Aynil 12 Posted April 7, 2015 Share Posted April 7, 2015 I should really move onto that one now that I'm done Princess Evangile. Is it a self-enclosed story? Or will I be screwed over with a cliffhanger ending? There's 2 sequels to the game, but don't worry at all about cliffhangers, if you feel like playing it go for it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Harlequin 17 Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 (edited) Finished Swan Song recently. I feel lazy right now with writing this in detail, but maybe it'll work out anyway. Suffice it to say, Swan Song was really good to me. Better than expected actually. At times it kinda made me wonder why more people don't talk about it... a bit of a hidden gem I'd say. But at the same time though, in my eyes this is also a good example of what one perhaps should expect from a serious plot VN ... Does that make sense? It wasn't perfect. Some parts of the story were just sooo much more interesting than others. Same with the characters. But DAMN, you better fucking believe that I got sucked into the (most of the time despair-filled) atmosphere in it. Immersion was super easy to attain. The way the story developed over time just made it so easy to feel like you have some part in it yourself. And with it came a great setting too, obviously. I mean the apocalyptic setting was one of the main reasons why the story could develop the way it did and keep being fresh. It'd be nice to see more VNs with something similar. I will admit though that because of the setting and style of the story, I could predict certan... events and plot points happening. I guess it's not particularly unique if you think of it that way. But hey, very entertaining either way. And it did surprise me a lot a few times regardless. It's a VN with a grim story alright. Made me tear up several times (how surprising). Oh, also boiling anger. Can't forget that. If Swan Song doesn't fill you with rage at one point or another, then... there must be something wrong with you. Seriously. Another major aspect of Swan Song was the frequent switching between perspectives of several protagonists. Yea, it doesn't really have just one. I guess to some extent Tsukasa could be seen as the "main" protagonist, but... eeeeh. Anyway, I really liked it. It's very interesting to get inner monologues from several characters. To get several different views on the events of the story, not just one. Favourite three songs would have to be (the main theme... so beautiful, I love it), (SHIT HITS THE FAN) and . [spoiler=Swan Song]Just a few words about the endings and the characters: So, after seeing the normal ending, I felt like I had finished Swan Song right then and there. Yea. Didn't feel like I needed to see anything more after that in all honesty. That ending was just... right, despite how bad everything went in it (not 100% bad, Hibari might've lived for example). A beautiful and sad ending, with Tsukasa dying as he's looking up at the blue sky with the sun, Swan Song main theme playing in the background (appropriate). Also that flashback to one of his father's plays before that. And the statue. I'm sure there's some meaning that I've missed with that but oh well, I can still feel it. Yep, now when I'm writing this it's pretty fucking obvious that this ending is just straight up better than the good ending. To me at least. I didn't feel much at all after seeing the good ending. No joke. It had some interesting bits in the route itself before the ending (mostly the reveal of Taeko being Tsukasa's sister), but that's it. Oh and yea, the normal ending route actually had that big battle at the school. Holy shit, those scenes. Maybe it's unfair though to lump that into "normal ending route". Because you can't even see the good ending without first going through the normal route. Amako Tsukasa: His backstory was kinda interesting, at various times. Pretty damn dull personality... but that's just how he is *shrug*. His "super hearing" came in handy a lot of times. Nogi Taeko: Cute. Didn't care much about some of her religious talk with Tsukasa... there was that one long scene with a bunch of it :S, though she did also explain the swan song thing in that same scene, so that was good. I liked the reveal of her having lied about having special foresight powers... she just had good connections basically, and heard about the disaster beforehand. Yet Hoshino still wanted to be with her, because "she is cute and funny". That's hilarious. The bad end with her turning Tsukasa into a sex slave was also hilarious - further improved when you learn in the good ending route that she is his blood-related sister. Wow. Sasaki Yuka: Boring the vast majority of the time. Honestly didn't care about her romance with Tsukasa most of the time either. Had snippets of interesting inner monologue and backstory later on in the story. Turns out that she's... um, well she doesn't think much of herself at all, and her personality isn't as nice as it first appears to be. Yea once that was revelead she got a bit better as a character for sure. Kuwagata Takuma: Woooooow. This guy. This fucking guy. Let's get one thing straight: Once he turned into a bad guy - FUCK HIM. Hated him... so... badly. He's the one that'll make you angry. All the shit he ends up doing. HOWEVER! He was definitely still an interesting character, in my opinion. Even after he turned bad, he still had some good inner monologue. He basically accepted that he was a monster... but he also thought that he was right about things as well? Think that's how it was more or less. Anyway, before becoming a villain, I felt bad for him. He was a nice person, but had no self confidence. I could relate to some of his thoughts at that point. Tanomura Shin: The badass of the protagonsts. I was actually wary of him in the beginning, but he turned out to be one of the most friendly characters in the VN. Hm... I don't have much more than that to say about him though. He got completely screwed in the normal ending :S. Kawase Hibari: The most pure person of... all the characters in Swan Song? Probably. She was just genuinely good from start to finish, but also a tsundere of course so it didn't always show (not even in her own mind). If we're talking romance in Swan Song, then I definitely think her romance with Tanomura was the best one. In my opinion, she was the most fun character of the bunch. Not the most interesting, but the most fun. A good tsundere. Could write some more but I'm lazy and want to stop, and go to sleep. Edited April 16, 2015 by Harlequin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pj900 10 Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Just finished Princess Evangile, I enjoyed it way more than expected. I was a little disappointed how some characters didn't have routes but guess that's why it has a fan disc. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OneManArmy 82 Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 (edited) At times it kinda made me wonder why more people don't talk about it... a bit of a hidden gem I'd say. I did bring the title up in a couple of threads but since nobody knows Swan Song I was never able to start a real discussion. I guess it's mainly because of its cover where a naked girl is lying on the ground that nobody wants to play it, and I can't blame them. They could have used a better cover for a serious visual novel like that imo. Edit: The ED song of the true route is in German btw Edited April 16, 2015 by OneManArmy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Harlequin 17 Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 (edited) I did bring the title up in a couple of threads but since nobody knows Swan Song I was never able to start a real discussion. I guess it's mainly because of its cover where a naked girl is lying on the ground that nobody wants to play it, and I can't blame them. They could have used a better cover for a serious visual novel like that imo. Edit: The ED song of the true route is in German btw Yea, and the cover doesn't really have any special meaning, unless I'm missing something. The character herself didn't end up being as important as I thought either... well... other than "she sees the world differently from the rest us". That's definitely something. But is there anything more than that? Edit: ... Ah, no, maybe she represents the 'last swan', in a way. You could probably think of it like that. In the normal end she finished putting together the statue, before dying. "A beautiful last performance before death". Edited April 16, 2015 by Harlequin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
desi 53 Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 (edited) Yea, and the cover doesn't really have any special meaning, unless I'm missing something. The character herself didn't end up being as important as I thought either... well... other than "she sees the world differently from the rest us". That's definitely something. But is there anything more than that? [spoiler=Swan Song] I think the symbolism behind Aroe and what she represents is "blind hope" as a lot of people put it. As the world increasingly goes to madness and all kinds of shit, she is the one that isn't changing while all the others around her are changing. She represents the innocence that the other characters could look up to in the face of grimness. I believe that is why Tsukasa wanted to put that statue up so badly even though she died, because they can get that type of hope, even though it was blind or imperfect hope. While the title of the VN is Swan Song and you could argue that also has huge symbolism for Tsukasa for his "final effort" in perhaps putting it up before he died, perhaps that hope in the end was meaningless? Or maybe that is the type of hope he wanted to achieve before he passed away, thus his swan song, or final performance and effort in the end. I didn't really understand the point/significance of her character much either until the very end and kind of had to think about it and see how other people interpreted it as well. Edited April 16, 2015 by desi Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Harlequin 17 Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 [spoiler=Swan Song] I think the symbolism behind Aroe and what she represents is "blind hope" as a lot of people put it. As the world increasingly goes to madness and all kinds of shit, she is the one that isn't changing while all the others around her are changing. She represents the innocence that the other characters could look up to in the face of grimness. I believe that is why Tsukasa wanted to put that statue up so badly even though she died, because they can get that type of hope, even though it was blind or imperfect hope. While the title of the VN is Swan Song and you could argue that also has huge symbolism for Tsukasa for his "final effort" in perhaps putting it up before he died, perhaps that hope in the end was meaningless? Or maybe that is the type of hope he wanted to achieve before he passed away, thus his swan song, or final performance and effort in the end. I didn't really understand the point/significance of her character much either until the very end. Yea that makes sense. She wasn't affected by any of the bad things happening, unlike the rest. By the way I added a bit to the previous post --- basically, if you take into account that it was Tsukasa who put up the statue that Aroe repaired, it was a combined effort swan song, right? It has to be. That's how I look at it anyway. But yea that does make her character important in the grand scheme of things - you just don't see much of it early on. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OneManArmy 82 Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 So much spoilers haha. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
desi 53 Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Yea that makes sense. She wasn't affected by any of the bad things happening, unlike the rest. By the way I added a bit to the previous post --- basically, if you take into account that it was Tsukasa who put up the statue that Aroe repaired, it was a combined effort swan song, right? It has to be. That's how I look at it anyway. But yea that does make her character important in the grand scheme of things - you just don't see much of it early on. Yep, great way to put it. I agree. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kortevai 10 Posted April 17, 2015 Share Posted April 17, 2015 Last VN I've finished up is Majikoi with each Route being finished up now and I'll put my thoughts down below in spoilers. The main character I actually rather liked, normally I brush the main character off as mostly bland (Ignoring main characters like Mizuho in Otoboku who get their own voice and personality), Yamato in Majikoi has a bit more of a personality mostly being fairly snarky and being as much of a weirdo as the rest of the weirdos, I'm looking at you Hermit Crabs. The art was rather pretty looking and the various expressions the characters make are fitting for the character and pleasant to look at. As for the routes, I rather liked each one though Chris's took a turn for the bat shit crazy towards the end. The only one who I'd call the weakest is Momoyo's amusingly enough, simply because the whole route is over Yamato coming to terms with his feelings and trying to be "strong" enough to pursue Momoyo. The relationship stuff really only happens in the after-story, which I'm slightly frowny about but no big deal. If I had to name a favorite I'd actually mark Miyako's as my favorite, it has the most h-scenes but her character development is quite nice. Also something to keep in mind when jumping in is that it's writing is good but unlike most VN's I played, it goes for writing that is more related to an American reader... And boy, it's very much uncensored with itself and a part of me loves it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blackknight710 10 Posted April 18, 2015 Share Posted April 18, 2015 (edited) I just finished Majikoi. I must to say overall a good VN, but I felt there were some drawbacks mainly with the philosophy of 1 or 2 of the routes. 1. Miyako: Personally the best route. Have no complaints. 2. Chris: It was pretty good, but at the end it got really cheesy and retarded. 3. Yukie: No one is that shy to the point of servitude. 4. Momo: I have to say this route felt more or less like actual courtship not that the others didn't but you see more dates in this route. It felt more like he actually had to work from the ground up to get her. 5. Kazuko: Now here I have the biggest problem but its mainly with the philosophy of the martial arts. I mean you can do anything you set your mind to. Just because someone is incredible doesn't mean that everyone is going to be incredible. Its not like the founders of the martial arts had that much "talent" to begin with. Lastly, It made me want to play they are my noble masters all throughout the game. Edited April 26, 2015 by blackknight710 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Natsuki 10 Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 (edited) I finished DearDrops and D2b VS Deardrops the other day. I did all the routes in DearDrops. It started to drag after a while. I guess wanting to find out what happened in the past with shouichi help me truck through I guess. I like the characters, but I think it shoulda been somewhat shorter than 30 hours. If it focused on the characters than the music more, like K-ON ( the first season, the second season lost what the first season had.) and Love live, and had more comedy mixed in, I might of liked it more. I liked some of the dramatic scenes the game had to offer. and one certain one made me cry some. I may or may not go through it again in the future, but since i bought it I might go through it again some where down the line. oh, I did really like the music though. Edited April 26, 2015 by Natsuki Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pramit 22 Posted May 3, 2015 Share Posted May 3, 2015 i finished the srpg "Rise of the dark king" v0.12.2. I finished it in one go, and while the fights may not be spectacular or new to me, the story was half decent for this kind of game. Only 6 chapters in this version so the game isn't complete yet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
blackknight710 10 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I finished Princess Evangeline and I must say it surprised me. I mean to me it proved that institutionalization can happen to anyone and anywhere. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OneManArmy 82 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 I finished DearDrops and D2b VS Deardrops the other day. [...] oh, I did really like the music though. The OP and the ending song of the main heroine were amazing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jasonthe13 12 Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 i Just finish hoshizora no memoria and i am confuse with the true route, anybody care to explain this part lol [spoiler=Memoria]Towards the ending mare stabs You to make him forget about yume, and they show some scenes that he forgot her, and than You was talking to his mother/ and she say she will show him family? after that the dates go back to before? what happen here? Did they go back in time lol? They started back at hospital with yume and friends again? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VNHunter 12 Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 i Just finish hoshizora no memoria and i am confuse with the true route, anybody care to explain this part lol mind if I??? [spoiler=hoshizora] there was no time traveling that happened... after the stab, MC just forgot about how he feels about yume... and goes back to his daily routine, then goes back to the hospital to visit a "friend" (yume)... think of it as things got rewritten because of the stab... it's fantasy after all... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jasonthe13 12 Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 mind if I??? [spoiler=hoshizora] there was no time traveling that happened... after the stab, MC just forgot about how he feels about yume... and goes back to his daily routine, then goes back to the hospital to visit a "friend" (yume)... think of it as things got rewritten because of the stab... it's fantasy after all... i though it was something like that but [spoiler=Memoria]but the dates were all different, the date of the event was like 10/3 than 10/4 and that 1/3 and tha it jump back to 10/3 lol the scenes on that day was same as the other but it added some stuff and change after that lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChexGuy 13 Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 [spoiler=Memoria]pretty sure the date jumping is meant to show how You's memories changed - no time travel stuff involved Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jasonthe13 12 Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 [spoiler=Memoria]pretty sure the date jumping is meant to show how You's memories changed - no time travel stuff involved lol but the date event was like this [spoiler=Memoria]10/3 go to hospital 10/4 memories taken away 1/3 proof of memory gone. date change back to 10/3 same events as the other with some changes and 10/4 dint happen after that lol and the story continued differently i reread this 3-4 parts like 4 times and i still dont get it LOLOL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VNHunter 12 Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 lol but the date event was like this you said it yourself... [spoiler=memoria] 10/3 go to hospital 10/4 memories taken away 1/3 proof of memory gone. you can say that after the 1/3, time has passed that caused events to be able to display same date... but different year... lets say "10/3 go to hospital" is year 2008 while "10/3 same events" is year 2009 in game... even if some things done by MC and gang were almost the same Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jasonthe13 12 Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 you said it yourself... [spoiler=memoria] 10/3 go to hospital 10/4 memories taken away 1/3 proof of memory gone. you can say that after the 1/3, time has passed that caused events to be able to display same date... but different year... lets say "10/3 go to hospital" is year 2008 while "10/3 same events" is year 2009 in game... even if some things done by MC and gang were almost the same maybe idk D: thats why i was asking here [spoiler=Memoria]it feels weird because 10/3 events were talking about what happen on 10/2 lol so i dont think it actually leap 1 whole year lol? since only the MC losses memory and his friends were all there"talking about what happen yesterday lol" Quote Link to post Share on other sites
desi 53 Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 It's been a while, so maybe i'm rusty, but.. [spoiler=Hoshizora true route] The time events were created by You's Mother. You wanted help from his mother and You's mom used her powers to rewind time for You as a second chance for him. So there was time travel involved. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pj900 10 Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Just finished reading Nameless pretty solid visual novel some of the individual routes weren't that good, but the overall plot was pretty engaging. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sorreah 10 Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Compeletely finished Starless. I fapped, I cried, I felt guilty, I cried, I fapped some more, I lost my appitite, I fapped, I cried and I regret nothing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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