Thomas Knight's Reviews
The mechanics are fairly simple, but the puzzles are well designed and the concept is unique. If you have a dark sense of humor and enjoy puzzles, I recommend it.
I definitely enjoyed reading through The Witch’s Love Diary, but I do feel somewhat conflicted. The style they used to tell the story was particularly unique, but it did come across as disjointed. The overall story was interesting and the characters were great. I can’t really say I’d prefer it as a standard visual novel where routes separate though, as it wouldn’t work with the story. It's an experience unlike most others and worth taking the time to play.
While I have my concerns with how briefly the story is covered, I certainly enjoyed Utawarerumono: ZAN. I was surprised at how good the gameplay was when getting further into the game. It is a bit pricey for the amount of content, which I suppose is due to the niche nature of it. It will be more worth it if you plan to complete all of the modes, as story mode alone could be completed in less than 5 hours.
Overall, this is an incredibly short experience but an interesting one. I’d usually hesitate to recommend a visual novel of this length, but between the cost being next to nothing and the sheer amount of choices you can explore, I feel like it does earn the recommendation.
Overall, I really enjoyed Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate. There’s something satisfying about mindlessly mowing down thousands of soldiers and then using a variety of skills to bring down more difficult enemies. The story isn’t the most amazing thing in the world, but I feel like the gameplay more than makes up for it and the sheer amount of content in the game makes it worth the price, despite it admittedly being a bit high.
While Sakura Wars does have some issues with the repetitiveness required to see all of the content and the battle system not being as fluid as it could be, the majority of my experience has been great. The interactions with the characters particularly stand out and the game’s focus is definitely on that. The patch which came out around release alleviated some of the issues I experienced playing prerelease, but did not completely erase them. I still recommend it, but it still falls below expectations in some ways.
I would recommend Senren Banka to visual novel fans who feel they would enjoy the adventure story or the light comedy style the story is told with. While I did feel the story was weaker in the character routes when compared to the common route, the characters themselves made up for it. The production values are high in the visual and audio areas. I enjoyed my time reading it and I believe many visual novel fans will.
A potentially great game, mostly limited by technology. Still, there’s plenty of fun to be had here.
An interesting reboot of an old series. Shows its age in some ways, but it is a great way to revisit this franchise.
Amazing Grace -What Color is Your Attribute?- is an enjoyable mystery adventure, with some pleasant romance mixed in along the way. While there are certainly some issues with the mystery requiring suspension of disbelief that will bother some more than others, it worked well with hinting at events, throwing in unexpected twists, and building up to the big reveals.
Nukitashi 2 doesn’t have the strongest plot, but it makes up for it with humor and high production values. Perhaps it won’t be a hit with everyone as comedy is subjective, but I certainly enjoyed the experience. That said, as a direct sequel I did feel that the change in direction had it fall short of the original.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince does the monster catching, raising, and battling loop better than any similar game I've played. It has some good dungeon puzzles on top of that. The story isn't amazing and the performance isn't great either, but if you enjoy monster-catching JRPGs, it's certainly worth picking up.
With an emotional sci-fi adventure plot, a great dynamic between the characters, and fun hack-and-slash gameplay, Crymachina has a lot to offer. There are a few areas that let it down, but it's still certainly worth the buy.
Sugar Sweet Temptation is as sugary sweet as it implies with it’s romance, but certainly amps the drama up at times. With it’s wonderful art, hints of mystery, great character dynamics, and heartful story, it’s worth reading.
With an engaging plot that kept me hooked as it slowly revealed more and more, Tamayura Mirai is worth the read. There’s less of a focus on the moments spent together here than most moege, but it’s an interesting adventure that leads to romance.
Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly is well-written, thoughtful and explores serious topics through a fantasy lens. It's worth checking out. If you enjoyed the first, this is essentially more of the same, but with new characters and stories. This is exactly what I wanted from it.
While the tone is mostly light and there are plenty of jokes, Sabbat of the Witch uses touching moments and serious issues to develop characters and build an interesting plot. Not all routes are equal, and I’d not use words like ‘masterpiece’ that I’ve seen thrown around, but this is certainly one of Yuzusoft‘s stronger titles.
Kunado Chronicles is certainly worth buying if you enjoy more of a focus on story and setting over romance. It takes an interesting world and builds it up well. Using this to then weave a plot with excitement and intrigue, the story dragged me in.
Like a Dragon: Ishin has some great characters, an immersive world, and a lot to love. The main plot may not stand out, but the smaller stories of the characters that inhabit the world do. With combat being a highlight, and tons to do, the few issues don’t stop me from recommending this. Just be sure to take it in slowly and experience the world.
Otome Domain took me about thirteen hours to complete and I enjoyed each one. It has a fun concept that is rare in localized visual novels. The characters are great too. I really enjoyed how it connects their various personality quirks to their own challenges and a serious plot while keeping a fairly light and comedic tone throughout most of the story. Mixing in some touching, dramatic, and romantic moments kept me engaged the entire time.