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Visual Novel Community Archive, 2000-2009
#21

Only a handful - if you really care just about the untouched series:

[list]
[] Saishuu Chikan densha (Atelier Kaguya)[/]
[] Tokubetsu Juugyou (Bishop)[/]
[] Fifth (Rune)[/]
[] EVE (C’s)[/]
[] Pia Carrot (F&C)[/]
[] Blood Royal (Cherrysoft)[/][/list]

“Princess Maker” and “Yami no Koe (Eikyuu Daraku Box)” can’t be counted in here, because a friend keeps them for me since my orders have arrived and I haven’t picked them up from there by now - thus I couldn’t start with them even if I wanted to. :wink:

But then - Nukenin isn’t exactly what you’d call a series either, right? :stuck_out_tongue:

After all, it’s more the backlog of single games that is frightening me… :shock:

#22

Holy crap, I just did some investigation on R.U.R.U.R. Is this game based on the 1920’s play “R.U.R.” or “Rossum’s Universal Robots”? From a quick speed read of the synopsis the protagonist is basically the last remaining human being or something like that? Does that make him Alquist? I’m not sure why he is on that ship or why he’s alone with those girls or what their relation is to him. It’s almost as if he’s holy to them.

For those of you that don’t know, R.U.R. was an old 1920s science fiction play written by a Czech playwright. The play was mostly known for inventing the word “Robot” except that the play’s robots were not the metallic electrical steel variety. Instead they were human beings built in factories. The individual human components were “built” like nerves being spun on spindles etc. Then assembled factory style. This play was written in a time when genetic engineering was a primitive concept so “growing” or “cloning” human beings is largely unknown for mainstream European science fiction at the time. But essentially the R.U.R.s were identical to humans except that all their components were created artificially rather than naturally.

If the play has any relation to the game, all the girls in the story are basically human beings. Not in the traditional sense though, I guess you could call them a homunculus.

Anyway the R.U.R. play ended rather sadly it seems because I believe the play was some form of allegory for communism. The robots were put to work, human birth rates declined, and somewhere down the line the robots got pissed off and had a revolution and exterminated mankind. Leaving just one guy alive who had to figure out how to make robots again. Eventually 2 other robots found a way to reproduce as humans and the world began anew. It’s kinda depressing and follows along the lines of stories like I Am Legend etc. I wonder if the game’s plot relates to the protagonist being hunted by rebel robots with those girls being the only loyal ones charged with the task of protecting him.

#23

That’s very fascinating - I never clued onto that at all. Yes, I’d say the probability that it’s based on R.U.R. is VERY likely.

For reference, I’ve noticed in a lot of the IRC channels I hang out in that a lot of people seem to dislike R.U.R.U.R. I can definitely understand some of the criticism - R.U.R.U.R is probably one of the best examples to use of why male characters shouldn’t be voiced during H scenes. =P

#24

I assume you mean Bullet Butlers?

Well, anyway, if that looks like it appeals to you I strongly recommend Ayakashibito (an earlier game by the same company). Of course, it doesn’t escape the high school setting entirely, but you’ll see. It’s incredibly awesome stuff. Good way to blast away a bit of time.

#25

Is R.U.R.U.R at least capable of having happy endings or is it all pretty much destined to be a mixed melancholic ending of sorts? I found the original play to be rather depressing. It just seems like there’s a lot to feel good about when you look at it, but maybe thats just designed to make the inevitable fall that much harder.

#26

Yes, R.U.R.U.R has happy endings. It only really matches the original play in concept.

#27

Yeah… i don’t remember many bad endings, but if i’m not mistake all the girls have happy endings, and a couple of sad and melancholic endings too.

Great discover! Really interesting. :smiley:

Yeah… as far i remember, the androids had both mechanic and biologic elements. Most likely, they were manufactured humanoids with nanotechs inside their bodies… a more advanced type of android. Otherwise, they would not be able to feel pain, hungry, human emotions or that “other” uses. :wink:

Funny enough, if i remember well, the girls were unable to age, too. Maybe they’re more machines than humans or manufactured to imitate human bodies to perfection.

For sure it does. Specially if the protagonist is a shouta. I really loved this game, but i was fast-forwarding or cutting off the sound during all the hscenes because he was waaay louder than the girls! :lol:

#28

Usually when the protagonist is a shota it means the girls really have a lot more control. I think I’ll put priority on getting this game.

#29

Yeah. The problem is, in many eroscenes, he is the one yelling “No, no! Please stop!!” instead the girl. Reverse-rape! :lol:

Anyway, i think R.U.R.U.R. is a very good game to buy. But just to make sure if that’s the game you want, download and play the TRIAL VERSION, first. $80 bucks is too much to spend in a eroge you can dislike. :wink:

I the case you are into eroges about shoutas surrounded by older women, check these too:
*Ijikare Noel-kun - The boy becomes the caretaker in a mansion of some relatives. His cousin is a tsuntsuntsundere ojousama who loves to abuse him;
*Boku wa Hitozuma Oneesan - i believe one boy is in love with his best friend’s mother;
*Magical Witch Academy - If i remember well, in this one the boy has a curse in him what causes any girl who look at his eyes to become excited and try to sex him. :slight_smile:

There’s the games from Complets, too. But i don’t know anything about them. I don’t like their artstyle. :roll:

#30

There’s something weird about the game system in RURUR. I thought it would be a pure love renai game in space, but it turned out to be a “screw every girl on the ship” kind of game. The strange thing is, how come I haven’t had any decisions to make yet?

When I check the walkthrough it seems that I have to play the game a second time to make decisions. Does that mean that 98% of the ero scenes are already seen in the first playthrough so the second one just makes some minor superficial changes based on choices?

#31

I played quite a time ago, so i don’t remember very well.

But i think yes, in your first play, there’s not much choices and you get a “basic” ending… you can say you get the “Harem route” first.

But at the second time you play you will have lots of choices what will take you to the different routes from the girls. And you will not just see Ichihiko’s point of view, but the girls’ point of view, too.

Don’t bother too much about the somewhat lack of “pure love” in this game… something like that is fated to happen in a big spaceship filled with hundreds of lonely women and just one man in the entire ship. :lol:

#32

I understood most of what happened in the game. What I don’t understand quite well (since it was kanji nightmare when they got technical) was why exactly Benibana was trying to Kidnap Ichihiko. What sort of “selection” was HAL and so on talking about in regards to Ichihiko? His selection as captain? Finally why does Benibana get a World Breaker and Hina has to fight her with just her autostar. Baiscally I don’t get the reason Benibana and Hina are fighting. It seems like that fight was just kinda shoehorned into the plot at the last second. I’m not sure if the details of the “accident” that led to humanity being killed off the ship were ever revealed. From what I understand, other than the ship’s accident, the rest of humanity died because the sol system blew up in a supernova or something like that. Is that right?

#33

The fact is - without giving too many spoilers - Benibana has another plans to Ichihiko very different than Hina and the others. You will discover what they are when playing her storyline/ending. Besides, Benibana is not fully functional, as you can see by the fact she can’t talk normally.

As for the reason because Hina is fighting her, is because she’s the best suited for that because they both are the same model - warrior droids made to fight wars and kill enemies.

As for the fact why the humanity was killed, i don’t remember very much. What i know is, because Ichihiko is “the last humankind” in a society of robots and androids what exist already for hundred of years, something is fated to happen with him… for good or worse. :wink:

#34

Hmm, I must admit the protagonist is a bit annoying though. I figured out his significance as the “last mankind”. If he wishes he could wake up the rest of the colonists in cold sleep which would cause the REMs of the robots to be sealed again. Thus they lose their sentience and emotions again. Which means he’d never see them again and potentially return to a world of humans where no one cares about him.

#35

Yeah. EMO/crybaby Shoutas should not be voiced… just GAR shounens/seinens. :lol:

As for the truth about the “last mankind”, yeah… something like that. To tell the truth, after they evolved so much, would be better for the robots and androids if there’s no humans around, but would not be fair to the human race to be extinct too. So they let one “sample” free as an “experiment”, to see if the human race deserved another chance or not.

Ichihiko had the fate of the human race in his hands… :roll:

#36

It blows my mind how they can care about him so much. Kinda kills the feeling.

#37

Well, you are not playing it for the shouta, are you? :lol:

#38

Alright I beat it. I definitely think this game was designed for the Hinagiku ending, it was by far the most powerful and satisfying ending making sure to hammer in the fact that the two will be lovers. Somehow through Ichihiko’s sheer force of will, he was able to cause her to be able to accept his DNA and thus bear his children as well. Incredible stuff. It’s too bad about Benibana’s ending, thats probably the saddest ending after Tanpopo and Kobatomugi. But then again, both characters were kinda sideline characters with substantial lack of importance. This game is truly amazing and I’d say the only drawback to it is the shouta and the fact that it is over now.

The best endings are undoubtedly the ones with Mizubasho, Shiro and Hina. My favorite character is definitely Mizubasho. But the manner in which it ended with Hina gives it a lot more completeness. Meanwhile the cool factor goes to the Shiro route. The others are more or less unimportant characters.

Also the Engrish was pretty hilarious. When they talk to their onboard computers you had things like “Shit ass” and “You Have”. Couldn’t they just say “kakunin” like normal people sheesh.

Anyway I’m seriously wonder just how much of a “robot” these “Chapek” girls really are. To me it seems like they are more or less a type of biologically manufactured cyborg. Imagine growing a human being in a vat with cybernetic implants and such. That’s what it kind of reminds me of. Since the inspiration for RURUR is Rossum’s Universal Robots (blindingly obvious considering the androids are all called) “chapeks” I’d say that the distinction between a human and chapek is a very narrow one. I mean especially since Ichihiko was able to become a military use chapek himself in the factory.

I can see that the story is a tribute to many prolific science fiction writers over the years. The designation in their serial numbers is all ISAAC which is probably a reference to Isaac Asimov, the man who created the idea of robots that are gentle and always work towards humanity’s best interest. The deep sense of care and love everyone regards the main character with is definitely this maternal instinct that comes from Asimov’s writings and his 3 laws. Then there’s more obscure references to Stanislaw Lem. All the chapeks refer to their “hearts” as a “LEM”. This is their ability to feel emotion and be self-aware. Then we got even more obscure shit from the 1940s like the “Delameter”. This is the main weapon used by Hina and such, it came from the Lensman series of SF which is very old. Delameters are basically ray guns with adjustable beam widths, you can make a very powerful focused shot or a more wide ray of destruction. Then there’s their use of the word “Drexler” for nanomachines. That is most certainly a tribute to K Eric Drexler, a scientist who specializes in nanotechnology.

Whoever wrote RUR knew their SF very well, they quoted and paid tribute to some truly incredible people who have done much for the SF world. RURUR was definitely a classical style SF story compared to the more modern stuff SF stuff. Another interesting thing is that all the girls are named after flowers?which probably hints at how they were likely “grown” instead of born like a human.

It may have dodged the whole “pure renai” theme with a bit of harem, but I have to see that “???” is the best way to describe the feeling this game gave me. The characters may have followed traditional eroge archetypes and thus aren’t entirely original, ESPECIALLY Shirotsumegusa who is CLEARLY a blatant ripoff of Ayanami Rei. I mean have you seen her spear the Andreas whatever? The whole scene is pretty much Ayanami Rei and the Lance of Longhinus from Evangelion. But I think makers of RURUR set out to make a tribute to just about all the classical SF stories that have originated from the past many of which have been forgotten.

Oh and how could I forgot, Shihou HAL was clearly a 2001 Space Odyssey tribute. Not only was HAL the computer from that movie, but they further designed Shihou HAL to appear like the monolith from 2001. For a game made by Japanese people for Japanese people they have warmed the heart of a foreigner like me by bringing in all these foreign writers and references to their story.

#39

Congrats!! :mrgreen:

Yeah, i thought so too. Now the question is, what Hina will give birth: a human baby or a little android? :lol:

Beni’s ending was very sad indeed. I thought she, Tanpopo and Kobato deserved happy endings too… with or without Ichihiko. :frowning:

I thought the same. And just like you, my favorite character was undoubtely Mizubasho… even thought Hina made laugh a lot with her tsundereness. :wink:

Thanks for the great review, by the way. :smiley: And after such great game, what are you planning to play next?

By the way, you liked eroges like Tsuyokiss and Kimiaru because the strong and tsundere girls, right? Check Minatosoft’s next release, after Kimiaru:

http://www.minatosoft.com/majikoi/index.html

It seems after tsunderes, they will use badass girls now. :lol: Watch out her “balls crusher” move! :wink:

#40

As a huge fan of Takahiro, I naturally found out about Majikoi a long while ago. He’s just a writer but I feel like the artists are reflecting his ideas so it’s almost like this is his game. Otome was a very popular character in Tsuyokiss and I think Majikoi is taking this to it’s logical conclusion. It’s like taking Otome and putting her character to a prism splitting her into these different characters. The ??? type tsundere has gone out of style for me, so I’m glad that majikoi went ahead with the badass mode instead. It seems increasingly games are putting women in the power and hero slot of the story while the protagonist is the one being rescued. I’m very excited about this game. Not to mention I’m getting some serious Gurren Lagann/Kamina vibes from Kazama.

I got RURUR together with Imitation Lover so I’m playing that next. I think that PP should translate imitation lover because I feel as if I’m getting some serious Yume Miru Kusuri vibes from it. It also seems like the perfect kind of game to bring over into english. Good balance of ero and story if the game is anything like RUR. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a game that has the guts to show one of the attainable heroines have sex with someone other than the protagonist and before the protagonist. Personally I’m not really sure who to go for and I find Ichinose to be a very inscrutable girl indeed.