• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Visual Novels Community Thread | A Little Something for Everyone

L

Li Kao

Member
Just starting Steins;Gate on steam after a failed attempt on Vita, hope of finishing it not great, thanks reading ocd.

That being said I was browsing the new VN releases on enhanced steam and (I know that the numbers are not totally precise) is the genre dying the platform ?
The numbers on several new VN are terrifying.

Oh and Eiyuu Senki still not released ? FFS.
 
C

Chairmanchuck

Member
Li Kao said:
Just starting Steins;Gate on steam after a failed attempt on Vita, hope of finishing it not great, thanks reading ocd.

That being said I was browsing the new VN releases on enhanced steam and (I know that the numbers are not totally precise) is the genre dying the platform ?
The numbers on several new VN are terrifying.

Oh and Eiyuu Senki still not released ? FFS.
Click to expand...

It depends. Normal VN sales are usually around the 4 figure mark.

Its just that stuff like Nekopara is so popular that make a 5000 unit sold VN look bad which it usually isnt.
 
L

Li Kao

Member
Chairmanchuck said:
It depends. Normal VN sales are usually around the 4 figure mark.

Its just that stuff like Nekopara is so popular that make a 5000 unit sold VN look bad which it usually isnt.
Click to expand...

Yeah but the few new VN I browsed were lucky to have 50 all-time concurrent players !
So yeah, not precise, everybody isn't always online, I get that, but still that seems so weak.
There is maybe something I'm missing here.

Edit - Ah I see that I shouldn't have based my perception on the SteamCharts widget and should have browsed SteamSpy. I'm dumb.
Yeah, much better numbers here. Expected range. Sorry.
 
A

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Well bought wonderfull everyday down the rabbit hole anyway. Don't really know much about it but what I've heard sounded intriguing.
 
T

Taruranto

Member
I'm going to skip on Subahibi for now, too many games that interest me are coming out.

How was Dies Irae in the end? I remember a lot of people here got it, but I forgot to check for impressions.
 
B

Basileus777

Member
Taruranto said:
I'm going to skip on Subahibi for now, too many games that interest me are coming out.

How was Dies Irae in the end? I remember a lot of people here got it, but I forgot to check for impressions.
Click to expand...

It's a good VN carried by its cast of compelling characters. It's not some mindblowing thing, but I enjoyed it.
 
J

Jimrpg

Member
Kresnik258 said:
I can understand that, completely. I feel like it's necessary though
to show what a massive effect it has on him. Plus it makes the reveal of the return of Hououin Kyoma that much more impactful
Click to expand...

deadfolk said:
The problem I have with it is that one of the great things (imo) about the original is the humour and the contrast between Okarin's mad scientist persona and how dark it gets. This one has none of the humour - it's just depressing.
Click to expand...

True End Spoilers

I feel like Steins;Gate 0 kind of restricted itself narrative wise, by being in the beta worldline and trying to get to the Steins;Gate worldline again. This is pretty obvious in the true ending where its far shorter than any of the other endings because it would have just been a repeat of stuff already established.

The AI stuff also doesn't really get fleshed out as much as I'd have hoped. There were one too many waifus (Mayuri's friends) and not enough supporting characters like Dr. Leskinen and Dr. Reyes so it was just way too obvious when they were revealed as the bad guys.

Right up until Kyouma makes his return, I really wondered if it was the same writer who wrote S;G0, that's how much of a difference in style and quality (and humour) 0 is to the original. The thing I really missed most of all was the science and time travel and how well that was integrated to the plot in the original. Steins;Gate really was lightning in a bottle though so I don't want to hate on 0, but even compared to other VNs it was a bit of a disappointment.
 
K

Knurek

Member
Basileus777 said:
Eh, not really.
Click to expand...

Stupid protagonist? Check
Forced romance? Check
Battle Royale setup? Check
A catholic priest that isn't what he seems to be? Check
A spell setup in a school that will devour all students when activated? Check

That being said, any character from Dies is better than any character from F/SN. Also the writing (and translation, as stated) is something else.
 
B

Basileus777

Member
Knurek said:
Stupid protagonist? Check
Forced romance? Check
Battle Royale setup? Check
A catholic priest that isn't what he seems to be? Check
A spell setup in a school that will devour all students when activated? Check

That being said, any character from Dies is better than any character from F/SN. Also the writing (and translation, as stated) is something else.
Click to expand...

Those are minor bullet points (some completely arbitrary/not really accurate like "forced romance" or "stupid protagonist"). Ren isn't especially similar to Shirou and romance being forced or not is the most generic descriptor possible. There are actually better things to point to when it comes to similarities between the two, but even so I wouldn't equate the two so much.
 
B

BTA

Member
I should say I mostly loved Steins;Gate 0. Like if I had to rate them off the top of my head... maybe 9/10 for the original, 7-8/10 for 0? It has its flaws but also improved on things from the original in some regards, so I can't see it as distinctly far worse.

deadfolk said:
Sure, but that doesn't change the fact that
the tone of the whole thing becomes more dour because of it. I also don't think there was enough of it (the return). But I think I'm in the minority in that I really like all the Kyouma stuff
.
Click to expand...

My feeling is that
though I didn't dislike the Kyouma hijinks, you have to keep in mind that Kyouma became(/was created to be?) a shield for Okabe to use to distance himself from others. When shit hit the fan and he actually had to act and openly show he cared about people, there was a reason Kyouma went away. I'm going to go as far as saying any sequel not set during/prior to the first game shouldn't casually have him Kyouma because it'd regress his character development. The only reason it made sense to have the return here was to signal his new commitment to reaching Steins;Gate but (IIRC; it's been a few months and I didn't sleep much last night so my memory might be bad) even then it's an intentional act of presentation he's putting on, not actually slipping back into it.

...additionally, I actually quite liked how seriously they took him being traumatized; I did not expect actual discussion of anxiety and therapy and such.

arbok26 said:
True End Spoilers

I feel like Steins;Gate 0 kind of restricted itself narrative wise, by being in the beta worldline and trying to get to the Steins;Gate worldline again. This is pretty obvious in the true ending where its far shorter than any of the other endings because it would have just been a repeat of stuff already established.

The AI stuff also doesn't really get fleshed out as much as I'd have hoped. There were one too many waifus (Mayuri's friends) and not enough supporting characters like Dr. Leskinen and Dr. Reyes so it was just way too obvious when they were revealed as the bad guys.

Right up until Kyouma makes his return, I really wondered if it was the same writer who wrote S;G0, that's how much of a difference in style and quality (and humour) 0 is to the original. The thing I really missed most of all was the science and time travel and how well that was integrated to the plot in the original. Steins;Gate really was lightning in a bottle though so I don't want to hate on 0, but even compared to other VNs it was a bit of a disappointment.
Click to expand...

I can agree that the timeline was a little restrictive but I also think it's probably a better place to tell a new story than just continuing off the True End, hah.

Hmm, personally, I thought the level of AI stuff was pretty satisfying? Though I think the problem is that compared to the time travel it's... a little harder to say "this is what AI is in our story" and then back it up with too much detail, because with time travel you inherently have to just buy into it but with AI you can go "well, the brain scanning and actual personality are a little much...", y'know? I do wish there were more side characters and the reveals about them weren't so obvious though, yeah.

I didn't feel like the writer was different - just an intentional shift in tone, but some of the same humor clearly remained - but I would add that the original and 0 were not translated by the same people/teams and that probably affected that as well.
 
L

Li Kao

Member
Still playing Steins;Gate, yeah for perseverance, fuck ocd.
I'm still in the part I already played though, just passed the university lecture and the Shinto temple introduction.
Still have to read the TV Shop and Maid Cafe intro and a bit of Kurisu involvement in all this and I will be finished with chapter 1 and treading new grounds.

Though still in memory, it was not unpleasant. The game, like a lot of VN I imagine, is a slow burner though.
 
K

Korigama

Member
I'm still rather curious as to whether the "major" revisions and expansions that Steins;Gate Elite is supposed to bring will actually be that at all. I'm still expecting them to be about as consequential as the inclusion of multiple endings in the original, which is to say not at all (I say this as someone who preferred all of them over the true ending and its cut-off version). This, however, is my own bitterness about how the original ended after I had been enjoying the rest of the game speaking.

Still couldn't care less about 0.
 
D

deadfolk

Member
arbok26 said:
True End Spoilers

I feel like Steins;Gate 0 kind of restricted itself narrative wise, by being in the beta worldline and trying to get to the Steins;Gate worldline again. This is pretty obvious in the true ending where its far shorter than any of the other endings because it would have just been a repeat of stuff already established.

The AI stuff also doesn't really get fleshed out as much as I'd have hoped. There were one too many waifus (Mayuri's friends) and not enough supporting characters like Dr. Leskinen and Dr. Reyes so it was just way too obvious when they were revealed as the bad guys.

Right up until Kyouma makes his return, I really wondered if it was the same writer who wrote S;G0, that's how much of a difference in style and quality (and humour) 0 is to the original. The thing I really missed most of all was the science and time travel and how well that was integrated to the plot in the original. Steins;Gate really was lightning in a bottle though so I don't want to hate on 0, but even compared to other VNs it was a bit of a disappointment.
Click to expand...

Agreed 100% on all points.

BTA said:
I should say I mostly loved Steins;Gate 0. Like if I had to rate them off the top of my head... maybe 9/10 for the original, 7-8/10 for 0? It has its flaws but also improved on things from the original in some regards, so I can't see it as distinctly far worse.



My feeling is that
though I didn't dislike the Kyouma hijinks, you have to keep in mind that Kyouma became(/was created to be?) a shield for Okabe to use to distance himself from others. When shit hit the fan and he actually had to act and openly show he cared about people, there was a reason Kyouma went away. I'm going to go as far as saying any sequel not set during/prior to the first game shouldn't casually have him Kyouma because it'd regress his character development. The only reason it made sense to have the return here was to signal his new commitment to reaching Steins;Gate but (IIRC; it's been a few months and I didn't sleep much last night so my memory might be bad) even then it's an intentional act of presentation he's putting on, not actually slipping back into it.

...additionally, I actually quite liked how seriously they took him being traumatized; I did not expect actual discussion of anxiety and therapy and such.



I can agree that the timeline was a little restrictive but I also think it's probably a better place to tell a new story than just continuing off the True End, hah.

Hmm, personally, I thought the level of AI stuff was pretty satisfying? Though I think the problem is that compared to the time travel it's... a little harder to say "this is what AI is in our story" and then back it up with too much detail, because with time travel you inherently have to just buy into it but with AI you can go "well, the brain scanning and actual personality are a little much...", y'know? I do wish there were more side characters and the reveals about them weren't so obvious though, yeah.

I didn't feel like the writer was different - just an intentional shift in tone, but some of the same humor clearly remained - but I would add that the original and 0 were not translated by the same people/teams and that probably affected that as well.
Click to expand...

I agree this is why it had to be the way it was. For me though, that just resulted in a less enjoyable story.
 
A

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
So far Subahibi is like a yuri harem mixed with

n3RZCFS.gif
 
A

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Well just reached the first ending of subahibi which is like a kinda standard Yuri thing? I think I know what to do to reach the real part of the game.
 
A

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
You're assuming a lot in thinking that I'm not familiar with it already. >_> <_<

Also wait, there's that in this one?

I only really just did the first ending
where I had lesbian sex and then that weird girl left on a train
which seems like a false route.

Also apparently it gets kinda gory? How gory is it just so I can prepare myself?
 
J

JulianImp

Member
Been playing a bit of VA-11 Hall-A, and I'm really liking it so far. Being a bartender in a dystopian society where you are mostly a bystander as you listen to the stories your patrons bring to the bar is really interesting, and I like how the player isn't given direct control of what Jill says, making her into a character of her own rather than a blank slate that merely exists for the player to project themselves onto.

I also like the writing, since it affords teaching new things about the characters to the player without writing convoluted dialogs just for exposition, and it looks like whenever somebody's past or personal traits get brought up during a conversation it's more organic than the typical "as you already knew" exposition I'm used to.

Having learned the developers are from Venezuela was also pretty interesting for me, since it's always cool to hear about games made by people from fellow Latin American countries that gain critical acclaim and end up doing well.

Don't know how much I've left to go regarding the story, but I might replay it again later to see how different things would've been had I made a couple different choices along the line.
 
N° 2048

N° 2048

Member
JulianImp said:
Been playing a bit of VA-11 Hall-A, and I'm really liking it so far. Being a bartender in a dystopian society where you are mostly a bystander as you listen to the stories your patrons bring to the bar is really interesting, and I like how the player isn't given direct control of what Jill says, making her into a character of her own rather than a blank slate that merely exists for the player to project themselves onto.

I also like the writing, since it affords teaching new things about the characters to the player without writing convoluted dialogs just for exposition, and it looks like whenever somebody's past or personal traits get brought up during a conversation it's more organic than the typical "as you already knew" exposition I'm used to.

Having learned the developers are from Venezuela was also pretty interesting for me, since it's always cool to hear about games made by people from fellow Latin American countries that gain critical acclaim and end up doing well.

Don't know how much I've left to go regarding the story, but I might replay it again later to see how different things would've been had I made a couple different choices along the line.
Click to expand...

Cannot wait for this on Vita. Release date soon according to devs on Twitter.
1nh3qo.jpg
 
B

Buzzi

Member
Taruranto said:
I'm going to skip on Subahibi for now, too many games that interest me are coming out.

How was Dies Irae in the end? I remember a lot of people here got it, but I forgot to check for impressions.
Click to expand...

Finished 30 minutes ago so fresh comment :v

Too long for its good sake. The Kei route is completely pointless, while the other ones have their moments but take 50 hours when there's enough plot material for maybe 20 hours, the rest is character babbling the same things over and over again (I know it is a shonen, but...) and some good battles alternated with filler ones.

I actually expected way more battle escalation progressing with the routes, but pretty much only the final fights of Marie and Rea routes have a truly epic design. The problem is that the writing pretty much keeps downplaying the "smaller" villains and often uses plot armor, stereotypes and power of friendship (punctually fooled but used), all resulting in the eternal and recurrent (hah) wait for the big boss. As narrative is essentially made by plot (not that great), characters (more than acceptable), style (very good) and pacing (worst ever), I'd say Dies is quite mediocre overall, although an action fan could find it more satisfying. Characters could be enjoyable with a bit more progression and less forced relationships and roles.

With it being a big commercial product I also thought to find a better presentation and animation, but outside of the very short CG scenes it is nothing special. Some music is nice but not much, after a route 90% of that has already been played. Dub is good, especially in the slice of life scenes.

Speaking of the Fate vibe, it's absolutely here, not to the extent of a plagiarism but the inspiration is quite thrown in the face, something quite annoying personally because as I said there's not a ton of plot in itself and what is there sometimes looks like its poor men version...
 
S

StoneHeart

Member
Noob question on Steins;Gate 0:

What does Skip release at trigger mean under basic settings? Also, what does read only and all in skip mode mean under text settings?
I've already completed
two endings
 
C

calc84maniac

Member
StoneHeart said:
Noob question on Steins;Gate 0:

What does Skip release at trigger mean under basic settings? Also, what does read only and all in skip mode mean under text settings?
I've already completed
two endings
Click to expand...
"Skip release at trigger" I assume means it'll stop skipping when you reach a Phone Trigger, so you'll probably want this turned on.

Read Only will only skip text you've read before (assuming you're using Skip mode and not the Force Skip button, if that exists? I know there was a Force Skip in the first game).
 
A

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
True end of first chapter of Subahibi.

I have no idea what's going on.

No, I have some idea, but it's still wrapped up in this weird poetic illusory that might require me learn about some play from the 19th century?

edit: and apparently the stock market and economical theory?
 
K

Kusagari

Member
I finished the second chapter of Subahibi and I'm not sure why that had to be patched in. Unless I missed some terrible inconsequential CG, the first chapter was worse in terms of content(even if it was just all generic yuri).
 
M

Marche90

Member
I'm starting to think that maybe I shouldn't read SubaHibi, since it seems to require a lot of secondary reading.

That plus the gore and extreme content....
 
A

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Marche90 said:
I'm starting to think that maybe I shouldn't read SubaHibi, since it seems to require a lot of secondary reading.

That plus the gore and extreme content....
Click to expand...

Nah I think it's actually fairly good at explaining its influences within the story itself, and I'm fairly sure the stuff I don't understand will be explained within the narrative itself, my impressions were mostly being bemused at how much shit the game throws at you at once.
 
A

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
I'm still pretty early into the game. :p

Right now it's more (not really a spoiler but might as well be safe)
inner world outer world
and economy theory kinda shit. It's fun.
 
A

Antiwhippy

the holder of the trombone
Subahibi End of Chapter 2

Uh.....

This game got 2spooky4me.

Also I still have no idea what's going on
blood moon with eyes, everyone apparently loves the main character?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom