Alice, daughter of the noble Dietrich, her life of aristocracy comes to an end after her father died for some reason. All that was once magnificent is now gone, over a hundred servants were dismissed, mansion sold, jewelry pawned, moreover, huge debt owed to loan sharks. Only the most loyal servant of all, J, stayed and kept Alice company. The once noble miss have to live in a rented dump and to pay up her debt, she is now a bounty hunter. She’ll do whatever paid to do, no matter how difficult or graceless it is. Hilda, women delegate of Eden Church, is a rising star by her breathtaking beauty and incredible sexuality.
Her ruthlessness made her willingly give up anything to achieve her objective. Her unspeakable experience in Schramm has made her go ballistic when touched.
The king drown in her unbelievable attractiveness and was finally brought to her knee, which led to her total domination of his country. The only enemy she considered comparable to her beauty is Alice, and as her envy implodes, she’ll do whatever it takes, however disgraceful or dirty, to make her a sex tool. The stage for this tale is the “Ritaania Kingdom”, a kingdom that has enjoyed continuous peace for 500 long years. One day, a “portal” which linked Ritaania to the demon world wherein dwelled vile monsters appeared. If the portal was left unchecked, monsters would invade Ritaania and the kingdom would be destroyed. However, a similar portal appeared 500 years earlier and a certain hero came to the rescue of the beleaguered kingdom. The one who came to be known as the “Spirit Master of Ritaania” commanded five spirits, “The White Spirit Norn”, “The Red Spirit Vesta”, “The Blue Spirit Rusalka”, “The Green Spirit Melissa” and “The Black Spirit Ellis” and fought bravely against the demons, it was said the Master succeeded in sealing the portal.
The Spirit Master’s descendant Leonard is now commanded by Ritaania’s Queen Sylvia to enter the portal together with the spirits in order to pass through to the demon realm in order to save the kingdom. Kumashiro Megumi (Gumi), recently transferred from St. Aile’s International School, has been training hard together with Rena and Maki – now fully recovered from their injuries.
With the help of her mentor, Tohka, she’s shaping up to be a fine sniper. Just as one new student settles in, another has her sights set on joining the girls in Class A, Mihama’s elite combat unit. Sengoku Taiga. Haruto, the team’s handler, has one condition for Taiga’s transfer: that Chris serves as her supervising officer. The two seem an unlikely pair at first, but after spending some time with little Taiga, Chris soon finds a way to see things from her perspective. It’s at that moment that the nation is suddenly rocked by a terror attack on an unprecedented scale. Chris rushes to the scene, aware of what’s at stake, but paying no heed to the dangers ahead.
One day, the face of the Earth was changed permanently when it came into contact with a mysterious force known as the “Alpha Nebula”. With it, humans developed various unexplainable abilities, and divided themselves based on those traits. The main factions include: The Tonitrui, the Excedente, the Praecantator, the Permuto, and the Northmanni. All have their own set of unique abilities that came with infamous Alpha Nebula collision, with the exception of the Northmanni who remain largely unchanged. Among these races however, existed a special group of people who managed to retain all the other race’s abilities. They were a very powerful, but small isolated group of people, called “emulators”. Arin Arlento was one of these people, living in a remote village with his grandfather and other emulators.
All was going peacefully, until it was attacked by the Northmanni empire, who slaughtered his entire race and kidnapped his childhood friend, Aria. Being the only other survivor, Arin escaped into the Northmanni empire, hiding and plotting his revenge.
That is until finding out that Aria is still alive, and is being experimented on by the Northmanni. Resentful of the society that took everything away from him, Arin begins his quest to retrieve his friend, and exact retribution on those who destroyed all that he held dear. It’s one misguided man against the world.
. A visual novel ( ビジュアルノベル, bijuaru noberu) is an game genre, which originated in Japan in the early 1990s, featuring mostly static graphics, most often using -style art or occasionally live-action stills (and sometimes ). As the name might suggest, they resemble mixed-media novels. In Japanese terminology, a distinction is often made between visual novels (abbreviated NVL, derived from visual NoVeL), which consist predominantly of narration and have very few interactive elements, and adventure games (abbreviated AVG, or ADV derived from ADVenture), a form of which may incorporate problem-solving and other types of gameplay. This distinction is normally lost outside Japan, where both NVLs and ADVs are commonly referred to as 'visual novels' by international fans.
Visual novels and ADVs are especially prevalent in Japan, where they made up nearly 70% of the titles released in 2006. Visual novels are often produced for, and the more popular games have occasionally been to such systems.
The more famous visual novels are also often adapted into the, or formats. The market for visual novels outside of East Asia is small, though a number of are popular among anime fans in the Western world. Contents.
Gameplay Visual novels are distinguished from other game types by their generally minimal gameplay. Typically the majority of player interaction is limited to clicking to keep the text, graphics and sound moving (many recent games offer 'play' or 'fast-forward' toggles that make this unnecessary), while making narrative choices along the way. Most visual novels have multiple storylines and more than one ending; the mechanic in these cases typically consists of intermittent multiple-choice decision points, where the player selects a direction in which to take the game. This style of gameplay is similar to story-driven, or the shorter and less detailed real-life books. Many fans of visual novels hold them up as exceptions to the relatively weak storytelling in video games overall.
Some visual novels do not limit themselves into merely interactive fictions, but also incorporate other elements into them. An example of this approach is, where the player is required to play a musical instrument of some sort, and attain a good score in order to advance. Usually such an element is related as a in the game.
Some shorter works do not contain any decision points at all. Most examples of this sort are. Fan-created novel games are reasonably popular; there are a number of free game engines and construction kits aimed at making them easy to construct, most notably, and. Many visual novels use to provide voices for the characters in the game. Often, the protagonist is left unvoiced, even when the rest of the characters are fully voiced. This choice is meant to aid the player in identifying with the protagonist and to avoid having to record large amounts of dialogue, as the main character typically has the most speaking lines due to the branching nature of visual novels.
Branching narratives branching storylines are a common trend in visual novels, which frequently use multiple branching storylines to achieve, allowing non-linear freedom of choice along the way. Decision points within a visual novel often present players with the option of altering the course of events during the game, leading to many different possible outcomes. An acclaimed example is, where nearly every action and dialogue choice can lead to entirely new branching paths and endings. Each path only reveals certain aspects of the overall storyline and it is only after uncovering all the possible different paths and outcomes, through multiple playthroughs, that every component comes together to form a coherent well-written story. The branching path stories found in visual novels represent an evolution of the Choose Your Own Adventure concept. The digital medium allows for significant improvements, such as being able to fully explore multiple aspects and perspectives of a story.
Another improvement is having hidden decision points that are automatically determined based on the player's past decisions. In, for example, the way the behaved towards during the course of the game affects the way they react to the player character in later scenes, such as whether or not they choose to help in life-or-death situations. This would be far more difficult to track with physical books. More importantly, visual novels do not face the same length restrictions as a physical book. For example, the total word count of the English of Fate/stay night, taking all the branching paths into account, exceeds that of. This significant increase in length allows visual novels to tell stories as long and complex as those often found in traditional novels, while still maintaining a branching path structure, and allowing them to focus on complex stories with mature themes and consistent plots in a way which Choose Your Own Adventure books were unable to do due to their physical limitations.
Visual novels with non-branching plots, such as, and are rare exceptions within the genre. Many visual novels often revolve almost entirely around character interactions and, such as and, usually featuring complex branching dialogues and often presenting the player's possible responses word-for-word as the would say them. Such titles revolving around relationship-building, including visual novels as well as dating, such as Tokimeki Memorial, and some, such as, often give choices that have a different number of associated 'mood points' that influence a player character's relationship and future conversations with a non-player character. These games often feature a with a time scheduling system that provides context and relevance to character interactions, allowing players to choose when and if to interact with certain characters, which in turn influences their responses during later conversations.
As early as 1983, featured non-linear elements, which included traveling between different areas in a generally, a branching dialogue conversation system where the story develops through entering commands and receiving responses from other characters, and making choices that determine the dialogues and order of events as well as alternate outcomes, though there is only one true culprit while the others are. It also features a phone that could be used to dial any number to contact several.
The game was well received in Japan for its well-told storyline and surprising, and for allowing multiple ways to achieve objectives. Another more non-linear early example was Mirrors, released by Soft Studio Wing for the PC-8801 and computers in 1990; it featured a branching narrative, multiple endings, and music. It is not uncommon for visual novels to have morality systems. A well-known example is the 2005 title, an animated visual novel that describes as going well beyond the usual 'black and white choice systems' (referring to video games such as, and ) where you 'pick a side and stick with it' while leaving 'the expansive middle area between unexplored.' School Days instead encourages players to explore the grey, neutral middle-ground in order to view the more interesting, 'bad' endings. A common feature used in visual novels is having multiple protagonists giving different perspectives on the story. 's (1995) introduced a unique twist to the system by allowing the player to switch between both protagonists at any time during the game, instead of finishing one protagonist's scenario before playing the other.
EVE Burst Error often requires the player to have both protagonists co-operate with each other at various points during the game, with choices in one scenario affecting the other. Fate/stay night is another example that features multiple perspectives.
Sound novels such as (1998) and (2008) develop this concept further, by allowing the player to alternate between the perspectives of several or more different characters, making choices with one character that have consequences for other characters. 428 in particular features up to 85 different possible endings. Other notable examples of non-linear storytelling include 's most famous visual novel, (1996), which featured a science fiction plot revolving around and. The player travels between parallel worlds using a Reflector device, which employs a limited number of stones to mark a certain position as a returning location, so that if the player decides to retrace their steps, they can go to an alternate universe to the time they have used a Reflector stone. The game also implemented an original system called ADMS, or Automatic Diverge Mapping System, which displays a screen that the player can check at any time to see the direction in which they are heading along the branching plot lines. Similar systems have later been employed in the 2010 role-playing games, and the version of. RPG hybrids There are that feature visual novel-style elements.
A well-known example in the West is the, an RPG that features a series of visual novel-style flashback sequences called 'A Thousand Years of Dreams'. These sequences were penned by an award-winning writer, Kiyoshi Shigematsu.
Another title is the series, which plays off of a complex fantasy setting where a one-hundred-year period is reset indefinitely with many variables. The many branching story lines in Story Mode can serve as stand-alone stories, but players must consider them together along with Arcade Mode stories to be able to fully understand the universe.
Another successful example is 's series, which combined combat with visual novel elements, introducing a system where, during an event or conversation, the player must choose an action or dialogue choice within a time limit, or to not respond at all within that time. The player's choice, or lack thereof, affects the 's relationship with other characters and in turn the characters' performance in battle, the direction of the storyline, and the ending. Later games in the series added several variations, including an action gauge that can be raised up or down depending on the situation, and a gauge that the player can manipulate using the depending on the situation.
The success of Sakura Wars led to a wave of games that combine role-playing and visual novel elements, including, and. A similar type of real-time conversation system also appeared in the Sega-published. Another example is, which combined elements of both and visual novels. Visual novels are commonly characterized with dialog boxes and denoting the speaker.
This is a recreation of the usual screen layout of a visual novel, generated by the game engine. The visual novel genre has evolved a style somewhat different from print novels. In general, visual novels are more likely to be narrated in the first person than the third, and to present events from the point of view of only one character. It is fairly common for the primary structural unit to be the day rather than the chapter, with formulaic awakenings and returnings to bed framing each day's events. There are of course many exceptions to these generalizations. In the typical visual novel, the graphics comprise a set of generic backgrounds (normally just one for each location in the game), with character ( 立ち絵, tachi-e) superimposed onto these; the perspective is usually first-person, with the protagonist remaining unseen.
At certain key moments in the plot, special event CG are displayed instead; these are more detailed images, drawn specially for that scene rather than being composed from predefined elements, which often use more cinematic camera angles and include the protagonist. These event CGs can usually be viewed at any time once they have been 'unlocked' by finding them in-game; this provides a motivation to replay the game and try making different decisions, as it is normally impossible to view all special events on a single play-through. Up until the 1990s, the majority of visual novels utilized. This was particularly common on the format, which showcased what is considered to be some of the best pixel art in the, with a popular example being in 1994.
There have also been visual novels that use live-action stills or video footage, such as several Sound Novel games. The most successful example is, one of the most celebrated games in Japan, where it was voted No. 5 in a 2006 reader poll of top 100 games of all time.
The game resembled a live-action television drama, but allowing players to explore multiple character perspectives and affect the outcomes. Another successful example is, which received a perfect score of 40 out of 40 from magazine. Content and genre. See also: and Many visual novels also qualify as, an abbreviation of 'erotic game'. These games feature sexually explicit imagery that are accessed by completing certain routes in the game, most often depicting the game's protagonist having sex with one of the game's other characters. Ffr the game flashflashrevolution.
Like other pornographic media in Japan, scenes depicting genitalia are censored in their original Japanese releases, only becoming uncensored if the game is licensed outside Japan. Certain eroge titles receive re-releases which exclude explicit content in order to be sold to a younger audience, such as ports to consoles or handheld systems where sexually explicit content is not allowed, and storylines referring to aforementioned sex scenes are often omitted from adaptations into other media, unless that media is also pornographic in nature, such as a anime.
Traditionally, PC-based visual novels have contained risque scenes even if the overall focus is not erotic (similar to the ' in ). However, the vast majority of console ports do not contain adult material, and a number of recent PC games have also been targeted at the all-age market; for example, all of 's titles come in family-friendly versions, although the content might still not be appropriate for children, and three have never contained adult content at all. Also, all of 's titles are family-friendly.
However, some of these games are later re-released with the addition of scenes, or have a sequel with such. For example, was first released as an all-ages visual novel, but a version with erotic scenes titled came out later, and though is also all-ages, its spinoff is not. Often, the beginning of the eroge will be dedicated to introducing the characters and developing the protagonist's relationship with them, before the protagonist sexually interacts with other characters, for example, games such as, and do this. The effect it has on the reader is the H-scenes (sex scenes) will have a stronger emotional impact for the two (or possibly more) characters. Some of Japan's earliest adventure games were developed. In 1982, they released, the first commercial.
It was a, with sexually explicit images. That same year, they released another erotic title, Danchi Tsuma no Yūwaku ( Seduction of the Condominium Wife), which was an early adventure game with colour graphics, owing to the eight-color palette of the computer. It became a hit, helping Koei become a major software company. Other now-famous companies such as, and also produced similar erotic games in the early 1980s before they became famous for their. While some early erotic games meaningfully integrate the erotic content into a thoughtful and mature storyline, others often used it as a flimsy excuse for pornography. The Japanese game Pai Touch!
Involves the protagonist gaining the ability to change the size of girls' breasts, and the adventures that ensue in trying to choose which girl to use the power on the most. Another subgenre is called 'nukige' ( 抜きゲー), in which sexual gratification of the player is the main focus of the game. Science fiction In 1986, released the science fiction adventure game for the. The game featured several innovations, including the use of in many of the scenes rather than still images, and an interface resembling that of a interface for a console, like, but making use of visual icons rather than text-based ones to represent various actions.
Like the NES version of Portopia Serial Murder Case, it featured a cursor that could be moved around the screen using the to examine the scenery, though the cursor in Suishō no Dragon was also used to click on the action icons. (of fame) was inspired by Portopia Serial Murder Case to enter the video game industry, and later produced his own.
After completing the, his first was released by the following year: (1988), an ambitious detective novel, graphic adventure, that was highly regarded at the time for pushing the boundaries of video game storytelling, cinematic, and mature content. It also featured a science fiction setting, an protagonist, and some segments. It was praised for its graphics, soundtrack, high quality writing comparable to a novel, voice acting comparable to a film or, and in-game computer database with optional documents that flesh out the game world. The version of Snatcher was for a long time the only major visual novel game to be released in America, where it, despite low sales, gained a. Following, Kojima produced his next graphic adventure, (1994), a point-and-click adventure notable for being an early example of extensive voice recording in video games.
It also featured a setting, a theme revolving around space exploration, a plot inspired by the ancient of, and some occasional cut scenes. The gameplay was largely similar to Snatcher, but with the addition of a point-and-click interface and some segments. Policenauts also introduced summary screens, which act to refresh the player's memory of the plot upon reloading a (save), an element Kojima would later use in. The version of Policenauts could also read the and give some dialogues if a save file of Konami's is present, a technique Kojima would also later use in Metal Gear Solid.
From 1997 to 1999, Kojima developed the three titles, which were adaptations of Tokimeki Memorial in a visual novel adventure game format. Other acclaimed examples of science fiction visual novels include 's (1996) and 's (2008) and (2009). Nakige A popular subgenre of visual novels is the nakige ( 泣きゲー, 'crying game'), which, as opposed to utsuge ( 鬱ゲー, 'depressing game'), still usually has a happy ending.
The main purpose of such a game is to make the player feel for the characters and to make them cry because of emotional scenarios which serve to have a bigger impact on the player after the game is over. These games often follow a similar formula: a comedic first half, with a heart-warming romantic middle, followed by a tragic separation, and finally (though not always) an emotional reunion. This formula was influenced primarily by visual novel, released in 1997, and was further developed in the 1998 title, developed. After One was complete, the development team quit Tactics to form where they developed their first title, also based upon this formula.
According to Satoshi Todome in his book, A History of Adult Games, Kanon was 'heavily hyped and had gamers impatient until its release. It was only one game released by Key so far, and yet it had already sent major shockwaves around the industry. And yet another game Air, two years later, sent even more shockwaves.
Was equally hyped and well received.' Key's 'crying game' formula used successfully in One and Kanon was later adopted by other visual novel companies to create their own 'crying games'. Examples of this include: (1999) by Digital Object, the series (1999 onwards) by, (2002) by, (2002) by, and (2003) by Studio Mebius (under ). One of the most acclaimed visual novels of this subgenre was Key's, written by, and Kai and Tōya Okano. Released in 2004, its story revolved around the central theme of the value of having a family. It was voted the best of all time in a poll held. It served as the basis for a media franchise, with successful adaptations into a, and acclaimed.
In 2008, several of Key's visual novels were voted in the poll of the ten most tear-inducing games of all time, including at No. 7, and at No. In 2011, several visual novels were also voted in 's poll of 20 most tear-inducing games of all time, with Clannad at No.
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6, Air at No. 7, Little Busters! 10, and at No. Horror ( When They Cry) was a 2002 visual novel by, influenced by the 'crying game' subgenre.
Of 07th Expansion mentioned in 2004 how he was influenced by 's works during the planning of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. He played their games, as well as other visual novels, as a reference and analyzed them to try to determine why they were so popular. He decided that the secret was that the stories would start with ordinary, enjoyable days, but then a sudden event would occur leading the player to cry from shock. He used a similar model as the basis for Higurashi but instead of leading the player to cry, Ryukishi07 wanted to scare the player with the addition of horror elements. Other examples of horror-themed visual novels include:, and. Dōjinshi games (Dōjin soft). Main article: (同人誌, often transliterated as doujinshi) is the Japanese term for self-published (fan-made) works.
This includes (but is not limited to) (同人ゲーム), also sometimes called dōjin soft (同人ソフト). These visual novel-style games are created as based on pre-existing (usually, but also for tv shows or even other pre-existing games and visual novels). Dōjinshi games are often based on romance (or ) between two characters, known as an (乙女ゲーム) or; sometimes becoming sexual (or ), known as an (エロゲ, a portmanteau of erotic game: (エロチックゲーム)). Translations Prior to the year 2000, few Japanese visual novels were translated into other languages. As with the visual novel genre in general, a majority of titles released for the PC have been, with 's now-discontinued series a notable exception. As of 2014, and are the two most prolific publishers of translated visual novels for the PC; both primarily release eroge, but have begun to diversify into the all-ages market in recent years, with titles such as and respectively.
In addition to official commercial translations, a vibrant scene exists, which has translated many free visual novels (such as and ) and a few commercial works (such as and ) into English. Fan translations of Japanese visual novels into languages other than English such as Chinese, French, German and Russian are commonplace as well. English translations of Japanese visual novels on video game consoles were rare until the release of the, though some games with visual novel elements had been published in the Western world before then, such as 's. Following the success of mystery titles for the Nintendo DS such as 's series (which began on the in 2001), Cing's series (beginning in 2006), and 's series (beginning in 2007), Japanese visual novels have been published in other countries more frequently. The success of these games has sparked a resurgence in the genre outside Japan. Has credited in particular for revitalizing the adventure game genre.
The success of the Ace Attorney series was followed soon after by the even greater success of 's Professor Layton in 2007. Both have since become some of the best selling adventure game franchises, with Ace Attorney selling over 3.9 million units worldwide and Professor Layton selling over 9.5 million units worldwide. Their success has led to an increase in Japanese visual novels being localized for release outside Japan, including: 's (2002), Cing's series (2005 onwards), 's (2008), 's (2010), and Capcom's (2010).
See also. References. Cavallaro, Dani (2010). Anime and the visual novel: narrative structure, design and play at the crossroads of animation and computer games. McFarland & Company. Lebowitz, Josiah; (2011). 'Japanese Visual Novel Games'.
Burlington, MA:. Retrieved 2012-11-10. Visual novels (or sound novels, as they’re sometimes called) are a popular game genre in Japan. ^ Ray Barnholt.
Archived from on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2011. Hirameki International Group Inc. 8 February 2006.
Retrieved 2006-12-01. ^ Chris Klug; Josiah Lebowitz (March 2011). Burlington, MA:. Retrieved 20 February 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2013.,. Cavallaro, Dani (2010).
Anime and the visual novel: narrative structure, design and play at the crossroads of animation and computer games. McFarland & Company. Brent Ellison (8 July 2008). Retrieved 2011-03-30. John Szczepaniak (February 2011). Retrieved 16 March 2011.
Reprinted at John Szczepaniak. Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved 16 March 2011. ^ John Szczepaniak. Hardcore Gaming 101.
Retrieved 16 March 2011. Reprinted from 'Retro Japanese Computers: Gaming's Final Frontier'. John Szczepaniak. Hardcore Gaming 101. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
Reprinted from 'Retro Japanese Computers: Gaming's Final Frontier'. Eisenbeis, Richard (28 August 2012). Retrieved 28 August 2012. Commodore Wheeler. Retrieved 3 September 2011. 17 December 2009. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
WooJin Lee. Retrieved 3 September 2011. 10 December 2012 at,.,., 15 February 2011. Fear, Ed (17 March 2008). Retrieved 2009-01-30. Retrieved 2011-03-30. Jeremy Parish (8 May 2009).
Archived from on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2011. Spencer (17 March 2010). Retrieved 7 March 2012. ^ Pesimo, Rudyard Contretas (2007). Reflections on the Human Condition: Change, Conflict and Modernity – The Work of the 2004/2005 API Fellows. The Nippon Foundation.
Jones, Matthew T. (December 2005). PsychNology Journal. 3 (3): 292–311. on nukige, Plot serves the sex-scenes, not the other way round. Square Enix Japan. Retrieved 2008-05-26.
22 August 2006. Retrieved 2008-05-26. Kasavin, Greg (21 March 2005). Retrieved 2007-08-15.,.
^ Kurt Kalata, Hardcore Gaming 101. Mark Ryan Sallee. Retrieved 2009-08-20.,.
Todome, Satoshi. (in Japanese). Retrieved 22 November 2007. pre-Clannad (in Japanese). 15 April 2004. (in Japanese).
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Archived from on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2012. Romano, Sal (29 December 2011). Retrieved 24 February 2012.
(9 July 2004). (in Japanese). Archived from on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2009. ^ Kurt Kalata, Hardcore Gaming 101.
^,.,. Kurt Kalata, Sotenga, Jason Withrow, Hardcore Gaming 101. Archived from on 19 September 2011. Retrieved 27 July 2010. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to. at Curlie (based on ).
Alice, daughter of the noble Dietrich, her life of aristocracy comes to an end after her father died for some reason. Engine management software download. All that was once magnificent is now gone, over a hundred servants were dismissed, mansion sold, jewelry pawned, moreover, huge debt owed to loan sharks. Only the most loyal servant of all, J, stayed and kept Alice company. The once noble miss have to live in a rented dump and to pay up her debt, she is now a bounty hunter. She’ll do whatever paid to do, no matter how difficult or graceless it is. Hilda, women delegate of Eden Church, is a rising star by her breathtaking beauty and incredible sexuality.
Her ruthlessness made her willingly give up anything to achieve her objective. Her unspeakable experience in Schramm has made her go ballistic when touched. The king drown in her unbelievable attractiveness and was finally brought to her knee, which led to her total domination of his country. The only enemy she considered comparable to her beauty is Alice, and as her envy implodes, she’ll do whatever it takes, however disgraceful or dirty, to make her a sex tool. The stage for this tale is the “Ritaania Kingdom”, a kingdom that has enjoyed continuous peace for 500 long years. One day, a “portal” which linked Ritaania to the demon world wherein dwelled vile monsters appeared. If the portal was left unchecked, monsters would invade Ritaania and the kingdom would be destroyed.
However, a similar portal appeared 500 years earlier and a certain hero came to the rescue of the beleaguered kingdom. The one who came to be known as the “Spirit Master of Ritaania” commanded five spirits, “The White Spirit Norn”, “The Red Spirit Vesta”, “The Blue Spirit Rusalka”, “The Green Spirit Melissa” and “The Black Spirit Ellis” and fought bravely against the demons, it was said the Master succeeded in sealing the portal. The Spirit Master’s descendant Leonard is now commanded by Ritaania’s Queen Sylvia to enter the portal together with the spirits in order to pass through to the demon realm in order to save the kingdom. Kumashiro Megumi (Gumi), recently transferred from St. Aile’s International School, has been training hard together with Rena and Maki – now fully recovered from their injuries. With the help of her mentor, Tohka, she’s shaping up to be a fine sniper.
Just as one new student settles in, another has her sights set on joining the girls in Class A, Mihama’s elite combat unit. Sengoku Taiga.
Haruto, the team’s handler, has one condition for Taiga’s transfer: that Chris serves as her supervising officer. The two seem an unlikely pair at first, but after spending some time with little Taiga, Chris soon finds a way to see things from her perspective. It’s at that moment that the nation is suddenly rocked by a terror attack on an unprecedented scale. Chris rushes to the scene, aware of what’s at stake, but paying no heed to the dangers ahead.
One day, the face of the Earth was changed permanently when it came into contact with a mysterious force known as the “Alpha Nebula”. With it, humans developed various unexplainable abilities, and divided themselves based on those traits. The main factions include: The Tonitrui, the Excedente, the Praecantator, the Permuto, and the Northmanni.
All have their own set of unique abilities that came with infamous Alpha Nebula collision, with the exception of the Northmanni who remain largely unchanged. Among these races however, existed a special group of people who managed to retain all the other race’s abilities. They were a very powerful, but small isolated group of people, called “emulators”. Arin Arlento was one of these people, living in a remote village with his grandfather and other emulators. All was going peacefully, until it was attacked by the Northmanni empire, who slaughtered his entire race and kidnapped his childhood friend, Aria.
Being the only other survivor, Arin escaped into the Northmanni empire, hiding and plotting his revenge. That is until finding out that Aria is still alive, and is being experimented on by the Northmanni. Resentful of the society that took everything away from him, Arin begins his quest to retrieve his friend, and exact retribution on those who destroyed all that he held dear. It’s one misguided man against the world.
About This Game StoryAfter the death of his mother, Tomoya Okazaki—a guarded delinquent student at Hikarizaka High School—struggles to not only make sense of the abusive relationship he has with his alcoholic father, but also find meaning in his life. While on his way to class one morning, he meets a mystifying girl named Nagisa. She is a delinquent like him, but only because she is repeating her senior year, unlike the perpetually tardy Okazaki. From their brief encounter, Nagisa decides they should be friends, and enlists Tomoya's help to revive the school drama club. Not being busy in any way, he decides to join in.
Along the way, the two make friends with many other students and try to find both solace and belonging in their endeavors. New Features HD Upgrade All visuals have been upgraded to 1280x960 for the Steam release of CLANNAD. Dangopedia Exclusive to the English version of CLANNAD is the term encyclopedia, Dangopedia! It's a handy reference tool for understanding aspects of Japanese tradition and pop culture. Achievements Steam achievements are supported! There's also an in-game menu to review your progress.
Written by Jenni Lada. The writing is on the screen. Visual novels aren't Japan-exclusives anymore. Sekai Project's Kickstarter projects for and have respectively raised $541,161 and $475,255. Companies like JAST and MangaGamer are extending their range of products beyond eroge, “adult” games.
The niche genre has invaded our PCs, and people are rallying behind English translations and indie originals. I'd like to think it's the Choose Your Own Adventure generation propelling them to success, but that would be selling these adventures short. The demand and appreciation are there because the creators have engaging stories to tell, and this is a unique means of conveying those stories. However, getting into visual novels can be daunting. The 'gameplay,' or lack thereof, can throw newcomers for a loop. It's better to ease into the genre, and it's much easier to try something new when you can find it on Steam, perhaps even during a sale at a drastically reduced price.
Prepare to expand your horizons! Add these titles to your Steam wishlist and, one day, let them tell you a story. Prev Page 1 of 10 Next Prev Page 1 of 10 Next Cherry Tree High Comedy Club. One of the biggest barriers of entry with visual novels is getting used to the fact that you're going to be spending hours in front of a computer staring at character portraits while reading text. Cherry Tree High Comedy Club is more of a hybrid—part simulation game, part visual novel—which allows you to be a little more proactive when it comes to helping your character, Mairu, recruit people to her high school's comedy club to keep it from being disbanded.
The ability to choose between a de-Westernized and Westernized localization—either a more direct translation or one that takes Western culture into account, respectively—is another way publisher Nyu Media has extended a friendly hand to invite players unfamiliar with the genre to try developer 773's game. Prev Page 2 of 10 Next Prev Page 2 of 10 Next Dandelion - Wishes Brought to You. Visual novels can be considered the cousin twice removed to anime. You're watching and reading a story, but occasionally decisions allow you to alter its course.
By that reasoning, Dandelion - Wishes Brought to You - is the best way to welcome anyone with a fondness for into the fold. The plot’s similarities to the popular anime Fruits Basket—a young woman gets the chance to bond with once-gorgeous men who have been turned into cats and rabbits as part of a 'game'—makes it a welcoming choice for current shouju anime fans. Unfortunately, the English translation could have been better, as there is some awkward phrasing and grammatical issues. Given this is a game from an independent, Korean developer, some mistakes are understandable. Prev Page 3 of 10 Next Prev Page 3 of 10 Next Long Live the Queen. Before we get into the more traditional visual novels, there's one more hybrid that's a challenging, high quality adventure. For those new to the genre, Long Live the Queen will help you get used to the idea of having to read walls of text.
The story offers you the opportunity to shape a young princess' life, in the hopes of helping her live to her coronation day. No easy task, given everyone else has their own agenda and tend to want her dead.
There are plenty of choices to be made, and planning out her schedule with classes in things like diplomacy and music might round out her repertoire enough to keep her alive. Think of it as a crash course in “paying attention” to prepare you for more traditional visual novels. Prev Page 4 of 10 Next Prev Page 4 of 10 Next Hatoful Boyfriend. Hatoful Boyfriend is the game for people who have no interest in visual novels.
It eases you into the genre with the most ridiculous premise ever. In a post apocalyptic world devastated by the H1N5 bird flu, a young woman living in a cave goes to school and falls in love with birds. The game is hilarious on the surface, but those who spend enough time with it can unlock and experience the much darker Hurtful Boyfriend. Love and death, hilarity and tragedy, Hatoful Boyfriend has it all, while making fun of itself enough to let you know its in on the joke. Prev Page 5 of 10 Next Prev Page 5 of 10 Next If My Heart Had Wings.
Many visual novels also have romantic elements, with specific endings being tied to relationships growing between the player's avatar and other characters appearing in the story. If My Heart Had Wings is a slice-of-life kind of game, following a young man named Aoi who's returned to his hometown to attend a technical school after a car accident.
There, he bonds with his fellow students in the Soaring Club as they attempt to build a glider. Childhood dreams come true, love blooms, and some characters might just find a happy end.
Prev Page 6 of 10 Next Prev Page 6 of 10 Next Cinders. Presenting people with familiar stories and appealing art are two fantastic ways to coax newcomers into curling up with a visual novel. MoaCube did just that with Cinders, its retelling of the classic Cinderella tale. Except this time, if you were dissatisfied with Cinderella's willingness to acquiesce to others' expectations, you can take charge and see what happens when she pursues other routes to freedom.
With many twists, even the more conventional possibilities may not be as straightforward as they seem. Prev Page 7 of 10 Next Prev Page 7 of 10 Next Analogue: A Hate Story.
Once you are used to the idea of dealing with walls of text, it's the perfect time to get into Analogue: A Hate Story. Christine Love's tragic story is steeped in South Korean historical conventions. Fans of historical fiction will feel like an archeologist, sifting through ancient texts in an attempt to discover the truth behind the Mugunghwa, a rogue, abandoned spaceship. Along the way, there's also an opportunity to bond with the two remaining AIs on the ship. Prev Page 8 of 10 Next Prev Page 8 of 10 Next fault milestone one. We've gone through both visual novel hybrids and more traditional stories, but there's a one more type to consider.
Some developers have created something called kinetic novels. These seek only to tell a tale, with players giving up all control and enjoying the ride. Think of them as being to visual novels what games like Gone Home and Verde Station are to adventure games. You’re exploring a world and experiencing things as an observer. With fault milestone one, players enjoy a story based on a doujinshi—an original, Japanese, indie comic.
A princess and her bodyguard are trying to get home to Rughzenhaide, and players can sit back and follow their journey. Prev Page 9 of 10 Next Prev Page 9 of 10 Next WORLD END ECONOMiCA episode.01. Finally, we come to Isuna Hasekura's WORLD END ECONOMiCA. I'm excited to recommend it, since it's my favorite kinetic visual novel and comes from a respected storyteller. You follow a young man named Haru, desperate to explore the unknown and willing to do whatever it takes to earn enough seed money to do so. That goal can be quite difficult to achieve, and players will find a story that is heartwarming, dramatic, funny, and even tragic.
While there’s no direct influence over the course of Haru’s journey, it evokes the same kinds of emotions and feelings as more traditional gameplay experiences do, transporting the player to another world. Prev Page 10 of 10 Next Prev Page 10 of 10 Next.
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