Bullet Butlers (the topic formerly known as Dies Irae)

Visual Novel Community Archive, 2000-2009
#12

Let’s not even get started on Xenogears. But you seem to be misremembering the “Ben Lansing” incident, where someone pretended to have been on the localization staff and just made stuff up out of whole cloth, about how the game was incomplete – that they had cut out large parts of the ending, because part of the graphics wouldn’t work for the cutscene. He said Aeris was supposed to be resurrected, used a handful of those orphaned data files as “proof”, and caused an absolutely HUGE stink. Yes: he maintained that Square made very serious and heavy changes to the game’s storyline, because they wanted to hit a date – knowing that this claim would enrage a whole lot of people (who desperately wanted there to be a way to bring her back).

Then he vanished from the face of the internet. The rumor, of course, did not. It continued to rage, and spread far beyond just what he said into simply “well, I dunno, I hear she was supposed to be resurrected”. I’m fairly certain the whole mess spawned online petitions to get Square to “finish the game”.

Months later, he decided to fess up. He posted basically a huge confession, where he said “dude. Guys. It’s me. I made the whole thing up.” and then went on to say he was surprised the rumor Would. Not. Die., and then he said that he had deliberately left contradictions and wrong statements in his stories so that people would figure it out.

Of course, this is after he had maintained the deception for awhile, then allowed it to fester. No surprise, then, that the flames were never really extinguished.

=====

As for Dies Irae – I would have to agree with those who say “It’s not so much that the game would have been better with [XYZ]; it’s that they said they were going to do it, then they didn’t.”

Two words: “Slave” “Bazaar”. This game is infamous around here, having languished in limbo for awhile, then eventually being officially cancelled.

Three words: “Yu” “no” “hana”. (I at least was really looking forward to that game, the plot sounded hilarious.)

[ 01-09-2008, 10:43 PM: Message edited by: Nandemonai ]

#13

Oh… I know about that garbage of lies.

Naw, I’m talking about other things. FF7 had a lot of concepts left out and/or cutout because of time and budget restraints.

Final Fantasy VII Ultimania ¬É¬∂ is the book I’m referring to (ISBN 4757515200). The developers went on and on about the things they wanted to do, and also point out why so many orphan files exist on the game discs - such as Aeris data still being available on the 2nd and 3rd discs, despite her not needing to be on them.

I don’t disagree or argue against that: I just disagree with the ideology that because Light bit off more than they could chew, Dies Irae automatically sucks… because it doesn’t.

And evidently Light made SERIOUS attempts to do what they promised, but couldn’t do it. Had they tried, it would have (if they are telling the truth) financially threatened the company. I’m sure many of us can quote several groups that have tanked because they spent too much money on a title and didn’t make enough back from it.

I do agree that the company should have announced they failed before the title was released - but then I’m sure people still would have bitched and banned it.

Essentially my beef isn’t that Dies Irae is not the game promised – just that its still a good game, and should not be sunk wholly on the merit that it was not an A+++ game, and merely A- or B+ material. Truth be told, the title is better than most of the garbage out there, that did deliver 100%. So the kid was promised $5000 caviar, and only got $3000 caviar - the rest of the shelf is full of canned soup.

Light learned a lesson from this I hope… but if the extremist get their way, have the ban succeed, and cause the company to tank because of it: that’s like cutting off your entire finger, because you don’t like the nail polish on it.

To make a long story short: I’m not defending what Light did wrong, I’m defending what Dies Irae does right.

Oh… and this thread still needs moar Murderous NAZI Goth Babes™

[ 01-09-2008, 11:19 PM: Message edited by: Nargrakhan ]

#14

I guess it just comes down to who you are then. People will always be people and gun and shoot things down for more or no reasons. Well, no one likes being lied to about what they are gonna get, but some people get too attached to their high hopes. Perhaps some finished the game and didn’t want it to end, so they yearned for more of it. I’m thinking for the words to try and defend the companies, but I can’t come up with any right now.

Even though FF7 was one of the first RPGs I’ve experienced, I’ve always thought that it was overrated. I still love the game, but I just believe the other FFs should deserve some more recognition. Honestly though, I’ve NEVER heard of these FF7 incidents until now. That doesn’t change my opinion of the game though; I still think it’s a great game.

Anyway, I agree with you that game companies should keep their mouth shut about what they will feature in their games. Though the advantage of hyping up a game early may create a slightly bigger fanbase, which is probably what they were hoping for. Nonetheless, the artwork that you’ve been showing of Dies Irae has gotten me drooling. Negative gamer feedback never gets to me(nor do movie critics)! But of course, there will be a point when I actually realize a game really does suck. I wish importing games from Japan isn’t so expensive; $95+ shipping…

#15

Well… seems this horse is beaten dead…

So in the name of progress, I will do what Shingo was restraining from, and officially rename this thread: Bullet Butlers ranting. :smiley:

And for the record, I think domestic servants should avoid their Master, and just date fellow domestic servants.

 :cool:

[ 01-10-2008, 10:51 PM: Message edited by: Nargrakhan ]

#16

Ok, until I beat the game I can’t look at this thread anymore. I haven’t seen that CG you just posted yet, and I’ve already spoiled myself enough by a few glances at EGS, a walkthrough, and the netabare character popularity poll on the official site… must… resist… further… spoilers… ;___;

[ 01-10-2008, 11:32 PM: Message edited by: Shingo ]

#17

Ah Shingo… just where are your priorities here? That’s not even a spoiler CG. :wink:

#18

Hmmm, Bullet Butlers. :smiley: Here’s hoping Shingo manages to convince his bosses to translate it, or at least someone to make a fan translation.

#19

I suppose it’s not much of a spoiler, true. For some reason I wanted to stay as spoiler-free as possible with this game, though…

I finished the final path at 4:30 this morning. What an awesome game… I’ll put some more thoughts together when I’m less sleep-deprived, but I’ll say that the experience left me very close to completely satisfied. I feel like I’ve just gone somewhere I don’t want to return from; I guess that’s what the best fantasy novels do, and this one definitely fits the bill.

Aargh… right now I want nothing more than to uninstall it and play it again from the beginning. Oh, and to get the bonus CD from filling out the survey postcard, which I foolishly missed the application window for. ;_;

#20

Well I think we might be the only two on the board who have played this game so far. :frowning:

Peter Gilis first mentioned it here… but he hasn’t said anything yet. :wink:

#21

** STEPS COMING CLOSER **

Arf, arf, arf. Sorry, i’m late!! :slight_smile:

** Check thread **

Hmmm… so, BULLET BUTLERS is really a great erogame, just like i imaginated? That’s good to hear. Definitely need to play this one. :smiley:

And considerating the fact PROPELLER is somewhat linked to WILL, maybe there’s a chance Peapri can translate it someday…

EDIT:

By the way, the game had twincide like you suspected, Narg? And what about Hel, she is finishable?

[ 01-14-2008, 08:33 AM: Message edited by: Peter Gilis ]

#22

On the slim chance that we are able to license the game, I’d like to keep spoilers off the board as much as possible - I’m sure either myself or Narg would be happy to PM you with plot details if you like. :3

Time to go kidnap my boss… I mean, persuade him that this is worth pursuing. ^^

[ 01-14-2008, 09:17 PM: Message edited by: Shingo ]

#23

Only this one?
What happened to your raving about “MinDead Blood” and “Gore”? :stuck_out_tongue:

#24

I understand.

** Checks PMs **

[b]

Here. Take it. :stuck_out_tongue:

Lends a Holy Spiky Cub with Persuasion +10 against Bosses

If everything else fail… well, at least it’s still for sale at Himeya Shop.

[ 01-15-2008, 05:51 AM: Message edited by: Peter Gilis ]

#25

I finally got a review of Bullet Butlers up, if anyone is interested. I tried to avoid major spoilers, but if you want to go into the game with a totally blank slate I’d recommend exercising caution before reading. ^^;

#26

Just read the review and I greatly hope that this game is picked up and translated by you guys.

#27

Left my two cents, but it needs to get approved. :stuck_out_tongue:

Well don’t forget about Futari de Hitotsu no Koigokoro… or Gun-Katana… or Sabae no Ou… or Nukenin… and I like Dies Irae too… well… damn…

I suppose if I kidnap Peter, you guys are never getting him back. I might have to grab other staff members as bargaining chips too. :stuck_out_tongue:

Message to those involved with OPERATION NARG IN-CHARGE. Abort. Abort. We need to reassess the plan and proceed with new direction. Shift to OPERATION LOOT AKIHABARA in the meantime and maintain cover. :cool:

[ 01-17-2008, 12:07 PM: Message edited by: Nargrakhan ]

#28

Very good review, indeed.

Serious Plot + Funny SD momments = WIN!! :stuck_out_tongue:

Gara is Yuki’s father?!! [i]SHOCK![/i] :eek:

#29

Sorry to bring up a dead issue, but was Yunohana ever PROMISED by PP? I recall that they just threw out the name and tried to get a license, but failed, they NEVER PROMISED they could get it, making it a bad example…

Of course, this is just to bump this thread a bit now that BB is being considered for US release. Of course, they cant PROMISE anything, however, but it might be nice talk about it here.

#30

I wasn’t sure where to post this - but I thought reviving the Dies Irae side half of the thread would be ok, to share a few of my impressions on the game. If this would fit better somewhere else, feel free to move it.

My copy of Dies Irae arrived yesterday and I reached ???'s ending (powering through the game as the level of Japanese required to fully understand it is WAY over my head). From the comments I read about the various promises light failed to keep, I initially thought it was a single route game, with the choices added to give a sense of interactivity, and so I was left rather unsatisfied by the ending, but very impressed by the game as a whole. I guess when there’s a choice between having only a few endings, with only some of the characters, and having a deeper single route with no divergences - I’d go for the second option in most cases. Given what’s happened though, the expansion pack should fix most of the problems in that regard.

Although the graphics are still a fair way off from the best I’ve come across in a ADV/VN, the artist for Dies Irae is very good and the character designs are quite striking. The music isn’t quite as strong, but it’s still suitably atmospheric and there’s a very good continuity between different tracks. While Dies Irae isn’t perfect, judging by the 30% I’ve seen, and perhaps the 10% of that that I understand, it’s still a very impressive game.

I was curious about one thing: Is Dies Irae related to light’s Paradise Lost at all? There’s a poster for Paradise Lost in Ren’s bedroom, and the games share some of the same staff, including the (lead) scenario writer. Additionally, from what I can tell, the games seem to share quite a few themes and influences (mythological, theological, literary etc).

#31