Eroge Review Site

Visual Novel Community Visual Novel Talk
#1

I have a personal site that recently began reviewing eroge titles. Had to rearrange my layout a bit to figure out where it would look best, but it’s found a permanent location here:

http://www.elizar.com/index.php

I try to update on Mondays, but random entries won’t be uncommon. I can normally finish a game within two weeks or so (naturally, the more difficult, the longer it will take), and I’m about four titles ahead of schedule. At the time of this post, my next articles will be for:

Silhouette from CDPA - Drama Romance category

Soon from Score - Comedy Romance category

I’ll be doing Peach Princess titles in the near future as well (using a slightly different rating standard).

[ 05-25-2006, 05:11 AM: Message edited by: Nargrakhan ]

#2

Ugh, you made the site in FrontPage.
It looks nice, that’s not the problem. The problem is that the website’s code is non-standard, and a mess.

#3

It’s a public utility service , Benoit. The important thing is to spread knowledge of B-games everywhere.
Thank you for your efforts, Nargrakhan. May the EroGoddess be with you .

#4
quote:
Originally posted by Nargrakhan:
I have a personal site that recently began reviewing eroge titles.


Cool!! [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/biggrin.gif[/img]

If you want, i can help writing some reviews myself, later. [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/wink.gif[/img]

quote:

At the time of this post, my next articles will be for:
...

Soon from Score - Comedy Romance category

You don't mean Sakyubasu (read: Succubus) Soon?

I played this one long time ago. If i remember well, it's about the protagonist's father who did a pact with some female-devil (a succubus) and now he (the protagonist) is forced to live with another succubus (her own daughter) and his stepsister. That's right?

Anyway, looking forward for your future reviews. So far, they are great!

#5
quote:
Originally posted by Baldo:
It's a public utility service [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/tongue.gif[/img], Benoit. The important thing is to spread knowledge of B-games everywhere.

By using FrontPage you are advocating IE, and its non-standards. You are advocating a World Wide Web only viewable by IE, and possibly also controlled by M$. I don't think M$ would allow bishoujo games...
#6
quote:
Originally posted by Peter Gilis:
You don't mean Sakyubasu (read: Succubus) Soon?

Aye. That's the title.


quote:
Originally posted by Benoit:
By using FrontPage you are advocating IE, and its non-standards. You are advocating a World Wide Web only viewable by IE, and possibly also controlled by M$. I don't think M$ would allow bishoujo games...

I'm not a Microsoft hater, so I don't quite see things that way. Frontpage is easy to use, and that's all I ask for. Besides... I should be spending more time playing eroge games and reviewing them, than learning how to use another HTML program with equal skill. [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

On an eroge related note: I thought M$ was going to allow eroge titles on the XBOX 360 (in Japan at least). I swore I read that in a new release somewhere... $ONY and Nintendo aren't going to allow it, that's for sure.

[This message has been edited by Nargrakhan (edited 02-13-2006).]

#7
quote:
I'm not a Microsoft hater, so I don't quite see things that way. Frontpage is easy to use, and that's all I ask for.

You've missed the point. It's not about hating M$. It's about making the web accessible to any browser by promoting open standards (those put forth by the W3C in this case). FrontPage generates a mess of IE-specific code, which is not an open standard, and changes at whim. The web is meant to be optimally viewed by any browser, not just IE.
#8
quote:
Originally posted by Benoit:
You've missed the point. It's not about hating M$. It's about making the web accessible to any browser by promoting open standards (those put forth by the W3C in this case). FrontPage generates a mess of IE-specific code, which is not an open standard, and changes at whim. The web is meant to be optimally viewed by any browser, not just IE.

I see your point of view, but you have to understand mine:

Selfish as it may seem, Frontpage is easy for me. Also, from my experience, some 85% of my site visitors use IE. True, that leaves 15% out in the cold, but I can't please everyone. Afterall, I don't have my site in German, which means German viewers can't read it.

Please don't let me come off as rude, I really understand your position, and see the justification in it, but I don't plan to sit down and redesign or recode my site from scratch on a new platform anytime soon. If someone is willing to do it for me, then I'll be more than happy to convert, but then that same person would have to manage my site, as I'm not the type of person to install or use more software than I have too. Then I would ask the question, "why bother to have a site at all?"

I use Frontpage because I like it. If someone doesn't want to see (or can't see) my site because of that, then I'll accept that. When the traffic to my site disappears, I'll simply stop having it. Would save me $50 a month anyways.

I want to provide eroge reviews: I'm doing that. If I started worrying about about browser and HTML standards, there wouldn't even be an ELIZAR.COM site...

For good or ill, that's just the way it is right now... [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/frown.gif[/img]

[This message has been edited by Nargrakhan (edited 02-13-2006).]

#9

benoit tends to be energetic about his beliefs.

I think frontpage is a POS in general but other than bungling up the code and making it a pain to edit for those of us who DO hand code, it rarely bothers me in practice. i’m using a non-ie browser and I don’t feel that I have any major problem with your site. if I’m missing anything, I don’t know about it.

#10

Two new reviews are up.

Succubus Soon
http://www.elizar.com/?p=26

Silhouette
http://www.elizar.com/?p=25

I know the Dai Banchou article is incomplete and the Crowd links aren’t working. I meant to fix it before the new articles were uploaded, but I forgot to make the changes after spending some time cleaning the HTML. Next update. Promise.

[ 06-04-2006, 01:12 AM: Message edited by: Nargrakhan ]

#11
quote:
Originally posted by Nargrakhan:
I know the [b]Dai Banchou article is incomplete...[/b]

Nevertheless, someone has read and appreciated your review(s), because Himeya added this in its stock the day after your "incomplete" review.
Truly, your site is becoming popular...
#12
quote:
Also, from my experience, some 85% of my site visitors use IE. True, that leaves 15% out in the cold, but I can't please everyone.

This makes me wonder when webmasters will try to make their code cross-browser. Years ago, IE's share was about 95%. Now that people are finally discovering what browsers are, this has declined drastically, especially because of Firefox, which is said to now have a 10% share. In Europe, the share of alternative browsers is even larger.

This being said, you CAN please everyone by using standardised code.

quote:
I don't plan to sit down and redesign or recode my site from scratch on a new platform anytime soon. If someone is willing to do it for me, then I'll be more than happy to convert

I would be willing to, I've already done it for another site. Though I have my own 'projects' for now.
quote:
but then that same person would have to manage my site, as I'm not the type of person to install or use more software than I have too

...What? All you need is Notepad.
quote:
Then I would ask the question, "why bother to have a site at all?"

To spread your opinion and knowledge?
quote:
If I started worrying about about browser and HTML standards, there wouldn't even be an ELIZAR.COM site...

Considering how easy HTML is (even for an end-user), I doubt that...
quote:
For good or ill, that's just the way it is right now..

I guess. Though I hope this changes some time in the future.
quote:
benoit tends to be energetic about his beliefs.

Quite. [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/smile.gif[/img]
I'll admit that at times I'm even too energetic about them.

[This message has been edited by Benoit (edited 02-14-2006).]

#13

I just started playing Gore Screaming Show yesterday. Now its way too early to pass judgement on the title, but if you liked MinDeaD BlooD (as I do), this title is worth looking into. There are playable demo’s on the official site.

http://www.cyc-soft.co.jp/gss/gss_Frame.htm

EVERYONE from the MinDeaD crew is in this game: the script writer, the character designer, and the composer. It’s just as gothic and morbid as the first… of course, it has the… ahem… “messy” sex illustrations of MinDeaD as well. From a first impression, it has a ton of potential, as things tend to foreshadow secrecy and hidden agendas.

On a side note: this title seems to take place in the same universe as MinDeaD. There was a mention of violence in Chisakura City in a newspaper (the island that MinDeaD took place on). I truly doubt anyone from that game will make an appearance, but its a cool thing. Sorta like how Tsukihime and FATE take place in the same setting, but different location. Nice touches like that make me like it more.

Of course, I’ll be reviewing this game once I’m done… but it’s quite difficult not to get a “bad end” - the difficulty is much greater than MinDeaD’s. Might be awhile.

[This message has been edited by Nargrakhan (edited 02-15-2006).]

#14
quote:
Originally posted by Nargrakhan:
Of course, I'll be reviewing this game once I'm done... but it's quite difficult not to get a "bad end" - the difficulty is much greater than MinDeaD's. Might be awhile. [img]http://princess.cybrmall.net/ubb/tongue.gif[/img]

[This message has been edited by Nargrakhan (edited 02-15-2006).]

MUCH GREATER!?O_o. Hard to imagine... -_-. I'm still plaing MinDeadBlood and are having difficulties making much progress.. -_-.

Of course if this gae still has a couple of cute vampire sisters (anmd som eother stuff MDB had) then I'd be willing to give it a try! Xp.

#15

MinDeaD BlooD sorta gives you hints where you’re supposed to go next and is fairly forgiving. Gore Screaming Show doesn’t reveal anything. Its all hit or miss, and when you miss, it pretty much ruins the game several turns later… you just don’t know that until that turn.

Uploading the new review for Quartett!:
http://www.elizar.com/?p=23

I also completed the character entries for Dai Banchou:
http://www.elizar.com/?p=5

Working on correcting the Crowd links.

I hope to have two more titles, Apocalypse: Deus Ex Machina and Jewels Ocean up by at least Thursday. Been really busy at work, so not that much time for writing reviews.

[ 05-25-2006, 05:12 AM: Message edited by: Nargrakhan ]

#16

Thank you for your review of Jewels Ocean , but I’ve a question: both you and Getchu give only a partial list of the female protagonists (and Yomi is a servant of the bad guy(s), too). Does this mean that the other girls have just a minor role in the story?

#17

Been so busy, I forgot to post here.

I tend to follow Getchu’s selection of characters to describe, as it appears to be the “official” format the developers want third party sites to follow. Often times, revealing the entire cast of “winable” girls is a spoiler.

In the case of Jewels Ocean, the other “winable” girls are Ruri (the miko) and Kira (the sword girl). In fact, these two have a much bigger role than Shinju. I suppose that’s a minor spoiler (Kira is an antagonist); but its harmless in the long run. I might add them now that I think about it… need to update that article to include info on the non-hentai version for PS2 anyways.

I’ve posted Monday’s articles earlier, because its going to be another busy day at work.

Apocalypse: Deus Ex Machina
http://www.elizar.com/?p=4

Nocturnal Illusion
http://www.elizar.com/?p=20

[ 05-25-2006, 05:13 AM: Message edited by: Nargrakhan ]

#18

I’m experimenting with integrating a WIKI into my site. If it goes down for a day or two, that because I’m messing around with the new HTML and whatnot.


I just finished Gore Screaming Show, so I’ll be doing an article on that title next. As for proof it’s related to MinDeaD Blood, there’s an event that involves this certain individual:

(semi-spoiler warning)
http://www.elizar.com/images/image_gss.jpg
(semi-spoiler warning)

Heh… now if I can only figure out the time frame (is GSS before or after MDB).

#19

Just letting everyone know that I’m not being lazy, and there’s a reason why I missed updating this week.

I’ve been testing a new Wiki layout for the site, specifically dealing with eroge reviews and game guides. This will allow others to make their own reviews with a place to host text and images within a central location and uniform format.

I’ve been planning something like this for a long time, and finally got the hardware and $$$ to pull it off.

Once its online, I’m hoping viewers can “police” each other for spelling and vandals (I know anti-eroge people will attack when they learn of it) - like they do on Wikipedia.

That said: Anyone have a good idea for a domain to register? I’ve already had nekomimimeido.com readied for it, but someone might have a better one.

Test site should be online April 1st - basic wiki installation without customized features. I’ll let someone else handle any fancy stuff since I’m a well known “Microsoft-whore”

On a sidenote, I’ll have reviews ready for Gore Screaming Show and 3-days Marriage on the 20th.

[This message has been edited by Nargrakhan (edited 03-16-2006).]

#20

Gore Screaming Show and 3-days Marriage reviews are up. I accidently uploaded the wrong review for 3-days (a rather harsh draft) last night. If you read that, then see the corrected copy.

Gore Screaming Show
http://www.elizar.com/?p=9

3-days Marriage
http://www.elizar.com/?p=3

I just bought the downloads of several Black Lilith titles, so I’ll be doing a review for them in the near future (mostly mindless sexfest; but very high quality nonetheless). Given that Black Lilith titles are about $20 a pop, rather than $100, it makes sense to cover them. Depending on ones tastes, they can be considered outstanding (or gutter trash for more purist visual novel fans).

At the moment, I’m on a “gothic fetish” thanks to Gore Scream Show, so I’m presently playing Hazama no Tsuki from Dark Side and Kuruizaki Virgin Road from Colors.

[ 05-25-2006, 05:14 AM: Message edited by: Nargrakhan ]