Harlequin

Forest (VNDB) Opening movie: (Spoilers are all inside the spoiler box down at the bottom.) "Today is a day of sun, a day of fun, a day of glad and a day of mad. Enjoy it to the fullest!" Well, I don't know what to say. Yet there are a lot of things to say. So, what? What do I say about this uniquely surreal experience? I suppose we should just start from the beginning (as a story would...). Forest is a visual novel unlike any other. It is completely original. I will not experience anything like it ever again, there's just no doubt about that. And for that reason alone it deserves some praise. But no, that's obviously not everything that needs to be said about it. This is a complex, highly surreal and beautiful fantasy VN that I will remember for quite some time. It was hard to read and comprehend, but not impossibly so. In fact, I only see that as a strength anyway. It is a good thing that it is hard to fully understand, because that gives you more reason to think and wonder about it, right? Well I've been doing that for a while now after finishing it. Thinking. Pondering. Wondering. Figuring certain things out based on the last chapters of the VN. And after all of that, let me tell you something: This is both insane and brilliant at the same time. This VN, Forest, is crazy. Were the writers on drugs while making it? Well good! Because it worked. This is the ultimate fairy tale. A story about stories. Just for fun, here's an approximation of my experience with this VN, expressed in gifs, six stages: 1. Start 2. Early parts 3. Midway point 4. Last parts 5. End 6. Aftermath, after some rereading of routes and moments Makes sense? Maybe not, but that's totally fine. So, let's go to the specifics for this one of a kind VN. Visuals/Art - Oh this is good, although I will have to complain about the lackluster amount of CG art. You see, Forest has plenty of small sex scenes in it, but the thing is, that's almost all the CG art you'll get in this VN. CG for sex scenes, yes. Unfortunate, but true. It could've had much more of it for other important events... and this is one of the reasons why your imagination will be tested while reading Forest. Since there's no art showing you what some weird event looks like, you'll just have to imagine it yourself, with the help of the text of course. Overall, the art is very unique. The combination of photorealistic backgrounds and the surrealistic sprites (some of them are like that) is quite odd, but it works well. It's different. It fits the mood of this VN perfectly. As a random sidenote, some of the sprites for Nagatsuki disturbs me greatly. If you like weird things and strange fantasy, then yes, you will most likely appreciate the art style found in Forest a whole lot. I know I did. This is the exact kind of imaginative stuff that I like. Sound/VA/Music - Phenomenal, no complaints at all, 10/10. Sound effects, voice acting and music, all great. Now, no particular voice was memorable for me, but rather, all the voice actors did a skillful job here. Because there are many points in this VN where the text is just insane, and yet these voice actors managed to pull it off brilliantly. They are able to convey exactly the emotions and meaning of all the poetic and crazy dialogue that takes place in Forest. Friggin' well done. As for the soundtrack, it's really good. Most of it sounds like some celtic fantasy music or something, and it fits perfectly. You very much get a magical fairy tale-like feeling from it, both in and out of the VN. I think this might be my favourite song: Well, there's plenty of other great songs too (ex. , and ). Ah what the heck, here's the also. To sum it up, I love this music. I'm going to listen to it later on to remind myself of this bizarre VN. Mmmm, yes. You know the music of a game/VN is good when you just want to keep listening to it even though you're done with the game/VN itself. That's very much the case when it comes to Forest for me. And of course there's a good chance it'll be the same for you. Characters - There are two different types of characters to be found in Forest. "Normal" characters, and fairy tale characters. The fairy tale characters are the type of characters you will find in fairy tales (obviously), children's books, legends, and other assorted fantasy stories. You will most likely recognize many of them and be quite happy about that. It's a cool feature of this VN, I liked it alot, but I won't go into too much detail about it though. Suffice it to say, there are some distinct personalities here and you'll see some fun combinations with them. Now, the normal characters started out as being quite ordinary and not all that interesting. But after while you'll learn a bit more about them and specifically their backstories. And once you do, these characters turn out to be pretty great. Confusing sometimes, just like the fairy tale characters can be, but still great. From all these characters you will at certain times get lines and dialogue full of complete nonsense, such as "BIBIBIBIBIBIIBIBIBIBIBIBIBIBIBIBIBI!" and "Gimyuragugyuragerageragigogoojapabushagigagigagong ugagaagagebagibagobagobazupyurapishu!" (there's more). Yes this happens. Does it have any relevance? Is it part of some known fairy tale? Probably. In any case, all that is great fun for everyone! More things to make you wonder what the hell is going on in Forest. Plot/Story - In case it hasn't been obvious enough already, the story in Forest is something extremely complex that starts out being quite confusing. Truth of the matter is, I got two headaches from reading this VN. I don't get headaches. Let me say it again, I DON'T GET HEADACHES. Yet Forest managed to give me that. Twice. How? I don't know! But it sure happened, twice! It's madness. It really is. You have to have a different mindset while reading this VN. First of all, there's no room for normal logic here, so just forget about that. Accept what you see. Your imagination and the limits of it is what matters the most. Second of all, mental preparation is needed, aswell as mental rest. It's exhausting to read this, which is probably the reason why I got those two headaches. The way the text presents itself in Forest is so incredibly different, that if you focus on it in order to understand all of it, you will get tired eventually. Sometimes the characters talk like they would in a strange fairy tale, while other times they talk in a very poetic way, and you've gotta make sense of it all. Or at least much of it. Still, in the end, if you can make sense of certain things in it... It's really quite a great story. I still don't understand all of it, no way no how, not even close. But some very important things "make sense" now at least, which is what really matters. There's a ton of small details that you can look into in Forest. Details that ultimately, aren't that crucial... but it's still nice to have them there. It gives you even more reason to revisit the VN and do some chapters again. Screenshots (click the thumbnails) - Final words - So, this was quite a special VN, a memorable one at that. The overall experience for me was not as amazing as it was in, say, Muv-Luv Alternative, Fate/stay night or Sharin no Kuni. Those stories are easier to understand, and as such, much easier to appreciate and have fun with. But even so, this is an incredibly beautiful fantasy VN with an original story that makes you go insane from thinking about it, which is a good thing! When you put all of it together (sound, art, story, etc.), Forest becomes something surprisingly great. I say surprisingly because I personally didn't expect it to be as nice as it was when I first started reading it. But by the end of the whole strange journey, it became something very impressive that I've got to give a whole lot of praise to. Is Forest a must read? Only if it looks/sounds intriguing to you. Why? Because this is a really unusual and complex VN and as such it simply can't be for everyone. You should very much consider trying it though, because it's extremely different from everything else. It toys with your mind to a great extent. Some will love it, some will hate it. Much will depend on how much patience you have for the bizarre way the story presents itself. But if you try hard enough to understand at least some of it, then it can be something great and special indeed. That's how it worked for me. A bizarre, beautiful and hard to grasp story - Forest - Read it, if you think you can handle it. I hope you can! Pros: Artistic, beautiful, memorable, weird (+/-), unique, imaginative, deep and original story, special art style, fantastic soundtrack, skillful voice acting, fairy tale characters and familiarity with said characters, interesting backstories. Cons: Almost no CG art for non-H scenes whatsoever, too confusing during the early parts. Harlequin gives Forest a rating of... 9.3/10 (Follows the rating scale on VNDB) Remember, this is only my opinion and experience with this visual novel. Here's the spoiler box with some spoilerish thoughts and impressions I got from reading this VN. Do not touch it if you have not fully read this VN already:

*nod nod* Yep, was going to (it's long enough after all), just need to do some modifications for it.

Aoishiro does have a pretty sweet score on VNDB too, so it seems to be worth a read. At some point at least. Thank you, yes, it's true, so I added that part now (lol). It's actually an important point to make, because it's something that makes the whole VN even more confusing.

Hm, I think it's abit too small, but other than that it's good. 7/10 And yes I need an equally honest opinion about this one I got now (changed)!

Aaaah, not into these types of stories then I gather? Or have you actually read it and just don't agree with me on the "complex, highly surreal, beautiful" part? In any case, does Aoishiro have a weird story too then?

Forest ... ... ... (Spoilers are all inside the spoiler box down at the bottom, because no one wants spoilers.) Beware of long text. I write this because it's fun for me to do, you certainly don't have to read it. This is me saying a sweet goodbye to the VN I've completed while giving almost all my thoughts about it, basically. It's fulfilling that way. It's an end to the VN for me. Well, I don't know what to say. Yet there are a lot of things to say. So, what? What do I say about this uniquely surreal experience? I suppose we should just start from the beginning (as a story would...). Forest is a visual novel unlike any other. It is completely original. I will not experience anything like it ever again, there's just no doubt about that. And for that reason alone it deserves some praise. But no, that's obviously not everything that needs to be said about it. This is a complex, highly surreal and beautiful fantasy VN that I will remember for quite some time. It was hard to read and comprehend, but not impossibly so. In fact, I only see that as a strength anyway. It is a good thing that it is hard to fully understand, because that gives you more reason to think and wonder about it, right? Well I've been doing that for a while now after finishing it. Thinking. Pondering. Wondering. Figuring certain things out based on the last chapters of the VN. And after all of that, let me tell you something: This is both insane and brilliant at the same time. This VN, Forest, is crazy. Were the writers on drugs while making it? Well good! Because it worked. This is the ultimate fairytale. A story about stories. Just for fun, here's an approximation of my experience with this VN, expressed in gifs, six stages: 1. Start 2. Early parts 3. Midway point 4. Last parts 5. End 6. Aftermath, after some rereading of routes and moments Makes sense? Maybe not, but that's totally fine. So, let's go to the specifics for this one of a kind VN then. Visuals/Art - Oh this is good, although I will have to complain about the lackluster amount of CG art. You see, Forest has plenty of small sex scenes in it, but the thing is, that's almost all the CG art you'll get in this VN. CG for sex scenes, yes. Unfortunate, but true. It could've had much more of it for other important events... and this is one of the reasons why your imagination will be tested while reading Forest. Since there's no art showing you what some weird event looks like, you'll just have to imagine it yourself, with the help of the text of course. Overall, the art is pretty unique. Just look at the VNDB page and you'll know what I mean. The combination of photorealistic backgrounds and the surrealistic sprites (some of them are like that) is quite strange, but it works. It's different. It fits the mood of this VN perfectly. As a random sidenote, some of the sprites for Nagatsuki disturbs me greatly - Example. Sound/VA/Music - Phenomenal, no complaints at all, 10/10. Sound effects, voice acting and music, all great. Now, no particular voice was memorable for me, but rather, all the voice actors did a skillful job here. Because there are many points in this VN where the text is just insane, and yet these voice actors managed to pull it off brilliantly. They are able to convey exactly the emotions and meaning of all the poetic and crazy dialogue that takes place in Forest. Friggin' well done. As for the soundtrack, it's really good. Most of it sounds like some celtic fantasy music or something, and it fits perfectly. You very much get a magical fairytale-like feeling from it, both in and out of the VN. I think this might be my favourite song: Well, there's plenty of other great songs too (ex. , and ). Ah what the heck, here's the also. To sum it up, I love this music. I'm going to listen to it later on to remind myself of this bizarre VN. Characters - There are two different types of characters to be found in Forest. "Normal" characters, and fairytale characters. The fairytale characters are the type of characters you will find in fairytales (obviously), children's books, legends, and other assorted fantasy stories. You will most likely recognize many of them and be quite happy about that. It's a cool feature of this VN, I liked it alot, but I won't go into too much detail about it though. Suffice it to say, there are some distinct personalities here and you'll see some fun combinations with them. Now, the normal characters started out as being quite ordinary and not all that interesting. But after a while, some very interesting backstories for them decided to show up! And all of a sudden, these characters are pretty great. Confusing sometimes, just like the non-human characters can be, but still great. Should I go into more detail?... No. Better to experience it oneself. From all these characters you will at certain times get lines and dialogue full of complete nonsense, such as "BIBIBIBIBIBIIBIBIBIBIBIBIBIBIBIBIBI!" and "Gimyuragugyuragerageragigogoojapabushagigagigagongugagaagagebagibagobagobazupyurapishu!" (there's more). Yes this happens. Does it have any relevance? Is it part of some fairytale? Probably. In any case, all that is great fun for everyone! More things to make you wonder what the hell is going on in Forest. Plot/Story - In case it hasn't been obvious enough already, the story in Forest is something extremely complex and often confusing. I got two headaches from reading this VN. I don't get headaches. Let me say that again, I DON'T GET HEADACHES. Yet Forest managed to give me that. Twice. How? I don't know! But it sure happened, twice! It's madness. It really is. You have to have a different mindset while reading this VN. First of all, there's no room for normal logic here, so just forget about that. Accept what you see. Your imagination and the limits of it is what matters the most. Second of all, mental preparation is needed, aswell as mental rest. It's exhausting to read this, which is probably the reason why I got those headaches. The way the text presents itself in Forest is so incredibly different, that if you focus on it in order to understand all of it, you will get tired eventually. Sometimes the characters talk like they would in a strange fairytale, while other times they talk in a very poetic way, and you've gotta make sense of it all. Or at least much of it. Still, in the end, if you can make sense of certain things in it... It's really quite a great story. I still don't understand all of it, no way no how, not even close. But some things "make sense" now at least. OKAY. That was long. This was quite a special VN, a memorable one at that. The overall experience for me was not as amazing as it was in, say, Muv-Luv Alternative, Fate/stay night or Sharin no Kuni. Those stories are easier to understand, and as such, much easier to appreciate and have fun with. But even so, this is a beautiful little fantasy VN with an original story that makes you go insane from thinking about it, which is a good thing! Is Forest a must read? Only if it looks/sounds intriguing to you. This is a really strange and complex VN and as such it simply can't be for everyone. You should consider trying it though, because it's extremely different from everything else. It toys with your mind to a great extent. Some will hate it, some will love it. Much will depend on how much patience you have for the bizarre way the story presents itself. But if you try hard enough to understand at least some of it, then it can be very good indeed. That's how it worked for me. Huge spoiler box... How many people here have read Forest and actually care about its plot? Not many I'm guessing. No one will read this, but I must put it to words anyway, for my own sake.

Why...

Yeeeeeeeeep it sure is.

Muv-Luv Alternative Many, many, many times...

Let's be honest: there's just too many to mention. All the masterpiece VNs have a ton of amazing quotes if you really scour through them, some of which have already been mentioned here. Fate/stay night (don't read unless finished with the VN completely) Oh and, let's not forget... Muv-Luv

Nice, nice. PROGRESS. Very much looking forward to Moero Downhill Night Blaze (coming soon enough) of course. And yes, sweet, sweet Majikoi. Miyako is the route I've been mostly interested in. Note: I don't have a clue how good the other routes are, because I've never actually touched the VN. So what do I know huh! *respectful nod*

It means a character needs a weapon mastery of rank S in order to use it. Of course the character must also be able to use bows. You can check weapon mastery on the status page of each character.

Oh no, you're not the only one of course. This can be especially problematic when you have too many games/VNs to choose from - you can become less interested in just sticking with one of them and finishing it. But hey, you should be able to overcome it, I think. If you really do want to finish those VNs, then force yourself.... yes, force yourself to read just one at a time. Don't allow yourself to read several at once. I try doing it this way myself. I simply will not allow myself to read Clannad just yet, even though I'd really like to see how good it is right now. There'a also Steins;gate, but nope, won't allow myself to read it - need to finish Forest first. ... But hey, I make it sound pretty simple, which it probably isn't for you. It is for me though. I'll only ever drop/stall a VN if it's way too boring/annoying, or, if I've done enough in it that makes it feel completed. Sometimes there's just no need to finish all the routes, if a VN presents several. Aaaaaaaah... yes, that sucks... badly. You end up forgetting what the the story is about, in some of them atleast. I've got plenty of RPGs that I picked up but never finished. Well, forcing myself to play just one of them doesn't seem to work aswell as it does with VNs.

You don't say? I assume you liked it alot then. Congratulations on completing it! Sumika.

The art style in that VN sure looks great. Love the characters, ESPECIALLY this one - Tanaka Hanako. But yes, the others look awesome too.

(EP5) DES!

Looks pretty nice that one.

Fully agree with what you said in that spoiler box - he's amazing and unique. ... But you already knew that!

Yea, that Johari window is what made the story pretty much. It's a quite nice and interesting overall theme actually. Especially so on Miku's route. Agreed, in the end it came down to Miku's route being worth the time in A Profile, for the most part atleast. It was enjoyable.

A Profile. There are no spoilers here. Not gonna write too much about this. To sum it up early: It's a weaker akabeisoft title. It does not hold up to the reading experience you get with Sharin no Kuni or G-senjou no Maou. I heard from others before that it wouldn't, and it turned out to be true in the end. I did not feel addicted to the story. I did not feel like I wanted to keep reading and reading, which is something that other better titles does manage to do. That said, you can tell early on that it's a serious VN with characters having some serious problems. Which is exactly what you'd expect from an akabeisoft title. So in that way it didn't really fail. It just wasn't as entertaining or memorable as Sharin/G-senjou. But it's a fairly good serious romance drama VN that can be worth the time. I had no expectations whatsoever coming into A Profile, but it was worth a read I think. Visuals/Art - It's more or less the same as Sharin/G-senjou. Yes, I am and will be comparing it to those two titles. That's only natural, because they're pretty much of the same breed. Anyway, the sprite art is good enough. The CG art is pretty impressive - like Sharin/G-senjou, it did a great job conveying emotional and serious scenes. Also, the opening movie that plays at certain early points in the VN is pretty damn good. I liked it alot anyway. Now, this might not be "visuals" related, but I still want to mention the opening scene that plays out right when you press the start button. It was beautiful. It felt meaningful and almost uplifting when you're just starting the VN. Well done there. Sound/VA/Music - Great music, actually. Kinda like Sharin/G-senjou again. For some reason, the menu music really stuck with me... not sure why though. There are funny songs, serious songs, ominous songs, beautiful songs. Akabeisoft knows the deal when it comes to soundtracks. They done did it good here (yes that was intentional). As for voice acting, it's acceptable. Nothing too memorable, but it was good enough for me. Characters - There are a few interesting ones in there, but all in all, not that good. For me, Miku was the most interesting of the bunch though and as such her route ended up being the best one aswell. Suffice it to say, the characters in this VN have some serious personal issues and that is what makes the story pretty much. Plot/Story - Not much to say about this. It's not all that exciting, because if it was, I'd be glued to the screen. There are some good moments spread out here and there, but not enough. It's simply not as interesting as Sharin/G-senjou. But hey, it works, it's good and intriguing enough in the end. So how good is A Profile? Good. Is it worth a read? Yes. But, it's not going to stay in my memory for long most likely.

Forest. ... ... Leave all sanity at the door!... That is the most appropriate thing to do. "Today is a day of sun, a day of fun, a day of glad and a day of mad. Enjoy it to the fullest!"

Okay. VNDB never mentioned a parallel world so I just assumed it was a real sequel. Especially since Akito is together with Rinka from the beginning (which makes the most sense if you'd make a sequel to it).

Good, I actually like those VNs. Atleast the second one. And Blaze is a continuation of the second one with the same characters, so yea.