Backloggery

Backloggery.com

2016-02-22

EMIT Review




Title: Emit Vol. 1: Toki no Maigo
Emit Vol. 2: Inochigake no Tabi
Emit Vol. 3: Watashi ni Sayonara o
Original titles: EMIT Vol.1: 時の迷子
EMIT Vol.2: 命がけの旅
EMIT Vol.3: 私にさよならを
Aliases: Emit Vol. 1: Lost in Time
Emit Vol.2: A Life-And-Death Trip
Emit Vol.3: Bid Myself Farewell
Release date: 1994-03-25
Developer & Publisher: Koei

After I finished playing the second release in Shibusawa Kou's "English Dream" series, titled "Dark Hunter", it's time to take an extended look at it's predecessor - a three part game "Emit". While "Dark Hunter" was "only" released on Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Windows and Mac, "Emit" was published on Mac, Fm-Towns, PC-9821, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, Super Famicom, 3DO (has anyone even ever owned that console?) and even two different Windows OSs: 3.1 and '95. At times it looks that the only home console that didn't get an "Emit" release was ColecoVision, or something.

2016-02-16

Dark Hunter Review




Titles: Dark Hunter: (Jou) Ijigen Gakuen & Dark Hunter: (Ge) Youma no Mori
Original titles: ダークハンター ㊤ 異次元学園 & ダークハンター ㊦ 妖魔の森
Aliases: Dark Hunter: Strange Dimension School & Dark Hunter: Demon Forest
Release date: 1997-04-04
Developer & Publisher: Koei

When it comes to "unique", "Dark Hunter" might not take the first place, but it is surely one of the most unusual examples of a visual novel you might find. Developed and published by Koei, it was the second part in Shibusawa Kou's "English Dream" series - a franchise of educational interactive movies developed to teach Japanese students English language. Rather than creating some boring dry educational disc, Shibusawa envisioned to use engaging storyline and visuals to wrap the teaching aid. "English Dream" might not have become a series he desired, but two games, "Emit" and "Dark Hunter", saw the light of the day.

2016-02-14

Sunrider Review




Title: Sunrider
Release date: 2014-10-02
Developer & Publisher: Love in Space

"Sunrider" is probably the best known western made visual novel / SRPG hybrid. In production since 2010, it was finally released in two parts in 2014 after a very successful Kickstarter campaign. The game was supposed to be a free trilogy, but producers decided to release the third part commercially after giving it a visual upgrade and full voice acting. So, with the release date for the third part ticking closer and all the bugs squashed in the first two parts, it's time to play the game and see if its critical acclaim is worth anything.

2016-02-08

Aurora Memoria - Philosophical Data Session: 2093 Review

Title: Aurora Memoria - Philosophical Data Session: 2093
Release date: 2015-09-24
Developer: DV-i
Publisher: Priz Tats

"Aurora Memoria" has one of the most interesting origins out of all English language visual novels. It was started as a musical project by a composer DV-i (formerly of the synth pop band "Konnichiwa") and was intended to showcase his 5 track EP. The actual VN was just a side project to package the music, which is such an insane idea that I still cannot wrap my head around it. After all, it probably took so much more time and effort to create the visual novel presentation than just to release a music album. So, there is something very ironic about the fact that I find DV-i's music totally unimpressive and the least noteworthy aspect of the game.