Time for a Community tag post! This one looked like a particularly fun one, and after the lovely Irina from I Drink and Watch Anime specifically requested me to do one about games, who was I to refuse?
The original tag came from The Awkward Book Blogger and was based around, as you might expect, books — but it has since expanded to encompass anime and now, thanks to my contribution, games as well.
So let’s jump right in. After the jump. Jumpy jumpy jump.
With this month’s Cover Game being one of the most influential, well-regarded visual novels of all time, it seems only right and proper to take a look at the history of the medium as a whole.
To date, there have been three main “eras” of visual novels that can be clearly distinguished through a combination of their visual style, thematic content, gameplay elements (if any) and breadth of appeal. Of course, things aren’tΒ quiteΒ as neat and simple as that might suggest, with some modern works deliberately channeling older styles, or some older works being ahead of their time, but it’s a working hypothesis to start from.
And, since visual novels form an extremely important part of both Japanese gaming and Japanese popular media in general, it’s worth tracing the route things have taken to get to where we are today.
Those of you who enjoy visual novels have probably come up against at least one gamer friend who has refused to even entertain the possibility of exploring this interesting medium on the grounds that itβs βtoo much textβ and/or βnot enough gameplay.β
In fact, in several cases, visual novels which have hit βmainstreamβ platforms such as the Nintendo DS have found themselves saddled with middling or low review scores on these grounds β usually indicating that the reviewer has missed the point of the experience somewhat or is unfamiliar with this type of game.
So what I thought I’d do today is outline some reasons why exploring visual novels is a worthwhile use of your time.
This article was originally published on Games Are Evil in 2013 as part of the siteβs regular READ.ME column on visual novels. It has been edited and republished here due to Games Are Evil no longer existing in its original form.
Sex.
Yes, that was entirely a cheap trick to get your attention, but itβs also the subject of todayβs column.
There are some interesting and varied thoughts about sex in games out there, but it’s a subject that still remains largely taboo for many developers, publishers and even critics. It’s also a subject in which Eastern and Western approaches and philosophies differ greatly, and it makes for some fascinating discussions.
So letβs talk about sex, specifically with regard to visual novels.
This article was originally published on Games Are Evil in 2013 as part of the siteβs regular READ.ME column on visual novels. It has been edited and republished here due to Games Are Evil no longer existing in its original form.
In this episode of the GameCast, Midori, Yumi, Penelope and I discussΒ the use of language in characterisation and localisation, Gabriel Dropout and much more.
No quiz this week as that JRPG monstrosity took a whole lot of time to put together! Expect more in the near future though.Β If you didn’t get a perfect 20 last week, you might want to go back and try again for Midori’s grand prize, by the way… I won’t tell anyone if you looked the answers up. Why should you try again? Well, I’ll leave that for you to discover.
The original music, as before, is by watson of MusMus, and the font is the work of Style64. Other music used in this episode remains the copyright of itsΒ respective owners.
If youβre having trouble running the browser version, take a look at the TyranoBuilder FAQ, which explains how to run browser games locally β though be aware there can be some security risks involved, so only follow its recommendations when you want to run a browser-based episode of the GameCast.
Download for WindowsΒ (111MB)
Download for MacΒ (114MB)
Download for BrowserΒ (83MB)
As I said last week, if/when I have a bit more money floating around, Iβll sort out some proper hosting for browser versions so you donβt have to go through this process. If youβd like to help out with that — or if you just want to show your support for what I’m doing on the site in general — please consider making a pledge to my Patreon.
If youβre new to the GameCast, start from the beginningΒ to find out more about the characters and what this is all about!
As Valentine’s Day rolls around once again, I find myself keenly aware that not everyone in this world is fortunate enough to be blessed with a partner, lover, spouse or otherwise significant other as understanding, tolerant and patient as my good wife.
At times like this, a man often turns to solace in the arms of a waifu — hell, even if youΒ doΒ have a partner, lover, spouse or otherwise significant other as understanding, tolerant and patient as my good wife, sometimes a manΒ stillΒ turns to solace in the arms of a waifu.
But the process of picking a waifu is not a scientific one, nor is it as simple as seeing an attractive woman and feeling a sexual attraction. It is, for many, a deeper sense of connection with a character on an emotional level; a desire for that character to be real and part of one’s life.
Or it might just be a bit of dumb, sillyΒ fun. Either way, here are ten waifus I’ve lovedΒ over the years.
This article is one chapter of a multi-part Cover Game feature!
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Frontwing’s Grisaia series, which kicked off in 2011 with the Japanese release of first installment The Fruit of Grisaia, has come to be regarded as a particular high point for the visual novel medium.
Indeed, back in 2015, the /r/visualnovels subreddit votedΒ The Fruit of GrisaiaΒ as number one on its list of top 10 visual novelsΒ (later republished on GameFAQs), and the community still holds the game in high regard today, as evidenced by its prominent position on the subreddit’s comprehensive diagram of recommendations.
Grisaia’sΒ high ranking on /r/visualnovels’ list was particularly exciting to enthusiasts of the medium, as growing localisation company Sekai Project had already run a successful Kickstarter campaign to bring the whole series West in the twilight hours of 2014 and the start of 2015, potentially opening it up to a whole new audience that was perhaps less familiar with acquiring Japanese visual novels and patching them with fan translations.
But what makes this series so remarkable? Let’s take a high-level look at it.
MoeGamer 