Key Visual Arts

Haruka route ending spoilers that I can't really be vague about: I was almost expecting a threesome ending considering the relationship between Haruka's parents. Also, I noticed a plot hole in that Haruka apparently didn't go to school until middle school, but later there was a scene referring to her in elementary with Kanata. And third point, there's this happy optimistic conclusion of 'there are no bad people in this situation' except that the Futaki family is completely full of assholes.

Man, I hope that tlwiki really does translate the EX heroine routes. I want a Sasami or Kanata route. Well, on to Mio.

edited 17th May '11 10:51:51 AM by Arha

Well I'm not touching that spoiler until I go through her route, and right now I'll try to see Kud's route since I'm curious about those images in the opening.

Also I don't think I'll ever be escaping either the repeated times they say "Sasasegawa Sasami!" or the "SHAKA SHAKA HEY!"

I think Mio has the best romantic buildup of the three routes I've seen so far. Then again, I haven't gotten to any reveals yet for her route. I'm sure Rin will totally outclass her in that respect, though. I'm not quite sure what's up with her yet. Well, I mean, I can see them setting up one situation but I don't think they're actually going to do it. Actually, make that two situations. But the second is even less likely.

Not looking forward to Komari route. She's just... boring.

edited 17th May '11 8:59:03 PM by Arha

I have to agree with that I just entered Kud's route though I spent a lot of time with Mio and well... I was certain that I was headed for Mio's route. All his interactions with her outside of her route have been way more romantic than those with Kud and Rin's first route.

And yeah... Komari... She's nice but I have to admit I have been avoiding her a little.

edited 17th May '11 9:29:41 PM by daltar

Komari's voice does her no favors. Akane should not voice a character that's suppose to be cute. Too... nasal.

It certainly feels a little weird... but it didn't bother me that much. To be honest, the one character whose voice really took me by surprise was Rin. I truly wasn't expecting for her to sound like that... I have to admit that it has grown on me but at the beginning I just had this feeling that it didn't fit very well.

Hm, Mio has the best route of the three I've played so far. I get the feeling Kurugaya's route is going to be a complete mess. Not in a bad way as though it were poorly written, but in more of a stomping all over your emotions way.

As for Komari, having a voice that I think doesn't suit her really shuts her down from being able to pull off the adorable thing for me, which relegates her to 'mildly annoying but mostly just boring.' Kud pulled it off. And Rin's voice... I think it seemed slightly off at first but now it seems completely natural.

Oh yeah, I too have that impression about Kurugaya's route. It will most likely be brutal.

The implications of Mio's route are slightly disturbing. But I won't go into that.

Hmmm, Rin, Kurugaya and Komari left. I don't know the details of the first, but I know the general end. The second is likely to be brutal. The third bores me. Sigh. Rin it is.

Hm, now that I've actually finished Nishizono's route... I have to admit I actually found the ending beautiful despite my reluctance to use a word that strong. And also despite the fact I feel it could have been written better. Something about it just worked perfectly.

edited 17th May '11 10:58:21 PM by Arha

That's certainly the next one I'm trying.

By the way, have you been able to top the battle rankings or win the baseball game? I've been having some bad luck with those.

Yes. Winning the baseball game required me to do a lot of reloading on the first game, though. I advise you to put Kurugaya and Kyousuke in the outfield since they generally have the highest agility. I think I usually put someone with high concentration and reflexes on first base. Also, if you ever get Kurugaya on a base feel free to steal, but otherwise don't bother. No one else is really fast enough to make it worth the risk.

Have you completed a route yet? If you have then the games after that should be easier. Or do you need to win the game to complete a route? I've been assuming that you do which is why I went through the hassle of actually winning the first game.

Why are Rin's cats suicidal? Stop dodging into the baseballs!

edited 18th May '11 9:16:52 AM by Arha

I think I completed Rin's first route... though what happened seemed more like a bad ending than anything else so I'm not sure. I'll try to finish Kud's route today, though to the moment I haven't been able to win a baseball match at all. Thanks to your advice I might have a chance next time though! Still all my batters seem to be pretty bad... Only Kurugaya seems to be reliable.

And yes, those cats love their pain... maybe they sacrifice themselves to awaken Rin's potential.

Rin's first route is a bad end, yes.

So, wait, if you did her route then you should have Kengo then, right? That'll make it easier since you can put someone in center field.

Actually I don't. Kengo has kept going to his kendo practice leaving the goddamned center field wide open for the captain's team.

I guess it depends not on Rin's route but on a certain number of routes for him to start helping out.

Hm. Maybe you have to win that first game? Honestly, I had to reload a ton to win the first time. Also, I recommend you always opt to continue practice instead of listening in on the girls. While Kurugaya trolling is amusing, you need all the stats you can get.

Also, Kengo doesn't join you immediately during the route. There's some events with him followed by him joining the team around the 22nd. And if you're using save points instead of starting fresh games you'll miss some of the earlier scenes. Later playthroughs add more stuff in the beginning.

edited 18th May '11 1:48:33 PM by Arha

Oh yeah, I've noticed. Rin is more confident and such.

The only time I used save points was to get Kud's bad end. Also since I already saw all of Kurugaya's trolling I'll start skipping it for practice time.

No drama in Kurugaya route so far and now it's moving in a slightly rather odd direction. Current suspicion is that Kurugaya agreed to be his girlfriend because she wants to remain his friend and is picking up advice on how to properly act like one from manga and stuff.

edited 18th May '11 5:36:04 PM by Arha

Kud route completed, baseball game won (We're an entirely different team with Kengo around, no more double 8 points in a single inning due to that damn center being wide open) and I'm just entering Mio's route.

Huh... that is quite a weird development... Though I can kind of see it happen.

edited 18th May '11 7:14:33 PM by daltar

Finished Kurugaya route. Not quite sure what to make of the ending. I've heard that it's different after you've completed the entire game. I rather like the Little Busters heroines so far, probably more than those of Clannad or Kanon for the most part. These routes are so short, though.

They are quite a lively and crazy bunch.

Well, good luck with Komari!

Going for Rin, actually.

It's interesting the way the choices have been fiddled with. For example, you've finished Kud route, right? So assuming you're skipping through the already read dialogue, you can't decide you want to celebrate with Kud. No more Kud route for you.

Nope... Poor Kud has forever been denied to me. Thankfully I have a save at the start of her route in case I want to read it again.

Well, it'll be open again once you've completed Refrain or whatever after the true end to the story.

Also, man, I am burnt out on that baseball practice and am developing some hatred for cats. Which is strange because cats are the best thing ever.

edited 18th May '11 8:41:48 PM by Arha

Yeah, but I'll have to wait for the next patch for Refrain...

Somehow I don't mind hitting cats, Rin just gets better because of it.

Okay, I lied, I decided I'm going to get Komari out of the way first. I hope her route isn't too long and if it does have to be long she gets to keep more of the side cast around to play off of.

Wonder when the next patch will be coming out? I'm down to Komari and Rin 1. Rin 1 is presumably longer than the other routes were but it looks like I'll be done with the translated stuff within the next couple days.