Yaruge Girl Triona - Review

Warning: This review contains adult content

In the world of OELVN’s, Yaruge Girl Triona is only the second H-game available from the Ren’Ai Archives (although there have been several commercial English H-games released with playable demos). DaFool’s previous H-game, The Nettestadt Troll is a plot-driven game with visually depicted H-scenes only being present at the end of each path. In contrast, Yaruge Girl Triona is primarily sex driven, with the plot establishing a context for each scene. Before discussing the various innovations and unusual features of this game, I will briefly touch on the basic elements of the game. Triona herself is well drawn and coloured in all of her scenes. Notably, her breasts are much more natural and realistic in shape than those seen in most other H-games. The five original pieces composed for this game all convey a strong underlying mood, whilst not dominating over the other in-game elements. Yaruge Girl Triona uses a non-standard aspect ratio, and consequently the game might not be able to be played full-screen at some resolutions.

Triona is extensively customisable, in appearance, with two to five options being available for her skin, body type, clothes, and eyes. There is also an option to give her glasses and another which can customise her and Craig’s interests (anime, cars or religion). Many of these customisation features involve changing the shadings on one layer of an image, allowing a variant of the image to be presented without requiring the image to be redrawn.

The sexual content, if you’ll excuse the pun, is rather top heavy, with Triona’s breasts being the prominent features of each scene. They are positioned roughly at the centre of the screen, and are thus emphasised compared to the penetration scenes, where only Craig’s penis is shown. In each scene, a number of actions can be selected from a menu, including one ‘special’ for each scene. Although some actions need to be performed in a certain order to allow other actions, there is no overall goal in the sex and the scene can continue for as long as the player likes. This comes with an unfortunate downside, as it is impossible to make Triona orgasm. It should also be mentioned that all in each scene, Craig performs all of the ‘actions’, while Triona remains as a passive partner, providing supporting dialogue. When considered in this way, YGT is perhaps the most male-oriented OELVN so far.

Within each scene, one or more of the actions are animated. These are mainly used to emphasise the upper body, although a few are used purely comically, and make references or pay tribute to various influences on the game.

Quite unusually, the sexual content of the game, which sits firmly in the yaruge (‘doing it’) and fetish genres, is integrated as part of an overall plot, with each scene describing the growth of Craig and Triona’s relationship. Although many of the dialogues and discussions might have been more overtly successful in a different VN genre, they do create a context for each scene, and personalities for each character, which also emerge in the actions available during sex.

One slightly annoying downside, perhaps caused by the complexity of the coding, are the several seconds of loading time between scene changes. These recur between scene changes, and interrupt the game’s flow. However, this is a minor flaw in what is otherwise a very innovative and enjoyable game.

Overall, whether or not you will enjoy Yaruge Girl Triona depends on your own feelings towards yaruge and male-oriented ero. What it does, it does very well, but the concept may not appeal to some gamers. However, even if you feel that the genre or game design isn’t particularly to your taste, it is still worth playing to see a very effective use of Ren’Py in action.

Review by Ignosco

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Idol/TYPE - Review

Warning: This review contains some spoilers.

Idol/TYPE is an amalgamation of two different ‘genres’ – the ‘typing’ game, and the epistolary novel. Based upon an earlier game (Mr. Typer) by mike.pr, the gameplay of Idol/TYPE involves typing out a number of short letters that Reijiro writes to Hirae before a time limit (indicated by disappearing pictures of Hirae). Although the time-limit requires the player to be a reasonably proficient typist, accuracy is much more important than speed, as the time penalty for errors is quite heavy. It is also easy to accidentally forget a letter or a space, and end up with a number of errors caused by being out of ‘time’ from the original.

The usual positive features of mikey’s stories are present, including his writing style built from short, emotional sentences, and a surprising and very effective plot twist. Unusually though, this twist is only hinted at in the ‘good’ ending, whilst being fully revealed in the ‘new’ ending. This story also contains the clearest examination of the ‘idol’ or ‘dreamgirl’ themes that permeate several of the other ATP games. As the characters never interact directly with each other, they only understand each other through the images they present in the letters. Consequently, the resulting dialogues perhaps do not portray the true personalities of the characters, but rather the images they aim to present to each other.

The art and music are both integrated into the game very well. The art consists of a number of CGs (no character sprites) that appear as the ‘timer’ for each letter, as well as other pictures that show up at the game over scenes or the endings. Ending 3 (arguable the ‘true’ ending of Idol/TYPE) contains most of the bonus pictures. The music for Idol/TYPE is also very effective – it has a somewhat hypnotic feel, but always remains in the background enough so as not to distract from the typing.

Sadly, there are a few potential downsides to Idol/TYPE. The primary one is the typing-speed issue described above. There has recently been a patch released, which allows for the game to be played with the timer off, although this eliminates the sense of pressure created by the time limit. Consequently, the gameplay component almost becomes redundant, and the game essentially becomes a very short VN. To quote from a PM mikey sent me:

Indeed the point was to maybe even fail once or twice, so that the player absorbs the contents of the letters more and so that there is some meaning behind them - in a normal VN, the text would be 5 minutes of reading, of course. But typing them gives more thought to the words, since typically people think or often rewrite their formulations - this was the intention.

There is no save function (although there is a continue function, which resumes from the dialogue after the last letter typed), so for the player to understand the full story, they are forced to replay the game. Personally though, I found the need to re-read (or ‘re-type’) helped me to understand the content of the earlier letters, in light of the plot twist.

Overall, Idol/TYPE is a very unusual and well made game. Although the format and concept might not appeal to everyone, the themes explored in this game are very important in most of the other ATP projects VNs as well.

Review by Ignosco

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Jitteh Dawn - Review

Warning: This review contains spoilers.

Amongst the OELVN scene, particularly in 2007, there have been a lot of solo VN’s made. One of the advantages of working by yourself, is having total control over all the creative aspects of the game, and perhaps because of this, some very distinctive and original VN’s have been released recently. One game that can be described in these terms is Jitteh Dawn, particularly because of its’ unusual and intriguing storyline.

Personally, I found the story arc where Hogi continues to pursue his research to be more interesting. There were a lot of clues given as to what the Ippongi family’s secret might be, and with careful thought the mystery could be deduced, The other arc felt a bit odd, as the reader will probably have to suspend their belief for some of the wilderness scenes, particularly as to how the characters get lost. The other story element I found problematic was having Tatsunami immediately introduce himself as a member of the Ippongi family, which felt a bit odd, given the families notoriety. On the whole though, the story presentation was well done, particularly the opening allegory, which effectively foreshadows the Ippongi family’s secret. I should also add that the Death scene(s) are rather unusual.

The other thing that really struck me about Jitteh Dawn, was the protagonist, Hogi Hasekura. Although his age is not given, his over-eager and somewhat immature personality suggests that he is quite young. When playing I found myself enjoying his personality, but at the same time often wanting to stop him from saying or doing certain tactless things. However, that does not mean that I dislike Hogi – on the contrary, having a protagonist with a strong personality really made the game come to life. Also, without a protagonist like Hogi though, it is unlikely that any of the mystery would be uncovered.

One of the more unusual features of Jitteh Dawn (in terms of OELVN’s) is its heavy use of Japanese. Although a few OELVN’s use Japanese honorifics, and several have Japanese settings (and many display at least some Japanese influence), the extensive use of Kanji on maps and the family tree As an aside, the player does not need to be able to read Japanese. At the same time though, there is probably a hidden dimension to the game – for example the various name Kanji are unlikely to be randomly chosen. In some ways, perhaps this game might have worked even better in Japanese rather than English, although the OELVN scene would be much poorer as a result.

The character art (all from the public domain) uses a combination of head graphics and sprites, with Sayaka being shown at various times as both of these, depending on the situation. There is a version with improved artwork in progress, and this paragraph will be extended once the revised game is released.

Overall, I found Jitteh Dawn to be a very unique and enjoyable experience. It’s definitely worth playing if you’re looking for a VN experience that’s different from a typical romantic game.

Review by Ignosco

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The Loyal Kinsman - Review

The Loyal Kinsman is the fourth mystery/detective game from the OELVN community, and the inspiration from it is derived from the third of the Jane Whitman games, The Wandering Child. Many elements are found in both stories, such as a historical, non-romantic setting, a large cast of characters, and challenging gameplay.

What particularly impressed me with the Loyal Kinsman's story was the character’s personalities and the setting. The feudal society with its’ Old Testament based morality is portrayed very well – and this VN, perhaps more than any other I’ve played so far, really made me feel like I was there, despite some of rather modern idiomatic expressions in the dialogue. The characters all came from a very diverse range of classes and backgrounds, and the resulting dialogue between them accurately reflects the conventions of a medieval society.

The game’s use of actual portraits as a substitute for character sprites was an idea taken from Mokenju’s games, (which use old photographs). This approach works has several advantages, particularly as the need for a sprite artist is avoided, which allows the script-writer to create a one person project using public domain resources without reusing existing character sprites. Notably, both the Jane Whitman games and The Loyal Kinsman both have historic settings, which the portrait approach is ideally suited. The music, whilst being more in a Renaissance than Medieval style, still suits the game’s atmosphere very well.

In terms of solving this mystery, Gunther is several stages ahead of the player, as he is able to link the evidence to provide a near-complete explanation for the murder and the surrounding circumstances. In contrast, if the player takes the correct path through the game, they will be able to deduce who the murderer was and some of the surrounding circumstances, probably without being able to figure out the background surrounding it. For me, having the mystery told in this way works well, as it allows for there to be focus on both the storytelling and the mystery, as well as providing a satisfying ending when the true ending is reached and all the details of the crime are revealed.

Overall, The Loyal Kinsman combines a well developed medieval setting with an excellent mystery story, and can be highly recommended to anyone interested in detective stories or historical settings. The game’s true ending definitely leaves open the possibility of a potential sequel, and personally, I would be very interested in reading more about Gunther’s future.

Review by Ignosco

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The Garden Society: Kykuit - Review

Facts may tell you, that GSK was released in March 2005. They may also tell you that it was part of some NaNoRenO. And, facts say this is a 40-minute visual novel game that's all done in black-and-white. It has 8 endings, 4 courtable characters and several alternative paths. In summary then... facts tell you nothing.

In order to know more, to really understand this game, one must travel to its past, way beyond the actual release date of March 2005. Let us go then, to the summer of 2004. At that time, a small group of people gathering around the Lemmasoft forums, dedicated to creating English ren'ai games was already starting to feel like a community of game-makers. It was roughly a year since they were formed and 2004 marked the peak of their first successful efforts to create games. The games from that time were later to be called their first generation OELVNs and they were created with various technical methods. From this point of view the numerous projects as well as the few completed games, all had one thing in common - the lack of a dedicated technical tool, an engine. Almost every project or group had to overcome this problem somehow and indeed this was the time that almost every project had to have their own programmer, their own engine. It's safe to say that this was one of the biggest hurdles of OELVN creating of that time. But necessity and enthusiasm meant that very soon the idea of a dedicated VN engine, designed specifically for the OELVN creators was formed.

Since the famed long-running Sourceforge Dating Sim Engine project never really took off and therefore couldn't really be used, by the summer of 2004, American Bishoujo has created a fresh new engine from scratch - called Ren'Py. Its simplicity and effectivity was revolutionary - an easy scripting language meant that the creators were typing right into the code, with simple commands to show backgrounds and characters, with the option of branching and multiple paths - and a menu and save system was already present. It all took away a lion's share of work from the creators, and while in its early stages the Ren'Py functionality was basic, it was all people could ever ask for.

The community felt strengthened and new possibilities opened up almost immediately. The story of Ren'Py started here, and a few months later it opened the floodgates for wave after wave of new games. The engine would go on and continue improving at breakneck pace, gaining more and more popularity, and, in a recent episode, decimate a rival engine effort, even though it was backed by a commercial entity. But the story of Ren'Py is perhaps for a different article. We are still way back from that time - in fact we are still in the year 2004, which was nearing its end. With Ren'Py born, the community formed two new ideas, related to its growing self-awareness. The first one was the Ren'Ai Archives, a site that would serve as a repository for all the community's and other people's creations, so that no OELVN and ren'ai game would ever disappear. It helped hosting the games and ensured equal treatment for all - projects were added regardless of art quality, story rating or other rather personal opinions. It also underlined the concept of that a finished game, however small, was being valued more than a grand but unfinished project. The RAA only accepted - and to this date still only accepts - complete works.

But there was another idea that was formed as 2005 was approaching, this time something that was geared specifically towards game-making. Much like the challenge NaNoWriMo, which sees its participants try to write a sizeable short novel in a month, the community's equivalent NaNoRenO would put the makers before a challenge of trying to make a complete ren'ai game... within a month. The emphasis was on complete - and by limiting the time to one month, it was also assured that people don't take too much work upon themselves - a frequent problem with game projects. The idea was to plan from the outset, to make a small game. There were still too few games that were being completed, and this one month should help in achieving people's first projects, or simply offer a challenge to those who already completed some.

There is a lot more to be said about NaNoRenO than just that, though. Its rules aren't competition, they are cooperation and support. There is no winner, no pressure to be better than the others. Arguably the most important thing about NaNoRenO is the sense of not being alone - all others have the same problem, the same goal. NaNoRenO provided the necessary motivation, the jump start that many people needed and over the years it has proven itself to be a very helpful concept that's now a part of the community. It's not surprising that NaNoRenO was indeed a tremendous success for a community as small as the Lemmasoft game-makers. Together with three Ren'Py releases even before its start, NaNoRenO and Ren'Py were responsible for a whole new wave of games - in the history books (if the OELVN community will ever have any), these will be later called the second generation.

And GSK is one of them. A NaNoRenO game, a second generation OELVN. It was done within the one month framework and released one day before the first ever NaNoRenO ended. And although all NaNoRenO games have had this special aura inside them, with GSK, Ren'Ai Games, the maker - have achieved something extraordinary. GSK is a not only a game that embodies everything that NaNoRenO stands for, it's also a consequence of Ren'Py, and it contains the very spirit of the times it was created. You see, every beginning is romantic, and GSK is from the time that is usually the most romantic of them all. It's a time that follows the very early tries and successes, a time when one already knows enough to make visions into reality, but at the same time is still not skilled enough to not need to use all available resources and invention to make up for that lack of skill or resource. GSK is such a special game, because its era, the times of dreams and possibilietes radiates from it.

I remember playing it for the first time - that piano music and the panning picture and a custom font, I was amazed how that was done - special effects like these weren't everyday at those times. It wasn't spectacular though - what struck me most was that it was subtle. It was inspiring, it was atmospheric and it was new.

It was the introduction to the most beautiful English ren'ai game ever made.

As a player in those times, you could feel from NaNoRenO, from Ren'Py and most of all from the game itself, that something was going on, that good games were being made and it was simply awe-inspiring when one realized just how much was possible. Now, we had the tools, the skill and the self-respect to create what we always wanted to create. It was this time that the community was perhaps most thrilled, excited and enthusiastic about ren'ai games. And it's this game where all of this is preserved - even when I set out to write this review and installed the game, it has lost none of its impact. It could move one to tears.

With such praising words for a game, one would imagine that it would have a gripping and well thought-out story. But - and those that were expecting a review, please forgive me for taking so long to get to it - it doesn't. In Kykuit, it's not important how things end. And I'd even go so far as to say it doesn't matter. The real beauty and soul of the game is in the playing itself. In talking with the people, in growing to like them, in getting absorbed by the atmosphere of it all. It is black-and-white, but you can clearly see the green and colors of the summer gardens, you can feel the heat and haze of the sun and the air, and you could just bask in all of them forever.

And it's not just the surroundings, the atmosphere of a school trip with holidays in the air and the art around you that warms your heart - it's the characters as well. If there was ever a perfect way to make drawn characters fit with photographs, this is how it would be. The symbiosis of the abstract (manga characters) and the real (surroundings, summer atmosphere) is so natural, there would just be no other way of creating it. Colors would break consistency, drawn backgrounds would lose atmosphere and more music would stand out. Some believe flawlessness defines the term, but in fact it's the inability to make something better - The Garden Society: Kykuit indeed is... perfect.

It's difficult to explain fully what the characters, its most memorable part, do for the game. You really need to see them, how they are drawn - each line drawn with love, even mistakes contributing to their personalities. You realize by playing this, just how different they feel to other manga drawings. They are original, have their own style and soul. They epitomize what OEL ren'ai games are. They were inspired by Japanese works, but they have their own ways, their own character. And most importantly, you can find in them what Japanese games can never give you. Something familiar but still special, something that has a heart which you can undertand and appreciate. Something... unique.

Just look at all of them again - and start with the girls. These are no dating sim archetypes with stock personalities. And neither are they drawn with all the sexy stereotypes. They have summer attires, short skirts even - yet none of them feels cheap, or provocative. Instead, they feel sophisticated, and very feminine - none of them shows off, none has the need to grab attention - their clothes are as simple as they are elegant and they just need to appear and smile to completely enchant you. Maybe you'll notice all the small details on their clothing, their hair and accessories, how they are all so subtle and discreet that all of the sudden the obsessive in-your-face designs from the bulk of Japanese games feel so obvious, much too flashy, two-dimensional, too pronouced and in general... completely wrong.

Even when you read this visual novel, it all fits so perfectly. While the story that revolves around a school trip to the art gardens and conversations with your friends slowly goes on, you'll notice that it's a joy to read - the style is balanced, it's never dramatic, always sophisticated yet not wordy, calmingly simple but never flat. The romance is just the same - metaphorically, rather than being the love of your live, Kykuit is the girl that you notice every other day in the subway and somehow it just makes your day a bit brighter. Like the characters, like the atmosphere, the romance has a melancholic flow and soft presence, soothing your soul.

It is still a proper game, though. There are three main girls that the player can become closer friends with, and one, the teacher, which is a little more difficult to get closer to. Throughout the game, your decisions about friendship, personality and art will determine which girl will like you most. The girls have their personalities and to be honest, it never feels anything like the usual girl-getting scheme. On the contrary. In this game you seem to find out what girl you have the most common with. The usual formula of trying to find your bishoujo archetype and then playing the game to get her does not apply. Even I, with my weakness for teachers didn't feel disappointed when my first playthrough did not get me close to her. It was just... alright. None of the "getting" pressure that stereotype-character-driven stories often have.

Backgrounds are livened up by people, the game's music plays to evoke the right mood and even the troubles that the protagonist, Arthur, will recall, they seem to go away in the garden parks.

And you feel sad, no matter how good the outcome of the game, when that final background comes up and you know that very soon the bus will take you home. It's one of those times when you wish you could go back and remember the whole day again. How it began, how your teacher explained to you about art, and how later on you had your free time in the garden. Even now, that beginning where you meet all the people you'll spend the day with is carved into my memory, because I've fallen in love with this game at the very fist sight. And then... you do it. Start the game again. And again. You tell yourself you play to get endings with the other girls, but you're simply feeling at home. For me, it was also the rare, or maybe even the only occasion where I really wished that *I* was there. Even though, technically, I was**. And I couldn't be more honored.

** Vivian Muse always has a group of fans following her. And on the very left, there is a boy with a black pencil on his t-shirt.

The Garden Society: Kykuit was never a game that revolutionized. While having subtle features and attention to detail, it wasn't ground-breaking or trend-setting. There is no feature that it could call its party-piece and there seems to be no effort to push the boundaries. And as more and more games are coming out, its black and white screenshot is often not enough to attract players. But this game was never destined to be popular. And about half a year after its release, it showed. And the times for OELVNs began to change yet again.

It was the August of 2005 and as many others, the community of OELVN makers was hit by the release of the English localization of the Japanese doujin visual novel Narcissu, a tragic and thoughtful story in the typical Japanese fashion. Many say it has brought a lot of good and a lot of respect for visual novels - contributing to freeing them from the hentai game stereotype at least somewhat. Many also say it has inspired the OELVN community. But among all the positives, many overlook, that for the OELVN makers, there was also something else that Narcissu has brought to them. It was competition.

Narcissu had started a new era in the history of the fan translation community. Shortly after its release the translation group insani went on and completely changed the face of visual novel fan translations. It brought respect and dignity to the world of translating, treating it like a craft. It started a new initiative, a translation festival al|together, that in the span of one month was the equivalent of NaNoRenO for the fan translators. Numerous releases started to appear, most of them from doujin makers, most of them free of charge. This was the first time that OELVN creators could see and experience the works of their counterparts from Japan. Just as themselves, the doujin makers were often small groups of few people, with limited resources, doing what they could with the tools at hand.

Narcissu's popularity shadow however did not leave the fandom. And all that was left for the OELVN community was to study and wonder how an on-purpose budget-like production gained popularity, how games that didn't have significantly better or more assets have attained respect and recognition that was unheard in the realms of OELVN making. While all of this is again, probably material for a different article - the outcome is not. It was after all this has happened, in late 2005 and in the following year that the first serious attempts for popularity from the OELVN makers have started. And to this day, this silent race for recognition and popularity continues, and in many cases it isn't silent anymore.

Of course, it's not like the OELVN has betrayed its own values. It has evolved and went on to create really great games that the community itself and many others still enjoy with the same enthusiasm as before. And it's one of the very few communities that still have to exhibit non-friendliness and un-supportiveness. It's always the spirit that's at the heart of things and even though there are more people and more opinions, the spirit is, I believe, still the same.

However, ever so often, especially when motivation is scarce, people will want to go back to the roots. To find something unique, something that feels special and cannot be found anywhere else, something which in turn inspires them and gives their work a meaning. If OELVN works would just mimic Japanese doujin or engage in pointless popularity races, surely, there would be no soul to be found underneath the fandom's releases. A maker searching for the heart of OELVN would only find hollow imitations, and visions of fame that can never inspire.

But, this is not the case with OELVNs. And it takes just one playthrough of garden Society: Kykuit to realize just how unique OELVN works are. GSK symbolizes the first and most basic idea on which the whole fandom was created - creating your OWN visual novel. Making it just the way you always wanted it, having it respect your background, having it more accessible to your friends, while keeping the spirit of the Japanese works that were the inspiration. And since the fandom started from absolute nothing, it's also about remembering that the mere completion of your game is enough of a reward, and how every single comment from players feels special.

The Garden Society: Kykuit is a game that can never have a Japanese doujin equivalent. It's a game that only the OELVN fandom can produce, it's a game that takes you back to the creative roots of the community and it's a game that carries the heart and spirit of the first of the English ren'ai games.

And there isn't anything more that one could possibly want.

Review by mikey

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Time's Tear - Synopsis

Story: Kazuhiko and his brother Hideo are orphans living under the supervision of their caretaker. Then, one night, Kazuhiko has a dream. Will it help him pass a test in school?

Relationship Type: BxG

Length: 1-2 hours

Positives: Very well told unusual story, outstanding music, vast amount of artwork which is stylistically ideal for this sort of game, several unexpected plot twists, adventure-style mini-games.

Unusual Features: Young protagonist, user-friendly and children-friendly game, quasi-linear VN.

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Time's Tear - Review

Warning: Some spoilers below

Ostensibly, the Visual Novel genre at present is a rather adult form. A majority of VN’s deal with romantic (or perhaps not so romantic) relationships, and a majority of these games contain adult content. Although, arguably the VN is in some ways like an interactive children’s picture book, at present there are very few VN’s which focus on a younger audience (Hikari no Ribbon, in the Ren’Ai Archives is one of the exceptions). Although many of the games in the Ren’Ai Archives for example have an all-ages rating, this more relates to the lack of any potentially objectionable content, rather than implying that the story might appeal to pre-teen children. Generally, these games also have teenage or adult protagonists too, which might also make the games difficult to relate to.

Time’s Tear is a game that goes outside many of the standard conventions – the protagonist Kazuhiko is 10 years old, and the story in some places (though not always) feels like it is being told from a child’s perspective. As well as this, the romantic elements, whilst not insignificant are fairly downplayed compared to some of the story’s other themes. In many ways it feels like Time’s Tear has been designed to appeal to a younger audience. Whilst there is a lot of reading involved in many places it plays more like an adventure game. Probably for Time’s Tear to be successful with a younger audience, it would have to be approached as a computer game, rather than a 20000+ word interactive book.

One of the most innovative components of Time’s Tear are the mini-games. For me, they reminded me a lot of some of the adventure games from the early 90’s (choosing the right object or combination of objects to perform a task). All of them are well integrated into the story, and in some ways act as a substitute for a branching storyline. The mini-games will vary greatly in difficulty from player to player – but the game gives unlimited retries (and a hint when you don’t succeed). In this respect, the game is much more forgiving than most VN’s difficulty-wise, making it ideal for a younger audience.

Like most other ATP games, there are some subtle clues in the story that suggest what will happen in the ending. The ending manages to tie together almost all of the story’s elements, and was completely unexpected for me. What impressed me most was seeing the complete Time’s Tear poem on-screen after finishing the game – it really made the ending feel complete by having the game come full circle.

The main reason for this game’s success is probably Lordcloudx’s artwork. As Mikey mentions, the ability to draw anime-style children purely as children (without any of the common extraneous connotations), is rare among artists. His art fits perfectly with the game, and really captures the personality of each character. The amount of artwork for Time’s Tear is vast (58 images in the CG gallery for example) and processed background photographs - in the extras section, there is the expected CG gallery, but also a CYOI (choose your own image), where you can superimpose your favourite character sprite over any of the game’s backgrounds. I’ve never come across a CYOI gallery in a VN before, and it’s a very nice addition to the game. Because of the large number of resources used, the download is unfortunately very large for users who are on dial-up connections.

As with O3 (and a few other games), Renesis’s trance/ostinato driven music is outstanding, and is at least the equal of the music from an average commercial VN. The soundtrack (which comes with a printable CD cover) can be listened to in ogg format.

Despite Time’s Tear being a children’s adventure (and to some extent an adventure for children), there is just as much content in the game for older gamers (besides possible nostalgic feelings it may induce). It’s one a few VN’s that almost anyone is likely to enjoy.

Review by Ignosco

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Project Nattsu - Review

Warning: This review contains some spoilers

While it’s difficult to describe a game as being traditionally representative of its genre, Project Nattsu contains some stereotypical features, for example a quasi school-based setting in Japan (a few Japanese words are used too), with a ‘harem’ of females around a male teacher. There are a few more unusual features too, for example Anna’s best ending being non-romantic, and of course Ending 5. On the whole, the game doesn’t stray too far outside the standard ‘conventions’ of Ren’ai VN’s though.

Hime’s thoughts about each character are explained in the Omake section. To a certain extent the characters are typical stereotypes, which work well for a game of this length and genre. That is not to suggest that the characters are dull – on the contrary, these archetypes are used to create three completely different, yet likeable characters. The protagonist, Shoichiro is much more generic, which as explained in the Omake section is almost a necessity for this sort of game.

The overall gameplay is excellent, with well thought out choices than in some cases are not immediately obvious. Getting to each girl’s good ending requires a little thought, and the true ending (where you have to act in a way most in character with Shoichiro) can be challenging to get. [Whilst on the topic of endings, Ending 5 is one of the most amusing scenes I’ve come across in a VN.] Although the game only takes place over four days (with only the first three having any choices), there are a relatively large number of choices, which are all well-integrated into the storyline. Importantly, every choice increases/decreases the value of at least one variable, so that none of the choices are meaningless. I feel that this approach is by far the best for a game with a linear storyline – as only the ending, and small sections of text will differ on each playthrough, it makes sense to always let the player influence the ending they will receive.

Overall, Project Nattsu is the sort of VN that is likely to appeal to most Ren’Ai gamers. The gameplay/choices are at a good average level of difficulty, and are combined with likeable characters, and good CG’s and music. Whilst the story isn’t overly ambitious or deep, it always reads well, and along with the other elements creates an enjoyable ambience. I highly recommend Project Nattsu to anyone looking for a light-hearted, ‘traditional’ Ren’ai game.

Review by Ignosco

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The Missing Tickets - Review

Warning: This review may contain some spoilers.

Unlike the other mystery/detective games from the Lemmasoft forums, The Missing Tickets is a light-hearted investigation of a ticket theft, rather than a murder. This is in no way a serious game, as can be seen when the motives of the culprit are revealed, and when playing I really got sucked into The Missing Tickets’ infectious sense of fun. Whilst the story in places is a bit short, this is made up for by the enjoyable and effective way in which it is told.

The characters are mostly based on real life stuffed animals, and this comes through in some of the designs (and I imagine partly in their personalities as well). All of the character sprites are coloured very brightly, which lets them stand out well from the darker backgrounds. Although the character sprites and their personalities aren’t overly refined, this approach works very well in a VN like this.

What struck me most while playing was the overall layout of The Missing Tickets. From the non-static main menu (which doubles as an introduction) to the information sheets on each character, everything is very well designed. The information sheets in particular might be worth including in future mystery games, to reduce the amount of note-taking that a player needs to do.

Whilst playing the game, certain choices will unlock one of the four bonus stories (minigames). Three of the extra games are very short, but Midnight’s extra story (a dating sim type game without the dating) is more substantial and fairly challenging, with multiple endings and three different statistics to juggle.

Overall, The Missing Tickets combines a fun experience with some very effective design features (which are worth looking at for any potential game creators). If you’re looking for an enjoyable way to spend 20-30 minutes, then The Missing Tickets is well worth downloading.

Review by Ignosco

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Winter Shard - Review

Warning: Spoilers below:

Well, I am quite a suspicious person to review Winter Shard, since I was one of the game’s beta testers and am very fond of bleak stories, complex anti-heroes and difficult moral dilemmas, all of which can be easily found in Winter Shard. For any regular VN players, accustomed to reading a romantic story in a familiar, modern-age scenario, Winter Shard may feel like a bucketful of freezing water. It has a dark story, which does not refrain from showing murder, war and tyranny as well as many tragic or disturbing scenes, like Rosetta and the flower that sustained her and Rosetta’s burial. The hero, while not completely unlikable, is far from the ideal hero of an average story. Although initially he may seem a cold hearted tyrant, in fact Frederone is much more complex than that, with a very basic, and human, conflict inside him: How to deal with the changes that inevitably come with time, especially the tragic death of someone we love. This is one of the main driving forces in the whole game and such a rich theme is explored by F.I.A. in a very tasteful, strong and above all dramatic manner.
The Gameplay is also a strong feature of this game, with a good amount of branching in the story, leaving you to deal with the consequences of your acts. There are endings for all tastes, from the romantic, to the evil, to something in between these two. The game must also be praised in the fact which the game doesn’t “punish” you for bad decisions ( except one single choice in the very beginning ). The player is given liberty to choose whatever path he wishes, and can be as evil, or as kind as he pleases without fearing that some higher power ( i.e. the morality of the author of the story ) will automatically punish you with death or lousy endings. One could argue that evil itself is already a just punishment for evil actions, but I’ll leave that for the philosophy conversations. The game does have a true ending, and one which I believe many agree to be the most satisfying of them all. None of the other endings are bad ( most, in fact, are fairly happy, with the exception of one sudden ending near the start of the game ) but the True ending is, by far, the most dramatic, moving and well executed of them all. While the other endings happen easily, with little or no conflict, the true ending reaches a truly epic scale in which creation and creator battle for their ideals and the story goes full circle, finishing in a bittersweet gran finale that would be difficult to surpass.
The art is fairly well-executed, with some sprites that deserve special praise like the hydra image or Rosetta’s burial CG. The quantity of event images is also good, and none of them feel wasted, each contributing to the story resulting in a unique effect. The game music can be found freely in the internet, but is still very good, and works well with the somber, moody ambience of the story. The sound effects are good, and presentation is normal.
Concluding this review, I can only say that it took courage and determination to make such a rich game, with a fair amount of violence, following almost no “standards” of the genre, with various paths and event CGs, it is a game that deserves praise and full merit for its accomplishments.
I did warn you that I was a suspicious person to write this review, remember?
Review by Mr. E

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K*A*O*R*I - Review

‘She became my dream girl. And also something I always returned to. Something inspiring.’

Warning: This review contains spoilers

K*A*O*R*I (hereafter KAORI) was one of the earliest OELVN’s, and for me it seems to be one of the most important, not just for ATP projects, but also for OELVN’s in general. Being able to tell a story in an original, effective way using minimal resources has become somewhat of a hallmark for the Lemmasoft communities VN’s, and KAORI was one of the first games to demonstrate this.

KAORI was created as a prototype for what mikey describes as ATP’s ‘simple games’. Compared to River Trap (which is still one of the most complicated and graphically intense OELVN’s), KAORI is about 1/15th its size. To reduce production time (and to keep the game small), there is only one pose per character sprite, no music and a rather low resolution background photographs. There is still a strong atmosphere created by the minimal resources used, particularly the filter of the backgrounds, which for some reason reminds me of yellowing paper.

One of the most unusual features of KAORI is the characterisation. None of the characters’ personalities are described to a significant extent, even when they engage in conversation. The characters function more as inspirations to each other rather than as people, and because of this, in some ways they become 'idols' for each other.

The other strongly innovative feature is the overall structure of KAORI, in particular the way that 5 out of the 9 of the Endings (where some or the entire Kaori/Inami story is revealed). By constructing the game in this way, the reader is forced to read most (or all) of the endings to discover reach the True Endings. KAORI’s choices are structured such that each ending can only be reached in one way, which combined with the newly added keyboard support, allows the player to easily retrace the paths to the password endings. Additionally, the decision points in KAORI are well thought out – one choice in particular seems rather ambiguous, but makes perfect sense after the whole story is revealed.

KAORI differs from most of the other ATP games, as a (slightly) greater focus is placed on the storytelling rather than the emotions attached to it. Overall, I didn’t find KAORI quite as successful as the other early ATP games – but it still integrates gameplay and story in a way that’s perfectly suited to the VN format.

Review by Ignosco

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Wings - Review

'To be always alone, but never lonely...'

Wings is a rather unusual VN in several respects, as there are two versions of the story included in the one download, two protagonists and a storyline conveyed mostly through internal thoughts.

In a few places the writing doesn’t flow particularly well, feeling at times like a compressed list of facts. However, what really stands out is the overall honesty and immediacy of the story. Both protagonists convey their thoughts to the reader very frankly, without an attempt on the author’s part to express any moral judgements, leaving the ideas presented open to a personal response. What I also found interesting was the personalities of the protagonists, which are quite likely to rile the players. While their thoughts are often highly arrogant and condescending in their thoughts, it is unlikely that they will completely distance anyone. On a personal level, at times my thoughts have drifted down those lines, and I imagine that this is true for many other readers, making this a somewhat confrontational VN.

As Lordcloudx mentions in the authors notes, there is a strong influence of some of the translated doujin VN’s, particularly Narcissu and Until We Meet Again. The influence of Narcissu is particularly evident, through the tightly squeezed backgrounds and Kotori’s appearance (which resembles Setsumi’s in Narcissu).

While the other elements of the game (art, music etc) aren’t quite on the same level as the story, they are still well done and effective. The art in particular is an essential part of Wings, as there are minimal character descriptions, which I think is why the protagonist is also presented onscreen. In the ending of the revised version the use of art is highly effective too.

It’s difficult to say which version I prefer, as the primary difference between each story is the artwork, with only a few sentences of the original storyline being changed. If you enjoy the story, it’s definitely worth playing through the other version to draw comparisons between them. Additionally, Lordcloudx’s comments in the author’s notes and in the Completed Games section of the Lemmasoft forums are well worth reading. It’s also hard to say who this story might appeal to as it operates on a rather personal level. However, I think Wings is well worth downloading if you are looking for a slightly different VN experience.

Review by Ignosco

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The Nettestadt Troll - Review

WARNING - This review contains adult content, and some spoilers.

One of the problems I’ve had with Hentai games is reconciling the sex scenes with the story. These two elements are in some ways diametrically opposed to each other, and in some of the Hentai games I’ve played, some of the scenes seem to have no direct purpose in terms of the overall plot. One way to avoid an awkward juxtaposition of is to have a plot with sex as an important element, and this is the approach that The Nettestadt Troll takes. To quote DaFool, ‘The Nettestadt Troll is a story whose primary objective is to uncover: “Just who the hell am I having sex with?” ’. The game is not remotely close to a sex-romp though (the Hentai appears only after unmasking the troll in the endings), and more time is spent on establishing the backgrounds for each character and showing the abduction by the troll, the gradual development of a relationship between them, and Katya’s attempts to discover who is behind the mask.

The Nettestadt Troll does contain some mature content. There are two visually depicted H-scenes, one on each characters path after the troll has been unmasked (only topless nudity is shown, and the genitalia are described by various euphemisms. On another note, to unlock the 4th H-CG for each character, Katja needs to have acquired the herbal aphrodisiac.) The other sexual encounters (some of which involve rape) between the Troll and Katja are not visually depicted, but are described. On the whole, all of the mature content is tastefully done – however if you feel like you will be offended by it, it’s best not to play this game.

The creator of a solo project has some advantages over a team project, the biggest of which is total control. Having the ability to write, draw, program, compose etc all the elements of your game will ensure that it remains as close as possible to your vision. The obvious downside is the vastly increased workload, but in return it is possible to strongly unify the different elements of the VN. What I found particularly effective was the combination of the backgrounds and sprites. The zoomed-in backgrounds would not work especially well with a full-body character sprite, and so a head-graphic off to the side is used instead.

Perhaps the strongest of the game’s elements are the graphics, although every part of this game is of a high quality. The headshots used for the males and females are done partially by a pallet-swapping technique, but all of the characters are strongly distinctive and attractive. However, throughout the story, no one component seems to dominate, and what comes across a lot of the time is a strong unity between all the elements. For example, the first time Katja encounters the Troll, while out searching for the key in Chapter 2, the player knows that at some point in the minigame (exploring various areas of a map), that Katja will encounter the troll - but it is unclear when it will happen. The overall feel created by the ominous music and dark backgrounds culminate in the on-screen appearance of the troll’s CG. I should note that there are also some other menu based mini-games included, which integrate well into the game, particularly where you try to unmask the Troll in Chapter 5.

One of the other big achievements of The Nettestadt Troll is its utilisation of some of the more recent Ren’Py features to keep the overall download side of the game under 7 megabytes. By splitting the large backgrounds (which generally function as the maps) into four quadrants, when Katja journeys to a particular area within the maps’ area, by zooming in to the particular quadrant, effectively, another background is created from the original. Also, some of the ‘shading’ features within Ren’Py are used to produce alternate states of backgrounds (such as the grey backgrounds for the flashbacks). This efficient, minimalist approach to game creation is well worth considering, as it saves effort on the creators’ part, and can make the game more accessible to those using dial-up connections.

The Nettestadt Troll’s development thread is very extensive and the overall approach that DaFool took during the game’s development might be worth considering. The game was scaled down several times over the course of the thread, to ensure that the VN would be completed within the self-imposed deadline (two months). This approach is the same as that taken for NaNoRenO (make a complete VN within one month), and in both cases, the time-limit and the associated pressure are important factors in ensuring the games’ completion (and generally, games that aren’t completed by the deadline are usually left unfinished). In some ways, The Nettestadt Troll is a compromise from the original premise, but what’s far more important is that it’s a complete VN.

The above paragraph is not trying to demean The Nettestadt Troll or take away from DaFool’s amazing achievement. Almost all free games to a greater or lesser extent are compromised versions of what the creator would ideally have in mind, and the final version of this VN is still of a very high quality. The script can also be opened using Ren'Py - with the programming for the minigames and the use of the zoom function being well worth examining.

Overall, The Nettestadt Troll is a well-made love/detective story, designed to appeal to both sexes. Unless you would prefer to avoid games with adult content, this VN is well worth playing.

Review by Ignosco

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Elven Relations - Review

‘We ought to do our bit at improving human-elven relations, don’t you think?’

Warning: This review contains some spoilers

As mentioned in the Omake section, Elven Relations was initially begun in 2003, but ended up stalling with about 2/3rds of the script done. It ended up being completed in 2007 as an IntRenAiMo project, making it one of the few games to be successfully completed after being left on hiatus for a long time.

The overall story of Elven Relations combines a traditional Ren’Ai experience with a relatively standard fantasy world (pre-gunpowder). At times the overall storyline and plot feel a bit conflated as the scale of the mission is rather grand, and everything goes very smoothly throughout. Even so, Elven Relations is (I think) the second longest Lemmasoft forums game, behind Gakuen Redux. However the game’s focus is more on the Ren’Ai aspect, rather than the overall plotline, and as chronoluminaire mentions, the depth of the game comes from the back-story, which requires multiple playthroughs to fully discover. Tohko, Yurika and Asilana all have very well developed personalities/backgrounds etc, and while certain parts of their stories are revealed on every path

One of the best features of Elven Relations is its replayability. Although the overall plot is the same no matter which character you pursue, there are changes not just in the interactions which the character you romance, but also in some of the other conversations. I particularly enjoyed the way other characters noticed and responded to your growing romance – it really increases the realism of the game. Elven Relations will probably require multiple replays to track down the best endings (particularly the semi-hidden Ending 1) – it’s definitely worth replaying to find all of the endings as they are all well-written and each of them has at least one CG associated with it.

Almost all of the art appearing in the final version of Elven Relations was completed under NaNoRenO conditions by Sunkitten. The quality is consistently high, and the amount is staggering (15 CG’s and many characters (including costume changes) with) numerous facial expressions). More importantly, the expressions are matched very well to the character sprites, for example Yurika’s subtle expressions fit her somewhat reserved personality. The backgrounds (a few of which are hand-drawn) and music were very well chosen too - and the gameplay never feels overly repetitive due the numerous resources employed over the course of Elven Relations.

The combat minigames are at the right level of difficulty – they require a little bit of thought (particularly the Dragon combat), but they can all be beaten even if the only character you defend is your love interest. In these sequences, the combat is continuous (as opposed to turn-based), but your actions can only take place (as menu choices) in a reactionary way (you can only decide how to interact with one of the NPC’s as they are attacked). The romantic interactions between your love interest are also carried over into combat, as one way to get ‘her’ to like you more is to protect her in combat, and in return, they will defend you in some way too (for example Tohko distracts enemies from attacking you by Fireballing them)

As there are only three combat sequences in the game, it raises the question of whether they are needed in the game. Personally, I much prefer this mini-game to the story-mode overview, as the written-out comments seem a bit perfunctory. It’s good to have the flexibility to choose between them though, particularly when replaying a characters’ path to achieve the best ending.

Overall, Elven Relations is a high-quality OELVN, with an excellent mix of Ren’ai, fantasy, and some other elements (eg humour). As long as you don’t approach the game expecting a really deep and meaningful story you are likely to really enjoy this.

:)

Review by Ignosco

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Pygmalion - Review

'Are you jealous?'
'Of a character I created? No way.'

'You have power over hundreds of people. People read your stories. People send you letters, and even gifts, without even knowing you. People have their lives changed by you.'

Although the Pygmalion myth has been retold many times by different authors, even showing up in another Visual Novel (as an important part of one characters’ path in a very highly regarded game), Pygmalion presents a relatively original, well told version, with a strong basis in real-life. The historical links this VN has with the myth are evinced through the inter-textual references made to other re-tellings, such as Andrew’s pseudonym being Higgins.

In some places the art is a bit rough, but it is always highly expressive. Andrew’s poses are extremely diverse and serve to express his internal emotions very well. Having the protagonist pictured on-screen as a sprite outside of CG’s is rather unusual – but it could almost be suggested that the statue and Andrew are both protagonists at these times. Besides, it’s much more interesting and effective to see Andrew, as opposed to the statue. The music is also very expressive and fits the story well – for example there are different tracks for Victoria depending on which personality you have ‘given’ her.

If you haven’t heard of the Pygmalion story before, it’s probably better to play the game before reading about it in the extras (or from any other source). For me, what was especially interesting about this retelling was the basis that it had in reality – Mr. E mentions in the extra notes about meeting someone whose had 'modelled' their personality after Sakura (from CLAMP's Sakura Card Captors). Although I’m no sociologist, for better or worse, there seems to be an increase in the number of people creating alternative personalities, or crafting themselves after existing ones. Personally, this was the most interesting aspect of Pygmalion for me – that the myth was presented in a 'real' situation.

It’s a question that’s well worth thinking about. The statue seems to point out to Andrew, and indirectly to any potential ‘creators’ the responsibilities that we have over our characters. As the old adage goes, ‘the pen is mightier than the sword’ – and clearly most people acknowledge the power the written word can have on the human mind. What sort of responsibilities do we have as creators (moral or otherwise)? For me, it’s nigh-impossible to draw a clear dividing line, and strong arguments can be put up for any position that can be taken. The aspects of the statue as Hubris and Nemesis emerge at the end of the story, to present this choice. None of the three endings are 'bad', suggesting that the author doesn't want to advocate one view over another - instead leaving them open for consideration.

Overall, like a lot of the Lemmasoft forum games, Pygmalion is not a ‘typical’ Ren’Ai story. It’s a well told, thought-provoking story, which happens to include some romance. Like most of these VN’s, as long as you don’t go into it with the wrong expectations, you won’t be disappointed.

Review by Ignosco

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Secretary of Death - Review

‘… the meaning of life is death.’

‘Everything is simple. You are just making things complicated to give it more meaning.’

Secretary of Death is not so much a game focused around a particular emotion, but is more an examination of some ideas surrounding life, death and love. The story is roughly in two parts, the first (more light-hearted part) being before the other deaths while the second more philosophical part comes after that (although mainly near the end of the game) – although clearly there is a large degree of crossover between the main theme for each part. Although there are some death jokes and many romantic scenes in the second half of the story, what stood out the most for me were the discussions between Aleksandra and Hiroaki.

While it could be suggested that these jokes are unnecessary and do not fit with the main theme of this VN, for me they really show how a relationship between Hiroaki and a death can develop. They also prepare the reader for the later discussions of death, through their light-hearted but never trivial nature. From my part, I would have preferred a few less ‘love’ scenes and some more investigation of the philosophical part of the story, as that was the more unusual and intriguing aspect of the story for me. I don’t mean to detract too much from the romantic scenes – I guess you could describe them as being funny, touching and (in a good way) full of clichés.

The real substance of Secretary of Death for me is in the second half, in particular with the philosophical discussions. I think the two quotes prefacing this review explain why certain emotions are the focus of some other ATP games. The age-old question of the meaning of life is presented by Aleksandra in a somewhat cold, impersonal and almost nihilistic – but no matter what you believe, to a certain extent it’s undeniably true. Hiroaki’s response is much more ‘human’, and I guess it reminds me [completely off topic reference] of the consideration of life as being like a bridge, with the current step on it being the only important choice. The final view presented Aleksandra and Hiroaki agree on, is that from a distance nothing matters, but to each other we matter a lot. The view arising from this (which can apply to other ATP games), is the need to matter to someone else, expressed through romantic love. (At least, this is my interpretation of Secretary of Death.)

Perhaps this view could be applied to most Visual Novel’s – by considering the nature of endings. Usually, the endings referred to as ‘best’, ‘good’ or ‘true’ often revolve around forming a successful relationship, while ‘bad’ endings generally have the protagonist remaining unattached. As such, arguably meaning can be said to arrive from ‘winning’ a game. Just a passing thought…

In some ways Secretary of Death is very much like a minimalist game, with the absence of music, the blurred backgrounds (processed photographs) and the somewhat rudimentary character art. I can’t quite remember my exact feeling when I first played this but it’s one VN’s I’ve replayed quite a few times since then - behind Gakuen Redux, this is my favourite of the ATP games. For me, I guess to a certain extent this game answered (or at least gave me a lot to ponder over) questions that I’ve been thinking about for a long time, and I think this has a lot to do with my high appraisal of Secretary of Death. So apologies if this review is somewhat biased :P.

Secretary of Death makes very effective use of the 'double vision' script, which was first used in Gakuen Redux. I think this is also the first game to use the customised slider icons in the options menu.

To paraphrase a comment mikey sent me about this game; Secretary of Death explains a lot about the other ATP games, because there is a kind of common nature present in most, if not all of them. Some of the ideas dealt with, such as loneliness, and the ‘dream-girl’ idea stem directly from the ideas expressed in this game (which I will discuss in future reviews).

While Secretary of Death (as mikey has mentioned), is not a game for everyone, if you are interested in the other ATP games or examining ideas about love and death, this VN is definitely worth playing. While there is an ‘amateurish’ feel to this game, it shouldn’t detract from the overall experience.

Review by Ignosco

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Tales of Lemma - Review

Tales of Lemma

Tales of Lemma was the first Lemmasoft VN, one of the pioneers in the English VN scenario and incidentally the first VN I played that was originally in English, so it’s hard to talk about it without getting slightly nostalgic but I’ll try. First, the plot is fairly simple. Those expecting a complex story with elaborate twists and deep psychological background will be disappointed. Tales of Lemma is delightfully unpretentious, hence one of its greatest charms. The story has some very funny moments and others that are just plain surreal. The unexplained mushroom attack and the squirrel rescue are strange and the fact that the characters aren’t very surprised and never question these only adds to the whole bizarreness of the situation, but it’s all for the sake of humor and entertainment, and Tales of Lemma succeeds in both.
Also of note is the choices system, which remembers the choices you made and gives further choices accordingly, an ingenious system which unfortunately wasn’t used as much as it should be. The game gave the player a “fanservice” option only if he had shown interest in that earlier in the game, which is perfect in terms of experience since you really feel in the protagonist’s shoes. If you don’t like fanservice then the character won’t look for fanservice ( yes, in one part the main character stumbles into fanservice regardless of the player’s choices, but partial control of the story doesn’t mean total control, just like in everyday life really… ) I only lament that this system wasn’t used much in any other part of the game. Giving the artsy persona a special choice would be equally rewarding and the appeal of the game would be higher, although the game maker’s workload would be increased too. All in all, the choices system is sound and only need a more broad approach.
The background photos are ok and work surprisingly well with the character art, despite the fact that Miko is not especially photorealistic. The music and sound effects do the job, no more, no less ( although the campfire sound effect deserves some special praise ) and the fact that the game has no saving system is at least eased by the fact that the game is small, taking 15-25 minutes.
Overall Tales of Lemma is a good game for those that want to relax and have fun. It is also one of the main inspirations for many amateur VN creators of the “early generation” ( i.e. Three years ago. ) and a good stop for the terminally nostalgic, a group that includes this sorry game reviewer
Review by Mr. E

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Lucy's Revenge - Review

Review:

Potential spoilers below:



(The Ren’Py demos up to the 6th version have featured Eileen almost exclusively, as she describes introduces the viewer to Ren’Py. Lucy’s appearance in the original was only on the ‘Make a Choice’ screen in the Ren’Py demo, used to demonstrate Imagemaps. She ended up being dropped from the 5.6.3 demo.)

Lucy’s Revenge is parody at its best. When I first played this, I had never seen Lucy in the Ren’Py demo, and after I’d downloaded an earlier version of Ren’Py, I was impressed by how mugenjohncel developed such an ‘interesting’ character out of the one ‘Make a Choice’ screen. Many on the jokes are tied into particular features in Ren’Py, but even without knowing about these, the humour is still apparent.

Aside from the wacky and somewhat perverse humour the other element that really stands out is the art. For a game produced in a week, there are a lot of high quality CG’s, sprites, as well as several animations. The ‘grabbing’ one in particular is very well done.

It’s definitely worth downloading if you’re interested in seeing what can be done art-wise with Ren’Py. As all of the script and images are accessible from the game directory, Lucy’s Revenge is almost like another Ren’Py tutorial, featuring several of the more advanced features in action.

Mugenjohncel’s upcoming VN, My Dear Teacher – Mr. K (there’s a demo available on the Lemmasoft forum in the Works in Progress section) will have Lucy (and maybe Eileen?) in it - so if you enjoyed Lucy’s Revenge it’s definitely a game to look forward to.

Review by Ignosco

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Starlit Sky - Review

“… when people die they become a new star in the sky and live out a second life as that star, shining down upon their sleeping loved ones.”

Spoilers Below

Starlit Sky is the story of both Jack and Marivel as they work together to fulfil a promises they have made. This is one of the first games to explore a relationship purely of deep friendship, rather than romance. It was originally conceived as a NaNoRenO game (made entirely in 1 month), but ended up being completed in May.

Describing the setting is difficult – it’s partially a combination of a (roughly) 19th century like world with a world of magic, where fairy tales can be real. Perhaps there is a degree of incongruity in this unusual setting but for me it never really detracted from the story – especially since many scenes in the story can be seen somewhat allegorically.

The protagonist is a fairly unusual age (13) for a VN – for much of the story, the slightly older Marivel is a more dominant character, due to her magical abilities and greater On the other hand, Jack is much more level-headed and in some ways wiser, enabling their characters balance very well with each other as they solve the problems they encounter together. As their friendship develops, they begin to share more of their pasts with each other, which for example reveals why Jack is always looking at the sky. Marivel’s story is only explained fully in the penultimate scene – although there are some clear hints given throughout the story as to why she forgot so much about her sister, I was very surprised upon reaching that scene. Significantly, the relationships Jack and Marivel had with their siblings, closely parallel their own friendship, except here their ages are reversed. The relationship they develop through the story seems to replace their previous friendships with their siblings.

Although Starlit Sky is mainly the story of Jack and Marivel, the secondary characters they encounter on their two side-trips are also very well developed. The theme of friendship is strongly prevalent again, as Jack and Marivel work together with Violetta, and then Kareena to solve the problems they encounter. For me, what was especially significant is that all three characters in each encounter were needed to best resolve the problem – for example without Jack, Violetta would have ended up taking the memory potion. I guess it was primarily because of the strong emphasis on friendship, that the story never felt sad for me, but instead was more of a heart-warming tale.

When I first discovered VN’s about 8 months ago, one comment I read (I think it was relating to Kana – Little Sister), emphasised that in a Visual Novel, you are playing primarily for the ending. From me, it is mainly (though not exclusively) the games with really well done endings that stay in my mind well after I’ve finished them. The ending to Starlit Sky is fairly short, but it is very moving and it really gives a sense of hope for the future, as Jack and Marivel both fulfil their promises together. Having the two stars showing at the end is a very effective artistic touch.

The character sprites in particular are utilised very effectively, with horizontal positioning and flipping used to show both the positions and emotions of the characters (ie facing away when they are angry or leaving the scene). I particularly like Violetta’s facial expressions, as they strongly enhance her personality. The music is also very well chosen – as a fairly small number of tracks are used, when certain pieces are repeated they link between sections of the story and emphasise the unified moods these sections share.

Overall, Starlit Sky is a beautifully told and moving story of friendship. As long you don’t approach the game expecting a story of romance, you are likely to enjoy this VNReview by Ignosco

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Embraced by Green - Review

"... that weakness, it felt like death."

"And my mind, it can't paint Yumiko's picture for myself anymore."
WARNING: Potential spoilers ahead

Like most ATP games, the game’s story is largely driven by one emotion – for Embraced by Green, it seems to be an aspect of loneliness, examined through the relationship between Etsuya and Yumiko. This is juxtaposed with the setting of the story; being trapped within a garden while on a scientific field trip and trying to escape from it with Yumiko – the ‘science’ side of the story. Each question asked by the game contributes a point towards one of these areas if answered correctly. The questions focus on the two themes of the game separately (both have to have enough correct answers to get the good ending), and if you get the bad ending, the game tells you on which theme(s) you have made mistakes (mikey mentioned on the Embraced by Green thread that you are allowed around 2-3 bad choices for each theme).

Normally the choices in a Ren’ai game revolve around pursuing a particular character, eg deciding who you will talk to and what you will talk to them about, and to a certain extent the player does not need to consider the personality of the protagonist, and can focus only on the ‘winnable’ character. However in Embraced by Green, the choices are almost all based on Etsuya’s inner thoughts or thoughts leading to action, and to find the good ending the choices have to be made according to Etsuya’s personality, (particularly his approach to science). This gameplay mechanic, where you have to become the protagonist to succeed is rather unique, and because the game requires this non-standard approach, it can easily become frustrating if you come into it with the wrong intentions.

There is a variable tracker integrated into the game (see the Embraced by Green thread in the Lemmasoft forums) which lets you see which choices give you points – if you get stuck trying to reach the good ending, this will help you.

The good ending is definitely worth seeing – it explains the mystery of the garden, and through that it validates the choices you have made. You also get to see the start of the relationship between Etsuya and Yumiko (there’s also an easter egg reference for one of the previous ATP games).

Aside from the storyline, the other really strong feature of the game is the overall atmosphere created. The music, the highly effective backgrounds (heavily processed photographs), the effects in Ren’Py and Yumiko’s art all combine to draw the player into the game – the feeling of being trapped in the garden.

Overall, while I prefer some of the other ATP projects VN’s above this one, this is still a very good game, and it is worth playing both for the storyline, the overall mood, and the good ending. The experience is something that would be virtually impossible to replicate in a print form and the gameplay mechanics of Embraced by Green, are completely new compared to any other Lemmasoft VN
Review by Ignosco

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