Nitro Powah!

So, today JAST USA provided us an announcement of their future releases, which predictably involves lots of Nitroplus power. After the successful sales of Demonbane (damn, I'm only 1/3rd through it - the thing is looong) we are getting "Saya no Uta", "Kikokugai", "Hanachirasu", "Sumaga" and "Django". Despite the fact I've already played the first two, I'm definitely getting them all.

Also predictably we are getting the sequel to "Aselia the Eternal" called "Seinarukana". The last announcement in the lineup was somewhat unexpected. I happily reaffirmed myself to be a massive perv, as upon the announcement of "Starless" I cheered. I has lots of crazy shit and that is exactly what I expect from my nukiges.

With the coming of "Kara no Shoujo", "Aselia the Eternal", "EF", "School Days", "Yumina" and more I foresee those few years to be very interesting :-D

Remember11: The Age of Infinity Review

Title: Remember11 -the age of infinity-
Release date: 2004-03-18 (2010-10-11 in English)
Developer: KID
English publisher: TLWiki (as a fan-patch)

Of trolls and trollops...

If I was Ben Croshaw, I would already be preparing a hate filled rant about Remember11. Thus I consider it the game's luck I'm not him as the game itself is a huge troll - the sort you find under the Golden Gates Bridge or visiting 4chan. It appears, the main message the writer of Remember11 wanted to convey us was: "LOL pwned U". And despite it I consider it quite a good game. But let's talk about everything from the very beginning.

The Witcher: Enhanced Edition Review

Title: The Witcher: Enhanced Edition
Release date: 2007-10-24 (2008-09-16 for Enhanced Edition)
Developer: CD Project RED
Publisher: CD Project & Atari

Disclaimer

"The Witcher" is not a visual novel by any stretch of imagination, but considering I feel that this is one of the best games in the last decade, I decided to publicly review it. And with the release of its sequel (which I will probably review some time later) its even more relevant.

Historia

Power, sex. Sex, Power. They both come down to one thing - fucking others.

Geralt of Rivia, witcher

The first time I heard about Witcher has been a long ass fuckin' time ago. I saw a concept art in a magazine and dismissed it as another generic "special one" saving the world full of generic shit like elves and dwarves. Fast forward to 2007 and I somehow decided to try the game, despite my misgivings. All in all, that cost me quite a lot of money. Not the game itself, mind you, as at that time I pirated it. However, after finishing it I went to the bookstore and bought all the Witcher books. I think that says a lot about the game inducing you to go and buy a lengthy book series.

Sinkha series review

Titles: Sinkha
           Sinkha: Hyleyn
           Sinkha: Atmosphere/Planet of the Clouds
Release dates: 1995 (Sinkha) / 2008 (the remake)
                        2002 (Hyleyn)
                        2007 (Atmosphere/Planet of the Clouds)
Developer: Marco Patrito
Publisher: Virtual Views

Intro

And here's the god succumbing to the madness of the eyes and the mind.

The journey of Sinkha was a long one. Marco Patrito - an Italian writer and illustrator created the concept for the game in 1991. The creation of the game itself stalled again and again as due to the advances of technology Marco had to scrap the project and restart it with different tools in order to keep up. Also the project was way too ambitious both due to the funds available to Patrito & Co and the insuficient technology. Finally in 1995 "Sinkha" saw the light of the day in Italian, English, Spanish, French, German and Japanese. It was labeled a multimedia novel. Practically it was a visual novel as the genre is known today, with a few differences: it was done entirely in computer graphics with character models rendered in 3D software and it had much more animations than any Japanese VN until ten years later.

Who needs post boxes anymore?

Guess what? I come home from work, enter the balcony and find a friggin' package with my copy of Demonbane in it. Seriously? Postman (woman?) didn't find me at home and instead of leaving a notice in my post box just thrown it into the balcony. Who needs those post boxes anymore, they are sooo yesterday...
At least I finally got my copy. In fact, I had to pester JAST twice about it as they apparently somehow managed to loose me from the database O_o
Also JAST needed to use cases with sturdier pins. My disk was loose in the case and reading online many people have that problem. It has some light scratches, but installed fine. And no, I'm not gonna play it now. I still have "The Witcher: Enhanced Edition" to finish.... What? I'm a patient man.

Chaos;Head Review

Title: Chaos;Head
Release date: 2008-03-21 (2008-12-31 in English)
Developer: Nitroplus & 5pb.
English publisher: TLWiki (as a fan-patch)

Synopsis

Whose eyes are those eyes?


Nitroplus is a Japanese VN company that is best known for their quality titles mainly involving sci-fi, fantasy and horror themes. So I suppose, when this title was patched into English, my expectations were kind of high (especially as I previously played Saya no Uta). However, the thing is, C;H is much more of a 5pb. title than Nitroplus one (or at least I want to believe that other N+ titles do not fall so short).

So, the protagonist of the story is Nishijou Takumi, a nice and outgoing fellow, who was just minding his own business, when all his life went to hell (if you managed to read that sentence with a straight face, mad props for you).

Higurashi series Review

Titles: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (in English as Higurashi: When They Cry)
            Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai (in English as Higurashi: When They Cry Kai)
            Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei
Release dates: The 4th arc in 2004-08-13 (2009-12-15 in English)
                          The 8th arc in 2006-08-13 (2010-07-15 in English)
                          Rei in 2006-12-31 (2009-03-27 Saikoroshi arc in English)
Developer: 07th Expansion
English publisher: MangaGamer (Saikoroshi translated by some dude at Animesuki forums)

Intro

What do you think, when you hear the word "horror"? Stephen King, Clive Barker, H. P. Lovecraft, "Dragon's Balls"? I say: "Screw them" (Lovecraft literally if I ever get to reviewing Saya no Uta or Demonbane). After playing Higurashi I can say that I can't remember the last time I have read such intense and chilling piece of work.
So, what is Higurashi..? A series of visual/kinetic/sound (however you may call them) novels set in a (semi) fictional Japanese town of Hinamizawa.