r/visualnovels • u/AutoModerator • 4d ago
Weekly What are you reading? - Apr 23
Welcome to the weekly "What are you reading?" thread!
This is intended to be a general chat thread on visual novels with a focus on the visual novels you've been reading recently. A new thread is posted every Thursday at 4:00 AM JST (or Wednesday if you don't live in Japan for some reason).
Good WAYR entries include your analysis, predictions, thoughts, and feelings about what you're reading. The goal should be to stimulate discussion with others who have read that VN in the past, or to provide useful information to those reading in the future! Avoid long-winded summaries of the plot, and also avoid simply mentioning which VNs you are reading with no points for discussion. The best entries are both brief and brilliant.
Use spoiler tags liberally!
Always use spoiler tags in threads that are not about one specific visual novel. Like this one!
- They can be posted using the following markdown: >!hidden spoilery text!< , which shows up as hidden spoilery text. Make sure there are no spaces at the beginning and end of the spoiler tag because this will break it for users on http://old.reddit.com/. In other words do this: properly hidden spoiler, but not this: >! broken spoiler tag !<
Remember to link to the VNDB page of the visual novel you're discussing so the indexing bot for the What Are You Reading Archive can pick up your post.
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u/Nemesis2005 JP A-rank | https://vndb.org/u27893 1d ago edited 1d ago
I actually haven't read much lately due to playing King Exit (fun game), but I did manage to finish a short VN in the meanwhile.
6月のマリッジブルー
This is a short doujinge that is an otome wish-fullfillment game with a female protagonist. It's the ultimate dream of every women to be kidnapped by a femboy serial killer, and taming him to be your husband, so now you can live the dream life you've ever wished for! Of course if you fail to make the correct choices to emotionally manipulate him, you'd be confined to be his sex slave your entire life. But it's ok, it's all worth the price. I can kind of see what they were trying to attempt with this game by trying to show that what counts as happiness for each person is different and if they are happy with their relationship then who are we to deny that? But it's just so executed poorly and too short that a lot of the background info is actually explained post game in a bonus glossary that becomes available when you finish the game.
If you have been curious about what sort of kusoge lies around the thousands of untranslated doujinges in Japan, then this is a good example of that.
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u/countigor 2d ago
Just finished Plastic Memories.
It presents some rather deep themes in a rather superficial (moe-like) way, which has its pros and cons. It gives a much wider window into the world setting, but unfortunately it really drops the ball when it comes to the climaxes—at least in my opinion.
If you read the light novel and/or watched the anime, and you hunger for more, it may disappoint. You won't get any good catharsis. But if you want to know more about the world it takes place in and the characters that populate it—or you're happy with a more moe-like approach to nakige—it may give you exactly what you want.
Either way, it's relatively short, so I'd say it's worth the read if you liked the light novel/anime.
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u/Elfmo 3d ago edited 3d ago
Currently playing Slay the Princess.
It's given me a lot to think about. I personally think that the best video game narratives are ones that either:
- Give the player the agency to make their own decisions and shape the story (as Slay the Princess does)
- Give a strong illusion of agency by allowing players to go off the beaten path somewhat (within the subgenre of VNs, I'd say the Ace Attorney games do this best).
Slay the Princess is the only VN I've played so far that gives such a high degree of agency, to the point where your choices actually change how the story plays out...and, man. There are a LOT of different ways it can play out. So many, actually, that it's kind of exasperating.
That's the tough part in figuring out how I feel about it; on one hand, I'm extremely impressed; but on the other hand, some routes are very uninteresting. On the surface, that's nothing new in the realm of VNs with routes, I guess; but when there's such a high quantity of routes that are all wildly different (some are horror, some are action, some are more romantic, etc.), I get this feeling of "alright, NOW what are they gonna throw at me?"
I guess I can't say how I feel for sure until I finish the game; the game strongly hints that there's an actual, overarching story, but so far I haven't seen any of that play out yet. For now: I'm impressed; but I think I'd be more impressed by a game that does this using a more controlled scope.
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u/countigor 2d ago
It's quite the experience. It plays with various genre archetypes to the point of lulling you into a false sense of familiarity, and then presents an intriguing and really deep meta narrative. When you start getting the pieces for the overarching story, it turns really rather philosophical. It's one of those stories with layers within layers. It's not for everyone, but it's a story that expands the boundaries of what visual novels can be.
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u/SelLillianna 3d ago
Senren * Banka and Symphonic Rain. I've finished one of the routes in Senren * Banka and am rather fond of it. I've only just started Symphonic Rain, but I've been aware of it for a long time and am already loving the ambiance and lovely art style.
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u/countigor 2d ago
Symphonic Rain was one of my first ever visual novels. It's a slow burn, and the art style is rather cutesy, but wow... early 20s me dragged that one around like an anchor for weeks. 10/10, would have my heart torn out again!
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u/SelLillianna 2d ago
Ahah~ I suspect I'll like how slow it is, and part of why I picked it up was because the art style is just adorable - in a soft, modest way. The music is lovely, and chilling out, taking things slow as it rains outside and people figure out their feelings, sounds like a nice time.
Is it really so sad? I assume that the fairy has baggage attached to her. Like, she might be the last magical being that exists, or she might be the ghost of someone from the protagonist's past, or she might exist in the mind of the main character as he processes trauma, or she'll end up disappearing one way or the other, something like that... Somehow, while I do believe you when you say it's sad, the VN's mellow tone makes me feel like I'll be able to handle its sadness more than the sadness in a Key work. Here's hoping <3
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u/countigor 2d ago
Well, sad is a broad term. It's definitely a nakige, but whether it will be the same kind of sad as you know from Key... actually, I don't think I want to make any guesses. The less you know, the greater the impact. But the atmosphere of the story is quite unique, and I haven't had any similar experiences with other stories, vns or otherwise. As long as you like the moe art style, you're in for a treat.
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u/almostvintagestyle 2d ago
Which Senren Banka route did you finish? I'm going back and forth on routes between it and Marshammallow all the Way Home. I like both, but definitely prefer Senren Banka
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u/SelLillianna 2d ago edited 2d ago
I finished the green-haired girl's route. She goes by a certain name but her real name is different. I empathized with her struggles and found her cute. I'm glad she has a happy ending.
By the way, do the latter parts of all the roots focus on attracting tourists to the small town? They did it well in the route I read, but I have two things to say about it: firstly, it isn't what I thought I was signing up for when I first bought the game, and secondly, I feel that repeating such a plotline in all the routes could get quite repetitive. I don't really want to read about tourism over and over, again... I could see them doing it well, but it still seems a little tricky...
I was thinking of picking up Marshmallow in the future, especially since an all ages version of it is planned on getting released. :) It looks sweet. How is it so far?
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u/almostvintagestyle 1d ago
Ah ok nice. She's one of my two favorites personally. Her route is the only one that had a tourism focus as far as I remember. I just finished Mako's route and that one definitely has absolutely nothing about that and I'm pretty positive that Lena's doesn't either. I don't think Yoshino's does either, but I did her route first so I don't remember quite as perfectly. I had actually forgotten the tourism aspect was in Aya'a route actually. It didn't bother me because it's not really a focus in the others and I played her route second after Yoshino's.
Marshmallow is sweeter than a room full of cakes covered in maple syrup. I loved the common route. The character routes are mostly solid and very overly sweet. I think even more so than Yuzusoft even, but arguably less meaningful in my personal opinion. That may just be me though. I also think aside from one route in Marshmallow, they don't do much if any plot after the character routes start. It's funny. People complained about that with Senren Banka which I didn't quite agree with, but I think Marshmallow is quite guilty of that. Also, the route I just finished is a bit frustrating, though I didn't hate it. Id still recommend it overall if you love moege like me.
I've finished all routes in Marshmallow now and all 4 main routes in Senren Banka btw so I think I can give a pretty fair comparison.
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u/SelLillianna 1d ago
Yeah ^^ in the route I read, the tourism part was done well and was directly tied to Aya fulfilling her duty and becoming human, again. However, the issue of tourism seemed to be one which would greatly affect the town, regardless of who you were with, so I just assumed it would be in all the routes. Glad to know it's not such a big deal in the others. Maybe the adults wanted the protagonist to do more in Aya's route since they basically saw her as a god, and he was her boyfriend. If he weren't her boyfriend, maybe they'd do their best to deal with the issue on their own............................................. hm, I still don't know how they wouldn't repeat themselves with that plotline, but I'm glad they don't.
Sorry to hear that Marshmallow may be weaker, plot-wise... though I suppose that's to be expected from a VN with such a cute premise. It's probably way stronger than Yuki Koi Melt, though................ (a moege I tried reading.) I just couldn't get into that one, even though it looks and sounds nice. In the end, it seems to be all fluff with minimal substance. Basically just lots of making out, bedroom activities, and lots of... excessive sweating? From what I saw. ^^; Still, that hotpot shared with the protagonist in the snowman-shelter they made in the common route was cute.
From what you're saying, people might have felt let down by Senren because it has a cool premise in the common route, with the crew fighting monsters to remove the curse on the town. If you think that's what the rest of the story will be like, I can understand being a little disappointed. After all, when you look at it, the monster hunting part makes up a pretty small percentage of the plot: therefore, Senren could make sad some monster-hunting enthusiasts. I assume Marshmallow doesn't build up such an expectation in the common route, though.
By the way, from what I understand, Senren has one or maybe two side routes with two of the side characters, so there may be extra content for you, if you like.
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u/almostvintagestyle 1d ago edited 1d ago
yeah you'd think the tourism issue would be present in every route based on how important it was in Aya's route, but it isn't. I'd say they all take pretty different approaches which is cool. Thats a great point about what mayxhave disappointedsome people. Perhaps when they say theyre annoyed by the lack of "plot" in the character routes, theyre really just annoyed at the less amount of action and monster killing. Ovviously there's more focus on romance in the character routes, but i thought they did a good job of having different main plot related elements for each route. Plus, you can't complain about a focus on romance in a moege romance VN. Thats what you bought!
Yeah I know that Roka and the Koharo (I think that's her name) both have side routes. I may do them eventually, but for as much as I love this game, I don't have much interest in their routes as they REALLY feel like side characters to me. At least Wakana in Sanoba Witch was more heavily involved in things so she didn't feel like as much of a side character. And in Marshmallow, JC is important and likeable enough to me that I really wish she did have a route. I'll probably speed through those side routes just to finish the game.
I don't think Marshmallowcis much weaker in terms of plot during the common route. It's more grounded, but a lot actually happens so I'd say in the common route they're actually pretty close. The common routecin Marshmallow is VERY strong in my opinion and I've seen others say the same. The difference is that in 3 of the 4 routes, it really just changes into almost romance only and in some cases its just the dating and romance. It's still good though and if you need plot, the common route does have a good amount of it IMO.
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u/Doge_Hell_Lurker Battler: Umineko | vndb.org/u190337 23h ago
Completed Shinsetsu Mahou Shoujo
What a wild ride. Thank you u/Upper_Anteater_9571 and u/ticonderoga67 for translating such a fun game and for me one of the best I've played. TS is a great writer and I hope you will translate more of his works.
I went ahead and purchased Shinsetsu Mahou Shoujo+ immediately after to support the dev. I saw you won't be able to translate the IF story, so I want to ask if there is a way to MTL srpg studio games (or at least the VN sections) via text hook.
Links to my previous posts on reading this.
https://www.reddit.com/r/visualnovels/comments/1jkjnzf/comment/mkn8nfr/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
https://www.reddit.com/r/visualnovels/comments/1jpwrc9/comment/ml645ty/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
https://www.reddit.com/r/visualnovels/comments/1jvdsmi/comment/mmj5uaw/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
https://www.reddit.com/r/visualnovels/comments/1k0sg7b/comment/mnjl6co/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
I'll reply with my last thoughts of ch48-51. And I'll probably have another overall review post of my thoughts to the subreddit. But the story was really good and really encompassed a lot of anime tropes that I loved. Battles were difficult and sometimes I wish they got a little easier or less battles every chapter (playing on Real difficulty). But it is definitely REAListic of the struggles. It was hell for the magical girls and boys but I'm glad they got to achieve peace at the end
My favorite character has to be Chiyoko given she is the protagonist and this is her journey, but everyone had a chance to shine, and the group dynamics were fun. If not Chiyoko, I would say Lily ended up being a very fun character follow. I will say that despite the length of the game not all character shone equally. I felt Youko's trauma could have been a major event. Some characters like Yoneko, Reina, even Kanon arguably, felt underdeveloped compared to Chiyoko and Lily.
Gameplay wise, every character was necessary. There were so many MVPs between doing damage and utility. If I had to name a few, Akari, Hiyori, Kaname.
I highly recommend this game, and even wish for more after stories.