got some visual novel ""reviews"" cuz i aint sending channel four my email bcuz rangebans effect dynamic internet protocol addresses from internet service provider datacenters
<Socially Awkward
It lives up to its title. One can have multiple scenes of surprisingly accurate familial abuse and trauma that is sandwiched between moderately spicy gay furry characters talking in a vernacular combination of
Gaia-Tumblr-DA squeecore dialogue about the world's worst built gay closet of all time, and cultural references leaking out all over the place. And there is some vaguely supernatural connection to the MC's realistic depiction of a panic attack or stroke.
Finally, Dominic Deegan/Questionable Content for furries. And shoutout to the undercooked race and class allegories and metaphor for making the world burst out with nepotism and failsons from different cultures. Everyone is either a landlord or teacher's pet or adoption, incredible levels of sublimation that the developers did not intend to such an extensive degree. I don't know if the developer is latam or SEA located but I wouldn't be surprised if they were with their reference pool (jollibee, samsung, trains, catholic school). It's why I'm both surprised and not so with how little attention is paid to the gym teacher character beyond one or two opaque conditional flags. Plus I don't expect much in terms of actual sexual content beyond a few gags.
<No More Future
Neat sci-fi kinetic novel about the Military Industrial Complex/Make-A-Wish Foundation TFing rebuilding you into a synth scalie. Character conversations are lengthy but seem to last as long as they need to. Unfortunately the dialogue-prose and the scenes tend to have a severely redundant formula. If you've ever heard of that Hollywood screenwriting lifehack of 'suddenly a guy with a gun and/or new information bursts into the room', it's all over the scenario in the constant puzzle box reveals. And then there's a memory hole'd time skip in what should ostensibly be in the second/third act. I actually like most of the characters and even the antagonists, but it gets repeatedly hampered by the MC's plot convenient depression. Plus it just continually bounces between fun and cute slice of life antics and a mildly interesting techno-corporate mystery espionage doohickey, but I feel like it would gel better if the switching story registers were better wrangled in. It's like Nerus with mild CTE, and somehow up there for least horny VN I've ever read. Next to those game jam type projects about your acquaintances, only bringing it down is one or two character's romantic tension so nonexistent that even the side content & non-canon works barely acknowledges it even is a thing.