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Showing posts with label VN of the Year. Show all posts
Showing posts with label VN of the Year. Show all posts

VN of the Year 2021 - Waga Himegimi ni Eikan o

January 30, 2022
Despite all the looks I still find as many as ten games to be great. And still 50 openings to enjoy Visual Novel Openings 2021 . Since I prioritize chunige , my choice for the year is Waga Himegimi ni Eikan o . As for plans, hardly anything has changed except that I'm first going for Sakura, Moyu. -As the Night's, Reincarnation- , but so far only recorded common route over last three months, so useless to plan further. Will definitely get more active when I finish all the postponed RPGs , six titles accumulated so far.

VN of the Year 2020 - Silverio Ragnarok

November 11, 2021
Somehow both number of masterpieces (14) and number of openings I am able to collect in Visual Novel Openings 2020 decreases yet again. Silverio Ragnarok symbolizes the whole trilogy for me, so I consider it to be the winner in 2020 , but I admit It can change after I review Hakuchuumu no Aojashin . Also plan to do the same with Hoshizora Tetsudou to Shiro no Tabi just because I did not find an English review. Then it will be Tsui no Sora Remake 's turn, next undecided, probably something from 2009 and further.

VN of the Year 2019 - Realive

October 16, 2021
2019 hit the new bottom in many aspects and marked the beginning of COVID era, so there was a noticeable loss in attention for visual novels by the end of it. I counted only 13 masterpieces, could not even get 100 openings in Visual Novel Openings 2019 . Without a clear favorite I'll call Realive VN of the Year .

VN of the Year 2018 - Butterfly Seeker

September 18, 2021
Rather modest year, overall. There are still as many as 17 masterpieces, but number of games has decreased significantly, and I barely got 100 openings in Visual Novel Openings 2018 . Without a strong chunige title I'll opt out for the strongest mystery title as VN of the Year, and that's Butterfly Seeker .

VN of the Year 2017 - Suisei Ginka

August 21, 2021
Year 2017 is probably the last great year with respectable number of releases each month and almost 20 masterpieces. Clephas ended up choosing Aoi Tori, but I generally choose some chunige, so it's Suisei Ginka this time.  Visual Novel Openings 2017 . 

VN of the Year 2016

July 16, 2021
Year 2016 is a comeback with some very strong titles and months after somewhat weaker 2015. It even broke out of the 20 masterpiece curse. Clephas hesitated between three titles, and stopped at Tokyo Necro , but for me it was an evident winner. Visual Novel Openings 2016 . 

VN of the Year 2015 - Kikan Bakumatsu Ibun Last Cavalier

June 20, 2021
Year 2015 had significantly less releases and only occasionally pleased with masterpieces. Still, counted twenty masterpieces. Can't choose Silverio Vendetta since it's a part of trilogy, so Kikan Bakumatsu Ibun Last Cavalier remains the best candidate for VN of the Year. Visual Novel Openings 2015 . 

VN of the Year 2014

May 25, 2021
Year 2014 has overall less normal releases and masterpieces that 2013, but there is still one kamige Nanairo Reincarnation and one hilarious mindscrew Bradyon Veda to represent it strongly. 

I tried to include everything notable in the list, even Aokana, but still only ended at 27 masterpieces. Somehow even number of openings degraded to under 150 from usual close to 200. Visual Novel Openings 2014 . 

VN of the Year 2013

April 27, 2021
Year 2013 exceeded my expectations. I was able to choose as many as 34 masterpieces, even one more than in fruitful 2012. Surprisingly, there's a better selection of chuunige as well - industry is absolutely alive and kicking. However, now it's truly the last year of abundance - sneak peek into 2014 shows the number of masterpieces being in the mid twenties. Visual Novel Openings 2013 . 

VN of the Year 2012

March 30, 2021
Year 2012 is probably the last great year, at least it looks like that to me now. Extended list of masterpieces includes as many as 33 titles this time which is more than ever. But at the same time private stories more and more substitute epic stories, so I actually have trouble choosing one representing the year. Visual Novel Openings 2012 as usual. 

VN of the Year 2011

March 02, 2021
Year 2011 is a hurricane of great titles. My initial pick contained 20 masterpieces, but had to widen this selection up to 28 with some additional feedback since I can't sample it all on my own at the moment and there are genres I just can't force myself to play. Visual Novel Openings 2011 with songs just because. 

VN of the Year 2010

January 31, 2021
Year 2010 is as lively as ever. I don't think there was another such year where I was able to find at least one masterpiece in each month. The overall number 18 is slightly less, but it only shows the continuing tendency for increasing charage share, and I blocked quite a lot of charage from getting into masterpieces just because did not see a story-driven plot or some spark. There even was one 10/10 game for me, and that does not come often. Visual Novel Openings 2010 with songs just because I still into openings. And I seriously hate it when openings are interrupted with ads, so I try to cut out all such tracks from playlist, like Rewrite opening. And you know what - the same few companies demand ads insertion in their property everywhere. And they are such cheapskates that even monetize their own official channel openings, as if customers attraction is not enough. Basically, they are so greedy to insert ads inside ads. Here is a list of those shameful companies that I noticed so far and am going to hate even more - Key, Frontwing, Leaf. Shame upon you, cheapskates.
My list of masterpieces in 2010:
  1. Akatsuki no Goei ~Tsumibukaki Shuumatsuron~
  2. Comsome! ~Combination Somebody~
  3. Deardrops
  4. Evolimit
  5. Fortissimo//Akkord:Bsusvier
  6. Harukaze dori ni, Tomarigi o. 2nd Story ~Tsuki no Tobira to Umi no Kakera~
  7. Indigo
  8. Kashimashi Communication
  9. Ore no Tsure wa Hito de nashi
  10. Ouka Sengoku ~Nobunaga-chan no Koishite Yabou!?~
  11. Para-Sol
  12. Rune Lord
  13. Second Novel ~ Kanojo no Natsu, 15fun no Kioku~
  14. Subarashiki Hibi ~Furenzoku Sonzai~
  15. Tasogare no Sinsemilla
  16. Tsubasa o Kudasai
  17. Ushinawareta Mirai o Motomete
  18. White Album 2 ~Introductory Chapter~
Those who were following monthly issues already know the name of the game in 2010 that I evaluate as 10/10 - it's Subarashiki Hibi ~Furenzoku Sonzai~. I'm still somewhere in the mids of playing it, but after weird introductory chapter it's such a fast-paced and ever-thrilling narration I doubt I've seen anywhere before.

Since there is no poll this year, let me at least provide an update on the results of the previous poll. 10 versus 5 votes support the idea that no video version of playthrough is needed. And because of that I'm in no hurry to provide reviews. But at the same time I like it to have videos to check things afterwards or find answers to questions, to compare real game lengths, things like that. Unfortunately, there are very few services that are eager to provide space for that:
- Niconico limits number of videos to 50 for free users
- Vimeo no longer has free plans, it's basically just a hosting now
- Bilibili demands to answer some 100 otaku questions in Chinese with majority being correct ones to gain access.
- Youtube ... you know, minus two channels
- Dailymotion has severe limitations on upload, but it's the amateurishness that kills. All my 720p videos only show there as 380p, and things change only after support ticket resolution. Then comes new video and it's again 380p. For one game I need some 100 one-hour videos, I'm not going to address support 100 times. And according to users, it's a problem that persists for years without any solution.

One video playthrough on average takes 15gb of space, so with clouds I can backup like... 5. HDD is not the safest and cheapest option, plus I'd prefer it to be accessible. So I'm going with two variants - another youtube channel with BGM cut, plus video insertion inside blog post. Those videos should be no longer that 100 mb and no longer than 15 minutes to not take up cloud space, so there will be hundreds of videos under each review, and I can only hope that blog itself is not shut down because of those videos, because finding pretexts for closure without explanation is the thing Google excels at.

VN of the Year 2009 and POLL about future

December 27, 2020
Year 2009 was cool in my evaluation due to two 10/10 masterpieces. It starts to get weird, but the overall number of masterpieces for me is exactly 20 yet again this year. New portion of Visual Novel Openings 2009 with songs.

VN of the Year 2008 and POLL for EXTRA review

September 17, 2020
Year 2008 started with two failed months, continued strong, but by the end lost a lot of appeal for me. There is not a single full 10/10 masterpiece (although technically Dies irae reworked version may be counted), but the overall number of masterpieces is again 20, exactly the same as in 2007, so can't complain here. New portion of Visual Novel Openings 2008 with songs.

VN of the Year 2007 and POLL for EXTRA review

July 01, 2020
Year 2007 is great for bringing two full 10/10 masterpieces Draculius and Dies irae and many more very nice visual novels. You all know that winner is Dies irae as it's probably main visual novel of all times. First version from 2007 was quite raw, and there are some funny negative reviews from 2007-2008, but light found inner strength to polish this version and even freely give away it to original buyers. New portion of Visual Novel Openings 2007 with songs.

VN of the Year 2006 and POLL for EXTRA review

April 10, 2020
Year 2006 did not bring any full 10/10 masterpieces, sadly. There were few chunige as well. I already see that year 2007 offers a much wider diversity, so placing great hopes on it. New portion of Visual Novel Openings 2006 with songs.

VN of the Year 2005 and POLL for EXTRA review

December 17, 2019
Year 2005 was awesome. It's the golden age for plotge. Plots have become so diverse and complex that a lot more time is required to crack them up. My new approach to pick up all the titles I like doesn't help to move faster either. In addition, my base corresponds VNDB base of 2017, and it's time to synchronize. There are 230 new titles to add from 1980 till 2005, plus a dozen of old titles that I found out over time and finally can describe properly, let alone the need to refresh openings links. So Till January of 2020 there will only be Extra review of the year, then I'll be updating old articles. 1983 and 1984 years already received an update. 
New portion of Visual Novel Openings 2005 with songs.

VN of the Year 2004 and POLL for EXTRA review

September 05, 2019
Year 2004 pleasantly surprised me with the number and especially quality of visual novels.
New portion of Visual Novel Openings 2004 with songs.

VN of the Year 2003 and POLL for EXTRA review

July 05, 2019
Year 2003 proved to be profound in every way. Great variety of masterpieces suiting everyone's taste.
New portion of Visual Novel Openings 2003 with songs.

VN of the Year 2002 and POLL for Extra review 2002

May 14, 2019
Year 2002 was quite curious. A lot of heavy weight candidates finally entered the scene. 
New portion of Visual Novel Openings 2002 with songs.

VN of the Year 2001 - Eve: The Fatal Attraction

March 25, 2019
Year 2001 is a year of lost opportunities for visual novels, at least for chunige. The matured industry failed to produce breakthrough works. Of course there are lots of new cool openings Visual Novel Openings 2001 with songs.

VN of the Year 2000 Nijuei + failed POLL for full playthrough

February 01, 2019
It took a huge amount of time to finish year 2000, but it's over. The industry has matured to contemporary state, so there's no need to search for novelties this year.
First of all, here's the collection of Visual Novel Openings 2000 with songs.

VN of the Year 1999

November 24, 2017

1990s are over. And to commemorate that I've made a video playlist of all the openings/demo/endings with singing/energetic instrumental from 1990s here Visual Novel Openings 1990s
I'll be making such playlists for each new year starting with 2000 since each year is going to have over 100 such opening/ending/demo themes.

Second Windows era year is behind. It failed to bring such a game that I'd announce Vn of the year 1999 right away. Instead, it brought a number of quality galge and some quirky cryptic games that I personally had a good time unwinding. 

VN of the Year 1998 - luv wave

October 07, 2017
Year 1998 has become a year of hope for me. After very devastating transition year 1997 there are so many joys and wonderful games at last. Running a bit ahead, there is a 50% increase both in total number of games and in number of listed games resulting in the record number of masterpieces this year.

VN of the Year 1997 - Canaan ~Yakusoku no Chi~

September 03, 2017
What a tiresome year. First Windows year had too many obscure games with tiny bits of information to get. Crude graphics, bland plotlines, typical dating sim gameplay. But all in due time.

VN of the Year 1996 - Kono Yo no Hate de Koi o Utau Shoujo YU-NO

August 14, 2017
The best year so far, actually. I really hope that I'll be able to say the same about every forthcoming year. 84 works during the year amounts for an average of 7 works each month - a very saturated year.

VN of the Year 1995 - Eve: Burst Error

July 29, 2017
1995 did not bring as many masterpieces as previous years while increasing the total number of visual novels significantly

VN of the Year 1994 - DESIRE

July 18, 2017

First, some statistics. Here's the chart of total number of VNs, number of listed VNs in this blog and number of blocked VNs for the years 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994. Number won't change significantly since for the moment these are all the VNs that vndb.org has for the noted periods.

VN of the Year 1993 - Demon City

July 04, 2017
Year 1993 was... strange. Most of praised games of the year were blocked by me due to nukige nature of the games. Those games include Kawarazaki-ke no Ichizoku, Rance 4, Viper series, NOVA, Ayumi-chan Monogatari, Kindan no Ketsuzoku. And a lot of quality representatives that I don't even want to mention here are purest brainless nukige. It really looked to me as if the world got mad after the strict censorship of 1992. The number of VNs that made into my list slightly decreased from 4.08 in 1992 to 3.75 in 1993 due to increased nukige tendency. 


VN of the Year 1992 - Phobos

June 20, 2017

Year 1992 was much to my liking with few eroge and a great number of elaborate plots. 
 
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