VOID

Reading [i]VOID[/i] is frustrating. I keep looking for VNs that are well written and tell good stories involving characters I care about, and I still have yet to find more than a handful that fit that description. You can evaluate good writing on several levels: 1) technical command of the language, as in grammar, punctuation, and avoiding typos; 2) wordsmithing, as in using the language's flexibility to its fullest when building a narrative; and 3) storytelling, as in tone, pacing, logic, character development, plot, and flow. This is an action thriller that is neither action-filled nor thrilling because it falls short on all three counts, though admittedly to varying degrees. Other reviewers have commented on the occasional problems in category 1 and the more noticeable problems in category 3. Considering that most of the action scenes I've encountered so far (I've gotten through Julie's route at this writing) involve only text in front of a static, plain background (sometimes just the cloudy sky) with no characters in sight, the writing--the wordsmithing--must be up to par to create and carry the action, and in [i]VOID[/i] it is definitely not doing that. The writing is so dry, so pedestrian, so unvaried in its descriptions of events that it does not adequately convey action, urgency, danger, or intensity. It does not use the rhythm of writing to paint a picture, to communicate emotion, to build tension and then shatter it, to draw the reader in and make them eager to wear the MC's shoes. I also have a hard time suspending my disbelief when it comes to these characters' appearance versus who they're supposed to be and how they got to this stage in their lives. Yes, the CGs are well done. The design for the sprites, however, makes these characters look like they're just teenagers play-acting at being assassins and secret agents. That, combined with the dull writing and the gratuitous profanity (swearing is fine if it's used wisely, for maximum impact and in appropriate situations) results in a story that fails to be compelling. I will finish the other routes because I do still want to know how the canon story ends. But I am disappointed to see that this is yet another VN story that I am not actually enjoying.

Hmm. I was really hesitating with this one. I went for thumbs up due to the graphic design and music but all the rest.... The plot seems OK till the details are actually fleshed out. The content is improbable, ridiculous and inconsistent. Dont get me started on the canon (true) route. So what was wrong with it? First of all it is all clearly rushed and someone did not event bother reviewing the game that takes 5hr tops. There are obvious typos (sshe, tthe etc) and the game takes couple of hours instead of advertised 10 (changed from 20). The parts of the content of two routes is simply copied verbatim with minimal changes or not copied (but still referenced) to the canon route making some dialogues ridiculous and not fitting to the rest of the story. The bad ends happen literally two screens after the choice. Skip does not work in canon route for copied scenes, so you need to go through some of the same dialogues for the third time. Then comes the story. So the overall idea is good and the plan for the routes was good, but the execution... If anyone has even a bit of brain and saw at least one action movie about special forces or espionage will hammer their head in the wall when reading this. Sample situation: the safe house has been compromised and one of the protagonists got almost killed when the other two were away. What do they do - happily continue living in the same safe house as if nothing happened and the antagonists who clearly know now where the group is located, literally do nothing and just wait to be attacked,,,, and it is scene by scene like this. Not mentioning the fact that all those professional thugs, double agents and what not have the fighting skills, aiming skills and willingness to live on the level of an average stormtrooper. MEH

I like it.

This short visual novel has a couple of decent character designs but the cliched and insubstantial plot of a poor Hollywood thriller. It doesn't even work as a thriller when a VN doesn't animate action scenes and this VN only has sprites for a few of its characters - reading about equally mindless action, love or angst while looking at a blank background for half the game doesn't even give cheap thrills. Reader choices, the real strength of VNs, couldn't be much more basic. I'm afraid I wouldn't even recommend getting this game in a sale.

Void is an interesting one. The easiest way to explain is to break down the good and the bad. [b]Good:[/b] - Long enough to explore the story it wants to tell, not so long as to overstay its welcome. - A genuinely interesting and engaging story. - A few different paths. [b]Bad[/b]: - Mistakes in the text. There's not a ton, but there's enough to be noticeable. (Several lines have the leading letter repeated). - Obviously made in renpy, but for some reason doesn't allow you to skip with the same precision renpy does. Probably due to being coded inefficiently. There's multiple passages with just one line different, which are treated as entirely different passages. - Bad endings are obvious and extremely short. Some time to explore these instead of [spoiler]Arthur immediately going psycho and trying to kill himself/the others[/spoiler] would have been good. Overall, worth your time. Took me about 4h to complete. Maybe wait for a sale?

Espionage thriller with many clishes and main rout. Basically if you love action-detective - you can read it. But if you`re waiting something else - not your cup of tea, you`ll be disapointed. Too many cliches to fully belive this story, though music, sprites and images aren`t bad at all. As well as text component - it was well written.

"Let's go Arthur, in and out, six hour adventure." Probably worth it if you spend 5 dollars, miiight be worth it if you full price? Very little choices, two of them are Bad End sort of choices. Only complaint I have is there are two recurring characters that should really have had their own character portraits (one being in a CG, one never being shown at all despite showing up in all playthroughs) I finished the story satisfied, but not immensely in love with anything that happened.

I like VN, I like action/thrillers. I was hoping the plot would be decent or, at least entertaining. VOID reads like Tom Clancy, without the things that make Tom Clancy worth reading. It feels like the sort of story someone with no knowledge of spy literature or thrillers would write. The plot is nonsensical, and that'd be fine if it wasn't trying to be serious and edgy. Plus, the characters are tired clichés. Definitely wouldn't recommend if you are after a good read.

yes