So Does Monobeno Offer the Same Visual Novel System as Gothic Delusion?
The Search for the Perfect Visual Novel System #1
I have mentioned it a couple of times on this site, but after comparing the smallish number of visual novel titles I have actually… played(??) read(??) (Seriously, what is the more appropriate term to use?) the one system that I found to be most creative, if not most time consuming for the developers of the VN (Lose) was that they chose to ditch character portraits entirely and work almost purely from CG artwork and it worked pretty well. Another feature although one I cannot comment on in this article was that they made the main storyline eroge free, and then gave the viewer the choice of viewing the optional hentai scenes (Wouldn’t have saved them from an R18+ score but for someone like me who doesn’t really care for anything other than good designs and a good plot – it was a welcome addition).
Last week Lose, the developer of this visual novel released a short demo of the first few scenes in the game, and I must say I was very impressed with the system they implemented which I feel has perhaps had it surpassing most of the games that use visual novel systems in this factor. The game used a mix of CG artwork and character portraits and within the demo, with a sightly heavier emphasis on the CG artwork element. All the characters that appear on screen actually have visible mouth movements alongside blinking and alternating character expressions…. but this was not just true for the character portraits but also for the CG artwork which was a relatively unique idea but worked very well.
Other included features were each scene having a slider bar which allowed you to skip back into any point of the scene if you accidently had your finger stuck on the Skip button or something – which I feel is a nice addition than going through the backlog that most games include. The game also grants you access to a scene select where instead of going into an extra menu and selecting from a short selection of scenes (Usually eroge related) in other visual novels, this actually picks you off from any scene you want in the game. Going from the Scene Select Menu, the actual game will be spread into a Prologue chapter than divert into plots for the three main characters. This does make me question if there is eroge scenes actually in the game as each scene select involves a set of HScene options – but these could just be unlockable while going through them.
In terms of design, I think they have outdone themselves again, with some strong CG artwork (and lip-syncing), well designed main and secondary characters and the environment designs suit the intended rural environment they were trying to capture. The demo did involve one small section with some brief nudity however it seemed to support more of Japan’s different culture than trying to purposefully be an eroge novel.
The demo also featured an optional selectable eroge scene however for the purpose of this review (and the fact I only ever care about the other aspects) I did not view it
In terms of music, I wasn’t as captivated at what was previewed over the Gothic Delusion soundtrack, but it had some nice softer tracks and a fairly enjoyable main theme which was previewed in the promotional trailer at the end of the demo.
Overall however, I think this is an improvement over their original system shown in Gothic Delusion and goes to show how the smaller VN developers are really going out of their way to showcase new and innovative ideas when it comes to not only their systems, but their designs as well.
About “The Search For the Perfect Visual Novel System”
Reviews done under this header are not so much about reviewing the game as they are detailing the visual novel system within it. While a few years ago visual novels were not as big a thing in the English gaming market, we now have some companies distributing such titles to our market of varying ages (From the older ones such as Deus Machina Demonbane to newer ones such as My Girlfriend is the Princess). These reviews is a multi-part thing I hope to continue with, covering both new systems such as Monobeno’s to older but more unique systems such as 07th Expansion’s Sound Novel systems. While I own titles such as Umineko and Higurashi, those of Japanese titles will be based off free demo releases. This might not even just be covering your normal “visual novel” type games, but also those within RPG’s etc as more developers move to utilize this style of presenting dialogue.
About Monobeno
Sawai Tooru and his imouto Natsuha ventures back to their rural home town Monobeno – their first visit in six years. Here they reunite with osananajimi Alice (a bishoujo who labels herself as Tooru’s fiancee), and an apparition (or ghost) in the form of a small child. After their nostalgic reunion it was not long before the town readies itself for the night of Himemiya Summer Festival. During the festival, the Monobeno’s ancient, ‘Face Dance’ was being performed when Natsuha suddenly collapsed and was rushed home. That night, Natsuha grew a whole 10cm, her body undergone rapid changes and her lower body bled for the first time. Tooru, fearing for his imouto’s life hastened in his search of a cure…
[Storyline Summary Source: Visual Novel Aer]
Related posts:
