#the story doesn't have the replayability like ones that have different choices and routes (like MysMes and other VNs)

[fluffle-writes]

I'm really curious about what might happen after we're done with all the Overblots at NRC and Yuu finds a way home

Like, will that be it? Will there be some kinda spinoff story afterwards? I wouldn't be surprised if they kept doing events - but what will become of the main story?

[crossdressingdeath]

It feels mean commenting on it from anon but I feel like the person you're talking to was speaking too much from their inquisitor/opinion/view. There's some stuff shared across inquisitors because that's how it works but they are ignoring the role play aspect and even the actual choice of freedom game does give about how one inquisitor might feel about something etc.

This is honestly the main reason I tend to get a bad vibe from people who use gendered pronouns for a character without a set gender (with the obvious exception of gender-locked stuff; for example it wouldn't be a bad sign for someone to refer to Lavellan as "she" while talking about Solavellan). In my experience it's often a sign that they struggle to look at the character as the abstract of A Player Character rather than as just their character. RPGs are about choices, giving the player the option to have their character respond to situations in a variety of ways. That's what gives these games replayability! And you don't have to engage with it in-game (I mean, I've only finished DAI as Alaris, he's my baby) or even in every post you make (I'll sometimes he/him Quiz when I'm talking about something silly, because I'm playing Alaris and looking at things from his perspective so if I'm not trying to say anything intelligent or meaningful I may as well approach things as they stand in his worldstate specifically), but if you want to discuss the story as a whole you cannot be looking at the player character as your character or at the choices you made in-game as the canon choices. You have to look at the situation as a whole, including all the options a player can take even if they aren't ones you would take.

And it's especially important to keep that in mind with the player character, because while other characters have the potential for all their possible routes in them the whole time (Leliana has both the harshness of hardened Leliana and the compassion and mercy of softened Leliana, as an example; you just push her to prioritize one or the other) the player character only has the traits you give them. Lavellan might see the elves of Orlais as part of their people or they might not; neither of those options is "correct" or "canon", they're entirely based on what character a player wants to play. Lavellan having an elf-specific dialogue option to encourage her to take full advantage of her new position and their support would be good because it would be an option to play into Lavellan believing that they are of the same people, something they can do at other points in the game. They can do it in conversation with Solas and Sera; why not Briala too? But if you think your character's choices are the only valid ones and your character wouldn't make that connection between them and Briala then you're going to insist that that option shouldn't exist because "Lavellan wouldn't think of it that way"... even though they can at other points in the game if the player so chooses. Which makes for really shitty analysis, because if you're coming at a discussion about a game where you can make a lot of different choices from the viewpoint that the choices you like are the ones that matter most you're not going to be able to say anything interesting about anything that doesn't fit your narrow view of what the best version of the story is.

[miyakuli]

Seers Isle

Created by a small Bordeaux company called Nova Box, this visual novel in the form of an interactive comic immerses us in a universe full of magic and mystery where our choices will have a weight concerning the fate of each of the protagonists. The game was able to get me directly into its story as the work of atmosphere is mastered. However, some details could, in my opinion, have been improved for even more satisfaction.

❤ A well-constructed and almost captivating story in its way of telling and unveiling the mysteries around the characters. Also, where in many visual novels our action of making dialogue choices leaves us a spectator, here it plays a part in the story itself. I found it very relevant and it reinforces the immersive side of the game. ❤ Talking about immersion, it's done through absolutely magnificent illustrations!!!! Some might regret a lack of animation but I think the rendering is really dynamic and the imagination helps to do the rest easily. ⬇ My fav one <3

❤ I have to mention the sound and musical atmosphere too! The sound effects immerse us in the landscapes and the music is splendid and contributes to the mystical atmosphere of the game. ❤ The characters are endearing and each have their own personality and without easy clichés.

+/- The game has good replayability given the different routes to unlock (4 characters have 2 routes each) but they are very similar in the end and therefore rather repetitive. +/- Automatic saving is a good idea in itself, it prevents you from wanting to go back and erase a choice...but if you want to unlock the 8 routes, it's especially the end choices that are important. As a result, playing the same story 8 times becomes annoying (especially as said earlier, the routes are not that different).

✖ I regret that there is no indication of the text already read (like a text in color or a skip option just for unlocked dialogues). I found by chance that holding down the spacebar made the text go through much faster, but that's not very convenient either. ✖ The route system is not very clear; the game gives us 4 symbols (eye, hand, man, deer) and according to our choices, some symbols light up. The problem is the lack of clarity on which dialogues will influence which symbols, but also which symbols for which characters. For the first run, it doesn't bother too much but when you want to unlock other paths, it's not always obvious. ✖ I think the game deserved a kind of "true end" because after having finished all the routes, there are still a lot of questions around the character of Rowan and I feel a sense of lack. (✖ No romance possible with Freya, I'm extremely frustrated xD)

If Seers Isle is in part a tragedy, I nevertheless come out of it with a smile of having been able to fully experience its story thanks to quality work on its audiovisual atmosphere. I'll be curious to discover other creations of this studio in the future <3

➡ My personal VN ranking (in french) ➡ My Steam page

[beevean]

I think the whole thing with the choices you can make affecting even the most minimal things in Undertale just comes to there being so much attention to detail in it. It may not "matter", but the fact the Tobyfox went the extra mile gives the characters and world a lot of the depth. It's what helps elevate a game, especially RPGs, from one that has a more strict linear path/progression, and adds a lot replayability to it. The ability to let the player loose and do just about whatever they want is something I really like in video games.

Yes, the game accounts for all sorts of choices, up and including playing the whole game without saving!

But this post's point was another one, I think. UT's strength lies in how utterly likeable its characters are, even the minor NPCs, and this affects your choices much more than wanting to get different outcomes. Your choices matter because it affects characters that the game convinces you that matter.

Funnily enough, it's to the point that it actually argues the opposite of what you say, because it makes you want to never replay the game because you want them to experience happiness. Even replaying a Pacifist route is technically discouraged by Flowey. What kind of game does it, asking you to only play it once? One that puts much more emphasis on its world and people rather than gameplay.

There are stories of speedrunners who still choose to hug Asriel at the end, even if it makes them waste time. It's not even a bit of a bragging thing like saving the animals in Super Metroid: they really don't have the heart to be mean to a fictional character like that. It doesn't matter to Asriel: he's not any less or more appreciative of you. But it matters to you that you have the chance to comfort the little goat.

[vnobscura]

Little Aid

Opening

Little Aid was released on the PC, PS2, and PSP by TAKUYO, the same company that made Cherryblossom. This game acts as a sort of sequel to Cherryblossom, but it takes place a couple years later, like about 10 years. After being ported to the PS2, two new routes were added and one route was taken out, but was implemented back into the PSP version along with updated graphics.

Story

There really isn't a deep story to tell here. It just feels like a slice-of-life story that doesn't really go anywhere. You play as Nishimura Akari who has a twin brother named Nishimura Fumi. A sort of culture festival event is being prepared by the school for tearing down an old school building and miscellaneous events occur in the school. There's a pendant that you find later that turns out to be your mother's and has special powers, but I forgot about it completely until the end. Apparently, it let's you see where someone is as well as their memories.

Gameplay

There isn't much gameplay to speak of. It's more akin to a visual novel than a dating sim. All you ever really do is make choices and that's it.

Art

Art was fine. There were some humorous CGs mixed in with the rest which was nice to see. The odd thing for me about collecting the CGs though was that you don't collect all the CGs after completing a route. You had to go on a different route to get the missing CG for that specific character. After collecting all endings, there is a "Special" page in the Omake section with different sketches of the CGs you see in the game. I thought the some of the other sketches looked much better than what was chosen for the final game, but that's just my opinion.

Music

I thought the music quality improved from its predecessor and enjoyed some songs at first. The audio mixing felt off though. The voices felt too quiet and the music was really loud. I had to adjust the volume of the game so there's that.

Replayability

There are a multitude of routes you can take so replaying the game is a must if you want the full experience. However, it can get tiring pretty fast. Going through one route meant going through already read dialogue that takes six in-game days just to pick the correct choices for that specific route. There are normal endings and good endings for each character as well as three more unlockable characters and two other routes. So unless you have a lot of time on your hands, going through all those routes can be a bit tedious.

Casual Thoughts

I sort of wanted Little Aid to be an improved version of Cherryblossom in terms of gameplay, but it acted more like a visual novel. The whole time, I had been waiting for a change in gameplay, but it never happened. This felt weaker compared to Cherryblossom and the lack of a strong, intriguing story made it a bit of a slog to get through. The voice acting was done with a lot of energy, but there were a couple characters who shared the same voice actors so it confused me at times. Unlike Cherryblossom though there was a lot less narrative in terms of actions and there was more dialogue which I thought worked better in these kinds of games. I found it strange how there were characters who were voiced but didn't have sprites and that just feels weird and confusing because there were already a lot of characters you had to remember. (Also, some of the voices didn't sound like they fit the character.) The guys that you were supposed to "romance" felt like an afterthought to me because the only real "romance" that you can do happens on the very last day and it doesn't really feel rewarding. I didn't enjoy Little Aid as much as I wanted to, but don't let my opinion detract you from trying the game yourself.