Recommend a VN

[Nobody in Particular]

On the topic of Rewrite, the full patch has finally been released. Guess today will be an ideal day to start it.

[Flutterz]

Good thing they released it just before the weekend. I've been reading it since it came out, and it doesn't seem like I'll be getting much sleep until I finish it.

[Nobody in Particular]

I have to say, I'm really enjoying Rewrite so far. Much better than Planetarian and what I have played of Clannad. Soundtrack is especially wonderful to listen to, getting Hoshimemo vibes from it.

How long is the common route of Rewrite anyway? I hear it's incredibly long.

[Flutterz]

I have to say, I'm really enjoying Rewrite so far. Much better than Planetarian and what I have played of Clannad. Soundtrack is especially wonderful to listen to, getting Hoshimemo vibes from it.

How long is the common route of Rewrite anyway? I hear it's incredibly long.

Not only is it a single playthrough of the common route pretty long, but there's a lot of quests you can do which make it many hours longer.

One of the minor reason why I like Key is that most of their works are really long, which gives you that much more enjoyment(if you like them in the first place, that is ).

[Dream]

I've been looking a bit into "Analogue: A hate story" and it has been catching my interest lately. I had two question regarding it: Is it free? Do i need to know something about programming to play or complete it, or, say, if i could complete Katawa Shoujo i won't have problems completing Analogue?

[Nobody in Particular]

Not only is it a single playthrough of the common route pretty long, but there's a lot of quests you can do which make it many hours longer.

What are these "quests" and how do you do them? Don't you need them in order to get some super secret special ending?

One of the minor reason why I like Key is that most of their works are really long, which gives you that much more enjoyment(if you like them in the first place, that is ).

Actually, that's the reason I'm reluctant to get into Clannad since it is so damn long. Rewrite seems interesting enough for the >50 hours tag though.

I've been looking a bit into "Analogue: A hate story" and it has been catching my interest lately. I had two question regarding it: Is it free? Do i need to know something about programming to play or complete it, or, say, if i could complete Katawa Shoujo i won't have problems completing Analogue?

Oh no, you don't need any knowledge of programming in order to read Analogue and it's easy enough to read. It isn't free though, you can get it off Steam.
If you want a free visual novel, then try True Remembrance or Narcissu. Or even the predecessor to Analogue, called Digital.

[Flutterz]

What are these "quests" and how do you do them? Don't you need them in order to get some super secret special ending?

Most of my attention has been going towards the main routes so far, so I'm not too well informed about them, but a quick glance at the walkthrough the patch tells me that there's 27 different urban legends that you can get the club to go investigate, and there's other quests such as collecting all the porn books and making every friend possible(when Kotarou yells "AMIGOOO" at someone, I guess). And yeah, some or all of them need to be completed to get the Oppai ending.

Actually, that's the reason I'm reluctant to get into Clannad since it is so damn long. Rewrite seems interesting enough for the >50 hours tag though.

Well, I do suppose length can cause polarization, since it will either be a case of "it's awesome and there's a lot of it" or "it's fine/decent/bad but there's so much of it". Just curious, how far did you get in Clannad?

[Nobody in Particular]

Most of my attention has been going towards the main routes so far, so I'm not too well informed about them, but a quick glance at the walkthrough the patch tells me that there's 27 different urban legends that you can get the club to go investigate, and there's other quests such as collecting all the porn books and making every friend possible(when Kotarou yells "AMIGOOO" at someone, I guess). And yeah, some or all of them need to be completed to get the Oppai ending.

It actually states "You have made friends with X" whenever you make a friend, although I just assumed they were gags. Same with the porn books. Are they something which will probably require a walkthrough to get all of them?

Well, I do suppose length can cause polarization, since it will either be a case of "it's awesome and there's a lot of it" or "it's fine/decent/bad but there's so much of it". Just curious, how far did you get in Clannad?

I think the >50 hours thing depends on what the VN is like. For example I was interested in the Muv-Luv trilogy from start to finish and never really got bored of it which was most likely the result of the genre shift(s), whereas Fate/Stay Night (and I presume Clannad) got boring towards the end because it was like over 70 hours of the same shit. Rewrite probably falls into the former category. The short VNs are usually really good too. The lack of content is a little unsatisfying, but at least it keeps you interested in the short amount of time you have reading it.

I only got about 5-10 hours into Clannad to be honest. I hear it gets a lot better later on, so I plan on giving it another shot when I have more time.

[Flutterz]

It actually states "You have made friends with X" whenever you make a friend, although I just assumed they were gags. Same with the porn books. Are they something which will probably require a walkthrough to get all of them?

I've looked into it a bit more, seems there's 31 total quests which are more like achievements. Most have objectives like "Complete investigation of X", but I do have one unlocked that is "Lick all of Lucia's plates", and apparently another one requires you to find all the porn books in the mappie segments, although according to the walkthrough there's only 4 of them, so you could probably find them all yourself with a bit of effort. And it seems you only need to complete all the quests for the Oppai ending, while getting all the friends is optional.

I think the >50 hours thing depends on what the VN is like. For example I was interested in the Muv-Luv trilogy from start to finish and never really got bored of it which was most likely the result of the genre shift(s), whereas Fate/Stay Night (and I presume Clannad) got boring towards the end because it was like over 70 hours of the same shit. Rewrite probably falls into the former category. The short VNs are usually really good too. The lack of content is a little unsatisfying, but at least it keeps you interested in the short amount of time you have reading it.

I only got about 5-10 hours into Clannad to be honest. I hear it gets a lot better later on, so I plan on giving it another shot when I have more time.

There's a distinct genre shift from the common route to the heroine routes, and the two true routes are both pretty different from the rest of the game, so does have a lot more genre shift than other Key games.

I probably won't do Clannad justice with this explanation, but the "true" route of the first part of Clannad and After Story are undoubtably the best it has to offer, and while the plot might get dull at times, you(or at least I, can't really speak for anyone else) come out of Clannad feeling as though you personally lived through the story, which spans the most important years of the protagonist's life, and I think it is at least partially due to the sheer length of the VN.

And short VNs can certainly be very good as well, but in a different way. They probably strive to get their story across as eloquently and precisely as possible, while longer VNs get to delve deeper into characters' backstories, the history of the world the VN takes place it, allows for romantic progression etc. And in the case of Clannad, at least personally, allows for greater immersion.

[Flutterz]

And now I'm done with Rewrite. First and foremost it is very different from other Key VN's (apparently one of the writers worked on Cross Channel, and it shows) - it's a lot less slice of life, the fantasy aspect is much more significant and most of the endings aren't nearly as positive as they normally are. So if you haven't enjoyed their other works you might enjoy this, conversely if you enjoyed their other works, you might not like the direction Rewrite takes, but I find that unlikely. The common route is great with lots of humor and lots of events, and save for the few cases where Kotarou uses his powers, is a completely normal Key VN. Then everything gets much more serious when the routes split off as you are drawn into a massive conflict with fighting, magic and monsters, as well as the darker secrets that your selected girl's past and/or present holds. All of the routes have vastly different plots, which shows that your decisions have impact, and it isn't just a case of "things are happening and all I can affect is which girl I pick". Although most of the time it seems that your efforts are actually counterproductive in the big picture. One complaint I do have is that it leaves a couple of unanswered questions. Nothing terribly important, but still things I'd prefer to know, although that just might have been me missing some subtle hints. As always I won't say much more lest I spoil it, except that I really recommend Rewrite.

On a side note, I am now convinced that Key has a Russian fetish. Kanon has Piro the cat named after pirozhki, Little Busters has Kud who is Russian and Rewrite has quite a few familiars with Russian names.

Once I do all of the quests in Rewrite, I'll be moving on to Muv-Luv, at long last.

[Frosty015]

I'm looking for VNs of the utsuge genre, although I also like visual novels that have funny moments or storylines, like My girlfriend is the President, or Majikoi.

Any suggestions?
I don't mind if the VN is mostly funny, as long as it brings some major feels at the end.

[OtakuNinja]

There's already a thread for this.

http://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3178

[acewing905]

There's already a thread for this.

http://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3178

^ What he said, and also, do you want VNs like KS, or do you want utsuge? Cause KS is quite the opposite of utsuge.

[Frosty015]

There's already a thread for this.

http://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3178

^ What he said, and also, do you want VNs like KS, or do you want utsuge? Cause KS is quite the opposite of utsuge.

perhaps I'm misinformed, but isn't KS under the utsuge category? Or certain routes are.. >->
Or am I confusing it with Nakige..
*googles*
*facedesks*

I meant Nakige..

[OtakuNinja]

KS is both utsuge and nakige, along with a couple of other genres.