Maidens of the Kaleidoscope

~Beyond the Border~ => Akyu's Arcade => Topic started by: FinnKaenbyou on January 17, 2014, 03:40:34 PM

Title: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 17, 2014, 03:40:34 PM
...

Part 1 (17/01): Silence of the Dolphins (http://roukanken.livejournal.com/23585.html)
Part 2 (18/01): Chop Sui (http://roukanken.livejournal.com/24010.html)
Part 3 (19/01): Shou-Time (http://roukanken.livejournal.com/24257.html)
Part 4 (19/01): Heaven... (http://roukanken.livejournal.com/24363.html)
Part 4.1 (19/01): ...Or Hell? (http://roukanken.livejournal.com/24774.html)
Part 5 (22/01): A Tooru Order (http://roukanken.livejournal.com/24973.html)
Part 6 (22/01): Sango Tororetsu, Discount Hitman (http://roukanken.livejournal.com/25278.html)
Part 7A (23/01): Everything... (http://roukanken.livejournal.com/25593.html)
Part 7B (23/01): ...Falls Apart (http://roukanken.livejournal.com/25848.html)
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Garlyle on January 17, 2014, 04:05:01 PM
...suddenly I am hyperaware of my own writing...
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Kasu on January 18, 2014, 05:18:04 PM
Well. Seems like this is off to a weird start, haha.

Glad to see you doing this again Rou!
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Suikama on January 18, 2014, 06:37:32 PM
...
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 18, 2014, 09:20:51 PM
Part 2: Chop Sui (http://roukanken.livejournal.com/24010.html)
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Garlyle on January 18, 2014, 10:51:27 PM
really?  Only 25 so far?

I vote doctor.

also Sui kills us doesn't he that's the twist
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Shizumarashi Mayuzumi on January 19, 2014, 12:52:23 AM
I'm pretty sure Ami and other dude are in school uniforms. =P

Also wow I still haven't played Amnesia yet but this just seems like a really bad Amnesia ripoff.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Schezo on January 19, 2014, 03:53:11 AM
Sure let's go with the doctor option
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: qMyon on January 19, 2014, 09:26:18 AM
So, do the '!!!'s count on the counter?
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Tengukami on January 19, 2014, 12:21:40 PM
Quote
If that (http://s294.photobucket.com/user/Roukanken/media/Cafe%20Zero/42.png.html)'s what my face looked like, you'd be damn sure I'd look unpleasant most of the time as well.
I am pretty sure the boy isn't looking at Sango. He seems to have his eyes firmly intent elsewhere DOT DOT DOT
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 19, 2014, 02:18:21 PM
So, do the '!!!'s count on the counter?
No. At least !!! signifies some sort of emotion.

also Sui kills us doesn't he that's the twist
I hope so. Then I can murder him in self-defense.

Anyway, have an update:
Part 3: Shou-Time (http://roukanken.livejournal.com/24257.html)
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Yukarin on January 19, 2014, 03:44:02 PM
...
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Serela on January 19, 2014, 03:54:16 PM
those eyes on the character select screen

shou why...

...
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Stuffman on January 19, 2014, 03:59:57 PM
...

Christ, how short is this game? Seems like the absolute minimum effort went into writing it. It's literally go directly to see dude -> day is over.

Sui is pretty entertaining though. See if there's a route where we can team up with him and fight crime.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Garlyle on January 19, 2014, 04:24:29 PM
people in japan actually thought this was good enough to get voice actors for wha

...

I'm sorry I picked vampire doctor but I have a feeling the other options are going to be just as trash so excuse me while I buckle in for the ride
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: BT on January 19, 2014, 05:32:58 PM
better love story tha-- okay

I'm wondering if they expected you to pick this route last, considering the whole boyfriend scene.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: UncertainJakutten on January 19, 2014, 06:32:04 PM
So this means if you pick Ami you get to date her right? Right?

(You don't, do you :(?)
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 19, 2014, 08:33:13 PM
Now for the Shou Route finale - so dramatic, it needs TWO UPDATES to contain the raw POWER OF EMOTION!

Part 4: Heaven... (http://roukanken.livejournal.com/24363.html)
Part 4.1: ...Or Hell? (http://roukanken.livejournal.com/24774.html)

Next update may take a day or two. Don't want to burn myself out too hard on this.

Also, @stuffman: The game's advertised as having 2-3 hours of gameplay. I suspect I've already managed to go through a considerable portion of that.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Jq1790 on January 19, 2014, 08:59:19 PM
With the items carrying over thing... Wasn't there a well-known VN that did something similar?  I think it wad Clannad, but I forget.  Read about it on TVTropes before.

Anyway, you once more have my sympathy and appreciation for going through these terrible things.  Your tears are delicious.

Can't wait to see how everything goes in the other routes!
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Schezo on January 19, 2014, 09:22:36 PM
...

Jesus Christ this game.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Shizumarashi Mayuzumi on January 19, 2014, 09:32:01 PM
people in japan actually thought this was good enough to get voice actors for wha

To be fair it's not any voice actors I have ever heard of, ever (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caf%C3%A9_0_%7EThe_Drowned_Mermaid%7E#Voice_Actors[/url), though given Sui's there's also a good chance they're pseudonyms... that I can't find the matching real people for, so still probably nobodies. :V

Edit now that I'm actually reading all these updates: "The Mysterious Boy Who Is Definitely Not Ami" actually definitely isn't Ami, the hair's the wrong color. :V (Really does look like Tooru to me actually, same hat, same t-shirt just with a button-up tossed over it, same hair color...)

And oops the actors are all in the credits anyway duh. Well, have them in already textified non-screenshot form in that link at least? :V
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Garlyle on January 19, 2014, 10:24:14 PM
ahahahahahaaha WHAT

okay that was genuinely sort of not expected and I'm glad for it.  gj game.

also did anyone notice
generic 'boy' has the same voice actor as dickass waiter because uh I'm still standing by my HE KILLED US theory
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Stuffman on January 19, 2014, 10:28:21 PM
Wait so both the good end and bad end are technically canon??

What is happening D:
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 19, 2014, 10:47:25 PM
also did anyone notice
generic 'boy' has the same voice actor as dickass waiter because uh I'm still standing by my HE KILLED US theory
I didn't consider that.
I suspected the kid being Ami just on process of elimination and Knox's First Law (Criminal must be someone who is introduced early), but him being an alternate Sui form also works.
We'll see one way or the other.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Serela on January 20, 2014, 12:10:52 AM
...the evil Shou route actually suddenly makes this game not seem so bad
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: qMyon on January 20, 2014, 01:13:00 AM
Absolute comedy gold for me. Especially the 'bad' end.

I wonder if there's any twist in the true end. Are all routes true? Will there be evil Sango vs 'good' Sango?

Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 22, 2014, 04:29:06 PM
Part 5: A Tooru Order (http://roukanken.livejournal.com/24973.html)
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Garlyle on January 22, 2014, 04:51:57 PM
these men are horrible people they're not even good eye candy I mean come on

Also I'm kinda curious now, what happens on day 6 if you didn't spend all your time with one person?  Hm.  why do i care about this terrible game
oh right because we're actually a vengeful ghost

:V
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Hello Purvis on January 22, 2014, 06:18:39 PM
Okay. Bad end made reading through the rest...not worth it, but justifiable.

How can you make yourself do this, Roukan?

Is it possible to 50/50 the good and bad ends?
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 22, 2014, 06:51:52 PM
OK, some small points I'll make here for things that aren't big enough to justify their own update. (I'll probably paste these questions into the LP, so you can consider yourselves co-contributors!)

Is it possible to 50/50 the good and bad ends?
No. There are only three choices available for each guy, which ensures one end will always get more attention than the other. In order to get an ending of any sort you must do all three choices with one of the guys before the end of day 4. Otherwise you're locked into the bad end - not the evil end, but the one where you just fail.

Also I'm kinda curious now, what happens on day 6 if you didn't spend all your time with one person?
All that happens is that Marin Sango decides there's nowhere she wants to go and just sleeps in for the day. So basically, day 6 just never happens.
In fact even if you spend 6 days ignoring the boys and doing nothing but talk to Ami, you STILL get roped into the cruise on day 7. Tooru's driver pretty much shows up and takes you along while you're on the phone with Ami, which of course means Ami also comes. This time you just get the bad end where Sango fails to collect her entire body, and Sui tells her she has to try again.

So yeah the bad end is pretty uninteresting. The EVIL end, on the other hand...well, I'm about to start work on the Tooru evil end, and I have extremely high hopes.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: UncertainJakutten on January 22, 2014, 07:28:20 PM
If you have all the things can you go out with Ami @_@? Because it seems like you'll get 4 things total, meaning you'll have 4 days with Ami...and apparently she wants to be with you...

I am going to hold out hope for my girls love dammit
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 22, 2014, 08:50:13 PM
Part 6: Sango Tororetsu, Discount Hitman (http://roukanken.livejournal.com/25278.html)
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Iced Fairy on January 22, 2014, 09:53:45 PM
Final Route should be Sango sinking the boat and taking them all the Davey Jones Locker.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 23, 2014, 01:29:25 AM
It ends. Poorly, but it ends.

Part 7A: Everything... (http://roukanken.livejournal.com/25593.html)
Part 7B: ...Falls Apart (http://roukanken.livejournal.com/25848.html)
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Suikama on January 23, 2014, 01:39:24 AM
wow

                              such drama

   very tragic

      so deep
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Iced Fairy on January 23, 2014, 01:41:00 AM
Quote
so deep
Hopefully deep enough that it will never surface.  Man that was terrible.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Serela on January 23, 2014, 02:12:20 AM
At least they all died.

Man they were all horrible people. :C

I was gunning for "Sango gets them all killed" for awhile there as the horrible, horrible ending unraveled.

At least -one- of the VNs Rou has tried was actually not bad. Rou, the lesson to be learned here is date a pigeon.

At least the characters are more realistic than MGitP's route that you did, though. Even if they're HORRIBLE HORRIBLE PEOPLE
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Stuffman on January 23, 2014, 02:26:34 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/OvMohEg.png)

A+++++++++++++ game 10/10 would play again
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Kasu on January 23, 2014, 03:20:54 AM
Oh dear.

Well that happened, didn't it?  I suppose all we can do is hope that there's nothing even more terrible than this.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: UncertainJakutten on January 23, 2014, 04:30:28 AM
And nothing of value was lost in the true end.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Chaore on January 23, 2014, 04:35:57 AM
well that was a thing

don't worry rou i'm sure you'll find another good vn someday
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 23, 2014, 08:55:52 AM
Something I realised last night at 2am lying in bed after this.

Tooru only dates short women.
His name is a play on the English word 'tall'.

I hate everything.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Bio on January 23, 2014, 09:15:53 AM
More silent than a silent protag.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: qMyon on January 23, 2014, 09:51:01 AM
*passes the brain bleach*
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Garlyle on January 23, 2014, 01:12:16 PM
Quote
(Actually no, this is where the game loses its shit and falls apart and becomes the worst thing ever)
oh boy oh boy how bad can it possibly--

[attach=1]

The moral of the story is that horrible people exist and being a horrible person in return just gets you all fucking dead
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Reddyne on January 23, 2014, 04:55:26 PM
What a sad story for Sango Tourettes. To be trapped in a VN like this is truly a curse.
Final ... Count: 144
---HIGH SCORE!---

>SANGO                                 144
CHRONO                                 119
LINK                                        101
GORDON FREEMAN                 83
RED                                          55
...
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: BT on January 23, 2014, 05:21:58 PM
I think you went full rage mode a little too early, from the perspective of someone reading the content for the first time.

As for the game itself, the fact that it admits that MC-san was at fault too makes me feel a lot better. I don't expect much realism from these things to begin with. Unfortunately.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Hello Purvis on January 23, 2014, 06:23:39 PM
I wonder how many crew members went down with the ship?

You know, it says something when we write crackfics and they're better than this.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Iced Fairy on January 23, 2014, 08:54:45 PM
As for the game itself, the fact that it admits that MC-san was at fault too makes me feel a lot better. I don't expect much realism from these things to begin with. Unfortunately.
Actually that's what I hate the most.

The "but she seduced me" line is pretty much the go to defense for teachers who abuse their power.  Given the design of the game (good means allowing yourself to be a brainless puppet?), and how the main character acts like a chronic abuse victim during the flashback the setup sticks out like a sore thumb.  I'm vaguely tempted to do a full critical analysis, but the writings so shitty and the story so disjoint I'd have trouble making the work coherent.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Serela on January 24, 2014, 01:05:28 AM
"Good" in this case means reacting positively and nicely to the guys.

The thing is, in this case the guys are horrible, horrible people. :V And the girls too. Ami is probably the worst of the four, but they're all horrible. Sango might be the least bad, but she's still terrible...

In order to react positively it means you have to be ignoring all the bad and suspicious parts of what's going on with them. So, it kind of goes along with how Sango ends up acting for it. Okay, in Shou's route it sometimes just means picking an obviously bad answer (bawling about how you're gonna die soon)... but apart from that time >_>;

That being said I'm not saying this vn is -good-
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Schezo on January 24, 2014, 04:30:08 AM
Well that happened
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA  damn. 
And this game's like unironically a starter VN.  I would probably never play one again if this was my first VN.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: BT on January 24, 2014, 10:53:46 AM
Actually that's what I hate the most.

The "but she seduced me" line is pretty much the go to defense for teachers who abuse their power.  Given the design of the game (good means allowing yourself to be a brainless puppet?), and how the main character acts like a chronic abuse victim during the flashback the setup sticks out like a sore thumb.  I'm vaguely tempted to do a full critical analysis, but the writings so shitty and the story so disjoint I'd have trouble making the work coherent.
Not sure what you're saying here. Would it have been better for the game to present the three route characters as terrible people but not the MC?
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Hello Purvis on January 24, 2014, 12:02:36 PM
There's better ways to make the MC a terrible person than "lol wo-man am slave to emotion amirite"
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Serela on January 24, 2014, 04:18:55 PM
Purvis:And that is further not-helped by the fact that Ami is an even more horrible perpetuation of the same view. She -knows- the guy is horrible and won't care about her a single bit even if he DID date her, which he's stated he never will for even shallower reasons, and Ami then resorts to far worse things than Sango ever did to try to get him anyway.

Edit:The above is the entirety of my answer to Purvis, but, why can't I stop thinking about this after I start. x_x Mmph... on Sango... after making Shou go for her even though it's wrong, Sango was mostly just guilty of being a fool, which she admits herself as being. At that age, it's easy to make bad decisions with emotions >_> They can be a little overwhelming. Of course, she let herself get pulled along on a string so far that it's still pretty bleh >_>

But at least she wasn't Tooru with the blackmail and recordings, or Shou with the lustful chasing of forbidden relationships with students, or Ami with the -assaulting and murder plots- on her best friend no less, even worse as it's for a shallow pool who actively shuns her
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Iced Fairy on January 24, 2014, 05:40:57 PM
Not sure what you're saying here. Would it have been better for the game to present the three route characters as terrible people but not the MC?
Basically I'm saying the game presents a common lie used by pedophiles and child abusers to defend themselves as something that actually happens, instead of as bullshit.

It's especially egregious because in all other ways she acts like an abuse victim.  Were this a criminal case in the real world I'd bet my entire bank account that the doctor was grooming her since she was young.  The way that the game washes over that reality in order to create a "they're all bad" narrative is really annoying.  Not to mention the fact that they're ignoring the power imbalance and a billion other important contextual points even within their own narrative.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: FinnKaenbyou on January 24, 2014, 05:47:36 PM
One last point I think I should mention. Something I didn't discuss immediately at the end, but after getting the true ending you unlock a small bonus segment called Welcome To Caf? 0, where you talk with Sui about a couple of things. I only skimmed through it for five minutes before uninstalling the game but I played enough to ensure that not only did it have no content, it pretty much mocks the player for asking about some of the plot holes.

For example, one question you can ask Sui regarding things that didn't make sense is 'Why did Ami dress up as a boy to make money?' Sui's response is 'ask her yourself' along with a snide comment you like poking into other people's business. Worse still, one of the questions you can ask is 'Why exactly did Ami love Tooru so much? which gets you pretty much the exact same response.

In any other game Sui would be an awful character. He just happens to be surrounded by people who are utterly terrible in every regard.
Title: Re: Dot Dot Dot: Let's Play Caf? Zero!
Post by: Hello Purvis on January 24, 2014, 06:17:17 PM
I feel almost inclined to be nice to Sui. He's done this shit probably literally a hundred million times since the humanity started being a thing. This shit is just another brick in the Great Wall of China for him, he long ago ceased to care about individual details, he just wants to mortar this brick in place and move on to the next one.

Thinking on it, though did anything come of Sui being invisible follower guy other than him knowing what happened during the day?