Written By: JP Developers: Storybeam Platforms: PC, Mac and Linux Genre: Fantasy Release Date: February 28, 2013 Official Website | Despite public perception of me, I try very hard not to be an ass. That isn't to say I don't enjoy being an ass when someone deserves the treatment, but I don't go out of my way to be an ass or overly negative. It's one of the reason why there are so few free EVNs reviewed here. It isn't because I only review 'high-quality' EVNs, but rather I do my best to focus on projects I think can handle critique and use my reviews to get better and not drop the medium entirely. It isn't a perfect approach (as I've been repeatedly told) but it is the truth of how things have happened here. So, last year, when this project was launched with a note was attached with the creator kicking themselves a bit for the outcome, I decided to leave well enough alone. After all, if you release something you say you can't be proud of, what on Earth can I add to change your mind or confirm your diagnosis? It seems to have gained a pretty good following on Lemmasoft, so it was added to the list of games I had to review. And while this project is far from the high pedestal the creator was looking to sit it on, I disagree that it isn't something to be proud of. Let's take a look at The Dolls' Story and you'll see what I mean. |
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So, this is a thing! I've been in contact with a certain Chris Tenarium for the past few weeks and we're doing something of a trial run for a new, potential partnership a la That Guy With The Glasses. To test those waters, we will be simulcasting his play through of the expanding juggernaut that is Pyrite Heart! Enjoy!
And feel free to leave feedback and thoughts! We'll be looking at those to determine if this is a good idea! Hey everyone, ready for some news and updates? No? Too bad. Tired of pictures? Fine. How about a video for a change! There is a new trailer for Starswirl Academy, by Zap Apple Project. A visual novel about students and their life at the prestigious Starswirl Academy. Will they be able to find friendship and make it through the first year? It was reissued after the team got a notice from Hasbro to change the names and other aspects of their project due to use of Hasbro’s My Little Pony property. The trailer shows the new names, is voiced, and even has a short animated scene. The demo was reissued as well and is also available for Windows, Android, Linux, and Mac.
However, for anyone following me on Twitter this you know that excitement turned to boredom, which dived into hate and finally crashed into a flaming pit of expletives.
I'm going to go ahead an put this out now: if you want to play this game, don't read this review. There are necessary spoilers I have to include in order to make my point about the game's defects. For everyone else, please get your comfiest pillow and place it directly in front of your desk.That way when the head-desking starts, you won't cause inoperable damage to your frontal lobe. And they say I just a cynical asshole who doesn't care about people! Greetings everyone! I hope everyone has had a good week and is now enjoying the weekend. As many of you have noticed, I have given Greenlight titles coverage for the voting signal boost it may provide and so I shall continue to do so this week, along with more releases for everyone to check out. Blue Rose, winner of ‘Best Romance’ of 2013, by White Cat is on Steam Greenlight and needs your assistance. Blue Rose is the story of a knight named Lena who must tackle mystery, betrayal, and dragons to save a village. She might even find love among five possible suitors! Show your support for it with an upvote. It’s available on their website for 19.99 USD for Windows, Linux, and Mac. You can check out the demo first which may help you decide if you want to vote for it on Greenlight. Several releases to make note of this week as well. I may or may not be behind on some of these, but fret not, if you release something, I will eventually find out about it!
Toire No Hanako (I’m going to translate this as Bathroom Hanako until further notice) by Donmai is a story about fear and love. The characters Reiko and Isamu share two distinctly different fears. Reiko fears the dead, while Isamu fears the living. Not a horror tale, it focuses on incompatibilities between love and fear. Rated 16+ for mature themes, this story has only one ending and takes four hours or so to complete.
Like the expanse of the Mighty Rio Grande, there seems to be no escaping Pyrite Heart.
If you've been busy since the start of the year, allow yours truly to catch you up. Pyrite Heart is a free otome game released at the tail end of last year that has been met with a near instant fandom thanks to its high-quality visuals and crowd-pleasing plot. I gave it what I gave it, however on its first release something was missing that the development team didn't have quite enough time to add on: voices. That has been fixed with an updated release as well as voice actors/actress for the main cast. Which means we must go once more into the breach! For those of you who don't know the rules, here's a refresher. This is Take 2; where I take another look at a visual novel I've reviewed but has been re-released with major updates. In this case, adding voice actors is a pretty big deal so there you go. This is not a second review however: the 5 out of 10 stands. This is just to see HOW it stands as the production team improves their product...well to be fair, IF they've improved their product. So let's dive back into the amazing technicolor world of otome and see just how Pyrite Heart stands up to a fresh wave of sharpened critique! It is with a heavy heart that we here at VNs Now! join with so many others over the Internet to mourn the passing of Justin Carmical AKA JewWario. By all accounts, Mr. Carmical was a good man and a better son and husband. As many of you know, this very site would not exist without inspiration from That Guy With The Glasses which means for many years You Can Play This was a regular show for me. He introduced the larger TGWTG's community to visual novels in his video on Katawa Shoujo; making him a vital part of our own small corner of the Internet. The details of how he passed are known to all by now, but it doesn't change the fact that the people who loved him are grieving him. Currently a donation has been set up to help the Carmicals in this extraordinarily difficult time. I would ask that if you can, you would consider donating here. And for anyone considering harming yourself in anyway, before you do anything please take one second to call this number: 1-800-273-TALK. Regardless of what you are going through you can make it. Our continued thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family, JP This week there are new and continuing efforts to release and fund visual novels via Steam Greenlight and Indiegogo. Just added this week was Moacube’s Cinders. Cinders is a visual novel rendering of the Cinderella story with a branching story line and a plethora of possible character interactions. Also on Greenlight and nearing the top 100 release window are Planet Stronghold and Spirited Heart by Winterwolves. Planet Stronghold is a sci-fi rpg/visual novel hybrid while Spirited Heart is a life simulation in a fantasy setting with multiple outcomes and romance options. Show your support with a vote on Greenlight!
Sierra Ops, the space sci-fi action RPG by InnoMen, has an ongoing Indiegogo campaign with thirty days remaining. It has raised 1,669 USD out of a 4,500 USD goal as of this writing. 15 USD will net you a pre-order copy while 20 USD will get you early access. Swing by the Indiegogo page and check it out for yourself. The contribution period will end on February 23rd. Hey folks, it is Saturday! Not Friday, but nobody was keeping track anyway! Right? Well regardless of that you probably want some news for the week. An interesting mixture of announcements, interviews, and releases awaits!
The website GameRanx interviewed Christine Love to discuss a variety of topics including the upcoming Ladykiller in a Bind and her thoughts on future and past projects. I recommend everyone give the full interview a read as I will not be able to do it justice in this short post. Two things I would like to point out however are that Ladykiller in a Bind should have some very interesting social interaction systems in it which will heavily influence the direction of the story. That certainly sounds promising. The other bit of news is that Christine Love plans to move away from visual novels for future projects, looking to diversify and create new and different things. Whether she is willing to admit it or not, and whether it was her intention, she has certainly blazed a very particular and prominent path in the visual novel genre that will likely be discussed for years. I imagine that whatever projects she does work on will provide just as much enjoyment, exploration and introspection as the visual novels that many of us have raved about. You can read the interview here. |
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