YU-NO - one of the best video game stories ever told!

Well everyone has their opinions.

I find the dialogue to be fantastic.

Never have I played a game in which the conversations felt so human and so natural so consistently that for all I know these really are real people and real events.

It's a lot better than the cheesy dialogue in games like Metal Gear Solid......nanomachines!

Not all 80 hours is like the beginning.

The prologue is meant to introduce a lot of the plot elements.

There is some interactivity since after the prologue the game switches style and plays more like an older point and click adventure game.

Maybe visual novels are just not meant for you.

These types of games are not meant to spoon feed you information.

It's not something that you can get a quick-fix from.

It takes time and dedication and some people just don't have the patience.

I love stories that take a lot of time investment. Like Lord of the Rings, for example. You have to be pretty damn patient with that. And yet it's not a chore to read the whole thing, because the prose is excellent. And even when it gets long-winded, the words always seem to say something, rather than just filling the space between the interesting bits.

Maybe if I was a native Japanese speaker and saw the original version, I would like it, but this translation, man...

Not seeing it.

@Cherokee_Jack said:

@RyviusARC said:

Not all 80 hours is like the beginning.

The prologue is meant to introduce a lot of the plot elements.

There is some interactivity since after the prologue the game switches style and plays more like an older point and click adventure game.

Maybe visual novels are just not meant for you.

These types of games are not meant to spoon feed you information.

It's not something that you can get a quick-fix from.

It takes time and dedication and some people just don't have the patience.

I love stories that take a lot of time investment. Like Lord of the Rings, for example. You have to be pretty damn patient with that. And yet it's not a chore to read the whole thing, because the prose is excellent. And even when it gets long-winded, the words always seem to say something, rather than just filling the space between the interesting bits.

Maybe if I was a native Japanese speaker and saw the original version, I would like it, but this translation, man...

not seeing it.

The translation is actually pretty close to the original.

Not sure what you find wrong with that line.

That is just the character's personality.

Some people like to joke with friends.

Also a lot of what seems like idle chatter in the game actually has some meaning to the story.

Even the first 30 minute talk with the school nurse/homeroom teacher has some meaning behind the smaller bits of conversation.

Stuff like the school nurse being foreign, arriving two months ago, has no sense of fashion and likes to smoke.

I thought the conversation with the male friend about the curse was just filler content but it wasn't.

.

I would also like to mention the format of a visual novel is a bit different compared to an actual novel.

YU-NO is a bit hard to get into for those not used to visual novels.

@ RyviusARC

Any information of that magnitude will ALWAYS be an info dump, if its necessary for the story then the story sucks. Theres no exceptions for TMI (too much information).

I get it, I like knowing every detail about a story too, but one has to set their feelings aside and really look at it properly and ask, was all that necessary ?

Plus some games need to weave the story properly with the gameplay, YU-NO doesn't have to worry about that....... Its a Visual Novel, its standards for interactivity are not that high.

Which brings to mind another question: Does YU-NO have any action type story sequences, a chase or fight or something ?

YU NO what? This thread made me go play the game. Having already 100% finished it I have to say I was severely disappointed. I had already heard plenty of good stuff about this game, this topic was just the final drop though.

While the story is good, it's definitely not VERY good, it ends up with a few too many unexplained plot points, some parts of the game theory are not even properly explained, the story about the 8000 year loop doesn't quite fit when you think about.

The gameplay aspect is also pretty crappy, making you go around waiting for random events to pop up, if I wasn't using a FAQ to see which random event I had to trigger for each route I'd never have finished the game. Not to mention the pixel hunts when you're stuck to a screen clicking everything multiple times until suddenly one changes and allows you to progress the story. For example, right at the start of the main game when you have to click your desk multiple times with the same dialog appearing until suddenly the main character notices the papers.

Not to mention there are too many gratuitous porn scenes and comments. Especially a later one that made me cringe heavily. You end up going to bed with your daughter...

Overall, while I did enjoy the ride, it's definitively worse than I expected. Other visual novels that I played that are infinitely better than this one include:

Ever 17

Steins;Gate

G Senjo No Mao

I firmly believe Ace Attorney is miles better than this !

Weeaboo hipsters.

@ -Unreal-

Behave ! :l

@T3H_1337_N1NJ4: Actually the theory is explained. Maybe you rushed through it too quickly to notice the smaller details.

I find it hard to believe that you had the time to complete an 80+ hour game in such a short period.

And if you did you probably rushed through it.

I am not saying a person cannot have a negative opinion on the game but it's just that what you said seems to be questionable.

I have actually played those three games you mentioned.

While all three were greatly entertaining none of them drew me in as much as YU-NO.

And I will say G Senjo No Mao has just as much pornographic scenes percentage wise.

Also the other character routes in G Senjo No Mao completely negate the true end of the game which is quite disappointing.

It basically makes the other character routes pointless to try as they don't connect with the main story and are not as good or fulfilling.

But that is based on opinion.

What one feels as too much information another will think it's just enough.

There is action in the game but nothing that is very interactive.

There is a part where you have to use a wooden sword you find to guard yourself from an attack but it's more like a point and click adventure when you click and drag the sword over the person that is attacking you.

Thank you so much. This is what I've been looking for! I did get steam to play To the Moon, but I never thought visual novels like these would be on it. I really appreciate it.

The porn scenes in Mao at least make sense, in this game you meet a random stranger by slapping their ass, and two scenes later you're in bed with them.

True about the routes, a game doesn't require routes to be good though. As for the game, I did 100% it and I did not rush it in the least. I did pretty much marathon it though (with sleep in the middle). I even heard all the voice acting, rarely skipping a sentence before they finished saying it.

Finished with 57 hours by the way. Most of those 80 hours probably stem from randomly wondering or backtracking or clicking due to horrible game design. Thankfully the faq solved that problem.

Care to explain to me how the 8000 year cycle makes sense then? I paid a heck of a lot of attention to the explanation, and I've a lot of experience with time/dimension traveling books/games/movies and it didn't fit from what I could see.

@ RyviusARC

Ofcourse its based on oppinion. Theres no objective angle to observe this from.

And the story sounds like a colossal dialogfest. Whats the story about again ? A young man coping with loss ? Thats bound to cause lots of Ludonarrative Dissonance, its a very unorthodox type of story to tell and a colossal pain to turn something like that into an intuitive interactive experience. Basicly what I'm trying to hint at is may be theres just some stories you just can't tell interactively, atleast not untill we get better technology. Games can tell action stories because they've already nailed that concept down (in the late 80's), but how can they do the same for types of stories, when will things like drama become intuitively viable ?

You get what I mean ?

@T3H_1337_N1NJ4:

Ummmmm you must not have played through the game well enough then because you widely exaggerate it.

Most of the people you do the dirty with are people you know and there is some build up to it. Near the end there is some that seem a bit quick but there is justification for it.

It's certainly not like the way you explain it.

Also my playtime was with the least amount of backtracking possible and I even completely cut out the whole Kaori daytime day 2 route that was pretty much the same as the Kanna daytime day 2 route.

I just spent the time exploring the pieces to the game and some of the information reveals more into the story.

I am finishing up with my recording of the game soon. The last time I played it was about 2 years ago so let me just finish the end and I will try to put together a good explanation for your question.

I understand this game is not meant for everyone and not everyone will have the same opinion as me.

Most people do still hold the game up in the top spots for visual novels despite its age and at the very least most people do find some enjoyment from the game.

.

On the topic of G Senjo No Mao - The side character routes actually come into conflict with the main stories twist. If you decide to go down one of those character routes it will treat the main character as if he was Mao. The brother never shows up to complete his plan. It would have been better if they completely cut out any of the other character routes since they actually take away from the main story. I will say that the true ending for the game was very touching but I kind of wish the main character spoke.

I could mention some problems I had with the other games you listed but its been a while since I played them and I would have to go back and recap some parts. I know IMO Ever 17 didn't do to well with the characters or their respective routes. Except for the Coco route. The other routes felt like added filler compared to her route and the plot's main twist.

And it was a nice twist but it seems most of the game's entertainment value is experienced at this twist and trudging through the other four routes seems more like a chore just to get to the build up.

Also I wish the author didn't keep the same style because his twist in 999 was a lot less surprising because of that.

Japanese support for Steam has been growing quite a bit. lately.

A big thing to note is that a lot of the games come from Japanese indie devs, and get through by the Steam Greenlight program, so you have to make sure and vote them in, and give them support, so they can get released over here.

Just skimming through the first few pages of Steam Greenlight I found

Nicole

Blue Rose

Narcissu 1st & 2nd

So make sure you vote if you want to see more of these types of games.

@RyviusARC: I'm not exaggerating one bit. Honestly. I'm not remembering her name, but the girl you meet in the oasis that tells you about Amanda. The first time you see her, you tie her up and spank her ass, then after you finally let her go you end up spending the night together and do it in front of your daughter. After that scene, you never see her again. Ever.

The final scene where you end up doing it with Yu-No is also completely avoidable and doesn't contribute one inch to the story, in fact it takes a lot from it. The other scene that also comes out of nowhere is with Eriko inside the locker. Oh look, they're doing it on the table and we're inside here locked, eh let's just f***. Oh and I almost forgot, the character endings you unlock after you finish the game, they have one line about how they ended up and the rest is them talking about some perverted sex scenario. All 3 of them.

By the way, I also search everything and see all the comments on every screen. And I fully agree with you on the Mao topic.

Finally, as I said, I did not dislike the game. At all! I simply was expecting better for all the hype it gets.

I haven't reached that part again in my recording.

The way you explain the scene is not exactly the same as going through the whole script.

Also the way you phrase it is as if the whole game is like that.....which it isn't.

If you did truly search through all the dialogue in the game you must have sped through it quite fast.

If you look at my video recordings you will see I am at 66 hours on upload footage which left off right after the picnic with Sayless.

I am uploading the next video which will make it about 70 hours and I am barely at the part where Takuya and YU-NO are starting on their trip across the desert.

In my opinion this game is best experienced when played at a steady pace and not just in one go.

@RyviusARC said:

@Cherokee_Jack said:

Maybe if I was a native Japanese speaker and saw the original version, I would like it, but this translation, man...

not seeing it.

The translation is actually pretty close to the original.

Not sure what you find wrong with that line.

That is just the character's personality.

Some people like to joke with friends.

The meaning of the sentence isn't the problem. It's just that no native English speaker would ever write that sentence, much less say it aloud. The word choice is all wrong.

Yeah, she has the bangle and the same haircut as Kana's mom, and the 50 years match so it's her no doubt. I'm not talking about Amanda though, I'm talking about the girl you meet in the Oasis before you get sent to the mining prison. This one: Link NSFW

Yah I retyped my post because I misread what you said.

Please ignore what I previously said and just read my edited post.

@RyviusARC: It's not the whole game, if it sounded like that I apologize, it's just some of the ero scenes. What you get the whole game is perverted comments but I can live with that as a character trait. And I swear, there really isn't anything else to that scene in the oasis, you'll see it soon enough if you truly don't remember it. It's absolutely gratuitous.

@Cherokee_Jack said:

@RyviusARC said:

@Cherokee_Jack said:

Maybe if I was a native Japanese speaker and saw the original version, I would like it, but this translation, man...

not seeing it.

The translation is actually pretty close to the original.

Not sure what you find wrong with that line.

That is just the character's personality.

Some people like to joke with friends.

The meaning of the sentence isn't the problem. It's just that no native English speaker would ever write that sentence, much less say it aloud. The word choice is all wrong.

Maybe people don't talk like that where you are from, but I don't see anything odd about those words or how they are used.

The way people talk is usually determined by who they hang around with and the knowledge of the vocabulary for the language that they are speaking.

@RyviusARC said:

@Cherokee_Jack said:

@RyviusARC said:

@Cherokee_Jack said:

Maybe if I was a native Japanese speaker and saw the original version, I would like it, but this translation, man...

not seeing it.

The translation is actually pretty close to the original.

Not sure what you find wrong with that line.

That is just the character's personality.

Some people like to joke with friends.

The meaning of the sentence isn't the problem. It's just that no native English speaker would ever write that sentence, much less say it aloud. The word choice is all wrong.

Maybe people don't talk like that where you are from, but I don't see anything odd about those words or how they are used.

The way people talk is usually determined by who they hang around with and the knowledge of the vocabulary for the language that they are speaking.

Yeah, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that sentence.

I do remember the scene but I don't remember it word for word so before I put in my two cents I would like to refresh my memory.

And naturally YU-NO is not perfect. It has flaws just like every piece of entertainment I have come across.

I have already listed some of those flaws in my original post.

I will say the part of the perverseness from the main character was usually acted out in an attempt to push people away from him during a time when he was depressed about his father's death.

The parts where he is talking to himself in his head are not all that bad and if you were able to hear what most people are thinking it would probably be some stuff that is perverse or downright taboo.

Everyone is different though.

I am not sure I could of played this game in one go.

I would have been burnt out.

Taking breaks allowed me to think about what goes on in each section.

It's a lot easier than playing it all at once then trying to go back and think about the individual parts.

@RyviusARC: Eh, whenever I get into a plot heavy game I simply can't stop. That "what's next?" feeling just keeps me going. That's why I love adventure games (or VN in this case). Didn't burn out even a bit, and I always end up feeling that I wanted more. In my opinion, it doesn't impact my comprehension of the games one bit. Hell, if it does it's in a positive way since all the details of the start are still fresh on my mind near the end.

If you're up for it, when you finish the game, PM me or something so that we can talk about that part of the ending I mentioned.

And to be fair, I think the pervertedness stems simply from the fact that he truly is perverted. The fun thing is that he doesn't exactly act according to what he says and comes out as a kind of introverted guy who ends up never making the first move on any girl.

Well I meant that when he acts out in a perverted way it is usually to make the person go away which is partly why his reputation at school was that of a lecher.

It seemed like he started to go into solitude after his father went missing and that is when his behavior towards other people changed.

Although there was a bit of info on him being a trouble maker before he transferred to that high school since he got into a fight over something someone said about his mother.

.

And sure I will PM you once I finish recording the game.

It may take a while though.......

.......I am actually playing each recorded section twice......one to write down what to click on first and how many times for better progression through dialogue and another for recording while following those directions.

If the game didn't require so much random clicking that wouldn't be necessary ;)

Will look forward to it then!

Yah that was one of the flaws from the game but it's a flaw I found in most point and click adventure games.

Although some of the stuff I clicked on was pretty funny and it just wouldn't have the same progression if you took away the ability to explore the option yourself.

For example when you first meet Eriko in the cafe. You can keep clicking on the tabletop. While trying to make a comment on the view of her panties the waitress blocks the view with a cup. Then later in the game you will be talking to Kanna in the same spot and even though your memory should be wiped you experience deja vu and have a premonition for disappointment.

That scene with the cup is golden. Especially when they glue it to the table after you drink a few.

The problem with the random clicking to me comes from having to click the same thing multiple times when it's always giving out the same message. The desk drawer at the beginning for example.

The desk drawer was actually the only time I ever had to click on something with the same message. And I only received the same message twice at that part.

Aside from that I could always find something else to click on that was not the same text before progressing to the next part of the story.

The hardest one that actually tripped me was the scene at the end of Kanna's route. Right after you receive the phone call from Houjou you go to the park in search of Kanna. That part was pretty annoying because it took a specific pattern of what to click on that was really hard to get right. But I managed to find a list of clicks that allowed for a steady progression of dialogue without running into repeated text.

@RyviusARC: God that scene... even when I was just rushing through it after finishing the game to get to her ending, with ctrl pressed and just clicking, it took me a damn while to finally be allowed to check the woods.

@T3H_1337_N1NJ4:

Well if you just randomly click around it is almost impossible to progress through that scene because you have to click on a certain object to trigger the next change in dialogue and then do that again with another particular object.

@RyviusARC: Hm, gamespot's fault! Fixed anyway.

And yeah... I was clicking pretty much everything in circle but I must have missed something a few turns around.

@T3H_1337_N1NJ4:

I was also wondering what you thought about the game's music.

I think it was one of the high points for the game.

I didn't find it to be something you would be humming while driving back home.

But I did find that the songs fit well with the scenes they were selected for.

Especially the songs dedicated to each character.

Those songs give off their own personality which match pretty well with the character's personality.

@RyviusARC: Pretty much the same feeling as you. It matched the whole tone of the game perfectly. One of the first things I noticed when I started the game was that the prologue song was pretty good, even before Eriko's panties.

@T3H_1337_N1NJ4:

Edit: dam Gamespot deleting half of my post.

.

.

The beginning game can rub a lot of people the wrong way especially those who have never played a visual novel.

I was wondering what was your opinion on the voice acting in the game.

I was surprised to see such quality and length from a game of the mid 90s.

I even recognized some of the voices such as the voice of Ryuuzouji who also voiced Solid Snake in Metal Gear Solid.

I was even surprised to find out the main character did the voice of Link in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask.

I knew his yelling sounded familiar.....

.

The only flaws I could find from the voice work was not from the actors/actresses themselves but from editor errors.

Such as some of the spoken dialogue having uneven volume and some parts being copied and pasted in other sections with the same dialogue.

There was even a part I played that had the main character's voice suddenly lowering in pitch which made it quite funny.

Here is a link to that part.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb2z9Dr0ThQ&t=108m21s

It happens a few seconds after the time I selected in the video.

@RyviusARC: Did something get cut out of your last post? Looks like it.

I personally didn't have any problems with the voice acting, it all seemed pretty well done. Since I don't particularly understand japanese I might have gotten the wrong impression though. That change in pitch seems pretty normal to me honestly. Sometimes we just do that.

Edit: OK the rest of your post appeared. Seriously? Link, did not notice that at all. I guess "HYAAAA!"s aren't all that easy to differentiate.

@T3H_1337_N1NJ4:

Yah Gamespot deleted half my post so I had to retype it.....

Also not sure how that voice sounded normal.

It was after Ayumi asks about the bath that the anomaly occurs.

@RyviusARC: I notice it's lower pitched, but just seems like something one might naturally do. Maybe I'm wrong though.

Well after I looked up the voice actors and found out he did the voice for Link I started to see the resemblance in the scenes where he yelled.