Clephas' VN Home

Well, you'll be disappointed to know that I am disappointed with this VN, even though I didn't have high hopes for it. First, I should explain the theory/template for a good trap protagonist VN. 1. Protagonist is voiced (voicing the protagonist in these VNs with a sex-neutral-sounding VA generally gives you what you want) 2. Protagonist is something of a submissive personality, when it comes to minor issues, but when it comes to anything major is proactive. 3. Protagonist at some point stops being bothered by the fact that they are dressing up as a girl. (along with occasional sighs when they realize they are thinking completely like a woman) 4. Protagonist is generally capable, earning the positive emotions he gets from the girls honestly. 5. The discovery of the protagonist's sex by the heroine is in a suitably dramatic manner, thus generally overwriting the shock of the discovery of his lie (most of the time). 6. The actual issue of his tru...

I get people asking me all the time why I like this VN so much, and indeed, there is a lot about this VN that makes it a somewhat eclectic choice. The only thing that is even remotely moe is the basic visuals, and the arcs of the story range from the shocking to the creepy. First, the biggest reason is quite simple... Kamio Ami. It is really rare for a heroine to so completely shatter pre-existing standards of what a VN/anime/manga heroine should be. Ami is the single most pragmatic, cold-blooded, and manipulative heroine I've ever come across. She also mixes that with a hedonistic side that makes her even harder to read. The second reason is a bit more complex. This VN basically crucifies modern Japanese culture from beginning to end. It pokes holes in common Japanese preconceptions of what should be, and it outright sneers at the assumption many make that the law is there to protect people. I don't think I've ever come across a VN that so completely finds the...

First, I want to say thank you to those who patiently listened as I whined and complained about this VN as I played it. I should also explain what I was complaining about first, so that people don't get the impression that this is an awful VN, just because I have complaints about it. I'll place this in spoilers for people who don't care about my whining. Basically, I have a pet peeve when it comes to people who use 'alternate history' settings. It isn't the fact that it is an alternate history... it is when they fail to account for impossibilities that are outside of the central historical difference. In this case, I refer to the situation of the Chinese in this game... to be blunt, China didn't have the ability to project power across the Sea of Japan in the era just after WWII (they were still busy with their civil war, then the disasters of Mao's early rule). The US was able to because they had the ships, planes, and trained troops necessary to mai...

A Universal Issue Tentacle sex and rape are the two big downers to this series. For a series with such good writing, it is amazing how quickly it becomes repetitive once h-scenes get into the picture. On the bright side, corrupting the heroines in Empire, Frontier, and Hypno almost always has immensely hilarious results after the mindbreak. It is kind of irritating that you pretty much have to mindbreak them to get the really good strategic skills, though. Abyss To be honest, this is the game in the series I liked the least. First, it is the first one that introduces the tentacle impregnation=new troops system that was the recruitment system for this and Gaia. Second, it has the weakest set of heroines and protagonist in the entire series. Third - and last - it uses a dungeon-defense gameplay model, which I despise. To be honest, the Law route of this game is incredibly boring, story-wise, with a huge amount of cliched jrpg knock-off plot twists. While this...

Yes, I went and played a game in this series, mostly because Sanahtlig is an old friend and I didn't want to keep brushing him off. In fact, I'm marathonning this series starting with this game. First, an initial umbrella statement... this would have been a first-class story (though flawed) if it weren't for the massive amounts of tentacle rape and choukyou. Am I serious? Yeah. Despite everything, the base story is actually really good. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the gameplay. It takes the form of a conquest-strategy VN where you use six-soldier units to attack cities that are defended by up to six soldiers. Unfortunately, there is nothing resembling actual strategy to the entire thing. Oh sure, you have to manage your resources and keep your soldiers healthy... but that's the closest you get to it (there are some strategic elements to the management of the power gauge and the use of skills, but those are minor). Basically, it is a 'm...

This is the newest title from Lump of Sugar, and as is typical of their recent productions, it has a needlessly complicated system for story progression that would have driven me insane inside ten minutes if I hadn't dled the patch that removes the gimmicks from their site. From what I've heard, LoS finally heard the screaming of their fans, that they didn't want anything to do with the pointless gimmicks that plagued Unmei Senjou no Phi and Magical Charming. Kind of sad that it took them a few years to figure it out though. That said, this VN... is not something worth writing home about. Oh, it is as pretty as any other LoS game, and it does have a decent setting and characters... but - when the gimmicks are stripped away - it is a bare bones second-rate moege. The only route I played that I can say was completely worth the time I spent on it was Ichika's, which is probably why she was the main heroine. The biggest downers of this VN are: 1. Th...