Shuffle: The Visual Novel

I'm taking Japanese at school right now. I'm memorizing the Hiragana. AHHHHH

The journey to galge heaven begins with the kana

YOU CAN DO IT!

^^Hiragana? did that in a week, and did Katakana in the week after. I suggest you don't get discouraged now, because you still haven't entered Kanji hell yet.

About 1/3 done Tick! Tack!

Overall I think Really? Really! is a lot better. Personally I like Really? Really! better than Shuffle! itself, just like I like Tomoyo After better than Clannad I guess. By narrowing down to a single route the author can focus the story and develop all the characters better. The already good, but a bit stock and unchanging (until the end) Kaede in Shuffle! is really brought to life in Really? Really! with showing her past. Her childhood innocence, loss, hatred, wonder, devotion and trying to undo her sins, self worthless, and finally growing past that and gaining confidence, and becoming even stronger by the end. Also how much hard a time Rin went through, exactly what he endured, how selfish he really was, his motivations, and how exactly did the accident happen. And of course the entire Shuffle! On the Stage cast return to make life fun and interesting for everyone, while cheering the couple on. As well as the new character Sakura

Unfortunately in Tick! Tack! half of the original cast is missing, including every one of the original heroines except Nerine, so a lot of the fun's missing. And Nerine's character isn't really developped, and her different futures feel just like different character paths with the same name. Itsuki, Mayumi, Sage (Nerine's mom), Ai, Bark, and Sineria try to cover, but in the end half the cast missing is at least 1/3 less fun. Using the same game engine, the Tick! Tack! episodes feel pretty unrelated to the general story, and there isn't a general direction. The individual episodes are also too short to do any development. With the Nerine meter on top of that it feels a bit like an actual Dating Sim with stats and all. Though justifiable since Really? Really! was written later, so the author could take full advantage of a game engine he's know familiar with. It really feels like a weird out-of-this-world vacation (which it is).

But the insert song "Pieces" and the ending "Never Say Goodbye" are really good. And once in a while (personally not often enough) a longer episode is written and bring out the plot and develop the character. Sage's relation with Forbesii. Nerine looking around her house before she was born, teaching her own mother things she was taught by her in the future. The best part has to be when Lycoris appears and plays with Rin as if they were still kids. It's almost worth shedding a happy tear or two over. Not as good as Really? Really! or Shuffle! itself. But Really? Really!, like Tomoyo After should really be considered a sequal or its own work rather than a spin-off fandisc. On the other hand Tick! Tack! is a pretty good fandisc.

God, you make me want to read it so much more.

I told my friend about this game. He's currently playing it. When discussing it the other day, I told him that there is a sequel. He reacted by asking 'Really?'  ^*

, to which I anserwed 'Really!'.

And then I had to explain to him what the hell was so funny.

Haha Really!

Oh yeah I think Tick! Tack! is actually a gratuitous English for Tick Tock. Could be wrong.

It's more of a combo between English and German/Dutch. According to us in the old world, clocks say 'tik tak'.

Ah ah understood

Finally found the route to bring Sage and Forbesii together. Turned out to be a sweet little story (tropes are not bad). It's just so FREAKING hard to find that I have to wonder if Naval Staff coded one of the choices wrong by accident.

Had to resort to googling for a guide, and haven't had to do that for any VN for such a long time.

edited 6th Oct '10 8:47:20 AM by ParallelPain

I demand that you translate the VN for us.

Glad to if I am paid and never have to translate PWP stuff

Otherwise if I feel like it

(Pulls out empty pockets)

I got nothin.

I'm going to read this soon.

I'm telling this because I don't want to see this thread get auto-deleted by that time.

Someone's been uploading the Really? Really! scripts to TLWiki. They may be starting a project for it in the near future. Perhaps because Little Busters is nearing completion apart from EX?

Edit: Aw, damn. I was thinking Really? Really! was the one that was basically an updated rerelease of the original game only with Mayumi and Kareha routes.

edited 19th May '11 10:48:37 PM by Arha

HOLY SHIT, I really wanted to read really really. Hell yeah, moar Asa!

Hm? Isn't it mostly about Kaede with Mayumi and one or two others as main characters with the rest of the cast playing more minor roles?

I've read an overview of the plot and it does get into the other characters I believe. Either way, it has Long hair Asa◊

Just finished the original today (all routes, not just one), and thus am finally okay with reading this thread. :P

Maybe it's because she was the last one I did, but I prefer Asa's route over any of the others, ignoring the poor ending. I'll be keeping a link in my sig to the liveblog I did of it, so feel free to read it and comment.

I wanted to leave a comment, but I realised that it is way to long ago for me to remember the finer details to discuss.

Maybe I should read it again.

EDIT: or just read the lifeblog. That works too.

edited 11th Sep '11 1:19:24 AM by Kayeka

Yes, please do.

Well, read up to page 8. Glad you didn't go for the Kaede route for the first round. Because I hate Kaede. Or more like, I hate the Victorious Childhood Friend plot. Seriously, that's just so boring. My first run*

went according to Kaede. When I realised that, I spoke an honest 'goddamm' and hoped it would be over quickly.

Shame you find Itsuki so annoying. I find him to be way more entertaining then the usual Bromantic Foil these kind of novels tend to give you.

Will read more in time, when I don't have more urgent matters that I should have attended to about an hour ago pressing.

edited 11th Sep '11 2:18:20 AM by Kayeka

The childhood friend plot can be interesting when done properly. I liked it in Kira Kira. Little Busters looks like it's going to be interesting with it as well, probably because Rin is a rather odd heroine. Also Suika, but only the one in the second arc.

Mind you, for the qualifications of childhood friend I'm not counting when the friends have been apart for years and then meet up again.

I agree with that. Otherwise, three out of five heroines from Shuffle! would be childhood friends. And we can't have that, can we?

Honestly, I find the Unlucky Childhood Friend to usually deliver far more interesting conflict.

An instinct run? Interesting. While I can't go back in time and do it all again with only the knowledge I had then, I could make guesses about which route I would have ended up with. Excuse me for five minutes.

*checks*

Ask about Sia. (Because Lisianthus seemed at the start more interesting than Nerine. I stick by that.)
Kaede. (Because I like the concept of a Childhood Friend Romance)
Let her stay. (Because I couldn't think of any decent reason for her not to)
I guess I'm free. (Because I like helping people)
Go home with Kaede. (Because the other option was unspecific)
Go home. (I think; the two options on the surface seem very similar)
Just go shopping. (Because the other option implies going back up to where Asa & Kareha were, who I at the time found annoying)

Which leads to... Oh? Ha! Doing it this way led me to get the one Kaede CG I hadn't gotten yet!

But yeah. As you may have guessed, the choices I made led to Kaede. If I had said "Stay around a little longer", then it would still have been Kaede. :/

.

Regarding Itsuki, the issue with him is that I dislike wannabe casanova type characters (I know there's a trope for this, but I forget its name). By my fourth run I think I had gotten used to him though, but not the point of liking him. He was never more than neutral at best. His best scenes were the end of Primula's route (because he actually showed some resemblance of having a heart), and when Mayumi ties him up. (Because he's being tortured... even if he does end up liking it. >_>)

edited 11th Sep '11 5:53:35 AM by Sabbo

I thought Itsuki was hilarious personally. And apparantly he does get a lot of girls, just not the main ones.

I'm actually missing a Kaede CG, I wonder if its the same one.