LEAVEs review en short :" its coming later but I reccomend you just go play it"
Kay, since my schedule for AT games is "get it out before the next game comes out" I'm not late >:D Until extended phase but I'll have it before then.
But yeah my piracy project is morphing in ways I don't understand so I am dead tired of multimedia right now. Somehow my innocently lazy idea to use Leopard's text2speech system to voice narration became a full out musical with all our favorite OS X voices. I'll be sure to post it when I'm done in my other blog. Even though I don't have to record any real sound, making those stupid voices sing evenly is harder than one thinks.
But May Sky is done at least and will be up any moment now on V-N.net. Oh and I have to study for a huge test this weekend XP
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
May Sky
Almost done! al|together 2008 round 5/6!
Graphics - The artwork is remarkably polished and lively. Many of the event CG are well framed and colored to the level of a professional work. The backgrounds are filtered photographs both stock and taken by the circle. For event CG the backgrounds are drawn but they stay consistent with the photographs. 9/10
Music/SFX - The music primarily piano and it is very pleasant. Since much of the story revolves around a piano player it is well fit and many tracks are used. Unfortunately neither it nor the sound effects match the text. We hear piano long before and long after the protagonist does. In the festival scene music is mentioned but we do not hear it at all. The sound effects are often short loops such as rain, the sounds of a festival, or a train but they are much to short and don't match the descriptions. One most noticeable part where the narrator states "I could hear nothing but the rain" we cannot even hear the rain... the loop was called to stop a couple lines before. These problems with loops and descriptions pull down the auditory aspect of the work 7/10
Story - The story is touching but it is exceedingly familiar. While May Sky has excellent characterization, the story is slow for the first several chapters. The side-story intermission was much more entertaining than the two chapters that came before it. Fortunately chapters 4 and 5 make up for the first two. Unfortunately the epilogue, chapter 6 is more repetitive than insightful. I suggest one plays this chapter by chapter over a long while rather than all at once because I quickly grew weary of their antics. 7/10
System - The system is the standard ONScripter with an adv style interface (see screen shots above). Their are no text speed adjustments sadly and the text was too slow for my liking. To compensate however Music and CG modes are included as well as an extra story. 5/5
Overall - A decent game but plagued by small discrepancies and slow pacing. Still, May Sky is a respectable work and a fun diversion.
Score - 28/35 - 80% - Good
- Title - May Sky
- Author - Scrubbing
- Style - Linear Visual Novel (interactive)
- Engine - ONScripter
- Price - Free
- Get - Web Download - http://altogether.insani.org/2008/5.html
Graphics - The artwork is remarkably polished and lively. Many of the event CG are well framed and colored to the level of a professional work. The backgrounds are filtered photographs both stock and taken by the circle. For event CG the backgrounds are drawn but they stay consistent with the photographs. 9/10
Music/SFX - The music primarily piano and it is very pleasant. Since much of the story revolves around a piano player it is well fit and many tracks are used. Unfortunately neither it nor the sound effects match the text. We hear piano long before and long after the protagonist does. In the festival scene music is mentioned but we do not hear it at all. The sound effects are often short loops such as rain, the sounds of a festival, or a train but they are much to short and don't match the descriptions. One most noticeable part where the narrator states "I could hear nothing but the rain" we cannot even hear the rain... the loop was called to stop a couple lines before. These problems with loops and descriptions pull down the auditory aspect of the work 7/10
Story - The story is touching but it is exceedingly familiar. While May Sky has excellent characterization, the story is slow for the first several chapters. The side-story intermission was much more entertaining than the two chapters that came before it. Fortunately chapters 4 and 5 make up for the first two. Unfortunately the epilogue, chapter 6 is more repetitive than insightful. I suggest one plays this chapter by chapter over a long while rather than all at once because I quickly grew weary of their antics. 7/10
System - The system is the standard ONScripter with an adv style interface (see screen shots above). Their are no text speed adjustments sadly and the text was too slow for my liking. To compensate however Music and CG modes are included as well as an extra story. 5/5
Overall - A decent game but plagued by small discrepancies and slow pacing. Still, May Sky is a respectable work and a fun diversion.
Score - 28/35 - 80% - Good
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Moonshine
Let's keep chugging along! al|together 2008 round 4/6!
Graphics - The character artwork is simply beautiful and the pale delicate colors match the heroine. The background are nothing exceptional but they are certainly not bad. Most fit perfectly in the work and the use of cherry blossoms to enforce the pieces themes is brilliant. Only Mai receives any character artwork as she is the main focus but I would have liked to have seen the protagonist's sister. 9/10
Music/SFX - The music is also exceptional. The authors produced a vocal song for this game and it is a beautiful piece. The rest of the music is from various sources and quite a few tracks are used : 17 in total. Six different groups have music featured in the piece including an artist I have mentioned on my non-review blog : SAM . The authors also assigned "image titles" to generically named tracks to shed light on how it was used. Sound effects fit in perfectly as well and a detailed volume pane is supplied to adjust the levels to one's individual liking. 10/10
Voice Acting - Yes, this free software is voiced! Certainly a welcome addition to any game the voice acting is well executed and has minimal recording issues. The actress was well chosen and seemed to have a true grasp on her part. The VA is partial however, as side characters and the protagonist are not voiced. The singing was also integrated into the voice acting and worked very well. 9/10
Story - The story for Moonshine is very typical and fairly predictable but in this case that is not a bad thing. Mai is immediately entrancing and I long to know more of her story but that is not the story the authors chose to tell and I do not fault that choice for the one they told is much more unique. Moonshine is a simple story but it will stay with you. As a warning (because I've been trained to do so*) this game does grapple with the idea of trans-sexuality. I applaud the author for this but I know it is not everyone's cup of tea. This is not your typical discrimination story though, it is about much more. 10/10
System/Extras - This game uses ONScripter, meaning it is available for both Windows and Mac with a high chance of working on Linux (if supplied with a binary). This is a specialized build and the effort shines. As previously mentioned, there is a volume pane for sound but two other option panes are available as well. All normal ONScripter features are in place but with a jazzed up GUI including a small menu at the bottom of the screen. The extras include the standard jukebox and CG viewing mode. I have not mentioned this in my other reviews but Insani also supplies a wealth of essays about the al|together 2008 projects and the writings for this project are particularly insightful. 5/5
Overall - A great peice that no doubt will offend some for some unfathomable reason. Then again, that is more reason to read it. I finished the piece in less than two hours and do not regret a second of it.
Score - 43/45 - 96% - Exceptional
*I mean no offense to anyone by this and I certainly could care less if someone was offended by this work. But some parents think anime rooms are babysitting services (until they walk in during FAKE) so I've been trained to warn for almost anything. Honestly, if transsexuals are distasteful to you that's more reason to read this.
- Title - Moonshine
- Author - Sakura Mint
- Style - Linear Visual Novel (non-interactive)
- Engine - ONScripter
- Price - Free
- Get - Web Download - http://altogether.insani.org/2008/4.html
Graphics - The character artwork is simply beautiful and the pale delicate colors match the heroine. The background are nothing exceptional but they are certainly not bad. Most fit perfectly in the work and the use of cherry blossoms to enforce the pieces themes is brilliant. Only Mai receives any character artwork as she is the main focus but I would have liked to have seen the protagonist's sister. 9/10
Music/SFX - The music is also exceptional. The authors produced a vocal song for this game and it is a beautiful piece. The rest of the music is from various sources and quite a few tracks are used : 17 in total. Six different groups have music featured in the piece including an artist I have mentioned on my non-review blog : SAM . The authors also assigned "image titles" to generically named tracks to shed light on how it was used. Sound effects fit in perfectly as well and a detailed volume pane is supplied to adjust the levels to one's individual liking. 10/10
Voice Acting - Yes, this free software is voiced! Certainly a welcome addition to any game the voice acting is well executed and has minimal recording issues. The actress was well chosen and seemed to have a true grasp on her part. The VA is partial however, as side characters and the protagonist are not voiced. The singing was also integrated into the voice acting and worked very well. 9/10
Story - The story for Moonshine is very typical and fairly predictable but in this case that is not a bad thing. Mai is immediately entrancing and I long to know more of her story but that is not the story the authors chose to tell and I do not fault that choice for the one they told is much more unique. Moonshine is a simple story but it will stay with you. As a warning (because I've been trained to do so*) this game does grapple with the idea of trans-sexuality. I applaud the author for this but I know it is not everyone's cup of tea. This is not your typical discrimination story though, it is about much more. 10/10
System/Extras - This game uses ONScripter, meaning it is available for both Windows and Mac with a high chance of working on Linux (if supplied with a binary). This is a specialized build and the effort shines. As previously mentioned, there is a volume pane for sound but two other option panes are available as well. All normal ONScripter features are in place but with a jazzed up GUI including a small menu at the bottom of the screen. The extras include the standard jukebox and CG viewing mode. I have not mentioned this in my other reviews but Insani also supplies a wealth of essays about the al|together 2008 projects and the writings for this project are particularly insightful. 5/5
Overall - A great peice that no doubt will offend some for some unfathomable reason. Then again, that is more reason to read it. I finished the piece in less than two hours and do not regret a second of it.
Score - 43/45 - 96% - Exceptional
*I mean no offense to anyone by this and I certainly could care less if someone was offended by this work. But some parents think anime rooms are babysitting services (until they walk in during FAKE) so I've been trained to warn for almost anything. Honestly, if transsexuals are distasteful to you that's more reason to read this.
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