Finally completed that normal route, now I can finally start playing this game.
Anyway, does anyone have any links where I can look up Cthulhu mythos related stuff? I’ve only read a few of the stories and am relying on wikipedia for whatever I don’t recognize and already I’m running into stuff that isn’t there.
Hmmm… I honestly have never found a decent Cthulhu Wiki… I wonder if anyone has a good link. I know that some of the original works are officially in public domain - The Call of Cthulhu for example - but there doesn’t seem to be anyone hosting a TXT of the book, that I’d trust.
EDIT
Found this:
The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana: A Guide to Lovecraftian Horror by Daniel Harms
Maybe your local library might have a copy. Appears to be the authoritative guide, according to reviewers.
So, I’ve got all the endings (although I’ve not read all the text, I started CTRLing indiscriminately after hours of exactly the same stuff with slight variations). The game sucks, and the fact that it could’ve actually been good makes it all worse. Gore Screaming Show was on a completely different level, from every point of view - art, story, character design, ero.
The first major problems are the characters. The player never gets any attachment towards any of the characters, either because they have unbelievable backgrounds (like Uko), or because they don’t get much attention (like Shizuku). Even August, which is supposedly the main character, is still a stranger by the end of the game. The fact that the game itself doesn’t take them seriously (most of the transformations are laughable, and the physical handicaps on the dark side version are really uncalled for) doesn’t help.
This and the crappy story cut off any possibility for this game to be anything more than a good sexromp. Unfortunately, the ero is not that good, too. There are a few good scenes, but nothing really memorable. The art is average at best, and some of the seiyuu make a really bad job in creating the mood (expecially Uko).
In the end, I gave this game a 5/10 on VN Database, and I’m still thinking maybe I was too nice.
Game feels rushed and incomplete. Nowhere near the same level of the Mugen Kairou games.
Finally started on Cthulhu. So far I’ve finished all of the Aozora side, and the normal ending + both of August’s endings on the Yozora side. I don’t want to make any overall comments on the individual elements yet (like everyone else, I’m disappointed, although how much will depend on how the last 30% or so I’ve got left pans out), but just a few things I’ve noticed:
The game has a few inconsistencies in style, most notably in Koinu’s Aozora route, where her Osaka dialect disappears for a while. In addition to the two scenario writers listed on Black Cyc’s homepage (they’ve worked together in the past, so I imagine they know how the other writes, and are able to make their styles consistent), there are four other (sub)sub scenario writers listed in the credits, none of whom appear to have worked for Cyc before. Almost certainly one of those was responsible for part of her route. Speculation perhaps, but I don’t think Black Cyc were able (or had enough money) to give the game the budget/extra production time it needed in order to succeed.
Definitely an issue of personal taste, but from what I’ve seen so far, I think the game would have been better if all of the characters were in their Yozora variants from the outset (ie. no Aozora route at all). Given the nature of the scenario, setting and subject matter, this is one game that probably demands abnormal characters with personalities and appearancesto match. The same also applies for the Mugen Kairou games (2 in particular), where almost all of the characters are just as much, if not more mentally damaged than the Cthulhu cast. (That said, MK2’s different in that the game isn’t structured along good/bad or hero/villain lines. That aside though, at its core, Cthulhu is very very similar stylistically to MK2, however the former isn’t nearly as well executed and borrows some themes and concepts that don’t translate all that well into a different setting.)
Agreed that the quality of the seiyuu varies. Zepy’s post might help explain why Black Cyc are no longer able to employ top tier seiyuu (combination of price increases in general and the increased costs necessary for seiyuu that wouldn’t normally voice rape scenes (I think at least for top-tier certain seiyuu, that may have been a relatively recent change? For example, Miru, Kazane, Isshiki Hikaru, Hokuto Minami and Kimura Ayaka are all much better than any of the Cthulhu seiyuu, and have worked for Black Cyc until fairly recently, but now seem to have mostly stopped voicing dark eroges.)
I’m not quite sure what you mean, as they’re the only composers credited for the BGM. Stylistically all of the tracks sound like their work, but the weaker ones are lacking melodically and/or don’t have particularly good choices in instrumentation. It’s certainly not up to their usual quality, but unlike the scenario, it doesn’t seem like anyone else was responsible for the weaker moments.
Edit: Only a minor point, but in future eroges, it’d be very nice if the writer(s) would stop drawing analogies between manga and various events in the scenario. Repeatedly describing scenes as being ‘like something from an [SF] manga’ doesn’t exactly draw the reader into the narrative.
My verdict, placing it into the lineup of Black Cyc titles:
Mugen Kairou 2 > Mugen Kairou > Extravaganza > MinDead Blood > Cthulhu > Gun-Katana > Gore Screaming Show > Mushi-Tsukai (> Before Dawn Daybreak wwwwwwwww)
Grand concept and characters marred by an incomplete + rushed story with low-quality subwriters.
Itou let me down here, but it’s probably Black Cyc’s fault for making him get this game out the door before it was done. On the other hand, maybe this just isn’t Itou’s sort of game.
Cleared. In terms of food for thought, I did rather like the final epilogue, but some of other Yozora segments, such as Koinu’s and Makoto’s Yozora routes were awful, as they had far too much in common with each other, as well as having far too much shared text between the Aozora/Yozora sides. Aside from the true Yozora route + epilogue the game has one well-executed ending (August’s Yozora ending, featuring a Koinu cameo - well, her two endings basically follow on from each other anyway, so I don’t know why they split them.), and one fairly strong route (Uko’s Yozora route). For the game to work though as it stands, the Aozora parts needed to be able to stand independently as complete stories, without interfering too much with the Yozora sections (some of the endings were just outright repeated on both - when I was using Shift to automatically skip through already read text, being taken straight back to the title screen was a rather unpleasant surprise. The same applies for certain scenes where the text was identical but the images were different.) [Again, this was borrowed from Mugen Kairou, but kind of fell down when it was transcribed into a quasi-loop game like Cthulhu. MK 1+2 also made an attempt to change the text on subsequent developments for every new scene (whilst providing more details about the characters and setting), so the story felt like it was actively evolving within the loop framework.]
As for a ranking, the game’s so obviously incomplete that it’s hard for me to evaluate. As it’s got plot and characters, it’s significantly better than Mushi Tsukai, but beyond that, I’m still not sure. I didn’t mind preordering it so much, as it tried to offer something genuinely new but overall I guess it left me feeling not so much shortchanged, but very disaapointed in comparison to what it could have been.
However, most importantly, as a certain other doujin title from former Cyc staff now has a release date (June 1st) and a price (1500 yen, although I think they could easily have gotten away with charging 2000 for it). Although it’s only going to be a small-scale work, if Izumi + Metawo are on form then this could be very good indeed, or at the very least, a lot better than Cthulhu :P. Izumi’s written some horrifically bad short eroges in the past, but thankfully looks much more like a scaled down version of (MinDead + EXTRAVAGANZA )/2 than a soulless, zero substance, terribly written nukige (or EXTRAVAGANZA - Matsuro no Hate ni).
So as to not hijack the Update thread…
HPL’s writings are the best. Quite an imaginative man.
However I do find myself somewhat unimpressed by his portrayal of the Old Ones. Don’t get me wrong: they were original… but the cephalopod thing, just doesn’t strike me as eldritch horror. Alien looking? Of course.
Personally, I find the portrayal that Kouta Hirano does - i.e. when Alucard goes full power (BCyc copied it for Gore Screaming Show)
The whole thing with infinite eyes and teeth, bleeding shadows, and chaotic shapeshifting of nightmares constantly dying/resurrecting/consuming themselves, is more primordial IMHO, than a giant squid.
Man, just one eye is good enough for me. Sure, it’s not that eldrich, but it doesn’t need to be; it just needs to sit there, staring at you, throughout the game…
To be honest most of his stories that I’ve read only mention the Old Ones, with the exception of one of my favorites “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” (it ties with “The Whisperer in the Darkness” as my current top fave). Just curious, but what’s your opinion on his portrayal of that particular Old One since Dagon isn’t cephalapod?
One thing I noticed from what I’ve played so far of Cthulhu; if Koinu’s the king of Yuggoth (took me a while to figure out “yugos” = “Yuggoth”, damn you katakana!), and the creatures that live on it are a vegetable race, then does that make her the king of the Potato People? :lol:
From the other thread:
Hmm, unless Black Cyc hire a different/additional artist, I can’t see them completing work on a new title before 2011 (which is presumably the eroge Banya Izumi’s working on, that’s supposed to be his longest game yet). As for the contents, the outline makes them seem more seem like side stories/alternative universe stories rather than something that genuinely aims to fill in the gaps and/or fix the original story. I’m also hestitant about the staff, as even though Itou Hiro’s down as the only writer for the fandisc, the random subwriters could just as easily appear in this too.
The fandisc’s presumably going to sell better than Nadeshiko Ranbu (from what I read on 2ch, it has yuri NTR, but I doubt that will be enough to save it), which may have been another reason that they went ahead with it. Incidentally, since Magical Moerin’s been pushed back to an as yet unknown date, and there’s been no updates from Mio for 6 months, Great Hunting may even be Cyc’s only release for the second half of 2010 (unlikely though).
The fandisc’s contents are now on getchu, so presumably Black Cyc’s going to open the site for Great Hunting later today. Edit: Homepage is now up.
It’s a collection of five before/after stories, along similar lines (Aozora/Yozora sides included) to the main game with a greater emphasis on the ren’ai component.
???
???
??? “???” ??? ??? “???” ???
“???”???
??? ??? … words fail me.
Strange that the getchu page shows more from the game than the actual homepage (incidentally, I bet that one ero CG will be enough to get Narg’s attention, lol).
Damn! The two twins(bro & sis) are cute. 
So is that orange-haired woman. And uhm… that girl, who’s from Lancer’s pic. Ogasuto /Oga Suto
And that pink-haired girl too. Though why is she like… putting her hand under her shirt? Fondling her chest?
The white-haired boy does look cute too though I wish his picture had a bit more character. He looks so uhh… shy. :oops:
The twins and this girl and the boy are enough to make me want to … learn Japanese. =P Well, almost.
Trust me, there are much better reasons than Chtulhu to learn Japanese 8)
I’m so not getting this fandisc. They got me with the original game, but I’m not making the same mistake twice 
Well, that’s why I said “Almost”. =P I just have no interest in picking up that language again. Learning “proper” Jpn is very costly: financial-wise and time-wise. And if I really committed myself to it, I’d have to give up playing VNs and much of my other activities. Plus, I’m not interested in anime enough to watch it continuously, just to pick up a language. And besides, anime and manga are not very very reflective of the Japanese language and culture.
And oh, I did try to pick it up. I still have my J-E and E-J dicts lying around somewhere. And that Berlitz program tapes. And all those kana practise books.
Ehh well, it’s that bad eh?
Btw, who’s that in your sig? Cute… very very cute. :3
Komomo and Kosame from FAVORITE’s Hoshizora no Memoria. A pretty great game.
Names written in Katakana, especially ones that appear to be unusual are fairly often loaned from English names or words. In this case, her name is August.
You’re evil… you keep dangling all these “names” in front of me, knowing that I can’t read Jpn. Oh how doth fate anoint her hand with cruelty, mocking me with endless temptation of cute bois and gals! 
Aha… thx for the lesson, sensei. Damn… Japanese(and even Chinese) for “importing/normalizing” foreign words… =P
Again, she’s REALLY hot. Crap. “Come to Mommy?”
Well, just seeing on VN Database, you can probably conclude that it’s average. I personally hated it (the 5 down there at the lower end it’s mine, in fact), but that’s just me. What it is sure, though, it’s that Black Cyc made much better games.
Cthulhu’s not terrible, it’s just that it’s a very big disappointment - great character designs, pretty good concept, the Mugen Kairou writer… honestly, I’m amazed they managed to not make this a winner. I feel the game was rushed and released incomplete.
