It was pretty cool. I couldn’t really tell you about the quality of the writing as I don’t read Japanese, but the sound designs and cg art were pretty cool.
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So suffice to say, given my VNDB(,https://vndb.org/u51741/list?c=all;v=0;t=-1;o=d;s=vote) I am an avid visual novel reader. Apparently I have read 50+ visual novels according to that thing!
In any case, I am gonna talk about the latest VN I read l- Dies Irae.
Dies Irae is a visual novel by Light that is expertly penned by Masada Takashi and beautifully illustrated
by G-Yuusuke. Dies Irae begins with a mysterious ritual that begins in 1945 Berlin lead by an even more
mysterious group of supernatural ubermensch known as the LDO. Dies Irae immediately captures one’s
attention with these LDO members and you can’t help but be intrigued by them thanks to G-Yuusuke’s
wonderful character designs and Masada’s colorful dialogue. You will hear me say this a lot, but what
truly is captivating about Dies Irae is not its plot or not even its cool high action scenes, but it is the
characters that make you want to stick around.
After the mysterious ritual, the visual novel jumps into 2006 Japan where we meet our principle
protagonist- Ren Fuji as he becomes embroiled in the LDO’s machinations. The visual novel goes as
one’s expects as Ren fights his way through LDO’s members and fights to gain his daily life back. While
this set up is in a way clichéd, the journey is enthralling nonetheless thanks to the Dies Irae’s ability to
pull you in through its characters. Each character, especially the villains, all have layers that slowly reveal
themselves in unexpected ways. The villains in particular have nuanced and ambiguous interactions that
allow the reader to be continuously wondering about what drives these characters.
In a way, Dies Irae lacks character development as the characters remain static throughout the novel.
Instead however, Dies Irae’s character writing is one of discovering what truly motivates these
characters and makes them tick. The discovery is very enthralling as unlike a typical anime or a visual
novel, one cannot trace the root of these characters to a mere tragic event in their past and call it a day.
These characters continuingly have layers that are both self-contradictory and self-defeating. The
characters are most earnest in pursuing their desires and discovering what those desires truly are is one
of the best parts of Dies Irae.
This strong character writing can be attributed to Masada’s prose, which is flourished with both style
and substance. Additionally Masada’s writing is just so damn quotable that you can’t help but buy into
the grandiose spectacle that is Dies Irae. However, Masada’s writing can also lean on the too heavy side
at times and this slows down the pacing of the visual novel. In particular, the battle scenes suffer from
this at times, despite the beautifully over the top writing in these scenes. While I personally felt the
weightiness of the prose was not outweighed by its beauty, prospective reader’s bewarned that Dies
Irae can be too verbose for its own good at times.
Dies Irae’s production values are also top notch. The soundtrack is stellar and the art by G-Yuusuke is
amazing. Furthermore, the voice acting in the work is so well done, that I truly believed that this was the
voice actor’s best work yet. The likes of Jun Suwabe’s Reinhard , Sakiware Spoon’s Mercerius, and
Taniyama Kishou’s Wilhelm were all music to my ears.
Thus Dies Irae is a fascinating battle opera with fascinating actors. While its plot may be clichéd, and its
prose may be too heavy, the visual novel will pull you in regardless. I highly recommend this one to all.
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I hear that Umineko does in some ways tout similar ideas as Subahibi and that they are similar in presenting their narrative, so it will be pretty interesting to see Subahibi in action come this Fall!
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There’s been some discussion of it upthread, but I just want to restate that The House In Fata Morgana is an understated masterpiece. It is my favorite VN of all time.
It might not be extremely layered (a la Umineko), it might not be a saga like Fate, it might not be punching you around with plot twists (Zero Escape), but holy hell. It easily has one of the best-developed casts of any visual novel out there. The soundtrack is also sublime.
I have not seen many scenes more poignant than some of Fata’s hardest moments in any visual novel. The presentation is state of the art. The pacing is great (some might disagree with me on this account). Translation is remarkable. Story… lawd, don’t make me even vaguely describe it, but it has easily the best-delivered message I’ve perhaps ever seen in a story.
Literally the only flaw of this game is that it’s 4:3. There’s literally nothing else that bothers me about it.
I wrote about it on Reddit a while ago. Give that review a whirl if you still aren’t sold.
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I completely agree.
I played Fata Morgana probably after Umineko and I was surprised at the amount of surprising elements that they have in common. The art is gorgeous, the music is sublime and the story is highly intriguing. It doesn’t surpass Umineko in terms of complexity, but it’s a solid mystery in its own right.
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It’s surprising how there are many parallels between Fata and Umineko, but I feel that ultimately their message is altogether different. Umineko is about (vague general spoilers I guess?) finding a truth you can love, as well as a deconstruction of mystery as a genre. Fata is about something else altogether. (Vague but important spoiler!) Fata is about how you don’t need to forgive those who harm you, and need to move on instead for your own sake. By conveying this message it also deconstructs the glorification of forgiveness in literature. Their scope (in length and cast size) is also different but I find Fata to both be a tighter and more accessible experience (in the sense that it’s easier to fully experience Fata, whereas with Umineko you need to engage with the text quite a bit). Fata is so good at one point that in a 4-5 hour stretch you actually feel relieved when things drag for a brief while.
That said: the mansion setting, the sublime soundtrack, the beautiful art (
), the poignancy of the main theme and the characters and the story- those things ARE parallels between the both. Oh, and Fata also has (spoiler I guess) eight Doors also.
Turns out I posted twice in it already, ahahaha.
I wrote this post to intrigue people who haven’t heard of Fata before, so it’s all good.
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Let’s just say Higurashi and Umineko have brought me to Visual Novels, but funnily enough, I haven’t read both of them completely as of yet, because I found the Manga faster to read. I only got myself the Umineko Chiru VN for the obvious reason of the last manga volumes not being translated (but at least I avoided the clear answers of it this way, heh). But I’ve been on a snail’s pace read-through of the question arcs right now, currently at episode 2. Cool to revisit the story after only knowing the manga. Though I am using the original VN with the alchemist sprites patch, because… to be entirely frank, those pachinko sprites of the steam version freak me out and I will never, ever buy those…
I’m also re-reading Higurashi through the VN. The original with only the English patch and Ryukishi’s own artwork. I kinda like the steam version sprites there, but here the original art kinda grew on me. I’ll see whether I will get myself the steam version some time in the future.
Other VN’s I’ve read… well, my list won’t be all that interesting, because I have only the mainstream works.
Fate/Stay Night
The nicest thing I can say is that the prologue from Rin’s perspective is awesome and the character-building is great. It just fizzles out the moment Shirou opens his mouth. Or thinks something. Or god beware, does something. In the end, despite the awesome premise I found it offensively ‘meh’.
Fate/Hollow Ataraxia
Really fun stuff, I have to admit. Many of the scenes were awesome and funny, even though Shirou’s growing harem killed a lot of the interactions he has with any female human for me. For example I really loved how he and Medusa were just exchanging book recommendations like, you know, friends do. But obviously Nasu doesn’t know that men and women can be friends, or at least not that his inexplicably attractive harem dudes can. So OF COURSE it just turned out to have a sexual component. What a damn waste!
And then of course there is my biggest beef with the entire story: Surprise rape out of nowhere!
The hell? And with no repercussions whatsoever? What’s wrong with this dude?
Steins;Gate
Amazing story and I’m really looking forward to Steins;Gate 0. Only nitpick: As a completionist, that fucking phone, while a nice feature on the paper, drove me freaking crazy! XD
Well that, and I found the artstyle somewhat creepy. Those eyes…
Rewrite
I only read it because in one episode of the Anime, I believe it was episode 5, Ryukishi’s writing style shined through and I was interested in the real thing, not that haphazardly rushed OOC mess that was the adaptation. I read the Lucia route up until deep into the night, totally hooked by every mood swing and genre shift and of course Lucia’s characterization. It had its issues, the ending was clumsily dragged out and some characters (looking at you, Yoshino) were acting OOC, but even that was an improvement in my opinion. I found it absolutely amazing.
Though admittedly, aside from Kotouri’s route I can’t say things as nice as this about the rest of the routes. I wrote a long ass review back when I read it, so maybe I come around to translate that one some time in the future if anyone were interested in my ramblings.
And that’s it. I haven’t read any more so far…
I feel the exact same way about Fate, its praised by so many but I have alot of problems with Shirou and the writing in general. The only really good thing coming out of the franchise to me is Fate/Zero (which isnt even written by nasu)
Anyway since I have read a fair share of VNs Im gonna share my opinion on ones which left a particulary striking impression on me.
Little Busters!
The one and only. I believe @Aspirety has already said everything there is to say about this work in his review on Steam and with the recent Steam release I found time to go back to- and relive my experience with it. My favorite VN second to Umineko and one that has truly influenced and moved me on a personal level only less than a handful of stories have achieved so far.
Key is a very inspiring developer with alot of great works behind their backs such as Clannad, Planetarian and Rewrite but none of those and probably any of their future work will have such a huge impact on me as this one (though Im not at all a fan of almost all of their anime shows, both original and adaptions of their VNs)
Narcissu
Probably alot less popular, but this one spoke to me on a more specific level. As someone plagued with depression for a very long time now, I kept seeing myself in the way the author portraid his characters in this short story.
Its setting is very simple but something I really havent seen anywhere else. The main character has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and it explores his thoughts and views about the world around him, what worth he sees in it with the little time he has left in his life.
Its hard to recommend this one to people because not many will be able to make much out of it. I recall the author himself saying that its hard to connect to the character and his views because in order to understand him, you would have had to see yourself in his kind of situation once in your life, and I totally agree. However if you feel in any way interested give it a try, its free on Steam. (This is not a very lighthearted story obviously so if you are sensitive to this kinda stuff you might wanna stay away from it)
kono oozora ni tsubasa wo hirogete (or If My Heart Had Wings)
Alot more typically VN’ish and basic but I cant deny the amount of fun I had reading it. It builds a fairly realistic world the kind I just love to lose myself in. Basically its just about a group of friends who due to different circumstances end up developing a hobby for- and working together in building their own air glider. Criminally innocent but similar to Little Busters its just the chemistry between the characters that makes you happy being part of their everyday life.
The art is also fantastic as I mentioned before its world is stunningly beautiful with a mix of natural landscapes and near-future style architecture.
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That’s exactly my own opinion as well! Fate/Zero is a brilliant character-driven tragedy! And it even managed to salvage the character of Saber for me, because, you know, Gen Urobuchi actually treated her like a human being with her own history, ideals and regrets that isn’t constantly walked over by a bland idiot she is supposed to fall in love with for no reason… Everything else Type-Moon churns out is, at least to me, mostly mindless fanservice. And I am so frustrated because it could be so amazing if they’d only respect the historical characters they pull into the present time!
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While not a fan of Type-Moon myself, Garden of Sinners is a work by said company I very highly respect. I dont know what to think of nasu as writer because he has something like Fate/stay Night, but then Garden of Sinners which respects itself alot more and shows what he is really capable of. I wanted to check out Tsukihime as well to get a better opinion on him but so far it seems one of his worst works (FSN) is his most popular one… Anyway I really recommend you to check out the Garden of Sinners Movies if you have not already.
I have watched them after an acquaintance recommended them to me and they were the only reason why I finally gave the Fate/Franchise a chance. Because I agree, that story is really good. Though admittedly, I’m still not quite sure whether similarly troubling character-decisions are not just blurred by how plain weird everyone is acting. Due to my fanfic-activities I make it a point to completely understand all the motivations of a fictional character just in case I want to write them, but for example I’m still not quite sure what actually is in-character for Shiki. This balance between using her powers to protect Mikiya and not going down the deep end through them that is discussed in the final movie doesn’t quite apply to all of her actions, especially in the first movies. This still leaves me a little iffed. Well that and that her love interest has the same bloody harem aura like every fucking Type-Moon protagonist, it’s just less obtrusive because he isn’t the focus of the narrative.
I would probably need to revisit the movies to give proper insight on your comment on shikis motivations,though to me Mikiya didnt come of as particulary harem MCish, typically dense sure but I felt it was kept in a realistic way. Then again I have only consumed FSN so I cant tell if all Type-Moon protagonists are really just like this guy.
(not sure this needs a spoiler anymore)
Sure, Mikiya is not the protagonist, but all of Kinoko Nasu’s own works have in common that their male leads are inexplably attracting every single woman on this planet. In Mikiya’s case I just have to count all the characters that I can remember at the top of my head who have stated a sexual interest in him:
- Shiki of course
- the ghost girl from the first movie (because she grew envious of the woman he brought flowers to)
- the bending rape victim
- his sister…
- the cannibal serial killer dude
- the girl with the premonition power…
- his freaking daughter…
For the most part Mikiya’s aura makes more sense than Shirou’s or Tsukihime’s Shiki’s because he actually talks to (most of) the women who fall for him and it is outright stated that he has this actual somewhat magical trait that allows him to show acceptance and compassion to just about everyone. Still doesn’t excuse why some of the more squick-inducing characters are in that list in the first place.
Edit: I also just remembered one specific example on why I found Shiki so hard to understand:
In her interactions with the rape victim who folded together her tormentors, she explicitly states that she only hunts down ‘monsters’ for the sake of not becoming one herself and she defines a monster as someone who kills indiscriminately. She also states that she regards it as her duty to do that. But in the very first movie, when that ghost woman kept making people commit suicide through her mind control… Shiki didn’t care at all and only intervened after Mikiya got involved and therefore she had a personal reason to do shit (and yeah, maybe I never forgot about that because I’ve spent half the movie yelling at the screen that she should just move her ass and do something…). And it can’t be character development, because the first movie takes place after the movie with that ‘monster’ definition.
I could chalk it up to ‘Early Installment Weirdness’ if I am being generous, but in a series of stories that want to be puzzled together, changing motivations like this do seem a little glaring.
Its so true though.
I am actually am really obsessed with Fate, but it is impossible to deny that Shiro is a crappy lead character and I understand how that can weaken the main story for people to the point where it loses any shine for them. But probably because I had always loved historical fiction growing up, and since Fate is basically chuuni-fied Historical Fiction I fell in love with it very quickly despite it short comings. It works for me as a IP because its fun characters, good world building, and fun magic system. The extended cast is a really good mix of fun and large personalities that adapt well to humor or dramatic stories. I love that there has been so much new content for it since the success of the Zero anime.
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I sincerely hope this is not derailing the thread.^^
Heh. I think him being a crappy character is the least of his problems. Of course he infuriates me, especially since Nasu apparently has that weird idea that being selfless makes you stupid. As someone who has had a pretty crappy life myself and devoted himself to help make it better for others, Shirou has some traits I would find admirable in a character, but it is thoroughly tarnished by how the narrative wants to say that he is so ludicrously gullible and suicidal because ‘he lacks a sense of self’, whatever that means.
But even then, I could live with this. What I could not live with is how he as a protagonist acts like some kind of narrative black hole who just forces the entire world to revolve around him simply by existing. There are so many good characters in Stay Night: I love Caster and Rider has a lot of potential and I am especially awed how Rin reads like she walked in from a far better story, but all of them get caught in that gravity well and dragged down because of course the story is only allowed to be about Shirou.
I totally understand you! I love history, I love delving into research or debating past events, their relevance to our lives or how things would have turned out differently. That’s why I want to love the Fate franchise with all my heart. And yet… it’s just frustrating to me. Apparently the difference is that I don’t want my history ‘chuuni-fied’. I want it as is. I want it… like Fate/Zero approached it. I don’t want my historical characters genderbent, stripped of all history and with wacky Anime tropes slapped onto them in its stead, I want Alexander the Great grabbing a world map to ask his summoner how far his empire stretched! Admittedly, when writing my own Holy Grail War the way I want to see it, I got kinda derailed with the extensive flashback chapters in which I explored the times of my characters, so there is that…
But what is there to watch or to read? So far Zero and Hollow Ataraxia are the only ones I genuinely liked. I am currently watching Apocrypha, it has decent world-building, but its protagonist is such a ridiculously bland Mary Sue whose simple presence leads to everyone around him breaking character, that it has become a chore. Then there’s that bizarre fanservice thing Grand Order… I am actually just playing it to gather the Fate/Zero cast… And don’t get me started on that disgusting Prisma Illya nonsense, though again, it could be funny if it weren’t for the ludicrous fanservice permeating every single writing decision.
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Has anyone here read Doki Doki Literature Club?
I know it looks pretty shallow on the surface, but if you can get past the first hour or so it is actually really great IMO. It’s really short compared to most of the stories here, and it is completely free on Steam, so why not give it a try?
Fair warning: When the notice talks about graphic content that will upset people who are easily disturbed, they are not kidding.
Yeah I’ve read it. It’s a cool ride and I definitely recommend giving it a read to anyone on the fence =P
I have, and frankly I was not super impressed with it. It relies too much on its gimmick and doesn’t tell a particularly good story. It was a neat tech demo at best
I’ll respectfully degree with you on Shirou at least. I think for me, it isn’t Nasu is saying Shirou is stupid or guillable for saving people- (after al in all three routes Shirou affirms his desire to save people- In Fate he accepts that he can’t save everyone, but he’ll try anyways, in UBW he realizes he can’t save everyone, but at the very least he can try to save the people closest to him, etc).
I think Nasu is saying “It is fine to save people and be a hero, but it has to be for a more human reason than the ideal of an hero. If you try to save everyone, you will just burn yourself out. Do what you can, but also remember you are human- it is okay for you to be a bit selfish. Surround yourself with people who care about you”.
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