Let's Play... (Visual Novels, RPGs, Souls, etc)
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@imilyaz A VN is basically a basically a story heavy video game with a lot of text. You can make choices that effect the outcome of the story, or sometimes they just have puzzles or court case/trial like games. They're pretty similar to old adventure or point and click games.
Absolutely play the Danganronpa VN over watching the anime. The anime is an abridged version of the game that glosses over a lot of great stuff and doesn't fully explore everything that the story has to offer. It also is missing the Free Time Events where you can bond with all of the characters and learn more about them, which is what a lot of fans love about the series (sort of like the social links in Persona). It's a pretty good mystery with some fun twists, and I would avoid googling too much so you can avoid any accidental spoilers.
You can get the game on steam for PC or for the Vita or PS4 on amazon or digitally.
@Terrence Have you played V3? I thought it was a great entry into the series.
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@lazyproblems I haven't played V3 yet. I'm curious about it, I stayed on blackout, but the general sense I get from mentions of it was that it was disappointing? Ah, you enjoyed it, so I hope it's good. I'll check it out when I have time. =]
There were rumors it could be like the original idea for the prototype to Danganronpa, a game with decisions and some different endings. Guessing that turned out to be bunk?
@lazyproblems said in Let's Play... (Visual Novels, RPGs, Souls, etc):
@imilyaz A VN is basically a basically a story heavy video game with a lot of text. You can make choices that effect the outcome of the story, or sometimes they just have puzzles or court case/trial like games. They're pretty similar to old adventure or point and click games. A lot of popular vns focus on
Absolutely play the Danganronpa VN over watching the anime.
Yes. This is not a suggestion, this is a mandate. Play the game / watch a Let's Play of the game, skip the animation.
I actually vastly prefer Danganronpa 2 to any of the other games in the series... But since it's a game to game plot, you'll have to play DR1 first. Most people like DR1 more or the same though.
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@terrence I was mixed on it. The ending.... Well, to say it was divisive is an understatement. After thinking about it for a while I decided I was mostly content with it, but I don't blame people for disliking it. It's not my favorite DR game (when all is said and done, I think the DR1 is still my favorite), but I love all of the mainline games. And yes, there's only one ending.
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@lazyproblems said in Let's Play... (Visual Novels, RPGs, Souls, etc):
@terrence I was mixed on it. The ending.... Well, to say it was divisive is an understatement.
I thought the Danganronpa 3 Anime ruined DR2 a bit (enough so that I try not to recognize the anime as an entry, just as I don't acknowledge Zero Time Dilemma as Virtue's Last Reward's sequel), so I'm afraid I'm a bit used to them ruining the series with decisions at endings / later entries. =/
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@terrence God, DR3 was such a disappointment. It had a strong first half, and then everything went to crap. It practically went out of its way to ruin every previous entry in the series. DR2 does get it the worst, and it does knock it down a peg in my ranking of the games. :/ I try to think of it as a what-if, but sadly... Generally, I don't recommend either DR anime.
I've heard a lot of bad things about ZTD too. I've actually managed to stay spoiler free on that, though. I actually just got the Nonary Games collection + ZTD for ps4, and was planning on just playing from the beginning soon, to brush up on everything.
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@imilyaz said in Let's Play... (Visual Novels, RPGs, Souls, etc):
@terrence this might be a perfect time to ask.
I've never ever seen or played a VN, I'm not sure I even know what it really is. But I see you mentioned danganronpa there. I was about to watch the anime pretty soon actually.
I was wondering If you would recommend the anime or VN? Where can one even get VN to begin with?
A lot of JRPGs use the visual novel style for conversations between characters. Examples are Trails in the Sky/of Cold Steel, Persona, 999/Zero Escape, the Atelier games, Disgaea, Tales of, Neptunia, etc.
If you've played any of these games before or can imagine what I'm talking about, it's basically a static character image (or, at best, animated in a very limited fashion) along with text, and as the conversation continues the image changes to show the character's expression/mood.
Here's an example:
So, the term "visual novel" is not an exaggeration, this is a book with pictures and sounds and (for modern ones) voice acting. If it's a pure visual novel, the most "gameplay" there will be is making various choices, like "Go left" vs "Go right" or "Stay home" vs "Go find something." These choices do matter and can lead the story to various different endings.
Danganronpa is a puzzle/escape game that uses a visual novel style to conduct its conversations. A pure VN would be more like Fate/stay night, CLANNAD, Steins;Gate, MuvLuv, etc.
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If you want a cheap VN to try out, get Banshee's Last Cry on IOS. Mystery plot that has a lot a lot of different endings, some serious and consequential, many silly.
I haven't found a game quite like that one since where decisions truly branch off differently every few minutes. Most VNs have some decisions that give you relationship points with certain characters so you gain a special ending towards the end, while others (like Zero Escape) have decisions that branch you off onto other routes though with these decisions being less frequent than something like Banshee's Last Cry.
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Thanks for the replies. I now have a rough idea of what a VN is.
One more question. Is the Danganronpa VN like a "try to figure it out yourself" type of mystery? I find pleasure in trying to figure out how or who the culprit is and how the mystery took place. I can still do this if I pick the VN right?(is Danganronpa even that kind of mystery to begin with?) -
@imilyaz said in Let's Play... (Visual Novels, RPGs, Souls, etc):
Thanks for the replies. I now have a rough idea of what a VN is.
One more question. Is the Danganronpa VN like a "try to figure it out yourself" type of mystery? I find pleasure in trying to figure out how or who the culprit is and how the mystery took place. I can still do this if I pick the VN right?(is Danganronpa even that kind of mystery to begin with?)Danganronpa is very much a "try to figure it out mystery". Each section of the game involves figuring "someone" out, and there is an Ultimate something you figure out / unravel as you head towards the end.
In Danganronpa 1, you can definitely piece together every incident well before the "someone" is found out by the characters. Just be prepared for an obvious clue in the first trial that'll make you think this is babby's first mystery game. The first trial is not the greatest, much like in Ace Attorney. xD
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@terrence ok now I'm REALLY excited to start reading (playing?) my first VN. Thanks for all the input
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This guy Takeru is a psychotic..
Scaring puppies
Edit: I forgot to grab Visual Novel Maker from the STEAM first week sale. Oh well. I'd love to mess around with the Live 2D stuff.
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Taking a break from Muv-Luv (just today; hope to be back to it tomorrow) and playing some Xenoblade 2. Unfortunately, the most epic part won't be up until tomorrow. =]
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWISJCjCM6-k88YmbfS7zH9AWbZmocvIp
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@terrence did they butcher the translation that much, or the character is supposed to be speaking in a broken language??
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@paulnamida said in Let's Play... (Visual Novels, RPGs, Souls, etc):
@terrence did they butcher the translation that much, or the character is supposed to be speaking in a broken language??
That's a Nopon speaking those lines (the creature at the desk; the woman is just his Princess Leia looking servant posing). They speak in cutesy, almost L33T speak English. Though, some of it is very tough to parse through even knowing what to expect. xC
There are some name changes in English. For instance, Pyra below is called Homura in Japanese. The subtitles don't correct this depending on audio, you're stuck reading "Pyra".
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Vodcasting on Twitch while I go to sleep. Feel free to tune in if you like Xenoblade or Muv-Luv and have some fun (you won't see me in the chat though probly). xD
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Been playing White Album 2 for PS Vita (with fan translation read aloud). We'll see how this goes later on when the lines are sure to get a bit awkward with the romantic scenario (and I'll probably skim over some later), but for now it's fun. =]
White Album 2 English Script Read Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWISJCjCM6-l9OPsgmIyqrcUfFznH-nMO
I put Xenoblade off for a bit, but I probably should pick it back up. I'm just in a bit of a boring area right now (with this gruff old dude inside a whale Titan or something?) and a bit lost on how to proceed.
I may get Monster Hunter World for my Birthday... Though I don't "need" it. Not much else I'd want besides headphones (if anyone knows of any earbud headphones with a long cord, let me know)
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I have a lot of respect for Let's play runners. I've gotten into Etrian Odyssey and kept an eye out for visual novels thanks to LParchive.org.
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@terrence would MHW be your first MH game?? If so, you'll realize it's the game you always needed. If you're a veteran you'll either grumble a bit about how it's been dumbed down but still love it, or praise it as the best MH game ever (I'm part of the latter)
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@paulnamida said in Let's Play... (Visual Novels, RPGs, Souls, etc):
@terrence would MHW be your first MH game?? If so, you'll realize it's the game you always needed. If you're a veteran you'll either grumble a bit about how it's been dumbed down but still love it, or praise it as the best MH game ever (I'm part of the latter)
Nope. I'm a vet (MH Tri WiiU). But I'm finding MHW a bit intimidating control wise. The start button short note for the hunting horn that I'm used to using, I don't know what button that is on.
Multiplayer seems a bit weird too. Like, are there named rooms I can join somewhere?
I did just get a new controller, so I should test that out to see if things like the hunting horn backswing work more easily, as I couldn't get that working (the one that has a powerful concussive type effect and moved you away from the monster). I feel like I'd rather play XX on Switch though right now, even with the language barrier, just more comfortable. x(
I think I'm going to focus on White Album though. I wasted my time with Rocket League last night, and it put me in a bad mood like it usually does (and kept me up).
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@terrence said in Let's Play... (Visual Novels, RPGs, Souls, etc):
Multiplayer seems a bit weird too. Like, are there named rooms I can join somewhere?
Same as the previous 3DS MH games, you join using a specific ID, or by joining your friends' sessions. This game adds the ability to join random sessions based on defined criteria, and you can also be invited to a Squad and join a squad session, which is simply a convenient way for people who want to play together to not have to enter in a session ID every time or all friend each other on PSN.
