Eden* They were only two, on the planet

Visual Novel Community Archive, 2000-2009
#1

I’m interested to know if anyone else has played minori’s eden* They were only two, on the planet. yet. It’s short (I think it took me around 7-8 hours reading at a slower than normal pace - one reviewer mentioned that it took 12 hours when left on auto mode) but very good. The production values are ridiculously high (one of the best OPs of 2009 so far, 199 CGs (and certainly a contender for best art in any eroge) , most with a considerable number of variations, great music etc.) I’m not meaning to imply that the game is perfect, as the game felt a bit too short for the themes it dealt with and the writing wasn’t quite up to par with the scenario. It’s also not a game for everyone, as it’s a fairly single-minded nakige/life and death/end of the world, completely linear story with no ero-scenes (they are all in the addon (fandisc) eden* PLUS+MOSAIC) - if the themes don’t interest you, the game would probably be a waste of money.

[spoiler=No outright plot spoilers, but probably best read after finishing eden*.]minori definitely did the right thing by separating out the ero-scenes from the main game, as they would have broken the mood of the story, as well as being out of character for all the heroines. I haven’t played PLUS+MOSAIC yet, but I’ll definitely be ordering it soon. The reviews I’ve looked at suggest that it has pretty much 1/3rd of the content of the main game for 1/3rd of the price, and is more like a fandisc.

I guess there are three small issues I have. The art for the male characters isn’t quite at the same level as the female characters (different artist) although in relative terms it’s still very good. The second is with the length/pacing - the game could have been a bit longer given the themes it encompasses, and the pacing was a bit frustrating at times, particularly in the middle of the game and in a few places towards the end. Perhaps the most important concern is with the nakige component - it definitely ‘worked’ for me, but combining those segments into a few longer scenes rather than shortish vignettes would have been better. As it is, it feels a bit too heavy-handed. Perhaps in the hands of a different writer it would have been ok, but the text, whilst still good isn’t quite up to the level or scope of the scenario. Nonetheless, it’s still great stuff overall.[/spoiler]

#2

Just wondering, does it have the annoying anti-foreigner protections that minori often puts on their games?

#3

Not only does it have it, it has it in SPADES. Enjoy getting it to run (Ignosco and I managed it eventually though >_>)*

Don’t think you can access their support site either =p You may have a serial code, but it won’t be enough!

*nonetheless, this is no reason not to get the game unless you actually think protesting by not buying it will do anything. the point is that you CAN still run the game, so get it anyway because it’s cheap and good

#4

There will be a crack out for it eventually, if not already out. I got mine the other day with the expansion. Not sure why they decided to sell the expansion seperatly though as the price difference was neg liable - basically just the extra cost for the extra packaging.

#5

Finished PLUS+MOSAIC. In absolute terms, it’s certainly not terrible, but at the same time for me it didn’t work all that well as an addon/fandisk. Each of the four heroines has a shortish, lightish, alternative universe, side-story, around 30-40% of which is an ero-scene. Whilst minori did put a lot of effort into the scenes, their writing, positioning and execution is pretty bad (the scene on Elica’s path is particularly awful :roll:), and the seiyuus have changed, making some of the characters (Sion in particular) sound very different to the main game. The other portions are decent, the blood/partial nudity changes make things slightly better, and there are a few funny moments, but on the whole the rest of PLUS+MOSAIC is nothing special either. I don’t regret buying it as such (I’ve spent 2000 yen on far worse things), but if minori separates out the adult portions from their next game, I’ll definitely be passing on the addon. :stuck_out_tongue:

#6

Well the price addition comes to roughly the same price as buying a new game complete. I can understand not wanting to buy the expansion though.

#7

Except eden + PLUS MOSAIC comes out to something roughly the length of ef -the first tale- which was definitely not a full priced game.

#8

Is that including compensating for inflation and higher production values on the artwork?

#9