I do think it's a good thing I played a little bit of Clannad before diving into Little Busters. I know how to succeed at winning a route, for it seems to work in all of Key's games.
Here's what you do. First, decide, from the start, what character's route you want to see. As you play, be nice to that one character, and be a jerk to everyone else. It worked in Clannad, and it works in LB also. If you're nice to too many characters, you get a bad end.
So I finished Komari's route earlier today. Luckily, like most Key characters, there is more to her than what you see on the surface. I won't go into more detail, but I do respect the character a little more. However, I am now going down another route; the route of Haruka!
But I can't help it! She's so keeeeeeee-yeute!~
And again like in Clannad (they do run on the same programming engine), when you complete a route, you unlock the CG gallery and music section. Of course, you can only view images and hear music you've heard in the proper game, but it's great! The song that plays at the end of Komari's route is a fantastic alt-rock song.
Oh, also, you get to participate in a baseball game. It plays out automatically when your team is on defense, but when you're on offense, you can call plays like steal a base, sac bunt, hit the ball normally, et cetera. When I played, the final score was . . . 9 to 1, LBs lost. Wow, suddenly all the Major League teams that finished in dead last last year don't seem so terrible anymore.
Also, there's three girls that you can romance in the Ecstasy version, but not my version. Here's some titles for them.
Sasami Sasasegawa = Japanese Mean Girl.
Kanata Futaki = Totalitarian Stick in the Mud.
There's a third girl named Saya in the Ecstasy version who is a no-show in the original edition. Oh sure, hoard all the teenage girls for yourself, updated edition. If the translation weren't so slow, this wouldn't be happening!
This obviously cannot compare with the awesomeness of Umineko (What can at this point!?) but LB has been worthwhile, nonetheless.
---------
I finally published the first half of Grief is the Fuel of Vengeance! A fanfic that takes Fate characters and . . .
did I just make a parody of one of my brother's favorite movies? As well as the one Gundam series I tried to watch?
The idea came from the Heaven's Feel True End, when Rin (Tohsaka Rin, not the Rin from LB) noticed how powerful she and her friends were. She imagined overpowering the Mage's Association, then the Church, and then . . . the world.
OF COURSE!
However, she dismissed that idea. In this fanfic, she doesn't. She, Sakura, and Rider use their powers to fight evildoers. However, as I was writing this, I intentionally wanted to make a parallel between the Tohsaka Sisterhood and the Kiras of Death Note. However, as I wrote, I noticed more and more that this was reading like a Fate do-over of The Boondock Saints.
Weird. I spoofed a movie my brother loves. Personally, I think the Boondock Saints is good, but not great. I wouldn't list it as a classic, despite what my brother and some of my college friends say. (I really think they just love it because of the cussing . . . motherfucker.) Not only that, the Sisterhood also reminds me of Celestial Being from Gundam 00. However, I would never, ever, emulate the style of 00, good god no! Do you know what would happen if Grief was written like 00!? Well, let's examine a typical episode, shall we?
(A group of bland, emotionless characters talk about made-up politics. And talk . . . and talk . . . and talk . . . and talk . . . and talk . . . and talk . . .)
(Another group of bland, emotionless characters talk about made-up politics. And talk . . . and talk . . . and talk . . . and talk . . . and talk . . . and talk . . .)
(Yet another group of bland, emotionless characters talk about made-up politics. And talk . . . and talk . . . and talk . . . and talk . . . and talk . . . and talk . . .)
(Some Celestial Being Gundam pilots park outside of an unstable region, and talk . . . and talk . . . and talk . . . and talk . . . and talk . . . and talk . . .)
(Two warring factions start fighting, but Celestial Being comes out of nowhere, powns the factions with no effort, and claim they're ending war in spite of their actions.)
(Yet another group of bland, emotionless characters discuss the ramifications of the most recent Celestial Being action. And discuss . . . and discuss . . . and discuss . . . and discuss . . . and discuss . . . and discuss . . .)
(Roll credits)
It's pretty pathetic when the only character I gave a damn about was a guy with a split personality with the same English voice as Inuyasha. (Richard Ian Cox just doesn't get enough credit, I swear.) Yeah, you know what? I'm gonna keep spoofing Death Note and The Boondock Saints.
Oh, but I won't be stopping my Type-Moon fics after that, oh no! I got another what-if scenario in the making!
