Narumi's long winded reviews

Iwaihime is a story about curses and people succumbing to their own paranoia as their visions and perceptions of the world distort in horrific and unimaginable ways. In other words, it's Higurashi , albeit a mediocre discount supermarket brand variant of Higurashi . Playing Iwaihime has contantly reminded me of Ryukishi's previous works, namely Higurashi and Umineko , and this constant comparison really doesn't do it any favours. Several scenes in Iwaihime bear great resemblance to those from R07's previous works, only they're executed with a lot less grace in this leading to this constant back and forth comparing the games scene by scene. And who could blame me for doing so? The game advertises itself as being written by Ryukishi himself and I bought into the hype precisely because of this, and you know what they say about misplaced expectations. As a horror story Iwaihime just simply doesn't work. It's nearing Halloween so I deliberately played this at ni

Ougon no Kuni Iira/Torna the Golden Country Review [Author's disclaimer: Of course, its nature as a story expansion means the entire plot to Xenoblade 2 will be spoiled in this review. Also, owing to various conditions I ended up playing the entire expansion in Portable Mode. It was not a pretty sight...] After liking the main campaign of Xenoblade 2 a lot, purchasing the DLC Expansion was almost a no brainer decision for me. At about 2000 yen, what does Ougon no Kuni   Iira offer in terms of gameplay and story? As it turns out, not much apparently. The DLC is ostensibly about the Aegis War from the main campaign, a flashback of sorts depicting what actually happened during the time Hikari and Metsu sunk several titans, Iira included. The answer is...not much. A lot of what happened can be gathered from the flashbacks presented in the main campaign itself, and as such the DLC offers very little in expanding this backstory or its new cast. Owing to its short length,

Xenoblade Review [Author's disclaimer: Due to the nature of the game throwing around plot twists every hour or so, this review will be split into parts: A relatively spoiler-free review focusing more on the gameplay, a filler section, a section chronicling my thoughts on the story will unmarked spoilers, and finally my overall thoughts on the epilogue chapter Future Connected.] Spoiler-Free Review If I were to sum up my overall thoughts on this game in one sentence, it would be "Impressive, but lacking impact." As a beloved 10-year old game exclusively released to a console that otherwise has a paltry library of JRPGs, Xenoblade 1 has finally been remastered on the Switch. It's an incredibly beautiful game that doesn't look out of place with the Switch's library, but looking closer and noticing the lack of details in certain aspects (such as clothing or the like) do lessen the impact a bit. Shulk and Fiorung do look noticeably less polished than thei

Muv-Luv Trilogy Going into Muv-Luv entirely blind isn't at all a possible feat. Its reputation as being one of the most highly rated VNs in VNDB and other similar sites has made its true genre clear, in that it is a grimdark mecha setting with politics and war. So the twist of transitioning from the harem romcom antics from Muv Luv Extra all the way to the suffering in Muv Luv Alternative is lost on many folks including myself. Still, I'll be avoiding more intricate spoilers in my review while I will be going no-holds-barred on my Extended Thoughts.  Review (Spoiler-Free...relatively) If you're already a fan of Mecha or VNs chances are you've already played this immensely popular VN already. However, if you're like me and have been living under a rock for the past 20 years or so and have come to try out Muv Luv (really Alternative ) because of the critical acclaim Alternative has received, this review section is for you.  First though, a littl

Short Reviews I (Subarashiki Hibi, Dies Irae) Shorter Reviews from my normal stuff compiled in one easy to find package. Subarashiki Hibi: I don't smoke, but I feel like a cigarette after this.  Subahibi is a very denpa story at times and is fairly surreal and uncomfortable at times. In the beginning, it asks you (metaphorically) whether you want to follow the March Hare down to Wonderland or remain in your Wonderful Everyday. Once you start your journey, it's a neverending barrage of madness and existentialism all the way to the end. And it's beautiful, stressful, unnerving, and at times depressing. Without going any further into spoilers, I do highly recommend giving this a read, it's a real page turner and the music is almost hypnotic at times. Though perhaps read or watch something a bit more light-hearted in between reads.  [Highlight to view spoilers] I sort of lied in the earlier paragraph to protect the spoilers. The main story outside

Thoughts on Umineko The following post will start with a spoiler-free review of Umineko followed by a spoiler-filled review/critique/analysis separated by a few filler images. I firmly believe Umineko is best experienced as a VN and as blindly as possible, given its nature as a mystery novel. If you need further convincing, read on. Spoiler-free Review To paraphrase a YouTube comment, "The first thing you see in Umineko is a delusional old man yelling 'OH BEATOORIIICEEEEE' and by the end of the VN we are in his shoes, screaming at the skies for our dear Beatrice". Umineko had me hooked right from the beginning and even a few weeks later after the end, I can't stop thinking about it.  Before starting Umineko , I would greatly recommend (if not require) experiencing Higurashi to some degree (The anime itself is sufficient for this). While not a direct sequel, Umineko does utilize several writing conventions and styles from Higurashi and executes