Chocolatemilkgod

Glad you enjoyed the review, it takes me hours to write these things (rather ironic considering how fast I read; C'est la vie I suppose). Currently accepting criticism, comments and invitations to dinner. And I've heard of both Remember11 and 999 being good. I'll definitely have to check them out . My reading list is pretty full up though, and is as follows: 1. Grisaia 2. Grisaia 3. Grisaia ... It goes on like that for a while... I think you get the picture. Afterwards though I may play 999 or phantom inferno since they're the most well known english localised visual novels (well besides Ace Attorney, which I still need to play, too...but after the emulator crashed I'm putting off playing through the laborious tutorial again -.-).

(As per usual, any spoilers should be clearly marked. Although common sense, if you have not played ever17, for the love of god don't look at them! Everything else should be spoiler free.) Preamble It's nice as it's now summer, I actually have time to write freely every once in a while. So, to celebrate not having much work to do, I gave myself the task of reviewing another favourite visual novel of mine, ever17. The structure will much be the same as before with a few minor alterations (including the removal of the sub-sections; honestly, I think these made the review stilted and repetitive). The visual novel's front cover Brief Overview Ever17 -the out of infinity-, more commonly known as Ever17, is a visual novel written by KID and localised into English by Hirameki International. The game is part of KID's Infinity series, which also includes the games Never7 and Remember11. Ever17 has elements of both slice of life and sci-fi, as well having a mystery theme which becomes more emergent the deeper into the story you progress. The deep rooted mystery aspect of the game is why it has become one of the most well-known 'mind screw' visual novels around. The story begins on a fictional man-made island called Insel Null in the not-so distant future. Located somewhere off the coast of Japan, the island is home to an underwater theme park called LeMU, and it is here where you play as one of two protagonists in the game. The first is Takeshi Kuranaki, a relatively average college student who goes to the park with his friends. The other is a teenager who has developed amnesia and has lost many of his memories; forgetting even his own name, he is known simply as the 'Kid'. You're very quickly introduced to several of the game's heroines during the opening part of the game, but it is only after disaster strikes, stranding you aboard LeMU, that the story begins in earnest. Events out of your control then unfold, and questions regarding the nature of the accident, as well as how to escape, begin to surface. Art and Graphics Originally being released in 2002 on the Dreamcast, the art looks somewhat dated, though not so much as to cause any real grievances. I found that the style was a little reserved in the usage of colour (particularly in some of the backgrounds), although this meshes well with the mystery themes present in the story. In addition, while the sprites are static, there's plenty of expressions that portray emotions well. Tsugumi's were especially noteworthy since she had a few subtle actions such as head tilts; considering how quiet and aloof her character is, these small changes do a lot to convey her feelings. As well as having decent art style, there are an ample amount of CGs to unlock (somewhere in the region of one hundred). The game also uses full-motion videos (FMVs), and, while uncommon, they're a nice addition as they add a sense of urgency to some scenes (their antiquity does show a bit, though). A sample screenshot from the game Music and Voices There seems to be a great deal of mixed feelings regarding ever17's music, but I enjoyed it. While the music perhaps don't hold its own so well outside the game, when working alongside it, the music does an admirable job. There are a few pieces (as oft are in visual novels) that feel overused, but there are definitely some stand out ones including Karma and LeMU ~The far away land of Lemuria~. Personally, I also liked Drittes Auge nehmen for its intrigue vibe. Don't expect any large orchestral pieces if that's what you're into, but the composer Takeshi Abo did a pretty good job matching the music to the theme of the game (many of the pieces have an sort of muted or 'underwater' aesthetic to them; definitely fitting for ever17). The voice acting in the game is generally well done, using some well known actors and actresses including Sōichirō Hoshi and Kana Ueda. The only voice that I didn't feel was great was Coco's; it sounded like a mix of a wild animal being tortured and an extremely angry banshee (as younger girls who voice act have a tendency to do). Don't let this bother you, though, as you can easily turn her voice off in the options if it becomes too unbearable for you. Characters The five different heroines are: Sara - The intelligent high school girl who has a thing for hacking and ninjas. Sora - The beautiful park supervisor who's probably the most level-headed person among you. Tsugumi - The terminally pissed off woman (my favourite character; she's as close to a tsundere as you're going to get. I mean, she acts like she'd rather be dead than talking with you half the time*). Coco - The little girl who is more than a little eccentric. You - No, not you, You. As in Yuu... Look, just roll with it. I didn't give the characters their names. The cast is fairly well balanced, and all the characters have their moments. That said, I felt that perhaps the cast wasn't fully realised in its development. Often I found the character progression was neglected somewhat in favour for propelling conversations towards discussing some philosophical or sci-fi related topic, preferring plot development over character development. It's not as if the characters are outright ignored, however; both Tsugumi and Sora, in particular, had a decent amount of growth. [spoiler=*End Game Spoiler]In retrospect with the whole Cure thing, a poor choice of wording... A sample of the 1001 blue and white hallways in the game Plot In terms of structure, there are four main routes and a final route you unlock after getting the four good endings. The first four routes were pretty entertaining, although if you don't like slice of life content, you may find them laborious and slow paced. In addition, the initial routes feel repetitive since you're essentially playing the game at least four times to get the various endings (to mitigate this, I highly recommend using the skip button, liberally). The thing that bothered me the most, however, is a lot of the sci-fi felt rather ponderous, and, in some cases, downright obtuse**. I felt as though many of the explanations could have been much more succinct and had the same (if not greater) impact. Even with their faults, though, the four routes did their job for preparing you for the true end very well, leaving many hints to fascinate and frustrate me along the way. A lot of the fun was coming up with my own crackpot ideas to 'fill in the blanks', and, despite sounding overly critical, I enjoyed them a lot. That said, the true route is on a different echelon than the previous four. It's difficult to talk too much about the true route without accidently spoiling something (the last thing I want to do), but just know that the final route epiphany is utterly jaw-dropping. Seriously, the narrative structure and how the seemingly disjoint routes come together is ingenious***. Additionally, thinking for yourself during the build-up to the true route definitely doesn't detract from the experience; it amplifies it. It helps to draw you into the character you're playing and engrosses you in the story because you are not only emotionally invested, but intellectually, too (a little ironic since some of the sci-fi explanations treat you like a moron in the previous routes, but whatever). One other thing to mention is the quality of the translation. I'll be perfectly honest: it's below the quality of most fan-translated novels. It's not terrible or anything (in fact it's almost endearing, in a way), but there are some suspicious spelling and grammatical errors, as well some pretty zinger lines. These include the ever-infamous "Naturally, I knows the hacker" and, my personal favourite, "You're stupidity is terminal". Oh the irony. [spoiler=**End Game Spoiler]As a scientist, I felt many of the explanations were more gimmicky than providing actual, interesting, creative sci-fi. The n+1 malarkey with Sora is a prime example of this. I did, however, appreciate the biochemistry, although if all your p53 tumour suppressant genes were no longer functional, the least of your worries would be getting a little sun... [spoiler=rant alert]On a side note, for realists (ie cynics) like me, some of the things that happen are sort of...well...highly improbable, to say the least. Take Takeshi going outside the washing machine jumping into the sea. I don't care how cool your Cure virus is, the pressure would destroy his eyes, and various other nasty things would happen that I won't go into detail about. In addition, if you had a secret underwater research facility, you would have atmospheric controls to limit the spread of a microorganism if there was ever a breach in containment. Moreover, you'd have everyone in type one hazmat suits so even if the virus spread into the air (which you should be controlling), no one would be affected. I know Leiblich Pharmaceutical is supposed to be greedy in all, but there's a fine line between being greedy and plain stupid. [/endrant] Sorry, I just had to get that out somewhere. [spoiler=***End Game Spoiler]The use of visual novel's perspective is so simple, yet so effective. This almost unique use of narrative structure makes it so an anime adaptation would be impossible, and makes ever17 really special (I think KID may use this method in some of their other infinity visual novels, too[citation needed]). In hindsight, almost all of the scenes were well placed and had a purpose (links nicely into the game's theme: perspective or Blickwinkel). Closing Thoughts Ever17 is truly deserving of praise. It is by no means a flawless gem, but it does what it sets out to do exceptionally well: to stun the reader with an intelligent, yet believable, sci-fi mystery. The true route is a reward for those loyal and, perhaps, patient enough to play through the game. Etched into the stones at the beginning of the game is the question 'where is heaven?'. Well, after playing this piece of art, I can safely say that a large portion is located right there, in the game. Read this fully, and I promise you, you will not regret it. +: Build-up is brilliant and intellectually stimulating Stunning final route Tsugumi A lot of creativity went into the sci-fi -: Stupidly longwinded explanations in the sci-fi department, which makes the implementation of the otherwise interesting sci-fi fall short somewhat Characters didn't get as much development as they perhaps deserved First four routes are repetitive (use that skip button!) Questionable Engrish in some parts +/-: No ero. I always include this in the +/- section since everyone is different. Personally, I definitely think it's a plus as it means the story unburdened by potentially distracting H-scenes, but that's just me. Some people don't like ever17's music; I thought it was fine, but it's worth a mention If you don't like slice of life, you will struggle through a lot of the initial four routes and may find the pacing off. Not a problem for me, but I'm just putting it out there. Recommended play order Tsugumi --> Sora --> You --> Sara --> True Route Final verdict: 89/100 Disclaimer: The number doesn't mean a huge amount, it tends to change slightly in terms of my mood. if it was out of ten I'd probably adjust the score to be 9 or even 9.5/10. Just accept that my scoring system is weird as hell and my opinions aren't set 100% in stone. Au Fait.

[spoiler=g senjou no maou][Oh yeah I know why they didn't want to reveal everything in an earlier route, but why they had to bother talking about it at all is the the thing that grabbed me as strange. C'est la vie. At the end of the day, I enjoyed Usami's character a lot (and to some degree Kanon and Tokita), and the intrigue was awesome. The whole maou thing was pretty cool, and the reveal of all of their pasts was nicely done. Plus I really liked the BGM that was based on classical music, and increasing the amount of musical layering/texture with Pachelbel's Canon on the menu screen was a nice touch. I suppose that it just could have been a more than it was, which was saddening. At least the ending was strong.]

[spoiler=g senjou no maou]I understand why the writer wanted to avoid spoiling the plot twist. However, why the hell create a giant plot hole where there doesn't need to be one? The only explanation that doesn't affect the continuity is that there were two maous in the story at the same time. Kyouhei did say: "My other half [when talking about Kyousuke]", suggesting that maybe they worked together, or that he acknowledged his existence as another maou. On the other hand, this seems unlikely since Kyouhei then said how it was silly that Kyousuke thought he was maou (he could have been lying at this point, though, I'm not sure). I'm also with you in that Kyousuke being the sole maou during chapters 1-4 is very unlikely. In the end, a writing error seems the most logical, but how do you create an error that large?

Just finished G-senjou no maou. My feelings on it: mixed. Don't get me wrong, there's some really great parts, and I love the whole intrigue and 'cat and mouse' stuff that goes on, but there was also a lot of stuff that just didn't do it for me (tsubaki's part, to me, was just dull...sorry. Kanon's bit I found enjoyable, I have yet to play through Mizuha's part as of yet, though). It also took me a while to get into the story. Overall, good, but could have been better. I suppose it suffers in the way rewrite does, in that there is some truly brilliant stuff in there, and then there's guff to go along with it. I also disliked the over sexualisation of some parts, although I'm playing a japanese visual novel aiming at a certain audience, so what should I expect? It doesn't really interfere with the story, so I guess it doesn't matter. There's a lot more I could say, but, as always, I need some time to take it all in. I might get around to writing something more significant later, perhaps after I finish my ever17 review.

Yeah, he's really been letting his side down recently. If you're going to flamebait, try to make it either less obvious or more enticing. I mean, anyone can see through that one... Also...Grisaia's nearly there

Final editing and QC. No idea of an actual percentage, though. You're probably bored sick of this word but...soon.

Look at it this way. They'd really have to be screwups to make it worse than it already is.

As desi pointed out, the translation quality is a bit bad in some parts, which is disappointing. If you're willing to wait a while, you could wait for the guys over at doki to churn something out, but I have no idea how long it would take for a really solid version to come out. Out of the Key novels I've played, the order of enjoyment has gone: LB>Rewrite>Clannad>Kanon (although Kanon and Clannad are very close in my books...the only reason kanon is lower is because Sayuri didn't get her own route x_x) I should have enjoyed it more if not for some real life stuff screwing with my schedule, and the fact it was my first visual novel (not such a great idea...). After all is said and done, though, it is a very fun visual novel and, if you like other key stuff, you'll almost certainty like this. So as long as you have time, definitely recommended (although, personally I'd recommend little busters more...dat final route).

I enjoyed the anime, but mainly because it was a nice reminder of MLA more than it being a 'good' anime in its own right. There are also a few references to the trilogy that you wouldn't know without playing them (like G-elements were mentioned a couple of times, I think). It's also full of fan service, but...oh well. The first couple of episodes were pretty cool, and the last few were also quite nice, but some of the middle-ly ones were a little naff. One thing that was cool is you get to see some of the different TSF designs from around the world, and it is in a different perspective since they're not actually based in Japan. If you liked MLA, you'll probably get a kick out of watching the anime, even if it's not the greatest piece of work (don't expect amazing character development, but it's a bit of fun).

OMG WTF DUDE THEY ARE LIKE DESTRYING THE INDUSTRY?! WHY U SUPPORT THM THEY RELLY BAD-- Is probably the response you would have liked to have gotten. If you're going to flame bait, make it a little less obvious; it just takes the fun out of it otherwise.

In all seriousness, trying to bring VNs over from Japan and market them effectively to a western audience is great. I would love to see more visual novels over here, and, potentially, have more 'western' visual novels like Katawa Shoujo be inspired from those from Japan. However, a shoddy translation/editing coupled with removal of some of the story is the wrong way to go about it. The whole buying likes on facebook fiasco is insincere, too, and not what I want from a company trying to act like a knight in shining armour, as it were. Rather surprisingly, after all of that 'Moenovel bashing', I still want them to do well. But only if they avoid screwing around with the stories they translate. I can live with H scene removal as I usually skip past them anyway (if I really wanted to, I could get the Japanese version; I know enough Japanese to understand sex scenes...), but I don't want anything else censored (try to choose a game that doesn't have a whole bunch of sex jokes and an entire sex friend route, perhaps). I also want good translation quality. Is that so much to ask? If they get their act together and fix their translations (either for hearts had wings or future titles) and avoid messing with the actual story, then I'm more than willing to support them.

Kamidori didn't really have any plot at all and it's still something that I can play for half an hour easily when I'm in the mood for a bit of mindless fun. It sounds as if Yumina has the potential for an iota of story, so that's an improvement. It just needs good gameplay (and hopefully some endearing characters) for it to be worth it. I'm not as interested in it as, say, Griasaia, but it's worth a gander at least. Not having a route for the other characters is a bit disapointing, though. Hopefully there is some sort of an (aforementioned) smaller side route system in place to make up for it.

I have to be pretty mobile so I use headphones (the walls are quite thin so I'd probably be shot if I used speakers). I have a pair of wee Steinhauser ones that are compact and decent quality, good for travel. I use my Bose QC15 most of the time since they're really great quality and cancel most background noises.

I read this, and it started out ok... and then it went off the rails near the end. Moreover, he's missing the point. Yes H scenes were removed (which is enough to anger some people), but the story was 'adapted' to match this crappy censored version of the game. The editing quality was horrific to boot, suggesting either incompetence or sheer laziness. I suppose there was the possibility that Aaeru was trying to get a bit of rapport with moenovel by showing he actually supports them, ergo making his project less likely to be C&Ded, but the chances of aaeru actually thinking this far ahead is makes this scenario particularly unlikely. And no, I don't get tired of Moenovel bashing.

My question is how much can they actually fix with the patch? How much was changed butchered in the Moenovel version (obviously H scenes, but a chunk of the story was altered as well (which was the bit that pissed me off, at any rate))? Moenovel are really stupid if they take action against the patch if it only works with their version of the game. If they were smart and played their cards right, they could actually make money out of it and prove that they're actually willing to work with the community. By the way, that last line was a joke. Of course they'll never get off their high horse and do that, hahaha.

This post is the epitome of ignorance and generalisation. Do a bit of research before making yourself look like an ass. Although the american media may be responsible for blowing a lot of these things out of proportion, they are hardly the only country to do so. Moreover, the whole anti-american attitude gets really tiring after a while; do yourself, and everyone else, a favour and lay off. On a completely unrelated note, Aiyoku no Eustia isn't something I was paying much attention to, but actually it looks really solid now that I've looked at it. Hope the translation project is still slowly chugging along, although if Ixrec says no, who knows.

TBH the translation isn't horrible, but they really need a good editor to come along and make it so that it actually reads well. It's suprising the editing is so bad considering how much of the VN they edited and changed themselves. Maybe someday this VN will get the respect it deserves. I also found it funny that according to nyaa, the game only has one fan: Probably a french 12 year old girl 13-17 year old from Vietnam.

Again, I still don't understand why they don't just have an all ages and an 18+ version. Yeah, they might loose a bit of kudos with some of the western market, but it's a lot less stupid than changing the bloody VN. I mean the guy sounds like he is nice and all, but he is completely naïve if he thinks the current VN community is going to like the story being fiddled with. All age titles are fine when they are made to be all ages, or where censoring is kept to the absolute minimum. When you try to appeal to everyone, you appeal to no one. ^^ That's actually a fair summary, at the moment. I suppose we'll have to see how it plays out. It will really suck if the translation quality turns out to be good, because then it's like a complete waste of a company...

Really grisaia could come out any day now. It's mainly QC and technical stuff now which (hopefully) shouldn't take too long.

I definitely don't, for two reasons: 1. I would much rather have a digital copy because it takes up less (physical) space and is faster to load off my hard drive. 2. My CD/DVD drive is shoddy, and I probably can't even afford the blank DVDs...

I think it is kinda a 'continuation' of the [spoiler=muv luv alternative spoiler]super happy world takeru ends up in after his mission is complete. From what I remember reading about it, it's Muv Luv Extra 2.0 with a few additions from alternative and a few references to alternative, too. In other words, the story is likely non-existent, but you get to revisit the characters. And yeah, there is Kasumi in there, don't worry. Bye bye

True, although I have faith that key won't just shit all over it. They've taken absolutely ages planning it so I think it will be good. Or, at any rate, I hope it will be good. Also, I didn't even realise there was a Code Geass VN, although looking at the mixed ratings, that's probably why I haven't heard of it...

This is why we can't have nice things. Yeah, going from VN to anime is the way it usually goes. In fact, I can't really think of an example where the opposite happens. Is this a first? Whatever the case, when it comes out it'll be brilliant since angel beats was awesome, but it suffered since it was only 13 episodes long. It wasn't enough time to do the story justice.

Yeah I've been tracking the news on this for a while. I know it'll be in Japanese and I won't be able to play it until (or if) it is translated, but it still makes me pretty excited. You can see most of the news and information about it on the angel beats wiki. I particularly like the fact that they are making changes to the story based on feedback so the end product will be really great.