hippochippies

Category: Visual Novel

  • Butterfly Soup is 2017’s Best Visual Novel

    Butterfly Soup is 2017’s Best Visual Novel

    There were a whole bunch of good visual novels this year! But out of Dream Daddy, Doki Doki Literature Club, Danganronpa 3, Tokyo Dark, etc., Butterfly Soup is the one I wish I had played as soon as it released. Not only is it my favorite of the aforementioned onslaught of 2017’s VNs, it’s one of the funniest and most genuinely sweet games of the year. Imagine Night in the Woods with more gays and fewer cats.

    If you’re not hooked after the first five minutes of Butterfly Soup… I just don’t think this thing’s for you. The goofiest of its humor is front-loaded into the introductory scenes, and I was laughing out loud harder than I had at a game since Yakuza 0.

    Not content with being just one of 2017’s funniest games, it decides to take the crown for being one of the most progressive as well; the game’s main cast is 90% queer women of color. It’s great! As a straight white dude, I was offered a unique perspective that I would rarely be afforded the opportunity to see otherwise. I 100% recommend it to anyone whose ever had a passing interest in visual novels, teen drama, or laughing. So go play it.

    If you’re up for chuckling along with a wonderful group of high schoolers, check out Butterfly Soup for free on its itch.io page.

    (Min-seo is maybe the best new character of 2017. She just rules.)

  • Game of the Year 2014: #3 – Danganronpa 2

    Game of the Year 2014: #3 – Danganronpa 2

    Danganronpa 2

    Danganronpa is a series about subverting expectations. It blows your mind just like Phoenix Wright and the Zero Escape series by never letting you know quite as much as you think you do. If you’re into mystery novels filled with dark humor and serious storytelling, it’s hard to find a better balance than in Danganronpa.

    This spot could be taken almost as easily by the first Danganronpa game, but for the sake of not having both taking up a spot on this list, I’m highlighting my favorite. The second game has better characters, and a much larger scope of environments and story, but doesn’t make the first game any worse by existing. The first game is still excellent, and the second game smartly steps away from the “kids locked in a building” theme, as to not step on D1‘s toes. Unlike the second Zero Escape game, Danganronpa’s sequel feels (literally, since you’re on a tropical island) like a breath of fresh air.

    ropa 2

    Both games start with you meeting an interesting cast of high school kids, each with unique personalities. Professional athletes, pop stars, and novelists all come together, build friendships, and then brutally, horrifically murder each other for a chance at freedom. Then they hold a trial, in which the survivors suss out their friend’s executioner, and is put to his or her (ironically themed) death. All because their game master and kidnapper, a masochistic robot teddy bear, told them to.

    If you need more of a reason to play Danganronpa, I’m not sure what more you’re looking for.