The Sound of Fireworks: The Haiku

[h1] ЛЮБИТЬ, ПЕРЕСТУПАЯ ПРОШЛОЕ [/h1] [code] [b] The Sound of Fireworks: The Haiku [/b] - визуальная новелла, разработанная и изданная thatdiesel. Игра вышла в Steam в июне 2022 года и на данный момент имеет недостаточно отзывов для формирования рейтинга. У меня ВН-ка оставила весьма средние впечатления, о чем делюсь в комментариях. [/code] [u] [b] ๑۩۩๑ СЮЖЕТ ๑۩۩๑ [/b] [/u] Амими Имаи - ученица старшей школы обычного провинциального городка. Её отец влез в большие долги, из-за чего было принято решение временно сменить обстановку и переехать в более безопасное место. Так Амими оказалась в новом учебном заведении, где, естественно, совсем никого не знала, и не особо жаждала знакомиться: опыт общения с парнем в предыдущей школе напрочь отбил у девушки интерес к дружеским знакомствам, не говоря уж о романтических мотивах. Однако, судьбе, как водится, абсолютно плевать на планы и предубеждения - и вместе с Амими в качестве новичка в классе появляется еще один персонаж - Юта Шибата. Маховик событий раскручивается буквально на ходу: едва герои робко поздоровались в учебной аудитории, как вот уже над ними висит необходимость работать в паре над школьным проектом по написанию хайку. Случайность... или нет? [u] [b] ๑۩۩๑ ГЕЙМПЛЕЙ ๑۩۩๑ [/b] [/u] The Sound of Fireworks: The Haiku - кинетическая новелла, рассказывающая историю школьницы в антураже учебных будней. История линейная, без выборов и концовок. Сюжет подается от лица одной главной героини в формате мыслей, диалогов и даже телефонных переписок. Графически новелла выглядит достаточно неплохо, хотя и не слишком разнообразно по части фонов и сцен. Музыкальное сопровождение довольно приятное, отдельно хотелось бы отметить очень уютную заглавную тему, под которую было всегда приятно начинать игру. Примерно 50% диалогов в игре снабжены профессиональной озвучкой на английском - даже не зная языка, можно хорошо понять чувства и настроение героев. Достижений и русского языка традиционно нет, однако английский достаточно понятный. Доступна игра совершенно бесплатно. [u] [b] ๑۩۩๑ ПЛЮСЫ И МИНУСЫ ๑۩۩๑ [/b] [/u] + Романтическая визуальная новелла в школьном антураже + Неплохое, хоть и не слишком разнообразное графическое наполнение + Приятная музыка и качественная озвучка персонажей + Доступно бесплатно +/- Нет русского языка (уровень английского - средний) +/- Нет достижений/карточек Steam [u] [b] ๑۩۩๑ СТОИТ ЛИ ИГРАТЬ? ๑۩۩๑ [/b] [/u] Полное прохождение The Sound of Fireworks: The Haiku заняло у меня чуть меньше 6 часов. Общие впечатления довольно сумбурные. Первое, что хотелось бы отметить - игра явно рассчитана в большей степени на женскую аудиторию - проблемы главной героини, её поведение в определенных ситуациях, да и в целом вся драма, из которой раздули сюжет на мой взгляд будут куда больше понятны представительницам прекрасного пола, нежели суровым мужиковым мужикам. В игре нет пошлости, каких-либо намеков на сексуальную составляющую, и в целом история достаточно добрая, чистая и светлая. Без клише, конечно, не обошлось, но куда ж без них в инди-проектах. Разработчики, к слову, позиционируют своё детище как начало истории, у которой еще будет возможное продолжение. Вместе с тем, сама по себе The Sound of Fireworks: The Haiku по смыслу представляет собой абсолютно законченное произведение. Если ищете добрую, слегка наивную романтическую историю с хорошим концом - вот это оно и есть. [code] Ищете интересные игры, но боитесь выбрать то, что не понравится? Вступайте в [url=https://steamcommunity.com/groups/bythefireplace] Таверну "У камина" [/url] и подписывайтесь на [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/39473538/] страничку куратора. [/url] Выберем правильные игры вместе! [/code]

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Just finished this lovely little kinetic novel, so I'm going to try and write this review while it's still fresh. First of all, I know the creators, so take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt, but also note that I'm never one to shy away from calling something I love garbage. Clannad? Love it. Still garbage. This? Not garbage. The Haiku is a somewhat unpolished, but incredibly promising start to a series about simple, down-to-earth interpersonal dynamics. In The Haiku, Hanabi, the protagonist of this chapter, is dealing with the one-two punch of adapting to a new place while watching out for repeats of past hurt. That's a rough spot to be, because when anything could open up old wounds, how does one move forward at any meaningful pace? -Length/Content- You may know the rule of thumb when it comes to trying a new anime: give it 3 episodes. That's the size of The Haiku. The story has 10 chapters, which I read in about 4-6 hours, but you can probably read in a lot less. I found the credits rolling moments after I officially said to the story, "Ok, fine, you got me, I wanna see where this goes." I'm hooked! Well played, fellas, I am officially invested in these characters' lives. I paid $4 for this, I would have paid $5. More please!~ -Weaknesses- Yes, it is time to expose the...frankly minute weak points of the game. First of all, VNMaker is to blame for my first slew of problems. Sometimes the name of the person who last spoke pops up for a moment before the narration shows up. SMS conversations hide the navigation and can't be skipped quickly like the rest of the dialogue. The log only shows the current scene, so if you miss something toward the end of the scene, tough toenails! There's no going back unless you saved! I hope future releases are on a more flexible platform, but I can barely blame the creators for the medium. Now, for valid criticism. Hesketts' character art is phenomenal, but if you told me that Shibby in profile shots and Shibby viewed from straight ahead were different characters, I'd believe you. The biggest art weakness, however, is actually how little the background graphics mesh with the characters, although I make that complaint with nearly every VN I've seen. It took me a moment to remember that this story is indeed set in Japan, as most anime-inspired works are arbitrarily, but again, same with nearly every VN I've read. The writing by thatdiesel feels a bit weak early on, especially in moments where the protagonist is alone with her thoughts, but... -Strengths- Dang it, when the characters get together, interact, and respond to one another, they feel totally real! The dialogue is awkward, but it's awkward exactly in the way 12th graders are awkward. It's an absolute breath of fresh air, and it's so nice to see none of the arbitrary, cringeworthy, hole-that-needs-filling approach to romance that so many romcoms are guilty of. This isn't wish fulfilment, this isn't a dating sim, this isn't actually much of an interactive experience at all: It's a window into these characters' lives, and I hope it keeps getting wider. It's not much, but it [i]is[/i] very good, and that ABSOLUTELY includes the writing most of all. When I read a visual novel, the first thing I want is to be charmed. Unless the VN is House in Fata Morgana, in which case I'm first asking to be traumatized, but after that, I want to be charmed. It's why I like the dialogue in Studio Key games, flawed as they may be. At first I wasn't entirely sure if I'd be able to get that here, but as these characters interacted, you know what? Consider me charmed! I can't say no to those beautifully rendered faces. And I'm sure you will be too if you give this game a purchase, or subscribe to the game's twitter @TSOFGame, or follow this game here on Steam, and I'm sure the creators will be charmed too! Send them love and praise and attention and encouragement and (if you find yourself with a surplus of it) $$$, I want the next chapter! If you can't do it for yourself, do it for thatdiesel and Hesketts, and if you can't do that, do it for me, a stranger on the internet lol Hope you enjoy it as much as I did, Spiffy out, tchau!

This is such a wonderful story ♥ 10/10.

Amimi has recently moved to a new city, transferred to a new school, and made a mess of her introduction on the first day. She just wants to graduate without any more trouble. However, there is a guy who wants to make friends with her, difficult as it may be... [h1]I liked...[/h1] [list] [*] The characters (they come across as relatable, with their own flaws and personal history; I was invested in what happens to them) [*] The writing (good pacing, I didn't feel that the story dragged on at any point; emotional and funny scenes are both delivered well; I loved the haikus as means of communication) [*] The partial voice acting (it adds to the experience) [*] The artwork (the spritework is nice and expressive; CGs are also nicely done but with a different style to them) [/list] [h1]I didn't care for...[/h1] [list] [*] Minor trouble with the game engine (transitions leading up to CGs didn't feel quite right; I didn't find out how to run the game in full screen; on the other hand the smoothly animated text and prompt look nice)[/list] [h1]Verdict[/h1] I decided to give [i]The Sound of Fireworks[/i] a try after I saw a brief mention of it on VN Game Den – and it quickly grabbed me, so I finished it in one sitting. It's cute, but not saccharine; it simply feels genuine, and I'm excited for the next part of the story. [i]For more reviews, feel free to look at my curator pages: [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/34616763-Azar-Reviews/]Azar Reviews[/url] and [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41898234-They-OK/]They OK?[/url][/i]

Some issues with VNMaker (backgrounds getting stuck while the story progresses) but the story itself was a pleasant read. Interactions between character felt pretty smooth and the occasional VO was a nice extra :) Looking forward to the next TSOF titles.

Loved it!!! It felt very real and relatable especially as someone introverted. Amimi's fears and overthinking tendencies when she had to do the class introduction was really accurate. I'm sooo looking forward to your next TSOF installments :) I love Amimi's voice (Hesketts). For me, it really suits her quiet and reserved personality. Thank you for this little gem of a VN.

The Sound of Fireworks: The Haiku is a slice of life story of a girl struggling to adapt to a new living arrangement after moving out to a different place and a new school. This is a slow burn containing some drama and a lot of misunderstanding and insecurity, all linked to a traumatic event. Don't get this wrong, there are many wholesome moments and character development. Not only is this your typical text-based visual novel with character art, backgrounds and some music and sound. There's also some voice acting in the mix during most of the prominent events. For certain, this game is more focused on the friendship side rather than the romance, which is a preference I have. When done right, it can make the story feel more authentic and easier for people to connect to the characters if you prefer friendship-first before a romantic one. If you have played a few visual novels, you may realise this game isn't made with Ren'Py but with another engine, called VNMaker, meaning you can't backtrack and skip text when you want to. Luckily, that's the only issue I came across; other than that, one time a save file crashed the game when I tried to load up, so I had to boot up another one to catch up to where I left off. Or the other time, after chapter 6, for some reason, there was a bug I believe, where the background hadn't changed at all, even til the end of the story. Don't let this discourage you from playing it, as this turns out to be an all-around a solid game. Intentionally, this wouldn't be my go-to game, but I still kept it in my library after I brought it (back when it had a price age), up until I wanted to read something relaxing, which I'm glad I made that decision back then, and supported the developer at the same time. It is always nice to read something charitable every now and then. Do make the time to take a breather and read something refreshingly simple, and that's me speaking generally. But if you are interested, don't be afraid to play this game or any story that meets the same criteria for a show. [i]P.S. This visual novel also contains 6 extra short stories you can play after finishing the main story or before you play. I recommend doing the latter so you don't spoil yourself with what happens in the ending.[/i]

This is a very cute anime style kinetic novel (i.e just a visual novel without branching routes or choices, the only thing differentiating it from a straight up short story/novella being the anime art, voices, and music). It's entirely, 100% SFW, it's not one of those sexy VNs, and it centers around the eighteen-year-old Amimi Imai, who's starting her first day at a brand new school, as she attempts to make friends and have a better experience than she did in middle school. Much of that quest revolves around an initially annoying but eventually quite charming student who's also new there, Uta Shibata, as he attempts to reach out to Amimi when they end up paired together in the literature club and have to work on the titular haiku as a project. This isn't like Muv-Luv or any of the bigger professional VNs. There is some voice acting, but not a whole lot, there are some basic classroom, bedroom, etc. backgrounds, but not that many, the cast isn't huge, and there are about a dozen or so songs, but not a full soundtrack. However, the game only costs 5 bucks, which makes it VERY worth it, IMO. I say it a lot, but this is one of those games that's just full of SOUL, i.e you can tell it was a passion project for its creators. I'm not usually into standard fiction, I'm almost always more drawn to scifi, fantasy, or horror. Despite that, though, I couldn't help but fall head-long into Amimi and Uta, or "Hanabi and Shibby's," burgeoning relationship. The art is a strong point, it's not the best ever but it's better than average and it's very cute and well done for what it is. The dialogue is easily the best part of the story, though. Uta, Amimi, and the rest of the cast feel like they could be real people, and the way the story progresses is surprisingly well done for apparently an amateur author (thatdiesel, the writer for this kinetic novel). At first, I found myself annoyed by Amimi's personality and awkwardness, but as the story went on, well, I won't spoil it, but you'll see she really does have a believable reason for being hesitant about reaching out to others, and the way she and Uta work through it is so realistic and engagingly done that I found I couldn't put the story down (metaphorically, since this is a steam game). As other reviewers have noticed, it's a little unpolished, there are a few spelling errors and bugs here and there; I had to restart from the beginning at one point since the backgrounds got locked. It's also not that long, at only around 40K words. Even so, thatdiesel, hesketts (the artist for the game and VA for Amimi), and the other folks who helped out a bit on this kinetic novel put so much effort and soul into this I can't help but recommend it, especially when it's only 5 bucks! I really wish this got more attention, at such a price for the quality it deserves a 100 reviews IMO.