#Gameplay Katawa Shoujo

[beevean]

A bit of Fridge Brilliance in Katawa Shoujo regarding Shizune:

her route is often criticized, among many many other reasons, for having only one choice. Do you “comfort” Misha, or do you push her away?

Yes, gameplay wise, her route isn’t as engaging as, say, Rin’s. But it makes perfect sense for her character.

In Act 1, there is a scene called Support, where Hisao doesn’t know how to spend his Saturday, and has to decide who to hang out with. The girl he spends the day with depends on your previous choices: pursuing Lilly and Hanako will lead to a choice where you can finally branch out and select one girl, or you could go to Emi and Rin and then stick to one of them depending if you bonded with Emi or not.

Shizune is not involved in this scene.

If you pursued Shizune, you get a completely different scene, Shanghaied, where she and Misha wake Hisao up at 8 am and drag him with them to spend the day together.

See the difference? Hisao doesn’t choose to go to Shizune: Shizune makes that choice first. This is who she is, and this was a brilliant way to show it. It also isolates her from the other girls, which reflects how isolated she actually is in the school.

Her route explores this mentality in depth: Shizune loves to drag people in her life, and loves to take control of everything... and then doesn’t know what to do to keep those people near her. She’s full of personality, but that personality is hard to like, let’s just say.

But back to the choice. Hisao can’t make choices in the route because, well, Shizune makes them first, and Hisao follows her along. That one choice of comforting Misha? Shizune isn’t there to stop them. (and what a choice it is, if left to his devices Hisao can decide to stick his dick into his girlfriend’s best friend out of pity. I don’t blame Shizune for being always in charge at this point)

(also, that part of her driving people away due to her personality? Comes to bite you in the ass in the Bad Ending. I love how fucking Misha doesn’t lead to the Bad Ending because Shizune discovers that you cheated, that would be too obvious; it’s because both Hisao and Misha can’t stand to be near her out of guilt and she believes that it’s her fault because, well, that’s what she does, doesn’t it? No one likes her. Everyone will eventually drift away from her no matter how hard she tries. It breaks me)

Shizune’s route was more of a character study than a love story, and this means that you get more fridge brilliance moments than Feels. I personally like that :)

#katawa shoujo #i don't know why i made this post #i just like shizune i guess

[jeux-raconte]

9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors

Sorti en 2009/2010 sur DS, puis dans une anthologie sur Steam, the Nonary Games. Jeu du studio Spike Chunsoft (fusion incroyable du studio derrière les DBZ Budokai Tenkaichi, Spike, et du studio créateur de la licence Dragon Quest, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon ou encore Danganronpa, Chunsoft ! Quel mariage !!)

J'ai un rapport étrange aux jeux Visual Novel : je n'en ai pas fait beaucoup, mais j'y joue toujours quand je suis en déplaçant, sur une console portable et je m'y plonge corps et âme pendant quelques jours jusqu'à les finir. (Cela dit, ce n'est que la 2e fois. J'ai fait le premier Danganronpa Ur switch il y a un an, et c'est tout. J'ai joué à Katawa Shoujo mais jamais terminé, et j'ai fait Doki Doki littérature club, mais j'ai du mal à le considérer comme un VN).

Du coup, en ces vacances de Noël, équipé de mon Steam Deck fraîchement offert à mon anniversaire, je me suis pris Thé Nonary Games avec pour objectif de terminer au moins le premier jeu de la collection. C'est donc chose faite, et j'avoue que je ne l'ai pas lâché, il m'a bien tenu en haleine.

Synopsis

Même s'il ne brille pas par son originalité, le scénario a le bon goût de nous mettre dans le coeur de l'action immédiatement : on a été kidnappé, on se réveille dans une drôle de cabine, l'eau monte et il faut sortir. Au fur et à mesure se déroule une histoire de jeu de vie et de mort, des règles à suivre et à respecter pour espérer s'en sortir vivant.

Avec nous, il y a 8 autres passagers (9 Persons, vous suivez ?), et tout le monde a un bracelet au poignet avec un chiffre unique de 1 à 9. Il faudra passer des portes sur lesquelles il y a des gros chiffres (9 Doors, vous ne dormez pas ??) en respectant des règles spécifiques pour constituer des groupes de personnes...

Gameplay

Le jeu alterne entre les phases de Visual Novel à proprement parler, c'est à dire du texte à lire, des dialogues souvent ; et des phases "d'escape game", même si le concept était moins populaire à la sortie du jeu. Durant ces phases, il faudra fouiller dans la plus lure tradition du point & click, trouver des objets et résoudre des puzzles pour sortir et progresser dans l'histoire.

Le jeu nous offre des choix réguliers et on voit sur un arbre schématisé que l'on progresse sur telle ou telle branche, vers une fin différente du jeu.

Les énigmes sont variées et plutôt agréables, je me suis rarement retrouvé bloqué et quand c'était le cas, c'était plutôt parce qu'il me manquait des objets à trouver. De plus, le système d'aide du jeu (du moins dans son portage Steam, je ne peux rien garantir pour le jeu original) est agréable, intra diégétique sans pour autant être intrusif : quand on échoue plusieurs fois sur un puzzle, les autres personnages présente essaient de nous aider.

Une fois qu'on a enchaîné les salles, les dialogues, et que le mystère s'épaissit, on arrive à la fin du jeu. Du moins à une des fins. Et là que le jeu devient assez incroyable. On a envie d'en savoir plus, on est frustré, et on se demande si on va devoir tout se refaire pour essayer d'en savoir plus... Eh bien non ! Le jeu brille par son système d'arbre de choix : pas besoin de tout refaire, on peut essayer de changer quelques choix cruciaux et voir ce qui se passe. Quand ce sont de gros embranchements, alors on se retrouve avec de nouvelles salles, de nouvelles escape et de nouveaux dialogues. On en apprend encore plus, et on veut savoir le fin mot ! Et on tombe encore sur une fin peu satisfaisante. À ce stade, je suis allé chercher des guides sans spoil, afin de faire toutes les fins du jeu, mais je pense que l'arbre est suffisamment bien pensé pour y arriver sans aide extérieure.

Je glisse un passage sur les contrôlés, l'interface, etc... J'ai fait tout le jeu sur Steam Deck. Au début jouant uniquement avec le stick et le bouton A, je me suis vite mis à utiliser le tactile et les gâchettes pour passer d'un écran à l'autre. Plutôt agréable, mais de temps en temps un poil rigide. Cela dit, on est loin des déplacements tout affreux de Danganronpa, le jeu est très bien pensé et compatible comme il faut avec le Deck.

Scénario

L'histoire est intéressante, et moins tirée par lez cheveux que celle de Danganronpa ! Que ce soit clair : j'ai adoré Danganronpa, même si je trouvais que le jeu traînait en longueur au bout d'un moment. De plus, les personnages étaient quand même très très archétypaux, à la limite du tolérable parfois... Et son scénario même si plein de rebondissements, était quand même très... fantasque.

Ici, même si le jeu n'est pas avare en plot twist et compagnie, tout reste dans une certaine mesure cohérent, et j'ai souvent eu l'impression de lire un thriller autant que de jouer à un jeu. Ce qui est un compliment, du moins dans la façon dont je l'ai ressenti. D'ailleurs, même si en fin de jeu, j'ai pu être de temps en temps irrité par le temps que prenaient les choses pour avancer, je n'ai pas été déçu par le dénouement final, bien au contraire ! Tant et si bien que j'envisage de faire à moyen terme le jeu suivant de la série, même si le HoLongToBeat de 30h m'effraie...

Graphismes et visuels

Disclaimer : je n'ai fait que Danganronpa comme VN, donc il s'agira de mon point de comparaison principal. (Est-ce que les Ace Attorney comptent comme des VN ? Dans ce cas, j'ai aussi fait le premier).

J'ai trouvé le jeu très joli et très agréable. Les dialogues comme l'ensemble du jeu, tout est en 2D comme le veut le genre. C'est plutôt beau, les chara designs peuvent sembler assez stereotypés dans un premier temps, mais on se rend vite compte que l'historie n'est pas aussi simple.

Les décors sont variés au début mais assez redondants au bout d'un moment, mais ce n'est pas très grave.

Son et musiques

Les doublages anglais sont très sympas. Mais j'ai joué la majorité du temps sans le son, n'étant pas à la maison. Je ne peux donc pas trop me prononcer sur ces points malheureusement.

Bilan

J'ai passé un très bon moment en jouant à ce jeu. La durée est raisonnable, plus long que les petits jeux indés de 2 ou 3 heures, mais globalement autour de 10h, l'idéal pour les vacances.

Les phases énigme ont été très satisfaisantes, et le scénario m'a tenu en haleine jusqu'au bout.

Si je devais lui donner une note, je dirai autour d'un bon 8,5/10 ! Les points à gagner supplémentaires sont au niveau de l'interface, ou des musiques, même si je les ai peu entendues, elles font le travail sans m'avoir marqué (et pourtant qu'est-ce que j'aime les bonnes OST !)

J'ai donc déjà commencé à le recommander autour de moi, et je vous le recommande aussi !

28/12/2022

#video games #junpei 999 #visual novel

[onewomancitadel]

Have you tried visual novels like Katawa Shoujo, VA-11 HALLA, Fate/Stay Night or Dies Irae, or you don't have time?

Okay, yous are killing me with these blank icons/headers and empty blogs, there are so many I'm not sure if I'm just getting bot messages/likes.

Anyway, no, I'm not big on visual novels, I have played some before but they scratch neither that literary nor romance itch, though I do think the gameplay/roleplaying element is always interesting for constructing narrative and consequence. There IS one exception to this and I think she's still potentially (I'm not sure because I don't use Twitter anymore) working on turning Wizard Story into a visual novel type of thing which works very well with the format the story took on Twitter. I would play that, but I'm very invested in Enchanter and Wizard's romance.

To expand on 'romance itch', I'm not big on self-inserts or playing out a romance AS MYSELF, I prefer stories as doorways as opposed to mirrors. That's why the only Dragon Age romance I'm invested in is Solavellan, because that story is much more set in stone my mind and it's not a character I'm roleplaying, like in terms of player choice (and trickster gods always have some sense of inevitability to them which again is why gameplay medium do interesting thing hee hee and why I think certain things do/must happen with the romance). Not sure if I totally expanded on my thoughts here to the fullest but this would be the point where visual novels MIGHT be interesting (romance) to me but generally the way it's constructed I'm put off.

I'm curious where this question came from XD it's interesting being asked things like this!

And I know sometimes people get mildly upset if you don’t like a thing they also like, if you (dear reader) like them then all the better for it, there's stuff I like that a lot of other people don't. Like my enduring and ongoing obsession with bridal carries that apparently seems to be sort of weird.

Edited to add: sorry, I assume bots because historically Tumblr has had issues with bots and they continue to evolve, I understand if you’re a new user or something you might not be aware.

#seraphina's asks #user: noscuarteto #miscellanea

[meredithalden]

DATING SIMS ARE GOOD AND YOU SHOULD PLAY THEM: A MANIFESTO

hello everyone, I am here today to talk to you about the most important literary genre ever created. yes that's right. you know exactly which one I mean.

This write-up presumes that you know absolutely zero about dating sims (to be more specific: dating simulation videogames), except for the fact that they exist. If you didn’t know that, well, now you know that. If any of this is a retread, my apologies. Please feel extremely free to comment, make corrections, additions, pile on, discourse, etc.

Part 1.  JAPANESE DATING SIMS: INCEPTION

Dating sims weren't invented by Konami, but they're the ones responsible for massively popularizing it and establishing all the now-classic genre standards (or genre cliches, depending on how you look at it). Tokimeki Memorial came out in 1994 for PC.

Per Wikipedia, lightly edited for clarity: "In a typical dating sim, the player controls a male avatar surrounded by a variety of female characters. The gameplay involves conversing with these girls, attempting to increase their internal 'love meter' through correct choices of dialogue and action. The game lasts for a fixed period of in-game time, such as one month, or three years. When the game ends, the player either loses the game if they failed to properly win over any of the girls, or they 'complete' one of the girls' routes, achieving eternal love (or getting sex, depending on what type of sub-genre the game falls under). This gives the games more replay value, since the player can focus on a different girl each time, trying to get a different ending."

Tokimeki Memorial (and all of its subsequent sequels and spin-offs) take place during the 3 years of the player character's Japanese high school career, including archetypal events such as the sports festival, the cultural festival, Christmas, New Year's, Valentine's day, and (at the end of the game) graduation.

A poster on the Something Awful forums made an extremely comprehensive screenshot & text-based Let's Play of Tokimeki games 1 through 3, and also one of the spin-off games, where the genders are flipped. In that spin-off, the player avatar is a high school girl, pursuing various boys. (In general, gender-flipped genre variants where you play as a girl are referred to as "Otome Games," i.e. "Games for Young Ladies").

These Tokimeki Memorial Let's Plays are archived here.

In order to understand this foundational series, you definitely do not have to read this whole archive (it's approximately 1 billion words altogether. These games are long and text-heavy), but I would recommend reading reading the summary write-ups for each game in the overview page that I linked up above, and maybe the first couple update chapters for each game, so you can get a feel for the overall vibe & conventions of the genre. Or you can probably find a bunch of video LPs on YouTube, if that's more your style! Or you can play them yourself! (I played Girl's Side 2 on a Nintendo DS emulator, and enjoyed myself a whole bunch.)

I like this particular Let's Play a lot because   A. Reading is just personally easier and faster for me than watching   B. The author is really thorough and takes the time to explain all the idiosyncratic Japanese cultural tropes and references that come up, and I think that's neat.

Part 2.  THE CONTAGION SPREADS

Any game with characters that you can "romance," or build up their "affection stats" by making various choices, owes this mechanic to dating sims.

Some examples of games from completely different genres, which nevertheless incorporate dating sim mechanics:

Every Dragon Age game, every Mass Effect game, every Knights of the Old Republic game (thanks for doing what you do, Bioware!), Fallout 4, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey, Skyrim, Grand Theft Auto 4, Stardew Valley, Harvest Moon, Final Fantasy 7, the entire Persona series, The Witcher 3, indie darlings Oxenfree and Night in The Woods…

And also, there are a bunch of games that ARE straight-up dating sims, but stray from the genre-typical high school setting and genre-typical cast of beautiful hetero romanceable characters. They may also stray from the convention of having every character be "winnable."

You probably already know about Dream Daddy, where you play as a dad, and date other dads: https://kotaku.com/dream-daddy-creators-explain-why-you-can-t-smooch-all-t-1797354455

Rose of Winter is about a female mercenary warrior hired to escort 4 handsome princes: https://kotaku.com/rose-of-winter-is-a-visual-novel-about-first-love-1788036938

Katawa Shoujo is about a boy who transfers to a school for disabled children: http://www.katawa-shoujo.com/about.php

Monster Prom is about getting hot monsters to agree to be your prom date: http://monsterprom.pizza/

Part 3.  HEY YOU. YEAH YOU, BEHIND THE LAPTOP. HEY. YOU. I'M TALKING TO YOU.  

*puts on sunglasses*  Let's get...... metafictional.

I’m not going to say much about any of the following games. Just play them. Play them blind, or as close to blind as possible.

Play this:

don't take it personally, babe, it just ain't your story

Here is a non-spoilery review if you're curious to learn more first: https://killscreen.com/articles/review-dont-take-it-personally-babe-it-just-aint-your-story/

And then play this:

Hatoful Boyfriend

steam store link (DON'T READ ANY STEAM REVIEWS.)

Non-spoilery review here: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/12/hatoful-boyfriend-review-love-pigeons-japanese-dating-sim

And then play this next one.

Be advised that it gets heavy. If you play it at night, maybe don't be alone in the house. Content warning: “This game is not suitable for children, or those who are easily disturbed.”

Doki Doki Literature Club

steam store link (DO NOT READ ANY STEAM REVIEWS. DO NOT READ ANY OTHER REVIEWS. DO NOT READ ANYTHING. DO NOT GOOGLE THIS GAME. DON'T ASK YOUR FRIENDS ABOUT IT EITHER.*)

*If you want to know why it's good, or if you want to know more about the specific nature of the content warning before deciding if this game is okay for you to play, feel free to ask me. I'll let you know whatever you need to know to make an informed decision so you can feel comfortable.

~ The End ~

Thank you for coming to my thesis defense. Everyone, be sure to tell me which dateable dads, pigeons, monsters, and fictional Japanese high school students you think are the cutest and the best and most dateable.

#i came out of tumblr retirement to post this #manifesto #dating sims #japanese dating sims #tokimeki memorial #hatoful boyfriend #ddlc

[tokai-teio]

Got any shows or games you'd recommend?

hmm, let’s see! 

Darkest Dungeon (Game): a side-scrolling dungeon crawling RPG, where you take control of a party of up to 4 heroes. it’s got a dark aesthetic to it, and while gameplay can be stressful to both you and your characters, it’s almost like playing a dungeons & dragons session, since each character you get will have different personality quirks and flaws which is perfect if you’re lonely like me ahahaha

Katawa Shoujo (Game): a very classic visual novel that does a good job playing to your heartstrings. with several routes to take, it features different girls with different disabilities, though their disabilities are not the focus; it’s the way that they still live the best lives that they can, and it’s a beautiful story. it’s free too, and can be downloaded on their website. 

Daily Lives of High School Boys (Anime): a very fun anime that focuses on shenanigans with high schoolers, it’s an all-around hilarious time. because of the non-sequential scenes, you can pick it up at any pace you want, since the series is mostly short comedy skits. overall, something that can bring a lot of laughs to you and anyone you watch it with

#these are just three off the top of my head that i think are great! #prefix answers #sfw #fly-fool

[guardian-demon]

❤️💚💙💔

❤️ How many people have you fallen in love with?

Definitely? 2 — idk if I’m ready to say 3 yet but idk idk idk 🥺🥺

💚 How far would you go to change for your beloved?

It depends how far they want me to change, but if I can’t be perfect for them what’s the point

💙 What is your favourite video game?

Best story: Katawa Shoujo

Best gameplay: Factorio

Best overall: Portal series

💔 How have you dealt with heartbreak?

If it weren’t for the court orders they would be in fucking pieces

#haha no I’m not bitter #bc I’m in better places now ♡

[bunnyadvocate]

Visualising the VN Market

The Visual Novel medium encompasses an enormous range of diverse content. From stories about philosophy to murder mysteries, romance, comedy, and of course, porn. But to what extent do these categories and the fandoms that love them overlap? Using the vote data on VNDB, we visualised the VN medium by mapping out the fandom overlap, and in doing so, learned a few things about the VN fandom.

The Analysis Process

To get an overview of the Western VN fandom, we downloaded all the user-submitted VN ratings on VNDB (using this as a proxy for which VNs each user had read), and filtered out any VNs with fewer than 250 ratings (to keep the final result a manageable size), leaving us with 410 VNs. We then calculated the proportion of users who had rated both VNs to see how much of an overlap there was in the fandom between those two VNs.

To visualise the results, we modelled each VN like it was a beachball floating in a swimming pool. Each beachball has some elastic strings attached to it, where each string lead to another beachball (representing another VN), with the tension in the string determined by the fandom overlap between those VNs. So VNs with large fandom overlaps would be pulled strongly towards each other. However, to prevent the beachballs all clumping together in some horrifying beachball orgy, each beachball also caused ripples in the water as it bobbed up and down, pushing away anything that gets too close. We ran the simulation until the beachballs stopping moving, having found an equilibrium point between the pull of the strings and the push of the ripples.

You can see the early stages of this process in the test simulation below. Each beachball/VN is coloured to highlight the type of VN it is. Handheld console VNs are pink, EVNs are green, and the rest are blue. The elastic strings between beachballs/VNs are shown by faint red lines, with the strings that pull tighter shown as a brighter shade of red. The font size is proportional to how popular a VN is.

You can see that the VNs are randomly distributed at the start, but quickly form into clusters of similar content. The murder mystery focused VNs (Danganronpa, Ace Attorney, and Zero Escape) form a cluster on the right, while the strategy gameplay heavy Sengoku Rance and Kamidori Alchemy Meister cluster in the top left.

The VN Market Map

A full size version of this image is here.

When we run the algorithm, the results can be a bit intimidating. A huge jumbled mass of VNs. How do we interpret this? The first step in understanding this map is recognising the clusters that the VNs have grouped themselves into. If we use the VNDB tag and release data, we can begin to highlight similar types of VN and the clustering becomes more apparent.

The Plot Focused category is only approximate as it highlights only those VNs with certain tags: “Horror,” “Utsuge,” “Nakige,” “Mystery,” “Murder Mystery,” “Life and Death Drama,” or “Thriller.” You can detect my plot preference biases in that list...

Combining these categories, we can generate a much clearer map of the VN fandom.

A zoomable version of this map can be found here, and a high resolution image is here.

There are two major elements in interpreting what this map says about the VN fandom. The first is how dense each cluster is (how tightly packed it is). The density tells us how much fans tend to stick to VNs of that type, and how important that type of content is to them. The second is each cluster’s position relative to one another, which tells us how much the fandoms overlap and what they’re most similar to.

Analysing the map from the top, we see the porn cluster stands erect. Its somewhat fringe position indicates that the nukige fandom is a minority of the Western VN fandom, although it’s still pushing hard into the main VN mass which shows there’s a lot of overlap, especially with those who like more light hearted stories, comedies, moege etc.

The strategy gameplay VNs barely make it into a cluster at all as they’re quite widely spread out, indicating that people aren’t necessarily drawn to them for their gameplay content, but value other aspects of them (*cough* the porn).

Next, we have the core of the map, the plot focused VNs with emotionally heavy content. Katawa Shoujo takes pride of place in the centre of the fandom as it’s by far the most frequently cited first VN fans read. In the bottom left we find a particularily tight subgroup of those VNs that seem to be linked through their detective gameplay mechanics and release on handheld consoles.

Over on the right, we can see a couple of popular VN series that seem a little disconnected from the rest of the map. The Nekopara and Sakura series have large fanbases, but are off in the fringe, nearer nukige stuff than anything plot related. Their fringe position implies that their fans are coming more from the Steam gaming community than the rest of the VN fandom as people who read either of those series don’t go on to read many other VNs.

Further down, we see the untranslated VN cluster is quite tightly bound, indicating that those who can read untranslated VNs tend to stick to just untranslated content. They highly value a VN being untranslated when choosing a VN to read. Its position at the opposite end to the nukige cluster indicates those learning Japanese for VNs are primarily interested in them for their stories rather than the porn.

The Western VNs are less a cluster than a halo around the the main VN fandom. This shows that EVNs have yet to really integrate themselves with the VN fandom as a whole (outside of otomes), and that while VN fans might be happy to read a particular EVN they come across, they aren’t actively searching for more EVNs. Those most willing to try them seem to be those who enjoy plot focused or otome VNs.

Lastly, we have the otome and yaoi clusters off by themselves in the bottom left, with the two of them sharing some fans. The relatively tight clustering indicates a loyal fandom, but they don’t seem to read much outside of that. They’re almost an entirely separate fandom from the rest of the VN scene, although they seem much more willing to read EVNs than the majority of VN readers.

VN Recommendations

Using this map of the fandom’s tastes, could we generate VN recommendations for someone? If we highlight only those VNs they’d read we could see if it clustered in one area, and if it did then any unread VNs in that area would be a good suggestion for them. I made a web tool (see here) to do exactly this (it requires you to have had a VNDB account before Nov 18th). If you’ve got a VNDB account, give it a try and let me know if the nearby VNs fit your taste~

I hope you found the post interesting. If you liked it, please share it around. I had a lot of fun working on it, but it was only possible thanks to the invaluable help of /u/8cccc9 and Part-Time Storier.

Next week’s post will break down the map into more categories and analyse them in more detail, look at how the VN ratings differ per cluster, and investigate how the EVN fandom is split. I’d love to hear any feedback or suggestions for further analysis. If you want to get in touch, you can comment here, on my Twitter, or PM me via the Ren’py Discord Server.

#visual novels #visualnovels #evns #oelvn #oelvns

[linuxgamenews]

Sense survival horror gets a big update

Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story gets the much needed update 1.1 on Linux, Mac and Windows PC. Thanks to the ongoing work of developer Suzaku. The game now has a come bit improvements on Steam. If you missed our original coverage of Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story. The game features deep survival horror and exploration-based gameplay. While complemented by partial voice acting and puzzle solving. Even more, there are intricate secrets and exploration. The game is playable in English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Russian. Which also comes with a haunting and moving soundtrack by Andy Andi Han (Synergia, Katawa Shoujo). This certainly merges the worlds of cyberpunk, oriental music, and John Carpenter.

Sense - A Cyberpunk Ghost Story Trailer (Linux, Mac, Windwos PC)

Up to now people have has a few concerns about the game. Since there are issues, well, more annoyances than anything. Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story has just a 1.1 update on Steam. This also brings the game to the form Suzaku hoped it to be at launch. Here are the major changes that are part of this update:

Updated Save System to include Autosave Checkpoints & QuickSaves

Numerous Bug Fixes to Interaction Chains Throughout the Game

Improved Visual Prompts

Made logic for some puzzles more obvious

Improved Key Binds & Journal Explanations

Added a function to NG+ , which removes the quick save option for added challenge “Hard mode”

Added a function to NG++, which removes both autosaving and quick saving, for the “survival horror” mode. Only manual/limited saving is available in New Game ++.

Switched the A and B button functions on XBOX controllers in Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story

Added A Journal item unlocked at start of game which has helpful “tutorial” notes on saving, the PDA, and the Taomu.

Improved the visibility of Several ghosts in the later portions of the game.

Removed “logic chain” conditions on several items so that they may be picked up right away, eliminating the more frustrating backtracking. (Note: this was only done on SOME items, not all of them in game)

Added visual prompts to the “balance board” Minigame/puzzle on the 2nd floor.

Change for the pause menu to ESC on PC, instead of enter. controller button is unchanged.

Also, be sure to check out the full changelog in here. There may be issues that affect you directly. Although, most major problems are patched. Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story plays far better thanks to much needed update 1.1. Priced at $19.99 USD on Steam. Available on Linux, Mac and Windows PC.

#sense: a cyberpunk ghost story #survival horror #update #linux #gaming news #suzaku #ubuntu #mac #windows #pc

[playmasterhd]

FIRST SNOW - GAMEPLAY / REVIEW - FREE STEAM GAME 🤑 TITLE: First Snow GENRE: Casual, Free to Play, Indie DEVELOPER: Salty Salty Studios PUBLISHER: Studio Élan RELEASE DATE: 19 Aug, 2020 Having moved away from her friends and family to attend community college, Allison Merlo is a fresh student struggling with the day to day challenges of life. ALL REVIEWS: Positive (24) RELEASE DATE: 19 Aug, 2020 DEVELOPER: Salty Salty Studios PUBLISHER: Studio Élan Popular user-defined tags for this product: Free to PlayIndieCasualNudityVisual Novel+ Is this game relevant to you? 0.5 hours played User reviews: Positive Single-player Steam Achievements Steam Cloud Remote Play Together Steam is learning about this game Languages: Interface Full Audio Subtitles English ✔ ✔ ABOUT THIS GAME Having moved away from her friends and family to attend community college, Allison Merlo is a fresh student struggling with the day to day challenges of life. Faced not only with living independently for the first time, but also having to get past her nerves to find new friends in an unfamiliar environment, she finds herself falling in with a group of eccentric writers and artists. As she pushes through this new stage in her life, the art of the cold and enigmatic Eileen Turner takes her attention, setting her on a course she never expected. First Snow is a prequel spinoff of the visual novel Twofold, focused on Allison and Eileen's first months in community college in the leadup to Christmas, and the many varied people who surround them. A freshman just out of high school, Allison is still adapting to life in college. Grades aren't a problem for her, but living away from home and family, surrounded by strangers, fills her with an unshakeable feeling of loneliness. Though she's a sweet girl who tries to be kind to everyone she meets, her quiet personality hasn't made it easy to find new friends. Nevertheless, things are beginning to change. Eileen likes spending her time alone, so she doesn't care much about finding friends. Her cold and brusque demeanor makes sure that most aren't interested, anyway. Focusing instead on her pursuit of art, she's set up shop in an old, seldom-used art room in one corner of the campus to improve her painting skills. Hardly anyone enters her space but her, and she prefers it that way. Loud, energetic and always excited, Caprice has quickly become recognized in the art department as a somewhat strange girl. This doesn't bother her any. She's never been the type to let others' opinions get her down. After sitting next to Allison in life science class, Caprice decided the two of them must be friends. Extrovert and introvert, the two get along surprisingly well. A charming papercraft style that persists through to all aspects of the game, from the character sprites to the custom UI! A comprehensive extras gallery, showcasing CGs as well as guest art from numerous talented artists! A totally original soundtrack! An engaging girls' love romance story by Suriko, a writer of the visual novel Katawa Shoujo! 100% free! READ MORE MATURE CONTENT DESCRIPTION The developers describe the content like this: SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS WindowsMac OS XSteamOS + Linux MINIMUM: OS: Windows XP and later Processor: 2 GHz Memory: 2048 MB RAM Graphics: OpenGL 2.0+ or DirectX 9.0c compatible GPU Storage: 1 GB available space First Snow Gameplay,First Snow PLAY TROUGH,First Snow pc free games,First Snow game,First Snow steam,First Snow review juego de steam,First Snow lets play,First Snow how to play,First Snow analisis,First Snow review,First Snow no commentary,First Snow link,First Snow trailer,First Snow multiplayer,First Snow full gameplay & review,First Snow f2p,First Snow pc,First Snow free game on steam,First Snow juegos gratis de steam,First Snow 1080 60 FPS, key steam,First Snow free game steam 2020,First Snow online,First Snow steam store,First Snow steam pc games,First Snow steam free download,First Snow steam keys, free steam game,First Snow gameplay ESPAÑOL,First Snow free pc game,First Snow free to play steam game,First Snow good steam games,First Snow free games to play,First Snow game keys,First Snow best free games on steam,First Snow steam giveaway,First Snow top steam games,First Snow good free games on steam,First Snow cheap steam games,First Snow steam free to play,First Snow steam free to play games,First Snow new steam games,First Snow steam games online,First Snow cool free games on steam,First Snow steam f2p games,First Snow all free games on steam,First Snow free pc games to play,First Snow free online multiplayer games for pc,First Snow best free multiplayer games on steam,First Snow freesteamkey,First Snow steam gratis by PlayMaster ✮VARIEDAD&DIFERENCIA✮

#gameplay #video #review #walktrought #walkthrough

[beevean]

It would have been interessant if the game had been able to have a change in Barok's attitude (even a little change) following the first case in Britain (you know, when Ryuu has the choice at the end to say "not guilty" or be "agree" with Barok that something is fishy and that he can't ask "not guilty" if he can't be sure) like Barok would be a little more respectful in the following cases, but it was probably too hard to programm. what do you think?

Mmh. Technically speaking, it's not unfeasable. Katawa Shoujo, a much simpler visual novel (it was made with Ren'Py by indie devs), does have subtly changing dialogue depending on previous choices: for example, you can get with a girl in two ways, and there are pieces in much later chapters that reflect which scenes you have seen before, just very small lines that reflect the continuity you choose.

I think it would be possible to program some sort of "flags" in AA, that change dialogue depending on previous choices, even in small ways. That being said, AA games are not quite as dynamic as dating sims are, and they want to tell a specific story, so in GAA's particular case Barok has to go through his character development at his own pace.

I like your idea, though, I think it would have been the perfect evolution to the sadistic choice Farewell My Turnabout puts you through. You put your job above the truth? Barok becomes even more scathing towards Ryuu, because you proved his prejudices right, and Ryuu himself feels like shit for trusting an obvious criminal. You put the truth above your job? He dials his jabs down and starts to consider the idea that maybe Ryuu is an exception to the rule, but maybe Ryuu still feels like shit because now he doesn't feel competent in his job. Gameplay wise I doubt much would change (if Barok starts helping you more it would make the next cases too easy), but considering how technologically advanced the series has become, I wouldn't mind putting some weight in your choices.

#ace attorney #the great ace attorney #dai gyakuten saiban #gaa spoilers #dgs spoilers #ryuunosuke naruhodou #barok van zieks

[ichika27]

My thoughts on DDLC

(If for some reason, you haven’t played DDLC or haven’t heard of it but want to try it out, here’s a link (it’s a free game): (Link))

I’ve always wanted to write this but I was super lazy lol. I played Doki Doki Literature Club months ago before I even knew it was popular. I frequented Lemmasoft where people post their newly created games and saw it there.

Anyways, DDLC as many people know is a visual novel/dating sim that is cute and innocent at first but shifts into something creepy midway (like, an hour or so in the game). It got popular, to the surprise of it’s creator, and is now very well known and of course, many are asking ‘Why? I’ve seen this gimmick before somewhere else!’. Apart from it being free, there’s another reason I think helped.

Well, to put it simply, I think it’s because of expectations.

(I’ll put the rest below as this’ll be a long one)

Visual Novels are games that are text-based and you click through them and read and if the game isn’t a Kinetic Novel, you’d get choices that determine what ending you’d get. Like a ‘choose your own adventure’ book except it’s a program. There are pictures on screen, sprites of the characters and music which makes it a bit more fun to go through. There are different genres to choose from as these are stories after all.

Dating Sims on the other hand are like VNs except with the added goal of trying to end up with one of the available characters. It’s usually of the romance genre and you meet guys or girls depending on the game you’re playing and you gotta get them to like you enough through the game.

There are a few mini games here and there sometimes and those are point and click as well.

To anime fans, the first exposure with the idea of these games’ existence come from anime/manga itself. The games are popular in Japan and so they’re referenced by characters who play these games in the show. Of course, anime/manga had been created based on these games as well particularly of the harem genre that is based on dating sims. Many of the popular games are also rated 18+ which meant there’s sex and nudity involved and are just toned down for the anime.

So, why did I mention those? Because it’s part of what people would expect from a VN/Dating Sim. With the deceptively cute art and music of DDLC, one would think it’ll be some cutesy dating sim and go in without expecting much (as seen in the many let’s plays of this game created before the twist was common knowledge). The warning signs, even though there are probably not taken too seriously by most or misinterpreted by others as either a joke, or about nudity (expecting the rating to mean it’s an H-game, which it isn’t), or just didn’t think it’d be too much.

A lot of players probably dismissed it, thought it was a normal and boring slice-of-life dating sim and was completely off-guard as the first hour or so of the game plays simply as that.

So it’s not a surprise the players were in for a shock when they had played it and seen it for what it actually was.

What makes this game special is another thing that defied expectations.

You see, I’ve played a bunch of VNs/Dating Sims before and most of the first people that played this who found it through the lemmasoft forums probably had played a lot more and might have even made their own so they have their own expectations of the game. If I could describe our collective reaction in 7 words, it’d be:

“I didn’t know ren’py could do that.”

(ren’py is the game program used to create this game and is one of the most popular program to use as it’s free).

In my experience, the worst I thought the game could do is change the story (of course), probably make the GUI look creepy and even make the characters scary. But then there were jumpscares, in-game glitches and things one wouldn’t expect a VN to do. It’s amazing especially to those familiar with the system for years and just realizing that ren’py is capable of more than they had been using it.

It certainly surprised me. It was unexpected and creepy. And I played this thing at midnight haha (bad decision). The best part about this is that if you’ve played the game and watched other let’s plays, you might see some jumpscares that didn’t show up on your own gameplay which means it’ll take a while for it to be boring.

It’s pretty amazing to be honest and it probably means that more games would try to be more creative with their programming now. It’s also nice that this game became some sort of gateway for people who don’t normally play these games to try them out (like what Hatoful Boyfriend and Katawa Shoujo had done to other generations years before).

Anywho, if anyone is interested, here’s the link to where you can download Ren’py: (Link)

The download to the program and some resources are there and everything. It even has a list of other games if you wanted to try playing. I’m posting this link cause maybe some of you wanted to try making your own. (cause I love playing these games and need more lol).

Link to Hatoful Boyfriend here: (Demo) (Steam)

Katawa Shoujo (this is a free h-game): (Link)

I’ll do a game recommendation of games that are like DDLC on another post.

#sana_post #doki doki literature club #ddlc

[louispencer]

Tweeted

Série nova, Katawa Shoujo - Visual Novel PT-BR - Parte 1 - Começo tensohttps://t.co/Kq3K9IVG4S#PTBR #game #Indie #Game #gameplay #VideoGame #VisualNovel #Anime #Encontros #Romance #Casual, #bishoujo #KatawaShoujo pic.twitter.com/ZXUDJc6xz1

— Player Banzai (@PlayerBanzai) January 22, 2018

#IFTTT #Twitter

[beevean]

I don't know if you already play or watch playthrought but Any advice when playing DDLC ? I plan to play this game ( & Katawa Shoujo) once I got my own laptop, aside of a few fucked up scenes (and reading stuff like yuri's weekend, yikes) I'm completely blind about DDLC.

Both Katawa Shoujo and DDLC have very simple gameplay styles, but they're different. KS requires you to make choices like a classic visual novel and there's not much else to it, but not all of them are immediately intuitive; DDLC is more unique in that you choose your girl by writing poems, that is, selecting words that you think a particular girl will like. You also make some choices, but they're few and far in between. Both games are more about the experience, but they're very different experiences :p

Unrelated, but I actually have no idea how they're going to port DDLC on Switch and I'm very intrigued - the original version takes advantage of its being on pc to pull off some very interesting special effects...

#katawa shoujo #ddlc #when you'll be able to play ks i recommend you to look for an hd mod #it's on reddit and it makes the game widescreen #it's not 100% perfect but it already makes the game much prettier

[linuxgamenews]

Sense ghost story is now available on Steam

Sense – 不祥的预感: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story survival horror RPG releases now on Linux, Mac and Windows PC. Thanks to the creative efforts of developer Suzaku. Available now on Steam with a discount. Drawing inspiration from the likes of Clock Tower and Fatal Frame. Sense takes place in Neo Hong Kong, 2083. While following the story of a young woman named Mei-Lin Mak. Who also gets dragged into a maelstrom of supernatural horror. In order to escape the nightmare, she must piece together the stories of 14 lost souls. So she can discover the truth about her own family curse. All on a backdrop of a city of scars and secrets. Full of neon lights, riot drones, tradition, and technology.

Sense - A Cyberpunk Ghost Story [Official Launch Trailer] (Linux, Mac, Windows PC)

Sense features deep survival horror and exploration based gameplay. While originally announced back in 2017. The Kickstarter campaign also reached 500% funding, aka Project Sense. Since this helped bring the game to life. Which releases complemented by partial voice acting and puzzle solving. While including intricate secrets and exploration. The game is playable in English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, and Russian, and is accompanied by a haunting and moving soundtrack by Andy Andi Han (Synergia, Katawa Shoujo) that merges together the worlds of cyberpunk, oriental music, and John Carpenter.

Features:

Interaction – The player will need to search and examine every nook and cranny of the world around them in order to progress. Some items may not be visible until specific chains are complete. Plus some items may be hidden from Mei's cybernetic eyes at all times as if spirited away by the ghosts stalking her. Some may require quick wit – and have urgent consequences.

Dialogue – NPCs will be heavily populating a few areas of the full game, but there may be some wandering the halls with you. Talking to them can reveal information about the world, the mystery at hand, and even some unexpected secrets.

Lore – The world of Sense is huge and complex, each location will reveal details about Neo-Hong Kong and the surrounding world. From Geo-Politics to inter-character relationships, don't be afraid to click on anything that looks interesting.

Dealing with Failure and Ghosts:

Ghosts – The ghosts of the Chong Sing building can hurt you, but can you hurt them? The short answer is no, but you can help them pass on. Shrines, offerings, and solving mysteries will be your only weapons.

Death and failure – Like all the best games, failure and mistakes should come with punishmnent. But in a heavily narrative game how do you do that? How do you promote stakes and risks? The answer is simple, fill the world with dangerous events and deadly spirits. Just make sure to record your progress at the occasional TV. Since there are NO checkpoints or autosaves in the Chong Sing building.

Replayability – Sense will be full of secrets, only some of them will be available in a single playthrough. Some secrets won’t be able to escape the spirit realm until the "Plus" appears.

Sense – 不祥的预感: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story survival horror RPG releases on Steam. The games also available for $19.99 USD / €16.79 plus a 10% discount until September 1st. With support for Linux, Mac and Windows PC. While PS4, Xbox One, PS Vita, and Nintendo Switch versions are scheduled to launch this fall.

#survival #horror #rpg #linux #gaming news #suzaku #ubuntu #mac #windows #pc #sense

[linuxgamenews]

Synergia visual novel makes it’s long awaited debut

Synergia the yuri thriller visual novel releases on Linux, Mac and Windows PC. Thanks to developer Radi Art and publisher Top Hat Studios. Which is available now with a discount on Humble Store, Steam, GOG and Itch.io. Synergia is a yuri thriller visual novel. One that also takes place in a cyberpunk future. While wrapped up in a beautifully unique, vibrant neon aesthetic. The release of Synergia is possible thanks to a lot of amazing support. The Kickstarter campaign reached almost 400% of the pledge goal. While raising a total of $15.5K funds to aid the development process. Certainly a massive help to the sole creator of the game. Proof that the genre is still inviting to players.

Synergia - Official Trailer (Linux, Mac, Windows PC)

Cila, a veteran cop with a sour outlook and anger issues. So she expects nothing more from life besides the smell of ozone. Or the blinding neon lights and the manhole steam. At least, until a shady friend replaces her broken down house droid as a favor. Since this one is more advanced, efficient and remarkably perceptive. The unit M.A.R.A. begins to enter Cila's hardened exterior. Maybe even heal her new owner's old wounds. If Cila can figure out the recurring nightmare the process brings. Likewise, Cila and Mara forge a unique - if sometimes uneasy - bond. Kind of a Synergia. Unknown to Cila, just as her life begins to find its new normal. The tech giant Velta Labs gets wind of Mara's existence. And also takes a weird interest in the android. As war unlike any before it is brewing on the horizon. But since its players are silently being selected. One android's fate may spell the difference between peace and war. Now to mention the beginning of a new religion. Maybe a technical anomaly beyond awareness.

Features:

Nearly 100 combined, unique backgrounds and CGs

20+ characters, all with interesting backgrounds and personalities. All deeply woven into the Synergia story

An estimated 6-9 hours of gameplay

A unique, vibrant art style that infuses the neon dystopian setting of the game

A beautiful, vivid soundtrack that complements the game's beauty. All composed by Andy Andi Han. Who is also one of the composers of Katawa Shoujo and Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story

Choices that deeply affect the protagonist's journey. Not to mention the world around them with multiple endings

Synergia yuri thriller visual novel releases for $11.99 USD/9.99 EUR. Available on Humble Store, Steam, GOG and Itch.io. Which also comes with an additional 10% discount until August 3rd. With support for Linux, Mac and Windows PC.

#synergia #yuri thriller #visual novel #linux #gaming news #radi art #ubuntu #mac #windows #pc

[linuxgamenews]

SYNERGIA unique story available in Free Demo

SYNERGIA cyberpunk gets a Demo release in Linux, Mac and Windows PC games. Thanks to developer Radi Art and publisher Top Hat Studios. You can now explore the early gameplay. And also Wishlist the game on Steam. So the Demo finally releases for SYNERGIA. A unique cyberpunk visual novel. One that also explores sexuality, philosophy, and the meaning of being human. SYNERGIA is a traditional visual novel style game. Yet features short, interactive segments and cut scene animations. While leaving the usual anime aesthetics of most visual novels. Opting to blend anime inspired visual style. Along with unique western influences. But also very detailed attention to the finer points. At the end of the world, sometimes love is the ultimate crime.

SYNERGIA Official Trailer (Linux, Mac, Windows PC)

Unlike some visual novels. SYNERGIA also does not feature adult content. But does keep mature themes. And some content not suitable for younger players. The demo features the intro to the story. While following the first few chapters. All the way up to the first major event. It also features between 0.5 - 1 hours of gameplay. Since this introduces the characters and the world. Including the overall art and atmosphere. Available for Linux, Mac, Windows PC HERE on Itch.

Features include:

20+ characters. Each with unique history and personalities. Deeply tied into the story.

Choices that deeply affect the protagonist's journey. Including the world around them. Along with multiple endings as well.

SYNERGIA (full game) has an estimated 6-9 hours of gameplay.

Nearly 100 combined, unique backgrounds and CG's.

A detailed yet, active art setting. Since This fuses the neon dystopian setting of the game.

A beautiful, vivid soundtrack complements the game's setting. With composers of Katawa Shoujo and Sense: A Cyberpunk Ghost Story.

The SYNERGIA story follows Cila. A veteran cop with a sour outlook and anger issues. At least until a shady friend replaces her broke down house droid. Doing so as a favour. Giving her a more effective and really aware unit, M.A.R.A.. One who also begins to break through Cila's tough exterior. As Cila and Mara forge a unique bond. Which is also sometimes uneasy. Just as Cila's life begins to find its new normal. Tech giant Velta Labs learns of Mara's existence. Taking a secret interest in the android. A war unlike any before it is brewing on the horizon. Its players are being carefully selected. And one android's fate may spell the difference. Between peace, war and a new religion. Or a high tech singularity beyond reason. A Kickstarter campaign is planned for July 8th. Which will help fund more content for the game. As well as ports and translations. SYNERGIA will also launch for $11.99 USD. With plans to release later in the year. Available for Linux, Mac and Windows PC.

#synergia #cyberpunk #visual novel #linux #gaming news #radi art #ubuntu #mac #windows #pc