Category Archives: Visual Novel
Visual Novel Review: Katawa Shoujo
Katawa Shoujo, a free Visual Novel game made by an independent group of people. Indie games are usually fun and innovative when compared to mainstream AAA titles, so this game promises to be interesting.
Where did it come from: Well, the game is based off a sketch of several girls with disabilities that was posted to…THAT website. No, I am not going to link it, but I think you know which one I mean.
Background: You play as Hisao, who is confessed to by a girl, then he has a heart attack (he happens to have Long QT Syndrome) and ends up going to a school just for kids with physical disabilities. There, he meets several girls, and can end up with a relationship with any of them. There are good endings which the game makes you really work for, and there are bad endings where you either die, or screw up the girl beyond belief.
Plot: I believe I gave it away above. Individual plotlines depend on the storyline you are playing through. I wouldn’t know, because I put this game down after getting partway through several paths.
Feel free to call it unprofessional. The game, I mean. That is why I put it down-it became unprofessional and flaws became evident. In addition, they were the sort of flaws where I simply objected to them, so I ended the game. I will not play it again. I did enjoy the story, and it was reasonably done. The story was emotional and gripping, but other issues greatly took away from the enjoyment of it.
Let’s start with the first, the title. While it essentially means ‘Imperfect Girl’ and is the intended title, katawa is a Japanese word that is considered offensive enough that it cannot be said on TV or radio. Actually, given what ‘katawa’ really means, a better name for the game in english would be somehting along the lines of ‘Gimp Girls.’
Why is that a problem? Well, first off, it insults an entire group of people. Secondly, it insults the group of people THAT THE GAME ITSELF IS TRYING TO SHOW RESPECT TO. You lose your message of ‘these people are people too’ when the very first thing someone notices in your game is highly offensive.
Visual Novel Review: Shuffle!
Shuffle! is a visual novel released by Navel. It’s a rather typical example of any visual novel with branching scenarios and multiple endings. It is an adult game, due to a couple sexual scenes. however, there was a clean version released that would be fine for younger audiences.
Shuffle! is the first of the series. There is also Tick! Tack!, Really? Really!, and Love Rainbow.
An extended special version of shuffle called Essence + was also made, and there is a supposed spin-off game called Shuffle! House.
So anyways, not being able to write a very interesting or informative plot description, I will leave it to wikipedia this time.
Plot: The story takes place in a fictional universe where humans live in harmony with gods, resembling humans with slightly pointed ears, and devils, who have more prominently pointed ears. Despite their respective positive and negative connotations, both races are equally kind and good-natured. Ten years prior to the story, the gateway between the worlds of the gods and devils were opened, and since then, people from all races have been immigrating between the worlds. The characters attend the multi-racial high school, National Verbena Academy in Kōyō-chō .
Shuffle! contains a leitmotif of allusions to flowers. All of the characters’ names are references to flowers in some way, mostly genera of flowering plants. Additionally, in Japan, every day has a special flower associated with it, which in turn are associated with certain characteristics. This is called hanakotoba, or “language of flowers”. All of the characters’ birthdays and personalities correspond with the flowers of their respective days. For example, the high school that the series takes place in, National Verbena Academy, refers to the genus Verbena, which has connotations of cooperation.
Visual Novel Review: Saya no Uta
Wow. Holy f—ing wow. That’s how I describe Saya no Uta (Song of Saya), a horror visual novel / H-game created by Nitroplus in 2003. Saya no Uta transcends beyond any perception of the horror genre that one may have. It goes way above and beyond, and delivers spectacularly.
STORY
Fuminori Sakisaka is the victim of a near-fatal car crash that killed both his parents. In order to save his life, Fuminori undergoes an experimental brain surgery. To the doctors, it seems like a miracle that he survived. However, the surgery left Fuminori with a terrible side-effect: all of his senses are warped. Everywhere he looks, Fuminori sees the world covered in blood and flesh, and normal humans look like monsters to him.
Fuminori’s other senses follow suit. Food that would normally be delicious tastes hideous to him. His senses of hearing, smell, and touch are all affected in the same manner. Fuminori is aware of his condition, and he knows that others still perceive the world as they normally would. However, no one else is aware of this condition. Except for…
Saya. Having met Fuminori in the hospital shortly after his surgery, Saya is the only person that Fuminori sees as a normal human being. The two of them form a close relationship with each other. Clearly, one can see that Saya is a very mysterious girl. Why is she the only person that appears normal to Fuminori? Where did she come from? Why does she want to become so close to him? All of these questions are answered in an incredibly thrilling and twisted series of events that will captivate, shock, and disgust one all at the same time.
Saya no Uta is the sickest and most twisted horror story I have ever seen. And I absolutely love it. The story is told in a very linear fashion, making it very easy to understand what’s going on. For me, this is a very good thing. One thing that’s unique to the narrative is the constant POV changes. Some scenes are told from Fuminori’s POV while others are told in the third-person. This interesting style takes a little bit of getting used to. However, it works, and is actually a necessary method of telling the story effectively.
GAMEPLAY
Saya no Uta isn’t really much of a “game.” It’s short in length compared to other visual novels, and only consists of two decision points and three possible endings. Essentially, it is like reading a novel, only on a computer screen, and with pictures and voices. What it lacks in gameplay is made up for in its story.
Rather than using the traditional visual novel method of putting a text box at the bottom of the screen, Saya no Uta overlays the text over the entire screen. It’s an interesting way to present the story, and I like it. I feel that by displaying more text on the screen, it helps develop the feel that you are actually reading a novel, which in turn enhances the overall experience of the story.
Although Saya no Uta has not yet seen an official US release, there is an English patch available, and I must say the translators did an outstanding job in capturing the intended feel of the game. Although I haven’t played the game in Japanese, I can tell that little to nothing was “lost in translation.”
VISUALS & SOUND
The artwork is outstanding, making it easy for one to “put themselves in the shoes” of Fuminori and feel like they are experiencing what he is going through. Be prepared to see some of the most grotesque images you’ve ever seen, as Saya no Uta does not skimp on the blood and gore.
Unfortunately, due to a sound card issue on my computer, the character voices weren’t working when I played the game. Even without the voices, I still feel like I got the full effect of the game. After fixing the sound card issue, I did go back and replay some scenes, and from what I have seen, the voice acting is impeccable, as expected.
OVERALL
Saya no Uta is a demented, sadistic, and twisted story. There is so much about the story that is morally wrong, yet beautiful at the same time. It will stir up your emotions, appall you, and have you shaking in terror all simultaneously.
Clearly, Saya no Uta is not for everyone. But if you are a fan of horror stories and can stomach blood and gore, this is an absolute must.
Visual Novel Review: Shuffle!
Shuffle! is a visual novel / H-game developed by Navel in 2004. Like many other games of its kind, Shuffle! involves you, the main character, making various decisions. The decisions that you make determine which one of the girls you end up with.
The girls of Shuffle! From the left: Nerine, Kaede, Primula, Asa, and Sia
STORY
Ten years ago, the door connecting the Human World, the Devil World, and the God World opened. As a result, Gods and Devils now reside among humans in everyday life. Surprisingly, they all seem to accept and get along with each other. It’s much different from what you’d expect, and it’s highly unrealistic, but after some getting used to, I came to accept it.
You play as Rin, the main character and male lead of the game. Rin has been living with his childhood friend Kaede for many years. Both of Rin’s parents and Kaede’s mother died in a fatal accident when they were young, and they have been living toegther with Kaede’s dad ever since. One day while walking home, Rin runs into two girls who somehow know his name. He seems to vaguely remember them from somewhere, but can’t quite put his finger on it.
The next day he finds out that the two girls are new transfer students in his class. On top of that, the girls’ fathers are the King of Gods and the King of Devils, which essentially makes them the princesses of the God and Devil worlds. They also claim that they met Rin eight years ago and have loved him ever since. Their fathers have decided that one of the girls will marry Rin, and that Rin has to choose which one: either Lisianthus (called “Sia” for short), the princess of the God World, or Nerine, the princess of the Devil World.
Overall the story is your typical cliché harem with mild supernatural elements added. It’s mostly nothing new, but it’s still lighthearted, fun, and enjoyable. There are plenty of comedic scenes, and there’s more than enough fanservice to keep one entertained.
By the way, SIA IS SUPERIOR
CHARACTERS
As one would expect, the vast majority of the game’s cast is female. Other than Rin, another main male character is his close friend Itsuki, who serves mostly a comedic role. He’s the typical “player” character who’s always talking about how beautiful all the girls in school are, acting like a total pervert all the time.
There are five main female characters in the game, and depending on the path you take, one of them will become your girlfriend. However, the story isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Each of the girls has her own secrets, or a hidden past, which you will learn more about as you get closer to her. Some of the stories get very emotional and are done well, while others are over-exaggerated. Overall though, these emotional “sob stories” help to develop the characters and will make one feel sorry or “moe” for them.
GAMEPLAY
Gameplay is just like that of any usual visual novel. There’s plenty of reading to do, just as if you were reading an actual novel. The main difference, of course, is that you can control how the story unfolds by making various choices, which will determine your fate. In the typical dating sim fashion, acting favorably towards one girl will improve your chances of her becoming your girlfriend later on in the game.
One thing that disappointed me was a lack of keyboard functions. While most people play visual novels with their mouse, I actually prefer to map various keyboard functions to a PS2 controller and play with that. However, without keyboard functions, I couldn’t do that.
What really upset me, however, was the game’s shoddy translation. The game was translated by MangaGamer.com, a new company that specializes in English-translated bishoujo games. Having spent a decent amount of money on the game, I was expecting a high-quality translation with perfect grammar. Unfortunately, I was very wrong. The errors are a-plenty, ranging all the way from simple grammar errors to words being missing from sentences. Clearly, no one proofread this, and that’s really upsetting. Despite this, it’s still possible to understand what’s going on. The errors aren’t all that serious, but the fact that they even exist in a “professional” translation is what bothers me.
A typical day in Shuffle!
VISUALS & SOUND
As expected from a visual novel, the voice acting is superb. Especially during the… naughty scenes. ^_^ The music is nothing special really. Typical visual novel music. But it helps set the mood.
The art, however, is where Shuffle! really shines. The art is incredible and very detailed, and may very well be the best anime art I’ve seen. I’ve actually been following the artist’s blog for quite some time. The artist, Aoi Nishimata, posts plenty of her artwork on her blog, so check it out.
OVERALL
All in all, Shuffle! is a fun game to play. It’s not incredibly entertaining, but it’s good for some light fun. While I am glad that the game did see an official US release, it’s sad that the distributors didn’t do a better job with its translation.
Any fan of harem anime that doesn’t mind hentai will certainly enjoy Shuffle!, so if you’re one of those people, be sure to pick up this gem. It’s available from MangaGamer.com for about $50.
