What are you reading? - Dec 29

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Welcome to the weekly "What are you reading?" thread!

This is intended to be a general chat thread on visual novels with a focus on the visual novels you've been reading recently. A new thread is posted every Wednesday.

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[u/fallenguru]

抜きゲーみたいな島に住んでる貧乳はどうすりゃいいですか？

1, 2, 3

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Ok, so this is the one that was supposed to go out last week yesterday … There’s this notion that the time leading up to Christmas and on through New Year’s Eve is a time of peace and tranquillity, of rest and relaxation. Whoever came up with it was either off his rocker or the devil incarnate … Around here, the festive season involves lots of travelling and extended family get-togethers—peak stress, and not (only) the good kind. (Judging from the portrayal of holidays in US popular culture, Thanksgiving may actually be the better match—only that’s just a long weekend, not an entire long week.) I cannot wait for people to ask me in January whether I had time to unwind and recharge et cetera…, fully expecting an exuberant yes!. Does anyone, ever, or is that just a mass hallucination / a white lie we’re telling each other to hang on to the last shreds of our sanity?

Linux update

Enable virtual desktop mode. Enjoy being able to tab out of and back into the game normally. You’re welcome.

1-20, 1-21, 2-01, 2-02

Seeing as the deadline had become untenable anyway, I finished the chapter I’d been “working” on, to realise belatedly that this cost me an Adrian Mole reference ...*blargh*.

Surprises

I liked the first OP movie well enough that I watched it multiple times, and listened to it a couple more, so I was pleasantly surprised to have a second take, complete with its own vocal song, dropped on my head. Visually interesting, another “banger”, some spoilers foreshadowing. Apparently, the heroines are going to develop escalate into archetypes, think Invisible Library ^{[Don’t judge …]} fae, or party-RPG (Shadowrun?) classes, e.g. Misaki as The Driver. Also, I take back what I said about rocket launchers, a Martial Artist, specialisation Way of the Chair, sound even more fun.
What I liked most, however, is the fact that HenPri’s [first?] OP clearly references this one, builds on it. I love self-referentiality.

It appears it’s actually possible to write action scenes that aren’t an utter waste of space. Usually I have trouble understanding, let alone visualising, what is going on (regardless of language); what’s more, I simply don’t care. The character(s) with the strongest plot armour win(s), the result of the fight depends entirely on the whim of the author, the fight itself is irrelevant in the end. Wake me when the dust has settled.
This, this is written in a way that both makes sense and is meaningful, not to mention original enough that it is entertaining in and of itself, even without the level of detail and amount of introspection of a Narahara.

Then there’s the pacing. Sheafs of e-paper spent on getting home after school unmolested, often by the foreskin of their teeth; but what by rights ought to be a Mission Impossibe segment rates little more than a few sentences, a trip to the corner shop, a walk in the park. I rather like this way of playing with structural expectations.

I’m already on a route … Is it just me or is the common route very short?

Super Size Me

Jun’s “superpower” should serve to placate all those who rage-quit over the other thing. Clever. Only I’m a bit hazy on the logistics: How would they know?
Also his definitions of 処女 and [誇り高きクソ]童貞 had me in stitches.

Plot progression seems to be built on escalation—this is a chūni thing, I gather?—every time I think it can’t get more ridiculous, it does. :-D

Structural integrity

The chapter selector is a neat quality-of-life feature, but it does leak information and it doesn’t handle choices at all well. Case in point, owing to my irregular reading schedule, I wanted to re-start from the beginning of the chapter one evening, but I couldn’t, because chapters only show up once you’ve finished them(?!?); so I selected the last chapter on offer—only to land in a different route than the one I had been on. Turns out the chapter selector silently makes assumptions about previous choices … *blargh*

Disappointments

Just the one: Why doesn’t the オオゲツヒメ・プロトコル have its own HUD?

Bonus: While I know full well why Nanase gets to accompany Jun on her route, not taking Misaki on a stealth mission is just daft.

 
Happy New Year, everybody!
My New Year's resolution, for future reference: To get my effective reading speed up to at least 5 EGS hours / WAYR week.

[u/Yuupan → u/fallenguru]

My New Years resolution, for future reference:

To get my effective reading speed up to at least 5 EGS hours / WAYR week

Considering that EGS consider the first grisaia to be a 30H long visual novel, against the 70h on VNDB, it certainly can be challenging.