vncrusader-blog

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The literary wonders of visual novels.

I kinda want to discuss what makes visual novels a interesting narrative medium that has ways to craft truly unique stories.

For one thing, unlike other visual mediums such as anime, manga, tv shows, etc, visual novels often lend themselves to a more descriptivism narrative (like novels), and a first person perspective. Now, a first person perspective may not always be a plus when it comes to narrative, but one can craft unique stories where there is both a visual element and a first person perspective. Combine this with branching storylines and choices, and you get can some interesting narratives.

Ever 17 is a good example of this. The game's primary twist so to speak, would be very difficult to be told in another medium. From the first person narrative, to use of character sprites, and the branching storyline, everything about the medium was used to surprise the player. 

Now, the best thing about visual novels, unlike regular novels, is that it also has visual elements and music. So visual novels sorta bring the best of both worlds so to speak, the ability to provide descriptive text of the environment and character's thoughts of novels, and the visual/musical elements of other visual mediums. Plus having the player interact with the story in some way can also craft unique experiences.

Of course no medium is without fault, and visual novels are no exceptions. For one thing, the visuals and music cost money to produce. This kind of budget isn't found when producing novels. This means that a visual novel's setting (constrained by the number of sprites, background cgs , etc ) are limited. Whereas a novel can doesn't have to worry about visual restraints. Now visual novels also don't often have dynamic animation and movement as other visual mediums have. This is often because  that visual novels are still considered niche, and usually means having a lower budget compared to other visual mediums.

Also, sometimes branching storylines may pose a problem. Writer(s) have to write individual stories for each storyline, and this may lead to a decline in quality in a storyline compared to others. This can lead to a in-balanced and sometimes unwieldy experience.  This leads to another point, visual novels can have problems with pacing. For the writer has to present the common storyline/route, the branching storylines/routes, and sometimes the true storyline/route. That is alot of text to go through, and often each section is significantly longer than others (the common route for example). 

Despite its flaws, I think visual novels have a potential (and have shown already to meet this potential) to craft some uber stories that can't be told in other mediums.

In any case, enough of that boring stuff. Have this : 

Who said visual novels always had to provide food for thought?

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Sorry for a long period of inactivity

So, I've been sorta in a blogging lull, been busy quite a bit for the past 6 months or so. And in all honesty, posts will still be somewhat infrequent, but I'll try to get some stuff in .

I think I'll start off by posting some  upcoming visual novels (that are currently in translation) that some might be interested in .

Mahoutsukai no Yoru (Urban Fantasy) 

https://vndb.org/v777

So, if you have enjoyed Type Moon's previous works before, such as Fate/Stay Night or Tsukihime, you will enjoy this. It basically follows Aoko Aozaki's early days as a Magus. For those of you who have read Tsukihime, you will note that this is the same Aozaki who gave Shiki his glasses.

For those of who aren't Type Moon fans, well think of this has a urban fantasy story that should be full of interesting action scenes, great art, and hopefully great characters to boot.

Subarashiki Hibi (Psychological Mystery )

https://vndb.org/v3144

Now, I've heard great things about this one. From what I understand, this is a story told in six chapters and it involves many things from the end of the world to Jungian psychology. What apparently makes this one stand out however, is the characters and how the narrative is structured. Each chapter follows the same month, but from a different perspective (ie : different narrators). Now each narrator have their own motivations and may outright disagree about what actually is happening in the story. Furthermore, these narrators, being human, are prone to being unreliable narrators.

The idea being that the reader has to piece together what's actually happening. I've seen this visual novel being compared to Umineko, so that must be good! 

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Now what would would be the problem if it didnt have the image file that is mentioned? when I extracted the first part or whatever the name may be.... when I extracted it, it has Image files such as the backgrounds and character images, but by the wording you said it seems like there should be a specific Image file? I am just a little confused here this is my first time trying to do a Visual Novel and I am probably doing it wrong but I thought Id ask

Hrmm, to answer your question, is there a .iso file somewhere when you extract it? If so, use a mounting program like Daemon tools to install it.

Now the easiest way to install a visual novel, is to go to fuwanovel.org. They have preinstalled vns there.

Also sorry for the late reply, I am getting back to bogging again.

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Fate/Hollow Ataraxia translation finally finished

So, Fate/Stay Night had something of a sequel called Fate/Hollow Ataraxia. This visual novel has been in translations for what seems a gazillion years now, but its been finally finished translation! They are now just doing some editing ! 

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Event CG of the day

Higurashi Spoilers

Man this is the first time we get an inkling of what's really going on and things are pretty intense. Also Rika's Berkanstel side is showing here . 

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Soundtrack of the Day (June 23rd 2014)

Higurashi's "You" 

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Event Cg of the Day (June 19th 2014)

Dengeki Stryker Spoilers

Its kinda interesting to see this visual novel mess with  superhero tropes and make it emotional at the same time.

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Soundtrack of the Day (June 19th 2014)

Fate/Stay Night's Ever Present Feeling (covering under readmore since the youtube video has a picture that's a bit of a spoiler) 

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Random Engrish in Visual Novel/Their Adaptations

Umineko's Voice acting is always so over the top, but it usually hits the emotional cords and its so full of range and wonder. 

...Other times not so much : 

Okabe, don't change : 

Shake it now baby : 

The 6:30 time mark is where. the trolling and engrish begins : 

If I can find more, I'll link 'em.

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Event CG of the day (June 18 2014)

Man, it was just so sad to see Kagari ultimately not see the fruition of Kotarou's efforts. 

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Soundtrack of the Day (June 18 2014)

From Ace Attorney : Dual Destinies 

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The last CG you get from 100% the game in terms of achievments and stuff. The CG looks like this : 

It has no relevance to the actual plot or anything, it's more of  a "congrats for getting 100 percent". These dorks are just amazing, eh? 

Done~~~

God, I really love that ending. And this story, and these two characters, and the other characters too, and. I’m really glad I got into this series, even though I’ve shed gallons of tears over it. And I will continue my mission of getting all my friends into it too.

el psy congroo◞✧

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Visual Novel Clusters

So here is just a list of some of the more well known visual novel franchises made by a given company and what you can expect generally from them.

07th Expansion Games

07th Expansion is known for its franchise "When They Cry". Two of the games in that franchise are the Higurashi (When the Cicidas Cry) and Umineko games (When the Seagulls Cry). 

They are basically interesting  mystery (Umineko is more focused on examining traditional murder mystery stories) stories that like to pit the question of "the supernatural versus the mundane" .Higurashi gives you the solution outright, where as Umineko doesn't. What's interesting is that while these visual novels don't have gameplay (in the sense of other than reading), they are layered such that the reader has room to solve the mystery.  

These visual novels are praised for their unique settings and twists, and their music too! 

Two other 07th expansion franchises are also available. There is the Higabana franchise, which examines school bullying and the supernatural, and Rose Gun Days, which examines the power struggle of Japan in this mafia-esque story.

Both are great !

So if you like mystery stories, check those out! 

Type Moon 

Type moon is best known for the multiverse featured in their visual novels, the Nasuverse (named after the author of these visual novels). Its really interesting to see how alot of these multiverses connect and it can get a bit complicated.

They are most famous for Tsukihime and the Fate franchise. Both involve action oriented supernatural stories, and really interesting characters. 

So if you are looking for action stories, that are a bit on the dark side with an interesting multiverse connecting them, check out Type Moon's stuff! 

Nitro+ 5bp  Science ADV 

Nitro+ and 5bp have collaborated a couple of times before. Their most notable collaborations are when they created the Science ADV games. 

The Science ADV games are stories that connected to each other , and they are as the name suggest, science fiction adventure stories. Currently there is Choas;Head, Steins;Gate, and Robotic;Notes. 

They explore some unique takes on traditional science fiction concepts ( the mind's power , time travel, giant robots, etc) and generally with a fun cast.

Steins;Gate is probably the most popular and well praised of the three. 

So if you like science fiction ,these games are good to look at! 

Nitro+ 

Nitro+ has also developed games outside of the Science ADV games. What they are known for are usually dark stories that can involve anything from Lovecraft to Murder Games. Gen Urobuchi (known for his work on Madoka and Psycho Pass) has had his hand on a couple of these games. Some games include Saya no Uta, Deux Ex Demonbane, DraMatical Murder, and more !

So generally, if you like dark and tragic stories, some of these might peek your interest

The Infinity Series 

The Infinity Series, developed by KID, are a bunch of science fiction stories that are well known for complicated concepts, plots, and pretty interesting plot twists.

Never 7, Ever 17, Remember 11, etc are some of these games. The games are connected to each other in some ways.

The guys who made these games also had a hand in the Zero Escape games, so if you've read those, you might have an idea of what kind of things will be present in the Infinity Series. 

So if you like plot twists and interesting plots, these games are for you! 

Key Games

Key's Games are best known for being tear jerkers and for being pretty emotional. They are often exploring different facets have humanity and most of the stories also have some supernatural elements in them.

Notable games include Clannad, Little Busters, Air, and Rewrite.

So if you want feels and some plot added on top of that, Key's games are for you! 

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Event CG of the Day

From I/O 

HE and Enlil are such badasses

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Soundtrack of the Day (June 17th 2014)

From Umineko : 

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Sorry about the delay !

So I've been pretty busy these last months with my co-op job and now school is back in full force. I should start my daily updates again, hopefully sometime tommorow. 

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Soundtrack of the day

Higurashi's Fascism