がっくり。。。
Title applies because I can't go to Otakon this year (despite having a job now) due to a very important occasion. Yeah, I know, no big deal, but still, I was really looking forward to it. :/ Also, I was halfway through my first playthrough of Unmei no Labyrinth with four of Kagetoki's events (including the Christmas one, which EVERY character requires for their ending) done when I found out that I can't get him first time around. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-
Missed out on Fujiwara no Yasuhira's CGs at first because 1) you need to get two separate, "hidden" endings for him that require two different ending chapters and 2) you need to SAVE after getting them. (Also, there's not a whole lot of concrete info that I could find about Yasuhira's Aizouban-exclusive omake event's requirement anyway. :/) I had replayed Shirogane's route and ending sequence several times before finding out about the save requirement. Even though I'd played through Yasuhira's Bad End (branches off of Shirogane's route close to the very end; his normal ending is the result of going to Hiraizumi and NOT ending up with Shirogane or a Hachiyou) before, I had neglected to save as it has no CG in-game (in fact, it didn't count for anything in the original release), so I figured it wouldn't count as a real ending. ~_~ Ah, well, 'twas worth it in the end; both of his pics are very beautiful (if bittersweet, since he DOESN'T COUNT AS A TRUE LOVE INTEREST so Nozomi can't even get a real ending with him AUGH).
And before anybody nobody asks, yes, he is in fact Cao Pi minus the whole Lady Zhen thing but with the requisite early death. He's not even a tsundere, just a total (if pragmatic and intelligent) jerkass. Which I guess makes Hidehira (the really sweet old governor of Oushuu and Yasuhira's father)...Cao Cao. Wut.
Frankly, I really like Yasuhira; he's pretty funny and I enjoyed hearing him talk since he's very acidic and sarcastic (he uses respectful titles but clearly mocks the heroine several times). To her credit, that pisses her off and you can totally yell at him and have I mentioned I love Nozomi? I mean holy shit you guys, KOEI published an otome game with decent gameplay, beautiful artwork and character designs (with a bright palette, which I really like to see; Mizu no Senritsu 2, as well as many big games of this generation, feel so plain in comparison), likable characters, a huge, well-done, interesting story which actively REWARDS choosing the non-doormat, practical/determined options and tops it off with a competent, even badass heroine IN THE FUCKING GENPEI WAR (or at least a fantasy version thereof). I mean, yeah, there are flaws (Nozomi can be naive, a few too many close calls involving ruffians, Tomomori's route is a huge pain in the ass, most of the Izayoiki endings for the Hachiyou are kind of weak, having to repeat the story over and over, battle system is competent but far too easy), but it's still a damn fine game, one of my very favorites.
Not gonna lie, HaruToki 3 has probably helped me more with Japanese than anything else except classes. It's been immensely helpful with vocab and getting me to look up the actual history and literature. Playing the game also taught me to recognize certain kanji for words I only knew in hiragana, and got me more accustomed to colloquial and ancient-ish speech patterns. So it's been...edutaining, I guess. O_o
Other otome-game-related news:
-Lost interest in Mizu no Senritsu 2 for now. Kira's pretty cool; kinda close to bitchy but mostly just hot-tempered, determined and, well, responsible. (For all that she's an orphan, she'd make an excellent mom.) Unfortunately, the first route and ending I played were disappointing. It felt kind of like nothing really happened until the end, and I'd hoped for more of the supernatural aspects rather than the school setting. (I mean, the mythic elements were definitely present for the whole route, but they felt somehow muted, and a lot of events were just...pedestrian.) The guys are a bit boring as well, in both personality and design.
To be fair, MnS2 DID have some really nice options that HaruToki 3 didn't; since the former's close to a pure visual novel, options for things like text skipping, individuals' voices and being able to jump back to an earlier part (basically anything still in the history) got really detailed. The recordkeeping also felt far more comprehensive, with percentages for every single event and a ridiculously long conversation history. Still, the fighting was a sloppy, simplistic minigame, and while I like the art okay (the CGs actually look quite attractive despite being done in an anime-ish style), the designs weren't terribly interesting visually. :/ I'm guessing that like in HaruToki 3 the story will get fleshed out and really pick up in other routes, but for now I feel more like playing Unmei no Labyrinth.
-HEART NO KUNI NO ALICE'S MANGA IS BEING LOCALIZED AND PUBLISHED! (Yes I'm super late, shut up.) I mean, has anyone in the States even heard of this series!? Quinrose's Alice games (actually most of their games) are very high on my to-play list (thank heavens for ports), since I hear the heroine is whip-smart and tough and the characters psychopathic and zany. (Oh, dragonlover58, Junjun plays the twins~. ~_^)
-Hakuouki: Shinsengumi Kitan is an entertaining anime (much better production values than the HaruToki 3 OVAs >:/), but man, Chizuru is so disappointing so far. She has done just about nothing but squeak in terror, do housework and be rescued for the whole damn show. I really hope she's not this bad in the games; I can't stand her from what I've seen in this adaptation. You're staying with the FUCKING SHINSENGUMI and there are bloody VAMPIRES and you have a fucking sword USE IT. Grow a spine, girl!
Missed out on Fujiwara no Yasuhira's CGs at first because 1) you need to get two separate, "hidden" endings for him that require two different ending chapters and 2) you need to SAVE after getting them. (Also, there's not a whole lot of concrete info that I could find about Yasuhira's Aizouban-exclusive omake event's requirement anyway. :/) I had replayed Shirogane's route and ending sequence several times before finding out about the save requirement. Even though I'd played through Yasuhira's Bad End (branches off of Shirogane's route close to the very end; his normal ending is the result of going to Hiraizumi and NOT ending up with Shirogane or a Hachiyou) before, I had neglected to save as it has no CG in-game (in fact, it didn't count for anything in the original release), so I figured it wouldn't count as a real ending. ~_~ Ah, well, 'twas worth it in the end; both of his pics are very beautiful (if bittersweet, since he DOESN'T COUNT AS A TRUE LOVE INTEREST so Nozomi can't even get a real ending with him AUGH).
And before anybody nobody asks, yes, he is in fact Cao Pi minus the whole Lady Zhen thing but with the requisite early death. He's not even a tsundere, just a total (if pragmatic and intelligent) jerkass. Which I guess makes Hidehira (the really sweet old governor of Oushuu and Yasuhira's father)...Cao Cao. Wut.
Frankly, I really like Yasuhira; he's pretty funny and I enjoyed hearing him talk since he's very acidic and sarcastic (he uses respectful titles but clearly mocks the heroine several times). To her credit, that pisses her off and you can totally yell at him and have I mentioned I love Nozomi? I mean holy shit you guys, KOEI published an otome game with decent gameplay, beautiful artwork and character designs (with a bright palette, which I really like to see; Mizu no Senritsu 2, as well as many big games of this generation, feel so plain in comparison), likable characters, a huge, well-done, interesting story which actively REWARDS choosing the non-doormat, practical/determined options and tops it off with a competent, even badass heroine IN THE FUCKING GENPEI WAR (or at least a fantasy version thereof). I mean, yeah, there are flaws (Nozomi can be naive, a few too many close calls involving ruffians, Tomomori's route is a huge pain in the ass, most of the Izayoiki endings for the Hachiyou are kind of weak, having to repeat the story over and over, battle system is competent but far too easy), but it's still a damn fine game, one of my very favorites.
Not gonna lie, HaruToki 3 has probably helped me more with Japanese than anything else except classes. It's been immensely helpful with vocab and getting me to look up the actual history and literature. Playing the game also taught me to recognize certain kanji for words I only knew in hiragana, and got me more accustomed to colloquial and ancient-ish speech patterns. So it's been...edutaining, I guess. O_o
Other otome-game-related news:
-Lost interest in Mizu no Senritsu 2 for now. Kira's pretty cool; kinda close to bitchy but mostly just hot-tempered, determined and, well, responsible. (For all that she's an orphan, she'd make an excellent mom.) Unfortunately, the first route and ending I played were disappointing. It felt kind of like nothing really happened until the end, and I'd hoped for more of the supernatural aspects rather than the school setting. (I mean, the mythic elements were definitely present for the whole route, but they felt somehow muted, and a lot of events were just...pedestrian.) The guys are a bit boring as well, in both personality and design.
To be fair, MnS2 DID have some really nice options that HaruToki 3 didn't; since the former's close to a pure visual novel, options for things like text skipping, individuals' voices and being able to jump back to an earlier part (basically anything still in the history) got really detailed. The recordkeeping also felt far more comprehensive, with percentages for every single event and a ridiculously long conversation history. Still, the fighting was a sloppy, simplistic minigame, and while I like the art okay (the CGs actually look quite attractive despite being done in an anime-ish style), the designs weren't terribly interesting visually. :/ I'm guessing that like in HaruToki 3 the story will get fleshed out and really pick up in other routes, but for now I feel more like playing Unmei no Labyrinth.
-HEART NO KUNI NO ALICE'S MANGA IS BEING LOCALIZED AND PUBLISHED! (Yes I'm super late, shut up.) I mean, has anyone in the States even heard of this series!? Quinrose's Alice games (actually most of their games) are very high on my to-play list (thank heavens for ports), since I hear the heroine is whip-smart and tough and the characters psychopathic and zany. (Oh, dragonlover58, Junjun plays the twins~. ~_^)
-Hakuouki: Shinsengumi Kitan is an entertaining anime (much better production values than the HaruToki 3 OVAs >:/), but man, Chizuru is so disappointing so far. She has done just about nothing but squeak in terror, do housework and be rescued for the whole damn show. I really hope she's not this bad in the games; I can't stand her from what I've seen in this adaptation. You're staying with the FUCKING SHINSENGUMI and there are bloody VAMPIRES and you have a fucking sword USE IT. Grow a spine, girl!