of Riddle Jokers, kinda glad I didn't spend time on it given your thoughts about it, especially since I would have started with the imouto route as I tend to always do! I can certainly see Yuzusoft being torn between trying to add new elements and being very careful not to mess up their winning formula.
I already wrote about it in the torrent sections, but I finished Oneechan no Yuuwaku, hibiki-works' latest game. As expected, it's a nukige that retains almost nothing from the xCation era, apart from Tasuku Iizuki's art. There's not much point analyzing characters too deeply since there obviously wasn't much effort put into them, but I was especially bored by the complete lack of development of the main heroine Maya. She starts the game as a teasing big sister that doesn't mind things escalating to ecchi stuff, and she ends the exact same way in all the routes. Her motivations, aspirations are completely opaque, and it seems her only goal in life is becoming whatever her brother wants from her. It doesn't even feel like she wants to have sex with him, she just teases him and takes care of things when he gets excited.
For a nukige there are a lot of scenes, 27 for a single heroine game, but it's a shame that they didn't push their concept all the way through and animate them all with emote. Only conversation parts are animated, but since the story is void of interest it's kind of a waste. The game might be worth it if you like Iizuki's art, though he really pushed on the big boobs this time.
Eternally waiting for a pending request of Haniwa's Miniature Garden of Noel Shirogane (old, new), Nerissa Ravencroft (new), Hajime Todoroki and Reisalin Stout.
I thought i would finish 監獄戦艦2 before, but reading フォルト was much easier for me. I will try to start to read 幕末尽忠報国烈士伝 MIBURO and continue reading 監獄戦艦2.
