Day of Love and Amusement Park in stock

Visual Novel Community Archive, 2000-2009
#21
quote:
Originally posted by perigee:
They also include comments like "needless fan service" and "fan service abounds" in their lists of lowlights.

After reading that I had to ask myself, what's with this obsession about fanservice and why is it so disreputable? To me it's just another element of the genre, something to attract an adolescent male audience. I find it no more distracting than stylistic elements like sweatdrops, chibi or rough sketches. It doesn't bother me as much as the overuse of slapstick humor, the total lack of self confidence and social skills displayed by young males or many other plot cliches. It's just one of those things you learn to accept or ignore in order to enjoy the rest of the work.

Some of AYA's bits may seem a little over the top. Take Tina's breast-squeezing, for example. Is it gratuitous or does it serve a purpose? According to Peter's newsletter, such behavior is actually common among teenage girls in Japan. I think it says something about the ironic nature of this supposedly American girl who speaks flawless Japanese and is familiar with every native custom. It's part of an act she puts on to cover up a certain vulnerability. Does it get old after a while? Maybe. Does it detract from the overall series or lower my estimation of it? Not a bit.

You are right when you say that too much fanservice can ruin characterization or plot. That's true of any overused device. But when I read reviews that are more concerned with the amount of fanservice than with the story or animation, I have to wonder why these folks are acting so self-righteous. Perhaps they are uncomfortable with open sexuality. Perhaps they have been taught to believe sex is dirty and shouldn't be seen in public. It's another sign of the attitude held by people who might try bishoujo games, if they didn't include all that icky, dirty hentai stuff.

Is there a problem with discussing the fanservice issue on this thread? Would people prefer if it went off to its own thread? [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

I don't mind fanservice or sex scenes especially much, and I'm often able to tune them out. Like I say, it was some of my friends who objected; but I can see their point. I think you said it yourself when you compared it to other plot cliches. Anime (or games) tend to be best when there's more to them than a load of cliches. Some people dislike giant robot fights, or giggling schoolgirls. Does that make them repressed and Puritanical? Of course not. Fanservice is the same. Some like it, some really dislike it, some can cope with it in small doses but want something more to call an anime or game good. And disliking it doesn't automatically make someone self-righteous (although it doesn't prevent it either).

Now I'm passionate about ren'ai games, and want to show my friends some good ones. And if they prefer things without fanservice or sex scenes, then I'd like to have a good ren'ai game to show them that doesn't feature sex scenes, because it's not necessary to like sex scenes to like ren'ai storylines. I feel the same way for those of my friends who don't mind H but are fed up with high-school romances: I'm glad to have one or two good games I can show them that feature ren'ai without high school students (although I love the HS setting myself [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img] )

[This message has been edited by chronoluminaire (edited 03-05-2004).]

#22

Having completed the five good endings and one generic bad ending for Amusement Park, I have a few brief review comments. [Warning, contains mild spoilers]

This is Hirameki’s second or third interactive DVD game release, and the only one I’ve played so far. It bears close resemblance to an ADV bishoujo game, even though it’s neither PC-based nor does it have adult content. I had no difficulty running it on two different computer DVD drives and standalone players. There’s nothing to install. You just drop the disc in the drive and use your player’s controls or remote for navigation.

The artwork isn’t bad for VGA-resolution, but it’s rather limited with the same backgound and 2D character overlays often used for a dozen dialog exchanges. Aside from a few sequential graphics used in the opening sequence, there’s no animation. Character designs are similar to the Kango releases [same artist?] The BGM is unexceptional and not always in synch with the story. The voice-acting is good, but again, unremarkable.

I expected this title to have the same kind of story-branching found in many b-games. The decision tree is much sparser, however, to the point where there isn’t really much branching at all. You basically take two steps to choose one of five girls, then answer a final question to get the good or bad ending - and that’s it! One of the endings only uses the initial branch point. Select a certain girl and that’s the only decision you make the whole game. This was the most disappointing aspect of the game for me.

Multiple storylines may have been part of the original game that disappeared when they pulled out the H-scenes. You get an idea of what’s missing when you unlock the “bonus CG’s” [see Chihaya’s good ending]. Only PG-rated graphics appear in the gallery, but the settings and background characters point to a much richer story. In its current form all game endings are essentially the same. All scenes and dialog are recycled for each girl with minor variations.

DVD-menuing slows gameplay to a crawl. Although the instructions say clicking on “Next Chapter” moves the story forward, it only seemed to work in the brief interval before or after the dialog scroll. You’re either forced to skip new text without reading it or wait for the voice dialog to finish. That isn’t any faster than letting the story auto-advance. I usually let the game run by itself for the hour or so it took to reach the next decision point. It’s particularly annoying because most of the dialog is recycled for every scenario.

When I got Amusement Park, I also ordered Day of Love. I hope that game has more substance or it may be a while before I order more Hirameki titles.

#23

Well said, Perigee. I was disappointed with Amusement Park, and for very similar reasons to you. I don’t mind the sudden depressing turn to the story, and a couple of the girls’ stories are good, but the interface is frankly awful (even given the constraints of DVD they could do much better) and most of your other criticisms are also things that bothered me too. I hope Day of Love is better (as I’ve heard it is); if not, it’s a real pity for the sake of non-H bishoujo games.

#24

I fear for Hirameki’s survivability if this is going to be standard operating procedure. I don’t mind snipping out h-scenes, but gutting the game in order to do so is pointless. If that’s what they did.

#25

Personally I think it is less noticeable and in the first go through I did not notice it at all in Day of Love have not tried again so I am unsure if I would notice it this time. Even with h-scenes I think that would have been the better of the two games, but that is part of the problem with cartering to the masses, you sometimes offer and inferior product.

[This message has been edited by SCDawg (edited 03-31-2004).]

#26

perigee, or anyone, would you be willing to write reviews for JMATE.com? I want to get information on these games up but need someone to write the actual review.

#27