General Visual Novel Topic

Finished Da Capo 3 and after some reflection while it may not be “better” than D.C. 2 it was my favourite of the three, and I think this is largely due to it playing a riff on the usual High School setting and taking most of the story to a whole new environment. I played the All Ages version and that also helped improve my experience of it!

The prologue is pretty average so it was a relief to get past that. There is nothing truly outstanding about the character routes but in some way I can’t easily define, it was the mix and interaction of all the “NPC’s” that made this more enjoyable for me, not just the heroines and their routes. It has to be said it is very SoL and yes there are some points at which it drags its feet. The radio sections of the prologue and main part were really quite a novel and fun addition. In addition with this VN having a true ending it felt more complete. Although the epilogue was a bit anticlimactic, it at least adds context to the prologue…

Whether I missed something or not the the protag’s aim of getting high enough access to the library in order to read specific restricted books appears to be a complete MacGuffin

While the side episodes don’t overall enhance the VN (two being very short), the last one really felt like it was the perfect and true Coda.

Where for me the VN subjectively wins over D.C. 2 I suppose it is in somehow managing to be greater than the sum of its parts

So, I am certain that reading D.C. 2 greatly helps in the enjoyment of 3, but 1 much less so except in the case of the last side story. I don’t know that much about D.C. 4 the connection to the previous 3 is not at all obvious to me, so as things stand I may have ended my sojourn in the world of Da Capo, and I’m actually quite going to miss it.

Spoiler for DC2 & 3 follows

I only cottoned on in the last Side Episode, the link between the Puppet Show in D.C 2 and Charles & Eto in D.C. 3

1 Like

Hello everyone, I’m back, finally after one month and 4 days, I finished Umineko no Naku Koro ni + no Naku Koro ni Chiru, it was something…no words to describe it, so before I’ll make my full detailed review (Whom I’ll keep spoilers free for those who haven’t read it yet) I’ll write my statistics that I have been keeping track of:

KEEP IN MIND that when I refer to VN or game, I mean both Umineko no Naku Koro ni and Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru, they are one, just the games seperated but they are one VN and one story

Game: Umineko no Naku Koro ni (When the Seagulls Cry / When they Cry 3) + Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru (When the Seagulls Cry “Breakdown” / When they Cry 4) [I consider them both a single game so the statistics are for both]

Status: Completed

Day started/Day finished: 14 June 2019 to 18 July 2019 (1 month and 4 days)

Time spent playing/reading (Pure playing time): 210 hours 00 mins apx [(+/-)1 hour]

Time spent playing/reading (Based on each episode):

E1: 27h00mins apx // E2: 23h20mins apx // 
E3: 27h15mins apx // E4: 31h10mins apx //

E5: 26h30mins apx // E6: 25h15mins apx //
E7: 24h40mins apx // E8: 24h50mins apx 

Average playtime (Hours per 1 day): 4-5 hours/day [Monday to Friday] // 6-8 hours/day [Weekend]

That’s all for the statistics I have, if I miss any information you guys would like to know, do not hesitate to tell me about it, I’ll answer anything.

So I’ll start on my review right away

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you haven’t started reading this VN then you need to read it by all means, I still remember my friend when he told me that “I’m in for a treat”, now that I finished and I’m currently writing this, I realize that he was more then just right, I never thought that a visual novel do make you think, think, truly a masterpiece deserving of “Best Visual Novel I’ve played up till now” (I do have alot of VNs still unread yet so I’m sure it might change, or it might not hehe) so I’ll be counting on it, back on topic, let’s start talking about the things that still now captivate me:

  1. And I thought the Nakige genre was an Exclusive to KEY (Well it still is) but…
    When I hear the word “Nakige” I automatically think of KEY, after all, before now, only KEY VNs made me cry (A grown man needs to cry at least once) or having my spine shiver, but in Umineko’s case, I definitely cried and not just one, 3 times (I believe those who read it will guess which scenes I’m talking about), while Little Busters made me cry 5 times (4 during Refrain alone) but to think I started shedding tears, I was shocked, in other words:
    DON’T be tricked by the first impression of the VN, the depths of this VN are indescribable and so Nakige while it’s not mentioned, it is so hidden and will surprise you and throw you into the depths of the feels, this is one thing of many things that made me so hooked up in it that I forget time when I read (A trait by an avid reader such as myself)

  2. A VN that makes you think, not only reading but also using your head, that’s something uncommon or I could say rare in VNs
    As I said, this VN is not like your average VN where you just read the story, enjoy it and after finishing it, you throw it away and let it gather dust, (A line from Umineko itself hehe and I’m not that kind of person) this one lets you think, after all, it has alot of genre combined in one VN, truly the thing I was looking for, plus you’ll expect alot of riddles (Not easy ones, I guarantee it) and alot of reasoning, you won’t be just reading, you’ll be reasoning aswell, who did what, how is it possible, in other words:
    You’re not just a reader, you’re a player yourself inside the VN and you are fighting aswell so prepare yourself and your mind because you will truly enter another world

  3. The core is “Mystery” but also “Fantasy”, these two genre while they appear contradicting each other, they’re in sync
    I used to adore books about Police series and detective novels when I was young, this VN reminded me of that sensation I experienced in my childhood and it brought a new sensation of having Fantasy and Mystery together (Or not hehe) so expect the battle between these two genres to reign in this game, it makes you think about crimes, whodunit, howdunit, whydunit (I knew these terms even before reading Umineko), it’s like solving a riddle but a much more complex one, also I should mention the Battle of Wits, I enjoy them so much so you guys are in for a treat (Said it again hehe!! :stuck_out_tongue: )

  4. Romance, while it’s present, unlike other VNs, it is more like the close companion to the Hero of a RPG game
    That’s my own analogy of how the Romance genre is in this VN, it is a main genre, yet also a secondary genre, something most people will say, how can this can be ? of course over the course of playing the game, one time It looked like Romance is the main genre, next hour, it feels like a lie, it was so thrilling that I didn’t care at all, just focused on reading because it’s useless to think about it

  5. This one is so important, it’s the soundtrack
    I will proudly say it as my opinion and I’m sure people will agree with me: Umineko (Both games) have the BEST soundtrack or BGM ever in not only Visual Novels but all games ever, it should be known that this VN is a soundnovel meaning that the soundtrack or BGM does reflects the story (Or more precisely the current scene in which the soundtrack is playing), while most VNs have awesome and great BGMs, this one overtops them all, by listening to a soundtrack, you will forget everything and focus on the scene, that I can certainly say it, I even have the BGM of both games in my smartphone so I can keep enjoying it, salute to Dai, xaki and all of the composers and I can’t wait to see them in Ciconia no Naku Koro ni (When they Cry 5)

2 Likes

Finished Phoenix Wright : Ace Attorney trilogy yesterday, that was a quite a lot of fun although I did find some of the more “wacky” characters a bit wearing at times. The age of the game really doesn’t matter at all (and it has been remastered in any case) as the core concept is the courtroom battle of wits which is what gives the game its unique feel.

It can be a bit OTT, the courtroom battles clearly aren’t meant to be an emulation of a real world trial as much as a head-to-head confrontation with much fist-pumping as you get one over on the prosecution! Over the course of the trilogy a long running arc plays out and that IMO helps raise the game beyond being merely a series of improbable situations, puzzles and logic tests. You do get more invested in the main characters as a result too.

Inside and outside of the courtroom much fun can be had in character interviews or cross-examinations by deliberately choosing wrong options or presenting irrelevant items - though doing so in court will cost you! It’s all a bit linear though and you either win a case or fail by getting the right / wrong answers, there doesn’t seem to be much replay value but I wouldn’t dismiss it because of that - so…

3 Likes