Visual Novel Review, Little Busters!
Jul. 4th, 2012 10:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starzafandomblogYeah, another one from Key. :D
Title: Little Busters! (All Ages version)
Company: Visual Arts/Key
Translation done by: TLWiki
Genre: Romance/comedy/angst
Graphics: 10/10 - I thought Clannad had some nice visuals, but Little Busters! is even better. Seriously, the Main Character, Riki, is freaking ADORABLE, in the 'I want to glomp him!' type of way. The girls are all pretty as well and the guys are drawn very well too. I really wish there were more CGs with Riki in it, but what we got was nice.
Plot: 9.5/10 - Man, the plot starts out really simple, but then throws a curveball at you. The story starts out like this: Our main character, named Riki, lost his parents when he was very young. He became very depressed until one day, he meets Kyousuke, his sister Rin, Masto, and Kengo. They end up forming a very powerful bond and, together, they form the Little Busters!
The game takes place in their second year in High School. Kyousuke decides on his usual whim to form a baseball team. Why!? Well, why not?
The game basically revolves around you forming a baseball team and on the way, you form bonds with certain girls.
If you end up on an endings path, that's when the game gets a little weird. A lot of the paths in game start out normal, but a lot of them take a twist. Mio's is one example that gets really weird, but has an interesting twist. Kud's as well, though it's more of the end that gets really weird. Yuiko's route starts getting weird and then angsty. Even the happy go lucky girls, Komari and Haruka, have some really angsty moments.
And then we get to Rin. Now in order to get Rin's ending, you have to go through her path once and go through all other girl's paths as well. Her ending is really depressing at the end. But then the game throws you a curveball with the last 'true' route, 'Refrain', which you cannot skip and can't play the other routes again till you beat this route with the true ending.
There's no way I'm going to spoil Refrain, but it's so emotionally touching and the ending is so freaking satisfying too. Refrain brought me to tears from start to finish. And the best thing too is the game leaves it up in the air of who Riki has feelings for, which I think is for the best, because that can be made up to the player.
Also, the translation is top notch, now with the word wrap patch. Kudos for the translation team and good luck to them translating the three routes for the EX version.
Music/sound: 10/10 - I loved all the music in the game. I didn't play with the VAing on, so I won't comment about the VAing, but the music and sound standard is up to par.
Gameplay: 9.5/10 - It's unusual for me to give a VN a score here, but I did, because there's actual game play here. In your quest to making your baseball team, you have to, well, practice! This mini-game, shockingly enough, is really fun too, and the reactions from the characters if you hit the ball in their direction, or if you have the misfortune to hit too many of Rin's cats on the field, is funny as well.
There's also a 'pokemon' like mini game where characters will fight each other in a duel with some... odd choices of weapons, which are funny. Even more amusing is the titles they give to everyone else. :D
The mini games fit very well with the story, and are actually fun. And if you're not into mini-games in your VNs, you have the option to turn them off completely.
Overall: 9.75/10 - If I had to pick a perfect VN, Little Busters! would be it. As of now, I'm writing this for the all Ages version. There is a EX version that features 3 different paths and hentai scenes, which I have no idea would add or take away from the novel. The one I read had a couple of panty/booby shots, but nothing beyond that. This VN is really long, it took me twice as long as to get through it as Clannad. Seriously, why aren't you reading this NOW!? :D
Title: Little Busters! (All Ages version)
Company: Visual Arts/Key
Translation done by: TLWiki
Genre: Romance/comedy/angst
Graphics: 10/10 - I thought Clannad had some nice visuals, but Little Busters! is even better. Seriously, the Main Character, Riki, is freaking ADORABLE, in the 'I want to glomp him!' type of way. The girls are all pretty as well and the guys are drawn very well too. I really wish there were more CGs with Riki in it, but what we got was nice.
Plot: 9.5/10 - Man, the plot starts out really simple, but then throws a curveball at you. The story starts out like this: Our main character, named Riki, lost his parents when he was very young. He became very depressed until one day, he meets Kyousuke, his sister Rin, Masto, and Kengo. They end up forming a very powerful bond and, together, they form the Little Busters!
The game takes place in their second year in High School. Kyousuke decides on his usual whim to form a baseball team. Why!? Well, why not?
The game basically revolves around you forming a baseball team and on the way, you form bonds with certain girls.
If you end up on an endings path, that's when the game gets a little weird. A lot of the paths in game start out normal, but a lot of them take a twist. Mio's is one example that gets really weird, but has an interesting twist. Kud's as well, though it's more of the end that gets really weird. Yuiko's route starts getting weird and then angsty. Even the happy go lucky girls, Komari and Haruka, have some really angsty moments.
And then we get to Rin. Now in order to get Rin's ending, you have to go through her path once and go through all other girl's paths as well. Her ending is really depressing at the end. But then the game throws you a curveball with the last 'true' route, 'Refrain', which you cannot skip and can't play the other routes again till you beat this route with the true ending.
There's no way I'm going to spoil Refrain, but it's so emotionally touching and the ending is so freaking satisfying too. Refrain brought me to tears from start to finish. And the best thing too is the game leaves it up in the air of who Riki has feelings for, which I think is for the best, because that can be made up to the player.
Also, the translation is top notch, now with the word wrap patch. Kudos for the translation team and good luck to them translating the three routes for the EX version.
Music/sound: 10/10 - I loved all the music in the game. I didn't play with the VAing on, so I won't comment about the VAing, but the music and sound standard is up to par.
Gameplay: 9.5/10 - It's unusual for me to give a VN a score here, but I did, because there's actual game play here. In your quest to making your baseball team, you have to, well, practice! This mini-game, shockingly enough, is really fun too, and the reactions from the characters if you hit the ball in their direction, or if you have the misfortune to hit too many of Rin's cats on the field, is funny as well.
There's also a 'pokemon' like mini game where characters will fight each other in a duel with some... odd choices of weapons, which are funny. Even more amusing is the titles they give to everyone else. :D
The mini games fit very well with the story, and are actually fun. And if you're not into mini-games in your VNs, you have the option to turn them off completely.
Overall: 9.75/10 - If I had to pick a perfect VN, Little Busters! would be it. As of now, I'm writing this for the all Ages version. There is a EX version that features 3 different paths and hentai scenes, which I have no idea would add or take away from the novel. The one I read had a couple of panty/booby shots, but nothing beyond that. This VN is really long, it took me twice as long as to get through it as Clannad. Seriously, why aren't you reading this NOW!? :D
