Little Sister Kana : The game that made grown men cry

As the title says, this game was really notorious for making grown men cry. Including me. It really is the prime example of a tear jerking visual novel next to clannad.

I met this game through the internet during my early grade school years, and had a second encounter with it when I saw high reviews for this game, it also appeared in Crescendo, a small easter egg in one of the paths. When I gave this game a shot, first ending, cried buckets. Second ending, cried like a bitch even though it was the "true/happy" ending. The story really was depressing throughout even if there was small patches of happy scenes, it was really a sad game. The start of the game is when the protagonist enters his sister's hospital room and then the memories come flashing back. The protagonist decides on what to make of his sister's life based on the things he will give or things that they will do. The progression of the story starts from a sad recollection up to the final release of emotion. This style of writing really gets to me, a feeling of hopelessness emanates from this game. But even if the story involves siblings and was really a heartbreaking story, I give this game a high score for the story in itself. The story was really well written, the characters was brought to life using a combination of present scenarios and recollection of memories. The events were heartbreaking and the endings gave a really decent end to the story of the siblings. But to what aspired to the siblings is up to you when you play the game.

The art was up to date, and when I say up to date, this game was released around 1998 to 2000 so don't compare the CG's to more up to date games. But even so, the art was still good, you will realize this when you are scrolling down and notice small droplets on your keyboard just by looking at the screen.

The music was alright, the BGM was MIDI tones, but due to the time period when this game was released, it was already at a standard.

This game was one of those who pushed through the era of english translated visual novels. So I give it a lot of respect in that area alone. The story is one of a kind, I cannot think of any other story that can match this one in terms of it's uniqueness and its tragedy. I give this game a solid 10/10. Even though the art and sound is outclassed by any recent visual novels, the story alone is enough to make me a die hard fan.

Edelweiss : An Island full of surprises

This is one of those visual novels that I downloaded because of the cover art. At first, I played until about the  boat scene, which was literally the first thing that appeared in the game, I got a feeling of childishness and felt it was really not that as serious compared to Yume Miru Kusuri or Katawa Shoujo. So I stopped playing it. A few months later, my friend Zach, told me that he was completing the game, I was surprised when he told me this because we have almost the same tastes in Visual Novels. So I gave the game another chance. I played. I really felt bad because I did not gave this game a fair enough chance, a lack of judgement on my side. The story was about a group of young boys who was sent to an island to study in an all girls school, lucky bastards. But little did they know that the school was specializing in alchemy, so the main theme of this game was around alchemy and what they could do with it. The character development was okay, you can really tell that each character had his/her own personality, and was totally different from each other.

The love story between the protagonist and each heroines begin with getting to know them, and ultimately leading to the climax of each part, and their endings. The choices in the game were fairly simple and it was really easy to get the girl you want. The story of each heroine is not as deep as other visual novels, but it has substance to it, it is really about affection between the characters. The endings were great! They had a very definite ending to each path, and will leave you with a "feel good" taste.

The art was great, even the images of the girls was moving (blinking and moving their mouths). The background art was detailed, and the CG's in general was finely made. My only comment is that the figures of the girls (same as kira-kira), were a bit absurd (wild proportions).

The sound. It. was. damn. epic., the soundtrack was developed my milktub, and it did not fail to deliver. The  background music was at high standards, and the vocal tracks was off the chart. I give this game the highest honors in term of sound. The mix of rock and a light female voice was surprisingly well done. I consider this game's OST one of my favorite next to Katawa Shoujo and Crescendo.

Overall this game scores 9/10. And its sequel Edelweiss : Eiden Fantasia scores (9/10) also because of its high grade of humor, the sequel made me laugh my ass off! Great game, a must try for people looking for a little magic.

Nurses

What makes nurses the apple of some men's eyes? It may be due to their sexy white fit uniform also donning a white cap, or maybe due to the sexualization of the nursing profession due to the media. But from my realization, (Well yeah, I kinda like nurses too), I became fond of nurses not due to their physical attributes.

Nurses care, that's the bottom line. I like nurses because they can take care of people, as a strong young man, I know that I can still take care of myself, but what happens when I get old and sick? Who can I rely on to help me along the way? It is not the idea of being a nurse that attracts me, it is the idea of being a person who can take care of me in the long run.

Nurses are reliable, I have asked some nurses about their profession and they tell me its a high - burnout job, it is stressful and sometimes lives are on the line. Nurses can take the pressure, when its an emergency or just the daily rounds, nurses do their jobs well and has been proven time and time and again. Nurses are reliable people, who the hell will take a nurse who is unreliable right? Nurses can do it, I like that in a person, a sense of security when you know you can count on someone.

Nursing is an honorable profession, nurses give their 110% every time that is why I look up to them, a salute to all the nurses in the world!

Yume Miru Kusuri: A Drug That Makes You Dream

Everyone has their own share of problems, some we can handle on our own and some we need other's help to pull us out of our problems. In this game the main character has his own problem; he experience auditory hallucinations though is not disturbed by it greatly, it still continues to bother him and lulls him into a state of being half asleep and half awake.

Story:
The story progresses by the character being introduced into three major characters. He is introduced to the shy and conserved Aeka whose problems concern bullying, then to the student body president whose problem within herself, she has an intrapersonal problem involves her way of thinking and personal conflicts. Then he meets the weird and neurotic Nekoko whose problems are caused by taking illegal drugs. You get to chose the girl who you want to continue your story with through series of choices presented. When you have already chosen a girl, the other stories close and the story with the girl progresses deeper.

The story is meant or targeted at teenagers, the main theme of the general story is focused on what teenagers' commonly encounter during their way to adulthood. The story is mature and the player should be mature enough to accept the story and learn from it, the morals of the story are intricate and expressed deeply. The values learned is to have the will to do the right things, the will to change ourselves, the will accept who we are and to take things as they come for somethings may lead into something bigger than ourselves.

The story is exiting and thrilling, the story is very linear and the events that take place around the story are very climactic and emotional, all the paths are heartwarming. The story also contains adult themes, sex is also an unavoidable part of the story because of the romance and adult theme of the game. The scenes are very much vivid, detailed and unforgettable, hooking you into the story and leaving you wanting more.

The bad endings are really sad, they leave a bitter taste in my mouth personally. but the bad endings only makes the good endings something strive for and be exited about. It also leaves a better overall fulfilling experience.

Artwork.
As any visual novel goes, VISUAL is half the part of the game, and this game does not fail to deliver with its wide range of scenes and CG for the characters. The novel part of the game is well complemented by the beautiful artwork, the backgrounds are not as much detailed, but still very well drawn. The characters are drawn beautifully with killer details, their emotions are fully shown by the many variations of the character's faces and they really convey the weight and feelings of the words to the player. The sex scenes CG are very nice because of the amount of variation in CG, showing different positions and emotions.

Music
In my opinion, the game's music matches PERFECTLY with every scene, every emotion, every event. It is utterly perfect, I cannot think of any other music that can better the music pieces of the game. The music in itself is emotional, there are more sad or slow pieces than happier, lively pieces because of the thought of the game, the game is very mature and the music should match. The soft pieces of music, which are in relation to the romance or emotional parts of the game are very consoling, they emit the feelings of closeness, warmth and peace. They are like the perfect things that can complement the game's story and artwork.

The vocal track "Goodbye to the World" is nicely done, the vocals of the performer are soft in contrast to the harder or faster music track.

Summary:
Yume Miru Kusuri: A Drug That Makes You Dream. Is easily one of the best visual novels created. It scores high in each aspect, and the completeness of the package is the selling point of this game. This almost perfect piece of art is one of the best games I have ever played. So if you plan on playing the game, its a must play and the time you spend on it will be one of the best you ever had, I guarantee it.

The Value of Symbols

A ring on a finger is not an accessory, it is a definitive sign of commitment. The ring when worn represent the kind of commitment the person has, how much he/she values the commitment directly reflects on how the symbol is carried.

Symbols are the embodiment of something that cannot be materialized, like passion, attainment,  love or responsibility. Some people value their symbols very much, they take care of these symbols and give time to give value to these symbols.

Standards

What are standards? Why are there standards? Should standards be a milestone or benchmark? This is only some of the questions I ask my self when the word standard comes to mind. Standard can be defined by "A level of quality or attainment". So we are standard, we have reached the minimum level for quality. But what if we are below standard? Does it mean the we have less of a quality of those who passed the standard, and what if the standards are too high for us, even if we try our best and work really hard but still do not reach the standards, will our hard work and effort be in vein?

I have experienced working hard to achieve a standard, I trained and gave effort just to be qualified. The feeling of passing the standard can really be satisfying because our hard work payed off and we are able to be proud of our achievement and the only thing left to do is to maintain a the quality we have. If we already reached the standard our priority should be to keep being above standard. Improvement is the thought that comes to mind when I already achieved something, let us not be something that is stale and stubby. I want to be continuously improving and gaining more experience in something, even though we cannot be the best it is still satisfying to know that we have the capacity to do something with quality.

I also experienced the feeling of not being able to pass a standard. It really is heartbreaking, to know that all the hard work, patience, effort you poured in improving yourself and making yourself fit for the standard is wasted. Maybe I did not try hard enough or I lacked in some aspect, I do not blame the standard for being to high, I just blame myself for not being able to pass it. Because if you really want to pass the standard you will do everything and anything just to reach that goal. You will not give up and still persevere in passing that standard. Even if the standard that is required is near perfect, I will not give up, I will not back down, I may not be able to pass it now, but I know deep in my heart I will pass that someday just not now, I will continue to improve and make myself fit to the standard in which I yearn to reach.

Standards are meant to be passed, we all have that standard which we cannot pass. But the valuable part in standards is whether you try harder or give up, standards seldom change, but Humans have the capacity to completely pass and set the standards even higher to continue excellence.

Private Nurse: Mysterious and Enchanting

How much do you value your health? Is it worth living if you have health that is so poor, you spend the day striving to stay awake?
The main character in this game is a sickly boy who often spends the day lying in his bed, he is afflicted with a unknown and mysterious disease; no physicians can diagnose or treat him because of his mysterious sickness. He is unable to enjoy his life like a normal, health person would. He spends his life living in a fragile body, easy to pass out and easily fatigued. He is nearly to the point of giving up on hoping for a cure for his sickness but something out of the ordinary happened to his life and changed him forever.

When I played the game, I stopped for a moment and thought about my own body, am I treating it right? Am   I abusing what I have? I feel grateful and lucky for having a body that is complete and without any illness. I think about what would my life be like if I had a serious illness or disability, that makes me appreciate what I have and I am going to use what I have to reach my goals.

Story
The story revolves around Hiroki the sickly boy and Maria the private nurse, the childhood friend; Ayano is also an important part of the story. The progression of the story involves how Hiroki treats Ayano or Maria, leading to his improvement of health and the development of their relationship. The way the story is presented is on a day to day basis, a total of 30 days is the time frame for each of the paths in the story.

The theme of health is the main core of the story, because most of Hiroki's problem revolves around his poor health, and how Maria and Ayano help him recover his health and develop each other's feelings. The main point that I got from the story is that we should be thankful for our health and be thankful for the people who help us get to where we are now.

The relationship between the characters is a little bit off maturity, but due to their ages, it fits them completely.  They help each other in facing their problems and through this, they develop their love for each other even further. As for Maria's Path, it really is mysterious and when you finish the game, you are going to be in a state of awe because of what just happened, the ending is totally different from what you expected, leaving you to be curious and wanting for a better ending. Ayano's path is about reviving their old relationship, dealing through the problems of a normal highschool couple. (Have not finished ayano path completely)

The last remark about the story is how bad the placement of the sex scenes are. I mean seriously, 7 sex scenes in a row without and substantial story in between really gets boring, unless you are the person who plays visual novels for sex, well be my guest.
7/10

Music
The music the plays throughout the game has a very calming tone, giving the aura of health, regeneration, home, rest. The tempo is slow and the beats are soft, giving the game the subtle feeling while being played. The music is all instrumental and the music it self is very beautiful. The combination of the music with the scene will give you the complete set of emotions while reading. But sadly, due to the same tempo and patterns of the music, the music itself is not easily remembered, it does not cut into the memory and easily forgotten.
7/10

Artwork
The soft and pastel colors combine to give calm visuals, the colors are not dull nor is too bright, it is just right for the emotion of softness. The sketches of nature that are seen in between the changing of days are very beautiful, I can appreciate the artist's work of presenting small bits of nature through the art.

The characters are not drawn sharply, meaning they have round edges, giving a sort of chibi appearance. In my opinion the way the characters that are drawn in the game is childish, and giving me the impression of immaturity. But none the less the characters are detailed, and in each CG the details remain, I give plus points for the amount of CG and the different emotions that the characters are able to express through the art.

The best part of the artwork in the game is in the parts where only one color is used to draw the whole scene, the parts where you can really see the handiwork of the artist. Matching with the scene, the art will make the scene come alive.
8/10

Replayablity and Length
The game has around 4 paths, each path will consist of about 3 hours, and the replayability is high because of the totally different story in each path. In my personal experience I played about 5 times just to get the right path for Ayano, so good luck in completing the story. Also there is the After Diary part of the game, its just tidbits of additional scenes for Ayano and Maria.

Overall
The theme of the game already makes it a must read, and the art and music although not excellent, has good synergy with the story making for a good game overall. This is the first visual novel I ever played, and I had a great experience reading this novel so I hope you will too.

8/10