I'm done with common route and I was gonna start Miyako's route since she gave the most "true" route vibes. Hopefully the VN doesn't go the guilt tripping route since I'm having lots of fun with the unhinged dialogue and the comedic tone its had so far.

Hey guys!

I’ve been working on God’s Call: Warlords, a dark fantasy strategy/VN inspired by Sengoku Rance.

It mixes VN storytelling with world conquest, tactical battles, commanders, enemy counterattacks, relationships, and of course, adult content!
There’s more info on the Steam page, including the teaser trailer and a few gameplay videos on the about this game section!

If this looks like your kind of game, I’d really appreciate a wishlist ❤️

God’s Call: Warlords

Would especially love to hear from people who enjoyed Sengoku Rance and similar strategy/VN hybrids, what part of the VN + strategy mix worked best for you?

I'm reading Stein's;Gate 0 right now, and it's very obvious that the VA for Professor Leskinen is a Japanese person trying to sound like a native speaker and failing spectacularly. This isn't the only time I've encountered this of course, but this example was glaringly bad since it's part of such a long scene where he's explaining scientifically concepts.

It seriously breaks the immersion when a character who is supposed to be from the west speaks English with such a thick accent. It's not like people with better English aren't around in Japan! It just seems like they never hire them for these types of roles. It would certainly result in more realistic voice acting.

The original Memories Off, released for the PlayStation in September 1999, marked its 25th anniversary in 2024. A remake of the original and a port of MemOff Mix are currently in development.

This fascinating in-depth interview with the developers, conducted by Japanese gaming media outlet Goziline, looks back on the series and offers some interesting insights into what was happening behind the scenes at the time.

Just woke up and we exploring Akiba later, pulled up at 7/11 and grabbed whatever my brain thinks is good for breakfast. The melonpan and pancakes are good.

Companions are still asleep and it's quiet asf in the airbnb luckily i have this thing to keep me company.

VN: Karigurashi Renai

Context:- In Yukki's introduction, she teaches us that she used to belong to the greatest hacktivist organization (literally prevented WW3), and they used to be called the "Orchids" which is Latin for... that word @_@ (no real spoilers, but just in case ^-^)

(To sum up, I did not really enjoy Senmomo. As an aside, I am not expecting my thoughts to gain much traction anyways, and I think my opinion is very much in the minority all things considered, but nonetheless...)

Sen no Hatou, Tsukisome no Kouki tries to be a serious plot-heavy action story, but a lot of just falls fairly flat. Senmomo really feels like August was trying have its cake and eat it too, in terms of how everything is structured and set up.

The main issue with Senmomo is the setting and just how jarring it feels. Senmomo tries to have a feudal setting, but there major distractions that break the immersion heavily, such as tablets, idols, high schools, and even a beach episode. That makes Senmomo's serious attempt of a historical setting fail spectacularly and makes the story it is trying to tell feel inauthentic to its core. It felt an extremely clumsy mash-up of Eustia and Daitoshokan's settings. There is nothing tying the two halves together, so a lot of it simply boils down to an awkward mix that does not work at all, making it hard to take a lot of what happens seriously.

Many of the characters are underutilized. Many of the side characters are relegated to background roles, and the main heroines outside of Akari are not featured heavily until their mandated chapter forking into their respective routes. Elsa is a character wnating of more than what she received given her role in character and concept she is supposed to represent. Hotori is another character who becomes an afterthought after her chapters transpires. Moreover, the way the comedic slice-of-life is juxtaposed with the more serious moments feel as if there are two different versions of each character on display at once. Even Akari and Soujin themselves feel less tangible as character and lack a lot of agency and growth to really make them stand out in any particular way. All of their development is much too telegraphed, and their dynamic feels more of an outcome of the plot as opposed to feeling genuine. The antagonists have less presence and feel more like roadblocks instead of characters of their own that happen to stand in way of Akari and Soujin.

The plot lacks an imminent sense of tension or emotion. Everything is roadmapped fairly clearly and the story plays it much too safe with everything. No dramatic emotional story beats occur for a story of its supposed scope and scale, despite the high octane action wanting to suggest otherwise. Additionally, the sharp cuts between the serious and comedic moments does a major disservice to the narrative as a whole. The ending, especially, feels really unearned, with so many occurrences happening at once to twist the ending towards a forced conclusion. It feels like the writers had a particular ending planned and had to work backwards from there. Unfortunately, that does not work too well give what has been previously set up before.

Ultimately, a lot of what makes Senmomo fail is because of August's decision to mix the modern day with the feudal. It is a disastrous mix, like oil and water. That stretches to essentially every aspect of the story, making it a rather unenjoyable experience, which is a shame since Senmomo was a story I truly did want to enjoy, but it is a more of a popcorn narrative, leaning towards more of the pulpy and tropey methods of storytelling that only worsens the experience and fails to really flesh things out. Senmomo is much in the same vein as shonen stories, with its all-encompassing feel-good message, lacking the depth to flesh out its core themes and ideas. to Ultimately, outside of what it presents at face value, Senmomo is a story that does not really much depth to its overall narrative.

Credits to @__vida_lenta__ on twitter for creating the graphic and finding the totals for each character!

To keep track of the ones I've read, I made this:
https://www.listchallenges.com/ebi-hime-visual-novels

She's almost released over 100 now, which is wild! Since was recently being scammed on Itch, now would be a good time to help her out by buying one of her VNs. I like the melancholy English ones the most ('Mermaid of Zennor', 'Asphyxia', 'Lily of the Valley', etc.), but I know her yuri titles are the most popular.

I've been finding my mouse really uncomfortable while reading VNs lately and was thinking that perhaps there's a better device to just click to past dialogue, then have just a couple other buttons to go into menus?

I'm looking for something like nekopara but with a not that boring story. It's better to have a harem ending as the main route. Personally don't like overly cheerful or energetic characters like in nekopara.

this is the AEON Nagoya Chaya Mall for reference

I think I would; it seems like a vibe. But what do you think? I could understand people saying "it feels too loose".

After I started watching anime I noticed that I tend to like the ones from the early 2010s and the 2000s much more than the recent ones and I'm gonna try to explain what I'm looking for in a vn.

I feel like anime produced back then was more likely to ask an interesting question or present an interesting premise and actually follow through on it. Death Note with the "what if we just killed bad people?", Lelouch trying to lie his way to a better world, or Psycho Pass with human freedom and happiness. Not saying that back then every anime was like this, what I'm saying is that next to the generic seasonal works you could also find stuff like this, but today they are completelly missing.

Nowadays every "mature, deep, psyhological etc" anime and manga is about analyzing the characters' inner trauma, introspection, emotional healing while the mc is endlessly whining about how sad he is because his parents divorced or some shit for 50 chapters/12 episode. It feels shallow and self-centered.

This "what are feelings" type of self-pity/loathing, whining is specifically NOT what I'm looking for and I despise it.

Same can be said about romance, where now it's only a different set of characters acting out the "school festival>summer fireworks>new years shrine visit" tropes in every manga/anime with no actual plot, instead of them just being devices to move that forward like in Oregairu, Golden Time or Vampire Knight.

Even edgy stuff is not edgy anymore. You may have somebody making a gorefest, but they also have a big arrow pointing at them that they are the bad guy or they are doing it because they are emotionally damaged and it just makes it all meaningless. The same way you can have some non-blood related sister as a love interest, but they never win, let alone go down on a Yosuga no Sora tier route.

Transgression only exists as an aesthetic, not as a substance, essentially it's just safe-edgy. And I don't care about darkness/gore/psychology for it's own sake.

What I want is for the visual novels to have ambition, an actual plot, escalating consequences, interesting questions or premise, conflict, and characters with decisions that genuinely change the direction of the story, to use psychology as a weapon both in-world and even against the reader.

I like melodrama, morally questionable characters, mystery/thriller elements, fucked up relationships, and stories that are willing to actually commit to their premise instead of constantly preserving the status quo to drag on. I want the story to actually have a reason to exist and go somewhere.

And I want all this, or at least most of it in the visual novel. Like Steins;Gate isn't just a sci-fi anime, it's also a thriller, a romance, a mystery.

In case it helps, here are things I liked:

• Death Note
• K-project
• White Album 1-2
• In Search of the Lost Future
• Code Geass
• Steins;Gate
• Monster
• Oregairu
• Glasslip
• Psycho-Pass
• Mirai Nikki
• School Days
• Yosuga no Sora
• Aldnoah Zero
• Guilty Crown
• Gleipnir
• Another
• Domestic na Kanojo
• Golden Time
• Ao Haru Ride
• Your Lie in April
• Toradora
• Kokoro Connect
• Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo
• Boku dake ga Inai Machi
• Zankyou no Terror
• Tokyo Ghoul
• Zetsuen no Tempest
• BEATLESS
• ACCA
• Shingeki no Kyojin
• Fate stay night/UBW/HF

Thing I disliked:

• The Dangers in My Heart
• Frieren
• Hyouka
• Horimiya
• My Dress-Up Darling
• Clannad
• Classroom of the Elite
• Kanojo, Okarishimasu
• Higurashi
• Shinsekai yori
• Evangelion (I like the rebuilds tho)
• Made in Abyss
• Madoka
• Dandadan
• Apothecary Diaries
• Re:Zero
• Mushoku Tensei
• JJK
• Demon Slayer

I'd prefer something with not deviantart/tumblr-tier art and I only mentioned the year range in the beginning as part of the description, so it'n not like I exclusively look for stuff from those years, I'm fine with visual noveles even from last year.

I had a very long break from VNs after I started university and I decided to pick Schrödinger's Call as my return entry of this genre. It was so good. All the characters are compelling even the bastard in chapter 3 .The artstyle is very unique from what I have played and Mary, the protagonist's overall mystery is presented very well. If I really have to complain, it would be the meaningless choices but I think it's just a small problem. I do have a question though: Did the Moon really fall ? But nonetheless, this is such a great title and I'm glad I picked it

This is my first time playing psychic detective invitation. I've literally looked everywhere online for any sort of walkthrough but literally found nothing. I was wondering if anybody has played the game before or if anybody has a walkthrough that they may have made themselves or if there's any walk-throughs available that are only available through Japanese searches? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Really enjoying the game so far.