Good opinion! Katawa Shoujo gets a lot of shit it doesn’t deserve here, probably due to who made it or quick judgments rather than what it actually is.
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G-Senjou no Maou
TL;DR = flawed but fun.
Just finished a complete playthrough with all the endings. I bought the version with the voice acting pack about half price in a Steam Sale and with about 30 hours of reading reckon that’s good value for money but a bit expensive at full price for both. Voice acting is good enough to be worth the extra IMO though not outstanding. Art generally good+.
Reading through the posts of a few days ago I can’t help but wonder if the sales pitch “a deadly cat-and-mouse game” is deliberately toying with the players expectations a bit. I say this because of the very cheesy classical music covers and some of the dialogue made me think I wasn’t supposed to take this too seriously, and from that viewpoint I did find most of the VN very enjoyable. Just the first two chapters seemed to drag a bit and it got a bit OTT near the end. Just don’t go into it expecting the intensity of something like ‘Silence of the Lambs’.
It’s not necessary to complete all endings - you can fail to get them or skip them to get the true ending, and a couple of those routes are actually quite short and integrated into the common route. Ultimately, while I rushed to finish it to know the end of the story it did leave me a bit sad at the end to not have more so that’s always a good sign. I would have given this 7.5/10 but the post credits bumped it to a more generous 8/10.
You mean of course Miss Noriko 
Spoilery thoughts
Favourite part, oddly for me was Kanon’s story. I say this as about 30 years ago we had a very successful period in international figure skating/ice dancing and everyone here of course went a bit ape shit about how fantastic it was - except me - until we went back to total mediocrity. I still hate what I consider to be twatting around on ice. However this was the one story that gave me the feels and that phantom onion slicer appeared.
Other characters and routes in general interesting enough; Tsubaki a bit too calculatedly perfect and adorable with her routes a bit protracted while Mizuha the least interesting for me. Haru and AN Other I did like a lot. It makes a change for me to play a not admirable or especially likeable character - I struggle badly with keeping Evil aligned RPG characters evil! Eiichi was quite fun in his rather horrible way too.
The fact that things seem to go so consistently wrong for our lead girl was what made me wonder if this is a bit of a poke at the invincible protagonist/antagonist scenario such as Holmes vs Moriarty. Maybe not and it’s just that it all somehow works to be entertaining despite the quality issues that machelmore and Takafumi raise. Of course the success of these type of stories hinges on the reader thinking they have been given enough by the writer to deduce what the detective reasons while the writer really holds plenty back to make that actually impossible ) as we get here with the identity of the “Devil” (well it was obvious wasn’t it? Until…)
I was hoping they’d be brave enough to end with the protagonist having gained and resolved precisely nothing unlike most other harem type VNs but the post credit scenes just improved my opinion of it a bit - I suppose you can imagine your own ending to some extent although it suggests rehabilitation.
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I’d say it was mediocre, as far as VNs go. Like, you can get better VNs in English nowadays.
However, it was short, sweet, nd at least one of the routes touched me, so i’ll give it that
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It was one of my first VNs so it’s been about 9 years since I read it, but i remember enjoying it a lot at the time. I’ve actually been meaning to revisit it because I enjoyed it so much, if that means anything.
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Nearly forgot to write this shit, Higanbana was too engaging.
Da Capo VS Dal Segno – Which is Better?
Dal Segno. Easily.
When I say easily, I mean about two points higher on a scale out of ten. However, the two games are still very similar. Of course, when I say “Da Capo”, I mean just the first one, but it would surprise me if Da Capo 2 or 3 were more similar to the original in terms of themes or even concept than Dal Segno is. Dal Segno is just Da Capo but good.
This is reflected in every aspect of Dal Segno. To name an example of this without spoiling anything, the Dal Segno character Noeri is just the Da Capo character Nemu, but without the passive-aggressive bullshit – they’re the same, except that Noeri is actually a good character. The execution, the pacing, the characterization, the pacing, the setting, the pacing, all are better in Dal Segno. Did I mention the pacing by the way? At the very least Dal Segno isn’t mind-numbingly boring until the last five minutes when they introduce and resolve the complication. Not to mention the common route of Da Capo was just frivolous, with choosing the alarm time and map locations every damn day, but in Dal Segno, you can just enjoy it. In fact, I was very impressed with the common route of Dal Segno, not necessarily in content, but in the way that it ended just as I was starting to get sick of it.
I couldn’t tell you when it was exactly, but there was a certain point in time when interest shifted from the magic of the supernatural to the magic of science, and this is very clearly reflected in the differences between Da Capo and Dal Segno. To not say anything about which is better or which I like more, I just thought it was interesting to see.
The homie character in Dal Segno is actually a character, not a Kitagawa. You could actually remove the only other male character in Da Capo completely and it would change nothing. And while I wouldn’t compare the guy from Dal Segno to the Key homies, he’s probably the next best thing.
The biggest problem between the games is definitely the protagonist. I wonder if Circus is even capable of writing a protagonist who isn’t a whiny little bitch. Neither of them have any deep character, they’re not funny or even witty, they just have nothing to offer. To talk about them individually, Da Capo’s MC completely lacks the ability to put two and two together – and whenever he tries he gets a hundred. On the other hand, Dal Segno’s MC just arbitrarily decides that for the equation 0>X>100, X = 69, without explaining why, and his explanations are awful even if he does try to explain. tl;dr: the MC’s are both whiny, have no major redeeming qualities, and have incomprehensible thought processes.
Neither game has much depth to be honest, but to be fair, if you’re looking for depth, you should probably read something by Key or 07th Expansion, not Circus. They do both get emotional at some points, but neither gets too heavy. Though, I guess someone might cry during Dal Segno.
Dal Segno honestly did a better imitation of the Key formula than I would ever expect from a company that’s not Key. Da Capo actually had this too - same ideas and everything - but Da Capo was so poorly executed that I didn’t really notice it.
The art. Here we goooooooooooooooooo. This is the aspect of Dal Segno that sends people alarm bells, but I’m here to say not to worry about it. I personally prefer the more anime-style of drawing used in Dal Segno to the pencil-sketch-style used in Da Capo. Obviously, this is a matter of preference, but if you prefer pngs over jpgs, then you’ll probably like the Dal Segno art better either way.
Soundtrack is probably the front where Da Capo can compete most closely with Dal Segno, but even in this Dal Segno is, in my opinion, clearly superior. And actually, the thing about Dal Segno that made it so memorable to me, were the vocal tracks. I might even go so far as to say that Dal Segno has the best vocal tracks of any VN I’ve ever played – for sure if you don’t count Key VNs. The backgrounds music tracks are comparable I suppose, but once you consider the vocal tracks it stops being a competition once again.
The engine of Da Capo is so bad, please kill it, burn it with fire, ensure nothing remains. And while the engine of Dal Segno isn’t perfect either, it at least has the bare minimum you would expect, and there’s certainly no real reason to complain about it.
Overall, Da Capo starts painfully slowly, rushed the ending, had a bad MC, poor art, a decent soundtrack and a terrible engine. I give it anywhere between 5.9-6.1/10. It seems better than that looking back on it, but nothing that I have to force down my own throat to finish should be rated too highly.
Overall, Dal Segno has good pacing, a bad MC, good art, a good soundtrack, great vocal tracks, and a more-than-passable engine. I give it an 8.1-8.2/10. Nothing to write home about, but it was a fun VN that was easy to get in to and easy to read with good qualities all around.
So, my recommendation? Read Dal Segno and not Da Capo. Or at the very least, read Dal Segno first. To be completely honest, reading Da Capo actually ruined Dal Segno a little for me. Knowing the origin behind some of the references, and the inspiration for the story, actually lowered my opinion of Dal Segno rather than the other way around.
And btw:
I mean of course Eiichi.
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I totally didn’t forget about this and wrote it in the last ten minutes as a result.
I was wondering what to do this week, since I didn’t plan this far ahead when I started doing this, but I finished Higanbana a few days ago, so I figured it was a good opportunity for the next review.
Higanbana – Up to Par with When They Cry?
Yes.
Having read through the entirety of all four 07th Expansion Visual Novels – Higanbana, Rose Guns Days, and both the When They Cry series’, Higurashi and Umineko – I am of the opinion that, with the exception of Umineko being clearly the best, the three remaining are pretty equal in quality. And to be honest, I think that if Higanbana was as long as the When They Cry’s, or even RGD, it would probably be the best. That is to say, I like it the best per unit time. To make an easy comparison, It’s kind of like the 07th Planetarian. Though I will say that Higanbana in particular is not for everyone.
Something I’ve always enjoyed about Ryukishi’s works is that he doesn’t feel the need to dance around or to dress up topics that are generally considered unsavoury. It’s not like he goes out of his way to be edgy, but he does tell it like it is, which is something I really respect. So, fair warning, if you are the type to be easily offended, well, you might have a hard time reading anything written by Ryukishi, particularly RGD and Higanbana. To be even more specific, I feel like one should really read at least Higurashi if not Umineko also before moving on to these other two. After reading through his earlier works, and maybe even reading some interviews, you start to understand that maybe he’s not trying to say what you think he is. You start to see some real nuance in what he writes that doesn’t really come across if you don’t know his personality (much like myself 
.)
Higanbana sets the mood from the very first line. It’s the only 07th VN that I’ve never had to struggle through any part of, I was rapt in every word. The pacing was among the best of any story I’ve ever read. And yet, it still manages to subvert your expectations at every turn in a very natural way. A few weeks ago, I criticised G-Senjou for poor execution of plot twists, but for some truly shocking plot twists that just leave you agape, read Higanbana.
The soundtrack is pretty on par with the other 07th Expansion VNs, all of which I rate very highly. It’s very atypical however. I can’t think of any soundtrack quite like it, though that makes it fit very well with Higanbana, which is pretty weird as a whole.
It does not have voice acting, and unlike Umineko, no voice patch exists. But as I’ve said before, I’m not overly concerned with voice acting. But if you are concerned with it, keep in mind that you won’t enjoy Higanbana as much as I did.
The art, in typical 07th fashion, is not the best, but is enough to get you through the story. The character design, however, is very impressive – enough to make me forget about the honestly poor art quality and enjoy it overall.
To talk about where Higanbana suffers, it’s definitely the length. I’m not usually the type to complain about getting more of something just because I liked it, but Higanbana is a special case. The story establishes some concepts that clearly could be explored further, and when you get to the last chapter and expect it to resolve them, it doesn’t cover them at all and then just ends (not to talk shit on the last chapter, it was amazing.) There’s so much content that goes unexplored that I keep expecting to hear that there actually is a part three (a Third Night), but there isn’t, which is a little disappointing.
But overall, I would highly recommend Higanbana. Like I said, it’s not for everyone, but if you’re looking for some spooks or some 
s, you should read Higanbana. I’d give Higanbana an 8.7/10, and just like Planetarian, its length is what limits its rating, and was extremely entertaining per unit time.
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There is another Sekai Project Humble Bundle available for the users that are interested in it. It contains Root Double (again), Saku Saku, Fault Milestone, and some others.
This will be the fifth copy of Root Double I purchase honestly - didn’t think it was possible to ever buy a game that many times.
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Picked up eden* today - half price currently on the Steam sale if anyone is interested - seems to be very highly rated… Also got Wonderful Everyday Down the Rabbit-Hole although not such a big discount, and I also got the free patch as it’s supposed to open up more of the VN.
Currently playing 999 Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors - thought I was going to hate it after an hour or so but gradually coming round to appreciating it much more - just as well as I bought the trilogy last year in another Steam sale. More of a point & click puzzle game with some VN elements. I’ve struggled a bit with the puzzles although some are quite easy and I had to resort to a walkthrough to find my way through the routes although the flowchart is very helpful.
It makes me think of the old classic Secret of Monkey Island game which kind of poked fun at it when you have these ridiculous items ( a rubber chicken with a pulley in the middle…) to find a use for. Anyone too young to have heard of it, it’s worth checking out as it’s very cheap for PC now (on Steam Sale too) and despite the 1990 graphics it’s great fun.
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I’ve been playing Wagamama High Spec. Its not bad. The girls in it are cute, at least 
Its just a rather generic, cliched moe VN, but, still entertaining in some ways I guess. Ashe’s route would be the best.
I’m still going through the VN, on Mihiro’s route.
I also started Saku Saku. I like the artwork in it 
I have been thinking in playing the Higurashi series but I want to know if the 5 chapters that are actually in steam are the whole main history or there are more (aside of any spin-off)?
I believe there are still more to come yet.
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Pretty sure there are 3 more to follow, we were promised one every few months but it’s been 10 months since Ch 5 was released, and silence from the publisher.
Since they’ve already released the entire question and answer arcs for Umineko, I shall start that soon and leave Higurashi for some point in the future - I hope!
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I guess there is silence because they have been focused on other projects at the moment? They still have quite a backlog to get through, like Magical Marriage Lunatics (which I am looking forward to) and Supipara Chapter 2, among others.
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If Higurash 6-8 don’t come out soon I’m gonna break down and have to acquire them elsewhere. That shit is driving me nuts.
Currently working through House in Fata Morgana on @Karifean’s recommendation, though I’m still very early in. Need to get back to it at some point.
Sekai Project just published some VN+Puzzle Game called WILL and that looks kinda cool.
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Has anyone ever played Lucky Star: Ryōō Gakuen Ōtōsai? I was rather surprised that Lucky Star got a visual novel. I’m also curious about what people think of it and if they think it should get an English release (even though the possibility of that happening is nonexistent.
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Omg same… I still can’t believe umineko got completed on steam before higurashi Dx
Sad thing is the longer I wait, the more lowkey spoilers I start to see around the internet
I’m sure this last update from the Mangagamer blog pre-dates the release of Meakashi, so almost a year ago…
Tsumihoroboshi: Preparing for beta testing.
Minagoroshi, and Matsuribayashi are all out of TLC and editing now!
Still we did get Umineko completed so shouldn’t complain too much I guess…
That was actually a recent update in January. This was the update that was posted in May when Meakashi was released:
I’m still a bit sad Umineko was completed first since Higurashi in my opinion should be read first.
But in any case, I’m currently reading Steins;Gate 0. I really like it so far, I missed the S;G cast so much.
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How is the game so far? I was interested to know what people thought about it. I’m looking forward to the anime.
Well it’s really interesting to see a different side of Okabe than what the original presents us.
