mixed miscellanea: under 30 minutes
short thoughts on ripples, negaeba, liar liar
"ripples" is—as its author describes—the beginning of a journey. it's only like, 10-ish minutes long, and it's free
sakevisual: Ripples
i find the story behind this vn helps reinforce its message. the story of a person deciding to make something for their friend to cheer them up is a bit cheesy i think, and an action with so much sincerity behind it. and ripples is very sincere about its message. the protag is a big jerk, but he meets a girl who shows him the sincerity in people. how like, people can be so wholeheartedly and so unashamedly honest in what they believe in.
i tend to like these kinds of stories where the characters act as mouthpieces for clashing philosophies. it's probably the whole dialogue aspect of it. talking to each other, hearing each other out, discussing, changing. i like to believe i can change the world, but a part of me vehemently denies that. mm. well, whether or not it's true, i don't think it's too hard to see that we make ripples (wao) in each other's lives no matter what we do
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"from the bottom of the heart" (negaeba kitto...) is a short story, shorter than ripples up there, this one is even less than 10 minutes
al|together 2008 "CROSS THE RUBICON" official website (insani.org)
it was translated along with a few other vns in al|together (i believe the first translation for narcissu was released in an earlier al|together, so the project is very dear to my heart). you can find downloads for this one and others in the link above. i don't actually have much to say about this one, it has a nice soundtrack, and i do agree with the author's sentiment in the Read Me.txt
sometimes a story is just a story, and not anything groundbreaking. this one tackles themes of regret and redemption. i feel a few elements were underused, such as the protagonist and the love interest having the same illness and being admitted at the same time that seems to set up for something more than what we got.
i can appreciate negaeba in that it's a story about weakness, i think. or something adjacent to that, probably? weakness and wanting to make amends, is perhaps a bit more precise. the story ends abruptly, and while i do think it certainly works as an ending to a story, i was left a bit unsatisfied with this one.
ooh, i will say i quite like the music in this one, though.
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"liar liar" is a short game made in 5 days. the author describes it as a test for technical code stuff exploding into smth else
Liar Liar by tokimekiwaku (itch.io)
a compelling plot is understandably not the main goal of this vn. despite that i found it kinda compelling. got the good ending on my first try and i thought the sequence of events was engaging enough. i find the art direction appealing too, it's super cute. went and did the other endings after too.
i wanted to play this a few years back in high school but never really got around to it for some reason. i had more fun with this than i expected ngl.
i didn't expect it to but you can look at this as a sorta women empowerment kinda story i think. both girls in the story are screwed over by guys in diff ways (cheating, stalking) and they exact their revenge upon them and the system by killing 'em. idk. it's something like that methinks.
vague spoilers for good ending here
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the good ending tells us that having a support system is a good thing and knowing you having someone to be there for you helps keep you safe. or smth like that.