Community The Visual Novel Council | All Choices Lead To Here

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
1,313
93
:blobeyes:


(Muv-Luv Expo, July 1st and 2nd)


I know the situation with GIGA and their english fanbase is pretty bad, but come on man. This game has some of the most text of any VN I've ever played, let the localizers add their names to the credits at the least, even if it's in a post launch path. I love Baldr Sky so much, it's becoming one of my favorite VNs i've ever played, but this is incredibly wack of GIGA.
Shit like this is unfortunately quite common, by the looks of it.
XSEED for example only credits people who are currently employed, meaning that you only get credited for your work if you are still employed by them when the game releases. The translator of London Detective Mysteria, Brittany Avery, got snubbed because of that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: skLaFarebear
OP
Ascheroth

Ascheroth

Chilling in the Megastructure
Nov 12, 2018
5,119
11,978
113
Been slowly going through The Silver Case, finished the main and side chapter 2.
Initial impression is... mixed, but thankfully fixable.

I still really like the presentation with its mix of 2D, 3D and even live action.
The story is confusing but intriguing. It hasn't completely "hooked" me, but I do want to know more.
Unfortunately I found "playing it" often boring. Mainly because it's soooo sloooooow. Not sure if others are as bothered about this as I am, but the game has lots of scene transitions. They are slow, unskippable and repeat very often. I hate it. Virtues Last Reward has the same problem.
Thankfully there's a fix for this and it's Cheat Engine's speedhack functionality combined with Steam Input to put the bindings on unused controller buttons.
And since I did this I'm enjoying it much more.
 

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
1,313
93
Forgotten Trace: Thanatos in Nostalgia is out on Steam:


Also, some positive rumblings regarding the situation with Baldr Sky that I missed yesterday:


Been slowly going through The Silver Case, finished the main and side chapter 2.
Initial impression is... mixed, but thankfully fixable.

I still really like the presentation with its mix of 2D, 3D and even live action.
The story is confusing but intriguing. It hasn't completely "hooked" me, but I do want to know more.
Unfortunately I found "playing it" often boring. Mainly because it's soooo sloooooow. Not sure if others are as bothered about this as I am, but the game has lots of scene transitions. They are slow, unskippable and repeat very often. I hate it. Virtues Last Reward has the same problem.
Thankfully there's a fix for this and it's Cheat Engine's speedhack functionality combined with Steam Input to put the bindings on unused controller buttons.
And since I did this I'm enjoying it much more.
Could I ask how you accomplish this with Cheat Engine?
The Silver Case is one of the future book club titles, so it would be very useful to know, but I also have zero experience with CE.
 
OP
Ascheroth

Ascheroth

Chilling in the Megastructure
Nov 12, 2018
5,119
11,978
113
Could I ask how you accomplish this with Cheat Engine?
The Silver Case is one of the future book club titles, so it would be very useful to know, but I also have zero experience with CE.
Sure, it's not complicated :)

In Cheat Engine go to Edit -> Settings -> Hotkeys. In the list there are entries for Speedhack speed 1 - 5 as well as +/-. You can set a multiplicator for each of them, but personally I usually only use 2 or 3 - one to go back to normal (1.00), one a bit faster (2.00) and one very fast (4.00). Change their hotkeys if you want. (For Silver Case I just use 1 and 4). It comes down to personal preference and a bit of experimenting though.

In the "General Settings" section there is an entry "Automatically attach to processes named". Enter "TheSilverCase.exe" here, so you don't have to attach it manually every time you start the game.

And that's it! When you start the game with Cheat Engine open and press the specified hotkeys the game will speed up if possible.
And when playing with a controller you can use Steam Input to map the defined Hotkeys to unused buttons.
 

skLaFarebear

MetaMember
Dec 4, 2019
653
1,230
93
Got the true ending in the last route of Baldr Sky 2 and god damn, that last route and this game as a whole were just such an incredible experience. The narrative twists that kept coming even after the 130 hour point were amazing and everything wrapped up so incredibly well. This route and ending had a lot it needed to cover, so the fact that it was able to wrap up every last lingering plot line, while delivering a bittersweet ending that definitely got a few tears out of me, is nothing short of amazing. The stretch of final fights were amazing as well as the final boss, who's the toughest fight in the game, but also such a satisfying fight to finally beat after a dozen tries.

The game's definitely taken the mantle from GitS as my new favorite cyberpunk dystopian narrative as well as being in my top 3 favorite VNs with Uta Mask of Truth and Muv Luv Alternative. And speaking of Uta, I'd say the localization work on this game is among the best in the medium, right there with Uta 2 and 3. A lot of complex terminology/conversations that I'm sure were a challenge to localize were handled gracefully with only a few typos (more so towards the end) and all the conversations/character banter flowed excellently. Steiner, Disgaeamad, Doddler, and whoever else worked on the game deserve all the credit because I can't imagine the work they did on it was anything short of a behemoth effort considering all the text and engine work the game needed to run.

Even if very few people end up playing/beating it, I'm so glad SP made the decision to bring the game over and stick with it even though it took a long time for it to drop. It's such a gem of a game/VN, and if anyone is looking to whet their appetite for a really good cyberpunk narrative while they deal with all the cyberpunk 2077 delays, this game will definitely fill that void and more.




For fun, my final game time/stats:



Definitely the new longest played game on my Steam account, and probably the longest time I've spent on a game that wasn't a MMO/gacha/fighting game.

Edit: coincidently, the game is 25% off on Steam during the sale, the highest it's been since release (before was only 15%)

 
Last edited:

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
1,313
93
Progress update from NekoNyan:
  • Aokana Extra 1: 45% Translated, 15% Edited
  • Hello Lady! -Superior Entelecheia-: Translation complete, Editing nearly complete, QC 40%, Engine work still in progress
  • IxShe Tell: 85% Translated, 80% Edited, 35% QC
  • Kinkoi: Golden Loveriche: 75% Translated, 25% Editing, Engine port to Unity in progress!
  • Melty Moment: 30% Translated
  • Riddle Joker: 85% Translated, 75% Edited, QA 25%
  • Secret Project #1: 30% translated
They keep using Sankaku Renai CGs for secret project #1 tweets, so I'm hoping that it is another Asa Project title.


Also, Sekai Project will be having an online panel at Kurocon, which runs July 4-5th:


Edit: coincidently, the game is 25% off on Steam during the sale, the highest it's been since release (before was only 15%)

Well, you convinced me to grab it. I hope you are happy :p
 

Knurek

OG old coot
Oct 16, 2018
2,437
5,998
113
[UWSL]Edit: coincidently, the game is 25% off on Steam during the sale, the highest it's been since release (before was only 15%)[/UWSL]

Could you tell me how much of the game are the battles? I also bought the game after reading your gushing, but I generally play VNs on GPD Win 2, and that doesn't have a mouse that would work with a frantic RTS-like gameplay.
 
  • Love
Reactions: skLaFarebear

skLaFarebear

MetaMember
Dec 4, 2019
653
1,230
93
Well, you convinced me to grab it. I hope you are happy :p



Very! Hope you enjoy it whenever you get around to it!

Could you tell me how much of the game are the battles? I also bought the game after reading your gushing, but I generally play VNs on GPD Win 2, and that doesn't have a mouse that would work with a frantic RTS-like gameplay.
The gameplay actually plays much like a straight up action game. Think of something like DMC or more so God Hand, where you build your combos from scratch and assign each skill you unlock to a "button" and can chain combos including air combos, ground bounces, dash cancels, etc. Here's a sample of what some of the simpler combos in the games look like and yes the game comes fully equipped with a customizable training room to lab your combos.


It depends on the routes themselves, but I'd say about roughly 30% of the game is gameplay, though that also depends on what difficulty you're on, since if you're not in it for the gameplay, you can set it to very easy/easy which considerably drops the number of enemies you fight, their HP, and as well as their AI since they're less likely to use more of their complex moves as well as dodge, so you can breeze through the gameplay. I should mention that the game does work excellently with a controller, as that's what I played it entirely on, so you don't need a m/kb to play it.
 
  • Love
  • Like
Reactions: Kvik and Exzyleph

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
1,313
93
https://twitter.com/muvluvseries/status/1278506748706357248
https://twitter.com/muvluvseries/status/1278510380961034241

Baldr Sky, MBON, Aegis Rim, and now Muv Luv Photonmelodies AND The Day After all in one year, what a good ass year for mecha fans.

They confirmed that part 4 of TDA is well into development and are aiming for a simultaneous release for JP and EN.
Holy shit, that is a lot more than I expected :blobeyes:


MangaGamer also just announced a release date for Room No. 9 (August 6th):


And it is releasing on Steam:


And they are hinting at a special announcement(?) tomorrow.


And if you haven't seen already, then this month's VN book club is up, this time for the free visual novel CUPID:


 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: skLaFarebear

skLaFarebear

MetaMember
Dec 4, 2019
653
1,230
93
That Muv-Luv stream was definitely my favorite gaming/news stream I've watched all year. All the news they announced was so excellent for all the english fans especially, while also keeping us hopeful that even more is on the way and we won't have to wait as long as we usually do for new stuff to arrive, which is amazing for someone who's been a huge fan of Muv-Luv since 2012. It's been a very rocky trip since the Kickstarter, but it feels like this series has finally found it's footing out in the west between Photonmelodies this month, the MLA manga officially available in english, TDA this winter with part 4 well into development and Immortal/Mikhail shaping up (though very early) along development as well as 2-3 unannounced projects.

On the production side the translator did a fantastic in helping give us all the news and you can tell that everyone, especially the man Kouki himself, had a lot of fun being there. There were just enough small technical issues like the slides/awkward pauses/etc. to make the stream feel more grassroots than anything, but it never felt like it was a mess to watch and it was paced very well. The concert was also really good, especially getting to hear Minami Kuribayashi sing the Muv-Luv theme live again. A lot of good memes dropped during the stream itself like Kouki bringing out the Codex during the Q&A panel, or him spending about 5 minutes shitting on Gundam SEED Destiny while answering another question about a spin-off story. We also got to hear about the incredibly complex ages™ engine again.





With all the horrible, horrible shit that's happened this year and this week alone if you follow the FGC like I do, it was nice to just have a fun event/stream for people that are big fans of muv-luv. It's a shame we couldn't have done it live at AX because that would've made it 10x better, but nothing much you can do with how the country is right now.
 

tetel

MetaMember
Jan 7, 2020
333
1,005
93
How much am I gonna miss by starting Utawarerumono on Mask of Deception (or should I just watch the anime)? Been super horny for that one since I've seen a Trails comparision somewhere and the PC port of Prelude to the Fallen is probably still months away.
 

Knurek

OG old coot
Oct 16, 2018
2,437
5,998
113
How much am I gonna miss by starting Utawarerumono on Mask of Deception (or should I just watch the anime)? Been super horny for that one since I've seen a Trails comparision somewhere and the PC port of Prelude to the Fallen is probably still months away.
Quite a bit.
I mean, it's like starting Trails on Zero. You will miss all the callbacks to the previous game.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tetel
OP
Ascheroth

Ascheroth

Chilling in the Megastructure
Nov 12, 2018
5,119
11,978
113
Alright, started Saya no Uta.

I've heard it was fucked up and now I can confirm that is (I know, I know - probably haven't seen anything yet) :grimacing-face:
 
  • Eyes
Reactions: Exzyleph and Kvik

skLaFarebear

MetaMember
Dec 4, 2019
653
1,230
93
How much am I gonna miss by starting Utawarerumono on Mask of Deception (or should I just watch the anime)? Been super horny for that one since I've seen a Trails comparision somewhere and the PC port of Prelude to the Fallen is probably still months away.
Mask of Deception isn't too bad with it's callbacks to Prelude. Mask of Truth is the real kicker though where it goes from "just being callbacks" to "this is straight up a sequel to the first game as much as Mask of Deception." And it's very hard not to want to jump right into MoT after you finish Deception. Imo, just best to wait for the PC version of Prelude before you jump in and hopefully it isn't too far away.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tetel

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
1,313
93
How much am I gonna miss by starting Utawarerumono on Mask of Deception (or should I just watch the anime)? Been super horny for that one since I've seen a Trails comparision somewhere and the PC port of Prelude to the Fallen is probably still months away.
Why not just play the original fan TL?
 
OP
Ascheroth

Ascheroth

Chilling in the Megastructure
Nov 12, 2018
5,119
11,978
113
Did you apply the 18+ patch for the Steam version from the Jast website? Be warned that your innocence will be forever lost if you do.
I don't really keep track of those things, so I didn't no.
I'm fine playing the "all ages" versions of VNs - not that I think Saya no Uta seems "all ages" to begin with though :grimacing-face:
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kvik

Kvik

Crossbell City Councillor
Dec 6, 2018
4,149
10,267
113
Downunder.
I'm fine playing the "all ages" versions of VNs - not that I think Saya no Uta seems "all ages" to begin with though
I guess you managed to keep your innocence a little while longer. :dana_blanket:

While I don't actually know how the "all-ages" version look like, I don't think you will be missing much. The story is still haunting and hard to read at times, so I feel it would be very close to the unfiltered experience.
 

Kvik

Crossbell City Councillor
Dec 6, 2018
4,149
10,267
113
Downunder.
Jeanne at the Clock Tower reminds me of A Clockwork Ley-line (because they both have "clock" in their title).

I wonder if we'll ever see the complete trilogy comes out before Yanderedev completes his game...

Fake edit: That red-headed swordsman looks oddly familiar. :dana_think:
 

GhostTrick

Banned
Oct 20, 2018
94
216
33
That Muv-Luv stream was definitely my favorite gaming/news stream I've watched all year. All the news they announced was so excellent for all the english fans especially, while also keeping us hopeful that even more is on the way and we won't have to wait as long as we usually do for new stuff to arrive, which is amazing for someone who's been a huge fan of Muv-Luv since 2012. It's been a very rocky trip since the Kickstarter, but it feels like this series has finally found it's footing out in the west between Photonmelodies this month, the MLA manga officially available in english, TDA this winter with part 4 well into development and Immortal/Mikhail shaping up (though very early) along development as well as 2-3 unannounced projects.

On the production side the translator did a fantastic in helping give us all the news and you can tell that everyone, especially the man Kouki himself, had a lot of fun being there. There were just enough small technical issues like the slides/awkward pauses/etc. to make the stream feel more grassroots than anything, but it never felt like it was a mess to watch and it was paced very well. The concert was also really good, especially getting to hear Minami Kuribayashi sing the Muv-Luv theme live again. A lot of good memes dropped during the stream itself like Kouki bringing out the Codex during the Q&A panel, or him spending about 5 minutes shitting on Gundam SEED Destiny while answering another question about a spin-off story. We also got to hear about the incredibly complex ages™ engine again.





With all the horrible, horrible shit that's happened this year and this week alone if you follow the FGC like I do, it was nice to just have a fun event/stream for people that are big fans of muv-luv. It's a shame we couldn't have done it live at AX because that would've made it 10x better, but nothing much you can do with how the country is right now.


Stayed up until 6am to watch it. Was definitely worth it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: skLaFarebear

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
1,313
93
Because it's kind of mediocre and the original game has icky CP scenes.
I don't remember any problems with the translation.
But yeah, not wanting the H-scenes is understandable.
I forgot about those.
 
OP
Ascheroth

Ascheroth

Chilling in the Megastructure
Nov 12, 2018
5,119
11,978
113
Finished Song of Saya! I was aware that it was short, but I didn't expect it to be this short - didn't even take me 3 hours.

Extremely fucked up, yet also really fascinating. Definitely had me glued to the screen throughout.

Ultimately though, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed. I feel like everything was resolved too quickly. I dunno, I was expecting something more after Koji realized how well and truly fucked up Fuminori was when he searched through his house and found the meat. Yet after that you get a single choice and both answers just lead to the same confrontation that plays out slightly different and a short epilogue for each, done.
I think the actual endings are fitting, but I just expected more to happen between that choice and the end.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Exzyleph

Knurek

OG old coot
Oct 16, 2018
2,437
5,998
113
Finished Song of Saya! I was aware that it was short, but I didn't expect it to be this short - didn't even take me 3 hours.

Extremely fucked up, yet also really fascinating. Definitely had me glued to the screen throughout.

Ultimately though, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed. I feel like everything was resolved too quickly. I dunno, I was expecting something more after Koji realized how well and truly fucked up Fuminori was when he searched through his house and found the meat. Yet after that you get a single choice and both answers just lead to the same confrontation that plays out slightly different and a short epilogue for each, done.
I think the actual endings are fitting, but I just expected more to happen between that choice and the end.
Umm, the game has three endings, you sure you didn't miss anything?
 
OP
Ascheroth

Ascheroth

Chilling in the Megastructure
Nov 12, 2018
5,119
11,978
113
Umm, the game has three endings, you sure you didn't miss anything?
You mean the very early one where Saya healed him? Ya I got that too, but I didn't brign it up because it happened earlier than that branch.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Knurek

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
1,313
93
Sekai Project had a few announcements at Kurotsuki con today:

Please Be Happy was a really interesting reveal, since the developer also made one my favorite titles of 2019 (Heart of the Woods):



EDIT: Blog-post on Denpasoft:
 
Last edited:

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
1,313
93
Update from MangoGamer:

Releasing soon:

Revealed projects:

Secret Projects:
  • Secret Project #3: 100% translated and 91% edited
  • Secret Project #4: 89% translated and 87% edited
  • Secret Project #6: 60% translated and 55% edited
  • Secret Project #7: 70% translated and 66% edited
In a bit of surprise news, light (or whatever is left of them) is apparently considering an English release of the Silverio games:
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Kvik

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
1,313
93
Just finished ATRI - My Dear Moments - and it left me wanting to give a shout-out to a title I haven't seen mentioned much. If anyone has read or watched Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō, then ATRI will feel familiar: It is an end-of-the-world scenario, but one that feels peaceful and melancholic, rather than hopeless or full of despair.

That was already enough to get me excited, but it also has high production values, funny writing, and great emotional highs. Moreover, it has a great cast of characters, both in terms of the two main characters, but also in terms of the supporting cast. It even avoids a common trope that I dislike, by having the "bro" character be a likable and competent character in his own right, and not the usual creep, clown, or reject that is common in VNs. It is also one of a few number of VNs where the protagonist has an obvious disability, something that plays a major in the story and is key to his personal struggles.

Originally I only had mild interest in ATRI, with my main interest being in the other ANIPLEX.EXE title, Adabana, but at this point I will honestly be surprised if Adabana manages to exceed it. Reading time was just over 8 hours, for anyone else who cares about that.

 

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
1,313
93
Somebody ported MangaGamer's translation of Kara no Shojo to the new HD version, including a translation of the "new" prologue.

The following gallery contains more information, but note that the link is NSFW: https://imgur.com/a/MNwpjHU

EDIT:
Be warned that the launcher triggers Windows Defender.
There's a chance that this is just a false positive heuristic detection, but I'd recommend playing the game in a VM to be safe.

Also, the prologue unfortunately appears to be machine translated.

Hat-tip to Knurek
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Kvik

Snakethesniper

Time Traveler
Jan 11, 2019
923
1,669
93
Playing the 4th episode of Question arc of Umineko.... I don't get one thing :
Why battler starts with the theory that Kinzo was already dead when in the previous (and all previous) battles he was always shown?
 

Knurek

OG old coot
Oct 16, 2018
2,437
5,998
113
Playing the 4th episode of Question arc of Umineko.... I don't get one thing :
Why battler starts with the theory that Kinzo was already dead when in the previous (and all previous) battles he was always shown?
He was always shown in the fantasy scenes (aka lies)
 

Snakethesniper

Time Traveler
Jan 11, 2019
923
1,669
93
He was always shown in the fantasy scenes (aka lies)
Ah ok, I was concluding the same, I've re-read the first part of episode 3 where
kinzo is burnt and the furniture are battling and Battler is confused. Since Virginia after says that he doesn't have to believe what's shown to him, I had the suspect this was the case.
Thanks!
 

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
1,313
93
I finished read Adabana Odd Tales earlier today. As I had expected it did not exceed ATRI for me, but I still came away very happy to have read it, and very impressed with ANIPLEX.EXE's opening salvo of titles. Liar-soft trademark art-style is perfectly suited for the fairy-tale nature of the story and for the literal fairy-tales included within, accompanied by a similarly ephemeral soundtrack. The supporting characters felt weaker than in ATRI, but the two main characters were both interesting to follow, even if the story itself was fairly straight forward.

However, one issue with Adabana was the fact that it left too many terms untranslated, including the titles of the actual fairy-tales mentioned in the story, and that occasionally resulting in plot points being a bit hard to follow. For example, the first tale has the in-game name "Hanasaka Jiisan", which one translation renders as "The old man who made flowers blossom", and that made it hard to follow when the characters at one point reference these flowers, before they had been introduced in the tale itself. On the other hand, the endings in Adabana all felt interesting in their own right, in contrast with ATRI where the bad ending felt a bit pointless.

Adabana was a bit shorter than ATRI, at 6 hours.
 

Kvik

Crossbell City Councillor
Dec 6, 2018
4,149
10,267
113
Downunder.
I wrote a little about Summer Pockets here:


TLDR; Summer Pockets good; somebody is cutting onions in my study, Reflection Blue when?
 

skLaFarebear

MetaMember
Dec 4, 2019
653
1,230
93
Went through Muv-Luv Photonflowers over the past week. Being a small collection of short stories from the Extra and Alternative stories respectively, I wasn't expecting too much going into it. The Extra stories are all short bite sized fun stories with the cast and the Sumika Extra afterstory was a cute little story on it's own (though extremely bittersweet for obvious reasons).

The Alternative stories on the other hand, were absolutely fantastic, most specifically Confessions. Atonement was a great lead up story for Marimo into Confessions, starring both Isumi and Marimo. The fact that an Alternative story can
take place entirely in a training camp and still be one of the best written and heartwrenching pieces of muv-luv content is a testament to how well written this game's universe continues to be. The build up to Isumi and Marimo's confrontation in Marimo's office hit every bit as hard as I expected it to and more, which makes both Isumi and Marimo's eventual timely deaths sting all the more harder. Isumi's death scene in Alternative (especially with that Meiya theme playing over it) playing at the end of Confessions from her perspective was of course the icing on the depressing cake and definitely got a few more tears out of me that I didn't think I had any left for this franchise.

I don't have much to say about Inheritance other than that it was a nice little epilogue to the fallout of Confessions. All in all, Photonflowers was a very enjoyable experience and I can't say enough great things about Confessions as being one of the best stories in the series. Isumi and Marimo definitely launched themselves up a few spots on my all time favorite Muv-Luv characters lists. Photonmelodies and especially TDA can't come soon enough.
 
Last edited:

Durante

I <3 Pixels
Oct 21, 2018
3,835
18,379
113
Finished Song of Saya! I was aware that it was short, but I didn't expect it to be this short - didn't even take me 3 hours.

Extremely fucked up, yet also really fascinating. Definitely had me glued to the screen throughout.

Ultimately though, I can't help but feel a bit disappointed. I feel like everything was resolved too quickly. I dunno, I was expecting something more after Koji realized how well and truly fucked up Fuminori was when he searched through his house and found the meat. Yet after that you get a single choice and both answers just lead to the same confrontation that plays out slightly different and a short epilogue for each, done.
I think the actual endings are fitting, but I just expected more to happen between that choice and the end.
Yeah, that's pretty close to how I feel about it.

It really was fascinating though.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ascheroth

Kvik

Crossbell City Councillor
Dec 6, 2018
4,149
10,267
113
Downunder.
I wrote a little about LAMUNATION! here:


TLDR; You like meme, bad puns and (R18+ patch needed)sister-loving? This is for you.
 

GhostTrick

Banned
Oct 20, 2018
94
216
33
Went through Muv-Luv Photonflowers over the past week. Being a small collection of short stories from the Extra and Alternative stories respectively, I wasn't expecting too much going into it. The Extra stories are all short bite sized fun stories with the cast and the Sumika Extra afterstory was a cute little story on it's own (though extremely bittersweet for obvious reasons).

The Alternative stories on the other hand, were absolutely fantastic, most specifically Confessions. Atonement was a great lead up story for Marimo into Confessions, starring both Isumi and Marimo. The fact that an Alternative story can
take place entirely in a training camp and still be one of the best written and heartwrenching pieces of muv-luv content is a testament to how well written this game's universe continues to be. The build up to Isumi and Marimo's confrontation in Marimo's office hit every bit as hard as I expected it to and more, which makes both Isumi and Marimo's eventual timely deaths sting all the more harder. Isumi's death scene in Alternative (especially with that Meiya theme playing over it) playing at the end of Confessions from her perspective was of course the icing on the depressing cake and definitely got a few more tears out of me that I didn't think I had any left for this franchise.

I don't have much to say about Inheritance other than that it was a nice little epilogue to the fallout of Confessions. All in all, Photonflowers was a very enjoyable experience and I can't say enough great things about Confessions as being one of the best stories in the series. Isumi and Marimo definitely launched themselves up a few spots on my all time favorite Muv-Luv characters lists. Photonmelodies and especially TDA can't come soon enough.


Waiting for Photonmelodies to release before playing Photonflowers. I want to binge them both.
 

Exzyleph

Dark Eroge Lord
Oct 9, 2018
878
1,313
93
It looks like Alicesoft has gotten an official English twitter account (followed by the official Japanese account):

Not much on it yet, but it may hint at more English releases from that company and hopefully more than just Rance.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Kvik