/games/ - Video Games

>>58630
>most chuuni shit ever
If you're going for chuuni, you need to have a Mamiya Takuji knockoff.
>Muv-luv
Yeah, tbh, Muv-luv sucks. There's I think 5 routes but you only really need to play 2 of them I think. And then there's also extra which is probably a little more important as context for alternative. I think if you're rushing you'd probably get through it quite quickly, but I wouldn't blame you for just reading a summary. Alternatives really interesting though, if a bit overrated.
I read everything, and I get vaguely what you're going for. I just don't have anything additional to add. I was just thinking myself earlier: What do you think about setting the story in a wintery/snowy climate? Mainly I make this suggestion because i've never seen a snowy setting be anything but a boon. Anything that goes for a 'dark winter' tone always ends up with a really nice tonality. Since this is Japan, the story would be set in late December to later, then. Well, I think your artistic vision should take the forefront as I don't really mind playing a more supportive role if anything. But considering everything else you've mentioned about the story and setting, I just have a feeling like it'd make a chilling backdrop and contrast to things. Also, I really love music that goes for a 'dark winter' kind of vibe. Ie
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JWANCA-Pbw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3DGBfXt6GY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh2JI18ByvU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBdO6uKdMl4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-sn3zMDdG0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTpeGIsXsGo
I was also thinking that maybe you could make one of the characters a pianist or something to link into the art idea? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlayqBKbU8w This scene from Subahibi stuck with me. I just like the wordlessness and how the scene just let's Yuki's playing speak for itself.
>>58631
>May I ask what in particular is causing you suffering?
I think I also have OCD or at least OCPD. and all the other boring stuff depression, social anxiety blablabla. It's kind of hard to say though why exactly I feel so bad all the time. I feel really deep shame about my existence and also chronic dissatisfaction and emptiness that nothing ever fills.

>>58641
The snow setting is actually really good, reminds me of Swan Song which I barely started.
>If you're going for chuuni, you need to have a Mamiya Takuji knockoff.
I read his chapter and it was really good, but a bit redundant while reading his schizophrenic monologue a lot of the Ideas he had were similar to mine (being the saviour of humanity) and him spitting out random occult and scientific terms like "I have a Quantum Holographic 6th Dimensional Brain" was something I used to do, as well as take other contradictory chuuni opinions and just type out long ramblings about them.
>pianist
Good idea I am pretty sure that I can use Satie's music freely, or some other songs, so I'll have to look into them.
>I think I also have OCD
The only thing that got me out of that was SSRI's, and yeah they do help since OCD is literally something to do with the brain and is not a meme mental disorder. I also feel shame in some regards, I try to cover it up with Delusions of Grandeur.
Anyway what's your discord? Or email or any other form of contact is fine since I have more Ideas to discuss with you.

>>58642
>I have a Quantum Holographic 6th Dimensional Brain
I am the only being in existence - so your brain? 0th dimensional - it's an existence that emerged from my world, and only exists as my world. My world is everything and nothing, and you're just a setpiece in my universal play. Heh, I was reading Edwin Abotts flatland one day, and I realized that the book was communicating to me. That it was me communicating to myself. That 1 dimensional entity at the end of the book? That was me from another timeline going back to the past to hint to myself in all descending timelines that I was a 1-dimensional point. The only being in the universe. The entire world. The reason for the ambiguousness in the collapse of quantum systems? They only collapse specifically when I observe them, because i'm the only being in existence. Nothing exists except what I perceive. All religion was devised by past forms of me as a form of self-worship and narcissism.
>The only thing that got me out of that was SSRI's
I'm actually taking an SSRI right now. It hasn't done anything yet except decrease my motivation even more, but maybe that'll change. How long did they take to work for you?
>Satie's music
I'm personally fond of this piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jRRGI9_ht0
>Anyway what's your discord? Or email or any other form of contact is fine since I have more Ideas to discuss with you.
You can email me at sumimber@gmail.com
I don't like the format of conversations on discord or similar platforms. It stresses me out. I probably won't check it that much because I'm trying to distance myself from the internet (I hope that isn't too much of a problem, life's pretty long anyway), but you can message me there I guess.

>>58643
>>58643
>The only being in the universe. The entire world. The reason for the ambiguousness in the collapse of quantum systems? They only collapse specifically when I observe them, because i'm the only being in existence. Nothing exists except what I perceive.
That is very much like the thoughts I had when I was in my Chuuni phase, except much more refined.
>How long did they take to work for you?
I'm at 50mg dosage I think, and they worked in about 8 weeks. Motivation is definitely a side effect, but Stimulants (I use dexamphetamine) personally motivate me a lot and I can read for hours.
Also I agree that Discord is an annoying platform, I personally don't use that much. Also I delved into the western Visual Novel sphere and it's filled with the typical leftist normalfag and some of the more retarded types who get mad if you don't say your pronouns. Anyway I'll email you some more documents.

>>58640
I have a much simpler idea about why tragedy is the best genre: a) We like seeing others who suffer even worse than we do. Schadenfreude. It makes us feel like our life isn't so bad compared to this. It's kind of like how Kotomine Kirei thinks in FSN and how the witches think in Umineko. b) It is the most realistic genre in the sense that it reflects our world the best in its dark tone. We feel right at home in tragedies while comedies can feel alien to us because of the light-hearted tone.

>The story isn't about denying life, it is about capturing life in all of it's wretchedness, and misery - that is pushes the reader to deny the will.
Denying the will is the same as denying life, no? Without will there is no life. By creating art or anything you embrace the will.

Most ascetic and idealist philosophers had very puritan, anti-art views. The more ascetic, life denying or will denying someone is the more he looks down upon art or hates it. At least that is how it looks to me. Plato, asian monks, devoted pious Christians all had anti-art sentiments. That is because asceticism, idealism and denying of the will isn't compatible with art. Art is about passions and emotions, while the former line of thought is about rationality above all. Asceticism and idealism lead to denial of the will and denial of existence and these in turn lead to anti-art views. Idealism can't produce good art or can't be the basis of good art by its nature, idealism is suited for philosophy and science because it focuses on concepts above all.

On the other hand Dionysian/Nietzschean attitude and life-affirming lead to the creation of art and great tragedies. This philosophy is the one that is pro-art. Schopenhauer is kind of an odd guy because he elaborates on his idealism, asceticism, denial of the will but still you can tell that he very much loves art and values the passions highly. I think Schope wasn't really an idealist, life/will denier or ascetic. Nietzsche had a good point about him, saying that a man who loved art so much as him couldn't have hated existence that much, couldn't have been a pessimist.

>>58645
>Denying the will is the same as denying life
It's denying the desire to do something out of a motivation from the will, basically contemplating art gives the intellect preponderance over the will. Art captures the platonic idea, Schopenhauer thought through the contemplation of life's suffering through tragedy, that the intellect achieves preponderance over the will

>>58644
Let me know here when you do so I can make sure I actually received it and that the FBI isn't isolating me via electromagnetic interference.

>>58647
Yeah I will, I'll send one in the next 24 hrs

>>58648
Can't believe anon died from a sudden-onset heart attack ;-;

>>58648
I don't know if you forgot or are just busy/lazy, but i'll be waiting anyway.

>>58728
I have become very lazy. And my family had started annoying me by taking by stuff

>>58743
I'm happy to hear from you, anon. That's okay. If you're still up for it, i'll wait for as long as you need. I've got nothing but free time. Have a good month, and such.

In order to create my VN I will start reading way more VNs and reviewing them in this thread.

I have decided to not read Umineko, I have already been spoiled for it and it took me 3 weeks of playing the game to get to episode 4 where it suddenly became incredibly Kino and I love Ange but the whole mystery the whole mystery being a truth which you can make up just ruined it for me, now I have no motivation to read it. I think I'll just play ciconia when they cry, or one of Ryukishi07's other works. Also mahoutsukai no yoru is getting localized I think.

VNs are trash.

>>58812
there actually is a truth to the mystery but the more important thing is that the actual "mystery" itself isnt ultimately the primary focus or what's most important
a shame though

>>58812
i don't think you're missing much. it's horribly paced and waaaay longer than it needs to be. i don't think it's bad, but i don't get why it's so popular.

the ost is amazing, though.

Subahibi was constantly recommended to me, and now that I’ve mostly finished it, I can see why. It was definitely a reading experience that would be hard to replicate in any other medium, and I haven’t ever really read anything at all similar to it. It’s a somewhat poetic grasp on the ephemerality of life. The closest thing I’ve ever read to Subahibi is Notes from the Underground, where we see the insights of a typical social outcast who provides his opinion on society in general, and I really enjoyed Notes from the Underground, but that novel was much more literary while Subahibi is written in pretty generic prose (except for a couple of moments were the writing was genuinely good). The similarities end there, Subahibi is more like diving head deep into the utterly deranged fantasies of a lunatic, with each chapter providing a new character’s view of the events happening, and the reader is then constantly asking why, what the hell is happening? The first chapter is really quite boring at first, but I think that it has a lot of merit once you finish the entire game, and furthermore the ending leaves the reader with multiple questions about what just happened, each chapter leaves you more and more bewildered with events unfolding that are contradictory, characters endlessly defying time and space by suddenly appearing and disappearing. Another important part of the game is that it adapts Wittgenstein early work Tractus Logico-Philosophicus, which is a rather well-known work in the world of analytic philosophy, but I doubt the common visual novel reader is interested in epistemology.
The main themes taken from the Tractus is that basically that “The subject does not belong to the world; rather it is a limit of the world,” and “The limit of the world is the limit of my language.”
Those might not make sense from just reading them but basically all Wittgenstein is saying that our subjective experiences are ours and ours alone, the limit of the world is each and all of our experiences or I guess they could be defined as the ‘Transcendental Hypostasis”, and that the limit of the world is what language can express; in typical analytic fashion, all meaningful propositions in language is that which can be empirically verified, a proposition that goes beyond intersubjective experience is something Wittgenstein says “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.”
Those propositions about the existence of God or whatever aren’t meaningless to Wittgenstein rather, they should be dwelled upon in meaningful silence. From now on I will talk about spoilers so go ahead and read Subahibi before this. We see in “It’s my own Invention!” that Takuji goes more and more insane, it is genuinely like stepping into the head of a schizophrenic for a couple of hours, and it was interesting but I didn’t think it was amazing, it lacked in something, I’m not sure what, but if I think they put Zakuro’s perspective before Takuji’s there could’ve been a better build up for the mystery. I really did like Takuji’s anxiety ridden breakdowns, as he progressively becomes more and more deluded as the bullying becomes more and more extreme, we see after his traumatic rape scene becomes that he attempts to remove his personality. All of these random suicides for example Zakuro’s suicide led him to use these coincidences to form a cult, and somehow uses his newfound martial art abilities to assert his dominance as “Humanities Saviour”, it’s intriguing to see him interact with his delusions and also pretty funny to see him dream up random futanari sex scenes. At the end, he decides to escape with Kimika to the End Sky. In Zakuro’s perspective, we see how haunting her experience with being raped as she is bullied by the two-faced whores, she can’t actually tell at all whether they are being nice or mean (probably because she's an autist), Zakuro was probably the best succubus, she was cute and innocent, and her story’s ending was another good example of a tragedy executed well. The reader probably would find these delusional type events hit much more harder if they preceded their correspondence in reality, for example Zakuro flying to her death and then Yuki seeing her in a puddle of blood. The later chapters are good touch, especially Jabberwocky and Jabberwocky II, It felt similar to the normal ending in Heavens Feel, where both of the heroines are left without their saviour, but in Hasaki’s case she starts believing in her delusions while Tomosane is dead. I can’t really say anything more about this Visual Novel, it was good, it captured the spirit of being a person undergoing a traumatic case developing delusions and psychotic symptoms very accurately, it gave a simple and profound message but it didn’t leave me utterly devastated. The feels it gave me were more like “this is a sad story, oh well”, but It definitely made me reflect on the ephemerality of life. Overall a 7/10.

It took me far too long, but I finally finished AIR. It's a great VN. I just feel so empty. Whether I fill my head with fictional stories, or try to craft real ones, all I see is desolation and emptiness. Well, all I can do is cope with it…

…So, I like almost everything about AIR. It has a great cast of characters. I like all of them. Good soundtrack. It has this desolate setting that fits it well. I like all of the routes, and it has a bittersweet ending. I guess it should have been shorter, though. That's all.

I will write about what I read recently.

Chaos;Head Noah - 9.25/10. The ending is kind of… eh… But the rating should make it obvious how much I liked everything else. Immensely looking forward to reading Chaos;Child now.
Harmonia - 5.75/10
It's main boon is being short.
Totono (Kimi to Kanojo to Kanojo no koi) - 8.25/10
Really interesting experience. I have some reservations about how some things were handled.
Hotel dusk - 7.5/10. Some plot holes and contrivances and the game doesn't really take chekhov's gun under advisement. Everything in the story is thematically relevant, at least. The characters are really enjoyable.
Paranormasight: The seven mysteries of Honjo - 8.75/10. Maybe even 9. Richter and Harue are the most enjoyable characters, they have a great dynamic. But I like all of them. It begins as a "curse" battle royale, then quickly morphs into focusing more on the mystery. The mystery is equally engaging, but they could have done more with some of the ideas here. I have few complaints. I was kind of cringing at the "meta" elements, because every VN in existence has done them at this point, but the way they were handled in the end was fine, actually. The twist wasn't that the player was involved in the story, but rather that the POV character was the spirit of Seimen, and that HE was involved in the story. And I think that's a decent enough spin on these overused meta concepts that I don't mind it. The game honestly does an excellent job leaving no loose ends.

Going to play last window (hotel dusk sequel), the rest of the SciADV series, then possibly move onto Higurashi and Umineko next.

South Scrimshaw

I don't play visual novel games but watched Manley play one. I really like this one. It's like David Attenborough narrating on an alien world. It even has some world building about the future human society observing this species. Kinda like a nature documentary enthusiast with art skills flexing their creativity on biology. I loved the Seabun skit.

>>59719
I did play Last Window and Higurashi - Though i've still got the console arcs left.

Last Window: The Secret of Cape West - It's a pretty dramatic improvement over the first game, which itself wasn't that bad either, and it's only problem is that the pacing is a bit slower.
Higurashi: When They Cry - It's actually a really good VN. Though I wouldn't blame someone for disliking it when it's longer than the bible, and frankly doesn't need to be. The answers arc also isn't as good as the questions arc. My favourite characters are Ooishi and Rika. After that, i'm not sure, but Satoko, Irie and Keichi also stand out to me.
Onikakushi - The first arc is also one of the best ones. I'm unsure if this or Tatarigoroshi is my favourite. When I first started it, I read the first 2 chapters and stopped. When I continued, I binged the entire rest of the novel in a single sitting. The start is slow, but the second half (everything that happens after Ooishi meets with Keichi for the first time) was so engaging I just couldn't stop reading. This is an amazing opening chapter.
Watanagashi - It's pretty good. In retrospect, it's actually pretty clever, but you might not realize that when you're first reading through it. Meakashi almost makes it feel redundant, though.
Tatarigoroshi - A thoroughly engaging chapter that feels worse in retrospect. I guess the explanation mostly makes sense, but i'd be lying if I said it isn't disappointing. Anyway, I don't want to understate just how memorable many of the moments in this chapter were. There's at least 5 of them:
- The moment where Ooishi first appears, and Keichi is immediately unnerved. I like how his sentiments are supposed to mirror the players, because Ooishi's appearance in the first two chapters signalled the beginning of where everything began to go to shit. Ooishi's versatility as a plot device in this way is part of why I like him as a character so much.
- Satoko's situation in general is handled really well, but the moment where she finally snaps, and Keichi also does the same is amazing. The situation was handled well enough that I could completely understand where he was coming from.
- When Keichi finds out that Satoko's uncle is still alive. It isn't memorable because it's a "le shocking plot twist", but rather because you just watched him spend hours planning and executing his murder. You see the entire process. And then at the end, you find out that, according to Satoko, her uncle is still alive and her abuse is still ongoing. It's unbelievably frustrating, and I think it's good that the story was able to invoke that emotion. Though, yes, in the answers arc you find out this was Satoko's delusion.
- The scene where Ooishi catches Keichi digging up the body. I don't think I have to explain why this scene is great. The music choice is excellent as well.
- The entire ending, from where Keichi discovers Satoko almost dying from heatstroke, to the great Hinamizawa disaster.
Himatsubushi - It's fine, I guess, even though it's a filler chapter. I did say Ooishi and Rika were my favourite characters, and they feature prominently here, so I can't complain. The ending scene in particular is quite memorable and provides a good bookend on the questions arc.
Meakashi - It's fine. Basically just an answers sheet for Watanagashi.
Tsumihoroboshi - Really good chapter. The peak is the school being held hostage by Rena, of course.
Minagoroshi - Might be my third favourite chapter. I loved the concept of everything seeming to come together in this fortunate way, only for Rika to realise this timeline was a repeat of Tatarigoroshi, her least favourite world. The section where everyone tries to save Satoko is long, yes, but I think that was somewhat necessary, because Tatarigoroshi is supposed to be this "insurmountable fate" and I like that it's solution takes alot of work. It leads into a really satisfying resolution. The rest is fine. They reveal that Takano, the most obvious mastermind in history, was the mastermind. And there's also this really fucking stupid scene where 5 children somehow hold their own against professional assassins for a couple minutes. Ooishi also dies, which was sad, because he's usually fortunate enough to be one of the only survivors.
Matsuribayashi - The connecting fragments and Takano's backstories were good. Irie in particular really benefitted from it. It's satisfying watching things come together at first, and I enjoyed seeing Tomitake, Irie, Ooishi and Akasaka on Rika's side. Ooishi also has a couple memorable moments in this chapter. But towards the end, it devolves into an absolute shitshow where 5 children take on the shittiest military unit in existence with """traps""". What was Ryu thinking when he wrote this cancer?
Saikoroshi - This is a pretty decent epilogue to the story.

If I had to rank the chapters, I might do it something like: Onikakushi, Tatarigoroshi, Minagoroshi, Tsumihoroboshi, Saikoroshi, Watanagashi, Meakashi, Himatsubushi, Matsuribayashi.

>>60297
What an interesting and strange game.

i need to find fun visual novels. i always go for porn stuff and then when the creators delves into his own personal piss fetishes i lose interest. i guess it's time for non porn vn

>>58523
>>58555
I'd recommend giving Raging Loop a try if you haven't already. It's a murder mystery with trials like Danganronpa but I feel it addresses your criticisms of the characters being more reactive and contemplative to what's happening to them.

Finished a game called "Endless Monday: Dreams and Deadlines". Pretty spritework, but mediocre experience.

>>60317
try hatoful boyfriend for peak fiction
>>60343
Thanks for the recommendation. In fact, I already have it downloaded. I'll certainly play it sometime.

Anyone here fantasize about making their own VN?

I have no experience writing, I just want to make the kind of thing i'd like to read. I have no illustration ability either. Have some ideas for how I could make the visuals in spite of that. It'd just be a kinetic novel.

some vague elements I fantasize about including:
-abstract far future tech. some examples of fiction I'd be influenced by in this regard:
-bleakwarrior
-superluminary by john c wright

-complex tactical combat involving said technology. internal monologue characters involves lots of tech jargon.

-narrative that jumps between a huge variety of non-standard POVs. some examples: AI Virus infiltrating a system, genetically altered intelligent mutant hive mind of warrior insectoids in a hellish warzone, tech gods living in VR heaven who instantaneously telepathically communicate walls of poetic text, a member of the standard population that has an internal monologue of degenerated ebonics/newspeak.

-massive time-skips that show the progression/degeneration of the setting while still retaining certain key characters.

-overall story feels like the chronicling of Life itself going out of control into chaos.

some more influences:
-fourteen by kazuo umezu
-jack womack's dryco series

>>60551
You can use Stablediffusion or midjourney to create visuals for you. Then mash them together with photoshop/krita.

>>60552
yeah I was considering that. maybe making low fidelity collages kind of like pic related. maybe use some weird filters.

I know someone who's obsessed with AI and they pointed me towards using comfyui but the generators i tried using with it would always spit out super generic looking stuff despite using pretty specific prompts.

>>60551
i just can't bring other characters to life for writing in general. i can't bring myself to care about other points of view that aren't interesting to me. for example any succubi characters, mothers, etc… it can't be helped>>60551

>>60553
Cant you just feed the ia your own gallery?

>>60551
Yes, I do. I think it would be a shame to die without producing some kind of storytelling work i'm satisfied with. I have alot of ambitions. Naturally this is one of them, and VN's are my preferred storytelling medium. It also seems somewhat practical to do, and it seems more likely that anyone will even pay attention than if you were to write a book or something. Even Higurashi and Umineko used real-life pictures as backgrounds and some questionable amateur sprites at first, and Higurashi used royalty free music. It doesn't seem like a very resource intensive medium, since it just requires PNG's, music and text, so it's reasonably practical. It's something I might try once i've developed myself alot.
Well, even with no writing experience, I think you should go for it someday. You sound like you have a creative mind.

>>60304
I have a curse called excessive thoroughness. So for some reason, I read all of the console arcs. All together, they're probably even longer than the main story.

Hirukowashi - Boring
Batsukoishi - No comment
Higurashi Outbreak - Bad
Kamikashimashi - Bad; literally nonsense
Hinamizawa bus stop - Pretty decent if you have 2 hours to kill.
Taraimawashi - Boring, cool ending though. I was surprised when I saw it referenced in the second season of the anime adaption (Btw, that anime fucking sucked. Anime plebs btfo'd yet again)
Tsukiotoshi - Entertaining enough, but the character writing feels a bit off, and overall I just don't care about it. There's this scene where Keichi, Rena and Shion are just casually discussing the murder they committed the other day in a public lobby, and all of a sudden, Ooishi just walks in with this grin on his face, and they're sitting there like "…Shit. Did he hear all that?". That scene got a good laugh out of me.
Someutsushi - The first arc in the advanced story, which features an almost entirely new cast of characters. Notably Natsumi, who's fine, and Tomoe Minai, who fucking rules. She might be my second favourite Higurashi character now. Anyway, Someutsushi is kind of boring.
Kageboushi - Advanced story 2nd Arc. This one stars the trio of Akazaka, Ooishi and Tomoe as they try to solve the mysteries surrounding the GHD. That's also why I like it, since any scene where any combination of the three of them is on screen together is usually really enjoyable. Memorable in particular is the scene where Tomoe dies, and how everyone reacts to that. Especially Ooishi's breakdown about it. We even get to see his survivor's guilt over always being the only one left alive.
Yoigoshi - Just really weird, I don't know how to feel about it. I liked the concept of playing as the son of the journalist who Keichi curses at the end of tatarigoroshi, but otherwise I don't have many opinions about it, negative or positive.
Tokihogushi - Another good advance story arc.
Console connecting fragments - There are some pretty good ones in there. One that stuck in my memory was the scene where Maeno is transferred to public relations, just like Tomoe is, and Yamaoki explains to him the utility of connections and control of the media, with 'you -destructive-' playing, and Maeno realises that amassing such power is a necessary step if mere police officers intend to take on a conspiracy surrounding powerful bureaucrats. It contextualizes the ending of Tokihogushi a bit more.
Miotsukushi - Very, very long. Anyway, this is undoubtedly a better conclusion to the story than Matsuribayashi is, but it still has some of that arcs flaws, and in retrospect i'm kind of iffy about some things it does. If, like me, you found Matsurbayashi lacking, you may like this more, because it feels like it resolves alot more threads. Keichi is also alot more relevant, and has many great character moments. That seems alot more fitting than his borderline irrelevance in Matsuribayashi, since he is just as much a protagonist of this story as Rika is. I mentioned that I liked Minagoroshi because the solution to Satoko's abuse doesn't end up being some cop-out, but requires extensive work - The support of dozens of people, even. In Miotsukushi's case, that same problem is solved instantly and it just feels cheap. And not only that, Rina and Teppei are just killed off by the writers for no reason, despite the fact that the plot could have still functioned with them alive. Again, it feels cheap and convenient. Also, towards the end, Keichi and Rika just start dodging bullets like they're in the fucking matrix and they introduce this plot point about this backup plan Takano totally had the entire time to put chemicals in the water that gives everyone L5 symptoms or something and ???????? I'm pretty sure that makes no sense. As for good things, the final confrontation between Rika and Takano is actually very good, bullet dodging aside.
Miotosukush Omote - The same arc but with some changes to make it line up with Miotukushi Ura, which are fine, and some other general changes which are incredibly baffling at worst. There's no reason to read this unless you're me.
Miotsukushi Ura - If I have a favourite console arc, it's this one—This is the 4th and final arc in the advanced story, once again starring Tomoe. It has a slow first half, and an amazing second half. Some memorable scenes in particular: The scene where Tomoe puts two-and-two together about the medication Rena and Natsumi were taking, with an instrumental rock version of the 'qualia of the shining sky' opening playing. It also plays during the scene where Tomoe realizes what her fathers memo actually means, and those scenes really gave ace attorney pursuit vibes. Also the one where Sorimachi tries to receive the evidence from Tomoe without a warrant before the Nagoya district prosecutor, and she chooses to trust him based on his connection to Akazaka, who she met briefly at the beginning of the arc. Finally, the scene near the end where Tomoe tries to head to the airport alone, and the entire police force is just standing there at the entrance, ready to risk losing their jobs and join her on an essentially illegal raid. That scene was so fucking hype, and it acts as a parallel to Tomoe's father doing the same thing, but on his own. I also like most of the characters (Yamaoki, Madoka, Natsumi, Tsukada, etc), but especially Tomoe.
Kotohogushi - Long-winded, but fine. I'm not sure how I feel about this relative to the rest of the higurashi universe. It doesn't really feel like it connects at all or really explains much of anything, but it's a servicable self-contained story.
Hajisarashi - As far as joke arcs go, this one is actually really funny.
Mehagashi - This one too.

Overall: Ideally, you should play Higurashi with the original backgrounds (As the drawn ones look sterile and dull) and the console sprites. Higurashi peaks with it's first chapter. The questions arc is very good. The answers arc is kind of uninteresting, and gets a bit too bogged down in heavy-handed thematics and questionable writing choices. The advanced story is good, but long-winded. Miotsukushi is good, but flawed. And the other console arcs aren't really worth reading, as they range from bad to a little bit dull. That's everything.

I read Umineko.

Good, but not really the masterpiece I was wanting it to be. It's a more-or-less fair/solvable murder mystery story (that's far too long) where figuring out the culprit is the easy part- Figuring out the tricks behind the murders is the easiest part once you've got the right culprit- and figuring out their motive feels almost impossible (I still don't fully get it). I have two main criticisms about the tricks behind the mystery.
A. It's really boring. The solution to every single mystery on the game board is invariably 'multiple personalities/biased perspective/bribed accomplices' with few exceptions, and it's fine, but I was hoping for something else
B. If you really nit-picked at it, Shannon/Kanon/Beatrice being the same person (Sayo) probably contradicts a bunch of red truths. But you're not supposed to be exclusively relying on the red truths for your theory-crafting anyway, so having to twist the semantics a little to make it fit the interpretation probably isn't a massive flaw. It's still pretty lame, though.
I like Higurashi more. Something's missing from Umineko that prevents me from saying I love it, and it might be because the plot just feels aimless and meandering for the most part, and because the characters weren't handled how I would have preferred them to be. It's hard to say. The story can be summed up as Battler's attempt to understand what Beatrice is telling him. He understands that by the time we get to episode 6. After that, all that is left is to give an answer check for the mysteries and resolve Ange's arc. After it's over, it ends up feeling like not that much happened, since the 'game boards', which took up most of the time, were only stories the game masters were telling to get across some kind of message.
My favourite characters are probably Maria, Lambdadelta, Eva, Battler, Nanjo, Kumasawa and Kinzo. I guess Featherine is also pretty interesting.
Despite being a basic logic puzzle that you might find in a professor layton game for 30 picarats, solving Bern's puzzle without using hints made me feel like Megamind.
I could say more than that, but I won't.

>>61064
I wish for her pointy snaggletooth to leave a sore spot on my wandshaft.

>>61075
Me too wizzie, but she wouldn't do that to anyone except bern

Also, I forgot to mention Erika, Dlanor, Will, Lion, Rosa and Natsuhi. I like all of those characters too.

the only visual novel I played was fata morgana (and I didn't even finish it). what's appealing about VN?

>>61549
It's like a book…with visuals.

Yeah, I will see myself out of the thread now.

>>61556
I prefer VN with gameplay, fo you know some?

>>61557
How do you feel about edgy rpg maker games?

>>61558
since it's rpg maker better be a 10/10 because I quickly get bored of them (like it did with my play of black souls)

>>61559
nevermind then

I want to get full metal deamon muramasa but I don't know where to get it.
>gog
apparently there's a censorship, and I want to play the whole game without removes parts of the game
>JAST usa
I don't know if it has the whole game or not like above with gog. also can I play in europe even if it says 'usa'?
>pirate it
I don't know how to pirate it and if I'll get viruses and hope to get the full version of the game too

>>62003
From a quick web search the Jast USA version is uncensored.
Looking around the site I see no reason why you wouldn't be able to buy it in europe using the site, and it even has the ability to display whatever you preferred currency is for price.

If you still go with the GOG version, then you can still get the uncensorship patch from JAST usa using this link. https://help.jastusa.com/en/knowledgebase/article/muramasa-18-patch-for-gog

Can't help you with pirating though. I tend to use direct download links when I look for a particular game which takes awhile to verify.
I haven't torrened games in over a decade and when I did it was more often then not a failure.

Hope that was somewhat helpful.

>>62004
thank you very much wizzie, I think I'm going to get it from jast usa

Finally got around to reading/playing Saya no Uta.
Didn't do all routs yet nor did I get what I feel like was supposed to be the true ending but my verdict so far was as with almost all eldritch themed cosmic horror flavored media, I was underwhelmed and mildly annoyed by the "horrors beyond comprehension so I will intentionally be vague and leave everything of substance up to the reader to fill in."
Even the artstyle of the rotting fleshscapes weren't detailed and lame. In short, the horror elements were utterly underwelming. The only time I felt a sense of horror was with mentions of not using contraception and my mind jumped to the possibility of the MC's seed being used to spawn the end of the world or something, but the ending I got that never went anywhere.
The "romance" felt equally not fleshed out.
Yeah, I am really not a fan of the genera. It's too fill in the blanks for my liking and almost never has sound storycraft or proper internal logic.
That said it's nowhere near the worst of examples and it's decent enought that I will continue playing/reading it for other routs and hope that at least one of them is somewhat satisfying.
Though if there isn't one with involving a H scene with Saya in her eldritch horror form I will be super disappointed. Don't pussy out on my you fucking cowards!

>>62006
I read/played more.
Got the "humanity wins" ending.
While actually answering some mysteries is was devastatingly depressing. While I don't think this VN has any good endings that was most certainly the bad one.
I didn't even have the emotional strength to roll my eyes at the dumb cosmic horror tropes. Was too sad at the deep all pervasive misery and hopeless despair of the ending. While not the most depressing thing I have read/played it was probably the most depressing in VN form I have ever come across.

I think I only got one rout left. By process of elimination it must be the closest the game has to a good end, but given the overall tone I still expect it to be painful, whatever it is.

Also did get eldritch H scene but not exactly in the form I expected, lol. Still I sort of got what I wanted in that regard.

Got into Umineko, got spoilered fast. Whatever. Doesn't seem worth the playtime, anyway. Kinda liked the George character - smart and level-headed. Would be my self-insert. Go online. People call him an insecure crab. Hits close home. Honestly, what can you do about being insecure? What can you about being in an involuntary celibate? Both labels are due to external factors.

>>62011
Allow me to spoiler you further, because I don't know if you've discovered an important reason George is disliked yet. Battler distanced himself from the rest of the family for a few years because he was angry at his dad for remarrying too fast after his mom died. He didn't completely drop all contact, though. He sent a letter that addressed every single family member at some point. It also addressed a servant girł who had feelings for him and they were in sort of a relationship but it wasn't anything too serious. George ended up reading the letter and specifically omitted that part of jealousy so that he could have a chance with her, which makes him one of the least wizardly characters in my opinion.

>>62011
>Umineko
Here's a good article debunking the supposed tranny shit https://sorel.substack.com/p/suicide-of-the-golden-troon

chaos;head is excellent at depicting the growing insanity and delusions of a person isolated from society