Okay, so I'm gonna write a little about what otaku based things have been occupying my time lately.
Since the new years I have wanted to give visual novels a try. I've seen plenty of anime where these things are played (Welcome to the NHK and OreImo spring to mind) and so wanted a go myself.
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| Our companion, Alice, on the right and other supporting characters important enough to have a voice actress |
Monster girl quest is more of a striped down rpg (no pun intended), where there are numerous encounters with many monster girls along your (fairly linear) path. The unique point of this game being that all the enemy encounters are cute anthropomorphic girl versions of animals and fantastical creatures who have sexual-ised attacks. Should your HP ever drop to zero in a fight, the girl will usually rape you for a fairly long scene!
It should be mentioned that this game is only the first half really. Part 2 has just been released in Japan, but it may take some time for translation works to make it readable for the English speaking world.
The storyline is nothing special but it kept me entertained enouhg. Part of the fun of this game is just seeing what the next monster girl they have come up with looks like! For example, here is the bestiary entry for the snail girl!
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| The cute snail girl lifts the hem of her skirt to reveal.......something......sexy? |
Terrifying stuff! But do check it out. The translated works can be grabbed from the lovely people over at Fakku: http://www.fakku.net/games/visualnovels
The second game I have been playing recently is Katawa Shoujo.
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| Lilly, Hanako, Rin, Emi, Misha and Shizune. |
This is an international fan project that has taken shape over 5 years. Inspired by the Japanese dating sim games, this has exactly the same feel. It's much less of a game than Monster Girl quest and much more of a story/novel. In it you read the text, enjoy the artwork and occasionally make simple choices that affect how the different girls view you. I've very nearly finished this game now (with only Lilly's route to do) and I have really enjoyed seeing the girls struggle through their lives with the help of your character, the arrhythmia stricken Hisao. The good endings make you feel warm inside, the bad endings make you feel like the scum of the earth!
Initially, some people might quickly jump to conclusions about this game, thinking it not very politically correct. However, the nature of the story lines means that it's invariably the girls emotional problems that define them, not their physical ones. Just like a regular dating sim girl.
I really recommend everyone pick up this game and at least have one playthrough. It shouldn't take more than 6 hours to complete one route, and while act 1 can be a bit confusing, one you 'have' a girl by the end of that, it becomes a lot simpler (Shizune's route from act 2 to act 4 only has 1 decision to make) and becomes a case of save at the choices. reload if you fail!
The game is available FREE to all who want it, just head to the developers website and download from one of the options! http://katawashoujo.blogspot.com/
Well, Im off to complete KS now. I hope you all have too by the time I get round to writing a second post!
